LETTER I.
Mahmut the Arabian, and Vilest of the Grand Signior's Slaves, to the Mysterious Esad, Arbitrator of Doubtful Problems, Prince of the Mufti's.

WHEN I first came to Paris, my Instructions were not so Full and Particular, as to direct me in all Emergencies. A great ma­ny Things were left to my own Conduct and Prudence, both in Civil and Religious Mat­ters. [Page 2]So that if I have made any false Steps, I hope 'twill be Excusable; in Regard, 'tis not so much my Fault, as that of the Ministers who reside at the August Port. I have often address'd to them, desiring Supplemental Rules and Cautions in some Peculiar Cases which I propos'd: But they have been very sparing of their Counsels. 'Tis true indeed, about Five Years ago, I receiv'd some Particu­lar Orders from the then Vizir Azem, and the Kaimacham, as also from thy Sanctity: Wherein I was commanded to write with all Freedom to the Grandees. This, with the other Directions, has been of great Use to me. It has arm'd me with fresh Courage, and re­mov'd the Melancholy Apprehensions I had of some Mens Revenge, whose Vices I re­prov'd. Praise be to God, King of the Day of Judgment, I have accus'd no Man wrong­fully. Yet I was full of Fears, even in the Performance of my Duty: Knowing, that Mortals Generally love to have their Faults Conceal'd, and pursue those with Malice, who discover or reprehend 'em. But now, all my Fears in that Kind are vanish'd. Yet, I have Scruples of another Nature, which none but the Infallible Guide of the Faithful can disperse.

Ever since I have resided here, I have been precise in observing all the Precepts of our Holy Law, so far as consisted with the Security and Success of my Commission. For, I have been forc'd to leap over many Lyes and False Oaths, to conceal my self. I have likewise done A­bundance of other Irregular Things, to pro­mote [Page 3]the Cause I am engag'd in. For all which, thou hast vouchsaf'd me a Dispensa­tion. There remains One Thing, in which thy Advice is Necessary.

I have been hitherto Punctual in keeping the Fast of Ramezan, at the Time appointed to all Mussulmans. Which, thou knowest, falls Earlier by Eleven Days every Year, than it did the Year before. So that in the Space of Four and Thirty Years, it passes through all the Four Seasons. Now this Successive Va­riation of the Great Fast, causing it some­times to fall at the very Times of the most solemn Festivals among the Nazarenes, such as that which they call their Christmas, which is a Feast of Thirteen Days; I fear lest I may be taken Notice of, should I, by Celebrating the Ramezan at those Times, contradict the Universal Practice of all the Franks, and start Suspicions in those with whom I converse, to my Disadvantage and Ruine.

To thee therefore, who art the Wisest of the Wise, I fly for Counsel in this Exigency: Be­seeching thee, to dictate plainly what I am to do.

I know, that the Sick, or Wounded, or Travellers, are Dispens'd with, if they Vio­late the Sacred Moon. At which Time, the Gates of Paradise are Open'd, and Invisible Favours are done to the Devout Observers of this Precept: Whilst the Avenues of Heli are barricado'd, and all the Devils Chain'd up from appearing abroad, or doing any Mischief in the World. I say, I am not Ignorant of the Indulgence which is given to Men under such [Page 4]Circumstances; provided they satisfy the Law, by keeping the Fast at some other Season, more agreeable to their Health, or other Ne­cessities. And thus far I cou'd have silenc'd the Alarms of my own Conscience, without molesting thee: Knowing, that a Mussulman is always allow'd this Liberty in a Foreign Country, much more in a Region of Infidels.

But that which I aim at, is to be inform'd, Whether, to put the better Disguize upon my self, and more efficaciously to prosecute the Interest of the Grand Signior, I may not al­ways Celebrate this Fast, at the precise Time that the Christians keep their Lent? For then I should pass unsuspected, and no Man wou'd take me for any other, than a Christian and a Catholick. Nay, my Manner of Daily Fa­sting at that Time, wou'd raise me a Conside­rable Credit among the Christians that know me. They wou'd cry me up for a Saint, or a very Holy Man. For, the Fast of the Christians is a Feast, in Comparison with the Rigorous Abstinence of the Mussulmans. Those indeed refrain all Sorts of Flesh, but they load their Tables with Variety of Fish and other Dainties; neither have they Patience to tarry for their Repast beyond the Mid-Day. Whereas, the Mus­sulmans taste of Nothing during the Ramezan, till the Sun is gone down, and the Stars ap­pear. No, not even in the parching Desarts of Arabia, where Men are ready to perish of Thirst. Yet no Man will extend his Hand to the Water-Pot, to refresh himself in those Unspeakable Agonies, till the Shadow of the [Page 5] Earth, is advanc'd into the Higher Region of the Air, and has banish'd the least Glimmer­ings of the Sun. When therefore the Franks shall see me Fast after this Austere Fashion in their Lent, they will say, I am a very Mor­tify'd Man, and a Devout Catholick: For, they judge altogether by the Out-side. So, if any Danger should threaten me, I should find Friends among the Zealots: And the Indifferent, wou'd not appear my Enemies: But the Wicked, whose Black Guilt has ren­dred 'em a Terror to themselves, as well as an Abomination to others, wou'd stand in fear of me. Thus, on all Hands, a Way wou'd be open for me, to escape a Discovery of the Secrets committed to my Charge.

'Twould be much more to my Satisfaction, if I cou'd with Safety Celebrate this Fast, in the very Moon wherein the Alcoran was brought down from Heaven, as all Good Mussulmans Generally do. But I am taught, not to betray, or so much as hazard the Af­fairs of my Great Master, for a mere Nicety or Punctilio of Religion. God is the Merciful of the Merciful. And it is his Will, that the Empire of the True Faithful, shou'd be ex­tended where-ever the Moon or the Sun shine on Earth.

Great Oracle of the Mussulmans, Doctor of Faith and Verity, it is in thy Power to confirm or shake my Resolution in this Point. For, from thy Sentence, there is no Appeal.

Paris, 5th. of the 7th. Moon, of the Year 1654.

LETTER II.
To Nathan Ben Saddi, a Jew at Vienna.

THou Informest me, that the King of the Romans is dead, and that divers Prodigies happen'd about the Time of his Expiring. Whilst others report, That the German Em­perour himself died the 9th. of the last Moon. However, I shall transmit thy Advice to the Shining Port; not trusting to the Uncertain Intelligence of Fame.

Kings and Emperours must resign up their Breath, as well as Other Mortals. 'Tis a Tribute we all owe to Nature, who will be paid, one Time or other. Neither has she ever exempted any from the Common Lot, save Enoch, Elias, and Jesus the Son of Ma­ry. These were Holy Prophets, Perfect Saints, and void of Original Sin; and therefore re­ceiv'd an Indulgence. Tho' those of your Nation, and the Christians believe, That the last of these Three died on a Cross.

As for all others, they have either been dis­solv'd by Sickness, or snatch'd away by sud­den Death: Some by an Invisible Dart from Heaven; Others by the Ruder Hand of Mor­tals like themselves; Millions by the Sword and Spear, and Ten Millions by the swifter and more Unavoidable Stroke of the Arrow [Page 7]and Bullet. Whilst not a few have receiv'd their Death, from the very Elements which supported their Life. An Unruly Fire has crumbled some into their First Atomes, and mingl'd their Ashes with those of their Houses and Beds of Repose: Whilst Water, a Con­trary Principle, has quench'd the Vital Flame in others. There is but One Way to enter into this Life; but the Gates of Death, and the Invisible State, are without Number. And the Greatest Monarch may as well fall by the Prick of a Thorn, as by the Edge of a Sword. Every Time I swallow my Meat, I remem­ber the Fate of him who was choak'd by a Grain of Pepper; And that of Anacreon the Poet, who was strangl'd by the Stone of a Raisin.

Yet I am not solicitous in Chusing or Avoid­ing Particular Deaths; knowing, that no Human Counsel, can prevent the Decrees of Destiny. It rather pleases me to think (such is my Ambition) that by whatsoever Method I am sent to the Grave, there I shall be Equal to the Alexanders, Caesars, Timurlengs, and the Greatest Mortals. For there is no Di­stinction of Noble and Vulgar, in that Region of Anarchy, where all ranks are levell'd in the Dust: As Diogenes told Alexander the Great; when the Monarch, beholding that Philosopher in a Charnel-House, his Eyes at­tentively fix'd on the Bones of the Dead which lay in Heaps, ask'd him, What he was doing? To whom Diogenes reply'd, I am looking for thy Father Philip's Bones, but cannot distin­guish [Page 8]'em from those of his Slaves. Some such Thought as this, might perhaps first occasion the Custom of writing Epitaphs on the Se­pulchers of Eminent Persons. Among which I have read some made by the Entomb'd themselves, whilst they were on this side the Grave; and for their singular Phancy, were thought worthy to be Recorded by Historians. Such as this:

I Sabbas of Milan, by Blood a Ca­stilian, Friar and Knight of Jeru­salem, wish a happy Resurrection to my Ashes. While I was alive among Mortals, a little satisfy'd me. Now I am dead, and alone in my Grave, I am content with less. I neither knew my self, what I was; nor do thou enquire. Traveller, who­ever thou art, if thou be Pious, pray for me, and pass on. Fare­well, and live mindful of Death. Living, I provided this Epitaph, knowing I must die:

The Birth and Life of Mortals, are nothing but Toil and Death.

Such another was that of Heliodorus, a Moor; who caus'd himself to be Bury'd near to the Pillars of Hercules, with this Inscrip­tion on his Tomb.

I Heliodorus, a Mad Carthaginian, have commanded by my last Will and Testament, that I shou'd be Interr'd here in this Farthest Angle of the World: To make Experiment, whe­ther any Man more Mad than my self, wou'd travel thus far to visit my Sepulcher.

But that which Semiramis caus'd to be Inscrib'd on her Tomb, was a perfect Satyr on the Living. It was this.

I Semiramis, whilst Living never was in need of Money; yet was always Compassionate to the Poor. Now I'm Dead, my Grave is my Trea­sury. If any of Royal Race be in Want, let him open this Dormi­tory, and he shall find a Supply.

When Darius Conquer'd Babylon, and was told of this Epitaph; stung with Avarice, he caus'd the Sepulcher to be open'd, in his own Presence. But instead of Money, they only found a Tablet of Brass, with these Words Engraven on it:

My Epitaph is a Riddle. This is the Interpretation. I never was Cove­tous; onely such are Poor, these I pity; and have therefore provided this Lesson as a Treasure, for the Man who for Lucre shall presume to violate my Tomb:

If thou wilt Rob the Living, forbear to Plunder the Dead; lest they bring thee to Shame, as I have done.

Thou tellest me, that the Emperour seems not to be much griev'd for the Death of his Son, the Roman King. Perhaps his Sorrow is so great, that it cannot find a Vent. Vio­lent and Uncommon Passions, are apt to smo­ther within the Heart, whilst only smaller Griefs break forth in Tears.

It was a Memorable Saying of a certain King of Egypt, who was overcome by Cam­byses [Page 11]the Persian Monarch, and taken Cap­tive with all his Children; When the Cruel Conquerour, to sport himself in the Mi­sery of his Royal Prisoners, and insult o'er the Vanquish'd Egyptians, first caus'd the Daugh­ter of the Captive King, to be employ'd in the Meanest Offices with the Common Slaves, before her Father's Face: Then his Son to be bridl'd, and curb'd like a Horse, with a vast Burden ty'd on his Back. At both which dismal Spectacles, the Poor Egyptian Mo­narch shed not one Tear: But when he saw one that had formerly been his Servant, reduc'd to great Poverty, he wept bitterly. Cam­byses aking him the Reason, Why he seem'd so Insensible of his Childrens Calamity, and yet was touch'd with so tender a Grief for the Misfortune of a Stranger? He answer'd, Son of Cyrus, the Desolation of my Family afflicts me with so profound a Sorrow, that no Tears can express it: But my Compassion to this di­stress'd Servant, being not so Violent, easily breaks forth in Tears.

Nathan, I wish thee neither Extreme Joy nor Grief; for they are both hurtful to the Heart.

Paris, 1st. of the 8th. Moon, of the Year 1654.

LETTER III.
To Mahummed, Hodgia, Venera­ble Eremit of the Cave replete with Wonders.

WHen I contemplate thy Life so full of Innocence, and void of the very Sha­dow of Vice, I am like a Serpent rowz'd from his Sleep, by a Breeze of Cooler Wind, or the Noise of a Traveller on the Road. My Soul starts; and unfolding all the drowzy Curls of Sensuality, stretches it self at full Length. Surpriz'd and asham'd of its own Lethargy, it swiftly retires into any dark Cor­ner, to cover it self from the Light of its own Faculties, and from the brighter Reflections of thy Spirit, which penetrate like the Beams of the Sun.

I do not presently curse my self, the Hour of my Nativity, my Friends that have flat­ter'd me into an Erroneous Belief of my own Vertue, or my Enemies that have provok'd me, and by various Trains entangl'd me in the Paths of Vice. Such Malediction, onely becomes the Mouth of a Jew or a Libertine: For, we arrive at Perfection, not by Cursing the Evil, but by Imitating the Good.

I rather bless the Hour of Conjunction, the Influence of my better Stars, and the Constella­tions of a more propitious Horoscope; The Mo­ment [Page 13]when I had the Honour to touch the Sand before thy Feet with my Lips, in that Sanctuary of Holiness. O thou Patron of Good Intentions, Sincere Reformer of Human Errors, Refulgent Pattern of the Pious, Glo­ry of the Wise, most Excellent of the Excel­lent, Phoenix of the Age!

Praise be to God, the First and the Last: Peace to the Angels who stand round his Throne, and to the Prophets who rejoice in his Presence. An Universal Jubilee to all the Inhabitants of Paradise: And Eternal Feli­city to the Saint of the Desart on Earth, whose Soul is Expanded Wide as the Firma­ment.

I am ravish'd and full of Ecstasies, because there is not found thy Equal on this Side the Clouds. When thou shalt be cropt from the Earth, the Mirrour of Mortals, the Flow'r of Human Nature is gone. The Trees of the Wilderness will lament thy Death, by whose Presence they flourish'd, and brought forth their Fruit in due Season. At thy Depar­ture, the Grass of the Field will fade and wither, conscious that thy Merits drew down the Rain and Dew of Heaven, to render Ara­bia fertile in Herbage.

The Beasts will Languish for want of Pa­sture, and Men will bewail the Dearth of the Land; knowing, that the Life of the Just, causes the Ground to produce a Plenteous Har­vest.

But no Mourning will be like that of Mah­mut, who can boast of thy particular Friend­ship; [Page 14]and in losing thee, will be as if he were depriv'd of the Light of the Sun, or the Mor­ning Air, or the Benefit of Fire and Water. For, so thy Favours are refreshing, as the E­lements, without which we cannot live.

Therefore, as oft as I turn my Face to the City Sanctified by the Birth of our Holy Prophet, I send up Vows to Heaven for thy Long Life; beseeching God, for the Universal Good of Nature, to continue the Man on Earth, the Vestment of whose Soul, is compo­sed of Rays darted from all the Fortunate Stars.

Tell me, O thou Holiest of the Holy Ones in the East, Favourite of the Angels, secret Friend of the Eternal, Envoy Extraordinary from the Omnipotent, Agent Incognito for the Court of Heaven! Tell me by what Chart I shall steer my Course through this Life, Un­certain as the Sea, and toss'd with as many Tempests. I find in my self, manifest Incli­nations to Vertue, and whatsoever is Good: Yet I still mistake the Methods of attaining my End. I wou'd fain be Perfectly Pious, Just and Wise, but know not how to compass my Design. One Event or other, still fru­strates my Labour: Either a Friend or an Enemy, a Relation or a Stranger, Casualties Without, or my Passions Within, stop me in the Beginning, or the Midst of the Glorious Career, the Race which cannot be run with­out noble Agonies.

Then I take Breath, and rowzing my self with fresh Vigours, I cheerfully address to [Page 15]the Combat, which crowns the Victor with Immortality. My Courage is Great, my Re­solution fix'd, at the First setting out: I gain Ground on a Sudden, the Wheels of my Cha­riot are for a Time like those of the Sun, whose Momentary Advances are not perceiv'd by Mortals. But before I get half way to the Meridian, some Unskillful Phaeton, an Erro­neous Thought or a Giddy Passion, over­throws me. Either Old Habits or New Tem­ptations, hinder me from gaining the Prize, in the Olympicks of Vertue.

Thus, often foil'd, I retire with Shame and Weakness: And finding no Redress within, I fly to thee, who art Created a Director of the World.

'Twill be an Offence to make Repetitions, and ask thy Counsel again: I will henceforth endeavour to follow thy Example, which is certainly the most Correct Rule of a Religious Life. But then I cannot serve the Grand Sig­nior in this Post. Resolve my Doubts. Is it Lawful for me to abandon my Duty, and re­tire into a Desart? If not, I will erect a So­litude in the Midst of this Populous City, and build an Hermitage in my own Heart. If I cannot arrive at the Perfection I aim at, I will at least endeavour to be as Good as I can. There is a Religious Dexterity, by which a Man may in the Midst of Worldly Business, make to himself Paths of Innocence, and walk free from the General Contagion of Mortals. If I cannot perform any Eminent Good, I will take Care to abstain from Enormous Evils: [Page 16]Neither will I commit the Least, without a Good Intention; which I am assured by the Mufti, sometimes sanctifies a Bad Action. If I lye or forswear my self, it shall be to serve my Great Master. If I dissemble my Reli­gion, and Counterfeit a Christian; I will pro­pose to my self, the greater Advantage of the Mussulman Faith. Thus, some Higher End, shall always direct my Intention and Per­formances.

But if thou shalt tell me after all, That this is not the Way to Paradise, I will forsake all Worldly Interest, wherein I find so many En­tanglements, and take up my Residence in some humble Cave, or Cleft of a Rock, or Hollow of a Tree, where I will spend the Rest of my Days, in Contemplating the First Essence, and all that flows from it. I will bid a Final Adieu to this Perfidious Age, to the Vain Generation of Mortals that live in it, to whose Converse I shall have Reason to prefer that of the Beasts, who are far more Innocent, and less debauch'd than Men. Even Lyons and Tygers in the Utmost Fury of their Hun­ger, abstain from preying on those of their Own Kind. Man is the onely Cannibal, who devours his Brother, and greedily swallows down the Blood of him, who bears the same Image as himself.

I speak not of the Ancient Scythians, Mas­sagetes or Tartars, nor of the more Modern Salvages in America, who stuff'd their greedy Paunches with Human Flesh. Their Bar­barism has crept by Transmigration, into the [Page 17]most Civiliz'd Empires and States; and is not the Less Cruel, because it has chang'd its Form.

Nor do I tax the more excusable Epicurism of those, who ransack all the Elements for Dainties, whose Tables are loaded with the slaughter'd Carcasses of Birds, Beasts and Fishes; their Houses polluted with an Extra­vagant Profusion of the Blood of those Crea­tures, which the Eternal Mind Form'd to Live, and Enjoy the Fruits of the Earth, as well as our selves.

But I accuse the Oppressors of Men, those Cannibals in Disguise, whose very Bread is mingled with the Marrow of the Poor; and their greater Delicacies are Ragoo's, compoun­ded of the Blood of Widows and Orphans: Whilst they starve and ruine whole Families, to support a Needless Grandeur, a Momen­tary Pomp, which vanishes almost as soon as it appears.

Yet these Men think to pacify Heaven, by building Magnificent Temples and Oratories; by entailing their Estates to Convents and Ho­spitals: As if the Omnipotent were to be brib'd; or took Pleasure in Gifts, which are but the Fruits of Robbery and Injustice. Can the Sa­crifices of Infidels be more Acceptable, because they are made on Altars of Gold? Or even the Prayers of Mussulmans, in that they are breath'd out in Mosques, built of the finest Marble, crusted over with Precious Stones, and adorned with Carpets and Hangings of the Richest Tissues and Broccades? The Ancient Pagans can instruct us better.

Thou wilt not think me tedious, if I re­late a Passage which just comes into my Mind; Of a Certain Great Man in Asia, who pos­sess'd vast Herds of Cattle, and was accusto­m'd to make Magnificent Oblations to the Gods. This Grandee once made a Pilgrimage to Del­phos, Famous in those Days, for the Oracle of Apollo. He carried with him a Hundred Bulls, whose Horns were enchas'd in Gold, being spurr'd on with Extraordinary Devotion, and designing to do a singular Honour to the God. When he arrived at the Place, puff'd up with his Costly Presents, and the Flatteries of his Attendants; he boldly approach'd the Tem­ple, thinking no Man on Earth more worthy of the Gods Friendship than himself; demand­ing of the Pythoness (for so they call'd the Woman, who perform'd the Office of Priest­hood there) Who among all Mortals made the most acceptable Sacrifices, and departed with the Greatest Blessing from the Oracle? (for he presumed, the Preheminence would be gran­ted to himself:) When she answered, That one Clearchus of Methydrium, was the most devout, and dear to the Gods of all Men.

Astonish'd above Measure at this unexpe­cted Reply, the vain Bigot resolv'd to find out this Man, and learn of him what Method he took to please the Divinity. He hastens there­fore to Methydrium: And when he first came within View of it, he despis'd the Meanness of the Place, judging it impossible, That one Man, or all the Town, could be able to pre­sent the Gods with more Magnificent Oblations [Page 19]than he. Having found out Clearchus, he ask'd him, What Sacrifices he us'd to make to Appollo? To whom Clearchus replyed, ‘I am a Poor Man, and when I go to Delphos, I carry neither Silver nor Gold, but onely a Basket of Fruits, the Best that my Farm affords, which I freely offer to the Powers which Govern All Things, and from whom I receive whatsoever I enjoy. Moreover, I keep the Appointed Holy Days; and my Poorer Neighbours, go Chearful from my Table. I never Kill'd, any Thing: Nor have I done to Another, that which I would not have done to my self. I pray to Jupiter every Morning before the Sun arises, and at Night when he goes down. I keep my self and my Cottage clean. In all Things else, I live like the Beasts, that is, according to Nature.’

Thou wilt perceive by this, O Pious Ere­mit, that Simplicity and Innocence, are the most Acceptable Sacrifices to the Supreamly Merciful: And, that the most High God, takes no Pleasure in the Smoke of Burnt-Offer­ings, or the Pompous Addresses of the Great, but onely in the Pure Flames of a Devout Heart; the Integrity of a Just Man, void of Deceit and Guile.

Thou Illustrious Mahummed, art the Per­son in whom these Things are verify'd. May God shelter thee with his Mercies, to the Hour of Transmigration, and beyond the Last Flight of Time.

Paris, 1st. of the 8th. Moon, of the Year 1654.

LETTER IV.
To the Kaimacham.

THere are Two Actions, which take up all the Discourse at Present. One is the Siege of Stenay, a Strong Town in Flanders, before which the French Army is newly laid down. The other, is the Investing of Arras by the Spaniards.

'Tis the Presence of many Illustrious Per­sonages, that renders both these Sieges consi­derable. In the French Camp are present, the King, Cardinal Mazarini, and all the Gran­dees of the Court. In the Spanish, are Arch-Duke Leopold, the Prince of Conde, Francis Duke of Lorrain, with others of Prime Qua­lity.

They are very Vigorous on both Sides, in pressing and defending these Two Places; as if the Fate of both Kingdoms, were now at Stake. In my Opinion, France runs the Greatest Ha­zard: For, if the Spaniards shou'd prove Suc­cessful in what 'tis said they have resolv'd up­on, that is, the Relief of Stenay; If they should give Battle, and get the Victory, a Way would be open for them to penetrate in­to the Bowels of France. And 'tis thought, many Towns in this Kingdom wou'd open their Gates to them, whilst the Prince of Con­de is at the Head of their Army, who does all Things in the Name of the French King: E­ven [Page 21]his Rebellion it self, is masqu'd under the Specious Title, Of taking up Arms, to rescue the Captive King from the Hands of Mazarini and his Adherents. A pretty Way of seducing the People from their Obedience. The Pa­risians, and indeed all the French, are divi­ded into Cabals and Parties; some espousing the Prince of Conde's Interest, whilst others manifest an Incorruptible Loyalty to their So­vereign. I approve the Morals of the Lat­ter, yet privately rejoice at the Treasons of the Former, wishing their Intestine Quar­rels may continue till the Day of the Earth­quake.

Eliachim the Jew follows the Court, which rather ought now to be call'd the Camp. His Private Affairs call him that Way. From him I receive frequent Advice, of the most Impor­tant Matters in that Theatre of War. He in­forms me, That the King of France's Presence in the Siege of Stenay, inspires his Soldiers with more than Ordinary Vigor: And, That he shews daily Proofs of an extraordinary Cou­rage. He was one whole Night on Horse-back, giving Orders and directing his Enginiers. Next Morning, he sent a Summons to the Go­vernour: Who made a stout Reply, being re­solv'd to hold out to the last Extremity; and therefore sally'd out of the Town with a Party of Resolute Men, who kill'd near Four Thou­sand of the Besiegers.

But alas, these Infidels are only stout, whilst well fed: Not knowing what it is to endure the Rigours of Famine, and other In­tolerable [Page 22]Hardships. In all the Western Hi­stories, they cannot match the Bravery of a Garrison in the Impregnable Fortress of Mer­din, Famous in our Annals for sustaining a Seven Years Siege, when the Mighty Timurlen lay before it with his Invincible Army. That Scourge of Heaven, to terrify the Besieged, and give 'em an Earnest of his Resolution, caus'd all the Old Trees round about this Place to be cut down, and Young ones to be planted in far greater Numbers: Declaring at the same Time, That he would not raise the Siege, till those Trees shou'd be mature enough to bear Fruit. When that Time came, he sent a Present of the Fruits to the Governor of the Garrison, as likewise of Mutton, with this Message, That he took pity on so brave a Man, fearing lest he would starve for want of Neces­saries.

As soon as the Governor had receiv'd these Presents, turning to the Messenger he said, Go tell thy Master, I thank him for his Pre­sent of Fruits: But, for the Flesh, we shall have no Occasion, so long as our Ewes afford us Milk enough to sustain the Whole Garrison. And that thy Master may be assur'd we are not in Want of that, I will send him a Present of Cheeses made of the same. Accordingly, he commanded Four Cheeses to be deliver'd to the Messenger. Which when Timurlen saw, and had heard the Words of the Gover­nor, he despair'd of reducing that Place, tho' he had lain before it Seven Years, wanting only Two Moons. But, had he understood [Page 23]what sort of Cheeses these were, he wou'd no doubt have chang'd his Resolution. For, it seems, they were made of the Milk of Bitches, and were the very last Sustenance the Garrison had, except the Flesh it self of those Ʋnclean Animals.

Believe me, Sage Minister, such Examples of Patience and Fortitude, are very Rare. And this was the more Remarkable, in that it was the First Place, where that Invincible General had met with a Repulse.

Paris, 1st. of the 8th. Moon, of the Year 1654.

LETTER V.
To Dgnet Oglou.

THis is the Anniversary Day of my Nati­vity. Which I Celebrate not, as others do, on such an Occasion, with Mirth and Revelling, with Musick and Songs. My Cham­ber is not perfurn'd with the Incense of Ara­bia, nor with any Extraordinary Odours: Neither is it adorn'd with Flowers, Laurel, or the Branches of Green Trees. I am not at the Expense of Costly Oyls, to burn in a Multitude of Lamps, and make Joyful Illumi­nations, as at a Feast. Such Pompous Vani­ty, I leave to those who perhaps have more [Page 24]Reason to be Merry in this Life, than the Thoughtful and Pensive Mahmut can find out.

On the other Side, I spend not this Day in Extreme and Fruitless Mourning: But re­taining an Indifference of Mind, I Consecrate it to the Service of my Reason and Contem­plation: Which are the onely Things conside­rable in Mortal Man.

From the Minute that I first awak'd this Mor­ning, I have been pondering on my self, and Humane Nature. I suffer'd my Anxious Thoughts to start back beyond the Hour of my Birth, reflecting on the Imprisonment I suffer'd in my Mother's Womb: Which yet I cannot in the least remember. And this is the Case of all Men. We know not how we came into this Open World of Light, from that Region of Darkness; nor that ever we were so shut up, but as we are told by our Parents; and Common Experience confirms us, that this is the Lot of all Mortals. How then shall we be able to discover, what State we were in before our Conception? Whether we were in the Rank of Things which have Exi­stence, or whether we were not hid in the Womb of Nothing? I tell thee, this Thought has fill'd me with great Inquietudes. I am restless to know my own Original. I wou'd fain be inform'd, if that which they call the Soul, be a Substance distinct from the Body, or onely the Finer Part of Matter, a Quin­tessence of the Elements. If it be distinct, as I have Reason to believe, 'twou'd be a Sin­gular [Page 25]Happiness, to be satisfied where it was, before united to this Machine of Flesh and Bones: And whether that Ʋnion be Voluntary or Forc'd. For, I must profess my self to be altogether in the Dark as to these Scrutinies. Sometimes I join with the Platonists, and conclude, all Humane Souls to be Particles of the Divine Nature, Beams of the Eternal Sun: And that though our Light be now ob­scur'd and veil'd under this Cloud of Earthly Matter, yet we have formerly shin'd with an undiminish'd Splendor, when only em­body'd in the Clearer Air, or more Refined Substance of the Sky. Perhaps, think I, for some Errors committed in that Superiour State, we are sent down into these Bodies as into Prisons for our Punishment. Then I am vex'd at the Fatal Dullness of my Memory, that retains no Idea of my past Condition.

At other Times (for like all Mortals I am subject to Change) I embrace the Doctrines of Pythagoras, which thou knowest are gene­rally entertain'd all o'er the East: And be­lieving the Transmigration of Souls from one Living Creature to another, I cannot be cer­tain but that I have been an Elephant, a Ca­mel, or a Horse, or perhaps some more Con­temptible Animal; and for ought I know, I have undergone all the Various Kinds of Me­tamorphosis that ever Ovid mention▪d.

However, be it how it will, I see no Grounds to make any Extravagant Solemnity on the account of my being born to what I am now, that is, a Man. For, I think we [Page 26]are the onely Spectacles of Folly and Misery, among all the Creatures of God.

We boast of Arts and Sciences; yet the Wi­sest of Mortals are always most sensible, That they know Nothing. One Man builds a State­ly House, a Place of Repose and Refuge for himself and his Family: Another comes and pulls it down, demolishing the only stand­ing Monument of his Brother's Prudence, or rather of his Folly, who perhaps consum'd the greatest Part of his Estate in that Costly Fa­brick; Whereas, among all his Sciences, had he but learn'd to KNOW HIMSELF; an humble convenient Cottage wou'd have serv'd his Necessities during this Short Life, and so he might have avoided the Stroke of Envy.

I tell thee, my Friend, I cannot build Al­tars to Fortune, nor adore the External Page­antry of the Rich and Great. I equally hate to be flatter'd my self, as those are, who in­vite their Friends to solemnize their Birth-Day.

