the Resurrection that is that our very Dust shall be Rais'd again and Organiz'd into a Body The Nazarenes are of the same Opinion But methinks there 's no Need of stretching and straining of Nature Besides this Opinion is Inconsistent with other Fundamental Doctrines of the Mussulman Law We are all taught to believe That the Souls of Just Men Saints and Martyrs immediately on their Departure from the Body ascend to Paradise If so then they either live there in an Vnbodyed Estate or they have New Bodies assign'd 'em by the same Providence which gave them their Old Be it which Way it pleases God It will appear a manifest Botch in the Works of the Omnipotent an Indecorum in Nature to make these Souls either cast off their New Bodies at the Day of Judgment for the Sake of their Old Rotten Reliques after they have enjoy'd all the Ravishing Delights of Eden for so many Ages or to stand in Need of any Bodies at all after they have liv'd so long in a Separate Condition There 's no Sence in 't Doubtless this Opinion was first hatch'd by those who believ'd the Sleep of the Soul and held that it was Inseparable from the Body For then they had no other Way to comfort themselves with any Probable Hopes of a Surviving Immortality but by maintaining That as the Soul slept with the Body in the Grave so both Soul and Body shou'd conjointly Rise again at the Day of Doom Or perhaps this Figure of our Resurrection was inculcated to insinuate the Faith of an Immortal State into the duller Minds of those who were Incapable of comprehending either the Pre-Existence of Souls their Self-Subsistence after Death or their Translation into other Bodies It seems to me much more easie to believe according to the most Obvious Works of Nature that after our Dissolution here we shall either assume some Body of Air Fire or other Elemental Supplement or by Magnetick Transmigration shall be United to some Vegetable or Animal Embryo than to dream of Recollecting all our Scatter'd Ashes together after so many Thousands of Years wherein they have been dispers'd perhaps through all the Ranges of the Vniverse Surely our Holy Lawgiver and all the other Prophets intended no other Thing by the Doctrine of the Resurrection but only to convince the World that the Soul was Immortal and that consequently there wou'd be a Reward of Good and Bad Works after this Life We shall live for ever Old Lawyer And what signifies it whether we have the same Bodies or others so long as we are Happy in any State And if we are Metamorphos'd we cannot fail of our Specifick Felicity since every Creature is Happy in its Own Essence Then let us be Apes Dromedaries Camels or any Thing but Hogs and we shall have Bliss enough That Creature is the very Emblem of Vncleanness and therefore its Life cannot be the Object of a Mussulman's Wish Yet we know not the Laws of our Change or Transmigration from this Mortal Life For the Soul according to Pythagoras and the Ancients is Capable of all Forms If thou wond'rest what has put me upon this Discourse it is the Remembrance of what I have heard thee relate of the Apparition of Dead Mens Bones in the Cemetery of Grand Caire in Egypt at a certain Season of the Year when Multitudes of People by Custom flock thither to behold this Wonderful Scene of a Sham-Resurrection I can give it no better Title since in all Probability 't is only the Effect of some Artifice us'd by the Christians to procure Money from the Admiring Croud And I 'm confirm'd in this Belief by a Letter I receiv'd from Mehemet the Exil'd Eunuch who now resides at Caire and having been curious to observe this Celebrated Miracle among the other Rarieties of this City sent me such an Account of this Passage as convinces me there 's some Cheat in 't He tells a great many other Things of the Superstition and Ignorance of the Egyptians as to the Pyramids and the suppos'd Spirits which guard ' em In all he laments the Condition of Mortals who have so far degenerated from themselves and suffer'd their Reason to be debauch'd with Fables Sage Mustapha thou art of the Race of those who have preserv'd Science and Philosophy A Halo of Light invests thy Soul Let no dark Opinion of God and his Works eclipse thy Intellect Paris 20th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1655. LETTER IX To Solyman Kuslir Aga Prince of the Black Eunuchs THY Dispatch came in a Happy Hour Yet the Contents of it surpriz'd me 'T is a strange Turn of Fortune that the Bassa of Aleppo after so many Rebellions shou'd become the Sultan's Favourite and be invested in the Highest Dignity of the Empire Yet who knows but this may be the onely Effectual Course to reclaim him and of an Enemy to render him a Friend For Ambition is a Vice so nearly bordering on Vertue so refin'd and subtle in its Complexion that when the Passion which cherishes it is once gratify'd with its proper Object it soon becomes a Vertue it self and transforms a Libertine to a Hadgi ranking a Man to Day among the most deserving Hero's who but Yesterday was in the Number of the Seditious Therefore I cannot but highly applaud the Counsel of those who perswaded the Grand Signior to this Uncommon Choice of the Vizir Azem The whole Empire has languish'd for Want of a Man of Abilities in that Supreme Station ever since the Seal was taken from the most Illustrious Chusaein Bassa through the Malice of his Enemies And in this Juncture they cou'd not have pitch'd on a Man more capable of the Charge than this bold Bassa who besides his Experience in the Wars both by Sea and Land is look'd on as the Stoutest Man in this Age. As for his Former Crimes they proceeded onely from his Discontent and Thirst of Glory which is now sufficiently allay'd by the Bounty of our Sovereign The Cause therefore of his Extravagances being thus seasonably remov'd the Effect