the Disdar had done us in preparing the Iman and disposing him to be civil to us who of himself was a severe and rigid man having been a Kodgias in Asia where the Mahumetans are so scrupulous that if a Christian be taken in any of their Mosques he has no way to get off but either by apostasie or death These Officers advancing with great gravity towards us attributed the cause of that light to a Miracle of their Prophet Mahomet for the Religion of the Turks runs much upon Miracles and we thought neither safe nor indeed civil to contest the truth of it The Stones being transparent one of these two things must of necessity produce that light either there must be two Lamps behind it whose light is seen through or else the two Lamps before it being placed exactly in the opposite Wall dart their rays upon those Stones which rays are reflected again as from a Looking-Glass We could discern nothing behind that might be the cause though on the sides of it according to the Turkish Mode there hung great numbers of Austriges Eggs several little Lamps without lights and several little Globes of Crystal Be it from which it will it is probably designed to perpetuate the prodigy of that Golden Lamp which was placed there by Calimachus the famous Sculptor who was the first that invented the way of piercing Stone with an Augar This Lamp was supplied with Oil but once a year though it was to keep a constant light night and day before the Statue of Minerva But the Ancients though otherwise sufficiently superstitious made no Miracle of it supposing the duration of the light proceeded from an occult property in the nature of the Wick which as they thought was made of a sort of incombustible Cotton nevertheless it burned not without smoke for to carry it off Calimachus had made a most admirable Pipe that conveyed it out at the top of the Temple At present it is quite otherwise But to settle our thoughts with an eager and decisive tone the Iman told us that the first appearance of the Miracle of the two Lamps was the very day that Sultan Mahomet II. turned that Temple into a Mosque In a word Mahomet II. is in Athens of so great reputation that they think all things extraordinary that are done either by him or for him Before these two Stones there stands a white Marble Chair formerly imployed by the Arch-Bishop but now it is the place from whence the Iman dispences his Alchoran and in each side of the Chair in the main Wall there are two Cupboards covered with two Tables of Marble in which the Christians used to put the Ornaments for their Altar One of those Cupboards has not been opened since the Christians had possession of that Church and the other being rashly and audaciously opened not many years since by a Turk there came forth so mischievous and pestilent an Air as brought the Plague into the City and was the occasion of a great Mortality This is confessed by the Turks themselves and since that time no body has had the courage to open them When we came out of the Temple at a distance of about fifty paces we saw that famous Well that is recorded as one of the Wonders in Nature and even at this day the Athenians do esteem it one of the greatest Rarities of their Country It s water is salt and of the same colour with the Sea every time the South wind blows it is mightily agitated and makes a great noise in the bottom of the Well Our Fellow-Travellers being impatiently and incessantly addicted to Natural disquisitions had not found a fairer subject for their dissertations Some were of opinion that from the Sea to the Well there was some secret and subterraneous Meatus into which the wind forcing it self made an ebullition or else the Sea was driven thereby violently up to the Well and supplied it with Salt waters Others objected that the Spring must be there and proceeding upon Hydraulick Principles concluded that the Water rising naturally no higher than the level of its Fountain could not be carried from the Sea so high as to the top of the Castle Hill but would rather have disgorged into the Pits in the lower Town where yet there is not the least semblance of any such thing But all agreed that the noise proceeded from the force of the wind dispersing the vapours which the saltness of the Water exhaled and that it was from the disposition of the Sea-banks that only a South wind could come at it In a Country proper for Experiment we should have weighed it with Rain and Sea-water examining how they would have incorporated and which of the three had fallen down to the bottom We should have tried whether Fresh-water Fish would have lived longer in it than Sea-Fish and causing both of them with a gentle fire to evaporate have seen which had left the most Salt Had it been Winter we should have tried which would have been first frozen We should have likewise observed whether the bottom of the Well had been Chalky Gravelly Turfy Rocky or Sandy and perhaps have proceeded so far in our Curiosity as to have taken some Criminal out of Prison and causing him to drink it have seen whether it would have put him into a Dysentery according to the propriety of the Sea-water From the Castle Hill we could discover all the Isles in the Gulf of Engia without the help of our Perspectives of which indeed we durst not make use to look about as we would have done because we were very near a steep place that is to this day memorable for the precipitation of a King and might well be a place of punishment to people that are over-curious It was Egeus Father of Theseus who threw himself down headlong 2905 years since having from the same place where we stood descried a far off at Sea the black Sails of that Ship which brought back from Creet his Son whom he supposed the Minotaure had devoured Plutarch gives you a particular account At a small distance upon the plain or flat of the Castle there is a small point of a Rock with nothing about it which probably was the place where Silenus disposed of himself when he came along with Bacchus into this Castle In the same Court there were formerly a hundred remarkable things to be seen and as many more in the houses that are now set apart for the entertainment of the Janizaries Upon the Plain there were several Altars dedicated to Friendship Modesty Integrity Oblivion Jupiter Vulcan Neptune and Minerva so that you may observe that in old time their Altars were not alwayes within the Precincts of their Temples Many were in the Field and uncovered which the Romans called Sub Dio. On that side where the Janizaries are lodged nothing is to be seen but ruines except the Arsenal built by Lycurgus the Son of Lycophron which Arsenal appears still very
