of Birds unknown to us and such as I never saw before among the rest there is a kind of Ducks which gives a sound like Trumpeters or such as blow the Cornet the noise they make is almost like the sound of a Post-boys Horn. It is a Bird which though it hath nothing wherewith to defend it self yet is very strong and daring The Turks are verily persuaded that the Devils are afraid of them This is certain they are so tenaciously sensible of their Liberty that though they have been kept up tame in a Coop for three Years together yet if they can but get an opportunity to escape away they fly to their wonted Haunts as preferring their Natural Seats before their confin'd Prisons though they be cramm'd and fatned there We pass'd on from Chiausada to Karali from Karali to Hazdengri from thence to Mazothoy from Mazothoy we passed over the River Sangac which runs into Pontus out of Phrygia and came to Mahathli from thence to Zugli thence to Chilancych from Chilancych to Ialancych from thence to Portuguin and from Portuguin we reached to Ancyra called by the Turks Angur We staid one whole day at Ancyra partly because the Turks did not hasten us for in regard the Persian Embassador made an Halt we were desired to do so too that we might make our Entrances both at one time into Amasia I saw nothing remarkable in all the Villages aforementioned save that sometimes among the Turkish Sepulchres we light upon some Pillars or ancient Stones of curious Marble wherein there were some Remains of Latin or Greek Inscriptions but so defaced that they could not be read which Occurrent did resent me very much for all my delight was assoon as I came to my Inn at Night to inquire after old Inscriptions together with Latin and Greek Coins and sometimes for rare kinds of Plants As for the Sepulchres or Graves of the Turks their Custom is not to fill them with Earth but throw great Stones upon them for a covering would you know the reason 'T is Superstititious enough The Turks believe that when the Devil God bless us accused the deceased and calls upon him to give an Account how he spent his Life then his good Genius will defend him and this Stone forsooth is the Place upon which the Ghost must sit that he may plead his Cause with more care and this Grave-stone is huge and bulky that so Dogs Wolves or other Ravenous Beasts especially the Hyaena may not injure his Corps as it lies in the Earth For The Hyaena is a Beast common in those Countries she uses to dig up Graves and taking out the dead Bodies from thence carries them to her Den near which you shall see a great heap of Bones of Men Horses and other Creatures she is a little lower than a Wolf but quite as long she hath a Skin like a Wolf only her Hair is rougher and full of great black Spots her Head is contiguous to her Spina dorsi without any verâ—ebrae at all so that when she looks backward she must of necessity turn her whole Body Instead of a row of Teeth she hath but one continued Bone as Reports go of her The Turks do ascribe great Vertue to this Beast in Philtres as did the Ancients and whereas there were two of them at Constantinople when I was there I cheapned them but their Owners were unwilling to sell them because they kept them for the Sultanness i. e. the Emperor's Wife who was thought by amatory Potions and Magick Art to have engaged thereby her Husband's Love to her Here I cannot chuse but take notice of a Mistake in Bellonius who thinks the Hyaena to be the same Creature with that we call the Zibeth or Musk cat But seeing I am about describing the Hyaena I will tell you a Tale which I am sure will make you laugh if ever you have laughed in your Life it is this The Turks have a Tradition that the Hyaena which in their Language they call Zittlian understands what Men say one to another yea the Ancients affirm'd that they could also imitate Man's Voice and thereupon Hunters catch them by this Wile they find out her Den which they may easily do by the heap of Bones lying by it as I said before and then one of them goes in with a Rope leaving the other end of the Rope in the Hands of his Fellows without and when he is creeping in he cries with a loud Voice ever and anon Ioctur Ioctur Vcala i. e. She is not here She is not here or I cannot find her whereupon the Hyaena thinking she is not discovered lies close and he ties one end of the Rope about his Leg and then he goes forth still crying I cannot find her but when he is escap'd quite out of the Hole he cries out aloud She is within She is within which the Hyaena hearing and understanding the meaning of it as they say leaps out thinking to escape but then they hold her back by the Rope tyed to her Leg that they either kill her or if they use care