excess of their goodness doth make their oppressors commit afterwards who ordinarily augment their violences when as they see they are dissembled What do we further expect O generous Citizens May it be to have the Government and all kind of Authority in the Republique to be utterly lost May it be that you will have the heart to place Jannetin in the Throne To see the Ministers of his fury go and take your goods out of your houses ruine your families attempt upon your lives dishonor your wives and commit those wickednesses which may justly be attended from a Tyranny that is born for the ruine of the Country nourished by the publique dissention increased by the miseries of the Citizens and established by the death of so many good men Are our courages so base and so low brought Have our swords so little edg as we cannot cut off the infamous life of him who makes a glory of our shame who triumphs over our misfortunes and feeds on our miseries Shall we not pluck out of Jannetin's body that cowardly heart which hath contrived so many Treasons and which may be termed the scource of all our mischiefs Shall we suffer a simple Citizen to be our Tyrant let him trample us under his feet and subjecting us unto him as his Slaves dispose of our lives and deaths as he pleaseth For me I profess freely unto you that I hold it more glorious to buy liberty with a great peril then to sweeten servitude with idleness and patience And as I take it for a glory that our Enemies have a design to add the loss of my life unto that of the Republique so do I consecrate my life with joy for the liberty of my Counâ—ry acknowledging that I should be unworthy of enjoying it if I could prefer it before the publique utility I desire only O illustrious Citizens to discover a resolution in you if not worthy of your courage at leastwise proportionable to the danger wherein you are In fine whether you will have me for a Soldier or a Captain if you will go before me I will follow you if I shall go before you do you follow me Besides whether you be sensible of honor or that you only think of your safety you are always forced to take up Arms for since I must deliver things unto you as they are this resolution as to generous men is glorious for you as to men of little courage is commodious for you and in what manner soever it be is necessary for you I do not call you to an enterprize that is unforecasted or ill conducted I have long since considered the end and means of it And I have not only examined the sequel of it but I have assembled troops for it and having distributed them in the most commodious places for execution it is rather inviting you to the pleasing spectacle of a certain victory then to the peril of a doubtful fight But without animating you by the hope of that is to come I know very well so as you will call to mind the outrages of the Nobles and the insolency of Jannetin I know very well I say that the desire of revenge being rouzed up in your Souls you will come to fight with so much heart as our Enemies shall to their damage admire the valor of those whom they despised and you on the contrary shall know by your own experience whether they have as much force in warlike occasions as they have weakness in abandoning themselves to voluptuousness in the time of Peace Let us go then generous Citizens and let this be the end of my discourse and the beginning of your victory Let us go out of this Palace and descend into the City where we are attended by a great number of our friends for the ending of an enterprize so well begun The gates are in the power of the Soldiers whom I have gained to me the Gallies upon a Signal given will fall into the hands of a Troop of men as hardy to render themselves Masters of them as prudent to conserve them We have in the City fifteen hundred inhabitants which are armed for us and even now that I am speaking to you there are in the Suburbs two thousand of my Subjects and as many of the Duke of Placentia's which are come to succor us Let us go then my companions and call the people again to liberty let us return to the sweetness of our ancient Government let us exterminate the Nobles and Jannetin's Tyranny and in one only night more shining then the fairest days of our lives have been let us re-establish the glory of the popular families in their first splendor let us for ever deface out of the memories of men our past faint-heartedness But if any of you as I cannot believe be so audacious so cowardly both together as to oppose a design so glorious for us and advantageous for our Country let him behold round about him this dreadful company of Arms and Soldiers and let him imagine that he sees at the very same instant the points of all our swords leveled at his heart Yea my Companions I do protest it openly we must of necessity either fight or dye And that blood which shall be ingratefully denyed to the succor of our Country so neer to ruine shall be shed in this very place to wash away the stain of such perfidiousness Yea I say it once again the first sacrifice which shall be consecrated for the publique safety shall even here have his throat cut with my hand if any one undertakes to oppose my will These dreadful menaces amazed those to whom they were addrest they beheld one another and then that great number of Soldiers which environed them and after they had been a while without speaking they cryed all with one voyce two excepted that they would follow the Count even to the death that they would be the companions of his triumph or of his fall and in conclusion that they would never abandon him but would obey him in all things The Count embraced them then with a great deal of joy and testimony of satisfaction and being turned towards those two which as yet had said nothing they besought him to have pity of their weakness with words wherein fear appeared so visible as the Count could not forbear smiling They represented unto him that the request which they made him was advantageous to him as well as to them because being so uncapable of fighting they should hurt him more then they could help him that their fear might beget the same in others and their flight give an ill example to his Soldiers Briefly they gave him so many marks of their affright and terror as changing his determination he only contented himself with reproaching them for their cowardise in a bitter jear and for the security of his enterprize he caused them to be shut up in a chamber where he left them under a Guard which should keep them
