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Computer Science Programming
Basics with Ruby

Ophir Frieder, Gideon Frieder, and David Grossman

www.it-ebooks.info
Computer Science Programming Basics with Ruby
by Ophir Frieder, Gideon Frieder, and David Grossman
Copyright © 2013 Ophir Frieder, Gideon Frieder, and David Grossman. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472.
O’Reilly books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online editions are
also available for most titles (http://my.safaribooksonline.com). For more information, contact our corporate/
institutional sales department: 800-998-9938 or corporate@oreilly.com.
Editors: Simon St. Laurent and Meghan Blanchette Cover Designer: Randy Comer
Production Editor: Holly Bauer Interior Designer: David Futato
Copyeditor: Audrey Doyle Illustrators: Rebecca Demarest and Kara Ebrahim
Proofreader: Julie Van Keuren

April 2013: First Edition

Revision History for the First Edition:

2013-04-15: First release

See http://oreilly.com/catalog/errata.csp?isbn=9781449355975 for release details.

Nutshell Handbook, the Nutshell Handbook logo, and the O’Reilly logo are registered trademarks of O’Reilly
Media, Inc. Computer Science Programming Basics in Ruby, the image of a common Creeper, and related
trade dress are trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as
trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and O’Reilly Media, Inc., was aware of a trade‐
mark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps.
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and authors assume
no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained
herein.

ISBN: 978-1-449-35597-5
[LSI]

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 Table of Contents

Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

1. Introduction to Computer Science. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Application Development 2
Step 1: Understand the Problem 2
Step 2: Write Out the Solution in Plain Language 3
Step 3: Translate the Language into Code 3
Step 4: Test the Code in the Computer 4
1.3 Algorithms 4
1.3.1 Algorithm Efficiency 5
1.4 Summary 6
1.4.1 Key Concepts 6
1.4.2 Key Definitions 7
1.5 Exercises 7

2. How Does the Computer Really Work?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.1 Introduction 11
2.2 Basic Nomenclature and Components of a Computer System 11
2.3 Scales of Magnitude 14
2.4 Instruction Execution—Speed and Timing Scales 16
2.5 Bit Strings and Their Meaning 17
2.6 The Interpreter Process and Ruby 19
2.7 Summary 21
2.7.1 Key Concepts 21
2.7.2 Key Definitions 22
2.8 Exercises 22

3. Core Programming Elements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

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 3.1 Introduction 23
3.2 Getting Started 24
How to Install Ruby 24
How to Save Programs 24
3.3 What Is a Variable? 24
Constants: Variables That Never Change 26
Data Types 26
Integer 27
Float 27
Strings 28
Booleans 28
3.4 Basic Arithmetic Operators 28
3.5 Input and Output 31
Output Using Variables 31
Display User Input 32
Basic Programs 32
Step 1: Understanding the Problem 32
Step 2: Write Out the Problem in Plain Language 33
Step 3: Rewrite the Plain Language into Code 33
Step 4: Test the Code in the Computer 34
3.6 Common Programming Errors 34
Syntax Errors 34
Logic Errors 35
3.7 Mixing Data Types 36
3.8 Summary 36
3.8.1 Key Concepts 36
3.8.2 Key Definitions 37
3.9 Exercises 38

4. Conditional Structures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.1 Introduction 41
4.2 Flow of Execution 41
Logic Flow 41
4.3 Conditional Control 42
Control Flow 45
4.4 If-Then-Else Statements 46
Testing Conditional Flow 48
Elsif Statements 49
4.5 Case Statements 51
4.6 Debugging 52
4.6.1 Alternative Styles of Debugging 54
4.7 Summary 55

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 4.7.1 Key Concepts 56
4.7.2 Key Definitions 56
4.8 Exercises 56

5. Loop Structures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.1 Introduction 59
5.2 While Loops 59
5.3 Until Loops 62
5.4 For Loops and Nested Loops 63
For Loops 63
Nested Loops 64
5.5 Infinite Loops 65
5.6 Example: Finding Prime Numbers 66
5.7 Summary 69
5.7.1 Key Concepts 70
5.7.2 Key Definitions 70
5.8 Exercises 70

6. Arrays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6.1 Introduction 73
6.2 Array Types 73
6.2.1 One-Dimensional Arrays 73
Example: Find the Max 76
6.2.2 Multidimensional Arrays 77
Example: Find the Max—Modified 79
6.3 Hashes 81
Example: Hash 82
Example: Accessing a Hash 82
Example: Find the Max—Hash 83
6.4 Summary 84
6.4.1 Key Concepts 84
6.4.2 Key Definitions 84
6.5 Exercises 84

7. Sorting and Searching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

7.1 Introduction 87
7.1.1 Selection Sort 88
7.1.2 Insertion Sort 91
7.1.3 Bubble Sort 93
7.1.4 Radix Sort 95
7.2 Complexity Analysis 99
7.3 Searching 101

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 7.3.1 Linear Search 102
7.3.2 Binary Search 104
7.4 Summary 107
7.4.1 Key Concepts 108
7.4.2 Key Definitions 108
7.5 Exercises 109

8. Using Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

8.1 Introduction 111
8.2 Objects and Built-in Objects 111
8.2.1 Objects 112
8.2.2 Built-in Objects 113
8.2.3 Parameter Passing 115
8.3 Summary 117
8.3.1 Key Concepts 118
8.3.2 Key Definitions 118
8.4 Exercises 118

9. Defining Classes and Creating Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

9.1 Introduction 121
9.2 Instantiating Objects from Classes 121
9.3 Data and Methods 123
9.3.1 Grouping Data and Methods 124
9.3.2 Implementing Methods 125
9.4 Summary 128
9.4.1 Key Concepts 129
9.4.2 Key Definitions 129
9.5 Exercises 129

10. Object Inheritance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

10.1 Introduction 131
10.2 Inheritance 131
10.3 Basic Method Overriding 134
10.4 Accessing the Superclass 135
10.5 Applications 136
10.5.1 Person Database 136
10.5.2 Grocery Store 137
10.5.3 Video Games 137
10.6 Summary 138
10.6.1 Key Concepts 138
10.6.2 Key Definitions 138

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 10.7 Exercises 138

11. File Input/Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

11.1 Introduction 141
11.2 File Access: Reading and Writing 141
11.2.1 File Reader Class 143
11.2.2 FileWriter Class 144
11.2.3 File Reader/Writer Example 145
11.3 Summary 146
11.3.1 Key Concepts 146
11.3.2 Key Definitions 147
11.4 Exercises 147

12. Putting It All Together: Tic-Tac-Toe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

12.1 Introduction 149
12.2 Programming Approach 150
12.3 Tic-Tac-Toe 150
12.4 Tic-Tac-Toe Revised 159
12.5 Summary 161
12.6 Exercises 162

A. Recommended Additional Reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

B. Installing Ruby. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

C. Writing Code for Ruby. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

D. Using irb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

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www.it-ebooks.info
 Preface

Computer science introductory texts are often unnecessarily long. Many exceed 500
pages, laboriously describing every nuance of whatever programming language they are
using to introduce the concepts.
There is a better way: a programming language that has a low entry barrier. Preferably,
the language selected should be a real, widely used language with a subset that is powerful
and useful, yet mercifully small. Such a choice should arm the readers with marketable
tools. The esoteric details of the programming language, however, should be ignored
but with pointers for future investigation provided.
Ruby is a programming language well suited to this task. It is object-oriented, inter‐
preted, and relatively straightforward. More so, instead of being purely educationally
oriented, its popularity in industry is steadfastly growing.
Our book should be covered in sequential fashion. Each chapter assumes that the ma‐
terial from the preceding chapters has been mastered. To focus the discussion, we ignore
gory details, such as user interface design and development issues, that we believe are
ancillary to the core of computer science. Such issues should be, and are, covered in
depth in a variety of subsequent courses.
Our target audience is students and practitioners who wish to learn computer science
using Ruby rather than just how to program in a given language. This book consistently
emphasizes why computer science is different from computer programming. Students
and practitioners must understand what an algorithm is and what differentiates differ‐
ing algorithms for the same task. Although we are living in an era of growing compu‐
tational resources, we are also living in a world of growing data sets. Data amass every
day; thus, efficient algorithms are needed to process these data.
Students and practitioners completing a course using this book possess foundational
knowledge in the basics of computer science and are prepared to master abstract and
advanced concepts. Second semester courses should rely on languages other than Ruby,
furthering the understanding that programming languages are just interchangeable,

ix

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expressive tools. We know, however, that many students and practitioners may not take
another computer science course. If that is the case, this book provides them with an
overview of the field and an understanding of at least one popular programming lan‐
guage that happens to be useful from both a practical and a pedagogical standpoint.
Concepts taught in this book provide students and practitioners with a sufficient foun‐
dation to later learn more complex algorithms, advanced data structures, and new pro‐
gramming languages.
Finally, we hope to instill a core appreciation for algorithms and problem solving so
students and practitioners will solve problems with elegance and inspiration rather than
simply plowing ahead with brute force.
The slides corresponding to this book and the source code listed in the book are available
at http://ir.cs.georgetown.edu/Computer_Science_Programming_Basics_with_Ruby.

