but Solid Remarks It wou'd please me to be assur'd of one Thing which perhaps thou hast heard of when thou wast in Barbary Very credible Authors report that when the Phoenicians were expell'd by the Israelites and driven into this Corner of Africk they set up Two Pillars of Marble whereon they Engrav'd these Words as a Lasting Monument of their Expulsion WE ARE A REMNANT OF THOSE WHO FLED FROM THE FACE OF JOSHUA THE ROBBER THE SON OF NUN The First Invention of Ships is by some ascrib'd to these People whom Necessity taught to seek Rest on the Unquiet Ocean since the more Turbulent Sons of Jacob wou'd not permit them to enjoy any Repose on the Land having harass'd 'em from one Place to another till at length they drove 'em to the very Borders of the Earth But thou know'st the Chineses pretend to the Vse of Ships many Thousand Years before this Depredation of the Israelites Every Nation aims to be esteem'd the most Ancient And when there was formerly a Dispute between the Egyptians and Scythians on this Point it was adjusted in Favour of the Latter but the Chronologies of the Chinese and Indians far oxceed all others in the World For they seem to out-strip Time it self in Antiquity at least they transcend the Common Date of the World's Creation I have heard a Traveller assert That as he was journeying through the Desarts of Lybia he discover'd an Altar of Stone with this Inscription on it in Grecian Characters I POLYSTRATUS OF ATHENS HAVE CONSECRATED THIS ALTAR TO ALL THAT IS GOOD IN HE AVEN AND IF THAT ALL BE BVT ONE AS SOME SAY MAY THAT ONE ACCEPT MY VOWS I desire thee to inform me Whether thou hast ever seen or heard of such an Altar when thou wert in those Parts You Travellers must expect this Kind of Trouble from your Friends Every Body is Naturally Inquisitive and Desirous of Knowledge 'T will be acceptable also to send me an Abstract of the Present State of Fez. I should be glad to hear of the Health of Abdel Melee Muli Omar the Superiour of the Magnificent Colledge in that City built by Al' Habu Ennor King of the Country They say it cost him Two Hundred and Forty Thousand Sequins 'T is added That in Fez there is a Mosque near Half a League in Circuit In which are as many Gates as there be Days in the Revolution of a Moon And that the Number of the Pillars which support it is equal to the Year of the Hegira wherein it was Founded being encompass'd also by Seventeen High Minarets besides Innumerable Domes and Terasses Having also 900 Lamps burning in it by Night and 300 Windows to let in the Light of the Day The Revenue of this famous Mosque is said to be 36500 Sequins a Year They relate many other things of Fez and the Provinces belonging to it Of all which I desire thee to send me a Distinct Account I had almost forgot one Passage which I have read in the Ancients concerning a certain subtle African whose Name was Psaphon This Man had train'd up a Parrot to repeat very frequently these Words Psaphon is a Great God When the Bird had perfectly learn'd his Lesson he let it loose which being accustom'd to a Domestick Life in a Cage fled not presently to the Fields but perch'd on the Temple of the Town where it was heard by the People to utter the aforesaid Sentence aloud and very often They Ignorant of the Quality of Parrots and led with Native Superstition esteem'd it an Oracle from Heaven Wherefore immediately flocking to the House of Psaphon they offer'd Sacrifice to him and in all Respects treated him as a Divinity Whether this Story be true or no 't is certain Idolatry had no better Foundation than Artifice and Lyes Unless we shall conclude with the Poet That Fear made the First Gods in the World Cousin let there be a frequent Intercourse between us It will be profitable to thee and me Paris 5th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1651. LETTER XV. To Kerker Hassan Bassa 'T IS a Custom in the Court of Rome that every Nation of the West has a Protector among the Cardinals there who are Princes of the Roman Church Such I esteem thee in the most Exalted Court of the East Arabia gave thee thy first Breath But thy own Merits have lifted thee up to the Dignity of a Bassa a Prince of the Ottoman Empire whose Limits far exceed those of Modern or even of Ancient Rome 'T is from hence our Countrymen address to thee as to their Patron using thy Power and Mediation with the Grand Signior in all their Necessities Among the Rest wonder not that the humblest of thy Slaves Mahmut the Son of thy Father's Neighbour falls at thy Feet in a Time of great Distress in the Agonies of his Spirit the Hazard of his Fortune and Peril of his Honour which he values more than his Life I complain not of the many repeated Abuses and Contempts I have receiv'd from some in the Seraglio to whom it belongs not to meddle with Things out of their Sphere much less to discourage the Faithful Agents and Missioners of the Grand Signior Yet the Persecutions I have felt from their Hands are such as wou'd drive another Man less patient of Injuries either to Revenge or Despair They have vilify'd all my Conduct in this Station reproach'd my best Actions with the odious Characters of Imprudence and Disloyalty and misrepresented the smallest Peccadillo's for which also I have the Mufti 's Dispensation under the Ignominious Title of Infidelity and Atheism In a Word they thirst after my Blood Nothing will satisfy their greedy Malice but my Life I never was afraid to die since I perfectly understood what it is to live Nor can I be fond of protracting my Breath when my Great Master shall please to call for a Surrender of it for whose Service onely it was given me But it would render the Scene of my Death Tragical and strew my Passage into the Other World with Thorns to be sent out of This under the Notion of a Traytor who have acted my Part without a real Blemish Ikingi that Learn'd Tutor of the Royal Pages was the first that broach'd this Enmity against me for I have forgot the Prevarication of Shashim Istham the Black Eunuch since the Time he acknowledg'd his Fault with much Candor and Ingenuity 'T was that Athenian Sophist who debauch'd the Integrity of my Cousin Solyman and perswaded the Unwary Youth to enter into a Conspiracy against his Uncle But I reprehended my Kinsman's Folly in one Letter and his Answer though late convinc'd me That he was not guilty of Malice so much as of Rashness and Credulity I was extreamly oblig'd to the Kaimacham for his Benignity and Friendship in this Affair The good old Minister had a real Kindness for me and took no small Pains to penetrate into the Causes of my Cousin's eager Passion and