will naturally cease But suffer me to ask thee Do they not resent at the Seraglio his Approaches to that Sanctuary of Mortals with such a Formidable Retinue Thou tellest me he is attended by Forty Thousand Men an Equipage fit for a Sovereign Monarch Perhaps 't is onely the Effect of his Martial Genius and that he is willing to appear like a Soldier Or it may be he really suspected Danger and that he was design'd for a Sacrifice Which made him come thus guarded to the Feet of his Master That his Son might revenge his Death by some desparate Attempt on Constantinople Be it how it pleases God it seems the Sultan wink'd at all and receiv'd him with such Marks of his Esteem and Affection as are seldom vouchsaf'd to Subjects I hope the Event will answer his Expectation These new Methods of Clemency may prove more successful than the severe Conduct of Former Times Men of
Wine of Palms mix'd with Aromatick Powders they stuffed it with Myrrh Cassia and many Costly Confections and then sow'd it up After this they purified the Whole Body with Nitre And having drawn out the Brains by the Nostrils with a Hook they fill'd up the Skull with Melted Gums And last of all they swathed up the Whole Body in Silk smearing it over with Rich Mixtures of Bitumen Spices and Gums and so delivered it to the Kindred to be laid up in the Sepulchre These were the Preparations they made to Court the Presence of the Soul by rendring the Body for Ever Sweet and Incorruptible And that the Majesty of Royal Ghosts might never be Interrupted or Violated by the Neighbourhood of Vulgar Spirits or the Ruder Approach of Mortals Kings built these Magnificent Piles as the Palaces of their Last Repose 'T is therefore they were Erected in Desert and Unfrequented Places and in such a Form as was esteemed the most Durable and secure from the Injuries of Time the Assaults of the Elements and from the Common Fate of all Human Enterprises Each Stone of a Prodigious Bulk and rivetted to the next with a Bar of Iron Which with the Strength and Invincible Fastness of the Cement renders it a Thing Impossible for any one of these Pyramids to be demolished tho' all Mankind were set to work for many Successive Generations Al Mamun the Caliph of Babylon attempted to do it but in vain For after he had set his Men at Work and been at Vast Expences they made but one small Breach so Inconsiderable that being made Sensible it would exhaust his Treasures to remove but the Hundredth Part of the Pyramid he desisted full of Wonder at the Wisdom of the Founders If it be true that the Soul may by such Allurements as these be prevailed on to remain with the Body in its Sepulchre and that a Man's Future Happiness consists in this I should my self Admire and Imirate those Egyptian Sages I would in my Life-Time build me a small Mausoleum according to my Ability and order in my Last Will and Testament that my Body be Embalmed and Condited for a Perpetual Duration But if none of these Arts can alter the Decrees of Destiny or force an Immortal Spirit from Ranging where it pleases I must conclude with Pliny That this Celebrated Wisdom of the Egyptians was no other than Glorious Folly and all the Magnificence of their Kings in building such Costly Sepulchres but Royal Waste They themselves in thus cautiously providing to secure the Soul 's Abode with the Body after Death tacitely own'd That by the Course of Nature it would immediately pass into some other Nay the Transmigration of Souls was an Established Doctrine in Egypt How then could they be so blind as to imagine a Dead Carcase however Perfumed and Fenced against Corruption was more inviting than an Embryo formed to live Or that it was more Elegible for the Soul to be Imprisoned in a Dark Dungeon for no better are the Insides of the Pyramids than to enjoy the Light of the Sun Moon and Stars and the Various Sweets of the Elements Brother in my Opinion 't were better to be a Bird a Worm a Fly or any Living Thing than to be thus Immur'd for many Ages and have no other Companion but an Old Salted Mummie Isouf has made some Remarks on the River Nile to which he says Egypt owes not only its Corn and Fruits but also the very Soil which brings 'em forth For every Year at the Time of the Inundation that River brings along with it from Aethiopia or some other Regions through which it passes Abundance of Slime and Mud with which it covers all the Land of Egypt leaving it behind at the Decrease of the Waters So that the Soil of Egypt is borrowed from other Countries And if this be true for ought we know the Place of its Situation may be borrowed from the Sea according to the Opinion of some Ancient Philosophers Herodotus Pliny and others were of this Persuasion grounding their Conjectures on the nearer Approaches of the Continent to the Island Pharos from the Time of Homer who exactly Calculated its Distance And they concluded That the Immense Quantities of Slime which the Nile transports from the Mountainous Regions of Africa might in the Space of Two Myriads of Years have filled up all that Part of the Sea which is now Firm Land and call'd Egypt If this be true it seems to me very strange That the Egyptians should boast of Greater Antiquity than any other Nation in the World tho' their Country it self be the Youngest of all the Regions on Earth an Abortive Spot of Ground hatched by a River in the Depths of the Sea and ever since cherish'd by that River as by a Parent or Nurse which ceases not to convey to it Yearly a Convenient Proportion of Aliment whereby the Country it self grows in Bulk and the Inhabitants are maintained O Admirable Providence of Nature who can penetrate into thy Mysterious Conduct O Egypt abounding in Prodigies and Wonders Where the Land and Water with the other Elements conspire to render thee all over Miraculous Dear Pesteli