the Ambassador's audience of the Sultan, when he, accompanied by
all the English residents at Constantinople, left the Embassy in
the morning at a quarter before six, in procession, on horseback. At
Topkhana, about five minutes' ride from the Embassy, we embarked in
boats and crossed the harbour to Stamboul. We found horses waiting for
us, but stopped to take coffee, pipes, sherbet, and sweetmeats, with
the _Tchaoush-bachi_ (a Marshal of the Palace), who preceded us to the
entrance of the Porte, where it is usual for Ambassadors to wait under
some large spreading trees until the Grand Vizier passes and precedes
them to the seraglio. Having entered the first gate, we passed
through a large open space, enclosed by low buildings, in which the
Janissaries were drawn up to the number of three thousand. We stopped
on the farther side of the second gate, in a large square chamber
between the second and third gates, within which is the cell where
Grand Viziers and other State prisoners under sentence of death
are confined and beheaded. After waiting here a quarter of an hour,
permission was sent for our entrance. We passed through the third gate
into a large garden, in which stood the divan chamber, and the
front of the seraglio, both very richly painted and gilt, with roofs
projecting four or five feet beyond the walls. As soon as we entered
the garden, the Janissaries all uttered a loud shout and began running
as quick as they could. This was for their _pilaf_, the distribution
of which was a complete scramble. This is a farce always played off
on these occasions to impress foreigners with a respect for this
contemptible soldiery. We then walked forward, for we had left our
horses outside the second gate, to the divan chamber, where the Grand
Vizier was sitting in state, immediately opposite the entrance, on
the centre of a sofa, which extended along the side of the chamber,
covered with the richest silks, at the further ends of which, on each
side of him, sat the judges of Anatolia and Roumelia. The chamber was
small but richly decorated, the ceiling being splendidly painted and
gilt. We walked to one side of the room without making any salutation,
_as no notice was taken of us_. After a time, a number of Turks
entered and ranged themselves in two rows before the judges, who went
through the form of examining them and deciding their suits. This was
intended to impress us with a high sense of their administration of
justice. The payment of the Janissaries is also generally appointed
to take place at the audience of an Ambassador, in whose presence are
piled great bags of money, which are delivered to the troops, in order
to impress foreigners with an exalted idea of Turkish opulence. This
tedious ceremony lasted more than three hours, but it was the last
payment before the destruction of that body. The Grand Vizier had in
the meantime sent a letter to the Sultan, stating in the usual form
that a Giaour Ambassador had come to prostrate himself at the feet of
his sacred Majesty. The royal answer came at length, enclosed in an
envelope. When this was taken off there appeared a quantity of muslin,
in which the letter was wrapped. The Grand Vizier, taking the letter,
kissed it and applied it to his forehead before he read it. The
tenor of this letter was a command to _feed_, _wash_, _and clothe the
Giaours_, and bring them to him. After the Grand Vizier had read this,
two tables were laid (_i.e._, two large tin plates were laid upon
reversed stools), one for the Vizier and the Ambassador, the other
for the rest of us. Washing materials were provided, and a collation
served. All this time the Sultan was looking at us through a latticed
window. After this we went into the garden, and pelisses were
distributed. I was lucky enough to receive one. The Ambassador, with
those who had pelisses, amounting to twenty in all, then followed the
Grand Vizier and entered the palace. At the door each of us was seized
by two _Capoudji-bachis_, who held us by the arms and half-carried us
through an outer hall, in which was drawn up a line, three deep, of
white eunuchs. When we entered the throne-room, we advanced bowing.
The Sultan was sitting on a throne superbly decorated. His turban was
surmounted by a splendid diamond aigrette and feather. His pelisse
was of the finest silk, lined with the most costly sable fur, and his
girdle was one mass of diamonds. The Ambassador recited his speech
in English, which the interpreter translated, and the Grand Vizier
replied to it. This ceremony lasted ten minutes, and we retired."
