[248] Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, _Déclaration Authentique de M. Pétis de la Croix, Secrétaire-Interprète du Roi en Langues Turque, Arabe, et autres Orientales_, which will be quoted hereafter. [249] Avedick or Arwedik, or Aviedik. In the present work Ferriol’s orthography has been adopted. [250] Unpublished despatch of Ferriol to the Cardinal de Janson, April 10, 1702:--Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 37. [251] _Ibid._ “At this moment the Grand Mufti, so to speak, governs the empire.” [252] Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Louis XIV., December 31, 1701:--Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 37. [253] Unpublished letters of Ferriol to Count de Pontchartrain, May 11 and June 8, 1702, and to Louis XIV., October 2, 1702:--Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 39. [254] Unpublished letter of Ferriol to Louis XIV., May 1, 1703:--_Ibid._ [255] Unpublished letter from Ferriol to the Kiaya of the Grand Vizier, May 14, 1703:--_Ibid._ [256] Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Louis XIV., July 23, 1703:--_Ibid._ The revolt commenced July 17. [257] Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, September 18, 1703. The fortress of the Seven Towers was at that time the principal State prison of Constantinople. [258] Unpublished despatches from Ferriol to Louis XIV., November 9, 1703, and from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, November 11, 1703:--Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 39. [259] Despatch from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, June 12, 1704. [260] Or in money of to-day, 880,000 francs (35,200_l._) There used to be purses of silver and purses of gold, the latter much the less common and worth 6,750_l._ sterling, or 148,500 livres (francs). There can be no question that purses of gold are not referred to, since four hundred of these would amount to an exorbitant sum, beyond the resources of the richest Armenians. Moreover, when the word _purse_ is used alone, it is to be understood in the sense of purse of silver:--_Encyclopédie des Sciences, des Arts, et des Métiers_, vol. x. p. 655; Edition of 1765. According to the _Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque du Roi_, vol i. p. 191, note S, the purse was worth 500 piastres. This piastre not being an imitation of the Spanish piastre, but a piece of money peculiar to Turkey, which in 1753 was worth 4fr. 40 c.; we thus get for the 400 purses, the sum collected by the Armenians, and mentioned in the despatch, the figure of 880,000 francs. [261] Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, December 16, 1704:--Archives of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 41. [262] _Ibid._ [263] Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, of December 16, 1704:--_Ibid._ [264] Letters from Ferriol to Louis XIV. and to Cardinal de Janson. [265] Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 41.