Death's Name King of the World Invisible to claim and carry away a certain Number of Ghosts prick'd down by Destiny a Tribute set by Fate However it be that whole Island may well be call'd at this time the Grand Infirmary of Europe where Baneful Sickness makes its Publick Residence The timerous Giafers run from Place to Place thinking to escape from Heaven's all searching Pursuivants They fly from Populous Towns to Villages and from these again to unfrequented Desarts Woods and Heaths carrying their Wives and Children with 'em and all the Substance of their Houses The Roads are cover'd with the Caravans of doubtful Passengers who dread to think of going back to the Contagious Seats they left behind yet know not where to be receiv'd anew So general is the Consternation so strong the Fear of those who yet survive lest they should also catch the Infection and die Besides this they have felt the strokes of another surprizing Calamity London the Capital City of England being newly consum'd by Fire It is not certain whether Design or Chance first kindled the devouring Element But it fell out at an unlucky Season when the Wind was high and from its Eastern Quarter blew the Flames full West which spreading North and South demolish'd all before them laying the greatest Part of that Rich and Famous City in Ashes Some ascribe this to a Plot of the French others term it a Judgment of God for their Rebellion Pride and other crying Sins Whilst with equal Probability a third Sort affirm 'T was contriv'd and put in Execution by a Cabal of Carpenters and Masons who wanting Employment and projecting the Method of enriching themselves disdaining also the Inartificial and Obsolete Form of Buildings resolved to put this City into a New Figure and raise it according to the Models of Foreign Architecture Every one guesses as his Affections incline him or his Conjectures follow the Byass of his Interest Men are always partial to themselves and the Cause they have espous'd God only knows the Truth The Superstitious among the Roman Catholicks take Occasion from the timing of this Horrible Conflagration to insult o'er the English Protestants who from some obscure Passages in the Book of their Gospel used to foretel in a Prophetick Manner That the Final Ruin and Catastrophe of Rome would happen in this Year 1666. Whereas by Fatal Experience more sure than vain Predictions they find the Metropolis of their own Nation reduc'd to Ashes Whoever are the Instruments in these Tragedies 't is certain the Designs of Fate are still perform'd Every Kingdom State and Community has its Critical Periods and Climacters wherein it suffers Detriment * This Blank the Italian Preface mentions and says 't is owing to the Loss of some Part of the Arabick Letter suppos'd to be torn off by Chance or on some other Occasion c. Paris 2d of the 11th Moon of the Year 1666. LETTER XVI To Cara Hali Physician to the Grand Signior I Am melancholy beyond the Description of Painters Poets or the lively Eloquence of Cicero Methinks I 'm some Exotick Being a perfect Foreigner on Earth a Stranger to his Laws and Maxims I appear to other Mortals like a Giafer or Frank in his Western-Dress at Morocco Babilon or Constantinople I mean not for my outward Habit for in that I 'm Conformable enough to the Mode of the Region where I reside but I 'm all Unfashionable within Ridiculous in my Sentiments and Conversation When others laugh I sigh and find a Reason to be sad in the midst of merry Company Even Wine it self that exhilarates all the World beside does but encrease my Melancholy by adding Strength unto my labouring Thoughts It sublimates my Spirits up to Sacred Phrensies I am all Lunatick at such a Time Each Glass creates new Dreams more wild than the strange Flights and Raptures of a Santone My heated Spleen like Mount Gibel belches forth horrid Clouds of Smoak and Vapours which lay long smothering in its spongy Caverns these quickly spread and cover all the Horizon of my Soul rendring it Dark and Gloomy as the Cymmerian Solitudes or the more dismal Valleys bordering on the River Styx where surly Charon waits to Ferry o'er the Caravans of trembling Ghosts and land 'em in Elyzium Oh! that those Fables of the Ancient Poets were but true Or that I knew but something certain of our Future State Whether the Soul survives or no when Death has stopt the Circulation of our Blood And what becomes of that Immortal Substance after its parting from the Body Whether it pass by Transmigration into the Embryo of some other Animal as Pythagoras taught or be united swallowed up and lost in the Vniversal Soul of the World as Plato did believe Or if some other Magnet does attract its Presence and hidden Sympathies of Nature