Soliman

“ Erastus.
Ah, pardon me, great Soliman; for this is she
For whom I mourn'd more than for all Rhodes,
And from whose absence I derived my sorrow.
Perseda.
And pardon me, my lord; for this is he
For whom I thwarted Soliman's entreats,
And for whose exile I lamented thus.
[Pg 337]
Erastus.
Ev'n from my childhood have I tender'd thee;
Witness the heavens of my unfeigned love.
Soliman.
By this one accident I well perceive,
That heav'ns and heav'nly powers do manage love.
I love them both, I know not which the better:
They love each other best. ”

“ Half the camp hastened to the ill-fated spot, to be enabled to testify to the accidental death of Soliman by his own hand. So quietly had he fallen that even my servant Osman, who was near, ascertained quite casually that he was dead; a dark mark, caused by the smoke from the powder, at the orifice of the gaping wound, showed that his gun had gone off while he was holding it. Sobbing and weeping, his friends and countrymen stood round his body, and even the stony-hearted cattle-stealers seemed as if, after all, they were not utterly devoid of all human emotion. ”

“ Or licence of my lord, great Soliman.
Brusor.
Why then appeal to him, where thou shalt know,
And be assur'd, that I betray thee not.
Soliman.
Yes, thou and I, and all of us betray him. [Aside.
Marshal.
No, no; in this case no appeal shall serve.
Erastus.
[Pg 351]
Why, then, to thee or unto any else
I here protest by heav'ns unto you all,
That never was there man more true or just,
Or in his deeds more loyal and upright,
Or more loving or more innocent,
Than I have been to gracious Soliman,
Since first I set my feet on Turkish land.
Soliman. ”

“ Then came a third letter from black Arapin, that he was coming, and that he must prepare, would he, nould he, to give him his daughter, and that all inns and shops must be shut for fear of him. Thereupon the emperor Soliman shed abundant tears as he read it. His daughter came to him: ‘Why do you weep, emperor Soliman? Letters have ofttimes arrived for you, and you have not shed abundant tears. What distress is assailing you?’ ‘You see, dear daughter, that black Arapin writes to me, that if I don’t give you to him, I must meet him in single combat! ”

“ Such occasional opposition was scarcely distasteful to Soliman, for [Pg 14] whom invariable and cheap success had not its usual attraction. His far-reaching ambition looked to a sovereignty of the West corresponding to that which his ancestors had asserted over the East, and he remarked with complacency the valour of men whom he destined for his future subjects. For the same reason he detested cowardice in the ranks of his opponents, and punished it with the same severity as if it had exhibited itself in his own. ”

“ The most famous talisman of the East, and which could control even the arms and magic of the dives or giants, was Mohur Solimani, the seal or ring of Soliman Jared, fifth monarch of the world after Adam. By means of it the possessor had the entire command, not only of the elements, but also of demons and every created being.—Richardson’s Dissertation on the Languages, etc., of Eastern Nations, p. ”

“ Soliman.
Great Soliman, lord of all the world.
Perseda.
Thou art not lord of all: Rhodes is not thine.
[Pg 364]
Soliman.
It was and shall be, maugre who says no.
Perseda.
I, that say no, will never see it thine.
Soliman.
Why, what art thou, that dar'st resist my force?
Perseda.
A gentleman and thy mortal enemy,
And one that dares thee to the single combat.
Soliman.
First tell me, doth Perseda live or no?
Perseda.
She lives to see the wreck of Soliman.
[Pg 365]
Soliman.
Then I will combat thee, whate'er thou art.
Perseda.
And in Erastus' name I'll combat thee ”

“ But before any result could come of this alliance Francis must be free. Soliman, in his letter, bids him not despair. It is not strange that great kings should be captive. And he adds, "My horse is always saddled, and my sword by day and night is girdled on." But it is difficult to see how Soliman could rescue the royal captive, unless by invading Hungary he could call Charles and his armies from Madrid, and leave Spain open to a French invasion. ”

“ The close of the year 1529 had been made memorable in the annals of Christendom by the retreat of Soliman. He had retired not without loss and a degree of exhaustion which promised an interval at least of repose to the countries he had so cruelly ravaged. He was, however, neither satiated with blood nor discouraged by that signal failure of the main object of his expedition which the Turkish historiographers strove in vain to conceal beneath the flowers of Oriental eloquence. ”

