[217] Manuscripts of the Imperial Library, _Papiers Colbert_, _Rapport adressé par le sieur Brodart à Colbert_, &c., already quoted. [The biographies of the Duke de Beaufort say it was commonly believed at the time that, according to the barbarous custom of the Turks, his dead body was beheaded by them, which would account for its not having been found on the field of battle.--See _Biographie Universelle_ of Michaud, &c.--_Trans._] CHAPTER XI. General Considerations on the Abduction of the Armenian Patriarch Avedick--Despatch of the Marquis de Ferriol to Constantinople as Ambassador--Difficulties peculiar to this Post--Incautious Conduct of some of Ferriol’s Predecessors--Quiclet’s Adventures--Portrait of Ferriol--His Pretensions at Constantinople--His Eccentricity of Manner--His Behaviour in Religious Matters--The Armenian Church--Short Account of its History--Ardent Desire of the Catholic Missionaries to make Converts--Their Imprudence--Ferriol at first attempts to repair it--Obstinate Resistance of Father Braconnier, a Jesuit--Encroachments and Requirements of the Jesuits. We now come to the story of a most audacious violation of the law of nations, conceived by the fanaticism of an ambassador, ventured upon in a friendly country, with a singular boldness and energy, accomplished by stratagem and imposture, and thus kept from the knowledge of an entire people. The high rank of the victim, the character of the means employed, the ardour of the passions then excited, give an especial importance to this act of violence, which was crowned by a _dénoûment_ as startling as up to the present it was little known. People were aware that an Armenian Patriarch, who combined with his civil power enormous religious authority, had been carried off from Constantinople towards the end of Louis XIV.’s reign. But what became of him afterwards, and what adventures terminated the existence of this personage who had been rudely snatched away from his country and precipitated from the pinnacle of honour and the highest dignity? Must we see in him the mysterious prisoner of the Isles Sainte-Marguerite, as Taulès and the grave German historian Hammer have affirmed?[218] Or, as others believe, did he rather end his days in the _bagne_ of Marseilles, or in the obscurity of a prison of Messina, or, more likely still, in one of the dungeons of the Inquisition?[219] What were the real causes of this extraordinary crime, which almost made the Sultan link himself with the numerous enemies of Louis XIV., and how did this monarch, vanquished and crushed by a coalition which was already formidable, contrive to appease the resentment of the Ottoman Porte? Such are the points which documents, entirely unpublished and of indisputable authenticity, will enable us to make clear. And this we shall do with the sole desire for truth, and without seeking to exaggerate or to extenuate the responsibility attaching to the authors