Stabbing her self And as she breath'd her Last she charg'd Brutus and Collatinus Two Princes to revenge her Cause Wherefore they stir'd up the People to assert their Liberty and abrogate the Kingly Government Which was as readily done as mention'd And here was an End put to the Tyranny of Kings In my Next I will relate the Increase and Progress of the Roman State under the Government of Consuls and Emperors Which will comprehend the most Memorable Events of Peace and War even to the Catastrophe of the Empire Paris 22d of the 9th Moon of the Year 1680. LETTER IV. To Orchan Cabet Student in the Sciences and Pensioner to the Sultan ABout the Soul That 's the Thought I 'm upon That 's the World I 'm going to write Whether it shall after the grand Divorce from the Body go to Heaven or Hell as they are commonly represented or whether it shall not rather be more happily or miserably dispos'd of Or if less yet at least in a more proportionate Order of Eternal Justice Methinks I taste and feel the Original Meaning of the Word Nemesis Which though it pass for Primitive Greek among the most Learned of the Western Scholars yet I can prove it to be a Phoenician Derivative from the Chinese And I can demonstrate likewise That it is full of Mysteries Every Syllable of it is Sacred and Mysterious as the Mrne Mene Tekel Vpharsin of Beltschatzar Numeravit Numeravit Appendit Divisit That 's the Sense of it So are Words become the Eternal Mind The very Letters which compose Words I should have said the Syllables first in good Manners are all the Products of the Mathematicks I mean of the Original Science not of those paultry Fragments Scraps and Offals that are taught in Schools and Academies Such as the Elements of Euclid the Rudiments of Algebra Benazer Ki-flud or any other Learned Pen. There 's something more within the Verge of Human Science than what has been divulg'd hitherto in the World or at least more than what is now extant and has escap'd the Ruin of Fires Floods Earthquakes and the Jaws of all-devouring Time Learned Orchan I will not be prolix but answer me one Question about the Soul Can'st thou believe the Stories of the Priest's concerning Purgatory Hell and the two other Limbo's Hast thou Faith enough to swallow the ridiculous Figments of the Book entitled Speculum Exemplorum a Tract so highly celebrated and magnified among the Superititious Nazarenes of the Roman Church Believe me these Doctrins are the pure Effects of Anthropomorphism or the Religion of those who represent God under the Form of a Mortal Man For they poor Souls are so incapable of rising above this gross and Earthly Thought that they even presume to draw and paint the Effigies of the Eternal Divinity which has no Figure or Resemblance They pourtray him like a very Old Man with Gray Hairs on his Head and Beard and then they set the Idol up in Temples to be ador'd The rude and ignorant Vulgar dare not contradict their Guides whom they revere as Oracles They bow before the sacred Vanity paying Divine Honours to the Work of Human Art Thus Superstition and Error spread abroad and take firm Root in the World From hence the duller Part of Men derive their Notions of Man's Soul They cannot conceive how it shou'd subsist after Death without just such a Body of Flesh and Blood as it has in this Life And yet they contradict that very Opinion by asserting that it cannot have such a Body till the General Resurrection whilst at the same time they assert That it shall enjoy all the Pleasures or suffer all the Pains which none but Corporeal Beings are capable of Doubtless the Infidels are involv'd in a Labyrinth of Heresies We Mortals know not the State of Departed Souls whether they go upwards or downwards to the East or West North or South We are wholly ignorant of the Climates wherein the Blessed and the Damn'd are separately dispos'd of Perhaps the Doctrin of Transmigration taught by Pythagoras Empedocles and all the Eastern Indians may be true From which Bolief few Mussulmans do diffent Or it may be we shall as the Gentile Poets wrote mysteriously fall into Lethe's Lake into the Region of Forgetfulness where we shall be as though we 'd never been This is the Souls unactive State if any such there be in Nature for an Incorporeal Spirit And then the Millenaries or Chiliasts among the Christians may be much i' th' Right on 't who taught the Sleep of the Soul until the Resurrection Indeed in my Opinion this Life it self wherein we think our selves so much Awake to Hear See Taste Smell Feel and Revel in the Pleasures of the Universe is but a Dream or Trance A grand Deliquium of the Soul The Universal Apoplexy of Human Nature For the true Genuine Life is only to be found Above in the pure Regions of the Air or more refined Skies or if not there at least and lowest Rate in the superlative Heights beyond the Stars remote from narrow and polluted Matter where perfect Essences do bask Eternally in the Grand Halo of the God-head or shroud and cool themselves under the mady Trees of Paradise whose Roots spring from the deep Abysses of Eternity and are wash'd by Springs and Streams warbling along the verdant Banks of sweet Chioschs and elegant Borders of the Groves in Eden Such are the Pleasures which God the Fauntain of Munificence is pleased to treat his Creatures with He studies to Regale his Favourites with infinite Beatitudes There are in Paradise Rivers broad and long as the Danube Volga Niger Nilus or any other noted Current upon Earth Their Streams run all with Honey Wine and Milk or more delicious Liquors if any such there be They are not deep that timorous Men need fear to Drown themselves yet deep enough for foreign Earthly Souls to swim in Everlasting Pleasures Moreover thou knowest the Saying of the Prophet That we shall have Women there whose Beauty no Painters Art can e're express who shall not glance a Look upon another Man beside their own Women whose Beauty shall exceed the Lustre of Diamonds Rubies Hyacinths and whatsoever is precious in the East He promises likewise That we shall be stretch'd out at perfect Ease on stately Beds under Pavilions of Magnifick Structure Where Pages fair and beautiful as Pearls shall wait upon us whilst Gentle Zephirs fan the ambient Air with their Immortal Breezes making a soft and grateful Sound among the Leaves and Boughs of those tall Verdant Copses Woods and Thickets which are planted here and there throughout the Fields of Paradise O Orchan by all these Allegories we are to understand the Supreme Felicity of Virtuous Souls who die in Faith and Love This is a certain Rule That whatsoever is pleasant and agreeable to any Good Man upon Earth shall be either superlatively augmented in Specie or improv'd by an infinitely more pleasant
whom I might insinuate on the score of Skill in translating Greek Sclavonick Arabick and other Eastern Languages Osmin the Dwarf is also Dead from whom I us'd to learn many Secrets Fate has also snatch'd away several Courtiers with whom I had intimate Converse Add to this that Eliachim grows Old and Crazy who was once as my Right Hand So prompt and dextrous in any Business of Difficulty Faithful also as my own Heart which never was tainted with the least Symptom of Disloyalty So that all things consider'd I cannot see what the Sublime Ministers can propose in retaining me at Paris I do not desire as formerly to travel into India or any other Region of the East I do not so much as Covet to see my own Native Country for which I have had such passionate Longings No every Place will be Arabia to me where I may rest from Businesses of State and shut up my latter Days in Quietness It is Time for me to bid Adieu to the Active Life and betake my self wholly to Contemplation I would fain abandon not only the actual Vanities of this fading World but the very remembrance and thoughts of them My Mind is nauseated with the Idea's of past Folly which Men falsly call Pleasure And I find no gust in any thing but the Meditation of Death and the unknown State of departed Souls All other Things are uncertain Toys and empty Trifles But that great change which no Mortal hath ever yet escap'd is stable permanent and fix'd by Destiny Fate has set the Period which winds up the Epocha of every Mans Life in this visible State and begins a new Hejira whereof we have no Computation in regard we have no Correspondence with that unknown World Neither are there any certain Histories extant which can rightly inform us The Flight of the Soul from the Body begins the Mysterious Date but where or when it will end is not known to us that stay behind This therefore alone is worthy of an Old Man's Thoughts how to prepare himself for Death since he cannot protract the Term of his Life beyond the Moment allotted by Heaven Neither can he be assur'd what will become of him afterwards Think not Serene Bassa that I am going to lay a Train for the Reputation of a Saint or wou'd set up all on a sudden for an extraordinary Pious Man No there 's nothing of that in 't I hate the rigid Hypocrisie of forc'd Penance and the Religious Lunacy of those who never think they do enough to atone for their Sins unless they outdo Humanity it self in their cruel Mortifications These are Monsters in all good Divinity and their Example is not to be followed What I aim at in this Discourse is That as according to the Order of Nature and Will of Destiny we are born Men so we should take care to Live and Die And if we have suffer'd the former part of our Life to elapse without due Reflection on so important a Truth 't is but Reason that when we approach near the Grave when all our Senses Faculties and Members do the part of King Philip's Page putting us daily and hourly in Mind of our Mortality 'T is but Reason I say that then we should begin to recollect our selves and to think whereabouts we are that we may not be surprized by the Inevitable Decree of Fate when it comes to be put in Execution nor die less than our selves Besides there is another advantage in being thus prepar'd for the last things