Although the power and authority of the sultan is unlimited, and his sway entirely arbitrary, the disposal of affairs is naturally consigned to various officers. The two principal of these are the Grand Vezir, and the Sheikh-ul-Islam.

The Grand Vezir was formerly called Lala, or Tutor, because he was the sole adviser to his majesty, and as he exercised the civil functions of the executive, he was styled “Vekili-Mutlah,” or vicar absolute. He therefore enjoyed all the rights and immunities of his imperial master—to the entire control of property and life itself.

He used to head the army in time of war; make all appointments to office; give audiences to the foreign ambassadors, receive and answer their memorials; and he only, of all the ministers of the realm, had free access to the royal presence. As he was amenable to no tribunal, his only forfeit being his own head, and his worldly possessions, it was his policy to render the person of the sultan inapproachable—between whom and his people, a mystic veil seemed ever to depend. By degrees, the monarch, who should have been the father of his people, removed from all intercourse with his subjects, became only the shrine of their superstitious devotions, the deity of their worship, the proxy of Allah; while the real administrator of the realm, was the selfish, ambitious, scheming, and blood-thirsty Grand Vezir. Even on Fridays, as his majesty appeared in public on his way to the mosque, he was so surrounded by pomp and royal pageantry, as to be almost invisible. But since the promulgation of the Tanzimat or reformation, an entire change has been effected in the administrative department, and a substantial check imposed upon the Grand Vezir, whose former prerogatives and immunities have been much curtailed.

There is now a council attached to each department, which deliberates upon the various measures proposed. A grand national council, established on a somewhat European system, called the Medjlissi-Wala, or senate, composed of the dignitaries and notables of the nation, and presided over by a Reiss or chief of its own, controls the affairs of the nation in general. Its duties are to prepare the laws; establish or revise the basis of the taxation; regulate the revenues and expenditure of the government; to draft the instructions for the governors of the provinces; to try all treasonable acts and crimes committed against the state; to correct the abuses of the functionaries; to attend to the complaints of citizens brought against the different agents or authorities; to draw up sentences for criminals, which are either maintained or modified by his majesty, etc. etc.,

There is another council called the Medjlissi-Khass, or special council, which, being composed of the ministers of the different departments, may be termed a cabinet, or privy council.

The Grand Vezir, as prime minister, presides over this. These two councils together, constitute what is termed and generally known as the Baabu-Aali, or the Sublime Porte.

Baab is the Arabic word for gate, or porte in French. Ever since Mordecai sat in the king’s gate, and perhaps long before his time, all the places of public administration in the East, have been designated by this term. For instance, Baabu-Sheik-ul-Islam, is the Superior Court; Baabu-Serasker, the war department, and in contradistinction to all the other courts or departments, the government of the Ottoman empire is denominated the Baabu-Aali, or the supreme gate or court; a term of similar significance, with the Court of St. James, the Tuileries, or the Government at Washington.

Thus it will be perceived, that the original autocratic government has now been reduced into a form of bureaucracy.

The vast empire of Turkey, partaking of the territories of no less than three continents, is divided into thirty-seven Ayalets or provinces; each Ayalet being sub-divided into Livas or counties; and each Liva into Kazas or townships. These provinces, counties, and townships, are respectively governed by Valis, Kaimakams, and MÜdirs.

The governors, etc., of these provinces, formerly enjoyed in their respective domains the same absolute authority as the Grand Vezir, and answered with the same forfeiture of their heads and property for their misdemeanors. But of late years, the same check has also been put upon their powers, as in the central government, by the establishment of councils, &c.

All the ministers and governors of Provinces are now appointed by the sultan, and the secondary places are filled by the appointment of the Grand Vezir.

When his majesty designs to elevate a person to the office of minister of the realm, one of the chamberlains of the palace proceeds to summon the individual to the royal presence, where he is invested in his new office by the bestowal of the Nishani-MÜshir or the badge of rank in brilliants, which is suspended around the neck; and an IradÉ or Edict is granted him by the Sultan. He then proceeds with much pomp and ceremony to the Porte, where he is immediately recognized, according to the royal commands. He is met at the foot of the stairway by the Grand Vezir in person, who bows to the edict presented to him by the chamberlain with as much reverence as if it were his royal master himself. Holding the document over his head, the viceroy enters the grand council chamber, where he reads it in a loud voice, and the ceremony is concluded by an extempore prayer, offered by the mufty of the council—and the new minister is conducted to his gate, or his own department.

When they are deposed from office, the royal chamberlain appears, demanding the Nishan which is immediately relinquished.