at the time of Audiences when there is nothing serv'd up but Sweetmeats and Fruits The Europeans who have the Honour to be call'd to these Feasts always find wherewithal to satisfie their Appetites for every thing is exquisite in its kind and well order'd Their way of Eating But they are often at a stand when they see they must eat Rice with their open Hands and tear the boil'd and rost with their Fingers for here you have neither Knives Forks nor Napkins They give you indeed a sort of Box-spoons but they are to drink a certain Liquor made of Rose-water boil'd Wine and Verjuice which you always drink with your Rice If you would you could not make use of 'em to eat because they are very large and deep and therefore not to be taken into your Mouths The Modesty Respect and Discretion of the Persian Officers is to be wonder'd at for they sit all in a profound silence at the King's Table Moreover their Repasts are generally so short Their Modesty at these Feasts that they have not time to talk if they were enclin'd eating open-handed for scarce is the last Table serv'd before the first is ready to be taken away The Magnificence of the King of Persia appears the more glorious How the King treats Strangers by reason of the great Number of foreign Princes that he entertains at his Court The Son of the Great Mogul the Princesses of Georgia and many Usbeg Princes keep their Courts with him at present at his Charge Ambassadors Envoys and others that bring Letters from any Princes of Asia and Europe which they confound all under the Names of Guests are lodg'd and entertain'd by his sole Bounty and to whom he never grants Audiences of Leave 'till he has made 'em Presents of Silver brocard and Silk Stuffs work'd in his Manufacturies Also there is nothing more obliging His obliging manner of receiving Ambassadours c. than the manner after which he receives 'em for no sooner are they arriv'd on the Confines and have acquainted the first Governour that they bring Dispatches to the King from such and such Princes but he immediately provides 'em Horses to mount themselves and Followers and furnishes 'em moreover with Mules and Camels to carry their Baggage And this all by the King's Orders who sends some of the Principal Officers to conduct 'em on to Court with express Commands to see 'em provided of all things necessary where ever they come When they are arriv'd at the City where the King is they place 'em in some House in the Suburbs and immediately go to give the King an account which he no sooner hears but he receives 'em into the Number of his Guests and orders the Introducer of Ambassadours to bring 'em such News on his behalf to prepare 'em an House richly furnish'd and therein to inrroduce 'em with Honour The Introducer immediately goes to salute 'em and after mutual Ceremonies takes an account of the number of their Retinue and accordingly hastens away to acquaint the King who assigns 'em all suitable Maintenance After this the Introducer goes to 'em again and conducts 'em to their Apartments prepar'd for ' em He provides 'em also a certain number of Guards to prevent any Affronts might be offer'd ' em He lays 'em in all things necessary for one Month and so continues every new Moon as long as they stay He makes 'em frequent Visits to inform himself of their Health and Occasions for any thing that he might inform the King He also conducts 'em to all Publick Audiences and Feasts where they have a proper Place assign'd ' em They are honour'd and respected where ever they come and it would be to wound the King in his tenderest Part to affront or give the least cause of Discontent to any of his Guests He has a great deal of Regard towards 'em and defrays their Charges when they return as well as when they come to his Court. He entertains into his Service all sorts of European Workmen European Workmen esteem'd of and entertain'd but he respects the French most of whom he has at present many skilful and excellent Watch-makers and Jewellers He gives 'em very munificent Salaries and there are some of 'em that receive 2500 Livres per Annum which together with all necessary Provisions amounts to a great Summ. The King esteems their Labour so dear that he will have 'em work for no body else He also entertains some Chineses and a great number of other Artists from all the Nations of Asia All those Lords who have the Honour to assist at these Feasts of the King of Persia His manner of taking the Air on Horse-back and other Diversions are oblig'd to wait upon him whenever he goes on Horse-back He mounts oftentimes to receive the Petitions of his Subjects as he passes and to entertain himself about Affairs of State with his Etmadaulet and other Ministers and sometimes to see the Exercises of the young Lords of his Court perform'd on Horse-back in that fine Course that Cha Abbas his Grandfather made to set off the City of Ispahan Cha Abbas having a mind to fix the Seat of his