the true Circumstances of this Affair in the Turkish Manuscript which Cardinal Richlieu's Secretary has put into my Hands I have fully discovered the false Reasonings of the Armenians and Greeks who by common Consent have offered several Things to the most Venerable Mufti which I am sure thou wilt not approve of for they make most wretched Excuses to colour over their Perfidiousness They say the Romanists ought to be ill used on purpose to get rid of them from Palestine being like the Jews bitter Enemies in their Hearts to the Welfare of the Empire That the Time of the Privileges granted by Zelim and his Successors is expired and that moreover 't is a great Imprudence to suffer Pilgrims to come over from distant Countries who under Pretence of visiting the Holy Sepulchre and other Places which Superstition has consecrated in Palestine come to espy the Actions of the Turks examin the Form of their Government visit their Places and measure the Roads and Ports which they possess on the Seas which may prove of dismal consequence to the Honour and Interest of the Ottoman Empire I cannot inform thee how this Memoir came into Richlieu's Hands but it was either sold or intercepted at Constantinople where it was addressed However I must not forget to tell thee one Remark which this Minister made whence thou maist guess whether he reasoned like a wise and prudent Man Were I says he the Sultan's chief Minister I should have added Privilege to Privilege to the Monks Cordeliers not only because Justice requires it but by reason of the Advantage which might redound thereby to the Turks I would make the Ways to Jerusalem easie to all People I would lessen the Tribute the Pilgrims should be well used the Christians in general as well as the Cordeliers and I would severely punish the Officers and Soldiers who guard Palestine and the sacred Places if they did otherwise And then turning himself towards me Does it not appear to thee says he that the best way to enlarge a Kingdom is to procure it an Advantage which increases the Number of its Subjects 'T is not enough that the Prince shews the Ornaments of his Principality he must shew also the Prince otherwise he will be like the Philosopher who was brought into Herod 's Presence I do not see says the King any Thing else but the Beard and Cloak of a Philosopher If the Turks do as the Scythians When they made themselves Masters of Athens they will do better for they would not burn the Books which were gathered together in this Famous Town alledging that those who applied themselves to Study were not wont to do any great Hurt If the Christians meditate on Death in visiting and honouring the Sepulchres the Mussulmen should consider that if they make War against them they have only to do with contrite and penitent Persons who will therefore be the more easily defeated And this is a Faithful and exact Account of the Conversation I had with this chief Minister of State Suffer now that I add as a Note of the Justice of the Christians Pretensions what some Particulars of this Kingdom have given me to understand touching the Justice and Antiquity of the Privileges of the Religious Christians at Jerusalem They make appear That for above Three hundred Years these Places do belong to the Roman Catholicks That Robert d' Anjou bought them of the Soldan of Aegypt and made thereof a Present to the Roman Church and put them in Possession not only of the Holy Sepulchre but of Calvary of Bethlchem and their Dependancies which Settlement lasted till Zelim I who therein confirm'd the Religious Christians with an Augmentation of Privileges as soon as ever he had conquered Aegypt and Palestine Francis I. King of France having made an Alliance with Solyman II. he inserted in his Treaty an Article which confirmed the aforesaid Privileges which were since solemnly renewed till Amurath's Time who is now on the Throne of the Mussulmen an happy Emperor and Master of the Universe for whose Sake alone the Sun enlightens the Earth and confirms what his Predecessors had done in favour of the Christian Roman Dervises whom he has maintained without any regard to the vain Pretension of the Greeks and Armenians in their lawful Possession of Calvary the Grotto of Bâ—thlehem and the Two little Mountains thereunto belonging and granted to them the keeping of the Stone on which their Saviour Christ was embalmed as well as that of the Two small Domes covered with Lead under which is the Holy Sepulchre Thy humble Slave Mahmut has an unpleasant Task imposed on him by this French Minister He desired me to give him some Memoir in general of what I know and bad me not wonder at his Curiosity it being his Maxim to make Friendship with all Strangers of Merit whereby he has learnt several important Matters and discovered Secrets of great Importance and that it lay in my power to oblige him greatly in giving him an exact Account of the Forces of the Ottoman Empire and where they lay most open to be attackt I answered him very modestly That my Business being only to say my Breviary he could not expect any great Capacity from me in these Matters He smilingly bade me try what I could do in that Matter yet however he would not lay any Thing upon me which might make me uneasie adding That tho he were a Cardinal and a Priest yet he knew something more than Divinity and that several Roman Prelates had made War with great Success from St. Peter's Chair In fine I could not but promise to gratifie him and thou shalt know in due time how I discharged my self for I shall rather part with my Life than act contrary to my Allegiance however I must avoid giving him Cause to suspect me and acquaint thee alone with the Conferences I have had with him The Holy Prophet multiply thy Line that the Empire may not want Ministers of thy Linage and the Great God so assist thy Valour that thou maist see the Empire of Amurath without Bounds Paris 25th of the Second Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER XVI To the same THE Winter is so far advanced that the King's Armies lie quiet It 's no Fable That the Dauphin was born with some Teeth and that no Nurse dare present him the Teat for fear of being bit with them 'T is said also That there being no Woman to be found about the Court which can endure the suckling of him there is a certain Peasant a very healthful and hardy Woman that has undertaken that Employment Here are Four Posts arrived at the same Time one comes from Rome the rest from the Armies but what News they bring is not yet known 't is thought that he which comes from Germany brings News of Alsatia and Brisac The King of France is very well here are great Preparations at Court for the Carnival in which Time the Christians play a Thousand mad
THE First Volume OF LETTERS Writ by a Turkish Spy Who lived Five and Forty Years Undiscovered at PARIS Giving an Impartial Account to the Divan at Constantinople of the most Remarkable Transactions of Europe And discovering several Intrigues and Secrets of the Christian Courts especially of that of France from the Year 1637 to the Year 1682. Written Originally in Arabick first Translated into Italian afterwards into French and now into English The Second Edition LONDON Printed for Henry Rhodes near Bride-Lane in Fleet-street 1691. Mahmut The. Turkish spy Aetatis suae 72. F. H. Van. Hove sculp TO THE READER I Here offer you a Book written by a Turk whose Matter is as instructive and delightful as the Manner of finding it was strange and surprizing I do not doubt but you would know where 't was written and perhaps whether the Author be living and whether you must expect a Romance or a real History Hear then in short what will fully satisfie you The Curiosity of seeing Paris made a Man of Letters leave Italy in the Year 1682 where being arrived he found such Diversions as caused his stay longer than he intended Scarce had he been Two Months in Paris when by changing his Lodging he discovered by meer Chance in a Corner of his Chamber a great heap of Papers which seem'd more spoil'd by Dust than Time He was at first surprized to see nothing but barbarous Characters and was upon the Point of leaving them without any further search if a Latin Sentence which he perceived on the top of a Leaf had not retained him Vbi amatur non laboratur si Laboratur labor amatur The Surprize of the Italian was yet greater when after having considered these Characters with more Attention he found them to be Arabick which Language was not altogether unknown to him which made him look narrowlier into them where he found That they treated of Affairs of State that they contained Relations of War and Peace and discoursed not only of the Affairs of France but of those of all Christendom till the Year 1682. The curious Italian was in no small Impatience to know how and where these Memorials had been writ and by what Adventure they came to lie so neglected in a Corner of his Chamber But before he further informed himself he thought it expedient to transport these Manuscripts into another House as a Place of greater Security He afterwards questioned his Landlord with great Precaution concerning the Papers and he inform'd him even to the least Circumstances He told him That a Stranger who said he was a Native of Moldavia Habited like an Ecclesiastick greatly Studious of small Stature of a very course Countenance but of surprizing Goodness of Life had lived long at his House That he came to lodge there in the Year 1664 and had staid Eighteen Years with him that being gone abroad one day he returned no more and they had had no certain News of him since He was about Seventy Years old had left Manuscripts that no Body understood and some Moneys which was an Argument that his Departure was not premeditated He added That he had always a Lamp Day and Night burning in his Chamber had but few Moveables only some Books a small Tome of St. Austin Tacitus and the Alcoran with the Picture of Massaniello whom he praised very much calling him the Moses of Naples He