and for that effect he caused a generall assault to be given And though there were a body of the enemies Army in the field he commanded nevertheless that they should not care so much for the guard of the Trenches as for the attacquing of the place and the reason of this was because the enemy had never appeared nor had used indeavour either to cast Troops into the City or to raise the siege In the mean time it hapned that an hour after the assault was begun and that above twenty times there had been already lost and regained five or six foot of ground which was to render Soliman Master of the Town there was heard notwithstanding the dreadfull noise of Cannons of armes and of the cries of them that fought towards the Grand-Signiors quarter a great volley of musket shot which put much fear into our souldiers hearts Soliman who was present at this fight for to give direction in person confirmed them the best that possibly he could and after he had commanded the Bassa Sinan to continue the assault he went to see what the matter was followed only by two thousand Janisaries but he was quickly cleared in it for he had not marched fifty paces but that he saw the rest of his souldiers come in disorder having avoided the fury of the enemy who was pursuing them still Soliman no longer doubted then but that this was Zellebis his Army which attacqued his Camp and being a Prince of a great and generous spirit he purposed to fight with them But as he was ready to march directly to the enemy he was much surprized to behold from the Towns side that not only his souldiers had abandoned the assault but that Zellebis in the head of those of Chientaya went beating them before him in a terrible disorder As for me who always followed the Prince without other arms than a light chain which I wore on one of my legs I assuredly believed that he was lost as indeed without almost a supernaturall assistance it is certain that he could not have escaped He was closed up in the midst of his enemies his Army was dispersed fear had seized upon his Troops and if an advantagious plot of ground had not been met withall to put part of his Forces and his Person in safety this mischief had been without remedy But Madam must I tell you how it was by my means that this day so unlucky in the beginning had a glorious end Yes Madam I must tell it you and since my valor was but an effect of my despair and that you were the cause thereof it is just to let you understand how it was by you that I saved both the life and the glory of great Soliman Remember then if you please this verity in the process of this Narration to the end I may not be accused of vanity in delivering things which I had not executed without you I shall tell you then Madam that in this universall disorder I conserved so much judgement to observe that on the left hand of that quarter where we were there was a place which Nature had so well fortified as with very little defence it was impossible to be forced I advanced then boldly to the Grand Signior and maugre the press I let him see what I had already noted and caused him to perceive that in attending the rallying of his troops he might be there not only in assurance but in an estate to keep those of the town from joyning with them that were without This advice having satisfied him he commanded to go and seiz on that plot but as if the enemy had been acquainted with this design he advanced to dispute it with us There it was Madam that I ceased to be slave for to be a soldier for having taken a scimitar which I found amongst the dead bodies I got into the head of our troops with so much resolution so much good fortune as I did things there which I dare not relate in the end Madam I inspired our soldiers with such valor as reasuming courage we repulsed the enemy seized on the place whereof I have already spoken to you But when I saw Soliman in safety I went and cast my self amidst some of our forces which were fighting still with those that were come out of the City and perceiving that our souldiers were preparing to flie in hope to get to the place where Soliman was I threatned to kill them if they returned not to the fight This so extraordinary a discourse being seconded by some effects which seemed marvellous unto them they resolved to follow me Behold me then the head of this couragious Brigade whom I conducted so fortunately as I made them carry that in two hours which a whole Army could not do in six weeks before At last Madam being resolved to perish or do some great matter I so hotly pursued the enemies that after we had killed a great number of them made the rest to flie and put fear into all the remainder I drove them even into their town where being entred alone with them certainly I performed things which made me plainly see that despair is more powerfuller than valor but whatsoever I could have done doubtless I should have fallen there if I had not called to minde that the breach being abandoned I might through that place cause our forces to enter thither I made then with extreme speed and finding none on the Ramparts but disarmed people who were there assembled to see the success of the business I easily got to it and presently discovering those which had followed me to the City-gate I cried unto them Victory Victory for to oblige them to turn head towards me When as they knew me by my slaves habit they were so surprized to see me still living as no way doubting but that I was a man sent by their Prophet to succour them they resolved to abandon me no more and superstition mingled it self so happily amongst them to excite their valor as I can say that I never saw souldiers more couragious They came then unto me with incredible speed and were no sooner mounted on the breach but I pulled down an Ensign which the enemies had set up on the wall to put one of Solimans in the place of it and having left some for the guard of the breach I went with the rest to seize on the gates of the town and their Magazine of Arms. The people no sooner heard long-live victorious Soliman cried in the streets but their weapons sell out of their hands assuredly believing that their Army was defeated and that the Emperors was in the City In the mean time Zellebis used all his endeavour to put heart into his souldiers again but seeing it altogether impossible he resolved to flie fearing nothing so much as to fall alive into Solimans hands As soon as the people knew that their Defendor had forsaken them we had no further resistance except
the City unto him and having recovered new forces they were utterly defeated and Thomombey taken prisoner After he had given the pillage of Cairo to his souldiers as you may see in this Table where this dreadfull disorder is so well exprest he went and took also Alexandria Danâ—ietta Tripoli and all the rest of Egypt and Arabia One of his Bassaes obtained likewise a great Victory against the Persians But at last after he had been in so many fights won so many battails and conquered so many Provinces in less than two years as he thought to return triumphant to the seat of his Empire he dyed at Chiourli in the very same place where before he had given battel to his faâ—her after he had reigned only eight years The Pourtrait of Soliman the second the fourteenth Emperor of the Turks THe Victories of great Soliman are so universally known of all the World that upon the least considering of this Table you will bring them unto your memory again it being impossible but that fame hath acquainted you with them You will easily then knovv Belgrade and the Isle of Rhodes where this Emperor stood in need of all his conduct and of all his valour This Battel which you see a far off is that of Mohacs vvhich he gained against the Hungarians wherein dyed Lewis King of Hungary This City which here I shew you continued Ibrahim is Bagadet vvhere Soliman vvas crovvned King of Persia but though I have some share in this War as well as in that of Natolia vvhich you may see also in this Table I will refer this narration to another time that may be more opportune for us I know my dear Doria that this proposition displeases you but you must obey me for you vvill not be the strongest at Constantinople and though you may absolutely command