I am transported when I think of that Region and could relate a Thousand more Passages both out of Isouf's Memoirs and from the Mouths of others who have travelled thither to observe so many Miracles But I believe thy Patience will be sufficiently tir'd with the Length of this Letter Besides my Mother is just come to visit me and desires me to recommend her Unfeigned Affections to thee Be assured also that Mahmut loves thee with the Integrity of a Man and the Tenderness of a Brother And he serves thee in all Things without repining Paris 17th of the 1st Moon of the year 1658. LETTER V. To the Kaimacham THE Venetians are very angry for the Loss of Tenedos and not without Reason For that Island is a delicate Spot of Ground abounding in Rich Wines and other Products of Nature Besides it commands the Avenue of the Shining City the Refuge of Mortals They variously relate the Manner of its being retaken from 'em by the Arms which no Earthly Power is able to resist Endeavouring in all their Rumours to disguise the Truth as much as they can and misrepresent the Bravery of the Ottomans That so the Actions of their own Generals may make the Greater Figure These Nazarenes have a bad Cause and therefore are compelled to make Use of Shifts and Equivocations to support it They are quite degenerated from the Integrity of the Primitive Followers of Jesus In a Word they make good the Character of the Ancient Candiots Of whom a certain Poet says They are thorow-pac'd Lyars Ravenous Beasts and Gluttonous Drones It is believ'd in these Parts That when the Venetians quitted the Island they departed not without Revenge setting Fire to a Mine and blowing up several Hundreds of Mahometans into the Air. However they have for Ever Proscribed and
whilst their Bodies are in the Custody of the Angel of Death At such Times they are carry'd up through the Seven Heavens beholding all their Wonders and the Purple Sea which divides the First Heaven from the Second They pass by the Orbs where Fire Hail Snow and Thunder are prepar'd and kept as in Reservatories against the Day of Calamity being guarded by the Spirits of Vengeance who are Created to punish Infidels Then they Ascend to the Fourth Heaven where dwell Innumerable Armies of Holy Ones Next to the Fifth where are the Angels of Intercession Then to the Sixth which is the Residence of Archangels the Internuncio's or Messengers of the Eternal Majesty And last of all they are Introduc'd into the Presence of the most Sublime Potentates and Principalities who wait before the Recess of the Creator in the Heavens above all Heavens whose Height transcends the Power of Created Intellects to measure O Dgnet when I have said all I can 't is nothing to the Purpose For no Words nor Thoughts can reach that Infinite above all Infinity Nothing but Pure Unbodyed Minds can have Access to the Skirts and Eorders of that Endless Region of Light Therefore let us not stretch our Vain Imaginations nor greedily pry into those Secrets which for ever fly from Humane Thought But keeping our selves within the Bounds of Reason and Sobriety let us Adore God and believe his Prophet Obey the Law of Cleanness and Purity without Injuring Man or Beast And that 's the Way if there be any to ascend to the Vision and Enjoyment of that Happiness which at Present is hid from us Paris 5th of the 11th Moon of the Year 1657. LETTER XXIII To the Aga of the Janizaries I Receiv'd the Dispatch coming from Valorous Hands an Express perfum'd with Narcissus full of Honourable Words and exhibiting a Command worthy of an Ottoman General May the Angel of Fortitude conduct thee in all thy Expeditions against Infidels Rebels and Hereticks Thy Conceptions of the Present State of Europe are very proper and lively Yet in some Things 't is possible thou hast been misinform'd The Affairs of Italy are Inconsiderable when compar'd with the more Important Wars of the North. That Quarter is at present the Theatre of the most Remarkable Actions Yet the Campagnes in Flanders this Year have made some Noise in the World But all the Discourse at present is of the Famous Siege and taking of Fredericks-Ode by the Suedes This is a Fortress belonging to the King of Denmark and esteem'd one of the strongest in Europe Yet it was taken by Storm Wherein the Danes lost Ninety Three Principal Officers and about Three Thousand Common Soldiers Thirty Three Colours Seventy Seven Great Guns of Iron and Brass Three Hundred and Eighty Two Barrels of Powder Forty Thousand Musquet-Bullets Six Hundred Granado's Three Thousand Pikes and Two Thousand Two Hundred Suits of Armour This Victory makes the Suedes appear Terrible to their Enemies and they are look'd upon as the only Flourishing Nation in the North as France is in the West Yet to shew that there 's no Unmix'd Happiness here below their Interest has been much lessen'd by the Desertion of the Brandenburghers who now seem to favour the Cause of King Casimir That Monarch had an Interview lately with the Elector of Brandenburgh at a Place call'd Broombergh where they embrac'd one another banquetted together and buried all the Memoirs of Enmity in Generous Compotations For this is the Way of the Northern Princes of Europe Who live in so Cold a Climate that Nothing less than a Debauch with Wine can thaw their Frozen Souls and melt 'em into an Obliging Humour As for the State of England I perceive thou know'st the Character of Oliver the New Sovereign of that Commonwealth Yet I can inform thee that he begins to change his Temper There are Persons in his Court who give Constant Intelligence to the King of France of all his Secrets And as the Exil'd King of Scots cou'd not snuff a Candle in a Passion but that Vsurper had Knowledge of it so neither can Oliver have a Dream but some spightful Mercury carrys the News into Foreign