should be written on any Schedule that she should have no Power to hurt the Infants they dismiss'd her After this God compassionating Adam's Solitude gave him another Wife call'd Eve This Tradition confirms the Vision of the Prophet and we need not doubt That the Earth was Inhabited before Adam's Time And if that be granted why might it not be Peopled for Millions of Ages as well as for the smallest Term that Ignorance or Error may assign to its Duration I have discoursed with several of the Jewish Rabbi's and Christian Doctors on this Subject Men of abstruse Learning and sublime Thoughts Yet I can find but a few who are emancipated from the Prejudices of a Superstitious Education They have been from their Infancy prepossess'd with a false Notion of the Works of God believing them to be Finite both in Extent of Space and Time They circumscribe this Visible World within I know not what Flaming Circle and believe the First Matter it self to be but Five Days Older than Adam taking each of those Days for the Space of Four and Twenty Hours wherein the Sun finishes his Diurnal Circuit through the Heavens They consider not That according to their own Bible there was Light and Darkness and consequently Day and Night before the Sun was Created But how long those Days and Nights were is not determin'd by Moses Yet in another Part of their Bible it is said That a Day with God is a Thousand Years and a Thousand Years is a Day So that according to this Interpretation Adam was not Created till above Five Thousand Years after the Beginning of the World Yet when I bring this Positive Place of their Own Scripture against the Nazarene Sages they shuffle it off with empty Evasions and rather than believe the Indesinite Antiquity of the World they contradict their own Sence and Reason invalidate the Testimony of a Prophet deny their Faith and appear Unmask'd Insidels Both they and the Jews have corrupted the Truth with many Errors and we must seek farther for the Original Science of Nature The Illuminated of God have always taught That the Earth was Inhabited long before the Appearance of Adam And all the Eastern Sages believe a Series of Generations to have dwelt on this Globe for Indeterminate Ages I have a Brother lately come from the Indies He relates strange Things of certain Books which are onely in the Hands of the Brachmans They are written in a Language which none understand but these Priests yet a Language as Copious as any other and taught in their Colleges by Rule These Books contain a History of the World which they say is above Thirty Millions of Years Old They divide the Term of its Duration into Four Ages Three of which they say are already past and a good Part of the Fourth Now I would fain know who wrote these Books and at what Time and where this Language was spoken They call it the Holy Language saying that it was the First spoken on Earth It is strange That no History should mention so Divine a Speech We have the Chronology of the Latin and Greek and can give an Account when and where they were spoken though they are now grown Obsolete and no otherways to be learn'd but in the Schools and Academies This argues the Antiquity of the Bramins Language and Books in Regard they fall not within any other Record save their own which says they are as Old as the World For if this Assertion were false the Imposture would have been discover'd as soon as broach'd and the Learned Sages of the East would quickly have disprov'd so manifest a Lye There seems to me something Extraordinary in this Pretension of these Indian Philosophers and I would gladly be convinc'd of the Truth Methinks it is an Illustrious Idea of the Divine Perfections when one conceives all this Vast and Endless Concatenation of Beings to flow from the Eternal Nature as Rays from the Sun And that they can no more be separated from it than those Beams can from that Visible Fountain of Light It will not be difficult then to Interpret the History of Moses by this Register of the Bramins and reconcile the Six Days of the one with the Four Ages of the other since a Day in the Divine Sence may amount to Millions of Years as well as to a Thousand And it will be more congruous and agreeable to believe that after the Birth of the First Matter there elaps'd Many Ages before it was wrought into such an Infinite Variety of Appearances as we now behold and that the Five Days which Moses computes before the Production of Adam might be some Millions of Years In which Time the Divine Architect gradually drew from the Abyss of Matter the Sun Moon Stars Plants and Animals which may serve also to Illustrate the Vision of thy Holy Ancestor with which I begun this Discourse Adieu Sublime Intelligence of the Torrid Zone and favour Mahmut with a Transcript of thy Thoughts concerning these Things But if thy Silence shall condemn my Presumption and Importunity I will wait for thy Answer till the Platonick Year when according to the Doctrine of that Philosopher we shall all be alive again Paris 