Affections It is written in Arabick in a Dialect so pure and perfect that the most Accurate Criticks can find no Blemish from the Beginning to the End One Part coheres exactly with the other 't is void of Contradiction All the Chapters in this Glorious Volume are of a Piece Which Excellencies cou'd not have thus met together without a Miracle in a Book divulg'd by a Man who cou'd neither Write nor Read The Success it has had in the World speaks it of Celestial Descent The Greatest Part of Asia and Africk with many Kingdoms in Europe have obey'd the Alcoran for above these Thousand Years Cou'd such a Thing come to pass without the Decree of Heaven When the Prophet and Favourite of God first receiv'd his Divine Commission he was like a Pelican in the Wilderness Solitary and without Companion Nevertheless he was not discouraged but obey'd the Orders of Heaven He saw himself in the midst of Rocks and Sands encompass'd on all Sides with Terrible Beasts Yet he despair'd not of Assistance from Above but comforted himself in the Promise of the Eternal He first preach'd to the Savage Lyons and Tygers who as if they had heard another Orpheus grew tame and sociable at his Powerful Words Those fierce Inhabitants of the Woods came and prostrated themselves before the Sent of God they lick'd his Feet in Token of Submission they environ'd the Place of his Repose as his Guards and brought him Food Morning and Evening The Prophet wonder'd that so great Grace was given to the Beasts of the Earth He prais'd the Creator of All Things and his Mouth was full of Benedictions He bless'd the Day and the Night and the Obscurity that comes between them He bless'd the Dews that fall at the Rising of the Odoriferous Star and the Refreshing Winds that stir the Leaves of the Trees at Midnight And in the Morning he pray'd That all Men might become True Believers Doubtless God had granted his Petition had not the Angel who carry'd up his Prayers to Heaven met with the Devil a little on this Side the Orb of the Moon who stole from him some of Mahomet's Words so that the Prayer ascended Imperfect to the Throne of the Merciful Nevertheless a Great Part of Men became Believers And more shall be added to the Number In a little Time the Solitary Prophet saw himself at the Head of a Numerous Army all Voluntiers who resorted to him in the Wilderness as they were Inspir'd from Above The Mighty Men of Arabia oppos'd the Sacred Hero They led the Flow'r of the East against him But they accelerated their own Fate and Incens'd their Angry Stars The Elements took up Arms against them and the Meteors fought in Defence of the Messenger of God Lightning and Hail with Stones of Fire blasted the Troops of the Infidels And terrible Stormâ— of Wind buried whole Armies in the Sands Thus the Host of the Mussulmans became Victorious without drawing a Sword and the Empires of the Wicked fell to the Possession of True Believers Persia Babylon and Egypt were subdued and embrac'd the Vndefiled Truth The Alcoran was receiv'd from India to the Mauritanian Shore From the Rising of the Sun to the Going down thereof this Holy Profession is made with one Consent There is but One God and Mahomet his Prophet Now Nathan consider whether ever the Law of Moses had such Footing in the World or the Children of Israel cou'd boast of such Vniversal Conquests Your Little Kingdom has had its Period long agoe and both that and all the Empires of Asia and Africk are swallow'd up in the All-conquering Monarchy of the Osmans Your Tabernacle Temple City and Sacrifices are quite Extinct Your Nation is Scatter'd over the whole World without Lands or Possessions that they can call their own Neither is there Prince Priest or Prophet to whom you can have Recourse for Delivery from your Misfortunes Come out therefore from the Synagogue which lies under the Scourge of Heaven Shake off the Malediction And being Purified join thy self to the True Believers who are Bless'd in this World and shall be Happy in Paradise Or at least stand by thy self and follow thy Own Light Adieu Paris 22d of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1654. LETTER VI. To Dicheu Hussein Bassa THE Policies of Cardinal Mazarini are no Secrets at the Imperial City Now he is about to play his Master-piece He has all along maintain'd Pensioners in the Service of the French Grandees No Man of Prime Quality cou'd be sure he entertain'd not at his Table some Creature of this Minister Disguizes of all Sorts both for Body and Mind were never Wanting to Men dextrous at Treachery and Officious to do Mischief But now he is setting Spies of another Character on the Princes of the Blood and the Chief Nobility of France Women are to become his Private Agents Females of his Own Blood true Italians and brought up under his particular Care and Management In a Word his Sisters and Nieces Five of them are newly come to this City having been Conducted hither by the Cardinal's Secretary accompany'd with a Considerable Retinue of Courtiers who went