till a certain Emperick came and took up his Residence there For then they began to sicken and die apace But this may be an Invidious Remark The Arabian Proverb says No Man is a good Physician but he that is born such Meaning that some are Naturally dispos'd and fitted to this Science Indeed I have known Admirable Cures perform'd by Men who never study'd in the Academies or cou'd answer Three Questions in Anatomy Nay some Women have a Gift of this Nature and are very Fortunate in their Practices But when all 's done the Beasts are most Happy who are all their own Physicians by Instinct Melec I wish thee such a State of Health as needs no Medicines But if it be thy Misfortune to fall into Parmenides his Indisposition I counsel thee to make use of the Advice given him by a Philosopher who when Parmenides complain'd of a Pain in his Stomach and ask'd his Advice he bid him use such and such Confections and Electuaries The other reply'd He had made Tryal of them all and many more yet found no Ease Then said the Philosopher Turn Poet for they Generally have Good Stomachs Paris 9th of the 7th Moon of the Year 1657. LETTER XIX To the Kaimacham COuriers upon Couriers are come to this City with the Joyful News that Montmedi is surrender'd to the French For which the whole Body of the Parliament and City of Paris the Chancellour of the Kingdom with Cardinal Antonio Barberini and all the Ecclesiasticks went to the Grand Mosch or Temple where Te Deum was sung this Afternoon with a Pompous Solemnity And now whilst I am writing there is such a Confus'd Noise of Great Guns Ringing of Bells and Shouts of People That one wou'd think it were enough to wake the very Dead and make them start from their Graves to enquire what 's the Matter The Truth of it is this Place is counted one of the strongest in Europe and the Inhabitants were not Insensible of it when they made their Conditions of Honour with the King And therefore we need not wonder at the Excessive Joy of the French When the Keys were deliver'd to the King by the Deputies of the Town one of them in the Name of the Rest made this following Address Sire We should have had just Reason to complain of Fortune and accuse our selves of Cowardise if we had surrender'd this Impregnable Fortress to the Arms of a Prince less Glorious and Puissant than your Majesty Since our very Walls are of sufficient Strength to defend us without taking up Arms against a Power Inferiour to yours But in Regard it is the Will of Heaven that we must change our Master we rejoice to fall into the Hands of so Invincible and Generous a Monarch And we hope Sire that your Majesty will shew us the more Favour for having us'd our Utmost Efforts to conserve an Inviolate Fidelity to the Catholick King who but Yesterday was our Master This was spoken with so graceful an Action and such a becoming Frankness that the King being mightily pleas'd with them made them this Answer Yes I shall always remember that your Constancy deserves my Esteem And now considering you as my Subjects I will bestow such Privileges on this City as shall oblige you to manifest no less Courage and Zeal for my Service than you have done for the Catholick King And to evidence that he has equal Sentiments of Gratitude and Esteem for his Officers by whose Courage and Conduct this Important Place is come under his Obedience the King has bestow'd the Government of it on the Lieutenant General of his Armies who was present at the Siege and was shot in Seven Places of his Body They call him the Marquis of Vandi He has signaliz'd his Valour in Sixteen Sieges and Battels being mark'd all over with Scars the Glorious Characteristicks of an Indefatigable and Fortunate Hero It is fit the Divan shou'd be inform'd of all such Passages Not to instruct them what to do in the like Cases for they are Perfectly Wise but that these Examples may be Register'd as Spurs to Vertue and Magnanimity of Spirit For it cannot be suppos'd that the Emperour of True Believers will come short of these Infidel Kings in Rewarding his Faithful and Undaunted Slaves Mareschal de Ferte Seneterre has also had his Share in the Caresses and Acknowledgments of the King and the whole Court This Success has given a great Damp to the Spaniards who begin to retire as fast as they can from the Neighbourhood of the French Armies On the other Sides these are full of Vigour and brisk Resolutions resolving not to end the Campaign without some farther Attempts in Flanders They creep by Degrees into the very Heart of that Province which is ever like to be the Stage of War so long as the King of Spain has one Town left in it 'T is a very Rich Country abounding in all the desirable Productions of Nature And the People are very Industrious to learn and improve whatsoever is Profitable in Art All their Unhappiness lies in this That they are not able to protect themselves and subsist Independent of one or other of the Neighbouring Crowns So that whenever those Sovereigns fall out these Poor People are miserably oppress'd with Armies and in this Case their Friends many Times give 'em as much Trouble as their Enemies Nay 't is difficult to determine which are their Enemies and which their Friends For to whatsoever Master they are subject he dreins their Coffers of Money by Taxes and Contributions besides the Intolerable Vexation of Quartering unruly Soldiers who commit a Thousand Insolences unpunish'd Poland is at this Time in as bad a Condition between the Armies of Sueden Austria Brandenburgh Moscovy Transylvania and the Forces of King Casimir The Son of the deceas'd Emperour has sent a great Army to the Aid of that Unfortunate Monarch and 't is confirm'd on all Hands that they have laid Siege to Cracow Whilst his Embassador is Negotiating with the Elector of Brandenburgh to draw him off from the Suedish Interest This is like to prove a War of long Continuance if the Plague do not make Peace with rages in those Parts and destroys many Thousands more than the Sword or Gun The Moscovites have Combated with this Distemper above these Two Years the Grand Duke being forc'd to fly with his Army like Vagabonds before this Inexorable Conquerour which gives no Quarter In the mean Time I hear Ill News from Candia where they say the Moselmans have in a Late Attempt on the City lost above Four Thousand Men with Thirty Four Ensigns and a Considerable Treasure These Infidels have also taken and destroy'd this Summer above Thirty Ships of Barbary and as many more of Constantinople Smyrna Aleppo Scanderoon c. On Board of one of which they seiz'd the Yearly Revenue which comes to the Grand Signior from Scanderoon And out of another they have taken the Revenue of Rhodes kill'd