questions in Philosophy are rather subtilties and curiosities than matters of use in a word meer Metaphysical reflections beyond if not contrary to natural experience serving rather to perplex and obumbrate than to illustrate the Truth whilst the niceties of your Great Colledge are either the cause or support of New Heresies extravagant Sects monstrous Opinions Confederacies Civil Wars and corruption in matters of Justïce Since Plato was rejected and Aristotle received into your Schools how many of your Learned Doctors have there been who would make the Peripatetical Doctrine the foundation of their Christianity declining the Authority of the Scripture and not only doubting but questioning and disputing Pro and Con with great ardency whether there be a God or not You will ask perhaps have not we the same difference and respect for these Philosophers No they were our own Countrey-men and taught publickly here yet when Reason dissents we are the first in the Lists against them And having spoken thus freely of our exercises in Peace let us now see how we can match you in enterprizes of War We will not look back to former Ages in that Oase you have little to pretend but it is not above 464 years since we defeated one of your most Considerable Fleets at the Mouth of the Strymon which is a River in Macedonia Your Arms had never any advantage over the Greeks but at the taking of Constantinople and even that was done by fraud and impiety for the Army which your Allies assembled about 15 years after the defeat at Strymon for the recovery of the Holy Land being arrived at Zara in Dalmatia instead of reducing Palestine as was declared changed their design and undertook the Enterprize against Constantinople and thereby betraying and falsifying the Oath of the Croisade and perverting the Charity of those Christians who had so bountifully supplied them they Marched unexpectedly against Constantinople surprized it contrary to their publick Profession and the pious hopes and intention of the good people of your Nations afterwards you set up two or three Emperours of which one paid his head to expiate his Usurpation When first our Empire became sensible of the Ottoman Arms had you consulted either your own Interest or Religion you would have joined your Forces with ours and endeavoured to have stopped in the source an evil that must needs draw such ill consequences upon your selves If it should ever happen which God forbid that Sicily should fall under the same Calamities as are at present upon Candia what would become of poor Italy Where there is not one strong Town and scarce a man worthy to be the posterity of those ancient Heroes and yet you do not object it to them that they are at this day as ill furnished with Caesar's and Scipio's as we are with Alexander's and Olympiodorus's The Genois with immortal scandal to the name or Christianity about 130 years since supplied Amurath with the Ships that transported the first Turkish Troops into Christendom Your Cabals and your Factions have frustrated us even of our own proper succours and relief and when we thought to have found our only protector and deliverer in the person of Scanderbeg Pope Pius II. though he saw him balancing the fortune of the Turks interrupted his progress and would not be quiet till he had taken him from that Holy War and brought him into Italy to concern himself in those quarrels among the Christians and drive the French from Naples Not long after what unworthy reception what infamous treatment did you give to Prince Zizim eldest Son to Mahomet II. and Protector of our City The unhappy Gentleman finding himself rejected by a seditious part of the Army threw himself into your Arms and opened a way thereby for your Forces to have marched into the very bowels of Turkie In the judgment of all Christendom it was fault enough to have slipped so fair an opportunity but you added treachery to your negligence and suffered I may say caused that poor Prince to be poisoned I shall be so favourable to your honour as not to name the Persons but this I shall say you disappointed us Greeks who expected his company and looked upon him as the only hopes of our re-establishment and you ruined his friends in his own Country This may be forgotten among you but the Ottoman Princes will remember it and after the miscarriage of Zizim not one of them will be tempted for refuge to you let what persecution soever arrive So then as to us it is opportunity not courage that is wanting Our Nation is not degenerated are not they our Soldiers which at this day fight your Armies and over-run your Provinces you cannot deny but the Ottoman Force consists principally of persons forced or stolen from us and that the name of Janizary does not absolve them from being Greeks or divest them of their natural vigour Tell me I pray you what Country-man is the Grand Signior himself since so many Generations â—â— the Ottoman Family has been established in Constantinople and their heirs have proceeded out of the loins of young Grecian Damoisels that have been presented to the Seraglio The Hunkiar Asaki the Emperours chief Sultaness at this day the only delight of Mahomet IV and Mother of the young Prince that is like to succeed him is a Grecian born and was taken at the sacking of Retimo in Candia about Twenty one years since To be short we are become â—ne people and it is with us and them as it was formerly with the Saxons and English the Goths and the Spaniards the Gauls and the French and if it would please God to permit the doctrine of Christianity to be received at the Port and the diversity of Religion betwixt us to be abolished which makes our moral differences irreconcileable we might say and say true That the Emperour of the Greeks is at this day greater and more puissant than the Emperours of Constantinople have been formerly Moreover I do believe you are unacquainted with a thing that our Historians do justifie and that is that the Ottoman Family are now Emperours of the East more by descent and lineal succession than Conquest for you must know the present Princes of Turkie do derive from the Emperours of Greece by a younger Son of the Imperial Family who upon some discontent retired to the Sultans of Iconium where he married and gave original to the House of the Ottomans So that the Greeks may assume some part of the honour which has been gained upon you by the Valour and the Conduct of the Turks I call it their Valour and Conduct with the more confidence because I cannot think that you believe all those Victories and Advantages obtained by your Enemies are but the effects of their good Fortune Certainly Fortune is never so constant but where there is Judgment and Conduct to fix it but so much the worse for you if their prudence has no part in their prosperity Are you not