to meet them some Leagues from Paris 'T is said That one of those Ladies is a great Beauty and that the Young King having seen her Picture fell in Love with her This is certain the Prince of Conti has Married one of them With whom the Cardinal has given his Palace and Two Hundred Thousand Crowns in Dowry They talk as if Another of them was to be Married to the Duke of Candale and a Third to the Son of General Harcourt And as if Mazarini were Emulous of Joseph's Character and Authority in Pharaoh's Court he has sent for his Father also with all his Family to come and reside in France He is resolv'd to stock this Kingdom with Sicilian Blood a Race of Mazarini's Who by Instinct as well as by Rules shall carry on the Design he has laid and either raise this tottering State to the Height of his Model or absolutely ruine it For that Active Spirit cannot take up with Mediums 'T is said That the Duke of Orleans resents very Ill the Cardinal's Ambition in Marrying his Nieces into the Blood-Royal That Prince will not be prevail'd on to come near the Court But rather favours the Prince of Conde and the other Malecontents Whence some People are apt to presage another Turn of Affairs before-long For the Generality of the French are Inclin'd to the Prince's Party There is great Caballing all over the Kingdom and the Cardinal strives to push his Interest forward by all the Methods of a Cunning Statesman He knows the Prince of Conde's Spirit too well to dream of a Reconciliation And he has a double Interest in the Ruine of that Unfortunate General his own Preservation and the Aggrandizing his Niece the Princess of Conti Who by the Fall of her Brother-in-Law will be Mistress of his Estate He is endeavouring
THE Fourth Volume OF LETTERS Writ by a Turkish Spy Who lived Five and Forty Years Undiscover'd 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 continued from the Year 1649 to the Year 1682. Written Originally in Arabick Translated into Italian and from thence into English by the Translator of the First Volume LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Henry Rhodes near Bride-lane in Fleet-street 1692. Mahmut The. Turkish Spy Aetatis suoe 72. F. H. van Hove Sculp TO THE READER EXPECT no more Commendations of our Arabian Author or Apologies for any Thing that may seem liable to Censure in his Letters There is no End of answering the Cavils of those who to gain the Character of Criticks will create Faults where they find none and impute the very Oversights of the Press to the Ignorance of the Author rather than a Book shall escape free from Censure What is wanting in the Style where it may be suppos'd to come short of the Original must be laid to the Italian's Charge who undertook the First Version of so Remote a Language For the English Translator has endeavour'd to follow him as close as the difference of Idioms will admit And all the World knows That the English Tongue is none of the most Copious and Significant But if this shall seem an Invidious Reflection substituted in the Room of a Passable Excuse the English Translator in Honour both of the Foreign Copies and his own Native Language for he is a true English-Man both by Blood and Affection is willing to take the Blame of all Defects on himself Assuring you That whatsoever Roughness or Want of Elegance Whatsoever Carelessness of Expression is to be found in the English Translation though it may be a Fault indeed yet 't is purely owing to the Candor of him who has committed it Since the Chief Reason of such Neglect is because he was loath the Reader should lose the Original Sence for the sake of a Sweet-Period or a Delicate Cadence If in other Places he seems affected as in retaining the Turkish or Arabick Words where they might as well have been rendred English this also was out of Respect to his Copy where those Words are left as we may suppose they were found in the Original Arabick This is address'd to such Gentlemen as have procur'd the Italian Copies of these Letters For we are inform'd That they are in the Hands of some English Travellers who had a Curiosity to compare the different Translations together However to Evidence that this is not spoken in Partiality to our selves but with Equal Regard to that Learned Foreigner who first brought these Letters to Light It will not be amiss to exhibit such Probable Reasons as might induce him to leave Some Arabick Words untranslated rather than Others though they had both the same Sence The best Method of clearing up this Point will be by producing Instances such as that Page 53 at the Bottom Where the Word Vizirs is retained by the English Translator because it was not chang'd by the Italian Doubtless it had been as easie to say The Seven Chief Spirits Angels Chancellors or Ministers Above as The Seven Vizirs But since the Italian Copy has not alter'd the Word Vizirs the English Translator thought fit to let it stand And he conceives 't is proper enough in both Versions because it better expresses the Thought of the