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A51897 The fifth volume of letters writ by a Turkish spy who lived five and forty years undiscover'd at Paris : giving an impartial account to the Divan at Constantinople of the most remarkable transactions of Europe, and discovering several intrigues and secrets of the Christian courts (especially of that of France) continued from the year 1642 to the year 1682 / written originally in Arabick, translated into Italian, and from thence into English, by the translator of the first volume. Marana, Giovanni Paolo, 1642-1693.; Bradshaw, William, fl. 1700.; Midgley, Robert, 1655?-1723. 1692 (1692) Wing M565CL; ESTC R35022 171,587 384

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Peace But he refus'd saying Let them fight it out and then they 'll be good Friends of Course And turning to the Spanish Embassador he said So will it fare with your Master and the King of France When they have sufficiently wearied out one another with Wars they will gladly embrace the Proposals of Peace Here is great Rejoicing for the Reconciliation newly made between the King and his Uncle the Duke of Orleans who have been estrang'd a long Time the latter having espous'd the Prince of Conde's Cause But now he has abandon'd it and is come to the Court. These Infidels are as inconstant as the Winds which vary to all the Points of the Compass Paris the 30th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1656. LETTER XVI To Solyman his Cousin at Scutari I See thou art given over to a Spirit of Discontent Nothing can please thee Thou murmurest at Providence and castest Obloquies on the Ways of God As if the Order of All Things and the Establish'd Oeconomy of the Vniverse must be Chang'd to gratify thy Humour Formerly thou wert troubl'd with dull Melancholy Thoughts about Religion Now thou art angry with thy Trade and pinest that thou wert not Educated in the Academy A Mechanick Life thou say'st is Tedious and Irksome Besides that it is beneath one of thy Blood to be always employ'd in making of Turbants Thou wishest rather to have been a Courtier Soldier or any Thing save what thou art Cousin let not Pride and Ambition corrupt thy Manners Dost thou not consider that all True Believers are oblig'd to exercise some Manual Occupation and that the Sultan himself is not exempted from this Duty Did not the Prophet himself practise it and enjoin it to all his Followers Hast thou not heard of his Words when he said No Man can eat any Thing sweeter in this World than what is acquir'd by his own Labour Doubtless all the Prophets and Holy Men have gain'd their Bread by their Lawful Employments Adam was a Gardiner Abel a Shepherd Seth a Weaver Enoch a Taylor Noah a Ship-wright Moses Saguib and Mahomet were Shepherds Jesus the Son of Mary a Carpenter Abu-Becre Omar Othman Gali and Gabdorachaman were Merchants Dost thou esteem thy self of better Blood than Adam from whom thou receiv'dst thine For Shame prefer not thy self to Noah the Restorer of Mankind to Jesus the Messias to Mahomet our Holy Lawgiver and to the Rest of those Excellent Persons who thought it no Contempt to work at their several Trades and eat the Bread of their own Labours Besides dost thou consider the dangerous Intrigues of a Prince's Court. Art thou sufficiently arm'd with Wit and Dexterity to secure thy Station against the Wily Trains of designing Men I do not reproach thy Abilities Yet I think thou wilt do better in the Post allotted thee by Destiny that is in thy Proper Calling than in the perillous Condition of those who stand or fall at the Pleasure of Others Whereas thou art now thy own Man and needest fear no Tempests of State or Frowns of thy Prince so long as thou pursuest none but thy private Affairs Many Sovereign Monarchs have envy'd such as thee when they have seen how chearfully and quietly they pass'd away their Time under the Vmbrella of an Obscure and Private Life Whereas at the Court there is Nothing but Intriguing Plotting and Treachery one Undermining another to make Way for their own Advance The Court is a perfect Theatre of Fraud Dissimulation Envy Malice and a Thousand Vices which there act their various Parts under the Habit and Disguise of seeming Vertues There a Man must flatter the Great and speak against his own Sence and the Truth to procure the Favour of some dignify'd Fool Than which Nothing is more Ignoble and Base This puts me in Mind of a pleasant Repartee which Diogenes the Philosopher gave to a Courtier The Spark passing by Diogenes as he sat in a Tub Eating of Turneps put this Scoff upon him Diogenes said he If thou wou'dst but learn the Art of Flattery thou need'st not sit here in a Tub scranching of Roots To whom the Philosopher reply'd And thou vain-glorious Man if thou wou'd'st but learn to live contented with my homely Fare need'st not condescend to the Fawning of a Spaniel But Cousin let not this Passage cause thee to emulate the Philosopher's Manner of Life For he had his Vices as well as other Men. If he was no Flatterer yet he was Proud and Opinionative He laid Trains for the Applause of Men in all his Actions and so taught others to become Flatterers tho' he was none