Pictures of the King of France the Eldest Son of the Prince of Condé and of the Cardinal Richlieu I caused them suddenly to be Copied from the Originals by an Italian Painter who passes for one of the best of these Times These Three Heads are the principal of France if not of all Europe The First by Reason of a great and potent Kingdom which is this Day more flourishing than all others The Second by Reason of his Nobility or Royal Blood and by his extraordinary Courage And the Third by a Wise Conduct in a Ministry full of Difficulties being as it were the absolute Master of Disgraces and Recompences As soon as these Pictures are delivered to thee whole and well conditioned pay the Express I dispatched to thee the Sum contained in the Billet which he will present to thee from me That done send the Packet to Constantinople without loss of time and address it to the Kaimacan I beseech thee order the business of my Pension so that I shall not need to desire the Payment of it Send me presently what is order'd me for my Subsistance Nothing in the World appears so terrible to me as to be obliged to ask I have only Moneys for Six days tho' I should eat nothing but raw Herbs and Water Both cost Moneys here And every Thing is sold very dear except Civilities and obliging Terms which you have for nothing and whereof they are very liberal I must Live I must have Clothes and go to Court for all which there must be Bread Cloath or Serges and Coach-hire Thou knowest at present my Wants suffer me not to languish with Expectation Thou wilt injure the Emperor and not Mahmut if thou dost not readily assist his Slave The Great God preserve thy Life if thou dost not forget me and give thee Grace to be Sober in a Country where People do not always drink Wine to quench their Thirst Paris 28th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XIV To William Vospel a Christian of Austria I Am obliged to thee for the Confidence thou hast in me in declaring to me thy Losses Another would have rejoiced in hearing of thy Two Adventures but as I do not believe it is a great Evil to lose a Wife so I cannot think it is a considerable-considerable-Good to turn Monk It is impossible for me to forbear telling thee That I find thy Resolution too sudden to approve of it Thou art not the Cause of the Loss thou hast suffered and yet retirest into a Convent to do Penance as if thou hadst committed a Crime Is it necessary thou torment thy Body for the Death of a Wife if thou hast not Murthered her If thou didst love her because she was Discreet it is not impossible to find another as Prudent If her Beauty charmed thee there are enough that may please but if thou wert weary of being a Husband why art thou then of being a Widower Tell me What wilt thou do at present in the Convent thou art shut up in The Carmelites are Wise indeed but know not all Things It is true they are very Devout but not exempted from Sin Finally they are Men and too austere How canst thou so suddenly accustom thy self to that kind of Life thou hast chosen and become at once Chast and Sober As for me who am a Christian as thou art and more restrained in my Pleasures than thou hast hitherto been I cannot understand what I see in that Order thou art entred into neither can I figure to my self how a Man bare-footed without a Shirt covered with a coarse Habit of Wooll who is no Master of Crowns and who hath no Armies should absolutely command not only another Man but many who obey blindly what he requires of them To live well in thy Order thou must Fast the least Faults are not Pardon'd thou must receive Offences with Thanks Finally the Combat is assured and constant and there is but little Certitude of the Crown which ought to be the Reward Thy greatest Friend is obliged to betray thee and thou wilt be deprived as it may be said of the Elements to make thee desire the use of Water Air Earth and Fire I cannot perswade my self that there are so many Things required to make a Saint for when thou lovest God as much as it is in thy Power to do and passest every Day as if it were thy last I believe thou wilt Live and Die a Just Man Return me an Answer and let me know If what I write to thee be Conformable to right Reason or that I am deceived in my Opinion The Friendship I have for thee obliges me to write as I do and to tell thee all I think that regards thee because after thou hast taken thy last Resolution I would rather see thee suffer with Constancy all the Evils imaginable than to see thee change with Confusion There are many who have abandoned with Shame the Places which they entered in Triumph and how many have been pushed by their Despair to commit Follies which seemed Actions of Piety which they had never undertaken in their right Wits We see in our Histories That many Great Men have caused themselves to be Circumcised thereby to have Commerce with the Jews and be Instructed in their Doctrines finding their Ancient Temple Magnificent Venerable Holy and full of Majesty We also read That Pythagoras Cloathed himself in White and staid some time amongst the Solitaries of Mount Carmel to learn the Mysteries of their Religion His Curiosity was the Occasion of this great Man's Voyage as their Ignorance had caused the same Design in others It is not the Desire to be instructed which made thee enter into the Convent the Affliction for the loss thou hast suffered made thee take this Resolution Take heed of quitting it by a Repentance which would prove an Excess of Folly The Jews are at present Vagabonds without Law without a Kingdom without Altars and according to the Alcoran they will be Metamorphosed into Asses to carry the Souls of the Wicked Mahometans into Hell Who knows what will become of the Carmelites They say Elias is not Dead but is to return to the Earth to combat those Men who shall rise to trouble the World about the establishing a New Religion Stay still where thou art or return presently from whence thou camest lest after too long a stay to come out in form thou commit a Fault that God will not easily pardon which will doubtless happen if thou perswade thy self That thou canst not find the Way to Heaven but out of the Noise of this World If thou dost not find I advise thee well do thou better but above all things govern thy self so that God may not reproach thee one Day That a Moldavian gave thee good Advice and thou didst neglect it The worst of Turks might give the same Advice that I do as a good Christian and it would be no surprizing thing if thou Receivest better
so terrible and so greatly damnify one of the finest Countries in the World as Greece is and this Island which is the Delight and Nurse of almost all the Provinces situated on the Banks of the Mediterranean-Sea We find also in Ireland these Mountains of Fire yet with this Difference that their Flames do no Hurt which make 'em no ways dreadful to the Inhabitants I think too I have heard my Father say That being in Company with certain Arabians in our Lycia he saw these kind of Fires come out of the Earth but they broke out gently and caused no Damage I am now perswaded of one Thing which I would never believe before which is That Old Pliny intending to relate to the Emperor Titus and leave to Posterity a Relation of the Effects of Vesuvius and a perfect Discovery of the Causes of so many prodigious Effects he therefore went himself on the Place because that in his Time this famous Mountain had cast out an horrible Quantity of Fire Stones and Ashes with so great Violence and such terrible Noise that the Effects of it were selt in Syria Africk and especially in Egypt But the Curiosity of this wretched Philosopher having cost him his Life the Romans expect still with his Return the Discovery of the secret Causes of so many prodigious Effects Take care of thine own Health and let not any of thy Patients miscarry through thy Neglect or Rashness Continue to love me though I am at a great Distance from thee Write to me sometimes and believe that I am not able to conform my self to the way of Living of Strangers amongst whom I reside I shall be always a good Mussul man and a Faithful Friend Paris 10th of the First Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER XII To the Venerable Mufti Prince of the