of all Human Wisdom I soon forgot the tiresome hardships of the Sea. So soon as I cast my Eyes upon the ancient Pyraeum so ill treated by Time that it does not preserve so much as its Name chang'd into that which it carries at present by reason of the ill-shap'd figure of a Lyon. In the same Place we hir'd Post-Horses to visit Athens distant from the Port about five Miles So soon as I arriv'd there I began to look for the rugged Ruins of that Famous Piece of Antiquity Wherein I found great Assistance from the knowledge of the Learned Demetrius to whom I was recommended by his Friends at Venice Neither was my own Skill in the Greek unprofitable to me For though the Vulgar Greek differs very little from that in the Schools the Corruption of this is not so great but that it may be understood when it is spoken according to the Pronunciation of the Country Besides that it is as common among Persons of Quality as Latin among the Polonians Moreover they told me that there is no other Greek to speak properly than that In regard that what is call'd Vulgar Greek is a kind of Pedlars French which differs according to the several Jurisdictions of the Country that it was the same in the time of Demosthenes that then besides the four Dialects most known there were some other in use among the Vulgar People but that the Orators in their publick Pleadings made use of the common Speech which was understood by the ordinary sort although they did not speak it which they confirm'd to me by the Letters of private Persons written at that time and which were afterwards found in the Ruins of old Walls Their Books also were written in that sort of Greek which we call for that Reason Literal and which is the very same that the Preachers at this day make use of in their Sermons In a word that Person is deem'd to write and speak best among them who comes nearest the Language of the Ancient Authors which is at this day the only Standard of the Language as the Paragon in Italy and the Parisian in France in respect of the other Provinces where though it be not spoken yet it is understood by the meaner sort The Citadel or Acropolis seated upon a Rock commands the City and is seen at Sea. Being not permitted to go in I could see no more than the outward side of it but my Friend told me that there was a noble Piece of Antiquity viz. the Temple of Diana However all that we could meet with of the Ancient Ornaments of that City built many Ages before Rome was only certain small Towers erected in honour of those who had been Victors in the Olympick Games and some Portico's of ruin'd Temples among which there is one which resembles that of Virile Fortune which is now the Egyptian St. Mary's at Rome upon the Banks of Tiber in the Flesh-market They shew'd me also a certain piece of carv'd Work representing Diana in her hunting Habit attended in a Wood by her Nymphs It was a wonderful Piece of Workmanship and the Inscription gave us to understand that it was wrought by the hand of Phidias having been digg'd but a little before we came thither out of the Ruins of the Areopagus which does not now stand within the compass of the City that is now reduc'd within a lesser compass They also shew'd me the place of the Temple or Altar Erected to the unknown God. Several Statues are digg'd up out of the Earth every day of which not one that I have seen comes near to those of Italy Thereupon being amaz'd to see so few Signs of its ancient Splendor they made me answer that I might see them in other Places whither the War had transplanted them or else Barter in Traffick Indeed there was one Piece which I saw the last time I was at Venice in the House of Signor Michele Peruli an Athenian Merchant which had been sent him as a Present representing in Bass Relief a young man stark naked holding a * Or else a Horn-Owlet for the word signifies the same Jack-daw in his Right hand The botom of the Sculpture was adorn'd with a Palm-tree upon the Trunk of which a certain kind of Beetle was engrav'd in a creeping Posture The Cornish comes forth as far as the Statue and is raised by two borders between which at the Top these words are to be read in Greek Letters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some will therefore have to be the Son of the Great Demosthenes The Piece is good from the Belly downward but the Head is not very extraordinary and the left hand is broke off Every Body knows that the Statue of Venus which formerly stood upon Mount Pincius at Rome and is now to be seen in the Galleries of Florence leave being given to the Grand Duke by the present Pope to remove it thither was the Work of an Athenian whose name is engrav'd at the bottom of the Statue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Kleomenes the Son of Apollodorus an Athenian made this A favour which the Dukes Predecessors could ne'er obtain though from Popes of the same Family So cautious they were of parting with any of the Ornaments of their City whereas the present Pope