and Charles Prince Palatine her Successor XI To Sale Tircheni Emin Superintendent of the Royal Arsenal at Constantinople p. 345 Of the Blowing up of Graveling by Gunpowder and of a Mill that took Fire XII To Mehemet an Eunuch in the Seraglio p. 348 Of Mahmut's Antipathy to Spiders A Discourse of Antipathies Of a People in Africa that feed altogether on Locusts XIII To the Kaimacham p. 352 Of the Coronation of the King of France Of the Duke of Lorrain's being remov'd into Spain With other Matters out of Sueden and Moscovy XIV To Gnet Oglou p. 354 He discourses of the Vncertainty that is to be found in History Of the Disagreement between the Chronologies of the East and West LETTERS Writ by A Spy at PARIS VOL. IV. BOOK I. LETTER I. Mahmut the Arabian and Indefatigable Slave to the Grand Signior to Mahomet the Most Illustrious Vizir Azem at the Port. I Congratulate thy Ascent to that Top of Honour the First Dignity in the Empire Ever Victorious 'T is thy Turn to be now Exalted in the Orb of Fortune Let not this High Station make thee forget That that Wheel is always in Motion But consider That since the Advance thou hast made was not but by the Fall of thy Predecessor thou hast the less Reason to think thy own State secure I am no Fortune-Teller nor would I be so rude as to Prognosticate Ill Luck to my Superiors But Men in Eminent Dignity have Need of a Monitor And it is Recorded of a Great Monarch That he Commanded One of his Pages every Morning to salute him when he first awaked with these Words Remember O King that thou art a Mortal Let this Example Supreme Minister plead my Excuse and incline thee to pardon the Freedom which Mahmut takes who by this thou seest is no Flatterer Certainly all Sublunary Things Ebb and Flow like the Waters And though Men may sometimes enjoy a Spring-Tide of Felicity yet Fate has Hidden Sluces which in a Moment shall convey the Mighty Torrent to some other Channel I my self have in some Measure experienc'd this who am but a Puny in Comparison with thee Yet Destiny and Chance are allotted to the Little as well as to the Great The Worm encounters as many cross Contingencies in her humble reptile State as does the Towring Eagle in all her lofty Flights and Ranges through the wide-stretch'd Air. In my Infancy I was snatch'd from the Cradle and from the Arms of my Mournful Mother Mournful on Two Accounts the Death of a Husband and the Necessity of parting with her Child Yet this Early Separation turn'd to my Advantage and her Comfort The Sequel of my Good Fortune invited her to forsake her Solitudes and follow me to the Imperial City where she exchang'd her Melancholy Widow-Hood for the Society and Love of a Merry Greek Whilst Fate had another Game to play with me it being the Will of Heaven That from the Delights of the Seraglio and the Honour of serving the Greatest Sovereign in the World I should fall into a Cruel Captivity and be compelled Ignominiously to drudge for a Barbarous Infidel Afterwards I gain'd my Liberty and apply'd my self to study in the Academies I will not boast of the Proficiency I made But at my Return to Constantinople thou knowest my Superiors thought me capable of doing the Port Service in this Place Thus Providence sports with Mortals and by an Unaccountable Clew of Discipline leads them through the Mazes of this Life How I have discharged my Trust here I dare Appeal to All yet can please None Every Man will be my Judge to give Sentence against me and some I believe would willingly be my Executioners Which at certain Times carries me into so deep a Melancholy that I even join with my Enemies and condemn my self though I know not for what Surely say I so many perspicacious Men cannot be all in the Wrong and I only in the Right they must needs see some Faults in me which I cannot discern in my self doubtless I 'm Partial and never chang'd the Order of Aesop's Wallet Then I reflect on these Thoughts as the mere Product of Melancholy For after the strictest Examination of my Conduct I find my self Innocent of those Things whereof I 'm accus'd Yet whilst I am justifying my Integrity towards my Great Master my Sadness returns again and tells me That without Doubt I have some Ways offended God and his Prophet who for that Reason suffer the Envious to persecute me and drive me into a more intimate and familiar Converse with my self that so by making a frequent Scrutiny after the Cause of my Outward Misfortunes I may discover the Secret Crimes which I may have committed against Heaven and which lie hid under my Inadvertence and Oblivion Then I 'm fill'd with a Thousand Scruples about my telling Lyes and taking False Oaths though I 'm dispens'd with for all these Immoralities by the Sovereign Arbiter of the Law In a Word I know not sometimes what to think And were it not that my Agency in these Parts meets with some Success I should often conclude That I either lie under some Curse of God or Charms of Men That either Heaven or Hell have a Peculiar Hand in Afflicting me But all this may be only the Fumes of my own Distemper'd Spleen And the Indulgent Judge of Men may pass a Milder Sentence on me than either I do my self or my Fellow-Mortals He is Transcendently Benign and Merciful And our Sins of Frailty appear in his Eyes but as small Atomes in the Rays of a Morning's Sun which though they be Innumerable yet the least Breath of Wind blows them all out of Sight By what I have said 't is apparent that I have Regard both to thee and my self To thee as the Supreme Disposer of Life and Death under the Grand Signior to my self as one cull'd out for a Victim by the Malicious and lying at the Feet of thy Noble Nature begging thy Protection My Enemies are Industrious to ruine me and lay hold on all Opportunities to accomplish it The Sentence which they could not procure from thy Predecessor they may hope to draw from thee by their False Informations This makes me use Pre-Caution in my own Defence hoping to forestall their Malice by this Humble Address Imitate thou the Divine Nature and be not severe in remarking the Peccadillo's and small Delinquencies of thy Slave If I turn Infidel or Traytor I crave no Favour That Supremely Merciful and Gracious the First and the Last of the World and Lord of Paradise heap on thee as many Blessings every Day as would employ my swiftest Wishes a Thousand Years and grant That thou mayst find Admittance into the Place full of Rivers whose Springs take their Rise from the Bottom of the Rock of Eternity Paris 17th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1649. according to the Christian Style LETTER II. To the Kaimacham THE Troubles of this Kingdom which