said further That this Strangers greatest Friend and whom he saw often was a Man which most People took for a Saint some for a Jew and others suspected to be a Turk According to the Landlord's Report he came to Paris in the Year 1637 being then but Twenty Eight Years of Age. At first he had lodged with a Flemming he went oft to Court Moneys never failed him he had Friends and passed for very Learned As for his End this Man thinks he died miserably it being suspected that he had been thrown into the River The Italian being sufficiently instructed by what he had heard applyed himself to the Study of the Arabian Language and as he had already some Knowledge in it he quickly learnt enough to Translate these Manuscripts which he undertook a while after and he examined with care the Truth of what the Moldavian had writ confronting the Events he met with the Histories of those Times and to succeed the better searched the most approved Memorials having had Access into the Cabinets of Princes and their Ministers These Letters contain the most considerable Intrigues of the Court of France and the most remarkable Transactions of Christendom which have been sent to several Officers of the Ottoman Court. By these may be known the Perspicacity of this Agent of the Turks and by him the Prudence of those that command in that Nation who chose the better to penetrate into the Affairs of Christians a Man who could not be suspected by his Exterior who was deform'd but prudent and advised and for the better concealing him destined his ordinary Abode in one of the greatest and most peopled Cities of Europe During his being at Paris which was Forty Five Years he has been Eye-witness of many great Changes has seen the Death of two great Ministers of State has seen that Kingdom involved in War without and within He was scarce setled in Paris but he was witness to the Birth of a King who surpasses those that preceded him in a time when the Queen's Barrenness caused the King her Husband to despair of ever having a Son that should succeed him During the Course of so many Years he hath seen Cities revolt and return again to the Obedience of their Sovereign Princes of the Blood make War against their King and Queen Mary de Medicis Wife Mother and Mother-in-Law to some of the greatest Kings in Europe die in Exile in Cologne He speaks frankly of the Princes of Christendom and explains his Sentiments with Liberty He saith The Emperor commands Princes the King of Spain Men and the King of France sees Men and even Kings obey his Orders He adds That the First commands and prays the Second sees oft times more effected than he commanded and that the Third commands many brave Souldiers and is well nigh obeyed by Crowned Heads There appears no Hate or Animosity in him in what he writes against the Pope In Discoursing of the Emperor and King of Spain he says That both of them having Provinces of such vast Extent they are not much concerned at the Losses they sustain He believed that England was more powerful than the Empire and Spain he might have added France at Sea He apprehended more the Counsels of the Republick of Venice than their Arms. He magnifies what passed in the Wars of Candy which the Venetians supported with so much Bravery against the Forces of the Ottoman Empire The Genoeses with him are perfect Chymists He speaks of the last Plague and last War that this Commonwealth hath been afflicted with he touches something of
the late Conspiracy against this State by Raggi and Torne and to shew that he understood their History he says somewhat of Vachero and Balbi Thou wilt see Reader by the Progress of the Work what this secret Envoy of the Ottoman Port thought of the other Princes of Italy and those of the North And I have drawn his Picture because thou maist understand better what I give thee of him This Arabian for he declares himself in his Writings to have been of that Nation having been taken and made a Slave by the Christians was brought into Sicily where he applyed himself to Learning He studied Logick in his Captivity and applyed himself much to History he overcame them by suffering with Patience the Blows of his Master who often beat him for endeavouring to acquire those Lights which this Brute had not And finally after much Labour great Assiduity and long Watchings he came as he writes himself to understand Greek and Latin Authors he had commerce afterwards with the best Masters and during his sojourning in the French Court he joyned Experience to the Knowledge he had acquired He explains himself neatly and speaks of Things with great Frankness His Style shews a great liberty of Spirit and never Passion and if it appear that he accommodes himself to the Fashion of the Court one may see that it is not out of design to please but that he wisely conforms himself sometimes to the Genius's of Nations Thou wilt find in his Letters Wit and Learning If sometimes he appears tart 't is to shew his Vivacity not disoblige and he appears all over fully instructed in Ancient and Modern History He is very reserved when he blames and seems perswaded when he praises When he speaks to the great Men of the Port his Style is very grave and he changes when he writes to meaner Persons He never tells News that he is not assured of nor thinks of divining Things that seem obscure to him He gives rare Lessons when he writes of the Revolutions of Catalonia the Kingdoms of Naples Portugal and England which happened in our Days with strange Circumstances terrible Murders and the Death of a Potent King Martyr'd by his own Subjects upon a Scaffold before his own Door He weighs much the Duke of Guise's hardy Resolution of going to Naples to succour the Revolted there and he reasons not as a Barbarian but like an able States-man and wise Philosopher on the Rise and Ruin of States He always discourses with Liberty and what he says is filled with solid and agreeable Thoughts He speaks sometimes of the Cruelty and Tyranny of the Turks of the Violence of the Ministers of the Port and upon the precipated Death which many of the Sultans Basha's and Vizirs are forced to suffer But this Language is only to his Friends and Confidents However though these Letters be neither Greek nor Latin nor written by a Christian they contain nothing of Barbarous and though the Ignorant be in great Numbers amongst the Turks there are yet Men of great Understanding that write the Annals of the Ottoman Empire though they are not easily come by for their Books not being Printed they scarce ever reach us We may notwithstanding believe That amongst this Nation that we term Barbarous there are great and wise Captains good Men and learned Authors as we have amongst us Generals without Conduct Hypocritical Votaries and ignorant Fellows that pretend to be Masters To justifie what I affirm of the Turks let us but consider their Victories which have gained them so many Kingdoms their Power at Sea their Exactness to punish Crimes and to reward Merit As for Printing they would never endure it amongst them A Grand Vizir's judgment of it was remarkable which shews rather their Prudence than any effect of their Ignorance A famous Printer of Holland by Religion a Jew came to Constantinople bringing Presses with him with Characters of all Sorts of Idioms particularly Arabick Turk Greek and Persian Letters with design to introduce the use of Printing into that great City As soon as the Vizir was informed of it he caused the Jew to be Hanged and broke all his Engins and Millions of Characters which he had brought declaring it would be a great Cruelty that One Man should to enrich himself take the Bread out of the Mouths of Eleven Thousand Scribes who gained their Livings at Constantinople by their Pens Peruse Gentle Reader what I offer without fear of tiring thy self or being deceived As Christian Authors think of nothing ordinarily but of writing Panegyricks in hopes of Reward we have reason to believe not to find all the Truth in their Works Interest and Passion do often make good Princes pass for Tyrants and unjust and cruel Princes are sometimes transferred to Posterity for Models of Justice and Clemency This occasions Histories which issue from so corrupt a Source to serve like a pitch'd Field for Modern Writers where the one and the other combat for the destruction of Truth the one falsly reporting what they have heard and the other by as badly representing the things they seem to witness Most Princes will have their Altars and then 't is no wonder if there are Priests found to sacrifice to Falshood and Idolaters to deface the Statue of Truth There is no General that will not always seem Conqueror and Princes never confess their Losses which occasions a Confusion and the Actions of Men do thereby become doubtful How many times have we seen both the Victors and Vanquished make Bonfires for their Successes And in our Days we have known the French rejoyce and the Spaniards and Germans sing their Te Deum for the same Thing As we are perhaps now less just than in Ages past it is difficult to write Things as they are particularly during the Lives of Princes whose History cannot be writ without Fear nar the Truth said without Danger For these Reasons we ought not to question the Credit of our Arabian who reports with Liberty what came to his Knowledge Besides he being an universal Enemy to Christianity and a concealed one neither disobliged or gained by any and religiously true to his Prince whom he adores as a Divinity it cannot be imagined that he says any thing for Fear or Favour As these Relations have been read with Attention and diligently examined we may be assured of an exact History abounding in considerable Events and this History being separated into Letters as the Author writ them the Reader may read them without repining If he will not acknowledge the Translator's Pains let him at least receive the Labours of a dead Man with Civility one that never dreamt his Memorials would be Printed and that served his Master faithfully These Sentiments made him exactly follow that Sentence of S. Austin found in the Front of his Works Where Love is there is no Labour and if there be Labour the Labour is loved The Translator hath thought fit to retrench some
