Chapter XXIII: Section VIII

Many simple persons, who do not know why the treasure of the Nizam-y-Gedid was instituted, and whence this money is collected, and to what purpose it is expended, say sometimes, “the water of the old cistern is not exhausted; why then is the new revenue made a separate treasure?”[103] We have already stated how difficult a thing it is to explain public affairs to people who are plunged in the darkest ignorance, and to make those who cannot read the common alphabet understand science; although we were to labour until the day of judgment, we should not succeed. If a man is capable of receiving the words of truth from his outward ears into his mind, we proceed to relate matters as they really are.

Wars have been carried on for seventy or eighty years in a rude manner, and with weak and irregular troops, during which time the followers of Islam having been often defeated, His Highness Sultan Suleÿman Kannuni thought proper to form the body of the Janissaries, whom he divided into different divisions, assigning to each their particular regiments and quarters. He considered, however, that these troops could not be assembled and kept together for the love of God only, but that it was also necessary to establish funds for the purpose of providing meat, drink, &c. for them, as well as to appoint them a pay suitable to their expenses. After consulting with the wise and experienced men of the time, he regulated the administration of the revenue in the following manner. A small part of the monies drawn from the provinces that had, by right of conquest, become subject to his illustrious predecessors, was appropriated to the subsistence of military men who served on horseback and otherwise. The Emperor appointed by the canon[104] that, from the annual product of the revenues, and from the sums which every one who succeeded to the farming of them, paid according to his means, as an anticipation price, provision should be made for meeting the expense incident to these corps, whether in war or in peace. After these arrangements had been made, it frequently happened that, in good times, no war took place for twenty years together, during which some of the military men who belonged to the corps, having turned old, departed in peace. As the papers granted them to enable them to draw their pay fell into the hands of their servants, relations, or comrades[105], it was not suffered that the allowances appointed for several thousand men should be received by persons who did not belong to the military profession, who were novices in affairs, or apprenticed to some trade. As few of them left sons capable of taking the place of their fathers, and opposing the enemies of our faith, men of war became very scarce, and it was therefore necessary to levy fresh troops, and assign new funds for their support, the old revenue being exhausted. Besides this cause of the impoverishment of the royal treasure, the price of all commodities had greatly augmented since the time that the canon was promulgated. For instance, at that period an oke of the flesh of mutton was sold for four aspers, but in the course of time it rose to twenty-five paras, and other things were dearer in proportion. Thus an increase having taken place in the price of the necessaries which were furnished to the corps at its institution, the royal funds provided for that purpose were no longer able to meet the expense of the times, and as they were nevertheless obliged to find some means of going on, the rents of the Sublime Government began to run into each other; that is to say, that in order to provide for the expense of the current year, they sold the revenue of the succeeding one, and so on. Hence resulted a deficiency in the Imperial finances. Even the treasures, which had been amassed with a great deal of trouble previous to the Russian war that broke out during the reign of the late Sultan Mustapha, were in that war entirely drained and consumed, although every thing was then very cheap when compared with present prices, and after peace, the finances could not recover themselves, but the expense still exceeded the revenue. The enemies of our religion being informed of our want of money, were thereby confirmed in their purpose, and obtained complete success. But besides the difficulties in which our government found itself involved in peaceable times, owing to the deficiency of the ordinary revenue which did not suffice for the current expenses, there have been moments during war in which it stood like a man who has both his hands tied down to his sides, and knew not which way to turn itself; for as there was no ready money, nothing could be accomplished, and nobody showed any inclination to engage in a holy war; nothing was considered but pay, rations, and the privilege of being exempted from active service.

