a Second Remove from the Eternal Light The Mirrour of the Sun in which that Glorious Planet may see his Face in whose by Reflection we see the Face of God So do the Stars keep on their various Traverses through the Heavens Each Constellation faithfully maintaining its Post each Planet pursuing its Road. VVhilst all together at so vast a Distance appear a flying Camp ne'er setting up their bright Pavilions but by Night and in the Morning taking 'em down again This may be call'd the Army of Heaven the Host of God embattel'd in the Firmament to guard his Friends on Earth and to chastise his Enemies To descend lower yet into our Sublunary Elements we find the Rain Hail Snow VVinds Thunder Lightning and other Meteors are impartially scatter'd up and down the Climates of the Earth I do not mean by Chance but by the Universal Providence which governs all Things As the Alcoran expresses it 'T is he directs the Seminal and Prolifick Showers to Barren and Desart Places Doubtless this is a Sign of his Divine Vnity In fine all Provinces and Corners of the Earth bring forth their proper Fruits in Season And the Negro's of Africk and America tho' gross Idolaters and some of them worshipping Infernal Daemons yet enjoy God's Blessings and live as Plentifully with as much Content and Joy as we that Adore his Eternal Vnity Every Nation takes up their Religion on the Credit of their Priests and so long as they observe the Natural and Moral Law imprinted in their Hearts The Indulgent Judge and Father of Men will dispense with those that Err in Obedience to the Positive Laws of their Nation for Sedition is like Magick odious to God and Man and equally liable to Universal Punishment Once more O Pious Father of the Derviches I beg of thee to pardon the Freedom I take in discoursing of Religious Matters in thy Presence who art a Light to the Blind a Guide to those that Err a Resolver of Doubts an Arbitrator of difficult Questions The Onely Oracle of thy Province I endeavour not to inform thee but to dis-entangle my self from Error and testifie that tho' I Honour God and his Prophet yet I think there is no need of a Falsehood to defend the Truth Paris 7th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1670. LETTER XII To Useph Bassa DEath has of late Celebrated a Triple Triumph in the Court of France having lead away Captives to the Invisible World The Cardinal Duke of Vendôme a Dutchess of the same Title and Henrietta Maria late Queen of Great Britain being the Relict of King Charles I. and Youngest Daughter to Henry IV. of France Thou may'st also report to the Divan that Casimir late King of Poland is now at this Court Having left Poland as soon as he saw Prince Wiesnowiski elected his Successor The Dukes of Lorrain and Newburgh had severally laid Claim to that Crown and levied Armies a-part in order to make good their Pretentions But the Polanders being aware of it were resolv'd not to bring themselves under the Jurisdiction of any Foreigner so long as there was a Prince of their own Nation capable of the Dignity and one who being the Son of King Casimir seems to have the best Title to his Father's Throne whose Vertues he inherits Here is also arriv'd the Prince of Tuscany who has travell'd through all Europe and takes France as the last Kingdom in his Return Homewards Protesting That he does this in good Manners as preferring France to all the Nations in Christendom Indeed he cou'd do no less in Good Manners than make this Apology which yet sounds very Flat toa Court so refin'd as this which might have expected his First Visit as a Token of his Regard since tho' in Domestick Processions Entries and Cavalcades those of highest Dignity take the last Place yet in Foreign Embassies and Voyages it is usual for Princes to address to those first for whom they have the Greatest Esteem The Politicians here keep very secret the News that comes from Candy which makes all Men conclude 't is none of the most Prosperous 'T is generally reported for a Truth That Admiral Beaufort is either Kill'd or taken Prisoner by the Ottomans and that the French have lost near Two thousand Men in this Undertaking I wonder why the Painters always describe Death in the Form of a Naked Skeleton a Starv'd System of dry Bones whereas one would think he ought to be pourtray'd as a Monster a Miracle of Fatness since he is the greatest Glutton in the World hourly gurmundizing on all manner of Flesh and is the very Original Universal Cannibal of Nature who from the Beginning of the World has feasted himself with Humane Bodies But perhaps he has a bad Digestion and none of all his raw and bloody Diet will afford Nutriment enough to form so much as a poor Skin to cover his Nakedness And therefore 't is he 's always drawn in this lean Figure Courteous Bassa suffer me from this vain Jest to fall into a serious Reflection on our Mortality and the frail Estate of Humane Race Man 's but a fetid Vapour first exhal'd from the Earth and afterwards advancing is condens'd into a Cloud