Religeous Brethren He was permitted to carry good Quantities of Gold and Silver about him for his Personal Expences and to wear a Secular Habit suitable to his Birth and Quality But this Liberty had like to have prov'd fatal to him one Night during the Carnaval It was late and very dark when this Religious Bully was beating the Streets upon the Hunt for Whores and walking under certain Piazza's near the River Tyber he was accosted by a Woman mask'd and in a very good Dress who spoke to him frankly asking him the Way to Il Rotundo This is the Name of a Church in Rome dedicated to All the Saints In the Time of the Gentiles 't was call'd Pantheon or the Temple of all the Gods The Monk being in one of his Rambling Equipages and his Inclinations equally bent on Pleasure having also a Hundred Florins about him presently made Answer He wou'd conduct her to the Place she enquired for She after some counterfeit Essays of a modest Repulse at length accepted his Offer And by the Way he perswaded her into a Tavern The cunning Nymph manag'd her Business so well that the Monk over-heated with Wine and other costly Entertainments grew so in Love with her that he forgot she was to go to the Pantheon and offer'd to wait on her home She accepted the Motion and telling him her House was seated on the Banks of the Tyber they return'd the same Way as they came When they arriv'd at the Piazza's where they first met Three Persons appear'd muffled up in Cloaks Two of which suddenly seiz'd the Monk holding their Ponyards at his Breast whilst the Third disclosing the hidden Light of a Dark Lanthorn which he held in his Hand fasten'd on the Lady and made her unmask As soon as he saw her Face he stamp'd and rav'd menac'd and swore he wou'd be the Death of that Villain who had debauch'd his Wife All this was but a fore-laid Design In a Word After all the Parts of an abus'd incens'd revengeful Husband acted to the Life at last through the Intercession of the Two other Ruffians and the Monk's penitent and submissive Address it was concluded to spare his Life and only strip him naked leaving him in that Condition to seek his Fortune among the Watch. This was soon put in Execution and the Free-booters with all their Prey securely march'd off The poor Monk thus miserably abandon'd without Garments Money or any Thing to comfort him in his Calamity or to bribe the Watch gave himself over to Melancholy and Despair in regard this Accident would bring an Eternal Infamy on him and he shou'd be no longer able to shew his Face in Rome the Seat of his Nativity nor among any of his Kindred and Friends Sometimes he thought to drown himself in the Tyber or else to counterfeit a Phrensy and so run bawling driveling and talking Nonsense through the Streets hoping the rest wou'd never be divulg'd Whilst he was in these pensive Thoughts irresolute what to do the Watch walking their Rounds bolted upon him on a sudden and seeing a naked Man at that Time of Night in such a solitary Place at first were startl'd as tho' they had met a Ghost but recollecting themselves better they boldly seiz'd his Person and examin'd how he came in that Condition It was in vain for him to beg entreat and promise any Thing if they wou'd not expose him to open Shame This did but increase their Curiosity and Suspicion In a Word the Place of their Rendezvous being very near the same Tavern where this unfortunate Monk had regal'd his Strumpet they led him thither and kept him Prisoner till the Morning He that kept the House remember'd his Face again and knowing that the Governour of Rome had a secret Enmity against the Monk and all his Race sent him private Intelligence of this Adventure encouraging him to take this Opportunity of Revenge hinting withal That he need not take notice that he knew the Monk but only punish him as an ordinary Fellow breaking the Laws of the City The Governour glad of this Occasion when the Monk was brought before him order'd him to be whip'd through the very Street where his Monastery stood This was done accordingly and as he pass'd by the Gate his Brethren seeing him in that Condition rush'd out and rescu'd him from the Executioner's Hands breathing Revenge against the Governour and all that were concern'd in putting this Dishonour on their House and the whole Order I must be forc'd to break off before I have inform'd thee of half their Tricks lest I shou'd tire thee with the Length of my Letters Besides it is necessary for me to conclude unless I wou'd miss my Opportunity For the Post tarries for no Man Venerable Hadgi live thou to enjoy the Serene Pleasure of Vertue and Innocence and pray for Mahmut that he may never be stain'd with the Corruptions and Vices of Infidels among whom he resides Paris 18th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1662. LETTER XIII To the Chiaus Bassa THE French King's Genius seems altogether bent on Martial and Politick Affairs and tho' he allows some Moments to his Love yet the greatest Part of his Time is consecrated to the Necessary Affairs of State and to the Improvement