thy Feet and be acknowledged to be of the number of those for whom he has written his Holy Alcoran Paris 25th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1642. LETTER XXIV To Berber Mustapha Aga at Constantinople I Cannot tell whether thou hast Knowledge of the Use of Defiances which are made amongst the Christians when they be dissatisfied or offended with one another which they term Acts of Honour or the Marks of a gallant Spirit This Custom of Duels is become so common in Italy and especially in the Kingdom of Naples that the greatest Affairs as well as the smallest are therein decided by the Sword and the Gentry affirm this to be the best way of terminating their Disputes and Quarrels which belonging onely to them cannot be referred nor so well determined by the grave and cool proceedings of Courts of Justice This Invention of deciding these Differences by Arms either with the Sword or Pistol alone in a close or open Field naked in their Shirts so that one has no Treachery to fear is a Way of drawing Satisfaction for the Injuries received found out by Men of great Courage who more esteem their Honour than their Lives The offended Person sends a Challenge to him from whom he has received the Injury this note of Defiance is express'd in choice and elegant Words which invite and press the Offender to fight in such a Place on Horseback or on Foot cloathed or in their Shirts single or attended by an equal Number of Friends which they call Seconds with Sword and Dagger or Sword alone or pistol If the Challenge be received he is civilly treated who brings it and it may be has rich Presents given him But before they sight the Enemies embrace as if they were reconciled and then in an Instant following the Inclinations of their Hatred and Revenge they would one another they spill each others Blood and oftentimes their Souls go out furious through the Wounds they have made Those that have the Honour of dying in these Combats do oft refuse their Lives which a generous Enemy would give them believing they cannot live without Shame should they receive them from an Enemy But the Roman Church as a note of the Horror she conceives at these Combats shuts Heaven's Doors against the Souls of those who leave this Life without doing Pennance denying Burial to those who dye in the Field of Battle or yield them onely that which is granted in some Parts of the East-Indies to certain Women who prostitue themselves whose Corpse are thrown a Prey to the Birds of the Field and other Animals who live on Carrion It is not only in Italy People kill one another in single Combats 't is the same in France amongst the Nobility who manage these Combats in a different Sort. The best Friends tear one another on the smallest occasion and they prepare for a Duel in such a manner as will appear to thee without doubt ridiculous These Enemies sup together the Night before the Combat and often lie together in the same Bed The Friends which serve as Seconds do the same and when they are come to the Place where they be to fight a Friend is forced by the Maxims of Honour to cut his own Throat with the Man's he perhaps most loves Nothing happens more frequently in Paris than these Kind of Combats and they produce several Adventures of which I would give thee an Account had I not a particular Story to tell thee on this Subject It is of a Challenge of a Spanish Prince sent to a King whose Crown could not exempt him from a Letter of Defiance Thou hast without doubt heard of what has hapned in Lisbon where D. John de Braganza has been elected and proclaimed King of Portugal as the true Heir of the Royal Race Thou knowest also he drove the Spaniards out of his Kingdom The Duke of Medina Sedonia a Grandee of Spain and this new King's Brother-in-law could not hinder himself from being suspected of having underhand assisted this Prince to ascend the Throne whether it be true or an Artifice of his Enemies God onely knows But however it 's certain that the Count Duke d' Olivarez the King of Spain's chief Minister sent an order to him to appear at Court to justifie himself from this Suspicion he thought to clear himself perfectly from the Jealousies of the Catholick King by sending a Challenge to D. John of Braganza to oblige him to fight with him which Letter of Defiance was conceived in these Terms D. Gaspar Alonzo Peres Gusman the Good Duke of the Town of Medina Sedonia Marquis Count and Lord of the Town of St. Lucar of Barameda Captain General of the Ocean and Gentleman of his Catholick Majesty's Chamber I say that John of Braganza who was never but a Duke calls himself King of Portugal that his Treason known to all the World is detestable and in Abomination for having thrown a Stain on the Faithful House of Gusman which has