Yet in thus contemning External Honour, I do the greatest Reverence to my self, whilst I preserve my Reason free from being▪ violated or prophan'd by Foolish Customs.

Paris, the 1st. of the 8th. Moon, of the Year 1654.

LETTER VI.
To the Selictar Aga, or Sword-Bear­er to the Grand Signior.

SOmetimes we seem to be asleep here in this City, for Want of News. But of late, we have been rowz'd by Post upon Post: Some bringing Intelligence of the Surrender of Stenay to the French King, others of the Revolt of Barcelona from the Spaniards. But that which is of freshest Date, and for which all the Streets of Paris are this Night Illumi­nated with Bonefires, is the Relief of Arras; Where the French have obtained a Glorious Victory. The Number of the Dead is not yet known, but said to be very great. And 'tis certain the Victors have taken above Se­ven Thousand Prisoners, Sixty Cannon, Five Thousand Waggons, an Equal Number of Horses, with all the Plate and Rich Furni­ture of the Prince of Conde, Arch-Duke Leo­pold, Francis of Lorrain, and the other Gran­dees of the Spanish Army. In Fine, the French are Masters of the Town, and of the Field, and all Flanders appears now too little to hold 'em.

These continual Successes redound much to the Establishment of Cardinal Mazarini, who now seems above the Stroke of Misfor­tune or Malice. Yet no Man can call him­self [Page 28]Happy till the Hour of his Death, which alone releases us from all Human Miseries.

Some Days ago I receiv'd a Letter from Nathan Ben Saddi, which informs me of the Death of the Roman King, and of several Pro­digies which were seen before, and about the Time of his Departure.

When he was first taken Sick, there arose a Violent Tempest of Wind, which blew down the Cross from one of their Churches. After this, follow'd a terrible Earthquake, that shook the whole City, threatning to remove its Foundations. Moreover, an Old Eagle, a Domestick of the Imperial Palace, and that had liv'd there many Years, took Wing the Day before the King's Sickness, and flew quite away. Then the Bells of the Imperial Chap­pel rung Thrice of their own Accord in the Space of Twelve Hours. Thus far the Jew assures me is true. There are Additional Re­ports, of strange Apparitions that were seen about Vienna during the Sickness of this Prince, as of a Funeral Procession after Midnight, through the Courts of the Palace; and of a Show'r of Warm Blood that fell at Noon Day in the Streets of that City. But these I have only from the Mouth of Common Fame, which, thou knowest, does not always speak Truth.

I desire thee and all the Ministers, to make a Distinction between those Passages which I ascertain, and the Doubtful Relations of the Multitude. In these Cases, Men are prone to Superstition, and love to be the Authors of [Page 29]Portentous News. But thou may'st believe what the Jew relates; for he never affects to be Fabulous.

'Twould tempt one to ask, What strange hidden Power produces these Unusual Signs? Whether we Mortals are under the Custody of Invisible Beings, who teach the Elements and other Creatures to utter the Future Events of Fate? Or, Whether all these Things which appear so strange and surprizing, be not mere Casualties; Accidents of Nature happening of Course, and only made Remark­able by their Timing? Who knows, but that the Voluntary Ringing of the Bells, might proceed from the Motion of the Tower where they hung, during the Earthquake? Or, Why, need we wonder, that a Cross or a Cre­scent shou'd be blown down from the Top of a high Minaret, by a Violent Tempest of Wind?

These Things appear to me as Natural, as for the Rain to lodge all the Corn in the Fields, or for a Storm to tear up Trees by the Roots, overturn Houses, and commit a Thousand o­ther Violences. Neither do I perceive any Thing worth Admiration in the Flight of the Eagle. Perhaps, some Royal Caprice sprung in the Head of that King of Birds, which he ne'er felt before. There's Nothing of Prodigy in all this, but only because it happen'd at such a Critical Juncture. Had it been at ano­ther Time, no body perhaps wou'd have ta­ken Notice of it, any more than they do of Earth quakes at Naples, which are Common [Page 30]in that Country, where the Earth is very Hollow, being made so by Veins of continu­ally burning Sulphur. They have felt several in that Kingdom within these Two Moons, as also at Rome. But no great Hurt has been done.

Nathan informs me also, That the Venetian Embassador at Vienna, has distributed great Sums of Money, in Token of his Joy, for the late Victory that Republick obtained against the Moselmans. This appears to me a Real Prodigy, That the Ottomans who are Invincible by Land, yet still come off with Loss at Sea.

Queen Christina of Sueden, is expected here e'er long. She came to Antwerp in the Habit of a Man, which occasions Variety of Censures. The French call her, The Learned Amazon, She being well vers'd in many Lan­guages and Sciences: They extol her Virtues and Perfections, styling her, The Phoenix of this Age. All the Western Nazarenes, are devout Admirers of Women. And one of their Famous Sages, whom they call Henry Cornelius Agrippa, wrote a select Treatise in Praise of that Sex, wherein he endeavours to prove, That they are more Excellent and No­ble Creatures than Men. But he wou'd find few Proselytes in the East.

'Tis certain, there have been very Famous Women in all Ages, and it wou'd be Envy in Men to deny them their due Praise. Such was Dido Queen of Carthage, the Roman Lu­cretia, the Sybills, Theana Pythagoras's Wife, with his Daughter Dama; Sappho the Poetess, [Page 31]with Innumerable others both of East and West, Renowned for their Virtue, Learning, or Valour in the Wars. But it does not fol­low, that they therefore surpass Men.

Let us keep the Rank, in which God and Nature have plac'd us, without being Chur­lish or Effeminate. And this is the best Way to get and retain the Esteem of that Nice Sex, who hate a Clown, and despise a Dotard.

Paris, 30th. of the 8th. Moon, of the Year 1654.

LETTER VII.
To Pestelihali, his Brother, Master of the Customs at Constantinople.

THou art he, to whom I can unmask. With others I converse (like our Women in Turky) under a Veil. When I write to the Grandees of the Port, 'tis necessary for me to dissemble many Things; and, to feign some, that I may be credited in Others, and not be suspected in all. But with thee, I use no Artifice or Disguise: Thou hast a Kind of natural Right to my secret Thoughts, beyond the Claim of a Brother. I owe thee an Entire Confidence, on the Score of Friendship; and I seem to wrong my self, when I conceal my Sentiments from thee. For, besides the [Page 32]Tye of Blood, we were Partners together in the Adventures of Youth; and the mutual good Offices that pass'd between us, fasten'd our Affections with Stronger Bands, than those of our Birth. Nor were we so unhappy, as to suffer the little Youthful Emulations which are common between Sons of the same Mother, to stifle the more solid and gene­rous Efforts of real Love. Our Friendship grew up with our Years, cemented by Interest as well as Affection; and I esteem Pesteli, but my self in another Figure. If thou hast the same Regard to me, I am happy. Let us continue to cherish this noble. Passion: The least Coldness or Reserve now, wou'd appear to me more hateful than a Divorce, more ter­rible than Death.

'Tis but Reasonable, That among the ma­ny Services our Great Master claims at our Hands, we should employ some of our Time and Care on our Selves. We owe the Sultan much; but both He and We owe Nature more, without whose Bounty and Providence, We had never had the Honour, nor He the Profit of our being in his Debt. He is more deeply engaged in Fortune's Tally than We; but in the Accompts of Nature, We are all Equal. She is the Universal Creditor of Man­kind. We are indebted to Her, for all we have; yet methinks, Nothing so much enhances our Score, as the ill Menage of Time. In that we still run in Arrears, whilst the hasty Mi­nutes post forward, never to be revok'd; and yet, we neither lay hold on 'em in their Flight, [Page 33]nor so much as imprint on any of them, the least transient Mark of Vertue or Wisdom. Thus our Lives slide away without Profit, till the Last Sand tells us, We are Bankrupts, Nature will not trust us with a Moment longer.

'Tis Time therefore, Dear Brother, for thee and me to look about us; and, since 'tis impossible for us to make a full Payment, let us at least compound with Nature; and get­ting an Acquittance for what is past and Irre­coverable, let us be sure to cancel the remain­ing Part of the Score, by a Wise Improve­ment of every Minute.

Think not, that Mahmut is perswading thee to turn Dervise, or to bestow all thy Time in Prayers: Such Rigorous Devotion is not consistent with the Life of a Man in thy Sta­tion. But, permit me, Dear Pesteli, to coun­sel thee, not to build Altars to Fortune, and consecrate all thy vacant Hours to her Ser­vice. I am told, thou art grown a great Game­ster, not only at the Polemick Traverses of Chess, but also at Plays of Hazard. The Former of the Two, is the most Innocent: Yet, 'tis too Intricate and Puzling, deserves the Name of Business rather than of Recreati­on: It commits a Rape on the Mind, whilst it requires as much Attention and Abstracted­ness of Thought, as wou'd serve to trace out the Conduct of a Battel or a Siege. But, the Latter have a far worse Influence on our Pas­sions, by exciting us to immoderate Desire, Hope, Joy, and Grief for mere Trifles, the uncertain Products of Chance. Therefore [Page 34]are they forbidden by our Holy Prophet. And, 'tis not to be number'd among the Commen­dations of a Mussulman, to be dextrous at managing the Cards or Dice.

When thou art dispos'd to unbend thy Mind, I wou'd rather counsel thee, to use some healthful Exercise, such as may ventilate thy melancholy Blood. Our Fathers were wont at such Times [...] divert themselves with Bows and Arrows, Hunting, Wrastling, and the like manly Pastimes; thus, making their Pri­vate Recreations subservient to the Publick, whilst they sported themselves into the Disci­pline of War, and inur'd their Bodies to La­bour, even at those Hours when their Minds sought Rest.

What! tho' Claudius Caesar devoted him­self to Gaming with Dice, and wrote a Book in Praise of his Folly; What! tho' Domitian the Emperour, and Theodorick, King of the Goths, spent whole Nights and Days in this Unprofitable Play? Thou hast not read or heard of such Examples, among the Renowned Sons of Ottoman. Our Glorious Sultans, were ne­ver Vacant to these Fooleries. And if they had, their Practice cannot justify a Subject's Imitation. Neither wouldst thou be so in Love with Gaming, didst thou consider what unhappy Destinies have commonly attended the Votaries of Fortune. Whole Estates have been squander'd away at Dice in a Night, Fa­milies ruin'd, and the Gamester himself Im­prison'd in the Morning. He that Yesterday was Master of great Possessions, and a Com­panion [Page 35]for Princes; by the Effects of this ac­cursed Vanity, has bereav'd himself of All, and is to Day become the Scorn of Beggars.

The Chineses are so bewitch'd with Love of Gaming, That when they have lost all their Stakes, they'll pawn themselves, their Wives and Children; which if the Fortune of the Dice run against them, become all bond-Slaves to the Winner. Here is a Dervise in this City, of the Order of the Jesuites, who lately came from China. Among other Learned Men, I sometimes converse with Him. He relates many pretty Passages of that People, but one is Tragical, whereof he himself was an Eye-Witness.

He says, That in the Province of Queintong, a certain Nobleman who had serv'd in the Wars, and acquir'd great Fame and Honour, was en­vied by one of his Neighbours, who likewise had been a Captain and much in Favour at the Court. Their Emulations carried 'em to many Ill Offi­ces, and at last to open Defiance. The Empe­rour being made sensible of the Hatred that was between these Two Officers, and being unwilling their Fury should precipitate them to the Ruine of each other, became himself an Arbitrator of their Quarrel; laying his Commands on 'em, to embrace and eat toge­ther, which is an assured Token of Reconci­liation and Friendship in that Country. They obey'd the Will of their Sovereign. But sit­ting up late one Night at Dice, it was the Captain's ill Fortune, to lose all he had to the Nobleman. Mad at his unluckly Chance, and in Hopes to retrieve his Loss, he sends for his [Page 36]Wife and Three Young Sons, whom with him­self he pawn'd to the Nobleman for a conside­rable Sum of Money, and falls afresh to play: But Fate was his Enemy; he lost All. Whereupon in Despair, he stabs his Wife and Three Children, and lastly falls on his own Sword; glorying, that he and his Family, should thus escape a hated Captivity, to his Old Enemy.

Tell me, Dear Pesteli, had'st thou seen this Tragedy, wou'd it not have made thee resolve against Gaming during thy Life? Assuredly, our Holy Prophet frowns from his Paradise, on those who violate his Laws. He knew our Passions, and which were the most dan­gerous; therefore he prohibited such Things, as are most likely to betray us to Violence, and an Incurable Disorder. If thou wilt ac­quit thy self a good Mussulman, thou must not leap over these Prohibitions, accounting them small and indifferent Trifles. Remember the Saying of the holy Doctor, and Leader of the Mussulman Armies, the Chast Osman, A lit­tle Spark will set a whole City on Fire. And the Roman Satyrist has observ'd, That no Man becomes Wicked all at once. Think then with thy self, 'tis for this Reason the Messenger of God has forbid Gaming to the True Faithful; not as a Thing in it self Naturally Evil, but onely Morally, so as it is a Step to the greatest Vices. For whilst we captivate our selves to Chance, we lose our Authority over our Pas­sions. We stand or fall at the Uncertain Cast of the Dice. We are Slaves to the feeblest [Page 37]Wishes; which if they succeed not, we grow Furious, Profligate and Impious. Banishing all Prudence, Temperance and Justice, we become Impudent, and fit for the blackest Crimes.

Take not in Ill Part the wholesome Admo­nition of a Brother, who manifests his Love, in thus reproving thee without Flattery. Use the same Freedom, when thou hearest I am guilty of any Ʋnnecessary Vice: For, the Publick Service, turns some Vices into Ver­tues.

Paris, 14th. of the 10th. Moon, of the Year 1654.

LETTER VIII.
To the Reis Effendi, Principal Secre­tary of the Ottoman Empire.

I Believe, thou hast a Mind to try my Tem­per; to make an Experiment upon me, and see, Whether I'm Proof against thy An­ger: Else, why should Kenan Bassa's Busi­ness be reviv'd again, after it had been bury'd above these Four Years? I examine not, what mighty Interest thou hast in that Officer, that thou afresh espousest his Old Quarrel, as if 'twere thy own. Thy Affairs are best known to thy self. But let me tell thee, 'twill not [Page 38]redound much to thy Credit, to be found Par­tial. I honour thee with all the Devoir that is due to a Minister in thy Station, and with something more: For, the Esteem a Man has for his Friend, is Singular and beyond Cere­monies. But still he owes some Regard to himself. Self-Preservation, is Rooted in the Cen­ter of our Nature; and few will be Knowing­ly Complaisant to their Ruine. I am puzzl'd what to think, or how to write, thy last Letter has put my Mind into such a Hurly-Burly. A Thousand Imaginations like Whirl-winds, tear up my most solid Thoughts by the Roots. I'm in as Wild a Condition as a Man in an Earthquake, leaping this Way and that Way, yet knows not where to fix his Foot in Safety.

If I persevere in calling thee Friend, perhaps thou wilt accuse me of Presumption. If I change my Style, and suppose thee under ano­ther Character, Ingratitude will be laid to my Charge. To vindicate my Actions, will be Interpreted Obstinacy; and to own my self in the Fault, will be counted Weakness. Nay, all the World will call me Fool, in con­demning my self for Things whereof I never was Guilty. What shall I do in this Case? I am Naturally Thoughtful and Melancholy. The Words that spring from Resentment, cleave fast to my Mind, and breed a Thou­sand Inferences. My busie Apprehension, extracts Menaces out of the most Artificial Expressions. I look on my self, as mark'd out for a Sacrifice, one Time or other. The [Page 39] Will of Destiny be done, Early or Late. I will not go out of my Road to avoid it; Since it is but an Ill Husbandry of Time, to borrow it from the Ineffable Joys of Paradise, to multiply a few Days or Years, of a Miserable Life on Earth.

As for the Treasurer and the Rest of my Accusers, let them know, that I will per­severe in doing my Duty to the Grand Signior, without warping to the Right Hand or to the Left, for Fear or Favour.

But if my Private Agency in these Parts meet with Rubs and Checks for Want of Money, let the Blame rest on those whose Charge it is, to supply me with what is Necessary for a Man in my Station: For, henceforward, Mahmut will be reproach'd no more for demanding his Pension.

Think not, 'tis an easy Thing for a Man to be always a Counterfeit, and never to have his Mind unbent; to act Two contrary Parts at the same Time; to be true and false; a Mussulman and Servant of the Grand Signior in Reality, a Christian and Subject of France in Appearance. My Soul is per­petually stretch'd upon the Rack of Watch­ful Thoughts and busie Invention, lest by some Improvident Word or Deed, my Dis­guise should fall off, and I appear in my Naked Colours.

'Tis but Reason therefore, that whilst this vast Solicitude takes up all my Facul­ties, the Care of my Subsistence should rest on those who employ me. Let not the [Page 40] Ministers of the Benign Port, be peevish at me without a Cause. For I imprecate, Serene Grandee, that God would split my Soul into Ten Thousand Immortal Splinters, if ever I betray my Trust. But Needless Suspicion, wou'd tempt a Man to Treachery.

Paris, 14th. of the 10th. Moon, of the Year 1654.

LETTER IX.
To the Venerable Mufti.

THE Pope has been sick for a considerable Time, and 'tis now strongly reported, He is dead. They talk of an Express that is come to the Chancellour of France, to certifie him of it, and to consult about the Next Ele­ction. But this is not credited here; being onely look'd upon as a Roman or Spanish Artifice, to sound the Inclinations of this Court before­hand, that so they may be able to counter­mine the French Interest, when the Pope shall really die. And 'tis not expected he should live long, being of a great Age, and worn out with Cares and Sickness.

'Tis certain he has made his Will, wherein Two Millions of Gold are given to the Treasury founded by his Predecessors, to serve the Church in its extreme Necessities. But 'tis a Thousand [Page 41]to one, if some future Pontiff succeeding in that Chair, do not in his Unnerring Judgment, interpret his own Personal Occasions, or those of his Nephews, to be the Extreme Necessities of the Church; and then, all this huge Mass of Wealth, is Infallibly gone.

He has likewise bequeath'd large Legacies to his Sister-in-Law, whom they call Donna Olympia; and to others of his Relations and Creatures. And 'tis thought, this Lady will more than doubly pay her self, having the Management of all his Affairs. Indeed, du­ring his Reign, it may be said, the whole Ro­man Church was govern'd by a Woman. For this Prelate, wou'd never do any Thing with­out her Advice.

She was born of an Obscure Family, but is of a high Spirit, Ambitious of Rule, and a Per­son of great Abilities: Extremely Covetous and Subtle; turning and winding all Events to her own Prosit. All Preferments were at her Disposal: She sold Bishopricks, Abbeys and other Ecclesiastick Dignities at her own Rates, and to whom she pleas'd: In fine, whoso­ever had any Business with the Pope, made their Addresses to her. By which means, she has heap'd together a Prodigious Treasure, and is esteem'd the Richest Lady in Europe. 'Tis thought, she wou'd have sold even the Pope, and Rome it self, the Capital Seat of the Christian Empire, rather than refus'd a pro­portionate Offer of Gold, cou'd she have met with a Chapman to her Mind. This wou'd have been a Merchandise fit for the Grand [Page 42]Signior, were it not reserv'd as a Prize for the Victorious Arms destin'd to conquer All Things.

The French seem mightily concern'd for the Tragedies Acted in Poland by the Moscovites. 'Tis affirm'd, that they have taken the Town of Vitebsko by Storm, (putting Men, Women, and Children to the Sword) with divers other Cities and Places of Strength: And that they have laid in Ashes, all the Towns and Vil­lages round about Smolensko, so that there is Nothing to be seen but Ruine and Desolation for above a Hundred Miles round that City; which also is now closely besieg'd by the For­ces of the Czar. If these Northern Infidels go on, and make such bloody Work where­ever they come, they will, in a short Time, over-run and dispeople all Europe. But 'tis to be hop'd, the Tartars, who are lately en­ter'd into a League with Poland, will put a Check to the cruel Victories of the Mosco­vites, and chastise the Treason of the Cossacks, who join with 'em contrary to their Faith gi­ven to the King of Poland.

They say, Four Grandees of Tartary are arriv'd as Hostages at Warsaw, and as many Lords of Poland sent on the same Errand to the Court of the Cham; who as a farther Evidence of his Integrity, has releas'd all the Polish Captives in his Dominions, and sent the Embassadors of the Cossacks home, with­out their Noses and Ears, as a Mark of his Irreconcilable Indignation, at their Infide­lity.

In the mean while, I am extremely affli­cted to hear of our continual Losses by Sea. They say here, That above Six Thousand Moselmans were kill'd in the late Fight in the Hellespont, and that we have lost Sixteen Gal­lies, besides Ships of War. That Element, one would conclude, is Fatal to the Ottoman Empire. Neither have we had much better Success by Land this Campagne. Yet Chu­saein the Vizir Azem, and General in Candia, has perform'd very Heroick Things. To speak impartially, and give due Honour to our Ene­mies, the Malteses, Venetians and French, have not been wanting in any Point of Bra­very. Which also redounds to the greater Ho­nour of the Mussulmans, in that they draw their Sword, against the Flower of Christen­dom, and not against Owls and Pigmies. Such are the Persians, when we Encounter 'em; for either they dare not endure the Lustre, and stand the Brunt of our Invincible Arms, or if they do, they sink under the First Shock.

When I name those Hereticks, I spit on the Ground, in Detestation of their Errors: For they are worse than the Zindicks and Giafers. I have more Charity for a Christian or a Jew, than I have for these Vermin of the Land. In fine, I wish they were extirpated from the Earth; and that they may after this Life, be either Metamorphos'd into Hogs, which Crea­ture, thou know'st, is an Abomination to all Good Men and Angels (and they already resemble it in their Uncleanness) or else that they may become the Asses of the Jews in [Page 44] Hell, to carry their Burdens for a Thousand Ages.

Paris, 17th. of the 11th. Moon, of the Year 1654.

LETTER X.
To Pesteli Hali, his Brother, Master of the Grand Signior's Customs.

THE God of our Fathers grant thee as much Joy every Minute of thy Life, as I feel at this Instant. Wilt thou know the Occasion of this Unusual Transport? I can hardly believe my self, when I tell thee of an Adventure, the most surprizing that ever happen'd to me since my Arrival in this City. And perhaps thou wilt think I Romance in relating it: But assure thy self, that of a Truth Oucomiche our Mother, is at this Time in Paris, with our Cousin Isouf.

May a Thousand soft Passions thrill thy Heart, when thou readest this News, as they did mine, when at my Chamber Door I first saw and knew the Face of her that bare me, after I had given her over for Dead long ago; for I had heard no Tidings of her these Eleven Years. Good God! So strange and unexpect­ed a Sight, had almost dismantl'd my Sences, those Out-Works of the Soul. For a while I [Page 45]stood still, astonish'd and trembling with Ec­stacy. I was not presently satisfy'd, whether I beheld a Mortal, or the Ghost of one: For, they say, these appear in the same Forms as they bore when Alive. Neither Age nor Tra­vel, with all the other Infirmities and Crosses of Human Life, had so alter'd her Complexi­on; but that I easily discern'd the manifest Features, Lineaments and Air of my Mother. I concluded therefore, it must be She, or her Apparition, if there be any such Things.

These were my First Thoughts, in that Waking Trance: But her Voice and Address, soon put me out of Doubt, when impatient to see me stand like one Thunder-struck, she ran to me with open Arms and Tears of Joy in her Eyes; crying out with a Tone and Af­fection peculiar to Women. Art thou alive, my Son Mahmut? Do these Eyes see thee, or am I in a Dream?

For my Part, I was as much upon the Rapture as she, and hardly knew how to de­port my self, or what to say or do. Yet the Fear I was in lest somebody in the House shou'd over-hear us, and make ill Consequen­ces of this Passionate Interview, taught me a Lesson of Moderation and Prudence. Where­fore I beckon'd to her, to suppress her Passi­on, and converse by Signs, as the Custom is at the Mysterious Port. Those Silent Ex­pressions of our mutual Love, Joy and Admi­ration, were not less significant, because not cloath'd in Words. Thou know'st, there's Eloquence enough in this Mute Language. [Page 46]And I was Jealous of Words, lest some Inqui­sitive Soul might understand us, tho' we con­vers'd in Arabick.

After our first Endearments and Tender­nesses were over, in which my Cousin Isouf also had his Share (for we were all recipro­cally overjoy'd to see one another, in this Nest of Infidels) I began to consult the Safety of us all Three, in providing convenient Lodg­ings for my Mother and Kinsman. In Order to this, we made a Visit to Eliachim the Jew, who entertained us at a Banquet, after the Fashion of the East. We advis'd with that honest Hebrew about our Affairs; I having made frequent and sufficient Proof of his Fide­lity and Friendship. In fine, he took them both into his own House, under the Notion of Greeks, his Acquaintance; judging this the securest Way to prevent any Discovery, or even the least Suspicion of our Circumstan­ces. They have continu'd there these Five Days, and their Character has not been que­stion'd by any. I visit 'em daily, and we pass away many Hours in recounting the different Adventures of our Lives, in discoursing of our Friends in Arabia, Greece and other Parts of the World, and in concerting the best Methods to serve one, [...]other, till Death shall divide us from our selves as well as from our Friends, and rank us [...] a List of Invisible Beings, whose State and Qualities we know not.

Well, but all this while I believe thou art Impatient to know what Motive of their own, or Turn of Fortune, drove them into [Page 47]so remote a Region as France, a Country Inha­bited by none but Infidels? Shall I tell thee in a Word? 'Twas Love, on her Part; and the Desire of Novelty, on his.

Our Kinsman Isouf, from his Childhood felt powerful Inclinations to travel: Which encreas'd with his Years, and were much heigh­ten'd by his Converse with Greeks, Armeni­ans, Franks, and some Mussulmans at Con­stantinople, who had seen many Foreign Coun­tries, both in the East and West.

The Relations they made of the Curiosities they had seen, and of their own Adventures, fir'd his Youthful Blood, and he form'd a Reso­lution to depart, with the First Convenience, from Constantinople, and visit all the Regions in the World, if his Life and Health wou'd hold out. I formerly acquainted thee, that he had survey'd the Greatest Part of Asia: Since which he set forth again, and having finish'd his Travels in that Quarter of the World, he bent his Course for Africk; where he visited Egypt, Barbary, the Empire of Morocco and Fez, with that of the Aethiopians, and many other Regions under the Torrid Zone, too tedious for me at this Time to mention particularly, because I write in Haste. Here­after I shall give thee a more ample Account of his Observations, &c. Wherein thou wilt find, that Isouf has not altogether lost his Time.

At length, having satisfi'd himself with whatsoever he thought worthy to be seen and known in that Southern Tract, he parted from Fez with a Design to see Europe. Some Bills [Page 48]of Exchange, caus'd him to take Grand Caire in his Way, where he encounter'd my Mother. She perceiving, that he wou'd take Shipping directly for France, resolv'd to lay hold on so favourable an Opportunity, of seeing me once more before she dy'd. Wherefore, imparting her Design to him, Isouf offer'd her his ut­most Service. And having settl'd her Affairs at Caire, and pack'd up her Money, Jewels and other Necessaries, they took the Road of Scanderoon, where they soon arriv'd; and put­ting themselves into the Habit of Greeks, Isouf also speaking pretty well that Language and the Lingua Franca, they bargain'd with the Master of a Vessel then lying in the Harbour, and bound for Marseilles: He took them on Board, and under the Protection and Favour of Heaven, they arriv'd safe at Marseilles, and are now in this City.

Yet amidst all the Pleasure I conceive in the Presence of so near a Relation as a Mother, I am not without some Qualms of Fear, lest some Unfortunate Occurrence shou'd disco­ver her to be no Christian: For then, the Issue might prove dangerous both to her and me.

As for Isouf, he designs to tarry no longer in Paris, than to inform himself of what is most Remarkable in this City, and to satisfie the o­ther Ends of a Traveller. From hence, after he has visited the Chiefest Cities in France, he talks of travelling into Flanders, Holland, Germany, Suedeland, and the other Kingdoms of Europe. But for Spain or Portugal, he has [Page 49]no Thoughts; either out of Fear of the In­quisition, which is very severe in those Coun­tries, or out of an Aversion for the People who expell'd the Moors, of which he relates very Tragical Stories, which they told him during his Residence at Morocco and Fez. In a Word, he gives this Character of a Spaniard, That he is a Mungrel, between a Man and a Devil. He likes the Company of the French, in Regard they converse with a Natural and Unreserv'd Freedom, which becomes them very well. But he has spoke with none but Travellers yet, who have been otherwise em­ploy'd, than in studying the Artificial Dis­guises of Courtiers. If he sojourns the Space of Three Moons in this Kingdom, he will find some of the French as Affected in their Way, as other People: He will encounter with a New Sort of Frenchmen in every Province. For France is a mere Gallimaufry, made up of the Fragments and Remnants of other Na­tions. They differ also in their Language, as well as in their Manners, one from another. So that the Inhabitants of Gascoigne and Bre­tagne, can hardly be understood by those of Paris and Blois, with the Adjacent Parts. These Western People, are not Curious in pre­serving the Dialect of their Fathers, but eve­ry Age, introduces a Change in their Speech. Neither are they diligent in retaining their Genealogies. Whereas in the East, thou know'st, the Languages remain uncorrupted, the same now as they were Two Thousand Years agoe, or from the Confusion of Babel. [Page 50]The same Care we Arabians have of our Tribes and Families.

Son of my Mother, when thou readest the Two enclos'd, and shalt see the very Hand­writing of the Dear Oucomiche, and of Isouf our Kinsman; let thy Heart be like the Val­ley of Admoim, Fragrant as a Grove of Spices: For then thy Eyes will convince thee, that what I write is Truth.

Paris, 22d. of the 12th. Moon, of the Year 1654.

LETTER XI.
To Adonai, a Jew, Prisoner in the Tower of Nona at Rome.

THIS comes to thee by the Hand of a trusty Friend: Give entire Credence to his Instructions. To say I'm sorry to hear of thy Misfortune, wou'd but faintly express my Passion: 'Tis not easily describ'd in Words. I am as Melancholy as an Antelope, when the Sun's in Conjunction with Saturn. This is a sad sort of a Beast, that will neither Eat, Drink nor Sleep, during that Dull Aspect.

In Gods Name, how cam'st thou to be so free with thy Tongue among the Romans? Or, what tempted thee to meddle with their Religion and Laws? Was it not enough, that [Page 51]thou and all the Jews in that City, had Li­berty to frequent your Synagogues, and there curse the Christians in Antiquated Hebrew; must you needs Rail at 'em in plain Italian too? And that, over your Cups, when Men ought to be good-Natur'd to all the World? Of what import is it to you, whether they be Idolaters or no, so long as they give you Leave to Adore One God, Creator of the Worlds? Or, what signifies it, if they are Guilty of Ten Thousand Injustices and Follies among themselves, whilst you live quietly under their Protection and Government? A­donai, I'm asham'd of the Immorality of those of thy Nation. I blush for your Ingratitude, Pride and Malice. Surely, if the Nazarenes did really believe what they profess, they wou'd Sacrifice you all to the Ghost of their Messias, whom they say, you Crucify'd. They wou'd not leave a Jew living in Christendom, but do their utmost to exterminate you from the Earth. I speak not this as my Wish; but only to up­braid your Impertinence and Vanity, in thus foolishly provoking those, with whose Per­mission it is, that you live and enjoy the Ele­ments.