of Military Discipline This has been his Course ever since the Death of Cardinal Mazarini That Minister whilst he was living endeavoured Nothing so earnestly as to divert the Young Monarch from minding Business by Plays Ballets and other soft Entertainments But as soon as he was dead the King began by Degrees to forsake his Youthful Recreations and look into the Affairs of his Government The first Bold Stroke of Regal Authority which he gave was the Suppressing the Superintendant of the Finances a very Ancient Office in France but much abus'd of late by those who have enjoy'd it For having the Management of the Royal Revenues it has been found out That they embezzel'd them to their own private Uses purchasing Houses Castles Towns and the fairest Estates in the Kingdom for them and their Posterity The last in this Office was the Sieur Fouquet who besides the waste he made of the King's Money in this Kind was laying up an Extrordinary Provision of Arms and Powder in Belle Isle a Sea-Port of France which gave the King so great a Suspicion of his ill Designs That he went in Person after him as far as Nantes and being there farther informed of a private Correspondence held between the Sieur Fouquet and some Malecontents of Cardinal de Retz's Party he caused him to be arrested and sent Prisoner to the Wood of Vinciennes From whence he has been since brought to the Bastile This was done in the 9th Moon of the last Year and was the Occasion of erecting a New Chamber of Justice to enquire into the Conduct of those who were employed by Fouquet in the Management of the Finances The great Discoveries this Chamber has already made of
the Cheats and Tricks practised by those through whose Hands the King's Revenues have pass'd will its thought move the King to establish it as a perpetual and Sovereign Court of Inquisition So that not the Value of an Asper shall henceforth be paid out of the Royal Treasury without the Approbation of this Chamber He has also retrenched many superfluous Offices in his Houshold that he may the more easily support the Charges of those that are Necessary Thou wilt better comprehend the Wisdom of this Prince when thou shalt know that he trusts Nothing absolutely to his Ministers but pries into every Thing himself He examins Matters of the smallest Moment as narrowly as the most Important Concerns He makes daily Reformations among his Domestick Servants and New-Models both the Army and the State Which is also no small Argument of his Courage and the Greatness of his Spirit in that he dares contradict the Methods of all his Progenitors take the Frame of this Mighty Government as it were to Pieces and having mended every Thing that was amiss join it together again but after a Pattern wholly depending on his own Judgment This has astonished the Greatest Statesmen of the Age who consider the Boldness of the Undertaking and yet cannot find one false Step in his Measures For whereas formerly the Princes of the Blood the Officers of the State the Governours of Provinces with other Grandees have given frequent Trouble to the Kings of France and not seldom rais'd Civil War when any Thing disgusted them so great was their Power and so small their Dependance on the King This Monarch has by a Happy Effect of his Judgment and Resolution given so dextrous a Turn to the whole System of the Publick that the Princes find themselves more aggrandiz'd than Ever the Officers of the Crown perceive their Dignity encreas'd with New Lustres and the Governours of Provinces exercise a Stronger Hand over their Subjects yet all of them are reduc'd to an entire Dependance on the King himself not being in a Capacity ever to Rebel again Which is esteemed a Miracle of Policy As he has thus gained the Point of his Subjects at Home and established his Realm in the most perfect Oeconomy that can be imagined so he has recovered a particular Honour Abroad that till this Time has been always disputed between the Crowns of France and Spain It seems an Embassador from Sueden arriv'd at the English Court in the 10th Moon of the last Year The French Embassador sent his Coaches to honour his Publick Entry as is Usual between Friends But the Spanish Embassador designing to affront the French sent his Coaches also to attend the Ceremony accompanied by his own Servants and a Rabble of Idle Persons whom he had hir'd on Purpose These fell on the French as they were passing along the Street kill'd several of them and by Force stopp'd their Coaches till those of the Spanish Embassador were got before them the Preheminence of Place being the Chief Thing aim'd at This was highly resented at the French Court and every body thought that a fresh War would break out again between the Two Nations on this Account The angry Young Monarch commanded the Spanish Embassador resident here to depart the Kingdom and when another was sent to supply his Place the King forbad him to enter his Dominions Complaints were made at Madrid and all Things tended to a Rupture Till at Length the King of Spain having promised to make