Father's bring 'em up to Thievery and their Mothers to Obscenity Mingrelia is at present very much dispeopl'd there not being in it above Twenty Thousand Inhabitants Though it is not above Thirty Years ago that there was no less then Fourscore Thousand The cause of which Decrease proceeds from their VVars with their Neighbours and the vast number of People of both Sexes which the Nobility have sold of late Years For a long time there has been drain'd out of Mingrelia every Year either by Purchase or Barter above Twelve Thousand Persons all which are sold to the Mahometans Persians and Turks there being none but they that deal in that sort of Traffic in those parts They carry Three Thousand every Year directly to Constantinople which they have in Exchange for Cloth Arms and other things which they carry as I have said into Mingrelia To which purpose there came every Year Twelve Sail of Ships from Constantinople and Caffa and above Sixty Feluques from Gorica Trissa and Trebisond The Commodities which they export from Mingrelia besides Slaves are Silk Linnen Thread and Wov'n Linseed Hides Martins Beavers Box VVax and Honey The Honey of Mingrelia is very Good and there are two sorts of it the one Red the other White the White is not so plentiful as the other but it is much better and more Sweet Sweeter indeed then refin'd Sugar very delicious to the Tast and Crumples between the Teeth Besides their Garden Honey there is another sort is found in the Trunks and Clefts of Hollow-Trees in great abundance which the Vessels from Caffa carry into Tartary where they make a very strong Liquor of it mix'd with Barley The Turks make great profit of their Mingrelion Trade selling for Four what they buy for one Crown but their greatest advantage is by their Slaves Certainly the Inhumanity of these Mingrelians their unnatural Cruelty toward their own Country Men and particularly of some of 'em toward their own Flesh and Blood are things hardly to be Credited They Study Opportunities to fall out with their own Vassals meerly to find a Pretence to Sell 'em with their Wives and Children They force away their Neighbours Children from the Embraces of their Parents to the same end and sometimes they will sell their own Children Wives and Mothers And I have been shew'd several Gentlemen who have been so Prodigiously Unnatural One of those Gentlemen sold Twelve Priests in one Day In which Piece of Impiety there is one particular passage so strange that it deserves to be related as an Example not to be Parallell'd This Gentleman fell in Love with a Lady whom he resolv'd to Marry tho he had a Wife already To which purpose he Courted the Lady and obtain'd her Good VVill. Now it is the Custom in Mingrelia to purchase their Wives and they Buy 'em according to their Quality their Age and their Beauty Thereupon the Gentleman not knowing where to raise the Sum which he had promis'd for the Enjoyment of his Mistress nor to defray the Expences of his Wedding but by selling of Slaves and for that reason reduc'd to Despair bethought himself of a Piece of Treachery the most Infamous and VVicked that could be To that purpose he invited Twelve Priests to his House to hear a Solemn Mass and offer a kind of Sacrifice upon which the Priests went very Chearfully never Dreaming that he intended to have sold 'em to the Turks the like Practice having never been heard of before in Mingrelia The Gentleman on the other side receiv'd 'em very Courteously caus'd 'em to say Mass and to offer an Ox and afterwards gave 'em an Entertainment But after he had made 'em to take a Hearty Cup he caus'd his Servants to seize 'em Bind 'em Shave their Heads and their Beards and the Night following carry'd 'em to a Turkish Vessel where he sold 'em for Houshold Goods and other Necessaries but finding he had not yet enough to pay for his Mistress and his Nuptials this Tyger went and fetch'd his own VVife and sold her to the same Vessel All the Trade in Mingrelia is driv'n by way of Barter for there is no set price of Money among the People the currant Money are the Piasters Dutch Crowns and Abasse's which are Pieces made in Georgia and Stamp'd with the Persian Stamp to the value of Eighteen Pence every Piece 'T is true that the Prince of Mingrelia who died about Twenty Years ago began to Coyn Money of his own But the Mint did not work long in regard there was but little Silver brought into the Country and for that the Country produces none at all no more then it does Gold or any other Metal I know not what is become of that Gold-Gravel and Golden-Sand which the People spong'd out of the VVater with their Sheep-Skins according to the Ancient Stories and which gave occasion to the Fable of the Golden Fleece There is no such thing in Colchis nor in the Mountains or Rivers adjoyning So that which way soever ye go there is no possibility of Reconciling Antiquity with the present Times Mingrelia of it self is not able to raise above Four Thousand Men fit to bear Arms which are also all Cavalry for the most part there not being above Three Hundred Foot to joyn with these Horsemen Nor are the Souldiers Marshall'd into Regiments and Companies But every Lord and every Gentleman leads his own People to the Fight without Order without Ranks without Officers and they follow their Leader whether it be in Flight or to the Charge The VVars of the Mingrelians and their Neighbours are indeed but meer Incursions and Boots-Halings and when they make their Inroads into the Enemies Country they fall on with an Extraordinary Fury for they want neither Courage nor Resolution VVhen they have put the Enemy to Flight they vigorously follow the pursuit and over-run all the Country Burn and Plunder all before 'em carry away Prisoners of all Sexes and Degrees and then retreat with the same Impetuosity They take as many