after he had loaden them with money and private instruction they undertook their design and by their practises with their acquaintance in the Brazzo brought it about that the greatest parts of the Inhabitants being frighted or corrupted consented that the Grand Visier should build a Cittadel at Porto-Caglie and another at Bytilo under pretence of securing the liberty of Trade for at first they were unwilling to alarm them with the name of Dominion When the two Cittadels were defensible the persons whom the Turk had debauched seized of all such as they thought capable of opposing their Treason and hung up five or six of the most active among them In this the Turks gave great evidence of their cunning nothing appeared to be done by their order great formality was used in forming the process against those poor Creatures who were condemned forsooth as disturbers of the publick repose and Execution done in the name and by the authority of the whole body of the Magnotti But their Eyes being opened at last in spight of their subtilty there grew to be two Factions among them one of the Giracaris the other of the Lybiracis and this at present is the great object of the Turkish designs who would fain reduce this people to a condition of destroying themselves without any Force or Invasion from them The Posts which the Turks have fortified in the Brazzo are each of them secured by an Aga with a certain number of Janizaries under his Command But this new servitude growing insupportable to the Magnotti they have had thoughts of transplanting into Italy and that inclination is increased as oft as they see those Cittadels which they look upon as the first step to their slavery However they are as yet irresolute and who can admire it in an affair of so tender an importance 'T is probable the success at Candia will settle their minds and what that will be God only knows If it be fatal to the Turks they will not venture to attack them but seem to disown the Mutineers who will doubtless be supported by the Venetian If the Grand Visier takes the Town his Victory there wilâ— draw on the subversion of the Republick oâ— the Magnotts either by means of the Consternation it will cause among them or oâ— the Effort the Turks will be constrained to make that they may leave nothing in all Greece considerable enough to give them apprehension The Creatures which the Grand Visier imployed among the Magnotti were every day insinuating into the people and especially the Papas and Cologers that the Turks would allow them their Churches and Crosses upon their Steeples and publick Market places a priviledge of which the Greeks are generally very fond and all those who are dependent of the Turk have often endeavoured to purchase at no inconsiderable rate They do likewise promise the Magnotti exemption from the Tax upon Children and that they shall pay but one half of the duty exacted in Morea where every Male pays two Crowns a head At Constantinople the Males pay three Crowns On the Terra firma the Women pay nothing but in the Isles of the Archipelago Men and Women pay equally two Crowns a piece and all this without diminution of their other Taxes of which I shall speak elsewhere all which were to be excused to the Magnotti and to inveigle them yet farther they assured them that no Turk shall ever be permitted to live in their Country but such Janizaries as will be necessary for the Garrisoning their Forts These fair promises are the more plausible having the reputation of the Grand Visiers word to secure them who passes among them as a Man of great Sincerity and Honour on which score they cease not to cry up his rare Qualities to the skies who in our dayes has found out a way as the Turks themseves say of distinguishing himself with advantage from the Greatest and Most Heroick Persons of their Nation He has as they say the infallibility of Conquering with a peculiar Gift of keeping his Parole Nevertheless among the Magnotti this reputation has no great influence upon such as have an aversion to the Turks who to support those that are tottering do as often inculcate the resolution of the Turks to allow them but one Church in a Town which is a menace that makes them commonly tremble In a word the most prudent and best disposed of the Magnotti do intend to transplant rather than be subject to the Tyranny of the Turks and accordingly they have sent to the Pope to beg admission into the Patrimony of the Church and to the Great Duke into Tuscany but having been denied by both they Addressed to the Republick of Genoa which State reflecting upon the brutishness of the Inhabitants of Corsica was the more inclinable to gratifie them upon consideration that the barbarity of the Magnotti must be very great if it out-did the rudeness of the Corsicans This is most certain if the late Treaty succeeds never Nations will be better matched their intermarriages must needs produce Children which will be so many Master-pieces of ferocity for which of the Corsicans is it that having the least quarrel with another begins not his declaration of hostility with a stab and if he misseth his Adversary will be sure of him so natural to them is the spirit of revenge Some of these Corsicans have been known upon an injury received to lye hid a fortnight together in the bushes contenting themselves to brouze all that while upon