Effendi c. 193 Of Assam Bassa of Algiers his Death and barbarous Sentiments in respect of his Slaves II. To the Invincible Vizir Azem at the Camp under Babylon 195 Of the Memoirs which Mahmut gave to the Cardinal Richlieu on the Lives of Illustrious Men. III. To Lubano Abufei Saad an Egyptian Knight 210 What Cardinal Richlieu did at a Ball. IV. To Mehmet an Eunuch Page 211 Of the beginning of Mahmut's Sickness and of the Cruelty of Amurath V. To Zelim of Rhodes Captain of a Galley 215 That a Man is parted expresly from Legorn to Assassinate him at Constantinople VI. To the Invincible Vizir Azem c. 217 Of the Seige of Babylon VII To the same 220 Of Brizac Piemont Italy and Brandenburg VIII To Breredin Superior of the Dervises in Natolia 224 IX To Ocoumiche his Mother at Scio. 225 Of his Sickness X. To Pestely Haly his Brother 227 Of his Sickness XI To Dgnet Oglou 228 Of his Sickness in a particular Style XII To the Kaimakan 231 He discourses of the Dexterity of the Dwarf Osmin and of the Embassador of Venice's Solicitations at Court to induce the King to make War with the Turks XIII To Isouf his Kinsman 235 He speaks of his Sickness entreats him to give Alms for his Recovery and to pray to God for him XIV To the Invincible Vizir Azem c. 236 A Relation of his Sickness and of the Death of the Duke of Wimar XV. To the Kaimakan 239 Of his Sickness and Cure Of Germany and Italy and of a Sea Fight between the Dutch and French XVI To Dgnet Oglou 242 Of his perfect Cure and of Friendship XVII To Adonai a Jew at Genoa 244 He blames him for sending false News about the Genoeses to the Port. XVIII To the Kaimakan 246 Of Turin of the new invented Bullets of the Affairs of Italy and Spanish Fleet that was lost XIX To Dgnet Oglou 250 Of Mahmut's Amours with a beautiful Greek XX. To the Invincible Vizir Azem 257 Of a Chiaus from the Port who came to Paris and touching the Affairs of Persia XXI To Cara Hali the Physician c. 260 He gives him an Account of his Recovery of the violent Frosts at Paris and Austerity of the Capuchins XXII To the Kaimakam 264 Of the Troubles in Spain Catalonia and Portugal and a Description of the Revolt in Barcellona XXIII To Dgnet Oglou 268 Letter of Consolation on the Fire at Constantinople XXIV To the Captain Bassa of the Sea 273 Of the Vessels of Africk taken by the Christians and of the Knights of Maltha XXV To the Invincible Vizir Azem 275 A Description of the Revolution of Portugal XXVI To Enguril Emir Cheik c. 287 Of the Death of Amurath IV. of the new Sultan Ibrahim and of the Affairs of the Seraglio BOOK IV. LETTER I. TO the Venerable Mufti c. 293 Of Cardinal Richlieu his Craft and Policy II. To the Reis Effendi c. 295 Of a Conspiracy discovered at Paris against Cardinal Richlieu III. To the Kaimakan 297 Of Julius Mazarin and his Negotiation in Savoy IV. To Dgnet Oglou 300 A particular Description of the Greatness of the Spanish Monarchy V. To the Invincible Vizir Azem 303 Of the Battle of Sedan of Count Soisson's Death and Conspiracy against the Cardinal VI. To Solyman his Cousin 309 Mahmut complains of his Perfidiousness VII To Dgnet Oglou 312 Against the Infidelity and Inconstancy of the beautiful Greek VIII To Carcoa at Vienna 316 He informs him of the Receipt of his Letters with the Money and Balm of Mecha IX To Berber Mustapha Aga c. 317 Of the Duke of Lorrain the Loss of his Country and of the King of France's Indignation X. To Bedredin Superior of the Dervises c. 332 On his own Age and of a Man that lived an 129 Years XI To the Redoubtable Vizir Azem 325 On the Life and Death of General Bannier and Imprisonment of Dom Duartus Brother to the new King of Portugal XII To the Kaimakan 328 Of the Parliament of Paris and Affairs of Catalonia XIII To the Venerable Mufti c. 331 Of Cardinal Richlieu and the Calumnies published against him touching his Design of making himself Patriarch of France XIV To Oucoumiche his Mother c. 333 Letter of Consolation on the Death of her second Husband that the Countess of Soissons has greater cause of Trouble for the Death of her Son XV. To the Grand Seignior's Chief Treasurer 338 Of the disgrace of the Archbishop of Bourdeaux XVI To the Kaimakan 339 On the Imprisonment of Count Allie apprehended at Turin by Richlieu's Order XVII To the Reis Effendi 342 Of a Spaniard found dead in Paris who had in his Pocket a Catalogue of all the great Lords whom Cardinal Richlieu caused to be destroyed XVIII To William Vospel 343 Of his Retirement from the World on Thieves and the Invention of Keys XIX To the Venerable Mufti 347 Of Cardinal Richlieu and what he did in respect of a General of Dervises and of the great Newâ— brought him XX. To the Kaimakan 350 Of the Books of Geber and of Chymistry XXI To Mehemet an Eunuch Page 358 What Cardinal Richlieu did against the Queen of France and of his Ambition XXII To the Kaimakam 360 Of Dom Sebastian King of Portugal who died in Africk and of him that took on him that Name XXIII To the Mufti 365 Of a Mule laden with Gold which Cardinal Richlieu sent to an unknown Person in a Wood. XIV To Berber Mustapha Aga. 366 Description of Duels of a Bill of Defiance which the Duke de Medina Celi sent to Dom John of Braganza the new King of Portugal XXV To the Invincible Vizir Azem 37â— Of a new Conspiracy discovered at Lisbon againsâ— the new King of Portugal LETTERS Writ by A Spy at PARIS VOL. I. BOOK I. LETTER I. Mahmut the Arabian and Vilest of the Grand Signior's Slaves to Hasnadarbassy Chief Treasurer to his Highness at Constantinople I Have at length finished my Journey after one hundred and forty days March arriving at Paris the 4th of this present Moon according to the Christians Style I made no stay in Hunâ—ary yet sojourned One and forty Days at Vienna where I observ'd all the Motions of that Court â—ccording as I was ordered of which I shall not â—ow speak having given a full Account to the ever â—nvincible Vizir Azem Being but newly arrived scarce know any Body and am as little known my self I have suffered my Hair to grow a little below my Ears and as to my Lodging 't is in the House of an old Flemming where my Room is so small that Jealousie it self can scarce enter And because I will have no Enemy near me I will therefore admit of no Servant Being of low Stature of an ill-favoured Countenance ill shap'd and by Nature not given to Talkativeness I shall the better conceal my self Instead of my Name Mahmut the Arabian I have taken on me that
wit Ambrose and Austin When the French beat the Spaniards they sing the Te Deum and when these vanquish their Enemies they do the same These Two Nations do the duty of the Mussulmen in destroying one another and when this is done they give God Thanks for the Evil they have committed Whence we may judge of the Wisdom and Piety of the Mahometans amongst whom there 's seldom seen an open War and if it should happen 't is generally Condemned The Rejoicing of the French proceeds hence the Spaniards had besieged Leucate a small Peninsula in Languedoc which is but four Leagues round with Two Ports where a few Galleys and Four small Vessels may Anchor in safety The Place was attack'd by the Spaniards with much Heat but was afterwards given over with as great Loss The Assailants being obliged to make a Retreat not unlike a shameful Flight quitted their Baggage their Arms and all their other Provision Count Serbellon offered at first to Barris who commanded the Place a great Sum of Money which was to be attended with a constant Pension which refused they were necessitated to betake themselves to force by which in short the Spaniards were entirely defeated Serbellon withdrew towards Perpignan with the Duke of Cardonn's Son who was Viceroy of Catalonia He lost all his Tents his Plate and the Moneys designed for Payment of the Army And I will say yet more that he has lost the Reputation of a good Captain and valiant Soldier until he can recover an Opportunity to Fight and Vanquish This Victory must have been of Consequence and very Glorious seeing the King assisted in Person together with the Queen Two Cardinals the Council of State and that of the Finances and that which they call here the Courts Sovereign which are a Company of Men chosen to judge others Besides these there was an innumerable Concourse of People who testified their Joy for the Advantage gained by their King notwithstanding it be at the Cost of their Brethren of the same Religion Live happily and conserve thy Honour as thy Life Paris 25th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1637. LETTER IV. To Isouf his Kinsman I Tell thee I live and am well I have received no News from thee perhaps thou thoughtest me Dead I Salute thee first with my Letters though thou oughtest to have begun If thou art ashamed of my Kindred accuse thy Parents by whom thou art become of the same Family But be not ungrateful to them nor forgetful of the Good thou hast received from me Thou shalt now know where I am and ought to stay and mayest answer me if thou wilt Believe in the mean time the Counsel I give thee although thou dost not demand it Be devout in thy Religion without Hypocrifie and remember there is no more Gods but One as also that the Favourite and sent of God is Mahomet his Prophet After that love thy Master without desiring any thing more than the Execution of his Pleasure Embrace thy Father as from me and give thy Mother a Kiss saluting her as my Sister and Friend which is the most endearing Title that Antiquity could invent for Persons who had the same Sentiments of Affection Live happily and conserve thy Chastity Paris 25th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1637. LETTER V. To the Aga of the Janisaries I Shall give thee some Pleasure in telling thee that the Christians lose easier than they acquire It seems the