and diligence take her alive for she is a fierce Creature and defends her self desperately But enough if not too much of the Hyaena I found abundance of old Coins all up and down this Country especially of the later Emperors viz. the Constantines the Constantius's the Iustin's the Valens's the Valentine's the Numerians the Probus's the Tacitus's and such like in many Places the Turks use them for Weight viz. of a Drachm or half a Drachm and they call it Giaur Manguri i. e. the Mony of the Pagans or Infidels The like Coins I found in the neighbouring Cities of Asia as at Amysus at Synopis at Cumonme at Amastris and Amasia it self whither we were going There was a Brasier of that City which grieved me very much for demanding of him Whether he had any old Coins to sell He answered me That a few days ago he had a large Room full of them but now he had melted them down to make Brass-kettles as thinking them of little value and fit for no other use when I heard this Story it troubled me much to lose so many choice Monuments of Antiquity but I paid him back in his own Coin as the Proverb is by telling him That I would have given him a hundred Guilders for them so that my Revenge was suited to his Injury for I sent him away as sorrowful for losing so full a Morsel out of his Mouth as he did me for losing the Coins As for Plants I saw very few in my Journy in those Parts which were unknown to us in Europe they were almost all of the same kind only they were more or less flourishing according to the Richness or Poverty of the Soil The Amomum which Dioscorides says grows near Pontus I very diligently sought for but in vain so that I knew not whether that Plant did not fail in that Country or else was
Butt In the Thumb of their right Hand they use Rings of Bone on which the String lies when they draw it and with the Thumb of their Left Hand they draw the Arrow by a knot of eminent juncture far otherwise than they do with us Their Butt is made of a Bank of sandy gravelly Earth raised about 4 Foot high from the Ground and firm'd with Boards round about But the Bassa's and those that have great Families do train up their Servants in this Exercise at their own Houses where the more skilful do teach the unexperienced Some of these in their common Bayram for they also have their Easter gather themselves together in a great Plain about Pera where sitting over against one another cross Legg'd as Taylor 's do with us for that is the Mode of their sitting they begin with Prayer so the Turks begin all their Enterprizes and then they strive who shall shoot an Arrow furthest The whole Contest is managed with a great deal of Modesty and Silence tho' the number of Spectators be very great Their Bows are very short for this Exercise and the shorter the better so that they are hardly bendable but by well-practised Persons Their Arrows also are of a peculiar kind He that conquers hath a Linnen-Handkerchief such as we use to wipe off our Sweat wrought with embroidered Needle-work for his Reward but his greatest Encouragement is the Commendation and Renown he gets 'T is almost incredible how far they will shoot an Arrow they mark the place with a Stone where the furthest Arrow for that Year was pitch'd There are many such Stones in the Field placed there time out of Mind which are further than they are able to shoot now adays they say These were the Marks of their Ancestors Archery whose Skill and Strength in Shooting they acknowledge they cannot reach to In divers Streets and Cross-ways of the City Constantinople there are also such Sports wherein not only Children and young Men but even the graver â—ort do exercise themselves in There is one that takes care of the Butt who waters it every day otherwise it would be so dry that an Arrow the Turkish Arrows being always blunt would not stick therein And he that thus oversees the Mark is very diligent to draw out and to cleanse the Arrows and throw them back to the Archers and he hath a Stipend from them sufficient to maintain him The Front of the Butt bears the Similitude of a little Door whence perhaps was derived the Greek Proverb that when a Man miss'd the Mark he is said to shoot Extrâ— januam besides the Door for I suppose the Greeks used this way of Butting and that the Turks borrowed it from them I grant the use of the Bow is very ancient among the Turks but that hinders not but when they conquered the Grecian Cities they might still retain their way of Butting and Bounding their Arrows For no Nation scruples to transfer the profitable Inventions of other Nations to themselves as I might instance in Great Ordâ—nance and in Muskets and other things which tho' not our Inventions yet the Turks borrow their use from