teach it to form its self a Vehicle or Body of the Elements Perhaps some Souls unite with Air whilst others mix with Water Earth or purer Skies This for its horrid Sins in Mortal State may be by the Eternal Nemesis sunk down into the Fatal Caverns of Mount Aetna Strombolo or Vesuvius there to Incorporate with burning Rivers and Lakes of Sulphur and other Minerals to hear perpetually the frightful Cracking Rumbling and loud Thunders of those Infernal Vaults to be without Intermission annoy'd with the Eternal Stench of melted Mines whose poignant Vapours equally kill it and revive it every moment that it may be confin'd to an endless Circle of Miseries To feel the Excruciating Torments which no Tongue can utter whilst the Incessant Rapid Motion of those Exalted and most Violent Fires with which it is embodyed by Decree of Fate rob it of the very Possibility of the least easy Thought or quiet Minute and at the same time rack it with Infinite Tortures Think not my Dear Physician that it is Impossible a Separate Spirit can thus be sensible of Pains There 's no such thing as a Separate Spirit save God who made all Bodies and therefore was before them The Angels themselves are partly Corporeal so are the Devils Do not believe then that Mortal Man who is in a middle State between these Two shall by Dying gain a Priviledge above the most Illustrious Spirits in Heaven As soon as Death has dislodg'd us from One Body Nature Providence or Fate provides us Another according to our Qualities Inclinations and Merits We may as well by Metempsychosis become the Spirit or Soul of a flaming Sulphur-Mine or at least of some Part of it as of a Horse an Eagle or a Dove For such for ought we know may be the Disposition of Divine Wisdom Justice and Omnipotence By the very same Reason another Soul may be transported to the Open Happy Skies where it may either range in boundless free and serene Tracts of Bliss or be Enfranchis'd in the Corporations of the Stars to dwell in Palaces of Azure Topazes and Diamonds to possess Privinces more Rich than
manner Therefore they concluded that either the Devil or some body else had put a Trick upon ' em That which made it seem the greater Mystery was that when they came behind the Scenes to uncase and examine the Matter they found but Twelve Antiques whereas on the Stage there were Thirteen The preciser Sort of Bigots gave it out for certain That the Devil was amongst 'em Whilst others more probably say 'T was only some Envious or Ambitious Dancing-Master who was either resolv'd to be reveng'd for not being one of the Twelve or design'd to shew his Parts Incognito against another Opportunity and in the Interim set the Court a wondring at his Singular Skill and Dexterity For it was observ'd That one of the Thirteen far surpass'd all the Rest and did Things to a Miracle Be it how it will it has brought to Memory a Passage that happen'd on the like Occasion at a Town not far from Paris about Eighteen Years ago yet was not half so much talk'd of then as 't is now Which was the Reason I took no Notice of it in any of my Letters But now they are big with it 'T is the general Discourse of all Companies who make Comparisons of that Event with this Perhaps 't will not be unpleasant to thee to know it In the Year 1644. toward the latter End a Company of Stage-Players were at a Place call'd Vitry entertaining the People with Comedies But there happen'd something really Tragical to one of the Actors This Man was to perform the Part of one Dead and then he was to revive again by Magick He acted his Part too truly and baffl'd the Necromancers Art For when he touch'd him with his Talisman as the Rules of the Play requir'd in Order to his Resurrection the Inanimate Trunk could not obey The Man was Dead indeed Whether he overstrained himself in imitating the Silent Still and Irrecoverable Privations of that Passive State and gave his slippery Soul a strong Temptation with a fair Opportunity to escape its Bonds Or whether Heaven had a Particular Hand in so Remarkable a Catastrophe I will not presume to divine But this and the other Occurrence has put the People quite out of Conceit with Plays Sage Hali remember the Arabian Proverb which says 'T is not good to Jest with God Death or the Devil For the First neither can nor will be mocked the Second mocks all Men one Time or other and the Third puts an Eternal Sarcasm on those that are too familiar with him Adieu Paris 30th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1662. LETTER XI To Dgnet Oglou GOD unravel my Soul reverse my Faculties turn my Nature inside out make me a Monster of a New Predicament or annihilate me which he pleases if I am not true to my Trust Yet the Ministers of the Port