Raisins so they did but prosper in their ambush This then is the present condition of the last Common-wealth among the Greeks and if you will have the truth the matter is not great for were it not in so much danger of the Turk as it is at this time it would be always within two fingers breadth of destruction by animosities among themselves and the small reputation they have among strangers who having no alliances with them have no obligation of interest to relieve them unless upon some pressing necessity as there lies now upon the Venetians On the seventh of April our Astronomer Bianchi took the height of the Pole at Maina and made use of all possible precaution to reduce its Meridian to the Meridian of Vranisburgh establishing their difference of 54 minutes of time for he Calculated the place of the Sun by the Radical Tables of Kepler He found the Pole Elevated â—4 degrees and 25 minutes You know very well that in the Mediterranean the Elevation of the Pole is never taken but in curiosity Those practises are used only in â—ong Voyages But in the Levant-Seas beâ—ng almost continually in sight of Land they â—ectifie their Course by the prospect of the Coasts and when by foul weather or the â—owness of the shore they are not visible â—hey take advice of their Pilots and point â—heir Chart accordingly so by their Comâ—ass they guess probably of the course of â—heir Ship and by their judgement and experience
being full of her own premeditated fear she took no notice of the â—retended terrour of the English Man or â—er Slave but cryed out as soon as she saw â—hem That all was undone That her Galâ—ant was very unfortunate to have dependâ—d for his intelligence upon his friends in â—he Harbour for her Husband was cerâ—ainly arrived The Englishman who had â—repared the same train for her and was â—eady to have given fire was exceedingly â—stonished and catcht in the same trap which he had laid for his Mistress Hâ— found his case desperately terrible and â— the height of his surprise admired as mucâ— as he had time the subtilty of Fortunâ— that at her own pleasure could make a trâ—â— story of an invention He could not speaâ— a word himself but the Italian Slave haâ— composedness enough to tell her Mistreâ—â— that it was but too true her Master was â— turned and that the English Gentlemaâ— friends had been exact in giving him nâ—tice and thereupon gave her the particâ—lars of what she had heard before Majâ—nama was in strange consternation imagiâ—ing that by a kind of prodigy she had to â— truth when she never intended it In tâ—â— cruel agitation of mind that this doubâ—â— imposture and fraud had produced in theâ—â— both they passed a quarter of an hour â— the greatest confusion imaginable the â— were all at their wits end and not one â— the three but wished themselves sick in bâ— as Ketevan was at that time Majunamâ— tearing her hair off her head confessed thâ—â— she had invented the news and cursed hâ—â— stars that had turned it into truth Tâ—â— Gallant hearing that began to recollecâ— and with incredible joy acknowledged thâ— same stratagem on his side This discoveâ— calmed their spirits immediately and wâ—â— â—he occasion of a thousand Caresses they â—ook a thousand Oaths never more to surprise one another with those sorts of trials so much had the short moment of their uncertainty discomposed them She asked him what he would have done if her Husband had been really at the door He pulled but his Dagger and told her that if he could not have stab'd it to the heart of her Husband he would have done it to his own She liked not that way but told him by so doing he would not have in the least provided for her safety but rather incensed the common Enemy against them both and thereupon she shew'd him a Cabinet of Jewels and a little box of poison The Jewels were designed to go along in case their escape was practicable and the poison to be taken when things were desperate to put an end to all their troubles at a blow They repeated their protestations never to be so ingenious for the future But what do you think happened in the very moment The Husband being in good earnest returned from Candia was knocking at the door the Italian Slave who had left them to their endearments and perceived her Master coming by a window that looked into the street came running with the news in an incredible fright They thought at first that either one or the other had a mind tâ— divert themselves at the old rate but the cryes and paleness of the Italian dispelled that fancy quickly and perswaded them iâ— was true Majunama who before had disliked the expedient of the Dagger waâ— the first that got it in her hand but the English-man in pure love snatch'd it away again and secured the box of poison lesâ— she should have taken it down When he had so done he advanced with undaunted courage and took his Post at the door with the Dagger in his fist and his arm uâ— ready to strike it into any man that should enter The Husband knock'd on and the Italian pressed her Mistris to go and open it her self and entertain him for some time below stairs as well as she could but the poor Lady had not strength enough to convey her In this inconceivable distraction in spight of her Feavor Ketevan crawl'd to them and proposed to hide the poor Gentleman in her bed having no time to consider of a better expedient in he went clothes and all but his Dagger still fast in his hand Majunama was pacified for the present but as she was going down the stairs she changed her Opinion and gave way to one of the most unseasonable fancies in the world Unhappy Woman that I am said she to the Italian I cannot but be jealous Never Lover went so nimbly â—o bed to another Woman Never did â—ick person speak so heartily as Ketevan â—nd never did Mistris press her Gallant so â—arnestly to anothers embraces Ha Maâ—am said the Italian recommend your self â—o the Prophet and lay aside these unseaâ—onable whimsies Hereupon Majunama went directly to the door and let in her Husband who look'd upon her surprize as â—he effect of her Conjugal affection having â—onducted him up stairs she was tempted â— partly out of jealousie and partly weakâ—ess to have gone back to her Chamber â—nd reposed her self upon Ketevans bed â—ut her Italian had provided