Marquess Ambrose Spinola whom all the World took for a great Captain has lost much of his Reputation seeing that a Place is lost in eleven Weeks which he had formerly besieged eleven Months and where he had expended eleven Millions If these Circumstances are true they are very extraordinary However he shall continue a Great Captain in my Opinion and it is ordinary enough to see that lost in a little Time by the Cowardliness of one which has not been acquired in a great while by the Valour of a whole Army The Prince of Orange hath taken Breda a Place of great Importance which had been surrendred twelve Years and three Months since to the said Spinola who commanded the Army of Spain This Conquest is great for 't was the general Opinion the Place could not be taken but by Famine yet hath it been constrained to yield by the continual Fire and Valour of the Besiegers Had not the Hollanders become Masters of this Place they had been as it were block'd up on the side of Brabant and had the Enemy always at their Gates whereas now they are more at large We ought to rejoice rather at their acquisitions than those of the Spaniards with whom we never have had Peace This Place is fortified with much Regularity It hath fifteen Bastions besides some little Forts on the Moat side There are five Horn-works without The Place is considerable for its Greatness It contains five thousand Houses with great Gardens and there are three principal Gates I mention these Particulars because thou art a Man of War Receive my Letter kindly believe me thy Friend and do not doubt of my Fidelity If thou wilt add to thy Valour by new Merit which will heighten the Consideration Men have for thee I will teach thee a Secret which will not be very Expensive but very Delightful Read at Times the Histories of others and particularly those of the Greatest and most Fortunate Princes and their Captains Imitate rather the Wise than those who have only signalized themselves by their Valour To conclude be conversant in Histories but choose always the best I mean such as cannot be suspected for Lyes Thou canst not fail of good Books both Greek and Arabick which are Translated into the Turkish and Persian Tongues Thou wilt learn to be wise by the Folly of others and wilt become yet more Prudent by observing the sage Conduct of such who performed great Actions Above all Things never neglect to make serious Reflections upon the least Events It happens sometimes that passages are found in Books that seem of no Consequence which may yet be of Use in important Occasions for the clearing of Difficulties And for Example learn this from a great King Henry IV. who Conquered his Kingdom by the Dint of his Sword I will finish with a worthy Saying of Marquess Spinola's which I think is to the purpose He saith That a Captain 's Sword must be tyed to his Heart his Heart fixt to his Head and Conducted by his Judgment which ought particularly to be formed by the reading of Histories Love me as much as I esteem thee and thou wilt never love me enough Paris 25th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1637. LETTER VI. To Mehemet Page Eunuch to the Sultan Mother THou hast spent fourteen Years in the Seraglio and to thy unhappiness always been in the Service of Women serve now a Man who is certainly somewhat more than a Woman Thou knowest the Confidence we have in each other is arrived to
of Attendants who aspire to Employs of such as are in Offices and several other Persons who are desirous to be Witnesses of his Actions Those who threaten him in secret do but increase his Courage and make him more carefully stand on his Guard and those who have most Experience of the World affirm this Cardinal knows too much to be surprised Hear the Recital of one of the least of his Actions whereby thou maist figure the greatest and give them the due Price they deserve For Three Years together was observed in this Cardinal's Anti-chamber a Man who was â—ot far advanced in Years and as assiduous to make his Court as he was modest in his Discourse very reserved and patient and which is very rare at Court was never heard to complain The Cardinal who pretends to read the Souls of Men and who is inferior to none perhaps in this Art caused this Person who had so long attended to be called to him and thus spake to him I know who thou art and how long time thou hast spent in observing me although thou outwardly appearest a French-man thy great Patience assures me thou art of another Climate get thee to Rome and wait but half the time in the Pope 's Anti-chamber as thou hast done in mine and I doubt not but thou wilt penetrate into the most hidden Secrets Part then immediately for Italy and observe the Actions and Motions of the Wisest and most Dissimulative Court in the Universe discover not thy self to any body send me an Account every Week what thou canst discover and in this manner thou wilt be useful to me and avoid Idleness My Secretary will give thee a Cypher and my Treasurer has order to give thee what 's necessary for thy Voyage as well as to keep thee when thou art at Rome The Cardinal studies to extend the Bounds of the Kingdom and for that purpose consults those who can any ways advance his Projects especially the King being now certain of a Successor by the Birth of the Dauphin who seems very likely to live long All Hands are employed at Toulon and Marseilles for the fitting out of Galleys and other Vessels and 't is thought the chief Designs of this Minister are on the Coasts of Italy I am told he was heard to say That the Romans could never have conquered all the World as they did had they not before been Masters of Italy That Hannibal had the same Design and after Hannibal Pope Alexander VI. intended to see whether such a Design would take Effect but his Pride and Cruelty made all his Projects prove abortive and that he could meet with greater Success than Hannibal could he be so happy as to obtain one Thing And here he ended his Discourse He so greatly minds whatever passes in the Royal Family and Kingdom that he can discover as he pretends all the Thoughts yea and the very Dreams of the Grandees Governors of Provinces and those that command in Places He says he has learnt several useful Things in the Relation given us of the Government of the Chineses having from them the Way of discovering the most difficult Matters without its appearing he does any Thing for this Purpose And this is the Method of governing he observes in this Kingdom wherein are so many restless Spirits He maintains near all People who are in any considerable Offices Persons that depend only on him and who are known to no body else who in all Places wear mean Cloaths and incessantly watch over the Actions of the Officers and give him notice of whatever passes He makes use of these kind of People about his Master's Embassadors in foreign Courts He always carries a Book about with him which he calls Richlieu's Soul which Book contains the Designs the Interests the secret Practices and Inclinations of all the Princes who hold a Correspondence and have any Tyes with France and on whom France has any Pretensions The most skilful Astrologers in Europe have also sent him the Horoscopes of all the Kings and great Men with their Judgments touching the Term of their Lives and what they may probably undertake in all Times This Cardinal said on another Time That he kept a great many Couriers yet he could well enough spare them That he knew what passed in remote Places as soon as what was done near him He once affirmed he knew in less than Two Hours That the King of England had signed the Warrant for the Execution of ...... If this Particular be true this Minister must be more than a Man Those who are his most devoted Creatures affirm he has in a private place in his Closet a certain Mathematical Figure in the Circumference of which are written all the Letters of the Alphabet armed with a Dart which marks the Letters which are also marked by their Correspondents And it appears that this Dart ripens by the Sympathy of a Stone which those who give and receive his Advices keep always at hand which hath been separated from another which the Cardinal has always by him and 't is affirm'd that with such an Instrument he gives and receives immediately Advices This great Man who knows all these reports only laughs at them yet he says with a serious Air That God has given him Two Angels one White and another Black to inform him of both good and bad Matters and that with their Assistance he shall overthrow the Cabals of his Enemies He sent some Days past a Man to the Gallies that was accused for cutting in pieces the King's Picture but having been better inform'd and knowing t was his he told those about him That this Man should be pardoned because he had done no Hurt to the Original Here are Theaters and Feasts preparing to entertain the People in Honour of the King and Cardinal and 't is whispered that the Queen is again with Child Heaven preserve thee ever from the Sultan's Anger and all other Misfortunes which may sowre the Comforts of thy Life Paris 25th of the first Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER XIV To Egri Boynou the white Eunuch IF thou goest into Prussia in Bithynin as thou writest above all Things remember to prepare thy self not to live long and never to inform the young Sultan Mustapha of the Misfortune of the Grandson to Solyman the Great and Son to poor Bajazet whom his Grandfather caused to be strangled in his Infancy This unhappy place makes me fearful of thy Life as well as that of the Prince's the Care of whose Education is committed to thee I cannot forbear weeping every time I call to mind what passed between the Victim and the Executioner Thou thy self toldest me That this unhappy Child embraced and kissed several times him that was to give the Fatal Stroke even in the Moment when he was putting about his Neck the Silken String which was to strangle him All Asia is informed of the rest of the History and 't is known That this Child altho