tell me have I guess'd right at the Cause of so tedious a Reservedness or no Hast thou been forc'd all this while to speak with thy Hands Feet Nose and the Emphatick Motions of thy Head and Eyes If it were so I phansie thou wert excellent Company among thy Grave Flegmatick Brethren and in a fair Way to understand the Language of the Beasts who by curvetting creeping leaping frisking their Tails and other Postures express their various Passions Desires and Necessities as Intelligibly to those who are us'd to them as we can do by the most Elegant Addresses in Words But to be serious If for the Sake of Vertue this Penance be impos'd on thee by him who Presides over thy Convent or thou hast Voluntarily undertaken so difficult a Part of Self-Denyal on the Score of Philosophy or Religion thou hast approv'd thy self wise and brave in not flinching A Coward in Religious Matters is as despicable as in the Engagements of the World 'T is Honourable to face Temptations and come off with Victory As for what thou desirest to know concerning the Sepulcher of King Childeric It is esteem'd a Piece of great Antiquity In Regard he was the Fourth Monarch of France He Reign'd over the Gauls or Franks in the Year 458. Severus being Emperour of Rome Severinus and Dagalaiphus Consuls Yet in little more than Three Years he was depos'd and banish'd by his Subjects whilst one Aegidius a Roman was Crown'd in his Stead Neither did this Man please the People so well but that after some Experience of his Oppression Avarice and other Vices they expell'd him also and recall'd their Lawful Sovereign For Aegidius had vex'd them with Unreasonable Taxes fleecing them of many Millions which he privately sent out of the Kingdom disposing of this vast Treasure at Rome and among his Friends in other Parts as a Support against Future Contingencies For he look'd for some Back-Blows of Fate Childeric therefore being restor'd to his Crown enjoy'd it till his Death which was in the Year 484. After whom succeeded in the Kingdom Clodovaeus the Great who was the First French King that embrac'd Christianity The Time when Childeric's Tomb was first discover'd was about Two Years ago when the Cathedral of Tournay wanted Reparation For as the Labourers were digging up the Old Charnel-House they encounter'd a Long Stone which giving 'em some Fatigue they broke in Pieces and found under it the Entire Skeleton of a Man lying at Length with Abundance of Greek Medals of Gold and some other Curiosities of the same Metal among which was a Ring with this Motto SIGILLVM CHILDERICI REGIS All these Reliques were at first possess'd by the Canons of that Church where they were found Of whom they were begg'd by the Arch-Duke of Austria who has them in his Custody Therefore those who told thee they are in the King of France's Hands were misinform'd themselves or design'd to abuse thee For this cannot be suppos'd during the present Wars between France and Spain When they are more ready on both Sides to plunder one another than to grant Civilities of this Obliging Nature I perceive thou art grown a great Antiquary and therefore in Token of my Esteem I have sent thee a Cabinet of such Old Things as I have scrap'd together in my Travels and during my Residence in this City The Agates which thou wilt find in the Vppermost Drawer may easily be dated by their Figures which are all after the Fashion of Gentile Rome As for the Shells in the Second I leave 'em to thy own Judgment onely this I will say That they are not Common The Third contains a Miscellany of several Antiques The Knives were us'd by the Ancient Roman Priests in their Sacrifices The Weights are at least Twelve Hundred Years Old by the Parallels which I have seen in the King's Library The Rings also are of the Parthian Make And the Arrow to which they are fasten'd retains its Oriental Venom to this Hour as thou wilt find by trying it on any Animal that deserves it But after all the Lowermost Drawer contains Nothing but Counterfeits For those Medals are the Work of Parmezan the Finest Graver in the World If thou know'st not his Character I 'll tell thee in a Word He was Famous for Imitating so Exactly the most Ancient Medals that the Transcripts cou'd not be discern'd even by the most Skillful Artists from the Originals Accept these with the same good Will as I did when they were presented to me and tell me wherein else I can gratify thy Wishes You Monasticks are infinitely Happy in the Advantages of Retirement and Tranquility You are free from the Cares which molest other Mortals The Bell rings you to Prayers and to your Repast You have Nothing else to regard but your Contemplations and Studies Many Great Lights have sprung from your Various Orders And I tell thee Father William the World will be disappointed if thou should'st prove a Dark-Lanthorn and onely be Wise for thy Self Paris 25th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1655. LETTER VI. To the most Illustrious and Invincible Vizir Azem at the Port. BY