his Predecessor And the same I must say to thee Darnish Mehemet Bassa is fall'n a Victim to the Rage of the Multitude and thou hast got his Seat on the Bench. May'st thou enjoy it long and never be Mob'd out of thy Honour and Life as he was Some Years ago he forbad me to write any more to him What his Reason was I know not neither did I ever enquire However I obey'd his Injunction being Indifferent to whom I send my Intelligence provided I do the Grand Signior any Service For to that End am I plac'd here Illustrious Bassa I shall now acquaint thee with Two the most Principal Points of News stirring in Europe One is the Election of Leopoldus Ignatius Josephus King of Hungary and Bohemia to the German Empire They have been canvasing this Business Eleven Moons And at last the Austrian Faction carried it This was done on the 8th of the 7th Moon And he was solemnly Crown'd on the 22d of the same This has height'ned the Quarrel between the Duke of Bavaria and the Prince Palatine The Latter was so far transported with Passion at the Diet of Frankford that he threw a Standish of Ink at the Bavarian Embassador Which is resented as an Unpardonable Affront And the Duke is marching with an Army to revenge it or demand Satisfaction The Elector of Mentz has deny'd him Passage through his Principality And they are all like to be embroil'd in a Civil War about it This is no bad News for the Mussulmans But that which makes yet a greater Noise is the Death of Oliver the Protector of the English Commonwealth who whilst Living was the Terror of all Europe The Superstitious and such as regard Signs say This was presag'd Three Moons ago when a Great Whale Nine Times as long as a tall Man was taken in a River of England near the Capital City Forty Miles from the Sea I know not whether these Kind of Observations are worthy of Credit Yet it seems the Annals of that Nation take Notice That the Unusual Appearance of a Whale so far within Land has always Prognosticated some Mighty Change Perhaps the Fate of Illustrious Personages affects Nature with a more than ordinary Passion puts the Elements into a Disorder and Inspires the Brutes with Sympathy We are assur'd that on the Day of this Prince's Death and at the very Hour of his Departure there was so Violent a Tempest of Wind Rain Hail Thunder and Lightning as had never been known by any Man then alive in that Nation Which some Interpreted to his Dishonour as if he were a Magician or at least a very Wicked Man And that this Hurricane was rais'd by the Devils who transported his Soul to Hell Whilst others affirm'd this Mix'd Storm to be only the Sighs and Tears of Nature the Mournful Passions of the Guardian Spirits of England for the Loss of so Great and Fortunate a Hero And that the very Inanimate Beings Condol'd his Death As for me I look on all these Things as pure Accidents the Effects of Chance I have an Equal Opinion of another Circumstance much observ'd both by his Enemies and Friends That he died on the same Day whereon he had formerly gain'd some Notable Victories The One descanting on this to his Reproach the Other drawing from it Arguments of Honour 'T is difficult to say any Thing of him without appearing Partial He had Great Vertues and no Less Vices He was a Valiant General and wise Statesman Yet a Traytor to his Sovereign As for Religion though he profess'd himself a Zealot yet 't is thought he was as Indifferent as other Princes who for Reasons of State and to please their People make a Shew of Piety but in their Hearts Adore no other Gods but Fortune and Victory He was esteem'd one of the Greatest Politicians of this Age and none cou'd match him but Mazarini Yet I cannot but smile when I call to Mind how both these Eminent Statesmen were cheated this Year by Two or Three Fugitives A certain French Captain nam'd Gentilot that had serv'd under the States of Holland in the Wars and on that Account had often pass'd through the Sea-Towns in Flanders observ'd a Weakness in one Part of the Walls of Ostend by which the Town mighty easily be surpriz'd At his Return to Paris he acquainted Cardinal Mazarini with this and gave him so great Encouragement that the Cardinal resolv'd to try some Stratagem in Order to gain that Important Place without the Cost and Hazards of a Formal Siege To this End he commands Gentilot to seek out some Persons fit to be engag'd in the Plot Men of Resolution Conduct and Secrecy This Captain therefore knowing Two or Three Fugitives in Paris who were forc'd to fly out of Flanders to save their Lives having committed Murders and other Crimes against the Spanish Government breaks the Business to them promising Mountains of Gold if they wou'd assist in carrying it on They seem'd to embrace his Proposals with Abundance of Readiness and were introduc'd into the Cardinal's Cabinet Where that Minister being satisfy'd in their Characters and the Offers they made to serve him in this Affair seconded the Promises which Gentilot had made 'em with many Additional Encouragements In a Word they consulted together frequently were late every Night in the Cardinal's Lodgings And at last having adjusted all the Necessary Measures that were to be taken the Fugitives were dispatch'd away into England with Letters from Mazarini to Oliver the English Protector Wherein he acquainted him with the Design requiring the Assistance of some English Ships to transport Men into the Haven of Ostend These Agents went accordingly but with a Resolution to put a Trick both on the Cardinal and the Protector and by doing their Country so Considerable a Service as the saving this Town to merit a Repeal of the Sentence pronounc'd against 'em that so they might return Home in Peace and enjoy their Estates and Native Liberty Oliver receiv'd 'em very kindly and embrac'd the Motion with some Warmth But upon Second Thoughts try'd to out-bribe Mazarini and hire these Persons for himself Ostend was too sweet-a Bait in his Eye to let it so tamely fall into the Hands of the French for Want of a few larger Promises and Offers of Gold Wherefore he ply'd these Agents briskly with all the Effectual Oratory he could to win 'em over to his own Separate Interest engaging to bestow Great Preferments on 'em in England with Two Hundred Thousand Sequins as soon as the Business was accomplished The Three Flemings desired no better Sport than thus to cajole Two the Ablest Statesmen in Europe They possessed Oliver with an Entire Belief of their Zeal and Fidelity in his Service And it was agree'd on between 'em To hold Mazarini in Play and that Oliver should send him an Answer refusing to meddle in an Intrigue which seemed to carry so little Probability of Success From England these Agents passed over
Workmanship Of Queen Christina's Entertainment at the French Court. VI. To Abrahim Eli Zeid Hogia Preacher to the Seraglio p. 86 He descants on the Covenant of Mahomet with the Christians Some Prophetick Passages of Mahomet A Story of a Black Image in Spain VII To Murat Bassa p. 191 Of the Death of the King of Portugal and the Coronation of his Son Of Count Harcourt's playing Fast and Loose with the French King And of the Mareschal de la Ferte's Bravery VIII To Hebatolla Mir Argun Superior of the Convent of Dervishes at Cogni in Natolia p. 194 He condoles the Death of Bedredin his Predecessor Sends him the True Effigies of the Messias With a short History of John the Baptist IX To Selim Al' Mosel Venerable Imaum of the Mosch of Santa Sophia p. 201 Of Columbus the First Discoverer of America And of the Destruction of Lima and Calao Two Cities in Peru by an Earthquake and Fire from Heaven X. To Mustapha Bassa p. 206 Of Ismael Bi r Couli Can the Persian Embassador at the Port. XI To Mehemet an Exil'd Eunuch in Egypt p. 210 He acquaints him with the Death of Solyman the Kuslir Aga. Of the Antiquity of the Pyramids King Saurid's Vision Another of Aclimon the High Priest He asserts the Eternity of the World XII To the most Venerable Mufti p. 220 He congratulates his Assumption to that Sacred Dignity Proposes the Advantage of Translating Histories into the Turkish Language And discourses of the Ancient Arabians and Scythians XIII To the Kaimacham p. 206 Of the German Emperour's Death The Ill State of the Empire The Factions of the Electors And Cardinal Mazarini's Aims XIV To Raba Mahomet General of the Ottoman Forces at his Camp near Adrianople p. 229 Of the Affairs of Babylon and the Persians Of the Troubles in Europe Of a Terrible Eruption of Fire from Mount Aetna in Sicily XV. To Cara Hali Physician to the Grand Signior p. 234 He descants on the Succession of Abu-Becre Omar and Othman the First Caliphs And seems to favour Hali