very wisely â—gainst that and lock'd the door by which â—eans all was well and the old Jew found â—way to convey the English Man that night â—ut of the House the young Gentleman â—eing happily delivered stood not much â—pon Constancy changed his haunts and â—as never afterwards to be found either by â—he Jew or Italian From Pera where he â—dged before he removed to the Poland â—mbassadors house in Constantinople and â— few dayes after having heard of this â—essel that we met betwixt the Isles of Bellaâ—ola and Caravi he took the opportunity and Embarked in it for London This stoâ—â— the Gentleman himself told to Master Drâ—slington Our Vessel continuing its course thâ— Gulf of Napoli de Romania the Isle of sâ—dra and the Cape de Schilly continued â— the Westward and the Islands of the Aâ—chipelago to the East Of these Islands aâ— the whole Country of Morea I shall haâ— more convenient opportunity to discourâ—â— hereafter At length to our great satiâ—faction we found our selves on the 15. â— April at the mouth of the Gulf d' Engâ—â— about sixteen Leagues from Athens Wâ— met a Saique or small Greek Vessel to tâ—â— Westward of St. George d' Arbora whiâ—â— the Italians called Capello Cardinale aâ—â— the Ancients Albona It is an Island veâ—â— low on the Northside but on the South â— has several steep pointed hills that distiâ—guishes it easily from the other Islands Tâ—â— Saique was fraighted with Oyls and Skiâ—â— and bound for Porto-Lione which as I saâ—â— before was anciently the so famous Haâ—bour of Athens Our Captain had heaâ—â— news that the Cadi and other Turkish Oâ—ficers had of late imposed new Duties uâ—on all Vessels that came to anchor in thâ—â— Harbour and being desirous to inforâ— himself better he hall'd the Saique tâ—â— Master of the Saique confirm'd what he had â—eard and assured us they would make us â—ay at the rate of Six per Cent. for all
light gave us no impediment The exact time of my Observation was about 25 Minutes after Midnight which agreed not only with our watches but with the Observations the rest made the following days about the position of the Sun which was in 4 degrees and 16 minutes of Taurus and its right ascension in 31 degrees and 59 minutes and my Star being 218 degrees 15 minutes determined the moment of my observation The 24. of April in the morning we went to hear Mass of Father Simon de Compiegne at the Covent of Capucins who were then Missionaries at Athens Father Barnaby whose Residence is at Napoli de Romania is President of that fraternity Father Simon lived in a small house of Marble though little yet very good building neither Meursius nor any other ancient Authour has taken notice of it though it be called by the Common people indifferently To Phanari tou Demosthenis and To Palati tou Demosthenis sometimes Demosthenes his Lanthorn and sometimes his Palace The Athenians never mention him but they speak of what Plutarch reports in his History the thickness of his Tongue that hindered the grace and liberty of his pronunciation and as they tell us there it was that he made use of his pebbles to help his imperfection The workmanship of this Phanari is excellent This House Father Simon bought of a Greek for a hundred and fifty Crowns but a while after the Greek would have put a trick upon him pretending that he had since been informed he could not by the custom of Athens put a Stranger into the possession of any Antiquity lest the Stranger should demolish it The Father replied as he might very well That he was no Stranger and in effect he had been admitted Citizen of Athens and got Letters of Infranchisment to obviate such kind of Cavils however the business was brought to a hearing before the Vecchiados who condemned the poor Capuchin but appealing to the Cadi it was confirmed to him upon condition he should not impair it and that he should show it to any man who had the curiosity to see it which shows the esteem they still have of their antiquities in that Town and the poor Father was so unwilling to disoblige them and so careful to gain their good will by any reasonable compliance that he removed his Altar and Oratory into a low Parlour within the said Phanari But this ceremony and respect that he shewed to the Athenians did not hinder but that at first he was treated with the same insolence that had been used to the Jesuites there for the Capuchin being settled in his house just about the time that the Grand Visier had banished the Dervices out of all the Turkish Cities in Europe the Boys in Athens who had been used to those Dervices supposing the poor Capuchin had been one of them in disguise that would not submit to the Grand Visiers order flocked about him in the Streets and crying out a Dervice a Dervice had like to have stoned him to death But the graver sort of Athenians nay the Turks themselves and particularly the Disdar rescu'd him from their outrage which he gratified abundantly by his care of their Children afterwards teaching them to Read Write cast Accompt and speak Italian and which was much more he taught them their Catechism according to the Council of Trent being translated into the vulgar Greek and Printed at Venice and though in it the Errors of the Greek Church were formally condemned their Parents regarded it not nor took notice of the dissuasion of their Archbishop who was highly against it Nay they proceeded so far to the contrary that according to their custom the Apostles Creed as received among us was put in measure and set to their Musick in so much that we heard them sing it frequently in the Streets and this may very well be attributed to the diligence and insinuation of the said Father who by his Piety and a certain affability peculiar to that Order wrought himself so happily into their affections that both Turks and Christians invited him frequently to their Houses with so great an opinion of the integrity of his life that during his Visits they never sent away either their Wiveâ— or Daughters which was a confidence they never used either to the Calogers or Imans Nay farther twice a year he was certain to be visited by the chief Kaduns and Mahumetan Ladies both of the City and Castle and that was during their pastimes and liberties at the Feasts of their Bayrams aâ— which time transported with