am guilty of Error and Presumption Correct me in thy Wisdom For before thee I am but as an Idiot Paris 22d of the 12th Moon of the Year 1662. LETTER XVIII To Hasnadar-Bassi Chief Treasurer to his Highness THE French have newly felt the Motions of a Joy whose Birth and Growth was like that of a Mushroom sudden and swift the Product of a very little Time and which ended in Mourning and Tears The Moon of November beheld a Daughter born to the Queen of France But that Planet had hardly carried the News through all the Signs of the Zodiack and commanded the Stars of France to celebrate a Dunalma before she was oblig'd to be the Messenger of more sad Tidings and to proclaim the Death of this Young Princess to the Constellations that assisted at her Birth In a Word She was born on the 18th of the 11th Moon and died on the 30th of the 12th It looks as if she only came into the World to be a Witness of the Conclusion of the Peace between her Father Lewis XIV and her Grandfather Philip the King of Spain and so return to the Region of Separate Souls This Peace was in General Terms sign'd and seal'd long ago but there remain'd some Difficulties in adjusting the Limits of the French Conquests which were referr'd to the Management of Commissioners on both Sides And these after they had debated the Matter for the Space of Two Years at St. Omers Arras and Metz at length finish'd their Negotiation on the 25th of the 11th Moon of the last Year Which was just Seven Days after the Nativity of the French Princess This Royal Infant also liv'd to see Dunkirk one of the strongest Sea-Ports in the World re-deliver'd to her Father by the English in whose Hands it had been ever since 't was first taken from the Spaniards The King took Possession of this Important Place in his own Person entring the Town on the 2d of the last Moon 'T is look'd upon as a grand Oversight in the English thus tamely to part with a Fortress which is inexpugnable be Land and commands the Northern Seas But Money over-rules all other Considerations And it seems the English Court had Occasion for Gold There is lately a good Understanding establish'd between this King and the Emperour of Germany They often write Friendly Letters one to another and seem to be perfectly reconcil'd To speak the Truth this may be call'd the Pacifick Year among the Inhabitants of Europe For excepting some Skirmishes and Bravado's of War between the Spaniards and the Portugueze all the Rest of Christendom is in Peace And the Portugueze have so strengthen'd themselves by marrying their Infanta to the English King that what through his Assistance and the Aid of France she has almost reduc'd Spain to a Necessity of making Peace Thou wilt say the Portugueze have over-reach'd the English in the Dowry they give with their Infanta This is only the Town of Tangier in Barbary A Place which will cost them far more to defend against the Moors than it is really worth For those bold Africans will perpetually assault the Town and oblige the King of England to maintain a vast Garison in it besides a Multitude of other Expences This makes the Portugueze secretly smile to find themselves handsomly rid of Two great and burdensome Charges a Daughter of the Royal Blood and an Old Fortress of no Use or Service save only to diminish the Publick Treasure and make away with some Thousands of Men every Year Illustrious Grandee 't is no small Encouragement to the poor Exil'd Mahmut that though he be malign'd slander'd and persecuted by his Enemies yet he still finds Protection and Friendship from the Principal Ministers And that instead of Checks and Reproaches to which I was formerly accustomed my Salary is now augmented to the Proportion of my Necessary Expences Money is sent me with a Liberal Hand and my Slanderers are put to Silence and Shame Thou may'st accquaint the Divan that there is now at this Cour the Eldest Son to the King of Denmark What his Business is People conjecture variously Some say 't is Love others affirm 't was only the Desire of seeing Foreign Courts drew this Prince from his Native Country Thou mayst also inform them that the Duke of Savoy has married a Princess of the Blood Royal they call her Madamoiselle de Valois Eliachim the Jew lies dangerously sick of a Fever As for me who never had my perfect Health since I came to Paris yet I retain a sound Mind and a Heart inviolably devoted to the Interest of the Grand Signior Whom God long preserve on the Throne of the Ottomans Paris 10th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1663. LETTER XIX To the Kaimacham HERE is a Man come to this City a Calabrian by Birth and of all Countries by Education For he has been a Traveller from his Infancy if what he relates of himself be true He speaks all or most of the Languages of Europe very fluently and is resorted to by People of divers Countries under the Character of a Fortune-Teller and Physician He performs both Parts to the Admiration of all that have been with him The Princes and Nobles of France visit him daily and so do Persons of Meaner Birth They discover to him their Secret Maladies and this Apollo seldom fails of Success in curing them He bestows Ten Hours a-Day in freely conversing with People of all Ranks and Qualities healing the Diseases of some and telling to others their Future Destinies I went to his Chamber one Day not to learn my Fate for I have little Faith in Modern Prophets or Astrologers Nor to be cur'd of any Distemper having no Esteem for Quacks and Empericks besides I was in good Health at that Time but Curiosity was the only Motive which led me thither that I might improve my self in other Respects by this Stranger 's Company and learn something which I knew not before of Foreign Courts whereby I might become more Serviceable to the Grand Signior in this Station and farther unravel the Secrets of Christian Princes For so it often falls out that a Man reaps some Considerable Advantage from the Society of Travellers and Men of Experience And I had good Reason to hope for some Profit by this Man's Acquaintance who is thought worthy to be Courted by the Grandees of France Wherefore I address'd my self to him with Abundance of Ceremony and Regard using also as much Dissimulation as I thought necessary to conceal my self and the Design I had in coveting his Friendship I seem'd a great Admirer of Judicial Astrology and told him I was very ambitious to learn the Rudiments of that Science from him having heard his Skill highly commended not only by Vulgar Fame but by the Mouths of Men of Sense and Quality who gave him a fair Character I said a great deal more to insinuate my self into his good Opinion But there being Company with him
