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A51894 The fourth volume of letters writ by a Turkish spy who lived five and forty years undiscover'd at Paris : giving an impartial account to the Divan at Constantinople of the most remarkable transactions of Europe, and discovering several intrigues and secrets of the Christian courts (especially of that of France) continued from the year 1642 to the year 1682 / written originally in Arabick, translated into Italian, and from thence into English, by the translator of the first volume. Marana, Giovanni Paolo, 1642-1693.; Bradshaw, William, fl. 1700.; Midgley, Robert, 1655?-1723. 1692 (1692) Wing M565CH; ESTC R35021 169,206 386

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Interest However on the 3d. Day of the 5th Moon some Scots enter'd into the Lodgings of the Embassador and having dispatch'd him with several Wounds made their Escape It is not certainly known who set these Assassins at Work People descant variously as their Affections byass them Some reflect on it as a Judgment Justly inflicted by God though by an Vnjust Act of Men on one who had been a Notorious Promoter of his Sovereign's Death Others censure it as a most Impious Sacrilege in Regard the Persons of Embassadors are by the Law of Nations esteem'd Sacred and Inviolable and the Injuries which they suffer are interpreted not only as done to their Masters who send them but to all Mankind As if Human Nature it self were wrong'd in the Persons of Publick Ministers Indeed there is no Method of establishing or conserving Friendships and Alliances between different Nations if their Agents be not secured with an Immunity from Affronts and Violences The French relate a pretty Passage of one of their Kings who before he came to the Crown being Duke of Orleans had receiv'd very ill Usage in his Travels from a certain Italian Lord call'd the Baron of Benevento After this Prince was possess'd of the Kingdom the same Italian Lord was sent Embassador from the Viceroy of Naples to congratulate his Accession to the Throne of his Ancestors Some French Courtiers who had been Witnesses of the Injuries this Lord had formerly done to their Master now perswaded the King to Revenge himself by causing some gross Indignities to be done him whilst he had him in his Power To whom the Wise Monarch reply'd It becomes not the King of France to revenge on the Embassador of Naples the Injuries which the Duke of Orleans receiv'd from the Baron of Benevento 'T is said the English Nation have demanded Satisfaction of the Hollanders for the Murder of their Embassador but were answer'd That they themselves ought first to Expiate the Murther of their King The Scots have Revolted from the New Government in England and are yet in Suspence Whether they shall set up the Son of the Late King or Form themselves into an Independent Republick The Irish are stedfast to the Interests of the Crown And many Islands in America subject to the Kings of England have now deny'd all Obedience to the New English Government which seems to tend towards a Democracy There is much Talk of one Cromwel the General of the English Forces in Ireland This Man from a Private and Obscure Estate is ascended to the Dignity of a General having purchas'd this Command by his Conduct and Valour The French extol him for the Greatest Souldier of this Age And if Fame be true he is no less Statesman As a Mark of the Respect I owe thee thou wilt receive with this Letter a Pistol of Curious Workmanship which being once charg'd will deliver Six Bullets one after another If thou acceptest this small Present it will be an Argument of thy Friendship Paris 19th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1649. LETTER XVI To the Venerable Mufti I Have often wondred at the Lethargy wherein the Nazarenes seem to be drown'd They forget what they read in their own Bibles They there encounter with Expressions which savour of the East Every Page of the Written Law relishes of the Dialect which is Pure and Lively though the Translators have cropt the Flower of the Sence I have read their Bible in Greek Latin and French but none of these Languages express to the Life the Original Hebrew Nor can it be expected It is impossible to screw up the Dull Phrases of Europe to the Significant Idioms of Asia We may as well expect Dates to spring from a Reed And for that Reason it is forbidden the True faithful to Translate the Volume of Light from the Original Arabick Which is no other than Hebrew in its Ancient Purity This is the Language of those who dwell above the Seventh Orb. 