‘I send you from afar,’ he therein said, ’O Mahomedans of Bosnia, the greeting of the faith, and of brotherly union.  I will not call to mind your folly:  I come to open your eyes to the light.  I bring you the most sacred commands of our most mighty Sultan, and expect you will obey them.  In that case I have power to forgive you all your errors; choose now for yourselves.  It rests with you to save or to lose your lives.  Reflect maturely, that you may have no cause to repent.’

This proclamation, which may be regarded as a model of terseness and expressive earnestness, had a wonderful effect.  Still Serayevo was not gained without a struggle, confined however principally to the citizens within its walls.

Upon gaining possession of the town, the new Vizier carried out to the letter the judgements which he had pronounced against the contumacious.  All who were taken in arms were put to death without mercy, and it was not until he had taken a bloody vengeance on his enemies that he consented to make a triumphal entry into Serayevo.

During the feudal times, when the Sultan’s authority was more nominal, the Vizier was only permitted to remain a few hours in the capital, whence he returned to his palace at Travnik; but Abdurahim deemed it necessary to establish the seat of government in that very town, which had ever been the focus of feudality and rebellion.

’Thus there was once more a master in Bosnia.  No one ventured now to mention the Janissaries.  The uniforms arrived; the Kapetans were obedient, and put them on.  The whole land submitted to the new regulations.’

Notwithstanding the high pressure system adopted by the Sultan, the spirit of rebellion was still rife, and it manifested itself on the first opportunity that occurred.

The Machiavellian policy of endeavouring to hold both the Servians and Bosnians in check, by pitting the one against the other, was of doubtful expediency; and, as the event proved, tended materially to weaken the imperial cause by depriving it of the aid of the Bosnian irregulars, who had acquired a name for reckless daring second to none.  The outbreak of the Russian war was the signal for another attempt to obtain the independence of which Abdurahim had robbed them.  At this juncture, too, they displayed the mixture of violence and cunning, so essentially the character of barbarous nations.

From every castle and town, the troops marched to the Eagle’s Field, Orlovopolie, close by Bielina, their appointed rendezvous.  The Vizier intended soon to repair thither with forces from Serayevo.  Whilst preparing to do so, it happened that the people of Visoko, an unimportant place about six German miles from Serayevo, arrived before that capital, instead of marching direct to Orlovopolie, as they should have done.  The Vizier sent out his Kiaia, and some of the principal inhabitants of the city, to call them to account for the unauthorised change in