VIS

Fr. Screw, vice, spindle-tree. | VISIER, | | - | | VIZIER, | | VIZIR, | ( Visir , Fr. ) An officer or dignity in the Ottoman Empire; whereof there are two kinds, the first called by the Turks Vizir Azem, or grand Vizir, first created in 1370 by Amurath the First, in order to ease himself of the chief and weightier affairs of the government. The grand Vizir po e es great powers, especially with regard to military affairs. The orders he i ues are so thoroughly discretional, that when he quits Constantinople to join the army, he does not even communicate his intentions to the sultan. This system entirely differs from that which is followed by European generals. When the latter take the field, they proceed upon plans that have been previously digested; and although they may occasionally change their dispositions, yet they never deviate from the e ential and governing principles. The grand Vizir, on the contrary, not only makes the arrangements according to his own judgment, but he even changes an operation that has been previously ordered by the sultan, if, on his arrival at the spot, he should think it expedient to employ the troops in a different way. This absolute power is not, however, without its risk; for if the grand Vizir should fail in his enter prize, it is more than probable that the sultan will cause him to be beheaded: a punishment which has long been familiar to the Turks, from the arbitrary manner in which it is practised, and the frequency of its occurrence. When the Turks engage an enemy, the grand Vizir generally remains with the reserve, and seldom mingles with the main body, which is soon converted into a mob of desperate combatants. The war which had been carried into Egypt, bid fair to change the whole system of Turkish tactics.