To repair his disgrace, Soliman turned his ar mies against Persia, and advancing to Tauris, awaited the approach of the enemy. But Shah Ta masp, aware of his inferiority in the field, confined himself to defensive measures, and having laid waste the country on all sides, retired with a pow erful body of cavalry, and watched every step of his formidable opponent. The Turks became dispi rited by the inclemency of the weather, and Soli man vented his revenge upon the unfortunate city of Tauris, which he ordered to be sacked. The Persian monarch, though unseen, was not far dis tant, and while the Turks were scattered in disor der over the country in quest of plunder, he fell upon them with his cavalry at midnight, set fire to their camp, and retired before break of day, loaded with spoil and numerous captives. Soliman, after two years, led back his discomfited army with the loss of 200,000 of his troops. But though this cam paign was disastrous to the army of Soliman, it was nevertheless accompanied by a very important conquest, the opulent city of Bagdad and its depen dencies, which he converted into a Turkish pro vince, and which continues to be the eastern bul wark of the empire. His high admiral, the famous Barbarossa, also added to his territories, by the conquest of the Cyclades from the Venetians, and his fleet rode triumphant in the Ionian sea.
Hungary again attracted the attention of Soliman. The infant son of John Zapoli had been recognised upon the death of his father by the greatest part of the Hungarian nobility, and was crowned at Buda under the name of Stephen ; and when Ferdinand disputed his claim, the queen appealed to Soliman for assistance in behalf of his vassal. The wily Ot toman attempted no longer to rescue the kingdom by force, but by a base and insidious policy, he seized upon Buda, transferred the queen and her son to Transylvania, and constituted Hungary a beylerbelik of the Ottoman empire, converting its churches into mosques, and ordaining justice to be administered in his own name. This unhappy coun try continued to be so torn and exhausted by con flicting pretensions, that Soliman at last resolved to secure by force what he had obtained by fraud, and to compel the submission of the emperor Maximi lian, who had succeeded his father Ferdinand. He surrounded the city of Zigeth, which had been be sieged by one of his pachas with 150,000 men and 100 pieces of cannon; but Count Serino, its brave defender, repelled every assault with such deter mined resolution, that Soliman, overwhelmed with vexation, was carried of by a fit of apoplexy. His death was concealed from his troops, who conti nued to press the siege, but a magazine having ta ken fire, compelled Serino and his Rule band to leave the fortress and cut their way through the Turkish camp. They rushed into the midst of the enemy, and after causing great slaughter, were surrounded and cut to pieces.
The Ottoman court under Soliman exhibited a degree of splendour and magnificence far removed from the stern and bigoted habits of its former masters; and both as an enlightened sovereign and a munificent patron of literature, he held a distin guished rank among the cotemporary princes of Europe. His first act upon coming to the throne, marked the justice and nobleness of his character. He proclaimed throughout the empire, that who ever had been unjustly aggrieved, either by the sul tan his father, or by his ministers, should be in demnified out of the imperial treasury. His military achievements, both in splendour and importance, were far surpassed by those of his father Selim; and he is greatly indebted for his renown as a con queror to the naval victories of his admiral Barba rossa. His fame among his countrymen, however, chiefly rests upon his judgment and wisdom as a legislator, and for which he received the surname of Canuni or instituter of rules, and his canonameh or imperial code still holds a prominent place in the jurisprudence of the nation.* Soliman has been termed the glory of the Ottoman empire; but with him its glory departed. For while the current of civilization and improvement had set in among the nations of western Europe, it was repelled by the barrier of Ottoman pride. The persuasion of his countrymen, that the institutions of Soliman were perfect, and his regulations respecting the princes of the blood, who before his reign were trained to war and business, by having the command of ar mies and provinces, but were now confined to re tirement and obscurity, are the principal causes from which may be traced the decline of the Turk ish empire, which, after the reign of Soliman, con tinued no longer to be the terror of Christendom.
The councils of SELIM H. continued for a time to keep the impress of his father's energies ; and though he did not assume in person the command of his armies, they were still directed by those able generals who were bred under the auspices of Soli man. The janissaries, whose mutinous and cious disposition could only be curbed by the hand of a vigorous master, required immediate employ ment, and as no cause of quarrel existed with the emperor Maximilian, who had transmitted his ar rears of tribute, their efforts were directed against their old enemies the Persians. But as the moun tainous and desert barrier of Persia had been fatal to so many armies, the grand vizier conceived the noble project of uniting the Don with the Wolga by a navigable canal, and thus forming an easy ac cess into Persia by the Caspian. This splendid en terprise, worthy of the enlightened genius of more modern times, was however interrupted by the at tacks of the Russians, who upon this occasion, for the first time, became known to their invaders, and was afterwards abandoned by the superstitious Ot tomans.i.