never failed in any Duty to her Soveraign and for this reason defie and challenge to a single Combate Body to Body with Seconds or without Seconds this Don John heretofore Duke of Braganza leaving all this to his Choice as also the Arms or Weapons and Place of Combat Written near Valentia d' Alcantara where I shall expect fourscore days News of him and the last twenty Days I shall transport my self into the Place he shall appoint accompanied or alone with such Arms as he shall prescribe Not only the Tyrant of Portugal shall be advertised of my Challenge but all Europe and the whole World I pretend to make known in this Combat the infamous Action of D. John and in Case he does not accept of this Defiance and fails in the Duty of one who is born a Gentleman I desire this King who is only a Phantasm may perish in some sort or other I promise to give my Town of St. Lucar the principle Seat of the Dukes of Medina to him that shall kill him In the mean time I entreat my Lord the King of Spain to give me no Command in his Armies but to grant I may onely serve him as a Volunteer with a Thousand Horse which I will maintain at my own Charge till that serving him in this manner I may help to recover the Kingdom of Portugal and may bring along with me and cast at his Majesty's Fleet the Duke of Braganza if he will not fight with me in the Manner I proposed If thou shewest this Letter of Defiance to the Janizaries that Militia which is terrible to all Nations whom nothing can resist when they execute the Grand Seignor's Orders they will tell thee what such a Challenge requires from Men of Courage and explain to thee the Laws which People of Valour prescribe to themselves For my part who am ignorant of the Art of War and the Maxims of such as make Profession of Arms I shall not make any Judgement hereupon only take the
Kaimakam HAving given thee an Accompt of the Imprisonment of Casimir I will relate to thee the Voyage of King Ulidislaus his Brother who is gone a Progress into Hungary and Germany The News here is That the King of Poland was gone to make a Visit to the King of Hungary who to do him Honour sent the chief of his Nobles to receive him upon the Confines of Moravia They write also That Arch-duke Leopold went from Vienna to meet him They embraced like Brethren and returned together with the Queen of Poland and her Sister back to Court 'T is added that the People received this Company with great Acclamations with the Noise of the Cannon and all the small Shot of the City The Day following having dined in the Imperial Palace they went together to Luxemburg to visit the Empress Eleanor Widow to the late Emperor of Germany If Carcoa hath not informed thee of these Particulars thou wilt receive them from Mahmut who watches incessantly to give true Intelligence and penetrate as much as may be into all that occurs and is done in this great Court which gives motion to all the Courts of Europe Reprove me if I do not well and punish me ' if the Emperor be not well served and thou satisfied Paris 15th of the Eighth Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXVII To Kerker Hassan Bassa DO not accuse me of being ill advised or negligent if I write to thee things that thou knowest already I am only careful in telling thee what happens here and my Business is not to enquire whether thou art better informed another way When I am ordered to write all that comes to my Knowledge I do my Duty in doing it and I ought not to be reprehended for it I am told that the Sultan is gone with an Army more numerous than all the Leaves on the Trees to destroy the * Persians Red-Heads and conquer Babylon I know that the Mufti the Grand Vizir and all the Grandees of the Divan followed him but am ignorant of what he did in his first Expedition when he took Revan An old English Merchant who comes from Ispahan and has served in the Army of the faithful Mussulmans passed this Way in his Return to England He hath been an Eye-witness of the great Actions of Amurath He says that this mighty Emperor after his taking of Revan left Twelve thousand Souldiers in Garrison there with Two hundred thousand Crowns in Silver besides Copper Moneys to pay them He saith also that our mighty Monarch being wearied to see so much Blood of the faithful yea of the Heretick Mussulmans spilt he had sent the King of Persia a Challenge offering to fight singly in Duel with him but he would not accept of his Defie He tells how Amurath being fallen in the Water in passing the River Haret was in great hazzard of being laid up in Expectation of the last Judgment Day in the other World had it not been for a Young lusty Solack who took him by the Arm and dragged him out of the River This Accident was the Prelude of a great good Fortune which