“ He conquered also Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, and reduced to subjection the powerful Sheikh of Mecca. In wisdom, however, in power, and in glory, this Soliman was surpassed by his son, the second of that name, the greatest of the Ottoman sovereigns, under whom the Turkish empire attained a pitch of splendour which has not been equalled before or since. ”

“ Soliman.
Nay, gentle Brusor, stay thy tears a while,
Lest with thy woes thou spoil my comedy,
And all too soon be turn'd to tragedies.
Go, Brusor, bear her to thy private tent,
Where we at leisure will lament her death,
And with our [429] tears bewail her obsequies;
For yet Perseda lives for Soliman.—
Drum, sound a parley.—Were it not for her
I would sack the town, ere I would sound a parley.
[The drum sounds a parley. Perseda comes upon the walls in man's apparel. Basilisco and Piston [also] upon the walls. Perseda.
[Pg 363]
At whose entreaty is this parley sounded? ”

“ It can only be conjectured that Soliman, having discovered how unpopular that appointment had been amongst his high officers, did not care to risk the experiment the second time; and in consequence employed Sinan. To this officer the aphorism of Seignelay applies in its fullest force. He was as brave a man as ever drew a sword in the service of his master; he was, however, a hesitating and incompetent leader, with one eye ever fixed on that distant palace on the shores of the Golden Horn in which dwelt the arbiter of his destiny and of all those who sailed beneath the banner of the Crescent. ”

“ The Grand Sultan [5] had a brother, Tutuses, who ruled over Jerusalem, the whole of Mesopotamia, and Aleppo and as far as Baghdad, and was hoping to secure Antioch; when he noticed that the Ameer Soliman was on the point of rebelling, and had already won the province of Antioch for himself, he encamped with his whole army midway between Aleppo and Antioch. On the Ameer Soliman's coming out to meet him, a tremendous battle broke out at once, and when it came to hand to hand fighting, Soliman's troops turned their backs and fled in disorder. ”

“ He extolled him highly for his generosity, courage, and his great interest at Sennaar from his father's merits, and from his having married Shekh Adelan's daughter. He said, it was the greatest presumption, in a set of infidels like us, to behave in the manner we had done to Fidele that day. "Hagi Soliman, answered I, you are an old man; if years have not given you wisdom, your journey to Mecca, and conversation with persons of all nations there, should at least have taught you an appearance of it, which, at this time, you have not. ”

“ For at the same time that the Ameer Soliman entrusted the Government of Nicaea to Apelchasem on his departure for Antioch, he also apportioned the seacoast, and Cappadocia, in fact the whole of Asia, to various satraps, for each man to guard his own portion until such time as he, Soliman, should return. Now Apelchasem who was then archsatrap in Nicaea, where the Sultan's palace was, took possession of the town and transferred Cappadocia to his brother, Pulchases, and then lived a carefree life, expecting soon to assume the dignity of 'Sultan,' in fact looked upon it as a certainty. ”

“ The wisdom of the East has ever been celebrated; and if we may believe their own best writers, much of what they possess has been derived from Solomon. Encomiums of his wisdom are everywhere to be met with in the Asiatic writers; and his name is famous in every part of the East. Most of the oriental historians, poets, and philosophers, mention Soliman ben Daoud, "Solomon the son of David." ”

“ When the Grand Vizier had spoken to the Sultan about the matter, Soliman commanded him to proclaim at every corner of every street, through the public criers, that a certain merchant, Muhzin by name, recently returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca, had drowned himself at night in the Bosphorus. His dead body had been found by the fishermen; if, therefore, the dead man had any friends or relations who wished to bury him with due respect, they were to come for him, otherwise the corpse would be buried in the common cemetery reserved for the poor. ”