Thus hath the want of a well-organised system of finance been clearly proved, the whole revenue of the state not being sufficient for the exigencies of these times. The following example will point out the truth of this to the people at large. Suppose the case of a man, who twenty or thirty years ago enjoyed an income of one piaster a day, and regulated his expenses accordingly, if that man continued on the same scale how could he live at present, when every thing is four or five times dearer than at that period, and make the two ends of the year meet with his piaster a day? In like manner, we may apply this consideration to the actual condition of the Sublime Government. Behold, while the royal finances are in so great a state of penury, not a single person, whether rich, poor, or tributary subject, will give a single piaster to the treasure, under the name of a voluntary contribution, towards carrying on war; and, in short, no man will go to war gratis, and at his own expense, only to please God, or for the love of the prophet or the emperor; the formation of troops proportioned to those of the enemy, and the providing of military stores, which may equal theirs, are things which must be accomplished, not by words, but by money. The truth is, that the treasury does not possess a fixed revenue sufficient to defray contingent expenses, and, to sum up all, the old revenues of the Sublime Government were calculated for the old expense; and as two hundred and forty-five years have elapsed since the publication of the canon, the expense having constantly increased whilst the revenue was never augmented, His Highness, the Emperor, has looked out for some remedy in such difficult circumstances, and has laboured to establish a revenue proportioned to the amount of expenditure of these times. But that the requisite funds might neither be taken by violence, nor derived from casual contingency, it was thought proper to draw them from the peculiar possessions of the government and the sources dependent thereon. A treasure having been with much difficulty amassed, in which were to be deposited the money raised under the title of Iradi-Gedid, the following reflections presented themselves relative to the manner in which they were to be regulated.

The produce of the imposts at the time that the canon was promulgated, was farmed out in small branches to those who bid for them the highest, and authority was granted to them to receive each a part of the tribute on their advancing a certain sum in proportion to their respective means, and on condition of their paying a thousand piasters a year to the crown besides; thus a man was able in three years to reimburse himself of the small sum which he had advanced, and then if the contract was continued to him for the course of his life, he could make a clear profit of forty or fifty thousand piasters; and perhaps of an hundred thousand if he lived long enough. The contractors continuing to give the crown only a thousand piasters after the first small sum advanced, the whole benefit of the revenue accrued to them, but the profits of the public treasure were not augmented and continued the same. A new method having, therefore, been found absolutely necessary, has been adopted, and in such a manner as to leave no person any pretext for complaint. The arrangement is this: that when the perception of an impost, which belongs by right to the treasury, falls vacant, it is no longer farmed out in consideration of a small sum, but is taken possession of on the part of the Sublime Government, and the management of it is carried on for the benefit of the new treasury; the sum which continues to be paid to the crown, as well as the profits derived from the perception of the impost, are appropriated to the pay, clothing, and allowances of the troops of the Nizam-y-Gedid, and to the special exigencies of the war department, such as the providing of cannon, ammunition, tents, camp equipage, military stores, and the expenses of the park and train of artillery.

As the accountants of the old treasury are wholly employed in the collection and management of the funds appertaining to it, a director was specially appointed for the purpose of watching over that part of the administration, and by his ability the whole has been properly regulated. These are then the advantages which result from the expense of the troops being defrayed by this new financial arrangement. The old revenue hath not been thereby prejudiced, and the charges of the new troops are provided for. This business has been conducted in so masterly a manner that no just cause is left to any one to cry out against it; and the new revenue, like the new system of discipline, being established on the best footing, causes no loss or damage to any man, but, on the contrary, tends manifestly to perpetuate, until the last day, the duration of the empire and of the people of Islam, as must be evident to all persons endowed with penetration.

When we have by so distinct an exposition rendered all these points clear, those men who are acquainted with the difference between alum and sugar, good and bad, and in whose essence is a leaven of science, will, no doubt, listen to reason, and, by Divine grace, being brought under conviction, will submit themselves to the book of God, mighty and powerful!

THE END.

Printed by Strahan and Spottiswoode,
Printers-Street, London.

-----

Footnote 1:

A great Roman pavement is still visible in Wallachia. It begins at a
small town called _Caracalla_, situated near the borders of the
Danube, about three miles from the place where the great river Olt
falls into it: and it runs up in a straight line with this river, as
far as the Carpathians, where its traces are lost. It probably led to
the Dacian capital, Zarmiss, which is now a Transylvanian town, and
contains many ruins of Roman monuments of an inferior kind. The Latin
language is almost the only one spoken by its present inhabitants.