Faculty which Nature has posted as the Corps du Guard of our Lives and Fortunes allowing it the Sences for Scouts and Sentinells To what End I say serves this Watchful Faculty but to take the Alarm at doubtful Emergencies to rouze our Caution that so we may make Provision and be in a Posture of Defence against whatsoever may happen News came that Eliachim was seiz'd for Seditious Words against the Government I was conscious that both he and I had been Guilty of more than bare Words in that Kind Therefore what had happen'd to him I look'd upon as due to my self also and that my Confinement would soon follow if I took not speedy Care to prevent it by seasonably absconding This was the Reason of my sudden Departure which cannot justly be ascrib'd to Cowardise since 't was the Effect of Common Prudence Now I 'm return'd to my Old Lodging again where the Joy they are in for the Birth of a Son will not give them Leisure to reflect on my Affairs So that I am receiv'd by my Host without the least Jealousie or suspicious Animadversions Brim-full of Mirth and Jovial Thougts the Good Man Compliments me and proclaims his better Fortune Invites me to sit down with his Friends and partake of the Gifts of Ceres and Bacchus This thou knowest is the Custom of the whole Earth at the Birth of Mortals They make merry over one that is born to the same Miseries as themselves who the first Moment he draws the Breath of Life is enrolled in the Register of Death and from the Womb makes swift and direct Advances to the Grave However I sate down with the Rest to comply with the exhilarated Humour of my Host I eat drank and seem'd Merry with the Company Yet at the same Time I could not but nauseate my Entertainment and disdain the extravagant Profusion of Spirit which appear'd in every one of this vain Assembly They all talk'd eagerly and one Man's Words drown'd those of another Whilst an Universal Laughter confounded the Sence of all Then I prais'd in my self the Modesty and Order observ'd in our Eastern Banquets and Feasts where no uncomely Gestures or Actions escape the well-nurtur'd Guests no loud talking or Braying like Asses but every one strives to suppress the Motions and Appearances of a too forward and Indulgent Mirth and contain themselves within the Bounds of a decent and civil Reserve Such were the Feasts instituted by Lycurgus among the Ancient Lacedaemonians where such as were Friends and Acquaintance met together and refresh'd themselves without Riot and Luxury They convers'd together interchangeably after the Manner of Philosophers or Men of the Law Discoursing soberly either of Natural Things or Civil Affairs Mixing facetious and witty Jests with their more serious Talk without Clamour Scurrility or giving any Offence But these Western People think themselves not Merry till they are Drunk nor Witty unless they be Rude They play a Thousand Wanton Tricks like Apes and the greatest Buffoon is the best Company Wherefore sick to see Men so much degenerate from themselves I made my Excuses and retir'd to my Chamber where I presently set Pen to Paper to give thee an Account of my Return If thou continuest thy former Resolution of following the Dictates of Reason in Matters of Religion thou wilt quickly find that thy Rabbi's have taught thee to believe in Fables which accord neither with Reason nor Common Sence Follow the best Guide and be Happy Paris 16th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1649. LETTER VIII To Adonai a Jew at Venice THY Pen is now free again Write as soon and as often as thou wilt our Fears are dissipated and all goes well If thou canst inform me of any more Remarkable Passages and Adventures spare not to oblige me with frequent Letters And to encourage thee I will relate to thee a Story which is Recorded in the Histories of Naples In former Times there was a Statue of Marble standing on the Top of a Mountain in Apulia with this Inscription on the Head which was of Brass ON MAY-DAY AT SVN-RISING I SHALL HAVE A HEAD OF GOLD No Man in all those Parts could be found who was able to unriddle this Mysterious Expression and therefore it was not regarded for many Ages But at length in the Reign of a certain Prince there was a Saracen who having seen and consider'd the Statue with the Inscription propos'd to explain it for a certain Reward The Prince hearing of this and being greedy of the Novelty sent for the Saracen and bargain'd with him for a Thousand Crowns to unfold this Riddle He waited till May-Day came and watching the Image that Morning Early he observ'd the Place where the Head cast its Shadow just as the Sun rose There he order'd certain Men to dig Which when they had done and were got pretty deep in the Earth they encounter'd a Prodigious Treasure of Silver Gold and Jewels With which the Prince was so well satisfy'd that he doubl'd the Saracens Reward and sent him Home into his own Country laden with rich Presents Doubtless there is much Wealth bury'd by Men in the Earth For in Former Times they were of Opinion That if they should die suddainly in the Wars or otherwise such Riches as they had hidden in the Earth would serve them in the Other World And this is the Practice of the Indians to this Day as my Brother informs me who has been among them Strange Blindness that Men should think the Immortal Soul needed the Assistance of Silver Gold or any Material Substance after she herself is divested of the Body and become a Naked Spirit Let thou and I have a Nobler Idea of our Selves than to phancy we shall be in Want of the Glittering Dross in that Invisible State whither we are all hastening There are no Mony-Changers in that World of Spirits If thou hast Superfluity hide it not in the Earth but give it to the Poor and thou shalt receive it again transform'd into a Substance more refin'd and radiant than the Stars Paris 16th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1649. LETTER IX To the Reis Effendi Chief Secretary of the Ottoman Empire THE Intestine Quarrels of the French seem to be like those of Lovers whose Cholerick Intervals serve but to give a new Edge to the Returns of their Affection As if One of these Passions was made to whet the Other and make it more sprightly Or as if Love would grow dull and feculent were it not sometimes rowz'd and fermented by Anger But I believe there is a greater Mystery in the Reconciliation between the French-Court and the Parliament of Paris Some Ends of Policy have hasten'd both Parties to clap up a Peace while the secret Rancour remains unpurg'd Perhaps the Union of so many Princes and Nobles with the Parliament might incline the Queen to milder Counsels than her own Spanish Genius Besides the Conjunction of the other Parliaments of the Kingdom the