happened to this mighty Prince upon the Bank of another River called Mako where he had the News of the Birth of a Son born to him in the Seraglio at Constantinople whom they call Alaaddin whose Nativity hath been celebrated with infinite Demonstrations of Joy This English-man tells us further that Amurath has taken Tauris and appeared publickly there with all the Marks of a formidable Power that he had destroyed the King of Persia's Seraglio burnt the publick Markets and caused a Million of fine Trees which renders the Loss irreparable to be cut down Let me know when thou art at leisure whether this News be true and do me the Favour to tell me our great Emperors Success in the Expedition of Babylon The Politicians here attend the News of it with much Impatience 'T is allow'd that Amurath is the most Potent of all Princes the strongest Man alive and that only he can vanquish and ruine the Kings of the Earth Two Strangers of differing Nations and both of Royal Blood are dead in this City The one is Don Christopher Son of Don Antonio King of Portugal who after he had lived Sixty six Years without ever attaining the Crown of his Father died in a Convent of Dervises called Cordeliers where he was buried in the same Place where his Father's Brother had been formerly The other Stranger was called Zaga Christos who was the legitimate Successor of the Kingdom of Aethiopia a Young Man of Twenty five Years Son to the Empress Nazarenne Widow of Jacob Emperor of the Abyssins who died in a Village near Paris He quitted his Kingdom as thou knowest forced by Civil Wars he arrived in France in the Year 1635. of the Aegyra of the Christians After many Adventures he composed the History of his Travels which he performed with Troubles and Incommodities which seemed insupportable What has he not suffered in traversing many Kingdoms Arabia the Desart Egypt Asia Minor and Jerusalem where he ran the Hazard of being arrested by the Bassa that resides there whom he escaped by retiring by Night to Nazareth amongst the Christian Dervises where he concealed himself five Months He said here that an Eunuch of the Bassa of Cairo had much sollicited him to forsake the Christian Religion to which he would never consent and refused to go to Constantinople to humble himself by prostrating his Face in the Dust of the Grand Signior's Feet although the Bassa extreamly pressed him to it with very advantageous Offers This King has done much Honor to the Manes of the dead Prince whilst perhaps he suffers everlasting Torments which neither thou nor I shall suffer if we always live like faithful Mussulmans according to the Precepts of the Law ordained by Mahomet and written in the Alcoran I shall gladly hear that thy Life is safe and my Friendship agreeable to thee Paris 20th of the Eighth Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXVIII To the Kaimakam THat which hath been so long expected is at length happened The Queen is brought to Bed of a Dauphin the King is a Father the Kingdom seems to desire nothing more and the People witness their Joy by a Thousand differing Festivities The Men the Women the Children and the Aged run through the Streets as at Bacchanals They rejoyce with their Friends they go to Church and thank God as if a Messiah had been born to them All the Priests praise God in their Temples for such a Present and the Monks not so content deafen the People with the Noise of their Bells and do more than the Drums and Trumpets of the Souldiers and all the Cannon of the Cittadel and Arsenal I did in Company of others what I should not have dared to perform if I had been alone or had not been observed Those who affirmed the Queen would be brought to Bed of a Son pretend now they had
XXIV To the Kaimakam THE King of France hath sent forth another Army I have already informed thee that this Prince hath already Three Armies in Three Parts of Europe There is one in Piemont commanded by Cardinal la Valette another whereof Prince Henry of Condè is Generalissimo which they hope will quickly take Fontarabia and a Third commanded by Marshal Chatillion which besieges St. Omer The Duke of Longueville is at the Head of the Fourth which is entred into Burgundy with design to ruine the French County defended by Duke Charles of Lorrain one of the Emperor's Generals So many Armies and so many Captains march against the Spaniards This Nation sufficiently manifests her Force she is attack'd on all Sides and resists and defends her self on all Sides This vast Extent of Countries which the Austrians possess though separated from each other makes that they are always employed in defending themselves but they will be eternally exposed to lose without any Appearance of Gain Thou knowest that the true Secret of preserving Union