Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	abhor_v	able_a	great_a	27	3	2.1554	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57371	The adventures of (Mr. T.S.) an English merchant taken prisoner by the Turks of Argiers, and carried into the inland countries of Africa : with a description of the kingdom of Argiers ... / written first by the author, and fitted for the public view by A. Roberts ; whereunto is annex'd an observation of the tide, and how to turn a ship out of the straights mouth, the wind being westerly, by Richard Norris.	T. S.; Roberts, A., 17th cent.; Norris, Richard.	1670 (1670)	Wing R1576; ESTC R36789	70,471	267

for he foresaw the dreadful consequence that would ensue if he offered to offend the Turks and if they did countenance his Nephew in his Rebellion it might prove the ruine of Himself and Kingdom therefore to engage them to his Interest which was the most just he courted my Master their Ambassador with all expressions of kindness our Lodgings were always full of Courtiers and every day we did feel and see some Tokens of the Princes Kindness or Fear This part of the Countrey began to be in no little apprehension at first but when my Master had received full satisfaction he setled their minds with the assurance that the Turks were too honest to approve of the Nephews Rebellion against an Unkle Yet such was my Masters kindness for the young man that he mediated for him and obliged the Prince to invite him again to his Duty and pardon his Offences which he accepted of willingly when he heard how we had promised to lend our succours to his Unkle in case he should remain obstinate in the pursuance of his wicked Design He quickly return'd to Court and was there received with a jealous Countenance that had always an Eye upon him and his Actions The fond Love the People had conceived for him saved his Life for none did dare to attempt to injure him that was so dear to every one The young mans confidence upon the Peoples Affection made him more impertinent than otherwise he would have been It made him appear more bold to oppose his Unkle and more negligent in his Duty towards him When we had our Dispatches we left him to his own Fortune and return'd again to Climsan to the great satisfaction of all the City who did hope to reap no small advantage from this Negotiation My Master had the honour of it although it was effected by my Contrivance He ever after employed me in his difficult Affairs and admitted me into his private Council An Honour that a Slave could never expect from the Turks Severity We made some stay in this City of Climsan in which time I took notice of many Particulars of the several manners of Execution which are these Empasing They thrust a sharp Stake into the Body of the Criminal which enters in between their Legs and appears again at their Mouth This is their usual way of treating notable Robbers and Fellows that have acted against the Government It is cruel and inhumane for it puts the Patient to a long Pain when the Stake hath escap'd the Heart and some of the more sensible Parts Some I have seen alive near six hours in this manner Those that commit Adultery or that attempt any thing against the Lives of them whom they should defend are cast headlong down a Precipice at the bottom whereof sharp Stakes are erected to welcome them and dispatch them into another World I have heard sad Groans and Outcries from such that have been thus executed There is another manner of Execution not usual in our Climates when any have committed Sacriledge or done any Action to the dishonour of Mahomet or the Religion professed in this place they poure scalding Lead into his Mouth which sinks in with a horrible Smoke and burns the Throat to the Entrails I never heard any give the least shrick for the burning Metal consumes all before it and causes the Wind-pipe to shrink Others are exposed to the cruelty of the Children who with sharp Sticks and Canes do prick them to death that they might accustom these young Spirits to Blood and Wounds that when they grow to age they might less abhor it I have seen them take a great delight to thrust their sharp Reeds into the Sides and Back of the poor Criminal who is not able to defend himself but with his Tongue for his Hands and Legs are tyed in such a manner as he may only walk It is a very pitiful Spectacle to see a poor Creature bleed out his Soul through so many Wounds The sportful Outcries and Voices of the Children do hinder the dying men from being heard Some of them continue alive many hours sprinkling their blood wherever they crawl There is here another as strange an Execution as the former In the great Market place of the City a brazen Lion stands hollow within with a grim and threatning Countenance at his Side a Door opens which is made to receive those that are to be executed in that manner They are persons that are guilty of some horrid Crimes and that have offended the Publick in a grievous manner To recompense them therefore by their Deaths they execute them thus that they that have been useless in their Lives may give some sport at least at their going out of the world to the People they are shut into this new Invention and a Fire of Wood is kindled under it which by degrees as it heats the Brass it puts them to a greater torture The pain forces them to complain and cry out Now at the Mouth Ears and under the Tail of the Lion are holes artificially made out of which the Complaints and Cries of the Patient do burst forth through different Windings and Turnings in such a manner that several Voices or rather Tunes are framed one after another for the Cry is longer a coming out of the Tail than the Ears and so of the Mouth Besides the variety of Cries yields a pleasant and a various sound to the Ears of the Spectators This cruel sport continues many times a whole day to divert the people for at the Judges pleasure they kindle a lesser or a greater Fire which causes the Patient to die accordingly I could never learn the Author of this inhumane Engine which hath been died with so much blood for during my three years abode in that place I saw above twenty cast into that Oven A Woman a Child and a Man were put in together for it is very large Their Crime was that they had attempted to kill our Governour by the sollicitation of a Morisco Prince that hated him The Woman was to trapan and ensnare him with her Beauty and convey secretly some poison by that means into his Drink when she should be admitted into his Familiarity and in case that Plot did not succeed then the man was to stab or shoot him when he could meet him at an advantage Our old General was not so aged but he had some Reliques of his youthful Inclinations when therefore he saw her Beautiful Eyes large and full of Spirits he laboured to get into her more intimate Acquaintance thinking to meet there with a perfect happiness he employed such means as he quickly compassed his Design but not to his satisfaction so much as was expected for as they were together she discovered a Box which she was so desirous to hide from him that he became suspitious that it might be something that he understood not Assoon as he saw it he judged it to be poison but to be more assured he