the Prophet of the Persians XVI To Cara Mustapha Bassa p. 238 Of the Isle of Tenedos and the Trojan Wars Of Ajax's Folly in Killing himself Of Seventeen Spanish Ships of War burnt and sunk by the English under the Command of Admiral Blake With other Matters XVII To Nathan Ben Saddi a Jew at Vienna p. 243. Of the Quarrel between the Elector of Bavaria and Prince Palatine about the Vicarship of the Empire XVIII To Melech Amet. p. 247 Of Trances and Ecstasies A Story of Saleh an Indian Physician XIX To the Kaimacham p. 252 Of the Surrender of Montmedi to the French and the Speech of the Governor to the King Of the Turks Ill Successes in Candia XX. To Nathan Ben Saddi a Jew at Vienna p. 258 He relates in short the Life and Miracles of Mahomet XXI To Dicheu Hussein Bassa p. 264 Of a Quarrel between the French and Spanish Embassadors at the Hague With other Intelligence from Denmark Portugal Munster and the German Court. XXII To Dgnet Oglou p. 267 He complains of his Friends Reservedness and Silence Rebukes the Trivial Controversies of the Mussulmans And denies that God has a Body or Passions like us XXIII To the Aga of the Janizaries p. 273 Of the Suedes taking Fredericks-Ode by Storm An Interview of the King of Poland and Elector of Brandenburgh Of the taking of Mardike by the French and English BOOK IV. LETTER I. TO Cara Hali Physician to the Grand Signior p. 277 He discourses of Free Will and Predestination A Digression occasioned by a sudden Tempest of Thunder and Lightning II. To Mustapha Bassa p. 283 Of Queen Christina's Sentencing one of her Domesticks to Death And the Censure of the Civilians thereupon III. To Mustapha Berber Aga. p. 286 He acquaints him with the Birth of a Young Prince of Spain and the Extraordinary Magnificences exhibited by the Spanish Embassador at the Hague on this Occasion IV. To Pesteli Hali his Brother Master of the Grand Signior's Customs at Constantinople p. 289 Of his Mother Oucomiche and of Isouf his Cousin Of the Pyramids and Mummies With some Remarks on the Nile V. To the Kaimacham p. 297 Of the Sentence pronounc'd by the Venetians against Girolamo Loredan and Giovanni Contarimi Examples of Justice on Traytors Of great Inundations in Germany and Flanders VI. To Solyman his Cousin at Constantinople p. 301 He expostulates with him about his being too Religious Several Opinions of Philosophers concerning the Soul VII To Afis Bassa p. 306 Of an Interview between the Kings of Denmark and Suedeland And the Peace that ensued VIII To the Mufti p. 309 He acquaints him with the Project of a certain Jesuite to reform the State of Christendom IX To Abdel Melec Muli Omar p. 315 He relates in Short his Education and the Method of his Studies in Sicily A Word or Two of Porphyry X. To Murat Bassa p. 320 Of the taking Dunkirk by the French and the putting it into the Hands of the English Of the French King's Illness and Recovery XI To Mohammed the Eremite of MountVriel in Arabia p. 323 He discourses of his own Passions and Vices With something of his Virtues XII To Achmet Padishami Culligiz Bassa p. 330 He congratulates his Succession to Darnish Mehemet Bassa Of the Election of a New German Emperor The Death of Oliver and the French Design on Ostend XIII To Pesteli Hali his Brother Master of the Grand Signior 's Customs at Constantinople p. 338 Of the Artick Regions and the Nature of Cold. Of the Works which the Northern People build upon the Ice Of the Funeral Monuments of Ancient Hero's XIV To Zeidi Alamanzi a Merchant of Venice p. 313 He recommends to him Fidelity And gives him a Short Account of his Life XV. To the Kaimacham p. 345 Of the Jealousy of the Venetians towards Strangers A General Character of the Italians A Comparison of them with the French XVI To William Vospel a Recluse of Austria p. 350 Of a Street in Paris call'd the Street of Hell Remarks on the Nature of Incorporeal Beings XVII To the Venerable Ibrahim Cadilesquer of Romeli p. 353 Of the Interview between Cardinal Mazarini and Dom Louis de Haro the Spanish Minister in Order to a Peace XVIII To Musu Abul Yahyan Alfaqui Professor of Theology at Fez. p. 355 Of the Zune oâ— Book of Doctrine Of the Piety of Omar Eb'n Abdil Azis the Ninth Caliph ERRATA PAge 94. line 24. for hast enjoin'd read hast been enjoin'd Page 181. line 20. for I renew read I revere Page 192. line 12. for of Fathers read of their Fathers Page 286. line 25. for the Moon read this Moon Page 288. line 33. for 7th of the 1st Moon read 17th of the 1st Moon LETTERS Writ by A Spy at PARIS VOL. V. BOOK I. LETTER I. Mahmut the Arabian and Vilest of the Grand Signior 's Slaves to the Mysterious Esad Arbitrator of Doubtful Problems
Peace But he refus'd saying Let them fight it out and then they 'll be good Friends of Course And turning to the Spanish Embassador he said So will it fare with your Master and the King of France When they have sufficiently wearied out one another with Wars they will gladly embrace the Proposals of Peace Here is great Rejoicing for the Reconciliation newly made between the King and his Uncle the Duke of Orleans who have been estrang'd a long Time the latter having espous'd the Prince of Conde's Cause But now he has abandon'd it and is come to the Court. These Infidels are as inconstant as the Winds which vary to all the Points of the Compass Paris the 30th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1656. LETTER XVI To Solyman his Cousin at Scutari I See thou art given over to a Spirit of Discontent Nothing can please thee Thou murmurest at Providence and castest Obloquies on the Ways of God As if the Order of All Things and the Establish'd Oeconomy of the Vniverse must be Chang'd to gratify thy Humour Formerly thou wert troubl'd with dull Melancholy Thoughts about Religion Now thou art angry with thy Trade and pinest that thou wert not Educated in the Academy A Mechanick Life thou say'st is Tedious and Irksome Besides that it is beneath one of thy Blood to be always employ'd in making of Turbants Thou wishest rather to have been a Courtier Soldier or any Thing save what thou art Cousin let not Pride and Ambition corrupt thy Manners Dost thou not consider that all True Believers are oblig'd to exercise some Manual Occupation and that the Sultan himself is not exempted from this Duty Did not the Prophet himself practise it and enjoin it to all his Followers Hast thou not heard of his Words when he said No Man can eat any Thing sweeter in this World than what is acquir'd by his own Labour Doubtless all the Prophets and Holy Men have gain'd their Bread by their Lawful Employments Adam was a Gardiner Abel a Shepherd Seth a Weaver Enoch a Taylor Noah a Ship-wright Moses Saguib and Mahomet were Shepherds Jesus the Son of Mary a Carpenter Abu-Becre Omar Othman Gali and Gabdorachaman were Merchants Dost thou esteem thy self of better Blood than Adam from whom thou receiv'dst thine For Shame prefer not thy self to Noah the Restorer of Mankind to Jesus the Messias to Mahomet our Holy Lawgiver and to the Rest of those Excellent Persons who thought it no Contempt to work at their several Trades and eat the Bread of their own Labours Besides dost thou consider the dangerous Intrigues of a Prince's Court. Art thou sufficiently arm'd with Wit and Dexterity to secure thy Station against the Wily Trains of designing Men I do not reproach thy Abilities Yet I think thou wilt do better in the Post allotted thee by Destiny that is in thy Proper Calling than in the perillous Condition of those who stand or fall at the Pleasure of Others Whereas thou art now thy own Man and needest fear no Tempests of State or Frowns of thy Prince so long as thou pursuest none but thy private Affairs Many Sovereign Monarchs have envy'd such as thee when they have seen how chearfully and quietly they pass'd away their Time under the Vmbrella of an Obscure and Private Life Whereas at the Court there is Nothing but Intriguing Plotting and Treachery one Undermining another to make Way for their own Advance The Court is a perfect Theatre of Fraud Dissimulation Envy Malice and a Thousand Vices which there act their various Parts under the Habit and Disguise of seeming Vertues There a Man must flatter the Great and speak against his own Sence and the Truth to procure the Favour of some dignify'd Fool Than which Nothing is more Ignoble and Base This puts me in Mind of a pleasant Repartee which Diogenes the Philosopher gave to a Courtier The Spark passing by Diogenes as he sat in a Tub Eating of Turneps put this Scoff upon him Diogenes said he If thou wou'dst but learn the Art of Flattery thou need'st not sit here in a Tub scranching of Roots To whom the Philosopher reply'd And thou