CHAPTER II SIR JOHN’S PROGRAMME 24 CHAPTER III LIFE IN CONSTANTINOPLE 33 CHAPTER IV THE MEN ABOUT THE AMBASSADOR 46 CHAPTER V STRENUA INERTIA 68 CHAPTER VI SIR JOHN GOES TO COURT 89 CHAPTER VII THE FESTIVITIES 105 CHAPTER VIII DIPLOMACY--HIGH AND OTHERWISE 116 CHAPTER IX THE SUBLIME THRESHOLD 136 CHAPTER X HOPES DEFERRED 147 CHAPTER XI FROM PURGATORY TO PERA 163 CHAPTER XII HALCYON DAYS 178 CHAPTER XIII THE STOOL OF REPENTANCE 196 CHAPTER XIV KARA MUSTAFA AND THE ALEPPO DOLLARS 227 CHAPTER XV INTERLUDE 246 CHAPTER XVI THE CASE OF MRS. PENTLOW 266 CHAPTER XVII THE PILOT AT REST 278 CHAPTER XVIII THE PRICE OF PARCHMENT 290 CHAPTER XIX SIR JOHN’S “TICKLISH CONDITION” 301 CHAPTER XX A LULL IN THE STORM 322 CHAPTER XXI RELEASE 339 CONCLUSION 355 APPENDICES 377 INDEX 409 _The portraits of Sir John Finch and Sir Thomas Baines are supplied by the Cambridge University Press by permission of Dr. Malloch and Mr. Wilfred Finch._ “_Under the Turk in Constantinople._” ILLUSTRATIONS Sir John Finch. From the Portrait by Carlo Dolci at Burley-on-the-Hill _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE Sir Thomas Baines. From the Portrait by Carlo Dolci at Burley-on-the-Hill 42 Paul Rycaut. From the Engraving by R. White after the Portrait by Sir Peter Lely 53 Sultan Mahomet the Fourth, Emperor of the Turks. From an Engraving by F. H. van den Hove 106 Dr. John Covel. From the Portrait by Valentine Ritz at Christ’s College, Cambridge 372 Sir Dudley North. From an Engraving by G. Vertue, 1743 376 CHAPTER I A DIPLOMAT IN SPITE OF HIMSELF