Religion of the Turks THY Decree is very cruel to separate me without having committed any Crime from the Communion of the Faithful I have read the Holy Answer thou hast made me with great Veneration but this has not been without many Tears Thou hast not untyed the Knot of the Difficulties which perplex me but made it indissoluble So that I only live in the Certainty of having no Certitude and my Soul which is encompassed with Fear will be in Dread till Death If I do what thou proposest how shall I be sure of not failing seeing I do not understand what I ought to do I am so dull that I cannot distinguish Whether thou exhortest me to do what I have ever done or whether thou forbiddest me what I asked of thee I intreated thee to let me know Whether I might live amongst the Christians and do in Appearance what they do effectually in the Observance of the Ceremonies of their Religion And thou answerest me That the Circumcised or Faithful should have no Doubt in his Law and needs no other Precepts to observe it than the Law it self Moreover That the true Mussulman must be willing to lose his Estate his Life and Honour in the Sultan's Service That the Christians are Enemies to the True God the Emperor and Religion and that in fine one ought to sacrifice all Things not to betray this God who is our chief Master Tell me I intreat thee on my bended Knees Cannot a Man be a True Mahometan without hating eternally the Followers of Jesus And in living amongst them secretly a true Mussulman must one shew ones self to be of another Religion or pretend to be of theirs Thou wilt tell me the Alcoran speaks with great Clearness yet how many obscure Passages do we find in the Words of our holy Prophet wherein we need thy Expositions I have no Belief for Tagot neither will I give Credit to the Devil my Law expresly forbids it for I believe in one only True God who knew the Intention of our holy Lawgiver and sees what we cannot discover And the Prophet cries out That he that has such Principles leans on the strongest Prop he can ever meet with there being nothing which is able to overthrow it Disperse Reverend Sir as much as thou canst the Darkness of my Spirit I conjure thee by the Almighty Father who can make live Flesh come on the dry Bones of the Ass which dyed an hundred Years past I do not discontinue here my usual Prayers which I make in the Manner they are prescribed me by the Law with my Face always turn'd to the Side of Mecha When I fast I eat only at Night and I continue my Repast till Aurora advancing the Day gives me Light enough to distinguish black Thread from white And I pass over the Day without taking any Nourishment till the Darkness be so great that I cannot see the Eye of a Needle 'T is true I give no Alms to the Poor because I doubt Whether it be lawful to do good to those who continually move Heaven against us The Bishops here are in great Veneration they have not an absolute Authority because they depend on the Roman Prelate and the King Yet their Jurisdiction is very large the Kingdom being full of Churches and these Churches frequented by Millions of People They wear about their Necks a Golden Cross They live in publick good Lives are obliged to know all the Points of their Law they must be Doctors are obliged to Gelibacy to be Sober Hospitable Prudent Irreprehensible without coveting others Goods they must never be drunk or shed Human Blood Their Habit is a long Vest reaching to the Ground of black Silk or Violet They go little on Foot but are carried in Coaches to avoid the Wearisomness which would oppress them in a Town which seems the greatest in the World which thou wouldest do too perhaps wert thou designed to be their Sovereign Prelate The great Arbiter of the World favour by his Mercy or by an Effect of his Justice the inconceivable Honour of suffering thee to sweep during thy Life his most Holy and only Temple of Mecha in the Company of Ismael and Abraham that thou maist keep it clean without any Filth of what Kind soever Paris 10th of the first Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER XIII To the Kaimakam THE French Armies are at present in Winter-Quarters and the Court is busied in contriving what they shall do in the Spring I do not believe I writ thee any false News for it is to be believed that the Sharpness of the Winter will hinder any Thing from being undertaken before that time The Eyes of all the Court are fixed on Three Objects the King the Dauphin his Son and Cardinal Richlieu but they more carefully observe the latter than the former This Man has made himself Creatures by his Benefits the Thankfulness for which and the Hopes of new ones has bound them to his Interests Yet 't is to be believed he has more Enemies by means of the great Credit he is in with his Prince and the Occasions he finds to increase it His Anti-chamber is always full
say to thee in this Matter but I shall not end this Discourse without some violent Scruples of Conscience Pray the Great God with me That he will illuminate my Understanding with Inward Lights until the Man promised by our Holy Prophet the Man I say who ought to be born of his Race be descended upon the Earth who is to see all Kings humbled in his Presence and to unite with Jesus the Two Religions that they may make but One. In the mean Time let us live as honest Men who have Sin in horror like the Plague which poisons the Soul and apply our selves as much as in us lies to what is truly Good and above all things let us carefully observe this Precept writ in the Book of their Law but is not always imprinted in their Hearts Never do to Others no not thy Enemies that which thou wouldst not have done to thy self A Duke of Guise gave an Example of this to all France and 't is what thou oughtest to Preach in the vast Empire of the Mussulmans This Prince surprized a Villain that would have Assassinated him who confessed that the Interest of his Religion which was that of Calvin had obliged him to form a Design to take him away to deliver himself and those of his Party from so great an Enemy The Duke instead of causing him to suffer the Pains due to so black an Enterprise Pardoned him contenting himself to tell him Friend If thy Religion Obliged thee to Kill me without hearing me my Religion Obliges me to give thee thy Life and Liberty now I have heard thee Go thy ways and amend thy self This Prince was then General of Charles the IX 's Army Sage Bedredin our Mahomet never shewed such generous Sentiments when he prescribed in his Law this Precept against Christians that had never Offended him When you Encounter the Infidels kill them and cut off their Heads imprison them and keep them in Chains until they have paid their Ransoms or till you find it requisite to set them at Liberty Persecute them until they have all submitted or are entirely overthrown Observe in this Letter what may be of use to thee Pardon my Friendship the frank Manner of Writing and remember Mahmut in thy Prayers who personates a Christian and is in his Heart a most faithful Mussulman If it be in thy Power to succour me never do me any Injury God protect and govern thy great Age to the last Moment Paris 28th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XII To Chiurgi Muhammet Bassa THE Queen is with Child when least expected which occasions much Joy at Court especially to the King who after so many Years of Marriage will become a Father Thou who hast applied thy self so long to the Studies of Astrology in the Schools of Egypt yet makest Profession of this Divine Art which discovers thee Things the most hidden to thee who readest so learnedly in the Book of Heaven whatever the Stars have traced there who hast found the Moment of their Rising and Disappearing with the Intervals betwixt these two Times and the Causes which render their Motion quicker or slower thou who penetratest into the most hidden Secrets of Men and knowest the Seasons of Famine of Shipwracks of Victories and of loss of Battels Divine in God's Name Great Interpreter of the Secrets of Nature Wiser than Albumazar and Ptolemy what will become of this Impregnation and whether it be true That this Child that 's to be Born has been more than two hundred and seventy Moons in forming If thou believest what I