vain-glorious Man if thou wou'd'st but learn to live contented with my homely Fare need'st not condescend to the Fawning of a Spaniel But Cousin let not this Passage cause thee to emulate the Philosopher's Manner of Life For he had his Vices as well as other Men. If he was no Flatterer yet he was Proud and Opinionative He laid Trains for the Applause of Men in all his Actions and so taught others to become Flatterers tho' he was none himself All his pretended Humility Mortification and Rigour were but so many Decoys for Fame Of this Plato was sensible who was a far more Excellent Philosopher than he As this Sage was one Day walking with some of his Friends in the Fields they shew'd him Diogenes standing up to the Chin in Water whose Superficies was frozen over save one Hole that Diogenes had made for himself Puh says Plato don't regard him and he 'll soon be out For had he not seen us coming this Way he wou'd not have put himself to this Pain Another Time this Philosopher came to Plato's House And as he walk'd on the Rich Carpets with which the Floor of the Hall was cover'd See said Diogenes how I trample on Plato 's Pride Yes said Plato but with greater Pride Certainly the greatest Philosophers Doctors and even Saints themselves have their Errors and Failings Do not therefore affect to change thy Calling for the Life of a Student or a Contemplative Man For the same Discontent will still haunt thee in that State which makes thee so uneasy now Thou art a perfect Stranger to the Intolerable Anguish of Mind which afflicts Thinking Men and such as apply themselves to the Study of the Sciences They labour under a Perpetual Thirst of Knowledge and the more they learn the greater and more Ardent is their Desire of farther Discoveries So that the most accomplish'd Sages are no more satisfy'd with their own Acquisitions than he who has never meddl'd with Books Then as to their Bodies they are always vex'd with one Malady or other proceeding from the violent Agitation of their Spirits the Intenseness of their Thoughts perpetual poring upon Books and their Sedentary Life In all that I have said I do not disswade thee from seeking after Knowledge I rather counsel thee to read Books and I gave thee the same Advice in a former Letter But do it with Moderation Let not thy Studies entrench on the Affairs of thy Calling Read Histories or other Tracts according to thy Fancy when thou hast nothing else to do But do not follow it so close as if thou aspired'st to the Character of a Compleat Historian or Philosopher Still remember that thou art a Turbant-Maker and that by the Decree of Fate thou art born for this Business Follow it with Alacrity and Mirth When thou art at thy Work
I have enclos'd in a Box the true Effigies of the Present King of France with that of his Uncle the Duke of Orleans his Brother the Duke of Anjou and his Cousin the Prince of Conde as also that of Cardinal Mazarini and Queen Christina of Sueden who is now at the French Court Accept also from an Exile a little Cabinet containing Twelve Watches of so many different Contrivances according to the Circular Variation of the Moons in the Space of Thirty Four Years They are the Work of my own Hands therefore I shall not commend ' em Each is wrapt up in a Piece of Silk wherein is wrought in Arabick Letters the Method of using it Perhaps thou wilt find some Diversion in trying the Experiments mention'd in those Tables However despise not this mean Testimony of Mahmut's Respect but consider that if I come short of the Curious Artists in Europe yet my Labour is passable enough for a Moselman among whom there is scarce another Watch-maker to be found in the World If thou woud'st know the Occasion of Queen Christina's being at the French Court She came thither from Rome when the last Moon was in its Wane Her Passage was by Sea to Marseilles having touch'd at Genoua and receiv'd magnificent Gifts from the Republick but they would not permit her to land for Fear of the Plague which then rag'd in Rome and was the Cause of her leaving that City However the French shew'd no such timorous Squeamishness but receiv'd Her and her Train with open Arms. She landed at Marseilles on the 29th of the 7th Moon and when she made her Publick Entry the Consuls of that City with all the Nobles met her in Coaches the Great Guns were discharg'd to welcome her and she was caress'd with all the Demonstrations of Honor that are shew'd to the Queen of France her self in her Progresses The same Entertainment she receiv'd at Aix Avignon Lyons and in Fine all along the Road to Paris the Keys of Towns being surrendred to her for such was the King's Pleasure and a Canopy of State born over her Head when she enter'd any Town and receiv'd the Addresses and Compliments of Governours Prelates and other Great Men in Authority She was likewise Magnificently treated by Princes and the Chief Dukes of the Realm And on the 8th of the last Moon made her Entry into this City on Horse-back apparell'd like a Man Where having staid some Time she departed for Compiegne to visit the Court which resides there now It is not Suppos'd she will tarry long in France but as soon as she hears the Plague is abated in Rome and the Adjacent Parts she will return thither to pass away the Residue of her Life in that Nest of Princes and Prelates of the Nazarene Belief A little before she left Rome the Spaniards there had Conspir'd to seize on her Person as also on the Pope to have Murder'd the Portugal Embassador and set the City on Fire But the Plot was discover'd and the Conspirators put in Prison For the Sentence of Death is never pass'd in Criminal Cases among the Nazarenes without a Formal Tryal Here is a Rumour as if a Great Fire had some Moons ago broke out in Constantinople and consum'd much of that City I wonder none of my Friends nor any other residing there have sent me an Account of any such Thing Which fills me with Hopes that this Report is false From all Hands we are assur'd that the Suedes and Brandenburghers have obtain'd a great Victory over the Poles and Tartars at Warsaw the Vanquish'd having lost above Six Thousand Men on the Spot with all their Ammunition and Baggage And unfortunate King Casimir was forc'd to fly with a small Retinue towards Hungary 'T was the General Expectation of Europe that the Moscovites and Germans wou'd have done something extraordinary for the Poles and by some surprizing Action put a check to the Suedish Successes and Triumphs For when the Moscovite Embassador was at Koningsberg endeavouring to withdraw the Duke of Brandenburgh from the Suedish Interest he vomited forth terrible Menaces in Case they comply'd not with His Master's Proposals And one Day in a furious Zeal he took a large Goblet of Wine in the Elector's Presence and having drank it off to the Czars Health the Barbarian said aloud Thus shall the great Emperour of the Moscovites devour all that oppose him But now it seems these were only Empty Bravadoes and the Moscovites were resolv'd to stand by and see who got the better on 't The same may be said of the Emperour and Prince of Transylvania so of the Danes and Hollanders who now all declare for the Srrongest Party Magnanimous Vizir if the present Engagements and Wars in Dalmatia and Candy besides the Domestick Troubles of the Ottoman Empire did not wholly employ the Arms of the Moselmans doubtless 't would be an Undertaking no less Profitable than Glorious to succour the distress'd Casimir turn the Tide of the Gothish Conquests and oblige the Poles to an Eternal Fidelity and Gratitude to the Grand Signior Paris 14th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1656. LETTER VI. To Abrahim Eli Zeid Hogia Preacher to the Seraglio I Have frequent Access to the King's Library Which Favour was first granted me by Cardinal Richlieu who often employ'd me in Translating some Curious Treatises out of Arabick into French or Latin The French seem very fond of Eastern Manuscripts where ever they can meet with 'em And they have no less Regard for Men who are skill'd in those Languages That Minister especially was very Inquisitive into the Wisdom and Learning of Asia He Monopoliz'd Persian Syrian and Arabick Books and was a profess'd Patron of Linguists He coveted the Acquaintance of Strangers and Travellers that he might by their means Inform himself of the different Laws Customs and Religions of Foreign Countreys and of whatsoever was Rare and worthy of Observation in any Part of the World Hence it was that I receiv'd Evident Marks of his Esteem as soon as he knew that I understood the Greek Arabick Hebrew Turkish and Sclavonian Languages He often made use of me as I have said and gave me free Access to his own and the King's Library And tho' his Successor Cardinal Mazarini is not so much addicted to Studies of this Nature as to the Affairs of State yet he has continued to me the Priviledge of visiting this Treasury of Learned Books where I pass many Hours One Day I cast my Eyes on a Manuscript Written in Arabick and endors'd with this Title The Original Covenant of Mahomet the Prophet of the Arabians with the Professors of the Faith of Jesus and Underneath was a Latin Inscription signifying That this Manuscript was found in the Convent of Christian Friars on Mount Carmel I have Transcrib'd the Contents of this Parchment and sent it Enclos'd to thee that thou may'st judge whether it be Real or onely Counterfeit For the Nazarenes assert it to