Conventions Used in This Book

The following typographical conventions are used in this book:
Italic
Indicates new terms, URLs, email addresses, filenames, and file extensions
Constant width
Used for program listings, as well as within paragraphs to refer to program elements
such as variable or function names, databases, data types, environment variables,
statements, and keywords
Constant width bold
Shows commands or other text that should be typed literally by the user
Constant width italic
Shows text that should be replaced with user-supplied values or by values deter‐
mined by context

This icon signifies a tip, suggestion, or general note

Using Code Examples

This book is here to help you get your job done. In general, you may use the code in
your programs and documentation. You do not need to contact us for permission unless
you’re reproducing a significant portion of the code. For example, writing a program
that uses several chunks of code from this book does not require permission. Selling or

x | Preface

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distributing a CD-ROM of examples from O’Reilly books does require permission. An‐
swering a question by citing this book and quoting example code does not require
permission. Incorporating a significant amount of example code from this book into
your product’s documentation does require permission.
We appreciate, but do not require, attribution. An attribution usually includes the title,
author, publisher, and ISBN. For example: “Computer Science Programming Basics in
Ruby by Ophir Frieder, Gideon Frieder, and David Grossman (O’Reilly). Copyright 2013
Ophir Frieder, Gideon Frieder, and David Grossman, 978-1-449-35597-5.”
If you feel your use of code examples falls outside fair use or the permission given here,
feel free to contact us at permissions@oreilly.com.

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Acknowledgments
Gone are the days where one needs to set the stage with “computers are everywhere” or
“computers are a commodity.” Clearly, computers are everywhere, are used by everyone,
and permeate every daily function and activity. Unfortunately, the majority of society
can only use ready-made computer applications; they cannot program computers. With
this book, we intend to change that!
In authoring this book, a five-year process, we benefited from and are grateful for the
help of many; here we name but a few and apologize to those whose help we inadver‐
tently forgot to acknowledge by name.
We thank all the students who persevered through the many instantiations of this text,
from those who read the initial chapters over and over and over again as part of IIT’s
offerings. Their comments, suggestions, and criticisms guided our corrections through
the iterations.
The entire production of this book, from the first partial drafts to the final version
delivered to O’Reilly, was managed by two students, initially by Yacin Nadji (a doctoral
student at Georgia Tech) and more recently by Andrew Yates (a doctoral student at
Georgetown University). Without their help, we would have stumbled over one another,
and we would have given up the effort many times over.
We use and envision others will use our book in the classroom. To aid instruction, we
provide corresponding slides that would not exist without the help of two Georgetown
University students, Candice Penelton and Sarah Chang.

xii | Preface

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We benefited from many editorial remarks; we thank the editorial changes suggested
by Becca Page, the anonymous reviewers, and most notably, Mike Fitzgerald, who not
only reviewed the book word by word, but also tested our code. We also thank Jason
Soo for his periodic assistance with the Ruby source code and Abdur Chowdhury for
his general guidance and assistance. Likewise, we thank the entire O’Reilly production
team, who went way beyond what could be expected and significantly improved this
book.
Finally and foremost, we thank our family members whose support and tolerance helped
us through our jointly endured struggles (for David: Mary Catherine, Isaac, and Joseph;
for Gideon: Dalia; and for Ophir: Nazli).

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 CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Computer Science

In This Chapter
• Defining computer science
• Programming techniques
• Algorithms and algorithm efficiency

1.1 Introduction
Introductory students often confuse programming with computer science, but pro‐
gramming is merely a strategy to implement computer science concepts. We introduce
the basics of computer science using the Ruby programming language. Given our goal,
we intentionally forgo many of the intricacies of the language.
Computer science is never tied to a programming language; it is tied to the task of solving
problems efficiently using a computer. A computer comes with some resources, which
will be discussed in Chapter 2, such as internal memory for short-term storage, pro‐
cessing capability, and long-term storage devices. A complete program is a set of in‐
structions that use the computer to solve a real problem. The tool for producing these
instructions is called a programming language. The goal is to develop solutions that use
these resources efficiently to solve real problems.
Programming languages come and go, but the essence of computer science stays the
same. If we need to sort a sequence of numbers, for example, it is immaterial if we sort
them using programming language A or B. The steps the program will follow, commonly
referred to as the algorithm, will remain the same. Hence, the core goal of computer
science is to study algorithms that solve real problems. Computer scientists strive to

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create a correct sequence of steps that minimize resource demands, operate in a timely
fashion, and yield correct results.
Algorithms are typically specified using pseudocode. Pseudocode, which may itself be
simply written in plain language, specifies the logical, conceptual steps that must occur
without specifying the necessary details needed to actually execute each step. However,
we think that a properly selected subset of Ruby is sufficiently simple to introduce the
algorithms. So, instead of creating an algorithm by writing it in plain language, gener‐
ating equivalent pseudocode, and transforming it into a programming language, we go
straight from the plain-language definition of an algorithm to Ruby code.

1.2 Application Development

When writing a program, it is important to keep in mind that the computer will do
exactly what you tell it to do. It cannot think as a human would, so you must provide
clear instructions for every step.
When giving instructions to others, people will often fill in blanks in logic without even
realizing it. For example, if you instruct someone to “go to the bank,” you may not say
what mode of transportation should be used. A computer, however, does not have the
ability to “fill in the blanks.” A computer will only do exactly what you tell it to do.
Imagine, for example, explaining to a person and to a computer how to make a peanut
butter and jelly sandwich. To the person, all you might need to say is, “Spread the peanut
butter on one slice of bread, the jelly on the other slice of bread, and then put the pieces
of bread together.” If these instructions were given to a computer, however, the computer
would not know where to start. Implied in these instructions are many logical steps that
a human can automatically infer and the computer cannot. For example, the human
would know that the jar must first be opened to scoop peanut butter out before you can
spread it onto a slice of bread. The computer might try to spread the actual jar across
the bread, without taking the peanut butter or jelly out—assuming it could even find
them!
Computer science is ultimately about problem solving. The following is a basic approach
to solving problems:

Step 1: Understand the problem.

Step 2: Write out a solution in plain language.
Step 3: Translate the language into code.
Step 4: Test the code in the computer.

Step 1: Understand the Problem

During this step, you try to answer all questions about the problem at hand. For example,
you may be asked to create a program that stores a list of names, like a directory. Instead

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of just creating this program with little forethought, it is important to know all the details
of the problem. Here are some examples:

• How many names will be stored?

• Do first and last names need to be stored separately?
• Are middle names needed?
• What is the maximum length that a name can be?

Step 2: Write Out the Solution in Plain Language

Once the problem is understood, the next step is to write an outline of how you will
solve it. An example of the process of storing a name might look like a sequence of
sentences:
Ask for the first name.
Store the first name.
Ask for the last name.
Store the last name.
Optionally, ask for the middle initial.
Store the middle initial.

Step 3: Translate the Language into Code

Once the plain-language version is written, it is time to translate it into actual code. The
Ruby code for the preceding example is shown in Example 1-1, but you are certainly
not expected to understand it yet.
Note the pound sign (#) on the righthand side. This sign means that the remainder of
the line is a comment. A comment is not part of the instructions given to the computer.
That is, a comment is a nonexecutable segment of code. Typically, comments are used
to explain what the code does. Not only is it critical to comment code for the sake of
readability and understanding, but using comments is considered good programming
style, and the liberal use of comments is essential. Always remember that you (or some‐
one else) may have to fix errors—colloquially referred to as bugs—years after you write
a program; comments will help you understand what your code does years after you
initially wrote it.

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 Gem of Wisdom
Algorithms are the core of computer science. Correct and efficient algorithms
guarantee that the computer works smart rather than only hard. Thus, think
about the problem, come up with a good algorithm, and then determine how
many steps the computer needs to complete the task.

Example 1-1. Plain language → Ruby code

1 puts "Enter first name: " # Ask for the first name
2 first_name = gets # Store the first name
3 puts "Enter last name: " # Ask for the last name
4 last_name = gets # Store the last name
5 puts "Enter middle initial: " # Ask for the middle initial
6 middle_initial = gets # Store the middle initial

Step 4: Test the Code in the Computer

This step entails running the program you created and seeing that it runs properly. It is
best to test portions of your code as you write them, instead of writing an entire program
only to find out that none of it works.

1.3 Algorithms
Algorithms are step-by-step methods of solving problems. The process of reading in
names previously described is an example of an algorithm, though a very simple one.
Some are extremely complicated, and many vary their execution depending on input.
Often algorithms take input and generate output, but not always. However, all algo‐
rithms have something in common: they all do something.
Imagine a website like Google Maps, which has an algorithm to get directions from one
point to another in either North America or Europe. It typically requires two inputs: a
source and a destination. It also gives two outputs: the narrative directions to get from
the source to the destination, and a map of the route.
The directions produced are also an algorithm; they accomplish the task of getting from
the source to the destination. Imagine getting the directions to your friend’s house
shown on the map in Figure 1-1.

1. Start going south on River Road.

2. Turn left (east) on Main Street.
3. Take a right (south) on Ruby Lane.
4. Turn left (east) toward Algorithm Circle.
5. Continue until you come to 345 Algorithm Circle (your friend’s house).