amongst the Good is to entertain perpetual Differences amongst the Bad and thou wilt see that all the Adventures of this Country will render Us Invincible What I tell thee is a true Saying The French at Present are too powerful with so many Troops so many Armies by Sea and Land which are seen in the Provinces of their Enemies The other Christians are in continual Apprehensions The Embassadors of Princes which reside in this Town and Court observe with great diligence so many extraordinary Things but say nothing they do like me they write and advertise their Masters I am afraid thou wilt take no Pleasure in the Relations I make thee of the Successes of so great a Power but I ought to let thee know the Truth Affairs are carried on here with much Art The Ministers serve with great Fidelity and are very secret Cardinal Richlieu hath an entire Ascendant over the King's Spirit and to say Truth is a Person of great Merit They say he aspires to true Glory and will place the Crown which Charlemain wore as Emperor of the West upon his Master's Head If the good Fortune of France marches always at this Rate the Misfortunes of its Enemies must be excessive The manifold Wars which this Monarch undertakes and Richlieu counsels him do in the mean Time make the People who bear the Burthen by the Taxes which they are forced to pay murmur besides their Grief for the Loss of their Parents and Friends slain in these Wars The Cardinal fears Peace and apprehends his Enemies may destroy him if they have leisure to cabal against him Thus he finds his Interest in the War and the Armies support his Authority I cannot yet make any certain Judgment of him nor have a perfect Knowledge of his Manners no more than of the Extent of his Genius because the Man hides many Things during his Life with a Dress which will be discovered when he dies We can see which are his good Inclinations and it is not easie to penetrate into a Discovery of the Vices which he is inclined to In few Words he has much contributed to the â—eace of France divided by Diversity of Religion â—e hath succoured Italy and manifested there the â—ower of the King his Sovereign has weakened â—e Empire of Germany by the War he hath carâ—â—ed into her Bosom by the joynt Forces of the â—rinces of the North and them of France at once â—nd no less weakned the Power of the King of â—pain Thou that knowest every thing that passes and last Intelligence from all the Parts of the World canst truly judge of Affairs which makes thee know and foresee all that may prejudice the formidable Empire of the Mussulmans Paris 20th of the 7th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXV To the Kaimakam ALL is in Peace here the War being carried on abroad The Court continues to make Vows for the Queen's Health and happy Delivery They seem not so much concerned for the King's Welfare as the Queen's every Body being perswaded That the Happiness of France depends on her safe Delivery I writ to Ghiurdgi Muhamet that he should mention the Queen's being with Child as a doubtful Thing and which might vanish but at Present it is most certain for she will shortly be brought to Bed She lives in great Repose for fear of hurting her self she scarce stirs out of her Bed-Chamber and every body endeavours to please her There is News from Provence of the arresting of a King's Son by that Governor The Prisoner is Brother to Uladislaus King of Poland 'T is said that the King of Spain had made Prince Casimir Vice-Roy of Portugal in Recompence of the Troops of Cossacks he had formerly raised to defend the County of Burgundy They add that being embark'd at Genoa upon one of the Gallies of that Republick for Spain to take Possession of the said Charge with a small Train of Domesticks and Count Konickpolski who called himself Uladislaus's Embassador with the Marquiss of Gonzague his Kinsman being arrived in Provence and visiting with Care all the Ports and Fortresses this gave no small Cause of Suspicion to the French He staid four Days privately in Marseilles but his Galley was arrested at Bouc the last Port of France by Orders of this King 'T is not yet known what obliged France to make a Person of this Quality Prisoner having nothing to do with Poland and King Lewis XIII having no particular Pique against Prince Casimir But the Secrets of State being only known to them that govern Kingdoms I pretend to penetrate no further but content my self to write what they do and what they say Thou who in the Absence of the Vizir Hazem art the Glory of his Highness's Council art best able to discover the reason of so extraordinary a Novelty The most knowing Persons at Court say this Prisoner will suddenly be set at Liberty and that having no War that may authorize his Detention it would be