Turkish Author than any Italian or English Word can do being a Title of Dignity peculiar to the Ottoman Empire Where the Credulous People are made to believe That their Monarchy with all its Officers of State is exactly Modell'd according to the Pattern of the Celestial Court and Kingdom Therefore it appears very Natural in a Turk to call the Ministers of Heaven by the Title of Vizirs Beglerbegs Bassa's or whatsoever other Appellatives are us'd by them to express the Dignity of their Grandees on Earth And who would go to spoil his Sence for the sake of a Word Besides not to let this Passage fall without due Remarks Is it not Common in our Bible to call God Lord of Lords And how can this be otherwise expressed in Arabick but by the Title which is appropriated to the Principal Governours of Provinces whom in their Language they call Beglerbegs It is equally usual in Scripture to style God King of kings a Title frequently assum'd by the Eastern Monarchs Nay in our Common Discourse here in England it is Customary to give to God the Title of The King of Heaven And why may we not as well give to the Arch-Angels and Angels c. the Titles which are ordinarily apply'd to the Princes and Nobles on Earth But however if this will not appear allowable in a Christian yet no Man can wonder at a Turk when he hears him use his Native Dialect speaking of the Potentates Above And if this be granted I hope neither the Italian will be blam'd for preserving the Peculiar Phrase of an Eastern Author nor the English Translator be accus'd for following so Polite a Pattern This Instance had not been press'd so far but in Hopes that what is already said may serve as a Plea for several other Examples of like Nature in this Volume Where it is impossible for any European to express the Full Meaning of an Oriental Author without reserving some Words of his very Language And in this the Italian Translator is chiefly vindicated from whose Copy the English in such Cases had no reason to swerve And thus much may suffice to answer all Objections about the Style As to the Matter it self it appears full of Instruction in Historical Moral and Political Affairs Nor need any Man wonder if he encounters some Passages which may be found in other Writers both Gentile and Christian since the Author of these Letters professes That he has taken much Pains to peruse the Treatises of the Ancients both whilst he study'd in the Academies and during his Residence at Paris he often frequented the Libraries in that City whereof there is no Scarcity He spent a great Deal of Time in reading Modern as well as Ancient Authors By which Means he not only improv'd his Knowledge in the Universal History of Former Time but grew Familiar with the most Remarkable Occurrences in Europe during these Later Centuries So that in some of his Letters one would swear he had read Sabellius Petrus Justinianus Philip de Comines and other European Writers For he seems to come very near them in relating some Particular Stories And it may be suppos'd that he took this Advantage to oblige the Turkish Grandees to whom he writ by inserting in his Letters such Passages as they were wholly Strangers to There need no more be said but that you may expect another Volume of these Letters very speedily Farewell A TABLE OF THE LETTERS and
and Charles Prince Palatine her Successor XI To Sale Tircheni Emin Superintendent of the Royal Arsenal at Constantinople p. 345 Of the Blowing up of Graveling by Gunpowder and of a Mill that took Fire XII To Mehemet an Eunuch in the Seraglio p. 348 Of Mahmut's Antipathy to Spiders A Discourse of Antipathies Of a People in Africa that feed altogether on Locusts XIII To the Kaimacham p. 352 Of the Coronation of the King of France Of the Duke of Lorrain's being remov'd into Spain With other Matters out of Sueden and Moscovy XIV To Gnet Oglou p. 354 He discourses of the Vncertainty that is to be found in History Of the Disagreement between the Chronologies of the East and West LETTERS Writ by A Spy at PARIS VOL. IV. BOOK I. LETTER I. Mahmut the Arabian and Indefatigable Slave to the Grand Signior to Mahomet the Most Illustrious Vizir Azem at the Port. I Congratulate thy Ascent to that Top of Honour the First Dignity in the Empire Ever Victorious 'T is thy Turn to be now Exalted in the Orb of Fortune Let not this High Station make thee forget That that Wheel is always in Motion But consider That since the Advance thou hast made was not but by the Fall of thy Predecessor thou hast the less Reason to think thy own State secure I am no Fortune-Teller nor would I be so rude as to Prognosticate Ill Luck to my Superiors But Men in Eminent Dignity have Need of a Monitor And it is Recorded of a Great Monarch That he Commanded One of his Pages every Morning to salute him when he first awaked with these Words Remember O King that thou art a Mortal Let this Example Supreme Minister plead my Excuse and incline thee to pardon the Freedom which Mahmut takes who by this thou seest is no Flatterer