Prisoners as they can so that when they have Dismounted any one presently they leap from their Horses bind the Person Vanquish'd with the Cords which they carry at their Girdles as I have said and deliver 'em to the Custody of their Servants He that has taken a Prisoner has Power over him of Life and Death he may dispose of him as he pleases but generally they make 'em their Slaves and sell 'em to the Turks On the other side when these People are invaded they shew themselves at the Ford of some River where they lay their Musketeers in Ambuscado endeavouring to prevent the Enemies Passage At what time if the Enemy forces his way they fly to the VVoods leaving the Country to their Mercy So that the VVars with these People never last long In less then Fifteen Days the VVar is at an end and the Enemy retreats after he has ravag'd and ransackt all the Country The Revenues of the
rid themselves therefore from these Fears they resolved between themselves to throw the Election upon the Youngest of all Habas's Sons who being as yet but an Infant would in all likelihood continue a long time under the Tuition of his Mother and his Ministers from whom they could not expect to suffer any thing that was Fatal or Dreadful And here we must observe that Habas the second left behind him two Sons or at least I never heard that he left any more Nor is it known whether he left any Daughters or no. For what is done in the Womens Apartment is a Mystery concealed even from the Grandees and Prime Ministers Or if they know any thing it is meerly upon the account of some particular Relation or dependence which the Secret has to some peculiar Affair which of necessity must be imparted to their Knowledg For my part I have spared neither for pains nor cost to sift out the Truth But I could never discover any more only that they believed he never left any Daughter behind him that lived A man may walk a Hundred days one after another by the House where the Women are and yet know no more what is done there than at the farther end of Tartary Now of these two Sons of Habas the Eldest who was called Sofie-Mirza was then entring into his one and twentieth Year being Born in the year of the Egire 1057. for the superstition of the Persians will not let us know the Month or the Day Their Addiction to Astrology is such that they carefully conceal the Moments of their Prince's Birth to prevent the Casting their Nativities where they might meet perhaps with something which they should be unwilling to know His Father begot him at Eighteen years of Age enamoured of a Circassian Slave or Cherkes in the Persian Language whose extraordinary Beauty and rare Endowments so won the Affection of that Monarch that she was the first of all his Women that he chose for a Wife For which reason during her Husbands Life she was called Nekaat Kanum or the Lawful Dutchess tho there were also other Women which were his Lawful Wives according to the Law and Custom of that Country This Eldest Son according to Custom was bred up in the Womens Palace and committed to the Care of certain Eunuchs under the Eye of his Mother and his Nurse who was a Lady of great Quality and the Wife of Mustaufie-Elmemalek which according to the force of the Persian words signifies a Watcher over Kingdoms There he was bred up with all the Tenderness and Pomp that his High Birth required and enjoyed all the Liberty that could be allowed to a Person of his Quality which was to go up and down over all that spacious Palace where he pleased himself for to go further into the Mens Apartments is by no means permitted those young Princes When he arrived at the Age of seventeen Years an Accident befel him that rendered his Confinement much more close For it happened that an Eunuch brought him some Peices of Cloth of Tissue at what time the Prince being of a haughty Temper and not thinking them Rich enough rejected them with very scornful and slighting Language nor was he better pleased when it was told him that the Peices were sent him by the Order of the King his Father Which being carried back and perhaps aggravated to the jealous Monarch his Majesty believing that the overmuch Liberty which was allowed the young Prince did but serve to heighten his Arrogance and augment his natural Pride confined him to the remotest Part of all the Palace Some persons were of opinion that he would have caused his Eyes to have been put out But when they found that the Walls of the Place to which he was confined were ordered to be raised the more Intelligent Sort believed that the King would not proceed to that Extremity of Rigour for that he would not have been so careful to prevent the Escape of one that was Blind whose Misfortune would have been sufficient to render him incapable to attempt any Enterprize of that nature However when the King was setting forward for Mazendaran in the year 1665. according to our Computation his Actions were such that even the Grandees and most Politick Courtiers began to suspect that he had then determined the Dreadful Execution For he was not gone above Eight Leagues from Ispahan when he turned back again of a sudden toward the City with a very small Retinue without imparting his Design to any one of all his Favourites but when he arrived all that he did was to enter unexpected into the Womens Apartment where after he had staid about two hours he came forth again very Pensive and Melancholy Of which the Courtiers not being able to conjecture any other apparent Cause attributed it to some Fatal Resolution which the King had taken against the Prince his Son Tho as it appeared afterwards they were all deceived in their judgments and that there was another Motive that put him upon this swift and sudden return For as to what concerned this Young Prince his Father was satisfied with his close Confinement