their freedom they took delight in those little extravagancies and would come to his House tâ— play their innocent tricks and he coulâ— not quit himself of them till he had openeâ— his Garden door and sacrificed his wholâ— stock of Flowers to their service He kepâ— Sherbett always ready for their Slaves anâ— the Ladies were so kind as many times 〈◊〉 drink of it themselves for which bounâ— of his they did him a hundred good Officâ— to their Husbands and Parents protectiâ—â— him against the Enemies of his Religioâ— for which in merriment they would tâ— him they would make another inroad into his Garden In the Chapel of this Monastery there was a Pew and a Stool to kneel upon for the Consul Chastagner Monsieur Giraud the English Consul had only a little Seat in a Corner Father Simon passed only for the French Consul's Chaplain that thereby he might oblige the King's Ministers and ingage them to favour the progress of his Mission and he succeeded so well that it is there only that Chastagner appears in his character and shows himself with all the Formalities of his Consulship and this he did effectually some three or four years since to a Deputy from Genoa who came to Athens to settle a Consul there This Deputy was of the House of Doria a great Family as you know and looked upon himself as a Prince The truth is he had a very good train which followed always in good order when he went abroad to see the antiquities of the Town and that kind of Ostentation goes a great way with the populacy He gave and received Visits from all the Turkish Officers Chastagner in his turn went to pay his respects and expecting that Doria would have given him the Fauteüil he was nettled to find that honour omitted to a Consul of France Chastagner resented it highly and watched an opportunity of returning his kindness with which in a short time the Genois themselves presented him Doria sent one morning very early to Father Simon to desire he would be ready to say Mass to him precisely at Eight a Clock The Father as Chaplain to the French Consul was obliged to acquaint Chastagner and to know whether he would be present Chastagner understanding it was at the request of Doria thought that a fit time to be revenged and sent word he would be there and Father Simon should attend him The Clock struck Twelve and
had one of his teeth that stuck out oâ— his mouth like a Bore's Tush and frighted people to look opon it He was a greaâ— lover of Wine and laught at all Religiouâ— scruples thereupon but in that he was quit contrary to his Son who abhors it aborâ— all Liquors The great design of this Vizer was to aâ—vance the authority of his Master mucâ— diminished by the frequent seditions of thâ— Janizaries whose insolence he endeavouâ—ed to repress for the security of his own fortunes as well as for the Sultan's advantage The Janizaries instead of being satiated with the blood of Ibrahim taking encouragement from the youth of Sultan Mahomet and the weakness of his former Ministers of whom they had either strangled or deposed the greatest part refused the service in Candia upon pretence of certain priviledges that exempted them from any service at Sea but the truth is they were afraid to trust themselves so far from Constantinople where they were quartered conveniently and had their Cabals constantly in their Oda's and indeed that was the great consideration that kept the Grand Signior from returning to Constantinople Coprogli was constrained to interrupt his progress in Candia but to find the Janizaries work where they could not excuse themselves and which he was sure would revenge his Master upon those mutinous Cattel he took opportunity from the ambitious projects of Ragoteki Hospodar or Prince of Transilvania who contrary to the orders of the Port had made War upon Poland and entred privately into confederacy with the Swedes Hereupon the Vizer sent into Transilvania the old Bands of the Janizaries and all the most turbulent Officers among them most of which were cut off either at the taking of Waradin or in the several skirmishes of Ragoteki Afterwards they were forced to raise their Siege from before Clausembourg the usual residence of the Hospodars but however that Enterprize proved ineffectual it devoured many of their best men The affairs of Transilvania gave some respite to the Wars in Candia Every Bassa that was sent General into that Island secured the Army to himself and gave obedience to Orders from the Port no farther than they agreed with their own private designs They were unanimously bent upon affrighting the Emperour and if possible destroying him Coprogli Mehemet to obviate their designs and make an Example of these seditious Officers had caused the famous Delli Vssani Pacha General in Candia and as brave a man as ever was among the Turks to be strangled And certainly it was great imprudence in the said Delli Vssani Pacha after he had disobeyed his Orders in Candia and in a manner revolted from the Sultan to be so wheedled and blinded with the fair promises of the Vizer as to come frankly to Constantinople and put himself into the Vizer's hands by whom he was immediately committed to the Castle of the seven Towers with several Christian Officers taken in the Wars of Candia and sent Prisoners thither The Executioner strangled him in the presence of the said Officers by particular direction form the Vizer to torment and excruciate him the more Coprogli was married to an illustrious Lady who as I told you is still living and in Candia promoting the affairs of her Son She is called Fateima Kadun She is a Lady of a large Soul and a Wit infinitely above the rest of her Sex as appeared by her subtilty in advancing her Son to the dignity of his Father which was without president for till that time it was never known that the Son succeeded the Father in so important a charge The Father being upon his Death-bed the Validè Widow of Sultan Ibrahim understanding there was no hopes of his recovery sent to visit him the six other Vizers who made up the Divan of which they were members but the Grand Vizer the head and indeed absolute Master Their order was to confer with him about the mysteries of State which had been committed only to him Fateima Kadun having notice of their Visit and designing to