He courageously aided the escape of Youssouff, pursued by the soldiers of the bey, of whom he was one of the officers, for violation of the seraglio law.
It was no longer the Porte that decided, but the Seraglio, and the sultan's private secretary had more ififluence on the policy of the Ottoman empire than the grand vizier.
The fortress - Demir Kule or Iron Castle, which, like the principal seraglio, was built on a promontory jutting into the lake - is now in ruins.
Panic seized the Seraglio; and at the beginning of February the assistance of Russia was formally demanded.
There has doubtless been exaggeration as to certain details, and the story of his seraglio at the Parc aux cerfs is largely apocryphal.