19th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1648. LETTER XIV To the Mufti IN a former Dispatch to thy Sanctity I have acquainted thee with the Insurrections in Palermo mentioning the Fear of the Viceroy lest the French in that Island should then take their Opportunity to revenge the Proverbial Cruelty of the Sicilian Vespers If thou art unacquainted with that Tragedy I will inform thee in Brief About Three Hundred and Threescore Years ago there Reign'd in Sicily one of the Royal Blood of France they call him Charles of Anjou He had French Garrisons in all the Cities of that Kingdom But these Soldiers committed so many Insolencies as rendred 'em Odious and Insupportable to the Natives who therefore resolved to exterminate them The French are very Licentious in their Conquests neither sparing Men in their Anger nor Women in their Lust They make no Difference between the Noble and the Vulgar but sacrifice all the Regards of Honour and Civility to their Impetuous Appetites They were guilty of innumerable Rapes and Violences in Sicily among the Meaner People and sometimes extended their Rudeness to Persons of the Best Quality It was common for them to affront both Virgins and Matrons as they went along the Streets by thrusting their Hands under their Garments on Pretence of searching for hidden Arms. Among the Rest the Wife of a certain Lord in Palermo going to pay her Devotions at the Temple was seiz'd by the Command of the Captain of the Guards and strip'd Naked before all the Soldiers in Order to discover certain Treasonable Papers which they suspected she carried about her But finding none she upbraided the Captain with Inhumanity in offering so gross an Affront to a Lady of her Rank He seeming to be sorry for
themselves in the most fertile Regions of Asia professing themselves Mussulmans or True Believers Thus passed the Light of God from the Face of Ibrahim to his Posterity by Successive Generations till at Length it rested on the Face of Mahomet Our Holy Lawgiver and was encreas'd with admirable Splendors by the frequent Visits of the Angel Gebrail He took the Root of Evil out of the Prophet's Heart brought him down the Alcoran from Heaven and gave him Victory and Honour call'd him by a New Name THE SEAL OF THE PROPHETS carried him to the Throne of God through Legions of Devils that waited below the Moon to destroy him And finally made his Sepulcher Glorious and resorted to by the Believers of all Nations on the Earth I send thee this Abstract of the Mussulman History to the End thou maist see what Pretensions the Children of Ismael have to the True Law which you of the Posterity of Isaac would monopolize to your selves As if God had not sent Prophets to all Nations to lead them into the Right Way and not into the Way of Infidels Nevertheless take not these Things on my Credit but examine the Records of thy own Nation and the History of past Times Weigh all Things in the Balance Consult thy Reason which is an indeficient Light to those who follow it Your Law was once Pure and Uncorrupted but in Time the Devil inserted many Errors He seduced your Fathers they return'd upon their Steps and fell back into Idolatry Then God raised up the Messias to reform all Things but Him ye rejected And when he was taken up into Paradise ye reported That He was hang'd on a Tree In this the Nazarenes are your Fools and fight against themselves Whilst they assert as you do That he who is Immortal and Triumphant among the Hundred and Twenty Four Thousand Prophets Was Crucified betwixt Two Thieves Thus bringing a Reproach on the Apostle of God and on their Own Faith in believing Things inconsistent with the Goodness and Power of the Divine Majesty Without Doubt Jesus the Son of Mary is Ascended Body and Soul into Paradise Who whilst he was on Earth said Worship One God Your Lord and Mine Let me not seem importunate or troublesome I seek not to circumvent thy Reason but to direct it Think Seven Times before thou Change Once I will procure thee Books of our Law Peruse them with Judgment and tell me then Whether thou hast ever seen any Writing comparable to the Alcoran The Majesty of the Style speaks it above Humane Original It is exempt from Contradiction from the Beginning to the End It confirms the Old Testament which thou believest It is all over cloath'd with Light Doubtless it is no other than a Transcript of the Book written in Heaven If after all thy Search thou shalt determine otherwise follow thou Thy Law and I will follow Mine We both Worship One God Lord of the Vniverse Paris 10th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1646. LETTER XXXI To the same LET not the Fear of displeasing those of thy Nation hinder thee from embracing the Truth God shall protect thee from the Malice of Vnbelievers Thy Interest is already great among the Mussulmans our August Emperour will augment both that and thy Honour Take hold of the strongest Knot and adhere not to Tagot The Cleanliness and Delicacy of the Mussulmans may invite thee which far exceeds that of the Jews and yet is void of Superstition