himself All his pretended Humility Mortification and Rigour were but so many Decoys for Fame Of this Plato was sensible who was a far more Excellent Philosopher than he As this Sage was one Day walking with some of his Friends in the Fields they shew'd him Diogenes standing up to the Chin in Water whose Superficies was frozen over save one Hole that Diogenes had made for himself Puh says Plato don't regard him and he 'll soon be out For had he not seen us coming this Way he wou'd not have put himself to this Pain Another Time this Philosopher came to Plato's House And as he walk'd on the Rich Carpets with which the Floor of the Hall was cover'd See said Diogenes how I trample on Plato 's Pride Yes said Plato but with greater Pride Certainly the greatest Philosophers Doctors and even Saints themselves have their Errors and Failings Do not therefore affect to change thy Calling for the Life of a Student or a Contemplative Man For the same Discontent will still haunt thee in that State which makes thee so uneasy now Thou art a perfect Stranger to the Intolerable Anguish of Mind which afflicts Thinking Men and such as apply themselves to the Study of the Sciences They labour under a Perpetual Thirst of Knowledge and the more they learn the greater and more Ardent is their Desire of farther Discoveries So that the most accomplish'd Sages are no more satisfy'd with their own Acquisitions than he who has never meddl'd with Books Then as to their Bodies they are always vex'd with one Malady or other proceeding from the violent Agitation of their Spirits the Intenseness of their Thoughts perpetual poring upon Books and their Sedentary Life In all that I have said I do not disswade thee from seeking after Knowledge I rather counsel thee to read Books and I gave thee the same Advice in a former Letter But do it with Moderation Let not thy Studies entrench on the Affairs of thy Calling Read Histories or other Tracts according to thy Fancy when thou hast nothing else to do But do not follow it so close as if thou aspired'st to the Character of a Compleat Historian or Philosopher Still remember that thou art a Turbant-Maker and that by the Decree of Fate thou art born for this Business Follow it with Alacrity and Mirth When thou art at thy Work
with all the Mysteries of the Talismans and the Chymical Preparations of Moncatam the forcible Waters and Essences Powders and other Ingredients by which they made Marble as pliable as Wax or Clay These Things he had learn'd of those who perish'd in the Flood He retain'd the Wisdom of the Ancients his Coevals and Predecessors leaving the Rudiments of so profound a Knowledge to his Posterity as an Invaluable Treasure of which they cou'd never be robb'd Thus Science became Hereditary to the Coptites who bear that Name from Coptim the Son of Masar the First King of Egypt since the Rainbow appear'd in the Clouds And 't was from one of that Race my Mother learn'd that Admirable Secret Trust not to Words but try the Experiment The Receipt will give thee all Necessary Directions Yet I counsel thee not to be big with it like him who having found out the Art of making Glass Malleable or fit to be beat by the Hammer into any Shape or Figure as the Silver-Smiths work their Metal must needs go and discover his Secret to the Prince expecting a great Reward When on the contrary he lost his Head on the Spot the Prince thinking it great Injustice that so many Thousand People as got their Bread by making of Common Glasses shou'd be all ruin'd to promote one Man's Profit and Advantage In fine use this Secret to serve thy self or the Cause thou art engag'd in But trust it not to another unless on the same Equal Terms as I commit it to thee wherein the greater Hazard is thine in divulging it Paris 15th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1655. LETTER XII To Mehemet once an Eunuch-Page in the Seraglio but now an Exile in Egypt at Grand Caire WHen I first heard of thy Banishment from the Imperial Palace and City think not that I was sad or entertain'd the usual Sentiments of a Friend on such Occasions No I tell thee on the contrary I rejoic'd yet not with the Joy of an Enemy at that Seeming Misfortune as knowing it has deliver'd thee from a Real one in which according to my Presages all the Attendants of thy Mistress the Old Queen were soon after involv'd Thou art oblig'd to Bacchus for that Fortunate Calamity which tho' it for a while eclips'd thy Honour yet was the onely Means to save thy Life When I formerly sent thee an Account of my Imprisonment here and how I was regal'd by my Keeper at a Banquet of Wine when in that Letter I play'd the Advocate for the Juice of the Grape I little thought that thou wou'dst ever make an Experiment of that Bug-bear-Liquor Tho' I know 't is common even in the Seraglio to drink Wine privately and chase away Melancholy the constant Familiar of Restraint and Servitude with generous Compotations I am no stranger to the counterfeit Sickness of those who for the Sake of this stollen Mirth put themselves into the Infirmary that they may there carouse with Freedom and drink Healths to the Grand Signior without Suspicion Were it not for the convenient