the Sound which the Sun makes at his going down I swear I was not mistaken in the Idea I had of thy Generosity And the Dispatch with which thou hast honour'd the Slave Mahmut confirms me in a perfect Security of thy Favour and Protection I shall with exquisite Diligence obey thy Orders But it cannot be attempted without vast Sums of Money And if I may be thought worthy to give Advice to my Superiours the most Effectual Way to accomplish this will be by sending one of the Principal Ministers to this Court with a splendid Embassy For this Young King expects very Honourable Addresses from all that seek his more Intimate Friendship Therefore a Chiaus wou'd be slighted on such an Occasion and marr all the Design I wou'd counsel That some-body be sent who perfectly understands the Genius of the French and the particular Aims of Cardinal Mazarini Under the Protection of such a one I shou'd be able without Hazard of a Discovery to act all that is necessary to carry on this Design with good Success Here are Abundance of needy Courtiers on whom Gold will have a powerful Influence But neither I in Person nor any one whom I shall depute can make such Tenders unless there were here some known Publick Embassador from the Grand Signior to countenance the Business For otherwise it will presently be whisper'd That some Private Agent lurks here Incognito They will start a Thousand Chimaera's of Jealousie and so I may run the Hazard of a Second Imprisonment when the Cardinal shall call to mind the Occasion of my First All that I can then say of my being a Moldavian will find no Credit and 't will be no less than a Miracle if they do not expose me to a Scrutiny for the Mark of Circumcision Which if it be found all 's betray'd and ruin'd
Peace But he refus'd saying Let them fight it out and then they 'll be good Friends of Course And turning to the Spanish Embassador he said So will it fare with your Master and the King of France When they have sufficiently wearied out one another with Wars they will gladly embrace the Proposals of Peace Here is great Rejoicing for the Reconciliation newly made between the King and his Uncle the Duke of Orleans who have been estrang'd a long Time the latter having espous'd the Prince of Conde's Cause But now he has abandon'd it and is come to the Court. These Infidels are as inconstant as the Winds which vary to all the Points of the Compass Paris the 30th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1656. LETTER XVI To Solyman his Cousin at Scutari I See thou art given over to a Spirit of Discontent Nothing can please thee Thou murmurest at Providence and castest Obloquies on the Ways of God As if the Order of All Things and the Establish'd Oeconomy of the Vniverse must be Chang'd to gratify thy Humour Formerly thou wert troubl'd with dull Melancholy Thoughts about Religion Now thou art angry with thy Trade and pinest that thou wert not Educated in the Academy A Mechanick Life thou say'st is Tedious and Irksome Besides that it is beneath one of thy Blood to be always employ'd in making of Turbants Thou wishest rather to have been a Courtier Soldier or any Thing save what thou art Cousin let not Pride and Ambition corrupt thy Manners Dost thou not consider that all True Believers are oblig'd to exercise some Manual Occupation and that the Sultan himself is not exempted from this Duty Did not the Prophet himself practise it and enjoin it to all his Followers Hast thou not heard of his Words when he said No Man can eat any Thing sweeter in this World than what is acquir'd by his own Labour Doubtless all the Prophets and Holy Men have gain'd their Bread by their Lawful Employments Adam was a Gardiner Abel a Shepherd Seth a Weaver Enoch a Taylor Noah a Ship-wright Moses Saguib and Mahomet were Shepherds Jesus the Son of Mary a Carpenter Abu-Becre Omar Othman Gali and Gabdorachaman were Merchants Dost thou esteem thy self of better Blood than Adam from whom thou receiv'dst thine For Shame prefer not thy self to Noah the Restorer of Mankind to Jesus the Messias to Mahomet our Holy Lawgiver and to the Rest of those Excellent Persons who thought it no Contempt to work at their several Trades and eat the Bread of their own Labours Besides dost thou consider the dangerous Intrigues of a Prince's Court. Art thou sufficiently arm'd with Wit and Dexterity to secure thy Station against the Wily Trains of designing Men I do not reproach thy Abilities Yet I think thou wilt do better in the Post allotted thee by Destiny that is in thy Proper Calling than in the perillous Condition of those who stand or fall at the Pleasure of Others Whereas thou art now thy own Man and needest fear no Tempests of State or Frowns of thy Prince so long as thou pursuest none but thy private Affairs Many Sovereign Monarchs have envy'd such as thee when they have seen how chearfully and quietly they pass'd away their Time under the Vmbrella of an Obscure and Private Life Whereas at the Court there is Nothing but Intriguing Plotting and Treachery one Undermining another to make Way for their own Advance The Court is a perfect Theatre of Fraud Dissimulation Envy Malice and a Thousand Vices which there act their various Parts under the Habit and Disguise of seeming Vertues There a Man must flatter the Great and speak against his own Sence and the Truth to procure the Favour of some dignify'd Fool Than which Nothing is more Ignoble and Base This puts me in Mind of a pleasant Repartee which Diogenes the Philosopher gave to a Courtier The Spark passing by Diogenes as he sat in a Tub Eating of Turneps put this Scoff upon him Diogenes said he If thou wou'dst but learn the Art of Flattery thou need'st not sit here in a Tub scranching of Roots To whom the Philosopher reply'd And thou vain-glorious Man if thou wou'd'st but learn to live contented with my homely Fare