We only obey the sincere Dictates of Nature which teach us That so long as the Soul dwells in this Mansion of Flesh it partakes of Bodily Pollutions 'T is to avoid these we abstain from certain Meats and Drinks which cannot be touch'd without Contamination To this End do we observe that superlative Niceness in our Washings and Purifications which discriminates us from all the World beside Doubtless Our Law is but the Law of Moses refin'd and sublimated from the Dregs of adventitious Error Write often to me and whatever Reasons may prevail on thee not to change thy Religion let no Arguments tempt thee to swerve from thy Fidelity to the Sovereign of Sovereigns on Earth the Grand Signior in whose Veins runs the most Exalted Blood of Humane Race Here is a Report in this City That the Elector of Brandenburgh will demand the Queen of Sueden in Marriage let me know if it be true That I may inform the Ministers of the Lofty Port from whom Nothing ought to be concealed that occurs of Moment betwixt the Two Poles Inform me also what passes of remarkable in the Assembly of the Deputies at Munster and whether it be true That the Danube has lately overflow'd its Banks and carried away Four Hundred Houses in its rapid Course Such Stories are told here by those who know not how to pass away their Time but in hearking after Foreign News to furnish themselves with Matter to amuse the Credulous and beget Admiration of their Intelligence I have sent thee a Watch of my making If thou acceptest it with good Will 't is a sufficient Acknowledgment May God whose Presence fills the Vniverse disclose himself to thee in the Way of Salvation and continue to breathe good Motions into thy Soul Paris 10th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1646. LETTER XXXII To the Kaimacham A Donai the Jew has much improv'd himself in his late Progress through Italy He is grown a perfect Statesman having found out the Way to penetrate into Secrets and to dispatch Business without any Noise He may prove very serviceable at Venice during the present War of Candy His Acquaintance in that City gives him Access to the Cabals of the Senators who spare not over their Wine to whisper the Counsels of the State and to descant on the Measures that are taken to defend that Republick against the Invincible Prowess of the Ottoman Armies It is publickly known That they have sent Embassadors to the Crown of Moscovy that of Poland and to the Cossacks inviting them to enter into a League against the Grand Signior But few are acquainted with the Private Treaty they are making with the Bassa of Aleppo We owe this Discovery to the Diligence and Wit of this Son of Israel He has drawn the Secret from the Mouths of several Eminent Counsellors of State and assures me That the Senate have made such Proposals to that Governour as cannot fail of inducing him to Revolt This may prove of ill Consequence if not timely preyented The pernicious Example of this Bassae may incite others to tread in his Steps especially his Neighbours of Sidon and Damascus who have for a long Time meditated a Sovereignty Independent of the Throne which first establish'd 'em in those Charges Besides the single Forces of this Bassa will be able to give a powerful Diversion to the Arms of the Empire already engag'd in Candy Dalmatia and other Parts by Sea and Land He says the Venetians speak much in Praise of this Bassa's Justice whereof
they relate many Examples Among the Rest A certain Cook among the Franks of that City was accus'd of dressing and selling putrify'd Flesh whereby many that eat thereof were infected with the Plague Complaint being made of this to the Bassa he sends for the Cook and examines him about it He reply'd That he sold none but good and wholsome Meat for if it happen'd That at any Time he was forc'd to keep any Flesh in his House above Three Days he so season'd it with Spices and Herbs as made it very savoury and without any ill Scent The Bassa not having Patience to hear any more of this foetid Apology commanded his Arms and Legs to be cut off and the Veins to be seared up Ordering that during the short Time he had to live he shou'd have no other Food but what was made of his own Limbs They relate one more Passage of a Complaint that was made by a Peasant whose Daughter this Bassa's onely Son had ravish'd The Bassa compell'd him to marry her with this Charge Let me hear no more Complaints of thee unless thou art resolved to leave me without a Son It is reported here That the King of Persia has made a Peace with the Great Mogul and that they will both turn their Forces against our August Emperour Here is also a Courier arriv'd from Marseilles who brings News of the Revolt of Cavarra the Inhabitants of that Place having shaken off the Obedience they owe to the Sultan and put themselves under the Protection of the Venetians and that General Grimani has taken Four Ships of Ragusa laden with Ammunition for our Army He adds also That Morosini has Thirty small Vessels besides Galleys under the very Walls of the Dardanells