Courage and brave Actions of Ajax deserv'd all due Honour and Acknowledgment yet the Surprize of Troy and ending the War was onely owing to his Wit and Contrivance who deluded the Trojans with a Wooden Horse in the Belly of which lay a Detachment of Armed Men and these after the Horse was admitted into the City came out of their Nest in the Dead of the Night and set Fire to the Houses opening the Gates also to the Grecian Army If the Venetians cou'd invent some such Stratagem perhaps there wou'd be Danger of their taking Constantinople But till then Illu strious Bassa there 's no Reason to fear these Infidels Besides it will be very easy to dispossess 'em of that Ominous Island and so dissipate the Charm which has bewitch'd the Seditious Rabble But I wou'd counsel that it be attempted in Time before the Venetians are got into the Hellespont with their Navy For there 's no Success against these Infidels by Sea That Element it seems is the Wife of the Duke of Venice being Espous'd with a Ring and other Solemn Ceremonies on a certain Festival of the Nazarenes One wou'd think also that the English had made successful Love to the Sea For their Navies are always prosperous We have fresh News come in of an Encounter between them and the Spanish West-India Fleet near the Island of Teneriff wherein there were Seventeen of the Spanish Ships sunk and burnt and among them were Five great Galleons They took from them an Immense Treasure of Gold and Silver with other costly Merchandise The French Court rejoyces mightily at this Exploit not in any Real Love to the English but in Hatred of the Spaniards For between these Two Nations there seems to be an Irreconcilable Antipathy Besides the French have Reason of State for their Joy being in League with the English Common-wealth That which renders this Victory the more Remarkable is that it was obtain'd in a Spanish Harbour the Port of Santa Cruz in Teneriff Every one extols the English Commander for a very brave Person His Name is Blake I am the more Particular in this Relation because thou art expert in Marine Affairs having had the Command of the Invincible Ottoman Armado There is a Post newly come in from Germany who informs us that the King of Sueden and Prince Ragotski have taken the strong Fort of Brzeski Litenski from the King of Poland The Portuguese Embassador at this Court presses the King with much Earnestness to send Aids to his Master in Regard the Spaniards are actually enter'd into Portugal and have taken Olivenza a City of that Kingdom I formerly acquainted the Ministers of the Divan that the King of Spain had caus'd all the People of his Kingdom to be Numbred Now I tell thee farther That in Order to carry on the War effectually against Portugal this Monarch has commanded the 5th Man in every Family to take up Arms and follow the Campagne At which Rate they say he will have a Hundred Thousand Men in the Field In the mean time all the Discourse here at present is concerning the Siege of Montmedi a very strong Place in Flanders It was Invested by the French Army on the 11th of this Moon under the Command of Mareschal de la Ferte Seneterre Fâ—ance has sent a great many Brave Generals inâ—o the Field this Summer and I perceâ—vâ— the Bassas of the Ottoman Empire are not like to tarry at home God inspire thee and thy Equals with a Resolution which knows no Medium between Victory and a Glorious Death Paris 26th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1657. LETTER XVII To Nathan Ben Saddi a Jew at Vienna THE Beginning of thy Letter surpriz'd me with wonder when I Read that a Chiaus from the Grand Signior the Sovereign of Sovereigns Lord of Three Empires and Five and Twenty Kingdoms shou'd have the Dishonour not to find Admittance within the Walls of Vienna and that in a Time when the Germans have no Reason to provoke a Foreign War being sufficiently embarrass'd with Domestick Troubles But when I read farther and perceiv'd That no Embassador not even of the Christian Princes has any more Privilege at this Juncture and that it is an Establish'd Law of the Empire thus to reverence the Majesty of their deceas'd Sovereign and consult the Safety of the next Election I ceas'd to resent this any longer as an Indignity to our Great Master and only concluded it to be some Mystery of the Austrian State It is an Argument of profound Respect to the Imperial Ghost That the Churches are all hung with Mourning throughout the Hereditary Dominions and that no Musick is permitted either in the Temples or elsewhere no Jollity or Mirth till the Funeral Obsequies are perform'd and the Body of Caesar is consign'd to the Place of its Everlasting Repose As to the Quarrel between the Duke of Bavaria and Prince Palatine about the Vicariate there 's much to be said on both Sides And it ought to be a Thing Indifferent to thee and me which of those Two gets the Victory Yet for the Sake of Truth I will tell thee in Short what I have collected out of the Journal of Carcoa thy Predecessor and out of other Memoirs as they came to my Hands It appears then that by the Golden Bull of Charles V. this Dignity was declar'd Inherent in the Palatinate Family in Right of their Possession of that Principality and that it had been so for many Ages even before there were any Electors Establish'd in the Empire 'T is upon this Ground the present Elector Palatinate claims it But on the other Side it is as manifest that when Maximilian the Father of the Present Duke of Bavaria was Invested with the Electoral Dignity it was Inserted in the Imperial Bull that the Vicegerency of the Empire during an Interregnum shou'd henceforth belong to that Family Yet this Grant was again disannull'd by the late Pacification at Munster And so the Business is left in Dispute between these Two Families He of Bavaria trusts to his Strength and Riches being also back'd by the Ecclesiastick Princes whilst the other only confides in the Justice of his Cause the Right of Unquestionable Inheritance Leaving therefore these Grandees to prosecute their several Claims I 'll tell thee what makes the freshest Noise in this City is an Attempt which the Prince of Conde made lately on the Town of Calais a Sea-Port of this Kingdom He had receiv'd certain Intelligence that the Governour had sent out the best Part of the Garrison to fortify Ardres a Place not far from Calais and suppos'd to be in greater Danger Upon this News the Prince march'd with great Expedition designing to surprize Calais by Night But he was discover'd before he came near them and the Inhabitants taking up Arms appeared on the Walls and Ramparts to welcome him so that he was forc'd to retire again with the Loss of near a Thousand Men. Here are Two Men