in a Quarter of the Apartment remote from the rest in the Company of his Mother and such Ladies as the King had appointed to attend her without stinting her any Number commiting him also to the farther care of the Great Eunuch Aga-Nazir or the Perspicacious Lord to observe his Action and to prevent him from attempting any dangerous Enterprize This Word Nazir most usually signifies some Superintendant or General Overfeer And therefore the Person last mentioned besides that he had the Tuition of the Prince was Entrusted also with the Government of the Womens Palace and to overlook the Management of all Affairs of the Royal Houshold in Jepahan an Employment which gave him great Credit and caused him to be respected both in the Court and City In both which Places he was highly esteemed till the Death of his Master being as it were the Lieutenant and next to the Grand Superintendant of the Kingdom who is likewise stil'd the Nazir As for the Younger Son he was about Eight Years of Age when his Father Died being Born in the year of the Egira 1069. of an Iberian Lady or Gurgi as the Persians call them to whom they gave the Title of Nour-Nissa-Kanum which Signifies word for word Dutchess the Light of Women the Young Prince himself being called by the Name of Hamzeh Mirza Tho I never could find or learn the true Signification of this word Hamzeh I must confess in the Persian Language it answers to the word Apostroph in our Tongue but in that sence I do not apprehend how it can signifie a Proper Name Nevertheless a Proper Name it is whether it signifies something or nothing and that must suffice As for the Title of Mirzah it is as much as to say the Son of a Prince as we have observed in another Place where we have
discovered more at large of the Persian Names and Titles This Illustrious Infant as I have been informed by several of the Great Eunuchs who sometimes Attended upon him while He was with his Father in the Province of Mazendaran where I was also a little before his Majesties Decease was a Prince whose Blooming Virtues promised something more than Ordinary For notwithstanding the tenderness of his Corporeal Organs the Strength of his Soul appeared in all his Actions discovering such signs of Nobleness and Generosity as plainly presaged that one day he would be a Glorious Prince Now whether these Signal Endowments had begot in Habas a greater Affection for him than for his other Son Or whether he were swaid by the most usual Inclinations of Nature which generally infuse into Parents most Tenderness for their Younger Children he would needs have this Younger Son of his to accompany him in his journey Tho others believed that it was rather to gratifie his Mother with whose Beauty the King was extremely enamoured so that contrary to custom he made her a Partaker with him in his Royal Bed tho two and twenty years of Age and carried her along with him where ever he took his Progress And in this last Progress wherein she accompanied the King she had the satisfaction to enjoy the Company of her beloved Son to whom the King assigned for Tutor and Guardian a Noble Eunuch called Aga-Mubarik or the Blessed Lord. Thus this Young Prince hapning to be in this House of Pleasure or of Sorrow rather seeing here it was that his Father expired was at hand to have Received the Diadem which the Grandees of the Assembly might have presented him had the Conspiracy of the Two chief Physicians taken effect Nor was it their fault that it did not For they managed their part with all the Prudence imaginable And perhaps they might have laid their Plot before the Kings Death which by the Rules of their Art they might easily foresee Not that they thought their Lives so much in danger till they had notice of the Dying Kings last words but only to serve themselves in their Estates and Employments To this purpose they went to the Prime Minister and under pretence of Informing him of the Kings Death and the Nature of the two last Medicins which they had prescribed him they fell into discourse of more Important Affairs and talking of the Election they put him in mind how much it concerned him and all the Grandees of the Council to take care of themselves that the King some Minutes before he Died had made loud Complaints of being poysoned by his chief Ministers but that he left a Son that would devour their very hearts that these his last words and Complaints could not be concealed from his Successour So that if they gave the Crown to the Eldest who besides that he was of the Age to take the Government into his own hands and was of a haughty and cruel Disposition and therefore would not stick to make use of this pretence to rid himself of all his chief Ministers and Nobility to render himself by that means more absolute and make room for other New Creatures of his own more especially when he came to consider how unkind his Father had been to him for the two years last past which he would certainly attribute to the bad Counsel of his chief Favourites Upon this they concluded that since he could not chuse but see that the Eldest Son would never have any kindness for the present Grandees that it would be a great piece of Imprudence to advance him to that Dignity which would empower him to do all the Mischief that came into his Mind and therefore at such a juncture of time their safest way would be to confer the Election upon the Youngest Hamzeh-Mirzah a Prince of great hopes and from whom the Grandeur of the Persian Empire might expect a long Continuance for the Future and they at present have no reason to fear the Disturbance of a sweet and calm Repose or the loss of their Authority under a Prince that would not be capable of the Government in fourteen or fifteen Years These Arguments thus delivered by the two Lords first to the Prime Minister and then to the Second