I long ago suggested to the Vizir Azem That the Weakness of those Castles would one Time or other encourage the Christians to perform some notable Exploit in the Hellespont But Mahmut's Counsel was not regarded Now the Event justifies my Advice the Port will consult the Security of 〈◊〉 Avenue I wish they do not practise the Tâ—… Wisdom The Venetians have a powerful Fleet If they block up the Hellespont and hinder our Ships from sailing into the Archipelago and the Cossacks in the mean while cover the Black Sea with their Barks committing a Thousand Piracies and Ravages What will become of the Imperial City Whence will they provide Sustenance for so many Millions of People as inhabit that City and the Parts adjacent These Things are Worthy of Consideration And thou who hast the Care of that Capital Seat of the Ottoman Empire wilt not blame Mahmut for putting thee in Mind of the Danger which threatens even the Seraglio it self at this Juncture However I have done my Duty Sage Minister and refer the Rest to thy Wisdom My Letters are all register'd and if Affairs shou'd succeed ill it will be manifested That Mahmut who watches Night and Day to serve the Great Master of the World has not been wanting to give timely Notice of what might be advantageous to the Monarchy of the True Faithful Thou who art celebrated for thy Justice and Probity pardon the Liberty which my Zeal for Thy Master and Mine renders worthy of Excuse Paris 19th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1646. The End of the First Book LETTERS Writ by A SPY at PARIS VOL. III. BOOK II. LETTER I. To the Most Magnificent and Illustrious Vizir Azem at the Port. OSmin the Dwarf whom I formerly mentioned remains still in the Court and continues his good Offices in communicating to me such Passages as come to his Knowledge He has a subtle Wit and bears no hearty Love to the Christians though he be One himself in Profession He frequently visits me and trusts me with his Secrets One Day he convinc'd me by evident Circumstances That Cardinal Mazarini was projecting to give some secret and sudden Blow to the Ottoman Empire for which Osmin seems to be concern'd by a Natural Inclination being as I told thee born of Mahometan Parents He was uneasie till he had acquainted me with his Apprehensions and I gave him such Instructions as I thought most proper on this Occasion I set my Thoughts on the Rack to prevent so dire a Mischief And having premeditated well on this Affair I pitch'd on a Course which would at once clear me from the Cardinal's Suspicion and by seeming to favour his Designs would absolutely overthrow them I went to him boldly one Day and being admitted to his Closet I thus address'd that Politician THERE are now Nine Years elaps'd Great Minister since I first breath'd the Air of France during all which Time I have not only shar'd in Common with the Natives the Benefits which have accru'd to this Noble Kingdom under the Auspicious Ministry of Cardinal Richlieu and his no less Eminent Successor but have also receiv'd many particular Honours from that Illustrious Prince of the Church to which Your Eminence has been pleased to make some undeserv'd Additions 'T is to you both I owe the Character which has introduc'd me into the Acquaintance and Favour of the Nobility who on that Score have thought me Worthy to Instruct their Children in the Greek and Arabick Tongues have vouchsafed to admit me to their Salt and to encourage me with the Hopes of finding a Comfortable Repose in the Bosom of the Gallican Church after a tedious Peregrination from my own Country When I reflect on all the accumulated Blessings I enjoy under the Protection of Your Eminence Blessings equally transcending my Ambition as they do my Merits I apply all my Studies to find out some acceptable Way of Acknowledgment to my Gracious Benefactor And because nothing can be more Welcom to the Guardian of France than the Means of advancing the Publick Good of the Kingdom committed to his Care I now presume as a Testimony of my Gratitude to propose to Your Eminence some Speculations which if put in Execution will in my Judgment not only render France the most Formidable and Absolute Monarchy on Earth but also tie the whole Catholick World in Eternal Obligations to her and give just Reason to change the Style of his Most Christian Majesty from Eldest Son of the Church to that of Father of all Christendom Your Eminence will not wonder at the Zeal of a Stranger or the Care that Titus of Moldavia takes for France In being Sollicitous for this Kingdom I consult the Welfare of my own Country and of all the Nations which profess the Faith of Jesus since it is ealie to see That in the Fate of France that of all Europe is involv'd It is a long Time since the Dismember'd Reliques of the Roman Empire bordering on Asia found themselves too weak to resist the Puissance of the Ottoman Arms. All Greece was soon o'er-run by the Warlike Turks Transylvania Walachia Moldavia with the greatest Part of the Vpper Hungary quickly became Tributaries to the inveterate Enemies of the Christian Name And