Satisfaction his Embassador war received at this Court who assured the King That his Master disavow'd the Action of his Minister in England and had given express Command to all his Embassadors in Foreign Courts not to dispute the Place with those of France but to yield it to the latter where they should both be present at the same Entry This was declar'd in the Presence of Thirty Foreign Ministers residing at this Court. Which has rais'd a vast Reputation to the King of France among all his Neighbours and struck the greater Reverence into his Subjects at Home In a word he is look'd upon as the most Fortunate Prince in Christendom and every State courts his Friendship He gives the Law to the rest of Europe yet remains himself Arbitrary and above Controul How long his Affairs will continue at this Height is known only to God who exalts and abases whom he pleases who is the sole Monarch of all Things Reigning for ever without the least Shadow of Revolution or Change Paris 12th of the 7th Moon of the Year 1662. LETTER XIV To the Same IT was late when I finish'd my other Letter being the Hour of the Devil 's Range when the Infernal Spirits are permitted to air themselves in this Vpper World Methought I heard the Clattering Eccho of the Gates of Paradise which are shut at that Season to keep out the Daemons from entring and disturbing the Repose of the Bless'd This made me conclude so abruptly lest some busie Scribe of the Dark Regions shou'd have inserted Evil in my Letter whilst I were asleep I recommended my self to God and went to Bed After Two Hours Rest awaking I perceiv'd by the Crowing of the Cocks That the Troops of Hell were retir'd to their Den chas'd down by Arcturus and the Guardian Constellations of the South and by the Angels of the Second Watch. Then I arose and chearfully address'd my self to God praising him for the Successive Benefits of Day and Night and extolling his Magnificent Works with the exquisite Order that he has establish'd in the World Remembring also that I was a Man and not born to sleep but to serve the Grand Signior and my Friends I readily set Pen to Paper again to give thee a farther Account of the French King and his Court with such Occurrences as have happen'd of late This Monarch is very Singular in his Conduct and Manner of Life not brooking to be confin'd to the Maxims of others but squaring all his Actions by Rules of his own Yet 't is difficult to find a Fault in his Proceedings He hears the Advice of his Counsellors and Friends and when they have done he convinces them in many Things That they are under a Mistake which makes 'em admire the Force of his Reason and the Readiness of his Wit especially when they see the Events answering Expectation Neither is he altogether so Intent on State-Matters but that he sometimes gives himself the Diversion of a Familiar Discourse with the most Ingenious Artists of all Sorts who find themselves much improv'd by the Quickness of his Invention and the Solidity of his Judgment in the Mechanicks For he is an Excellent Gun-Smith Sword-Cutler Armour-Maker and every Thing that becomes a King to profess He is a good Architect also and takes vast Delight in Buildings having laid the Foundations of several Magnificent Structures Palaces of a Noble Design and intended to outvy the most Polite and Glorious Fabricks of Ancient Greece and Rome For
be great and extensive if the French King and the Pope should come to an open Rupture All the Princes in Europe would find themselves engag'd on one Side or other And we Mussulmans might live to see the whole State of Christendom disjoynted alienated and embroil'd in Wars among themselves whereby they would lay their Countries naked and open to the invincible Arms of the Ottomans a Lineage of high Renoun and destin'd to subdue All Things But 't is thought the Holy Father at Rome will not farther provoke so daring and powerful a Monarch as him of France by justifying the Insolences of his Janizaries who proceeded to that Height of Fury as to discharge Guns into the Windows of the French Embassador kill'd several of his Retinue and assassinated the Dutchess of Crequi in her Coach as she passed along the Streets Illustrious Minister these are Violations not practised by the most Barbarous Savages And 't is an evident Sign of a decaying Empire where the Publick Faith is thus perfidiously broke God infatuates the Infidels that he may speedily bring 'em to Ruin Whereas he daily enlightens the Just Followers of the Prophet and directs them in the ways of Prosperity and Peace Paris 3d. of the 11th Moon of the Year 1662. LETTER XVII To Mohammed the Illustrious Eremit of Mount Uriel in Arabia IN the Name of God Benigne and Merful I approach the Residence of great Sanctimony the Tremendous Solitude the Cave bless'd by frequent Visitations of Angels and by the former Presence of the most Sublime among Mortals Mahomet the Legat of the Eternal the Plenipotentiary of Alla King of Heaven and Earth Alla There is but One Whose Name resounds through all the Orbs Above when pronounc'd