unjust to retain him The Event will teach me who am Ignorant and them that will divine that which perhaps no body knows at present May it please the Great God Master and Soveraign Moderator of all Things that the Intelligences and Guesses which I give may always be profitable and agreeable and that thy Life may be of eternal Duration for the Happiness of our Great Emperor and his Empire Thou shalt suddenly know whether Prince Casimir be retained longer in Prison or set at Liberty I would that King Uladislaus were in the same misfortune in the hands of the Janizaries and that he as well as his Kingdom were Slaves to the Invincible Sultan King of Kings to whose Power may it please the divine Goodness and the wisest of his Prophets to subject all the Countries of the Infidels and then to place him with his Wives and all the Prophets in his Paradise Paris 20th of the Seventh Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXVI To the
earnest thy Cymiter and cast its Sheath away The King here is very well he said publickly when he heard the Victory of the Malteses That if he were not a King he should choose to be one of the Knights of that Place Thou wilt gain greater Honour and more Trophies will be raised to thee than was to Ariademus and Cigala if thou undertakest effectually the Destruction of this People Thou hast my Prayers That our Holy Prophet would strengthen thy Arm and that God would give thee still Favour in the Sight of our most puissant Emperor chosen to be the chief Commander of the World Paris 15th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1641. LETTER XXV To the Invincible Vizir Azem AN Illustrious Woman of the House of Savoy governed not long since in Portugal in the Name of Philip IV. King of Spain Her Name is Margarita and commonly resides at Lisbon but this Princess with the Title of Vice-Queen had not the Credit or Authority necessary to sustain the Dignity though she had otherwise all the Prudence and Courage requisite thereunto Michael Vasconcelli her chief Secretary having usurped all the Authority carried all things with a high Hand to which he added a most griping Covetousness which was no less disadvantageous to his Mistress's Reputatior And the Marquis de la Puebla a Castilian Minister an Accomplice of Vasconcelii had established himself in this Court as a rigid Censurer of all the Vice-Queen's Actions The Christians call these Two Men Two Pedants set over the Princess as if she had been still in her Minority to correct and regulate her Actions The too great Authority of these Two Ministers became at length a kind of Tyranny The Nobility complained for the loss of their Privileges and the People at their being oppress'd with Taxes which made the Ministry of Vasconcelli seem insupportable in which ' was seen the Vice-Queen had no part This Princess not having the Power to stop the course of the Mischiefs which began to spring up gave Advice of it to the Court of Spain and expected thence the Remedy But whether the King was not in a Condition to give any or his Ministers concealed from him the state of things the Mischiefs encreased and Vasconcelli's Friends by excusing him made it almost impossible to avoid them When Margarita represented the Danger wherein Portugal lay she was heard as a weak and credulous Woman and was often accused of being over timerous which caused a general Revolt in this Kingdom which was few days in contriving and as few hours in executing If thou wilt hear thy humble Slave I 'll relate to thee all the Circumstances of so great an Event which will seem a Fable should we refer our selves to only Reason but which however is a real History as is now well known throughout all Europe Never was there a greater Hatred between Two Nations than that which was between the Spaniards and the Portugueses And though they had one and the same Religion and almost the same Humour yet 't is not to be imagined how far their mutual Aversions carryed them The Portugueses have a common Proverb which says That a Man is obliged to treat and love another Man as his Brother whether he be a Turk a Jew a Pagan or a Moor without excepting the most Barbarous of Mankind yea though he were a Spaniard They have lived with great Patience under the Domination of Philip II. and his Successors since the Death of their King D. Sebastian who was kill'd in Africa in a Battel against the Moors whilst they were suffered to enjoy the Privileges which were granted them Moreover they still expected the Return of their Sovereign who was said not to have dyed in the Field but having long wandred about in strange Countries was in fine about to return But the Example of the Catalonians made them at length resolve upon what they now executed The Nobility were the first that