wrought upon the Minds of Both as effectually as they could desire Both the One and the Other were convinced and agreed to advance the Younger Son in prejudice of the Eldest Their infallible Ruin hovered before their Eyes if the Eldest came to the Crown as one that seeing himself from a Captive become an absolute Sovereign would soon be transported by his Youth and Pride and the pleasure of unlimited Controul to change the Face of Affairs and to take such Resolutions as Humour and Capricio should inspire into him And who knows cried they to themselves how far he may attempt upon our lives But above all the Rumour of the Kings being poysoned was that which put them all upon the Rack For tho they might be all very Innocent yet the pretence was so Plausible that the very Terror of the Accusation represented the continual fears of Death to their Eyes as dreadful as if they were under present Torment should the Successour to the Empire give Credit to the Rumour whereas if they Elected the youngest they should still keep their high Stations of Honour and Dignity have leisure and opportunity to advance their Families and raise Creatures of their own Ruling all the while almost with an absolute Dominion one of the greatest Empires of the World But now that I may not seem to contradict my self by speaking frequently of the Kings being poysoned when I have already at the beginning of this Discourse attributed his Death to another Cause I must beg of the Reader to make a small Digression which I suppose will not prove unpleasing upon the several suspicions which his Death begot in the various minds of those that enquired more curiously into the nature of his Disease Most true it is then that the most certain cause was that which I have already set down that is to say the Foul disease attended with a Cancer which seizing the Gristle that forms the Conveyances of smelling preyed not only outwardly upon the Nose but inwardly upon the Palate and then falling upon the Uvula stopped up the passages of Respiration But they who imagined themselves to be more quick-sighted and to understand the bottom of things much better would still be whispering the Curious in the Ear and I my self have been one of those to whom it has been told for a great Secret that several of the chief Officers of the outward Court and some of the Eunuchs also of the inward Court or Womens Apartment had for some time before agreed among themselves to rid themselves of this Great Monarch and to that purpose had made choice of Poyson as the most secure way and less apt to be discovered And that which instigated them to this
understanding the Aga Nazir was come forth to understand what he desired the other desired him to go immediately to Sephie-Mirza and to let him know that the Messenger of the most Sublime Command and of the most Potent Order staid at the Door and had something to communicate to him of the highest Importance and which was for his Advantage And therefore that he would be pleased to come forth and speak with him Which words the White Eunuch delivered to the Black Eunuch in such a Tone and with such a Countenance as discovered nothing either of Sadness or Joy from whence he could make any Conjectures either of bad or good Fortune For considering the secrecy of the Affair he came about it behoved him to affect a kind of Indifferency So that the Black Eunuch reported back the Message to the Young Prince as he had received it who at that time was with the Princess his Mother I shall rather chuse to give the Reader leave to imagin what was the Astonishment that seized those two Royal Persons at the suddenness of the News and whence they had reason to gather a thousand suspicions and jealousies than go about to express it in words We learnt afterwards that for some time they stood like Statues in a profound silence which was first interrupted by a loud shriek of the Princess and afterwards by these words which brake forth through the midst of her sighs while she embraced the Prince Ah my dear Son there 's an end of thy Life And indeed she could not look for any other thing for him than Death or some other Misfortune little less terrible She much less dreamt that it was to advance him to the Throne For in two Years that she had taken leave of her Husband then healthy and vigorous in the Flower of his Age not exceeding thirty six Years she had never heard of his being sick much less could she believe him dead Therefore when she heard that a Noble Messenger of the High Order was come to speak with the Prince what could she think but that this Order came from Habas the Second and that his Command was either to put to death or pluck out her Sons Eyes and that if they pressed him so earnestly to come forth it was only to understand and suffer the Execution of that Order All Appearances confirmed this sad Suspicion The severity of the Monarch was known to her as well as the disgust which he had taken against his Eldest Son of which he had given such publick proofs by the strict Captivity to which he had confined him But she that most perplexed her and augmented her mistrusts was the Lady-Mother of Hamzeh-Mirza Questionless said she that wicked Woman it is who by her Caresses and alluring Charms has over-ruled the King to deprive my Son of the Crown to set it upon hers Thereupon she began to redouble her Shrieks and Lamentations in such a manner that the whole Palace rang with her Complaints All the Ladies surprized to hear the first of the Kings Legitimate Wives in such an Agony ran presently to condole her sorrows and to intermix their Tears and Complaints with hers And indeed they had reason especially the Confidents of the Young Prince who had an extraordinary Passion for his Interests Friendship in others produced the same Effects believing bloudy Executioners