suffers them to be daily taken away notwithstanding all the grumbling of the Romans So that all that remains at this day of the Athenian Antiquity is their Olive Trees and their Wit. These Olive Trees encompass it round and are the chief Revenue of the Athenians Their other Fruits are very Excellent and it may be the best in the World. But as for the Inhabitants they are no less naturally Witty and Ingenious than ever so that if they were but well manur'd by Education they would prove as Good Poets Orators Philosophers Statuaries or other Artists whatever as ever were known at the time when it flourish'd in its highest Splendour The Turks have the same respect for them as the Romans had who suffer them to live according to their own Laws and to be govern'd by their own Magistrates for the Grand Signior is contented only with sending thither one of his Favourite Eunuchs who receives the Duty impos'd without farther concerning himself with their Affairs besides that his Garrison is very inconsiderable The Bishop is Judge of the Differences between the Diocesans who generally submit to his Determination for fear of Ecclesiastical Censures They trade into Italy with their Commodities for which they receive in exchange Cloth and all manner of Iron Tools Their Women are handsome and richly clad in their Garments embroider'd with Gold down to their very Shooes which their Husbands though poor willingly let them have for fear of a greater mischief The Citizens of Quality wear a long black robe with short Sleeves but their Priests are habited much like the Ministers of the English Church only the Sleeve is not gathered into Pleats In the City they always
rarely hear of any Appeals to the Thirty from their Determinations This Discourse gave me so great an Idea of the City that I most earnestly desir'd him to vouchsafe me an occasion of seeing it with the first opportunity Thereupon to morrow said he I shall send away the Carts according to order by which means you will have the opportunity of going along with my Deputy to whom I will give order to be your Guide and to present you to the Wise-man of this Precinct who will take care of your person These Waggons which are built much after the manner of Holland are drawn by Bulls that bear the mark of the Country-house that sends them and of the Tribe to which they belong and after they have deliver'd their Provisions into the Magazines they carry back what is contain'd in the Governour or Archon's Note for the Service of the Farm together with such Parents as have a desire to see their Children as also sick Persons to whom change of Air is prescribed for their recovery Having therefore taken leave of the Archon whom I presented with a Case of English Knives with Oriental Agate Handles embellish'd with Gold I took the first Waggon and plac'd my self next to the Deputy who drove the Waggon in a Seat covered over and large enough to hold three Persons with ease The way which is about five and twenty miles or two hundred Furlongs according to their measure to me seem'd very short as well through the learned Discourse of the Waggoner as for the Diversity of Objects which presented themselves to me in this enchanted Country We baited at all the Country-houses upon the Road and were treated with Dancing and Musick There is not one navigable River in all the Country but a great number of small Streams and Brooks of which some have Water enough to turn their Corn-mills and Paper-mills They have no high Mountains but only some few Hillocks fertile in Wine and Oil which set forth the Beauty of the Plains like precious Stones enchas'd in Gold-smiths Work. The Soil yields fifteen for one and the goodness of the Pasturage discovers it self by the excellent taste of their meat The Philosopher caress'd me with more than ordinary Civility and carried me to the Foresteria or Foreigner's Lodge which is a House built at one of the ends of the Town adjoining to the Manufacturies and Schools where strangers are entertain'd and their Expences honourably defray'd The first two days besides the days of arrival and departure they feast very splendidly but if the Stranger stays any longer he is treated as a Citizen Though to say the truth they are not much troubled with Strangers for very few travel thither for that the Europeans who are the greatest Travellers in the World have no knowledge of the place either imagining that there is nothing so beautiful in Tartary or that the difficulties of travelling thither are unsurmountable However there was in the City when I was there a Muscovite of Astracan two Tartars and one Persian whom meer chance had brought thither as well as my self The Reports of my Arrival being spread among the Philosophers I never wanted Company which the rarity of the Accident brought to visit me They told me that they had not seen in their City before sixty years together any of the third Part of the Continent which we inhabit and which they only know by means of the