Situation of that Apartment and the Favour of the Bostangi's no Wine cou'd find Admittance into the Seraglio save what is for the Grand Signior's Use But now his Slaves drink it as merrily as he And I am not sorry that thou art one of the Number 'T is a groundless Superstition to refuse the Gift of Divine Liberality and deny our selves the Use of that Plant which was made to chear the Hearts of Mortals Nay our Holy Traditions themselves and all our Doctors tacitely own that the Vine is allowable in that it was sav'd among the Rest of the Vegetables by Noah in the Ark And that Holy Prophet curs'd the Devil for stealing it away Perhaps the Story will not be Unpleasant to thee When God commanded Noah with his Companions to descend out of the Ark in Peace they built them Houses and began to exercise Husbandry They sowed Corn and the Seeds of other Vegetables They planted also all Sorts of Trees but when they came to look for the Vine it cou'd not be found Then it was told Noah by the Angel that the Devil had stollen it away as having some Right to it Wherefore Noah cited the Devil to appear before the Angel in the Name of God to answer his Theft The Angel gave Judgment That the Vine shou'd be divided between 'em into Three Parts whereof the Devil shou'd have Two and Noah One To which both Parties consented Whereby it is evident that Man has some Share in the Juice of the Grape For this was the Decision of Gabriel That when Two Thirds of the Liquor of this Fruit shou'd be evaporated away in boyling over the Fire the Remainder shou'd be lawful for Noah and his Posterity to drink And thou know'st we Mussulmans generally obey this Law in preparing our Wine Let the Devil therefore in the Name of God have his Share in this Tempting Fruit and then there can be no Injustice in enjoying our own Part. For when that which Inebriates is separated by Fire from the Rest this Liquor becomes pure holy and blessed This is the Sentence of the Ancients the Immediate Auditors of the Messenger of God as is to be seen in the Manuscripts they left behind them which though they are rare and difficult to be met with yet such as diligently seek Wisdom shalt not lose their Labour Abu Becre Eb'n Mahumet has taken great Pains to collect the Memoirs of Antiquity He was a Learned Doctor among my Countrymen of the House of Sulpha may he rest under the Vmbrella's of Paradise From him I had this Relation But tell me my dear Mehemet if thou know'st how cam'st thou to be the only Man that had the good Fortune to be Sentenc'd to this Happy Disgrace Or if thou art Ignorant I will tell thee For it seems the Rest of thy Company in that Nights-Revel were discover'd as well as thou yet escap'd all Censure It looks as if they were designedly reserv'd for Victims to a more Inexorable Revenge And the Event justifies this Conjecture Since within the Circuit of a Moon not only they but all the surviving Creatures of the Sultana Kiosem were strangl'd Therefore again I pronounce thee Happy and doubly Bless'd in being an Exile since thereby thou hast escap'd the Hands of the Executioner and art now living in Egypt the most Fortunate Region on Earth Ascribe this to thy Propitious Destiny and to the Favour of Solyman Kyzlir Aga Who foreseeing the Slaughter that wou'd be made of that Old Queen's Servants took this Opportunity to accuse thee to the Grand Signior that so he might save thy Life For 't was at his Intercession thou wert banish'd into this Happy Province which is call'd the Nurse of all Nations Improve thy Exile to the best Advantage and from this Nurse suck the Milk of Science with which she has formerly Nourish'd the Whole Earth Be grateful also to thy Deliverer for he is a
Wine of Palms mix'd with Aromatick Powders they stuffed it with Myrrh Cassia and many Costly Confections and then sow'd it up After this they purified the Whole Body with Nitre And having drawn out the Brains by the Nostrils with a Hook they fill'd up the Skull with Melted Gums And last of all they swathed up the Whole Body in Silk smearing it over with Rich Mixtures of Bitumen Spices and Gums and so delivered it to the Kindred to be laid up in the Sepulchre These were the Preparations they made to Court the Presence of the Soul by rendring the Body for Ever Sweet and Incorruptible And that the Majesty of Royal Ghosts might never be Interrupted or Violated by the Neighbourhood of Vulgar Spirits or the Ruder Approach of Mortals Kings built these Magnificent Piles as the Palaces of their Last Repose 'T is therefore they were Erected in Desert and Unfrequented Places and in such a Form as was esteemed the most Durable and secure from the Injuries of Time the Assaults of the Elements and from the Common Fate of all Human Enterprises Each Stone of a Prodigious Bulk and rivetted to the next with a Bar of Iron Which with the Strength and Invincible Fastness of the Cement renders it a Thing Impossible for any one of these Pyramids to be demolished tho' all Mankind were set to work for many Successive Generations Al Mamun the Caliph of Babylon attempted to do it but in vain For after he had set his Men at Work and been at Vast Expences they made but one small Breach so Inconsiderable