their Penitents that confefs the taking of another Bodies Goods to bring the Goods to Them and not to restore 'em to the Right Owners so that Restitution is never made There are several Bishops in Georgia an Archbishop and a Patriarch whom they call Catholicos Whose preferments when Vacant are supply'd by the Prince though a Mahometan who generally prefers his kindred and Relations so that the Present Patriarch is his Brother As for the Churches in Georgia they are something more cleanly kept then those in Mingrelia And in the Cities you shall see some that are very decent though they are altogether as nasty in the Country The Georgians as all the other Christians that surround 'em to the North and West have a strange humour to build all their Churches upon high Mountains in remote and almost inaccessible Places Where they view 'em and bow to 'em at the distance of three or four Leagues but seldom or never go into 'em and we may boldly assert that the most part of 'em are hardly open'd once in Ten Years They erect 'em and then leave 'em to the Injuries of the Weather and for the Birds and Fowls of the Air to build their Nests in I could never find out the Reason of this Extravagance the Answers of all Persons of whom I enquir'd being altogether as extravagant 'T is the Custom The Georgians however are fully perswaded that whatever Sins they have committed they shall obtain Pardon by building a little Church Though for my part I am apt to believe they build 'em in such remote and inaccessible Places to avoid the Charges of Adorning and Repairing of ' em And now I come to the Relations and Histories of the Conquest of Georgia by the Persians which are so numerous that I should have been silent in this particular if those Authors had agreed among themselves or if I had found they had been rightly inform'd Briefly therefore here is that which I have met with in the Stories of Persia themselves Ishmael the Great whom our Historians have Sirnam'd the Sophy after he had subdu'd the Countries that lie to the West of the Caspian Sea of Media and part of Armenia and that he had expell'd the Turks out of all these Places made War also upon the Georgians though they had sent him numerous Succors at the beginning of his Reign The event of which War was successful to him as having reduc'd 'em to pay him Tribute and give him Hostages Now Georgia as well as the Kingdoms of Kaket and Carthuel had several Petty Kings call'd Eristares Feudataries and always at Wars one with another Which was the Reason or at least the Means that most contributed to the Ruine of the Georgians They pay'd their Tribute during all the Reign of Ishmael and his Successor Tahmas who was a Prince of great Courage and fortunate in War During his Reign Lnarzab rul'd in that part of Georgia which is call'd Carthuel and is as I have said the Eastern Georgia and borders upon Persia Eastward This King lest two Sons behind him between whom he divided his Kingdom Simon the Eldest and David the Younger But being both ill satisfi'd with their Division they made War one upon another and in those Wars both desir'd Tahmas to assist ' em The Younger Brother was beforehand with Simon To whom Tahmas return'd for answer That he would put him in possession of all his Fathers Dominions if he would turn Mahometan David accepted the Condition embrac'd the Mahometan Religion and went and surrender'd himself to the Persian Army which was already enter'd his Dominions to the Number of Thirty Thousand Horse upon which he was presently sent to Tahmas who lay then at Casbin So soon as he had got the Georgian Prince in his Clutches he wrote to Simon to the same effect as he had written to his Brother that is to say That he should quit his Religion and come to him if he intended to enjoy the Kingdom of his Ancestors Simon finding the Persian Army pressing too severely upon him surrender'd his Person but would not abjure his Religion But Tahmas being now Master of both the Princes and of the Country of Georgia sent the Eldest Brother Pris'ner to the Castle of Genghè near the Caspian Sea and made the other Governour of Georgia changing his Name from David to Daoud-Can which denoted him to be of the Mahometan Profession Which done he took an Oath of Fidelity from all the chief Georgian Lords and carry'd away their Childern and David's also as Hostages into Persia After the Death of Tahmas the Georgians shook off the Persian Yoak as did also the most part of the Provinces of Persia and they were at Liberty during the Reign of Ishmael the Second which did not last above two Years and during the first four Years of Mahomet Kodabendè that is The Servant of GOD who sent an Army into Georgia to reduce 'em to Obedience Daoud Can fled upon the Approach of the Army At what time his Brother Simon a Pris'ner as I have already declar'd near the Caspian Sea laying hold of the Opportunity to re-enter into his Dominions became a Mahometan and was made Can of Tefflis