acquired in this mean Occupation His great Wealth made him find the Means of obtaining the Favour of the Ministers and Favourites of the Prince and his Highness himself honoured him with his Friendship gave him Offices and heap'd up Riches on him Thou shouldest know all I say but I am astonished thou shouldest write to me That this Wretch having been put out from the Government of Walachia by reason of his insupportable Pride and extream Covetousness should pretend to re-enter on this Office by means of Money trying in some sort to corrupt the Justice of Amurath Observe how many ways he draws on him the Prince's Indignation The Emperor must have been more covetous than Stridya had he favoured his Design but 't was the Decree of Heaven that Stridyâ— should be punished and that our Master should give a terrible Example of his Justice to terrifie those who use their Riches to commit all Sorts of Crimes and to purchase all manner of infamous Pleasures The News of the Fall of this Slave had in some sort mitigated the great Melancholy I felt when I received the Letter But the Death of Zagaribasci our common Friend does not a little afflict me as well as the Marriage of his Son Caragurli made the same Day does astonish me For I cannot comprehend how there could well be celebrated in the same Day and at the same House two such different Ceremonies as is a Funeral and a Wedding I find this Adventure very strange and though our Friend indeed was very old yet I bewail him as if he had dyed before his Time He was an honest Man of great Piety and moderately Rich and this is what makes Mortals Happy in this World and the other too But thou dost not inform me whether the excessive Joy he had to see his Son married to a Greek rich with the Goods of Fortune endued with great Vertue and a Mute has not caused his Death I rather think thou wilt say our Friend Zagarabasci is dead by some Excess than yield to what we contested about formerly I always found in this Friend great Marks of Honesty and Sobriety and he also appeared to me to have great Tenderness for his Son I cannot without offending thee accuse this old Gentleman of want of Moderation yet he is dead with a Transport of Joy Thou seest I affirm'd no impossible thing when I maintained in my Youth That an extraordinary and unfore seen Joy is more likely to kill than sudden Grief though never so violent Didst thou think it a Matter of small Satisfaction to a Father that is a wise and sober Man to obtain for his Son a Woman that is a Mure For what greater Pleasure can a Husband have than to have a Wife that is not talkative The Christians understand not the Wisdom of the Turks when they laugh at our Sultans who find the greatest parts of their Pleasures in the Conversation of Mutes Is there any thing more delightful than to hear a Man that does not speak and to see one reason on all Things that has no Tongue Thou knowest how many Things these Mutes of the Seraglio do give one to understand and what Eloquence there is in their Signs and Gestures Thou remembrest That when Amurath would give Thanks to the Sovereign Moderator of all the World in that he had escaped Death when the Lightning fell on his Bed and burnt to his very Shirt he seemed to offer him a great Sacrifice in putting a Mute out of the Seraglio which he dearly loved by reason of her Tricks and Gestures The Muses were one day ready to fall together a fighting because they would not receive amongst them a Tenth Companion sent them by a Mandamus from a King of Italy But when this Tenth Muse signified to them That she was Dumb all the Voices were for her Dear Melec 't is not without Reason I write thee this Thou art still young and designest for Matrimony Believe Mahmut There are few Women that are Wise and they say little that is good Think then what those say who know nothing and whose Number is infinite When they have talked a whole Day believe me they have said nothing If thou marriest follow my Counsel Take not a Mute for then thou wilt marry a Beast Neither chuse one that talketh for thou wilt be linked with a Monster As to our Friend he died by a particular Grace from Heaven Yet I cannot but think still of his Death How many more extraordinary Accidents wilt thou see if thou livest to old Age and especially if thou livest at Constantinople where are continually beheld strange Adventures and extraordinary Effects both of Life and Death Cruelty and Clemency as well as of good and bad Fortune Being in breath I could continue still to write to thee but I think it's time to end lest I prove tiresome And I end in praying Heaven to keep thee in Health where-ever thou art Paris 25th of the last Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER IX To the same PARIS where I live is a very healthful City and so are all the Places thereabouts free from Pestilential Airs and yet there oft happens sudden Deaths as well as at Constantinople and they die here likewise of Joy I will relate to thee what I have partly seen and not what I have heard to happen in London the most ancient and chiefest City of the Kingdom of England A rich old Man falling sick and lying on his Death-Bed sent to his only Son living at Paris where he spent his time in Pleasures to come over that he might with his Estate give him his Blessing Think what News this was to a Young Man to whom the Life of a Father was troublesome as being an Obstacle to his Liberty and who waited his Death to take his Swing of all the Pleasures which his corrupt Nature makes him respect as his Sovereign Good This Young Man intending to get upon Horseback to run where he was called found himself embarked for a Voyage which he did not design to make he fell dead on the Place and I saw him in the same Instant wherein he was living and healthful to expire Were I of the Sect of our Philosopher Muslaadin Saadi I would tell thee It matters not whether one dies suddenly or languish a long Time whether a Man dies in his Bed or at the Gallows But I being none of Zeno's Disciples and knowing no Peripatetick or Philosopher amongst so many Sects than were in Greece who disputed Whether Life or Death was to be preferred So expect not from me any Arguings on the Morals of those Greeks nor yet of the Persians But if Death be such a terrible Thing endeavour to live in such a Manner that it may never affright thee when it shall approach thee or when thou shalt see it invade others expecting it at all times and in all places Dost thou know by what Herb or by what secret Magick Charm I do not fear
