650 TURKISH ACCOUNT OF THE JANISSARIES. 



military character was at an end. Vagabonds and assassins obtained 

 enrolment, and consumed in idleness the revenues of the state. Thus 

 the corps became a vast disorganized mass, ever ready to be acted 

 upon by the intrigues of the seditious and disaffected. But this was 

 not all. Allured by the frequent commotions excited by the Janissaries 

 in the capital, the inhabitants of the adjacent country nocked into 

 Constantinople ; and while they left the country without cultivators, 

 they increased the disorders, consequent on the scarcity of pro- 

 visions. 



These evils had long engaged the attention of the government, and 

 the views of the predecessors of the Sultan had been turned towards 

 the organization of a body of troops disciplined after the European 

 manner. Mahmoud I., and Mustafa his successor, made some at- 

 tempts at improvement. Selim III. proceeded more vigorously, but 

 his new levies were attacked and dispersed by the Janissaries, so that 

 it was reserved for the present monarch to give full effect to the project 

 Aware of the obstacles to be overcome, from the prejudices of the 

 people and the compact power of the Janissaries, he was obliged to 

 act with the utmost caution and address. Every step was to be 

 sanctioned by the authority of the Koran, and reconciled to the super- 

 stition of true believers. In a grand council, summoned for the 

 occasion, the Sultan proposed his plan of forming a body of newly 

 disciplined troops, draughted from the odjek of the Janissaries. The 

 plan was received with approbation by all but the latter body. Gold 

 and intrigue, however, succeeded in softening this opposition. An- 

 other council was held, at which the officers of the Janissaries were 

 present. The imperial ordinance was read, and the Grand Vizier, 

 turning to the Janissary officers, asked them if they were ready to 

 give it their ratification. They all answered in the affirmative, and 

 with the most zealous alacrity, proceeded to affix their seals to the 

 document. A solemn procession followed, and the ordinance was 

 passed into a law with all the pomp and circumstance of eastern 

 legislation. In a few days, 5,000 new troops, called echeudhjis, were 

 mustered, and Davoud Agah, a colonel of the Egyptian army, was 

 appointed to discipline them. 



But the display of zeal on the part of the Janissaries in giving 

 their concurrence, only served as a cloak to their perfidious designs. 

 On the very day on which they had expressed their approbation of 

 the proposed measure, they formed a conspiracy to defeat its execu- 

 tion. They were divided in opinion as to the course to be pursued 

 for this purpose. Some were for allowing the members of the newly 

 enrolled corps to increase, in the confident anticipation that their 

 arms would be ever at the service of their brethren ; while others, 

 apprehensive that they might be bribed out of their esprit de corps, 

 urged the necessity of striking a blow, at once immediate and de- 

 cisive. The troops themselves soon began to manifest symptoms of 

 impatience. In vain did the Vizier expatiate on the expediency of 

 the new changes j in vain did he quote that sentence of the Koran 

 which says, " employ against the Christian every means in your 

 power." The men murmured. " You enjoin us," said they, " the 

 exercise of the infidels : it suits us not : it is ours to cleave the folded 