The Prophet Moses, your Law-Giver, left you another Rule, a Lesson of Civility, when he said, Ye shall not blaspheme the Gods of the People. Had thou and thy Companions o­bey'd this Precept, ye might have been at Li­berty: But 'tis bad falling into the Hands of the Inquisition. However, I am glad to hear, that you are not transported to the Castle of [Page 52]St. Angelo. That would have been a Tragi­cal Remove, at this Juncture. But now, as I'm inform'd, not one of you is in Danger: For, they say, that all the Prisoners in Rome, are by Custom releas'd upon the Death of the Pope, except those who are in that Fatal For­tress. And 'tis Generally suppos'd, the good Old Caliph is no long-liv'd Man. For, they never use to remove the Prisoners design'd for Death; till the Physicians are past all Hopes of the Holy Father's Life.

However, in Regard there is no Cer­tainty in Human Affairs, but a perpetual Change and Circulation of Events; lest some Unhappy Turn of Fortune shou'd either now continue thy Restraint, or hereafter bereave thee of thy Liberty, I send thee here enclos'd, a Receipt of a Chymical Liquor, which may be of some Service to thee, in the strongest Prison on Earth. 'Twas reveal'd to me by my Mother, who learn'd it of an Aegyptian Artist at Caire. Despise it not, because it comes from a Woman's Hand: For I have made an Experiment of it, and find it effe­ctual. 'Twill render Iron as brittle as Glass. 'Tis more powerful than the Water of the Ri­ver Styx, which no Vessel cou'd hold, but the Hoof of a Mule. After an Hours Applica­tion, thou may'st make the thickest Barrs, Chains and Bolts, flie in a Thousand Pieces, as if they were made of Porcelain.

Thou wilt not wonder at this, when thou consider'st the Innumerable strange Inventions of Men prying into the Secrets of Nature, [Page 53]and Fortunate in their Searches. Above all, Chymistry has brought to Light the greatest Prodigies of Art, and Knowledge. This My­sterious Science, was the peculiar Boast of the Primitive Egyptians, from whom all other Nations learn'd it. And had not Moses him­self been instructed from his Youth in all the Learning of Egypt, perhaps he would have been at a Loss, when he Calcin'd the Golden Calf, and gave the Dust to the Israelites to be mix'd in their Drink, as the only Expiation of their Idolatry. Doubtless, this Secret, a­mong others, was transmitted down to those Times from Philemon, the good Priest, who was in the Number of them who escap'd the Flood in Noah's Ark, and whose Grand Son Masar, was the First King in Egypt after the Deluge.

Philemon, the better to establish the State of his Offspring, reveal'd to them many Hid­den Things; taught them the Hieroglyphicks of the Dgebel Pharan, or the Pyramids, with all the Mysteries of the Talismans, and the Chymical Preparations of Moncatam; the for­cible Waters and Essences, Powders and other Ingredients, by which they made Marble as pli­able as Wax or Clay. These Things he had learn'd of those who perish'd in the Flood: He retain'd the Wisdom of the Ancients, his Co­evals and Predecessors; leaving the Rudi­ments of so profound a Knowledge to his Po­sterity, as an Invaluable Treasure, of which they cou'd never be robb'd. Thus, Science became Hereditary to the Coptites, who [Page 54]bear that Name from Coptim, the Son of Ma­sar, the First King of Egypt, since the Rain­bow appear'd in the Clouds. And, 'twas from one of that Race, my Mother learn'd that Admirable Secret.

Trust not to Words, but try the Experiment. The Receipt will give thee all Necessary Dire­ctions. Yet I counsel thee not to be big with it, like him who having found out the Art of making Glass Malleable, or fit to be beat by the Hammer into any Shape or Figure, as the Silver-Smiths work their Metal; must needs go and discover his Secret to the Prince, expecting a great Reward. When, on the contrary, he lost his Head on the Spot; the Prince thinking it great Injustice, that so ma­ny Thousand People as got their Bread by ma­king of Common Glasses, shou'd be all ruin'd, to promote one Man's Profit and Advantage.

In fine, use this Secret to serve thy self, or the Cause thou art engag'd in: But trust it not to another, unless on the same Equal Terms as I commit it to thee, wherein the greater Hazard is thine in divulging it.

Paris, 15th. of the 1st. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER XII.
To Mehemet, once an Eunuch-Page in the Seraglio, but now an Exile in Egypt, at Grand Caire.

WHen I first heard of thy Banishment from the Imperial Palace and City, think not that I was sad, or entertain'd the usual Sentiments of a Friend, on such Occa­sions. No: I tell thee on the contrary, I re­joic'd, (yet not with the Joy of an Enemy) at that Seeming Misfortune, as knowing it has deliver'd thee from a Real one, in which, accor­ding to my Presages, all the Attendants of thy Mistress, the Old Queen, were soon after in­volv'd.

Thou art oblig'd to Bacchus, for that For­tunate Calamity; which tho' it for a while eclips'd thy Honour, yet was the onely Means to save thy Life.

When I formerly sent thee an Account of my Imprisonment here, and how I was re­gal'd by my Keeper at a Banquet of Wine; when in that Letter I play'd the Advocate for the Juice of the Grape, I little thought that thou wou'dst ever make an Experiment of that Bug-bear-Liquor. Tho' I know 'tis common, even in the Seraglio, to drink Wine privately, and chase away Melancholy, the constant Fa­miliar of Restraint and Servitude, with gene­rous Compotations.

I am no stranger to the counterfeit Sickness of those, who for the Sake of this stollen Mirth, put themselves into the Infirmary, that they may there carouse with Freedom, and drink Healths to the Grand Signior without Suspi­cion.

Were it not for the convenient Situation of that Apartment, and the Favour of the Bo­stangi's, no Wine cou'd find Admittance into the Seraglio, save what is for the Grand Signior's Use. But now his Slaves drink it as merrily as he: And I am not sorry, that thou art one of the Number. 'Tis a groundless Supersti­tion, to refuse the Gift of Divine Liberality, and deny our selves the Use of that Plant, which was made to chear the Hearts of Mor­tals. Nay, our Holy Traditions themselves, and all our Doctors tacitely own, that the Vine is allowable, in that it was sav'd, among the Rest of the Vegetables, by Noah in the Ark: And that Holy Prophet curs'd the Devil for stealing it away. Perhaps the Story will not be Unpleasant to thee.

When God commanded Noah, with his Companions, to descend out of the Ark in Peace, they built them Houses, and began to exercise Husbandry; They sowed Corn, and the Seeds of other Vegetables: They planted also all Sorts of Trees; but when they came to look for the Vine, it cou'd not be found. Then it was told Noah by the Angel, that the Devil had stollen it away, as having some Right to it. Wherefore Noah cited the De­vil to appear before the Angel, in the Name [Page 57]of God, to answer his Theft. The Angel gave Judgment, That the Vine shou'd be divided between 'em into Three Parts, whereof the Devil shou'd have Two, and Noah One: To which both Parties consented. Whereby it is evident, that Man has some Share in the Juice of the Grape. For, this was the Decision of Gabriel, That when Two Thirds of the Li­quor of this Fruit, shou'd be evaporated away in boyling over the Fire, the Remainder shou'd be lawful for Noah and his Posterity to drink: And thou know'st, we Mussulmans generally obey this Law, in preparing our Wine.

Let the Devil therefore, in the Name of God, have his Share in this Tempting Fruit, and then there can be no Injustice in enjoying our own Part. For, when that which Inebri­ates, is separated by Fire from the Rest, this Liquor becomes pure, holy, and blessed. This is the Sentence of the Ancients, the Immedi­ate Auditors of the Messenger of God, as is to be seen in the Manuscripts they left behind them; which though they are rare and diffi­cult to be met with, yet such as diligently seek Wisdom, shalt not lose their Labour. Abu Becre Eb'n Mahumet, has taken great Pains to collect the Memoirs of Antiquity. He was a Learned Doctor among my Coun­trymen, of the House of Sulpha, (may he rest under the Ʋmbrella's of Paradise) From him I had this Relation.

But, tell me, my dear Mehemet, if thou know'st, how cam'st thou to be the only [Page 58]Man that had the good Fortune to be Sentenc'd to this Happy Disgrace? Or, if thou art Ig­norant, I will tell thee. For, it seems, the Rest of thy Company in that Nights-Revel were discover'd as well as thou, yet escap'd all Censure. It looks, as if they were designedly re­serv'd for Victims, to a more Inexorable Re­venge. And, the Event justifies this Conje­cture: Since within the Circuit of a Moon, not only they, but all the surviving Creatures of the Sultana Kiosem, were strangl'd.

Therefore again I pronounce thee Happy, and doubly Bless'd in being an Exile, since thereby thou hast escap'd the Hands of the Executioner, and art now living in Egypt, the most Fortunate Region on Earth. Ascribe this to thy Propitious Destiny, and to the Fa­vour of Solyman Kyzlir Aga: Who foreseeing the Slaughter that wou'd be made of that Old Queen's Servants, took this Opportu­nity to accuse thee to the Grand Signior, that so he might save thy Life. For, 'twas at his Intercession, thou wert banish'd into this Happy Province, which is call'd the Nurse of all Nations. Improve thy Exile to the best Advantage; and from this Nurse, suck the Milk of Science with which she has formerly Nourish'd the Whole Earth. Be grateful also to thy Deliverer; for, he is a Trusty Friend, and Unchangeable, where he once places his Affection. He had a particular Kindness for thee. From him I receiv'd the News of thy Escape; for that is the proper Name of thy Banishment. Pour forth de­vout [Page 59] Oraisons for his Health and Happiness: Since thou art in a Land, where the Prayers of Mussulmans are as effectually heard at some Particular Places, as if they were utter'd at the Tomb of the Prophet.

I counsel thee, to visit the Prison of Joseph, which is in the Dungeon of the Castle of Caire. This is a Place of great Devotion among the Faithful, and has been so in all Ages, since the Death of that Patriarch. Moses the Pro­phet, of whom it is said, that he died in the Embraces of God, made his Prayers in this Place; and so did Aaron his Brother, when they perform'd those Miracles in Egypt. Jesus the Son of Mary, visited this Place, both he and his Mother (on whom are center'd the Smiles of the Creator:) They there per­form'd their Devotions, when they fled from the Persecution of Herod. So did the Pro­phets, and Apostles, as many as were in Egypt, with all True Believers. Nay, some of the Infidels themselves, having heard of the Re­nown of this Sanctuary, made their Addresses to Heaven there, in Time of great Distress. For, here Prayers are infallibly heard, especially if they be said after the Sun has travers'd the Meridian; when the Wicked Daemons are asleep, who walk abroad till Noon, doing all the Mischief they can.

My Friend, when I think of the Region where thou art, I can hardly forbear envying thee. 'Tis a Land of Prodigies and Miracles. It is the Support of Men, and the Granary of the World. Those who Inhabit it, are full [Page 60]of Complacency and Joy; and those who a­bandon it, burn with a perpetual Desire to re­turn. Its Rivers are Clear, and the Waters Sweet and Rich as Wine. The Eye of God is upon it, who causes the Nile to flow at his accustom'd Season, whence the Land is made fertile beyond all the Provinces on Earth. This Nile is one of the Rivers which God caused to descend from the Springs of Paradise, on the Wings of Gabriel; and has hid the Place of its Descent, among the Inaccessible Heights of Mountains.

There are many strange Things related of the Land of Alphiom, and how it was First Manur'd by Joseph, being before his Time but a Fen or Marsh. The Story also of Hagar, the Mother of all the Ismaelites, is not Un­pleasant; Thou wilt find it in the Chronicles of Egypt: For she was an Egyptian, of the Family of the Coptites; and was bestow'd on Sarah, the Wife of our Father Ibrahim, by Charoba, the King of Egypt's Daughter. After she was dismiss'd from her Lady, she travell'd to Mecca; from whence she sent a Dispatch to the King of Egypt, to acquaint him with her Affairs, and with the Birth of her Son Is­mael, imploring his Assistance, in Regard she was in a Land barren of all Things. Then the King of Egypt caus'd a Canal to be cut from the Nile, at the Foot of the Eastern Mountains of Egypt, to the Red Sea; and sent Vessels laden with Corn, Fruits, and all Man­ner of Necessary Provisions to Hagar.

If thou addressest to the Feet of the Doctors, the Venerable Prelates of Caire, they will inform thee of more strange Things than these. It is a Noble Exercise, to Contemplate the Kingdom of the Heavens and the Earth; to search into their Wonders and Prodigies; to trace the Foot-Steps of Ancient Nations, and the Traditions which know no Origine.

Mehemet, I am an Exile as well as thou: Let us continue our former Friendship in this State, and do one another all the Good Offices we can. As for the Misfortunes of Human Life, let us bear them with an Equal Mind. For, they will soon have an End, as well as we our selves.

May God, who in the Time of Gog and Ma­gog, took up from the Earth the Great Alcoran, and the Sheets of Science; the Black Stone, and the Shrine of Moses, with the Five Ri­vers; have thee in his Holy Protection and Custody, at the Hour of Evil, and at all Times.

Paris, 26th. of the 1st. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER XIII.
To Kerker Hassan, Bassa.

THou may'st report it to the Divan for a cer­tain Truth, That the Chief Mufti of the Christians is dead: Which puts all the Courts in Europe, upon new Strains of Policy.

He was call'd Innocent X. after his Assum­ption to the Papacy: For, his true Name was Pamphylio. But some say, it has been a Cu­stom for the Popes to change their Names, e­ver since a certain Priest was lifted to that Dignity, who was call'd Bocca de Porco, or Hogs-Face. He, asham'd of this Ignominious Name, as soon as he sate in the Chair of Peter, assum'd the Name of Sergius. Yet, all his Successors, have not observ'd that Rule.

These Popes have an Authority, greater than our Principal Mufti. For, they are obey'd by Kings and Emperors. And being esteem'd little less than Gods on Earth, they are solemnly Ador'd on the Day of their Co­ronation, by all the Cardinals, Princes, Pre­lates, and Foreign Embassadors at that Time in Rome. And, for that End, they are seated on the Altar, which the Nazarenes call, The Tabernacle and Habitation of their God.

If I mistake not in my Observations, these Roman Caliphs aspire at a Sovereignty over all Kings and Princes: They wou'd make that which they call the Hierarchy, a Superlative [Page 63]Independent Monarchy, to which all the Go­vernments in the World, should pay Homage, and be Subject.

This puts me in Mind of a certain Preacher at Naples, who some Years ago, when Adonai the Jew was in that City, and happen'd to be present in the Church, having made a very Elaborate Speech to persuade the People, That the Priests were Superiour to Kings; at length he broke out into this Passionate Exclamation: O ye Princes of Christendom, ye are Pharaohs, and we Priests are your Gods; O ye Pharaohs, obey your Gods! Ye can only command the Crea­ture, but we make the Creator himself come down on the Altars, at our Pleasure. This Relation I had from the Jew, in his Travels through Italy. And it is asserted by some of their Doctors, That the Pope has not only Power to Excommunicate the Greatest Prince on Earth, but also to pull a Saint out of Paradise, and send him to Hell.

If they cou'd persuade the Nazarene Prin­ces and People to believe they have such an Exorbitant Power, perhaps in Time they might reduce 'em to as blind a Superstition, as the Ancient Kings of Egypt were Guilty of, who were so besotted to their Priests; that when he whom they call'd the Cater, or Master of the Celestial Influences commanded the King to Kill himself, for that it was the Will of Heaven, the poor bigotted Monarch, durst not dispute the Orders he had receiv'd, but in simple Obedience became his own Mur­derer.

Those Egyptian Priests indeed, were Ma­sters of great Science, profound Astrologers, Excellent Mathematicians, and perfectly skill'd in the Secrets of Natural Magick. They perform'd Things transcending the more Com­mon and Obvious Works of Nature: By which it was easy, to strike a Terror into the Hearts of Ignorant Mortals. But, as for these Nazarene Priests, all that they can boast of is, that they have read the Histories of Former Times, and are able to discourse in Philosophy and other Sciences, without having the Power to work any Prodigies: Unless thou wilt count it one, To keep so many Warlike Na­tions in a Servile Awe of their Authority, with the bare Pretence, of turning a Piece of Bread into a God.

Yet for all this, there are many Poor Pre­lates, and other Ecclesiasticks, who are inve­sted with Empty Titles, having little or no Revenues: Among which, the Poverty of some is so Remarkable, as to become a Pro­verb. Thus, 'tis Common in the Mouths of the Romans to say, The Pope's Mule fares better than the Bishop of Orvietto.

Illustrious Bassa, live thou in the Faith of a Mussulman, and the Favour of the Grand Sig­nior. For, in that State, thou may'st despise the Greatest of these Ecclesiastick Infidels.

Paris, 13th, of the 2d. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER XIV.
To the Kaimacham.

I Believe, the Secretary of the Nazarene Af­fairs takes me to be a Conjurer, and thinks that I can divine of all the Changes and Al­terations that happen at the Port, or that I have some Magical Glass, which represents to me the continued Series of remote Events, with all the Transactions of the Imperial Court, Camp, and City: Or else he wou'd not be so late in his Dispatches, and send me such Imperfect News. I am forc'd many Times, to address my Letters by Guess; not knowing, whether the Person to whom I write be in the same Station he was a while ago, or whether he be among the Living, or the Dead: Whether I shou'd direct my Dis­patches to Constantinople, or to the Elyzian Shades.

My Intelligence of the Mussulman Affairs, is many Times more oweing to the French Merchants who trade in the Levant, or to the Expresses which come from Embassadors resi­ding at Constantinople; than to that Secretary; whose Care it ought to be, that I shou'd be timely inform'd of whatever happens in the Osman Empire.

Surely, Kisur Dramelec has some Design upon me, in being always thus tardy and ne­gligent. I scarce hear from him once in half a [Page 66]Year; whereas he is commanded by his Supe­riours as well as mine, to write to me every Moon. And then, he sends me such a Lame Account of Things, such Fragments and Scraps of News, that his Letters need a Com­ment, to make 'em Intelligible.

About Four Years ago, I modestly tax'd him with this Neglect, when I had Reason to do it in my own Vindication, to Minezim Aluph, Bassa. But Kisur heard of it, and was very Angry. He sent me a Letter, full of Invectives, which I answer'd with a Kind of Indifference, mixing Raillery with my Juster Resentments. How that work'd on him, I know not; but his Reservedness ever since, makes me conclude he studies Revenge; and that he takes this Method to accomplish it, by keeping me as much in Ignorance, as he dares, of the Changes and other Important Occurrences at the Mysterious Port. He knows it wou'd be a Crime little less than Capital, not to write to me at all: Such a wilful Contumacy wou'd streight proclaim him a Traytor; since, among the other In­structions which were given him with his Commission, this Charge was none of the least, That he shou'd send frequent Intelligence to all the Grand Signior's Agents, whether Pub­lick or Private, in the Courts of Nazarene Princes. He is sensible, That such a Manifest Contempt of Supreme Authority, wou'd abso­lutely ruine him. Therefore he goes more subtilly to work. For, he writes indeed, but, very seldom. And then, with cunning [Page 67]Artifice, either quite conceals, or at least disguises the most considerable Transactions, only filling up his Letters with Trifling Stories, and Impertinent Relations, nothing to my Purpose: Thinking by this Means, to bring upon me the Displeasure of the Grandees, through the Mistakes I may commit, for Want of better Advertisement.

Be it how it will, I am strangely at a Loss sometimes, what to think, or how to write to my Superiours; or what Sort of Conduct I shou'd use in this Place, amidst so many Va­rious Reports as are continually spread abroad in Europe, concerning the Affairs of the Se­raglio, the Shining City, and other Parts of the Ottoman Empire: Whilst this Kisur still delays to ascertain me of any Thing.

I have been wholly a Stranger, till within these few Days, to the Fate of the Captain Bassa, who was strangled about a Year ago, for his Cowardise and Ill Conduct against the Venetians. Neither knew I any Thing of the Adventure and Flight of his Sons. I was e­qually Ignorant of the Succession of the Bassa of Buda in this Important Command; and of many other changes both by Land, and Sea.

So at present, here are a Thousand Ru­mours stirring about one Thing or other in the East. Some say, that Chusaein Bassa is strangl'd, and that the Captain Bassa, is made Vizir Azem in his Stead. Others report, that this First Minister was only depos'd from that Supreme Dignity, the Seals being taken [Page 68]from him; but that nevertheless, he still con­tinues to be General of the Sultan's Forces in Candia. A Third Sort affirm, that he intend­ed to turn Christian, holding a secret Corre­spondence with the Patriarch of Jerusalem, by whose Means, and a General Revolt of the Greeks, Armenians, and other Christians un­der the Grand Signior's Jurisdiction, he sought to betray the Ottoman Blood, and exalt him­self to the Empire.

I am not willing to believe, that such Mon­strous Perfidy, cou'd enter into the Heart of that Illustrious Hero; yet know not how to contradict it, for Want of true Advice.

It is reported also, That Signior Capello, the Venetian Bailo or Resident, at the Happy Port, has kill'd himself with a Ponyard: Being dri­ven to Despair, by his long Confinement, and the cruel Usage he had receiv'd from the Mus­sulmans. God knows whether it be true or no. It wou'd be much to my Satisfaction, to have a particular Account of all these Things, and of whatsoever else occurs worthy of Notice. For, how can I discharge my Trust, whilst I am thus kept in the Dark.

They talk here of a Violent Plague that rages in Moscovy, and that above 200000 Peo­ple have died of it in the City of Mosco only, besides Millions that have been swept away in the Provinces of that Vast Empire. Those that really know not themselves, nor are ac­quainted with their own Nature, will yet pre­tend to penetrate into the Counsels of the Om­nipotent, and pronounce this as a Judgment [Page 69]on the Moscovites, for the Cruelties they have committed in Poland. Doubtless, the Methods of Fate are Inscrutable.

In the mean While, we are plagu'd here with a Crew of Vagabonds, whom they call Gypsies, or Egyptians: For, they pretend to be descended from that Place. They swarm up and down the Country like Caterpillars, devouring the Fruits of the Earth. They boast of a Pro­found Skill in Palmestry, Physiognomy, and o­ther Sciences, cheating People of their Money, under the Notion of telling them their For­tunes. No Body knows from whence they come, or whither they go. For, they are as uncertain as the Wind. A Nasty Generation, and the very Burden of the Land. If any Crea­tures be oblig'd to them, 'tis the Mice and Rats, with whom they seem to be in League. For, they Kill and Eat all the Cats they seize on.

Illustrious Minister, I pray Heaven defend thee from all Sorts of Plagues and Vermin, but especially from Monsters in Human Shape.

Paris, the 26th. of the 2d. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER XV.
To the same.

AS I am alive, these Gypsies have enchan­ted me; I cannot put 'em out of my Mind. And, perhaps, it will neither be im­pertinent nor troublesome, to give thee a far­ther Information of them.

There are several Opinions concerning the Original of these Vagrants, and they have been thought worthy to be inserted into Histories. Some say, they came out of Tartary or Scythia, and that they first appear'd in these Parts, a­bout the Year 1417. of the Christians Hegira. At which Time, they enter'd into Saxony in Troops, having the Passport of Sigismund King of Hungary, and Son of Charles IV. They had also the Recommendations of divers other Princes, who look'd on them as Holy Persons or Prophets. For they pretended, that they were commanded by God, to travel over the Whole Earth, and not to have either Hou­ses or Lands in their own Possession: And, that this was enjoin'd 'em as a Penance, to ex­piate the Sin of their Ancestors; who inhabi­ting Egypt in the Days of Jesus, the Son of Mary, the Christians Messias, refus'd to en­tertain that Holy Prophet and his Mother, when they fled from the Persecution of He­rod.

Others are of Opinion, that they came first out of Persia, and are of the Race of those who Adore the Fire. Being forc'd once in Seven Years, to make Decimations of their People, and send away many Caravans, to seek their Fortune in Foreign Countries; Persia not being able to sustain their Numerous Pro­geny.

A Third Sort affirm, That they are the Po­sterity of the Ten Jewish Tribes, that were carried away Captives by Salamanassar, King of Assyria. No Body knows for certain what they are, or of whence. They are of swarthy Complexions, wrapt up in Mantles of Cotton or Wool. They speak Seven Languages, pro­fess Three Sciences, obey One King or Gene­ral, who always travels with 'em. The Ita­lians call 'em Cingari, from a Word in their Language which signifies a Kind of Water-Fowl, that has no certain Nest, but is forc'd every Night to seek a New Lodging: For so these Egyptians rove from Place to Place. The Germans call them Zingener, from the Word Zindel, which is the constant Appellative of the King of these Ramblers; as Pharaoh was of Old among the Gypsies, and Caesar a­mong the Romans. In many Things they re­semble the Torlakins and Faquirs of the East; boasting of extraordinary Illuminations, and a constant Familiarity with God: Tho' some Learned Men among the Nazarenes, esteem 'em no better than a Crew of Cheats and Hy­pocrites: Even as they do those Oriental San­tones; who, they say, under the Masque of [Page 72]an Uncommon Holiness, commit a Thousand Villainies.

God best knows, what Judgment is to be made either of the One or the Other. But these Egyptians, as they call 'em, whether they are really such, or no, have no great Marks of Sanctity, in that they are very Ʋnclean. They seldom or never Wash themselves, but like the Swine, wallow in all Manner of Filthiness; eating Prohibited Meats, and having their Women in Common, which are the Two Sour­ces of all Impurity.

As to the Faquirs of the East, they are strict Observers of the Law of Abstinence and Cleanness; whether they be Mussulmans, or the Gentiles of India. And if in other Mat­ters, they may be found faulty, 'tis very rare: And then they exceed not the Character of Humanity, which thou know'st, is by Nature prone to Error, and subject to a Thousand Frailties and Oversights. We are all Men, and God does not expect our Conduct to be that of Angels. His Repose is in himself; and if he takes any Complacency in the Things of the World, 'tis in beholding every Thing act according to its Nature. The exquisite Form and Symmetry of a Bee, a Spider, or a Pis­mire, with the Inimitable Architecture of the Two Former, and the Admirable Providence of the Latter, may, for ought we know, af­ford him as much Delight, as the most cele­brated Beauty, Strength, Science, and Perfor­mances of Men. For, his Power and Wisdom, are Equally manifest in All Things. Every [Page 73] Creature is Perfect in its Kind, onely a Wicked Man is a Blot in the Ʋniverse.

Wouldst thou know what the Western Na­zarenes are most busie about at this Time? 'Tis the Election of a New Pope. He is to be chosen by the College of Cardinals, who are Princes of the Roman Church. They are all shut up in a Place, which they call the Con­clave. This is a certain Gallery in the Palace of the Vatican at Rome; where every Cardi­nal has his Cell or Apartment by himself, ha­ving onely Two Servants to attend him. The Conclave is surrounded by the Roman Militia, to prevent all Intercourse by Letters, or other Ways, between those without, and those within. The very Dishes which are serv'd up at the Tables of the Cardinals, are narrowly search'd, lest any Letters shou'd be convey'd in them. The last Posts from Rome assure us, That there were no less than 66 Cardinals thus shut up, when they left that City. And, there they must remain Night and Day, with­out taking the fresh Air, or seeing any Body, till they have agreed in their Election. There are Two Physicians, a Surgeon, and an Apothecary shut up with 'em, to serve'em in Case of Sickness.

One of the Conclavists is the Cardinal de Retz, who escap'd out of his Prison in this Kingdom, and fled to Rome for Protection. From whence he sent a Letter to the Arch-Bi­shops, and other Prelates of France; which be­ing pronounc'd a Seditious Libel against the King and the Government, was in the End of the last Moon burnt publickly by the King's [Page 74]Order, and all Copies of it prohibited.

The King has also sent private Instructions to the Cardinals of his Party at Rome, to keep a strict Watch on the Conduct of de Retz, and to oppose him in all Things.

Here is nothing but Caballing and Intrigue among these Infidels: They are good at a Stra­tagem, and know better how to undermine one another, than to face their Enemies in the open Field: Which is a Character more suit­able to Women than Men. Whereas thou know'st, our Hero's in the East, know no other Way to Honour, Victory and Empire, than by downright Bravery and Resolution, subduing all Things by the Force of their Arms. But God, when he divided the Na­tions of the Earth, and separated the Sons of Noah, assign'd to every one a different Constel­lation, according to whose Influence, the Ge­nius of each People is dispos'd. They all obey the Dictates of their Particular Stars, and the Orders of Eternal Destiny.

Therefore; Sage Minister, since Mars is the Planet of the Sons of Ismael, and the A­scendant of the Ottoman Empire, there is no Need, that we shou'd turn Apostates from the Star of our better Fortune, to court the Glan­ces of Mercury, who is onely the Guardian of Knaves and Cheats.

Paris, 26th. of the 2d. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER I.
To Cara Hali, Physician to the Grand Signior.

FOrmerly I cou'd have writ to thee with as much Freedom, as I cou'd to Egri Boinou, (on whom rest the Favours of God) or as I can now to Gnet Oglou, to my Brother Pesteli Hali, or to any of my Familiar Friends. But when I consider the Eminent Station thou possessest, in that the Health and Life of the Mighty Emperor is [Page 76]now committed to thy Skill and Care, I am many Times at a Stand how to address my self. Methinks, thou art tinctur'd with the Majesty of that Personage, whose Hand thou so often hast the Honour to touch, when re­quir'd to discover by the beating of his Pulse, the Interiour Maladies which afflict his Royal Soul. Yet I know thou still retainest thy Humanity, and wilt not despise those whom thou hast once thought worthy of Friend­ship.

Suffer me then to converse with a Philoso­phick Freedom, that is, in an Address void of Formalities and Reserves.

I know 'tis of no Import, whether Mah­mut be sick or well, provided the Grand Sig­nior be serv'd. What signifie the Languishing Pains, or more Acute Agonies of a Slave, so long as he is able to carry on his Master's In­terest? We are not born for our selves only, but by the very Condition of our Nature, are oblig'd to consecrate our Lives to the Ser­vice of others. 'Tis a Reciprocal Debt, from which no Mortal is free. Every Man owes Something to his Relations, more to his Friends, but most of all to the Publick.

Therefore I make no Complaints of my Lot, nor murmur at the Will of Destiny. I accuse not the Stars of my Nativity, nor tax 'em with Unkindly Aspects: But am con­tended with my Fortune, be it Good or Bad, and resign'd to the Pleasure of Heaven.