suspect me By the Thoughts of Mahomet our Holy Law-giver whilst he was climbing the boundless Heights of the Firmament I 've a Heart like the Roman Curtius who bravely leap'd into the Fathomless Abyss to save his Country from Ruin They mistake Mahmut who think he 'll be pimp'd out of his Loyalty by Frowns or Smiles Flatteries or Threats Gold or Tortures I 'd run the Risque of Damnation it self to serve my Sovereign or to do any Thing becoming a Man of Honour Yet my Superiours use me like a Villain or a Traytor Their Letters are full of Reproaches and Threatnings as if I were not worthy to live 'T is strange to me whence all this Malice should proceed and that after I have done and suffered all that could be expected from a Mussulman in my Post to demonstrate my Incorruptible Fidelity to the Grand Signior I should still be persecuted as a Tiafer and Enemy to the Ottoman Interest I know not what to think of it If I have done any Thing which deserves Death or Imprisonment why do they not send for me to Constantinople and execute Justice on me Or if I am not thought fit to continue any longer in this Post why do they not call for my Commission and give it to some Body better qualify'd Either of these wou'd be a merciful Proceeding compar'd with the more Cruel and Ignominious Way they have invented to murder me For now they put me to a lingring Death by continually corroding and wasting the Piece of my Soul which is my Life with Contempts and Reproaches I am not at all troubl'd when they tax me with Atheism or say I 'm a Kysilbaschi a Libertine a Christian a Heathen Philosopher or when they are pleas'd to make a Monster of me a Mungrel Gallimaufry a walking Hotchpotch compounded of Jew Turk Nazarene and Epicure In loading me with these opprobrious Titles they rank me with some of the Greatest Mortals and engage even our Holy Prophet himself to espouse my Cause and vindicate my Reputation since he is in these very Terms blasphem'd by the Followers of Jesus Those Infidels forgetting that their own Messias was after the like Manner traduc'd by the Jews who call'd him Impostor Magician Heretick Devil and I know not what This has been the Lot of all Holy Men and Prophets to be envied and aspers'd by the Grandees of the Nation and Age wherein they liv'd Because they boldly reprov'd their Vices and taught them the sincere Maxims of Vertue both by Word and Example And though I have not Vanity enough to list my self in the Number of Prophets or Perfect Men yet I have Reato conclude That all this Persecution is rais'd against me on the Account of the Liberty I take to reprehend the Errors and Failings of those who are Slaves to the Grand Signior as well as I Tho' I have been commanded to do this by the most August Ministers of the Empire But great Men in Power love not to be told of their Faults They wou'd live Arbitrary as Sovereigns without the least Check or Controul They will rather cherish a Thousand Flatterers and Sycophants than suffer one Diogenes to live But that which vexes me most is That they glance upon me in some Expressions as if I were false to the Trust which is repos'd in me A Crime for which I ever had an Invincible Abhorrence and which wou'd sooner tempt me a Thousand Times to die than to be once guilty of it Thou know'st my Temper and I need say no more I shou'd have burst with Grief and Indignation had I not given my Resentments this Vent and that to a Friend who by knowing my Affliction takes one Half of it for his own Share and so I 'm eas'd Paris 2d of the 4th Moon of the Year 1662. LETTER XII To Abrahim Eli Zeid Hadgi Preacher to the Seraglio THEY have a Proverb here in the West which says All is not Gold that glisters And 't is frequently verify'd in their own Priests who are generally the greatest Hypocrites in the World I had not been long in this City before I sent a Letter to Bedredin Superiour
the Moors from whom a great Part of that Nation are said to descend Every Country in Europe has suffer'd mighty Changes by the Incursions nd Conquests of the Moors Goths Huns and Vandals So that 't is difficult to trace the Original of any People in such a Hotch-Potch of Foreign Blood Neither have they any Care of their Genealogies as we Arabians have in the East Illustrious Aga tho' it signifies Nothing to spring of a Noble Stock unless we inherit the Vertues of our Ancestors as well as their Splendid Titles and Estates Yet 't is both profitable and pleasant to have by us a Register of our Families that reading their Characters and Heroick Actions we may imitate their Examples and add to the Glory of the Tribe from which we descend Paris 26th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1660. LETTER XIII To Dgnet Oglou I Know not