apply themselves to edify the Good and to correct the Bad. The Founder of this Order was a Souldier called Ignatius The Spaniards will have him to have been of their Nation and the French affirm that he is of that Part of Navarre which is subject to the Crown of France If thou wouldst have me to speak the Truth I think this Founder was a good Man seeing all his Disciples are Men of good Example of great Modesty in their Actions and very Discreet in all their Undertakings This Ignatius began to study his Grammar in his seven and thirtieth Year which would make one believe he took less pains to become a Saint than a Scholar His Enemies call his Disciples the Politicians of the Church and I on the contrary call them the Camels of Esau because in bearing the Burthen of the Affairs of their Religion they are loaded more than others and forced to couch under their Burthens There is one thing seems strange in them to wit That they should name themselves the Religious of the Society of Jesus as if they had a design to distinguish themselves from other Christians and that this Title which is particular to them ought not only to agree to all the other Religions but to all the Followers of the Nazarite If they follow the Precepts of their Father Ignatius thou must needs approve their Way of living He has taught no other â—ay than that of Obedience to those that profess his Order He ordains That those who enter into this Society do abandon themselves to the Discretion of their Superiours And they affirm That if the Pope commands them to pass the Sea in a Vessel without Oars without Sails and without a Rudder they would obey and must pass And some having reproached them That there was Folly in such blind Obedience they answer That Wisdom ought to be observed in the Commandments and that it ought not to be searched in Obedience Make Reflection upon this Sentence which is conformable to our Laws To inform thee of the Power and Greatness of this Order it suffices to tell thee That during sixteen Years that this Souldier govern'd it he saw an Hundred Colleges in Italy in Germany in France and in Spain and that in Rome which was founded by Borgia hath been as may be said the Parent of all the rest Judge hereby the Number of their Houses and Disciples Having one day met with one of this Society who understood the Oriental Languages and who conversing with me did not believe he discoursed with a Mussulman I heard him vomit injurious and fearful Imprecations against Mahomet against his Law and against all true Believers I have so much Horror to write to thee all he said that I will tell thee but some few of them and the rather to divert thee by the knowledge of the Errors of our Enemies and also that thou maist not be afflicted at some things not very reasonable which are observed in many of the Precepts of the Law which we follow Let this be said as if I had not spoken it seeing I pour frankly the Secrets of my Heart into thy Bosom no ways doubting but thou knowest to be silent in what may cause my Death This Jesuit maintains That the Mussulmans are not Wise in following the Precepts of a Drunkard who forbad drinking of Wine and committed Excesses himself when he thought he was un-observed He maintains further That it is foolish to give Credit to such a Fellow who makes a Paradise to consist of Beautiful Women where one may abandon himself to all sorts of Pleasure and Debauchery and that he hath not foreseen a Hell where he and all his Followers ought to suffer the Pains due to their Crimes He adds further That one must be very foolish to adore a Blasphemer who hath commanded his Law should be maintained by the Sword when it could not be supported by Reason The Father did not leave off so he said That seeing the Alcoran is filled with Dreams with Bestialities with Blasphemies and Impurities the Mufti 's the Doctors and Interpreters of the Law must be in a great Blindness not to condemn a Possessed an Enchanter who gives for the Precepts of his Religion the committing of Violences Robberies and all that may satisfie the most Irregular Appetites What Extravagancy urged he to adore the Heel of so vile a Slave as Mahomet and to believe upon his Report that Jacob's Father was his Porter to Deifie his Camel and to place it in Heaven He adds further That there is nothing so absurd as to command the Turks to wash their Bodies when their Souls are defiled with Filth to give them at the same time Charity by Precept and to command them Robberies by Devotion It seems also to him foolish to believe that Mahomet is the only true Prophet the only agreeable Person to God and to swear afterwards by One hundred twenty four thousand Prophets He still entertains me with this Sort of Discourse But all this O great Dervis is nothing he vomits yet this damnable He esie That the wickedest Wretches and the most detestable that ever liv'd were Judas Mahoment and Luther That these two last as most impious are the more tormented in Hell Judas he said suffered less Pains because if he betrayed his Lord he was one of the Instruments of the Redemption of all Mankind whereas the others in damning themselves damn'd also an infinite Number of other People This Jesuit would have continued his Blasphemies if Cardinal Richlieu in whose Anti Chamber we were had not come out of his Closet to go to the King I had been silent all this while because he gave me not a Moments liberty to speak At length he asked me at parting If I was not of his Sentiments and I answered precisely thus My Father If thou art a good Man I approve