This same Mr. Stratford Canning, who waited under a tree for the
Grand Vizier to pass, who had to sit three hours unnoticed while the
Janissaries were paid, who was a Giaour unfit to enter the sacred
presence of the Sultan until he had been fed by his bounty, washed,
and clothed, is still alive, and he remained in Constantinople long
enough to become the _Great Elchi_ who practically governed the Empire
and kept the Sultan under his tutelage. It was an unhappy day for
Turkey when he was removed to please the Emperor of the French.
Only two months after this audience the Sultan accomplished his
long-cherished plan of destroying the Janissaries, as his Viceroy in
Egypt had fifteen years before destroyed the Mamelukes. It is not easy
at this day to realize how large a place this body filled in the life
of the people of Constantinople. We are accustomed to think of them as
soldiers, as they were in the early history of the Ottoman Turks, the
sad tribute of Christian children exacted by the Mohammedan conqueror
to extend the influence of Islam. But this terrible blood-tax ceased
in 1675, and the Janissaries became a caste or a guild, entrance into
which was eagerly sought by the wealthiest Mohammedan families, and
the majority of them seldom did any military service. In the time of
Mahmoud II. they were at once a source of terror to the Sultan and to
the people of the country. They were above all law, and the lives and
property of the Christians especially were at their mercy. Those who
still remember those days can hardly speak of the Janissaries without
a shudder. They lived in constant fear of them; night and day, at
any hour, they might enter the house, strip it of its furniture, and
torture the family until every place of concealment was revealed and
every valuable given up. They were universally feared and hated, and
it was this fact which made it possible for the Sultan to destroy
them. He proceeded with caution, for he could not hope to destroy them
by the cruel and treacherous means adopted by the Pacha of Egypt. He
obtained a _Fetva_ from the Sheik-ul-Islam approving of the drafting
of a certain number of Janissaries into a new military force which
was organized on the principle of European armies. These men
rebelled against the strict discipline, and some of them were
quietly strangled. Finally, on the 14th of June, 1826, the whole body
revolted, murdered their officers, plundered the palace of the Grand
Vizier, and prepared to attack the Sultan next day if he did not yield
to their demands.
"They displayed a spirit of determination which they never manifested
but in extreme cases. All their soup-kettles were solemnly brought to
the Atmeidan (Hippodrome) and inverted in the centre of the area.
Soon 20,000 men were assembled around them. The crisis had now arrived
which the Sultan both feared and wished for, and he immediately
availed himself of all those resources which he had previously
prepared for such an event. He first ordered the small military
force which he had organized to hold itself in readiness to act at
a moment's notice. He then summoned a council, explained to them the
mutinous spirit and insubordination of the Janissaries, and declared
his intention of either ruling without their control, or passing over
into Asia, and leaving Constantinople and European Turkey to their
mercy. He proposed to them to raise the sacred standard of Mahomet,
and summon all good Mussulmans to rally around it. This proposal
met with unanimous applause. The sacred relic had not been seen in
Constantinople for fifty years before. It was now taken from the
Imperial Treasury to the Mosque of Sultan Achmet. The Ulema and the
Softas walked before, and the Sultan with all his Court followed it.
Public criers spread the solemn news all over the city. No sooner was
it announced than thousands rushed from their homes and joined the
procession with fiercest enthusiasm. When they entered the mosque, the
Mufti planted the standard on the pulpit, and the Sultan, as Caliph,
pronounced an anathema against all who should refuse to range
themselves under it. Just at this time the artillery arrived under
the walls of the seraglio. The marines and gardeners joined it. Four
officers of rank were then sent to offer a pardon to the Janissaries
if they would desist from their demands and disperse. The experience
of centuries had taught them that they had only to persist in their
demands to have them conceded. In this conviction, they at once
murdered the four officers who had proposed submission to them. This
was done in sight of the mosque. They then peremptorily demanded that
the Sultan should for ever renounce his plan of innovation, and that
the heads of the principal officers of Government should be sent to
them. The Sultan then demanded and received from the Sheik-ul-Islam a
_Fetva_ authorizing him to put down the rebellion. It was now twelve
o'clock, and a large force of the new troops had been collected who
could be relied upon. Orders were given to attack the Janissaries.