since it equally arms us against all intermediate Calamities supposing we shou'd live longer than we reckon He that can boldly stare Death in the Face will not easily turn his Back upon any Misfortune of this Inconstant Life But receiving all things with an even Temper renders himself happy in the midst of Troubles Losses Disgraces Pains Sicknesses and other Casualties which assault all that live on Earth Magnificent Bassa all that I have said is but a Prologue to my main purpose which is to desire thy Mediation with the First Vizier that I may be recall'd from an Employment wherein I cannot be so serviceable as I have been and which at the same Time by imposing on me a Thousand Cares takes from me the possibility of preparing as I ought to do for that Transmigration which in a little Time I must pass through In a Word Right Noble Kerker I desire the Priviledge to end my Days in Constantinople among the Moselmans under the Venerable Shade of Mosks and Minarets consecrated to the Service and Honour of the Eternal Vnity Let me not have worse Usage than the ancient Roman Souldiers had who when they had served in the Wars such a certain number of Years were discharg'd with an Honourable Pension This is all the Favour I request who have serv'd the Grand Signior faithfully and with Success these Eight and Thirty Years in a Country of Infidels But if my Superiors shall determine otherwise I am resign'd to their Pleasure and to the Will of Destiny Paris 22d of the 6th Moon of the Year 1674. LETTER VII To Ali Rustan Begh Serasquier in Dalmatia THou shalt hear how a famous Christian General the Mareschal de Turenne deported himself when he was lately challeng'd to a single Combat by the Prince Palatine of the Rhine It seems this later has been a great Sufferer by the present War between France and the Confederate Princes for his Country lying near the Rhine was expos'd to both Parties and the French first enter'd it There were some English Troops in the French Army who had conceiv'd an Implacable Revenge against the Subjects of the Palatine in regard many of their Comrades had been barbarously handled by them Wherefore they made great Devastation where-ever they came burnt Five and Twenty great Villages to the Ground and Five small Cities In a word they quite ruin'd in Fifteen Days Time the whole Country which is esteem'd the most pleasant and agreeable Part of Europe This put the Elector all in Choler and he wrote a sharp Letter to the Mareschal Turenne threatning him in a furious Manner and bidding him chuse the Place where he might fight with him in single Duel But the Sage Mareschal retaining his usual Moderation and not at all mov'd at the Palatines Letter answer'd it in these or the like Terms That the Proceedings of the English Regiments were without his Order or Approbation That he was infinitely troubled at the Violences which had been committed and that the chief Anthors had been punish'd Nevertheless he could not but Declare That the cruel Treatment which the English had met with had so exasperated their Companions that it was no wonder to see them execute their Revenge even on the very Inanimate Things And that in the first heat and transport of their Fury they had not leisure to examine who were guilty and who not He added likewise That if the Post which the King his Master had appointed him would
Archbishop of St. Andrews and Primate of Scotland He also touches upon the Persecution of the Huguenots in France But that which ought to be most taken notice of is a Letter of his to Nathan Ben Saddi wherein he highly extols the Journal of Carcoa Nathan's Predecessor in that Post Which Journal the Translator of these Volumes understanding to be in the Hands of the Italian who first found our Arabian's Papers and with whom he has since contracted a Correspondence he has endeavour'd to prevail with him to communicate it to the Publisher hereof Wherein if he shall be so Happy as to succeed he will in due Time transmit it to the World in our Mother-Tongue to the Satisfaction and Benefit of the Publick Reader Farewel and envy not the Industrious A TABLE OF THE LETTERS and Matters contained in this Volume VOL. VIII BOOK I. LETTER I. MAhmut the Arabian at Paris to Mehemet an Exil'd Eunuch at Grand Caire in Egypt Page 1. He discovers to him his Excessive Melancholy on the Account of a Woman II. To the Selictar Aga or Sword-Bearer to the Sultan Page 4 Of the French Conquests in Lorrain Alsace Brabant Flanders Catalonia and other Parts With an Account of a famous Victory obtain'd by Mareschal Turenne over the Imperialists near Strasburgh III. To Mirmadolin Santone of the Vale of Sidon Page 7 A Philosophical Discourse of Purity Abstinence from Pleasures Vigilance c. IV. To Ali Bassa Page 13 Of the Spanish War the Taking of divers Towns by the French The Treason of the Chevalier de Rohan and others detected and punished and by that Means the Dutch Invasion prevented V. To Cara Hali Physician to the Grand Signior Page 18 Of the Vniversal and Platonick Love with which Mahmut always finds Himself affected VI. To Kerker Hassan Bassa Page 23 He complains of Infirmities and Old Age desiring to be recall'd from his Post at Paris VII To Ali Rustan Begh Serasquier in Dalmatia Page 28 Of a Challenge sent from the Prince Palatine of the Rhine to Mareschal Turenne and the Mareschal's Answer Of private Duels VIII To the same Page 33 Of the famous Battel of Senef IX To Mehemet an exil'd Eunuch at Alcaire in Egypt A Melancholy Letter on the Score of Human Ignorance aad Errors X. To the Kaimacham Page 42 Of the Arrival of Deputies from the Senate of Messina in Sicily to the French King requesting his Protection Of the Affairs of that Island Of the Duke of Vivonne Maresch Feuillade and Prince of Conde XI To the Vizir Bassa at Constantinople Page 48 He acquaints him with the Remarkable Justice of Mustapha Zari a Turk to Monsieur Vaubrun a Frenchman and his Partner XII To Ibrahim Eli Zeid Hadgi Effendi Preacher to the Seraglio Page 53 Of a reputed Miracle wrought publickly at Paris by St. Genevieve Patroness of that City Of the Force of Religious Mysteries and Ceremonies BOOK II. LETTER I. TO Dgnet Oglou Page 61 Of the Darkness of Human Knowledge in this Life II. To Hamet Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire Page 64 He acquaints him with the Death of Maresch Turenne with some Remarkable Passages of his Life and a few of his Sayings III. To the Kaimacham Page 70 He re-capitulates several Events omitted in his former Letters of that Year A remarkable Story of the Loss of Treves Of the French King's Inclination to Peace IV. To Abdel Melec Muly Omar President of the College of Sciences at Fez. Page 75 He entertains him with a Panegyrick of the Eternal Wisdom in a singular Stile V. To the Captain Bassa Page 81 He informs him of Two or Three Sea-Fights between the French Hollanders and Spaniards in one of which the Dutch Admiral De Ruiter was kill'd VI. To the Sage of Sages the Mysterious Eremite the Great Mohammed of Mount Uriel in Arabia Page 80 He acquaints him of the Change of his Opinion concerning the Eternity of the World as to its present Form VII To Pesteli Hali his Brother Master of the Customs and Superintendent of the Arsenal at Constantinople Page 90 Of the Taking of Philipsburgh from the French by the Confederate Princes and States With a short History of that Town VIII To Sephat Abercromil Vanni Effendi Preacher to the Sultan Page 92 Of the Progress which the Molonists or Quietists had then made in Europe IX To Mirmadolin Santone of the Vale of Sidon Page 97 This Letter is a Kind of Rhapsody in Praise of God of Mahomet Hali Mecca Medina and the Alcoran X. To the Kaimacham Page 103 Of the Taking of Valenciennes Cambray and St. Omers by the French An Abstract of History concerning Cambray XI To Hamet Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire Page 108 Of the Love of Women and the different Manner this Passion discovers it self in People of various Nations Ages Qualities Fortunes and Constitutions XII To the Captain Bassa Page 116 Of a Victory obtain'd at Sea by the French Of the Taking the Isle of Tabago from the Hollanders in America From whence he takes Occasion to discourse of Magellanica or the Southern Unknown World XIII To Dgnet Oglou Page 120 Of the General Superstition and Religious Easiness of Mankind XIV To Kerker Hassan Bassa Page 125 Of the Surrender of Friburg to the French BOOK III. LETTER I. TO the Wisest of the Wise the most Venerable Mufti Page 127 He presents him with a short Abstract of the Macedonian Empire and some particular Passages in the Life of Alexander the Great II. To Musu Abu'l Yahyan Professor of Philosophy at Fez. Page 142 He proceeds in the Description of Constantinople which he begun in a former Letter III. To Kerker Hassan Bassa Page 149 Of the Taking of Ghaunt Ypres Puicerda and other Places by the French Of several Victories obtained by them in Germany IV. To Dalimalched the Widow of Pesteli Hali his Brother Master of the Customs c. Page 152 He condoles the Death of her Husband in a Triumphant Style being assured that he is gone to Paradise And expostulates with her about her Carriage to him in his Life V. To Hamet Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire Page 156 He describes the Netherlands VI. To the Same Page 163 He gives him an Account of Switzerland VII To Dgnet Oglou at Damascus Page 170 He rallies him for the Choice of that City yet congratulates his Happiness in being a Husbandman Several Examples of Great Men who have abandon'd all their Honours for that Manner of Life VIII To Achmet Cupriogli the most Exalted and Sage Vizir Azem Page 176 Of a general Peace in Christendom IX To Mehemet an Exil'd Eunuch at Alcaire in Egypt Page 180 He relates a strange Thing that happened to him one Night in his Chamber viz. An Apparition or Spectre on which he makes Remarks X. To the Cadilesquer of Romeli Page 189 He informs him of the Murder of the Archbishop of St. Andrews in Scotland With some Historical Remarks on