Justiniano yet must you at this time follovv the pleasure of Ibrahim Let us make an end then of running over the Victories of Soliman again and without particularising every one it shall suffice me to tell you that Assyria and Mesopotamia do obey him that he hath taken Strigonia and Alba Regalis that he hath made six expeditions into Hungary that he hath subdued Aladulia and the Kingdom of Aden with many other Towns on the red sea that he hath rendred Argier Tributary that he hath also subjected Pialli Tripoli and Gerbes But after all these things that which I find to be most excellent in the life of this Prince is that he conquered a Kingdom for to restore it unto him to whom it appertained by rendring unto him again all the strong places that he had in his hands which he performed in the person of John King of Hungary and I more esteem of him for having surmounted this ambition vvhich is naturall to all Monarchs than I commend him for all his Victories And whereas I make more account of the gifts of Nature than of the presents of Fortune I had rather make you an Elogium of his person in particular than speak further to you of his Conquests which are already but too great on Christendom side Behold then my dear Doria this Majesticall face and this vertuous physiognomy did you ever see a more goodly man or one of a better aspect There appears in his eyes a vivacity of spirit and a sweetness vvhich charmeth hearts and in the air of his face a certain tranquillity which sufficiently shevvs that this Prince is master of his passions and that without doubt he hath no interior trouble I know not whether my affection to him doth blind or dazle me but I see something of such state in his port and of so much majesty over all his person as I hold it impossible for one to look upon him and not to love him Furthermore this goodly apparance is not deceitfull and the qualities of this Princes soul are so noble and vertuous that if he were a Christian he would be of all men the most perfect He hath together both much valour and much conduct he is infinitely just towards his own people and exceeding clement towards his enemies he is so rigorous an observer of his vvord as he vvould resolve rather to lose his Empire than not to keep it when once he hath given it He is great in spirit great in judgement and great in memory he understands the Mathematicks and the universall History so admirably as nothing can be propounded to him toâ—â—hing those matters which he resolves not upon the place Finally he is a Prince that possesseth all vertues and that hath never been vanquished save by one only passion but whereas it is the noblest of all others I think you will pardon him this weakness he hath been then passionately amorous of divers women but amongst the rest of the Sultana Roxelana whom he would needs espouse to the end she might partake with him in that supreme greatness which the Othoman Princes do not lightly bestow and which to conserve wholly to themselves they never or seldom marry howbeit love was stronger in Soliman than either reason of State or the example of his Predecessors Behold my dear Doria a simple draught of this great Emperor whom ere it be long you may compare with the originall that so you may judge whether I have robbed him of any thing or flattered him for this great Prince hath commanded me to bring you to the Seraglio when as I go thither to take my leave of him in the mean space since we are pressed with time let us make an end of viewing this house In saying so Ibrahim opened a door which gave upon the Lobbey whereof I have already spoken but before they past on Doria testified to Ibrahim hovv glad he was of the hope he had given him that he should present himself to the Grand Signior he rendred him thanks also for having so punctually explaned all those peeces by abridging unto him the History of so great an Empire which he had never understood but very confusedly before He would have said more if our illustrious Bassa would have suffered him but his impatience appeared so visibly in his eyes that Doria without further stay went out of the Gallery smiling into the Lobbey from whence they past through three outward chambers which were all of a floor before they came to Ibrahims the feeling of them were very magnificent and the meanest of the Hangings were of cloth of Gold of Tinsell or Persian Tapestry the floors as of all the rest vvere made of suitable peeces of severall Marbles and in proportionable divisions After he had stayed a vvhile to consider all these things they entred into the Bassaes chamber vvhere Doria vvas surprised vvith the furniture of it both for the richness and fashion thereof for it was hanged with black Velvet set all over with tears and flames imbroidered in pearl Here it was where Ibrahim desired his dear Doria to remember the things which he should see in this chamber
is to be considered in this occasion it is not for the hope of brave things that he will doe hereafter that this grace is to be accorded him it is not for our ransom that he is to be received with joy it is not because I have promised it that it is to be resolved on it is not because reason doth counsell it it is not because justice doth ordain it but it is because necessity will have it so You will say to me it may be that the success of this War would still be doubtfull but my Lords if you consider the inequality of your forces you will not doubt at all especially in a time wherein all the Princes of Christendom are not in a condition to assist their Allies Shall it be from the Emperor that you will be protected in this occasion who findes himself too much intangled in the War with the Protestants and in the affaires of the Councell of Trent for to think of yours Shall it be from the Kingdomes of Naples and Sicily that you look for succor they that are exhausted both of men and money for the Emperor their Master Shall it be from the Switzers or the Grisons that we shall be assisted in this incounter they that are ingaged in all these Warres and that are more likely rather to side with the stronger party than to succor the weaker It may be that the French will furnish us with that vvhich we cannot find elsewhere but my Lords were they not in War with the Emperor yet would they see us perish with joy and the Armies of the Turks could not doe that amongst us which they would not do here with theirs if they were in an estate to be revenged on us for our changing You will tell me further that the Republiques of Florence Siena and Lucca are not so far of but that one may be succoured from them but they are so ingaged in those two parties as they have not the liberty to dispose of their forces The Duke of Savoy might also do something for you if he were peaceable in his State but he himself is so busied in preparing to hinder the passage of the French as he cannot minde the extremities of his neighbors I know very well in like manner that England is full of armed men but my Lords it is not to defend us nor will Queen Mary abandon the siege of London which is to put her in possession of her Kingdom to come and oppose our enemies Neither will Scotland disfurnish her self of her men or War having such mighty Armies at her frontires wherefore we are not to turn our eyes that way Poland Hungary and Moscovy are too near unto the Turk for to imbroil themselves with him