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Figure 1-1. Directions “algorithm”

First notice that the directions are numbered; each step happens in sequential order.
Additionally, it describes general steps like, “Turn left (east) on Main Street.” It does not
say, “Turn on your left turn signal and wait for the light to turn green, and then turn left
on Main Street.” That is not the point of an algorithm. An algorithm does not need to
write out every single detail, but it needs to have all the important parts.

1.3.1 Algorithm Efficiency

Different algorithms may accomplish the same task, but some will do it much faster
than others. Consider the algorithm just described for going to your friend’s house,
which certainly is not the only route to her or his home. Instead of getting on Ruby
Lane, you could have hopped on the expressway, gone to the airport, and then taken a
cab from the airport to your friend’s house—but that would be extremely inefficient.
Likewise, there may be a more efficient route to your friend’s house than the one de‐
scribed. Just because you have created an algorithm does not make it efficient, and being
able to create efficient algorithms is one of the factors that distinguishes a good computer
scientist. For example, imagine receiving the following set of directions to your friend’s
house instead of the ones shown in the previous section, illustrated on the map in
Figure 1-2:

1. Start going south on River Road.

1.3 Algorithms | 5

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 2. Turn left (east) one block south of Main Street onto Algorithm Circle.
3. Continue until you come to 345 Algorithm Circle (your friend’s house).

Figure 1-2. Directions “efficient algorithm”

Here we use a different algorithm that accomplishes the same task, and it does so slightly
more efficiently. That is, fewer turns are involved.

1.4 Summary
You now understand the core foundations of computer science, namely the use of al‐
gorithms to solve real-world problems. Ruby, as used throughout the remainder of the
book, is a powerful, yet relatively easy to understand, programming language that can
be used to implement these algorithms. It is, however, critical to remember that inde‐
pendent of the programming language used, without a good algorithm, your solution
will be ineffective.

1.4.1 Key Concepts

• The essence of computer science is problem solving. Computer science involves
using the computer as a tool to model or solve various problems, from storing names
in a database to finding efficient directions to a friend’s house.

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 Gem of Wisdom
Once we have an algorithm, we can compare it to other algorithms and pick the
best one for the job. Once the algorithm is done, we can write a program to
implement it.

• When programming, it is important to understand that the computer is never

wrong. It is merely following the directions you have given it.
• The following are basic steps for solving a computer science problem:

Step 1: Understand the problem.

Step 2: Write out a solution in plain language.
Step 3: Translate the language into code.
Step 4: Test the code in the computer.

• Algorithms are step-by-step methods for solving problems. When writing an al‐
gorithm, it is important to keep in mind the algorithm’s efficiency.

1.4.2 Key Definitions

• Algorithm: A step-by-step method for solving problems.
• Algorithm efficiency: A measurement that determines how efficient one algorithm
is compared with another.

1.5 Exercises
1. Imagine that you are creating a pocket calculator. You have created the functionality
for all the buttons except x2, the button that squares a number, and exp, which allows
you to calculate baseexponent, where exponent is an integer. You may use any other
functionality a calculator would normally have: for example, (+, -, *, /, =).
a. Create the functionality for the x2 button.
b. Create the functionality for the exp button.
2. In the third-grade math class of French mathematician Carl Gauss, the teacher
needed to give the students some busywork. She asked the class to compute the sum
of the first 100 numbers (1 to 100). Long before the rest of the class had finished.
Carl raised his hand and told his teacher that he had the answer: 5,050.

1.5 Exercises | 7

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 a. Craft an algorithm that will sum the first n numbers (assuming n ≥ 1). How
many steps does your algorithm take to complete when n = 100? How many
steps does it take when n = 1,000?
b. Can you create an algorithm like Gauss’s where the number of steps does not
depend on n?
3. A palindrome is a word or phrase that reads the same way forward and backward,
like “racecar.” Describe a sequence of steps that determines if a word or phrase is a
palindrome.
4. Consider the three mazes shown in Figure 1-3. Describe two different algorithms
for solving a maze. Discuss advantages and disadvantages of each algorithm. Then
look at the maze and predict which algorithm will complete first. See if your pre‐
dictions were correct by applying your algorithms to the mazes.

Figure 1-3. Three mazes for Exercise 4

5. Figure 1-4 shows an alternative way to represent an algorithm. (Note: we introduce

this construct in detail later on. If it looks too intimidating, skip it until after you’ve
read Chapter 4.)
a. Starting at the circle labeled “Start” work your way through the figure. What is
the purpose of this algorithm?
b. Translate the figure into simple language. Note that a diamond in the figure
represents a condition that may be true or false.

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 Figure 1-4. Alternative representation of an algorithm for Exercise 5

6. A cable company must use cables to connect 15 homes together so that every home
is reachable by every other home. The company has estimated the costs of different
cable routes (Figure 1-5 shows the numbers associated with each link). One engi‐
neer provides an algorithm, shown in Figure 1-5, that will find the cheapest set of
routes to pick. Does the engineer’s algorithm work for this case? Why or why not?