ancient Geography but one which Person was a Frenchman who died three Months after his Arrival with a Surfeit of Champignons and new Wine which he drank to excess it being then Vintage-time Upon that I told them that I was likewise a Frenchman which put them into a Laughter because they said my Language spoke the contrary for that as they said they had in their Library a Book that they found in stripping a deceas'd Pilgrim wherein they saw nothing that resembl'd my speech 'T is true Gentlemen said I that in France they speak otherwise than I do for I understand the Greek which I learn'd by my own endeavours out of a natural inclination which I had for a Language that was formerly spoken by the most excellent People in the World. But of all that came to visit me at my first coming Persons of Wit and and Learning Eugenes was the Person toward whom my Affection most enclin'd as being one whose humour I found to be most agreeable with mine Thereupon I enter'd into a strict League of Friendship with him so that whether at our Recreations or our Studies we never forsook each other Which he might the more easily do in regard that being by reason of his Youth excluded from the management of publick Affairs he was the more at leisure So that he was my constant Guide wherever my Curiosity led me In the first place he carry'd me to a Pillar built much like the Monument in London but rising higher from whence I could take a full view of the City It is seated in a Plain water'd within and without with several Rivulets of Running Water The Houses are Low-built all but the publick Buildings which because they take up a larger extent of Ground than the private Houses generally over look them But none either publick or private are above two Stories high The Figure of it is round and it is about three good Miles in Diameter without Walls defended only by a single Moat which is fed by the Rivers that water it both within and without From this high Pillar I had also a Prospect of all the pleasant Country round about in its most beautiful Trim as also of the Country Houses scatter'd up and down at equal distances like a Fleet of Ships upon the Ocean in a Calm or like so many Stars in the Firmament in a serene Season About Two hundred Miles from hence they that have a very quick sight may discern a Chain of Mountains which by reason of the vastness of the distance seem to be embody'd with the Clouds themselves And thus having consider'd the City in general we descended to view it in particular It is divided into three Quarters or Wards of which the first in the heart of the City derives its name from the Sun the second from the Council and the third from the Schools The Streets are wide clean and streight like those of Amsterdam but without Trees and instead of Filthy Kennels it is stor'd with Rivers that carry away the nastiness of the Street and all uncleanness from the City As well the Piazza's as the Streets are adorn'd with Portico's like Boligna as neat and elegant as the Cloister of the Chartrena at Pavia So that you may walk about your Business at all Seasons free from the annoyance of heat or rain The Roof of these Portico's is supported by Pillars without and Pilasters within I mean adjoining to the Wall it self of the Houses of the Dorick Order in the Council Ward of the Ionick Order in the Schools Ward
it Seeing that if the Astrologer lit upon a past Accident for once I attribute it as the Learned Persons of this Country of the Sun do meerly to Chance which sometimes may produce a Truth among thousands of Lyes From the Mathematicks they pass to Grammar learning withal at the same time to write and speak well and among all the other Dialects the Attic there prevailes in regard that they have not had any Commerce with Foreign Nations whence proceeds the Corruption of Languages whereby it comes to pass that they have preserv'd the purity of their own as have also some Villages of Greece in Europe where they speak the pure litteral Greek for that living at a distance from the Sea and in a Country of difficult access they enjoy the same good Fortune For which besides the Testimony of Davity I have also the Authority of the Reverend and Learned Papa Michael of Epirus who but lately assur'd me at Venice that he had met with such in his Travels By this time their Judgments being rightly inform'd they become more fit to read Philosophy which they learn in the last place They have also their bodily Exercises being taught at the same time to handle their Arms both Rapier and Back-sword to shoot with their Bows and to ride the manag'd Horse in a place appointed for that purpose where also are admitted the Manufacture Apprentices They never teach Logick nor Rhetorick alledging that those two Sciences are as natural to a Man as to goe or to make use of his Hands and that no man can arrive to be an exquisite Logician or a perfect Orator that has not an excelling Genius that way However they give their Scholars certain general Precepts