by the Faithful Adorers of the Divine Vnity on Earth And the Eccho thereof from the Adamantine Gates of Paradise reaches the Abyss of Hell striking the Infernal Spirits with Horrour and Astonishment They tremble at the Sound of the Dreadful Word which chains them up in their Prisons of Darkness Whereas had they Faith they would rather rejoyce believing that the same Word will one Day release 'em from their Torments For such is the Clemency of the Omnipotent as our Holy Doctors teach O Mohammed Friend of the Most High and Tenant to his Prophet I have experienc'd that it is good and wholesome to begin every Thing we do or say in the Name of God Whosoever does otherwise either fails in the Progress or the End of his Design and so remains in Confusion Tagot creeps into his Enterprize and through Malice spoils it robbing a Man of his Crown Or Negidher the Spirit of Envy winds himself in and entangles it Or Ablis the Daemon of Melancholy casts a Damp on it and bereaves the Undertaker of his Joy Such is the Fate of those who through Prophaneness Sloth or Contempt forget to pay the due Veneration we owe to the Author and Source of Providence and Good Success Let us not therefore think the Time mispent which is taken up in the Praises of Him who has neither Beginning nor End Father of all the Ganerations in this Visible World and that Other which is conceal'd from Mortals He is the Governour of our Lives and our sole Patron in all Necessities Let us extoll and magnify his Attributes without End I am by Nature Contemplative and Thoughtful but I must needs acknowledge That I owe to my Education among the Musselmans the Force of my Faith and Religion The various turns of Fortune and Experience which I have had in the World cou'd never yet blot out the impressions of my Early Years or diminish the Reverence I have for our Holy Prophet I often revolve in my Mind the Series of past Ages and the Histories of former Times the Origin of Nations and the Various Laws Religions Wars and Changes I traverse the different Epocha's of the Posterity of Ibrahim and the Gentiles comparing the Date of Israel's Transmigration out of Egypt with the Years of Nabonassar and the Olympiads In all of them I find great Obscurity Contradiction and Doubtfulness which puts me upon examining the Records of Egypt and the Assyrians The Antiquity of both is very great and yet it comes far short of the Chinese Chronology and that of the Indian Bramins When I have tir'd my Soul with a vain Search of that which can never be discover'd When I consider the Probability of an Vniversal Deluge in the Time of Noah and the Arguments which almost demonstrate the contrary comparing this with the Flood of Deucalion and that other of Ogyges In a Word when I reflect on the numberless Incongruities that are found in the Registers of Past Ages I cannot but conclude there is as much Reason for me to believe That God has determinately thus dark'ned the Knowledge of Mortals as that he confounded their Language at Babel according to the Celebrated Relation of Moses Whence it will be but lost Labour for us who live in these later Times to seek for any Assurance or Certainty of the Truth in Matters of so Remote and Early a Date Wherefore leaving every Nation to their own Traditions the Jews to the Manuscripts of Moses and their Rabbi's the Gentiles to the Fragments of Hermes Trismegistus Orpheus Homer Hesiod Theophrastus and other Sages of Egypt Phoenicia and Greece I for my Part acquiesce to the Volume of Majesty the Great Alcoran and to the Writings of our Holy Doctors Arabians the Sons of Ismael not puzzling my self with endless Disputes and Questions nor censuring others who Worship God after their own Way and the Documents of their Fathers but firmly believing That he who serves God according to the Dictates of his Reason who is Just to Men and Beasts and in all Things conserves an Innocent Purity of Life is as Acceptable to the Great Creator and Impartial Judge of the Vniverse as he that has had the Happiness to be instructed in the Positive Injunctions of Heaven the Reveal'd Will of the Omnipotent And this I take to be the Sense of our Holy Law-giver of the Messias and of all the Prophets in General Doubtless that superlatively Merciful and Indulgent connives at the Frailties of Mortals He pities the Invincible Ignorances of some and the Fatal Necessities of others He knows the infinite Variety of our Bodily Constitutions and the equally different Bent of our Souls He considers the Force of the Elements and Climates wherein we live and the unconquerable Influence of the Stars under which we were Born The whole System of Human Nature with its most hidden Circumstances is expos'd to the Eyes of him who sees All Things He is no Stranger to the Anatomy of his own Works Therefore he requires no more of Men than can be expected from the Faculties with which he has endu'd ' em Neither will he damn any Man for an Involuntary Evil. O Mohammed this is my Faith my Hope and my Confidence Otherwise I should despair every Moment If I