whether I shall finish the Letter I begin or if I do whether it will be above Ground or in the Bowels of the Earth However I cannot forbear writing to thee my Dear Friend though both the Paper and I with the House wherein I lodge and all this Beautiful City may for ought I know be transported to another Region before Morning Nay 't is possible this very Hour may People Elyzium with a New Colony from France and Paris may descend with all her Magnificent Palaces to the Shades below changing the Banks of the River Seyne for those of Acheron or Styx and the Refreshing Airs of Champagne for the Choaking Sulphurs of Hell In a Word we have felt the Menaces of a Terrible Earthquake this Evening but as yet have suffered no Damage When I liv'd in Asia an Earthquake was almost as Common as the Yearly Revolutions of Summer and Winter And we took as little Notice of it as we did of Lightning Hail or Rain Besides one Mussulman encouraged another and the General Faith of True Believers confirm'd us all That we ought to be resign'd to God and to the Appointments of Eternal Destiny whether it were for Pleasure or Pain Good or Evil Life or Death But now I have been so long disus'd to these Convulsions of the Globe for I have not felt one above these Two and Twenty Years and am also separated from the Society of the Faithful that I am become like the rest of the World and even like these Infidels Timorous astonished void of Reason and of little or no Faith My Mind at first stagger'd as much as my Body when I was walking cross my Chamber and felt the Floor rock under me with that Singular Kind of Motion which no Humane Art or Force can imitate I soon concluded 't was an Earthquake but knew not how to bear that Thought with Indifference Death is familiar to me in any other Figure but that of being so surprizingly buried alive It appeared horrible to sink on a sudden into an Unknown Grave I knew not whither Perhaps I might fall into some Dark Lake of Water or it may be I might be drench'd in a River of Fire or be dash'd on a Rock For who can tell the Disposition of the Caverns below or what Sort of Apartments he shall find under the Surface of the Earth We walk on the Battlements of a Marvellous Structure a Globe full of Tremendous Secrets And whether Nature or Destiny Providence or Chance occasion the Ruptures that we find are made in divers Parts of the Earth it matters not much so long as we are in Danger of tumbling in Such a terrible Fall would put the best Philosopher in the World out of Humour and Spoil all his Reasoning I 'm sure 't would vex me thus in a Trice to be plundered of my Thoughts Which makes me either wonder at the Vanity of Empedocles if he threw himself into the flaming Chasm of Mount Aetna only for the Sake of being esteemed a God as the common Report is or gives me Reason to conclude he had some other End in his Venturous Leap Since 't is not probable that empty Fame could be esteemed by that Great Sage as his Final Happiness A much easier way had Aristotle who disgusted at his Ignorance of the Flux and Reflux of the Sea threw himself in to put an End to his Disquisitions if the Story be true But I can hardly believe the Stagyrite was such a Fool. I guess of other Men according to the Experience I have of my self I am as little sollicitous about Death as any Man yet I should be unwilling to hurle my self out of the World headlong without a Firm or a Tefta I love New Experiments but am not very fond of such as take from us irrecoverably the means of trying any more We had News here of an Earthquake which has overthrown Part of the Pyrenaean Mountains some Days before this happened at Paris but few regarded it Calamities at a Distance frighten No-body Yet those which we feel put us all in Tears For my Part it has this Effect on me that I am improved in my Carelessness and become fearful of Nothing And I think there is Reason on my Side since all my Care Apprehension and Forecast can never defend me from the Underminings of the Omnipotent Paris 15th of the 11th Moon of the Year 1660. LETTER XIV To Hamet Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire LET not the Distance of Time between my Letters prompt thee to conclude I forget my Duty or that I am careless to oblige so Illustrious a Friend I have many Obligations to discharge and therefore endeavour to husband my Hours to the best Advantage and so to divide my Dispatches That the Grand Signior may be served the Divan inform'd of all Material Emergencies and the Expectations of each Minister gratified As to the Reign of Lewis XIII It was shar'd successively between the Marshal D' Ancre the Duke of Luines and Cardinal Richlieu The First was the Queen-Mother's Favourite the Second was