need'st not condescend to the Fawning of a Spaniel But Cousin let not this Passage cause thee to emulate the Philosopher's Manner of Life For he had his Vices as well as other Men. If he was no Flatterer yet he was Proud and Opinionative He laid Trains for the Applause of Men in all his Actions and so taught others to become Flatterers tho' he was none himself All his pretended Humility Mortification and Rigour were but so many Decoys for Fame Of this Plato was sensible who was a far more Excellent Philosopher than he As this Sage was one Day walking with some of his Friends in the Fields they shew'd him Diogenes standing up to the Chin in Water whose Superficies was frozen over save one Hole that Diogenes had made for himself Puh says Plato don't regard him and he 'll soon be out For had he not seen us coming this Way he wou'd not have put himself to this Pain Another Time this Philosopher came to Plato's House And as he walk'd on the Rich Carpets with which the Floor of the Hall was cover'd See said Diogenes how I trample on Plato 's Pride Yes said Plato but with greater Pride Certainly the greatest Philosophers Doctors and even Saints themselves have their Errors and Failings Do not therefore affect to change thy Calling for the Life of a Student or a Contemplative Man For the same Discontent will still haunt thee in that State which makes thee so uneasy now Thou art a perfect Stranger to the Intolerable Anguish of Mind which afflicts Thinking Men and such as apply themselves to the Study of the Sciences They labour under a Perpetual Thirst of Knowledge and the more they learn the greater and more Ardent is their Desire of farther Discoveries So that the most accomplish'd Sages are no more satisfy'd with their own Acquisitions than he who has never meddl'd with Books Then as to their Bodies they are always vex'd with one Malady or other proceeding from the violent Agitation of their Spirits the Intenseness of their Thoughts perpetual poring upon Books and their Sedentary Life In all that I have said I do not disswade thee from seeking after Knowledge I rather counsel thee to read Books and I gave thee the same Advice in a former Letter But do it with Moderation Let not thy Studies entrench on the Affairs of thy Calling Read Histories or other Tracts according to thy Fancy when thou hast nothing else to do But do not follow it so close as if thou aspired'st to the Character of a Compleat Historian or Philosopher Still remember that thou art a Turbant-Maker and that by the Decree of Fate thou art born for this Business Follow it with Alacrity and Mirth When thou art at thy Work
Clubs among themselves where they might with an Unrestrained Freedom discourse of all Things and being United in an Inviolable Friendship might improve one another in Knowledge and Virtue without regarding the Legends and Harangues of the Mollahs This Society compos'd Fifty Books of so many several Kinds of Science and they call'd 'em Echwanossapha or the Writings of the Sincere Fraternity concealing their Names They treated of Human and Divine Matters without Reserves or Caution Asserting That the Mussulman Religion was Corrupted and Alienated from its First Institution having imbib'd many Errors and that there was no Way to restore it to its Primitive Purity but by joining to it the Philosophy of the Ancients In a Word they endeavour'd to reform whatever was amiss in the Doctrines and Manners of the Faithful by reducing both to the Standard of Reason I know not whether thou wilt approve or dislike their Enterprize But I am sure thou art Sensible as well as I that there are Bigots among the Followers of the Prophet and that these deserve Correction The Devil will set his Foot in the Temple of God But do not thou follow his Steps If thou do He that made the Devil fetch thee back again Paris 30th of the 7th Moon of the Year 1656. LETTER II. To the Nazin Eschref or Prince of the Emirs at the Port. THE Christians say 't is an Argument of God's Love when he chastises them Therefore they have no Reason to be peevish or call it an Effect of his Anger that a dismal Plague is broke out in the Territories of the Pope the Kingdom of Naples and other Parts of Italy This Contagion rages so vehemently in Rome the Capital City of the Western Nazarenes that above a Hundred Thousand Persons of several Ranks have forsaken that Place The Pope's Palace is shut up and no Access granted to any not even to Foreign Embassadors without great Precaution and then none of their Retinue are admitted with them 'T is said Seventeen Hundred die daily in that City and Six Thousand a Day in Naples Nay in some Places the Living are scarce sufficient to bury the Dead The Grand Duke of Toscany to prevent the spreading the Infection in his Territories has forbid all Intercourse between his Subjects and those of the Pope neither will he permit so much as a Nuncio to pass through his Dominions This Mortality has frighted Queen Christina from Rome She has sent to desire Passes of the Duke of Savoy and other Princes designing for France She is already on her Voyage having been presented by the Pope with Ten Thousand Crowns to defray the Expences of her Travels Here are great Preparations making for her Reception The King having sent Orders to all Governours of Towns and Provinces through which she must pass to receive and entertain her with a Magnificence due to her Sovereign Dignity and worthy of the French Grandeur and Hospitality In the mean Time this Court is in a sullen Humour by Reason of a late great Loss they have suffer'd at Valenciennes in Flanders This Place was besieg'd by the French at the Beginning of the Campagne but was reliev'd by the Spaniards this Moon who kill'd above a Thousand Men on the Spot took Five Thousand Prisoners with all their Cannon and Baggage Amongst the Captives of Note is the