can as soon withdraw it self as that Light when interrupted by a Cloud In a Word I conceive the Soul to be a very Free Agent and that it is here and there and every where It United it self to the Body by its own Choice and can retire again from it at Pleasure One closely pursu'd Act of Contemplation will at any Time carry thee or me to the Invisibles whenever we go resolutely about it Paris 1st of the 4th Moon of the Year 1659. LETTER XVII To the Venerable Ibrahim Cadilesquer of Romeli THere has not a Year escap'd since my Arrival at Paris wherein I did not send to the Ministers of the Ever Happy and Exalted Port constant Intelligence of Battles Sieges Storming of Towns and such other Occurrences of War as happen'd between the Kingdoms of France and Spain But now I believe my Future Dispatches must contain other Matters For in all Appearance this War which has lasted Four and Twenty Years is in a fair Way to be ended The King of Spain grows weary of his Continual Losses in Italy Flanders and Catalonia And he of France seems glutted with Perpetual Victories and Conquests In a Word these Two Potent Monarchs laying aside their Quarrels are making diligent Preparations this Year for a Campagne of Friendship and Love They are both in Arms yet commit no Acts of Hostility Whilst Cardinal Mazarini on the Part of this Crown and Dom Louis d' Aro de Gusman First Minister of Spain are gone to meet each other on the Frontiers of both Kingdoms as Plenipotentiaries for their Respective Masters to concert the Measures of a Lasting Peace and treat of a Marriage between the King of France and the Infanta of Spain All Europe is amaz'd at this surprizing Change And the French and Spaniards who border on each other can hardly believe their own Senses whilst they find a Mutual Commerce restor'd between their Frontier Towns and Villages which had been Interrupted ever since the Year 1635. about Sixteen Moons before I came to this City But though they are thus disposed to Peace here in the West the Northern Monarchs are pushing the War forward in Sueden Denmark and Poland with all Imaginable Vigour and Animosity The coming over of the Elector of Brandenburgh to the Danish Interest has made a great Alteration in their Affairs For whereas Fortune seem'd before in all Things to favour the Suedes now they lose Ground and find their Attempts Unsuccessful Four Thousand of their Men fell before the Walls of Copenhagen in Three Nights and Two Days Which caus'd King Gustavus to raise the Siege Whilst the Duke of Brandenburgh retook Fredericks-Ode and thereby restor'd to the King of Denmark the Provinces of Holstein Jutland and Ditmarsen The Hollanders also have had a Combat with the Suedes at Sea and sunk Fourteen of their best Ships Besides what they burnt and took These Events have stirr'd up several Princes to mediate a Peace And 't is not Improbable but in a little Time we may see all the Christians good Friends And then 't will be Time for the Mussulmans to be upon their Guard As for Mahmut he will not fail to pry into the Counsels of these Infidels and send timely Notices to the Port. Leaving the Rest to the Wisdom of his Superiours and the Pleasure of Destiny Paris 29th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1659. LETTER XVIII To Musu Abu'l Yahyan Alfaqui Professor of Theology at Fez. THE Character which the Great and Illustrious Abdel Melec Muli Omar President of Presidents Grace and Ornament of Ancient Learning Oracle of Africa and Restorer of Obsolete Truth has given me of thy Profound Wisdom and Science fills me with Reverence and Sacred Love I am ravished with Wonder and Joy to hear That in this Age wherein the Mussulman Theology has suffered so many Innovations there yet survives a Man who dares and is able to assert against all Opposers not only the Primitive and Original Truth brought down from Heaven by the Hand of Gabriel but also the Real and Indubitable Sayings Sermons Counfels and Actions of the Prophet whilst he was on Earth conversing with Mortals before his Transmigration to the Gardens of Eternal Repose and Solitude Thou art the Enoch the Hermes Trismegistus of the Age. I have seen many Copies of the Zunè or the Book of Doctrine each pretending to comprize the whole System of that Divine Philosophy and Wisdom which dropt from the Lips of our Incomparable and most Holy Law-giver and were Attested by his Wife the Holy Agesha Mother of the Faithful and by his Ten Disciples Yet all these various Transcripts differ both in their Sence and Manner of Expressions I have perused the Books Entituled Dahif or Imperfect which contain the Memoirs of his other Wives and the Manuscripts called Maucof or Fragments Being only a Collection of some Select Sentences Aphorisms and Parables of the Sent of God But these have no other Authority to back 'em save the Credit of some Learned Scribes who were not familiar with the Divine Favourite only living in his Time and taking Things on Report In fine I have met with several Parchments of the Zaquini or Pretended Traditions of Abu Becre Omar and Othman But these I esteem as Spurious Corrupted and full of Errors What shall I say The Zeal of Omar Ebn Abdi'l-Aziz the Ninth Caliph of the Tribe of Merwan is not unknown to me I am no Stranger to his singular Piety not to be matched among Crowned Heads For of him it is Recorded That as he descended from the Throne at the Time of his Inauguration he gave the Robe from his Back as an Alms to a Poor Man And That during his whole Reign he spent but Two Piasters a-Day on himself And so great was his Resignation to Destiny an Admirable Vertue in a Sovereign Emperour that when he was on his Bed in his last Sickness and was counselled to take Physick he answered No if I were sure to heal my self only by reaching my Finger to my Ear I would not For the Place to which I am going is full of Health and Bliss This Caliph was a Miracle of Humility and his Charity always kept him Poor Moslema Ebn Abdi'l Malec relates That going to visit Omar on his Death-Bed he found him lying on a Couch of Palm-Leaves with Three or Four Skins instead of a Pillow his Garments on and a foul Shirt underneath Seeing this Moslema was grieved and turning to his Sister Phatema the Empress he said How comes it to pass that the Great Lord Commander of the Faithful appears in so squalid a Condition She replyed As thou livest he has given away all that he had even to the very Bed that was under him to the Poor and only reserved what thou seest to cover his Nakedness Then Moslema could not refrain but burst forth into Tears saying God shew thee Mercy upon Mercy thou Royal Saint For thou hast pierced our Hearts with the Fear of his Divine Majesty This Caliph was numbred among the Saints He it was that perceiving the Contradiction and Disputes of the Mussulman's the Darkness and Confusion in the Various Copies of the Zunè or Book of Doctrine assembled a General Divan of Mollah's and Learned Men at Damascus from all Parts of the Empire Commanding that all the Manuscripts of the Zunè which were extant should be brought in to this Assembly on Pain of Death to him that should detain one This being done he Commanded Six of them to be chosen out of the Whole Number by Vote Men Eminent for Learning and Piety And that these Six should severally collect out of all the Multitude of Copies each Man a Book containing what he thought to be the most Genuine Discourses of the Prophet concerning this World and that which is to come When this was executed according to his Will he commanded all the Old Books to be burn'd in a Field near Damascus Yet after all the Religious Care of this Holy Caliph to restore these Writings to their Primitive Integrity the Mussulmans soon fell into New Contentions about the Sence and Interpretation of these Correct Copies of the Zunè From whence sprang the Four Cardinal Sects on which all the Innumerable lesser and later Divisions among True Believers are founded I cannot therefore but inwardly rejoyce and from my Heart highly applaud the Method taken by those of your Renowned College to discern the True Doctrines and Sayings of the Holy Prophet from those which are Supposititious by comparing all the Books that are extant together and reducing Matters of Divine Revelation to the Analogy of the Alcoran Those of Philosophy and Moral Regards to the Standard of Experience and Reason For it is Impious to believe that the Divine Apostle would impose any Thing on our Faith repugnant to the Sence of Men or the Express Will of Heaven By the Soul of Pythagoras Mahomet said Nothing but what was Rational and Evident to any Unprejudiced Mind But the Greatest Part of these Sectaries are besotted They form to themselves False Notions of God and his Prophet and think to merit Paradise by their Stupidity Reverend Alfaqui I have much more to say to thee and many Questions to ask But Time and the Grand Signior's Service force me to conclude abruptly wishing thee Perfection of Bliss Paris 29th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1659. according to the Christian Style The End of the Fifth Volume
