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cliambers into which the Imperial Itch-olans® are divided, after some previous service under the Chief of the White Eunuchs, and about the person of the Sultan, are raised to the honours of the household, and become the bearers of the sword, the cloak, the stirrup, the ewer, and the turban, as well as the masters of the wardrobe, the buttery, the hounds, and the cranes. One is the first barber; the second, controller of the privy purse; a third, the chief secretary of the Sultan.0 Each of these officers may possess himself of such influence over his master as will lay the treasures and honours of the empire at his feet, and, either as favourite or minister, control the measures of the Ottoman government. The barber of Bajazet the Second was made Grand Vizier.10 In a despotic monarchy the approach to the person of the sovereign is an advantage which no merit can easily counterpoise ; and the rays of Imperial bounty not unfrequently shine through the mutilated minister of the Sultan’s pleasures* the Chief of the Black Eunuchs.
From the fourth division of the pages, the Khasne- Odassy, or the chamber of the private treasures, many of those state officers are chosen who are intrusted with the administration of public affairs ; and the Tef- terdar-Effendi, or Grand Treasurer of the Empire, has for the most part been an Itch-olan of this class." Such