As Nature has fram'd my Body Infirm and Weak, subject to a Thousand Maladies; So is [Page 77]my Mind also harass'd with Distempers which have no Number. But above all, I labour under a Kind of Intellectual Fever, a perpetu­al Thirst of Knowledge, which all the Books and Converse in the World cannot satisfie. There is no End of my Doubts and Scruples. Every Thing appears to me as Ambiguous, as the Answers of the Delphic Oracle. Nay, I am a perfect Riddle to my self.

Tell me, dear Hali, how I shall cure this Dropsy of the Mind, and I will not trouble thee with the Inconsiderable Diseases of my Body. I have a high Opinion of you Physici­ans: And shall put more Confidence in thy Advice, than in the Tefta of the Mufti. Con­ceal not thy Art from Mahmut, who admires thee with a Respect equal to that which he pays to the Memories of Avicen, Al' Razi, Helal, and the Rest of those excellent Physi­cians, mention'd in our Arabian Histories.

And now these Ornaments of our Nation are come into my Mind, permit them to divert me from saying or thinking any more of my self at present: For it will be better to turn the Discourse to such Illustrious Themes. At worst, it will be but an Innocent Digres­sion.

In perusing the Lives of those Famous Men, I meet with some Passages which are very De­lightful. Perhaps thou hast seen the same. Yet 'twill do thee no Hurt, to call 'em again to thy Remembrance.

I have read in a certain Manuscript, penn'd by Ibrahim the Son of Helal, a Renown'd [Page 78] Physician at Badgat, this Memoir of his Father. ‘On a certain Day, says he, that my Father had administred Physick to the Emperor Tu­zun, for which he was presented with a Roy­al Vest, rewarded with Five Thousand Pia­sters, and by the Emperor's Command was carried through the Streets in State, I observ'd that he was Pensive amidst all those Ho­nours, and troubled in Mind, when I thought he had greatest Reason to rejoice. There­fore I said to him, My Father, How comes it to pass, that you are thus dejected, at a Time when all the World expects to see you dissolv'd in Pleasure? He answer'd, Son, He that has bestow'd these Honours on me is a Fool, and does things preposterously without Reason. And therefore I cannot rejoice at these Ʋn­timely Favours he has shew'd me, being sen­sible they are not the Effects of his Judgment, but of his Ignorance. I gave him a Cathar­tic Potion, which work'd so strongly with him, that it excoriated his Bowels, and brought forth Blood. So that I was forc'd to use a different Method, both to remove his Distemper, and stop the Violent Flux. In the mean while, he Ignorantly believing, That the Voiding of so much Blood, procur'd him the present Ease and Health he feels, therefore order'd these Honours to be done me which thou seest. Now that which saddens me, is my Fear, lest some Time or other, he may through his Ignorance commit as great an Error on the Contrary Side, and suspect that I have done him an Injury, when there is no Ground for it, and so put me to Death.’

Tell me, my Friend, had not this Physician Reason for his Behaviour and Words? He was a Man of Great Abilities, accomplish'd with divers Sciences, and in high Esteem with the Princes and Nobles of Arabia.

It were worth thy Pains to peruse frequent­ly the Life of Avicen, written by himself, wherein thou wilt behold the Methods he us'd to acquire a Profound Skill in the Sciences: How he was at first puzzl'd in the Metaphysicks, and was almost driven to Despair, till a Dream unfolded to him whatsoever was difficult. When he was at a Loss in any Disquisition, he us'd to frequent the Mosques, and pour forth Devout and Fervent Oraisons to the Source of Intellectual Lights, till the Thing was manifested to him. He sate up late a-Nights, having a Lamp perpetually burning in his Chamber, applying himself attentively to Books and Contemplation. This was his Course, till he was Consummate in all the Liberal Sciences, which was in the Eighteenth Year of his Age.

But of all the Physicians whose Names a­dorn our History, none seems Comparable to Thabet Eb'n Abrahim, for his Skill in exactly Indicating the Causes of a Distemper by the Different Measures of the Pulse. Abul Pha­rai, his Contemporary and Friend, writes thus of him. ‘On a certain Day, says he, when I was with Thabet Eb'n Abrahim of Har­rain, in the House of Abu Mohammed the Vizir, Abu Adalla Ebno'l Hejai the Poet being there also, reach'd forth his Hand to [Page 80] Thabet, desiring him to feel his Pulse. To whom the Physician forthwith reply'd, Thou hast us'd a Gross Diet, and been Intemperate in eating sowr Milk with Veal. The other answering, That it was true, and all the Company admiring; Abu'l Abbas the Astro­loger, also reach'd forth his Hand. But when Thabet had felt his Pulse, Thou, said he, hast committed an Excess in taking too much of Cold Things; for, as I judge, thou hast eat about Eleven Pomegranates. Immediately Abu'l Abbas cry'd out, This is a Prophet certainly, and more than a Physician; for he speaks the Truth to a Tittle. Every Body was astonish'd at his Wondrous Knowledge, and I more than all the Rest. Wherefore, when I had him alone, I said, My dear Thabet, The Study of Physick is Common to us both; therefore hide nothing from me, but discover freely by what Art you were able to tell, That the Poet eat sowr Milk with Veal, and not as well with Beef or Mutton; and that the Astrologer eat no more nor less than Eleven Pomegranates? He answer'd, My Mind suggested this to me, and prompted my Tongue to utter it. Then I desir'd him to shew me the Scheme of his Nativity: Which he did at his own House. And considering it at­tentively, I observ'd, That the Planet Ju­piter was Lord of the Horoscope. Then I said to him, 'Tis this speaks, my Dear Friend, not you, so often as you make these Fortunate Conjectures.’ Thus far Abul Pharai.

God knows, whether the Stars have any such Influence on Men in their Birth, or no. I am not very Credulous in this Point. Nor can the Authority of the Ancients, or the Character of the Persian and Chaldaean Magi, captivate my Mind in an Implicit Faith of Things so liable to Doubt. Who knows what the Stars are made of, or for what Ends they are Created? Yet I must own, that some Men seem to be born with Inherent Fa­culties, which others can never acquire with all the Art and Industry in the World. One Man is of a Poetick Constitution: Another is Genially inclin'd to Physick; a Third excels in Mechanicks: Every Man has his Peculiar Gift. And yet perhaps all this while, the Stars have Nothing to do in the Matter. How­ever, if there be any Truth in Astrology, the Persians, Chaldaeans, Arabians and Indians, seem to be the only Men of all Nations, Con­stellated to understand this Science perfectly, One knows not what to think amidst so many Appearances of Truth and Falshood. Nor can our Thoughts be of any great Import, be it how it will, in these Speculative Matters. At the Day of Judgment we shall not be ask'd, What Proficiency we have made in Logick, Metaphysicks, Astronomy, or any other Sci­ence; but, Whether we have liv'd according to our Nature, as Men, endu'd with Mo­rality and Reason. In that Hour it will more avail us, That we have thrown a Handful of Flower in Charity to a Nest of contem­ptible Pismires, than that we cou'd muster [Page 82]all the Hoasts of Heaven, and call every Star by its proper Name. For, then the Constel­lations themselves shall disappear, the Sun and Moon shall give no more Light, and all the Frame of Nature shall vanish: But our Good and Bad Works shall remain for ever, Recorded in the Archives of Eternity.

If from this Manner of Writing, thou shalt conjecture I am Melancholy, and wilt also reveal the Causes and Remedy of this Distemper, thou shalt be more to me, than a Thousand Avicen's, Helal's, Thabet's, or all the Physicians and Astrologers of the East. For, these Kind of Thoughts, are Mournful as the Shadow of Death.

Paris, 23d. of the 4th. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER II.
To Afis, Bassa.

I Know not whether thou wilt praise or con­demn the Sentence, which the Elector of Saxony pronounc'd not long ago on a Poor Fellow for killing a Deer. Yet because there is something very Singular in it, I will relate the whole Passage, as I receiv'd it from Nathan Ben Saddi, the Jew at Vienna.

In the Moon of Cheuval, a certain Citizen of Wittemberg, was accus'd before the Elector for hunting in his Forest, and killing one of his Deer. The Duke in a Rage, command­ed him to be set upon a Stag, his Hands chain'd to the Horns, and his Feet under the Belly of the Beast; ordering, that the Stag with this Burden, shou'd be let loose to run whither he wou'd. The poor frighten'd Stag, not being accustom'd to such a Load, and terrified with the rattling of the Chain, ran away full speed over Hills and Dales, through Thickets of Briars and Thorns, never stop­ping till it had measur'd above Three and Thirty German Leagues; and then, tyr'd with so vast a Race, he fell down. At which Instant, a Caravan was coming by that Place, out of Silesia.

The poor Wretch on the Back of the Stag, almost dead with the Pains he had undergone, in so continued and violent a Motion, being also sorely bruis'd and his Flesh torn and mangl'd by the Boughs of Trees, as the Stag rush'd through thick Woods; cry'd aloud to the Caravan, begging that some of them wou'd in Mercy dispatch him out of his Tor­ments. But they, either for fear of the Duke's Displeasure, or for other Reasons, refus'd him this Kindness. So that after the Stag had rested a-while, and recovered new Spirits, he began a fresh Career; and never ceas'd running, till he arriv'd at a certain Monastery or Convent of Religious, where he beat against the Gate with his Horns, till some of the Dervises open'd [Page 84]it, and let him in. They astonish'd to see a Man thus pinion'd to a Stag, his Face, Arms, Legs and all his Body cover'd with Blood, and himself ready to expire, immediately brought him Cordials and other Refreshments, whilst some were employ'd in loosing his Chains. But being inform'd by his own Mouth, how he came into this Condition, they began to think of turning him loose a­gain, for Fear of the Duke's Anger. However, suffering themselves to be overcome by the Importunity of the Miserable Man, and rely­ing on their Ecclesiastick Privileges (for here in the West, the Convents are generally al­low'd Sanctuaries for all Sorts of Offenders) they took him into their Protection: But he expir'd that Night.

It is hard to determine whether the Duke, or these Derviches, were in the Right or Wrong. The French, who of late, have by a Fashion learn'd to grow Obdurate, justifie the Proceedings of this Prince; saying, That Pity is a Passion fit onely for Women, Chil­dren, and Fools. They esteem it a Mark of a Great Spirit, a Mind capable of Empire, not to be mov'd with the Sighs or Tears of the Miserable; but to frown or laugh, at the Mis­fortunes of others. This, they say, is the one­ly Method to harden Men for War, Con­quests, and Plunder: Where the Victors are to cut their Way to Honour and Riches, through the Hearts of the Vanquish'd, to quench the ardent Thirst of Glory with Hu­mane Blood, and to celebrate their Triumphs, [Page 85]onely in the midst of horrid Massacres and Funerals.

'Tis true, these Principles and Actions are allowable in Men of the Sword, when they fight the Battels of their King and Country, in Heat of Blood. But, Clemency and Com­passion, are Vertues becoming the Greatest Prince, or most Valiant General, when their Enemies are reduc'd, by the Fortune of War, to kiss the Dust of their Feet, and beg for Mercy: Or, when in Time of Peace, their Subjects fall into a Crime which may admit of Indulgence. Certainly, these Western In­fidels have wrong Notions of Humanity, in asserting, That Cruelty is either a Sign of a Noble Nature, or a Step to true Happiness: Since, the most hard-hearted Tyrant, one Time or other, will have Need of Compassion himself; especially in Sickness and the Ago­nies of Death, which perhaps prove more tormenting to him, than to the Merciful and Generous. It is recorded of Al Hejai Eb'n Hesha'm, a Famous Abrabian Captain, that when, in a Malignant Fever, he call'd for Water to drink, and it was deny'd him by the Physicians, who had Care of his Health; It is enough, said he; Rueno'ddaula, once my Lieutenant, to whom I forgave Three Treasons, and who died a Natural Death, has refreshed me at this Minute with a Liquor unknown: Sure, 'tis the Wine of Paradise. And from that Moment he began to recover his Health, after which he liv'd many Years, often rehear­sing this Passage among his Familar Friends to his Last Day.

But the Infidels are either Ignorant of these Examples, or if they know 'em, Pride will not suffer 'em to learn Morality and Justice. They are destin'd, the greatest Part, to be Incredulous to the Day of Judgment. How many Prophets has God sent into all Nations, to teach them the Right Way, and not the Way of such with whom he is displeas'd; yet they will not be Converted? They look on the Apostles and Messengers of the Eternal, with the Eyes of Swine; They grunt under the Burden of their Sensuality, and like those Filthy Animals, return to their Mire again. Yet, that Superlatively Merciful, winks at their Frailties, and visits them with his Graces every Morning. But, they put their Fingers in their Ears, and turn away in Disdain, as from a Beggar. They reject the King of All Things, as a Fugitive and Vagabond on Earth.

From that Delectable Essence, the Odour of whose Sweetness is diffus'd through the Elements, and refreshes the Minds of the True Faithful; let us by continual Devotion and Vertue, attract Divine Tinctures, till our Hearts be all tranform'd into Incense, and in this Aromatick Pile, our Souls expire like the Phoenix, to revive again in the Joys of Para­dise, in Amours which know no End.

Paris, 8th. of the 5th. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER III.
To Nathan Ben Saddi, a Jew at Vienna.

I Wonder at Nothing: Much less, at the Extravagant Caprices of Tyrants. Me­thinks, there appears no Novelty in Modern Transactions. They are but a Repetition of Ancient Practices, under New Forms. Of all the Events in this Age, not one has come to my Knowledge which gives me a Surprize. Yet, I must confess, there is Something very Singular in the Punishment the Duke of Sax­ony inflicted, as thy Letter tells me, on the poor Deer-Stealer. And, if it be just to put a Man to Death on such an Account, as the Indians hold; the Duke seems very Ingenious and Accurate, in the Choice he made of an Executioner.

The Ancient Romans had a Law, which they call'd Lex Talionis. Which in all Cri­minal Cases, appointed the Punishment to be in some Circumstances Adequate to the Fault. And thou know'st, Moses your Law­giver, left much the same Statutes: Requi­ring the Loss of the Eye of him, who had put another Man's out; a Tooth for a Tooth, an Arm for an Arm, and so proportionably of o­ther Injuries. But this Prince seems to have made a Supplement, where these Laws ap­pear'd [Page 88]short; and has shew'd a most Exqui­site Niceness of Revenge, in the Destiny of the Unfortunate Huntsman, to cause a Stag to be, in so peculiar a Manner, the Instru­ment of his Death, who had villainously mur­der'd one of the same Species. Doubtless, it was a Princely Freak of Justice: And had it been done purely to avenge the Blood of the slaughter'd Beast, and not in Vindication of his own Right, I cou'd not forbear to pronounce it a Frolick worthy of a Hero. But, he him­self is frequently guilty of the same Kind of Murder, as are most of the Great Men in Europe, whose Tables are no other than the Altars of Gluttony, smoaking with Flesh and Blood, whilst Hecatombs of Animals are there sacrific'd to Voracious Appetites, the Idols of these Western People.

Methinks therefore, it had been more Ge­nerous and becoming a Prince, to pardon the Poor Fellow a Theft, which perhaps was the onely Method he had to preserve himself and his Family from starving. And for ought I know, he had as much Right ac­cording to the Law of Nature, to kill a Stag, as the Owner has. But, there is no Talk to be made of Right or Wrong, where Power over-rules all.

India is at Present the onely Publick Thea­tre of Justice toward all Living Creatures. There, it is a Capital Crime to shed the Blood of any Animal, and punish'd with Death no Iess than the Murder of a Man. The Princes and Nobles indeed enclose Deer and other [Page 89]Innocent Creatures in Parks, not with a Design to prey upon them at their Pleasure, but to defend 'em from the Violence of others; whilst those happy Animals range and feed where they please within those Pales, free from Peril, and never fearing any other Death, save what they pay to Nature, when they have spun out the accustom'd Term of their Life. They also build Hospitals for a like Purpose. And are at a great Charge every Year, to redeem a certain Number of Oxen and Cows from Slaughter. For they esteem it a Barbarous and Inhuman Cruelty, to mur­der those Creatures, which are the Nurses of our Life.

The Law of Moses, if I mistake not, obli­ges all of thy Nation to certain Specifick Ten­dernesses towards the Dumb Animals. And Eesa the Prophet, a Man of no Obscure Ex­tract, but of a Noted Race among the He­brews, says He that killeth an Ox, is as if he slew a Man, and he that sacrificeth a Lamb, as if he beheaded a Dog. And in another Place, the same Prophet says, in the Person of God, To what Purpose is the Multitude of your Sacrifices to me? I am offended with the Smoak of your Burnt-Offerings, and nauseated with the Smell of broiled Fat. I take no Delight in the Blood of Bulls, Lambs or Goats. Who hath required these Things at your Hands? Bring no more vain Oblations, which my Soul hateth.

By these Expressions one wou'd think, the Prophet brings in God, denying that ever he [Page 90]commanded any such Sacrifices or shedding of Blood, and protesting against it, as an A­bomination. Where then is the Reputation of those Writings which go under the Name of Moses? For, in them these Bloody Victims are expressly enjoined. God cannot be Con­tradictory to himself. Doubtless, a great Part of the True Law which God gave to Mo­ses, was lost in the Former Captivities of your Nation, when your Cities and Provinces were quite dispeopl'd, your Fathers led away by the Victorious Monarchs of the East, and your choicest Memoirs Abolish'd. So that what remains now, is only a Collection of Fragments patch'd up by Esdras, and other Industrious Scribes, to which they gave the Specious Title of the Law of Moses, that so they might fasten the wavering People in O­bedience, to something, tho' of their own de­vising.

Nathan, I do not go about to seduce thee. Examine All Things. Believe neither me, nor thy own Rabbi's, but trust onely thy Reason, which will stand by thee at the Day of Judgment, when all Things else shall fail.

Paris, 8th. of the 5th. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER IV.
To Dgebe Nafir, Bassa.

THese Nazarenes, like the Followers of the Prophet, are divided into Innumerable Sects; and so 'tis in all Religions. Men can­not think alike. Nature it self delights in Variety. God has diversify'd the Faculties of our Souls, as he has the Constitutions of our Bodies. The Zealot, is subject to Choler; the Bigot, to Melancholy; the Libertine, is of a Sanguine Complexion; and as for the Rest, they are but so many Walking, Speak­ing Lumps of Flegm. This is the Physical Di­vision of Mortals: Under which are compre­hended, the Various Tempers which result from the different Mixture of these Four Ra­dical Principles. And for this, we must thank Galen and Hippocrates.

But, if we consult the Astrologers, they will assign as many different Humours and Complexions, as there be Stars in the Heavens, at least, as there be Constellations. They'll tell ye of the Bull and the Bear, and God knows what Heavenly Stories. The Dragon shall spit Venom on one Man's Nativity, out of his Mouth; and give another a poisonous Lick with his Tail. If we believe all they say, there is not an Herb in the Field, but has its particular Star, whose Influence causes it to grow and prosper: tho' Moses tells us, that [Page 92]all the Vegetables appear'd on the Earth, even before the Stars themselves had their Existence in the Heavens.

But, whether there be any Truth in Astro­logy, or no; this is certain, that Men differ in their Sentiments of Religion, as they do in their Faces. The Physiognomy of Faith, is Infinitely various. One Man believes in Mo­ses, Another in Jesus the Son of Mary, a Third in Mahomet our Holy Lawgiver. Then, these are subdivided into Innumerable Parties. The Jews have Seventy Eminent Religious Factions. There are number'd Seventy and One Sects of Christians, and Seventy Two of Mussul­mans. These are all at Odds about Words and Exteriour Ceremonies; so Zealous for Charity and Peace, that they are in perpe­tual Wars for its Sake, murdering one ano­ther in the Love of God: And such stout Champions for the Truth, that they scruple not to tell Ten Thousand Lyes in its De­fence.

The Differences between the Greek and Ar­menian Nazarenes, the Nestorians and Ja­cobites, with other Sects of the East, are not unknown to the Ministers of the Port. But perhaps thou art a Stranger to the Newer Schisms of the West.

The most Eminent Division of Christendom at this Time, is into Catholicks and Prote­stants. The Former obey the Roman Mufti, and boast of an Uninterrupted Series of Caliphs from Peter the Vicar of the Messias, down to the present Pope. The Latter are the Followers [Page 93]of Luther and Calvin, Men who pretended to certain New Lights, and claim'd a Right to reform the Errors of their Fathers, in Mat­ters of Faith and Worship. God best knows, who's in the Right or Wrong, of these Two Parties: But, they have always been at Daggers-drawing in Defence of their se­veral Tenets; persecuting and massacring one another, for Conscience-Sake. Both Sides appeal to the Written Law, to Aposto­lical Traditions, to the Testimony of the An­cients, the Decrees of Councils, and the Practice of those whom they call the Pri­mitive Church. Yet neither Part will allow the other a Sufficient Judgment to Interpret those Memoirs of Antiquity, nor an Authen­tick Power to decide Controversies of this Nature. Thus their Disputes are like to last, till the Final Day of Decision, when all Human Quarrels shall be determin'd be­fore the Grand Tribunal.

In the mean Time they take all Advan­tages, to execute their Spight and Malice on each other, under the Notion of Justice and Piety. We are daily alarm'd here with Tragical Relations of horrid Murders and Butcheries, committed on the Protestants of Piedmont, and other Parts under the Duke of Savoy. Whilst some say, That all these Reports are false, and the Sufferings of those People are according to Law, the due Pu­nishment of their Rebellious Actions.

It is not in my Power, to adjust their Differences; nor is it Material to a Mussul­man, [Page 94]which of them has the Law on their Side. Yet, if I were inclin'd to take any Part, it shou'd be that of the Oppressed. Cruelty I abhor: And our Holy Prophet has forbid Force to be us'd in Matters of Religion, since the Conscience is Responsible to none but God.

May that God, from whose Ʋnity have sprung all the Different Essences in the World, and all the Variety in Nature, give us Grace to love the Whole Creation, and not to shed Blood unless in the Sacred Combat.

Paris, the 13th. of the 6th. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER V.
To William Vospel, a Recluse of Austria.

I HAD concluded thee Dead, till thy Let­ter certify'd me to the Contrary. So long a Silence between Friends, wou'd put any Man upon the same Thoughts. Ten Years have slipt away between my last to thee, and thy Answer. I hope, thou dost not measure Time, after the Rate of the Seven Sleepers. Perhaps, thou hast enjoin'd a Ten Years Silence and Abstinence from all Manner of Conversa­tion, by the Superiour of thy Convent. Such Se­verities are not uncommon in Religious Socie­ties, [Page 95]where the main Business is, to acquire Per­fection. The Armenian Monasteries are much more Rigid, where but for One Extravagant Word, I have known a Man's Tongue lock'd up, for the Space of Two and Twenty Years, under Pain of Excommunication; and then re­leas'd, onely for the Sake of a most Significant Jest, put on the Patriarch, in Mute Signs. Wit will find a Way to vent it self, tho' it be at the Fingers Ends. And for ought I know, thou hast oblig'd thy Abbot to take off the Censure, by the like Method. There was Abundance of Satyre in the Subsannation of the Ancient Romans; and no less Rhetorick in the Shrugg or Grimace of the Modern Ita­lians. The Mimicks of Scaramouchi, are a perfect Lampoon; and Harlequin is Burlesque all over.

Thou know'st; I always entertain thee with one frivolous Discourse or other, to divert thy Melancholy; and thy own Letters give me Encouragement. They seem to be writ in a pleasant Humour. But 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 [Page 96]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. 'Tis 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 [Page 97]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,

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, [Page 98]as I have scrap'd together in my Travels, and during my Residence in this City.

The Agates which thou wilt find in the Ʋp­permost 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 [Page 99] 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 [Page 100]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 'twill 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.

I do not value the Punishments they will inflict on me, nor the Loss of my Life: But I dread the more Important Consequences of such a Discovery; the unmasking the Secrets of the Grand Signior to Infidels.

These are the Chief Reasons I have to offer in behalf of an Honourable Embassy. As to [Page 101]the Person whom thou shalt think fit to employ in so Glorious a Trust, I will not presume to add any Thing to what I have said already, That he be a Man of Experience in the French Affairs, well vers'd in the Knowledge of Christian Policy, the different Interests of the Courts of Europe, and one that exactly knows what Advantage to make of the New Pope. For, after long Debates, the Cardinals have at last Elected one, who has assum'd the Name of Alexander VII.

It is hard to judge at his First Accession to that Sovereign Chair, what Interest this Pre­late will embrace, whether that of France or Spain: Or whether his Conduct will be Neu­tral, deporting himself with an Equal Indif­ference to all the Nazarene Princes, whom he calls his Sons, endeavouring to compose their Quarrels, and unite their Forces against the Mussulmans. I tell thee, no body can be yet assur'd, what the Temper of the Roman Mufti may prove. For, it is usual for the aspiring Cardinals, to promise many Things in Hopes of the Papacy, which they never per­form, when they have once obtain'd that Ʋn­controulable Command. Dissimulation is rank'd among the Principal Vertues, in the Court of Rome: And he that knows not how to dis­guise his Affections, is not thought worthy of any Important Trust. Adonai the Jew, has lost his Liberty in that City, for being defective in this Courtly Accomplishment. It seems, he and some others of his Nation rail'd too passionately and openly, at the Idolatry of the [Page 102] Romans. Yet I expect daily to hear of his Releafe; for, I understand by a Letter from him, that he was excepted out of the Num­ber of those, whose Condemnation is Irrevo­cable.

I reprov'd him for his Immorality, in refle­cting on the Establish'd Religion of the Coun­try where he resides. But, this Kind of Arro­gance, is the peculiar Vice of the Hebrews. They despise all other People in the World: Whereas thou know'st, the Impartial God respects not One Nation more than Another; For, they are all Equally the Works of his Hands. And for ought we know, he tolerates the Variety of Religions that are extant in the World, with the same Indifference, as he dispenses his Com­mon Blessings to such an Infinite Number of Men of diverse Faces.

The Multiplicity in the Ʋniverse, exalts the Divine Ʋnity, which is the Root of All. And if there be Ten Thousand Myriads of Worlds, they all sprang from One Cause, and there they end. For he is the First and Last of Every Thing.

Paris, 2d. of the 7th. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER VII.
To Nathan Ben Saddi, a Jew at Vienna.

THE Egyptians have a Proverb, That he who thinks and speaks of God, onely when he is Melancholy, sacrifices to the Pla­net Pharouis or Saturn, and not to the most High and Exalted King of All Things, who is the Fountain of Joy to Men and Angels.

I counsel thee, not to list thy self in the Number of those who adore the Stars, by cherishing sad Idea's of the ever Indulgent and Merciful Divinity: Nor think thy self the less liable to this Censure, because it pro­ceeds from a Nation which was once at En­mity with the Sons of Jacub. Despise not the Wisdom of that People, from whom even Mo­ses your Lawgiver learn'd all his, and from whom all Nations borrow'd Improvements of Learning, if they are not indebted to them for its First Rudiments.

By what I have said, thou wilt perceive, that I consult thy Happiness, and wou'd have thee chase away Vain Fears and Superstitious Thoughts, the mere Product of an Ill-tem­per'd Spleen, which is the peculiar Malady of thy Nation. Let thy Heart be always Chear­ful; for God loves every Thing that he has made: The Ʋniverse overflows with his [Page 104]Bounty. Be not too Religious, nor strain the Faculties he has given thee for thy Support, and not for thy Bane.

I had rather hear from thee Matter of News, than these dismal Scruples about thy Soul. If thou art not willing to embrace the Mussul­man Faith, in God's Name continue to observe the Law of Moses, and prosecute thy Affairs with Alacrity.

Thou hast been very slack of late in sending me Advices of what passes at Vienna, and o­ther Parts of Germany. We have flying Re­ports here, of the Death of Eleanora the Empress; and that on the same Day whereon she died, Leopoldus Ignatius Josephus, the Emperour's Son, was Elected King of the Ro­mans. I know not how to write to the Mi­nisters of the Port, till thou hast ascertain'd me of these. Things. For God's Sake, be speedy in thy Dispatches, and inform me what is done at the Diet of Frankfort. Rowze up thy self, and banish superfluous Cares. Remember, that as there is but One God, so there is but One Law, but One Thing Neces­sary to Man; that is, To live according to Rea­son. This is Engraven in every Man's Heart, and there needs no Comment to explain it. Thou art a sufficient Lawgiver, Rabbi, Do­ctor, and Interpreter to thy self. Let not o­thers amuse thee with Fables.

I will now acquaint thee with something of Certainty. The French have gain'd Landre­cies, a Strong Town in Flanders. It was sur­render'd to them on the 22d. of this Moon; [Page 105]And the next Day all the Garrison marched out, consisting of 1500 Men, besides 300 wounded.

The King is gone, upon this good News, to view and take Care of his New Conquests. For, this is not the onely Town the Spani­ards have lost: They talk of Maubeug, Bo­vines, and Conde; all which, according to fresh Report, are in the Hands of the French. This Young Monarch, is strangely Fortu­nate.

If thou canst inform me of such success­ful Campagnes among the People of the North, fail not to do it in Season: For we are not plac'd in these Stations, to whistle to Sheep.

Paris, 29th. of the 7th. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER VIII.
To Mustapha Lulu Beamrilla, a Man of the Law.

I Wou'd willingly be admitted into Para­dise, as well as other Mussulmans. Nei­ther wou'd I think, speak or do any Thing which might prejudice my Title, and baulk my Pretensions to Eternal Happiness. This Desire is Natural to all Men; And when I [Page 106]profess it, thou may'st believe me without an Oath. Yet methinks. I wou'd not go Hood­wink'd to Heaven, but wou'd fain enjoy the Benefit of my Sence and Reason, in my Ad­vances to that Region of Bliss.

I believe the Alcoran, as the Oracle of God; and 'tis so firmly Imprinted in my Memory, that I cou'd repeat it Verbatim from the Be­ginning to the End, without missing a Ver­sicle. I give an Entire Credence to the Do­ctrine of the Resurrection, being Naturally de­sirous of Immortality: But I cannot entertain the gross Conceit, which the greatest Part of Mussulmans have of the Resurrection; that is, that our very Dust shall be Rais'd again, and Organiz'd into a Body. The Nazarenes are of the same Opinion. But methinks, there's no Need of stretching and straining of Nature. Besides, this Opinion is Inconsistent with o­ther Fundamental Doctrines of the Mussul­man Law.

We are all taught to believe, That the Souls of Just Men, Saints and Martyrs, im­mediately on their Departure from the Body, ascend to Paradise. If so, then they either live there in an Ʋnbodyed Estate, or they have New Bodies assign'd 'em by the same Provi­dence which gave them their Old. Be it which Way it pleases God; It will appear a manifest Botch in the Works of the Omnipo­tent, an Indecorum in Nature, to make these Souls either cast off their New Bodies at the Day of Judgment, for the Sake of their Old Rotten Reliques, after they have enjoy'd all [Page 107]the Ravishing Delights of Eden for so many Ages; or to stand in Need of any Bodies at all, after they have liv'd so long in a Separate Condition. There's no Sence in't. Doubt­less, this Opinion was first hatch'd by those who believ'd the Sleep of the Soul, and held that it was Inseparable from the Body. For then they had no other Way to comfort themselves with any Probable Hopes of a Surviving Im­mortality, but by maintaining, That as the Soul slept with the Body in the Grave, so both Soul and Body shou'd conjointly Rise again at the Day of Doom.