began the Revolt and past over those Bounds which Respect does ordinarily place between the Sovereign and his Subjects They alledged several Pretences for their Rebellion but the most specious was their unwillingness to be sacrificed in unjust Wars vvherein the most dangerous Posts vvere committed to them as they several times reproached the Duke Favourite and Minister of King Philip IV. They immediately carryed on their Intelligences vvith great Secrecy and vvhen they came to declare themselves the greatest Persons consented to the Conspiracy and the boldest amongst them have executed it vvith great Valour Dom Juan Duke of Braganza is the greatest Noble-Man in this Kingdom and perhaps in all Spain and already of the Age vvherein men are vvont to have Wisdom together vvith Strength of Body He vvants not for Ingenuity and Svveetness of Temper He received the Crovvn after long pressings and refusals and indeed is the more vvorthy of it as being the lawful Heir to it The Favourite Duke was well enough informed of the Reputation and Authority of the Duke of Braganza and considering him as a Prince who might lawfully pretend to the Crown he made use of several Artifices to drive him out of Portugal or seize him Prisoner But having always tryed this in vain whether by reason of the extraordinary watchfulness of Dom Juan or that the Heavens on which depend the things here below had otherwise ordered it 't was impossible for this Minister to get so good a Prey into his Hands This crafty Minister has tryed all Ways and sometimes made use of the Fox's Skin and otherwhiles of the Lyon's Voice to bring about his Ends. Sometimes he tryed to draw him to Court offering him the most honourable Employs there perswading him to accompany the Catholick King in his Voyage into Catalonia But the Duke knew how to defend himself against the Snare and timely withdrew to Villa Viciosa the ordinary place of his Abode and whence he excused himself from going to Madrid sometimes for that he had not sufficient to bear his Charges according to his Quality in such a Journey and otherwhiles on other Pretences with which the Favourite Duke was obliged to seem contented Though he was not yet he feigned himself to be satisfied to put in practice the most exquisite piece of Policy he ever made use of He sent him Forty Thousand Pistols to buy Necessaries and at the same time sent him also the General Command of the Troops in Portugal with Order to come to Lisbon and as High-Constable of the Kingdom to observe the Motions of the Vnited Provinces which threatned Spain and Portugal with a powerfull Fleet. But he had sent the following Order to D. Lopes d' Ossio Thou hast the Command of the Naval Army get immediately before Lisbon Dom Juan de Braganza has Orders to visit the Vessels as soon as he shall enter the first Gally clap him in Irons and immediately depart with this Prisoner to Cadis where I have appointed People to convey him to Madrid Dom
well-known Marks in the Person of D. Sebastian He talks of Ambassadors which he sent to the Republick he cites the Answers he had received and all he says is found conformable to the Truth He answers without Hesitation to all that is objected which makes several of the Senate believe him to be really the King and others take him for a Witch But in fine this Prince right or wrong is led away to Prison at the Solicitation of the Spanish Ambassador where having long lain he is set at Liberty under an Obligation to leave the Venetian Countries in Three Days time Some Portugueses moved with Compassion disguised him in a Dervise's Habit and conducted him secretly to Florence to transport him afterwards to Rome but the great Duke of Tuscany caused him to be apprehended and sent him to the Vice-Roy of Naples He presented himself before him with his usual Confidence and surprized all that saw him and heard him speak and seeing the Vice-Roy uncovered he said to him with great Assurance and Gravity Be covered Count de Lemnos which obliged this Minister to ask him By what Authority he took on him this Boldness To which he answered That his Authority was born with him and that he feigned not to know him and yet he ought to remember that King Philip his Vncle had sent him twice to him and that the Sword which he then wore by his Side was that which he then gave him The Sentence which the Vice-Roy gave of him was That he was an Impostor who deserved to be sent to the Galleys and should not long be from them and wherein 't is said he died some time after Yet the Portugueses have been persuaded he was their real King and do still continue of that Opinâ—on there being nothing which is able to make them change it Some Persons in the World will have him to be a Magician others an Impostor and the