Countries His Sleep is Interrupted with Fearful Visions of Plots and Treasons against his Life which makes him change his Bed Five or Six Times a-Night They say he is Metamorphos'd from a Hero to a perfect Coward And this is not the Report of the Multitude who take Things upon Trust but t is the Sport of the French Grandees who wish well to the Son of the late Murder'd English King I must be Irregular in my Method of Writing that I may oblige thee with Military Remarks A more particular Account of the Storm of Fredericks Ode is just come to my Hands wherein we are assur'd that it was taken at the First Assault which much redounds to the Honour of General Wrangle and that the Crown-Marshal of Denmark with many Senators and Grandees fell by the Edge of the Sword And that Two Thousand Captives were driven yok'd in Couples like Beasts as an Augmentation of the Conquerour's Triumph Thou wilt not be displeased at the little Coherence and Order of these Memoirs considering that it suits well enough with the Subject For I write a la Campagne as the French say and so am oblig'd to entertain thee with broken Detachments of News from several Parts as Occasion offers The Spaniards are stark Mad for the Loss of Mardike which was taken by the English and French in the 9th Moon and all the Garrison sent Prisoners to Calais They swear they will have this Important Place again whatever it cost ' em The Prince of Conde lies dangerously sick of a Fever at Gaunt Whilst Don John of Austria labours under a Malady of another Nature being much distress'd for Want of Money to pay his Soldiers This is look'd upon as a very bad Symptom in a General of an Army The Great City Cracow in Poland is surrender'd by the Suedes to King Casimir That Monarch begins to find a Turn of his Affairs and 't is thought he will draw Half the Princes of Europe into a League against the King of Sueden It will be of no great Importance for thee to know that the Siege of Munster is rais'd and a Peace Concluded between that City and their Bishop Yet 't is convenient that this shou'd be related to the Ministers of the Divan who are the Judges of all Human Events Besides in one of my Letters I mention'd this Quarrel and Siege Illustrious Aga I have obey'd thy Commands in sending thee an Abstract of all the most Remarkable Transactions in Europe during the last Three or Four Moons I wish 't were as agreeable to any of my Friends to send me the News of our Armies and Navy But I am more oblig'd to Strangers and Infidels for the Intelligence I have of the Ottoman Affairs than to any of the True Believers Brave Commander may God preserve thee from
give me Leave to tell thee That Rome in all its Victorious Bravery never saw Firmer Soldiers in a Battle than the Spaniards are at this Day But the French have Finer Wits more Money and better Fortune And 't is this makes 'em insult Besides Destiny over-rules All Things Every Kingdom and Empire has its Climacters wherein it droops declines and at the Grand Critical Period falls to ruine The Greeks had Money enough when the Great Sultan Mahomet besieged Constantinople But they had not Wit to use it for their own Preservation and so that City the last Considerable Stake of the Empire was lost to the Ottomans who soon after became Masters of all the Rest Thou hast Wealth in Abundance and Discretion to manage it Slip no Opportunities but remember the Old Arabian Proverb which says God has given whole Days to the Fortunate but to the Vnhappy he affords only some Hours Paris 7th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1658. LETTER IV. To Pesteli Hali his Brother Master of the Grand Signior 's Customs at Constantinople I Remember my Promise though it be late Thou know'st I have many Hindrances and therefore wilt not tax me with feigning an Excuse However thy Letter came to me in a Good Hour to put me in Mind of these Things and to enquire of our Mother's Health who still resides in this City I have said Nothing of her since my First Letter after her Arrival at Paris And to tell thee the Truth she has said Little her self being Ignorant of the French Tongue and too Old to learn it Therefore her Chief Conversation has been with Eliachim and me above these Three Years For that Jew speaks Indifferent good Turkish and Arabick If thou wou'dst know how she has spent her Time 'T is divided between her Devotions and her Needle She lives more Recluse than a Christian Nun seldom or never stirring abroad unless to take the Air of the Fields and then shut up in a Coach with her Maid In a Word her Manner of Living is a fit Example for the French Women For in all Things she observes the Laws of her Education and the Modest Customs of the East No Argument can persuade her to change her Grecian Garb or dress her self after the Loose Mode of Western Females Neither Will she Eat or Drink any where but in the House of Eliachim for Fear of infringing the Precepts of the Alcoran and disobeying the Messenger of God For she esteems the Diet of the Jews Pure and free from Pollution In her Pious and Motherly Zeal she rebukes me for Eating and Drinking with Infidels And I've Nothing to say in my Defence but the Necessity I lie under of preventing Suspicion that so I may serve the Sultan with greater Success and that I have the Mufti 's Dispensation for this and many more Irregularities When she hears this she lifts up her Eyes to Heaven lays her Hand upon her Breast and appears resign'd Yet shakes her Head and seems to pity my Case not without some Reflections on the Corruption of the Times the Impiety of the Seraglio and Want of Zeal for the Holy Prophet She has her Health to a Miracle And excepting the First Two Moons after she came to Paris I never heard her complain of the least Indisposition 'T is possible the Change of Air with the Inconveniences