generally a certain Presence of Mind in Time of Danger which fails not to prompt me with the readiest and most proper Course to escape In a Word I wrested the Ponyard out of the Ruffian's Hand and stabb'd him dead with it not thinking it safe to make a Noise but chusing rather to die if my Strength fail'd me than by crying out for Help run the Risque of worse Consequences For I had long expected some such Attempt as this upon my Life from my Enemies at the Port. And concluding this Fellow to be one employ'd by them for that Purpose I thought it no Prudence to have him seiz'd by the Watch and punish'd by the Law lest he should in Revenge discover me and my Business to these Infidels Therefore I play'd the Executioner my self and sent him out of Hand to another World to prevent his telling Tales in this Thou wilt say there was no Injustice in this since 't was in my own Defence and to save the Honour of my Sovereign As he fell he uttered these Words in a faint broken Tone Mahmut my Death will be reveng'd before long and you cannot escape the Trap that is laid for you Then he expir'd This made me presently conclude that he was employ'd by some-body at the Port For how else should he know my True Name But upon Second Thoughts I cannot be certain but that he was set at Work by my Old Sicilian Master since he knew my Name also However I have greater Reason to suspect the Former because it is not probable that the Infidel would take so Chargeable and Troublesome a Method to Murder me Neither had he Provocation enough Besides for ought I know he may be dead God only is acquainted with the Truth However to prevent future Assaults of this Nature and a great many other Inconveniencies I have remov'd my self to a New Lodging in the most obscure Corner of the City and very remote from the Place where I liv'd before being resolv'd also not to frequent the Court nor any Publick Places as I have done formerly but to take other Measures for Intelligence What I desire of thee is to represent my Case favourably to the Divan That they may approve of my Conduct Do also whatever else thou judgest the Part of a Country-man and a Friend As for the Event I patiently wait the Appointments of Destiny For 't is in vain to be too Sollicitous Adieu High-born Kerker and forget not Mahmut in his Distress For that is the Time wherein true Friendship is tried Paris 17th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1664. LETTER VIII To Nathan Ben Saddi a Jew at Vienna BE not dishearten'd at the Troubles which thou encounterest in this World of Lotteries But remember the Adage of thy Rabbi's That EVIL which is Old as Night is yet the Off-spring of every Morning The Ages are measur'd exactly and our Hours are cheker'd with Equal Mixtures of Happiness and Misfortune We are not born to our own Desires And as not a Man of us can remember how he was form'd in the Womb so have we no Reason to repine at what happens to us since we came out of it Whatever Power Wisdom and Goodness took Care of us then and afterwards inspir'd our Mothers and Nurses with Tenderness and a Thousand Degrees of Patience beyond what is Recorded of Job the same will provide for us to Eternity The Desire of Knowledge kill'd Adam and the same Lust propagated with his Seed destroys all his Posterity We can never be satisf'd in our Confinement to this World and therefore we flounce and flutter on all Sides like Fish or Birds in a Net to find a Way out Whilst we do but entangle our selves the faster render our Restraint more uneasy and delay the Possibility of our Release Whereas Patience would soon set us free and rank us among the Immortals One thinks to escape by high-drinking another by Fevers of Love or Glory and a Third conceits he shall by his Gold be able to bribe the Watch who Guard the last Passes of this Life and perswade 'em to let him Scamper safe to Paradise Alas Alas All this is but the Sophistry of our Passions 'T is in vain to think of hast'ning or retarding our Fate Our Time is set though we know not the Period Resignation is our best Lesson and Prudence the next Perhaps thou wilt call this a Sermon rather than a Letter But I advise thee to read it with the Eyes of a Stoick That is whether it pleases thee or not regard it not farther than it agrees with Reason I would fain ask of the Man who expects to have his Will accomplish'd in this Life whether he can prevail upon the Sun to rise any Morning within the Artick Circle or the Moon to descend some Night and sweep the snow off from the top of Mount Athos So Inexorable is our Destiny so unalterable the Decrees of Fate Be not troubled therefore at any Thing but remember that thou art a Part of the Vniverse and that nothing can betide thee which is not for the Good of the Whole What I have said is to arm thee against all the Contingencies which may assault thee unawares rushing upon thee on a sudden from behind the Veil which covers all the Designs of Providence and Nature Destiny and Chance I my self have lately experienc'd that it is good to be thus prepar'd for future Events having narrowly escap'd Death by a little Timely fore-cast It is not Necessary for thee at this Time to know all the Circumstances of my Danger Suffice it to say That I was assassinated in the Dark kill'd him that design'd to be my Murderer and am now forc'd to remove my Habitation Eliachim thy Brother in Israel will be at Vienna within Fourteen Days He will give thee a farther Account of all Things which it behoves thee to know with fresh Instructions concerning my New Lodgings and the Method we must observe for the Future in conveying Letters We cannot be too cautious in the Grand Signior's Business As for our own Lives let us imagine they were only sent to serve him on whose Life so many Millions of Lives depend Paris 18th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1664. LETTER IX To Zeidi Alamanzi a Merchant at Venice I Am oblig'd to send Circular Letters at this Time to all the Slaves of the Grand Signior who have Business with me at Paris to inform them that upon a very Important Emergency I am forc'd to change my Lodgings I have already sent away Dispatches to Constantinople and Vienna on this Account to prevent the Errors they might commit in addressing their Letters For the same Reason I now write to thee Thou needest not enquire after the Occasion of this Conduct nor wonder at any Thing that happens to us extraordinary in those hazardous Posts We must expect to encounter with Rubs and Obstacles in serving our Great Master If these difficulties have but their proper