what thou sayst because thou speakest out of true Zeal but If thou beest a Hypocrite I disapprove all because thou shalt be damned with Mahomet and all the Mussulmans The Jesuit smiled not comprehending the Venom which lay hid in my Answer Btu dost thou not believe thou who art a Dervis the most illuminated That a Man of what Religion soever he be provided he be a Good Man may be Happy after his Death Tell me I pray thee thy Opinion herein it is a Point very important to be decided As for me I begin really to think That there may be Saints even amongst the Christians as there are amongst Vs I have seen and understood many Things that denote true Piety in some of them and we must acknowledge That the Precepts of their Law have somewhat of Just and if they be well observed they seem no less Holy to me than our own They have one Article that puzzles me They affirm There is but one Truth so that we are lost if we are not Christians or they are damned if they are not Mahometans And this is what I had to
it 'T is by the leading of an Innocent Life Here is published and that with great Reason the last Words of a Man of great Birth who died when he was very Old by a Wound he receeived He had served divers Kings in Places of the highest Trust and being mortally wounded in a Battel mark what he said to those that exhorted him to die like a good Christian and with the same Courage he had shewed in Life His Reply was That a Man who had lived well Fourscore Years cannot be to seek how to die well for a Quarter of an Hour This great Man who was a famous Soldier was also a true Philosopher and I might say he was a Saint had he been of our Religion I believe he was a most edifying Spectacle and the more considerable in as much as the Example he gave of dying well is more valuable than that which he gave in so many Battels of courageous Fighting He was called Anne de Montmorancy Constable of France whose Life I had the Curiosity of reading being to be found in the History of the Civil Wars of that Kingdom But before I end this Letter let me denote to thee the Difference there is between the Effects of Grief and Joy The Messenger from England of whom I already spake finding at his Return the Old Man whom he had left dying still alive he gave him such a strange Stroke by telling to him the Death of his Son that Grief having vanquished the Assaults of Death restored to this unhappy Old Man that Strength he had lost in his Health so that coming himself some Days after to Paris I saw him bewail the Loss of his only Son He that said heretofore A man should learn all his Life to die well uttered no strange Doctrine Our days will last long enough if we be ready to say at all times We have lived enough And if we love as we ought our great Emperor who is Invincible Holy and the most Just amongst Men And if we observe what a French Peasant said to all those that passed before his Door Never deny your Assistance and never do any Body any Hurt Let thou and I number our Days as was preached heretofore in the Seraglio to the white Eunuchs by the Persian whose Eyes were put out because he saw too clearly He always insisted on the Shortness Vneertainty and Vanity of Humane Life He said T was short considering what he had to do in it uncertain as to what we shall do in it and always mix'd with what we have done and what remains for us to do Teach not thy Son Mehemet yet for whom thou hast so much Affection these Precepts Children have not that Ripeness of Judgment as is necessary to hear Discourses of Death They are too hard Bits for their Stomachs and which indeed Old Men can hardly digest and which they swallow not without feeling all the Bitterness of them I pray God keep the Imperial City with those that dwell in it and shelter it from the Storms which fall on infamous Cities and I beseech him thou mayst live without Offence that thou mayst never fear Death Paris 2â—th of the lest Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER X. To Enguruli Emin Mehemet Chuk a Man of the Law WHEN I parted from Constantinople I gave thee a Stone of excellent Virtue against the Gravel and thou presented'st me with a Paper which was to secure me against all bodily Evils Time only can decide which of us two made the best Present to his Friend Thou hast pretended to learn me in few Words how to live amongst the Infidels and I thought in giving thee a Stone to give thee a Remedy against the Distemper thou art troubled with I never turn my self towards the Place where Mecha lies but I remember where thy Amity began and how far since it has been extended towards me Absence has not lessened thy Kindness nor hindred thee from sending me thy grave Counsels but I am as yet too young to set about the preparing my self for the other World and too vigorous and healthful to hearken to thy serious and melancholy Discourses I wish thou wert but at Paris where thou wouldest see a great Number of People who sell a most precious Thing to purchase a vain and fantastick Title How many with great Earnestness sue for Placeat's from the King that they may seek their Deaths Perhaps thou never thoughtest there were any such kind of People What dost thou think then of the Souldiery in General are they any others than Martyrs of Ambition to whom one would think Life is a Burthen 'T is a sad Spectacle to see how many Dead lie in the Streets or carried on the Shoulders of their Friends or Kinsmen to their Graves Yet this is so common a thing in Paris that the People make no Wonder of it This way of Living obliges me to do as the rest I begin to consider That what happens to another may happen to me there 's no avoiding ones Destiny This Preface is only to bring in a Story of this King's Goodness which ought to be an Example to all Princes The French have need of fresh Souldiers to fill up so many Troops as they continually entertain Not long since then there came a Man full of Years and overwhelm'd with Despair who desired to be Listed in this Princes Service To obtain what he desired he told the King That he was