1.5 Exercises | 9

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had been reduced to the verge of starvation, thinking that if he
made noise enough and put in a claim large enough, he would be
sure to get something, lodged with the Cadi of Smyrna a complaint
against them. An ill-founded complaint perhaps; but we, at this
distance of time, have no means of judging. With whatever mental
reservations, we must needs tell the story as it has come down to
us.[251] Unsuccessful at Smyrna, the Jew carried his grievance up to
Constantinople and threw himself at the Grand Vizir’s feet with
horrid cries, praying to be rescued from the claws of those English
harpies. Kara Mustafa was only too ready to believe any charge
brought against a Frank, and never denied his sympathy to the
oppressed if he saw a chance of turning compassion into current
coin. So the two Englishmen were promptly summoned to appear
before the Divan.
Sir John, who had consistently protested against these frequent
summonings of English factors from their business,[252] could do no
less than lend them such protection as the Capitulations afforded.
The defendants, knowing that the Jew relied entirely upon
witnesses, thought to cut the ground from under him by appealing
to an Article in the Capitulations which provided that no evidence
should be valid against a Frank unless supported by a Hoggiet, or
written statement made in the presence of a Dragoman. This Article
had on many occasions proved useful in inferior courts and even,
several times, in the Grand Vizir’s tribunal itself, when the Grand Vizir
happened to be favourably inclined to the defendants. But at other
times even the best Vizirs had declared that the Article was intended
only for inferior courts and that the Vizir looked upon himself as
being above the Capitulations, were they never so precise.
To understand the position we must clear our minds of the
suggestion which the word “treaty” naturally produces: it implies a
totally false conception of the relations between the parties. The
Capitulations were not “treaties” in the ordinary meaning of the
word. They were mere concessions made by the Grand Signor, for
the sake of his revenues, to wretched Giaours in need of trade. As
such they depended for their duration on his pleasure, and for their
interpretation on the ingenuity or candour of his Ministers. For that
reason ambassadors who knew their business—who knew, that is,
the spirit of their environment—urged the Capitulations as seldom as
possible, never entered into litigation on their basis, if they could
avoid it, and suffered a small injury to pass unnoticed rather than
bring it before the supreme tribunal. The English, perfectly aware of
these conditions, never cited the Capitulations except when they
were assured beforehand that the citation would be received
favourably.
Sir John could not plead ignorance of these conditions. Some four
years before he had had an object lesson on this very point. In 1676
the Genoese Resident Spinola had tried to swindle a Greek out of a
sum of money, and on the matter being brought up to the Divan,
had tried to screen himself behind that Article. Ahmed Kuprili was so
angry to see a privilege granted to foreigners for their protection
used by them for the spoliation of the Grand Signor’s subjects that
he not only forced Spinola to an adjustment with the plaintiff, but
shortly afterwards condemned the Dutch Cancellier also to pay a
debt on the bare testimony of witnesses. Finch, considering this
procedure “a thing of pernicious consequence” to all Franks, had
done all he could to get the sentence against the Dutchman
reversed, but with little success.[253] If such was the attitude of
Ahmed Kuprili, what might be expected from a Vizir who, in Finch’s
own words, declared Capitulations to be “like a peice of wett
parchment that may be stretchd’ any way”? Yet, in the present case,
forgetting his experience, Sir John did a most reckless thing.
Although utterly lacking any assurance of a favourable reception,
though, in fact, having every reason to anticipate the opposite, he
caused the Capitulations to be produced in Court. Whereupon the
Grand Vizir ordered them to be left with him, that he might study
that interesting article at leisure.
It was not long before the folly of his action became manifest to
our Ambassador. When he asked to have the Charter back, he was
told that the Grand Vizir perceived in it many things which he
supposed had been obtained in former times by corruption, without
the Grand Signor’s knowledge: he intended to show it to the Grand
Signor and learn his pleasure in the matter.
Sir John listened with blank dismay: “His Majesty’s Capitulations
thrice sworn to and subscribd’ by this present Gran Signor,” the
Capitulations which had cost him so much “care, paynes, and
hazard,” to say nothing of gold and silver and Florence wines—in the
hands of Kara Mustafa! And that, too, “at a time when, besides the
great estate wee had allready in the country, wee had the accession
of 300,000 Dollars in ready mony, and above three millions of Dollars
in effects by our Generall Ships which arrivd’ in this
conjuncture.”[254] It was a prospect to shudder at. Something ought
to be done, and done quickly—before Kara Mustafa should work
some great mischief. But what? Before doing anything we must find
out what the Vizir’s aim is.
Overtures were made to the Vizir’s underlings—his Jewish man of
business acting as a go-between; and it was found that his aim was
—money. How much? Fifteen thousand for the Capitulations, and
three thousand for the claim against the Smyrna merchant: in all,
18,000 dollars. A big sum; but not too big for the emergency. With
all its limitations, the Charter constituted the only safeguard of our
estates and persons. Even in the worst of times, when the most
cruel and covetous Ministers had governed, we had always fled to
that Charter, as to a stronghold; and, though it had sometimes been
assaulted and shaken, yet it had never failed to afford us some
shelter. Without it we were lost. That was the plain fact of the
matter, and however much it might be embroidered by diplomatic
phraseology it remained fundamental. Sir John had to choose
between a course which wounded his pride and a course which
imperilled the existence of the English colony: he preferred the
former. So the sum was paid, and the Capitulations were restored by
the Grand Vizir “at a publick Court, in presence of all the
Bassàs.”[255]
 This was a master-stroke of Kara Mustafa’s—it threw into the
shade the turpitude of any previous Vizir. No Vizir had ever before
thought of such a thing. No Vizir had ever before ventured to flout
the dignity of the King of England in such a way, or to put the Grand
Signor’s faith up for sale. It was nothing less than holding the whole
English Nation, with its Ambassador and its Consuls, to ransom: an
achievement without example.
Having discovered that a European nation could be held to
ransom, Kara Mustafa hastened to exploit his discovery for all it was
worth. After the English came the turn of the Dutch; and in their
case the Vizir’s rapacity was aggravated by the brutality that arose
from the violence of his temper. A private lawsuit here also supplied
the occasion. M. de Broesses, the principal Dutch merchant at
Constantinople, who besides was Secretary to the Minister of
Holland commissioned direct from the States and had formerly been
Resident at the Porte, sued a Greek for a debt before the Divan. The
Grand Vizir, after listening to his claim, said that it appeared to be a
false demand. “Sir,” replied the Dutchman, “we Franks use not to
make false demands.” Taking this as a reflection on the Turks, Kara
Mustafa in an access of fury, ordered him to be laid down and
drubbed in sight of the Divan. M. de Broesses had 184 blows upon
his bare feet out of the 300 to which he had been condemned, and
was carried home in a critical condition. “The poor man is in danger
of being crippled all his life, his feet since his recovery being twice
opend’,” wrote Finch at the time; but it seems that he never really
recovered, and his death, which occurred soon after, was attributed
to this cruel punishment.[256]
Presently (August 13th) the Dutch Capitulations were taken away,
not by sleight of hand, as the English had been, but by an express
command from the Vizir. Nor was it alleged as an excuse for their
detention that they contained anything contrary to Moslem Law or
detrimental to the Grand Signor’s Exchequer. Kara Mustafa no longer
thought it necessary to cover his tyranny under an appearance of
law. When the Dutch Dragoman asked why they were detained, the
Vizir’s Kehayah bluntly answered: “You infidel dog, do not you eat
the Grand Signor’s air, and will you contribute nothing to him?” The
Minister of Holland proceeded to negotiate through the Vizir’s Jew,
as Finch had done; and it was not without some satisfaction that the
latter heard from the Jew that the ransom would be at least double
of what he himself had paid: “but as to this point,” he comments,
“wee have but a Jew’s word for it.” He need not have been so
sceptical. Kara Mustafa’s dragon-appetite grew in eating. The Dutch
Minister, Justinus Collyer, unable to protect his people ashore,
endeavoured at least to save their property afloat, and kept their
General ships, which arrived at that moment, outside the Castles of
Smyrna, declaring that he would not let them come in, until his
Capitulations were restored. But Kara Mustafa possessed other
means of persuasion. He threatened Collyer with the Seven Towers
and similar severities; and Collyer, with the example of his Secretary
before him, had no need to be told that the Vizir threatened not in
vain. So, after holding out for nearly two months, at last, anxious for
peace and persuaded that peace could be obtained only in one way,
he ordered the ships to come in; and immediately got his
Capitulations back on payment of 40,000 dollars.[257]
Such was Kara Mustafa’s fiscal system. So well did this gifted
statesman know how to levy tribute on foreign envoys; and those
envoys, instead of joining forces against the common oppressor,
invited his depredations by their insane dissensions.
The imbecility of these diplomats and their pettiness never showed
in a worse light than at the present conjuncture, the hour of
extremest danger for all of them. As our Ambassador played a
prominent part in this suicidal squabble he may be allowed to give
his own account of it:
“I read in Our printed Gazettes, That the Resident of Holland here,
complaining to His Masters that the Ambassadours of France and
Venice would not return his visits, they thought fitt to change His
Title from Resident into that of Ambassadour. Though my name is
left out in the Print, yet there was more reason perhaps to have
inserted It then that of the others.” He proceeds to demonstrate that
he amply deserved the fame which the newspapers had so
unaccountably refused him. “During the Warr between France and
the States, the Dutch Resident made me constantly two visits for
one, as He did likewise to my Predecessours; and is the style of all
Residents towards Ambassadours in this place: But no sooner was
the Peace made with France, but that the Dutch Resident gave me
to understand that He expected Visit for Visit. My answer was, That
the King my Master’s Ambassadour was never a jot the lesse for the
Peace, nor the States Resident the greater: And so wee passd’
without visiting each other.” There followed a similar estrangement
between the Dutchman and the representatives of France and
Venice, so that, when Collyer announced to them his promotion to
Ambassadorial rank, all three refused to acknowledge him, alleging
that it was neither honourable nor safe for them to do so till the
Porte had received him as such; and some of them (Finch says it
was not he) had the meanness to inform the Porte of the intrigue.
Nothing could be more pleasing to Kara Mustafa than discord among
his victims. He hastened to foment it by forbidding them to
recognise the Dutchman as Ambassador, and to turn it to account in
his characteristic fashion. When Collyer spoke to him about his new
Commission, the Vizir said, “Where are then the Letters of Credence
to me, and the accustomed presents?” Collyer replied that they were
both on the way. “Well,” said the Vizir, “when they arrive, we will talk
further of the matter,” and cut the audience short. The visitor gone,
he sent for the Register to find out what presents he was supposed
to be entitled to. He found that Cornelius Haghen, who had originally
made the Dutch Capitulations, gave presents to the value of one
hundred and twenty thousand dollars; and to fix this claim more
firmly, the very same night he despatched his Dragoman, Dr.
Mavrocordato, to take possession of Collyer’s Commission.[258]
Meanwhile the party in England which called for closer relations
with Holland had temporarily gained the ascendant, and, in
obedience to instructions from home, Sir John would fain support
her representative now. But it was too late. The utmost he could do
was to send Collyer his compliments privately, and to explain to him
the reasons why he dared not do more: by this time himself stood in
a “Ticklish condition” (such is his expression) with the Porte again.
“Ticklish,” indeed, was hardly the word for it. Had Finch foreseen
all that lay in front of him, he would probably have described his
condition as “Tragick.”
 F O OT N OT E S :
[245] “To my dayly comfort I was the last of all the Christian
Ministers that submitted.”—Finch to Coventry, March 1-11, 1679-
80.
[246] “I am fully perswaded that in the Turkes’ judgment, nay,
that of the Visir himselfe, I am a gainer every way.”—The Same to
the Same, Sept 2-12, 1678.
[247] Present State, p. 168.
[248] Baines to Conway, June 1-11, 1677, S.P. Turkey, 19.
[249] Life of Dudley North, pp. 124-5. Oddly enough, Sir John
himself tells a similar anecdote at the expense of the Polish
Ambassador: Finch to Coventry, Nov. 29, S.V. 1677. If we could
but see ourselves as we see others!
[250] Vandal’s Nointel, p. 227.
[251] Owing to a gap in the Ambassador’s correspondence and to
the absence from the scene of our candid Treasurer, much of
what follows rests on the authority of North’s second-hand
reports (see Life of Dudley North, pp. 90-92) and of a Narrative
which the Levant Company submitted to the King (Register, S.P.
Levant Company, 145), both sources in sad need of critical
scrutiny.
[252] A parallel case, between an Englishman and a Greek of
Smyrna, had just elicited such a protest. See Finch to Coventry,
March 1-11, 1679-80.
[253] Finch to Coventry, Aug. 4-14, Aug. 29/Sept. 8, 1676.
[254] Finch to Sir Leoline Jenkins, Aug. 21-31, 1680, S.P. Turkey,
19.
[255] Ibid.
[256] Ibid. Cp. Life of Dudley North, p. 100.
[257] Finch to Jenkins, loc. cit.; the Same to Sunderland, Nov. 6-
16, 1680, S.P. Turkey, 19.
[258] Finch to Jenkins, Aug. 21-31; the Same to Sunderland, Nov.
6-16.
 CHAPTER XIX
SIR JOHN’S “TICKLISH CONDITION”