That the Queen would not venture on an Action of such dubious Consequence He started up and took his Leave of 'em with these Words My Lords you may follow your own Counsel I 'll immediately to Horse and escape to Sedan in my Stockings Where if they make me wear out a Pair as an Exile by Heavens I 'll make them wear a Thousand Pair of Boots His Words came to pass and the Effect was a diminutive Civil War when the Queen was forced to raise an Army to reduce this Prince to Obedience the Rest of his Party being Imprisoned as soon as she heard of his Flight Whilst these Disturbances lasted the Moors were expell'd out of Spain to the Number of Six Hundred Thousand Part of those who liv'd toward the Maritime Coasts went by Sea into Africk The Rest whose Residence was farther within Land sought a Passage over the Pyrenaean Mountains and so through the Southern Provinces of France offering a Ducat a Head to the Vice-Roy of Navarre for their safe Conduct He out of Curiosity coming to see these Travellers and beholding 'em ragged and almost naked with Visages like Ghosts took Pity on them and gave 'em Liberty of Passage gratis Saying God forbid I should extort so much Money from these miserable Wretches who are abandoned to the wide World But it seems his Commpassion was needless For these Mussulmans were too cunning for him having their Squalid torn Garments quilted all over with Gold and Precious Stones Which occasioned all People to ridicule the Vice-Roy's Easiness and to call him the Friend the Gibeonites I should appear too Partial in reflecting Satyrically on this Prince whose Generosity deserves Praise Yet I cannot but smile at the Craft of the Moors whereby they not only escaped paying the accustomed Tribute of Passengers but also blinded these Infidels and took from 'em the Suspicion of greater Riches which if they had once known perhaps not a Moor should have carried a Piece of Money along with him into Africk This Passage seem'd worthy of thy Knowledge since it in Part resembles the Famous Departure of the Israelites out of Egypt tho' it comes short of the Robbery and Plunder which they committed on the Inhabitants the Day before they began their Journey However this Story may afford thee some Divertisement As to the Marshal D' Ancre the Queen's Favourite in his Life and Death he was compared to Sejanus being qualified with the like Vertues and Vices and having much the same Fortune his Body after having been dragg'd about the Streets by the Rabble was at last torn in Pieces If thou would'st know how the Duke of Luines obtain'd the King's Favour it was by Ingratitude For when he and his Brother were first brought to Court they were both so poor that they had but one Cloak between 'em and for that Reason could not go abroad together Yet being recommended to the King by a certain Nobleman for excellent Falkners they were received into Favour But they abus'd the Kindness of their Patron and insinuating malicious Things into the King's Ear against the Nobleman and his Family caused him to be banish'd from the Court. After which they managed all Things Then succeeded Cardinal Richlieu in the Chief Ministry of whom I have said a great Deal in my Former Letters to the Grandees of the Port and thou wilt find them in the Register I will now add what I never mentioned before That he was very Ambitious to be thought a good Judg of Verse He gave to one Poet for a Witty Conceit on his Coat of Arms Two Thousand Sequins tho' 't was but a Verse of Seven Words Another he promoted to an Ecclesiastick Dignity worth a Thousand a Year for comparing him to the Primum Mobile But he caused a Third to be kick'd out of Doors for his Obstinacy in denying to alter a Word of his Poem which the Cardinal disliked This Minister was very Revengeful and amongst other Effects of his Temper none was more taken Notice of or reflected on than the Death of Monsieur de Thou whom the Cardinal cut off for no other Reason but because his Father in a General History which he wrote had represented one of Richlieu's Ancestors under a very Ignominious and Abominable Figure That Historian was the Renowned Thuanus of whom I suppose thou hast heard As to King Lewis XIII himself he was esteemed a great Dissembler accustomed to caress those with more than ordinary Endearments whom he designed suddenly to ruine Whence it grew to a Proverb in his Time at the French Court when they saw any Nobleman smil'd on to say His Business is done It cannot be denied that this Prince had a Great Spirit and some Wisdom yet he was observed to take Delight in many petty Actions unbecoming Royal Majesty He would spend much of his Time in Painting and send for the most Famous Masters in that Art to view his Works An equal Inclination he shewed to Musick And sometimes he was ambitious to be thought a good Cook Once he made a Great Pasty with his own Hands filling it with Venison only fit for the Mouths of Infidels viz. The Flesh of Dogs Wolves and Foxes with other Abominable Animals of which it is not lawful for a True Believer to taste This he caused to be served up to Table at a Feast which he made to some of his Courtiers who to Honour the King's Handy-work eat greedily of the Horrid Dish and highly praised his Skill whilst he diverted himself with laughing at them He had many other such Freaks as these which render'd him Contemptible and Ridiculous to the Grandees of his Kingdom In a Word he was more reverenced Abroad than at Home And this was owing to the Conduct of Cardinal Richlieu who was justly esteemed the very Genius of France Illustrious Minister all that I have said of this Monarch speaks him but a Man And no body is Wise at all Times But the Follies of Princes are more Conspicuous than those of meaner Persons Paris 5th of the 12th Moon of the Year 1660. LETTER XV. To Mahummed in the Desart MAY the Angel of Peace pitch his Pavilion at the Entrance of that Blessed Cave where thou residest May thy Soul feel Calm and Undisturbed Joys and for ever repose in Divine Tranquility Whilst the Rest of the World are molested with Perpetual Cares and Fears Broils and Enmities Passions within and Furies without In a word whilst they are always in Danger of one another of themselves and of the Elements which compound their Nature O Man highly beloved of God Favourite of the Angels Care of Heaven and the singular Darling of Providence The Palm of an Almighty Hand is extended under thee when thou sittest down or walkest always ready to snatch thee up from the Calamities which threaten this Lower World and lift thee to Paradise where the Assembly of the Just wait for thy Presence There has been an Earthquake lately in these Parts which