the Father of Twelve Children Seven of which were Daughters who were Marriagable that he could no longer live being not able to maintain such a great Family and that being ignorant as yet how to die he would learn it in the King's Service The Prince having appointed him to wait upon him one Day privately in his Closet thus spake to him Thy Despair makes thee desirous to be listed amongst my Souldiers and Charity obliges me to retain thee amongst the Citizens Those that are Fools when they enter into Troops commonly come out wiser because they learn several things of which they were before ignorant but as to thy part what Time hast thou to learn who art ready to fall dead at the same moment thou enterest into the School Yet I receive thee take this Sword go and combat thy Folly and take this Purse to succour thy Family and be cured but if thou art wise say not from whom thou hast received thy Cure I know not what Sum was in the Purse no more than I do of what Mettle the Sword was But I have this Story from an Officer of the King's Closet with whom I have that strict Converse that he told me this Passage as soon as ever it happened I 'll tell thee if thou wilt some of the principal Passages of my Life for I conceal nothing from the Ministers and the most venerable Mufti who knows all that I do I adore the Sovereign Master of the Universe and have a great Veneration for his holy Prophet I never
knowledge of the Manner how he would divide the Estates of the Sultan But Henry was assassinated just as he was ready to leave Paris to begin so great a Work being killed in his Coach in the Arms of his most faithful Courtiers And the Fatal Stroke which carried him out of the World delivered the Empire of the true believers This Empire whose Throne is so high that it reaches up to the First Heaven whence it scares the Infidels and secures the good Mussulmen from the Insults of the Christians One of these old Men I mentioned has assured me he had heard the King speak these following Words some Days before his Death I shall never go out of this Town I know not what with-helds me I shall never accomplish what I design never see the Destructiou of Constantinople for I am toâ—d by Astrologers I shall be kill'd in a Coach I must then always go on Foot and never stir out of Paris Such was the End of this Prince so highly venerated by the French He was really a Man of great Courage and great Penetration and so much the greater in that he regarded the Destruction of the Ottoman Empire as one of the difficultiest Things in the World And truly no other Prince did that Honour to Mahomet nor his Successors But yet not finding his own Forces sufficient to invade and destroy the Turkish Empire he invented a Chymerical Project to find Possibility in a Thing which ever appeared impossible In the very Moment I am Writing I have received certain News of my Ruin If I be not taken off this Time at Paris I shall be perhaps more fortunate than ever and more successfully and fully serve our great Emperor whose Clemency is equal to his Grandure and who is above all the Powers on Earth Cardinal Richlieu has sent for me to come to him I therefore finish this Letter in hast which perhaps will be the last I write being greatly afraid I am discovered If my Fear be vain I shall learn thee in another Letter the most remarkable Events of Henry's Life In the mean time I am resolved and disposed to suffer the Martyrdom If I dye my dear Egry we shall see one another in the other World if it be true that we shall have Eyes there and remember what has past here below Pray the great God for Mahumet and take Care of thy Health Paris 25th of the first Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER XV. To the Invincible Vizir Azem at the Camp under Babylon CArdinal Richlieu made me come in his Presence and yet I am alive he has not attempted any thing against either Life or Liberty but has done me the same Honour as to other foreign Churchmen for he believes I am of Moldavia calling me Titus not knowing any more of me than what I told him It seems on the contrary as if he intended me Kindnesses supposing me a bitter Enemy to the Turks and perhaps I shall receive some Present from him for having served him already as an Interpreter I shall tell thee Invincible Vizier what has past between him and me without any Fear of being tedious to thee I serve thee faithfully and write to thee as oft as my Duty requires As soon as I was in his Closet he thus spoke to me Titus What dost thou do in Paris what Business hast thou in this Town and what is really thy Country I answered him That I was a poor Clerk of Moldavia and came to study Divinity and be a Priest that I knew no better Place to become Wise and Learned and that I would willingly sacrifice all Things to render him Service He afterwards askt me Whether I was acquainted with any of the Eastern Languages and Whether I had ever been at Constontinople I have been replyed I in this great Town when I was a Child and that my Father and Mother were then in Slavery My Father is dead and my Mother is Married again to a Christian Greek I understand Arabic and Turkish and am perfectly skill'd in the School-Greek What do you mean by School Greek reply'd the Cardinal It is different from the Vulgar-Greek answered I which is so corrupted that learned People will not give themselves the Trouble to understand it He afterwards bade me go into a little Closet where I should find one of his Secretaries who would need my Help where I had no sooner entred but the Secretary presented me with a Turkish Manuscript to turn into Latin or Italian if I could not do it into French I immediately translated it into Latin and will now inform thee wise Minister and Governor of the great Empire of the true Faithful of the Contents of it The Christian Dervises called in France Cordeliers keep as thou knowest in Jerusalem the Sepulchre of their Messias by a Privilege which Zelim the Conqueror of Palestine granted them These Religious have neither Peace nor Truce with the Greek