Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A60048
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A short and strange relation of some part of the life of Tafiletta the great conqueror and emperor of Barbary by one that hath lately been in His Majesties service in that country.
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One that hath lately been in His Majesties service in that country.
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1669
(1669)
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Wing S3552; ESTC R28759
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11,355
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30
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of the Battels the King his brother shared with him in the danger and in the honour of the day but more in the one then in the other for as he was engaged in one of the wings against a strong Party of the Enemy his men were forced to draw back with the loss of a Captain and Colours and he himself was either taken Prisoner or in peril of present death When Tafiletta in person comes with vengeance and fury to rescue the distressed King whom he recovers out of the Enemies hand with the death and captivity of many of those that flattered themselves with an apparent victory I know not whether this increased his displeasure to be so much engaged to One whom his passion perswaded to hate It is certain that soon after this success he laboured to requite Tafiletta's good Offices with the effusion of his bloud and sought to destroy him whom he could not sufficiently reward There wanted not some Assistants to his bloody design nor favourers of Tafiletta from hence rose a great division and a civil War which was entertained as in such like occasions by false friends who are never more active then in sounding alarms when no cause appears and never better pleased then in the fatal discord of those great Families from whose ruine they may have hopes to raise their own The King first by treachery sought to take him out of his sight And when he perceived himself disappointed by Tafiletta's good fortune and by his diligence his prudence and valour He then proclaims his bloody design at the head of a party with which he was resolved to find him out in the midst of those that had taken arms in his defence Tafiletta with his followers was forced to seek his refuge in a speedy flight The Kings jealousie pursues him and at a place of disadvantage overtakes him a bloody fight begins that sends many of the inferiour sort into another world to carry the sad news of this miserable division Tafiletta encouraged his men by word and Example but when he saw himself over-power'd by the great number of his enemies and no way to escape his brothers displeasure but by shedding Royal blood he clapt his spurs to his Horse and perceiving the King not far he made towards him and notwithstanding the resistance of his Guards he strook him dead to the ground This unhappy death was followed with the flight of the Kings party and the victory of Tafiletta who might have made other use of it to secure himself from future designs But when he saw his Nephew advanced in his Fathers Throne desirous of Revenge and not judging himself able with his small Retinue to encounter with the strength of the Countrey he then thought a retreat to be the safest policy for himself and followers At some distance from the Kingdom of Tafiletta there is a fruitful Province fenced with a high Ridge of Hills that are not to be ascended without wings There is but one Avenue to this natural Fort and that is called the Pass which as in other Countreys is usually guarded for fear of a surprisal Within these Territories governed a Prince of a Nation and of a Religion that we could never imagine and which in all other places renders men incapable of authority From father to son many years one of the same superstition had alwayes succeeded He was a Jew who had made use of his time and command rather to gather Treasure than to increase his Dominions The largeness of his Countrey the author could not learn The Inhabitants do call it by a name which signifies the Mountain here Tafiletta fled with his small Party the Jew received him with all honour and civility and allowed him and his Followers a Corner in his Metropolis to remain with a Pension for his expences Because he was of the Blood-royal of Tafiletta and that the Mahumetans that were the greatest number of his Subjects had for his valour and vertues a considerable esteeme The design of the Jew was to oblige the Moores and indear them unto him and his interest by this favourable reception of this fugitive Prince He thought thereby to establish his Dominion and secure it from the envy and enterprises of the professors of the contrary Religion Besides as he knew Tafiletta to be a renowned General and a Generous Person he thought his valour would protect him from all invasion But it fell out otherwise than had imagined Tafiletta in stead of a friend proved at last his enemy What occasion was given by the Jew is not known to us But it is certain that this Politick head was not long there before he had contrived the mischief and death of the charitable Jew who perceived not the danger until he felt the Cimeter in his bosome To bring to pass this Assassinat the Moores that accompanied our fugitive were Instrumental They saw that the Jews good nature had won the hearts of his Subjects that they would not suffer him to be killed without a Revenge And that it was but a folly to play the Masters in a place where they were far the lesser number Therefore they contrived a way to engage the Proselytes of Mahomet in this design A Pretence of Religion a common Engine of State was employed to overcome this difficulty and oblige them to give their consent They whispered amongst the People That it was not usual that a Jew of a strange superstition and of a miserable dispersed Nation should bear command That it was a disgrace unto them to be vassals of such a One That it was not lawsul by that Religion that they were obliged to maintain and by which they expect future happiness that a Jew worse than a Christian should be Soveraign over Musulmans true believers And that they could never hope for their Prophets fâ—vor if they suffered long this infamy to their Profession that did give-laws to all the Nations of the world They represented also the advantages of being under a Mahumetan Prince of a noble spirit that would endeavour to enrich them with the spoils of their Neighbour Provinces These and such like suggestions being spread amongst the unconstant Multitude made a great alteration in their minds Insomuch that the Prince that yesterday they cherished to day they condemn to the sword The Rebellion and the Conspiracy seems not to have been discovered but onely to Tafiletta and his Party who were soon informed of the support and assistance of the Mahumetans in case they should undertake any thing to free them from the shame of the Jewish Dominion The Jew in the mean whiles ignorant of the Plot continued unto him his wonted kindness and often invited him to eate with him At last Tafiletta was attended to Supper by his Followers armed with Cimeter and other weapons They both sat to their meat upon Carpets according to the Custom of that Country and were never more familiar and loving when one of those