Successours at Ispahan A fine Course spar'd no cost to adorn it with magnificent Palaces Houses of Pleasure and noble Walks and amongst the rest that fine Course he planted between the New and Old City is one of the most bewitching 'T is a Walk very streight and uniform more than two hundred Geometrical feet broad and two good French Leagues long It s Description It is set on each side with a great number of Plane-Trees which are large high and spreading and whose Leaves being of the bigness of those of a Vine make a very agreeable Shade This Course beginning at the declining of the Mountain Sofa is made round so that the Fountain which is in the middle throws its Spouts agreeably on all sides into great eight corner'd Basons as large as Ponds which receiving their Force with regret returns 'em into several other Basons at three hundred Paces distance one from another which must needs be thought to make a very pleasant Sight Between the spaces of these Basons are the King 's Royal Houses on both sides of the Walk one over against another they are built after the same manner and their Structure is both commodious and magnificent They have many Stories distinguish'd by Balconies and which advance upon the Course Their Fronts are embellish'd with Paintings and enrich'd with Leaves and Flowers of Gold in demi Relievo This Walk is cross'd by another less both in length and breadth Another Course but which has a very fair Canal in the middle of it of about twenty foot broad and six in depth The Walls on both sides are open Pallisado'd with Iron gilded and which gives a very delightful Prospect into the King's Garden The River Zendroud cuts the Course a little below the Walk
which are allow'd or controll'd at his Pleasure The Kingdom of Persia is so very large A good Pulicy that the most distant Kans might very well disturb the State if they were allow'd to be altogether Masters of their Soldiers But this probable disorder has been prevented by placing in every Province a Vizier or Overseer which does the same thing in Persia as the Intendant in France except that they are not allow'd to pronounce Justice as they do but are only Assistants to the Kans who are always the proper Judges in their own Provinces These Viziers raise the Soldiers Pay upon the Demesns that the Kans might not have the power to engage 'em to a Revolt They have also care that the Peasants to avoid the hard Usages of the Kans and other Officers do not forsake their Labour The Kalentar or Provost of the Merchants has also authority to prevent the abusing of Merchants and other Tradesmen And the Deputies of the Sadre Chiek Alislam and the Kazi are as so many Spies to observe the Proceedings of the Kan and who can scarce do any thing without their Privity These are good Orders but ill observ'd for if the Kan have but cunning enough to manage the People he may do what he pleases without any Check or Restraint Tho' the People have the justest cause imaginable Petitions when presented yet they find it often very difficult to make their Complaints for they can never present any Petition to the King but when he goes on Horse-back and then the Kans have always so much Interest at Court as to prevent their Approaching him Sometimes they make the Great Astrologer their Friend who pretends to consult the Stars and that it is not a lucky Hour for his Majesty to receive Petitions in How prevented And sometimes the Great Marshal who goes just before the King and commands his Servants to keep the Suppliants off with tough Cudgels Morever the King always does the honour of Discoursing with him upon the way to some one of his Ministers who if he be engag'd will discourse of quite another thing than what is expos'd in the Petition And in a Word there is nothing easier than to corrupt the King's Footmen who always run to receive the Petitions and who can very well suppress some of them by the way Nevertheless Hazara to oppress his Subjects it is no common hazard to oppress any of this King's Subjects for he has so great a love for them that he severely punishes those Governours that do but offend 'em but yet he is not always rightly inform'd of their conduct The Lords of his Councel are all provided of some Government whose Lieutenants are also subject to the same hazards with their Governours and therefore these employ their Interests as strenuously for them as themselves for fear their Extortions being discover'd might prove a prejudice to their Grandeur and great Expences at Court which are altogether supply'd by these means So that providing there be no falling out between the Governours their Oppressions and Injustice can never be known A difference arising between the Chief Minister and the Constable in 1685 was the cause of a Brother of the latter's ruine For the Constable who ow'd his own Rise to this Minister insinuated himself so much farther into his Favour that he obtain'd the Government of Sembran for