pray the Almighty and All good God to have thee in his Holy Protection and augment thy Vertues and Felicities Paris 11th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1675. LETTER XII To Ibrahim Eli Zeid Hadgi Effendi Preacher to the Seraglio HEre has happen'd something of Late which the Priests magnify as an Apparent Miracle whilst for ought I know 't is only a pure Effect of Nature Thou art not to learn that the Nazarens have their Saints in great Veneration That they invoke then in their Necessities set up their Images and Pictures in Temples to be ador'd That they preserve their Bones Ashes Hair Garments or any Thing that deserves the Name of a Sacred Relique That they enshrine these in Coffins Urns Chests and other Vessels of Gold and Silver adorn'd with Precious Stones That they place them in their Moscks as in Sanctuaries sometimes under their Altars at other Times upon them Some in particular Oratories or Chapels others in the Choire That they carry them in Procession in Times of Publick Calamity and on certain Festivals thinking by this means to pacify the Wrath of Heaven and draw down the Divine Benediction Thou art not ignorant also That they believe the Saints are Guardians of certain Kingdoms Provinces Cities Families and even of Private Persons Hence St. Denis is esteem'd the Patron of France St. James of Spain St. George of England and so of other Nations Each City also has its peculiar Guardian Saint Hence St. Anthony is accounted the Patron of Padua St. Mark of Venice and to come to the Purpose St. Geneviéve is ador'd by the Citizens of Paris as the Patroness of this Place There is a Beautiful Temple built in Honour of her on the Highest Ground in the City which also is call'd by her Name the Mountain of St. Geneviéve On the Decline of this there is a Fountain of Delicate Water which is called the Fountain of St. Geneviéve They attribute many Miracles to this Female-Saint some of which she perform'd in her Life-time others after her Death if we may believe what the Priests affirm and what is Recorded in the History of her Life in the Annals of Paris and the Archives of the Convent belonging to her Temple For there is a certain number of Dorviches of the chief Nobility in Paris who consecrate themselves for ever to a Religious Life in Honour of this Virgin They meet Twice a Day in the Choire of the Church all array'd in long Robes of white Linnen where they chant aloud the Praises of St. Geneviéve As oft they assemble at different Hours in a private Chappel in their Cloy stere to perform the like Devotions Those who are chosen into this Order are all Persons of Sweet and Lovely Countenances graceful Demeanour and learned Education One shall not see so much Regularity Order and devout Modesty in any Church in Paris as appears in this at the Time of Celebrating their Divine Mysteries Yet for ought I know all this may be but Hypocrisie and pious Artifice to attract the greater Reverence from the People who are present at their Ceremonies I my self was astonished once when being there I saw a Beautiful Youth approach the Altar with a Golden Censer hanging at a Chain which he held in one Hand whilst with the other he wasted the Rich Perfume toward the Statues which stood on high behind the Altar He had the very Signature of Vertue in his Face Besides a certain Lustre that seem'd to spring all on a sudden into his Eyes and Cheeks discovering some inward Rapture of his Soul Methought he look'd like one of the Pages of Eden as they are described in the Holy Alcoran I protest it was impossible for me to fix my Eyes upon him and not to feel the Passions of Platonick Love He deported himself with a Grace which cannot be expressed Afterwards I contracted an intimate Familiarity with him on the account of Arabick which he learns of me He is a Person of excellent natural Abilities and well vers'd in Languages and all manner of Divine and Human Learning Pardon this Digression Venerable Hadgi in regard I cou'd not forbear mentioning a Person of whom I have a great deal more to say than can well be comprised in one Letter Hereafter I will communicate a farther Account of him whilst I now return to the Church of St. Geneviéve In the upper part of the Choire Four Fillars of Jasper with Four Golden Images of Angels on the Tops support the Shrine of this Saint wherein lyes enclosed all that remains of her Body Several Wax Tapers burn before it Day and Night The Devouter sort of People kneel and kiss the Pillars which sustain the admirable Reliques They bring their Linnen and other Vestments to the Priest who is appointed for this Office He fastens them in the Cleft of a long Pole and then raises that End up to the Shrine which is very near as high as the Roof of the Church He touches the Shrine with the Linnen c. and having done so he takes it down again when pronouncing a Benediction on it in the Name of the Saint he restores it to the Party whose it is They believe that Linnen or any Thing else belonging to the Body being so touch'd and bless'd has Power to chase away Maladies to preserve them from Dangers to ease Women in Childbirth and to make them prosper in all Things So profound is the Attach which they have for this famous Saint But whether there be any Thing more in it than Superstition and Bigotry God only knows However the Inhabitants of Paris esteem this Shrine as the Trojans did their Palladium and the Romans their Ancile which fell from Heaven as Numa Pompilius made them believe When the City is threaten'd with any Publick Calamity this Shrine is taken down with Abundance of Pomp and Solemnity and carry'd in Procession through the Streets thinking thereby to divert the Vengeance of Heaven and appease the Anger of the Omnipotent Such was the Case here lately There having fallen such an Overplus of continual Rains as threaten'd to destroy all the Corn and Herbage with the Fruits of the Earth besides the Damage had been already done to Innumerable Persons in their Houses and Goods by the vast Innundations This occasion'd a Decree to come out for the taking down the Body of St. Geneviéve and carrying it in Solemn Procession to the Temple of Nostre Dame Which was accordingly perform'd on the 17th of this Moon In the Procession were seen all the Religious Orders in this City both of Men and Women the Parliament of Paris the Chamber of Accompts the Court of Aides the Court of Moneys with the whole Body of the Citizens But no sooner was the Shrine of St. Geneviéve brought into the open Air when the Rain ceas'd the Clouds dispers'd and the Sky became Serene and Clear And so it has continued over since The Priests will have this to be an Effect of Sr. Genevieve's
Intercession with God for the Province and City committed to her Patronage And the People are willing enough to believe it If this Shrine be as efficacious in causing Rain when there is a Drought as the Inhabitants of Paris affirm it may nor unfitly be compared to the Lapis Manalis of the Ancient Romans This was a certain great Stone which in Time of Excessive Dryness the Romans us'd to draw into the City with vast Ropes by the Gate Capena whilst the Priests of the God Mars danc'd before it and all the Vestals left the Sacred Fire to follow the Procession They drew the Stone to the Temple of the Goddess Flora where they strew'd upon it a Handful of wither'd Flowers and Herbs Then immediately it began to Rain and they let the Stone lye there as a Memorial before the Temple of the Goddess till they had enough of that sort of Weather to secure the Growth and Maturity of the Vegetables and then they drew it back again in the same manner as before only each Vestal now carried some of the Sacred Fire in an Earthen Vessel whereas before they carried none Whether there be any real Efficacy in those Religious Ceremonies or no is not in my Power to determine But 't is certain that every Nation consides much in the Mysteries taught them by their Priests The Force of Education prevails on most Men even to old Age in regard they think it an Impiety to examine or question the Traditions of their Fathers especially when Heaven it self confirms their Implicite Faith by seeming to regard and answer their Religious Addresses in so peculiar a Manner as these foremention'd Instances describe Sage Effendi Tell me whether it be Heresie to affirm That God has sent Prophets into all Nations each furnish'd with Instructions and Doctrines agreeable to the Genius of the People whom they were to teach And that he is not displeas'd at the various Rites and Ceremonies by which every distinct Region and Climate adore his Divine Vnity Satisfy me in this and then thou shalt be more than Apollo in my Esteem for I am full of Doubts Paris 10th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1675. LETTERS Writ by A Spy at PARIS VOL. VIII BOOK II. LETTER I. To Dgnet Oglou SOmetimes I could wish my self without a Spleen it overwhelms me in such deep Melancholies Yet when I consider the same Vital is a necessary Instrument of Mirth and Laughter I reverse that Wish again Not that I am fond of a Levity which makes us resemble Apes rather than Men tho the Philosophers say the contrary But I correct my Partial Thoughts which would lay the fault on my Body when my Mindâ— is chiefly to Blame For he that is Master oâ— his Reason râ—ed â—ot fall into either Extreme to be always a grinning like Democritus or howling with Heraclitus Resignation and Tranquility are the Golden Mean And he that steps over this Line on one side or other falls into the same Vanity which he bemoans or ridicules in the rest of Mortals I have studied to know this World and the Nature of all Things but am never the Wiser after so many Years of search I have perus'd many Books and convers'd with more Men yet none of them all can inform me of a certainty what I am my self How then should I be able to comprenend the Essences of Other Things Henceforth I 'll lay aside this Inquisitive Folly and be careless till Death shall either quite extinguish