Or perhaps, this Figure of our Resurrection was inculcated, to insinuate the Faith of an Immortal State, into the duller Minds of those, who were Incapable of comprehending either the Pre-Existence of Souls, their Self-Subsi­stence after Death, or their Translation into other Bodies.

It seems to me much more easie to believe, according to the most Obvious Works of Na­ture, that after our Dissolution here, we shall either assume some Body of Air, Fire, or other Elemental Supplement, or by Magnetick Transmigration shall be United to some Vege­table or Animal Embryo; than to dream of Recollecting all our Scatter'd Ashes together, after so many Thousands of Years, wherein they have been dispers'd, perhaps through all the Ranges of the Ʋniverse.

Surely, our Holy Lawgiver, and all the other Prophets, intended no other Thing by the Doctrine of the Resurrection, but only to [Page 108]convince the World, that the Soul was Im­mortal, and that consequently there wou'd be a Reward of Good and Bad Works after this Life. We shall live for ever, Old Lawyer: And what signifies it, whether we have the same Bodies or others, so long as we are Happy in any State: And if we are Metamorphos'd, we cannot fail of our Specifick Felicity, since every Creature is Happy in its Own Essence. Then let us be Apes, Dromedaries, Camels, or any Thing but Hogs, and we shall have Bliss enough. That Creature is the very Em­blem of Ʋncleanness, and therefore its Life cannot be the Object of a Mussulman's Wish. Yet we know not the Laws of our Change, or Transmigration from this Mortal Life. For the Soul, according to Pythagoras and the An­cients, is Capable of all Forms.

If thou wond'rest what has put me upon this Discourse, it is the Remembrance of what I have heard thee relate of the Apparition of Dead Mens Bones in the Cemetery of Grand Caire in Egypt, at a certain Season of the Year, when Multitudes of People by Custom flock thither to behold this Wonderful Scene of a Sham-Resurrection. I can give it no better Title, since in all Probability, 'tis only the Effect of some Artifice us'd by the Christians, to procure Money from the Admiring Croud. And I'm confirm'd in this Belief, by a Letter I receiv'd from Mehemet the Exil'd Eunuch, who now resides at Caire; and having been curious to observe this Celebrated Miracle, among the other Rarieties of this City, sent [Page 109]me such an Account of this Passage, as con­vinces me there's some Cheat in't.

He tells a great many other Things of the Superstition and Ignorance of the Egyptians, as to the Pyramids, and the suppos'd Spirits which guard 'em. In all, he laments the Condition of Mortals, who have so far dege­nerated from themselves, and suffer'd their Reason to be debauch'd with Fables.

Sage Mustapha, thou art of the Race of those who have preserv'd Science and Philo­sophy. A Halo of Light invests thy Soul. Let no dark Opinion of God and his Works, eclipse thy Intellect.

Paris, 20th. of the 8th. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER IX.
To Solyman Kuslir Aga, Prince of the Black Eunuchs.

THY Dispatch came in a Happy Hour: Yet the Contents of it surpriz'd me. 'Tis a strange Turn of Fortune, that the Bassa of Aleppo, after so many Rebellions, shou'd be­come the Sultan's Favourite, and be invested in the Highest Dignity of the Empire. Yet, who knows, but this may be the onely Effe­ctual Course to reclaim him, and of an Ene­my to render him a Friend? For, Ambition is a Vice so nearly bordering on Vertue, so re­fin'd and subtle in its Complexion, that when the Passion which cherishes it, is once grati­fy'd with its proper Object, it soon becomes a Vertue it self, and transforms a Libertine to a Hadgi, ranking a Man to Day among the most deserving Hero's, who but Yesterday was in the Number of the Seditious.

Therefore, I cannot but highly applaud the Counsel of those, who perswaded the Grand Signior to this Uncommon Choice of the Vizir Azem. The whole Empire has languish'd for Want of a Man of Abilities in that Supreme Station, ever since the Seal was taken from the most Illustrious Chusaein Bassa through the Malice of his Enemies. And in this Jun­cture, they cou'd not have pitch'd on a Man [Page 111]more capable of the Charge, than this bold Bassa; who, besides his Experience in the Wars, both by Sea and Land, is look'd on as the Stoutest Man in this Age. As for his For­mer Crimes, they proceeded onely from his Discontent, and Thirst of Glory, which is now sufficiently allay'd by the Bounty of our Sovereign. The Cause therefore of his Extra­vagances being thus seasonably remov'd, the Effect will naturally cease.

But, suffer me to ask thee; Do they not re­sent at the Seraglio, his Approaches to that Sanctuary of Mortals, with such a Formidable Retinue? Thou tellest me, he is attended by Forty Thousand Men, an Equipage fit for a Sovereign Monarch. Perhaps, 'tis onely the Effect of his Martial Genius, and that he is willing to appear like a Soldier. Or, it may be, he really suspected Danger, and that he was design'd for a Sacrifice: Which made him come thus guarded to the Feet of his Master: That his Son might revenge his Death, by some desparate Attempt on Constantinople. Be it how it pleases God, it seems, the Sultan wink'd at all, and receiv'd him with such Marks of his Esteem and Affection, as are sel­dom vouchsaf'd to Subjects. I hope, the E­vent will answer his Expectation. These new Methods of Clemency may prove more successful, than the severe Conduct of For­mer Times. Men of Great Souls, are soo­ner subdu'd by Favour, than Force and Cru­elty.

I am extremely oblig'd to thee for thy In­structions, which I shall exactly observe, in writing to this Supreme Minister. Thou hast match'd my own Thoughts, in this Advice. For, knowing that Bassa's Temper, it will be Policy, as well as Justice, frankly to own what I have writ against him, and not stuff my Letter with abject fawning Submissions, or sneaking Excuses. He is brave himself, and will be pleas'd to see a Man resolute in his Duty.

However, let the Consequence be what it will, I must follow the Measures of my own Integrity. There is Something so Satisfactory in Truth, and an honest blunt Carriage, as far surpasses the little faint Pleasures of Arti­fice and Dissimulation. And I shou'd be wea­ry of my Life, were I forc'd to preserve it by such Effeminate Tricks. Yet, I must con­fess, 'tis a vast Encouragement, to find thy Sentiments the same. What is this World, that we shou'd be so fond of it? Or what is the Life of Mortals, that we need be so over­studious of prolonging the Respiration of that Breath, which may with as much Ease be all breath'd out at once, as by so many Succes­sive Millions of Moments? For, Death pro­perly possesses but an Instant of Time; no more does Life. Every Gasp renews the One, and the Last commences and finishes the Other. As to Pleasure and Pain, we generally have an Equal Share of 'em. And it appears to me an Equal, if not a Greater Happiness, at once to be freed for ever from the Latter, than by [Page 113]such an irksom Composition to protract the Enjoyment of the Former.

Brave Solyman, when I contemplate thy Vertue, it inspires me with Courage against the vain Mists of Fear, which the Magick of Opinion has rais'd before the Eyes of Mortals. I embrace thee with an extended Soul, and wish thee the Two Extremes of Happiness, Plenitude of Joys in this Life, and an Im­mortal Series of Felicities in Paradise. Live for Ever thou Generous Son of Cham.

Paris, the 2d. of the 9th. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER X.
To the most Illustrious Vizir Azem, at the Port.

BY the Souls of all my Progenitors, I was glad to hear the News of thy Advance to this Glorious Height of Power: Yet when thou wert Bassa of Aleppo, and heldest Cor­respondence with the Venetians, I accus'd thee to the Divan, doing thereby no small Service to the Ottoman Empire: For which thou hast now Reason, in Honour, to reward me; knowing, that I prevented a great Deal of Confusion and Blood. It will not become the First Minister, to cherish Private Re­venges, [Page 114]or harbour Ill Thoughts of a Faith­ful Slave. In discovering thy Intrigues at that Time, I did but perform my Duty to the Grand Signior, thy Lord and mine. Nay, for ought thou know'st, I was happily Instru­mental in saving thy Life, which might have been lost in the Pursuit of those Hazardous Projects thou wert then engag'd in. Be it how it will, thou art now living, and In­stall'd in the most Illustrious Charge of the Empire. And, without Flattery I speak it, a braver Man cou'd not have ascended to that Dignity. May God long continue thee in it, to the Joy and Advantage of all the Mussulmans.

All the World extoll thy Valour and Bold­ness; especially the Nazarenes, among whom the Bassa of Aleppo is Famous. They also highly commend thy Justice. And thou wilt find in the Register, that when I acquainted my Superiours of thy Revolt, I was not En­vious in concealing thy Vertues.

Therefore I beg of thee, not to be Partial in thy Resentments; but consider Mahmut as a Faithful Slave, who will never transgress the Commands of the Mysterious Bench, nor suffer any Sinister Motives to byass him, tho' 'twere in Favour of his own Brother. For, this is the severe Conduct that is expected of me by my Superiours, and which thou thy self wilt require at my Hands.

But, I believe, thou needest not these Ad­dresses to move thee to Generosity. Thy own Native Justice will suggest to thee, that I ra­ther merit a Reward than a Punishment, for [Page 115]doing my Duty, tho' 'twere in accusing thy self.

Confiding therefore in thy Goodness, and my own Innocence, I shall not despair of that Protection and Favour from thee, which all thy Predecessors have afforded me, since my Arrival at this Place. Nay, I think thy Friendship and Esteem is rather due to me, than to a Thousand Sycophants and Flatterers.

I will, in this Confidence, write freely to thee, as I have been commanded; and vent my Thoughts, without a Timorous Reserve. For, thou art the Just Judge of the Judges, among the Faithful.

There is no Doubt, but thou hast heard of the Duke of Lorrain, a Famous Warriour in these Western Parts, but now a Prisoner of State in Spain. I sent Intelligence last Year to Mustapha Berber Aga, of the Grounds and Circumstances of this Prince's Confinement: Whereof thou can'st not be Ignorant. For, all my Dispatches are made Publick to the Ministers of the Blessed Port.

The Brother of that Duke immediately suc­ceeded him, by the King of Spain's Orders, in the Command of the Army in Flanders. They call him Duke Francis. Every Body thought that he had consented to the Impri­sonment of his Brother, as being disgusted at his Inconstancy, Avarice, and other Vices. It was suppos'd also, that his own Ambition, and Thirst of Honour, had corrupted the Fi­delity and Love he ow'd to the Son of his Mo­ther; as knowing that by his Fall, he himself shou'd rise to the Dignity of General, which [Page 116]his Brother enjoy'd during his Liberty.

But now 'tis evident, that this Duke Fran­cis did all along dissemble his Resentments of his Brother's Calamity. For, he is lately Revolted from the King of Spain, and come over to the French, with Five Thousand Horse and Foot. He has openly declar'd, That he will never give Rest to his Sword, till he has either procur'd his Brother's Release, or deeply reveng'd the Injuries have been done him. He was receiv'd by the French King, with all imaginable Endearments and Caresses. The whole Court are Emulous, in striving to excell one another in the Demonstrations of their Civility and Respect to this Prince: And they have cull'd out the best Quarters for his Soldiers. This Nation is always Hospitable to Strangers; more especially to such as court their Friendship after this Extraordinary Way, who enter into their Interests, and en­gage in their Quarrels. Yet neither France, nor all the Kingdoms of Europe together, can match the Bounty of the Munificent Port, which pardons and receives with open Em­braces her most Implacable Enemies, on their Submissions, and Repentance.

Commander of the Mussulman Grandees, thou art but a Man, and hast not exceeded that Character, in the Worst of thy Errors. Now, thou art assum'd to a Charge which re­quires the Fidelity and Prudence of an Angel. If thou shalt reform the State, and restore the Mussulman Affairs to their true Lustre, we shall have Reason to contemplate thy Life [Page 117]in some Measure a Parallel to that of Crassus, who was pardon'd Three Treasons by Caesar, and afterwards became the most Loyal and Serviceable Man in the Roman Empire.

Paris, the 2d. of the 9th. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER XI.
To Mehemet, an Exil'd Eunuch, at Caire in Egypt.

THOU tellest me Wonderful Things of Egypt, such as almost surpass Credit. And I perceive thou thy self dost not believe the Story of the Annual Resurrection of Bones, which is so much talk'd of by Travellers. My Cousin Isouf Ridicul'd it with smart Reason; and was almost in Danger of his Life among the Bigotted Moors and Coptites.

But I cou'd hardly imagain there had still remain'd in that Region (which has undergone so many Revolutions of Government) any Foot-steps of the Primitive Egyptians. Yet it seems, the Priests of those Early Ages were particularly careful to transmit to Posterity, an Exact History of their Kings, with Me­moirs of their Actions, the Building of the Py­ramids, the Palace of the Statues, the Ma­gical Mirrour, the City of the Black Eagle, [Page 118]the Castle of Daemons seated on the Brow of the Mountain of the Moon, the Palace of A­damant, with Innumerable other Rareties.

I tell thee, my dear Mehemet, I know not how to believe all these Romantick Stories. It cramps my Reason to hear of a Brazen Tree, with Iron Branches, and Versatile Hooks, to catch Lyers and Cheats, and there detain 'em till they shou'd do Right to those whom they had Injur'd. Altogether as Improbable is the Story of Gabdapharouis, the Statue set up by King Gariac.

Who can read of that Monarch's being car­ried in the Air by Eagles, but may as well be­lieve the Romantick Voyage of Domingo Gon­sales to the Moon. If thou know'st not that Story, I'll tell thee in short, That this was a certain Spaniard, who in a Passage to the In­dies being by Shipwreck cast ashore on the Island of St. Helena, with a Negro his Slave, they were put to their Shifts so far as to di­vide that Unpeopled and Desolate Island be­tween 'em, out of pure Necessity, that they might both find Provision enough to keep 'em from starving (for it seems, there was great Scarcity of every Thing that serv'd the Uses of Life.)

In this Condition, Necessity, the Mother of Cunning Devices, taught them to hold Cor­respondence with one another tho' living at Opposite Angles of the Isle, by the Help of certain Wild Swans, which they took out of their Nests very Young, and brought 'em up as they do Pigeons at Babylon and Aleppo, to be Letter-Carriers.

Afterwards, as the Story goes, Domingo trying several Experiments on his Birds, and finding all Successful, at last, having got Four and Twenty of them together, and having brought 'em up to his Lure, he ventur'd his Carcase with 'em in the Air, fastening 'em to­gether with Ropes and other Materials. But the Extravagant Animals one Day took Wing, and carry'd their Master to the Moon: Where he resided a considerable Time, saw and convers'd with Divers Inhabitants of that Neighbouring Globe, visited the Courts of se­veral Lunar Princes, and was kindly receiv'd by 'em all, even at the Seraglio of the Chief Emperor, or Grand Signior himself. And ha­ving been presented with Three Stones of Matchless Virtue, and other Rich Gifts, he had his Audience of Congè, and came down to the Earth again, where he publish'd a Journal of his Travels, out of which I have extracted this short Epitome; not thinking it worth the while, to trouble thee with the Entire Relation of his Ingenious Whimsies.

Doubtless, there is Nothing so easie, as to invent new and unheard of Fables, to amuse the Credulous World, and Captivate their Understandings. And I have told thee this, as a Parallel to those Monstrous Figments of Egypt: Such as that of King Gancam's being carry'd in a Pavillion on the Shoulders of Spi­rits: His Magical Tables, and the rest of his glorious Whim-Whams. And that of the Queen Borsa, who sate on a Fiery Throne, and liv'd in an Enchanted Castle, whose Walls [Page 120]were full of Pipes, which convey'd to her the Addresses of all Sorts of Plaintiffs, and her Decree and Decision of Controversies back again to them. Such another is that of Barde­sir's Silver Tower, and his sitting before his People in the Clouds of Heaven: And Be­doura's sending an Angel, who made such a Horrible Roaring, that it caus'd an Earth-Quake.

Who can without laughing, read the Story of the Idol of the Test, which distinguish'd be­tween Harlots and Virgins by the Touch of their Hand? Or of the Spirits which guard the Pyramids, One like a Naked Woman, walking about in the Open Air at Noon, and making Men run Mad for Love of her? Ano­ther in the Form of an Old Man with a Bas­ket on his Head, and a Censer in his Hand? A Third, of a Black Woman, with a Mon­strous Child in her Arms? There is no End of such Fables. Neither can any Man of Rea­son, stoop to so much Easiness as to regard 'em. And it is a Pleasure to me, when I consider thee as a Man Actually Satyrical upon Opini­ons and Traditions repugnant to Sense.

Mehemet, whilst thou art in Egypt, re­member that thou wert born in Arabia, where Science has flourish'd for these Thousand Years.

Paris, 28th. of the 9th. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER XII.
To Zornesan Mustapha, Bassa of the Sea.

I Will not pretend to Divination, nor flatter thee with Presages of better Fortune against the Venetians, during thy Command of the Navy, than thy Predecessors have had. Yet I believe, thou hast more Honesty and Valour than some of them. And I Congratulate thy Rise to this Dignity.

If my Intelligence be true, a more Glori­ous Fleet has not sail'd out of the Ottoman Harbours, than appears now at Sea, under thy Command. May thy Success answer the Ex­pectation of the Mussulmans. But, I tell thee, thou hast need to look about thee; for thou wilt encounter a Valiant and Subtle Enemy.

These Venetians are not like the Rest of the Nazarenes, Superstitiously devoted to the Sentiments of their Priests. That Kind of Bigottry, chains up Mens Spirits, and renders 'em Effeminate: It blinds 'em, and robs 'em of their Sense and Native Vigour. But these are bold, resolute People, fearing neither Man nor the Devil. They are also well vers'd in Stratagems, being as Cunning as Serpents. In fine, Venice is a Commonwealth made up of Soldiers and Statesmen: And thou canst not expect, that the Sea makes 'em degenerate. [Page 122]Therefore look for Hot Entertainment, when­ever thou engagest those Aboriginal Tar­pawlins. I speak not this to discourage thee, out to arm thee with due Caution. Thou know'st the same God who made them, made thee and all the Men in thy Fleet. Thou hast also the Happiness to serve the most Victo­rious Empire in the World. Fear nothing there­fore: But when thou loosest from the Helle­spont, with the Invincible Fleet, adorn'd with Ensigns of High Renown, the Prosperous Streamers of Mahomet: When thou hearest the All-cheering Clarions and Tymbrels breath­ing the Lofty Menaces, the Vital Airs of War; then let thy Noble Heart flourish with brave Thoughts, and brisk Resolutions. Yet let not a false Assurance of Victory, make thee Rash, and bereave thee of that Conduct, which is as necessary a Qualification in a General, as Courage. Consider that the Fortune of Bat­tels is Uncertain: Therefore, do all Things with great Precaution. Trust not to the Force of thy Commission, in that thou fightest for the Law and Honour of the Prophet. But re­member the Proverb of the Ancients, which says, The Devil often carries the Standard of the Li­ving God. There may be those in thy Fleet, who are Treacherous, and at the Devotion of the Nazarenes. For, I hear, that both Spahi's and Janizaries were very unwilling to embark themselves; and God knows, how far the Venetian Gold may work on some of the Officers. Tho' their Resentments seem'd to be appeas'd by the Bounty of our Glorious [Page 123] Sovereign, get the smallest Occasion may re­new their Old Discontent again, and put 'em on more dangerous Tumults at Sea, than those they were guilty of ashore. Or at least, they will become more Remiss and Cold in the Service of the Grand Signior.

Be it how it will, if the Navy has not good Success, the Blame of all will be laid on thee. Pardon therefore the Freedom I take in advi­sing thee, since 'tis an Argument of my Affe­ction and Concern for thy Honour and Safety. And no Man can with Reason be offended at another, for warning him of Dangers. In a Word, I wish thee the good Fortune of the English; who have lately taken an Island in the West-Indies from the Spaniards: They call it Jamaica.

It seems, the Kings of Spain had possess'd this Isle from the Time of his First Conquests in America, where his Subjects had commit­ted horrid Cruelties on the Natives. For which, they are now punish'd by that New Commonwealth, who boast that they are esta­blish'd by God to reform or overturn all the Kingdoms of Europe.

Thou hast heard, I suppose, of Oliver, the Sovereign of that Nation. He appears like another Jingiz Chan, setting up for a Pro­phet and Founder of a New Empire. He has refus'd the Title of King, which was offer'd him by the English States, with all the En­signs of Royalty. But, he aims at a more Sub­lime Character, laying the Foundation of his Hopes in a pretended Modesty, assuming [Page 124]onely the Style of Protector. They say, he talks of leading an Army to the Gates of Rome, and when he has subdu'd the Pope, that he will march or sail to Constantinople, and drive the Grand Signior out of his Seraglio.

I tell thee, these are not Things to be con­temn'd or laugh'd at. For, this Oliver has the Fame of a Great and Invincible General. And I can assure thee, all the Neighbouring Kings and States court his Friendship. In fine, he makes the most Formidable Figure at present, of any Prince in these Western Parts.

If it will divert thee at Sea, to hear of the Transactions by Land, know, that Leopoldus Ignatius Josephus, Son of the German Empe­ror, is Elected King of the Romans in the Room of his deceas'd Brother. There is also a Diet Assembled at Frankford, where they have too many Discords and Quarrels of their own, to have Leisure to plot any Mischief against the Empire of True Believers. These Infidels, in their Publick Councils, are like Women Scolding away the Time, that shou'd be em­ploy'd in Action.

There arrives daily a great Deal of News out of Sueden, Moscovy and Poland. One Post informs us of a Plague raging at Mosco, and other Cities of that Northern Tract: Ano­ther alarms us with Intelligence of Sieges and Plundering of Towns, Dispeopling of Pro­vinces, and a Deluge of Blood and Slaughter: For, the Suedes espousing the Quarrel of the Moscovites, endeavour to make their own Game in Poland: Many Princes and Great [Page 125]Men, with their Towers, Villages and Vassals, Revolting daily from the Unfortunate Casi­mir, and submitting to the Suedish Monarch.

And here in France, those that go not to the Wars, make Private Campagnes at Home. Here's Nothing but Duelling and Murder a­mong Men of the Sword; Whilst the Eccle­siasticks are Combating one another with their Pens, and the Lawyers with their Tongues.

In Suisserland, they're Mad about Religion. At Dantzick, Two Eagles were seen Com­bating in the Air. And, as if all Nature were in a Ferment, the Winds have been at Vari­ance in the Bowels of the Earth, which has occasion'd frequent Earthquakes in the Parts of Germany. The King of Poland's Brother is dead; and the Queen-Mother of Sueden.

We must all die at the determined Hour; And there is no other Terror in Death, but what is Created by our own Opinion, nor any greater Pain than attended our Birth. For, at our Dissolution, every Element of which we were compounded, takes its proper Share; and that which is Divine in Ʋs, returns to that which is Divine in the Ʋniverse.

Paris, 28th. of the 9th. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER XIII.
To Pesteli Hali, his Brother, Master of the Grand Signior's Customs.

OUR Kinsman Isouf is now gone for Mo­scovy, having visited the most Remark­able Places in this Kingdom. I receiv'd a Let­ter from him dated at Diep, a Sea-Town over against the English Coasts. He was just go­ing aboard, as he tells me, when he deliver'd his Dispatch to the Post. God grant him à Prosperous Voyage to that Region, and whi­thersoever his Genius or Fortune carry him.

I am extremely pleas'd with his Conversa­tion. Whilst he was in Paris, I was never sensible of Melancholy, unless 'twere in the Evenings, which forc'd us to part Com­pany. He has an Excellent Memory, and recounts all the Adventures of his Life with a great deal of Ease, both to himself and his Hearers: He never was at a Loss for Matter, or confounded one Circumstance with ano­ther; but ranking every Thing in its due Time and Place, deliver'd all with a Clearness and Grace, which affected me with singular Delight.

Besides, he has a ready Wit, lively Fancy, and Judgment enough for one of his Years. I tell thee, the Relations he has made of his Tra­vels, with his Regular Deportment here in [Page 127] Paris, of which I have been a Witness, have Imprinted in me such an Opinion of his Abi­lities, that I have trusted him with some Par­ticular Instructions, in order to a settl'd Cor­respondence between us, in whatsoever Court he resides. For, in a Word, I find him Mature enough for Business of Moment: And 'tis Pity his Parts shou'd be bury'd without ever appearing in Action.

If he succeeds in what I have put him upon, when he arrives at Archangel, a Sea-Port of Russia, and a Place of great Commerce and Traffick; I shall have good Reason to hope for more Important Matters, when he comes to Mosco, the Chief City of the Men who worship the Eyes of their Emperour. And then it will be Time to give a due Character of him to the Ministers of the Port: Wherein thou wilt have many Opportunities, to per­form the Office of a Kinsman and Friend. Those of the same Blood, ought thus to serve one another with Integrity and Affection: For, in so doing, we help our selves, strengthen the Interest of our Family, and shall find Re­turns in Time of Need. As thou hast receiv'd Favour from Kerker Hassan, Bassa, on the Score of being his Countryman; so there is greater Reason, that thou should'st shew Kindness to Isouf, who partakes of our Blood.

There arises a vast Complacency from doing Good Offices, tho' to a Stranger, or even to an Enemy. Man is Naturally Generous; and he has debauch'd his Soul, who acts con­trary to this Principle. Yet the greatest Part [Page 128]of Men are degenerated. They pursue Lyons, Tygers, Bears, and such like Ravenous Beasts, with Inexorable Hatred and Revenge; they bear secret Antipathies against Spiders, Toads, Serpents, and other Venomous Creatures; and yet they are all these Things, or worse them­selves. Ever since Astraea abandon'd the Earth, there has been a strange Metamor­phosis in our Race: Men have for the most Part forsaken their Humanity, and chang'd Nature with the Salvages. Nay, we transcend them in whatsoever is Cruel and Vicious. As if our Reason were given us, onely to teach us the most Refin'd Methods of Impiety, and to be a more exquisite Spur to Vice.

Isouf has presented me with Solid Observa­tions of this Kind in his Travels, especially in Africk. He say, that Region is not more Pro­lifick of Strange and Horrible Beasts, than it is of Monstrous Men, Brutes and Devils in Humane Shape. And tho' he relates some Fair Things of the Indians, and other People in Asia; yet they are intermix'd with Tragi­cal Reports, and Mournful Memoirs: Such as stain the History of our Race, and make it evident, That it is hard to meet with one Good Man among Ten Thousand. The whole World is over-run with Oppression, Cruelty, Avarice, Perfidy, and Lust.

He relates strange Things of the Antiquities of Egypt. He calls it the onely Scene of Won­ders and Miracles on Earth. Indeed this Country was ever Famous among all Nations for the Wisdom and Learning of her Priests; [Page 129]who, in the First Ages of the World, under­stood all the Secrets of the Elements, the Ver­tues of Plants and Minerals, and were per­fectly vers'd in the Science of the Stars and Spirits, and in all Manner of Mysterious Knowledge. They were said to make Sta­tues and Images, that cou'd Speak, Walk, Run, and counterfeit all Human Actions. They were also exquisite in making Miracu­lous Talismans and Mirrours, with any kind of Magical Work, whereby they kept the People, and even the Princes in a Profound Awe and Veneration of their Prodigious Knowledge and Power, and likewise defend­ed their Country against all Invaders. For no sooner did an Enemy appear with his Armies on the Frontiers of Egypt, but these Priests had present Intimation of it by their Secret Art, even in their Chambers, perhaps at a Hundred Leagues Distance. Then by their Enchantments, they either caus'd Fire to con­sume them in their Camps, or turned their Swords against each other, or sent an Army of Winged Serpents to destroy 'em. So that for many Ages, no King ever prospered that fought against the Egyptians.

But let not thou and I, dear Brother, suffer our Reason to degenerate, by giving Credit to Fictions and Romances, though vouch'd by some of our Countrymen, such as Morat Alzeman, Eb'n Abdalhokm, and others.

He also tells many Remarkable Passages of the Pyramids of Caire, the overflowing of the [Page 130] Nile, the Mummies, and other Things which I have not now Time to rehearse; but in ano­ther Letter I will gratify thee with a more Ample Account of his Observations.

In the mean Time, live thou to enjoy the Fruits of thy own Travels in the East. Which if it matches not the South in Prodigies and Stu­pendous Inventions; yet it surpasses both it, and all the Rest of the World, in Justice and Mo­rality.

Paris, 17th. of the 11th. Moon, of the Year 1655.

LETTER XIV.
To Ismael Kaidar, Cheik, a Man of the Law.

THou hast the Character and Fame of a Great Historian; a Man of Intelligence both in the Records of Past Times, and the Transactions of the Present. Therefore the Name of Christian late Queen of Sueden, cannot be strange to thee. I doubt not, but thou hast heard of this Princess, so celebra­ted throughout the Earth for her Learning and other Noble Accomplishments; and how she voluntarily resign'd the Crown, to one of her Kinsmen. But perhaps, thou know'st not the true Motives which induc'd her to this [Page 131] Royal Caprice: For, it deserves no better Name, as thou wilt understand by the Sequel.

Her Father, who for his Successful Wars, and perpetual Victories was call'd the Great Gustave, dying left her in the Entire Posses­sion of his Kingdom, and New Conquests in Germany. But during the Time of her Reign, Piementelli the Spanish Embassador at Stock­holm, by daily conversing with this Great Queen, us'd such plausible Insinuations, as pre­vail'd on her to have a more favourable Opi­nion of the Pope and his Religion, than she had before entertain'd: For, all the Suedes are Educated in an Aversion for those of the Ro­man Faith. I need not explain to thee, these Distinctions of Belief among the Nazarenes: Thou art vers'd in their History, as well as in our own. Suffice it to say, that this Embas­sador possess'd Christina with so fair an Idea of the Catholick Religion, that she abandon'd her Crown, and has ever since been a Queen-Er­rant, a Royal Rambler through Europe, being resolv'd to make Experiment of the Gene­rosity of Catholick Princes, whose Vertues Piementelli had so highly extoll'd.

'Twou'd be a Work of Seven Moons for the most Industrious Scribe, to relate all the Par­ticular Magnificences, with which she has been entertain'd in her Travels through Ger­many, Flanders, Alsace, Inspruck, Italy, and Rome, where she now resides. Every Prince of the Roman Church, through whose Terri­tories she pass'd, was Ambitious to appear Prodigal of his Favours and Civilities to their [Page 132] Illustrious Stranger: Perhaps, to evade the Lashes of her Wit, which, they say, is very Satyrical. Or, it may be, for other Reasons, more forcible and poignant. Be it how it will, the Roman Wits have not spar'd her; as thou wilt perceive by the Following Verses, which on the First Day of the Moon of January were found in the Hand of Pasquin, and on the Portal of the Palace Farnese, where she re­sides.

