TO THE Great TURK AND HIS KING AT ARGIERS TOGETHER WITH A Postscript of George Pattison's taking the TURKS and setting them on their own Shoar LONDON Printed for Ben. â—lark in George-yard in Lumbard-street 1680. TO THE Great TURK And his King at ARGIERS IN the Name of the great God and Lord Creator and King of all things in Heaven and Earth do I write unto you And I do take Enoch Noah Abraham and Lot and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Moses and David and all the Prophets of the Great and most High Dreadful and Terrible God who is a consuming Fire to the Wicked and John as you say in your Alcoran pag. 30. chap 33. I say John the Son of Zachariah that did affirm Christ to be the Messiah and to be the Word of God that great and chaste just Prophet and Mary the Mother of Jesus Christ with all his Holy Apostles and your own Mahomet that writ your Alcoran to be Witness against you and some of your practises that is practised amongst you at the dreadful day of Judgment of the great God when you shall all give an Account of your Words Deeds and Actions and be rewarded who will reward every man according to his works whether they be good or evil For I say of a Truth That the great God and Lord of Heaven and Earth and all things therein is no respecter of Persons but in every Nation he that fears God and worketh Righteousness is accepted of him And now O great Turk and the King of Argier I have something here to present before you And my desires are That you may read hear and fear the Great and Terrible Righteous Holy and pure God And here as followeth you may see the Impiety and unchastness and the cruelties of some of your People at Argier against honest chaste People that serve and fear and worship the most high God which you have taken Captive I say you have taken their Ships their Goods and some you keep Slaves some till they have died and others you have sold for Slaves many people of the most high God in scorn called Quakers besides great numbers of other English people and people of other Nations cruelly Opprest and inhumanely used by you Did ever Mahomet give you Authority to rob spoil and take the Goods of them that do you no harm and keep Captives the bodies of them and sell them or to beat upon the feet belly or back them which are so taken to make them promise more money for their Ransoms than they are able Or to beat upon the feet with one or two or three hundred blows and hang up by the heels and beat them which you have taken Captives because they refuse to lye with your men as a man lyeth with a Woman And is it not contrary to your very wild Bulls Horses Rams and He Goats and other wild Creatures and bruit Beasts And is it not declared against by the Mighty and Eternal God by Moses and all his holy Prophets who saith It is an Abomination to lie with mankind as with Woman kind and such men as commit these Abominations have defiled the Land and God will spue them out And such Emperours Kings and Magistrates as wink at and suffer such wicked Abominations and Impieties the great God will bring his Judgments and Vengeance upon them For the Eternal Holy Lord God Almighty saith who is of purer eyes than to behold Iniquity If any man lyeth with mankind as he lyeth with Women both of these men have committed Abomination they shall surely be both put to Death their Blood shall be upon them for all such defile Gods Land and Earth and for such Iniquities will the mighty God visit your Land For he is the mighty God to see all your actions ways and doings and hears all your words and sees all your thoughts and you can turn your selves no way from the eye and face of God nor from his hearing your words nor seeing your thoughts Now would you to wit the Great Turk and the King of Argiers or any of your Subjects be so served your selves if you should be so taken Captive to be hanged up by the heels and beaten with two or three hundred stripes because you esteem Vertue Piety and Chastity and not be forced to lye with other men as you lye with Women could you undergo such punishment as you inflict upon some of our Chast people because they will not submit to such abominable impieties as some of your Subjects would force upon them that you have now in Captivity And would you think it were just according to the Law of the great God and your own Alcoran if you were taken Captive and your Goods spoiled and to be beaten upon the belly back on feet to get more mony than you are able to be give for the Redemption out of your Captivity and is not this contrary to the Just Law of the great and holy God and contrary to his Prophets yea and contrary to Mahomet that gave forth the Alcoran Or did those which took Lot Abraham's Friend and his company Captive beat them because they would not lye with men as with Women Or where did ever David or any of the Prophets of God force any that they had taken Captive to lye with man as with Woman as you have done And do not you remember that when some of your Men of War took George Pattison Captive who was a Quaker and his Ship and his Men and after they conquered them again without hurting of them and took them Captive and when they had done set them on the Turkish Shoar without hurting of them as may be seen in the Postcript And where did ever any of the Turkish Men of War do so to the English or to the Quakers but on the contrary you beat them to get more mony than they are able to give you and because they will not lye with your men as they do with Women and this practice of yours is neither moral nor humane but worse than Beasts and so do contrary to the Law of the great God in that you do that to others which you would not have others do unto you Now Mahomet saith in your Alcoran chap. 15. pag. 161. When the Messengers of the great Eternal God were sent to destroy the Infidels of Sodom which came to Lot's House and the Inhabitants of the City came to Lot's House to see the Messengers And Lot said unto them I beseech you defile not your selves with my Guests Fear God and dishonour not your selves and how that Lot said behold my two Daughters take them and the Inhabitants said we do not hinder thee to lodg thy Guests and how that the Inhabitants remained confounded in their Drunkenness and that God overthrew the City and turned it upside down and caused it to Rain with Stones and Fire which utterly destroyed it who were so impious And this shall serve for an Example to