Mareschal de Ferte Seneterre General of the French Army The Names of the others are wanting Mareschal de Turenne himself very narrowly escap'd by timely withdrawing his Brigade from the Fight For which some stigmatize him with Cowardise and Treachery Whilst others affirm he acted the Part of a Prudent Captain in thus Retreating since it was impossible to restore the Battle with any success From Sueden we hear that the Elector of Brandenburgh has enter'd into a League with the King of Sueden by which both their Armies are United against the King of Poland and 't is said their first Design will be upon Dantzick That Country is in a horrid Confusion the Nobles Gentry and Boores being all in Arms some deserting their Sovereign others adhering to his Interest King Casimir has invested Warsaw with an Army of Forty Thousand Men. In the mean Time the Hollanders have sent a great Fleet of Ships of War into the Baltick Sea but to what end is not known nor what Part they will take whether the Suedes or Poles Yet the Latter hope for great Assistance from them there having been lately some Misunderstanding between the Dutch and the Suedes The Moscovites also have enter'd Poland with a Numerous Army and the Tartars are coming with another to the Aid of King Casimir Thus is Poland become the Stage of a most Terrible War and which Side soever gets the Victory that unhappy Country will be near ruin'd Nathan Ben Saddi a Jew at Vienna and a Private Agent for the Grand Signior sends me Word that the Emperour of Germany hath an Army of Thirty Thousand Foot and Twelve Thousand Horse in Silesia who are to join with the Moscovites and do some considerable Action against the Suedes whose continual Victories and growing Greatness gives Jealousy to these Puissant Monarchs He informs me farther that the Emperour has dispatch'd a Courier to the Prince of Transylvania with Instructions and Letters to engage him to a Neutrality 〈…〉 But the Young Ragotski is as Wild as his Father and hates to be led by the Nose Thou mayest inform the Ministers of the Divan that Adonai the Jew is dead of the Plague in Rome having first taken Care to transmit to me all the Papers which concern the Mysterious Port. This Court at present is at a Place call'd La Fere in Picardy a Province bordering on Flanders From whence there may be a more frequent Intercourse between the King and his Camp Prince of the Holy Line I have sent thee all the News that is stirring at this Juncture saving some trivial Matters which are not worth a Moselman's Knowledge much less thine who art distinguish'd from the Crowd of True Believers by wearing the Sacred Colour of the Prophet Paris 30th of the 7th Moon of the Year 1656. LETTER III. To Melec Amet. HERE has been a strange Accident lately not many Leagues from Paris which has occasion'd Various Discourses and put the Philosophers upon a New Scrutiny One Morning a certain Peasant or Farmer walking over his Lands as his Custom is to number his Sheep and other Cattle miss'd a Barn or Store-House which stood in a Field at some Distance from his Habitation Surpriz'd at this he hasten'd towards the Place where he saw it but the Night before When to his no small Astonishment he perceiv'd that not only the Barn but a great Part of the Field wherein it was built was sunk into the Earth He immediately ran and call'd some of his next Neighbours to behold this Strange Spectacle And the Fame of it spread all over the Country Divers Learned and Ingenious Persons have been there to make
yet I have been searching and prying into it above these Thirty Years I mean from the Time that I First began to think and consider of Things but am as far to seek as ever I was Neither cou'd all the Wise Men of Old the Philosophers and Sages for ought I perceive agree in their Verdict about this Mysterious Thing which we all the Soul One will have it to be Only the Finest Part of Matter in the Body Another says 'T is the Air which the Lungs suck in and diffuse through all our Members A Third Sort affirm it to be A Mixture of Air and Fire A Fourth Of Earth and Water A Fifth call it A Complexion made up of the Four Elements a Kind of Quintessence and I know not what The Egyptians call'd it A certain Moving Number And the Chaldeans A Power without Form it self yet Imbibing all Forms Aristotle call'd it The Perfection of a Natural Body All these agreed That it was Corporeal and as it were Extracted from Matter The best Definition among them is not worth an Aspre But there were Men of Sublime Speculations who affirm'd the Soul to be A Divine Substance Independent of the Body Of this Opinion were Zoroaster Hermes Trismegistus Orpheus Pythagoras Plutarch Porphyry and Plato This last defin'd the Soul to be A Self-Moving Essence endu'd with Vnderstanding But when they have said all I prefer the Modesty of Cicero Seneca and others who acknowledg'd they were altogether Ignorant what the Soul is There was no less Disagreement among the Philosophers about the Seat of the Soul Hippocrates and Hierophilus plac'd it in the Ventricles of the Brain Democritus assign'd it the Whole Body Strabo was of Opinion it resides between the Brows Epicurus in the Breast The Stoicks lodg'd it in the Heart and Empedocles in the Blood Which last seems to be the most Current Opinion of the East to this Day In Regard both Moses the Lawgiver of the Jews and Mahomet our Holy-Prophet asserted the same and for that Reason forbid Flesh to be eaten with the Blood But be it what it will either Corporeal or Incorporeal a Substance or an Accident whether it dwell in the Head or in the Feet Within or Without the Body there is no Certainty of these Things neither can we be assur'd what will become of it after Death Therefore 't is in vain to disquiet thy self in Search of a Mystery that is hid from Mortals And Equally foolish it will be to