one or two Breasts but speaks as loud and with as many tongues as these prating Creatures The old Citizens Wife had whispered some of her secrets to her intimate Acquaintance and they to others so that this good opinion of my Ability spread increased wonderfully in the Town it created me many temptations and no little trouble to avoid them Had I been unconstant in Religion I had made great advantage in this place of the Womens Kindness to me but here I could not fix without Apostacy which was too big a Morsel for my Conscience to swallow That which was the most powerful temptation was offered to me by a rich Heiress widow to a former Husband of the most considerable amongst the Citizens she sent to know from my Master whether he would part with me for any Money he answered that he could not sell me because I had deserved my Freedom and that he had promised it unto me When Gold which finds in many places but a faint resistance would not do another Expedient was set on foot a Gentleman or an Arabian Zidi addrest himself to my Master and me severally telling us his business in short That there was a rich Widow no less handsom without Charge of Children that was desirous to make me her Husband and to give me all her Estate if I would become Mahumetan and remain in that place My Master hearkened to this Proposition for the Love he had for me began to exaggerate my good Fortune and the happiness that was offered to me wishing me to accept of it and not to suffer so great a loss for the Fancy of Religion My first Resolution was to despise all these Offers and to prefer the Life of a Slave with Honour and my Religion before the greatest Riches and the most pleasant Life I remained still in it All my Masters perswasions could not shake me from it when I considered within my self such an action to deny my Saviour that redeemed me to despise his Bloud to renounce all interest in him to abjure his Truth that I knew to be such and own an Impostor Mahomet to prefer him and his Diabolical Religion before that which Christ hath established this action appeared unto me with such an horrid Aspect that I was frighted from the very thoughts of it All the Advantages proposed to me the vast Riches Revenues could make no Impression upon my spirit I foresaw also that if I ever did ingage my self in that Countrey by espousing so great an interest in it I should with more difficulty bring to pass my escape and that instead of purchasing my Liberty at such a dear rate I should but enslave my self more and in such a manner that there would be small hopes left of seeing again my Native Soil These Considerations preserved my mind from this powerful temptation that wanted not Art Industry and Power to second it but when my Master saw my disposition and how unpleasing the change of Religion was to me he desired them never to mention unto me such a matter again He would never after suffer any such Proposition to be made to me wishing that I might live and die in it By that I perceived that he was inclined to favour Christian Religion and that Renegades are never grateful to the Turks although they embrace their Profession Unconstancy and Infidelity are odious to them also that receive a benefit by the Traitors My refusal did disappoint the Moorish Lady but did not put a stop to her proceedings she imagined all the ways possible to enjoy what she so passionately desired She contrived the means to speak to me her self privately she laboured to trepan me and drive me to a necessity of burning or turning hoping to obtain more easily her end but all was in vain I had constancy enough and was sufficiently wary to frustrate all her undertakings When she saw her self disappointed of all her hopes which she had conceived from the former means employed to woe me she gave not over her Passion was more enflamed with this stout resistance she therefore resolved to find out some other way to know the truth of what was reported of me A Curiosity that cost us both much trouble and hazzard of Life The correspondency that she aimed at was dangerous without something to excuse and hide it from the Eyes of the World the best Cloak was Marriage which seeing she could not obtain with me was resolved to take some other that might be favourable to her Passion and give it the liberty of satisfying it self for that intent she addresses her self to a poor man of that place descended from good Parentage of the Moors but his Fortunes were not answerable to his Nobility several Misfortunes had reduced him to almost a begging condition and he had lately lost by death his Wife which during her life he was scarce able to maintain The Morisco Lady acquaints him by a trusty Friend with her good inclinations for him and appoints unto him both the place and time to speak with him further about this business he joyfully accepts of the Assignation hoping by this means to redeem himself and Children from extream poverty and Bondage At the time he comes to the place and there meets with the Lady who having dismissed all other Company Witnesses freely discovers unto him her Affection for me and my ungrateful Repulse and her Resolution to bestow her self and Means upon such a Husband that would not search too narrowly into her Actions but that would give her the liberty of receiving the Visits of those persons that she loved passionately The poor man saw that what was proposed to him was offensive to his Honour but advantageous to his Purse In the condition he was in he could not reasonably refuse the Offer although it was prejudicial to his Credit he was therefore willing to become a Cuckold to enjoy the Riches of this Widow hoping after Marriage to behave himself with her in such a manner that he would reclaim her from those idle and unlawful fancies The Condition was agreed to and all things concluded on the Marriage was performed with as much secrecy and with as little Ceremony as was possible When it came to the knowledge of her Friends they laboured to divert her from it but she was so obstinately resolved that nothing could hinder her from her design which was no sooner accomplished but she laboured to find the opportunity she sought after Her Husband kept not his word with her he fell into a fit of Jealousie that would neither suffer her to see the Air nor me to come near her Dwelling so that she was forced to use her wit to get what she had bargained for When the Fool grew rich he forgot his Benefactor and remembred no more his engagement to her never to disturb and persecute her for Actions of Gallantry and Pleasure He seldom met me in the streets but he sought all occasions to stab