Revolt of Normandy Gascoigne and Provence with many Eminent Cities were very prevailing Motives But that which was of greatest Force was the Want of Money and Men to carry on the War which could not be rais'd without vast Difficulty during these Publick Alienations Whatever were the Inducements a Peace was concluded about the latter End of the Third Moon at a Place call'd Ruel not far from Paris where the King has a House of Pleasure seated in the Midst of a little Paradise In one of my Letters to the Kaimacham I formerly describ'd the King's House and Garden at St. German en Lay. This is but a little Chiosc or Bower in Comparison of that Stately Palace Yet what is wanting in the Grandeur of the Fabrick is supply'd in its elegant Contrivance and the Richness of its Ornaments And as for the Garden it comes not far short of the other there being in it all Manner of curious Water-works Groves Solitudes Fountains Statues and whatsoever the Ingenuity of these Western Artists could suggest as proper to render this Place agreeable to the Melancholy Humour of the late Queen-Mother Mary de Medicis to whom it belong'd during her Life When you enter this delicious Eden your Eyes and Ears are presently deceiv'd by the Counterfeit Notes and Motions of all kinds of Birds which perpetually Sing as the Water tunes their Throats A little farther you see several old Gentile Statues adorning Two Fountains And among the rest a Crocodile big as the Life who by the Harmony he makes seems to have a Consort of Musick in his Belly as Regular and Sweet as that of the Italian Society at Constantinople which thou hast often heard As we depart from this full of Complacency and Admiration at the Exquisite Imitation of Nature in these Contrivances we fall insensibly into a Place exactly like what the Poets describe when they speak of Elysium It is a Grove the Tops of whose Trees are so thick interwoven that the Sun appears no otherwise through them than as if he were behind a Cloud or in an Eclipse So that the Darkness of this Place and solemn Murmur the Winds make on high among the Tops of the Trees fills it with a Kind of Sacred Horror Which has often made me think this Wilderness something like that which Historians describe when they speak of the Avenues to the Temple of Jupiter Ammon in Egypt For in the very Center of this Grove stands the House A Place one would think fitter for a Convent than a Prince's Court. At best it appears but like a Royal Hermitage a Cell consecrated to Kingly Melancholy I could not forbear making this Digression when I mention'd Ruel to be the Place where the Peace was concluded between the Court and the Parliament This Encomium is a Tribute which I ow'd for the Satisfaction and Pleasure I have often receiv'd in this Retirement Besides I thought an Idea of such a Garden would not be unwelcom to thee who art a Lover of Solitude The Coadjutor of Paris who is an Arch-Bishop is highly affronted that this Peace was concluded without him who had a chief Hand in beginning the War He labours to inflame the People again and reduce all to the old Confusion being an Irreconcileable Enemy of Cardinal Mazarini So that we expect another Insurrection in a short Time For the French cannot be long Idle Happy Minister I leave thee under the Wings of that Spirit which guards the Elect and bid thee Farewel Paris 15th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1649. LETTER X. To Dgnet Oglou SHall I tell thee I mourn for the Death of our Friend Egry Boinou whom thou sayest a Fever snatch'd from us the First Day of the Moon Regib That Fever it seems was the Effect of his continual and excessive Grief for the Loss of his Eyes so that we may say he has been dying ever since the Hour that Fatal Sentence was put in Execution And shall we grudge our Friend a Release from so lingring a Death At best it was but the Winter of Life wrapt up in Clouds and Darkness Now like the Serpent he has cast his Slough lifts up his Head with new Vigor sports himself in the Meadows of Paradise and basks in the Warmth of an Eternal Spring 'T will not therefore be a Mark of our Affection to him but only a Discovery of our Self-Love to condole the Occasion of His Happiness because it has lessen'd Ours by robbing us of his beloved Company and Friendship Besides we know not but that he may still continue to be our Friend even in that Invisible State and either manage our Interests Above or at least protect us from Dangers here Below We are ignorant of the Laws and Constitution of that Kingdom of Spirits and for ought we know the Souls of just Men after Death may become the Tutelar Genii or Guardian Angels of their Surviving Friends and Relations Let it be how it will doubtless Egry is Immortal and Happy and 't will be Envy in us to repine at it Rather let us congratulate the Time of his Decease as the Day of his Nativity and leave Mourning to the Crowd of Mortals who do a Thousand Things without ever thinking what they are about They tread in the Steps of their Fathers never examining whether they be Right or Wrong Custom and Education have almost banish'd Reason from the Earth Is it not a pleasant Spectacle to see the Kindred of an Old Rich Miser for whose Death they had long waited like Harpies for their Prey now flock about his Lifeless Carcase howling out a Thousand forc'd Lamentations whilst in the mean Time their Blood dances in their Veins for Joy Yet however this carries a Shew of Civiliz'd Manners and is better than the Barbarous Custom of the Scythians and Massagetes who when their Old Men grew Useless and Troublesome were wont to Sacrifice them and make a Banquet with their Flesh or the Thebarenes who threw their Aged Friends alive down Precipices These were Salvages But much more so were the Hircanians and Bactrians who cast their Aged Parents yet living to be devour'd by Dogs Which Inhumanity when Stasanor the Deputy of Alexander the Great endeavour'd to suppress they had like to have Depos'd him from the Government So prevalent is the Force of a Receiv'd Custom on the Minds of the Unthinking Herd Let thou and I therefore not supinely take up with Common Practices but like Men of Reason let us adjust the Last Offices we owe to our Friend whilst we pour forth some Devout Oraisons for the Health of his Soul without disturbing his and our own Repose with fruitless Lamentations And since we are bereav'd of his Society on Earth let us prepare to follow him and render our selves agreeable Company at our next Rendezvous in Heaven It was an Unjustifiable Rigor in Sultan Ibrahim to deprive him of his Eyes because he had only cast 'em unhappily on one of the Sultana's as she