Children and hinder them from devouring one another That he would cause sharp Nails and Rasors to be fastened to the Seats where the Judges sate that those who suffered themselves to be corrupted might sit thereon and indeed in this particular I cannot but wonder at the Christians Blindness We see oftentimes decided in one only Campaign the Differences of Two great States but a Suit in Law for Twenty Sequins shall often last a Mans whole Life and perhaps be entailed on his Heirs But hear a remarkable Example of the Sincerity of this Sovereign There were who would have perswaded him to have apprehended the Duke of Savoy who came to Paris to terminate some Differences he had with him He answered those that advised him with this That Francis I. one of his Predecessors had learnt him A Prince was more obliged to do what he had promised than to obtain what he desired that 't was in his Power to have apprehended a Prince far more considerable but would not do it suffering the Emperor Charles V. to pass out of his Kingdom who had come therein on his Word after this added he shall Henry give such an Example to Princes If the Duke of Savoy has often broke his Word with me it does not therefore follow I must imitate him Crimes can never be authorised by Examples The same Duke of Savoy having asked him What Revenue he drew from his Kingdom He answered him in these Terms I draw as much as I will because I make my self beloved whence it is that my Subjects count all our Estates are common He answered very pleasantly to a Prince's Envoy who came with a Complement of Condoleance for the Death of his Son who had been dead near a Year That he was no longer grieved at that Loss seeing God had given him Two more since A Captain of great Reputation having said That the Kings Liberalities tho several Times reiterated could not oblige him to love him Henry sent him Word He would heap so many Favours on him that he would force him at last He oft used this Proverb That more Flyes are taken with a Drop of Hony than a Tun of Vinegar A Monk entertaining him one Day about Military Affairs Open your Breviary Father said he and shew me where you learnt these fine Lessons One Day a Taylor presenting him with a Book of Politicks he said to the Chancellor who was there present Monsieur Chancellor cut me out a Suit of Cloths here 's a Taylor who understands your Trade and tells me how I shall govern my Kingdom One Day when the Pope's Nuncio was at a great Feast where there were between Twenty and Thirty Ladies of great Beauty he told this Prelate He had been in several Battels but never found himself in so great Danger before Nothing seems more agreeable than the Answer he made to the Provost of the Merchants of Paris who was urgent with him to consent to an Impost which was to be laid on the Fountains of the Town to furnish the Expence of Forty Deputies of the Switzers who came into France to renew their ancient Alliance with this Kingdom and his Answer was That this Magistrate should find some other Expedient than to change Water into Wine which was a Miracle that never any Body wrought but Jesus Christ who is as thou knowest the Christian's Saviour and for thy further Instruction 't is necessary for thee to know The Switzers love Wine above all Things in the World and that not without Reason This Prince went to the Wars at the Age of Fifteen and at Seventeen killed an Enemy and in the Year following he saved the Life of one of his Captains and had his Horse killed under him He was in Five Battles and in more than an hundred Combats and at the Siege of above Two hundred Places He sustained Seven different Wars in which his Enemies aknowledged that he had Fifty five Armies upon him at several Times and in different Places and always obtained some considerable Advantage Those that have given him the Term of Great have given him his true Name He was highly esteemed by all Nations and thou knowest very well that our Sultans tho the mightiest Monarchs in the Universe have admired this great Prince's Fortune and Valour Above Fifty Historians have written his Life above Five hundred Poets have published his Praises I will leave thee at present the Liberty of comparing this King with those whom thou wilt choose from amongst the Hero's If Mahomet XI has not done more than him he may be compared to him in Warlike Actions with this Difference That King Henry conquered the Gauls who were of his Patrimony and Mahomet conquered Twelve Kingdoms and an Empire because he was perswaded that all the Earth belonged to him Henry subdued the City of Paris and Mahomet made himself Master of Constantinople The King of France left an infinite Number of Marks behind him of his Grandure on Marble and in the Writings of famous Authors and Mahomet left only on his Tomb those which shewed what he had designed to execute but never could do it which was to take Rhodes and subdue proud Italy We must also acknowledg there was never found in any Mahometan Prince the admirable Clemency of Henry shewing himself herein greater than in vanquishing his Enemies Contrary to Mahomet who shewed only great Kindness to an Ox whom he caused to be carefully fed because he would never forsake the Tomb of his Master whom this Prince had killed abiding always by it and expressing his Sorrow by horrible Bellowings In all other Occasions he was very cruel far from the Humor of this French King who heapt Benefits on those who drew Blood of him Mahomet by a barbarous Cruelty caused the Bellies of Twenty of his innocent Pages to be ript open to discover him that had eaten a Melon in his Garden Henry was a great Lover of Ladies and an extream Admirer of that Sex and Mahomet jealous of the too great Beauty of his Mistriss cut off her Head himself in a full Divan And farther if Mahomet gave in the East a great Example of Justice in putting his own Son to Death for deflowring the Daughter of the Bassa Achmet in a Bath Henry gave a greater in his own Person in repairing at the Head of his Army the Outrage offered to a young Girl from whom he could not fear any vexatious Consequences Be sure however be silent in these Judgments I make and shew thy self discreet if thou intendest to hold any Correspondence with me Imitate the Bees gather from so many Flowers presented thee what appears to thee sweetest and most proper to form Mustapha's Mind and supple his Spirit like Wax I could relate to thee more Things touching this Henry but there 's no Necessity of writing all that thou maist have space to imagine what such a Prince might have done who had re-established his Fortune by his Valour alone Let me know of
thy Departure and when thou shalt arrive at the Place of thy Retreat forget not thy faithful Friend Mahmut who wishes thou maist prove an happpy Tutor to the Son of a Prince and a faithful Minister of a wise Emperor Paris 18th of the Second Moon of the Year 1639. The End of the Second Book LETTERS Writ by A Spy at PARIS BOOK III. LETTER I. To Muslu Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire SCARCE had I finisht my Letter to Egri Boynou when News came from the Coasts of Provence of so extraordinary and scandalous an Event that I cannot but inform thee who art a wise and experienced Person of it and because I would have thee set it down in the Sacred Register-Books of the Empire of which thou hast the Charge Assam Bassa a Corsary of Algiers dyed at the Age of 40 Years the Relation of whose Death was attended with such horrid Circumstances that even the Enemies of the Alcoran do detest them 'T is said That being sensible he was near his End he caused two young Christian Slaves to be strangled who were nobly descended and for whose Ransom great Sums of Money might have been expected without alledging any reason for his Cruelty nay after he had confessed he had no cause of Complaint against them having observ'd from certain Tokens in their Countenances that they were of a sweet Disposition and inclined by Nature to be Faithful When he was laying out there was found a kind of fine Scarf about him with these Words embroidered on it in Letters of Gold Asam Bassa will have the handsomest of his Slaves to be buried alive with him being desirous of good Company in his Voyage into the other World The Report of so terrible an Adventure has increased the hatred of the French against us and that in so excessive a manner that I am forced to keep my self concealed lest I should by my Zeal discover my self being not able to endure the Blasphemies of our Enemies There 's no question but this cruel Monster is kept by the Black Angels in the other World God grant that so horrid a Crime may not corrupt the rest of Africk However may I be so free as to counsel you Let the Body of this Impious Wretch Assam be dug up and burnt and his Ashes thrown into the Sea to drown the Memory of him Mahmut salutes thee from the Town of the Universe the fullest of Noise and wishes thee at Constantinople or wherever else thou art a long sequel of happy Years and after Death the enjoyment of the bliss of our hundred twenty four thousand Prophets Paris 18th of the Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER II. To the Invincible Vizir Azem at the Camp under Babylon BEfore I give thee an Account Great and Magnanimous Vizir of whatever I have done to satisfie the Curiosity of Cardinal Richlieu I am obliged to tell thee how I spend my leisure Hours 'T is impossible I should observe exactly the Motions of this Court without following it and holding a Correspondence with People of all sorts as Tradesmen Soldiers Scholars Sea-men Politicians and even Musicians The Court consists of all these Professions and there are some particular Persons who are Masters of all these Sciences of which number is Cardinal Richlieu He is not content with this his Knowledge but seeks still for further Light in the Commerce of all Persons of Merit who arrive here neglecting nothing which may enrich this Kingdom with new discoveries in