writ last to thee to be impossible say nothing of it it would be no Credit to me to pass for the Author of a Novel that has no Grounds of Truth The City of Paris is in an inconceivable Joy and this Joy is spread all over France Thou may'st perceive by that the Passion of this People to see their King a Father 'T is true they have much to hope by it but it is as certain they have yet much to apprehend seeing all their Hopes vanish in an instant Nature uses all her Power when she forms a Man the most perfect of all Creatures But there needs but a slight Fall to destroy this Workmanship before it is finished as well as after I have heard a great many People question much the Sex and Life of that which will be born All the Conversation at the Court at Paris and in all the Kingdom is no more of Wars of Leagues of Peace or Naval Preparations they all rowl upon the bringing to Bed of Women There will be other reasoning in some small time in Christendom and even amongst us if the Queen do not miscarry France being no less considerable amongst other Kingdoms than the Bourbone are amongst Men. Harry IV. who introduced the Crown into this Branch of the Family was a Prince very Brave and if we live long enough to see his Grand-Children we shall see whether they will have as much Courage as the Chief of their Family As for thee thou wilt have wherewith to divert thee and excercise thy Talent if this Queen be brought to Bed happily of a Prince I shall in the mean time be very Exact to mark not only the Days and Hours but the least Minutes to the End thou may'st know by the Situation of the Planets which ordinarily regulate the Inclinations of Men in what manner a Prince so long expected will regulate his Affairs and consequently those of others It is a great while since we have had any Commerce here with the Sun there being forty nine Days since this beauteous Planet appeared to us and the Cold is so violent that it has changed as I may say the Waters of the Seine a large River into Crystal Do not look upon these Effects as extraordinary it happens here frequent enough for when the Days are shortest the Cold is most intense Thou knowest that this Climate is very inconstant I have often seen in a little space of Time Rain Hail Snow and terrible Winds and presently after the Air become Fair and Serene This inconstancy of the Climate has its Advantages for if the fair Weather do not last long the foul is also of less Duration Fail not upon the Receipt of my Letter to communicate the News I send thee to the Grand Vizir without telling him the Reflections which I make They are of no Use to such great Ministers particularly by us who are in Comparison of them but vile Slaves always subject to the Sentences they pronounce of us Love me and consult the Stars to know whether thou wilt be always Faithful to me and if it be by Force or Inclination As for my self I assure thee that following the Inclination of my Heart I will conserve thee that Fidelity which I owe by Obligation Paris 28th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XIII To Carcoa at Vienna THE Kaimacan commands me forthwith to send the
knowledge of the Manner how he would divide the Estates of the Sultan But Henry was assassinated just as he was ready to leave Paris to begin so great a Work being killed in his Coach in the Arms of his most faithful Courtiers And the Fatal Stroke which carried him out of the World delivered the Empire of the true believers This Empire whose Throne is so high that it reaches up to the First Heaven whence it scares the Infidels and secures the good Mussulmen from the Insults of the Christians One of these old Men I mentioned has assured me he had heard the King speak these following Words some Days before his Death I shall never go out of this Town I know not what with-helds me I shall never accomplish what I design never see the Destructiou of Constantinople for I am toâ—d by Astrologers I shall be kill'd in a Coach I must then always go on Foot and never stir out of Paris Such was the End of this Prince so highly venerated by the French He was really a Man of great Courage and great Penetration and so much the greater in that he regarded the Destruction of the Ottoman Empire as one of the difficultiest Things in the World And truly no other Prince did that Honour to Mahomet nor his Successors But yet not finding his own Forces sufficient to invade and destroy the Turkish Empire he invented a Chymerical Project to find Possibility in a Thing which ever appeared impossible In the very Moment I am Writing I have received certain News of my Ruin If I be not taken off this Time at Paris I shall be perhaps more fortunate than ever and more successfully and fully serve our great Emperor whose Clemency is equal to his Grandure and who is above all the Powers on Earth Cardinal Richlieu has sent for me to come to him I therefore finish this Letter in hast which perhaps will be the last I write being greatly afraid I am discovered If my Fear be vain I shall learn thee in another Letter the most remarkable Events of Henry's Life In the mean time I am resolved and disposed to suffer the Martyrdom If I dye my dear Egry we shall see one another in the other World if it be true that we shall have Eyes there and remember what has past here below Pray the great God for Mahumet and take Care of thy Health Paris 25th of the first Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER XV. To the Invincible Vizir Azem at the Camp under Babylon CArdinal Richlieu made me come in his Presence and yet I am alive he has not attempted any thing against either Life or Liberty but has done me the same Honour as to other foreign Churchmen for he believes I am of Moldavia calling me Titus not knowing any more of me than what I told him It seems on the contrary as if he intended me Kindnesses supposing me a bitter Enemy to the Turks and perhaps I shall receive some Present from him for having served him already as an Interpreter I shall tell thee Invincible Vizier what has past between him and me without any Fear of being tedious to thee I serve thee faithfully and write to thee as oft as my Duty requires As soon as I was in his Closet he thus spoke to me Titus What dost thou do in Paris what Business hast thou in this Town and what is really thy Country I answered him That I was a poor Clerk of Moldavia and came to study Divinity and be a Priest that I knew no better Place to become Wise and Learned and that I would willingly sacrifice all Things to render him Service He afterwards askt me Whether I was acquainted with any of the Eastern Languages and Whether I had ever been at Constontinople I have been replyed I in this great Town when I was a Child and that my Father and Mother were then in Slavery My Father is dead and my Mother is Married again to a Christian Greek I understand Arabic and Turkish and am perfectly skill'd in the School-Greek What do you mean by School Greek reply'd the Cardinal It is different from the Vulgar-Greek answered I which is so corrupted that learned People will not give themselves the Trouble to understand it He afterwards bade me go into a little Closet where I should find one of his Secretaries who would need my Help where I had no sooner entred but the Secretary presented me with a Turkish Manuscript to turn into Latin or Italian if I could not do it into French I immediately translated it into Latin and will now inform thee wise Minister and Governor of the great Empire of the true Faithful of the Contents of it The Christian Dervises called in France Cordeliers keep as thou knowest in Jerusalem the Sepulchre of their Messias by a Privilege which Zelim the Conqueror of Palestine granted them These Religious have neither Peace nor Truce with the Greek Christians and they have such Difference together as are of ill Consequences to all they persecute one another without ceasing and spread abroad most bitter Satyrs against each other Each Party makes ill Reports to his Superior of that which is opposite and mixes among some Truths a great many Lyes and absurd Stories But it appears to me That the Greeks who naturally love Cabals and have the Reputation of great Romancers are more dexterous than their adverse Party to do Mischief