the King as the fittest Man to succeed him in the Management of the Publick He was after the Death of Lewis XIII at first opposed by several Grandees but the Queen's Authority and that of the Prince of Conde supported him Whence arose a Common Proverb in those Days The Queen permits All the Cardinal Commands All and the Prince puts All in Execution For this last had then the Office of General This Minister was not esteem'd so Covetous as his Predecessor yet he heap'd up Vast Treasures Part of which he bestow'd in Magnificent Buildings and Furniture the Rest he sent into Italy to his Father who astonish'd at the Prodigious Quantities of Gold he receiv'd us'd to say Sure it rains Money in France However he made himself Odious to the Subjects of this Nation by his Continual Oppressions and they are glad he is gone 'T is a By-Word at Rome when any Pope dies to say Now the Dog is dead all his Malice is buried with him But I doubt it will not prove true in the Court of France at this Juncture For the King will either find a Minister Equal in Subtlety to the Deceas'd Cardinal who shall supply his Place or he will take the Administration of Affairs into his own Hands Be it which Way it will we are like to see the same Maxims pursu'd so long as Cardinal Richlieu's Memoirs are in Being who first taught this Crown to understand its own Strength Paris 14th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1661. LETTER II. To the Vizir Azem at the Port. I Have sent a Dispatch to the Mufti acquainting him with the Death of the Cardinal Mazarini First Minister of State and the Greatest Favourite that ever liv'd Now I will inform thee of some Passages which I omitted in my Letter to that Venerable Prelate It is Necessary for me thus to distribute my Intelligence with a due respect to the different Quality of my Superiours Thou I suppose wilt require some Account of his Disposition and Morals with such a Character as may render this Great Genius familiar to thy Knowledge He seemed to place his chief Happiness in aggrandizing his Master whom he serv'd with a Zeal so pure and disinteress'd a Loyalty so Incorruptible and by such regular Methods of Prudence and Policy as if in his Days nothing were to be counted Vertue or Vice but what either favour'd or oppos'd the King of France's Interest He was of a Happy Constitution for a Courtier being by Nature Debonair Complaisant Affable and of a Sweet Deportment Yet Experience and Art taught him to improve these Advantages to the Height of Dissimulation You should see Courtesie and extraordinary Goodness flowing into every Feature of his Face You should hear Words breathing from his Mouth like the soft Benedictions of an Angel Yet at the same Time his Heart gave the Lye to Both. He meant nothing less than that a Man should find him as good as his Word He was ever ready to promise any Thing that was demanded of him But in Performance slow and full of Excuses Frugal of his Prince's Money and Liberal of his own Magnificent in his Buildings and the Furniture belonging to them Aiming in all Things to exceed other Men his Equals and in some to surpass even Mighty Princes his Superiours In a Word he was accomplish'd with all Qualifications requisite in a Fortunate Courtier and a good Statesman Yet after all this Sublime Genius yielded to Death But not like Common Mortals He died altogether like himself without so much as changing that settled Gravity and Serene Air of his Face as had been Remarkable during his Life He made the King Heir of his Estate and bequeathed abundance of Legacies To say all in Brief If he was Great in his Life he was much more so in his Death mingling his last Breath with the Sighs and Tears of the King who lamented his Departure with the Mourning of a Son for a Father Paris 26th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1661. LETTER III. To Pesteli Hali his Brother Master of the Customs at Constantinople YEsterday a Dispatch came to my Hand from a very Remote Part of the Earth Our Cousin Isouf sent it from Astracan a Famous City for Traffick formerly belonging to the Crim Tartars but now in the Possession of the Moscovites He has been there a Considerable Time finding Profit by Merchandise For there is a vast Resort to that City from China Indostan Persia Moscovy and other Provinces of Europe and Asia The Roads to it are daily covered with the Caravans of Trading People And the River Volga can hardly sustain the Innumerable Multitude of Vessels that Transport Passengers with their Goods backwards and forwards between Astracan and the Regions round about the Caspian Sea into which that Mighty River discharges it self Isouf is Ingenious and has pitch'd upon some Advantageous Way of enriching himself which tempts him to take up his Abode in that City and there end his Travels or at least he will repose himself there till Fortune presents him with a fairer Opportunity of encreasing his Wealth In the mean Time I perceive by his Letter that he gets Money apace lives very happily and has the Wit to keep himself free from the Yoke of Marriage which embarass'd him so much formerly He soon put that troublesome Wife out of his Mind after he had Divorc'd her and he never fail'd to gratify himself with new Amours where-ever he came in his Travels He writes very Comically and I can't forbear smiling when he tells me He has had as many Concubines as the Grand Signior By which thou wilt perceive That Isouf is much addicted to Gallantry He frankly confesses That he first learned this Mode of loving at large in Persia especially at Ispahan where he says 't is a Mark of Honour for a Man to be good at Intriguing with the Ladies And he is call'd a Turk by way of Disgrace who frequents not every Evening the Gardens and Houses of Pleasure in the Suburbs But he adds that in India the Liberty of courting Women is much greater And that the very Nature of that Climate disposes a Man to this soft Passion In a word our Amorous Kinsman retains the same Humour still Yet this does not hinder him from prosecuting his necessary Affairs with Diligence and Alacrity He dispatch'd a Business for me at Archangel in Russia and another at Mosco very dexterously Which convinces me that he is not less Sedulous and Careful in Things which concern himself He says the Moscovites are the greatest Drunkards in the World Their Chief and most beloved Liquor is what the French call The Water of Life 'T is a Chymical Drink extracted from the Lees of Wine or other Strong Beverages such as thou know'st is common among the Greeks Armenians and Franks in the Levant When the Moscovites are once got into a House where this Nectar is Sold and are a little warm'd and elevated with it they will not