'T is the Dialect wherein God converses with the Pages of his Divine Seraglio Wherein all the Records of the Celestial Empire are writ And when he issues out Orders to the Ministers and Bassa's of Heaven Hasmariel the Secretary of the Immortal Divan uses no other Character or Speech but that which is peculiar on Earth to the Sons of Ismael the Inhabitants of the Region on the East of the Red Sea In fine this is the Language wherein the Omnipotent thought fit to discover his Pleasure to Mortals Believe Mahmut when he tells thee with profound Submission that he has taken some Pains to pry into those Languages which have been the Channels of Divine Knowledge I have been peculiarly ambitious to study the Anatomy of Oriental Words And it would be no Hyperbole to say I have learn'd to dissect even the very Syllables Wherein the various placing of Points and Letters alters the Sence or at least makes it Ambiguous So Significant and Mysterious are Our Sacred Characters I speak not this in Peevishness or to vindicate my self from the Contempt which Ichingi Cap ' Oglani has put upon me I have no Emulation in that Point Nor can any little Spur of Pedantick Ambition make me forward to contend with a Man whose whole Talent consists in knowing and remembring other Mens Works as if he had studied at Athens only for this End to learn the facetious Art of turning his Brains into a Catalogue of Books But I reflect on the Learned among the Nazarenes who are chiefly to blame having the Custody of the Book delivered to 'em from the Jews And among them the Translators of that Volume are past Excuse for they have deflowr'd the Original and robb'd the Virgin Language of its Beauty and Honour While the Rest are Witnesses and silent Abettors of the Rape in concealing the Indignity has been done to the Letters Form'd by the Finger of God and full of Divine Mysteries In thus accusing the Christian Interpreters of the Bible I do not patronize the Critical Whimsies of the Jewish Caballists They are exploded by all Men of Sence Yet there is a Medium between the Excess of that affected Niceness which has rendred the One Ridiculous and of that study'd Carelessness to which the Obscurity of the Other is owing As the Hebrews by pressing the Letters too close have squeez'd out Divine Chimaera's so the Christians in using too slack a Hand have scarce gain'd a gross Draught of Common Human Sence leaving the Genuine Elixir of the Writer's Meaning behind I will not lay much to the Charge of the Translators employ'd by Ptolomy Philadelphus King of Aegypt These were no Christians nor yet in the Number of those who Adored the Celestial Bodies and Elements Nor did any of them pay their Devotions at the same Altar with that Aegyptian Monarch who was a Worshipper of the God Serapis But they were Jews Seventy or Two more in Number as the Tradition goes And being every one Commanded severally to Translate those
Surplusage of Happiness Which thou wilt not fail to possess if thou inheritest the Vertues of that Bassa as well as his Office May his Soul now taste the Reward of his Just Life And I doubt not but he has made an happy Experience of my Wishes He sits down in Quiet under the Trees of Eden His Head encompass'd with a Garland of Flowers which never fade Vested with the Immarcescible Crimson and Purple of Paradise He reposes on his Bed of Delights whilst Beautiful Pages serve him in Vessels of Gold set round with Sapphires and Emeralds He drinks the delectable Wine which never Inebriates and eats of the Fruits every Morsel of which prolongs his Life for a Thousand Ages He hears Nothing but the Voices of such as are full of Benediction and Joy The Virgins of Paradise salute him with a Grace which cannot be express'd They chaunt to the New-come Guest Songs of Immortal Love To the Stranger from Earth they tell their Passion in Strains which ravish his Heart He is dissolv'd in a Thousand Ecstasies This is the Reward of a Pious Mussulman a Wise Minister a Just Judge of the Faithful Follow his Example and thou shalt be translated into his Company For he is in a Goodly Place near the Spring-Head of Perfect Bliss Thou wilt expect some News from me as a Testimony of my Respect And I cannot pretend there is none stirring at a Juncture when all this Part of the World is so full of Action or at least of Counsels Here has been great Rejoicings lately for the taking of St. Menehoud a Strong Town in the Hands of the Prince of Conde All the Officers of the French King's Army endeavour'd to dissuade him from the Siege of this Place but Cardinal Mazarini over-rul'd