his Brother Mahmed Reza Kan But this new Governour who might have been one of the greatest Men in Persia had he had so much Goodness and Honesty as Wit began to exercise so many Inhumanities and Oppressions in that Province that the People came to Court in Crowds for redress They carried their Accusations first to the Chief Minister who sending for the Constable acquainted him with the many Complaints were made against his Brother and desir'd him to use means to prevent the like for the future for fear of the ill Consequences that would certainly ensue if they should come to the King's Ear. So great a kindness as this from a Person that had a power of distributing Justice himself one would have thought might have prevail'd upon this Constable but the favour he imagin'd he was in with the King over balanc'd all other Considerations and therefore blinded with Ambition he gave him such an Answer as was the utter ruine of his Brother and in a great measure of himself For he told this Minister That it was not so great a wonder if his Brother who was a young Man had ruin'd a Province when he that was so consummated a Politician had done the like for all Persia This Constable forgot all the while he ow'd his Preferment to this Man and who had as great a power to suppress his Pride as he had had to advance it In short the Etmadaulet inform'd the King of all and this Governour of Sembran was immediately degraded and his Estate confiscated to the People's use to make 'em amends for their loss He was forthwith sent to Hispahan and there laid in Irons He also receiv'd so many blows on the Feet as made his Nails jump off from 'em and he never had escap'd a shameful death if the Constable who was also out of favour upon this occasion had not found out some means to appease the angry Etmadaulet and moreover disburs'd Twenty Thousand Crowns to make the People full satisfaction He saved his Brother's Head by these means but he was never able to re-establish him in any Employ or the King's favour who would never so much as look upon him ever afterwards The People may also present Petitions against the Kans by way of the Etmadaulet or Divan-Begui Petitions presented how but these ways are full as chargeable and often of as great difficulty as the former For if the Kans Complained against are Friends either to one or other of these great Lords or if they be Persons of a better Reputation than ordinary they will be sure to have these Petitions secretly sent ' em And if not so the Suppliant must enter into a Recognizance to the King conformable to the importance of the matter to be instantly paid if he has falsly accus'd the Kan The Etmadaulet and Divan-Begui affix their Seals to this Recognizance and then it must be enter'd in Five several Registers where there are great Duties to be paid After that the Suppliant carries it to the Divan-Begui who grants out a Commission to some Lord of that Province to examine into the Affair and then he allows the Suppliant a Messenger of the Palace to do Execution and levy the Recognizance Afterwards he carries it to the Chancery where the Keeper of the Seals sends him into the Haram to get the King's Seal apply'd Then the Suppliant departs with his Messenger whose Charges he is oblig'd to defray 'till he has made good what he pretended 'T is easie to guess after this with what Impunity the Kans are suffer'd to Tyrannize over the People when they
Jerusalem when he foretold the Miseries he saw would fall upon her Also those he shed upon the Tomb of Lazarus The Mortal Affliction his Soul was seiz'd with in the Garden of Olives at the sight of the Torments he was a-going to suffer The Prayer he made to his Father three times to remove the bitter Cup far from him The Humble Circumstances of his Passion And lastly His Ignominious Death It was a Glorious and Triumphing Jesus Christ that they ought to have preach'd and not one that could be humbled and ty'd to a Cross The Zeal you see us have my Lord to maintain that Christ dy'd on the Cross should be a Motive to encline you to believe us For else why could not we agree with you that it was Judas was Crucify'd in his place and spare our selves the shame of Adoring a God fix'd to a Gibbet But 't is this shame alone which is the cause of our Glory We Preach Jesus Christ Crucify'd which is a subject of Scandal to the Jews and to you a Motive of Mockery and Laughter The Curiosity the Persians have about Religion gives the Missionaries a great advantage over ' em To Convert 'em to Christianity there is need of a great deal of Candour and even Temper and little or no Passion or over-hot Zeal They will never believe a Man inspir'd with the Spirit of God who is govern'd by Rage and Passion Also as they have themselves a great deal of Flegm too brisk a Method would not have its end To make 'em sensible of the Contradictions and Absurdities of the Alcoran has prov'd to me of great use Also as they have the