Our Ambassador bad every right to expect that the ransom he had
paid down would be accepted by Kara Mustafa as a price of
immunity from persecution for the remainder of his sojourn in
Turkey. But it was not to be. Kara Mustafa had in store for him
another tempest—a tempest beside which all those he had outlived
might seem as spells of fine weather. It arose, by a singular irony,
out of the very event which had once filled him with so much pride
and so many hopes of a serene and prosperous career at the
Ottoman Court.
It will be remembered that the late Grand Vizir had relieved Finch
from the importunities of the Pasha of Tunis by sending that worthy
to a Governorship in the utmost confines of Arabia—somewhere
beyond Egypt—near Ethiopia: nobody exactly knew where, but
everybody earnestly hoped that, wherever his place of honourable
exile was, he would never quit it. Finch, as we know, had not
forgotten him: every now and again, in moments of depression,
thoughts of the Pasha forced themselves upon his mind; and these
apprehensions, once vague, had become particularly vivid of late.
The thing which Sir John feared came to pass at last.
 Towards the end of June 1680 the Pasha returned to
Constantinople with his grievance, which, carefully nursed in the
tropical climate of his residence, had grown to gigantic dimensions.
In 1674 he had simply desired that the Ambassador should procure
restitution of his remaining goods from the corsair. Now he demands
them from him. Moreover, now he alleges his loss to be far greater
than he had represented it before, and, indeed, greater than it could
possibly be.
He began by applying to the Vizir’s Kehayah, to the Rais Effendi,
and to the Chaoush-bashi. Sir John sent to them a Dragoman who
set forth his case, relating all that he had done for the Pasha in Italy
and Malta out of sheer courtesy. The Ministers appeared fully
convinced, and Finch thought that the story had ended; but it was
only beginning. The plaintiff, disappointed with the result of his first
step, addressed himself directly to the Vizir, who appointed the same
three officers to hear the Pasha and the Ambassador face to face,
and to report to him. Finch confronted the Pasha accordingly; the
plaintiff’s demands and his own defence were heard, and, to all
seeming, the case went wholly as he wished: the Rais Effendi
undertook to obtain a favourable verdict from the Vizir for a trifle of
two purses, that is, a thousand dollars, which sum was promised to
be paid when sentence had been issued. On receipt of the report,
the Vizir, as was anticipated, announced that he must take
cognisance of the cause himself, and summoned both parties to
appear before his tribunal.
Friday, September 3rd, Sir John goes to the Divan, and finds the
Grand Vizir seated on the bench with the two Cadileskers, or Chief
Justices of Europe and Asia. All the great Ministers of the Porte are
also present. Kara Mustafa opens the proceedings by bidding the
Pasha produce the list of his losses, and saying that, if the plaintiff
can prove his claim, he will find him a paymaster and clap up the
Ambassador in the Seven Towers. The list is produced and read out:
it amounts to 700 purses, or 350,000 dollars! The reading over,
Finch asks: “Who has taken all those goods?” “The Corsair,” answers
the Pasha. “He that has taken them, let him restore them”—a good
retort; but it does not seem to please the Grand Vizir.
“Ambassador,” he breaks in sharply, “you and all other
ambassadors are sent hither by your respective princes to answer
for the lives and estates of all Mussulmans all over the world that are
endamaged or suffer by your respective subjects, and you are here a
hostage to answer for all damage done by Englishmen all over the
world.”
Sir John, “knowing how subitaneous the Visir is in all his motions
and not judging it prudent to provoke him at first,” would fain
decline a direct answer to that strange doctrine—strange, yet, from
the Turkish point of view, perfectly orthodox. But as Kara Mustafa,
with great heat, calls for an answer, he replies:
“The Gran Signor is a Great Emperour and yet He cannot secure
His ships from Gran Cairo from the Corsaros, nor His Caravans by
land from the Arabians, both being often robbed. Neither can my
Master secure His own subjects or the Gran Signor’s from pirates; for
none but God Almighty could doe it.”
This soft answer turned away the Vizir’s wrath, and the case went
on.
Finch pleads that he is not in the least concerned in the Pasha’s
losses, seeing that the ship from which his goods were taken was no
English ship, and the captain, a renegade of his country and religion
settled and married at Leghorn, was the Great Duke’s subject. But
even supposing, for the sake of argument, that he were concerned?
Here is the discharge by which the Pasha’s own Procurator released
Captain Chaplyn and all Englishmen from any liability in the matter.
How that discharge had been obtained we know already; also the
statement that the Mediterranean was no English ship was less
accurate than we could have wished. But Sir John is here to defend
a case, not to speak the truth; and, it must be owned, he defends it
as one to the manner born. Unfortunately, the Grand Vizir has no
taste for dialectics. A Turk had come to grief whilst travelling under
the English flag, and the English Nation was bound to indemnify
him: that is the sum and substance of the whole matter, in
accordance with the traditional Turkish view[259]—a view to which,
in the present instance, the English Government appeared to lend
colour by recovering part of the Pasha’s property: if part, why not
the whole? Finch, too, by dwelling on the point of the ship’s and
captain’s nationality, did he not implicitly admit the validity of that
view? Therefore, the Vizir, breaks into the argument by ordering the
Ambassador to write to his King to cause full restitution of the
Pasha’s goods. Sir John answers that what His Majesty had already
done was done out of kindness and not from any obligation; it would
be useless to trouble His Majesty. But Kara Mustafa insists with so
much vehemence that Sir John has to say, if His Excellency so
commands, he will write, though nothing can come of it, as it is
impossible to find what pirates and thieves have stolen. The Vizir
presses the matter no further, and the case goes on.
The Pasha denies that the Aga in question was his Procurator.
Finch produces a document under the Pasha’s own hand and seal,
drawn up at Constantinople before a Cadi, in which he recognised
him as such. This unexpected stroke disconcerts the Pasha, but it
does not disarm him. Changing his ground, he denies that he has
received any of the goods recovered at Leghorn or Malta. Finch
produces the receipt which the Pasha had given to his Aga.
Unabashed, the Pasha changes his ground again and alleges that
the English Consul at Tunis had given him a Hoggiet, guaranteeing
the property laden on Captain Chaplyn’s ship: but for that guarantee,
he says, he would have gone overland. Finch replies, First, that the
Barbary Coast is not under his jurisdiction and therefore the Consul
must answer for himself; Secondly, that, even if the Consul were
under him, an inferior could not bind his superior, any more than any
Pasha in the Empire could bind the Grand Vizir; Lastly, that he
cannot believe that any Consul of His Majesty’s would become
surety. Therefore he asks to see the Hoggiet. The Pasha says that it
was taken from him with the rest of his property. Finch retorts that a
document of such importance could easily have been carried about
him, and that, though he is not concerned in the loss of his gold and
jewels, yet it is probable he has lost neither, since he had time to
carry out of the ship five boatloads of goods before the Corsair came
up with the Mediterranean, and men do not usually leave gold and
jewels to the last. This the Pasha does not deny; but changes his
ground once more by denouncing the Captain. Finch replies that,
although he is not answerable for the Captain, yet he had brought
him along with him to answer for himself: Captain Chaplyn had
stayed at Smyrna seven months, and the Pasha’s Procurator had
given him, before a Cadi, a certificate of good conduct.
At this point the Cadilesker who was to pronounce judgment
began to write down his verdict. But the Vizir stopped him, saying
that the case could not be decided at one hearing. Finch “much
misliked” this; but, of course, he could do nothing. So the case was
adjourned.
In spite of that ominous move, the Ambassador left the Court not
without hopes: both the Cadileskers had throughout declared for
him, and the Vizir had distributed his thunders pretty evenly
between the litigants. He was not, however, allowed to continue in
this hopeful state of mind long. Next day, the Vizir’s Kehayah and
Rais Effendi sent for his Dragoman and told him that a very large
sum was demanded from the Ambassador: the Pasha, who governed
Tunis during an insurrection, had raised his great fortune by
plundering rebels and, in addition, had given the whole of it to the
Grand Signor: therefore, the Vizir would expect a good deal to rid
him of this claim. Sir John’s answer was that “he could as a
gentleman thank his friends, but could not as an Ambassador treat
by way of contract for an asper.” This brought a milder demand: 15
purses for the Vizir and 7 for the other Ministers—altogether 11,000
dollars.
To those who made it, this demand no doubt appeared moderate,
considering the amount of the claim involved; but our Ambassador
thought it monstrous, considering that the claim was nothing but a
false pretence. Besides, would compliance really free him from
further molestation? Sir John did not believe it would. He knew the
Turks too well by now, and simply looked upon these overtures as a
new example of “their old way of inviting a man to treat and then
screwing him up to what they please.” So he returned a categorical
answer in writing to the effect that he was in no way to blame; he
had not only a most just cause, but also a cause full of merit; that
this suit was directed against the King his master, the merchants
being not in the least concerned in it, and that, consequently, he
could not treat for a single asper; but to those who should free him
from this injurious pretension, when the business was done, he
could and would show his gratitude. “So,” he concluded, “remitting
my selfe to the justice of the Gran Visir, I implore the Divine
Protection, and shall acquiesce in His Holy Will, happen what will.” In
answer to this, the Kehayah sent Finch word that he should repent
his rejection of the proposed adjustment.[260]
That, indeed, was the opinion of the English merchants, too. So
far from not being in the least concerned in the matter, they were
terribly interested, and warned the Ambassador that, if the Vizir’s
mouth was not stopped at once, they might have to pay very heavily
in the end. Some even reproached him for driving the Company to a
dangerous precipice. But the Ambassador, having been censured by
the Company for his other adjustments, was this time determined to
stand firm at all hazards and let Kara Mustafa do his worst.[261]
Some twenty-four days passed, and then the Vizir’s Jew came to