were come to ravish from their Arms a Friendly Prince in his tender Years So that it is said that the Women raised such a general Compassion that even the Black Eunuch who was present tho they are a sort of People endued with savage and remorseless Souls could not refrain from dropping some few tears and quitting that Indifferency to which his Trust and Duty obliged him The General of the Musquetteers and the Nazir Eunuch at the same time heard the Womens Lamentations and believing it proceeded from the mistake of the Mother of the Ladies that belonged to the Prince sent a second Black Enunch to assure the Princess that the Messenger who waited for the Prince her Son at the Gate had brought him happy tydings and desired only to give him notice of a more Exalted Fortune Which they both confirmed by an Oath most solemn among the Persians by the Head of the Great Agrea by whom they mean Haty whom they believe to be the real Successour to Mahomet But all those Oaths and Protestations did nothing avail but only to augment the Mistrusts of the afflicted Mother She redoubled her Lamentations more loudly than before She hugged her beloved Son in her Arms and in the Transports of her sorrow called down a Thousand Imprecations upon the deceased King her Husband calling him Barbarian Infidel Impious and the Fatal cause of all her Tears Wherein she said Truth tho he were but a very Innocent Cause Sometimes she turned toward the Lordly Messenger whom she reproached with the scurrilous Terms of Dog and Messenger of Death sometimes toward the Eunuchs that were present whom she upbraided for Traytors All the while the Young Prince stood immovable for as is said he uttered not one word nor did he shew in his Countenance any sign of sorrow It is very probable that it was so extreme as to overwhelm him in such a sort that he had neither Life nor Motion While Nature that could not find sufficient signs to express her dreadful pains stood as it were entranced not knowing what side to take Therefore the Young Prince shed not a Tear because the occasion which he had to weep was so great In that manner he stood in the midst of the Lamentations of the Women who detained him and drew him to their knees as if they had resolved to defend him and prevent those that came to carry him away from approaching his Person This Scene had lasted above three quarters of an Hour for other Black Eunuchs that were sent one after another with Oaths and new Imprecations to assure them that the General brought Orders only that were highly to the Princes advantage could gain nothing upon the belief of the Mother and the other Women so that the Nazir resolved to go himself in person to try what he could do to undeceive her But so soon as he appeared before the Mother and with terrible Oaths endeavoured to assure her that there was no danger the Princess still holding her Son closely embraced in her Arms cried out And Thou Dog art thou also a Messenger of Death like the rest The disconsolate Princess was not to be comforted for the more Messengers they sent the more Oaths they swore the less credit she gave to their Imprecations She looked upon them all as Artifices to surprize her and to induce her to consent that her Son should go forth where Death waited his coming But at length some of the Principal Young Ladies suffered themselves to be over-ruled by the persuasions of the Aga and the horrible Imprecations which he called down upon his head that there was
no danger in the world and assisted him to bring forth the Prince and yet with some kind of violence in forcing him from his Mothers Arms. Who being reduced to despair seeing she could not resist the respectful violence that was put upon her and that she could no longer hold the dear Pledge of her Life she flung from her Seat of a sudden and after she had snatched the Dagger out of the Sheath that hung at the Young Prince's side presenting it to the Breast of the Chief Eunuch who was next her and had the Young Prince by the hand Go said she in the Name of God but take a care what thou dost and what thou hast promised If he must perish know that thou thy self shalt first suffer the punishment which thy Lying and thy Treason deserve Presently the Eunuch accepted the Condition and consented to receive his death at her hands if any thing dismal befel him Which somewhat pacified the Lady so that she delivered the Poniard and suffered it to be sheathed again at her Sons side And then it was that the Eunuch redoubling the Oaths that he had sworn and the Assurances which he had already given her that there was no danger but on the contrary a prospect of all Prosperity satisfied those Royal Persons as much as it was possible in such a dubious Dilemma of their Anxious minds The Mother accompanied her Son as far as the last Place where she was permitted to go without being seen through the Gate that stood open and then returned with a sad heart supported by some of her Women and the Prince trembling and quivering was carried as I may so say by the Chief Eunuch without the first Portal toward the Apartment of the black Eunuchs At the very Instant that he appeared without the General of the Musquetteers with the Prime Ministers Deputy who kept at a distance behind him threw himself at the Prince's Feet and made three Obeysances according to Custom knocking the Ground with his Forehead Then rising upon his Knees with his Cheeks all bathed in Tears which either the Lamentations of the Ladies had drawn from his Eyes or the Death of the Monarch of which he brought the News had made him shed he declared the occasion of his coming in these words which he uttered with a loud voice and very distinctly May your Illustrious Head be always safe The King of the World your Father Habas to whom the God of mercy grant a new accumulation of