so troublesome a Passion or fully satisfy it with new Discoveries In that separate Stare I hope to see in open Light the Naked Forms of Things without the Interposition of a Veil or Gless to thicken and dusk the Prospect Whereas in this Life we are fain to peep into the World through the close Windows of our Senses which are so o'rlaid and darken'd with the Dust our Passions raise besides the Natural Dullness of their Composition That we are fain to run from Pannel to Pannel and use the Opticks of Philosophy to help our Sight Yet after all we still are purblind and so are like to be during this Mortal Life But when once this Prison of ours shall be demolish'd by a Tempest of Misfortune or by some sudden Disaster or it shall moulder away through Sickness Age and Native Weakness thus crumbling to its primitive Dust then shall the Soul expand it self and fly at large in the open Firmament of Wisdom Light and Science My Dgnet Let thou and I be content to bear the Inconveniences of these Earthly Cages for a while and in a little Time we shall be consign'd over to Eternal Liberty I design'd to have said more but I â—ell thee I 'm too Melancholy Therefore Adieu for the Present Paris 19th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1675. LETTER II. To Hamet Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire IT is above Ten Years ago since I gave thee an Account of the Renowned Mareschal de Turenne Wherein I did not pretend his compleat History or present thee with his full Character but only to inform thee of some remarkable Passages in his Life and to draw an imperfect Idea of his Vertues Which though they were very great yet were not sufficient to skreen him from the Chance of War and the Stroke of a Violent Death On the Six and Twentieth of the Moon of July this great General having given all necessary Orders for a Battel with the Imperialists in Alsatia was surveying a certain rais'd Ground near Strasbourg on which he design'd to plant a Battery when a Cannon Shot from the Town guided by Fate more than by the Gunners Aim or Skill came grazing along on the Earth and in its Carcer gave this Heroe a Mortal Blow on the Breast of which he instantly died without speaking a Word There was an Officer of the Artillery in his Company who spied the Course of the Bullet at a Distance and happily started out of the Way He reports that Monsieur Turenne saw the same but whether out of the Greatness of his Spirit which would not suffer him to appear timerous of Death or whether his extream Thoughtfulness on the approaching Battel kept him from providing for his own Safety 't is certain he stood Immoveable and sustain'd the Fatal Stroke which cost him his Life The Court of France laments his Death with extraordinary Demonstrations of Sorrow And so does all the Kingdom Indeed they have Reason France having never sent into the Field a Man more accomplished with all the Vertues and Heroick Qualities requisite in a great General They relate Two or Three remarkable Passages of his Life which either happen'd since I wrote my former Letter to thee about him or at least they came not to my knowledge at that Time One was a little after his Brother the Duke of Bouillon's Death when he was seen to weep very affectionately tho he endeavour'd to hide his Passion from the Observation of others
like Spectacles or lastly when Her Confessor comes to visit Her At other Times She is only a Companion of Women a mere Reclufe chamber'd up in her own Melancholy Apartment without the Liberty of ranging the Palace Whereas in France the Women converse with Men and go abroad when they please with an unrestrain'd Freedom They discourse of State-Matters and of Religion they undertake to Censure both Civil and Canon Laws correct Philosophy and reform the Morals of the Ancients In a Word the French Ladies take a particular Pride in appearing very Learned and Knowing as if they had been educated in the Academies They also go a Hunting Hawking Fishing and Fowling even as the Men. There is hardly any Game or Exercise Study or Recreation which is not common to both Sexes Whereas the Spanish Females are kept in Ignorance and have no more Liberty than Captives Only as I said the Queen is permitted to see the Bull-baitings but it must be in Company with her Husband as well as other Ladies This celebrated Sport of Baiting or Coursing the Bull is so well known to thee who hast been an Eye-witness of it at Tunis and other Cities of Barbary that I need say no more of it but to observe That the Spaniards first learn'd it from the Moors when those Africans dwelt among them having Conquered that Kingdom But to return to the Servile Life which the Queens of Spain lead They are obliged to go to Bed at a certain precise Stroke of the Clock every Night with this only Difference That it is an Hour later in Summer than in Winter Besides Her there is no other Married Woman suffer'd to lie in the King's Palace so that the Queen is attended only by Virgins or Widows Neither can She her self ever Marry again after the King's Death And so naturally Jealous are the Spaniards of their Wives That if the Queen fall into any Disaster by Chance or Conspiracy as to be thrown down by her Gennet even to the breaking of Her Limbs and Hazard of Her Life none of her Pages or any other Man whatsoever dares to lift her up or any other Way assist her nay not so much as by stopping the Horse if he should drag her in the Stirrup Judge now Magnificent Vizir whether it be not a desirable Thing for a French Princess to be made Queen of Spain A Princess bred up in a Court abounding with all sorts of Gentilesses Gallantines and Delightful Liberties must needs think her self in a Monastery or some worse Place of Confinement after she has been but a Day or Two in the Court of Spain But Reasons of State supersede all these Inconveniences 'T is the peculiar Unhappiness of the Princes here in the West that they Marry for Interest more than for Love There is another Match going forward between the Dauphine of France and the Princess Ann Marie Victoire Sister to the Duke of Bavaria These Infidels are Uniting their scatter'd Strengths and Interests It looks as if they had some Secret Design against the True Believers Illustrious Prince of the Princes who serve the Grand Signior I pray that the Empire of the Faithful may be Exalted and stand firm till the Angel of the Cave sound his Trumpet Paris 10th of the 12th Moon of the Year 1679. LETTER XIV To the Venerable Mufti THat I may give thee a clearer Idea of Rome's Original it is necessary to step farther Backward in Antiquity and cast our Eyes on the Ruins of Troy set on Fire by the Greeks and laid in Ashes after a War of Ten Years to Revenge the Rape of Helena Wife to Menelaus whom Paris the Trojan Prince and Guest to Menelaus carried away with him by Force From the deplorable Flames of Troy Antenor and Aeneas escap'd and got to Sea The Former being forced by Distress of Weather on that Part of Italy which is now under the Dominion of Venice where he built Padua The Latter came with a Fleet of Two and Twenty Ships to Latium now called Campagna di Roma and St. Peter's Patrimony being the Estate of the Church At that Time Latinus the Son of Faunus or as some say of Hercules Reign'd in Latium before whom there had been but Four Kings in the Country Those were Janus Saturnus Picus and Faunus Whilst Janus Reign'd Saturn being expell'd by his Son Jupiter fled to Italy where being Hospitably receiv'd he built a Castle calling it after his own Name Saturnia At length he obtained the Kingdom of Latium which he left to his Son Picus and he to Faunus In his Time Evander sailed out of Arcadia and came to Italy Sixty Years before the Destruction of Troy He built a Town called Pallantium where afterwards Rome was built Much about the same Time the Pelagians went out of Thessaly into Epirus and Dodona first and then passing over into Italy join'd themselves with the Aboriginal Arcadians who were got thither before them These united their Forces and expell'd the Sicilians from the Country Who passing over to Trinacria or the Island of Three capes gave to it the Name of Sicilia which it retains to this Day When Evander had been Five Years in Italy Hercules with a Company of Greeks Landing on the same Shore was kindly entertained by him At length the Kingdom of Latium fell to Latinus in whose Reign Aeneas came thither and having enter'd into a League with Latinus marry'd his Daughter Lavinia From whose Name he called a Town which he built in those parts Lavinium Then Turnus King of the Rutuli being angry that Latinus had given his Daughter to a Stranger rather than to him who was a Native and to whom she was before berroth'd invaded his Country But the Rutuli were overcome in Battel and both Turnus and Latinus lost their Lives So that the Kingdom fell to Aeneas But he enjoy'd it not long For the Rutuli at Three Years End came against him under the Conduct of Mezentius King of the Tyrrhenians now call'd Toscans And Aeneas being kill'd in the Battel his Son Ascanius took possession of the Kingdom He having made Peace with Mecentius and quell'd the Rest of his Enemies built a City which he call'd Long Alba the 30th Year from the Building of Lavinium In this City of Long Alba there Reign'd after Ascanius Fourteen Kings even to the Time of Romulus and the Foundations of Rome The Fourteenth of these Kings was Amulius who over-reach'd his Brother Numitor to whom the Kingdom belong'd by Right of Primogeniture And to be secure of all Things he made Sylvia the only Daughter of Numitor a Vestal that he might have no Fear of Numitor's Posterity Yet Sylvia was got with Child by Some-body and brought forth Twins who were called Romulus and Remus These were expos'd to the wide World by the Command of King Amulius and were privately Nourish'd by Faustulus till they came of Years Then being inform'd of their Birth and Extraction with the true State of Things they slew Amulius
