During a holy war which was carried on in the happy time of the apostle of God, (on whom be peace!) a certain valiant champion of the enemy’s army came out to offer single combat, and demanded that the glorious Alli should be opposed to him. Alli, well pleasing to God, having received the command of the Apostle, girded on his sword only, and immediately went forth alone to the place appointed for the combat. When this friend of the Most High met that infidel, he thus addressed him: “I come on foot having one sword; why come you out on horseback having two swords and two bows?” The great Alli spoke to him again, saying “let these things be so; but I come out alone to give battle on our side, why do you bring another man and come both together?” The infidel, at this question, looked about him believing that another man had followed him, when at the same instant, the great Alli, in the twinkling of an eye, made the vile head of the reprobate fly off. The death of the said wicked person having been a source of joy to the followers of Islam, the excellent Alli, meeting the great prophet on his return, related to him the admirable stratagem by means of which he had slain that wretch. This holy tradition has been vouchsafed unto us.
Although many similar stratagems have been employed at various times, by holy warriors, and leave has been granted to the spies sent forth amongst the infidels for the purpose of advancing victory to the people of Islam, to assume any sort of dress; and although the great Prophet hath given full permission and authority to do any thing which may conduce to the defeat of the infidels, yet an ignorant rabble keep chattering like parrots, some of whom do not approve of the dresses of the new troops, while others say that their exercise belongs specially to the Kiafers[[95]], and does not become Mussulmans.
With respect to the manner in which the provinces of the Sublime Government are to be defended, and the means by which the enemies of our faith are to be repressed, and the causes that have produced victory and defeat, the rabble are utterly ignorant of them, occupying themselves solely with this question, “shall we lose our pay of a few aspers?” With this, as with a fishing hook, they draw from their sack various absurdities, and prevent a number of simple and foolish men from undertaking the duties of holy warfare. In truth, is not this a sufficient reason for their being excluded from the two blessed worlds?
To sum up all in one word: it is evident to men of penetration, that there is no possibility of introducing this system into our old corps, for this reason; that as at their first institution they were regulated in a different manner, every one of them has an aversion to submitting himself to the new discipline. If, for example, any of the old troops wish to leave the camp and return, although forty thousand officers should attempt to turn them back, it is useless; they will do as they please. If only five or ten individuals should turn their faces, who has power to say to them “Stop, go not away!” the whole body forthwith following on their steps; for the most part draws breath in the tents containing the treasure and baggage of the Imperial camp.
The following is another of the advantages of the new troops. If it should happen that the enemies have obtained the victory by their superior numbers, and that the new forces were defeated, they will not, in consequence, lose courage and disperse themselves; their captains and other officers will rally them the following day or soon after, and will again march upon the enemy; and not one of their soldiers will dare to make the defeat a pretext for quitting his post. But if our old corps meet with a small check, they run, throw themselves into the water, and get drowned. Thus they become the cause of the progress of the enemies of the faith. Which thing having come to pass in our own times, twice in the Russian, and once in the Austrian war, and repeatedly in the war with the French, is manifest to the world, and wants no new proof.[[96]] Another of the advantages of the new troops is this; that when a body of them are appointed to defend any post, they establish an advanced guard round the place in order to obviate any hostile stratagems. Although this sort of vigilance and precaution was formerly observed, yet there is a world of difference between the ancient method and the new. According to the old system, it is not easy to discover strange soldiers of the enemies’ army who mix with the posts; but it is utterly impossible for strangers to pass the guards of the regular troops, and to get into a fortress which they defend; so that the army is safe from any surprise.