inform Sir John “with many threats intermingled” of the resolution
taken at the Porte—that he should enter into negotiations for an
agreement. Sir John referred the emissary to his former declaration,
adding that, far from seeing any reason to recede from it, he must
confirm and ratify it again, “and the rather because since the writing
I had receivd positive orders from England not to enter into any
contract”—he could not make one step further: the Vizir “might doe
what he pleasd.” “Thus,” he reported on September 29th, “stands
this case, either victory or imprisonment of my person is like to be
the result of it.”[262]
 It is impossible to contemplate without admiration the intrepidity
with which Finch faced the alternative before him. Happen what
might, he had decided to hold out, and the only effect which the
expostulations of the English and the threats of the Turks produced
on his decision was to strengthen it. Courage, as we have seen, was
by no means a conspicuous feature of Sir John’s character; yet on
this occasion he displayed all the steadfastness of a hardened
fighter. He would not let the Turks lure or intimidate him on to
ground which no Ambassador could consent to occupy without grave
detriment to the interests confided to him. The question was vital
“not onely in regard of the Great Summe which under all the variety
of demands is at the lowest very high: but in regard it is a Precedent
of pernicious consequence to Our Commerce, so long as this Visir
livs.”[263]
Kara Mustafa’s choler at this calm defiance is not inconceivable. It
behoved him to teach the English, as he had taught other Giaours,
what they got by defying his thunder. You refused all terms of
peace? You shall have war.
On October 1st the Ambassador was once more summoned before
the Grand Vizir’s tribunal—to plead the same cause for the third and
last time. He went, accompanied by five of the leading English
merchants and his Dragomans. What his emotions were as he went
we know from his own mouth. Victory or imprisonment, he had said,
with a certain glow of internal pride—like that of a resolute pilot
amid the piled tempests. But Sir John was not either a hero or a
martyr by nature: he was merely a man with a sense of duty—which
does not exclude other senses. With perfect frankness he confesses
that “When I went to the Tryall, accompanyd’ onely with five of the
chief of the Factory, wee all, and our Druggermen too, had
apprehensions of imprisonment.”
The manner in which the proceedings were conducted was not
calculated to reassure the defendants. The Pasha’s claim had in the
interval risen to the colossal figure of 1000 purses, that is, half-a-
million dollars: so much for this, so much for that. He went on
specifying the various items, until the Grand Vizir himself ordered
him to stop—he had heard enough. Then turning to the Ambassador,
he asked for his answer. Sir John’s answer was the same as before:
a flat denial of responsibility, backed with the familiar arguments.
But how poor is the eloquence of him who advocates a cause which
we disapprove: how inadmissible his statements, how unconvincing
his reasons! Kara Mustafa, who had put on his most thunderous look
for the occasion, overruled everything that might be said for the
defence with such truculence, that “when wee saw how prodigiously
things were carry’d against us, wee thought imprisonment
unavoidable”—we already saw ourselves in the cell of the
condemned....
In this fearful emergency Sir John had an inspiration—one of
those inspirations that panic sometimes begets. It occurred to him
suddenly to beg for time to write home for instructions. Contrary to
his own expectation, Kara Mustafa agreed to suspend proceedings
till the end of February—five months being necessary for an
interchange of communications between Constantinople and London.
This prompt assent could easily be accounted for. In Turkey a
request for time was commonly understood to be equivalent to a
hint that the party had a mind to come to terms.[264] Certainly so
the Grand Vizir understood it, though Sir John, far from suspecting
the construction put upon his words, congratulated himself upon his
strategy. “Had I not thus prevented the pronouncing of sentence,”
he wrote next morning, “Wee had all not onely bin clapd’ up in
prison, but the estates also of the Levant Company had bin violently
seizd’ till I had complyd’ with the summe.” It was not, to be sure, an
acquittal, but it was the next best thing—a respite. “Now I must say
with the Italian, chi da tempo, da vita. I should think that, when the
five moneths are expird’, it would not be hard to get three moneths
more, though I doe not say that it is to be relyd’ upon for who
knows this Visir.” Thus checking his own elation, he went on to press
for his supersession. He had occupied that thorny seat on the
Bosphorus long enough; it was time that somebody else had his
turn. “I believe,” he told the Secretary of State, “most men will be of
opinion that a new Ambassadour, accompanyd’ with particular orders
and fresh Letters from His Majesty relating to this case, will, in so
palpably a just cause, make the false pretensions of the Bassà of
Tunis wholely vanish.”[265]
People at home entirely agreed that a new broom was needed to
clear up the mess in Stambul, and steps had already been taken to
provide one. After some discussion on the advisability of sending out
an ambassador at all whilst Kara Mustafa raged in Turkey, the Levant
Merchants, at a Court held on October 3rd, 1679, had decided to
take the risk; six months later they petitioned the King to order Sir
John Finch’s return, so that they might select a successor; and,
having obtained the King’s permission so to do, they took a ballot on
April 22nd, 1680.[266]
It is a very curious thing that, though the Constantinople Embassy
was a byword for difficulty and even for danger in the diplomatic
world, and though few of its tenants had not, sooner or later,
begged for recall as for an inestimable boon, yet there never were
wanting keen candidates: the pay and perquisites offered an
irresistible attraction, and, apparently, each would-be ambassador
flattered himself that Fortune would prove kinder to him than she
had done to his predecessors. No fewer than eight individuals (some
of whom ought to have known better) were eager to step into Sir
John’s tight shoes. One of these was our friend Paul Rycaut. As soon
as the recall of Finch was decided upon, the ex-Consul, encouraged
by his former chief Lord Winchilsea with assurances that “neither his
person nor endeavours towards this promotion would be displeasing
to his Majesty,” hastened to put in a claim with the Crown, dwelling
on his past services, his qualifications, and “the knowne loyaltie of
his family.” At the same time he canvassed the Levant Company,
which, on his return home, had acknowledged its obligations to him
with a gratuity. Everything tended to make Rycaut think that “he
stood as faire in the nomination as any person whatsoever.” But
suddenly the Earl of Berkeley, Governor of the Company, put an end
to Rycaut’s expectations by announcing that the King did not wish
that any one who had lived in Turkey “under a lesse degree and
qualitie then that of an Ambassadour” should be chosen.[267]
Another aspirant was the Hon. Dudley North. He also felt sure
that, with all his experience of Turkey, he would be able to do the
nation better service there than anyone else. But his aspirations
never got beyond the stage of aspirations. Before leaving
Constantinople he had sounded his brothers, and they laughed him
out of the project by telling him that he knew “as little of London
and interest at Court here, as they did of Constantinople and the
Turkish Court there.”[268] This, in fact, was the one fatal objection to
North, as it was to Rycaut. Either of these gentlemen would have
made an ideal envoy at the Porte: no contemporary Englishman
could be compared with either in all the essential qualifications for
the post. But neither stood the slightest chance; for neither
possessed the influence (or, as they said in those days, the
“interest”) without which qualifications then, as now, were of little
account.
The other six suitors were men of weight in Court and commercial
circles: Sir Thomas Thynne, Mr Thomas Neale, Major Knatchbull, Sir
Phi. Matthewes, Sir Richard Deereham, and Lord Chandos. The last-
named candidate was particularly well furnished with the
qualifications that count. On one hand, he was connected, though
remotely, with the Earl of Berkeley, Governor of the Company, and
on the other, very closely, with Sir Henry Barnard, an influential
Turkey Merchant whose daughter he had married. To these merits
Chandos had just added by taking his freedom of the Company.
Thus amply supported, he made no secret of his hopes to get the
appointment; and the event showed that he was right. In the ballot
mentioned, he was chosen by 72 voices as against the 55 given for
Sir Thomas Thynne. There was some little doubt whether the King
would confirm the choice, for Chandos was one of the “petitioning
lords”—that is, one of the band of politicians who at that time of
extreme party virulence were bitterly hated by the Court and its
adherents for ventilating their views in the form of petitions
addressed to the Crown: a hate which they repaid with generous
interest, the nation being, in fact, divided into “Petitioners” and their
“Abhorrers,” epithets equivalent to those of “Whig” and “Tory” that
were just coming into fashion. Although the King could not punish
these importunate patriots, he was not obliged to show them any
preference. But, in truth, the very argument used to the
disadvantage of Chandos was a very strong one in his favour.
Charles at that particular moment had every reason to conciliate the
popular party. He therefore magnanimously forgave Chandos his
little indiscretion, and before the end of the year 1680 the Letters
which accredited “Our Right Trusty and well belov’d James Lord
Chandos, Baron of Sudely and one of the Peeres of this Our
Kingdome of England” to the Porte, were signed at Whitehall.[269]
Meanwhile Sir John at Constantinople had enough to keep him
busy. Two days had hardly elapsed since the adjournment of the
case, when he received from Kara Mustafa’s Kehayah a request not
to write to his king, as the Pasha of Tunis would appear against him
no more—the Grand Vizir had freed him wholly from that suit—
wherefore he expected a present commensurate with the service
rendered. This was, of course, the logical sequel to the grant of
time. Kara Mustafa in putting forward his demand was simply asking,
in perfect good faith, for the fulfilment of what he imagined to be a
tacit understanding. Sir John, as we have seen, had neither
understood himself nor had he asked some more experienced
Englishman to enlighten him. So he also in perfect good faith
answered that, as to not writing, he could not oblige the Vizir, having
already done so. As to his being wholly freed, he could not think
himself clear of the Pasha’s pretensions until he had a formal
sentence given in his favour, and a copy of it delivered to him. Had
that been done, the Grand Vizir would not have found him wanting