of Travelling so far by Sea and Land might incommode her at First She was for a while troubled with Rheums Obstructions and a Dysentery But she soon overcame these Distempers and has ever since been perfectly well We often discourse together of thee and thy Travels in the East Sometimes I read Part of thy Journal to her which affords her Infinite Delight She congratulates her self and thy Good Fortune in escaping so many Perils and Deaths as every where threaten a Stranger And takes a particular Delight to hear thy Adventures with the Indian Lady at the Court of Raja Hulacu Thou may'st be assur'd our Mother bears a Singular Affection to thee For we never meet without wishing thee in our Company She rejoices mightily to hear of thy Prosperity and Advancement in the Favour of the Grand Signior and his Principal Ministers Wishing thee every Day a New Step of Honour and Interest Thou may'st also rest satisfy'd that Mahmut comes not short of the Affection he owes to such a Brother At other Times we talk of our Cousin Isouf who is now in the Frozen Regions of the North. His Itinerary Memoirs are also very Pleasant And we pass some Hours in reading and comparing 'em with the Dispatches which I frequently receive from Mehemet an Exil'd Eunuch in Egypt For Isouf is more large in his Description of that Country and his Remarks on its Antiquities than on any other Part of Africa Yet he says enough of all that Southern Quarter As to what I promis'd to inform thee concerning the Pyramids Mummies and other Singularities of Egypt know that our Kinsman Isouf is a great Critick and gives the Lye to Herodotus Diodorus Strabo Pliny and other Writers of Greece and Rome Neither will he consent in all things to our Arabian Histories He says the Pyramids are neither so High nor does their Basis take up so much Ground as is reported by the Ancients He laughs at those who affirm They cast no Shadows at Noon having experienc'd the Contrary when the Sun was in Capricorn And we may believe him in this on good Ground For it is Recorded of Thales Milesius who liv'd above Two Thousand Years ago That he took the Height of the Pyramids by their Shadows There are Three of these Admirable Structures not far from Caire and about Eighteen more in the Deserts of Libya It is Generally suppos'd That they were built for Sepulchres of the Egyptian Kings some of them before the Flood the rest after There are not wanting Historians who assert the Greatest of the Pyramids to be the Tomb of Seth the Son of Adam Isouf was within this Mighty Fabrick and attests That after he and his Company had descended and ascended through certain Galleries they came at last to a Square Chamber wall'd about with Pure Thebaick Marble in the Middle of which was a Chest of the same Stone which when struck with the Foot sounded like a Musical Instrument It is believ'd that in this Chest was laid the Body of the King who built that Pyramid The Ancient Egyptians were of Opinion That even after that which we call Death or the Separation of the Soul and Body there were certain Arts to retain 'em together if not in so Strict and Intimate an Union as before yet in a very Familiar Correspondence for many Ages So that the Soul should always take Delight to hover about the Body and to exercise its Faculties in the Place where that was reposed For this Reason in the First Place they took out the Bowels and whatsoever was most liable to Corruption And having wash'd the Empty Belly with
yet I have been searching and prying into it above these Thirty Years I mean from the Time that I First began to think and consider of Things but am as far to seek as ever I was Neither cou'd all the Wise Men of Old the Philosophers and Sages for ought I perceive agree in their Verdict about this Mysterious Thing which we all the Soul One will have it to be Only the Finest Part of Matter in the Body Another says 'T is the Air which the Lungs suck in and diffuse through all our Members A Third Sort affirm it to be A Mixture of Air and Fire A Fourth Of Earth and Water A Fifth call it A Complexion made up of the Four Elements a Kind of Quintessence and I know not what The Egyptians call'd it A certain Moving Number And the Chaldeans A Power without Form it self yet Imbibing all Forms Aristotle call'd it The Perfection of a Natural Body All these agreed That it was Corporeal and as it were Extracted from Matter The best Definition among them is not worth an Aspre But there were Men of Sublime Speculations who affirm'd the Soul to be A Divine Substance Independent of the Body Of this Opinion were Zoroaster Hermes Trismegistus Orpheus Pythagoras Plutarch Porphyry and Plato This last defin'd the Soul to be A Self-Moving Essence endu'd with Vnderstanding But when they have said all I prefer the Modesty of Cicero Seneca and others who acknowledg'd they were altogether Ignorant what the Soul is There was no less Disagreement among the Philosophers about the Seat of the Soul Hippocrates and Hierophilus plac'd it in the Ventricles of the Brain Democritus assign'd it the Whole Body Strabo was of Opinion it resides between the Brows Epicurus in the Breast The Stoicks lodg'd it in the Heart and Empedocles in the Blood Which last seems to be the most Current Opinion of the East to this Day In Regard both Moses the Lawgiver of the Jews and Mahomet our Holy-Prophet asserted the same and for that Reason forbid Flesh to be eaten with the Blood But be it what it will either Corporeal or Incorporeal a Substance or an Accident whether it dwell in the Head or in the Feet Within or Without the Body there is no Certainty of these Things neither can we be assur'd what will become of it after Death Therefore 't is in vain to disquiet thy self in Search of a Mystery that is hid from Mortals And Equally foolish it will be to frighten thy