ACHMET the third was then Emperor of the Turks. He had been placed on the throne in 1703, replacing his brother Mustapha, by a revolution like that which in England transferred the crown from James II to his son-in-law William. Mustapha was under the control of his Mufti, whom the people hated, and made his whole empire revolt against him. His army, with which he had reckoned to punish the malcontents, joined them, and he was seized, unceremoniously deposed, and his brother taken from the seraglio to be made Sultan, almost without bloodshed. Achmet confined the deposed Sultan in Constantinople, where he survived for several years, to the great surprise of the Turks, who had been accustomed to see the dethronement of their kings followed by their death. The only return the new Sultan made to the ministers, the generals, the officers of janissaries, and to those who had part in the revolution, was to execute them one after the other, for fear they should subsequently attempt another revolution. By the sacrifice of so many brave men he weakened the empire but strengthened his throne. Henceforth his mind was bent on amassing treasure. He was the first of the sultans who ventured to make a small alteration in the money, and to impose a new tax; but he was obliged to give up both these plans for fear of a rebellion, for the rapacity and tyranny of the Grand Seignior is felt only by the officers of the empire, who, whoever they may be, are slaves of the sultan; but the rest of the Mussulmans live in absolute security, with no fears for their lives, fortunes and liberty. Such was the Emperor of the Turks, to whom the King of Sweden fled for refuge. He wrote to him as soon as he arrived in his territory. His letter is dated 13th of July, 1709. Several different copies of it are extant, which are all condemned as mere fabrications, but of all those which I have seen there is not one which does not display pride, and which was not rather in accordance with his courage than with his situation. The Sultan did not reply till towards the end of September. The pride of the Ottoman Porte made Charles feel the gulf that it considered existed between the Turkish Emperor and a Christian fugitive and conquered King of part of Scandinavia. Charles was, as a matter of fact, treated as an honourable prisoner. But he formed the design of turning the Ottoman arms against his enemies; he believed he could subdue Poland again, and reduce Russia to submission; he sent an envoy to Constantinople, but his best helper in his great project was Poniatowski, who went to Constantinople unofficially, and soon made himself indispensable to the King, agreeable to the Porte, and dangerous to the grand vizirs themselves.