TURKEY. 
The sultan then resumed his plans of conquest against the 
Christians. The Knights of Malta, in revenge for the loss 
of Tripoli, carried oft great numbers of slaves from the Turk¬ 
ish coast, and annoyed its commerce. Sole'iman resolved 
to besiege Malta. The knights on their side solicited and 
received succours from the Christian princes, and a barren 
rock became, in some measure, the object of an extraordi¬ 
nary conflict between the east and the west. The honour of 
it was destined to remain with the Christian name, and this 
rock was in fact the limit against which the triumphal car 
of the Turks was dashed in pieces for ever. A numerous 
fleet, commanded by Dragut, and carrying forty thousand 
men, surrounded the island, attempted a landing, and after 
a vigorous resistance took the fort of St. Elmo, which opened 
to him the entrance of the port; but the town itself withstood 
all attacks, and a fleet from Sicily landed seven thousand 
men sent to the assistance of the knights. The Turks were 
repulsed, driven from St. Elmo, and obliged to raise the 
siege on the 11th of September, 1564, after losing two-thirds 
of their number. 
Misfortune continued to attend Solei'man’s arms. Several 
of his expeditions failed. At length, conducting in person 
the siege of Sigeth, a small town in Hungary, the resistance 
which he met with, and which he was far from expecting, 
occasioned a violent paroxysm of rage, that terminated in 
apoplexy, of which he died in a few momeuts, on the 30th 
of August, 1566, at the age of seventy-six years and after a 
reign of forty-six. The grand vizir concealed this event, 
and dispatched a courier to Iconium to give Selym notice to 
come over and take possession of the throne. 
The reign of Soleiman, who is called the Turkish Alex¬ 
ander, is considered by them as the most glorious of the 
Ottoman dynasty. 
1-566—1575.— Selym II. (surnamed Mest, the Drunk¬ 
ard.)—Of all Selym’s children, Sole'iman alone survived. 
He hastened to Constantinople and thence to the camp 
at Sigeth, where he proclaimed at the same time the death 
of his father and his own accession to the throne; but 
his inauguration did not take place till the month of 
January 1568. As the new sultan had not bestowed the 
usual largesses on the janissaries, and had placed a dif¬ 
ferent class of troops about his person, the former mu¬ 
tinied against him, and claimed the payment of what they 
termed a debt. After he had been weak enough to comply 
with the demands of this formidable body, he became sen¬ 
sible that war alone could rid him of it. He might have 
directed his arms against Spain, in favour of fifty thousand 
Mohamedan families, the remains of those conquerors who 
under Walyd I. made themselves masters of that country in 
the year 711. To escape the faggots of the Inquisition, 
which was not content with the external appearances of 
Christianity, this relic of a great nation, destroyed by the 
sword of the Christians, had entrenched itself on the most 
rugged mountain in the kingdom of Grenada, and thence 
implored the assistance of the sultan. He, however, chose 
rather to declare war against the republic of Venice, contrary 
to the advice of his vizir, and in spite of a treaty which the 
Venitians had faithfully observed. The Turkish fleet sailed 
for the island of Cyprus. The troops landed without any 
opposition from the inhabitants, weary of the Venetian yoke. 
Two towns only, and Famagosta, Nicosia were in a situa¬ 
tion to sustain a siege. Dandoli, the governor of the latter, 
solicited the aid of the combined fleet of Venice, the Pope, 
and Spain; but it arrived too late: Nicosia had already 
been pillaged by the Ottomans, who sent off part of the 
ships laden with booty, while the enemy’s fleet, distracted 
by dissensions, never stirred to pursue them. On board one 
of these vessels were several young female slaves of high 
birth and extraordinary beauty, who were destined for the 
harem of the sultan. One of them proposed to her com¬ 
panions to prevent their dishonour by setting fire to the 
powder magazine; the plan succeeded, and they blew them¬ 
selves up with the ship and the whole crew. 
The fleet of the allies having failed in its object, dispersed. 