that so his Filthiness may be conceal'd under the Covert of a Skin there in Secret to engender a Thousand Meteors of Fiery Passions Lusts Concupiscences and Extravagant Thoughts Which in time burst forth and trouble all the World Yet end at last in empty Smoak Rain Hail or Wind and are extinct almost as soon as they were form'd The Elements of which we are compounded may serve as Mirrours to represent the constant Mutability of our Nature So the devouring Fire when all its Fuel is spent decays and dies Earth Air and Water all are subject to Corruption and from thence our Generation takes its Rise likewise thither we return again This is the Eternal Circle of Natural Products The Trees the Flowers with all the Vegetable Race the Birds the Beasts and Fishes with every Species of Animals are so many Remembrancers of our Mortality Which way soe'er we turn our Eyes they are presented with fresh Images of Humane Weakness And the very Breath which does prolong our Life helps equally to shorten it since every Respiration carries away some Portion of our Substance Our finer Particles gradually vanish into Smoak and Air whilst the more gross Remainder scums off in noisome Excrements And if there appear a Shew of any thing solid in us at our Death 't is soon reduc'd to Ashes Dirt or Worms Our Bodies of which we make so great Account whilst living are lost in the Abyss of Universal Matter soon after Death What were the greatest Prince the happier tho' he possess'd the whole Circumference of this Globe 'T is but a Mighty Heap of Dirt or Dung perpetually exhaling or crumbling away 'T is one of the Dishes which compose the Banquet of All-devouring Time And whilst the insulting Monarchs of the Earth
Ancient Roman Pontiffs Of the Pope's Great Power Strength and Authority XVI To Nathan Ben Saddi a Jew at Vienna 76 Of the Conversion of Sabbati Sevi to the Mahometan Faith XVII To Dgnet Oglou 85 He informs him that Daria is deceitful and how by mere Accident he found out 't was her Husband who would have Stabb'd him in the Streets one Night whom therefore he kill'd XVIII To the Kaimacham 89 Of the Arrival of the Cardinal Duke of Vendome at the French Court in Quality of Legat de Latere from the Pope Of the Alterations in Portugal XIX To Abdel Melec Muli Omar President of the College of Sciences at Fez. 92 He thanks him for his New System of the Heavens extols its Accuracy and incites him to make some Corrections of Geography XX. To Osman Adraoeneth Astrologer to the Sultan at Adrianople 98 He discourses of Ptolomy's and Copernicus's System XXI To the Venerable Mufti Principal Support of Learning and True Science 104 He humbly Recommends That a Complets History of the World should be collected out of the most Ancient and Sincere Writers and digested into Annals from the Beginning of Time down to the Reign of the present Emperour BOOK II. LETTER I. TO Mehemet an exil'd Eunuch at Alcair in Egypt 113 He Sympathizes with his Sufferings and advises him not to siâ—k under the frightful Idea's of Melancholly II. To Mohammed the Illustrious Eremit of Mount Vriel in Arabia the Happy 121 He opposes Aristotle and the Peripateticks who asserts That Virtue consists in Mediocrity Expresses his Aspirations after a solitary and abstinent Life III. To Hamet Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire 129 Of the present State of the German Empire with Characters of the People The strange Epitaph of Frederick Brother-in Law to the Emperour Sigismund written with his own Hand on his Death-bed IV. To Nathan Ben Saddi a Jew at Vienna 134 He reproves the Methods of the Malecontents in attempting to poyson the Emperour and set the Palace on Fire Exhorts him to be moderate and Neutral Of the Counts Serini Frangipani and Tatembach V. To Pesteli Hali his Brother Master of the Grand Signior's Customs at Constantinople 138 He acquaints him with the Marriage of Oucoumiche his Mother and Eliachim the Jew as also with her sudden Death VI. To Hamer Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire 141 Of the German Wealth and Plenty both Natural and acquir'd by foreign Traffick VII To Hebatolla Mir Argun Superior of the Convent of Derviches at Cogni in Natolia 145 He presents him with a full Relation of the Life of St. John Baptist and explains the Meaning of the World Locust VIII To Hamet Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire 155 He gives an Account of the great Preparations the Christians were making for the Relief of Candy Of a Triple League And of the Birth of the Infanta of Portugal With a farther Description of Italy IX To Hamet Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire 159 Of Don John of Austria's being made Governour of the Low-Countries The Grounds of Nitard's juggling with him His Character X. To Hebatolla Mir Argun Superior of the Convent of Derviches at Cogni in Natolia 162 He acquaints him with the King of Poland's Religious Retreat from the World and of his being made Abbot of the Abbey of St. Germains near Paris