passes The Hoofs of his Beast tread only on Silks or other Costly Stuffs And as they enter any Town or City they Chaunt aloud his Praises proclaming him the Son of David and Heir of the Divine Promises All his Followers pretend to be Prophets boasting of strange Illuminations and Raptures foretelling Things to come and reproaching the Vices of Governours and the Greatest Princes with a Boldness which has but few Precedents In a word they every where preach That God is laying the Foundation of a New Monarchy which shall destroy all the Rest in the World and shall never have an End it self This gives a Jealousy to the States where they live and therefore they are persecuted in all Places Yet they appear very constant in their Sufferings and tenacious of the Doctrines they preach They seem in my Opinion to resemble one of our Mussulman Sects who assert That Jesus the Son of Mary shall return again upon Earth That he shall Marry and beget Children be Anointed King of the Nations who believe in One God and in this Glorious State shall reign Forty Years After which he shall subdue Antichrist and then shall follow the Dissolution of all Things Yet the Orthodox Believers reject this Tenet as Fabulous Neither is there any Countenance given to it in that Versicle of the Alcoran where it is said Thou Mahomet shalt see thy Lord return in the Clouds Since that only intimates the Glorious Descent which Moses Jesus and Mahomet shall make from Paradise with Enoch Elias and the One Hundred Twenty Four Thousand Prophets to assemble the Elect at the Day of Judgment If thou would'st have my Opinion of these New Religionists in Europe and their Leader I take him to be an Impostor and his Followers to be either Fools or Mad-Men Even just such another Crew as those who follow'd Moseileima in the Days of our Holy Law-Giver This was an Arabian Impostor who pretended to set up for a Prophet and attempted to compose a Book like the Alcoran But he was Infatuated with a Vain Arrogance and there was no Truth or Elegance in his Writings no Justice on his Side nor Understanding in him or his Party To be short both he and they were all cut to pieces in the Vale of Akreb by the Troops of Abu-Bacrossadic the First Cailiph As to these Modern Seducers they are not Men of Arms but a Herd of Silly Insignificant People aiming rather to heap up Riches in Obscurity than to acquire a Fame by any Heroick Undertaking They are Generally Merchants or Mechanicks and are observ'd to be very Punctual in their Dealings Men of few Words in a Bargain Modest and Compos'd in their Deportment Temperate in their Lives and using great Frugality in all things In a word They are singularly Industrious sparing no Labour or Pains to encrease their Wealth and so Subtle and Inventive that they wou'd if possible extract Gold out of Ashes I know none that excel them in their Characters but the Jews and the Banians â—…he Former being the Craftiest of all Men and the Latter so superlatively Cunning that they will over-reach the Devil But these are no Signs of a Pure Religion For that only prescribes the Methods of withdrawing and separating the Soul from the Contagion of Earthly Things and of uniting it to the Deity which is its Sourse Illustrious Kaimacham I bid thee Adieu praying that thou and I may at last meet in that Center of all Things after our Various Epicycles and Excursions in this Lower World Paris 15th of the 11th Moon of the Year 1659. LETTER V. To the Same I Sent a Dispatch some Moons past to the Cadilesquer of Romeli Guardian of the Imperial Canons Interpreter of the Laws of Equity wherein I inform'd him of the Advances that were made in order to a Peace between France and Spain Now I can assure thee that Peace is concluded and the Articles Sign'd on both Sides by the Two Plenipotentiaries I need not repeat what I particularly related to that Grandee My Letters are all publish'd in the Divan and Register'd Yet it will not be unwelcome perhaps to thee to hear with what Niceness of Punctilio these Infidel Ministers met to accomplish an Affair whereon depends the Interest and Honor of their Respective Masters the Happiness of the Two Kingdoms and the General Byass of all the West There is a little Island form'd by the River Bidassoa call'd the Isle of Pheasants through the Middle of which a Line is drawn which exactly separates the Territories of both Monarchs This Place was agreed on for the Interview of the Two Ministers Each had his Bridge to enter the Island in that Part which belong'd to his Master And over the Line of Separation was erected a large Divan or Council-Room to be enter'd only by Two Private Doors one out of Cardinal Mazarini's Lodgings rais'd on the French Side of the Council-Room the other out of Don Louis D' Aro's Apartment built on the Spanish Side Each of these Ministers was accompany'd by several Princes and Grandees of the Court and above Sixty other Persons of Quality with a Guard of Four Hundred Horse and Foot to secure their Bridges and the Place of Conference In a word Things were manag'd with so much