their Arguments and having reprov'd their groundless Fears caus'd it to be invested and attacqu'd the 22d of the 10th Moon Some say he had a Party there Yet it held out till the 27th of the last Moon at which Time it was surrender'd upon Articles to the King who was there in Person with his Brother the young Duke of Anjou the Queen the Cardinal and the whole Court They return'd to this City the Ninth of this present Moon They were receiv'd with great Acclamations and seeming Joy by those who wou'd have triumph'd more heartily had they been defeated or forc'd to raise the Siege For the Citizens of Paris wish well to the Prince of Conde's Arms Not so much out of Love to him as in Hatred of his Enemy the Cardinal-Minister And they are sensible that this Successful Siege will redound wholly to the Cardinal's Honour by whose sole Orders the Place was invested It is discours'd as if this Minister has some new Design on Foot to conquer the Kingdom of Naples This is certain a Mighty Fleet is fitting out to Sea Whither bound no Man knows but those of the Cabinet among whom the Cardinal is Chief In the mean while the Common People listen after certain Prodigies that have been seen in the Air. They say a Flaming Sword appear'd lately to rise in the North and take its Course South-Eastward From whence People make various Prognosticks as their Passions or Interests inspire ' em Some are of Opinion it presages the Conquest of Naples by this King 's Arms. Others apply it to the New Common-Wealth of England and to the Victorious Sword of Oliver who from General of the English Army is now in this very Moon exalted to the Height of Sovereign Power Governing the Nations of England Scotland and Ireland under the Title of their Protector Here are divers of his Subjects in this City and other English Scots and Irish who embrace the Interest of Charles the Son of their late Murder'd King who has been since Crown'd King of the Scots They give a different Character of Oliver yet all agree that he is a Wise Statesman and a Great General The Scotch King's Party speak contemptibly of Oliver's Birth and Education Yet thou know'st this hinders not but he may be a Man of Courage and Vertue They relate many odd Passages of his Youth which seem to me so many Evidences of an extraordinary Genius and that he is a Person of a deep Reach He tamper'd with several Religious Factions in England counterfeiting an Exquisite Piety whereby he first rais'd himself a Name among the Zealots of that Nation who look'd upon him there as a very Holy Person and one mark'd out by Destiny for Great Undertakings He soon got a Considerable Command in the Army of the Revolters Where he signaliz'd himself by many brave Actions which spoke him a Man of an Invincible Courage and Admirable Conduct So that at Length none was thought more fit than he to be General In fine he acquitted himself so gallantly in that High Office and has so wrought himself into the Affections of the People that they now look upon him as a Prophet or Saviour and the Divan or Parliament of that Nation have conferr'd on him the Sovereign Authority Those of the English which are Affected to his Interest speak Great Things in his Praise They call him another Moses or Joshua They prefer him to Hannibal Scipio and even to the Great Alexander It is difficult for them to speak of him without Hyperbole's 'T is said the King of France will court his Friendship Indeed all the Neighbouring Countries stand in Awe of this successful Hero And the Hollanders who are the only People that durst engage in a War with the English Common-Wealth now seek for Peace since he is invested with the Supreme Authority In the mean Time the Poor Exil'd King of the Scots takes Sanctuary in this Court with his Mother the Late Queen of England and his Brother whom they call the Duke of York The French King allows them all very Considerable Pensions And the Latter has some Command in the Army in Flanders There is another Brother also but little talk'd of as yet being the Youngest of the Three They are Generously entertain'd here it being the peculiar Honour of this Court to be a Hospitable Refuge to Princes in Distress Yet Observing Men say The King will in Time grow Weary of his Royal Guests It being very Chargeable to maintain them and their Burdensome Retinue Besides he will have some Reason of State to discard them if he enters into a League with Oliver the New English Sovereign who is courted on all Hands Eliachim the Jew of whom thou wilt hear in the Divan is just come into my Chamber and brings me Word that there is an Express newly arriv'd who informs the Queen of a Defeat given to the Spaniards near a City call'd Rozes which they had besieg'd in Catalonia The French were going to the Relief of this Place and the Spaniards set upon them in their March but were beaten into their Trenches from whence they fled by Night leaving Three Hundred Spaniards on the Spot almost Two Thousand Prisoners and all their