us 'T is true they could never yet be brought to the Printing of Books nor to the setting â—locks publick the Reasons are That their Scripture i. e. Alchoran would no longer be called Scripture or Writing if it were Printed that 's their Fancy and for Clocks they suppose that the Authority of their Emraim and of their ancient Rites would be diminished if they should permit the use of them In other Cases they ascribe much to the ancient Institutions of other Nations even almost to the prejudice of their own Religion I speak of their Commonality All Men know how averse they are from the approving of Christian Rites and Ceremonies and yet let me tell you that whereas the Greek Priests do use at Spring time a certain way of Consecration to open the Sea for Saylers before which time they will hardly commit their Vessels to the Waters The Turks also observe the same Ceremony For when their Vessels are ready to sail they repair to the Grecians and ask them Whether they have consecrated the Sea If they say No they desist if Yea then they set sail and away 'T was also a Custom of the Greeks not to open the Pits in the Isle Lemnos for the digging out of the Earth called Agosphrogd before the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord viz. August 6. The Turks also observe the same Custom and whereas the Grecian Priests did anciently celebrate the Liturgy at that time the Turks will have them do so still and they themselves stand at a distance as Spectators only And if you ask them why they do this Their Answer is That there are useful Customs practised of old the Causes whereof are not known The Ancients they say saw and knew more than we and therefore we will not violate their Customs lest we do it to our Loss This Opinion hath so far prevailed among some of them that I know some who in private will baptize their Children alledging they believe there is some good in that Rite and that it was not instituted at first without just Cause Having acquainted you thus far with the Turkish Exercises let me add one more They have a Custom derived from the Parthians that they counterfeit flying away on Horseback and presently turn back and kill their unwary Pursuers The way they learn to do it is this They erect an high Pole almost in plain Ground with a Brass-globe atop of it about this they spur their Horses and having got a little beyond the Horse still Galloping they presently turn about and flying along shoot an Arrow into that Globe The frequent use hereof makes them to expect that their Bow being turn'd in their sight their unwary Enemy is shot through 'T is time now you 'll say that I return to my Lodging lest my Keeper be angry with me Well then what time is left me from beholding these Exercises I bestow it all on my Books or in Conferences with my Friends the Citizens of Pera originally Genoeses or others yet not without the leave of my Chiauxes These Fellows are not always in the same Humour they have their lucid Intervals and also sometimes are more tractable than at others When 't is fair Weather with them the Ragusteans the Florentines the Venetians and sometimes the Greeks with other Nations come to visit me on one Account or another sometimes also I converse with Men of more remote Countries coming hither whose Conversation doth much delight me A few Months ago there came thither a Merchant from Dantzick who had the sole vending of Amber He wondred what use the Turks put so great a quantity of it as they bought to or whither they sent it At last he was resolved That they sent it into Persia where that kind of Juice or Bitumen is highly esteemed for they adorn Parlors
a Man shew'd them a piece of Mony out of his Chamber tho' it were at a great distance from them yet they would fly up to fetch it and if the Man would not let it go they would sit upon his Hand and so accompany him from one Room to another still pulling at the Mony and when they had got it as if they remembred their Errand on which they were sent when their Master whistled to them in the High-way down they would fly to him again and as a Reward for the Mony in their Bills he would give them a little Hemp-seed But I shall proceed no further in such Stories as these lest you should think me a second Pliny or an Aelian and that I were designed to write an History of Animals I proceed then to other Matters and shall give you an Example of the Chastity of Turkish Women The Turks take more Pains to have their Wives modest than any other Nation and therefore they ordinarily keep them close up at home and hardly suffer them to see the Sun but if any necessity calls them abroad they go so hooded and veil'd as if they were Hobgoblins or Ghosts 'T is true they can see Men