Moderation and good Success that the Mareschal de Gramont was sent Embassador Extraordinary into Spain and receiv'd at that Court with Infinite Civilities and Honour The Subject of his Negotiation was to treat of a Match between the King his Master and the Infanta of Spain His Conduct and Address were such as soon procur'd the Catholick King 's Consent And from that Time the Marshal approach'd the Infanta with more than ordinary Submissions esteeming her now as the Queen of France Soon after this the Nuptial Contract and the Peace was mutually Sign'd to the Immense Joy of the Subjects of both Sides who were very glad to exchange the Toils and Calamities of War for the Sweets and Profit of Peace It will be needless to insert here all the Articles on which they agreed Two will be worth the Knowledge of the Supreme Divan And those are the Release of Charles Duke of Lorrain on the Spanish King's Side And on the Part of the King of France the Restauration of the Prince of Conde to the Free Possession and Enjoyment of all his Estates Honours Dignities and Priviledges as the First Prince of the Royal Blood with the Government of the Provinces of Bourgoigne and Bresse A little before these Articles were Sign'd the Young Prince of Spain dy'd suddainly not having seen Twelve Moons I mention'd the Birth of this Royal Infant in one of my Letters and the Extraordinary Solemnities that were made thereupon by the King of Spain and his Embassadors at Foreign Courts These Infidels appear in all things too passicnately affected with the Glories of our Mortal State which at the Height are but Transient Shadows or something less Considerable I 'm amaz'd at the bold
to this Day But I would have thee Nathan reflect impartially on Things and suffer not thy Judgment to be imposed on by the Sophistry of your Scribes Look back to the Primitive Times of Israel examine the Written Law the Records of Moses and the Seniors There thou wilt meet with frequent Examples of those very Crimes which you lay to our Charge true Parallels of the supposed Tyranny and Inhumane Actions with which you tax the unblemished Ismaelites Did not your Father Jacob supplant his own eldest Brother Esau Did he not cheat his Uncle Laban of his Sheep What was wanting to him of Ismael's Valour and Fierceness he supplied with a Fox-like Craft and Subtilty Yet how often did he plunder the Children of Hamor And boasted afterwards of the Preys he had taken from them with his Bow and Spear When your Fathers came out of Egypt what a Carnage did Moses their Leader commit when he commanded the Sons of Levi to arise with their Swords in their Hands and every Man to kill his Brother his Friend and his Neighbour so that there fell that Day at the Foot of Mount Sinai Three and Twenty Thousand Men Yet for the Sake of this detestable Tragedy he bless'd 'em saying You have consecrated your Hands this day in Blood every Man in the Blood of his Neighbour Behold the Original of your Priesthood which is the Highest Rank of Nobility among the Jews Remember how your Fathers almost cut off the whole Race of Benjamin so that there were not above Six Hundred Men of that Tribe left alive Forget not also how Abimelech of the Tribe of Menasse got the Sovereignty by Massacring Seventy of his own Brothers on one Stone Your own Records say That God gave you Kings in his Wrath among whom there was not one who was not a Man of Blood And in the whole Catalogue you can scarce find Four who were not tainted with Sacrilege Idolatry and other enormous Vices In a Word Nathan both the Sons of Ismael and Isaac were but Men and if thou hast nothing else to object against the Former but what thou must confess the latter were equally guilty of I advise thee henceforth to lay thy Hand upon thy Mouth and cease to speak Evil of those against whom No-Man can sharpen his Tongue or Pen and prosper Paris 22d of the 2d Moon of the Year 1663. LETTER XXII To the same I Concluded my other Letter something imperfectly and short of my Design being interrupted by a sudden Deluge of Humours overflowing my Eyes accompanied with a Tempest in my Head which at once took from me the Power of thinking regularly and of seeing how to Write I am often subject to these Weaknesses of late and to many other Maladies My Body sensibly decays Age and Care Watching and Sickness with a Thousand Casualties beside have almost dissolv'd this congeal'd Medly of the Elements Methinks I aw now no more than a poor Skeleton to which Nature and Fortune have left a dry wither'd Skin for Modesty's Sake to cover its Nakedness with a few evacuated Veins and Arteries shrunk Sinews Tendons Muscles and Cartilages to tack this Machine of Bones together and keep it in Motion In a Word I seem to my self to be only a Hobgoblin or Ghost in Disguize I cannot say Incarnate for I 've lost all my Flesh but only bagg'd or clouted up in the most contemptible Shreds Rags and antiquated Reliques of Mortality like a Maudlin or Scare-crow I hang together by Geometry Yet such as I am at these Years I still possess at certain Seasons