XII To Vseph Bassa 169 Of the Deaths of the Cardinal Duke of Vendome a Dutchess of the same Title and Henrietra Maria late Queen of Great Britain and Dowager of Charles I. Of the Arrival of the King of Poland and Prince of Toscany at the French Court. XIII To the Kaimacham 173 Of the Arrival of Solyman Ismael Mutafaraca with Expresses from the Grand Signior to the King of France Solyman's Character and Praise Of a Plague at Soissons and an Earthquake in Sicily BOOK III. LETTER I. TO Mehemet an Exil'd Eunuch at Alcaire in Egypt pag. 181 He perswades him not to be Melancholly Advises him to travel II. To the Same 186 He pursues the same Discourse earnestly pressing him to leave Egypt and survey the Rest of Africa III. To the Mufti Venerable Patron of Learning and Knowledge 190 He presents him with an Historical Epitome of the Assyrian Babylonian and Persian Monarchies IV. To Mirmadolin Santone of the Vale of Sidon 201 He discourses of the Vanity and Insufficiency of exteriour Religion Of Spiritual Abdication from the World V. To the Selictar Aga or Sword-bearer to the Sultan 204 He entertains him with the Description of an Excellent Play acted before the King and Queen of France during the Carnaval Of a Peace concluded between France and Algiers Of the Conquest of Lorrain VI. To Isouf his Kinsman a Merchant at Astracan 208 He disswades him from his Melancholly Resolution of turning Eremit Faquir or Dervich Of Ilch Read Hu the Indian Philosopher and his Mysterious Habitation VII To the Chiaux Bassa 216 Of the Arrival of an Embassador at the French Court from the King of Arder in Africk VIII To Mohammed the Illustrious Solitary of Mount Vriel in Arabia 220 He asserts and endeavours to prove That the Brutes are endu'd with a Species of Reason and Knowledge IX To Zeidi Alamanzi a Merchant at Venice 225 Being inform'd that Zeidi is commanded to travel through Italy he gives him good Counsel in Order thereto X. To Dgnet Oglou 231 Of a Strange and Vnaccountable Accident which happen'd to Mahmut on his Sick-Bed XI To Sephat Abercromil Vanni Effendi Preacher to the Sultan 236 Of the Quietists and the General Entertainment their Doctrine finds in Europe Mahmut seems highly to favour it and affirmâ—…â—…as recommended by all Religions in the World XII To Cara Hali Physician to the Grand Signior 242 He asserts the Immortality of the Soul from which Discourse he makes a Digression and treats Allegorically of Natural Things XIII To the Mufti 249 He presents him with a Continuation of Remarkable Passages during the Persian Monarchy A Memorable Saying of Darius on his Death-Bed BOOK IV. LETTER I. TO Pesteli Hali his Brother Master of the Customs and Superintendent of the Arsenal at Constantinople pag. 261 He advises him not to be discourag'd by Reason of his Son 's Amorous Temper his keeping Company with foreign Merchants and Travellers And tells him a Story of a Father's Extraordinary Contrivance to reclaim a Prodigal Son II. To Codarafrad Cheick a Man of the Law 268 Of a Huguenot that assasinated a Priest as he was saying Mass in the Church of Nostre Dame at Paris and of his Punishment III. To Dgnet Oglou 272 Of the Roman Casuists Of Mahometan Hypocrites Of Interiour Devotion and Piety IV. To the Kaimacham 281 Of a League between the Kings of England and France who both proclaim Open War against the Dutch The Story of John de Wit The Description of a Royal Entertainment at Chantilly by Night V. To Cara Hali Physician to the Grand
trample on it in Disdain spreading their Armies far and wide and boasting that their Empires have no Bounds each do's but hasten to be shut up himself within a little obscure and putrid Hole not much surpassing the Limits of a Mole-Hill Great Bassa Let not the Honours and Dignities thou possessest make thee forget the Miseries to which thou art liable each Hour But remember thou art a Man Paris the 6th of the 11th Moon of the Year 1669. LETTER XIII To the Kaimacham HEre is arriv'd a Muta-faraca call'd Solyman Ismael with Expresses from the Grand Signior 'T was no small Refreshment to see his publick Entry which appear'd like a little Epitome of the Mussulman Grandeur and Magnificence The Young Rabble were as curious to be Spectators of this Eastern Cavalcade as the Romans were fond of beholding the Secular Plays which were exhibited but once in an Age. Nay People of all Ranks Ages and Qualities fill'd the Streets the Windows and Battlements of their Houses Some because they never saw such a fight before others despairing that they should live long enough to be Witnesses of such another Yet with all their Curiosity none but the Ministers of State are able to dive into the least Secret of his Instructions These willing communicate the Titles which the Great Arbiter of the Earth gives the French King That so not only his Subjects but Neighbouring Nations may conceive the profounder Veneration for him without penetrating the Measures he takes This is an Artifice common to all States to turn the best Side outermost only