Grand Signior is so much checked by the soldiers and the 

 Ulemas, that he really enjoys but a very limited authority. 

 " When,'' says the latter author, ''the people are notori- 

 ously aggrieved, when their property and that of the church 

 is repeatedly violated, when the prince will riot in blood, 

 or carry on an unsuccessful war, they pronounce him act- 

 ing contrary to law, and destroy him." But is it possible 

 to imagine a more barbarous government than that in 

 which the excesses of the prince can be checked by nothing 

 but his destruction ? or can we conceive a despotism so 

 complete as to take away even the right of vengeance from 

 the people ? The sultan is not more controlled by law than 

 the savage is by a natural sense of justice ; the only re- 

 straint on both is the dread of retaliation, and the savage, 

 in general, has more to fear. The Grand Signior cannot 

 infringe the right of property, nor inflict punishment in 

 general without a formal condemnation ; such is the theory 

 of Turkish law : but, on the other hand, the Orlouf, or 

 royal prerogative, allows him to put to death fourteen 

 persons per day as the effect of immediate inspiration, and 

 in these cases confiscation is sure to follow. The most 

 characteristic trait, however, of Turkish despotism, is ex- 

 hibited in the relation that subsists between the prince and 

 his officers. All who accept any post or government from 

 the sultan (and what he offers none dare refuse) place their 

 lives and properties thereby at his disposal ; he is the heir 

 to all their effects, and can, at any time, demand their heads 

 as a matter of right. In such a state of things it is natural 

 that the powers of government should either be in the hands 

 of desperados, or of men who hope to escape notice by a 

 servile adherence to established routine, and who sacrifice 

 every consideration to that of personal safety. The Ulemas 

 alone are placed beyond the reach of these odious preroga- 

 tives; they may be exiled, but cannot be put to death, and 

 to the inviolability of their persons they add the security 

 of their property. As the body thus designated appears to 

 us to have exerted a powerful influence on the character of 

 the Ottoman empire, we shall endeavour, as fully as our 

 limits will permit, to expose its temper and constitution. 

 As the law and religion of Turkey are founded on a 



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