the King's As for the Third he was absolute Master both of King Queen and Kingdom During the King's Minority indeed Queen Mary de Medicis the Relict of Henry IV. took the Regency into her own Hands and managed Things in an Arbitrary Manner But the Princes of the Blood with other Grandees not able to brook the Government of a Woman conspired against her Among these were the Prince of Conde Father to the present Prince and the Duke of Bovillon The Former was a Bold Man and durst do any Thing that was Brave The Latter was a Cunning Statesman They Caball'd not so privately but the Queen-Mother was acquainted with their Meetings and the Duke of Bovillon was the First who knew his Party was betrayed This Intelligence was brought him from assured Hands whilst he was sitting with the Prince of Conde and other Nobles at the Place of their Private Rendezvous Whereupon he acquainted them with it exhorting all to abscond immediately lest they should be seized on the Spot But they retorting
has put all France into a great Consternation astonish'd every Body and encreased the Thoughtfulness of the Wise The First Effects of it were felt by the Inhabitants of the Pyrenees which are certain Mountains dividing France and Spain There it did great Mischief overwhelming some Medicinal Baths many Houses and destroying Hundreds of People Only one Mosque or Church which sunk into the Caverns below was thrown up again and stands very Firm but in another Place This is look'd upon as a great Miracle especially by the French who for ought I know may censure Partially favouring their own Interest in regard this Church has been disputed between them and the Spaniards each Nation claiming Right to it as standing before exactly on the Frontier Line But now their Quarrel is uncontestably decided For 't is removed by this Convulsion of the Globe near half a League from its Former Situation which is so far within the acknowledg'd Limits of France This the French Priests magnify as an apparent Proof of the Justice of their Pretensions and the People seem very willing to believe it As for me I have another Opinion of Earthquakes and am persuded that they are as Natural as the Winds which no Man knows how to draw into any Party or Faction unless we believe the Stories of the Lapland Witches I am persuaded that this Globe is much more Ancient than the Generality of Mankind imagine it to be That it has undergone various Changes by the Predominance of Fire and Water And that it is now hastening towards another Revolution I believe the Central Fire has eaten its Way almost to the Surface and kindled all the Mines of Sulphur and other Inflammable Matter which it meets with in its Circular Ascent These corroding and daily consuming their own Vaults approaching also sometimes too near the vast Receptacles of Subterranean Waters which lie nearer the Surface over-heat those Lakes which being thus rarified into Vapours and pent up in the Hollow of the Globe strive to break forth with Immense Violence which causes that Heaving and Rocking of the Superficies that so terrifies Mortals But then the Cause is very deep and far from us For where the Surface is shallow in such Passions of the Globe the Earth commonly breaks and tumbles in with whatsoever is upon it Nay whole Cities sometimes have been thus swallowed up And the Danger is easily fore-known by a short Snatching and Trepidation of the Ground Houses Trees Men and every Thing within its Reach for then the Convulsion is Generally Fatal But where the Motion is Heavy Grave and Regular 't is a Sign that both the Source and the Danger of it are far off And this is so much the more Evident by how much farther the Earthquake is felt above Ground For the nearer any such Passion happens to the Center it must be granted that its Force is extended the wider on the Circumference This depends on a Mathematical Demonstration and there needs no more be said to thee who art Consummate in the Sciences What I esteem a due Reflection on this is That tho' there be no Peril in these Remote Earthquakes yet we know not how soon they will come nearer to us neither can we be assured where or when they will happen or how far they will reach It follows therefore by a Natural Consequence That since these Things are Unavoidable and all the Wit of Man cannot invent a Means to escape sinking into the Bowels of the Earth where it breaks in we ought to be careless and Indifferent what Death we die and only be solicitous to live like Men that is according to Reason For whether our Souls survive or no 't will be comfortable to expire in Peace and full of our own Innocence Paris 5th of the 12th Moon of the Year 1660 The End of the First Book LETTERS Writ by A Spy at