passes The Hoofs of his Beast tread only on Silks or other Costly Stuffs And as they enter any Town or City they Chaunt aloud his Praises proclaming him the Son of David and Heir of the Divine Promises All his Followers pretend to be Prophets boasting of strange Illuminations and Raptures foretelling Things to come and reproaching the Vices of Governours and the Greatest Princes with a Boldness which has but few Precedents In a word they every where preach That God is laying the Foundation of a New Monarchy which shall destroy all the Rest in the World and shall never have an End it self This gives a Jealousy to the States where they live and therefore they are persecuted in all Places Yet they appear very constant in their Sufferings and tenacious of the Doctrines they preach They seem in my Opinion to resemble one of our Mussulman Sects who assert That Jesus the Son of Mary shall return again upon Earth That he shall Marry and beget Children be Anointed King of the Nations who believe in One God and in this Glorious State shall reign Forty Years After which he shall subdue Antichrist and then shall follow the Dissolution of all Things Yet the Orthodox Believers reject this Tenet as Fabulous Neither is there any Countenance given to it in that Versicle of the Alcoran where it is said Thou Mahomet shalt see thy Lord return in the Clouds Since that only intimates the Glorious Descent which Moses Jesus and Mahomet shall make from Paradise with Enoch Elias and the One Hundred Twenty Four Thousand Prophets to assemble the Elect at the Day of Judgment If thou would'st have my Opinion of these New Religionists in Europe and their Leader I take him to be an Impostor and his Followers to be either Fools or Mad-Men Even just such another Crew as those who follow'd Moseileima in the Days of our Holy Law-Giver This was an Arabian Impostor who pretended to set up for a Prophet and attempted to compose a Book like the Alcoran But he was Infatuated with a Vain Arrogance and there was no Truth or Elegance in his Writings no Justice on his Side nor Understanding in him or his Party To be short both he and they were all cut to pieces in the Vale of Akreb by the Troops of Abu-Bacrossadic the First Cailiph As to these Modern Seducers they are not Men of Arms but a Herd of Silly Insignificant People aiming rather to heap up Riches in Obscurity than to acquire a Fame by any Heroick Undertaking They are Generally Merchants or Mechanicks and are observ'd to be very Punctual in their Dealings Men of few Words in a Bargain Modest and Compos'd in their Deportment Temperate in their Lives and using great Frugality in all things In a word They are singularly Industrious sparing no Labour or Pains to encrease their Wealth and so Subtle and Inventive that they wou'd if possible extract Gold out of Ashes I know none that excel them in their Characters but the Jews and the Banians â—…he Former being the Craftiest of all Men and the Latter so superlatively Cunning that they will over-reach the Devil But these are no Signs of a Pure Religion For that only prescribes the Methods of withdrawing and separating the Soul from the Contagion of Earthly Things and of uniting it to the Deity which is its Sourse Illustrious Kaimacham I bid thee Adieu praying that thou and I may at last meet in that Center of all Things after our Various Epicycles and Excursions in this Lower World Paris 15th of the 11th Moon of the Year 1659. LETTER V. To the Same I Sent a Dispatch some Moons past to the Cadilesquer of Romeli Guardian of the Imperial Canons Interpreter of the Laws of Equity wherein I inform'd him of the Advances that were made in order to a Peace between France and Spain Now I can assure thee that Peace is concluded and the Articles Sign'd on both Sides by the Two Plenipotentiaries I need not repeat what I particularly related to that Grandee My Letters are all publish'd in the Divan and Register'd Yet it will not be unwelcome perhaps to thee to hear with what Niceness of Punctilio these Infidel Ministers met to accomplish an Affair whereon depends the Interest and Honor of their Respective Masters the Happiness of the Two Kingdoms and the General Byass of all the West There is a little Island form'd by the River Bidassoa call'd the Isle of Pheasants through the Middle of which a Line is drawn which exactly separates the Territories of both Monarchs This Place was agreed on for the Interview of the Two Ministers Each had his Bridge to enter the Island in that Part which belong'd to his Master And over the Line of Separation was erected a large Divan or Council-Room to be enter'd only by Two Private Doors one out of Cardinal Mazarini's Lodgings rais'd on the French Side of the Council-Room the other out of Don Louis D' Aro's Apartment built on the Spanish Side Each of these Ministers was accompany'd by several Princes and Grandees of the Court and above Sixty other Persons of Quality with a Guard of Four Hundred Horse and Foot to secure their Bridges and the Place of Conference In a word Things were manag'd with so much Moderation and good