Christians and they have such Difference together as are of ill Consequences to all they persecute one another without ceasing and spread abroad most bitter Satyrs against each other Each Party makes ill Reports to his Superior of that which is opposite and mixes among some Truths a great many Lyes and absurd Stories But it appears to me That the Greeks who naturally love Cabals and have the Reputation of great Romancers are more dexterous than their adverse Party to do Mischief The Christian Dervises have represented a great many things to this Cardinal to authorise their Pretensions against the Greeks by Means of the French Embassador They not only reproach the Greeks with several Injustices and Violences but accuse the Cadi's of Cruelty and Tyranny and the Souldiers which guard Jerusalem of insupportable Exactions Thou shouldest be throughly informed whether these Complaints be on just Grounds for they affirm their Patience is beyond the Cruelty of the Officers thou employest yet that they can no longer suffer the insolencies which are now put on them and are on the Point of hazarding all by a Stroak of Despair It does not belong to me to be Advocate in the Behalf of those who are submitted to thy Authority and especially of those who ought to bear the Yoke of the Mahometans but 't is the Duty of Mahmut thy Creature to inform thee of the true Circumstances of Affairs which come to his Knowledge Yet if the Oppression of the Dervises be so great as they make it thou that art the true Light which enlightens the Empire of the Faithful and scatterest the Darkness of it thou wilt not permit those that live under the Publick Faith to be opprest and that Four wretched Greeks shall be the Cause of such Disorders as may happen in Palestine the Complaints of which have reached the Ears of the greatest Princes in Europe and to whom such things may give false Idea's of the Government of those who are chosen by God to command all the World Invincible Bassa I have discovered
THE First Volume OF LETTERS Writ by a Turkish Spy Who lived Five and Forty Years Undiscovered 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 from the Year 1637 to the Year 1682. Written Originally in Arabick first Translated into Italian afterwards into French and now into English The Second Edition LONDON Printed for Henry Rhodes near Bride-Lane in Fleet-street 1691. Mahmut The. Turkish spy Aetatis suae 72. F. H. Van. Hove sculp TO THE READER I Here offer you a Book written by a Turk whose Matter is as instructive and delightful as the Manner of finding it was strange and surprizing I do not doubt but you would know where 't was written and perhaps whether the Author be living and whether you must expect a Romance or a real History Hear then in short what will fully satisfie you The Curiosity of seeing Paris made a Man of Letters leave Italy in the Year 1682 where being arrived he found such Diversions as caused his stay longer than he intended Scarce had he been Two Months in Paris when by changing his Lodging he discovered by meer Chance in a Corner of his Chamber a great heap of Papers which seem'd more spoil'd by Dust than Time He was at first surprized to see nothing but barbarous Characters and was upon the Point of leaving them without any further search if a Latin Sentence which he perceived on the top of a Leaf had not retained him Vbi amatur non laboratur si Laboratur labor amatur The Surprize of the Italian was yet greater when after having considered these Characters with more Attention he found them to be Arabick which Language was not altogether unknown to him which made him look narrowlier into them where he found That they treated of Affairs of State that they contained Relations of War and Peace and discoursed not only of the Affairs of France but of those of all Christendom till the Year 1682. The curious Italian was in no small Impatience to know how and where these Memorials had been writ and by what Adventure they came to lie so neglected in a Corner of his Chamber But before he further informed himself he thought it expedient to transport these Manuscripts into another House as a Place of greater Security He afterwards questioned his Landlord with great Precaution concerning the Papers and he inform'd him even to the least Circumstances He told him That a Stranger who said he was a Native of Moldavia Habited like an Ecclesiastick greatly Studious of small Stature of a very course Countenance but of surprizing Goodness of Life had lived long at his House That he came to lodge there in the Year 1664 and had staid Eighteen Years with him that being gone abroad one day he returned no more and they had had no certain News of him since He was about Seventy Years old had left Manuscripts that no Body understood and some Moneys which was an Argument that his Departure was not premeditated He added That he had always a Lamp Day and Night burning in his Chamber had but few Moveables only some Books a small Tome of St. Austin Tacitus and the Alcoran with the Picture of Massaniello whom he praised very much calling him the Moses of Naples He said further That this Strangers greatest Friend and whom he saw often was a Man which most People took for a Saint some for a Jew and others suspected to be a Turk According to the Landlord's Report he came to Paris in the Year 1637 being then but Twenty Eight Years of Age. At first he had lodged with a Flemming he went oft to Court Moneys never failed him he had Friends and passed for very Learned As for his End this Man thinks he died miserably it being suspected that he had been thrown into the River The Italian being sufficiently instructed by what he had heard applyed himself to the Study of the Arabian Language and as he had already some Knowledge in it he quickly learnt enough to Translate these Manuscripts which he undertook a while after and he examined with care the Truth of what the Moldavian had writ confronting the Events he met with the Histories of those Times and to succeed the better searched the most approved