PARIS VOL. VI. BOOK II. LETTER II. To the Venerable Mufti HERE is now like to be a great Change at this Court Cardinal Mazarini is dead He died at the Castle of the Wood of Vinciennes on the 9th of this Moon having been sick a long Time There happened a great Fire at the Louvre so they call the King's Palace in this City about Five Weeks ago which obliged the Cardinal who log'd there at that Time to remove to his own House From whence for the Sake of Air he was advised by his Physicians to go to the aforesaid Castle But all in vain For Death which finds Access into the strongest Fortresses pursued him thither and led him in Triumph to the Region of Silence and Forgetfulness who had made so great a Noise and Bustle in this our World It is reported that a certain Astrologer foretold him he should die in this Moon But the Cardinal gave no Credit to him Tho' one would think he had some Reason to believe him in this for the Sake of a Former Prediction of his concerning the Duke of Beaufort I have mentioned this Prince and the Enmity that was between Mazarini and him which occasioned the Duke's Imprisonment in the Castle of the Wood of Vinciennes During his Restraint the fore-mentioned Astrologer gave it out in Paris That the Duke should escape out of Prison precisely on such a Day The Cardinal being informed of this waited till the Day came designing to punish the Astrologer as a Cheat or at least to expose him for an Ignorant Person To which End he sent for him and upbraiding him with Presumption and Folly in that the Day was now come and yet the Duke of Beaufort was still a Prisoner without any Hopes or scarce a Possibility of escaping order'd him to be sent to the Bastile But the Astrologer addressing himself with much Submission and Earnestness spoke to this Effect May it please your Eminence only to respite my Sentence till to Morrow and then hang me if you do not find that I have spoke Truth The Day which I foretold is come indeed but it is not past A Courtier will soon convince you that I have not studied this Science in vain The Cardinal mov'd with these Words only confin'd the Astrologer in a Chamber of his own Palace And the next Day he receiv'd an Express which gave him an Account of the Duke's Escape and the Manner of it viz. That on the Day before he had let himself down by a Ladder of Ropes into the Castle-Ditch and was no more to be seen or heard of Thus the Astrologer escap'd the Cardinal's Revenge and got much Fame at the Court which was encreas'd by the Cardinal's Death falling out exactly according to his Prediction This Minister was a very subtle Man and Cardinal Richlieu us'd to say of him That if he were minded to put a Trick on the Devil he would only set Mazarini to Work Therefore he made him his Confident instructed him in all the Secrets of the French Court the Art of Government and on his Death-Bed recommended him to
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
out of Cruel Wantonness or Malice and not in their own Defence 't is punish'd with Death no less than if they had murder'd a Man No care of Health or Fear of Dissolution by Sickness can tempt one of the Brachman Race to taste a Bit of Flesh Much less cou'd they be induc'd by the meer pleasure of their Appetites to commit that which they esteem so enormous a Sin and the very Fountain of all other Vices They count it the greatest Injustice that can be to sustain their own Lives by the Death of any of their Fellow-Animals and they esteem it a Pusillanimity unbecoming a Man when he dares not venture his Life on the Fruits of the Earth and the Milk of Cattel which he may enjoy in Innocence and Nature affords him more than enough of all Sorts of lawful Nourishment This Religious Abstinence is the Mother of Heroick Vertues and those who practice it inviolably are always in a State to contemn the World Death and all Momentary Things Hence it is that the Indians go to the Invisible World as cheerfully as they wou'd take a Journey to China and Persia Turky or any other Part of the Earth For they esteem Death no other than a setting out or Voyage of the Soul to a more agreeable Religion But I need not insist so much on these Things to thee who hast been among them and art familiarly acquainted with their Genius and inclination I slide into this Discourse insensibly by the Pleasure I take in thinking of these People and their admirable Vertues as a Man falls in Love with a Beautiful Woman by attentively gazing on her and many Times forgets himself and the Business he was about commits Errors and Indecencies and through the Confusion of his Spirits is quite lost like one in a Wood. To return therefore to my Purpose a Journey to the Indies would be very pleasant to me on