I send thee these Verses in the Original, knowing thou art a Critick in the Italian Language; besides, they will not found so well in Arabick. Thou that hast been in Rome, know'st what Pasquin is, and art no Stran­ger to the Humours of that City.

Let not Lampoons of Morose Italians, abate thy Charity for this Renowned Princess. But [Page 133]let her Extravagances be an Argument of the Greatness of her Soul; and remember the old Roman Proverb, which says, There's no sur­passing Genius, without some Mixture of Mad­ness.

Paris, 30th. of the 1st. Moon, of the Year 1656.

LETTER XV.
To the same.

HAving the Space of an Hour before the Post goes, I cou'd not forbear to inform thee of a New Star which lately appear'd in these Parts, moving in a direct Line from East to North. The Astronomers have made Accurate Observations of it, and yet are at a Loss what to conclude: Some say, 'tis below the Moon, others place it in the Sphere of the Fixed Stars. One will have it a Meteor, a Second affirms it to be a Planet; whilst the Jews report every where, that 'tis the Star of Jacob, and a Sign that their Messias is at Hand.

Nathan Ben Saddi, one of that Nation at Vienna, sends me strange Stories concerning the Prodigies which shall go before, and ac­company the Appearance of the Deliverer of Israel (as he calls him.)

He says, there shall speedily come a Sort of People from the Ʋttermost Parts of the Earth, of a Black and Horrible Aspect, so that whoever shall but cast an Eye on any of them, shall immediately die, as by the Glance of a Basilisk. For, every one of them shall have Two Heads, and Seven Eyes, glowing and sending forth Sparks of Fire as Poisonous as the Flashes of the Wind El-Samiel in Arabia. They shall also be Swift as Stags. And about the same Time, an extraordinary Heat shall flow from the Sun, which being dispers'd through the Elements shall corrupt the Air, Earth, and Waters, and infect all this Lower World with such Pestilential Qualities, that a Million of Gentiles (for so the Jews call all that are not of their Own Nation) shall die every Day. And Men shall be in so great Consternation, that they shall run up and down the Streets crying, Wo, Wo to us and our Children! They shall dig their own Graves, and go down into them of their own Accord, expecting Death. But, that all this Time, the Jews shall be in Safety and Health.

This Hebrew adds, That the Light of the Sun shall be totally extinguish'd for the Space of Thirty Days; during which horrible Dark­ness, the Christians and Mahometans, shall acknowledge their Errors, and many of them shall embrace the Law of Moses; for which God being mov'd to Mercy, will restore that Planet again to its former Brightness.

But, what he says next, is an Unhappy Presage to the Romans, whose Empire, ac­cording [Page 135]to this Tradition shall be extended o­ver all the Regions of the Earth for the Space of Nine Moons. After which Term, God shall send the First Messias, the Son of Jo­seph, who shall gather the dispers'd Tribes of Israel, and conduct them to Jerusalem. From whence he shall issue forth, with a Victorious Army, and lay waste the Roman Empire, sack Rome it self, and carry away the Immense Riches of the Christians to Jerusalem; And the very Fear of him shall reduce all Nations to his Obedience. He shall fight with Ar­millai Harascha, the Antichrist of the Chri­stians, and shall destroy Two Hundred Thou­sand of Armillai's Followers; but in the End shall be slain himself, and the Good Angels shall transport his Body to the Apartment of the Fathers.

The Jews hold, That this Armillai shall spring out of an Image of the Virgin Mary in Rome, made of Marble, with which the most Wicked and Profligate among Men shall be enamour'd, and commit the most execrable Uncleanness that can be nam'd. The Result of these Adulterous Congresses shall be, That the Statue by a Supernatural Power, shall prove Impregnate, and cleaving asunder shall be deliver'd of this Young Antichrist, who is to vex and persecute the Jews, and afflict them with greater Calamities than either they or their Fathers felt since the Beginning of the World. They shall be forc'd to flee into the Desarts, and hide themselves in the Dens and Caves of the Earth, living onely on the [Page 136]Grass, and Herbage, with the Leaves of Trees; till the great Michael the Archangel shall Thrice wind his Horn. Then shall the Se­cond Messias, the Son of David, with Elias the Prophet appear, who shall rescue 'em out of all their Troubles, and lead them Tri­umphant to Paradise.

This is the Sum of what Nathan, and all the Jews believe concerning the Last Times, which they say are now approaching: As is evident by the Rising of this New Star, ac­company'd with terrible Thunders and Light­nings. And the Chief Patriarch or Prince of the Jews, is come from Jerusalem to Vienna, to prepare those of his Nation in these Western Parts, for the Grand Revolutions which they believe are ready to fall out in the World. All the Jews in that City went out a League to meet him, with great Pomp and Solemnity.

In the mean while I hear that the Son of the late Vizir Azem, makes a Confusion a­mongst you at Constantinople, and the Parts adjacent, being at the Head of Fifty Thousand Men, on Pretence to revenge the Death of his Father. But really to recover his Ravish'd Mistress, the Fair Soltana Zamiouvre, who was forc'd from his Seragl' by the Grand Sig­nior's Command. Women and Wine, accor­ding to the Proverb of the Franks, make all the Disturbance in the World. And without calling to Remembrance the Trojan Wars, the Unhappy Effects of Helena's Perfidy, we may conclude, That Women are the Occasi­ons of many Quarrels among us.

There is a Peace lately concluded between the French and the New English Common­wealth: By which Means, the Exil'd King of the Scots, was forc'd to depart from this Realm, which has been his Sanctuary for many Years. He went away at the Beginning of the Treaty, and has wandred up and down Germany ever since; sometimes keeping a Court like a King, at other Times living Incognito, and very pri­vately, with onely Two or Three Attendants. That poor Prince is very Unfortunate; yet, they say, he bears his Calamity with singular Moderation, and a certain Royal Stiffness of Mind, which will rather break than bend.

This Pope is a great Peace-Maker, and has sent Nuntio's with Letters to all the Princes of Christendom within the Pale of the Roman Church, earnestly perswading them to Unity and Friendship, that so their Arms may be turn'd against the Mussulmans. His Prede­cessor was of another Sentiment, and wou'd not inter-meddle in the Quarrels of any. One Day, as he was looking out of a Window of his Palace with some Cardinals, they spied Two Men a fighting in the Street; whereupon, they desired the Holy Father to interpose his Authority, and command 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 Ʋniverse, 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 [Page 139]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: [Page 140]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 Ʋmbrella 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 [Page 141]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 [Page 142]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, 'twill be pleasant meditating on what thou hast read at thy spare Hours. Thou wilt find thy self much more happy, in thus mixing Studies with the necessary Offices of [Page 143]thy Trade, than in abandoning thy self whol­ly to a Contemplative Life. And in the Midst of thy Disgusts, thou mayst comfort thy self with this Reflection, That thou art of none of the most Despicable Callings, which serve the Necessities of Man's Body. Had thy Employment been onely to make Papouches or Sandals, which cover the Feet, it might have been an Argument of Discon­tent to thee, in Regard the Foot is the most Contemptible Member in the Body. But now thou passest thy Time in making Ornaments for the Head, which is the Noblest Part, and Commnader of all the Rest, thou hast no Rea­son to repine.

If, after all, thou resolvest to change thy Course of Life, I advise thee to turn Soldier; for, then thou must be contented and patient per-force.

Paris, 13th. of the 4th. Moon, of the Year 1656.

LETTER XVII.
To Melec Amet.

THE Nazarenes boast much of the New Converts they have made from the Mo­selman Law to the Faith of Jesus the Son of Mary. On the 23th. of the last Moon, a Moor of Tripoli was baptiz'd in a Church of this City; and the next Day he was Anointed with their Chrism or Holy Oyl (as they call it) which they say has a Vertue to confirm and strengthen him in his New Religion. On the 25th. he was cloath'd all in White Linen, and walk'd in Procession through the Streets with Musick playing before him, whilst the Ground was strew'd with Flowers. When he arriv'd at the Great Mosch of this City, a Priest gave him that which they esteem the Body of the Messias: But in Reality, is onely a Wafer, with the Figure of a Man Crucify'd on it. These Wafers are made and sold to the Priests by the Common Bakers of the Town, and yet they make the Poor Ignorant People believe, with Four Words they can change them into an Immortal God.

The Renegado▪ Moor appears very zealous and devout, frequenting the Temples, and vi­siting all Holy Places. He walks along the Streets with Beads in his Hands, which the People Interpret as an Argument of his Piety to the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus. [Page 145]For, when they pray to her, it is the Custom to number their Oraisons on Beads. But all this while they consider not, that he may be a Hypocrite as to their Religion, and instead of addressing his Prayers to her, may direct them to God alone; as all the True Faithful do, who use Beads, in rehearsing the Divine Ejacula­tions, as well as the Christians in repeating their Ave Maria, which they say, was the Sa­lutation that Gabriel gave the Virgin, when he enter'd her Oratory.

Be it how it will, he gets Abundance of Money by his Devotion: For the Franks are really very Charitable, and give plentiful Alms to the Poor. But especially to one un­der his Circumstances, they are extremely Liberal, that so they may imprint in him a more fervent Affection, and profound Reve­rence for their Religion.

But he is not the onely Convert they brag of. Many Captives they either wheadle, or force to turn Christians. Thus, he that was taken at Sea by the Ships of Malta Twelve Years ago, when it was reported through Christen­dom that he was the Grand Signior's Son, is of late turn'd Christian and Friar, having so­lemnly and in Publick abjur'd the Mussulman Law, curs'd our Holy Prophet, and all those of his Race, with the Believers of the Alco­ran. He is like to come to great Preferments in the Roman Church. They call him the Ottoman Father; and boast, That the True Heir of the Turkish Empire is a Christian, and in their Custody.

Yet after all, the Proselyte of greatest Fame is Don Philippo, the Son of the Dey of Tunis, of whom I made mention in one of my for­mer Letters. This Prince is now at Valentia, under the King of Spain's Jurisdiction, who allows him a Considerable Pension, and has given him Leave to marry a Princess of that Country, very Beautiful and Ingenious, but of a Poor Fortune. He has one Son by her; and 'tis said, the King of Spain designs to set forth a Mighty Fleet of Ships: And having furnish'd this Prince with all Things necessary for a Warlike Expedition, will send him thus Equipp'd to claim the Government of Tunis; or in Case of Denial, to make a Descent in that Kingdom, and fight for it. But I be­lieve, this will onely prove a Spanish Rhodo­montade; that Monarch having Work enough cut out for him in Europe and America, by the French and English, to divert him from any such Wild Enterprize on Africk. How­ever it be, this Don Philippo is much talk'd of in Christendom, and the Spaniards flatter them­selves with the Hopes of Conquering a Great Part of Barbary by his Means, he having ma­ny Friends and a considerable Interest in those Parts.

Thou mayst acquaint the Divan, that Os­min the Dwarf is still living, and serves the Port with a secret and untainted Zeal. Two days ago he discover'd a Cunning Practice of Cardinal Mazarini, whose Motions and In­trigues he watches very narrowly. He as­sures me, That this Minister has dispatch'd [Page 147]away Two Agents to the King of Sueden and Elector of Brandenburgh, with a Letter to each of these Princes from the King of France; also with Blank Papers, and the King's Seal, giving them Instructions, to fill up those Blanks and Seal them with the King's Signet, according as they found the Treaty go forward between those Princes. The main Design of this Trick being, to hinder them from enter­ing into a League against the King of Poland, by all the Artifice these Agents cou'd use, in exactly timeing and suiting their Counterfeit Letters, to the Difficulties and Misunderstand­ings that always happen in such Treaties, that so they may exasperate each Party against the other, as Occasion offer'd, without being ob­lig'd to send to France for fresh Letters, which wou'd breed too much Delay, and spoil their Design.

By this thou mayst perceive, that Cardinal Mazarini comes not short of his Predecessor Richlieu, in managing the Affairs of Fo­reign Courts. He is the very Soul of all the Grand Business in Christendom.

A general Heart-burning has possess'd the French, especially the Inhabitants of Paris, ever since the Conclusion of the last Year, when the King issu'd out certain Orders, com­manding that all the Gold and Silver-Money in the Kingdom, shou'd be brought in to his Mint to be new Coin'd. The Merchants first complain'd of this Edict; and then it was murmur'd at by all Trading People. At Length the Parliament of Paris took it into [Page 148]their Consideration, and oppos'd the King's Pleasure: Upon which he banish'd Eight of their Members, and has several Times prohi­bited them to Assemble; yet they persisted to meet, till he banish'd more of them: Which instead of awing them into the expected Compliance, has but incens'd 'em more: And the discontented Clergy blow up the Coals, as do likewise the Friends of the Prince of Conde. The Parliament are very bold and peremptory in their Proceedings, having expressly forbid the Citizens of Paris to obey the King's Or­der, and decreed that Nothing shall be done in their Assembly, till the Banish'd Senators be recall'd.

Things being at this Pass, we expect No­thing but Insurrections, Massacres and other Effects of Popular Fury. The Rich are lay­ing in vast Quantities of Corn and other Pro­visions, as if they expected a Siege. And the Poor fare the better for it, whilst great Largesses are given among them by the Gran­dees of the Parliament, to engage them in the Faction. Besides, thou know'st, the Mul­titude always delights in Novelty and State-Tempests, hoping for Plunder, and to enrich themselves by the Ruine of others.

I know not what Conduct is fittest for me to use in this Case. Whether it will be best for me to abide in this City, or follow the Court, which is now at La Fere in Picardy. Or Whe­ther I should retire to some other Place, less liable to Civil Disturbances. I wish, the Mi­nisters of the Port would send me full In­structions, [Page 149]what I ought to do in these Emer­gences.

From Rome we hear, that the Pope and Cardinals are in great Consternation on some Intelligence they have receiv'd, That the Eng­lish intend to make a Descent on the Terri­tories of the Church. That Nation is now become the Great Bug-bear of all Europe, since they have molded themselves into a Commonwealth.

Every Kingdom and Empire has a Time to rise, and another to fall. But, who can de­termine the Period wherein the Ottoman Glo­ry will decline, which is not yet advanc'd to its Zenith?

Paris, 27th. of the 5th. Moon, of the Year 1656.

LETTER XVIII.
To Sedrec Al' Giraw'n, Chief Trea­surer to the Grand Signior.

THY Vertues have at Length rais'd thee to a Glorious Trust, the Charge of Im­mense Wealth. Thou hast in thy Custody, the Riches which cannot be match'd in the Universe. God inspire thee with Graces suit­able to a Dignity so full of Temptations. I hope, thou wilt not be affronted at my Prayer, [Page 150]as was thy Predecessor Kienan Bassa, at some Counsels of like Nature, which I gave him in a Letter. Some Men are strangely Cholerick, and look on him as an Enemy who gives them good Advice. I onely warn'd him of the ordinary Cheats that are practis'd at Cer­tain Times in the Treasury, which thou know'st to be true, as well as I. And I tell thee far­ther, he himself was suspected by many in the Seraglio, not to have been altogether exempt from Guilt.

Whether he were or not, I perform'd but my Duty in giving him necessary Cautions. For, such is the Will of my Superiours, that I shou'd not be afraid to unravel the Secrets of those who are false to the Grand Signior. I did not charge him with such a Crime, and therefore he had no Reason to be angry: But some Men will pick a Quarrel with their own Shadows. In a Word, this Grandee for­got himself.

In saying so, I do not reflect on his Origi­nal, or that he was found sleeping on a Dung­hill in Russia, a poor ragged Infant, when the Tartars took him Captive, among many Thousands of others, in the Plunder of Tsinarow, and sold him to the Capa Agasi, for Thirteen Piasters, by Reason of his Beauty. I do not call to mind the Circumstances of his Youth; since 'tis common for the meanest Slaves, to arrive at an Extraordinary Grandeur by their Merits, or at least through the Favour of the Sultan.

But what I aim at is, that in his being dis­gusted at the Remonstrances I made of some private and sinister Practices in the Treasury, he forgot, that he himself is still a Slave to the Grand Signior, as well as I, and therefore not above Instruction.

Well, it seems he is now made Captain Bassa, and thou succeedest him in the Office of Treasurer. To him I wish all Imaginable Success and Victories at Sea, for the Sake of our Great Master, and the Mussulman Empire: To thee, for thy own Sake, and for my Bro­ther's, whom I know thou wilt ever respect as a Friend; I wish Encrease of Riches and Honours, even as thy Merits and Services aug­ment, in the Esteem of the Sultan, and of all the World.

And, I tell thee, I have far livelier Hopes to see this Latter Wish take Effect, than the Former: For, what Reason have we to ex­pect better Luck from the Courage or Con­duct of this Ouroos Kienan, than from the brave Zornesan Mustapha, who commanded the Fleet last Year?

This Unhappy Thought has put me into as melancholy a Humour, as Aeneas was in when the Queen of Carthage required an Ac­count of the Trojan Wars. For, I have heard that Cara Mustapha, Bassa, succeeded Zor­nesan in the Command of the Fleet, and in the Revolution of a Moon was made Mansoul a­gain, for the Sake of Kienan Bassa, or rather for the Sake of the licentious Souldiers, who it seems command all Things. I have been inform'd [Page 152]also, of all the other Tragedies Acted at the Seraglio, since the Second Moon of this Year. Neither are the Causes and Origin of so much Slaughter and Blood-shed hid from me. 'Tis too apparent, that there is an Universal Dis­order and Corruption in the Discipline of the Janizaries.

I formerly wrote to the Kiaya Bey on this Account. But it seems, Avarice the Root of all Evil, had render'd him Insensible and Obdurate.

Is it not a Shame that the Pay of those who serve the Grand Signior in the Wars, shou'd be detain'd, not Three or Four Moons, but Five or Six Years, by their corrupt Officers? They sit at home enjoying their Ease, revelling in Taverns, and committing a Thousand Riots; whilst the others undergo numberless Fatigues abroad, and are reduc'd to the extremest Ne­cessities, not having so much as the Vests al­low'd 'em by the Sultan, to cover their Na­kedness! And, if they complain of their Sufferings, instead of Redress they meet with Nothing but Taunts and Reproaches, as if they were not worthy to eat the Sultan's Bread and Salt, tho' they freely hazard their Lives for him. It is no Wonder, the Jani­zaries are so unbridl'd in their Rage, after so many Provocations.

Yet, I cannot but lament the Fate of those Unfortunate Men, who were sacrific'd to the Fury of that insolent Militia: Especially, I condole the Loss of the brave Solyman Kyzlir Aga. The Janizaries had on old Grudge [Page 153]against him, ever since his hot Dispute with the Bostangi Bassa, and now they were re­solv'd to execute their Revenge.

As for the Kiaya Bey, it seems to be a Stroak of Divine Justice, that he who had been the Cause of all this Mutiny, shou'd in Remorse strangle Himself, and so go to Hell, as an Expiation for the many Lives he had cast away.

And there's little less to be said, in Re­spect of the Mufti, who was the Chief of those that betray'd their Master, Sultan Ibra­him. To tell thee my true Resentments, I am heartily sorry for all the Rest: But to those who were concern'd in that Treason, there seems no Pity due. And the Mufti may thank God and his good Stars, that his Life went not with the Others. They report here, he is fled into Egypt.

But, what was that Gelep Assan, who head­ed this Rabble of Mutineers? I have heard Nothing of him, before the Intelligence I re­ceiv'd of his sudden Rise, and equally preci­pitate Fall, during this Tumult. He was, I suppose, some passionate Fool, of an ill-con­triv'd Midriff, which us'd to make a Quarrel between his Heart and his Spleen: And from this Intestine Broil, he habitually learn'd the Way to set People together by the Ears. A popular Man, an Incendiary, and one that knew how to wheadle the Vulgar to his own Ruine. Who can give an Account of these Things? Or who can unravel the Web of Destiny? Tho' there's nothing strange in his [Page 154]particular Case, yet in the General 'tis pro­digious, That such little Instruments shou'd be able to give so terrible a Shock to the Frame of an Ancient and Mighty Govern­ment!

He was a Man of no Fame or Character, and yet for the Space of Two Moons, he may be said to command the Greatest Sovereign in the World, Sole Proprietor of Fame and Ho­nour. And, had he push'd on his Interest, 'tis not improbable, but that he might have exalted himself above his Master, and se­cur'd his Post against all After-claps. For, according to my Intelligence, he had during the Sedition, heap'd together prodigious Sums of Money, the Presents of Bassa's and other Ministers of the Port, who all ador'd this new rising Comet, and sought his Protection and Favour against the Barbarous Rabble. But, it seems, he was infatuated with too much Glory, and consider'd not that every Body watch'd all Opportunities and Occasions to ruine him: And that his very Followers, wou'd be the First to betray him, as soon as the Hurry of their Insurrection was over. This generally happens to all Ringleaders of Parties. When once the Spirits of a Faction are spent, the Lees (which consist of Regret and Confusion) are discharg'd on those who first fermented them, mix'd with the Revenge of the State.

There are Abundance of Great and brave Men gone: But, the old Negidher was of their Council, and he brought them to [Page 155]Ruine, as he did the Coreis of Mecca, when they conspir'd against the Life of the Prophet. This Devil enter'd the Temple (where they were assembled) in the Shape of an Ancient Man, decrepid and leaning on a Crutch. And when he was commanded to withdraw, he told them, He was a Senior, who had seen all Ages, and remark'd the Occurrences of Times; that he was expert in unfolding Secrets, and rendring Difficult Things easie. In a Word, he us'd so many plausible Insinuations, that they admitted him into their Assembly. But, none of their Counsels prosper'd.

That malicious Daemon, is often present in the Cabals of Seditious Men; and tho' they see him not, yet he secretly undermines their Plots, and brings 'em to Shame and Punish­ment. For, he is the Spirit of Envy: And tho' he be himself a Rebel, and the Ringleader of a Faction in the Kingdom of the Air; yet, such is his spightful nature, that he seldom suffers any Rebellion to thrive on Earth: Not for any Love that he bears to Government, but because he delights to be active in Mischief, be it where it will; and the Guardian Spirits, will not suffer him to mix with the establish'd Divans of an Empire.

The All-Good God preserve thee from the Malice of Wicked Daemons, who always hover about Treasures of Gold and Silver.

Paris, 22d. of the 7th. Moon, of the Year 1656.

LETTER XIX.
To the same.

THE Troubles of the Sublime Port touch'd me so nearly, and embark'd my Soul in such a Tempest of sollicitous Thoughts and Anxieties, for the Honour and Safety of the Osman Empire, that I had no Leisure to think of my own particular Hazards, whilst I was writing the other Letter. Yet I have been en­gulph'd in Abundance of Vexatious Circum­stances and perillous Accidents.

It generally happens, that when one Mis­fortune befalls a Man, it brings a Train along with it. So that at some Seasons we seem to be besieged with Evils, or at least so closely block'd up by an Army of Calamities, that there is no Passage left open, either for Relief or Intelligence.

So has it far'd with me of late, and with Thousands of others, I doubt not, in this Po­pulous City. The Rebellion of the Prince of Conde, is the Occasion of all this. For, the King having some Reasons to apprehend a se­cret Conspiracy of the Prince's Friends and Well-Wishers in Paris and other Places, has caus'd a very severe Scrutiny to be made of all Strangers and Sojourners. The Soubashi's or Officers go to every House within their Pre­cinct, taking down the Names of all the In­habitants in Writing, and seizing the Persons [Page 157]of those whom they suspect. The Prisons are fill'd with People of all Ranks, and the No­bles are sent to the Castle of the Wood of Vin­ciennes. 'Tis said, the King has a List of many Thousands of Conde's Party in Paris, who design'd on a prefix'd Day to take up Arms for that Prince, and that their Exam­ple wou'd have been follow'd all over the Kingdom.

God knows what is in the Hearts of these Infidels: I am sure, Mahmut is wholly a Stran­ger to their Plots. Tho' last Year I receiv'd certain Instructions from the Vizir Azem, commanding me to act secretly in the Prince of Conde's Behalf, to abett the Faction, and use all the Endeavours and Art I could, to raise a New Party for him among the Courtiers. But, I wav'd so dangerous an Employment, by proposing to him the vast Expences it wou'd require, and the Necessity of sending some Extraordinary Embassy to this Court, to countenance the Business. To tell thee the Truth, I esteem'd it a Thing Impracticable, and a mere Caprice of that Active Bassa, who had a Natural Kindness for Rebels, and de­lighted to have a Hand in difficult Underta­kings, whether there was any Likelyhood of Success or not.

But, he is dead, and let that atone for all his Rebellions, when he had the Command of Aleppo. I love not to load the departed Souls with Accusations. What I have to say, is in my own Vindication, who cou'd not approve his Politick Chimaera: In Regard, had it suc­ceeded, [Page 158]no Profit or Advantage wou'd from thence arise to the Ottoman Empire: And had it been discover'd, not only I and all the Secrets of my Commission wou'd have lain o­pen to the Infidels, but also it wou'd have been an Eternal Dishonour and Blemish to the High Resplendent Port, to be found guilty of violating in so notorious a Man­ner, the Faith it had given to the most An­cient and Puissant Monarchy among the Na­zarenes.

Besides, I knew not but this Minister had a private Grudge against me, for accusing him formerly to the Divan, when he held Correspondence with the Venetians; and that he study'd this Way to be reveng'd, by em­ploying me in an Affair, which must needs be my Ruine. However, I think I had Rea­son to be Cautious, and Apprehensive of the Worst. This made me dispatch to him a Let­ter, full of specious Umbrages, seeming to approve his Design, but entangling it with such Difficulties, as wou'd divert him from farther Thoughts of it.

Yet after all, I have been really brought into Danger, on the bare Suspicion of being concern'd on the Prince of Conde's Side: By which thou may'st guess at the Consequence, had I hearken'd to the Vizir's Advice.

One Morning early, the Officers appointed for this Purpose enter'd my Chamber: And having demanded my Name, Business and Qua­lity; I answer'd, My Name was Titus Durlach Nieski; but that for Shortness, and to denote [Page 159]my Country, I was commonly call'd Titus the Moldavian; and that by this Name I was well known to Cardinal Mazarini, as I had been to his Predecessor Richlieu, and other Courtiers of great Quality. I told 'em likewise, That I was a Clerk, who understood some Foreign Languages, and therefore had been often em­ploy'd by those Cardinals, in translating Books out of Greek and Arabick into Latin and French: For which Reason, being recommended by Car­dinal Richlieu, I had been introduc'd into the Acquaintance of several Nobles, whose Chil­dren I taught those Languages. And that some of them had promis'd to make me Cu­rate of St. Stephen's Church, as soon as it was Vacant.

They seem'd to be very well satisfy'd with what I said; but told me moreover, They had a Commission to search my Lodgings for Arms and Treasonable Papers.

It is impossible to express the Horror I was in when I saw them go roundly to work, pry­ing into every Corner, and searching my Trunks, Coffers and even my Bed it self. Not that I had any Guilt upon me, of con­cealing either Arms or Papers relating to this Conspiracy, but my Concern was for my Box of Letters to the Ministers of the Port. As for Arms, they found no other but an old Sword, which I told them I travell'd with out of my own Country, and a Brace of Pi­stols for the same Use, to defend me from Robbers, Assassins and other Injuries.

These Fellows seem'd mightily pleas'd with the Curious Workmanship of my Weapons, survey'd them all over, and having drawn my Sword out of the Scabbard, and made a Pass or two with it against the Wall, after the French Mode of Fencing, they put it up a­gain; telling me, They had no Authority to take these Arms from me, since they were neces­sary for my Defence. But when they came to my Box of Letters, and saw them written in strange Characters which none of them could read; they began to look on one another, and change their Countenances, as if there were some dangerous Matter contain'd in these Pa­pers, and therefore writ in Cyphers.

They went aside to one End of the Cham­ber, whispering together, and nodding their Heads with all the Symptoms of Jealousie. At length, I Interrupting them, said, ‘You need not, Gentlemen, be concern'd about those Papers. They were left with me by a Merchant-Jew of my Acquaintance, and they are Letters of Correspondence between him and some of his Brethren at Rome, Ve­nice, Amsterdam, and other Places in Eu­rope. 'Tis therefore they are written in a Character which to you appears strange, it being Hebrew, the National Language of the Jews. They contain onely Matters of Traffick, being Letters of Mart and Ex­change: For you know, the Jews are the greatest Merchants, Brokers, and Banquiers in the World.’

These Words, with some Gold which I gave them, dispers'd all their Suspicions, clear'd up their cloudy Brows, and turn'd their Frowns into Smiles and Complimental Ad­dresses. They told me, I was a very honest Man, and they wou'd do me what Service they cou'd. So bid me adieu.

By this thou may'st see the mighty Power of that Charming Metal, which commands all Things. For, whatever I cou'd have said without that, had been Insignificant. But these Idolaters, melted into an Indifference at the First Sight of the glittering Pistoles, and when I had once render'd them thus ductile, 'twas easie to frame 'em to the most devout Appearance of Respect and Friendship. They promis'd and swore, no Hurt shou'd be done me.

But I knew the Fickleness of human Fidelity better, than to repose any great Confidence in these Men's Words. As soon as they were gone, I convey'd my Letters to Eliachim, who cou'd easily conceal 'em in any private Corner of his House: desiring him to furnish me with some Letters of Indifferent Concerns written in Hebrew, that if these Searchers shou'd come again, and demand a second View of my Box, perhaps with Design to carry it to some Minister of State, I might have those Hebrew Dispatches ready to shew; which being put in the same Box, wou'd not be known from the other by such Ignorant Fellows, to whom Hebrew, Arabick and Chi­nese were all alike, and so I shou'd be acquit­ted [Page 162]from all future Trouble of this Nature.

And the Event answer'd my Expectation. For, within Three Days, the same Men came again with others in their Company, pre­tending they had fresh Warrants, and were sworn to be Impartial. Wherefore I was forc'd to attend 'em, whilst they carry'd both me and my Box before a Cadi or Judge, who having examin'd me very strictly concerning my Name, Country, Religion, and other Mat­ters, and seeming well satisfied with all my Answers, at last sent for a Priest well vers'd in the Hebrew Tongue, ordering him to per­use the Letters: Which when he had done, he assur'd the Cadi, that there was not a Word in any of them relating to the State, being purely Matters of Private Contracts and Bar­gains between Merchant-Correspondents, with Bills of Lading, &c. So I had my Box of Sham-Letters restor'd to me again, and was honourably dismiss'd.

Yet, tho' this Storm was soon blown over, I was very near running on Rocks and Sands through the Persecution of thy Predecessor Kienan Bassa, and Kisur Dramelec, with ma­ny others in the Seraglio: The First keeping from me the Pension allow'd by the Grand Signior; the Second either sending me no In­telligence, or else baffling me with trifling News, nothing to the Purpose; the Rest aspersing me to the Ministers of the Di­van.

