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to 1326.

to 726.

n

mirs, Othman, more valiant than his neighbours, J.C. 1300,
vanquished those who came to pillage Carachifar, Heg. 700,
his ancient capital. The rapidity of his con-
quefts in defencelefs countries has without doubt
deceived those who have believed him to have
been at first a powerful fovereign.

Othman knew equally, how to take advantage of discord and of peace. Instead of making a great flaughter of thefe vagabonds, according to the oriental manner of fighting, he loaded with chains all the vanquished who were defirous of faving their lives, and offered them afterwards lands and liberty, if they would consent to embrace his religion. Other Tartarian brigands ranged themselves under his government; thus Othman founded a nation of foldiers. The vagabonds, without any other right to their new poffeffions, than the conceffion of the prince, holding of him, even their lives and liberties, fortified that defpotifm* which is the effence of a government,

perfectly

* We understand here by defpotifm, the right of commanding without contradiction, and without written laws, or the fole right of interpreting thofe that are fo. The Turks know no other written law than the Alcoran and the Sunna, which give, indeed, fome general precepts, but. are far from prefcribing the manner of governing in particular cafes, or in all the ordinary ones. Though the interpretation of thofe pretended facred writers belongs to the mufti, the dignity and poffeffions of this chief of the Musulman religion are in the hands of the emperor; he dares not undertake any thing against the will of his mafter, at least if he be not fure of dethroning him. The manners of the Turks, more conftant than their laws, undoubtedly reftrain the power of the monarch. He risks his throne and his life, when

he

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to 1326.

to 726.

J.C.1300, perfectly military. The firft fubjects of the Heg. 700, Ottoman empire were warriors docile to the voice of their chief. Othman juftified this absolute power by the authority of the Alcoran, and by the example of the Divinity, of whom fovereigns are the image. As the fupreme Being is unbounded in his decrees, faid he, he, who reprefents him on earth, ought to be fo likewife. This was the great argument of Mahomet, to which his followers had not learned to answer.

After these principles, though it appears certain that Othman never bore the title of emperor, nor even that of fultan, he nevertheless laid a good foundation for the power of his future race, by announcing to his fubjects a God remunerator and avenger. In perfuading them that the fovereign was the organ by which this God manifefted to them his wifhes, he infpired them with fuch a devotion for the blood of their masters, that it makes an effential part of the form of worship which the Ottomans believe due to the Divinity.

he attempts to mifufe them too openly. This is alfo an effect of defpotifm, which expofes the days of the fovereign whenever this fovereign is not the ftrongeft. The Turks are not all slaves, as fome have pretended; but they are all liable to confiscation of property, and even to be put to death without being convicted of any crime: and this misfortune happens frequently to the most elevated ranks. The Ottoman monarchs are likewise despotic, in no one's having a right to reclaim in their.prefence, either the intereft of the people, or the authority of the law. To conclude, if we define defpotifm a power without bounds, the Ottoman emperors are not defpotic, and there are none fuch on the face of the earth. But if we define it a power without rules, there is no monarch more defpotic tham the fovereign of the Turks.

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to 1326. to 726.

Divinity. They ftill believe, at this day, that J.C.1300, the house of Othman will have end, only with Heg. 700, their empire, which is itself to last as long as the world. Though the Ottoman emperors are not, as the caliphs were, fucceffors of Mahomet, and premier pontiffs, their perfon is not less sacred, nor their orders lefs regarded as emanations of the Divinity, unless they directly clafh with the precepts of the Alcoran. The blind obedience, which communicates itself step by step, renders the authority of the lowest officers of the empire as abfolute as the emperor's.

can takes

Death of

Othman.

Orcan, the son of Othman, a prince as valiant Prince Oras his father, again befieged the town of Burfa, Burfa. and had the good fortune to take it. Death furprised the emir, as he was preparing to remove the feat of his dominions to this capital of Bithynia. He fent for his fon to come to him at Jengifhari, that he might give him his laft orders, and bid him a final adieu. Othman died the 726 year of the hegira, 1326 of Jefus Chrift. This prince had great defigns, a tried courage, and a rare prudence. He knew how to communicate to his nation the force neceffary to extend and elevate it. He civilized barbarians juft as much as was neceffary to teach them to vanquifh; for, as we shall fee, the Ottomans were always more fanguinary than the other nations, and their ferocity greatly augmented the renown of their valour.

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J.C. 1326, to 1360. Heg. 726, to 761.

Establishments

made by Orcan.

ORCAN I

SECOND REIGN.

ORCAN afcended the throne, aged thirty-five

years, with more pomp than his father. He introduced into his court pageantry and magnificence, and stiled himself sultan. This title, more impofing than that of emir, began to accord with the extent of country that Orcan had to govern, the bounds of which he flattered himself with enlarging confiderably. Othman had fixed before his death that Burfa fhould be the feat of his empire. His fon followed this project. He adorned with vaft edifices his new refidence, and established in it mofques, hofpitals, public markets, in fhort, every thing fuitable to the capital of a powerful ftate. The new fultan declared his brother Allaadin grand vizier, that is, prime minister, and the next to himself in the state. This example was not followed by Orcan's fucceffors, who, always suspicious, regarded their nearest relations as their greatest enemies. The fultan abolished the ufe of the Selgieucid money, and had a coin of his own ftruck. Orcan, `well perfuaded that armies docile to the voice of their chief would be the principal spring of his autho

to 761.

rity, applied himself to the perfecting of the J.C. 1326, to 1360. military difcipline which his father had established. Heg. 726, He was the first that fixed a daily pay for the infantry, who, 'till then, had been paid only by pillage, or the hope of Paradife. He formed a corps of young Chriftian renegades, wrested in infancy from their parents, and who had no other refource to get out of flavery than to carry arms. These young foldiers, being placed under fevere masters, foon learned to obey and to bear hunger and fatigue and they faw a certain advancement for recompenfe of their docility and courage. Thofe, who poffeffed lands, or other riches, were appointed to the cavalry; they formed the corps of fpahis, which still subsists, mounted on horses as swift as docile. Orcan affigned to the military a particular dress.

takes Ni

and Nice.

With troops, if not more courageous, at least Orcan more numerous and better difciplined than his comedia father's, he vanquished Andronicus, the Greek emperor, who had paffed the fea to oppose the incurfions of the Turks. After having beaten this prince in feveral battles, in one of which Andronicus was wounded, Orcan obliged him to make a fudden retreat. He took Nicomedia, and J.C. 1327. Heg. 727. thus became fovereign of the territory that furrounded it, which extended a good way. Though thefe foldiers gave but little quarter, Orcan had given orders to fpare the women and children. All the prisoners of this kind became as many

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