Famous Genorals and Leaders of Armies in several Parts of Europe Of such as these has Genoua more Cause to boast than of any Strong Forts Castles or fenced Cities within her Dominions in Italy Nay the Chief City Genoua it self trusts more in the King of Spain's Protection than in her own Strength That Monarch is indebted to the Genouese-Merchants Eighteen Millions of Gold besides the Interest of **** Years For this Bill was given in to him in the Year 1600. of the Christians Hejira By this thou may'st guess at the Riches of this Commonwealth As to the Manner of their Government it differs not much from that of Venice The Supreme Power being in the Hands of the Senate who Elect a Duke every Two Years by Lot out of Four Men who are propos'd as worthy of that High Office No Man can propose any Thing to the Senate but the Duke himself Who lives in a Publick Palace during the Two Years of his Government and has a Guard of Five Hundred Germans about his House and Person It wou'd be Superfluous to trouble thee with an Account of their Judicial Courts the Manner of Electing the Senators and other Publick Magistrates with the rest of their peculiar Politicks Besides I believe thou art almost cloy'd with the Length of this Letter Wherefore begging thee to put the best Construction on my Endeavours I bid thee Adieu Paris 17th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1681. LETTER X. To Dgnet Oglou I Formerly sent a Letter to the Sage Osman Odrooneth Astrologer in Ordinary to the Grand Signior Wherein I inform'd him of a Comet or Blazing-Star which then newly appear'd in the Heavens I took an Occasion in that Dispatch to venture my Thoughts concerning the Nature of these Amazing Phoenomena which so astonish the Minds of Mortals and puzzle the Ablest Philosophers to discover the Origin From this Discourse I past insensibly into a more General One concerning the Stars I said what I thought was proper to One of his Profession being unwilling to offend by too much Boldness a Man esteem'd the Most Learned and Accomplished in that Science of this Age. For though I give little Credit to Judicial Astrology as 't is practis'd now a-Days yet it would have been an Incivility to express so much to one that lives by it and who for his Eminent Skill therein is honour'd with the Grand Signior's Friendship and a Noble Pension But with thee I will take the more Freedom in Respect of that intimate Familiarity that has been always between us That the Heavenly Bodies have an Influx on this Lower World is an Article the General Sense of all Mankind gives Testimony to whilst every Morning we rejoyce to see that Glorious Orb of Light the Sun imprint the Eastern Skies and Clouds with his Refreshing Rays he gilds the Frontiers of the Horizon and decks the Tops of Mountains with a chearful Brightness The Earth the Air and Seas participate of the Vertue of his Beams 'T is He gives Life to Plants and Animals He renovates the Elements and every Sublunary Being So when he takes his Congè every Evening of our Hemisphere he still affords us Light though but at Second-Hand Whilst he in Person makes his Progress to the Western Continent to chear and recreate by his Presence the Remote and Solitary Borders of America Fair Cynthia is his Proxy here attended on by other Planets waiting in their Turns and a whole Hemisphere of Fixed Stars These shine by Night for other Ends no doubt than meerly to light the Shepherds as they watch their harmless Flocks or serve as Flambeaux to the wandring Traveller Yet this is comfortable in our Elementary Darkness The Mariner rejoyces when in the Mighty Waste of unknown Seas he makes a Lottery of his Fortune and trusts his Soul and Body to a rotten Skiff where Slavery and Freedom Life and Death are equal Chances When he struggles with Impetuous Winds and Boisterous Waves threatn'd on all Hands by the Bedlam Fury of the Sea I say he 's glad at such a Time to have the Light his Friend though it be but the faint Glimmering of the Stars that he may see the Perils that encompass him and use the properest Means to avoid them How is his Heart reviv'd if in the dreadful Storm he spies but one poor Chink or Cranny in the Close Gloomy Clouds through which the Azure Sky can shew it self And then some Prosperous Constellation to appear amidst that Checquer-Work of this Low Orb and those Above makes him take Courage and defy the Powers of Aeolus and Neptune He challenges the Rocks and Sands to hurt him and mocks the Fatal Apparitions of Castor and Pollux Yet these and many more Inferiour Uses were not all for which the Stars were made They have befides undoubtedly some Dominion Influence and Power on Earth and all the Beings dwelling on it Wherever they cast their Rays there 's some Material Emanation felt An Efflux full of hidden Magick They dart on Men and other Animals on Plants and other Minerals on every Thing that is Compounded of the Elements and does reside within the Sphere of their Activity Each darts I say it s own Peculiar Force and Vertue 'T is probable that every Nation Tribe and Family each Climate Province Spot and Corner of the Earth have their Particular Stars So have the different Species of all Sublunary Things and every Individual Being But how to determine their Influence particularly by Divination by Calculating Nativities erecting Horoscopes and other Schemes of Astrology to foretell Things to come to avoid Prognosticated Evils and engross all happy Events to predict other Mens Fates whilst we are ignorant of our own c. is a thing which appears to me beyond the Power of Human Reason and a Science built on Sand. For who has numbred the Stars or visited the Places of their different Situation Who has understood their various Qualities Engagements Asterisms and Obligation their Tyes to one another and their Obedience to the Laws of the Universe O that Mortal Man shou'd presume to dive thus far even into the Heavenly Arcana the Cabinet-Secrets of God Allmighty Will he be Wiser than Ptolomy Cassander Eudoxus Archelaus Hoychilax Halicarnassaeus and many others most expert Mathematicians and Men of a profound Judgment who have confess'd that after all their Search in this Science they find it impossible to make any certain Conclusion from the Configurations Above in Regard of the Innumerable Multiplicity of Causes co-operating with them to which we are wholly Strangers besides those things which oppose or favour the Influence of the Stars among our selves and with which we are very familiar as the Force of Blood Customs Traditions Manners Education Prejudice Prepossession Place and Time Empire and Subjection Diet and Discipline Finally the Freedom of Mind or its Servitude All which they say the Stars cannot compel but only dispose and incline Moreover they who have prescribed the Rules of
Judicial Astrology differ so extremely in one and the same Subject That there is no Encouragement for a Thinking Man to hope ever to make a True Judgment by their Rules unless he be Divinely inspir'd within and have a certain Natural Instinct which suggests to him the Knowledg of Future Things Or he is possess'd by some Presaging Daemon whose Whispers direct him what Judgment to choose among the many that may be made upon the Sight of a Scheme according to the Variety of Rules that have been given And this is the Opinion of the Learned Hali my Countryman who has had many Followers So that after all this boasted Science will rather deserve the Name of Sortilogy than Astrology whilst all its Dictates depend on pure Conjecture or the Extempore Affections of the Mind or which is worst of all on the Afflatus of Busy Interessed Spirits Genii or Daemons of the Air who have some Design of their own to pursue and make Men their Tools to execute it Undoubtedly they both deceive others and are deceiv'd themselves who practise this Vain Art for the Sake of Filthy Lucre. For if there was any thing of Truth in it how came they to fail so often and so egregiously in their Predictions Or why do they always couch their Prognostications in such Ambiguous Terms that like the Delphick Oracle may be taken in which Sense you please and applyed to any Nation Prince Time or Person as the Astrologer shall please to comment after something of what he has said at random may have happen'd For from that infinite Variety of Stars and Aspects it is very easie for a Bold Sophister in this Art to cull out such for his Turn as shall be proper to convince Ignorant People that he was in the Right when he promis'd them Long Life Health Honours Riches Children Friends Power Victory the Enjoyment of their Loves and such like or threatned the quite contrary even just as they fall out But if at any Time they were catch'd in an apparent Falshood then they either complement a Man into a good Opinion of them by telling him A Wise Man has Dominion over the Stars or they insult over him by a Thousand Conrempts of his suppos'd Folly which they say resisted the Influence of the Stars and hinder'd their good Effect Yet these Sort of People are in Chiefest Request among the Princes and Potentates of the Earth especlally in the East where there 's nothing to be done either in Peace or War without first consulting the Astrologer Though really there is not a more unprofitable not to say a more pestilent Race of Men in a Commonwealth Cornelius Tacitus a grave Author complain'd of 'em in Old Time So did Varro with other Sincere Writers And it was a Custom in Alexandria formerly for Astrologers to pay a certain Tribute which they call'd Fools-pence because it was taken from the Gain which the Astrologers made by their own Ingenious Folly and the Credulous Dotage of their Admirers My Dgnet if our Lives and Fortunes depend upon the Stars what Reason have we to be afraid of any Thing Why are we solicitous and full of Needless Cares Let us leave all Things to God And the Heavens which cannot err nor transgress the Decrees of Fate will be our Guarantees till Death But if our Lives and Fortunes are altogether Independent of the Celestial Bodies let us bid good-Night to Astrology