in due acknowledgments, but, as things stood, he was far from
having any such security. Although he had appealed to the
Capitulations, and to the Pasha’s own acquittances, he had been
overruled on every point; nay, indeed, he had not heard one word in
his favour except from the Cadilesker, who had rejected the Pasha’s
witnesses. In the circumstances, he was “out of all capacity of
answering the Visir’s expectation.”
The Kehayah, shocked at the Giaour’s perfidy, sent him word that
he would make him, some way or other, pay the sum demanded
thrice over, and drove his Dragomans out of the room with the
coarsest abuse, calling them “infidels” and “dogs.” The wretched
Interpreters fled in dread of being drubbed. Sir John’s feelings on
hearing of this—who could paint them better than he?
In great amazement, the Ambassador sat down to give an
exhaustive account of what had happened to both Secretaries of
State at once, so that, if the Earl of Sunderland should be too
preoccupied, he might at least secure the attention of Sir Leoline
Jenkins. To Sunderland he writes: “My Lord, affayrs in this Court are
incredible, indicible, nay really inconceivable. What is true to-day, is
not true to-morrow. No promise is strong enough to bind. No
reasons, be they never so cogent, powerfull enough to perswade.
Impetuous passion, accompanyd’ with avarice, over rules all Laws
and Capitulations....”[270]
The letter to Jenkins is even more pregnant with comments which
depict the writer’s mental condition: “This is the State of things. I
pray Acquaint his Majesty with it, that the Ambassadour here may be
sure not to want Positive Orders and Directions, how to proceed by
the end of February; that being the uttmost Time limited by the Visir.
Nay Truly, The Violence of the Times here is such that I know not
whether they will have Patience with me till the 150 dayes from the
first of October are expired. For it may justly be feard, That by the
Turkish Violence offerd’ to my Person, and to the Estates of the
Kings Subjects under my Protection here, that I may be compelld’ to
doe that, which is abhorrent to the Trust reposd’ in me, and my own
reason. I have twice in Person appeard’ before this Visir in Publick
Divan, a thing that no Publick Minister ever yet durst doe under this
Visir, though His Prince was attacqud’. In these Appearances I may
modestly say, I usd’ some resolution even when the Visir expressd’
much anger: I gott from Him 150 dayes respite, which I believe He
now repents to have granted, thinking that all Ministers will from this
Precedent, make the like plea when any demands are made upon
them.”
He had written thus far when the Dragomans whom he had sent
to the Porte about the present, given in accordance with the usual
etiquette by all ambassadors at the Bairam, returned and told him
that the Kehayah had said curtly, They had no need of his presents.
If a Turk’s demand for bakshish was disturbing, his refusal of
bakshish was terrifying. It was an act which, as the poor
Ambassador added in his despatch, “every one that knows Turky,
knows how to interpret.” It meant the Seven Towers. At the best
that Ottoman Bastille was a miserable gaol, and even robust
ambassadors had been known to contract in it mortal diseases. Sir
John was anything but robust. The possibility that at any moment he
might find himself shut up in that hideous prison—his body wasting
away with sickness and his soul withering with hope of deliverance
deferred—was more than he could bear. He closed his despatch with
a heart-rending cry, which seems still to ring in the reader’s ear
across the gulf of the dead centuries: “God Almighty protect
me!”[271]
Shortly afterwards the Grand Signor left for Adrianople, followed
by the Grand Vizir and his Kehayah, whose parting words to Sir
John’s Dragoman were: “Let your Ambassador vaunt that he has
outwitted us.” Outwitted them! when? how? Incredible though it will
sound, Sir John even now has no inkling of the tragedy of cross-
purposes in which he has entangled himself: so utterly out of touch,
after seven years’ residence in Turkey, he remains not only with the
Turks and their ways, but also with his own countrymen. Any factor
at Galata could have solved the riddle for him; his Dragomans
likewise. But Sir John is too aloof to ask them for a solution, and
they do not volunteer one, because obviously they think that he has,
indeed, outwitted the Vizir. Thus, while the world about him admires
his astuteness, Sir John dolefully wonders what the meaning of that
cryptic utterance may be. “I am apt to believe,” he repeats, “that the
Visir was surprisd’ in granting me 5 moneths time; Upon second
thoughts imagining that all Ministers would, upon all demands, from
this Precedent, recurr to the same Expedient, which made the
Kehaiah tell my Druggerman when he parted, in anger, Let your
Ambassadour vaunt that he has outwitted us.” The more he thinks it
over, the more probable does this explanation appear to Sir John.
But, however that may be, “these things being thus, Wee are not to
expect now (what I insinuated in my first letter as possible) any
prorogation of time, but rigorous Proceeding. In the meantime how
they will deal with Me or the Merchants by their forgery’s and
Avanias, God know’s; for the Visir I fear sayes within Himselfe Who
has resisted My Will? But at the best if His Majesty’s Commands and
Directions accompanyd’ with His Letters to the Visir arrive not by the
27th of February next, The Ambassadour here will be at a great
losse.”[272]
Sir John casts about for some means of conjuring away the storm
he sees hanging over his head. At length an idea comes to him:
those Bairam presents—true, the Kehayah had rejected them once;
but what if we paid him the respect of sending them a day’s journey
after him, “accompanyd’ with the addition of a rare pendulum, an
excellent gold watch, and a long Perspective glasse”? Surely, such an
act of humility could not fail to soften even an unspeakable
Kehayah’s heart. But alas! the Kehayah is uncajoleable: he dismisses
both the olive branch and the dove that brought it with contumely.
The days drag on, and the face of things remains as black as ever.
It is the beginning of November. A month ago Sir John, buoyed up
by his imaginary respite, was proud to feel that he had “carry’d this
case so high”—that he had made good his bit of resolution—that he
was the one mortal who had prevailed, if but for a short season,
against the fiend incarnate. But he does not feel at all proud now.
The disdainful silence of the Porte somehow cows him more than the
vehemence to which he had been subjected before. He lives
trembling at what this silence may portend. Utterly mystified and
profoundly alarmed, he sends one of his Dragomans to the friendly
Hussein Aga “to penetrate into the sense of the Court.” The
Customer, being the last man who took leave of the Kehayah, would
probably know what dark designs lay behind that cryptic utterance.
The Dragoman returned just as Sir John finished his report. We have
the result in a Postscript. Before the emissary opened his mouth,
Hussein of his own accord said that he had twice spoken to the
Kehayah, telling him that the King of England had suspended
commerce with Turkey (he had the news from the Hollanders) and
that now he might as well throw up his office and shut up the
Custom-House, as the English were the only people who brought
any considerable profit to it. That, he said, had made the Kehayah
pause, but had not elicited one word. Next day, he added, he told
the Kislar Aga, or Chief of the Black Eunuchs, the same thing. He
concluded by sending Finch a message to the effect that he did well
to keep up his resolution, for “things at last would end well.”[273]
The Customer’s information was correct: the Levant Company had
decided at a General Court to suspend commerce with
Constantinople and Smyrna temporarily, in order to “take from
before the Turks those baits and occasion of temptations which the
vastness of our trade hath of late years administered.” This
resolution they submitted to the King and his Privy Council, for
approval, justifying it by a minute account of “the many grievous
oppressions” which the English merchants and Ambassador “of late
years have sustained and at present labour under in Turkey, by the
corruption of the Vizir Azem and other Turkish officers.”[274] It was a
measure which several times in the past, at periods of similar stress,
had been proposed as the only remedy for Turkish greed. But it had
never yet been tried, with the result that the Turks, arguing that
either the trade was lucrative enough to bear any amount of
squeezing or that the English could not subsist without it (in the
words of a Cromwellian Consul, “that if they should bore out our
eyes to-day, yet we would return to trade with them again to-
morrow”), set no limit to their rapacity.
 It remained to be seen whether the remedy would prove
efficacious now. Certainly the impression which the news of the
strike had made on the Kehayah, “if true,” was encouraging. Also the
Customer’s friendly message was comforting. These things revived
Sir John’s drooping spirits somewhat. But they did not quite exorcise
the anxiety that was gnawing at his heart. At no time since the
Grand Vizir first declared war on him had the hope of peace seemed
more remote. The only consolation Sir John had in his affliction was
the knowledge that he was not the only sufferer. All his colleagues
were in the same ticklish condition. The Dutch Minister’s difficulties
have been described. The Bailo of Venice, notwithstanding the vast
sums Kara Mustafa had already wrung from him, was faced with a
fresh claim on his purse. The Resident of Genoa likewise groaned
under another “avania.” Only the French Ambassador seemed
exempt: though, after a full twelvemonth, he still continued to refuse
audience unless he had it on the Soffah, nothing, “to all men’s
astonishment,” had happened to him: yet even his position was so
precarious that he bitterly repented having brought his lady and his
daughter, an only child, with him.[275] Sir John noted the troubles of
his neighbours with all the fortitude with which we note other
people’s troubles; but, as the days went by, he was less able to
endure his own.
Thus matters stood till the end of November—when the situation
underwent a sudden change.
 F O OT N OT E S :
[259] See Appendix XV.
[260] Finch to Jenkins, Sept. 24, 1680, S.P. Turkey, 19.
[261] The Same to Sunderland, Oct. 2-12, 1680; Life of Dudley
North, p. 95.
[262] Finch to Jenkins, Sept. 29.
[263] The Same to Sunderland, Oct. 2-12.
[264] Life of Dudley North, p. 97.
[265] Finch to Sunderland, Oct. 2-12.
[266] Register (S.P. Levant Company, 145), p. 71; Hist. MSS.
Com. Seventh Report, pp. 475, 478.
[267] “To the King’s most Excellent Majestie: The humble petition
of Paul Ricaut late Consul of Smyrna,” S.P. Turkey, 19.
[268] Life of Dudley North, p. 114.
[269] Register, pp. 95 foll.
[270] Finch to Sunderland, Oct. 8-18.
[271] The Same to Jenkins, Oct. 8-18.
[272] The Same to Sunderland, Nov. 6-16.
[273] Ibid.
[274] Register, pp. 73-81.
[275] Finch to Sunderland, Oct. 8-18, Nov. 6-16.
 CHAPTER XX
A LULL IN THE STORM