the Hollanders excepted who in the Days of their Revolt from the King of Spain cou'd not so much as put a good Face on a bad Matter But were forc'd to expose their Poverty and Nakedness as well as suffer under it addressing themselves to Elizabeth then Queen of England in the Character of The Poor Distressed States of Holland and so begging her Assistance However Solyman has faithfully imparted to me his Affairs as I have reason to believe He 's too well born and bred possesses more Reason and Wit than to amuse the Old Man in the Cassock so they call me here in the Streets who know me not by any other Character so Private is Mahmut in Paris at this Hour notwithstanding all his publick Sufferings I esteem Ismael as one fit to represent the Grand Signior's Person among better People than Infidels Yet I tell thee the French are the most refin'd of all the Western Giafers Ismael understands the Force of the Civil Laws which he learn'd from Justinian's Code and other Books For he is perfect in Greek and Latin and has bestow'd some Years in reading their Book both Prints and Manuscripts He makes a very Personable Figure being Tall Full-body'd Well-shap'd and not of an ugly Face which is enough to be said of a Man design'd for Business and not only for Love He 's never in danger of falling under Cato's Censure who seeing Two Embassadors sent from Rome to a Foreign State one of which had his Head so little that it could hardly be distinguish'd from that of an Owl and the other such a Cripple that he cou'd not walk without a Cripple that he cou'd not walk without Stilts cry'd out Here 's an Embassy which has neither Head nor Tail And then our Muta-faraca is rich He supports the Charges of his Commission with extraordinary Munificence His House is already become the Sanctuary of all the distress'd Levantines whether Greeks Armenians or Followers of the Prophet and he speaks French as readily as a Native Yet he Dissembles his Expertness in that Language to keep up the State and Reservedness of the Ottoman Empire which disdains to condescend to any other Speech than Turkish or Arabick Besides he has the Advantage by thus artificially shutting his Ears that he can at one time both hear and be deaf understand and be ignorant of whatsoever is said by the Spies of the French King And this is no small Gift in a Man of his Character and Trust For he had need of an Angel or a Devil at 's Elbow that thinks to over-reach this Court. Above all I believe our Solyman will never be guilty of the Error committed by the Embassadors sent from Tenedos to one of the Roman Emperors I 'm sure he is not yet For those Gentlemen had seen the Death of the Emperor's Son Eleven Moons and Fourteen Days as the Story says before they knew 't was their Duty to make an Address of Condolence Or at least before they call'd it to mind for they were drown'd in the Roman Luxury So that when they came to perform that Devoir the Emperor cou'd not forbear to Scoff at them in these Terms I much lament said he the Fate of the Renowned Hector your Country-Man and Champion whom Achilles the Grecian kill'd above a Thousand Years agoe I speak this in a particular Regard to Solyman's Deportment here For when he first came to this Court he found them all in Mourning for the Death of the King's Aunt the late Queen of England and of other High Personages particularly those that were slain in the late Action at Candia whereof I have already given an Account to the Sublime Port in another Letter Without Instructions he very demurely accosted the King and told him There cou'd be no Dunalma in the Ottoman Empire for the late Success at Candia so long as the French Court were Mourners This was a sensible Touch to those that understood it and from that Moment the Grandees and Ministers of State have made a Difference in their Entertainment of this Ingenious Muta-faraca and that which they us'd to give to the Chiauses formerly sent from the Port. I can assure thee he is at the same time very Blunt and very Elegant in his Discourse There 's Fire in every word he utters to warm and refresh if they take it at a due Distance but if they approach too near he scorches their Spirits and puts them into a Choler they dare not shew They consume inwardly in their own Despight yet cannot help themselves Doubtless the King of France is the Greatest Monarch the most Powerful and Victorious Prince in Christendom the only Invincible Emperor of the Western Franks Yet he veils to our Majestick Sovereign Lord of the whole Earth And our Eunuch will not part with a Tittle of his Master's Honour or give any Advantage by an Easiness worthy of Blame in a case that may be turn'd to a Precedent He is very happy in his Repartees as thou wilt perceive by the Answer he gave to a French Lord yesterday when he ask'd him Whether he thought it not a Violation of the Civil Law for Embassadors to be Imprison'd as they often are at the Ottoman Port No says Solyman it is not where the Embassador is guilty of Treason or Crimen laesae Majestatis But if it were you French men have the least Reason to accuse us of it since we