as the Vainest Ape or Mimick of a Science that ever Buffoon'd the World 'T was said of Old by the Sages of Chaldaea That God had committed the Disposal of Days to Moses and of Hours to Jesus the Son of Mary but That he had reserv'd the Moments to himself and his last Favourite Let us therefore every Minute of our Lives wait on him the Father of all things with an entire Resignation But there is a sort of Puny-Spirited Men so timorous and void of True Faith That they will rather believe any Thing though the most Incongruous Fictions of Hobgoblins Ghosts c. than the Dictates of Solid Reason They tremble at the Report of Things which have no Existence in Nature and whose very Idea is full of Impossibilities and Contradictions Yet they will stand the Brunt of Truth with Brazen Foreheads and resist the Dint of Rational Arguments like so many Colossus's Hence it comes to pass That whereas one Lie is apt to take away the Reputation of any Honest Man so that he shall not be believ'd when he speaks true On the contrary here in our Case if an Astrologer in his Random-Predictions by mere Chance hits upon remarkable Truth it procures him Credit for all the Lies that ever he has or can be guilty of Impertinent and preposterous sort of Fellows who whilst they pretend to know and foretel Future Things are ignorant of that which is Past or Present and when they are impudently asserting their Familiarity with the Houses of the Twelve Signs in the Zodiack know not what is done in their own Homes and Beds As this Epigram says Astra tibi aethereo pandunt sese omnia Vati Omnibus quae sint Fata futura monent Omnibus ast Vxor quòd se tua publicat id te Astra licèt videant Omnia nulla monent But that which appears most strange is That they ascribe the very Gift of Prophesie to the Stars also the Origin of Religions the Secrets of Conscience the Power of working Miracles and Casting out Devils the Efficacy of Prayers and even our Immortal Happiness or Misery after this Life Thus they assert That when Gemini is the Ascendant and in Conjunction with Saturn and Mercury under Aquarius in the Ninth House a Prophet is Born at that Time And therefore Jesus the Messias was endu'd with so many Matchless Gifts and Abilities because he had Saturn in his Configuration with Gemini Thus they distribute the Various Sects of Religion that are on Earth into their distinct Classes according to the different Asterisms Above Jupiter being suppos'd the General Patron of all Religion Upon this Ground they ascribe the Religion of the Jews to Jupiter and Saturn of the Chaldaeans to Jupiter and Mars of the Egyptians to Jupiter and the Sun of the Arabians to Jupiter and Venus of the Christians to Jupiter and Mercury And that Religion or Irreligion of Antichrist which is to come they ascribe to Jupiter and the Moon They say also that Moyses prescrib'd the Observation of the Sabbath from Astrological Grounds it being dedicated to Saturn They ascribe the Deluge to the Influence of the Stars and the Law given on Mount Sinai is in their Divinity owing to the same Original They attribute the Conception of Jesus the Son of Mary to Venus and his supposed Death to Mars They affirm that the Messias himself was the greatest Astrologer of his Time That he made a particular Choice of Hours wherein to work his Miracles and to pass through the Streets of Jerusalem without receiving Damage
their Posterity live to this Day As to the Manners of the Modern Swiss they answer exactly the ancient Character being wholly addicted to War hardy to bear all Inconveniencies of Hunger Thirst Cold and other Afflictions of Nature Providence Destiny or Chance A little Money serves their Turn to defray the Expences of eating their Diet being very plain and ordinary consisting chiefly of Milk and Cheese If they are chargeable in any Thing 't is in Wine and other strong Liquors For you shall find but mean and squalid Houses and contemptible Furniture and they wear Garments answerable to the Rest But they are given to Drinking above Measure They will consume whole Days and Nights successively without Intermission in their drunken Debauches Nor can any Friendship be contracted among them but over their Cups For he who drinks most and is most Frolicksome and Debonaire he is taken for a Man of Integrity Whereas he that seems timorous of his Health or makes any frivolous Excuses is look'd upon as a sneaking Fellow not worthy of such good Company Nay sometimes their Madness grows to that heighth as to set a Dagger to his Threat who refuses to pledge in his Turn And yet after all this Reproach it must be confess'd That these People are very Prudent and Circumspect both in their Private and Publick Affairs For notwithstanding the Pleasure they take in liberal Compotations yet every Man when the Frolick is over is intent on his Business using double Industry and Diligence to make good the Expences of his last Vanity They Work to Drink and Drink that they may better Work again So in the Publick 't is evident that they are not defective in Policy since they have been able for so many Centuries of Years to maintain their Union and Confederated Liberties against so many Princes who have endeavour'd to bring them under a Foreign Yoke And not only so but such is the Singularity of their Conduct that the most mighty Monarchs in Europe are glad to enter into a League with them and send Yearly vast Sums of Money Thou wilt not after what I have said expect to find in Swisserland the Riches of Arabia and Babylon nor the rest of the Luxious and Magnificent Superfluities of the East The Situation of the Country and Nature of the Soil denies these glittering Vanities It is sufficient that it brings forth enough to Nourish the Inhabitants They fear no Foreign Invasion both on the Account of this National Poverty and the Inaccessible Heights of the Alpes with which they are on all sides environ'd as by a Wall Add to this the invincible Resolution of the People who abhor and fear Subjection more than Death it self So that no Prince in Europe dares or thinks it worth his while to carry a War into this Country knowing that if he shou'd conquer it the Revenues with all the Spoil of his new-gotten Possessions would not counterbalance the Expences of one short Campaign Besides their Union is so strict and close that it is almost impossible to break or dissolve it Then they have some very strong Cities Castles Forts and other Places of Defence which wou'd give no small Diversion and Incumbrance to him who should undertake such an Expedition In fine such are their Circumstances That all the Courts round about them think it safer to court this untameable Nation than to threaten or huff them I will relate to thee a Story by way of Instance or Example From whence thou may'st comprehend more clearly the Humour of this People In former Times as I have already said Swisserland was a Province of the German Empire or at least reputed so And there were certain Prefects or Governours set over them by Caesar on succeeding another Some of these for their Insolence were driven out of the Nation others were kill'd by Reason of their Tyrannous and cruel Practices Among the rest one of these Governours being disgusted at a certain Swiss commanded him to be York'd with Oxen that drew Burdens in a Cart. But when neither by fair nor foul Means they could force him to this vile Condescension he commanded his Eyes to be put out Which was done accordingly This was murmur'd at But being the first Essay of his Cruel Disposition they wink'd at it A while after the same Governour commanded a Woman in her Husband's Absence to prepare a hot Bath for him Which when the chaste Matron refus'd to perform till her Husband came home he struck her dead with an Axe This also though heightning the Choler of the Swiss was pass'd by in Meditation of future Revenge At last he grew so foolishly proud and imperious that walking one Day in the Streets of the City he stuck his Cane in the Ground and plac'd his Turbant or Bonnet thereon commanding all that pass'd by to give Honour to it Which when a certain honest Swiss refus'd to do he commanded him to strike off an Apple from his Son's Head with a Short from his Cross-bow The good Father for a long Time refused thus to hazard his Son's Life But being overcome by the Tyrant's importunate Menaces he rather ventur'd to trust to Providence the Life of his Son than to Sacrifice both that and his own to the Implacable Malice of a Barbarian So he shot and hit the Apple off without touching his Son's Head The Governour seeing this and taking notice that he brought two Arrows with him asked him the Reason of it To whom the Swiss answered If I had shot amiss and hurt my Son with the first Arrow I was resolved to have pierced thy Heart with the second Upon this all the People gave a Shout and running together seis'd upon the Governour and tore him to Pieces Neither would they ever afterwards endure or admit any Man into their Cities from the Emperor unless he came in the Quality of an Embassador Serene Minister if these Memoirs are in the least acceptable to thee 't is but to command and thou shalt find I have a Stock not easie to be exhausted Adieu adieu for the present May the Curtains of God's Pavilion be unfurl'd about us to skreen us from the Injuries of Daemons who hunt by Night for Mortals For 't is now their Hour Paris 6th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1679. LETTER VII To Dgnet Oglou at Damascus I Could hardly believe my own Eyes when I first read thy Letter and understood that thou art turn'd Husbandman at last and setled in a Place the most delectable on Earth the very Center and Rendezvouz of all Pleasures and whatsoever is agreeable to Mortals Thou art a wary Man resolved to be sure of one Paradise at least though it be by Mortgaging thy Title to the other Thou wilt not suffer God Almighty to go upon Tick with thee nor trust all his Promises for Heaven in Reversion Yet I cannot discommend thy Cautiousness We know not what shall befall us after Death and therefore Nature prompts us to secure to