Success that the Mareschal de Gramont was sent Embassador Extraordinary into Spain and receiv'd at that Court with Infinite Civilities and Honour The Subject of his Negotiation was to treat of a Match between the King his Master and the Infanta of Spain His Conduct and Address were such as soon procur'd the Catholick King 's Consent And from that Time the Marshal approach'd the Infanta with more than ordinary Submissions esteeming her now as the Queen of France Soon after this the Nuptial Contract and the Peace was mutually Sign'd to the Immense Joy of the Subjects of both Sides who were very glad to exchange the Toils and Calamities of War for the Sweets and Profit of Peace It will be needless to insert here all the Articles on which they agreed Two will be worth the Knowledge of the Supreme Divan And those are the Release of Charles Duke of Lorrain on the Spanish King's Side And on the Part of the King of France the Restauration of the Prince of Conde to the Free Possession and Enjoyment of all his Estates Honours Dignities and Priviledges as the First Prince of the Royal Blood with the Government of the Provinces of Bourgoigne and Bresse A little before these Articles were Sign'd the Young Prince of Spain dy'd suddainly not having seen Twelve Moons I mention'd the Birth of this Royal Infant in one of my Letters and the Extraordinary Solemnities that were made thereupon by the King of Spain and his Embassadors at Foreign Courts These Infidels appear in all things too passicnately affected with the Glories of our Mortal State which at the Height are but Transient Shadows or something less Considerable I 'm amaz'd at the bold
Multitude of their Brethren Whereas they consider not that they are dispers'd up and down over the whole Earth like Sheep without a Shepherd not permitted to possess a Cubit of Land which they can call their own Contemn'd hated and made a Proverbial Scoff among all Nations Infamous Vagabonds Usurers Slaves and Pimps to other Men's Pleasures Men of no Fame or Character Finally in their present Circumstances the most Spurious and Ignoble of all the Sons of Adam except the Kafars of Ethiopia who feed on the Guts and Dung of Beasts 'T is true indeed their Ancestors made a Considerable Figure in the World in the Days of Solomon and other Victorious Kings during their Possession of Palestine And yet in those very Times they were often humbled and led away into Captivity by the more Fortunate Kings of Babylon Persia and Assyria and afterwards subdu'd by the Grecians till at last they were totally Ruined their Cities laid Waste their Temple burnt to Ashes and their Country quite dispeopled by the Romans If we ascend yet higher to their Celebrated Migration out of Egypt of which their own Historians make such a Noise and tell so many Fabulous Wonders We shall find a very Mean and Contemptible Character given of 'em by Egyptian Writers and those of other Nations Men of as great Authority as Josephus or any other Jewish Historian Manethos a Priest of Egypt calls 'em a Crew of Leprous and Nasty People and says they were expell'd the Country by Amenophis then Reigning and driven into Syria their Captain being Moses an Egyptian Priest A like Relation we have from Chaeremon an Author of good Credit among the Greeks who tells us That in the Reign of Amenophis Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Lepers were forcibly banish'd out of Egypt under the Conduct or Tisithen and Peteseth i. e. Moses and Aaron And tho' other Writers differ in the Name of the King then Reigning in Egypt yet all agree in asserting the Israelites to be a Nasty Sort of People over-run with Scabs and Infectious Boils and that they were esteem'd the Scum and Filth of the Nation Tacitus a Roman Writer of Unquestionable Authority adds That Moses one of the Exil'd Lepers being a Man of Wit and Reputation among them when he saw the Grief and Confusion of his Brethren bid them be of good Cheer and neither trust the Gods or Men of Egypt but only confide in him and obey his Counsel For that he was sent from Heaven to be their Conductor out of this Calamity and to Protect them from all their Enemies Upon which the People not knowing what Course to take surrendred themselves wholly to his Disposal from which Time he became their Captain and Lawgiver leading them through the Desarts of Arabia where they committed great Rapine and Spoil putting Man Woman and Child to the Sword burning their Cities and laying all Things desolate Dear Dgnet What could be said worse of a Company of Robbers and Banditi Moses is gone to Paradise and when I mention his Name it is with a profound Reverence for he was the Greatest of the Ancient Prophets Yet give me Leave to have some Regard for my own Reason He was but a Mortal as well as I and without doubt was not exempt from Humane Frailties He had the Advantage to be Educated in the College of the Royal Priests at Memphis which none of his Nation could boast of besides himself Suffer me to tell thee my Thoughts frankly and without Disguise Magick and Astrology were the only Sciences then