THE APOSTATE IBRAHIM.
Constantinople, like haughty Rome, is built on seven hills--the houses
being so disposed that they do not intercept the view commanded by each
on the amphitheatrical acclivities. But the streets are narrow, crooked,
and uneven; and the grand effects of the numerous stately mosques and
noble edifices are subdued, and in many cases altogether lost, either by
the very insignificant width of the thoroughfares in which they stand,
or by the contiguity of mean and miserable wooden tenements.
The mosque of St. Sophia, once a Christian church, with its magnificent
portico, supported by marble columns, its nine vast folding doors,
adorned with bas-reliefs, and its stupendous dome, a hundred and twenty
feet in diameter; the mosque of the Sultan Solyman, forming an exact
square with four noble towers at the angles, and with its huge cupola,
in the midst; the mosque of the Sultan Ahmed, with its numerous domes,
its tall minarets, and its colonnades supported by marble pillars; and
the mosque of the Sultana Valida, or queen mother of Mohammed the
Fourth, exceeding all other Mussulman churches in the delicacy of its
architecture and the beauty of its columns of marble and jasper,
supplied by the ruins of Troy--these are the most remarkable temples in
the capital of the Ottoman empire.
The Grand Bezestein, or exchange, is likewise a magnificent
structure--consisting of a spacious hall of circular form, built of
free-stone, and surrounded by shops displaying the richest commodities
of Oriental commerce. In the Ladies' Bazaar there is a marble column of
extraordinary height, and on the sides of which, from the foot to the
crown, are represented in admirable bas-reliefs the most remarkable
events which characterized the reign of the Emperor Arcadius, ere the
capital of Roman dominions of the East fell into the hands of the
descendants of Osman.
But of all the striking edifices at Constantinople, that of the Sultan's
Palace, or seraglio, is the most spacious and the most magnificent.
Christian writers and readers are too apt to confound the seraglio with
the harem, and to suppose that the former means the apartments belonging
to the sultan's ladies; whereas the word seraglio, or rather _sernil_,
represents the entire palace of which the harem, or females' dwelling,
is but a comparatively small portion.
The seraglio is a vast inclosure, occupying nearly the entire site of
the ancient city of Byzantium, and embracing a circumference of five
miles. It contains nine enormous courts of quadrangular form, and an
immense number of buildings--constituting a complete town of itself. But
within this inclosure dwell upward of ten thousand persons--the entire
court of the sultan. There reside the great officers of state, the body
guards, the numerous corps of bostandjis, or gardeners, and baltojis, or
fire-wood purveyors--the corps of white and black eunuchs, the pages,
the mutes, the dwarfs--the ladies of the harem, and all their numerous
attendants.
There are nine gates to the palace of the sultan. The principal one
opens on the square of St. Sophia, and is very magnificent in its
architecture. It is this gate which is called the Sublime Porte--a name
figuratively given to the court of the sultan, in all histories,
records, and diplomatic transactions. It was within the inclosure of the
seraglio that Alessandro Francatelli, whom we shall henceforth call by
his apostate name of Ibrahim--was lodged in the dwelling of the
reis-effendi or minister of foreign affairs. But in the course of a few
days the renegade was introduced into the presence of Piri Pasha, the
grand vizier--that high functionary who exercised a power almost as
extensive and as despotic as that wielded by the sultan himself.
Ibrahim, the apostate, was received by his highness Piri Pasha at a
private audience--and the young man exerted all his powers, and called
to his aid all the accomplishments which he possessed, to render himself
agreeable to that great minister. He discoursed in an intelligent manner
upon the policy of Italy and Austria, and gave the grand vizier
considerable information relative to the customs, resources, and
condition of these countries. Then, when the vizier touched upon lighter
matters, Ibrahim showed how well he was already acquainted with the
works of the most eminent Turkish poets and historians; and the art of
music being mentioned, he gave the minister a specimen of his
proficiency on the violin. Piri Pasha was charmed with the young
renegade, whom he immediately took into his service as one of his
private secretaries.
Not many weeks elapsed before the fame of Ibrahim's accomplishments and
rare talents reached the ears of the sultan, Solyman the Magnificent;
and the young renegade was honored with an audience by the ruler of the
East. On this occasion he exerted himself to please even more
triumphantly than when he was introduced to the grand vizier; and the
sultan commanded that henceforth Ibrahim should remain attached to his
person in the capacity of keeper of the imperial archives.