through their Veils or Hoods but no part of all their Bodies is open to Mans view for they have this Tradition among them that it is impossible for a Man to look on a Woman especially if she be young and handsome without desiring to enjoy her and by that desire the Mind is excited and therefore they keep them all covered Their own Brothers have liberty to see them but their Husbands Brothers have not the same permission The nobler and richer sort when they Marry do it with this Condition that their Wives shall never set a foot out of Door and no Person living either Male or Female be the Cause what it will shall ever have leave to see them no not their nearest Alliance in Blood except only the Father and Mother who at Easter their Bairam are permitted to see their Daughter and in lieu of this Strictness if the Wife have Parents of the better sort and she bring her Husband a large Dowry the Husband on his part promiseth that he will never have any Concubines but will keep to her alone In other Cases the Turks have as many Concubines as they will besides their lawful Wives and the Children of both are equally respected and have as much Privilege one as the other Their Concubines they either buy or take them in War and when they are weary of them may sell them in the open Market only if they have Children by them then they obtain their Liberty This made Roxolanâ— stand upon her Terms with Solyman in having brought him forth a Son when she was a Slave and thereby obtain'd Manumission Hereupon she refused to submit to his Will any longer unless he Married her which he doting for Love wou'd do against the Custom of the Ottoman Princes A lawful Wife with them differs from a Concubine only upon the account of her Dowry which a lawful Wife hath but a Concubine hath not And when once her Dowry is assigned her then she is a Mistress Governess of the House and all the other Women under her And yet the Husband hath have to lye with which of them he please at his Choice and when he makes known his Pleasure to his Wife she bids the Maid he desires prepare himself for his Bed and she obeys perhaps more joyfully than her Mistress commands her Only Friday Night which is their Sabbath the Wife claims as her due and she thinks her self wrong'd if her Husband defraud her thereof other Nights he may lie with which of his Slaves he please Divorces are made among them for many Causes which Men easily pretend and when a Wife is divorced her Dowry is restored unless she be put away on a dishonest Account but Women have but few to instance some among them few this is one if their Husband do not allow them due Maintenance and if they offer to abuse them against Nature a Crime usual among them then the Wife goes to the Judge and tells him She can no longer endure to live with her Husband when he asks the Cause they say nothing but pull off their Shoo from their Feet and turn it up and down which is a Sign among them of the unlawful use of Copulation The greatest sort among them that have abundance of Women set Eunuchs to guard them not such as have only their Stones taken out but such whose Yards are also impaired because otherwise they think such as lost their Stones only may desire the use of a Woman tho' not for Generation yet for Pleasure The great Men also have Baths at their own Houses wherein they and their Women do wash but the meaner sort use publick Baths A Turk hates Bodily Filth and Nastiness worse than Soul-Defilement and therefore they wash very often and they never ease themselves by going to Stool but they carry Water with them for their Posteriors But ordinarily the VVomen bathe by themselves Bond and Free together so that you shall many times see young Maids exceeding beautiful gathered from all Parts of the VVorld exposed Nacked to the view of other VVomen who thereupon fall in Love with them as young Men do with us at the sight of Virgins By this you may guess what their strict VVatch over Females comes to and how 't is not enough to avoid the Company of an adulterous Man for the Females burn in Love one towards another and the Pandaresses to such refined Loves are the Baths and therefore some Turks will deny their VVives the use of their publick Baths but they cannot do it altogether because their Law allows them But these Offences happen among the Ordinary sort the richer sort of Persons have Baths at home as I told you before It hapned one time that at the publick Womens Baths an old Woman fell in Love with a Girl the Daughter of a poor Man a Citizen of Constantinople and when neither by Wooing nor Flattering her she could not obtain that of her which her mad Affection aim'd at she attempted to perform an Exploit almost incredible she feign'd