And if Naturalists speak Truth 't was a Hundred Years a growing to these Dimensions as many in a Fix'd and Flouri●hing Condition and that it will not take up a less Time in decaying to its last Rottenness They say also That an Elephant the Biggest and Strongest of all the Beasts on the Earth lives Two Hundred Years and continues encreasing in its Stature the greatest Part of that Term. The like they relate of Crocodiles and Dragons But not to tire thee with Examples of this Nature let us consider that whatsoever is great and durable among Men whatsoever is Illustrious and Excellent is slow in the Production and makes not hasty Leaps to Maturity View all the Monarchies that have made so much Noise on Earth and thou wilt find that in Proportion to the Time of their Growing Greatness was the Term of their Duration How swift was the Rise and Fall of the Persian Empire Equally precipitate was that of the Macedonians None could ever boast of so Permanent and Universal a Sway as the City of Rome of which it is commonly said Rome was not built in a Day To come nearer Home How Lasting and perpetually Victorious is the Sacred Empire of the Mussulmans Yet it took its First Rise from very small Beginnings met with frequent Repulses and has made a slow Progression to the present Formidable Height of Sovereign Power it now possesses For thou know'st This is the Thousand'th Sixtieth and Third Year since the Holy Flight of the Messenger of God What I have said may be apply'd with Proportion to Men's Personal Advances in the Honours and Fortunes of this World Be content therefore with the Seasons wherein Destiny shall think fit to raise thee and strive not to out-run thy Fate All the News I can tell thee is That Cardinal Mazarini return'd the 13th of the last Moon from his Second Banishment Which thou mayst report for a Truth to the Ministers of State We are all Exiles here on Earth God restore us to a Region more Agreeable and admit us to the Caresses of our Friends in Paradise Paris the 25th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1653. LETTER XIII To Kerker Hassan Bassa THE Blessings of God and his Prophet descend upon thee from a Thousand Sources Thou art a true Friend and our whole Family are oblig'd to thee for Favours which have no Number But none more than my Brother and I. Our Engagements to thee are Equal since what Kindness thou hast shew'd to him in recommending him to the Sultan's Favour and to a Place of Honour and Profit I take as done to my self we being Naturally sharers in each others Prosperity or Adverse Fortu●● For such is the Method of strict Relations and Friendships And I have a particular Reason to thank thee because it was at my Instance thou promoted'st him Yet tho he is my Brother I should not be so Partial as to say these Things in his Behalf did I not know him to be a Man of Merit For Places of Trust ought not to be bestowed for Favour or Affection We are bound to sacrifice all Private Regards to the Interest of the Grand Signior And not act like the French who get Offices of the Greatest Importance many Times by being of a Faction or Party opposite to their King Since the Return of Cardinal Mazarini to this Court which was in the foregoing Moon the King has reform'd many Abuses of this Kind He begins to feel his own Strength and Authority every Day more and more In the Moon of December dy'd Cardinal Richlieu's Brother who was Bishop of Lyons and Grand Almoner of France The King has bestow'd these Honours on Cardinal Antonio Barberini who took Sanctuary in this Court from the Persecutions of the Present Roman Pontiff almost Ten Years ago He has always espoused the King of France's Interests in Rome And the grateful Monarch receiv'd him with much Affection and as an Additional Honour has made him a Knight of the Holy Spirit This is the Chiefest Order of Knighthood in France It is freshly reported here that the Duke of Newburgh a Great Prince in Germany is dead They talk also of certain Prodigies that have been lately seen in England Ireland and other Parts of Europe As Raining of warm Blood Tin and Copper And 't is affirm'd for certain That Three Suns were lately seen at Dublin the Chief City of Ireland