The bankers were divested of much of their power in 1839, by the rise of three men of the artisan class, who suddenly stood before the nation as its guides and dictators, and more especially as extirpators of heresy.

These were the two chief architects of the Sultan, and the superintendent of the government powder works.

The two first, being employed in erecting the most splendid of all the imperial palaces, were often in contact with the Sultan.

The expulsion of Protestantism lay near their hearts, and they resolved to make use of the strong arm of Mahmood to effect it.

What were the representations made to him is not known; but it is known that the three favorites were authorized to call on the civil power to aid them in extirpating the dangerous heresy.
The first thing was to get the tolerant Patriarch out of the way.
For some reason they did not at once remove him from office, but procured from the interior a man named Hagopos, notorious for his bigotry and sternness, whom they appointed Assistant Patriarch.