After this Manner I many Times pass away some Hours in the Gardens of this City whereof there are great Plenty And when I am cloy'd with the forementioned Pleasures then I take out thy Journal and fall to Reading which winds up my Thoughts afresh ' like a Watch that is down Nay it opens new Sources of Contemplation and serves as a Miraculous Talisman to bring China India and all the East into the Place where I am so Lively and Natural are thy Discourses of those Parts When I am in the Churches it serves me instead of a Prayer-Book And whilst Others are babbling over they know not what or at least they care not what I offer up to God the First Fruit of my Reason and Knowledge which he has given me to distinguish me from all Sorts of Beasts whether in Humane Shape or not When I go to the Libraries I compare thy Journal with the Writings of Others who treat of the same Matters and find that thou agreest with some correctest the Mistakes of others and in all shewest a Genius elevated above all others of the Common Historians and Travellers who seek rather to amuse the Reader with uncouth Stories and Adventures than to Instruct him with what is really Useful and Profitable Thus thy Journal is become the Companion of my Solitudes the Object of my Studies and the Help to my Devotions Abroad and it is no less the Diversion of my Retirement and Melancholy at Home I am a great Admirer of Antiquity And therefore an old Craggy Rock o'er-grown with Moss and full of gaping Chasms is a more agreeable Sight to me than the Flow'ry Meadows or Verdant Groves because the Former looks like a Relique of the Primitive Chaos whereas I know the Latter to be only the Product of the Last Spring 'T is for this Reason thy Narrative affords me so vast a Delight because it treats of the most Ancient Kingdoms and Governments in the World And is not stuffed with Chimaera's and Fables as most Relations of those Countries are but gives a sincere and true Account of whatever is Considerable without touching on Impertinencies But above all I am delighted with that Part which relates thy Travels in China That Country being of so vast an Extent so Rich so Populous the People so Industrious Learned and Politick besides the Antiquity of their Empire which cannot in that Point be matched by any Government under the Heavens that the exact Knowledge of these Things seems to me of greater Moment than any other Discoveries whatsoever What thou sayest of the Chinese Letters and Words shews that thou hast made some Inspection into that Language And thy Remarks on the long Succession and Series of their Kings is an Argument That thou art no Stranger to their Chronology which takes in many Thousands of Years before Noah's Flood Thou art very exact in enumerating their Publick Tribunals and Courts of Justice as also in describing some Remarkable Bridges Temples Palaces and other Structures Which serves to give the Reader a true Idea of the Magnificence and Grandeur of the Chinese Emperors and of the Ingenuity of the People who seem to excel all others in Arts and Sciences In a Word it is evident That thou didst not pass thy Time with thy Arms folded whilst thou wert in that Kingdom And I know not how better to express the Esteem I have for thee on the Account of the Pains thou hast taken to Inform both thy self and me in Matters of so great Importance than by giving thee an Account of what Progress the Tartars have made in the Conquest of that Empire since thy Return to Constantinople In my Last I acquainted thee with the Coronation of the Tartar-King at Pekin Since which Other Vessels are arrived from those Parts which bring an Account that the Young Tartarian Conquerour soon pushed forward his Victories And marching with an Army into Corea which Kingdom thou knowest borders on China the King of that Country made his Submissions and entering into a League with Zunchi held his Crown in Fee of that Victorious Emperour Afterwards he hastened to subdue the Provinces which remained Unconquered His Method in accomplishing this Great Work was by swift Marches like another Alexander the Great and by laying Siege to the Principal City of a Province which he never failed either to take by Force or compelled to surrender that so they might escape Famine And when this was done he took Possession both of it and the whole Province summoning the Cities of Lesser Note to surrender which they seldom refused after they had beheld the Fate of the First Thus in a little Time he became Master of all that spacious Empire The Fame of his Success quickly brought Innumerable Tartars out of their Native Country to follow the Fortune of their Emperour To these he gave the Chief Offices of his Army and continued the Chineses in the Administration of Civil Affairs And as a Token of their Subjection he commanded all the Chineses to cut their Hair short and to Cloath themselves after the Fashion of the Tartars They give a High Character of this Young Prince who amidst so many Successes and Triumphs discovers not the least vain Glory but contains himself within the Bounds of a vertuous Moderation ascribes all to the Decrees of Destiny and is not in the least puffed up with any of his Glorious Actions which is an Argument of a Spirit truly Heroick And yet this Prince is an Idolater as are all the Tartars of that Nation or rather they are Men of no Religion which makes their Morals the more admirable For according to the Relation of those who came last from China the Tartars are a very Temperate and Continent People abhorring those Vices which are but too common in other Parts of the World and from which the True Believers them selves are not Free They are Rigorously Just also and punish all Manner of Fraud and Deceit with Immediate Death As for their Conduct and Courage in the Wars there is no Nation surpasses them Few are their equals They are Passionate Lovers of an Active Life spending most of their Time on Horse-back either in Hunting Wild Beasts or fighting with their Enemies And their Horses are the best and most Courageous in the World There is Nothing the Tartars so much despise as the Sedentary Life of Students and Learned Men accounting them the Burden of a Common-Wealth Lazy Drones fit only to be sold for Slaves But Men of Service and Merit in the Wars they have in great Esteem never failing to reward such with Dignities and Commands proportionable to their Deserts and Capacities Nay such is the Martial Genius of this Nation That the very Women Ride to the Wars with the Men and perform Exploits above what is expected from that soft and delicate Sex Both Men and Women are habituated from their Infancy to live in Tents or Waggons there being very few Cities in all Tartary There