Arts and Sciences out of love to his Country and desire to render his Ministry more famous Thou seest by this Invincible Bassa that to keep company with Courtiers who have so many different Qualities a Man must have some for his share that he may say something in his Turn and not be always a bare Hearer of other People's Discourse For this purpose the particular Study to which I applied my self whilst I was a Slave in Sicily does much help me though not sufficiently 'T was Books I read in this Island not Men. Now knowing my Business required much Dissimulation an Awakened Mind an Especial Prudence Eloquence and Learning to speak properly in Occasions great Reading to obtain the Knowledge of Ancient and Modern Things a Refined Policy to discover or conceal ones self and to counterfeit sometimes a mighty honest Man nothing I say appeared to me more conducing to this purpose than the turning over Histories And therefore I have earnestly applyed my self to this Work And because few Books are not sufficient and a great many breeds confusion I have happily got Admission into the Acquaintance of an Ancient Learned Man whose Study consists of none but choice Books and has travelled over most Parts of the World not like Apollonius to learn the Language of Birds and Beasts but to know the Customs Laws Virtues and Defects of Nations I was first for informing my self of all the Prodigies which the God of the Jews has done in favour of that ungrateful People I afterwards enquired into the Life and Doctrin of the Messias whom the Christians Worship I also lookt into what had been done considerable at Athens and Sparta Thebes Rome and Carthage and carefully remarkt what Divinities were adored in those so famous Places and found that the Great Philosophers and Captains who made such a Noise about their Religions had at Bottom none at all Having run over what the Christians call the Old and New Testament the Histories of Josephus Xenophon Polybius Thucydides Livius and Tacitus my greatest Application has been and shall be for the future to read and meditate on the Works of the Great Plutarch especially his Lives of Illustrious Greeks and Romans related by him with so great Exactness And thus far have I arrived in this short space and here I have stopt I have learnt by the reading of Plutarch to amuse the Cardinal Richlieu to whom I offered my self two days ago and have put into his Hands the following Discourse made after the manner of Christians and have stript my self if a man may so speak of the Manner and Style of the Turks as I have done of their Habits the better to disguise Titus the Faithful Slave of the Great Amurath Great Cardinal and most Sage Minister of the greatest Christian Kings Titus of Moldavia is come to wait on you according to your Commands not to entertain you with the Riches of Asia nor in what manner by the Wisdom of your Counsels and Forces of the King your Soveraign you may destroy the mighty Turkish Empire of whom you have no reason to complain but to tell you what seems most agreeable to the Greatness of your Genius Know then Sage Moderator of the French Monarch that I shall not offer any thing which may make you hate me and repent of believing me seeing what I propose is an easie Enterprize and full of Glory Thy King has a Son who will one day inherit the Greatness and Authority of his
Men snatcht away by Death out of the World to combat and destroy the Vices and Ignorances of the Living If thou approvest not Magnanimous Vizir what I offered to the King of France 's Minister punish me not for a Fault which was not designed having on the contrary imagin'd to do thee a very agreeable piece of Service I thought I could not take a better course to conceal thy Slave Mahmut and to divert this Cardinal from some Projects which I am informed he designs against the Turkish Empire Should he undertake the Great Work I set before him thou feest the Sultans will have some share in it and he will I say again have by this means not to mention any thing else his Hands so full of Business that he will not have the least Time or Ability to molest us I supplicate thee prostrate at thy Feet to call to mind the general Dislike of what happened to Athens when 't was sack't and taken such prodigious numbers of Books being burnt in all Arts and Sciences which had been a collecting several Ages and preserved with such great Care and so much the more in as much as one may be assured there 's nothing to be feared from those that make Learning their whole Business who are always averse to War as finding their reckoning only in the Tranquility of a well established Peace Thou shalt receive by the first Opportunity whatever I can discover of Importance for thee to know either for the Good of the Empire in which thou holdest so great a Rank or to satisfie thy Curiosity provided the Frosts hinder not the passage of Couriers as they will assuredly retard the Progress of the Armies which are constrained to lye still during this rigorous Season God give thee an entire Victory over the Enemies of the Mighty Amurath and make thee the Conqueror of all Nations Paris 28th of the Third Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER III. To Lubano Abufei-Saad an Egyptian Knight THe King some days past was present at a Ball where there was a great number of Persons of Quality of both Sexes Cardinal Richlieu who never loses the sight of this Prince was there also 'T was observed That at the end of this Divertisment the Cardinal would have went out before every Body but dared not and indeed could not get through the Croud which made him so impatient as was remarkt by all even the King himself who taking him a little apart very seriously bid him pass on seeing he was Master Now what did this Minister do in this Astonishment but answer nothing and taking a Flambeau out of the Hands of one of the Pages he carried it himself before the King with a Countenance that shewed neither Despite nor Confusion Those that took notice of the Name of Master which the King had given him interpreted it in his Favour and there were them who thought that in abasing himself so low he plainly shewed the design he had of raising himself the higher however every one thereupon spake what he thought most proper I gave thee an Account of this Passage remembring what thou didst in the presence of thy Master throwing thy self out at a Window to take up a little Note which Amurath had by chance let fall which Action of thine being known in this Country this of the Cardinal was compared with it yet with this difference That the Cardinal without rising from the Ground has made a greater leap than thou God preserve thee from falling into a Praecipice if thou bee'st Fool enough to leap a second Time Paris 28th of the Third Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER IV. To Mehemet Page-Eunuch THou hast gotten up from a great Sickness and I expect one I have had for some Days a Faintness which does extreamly depress me but by the Grace of God I need not yet the Physician The Letter which I received from thee this Moon has given me some ease in my Indisposedness which is no new Thing with me being necessitated to live so far from my Friends Country yea and Religion too And though it may seem difficult to be a Saint in passing ones days in a Prophane Place yet think not my Piety grows luke-warm or my Friendship diminished seeing I have made a Mosque of my Heart where Friends are ever present Be then perswaded 't is impossible for Mahmut to become unfaithful and lose the Affection he has for his Friends for he never ceases to love where he has once begun 'T is true indeed that I call my self Titus at present and am cloathed in an odd sort of Dress yet that is no Hindrance of my Affections to my Religion my Country and my Friends The Ancient Greeks have written a great deal about Friendship and the Duties of a Friend but there remains still behind more than what they have said as there remains more to do than they have done The Word Friend is a common Name and appropriated by most People but where wilt thou find a Man that gives Proofs of a true and unfeigned Friendship I think I am no Hypocrite be thou as true to me at Constantinople and inform me what passes in the Seraglio and how it goes with our Friends and Relations in all Parts I shall give thee no Account of the Transactions of the Infidels amongst which I live being tired with writing them to the Grand Vizir and the Kaimacan Imitate me not herein for thou aboundest with Leasure let me then hear from thee every Moon I have had several Fits of Laughter at the pleasant Adventure of the Chamber-Maid to the old Slave with the Eunuch Melec-Aubi Blessings on the Heart of Mahomet I believe the Holy Prophet will laugh himself in his Paradise when the Angel his Messenger who brings him News from this World shall give him an Account of what these two Persons have ridiculously done in Honour of him Could there ever be a greater Simplicity than to eat every Night a Versicle of the Alcoran written on a piece of China Sattin Whence did this Eunuch thy Camrade learn this strange Superstition and by what Spirit did he authorise that of this Slave in taking the Pains to write these Versicles with his own Hand And when could they imagine both of them they should make an end of this Feast seeing the whole Alcoran could not be eaten in less than Six Thousand Forty three Days the Book containing so many Versicles Pray let me know what is done to them They deserve not in my poor Judgement an over rigorous Punishment their Crime being only a ridiculous Devotion The Great and Venerable Mufti will soon decide the Business yet I would fain know the Manner I shall now impart to thee an Account of a Visit which I gave a Solitary in my Travels into Germany who spent his Days far from the Commerce of the World in a little Hermitage about fifteen Miles distance from Vienna This man who is now very Old has past forty