in the same chap. p. 11. I say then according to your own Alcoran God hath not been your Guide to be so wicked against the Slaves you take And as for your Alms and Charity to them is manifest but cold But where did any called Christians after they had taken any of you Turks beat you because you would not give them more mony than you had and because you would not lie with Men as with Women And if God be full of goodness for the people as Mahomet saith c. 10. p. 130. then you are degenerated from his Goodness And again in c. 11. p. 134. Mahomet saith That God shall reward every one according to his Works And therefore why do not you dread and fear this great God of Heaven and Earth And c. 11. p. 140. Mahomet saith detain nothing from your Neighbours defile not the Earth c. Then how can you detain mens Children and Servants and Goods from them and beat them because they will not give you more Mony than they have to redeem them and hang them up by the heels and beat them because they will not lie with Men as with Women O horrible Impieties And did not God destroy such both in the day of Noah Abraham Lot and Moses that did corrupt and defile the Earth And c. 12. p. 144. How Joseph's Mistress would have had him to have been unchast and how amorous she was of Joseph her Husband's Slave and how that Joseph said O God I had rather be a Prisoner than do what she desireth Now here Do not you act contrary to Joseph and your own Alcoran who would force your Captives to lie with you as with Women Is not this worse then Joseph's Mistress who would not only force but beat them with some hundreds of Stripes because they will not submit to your inhumane Impieties and unchaste wicked Lusts For our Friends that are your Captives are of Joseph's Spirit that obey the Law of the most high God And you say that Joseph's Mistress did confess he was a just man but Joseph would not be a Traytor to his Master No more can the People of God called Quakers your Slaves in Argier be Traytors to God and disobey his just Laws that condemns such unchaste inhumane Impieties that you Turks would force in Argier to lie with Men as with Women they had rather be Prisoners all the days of their Lives And therefore as Mahomet saith c. 19. p. 188 That all such Infidels for Actions For as you confess You must all appear before the Lord at the Day of Judgment and give an account of your actions And could the old World and Sodom be more vicious than you that do such wicked Actions And Mahomet saith chap. 21. pag. 200. That David and Salomon who rendred Justice in the Field that the Flocks of the Village entred by night without Shephards Now are not you fallen and degenerated from this Justice both of David and Solomon that the Flocks cannot enter the Villages without Shepherds and Guides let the Great God of Truth judge And therefore what will you say in the day of Judgement when the Prophets and your own Alcoran will be against you for will not you that act such things be found Fire-brands of Hell and how can such expect the Lords Protection and therefore the great God will call you to an account for all your actions and all men upon the earth who transgress his good and holy Just Law and if the God of Truth be King of the whole Earth as you confess in your Alcoran chap. 23. pag. 212 and the Creator of all and King of all things both in Heaven and Earth then how dare you act such unchast unjust things and be such Wicked Rebels against his Commandment and Just Law and therefore the Ballance of the Cursed as you confess shall be light of good Works that obeys not the Commandments of God And Mahomet saith chap. 29. page 245. how God delivered Abraham from the People that would have killed him but if you were in the steps and Faith of Abraham or Lot you would not defile your selves with filthiness and do not you confess That Lot said to them of Sodom ye defile your selves with filthiness unknown to any before you and told them they inclined to the love of men ye rob in the high-ways and defile one another Now have not you Turks forgotten Lots Preaching and degenerated from your own Alcoran and are become Robbers and to follow that unknown filthiness with which you defile your selves to wit the Lust of men that you beat those men which you have robb'd and spoyl'd and taken Captive because they will not lye with your men as Women And therefore how can you expect but that Gods Wrath and Indignation will fall upon you for your impieties and you to be set forth for examples to Posterity whom the Devil hath seduced from the right way of the Lord and of his righteous law who neither follows your own Mahomet what he hath declared but the vanities of Infidelity and fears not God his Divine Majesty nor regard his Law but have contemned his Commandments And therefore Mahomet saith chap. 51. pag. 326. such as fear not God and do not believe shall be punished in Hell