Adalla Ebno'l Hejai the Poet being there also reach'd forth his Hand to Thabet desiring him to feel his Pulse To whom the Physician forthwith reply'd Thou hast us'd a Gross Diet and been Intemperate in eating sowr Milk with Veal The other answering That it was true and all the Company admiring Abu'l Abbas the Astrologer also reach'd forth his Hand But when Thabet had felt his Pulse Thou said he hast committed an Excess in taking too much of Cold Things for as I judge thou hast eat about Eleven Pomegranates Immediately Abu'l Abbas cry'd out This is a Prophet certainly and more than a Physician for he speaks the Truth to a Tittle Every Body was astonish'd at his Wondrous Knowledge and I more than all the Rest Wherefore when I had him alone I said My dear Thabet The Study of Physick is Common to us both therefore hide nothing from me but discover freely by what Art you were able to tell That the Poet eat sowr Milk with Veal and not as well with Beef or Mutton and that the Astrologer eat no more nor less than Eleven Pomegranates He answer'd My Mind suggested this to me and prompted my Tongue to utter it Then I desir'd him to shew me the Scheme of his Nativity Which he did at his own House And considering it attentively I observ'd That the Planet Jupiter was Lord of the Horoscope Then I said to him 'T is this speaks my Dear Friend not you so often as you make these Fortunate Conjectures Thus far Abul Pharai God knows whether the Stars have any such Influence on Men in their Birth or no. I am not very Credulous in this Point Nor can the Authority of the Ancients or the Character of the Persian and Chaldaean Magi captivate my Mind in an Implicit Faith of Things so liable to Doubt Who knows what the Stars are made of or for what Ends they are Created Yet I must own that some Men seem to be born with Inherent Faculties which others can never acquire with all the Art and Industry in the World One Man is of a Poetick Constitution Another is Genially inclin'd to Physick a Third excels in Mechanicks Every Man has his Peculiar Gift And yet perhaps all this while the Stars have Nothing to do in the Matter However if there be any Truth in Astrology the Persians Chaldaeans Arabians and Indians seem to be the only Men of all Nations Constellated to understand this Science perfectly One knows not what to think amidst so many Appearances of Truth and Falshood Nor can our Thoughts be of any great Import be it how it will in these Speculative Matters At the Day of Judgment we shall not be ask'd What Proficiency we have made in Logick Metaphysicks Astronomy or any other Science but Whether we have liv'd according to our Nature as Men endu'd with Morality and Reason In that Hour it will more avail us That we have thrown a Handful of Flower in Charity to a Nest of contemptible Pismires than that we cou'd muster all the Hoasts of Heaven and call every Star by its proper Name For then the Constellations themselves shall disappear the Sun and Moon shall give no more Light and all the Frame of Nature shall vanish But our Good and Bad Works shall remain for ever Recorded in the Archives of Eternity If from this Manner of Writing thou shalt conjecture I am Melancholy and wilt also reveal the Causes and Remedy of this Distemper thou shalt be more to me than a Thousand Avicen's Helal's Thabet's or all the Physicians and Astrologers of the East For these Kind of Thoughts are Mournful as the Shadow of Death Paris 23d of the 4th Moon of the Year 1655. LETTER II. To Afis Bassa I Know not whether thou wilt praise or condemn the Sentence which the Elector of Saxony pronounc'd not long ago on a Poor Fellow for killing a Deer Yet because there is something very Singular in it I will relate the whole Passage as I receiv'd it from Nathan Ben Saddi the Jew at Vienna In the Moon of Cheuval a certain Citizen of Wittemberg was accus'd before the Elector for hunting in his Forest and killing one of his Deer The Duke in a Rage commanded him to be set upon a Stag his Hands chain'd to the Horns and his Feet under the Belly of the Beast ordering that the Stag with this Burden shou'd be let loose to run whither he wou'd The poor frighten'd Stag not being accustom'd to such a Load and terrified with the rattling of the Chain ran away full speed over Hills and Dales through Thickets of Briars and Thorns never stopping till it had measur'd above Three and Thirty German Leagues and then tyr'd with so vast a Race he fell down At which Instant a Caravan was coming by that Place out of Silesia The poor Wretch on the Back of the Stag almost dead with the Pains he had undergone in so continued and violent a Motion being also sorely bruis'd and his Flesh torn and mangl'd by the Boughs of Trees as the Stag rush'd through thick Woods cry'd aloud to the Caravan begging that some of them wou'd in Mercy dispatch him out of his Torments But they either for fear of the Duke's Displeasure or for other Reasons refus'd him this Kindness So that after the Stag had rested a-while and recovered new Spirits he began a fresh Career and never ceas'd running till he arriv'd at a certain Monastery or Convent of Religious where he beat against the Gate with his Horns till some of the Dervises open'd it and let him in They astonish'd to see a Man thus pinion'd to a Stag his Face Arms Legs and all his Body cover'd with Blood and himself ready to expire immediately brought him Cordials and other Refreshments whilst some were employ'd in loosing his Chains But being inform'd by his own Mouth how he came into this Condition they began to think of turning him loose again for Fear of the Duke's Anger However suffering themselves to be overcome by the Importunity of the Miserable Man and relying on their Ecclesiastick Privileges for here in the West the Convents are generally allow'd Sanctuaries for all Sorts of Offenders they took him into their Protection But he expir'd that Night It is hard to determine whether the Duke or these Derviches were in the Right or Wrong The French who of late have by a Fashion learn'd to grow Obdurate justifie the Proceedings of this Prince saying That Pity is a Passion fit onely for Women Children and Fools They esteem it a Mark of a Great Spirit a Mind capable of Empire not to be mov'd with the Sighs or Tears of the Miserable but to frown or laugh at the Misfortunes of others This they say is the onely Method to harden Men for War Conquests and Plunder Where the Victors are to cut their Way to Honour and Riches through the Hearts of the Vanquish'd to quench the ardent Thirst of Glory with Humane Blood and to celebrate their
Great Souls are sooner subdu'd by Favour than Force and Cruelty I am extremely oblig'd to thee for thy Instructions which I shall exactly observe in writing to this Supreme Minister Thou hast match'd my own Thoughts in this Advice For knowing that Bassa's Temper it will be Policy as well as Justice frankly to own what I have writ against him and not stuff my Letter with abject fawning Submissions or sneaking Excuses He is brave himself and will be pleas'd to see a Man resolute in his Duty However let the Consequence be what it will I must follow the Measures of my own Integrity There is Something so Satisfactory in Truth and an honest blunt Carriage as far surpasses the little faint Pleasures of Artifice and Dissimulation And I shou'd be weary of my Life were I forc'd to preserve it by such Effeminate Tricks Yet I must confess 't is a vast Encouragement to find thy Sentiments the same What is this World that we shou'd be so fond of it Or what is the Life of Mortals that we need be so over-studious of prolonging the Respiration of that Breath which may with as much Ease be all breath'd out at once as by so many Successive Millions of Moments For Death properly possesses but an Instant of Time no more does Life Every Gasp renews the One and the Last commences and finishes the Other As to Pleasure and Pain we generally have an Equal Share of ' em And it appears to me an Equal if not a Greater Happiness at once to be freed for ever from the Latter than by such an irksom Composition to protract the Enjoyment of the Former Brave Solyman when I contemplate thy Vertue it inspires me with Courage against the vain Mists of Fear which the Magick of Opinion has rais'd before the Eyes of Mortals I embrace thee with an extended Soul and wish thee the Two Extremes of Happiness Plenitude of Joys in this Life and an Immortal Series of Felicities in Paradise Live for Ever thou Generous Son of Cham. Paris the 2d of the 9th Moon of the Year 1655. LETTER X. To the most Illustrious Vizir Azem at the Port. BY the Souls of all my Progenitors I was glad to hear the News of thy Advance to this Glorious Height of Power Yet when thou wert Bassa of Aleppo and heldest Correspondence with the Venetians I accus'd thee to the Divan doing thereby no small Service to the Ottoman Empire For which thou hast now Reason in Honour to reward me knowing that I prevented a great Deal of Confusion and Blood It will not become the First Minister to cherish Private Revenges or harbour Ill Thoughts of a Faithful Slave In discovering thy Intrigues at that Time I did but perform my Duty to the Grand Signior thy Lord and mine Nay for ought thou know'st I was happily Instrumental in saving thy Life which might have been lost in the Pursuit of those Hazardous Projects thou wert then engag'd in Be it how it will thou art now living and Install'd in