Certainly all Sublunary Things Ebb and Flow like the Waters And though Men may sometimes enjoy a Spring-Tide of Felicity yet Fate has Hidden Sluces which in a Moment shall convey the Mighty Torrent to some other Channel I my self have in some Measure experienc'd this who am but a Puny in Comparison with thee Yet Destiny and Chance are allotted to the Little as well as to the Great The Worm encounters as many cross Contingencies in her humble reptile State as does the Towring Eagle in all her lofty Flights and Ranges through the wide-stretch'd Air. In my Infancy I was snatch'd from the Cradle and from the Arms of my Mournful Mother Mournful on Two Accounts the Death of a Husband and the Necessity of parting with her Child Yet this Early Separation turn'd to my Advantage and her Comfort The Sequel of my Good Fortune invited her to forsake her Solitudes and follow me to the Imperial City where she exchang'd her Melancholy Widow-Hood for the Society and Love of a Merry Greek Whilst Fate had another Game to play with me it being the Will of Heaven That from the Delights of the Seraglio and the Honour of serving the Greatest Sovereign in the World I should fall into a Cruel Captivity and be compelled Ignominiously to drudge for a Barbarous Infidel Afterwards I gain'd my Liberty and apply'd my self to study in the Academies I will not boast of the Proficiency I made But at my Return to Constantinople thou knowest my Superiors thought me capable of doing the Port Service in this Place Thus Providence sports with Mortals and by an Unaccountable Clew of Discipline leads them through the Mazes of this Life How I have discharged my Trust here I dare Appeal to All yet can please None Every Man will be my Judge to give Sentence against me and some I believe would willingly be my Executioners Which at certain Times carries me into so deep a Melancholy that I even join with my Enemies and condemn my self though I know not for what Surely say I so many perspicacious Men cannot be all in the Wrong and I only in the Right they must needs see some Faults in me which I cannot discern in my self doubtless I 'm Partial and never chang'd the Order of Aesop's Wallet Then I reflect on these Thoughts as the mere Product of Melancholy For after the strictest Examination of my Conduct I find my self Innocent of those Things whereof I 'm accus'd Yet whilst I am justifying my Integrity towards my Great Master my Sadness returns again and tells me That without Doubt I have some Ways offended God and his Prophet who for that Reason suffer the Envious to persecute me and drive me into a more intimate and familiar Converse with my self that so by making a frequent Scrutiny after the Cause of my Outward Misfortunes I may discover the Secret Crimes which I may have committed against Heaven and which lie hid under my Inadvertence and Oblivion Then I 'm fill'd with a Thousand Scruples about my telling Lyes and taking False Oaths though I 'm dispens'd with for all these Immoralities by the Sovereign Arbiter of the Law In a Word I know not sometimes what to think And were it not that my Agency in these Parts meets with some Success I should often conclude That I either lie under some Curse of God or Charms of Men That either Heaven or Hell have a Peculiar Hand in Afflicting me But all this may be only the Fumes of my own Distemper'd Spleen And the Indulgent Judge of Men may pass a Milder Sentence on me than either I do my self or my Fellow-Mortals He is Transcendently Benign and Merciful And our Sins of Frailty appear in his Eyes but as small Atomes in the Rays of a Morning's Sun which though they be Innumerable yet the least Breath of Wind blows them all out of Sight By what I have said 't is apparent that I have Regard both to thee and my self To thee as the Supreme Disposer of Life and Death under the Grand Signior to my self as one cull'd out for a Victim by the Malicious and lying at the Feet of thy Noble Nature begging thy Protection My Enemies are Industrious to ruine me and lay hold on all Opportunities to accomplish it The Sentence which they could not procure from thy Predecessor they may hope to draw from thee by their False Informations This makes me use Pre-Caution in my own Defence hoping to forestall their Malice by this Humble Address Imitate thou the Divine Nature and be not severe in remarking the Peccadillo's and small Delinquencies of thy Slave If I turn Infidel or Traytor I crave no Favour That Supremely Merciful and Gracious the First and the Last of the World and Lord of Paradise heap on thee as many Blessings every Day as would employ my swiftest Wishes a Thousand Years and grant That thou mayst find Admittance into the Place full of Rivers whose Springs take their Rise from the Bottom of the Rock of Eternity Paris 17th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1649. according to the Christian Style LETTER II. To the Kaimacham THE Troubles of this Kingdom which