her self to be a Man changed her Habit hired an House near the Maids Father and pretended he was one of the Chiaâ—xes of the Grand Siegnior and thus by reason of his Neighbourhood she insinuated her self into the Mans Acquaintance and after some time acquaints him with the desire of his Daughter In short he being such a Man in a prosperous Condition the Matter was agreed on a Portion was setled such as they were able to give and a day appointed for the Marriage when the Ceremonies were over and this doughty Bridegroom went into the Bride-chamber to his Spouse after some Discourse and plucking off her Head-geer she was found to be a Woman Whereupon the Maid runs out and calls up her Parents who soon
press upon Caesar that he wanted neither able Soldiers nor expert Commanders to chastise their Insolency Yet the Turks of those Borders did not carry it with any great Modesty for while Haly was yet encamped at Sigeth our Men had scaled the Walls of Gran and taken the City having a Castle near it of the same Name where they got a great deal of Booty and carried away the Inhabitants being most Women and Children A Messenger was sent immediately to Haly to acquaint him with the Loss who coming into his Presence by the very Consternation of his Countenance portended some great Mischief to have happned to them The Bassa presently asked him How things went and what was the Cause of his great Fear Sir says he the Enemy hath taken and plundered Gran which great Blow occasions my Grief A Blow Fool says the Bassa tell me of a Blow when I have lost my Genitals to which he pointed with his Hand that shew me to be a Man Thus did he scoff at the Consternation of the Messenger and undervalued the Loss of Gran which was easily recoverable not without the Laughter of the By-standers Moreover in Croatia and the adjoyning Countries several inroads were made by both Parties and each side did alternately suffer for their over-boldness and supine Security Let me give you an Instance which was joyous to me and I hope will not be unpleasant to you to hear of though it happened somewhat before the before-mentioned Passageâ— at Sigeth but in Writing an Epistle I do strictly observe the Order of Time News was brought to Rustan from those Parts That a certain Confident of his whom he highly esteemed and called Cousin had fallen upon a Party of Christians as they were celebrating a Wedding aâ—d being at a sufficient Distance as they thought from the Turks counted themselves secure when behold this bold and unwelcome Guest with armed Forces came in upon them spoiled their Mirth slew some took some Prisoners among whom was the unfortunate Bridegroom with his unbedded Spouse Rustan did much rejoyce at this Exploit and in all Company highly commended the Stratagem of his Kinsman for performing it A pitiful Case you will say rather to be lamented than related But these are the Tragical Sports of insolent Fortune yet Revenge followed him at the Heels Rustan's Laughter was soon turned to sadness For a little while after one of the Belies or mad Sparks a sort of mad Horsemen among the Turks so called by their outragious Boldness came post to him out of Dalmatia and told him That a parcel of Turks had made an Excursion into the Enemies Country and had got great Booty but setting no bounds to their Avarice they at last were encountred with a Party of Christians Dragoons or Musketeers who wofully routed them slew many Sanziacks and amongst them his Achillean Cousin lately so much extolled by him This sad News made Rustan burst forth into Tears so that his fit of Laughter was justly requited But hearken to the close of the Story which is not unpleasant When this Dalmatian Trooper who brought the News was ask'd by the Bassa in the Divan How many were there of you He answered Above Two Thousand five hundred And how many of the Christians I think said he they were not above Five Hundred unless there were more of them in ambush as we suspected Fy for Shame said the fretting Bassa's what a just Army of Musulmans so they call the Men of their own Religion to be beat by so small a handful of Christians you are goodly Warriours indeedâ— fit for to eat the Sultan's Bread are you not The blunt Fellow nothing dismayed replied You are quite beside the Cushion did I not tell you that we were beaten by Musketeers 't was the Fire defeated us not the valour of our Enemies we had come off Conquerors if we had contested by Valour only but who can fight against Fire the fiercest of Elements and what Mortal can stand if the very Elements fight against him This bold Answer of his being as saucily pronounced made the By-standers ready to burst out into a Laughter though on this sad occasion to them