Memorials having had Access into the Cabinets of Princes and their Ministers These Letters contain the most considerable Intrigues of the Court of France and the most remarkable Transactions of Christendom which have been sent to several Officers of the Ottoman Court. By these may be known the Perspicacity of this Agent of the Turks and by him the Prudence of those that command in that Nation who chose the better to penetrate into the Affairs of Christians a Man who could not be suspected by his Exterior who was deform'd but prudent and advised and for the better concealing him destined his ordinary Abode in one of the greatest and most peopled Cities of Europe During his being at Paris which was Forty Five Years he has been Eye-witness of many great Changes has seen the Death of two great Ministers of State has seen that Kingdom involved in War without and within He was scarce setled in Paris but he was witness to the Birth of a King who surpasses those that preceded him in a time when the Queen's Barrenness caused the King her Husband to despair of ever having a Son that should succeed him During the Course of so many Years he hath seen Cities revolt and return again to the Obedience of their Sovereign Princes of the Blood make War against their King and Queen Mary de Medicis Wife Mother and Mother-in-Law to some of the greatest Kings in Europe die in Exile in Cologne He speaks frankly of the Princes of Christendom and explains his Sentiments with Liberty He saith The Emperor commands Princes the King of Spain Men and the King of France sees Men and even Kings obey his Orders He adds That the First commands and prays the Second sees oft times more effected than he commanded and that the Third commands many brave Souldiers and is well nigh obeyed by Crowned Heads There appears no Hate or Animosity in him in what he writes against the Pope In Discoursing of the Emperor and King of Spain he says That both of them having Provinces of such vast Extent they are not much concerned at the Losses they sustain He believed that England was more powerful than the Empire and Spain he might have added France at Sea He apprehended more the Counsels of the Republick of Venice than their Arms. He magnifies what passed in the Wars of Candy which the Venetians supported with so much Bravery against the Forces of the Ottoman Empire The Genoeses with him are perfect Chymists He speaks of the last Plague and last War that this Commonwealth hath been afflicted with he touches something of
French Hands and that the Emperor of Germany be subjected to the Laws of the Osmans Thou seest the Time come wherein the French make Conquests without being present at them The King of this Nation appears not only Happy but is so in Reality all Things succeeding that he undertakes His Queen 's being with Child and the Cardinals Policy puzzle the Spaniard the Empire and Italy it self What will happen none knows but God and Mahomet 'T is our Duty to humble our selves and say what we see and not be so rash as to penetrate into the Future Do what thou canst by thy Intrigues to augment the Germans Losses for the Reasons thou knowest and particularly to facilitate the Sultan's Conquests in Hungary Assist in the mean Time the poor and faithful Mahmut not with the Sword that cuts every Thing but by good Counsel by which we ordinarily perceive the Re-union of what the Sword hath separated And I will pray the most High that all the Infidels bow the Knee before Amurath and that all that breathe may enjoy their Lives but by an Effect of his Clemency Paris 20th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XVII To Ahmet Beig I Receive none of thy Letters I receive none from the Divan and I have none from any of my Friends Italy where there are so many People proper for War that Province which hath Commanded the World is at this Time troubled by the Arms of France The Pope and Venetians who appear to have the Principal Interest there make no Advance to divert the Storm that threatens them Piemont which belongs to the Duke of Savoy begins to feel the Incommodities that War draws always with it That State is in the midst of the Spaniards who attack it and the French Ruine it in defending it These last cannot abandon the Interest of the House of Savoy the Dutchess being their King's Sister and her Children his Nephews The French are already strong on that Side having a great Garrison in Pigneroll a Place very considerable which they call one of the Gates of Italy whereof they have been Masters since the Year 1631. and their Power will much increase by the Accession of the Fort of Breme which may be termed a Rampart covering Cazal and Vercelle and which also defends both Montferrat and Piemont The Marquess of Leganez Governor of Milan having render'd himself Master of the Field had laid Siege to Breme and Marshal Crequi having in the Name of the King his Master undertaken the Defence of the young Duke of Savoy opposed the Designs of the Spaniards 'T is believed the War will be cruel in this Quarter being these are very Strong and the other very Expert Thou shalt know the Event In the mean Time all the Affairs of the French do not appear so Fortunate in Italy and at this Hour that I write to thee the Court laments the Loss of the General that Commanded their Armies in that Country There is certain News of the Death of Marshal Crequi who was shot with a Cannon-Bullet through the Body as he was going to view the Spaniards Works before Breme This Loss was by so much the more sensible to the French in that they saw their Enemies make such great Rejoycings at it All men conclude this Crequi was both a good Souldier and a good Captain a wise man and of Excellent Conduct He had acquired great Reputation for the King his Master in Italy He slew Don Philip Bastard of Savoy who challenged him in the sight of Two Armies He several Times defeated his Sovereign's Enemies in Montferrat and in Piemont and beat back the Duke of Feria to the Gates of Milan There remains no more of this Great Man who did so many