fire And again Mahomet saith chap. 59. pag. 344. In the Name of God gracious and merciful whatsoever is in Heaven and Earth exalts the Glory of God he is Omnipotent and Wise It is he that exiles the Wicked from among them that knoweth his Law Then here are not you the Wicked that are exiled that disobey his Law and commit such abominable things and therefore you cannot exalt Gods Glory neither are you gracious nor merciful that do thus beat and abuse your Captives because they will not lye with men as Women yea 2 or 300 Stripes and to give more mony for their Redemption than they are able to give and therefore such Wickedness as yours doth dishonour the great God and you will be made the examples of his Wrath and suffer the pains of Hell fire except ye repent as Mahomet saith chap. 67. pag. 356. And therefore do not streng then your selves in Impiety nor put your Fingers in your Ears and stop them and cover your Head with your Garments that you will neither hear nor see Gods Law as Mahomet tells you which reproves you for your Impieties who are erred from the right way of the Lord that do commit such things And c. 93. p. 385. Mahomet tells you how the Lord inriches you and that you should do no injury to the Orphans and that you should not devour the poor but that you should recount the Graces that God hath conferred upon you Now are not you Turks degenerated not only from the Law of God but from Mahomet's teaching in his Alcoran Do not ye devour the poor Orphans who you take Captive and injure them when you beat them because they will not give you more mony
Spirit and the Truth in their own hearts which they have from the God of Truth if they do serve and worship the holy and eternal God of Truth in his Spirit and Truth and these are the true Worshippers that Worship the Eternal God of Truth in his Spirit and Truth which the Devil which is the foul corrupt Spirit is out of who abode not in the Truth and there is no Truth in him therefore he is not to be followed nor worshipped but the God of Truth and the Grace of God which brings Salvation hath appeared to all men which teacheth us his people to deny Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts we living Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Now all men must come to this Grace of God in their hearts which appears to them in their hearts which shews them their Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and their unrighteousness and it will teach them to forsake it and bring their Salvation but if that you do turn this Grace of God into wantonness and walk despightfully against the Spirit of Grace you walk in despight of that which should bring your Salvation then you bring the Wrath and Indignation of the great God against you who abuse his Grace and Favour and the Messiah and you and Mahomet do consess that John declares Christ the Messiah to be the Word then you are to obey him Moreover John saith That he was not that Light but sent to bear Witness of that Light and that was the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the World Now you all being enlightened with this true Light which Light lets you see all your evil deeds and actions that you do and all your evil words and thoughts that you speak and think And every one of you that doth Truth cometh to the Light that your Deeds may be manifest they are wrought in God from whom they have this Light in whom there is no Darkness but every one of you that doth evil hateth the light then you hate Jesus Christ and the Eternal God neither will you come to the light lest your Deeds should be reproved by the light and this is the Condemnation That Light is come into the World and men love Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds be Evil. Now if you would do the Truth and come to the Light and love it it shines in your hearts and would give you the Light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and then you would know this Heavenly Treasure in your Earthen Vessels and the excellency of this power to be of God and not of your selves And you do confess That Jesus Christ was not begotten by the Will of man who was Conceived of Mary and that she should Conceive and bring forth without the touching of man and he being Conceived by the Holy Spirit then whose Son can he be but Gods who taught him the Scriptures and the mysteryes of the Laws of the Old Testament and the Gospel who was a Prophet to the Children of Israel as you confess in your Alcoran chap. 3. pag. 34. So he was declared to be Gods Son in the power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the Dead for all Died in Adam and he tasted Death for every man and is risen for the Just fication of all that believe in him the true Light of the Eternal God And now all ye Turks and all People upon the earth God who is Immortal Eternal and Invisible he has poured out of his Spirit upon you all but if you do grieve it and vex and rebel and err from and against his good Spirit then you go from Gods Law and that which doth Witness for him which is his Spirit in your hearts which is a Witness for the King of Kings yea the great King of Heaven and Earth I say this Witness doth Witness for the great God who will Judge the World in Righteousness according to this Witness and the Secrets of every mans heart he by his Spirit doth shew unto man his Thoughts and the Imaginations of his heart and searches the Heart and tryes the Reins and all things are naked and open to him who is a Consuming Fire to the Wicked Now this Spirit of the God of Truth which he hath poured upon all flesh of men and women it is a Witness against you for the pure God for all