The time between these two meals is usually occupied with some of his ministers, or the audiences of the foreign ambassadors, and in excursions on the Bosphorus or elsewhere.
Whatever transpires at the Porte, is reported to him every evening, through the Ameddjy, or state chancellor, expressed in the most beautiful and elegant style of which the Turkish language is capable. In fact, the bureau of the Ameddjy is considered the best school for polite literature, and those who have once served in that department, invariably acquire a remarkable elegance of diction. The sultan reads over these documents every evening, together with the Arzou-hals, or petitions, which are presented to him on Fridays; and after giving his imperial sanction or veto, returns them to the Porte, to be acted upon accordingly.
The approval of the sultan is not expressed by the application of any royal seal or cypher, but by a bold stroke of his majesty’s reed, representing the Arabic letter S, which is termed sah, meaning correct or approved. And those which are rejected are torn in one corner.
The sultan’s cipher, called Toora, is formed from the names of the reigning monarch, and that of his father. It reads thus, “Sultan Abd-ul-Medjid, son of Sultan Malmoud Khan, the sultan of sultans.” This is the imperial seal, and Ottoman coat of arms, and it is affixed to all royal edicts, engraved upon public buildings, and stamped upon the various current coins of the empire.
When his evening occupations are over, the sultan retires to the harem.
Such is the ordinary routine of the life of the Turkish sovereign; but there are also many other public duties which occupy his time and attention, and fully demonstrate that the post of sultan is by no means a sinecure.
CHAPTER XX.
PUBLIC DUTIES OF THE SULTAN.
The sultan is obliged to attend one of the public mosques in person every Friday, which is the Mohammedan Sunday. One reason of his public appearance is to set an example of religious devotion; another, to assure the people by his actual presence, that he is in the enjoyment of life and health; and a third, to give an opportunity to any of his discontented subjects to appeal to him in person; for, the right of appeal has never been denied in Turkey. This is done by a paper, which is held in the extended hand of the petitioner, and presented anywhere in the course of the royal route.