The Christian Dervises have represented a great many things to this Cardinal to authorise their Pretensions against the Greeks by Means of the French Embassador They not only reproach the Greeks with several Injustices and Violences but accuse the Cadi's of Cruelty and Tyranny and the Souldiers which guard Jerusalem of insupportable Exactions Thou shouldest be throughly informed whether these Complaints be on just Grounds for they affirm their Patience is beyond the Cruelty of the Officers thou employest yet that they can no longer suffer the insolencies which are now put on them and are on the Point of hazarding all by a Stroak of Despair It does not belong to me to be Advocate in the Behalf of those who are submitted to thy Authority and especially of those who ought to bear the Yoke of the Mahometans but 't is the Duty of Mahmut thy Creature to inform thee of the true Circumstances of Affairs which come to his Knowledge Yet if the Oppression of the Dervises be so great as they make it thou that art the true Light which enlightens the Empire of the Faithful and scatterest the Darkness of it thou wilt not permit those that live under the Publick Faith to be opprest and that Four wretched Greeks shall be the Cause of such Disorders as may happen in Palestine the Complaints of which have reached the Ears of the greatest Princes in Europe and to whom such things may give false Idea's of the Government of those who are chosen by God to command all the World Invincible Bassa I have discovered
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
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-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
were to relate I shall make known to thee on the first Opportunity whatever shall come to my Knowledg In the mean time the Creator of all thing direct thee in all thy Ways and prosper all thy undertakings Paris 15th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1640. LETTER XVI To Dgnet Oglou I Am in a manner raised from the Dead by reading thy Letter there is not a Line or Syllable but shews the Marks of a true Heart and a tender and real Sympathy with my Condition I pray Heaven we may do nothing either of us to lessen this Affection Thou informest me in thy Letter of the Departure of Isouf for Mecha I give thee a Thousand Thanks for the Mony thou hast given him for the offering of a Sacrifice in my Name on the Sacred Mountain and to distribute here below the Alms which I enjoyned him I admire thy Bounty and the Charitable Care thou hast had of the Salvation of thy Friend Mahmut in sending one of our Devotes to Medina to go the Pilgrimage and say the Prayers for me In a Word I see thy Kindness makes thee foresee and provide against all my Wants there is no Place or Time wherein I receive not Marks of thy Favour Seeing I am so dear to thee and loving thee so greatly as I do let not distance of Place Poverty Disgrace Imprisonment or any other Misfortune extinguish or so much as damp our mutual Affection I have in a manner stole the time I write to thee for I have nothing which is truly mine and I make thee a Present of a thing which I owed the Kaimakan for whom I ought to employ more time in writing But let us lay aside all these troublesom Affairs and entertain one another with an entire Confidence and Familiarity Thou wantest not Wit employ it in the Study of History after sufficient Instruction in the Matters which concern Religion If thou wilt be a Prince among other Men separate thy self from the Croud by thy application to good Authors read much and yet read little read ever good Books there being few of them and thus thou wilt read much If thou canst attain to the Knowledg of whatever is known of Men thou wilt be a kind of God amongst them whereas thou wilt be of the number of Beasts if thou failest of acquiring the Notices thou oughtest to have I wish thou wouldst mind more for thy Friends sake what passes in the Seraglio in the Divan and in the Prince's most secret Councils to know what is said there against me and for me Good and seasonable Advice does oftentimes hinder much Mischief and does a great deal of good Friendship makes those things which are otherwise hard very easie He that is not ready says an Holy Man amongst the Christians to suffer all things and to lose all and his very Will too for the sake of him that he loves deserves not the Name of a Friend Let us ever forget the Words mine and thine Thy good Fortune is mine even as thy Disgraces are If we thus establish our Friendship why may we not though Modern Turks compare our selves to those Antient Greeks who have given such glorious Marks to the World of their Friendship Why may we not be the Imitators of Pelopidas and Epaminondas who contracted so strict an Union that nothing could change it Although we were not born the same Day in the same Climat and in the same Town as Polistratus and Hypoclides who were born in the same House at the same Hour and lived always together and fell sick at the same Time and loved equally yet let us surpass them in Affection Love we one another more than Theseus and Piritohus more than Damon and Pithias the former of which contracted in Arms and the other in Studies that strict Amity that has rendred them so recommendable to Posterity If thou knowest any Secret whereby to restore my Appetite which I have lost send it me I am here Spectator of a Million of Mouths who eat four times a day and consume 15000 Oxen every Week and 15000 other Pieces of Animals besides Mutton Veal Hogs not to reckon all sorts of Fowl and Fruits produced by the Earth and the Fishes from the Seas and Rivers I am forced to dye with Hunger with my Meat in my Hands and in a Town where there is an Abundance of all sorts of things I want all things Bread which is so pleasant to the Eye and so savoury in the Tast to all other People is nauseated by me Wine only because 't is forbidden by our Law rejoyces the sight of me and stirs up a desire of drinking Let me hear oft from thee let thy Letters be instructive and be levelled against my melancholy Temper The God of Mahmut keep thee ever in Health and make thee love me as thou dost continually Paris 15th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1640. LETTER XVII To Adonai the Jew at Genoa THou art as lazy in writing as inconsiderable in thy Judgment of things Thou hast written to the Grand Vizir That this Republick is disposed to joyn its Forces to that of Venice for its Assistance in the War against the Port but what Ground hast thou for this Advice And if the Grand Vizir should oblige thee to give a Reason for this how canst thou satisfie his Curiosity and hinder him from accusing thee of great Lightness I now receiv'd a Copy of the Letter thou didst write to Constantinople for which I thank thee 'T would have been better I had received the Original for I would not have sent it There 's no likelyhood that a Republick so desirous of establishing a Peace in her Dominions will disturb her own Quiet for the Service of a State with which she is always at War Had the Genoeses any Cause of Complaint against Amurath they would want neither Soldiers nor Arms nor Vessels nor Mony to raise Enemies against him But at present whilst their Affairs are in a full Calm both Abroad and at Home they make with greater Prudence than the Venetians War in the Spanish Indies with their Registers and Arithmetick and they have always the Advantage in this kind of Combat wherein there is no Example they ever lost Let this Nation alone in Peace Write rather to the Port That the Genoeses condemned by Nature to dwell in the Rocks and Desart Mountains have found the means of making these the most dilicious Abodes in Europe Tell the Grand Vizir That so many extravagant Philosohers who continually search for what they will never find have at length shewed That there is no other Place where are more perfect Chymists to be found having converted into Gold almost all the Stones of their Country changed the Horror of their Desarts into most pleasant Gardens and the Cottages of the ancient Ligurians are transformed into Pallaces enriched with Marble and Porphyry with so great Magnificence and Propriety that no Houses are comparable to theirs To