I desire thee to send me the Arrears that are behind for the Space of Nineteen Moons, [Page 163]as thou wilt find in the Register of the Hasna. Had it not been for Eliachim, that honest Jew, I shou'd have been ruin'd in this Place for Want of Money.

I need not say more to thee, who know'st that Gold is the Grand Talisman, which works all the Miracles in the World.

Paris, 22th. of the 7th. Moon, of the Year 1656.

LETTER I.
To Dgnet Oglou.

WHO can penetrate into the My­sterious Conduct of Destiny; Whether God governs this World by the Influence of the Stars, or by the Ministry of Spirits, or by his own Immediate Power? Or, whether All Things did not proceed from Chance, and are still Rul'd by the same? Be it how it will, there remains Something Adorable. Even that Chance it [Page 166]self, supposing Epicurus's Opinion true, is worthy of Supreme Honours and Sacrifices, which has with such Exquisite Luck, per­form'd all the Part of Infinite Wisdom and Forecast, in Forming and Preserving the Ʋ ­niverse. Were I a Disciple of that Philosopher, every Morning when I beheld the Rising Sun, and at Mid-Day when I saw him Climb the Meridian, and in the Evening when he takes his Congè of this Upper World to visit our An­tipodes, wou'd I with Profoundest Venera­tion cry out, O Eternal Chance? O Omnipo­tent Casualty? O Incomprehensible Blindness! I adore thee, I burn Incense to thee, and do all Things which the duller Sort of Mortals think are only due to an All-Wise, All-Good, and an All-Mighty God. Thus wou'd I ad­dress to that Infinite Pell-Mell of Atomes, cou'd I believe with Epicurus, that from such an Unconceivable Hurly-Burly, proceeded all this Admirable Beauty and Order which we behold.

Thou wilt perceive by this, that I am Re­ligiously dispos'd; and rather than not A­dore some Supreme Being, I wou'd make a Deity of that which to others is the Fountain of Atheism. And I think there is Reason on my Side. For let this World be produc'd how it will, whether by the Casual Concourse of A­tomes, or by the Deliberate Act of an Eter­nal Mind; Whether it be Eternally Self-Ex­istent, according to the Stoicks, or be the Genuine Result of the Divine Idea's, as the Platonists say; It is but Just, that we shou'd pay the most Devout and Grateful Acknow­ledgments [Page 167]to the Source of so many Immense Prodigies and Wonders.

But then, what shall we say for all the EVIL that appears in the World? That there is such a Thing as EVIL, scatter'd up and down through all the Ranks of Beings, and as it were blended and rivetted in their very Essences; is manifest at First View, and every Man has his Share of this Epidemical Contagion. But whence it proceeds, who can inform me? I am not the First that ask the Question. Many Ages ago the Inquisi­tive World was busie in searching out the Root of EVIL. And there were almost as many O­pinions about it, as there were Nations on Earth.

Some asserted, That all EVIL came out of the North: Others derive it from the South; as if the Two Poles were the Centers and Na­tive-Seats of this Malady of the World. But these seem to be Men of Short Discourse and Shallow Reason, Supinely Credulous, and willing to take up with any Thing, rather than be at the Pains of Attentive Contemplation.

Yet this Opinion has so far prevail'd in these Western Parts, that the Nazarene Priests when they Celebrate their Mass, stand on the North Side of the Altar at the Reading the Gospel, turning their Backs to that Quar­ter of the World. And the Reason they give for this Ceremony is, because in the Written Law it is said, Out of the North comes all EVIL. I have heard 'em seriously main­tain this Argument. But, God knows whe­ther there be any such Place in the Written [Page 168]Law, or no: Or, if there be, whether it must be taken in this Sence. Yet I must confess, the Romans have some Reason to believe it, ha­ving Experimentally felt a great deal of EVIL from the Northern Goths and Van­dals, who in Former Ages rush'd out of their Frozen Regions, and came down like a Tor­rent upon Italy and other Parts of Europe, making Havock of all Things Civil and Sa­cred. And, if this be the Ground of their Ce­remony, they have greater Reason now to change their Station, and turn their Backs to the South-East, having been much more Fa­tally handled by the Victorious Mussul­mans.

The Ancient Persians held, That there were Two Principles or Sources of All Things, viz. GOOD and EVIL; and that there has been an Eternal Quarrel between them: But in the End, they say, the GOOD shall get the Victory, and Exterminate the EVIL. This Opinion was embrac'd by a Sect of Chri­stians, whom they call'd Manichees. The Founder of that Sect, was a Persian by Birth: His Name was Manes, a very Learned Man, as the Records of the East testify: Yet the Chri­stians rank him among the most Pernicious Hereticks. He taught, That Wine was the Blood of Devils; And therefore forbad it to his Followers. He also prohibited the Flesh of Animals. This he learn'd from the Priests of Egypt, where he resided a considerable Time.

But to return to the Sentiments of Men concerning the Origin of EVIL. There are some who affirm, God is the Author of it: Which is not far from Blasphemy. Others say, That when the Devils were Extermi­nated from the Earth, they in Revenge sow'd the Seeds of EVIL in the Ʋniverse. But that of the Stoicks seems the most plausible to me: For they asserted, That Nothing is EVIL of it self, but that the Contrariety which we behold in the World, is very Good, and conduces to Establish the Order and Oeco­nomy of All Things.

My dear Gnet, do not esteem me an A­theist, because of the Liberty I take in dis­coursing of these Mysterious Things. There are a Sort of People here in the West, whom they call Deists, that is, Men professing the Be­lief of a God, Creator of the World, but Scep­ticks in all Things else. They have no Im­plicite Faith in Historical Religion, but think it the Part of Men as they are endu'd with Reason, to call in Question the Writings of Mortals like themselves, though they had the Character of the Greatest Prophets. Thus they think it no Sin to canvass the Books of Moses, and the Hebrew Prophets, the Gospel of Jesus the Son of Mary, and the Alcoran of Mahomet our Holy Lawgiver: Chusing what is Agreeable to Reason, and rejecting the Rest as Fabulous, inserted either by the Craft of Men, or the Interloping of the Devil.

I protest, there appears to me no Reason to call these Men Atheists or Infidels. They [Page 170]rather seem to deserve the Title of Philoso­phers, or Lovers of Wisdom and Truth. And 'tis from them I have learn'd this Un­willingness to be impos'd on in Matters of Re­ligion. I find them in all Things Men of great Morality and Goodness, far exceeding the Zealots of the Age in true Virtue and Pious Actions. But they make no Noise of what they do: And whilst only their Human Frail­ties are Conspicuous to all, their Perfections lie conceal'd under the Veil of an Unparal­lell'd Modesty.

Such of Old were the Associates of Zeid Eb'n Raphaa, my Country-man. This was a Person of an Ardent Spirit and Prodigious Understanding, Educated in the Mussulman Law: But when he came to those Years, wherein Men usually examine the Grounds of their Religion, he sought out the most Learned Men, and such as were vers'd in all Sciences. After he had convers'd some Time with 'em, and found 'em to be Persons of In­tegrity, as well as Men of Sense, he propos'd to them the Convenience of Frequent 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 [Page 171]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, 'tis 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.

'Tis 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 [Page 173]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: [Page 174]and 'tis 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 Observations of this Accident. But none dares venture near enough to the Chasme, to look down into it; because the Earth continues breaking and falling in, which makes a Noise like the Salvo's of the Janiza­ries, when the Grand Signior visits the Ar­senal.

One wou'd conclude by these Uncommon Symptoms, that the Earth grows Ancient and [Page 177]Weak, that her Inward Strength and Vigor decays, and that we are every where in Dan­ger of being swallow'd up. I have not Time to write more, it being Midnight, and the Post ready to go.

The Almighty and All-Good God, have thee in his Holy Protection.

Paris, 30th. of the 7th. Moon, of the Year 1656.

LETTER IV.
To Zornezan Mustapha, Beglerbeg of Erz'ram.

I Will still Congratulate thy Happiness, even in this Last Change of thy Fortune; which, though it be a Kind of Descent from the more Lofty Stations thou hast possess'd in the Osman Empire, yet 'tis attended with Honourable Circumstances and an Inviolable Security. Thou art not out of the Sultan's Fa­vour, Banish'd to Egypt, and Confin'd to a narrow Pension during thy Life, as has been the Fate of several Grandees: But thou art withdrawn from the Intrigues of State, the Toils of War, and the Plots of a Courtier's Life, to the Sweet Retirements of the Coun­try, the Peaceable Possession of a Rich and Fertile Province, where thou mayst pass thy [Page 178]Days in Uncontroulable Ease and Felicity.

I am not surpriz'd at the Fall of so many Great Men at the Port, nor do I much regret the Death of those who were known Enemies to the Government: Yet it troubles me to think, how the Brave and the Loyal had their Innocent Blood mingled with that of Tray­tors and Villains. But, these Things are un­avoidable in Popular Insurrections, when the Sovereign is compell'd to sacrifice to the Multitude, whomsoever they require. Thus fell the Illustrious Solyman, among the Cri­minal Eunuchs, though he himself was free from Stain. But he was a Negro, and that was his Ruine. For, the Malecontents cou'd not discern the Fair Qualities of his Soul.

Curse on that Fool Chaban Kalfa, and dou­ble Curses on his Rampant Wife Mulkly Ka­din, who gave the First Occasions to all this Disorder and Spoil of Noble Blood. I remem­ber, the honest Solyman gave me once a Hint of the Feminine Debaucheries practis'd in the Queen-Mother's Apartments: But he spoke of it with so much Modesty and Re­serve, that it hardly made any Impression on me at that Time. Otherwise I shou'd have imparted it to the Vizir Azem, or some other Minister of the Divan; for, so am I com­manded, in Cases that touch the Honour and Safety of the Grand Signior. And, I tell thee, this was none of the least Importance. For, as it appears, the Women were under­mining the most Sacred and Firmly Esta­blish'd Government in the World. They were [Page 179]not contented to wallow in their own Impious and Unnatural Delights, but wou'd have set themselves as a Pattern to others, and by Degrees have infected the whole Moselman Empire with a New Species of Debauchery: Which as it began and was carried on by Em­bezilling the Royal Treasures, selling of Pla­ces to Men of no Merit, Buffoons, Pimps and Asses; so wou'd it have ended in enerva­ting our Militia, corrupting all the Faithful, and laying the Empire naked to Infidels.

How many Vizirs, Caimachams, Captain-Bassa's and other Officers have we had this Fatal Year? Among the Rest, I cannot but reflect on the Poysoning of the Chiaux Bassa, af­ter he was made Vizir▪ Azem, as a Stroke of Divine Justice, for having embru'd his Hands in so much Noble Blood, when he enjoy'd that Dignity once before. God pursues the Cruel with Invisible Scourges.

But what was that Achmet Bassa, who took Advantage of the Sultan's Domestick Troubles, and Foreign Wars, to disturb his Government in Asia, and raise a Rebellion, which threaten'd even the Imperial City it self? By the Course of his Fortune, it looks as if he were not contented with his Command in Asia, and therefore took this new celebra­ted Method to obtain a Higher Dignity, viz. by Rebelling against his Master: Else why was he made Bassa of the Sea, in the Room of Ouroos Kienan? The Bassa of Aleppo first brought into Fashion this daring Way of growing Great. And if it be thus counte­nanc'd [Page 180]by the Grand Signior, in all Probabi­lity, he will have Reason to make Peace with the Christians, that he may have Respite, and Forces to employ against his own Subjects.

A midst all these Things, Nothing afflicts me so much, as the Horrible Loss our Fleet has sustain'd at Sea. We have various Reports of this Combat, but in general they agree, That the Moselmans have lost Seventy Two Ships, and Galleys, with an Infinite Number of Men; That the Venetians have taken the Isles of Tenedos and Lemnos, and that they are ad­vancing to besiege Constantinople. This News is a great while coming to us: So that, if it be true, and the Venetians pursu'd their Victo­ry; for ought I know, by this Time, the Im­perial City, the Refuge of the World, may be laid in Ashes.

I have often propos'd the Necessity of Platforms along the Hellespont, to guard that Important Avenue of the Sacred Port. Had they put in Practice Mahmut's Advice, per­haps the Nazarenes wou'd have had no Occasion for their present Triumphs. But, now they Banquet in the open Streets; All Christendom rings with the News of our Disgrace. The Drunkards of Europe, insult o'er the Professors of Sobriety: Amidst their Bowls of Wine, they blaspheme our Prophet, and sing in the Praise of Bacchus their God: They menace the Conquest of Asia, and threaten to exterminate the Mo­selmans from the Earth.

Enrag'd at these Prophane Boasts, I stop my Ears, and turning round in a Divine Phrensy, I pray that God wou'd baffle the Infidels.

Paris, 6th. of the 9th. Moon, of the Year 1656.

LETTER V.
To the most Renowned and most Illu­strious Mahomet, Vizir Azem, at the Port.

THAT Incomprehensible Majesty which has no Resemblance, at whose Pleasure all Things are dispos'd and order'd in Heaven and Earth, by whose particular Providence, for the Good of the Osman Empire, thou art exalted to this Glorious Trust, to be Vicar of the Vicar of God; augment thy Graces and Vertues, and bless thee with Superlative Wis­dom, and perfect Tranquility.

I renew thy Accomplish'd Soul, consum­mate in all Moral and Political Science. Thou art the most Experienc'd Man in the Empire. And I ceas'd to condole the late Tumults and Riots at Constantinople, though their Effects were Fatal to some brave Men; since thou art chosen to this Dignity, from whom the whole [Page 182] Empire may expect, not onely a serener State of Affairs, during thy Administration, but also a rooting up of the Causes of these Pub­lick Distempers, and of all other Evils which infest the Monarchy design'd for the Conquest and Reformation of the whole World.

According to the Custom of the East, I approach thee not without some Present: But pardon the Slave Mahmut, who can send thee none worthy of thy Grandeur. I have enclos'd in a Box the true Effigies of the Pre­sent King of France, with that of his Uncle the Duke of Orleans, his Brother the Duke of Anjou, and his Cousin the Prince of Conde; as also that of Cardinal Mazarini, and Queen Christina of Sueden, who is now at the French Court. Accept also from an Exile, a little Cabinet containing Twelve Watches, of so many different Contrivances, according to the Circular Variation of the Moons in the Space of Thirty Four Years. They are the Work of my own Hands; therefore I shall not commend 'em. Each is wrapt up in a Piece of Silk, wherein is wrought in Arabick Letters the Method of using it. Perhaps thou wilt find some Diversion in trying the Experiments mention'd in those Tables. How­ever, despise not this mean Testimony of Mahmut's Respect; but consider that if I come short of the Curious Artists in Europe, yet my Labour is passable enough for a Mo­selman, among whom there is scarce another Watch-maker to be found in the World.

If thou woud'st know the Occasion of Queen Christina's being at the French Court: She came thither from Rome, when the last Moon was in its Wane. Her Passage was by Sea to Marseilles, having touch'd at Genoua, and receiv'd magnificent Gifts from the Republick; but they would not permit her to land, for Fear of the Plague, which then rag'd in Rome, and was the Cause of her leaving that City.

However, the French shew'd no such ti­morous Squeamishness, but receiv'd Her and her Train with open Arms. She landed at Marseilles on the 29th. of the 7th. Moon; and when she made her Publick Entry, the Consuls of that City, with all the Nobles met her in Coaches, the Great Guns were dis­charg'd to welcome her, and she was caress'd with all the Demonstrations of Honor that are shew'd to the Queen of France her self in her Progresses.

The same Entertainment she receiv'd at Aix, Avignon, Lyons, and in Fine all along the Road to Paris, the Keys of Towns being surrendred to her (for such was the King's Pleasure) and a Canopy of State born over her Head, when she enter'd any Town, and receiv'd the Addresses and Compliments of Governours, Prelates, and other Great Men in Authority. She was likewise Magnificent­ly treated by Princes and the Chief Dukes of the Realm: And on the 8th. of the last Moon, made her Entry into this City on Horse-back, apparell'd like a Man: Where having staid some Time, she departed for Compiegne, to [Page 184]visit the Court, which resides there now.

It is not Suppos'd, she will tarry long in France, but as soon as she hears the Plague is abated in Rome, and the Adjacent Parts, she will return thither, to pass away the Residue of her Life, in that Nest of Princes and Pre­lates of the Nazarene Belief.

A little before she left Rome, the Spa­niards there had Conspir'd to seize on her Person, as also on the Pope; to have Mur­der'd the Portugal Embassador, and set the City on Fire. But the Plot was discover'd, and the Conspirators put in Prison: (For, the Sentence of Death is never pass'd in Crimi­nal Cases among the Nazarenes, without a Formal Tryal▪)

Here is a Rumour, as if a Great Fire had some Moons ago broke out in Constantinople, and consum'd much of that City. I wonder, none of my Friends, nor any other residing there, have sent me an Account of any such Thing. Which fills me with Hopes, that this Report is false.

From all Hands we are assur'd, that the Suedes and Brandenburghers have obtain'd a great Victory over the Poles and Tartars at Warsaw; the Vanquish'd having lost above Six Thousand Men on the Spot, with all their Ammunition and Baggage: And unfortunate King Casimir, was forc'd to fly with a small Retinue towards Hungary.

'Twas the General Expectation of Europe, that the Moscovites and Germans, wou'd have done something extraordinary for the Poles, [Page 185]and by some surprizing Action, put a check to the Suedish Successes and Triumphs. For, when the Moscovite Embassador was at Ko­ningsberg, endeavouring to withdraw the Duke of Brandenburgh from the Suedish Interest, he vomited forth terrible Menaces, in Case they comply'd not with His Master's Propo­sals. And one Day, in a furious Zeal, he took a large Goblet of Wine, in the Elector's Presence; and having drank it off to the Czars Health, the Barbarian said aloud, Thus shall the great Emperour of the Mosco­vites devour all that oppose him. But now it seems, these were only Empty Bravadoes, and the Moscovites were resolv'd to stand by; and see who got the better on't. The same may be said of the Emperour, and Prince of Transylvania; so of the Danes and Hollanders, who now all declare for the Srrongest Party.

Magnanimous Vizir, if the present En­gagements and Wars in Dalmatia and Candy, besides the Domestick Troubles of the Otto­man Empire, did not wholly employ the Arms of the Moselmans; doubtless, 'twould be an Undertaking no less Profitable than Glorious, to succour the distress'd Casimir, turn the Tide of the Gothish Conquests, and oblige the Poles to an Eternal Fidelity and Gratitude to the Grand Signior.

Paris, 14th. of the 10th. Moon, of the Year 1656.

LETTER VI.
To Abrahim Eli Zeid, Hogia, Preacher to the Seraglio.

I Have frequent Access to the King's Library: Which Favour was first granted me by Cardinal Richlieu, who often employ'd me in Translating some Curious Treatises out of Arabick into French or Latin. The French seem very fond of Eastern Manuscripts, where ever they can meet with 'em: And they have no less Regard for Men who are skill'd in those Languages. That Minister especi­ally, was very Inquisitive into the Wisdom and Learning of Asia. He Monopoliz'd Per­sian, Syrian and Arabick Books, and was a profess'd Patron of Linguists. He coveted the Acquaintance of Strangers and Travellers, that he might by their means Inform himself of the different Laws, Customs and Religions of Foreign Countreys; and of whatsoever was Rare and worthy of Observation, in any Part of the World.

Hence it was, that I receiv'd Evident Marks of his Esteem, as soon as he knew that I un­derstood the Greek, Arabick, Hebrew, Tur­kish and Sclavonian Languages. He often made use of me, as I have said, and gave me free Access to his own and the King's Library. And tho' his Successor Cardinal [Page 187]Mazarini, is not so much addicted to Studies of this Nature, as to the Affairs of State; yet he has continued to me, the Priviledge of visiting this Treasury of Learned Books, where I pass many Hours.

One Day I cast my Eyes on a Manuscript Written in Arabick, and endors'd with this Title, [The Original Covenant of Maho­met, the Prophet of the Arabians, with the Professors of the Faith of Jesus] and Underneath was a Latin Inscription, sig­nifying, That this Manuscript was found in the Convent of Christian Friars on Mount Carmel. I have Transcrib'd the Contents of this Parchment, and sent it Enclos'd to thee, that thou may'st judge whether it be Real or onely Counterfeit. For, the Nazarenes as­sert it to be the True Agreement of the Mes­senger of God; and therefore reproach all the Moselmans with Disobedience to our Law­giver, and breaking the League, Sign'd and Seal'd by Him whom we call the Seal of the Prophets, and Witness'd by the Four Principal Doctors, Abu Becre, Osman, Omar and Hali.

If thou wilt peruse the Enclos'd Paper, it will be easy to discern, Whether We are Guil­ty of this Violation of Faith, or They. For, though (supposing this to be the Real Testa­ment of the Prophet, as is pretended) that Favourite of Heaven grants many Articles of Peace, Assistance and Friendship, to the Fol­lowers [Page 188]of Jesus, with Immunity from Taxes and Impositions, Liberty of Conscience, Free­dom of Marriages, &c. Yet 'tis evident, that he promis'd not these Things, but on cer­tain Conditions to be observ'd on the Part of the Christians; as, that None of them shou'd harbour, or hold Correspondence with the Enemies of the True Believers, or Privately accommodate 'em with Arms, Horses, Mo­ney or any other Necessaries of War: But, on the Contrary, shou'd Hospitably receive the Mofelmans into their Houses for Three Days, and Protect 'em from their Enemies. If therefore, the Christians shou'd fail in any of these Points, the Prophet declares his Cove­nant to be void, and that they shall not enjoy the Indulgences granted therein. All this, thou wilt see, is recommended solemnly to both Parties, to be Religiously perform'd, till the Final Consummation.

Now, all the Dispute is, Whether We have First trangress'd these Articles, or the Naza­renes? For, if it can be prov'd, That they are the First Aggressors, then they have no Rea­son to complain of their Misfortunes, or ac­cuse the True Faithful of Oppression and Ty­ranny, as they commonly do; Since it is ma­nifest, that they have drawn these Evils on themselves, by their Breach of Faith, and In­fidelity, disannulling the Covenant of God and his Prophet, and forfeiting the Benefits they might have claim'd by Vertue of it. Be it how it will, the Prophet is free from Blame: Let the Guilt rest on the Persons that were Criminal.

I know not how it comes to pass, that the Christians of this Age, think and speak more Reproachfully of our Holy Lawgiver, than did their Fathers, who liv'd in his Time or immediately after it, and who by Conse­quence cou'd better inform themselves of the Circumstances of his Birth, Life, and Re­nowned Actions. Some Ancient Writers a­mong the Nazarenes, make Honourable Mention of Him and his Family. They con­ceal not the Early Signs of his Heroick Ver­tue, and the Grandeur to which he was de­stin'd. I have read in a certain Christian Au­thor, That when the Prophet was but Nine Years Old, under the Tuition of his Uncle Abu Taleb, who carry'd his Glorious Charge along with him to Damascus, and that whilst they were at Boz'r, a Learned Monk whose Name was Bohira, came out of the Convent to meet them; and taking Mahomet by the Hand in the Presence of many Chri­stians, he said aloud, This Youth is born to accomplish Great Things: His Fame shall be spread from East to West: For, as he drew near this Place, I saw a bright Cloud descend and cover him. Sultan David also Prophe­sy'd of him, in that which the Christians reckon the 50th. Psalm, and the 2d. Ver­sicle: Where that Divine Poet thus Sings, From Sion God hath proclaim'd the Empire of Mahomet. But the Christians have Inter­preted this in another Sence, though the Ori­ginal remains a standing Witness against 'em. So Moses in the Pentateuch uttered a Mystery, [Page 190]when he said, God came from Sinai, he rose up from Seir, and was manifested from Mount Paran. Intimating hereby, the Descent of the Written Law to Moses, of the Gospel to Jesus the Son of Mary, and of the Alcoran to Mahomet. The Messias also said to his Disciples, If I go not away, the Called of God will not come to You. But the Christian Inter­preters wilfully hide these Things from the Vulgar, lest their Eyes shou'd be open'd. There appears an Obstinate Malice and Ig­norance in all their Actions.

Who will not laugh at the foolish Spight of the Spaniards; who, in a certain Town, had a Custom, as oft as they enter'd into the Church or came out, to spit on a Black Image of a Man sitting on an Ass, near the Gate. But a Mussulman Embassadour coming thither from the Emperour of Morocco, and observing this Vain Ceremony of the People, ask'd the King, What Person that Statue represented? He made answer, That it was the Image of Mahomet, the Arabian Prophet. That cannot be, reply'd the Embassador, since our Prophet never rode but on Camels: It is rather the Figure of the Messias, who indeed is recorded to have rode on an Ass. The King troubl'd at this Answer, consulted the Priests and Learn­ed Men, who all concluded, that the Embas­sador had spoke the Truth. And therefore, instead of offering any more Indignities to this Image, they fell into another Extreme, and built a Chappel for it, burning Incense to the Senseless Stock, and paying it Divine Ho­nours. [Page 191]Thus they Pray'd to that, which but a little before, they had Curs'd; and turn'd into a God, that which they had esteem'd al­most as bad as the Devil. God's Curse be on the Devil, and all his Adorers: But on the Holy Prophet, and his Followers, may Bles­sings shower down, and rest till the Knot of the Spheres be dissolv'd.

Paris, 14th. of the 10th. Moon, of the Year 1656.

LETTER VII.
To Murat, Bassa.

KNow for Certain, that Dom Juan de Bra­ganza, late King of Portugal is dead. He left this World on the 6th. of the last Moon, after he had been tormented Ten Days with the Stone: His Queen has the Su­preme Power in her Hands during her Son's Minority, whose Name is Dom. Alphonso. This young Prince was Crown'd within a few Days after his Father's Decease, to prevent the Plots of the Spaniards, who support a Powerful Faction in that Kingdom of Portu­gal, and are not without Hopes, to reduce it again to the King of Spain's Obedience. The World is always busy, either in recover­ing Old lost Interests, or seeking of New. [Page 192]The Mareschal de la Ferte, who was taken Prisoner by the Prince of Conde in the Battle of Valenciennes, and having a Price set for his Ransom, had Liberty to go whi­ther he wou'd on his Parole, either to bring the said Sum, or surrender his Person, by a certain Day; finding himself flighted at the French Court, is resolv'd to perform his Pro­mise, at the prefix'd Time, and go over to the Prince of Conde's Interest, who will not fail to bestow a very Honourable Command on a General of such Merits.

In the mean Time, the Count of Harcourt plays Tricks with his Master, and holds private Correspondence with the German Emperour. He is a Serviceable or a Dangerous Man, ac­cording as he is pleas'd or disgusted, and therefore they court him on both Sides. He is now at Brisac in Alsace. I cannot admire a Man, that is thus Industriously troublesome to his Prince, without any Thing of Merit or Brave­ry to boast of, save his former Services in Ca­talonia, which have been sufficiently repay'd with Royal Condescensions and Favours. And those who make a Parallel between his Case, and that of the Mareschal de la Ferte Seneterre, consider not, that the last fell into his Enemies Hands, only by the Chance of War: Whereas, the other is a Wilful Apo­state, if he embraces the Emperour's Propo­sals, when no Necessity constrains him, and Honour flies in his Face.

From the North we are informed, That Count Coningsmark, Generalissimo of the Sue­dish [Page 193]Forces in Prussia, as he was sailing from Wismar, was taken Captive by the Poles, and Imprison'd in the Castle of Weyssel-munden, near Dantzick. And the Inhabitants of that City, miss'd very narrowly of taking the Queen of Sueden herself. 'Tis certain, they have got a vast Booty from the Suedes, consisting of Eighteen Chests full of Gold, with Coffers of the King's Jewels and other Rich Things.

These, King Casimer demands for himself, with a Million of Rix-Dollars to be paid him by the Dantzickers; requiring also, that they should furnish his Army with all sorts of Am­munition and Provisions: Which tho' it be a heavy Burden, yet those loyal Citizens think Nothing too much for their King.

The Moscovites in the 9th. Moon besieg'd Riga, a City belonging to the Crown of Sue­den, but have newly rais'd the Siege, after they had lost above Ten Thousand Men be­fore the Place.

This is all the News I can send thee, save that the French have taken Valentia, a City in Italy.

I wish I may hear as prosperous Intelligence as this last from Candia, after such Immense Charges and Slaughter. But, Victory is in the Disposal of the Angel of Time.

Paris, 2d. of the 12th. Moon, of the Year 1656.

LETTER VIII.
To Hebatolla Mir Argun, Superior of the Covent of Dervishes, at Cogni in Natolia.

IT is difficult to define the particular Tem­per of my Soul, when I first receiv'd the News of thy Predecessor's Death, that Re­nown'd and Venerable Bedredin, who, as thy Dispatch informs me, is gone to Paradise. I was neither in Passion, nor yet Insensible, but wholly Resign'd to the Will of Heaven. I consider'd his Immense Vertues, and the Course of Nature: His Wonderful Age, and more Admirable Actions, a Life Equally mea­sur'd by Hours, and Prodigies of Piety. For, he was not in the Number of those, who let whole Days pass away, without the least Good Work, or without leaving any Impress on the Track of Time. I express my self ac­cording to the Vulgar Saying, [Time Passes away;] Whereas, in my Opinion, Time stands still, and only We pass away, with all Things subject to Motion and Change. 'Tis like the Mistake of those who sailing on the Water, think the Trees and Mountains move, whilst only they themselves are driven before the Wind: Or, like the Philosophy of those, who trusting to their Grosser Sence, maintain, the Sun whirls daily round our World; tho', [Page 195]according to Reason and better Philosophy, that Globe of Light stands still, whilst ours turns round its Axel-Tree, and so deceives our Eyes. Thus, whilst we Mortals, glide o'er the uncertain Waves of Humane Life, and pass by the Visible and Fixed Land-marks of Time, Day and Night, we imagine those Land-marks move, and not we our selves. Whereas, Day and Night remain for Ever, stedfast and invariable in their Successive In­tervals, and only the Elements, and Bodies Compounded of 'em, are subject to Change.

Minutes, Hours, Days and Years, are not properly the Measures of Time, but of the Motion and Duration of all Corruptible Be­ings: For Time is Infinite and beyond all Di­mensions. In a Word, 'Tis no otherwise di­stinguish'd from Eternity, than barely by a Name.

All that I have said on this Subject, is com­prehended in the Arabian Proverb, which says, To Morrow, is Never. Doubtless, there's no Paradox or Heresy in saying, 'Tis always To Day; or that this Hour, this Minute is E­ternal. And, from this Truth sprung the Contemplation of those, who place Eternity in a Point or Instant.

But, to return to Bedredin, that Faithful of the Faithful, may his Soul repose in the Mercies of God, and his Memory be bless'd. May Gabriel, the Friend of the Prophet, pray for him; then Michael, Israphiel, and the Messenger of Death, with all the Angels who made Oraisons for the Divine Favourite, after [Page 196]his Translation from this Earthly State. And, when thou, and the Religious Fraternity un­der thy Care, have perform'd the accustom'd Prayers and Expiations, for the Illustrious Prelate Deceas'd; there is no Question but that he shall be in a Condition to Intercede for you, and for the whole Mussulman Em­pire: For he was a perfect Saint, and the Be­loved of God.