THE Seventh Volume OF LETTERS Writ by a Turkish Spy Who lived Five and Forty Years Undiscover'd at PARIS Giving an Impartial Account to the Divan at Constantinople of the most Remarkable Transactions of Europe And discovering several Intrigues and Secrets of the Christian Courts especially of that of France continued from the Year 1667 to the Year 1682. Written Originally in Arabick Translated into Italian and from thence into English by the Translator of the First Volume LONDON Printed for Henry Rhodes at the Star the corner of Bride-lane in Fleet-street 1694. Mahmut The Turkish spy Aetais suoe 72 F. H. van Hove sculp TO THE READER 'T IS not to be expected that the World will take it for an Excuse of the Tedious Delay has been made in publishing the 7th Volume of the Turkish Spy to say That our Arabian now grows Old and Decrepid is forc'd to walk with a Staff or Crutch as he himself confesses in one of the following Letters and is besides worn out with Sickness and Care so that he cannot be so expeditious in Business as he was in his Youth It may be said This Apology wou'd be more proper for the English Translator to make were he in the same Condition But he is in his Prime in the Flower of his Age Vigorous and Active and therefore might have made more Hast they 'll say to oblige the World and Gratifie the Expectations of those Gentlemen who perpetually dun the Bookseller for the Rest of this Mahometan's Letters It were easie to answer this by only putting you in mind That he who undertakes to lead a slow-footed short-winded and weak Person by the Hand and conduct him to his Journey 's End must of Necessity keep the same Pace with his Charge tho' he himself were swift as a Stag when alone and at Liberty Besides that a Man is apt to attract a Contagion from the Company he keeps and turn their Ill Qualities into Habits of his own But all this is Trifling and our English Translator is under none of these Circumstances To come to the Purpose therefore Gentlemen you will commend our Translator's Wisdom for not being in such Post-Hast at this Juncture when you reflect That like a Wise Racer tho' he gave a start in the Beginning at first setting out yet he soon slacken'd his Pace that he might make sure of the Goal remembring the Old English Proverb The more Hast the worse Speed Thus he suffer'd Three Years to slide by him before he reach'd the Second Stage 2d Vol. And tho' he began to take up his Heels more nimbly afterwards so as to recover by Degrees his lost Time and Ground yet still he did but moderately jogg on now springing then halting as Occasion offer'd and as he found his Strength could hold At length having but Two Stages more wonder not that he is a little more tedious than Ordinary in this For he does it to refresh himself and keep his Breath for the last Strain of all which brings the Prize Observing herein the Old Adage Finis coronat Opus As to the Letters contain'd in this 7th Volume there is little to be said more particular than of those that have gone before They in General contain a Miscellany of Historical Transactions Moral and Philosophical Thoughts interspers'd here and there with Mahometan Politicks and Divinity Only You will find our Arabian engaged with a certain Jew at Vienna in fomenting the Discords of the German Empire encouraging the Rebels of Hungary Croatia and Mutinous Provinces You will hear of the Deaths of Count Serini Frangipani and Nadasti who were all beheaded for being Ring-leaders in this Rebellion The next and last Volume has this of singular in it That it will present you with the Rise and Preferment of Count Teckeli who has made so much a Noise in the World It relates many of his Publick Actions and not a few of his Secret Intrigues In fine it discovers the Train that was laid to blow up all Europe into the Flame of Open War and Universal Hostility which to this Day consumes the Lives and Estates of so many Thousand Christians impoverishes and lays wast whole Nations and 't is to be feared will end in letting in the Turks once more upon us to our final Ruine and Confusion since those Infidels never take greater Advantage to Invade and Conquer the Dominions of Christians than when they find us involv'd in Domestick Wars one with another A TABLE OF THE LETTERS and Matters contained in this Volume VOL. VII BOOK I. LETTER I. MAhmut the Arabian at Paris to Mirmadolin Holy Santone of the Vale of Sidon 1 He complains of the Miseries and Sadnesses of his Life and wishes himself e'en fairly out of the World II. To the Kaimacham 6 Of a Peace between the English and Dutch Of the Birth of the Young Princess of France Of the Frollicks and Humours us'd in this time of Vniversal Rejoycings III. To Dgnet Oglou 10 He discourses of the Birth Life and Death of Jesus the Son of Mary IV. To Asis Bassa 19 He takes Courage at the News of the Grand Signior's besieging of Candia V. To Hasnadar Bassa Chief