Footnote 2:

Antonii Bonifici Asculani Rerum Hungaricarum Decades. Decad. ii. lib.
8.

Footnote 3:

Knolles’s History of Turkey, p. 204. and Tounousli’s, Ισορια Ιης
βλαχιας, p. 247.

A piaster and a half is equal to an English shilling.

Footnote 4:

Knolles’s History, p. 296.

Footnote 5:

Dracula in the Wallachian language means Devil. The Wallachians were,
at that time, as they are at present, used to give this as a surname
to any person who rendered himself conspicuous either by courage,
cruel actions, or cunning.

Footnote 6:

Although the amount of the tribute was often increased under the
successive Voïvodes, the same formalities of payment existed as late
as the year 1716, when various changes took place in the Wallachian
government, as will be observed hereafter.

Footnote 7:

Nobles.

Footnote 8:

Christian tributary subjects.

Footnote 9:

A Ferman is a written order issued by the Grand Vezier in the Sultan’s
name.

Footnote 10:

Higher clergy and nobility.

Footnote 11:

Cantimir’s History of the Ottoman Empire, p. 186.

Footnote 12:

Cantimir’s History of the Ottoman Empire, p. 451.

Footnote 13:

Cantimir’s History, p. 452.

Footnote 14:

Chamberlain.

Footnote 15:

“It has been supposed that the Turks, to console the Greek descendants
of the imperial family for the loss of empire, had bestowed on them
the government of the two principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, an
error which appears to have no other foundation than the assumption of
the illustrious name of Cantacuzenus, by two persons of obscure
family, born in Wallachia, who were raised to the administration of
that principality in the seventeenth century.” Thornton’s present
State of Turkey, p. 385, from Cantimir’s Ottoman Hist. p. 371.

Footnote 16:

A descendant of the Voïvode’s grandson above alluded to, is now living
in Wallachia, and possesses all the landed property left by his
ancestor, which gives him an annual income of upwards of 200,000
piasters. He is looked upon by his countrymen as the first and richest
Boyar of Wallachia, and is acknowledged by the court of Vienna as
prince of the Roman Empire, a title which, however, he cannot assume
in his own country so long as the Turks are the possessors of it.

Footnote 17:

The formulæ of a Beratt will be found in the Appendix, No. 1.; it is
the literal translation of the one given to the author by the present
Sultan, shortly after his appointment to the official situation in the
principalities. The original is written in golden letters, on a very
long sheet of parchment, lined with green silk, and containing a
variety of curious and rich ornaments.

Footnote 18:

Thornton’s present State of Turkey, p. 410.; and Cantimir’s Ottoman
History, p. 189.

The Russian court was the first who entered into official intercourse
with the Greek princes, and styled them by the title of _Hospodars_,
from the Slavonic and Russian word _Gospodin_, or Lord. The Greeks,
however, having the right to the title of prince from that of Beÿ
conferred on them by the Sultan, on their nominations to the
principalities, assume that of reigning princes, though they have only
the power and prerogatives of Viceroys. They also claim that of
_Serene Highness_, which the court of Vienna alone has consented to
give them. Their subjects invariably give them that of υχηλοτατε
most-high. Their sons are called by the Turkish tide of Beÿ-Zaaday,
literally meaning prince’s son; their grandsons have no title.

Footnote 19:

The Prince Callimacki has sent by me a copy of his code to the
university of Oxford. As Dr. Macmichael, in his “Journey from Moscow
to Constantinople,” gives an account of this book, I abstain from any
observations upon it.—_Note of the Author._

Footnote 20:

In page 416, of the “Present State of Turkey,” Mr. Thornton says, “The
Boyars of the most ancient families, indeed, assert that they are the
descendants of the Slavi, and are of a distinct race from the people
who have sprung from the alliances of the Romans with the original
Dacians; but the chief distinction among the nobles is their wealth
and possessions. The great majority of the Wallachian and Moldavian
nobility owe their creation to the Sultan’s Voïvodes; for even these
ephemeral beings, these fleeting shadows of royalty, are presumed to
confer by their breath a permanency of dignity,” &c. I perfectly agree
with Mr. Thornton as to the latter part of this observation; but at
the same time I must beg leave to say, that although I am well
acquainted with all the Boyars who are considered to belong to the
most ancient families, I never could discover that their claims to
antiquity went beyond the period of Raddo Negro’s and Bogdan’s
establishment; nor indeed are there many sufficiently conversant with
the history of their country, or with any other, to know that the
Slaves ever came into it, or even that a nation of that name ever
existed. Those who call themselves the oldest families merely date
their origin from Voïvodes, who have reigned within the last five
hundred years; and upon such origin alone they form their claims to
ancient nobility.

Footnote 21:

£360,000. sterling.

Footnote 22:

The same who was Captain Pashah at Constantinople in 1810–11, and
distinguished himself in that station by so many acts of cruelty.

Footnote 23:

In 1811, mineralogists were sent from St. Petersburgh to explore the
Carpathian mines. They discovered some large veins of gold, silver,
and quicksilver: time, however, was requisite to put the work into
proper train; and when it offered the best prospect of success, peace
was concluded, the Russian authorities withdrew, and the mines were
filled up again, to remain in their former state.

Footnote 24:

A killow (Constantinople measurement) is equal to an English bushel.

Footnote 25:

One oke is equal to 2⅘ lbs. English.

Footnote 26:

The kintal weighs 44 okes.

Footnote 27:

40 paras make a piaster.

Footnote 28:

The Fannar is a district of Constantinople, where all the Greeks who
enter the career of the principalities reside. They are thus
distinguished from the other Greeks of the capital.

Footnote 29:

See Appendix, No. 2.

Footnote 30:

Thornton’s Present State of Turkey, p. 434.

Footnote 31:

A declaration of war of the Sultan must receive the sanction of the
Mufti, as chief of the religion, who makes his approbation known by a
manifesto called _Fetvaa_.

Footnote 32:

He was first interpreter to the embassy; he has since the peace
entered the Russian service, and is now attached to the Emperor’s
embassy at Constantinople in the same capacity.

Footnote 33:

The word “Seraglio” is generally supposed in England to apply
exclusively to a palace in which the Grand Signior’s women are kept.
This idea, however, is erroneous; the Sultan’s residence in town is
called “Seraglio.” His women, indeed, reside also within its walls,
but their apartment is called “Harem.” The seraglio occupies the whole
extent of ground on which the city of Byzantium stood, and is
surrounded by the original Byzantine walls.

Footnote 34:

New military institution, explained in the Appendix, No. 5.

Footnote 35:

Mr. Adair.

Footnote 36:

Sir Arthur Paget had made a fruitless attempt in 1807.

Footnote 37:

Letter addressed by the Emperors Alexander and Napoleon to the King of
Great Britain, dated at Erfurth, October, 1808, and official
correspondence that followed it between the ministers of foreign
affairs of the three sovereigns.—Official Papers published in 1809.

Footnote 38:

The same whose premature appointment in 1805 had partly given rise to
the misunderstanding at Constantinople.

Footnote 39:

Corporals.

Footnote 40:

See the Appendix, No. 3.

Footnote 41:

See the Appendix, No. 4.

Footnote 42:

Voltaire’s Philosophical Dictionary, vol. iv. p. 199.

Footnote 43:

“It may be questioned whether it ever entered into the contemplation
of the Russian cabinet to ameliorate the condition of the inhabitants
of Wallachia and Moldavia, since no instance can be produced of any
exertion of influence on the part of the Russian consuls to alleviate
the distresses of the people, to check and restrain the tyranny of the
Greeks, or to promote any plan of permanent benefit to the oppressed
inhabitants.”—_Thornton_’s Present State of Turkey, p. 435.