most ignorant will have him to be a Devil or really the King himself This is not the first Example of the Boldness of an Impostor Rome saw heretofore a Man that had the Audaciousness to publish he was the real Pompey who was killed in Egypt by the Cruelty of the young Ptolemy The Queen Artemisa found one Artemius who had so great a Resemblance with Antiochus her Husband whom she had caused to be murthered that he was not known when he put himself into the Bed of the dead King pretending to be this Prince sick he recommended Artemisa to his Subjects and did several things in favour of this Princess Under the Reign of Tiberius was there not Occasion to be surprized at the bold Answer which a Slave made to this Emperor who questioning him How he made himself A grippa answered without Hesitation in the same manner thou hast made thy self Caesar The D. Sebastian I mentioned has not been the only one in the World there have been two others one of which departing out of the Isle of Terceres who had great Resemblance with this Prince went into Portugal where he said he had miraculously escaped from the Battel he lost in Africk that he saved himself in Woods and returned into his Kingdom to give Peace to his People and deliver them from the Tyranny of Strangers but having been convicted of Imposture he was put to Death 'T is said that another being come disguised in the Habit of a Pilgrim to Madrid it self and having had a long and secret Conference with King Philip II. by whom it is suspected he was known for this unhappy Prince was by this King's Order said to be poysoned in a Banquet given him by Antonio Peres I shall write several Things to the Invincible Vizir of which I deferred to give him Notice because I would be certain of them they being of Importance and it would have been great Lightness in me to have written them on the first Reports spread amongst the People Receive always with the same Goodness the Marks I give thee of my Obedience send me thy Orders and Counsels which I pray him that has created all Things may be good and profitable to the Empire of those Precious Ones which he has enlightned with his Truth to the end they may arrive at the Eternal Glory and Pleasures promised as from his part by his Holy Prophet and I also pray him to preserve thy Life and Authority Paris 24th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1642. LETTER XXIII To the Venerable Mufti Prince of the Religion of the Turks 'T Is not known whether it be the Recompence of a good or bad Action which Cardinal Richlieu has sent with so great Secrecy Those that give an ill Interpretation to the best Things say it is not to be supposed there could be sent in a dark Night a Mule laden with Gold to an unknown Person but this must denote something very extraordinary and those who pretend to know more than others are sometimes more ignorant than those who pretend to know nothing For who can penetrate into what so crafty a Minister does in the most retired Places of his Closet His Actions are so mysterious that when he looks towards the East his Designs lie a direct contrary Way He deceives those who watch him most narrowly I cannot inform thee then of any thing certain The Matter is variously related but thus I think it was The Cardinal caused some Days past to be loaded on a Mule a great Summ of Money he ordered him to whom he entrusted the Conduct of him to go into a Wood at such an Hour telling him he should find a Man of such a Stature such a coloured Hair and in such a Habit who was to say certain Words to him whereupon he was to deliver the Mule with his Lading into his Custody It is said this Person found the Party described who would not receive the Present it being not the full Summ agreed upon That this being related to the Cardinal he sent the same Person with the Supplement of what was wanting to the Summ promised the Night following where the unknown Person received the full Payment If this Story be true as it is affirm'd here to be this is an odd kind of Way of making Presents or paying Debts But thou maist be assured this is not the first time the Cardinal has paid his Creditors in this Sort. I have been told for certain that there being arrived at Paris a Stranger ill clad of small Stature and without any Attendance he made him be paid down immediately upon his Arrival Six Hundred Thousand Crowns without any bodies knowing what became of so happy a Creditor nor from what Merit proceeded so high a Recompence though some People affirm that so great a Summ is fallen into the Coffers of the Swedish General Receive charitably the Marks I give thee of my Obedience and Desire which I have of giving thee Satisfaction and entreat our Great Prophet that I may be worthy in the other World to kiss