more serene and vigorous Thoughts than in the Days of my Youth when I was full of Marrow and good Blood I can feel my Soul sometimes fluttering her Wings and briskly shaking off the heavy slimy Cloggs of Earth of Sleep and of enchanted Life or living Death She struts and plumes herself she mounts aloft and glides in Happy though but Momentary Foretastes of Eternal Bliss And then lur'd down again by Charms of her accustom'd Ease and Pleasure in the Flesh she comes to Hand at Call and being hood-wink'd from the Radiant Light of Heaven she tamely perches on the meanest sensual Appetite which easily conveys her to her wonted Darkness This is the changeable State of Mortals and we must not expect a fixed Condition on this side the Sepulcher The Noble and the Vulgar are equally liable to these Inconstancies of Spirit neither can the most exalted State of Sovereign Monarchs Privilege them from the common Frailties of Mankind They are no otherwise distinguished from the Meanest of their Slaves than only by the Vastness of their Possessions their numerous Retinue their unlimited Power and the vain Pageantry of external Honour If we examine the Origin of Nobility and Royal Grandeur if we trace the Genealogies of Princes and Potentates up to their Fountain we shall find the First Fathers of these noisy Pedigrees to be cruel Butchers of Men Oppressors Tyrants Perfidious Truce-breakers Robbers and Parricides In a Word the most Primitive Nobility was no other than Potent Wickedness or dignified Impiety And all the successive Continuations of it by Inheritance Election or otherwise even to those Modern Times are but so many Traducts of exorbitant Power and Honour acquir'd and propagated by the most enormous Vices by Practices unworthy of Men and of which the Authors themselves are always asham'd Therefore they cover their unjust Encroachments and Invasions with the specious Pretexts of Justice and Vertue calling that Conquest which is no other than down-right Robbery and professing themselves Patrons of Mens Liberties and Rights Religion and Laws whilst in Effect they are the greatest Oppressors Hypocrites Atheists and Out-laws in the World This is not only true in the Race of Ismael and Isaac of whom I made mention in my other Letter but in all the Families which have ever made any eminent Figure and Noise in the World What were the Four renowned Monarchies but so many Empires of Banditi Governments of Free-booters Pyrates and Licens'd Thieves As Diomedes told Alexander the Great I says he because I play the private Corsair and cruise up and down the Seas with one single Ship am accus'd as a Pyrate Thou that dost the same Thing with a mighty Fleet art call'd an Emperour If thou wert alone and a Captive as I am they wou'd esteem thee no better than a Thief And were I at the Head of a numerous Army as thou art I shou'd be reverenc'd as an Emperour For as to the Justice of our Cause there is no other Difference but this That thou dost more Mischief than I. Misfortune has compell'd me to be a Thief whereas nothing but an intolerable Pride and insatiable Avarice puts thee upon the same Course of Life If Fortune wou'd prove more favourable to me perhaps I might become better Whereas thy continual Successes make thee but the worse Alexander admiring the Boldness of the Man and the Resoluteness of his Spirit gave
the Affection of a Brother shall suggest as most conducing to the Interest of our Sovereign and our own Honour which we ought to prefer to our Lives Our Mother is in Health and Salutes thee with a tender Embrace Paris 9th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1664. LETTER VI. To Hamet Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire THis Court of late makes a double Figure the one of Real Sorrow for the Dutchess of Savoy's Death who was of the Blood Royal of France the other of Counterfeit Mourning for the Death of Carolus Josephus Brother to the German Emperour For they inwardly rejoyce at this Latter and wish the whole House of Austria were laid in their Graves That Family being the only Obstacle to the Grandeur at which the French Monarchy aspires The only Rub which Cardinal Richlieu and his Successor Mazarini found in their Way when they sought to exalt the Bourbons to the Empire of the West The Rise and Fall of Kingdoms the various Changes of Government the Alternate Fate of Nations are Themes worthy of a Mussulman's Thoughts considering that the Victorious and Happy Osmans at this Day possess the Territories of ancient Renown the Provinces and Dominions which formerly made the greatest Figures and Noise in the World What is now become of the most Famous Monarchies of Babilon Persia Assyria Macedon Greece and Rome Look for the Mysterious and Learned Kingdom of Egypt the Religious State of the Jews The most Ancient Kingdoms of the Sicyonians and Argives The Commonwealths of Lacedaemon and Athens with many other Countries mention'd in the Records of Time and we shall find them all Swallow'd up in the Universal Empire of the Ottomans The Histories of Belus