“ Would yield him prisoner unto Soliman,
That for retaining one so virtuous
We may ourselves be fam'd for virtues.
But let him pass; and, Brusor, tell me now,
How did the Christians use our knights?
Brusor.
As if that we and they had been one sect.
Soliman.
What think'st thou of their valour and demeanour?
Brusor.
Brave men at arms, and friendly out of arms;
Courteous in peace, in battle dangerous;
Kind to their foes, and liberal to their friends;
And, all in all, their deeds heroical.
Soliman.
[Pg 316]
Then tell me, Brusor, how is Rhodes fenced? ”

“ Soliman, a bold and resolute Druse muleteer, and Pierre, recalled from Deiv el Kammar, where he was keeping an inn, started to repeat Colonel Boutin's journey, disguised as old pedlars. They succeeded in their mission, and in October, 1815, when the doctor disembarked from Egypt, he learned that the proofs which had been collected were conclusive, and that the pacha was to be summoned to act. The doctor made the mistake of not being enthusiastic and of talking of revenge, of danger in the future when Lady Hester went riding. Let him not speak in that manner; she will do without him! ”

“ Erasto, Soliman saluteth thee, And lets thee wit by me his Highnes will, Which is, thou shouldst be thus imploid. Stab him. BEL. [acting] Ay, me, Erasto! See, Solyman, Erastoes slaine! BALT. [acting] Yet liueth Solyman to comfort thee. Faire queene of beautie, let not fauour die, Both with gratious eye behlde his griefe, That with Persedaes beautie is encreast, If by Perseda griefe be not releast. BEL. [acting] Tyrant, desist soliciting vaine sutes; Relentles are mine eares to thy laments As thy butcher is pittilesse and base Which seazd on my Erasto, harmelesse knight. ”

“ When [124] the present sultan, Soliman, came from Mequinas, in the year of the plague (1799) , a division of his army passed near Mogodor, and the encampments of the Ait Amor, or Amorites occupied the whole of the country from the river to the Commerce Garden, a distance of three miles. It is very probable that some other of the tribes bordering on Palestine, may have emigrated in remote times, and may have taken their abode on the Atlas mountains. ”

“ On the 20th, my temporary abode was very considerably enlivened by the arrival of Soliman, the owner of the Seriba, the eldest son of the late Kurshook Ali. He was quite a young man, and entirely inexperienced in the management of the extensive property that he had recently inherited from his father. It is matter of notoriety that whenever an Oriental proceeds on his travels he takes a large supply of his luxuries with him ”

“ They tie their kaftans about the middle with a girdle of a kind of silk crape, several times round the body."--Account of Independent Tartary, in Pinkerton's Collection.↑ In the war of the Caliph Mahadi against the Empress Irene, for an account of which vide Gibbon, vol. x.↑ When Soliman travelled, the eastern writers say, "He had a carpet of green silk on which his throne was placed, being of a prodigious length and breadth, and sufficient for all his forces to stand upon, the men placing themselves on his right hand, and the spirits on his left ”

“ As the whole of the Sultan Soliman's plan had already been reported to the Emperor, he contemplated advancing as far as Iconium. with his army and there forcing him into a closely contested battle. For that town formed the boundaries of the Sultanicium of Clitziasthlan. Therefore he solicited troops from foreign countries, and a large mercenary force, and called up his own army from all sides. Then, whilst these two generals were making preparations against each other, the old trouble in his feet attacked the Emperor. ”

“ It is easy to imagine the preoccupations of the Turkish monarch. The despot rules by force, but he also holds his power by the address with which it is wielded, and he can by no means afford to disregard his personal popularity if he is to make the best use of his fighting men in such a turbulent epoch as was the first half of the sixteenth century. Soliman had the wit to know that he had no mariner who was in any way comparable to Doria; he was also aware that Kheyr-ed-Din had risen from nothing to his present position by his sheer ability as a seaman. ”

“ The columns of the Christians came up one after another to the attack, and fighting hand to hand forced back the Turkish centre upon their camp, so that in that part of the field victory seemed leaning towards the champions of the Cross.
At the same time, however, Soliman had fallen upon the rear of Boemond, [396] who, enveloped by infinitely superior forces, was pressed hard and separated from the rest of the army. The dense cloud occasioned by the burning weeds embarrassed the Lombards and Italians, and the sword of the Persians was reaping a terrible harvest in the ranks of the crusaders. ”