in Vogue And he being perfectly vers'd in all the Mysteries and Secrets of Egyptian Wisdom 't was no hard Task for him to possess the Rude and Ignorant Sont of Jacob with a profound Attach and Veneration for his Person And in that distress'd Condition to mold their flexible Spirits to what Discipline he pleas'd Suspect me not for an Infidel or an Atheist because I discourse with this Freedom I have heard some of our Mollahs say a great deal more in their Private Conversation And 't is a superstitious Timerousness not to be bold in the Exercise of our Reason which taught even the Prophet Moses himself the Methods of Conquest and getting a Fame which should know no End I am not Ambitious nor would I tempt thee to aspire at an undue Grandeur But let us not be less than our selves that is Men There is no reason we should be impos'd upon by Fabulous Reports of Interress'd and Designing Writers Or that we should give Faith to every Credulous Fool Doubtless there were many Nations establish'd on Earth before the Israelites and Great Prophets who were not of the Lineage of Abrahim The Date of the Olympiads is much more certain to a Day nay to an Hour than the Hejira of the Israelites since the Former is Demonstrated by the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon interwoven by the Gentile Historians in the Body of their History whereas the Latter is defective in this Material Point and is expos'd to a Thousand Disputes among Writers My Friend let not thou and I trouble our selves with Needless Controversies or be Zealous for Things of no Moment but Adoring One God and believing what is Rational we may possess our Souls in Tranquility and Peace Paris 11th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1660. LETTER VIII To the Kaimacham AT length after a long Alienation the Prince of Conde is restor'd to the King's Favour For which he is oblig'd to the King of Spain I have already intimated in one of my Letters That this was agree'd on in the Treaty of Peace between these Two Crowns as an Article Equivalent to that of the Duke of Lorrain's Release sollicited by the King of France Now 't is put in Execution and the Rebel Prince is receiv'd with Abundance of Caresses by the King Queen-Mother Cardinal Mazarini and the whole Court He is counted the Valiantest Man of this Age and was so pronounc'd long ago by the Mareschal Turenne who is a Souldier of no mean Character both for his Judgment and Courage He was once extremely belov'd by all the French But his Wildness and Inconstancy with the Destructive Effects of the Civil Wars which he rais'd chang'd their Affections for a while into Indifference Coldness and Ill-Will But now all 's well again He and his Brother the Prince of Conti seldom agree'd being often the Heads of Contrary Parties during the Minority of this King And the Younger being crump-Shoulder'd Conde us'd to be a little Sarcastick upon him threatning to shave his uncourtly Back into the Fashion with his Sword It is certain the Prince of Conde was very wild and profuse when Young but now he begins to take soberer Measures During his Father's Life he was call'd the Duke of Enguien And to reflect on the Parsimony of the Old Prince he us'd to take several Handfuls of Gold with one Hand and fill a Purse saying This is my Father's Practice Then he would turn the
Gold or the King's Touch or the Prayers and Ceremonies of the Priests or finally in the Patients Fancy it matters not much This is certain That Thousands who come to the King's Feet very much disorder'd by this Evil find a sensible Alteration in their Bodies before they depart from his Presence and in a few Hours or Days at most are perfectly recover'd Perhaps the Kings of France have some Magical or Physical Tincture in their Blood Or it may be they have found out the Philosopher's Stone so much talk'd of and deliver'd it down to their Posterity as a Part of the Royal Inheritance Which enables the present King to do so many Prodigious Things both at Home and Abroad in Peace and in War besides his Part in Curing this Sickness I am no Rosicrucian nor very fond or credulous of Miracles yet I often wonder at the Treasures of this Monarch which appear Inexhaustible But the Ways of Kings are secret and he of France is singular in his Mysterious Methods of growing Rich and Great Neither do all his Magnificent Expences seem to diminish his Wealth The King of Sueden has been his Pensioner ever since he began to Reign And Millions of French Gold are dispersed among the German Princes These Things cause his Subjects to descant variously But I referr 'em to thy Oraculous Judgment whose Single Tefta is of Ten Thousand Times more Worth than the Decrees of a French Parliament Paris 3d. of the 7th Moon of the Year 1661. LETTER VI. To Mirmadolin Santone of the Vale of Sidon NOW I will vent Holy Things and what the Divinity shall inspire The World was in Weeds when Hosain the Prophet was slain and the Moon put on her Mourning Dress The Tymbrels of Persia Arabia and Babylon were heard in the Dead of the Night Their Sound reach'd to the Third