And Sweathland and Denmark are too far off for any succor to be hoped from thence At last my Lords to leave nothing unsaid the death of Julius the third and of his successor falling out in so little a time permit not his Holiness who is not yet well established to think of affaires abroad And to take all hope from you the Venetians desiring to conserve that which they hold in the Archipelaglo will not break the Treaty they have made with the Turk to succor you You see then my Lords that all Christendom doth abandon you and that there is nothing resting in you choice but the burning of your City and the utter destruction of this State or the return of Justiniano and Doria But to justifie the ardor of my Zeal and to mak it appear that my fear is not without ground I do here deliver into your hands the Grand Signiors letter which it may be will carry you more easily to my sense and reason This oration was heard by the Senate with a great deal of attention amazement and joy and when the Duke had taken the Grand Signiors letter he commanded an interpreter to come and expound it in the mean time a confused voice arose in this Assembly which made Philippo Spinola conjecture that the grace of Justiniano would soon be granted Never was there heart agitated with so much violence and whereas this man was sensible and generous the designes of pardoning or punishing so equally divided his soul as not knowing vvhich side to turn him to hee seemed to seek for in the eyes of Alphonso vvherevvith to fortifie his reason He vvept all at one instant both for grief and tenderness the remembrance of the dead and the return of the living excited in his mind both a calm and a tempest and in this disorder of passions and apprehensions of nature vvhich combatted one with another and successively destroyed themselves he was going to be the prey of despair and sorrow had not the sight of his Sonne been at length found more powerfull than the image of his past misfortune He knew so distinctly the sense of Alphonso by the motions of his face as being ashamed to be less generous than he he let his resentment be surmounted by so noble an example which presently appeased all the troubles of his spirit so that feeling himself in a more peaceable estate and seeing the Duke about to speak he to prevent him besought him with teares in his eyes to restore that unto Justiniano which his prosecutions had taken from him it being just since he had rendred him a sonne that he should render him his liberty This discourse so ravished the whole Assembly that contrary to their custom and the respect of the place they sent forth cries of joy which did not cease very soon but amongst the rest the young Count of Lavagna together with Alphonso who were present thought they should never have been silent again the first could not sufficiently commend this action and the other could not forbear saying that he was more obliged to his father for vanquishing himself than for giving him life But after every one had praised Philippo as much as he deserved they betook them to their places and gravitie again for to hearken to the Letter which the Interpreter expounded in this sort by the commaandment of the Duke I that am by the grace of the most High and by the abundance of Miracles of the Chief of his Prophets Emperor of the Victorious Emperors King of Kings Lord of Lords Distributer of Crownes and Scepters to the greatest Princes and Monarches of the Earth The servant of the two most Holy and Sacred Towns of Mecca and Medina Lord of Europe Asia and Africa Conquered with our Victorious sword and dreadfull Lance to the Duke and Senate of the Republique of Genoua If one of our Slaves had not found grace in our sight we should soon have made you feel the force of our terrible sword and our clemencie had not returned you as it hath done your Vessells your goods your people your Ambassador but is upon condition that you cause the sentences to be revoked which were given against Justiniano and against Doria and that they may
Princess whom he loved Rustan having acquainted Roxelana with what he knew concerning Ibrahim told her afterwards that if Soliman would be pleased to let him speak with him he did not doubt but to finde a remedy for the grief of his favorite It is not said Roxelana interrupting him because his death would not be more pleasing to me then his life but for our interest we must do all things disoblige our friends if occasion require and oblige our enemies when the service we render them may serve for our designs We must then continued she save Ibrahim's life at this time to obtain your re-establishment and then we will proceed in another manner afterwards if it be offensive to us Roxelana then propounded unto him the demanding of an Army of Soliman to bring away this Princess by force whose absence caused Ibrahim's suffering but Rustan replyed that as long as one could work by address no recourse was to be had to force that for him he knew better how to beguile then to fight and in the end without explaining his design unto her he promised her to perish or to bring this Princess to Constantinople provided he might be furnished with a man of war throughly provided and might be permitted to say in the places where he should aboard that he was going to the King of France in the quality of a Chaoux from the Grand Signior Roxelana seeing Rustan so resolute for this enterprize sent him away and told him that the next day he should hear from her as indeed she delt in such sort with the Grand Signior as he promised her the grace of Rustan if he could perform that which she propounded to him and this Prince resolved even to endure the sight of him that he might try to render his dear Ibrahim happy without absenting him from him At first Rustan craved pardon of him but when as Soliman pressed him to tell him which way he hoped to make his design succeed wherewith Roxelana had already acquainted him My Lord answered he I do not think it a harder matter to carry away a Princess of Italy by force then a Princess of Persia wherefore let thy Highness be assured that if that be given me which the Sultana without doubt hath demanded of thee for me and that thou wilt make me hope I may re-enter into thy favor Ibrahim shall quickly be the happiest man on the Earth for wanting nothing to make him so but the possession of this Princess I will bring her to him ere it be long nothing save death alone being able to keep me from performing it Soliman had at the begining some aversion to this violence but coming to consider that it was the onely way to retain Ibrahim with him he forgot all other considerations So that before he dismissed Rustan he was absolutely resolved to attempt the matter and therefore he assured him that he should depart within two days but in the mean time he charged him to entreat the Princess of Monaco who was she that he was to bring away with the same respect as he was obliged to have for the Sultana Queen Things being in these terms the Grand Signior caused all Rustan's equipage to be made ready with all the diligence that possibly could be he furnished him likewise with great store of mony and jewels in case he should have need of it he had also his dispatch as if indeed he had been sent to the King of France in the quality of a Chaoux and lacking nothing else for his voyage he set sail in as favorable