under the Name of Simon-Can During the Reign of Mahomet Kodabendè dy'd Alexander King of Kaket leaving Three Sons and Two Daughters Of which David was the Eldest a Prince whose Courage and Misfortunes have render'd him renown'd over all the World under the Name of Taimuras Can which the Persians gave him At the time of his Fathers Death he remain'd in Hostage at the Court of Persia whither he was carry'd by King Tahmas as has been said He was bred up with Abas the Great being almost of the same Age with great Magnificence and exact Care where he had inbib'd the Customs and Manners of the Persians certainly much better then those of the Georgians So soon as his Father was Dead his Mother a Beautiful and Prudent Princess by the Georgians call'd Ketavana but Mariana in the Histories of Persia wrote a Letter to Kodabendè to this effect Sir My Husband is Dead I beseech yee to send me my Son Taimuras to Reign in his stead and withal I send you his Brother for Hostage in his Room Thereupon Taimuras was sent back after he had tak'n the Oath of a Tributary and a Vassal At the beginning of the Reign of Abas the Great Simon King of Carthuel already mention'd ended this Life leaving the Kingdom to Luarzab his Son then a Child under the Tuition of his Prime Minister a Person of great parts but of a mean Extraction call'd by the Georgians Mehrou and by the Persians Morad who was also Governor of Tefflis and Govern'd the Kingdom almost with an absolute Authority This Mehrou had a handsome Daughter with whom Luarzab was passionately in Love and by whom he was as passionately belov'd Nor could the Father by any means that he could use prevent the two Lovers from seeing one another
But one Day having surpriz'd the Prince and her lock'd up in a Room together Sir said he I beseech yee do not Dishonour neither my Daughter nor my House If your Majesty pleases to Marry her she is at your service but if not forbear Privacy with her Upon which Luarzab swore he would have no other Wife which Oath when the Prince had sworn he suffer'd her to Live with him as with her Husband However the Marriage was not celebrated through the opposition of the Queen and the Ladies of the Country who protested they would never submit themselves as Subjects to a Person of her mean Birth Luarzab no less glad of this opposition told Mehrou that he could not Marry his Daughter Now the Georgians are very Prone to Revenge as I have already observ'd Thereupon the King was adviz'd to be before hand with Mehrou and to put him to Death to prevent his Revenge To which the King consented and to that purpose had contriv'd it so as to make Mehrou Drunk and to kill him at the first Banquet the King should make Of which contrivance Mehrou was advertiz'd at the very Moment it should have been put in Execution For he was already half Tipsy when one of the Kings Pages who was one of his Creatures as he presented him the Cup and seem'd to Bow to him out of respect whisper'd to him Sir You will be Murder'd At which he made no semblance of being daunted but rising up as soon as he had giv'n back the Glass and pretending to go out to make VVater which is no Indecorum in that Country where the Feasts last for half a Day together he ran directly to his Stable takes a Bonnet and a Coat from one of his Grooms that he first met Bridles one of the best Horses in the Stable Mounts him and away he Rides And he so order'd his Flight that not being discover'd it prov'd successful to his VVish Presently he got to Ispahan where he threw himself at the Feet of Abas the Great who was newly return'd a Victor from Shirvan and Shamaki Countries Bordering upon Georgia and the Caspian Sea He declar'd to the King how he had serv'd Luarzab and the Deceas'd King his Father and what a recompence he had prepar'd him for his Service by seeking to deprive him of his Life after he had deflowr'd his Daughter under the pretence of Marriage And concluding he told the King that he was the true Monarch of Georgia and therefore he demanded of his Majesty Justice and the Restitution of his Estate But Mehrou had contriv'd a securer way then this to revenge himself upon Luarzab which was to kindle in the Heart of Abas an Affection for Luarzab's Sister one of the most lovely Persons in all Georgia whose Beauty has been celebrated by all the Persian Poets Insomuch that in Persia they sing to this Day the Songs that render'd her Beauty renown'd above all the Charming Beauties of her time containing a pleasant Romance of the Amours between Her and Abas Her Name of Baptism was Darejan But the Persian Fictions give her the Name of Pebry Mehrou therefore took all opportunities to talk of her to Abas with all the Artificial Language he could invent to inflame his desires Thereupon Abas sent to demand her of Luarzab first by one Ambassador and then by another The first was sent back with fair promises the second receiv'd for Answer that the Princess had affianc'd her self to Taimuras