Years of his Life in great Austerity doing every thing our Famous Santons are celebrated for and thou shalt know what moved him to this severe Penance and to retire after this manner 'T is said That in his Youth having been threatned for some Misdemeanour with Imprisonment he hid himself in the House of a Faithful Friend lying in a Barrel covered over with Straw where was brought him privately his Diet. Whilst he thus lay concealed in the Vessel a certain Person went up into the Garret his Prison with his Hosts Sister when these two Persons thinking themselves alone came to such Familiarities as much scandaliz'd this new Diogenes who saw all that past through the Crevices of this Tub and being not able to contain his Resentments he thus passionately brake out God sees you you Wretches and Man too In a Word his Indignation was so great that the Tub or Barrel was overthrown with the Noise of which and his scrambling up the Two Lovers were so afrighted that the Gallant for haste broke his Neck down Stairs and the Nymph lay dead in a Swoon on the place This strange Surprize to all especially the Sight of so Filthy and Tragical a Spectacle so affected this young Man as made him retire from the World into the Solitude where he now remains He lives only on Bread and Water and the Aversion which he has conceived on this occasion to Women is so great that there is none dares appear before him There were two who had the Curiosity of seeing this Hermit in Mens Cloaths but they soon repented of their Visit for this Solitary full of Rage and Indignation thus welcomed them Get you gone you Daemons fallen from Heaven for Mens Destruction I know very well what you are and cannot behold you without Horrour He makes excellent Exhortations to young Men who visit him and having shewed them the Care they ought to take to live with Purity and rule their Passions to which corrupt Nature renders them subject he also exhorts them to hold a Glass before their Faces when seized with Anger or when carried forth to the Commission of any Brutish or unseemly Action My Letter is longer than I intended receive as a Mark of my Friendship the long time I have entertained my self with thee when I thought at first to speak all in two Words Give this Letter directed to thee into Zelim's own Hands it contains things which concern his Life As to what remains Love ever thy Faithful Mahmut whilst I shall pray the Sovereign of the greatest Monarchs as well as other Men that he would after this Life give us Eternal Felicity and the Grace to appear Innocent before his dreadful Tribunal at which all Men shall be Judged Paris 28th of the Third Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER V. To Zelim of Rhodes Captain of a Gally MEhemet Page of the Seraglio will deliver or cause to be delivered to thee this Letter which is written to thee by Mahmut Slave and Faithful Minister of the Great Sultan the Invincible and Happy Amurath who commands me to serve him in these Parts There is no necessity of my sending the Picture of a Man who sets forth from Leghorn for Constantinople with a design to kill thee Thou mayst easily know him seeing he has been Six Years a Slave in thy Gally Adonai the Jew sent me this Advice from Genoa so important for thy Life adding he set out with his Brother being resolved to perish or be revenged of a great Injury which thou hast done him He has fill'd Italy with Discourses of thy Cruelties He affirms That having tryed all Ways to make him a Turk seeing neither Presents not Promises could perswade him thou hast made him suffer the most cruel Torments a Man can undergo and that being laid fast asleep by a Potion which thou causedst him to take thou hast made him be castrated The Weapons he bears to rid himself of thee will strike thee without Noise so that thou needest be much on thy Guard He hides that which is to do the Business in a little prayer-Prayer-Book Revenge which does usually make Men industrious has put him upon concealing in this Manual a little poysoned Steel Dart which is inclosed with such great Art in the Leather that covers it that 't is shot thence as from a Bow and strikes with such Violence and Swiftness that the Stroak can't be avoided nor scarcely felt by him that receives it it causing not one drop of Blood to follow nor Wound to be seen so delicately tempered is the Mortal Weapon that the Man must unavoidably dye whom it hits I do not doubt but this revengeful Spirit will cunningly conceal himself so that 't will be hard to discover him But having had this Advice it belongs to thee to take care of thy self And in the mean time correct this cruel and severe Temper of thine Thou commandest a Gally mann'd with Slaves who live at thy Charge thou reckonest amongst thy Riches Three Hundred Christians who dress thy Gardens and serve thee at Sea and thou hast never remembred they are Men which may save or take away thy Life and that ranging the Seas as thou dost 't is possible thou mayst meet with the same Fortune and be made a Slave thy self Thou hast never consider'd that Death is more supportable than Slavery and that those that despise their own Lives are Masters of thine God preserve thee and incline thine Heart to use gently thy Slaves who are so useful to thee Follow my Advice thou hast Three Hundred Enemies in thine House do what in thee lies to gain their Love Learn this of a Famous Roman who made his Slaves born in his House to be nurst with the same Milk his Children were If thou art not for such an Indulgence at least cease to be Cruel otherwise thou wilt be more a Slave than those that serve thee If thou wilt not spare these People in Love to them pity their Condition and spare them in Love to thy self whereby thou wilt live in so great Tranquility as cannot be imagined The Holy Prophet guard thee from the Danger threatned thee and destroy this rash Christian who would assassinate thee Paris 28th of the 3d Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER VI. To the Invincible Vizir Azim at the Camp before Babylon THere are various Discourses here of the Grand Seignior's War-like Preparations And 't is common for People to confound here the Antient Babylon with Susa and Bagdet but this is no great matter 'T is certain all the Infidels Wishes are in thy Favour for they desire to see thee Conquerour not only of Babylon but all the East that Amurath may be the longer in his Return to Greece and choose a place far distant from the Seat of his Empire 'T is discoursed in this Court as if the Invincible Sultan carries along with him to this War Four Hundred Thousand Foot an Hundred and Fifty Thousand Horse and Two Hundred
and many of the solidest think it will be the King of the Tartars and that those of the Race of Mula Honkiar will be excluded This Race is really Illustrious but every body knows not the Rise of it The Head of this Family descends from Tamerlane thou knowest the rest and I will not dispute with thee about Genealogies Whatever passes here below is so uncertain that thou maist accuse me of Imprudence in discoursing of things at this distance for in Effect Ibrahim may be a Father by this time Pray to God who disposes of Thrones makes Races endure or decay merit from him by Fastings and Prayers and beg of him that he would give me the Grace to live blameless and die innocent that I may enter with thee into Heaven and there enjoy those unspeakable good things which are reserved for the Faithful Love me though distant from thee and let me have Tokens of thy Friendship by stealing some Moments of Leisure from thy ordinary Business to write to me Paris 25th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1641. The End of the Third Book LETTERS Writ by A Spy at PARIS BOOK IV. LETTER I. To the Venerable Mufti Prince of the Religion of the Mussulmans THere is now found in one man alone what ever several Persons of great Ingenuity could acquire by long Experience and this man is Cardinal de Richlieu to whose Reputation thou art no Stranger He was designed like thee for the Affairs of his Church and dedicated to Religion but he is not so much employed about them but that he applies himself with as great Care to the Affairs of the World and 't is he who under the Authority of the King his Master governs the Affairs of the French I obey thee Venerable Mufti thou hast enjoyned me to inform thee of the particular Actions of this famous Prelate but I shall not say much of him it being impossible to fathom him He is the most dexterous and subtle Politician that lives in all the Countries of the Vnbelievers The famous Greek Lisander was never so cunning neither did Tiberius shew half so much Dissimulation at Rome nor Judgment in Affairs as he no not in the time when he set himself to remove his Rivals and take away all Obstacles which might hinder his obtaining the Empire He interprets all the Doubts which arise in his Religion he 's the Arbiter of Rewards and Punishments and the King who knows his Zeal and Ability leaves to him the Direction of his Kingdom and People which he governs and leads as Jacob led the Flocks of Laban This Cardinal wants only the Art which this great Patriarch had to make Men be born as he pleased as this Holy Israelite made the Sheep There came some days since a Person from Germany who went immediately to the Palace of this Minister and sent him word by his Captain of the Guards that the Letter B was come The Officer was unwilling to deliver this kind of Message to his Master and therefore desired the German to explain this Riddle but he only told him laughing That the Cardinal's Alphabet was like the famous Knife of Delph which served to all purposes so that he needed only to mention the Arrival of the Letter B and he would be understood which was no sooner done but the German was privately introduced into this Minister's Closet where he had a long Conference but I could never hear the Subject of it He that by his Word created all things encrease thy Health and make thy Authority ever adored and feared even in Rome it self Paris 