self with an Imagination of Hooks Gins and such like Chimera's which thou supposest the Devil is busy with to entrap thy Soul 'T is a Wonder thou art not afraid to sleep lest he should catch thee Napping and steal thy Soul from thee I wou'd fain know what Sort of Tools he must use to take hold of a Substance more Thin and Imperceptible than a Shadow or how he will be able to seize and run away with a Being Active and Free as Thought Cousin serve God after the Manner of thy Forefathers love thy Friends pardon thy Enemies be Just to all Men and do no Injury to any Beast If thou observest this Rule thou may'st defy the Devil for thy Soul is in Safe Custody God is nearer to thee than thou art to thy self He is in the Center of Every Thing and is Himself the Centre of All Things In a Word He is All in All. Paris 3d. of the 6th Moon of the Year 1658. LETTER VII To Afis Bassa NOW the Scenes are changed in Europe Enemies are become Friends and those who professed a Mutual Friendship are at open Defiance Constancy is a Vice in the Politicks and a Dextrous Way of shifting from one Engagement to another for Interest is esteemed the only State-Vertue I have already Intimated to the Divan the War which broke out last Year between the Suedes and Danes The latter begun it by Solemn Proclamation sending a Herald at Arms to the Suedish Court and dispatching Embassadors to all his Allies in Christendom to give them an Account of his Proceedings Now I shall entertain thee with a short Idea of this War By which thou wilt comprehend That the Danes are either much degenerated from the Valour of their Ancestors who formerly made the most terrible Figure of all the Nations in the North Or else they are less obliged to Fortune who has not favoured them with so many Successes and Triumphs of late but rather exposed 'em to the Insults of their Enemies and the Contempt of all Men. When the King of Denmark first proclaimed this War he had a fair Advantage of the Suedes who at that Time were sorely entangled between the Polanders Germans and Moscovites and had more Need of Helps than Hind'rances Yet King Gustavus turning Part of his Forces into Holstein Schoneland and Juitland he took one Part after another till he had over-run those Provinces in the Space of Six Moons And reduced the Danes to a Necessity of Composition and that on such Dishonourable Terms as renders them the Scorn of the Neighbouring Nations On the 13th of the 3d. Moon the Two Kings had an Interview near Copenhagen the Capital City of Denmark For so far had the Fortune of the Suedish Arms carried their Victories They Eat and Drank together several Times and Conversed privately some Hours At last a Firm Peace was Concluded between them and they concerted the Measures of a Perfect Friendship But before this the Dane had been forced to yield up Schoneland with Elsimberg which commands Half the Baltick Sea He surrendred also the Provinces of Blakin and Halland with a very strong Castle the Island of Burtholme Ten Ships of War and obliged himself to pay a Million of Dollars and to maintain Four Thousand Horse and Foot in the King of Suedeland's Service and give Free Quarter to all the Suedish Forces till the 5th Moon These are such Dishonourable Articles that the King of Denmark has quite lost himself in the Esteem of all his Allies They call him a Poor-Spirited Prince not Worthy of Support or Assistance In a Word Serene Bassa it is like to fare with him as with other Unfortunate Men who when they are once falling every Body will help to throw them down Therefore conserve thy Honours as the only Bulwark of thy Interest and Life Paris 3d. of the 6th Moon of the Year 1658. LETTER VIII To the Mufti BY the Faith of a True Believer I swear the Christians are Enemies to themselves if they do not embrace the Project of a certain Jesuite They are no Friends to their Messias if they reject so Regular an Idea so Reformed a Model of the Nazarene Empire as this Sage has lately proposed to the Pope and the Cardinals He lays his Foundation very deep and draws his Examples from the Practice of Peter the Prince of the First Twelve Christian Caliphs whom the Franks call the Apostles of Jesus the Son of Mary For according to their Traditions the Messias before
by the Violence of Earthquakes Thunders or the like Motions of Nature And falling down in the Forms of Pyramids and other Artificial Figures were of Old set up by the Graves of Giants and other Renowned Persons Having also Inscriptions on them signifying the Particular Hero who there lies buried Such as these I Uffo Fighting in Defence of my Country with my Own Hand Kill'd Thirty Two Giants And at last being Kill'd by the Giant Rolvo my Body lies here And I Ingolvas that Subdu'd all Oppressors and defended the Poor and Weak Now grown Old Poor and Weak my self yet having my Sword girt to my Thigh am forc'd to yield to Death who Conquers All Things and to go down into this Sepulchre which I prepar'd for my Last Retreat It seems there are Infinite Numbers of these Tombs all over the Desarts Mountains and Vallies of the North. Which is an Argument That however Contemptible these People may seem to the True Believers Yet they have not been wanting in Valiant Men and Hero's Doubtless God has dispens'd his Vertues and Graces to Men of all Nations He is not Partial in his Gifts We ought to Praise him in the Beginning and End of all Our Actions And if we contemplate his Honour in the Middle of our Affairs we shall not do amiss Since as he is the First and the Last of the Vniverse so he is the Center of Every Thing I had not these Relations only from Isouf but out of the Historians themselves who write of these Countries Yet our Kinsman informs me of Some Things which are omitted by those Authors Every Traveller is Singular in his Observations For all