your unrighteous and ungodly impious actions and your bad Thoughts and Words and whatever you do or act that is unjust and unholy and for what you do to others you would not have done to you the Holy Spirit of the great God of Truth is a Witness against you It was a Witness against Adam and the Old World that disobeyed him it was a Witness against the Jews and it is a Witness against all Christians that walk not in it and Turks and all people upon the earth and they that are led by the good Spirit of God are his Children Sons and Daughters and therefore prize your time while you have it ye Turks and others and mind Gods good Spirit and his Light and Grace which will bring your Salvation that you may come into favour with the God of Truth From him whose Love is to God and Jesus Christ the Just and Holy One and all his Holy Prophets and Apostles and all People upon the Earth for their Salvation and desires their Eternal Good and Happiness and not any mans Destruction G. Fox Kingston upon Thames the 16 of the fifth month 1680. POSTSCRIPT Of George Pattisons taking the Turks about the 8 Month 1663. Dear Friend THine I have received In Answer to thy request I have given thee an Account as well and as near as I can but as to the exact time I cannot for I have not my Books I was George Pattisons Mate and coming from Venice being near a Spanish Island called May-York we were Chased by a Turkish Ship or Patah as sometimes before we had been and thinking by our Vessels well Sailing might escape But Providence Ordered it so That by carrying over-much Sail some of our Materials gave way by which means the said Turk came up with us and commanded the Master on Board who accordingly went with four men more leaving me and three men and a boy on board our Ship and so soon as our men came on Board the Turk they took them all out of the Boat and came about 14 Turks in our Boat All which time I was under a very great Exercise in Spirit not so much for my self because I had a secret hope of relief but a great stress lay upon me for the men in this very Juncture of time for all hope of outward appearance being then gone the Master being on board of the Turk and four more and the Turks just coming on Board I being as one even as if I were or were not only desiring of the Lord for patience in such
an Exercise and going to the Vessel side to see the Turks come in the Word of Life run through me Be not afraid for all this thou shalt not go to Argier And I having formerly good experience of the Lords doing upon several such like occasions as in times of War I believed what the Lord did say in me At this all kind of fear was taken from me and I received them as a man might his Friend and they were as Civil so shewing them all parts of the Vessel and what she was laden withal then I said to them that were our men Be not afraid for I believe for all this we shall not go to Argier but let me desire you as you have been willing to obey me so be as willing to obey the Turks For by our so doing I saw we got over them for when they saw our great diligence it made them careless of us I mean in securing of us So when they had taken some small matter of what we were laden withal some went on Board their own Ship again and some staid with us which were about eight Then began I to think of the Master and the other four which were in the Turks Ship for as for my self and the other with me I had no fear at all Nay I was so far from it That I said to one then Were but the Master on Board and the rest if there were twice so many Turks I should not fear them So my earnest desire was to the Lord That he would put it into their hearts to send him on board with the rest and good was the Lord in answering for it was as a Seal to what he before spoke through me As soon as the Master was on Board with the rest all manner of fear was off on me as to my going to Argier and some said to me I was a strange man I was afraid before I was taken but now I was taken I was not my Answer was I now believe I shall not go to Argier and if you will be ruled by me I will act for your delivery as well as my own But as yet I saw no way made for they were all Arm'd and we without Arms. Now we being altogether except the Master I began to reason with them What if we should overcome the Turks and go to May York At which they very much rejoyced and one said I will kill one or two another said I will cut as many of their Throats as you will have me this was our mens Answer At which I was much troubled and said unto them If I knew any of them that offered to touch a Turk I would tell the Turks my self But said to them If you will be rul'd I will act for you if not I will be still to which they agreed to do what I would have them Then said I if the Turks bid you do any thing do it without grumbling and with as much diligence and quickness as you can for I see that pleases them and that will cause them to let us be together To which they agreed Then I went to the Master who was a man of a very bold Spirit and told him our Intents whose Answer to me was If we offered to rise and they overcame us we had as good be burnt alive the which I knew very well But I could get him no way to adhere to me in that he being fearful of Blood-shed for that was his reason Insomuch that at last I told him we were resolved and I questioned not to do it without one drop of Blood spilt and I believed that the Lord would prosper it by reason I could rather go to Argier than to kill a Turk So at last he agreed to this to let me do what I would Provided we killed none at that time there being still two Turks lying in the Cabin with him So that he was to lie