the entire Possession of One Heir-Male or in Default of that it should descend to the next Female which as I am told is a Custom in Germany that so the Grandezza and Authority of Princely Families may be supported I will not trouble thee with the Particulars which would take up a Volume But in short it appears that notwithstanding all the strict Provision that was or could be made this great Estate after it had remain'd Sixty Years Vnited was at Length Divided between Two Princes both claiming an Equal Right to the Whole Yet to prevent Wars and Effusion of Blood each was contented with Half These were Wolfgang Duke of Newburgh and Ernest Marquess of Brandenburgh In whose Families the Parted Succession has continued to this Day The Occasion of the present Quarrel is their Difference of Religion the Duke of Newburgh being a Catholick and he of Brandenburgh a Protestant It seems the Brandenburghers had formerly made Inrodes on those of Mons and Juliers carrying away Captive their Priests and Dervises from their Altars and Convents and detaining them in Servitude for many Years contrary to certain Articles that had been drawn up between ' em They also used them with great Cruelty and committed a Thousand Insolences on the Roman Imaums wherever they got 'em in their Power Thus their Affairs continu'd till the late Agreement at Munster Since which Time the Duke of Newburgh endeavoured to free his Subjects from their former Calamities and restore things to their Ancient State The Elector of Brandenburgh making this an Occasion of War has now invaded the Dominions of the said Duke He is not gone in Person but has sent a good Soldier whom they call Otho Sparr with Four Thousand Men to begin the Campaign who 't is said will be follow'd by a greater Army But before he took the Field the Elector of Brandenburgh had an Interview and Conference with the Duke of Saxony about this Affair who is also a Protestant So that 't is thought no small Disturbance will arise in the Empire All Joy and Peace to True Believers He of Brandenburgh has caus'd a Declaration to be spread abroad full of Specious Pretences that so his Conquests may be the more easy He talks of nothing but restoring the People of Juliers and Mons to their Ancient Liberties and Rights both in Civil and Religious Matters promising the fairest Things in the World to those that obey him and receive his Armies with Friendship On the other side threatning to treat those who resist him with the utmost Severity that is due to Traytors and Rebels And all this for the Sake of Two or Three Insignificant Ceremonies and Opinions wherein they differ mere Trifles Litteral Whimsies the Sport of their Doctors the Spawn of Wanton and Luxuriant Brains For no greater was the Original Difference between the Lutherans and those of the Roman Church One will be sav'd by the Strength of his Phancy which he calls Faith without doing any Good Work toward it The Other toils all his Life-Time to merit Heaven and thinks he can never do enough to obtain his End He wears out the Pavement of Churches and makes the Skin of his Knees like that of a Camel with perpetual Kneeling and Praying to Images and Pictures And after all they may be both damn'd for ought I know for their Ill Lives They tear and devour one another like Wild Beasts and think to gain Paradise by their Unnatural Zeal The Duke of Newburgh has publish'd a Manifesto against the Proceedings of Brandenburgh and sollicited the Duke of Lorrain's Aid as also that of Leopold Arch-Duke of Austria What will be the Issue no Man knows but oft-times a small Spark kindles great Fires And it is not impossible that this little Feud may set the whole Empire in a Flame Mighty Bassa I pray Heaven bless thee with Peace Health and thy due Revenue If these be not enough to make thee Happy I wish thee an Encrease of Honours and all the Glorious Fatigues which Mortals court as their Way to Bliss Paris 20th of the 7th Moon of the Year 1651. LETTER XVIII To Useph Bassa SUspect me not I have an equal Esteem for thee as I have for the other Bassa's and Ministers of the Divan But I find it difficult to please any They are Captious and every one wou'd have all my Letters address'd to himself As if I were plac'd here to serve Particular Interests and not the Publick However I cannot but acknowledge the tacit Honour they do me in being so covetous of poor Mahmut's Correspondence I wish I were in a Condition to be more Partial Then I would quickly make thee and some others sensible which are the Persons for whom I have a peculiar Regard But as the Case is at present I must observe the Instructions I have receiv'd and by Turns write to All. Wherein if I fail of Arithmetical Proportions I will make Amends by the Rules of Geometry If I write but seldom to some I desire that the Length of my Letters and Solidity of the Matter may be accepted as a proper Supplement But thou hast no Reason to complain on this Score unless it be of thy self for travelling into Remote Countries whither I knew not how to follow thee with Letters or any other Way