Selected quad for the lemma: blood_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
blood_n	day_n	eat_v	flesh_n	7,778	5	7.8149	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51897	The fifth volume of letters writ by a Turkish spy who lived five and forty years undiscover'd at Paris : giving an impartial account to the Divan at Constantinople of the most remarkable transactions of Europe, and discovering several intrigues and secrets of the Christian courts (especially of that of France) continued from the year 1642 to the year 1682 / written originally in Arabick, translated into Italian, and from thence into English, by the translator of the first volume.	Marana, Giovanni Paolo, 1642-1693.; Bradshaw, William, fl. 1700.; Midgley, Robert, 1655?-1723.	1692 (1692)	Wing M565CL; ESTC R35022	171,587	384

yet I have been searching and prying into it above these Thirty Years I mean from the Time that I First began to think and consider of Things but am as far to seek as ever I was Neither cou'd all the Wise Men of Old the Philosophers and Sages for ought I perceive agree in their Verdict about this Mysterious Thing which we all the Soul One will have it to be Only the Finest Part of Matter in the Body Another says 'T is the Air which the Lungs suck in and diffuse through all our Members A Third Sort affirm it to be A Mixture of Air and Fire A Fourth Of Earth and Water A Fifth call it A Complexion made up of the Four Elements a Kind of Quintessence and I know not what The Egyptians call'd it A certain Moving Number And the Chaldeans A Power without Form it self yet Imbibing all Forms Aristotle call'd it The Perfection of a Natural Body All these agreed That it was Corporeal and as it were Extracted from Matter The best Definition among them is not worth an Aspre But there were Men of Sublime Speculations who affirm'd the Soul to be A Divine Substance Independent of the Body Of this Opinion were Zoroaster Hermes Trismegistus Orpheus Pythagoras Plutarch Porphyry and Plato This last defin'd the Soul to be A Self-Moving Essence endu'd with Vnderstanding But when they have said all I prefer the Modesty of Cicero Seneca and others who acknowledg'd they were altogether Ignorant what the Soul is There was no less Disagreement among the Philosophers about the Seat of the Soul Hippocrates and Hierophilus plac'd it in the Ventricles of the Brain Democritus assign'd it the Whole Body Strabo was of Opinion it resides between the Brows Epicurus in the Breast The Stoicks lodg'd it in the Heart and Empedocles in the Blood Which last seems to be the most Current Opinion of the East to this Day In Regard both Moses the Lawgiver of the Jews and Mahomet our Holy-Prophet asserted the same and for that Reason forbid Flesh to be eaten with the Blood But be it what it will either Corporeal or Incorporeal a Substance or an Accident whether it dwell in the Head or in the Feet Within or Without the Body there is no Certainty of these Things neither can we be assur'd what will become of it after Death Therefore 't is in vain to disquiet thy self in Search of a Mystery that is hid from Mortals And Equally foolish it will be to frighten thy self with an Imagination of Hooks Gins and such like Chimera's which thou supposest the Devil is busy with to entrap thy Soul 'T is a Wonder thou art not afraid to sleep lest he should catch thee Napping and steal thy Soul from thee I wou'd fain know what Sort of Tools he must use to take hold of a Substance more Thin and Imperceptible than a Shadow or how he will be able to seize and run away with a Being Active and Free as Thought Cousin serve God after the Manner of thy Forefathers love thy Friends pardon thy Enemies be Just to all Men and do no Injury to any Beast If thou observest this Rule thou may'st defy the Devil for thy Soul is in Safe Custody God is nearer to thee than thou art to thy self He is in the Center of Every Thing and is Himself the Centre of All Things In a Word He is All in All. Paris 3d. of the 6th Moon of the Year 1658. LETTER VII To Afis Bassa NOW the Scenes are changed in Europe Enemies are become Friends and those who professed a Mutual Friendship are at open Defiance Constancy is a Vice in the Politicks and a Dextrous Way of shifting from one Engagement to another for Interest is esteemed the only State-Vertue I have already Intimated to the Divan the War which broke out last Year between the Suedes and Danes The latter begun it by Solemn Proclamation sending a Herald at Arms to the Suedish Court and dispatching Embassadors to all his Allies in Christendom to give them an Account of his Proceedings Now I shall entertain thee with a short Idea of this War By which thou wilt comprehend That the Danes are either much degenerated from the Valour of their Ancestors who formerly made the most terrible Figure of all the Nations in the North Or else they are less obliged to Fortune who has not favoured them with so many Successes and Triumphs of late but rather exposed 'em to the Insults of their Enemies and the Contempt of all Men. When the King of Denmark first proclaimed this War he had a fair Advantage of the Suedes who at that Time were sorely entangled between the Polanders Germans and Moscovites and had more Need of Helps than Hind'rances Yet King Gustavus turning Part of his Forces into Holstein Schoneland and Juitland he took one Part after another till he had over-run those Provinces in the Space of Six Moons And reduced the Danes to a Necessity of Composition and that on such Dishonourable Terms as renders them the Scorn of the Neighbouring Nations On the 13th of the 3d. Moon the Two Kings had an Interview near Copenhagen the Capital City of Denmark For so far had the Fortune of the Suedish Arms carried their Victories They Eat and Drank together several Times and Conversed privately some Hours At last a Firm Peace was Concluded between them and they concerted the Measures of a Perfect Friendship But before this the Dane had been forced to yield up Schoneland with Elsimberg which commands Half the Baltick Sea He surrendred also the Provinces of Blakin and Halland with a very strong Castle the Island of Burtholme Ten Ships of War and obliged himself to pay a Million of Dollars and to maintain Four Thousand Horse and Foot in the King of Suedeland's Service and give Free Quarter to all the Suedish Forces till the 5th Moon These are such Dishonourable Articles that the King of Denmark has quite lost himself in the Esteem of all his Allies They call him a Poor-Spirited Prince not Worthy of Support or Assistance In a Word Serene Bassa it is like to fare with him as with other Unfortunate Men who when they are once falling every Body will help to throw them down Therefore conserve thy Honours as the only Bulwark of thy Interest and Life Paris 3d. of the 6th Moon of the Year 1658. LETTER VIII To the Mufti BY the Faith of a True Believer I swear the Christians are Enemies to themselves if they do not embrace the Project of a certain Jesuite They are no Friends to their Messias if they reject so Regular an Idea so Reformed a Model of the Nazarene Empire as this Sage has lately proposed to the Pope and the Cardinals He lays his Foundation very deep and draws his Examples from the Practice of Peter the Prince of the First Twelve Christian Caliphs whom the Franks call the Apostles of Jesus the Son of Mary For according to their Traditions the Messias before

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 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 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 'T will 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 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 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

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 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 Vniverse 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 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 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 Vniverse 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 rather seem to deserve the Title of Philosophers or Lovers of Wisdom and Truth And 't is 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

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 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 't is 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 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 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 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 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

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 Vnknown 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 Vnknown 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 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 't is 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 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 Bi r 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 't is 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 't is 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 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