were of none effect to soften Daria and I have cast my self a Thousand times in vain at her Feet all my Cares and Respects have served only to give me Proofs of her Virtue Receive as thou oughtest the Confidence I put in thee and if thou hast not an Heart that can love so ardently at least have some complacency towards a man whose Passion has no Bounds and reproach me not with having had too much Weakness for having been vanquisht by a Woman 'T is Women that have always won the greatest Victories it is their Trade to conquer and even those too who subdue all things It is impossible for me to comprehend how I could love so strongly without dying neither can I imagine how I shall live if I be long deprived of the Sight of her I love Daria has left Paris and is distant thence above Three Hundred Miles consider then the condition I am in I reckon my self in a solitary place although there be above a Million of Inhabitants in the Town where I dwell I stir not out of my Chamber and as to my Books they will yield me no Comfort My only Care is to nourish my Distemper whereby I study to make my self more miserable because it is not in my power so much as to seek the way to the only Happiness I wish for Mahmut may be said to be the Son of Sorrow my Beard is nasty and overgrown I am out of love with my self comfortless avoiding all Society and am become invisible to all People I have no Hope amongst so many Causes of Despair but the Assurance which Daria has given me that I possess a place in her Heart and I believe it because she says so Heaven has given her a frank and generous Soul and promises her great things in the course of her Life I have secretly drawn her Horoscope as as far as I could find all the Planets are favourable to her she is to live a great while Fortune will second her Intentions she will enjoy an uninterrupted Health and this lovely Person will ever gain the Advantage on all that shall oppose her Happy is he that shall be of the number of her Friends but more happy is he that shall be beloved of her for he may assure himself of being beloved of the handsomest and most deserving Lady in the World Read my Follies with some Indulgence and be not angry with me when thou knowest I was ready to renounce my Religion for that of Daria's she began to convince me and I began to believe that the Religion of the most perfect and most vertuous of Women was the best If thou hast Interest enough in the Grand Visir or the Kaimakan obtain for me the Permission of leaving Paris for Six Months only but by no means let them know the Occasion I love much absent from Daria but it seems to me I do not yet love enough I would have more violent Transports during her Absence than those I suffer whilst I see her to the end I may say that at all times and in all places never any body loved so much I have discovered to thee my whole Heart excuse my Passion if thou wilt not excuse thy Friend so horridly tormented with it and remember what the Beautiful Roxalana said to the great Solyman That the Pleasure of commanding and making one's self obeyed is to bereckoned but in the second Rank of Pleasures whereas that of loving and being beloved is the first Henry IV. was one of the greatest Kings of France than whom no man ever more greatly loved When he reproached the Duke de Biron with the Love he had for a Lady mark what this Cavilier told him Great King how is it possible thou shouldst not be indulgent to Lovers who hast so often said when thou wast in love thou forgattest thy self thy Kingdom and Subjects And this dear Oglou is what has happened to me at Paris with this admirable Person whom thou couldst no longer find at Constantinople But alas I should be an unhappy Friend if with such a Love a mine I should prove thy Rival I will not imagin it yet I must tell thee that rather than yield thee Daria I will sacrifice to thee all the time I have to live I have given my Picture to this charming Greek who has received it very courteously yet rather as the Work of an excellent Painter than the Picture of a Lover But being full of Goodness and perfectly discreet she said thus to me when I gave it her Mahmut thank Heaven thou art not handsom such sort of Men have not ordinarily all the success they pretend to in their Amours Wise Ladies think these kind of People doat too much on themselves and those that are disdainful find them not submissive enough and respectful and such as fear evil Tongues dare not look on them and also these Gentlemen imagin Ladies Favours are granted them because they cannot withstand them and they expect oftentimes to be entreated to receive them Whereas those to whom Nature has not been so liberal of her Favours do more than bare love they adore their Mistresses they are always humble and know how to gain the coyest Beauty by their Respectfulness As to thy part who art none of the fairest thou wilt be happy if thou changest not thy manner of living with me It is impossible for me to say whether Daria has any considerable Imperfections being too greatly prepossessed by my Passion to discover Defects in a Person whom I regard as an Angel Time and her Promises will one day shew me whether she has the Vices usual to those of her Nation which are commonly an Infidelity covered over with the most specious Pretences and a continued Dissimulation However send me a Cask of the white Balm of Mecha and of the best sort for Scent thou canst get and at the same time send me also some of that precious Eastern Wood whose Scent is admirable to perfume the Body I have promised the fair Daria this Present let me soon have it to the end I may accustom Daria to the Neatness and Delicacies of the Mahometans Preserve also thy Health and if thou enviest me love as much as I do but love with Continency if thou wilt love long and be long beloved The Great God preserve thee from loving however so excessively as thy Friend Mahmut does the Dolors being therein always certain and the Fruition uncertain Paris 10th of the â—st Moon of the Yeay 1641. LETTER XX. To the Invincible Vizir Azem THE Chiaus arrived here this same Moon in which I write to thee and is in perfect Health with all his Attendants I do not tell thee in what manner he was received by the People at Paris it being of small Importance seeing they have no other part in the Government of the Kingdom than that of Obeying The Populacy curiously observed his Habit his Beard and his Gate all as extraordinary 'T is certain
Land as might have made whole Provinces and which were extream populous How many Promontories do we see which were heretofore certain Guides to Pilots but are now buried in the Sand and cause oftentimes Shipwracks And if the Works of Nature be exposed to such great Ruines what may not mortal Men expect to suffer But I spend time in relating ordinary Accidents when I might remember thee of greater Ruines which the Fire made in the same Imperial City after it had been built by the Great Constantine to whom she owed all her Splendor before the Mighty and Successful Emperors of the Mussulmans had therein established the Seat of their Empire Under the Reign of the Emperor Leo if I be not mistaken the whole Continent lying along the Bosphorus between both the Seas was entirely ruined by Fire And Twelve Years after under the Reign of Basil the famous Library so carefully collected and with that extream Charge and Trouble and which consisted of above Two hundred thousand Manuscripts with the Skin of a Serpent 220 Foot long whereon were written the entire Works of Homer was consumed The Fire which happened in the Time of Justinian might make one forget others the famous Temple of St. Sophia which is at this day our chief Mosque could not be preserved from the fury of the Flames being almost wholly consumed by it I shall not mention the Ruines which have happened by Earthquakes under the Reign of the Emperor Zeno Izoria There was a far greater under Bajazet II. for in Pruzia an entire City with its Houses Walls and Three Thousand Inhabitants were buried in the Entrails of the Earth Which must convince us there have been in all Ages such Events as may instruct us to bear our Misfortunes with Patience and to believe a Providence and submit our selves wholly to it Let us my dear Friend for