Besides the former Friendship that has been between us is a sufficient Counterscarp against all Suspicion of Neglect on my Part who am a Thousand Times obliged to thee for so many repeated Favours For the sake of God therefore and All that is Good wound my Heart no more with these Undeserv'd Reproaches But believe stedfastly That Mahmut can never be ungrateful and false Thy Letter is a Miscellany of Friendly Complaints and Compliments Thou givest me a Character to which I do not pretend 'T is true indeed and I thank God and my Good Stars for it that I was not born Blind Deaf or Dumb. Nature gave me my Senses free from any Manifest Defect and I have an Indifferent good Memory When I was Young I had an Inclination to read Books and Fortune has since favour'd me with many Opportunities for that Purpose But I found the most profitable Study to be that of MY SELF to which all the Laborious Pains of the Schools and Academies serve only as a certain Gradation and Discipline Nay without these a Man may attain all the Knowledge that is Necessary to the Accomplishment of his Nature For so did the First Philosophers before Books or Letters were extant If thou wilt be perfectly Wise read the ALCORAN and the VNIVERSE After that peruse THYSELF Thou wilt find Matter of Wonder and Improvement in Each but most of all in the Last For Man is a Medley of all Things Were this Lesson well learn'd and practis'd in the Court of France there wou'd not be so many little Quarrels among these Infidels or at least such Petty Originals wou'd not produce so many Fatal Consequences From the first Time
Holy Prophet when the whole Army of the Primitive Mussulmans was like to have perish'd of Thirst And then how will the Western Philosophers dispose of all the Vapours which they say are Exhal'd from this Globe and afterwards Condens'd into Clouds I tell thee that 's but a Loose Notion of such Retentive Bodies as the Clouds seem to be And 't wou'd tempt one to ask What the Vessels are made of which hold those Condens'd Exhalations so that they do not fall at once upon our Heads and overwhelm us but only destil in small successive Showers Drop by Drop to refresh the Barren Parts of the Earth and serve the Necessities of Men And why the Rains fall in the Indies and other Regions of the East whole Moons together without Intermission the Rest of the Year being dry Whereas in other Countries the Periods of the Weather's Alteration are uncertain and in some Parts it seldom or never rains at all Doubtless the Works of the Omnipotent are Inscrutable And tho' it may be an Argument of a great Wit to give Ingenious Reasons for many Wonderful Appearances in Nature yet 't is an Evidence of small Piety or Judgment to be positive in any Thing but the Acknowledgment of our own Ignorance Now I have made as Wide an Excursion from my first Discourse as the Moulia did who began an Oration in Praise of Noah's Ark and ended with telling a Tale of an Armenian Wheel-Barrow But I will not forget that I was speaking of the Promise which the Rotterdam Enginier has made of his Machine That it shou'd Effectually break all the Force of Spouts which wou'd render him very Serviceable to Merchants as a Convoy to defend them from those Terrible Bug bears to Sailers For the Corsair tells me that these Spouts very often occasion Ship-wrecks either by entangling the Masts of a Ship and so overturning it or by breaking in the Encounter overwhelm it with water and so sink it He says likewise that the Christian Pyrates are accustom'd to use a certain Charm against these Spouts They have a Knife whose Haft is made of the Bone of a Man's Right Arm And every Vessel is bound to provide One or Two of these Knives when they loose from the Shore They buy 'em of certain Persons who have the Character of Magicians And when they see a Spout at some Distance from 'em at Sea the Master of the Vessel or any Body else takes this Enchanted Knife in his Right Hand and holding the Book of their Gospel in his Left reads some Part of it And when he comes to a certain Versicle which mentions the Incarnation of their Messiah he makes a Motion with his Knife towards the Spout as if he wou'd cut it in Two Whereupon immediately the Spout breaks in the Middle and all the inclos'd Water falls into the Sea But I tell thee he who gives Credit to the Stories of Charms or the Projects of Men pretending to excell all the Rest of their Race has more Faith than is requisite to him who reads Aesop's Fables since in perusing that Ingenious Figment we are only desired to believe the MORAL 'T is thought by some That this Enginier will by the Natural Clockwork of his Heels be much more nimble than his Vessel in flying the Disgrace which will attend him if his Phantastick Project prove unsuccessful In my next thou shalt hear of Pachicour Paris 12th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1653. LETTER XVIII To Murat Bassa THE English at present make the greatest Figure and Noise of all the Nations in the West Spain Portugal and