King of Kaket who was then a VVidower But Abas the more enflam'd by these refusals sent a third Ambassador to Luarzab charging him to demand his Sister with all manner of fair promises and foul Threats and he wrote at the same time to Taimuras not to Marry Luarzab's Sister but to come and meet him Luarzab on the other side incens'd at these repeated and Haughty Importunities instead of returning an answer to the Ambassador affronted and abus'd him to the end no more Ambassadors might be sent to trouble him any more upon that Errand Abas however was not then in a condition to execute his intended designs upon Georgia as being at War with the Turks He dissembl'd therefore his Indignation and order'd a Carmelite Missionary whom he sent into Europe to animate the Christian Princes to a War against the Turk to take Georgia in his way and to admonish Taimuras by no means to joyn with the Turks nor to give 'em any manner of assistance against the Persians To which Taimuras either out of too much Fear or too much Credulity readily condescended but he soon repented his forbearance for in the Year 1613 Abas set forward from Ispahan with a design to make War upon Georgia However as he was a Prince who among his other Extraordinary Endowments was extreamly cunning and reserv'd he manag'd that War like an Amorous Intreague He gave out that Luarzab's Sister lov'd him and desir'd the Match that she had sent him Letters by a confident of her own moreover that she had been promis'd him and therefore that Luarzab was both Perfidious and Unjust In the mean time he made his preparations for something else then to fight a Rival for all Men plainly perceiv'd that he was resolv'd to reduce Georgia under his Subjection He had a great number of Georgians in his Army He gave Pensions to several great Georgian Lords and Mehrou corrupted the Loyalty of several others every day who engag'd to take his part He had two of Taimuras's Sons in Hostage and a Brother and Sister of Luarzabs In a word he wrought with some of the Princes of the Blood Royal of Georgia to turn Mahometans for the possession of great Employments and Governments For he thought he should easily compass his designs against the Georgians by sowing Divisions among 'em an easie thing to do especially among People that are given to revenge He wrote to Taimuras that Luarzab was ungrateful a Rebel a Mad-Man not fit to Reign and that he was resolv'd to deprive him of his Crown To Luarzab he wrote the same thing concerning Taimuras and at the same time order'd Lolla Beg General of his Army who lay toward Media to enter Georgia with Thirty Thousand Horse and to put all to Fire and Sword Upon this Luarzab and Taimuras were counsell'd to unite They met and communicated to each other Abas's Letters wherein finding the ruin of both resolv'd upon they swore one to another either to Perish or rescue each other from the danger and the more to confirm and strengthen their Union Luarzab gave his Sister the Incomparable Darejan to Taimuras Abas was like to run Mad when they brought him the News he was ready to have Cut the Throats of Taimuras's Two Sons with his own Hands and of the other Georgian Hostages nothing would serve him but he swore the Death of all together But at length he kept himself within bounds and minded only to hasten his march rather to punish the Kings that had offended him Taimuras
the Bodies of St. Andrew and St. Matthew were found there and that the Scull of the Evangelist is still preserv'd in the Church belonging to the Monastery When I came to Erivan I alighted at the House of an Armenian of my Acquaintance whose Name was Azarias He was a Person extreamly persecuted by those of his own Nation because he had been at Rome to turn Roman Catholick and Disciple to the Colledge for the Propagation of the Faith and for endeavouring to settle the Capuchins at Erivan I found him indispos'd and in Bed However he rose to give Notice of my Arrival fearing to come into trouble if he deferr'd it till the next Morning To which purpose he went to Court but could not see the Governor who was retir'd into the Apartment of the Princess his Wife Nevertheless an Eunuch did his Message The Eighth the Governor sent a Person to give me a Visit and to tell me I was Welcom Whereupon Mr. Azarias undertook to go in my behalf and return him my humble Thanks and withal to let him know who I was Upon which the Governor shew'd an earnest desire to see me as soon as I could and some part of the Jewels I had brought along with me Afterwards he ask'd how many Servants I had and order'd Mr. Azarias to inform him whether I had rather Lodge in the Fortress or in the Inn which he had built and to bring him word speedily For my part I made choice of the Inn as well for the Security of the Place as for that a Man shall never there want Company because of the great resort of Merchants thither besides that Travellers alighted there every day Thereupon the Governor