our Selves some share of Happiness in this Life and to antedate the Uncertainties of a Future Bliss by carving out our own Heaven on this side the Grave However I wish thou may'st not surfeit on thy present Enjoyments and so render thy Soul incapable of the Voyage to Eternal Beatitude I tell thee My Dgnet thou art a bold Man to venture on a Place by Choice which the Messenger of God purposely shunn'd as the most dangerous on Earth But I wou'd not discourage thee That City was then in the Hands of Infidels a Seat of Profanation and Idolatry now 't is sanctified by the Presence of True Believers by the Preaching of the Law brought down from Heaven and by the Moschs of perfect Holiness As for the Manner of Life thou hast made Choice of I highly applaud it as the most Primitive Innocent Delightful and Happy above all others Many great Princes and Kings have exchanged the Toilsome Glory and Royal Fatigues of Empire for the sweet Tranquility and Ease of a Country Farm and wholsome Exercises of Agriculture Thus Dioclesian a Roman Emperor quitted his Throne for the sake of a Private Life and those Hands which had been accustomed to weild the Scepter became at last voluntarily familiar with the Spade the Plough and the Harrow So the Grand Cyrus Monarch of the Persians used to boast of the Gardens planted and sow'd with his own Hands And 't is certain that the Fabii the Lentuli the Cicero's the Piso's with many of the Noblest Families in Ancient Rome derived their Names from those Kind of Vegetables which they signifie and which their Fathers took Delight in Planting How many Great Authors have writ in Praise of Husbandry Attalus and Archelaus Two Kings extoll'd it Xenophon and Mago two Generals patroniz'd it and Oppian the Poet celebrates it in Verse Besides Cato Varro Pliny Columella Virgil and many others Some have plac'd Supreme Felicity in this kind of Life Virgil pronounces Husbandmen Fortunate and Horace calls them Blessed Hence it was that the Delphick Oracle declar'd a certain Man nam'd Aglaus to be the happiest of all Mortals because he was busied in Nothing but manuring and cultivating a little Farm never molesting himself with vain Cares or Passions nor encreasing the Miseries of Human Life by tampering with foreign and unnecessary Pleasures which though full of Blandishments and sweet in the Front yet carry a Sting in their Tail embittering all our Joys Thou art situated in the most pleasant Suburb of Damascus for I have survey'd that City and all its Precincts with no small Curiosity The House is encompass'd with lovely Gardens and Meadows It was formerly the Seat of Abul Mecharib the famous Shepherd who took Sanctuary there from the Persecution of Ismael Beglerbegh of Diarbehir Thou know'st the Story and I need say no more than to wish thee as good Fortune in possessing that rich Spot of Ground as he had who as 't is recorded in the Register of Damascus died worth a Hundred Purses of Gold most of it got by the Encrease of his Cattel in those Lucky Fields For my part I cannot pretend to Skill in these Things but it appears to me like a good Omen that thy Predecessor was so prosperous in that Farm I advise thee to take his Measures and stock thy Ground with Sheep Oxen Camels Horses and other Animals of Profit Think no Scorn to follow an Employment ennobled by the Examples of Romulus and Rhemus the first Founders of the Roman Empire of Paris the Son of Priamus of Anchises the Father of Aeneas of Endymion the beloved of Diana who were all Herdsmen or Shepherds So was Polyphemus and Argus So was Apollo who tended the Flocks of Admetus King of Thessaly What shall I say of Mercury the first Inventer of Hautboy and Prince of Shepherds and of Proteus another Divinity Was not Abrahim the Father of Mussulmans a Herdsman and Moyses the Prophet familiar with God and David the Prince of Poets In a Word my Friend the most illustrious Heroes among the ancient Greeks Romans and other Nations were all Keepers of Sheep Goats Oxen c. as the Arabians are at this Day with the Tartars and other Nations of the East Doubtless the Rural Life as it is the most Ancient so it affords the sincerest Pleasures and most unrepented Joys in Nature provided a Man enjoys it with Innocence and Justice But I would have thee avoid the common Temptations to which this Kind of Life is more expos'd than any other that is Hunting and Fowling These are really detestable Exercises Tragical Sports and alltogether inhuman It is a Labour unworthy of Men to watch from Day to Day and and one Night after another the Haunts of our Fellow-Animals that we may destroy them It is a cruel Pleasure that must be maintain'd at the Expence of so much Innocent Blood and a barbarous Triumph to insult over a poor mangled Hare or Hind after you have harass'd them up and down the Country for many Hours together with an Army of Dogs and Men. 'T is recorded that the Thebans were the first Inventers of this unhappy Sport a Nation infamous for Deceit Thefts Perjuries Murders and Incests From whom it pass'd to the Phrygians a People not less wicked but more foolish and easie light and credulous and for that Reason they were despised by the Athenians and Lacedemonians at first However those graver Nations in a little Time learn'd the Trade of Hunting of them So infectious is the Company and very Neighbourhood of ill Men so prevalent the Examples of such as are bold to lead the Way in new Paths of Vice By the God whom I adore My Dgnet it appears to me so foolish a Pastime an Exercise so unbecoming the Majesty of a Rational Spirit to run Yawling with a Parcel of Hounds perhaps a whole Day together after some Timorous Animal that I wonder Men are not asham'd to practise it especially Great Men and Princes who shou'd excel others in the Justice and Clemency of their Nature yet these are most guilty of Rapine Injuries and Spoil My Dear Friend imitate not their pernicious Examples but tread in the Steps of Just and Holy Men whom the Birds and Beasts would obey at a Nod because they cou'd not smell the least Odour of Evil in them How many Prophets have been fed by Ravens Hinds Cats and other Animals Nay the very Serpents and Dragons of the Desart with the Amphibious Monsters of Egypt have quitted their Native Venom to serve an Innocent Man and when Omar the Cailiph was hard pursu'd by a Troop of Egyptian Idolaters even to the Banks of the Nile he commanded a Crocodile which he spy'd in the River to come and Ferry him over on his Back and the Pious Beast was Obedient to his Word Doubtless this was a singular Grace in the Dumb Creature and he was translated to Paradise if our Doctors say true Dgnet I bid thee Adieu and wish thee a plentiful
Harvest which is the most seasonable Prayer I can make for thee at this time of the Year Paris 14th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1679. LETTER VIII To Achmet Cupriogli the Most Exalted and Sage Vizir Azem THE Face of Affairs here in the West is now quite changed A General Peace is established between the Nazarene Princes and States France which a while ago was at Mortal Jarrs with the Hollanders Spain and the German Empire is lately reconcil'd to them whilst new Friendships and Alliances have banish'd all Thoughts of former Enmities and Feuds This Year commences a Civil Jubilee in Europe There has been a Treaty of Peace in Agitation at Nimeguen and Conferences held about it any Time these Four or Five Years whereof I formerly gave a Hint in one of my Letters to the Port. The Conclusion of it is owing to the Powerful Mediation of the King of Great Britain who is made Guarantee of the Articles And the Submissive Addresses of the Bishop of Strasburg to the King of France contributed not a little to the Vniversal Agreement For this Great Monarch is slow in his Advances toward an Accommodation with those who have injur'd Him or his Allies He affects to imitate the stately Reservedness of the Eastern Princes thinking His Majesty would be violated shou'd he condescend too soon and on too easie Terms to the Proposals of his Neighbours He has learn'd this from the Maxims of the Sublime Port the Refuge of Mankind whose Arms are ever open to receive and embrace all that sue for the Grand Signior's Friendship and Protection in a Way not entrenching on the Glory of the Ottoman House a Family destin'd to Subdue the World This Temper of the French King is so well known and observed in these Paris that he has got a new Character by it both among Foreigners and those of his own Nation For they spare not to call him The most Christian Turk by way of Mockery and this is the Satyrical Style even of his Subjects in their Seditious Cabals when they are a little warm'd with Wine and each Man as Great as a King himself in his own Conceit By the swift Flashes of Lightning which cause the Heart to pant and dazle the Eyes of Mortals by the astonishing Noise of Thunder which raises the Vapours of the Spleen and fills us with Hypocondriack Dread I swear the King of France is a great Hero and deserves the Honour which these Infidels have unfeignedly done him in lik'ning him to the undoubted Arbiter of the Earth He really determines the Differences and Quarrels of a great Part of it And though he be a Christian in Profession and styl'd The Eldest Son of the Church yet he is no Enemy to the Followers of Mahomet who vouchsafe him their Friendship Thou know'st he is the most Primitive Allie of the Ottoman Empire among the Western Princes of the Law of Jesus He has establish'd a more remote Friendship for the sake of Commerce and spreading his Renown with the Grand Mogul and the King of Persia His Fame strikes all the East with Admiration and Respect For they have heard of his continual Victories and successful Exploits even to the utmost Borders of the Continent Yet the same Fortune procures him only the Spight and Envy of the Princes in the West However they are glad to dissemble their Malice at this Juncture and enter into an Agreement with him