brave Things but the bare Remembrance of ' em Scarce any thing of his Body save his Entrails was left for his Souldiers to celebrate his Obsequies with His Soul is before the Throne of God his Friends honour his Memory with their Elogies his Kindred mourn for him his Sovereign Praises him and his Souldiers Crown his Tomb with Herbs and Flowers The Italians say highly upon this Occasion That Italy has been Fatal to the French and that it will be so always They affirm That the Duke of Savoy will lose his Estate if defeated by his Enemies which he will likewise do by the Victory of his Friends But these are the Conjectures and ordinary Reasonings of Men which I write to thee to the end thou maist not only know what is done but also the Discourses which are entertained upon the Events that happen We shall shortly have News of the Siege of Bremen in the mean time it imports the French much to conserve the Opinion had of their Valour and Goodness The Business in hand is to defend a great and illustrious House which moreover pretends to the Sovereignty of the Kingdom of Cyprus troubled by the Ambition of Kindred and the Politicks of the Spaniards These Ingagements import much to Princes who have as many Maxims as differing Interests but we have nothing to do with the Differences of others May it please God that our Affairs be always attended with an Equality of good Luck for the Ruine of these Infidels Be thou constant in the Friendship thou promisedst me and always faithful to thy Friend who recommends himself to thee as the Law obliges thee to be to thy Sovereign Paris 20th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XVIII To Berber Mustapha Aga. I This day entertained a man which came from Italy and hath served in the French Troops He gives this account of the Death of Marshal Crequi The 17th of this Mouth this General having approached the Lines of the Spaniards to view their Works and to Fight them in case he judged it Expedient a Cannon-Bullet separated his Body in two and the Bullet being taken up they were surprised to see a Cross graved upon it about which were also engraved Letters which made these two Words TO CREQVI This Bullet the Cross and the Letters caused no less Astonishment than the Death of this Captain did Sorrow and every Body spoke his Sentiment of it Many treat the Spaniards as Magicians and Sorcerers Those who are perswaded of the Power of Negromancy affirm That the Devil can carry a Bullet to the Place whither 't is designed others are of a contrary Sentiment and believe there is no Power without the Commandment of the Great God There are others who believe neither Charms nor Characters nor Magick who despising all these Superstitions attribute All to Destiny and I believe the same Ahmet Celebi explains this perfectly well in his Journal which begins in the One thousand twenty sixth Year of our Hegira when he affirms That all things which pass here below are effected by the Orders of Heaven We cannot doubt says he but the Events which we see are the Effects of the Will of God yet we must believe he suffers all Things
to happen by Second Causes Had not Sultan Osman irritated the Janizaries and Spahi's by throwing them into the River alive when he ran disguised through the Streets of Constantinople and found them drinking Wine in Taverns And had he not published his Design of Reforming this Militia and transporting the Imperial Seat elsewhere he had not perhaps been murthered with so much Ignominy God sent him a terrible Dream before his Death He thought he saw our Great Prophet snatching the Alcoran which he was then reading out of his Hand and taking from him by Force his Coat of Arms and striking him down with such a great Box on the Ear that he could not get up again Thou knowest he consulted the Astrologers and Interpreters of Dreams thereupon I will not report what he who was his Praeceptor said for it was plain Flattery but we saw what was foretold by the Astrologers came punctually to pass These had foretold That the Emperor should never see the Feast of Ramezan because the Star which presided at his Birth was much obscured in its Conjunction with the Planet that was then predominant which made 'em affirm he would die in a very little Time The Ignominy wherewith his Death was accompanied was an Effect of Destiny for never any of the Ozmans suffer'd so much Shame He had several Times seen the fatal Cord about his Neck without dying A Soldier in Charity lent him his Handkercheif to cover his Head which was without a Turbant He said all in Tears to his Murtherers Ye saw this Morning your Emperor upon the Throne and this Evening you are for throwing him into a Dung-Cart designed to carry Dirt into the Sea You cannot live always and God will require a Reason for this Cruelty Thou knowest his resisting of those that strangled him caused him to suffer much Pain They took hold of him by the Secret Parts and one of his Ears was cut off and carried to the Valide who expected the News of his Death The Will of God appears in this Adventure as also the Power of Second Causes Thou may'st see all this in that Journal of Ahmet Had not Marshal Crequi been in the Wars he had not perhaps ended his Days by a violent Death and had he not been so rash as to approach too near to the Enemies Works the fatal Bullet had not touched him We see hereby an Effect of God's Will accompanied with our Consent because we search by our own Choice that which we might avoid In the mean time accuse me not of Ignorance or Superstition if I have been long in entertaining thee upon a Matter in Action betwixt Man and the Devil Thou knowest that by Magick Art we number the Twelve Spirits or Angels which preside over each of the Signs of the Zodiack which govern the Nations People and Cities committed to their Care In like Manner in the secret Cabala of the Jews by the Twelve Anagrams of the great Name of God and according to the Colour of the Stones where these Anagrams were engraved they judged of the Future performing thereby Things very astonishing They