a season as might be This happy begining of Navigation gave no false hopes to the Pilot who made such use of the advantage of the wind and fair weather as his vessel being an excellent sailer he made this cut with a speed the like whereof hath not been heard speak of in all the seas of the Levant Rustan approaching to Monaco sent his skiff with one of his servants and an interpreter to demand permission of the Princess for his entrance into the Port there to mend his vessel which he said was bruised with the fury of the Sea and he had caused one mast and some of the tackle thereof to be really broken to the end if what he desired were not granted he might have a pretext to stay in that place and so might be able to seek out some means for the executing of his design But it happened that the Princess having been constrained to go to Genoua for some important reasons which had obliged her thereunto was not then at Monaco so that he who commanded in her absence answered Rustan's messenger that the Princess at her departure had given him order to let no man of war enter into the Port as long as she was not there Rustan understanding by the return of his skiff that this Princess was not at Monaco seemed at first to be much afflicted at it but suddenly being of another minde he thought on the contrary that it would be advantageous to him since she being questionless to return from Genoua to Monaco it would be easier for him to carry her away at sea then out of a Town He resolved then to go to Genoua and shew the State his dispatch to the end he might be the better received by them and might make his abode there till the Princess should depart from thence to Monaco under colour that he waited for one of his ships which he would say was severed from him by a Tempest The matter being thus resolved he executed it accordingly and taking into the main Sea again to the end he might be seen to come from the Levant he sailed to Genoua where he was received not only as the Grand Signior's Chaoux as soon as he had shewed his dispatch but as one sent from a Prince to whom the Republique had a great obligation In the mean time he dextrously enquired after the place where the Princess of Monaco's Palace was and having learnt it out he made one of his Slaves watch always in the same street to discover whether any preparations were a making thereabout for a Voyage He caused some to observe at the Port whether any Galley were ready to set forth and all to be informed when she went In conclusion he omitted nothing that might serve for his design He was certain days in this expectation with a great deal of impatience but Fortune that would not yet abandon him furnished him with a far more favorable occasion to carry away the Princess then that which he attended One night when as he was in his Vessel which notwithstanding the intreaties of the Senate he would never abandon after he had heard a dreadful noise of armed men both at the Port and in the City he was advertised by those whom he had sent thither that all was in confusion there that the gates were all open that the Port was no longer closed and that in this disorder it could
from coming forth After this he commanded meat to be brought in but in such a fashion as this meal might be rather named a collation then a supper fearing lest they should be too much taken up with good chear Whil'st then that some did eat standing and others were arming themselves with the Arms which the Count had caused to be presented unto them he went to Leonora's chamber who was talking with Sophronia her sister about the unquietness she was in to see so many Soldiers in her Palace As soon as he was entred he approached to her and taking her by the hand he told her in few words the design he had desiring her to pardon him for not having spoken to her of it till then The great heart of Leonora found not it self firm enough to remain constant in this occasion and considering the extream peril whereinto the Count was going to expose himself affection and fear troubled her in such sort as falling at the Counts feet and her face all bedewed with tears My Lord said she unto him imbracing his knees to what danger are you going to expose your self I conjure you by the thing that is dearest to you in the world by the love which I bear to you by that which you bâ—ar to me by the tears which I shed and by your own glory to preserve my life in preserving yours The interest of our Country is dear to me but yours is yet far more to me I had rather have Jannetin raign insolently then to see you perish for the saving of others And I shall resolve with joy to wear chains rather then to see my self exposed to the hazard of wearing mourning for your death But what say I sensless as I am could I preserve my life if you were no longer living No no my destiny is tyed to yours and what my despair could not do in this occasion my grief alone would execute Let Jannetin then my dear husband usurp the Empire let our Country be ruined let all our Citizens be made Slaves provided that you live it imports me not For in the end Jannetin may indeed raise himself up into the Throne but he can never surmount you in greatness of courage and vertue You have told me an hundred times that I made up all your felicity what do you seek for then O my dear husband Is it just that you should be so far sensible of the complaints of a people that may be ingrateful as to lose your life for their liberty And that my tears should move you so little as that you will not preserve me in preserving your self What will you have me do in this fatal adventure Will you have me letting you go attend here the news of your death Ah! I can never endure this thought no more then your design For my Lord what can this design be which I see you undertake without communicating it to your dearest friends To whom of all those which are in this Palace may I entrust your life Are you your self assured that they will not abandon you If I saw the generous Justiniano the French Marquess and so many other illustrious friends which you have about you I could say that they would vanquish or dye together with you But in the estate wherein I see you it may be that those whom you beleeve to be most faithful unto you have betrayed you and have undertaken to destroy you Ah! my Lord give an end to my fears and tears in changing so deadly a resolution But if nevertheless you are determined as methinks I observe by your looks not to let your selâ— be vanquished with my tears suffer me at leastwise to accompany you that I may in this abandonmen of all your friends serve you for a buckler to bear off all the blows which shall be made at you that I may at least expire before your eyes or you dye in my arms In fine my Lord permit me to enter into your Charet of Triumph or into your Tomb with you The Count feeling himself very much moved with Leonora's tears and fearing to be surmounted by them interrupted her with embraces do not make so ill a presage of my enterprize said he unto her and carry that great heart which I have always admired in you to higher and more happy thoughts I am going to a place whither Justice and Fortune call me and if I have concealed this design from my friends it is because I knew they loved my life too well to counsel me unto it And then again I shall be glad if Heaven will permit me to prevail over