The Agha Pacha surrounded the Atmeidan, where they were tumultuously
assembled with no apprehension of such a measure, and the first
intimation that many of them had of their situation was a murderous
discharge of grape-shot from the cannon of the Topdjis. This continued
some time, and vast numbers were killed on the spot. The survivors
retired to their barracks on one side of the square. Here they
barricaded themselves, and to dislodge them the building was set on
fire. The flames were soon seen from Pera, bursting out in different
places. The discharge of artillery continued without intermission; as
it was determined to exterminate them utterly, no quarter was given,
and the conflagration and fire of the cannon continued until night.
The Janissaries, notwithstanding the surprise and their comparatively
unprepared state, defended themselves with desperate fierceness and
intrepidity. The troops suffered severely, and the Agha Pacha was
wounded. Opposition ceased only when no one was left alive to make it.
The firing ceased, the flames died out, and the next morning presented
a frightful scene of burning ruins slaked in blood, a huge mass of
mangled flesh and smoking ashes.
"During the next two days the gates continued closed, with the
exception of one to admit faithful Mussulmans from the country to pay
their devotion to the sacred standard. The Janissaries who had escaped
the slaughter of the Atmeidan were thus shut in, and unremittingly
hunted down and destroyed, so that the streets and barracks were full
of dead bodies. During these two days no Christian was allowed, under
any pretence, to pass over to Stamboul; but, though the two places
are separated only by a narrow channel, the most perfect tranquillity
reigned in Pera. The people would have known nothing of the tremendous
convulsion on the other side if it had not been for the blaze of
the fire and the report of cannon. On the fourth day I went, from
curiosity, under the charge of a high Turk, to see how matters were
going on, and was pleased at the appearance of the splendid encampment
of the Grand Vizier, which was found at the Porte, and was at the same
time the chief tribunal for the condemnation of the Janissaries, who
were constantly being brought in, and, after undergoing a nominal
trial of a few seconds, were taken to the front of the gate and
beheaded; but the numbers so taken off, though amounting in this one
place from 300 to 500 daily, were but few in comparison with those who
were strangled privately at night on the Bosphorus. The Agha Pacha had
his camp at the old palace, and was employed there in the same work.
Carts and other machines were constantly employed in conveying the
bodies to the sea. These executions continued for several months.
The whole number destroyed at this time was 25,000: 40,000 more were
banished to the interior of Asia, many of whom never reached their
destination."
This account differs materially from that given by Creasy, on the
authority of Ranke; but the author was a resident in Constantinople at
the time, and in a position to know the facts as well as any Christian
in the city. There are also inherent improbabilities in Creasy's
account. The Sultan no doubt avoided, in appearance, the treachery
of the Pacha of Egypt, but in substance the destruction of the
Janissaries was accomplished in much the same way as the massacre
of the Mamelukes. But whatever may be thought of the wisdom or the
morality of this wholesale slaughter, it was as great a relief to the
Christian population as it was to the Sultan himself, and it changed
the whole spirit of life in Constantinople. The destruction of the
Janissaries was followed by a violent persecution of the sect of
Bektachi dervishes, whose founder, Hadji Bektach, had consecrated the
first recruits. This was a powerful order, and possessed of immense
wealth and influence; but its members were killed or exiled, and its
_tékés_ demolished. It is not easy, however, to destroy a religious
sect, with a secret organization; and the Bektachis are almost as
numerous and powerful to-day as they were fifty years ago, especially
in Albania. They are not true Mussulmans, but are generally liberal,
enlightened, and inclined to cultivate friendly relations with the
Christians. They are frequently attacked by the Turkish newspapers as
heretics, but they occupy many important positions in the Government.
The famous Mahmoud Neddim Pacha belongs to this sect. Sultan Mahmoud
probably attacked these dervishes, not so much because he feared
them, as to prove himself a devoted Mohammedan, and to conciliate
the fanatics who were indignant at the slaughter of so many true
believers. He soon afterwards issued a _Hatt_ proclaiming his devotion
to Islam, and ordering the authorities to inflict the severest
punishment upon any Mussulman who should neglect his religious duties.