the most Illustrious Charge of the Empire And without Flattery I speak it a braver Man cou'd not have ascended to that Dignity May God long continue thee in it to the Joy and Advantage of all the Mussulmans All the World extoll thy Valour and Boldness especially the Nazarenes among whom the Bassa of Aleppo is Famous They also highly commend thy Justice And thou wilt find in the Register that when I acquainted my Superiours of thy Revolt I was not Envious in concealing thy Vertues Therefore I beg of thee not to be Partial in thy Resentments but consider Mahmut as a Faithful Slave who will never transgress the Commands of the Mysterious Bench nor suffer any Sinister Motives to byass him tho' 't were in Favour of his own Brother For this is the severe Conduct that is expected of me by my Superiours and which thou thy self wilt require at my Hands But I believe thou needest not these Addresses to move thee to Generosity Thy own Native Justice will suggest to thee that I rather merit a Reward than a Punishment for doing my Duty tho' 't were in accusing thy self Confiding therefore in thy Goodness and my own Innocence I shall not despair of that Protection and Favour from thee which all thy Predecessors have afforded me since my Arrival at this Place Nay I think thy Friendship and Esteem is rather due to me than to a Thousand Sycophants and Flatterers I will in this Confidence write freely to thee as I have been commanded and vent my Thoughts without a Timorous Reserve For thou art the Just Judge of the Judges among the Faithful There is no Doubt but thou hast heard of the Duke of Lorrain a Famous Warriour in these Western Parts but now a Prisoner of State in Spain I sent Intelligence last Year to Mustapha Berber Aga of the Grounds and Circumstances of this Prince's Confinement Whereof thou can'st not be Ignorant For all my Dispatches are made Publick to the Ministers of the Blessed Port. The Brother of that Duke immediately succeeded him by the King of Spain's Orders in the Command of the Army in Flanders They call him Duke Francis Every Body thought that he had consented to the Imprisonment of his Brother as being disgusted at his Inconstancy Avarice and other Vices It was suppos'd also that his own Ambition and Thirst of Honour had corrupted the Fidelity and Love he ow'd to the Son of his Mother as knowing that by his Fall he himself shou'd rise to the Dignity of General which his Brother enjoy'd during his Liberty But now 't is evident that this Duke Francis did all along dissemble his Resentments of his Brother's Calamity For he is lately Revolted from the King of Spain and come over to the French with Five Thousand Horse and Foot He has openly declar'd That he will never give Rest to his Sword till he has either procur'd his Brother's Release or deeply reveng'd the Injuries have been done him He was receiv'd by the French King with all imaginable Endearments and Caresses The whole Court are Emulous in striving to excell one another in the Demonstrations of their Civility and Respect to this Prince And they have cull'd out the best Quarters for his Soldiers This Nation is always Hospitable to Strangers more especially to such as court their Friendship after this Extraordinary Way who enter into their Interests and engage in their Quarrels Yet neither France nor all the Kingdoms of Europe together can match the Bounty of the Munificent Port which pardons and receives with open Embraces her most Implacable Enemies on their Submissions and Repentance Commander of the Mussulman Grandees thou art but a Man and hast not exceeded that Character in the Worst of thy Errors Now thou art assum'd to a Charge which requires the Fidelity and Prudence of an Angel If thou shalt reform the State and restore the Mussulman Affairs to their true Lustre we shall have Reason to contemplate thy
Clubs among themselves where they might with an Unrestrained Freedom discourse of all Things and being United in an Inviolable Friendship might improve one another in Knowledge and Virtue without regarding the Legends and Harangues of the Mollahs This Society compos'd Fifty Books of so many several Kinds of Science and they call'd 'em Echwanossapha or the Writings of the Sincere Fraternity concealing their Names They treated of Human and Divine Matters without Reserves or Caution Asserting That the Mussulman Religion was Corrupted and Alienated from its First Institution having imbib'd many Errors and that there was no Way to restore it to its Primitive Purity but by joining to it the Philosophy of the Ancients In a Word they endeavour'd to reform whatever was amiss in the Doctrines and Manners of the Faithful by reducing both to the Standard of Reason I know not whether thou wilt approve or dislike their Enterprize But I am sure thou art Sensible as well as I that there are Bigots among the Followers of the Prophet and that these deserve Correction The Devil will set his Foot in the Temple of God But do not thou follow his Steps If thou do He that made the Devil fetch thee back again Paris 30th of the 7th Moon of the Year 1656. LETTER II. To the Nazin Eschref or Prince of the Emirs at the Port. THE Christians say 't is an Argument of God's Love when he chastises them Therefore they have no Reason to be peevish or call it an Effect of his Anger that a dismal Plague is broke out in the Territories of the Pope the Kingdom of Naples and other Parts of Italy This Contagion rages so vehemently in Rome the Capital City of the Western Nazarenes that above a Hundred Thousand Persons of several Ranks have forsaken that Place The Pope's Palace is shut up and no Access granted to any not even to Foreign Embassadors without great Precaution and then none of their Retinue are admitted with them 'T is said Seventeen Hundred die daily in that City and Six Thousand a Day in Naples Nay in some Places the Living are scarce sufficient to bury the Dead The Grand Duke of Toscany to prevent the spreading the Infection in his Territories has forbid all Intercourse between his Subjects and those of the Pope neither will he permit so much as a Nuncio to pass through his Dominions This Mortality has frighted Queen Christina from Rome She has sent to desire Passes of the Duke of Savoy and other Princes designing for France She is already on her Voyage having been presented by the Pope with Ten Thousand Crowns to defray the Expences of her Travels Here are great Preparations making for her Reception The King having sent Orders to all Governours of Towns and Provinces through which she must pass to receive and entertain her with a Magnificence due to her Sovereign Dignity and worthy of the French Grandeur and Hospitality In the mean Time this Court is in a sullen Humour by Reason of a late great Loss they have suffer'd at Valenciennes in Flanders This Place was besieg'd by the French at the Beginning of the Campagne but was reliev'd by the Spaniards this Moon who kill'd above a Thousand Men on the Spot took Five Thousand Prisoners with all their Cannon and Baggage Amongst the Captives of Note is the Mareschal de Ferte Seneterre General of the French Army The Names of the others are wanting Mareschal de Turenne himself very narrowly escap'd by timely withdrawing his Brigade from the Fight For which some stigmatize him with Cowardise and Treachery Whilst others affirm he acted the Part of a Prudent Captain in thus Retreating since it was impossible to restore the Battle with any success From Sueden we hear that the Elector of Brandenburgh has enter'd into a League with the King of Sueden by which both their Armies are United against the King of Poland and 't is said their first Design will be upon Dantzick That Country is in a horrid Confusion the Nobles Gentry and Boores being all in Arms some deserting their Sovereign others adhering to his Interest King Casimir has invested Warsaw with an Army of Forty Thousand Men. In the mean Time the Hollanders have sent a great Fleet of Ships of War into the Baltick Sea but to what end is not known nor what Part they will take whether the Suedes or Poles Yet the Latter hope for great Assistance from them there having been lately some Misunderstanding between the Dutch and the Suedes The Moscovites also have enter'd Poland with a Numerous Army and the Tartars are coming with another to the Aid of King Casimir Thus is Poland become the Stage of a most Terrible War and which Side soever gets the Victory that unhappy Country will be near ruin'd Nathan Ben Saddi a Jew at Vienna and a Private Agent for the Grand Signior sends me Word that the Emperour of Germany hath an Army of Thirty Thousand Foot and Twelve Thousand Horse in Silesia who are to