almost upon his own Terms The Treaty between France and Holland was publish'd in this City on the 1st of the 10th Moon the Year precedent Now to assure the World that there is a perfect Amity and Peace the Dutch have sent their Embassadors Extraordinary to acknowledge That the King has preferred the Repose of Christendom to the Glory which his Victorious Arms acquir'd him and that the Vnited States of the Low-Countries being the first who have felt the Effects of his Generosity they thought themselves obliged to prevent others in the Earliness of their Application Yesterday was also publish'd the Peace between France and the Emperor I take my Conge most Magnanimous Vizir and Friend of France in the humblest Posture of Adoration wishing thee Honour Riches and Pleasures which shall have no End Paris 27th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1679. LETTER IX To Mehmet an Exil'd Eunuch at Al-Caire in Egypt THere are certain Critical Periods in our Lives whether ordain'd by Fate or falling out in an Eternal Circulation of Chances I am not able to determine But this I perceive That at such Seasons something very strange and unusual happens to us above or beside the Ordinary Course of Nature or at least appearing so to me I will not pretend to Unravel the Web of Destiny or describe the Incomprehensible Fineness of that Artifice which has fram'd the Worlds I will not undertake to discover the Secrets of God the Mysteries of Nature and those Things which are under a Seal shut up from Mortals in Inscrutable Darkness I will not by a Vain Presumption and Impious Arrogance claim to my self the Right of Omniscience and dive into other Men's Constitutions and Thoughts Suffice it that I comprehend my own Thou know'st My Mehmet that I have been a Man of many Circumstances subject to Various Changes and Vicissitudes in this Mortal State My Life has been Alternately Checquer'd with Good and Evil. Virtue and Vice have had their Turns in the Series of my Actions Prosperity and Adversity in the Course of my Years And I would fain find out the Man that can with Truth boast the Contrary Doubtless we are all born to the Adventures which happen in the Pell-mell of Human Conversation Fates-Errant encounter one another Sometimes they are Agreeable and Complaisant At other Seasons they will Clash and Tilt break Lances draw Swords and all the Weapons of Nature's Pride and Fury shall be us'd in mere Defence of Idiosyncrasies Conceits Antipathies Self-Interest Preservation or any Thing but what is Generous and Good O Horrid State of Men A Life to be deplor'd beyond the Salvage Course of Lyons Tygers Wolves and other Beasts of Prey who always in Extreamest Hunger spare their Proper Species Yet Man in Perfect Wantonness devours his Brother and glories in his Cruelty and Injustice As for me I have not been guilty of any of these Black Crimes which make a Riot in the Tranquility of the Soul disturb its Peace darken its Light and cover it with a Cloud of Guilty Desperate Thoughts No If I have been Enemy to any Body it has been to my self The very Beasts cannot challeng me with Oppression or any Barbarous Usage Much less wou'd I torment One Individual of our Humane Race But I have had my Frailties as well as other Men and there 's all can be said of it Thou art acquainted with my Temper and no Body knows any worse 'T is true I have had to do with Abundance of People in my Life-Time I have Bull'd it Lyon'd Lamb'd
and sometimes Fox'd it in the World I have always pursu'd the Chace of Nature Come Life come Death I have made no Baulks in the Appointments of Fate or ever put the Eternal Destiny to a Stand. I never halted boggl'd or fram'd a Stumble at a Generous and Noble Action a Bold and God-like Enterprize But from my Cradle I disdain'd and cherish'd Infant-Abhorrences for an Inhuman Barbarous Perfidious Cowardly Thought Indeed I have been too great a Lover of Good Company too easie flexible and free in drinking Wine and other Inebriating Liquors whose Use is taught from Heaven and is the Genuine Product of Eternal Reason But the Excess is sure deriv'd from Hell the Seat of Everlasting Evil Vanity and Error And yet to whom or to what Cause or Principles shall I ascribe the many Extravagances of this Kind that I have committed I that have suffer'd the Thaws of a Thousand Putrid Fevers let all my Radical Essential Necessary Juices and Humours tho' never so well and firmly Congeal'd by the Force of an Excellent and Happy Constitution of Body melt and dissolve away in Horrid Fluxes Sweats c. rather than baulk my Friends or the Grand Signior's Cause Rather than Sneak away from Boon Companions in a Principle of Sordid Prudence To speak all I am no Starter from the Juice of the Grape when 't is handed to me by Men of Sense and a Good Humour Especially when it is to serve my Sovereign And I know not how to perform that Service better at some Times than by giving Nature an Escapade as the French call it from the too Severe Restraints of Constant Sobriety I was not sent to Paris that I should lead the Life of an Hadgi But to dive into the Secrets of the Infidels Which a Man cannot do better than over a Glass of Generous Wine For that unlocks the Cabinets of the Heart and reveals all Secrets I tell thee plainly Mehmet I drink Wine liberally and frequently finding no Devil in the Quality of it but only in the Excess And such a Devil appear'd to me last Week in the Night Time I had Carous'd it like a German for some whole Days together in Order to the Carrying on an Intrigue of Moment Yet I found my self no Ways disorder'd neither cou'd any Body else perceive by one false Step in my Carriage that I was more than Civilly and Chearfully Elevated It was the Hottest Season of all the Year which prompted me and Those that kept me Company to Regale our selves after the most Refreshing Manner we could invent Our Drink was an Artificial Mixture of the Wine Water the Juice of Limons Odoriferous and Cephalick Herbs Fruits and whatsoever else could render it Cooling and Delicious to the Palate Medicinal to the Brain Heart and Stomach I will not detain thee in Impatience with any more Particularities Only I thought it necessary to acquaint thee with the Method of my Drinking that thou may'st form the more Accurate Judgment on the Consequence which I am going to relate It was in the Evening of the Day dedicated to Saturn by the Gentiles which is the same as Jews Sabbath Our Drinking ended the Day before and I in a very Melancholy Humour went to Bed I slept till Mid-night profoundly but then awaking I was surpriz'd with the Apparition of an Old Man much resembling my self He seem'd to look very Studious and full of Care sitting in a Chair and leaning on the Table in just such an Habit as I wear with such a Beard and every Thing that can be call'd my True Portraicture I lay Musing and Gazing for the Space of about Twenty Minutes on this Amazing Object I muster'd up all that little Philosophy I am Master of to consider the Nature of the Phantasm I argu'd with my self summon'd all my Reason Sub-poena'd my Senses sate up in the Bed took my Polvita reach'd my Head as far as I could without Tumbling out of the Bed and the more I rouz'd my self the plainer did this Familiar Figure of my self appear by the Light of a Lamp which always burns in my Chamber Yet being Naturally Incredulous of the Common Stories of Ghosts Apparitions Hobgoblins c. I still suspected that I was either all this while in a Dream or at least if awake that my Imagination was Vitiated and Impos'd upon Wherefore to satisfie my self more throughly I jump'd out of the Bed No sooner had my Feet touch'd the Floor of the Chamber but a Sacred Horror possess'd my Nerves I trembl'd at the now more Apparent Vision However resuming Courage and resigning my self to God I went forward and approach'd so near the Uncouth Spectre that it was within the Reach of my Hand which I stretch'd forth to touch it thinking this Way to undeceive my self But O my Mehmet No Tongue nor Pen can e'er express the Dreadful Metamorphosis I saw For instead of the same Face which I saw before my Eyes were now accosted with the Dreadful Countenance of a Lyon gnashing his Teeth and darting perfect Sparks of Fire from his Looks besides the Horrid Twirling of his Head and Manly Beard with all the other Natural Motions of that Animal in its Fierceness I know not what would have become of me if a Good-natur'd Ape had not come in to my Relief who peep'd and grinn'd upon me over the Lyon's Shoulders Nay thought I if you are so Merry in such Company I will not disturb you Good Mr. Ape And so I fairly took my Leave turn'd my Back and went to Bed again It is my Nature not to be afraid or shrink from the Imagination of a Ghost or Spectre or what you please to call it For I am satisfied there is no more than Pure Imagination in it But I retir'd in Complaisance to my own Fancy which I perciev'd was upon the Creative Frolick Had I stood still perhaps a Dragon had started next or some more Dreadful Animal Or 't is possible I had been terrify'd with an Herd of Lynxes Leopards Tygers Bears and whatsoever else is Salvage and Morose in Nature For I tell thee I was then in a Condition to paint the Walls with any Figure which should rise within my Over-heated Brains At such a Time there are Emissions from the Eyes forcible as the Pencils of a Limner A Man 's Fermented Optick Nerves will draw the Portraicture of Saints or Devils or any Thing that can be nam'd except the Everlasting SOVRCE of All Things HE indeed is altogether Ineffable who cannot be express'd by Tongue or Pen or by any other Way but Humble Negatives There runs a Silent Fountain by the Door of his Tremendous and Inviolate Secess Of which the Castrate Angel drinks at a certain Set Appointed Seasons and then the Universe is all Inebriated with the Reversion of his Cup. For it is the Ceremony of the Court Above that he should leave no Snuffs or Supernaculums behind him but scatter 'em abroad to treat the Thirsty World below Blessed is