Heaven The Shepherds ran to the Heights of the Earth to discover the Occasion of so much Noise The Sentinels of Forts and Castles gave the Alarm and the Men of War took hold of the Sword the Bow and the Spear The Tygris overflowed its Banks and Diarbekir became a Lake A Dark Body of Clouds overcast the Sky and poured forth Thunder Lightning and Hail Fire ran along on the Sands of the Desart and the Air was all in a Flame Horrour possess'd the Minds of Mortals and the Angels themselves were Uneasy The Beasts of the Field ran into Dens and Caves and the Dragons were touch'd with Remorse Only the more Venomous Kisilbaschi swell'd with Pride The Poyson of Murder and Heresy had puffed up their Souls They and their Posterity are accurs'd to this Day and to the Hour of the Irrevocable Sentence O Santone Great is thy Faith in that thou hast abandoned the Shadow of this World and separated thy self from the Contagion of Mortals I revere the Majesty of thy Sublime Soul the Intellect ranging at Liberty Thou daily gatherest Flowers from the Garden of Eden and being in the Body enjoyest the Sweets of Paradise Kings would lay down their Crowns to taste of thy Pleasures did they but know them and exchange all the Glory of Empires for one Moment of thy Unspeakable Bliss Thou Companion and Care of Angels Darling of the Monarch Omnipotent Where-ever thou liest down whether by Day or by Night the Watchers Above stand ready with Vmbrella's to skreen thee from the Scorching Beams of the Sun the Chilling Darts of the Moon and Stars and from all Injuries of Weather The Elements go out of their Courses to serve thee and all Nature espouses thy Interest The Merchant hires a Thousand Camels and loads them with the Choicest Riches of the Levant He endures all the Fatigues of a long and dangerous Travel through Syria Arabia and Persia runs the Risque of Robbers Diseases and Ten Thousand Methods of Death and after all his Hazards and Pains is not half so Happy nor so Rich as thou who aboundest in Every Thing because thou desirest Nothing which thou hast not or that is Unnecessary The Plough-men labour for thee in the Field and so do the Artificers in the City The Noble and the Vulgar are thy Purveyors and the Greatest Sovereigns pay Tribute to thee Every House is thy Home and they count themselves Happy under whose Roof thou vouchsafest to sleep They are really so for Benediction accompanies the Perfect Man in all his Ways and the Favours of Heaven over-take them that shew Kindness to him Thou art Lord of other Men's Estates and every Man's Field is thy Inheritance Thou enjoyest the Riches of this World without being tainted with the Vices that attend 'em and receivest Immortal Assurances and Seals of the Future Glory in the Life which is to come Oh! Happy Estate of the Righteous Oh! Life to be truly envied As for me I 'm like a Galley-Slave chain'd down to his Oar and forc'd to Row Incessantly whither the Master of the Vessel Commands So am I oblig'd to obey the Dictates of my Superiours whether there be Sin in the Case or no. I am fasten'd in the Cares of this Vain World and the more Particular Anxieties of State From all which thou art Happily free Oh that it were Lawful for me to shake off the Fretting Yoke and disintangle my self from the Snares of Humane Policy That I might live like the Men of the First Ages who honour'd the Earth as their Common Mother and made no Envious Enclosures They sported Innocently on her Fragrant Bosom and never molested their Kind Parent by Cruelty to any of her Off-Spring They suck'd the Milk of her Breast Her Veins stream'd with Wine and Honey They banquetted on Variety of excellent Fruits and no Body thought of Killing and Eating his Fellow-Animal The Birds could then range the Air without Fear of the Fowler neither did any Yawling Huntsman rouze the Timorous Hare from her Seat The Roes and the Hinds could scamper at Pleasure o'er the Plain without being hatter'd to the Mountains and Rocks for Sanctuary neither did any sly Angler trepan the Fish of the Rivers As for the Sea 't was then Unknown No Man as yet had ventur'd on that Perfidious Element or found out the Use of Ships There was in those Days no Foreign Commerce or Traffick nor any Need of it Every Region supply'd its Inhabitants with what was Useful and Necessary And those Temperate Mortals desir'd no more They liv'd without Irregular Appetites free from Ambition Fraud and Blood This is the Life so much desir'd by me and which thou actually enjoyest God augment thy Felicities and Raptures that thou mayest pass from one Vision and Extasy to another till Gabriel snatch thy Soul away in a Divine Transport beyond the Possibility of a Relapse Holy Santone whilst thou art on Earth pray for me and when thou art among the Immortals do me some Favours which may last for ever Paris 26th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1661. LETTER VII To Dgnet Oglou MY Business in this Place obliges me