Glory has found a Place next to the Divine Goodness and Your Illustrious Highness is chosen to succeed Him and has been stiled the Lieutenant of the true Sovereign For that is the signification of the word Valiè-Neamet which was made use of in that Expression as being the most usual Epithete as also the most sublime which the Persians have been accustomed to give their Kings For Valiè denotes a Sovereign Lieutenant that is an Absolute Prince in his Dominions and yet one that depends and holds of another It also signifies a Mediator almost in the same sense Because a Lieutenant of that nature is a Mediator between the Lord from whom he derives his Authority and the People to whom he distributes both Punishments and Rewards in the Name of the Sovereign Supreme As for Neamet it comes from the word Inaam which signifies the free Gift of a Lord to his Slave So that by the Compound Valiè-Neamet the Persians understand a Lieutenant whom the true and supreme Sovereign who is God has established with absolute Authority to dispence over all the World in his stead his Favour and Benefits as we shall more amply and more to the purpose explain it in another place The General of the Musquetteers thought it not convenient to use more words that he might not delay the Prince whom he found to be impatient to hear what he had to say But then from one extremity he fell into another quite contrary To those Tears that had forsaken him succeeded Astonishment Joy and Sadness that overwhelmed him anew and rendered him once again as motionless as before He became like a person who out of long Darkness comes of a sudden in a flaring Light He seemed to be seized with a kind of dazling Amaze and like one that did not see beheld as in a Trance the great number of Eunuchs that kneeled round about him calling him their Lord and Sovereign These first Minutes being over he appeared more composed in his Countenance and softly leaned upon the Chief Eunuch like one that had been waked out of a profound sleep He began to reflect upon what was passed and he found that they were so far from having any design upon his Life that they came to advance him to the Throne Nevertheless in regard he could not hear those joyful tydings but as they were accompanied with the News of his Fathers death both unlookt for the surprise was equal on both sides and put him a third time into such an astonishment that he stood for some time in a kind of a Trance This Grief for some Minutes contested with his Joy till at length his good nature overcame the latter He obeyed the persuasions of his sorrow not minding what he had gained but what he had lost and in the midst of those thoughts over-powered by his Affliction according to the Custom of the Persians he tore his Cabaye or upper Garment from the Coller to the Waste He wept biterly not having shed a tear till that time tho the Lamentations of his Mother and the Consternation wherein he had beheld all the Ladies of his Palace had given him sufficient cause This shewed the good nature of the Young Monarch as I have already said for it cannot be imagined that he dissembled in what he did He was too young to understand the sly tricks of craft and subtilty and being one who had never seen the world but had been bred up tenderly among the Women accustomed only to talk of fine Cloaths and Baubles and to command Eunuchs Besides that the disorder of his mind for above an Hour before would not permit him to observe such a regular Conduct So that although he had been ill used by his Father who had shut him up in a close Prison and whose Death seemed to restore him to Life by giving him his Liberty and a Diadem he could not forbear to bewail his loss as an Evil that was never a whit the less for being the cause of so much good Rather must it then be an effect of Nature which shews that she is always the Mistris of our Affections and that the Passions which she inspires will still prevail notwithstanding all the Obstacles of Ambition Interest or good Fortune The General of the Slaves beholding the Prince oppressed with so much grief made no Answer speaking only as I may so say with his Eyes from whence he let fall a shower of Tears and without expecting any longer till the Prince
Prince the highest in Dignity come and offer their Heads and submit themselves to the stroke of Death without daring to presume to ask the reason why In this manner no body appeared either pensive or glad no body discovered the least sign of discontent Not but that I believe there were several who concealed their sorrows for fear of offending the New King They considered that Habas the Second of whose death they had so lately heard was fit to govern that he was kind and gentle to his Subjects that he was feared abroad but kept all things in peace and tranquillity at home That he was a lover of Justice and took care that his Officers did not abuse their Authority and oppress the People nevertheless that a secret Providence had cut him off in the midst of so fair a Race and in the flower of his Age when he had strength of judgment to design and force of body to execute That on the contrary the Young Prince who was now ascended to the Throne had never seen any thing and was as it were but an Apprentice not only in the Act of Government but in all other things So that they were likely to suffer long through the tenderness of his Age as they had experienced before in the Reigns of his Predecessors upon the same grounds But they who most laid to heart the mournful death of the deceased King were the Christians That Prince had always shewed himself kind and favourable to their Religion shewing them extraordinary Civilities and rebuking the Ministers of the Law and Interpreters of the Alcoran when they sought to exasperate him against the Professors of our Religion Which he