make the Fortune of her Son perswaded her dying Husband to pretend himself speechless which he did and the Vizers being admitted believed him really incapable of any such discourse and accordingly complained very heavily how much his being speechless would be prejudicial to the interest of the Empire Fateima interrupting them told them You see by misfortune my Husband is unable to advise you any farther but there is his Son with whom he has deposited all those secrets that concern the State he is the only person can advance he is the only person can perplex the Publick Affairs my humble advice to the Sultan is that he would speedily consider what he is to do and either prefer my Son to the Dignity of his Father or strangle him that if he may do his Majesty no service it may not be in his power to hurt him Her Counsel being reported to the Validè who was well acquainted with the abilities of Achmet Pacha it made such an impression upon her that she gave ear to Fateima's Proposition as having loved her very well and conversed her often when her greater Negotiations brought her to the Grand Vizer By this Stratagem Achmet Pacha was sworn Vizer Azem in the place of his Father and as an addition to the wonder when he was scarce thirty years old whereas till him never any was advanced to that Honour before forty at the least This happened in the year 1662. The new Vizer Coprogli Achmet Pacha following the maximes of his Father resolved to prosecute the War in Transilvania if possible to extinguish the Mutineers that remained among the Janizaries before he revived his old quarrel in Candia But the interests of Hungary having ingaged the Emperour of Germany in its relief the new Vizer in the year 1663. came in person to the Army which before was commanded by Ali Pacha and that Campagnia took New-hausel The next year 1664. he raised the Siege of Canisia and carried a Fort by storm from Count Nicholas de Serini after which he attempted to pass the River Rhaab under the noses of the Christian Army with design to have made an excursion into Austria and harassed that Countrey and he had proceeded so far as to have broken and cut off a considerable body of the German Forces under the Command of the Prince of Baden when being incounter'd and stop'd in his Carier by a Squadron of French who animated by the bravery of the Duke de Fuillade took the Post which the Germans had abandoned defeated a select body of the Turks and beat the whole Party over the River This great Victory obtained in the latter end of the year 1664. obliged the Vizer Azem to conclude a Peace with the Emperour of Germany after which returning to Constantinople the consideration of his services and the qualification of his person recommended him so highly to the Sultan that ever since he has had the sole Government of his Affairs The next
the Air and the smoke being but little gave us that lamentable convenience Some of the Christians were blown alive into the Trenches of the Turks and some of the Turks wasted into the Ditch others upon the Ramparts of the Town with their Arms in their Hands It was like a horrible shower of flesh to behold the separated Members come down whilst others were bruised and blown about from one side to another We ran with all speed to disingage such as were buried alive some we found only frighted without any hurt They shew me an Azappe or one of their Perdu's who had been twice digged out of the ground but all were not so happy for some of them were half buried stuck fast from the Girdle downwards and cried out with all their might but they had as good have been quite under ground for the Christians ran out and chopped off their heads The effect of these three Mines was only to have blown up some of the Guards to have destroyed some Works and in some measure inlarged the Breaches The quantity of Powder required for a Mine is fifteen sixteen sometimes Twenty and Five and Twenty Barrels according to the weight and thickness of the ground they would blow up The Venetians to blow up the Placca made use of a Hundred and Fifty Barrels and they were no more than was necessary being to blow up a Rock of Two and Twenty foot thick It was in my power to have learned the construction of their superficial Furnaces as they called them in Candia where only they are in use but I had not that curiosity and indeed I found I had had already too much Osman Chelebi came to Complement me at my coming out of the Works and to cajole me told me I had done wonders That it was taken notice of by the Turks that I was to value my self much upon their approbation That I should doubtless have the honour to be continued and be by degrees infallibly advanced to some imployment more worthy my address He told me moreover that there was a design on foot to commit the conduct and firing of one of their superficial Furnaces to me and the manner of those Furnaces is thus Three or four Bombes or Fire-balls are shut up close in a Wooden Box and the Box conveyed as near the Enemies Work as possible when 't is as near as you can get you hide it in the ground and cover it over with earth There is nothing in the world better nor quicker at ruining an Approach There is no great difficulty to give fire to it because it may be done with a Saucidge as they call them or a Train at what distance you please The great danger is in placing the Box which though done for the most part in the night does not make it altogether safe for the Engineer is obliged to have a special care of his head Osman Chelebi presented me with one of them but God knows how joyfully I received it The Christian Engineers have no sooner invented a new way either for their Fortifications or Fire-works but the Meymars have present advertisement by some of the Renegado's from the Town The stories they have told of him in the Camp have not only discovered but recommended to the estimation of the Turks the Inventions and Experiments of the Chevalier Verneda who commands all the Engineers in the Garison and the address and dexterity of Giovine who is excellent at Countermines I found it was not true though I had often been told it that there were certain well disciplined Troops of Christians in the Turkish Service At the beginning of the Siege indeed the Turks being