Matters to the Grand Signior as would infallibly produce a Peace It had been easie for Cardinal Mazarini whose Counsel the Queen follows in all Things to have hindred this Mans Voyage But those who are acquainted with the Picque that is between them conclude That the Cardinal consented to his Commission on purpose to lay a Train for his future Disgrace as knowing the Boldness of his Temper was far from being seconded with equal Wisdom and Conduct and that though he was prone to undertake Great and Hazardous Actions yet he never had the good Fortune to accomplish any Thing of Moment They that know this Gentleman's Character say That any Example will encourage him to rush into Labyrinths and Perils And where Examples are wanting he is Ambitious to be made one himself He fears not to tread in the Footsteps of such as have miscarried in the most Desperate Enterprizes but promises himself Success where a Thousand have fail'd In fine he is esteemed the rashest Man living I send thee this Description of the French Ambassador that thou maist communicate it to the Sovereign Divan It will be no small Advantage to know the Temper and Qualifications of Foreign Ministers residing at the August Port Especially at this Juncture whereon the Fate of Christendom depends Besides there cannot be too great Caution us'd to obviate the subtile Trains of Cardinal Mazarini who I fear is contriving no kind Offices to the Ottoman Empire I kiss the Hem of thy Vest Illustrious Bassa and bid thee Adieu Paris 2d of the 7th Moon of the Year 1646. LETTER VII To the same THE Captain Bassa has the Reputation of a Good Seaman among the French They highly applaud his expeditious Relief of Canea and no less commend the Secrecy with which he landed his Army and took the Town of Retimo The French are generally great Criticks in Military Affairs and are not so partial to the Honour of the Christians as to deny the Praises that are due to an expert Leader among the Mussulmans Yet they are inconstant and seldom retain the same Sentiments long Every Circulation of their Blood begets new Friendships new Opinions new Censures In this they seem to inherit the Vices of the Ancient Gauls as well as their Country A Roman Emperour who made War in this Nation has left excellent Memoirs behind him wherein among other Things he describes the Nature of the Gauls their Dispositions and Genial Inclinations He that shall read his Writings which were penn'd above Sixteen Hundred Years ago and shall converse with the present French will easily conclude That the Latter are a Living Transcript of the Former and that their Humours and Actions are exactly copied from his Words Yet in Nothing does the Character of the Primitive Gauls suit more truly to the present Inhabitants than in their furious Onsets in a Battel and their equal Readiness to Flight Their First Assault seems to speak 'em More than Men their Second Less than Women and they seldom venture on a Third Wilt thou know then how they obtain so many Signal Victories It is by Stratagems and Money Where they cannot circumvent their Enemies they corrupt a Party of 'em with Bribes and Pensions Thus they purchase their Conquests with a more powerful Metal than Steel The Force of Gold to which all Things yield lays Cities and Provinces at the Feet of this Invincible Monarch But I pray Heaven so to prosper the Armies of the Empire founded on Vertue that this Infidel Prince and all the Nazarenes may experience their Gold to be as Ineffectual as their Swords against the Valour and Just Revenge of the True Believers Paris 2d of the 7th Moon of the Year 1646. LETTER VIII To the Venerable Mufti Sovereign Guide of the True Believers THou who art all Goodness the Arch-Type of Clemency and Vertue wilt not number me among the Importunate for so often troubling thee with Disputes of our Holy Law I ask thee no Common Questions neither am I captious seeking Occasions to darken what is Apparent or invalidate the Testimony of Him who touch'd the Hand of God I revere the Holy Oracles and the Book not dictated on Earth Every Chapter I read in the Alcoran makes me bless the Angel who took so many Flights to bring down the Sacred Pages from Heaven And my Reverence is encreas'd towards that Volume of Glory when I consider it was not hastily compos'd every Versicle being the Product of Divine Premeditation Doubtless it excells all the Writings in the World No Scripture before or since has approach'd to the Mysterious Elegance of those Celestial Lines Yet methinks I find a great Profundity of Wisdom in the Treatises of the Ancients Thou wilt say My Station requires me to read Men more than Books being not sent hither to Contemplate but to act for the Interest of my Master and the Ottoman Empire 'T is true my Business is now to unravel the Designs of the Infidels but bear with me if I tell thee That in Order to this I took no wrong Course when in my Younger Years I apply'd my self to Books which are but Men turn'd Inside out or Metamorphos'd