to keep Company with all Sorts of People Hence I indifferently associate my self with Statesmen Souldiers Courtiers Priests Fidlers Mechanicks Seamen or Persons of any Profession from whom I can hope for any Improvement For there is hardly so despicable a Fellow in the World who may not teach an Inquisitive Mind something to which it was a Stranger before Sometimes I converse with Painters whom I generally find to be Men of Wit and Sense but very lewd and dissolute However they serve to divert my Melancholy to which thou knowest I am much inclin'd For they are the merriest Sparks in the World abounding with smart Repartees Jests and Comical Stories besides a Hundred Mimical Tricks of good Buffoonry to make one laugh that it is almost Impossible to be sad in their Company They are most of them bred in the Academy or in Colleges and Schools where the Sciences are profess'd It being in a Manner necessary That Men of this Trade should have a Smack of all Sorts of Learning and especially that they should be indifferent good Historians they being many Times desir'd to represent Pieces of Antique and Modern History without a Pattern They have a very Facetious Way also of telling a Story to the Life as well as of drawing it so in Picture They would dissolve the most stiff and morose Hadgi into Laughter and Jollity to hear how gracefully they will ridicule the most serious Matters and turn every Thing into Burlesque For they are Admirable Satyrists by Nature Yet these are not all alike but differ in their Tempers like other Men. Some of them are Proud and Stately others Fawning and Abject And all of them great Humorists It was an odd Whim of Martin Heemskirk a Famous Painter that was born at a Village of the same Name He died in the Year of the Christians Hegira 1574. This Man had amass'd together in his Life Time a Vast Quantity of Money and having no Wife or Children nor other Relations of his own to leave it to he was resolv'd to do something for which he might be talk'd of after his Death I have heard of many dying Men that have had one Caprice or other in making their last Will and Testament But thou wilt say this of Martin's was Singular For on his Death-bed he bequeath'd all his Wealth to be distributed into Equal Dowries or Portions wherewith to marry a certain Number of Maids of Heemskirk his Birth-place Yearly on this Condition That the New-married Couple with all the Wedding-Guests shou'd dance on his Grave It is necessary for thee to know that since his Death there has been a great Alteration of Religion in those Parts The Inhabitants which in his Time were Roman Catholicks are now all Protestants And at the Time of this Change or Reformation as they call it it was the General Practice of the Protestants to demolish all Images and Crosses where-ever they found ' em Now it was the Custom of the Roman Catholicks to set up a Cross at the End of every Sepulchre of the Dead Yet so great a Veneration have the Heemskirkers for the Memory of this Painter that whereas there is not a Cross to be seen standing in all the Country besides yet his being of Brass remains untouch'd as the only Title their Daughters can shew to his Legacy 'T was a more Cruel and Inhumane Caprice of an Italian Painter I think his Name was Giotto who designing to draw a Crucifix to the Life wheadl'd a poor Man to suffer himself to be bound to a Cross for an Hour at the End of which he shou'd be releas'd again and receive a Considerable Gratuity for his Pains But instead of this as soon as he had him fast on the Cross he stabb'd him Dead and then fell to drawing He was esteem'd the Greatest Master in all Italy at that Time And having this Advantage of a Dead Man hanging on a Cross before him there 's no Question but he made a Matchless Piece of Work on 't As soon as he had finish'd his Picture he carried it to the Pope who was astonish'd as at a Prodigy of Art highly extolling the Exquisiteness of the Features and Limbs the Languishing Pale Deadness of the Face the Unaffected Sinking of the Head In a Word he had drawn to the Life not only that Privation of Sense and Motion which we call Death but also the very Want of the least Vital Symptom This is better understood than express'd Every Body knows that it is a Master-piece to represent a Passion or a Thought well and naturally Much greater is it to describe the total Absence of these Interiour Faculties so as to distinguish the Figure of a Dead Man from one that is only asleep Yet all this and much more cou'd the Pope discern in the Admirable Draught which Giotto presented him And he lik'd it so well that he resolved to place it over the Altar of his own Chappel For thou know'st this is the Practice of the Nazarenes to Adore Pictures and Images Giotto told him Since he lik'd the Copy so well he wou'd shew him the Original if he pleas'd What dost thou mean by the Original said the Pope wilt thou shew me Christ Jesus on the Cross in his own Person No repli'd Giotto but I 'll shew your Holiness the Original from whence I drew this if you will absolve me from all Punishment The good old Father suspecting something extraordinary by the Painters thus Capitularing with him promis'd on his Word to pardon him Which Giotto believing immediately told him where it was And attending him to the Place as soon as they were enter'd he drew a Curtain back which hung before the Dead Man on the Cross and told the Pope what he had done The Holy Father extremely troubl'd at so Inhumane and Barbarous an Action repeal'd his Promise and told the Painter he should surely be put to an Exemplary Death Giotto seeming resigned to the Sentence pronounc'd upon him only begg'd leave to finish the Picture before he dy'd which was granted him In the mean while a Guard was set upon him to prevent his Escape As soon as the Pope had caus'd the Picture to be deliver'd into his Hands he takes a Brush and dipping it in a Sort of Stuff he had ready for that Purpose daubs the Picture all over with it so that nothing cou'd now be seen of the Crucifix But it was quite effac'd in all outward Appearance This made the Pope stark mad He stamp'd foam'd and rav'd like one in a Phren'sy He swore the Painter should suffer the most Cruel Death that cou'd be invented unless he drew another full as good as the former For if but the least Grace was missing he wou'd not pardon him But if he cou'd produce an exact Parallel he wou'd not only give him his Life but an Ample Reward in Money The Painter as he had Reason desir'd this under the Pope's Signet that he might not be in Danger of a