There has been a Sea-Combat between the English and Hollanders on the Coasts of Italy Wherein they say the Dutch had the Victory having sunk Two of their Enemies Ships and taken One without any Considerable Loss on their own Side Here is no other News stirring at present worth the Knowledge of a Mussulman Grandee The Eyes of all the Western Nazarenes are fix'd on that Refuge of the World where thou residest and on the Actions of our Invincible Vizir in Candia They discourse of some Overtures of Peace which that Great General has made to the Venetians if they will forthwith surrender the City of Candia to the Victorious Osmans If this be true one would think so great Clemency must needs tempt the Proud Infidels to Submission and Compliance But if Destiny has otherwise Decreed I wish they may feel the Force of our Arms which appear more keen than even the Soythe of Time that Devourer of all Things Paris 27th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1653. LETTER XIV To Nathan Ben Saddi a Jew at Vienna THY last Letter speaks thee at once willing to be Enlightened yet Tenacious of thy Old Prepossessions I wonder not at the Difficulty thou findest in shaking off the Precepts of thy Rabbi's those Religious Triflers The Influence of Education is forcible as that of our Birth And the Habits that are rooted in us in our Tender Years are harder to be displanted than the Inhorent Affections of our Blood This is signify'd by the Arabian Proverb which says The Tutors of Youth have an Ascendant over the Stars of their Nativity I know it has been esteem'd the peculiar Glory of thy Nation that you have been Rigid Observers of the Traditions of your Fathers From which rather than deviate a Title there have not been wanting such as freely expos'd themselves and have bravely endur'd Racks Scourgings Burnings and all Sorts of Torments even the most exquisitely cruel Deaths that the Malice of Tyrants cou'd invent But do not I know also that in some of the most Weighty Points of your Law your Zeal has exceeded your Prudence I speak not of the private Bigotry of one Man or a few but of the Representative Body of your Whole Nation How foolishly Superstitious were your Armies in the Days of Mattathias when being assaulted by their Enemies on the Sabbath Day they refus'd to draw a Sword in their own Defence and so were all cut off by the Army of Antiochus This is no Invidious Remark of your Adversaries in Religion but the Observation of Josephus a Man of the same Faith
Holy Prophet when the whole Army of the Primitive Mussulmans was like to have perish'd of Thirst And then how will the Western Philosophers dispose of all the Vapours which they say are Exhal'd from this Globe and afterwards Condens'd into Clouds I tell thee that 's but a Loose Notion of such Retentive Bodies as the Clouds seem to be And 't wou'd tempt one to ask What the Vessels are made of which hold those Condens'd Exhalations so that they do not fall at once upon our Heads and overwhelm us but only destil in small successive Showers Drop by Drop to refresh the Barren Parts of the Earth and serve the Necessities of Men And why the Rains fall in the Indies and other Regions of the East whole Moons together without Intermission the Rest of the Year being dry Whereas in other Countries the Periods of the Weather's Alteration are uncertain and in some Parts it seldom or never rains at all Doubtless the Works of the Omnipotent are Inscrutable And tho' it may be an Argument of a great Wit to give Ingenious Reasons for many Wonderful Appearances in Nature yet 't is an Evidence of small Piety or Judgment to be positive in any Thing but the Acknowledgment of our own Ignorance Now I have made as Wide an Excursion from my first Discourse as the Moulia did who began an Oration in Praise of Noah's Ark and ended with telling a Tale of an Armenian Wheel-Barrow But I will not forget that I was speaking of the Promise which the Rotterdam Enginier has made of his Machine That it shou'd Effectually break all the Force of Spouts which wou'd render him very Serviceable to Merchants as a Convoy to defend them from those Terrible Bug bears to Sailers For the Corsair tells me that these Spouts very often occasion Ship-wrecks either by entangling the Masts of a Ship and so overturning it or by breaking in the Encounter overwhelm it with water and so sink it He says likewise that the Christian Pyrates are accustom'd to use a certain Charm against these Spouts They have a Knife whose Haft is made of the Bone of a Man's Right Arm And every Vessel is bound to provide One or Two of