We should observe that the dispatches which the Florentine Envoy wrote
to the government of the republic, contained but a brief and vague
allusion to the apostasy of Alessandro Francatelli; merely mentioning
that the youth had become a Mussulman, and entered the service of the
grand vizier, but not stating either the name which he had adopted or
the brilliant prospects which had so suddenly and marvelously opened
before him. The Florentine Embassador treated the matter thus lightly,
because he was afraid of incurring the blame of his government for not
having kept a more stringent watch over his subordinate, were he to
attach any importance to the fact of Alessandro's apostasy. But he hoped
that by merely glancing at the event as one scarcely worth special
notice, the Council of Florence would be led to treat it with equal
levity. Nor was the embassador deceived in his calculation; and thus the
accounts which reached Florence relative to Alessandro's renegadism--and
which were not indeed communicated to the council until some months
after the occurrence of the apostasy itself--were vague and indefinite
to a degree.
And had Ibrahim no remorse? Did he never think of his lovely sister
Flora, and of his affectionate aunt who, in his boyhood, had made such
great and generous sacrifices to rear them honorably? Oh! yes;--but a
more powerful idea dominated the remembrance of kindred, and the
attachment to home--and that idea was ambition! Moreover, the hope of
speedily achieving that greatness which was to render him eligible and
worthy to possess the charming being whose powerful influence seemed to
surround him with a constant halo of protection, and to soothe down all
the asperities which are usually found in the career of those who rise
suddenly and rise highly--this ardent, longing hope not only encouraged
him to put forth all his energies to make himself master of a glorious
position, but also subdued to no small extent the feelings of
compunction which would otherwise have been too bitter, too agonizing to
endure.
His mind was, moreover, constantly occupied. When not in attendance upon
the sultan, he devoted all his time to render himself intimately
acquainted with the laws, polity, diplomatic history, resources,
condition, and finances of the Ottoman Empire; he also studied the
Turkish literature, and practiced composition, both in prose and verse,
in the language of that country which was now his own! But think not,
reader, that in his heart he was a Mussulman, or that he had
extinguished the light of Christianity within his soul. No--oh! no; the
more he read on the subject of the Mohammedan system of theology, the
more he became convinced not only of its utter falsity, but also of its
incompatibility with the progress of civilization. Nevertheless, he
dared not pray to the True God whom he had renounced with his lips; but
there was a secret adoration, an interior worship of the Saviour, which
he could not and sought not to subdue.
Solyman the Magnificent, was an enlightened prince, and a generous
patron of the arts and sciences. He did not persecute the Christians,
because he knew, in his own heart, that they were further advanced in
all human ideas and institutions than the Ottomans. He was, therefore,
delighted whenever a talented Christian embraced the Moslem faith and
entered his service; and his keen perception speedily led him to discern
and appreciate all the merits and acquirements of his favorite Ibrahim.
Such was the state of things at Constantinople, when those rapidly
successive incidents, which we have already related, took place in
Florence. At this time immense preparations were being made by the
sultan for an expedition against the Island of Rhodes, then in the
possession of the Knights of St. John, commanded by their grand master,
Villiers of Isle Adam.
This chieftain, aware of the danger which menaced him, dispatched envoys
to the courts of Rome, Genoa, Venice, and Florence, imploring those
powers to send him assistance against the expected invasion of the
Turks. Each of these states hastened to comply with this request; and
numerous bodies of auxiliaries sailed from various ports in Italy to
fight beneath the glorious banner of Villiers of Isle Adam, one of the
stanchest veteran champions of Christendom.
Thus, at the very time when Nisida and Wagner were united in the bonds
of love on the island of which they were the possessors--while, too,
Isaachar the Jew languished in the prisons of the Inquisition of
Florence, at which city the chivalrous-hearted Manuel d'Orsini tarried
to hasten on the trial and give his testimony in favor of the
Israelite--and moreover while Flora, and the Countess Giulia dwelt in
the strictest retirement with the young maiden's aunt--at this period,
we say, a fleet of three hundred sail quitted Constantinople under the
command of the kapitan-pasha, or lord high admiral, and proceeded toward
the Island of Rhodes. At the same time, Solyman the Magnificent crossed
into Asia Minor, and placing himself at the head of an army of a hundred
thousand men, commenced his march toward the coast facing the island,
and where he intended to embark on his warlike expedition. His favorite
Ibrahim accompanied him, as did also the Grand Vizier Piri Pasha, and
the principal dignitaries of the empire.
It was in the spring of 1521 that the Ottoman fleet received the army on
board at the Cape in the Gulf of Macri, which is only separated by a
very narrow strait from the Island of Rhodes; and in the evening of the
same day on which the troops had thus embarked, the mighty armament
appeared off the capital city of the Knights of St. John.