Treasurer to the Sultan 22 He complains of the Slackness of the Ministers of the Port in answering his Dispatches and Relates some of the Misfortunes that at this Time befel him VI. To Nathan Saddi a Jew at Vienna 27 He continues to lament the Disasters that the Malice of Men loaded him with His Confinement in the Bastile His Resolulution of Baffling the Efforts of Spite and Envy VII To the Venerable Mufti 30 He craves his Advice how to behaue himself in case of being discover'd He reflects upon the Sad and Vnaccountable Degeneracy of Mankind Gives little Hints of some that design'd to Ruin his Credit at the Port. VIII To Cara Hali Physician in the Grand Signior 36 He diverts him with the Relation of a Monstrous Child born in the Low Countries IX To Nathan Ben Haddi a Jew at Vienna 41 He persuades him to foment the Discontents of Hungary X. To the most Sublime and Magnificent of the Mussulman Bassa's Achmat the Visir Azem 46 He discourses of the Advantages may be taken from the Distractions in Hungary XI To the Selictar Aga or Sword-Bearer to the Sultan 49 Of the Deaths of the Queen of Poland and Pope Alexander VII Of the French Successes in Flanders XII To Dgnet Oglou 51 Of an Encounter he had with Daria his former Mistress XIII To Pesteli Hali his Brother Master of the Customs and Superintendant of the Royal Arsenal at Constantinople 57 Several Remarks on Women out of the Hebrew Rabbi's and others XIV To the same 65 Of Solyman's Treachery and the base Trick he put upon Fatima Daughter to Ufeph Mahmut'sVnele XV. To the Mufti 's Vicar 71 He acquaints him that the Cardinal 's have Elected Clement IX to be Pope in the Room of Alexander VII deceased Comparisons between the Popes and the
Advantage As long as we go the right way to Work all Things will succeed well Make no false Steps and there 's no Danger of stumbling Remember still That thy particular Charge is to foment a Civil War between the Court of Vienna and the Hungarians 'T is no Matter who gets the better on 't Let 'em quarrel to Eternity and destroy one another in God's Name Then shall the Mussulman Empire thrive Before God you have a fine Opportunity ye Factious Comrades But beware of sly Interlopers Damn the Easiness and good Nature falsly so call'd of those who will admit any Man into their Cabal provided he puts on a fair Guise of one of the Party Ye can't be too reserv'd and close D' ye think the Emperour has not his Spies about in every Corner A Pox of your Stupidity if you suffer this brave Design to miscarry for want of looking sharp Damn ye for a parcel of Old Thread-bare Fools if after so many Experiences you don't furbish up your Wits and look to your selves There 's Gottendorf Railliwits Skus the Knight Baron Leipsem Eluard the Hereditary Pretender to the Marquisate of Thanu with many others whom I will not name in this Letter By Moses and Mahomet they 're all Rogues and if you trust 'em too far they surely betray you Nathan believe me I wou'd not write so passionately were my Life at all precious But I have no other End in protracting the Minute of my Transmigration than to exalt as much as in me lies the Majesty of the Ottoman Lineage and to guard it from Dangers I am plac'd here on Purpose by Fate And I 'll do my Duty though the whole World shou'd sputter their Venom against me O Israelite both thou and I must shortly leave this Earth or at least we must change the Form of our Earth We shall never cease to be something God knows what In the mean Time be what thou seemest to be Paris 23d of the 6th Moon of the Year 1667. LETTER X. To the Most Sublime and Magnificent of the Mussulman Bassa's Achmet the Vizir Azem MAY Chaplets of Immortal Flowers crown thy Noble Head Illustrious Cuperli strong Prop of the House of Ertogriel Main Buttress of the Tower of the Selzuccian Tribe the Lineage of Ottoman Heir of the Heirs to Ismael the Eldest Son of our Father Abrahim the Glory of Men and the Beloved of God Not the Unmatch'd Perfumes of Arabia nor the surprizing Odours of the Persian Incense which they offer'd to the Sun not all the most skilful Compositions of Eastern Aromaticks put together are half so sweet as is thy Glorious Name among the Mussulmans I receiv'd thy Orders with a Reverence second onely to that which is due to the Grand Signior And will perform them with a Loyal Alacrity I perfectly comprehend thy Design and the Drift of the Sublime Port. For thou hast stated the Case like an Oracle 'T will not be difficult I believe to suggest underhand to the French Court the Advantage they may make of the present Distractions in Hungary For they are already become the Subject of common Discourse Lewis XIV by encouraging those Male-contents and supporting their Cause with private Disbursements of Money will doubtless facilitate his own designed Conquests on the Neighbourhoods of the Rhine For if the Hungarian Lords proceed to an open Revolt and throw themselves under the Sultan's Protection the Emperour of Germany will be oblig'd to turn all his Forces that Way