When the Quarrels of these Infidels will end I am not sollicitous my Thoughts being ever taken up in the Service which I owe to the Empire of True Believers I cannot bid thee Adieu Illustrious Kaimacham till I have assur'd thee I am macerated with Zeal for the Grand Signior Paris 23d of the 9th Moon of the Year 1650. LETTER VIII To Solyman Kuslir Aga Prince of the Black Eunuchs AFter I had perus'd thy Dispatch wherewith thou hast honoured the Slave Mahmut as I was full of Joy for the continued Demonstrations of thy Friendship and Protection so my Breast conceiv'd an Indignation at the Affront which has been offer'd to the Sublime Port by the Cham of the Tartars in presuming to demand the Tutelage of our August Emperour It is an Indignity to the Ministers of Supreme Justice and Honour Lights of the Imperial Divan to whom is committed the Cognizance of all Human Events The Illustrious Vizirs who manage the Affairs of the Mighty and Invincible Sultan Mahomet whose Throne may God fortify till the Moon shall no more appear in the Heavens Those People have been ever thirsty of Rule and 't is number'd among the Vertues of their Ancestors that they enlarg'd their Dominions by the keen Edge of their Swords But in all the Registers and Archives of the Empire it has not been found that any of that Nation challeng'd a Right to Govern our Sultans though during their Minority It is sufficient That they shall have the Honour according to the Ancient Capitulations to succeed in the Throne of the Osman Princes if ever that Sacred Line shou'd be extinct Which God avert till the Final Consummation It is a Wonder they demanded not also his Royal Brothers the other Sons of Sultan Ibrahim that so they might at one Blow cut off the whole Osman Race and take Possession of the Vacant Throne I have not heard any Thing these many Moons what is become of those High-born Infants whether they are alive or sacrific'd to the Jealousie of the Sultan as has been the Custom Here are various flying Reports concerning them Some say that thou hast convey'd away Sultan Achmet and that he is privately Educated in the House of a certain Georgian The Blessing of Mahomet be upon thee and refresh thy Heart if thou hast taken this Care to preserve the Life of an Osman Prince which is more precious than a Hundred Thousand of Common Birth As for Solyman and the Rest of that Sublime Race the French give 'em over for lost And I cannot contradict 'em for Want of true Intelligence Besides I have Reason to fear it is too true In Regard it has been the cruel Practice of all or most of our late Emperours either to slaughter their Brethren as soon as they ascend the Throne or to put 'em to a more lingring Death and Martyrdom in a Prison 'T is true indeed our present Sovereign is not yet arriv'd to those Years wherein Children commonly lose their Native Innocence I believe he suspects none of his Brethren nor harbours any unkind Thoughts against their Lives Yet Cruelty may be insinuated into his Tender Years by the Artifices of his Mother especially against those of his Father's Blood that did not also partake of hers For Sultan Ibrahim thou know'st had Children by other Women beside the Sultana Valede The Malteses think they have one of these Royal Infants in their Possession Thou knowest the whole Story of thy Predecessor's Voyage toward Egypt with his Beautiful Slave and her Son whom these Infidels honour as the Off-spring of the Grand Signior Thou art not Ignorant also that this Infant with his Mother were Banish'd out of Jealousy by the Order of Her who bore in her Womb Sultan Mahomet our Glorious Sovereign The Remembrance of which makes me tremble for the Sake of the Young Princes if there be any yet remaining alive It is in thy Power to certify me and in doing so thou wilt rid me of much Anxiety I am but a Slave of the Slaves who serve the Grand Signior and it is not decent for me to descant on the Actions of our most Absolute Monarch whose Will is not to be controul'd But I am still a Man and have some Share of Humanity and Reason Thou also art my particular Friend and wilt permit me to discourse with Freedom Was it not a Bloody Feast to which our King 's Great Grandfather Mahomet III. invited Nineteen of his Brethren on the Day of his Inauguration Was it not a cruel Act to cause those Royal Guests in whose Veins ran the Blood of his Own Father to be strangled before they departed from his Table No less Inhuman was it of Mahomet the late Vizir Azem to guide the Hand of this our Present Sovereign when but Six Years Old and incapable of knowing what he did to sign a Warrant for the Execution of his Father Well may the Nazarenes call us Barbarians when they contemplate the Empire of the Mussulmans supported by such Vnnatural Methods Thou that hast the Superlative Honour of being the Immediate Guardian of our Young Emperour wilt pardon the Liberty I take Ascribe all to the Force of my Zeal and Loyalty Thou art valiant and wise Protect thy Charge as the Crystal of thine Eyes which thou wilt not suffer to be hurt by the Dust of the Streets Paris 14th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1650. LETTER IX To Gnet Oglou NOtwithstanding all my Philosophy I have not Command enough of my Passion to conceal it from thee who hast always been the Partaker of my Unequal Fortunes What ever Magnanimity of Spirit I pretended to formerly in my Sickness 't is at present overcome by the Desire of Ease At that Time I remember some Stoical Considerations made me industriously hide from thee the tormenting Pains I felt I endeavoured to disguize my Sufferings and to paint my Misery in such Colours that it could hardly be distinguished from Happiness But now I have not Courage enough to hide from thee my Fears and Apprehensions And all Seneca's Morals are too little to hinder me from complaining of the Uncertainty that we daily experience in Human Affairs This is a Theme so Popular that were not my particular Misfortunes very pressing 't wou'd make me sick to say any Thing on a Subject that has been in every Man's Mouth since the Time that our First Father appear'd among the Trees Therefore thou may'st be assured I am not going about to make a Declamation or play the Orator to expatiate and make large Descants on the Instability of all Things What I have to say refers to my self and no body else save to those who are the Occasion of my Melaneholy In the 10th Moon of the last Year I sent a Letter to Kenan Bassa the New Hasnadar-Bassy I have a Copy of it by me as I always retain of whatever Dispatches I send to the Sublime Port whether to the Publick Ministers or my Private Friends I