in the Cabin that by his being there they should mistrust nothing which accordingly he did And having bad Weather and lost the Company of the Man of War the Turks seeing our diligence made them careless of us So the second night after the Captain was gone to sleep I perswaded one to lye in my Cabin and so one in another till at last it raining very much I perswaded them all down to sleep and when asleep got their Arms in Possession Then said I to the men of our Vessel Now have we the Turks at our Command no man shall hurt any of them for if you do I will be against you But this we will do now they are under we will keep them so and go to May-York So when I had ordered some to keep the Doors if any should come out straightly charging the spilling of no Blood and so altered our Course for May York the which in the Morning we were fair by So my Order was to our men if any offer'd to come out not to let out above one at a time And in the morning one came out expecting to have seen their own Country but on the contrary it was May-York Now said I to our men be careful of the Door for when he goes in we shall see what they will do And as soon as he told them we were going towards May York they instead of rising fell all to crying for their hearts were taken from them So they desired they might not be sold the which I promised they should not So soon as I had pacified them then I went in to the Master he not yet knowing what was done and so he told their Captain what we had done how that we had over-come his men and that we were going for May York At which unexpected News he Wept and desired the Master not to sell him the which he promised he would not Then we told the Captain we would make a place to hide them in where the Spaniards should not find them at which they were very glad and we did accordingly So when we came in the Master went on Shoar with four more and left me on board with the Turks which were ten And when he had done his business not taking Product lest the Spaniards should come and see the Turks But at Night an English Master came on Board being an Acquaintance and after some Discourse we told him if he would not betray us we would tell him what we had done but we would not have the Spaniards to know it lest they should take them from us The which he promis'd but broke it and would fain have had two or three of them to have brought them for England but we saw his end And when he saw he could not prevail he said they were worth two or three hundred pieces of eight a piece Whereat both the Master and I told him if they would give many Thousands they should not have one for we hoped to send them home again So he looked upon us as Fools because we would not sell them the which I would not have done for the whole Island But contrary to our expectations he told the Spaniards who threatned to take them from us but so soon as we heard thereof we called out all the Turks and told them they must help us for the Spaniards would take them from us So they resolvedly helped us and we made all haste to run from the Spaniards the which pleased the Turks very well So we put our selves to the hazard of the Turks and being taken again to save them So we continued about six or seven days not being willing to put into any Port of Spain for fear of losing of the Turks We let them have all their liberty for four days till they made an attempt to rise the which I foresaw and prevented without any harm I was very Courteous to them at the which some of our men grumbled saying I had more Care of the Turks than them My Answer was They are Strangers I must treat them well At last I told the Master it might do well to go to the Turks Coast for there it was more likely to miss their Men of War than where we were and also it might fall out so that we might have an opportunity to put the Turks on Shoar To which the Master agreed And in two days we were near the Turks Shore at a place called Cape hone about Fifty Miles from Argier as the Turks told us So when we came about six miles from the Shore it fell calm and I had very much working in my mind about getting them ashore At last I went to the Master and told him I had a great desire to put the Turks on Shore but how I knew not for to give them the Boat they might go and get Men and Arms and so take us again and to put half on Shoar they would raise the Country and surprise us when we came with the rest But if he would let me go and if three more would go with me I would venture to put them on Shoar to which he consented So then I spoke to the men and there were two more and my self and a Boy took in the 10 Turks all loose and went about six miles and put them on Shore in their own Countrey within about four miles of two Towns which they knew Withal we gave them about fifty Padas of Bread and other necessaries to Travel with They would fain have enticed us to go to the Towns telling us we should have Wines and many other things as to their parts I could have ventured with them They all embraced me very kindly in their Arms when they went ashore They made one Rising in the Boat when going ashore the which I prevented and we parted with a great deal of love When we came home to England the King came to the Vessels side and enquired an Account the which the Master gave him So this is as near as I can certifie thee I have writ thee more atlarge to give thee the whole as it was but thou mayst take what is the most material and so I rest thine in that which can do good for evil which ought to be the practice of all true men Thomas Lurting Liverpoole the 30 of the fifth month 1680. 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