The discussion on the Greek question which has been going on since the
war adds new interest to those scenes of the Greek Revolution which
fifty years ago aroused the sympathy of the world for a long-forgotten
nation, and resulted in the creation of the little kingdom of Greece
which now seeks an extension of her territory. The condition of the
Greeks in Constantinople during the war was melancholy enough. It was
all in vain that the Patriarch proclaimed their entire and absolute
devotion to the Sultan, just as the Fanariote Greeks are doing to-day.
It was in vain that he solemnly excommunicated and anathematized
all who took part in the revolution. He was hung at the door of his
church, and his body given to the Jews to be dragged about the streets
of the city. All the prominent Greeks here were put to death, and all
Mohammedans, even children, were ordered to arm themselves and destroy
the Greeks whenever they could be found. All who could escape from the
capital did so, and many were conveyed in foreign ships to Russia.
"Many of those who remained were protected and concealed in European
houses. The property and the lives of the others were entirely at the
mercy of the Government and the populace, and the distressing scenes
which in consequence daily occurred in the streets are not easily
described. Notwithstanding this disagreeable state of things, the
Europeans enjoyed perfect security. The escapes from death which some
of the rich Greeks had during this period were very extraordinary, and
none more so than that of Signor Stephano Ralli, a rich merchant
of Scio, who, with nine others, was sent at the commencement of the
revolution to Constantinople, as a hostage for the peaceable conduct
of the inhabitants of that island, when the Samiotes, soon after
landing and butchering the few Turks on the island, so exasperated
the Turkish Government that they immediately beheaded all the hostages
except Signor Ralli, who found sufficient interest with one of the
Ministers to escape. He was, however, immediately made a hostage for
the tranquillity of Smyrna, and was again, by his acquaintance with
and large bribes to the executioner, the only one who escaped death.
When the disturbances commenced at the capital, in order to strike
terror into the minds of the Greeks, twenty-four of the richest
merchants were destined to be seized and executed, and the presence of
Signor Ralli was demanded with the rest at the Porte. But, suspecting
the consequence of such attendance, he cunningly informed the guard
who found him that his master was at the next house, and that he would
immediately send him in. Signor Ralli, then leaving the room, sent in
his own servant, who was at once seized, conveyed to the Porte, and
without further question executed in place of his master. Signor Ralli
was then concealed in the house of an Englishman. He was found and
arrested again in 1827, and again escaped with the loss of half his
property; but this had such an effect upon his constitution that he
died soon after."
The Bulgarian massacres which excited the indignation of the world
a few years ago were insignificant in comparison with the terrible
slaughter of the Greeks which went on for years in all parts of the
Empire. Their effect upon public opinion in Europe was greater
and more immediate, chiefly because Turkey was no longer a really
independent Power, but was committing these atrocities under the
protection of Europe, and especially of England. Fifty years ago the
Sultan was responsible for his acts only to his own people; but
even then Christian Europe was finally roused to put an end to these
barbarities, and the battle of Navarino, October 20th, 1827, was the
result. In justice to Sultan Mahmoud, however, it should be said
that some of his most ferocious acts were not committed without great
provocation on the part of the Greeks, who manifested equal ferocity
when the opportunity offered. The news of the battle of Navarino
roused the Sultan to proclaim a holy war.
"The design of the Giaours," he said in his proclamation, "is to
destroy Islamism, and tread under foot the Mussulman nation. Let all
the faithful, rich and poor, great and small, know that war is a duty
for all. Let no one dream of receiving any pay. Far from this, we
ought to sacrifice our persons and our property, and fulfil with zeal
the duty which is imposed upon us by the honour of Islam. We must
unite our efforts, give ourselves, body and soul, to defend our
faith, even to the day of judgment. Mussulmans have no other means of
obtaining safety in this world or the next."
This holy war resulted in nothing better than the independence of
Greece and the treaty of Adrianople. It was just at this period that
Lord Beaconsfield spent a winter at Constantinople; but, as far as is
known, his visit had no political object or influence.