join with the Moscovites and do some considerable Action against the Suedes whose continual Victories and growing Greatness gives Jealousy to these Puissant Monarchs He informs me farther that the Emperour has dispatch'd a Courier to the Prince of Transylvania with Instructions and Letters to engage him to a Neutrality 〈…〉 But the Young Ragotski is as Wild as his Father and hates to be led by the Nose Thou mayest inform the Ministers of the Divan that Adonai the Jew is dead of the Plague in Rome having first taken Care to transmit to me all the Papers which concern the Mysterious Port. This Court at present is at a Place call'd La Fere in Picardy a Province bordering on Flanders From whence there may be a more frequent Intercourse between the King and his Camp Prince of the Holy Line I have sent thee all the News that is stirring at this Juncture saving some trivial Matters which are not worth a Moselman's Knowledge much less thine who art distinguish'd from the Crowd of True Believers by wearing the Sacred Colour of the Prophet Paris 30th of the 7th Moon of the Year 1656. LETTER III. To Melec Amet. HERE has been a strange Accident lately not many Leagues from Paris which has occasion'd Various Discourses and put the Philosophers upon a New Scrutiny One Morning a certain Peasant or Farmer walking over his Lands as his Custom is to number his Sheep and other Cattle miss'd a Barn or Store-House which stood in a Field at some Distance from his Habitation Surpriz'd at this he hasten'd towards the Place where he saw it but the Night before When to his no small Astonishment he perceiv'd that not only the Barn but a great Part of the Field wherein it was built was sunk into the Earth He immediately ran and call'd some of his next Neighbours to behold this Strange Spectacle And the Fame of it spread all over the Country Divers Learned and Ingenious Persons have been there to make
precise in relating the Transactions of the Twelve Tribes which descended from them even down to the Present Age. I do not insist on this to teach thee something whereof thou art Ignorant but to put thee in Mind of the Benefit and Advantage besides the vast Delight which accrues to a Nation by thus preserving the Memoirs of their Ancestors In which my Countrymen have exceeded the Fidelity and Care of all other People Had it not been for the Industry of Arabian Writers the History of the whole Saracen Empire the Succession of the Caliphs with their Wars and Conquests would have been either quite lost to this Age or at least much deprav'd and falsify'd by the Malice of Christian and Persian Authors both Equally Enemies to the Truth By which it is Evident that every Nation ought to Register their own Transactions What therefore I chiefly aim at is That the Glorious Osmans who have by their Valour enter'd into the Possessions and Territories of many Ancient Nations might also be acquainted with the Histories of those People whose Lands they Enjoy But above all I wish that after they have found a way to so much Wealth and Honour they would not lose themselves and their own Original I speak of the Turks properly so call'd the Descendants of the Scythians who by some were esteem'd the most Ancient Nation on Earth a People form'd by Nature for the Empire of the World were never Conquer'd themselves yet spread their Victories over all Asia They routed Zopyrio a General of Alexander the Great and drove back a huffing King of Egypt with Shame and Loss to his own Country In fine they were a People Naturally Just Temperate Hardy and Endu'd with all the Excellent Qualities which the Philosophy of the Greeks and Romans cou'd never Inspire into their Subjects though they aim'd at it These were the People O Oracle of Believers from whom the present Turks descend And is it not a Shame that they can give no other Account of their Ancestors but what they borrow from the Christians who in the mean Time reproach the Mussulmans with Ignorance and Barbarism 'T is for this Reason I renew the same Request to thee which I often made to thy Predecessor that Learning may be encourag'd Let all the Ancient Records and Histories of the Greeks and Romans be sought out and Translated by Men skillful in Languages into the Familiar Speech of the Ottomans Some I know are already Common among the Grandees as Herodotus Plutarch and others but let not any Credible Writer be wanting In doing this thou wilt put a Check to the Scoffs of Infidels augment the Honour and Interest of the Moselmans and leave an Immortal Name behind thee on Earth Which will make thy Joys in Paradise more sweet to an Infinity of Ages Paris 19th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1657. LETTER XIII To the Kaimacham ALL Europe except the French and Suedes hangs down the Head for the Death of the German Emperour He went to the Immortals on the 2d Day of this Moon after a long Fit of Sickness and Forty Nine Years Life on Earth Nathan Ben Saddi the Agent of the Port at Vienna informs me That on the same Day whereon the Emperour died the Imperial Palace took Fire on a sudden and with such Impetuosity that a great Part of it was presently consum'd and the King of Hungary and Bohemia the Emperour's Son narrowly escap'd with his Life This is esteem'd a bad Omen to the Empire And without being Superstitious I can assure thee That Germany is in a very bad Condition at this Juncture The Electors are so divided on the Score of Religion and their Secular Interests and Allyances That in all Probability they will not with Ease decide the Succession The Duke of Brandenburgh having United himself to the Suedes will not consent to the Installing Leopoldus Ignatius Josephus the Emperour's Son because that Prince supports the Cause of the Poles and Danes The Palatine of Heydelberg and Duke of Bavaria are at odds about their Private Pretensions The Duke of Saxony wou'd fain be Emperour himself or have one at least of the Lutheran Religion And the Rest are so incens'd against the House of Austria that it is thought none but the Ecclesiastick Princes will vote for the King of Hungary and Bohemia So that there being no King of the Romans to claim the Succession by the Laws of the Empire the Throne is like to be Vacant yet a while Cardinal Mazarini who watches all Opportunities to Aggrandize his Master has dispatch'd away several Couriers into Germany to negotiate privately with the Electors and concert those Measures which will be most for the Interest of France And I tell thee this Minister has no small Influence on the Elector of Colen and Prince Palaetine of the Rhine Besides thou wilt say he goes the Right Way to Work when thou shalt know that he makes Use of the French Gold to compass his Designs No sooner did the News of the Emperour's Death arrive at this Court but it was observ'd the Cardinal took up a Hundred Thousand Pistoles of the Publick Banquiers in this City And every Body guess'd how 't wou'd be dispos'd The Portugueze Embassador at this Court has caus'd Extraordinary Fire-works to be play'd on the River Seyne before the Palace of the King in Honour of his Master's Coronation the Young King of Portugal But the Spaniards are preparing more destructive Fire-works on the Frontiers of that Kingdom being ready to enter it with an Army of Sixteen Thousand Men to recover the Portugueze Crown In sending thee these Intelligences Sage Minister I am not concern'd for the Infidels Who dies or who lives who rises or who falls is all one to Mahmut provided the Grand Signior's Health Life and Happiness be augmented And this I speak as an Arabian and True Believer Paris 30th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1657. LETTER XIV To Raba Mahomet General of the Ottoman Forces at his Camp near Adrianople THE Sacred Empire of True Believers is beset at this Time with Infidels Rebels and Hereticks Here are many Rumours spread abroad concerning the Persians and the Interest they have in the Bassa and Citizens of Babylon They talk also that some Male-contents design Things which ought not to be nam'd God has given me Two Ears and I hear these Discourses with both but I entertain them with one Unchangeable Judgment That they are only the Whispers of Fame which has a Thousand Double Tongues If it be true that the Four Chiauses who were dispatch'd to Babylon from the Grand Signior to confirm the Inhabitants of that City in their Allegiance and assure them of speedy Succours were Murder'd by the disloyal Citizens I doubt not but 't is as true That the Plague has consum'd the Greatest Part of the Red-heads in their Camp at Aransacat What tho' these Babylonian Mungrels cry Long Live the King of Persia The rest of the Empire