even France it self court the Friendship of that Island since the Inhabitants have form'd themselves into a Commonwealth It appears as if the English were but newly awaken'd to a Sence of their own Strength and by thus rouzing themselves had alarm'd all their Neighbours However it be This King has sent an Embassador to the English Court to break the Negotiation of the Spaniards there and to establish a Peace between England and France if possible One cannot tell what to make of the Maxims of these Infidels For at the same Time the Banish'd Heir of the English Crown takes his Sanctuary in this Court Where he is caress'd and made to believe Great Things they will do toward his Restauration But Interest supersedes all Arguments of Affection and Consanguinity They are more sollicitous here for the Success of their Embassy than for the Right of the poor Exil'd Prince He is call'd the King of Scotland having been solemnly Crown'd in that Kingdom since the Death of his Father And entring into England with an Army of Scots was routed and having narrowly escaped the Trains that were laid for his Liberty and Life at length landed in this Kingdom where he has been entertain'd with much seeming Affection But the Dread they are under of the Victorious New English Commonwealth makes 'em begin to talk of his Departure from hence The Prince of Conde has taken Rocroy Which was the first Place where he signaliz'd his Arms and the Infant-Reign of this King about Ten Years ago Which the Superstitious interpret as an Omen of Ill Luck to the King This Sort of People are led by Maxims void of Reason And so there is no Regard to be given to their Observations Yet some of the Wiser Sort think this will prove a long War That which amuses People most is the small Concern the Prince of Conti and the Dutchess of Longueville shew for their Brother's Cause For while the King was on his March against the Prince of Conde they came and submitted themselves to him and were received to Favour Those who are apt to suspect an Intrigue in every Thing say That this Reconciliation is only feigned on their Part it being a Means to serve their persecuted Brother with greater Security and Success Others are of Opinion that it is Real especially on the Prince of Conti's Part Since he and his Brother had never any good Understanding There has been a Battle lately fought between the French and Spanish Forces in Italy Wherein the Spaâ—iards lost Twelve Hundred Men and the French above Half that Number of their best Soldiers So that the King of France may say with a Famous General Victories attended with so little Advantage will ruine rather than enlarge an Empire Bassa in the midst of thy Grandeur I wish thee Health which sweetens the Worst Events As for me I 'm like one hovering between Two Worlds Paris 15th of the 9th Moon of the Year 1653. LETTER XIX To Afis Bassa THE Gods of the Nazarenes one wou'd think were studying how to perplex their Adorers These Western Parts abound with Prodigies and Surprizing Events More especially the Low Countries feel the Strokes of a Hand which by making ' ern smart seems to put 'em in Mind They 're too high in their own Conceit For several Weeks we have been alarm'd from thence with the Tragical Stories of Ship-wrecks
which there was so great Care taken in Transcribing it that if but a Letter or a Point were added diminish'd or misplac'd they took it for a Fatal Omen of some Calamity and the Faulty Scribes were severely punish'd Nay the whole Congregation were bound to expiate the Offence by Fasting Prayers and Alms. So that it was in a Manner Impossible that with all this Circumspection the least Corruption or Alteration shou'd creep into the Written Law I appeal now to thy own Reason Whether this was not a much securer Way of preserving the Laws Uncorrupt than by trusting them to the fickle Memories of Men Besides I wou'd fain know What became of these Traditions during the Various Captivities of the Jews and Depopulations of the Holy Land Who took Care to deliver these Traditions Unalter'd to Posterity when they were without Priests Prophets or Synagogues When they were dispers'd over the Remote Provinces of Media Persia Egypt and Babylon In those Days your Fathers were Slaves to the Gentile Kings of Asia There were then no Seniors sitting in Sanhedrim who might take Care of these Things Neither do I find that Esdras the Scribe was any Ways concern'd for these Traditions when he with his Brethren the Jews return'd from their Long Captivity in Persia and Babylon All his most strenuous Endeavours were employ'd in recovering the Lost Books of the Written Law without so much as regarding or mentioning the Other From whence I gather That either these Traditions were of no great Importance or if they were yet they were wholly or for the most Part chang'd or lost many Hundreds of Years before the Talmud was first compos'd which thou say'st is the Grand Repository of these Sacred Instructions And in saying so thou contradictest thy own