Which yet will not be able to withstand the United Armies of the Hungarians Croatians Heyducks Tartars and the most Invincible Osmans So that by this Means the Empire will be weakned on both Sides and in Fatal Danger of its final Dissolution Whilst the Strength and Power of the Grand Signior and the King of France his Noble Allie will daily encrease Besides this will put all Europe into Divisions and Parties according as their Interests and Affections incline them some siding with the Emperour others with the French King whilst the Generality will stand Neuters and contemplate the Issue of these Wars without assisting one Side or t'other Than which nothing can fall out more Happy or Propitious for the Sacred Monarchy of the Osmans In Obedience to thy Commands I have written to Nathan Ben Saddi on this Account Altogether as from my self not giving him the least Ground to conjecture that I had receiv'd an Order from the Port. I frequently take the Liberty to counsel that honest Jew in many Cases inviting him to Projects in General Terms and to do some Extraordinary Service for the Grand Signior So that he will imagine my writing now is onely of Course without suspecting any Thing else I beseech thee to send me all the Instructions that are Needful for me not onely to carry on this Affair prosperously but all others relating to the Port. I will be careful to transmit thy Commands to Nathan Ben Saddi in such a Disguise as he shall not dream they are any other than my own Proposals Since thou dost not think it fit that the Majesty of the Port should appear to be concern'd in a Business of this Nature especially so soon after the late Peace concluded with the Emperour 'T is an invaluable Honour thou hast done me in trusting to my Conduct an Intrigue whose Effects for ought I know may reach all the Nations of Europe and last till the Day of Doom Question not my Fidelity for 't is of Proof Besides it many Times tempts a Man to be false when he knows he is suspected to be so I am Slave of the Slaves of those who stand near the Sultan's Person and confess Mohammed to be the Apostle of God More particularly I am devoted to those who have the Honour to serve thee the Grand Pillar of the Osman Empire God perpetuate thy Felicity Paris the 23d of the 7th Moon of the Year 1667. LETTER XI To the Selictar Aga or Sword-Bearer to the Sultan THese Parts abound in Action at this Time Couriers run up and down from Court to Court with secret Dispatches and Matters of deep Import The Death of the Queen of Poland and of Pope Alexander VII occasion this new stirring and bustling in Europe She died on the 10th of the 5th Moon He on the 22d Every Kingdom and State in the West have some Interest to make or preserve some Design to form or to carry on the Success of which many Times depends on the well managing the Consequences of these great and Fatal Breaches which Death makes in the Families of Mighty Potentates Houses of Royal Descent The French Court were all dissolv'd in Joy for the Marriage of the Duke of Guize with Madamoiselle d' Alençon They were in the midst of the Nuptial Triumphs and Festival Solemnities when the Black Expresses came which soon turn'd all their Mirth to Mourning at least in outward Appearance For it was not decent for the Sons to continue longer revelling when
to be set on a Faithful Man and let Nature it self plead my Excuse for entrenching on thy Orders whilst I vindicate my self from the Calumnies of the Envious and beg of thee to rest assured That no Man on Earth can be truer to his Trust than the Arabian Slave Mahmut But to return to Xerxes He was Unfaithfully dealt with by the Captain of his Guard who by the Assistance of Spamitres the King's Chamberlain and Seven other Conspirators kill'd him in his Bed with his Eldest Son Darius and crowned Artaxerxes in his stead To him fled Themistocles the Athenian who was suspected a Partner in the Treason of Pausanias The King received him into his Favour and made him Governour of a Province adding the Gift of Five Great Cities to furnish him with Money for the Expences of his Table and Wardrobe And this the King did not as a Reward or Encouragement of Treason from which he knew Themistocles was free being falsly accused by the Athenians but he heaped those Honours on him as a Debt to the Merits of that once Illustrious Enemy now become a Friend and seeking shelter in the Persian Kingdom from the Barbarous Ingratitude of his own Country-men who for all his Eminent Services to Greece could think of no better Acknowledgement than to put to death as a Traytor the Bravest and Wisest Captain of that Age. Not long after this the Persians lost 200 Ships in a Sea-Fight with the Graecians and were routed at Land by a Stratagem of Cimon the Graecian General who after the Naval Victory put his Men aboard the Persian Vessels which he had taken and apparelling them in the Garments of the Persian Captives landed them near the Enemies Camp in Pamphylia who taking them for Friends suffer'd them