very much agreeing with the Maxims of the Epicureans They also read and expound in their Schools Aristotle Plato Socrates Epicurus Democritus Thales Diogenes and all the ancient Philosophers of which we have only the Names and whose writings they preserve leaving to their Scholars to choose what Opinion they think most probable They also permit them to read the Poets though very much incens'd against them for their Invention of Fables concerning Deities that never were For by the Converse which I had among them I found that their knowledge in Philosophy was altogether bounded by Sence which they take for the only Rule of their Reasoning the Extravagancies of which are to be moderated and corrected by themselves being perswaded that what cannot be apprehended by the Sence is not at all nor can be the object of our Meditations To which when I answer'd that the contrary was taught in our Schools that is to say that Reason corrected the Sence they lookt upon it as ridiculous as if a Blind man should go about to correct his Guide They generally believe the Eternity of the first matter not being able to conceive how any thing should be made out of nothing that the World with all its varieties was produc'd by the sympathy and antipathy of the first Body's which as they had no beginning will have no ending They make some Bodies moveable of themselves others by the impulse of those only in a void space They acknowledge no other Cause but one which is the Material For all which Opinions of theirs I do not here produce their several Reasons as designing at present only a Historical Relation which else would require a larger Volume by it self which perhaps I may hereafter put to publick view If any one begin to broach new Opinions they cite him before the Council who examine them and if they find them ill grounded the Person is not commanded to recant but only to hold his Peace under the Penalty of being put into the number of the Scandalous a List of whose names is affix'd to the Door of the Temple there to remain to perpetuity an affliction which next to exile they stand most in fear of Their Library more spacious than the Vatican is so much the more Curious by how much it is furnish'd with an infinite number of Authors of which we know not so much as the Names and such as liv'd before Aristotle Those they call the ancient Authors for the Modern they esteem to be those that wrote after their settlement which is above Two thousand years ago They shew'd me also Translations of Egyptian Books which make the World to be much more ancient than we believe it to be our Chronology being no more than a Great Grand Child of theirs As for Printing tho' they well know what it is yet they make no use of it so that all their Books are in Munuscript either in Parchment or Paper in the Greek Language in regard they know no other unless it be the Tartarian which by what means some of them come to understand I shall relate in due place They distinguish their Books according to the Quality of the Subjects And if any Author of their own writes any thing new his Book is not admitted into this Noble Society of Volums till it has had the Approbation of the Council of Thirty Private Men may have it before but few care for it till then so great a veneration they have for the Judgment of that most noble Assembly all composed of learned and chosen Men the flowre of Philosophers as are also the two hunder'd and seventy Among the Legislators I saw the Pentateuch of Moses translated by the care of Alexander and sent to his Master Aristotle as some Lines under his own hand at the end of Deuteronomy witness I ask'd them their Sentiments concerning that Law to which they answer'd that they had a great esteem for the Moral part dislik'd his Sacrifices condemn'd his Ceremonies and for his Historical part some they deem'd probable the rest very improbable One of the Company added that he was a Philosopher that he had too enigmatically describ'd the Generation of the World and of the Creatures therein to a blockish sort of People uncapable to apprehend it by methodical Reasoning That he believ'd with Moses that man was produc'd out of the Earth and that without doubt he had borrow'd that Opinion from the learning of the Egyptians among whom he confesses himself to have had his Education At length I came to the Book which was left by the French man of whom I have already made mention They kept it apart not knowing where to range it because they did not understand it I found it to be a New Testament Whereupon they earnestly requested me to translate it for them if I thought it worth my while Upon which I pull'd out a Greek Testament out of my Pocket that had been my Vade Mecum in all my Travels and by way of prevention instead of a Translation said I here is the Original which you may read at your leisure because I do here present it to your Library At which they were overjoy'd and gave me a thousand Thanks After which they led me into the Apartment