Example might edify others and the Publick Character of an Untainted Loyalty might benefit my self Whilst Fame proclaimed it before my Arrival at the Invisible Regions to prepare the Ghosts of Just Men to bid me welcome and give me a kind Reception who am yet wholly a Stranger in those Parts of the World For Death it self cannot banish me out of the Universe And there 's my last Comfort Thou my dear Physician wilt conclude I 'm Melancholy by this Kind of Discourse But I tell thee 't is only another way of Expressing the Secret Pleasure and Tranquility of my Soul which is more to be valued by him that enjoys it than all the Laughter and Exravagant Mirth in the World These only ruffle our Passions and raise a Dust in our Eyes whereas the other compose and purify our Reason giving us a Constant Prospect of Things Past Present and to Come So that we can never be at a Loss but always ready equipp'd for the worst Contingencies Hali Adieu Paris 15th of the 12th Moon of the Year 1661. LETTER X. To the Same THE Court of France in all things endeavours to imitate the Ancient Grandeur of the Roman Emperours and their Policy As they had their Amphitheatres whereon were exhibited all Sorts of Shows and Spectacles to divert the People in Time of Peace so have these their Theatres whereon according to the more Acceptable Mode of the present Age are represented the Various Kinds of Vertue and Vice Men's Follies and Perfections Modern Humours and the Ancient Morality Intrigues of Love and of State Surprizing Actions of War and the Subtle Overtures of Peace The Tyranny of Sovereigns and Rebellion of Subjects In fine whatsoever is treated of in Books is here Acted to the Life on the Stage and with so much Advantage of Scenes Interludes Musick Dances Language Wit Humour and the like Charming Circumstances That a Man at some Hours cannot better pass away his Time than in being present at these Entertainments Where all that he has read either in Ancient or Modern History deserving Remark shall be successively presented to his View as efficaciously as if the Persons were now living and in presence whose Actions each Play describes There you shall be introduced as it were into the Court and Camp of the Grand Cyrus You shall accompany Alexander the Great in his Expeditions through Asia You shall see him die of Poyson at Babylon and the Macedonian Empire Cantoniz'd among his Officers You shall behold all the Roman Caesars in their Rise and Fall With whatsoever Particularities were observable in this or any other Renown'd Monarchy on Earth not excluding the last and most Universal Empire of the Ottomans For these Infidels presume to act o'er again the Part of Tamerlain and lead about in Dramatick Triumph the Encag'd yet still Invincible Bajazet In Habits which only become the destin'd Conquerors of the World these Slaves dare personate the Glorious Solyman Mahomet the Great the Victorious Selim and even Amurat himself the Stoutest Emperour that ever Reigned I mean the Vncle of our present Sovereign Besides True History thus represented tho Spectators are sometimes diverted with Fabulous Entries of Gods Nymphs Fauns Satyrs Muses Graces Monsters and whatsoever we find in the Ancient Poets There you shall see Prometheus fetching Fire from Heaven to give Life to his Men of Clay Lycaon transformed into a Wolf for his Inhospitable Carriage to Jupiter Ganymede snatched up into Heaven by an Eagle and made Jupiter's Cup-bearer for his singular Beauty It is pleasant also to see Phryxus with his Sister Helle swiming o'er the Hellespont on the Back of a Ram with a Golden Fleece whilst she for Fear falls off and is drowned And from her Name Helle that Sea is suppos'd to be so called In the mean while Phryxus swims forward and arrives at Colchis where he sacrifices the Ram and hangs the Golden Fleece up in the Temple which was afterwards stole away by Jason and his Argonauts It is equally diverting to see the Artifice of the Scenes and Machines which represent Jupiter transforming himself into a Show'r of Gold and so descending into Danae's Lap when he begets Perseus on her who subdued the Gorgons and with Medusa's Head turned the Cephen Nobles into Statues In a word all the Ingenious Fictions of Orpheus Homer Hesiod Ovid and the rest of the Greek and Roman Poets are here translated not so much from one Language to another as from Words to Actions and from Dead Inanimate Characters to Living Figures of the Things themselves For these sort of Plays are acted by Men Women and Children culled out and Educated for that Purpose And the Managers are at a vast Charge for Variety of Proper Scenes and Dresses for every Occasion each Actor being exactly Apparell'd according to the different Quality of the Persons represented and the Mode of the Age and Country wherein they lived These Sort of Divertisements are very agreeable both to the Court and the City The King takes great Delight in them especially in Ballets and Pastorals which consist chiefly of good Songs and Dances mixed with bold and uncouth Entries of Antiques representing Monsters and Devils as the Christians usually describe ' em But there was lately a check given to their Sport by an Accident which has surpriz'd