The Ottoman government did not include among its functions the building and maintenance of systems of roads, bridges, and ferries, the conduct of a public postal service, the promotion of agriculture, industry, and commerce, the organization of a system of public and universal education, the adjustment of taxation and customs duties in the interest of the welfare of its subjects, or an extension of the activities and liberties of its subjects. Benevolence toward the common people had hardly emerged into the consciousness of any sixteenth-century state. Self-maintenance in power by the most available means, which were usually military force; increase of power, authority, and territory, by similar means; and, incidentally, an assurance of the well-being of all the privileged persons who were connected with the government, in proportion to their importance: these were the chief objects aimed at by the governments of that day, whether in the West or in the East. Accordingly, the chief energies of the Ottoman Ruling Institution in its capacity as government were directed toward the smooth running of the machine. For this object the best and most devoted men were obtained and trained. They, with as many other members of the Ottoman nationality as possible, were organized into a magnificent army, which first of all defended and maintained the government against enemies at home and abroad, and then increased its dominions and greatness by victorious campaigns in the “land of war.” The religious motive entered strongly here, since the power and conquests of the Ottoman nation were felt to be the power and conquests of Islam. The welfare and contentment of the members of the government, beginning with the sovereign, were assured by exclusive privileges, elaborate organization of personal service, and ceremonies in which they could be flattered by opportunities for display and by gradations of honor.