into Letters against who thus surviving themselves the Stroke of Death cannot prevail Those who have erected Statues of Gold Silver Brass or Marble to the Memory of departed Heroes can but transmit the Effigies of their Bodies to Posterity which thou knowest is the Ignobler Part of Man And herein they come short of the Aegyptians who have the Art of preserving the Bodies themselves Incorruptible for a Thousand Generations But they who left their Writings to Posterity have oblig'd the World with an Immortal and Lively Image of their Mind This is properly the Man and lives for ever when the Body is consum'd in the Grave and the Statue perhaps is eat up by Time or demolish'd by Envy Pardon this Digression Oraculous and Vnerring Mouth of God I have a great Deal to say and cannot comprehend it in a few Words It has been enjoyn'd by our Holy Doctors That a Mussulman should not read the Books of Prophane Infidels But tell me thou who art the Resolver of Doubts Whether this Precept is extended to all without Exception or Whether a Dispensation may not be allow'd to such as read those Books with One Eye whilst the Other is fix'd on the Law which balances the Mind with Truth The Alcoran tells us That the Devil has inserted some Falsities in the Best Writings But is it not possible for a Man to separate the Good from the Bad I read in the Book of Glory many remarkable Things concerning Alexander the Great But is it unlawful also to peruse what has been writ by others of the Life of that Famous Warriour and Holy Prophet Both Grecian and Roman Historians have related his Adventures in Asia his Battels with Darius the Persian Monarch and Porus the Indian They praise his Continence and modest Regard to Sysigambis and her Daughters when they
is oblig'd to keep in Constant Pay some Millions of his Subjects and Strangers For he is in the Midst of Enemies even amongst his own Subjects There are above an Hundred Sovereigns in his Empire who perpetually by Turns molest his Government refusing to pay Tribute and raising Armies against him Whereby it comes to pass That he is at an Infinite Expence to defend himself and carry on those Endless Wars Thou thy self having observ'd That once in Two Moons there is an Indispensible Necessity of paying these prodigious Armies Not a Soldier throughout his Empire having any Thing to live on save the Wages he receives of the King Consider also that this Monarch always keeps some Thousands of the finest Horses in the World near his Person such as cost him Thousands of Roupies apiece Besides a Thousand Elephants with an Incredible Number of Mules Camels and other Beasts of Burden to carry his Wives his Goods and Provisions when he takes the Field That whole Cities even as Large as Constantinople are obliged to follow the Kings Camp for Subsistence their Livelihood altogether depending on the Army Add to this the Immense Charges of his Seraglio his Castles and Sea-Port Towns with all the other Necessary Expences of the State and thou wilt conclude That when this Potentate comes to cast up his Accompts he will find himself a Poor Man But I shall cloy thee with a Rehearsal of such Things as thou canst not be a Stranger to Only tell me Whether one of the Raias or Princes subject to the Mogul be the real Descendent of Porus the Ancient King of India in the time of Alexander the Great I have been told by several Travellers that there is such an One that his Name is Rana and that an Hundred of the Idolatrous Princes pay Homage to him as to their Natural Sovereign Thou confirmest the Truth of what has been so often reported in these Parts That the Prince of Java has Six Fingers on each Hand and as many Toes on his Feet But that seems very strange which thou relatest of a certain Language among the Indians which is not Vulgarly spoken but that all their Books of Theology the Pandects of their Laws the Records of their Nation and the Treatises of Humane Arts and Sciences are written in it And that this Language is taught in their Schools Colleges and Academies even as Latin is among the Christians I cannot enough admire at this For where and when was this Language spoken How came it to be disus'd There seems to be a Mystery in it that none of their Brachmans can give any other Account of this save That it is the Language wherein God gave to the First Creature he made the Four Books of the Law which according to their Chronology was above Thirty Millions of Years ago I tell thee my Dear Brother this News has started some odd Notions in my Mind For when I consider that this Language as thou sayest has nothing in it Common with the Indian that is now spoken nor with any other Language of Asia or of the World and yet that it is a Copious and Regular Language learn'd by Grammar like the other Maternal Languages and that in this Obsolete Language Books are written wherein it is asserted That the World is so many Millions of Years old I could almost turn Pythagorean and believe the World to be within a Minute of Eternal And where would be the Absurdity Since God