all People that hear of it and has puzzl'd the most Intelligent Heads to give an Account of so strange an Occurrence On the 19th of this Moon the King and the whole Court were present at a Ballet representing the Grandeur of the French Monarchy About the middle of the Entertainment there was an Antique Dance performed by Twelve Masquerades in the suppos'd Forms of Daemons But before they had advanced far in their Dance they found an Interloper amongst 'em who by encreasing the Number to Thirteen put 'em quite out of their Measures For they practise every Step and Motion before-hand till they are perfect Being abash'd therefore at the unavoidable Blunders the Thirteenth Antique made 'em commit they stood still like Fools gazing at one another None daring to unmask or speak a word for that would have put all the Spectators into a Disorder and Confusion Cardinal Mazarini who was the chief Contriver of these Entertainments to divert the King from more serious Thoughts stood close by the Young Monarch with a Scheme of the Ballet in his Hand Knowing therefore that this Dance was to consist but of Twelve Antiques and taking Notice that there were actually Thirteen at First imputed it to some Mistake But afterwards when he perceived the Confusion of the Dancers and that they could not procced he made a more narrow Enquiry into the Cause of this Disorder To be brief they convinc'd the Cardinal that it could be no Error of theirs by a kind of demonstration in that they had but Twelve Antique Dresses of that Sort which were made on purpose for this particular Ballet whereas the Thirteenth Dancer was disguiz'd after the same
of the Dervises of Cogni in Natolia whose Soul is now with God wherein I gave him an Account of the Converse I once had with a Jesuite For pretending to be a Student and Retainer to the Clergy I cou'd not avoid the Company of Ecclesiasticks Besides It was my Interest to insinuate into their Acquaintance and to tell the Truth I have made it a great Part of my Business to gain a Familiarity with Priests and Dervises ever since I came hither There was Abundance of Reason for this on several Accounts For I improv'd my self much by the Society of those amongst them that are Learned and I edify'd not a little by the very Ignorance and Follies of others From some I squeez'd out Secrets of State and the Designs of Cabals By others I penetrated into the Mysterious Vices of their own Order In a Word all of them taught me something or other which I knew not before and I never had Occasion to repent of keeping them Company I contracted a particular Friendship with an Honest Friar or Two in this City who were Persons of Candour and Learning But now they are Dead Besides I have had no small Intimacy with Cardinal Richlieu and his Successor Mazarini I tell thee if I had not coveted the Friendship of these Princely Priests yet it had been impossible to escape their Knowledge as obscure a Figure as I make For it was their constant Practice thus to seek out all the Strangers and Travellers in this City under Pretence of that Great Regard they had for Men of Merit but in Reality to pump out of them Foreign Secrets Cardinal Richlieu profess'd a great Kindness to me because I had been at Constantinople and in other Parts of the Grand Signior's Dominions He seem'd also to value me not a little for my Skill in Interpreting Greek Sclavonick and other Languages of the East What he thought of me in 's Heart I cannot divine but I have Reason to think he suspected me for a Mussulman And yet I wonder he never search'd for the main Proof the Mark of Circumcision Perhaps 't was an Effect of his Good Nature as being loath to ruin me Irrecoverably But I rather ascribe it to Providence which wou'd not suffer him it may be to make so Fatal a Reflection Yet by his Order some Years ago I was Imprison'd for Six Moons What the Meaning on 't was I could never dive into But I had a shrewd Jealousy of a certain Transylvanian Resident at this Court who perhaps might do me some ill Offices The World 's like a Lottery wherein we must expect to meet with many Unlucky Chances By what I have said thou wilt easily perceive That though the Priests make a fair Semblance of Piety Mortification and other Religious Vertues yet they are great Busy-Bodies and wholly taken up in Secular Affairs If this were the Worst Character they deserve they might pass for very Good Men and necessary Instruments of the Publick Welfare Because they have the Tutelage and Guardianship of all Men's Consciences they form 'em in their Youth and govern 'em in their Ripest Years Besides they have many Advantages of studying the Politicks more than other Men as being all Educated in the Academies where if they be not very dull they cannot fail of becoming good Historians and Indifferent Statesmen For their Libraries abound with all Manner of Ancient and Modern Writers and their Conversation is generally refin'd and pregnant in Intrigues But they corrupt their Learning with false Maxims which they borrow from an Intolerable Pride and Sensuality perswading themselves