Religeous Brethren He was permitted to carry good Quantities of Gold and Silver about him for his Personal Expences and to wear a Secular Habit suitable to his Birth and Quality But this Liberty had like to have prov'd fatal to him one Night during the Carnaval It was late and very dark when this Religious Bully was beating the Streets upon the Hunt for Whores and walking under certain Piazza's near the River Tyber he was accosted by a Woman mask'd and in a very good Dress who spoke to him frankly asking him the Way to Il Rotundo This is the Name of a Church in Rome dedicated to All the Saints In the Time of the Gentiles 't was call'd Pantheon or the Temple of all the Gods The Monk being in one of his Rambling Equipages and his Inclinations equally bent on Pleasure having also a Hundred Florins about him presently made Answer He wou'd conduct her to the Place she enquired for She after some counterfeit Essays of a modest Repulse at length accepted his Offer And by the Way he perswaded her into a Tavern The cunning Nymph manag'd her Business so well that the Monk over-heated with Wine and other costly Entertainments grew so in Love with her that he forgot she was to go to the Pantheon and offer'd to wait on her home She accepted the Motion and telling him her House was seated on the Banks of the Tyber they return'd the same Way as they came When they arriv'd at the Piazza's where they first met Three Persons appear'd muffled up in Cloaks Two of which suddenly seiz'd the Monk holding their Ponyards at his Breast whilst the Third disclosing the hidden Light of a Dark Lanthorn which he held in his Hand fasten'd on the Lady and made her unmask As soon as he saw her Face he stamp'd and rav'd menac'd and swore he wou'd be the Death of that Villain who had debauch'd his Wife All this was but a fore-laid Design In a Word After all the Parts of an abus'd incens'd revengeful Husband acted to the Life at last through the Intercession of the Two other Ruffians and the Monk's penitent and submissive Address it was concluded to spare his Life and only strip him naked leaving him in that Condition to seek his Fortune among the Watch. This was soon put in Execution and the Free-booters with all their Prey securely march'd off The poor Monk thus miserably abandon'd without Garments Money or any Thing to comfort him in his Calamity or to bribe the Watch gave himself over to Melancholy and Despair in regard this Accident would bring an Eternal Infamy on him and he shou'd be no longer able to shew his Face in Rome the Seat of his Nativity nor among any of his Kindred and Friends Sometimes he thought to drown himself in the Tyber or else to counterfeit a Phrensy and so run bawling driveling and talking Nonsense through the Streets hoping the rest wou'd never be divulg'd Whilst he was in these pensive Thoughts irresolute what to do the Watch walking their Rounds bolted upon him on a sudden and seeing a naked Man at that Time of Night in such a solitary Place at first were startl'd as tho' they had met a Ghost but recollecting themselves better they boldly seiz'd his Person and examin'd how he came in that Condition It was in vain for him to beg entreat and promise any Thing if they wou'd not expose him to open Shame This did but increase their Curiosity and Suspicion In a Word the Place of their Rendezvous being very near the same Tavern where this unfortunate Monk had regal'd his Strumpet they led him thither and kept him Prisoner till the Morning He that kept the House remember'd his Face again and knowing that the Governour of Rome had a secret Enmity against the Monk and all his Race sent him private Intelligence of this Adventure encouraging him to take this Opportunity of Revenge hinting withal That he need not take notice that he knew the Monk but only punish him as an ordinary Fellow breaking the Laws of the City The Governour glad of this Occasion when the Monk was brought before him order'd him to be whip'd through the very Street where his Monastery stood This was done accordingly and as he pass'd by the Gate his Brethren seeing him in that Condition rush'd out and rescu'd him from the Executioner's Hands breathing Revenge against the Governour and all that were concern'd in putting this Dishonour on their House and the whole Order I must be forc'd to break off before I have inform'd thee of half their Tricks lest I shou'd tire thee with the Length of my Letters Besides it is necessary for me to conclude unless I wou'd miss my Opportunity For the Post tarries for no Man Venerable Hadgi live thou to enjoy the Serene Pleasure of Vertue and Innocence and pray for Mahmut that he may never be stain'd with the Corruptions and Vices of Infidels among whom he resides Paris 18th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1662. LETTER XIII To the Chiaus Bassa THE French King's Genius seems altogether bent on Martial and Politick Affairs and tho' he allows some Moments to his Love yet the greatest Part of his Time is consecrated to the Necessary Affairs of State and to the Improvement of Military Discipline This has been his Course ever since the Death of Cardinal Mazarini That Minister whilst he was living endeavoured Nothing so earnestly as to divert the Young Monarch from minding Business by Plays Ballets and other soft Entertainments But as soon as he was dead the King began by Degrees to forsake his Youthful Recreations and look into the Affairs of his Government The first Bold Stroke of Regal Authority which he gave was the Suppressing the Superintendant of the Finances a very Ancient Office in France but much abus'd of late by those who have enjoy'd it For having the Management of the Royal Revenues it has been found out That they embezzel'd them to their own private Uses purchasing Houses Castles Towns and the fairest Estates in the Kingdom for them and their Posterity The last in this Office was the Sieur Fouquet who besides the waste he made of the King's Money in this Kind was laying up an Extrordinary Provision of Arms and Powder in Belle Isle a Sea-Port of France which gave the King so great a Suspicion of his ill Designs That he went in Person after him as far as Nantes and being there farther informed of a private Correspondence held between the Sieur Fouquet and some Malecontents of Cardinal de Retz's Party he caused him to be arrested and sent Prisoner to the Wood of Vinciennes From whence he has been since brought to the Bastile This was done in the 9th Moon of the last Year and was the Occasion of erecting a New Chamber of Justice to enquire into the Conduct of those who were employed by Fouquet in the Management of the Finances The great Discoveries this Chamber has already made of