The Greeks were not the only Christians who suffered at this time.
The Catholic Armenians were persecuted with almost equal ferocity,
although their only offence was that a number of them had left Turkey
and settled in Russia under Russian protection. Irritated by this
demonstration of attachment to the Czar, the Sultan expelled the whole
sect from Constantinople, to the number of 27,000. They were allowed
only ten days for preparation, and were then driven off _en masse_
into Asia Minor. They were mostly wealthy families, living in luxury,
and their sufferings were so great that but few lived to reach the
place of exile. They perished at sea, died of hunger on the roads,
and froze to death in the snow on the mountains. It was not a pleasant
thing in those days to be a Christian subject of the Sultan, even when
that Sultan was Mahmoud, the great Reformer.
Next to the Janissaries, the thing best remembered by the people
of Constantinople is the plague. It seems to have been regularly
domiciled here, and people made provision for it in all their domestic
arrangements. It was only at certain times, when it raged with
terrible severity, that it excited general alarm. It of course
occupies a large place in the private journal from which I have
already quoted; and all Europe has so recently been frightened out of
its good sense by a rumour of its existence in Russia, that it is well
to see how coolly a man can write about it who lived in the midst of
it, and who is devoutly thankful that it is the plague, and not the
cholera or the yellow fever, to which he is exposed.
"The plague is a disease communicating itself chiefly, if not solely,
by contact. Hence, though it encircle the house, it will not affect
the persons within if all are uniformly discreet and provident. Iron,
it is observed, and like substances of a close, hard nature, do not
retain and are not susceptible of the contagion. In bodies soft or
porous, and especially in paper, it lurks often undiscovered but
by its seizing some victim. The preservatives are fumigations, and
washing with water and vinegar. Meat and vegetables are washed in
water, and all paper is fumigated. The disease is usually observed
to break out after times of famine, and it is a well-known fact that
those are most subject to it who live badly and whose blood is in
a low and impoverished state, for which reason it may be considered
rather a disease of the poor than the rich. The Turks are the greatest
victims, on account of their religious tenets and their abstinence
from wine, although it is very rare to hear of a rich Turk who dies
of it, for many of these drink wine and spirit secretly, and live upon
substantial and nutritious food. The Greeks are more cautious than
the Turks, but die in great numbers, which may be attributed to their
numerous fasts, which they observe for at least half of the year, and
during these they live on bad and unwholesome food. The first symptoms
are debility, sickness at the stomach, shivering, followed by great
heat, violent pains in the head, giddiness, and delirium. In a more
advanced stage, the disease shows itself in dark-coloured spots, and
sometimes in tumours on the glandular parts, which often suppurate and
break, and then the patient escapes. A few days brings this dreadful
malady to a crisis after the spots have appeared.
"There is a contradiction in this disorder, difficult to account for;
so easy to catch that a bit of wood or cotton can retain it for years,
and convey it with all its horrible symptoms. On the contrary, some
are proof against the most violent contagion. The wife of Mr. W. was a
lady born in the country, and notwithstanding she took more than usual
precaution, she caught the infection, without being able to assign any
cause. Most of her family and servants immediately left the house, but
her husband and her father attended her until she died, having had
her infant at the breast to the last moment. No one of them caught
the disease. My predecessor, Mr. B., having been forty-one years at
Constantinople, had not the least fear of the plague. A few years
since, as he was returning from Cyprus, his fellow-passenger fell ill
and was put ashore at the Dardanelles. Mr. B. occupied his friend's
bed, as it was better than his own, and wore his friend's nightcap.
The next morning he went ashore to see him, and found that he had died
during the night of the plague. Another time, two of his servants died
of the disease in his house; but in neither case did he experience any
inconvenience. The Europeans, and more particularly the English, take
the usual precautions at the first appearance of the disease, but have
little apprehension from it, living in the country in the summer,
and in a very different manner from the natives, both as to food and
cleanliness. It is a great satisfaction to know that not one English
gentleman has died of the plague during the last thirty years. How
inferior it is in its ravages to the cholera and the yellow fever,
which are not known in this country!"