to enter their Trenches without Jealousie and so were all slaughtered except a few who escaped by the swiftness of their Horses About that Time Pericles was made Prince of Athens of whom I made mention in my former Letters And Themistocles being made General of the Persian Army and sent against the Graecians rather than fight against his Country or betray the Cause of his New Master became a Voluntary Victim to his own Integrity and Honour For sacrificing a Bull in his March he drank off a Bowl of the Blood and fell down Dead at the Foot of the Altar The next War the Persians were engag'd in was with Egypt where in a Battel near Memphis they lost a Hundred thousand Men. But sending fresh Recruits they dryed up the River Nile where the Athenian Fleet Confederate with the Egyptians lay at Anchor Which so amazed the Egyptians that they made their Peace with them And the Athenians set their own Ships on Fire in Number 200 and returned Home with Disgrace when they had been Six Years in Egypt After this a Peace was concluded between the Persians and those of Greece And in the First Year of the 84th Olympiad which soon followed there was an Vniversal Peace throughout the World which continued till the First Year of the 87th Olympiad at what time began the Peloponnesian War In the 4th Year of the 88th Olympiad Artaxerxes dyed and his Son Xerxes was Invested with the Crown But at a Years End being overcome with Wine and falling asleep in a Place where no Guard was kept his Brother Secundianus with the Help of an Eunuch murdered him and took the Government on himself He also was soon after dispatched by his Brother Darius I over-run whole Olympiads without mentioning any Thing save the Transactions which made most Noise in those Times But I am unwilling to slip the Reign of any King tho' I speak but Two Words of it that so thou mayest have a perfect Idea of their Succession During the whole Series of Darius's Reign History mentions nothing Remarkable but is taken up in relating the little Quarrels and Reconciliations of several Provinces in Greece some Private Treaties between the Persian Governours of Lesser Asia and those of Peloponnesus and the Overtures of Peace between the Lacedaemonians and Persians the End of the Peloponnesian War with such other Passages as would be too tedious for a Letter I will only rehearse a Memorable Saying of Darius on his Death-Bed to his Eldest Son Artaxerxes who was to succeed him in the Throne The Prince being assured by the Royal Physicians That his Father's End drew near thus addressed Darius My Father since it is the Will of the Gods to take you from Earth into their own Blessed Society and that you have been pleased with the Consent of the Nobles to declare me your Successor in the Kingdom tell me I beseech you by what Methods of Policy you have Govern'd this Empire these Nineteen Years that so I may follow your Example 'To whom the King Reply'd My Son be assured That if my Reign has been blessed with greater Success and Peace than those of my Predecessors 't is because in all Things I have Honoured the Immortal Gods and done Justice to every Man As soon as Artaxerxes was possessed of the Crown he sent for his Brother Cyrus and put him in Manacles of Gold with Design to make him privately away but at the Intercession of his Mother he released him again and restor'd him to his Government of Lydia About this time Plato the Philosopher being very Young gave an early Specimen of a ripe Wit in Comforting Antimachus the Poet who lost the Garland in a Contest with Niceratus at the Lysandrian Feast For when he beheld the Poet extremely vex'd at the Ignorance and Partiality of Lysander who knew not how to distinguish between his lofty Measures and the flat Rhimes of his Antagonist Plato bid him be of good Courage For said he his Ignorance no more diminishes thy Knowledge than a Blind Man's mistaking thee for another would deprive thee of thy Sight When Cyrus was returned to his Government he plotted to depose his Brother And to win Lysander to his Party he presented him with a Ship built all of Gold and Ivory Alcibiades the Famous Athenian Captain perceiving this designed to give Artaxerxes notice of his Brother's Treason but by the Way he was murdered himself by some Soldiers hired for that Purpose by Lysander who yet durst not set upon him in the Day-time when he was armed in his own Defence but in the Night set his House on Fire and as he was escaping through the Flames and Smoak they lying in Ambush shot him dead with Arrows However Artaxerxes quickly became sensible of his Brothers Designs and raising an Army of Nine hundred thousand Men gave him Battel not far from Babylon In the Fight he was wounded by Cyrus but after a hot Dispute Cyrus was killed and Artaxerxes got the Victory Parisatis the Mother of Cyrus to revenge the Death of her Son caused those that wounded him to be killed with lingring Torment And inviting Queen Statyra the Wife of Artaxerxes to a Feast she divided the Bird Rhindaces