had equally the same Infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness from all Eternity as he had Five or Six Thousand Years ago What should hinder him then from exerting these Divine Attributes sooner What should retard him from drawing forth this Glorious Fabrick earlier from the Womb of Nothing Suffer thy Imagination to start backwards as far thou canst even to Millions of Ages and yet thou canst not conceive a Time wherein this Fair Unmeasurable Expanse was not stretch'd out As if Nature her self had engraven on our Intellects this Record of the World 's Untraceable Antiquity in that our strongest swiftest Thoughts are far too weak and slow to follow Time back to its Endless Origine The Revolution in China surpasses the Common Changes in Kingdoms and Empires There is Something excessively Tragical in the Catastrophe of that Royal House Brother in beholding that thou hast seen Humane Nature in a Trance And thou art so thy self if after this thou canst be fond of any Thing on Earth Traveller adieu Paris 25th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1647. LETTER XXII To Afis Bassa SEveral Dispatches have been lately sent between this Court and that of Sucdeland containing rather Matter of Compliment than any Thing of Great Importance Queen Christina has been very Ill which has occasion'd Letters of Condoleance from the Queen-Regent of France Those which come from that Part say That General Torstenson is made a Count and the Dignity entail'd to his Posterity in Recompense of his Eminent Services to the Suedish Crown These Letters add That there have pass'd some high Words between Monsieur Chanut and the Sucdish Secretary of State And that the latter in going out of the Chamber where they discoursed laid his Hand upon his Sword with these Words Monsieur Chanut Were is not for the Fence which the Law of Nations has raised about your Person I would answer you in another Language To which Monsieur Chanut replied That he wore a Sword to defend himself and his Private Honour as well as any Suede in the Kingdom The Occasion of this Quarrel was the great Resort of Roman Catholick Strangers to Monsieur Chanut's Chappel which gave disgust to the Suedes who allow not the Exercise of the Roman Religion within their Territories They castrate all the Priests of that Communion whom they find and prosecute the Laity with rigorous Penalties But Monsieur Chanut pleaded the Law of Nations And when the Secretary told him That the Queen permitted him and his Family the Liberty of their Religion but desired him not to admit any other Persons of what Nations soever This Minister replied That he could not receive as a Favour or Permission from her Majesty the Liberty of Exercising his Religion since he held it only of his Master the King of France who had sent him thither and that he would not shut the Door of his Chappel against any that would come in That their Law which according to their own Calcule was made above Two Thousand Years after the Foundation of their Estate could not abrogate the Law of Nations which is Eternal That this Perpetual Law gave particular Privileges to certain Persons and especially to the Ministers of Foreign Princes That their New Law such as it was being only made to maintain the Publick Worship respected not what was done in the House of a Foreign Minister by a Special Privilege it being of no Consequence to the State whether such Foreigners served God or not or whether they worshipped Him in a Right
and the Truth of the Sent of God I behold at this Time an evident Sign of his Vnity in the Heavens it is the New Moon just rising from the Lower Hemisphere At the Sight of this Planet the Messenger of God has commanded me to fall on my Face and adore the Eternal Wherefore praying that her Influences may prove propitious to thee whilst thou art on the Ocean I bid thee adieu Paris 23d of the 6th Moon of the Year 1647. The End of the Second Book LETTERS Writ by A SPY at PARIS VOL. III. BOOK III. LETTER I. To Bedredin Superior of the Convent of Dervises at Cogni in Natolia NOT more welcom are the Rich Perfumes of Arabia to a Soul almost expiring through Grief and Melancholy than is thy Letter to Mahmut wherein is contain'd the Certificate of thy being yet on this Side the State of Invisibles Methinks all Nature flourishes while thou art alive And I feel a Spirit within me prompts me to presage That thy Death like the Fall of Leaves in Autumn will prove the Harbinger of the World's Last Winter Whilst thou livest thy Prayers and Merits support the drooping Elements Which are now almost ready to fall into their Primitive Chaos and Inactivity The Angel of the Trumpet in Contemplation of thy Virtue delays to found the Grand Tremendous Blast which at an Instant shall puff out the Light of Sun Moon and Stars and blow the Breath out of the Nostrils of all the Living Generations That Day shall be a Day of Darkness Horror and Silence till the Hour of Transmigration comes When at the Second Blast the Firmament shall rent asunder like the Opening