my Enemies that I have given them a content which hath cost them nothing and if I fall in so brave an enterprize they shall at least-wise remain to comfort you In fine my dear Leonora prepare your minde for all events that may arrive either happy or unhappy for the business is at such a pass as I can neither defer or break it off But this I can assure you that you shall not be long in uncertainty and that in a few hours you shall hear of my death or victory howsoever it be remember that glory excepted I never loved any thing more then you Farewell my dear Leonora At this word his ambitious Mother came and interrupted him who knowing that the Count was touched with his Wives tears and fearing he should be overcome by them Go go said she unto him and call to minde that if Coriolanus had never been wrought upon by the tears of a woman he had gotten himself the Empire and preserved his life Fear not my son that I will be Volumnia in this encounter but contrarily I command you as much as I can to hasten the execution of your enterprize for all the time which you have lost here would already have served you for your approach to the Throne Go then my son perform an action proportionable to your courage or finde a death worthy of your birth The Count having heard his Mother speak in this sort and having told her that he would obey her turned himself once again to Leonora whom grief suffocated and beholding her with a troubled countenance Farewell said he unto her either you shall never see me more or you shall see your self in Genoua above all others of your sex At these last words he left her without harkening to the generous Pansa or the sage Sophronia For as for Leonora she was so strucken with the Count's speech and departure as she fell into a swoon In the mean time Baptista Verrin was come back from the City to assure the Count that there was no obstacle which could hinder his design that his Gally was in a posture of fighting full of a great number of Soldiers throughly resolved to do then duty and ready to shut up â—he mouth of the Port by that means besieging all those of Doria The Count seeing all things in such order as he could have wished went to his
make them change their resolution Seeing then that her prayers her tears and perswasions were all to no purpose with her father-in-law Hamet and that Muley Zidan her husband told her how he could not but follow him in this War who had given him birth that he was not an enemy to Mahomet but only an obedient son that it was not for children to ask who were the enemies of those to whom they owed their lives but only to hazard them against whomsoever they were for the conservation of the lives of them who had given them theirs This wise Princess seeing I say things in this estate abode in Marocco and without making vows for the victory either of the one of the other she wished that their Arms would fall out of their hands and that Reason might be stronger in them then ambition But things went not after this sort for after many encounters wherein the Kings of Marocco and Taradant had each in their turn had the better and the worse the chance of war being fallen in the end on Hamet she saw Muley Zidan her Husband return almost alone of all his whole Army which had been utterly defeated and acquaint her with tears in his eyes that his Father and a Brother which he had named Muley Buaçon were prisoners in the hands of Mahomet This vertuous Princess hearing this news had generosity enough to weep for the victories of her Father and when as she saw that her Husband after he had assembled together all the Alfaquis Cavaliers and Captains that were in Marocco to advise on that which might be done found out no expedient which could be commodious for him she presented her self unto the Councel and demanded the permission to go and cast her self at the feet of Mahomet her Father to endevor the effecting of a peace or to offer her self and three children she had for the ransom of Hamet or to obtain a◠least that she might serve him during his captivity if her tears could not move her Fathers heart So generous a proposition was approved of by the whole Assembly and Muley Zidan went himself to conduct his wife and his children forth of the Gates of the City yet was h◠in some trouble to part with her out of the fear he was in lest Mahomet knowing how ardently she was beloved of him should retain her without rendering up his Father and without harkening to peace But she assured him that when as she could no longer be useful to her Father-in-law nothing but death alone should keep her from returning back to him again The voyage of this sage Princess was not fruitless and albeit that her Father was one of the greatest Politicians in the World and one of the most ambitious Princes on the Earth yet her Reasons her Tears and her Prayers drew him to grant her the liberty of Hamet and Muley Buaçon and by a Treaty as reasonable as if Hamet had not been a prisoner they contracted a peace which seemed inviolable But scarcely was Mariama re-entred into Marocco as it were in triumph after she had brought the King thither again scarcely had Muley Zidan her Husband rendred her thanks for so brave an action but that Hamet began to assemble new forces and to say that whatsoever he had promised in prison was not to be kept and for that effect he went out of Marocco to go and make new Levies himself but at this time the victory fell to the juster side For during Hamet's absence Mahomet having been advertised of his designs came to Marocco and made himself Master of the City partly by force and partly also by the revolt of some who could not approve of Hamet's changings So that when he thought to return to Marocco with Muley Zidan who had followed after him with an intent to divert him from the design he had to make war he understood that he was a King without a Kingdom and that the people who ever follow the victorious party had acknowledged Mahomet for King of Marocco This Prince was so mightily strucken with this adventure that abandoning all things he retired to one named Cidy Ben Cecy who lived solitarily in the Mountains and past amongst them for a very great and holy person As for Muley Zidan he retired to the King of Fez their confederate In the mean time Mariama who was in the City when it was taken carryed by her ordinary generosity and fearing lest she should have been suspected for contributing somewhat thereunto cast her self at her Fathers feet to obtain leave of him to follow the infortunate party And when as he refused her she suborned one of the Captains that guarded the gates and accompanyed with two women and some of her servants she got out one night and went to Cidy Ben Cecy's retirement This action so touched Mahomet's heart as it carryed him once again to treat with his Brother but it was upon condition that he should not re-enter into Marocco because he had promised so much to the inhabitants who feared to be ill-intreated by him But not to prolong this discourse any further you shall understand that Hamet recommenced the War four or five times and that so often Mariama obtained his liberty and always followed his and her Husbands fortune Howbeit in the end Mahomet after he had conquered the Kingdom of Fez took him in the last War and committed him to close prison with four of his children and three of Mariama's because