once rejoyce in an Occasion wherein all others mourn in that we are able to persuade our selves There 's nothing here below deserves our Care I do not say we should laugh like Nero when he saw Rome burning which he himself had fired and sang the Passage in Homer wherein the Conflagration of Troy is described Rather do as Aeneas who having saved from the Flames which devoured his Countrey and Estate his Tutelar Gods his Father Anchises his Family and himself became an Hero that served for an Example to Posterity He did not spend his time in bewailing the Goods he had lost but always kept an undaunted Courage in the midst of the Tempest which threatned to overwhelm him as soon as he was on the Sea and which forced him to wander from Port to Port void of all Help persecuted by a Goddess and other Gods who were of her Party and having gallantly endured so many Disgraces he became the Founder of the bravest and famousest nation of the Universe Aeneas in saving his Gods and his Father who were the Companions of his Fortune drew down the Graces of Heaven which put an end to his Miseries in settling him in a Country where he laid the first Foundations of an Empire which since has given Laws to all the World Our sins have kindled the Fire at Constantinople the Debaucheries Impieties Hypocrisies and continual Rapins which remain unpunished are the Causes of the Destruction of the famous City of the Universe Can we imagine when God sends his Judgements down upon us that we can be able to resist them Amend thy Life if thou desirest to be revenged of Fortune and be Proof against all her Darts Encrease in Vertue if thou wouldest be invulnerable be as good in Prosperity as in Adversity Nothing but good Works can make thee happy in this World and live when this World shall be no more If Reason cannot stop our Tears Fortune I am sure will never do it We seem herein very unreasonable for when we first see the Light we weep and when we leave it we groan Live ever with me more nearly than an intimate Friend and imitate if a man may so express himself the Fire which according to what appears to us consumes all things and converts them into its own proper Substance but which yet according to the Rules prescribed by its Creator burns not the Air nor the other Elements but keeps them united warms and conserves them God has endued them with an Instinct which ought to do the same thing he has fastned them one to another with such Bonds as nothing can break I mean the Interest and mutual Needs which they have of one another There being no body that can be happy and become Rich of himself there must he Dependencies and Commerce without which 't is impossible to have that is most necessary There is also a more refined Commerce to wit the Marks of Esteem which men give one another Succors in cases of Need whether of Money or good Counsel the latter of which is all that can be expected from thy faithful Mahmut Paris 10th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1641. LETTER XXIV To the Bassa of the Sea THe Vessels of Africk have again been worsted by the Infidels the Particulars of which must needs be known to thee before they could come here where there is much Discourse of the Accident at Goulette and the Battel of Caraoge to the great Disadvantage and Prejudice of the Mahometan Name These Heathenish People make publick Rejoicings for the Victories obtained by another Nation 'T is said that of Five Gallies and three other great Vessels onely one Ship saved it self by Flight several being sunk to the Bottom together with the Admiral of Caraoge the rest having been brought into Malta and that there were Six Hundred Mussulmen kill'd in whose Death our only Consolation is that they died Martyrs and their Bloud will cry for Vengeance against the Infidels that have shed it 'T is hard to find the Isle of Malta in the Chart and yet harder in the Sea it being a meer Atom of invisible Earth But 't is not so with the Knights who are the Masters of it they being a Hundred often seen and felt by us Malta is a Seminary wherein are brought up the bravest Sparks in Christendom pick'd out from amongst the most Illustrious Families These Persons know not what Fear is they have imposed on themselves the necessity of vanquishing or dying and therefore they get the Mastery of whatever they attempt and with those few Vessels they have they make the Ottoman Fleets tremble They wear a Golden Cross on their Stomachs which is always dipp'd in the Bloud of the faithful Mussulmen Eclipse this impious Order by opposing the Sacred Silver of the Ottoman Moon against the Force of so small a number of Knights My Zeal obliges me to say such things as may be troublesome to thee and which perhaps thou knowest as well as I which is That I am persuaded thou wilt be the Conqueror of these Pirates provided thou once resolvedst to draw out in good
Thou wilt approve of these Reflexions which shew thee the Natural Right thou hast of commanding me as being thy Inferiour and I hope by what I have written to have satisfied thy Curiosity and by my Submission and Obedience to have given thee a Proof of my profound Respects to thee Paris 24th of the last Moon of the Year 1641. LETTER X. To Bedredin Superiour of the Dervises of Cogni in Natolia LET me most holy and patient Dervis salute thee with my Head bowed down to the ground with the greatest Humility I am able I now write to thee with my Feet naked without either Hose or Shoes as a Mark of my Respect and Veneration which I have for thy Old Age and the Admiration I have at thy incorruptible Innocency The kindness thou shewest me by the long Letter I have received has given me such joy as I cannot express as makes me forget my past Pains and hinders me from thinking of those which are to happen to me for I can now willingly leave this World having had such Testimonies of thy Affection Thy great Age does not astonish me seeing thy Father who is yet alive is 107 years old and thou not above 82 which makes me hope to see a great while yet both one and the other draw down by their Prayers and Merit of their good Actions the Blessings of Heaven on the glorious Empire of the Ottomans to whom all the Empires and Monarchies of the World ought to submit The Thirty Brethren who presented themselves to Selim to be enrolled in the Troops which were to serve against the Persians made the Father who had them all by one Woman to pass for the happiest of all the Mussulmans in having the good Fortune to beget such a number of the most noble Species in Nature But thou and thy Father must needs be more happy than this fertil Parent Thy Father has fought and come out victorious from the Perversity of the Age full of Scars and Sufferings through the Force of his Courage the Innccency of his Manners and his great Sobriety And as to thy part what hast not thou done to make thy self the worthy Son of so glorious a Father Thou hast not only done what thy Father did before thee thou hast acquired the same Vertues and hast so far out-done them that one may say thou hast surpassed Vertue it self Thy Strength is admirable in the midst of Abstinencies and other Austerities which thou undergoest in which 't is certain thou canst not be imitated But Heaven to whom only thou livest will recompence in this World thy pure Faith which the Enemy of Mankind can never weaken The Christians say When God gave them the Commandments he promised only long Life to such who perfectly honoured those who under God brought them into the Light If this be true as 't is very likely t is not to be doubted but that a Long Life is the Recompence which God gives those who live well And the Nazarenes who are Criticks affirm That Sin alone is the cause that men do not live so long as they did before the Deluge for then they remained such a while in Life as would tempt one to think they were to have been Immortal They say That after the Deluge God changed the Nature of Men and instead of these great number of Years which made up the Course of so long a Life they cannot live at farthest above 120 years and that there are few which arrive at 80 and whatever is beyond this is Misery and Torment or a kind of Senselesness which makes Men like Beasts I know few People but what are