This Matter did mightily refresh my Spirits which were over-grieved at the Remembrance of the former Mis-hap of the Marriage-Feast This Story informs us That our Pistols and Carbines which are used on Horseback are a great Terror to the Turks as I hear they are to the Persians also for once upon a Time there was a Fellow that perswaded Rustan when he accompanied his Prince in a War against Persia to arm Two hundred Horse of his Domesticks with Pistols For they said he will be terrible to our Enemy and will also do great execution upon them Rustan hearkned to his Councel and furnished out a Party as advised but before they had marched half way their Carbines or Pistols were ever and anon out of Order one thing or other was broke or lost and scarce any Body could mend them Hereupon this Party was useless and the Turks were also against this Armature because it was sluttish the Turks being much for cleanliness in War the Troopers Hands were black and sooty their Cloaths full of Spots and their Case-boxes that hung by their Sides made them ridiculous to their Fellow Soldiers who therefore jeered them with the Title Medica Menturi or Mountibank Soldiers hereupon they apply themselves to Rustan complaining of this ill-favoured useless Armour which could do no Service against an Enemy and entreating to be restored to their usual Weapons their Bows and Arrows which at their Desire was accordingly granted them The mention I made a while ago of things acted in the Confine of Hungary gives me occasion to tell you what the Turks think of Duels which amongst Christians is accounted a singular Badge of personal Valour There was one Arslambey a Sanziack that lived in the Frontiers of Hungary who was very much famed for a Robust Person he was expert at the Bow no Man brandished his Sword with more Strength none was more terrible to his Enemy not far from him there also dwelt one Vlybey a Sanziack also who was emulous of the same praise and thus emulation initiated perhaps by other occasions at length occasioned Hatred and many bloody Combats between them It happened thus Vlibey was sent for to Constantinople upon what occasion I know not when he came thither the Bassa's had asked many Questions of him in the Divan concerning other Matters at last they demanded how he and Arslanbey Aâ—sta signifies a Lion in Turky came to fall out Hereupon he makes a long Narration of the Grudges between them with their Causes and Progress and to put a fair Paint on his own Cause That once Arslanbey had laid an Ambush and wounded him treacherously Which said he he need not to have done if he would have shewed himself worthy the Name he bears seeing I have often challenged him to fight Hand to Hand and never
Choice Youths shining in their Arms of strong and nimble Bodies Exercising themselves with Guns Spears or Swords nimbly turning their Bodies at the Beck of their Commanders and by the Chearfulness of their Countenance woing an Enemy to Fight withal Such sorts of Youth videlicet The Ianizaries the Turkish Emperors call their Sons as the Hope and Foundation of their Empire Philopemen the last Emperor of the Greeks when he saw the VVarlike Glory of his Country to decline and to be ready to give up the Ghost out of Cowardise and Neglect of Military Discipline and as a Lover of his Country being willing to prevent its Ruine he got a brave Train of Grecian Noble Youths about him which he Instructed in the Art of VVar and coming once with this Train in his Military Habit into a Theatre of Greece full of Spectators he was mightily Hâ—zza'd and commended by the whole Assembly for they were sensible of the Merit of such a Citizen who was willing to Retrieve the Glory of his Country and to Excite the Youth thereof to valiant Feats of Arms. And why may not we Christians get the same Applause and do that which is acceptable both to God and Man if we undertake the declining Cause of our common Safety and vindicate our Military Praise to its ancient Dignity But I shall put an end to this Discourse when I shall have told you the Grounds thereof when I have Admonish'd and Adjur'd Christians to shake off that drousie Fit under which they lye and so run in to the Help of a decaying Commonwealth The Danger is as great as ever was let us then bestir our selves to maintain those Seats with that Credit which our Ancestors have got for us and deliver them down to our Posterity and the only way so to do is this To Repel Force with Force to run to our Arms and that not fortuitous tumultuous and forreign Ones but our own Country Ones Listed and Trained up with great Judgment and choice Reasons We should herein imitate valiant Soldiers who when they are Besieged in a weak Fort and are ready