he accused Muley Zidan her Husband for having succored the King of Fez whil'st he made war upon him And the unhappy Zidan having been taken lost his life by the command of him whose daughter he had marryed True indeed it is that it was by the counsel of Aly who afterwards was Abdalla's favorite and in the absence of Mariama who at that time was not with her Father In fine not to aggravate the sorrow of this excellent Princess Mahomet dyed a little while after and Abdalla the eldest of his children succeeded him having ordained by his Testament that after him the second of his sons should succeed and in order all his other brothers without any pretence to be made by any of Abdalla's children to the Crowns of Marocco Fez and Taradant as long as their Uncles lived At such time as Mahomet dyed Abdalla was not at Marocco so that when the news of his death arrived there Aly who commanded in the City and was Visier of the Kingdom which is the next dignity to the King fearing lest the people should revolt and should draw Hamet and Mariama's children out of prison to set them on the Throne which appertained to them carryed by an inconsiderate zeal and an extream cruelty caused the infortunate Hamet and his children together with Mariama's to be put to death for the assuring of the Crown to Abdalla whose favorite he would be as he had been Mahomet's And truly it was not hard for him to be so for whereas this man
that one of the Guard who had more brain then the rest perceived that although three several men had presented themselves for to go out of the City yet it had been still with one and the same horse so that he certainly bâ—liâ—ved there was some mystery in this adventure and how it might wâ—ll be that Aly was not far off This Soldier having imparted his thought to him that commanded the gate he conceived that his opinion was not ill grounded wherefore to clear himself therein he made shew of being perswaded by the intreaties of this man who dâ—sired to be let forth but whil'st to gain time he made yet some new difficulties he sent for three horses to the end he might follow him a far off with two of his companions which were no sooner come but having let him go out and set them elves to follow him they saw that contrary to the custom of all such as fear â—o be followed he went on still without turning his head to the place from whence hâ— parted so great a desiâ—e he had to arrive where the unhappy Aly waited for him Sâ—eing then that they might follow him without his being aware of it they approached neerer to him then they would have done if he had behaved himself otherwise and quitting the high-way as well as he when they came neer to a wood whither this man seemâ—d to have a purpose to go they espyed a woman who having discovered them hid her self in the thickest of the bushes This action made him that was carrying the horse to Aly turn about his head who knowing that he was followed would have takâ—n more on the left hand and not have gone to the place where he was attended but this trick would not serve his turn howsoever it was not because those which had observed her bâ—liâ—ved that this woman was effectively Aly but being neer unto it they would needs know certainly what this adventure was The Captain then having given order to the two Soldiers to seize on this man went to the place where he had seen the woman hide her self and had not gone fifty paces but he found her at the foot of a tree where keeping down her vail still about her she besought him in counterfeiting her voyce not to do her any violence And when she saw that this man had no intent to use her civilly and seemed fully resolved to discover what she was she would have tempted this Captain with the hope of a great recompence so that suddenly lifting up her vail Thou seest said she the infortunate Aly who can make thee happy if thou beest wise for if thou wilt resolve to let me escape I will put thee in a condition that thou shalt never need to ask any thing more of Fortune This Captain who was faithful or it may be did not believe that Aly in the case he was in could recompence him as much as he said answered him that he would never enrich himself by a Treason and without further delay he called his companions who having tyed the man on whom they had seized to a tree went to help him to take the miserable Aly who though without Arms left not off resisting them for while But at last they brought him to Marocco and having conducted him before Abdalla this Prince reviled him with all imaginable reproaches And whereas Aly had always been happy this one blow of unhappiness so mightily surprized him as that judgment and prudence which had rendred him so considerable in his prosperity wholly abandoned him in his misfortune so that in stead of seeking to colour his fault he confessed it as it was and related unto Abdalla all that he had said and thought just in the same manner as I have delivered it unto you for the Princeâ—s Mariama had the goodness to recount it unto us afterwards in so much as Abdalla regarding Aly not onely as a Traytor but as his Rival the tenderness which he had at other times had for him was of no power to excite any thought of pity in his heart but contrarily the remembrance of the good-will he had born him incensed his minde the more At last love anger interest of State and jealousie made the King without further delay as soon as Abdelcader was app ehended even the very same day take off the ambitious Aly's head who seeing his loss inevitable resolved for it with constancy enough Thus was the Princess Mariama revenged on this man for his cruelty and Hipolita delivered from one of her persecutors Aly was no sooner dead but the Princess Mariama always generous went and cast her self at the Kings feet to beg Abdelcader's life of him which he granted to her tears upon condition that he should remain for some time a prisoner For albâ—it he was guilty of high Treason as well as Aly for intending to usurp the Kingdom during his life yet was there this difference that Abdelcader was Abdalla's Brother and was not his Rival But Madam to make an end of telling you at once both the goodness of Mariama and our fortune you shall understand that in the confusion wherein all the City of Marocco was this day when as the Princess Mariama entred into a Chamber where these three fair Slaves were and saw them all in tears especially Hipolita who knew well that she was in part cause of all this disorder this Princess I say seeing them in this estate had so much generosity though she loved them very tenderly as to deprive her self for ever of them It may be also that the design of taking from the King an object of passion which might trouble his rest from Abdelcader that which had made him fail in this duty and from the Princess Lela Mahabid another which might make her in some sort forget the rank which she held carryed her to this resolution But in conclusion a little interest and a great deal of generosity made her tell them that profit was to be made of others misfortune so that before the King had leasure to ask for them she caused them to be secretly conveyed to the house of a man who absolutely depended on her and having advertised us to repair thither we continued concealed there above eight days She in like sort caused the Mariners and Soldiers which we had brought to Marocco to be delivered for the ambitious Aly being dead the Princess Mariama was as powerful in the State as the King himself The day following Abdalla seeing the Princess Mariama with a feigned melancholy in her face which yet he believed to be true demanded of her whether revenge which is said to be one of the greatest pleasures of Kings did not give her some My Lord said she unto him present misfortunes are doubtless more sensible then past pleasures the loss of the Slaves which you gave me is cause of more grief to me then that of Aly hath made me feel joy So strange a discourse surprized the King extreamly