Mere motives of good-will on the part of the Russian cabinet, are
certainly questionable; but several instances of interference have
occurred. In the official note given as a declaration of war in 1789,
by the Turkish government to the Russian envoy, the composition of
which was then attributed to the English ambassador, Sir Robert
Ainslie, one of the principal grievances alleged was the conduct of
the Russian consul-general at Yassi, who, it was said, had abused the
right of interference in a most insulting manner. It may be supposed
that the consul had acted in conformity to instructions from his
court, who sought to create motives for a rupture; but after the
conclusion of pence, nearly the same line of conduct was continued by
his successors: I have seen many official documents which prove it;
and during my residence in the principalities, several instances have
occurred, within my observation, of very active exertion on the part
of Russia to keep the accustomed system of extortion in restraint, and
to relieve the inhabitants from oppression; and such exertion has
certainly on many occasions prevented the condition of the inhabitants
from becoming worse.

Footnote 44:

Whenever the Russian or Austrian armies have entered the territory of
the principalities in their wars against Turkey, the natives have
immediately joined them. At the beginning of the war in 1806, Bukorest
was garrisoned by about 10,000 Turks, who declared themselves
determined to make a desperate stand against the Russians, and to burn
the city, if they should finally see the impossibility of preventing
them from taking possession of it. Some inhabitants gave information
of this plan to the Russian commander-in-chief Michaelson, who
immediately despatched to Bukorest a corps of 6000 men under the
command of General Miloradovith, which, by forced marches arrived
suddenly before that city, and three days previous to the time they
were expected by the Turks. These latter were seized with
consternation; all the inhabitants rose against them, and some armed
with sticks, others with bricks, tongs, pokers, daggers, swords, and
with every thing, in short, that came within their reach, they fell
upon the poor Ottomans without mercy, and cleared the town of them as
the Russians were entering it. More than 1500 Turks were left dead in
the streets, and the Cossacks, who preceded the regular troops, soon
reduced them to a state of nudity, in which they remained exposed to
the view of the public some hours after tranquillity and order had
been restored.

Footnote 45:

The treaty of Yassi signed in 1792, binds the Porte to consult the
Russian ambassadors on the choice of the Hospodars, and to appoint
none but such as are approved of, or recommended by, the embassy. It
contains also the stipulation of their remaining seven years at the
head of the principalities.

Footnote 46:

The Prince’s daughter.

Footnote 47:

The author alludes to the Sultan and the body of Orthodox Mahometans.

Footnote 48:

The late Sultan Abdullhammid.

Footnote 49:

Died.

Footnote 50:

The Christians.

Footnote 51:

Turkey.

Footnote 52:

1770.

Footnote 53:

He is called Kannuni from the new canon, or system of military
administration which he established, and is the same whom we call
‘Solyman the Magnificent.’

Footnote 54:

True believers.

Footnote 55:

Lower order of grocers.

Footnote 56:

The common Janissaries usually follow these trades.

Footnote 57:

There is a tribe of Courdes so called.

Footnote 58:

A kind of soldiers in Asia.

Footnote 59:

Oriental Metaphor.

Footnote 60:

The Christian kings are so called from the Servian word Cral or
Prince. More honourable titles are given to Mahometan sovereigns, and
to the King of France, who has secured to him by treaty, that of
emperor.

Footnote 61:

Christian Europe.

Footnote 62:

America.

Footnote 63:

A form of deprecation, as much as to say, “May the devil take no
advantage of the suggestion.”

Footnote 64:

1792, A.D.

Footnote 65:

It would appear that this person had returned from an embassy to
Turkey.

Footnote 66:

The author seems here to allude to the Empress Catherine, and to some
project that had been laid before her of completing the conquest of
Constantinople.

Footnote 67:

Western or European Christians.

Footnote 68:

The Empress.

Footnote 69:

The Archipelago.

Footnote 70:

These reservoirs are situated among the hills and woods between the
Black Sea and Propontis, in the forests of Belgrade and Domouzdéré.

Footnote 71:

The author of the project most probably meant the taking possession of
the reservoirs, and suspending the course of the waters to
Constantinople.