into their Center where thou and I and every divided Atome in Nature shall meet be united and swallowed up in Eternal Beatitude Amen! Amen! Oh thou Lord and Father of all things Inexhaustible Abyss of Miracles which know no End Paris 6th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1665. LETTER XIX To the same SUpposing it were otherwise than I have said Grant the Doctrine of Epicurus true Believe that we and all things were produc'd by the Fortuitous Concourse of Atomes Yet still we have the same or greater Reason to value our selves as diminutive Gods since in this Sense we must of necessity be Eternal every Atome being so of which we are compounded In the Opinion of these Philosophers there 's no such thing as an Origin or Beginning of the Vniverse Each Particle of Matter with them is as old as the Divinity We have all rang'd Eternally from one Form and World to another danc'd to the measures of Fate been Parts of the Orbs above and of the Caverns below stray'd through the Heavens and all the Elements taken an Universal Carier through Infinite and Endless Spaces and are now as fix'd as we seem in these solid Hulks of Flesh in the same Hurly-Burly as ever These Bodies which we carry about us are not compounded of the same Atomes as they were Seven Years ago There is a perpetual Flux and Reflux of Particles We die as fast as we live Every Moment substracts from our Duration on Earth as much as it adds to it We move breathe and do all things by Paradox Our very Essence is a Riddle With an open Heart therefore I applaud thy Religious Negligence of Humane Affairs in that thou art Divinely careless of thy self and every thing else save only to conserve thy Innocence What signifies it whether we believe the Written Law or the Alcoran whether we are Disciples of Moses Jesus or Mahomet Followers of Aristotle Plato Pythagoras Epicurus or Ilch Rend Hu the Indian Bramin Of what Import is it whether we pray or not Whether we kneel before Images or in a naked Mosque 'T will be all one in the winding up We are but the Machines of Chance As we live so shall we die and God knows what will become of us afterwards neither is it worth our while to be sollicitous since we can be certain of nothing Perhaps every Atome of which we are made may be scatter'd from the rest we may be transported Piece-meal into Ten Hundred Thousand Millions of Worlds and seven-fold as many Years may expire before Two the minutest Particles of our Frame meet together again We need not be troubled at all this nothing can hinder us from being Immortal and Eternal tho' it be but in Fragments Go on then Sacred Vagabond Pious Rambler Holy Fugitive go on to assert in the course of thy Life this great Truth That all things depend on Everlasting Chance or Destiny Thy Actions shall reprove the Hypoctites of the Age who abound in Specious Words And thy Divine Indifference shall condemn the Hellish Zeal of furious Bigots who think to please God and atone for their Sins by sacrificing Humane Blood and massacring all that are not of their Faith God or Chance or Fate shall transport thee after Death to Happy Regions Immarcessible Joys and an Endless Succession of Bliss Every Atome shall find its Paradise Thou shalt mount by Degrees to Full Infinite and Eternal Felicity Adieu for a time Paris 20th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1665. LETTER XX. To Isouf his Cousin a Merchant at Astracan WHen I reflect on thy Happiness in having been all thy Life at Liberty to change thy Residence and ramble whithersoever thy Fancy invited thee and that even now at Astracan thou art no longer confin'd than by thy own Pleasure or Interest I cannot forbear envying thee There is an inexpressible Delight in ranging the various Tracts of the Earth Whereas to be perpetually shut up and imprison'd as I am in a City so close and high-built that the very Winds can scarce find a Way into her Interiour Parts is a perfect Hell upon Earth To speak the Truth Paris may be call'd a Heap or Aggregate of Cities built one upon another like Pelion upon Ossa since the Houses here are as high as the Minarets at Constantinople and divided like the Air into the lower middle and upper Regions or Apartments Or rather like the Heavens whose Number Astronomers assert to be Nine For with so many Stories do some Houses nay whole Streets in Paris lift up their Heads and every Story or Apartment's peopl'd like a Bee-hive So that in this Infinite Throng of Inhabitants and such as come hither about Business we are ready to be stifled with one anothers Breath Whereas thou know'st in the Cities all over the East the Houses are intermix'd with Gardens They are low-built with Terrasses on the Top to take the cool Air on by Night with Parterres Kas-kaneys Divans Conservatories and all the other Conveniences for refreshing the Senses by Water Wind and Odoriferous Smells This makes me long to be at Constantinople Damascus Mosul or even at Astracan where thou residest though that City want many Delights which others enjoy However I shou'd there encounter with Tiara's and Turbants the very Sight of which wou'd half cure my Discontent May my Portion be with Tagot if I am not tyr'd with seeing Nothing but these Hats and Short-Coats these ridiculous Franks these Apes without Tails And then to hear 'em rant against the Grand Signior and all True Believers to hear 'em blaspheme the Messenger of God curse the Alcoran revile the Mufti and all the Mollahs with a Thousand other Impertinences which none but such Reprobates Giaurs and Infidels wou'd be guilty of makes me either wish my self Deaf or that my Tongue were at Liberty to answer them But much rather wou'd I desire to be in a Place where I might enjoy my Ears to receive the Salem from my Friends that are Mussulmans and to hear the Name of God devoutly bless'd on any Occasion that awakens the Sense to Piety Oh that I were among my Countrymen the Arabians who dwell in Tents and frolick about from Hills to Valleys tasting by Turns the various Sweets of the Forest and the Plain The Groves and Meadows Pastures and Arable Grounds Cities and Villages all contribute to their Delight They want no Innocent Joy that the Earth can afford Their Wealth consists in the Multitude of their Sheep Camels Goats and Oxen. And for them is all their Care that they may not want Grass and Water in due Season As for themselves they are resign'd to Providence So are the Tartars who sleep in Hords or Waggons the only Cavaliers of Asia Whose Life is a perpetual Campagne from the Cradle to the Grave Their Labour and Ease are derived from the same Fountain exercising themselves on Horse-back at Seven Years old and feeding on the Milk of Mares as soon as they are wean'd from