agreed One may cure or mitigate the Inconveniencies which happen to us but few are of Opinion That Life can be lengthened yet if this be possible we may then believe a Story which is believed here and which happened the year past in Paris An Ancient Man went to a Dervise of this great Town and thus accosted him I am come Reverend Father to know of you whether I may in good Conscience determine to live no longer being quite aweary of living I have already arrived to the 129th year of my Age by means of a Liquor which Chymistry has taught me whereby I did scarce perceive from any thing I felt that I was going down yet however this long Life appears at present to me irksome and intolerable My Blood is so purified in my Veins that I have remained without any of those Passions whereunto Mankind is generally Subject My Taste serves me no longer to discover the Delicacy of Meats My Ears although they be not deaf yet will not let me distinguish true Harmony from what is onely a Confusion of Sounds Mine Eyes are open to see but are not cleared with any Object My Faculty of Smelling is struck with Scents yet they make no Impressions on it I touch but I feel not what I touch and I touch all things indifferently Mine Heart is no longer sensible nor affected with Tenderness and Passion for my Friends Bile in me has no longer its usual Heat Joy and Sorrow Anger Desire of having Hope and Hatred are extinguished in me whereby I am become insensible in conserving if I may so say all my Senses I am resolved therefore to let my self dye provided you can assure me I may do it without Sin for should I remain two days without taking this precious Elixir I am certain I shall soon expire and so be delivered from the Vexation which overwhelms me 'T is said that the Dervise answered this Philosopher That he might not desire Death but on the contrary preserve his Life and supposing he made use of no Secret of Magick to prolong his Days he should believe that the marvellous Potion of which he had found the Secret by his Study and Travel was a Present from Heaven That 't is true he would be rid of a troublesome Life but he could not procure the End of it without a Crime and that he was obliged to preserve it to suffer with greater Submission the Pains he complained of which could not be comparable to the Pleasures he had received by enjoying the Gift which God had bestowed on him The Grear God preserve thy Days beyond those of this Philosopher and accompany them with whatever may give thee Satisfaction But I beseech him above all things that he never let slip out of thy Memory the Promise thou hast made me of having always a particular Respect to thy Servant Mahmut who reverences thy Holiness Paris 15th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1642. LETTER XI To the Redoubtable Vizir Azem I Make thee an Answer invincible Warrior by whose Counsels the formidable Empire of the Ottomans is governed under the Orders of the most mighty of the Princes of the Earth and whose Arm is terrible to all the Potentates of the World I have read thy Letter with which thou honourest the most submissive of thy Slaves with all the Humility
French Hands and that the Emperor of Germany be subjected to the Laws of the Osmans Thou seest the Time come wherein the French make Conquests without being present at them The King of this Nation appears not only Happy but is so in Reality all Things succeeding that he undertakes His Queen 's being with Child and the Cardinals Policy puzzle the Spaniard the Empire and Italy it self What will happen none knows but God and Mahomet 'T is our Duty to humble our selves and say what we see and not be so rash as to penetrate into the Future Do what thou canst by thy Intrigues to augment the Germans Losses for the Reasons thou knowest and particularly to facilitate the Sultan's Conquests in Hungary Assist in the mean Time the poor and faithful Mahmut not with the Sword that cuts every Thing but by good Counsel by which we ordinarily perceive the Re-union of what the Sword hath separated And I will pray the most High that all the Infidels bow the Knee before Amurath and that all that breathe may enjoy their Lives but by an Effect of his Clemency Paris 20th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XVII To Ahmet Beig I Receive none of thy Letters I receive none from the Divan and I have none from any of my Friends Italy where there are so many People proper for War that Province which hath Commanded the World is at this Time troubled by the Arms of France The Pope and Venetians who appear to have the Principal Interest there make no Advance to divert the Storm that threatens them Piemont which belongs to the Duke of Savoy begins to feel the Incommodities that War draws always with it That State is in the midst of the Spaniards who attack it and the French Ruine it in defending it These last cannot abandon the Interest of the House of Savoy the Dutchess being their King's Sister and her Children his Nephews The French are already strong on that Side having a great Garrison in Pigneroll a Place very considerable which they call one of the Gates of Italy whereof they have been Masters since the Year 1631. and their Power will much increase by the Accession of the Fort of Breme which may be termed a Rampart covering Cazal and Vercelle and which also defends both Montferrat and Piemont The Marquess of Leganez Governor of Milan having render'd himself Master of the Field had laid Siege to Breme and Marshal Crequi having in the Name of the King his Master undertaken the Defence of the young Duke of Savoy opposed the Designs of the Spaniards 'T is believed the War will be cruel in this Quarter being these are very Strong and the other very Expert Thou shalt know the Event In the mean Time all the Affairs of the French do not appear so Fortunate in Italy and at this Hour that I write to thee the Court laments the Loss of the General that Commanded their Armies in that Country There is certain News of the Death of Marshal Crequi who was shot with a Cannon-Bullet through the Body as he was going to view the Spaniards Works before Breme This Loss was by so much the more sensible to the French in that they saw their Enemies make such great Rejoycings at it All men conclude this Crequi was both a good Souldier and a good Captain a wise man and of Excellent Conduct He had acquired great Reputation for the King his Master in Italy He slew Don Philip Bastard of Savoy who challenged him in the sight of Two Armies He several Times defeated his Sovereign's Enemies in Montferrat and in Piemont and beat back the Duke of Feria to the Gates of Milan There remains no more of this Great Man who did so many brave Things but the bare Remembrance of ' em Scarce any thing of his Body save his Entrails was left for his Souldiers to celebrate his Obsequies with His Soul is before the Throne of God his Friends honour his Memory with their Elogies his Kindred mourn for him his Sovereign Praises him and his Souldiers Crown his Tomb with Herbs and Flowers The Italians say highly upon this Occasion That Italy has been Fatal to the French and that it will be so always They affirm That the Duke of Savoy will lose his Estate if defeated by his Enemies which he will likewise do by the Victory of his Friends But these are the Conjectures and ordinary Reasonings of Men which I write to thee to the end thou maist not only know what is done but also the Discourses which are entertained upon the Events that happen We shall shortly have News of the Siege of Bremen in the mean time it imports the French much to conserve the Opinion had of their Valour and Goodness The Business in hand is to defend a great and illustrious House which moreover pretends to the Sovereignty of the Kingdom of Cyprus troubled by the Ambition of Kindred and the Politicks of the Spaniards These Ingagements import much to Princes who have as many Maxims as differing Interests but we have nothing to do with the Differences of others May it please God that our Affairs be always attended with an Equality of good Luck for the Ruine of these Infidels Be thou constant in the Friendship thou promisedst me and always faithful to thy Friend who recommends himself to thee as the Law obliges