and without â—ny farther Scruples or Doubts fall roundly to eating drinking or any other Refreshments my Nature craves for But no sooner have I tasted these Delights when my Old Distemper returns again I then consider my self as a Being capable of Happiness or Misery in some Degree as I shall possess or Want those very Delights I just before enjoyed This is a sufficient Damp to a Thinking Man when he knows that he stands in Need of any Thing out of himself But 't is far greater when he will take the Pains to number all the Train of his Particular Necessities which he is not sure he shall always be able to supply This makes me presently conclude That as I am Indebted to Other Creatures for my sensible Happiness so I owe my very Being to Something beside my self I examine my Original and find I am born of Men and Women who were in the same Indigent Circumstances as my self And that it is not only so with my Particular Family but with all Mankind our whole Human Race being born Natural Mendicants from the Womb. As soon as we breath the Vital Air we Cry and with those Inarticulate Prayers beg for Help and Protection from others without whose generous Aid we could not subsist a Moment So poor and beggarly a Thing is Man from his Birth This is the Condition of all Neither is a King any more exempt from this Common Character of Mortals than the Slave who sweeps the Streets If I could have rested in this Thought I should have been happy For it would have had this Influence on me either to convince me that I ought to be content with the Condition to which I was born or to rid my self out of so despicable a State by Death But alas one Thought produces another And from the Contemplation of our present Misery in this Life I fall to thinking what will become of us after Death For as we know not What or Where we were before we came into this World so there is no Human Certainty Whither we shall go or in What Condition we shall be when we leave it And therefore it would be an unpardonable Madness to throw my self headlong into a State of which I have no Account And to avoid the Little Miseries of this Life which must have an End one Time or other cast my self down a Precipice for ought I know of Intolerable Torments which has no Bottom I hear the Philosophers talk of Immortality the Poets of Elyzium the Christian Priests of Heaven Hell and Pargatory the Indian Bramins of Transmigration But I know not what or which I have Reason to believe of all these I speak after the Manner of Philosophers for if we come to Faith the Case is altered Think not I beseech thee that I call in Question the Sacred Oracles the Revelations of the sent of God But I only acquaint thee how my Natural Reason hatters me with Doubts I see Men every where professing some Religion or other paying Divine Honours to some Superiour Being or Beings according as they have been Educated Which many Times tempts me to think that Religion is Nothing but the Effect of Education Then I wonder how Men when they come to Years of Discretion and their Reason is able to Distinguish between Things probable and mere Romances can still retain the Errors of their Infancy 'T is Natural for Children to be wheadled or aw'd into a Belief of what their Parents Nurses or Tutors teach them But when they come of Age they soon rectify their misled Understandings in all Things save the Affairs of Religion In this they are Children still tenacious of the Sacred Fables of their Priests and Obstinate in maintaining them sometimes even to Death It puzzles me to find out the Cause of so strange an Effect That Men otherwise endu'd with Mature Judgments and an extraordinary Sagacity in all Things else should yet be Fools in Matters of Religion and believe Things Inconsistent with the Common Sence and Reason of Mankind I could never give Credit to the Histories of the Ancient Pagans which acquaint us with the devout Adoration they paid to the Creatures of the Painter or Carver did not I see the same practised among the Christians Or that those Wise Men of Old cou'd swallow the Forgeries of their Priests concerning their Gods and Goddesses were I not an Eye-Witness how bigotted the Modern Nazarenes are to the Legends of their Saints and the Jews to those more Ridiculous Figments of the Talmud It perplexes me to see Mankind generally labouring under so great a Darkness not so much the Effect of Ignorance as of Superstition To behold Men well vers'd in Sciences and all kinds of Humane Learning yet Zealous Assertors of manifest Contradictions in Matters of Divinity rather than oppose or so much as examine the Traditions of their Fathers When I behold Mankind divided into so many innumerable Different Religions in the World all vigorously propagating their own Tenets either by Subtilty or Violence yet few or none seeming by their Practice to believe what they with so much Ardour profess I could almost think that these various Ways of Worship were first invented by Politicians each accommodating his Model to the Inclinations of the People whom he design'd to Circumvent But when on the other side I consider there appears something so Natural and Vndisguis'd in the Furious Zeal and Vnconquerable Obstinacy of the Greatest Part I am as ready to Joyn with Cardan and conclude That all this Variety of Religions depends on the Different Influence of the Stars This was a famous Philosopher in Europe and held That the Religion of the Jews ow'd its Original to the Force of Saturn that of the Christians to Jupiter and Ours to Mars As for the Pagans he assigns to them many Constellations and Aspects Thus there is so equal an Appearance of Truth and Falshood in Every Religion that I should not know how in Human Reason to fix on any Superstition renders a Man a Fool and Scepticism is enough to make him Mad. To believe All Things is above Reason to give Credit to Nothing is below it I will keep the Middle Path and direct my Faith by my Reason That Faculty tells me that if I were in inclined to Adore the Sun Moon and Stars for their Beauty and Influence I might on the same Ground Worship my own Eyes without which I could not behold their tempting Splendors Or I might as well pay Divine Honour to that more Intimate Sence my Feeling or any of my other Sences which only render me capable to know the Vertue of these Luminaries The fame may be said of the Elements and of all Visible Beings What then shall I Adore or to whom shall I return Thanks for all the Blessings I enjoy for even in this Miserable Life I taste some Happiness To that Being I say shall I address my Vows and Supplications for all the Good that I possess and