Bible and some of the Fathers amongst 'em we might advise 'em to read ' em They find out themselves how different those Histories are from the Fables of Mahomet left 'em in his Alcoran This Reading has been a means God has made use of to induce many of the Greatest Men about 'em to be led to the true knowledge of him and his Son From Laurestan I took my Journey towards Hamadan a City of Media and Capital of a Province of the same Name and chief Residence of a Begueler-Begui 'T is situate at the foot of Mount Alvand which the Persians call Sultan Alvand that is to say Queen of the Mountains because it is the most Fertile and one of the highest in all Persia It is a branch of Mount Taurus which leaves it at the Town of Zengan and runs even to the Persian Gulf. The famous Avicen liv'd a great while upon this Mountain to make his Observation upon Simples with which it is all cover'd over Hamadan has 35 degrees and 12 Minutes of Polar Elevation It is a very Ancient City as may be judg'd by the ruins of a new Magnificent Temple there and of which there remains nothing at present but a very high Dome built with Bricks and Painted like Porcelane upon which appear some few Hebrew Characters Under this Dome there is a Chappel 18 foot square where are the Tombs of Hester and Mordecai Upon these Tombs are rais'd two stately Mausoleums made of a very hard Wood and Engraven with the Story of Hester in Hebrew Characters Upon Hester's Tomb is writ The Great Queen HESTER and on Mordecai's These Mausoleums have been plac'd here by Ardachir or Arsaces But there is no Date to distinguish which of the Arsaces is meant The Mausoleum of Mordecai is on the right hand It has 7 foot in length and heighth upon 3 of breadth That of Hester is on the left built after the same fashion only it is a foot higher than that of Mordecai The Jews keep there a great number of Lamps which burn Night and Day They Pray here only on their great Days Our House was not far from this Temple We were establish'd there in 1684. I brought the King of Persia's Patents thither obtain'd by our King's Recommendation and which confirm our Establishment One day making a Visit about our Affairs to a Persian Lord call'd Reza-Kouli-Begue a Dervich a Man of very good Sence an excellent Philosopher and one that was very well read in the Holy Scriptures He of a sudden turn'd all the discourse upon Religion He began by giving great commendation to the Christian Faith and said That he thought it every where very conformable to Reason unless in that place where it teaches that Jesus Christ is GOD. 'T is true reply'd I we do acknowledge his Divinity that Point is the Foundation of our Religion But what amazes me is That you should have the same thing in your Alcoran and yet not believe it For under correction what signifies Rouh Allah which is the word that Mahomet gives to Jesus Christ This Arabian word Arguments with a Persian Lord to prove Christ's Divinity says he for I have thoroughly study'd that Language signifies the Spirit or Soul of God This Spirit or Soul of God then said I is it distinct from God or the same thing with him It cannot be distinct from him without doubt says he Then reply'd I Jesus Christ must be God For what is the same thing with God is God He seem'd touch'd with this conclusion but I extreamly commended his being so Ingenuous as to give me the true sense of the word Rouh Allah I have not met with said I in other Mahometans the like sincerity they have always given this word a different sense to elude the consequence I have drawn from it We all reply'd Reza Kouli-Begue acknowledge Jesus Christ for a Divine Person and we have for him a very great respect when you Christians do but slight and vilifie our Holy Prophet Mahomet You respect Jesus Christ said I because you every where meet with a Saint in his Character that moves you but shew me throughout all Mahomet's Life the least shadow of such Characters You respect Jesus Christ because you own him for a Prophet sent by God to Man and you acknowledge him such by evident Proofs of his Holiness which you are not able to resist But is there any one that can give us such an Idea of Mahomet What has been his Conduct What Doctrine has he taught Men By what Miracles has he prov'd that he was sent from God What Prophets have foretold his Mission or his Conduct I shall not insist Sir upon any shameful Circumstances of his Life because I 'm well assur'd that you your self do secretly detest 'em in your heart His Conduct No Sir I have too good an opinion of you to say any thing of that It is not from his Conduct I 'm sure that you believe him a Prophet His Alcoran where he has dar'd to publish his own Uncleannesses in all Ages will rise up in Judgment against him And had you never so many Miracles to boast in his behalf his Infamous Life alone would be enough to cancel 'em all and no Man of good sense would suffer himself to be gain'd to his Party But now I