frighten thy self with an Imagination of Hooks Gins and such like Chimera's which thou supposest the Devil is busy with to entrap thy Soul 'T is a Wonder thou art not afraid to sleep lest he should catch thee Napping and steal thy Soul from thee I wou'd fain know what Sort of Tools he must use to take hold of a Substance more Thin and Imperceptible than a Shadow or how he will be able to seize and run away with a Being Active and Free as Thought Cousin serve God after the Manner of thy Forefathers love thy Friends pardon thy Enemies be Just to all Men and do no Injury to any Beast If thou observest this Rule thou may'st defy the Devil for thy Soul is in Safe Custody God is nearer to thee than thou art to thy self He is in the Center of Every Thing and is Himself the Centre of All Things In a Word He is All in All. Paris 3d. of the 6th Moon of the Year 1658. LETTER VII To Afis Bassa NOW the Scenes are changed in Europe Enemies are become Friends and those who professed a Mutual Friendship are at open Defiance Constancy is a Vice in the Politicks and a Dextrous Way of shifting from one Engagement to another for Interest is esteemed the only State-Vertue I have already Intimated to the Divan the War which broke out last Year between the Suedes and Danes The latter begun it by Solemn Proclamation sending a Herald at Arms to the Suedish Court and dispatching Embassadors to all his Allies in Christendom to give them an Account of his Proceedings Now I shall entertain thee with a short Idea of this War By which thou wilt comprehend That the Danes are either much degenerated from the Valour of their Ancestors who formerly made the most terrible Figure of all the Nations in the North Or else they are less obliged to Fortune who has not favoured them with so many Successes and Triumphs of late but rather exposed 'em to the Insults of their Enemies and the Contempt of all Men. When the King of Denmark first proclaimed this War he had a fair Advantage of the Suedes who at that Time were sorely entangled between the Polanders Germans and Moscovites and had more Need of Helps than Hind'rances Yet King Gustavus turning Part of his Forces into Holstein Schoneland and Juitland he took one Part after another till he had over-run those Provinces in the Space of Six Moons And reduced the Danes to a Necessity of Composition and that on such Dishonourable Terms as renders them the Scorn of the Neighbouring Nations On the 13th of the 3d. Moon the Two Kings had an Interview near Copenhagen the Capital City of Denmark For so far had the Fortune of the Suedish Arms carried their Victories They Eat and Drank together several Times and Conversed privately some Hours At last a Firm Peace was Concluded between them and they concerted the Measures of a Perfect Friendship But before this the Dane had been forced to yield up Schoneland with Elsimberg which commands Half the Baltick Sea He surrendred also the Provinces of Blakin and Halland with a very strong Castle the Island of Burtholme Ten Ships of War and obliged himself to pay a Million of Dollars and to maintain Four Thousand Horse and Foot in the King of Suedeland's Service and give Free Quarter to all the Suedish Forces till the 5th Moon These are such Dishonourable Articles that the King of Denmark has quite lost himself in the Esteem of all his Allies They call him a Poor-Spirited Prince not Worthy of Support or Assistance In a Word Serene Bassa it is like to fare with him as with other Unfortunate Men who when they are once falling every Body will help to throw them down Therefore conserve thy Honours as the only Bulwark of thy Interest and Life Paris 3d. of the 6th Moon of the Year 1658. LETTER VIII To the Mufti BY the Faith of a True Believer I swear the Christians are Enemies to themselves if they do not embrace the Project of a certain Jesuite They are no Friends to their Messias if they reject so Regular an Idea so Reformed a Model of the Nazarene Empire as this Sage has lately proposed to the Pope and the Cardinals He lays his Foundation very deep and draws his Examples from the Practice of Peter the Prince of the First Twelve Christian Caliphs whom the Franks call the Apostles of Jesus the Son of Mary For according to their Traditions the Messias before
Created for our Perplexity since a Man can neither well be Happy with or without ' em They are Perfect Riddles And to love 'em or hate 'em too much is an Equal Solecism 'T were a Question worthy of a Philosopher Whether this Sex among all the Necessary Good Offices they do us were not sent into the World as Spies and Trepans to observe our Counsels and Actions And by mixing Smiles with Frowns Flatteries with Reproaches Sullenness with more Obliging Favours to keep us in a Perpetual Maze and Labyrinth lest the Aspiring Wit of Men shou'd if left to themselves attempt something more Audacious than the Poets feign of the Sons of Titan or the Written Law Records of Nimrod and his Companions who built the Tower of Babel But whether they be Spies or Faithful Assistants Enemies or Friends I tell thee plainly I have not been able to forbear Loving 'em excessively And this is Part of the Dream or Trance out of which I am just now Awak'd Another Scene is that of Honour This is a Phantome also a mere Vapour a Shadow I never hunted after Glory nor courted Popular Applause Yet being entrusted with the Sublime Secrets and commanded to serve the Grand Signior in this Station I wou'd fain acquit my self without Disgrace Nay like other Mortals in such a Post I wou'd willingly have the Smiles of my Sovereign and the Caresses of the Happy Ministers who serve him if it shall be my Lot ever to return to the Seraglio Nothing appears to me more Terrible than at such a Time to encounter with Rugged Furrow'd Visages or Cold and Faint Embraces of my Fellow-Slaves This puts me upon a