order'd me one of the best Apartments The Ninth I went thither betimes in the Morning and spent all that day in setling my self in my Lodging About Noon one of the Governors Officers brought me an Order from the Steward to send for from the Office Bread Wine Meat Trouts Fruit Rice Butter Wood and other Necessary Provisions as much as would suffice six Persons The Quantity of every thing is regulated never augmented nor abated but the Proportion allow'd for one Person is so large that two may well be satisfy'd with it The 10th the Governor sent so earnestly for me to come to him and bring him part of my Jewels that I could no longer defer it I found him in a very large Cabinet or Study very Decent and very Light There was also with him the Head Surveyor of all the Mints of Persia who at that time was come to Erivan and four other Lords He receiv'd me with an Extraordinary Civility three times told me I was welcome and set before me Sweet Meats and Aqua Vitae of Moscovy Presently I presented him with the Kings Patent and that of the Grand Master already mention'd Of both which he made great accompt and spent an Hour in Enquiries after European News as well concerning the late Wars and the present Estate of Christendom as about Arts and Sciences and what new Discoveries had been made therein Another Hour he spent in considering and viewing the Pretious Stones and Jewels which I shew'd him He gave me to understand that among the Persian Poets Emraulds of the old Rock were call'd Emraulds of Egypt of which they believ'd there had been a Mine in Egypt which was now lost and at length after he had lay'd by what he lik'd himself and what he thought would please the Princess his Wife he stay'd me to dine with him Dinner being ended he honour'd me the other half Hour with his Company and then dismiss'd me commanding an Officer in my hearing to go to the Caravanserai and charge the Inn-Keeper to be careful as well for my security as to give me all Content And he was moreover so kind as to tell the Officer farther that he made him my Memander who is as it were a Gentleman-Waiter and such as are appointed to attend upon all Persons of Quality to take care of their Persons and the same Evening he sent me besides a Present of Moscovy Aqua Vitae This Governor bears the Title of Becler-Beg or Lord of Lords For so they call the Deputy Lieutenants of large Governments to distinguish 'em from those meaner Governours whom they call Can's He has also the Title of Serdar or General of the Army So that he is one of the Principal Lords of Persia and one of the most Judicious and most refin'd Politicians in the Kingdom He is call'd by the Name of Sephi-Couli-Can or the Duke the Slave of Sephi He enjoy'd one of the most Noble Governments of the Empire in the Reign of the Deceas'd King but through some Intreague among the Women he fell into disgrace three Years before the Death of that Prince The Wife which he has Marry'd is of the Blood Royal by the Mothers side And this Princess it was who at the beginning of the present Kings Reign restor'd her Husband to his Majesties Favour from whom in a little time he obtain'd the Government of Erivan the most considerable in the Kingdom and which yields him the fairest Revenue no less then Two and Thirty Thousand Tomans a Year which are above a Hundred and Twelve Thousand Pounds Sterling The Fines Presents and indirect ways to enrich himself are worth him Fifty Thousand Pounds more And doubtless this Lord is the most wealthy and most Fortunate of all the Kingdom The King loves him the Court has a Veneration for him and his two Sons are the Kings only Favourites the People under his Government Love and respect him because of his Popularity his doing Justice and for that he is not so oppressive and given to extortion as others So that he deserves the good Fortune he enjoys for besides these good Qualities he is Learned and a great Lover of Arts and Sciences The 11th this Lord sent to invite me to the Nuptials of his Stewards Brother where he was I found him pleasant and in a very good Humour For he had receiv'd at the opening of the Gate an order from the King by a Coolom-Sha who came from Ispahan in Thirteen Days This Order related to an affair of great Importance For several Sultans who are Lords of Countrys and Governours of strong Holds having refus'd to obey his Orders and having made great complaints against him to the King and his Ministers He on the other side had justifi'd his own Rights and Prerogatives upon which his Majesty had given Sentence in his behalf and had sent him an order to Command Obedience Which Order the Coolom-Sha was to see Executed and to cause Satisfaction to be giv'n to the Governour Coolom-Sha signifies the Kings Slave Not but that they who bear this Title are as free as other the Kings Natural Subjects but they take it as a Mark of their perfect Devotion to their Soveraign as being that to which they were bred up altogether in their Infancy For the Imployment of