Arguments For if these Traditions were appointed to be transmitted by Word of Mouth from Father to Son to all Generations as you suppose then what need was there of writing them in the Talmud or any other Book And yet the Writings of your Rabbi's are full of them Thus thou confoundest thy self and runnest blindfold round in a Circle of Absurdities Rowze up therefore thy Reason and suffer not thy self to be hood wink'd by the Fables of your Rabbi's those Industrious Midwives of Old Womens Tales Doubtless these Traditions about which you make such a Bustle are no other than the Whimsies of your Cabbalists who pretend to spie more Mysteries in the Order of Two or Three Hebrew Letters or Points than they are able to unfold in whole Volumes They crack their Brains in Conjuring up far-fetch'd Interpretations from the particular Fashion and Placing of one single Dash of a Pen. They puzzle and amuse their Disciples with teaching them more knotty and Romantick Divinity out of the Four and Twenty Letters than ever Pythagoras did with all his Mystick Numbers The Alphabet to them is the Oracle of Theology They have turn'd the Law into a perfect Riddle Believe not therefore these Religious Mountebanks these Holy Jugglers who with their sanctify'd Legerdemain wou'd turn you into Apes that they may laugh in Secret at your Folly while they behold how precisely devout you are in cringing jumping dancing howling braying and all your other Antick Postures and Actions in the Synagogue in the Practice of which you have bestow'd so much Care and are so exact that you quite neglect the Weighty Points of the Law I hope what I have said is sufficient to convince thee that those Traditions which you are taught to believe were deliver'd to Moses in the Mount of God are no other than the Impositions of your Blind Guides who are studious of Nothing more than to entangle you in a perpetual Labyrinth of Superstition and Error It will not be a greater Difficulty to demonstrate That the Written Law it self though Divine in its Original is not of Vniversal Obligation to all People but onely calculated for your Particular Nation and such as were willing to enter into your Interests among the Nations adjacent to the Holy Land And because my Time hastens me I will onely suggest one Argument for all and leave it to thy Deliberation Whether it was possible for all Mankind to repair once a Year to Jerusalem to sacrifice in Solomon's Temple as is requir'd in your Law For that it was not lawful to sacrifice any where else is evident both from the Law it self which expressly forbids it and from the Examples of your Fathers in their several Captivities and from your own Practice at this Day who have made no Sacrifice since the Days of Titus Vespatian the Roman Emperour who laid waste your City and burnt your Temple to Ashes And this also may serve to convince thee that the Law of Moses was not of Perpetual Obligation even to the Jews themselves since 't is evident from Matters of Fact that for these Sixteen Hundred Years you have not been in a Capacity to keep it And doubtless God wou'd never require any Thing of Men which he foresaw they wou'd not be able to perform Cease then to think so highly of thy Nation as if none but they were the Elect of God or Capable of his Favours Cease to insult over the Rest of Mankind and to curse thy Brethren the Sons of One Father even Noah the Just Man and Prophet of God Behold the Sun and Moon with all the Constellations in Heaven Their Influences are equally dispers'd to all of Humane Race Behold the Elements they serve all the Sons of Adam alike They are not Partial to Mortals neither does any Faction byass the Winds and Rain These happen all at their Appointed Time and Place And the Four Seasons of the Year return with even Courses to the Inhabitants of the Four Quarters of the World The Plants know no Difference between the Circumcis'd and the Vncircumcis'd but yield their Encrease with Equal Indifferency to the One and the Other And the Brute Animals equally acknowledge both for their Lords The Birds of the Air are as soon caught by a Heathen Christian or Mahometan Fowler as by one that is a Jew And the Fish of the Sea when they swallow the Hook or plung themselves into the Net regard not the Difference of Religion in those that catch them All Things happen to every Man according to their Nature and the Pleasure of Destiny Onely Man himself transgresses the Condition of his Being But those that obey the Internal Lawgiver let them be of what Nation or Religion soever doubtless they live Happily and die in Peace However lest Men shou'd err for Want of Knowledge a Light is sprung forth in the East even the Book of Glory which confirms the Written Law and instructs Men in the Truth Doubtless this Book was brought down from Heaven It carries its own Evidence and a Testimony of its Divine Original in the Majesty of the Style There is a Spirit and Energy in every Word sublimating the Intellect of the devout Reader and purifying his