25th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1641. LETTER II. To the Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire I Come but now from learning an Adventure which yet happened some days since but all things are carried on with such Secrecy in France that it is almost impossible to know any thing before 't is made publick There were apprehended here in the last Moon of January certain Ruffians in the Habit of Hermits who were to assassinate Cardinal Richlieu These Wretches confessed before the Judges as soon as they were put on the Wrack their Intention of killing the King's Favourite because he was no Friend to the Duke de Vandome who is Natural Son to the deceased King Henry the Great This Adventure has greatly surpriz'd the Court each man speaking of it according as his Interest or Affection inclines him The Duke of Vandome's Friends have declared themselves against the Cardinal and this Minister's Creatures have much aggravated this Attempt to render this Prince's Family more odious and heighten the Cardinal's Reputation But the Duke de Mercaeur the Duke of Vandome's Son rode immediately to Paris with the Duke de Beaufort his Brother the first incognito to consult his Friends and the other to present himself to the Cardinal to obtain that their Father might justifie himself before the King from the Accusation laid against him The Grand-child of Henry the Great has since desired to he confronted with the Hermits and has obtained it but his Departure at the same time into England has wrought much amazement Some say he has taken an unwise Course and others say no because he could not prudently expose himself of the Testimony of such Wretches who would not matter what they said However these Hermits were publickly executed and their Accomplices are not yet discovered neither is it yet known whether any persons of Quality have had a part in the Conspiracy which is not the first that has been carried on against this Favourite and it is believed will not be the last He has a great many Enemies and the absolute Authority with which he governs by the favour of his Prince will always raise him such Adversaries as will either ruine his Fortune or take away his Life If I write not oftner to thee thou oughtest not to think my Affection ever the less Set down in thy Register what I inform thee Let me have thy Friendship and Protection in things which are just and change not thy Opinion of me till I am changed my self Paris 15th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1641. LETTER III. To the Kaimakan JVlius Mazarin a Man about 45 Years of Age of a solid Judgment and incredible Perspicacity of whose Family I know no more but that he is originally from Sicily and born in Italy in the chief City of it Rome is lately introduced into this Court. He has by his ingenious Carriage gained the Favour and Confidence of Cardinal Richlieu and he begins already to be employed in the most important Business Those who make Reflexions on the Affairs of the World and carefully examine the extraordinary Talents of this Italian are persuaded one may expect great things from him yet however the best way is not to be hasty in judging of the good or bad Qualities of a Man He has already been employed in Quality of Plenipotentiary for the King of France in Piedmont
to me But in leaving me I entreated him to tell me Whether it was easie to attain to the Accomplishment of this great Work and what was necessary for that great End He answered me 'T was very hard which made almost all People despair of compassing it there being very few People on whom Heaven bestowed the necessary Qualifications to acquire this precious Art that these Qualifications consisted in being a true Philosopher and in being perfectly skilled in Naure in having a Patience Proof against all Disappointments and that a Man should be in the Flower of his Age strong and vigorous to endure Labour well furnish'd with Wealth and indefatigable Whereunto he added That if any of these Qualities were wanting one might be certain that the others would be so also That a Man who is unacquainted with Nature works lik a blind Man And that should one fail of Success the first second third fourth nay fifth or sixth time in the Operation he is a Fool that then grows weary and does not again begin to set at work with the same Earnestness and Hopes of Success and that should a Man want a vigorous Health Labour would weaken and make him faint and that in fine if one be without sufficient Estate 't is impossible the Work should succeed which demands an entire Man and such a one as minds nothing else This Dervise moreover told me as a thing certain That several Persons had attained to the Perfection of this Undertaking which employs so great a Number of Virtuoso's in all Parts of the World For were it not so there would not be that Quantity of Gold there is for all that of the Indies was not sufficient to satisfie so many People who mind nothing else but gaining of it and that in fine such great Treasures which are heap'd up and the Gold that runs in Traffick never came out of the Mines which are in the Mountains but that a great part has been made by Artists He moreover assured me That the Overseers of the Mint in France affirmed as a thing beyond all Question That there was more Gold brought to them than ever came from Foreign Parts which made him conclude that the Art is true and that no man need doubt that there is such a thing as the Philosopher's Stone This Conversation although interrupted made me cease being incredulous and if I were an Heretick in this Matter yesterday I begin now to have Faith and believe only 't is a Work extream difficult and I do no longer wonder there are so many People who deceive others without any Design of doing it and am not surprized they should apply themselves to all sorts of Persons not excepting Princes For they believe still they shall meet with Success and not being able to furnish the Charges they must be at they use all sorts of Tricks to move those whom Covetousness renders in this Occasion very easie to be persuaded and all in general meet in their Operations with great Hunger Cold Lobour and Smoak It seems as if that which hindred those who have been fortunate enough to attain the Perfection of this Work from communicating their Knowledge in this Matter was the dread of their Prince's Power as having oft experienced that they are jealous at the Riches of a private Person Sovereigns cannot endure that a mean Wretch born amongst the Dregs of the People should have in his Power wherewithal to make himself happy and several others which obliges them to deprive these Philosophers of the means of working and makes them labour in secret and conceal themselves with more care when they have finished their Work Great Men cannot easily suffer private People to become Masters by virtue of this Art and to do all those Wonders which by this marvellous Metal may be wrought in their Closets without going to Peru and ransacking there the Bowels of the Earth They know very well that this long'd for Gold produces every thing gives Reputation makes them fol'ow one who fled from a Man before corrupts those who appear the most incorruptible opens the strongest Doors overthrows whole Armies causes a Man to change his Mind in a moment makes him that was a poor Man presently talk Sentences Nay many Christians affirm this Metal to be so efficacious that it draws the Souls out of a doleful Abode call'd Purgatory so that it seems as if it appeased God's Wrath and brings Men to Heaven These afore-mentioned Reasons obliged the cruel Diocletian to put to Death as many Chymists as could be found in Egypt and at the same time to cause their Books to be burnt lest the People who were naturally ingenious being become too powerful by the Art of making Gold should undertake a War against the Roman Empire But we find in the ancient Writings of the Arabians that Moses having learn'd of God himself the Art of perfectly knowing Nature and that of the Conversion of Metals and making Gold to write in Letters form'd of this Metal the Law he prescribed the Israelites He taught it to Carun a poor Man but his intimate Friend and near Kinsman who being become very rich by means of this Science had heap'd up immense Treasures and built himself forty houses which were filled with Gold but were all swallowed up and buried in the Earth by the Virtue of Moses's Rod with the Master of them whom so great Riches had rendred proud and made him think of withdrawing himself from obeying this great Servant of God having falsly accused him before the People of divers Crimes and especially of having abused a Virgin The last thing which was discovered in the Veneâ—ian Territories was a great Urn found in an hollow Cave In this Urn which was considerably large there was another less and in it two Pots one full of Gold reduced into Liquor and the other of Silver of the same Fashion and a Lamp which seem'd to have burnt for many Ages 'T was known by the Characters on this Urn that they were consetrated to the God Pluto and there were on them Catin Verses which shewed That Maximus Olibous â—ad been the Author of them Those then who say this Art is false that the Beginning of it is a Lye the Middle of the Work meer Fatigue and â—he End Beggary have not said true themselves â—nd yet one cannot accuse them as having not in some sort spoke the Truth I beseech the Sovereign Creator of all things â—rom whom alone we hold what we know as being â—he great and wise Architect of Nature that he â—ould bestow on thee the Science of the learned â—eber that thou mayst be as rich as Solomon but â—bove all that he would grant thee the Spirit of Aglaus who was ever seen to live content Paris 20th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1642. LETTER X. To Mehemet an Eunuch-Page to the Sultaness THE Adventure which thou relatedst happened in the Seraglio shews that Women are exposed to great Accidents Their Condition