to cast forth those loud sighs which betrayed the Truth to the Ladies so that they had presently alarm'd the whole Camp with their Piercing Cries and Lamentations had not the Eunuchs besought them to forbear but for a while at a time when the welfare of the Empire lay at Stake To which the disconsolate Princesses submitted as much as the Importunity of their Grief would give them leave And here we are to observe by the way that the Reason why the Women upon such occasions are so deeply afflicted is not only for the loss of the King their Husband but for the loss of that shadow of Liberty which they enjoyed during his Life For no sooner is the Prince laid in his Tomb but they are all shut up in particular Houses pleasant enough t is true for their Situation and where they want for nothing but what is all in all to them their only happiness in this World Conversation with Men. Which is a Satisfaction so severely debarred them that they are not allowed so much as the sight of a Man The Eunuchs therefore having consulted among themselves in the midst of their fears lest the Croud of over-hasty Visitants pressing in at unseasonable hours should awaken suspicious Curiosity resolved to stay till the Sun was up and then to give Notice of the Kings Death to the two Chief Ministers of State who were two Illustrious Personages that had had the Management of Affairs under the deceased King with an Authority almost equal to his own To which purpose they deputed two of their Society the Mehter whose Office in the Persian Court answers to that of our High-Chamberlain according to the meaning of the Arabian word which signifies the Highest The other deputed Eunuch was called the Aga-Kafour a Person already well in years and the chiefest of those that had the Custody of the Kings Treasury as to whom the Prince had more particularly entrusted all his Jewels These two came to the chief Ministers Lodgings as if they had been sent by his Majesty caused them to put forth all the Women out of the Room and then informed them of the Death of Habas the Second giving them an exact and punctual Account which was That the day before toward the Evening after those Ministers were retired from the Kings Presence the Prince had eaten heartily certain Sweet-Meats which his Wives had provided after which he seemed to be much better than he had been for some time before till about Nine of the Clock at Night at what time of a sudden he fell into a Swoon whereupon they ran to him and laid him upon his Bed That about Eleven of the Clock he came again to himself not without some disturbance of his Senses That after that his Pains augmented not having received any Benefit from two Medicins that he had taken by the Direction of his Physicians That about Two of the Clock in the Morning the Violence of his Distemper slackned but returning about Three put him into a Delirium that lasted about half an Hour but the next half hour he took some Rest But toward four in the Morning his Eyes then faintly rolling in his Head gave evident signs of Deaths Approach so that at the same instant he expired without any other Motion that they could say they perceived him die Nor indeed had he testified during the whole Course of his Sickness that he had the least Apprehension or Fear of Death Insomuch that he had left no Orders either as to the Disposal of his Body nor as touching his Family nor Successor only in the height of his last Fit turning his Head toward the Publick Apartment he utter'd with some kind of Fury these words I know that you have poysoned me but you shall drink a good share of the Poyson for I leave behind me a Son who after my Death shall devour your very Hearts This News did not a little surprise the two Ministers who did not believe the Kings Sickness had been so mortal or at least that it would have killed him so soon and they had just reason both to bewail their loss but the second displayed more visible signs of his Grief as losing infinitely much more than his Companion For Habas observing a Piece of Policy not usual among the Persians resolved to counter-balance the Power of his Prime Minister believing it would be of advantage to the Government that Emulation should render his Ministers more intent upon their Duty Which was the reason that he advanced this second Person to that Degree that he was nothing inferior in Authority to the first and put into his Hands the most important Affairs of the Kingdom It was very probable that Habas's Successor would not be of his Fathers judgment but that all things would return to their first Method Which most sensibly touched the second Minister who saw himself tumbling into a more Private Condition and that there was no higher Employment to be expected for him unless it were the Superintendency of the Kings Houshold which was nothing comparable to the present Offices which he enjoyed So that he could not forbear at first from manifesting