and how he got the Sovereignty by Hunting of Ninus his Son who first taught the World the Methods of Idolatry of Serimamis Ninyas Sardinapalus Arbaces Belochus and the rest of those Assyrian Monarchs sound now like an antiquated Tale or Dteam Neither is there any more Life at this time in the Babylonian and Persian Registers The mighty Acts of the Nebuchadnezzar's Cyrus's and the rest of those renown'd Conquerours now serve but as Foils to set off the more Glorious Enterprizes and Successes of our Immortal Sultans 'T is true the Persians at this Day retain some Fragments of that once Vast and Formidable Eastern Empire And the Germans have a Shadow of the Ancient Imperial Majesty of the Romans But both the one and the other are grown Effeminate and Weak they have lost the Vertue the Power and Fortune of their Predecessors Thou hast travell'd over all the Dominions of the Sophi and been an Eye-Witness of the Persian Luxury Libertinism and Nakedness Thou hast seen the Off-spring of Heroick Sages transform'd to Swine Dogs Asses and other contemptible Brutes as if they 'd drank of Circe's Cup. So fatal is it to decline from the Way of Vertue nay so impossible even to stand still in that sacred Path without being violently pull'd backward In a Word thou art so thorowly acquainted with the Present State of Persia and all its Circumstances that I shou'd appear too officious in pretending to describe either the Country or the People that inhabit there But as to Europe thou professest thy self a Stranger and hast commanded me to characterise this Quarter of the World Wherein Germany makes the most Majestick Figure by Land England and Holland by Sea Spain boasts of her Gold whilst France treasures it up to pay her Armies to keep foreign Kings in Pension to Build mighty Fleets and Magnificent Palaces to corrupt the German Princes and make 'em Pimps to her Ambition Instruments of her design'd Grandeur which is no less than the Western Empire As for the Duke of Savoy he is a mere Tennis-Ball or a Shuttle-Cock bandied to and fro between the Kings of France and Spain The Swisses are Poor and Mercenary They cannot stay at Home unless they cou'd banquet on the Turfs and Stones For all the Flesh Fruit and Corn in the Land is not half enough to keep 'em alive and they have little or no Money but what they get abroad This makes 'em all Travellers and most of them take up the Trade of War They serve the Pope the French King and many other Princes for Pay And where they once engage they are very true to their Trust But I can tell thee they wou'd be unwilling to fight for the Grand Signior unless he wou'd allow 'em plenty of Wine which thou know'st is contrary to the Discipline of the Mussulman Armies And these Suisses are the profess'd Adorers of Bacchus The Hollanders are Industrious and Rich They mind nothing but Merchandizing and Mechanicks They wou'd fain engross the Trade of the Indies and the Levant to themselves They traffick that they may be in a Condition to fight and they fight to establish their Commerce having no sense of Honour but only of Profit If they attempt any Conquest or make an Invasion it must be in America or some other remote Country For they 're only upon the Defensive among their Neighbours not daring to be the First Aggressors in a War in a Word they 're like a Nest of Pismires that trudge up and down continually to get Provision but sting and bite those under whose Protection they live if they have an Opportunity 'T is thought the Prince of Orange who descends from an Illustrious Stock wil e'er long reduce those Republicans to another Form of Government The French Style him the Head and Heart of the Vnited States and these thou know'st command the Hands and the Feet Germany is counted the Bulwark of Christendom against the mighty Power of the Ottomans and Tartars But in my Opinion one of our Embassadors at the Emperor's Court gave a truer Description of it when he compar'd Germany to a Great Monster with many Heads and Tails which having a desire to break through a certain quick-set Fence or Hedge and each particular Head making Way where it cou'd best among the less entangl'd Branches were all caught in so many different Noozes by the Interposition of strong Trees and so the Monster was forc'd to retire with Shame and Loss Whereas he said the Osman Empire was like an Animal with One Head and many Tails and that One Head not encountring the like Difficulties easily pass'd through being follow'd by the Tails with one Consent as the untwisted Ends of a Ten-string'd Cord pass through a Ring or Hole when the united Part has lead them the Way I shou'd have mention'd Italy Poland Denmark Moscovy and other Regions of Europe but it wou'd be too tedious for one Letter which I shou'd neither have Time to write nor thou Patience to read at once Therefore I desire thee to accept of this only as a rough Draught an Imperfect Sketch of some Parts of the West But in my future Dispatches I will imitate the Painters and endeavour to draw each Member and Lineament of this great Body