that being made Sensible it would exhaust his Treasures to remove but the Hundredth Part of the Pyramid he desisted full of Wonder at the Wisdom of the Founders If it be true that the Soul may by such Allurements as these be prevailed on to remain with the Body in its Sepulchre and that a Man's Future Happiness consists in this I should my self Admire and Imirate those Egyptian Sages I would in my Life-Time build me a small Mausoleum according to my Ability and order in my Last Will and Testament that my Body be Embalmed and Condited for a Perpetual Duration But if none of these Arts can alter the Decrees of Destiny or force an Immortal Spirit from Ranging where it pleases I must conclude with Pliny That this Celebrated Wisdom of the Egyptians was no other than Glorious Folly and all the Magnificence of their Kings in building such Costly Sepulchres but Royal Waste They themselves in thus cautiously providing to secure the Soul 's Abode with the Body after Death tacitely own'd That by the Course of Nature it would immediately pass into some other Nay the Transmigration of Souls was an Established Doctrine in Egypt How then could they be so blind as to imagine a Dead Carcase however Perfumed and Fenced against Corruption was more inviting than an Embryo formed to live Or that it was more Elegible for the Soul to be Imprisoned in a Dark Dungeon for no better are the Insides of the Pyramids than to enjoy the Light of the Sun Moon and Stars and the Various Sweets of the Elements Brother in my Opinion 't were better to be a Bird a Worm a Fly or any Living Thing than to be thus Immur'd for many Ages and have no other Companion but an Old Salted Mummie Isouf has made some Remarks on the River Nile to which he says Egypt owes not only its Corn and Fruits but also the very Soil which brings 'em forth For every Year at the Time of the Inundation that River brings along with it from Aethiopia or some other Regions through which it passes Abundance of Slime and Mud with which it covers all the Land of Egypt leaving it behind at the Decrease of the Waters So that the Soil of Egypt is borrowed from other Countries And if this be true for ought we know the Place of its Situation may be borrowed from the Sea according to the Opinion of some Ancient Philosophers Herodotus Pliny and others were of this Persuasion grounding their Conjectures on the nearer Approaches of the Continent to the Island Pharos from the Time of Homer who exactly Calculated its Distance And they concluded That the Immense Quantities of Slime which the Nile transports from the Mountainous Regions of Africa might in the Space of Two Myriads of Years have filled up all that Part of the Sea which is now Firm Land and call'd Egypt If this be true it seems to me very strange That the Egyptians should boast of Greater Antiquity than any other Nation in the World tho' their Country it self be the Youngest of all the Regions on Earth an Abortive Spot of Ground hatched by a River in the Depths of the Sea and ever since cherish'd by that River as by a Parent or Nurse which ceases not to convey to it Yearly a Convenient Proportion of Aliment whereby the Country it self grows in Bulk and the Inhabitants are maintained O Admirable Providence of Nature who can penetrate into thy Mysterious Conduct O Egypt abounding in Prodigies and Wonders Where the Land and Water with the other Elements conspire to render thee all over Miraculous Dear Pesteli I am transported when I think of that Region and could relate a Thousand more Passages both out of Isouf's Memoirs and from the Mouths of others who have travelled thither to observe so many Miracles But I believe thy Patience will be sufficiently tir'd with the Length of this Letter Besides my Mother is just come to visit me and desires me to recommend her Unfeigned Affections to thee Be assured also that Mahmut loves thee with the Integrity of a Man and the Tenderness of a Brother And he serves thee in all Things without repining Paris 17th of the 1st Moon of the year 1658. LETTER V. To the Kaimacham THE Venetians are very angry for the Loss of Tenedos and not without Reason For that Island is a delicate Spot of Ground abounding in Rich Wines and other Products of Nature Besides it commands the Avenue of the Shining City the Refuge of Mortals They variously relate the Manner of its being retaken from 'em by the Arms which no Earthly Power is able to resist Endeavouring in all their Rumours to disguise the Truth as much as they can and misrepresent the Bravery of the Ottomans That so the Actions of their own Generals may make the Greater Figure These Nazarenes have a bad Cause and therefore are compelled to make Use of Shifts and Equivocations to support it They are quite degenerated from the Integrity of the Primitive Followers of Jesus In a Word they make good the Character of the Ancient Candiots Of whom a certain Poet says They are thorow-pac'd Lyars Ravenous Beasts and Gluttonous Drones It is believ'd in these Parts That when the Venetians quitted the Island they departed not without Revenge setting Fire to a Mine and blowing up several Hundreds of Mahometans into the Air. However they have for Ever Proscribed and