heir violence, and was
succeeded by Mustapha, who had instigated the insurgents to revolt. His
short reign is signalized by the vigorous measures he took to destroy
Selim's reforms. Shortly after his accession to the throne, the defeat
of the Turkish fleet by the Russians spread consternation and terror
through the capital. It was at this critical juncture that an Asiatic
pasha, a friend of the deposed sultan, advanced with a powerful army,
and laid siege to Constantinople, which yielded to him after a vigorous
resistance of one year. Mahmoud ascended the throne. From Selim, his
cousin, he had learned the lamentable condition of the empire and the
necessity of reform. He had no sooner ascended the throne, than the
Janissaries began to manifest a feverish anxiety for revolt. No time was
to be lost; and Mahmoud acted with that energy which was one of the few
redeeming traits of his character. Mustapha, the murderer of Selim and
the destroyer of the work of a lifetime, was put to death; his son and
wives shared his fate. Mahmoud was now firmly established. He was the
last scion of the Othman race, and as such was vested with _sacrosancta
potestas_. He resolved to annihilate the unruly corps and anathematize
their name. He engaged the services of their aga, or commander-in-chief,
to whom he made known his plans. His next step was to issue an order
commanding each regiment to furnish one hundred and fifty men to be
drilled after the manner of European soldiers. The friends of Mahmoud
asked: 'Is he mad?' The soldiers exclaimed: 'Bismillah! he wants to make
infidels of us. Does he think we are no better than infidel dogs?' The
Janissaries reversed their kettles (the signal of revolt) in the
Byzantine hippodrome, and calling upon their patron saint, proceeded to
attack the royal palace. But Mahmoud was prepared to receive them. All
his other troops, artillery, marines, and infantry, were under arms and
at his command. The ulemas pronounced a curse of eternal dissolution
upon the insurgents. Mahmoud unfurled the sacred standard of the
prophet, and called on his people for assistance. A hundred cannon
opened fire upon their barracks, and in an hour twenty-five thousand
Janissaries were mowed down by grapeshot and scimitars. Their bodies
broke the lingering fast of the hungry dogs, or were cast into the
Bosphorus, and hurried by its rapid currents into the Sea of Marmora.
The annihilation of the Janissaries took place in 1826.

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