On the day following my arrival in London I addressed a letter to the
Sultan, explaining to him how I and my people had been ruined by our
many years' lawsuit in his courts, agitating for the restoration of
our property, and requesting him to issue an _iradé_ granting us, if
not all the rights we had lost, at least the income from our lands
which had accumulated during our lawsuit, and was being misapplied by
some of his officials. I based my appeal on the imperial firmans and
legal documents of the case, and stuck to my point firmly. I learned
the result of this petition a fortnight later, when I was invited to
the Ottoman Embassy. The late Rustem Pasha, who was then Ambassador,
received me with a cheerful courtesy which was, I thought, more than a
private individual like myself could deserve. This was at a time when
the Sultan was extremely anxious lest his discontented subjects should
form revolutionary committees in Europe to stir up an agitation for
general reforms in his dominions. He was particularly suspicious of
those of his subjects who came to the free capital of Great Britain,
as relations between this country and the Sultan were then anything
but friendly. The Ambassador asked my object in coming to England,
and I told him that I had merely desired to learn English and gain
experience abroad which might be of use to me later in my own country.
I said that all I wanted was the payment of my own money, so that I
might devote myself to study. The old Ambassador said that most careful
consideration would be given to my case, and that I should be given a
suitable Government post if I would return to Constantinople at the
Sultan's expense. I declined the offer.
CHAPTER XVI.
A RETURN AND A SECOND FLIGHT.
Christian Ambassadors accredited to England by the
Sultan--I am strongly urged to return--A question
of money and health--I consent and go back to
Constantinople--At the palace of Yildiz--A 'private
salary' and an appointment--A suggestion of espionage
work--A warning--Broken promises move me to try and
escape again--My plan--I sign on before the mast at the
British Consulate--On a paraffin boat without luggage--I
reach Liverpool in safety.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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