to fall into the Hands of a cruel Enemy they stir up all their Strength and do their very utmost to preserve themselves But if we be otherwse minded and through Cowardise or mistake be wanting to the Commonwealth or our selves there are but these two ways left either we must leave our own Country and Hereditary Possessions as a Prey to the Conqueror or else we must dye or be made Slaves Of the Two if we be so degenerate let us rather leave our Habitatations our Lands Goods and Houses than suffer our very Blood to be suck'd the Chastity of our Wives and Children to be expos'd or those Indignities suffer'd with so many People of Asia Africa and Europe from the furthest Eastern Countries even to our Borders do undergo If we walk in their Steps we may fear the same Ruine But why pray should we Transplant our â—ves let 's rather Fight it out and chearfully buckle to those ways of Defence which God has mercifully supply'd us with To our Arms to our Arms with Valor and Courage our only Hope under God This becomes the Christian Name and the greatness of the Danger we are in and this may prevent our impending Ruine The ORATION of Ebraim Strotschen a Polonian sent Ambassador by Solyman Emperor of the Turks to Ferdinand the First Emperor of Germany made at Frankfort on the Main before the States of the Empire in the Sclavonick Tongue Nov. 27. 1562. MOST Powerful and Serene Ferdinand the Elect Emperor of the Christians My Master the most Powerful and Vnconquered Emperor of the Turks hath sent me as his Ambssador a long Iourney both by Sea and Land with some Special Commands both to Congratulate your Health and Happy Government Asalso to declare the great Benevolence and Respect he bears towards your Majesty and he hopes that this Friendship begun upon account of the former Embassie is encreas'd by the evident Tokens of an injuring Friendship which he hath shewed towards your Majesty which God prosper on both sides Having thus spoken he stopp'd awhile and then proceeded thus That your Majesty may have an evident Token of my Masters good Will and Friendship towards you he hath Released all the Christian Captives for your sake which otherwise should not be Redeemed for Gold nor Silver nor the Intercession of any other Prince His Majesty hath done this for no other cause but to confirm the Friendship between the two Crowns and he likewise hopes and desires the same by Me that you would Release those Turks that you have Prisoners in any of your Dominions and that unperverted in their Religion He also wishes Long-life a quiet old Age and a pacifick Government in the Administration of your Kingdoms which be desires also might be happily transmitted to your Posterity He promises also to use all means that this League and Truce between the Two Crowns shall not in the least be Impair'd by any of his Subjects He also desires that your Majesty would give a particular Answer to each Branch of his Letters which if you shall do my Master and your Majesty would vye Offices of Friendship one with another and will seriously endeavour that this League begun between two aged Princes may encrease every Day more and more and may receive Augmentation of Establishment by new and growing Evidences Having ended this Discourse he desired the Emperour to acquaint him which of the August Assembly was Maximilian his beloved Son and Heir of the Empire Cesar pointed to him with his Finger sitting at his Left-hand then the Ambassador turning his Faceâ— towards him bowed his Body after the Parthian or Turkish manner and laying his Right-hand upon his Breast wish'd him a long and happy Life with a joyous Succession of the Roman Empire and Prosperity in all his Affairs adding these express words That he did not doubt but that he proceeding from so Noble a Stock would not be inferiour to his Father but rather according to the Notation of his Name Maximilian he would be Greater and famouser than his Parent Then turning to the Emperor he presented him the Gifts that he had brought viz. Two high-priz'd Goblets of Native Crystals beset with precious Jewels together with a choice Turkish Horse adorn'd with Golden Trappens and Jewels and also four Camels the best in all Constantinople These he presented to the Emperor excusing the Leanness of the Horse and Camels contracted by so long a Journey as the space of Four Months The COPY of the Prudential Letters given to the said Ambassador by his Master upon the Eight Years Truce by the German Emperor I Lord of Lords Reigning over the East and West that am able to do and not do what I please Lord of all Greece Persia and Arabia and Ruler over all that can be Subjected either to King or Lord the great Hero of these Times and the Valiant Giant of