In former times the sultan had presided at the Divan. Suleiman did not, and he has been greatly blamed for discontinuing the custom.[621] It is not impossible to sympathize with him, however, for he thus freed himself from a great burden; to spend several hours in deliberation on four days of each week during a lifetime is a prospect from which any man would shrink. Nevertheless, it was a serious rift in both of the great institutions of the empire at the most dangerous place, and its effect was decidedly to hasten their disintegration. Suleiman kept the Divan under control by means of a grated window in the wall of the room where it met.[622] Not knowing when he might be listening there, his councillors had always to speak as if he were present with them. The arrival of the councillors at the hall of the Divan, their entry, their places for sitting or standing, their rank at the simple meal of which they partook while there, the order of their going in to audience with the sultan afterward, and the manner of their departure, were all according to _Kanun_ or equally rigid custom. At a later time the details of these ceremonies were all minutely specified.[623] Probably they were not so elaborate in the time of Suleiman, but contemporary writings show them already considerably developed. The sessions of the Divan have been described so often that it is not necessary to go into detail here. Soon after sunrise on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday the officials who were to participate came to the palace, accompanied by their secretaries, ushers, body-guards, and other attendants. They passed the second gate of the palace in the inverse order of rank, and waited at their prescribed places in the hall of the Divan until the grand vizier approached, accompanied by his retinue, when all came out and took places according to rank in two lines, between which the grand vizier entered. Those who had the right then followed him in by pairs, and once more took their places.[624] Officials who might be summoned waited in antechambers near; and attendants, guards, and soldiers, stood at suitable distances.