did more than once as we do relate in his Life insomuch as the Armenians would say one among another that he was more a Christian than a Mahometan Not but that he was very much devoted to his own Religion even as much as the most zealous of his Predecessors only he thought that the violence of Princes toward the Liberty of mens Consciences was a thing neither Acceptable to God nor conformable to Reason That he was not to cease being a Man because he was a Mahometan That if Providence had exalted him to a Throne it was that he should carry himself like a King and not like a Tyrant and that there was nothing more Barbarous nor Tyrannical than such a Conduct as not only violated the Law of Nations but of Nature also which desire that men should live in Society one with another so far from being at Enmity that they should be mutual Assistances one to another Lastly that God alone was the Lord of the Conscience and Master of the Will That for his part he had nothing to do but with the outward Government of the Kingdom and for that reason it became him to do Justice to all his Subjects of whatsoever Religion since they were all Members of his Kingdom He persisted so constantly in this judgment and opinion that notwithstanding all the endeavours of the Doctors of the Mahometan Superstition to incense him against the Christians they could never vanquish his Resolution He looked upon them as People whose false zeal rendred them incapable of Right Reason or as Persons byassed by Interest who under the specious pretence of Religion would make themselves great among the Multitude or else make use of the credit which they had already to make Parties and Factions in the Kingdom and disturb the Government And therefore he always took delight to lessen and contemn such sort of people This clearly appeared when he prevented the Creation of a new Sadre or Mahometan Pontiff or Metropolitan of the whole Empire inspects into all the Ecclesiastical Revenues which are managed by inferiour Officers under his Authority and by his Orders for the word Sadre signifies the Breast of the Law Habas the Second also had severely persecuted the Cheik-el-Islaam or Ancient of the Law who is another Petty Sovereign in spiritual Affairs For it is his business to take cognizance of and to resolve all Cases of Conscience in Matters of Religion as we have already observed The King had like to have condemned him to death upon an Information that some of the Interpreters should whisper one among another that it would be the best way to advance to the Throne one of the Sons of the Ancient of the Law who would be more zealous for their Religion than the present Monarch and he had certainly put his design in execution had not the Ancient of the Law prevented him by offering to his displeasure both his own and the Head of all his Children that attended him That spectacle appeased his wrath believing that person innocent whom he saw so lowly humbled before him He had also thrown out of favour his Pichnaamaz or Chaplain and Confessor for no other reason but because he continually declaimed against the Christians The Prime Minister of State that governed during the Minority of Habas was no less averse to the Christians than any of the rest as being a zealous Mahumetan and therefore he continually incensed his Master against them and would have had the King have given command that they should carry a Mark like the Jews to distinguish them from Mahumetans but the King continually denied him and it is reported that the disgust which he took against him for that very thing contributed not a little to his Fall After these great Examples of his Lenity the Prince being now become more absolute not only suffered the Christians to enjoy the free exercise of their Religion but also granted the same freedom to the Jews notwithstanding all the secret and publick opposition which the Mulla or Religious People could make Nay it hapned that the King took an occasion to depress all that Race of Hypocrites For being so transported as they were to talk of deposing him as an Infidel who kept too much Society with the Profane the secret hatred which he bare them from that time forward gave him a plausible pretence to shew his resent and that I may use the Persian Phrase to break their Teeth that is to say to prevent their Biting As to the Armenians who were his Subjects and professed the Christian Religion he was wont to tell the Grandees of the Kingdom that it would be a vile Injustice for People that laboured for the good of the Kingdom by their Industry and Commerce to be excluded from the enjoyments of Peace and that Plenty of which they were the principal Instruments Therefore it was not without just cause that the Christians mourned in their hearts for the loss of so good a Prince their misfortune seemed to be without remedy in regard the New Monarch whom they saw exalted in his room was but a young Man from whom they could not promise to themselves any thing of assurance and tho he should be favourably enclined and preserve the same kindness for them as his Predecessour he could not in regard