Men have not the same Genius And thy Journal of the East abounds with Remarks which are not common in other Writers Brother if I may advise thee it shall be to do nothing by Imitation but pursue the Dictates of thy own Sence and the Peculiar Bent of thy Soul For whatever is forced and affected is Nauseous Paris 16th of the 12th Moon of the Year 1658. LETTER XIV To Zeidi Alamanzi a Merchant in Venice THE Kaimacham has informed me that thou art appointed to succeed Adonai the Jew in Italy He has also acquainted me with other Matters relating to thy Charge I am glad they have found out a Mussulman Capable of that Important Trust and that we shall not always stand in Need of Jews to serve the Grand Signior Emperor of the Faithful Tho' some of that Nation are very Honest and Loyal yet 't is better to be without ' em Thou and I are Strangers to each other But 't is Necessary for us to be speedily acquainted and hold a Mutual Intimacy by Letters that so we may serve our Great Master without Interfering or Clashing in our Intelligence I have been here these Twenty Years and made no False Steps in my Sovereign's Business whatever I have done in my own Yet have encounter'd a Thousand Difficulties and Perils suffered Imprisonment many Moons in Paris for my Fidelity whilst my Enemies at Constantinople persecuted me as a Traytor and an Infidel 'T is Impossible to avoid these Crosses in the Course of Humane Life They are as Natural as the Wind or the Rain All that we can do is by a prudent and dextrous Management of Contingences to wind our selves out of Trouble as well as we can And above all rather to be our Own Executioners than betray the least Secret committed to us I question not but thou hast had the same Instructions given thee by the Ministers of the Happy Port. What I say is only to confirm thee in thy Fidelity and Care Write to me with the same Frankness and let Nothing make thee reserved to thy Fellow-Slave We are both Followers of the Prophet We Worship One God after the same Manner and Equally reverence the Alcoran We serve One Master and tho' in different Stations yet let our Affections and Interests be United as Friends Let no little narrow Passions or Emulations corrupt our Integrity or teach us to un-Man our selves I know not thy Original whether thou art of Mahometan or Christian Parents 'T would be very Obliging to send me a short History of thy Life and how thou learned'st the Italian Tongue For without that I judge they would not have sent thee into that Country As for me I 'm an Arabian by Birth brought up in the Seraglio from thence sent to Sea there taken Captive by the Christians sold in Sicily where I underwent a tedious Servitude yet at length gained my Freedom and having passed through Various Fortunes at last was sent hither to observe the Secret Counsels of the Christians especially of this Court I now grow Old having seen near Fifty Years Yet tho' the Strength of my Body fails I feel not the least Decay in my Zeal for the Mussulman Faith or my Master's Service I 'm still Mahmut the Loyal Slave of the Port and thy Friend so long as thou art so to thy self Paris 30th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1659. LETTER XV. To the Kaimacham IT rejoyces me to hear that Adonai's Place is supplied by a Mussulman in whom the Sublime Port may put more Confidence than in any of Jewish Race 'T will be an Encouragement to the True Faithful and a Precedent of good Import For no Nation love to see their Prince bestow Offices of Trust on Strangers when his own People are as capable of Employment as they 'T is Generally taken as an Affront and Contempt of their Abilities or their Vertue and has often produced Ill Consequences I deny not but there are many Honest and Wise Men among the Hebrews Persons of Merit and Honour from whom the Sultan receives no small Services But this ought not to diminish the Reputation of those who are of the same Faith with their Sovereign Doubtless Arabia and Turky are not barren of Good Soldiers Prudent Statesmen and Dextrous Ministers I know not the Character of Zeidi Alamanzi whether he be a Natural born Turk a Tributary Son of a Christian or a Voluntary Renegado However the Choice that is made of him convinces me that the Unerring Divan esteem him a Man fit for the Business committed to his Charge He ought to be perfectly skill'd in Italian or at least in some other Language of the Nazarenes That so he may pass the better unsuspected among the People where he resides who are more Jealous of Strangers than any other Nation in Europe 'T is a Crime thought worthy of Imprisonment for a Venetian to converse with a Foreigner too frequently and in Private For they are afraid lest by that Means a dangerous Correspondence should be established betwixt some Ill-affected Subjects of that Commonwealth and its Enemies Whereby their Secrets may be betray'd and Measures taken to ruine ' em For this Reason also they have forbid False Hair or Perrukes to be worn by any in their Dominions lest this might serve as a Disguize for Villains and