The following is a description of the manner in which these posts are arranged. When they are disposed round the camp, a certain word is given them every night as a sign; the commander-in-chief first announces in secret this word to the officers, and they communicate it privately to the officers of the corps de garde; if therefore they meet with a suspicious person, they immediately demand the parole, that is to say, the sign word for the night; and if he does not give the parole of the night, they seize and conduct him to the captain of the camp. Behold! this is the only method of discovering spies; and as it is a matter which, above all others, demands great care, they will pay special attention to it; so that until their return from any expedition, the parole of one night will never be the same as that of another, and by this means they are delivered from the plague of spies. But of all the advantages, the most material is this. If, under Divine favour, a sufficiently numerous body of these new troops should be properly disposed along the frontiers of the Sublime Empire, our enemies will find themselves opposed on every part of the boundaries of Islam, by expert artillery men, and well disciplined forces, perfectly acquainted with the rules of the art of war; nor will they, as heretofore, be able to take advantage of our unguarded posture, in order to make an attack upon us; for there are persons still alive who well know that when in the time of Sultan Mahmoud the German infidels assaulted, and at once made themselves masters of the fortress of Nissa, it required a great deal of trouble to drive them out. In fine, His Highness the Emperor, and the supporters of his power, considering that it is indispensably necessary to guard against such occurrences by striking terror into the enemies of our religion, have firmly resolved to take measures for that purpose, seeing that those enemies who were from the beginning a troublesome and insolent race, and who, in all times, had been unable to withstand the power of the people of Islam, insomuch that they were wont to frighten their bastards in the cradle by saying “The Mussulman is coming!” and many of them on seeing one Mussulman, took off their hats through excess of fear, now venture to resist us, and have with exceeding care and diligence made themselves so thoroughly masters of the use of fire-arms, that a body of some thousands of them are able to serve their cannon with as much precision and celerity as they can their muskets, firing a single piece of artillery twelve or fifteen times in a minute, and making a thousand discharges in the space of an hour. By this means they destroy the people of Islam from a distance, and prevent them from making use of their sabres. They now say, “At length we have taught the Ottoman troops what value they ought to set upon themselves; henceforth they will never set foot in our country; even the Mussulman provinces are ours.” Thus they never allow victory to incline to the side of Islam, and especially since the year 1182, they have continued to afflict the followers of Islam with most disgraceful usage, bringing under their own power so many of our tributary subjects. Nevertheless, a crowd of ignorant people of our nation never bring these things into their recollection, nor can persuade themselves that the success of the infidels for nearly the space of forty years over the people of Islam proceeds entirely from their own inability to resist their fire, and that their own frequent flights are the cause which disables us from carrying on war. These despicable wretches have never issued from the castle-gate, nor travelled a single stage from home, neither do they know what war and peace mean, nor from what cause the troubles of the world have sprung, and whence they are likely to arise in future; some of them are so ignorant of what belongs to pure religion, that in repeating a short prayer they commit mistakes from beginning to end; men in appearance only, vulgar of the lowest description, children of falsehood, who suppose that the Nizam-y-Gedid is the cause of confusion in the universe, and that if this ordinance were removed, and the old system restored, the world would be tranquil in five days.
Last year, one of those superlatively ignorant persons was appointed to the office of receiver of the revenue in one of the islands. This man, who before was continually uttering curses and execrations against the authors of the Nizam-y-Gedid, having gained five thousand piasters by the perception of the imposts, and hoping it was continued to him for another year that he might gain five thousand more, upon meeting with his friends and companions, said to them, “Ha! comrades, there is no harm in this Nizam-y-Gedid; I, indeed, at first opposed it, but it was from want of sense; for the impost upon wine is not paid by those who drink it, but is levied upon the wine which is sent to Russia, so that the money comes out of the pockets of the Russians; it were better that it was twice as much; I now understand the matter, and I make vow never to speak a word against the Nizam-y-Gedid.” See how this man, in consequence of gaining a few piasters by an institution which he had been in the habit of abusing, is not ashamed afterwards to praise it. Such, however, is the nature of all the lower orders. To sum up all in one word: if the clamour and execrations of a rabble, who makes no difference between good and evil, obliges us to abandon the said institution of new troops, (which Heaven forbid!) the enemies of our religion will find so much the more facility in invading us; and as one of their kingdoms maintains three hundred thousand regular troops, they will mount upon our necks on seeing that the Ottomans cannot discipline a hundred thousand. At that time we shall not derive the least service from those knaves who disapprove of the Nizam-y-Gedid; they will merely say that it was thus ordained; that there is no contending with destiny; and if a great calamity befalls (which Heaven avert!) they will, without making more words about the matter, become the authors of trouble and distress.
SECTION VI.
Wherein is explained the purpose for which exercise is intended.
In the time of his Highness the late Emperor, during the period of my two captivities, I have often, in the course of conversation with Russian military men, questioned them, saying, “by what secret prodigy hath it come to pass, that you Muscovites, who were formerly a very stupid and easily vanquished nation, have for some time back obtained such success over the race of Osman?” They, in reply, said, “Since you are ignorant of the causes of our superiority, you shall be made acquainted with them. The Russians, in former times, did not possess the knowledge of tactics, and were therefore beaten by their enemies. A man called Mad [[97]]Petro, having in his travels seen the world, and acquired an intimate knowledge of the advantages thereof, became Cral of Muscovy, and subjected the Russians, whether they would or no, to the restraints of discipline. In order to try what progress they had made in it, he declared war against the King of Sweden, and avenged himself of him. He then went in an expedition towards the Crimea, reduced whatever fortresses he thought proper, and began to break the power of the Tartars. Afterwards, when we concluded a treaty with you, we demanded for our Cral the title of Emperor; and as you could not oppose us, the Sultan Mahmoud Khan (of excellent memory) in writing to us, granted that title. Then in the war with Sultan Moustapha, we approached Adrianople, and made peace on our own terms. And see, in the present war, we have, with very few troops, defeated your numerous forces; and after taking the fortresses of Hotim, Bender, Ibraïl, Ismail, and Otchakoff, and conquering Moldavia and Wallachia from one extremity to the other, we passed the Danube with eight thousand men, and routed the Ottoman army consisting of fifty thousand. As you have no troops able to face ours, know that this time also, after being well beaten, you will make a worse peace than the former one.” In this manner did they answer this poor person[[98]]; and truly before much time had elapsed, it came to pass that such a treaty was concluded.