Holy Prophet when the whole Army of the Primitive Mussulmans was like to have perish'd of Thirst And then how will the Western Philosophers dispose of all the Vapours which they say are Exhal'd from this Globe and afterwards Condens'd into Clouds I tell thee that 's but a Loose Notion of such Retentive Bodies as the Clouds seem to be And 't wou'd tempt one to ask What the Vessels are made of which hold those Condens'd Exhalations so that they do not fall at once upon our Heads and overwhelm us but only destil in small successive Showers Drop by Drop to refresh the Barren Parts of the Earth and serve the Necessities of Men And why the Rains fall in the Indies and other Regions of the East whole Moons together without Intermission the Rest of the Year being dry Whereas in other Countries the Periods of the Weather's Alteration are uncertain and in some Parts it seldom or never rains at all Doubtless the Works of the Omnipotent are Inscrutable And tho' it may be an Argument of a great Wit to give Ingenious Reasons for many Wonderful Appearances in Nature yet 't is an Evidence of small Piety or Judgment to be positive in any Thing but the Acknowledgment of our own Ignorance Now I have made as Wide an Excursion from my first Discourse as the Moulia did who began an Oration in Praise of Noah's Ark and ended with telling a Tale of an Armenian Wheel-Barrow But I will not forget that I was speaking of the Promise which the Rotterdam Enginier has made of his Machine That it shou'd Effectually break all the Force of Spouts which wou'd render him very Serviceable to Merchants as a Convoy to defend them from those Terrible Bug bears to Sailers For the Corsair tells me that these Spouts very often occasion Ship-wrecks either by entangling the Masts of a Ship and so overturning it or by breaking in the Encounter overwhelm it with water and so sink it He says likewise that the Christian Pyrates are accustom'd to use a certain Charm against these Spouts They have a Knife whose Haft is made of the Bone of a Man's Right Arm And every Vessel is bound to provide One or Two of these Knives when they loose from the Shore They buy 'em of certain Persons who have the Character of Magicians And when they see a Spout at some Distance from 'em at Sea the Master of the Vessel or any Body else takes this Enchanted Knife in his Right Hand and holding the Book of their Gospel in his Left reads some Part of it And when he comes to a certain Versicle which mentions the Incarnation of their Messiah he makes a Motion with his Knife towards the Spout as if he wou'd cut it in Two Whereupon immediately the Spout breaks in the Middle and all the inclos'd Water falls into the Sea But I tell thee he who gives Credit to the Stories of Charms or the Projects of Men pretending to excell all the Rest of their Race has more Faith than is requisite to him who reads Aesop's Fables since in perusing that Ingenious Figment we are only desired to believe the MORAL 'T is thought by some That this Enginier will by the Natural Clockwork of his Heels be much more nimble than his Vessel in flying the Disgrace which will attend him if his Phantastick Project prove unsuccessful In my next thou shalt hear of Pachicour Paris 12th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1653. LETTER XVIII To Murat Bassa THE English at present make the greatest Figure and Noise of all the Nations in the West Spain Portugal and even France it self court the Friendship of that Island since the Inhabitants have form'd themselves into a Commonwealth It appears as if the English were but newly awaken'd to a Sence of their own Strength and by thus rouzing themselves had alarm'd all their Neighbours However it be This King has sent an Embassador to the English Court to break the Negotiation of the Spaniards there and to establish a Peace between England and France if possible One cannot tell what to make of the Maxims of these Infidels For at the same Time the Banish'd Heir of the English Crown takes his Sanctuary in this Court Where he is caress'd and made to believe Great Things they will do toward his Restauration But Interest supersedes all Arguments of Affection and Consanguinity They are more sollicitous here for the Success of their Embassy than for the Right of the poor Exil'd Prince He is call'd the King of Scotland having been solemnly Crown'd in that Kingdom since the Death of his Father And entring into England with an Army of Scots was routed and having narrowly escaped the Trains that were laid for his Liberty and Life at length landed in this Kingdom where he has been entertain'd with much seeming Affection But the Dread they are under of the Victorious New English Commonwealth makes 'em begin to talk of his Departure from hence The Prince of Conde has taken Rocroy Which was the first Place where he signaliz'd his Arms and the Infant-Reign of this King about Ten Years ago Which the Superstitious interpret as an Omen of Ill Luck to the King This Sort of People are led by Maxims void of Reason And so there is no Regard to be given to their Observations Yet some of the Wiser Sort think this will prove a long War That which amuses People most is the small Concern the Prince of Conti and the Dutchess of Longueville shew for their Brother's Cause For while the King was on his March against the Prince of Conde they came and submitted themselves to him and were received to Favour Those who are apt to suspect an Intrigue in every Thing say That this Reconciliation is only feigned on their Part it being a Means to serve their persecuted Brother with greater Security and Success Others are of Opinion that it is Real especially on the Prince of Conti's Part Since he and his Brother had never any good Understanding There has been a Battle lately fought between the French and Spanish Forces in Italy Wherein the Spaâ—iards lost Twelve Hundred Men and the French above Half that Number of their best Soldiers So that the King of France may say with a Famous General Victories attended with so little Advantage will ruine rather than enlarge an Empire Bassa in the midst of thy Grandeur I wish thee Health which sweetens the Worst Events As for me I 'm like one hovering between Two Worlds Paris 15th of the 9th Moon of the Year 1653. LETTER XIX To Afis Bassa THE Gods of the Nazarenes one wou'd think were studying how to perplex their Adorers These Western Parts abound with Prodigies and Surprizing Events More especially the Low Countries feel the Strokes of a Hand which by making ' ern smart seems to put 'em in Mind They 're too high in their own Conceit For several Weeks we have been alarm'd from thence with the Tragical Stories of Ship-wrecks