A Short and Strange RELATION Of some part of the LIFE OF TAFILETTA The Great CONQVEROR and EMPEROR OF BARBARY By one that hath lately been in His Majesties Service in that Country LONDON Printed by T. N. for Samuel Lowndes over against Exeter-House in the Strand 1669. A short and strange RELATION Of some part of the Life of TAFILETTA TAfiletta is a great Kingdom of Africa farr advanced into the Land It is part of the ancient Numidia now called Biledulgerid by some It is South-East of the City of Fez. The Inhabitants are a mixt People of several Nations the greatest part are Blacks who are said to be the Sons of the Cursed Cham. The Noblest are Saracens otherwise called Larbes These are the Lords of the Country the rest are the vanquished Posterity of the Warlike Nations of the North the Goths and Vandals that seem to have chosen that Confinement as a safe retreat farr from the acquaintance of the European Swords with which their over-aged Bodies were not so able to deale as with the effeminate courage of the In-land Inhabitants They quietly enjoyed their Conquests many years and had established there a famous Empire that reached South as far as the Sands and Mountains would permit and North to the Mediterranean Sea One of the Emperors was Genzerichus the most terrible Prince of his time About the Year of our Lord 452 he was invited by the Empress Eudoxia after the Massacre of her Husband Valentinianus into Italy where he became a troublesome Guest He kil'd the Tyrant Maximus he sackt Rome and carryed away the amorous Princess with several of the Nobility and great Riches into Captivity The Famous General of that time Belissarius checkt the Pride and Insolency of his Successors and put a stop to the Victories and Conquests of the Vandals But they were never totally subdued out of Africa until the Saracens otherwise called Agarens or Ishmaelites forced both them and the Romans to yield unto them the Authority of the Country Hucba a famous General was sent by Osmen the first Caliph of the Saracens to begin the Conquest of this part of the World Since their first entrance into those barren habitations which they water'd with the Christian Blood they have remain'd in a peaceable possession free from Forrein Invasion unless it be by some unhappy Princes who have vast Armies at Land and Fleets at Sea only to recover some Sea-port-Towns The In-land-People accustomed to Idleness and Theft know not the benefits of Trade Yet sometimes Commodities are conveyed unto them by those that hazard rather then design brings amongst them unless it be some French Pedler or some miserable Jew that drives a few Camels loaden with Warlike Provisions and other necessaries with which their Country doth not abound They suffer not Strangers to Travel because they are ashamed that their miserable Life should be known to People that live in ease and plenty or because they are jealous least the strength of their Country which consists in the situation should be discovered by a Forreiner and by that the meanes of bringing of them under subjection The Affairs of the Maritime Countries of Africa have been Recorded by several Writers but of this Kingdom of Tafilet we know nothing since the last Conquest until this famous Prince that is come out of that Province that Nature hath confind among the Desarts His Father was the King of this place his Mother was a Black-more whose handsome features only had recommended her to the Xeriffes Acquaintance and advanced her to the honour of one of his Concubines her mean descent did cause her Son at first to be lookt upon by the Mores as uncapable of any Advancement For that reason I conceive he was branded with the Title of Bastard amongst his Enemies His first and right Name is not known unto us that which he now beares I know not whether he hath chosen it or whether it is only imposed by Christians It is certain that it is borrowed from that Kingdom where he was born At his first entrance into the World he had an Attendance and Education sutable to his Fathers Estate The Learning of our Northern Climats is despised and unlawful amongst the Mahometans who love not to burst their braines with others inventions therefore Tafiletta for that shall be his Name in the following Discourse spent not his Youth in Contemplation but rather in Action in such Exercises that might prepare him for great Matters He delighted to handle a Lance to manage a Horse and to learn the other Arts that become a Souldier Nature had furnish'd him with a sharp Wit a strong Body and a sound Judgment Which Perfections by degrees did raise him in the esteem of the People He continued thus in his Fathers Court until death deprived him of that support and advanced his elder brother to the Crown At first he had his favour and protection but jealousie soon began to disturb their familiarity and good intelligence And since it hath proceeded so farr that it hath caused the untimely death of that unhappy Prince who harboured it in his breast But as this extravagant passion brought the Xeriffe to his grave it hath raised our Tafiletta upon an Imperial Throne He had never crept out of his home nor appeared upon so glorious a Theater had not his brothers hatred forced him to fly Soon after his fathers decease Tafiletta gave proofs of his Valour and great Courage which being accompanied with a bodily strength and a natural wit did render him able to bear command It is reported of him that he is able with his hands without any instrument by plain force to break a strong Horse-shooe and that when he leads his army he performs many times the office of a common Souldier as well as of a General with wonderful success And that in the Engagement he holds his Cimeter with such a tenacious fist that his hand cleaves to the handle and that it cannot be loosed without the assistance of luke-warm water It is certain that he won the esteem and favour of the common People by such seeming Declarations of his strength and valour as are not usual to the rest of men And although he is a Mouletta and by consequence of a Countenance more swarthy than the natural Saracens he hath an insinuating Presence where those Characters of a noble Soul do appear that seem to command both Love and Respect This being accompanied with a popular spirit that knew as well how to dissemble as to command rendered him odious to his brother but honoured of the People His Credit and Interest in the Countrey did give no suspition until he had the disposal of the Army and that he was made General In that high Employment his carriage was in its Element he behaved himself like a Heroe In several encounters with the Neighbour Provinces his Valour and Conduct always carried away the Victory and forced them to a submission In one