their Mother's Breasts Toil and Recreation with them are one and the same thing since they know no other Pleasure but what consists in Riding Fighting and Conquering or else in Death which they believe translates them to new Joys and those more poignant than they knew before Therefore they bravely court it at the Point of a Sword or the Mouth of a Cannon Nothing being more scandalous or hateful than a Coward among them I protest the very Idea of Palus Maeotis and Taurica Chersonesus with the Rest of those Horrible Fens and Marshes on the North of the Black Sea which encompass the Dominions of the Tartars affects me with a Passion or rather such a Medly of Passions as I know not how to name Those ample Desarts those untrack'd Solitudes appear to my Imagination like the Limits of this old Habitable World and the Frontiers of some new strange and unknown Region some Terra Incognita where an Universal Desolation and Silence keep their Seat for ever Where no Voices are heard but those of uncouth Satyrs Fauns and other Exotick Tenants of the Woods and Moors No other Sound but the whistling and roaring of the Winds No Prospect but that of Trees which have appear'd from the Infancy of Time and where those are wanting the Eye is wearied in a long endless Waste which nothing seems to bound but the declining Arch of distant Skies or low black melancholy Clouds skirted with Mists and Fogs Eternal Mantles of the Northern Climes This is the Figure of those solitary Tracts where I wou'd chuse to live rather than in a City which stifles me with too much Plenty of every Thing but fresh Air and honest People Isouf the Contrarieties which we find in Earthly Things give a Gust to each other And the most Magnificent Palace wou'd seem a Prison were a Man always confin'd to live in it Cousin I wish thee perpetual Liberty and Happiness Paris 7th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1665. LETTER XXI To Hamet Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire AMidst the Variety of Obligations which I have to discharge I forget not to obey thy Commands I have already in my former Dispatches acquainted thee with the Characters and some Remarkable Passages of Henry IV. Lewis XIII Lewis XIV Cardinal Richlieu Cardinal Mazarini and the Prince of Conde Now I will say something of the Famous Mareschal de Turenne whose Fame reaches wheresoever the French Wars have been talk'd of for these Forty Years The Name of this great General is Henry de la Tour d' Auvergne Son to the Duke of Bouillon When his Father was near his Death he call'd for both his Sons whereof this was the youngest And among other Exhortations he recommended in a special Manner Three Things to their Practice Never to renounce or change their Religion Never to take up Arms against their Sovereign Nor to provoke the First Minister As to the First the Mareschal de Turenne has hitherto kept it inviolably but he has faulter'd in both the other having revolt-from his Master's Service during his Minority and oppos'd the Interest of Cardinal Mazarini when the Parliament persecuted that Minister However this hinders not but that he is a Great Souldier and besides he is since reconcil'd to the King He seems to be born for Martial Affairs And they relate of him That when he was but Ten Years Old and his Governour missing him had sought up and down every where for him he at length found him fast asleep on a Cannon which he seem'd to embrace with his little Arms as far as they wou'd reach And when he ask'd why he chose such a Couch to lie on he made Answer That he design'd to have slept there all Night to convince his Father that he was hardy enough to undergo the Fatigues of War though the Old Duke had often perswaded himself to the Contrary And to speak the Truth no Man was more Careless of his Body than this Prince At Fourteen Years of Age he was sent into Holland to serve in the Army under the Prince of Orange who was his Uncle There he apply'd himself to all the Discipline of War doing the Duty of a Private Soldier Which is the common Way that Cadets or Younger Brothers take to rise to the most Eminent Offices He was equally forward in Labours and Perils never shunning any Fatigue or Hazard which might bring him Glory yet he was not rash the Common Vice of Youth but temper'd all his Actions with an extraordinary Prudence and Solidity of Judgment beyond what was expected from him at those Years Yet on the other Side his Counsels were not slow and Flegmatick being of a very ready Forecast and he seldom fail'd in his Contrivances He was soon promoted to a Place of Command And the Exactness of his Conduct rais'd him a vast Reputation so that by Degrees he at last arriv'd to that Height of Power and Honour he now possess He appears Indefatigable in his Body and of an Invincible Resolution He hates Flatterers that think to gain his Friendship by praising him And is equally averse from making Use of such fawning Insinuations to others though the Greatest Princes of the Blood or the First Minister himself He has also a certain Stedfastnese of Spirit which cannot be warp'd by any Artificial Addresses though made to his own apparent Advantage if they propose to him any Thing that has the least Semblance of what is base and dishonourable Thus he wou'd never consent that the Honour of taking Dunkirk some Years ago should be ascrib'd to Cardinal Mazarini tho' that Minister privately courted him to it offering him the Greatest Commands in the Kingdom if he would do him that Service and the Mareschal knew it might prove his Ruin if he did not Yet such was his Integrity and Love to the Truth that by no means would he be brought to condescend to this Meaness of Spirit Yet perhaps it might only proceed from the Aversion which in those Days he had for the Cardinal Many times it is evident That a Natural Passion is made to pass for a Moral Vertue Besides perhaps he was unwilling to be depriv'd of the Glory due to him for that Important Service He is a Man of few words and so secret in all his Counsels that no-body knows any thing of his Designs till he puts them in Execution Every Man esteems him the most Liberal Prince of this Age having no other Regard for Money than as it serves the Necessities of his Family and enables him to oblige his Friends In a Word whatever Vices he may have he is yet endu'd with so many Good Qualities and Vertues that he is belov'd by all the Nation and in Particular Favour with his Sovereign who treats him not as a Subject but as one of his most intimate Friends May God who has rais'd up this Great Genius to aggrandize the French Monarchy continually supply the Grand Signior with Valiant and