the Excess of his Grief but the Persian Lords being accustomed to dissemble he soon composed his Countenance and moderated his Sorrows Which having done he told the Eunuch that the Grandees of the Empire should be privately called together and that he would forthwith appoint both Time and Place for their Meeting which was the Answer also of the first Minister to the High Chamberlain In the mean time the two chief Physicians Mirza-Sahid and Mirza-Koudchek his Brother considerable Lords in the Persian Court for in the Eastern Countries Physicians are much more highly esteemed and advanced than in Europe these Lords I say coming to the Door of the Royal Apartment for the Women presently after the two great Eunuchs were gone there had notice of the Kings Death and consequently of their own Ruin For that according to the Custom of that Empire the Life of the two chief Physicians or at least their Fortune and Estates depend upon the Life of the Prince whom they attended in his Sickness For the same Week that the King died they are exiled to some remote and prefixed Place whither they are not suffered to carry any more of their Estates along with them than will suffice for a bare Maintenance the rest is Confiscated Which was also their lot as shall be said in due place But neither the loss of their Master nor of their Liberty had so disordered their judgments as to hinder them from consulting their own preservation at such a ticklish Conjuncture Only one thing disturbed them more than all the rest and that was the Report of the Kings last words when he complained of being Poysoned For there was enough in those words to condemn them to the severest of Torments if the succeeding Prince should give credit to those last Speeches of a Dying Monarch To
this part of my Story since the bare Relation which I shall make in reprepresenting 'em such will justifie me perhaps in the Judgment of my Readers The most Famous Prince that ever Mingrelia had since it revolted from the King of Imiretta was Levan Dadian Uncle to him that Reigns at this present He was Valiant Generous a Person of great Wit indifferently just and more happy in his Undertakings He made War upon his Neighbours and vanquish'd 'em all and no question but he would have made an excellent Prince had he been born in a better Country But the Custom in his Country of Marrying several Wives and those near Relations was that which transported him to such Excesses as render'd him unworthy of all Encomiums He remain'd an Orphan almost as soon as he had out-liv'd his Infant Years at what time his Father dying left him to the Tuition of his Brother who was Uncle by the Fathers side to the Young Pupil and call'd by the Name of George the Soveraign Prince of Libardian a Country that extends it self a great way into Mount Caucasus This George faithfully discharg'd his Trust in the Tuition of his Nephew He bred him well and prudently Govern'd Mingrelia during his Minority Levan being Twenty Four Years of Age Espous'd the Daughter of the Prince of the Abca's by whom he had two Sons she being a Lovely Princess and a Woman of a great Wit 'T is true she was tax'd of being none of the most Faithful Wives which perhaps might be in revenge of the Foul-play which her Husband openly play'd her every Day Now among the rest of the Women with whom he fell in Love one was the VVife of George his Uncle who had been his Tutor and to whom he had been so highly oblig'd This Lady went by the Name of Darejan of a Considerable Family which was call'd Chilakè And as she was extreamly beautiful but wicked and ambitious beyond Imagination she was not only content to violate her Conjugal Fidelity and for two Years together to live in an Incestuous League with the Prince her Nephew but over-perswaded him at the end of that season to take her away by Force repudiate his own VVife and Marry her Levan was over-rul'd by her He took the Adulteress by Force from her Husbands House He Marry'd her and eight days after sent home his first Wife ignominiously without any Train back to her Father King of the Abca's after he had caus'd her Nose her Ears and her Hands to be cut off And the pretence which he took to excuse so horrid a piece of Cruelty was That she had committed Adultery with the Vizier whose Name was Papona And the better to make People believe the truth of it he caus'd this Vizier to be stopp'd into the Mouth of a Cannon at the same time that he maim'd his own VVife However all Men agreed that there was nothing of Incontinence that had been committed between her and the Vizier only that he sacrific'd his VVife and his Prime Minister to the Hatred and Jealousie of the Chilakite The Love of this wicked VVoman caus'd him to Sacrifice these Important Victims but her Ambition forc'd him to offer up two more pretious Oblations For Levan himself poyson'd his two Sons which he had had by the Princess his VVife The Chilakite perswading him to this incredible Inhumanity to