“God be praisd’ that I can once write your Lordship Good Newes out
of Turky: the Kehaiah of the Gran Visir is cut off!”—with these words
Sir John Finch began his next despatch; and then went on to
describe “the occasion of the fall of this Tyrant and worst of Men” as
follows.
Whilst hunting in the Thracian plain, the Grand Signor had learnt
that at Constantinople, despite his edicts against drunkenness, boza
—a fermented liquor made from millet-seed—was openly sold! In a
transport of prohibitionist frenzy, the Sultan ordered all the boza-
vessels to be smashed. Whereupon the boza-sellers submitted to His
Majesty a protest: They had not only paid to the Vizir’s Kehayah 70
purses for their license, but also bound themselves to pay a similar
sum every six months; further, the Kehayah had created a Head for
their Guild and vested him with one of the Grand Signor’s kaftans:
was it just, after such a solemn and costly recognition of their trade,
that they should have their vessels smashed? When the Hunter
heard this, his rage knew no bounds. It was then for this—to enrich
a miserable Kehayah—that he had deprived himself of the 400
purses per annum which the wine-tax yielded him! Let his head fly
off—and straightway the Kehayah’s head flew off.
 Truly a fine piece of work; no finer done in Turkey for many a
year; and the fruits of it manifold, immediate and remote, tangible
and otherwise. Take this, for a beginning: “His Hoggera’s and
Houses Seald’ Up, and His whole Estate confiscated to the Gran
Signor. As yett they have onely opend’ one Hoggera, where they
found in ready mony 700 Purses, and 500 Purses in rich Persian
furniture: They goe on dayly opening the rest, and at last They
intend to open His Mansion House. The expectation is of finding No
lesse then 3,000 Purses in all; from which hopes if they fall or find
any clancular Imbezzlements, they have in hold His two Treasurers,
Him of Adrianople, and the other of this Place, who will be forcd’ by
Torture to confesse all.” This is the sum-total: three thousand purses
(or a million and a half dollars) amassed in three years! Lost in as
few minutes! No people in the world ever were more greedy of
wealth than Turkish pashas—or less certain of its enjoyment. But on
these aspects of the work—the economic and the moral—Sir John is
silent: he feels, perchance, that little which is new can be said of the
one, and little which is helpful of the other. Instead, he gives us a
glimpse into the fiend incarnate’s invisible world, which so long
submissive had thus suddenly risen in revolt. Let us, for Sir John’s
sake, and to illustrate the situation, quote:
“The Visir was extreamly Jealous of two Great Men about the Gran
Signor: Soliman, Kehaiah to the former Visir and Master of the Horse
at present to the Gran Signor, was one; and the Kisler Aga, the Black
Eunuch, was the other. The former, the Visir endeavourd’ to have
removed by preferring Him to great Bassalikes. Against the latter He
had workd’ so farr, that He had separated Him from the Gran Signor
and the Queen Regent in this present removall of the Court, under
pretence of giving Him the Honour of conducting the Queen Mother
to Adrianople. But the Kisler Aga was not without a true friend, the
Gran Signor’s Secretary, who had Confidence and Witt, and He took
upon Him to acquaint the Emperour, that there were dayly Quarrells
amongst His Women and that till the Kisler Aga returnd’, things
would never be in good Order. Hereupon the Gran Signor gives order
for His returne and He came doubly armd’, First with Presents to the
Gran Signor of the value of Seventy Purses to regain His favour; for
which the Emperour said to Him, Thou art now Twice My Sonne;
then in the Second Place, He caused Seven Men to appear with an
Arrs [Memorial] to the Gran Signor, wherein was expressed’, That His
Majesty having deprived Himselfe of 400 Purses Per Annum, which
the Custome of Wines did yield Him, to the End that the Mussulmen
might not be drunk and kill each other, that His Ministers had
introducd’ and licensed the publick Selling of Boza.” Hence that
smashing of boza-vessels and flying off of Kehayah-heads: followed,
in the orthodox Turkish course, by sealing up of dollar-crammed
hoggeras and houses: a sequence as inevitable as any ever planned
by a Harem-bred brain.
Going deeper into this Oriental labyrinth of plots, stratagems, and
spoils, our Ambassador adds, though as a thing “which I cannot
averr for certain,” that secret information of the Imperial rage had
been conveyed in advance to the Vizir by one of his creatures, and
that Kara Mustafa, to exonerate himself and to prevent awkward
revelations, hastened, before the fatal command arrived, to give a
striking demonstration of his public spirit by cutting off his Kehayah’s
head and sending it to the Grand Signor. Probable enough! Not the
least use of the delegation of powers in which the Ottoman polity
delighted was to provide a superior with a handy scape-goat—some
one upon whom, on emergency, he could shift the responsibility and
the odium. The Grand Signor had such a convenient deputy in his
Grand Vizir, the Grand Vizir in his Kehayah, and so every other
grandee. For the rest, this was not the first time Kara Mustafa had
saved his own head by offering up to justice that of another.[276]
“But be it as it will,”—what really concerns us—“Dead He is, and a
great Blow given by it to the Gran Visir; and many thinke that now
the Gran Signor hath once Tasted of Blood that the Sword will not
stop here: Nay further the Gran Signor Himselfe hath placd’ a New
Kehaiah about the Visir who was an Officer of the last Visir and had
the reputation of a Man of great Integrity; and when the Gran Signor
conferrd’ the Charge upon Him, He told Him, Look you to it that
things of this Nature doe not passe, else Your Head shall answer for
it as Your Predecessours has done. All Men from this one Action
expect a great change of Affayrs so that what were judgd’
Impossibility’s before become Now possibility’s, and possibility’s
become Now Probability’s in effecting any thing. The French
Ambassadour may Now at last in all likelyhood obtain His Audience
upon the Saffà, and Our Affayrs Now give Us also a better prospect.”
The age of thunder has gone—the lightnings of Kara Mustafa are
extinguished for ever! Never, never more shall we tremble at
thoughts of the Seven Towers. The spirit of servitude is dead: hail to
Freedom, the nurse of manly sentiment, of that sensibility to
“puntiglios,” which feels a slight like a wound. The King my Master’s
honour will once again become a reality, instead of a mockery. All
this, and much more of the same exalted nature, we may credibly
suppose, radiated through Sir John’s mind, as he concluded: “I hope
Your Lordship will Every Day hear better Newes and that My
Successour will find as great a Calme as I have done a Storm.”[277]
In all this one thing stands conspicuous—not by its presence. The
opposition to Kara Mustafa in the Seraglio is led by our “good friend”
the late Vizir’s Kehayah, and by the Kislar Aga who, as we have
heard, had with that other good friend of ours, the Customer, a
pointed talk about our grievances on the very eve of our great
enemy’s fall. It is impossible to avoid the surmise that our grievances
and the consequent peril to the Grand Signor’s revenue had
contributed something towards the Imperial fire which consumed the
Kehayah. Yet in vain do we search our Ambassador’s reports for any
hint that he played the humblest part in bringing about the happy
conflagration; or for any indication that he tried to feed it, once
kindled by others. Some presents to the “Queen Regent”—such as
Elizabeth’s envoys knew so well how to distribute—one imagines,
would not have come amiss. Sir John has here an excellent
opportunity of reaching the Grand Signor behind the Grand Vizir’s
back; and Sir John does not even see, much less stretch forth to
seize it! Not to do, but to look on: commenting, chorus-like, upon
the wonderful ways of Providence, speculating upon the benefits
that may accrue to him from a situation he has neither helped to
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