put some Stop to the design'd Election Besides they cannot agree among themselves about a Successor The Queen Christina of Sueden is come back again into this Kingdom being frighted out of Italy a Second Time by the Return of the Plague There is a War commenc'd between the City of Munster and the Bishop of that Place So that he has laid a Formal Siege to it and presses them very close All this is of no such Importance as the News that I receive from Constantinople which assures me that the Mussulmans have retaken the Isles of Tenedos and Lemnos tho' with some Loss of Men. I wish they cou'd as easily drive the Venetians out of the Archipelago and then the Imperial City would have no longer Reason to complain for Want of Bread Paris 10th of the 9th Moon of the Year 1657. LETTER XXII To Dgnet Oglou I Know not what 's the Matter but most of my Friends are of late grown strange to me They write but seldom and then their Letters are full of Reserves as if they suspected my Integrity Or that because I am Commanded to inform the Divan of all Criminal Practices therefore they are afraid to communicate their Sentiments with the same Freedom as formerly tho' on Themes no Ways belonging to the State but purely Speculative and the Common Discourse of all Sensible Men. Are you become more Morose and Rigid at Constantinople than you were Twenty Years ago In those Days I remember it was Common in the Publick Coffee-Hans for Mussulmans Greeks Curds and Franks or Men of any other Religion to meet together and vent their Thoughts with Liberty No Man being willing to be Stigmatiz'd with the Character of a Clown for taking Offence at another's Faith tho' different from his own It was then esteem'd a Point of Gallantry to favour the Christians of all Sects and let 'em talk and act as they pleas'd provided they Blasphem'd not God or his Prophets And they themselves wou'd have Condemn'd any of their own Party who shou'd have been Guilty of such an Immorality and Affront to the Established Religion of the Mussulmans and the General Sence of Mankind But why then is the same Liberty retrenched now and that among Mussulmans who are Intimate Friends Is it not now as Lawful for us to converse with one another by Letter or any other Way as it was then to enter into Dialogues with Infidels I would not encourage or imitate the Bold and Prophane Efforts of their Wit who deny the Being of a God or utter Blasphemies against his Messenger The whole Vniverse is an Irrefragable Testimony of an Eternal and Omnipotent Nature And the Alcoran is an Evident Proof of the Sanctity and Indispensible Commission of Our Holy Lawgiver But I hope 't is no Crime to enter into Speculations of Things liable to Controversy At least I will venture to disclose to thee my Thoughts who art the most Agreeable of all my Friends I tell thee my dear Gnet it appears to me Ridiculous and like the Quarrels of Children for Moselmans to wrangle about mere Trifles in Religion and that the Resign'd to God shou'd be Zealous for the Whimsies of Men. One Party believes the Alcoran is Eternal Another says 't is Created In my Opinion they are both Absurd Assertions The First because then it will follow That there are more Eternals than One which is a fair Step to Polytheism and Idolatry The Second is only an Impropriety of Speech For we do not usually say of any Writing That it is Created but Pen'd I can easily believe the Manifold Descents of Gabriel from Heaven when he brought down the Hundred and Four Sheets of Science and Faith But whether Adam had only Ten of these Sheets or One and Twenty as some say Or whether his Son Seth had but Twenty Nine of them or Fifty according to Others is not Material according to my Faith It is Possible Edris had no more nor less than Thirty and Abrahim our Father just Ten of these Divine Manuscripts Of this we are sure That the Volume of the Law was sent to Moses the Psalms to David the Gospel to Jesus the Son of Mary and the Mighty Alcoran to Mahomet the Seal of the Prophets It is as easy for me to believe the Celestial Pen with which all these Manuscripts were written to be of some Admirable Substance But why it shou'd be made of Pearls rather than of Diamonds or any other Jewels I see no Reason Or that it shou'd be a Journey of Fifty Years for the Swifrest Horse in Arabia to run from one End of it to the other Yet if I have not Faith enough for these Things I will not be Angry with those that have Let every Man enjoy his Phancy But I cannot be so Indifferent when I hear Men tell me That God has a Body like Ours with Eyes Ears Nose Hands Tongue and all other Members and Organs of Life Sence Speech and Morion That he is subject to Passions of Love Hatred Anger Grief and all the Affections that are Common to Mortals Yet thou knowest there is a Sect of Mussulmans who believe all this and preach it to others with great Assurance What is this but to set up an Idol in the Place of God For the Original of all Idolatry was the Vain Presumption of Men who represented the Incomprehensible Divinity under some Common Visible Figure of Men or Beasts If we must assign a Body to God it wou'd seem more Rational to adhere to their Opinion among the Sephatim who say his Body is Infinite Vncircumscrib'd and beyond all Form Neither is it of any Import that the Western Philosophers assert It is of the Essence of all Bodies to be Circumscrib'd and Finite Since though this may be readily granted true of Particular Bodies yet must it ever be deny d of the Immense and Vniversal Body out of which the World is Form'd Unless they will allow an Unlimited and Interminate Unbody'd Space which is more Unintelligible and Absurd Doubtless if the Eternal Mind has a Body 't is Expanded Wide as the Endless Aether and Equally Present in all Places Neither can this Body be any more Circumscrib'd Confin'd or shut up in any Place than the Light of the Sun can be Restrain'd within a Room or Separated from its Source by the drawing of a Curtain For all the World is Pervious to this Infinite Body which is altogether Indivisible into Parts even as that which we call a Spirit In a Word we must conceive it to be simple and uncompounded the Finest and First Matter of the Vniverse But if thou wilt have my Opinion all this is Infinitely too low and narrow an Idea of that Eternal and most Exalted Essence that Intellectual Beauty which no Mortal Eye has seen no Tongue or Pen can describe the smallest Glimpse of whose Ineffable Majesty falling on the Thoughts of Holy Men and Prophets snatches away their Souls in Sacred Passions and Divine Exstasies