the end the Children which she should have by him might Reign more securely Prince George had a great kindness for his Wife as much an Adulteress and as wicked as she was So that her being tak'n from him by force threw him into a most furious despair He perform'd the Ceremony of Mourning for her Forty Days according to the Custom of the Country as if she had been Dead after which he betook himself to Arms and fell into the Territories of the Prince his Nephew But Levan was Valiant and had good Souldiers about him so that George was constrain'd to retire into his Mountains where he died soon after for Grief and Vexation The Prince of the Abca's also went about to revenge the Affront and Injury done him in the Person of the Princess his Daughter but with as ill success He rais'd Forces began a War against the Prince of Mingrelia and tho the consequences of the War did not at all fall out to his Advantage yet would he never make Peace or Truce with him nor would he put an end to the War till he understood the Death of his Barbarous Son-in-Law There was also a Third Enemy more formidable but as unsuccessful that would not suffer Levan to be at rest This was his own Brother call'd Joseph who engag'd himself so far in the just Resentments of his Uncle George and the Prince of the Abca's that he resolv'd to revenge their Quarrel by causing the Criminal to be Murder'd To that purpose he corrupted one of his Guards an Abca by Birth to Assassinate him the Prince's Cup-Bearer being also Privy to the Conspiracy The Plot was so lay'd that Joseph should go and Dine at the Palace that the Abca Guard should stand behind him with a Lance in his Hand and that when the Prince lifted to his Mouth one of those great Beakers of Wine which the Mingrelians Drink at the end of the Meal the Cup-Bearer should make a sign to the Abca who was then to strike him through the Body with his Lance. This Plot was within a little of being put in Execution but fail'd when the stroak was ready to have been given Divine Justice resolving that Levan's Crimes should be his own Murderers and Executioners which spar'd him a long time before they accomplish'd it For the Prince perceiv'd the sign which the Cup-Bearer gave the Guard and as it were inspir'd threw himself down from the place where he stood so that the Lance never touch'd him at all However the Abca escap'd but the Cup-Bearer was seiz'd put to the Rack and dismember'd after he had confess'd what he knew of the Plot. Prince Joseph had his Eyes pull'd out and dy'd soon after leaving a Son who is now Prince of Mingrelia Levan had by his Incestuous Conjunction two Sons and one Daughter who suffer'd every one for the Iniquity of their Father being all Three Paralytick No means were unsought for their Cure but all in vain their Distemper Non-pluss'd all the Physitians in the Country the Theatins and an Eminent Greek Physitian who was sent for from Constantinople The Youngest Son and the Daughter dy'd by that time they arriv'd at the Age of Twenty Years or there-about but Alexander the Eldest Son liv'd longer was Marry'd and had a Child his Wife being the Daughter of the Prince of Guriel Which one Son he had a Year after he was Marry'd and then dy'd while his Father was yet living Levan dy'd in the Year 1657. after whose Death the Shilakite was in such high Credit as to set up in his place a Son which she had by her first Husband
Chappels upon a Line To the middlemost belongs an Entrance eighteen Foot deep every way magnificent the Portal being of the same white Marble already mention'd The Top which is also a large half Duomo is over-laid without with large square Tiles of Cheney painted with Moresco Work and within embellish'd with Gold and Azure The Door which is twelve foot high and six broad is all of transparent Marble The folding Doors are plated with Silver embellish'd with Vermillion guilt carv'd Work and polish'd which make a Mosaic altogether costly and full of Curiosity The Chappel is Octogonal cover'd with a high Duomo the lower part of which Chappel is cover'd with large Tiles of Porphiry wav'd and painted with Flowers in Gold and Colours so lively and full of Lustre that they dazle the Eye The upper part is of Moresco Work of lively and glittering Gold and Azure and the Bottom of the Duomo is all of the same This Duomo is very large and wonderfully beautiful being overlaid without like the Portal From the top of all arises a Spire with a Crescent fixt at the top the ends of which are reverse as you see in the Figure This Pinacle which is of a remarkable Bigness is comoss'd of several Bowls of several Proportions set one upon another and appears as you stand below to be about twenty foot high with the Crescent the whole of fine Gold The Persians affirm it to be all Massy which if it be true the Pinacle is worth Millions but let it be what it will 't is a noble Ornament of which the Value cannot but amount to a large Summ. In the midst of that Chappel