that they are as far above other Men that is the Laity as those are above the Beasts That God has bestow'd on them a Dignity Superiour to that of the Greatest Temporal Monarchs and in fine That this Earth is a Paradise and themselves the Gods and Lords of it When I speak at this Rate of the Nazarene Priests understand me not without Restriction There are some Good and Holy Men amongst them Persons of Unblemish'd Manners and Incorrupt Sincerity But these are very rare and the French Priests are esteem'd the most sincere of any within the Pale of the Roman Church As for the Italian Clergy they are mere Libertines the most debauch'd and profligate Fellows in the World Adonai the Jew a late Private Agent of the Grand Signior who had travell'd up and down through all Italy and resided a considerable Time in the Chief Cities and Towns of Note made many curious Observations and Remarks on the Lives of the Priests which he set down in his Journal This I have by me now it being sent me according to my Desire after his Death by Zeidi Alamanzi his Successor in that Station who is at present at Venice I have perus'd this Relation my self with no small Pleasure and believe 't will not be unwelcome to thee to give thee an Abstract of what he says It is possible he may exaggerate some Things and deliver himself too partially in others out of the Natural and Inherent Aversion the Jews have for the Christians But thou wilt find that in the Main he insists only on such Reflections as it becomes any Man to make who has the least Spark of Common Morality and Reason In the First Place he finds Fault with the Ecclesiasticks in that they abstain from Marriage themselves yet recommend that State to the Laity as a very Holy Sacrament and Mystery of Religion Whilst they indulge themselves at the same Time in all Manner of Lasciviousness wallowing in Fornication Adultery Incest and Sodomy it self He says there is hardly one Priest in Ten who does not keep Two or Three Harlots and the most Recluse Dervises are either Pimps to other Men's Lusts or they indulge their own with the most infamous Courtezans and Catamites These Pretenders to Perfection and Sanctity are often found Masquerading and Revelling about the Streets in the Time of Carnaval with a Company of Whores for their Attendance Nay all the Year round their Monasteries are no other than Stews or Brothel-Houses They introduce Women into their Cells in a Monastick Habit and so they pass for Men who come to visit them as Friends Relations or Travellers These Ladies of Pleasure lie thus conceal'd for many Days and Nights together And the Superior of the Convent winks at this for a little Money being most commonly as bad as any of them These Holy Fathers go marching and slouching along the Streets in the most Mortify'd Manner Imaginable You wou'd take 'em for perfect Santones and Ideots Yet this is all but Mummery whilst they are the most glozing Hypocrites in the World mere Devils in a City and abounding in wicked Thoughts and Practices Adonai tells a pleasant Story of a young Monastick of St. Dominick's Order at Rome This Monk was no Noble Extraction and his Parents were very rich and powerful in the City On which Account he was indulg'd many Liberties deny'd to the rest of his
him a Command in his Army that so he might rob and Plunder from thenceforth by Authority But I shou'd have begun higher in Antiquity with the Empire of the Assyrians founded by Ninus in the Blood and Slaughter Ruine and Destruction of all his Neighbours and increas'd after the same Methods by his Wife Semiramis who begging of her Husband that she might reign for Five Days and he granting her Request she put on the Royal Ornaments and sitting on the Throne of uncontroulable Majesty commanded the Guards to degrade and kill her Husband Which being done she succeeded in the Empire adding Aethiopia to her other Dominions carrying a War into India and encompassing Babylon with a Magnificent Wall at last was kill'd by her Son Ninyas Thus was the Assyrian Monarchy established in Regicides Massacres and Carnage And by the same Methods 't was translated by Arbactus to the Medes He having caus'd Sardanapalus the last and most effeminate of all the Assyrian Kings to die in the midst of his Concubines Thus was Treachery and Murder handed down with the Sovereign Power till at length Cyrus the Persian transferr'd them to his Country Whose Son Cambyses rais'd the Second Vniversal Monarchy on the additional Ruines of many other Kingdoms cementing it with the Blood of his Brother and his Son Yet after all it was translated to the Macedonians by Alexander the Great not without an equal Guilt of Parricide and other Exorbitant Vices From whom at last it devolv'd to the Romans What need I mention the scandalous Birth of Romulus and Remus the Twin-Sons of an Incestuous Vestal Or their debauch'd Education under a common Prostitute fabulously veil'd by the Roman Historians under the Title of a Wolf to render the Origin of their Empire Miraculous Why shou'd I recount the Horrid Fratricide committed by Romulus on Remus