several other Accounts The very Stars of my Nativity inclin'd me to travel and from my Cradle in my Father's House I was transported to Constantinople many Hundreds of Leagues from the Place of my Birth Thou know'st what a Romer I 've been since that Time And I can assure thee I retain the same Disposition still But there 's no Country under the Moon which I wish to see with greater Earnestness than Indostan the very Name whereof sounds almost as sweet as that of Paradise Doubtless 't is the Eden of the Earth in many Respects And the Inhabitants believe there was no better for the Original Parents of Mankind to dwell in ranking the History of Moses on that Subject in the Number of Celebrated Fables I approve not this Censure of the Indians yet I tell thee as a Mussulman I dare say the Mysterious Writings of Moses are quite misunderstood by the greatest Part of Mankind Neither can any Two of his Interpreters agree exactly which was the Particular Situation of Paradise Some plant that Garden in Mesopotamia others in Palestine and a third Sort affirm t was in Egypt This Man will have it in Asia That in Africk They are divided in their Opinions And I might as well say 't was under the Red Sea between them both and bring as many Cabbalistick Proofs to defend it But it signifies nothing to us let it be where ' twill Every Place is a Paradise which a Man phansies to be so and Nothing can beat me off from the Conceit I have of the Indies Besides I shou'd take a vast Delight in my Journey thither whether I went by the Way of the Black Sea and so through the Ancient Kingdoms of Colchis Georgia and Cathay coasting along the Foot of Mount Taurus Or by the more Common Road through Syria Arabia and Persia Either way wou'd afford Matter of Thought to a Contemplative Man whilst in some Places he beholds the Ruines of Famous Cities and his Eye revels on the Spoils of Time of Fire of War or of Earthquakes In others he beholds whole Provinces laid Waste and dispeopl'd only meeting here and there a few Cots Herds or Tents of Arabs Tartars or Circassian Herdsmen who straggle up and down the pleasant Fields of Asia to pick and chuse convenient Pastures for their Cattle How pleasant would it be to travel thro' my own Country and behold the Tents of the Sons of Ismael spread o'er the Plains of the Vast and Horrible Desart To meet with Emirs and Sheghs of Arabia with their Flocks and Herds Summering it up and down and Frolicking from Mountain to Valley at their Pleasure From this to pass to another Variety in Persia would be equally diverting What kind of Thoughts should I have whilst on my Bed within the Walls of Bagdat the Stage of so many Great and Renown'd Actions mention'd in Ancient History I should call to Mind Semiramis the Foundress of that Noble City and all her Wars with the Indians and other Nations of the East I should reflect on her Policy and the Weakness of her Son Ninyas I should consider the various Translations of the Eastern Empire the Alternate Fate of the Medes Assyrians Babylonians and Persians And from thence I should Naturally fall upon the Conquests of Alexander the Great the Rise of the Macedonian Empire the Death of that Mighty Hero in Babylon and the Cantonizing the Empire among his Chief Officers Such Memoirs as these would waken my Thoughts of the Vanity of all Human Affairs as it does at this time And particularly I reflect on my Folly in setting my Heart so much on Travelling to a Country which I am never like to see For alas my Dear Brother I am not able to endure at this Age the Hardships of so long a Journey as I could in my Youth Much Sickness has impair'd the Strength of my Constitution I am grown as tender as an Infant The least Puff of Wind is ready to blow out the Flame of Life And whereas formerly neither Heat nor Cold Hunger or Thirst Labour or Watching could hurt me now my Health receives Damage from every one of these I could not possibly out-live the Fatigue and Pain of travelling Two or Three Days together without a Drop of Water to refresh my panting Soul An Habitual Fever has made me the Thirstiest Man in the World Then I am not able to bear the scorching Heats of the Sun to which a Traveller in those Parts is Necessarily expos'd I should daily dissolve like Wax or rather exhale in Smoke in the midst of so many Fervors In a Word my Body is so Infirm that I am very sure to die before I can get Half Way to Indostan let me take the nearest Road I can Yet if the Ministers of the Port shall think fit to send me I am resign'd For I take no farther Care of my Life than as I may be serviceable to the Grand Signior I intend to write to our Illustrious Friend about it In the mean time do thou for me what the Prudence of Man and