stands the Tomb of Fatima the Daughter of Mousa Casem one of the twelve Califfs which the Persians believe to have been the lawful Successors of Mahomet after the Death of Ali his Son-in-Law It contains eight feet in length five in bredth and six in height Over-laid with Tiles of China painted alamoresca and over-spread with Cloth of Gold that hangs down to the ground on every side It is enclos'd with a Grate of Massy Silver ten foot high distant half a foot from the Tomb and at each Corner crown'd as it were with large Apples of fine Gold Which is done to the end the People should not sully the Tomb with their kissing and handling it for the Tomb is lookt upon as a sacred Piece Several breadths of Velvet hung about the inside of the Grate hide it from the view of the People so that only Favor or Money can procure a sight of it The Flooer likewise is cover'd with a Carpet of very fine Woollen over which at great Festival Times are spread others of Silk and Gold Over the Tomb about ten foot in height hang several Silver Vessels which they call Candil being a sort of Lamp of which there are some that weigh sixty Marks and are otherwise fashion'd then the Church Branches as may be seen in the Figures But they never light up any fire therein which they are not made to hold nor any sort of Liquor as not having any Bottom Upon the Grate hang several Inscriptions in Letters of Gold upon thick Velloms as large as a large sheet of Paper Which Inscriptions contain the Elegies of the Saint and her Family The Inscription upon the Front of the Entrance contains the Prayer which they all generally say that come in the Pilgrimage to the Sepulcher The Pilgrim when he enters kisses the Threshold and the Grate three times and standing upright with his Face towards the Tomb one of the Molla's that attend there day and night comes to him who causes him to say the Prayer word for word After the Prayer so said the Pilgrim again kisses the Grate and the foot of the Door then giving the Priest four or five pence more or less according to his ability he retires If he desires a Certificate of his Pilgrimage they write him one in due form the dispatch of which costs him half a Pistole or eight or nine shillings All the money which the Pilgrims and other Votaries give is put into a little iron Chest like the Trunk of a Tree that stands at the entrance into the Chappel which is open'd every Friday and what is found therein is distributed among the people that belong to the Mosque and do Duty in that consecrated place It would be too long and perhaps to irksome to insert all the Inscriptions I have mention'd and therefore I shall only give you the Translation of the two Principal Prayers which the Pilgrims are bound to say In the name of God clement and merciful I Visit my Lady and Mistress Fatima the daughter of Mousa the son of Dgafar upon whom be all Salvation and Peace eternally And out of my zeal to approach to God by her Intercession I invoke her for my self my Father and Mother and all the truly Faithful In the name of God soveraignly pitiful I wish thee Health eternal O Apostle of God I wish thee Health eternal O Elect of God I wish thee Health eternal O the best and most perfect of all men Mahamed the son of Abdalla God grant thee his Mercy his Grace and his Benedictions and to all thy Family I wish thee eternal Health O Prince of the Faithful O Lord and Chief of the true Vicars of God I wish thee eternal Health O thou that art the Truth it self I wish thee Health eternal and the Mercy and Benedictions of God ô Ali who art the true Balsom for the wounds of sin I wish the Health eternal O virgin most Pure most Just and most Immaculate glorious Fatima the daughter of Mahammed the Elect the best beloved Wife of Ali the Mother of twelve true Vicars of God of Illustrious Birth and I also wish the Mercy of God and his Benedictions to thy Mother the most precious the most pure and high-born Khadidge I wish the mercy of God and his Benedictions to Hasan and Heussein true Directors of the way of Truth Celestial Flambeaux's of the dark Night of the World Great Standards of true Piety unreproachable Testimonies of God against the World Lords of all the young Men who are in the Glory of Paradise I wish thee Eternal Health O Fatima the Daughter of Mousa Virgin Holy Vertuous Just Directirix of the Truth Pious Sanctifi'd worthy of all our Praises who Soveraignly lovest the Faithful and who art Soveragnly belov'd Virgin without blemish and exempt from all Impurity May God take his Greatest Delight in thee look upon thee as pleasing to Him and Establish thee in Paradise which is thy Eternal Habitation and Refuge I am come to seek thee O Mistress and Lady of my Soul in hopes that I may approach the most High God by this Act of Piety and of his Apostle and his Holy Children The Mercy of God be upon him and them Eternally I Abhor and I Detest my Sins of which I have made me an unhappy Burthen that sinks me to the