Thousand Inquietudes makes me swear to Contradictions utter Lyes and Blasphemies which would turn the Devil to a Saint for Fear In a Word I stumble at no Vice or Immorality which may promote the Cause I am engag'd in And all this for the Sake of a Fair Character at the Port Whilst I 'm cajoling my self as well as others with a Persuasion that 't is only on the Score of Honesty and to acquit my self a Good Man Thus I pursue a Blast a Bubble the Idea of Nothing mere Vanity and an Empty Dream And 't is harder for me to shake off this Enchantment than that of Love Yet all this while I have not taken the French Method to gain Honour I never was Guilty of Oppression and Cruelty nor bath'd my Hands in Human Blood No Widow or Orphan mourns for what I 've taken from ' em Nor did I ever Dragoon any Body into Compliance with Reason All the Parts I 've Acted in this Nature were Defensive Pure Efforts of Self-Preservation Which thou know'st is a Principle Natural to all Men and even to the Worms of the Earth These Little Reptiles when they 're trampl'd on will turn again And nothing more do I unless in the Sultan's Cause This puts me in Mind of my Integrity For I must tell thee my Virtues as well as my Vices Neither Arabia nor all the East have ever brought forth a Man more true to his Trust than Honest Loyal Mahmut I will for ever boast of this in an Age so full of Treachery This alone will carry me safe to Paradise in Spight of all the Mollahs As for the Rest they 're only Venial Sins easily dropt off on the Bridge of Tryal And so long as no Body can say I 've betray'd my Master's Secrets I 'm safe as an Angel that is not oblig'd to stand Sentinel at the Lowest Post of Heaven For there he 's within Gun-shot of the Devil Just as I drew my Pen from that Word a suddain Noise in the Streets call'd me to the Window Where turning my Eyes from the Earth to the Moon and Stars for 't was a very serene Sky I observ'd a small swift Cloud to glide along from South to North much in Appearance like a Bale of Silk It cleft the Element like a Sly Arab Thief that swims for Booty on the River Tigris Wondring at this when all the Firmament was Clear and not another Cloud above the Horizon I soon concluded 'T was the Chariot of some Airy God a Mercury or Messenger sent with speedy News to the High Lords Commanders of the Artick Regions to bid 'em be upon their Guard or some such weighty Matter Perhaps thought I a War is commenc'd between the Spirits of the Poles Or it may be King Aeolus has sent a Summons to the Northern Winds being resolv'd to play some Royal Pneumatick Freaks upon the Sea In good Earnest it made me reflect on our Ignorance of the Laws and Constitutions of the Elements It put me in Mind of the Fogs and Mists which sometimes envelop the Globe in Darkness on Purpose for ought we know to hinder us from seeing what is transacting at such Seasons in the Higher Regions of the Air. The Spirits of those Serener Tracts may then be Frolicking in Visible Forms Celebrating Solemn Festivals and kindling all the Meteors of the Upper Welkin as Natural Fire-Works and Illuminations not fit for Mortals to behold lest we shou'd learn too much and grow as Wise as they However it made me very Contemplative to see a single Solitary Cloud thus glide along the Air And I cou'd have wish'd for Wings to pursue its Motions because the Appearance was not Common Thou that hast measur'd the whole Frame of Nature and taken the True Dimensions of the World that hast penetrated into the Secrets of the Elements and art always busy'd in the most Sage and Solid Scrutinies wilt smile at the Vanity of Common Mortals such as I who when we are Unintelligible to our selves yet presume to comprehend the Ways of the Omnipotent who is Perfect in Knowledge As for me who have study'd in the Academies and read Aristotle Avicen Plotinus Averroes with other Philosophers I esteem my self still but at the Bottom of Plato's Cave Conversing with Shadows mistaken in every Thing but the Idea of thy Sanctity and Immense Wisdom which is Imprinted on my Soul as those which the Philosophers call First Principles because they are Self-Evident I design'd to have said more to thee but a sudden Indisposition and Extreme Faintness has taken away my Spirits My Limbs tremble my Head is giddy my Heart fails me In a Word I seem like one between a Mortal and a Ghost Paris 29th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1658. LETTER XII To Achmet Padishani Culligiz Bassa THY Sur-Name argues thee a Favourite at the Seraglio And for that Reason I know thou art accustom'd to receive Infinite Submissions and Flatteries But I must be as blunt with thee as I was with the New Mufti when I Congratulated his Accession to the Chief Patriarchate I told that Prince of the Mussulman Prelates that I had no Encouragement to welcome him to a Dignity which though in it self Sacred and Inviolable yet cou'd not secure him from the Persecutions of Popular Envy any more than it did