these Knives when they loose from the Shore They buy 'em of certain Persons who have the Character of Magicians And when they see a Spout at some Distance from 'em at Sea the Master of the Vessel or any Body else takes this Enchanted Knife in his Right Hand and holding the Book of their Gospel in his Left reads some Part of it And when he comes to a certain Versicle which mentions the Incarnation of their Messiah he makes a Motion with his Knife towards the Spout as if he wou'd cut it in Two Whereupon immediately the Spout breaks in the Middle and all the inclos'd Water falls into the Sea But I tell thee he who gives Credit to the Stories of Charms or the Projects of Men pretending to excell all the Rest of their Race has more Faith than is requisite to him who reads Aesop's Fables since in perusing that Ingenious Figment we are only desired to believe the MORAL 'T is thought by some That this Enginier will by the Natural Clockwork of his Heels be much more nimble than his Vessel in flying the Disgrace which will attend him if his Phantastick Project prove unsuccessful In my next thou shalt hear of Pachicour Paris 12th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1653. LETTER XVIII To Murat Bassa THE English at present make the greatest Figure and Noise of all the Nations in the West Spain Portugal and even France it self court the Friendship of that Island since the Inhabitants have form'd themselves into a Commonwealth It appears as if the English were but newly awaken'd to a Sence of their own Strength and by thus rouzing themselves had alarm'd all their Neighbours However it be This King has sent an Embassador to the English Court to break the Negotiation of the Spaniards there and to establish a Peace between England and France if possible One cannot tell what to make of the Maxims of these Infidels For at the same Time the Banish'd Heir of the English Crown takes his Sanctuary in this Court Where he is caress'd and made to believe Great Things they will do toward his Restauration But Interest supersedes all Arguments of Affection and Consanguinity They are more sollicitous here for the Success of their Embassy than for the Right of the poor Exil'd Prince He is call'd the King of Scotland having been solemnly Crown'd in that Kingdom since the Death of his Father And entring into England with an Army of Scots was routed and having narrowly escaped the Trains that were laid for his Liberty and Life at length landed in this Kingdom where he has been entertain'd with much seeming Affection But the Dread they are under of the Victorious New English Commonwealth makes 'em begin to talk of his Departure from hence The Prince of Conde has taken Rocroy Which was the first Place where he signaliz'd his Arms and the Infant-Reign of this King about Ten Years ago Which the Superstitious interpret as an Omen of Ill Luck to the King This Sort of People are led by Maxims void of Reason And so there is no Regard to be given to their Observations Yet some of the Wiser Sort think this will prove a long War That which amuses People most is the small Concern the Prince of Conti and the Dutchess of Longueville shew for their Brother's Cause For while the King was on his March against the Prince of Conde they came and submitted themselves to him and were received to Favour Those who are apt to suspect an Intrigue in every Thing say That this Reconciliation is only feigned on their Part it being a Means to serve their persecuted Brother with greater Security and Success Others are of Opinion that it is Real especially on the Prince of Conti's Part Since he and his Brother had never any good Understanding There has been a Battle lately fought between the French and Spanish Forces in Italy Wherein the Spa●iards lost Twelve Hundred Men and the French above Half that Number of their best Soldiers So that the King of France may say with a Famous General Victories attended with so little Advantage will ruine rather than enlarge an Empire Bassa in the midst of thy Grandeur I wish thee Health which sweetens the Worst Events As for me I 'm like one hovering between Two Worlds Paris 15th of the 9th Moon of the Year 1653. LETTER XIX To Afis Bassa THE Gods of the Nazarenes one wou'd think were studying how to perplex their Adorers These Western Parts abound with Prodigies and Surprizing Events More especially the Low Countries feel the Strokes of a Hand which by making ' ern smart seems to put 'em in Mind They 're too high in their own Conceit For several Weeks we have been alarm'd from thence with the Tragical Stories of Ship-wrecks