longer hereupon it shall suffise to say that after the battel of Varnes he conquered Peloponnesus that he dismissed himself absolutely from his Empire which to took upon him again soon after for to obtain a battel against the valiant Huniades he made the King of Bosnia also his Tributary which was his last victory For the couragious George Scanderbeg Castriot King of Albania who had been his Slave and that had acquired unto himself with so much justice the glorious title of the Buckler of Christendom oposed all his enterprises with such valour as this great Prince seeing him self forced so raise his siege from before Croya dyed with grief and spight at it The Pourtrait of Mahomet the second the eleventh Emperor of the Turks IT was not without some cause that this Prince would be surnamed Bovi which is to say Great or the Terror of the World seeing all his actions have been so great and high that if his excellent qualities had been without blemish this Prince had been incomparable He was great in his enterprises great in courage great in conduct great in prudence a great Politician great in conquest great in beauty and in subtilty of wit but he was also great in impiety in dissoluteness in revenge in perfidiousness and in ambition The greatness of his courage and of his enterprises carried him against the Greeks Hungarians Trebisondians Mifians Valachians Transilvanians Bosniaus Albanians Rhodians Venetians and divers other people In conclusion my dear Doria this Prince had to do with all the Warlike Nations of the World but this Table contains too many things to be explaned particularly unto you wherefore it shall suffice that you only do admire the exquisite ordering of it and that I tell you in generall how Mahomet conquered in two and thirty years that he reigned twelve Kingdoms and two Empires that of Trebisond and that of the Greeks together with this mighty and renowned City of Constantinople as also that of Croya and all Albania Valachia Bosnia Scodra Peloponesus and the Town of Otranto He reduced the Caraman under his obedience Stiria Carinthia Synope the Iland of Metelin and after the battell which he gained against Usuncassan he constrained him to seek his amity Howbeit he was not equally fortunate for the valiant Huniades and the valorous Scanderbeg vanquished sometimes in him the Vanquisher of all others And whereas ambition was the predominant passion in the heart of Mahomet it followed him even to death ordaining that upon his Tomb there should be set after a long narration of all his Victories in the Turkish tongue this subscription in Latin He had a purpose to ruin Rhodes and superb Italy But the divine justice extinguished his desires with his dayes The Pourtrait of Bajazet the second the twelfth Emperor of the Turks THe life of this Prince is so replenished with divers adventures as it cannot be defined certainly whether he had more good than bad fortune The begining of his Reign was established by three Battels which he obtained against a Brother of his who was constrained to fly unto Rhodes When he was at peace he conquered Caramania did great spoyl in Moldavia took the Town of Chilliem together with the Castle and that of Moncastro the chief of the Province he took also Lepanto Modon Coron and Junqua from the Christians whom he defeated iâ— a Navall-fight as you may behold in this Table where the Painter verily hath done prodigies See you not continued Ibrahim these two vessels grapled together consider a little with what ardour the assailants seem to go to the fight and how one of these Janizaries striving to leap aboord this small vessel is repulsed by this Christian how in falling he hath seized on his enemy whom he drags along with him Behold also on the left hand this vessel which the Turks had invested and how that rather than they would yeeld they have blown up themselves observe withall these flakes of fire which light upon this other vessell whose tackle and sayles already begin to burn and how this great cloud of smoak which steals away the rest of the Army from our eyes is an address of the Painter who wanting room hath repaired that defect by this invention But without standing on the last disorders of this Prince which were strange whether for the violent deaths that he caused or for that which he received let us pass on to thiâ— other piece The Pourtrait of Selim the thirteenth Emperor of the Turks THis gloomy physiognomy and this haughty look do not ill paint forth unto us the ambition and cruelty of Selim but they conceal from us his vertues which certainly were very great He was prudent and advised amidst dangers prompt and vigilant in his enterprises indefatigable in War of an invincible courage a reasonable Justicer manger his cruelty extremely liberall and that which is of most marvail in this Prince is that he was never vanquished after he was Emperor He loved the reading of History he made verses in his own tongue was very skilfull in Painting and even to the point that he sent as I have already delared the Battell which he obtained against the Sophy drawn with his own hand unto the Venetians who conserve it still unto this day in their Treasurie There is also a great number of his works to be seen in the Seraglio He was very Eloquent and nothing curious of the magnificence of Apparell and that which I most admire in him is that he alwayes refused those adorations which are accustomed to be rendred to the Turkish Emperors never suffering any to cast themselves on the ground in speaking to him nor to do him reverence on their knees And truly if this Emperor had not blemished his glory by that prodigious desire of reigning which carried him to take away the life of him from whom he had received his to cause two of his Brothers eight of his Nephews and as many of his Bassaes to be strangled he had been excellent in all things But to pass over his Victories lightly because time doth press us I will onely tell you in few words that he won a famous Battle of the Sophy at Zaleran that he took Tauris which he kept not long and Keman at his return he rendred himself Master of Aladulia after he had vanquished King Ustagelu he passed into Siria where he defeated Campson Gauri Sultan of Cairo in a battel neer to Aleppo which was rendred unto him as well as Damascus and all the rest of Siria from thence going to Jerusalem he conquered all Palestina by the valour of Sinan Bassa who obtained a Battel neer to Gaza whereupon Selim having passed the deserts of Egypt fought a battel vvith Thomombey hard by Matharea and constrained him to retire to Cairo where was given the most memorable battel of our Age for it lasted three dayes and three nights in continuall fight but in the end Selim was victorious and forced the Mamelucks to abandon