his Predecessor And the same I must say to thee Darnish Mehemet Bassa is fall'n a Victim to the Rage of the Multitude and thou hast got his Seat on the Bench. May'st thou enjoy it long and never be Mob'd out of thy Honour and Life as he was Some Years ago he forbad me to write any more to him What his Reason was I know not neither did I ever enquire However I obey'd his Injunction being Indifferent to whom I send my Intelligence provided I do the Grand Signior any Service For to that End am I plac'd here Illustrious Bassa I shall now acquaint thee with Two the most Principal Points of News stirring in Europe One is the Election of Leopoldus Ignatius Josephus King of Hungary and Bohemia to the German Empire They have been canvasing this Business Eleven Moons And at last the Austrian Faction carried it This was done on the 8th of the 7th Moon And he was solemnly Crown'd on the 22d of the same This has height'ned the Quarrel between the Duke of Bavaria and the Prince Palatine The Latter was so far transported with Passion at the Diet of Frankford that he threw a Standish of Ink at the Bavarian Embassador Which is resented as an Unpardonable Affront And the Duke is marching with an Army to revenge it or demand Satisfaction The Elector of Mentz has deny'd him Passage through his Principality And they are all like to be embroil'd in a Civil War about it This is no bad News for the Mussulmans But that which makes yet a greater Noise is the Death of Oliver the Protector of the English Commonwealth who whilst Living was the Terror of all Europe The Superstitious and such as regard Signs say This was presag'd Three Moons ago when a Great Whale Nine Times as long as a tall Man was taken in a River of England near the Capital City Forty Miles from the Sea I know not whether these Kind of Observations are worthy of Credit Yet it seems the Annals of that Nation take Notice That the Unusual Appearance of a Whale so far within Land has always Prognosticated some Mighty Change Perhaps the Fate of Illustrious Personages affects Nature with a more than ordinary Passion puts the Elements into a Disorder and Inspires the Brutes with Sympathy We are assur'd that on the Day of this Prince's Death and at the very Hour of his Departure there was so Violent a Tempest of Wind Rain Hail Thunder and Lightning as had never been known by any Man then alive in that Nation Which some Interpreted to his Dishonour as if he were a Magician or at least a very Wicked Man And that this Hurricane was rais'd by the Devils who transported his Soul to Hell Whilst others affirm'd this Mix'd Storm to be only the Sighs and Tears of Nature the Mournful Passions of the Guardian Spirits of England for the Loss of so Great and Fortunate a Hero And that the very Inanimate Beings Condol'd his Death As for me I look on all these Things as pure Accidents the Effects of Chance I have an Equal Opinion of another Circumstance much observ'd both by his Enemies and Friends That he died on the same Day whereon he had formerly gain'd some Notable Victories The One descanting on this to his Reproach the Other drawing from it Arguments of Honour 'T is difficult to say any Thing of him without appearing Partial He had Great Vertues and no Less Vices He was a Valiant General and wise Statesman Yet a Traytor to his Sovereign As for Religion though he profess'd himself a Zealot yet 't is thought he was as Indifferent as other Princes who for Reasons of State and to please their People make a Shew of Piety but in their Hearts Adore no other Gods but Fortune and Victory He was esteem'd one of the Greatest Politicians of this Age and none cou'd match him but Mazarini Yet I cannot but smile when I call to Mind how both these Eminent Statesmen were cheated this Year by Two or Three Fugitives A certain French Captain nam'd Gentilot that had serv'd under the States of Holland in the Wars and on that Account had often pass'd through the Sea-Towns in Flanders observ'd a Weakness in one Part of the Walls of Ostend by which the Town mighty easily be surpriz'd At his Return to Paris he acquainted Cardinal Mazarini with this and gave him so great Encouragement that the Cardinal resolv'd to try some Stratagem in Order to gain that Important Place without the Cost and Hazards of a Formal Siege To this End he commands Gentilot to seek out some Persons fit to be engag'd in the Plot Men of Resolution Conduct and Secrecy This Captain therefore knowing Two or Three Fugitives in Paris who were forc'd to fly out of Flanders to save their Lives having committed Murders and other Crimes against the Spanish Government breaks the Business to them promising Mountains of Gold if they wou'd assist in carrying it on They seem'd to embrace his Proposals with Abundance of Readiness and were introduc'd into the Cardinal's Cabinet Where that Minister being satisfy'd in their Characters and the Offers they made to serve him in this Affair seconded the Promises which Gentilot had made 'em with many Additional Encouragements In a Word they consulted together frequently were late every Night in the Cardinal's Lodgings And at last having adjusted all the Necessary Measures that were to be taken the Fugitives were dispatch'd away into England with Letters from Mazarini to Oliver the English Protector Wherein he acquainted him with the Design requiring the Assistance of some English Ships to transport Men into the Haven of Ostend These Agents went accordingly but with a Resolution to put a Trick both on the Cardinal and the Protector and by doing their Country so Considerable a Service as the saving this Town to merit a Repeal of the Sentence pronounc'd against 'em that so they might return Home in Peace and enjoy their Estates and Native Liberty Oliver receiv'd 'em very kindly and embrac'd the Motion with some Warmth But upon Second Thoughts try'd to out-bribe Mazarini and hire these Persons for himself Ostend was too sweet-a Bait in his Eye to let it so tamely fall into the Hands of the French for Want of a few larger Promises and Offers of Gold Wherefore he ply'd these Agents briskly with all the Effectual Oratory he could to win 'em over to his own Separate Interest engaging to bestow Great Preferments on 'em in England with Two Hundred Thousand Sequins as soon as the Business was accomplished The Three Flemings desired no better Sport than thus to cajole Two the Ablest Statesmen in Europe They possessed Oliver with an Entire Belief of their Zeal and Fidelity in his Service And it was agree'd on between 'em To hold Mazarini in Play and that Oliver should send him an Answer refusing to meddle in an Intrigue which seemed to carry so little Probability of Success From England these Agents passed over