Day by day, the monster grew in strength, and threatened the utter annihilation of both sovereign and people. What greater act of humanity then, than to crush the Hydra with one fell blow.
By this act Mahmoud not only established his own sovereign authority, but bursting, for the first time, the bonds of barbarism, made a bold stride towards the platform of civilization, and the fraternity of the world. But for Mahmoud, Turkey would, perhaps, have, ere this, been only a record of the past.
The army was immediately re-organized, and the soldiers were trained in European tactics, by distinguished foreign officers.
They attained great distinction as infantry and artillery-men, and still greater progress would have been made in military science, had it not been for the intrigues of Russia, who, just at that period, availing herself of the forlorn condition of the country, found a favorable opportunity for declaring war.
The Allies of the present day, not discerning the Muscovite cunning, were quiet spectators of the affray, and became as it were silent partners in the shameful treaty of Adrianople, for which they have since paid so dearly.
But the janissaries were not the sole barriers to the civilization of the country. The Ulema, or the expounders of the faith, have exercised even greater influence over the minds of the superstitious people, through their unlimited spiritual authority.
Turkey is a country where church and state are most eminently combined. The standard of every measure or act is the Koran; the administration of affairs, both civil and religions, must, therefore, be in conformity with the precepts of that sacred book; but since that book does not provide for all emergencies, and in many instances is not even explicit, those who made the Koran their special study have ever been consulted, and all matters referred to them for examination and sanction.
The entire body of these ecclesiastics are denominated the Ulema, or learned (in the Koran), and their expositions are termed Fetvas. These Fetvas constitute, as it were, the statutes of the state.
The sanction of these doctors in every measure being essential, each civil tribunal is supplied with one of their number, in order that their acts may be valid. Hence, even the Grand-Vezir, who only represents the sultan in temporal matters, is associated with the chief of the Ulema, viz., the Sheikh-ul-Islam, who, on his part, personifies his majesty in spiritual affairs. Bearing the title of Fetvayi-Pena, or the Grand Expositor, his approval is necessary even to the measures of the great viceroy himself, for no law can be promulgated without his sanction.