willing to have wheedled the Greek Nobless that belonged to the Isle of Sfacciottes did promise them free exercise of their Religion if they would serve against the Venetian but they were so far from accepting the Proposal that to show their detestation during the first years of the Mahumetan Invasion they made the Turks sensible of their indignation and courage by many atchievements against them Of this Island of Sfacciottes were the famous Colonels Zymbi Balzamo and Calamo of whom the Caloger at Athens had given so fair a character and of whose bravery I may perhaps give you a relation hereafter Many of the Inhabitants were Originally Italians from whence their Fore-fathers had been invited by the Grecian Emperours into the said Island after the devastation made in it by the Sarazens I must needs confess I have slept better than I did the twelfth of May at Night I fancied my self called every moment to go away with my superficial Furnace and see it do execution I had no maw to the Service I found my Conscience not so good proof against the remorses I felt for having served against the Christians already and if you will have the truth perhaps there was some little mixture of fear But the 13 th of May in the morning beyond my expectation Osman Chelebi having left me three hours before came back again to me in great haste and told me he had a request to me that I must not deny him I thought of nothing but that I had been to go along with him upon service to enter some Breach or spring some Mine with him but he told me I must needs do him the favour to return to Emporion for him for the Grand Vizer had given him a very good Timar in those parts he himself being unable to quit the service was constrained to desire the courtesie of me to carry his Letters of Provision to his Father in Law and to press him to take possession of the Timar by turning out a person who by surprize had got a Grant of it from the Beglerbey of Romulia My Spirits began immediately to revive He needed no such fine language to perswade me I offered my self with the greatest willingness imaginable not so much as straining a complement so far as to let him know how much pain and trouble it would be to me to leave him behind He gave me his dispatches under the hand and seal of the Vizer's Caimacan The Caimacan is an Officer considerable has a share in the Civil Affairs and manages them in part In all Turkie there are never but three contemporary Caimacans and sometimes but two One is constantly Resident at Constantinople another alwayes attends the Grand Signior and if the Grand Vizer be remote from the Court he has another with him but when he returns to the Sultan's Court that Caimacan is suspended The Grand Vizer's Caimacan was like a Secretary of State or President of the Council and at that time had the Superintendency of the Army in Candia A Saique being in ten dayes time to depart from Fraskia it was resolved I should take that opportunity to pass into Greece so that as it pleased God I sate still in the Camp all the 13 th of May not troubled with the fatigues or dangers of the Mattock and Scuttle and Osman hired some of the Azappes and Greek Pioneers to discharge the Duty that was upon him in respect of his Timar In the Evening one of the Christians running to us out of the Town brought News that one of our Bombes falling into the Basâ—ion of Saint Andre had killed the Magnifico Cornaro Proveditor General for the Republick of Venice a Person who being the very Soul of their Army gave the Christians the greatest occasion of Consternation that they had hitherto expressed and the Turks on the other side that their Joy might hold some proportion with the sadness of their Enemy testified it by their continual Salvo's both from their Cannon and Small-shot It was above a Twelvemonth since the Vizer had Summoned the Town Upon this accident he caused a White Flag to be hung out and sent them a Summons but the Christians reposing still upon the Conduct of the Marquess de Saint Andre by their great Firing gave him to understand that they were not yet reduced to Terms of Capitulation Whereupon for the incouragement of his Camp the Vizer caused it to be spread abroad that he expected within three or four dayes an Ambassador from Venice to beg Peace upon his knee adding that Venice it self was Tumultuous and full of Factions upon the protraction of the War and that the People being ruined and exhaust with insupportable Taxes were ready upon the first opportunity to throw themselves under the protection of the Turks This was the great Artifice of their General and the common discourse and belief of his whole Army To conclude I departed from the Camp the 21. of May with a Pass-port from the Caimacan and Letters from Osman Chelebi About midnight I arrived at Fraskia where I embarked in the aforesaid Saique and left the Coast full of Horsemen who at that time kept better and more exact Guards than formerly upon expectation of a descent by the Troops of the League and the Christian Princes They had News already that their several Fleets were come out some from Thoulon some from Civita-Vecchia and some from Malta and the Renegadoes had made the Camp ring with the names of the Generalissimo Vincenzo Rospigliosi of the Duke de Beaufort the Duke de Navailles the Comte de Vivonne and the Chevalier Acarigi General of the Gallies of Malta So that 't is an errour to believe the Turks are ignorant of the very particulars of our Affairs when it is their interest to know them The English and Dutch Vessels which are imployed daily in carrying over Men and Ammunition to Canea do tell them all our designs 'T is true by an effect of their great courage and prudence the Turks do not seem to regard it yet they have their constant Intelligences and make preparations privately against them and sometimes 't is possible they are abused as the Christians are however let their reports or assurances as to this approaching great action be what it will God grant there may be a good understanding betwixt the Commanders of the several Nations which make up the Succours expected If there be it may please God they may prosper if otherwise there is great danger they will miscarry FINIS 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