O Sage and Reverend Successor of that Holy Man, suffer me to tell thee, Thy Name, He­batolla [the Gift of God,] fills me with Glo­rious Presages of thy Life and Administration in that Renowned College, where the Incom­parable Bedredin shin'd so many Years. Now he is gone to God, and to the Gardens of E­ternal Retirement, having left his Seat on Earth to thee, replenish'd with the Sacred O­dour of Vertue.

He was a Religious Imitator of the Pro­phets, and of all Holy Men in General; a de­vout Admirer of the Messias, and a Faithful Disciple of the Sent of God. Now he is gone to sit down with them in the Chioscs of Eden, on the Banks of Immortal Streams, the Ri­vers of Wine, Milk and Honey, which glide along the Alleys of Paradise. This is the Recompence of Heroick Vertue, the Crown of Good Works, the Bliss prepar'd for chaste and purify'd Souls, who in their Transmigra­tion from this Earth, carry no Stains of Vice along with 'em. For, nothing Impure can find Admittance into that World of Glittering Essences.

O Hebatolla, what is there on this Obscure Globe, that deserves to be compar'd with those Serener Joys Above; Those unsullied Plea­sures; That untarnish'd Bliss? And yet some­times we taste strange Felicities here on Earth. But 'tis only when the Gates and Casements of Paradise are open, when a Celestial Wind transports hither the Leaves of the Trees of Eden, and perfumes the Air and Skies with the Transcendent Odours of that Happy Region, wafting also Imperfect Sounds, Musick in soft Fragments and Eccho's, from the Quires of the Bless'd. Then 'tis, the Hearts of Mortals feel a secret and inexpressible Joy springing up from the Root; This Lower World (if I may so express my self) is all entranc'd with Pleasure. This happens not every Day, but only at the Seasons of Divine Indulgence, on the Festivals of some Particular Saints, and in the Time of the Immortal Jubilee, when God exhilarates the Universe with Uncommon Fa­vours, and an Infinite Largess.

As for the Rest of our Enjoyments, they are Mitigations indeed of the Pains and Inse­parable Miseries of this Mortal Life; They prevail on us to wait the Appointed Hour of Fate, and not hurry our selves out of the World before our Time: But, they deserve not to be plac'd in the Rank of true Felicities.

However, our Patience under this Fatigue of Life, our Indifference to Pleasure and Pain, Poverty or Riches, Sickness or Health, Honour or Disgrace, with all the other Ob­jects of Humane Passion, will prove a singu­lar [Page 198]Argument of Merit, a prevailing Recom­mendation to the Life to come, and an effe­ctual Passport to Paradise. For he that is thus insensibly, yet willingly wean'd from the Fulsom Joys of Earth, by the very Course of Nature and Decree of Destiny, must una­voidably ascend to a Purer Region, to a Place capable of satisfying his Aspiring Soul. For, Nature created no Appetite, to baulk it.

This is the Life so recommended by Jesus the Son of Mary, whose Character thou hast in the Library of thy Convent. Here I send thee in a Box, that which by all the Nazarenes is esteem'd his true Effigies. I remember, I once saw another of the same Lineaments, in the Treasury of the Grand Signior. These Pieces are very Rare, because not copy'd by the Hands of Common Painters, but by the most Celebrated Masters in Europe. And the Original Draught, they say, was made by the Messias himself on an Handkerchief, which he clapt to his Face, and so left his lively Por­traicture.

I cannot ascertain the Truth of this Tra­dition: But, in Regard this is one of those Copies which is Closeted by the Greatest Mo­narchs in Christendom, I send it to thee, as a worthy Ornament of thy Cell, without either the Peril, or Scandal of Idolatry.

The Pious Bedredin, was Covetous of any Memoirs of the Messias; whether written in Hieroglyphicks, or in the more usual Characters of Speech. He wou'd have made no more Ex­ception at a Picture, than at a Poem, in Praise [Page 199]of that Holy Prophet. And, I question not, but thou equallest him in the same Indiffe­rence.

I cou'd not so easily procure the true Pi­cture of John, Surnam'd the Washer; but here I will give thee a short History of his Life. This was a Famous Prophet, who liv'd in the Days of the Messias, and was of the Race of the Priests. His Habitation was al­together in the Desert; for, he was an Ere­mite, and liv'd in a Cave on one of the Moun­tains of Judaea. Some of the Jews took him for Elias, others for the Messias, and a Third Sort said he was Mahomet, whose coming was foretold in the Book of their Law, and in the Writings of their Prophets.

But John deny'd that he was any of these, calling himself in Modesty, A Voice, or Eccho. His Life was very Abstemious. For, he fed only on the Tops of Plants, and wild Honey, drinking Nothing but Water of the Foun­tain, which ran by the Side of his Cave. And his Body was onely cover'd with a Vest of Camels Hair, using a Leathern Thong for a Girdle.

To that Solitary Residence of his, there was great Resort of People from Jerusalem, and the Cities round about. For the Fame of his Sanctity had spread through all Palestine and Syria.

He Wash'd his Disciples with his own Hands in the Waters of Jordan, from whence he was call'd the Baptist, or Washer. He daily preach'd Repentance and Good Works to [Page 200]the Incredulous Jews; and openly declar'd, That Jesus the Son of Mary, was the Messias. That Holy Prophet, it seems, was one of John's Disciples, and had been Wash'd by him in the River Jordan.

In fine, after many Years of Heroick Ver­tue and Piety, John had his Head cut off by the Order of Herod the Governour of Judaea, because he had reprov'd the Tyrant, for mar­rying his Brother's Wife.

Behold, these Memoirs are the best Presents, the Poor Exil'd Mahmut can send thee, when he Congratulates thy Accession to that Holy Chair. Yet, such as these, were more wel­come to thy Predecessor, than Gifts of Sil­ver, Gold or Precious Stones: For, he was a diligent Collector of Choice Antiquities, and Select Fragments of History. He was al­so a Liberal Patron and Encourager of Phi­losophy and all Sorts of Learning. Follow thou his Example, and the True Faithful will be eternally oblig'd to thee. Thou hast a fair Opportunity, there being, as I'm inform'd, the best Library in thy Convent, of any throughout the Mussulman Empire. And, the Dervishes under thy Government, are Men addicted to the Study of the Sciences. 'Tis Pity such Inclinations shou'd want Encouragement, whilst the Infidels are every where busie in Founding New Acade­mies, and Augmenting the Old. There is one lately erected in the Dukedom of Cleve by the Elector of Brandenburgh, where the Oriental Languages and Sciences are profess'd.

If the Nazarenes are thus Curious to pry into our Learning, why should we be remiss in attaining the Knowledge of their Langua­ges and Histories, since thereby we shall be in a Condition to know their Greatest Se­crets?

Sage Hebatolla, let not the Infidels have any longer Occasion to term us Barbarous and Ignorant. But remember, that in promo­ting Literature, thou wilt perform a merito­rious Service to the Grand Signior.

Paris, 17th. of the 1st. Moon, of the Year 1657.

LETTER IX.
To Selim Al' Mosel, Venerable Ima­um of the Mosch of Sancta Sophia.

PRaise be to God, sole Lord of the Zenith and the Nadir, Possessor of Infinite Regi­ons, who hides the First Meridian in the Palm of his Hand! The Names of Peru, and Mexi­co, are not now Foreign in the Ottoman Em­pire, especially to Travellers, and Men of Science.

When our Fathers first heard of America, they had no other Way to express so Un­known a Part of the World, than by calling it the Land of the Golden Mines, because of [Page 202]the Abundance of that Metal, which was brought from thence by the Spaniards, since their Conquests in those Parts. But now we are no Strangers to the Geography of that Remote Continent. Commerce and Traffick, have render'd all the Known Nations of the Earth, familiar one with another. And I re­member, when I was at Constantinople, the Names of Peru, Mexico, Florida, &c. were as Common in the Copha Hans, as the Names of Indostan, Turquistan, Gurgistan, or any other Province of Asia. So that a Man wou'd have been laugh'd at, who in speaking of A­merica, shou▪d have us'd any Circumlocuti­ons, as to call it the Empire of the Golden Mines, the World beyond the Great Sea, or the like.

Yet we must confess, our Knowledge in this Kind is owing to the Franks, who sail into those far-distant Regions, and at their Return, communicate their Intelligence and Observations to us; For else we had been yet altogether Strangers to the History of that New World.

It was first discover'd by Christopher Co­lumbus, a Genouese, in the Year 1492. of the Christians Hegira. This Man had a happy Genius in Contemplating the Motion of the Sun, and the Frame of the Ʋniverse. He was no Stranger to the Extent of our Conti­nent, and the Situation of all its Parts. He had been often at Sea, and seen divers Regi­ons; And particularly when he was in Portu­gal, the most Westerly Part of Europe, he [Page 203]took great Delight to walk on the Shore in the Evenings, and observe the Setting of the Sun. This Custom of his produc'd various Thoughts in his Breast. But, what was of most Import, his Reason suggested to him, That it cou'd not consist with the Order of Nature, that the Sun, after he left Our World, serv'd only to give Light to the Fishes, or gild the Waves of the Western Ocean. Therefore on good Grounds he concluded, There must be some Ʋnknown Land, beyond those mighty Tracts of Sea, which wash'd the Western Shores of Europe and Africk.

This Thought made him uneasy, and put him upon a Resolution of attempting a Dis­covery. He made Proposals to the Republick of Genoua, but was rejected. Then he ad­dress'd himself to Henry VII. at the English Court; Where not finding Encouragement, he went to the King of Spain; who appro­ving his Design, furnish'd him with Two Ships. He sail'd on the Ocean for the Space of Two Moons, without seeing any Land, which made his Mariners mutiny, their Provisions falling short. They threatn'd to throw him over-board, if he wou'd not return. But he, with mild Words and strong Reasons, ap­peas'd their Fury; promising to sail back a­gain, if they saw not Land within Three Days. On the Third Day, the Boy on the Main Top-Mast saw a Fire, and within a few Hours afterwards they came within View of Land.

When he had made his Observations, and done what was requisite in his Circumstances, he return'd to give the King of Spain an Ac­count of his Expedition.

After his Death, Americus Vesputius was sent to Conquer these Ʋnknown Regions; from whom, that whole Continent is call'd America; But methinks, not without some Ingratitude to the First Discoverer.

It wou'd be endless to recount all the par­ticular Adventures of the Spaniards in these Parts, with their Cruelties and Massacres: Suffice it to say, to the Eternal Infamy of that Nation, that according to their own Writers, they butcher'd in Cold Blood above Twenty Millions of the Natives, in the Space of Twenty Years: And all this, for the Lucre of their Gold; tho' under the Pretence, of propagating the Christian Religion.

I will not list my self in the Number of those who pretend to be God s Privy Coun­sellors, neither will I presume to descant on Things out of my Reach. But the Spaniards have lately felt a terrible Blow in Peru; Which, if it be not a Mark of the Wrath of Heaven, is at least a Sign, that the Earth is weary of them, especially in those Parts, where they have stain'd it with so much Innocent Blood.

The City Lima, not many Moons ago, was all swallow'd up by an Earthquake; and Calao, another City not far from it, was con­sum'd by a Shower of Fire out of the Clouds. Eleven Thousand Spaniards lost their Lives [Page 205]in this Calamity; and the Earth devour'd a Hundred Millions of Refin'd Silver, which the Lucre of the Spaniards had forc'd out of its Bowels. All the Mountains of Potosi, from whence they dug their choicest Metal, were levell'd with the Plain, and no more Hopes of Gold was left to their Insatiable Ava­rice.

I leave the Judgment of these Events to thee, who art of the Holy Line, full of Re­splendent Thoughts, Prophetick Ischarif, Con­secrated Emir, Glory of the House of Maho­met. Yet give me leave to tell thee, that this Calamity of the Spaniards, in Part resembles the Fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the rest of the Nine Cities of the Lake. The Infidels say, there were but Five. Let them alone in their Errors; 'tis certain the Mussulmans have the only True History of Former Times. Doubt­less, God is severe in his Chastisements, when he is Incens'd against a Nation. Wit­ness the People of Aad and Themod, with the Men of the Valley of Smoke, and the City whose Inhabitants were in one Hour, all turn'd into Statues of Stone, and are to be seen at this Day, as a standing Monu­ment of Heaven's Displeasure. Yet no Na­tion is ruin'd, till it ruin it self, as God speaks in the Alcoran.

O Emir, in whose Veins runs the most purify'd Blood in the World, pray for Mahmut, that he may never turn Apostate from God and his Prophet, nor do any [Page 206]Thing which may hurry him to an Un­timely Fate.

Paris, 17th. of the 1st. Moon, of the Year 1657.

LETTER X.
To Mustapha, Bassa.

THis following Summer, if all Reports be true, is like to afford some Cam­pagnes of Blood. The General Discourse here is, that the Grand Signior will speedily have an Army of Three Hundred Thousand Men in the Field: Part to act in Dalmatia and Candy, against the Venetians; the Rest to be employ'd against the Persians, the more In­veterate Enemies of the Ottoman Empire.

That sawcy Embassador, Ismael Bir Couli Can, deserv'd the Punishment was Inflicted on him for his Impertinent Huff, and draw­ing his Sabre in Presence of the Greatest Monarch of the World. And let it be an E­ternal Precedent to the Envoys of Foreign Princes, that they may learn a Lesson of Mo­desty, when they address to the Lord of their Lords, and not by Presumption Incense the King of the Earth.

But 'tis apparent, this Embassador took Ad­vantage of our Troubles: He swell'd with a vain and false Idea of the Persian Puissance. Besides, they say, his Master has enter'd in­to a Solemn League with the Czar of Moscovy, against the Shining Empire. And 'tis cer­tainly known here, That Two Embassadors are arriv'd at Venice from that Potent Empe­rour of the North; And others are expected from Persia, to Negotiate a Tripartite League between those Crowns and that Re­publick against the Victorious Osmans. Hence I suppose it was, that the Rude Heretick took the Boldness to commit an Action, which all the East punishes with Death. Neither is it any Thing to the Purpose, what the Christi­ans of these Parts say, That the Persons of Embassadors are Sacred: For, much more so are the Persons of Sovereigns. And, so long as an Envoy obeys the Law of Nations, in only delivering his Message with Respect and Civility, that Law will protect him from all Injuries. But, if he must needs leap over his own Fence, and instead of appearing like an Embassador, he will act the Part of an As­sassin, a Furioso, a Contemner of Majesty, he can expect no better Treatment, than what is due to his Audacious Insolence: He throws off with Scorn the Protection that his Cha­racter claims, and in a mad Bravado courts the Revenge of the State.

This Ismael has all along been counted a bold Fool, in the Court of Persia. He has committed a Thousand wild Pranks at Ispa­han, [Page 208]more becoming a Jester, than a Wise Minister of State. Yet his Master still wink'd at his Extravagances, for his Father's Sake, who did many Notable Services to that Crown; Among which, his recovering Can­dahar from the Mogul, was none of the least: It being the onely Town, which com­mands the Frontiers of Persia and the In­dies.

For this and other Merits, Sha Sephi pre­ferr'd both him and his Son to the most Con­siderable Governments and Offices in the Empire: Wherein the Old Man acquitted himself fairly to the last. But this Young Buffoon grew unwieldy with too Much Ho­nour, affronted the Grandees, and play'd up­on the King himself, for which he had once like to have been cast to the Dogs. But, at the Intercession of some of his few Friends, that Punishment was remitted and chang'd into Exile; whilst his Enemies made Use of his Absence, to ruine him.

They were some of the Greatest Lords of the Court, who bore him a Grudge, and they had hourly the King's Ear. Which Advantage they made Use of to insinuate such an Ill Character of Ismael, that he knew no better Way to be handsomely rid of him, than by sending him on this desperate Em­bassy to the Mysterious Port: Chusing rather, that he should fall by the Grand Signior's Command, than by his own, who had reap'd so much Benefit from the Services of his Fa­ther.

By this thou may'st discern, that the King of Persia is earnestly resolv'd upon War, without regarding how his Herald that pro­claim'd it, is received: (For that Embassador deserves no other Title, who comes not with the Accustom'd Presents and Supplications; but with an Address of a Harsher Style, de­nouncing Enmity at his very First Approach to the Feet of the Invincible Sultan Maho­met.)

After all, it rejoices me to hear, that thou, and the other Bassa's of the Empire, are so rea­dy to assist our Great Master. For I am as­sur'd, that from your Personal and Volun­tary Contributions, he has receiv'd a Supply of Thirty Millions of Aspers, besides the Constant Revenues, Customs, Tributes, and Subsidies of the Empire. This is nois'd all over Christendom: Yet the Venetians seem not much to dread the Consequences of these Vast Preparations; judging that they will be employ'd elsewhere, than against any Pro­vince of their Dominions, except in Dalmatia, where these Infidels trust to the Strength of their Forts, and the Inaccessible Heights of Rocks.

But He that laid the Foundations of the Earth, and causes it to tremble when He plea­ses; the same God form'd the Lofty Moun­tains, and can level them with the Plains to serve the Followers of his Prophet: Even as the Stones came Voluntarily to salute the Divine Messenger himself: The Trees rowz'd themselves, as out of a deep Sleep; and the [Page 210] Earth yielding on all Sides to the Forcible Motion of the Inspired Roots, they walk'd out of their Places, and compos'd an Ʋm­brella over the Head of Mahomet, when he was ready to faint with the Violent Heat of the Sun.

Thus shall the Elements conspire to aid the True Believers: And when they fight for the Alcoran against Infidels, God shall endue the Inanimate Beings with Faith and Devo­tion.

Paris, the 7th. of the 2d. Moon, of the Year 1657.

LETTER XI.
To Mehemet, an Exil'd Eunuch in Egypt.

PRepare the self with a Constancy of Spirit becoming a Mussulman, when thou shalt understand, that the best Friend thou hadst in the World is gone to Paradise. May God grant him the Repose of a True Believer, an Apartment of Singular Delight. For 'tis the Brave Solyman I speak of, who not only de­serves thy most Grateful Vows for saving thy Life, but has done a Thousand Meritorious Actions besides, which now crown him with Chaplets of Immortality.

I wish I cou'd have been the Relater of better News to my banish'd Friend. But perhaps thou hast heard of his Death already, by some Vessels from Constantinople, and so 'twill be Needless to say any Thing as to his Untimely Fate, or the Tragedies of the Se­raglio and Imperial City.

It seems very strange to me, and a Thing Unaccountable, that there can be no Means found out to prevent these dangerous Insurre­ctions of the Soldiers; and that the most For­midable Empire on Earth, should be thus frequently shock'd by her own Subjects! Mehemet, the Things of this Present World are a Perfect Riddle, and our Life it self is but the Shadow of a Dream. Thou hast Ex­perienc'd the Inconstancy of Fortune, and that there is Nothing on Earth deserves a Wise Man's Confidence. Therefore if I may advise thee, it shall be, to wean thy self from the Trivial Affairs of Mortals. Let not the Natural Fondnesses which thou may'st pos­sibly have for thy former Courtly Life in the Seraglio, return to disquiet thy Soul. A Man may be Happy any where, that knows how to be Contented. Nature is serv'd with a Little: And we ought to esteem our Irregu­lar Appetites as Foreigners. If our Fortune be not extended to the larger Measure of our Wishes, 'tis easy to contract and adequate our Minds to our Fortune.

Thou may'st carve to thy self various Sorts of Felicities in Egypt, and render Caire as Pleasant to thee now, as Constantinople was [Page 212]formerly. Virtue makes all Places Delight­ful. If thou art for an Active Life, there's Business enough in that Popu­lous City; and Opportunities are never wanting to a Man that is ready to lay hold of them. Besides, 'tis the Popular Chara­cter of Egypt, That whosoever dwells in it, finds an Employment suitable to his Inclina­tion. But if thou art Melancholy and Con­templative, in my Opinion thou cou'dst not have chosen a Country more agreeable to such a Temper.

Were I in thy Station, I shou'd make fre­quent Visits to the Pyramids, and never be weary of searching out the Antiquity of those Admirable Structures. There is hardly any Thing made by Human Art, which has put me upon more Importunate Studies and Dis­quisitions, than the Original of these Stupen­dous Fabricks. They far surpass in Grandeur and Magnificence, the most Renown'd Build­ings of the Greek and Roman Empires, even in the Zenith of their most Flourishing State. And I wou'd fain learn, When they were First Erected, by Whom, and for What Ends? For I cannot believe what Josephus the Jew­ish Historian reports of them, That they were built in the Time of Moses their Lawgiver, and that all those of the Hebrew Nation, a­mounting to some Hundreds of Thousands, were employ'd as Slaves in the Work, by the King then Reigning in Egypt.

I have perus'd Herodotus the Grecian, Dio­dorus the Sicilian, with Strabo, Pliny, and [Page 213]other Writers, who have all taken great Pains to search into the Antiquity of the Py­ramids: Yet after all their Travel in Egypt, and their Converse with the Priests of that Country, they seem to have received but small Light in this Affair; leaving Things in Uncertainty, and not agreeing in their Accounts. One will have 'em, to be only design'd for Sepulchers of the Kings: Another says, they were built by Joseph the Hebrew, the Vizir of Egypt, and that they were the Granaries where he laid up Seven Years Provision of Corn, against the Famine, which in his Days afflicted the Earth. Thus they differ in their Sentiments. And our Countryman Ibn Abd' Alhokm declares, That when he was in Egypt, he cou'd not draw from any of the Priests, the least Certainty as to the Age of these Pyramids, or their Founders. Which made him conclude, That since there was no Memory or Footsteps of Their Original left among Men, it is Probable they were built before the Flood.

This agrees exactly with what others of our Arabian Writers have deliver'd concerning King Saurid, who Reign'd in Egypt Three Hundred Years before the Deluge. They re­late strange Things of this Prince; and a­mong the Rest, That he dreamt, The Fixed Stars came down from Heaven to the Earth, overturning all Things with the Violence of their Precipitate Fall. Being much troubl'd at this Vision, he sent for the Priests and Sages; who when they were assembl'd together in the King's [Page 214] Palace, Aclimon their Cater, or Prince of the Astrologers, told the King, That a Year before, he had seen a Vision which made a deep Impression on his Mind. For, the Cele­stial Orbs appeared to descend so low as to touch the Earth, so that the Stars were mingl'd a­mong Men. Then he lift up his Hands above his Head in his Dream, to keep the Heaven from quite oppressing Mortals with its Weight. Whilst I were in this Posture, said he, me­thought I address'd my self to the Sun, beseech­ing the Resplendent God, to retire with all his Glittering Train of Lights to their Ancient Stations on High. Whereupon, the Sun made Answer, When I shall have accomplish'd Three Hundred Circuits, the Heavens will return to their Proper Places.

When Aclimon had related this Vision, the King commanded the Astrologers to erect a Scheme of the Present Configurations Above, and to tell them what they Presag'd. They did so, and all agree'd, That a Deluge shou'd First overflow the Whole Earth, and that Afterwards it should be totally destroy'd by Fire.

Upon the hearing of this, they say King Saurid commanded the Pyramids to be built; carrying all his Riches into them, with the Tables of the Mysterious Sciences, and Laws, and whatsoever was esteem'd Precious, and Worthy to be preserv'd from the Gene­ral Destruction. And the Annals of Egypt say, that he commanded these Words to be Engraven on them:

I Saurid, laid the Foundation of the Pyramids, and finish'd them in Six Years: Yet I Challenge any Future King, to demolish them in Six Hundred Years; Tho' it be much easier to Ruine, than to Build. I cover'd 'em with Silks; let any Man after me, cover 'em with Mats, if he can.

In thus asserting Saurid to be the Founder of the Pyramids, it ought to be understood only of some of the Greatest; and that other Succeeding Princes (perhaps after the Flood) spurr'd on with Emulation and Desire of Glory, built the Rest: Which is the only Way to reconcile our Arabian Writers to He­rodotus, Diodorus and other Historians of the West, who assign Cheops or Chemnis, with Cephren, Chabryis, and Mycerinus the Son of Chemnis, as Founders of some Particular Py­ramids. Whilst Strabo and Pliny, ascribe the Building of one to Rhodope, a Famous Strum­pet, or at least to some of her Paramours.

Doubtless, there is great Obscurity and Confusion in the Records of the Ancients, a­bout the Exact Time when these Illustrious Monuments were built. Which yet is an Im­pregnable Argument of their Antiquity; since, [Page 216]when One Author asserts this or that King to have built a Pyramid, Another demon­strates the Contrary, by proving that that Pyramid was in Being, long before the Days of the suppos'd Founder. Neither can I find any Concurrence of Authorities, so Rational and exactly agreeing, as that of the Arabi­ans; who all Unanimously deliver as a cer­tain Truth, That these Unparallell'd Stru­ctures, were built long before the Flood. All which is confirm'd by the Egyptian Annals themselves, pen'd by those of the Coptite Race, who descended from Coptim the Son of Ma­sar, the Son of Bansar, the Son of Cham, the Son of Noah; With whom and his Family, Philemon the Good Priest made an Alliance by Marriage, and in their Custody were the Records and Traditions of the Old World.

But if it be granted, Dear Eunuch, that those Histories are true, which relate the Transactions of the Kings of Egypt before the Flood; what Reason have we to call in Question the Fragments of Manethos, a Priest of Egypt; or the Genealogy and Succes­sion of Egyptian Monarchs deliver'd by Hero­dotus; or the Chronological Registers of Egypt unfolded by Diodorus, which carry up the Reign of their Kings to above a Thousand Years beyond any other the most Early Epocha of the Creation, except that of the Assyrians, or the Interminable Ascent of Past Ages in the Records of the Chinese and Indians?

I know not what to call it, whether the Cowardise of the Intellect, which dare not [Page 217]venture to launch into so vast a Speculation; or its Sloth, which will not take the Pains to unfold and stretch its drowzy Faculties on the most Natural Idea in the World. 'Tis true indeed, we cannot without some Fatigue, contemplate stedfastly the Eternal Existence and Duration of Things. 'Tis an Immortal Thought, that can transport the Soul back through such an Infinity of Ages. Yet the Pleasure is Agreeable to the Undertaking: Be­cause Truth, serene as the Mornings in Egypt, enlightens the Prospect, and tempts the Mind, if 'twere possible, to look even beyond Eternity it self: Whereas, he that only con­fines his View to the Narrow Horizon of Par­ticular Histories, is like a Man in a Wilderness, or a low and shady Vale, where his Eye is curb'd with the Interposition of Thickets, Un­even Ground, and Envious Enclosures. For, such are the Dark Controversies, Inextricable Difficulties, and Affected Umbrages of most Writers, who never durst peep o'er the Moun­tains of receiv'd Opinion; or, if they did, they fearfully or maliciously hide their Disco­veries from the Rest of Mortals. I tell thee, as God is Eternal, there cannot be assign'd an Instant of Time, wherein the World did not Exist. For, the First Matter flows as Natu­rally from his Essence, as Light from the Sun,

If thou Adorest any other God but this, thou wilt b [...] found in the Number of Idolaters and Infidels, who pay Divine Honors to cer­tain Mighty Angels, Architects, as they be­lieve, of the Ʋniverse.

They behold Houses, Castles and Great Ci­ties built by Mortals, and at a certain Period ruin'd by Fire, Water, Earthquakes, or other Accidents; Or destroy'd by the Effects of War: From hence they form a Notion, of the World's Original and Catastrophe. They Con­sider the Animals, Plants and Minerals, That every Individual perishes in Time, and that even in the Heavens there are strong Symp­toms of Corruption and Alteration. Hence they collect Arguments, to prove the Weakness and Decay of Ʋniversal Nature, which they Vainly compare to the Life of a Man, a Beast, or a Tree. And as these have their Appointed Seasons of Birth, Growth, Maturity, Decay and Death; so is it with the Ʋniverse.

But all this is Sophistry; or, to speak more fa­vourably, we ought to charge it to the Ac­count of short Meditation. For, tho' the Individuals of all Kinds are chang'd, cease and disappear at their Appointed Periods; Yet the Species or Kinds themselves remain for Ever before our Eyes. As fast as One Man dies, Another is born; and so 'tis with the Brutes: And the Seasons of the Year in their Proper Course, renew all the Vegetables. We find the Elements, the Sun, Moon, Stars and Earth remain Unchangeable. And why then shou'd we think, they were not always so, and will not continue so for Ever? Or, if this be too bold a Stretch, let us conceive them at least much more Ancient and Durable, than they are Generally thought to be. And if these Greater Bodies shall undergo a Change in [Page 219]their Outward Forms; we may yet believe their Substances will remain for Ever.

But, whether Corporeal Beings are thus last­ing or no, we have Something in us that can never perish. Our Souls are Immortal, and need not the Embalming of Egypt to preserve 'em from Corruption.

Therefore, Dear Mehemet, since we are Destin'd to live for Ever in one State or o­ther, let us not fear Death, which is but a Mi­nutes Slumber, a Short Trance, out of which we shall immediately Awake, to encrease our Knowledge and Experience of those Myste­ries and Secrets in Nature, which at Present are hid from us. In a Word, let us live like Philosophers, and then we may hope to die with the same Equanimity of Spirit as he did, who in his last Agonies being ask'd by his Friend, Where was all his Philosophy now? An­swer'd, I am just entering on a New Discovery concerning the Nature of Salt. And with that Word he Expir'd.

Paris, 7th. of the 2d. Moon, of the Year 1657.

LETTER XII.
To the most Venerable Musti.

IF the Publick Seditions shou'd always con­tinue, or be as frequently Renew'd as they have lately been at Constantinople; and if their Effects shall be Equally Fatal to the Grandees, as has been this last Horrid Mutiny of the Soldiers; To Congratulate any Man's Rise to an Eminent Dignity, will be but to flatter him, and Addresses of this Nature must be esteem'd no better than Mock-Compli­ments, Civil Insults, and Fashionable Sar­casms: Since at this Rate, Great Honours ought to be look'd on no otherwise, but as direct Advances and nearer Approaches to Infamy, and Death; when a Man is Exalted from an Obscure Fastness, and Hurnble Se­curity, to the Glorious Hazard of a Precipi­tate Fall.

'Tis therefore, when I come to kiss the Dust of thy Feet, among the Crowd of True Be­lievers, and to welcome thee to the most Sa­cred and Sublime Vicarship on Earth; I draw near with an Indifference, suitable to a Mus­sulman, wishing thee not more Joy than Safety in that Mysterious Station, but such a Temperament of Both, as is due to thy San­ctity and Incorrupt Actions. In a Word, I wish thee a perpetual Immunity from thy [Page 221] Predecessor's Temptations, and from his Crimes; and then thou need'st not fear his Misfortune and Disgrace.