Vol. XXIV. No. 1634. 
153 
The Turks closely pressed Famagosta, which, notwithstand¬ 
ing the most obstinate resistance, fell into their hands on the 
15th of August, 1571. The rest of the island shared the 
same fate as the town, and the conquerors committed the 
most atrocious cruelties. 
The confederates, who had left the foe abundant time to 
reduce the island of Cyprus, having united their force a 
second time, at length sent two hundred and seventy galleys 
to meet the Turkish fleet, which consisted of three hundred 
sail, and had entered the gulf of Lepanto. An engagement 
in so confined a space, could not be otherwise than terrible. 
The Christians, much more expert in manoeuvring than their 
antagonists, broke the enemy’s line, and their skill contri¬ 
buted, not less than their courage, to decide the victory. 
Don John of Austria, who at the age of twenty-four com¬ 
manded the allied fleet, singled out and took the galley 
which had on board the capitan-pacha. He cut off his head, 
and placed it on the top of the mainmast of his vessel. Most 
of the Christian galleys gained a similar advantage; and 
though the Turkish fleet made a long and obstinate resistance, 
yet one hundred and sixty-one galleys and sixty other 
vessels were taken or sunk. ” Thirty-two thousand Ottomans 
lost their lives, and three thousand five hundred their 
liberty. 
Mortified at his defeat, Selym, in a paroxysm of rage, 
issued orders for putting to death all the Christians residing 
in Constantinople. Mehemet, his vizir, deferred the execu¬ 
tion of this rash command, which was revoked the follow¬ 
ing day. 
The Porte knew better how to retrieve its disasters th$n 
the Franks to follow up their advantages. The treasures of 
the mosques were opened, and in a short time the Ottomans 
had a new fleet to oppose to that of their adversaries. They 
met off" Cerigo, without coming to an engagement, and 
peace was concluded between the sultan and the Venitians. 
The other events of Selym’s reign, with the exception of 
the capture of Tunis by Sinan Pacha, are of little import¬ 
ance. The emperor, after reigning eight years, or rather 
living that time under the tutelage of his vizir, Mehemet, 
was carried off by an acute disease, induced by intemper¬ 
ance and debauchery, on the 23d of December, 1564, at 
the age of fifty-two years. His vizir kept secret his death as 
he had done that of Sole'iman, to allow time for the arrival 
of Selym’s son, Amurath, from Amacyeh. 
1575—1595.— Amurat III.—Amurat, aged thirty-one 
years, impatient to mount the throne, hastily crossed the 
Dardanelles, though the sea was tempestuous. This was the 
only danger to which he would ever expose himself during 
his whole reign. On reaching the gates of his capital at 
midnight, he made himself known and sent for the grand 
vizir. The latter dispatched a messenger to the sultana-valy- 
deh, who went to meet her son, threw herself at his feet, 
and prayed for the prosperity of his reign. The following 
day, the death of Selym and Amurat’s accession were made 
public. This day was stained by an atrocity which the Turks 
style an act of policy, and which the head of their religion 
was not ashamed to authorise. Amurat caused his five young 
brothers to be put to death in the presence of their mothers, 
as well as two khassehkys, or concubines, whom his 
father had left pregnant. The mother of one of the young 
princes stabbed herself in despair, in the presence of the 
sultan. Amurat, wholly incapable of application to business, 
contributed as much as his father to render the power of the 
vizirs absolute. 
After ensuring his own tranquillity in Europe, by blowing 
up the flames of discord among his neighbours, Amurath 
resolved upon a new war with Persia, in spite of the ill suc¬ 
cess which had attended former sultans. He was induced to 
adopt this measure, contrary to the advice of all his ministers, 
by the prediction of an iman. One hundred and fifty thou¬ 
sand men, whom he sent against the Persians, were defeated 
at the outset. The Turkish army then crossed the Kbanak 
or Carah-Sou, and overran the province of Chyrvan, but 
during the winter, the Persians, falling upon their foes whiie 
2 R dispersed 