of Curtains this Old World shall fly away like a Shadow to the Right Hand and to the Left Then shall Naked Souls hang hovering in the Empty Space 'twixt Paradise and Hell The Throne shall be plac'd Judgment shall be given And to wind up the Mysteries of Fate A New and Immortal World shall at a Moment spring forth from the Womb of Eternity and possess the Place of the Former I write not this to Instruct thee Venerable Bedredin who art a Mine of Knowledge but to satisfy thee That tho' I live amongst Infidels yet I conserve Inviolate the Faith of my Fathers believing the Book brought down from the Eternal Archives Thou fearest that I shall turn Christian being accused by Some of Levity in my Opinions by Others of Prophaneness and Atheism by All of discovering too favourable an Inclination to the Nazarenes Suffer me O Holy President of the Servants of God to purge my self from these false Imputations the Product of Envy and Malice Permit me to lay at thy Sacred Feet a Modest Apology for my Faith Let not that Description of the Christians Messias which I sent thee in my last Letter create in thee an Opinion to my Disadvantage nor prevail on thee to think I can ever swerve from the profound Attach I owe to the Sent of God I Honour Jesus the Son of Mary and so I do all his Brethren the Prophets in Paradise This I am taught in the Alcoran Where is then my Crime If I give Virtue its due Praise even in the Infidels am I therefore a Nazarene If I speak with Reverence and Modesty of Christian Princes am not I therefore a Mussulman Or does the Book of Glory teach us Arrogance Surely my Traducers will blush when they shall consider That Our August Emperors themselves who are Sovereigns of All the Kings on Earth when they vouchsafe to write to Christian Princes they dictate their Letters in a Style full of Affection and Regard They give them Magnificent Titles at the Beginning and at the Conclusion they wish them Encrease of Felicity both Here and in Paradise And would it become a Slave to treat Crown'd Heads with less Respect than does the Master of the Vniverse If I have contracted Friendship with some of the Christian Dervises it was to serve the Ends of the Sublime Port and perform the Rites of Gratitude I thought it no Crime to receive a Kindness from any Man or to return it without examining his Religion But perhaps they suspect the Intimacies I had with Cardinal Richlieu and still have with his Successor Mazarini Rest assured O Holy Dervise That my Access to these Princes of the Roman Church is so far from being Criminal that without it I never had been capable of penetrating into the Counsels of the Infidels nor of doing any effectual Service to the Grand Signior The Countenance which my Familiarity with these Two Great Ministers affords me has all along facilitated my Designs And whilst under their Umbrage I am taken for a Zealous Christian I secretly lay a Foundation whereon in due Time shall be built even in the Heart of Christendom Triumphal Arches for the Victorious Mussulmans 'T is strange methinks that after all this I should be suspected That notwithstanding I have patiently endur'd Nine Years Confinement to an Obscure and Private Life a Melancholy Banishment to a Strange Country yea to a City for which I have a Natural Aversion a City the most Unclean Noisy and Vain in the whole Earth to be shut up for the Sake of avoiding Discovery in a Chamber so Narrow that Suspicion it self nay even Thought the Mother of that Little Passion would sweat and be stifled when once Circumscrib'd within these Walls and after all this to be made a Prisoner of State on Jealousy of being a Mahometan To abide that Punishment so many Moons unmov'd uncorrupted and at length to be released to the Advantage of the Ottoman Interest and yet to be traduc'd at Home for a Traytor to God his Prophet and my Sovereign has surely something in it of Inconsistent What is then my Crime Or why am I thus aspers'd Let my Slanderers hereafter be silent Unless they will lay it to my Charge That in some of my Letters I have discover'd a Mind free from Superstition That I put a high Value on Reason and have no low Esteem for some of the Ancient Philosophers That I endeavour to guard my Sence and will not suffer it to be muzzled with the Impositions of Ignorance and Prejudice That I do not think it a Necessary Qualification of a Mussulman to pursue with Inexorable Hatred all Men that differ from me in Opinion In fine That in all my Conversation I strive to comport my self as One who asserts the Vnity of the Divine Essence the Plurality of his Prophets the Determinate Number of the Elect and who is resolv'd and prepar'd rather to die a Thousand Deaths than voluntarily to commit any Impiety against these Principles or the Interest of the Grand Signior who has a Right to command all Mankind If these be Crimes I must own my self Culpable If not let my Accusers lay their Hand upon their Mouth And continue thou Sage Doctor of our Holy Law to instruct me with thy Counsels to assist me with thy Prayers and to