more deformed then theirs They carry a Rope several Fadoms long at their Girdles to tye together such People or Cattel which they Rob from their Neighbours or take in War The Nobles wear Leathern Girdles Four Fingers broad full of Silver Studs at which they hang a Knife a Whetstone and a Steel to strike Fire together with Three Leathern Purses the one full of Salt the other of Pepper and the other with Pack-Needles Lesser-Needles and Thread The Poor People go almost naked such is their Misery not to be parallell'd as not having any thing to cover their Nakedness but a pityful sorry Felt like to the Chlamys of the Ancients into which they thrust their Heads and turn which way they please as the Wind sits for it covers but one side of their Bodies and falls down no lower than their Knees There are some that are par'd very thin to keep out the Water which are not so heavy as the common sort that are ready to weigh a Man down especially when thorough wet He that has a Shirt and a pair of pitiful Drawers thinks himself Rich for almost all of 'em go Bare-Foot and such of the Colchians as pretend to Shooes have nothing but a piece of a Bufalo's Hide and that untann'd too which piece of raw Hide is lac'd about their Feet with a Thong of the same so that for all these sort of Sandals their Feet are as durty as if they went Bare-Foot Almost all the Mingrelians both Men and Women even the most noble and wealthy never have but one Shirt and one pair of Breeches at a time which last 'em at least a Year In all which time they never wash 'em above Three times only Once or Twice a VVeek they shake 'em over the Fire for the Vermin to drop off with which they are mightily haunted and indeed I cannot say I ever saw any thing so Nasty and Loathsome VVhich is the reason that the Mingrelian Ladies carry a very bad scent about ' em I always accoasted 'em extreamly taken with their Beauty but I had not been a Minute in their Company but the Rank VVhiffs from their Skins quite stifl'd all my Amorous Thoughts The Grandees Eat sitting upon Carpets after the manner of the Eastern People Their Napkin is only a piece of painted Cloath or Leather and sometimes they only wipe upon the Boards The Ordinary sort sit upon a Form with another Form before 'em of the same height which serves for a Table All their Dishes are of Wood to their very Drinking Cups only among the People of Quality you shall see a little Silver Plate Moreover it is the custome in this Savage Country that the whole Family without distinction Males and Females Eat all together The King with all his Train to his very Grooms The Queen her Women Maids Servants and all to the very Lacqueys that attend her When it does not rain they Dine in the open Courts where they rank themselves either in a Circle or side by side one below another according to their Quality If it be cold weather they make great rowsing Fires in the Court where they eat for Wood-Firing costs nothing in that Country as I have said already When they are sate down Four Men if the Family be great bring upon their Shoulders a large Kettle full of Gom or Grain boyl'd as I have already related of which most usually a Poor beggarly half-Naked Rascal serves upon a VVooden Plate to every one his proportion which weighs full Three Pound Afterwards two other Servants somewhat but not much better equipp'd bring in another Kettle full of Grain more white than the other which is only for the better sort Upon Worky-Days they never give but only Gom to the Servants the Masters being serv'd with Pulse or dry'd Fish roasted or else Flesh On Holy-Days or when they make entertainments they kill either a Hog or an Ox or a Cow especially if they have no Venson As soon as they have cut the Throat of the Beast they dress it and set it upon the Fire without Salt or Sauce in the great Kettle where they boil their Past VVhen it has boyl'd a while they take it from the Fire throw away the Broth and serve it in half-raw without any seasoning The Master of the House has always standing before him a large Portion of this Vittles They set before him likewise all the Pulse all the Bread and all the Tame and VVild-Fowl VVho presently Carves for his Guests and his Friends their share They feed themselves with their Fingers and that so nastily that nothing but extremity of hunger could provoke the meanest of our Europeans to Eat at the Tables of those Barbarians VVhen they have begun to Eat there are two Persons that serve the Drink round the Table Among the common sort this Office is perform'd by Women or Maids 'T is the same Incivility among them to call for Wine as to refuse it For they must stay till it is presented and take it when 't is giv'n ' em They never give less then a Pint at a Draught which at their Ordinary Meals is thrice done but at Feasts and Banquets the Guests and the Gentry Drink on till they are Drunk The Mingrelians and their Neighbours are very Great Drinkers far exceeding the Germans and all the Northern People They never mix their Wine but Drink it pure both Men and Women But when they are once Heated they think their Pints too little and therefore Drink out of their Dishes and out of the Pitcher it self While I lay near Cotatis I lodg'd at a Gentleman's House who was one of the stoutest Drinkers in all the Country and while I stay'd at his House he made a Feast for Three of his Friends at what time they were all Four so set upon Carowsing that from Ten in the Morning till Ten in the Evening they Drank out a whole Charge of Wine that weigh'd Three Hunderd Pound Weight It is also a custom among these People practiz'd by all the World to rise from the Table and empty as often as they have occasion and when they return they sit down without ever Washing their Hands They provoke their Guests and their Friends as much as they can to Drink it being chiefly at the Table that they observe Civility and are free of their Complements Their discourses between Man and Man are only Stories of their Robberies their Wars Duels Murders and Selling of Slaves Neither is their discourse any better among the VVomen for they are pleas'd with all sorts of Love-Tales let 'em be never so Obscene or never so Lascivious and their Children learn their filthy VVords and Phrases assoon as they can speak insomuch that by that time they come to be Ten Years of Age all their discourse with the VVomen is the most beastly that a Brothel-House can utter And certainly the Education of their Children in Mingrelia is the most Vicious and Lewd in the VVorld Their