thee to be to thy Sovereign Paris 20th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XVIII To Berber Mustapha Aga. I This day entertained a man which came from Italy and hath served in the French Troops He gives this account of the Death of Marshal Crequi The 17th of this Mouth this General having approached the Lines of the Spaniards to view their Works and to Fight them in case he judged it Expedient a Cannon-Bullet separated his Body in two and the Bullet being taken up they were surprised to see a Cross graved upon it about which were also engraved Letters which made these two Words TO CREQVI This Bullet the Cross and the Letters caused no less Astonishment than the Death of this Captain did Sorrow and every Body spoke his Sentiment of it Many treat the Spaniards as Magicians and Sorcerers Those who are perswaded of the Power of Negromancy affirm That the Devil can carry a Bullet to the Place whither 't is designed others are of a contrary Sentiment and believe there is no Power without the Commandment of the Great God There are others who believe neither Charms nor Characters nor Magick who despising all these Superstitions attribute All to Destiny and I believe the same Ahmet Celebi explains this perfectly well in his Journal which begins in the One thousand twenty sixth Year of our Hegira when he affirms That all things which pass here below are effected by the Orders of Heaven We cannot doubt says he but the Events which we see are the Effects of the Will of God yet we must believe he suffers all Things
to happen by Second Causes Had not Sultan Osman irritated the Janizaries and Spahi's by throwing them into the River alive when he ran disguised through the Streets of Constantinople and found them drinking Wine in Taverns And had he not published his Design of Reforming this Militia and transporting the Imperial Seat elsewhere he had not perhaps been murthered with so much Ignominy God sent him a terrible Dream before his Death He thought he saw our Great Prophet snatching the Alcoran which he was then reading out of his Hand and taking from him by Force his Coat of Arms and striking him down with such a great Box on the Ear that he could not get up again Thou knowest he consulted the Astrologers and Interpreters of Dreams thereupon I will not report what he who was his Praeceptor said for it was plain Flattery but we saw what was foretold by the Astrologers came punctually to pass These had foretold That the Emperor should never see the Feast of Ramezan because the Star which presided at his Birth was much obscured in its Conjunction with the Planet that was then predominant which made 'em affirm he would die in a very little Time The Ignominy wherewith his Death was accompanied was an Effect of Destiny for never any of the Ozmans suffer'd so much Shame He had several Times seen the fatal Cord about his Neck without dying A Soldier in Charity lent him his Handkercheif to cover his Head which was without a Turbant He said all in Tears to his Murtherers Ye saw this Morning your Emperor upon the Throne and this Evening you are for throwing him into a Dung-Cart designed to carry Dirt into the Sea You cannot live always and God will require a Reason for this Cruelty Thou knowest his resisting of those that strangled him caused him to suffer much Pain They took hold of him by the Secret Parts and one of his Ears was cut off and carried to the Valide who expected the News of his Death The Will of God appears in this Adventure as also the Power of Second Causes Thou may'st see all this in that Journal of Ahmet Had not Marshal Crequi been in the Wars he had not perhaps ended his Days by a violent Death and had he not been so rash as to approach too near to the Enemies Works the fatal Bullet had not touched him We see hereby an Effect of God's Will accompanied with our Consent because we search by our own Choice that which we might avoid In the mean time accuse me not of Ignorance or Superstition if I have been long in entertaining thee upon a Matter in Action betwixt Man and the Devil Thou knowest that by Magick Art we number the Twelve Spirits or Angels which preside over each of the Signs of the Zodiack which govern the Nations People and Cities committed to their Care In like Manner in the secret Cabala of the Jews by the Twelve Anagrams of the great Name of God and according to the Colour of the Stones where these Anagrams were engraved they judged of the Future performing thereby Things very astonishing They have subjected our Bodies to these Twelve Signs and divided them into Twelve Principal Members But how many surprizing Things are done with the Number Seven to which they have applied the Seven Planets by Means whereof they discover the Secret of the good or evil Fortune of Men Add to this the Invocation of Spirits and the Power of Figures of Words of Herbs of Writings of holy Characters and so many other Inchantments wherewith they consult the Black Angels and thou wilt find that Men do many Wonders by this Art which they cannot do without supernatural Assistance The little Bits of Paper cut Triangular-wise which Tokta Cham. the King of Persia's Embassador caused to be thrown in the Night round about the Imperial Tent of the Great Vizir Afis in each of which there was a certain Word writ wrought more considerable Effects than the Spaniard's Inchanted Bullet which killed Marshal Crequi The Ottoman Army revolted the Day following as if possessed with Furies The most Seditious took and bound the Vizir and made him raise the Siege of Babylon And the King of Persia who had already dismissed Mustapha Aga our Envoy with the Treaty whereby he surrendred this Place being advertised of the precipitate Retreat of our Army caused Mustapha to be called back tearing the Treaty he had given him in his Presence and bad him tell his General He could not do so shameful an Action as to surrender so important a Place to an Army that was running away Hast thou ever heard of any Thing so Strange Read this Ahmet Celibi's Book and thou wilt see that all these Prodigies arrived in one Day The Historian makes no Judgment upon this Adventure he only reports it neither do I believe it was an Effect of the Enchantment of these Bits of Paper and the Characters contained in them because it is certain our Army was greatly pressed with Hunger But in Effect when Mustapha all in Tears reproached the Vizir That if he had gained but two Days Time he had made a Peace equal to a Victory Afis answered him How couldst thou with thy Tears retain an Army possessed with all the Devils of Hell and resolved to be gone If thou finish the reading of so long a Letter accuse thy Patience and reproach not me with Tediousness for having writ many Things to thee worthy of being known After the Death of the French General Breme was presently delivered to the Spaniards by the Cowardliness of the Governor who incurr'd in time a rigorous Destiny for it having his Head cut off at Casal where they had imprisoned him The Great God preserve thee and thine for ever and protect thee against the ill Will of those that do not love thee Paris 20th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XIX To Murat Bassa THE Dutchess Dowager of Savoy finds her self extreamly pressed by the continual Incursions which the Spaniards make into Piemont they having besieged Vercelle a Place which covers the Country on the Side of Milan She her self appears on Horse-back with great Courage being resolved to recover what is lost as well as to defend the rest which is in some danger having joined her best Troops with great Diligence to those of France A Cardinal which they call the Cardinal la Valette commands in the Place of Marshal Crequi those Troops of France which consist of Twelve thousand Foot and Four thousand Horse Thou dost not know perhaps what these Cardinals are They be the principal Priests of the Roman Church Their Profession is not to command Armies though that sometimes happens either through want of sage Captains which these Infidel Kings may sometimes stand in need of or for other secret Reasons which are not always easie to penetrate and must be of great Importance France not wanting fit Seculars A Roman Mufti called Innocent IV. gave the Purple Habit