Footnote 72:

It is believed that the Empress Catherine had formed the plan of a
similar expedition, and that her death prevented its timely execution.
When in 1812, the approaching war between France and Russia rendered
the cessation of hostilities, on the Turkish frontiers, absolutely
necessary to the future operations of the Russians against the French,
it had been determined, and measures were taken accordingly, that an
army composed of regular troops, marines, and militiamen, amounting to
fifty thousand men, under the command of the Duke of Richelieu, should
have been transported from Sevastopol in the Crimea to Domouzdéré,
where its landing was to be effected under the protection of a fleet,
commanded by Admiral Bailie. This army was to take possession of the
reservoirs, and the Turks by whom the event would have been perfectly
unexpected and unforeseen, would, no doubt, have been compelled to
sign peace immediately. This bold scheme was to have been executed in
case any new difficulties had arisen in the negotiations of Bukorest.
It has been kept so secret, that it is doubtful whether any Turk
suspects, even at the present day, its having been conceived and
seriously intended.

Footnote 73:

A Turkish proverb.

Footnote 74:

The deceased Sultan.

Footnote 75:

Teryak, formerly an article of trade coming from Venice, is supposed
in Turkey to be a remedy against the bite of snakes.

Footnote 76:

The titles of some superior officers amongst the Janissaries.

Footnote 77:

A corps of gardeners for the Seraglio, but at the same time the
Sultan’s body-guards.

Footnote 78:

Regiment.

Footnote 79:

Mahometan priest.

Footnote 80:

The Thracian Bosphorus.

Footnote 81:

These are proverbial expression to denote the vicissitudes of fortune.

Footnote 82:

The Janissaries.

Footnote 83:

Before the institution of the Janissaries, the corps employed in war
were chiefly called Segbans.

Footnote 84:

Hagee-Bektash, whose memory is reverenced by the Turks.

Footnote 85:

The Christian Sovereigns of Europe.

Footnote 86:

Markwick Markham, a London watch-maker, in great esteem with the
Turks.

Footnote 87:

7 or 800 leagues.

Footnote 88:

Men of sense.

Footnote 89:

A kind of confection sold in the streets of the principal towns in
Turkey, made of paste, butter, and honey.

Footnote 90:

An epithet of disdain, bestowed upon Christians in general.

Footnote 91:

The honour of the Turkish regiments is attached to the preservation of
their kettles.

Footnote 92:

The Turks call the head-quarters of a corps, as well as their posts
and guards, hearths, as coffee is always made there.

Footnote 93:

In the reign of Sultan Selim, the petty governors of Thrace revolted,
and committed great disorders, even menacing the neighbourhood of
Constantinople. The city of Adrianople took part with them. The new
troops were sent against them, but did not obtain so much success as
the author is willing to attribute to them.

Footnote 94:

Men, commonly dervises, who relate stories to amuse people at
coffee-houses, and who receive a pecuniary recompense from the
auditors.

Footnote 95:

It also means infidel, but it has the sense of reproach or insult.

Footnote 96:

This has happened to them at Zenta, Craoul, Rimnik, Hotim, and
Aboukir.

Footnote 97:

Peter the Great. The epithet of mad is in Turkey considered as a
compliment to those who distinguish themselves by courage and bravery.

Footnote 98:

Meaning the Author.

Footnote 99:

Domouz, and pezevenk in Turkish, are common epithets which mark
disdain.

Footnote 100:

I have seen and conversed with Turkish women in Russia, married to
Russian officers who had made them prisoners, and who assured me that
they were very highly satisfied with their condition, and felt not the
least desire to return to Turkey.

Footnote 101:

The Turks consider the marriage contract to be so intimately connected
with religion, that a man who has committed any grievous infraction of
their law, is obliged to renew his profession of faith and marriage
ceremony, both of which have been rendered void by it.

Footnote 102:

The Author.

Footnote 103:

This is a _jeu de mots_, as Hazinay means in Turkish, both cistern and
treasure.

Footnote 104:

The military and financial regulations of the Sultan Suleÿman are
contained in a book entitled Kanuni-Humayoun, or Imperial-Mandate.

Footnote 105:

The Janissaries can easily alienate their pay, suffering others to
draw it in their name by presenting these documents.

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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling. 2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. 3. Re-indexed footnotes using numbers and collected together at the end of the last chapter. 4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.