his Brother or the celebrated Rape of Sabine Wives Virgins and Widows It will seem invidious to call to Mind the detestable Murder of Titus Tacius the Good old Captain of the Sabines with many other Barbarous Massacres Yet these enormous Crimes were the Foundations of the Roman Grandeur and Nobility so formidable afterwards to the whole Earth And the Superstructure was answerable through all the various Changes and Revolutions of Government even to the Reign of Augustus Caesar under whom Rome gain'd the Title of the Fourth Vniversal Monarchy This Emperour though he was esteem'd the most Merciful and Just Prince on Earth yet he establish'd his Throne in the Blood of his Kindred sacrificing the Children of his Uncle to the ends of State And that he might not deviate from the Royal Ingratitude of other Princes he barbarously extinguish'd the Off-spring of his Fathers Brother who had adopted him to the Inheritance of the Imperial Dignity Scorning by an unkingly Tenderness to spare the glorious Names of Antony and Cleopatra to whom he was so nearly related and who had invested him with the Power of being so inhumane I will not make thee sick by rehearsing the abominable Lives and wicked Actions of the Nero's Domitian's Caligula's Heliogabulus's Galienus's and the rest of those Royal Monsters History it self blushes to recite such Prodigies of Impiety and their very Names are odious to all Generations If we pass from these mighty Empires to Kingdoms of less Note we shall still trace the Foot-steps of the same Vices Both Ancient and Modern Records are full of these Tragedies The Original Kingdom of the Greeks took its Rise from the Parricide of Dardanus and the Female Empire of the Amazons began in the barbarous Massacre of their Husbands All Ages and Nations afford us Examples of this Nature and the highest Honours Dignities and Commands were ever acquir'd and maintain'd by the Highest Injustice Therefore Honest Nathan let thou and I never envy the Nobles and Grandees of the Earth but contented in our Humble Posts sitting under the Vmbrella's of a happy Obscurity let us serve the Grand Signior with Integrity and a Zeal void of Injustice Paris 22d of the 2d Moon of the Year 1663. LETTER XXIII To Codarafrad Cheik a Man of the Law THou wilt approve the Sentence that was Yesterday executed on a Frenchman in this City who said he was the Son of God and had perswaded a great many poor Ignorant People to believe him He was burnt alive for his Blasphemy and his Ashes kick'd into a Ditch Had he been convicted of this horrid Impiety in any of the Grand Signior's Dominions he had undergone the like or a more terrible Punishment For the Alcoran expresly says That God has neither Wife Son Daughter or Companion And that those shall suffer Eternal Pains who teach any such Doctrine Doubtless there is but One God and the Eternal Vnity cannot be divided or multiply'd to make more Gods in Faction or procreate an Off-spring of diminutive Dieties He the Father of all Things dwells in Eternal Solitude and from an Infinite Retirement beholds the Various Generations of the Vniverse they are all equally his Off-spring and 't is Blasphemy to affirm he has a Son or a Daughter or a Companion like unto himself For he is increated unbegotten and entire Sole Possessor of his Own Glory without Rival or Competitor There was none before him neither shall there be any after him He is without Beginning or End But these Infidels harbour strange Opinions about a Trinity of Gods and follow the Doctrines of Hermes Trismegistus Plato Plotinus and other Pagan Philosophers who asserted a Triad in the Deity and on that Basis founded all the Polytheism of the Gentiles Hence Pythagoras drew his Tetragrammaton by playing the Chymical Arithmetician and extracting a Quaternity out of Three But the Poets not puzzling their Heads with the Mysteries of these Divine and Vnintelligible Numbers deliver'd their Theology in plain gross Fictions suitable to the Capacities of the Vulgar One midwifing a Goddess out of Jupiter's Brains Another starting a God from his Thigh But this silly Fellow could not derive his Pedigree so near as from a Little Toe of the Divinity Therefore he was deservedly reduc'd to his First Atomes and spurn'd out of the World The French have various Kinds of Punishments for Malefactors but none more terrible than Breaking on the Wheel This is inflicted only on Notorious Criminals and the Manner is thus The Party condemn'd is fasten'd to a Wheel with his Arms and Legs extended to their full Length and Wideness Then comes the Executioner and with an Iron Bar breaks one Bone after another till the miserable Wretch is in the Agonies of Death and so he is left to expire in unutterable Torments For some Men of strong Constitutions will retain Life in this Condition for Twelve or more Hours together Honourable Codarafrad Though the Executions of the East are more swift and surprizing than those in the West yet they are not Comparable to them for Cruelty The worst Death being but a Minutes Pain Sage Cheick I reverence thy accomplish'd Knowledge