und a position, such as a bridge, a mosque, or a house, but were
far too weak to maintain it. Only a small number had time to retire into
the fortress, where the Vizier was, and thence they fired with the few
cannon they had on the lower town. But the Bosnians, with their small
arms, did far more execution, singling out their enemies, and bringing
them down with sure aim. The fighting continued for three days. At last
Abdurahim found himself compelled to think of his own safety. The
Bosnians, who found themselves victorious, would gladly have refused him
leave to retire; but the older and more experienced among them,
satisfied with the success they had obtained, persuaded the young people
to let him go. On the fourth day, a Thursday in July 1828, Abdurahim
marched away. He took the road to Orlovopolie, being allowed to take
with him the cannons he had brought. There, however, he found that the
spirit of disaffection had gained such head, that nearly all the
soldiers, whom he had expected to find, had dispersed and gone to their
homes. He thereupon repaired to Travnik, and was shortly afterwards
replaced by another Vizier of milder temper.

The state of the empire now appeared more settled, both in its domestic
and foreign relations, the peace of Adrianople having at any rate saved
the capital from fear of an attack. What success the Sultan might have
had in his endeavours to consolidate his rule in Bosnia, we are unable
to judge; since he found an antagonist to every species of reform in
Mustapha Pacha of Scutari, commonly known as Scodra Pacha, the most
mischievous, as well as the most powerful, of all the provincial
magnates since the fall of Ali Pacha. Young, warlike, and of good
descent, he constituted himself the champion of hereditary privileges,
and as such virtually threw down the gauntlet to his imperial master.
Open rebellion, however, was not the plan which he proposed to himself
by which to attain the object dearest to his heart--the re-embodiment of
the Janissaries, and the establishment of the old order of things. To
this end he consented, in 1823, to make a demonstration against the
Greek rebels, but took very good care not to render too much service to
the cause which he espoused. Thus, too, when he marched in the autumn of
1828 to the vicinity of the Danube, at the head of an army of 25,000
irregulars, it was not with the intention of attacking the Russians, but
rather under the expectation that the nece