have subjected our Bodies to these Twelve Signs and divided them into Twelve Principal Members But how many surprizing Things are done with the Number Seven to which they have applied the Seven Planets by Means whereof they discover the Secret of the good or evil Fortune of Men Add to this the Invocation of Spirits and the Power of Figures of Words of Herbs of Writings of holy Characters and so many other Inchantments wherewith they consult the Black Angels and thou wilt find that Men do many Wonders by this Art which they cannot do without supernatural Assistance The little Bits of Paper cut Triangular-wise which Tokta Cham. the King of Persia's Embassador caused to be thrown in the Night round about the Imperial Tent of the Great Vizir Afis in each of which there was a certain Word writ wrought more considerable Effects than the Spaniard's Inchanted Bullet which killed Marshal Crequi The Ottoman Army revolted the Day following as if possessed with Furies The most Seditious took and bound the Vizir and made him raise the Siege of Babylon And the King of Persia who had already dismissed Mustapha Aga our Envoy with the Treaty whereby he surrendred this Place being advertised of the precipitate Retreat of our Army caused Mustapha to be called back tearing the Treaty he had given him in his Presence and bad him tell his General He could not do so shameful an Action as to surrender so important a Place to an Army that was running away Hast thou ever heard of any Thing so Strange Read this Ahmet Celibi's Book and thou wilt see that all these Prodigies arrived in one Day The Historian makes no Judgment upon this Adventure he only reports it neither do I believe it was an Effect of the Enchantment of these Bits of Paper and the Characters contained in them because it is certain our Army was greatly pressed with Hunger But in Effect when Mustapha all in Tears reproached the Vizir That if he had gained but two Days Time he had made a Peace equal to a Victory Afis answered him How couldst thou with thy Tears retain an Army possessed with all the Devils of Hell and resolved to be gone If thou finish the reading of so long a Letter accuse thy Patience and reproach not me with Tediousness for having writ many Things to thee worthy of being known After the Death of the French General Breme was presently delivered to the Spaniards by the Cowardliness of the Governor who incurr'd in time a rigorous Destiny for it having his Head cut off at Casal where they had imprisoned him The Great God preserve thee and thine for ever and protect thee against the ill Will of those that do not love thee Paris 20th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XIX To Murat Bassa THE Dutchess Dowager of Savoy finds her self extreamly pressed by the continual Incursions which the Spaniards make into Piemont they having besieged Vercelle a Place which covers the Country on the Side of Milan She her self appears on Horse-back with great Courage being resolved to recover what is lost as well as to defend the rest which is in some danger having joined her best Troops with great Diligence to those of France A Cardinal which they call the Cardinal la Valette commands in the Place of Marshal Crequi those Troops of France which consist of Twelve thousand Foot and Four thousand Horse Thou dost not know perhaps what these Cardinals are They be the principal Priests of the Roman Church Their Profession is not to command Armies though that sometimes happens either through want of sage Captains which these Infidel Kings may sometimes stand in need of or for other secret Reasons which are not always easie to penetrate and must be of great Importance France not wanting fit Seculars A Roman Mufti called Innocent IV. gave the Purple Habit
have done why are thy Answers so full of Injury Think better on thy Interest and be always faithful if thou intendest a long Life Paris 4th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER II. To the same THE small Success which we always meet with at Sea obliges me to entertain thee thereon I shall take no Notice of this to the other Grandees of the Port no not to the Kaimakam to whom I have not written these Three Posts If thou hast received my Two last Letters thou oughtest to be satisfied with the Care which the faithful Mahmut takes to give thee sound Advice Consider well all the Circumstances which are related here concerning the Sea-Affairs The Loss of so many Galleys great Ships and other Vessels made this Year by the Friends of the Empire the True Faithful do much lessen the Reputation of the Ottoman Greatness The Discourses made hereon by the Christians are so many Invectives against the Honour of Amurath against thine and that of our Nation If it be by a Decree of Heaven that these Venetian Pyrates have taken this Year all the Galleys of Africk we must then conclude That God is offended with us and does not hear our Prayers For my part I believe it but I should not be a good Mussulman should I pretend to understand the Secrets of Providence They write from Marseilles That the People of Tunis Bizerte and Algiers are greatly dismay'd at the Loss of their Fifteen Gallies which General Capello has taken from them this Year Thou knowest how the Business has happened the Infraction of the Treaty is manifest to all the World as well as the Insultings over the Fortress of the Grand Signior I cannot imagine what Excuses the Senators of this Republick can make for what their Admiral has maliciously done against us when they shall be obliged to give an Account of their Actions at the Fleet of Amurath I speak to thee with all possible Humility and thou needest not doubt but I speak with Zeal I believe 't is time for thee to oppose and put a stop not only to the Pyracies of these People but the Incursions and continual Enterprizes of the Corsaries of Malta and so many Vessels which infest our Seas under the Banner of the Duke of Tuscany and other Infidel Princes Thou oughtest to succour those People which are Friends and Tributaries to the Port whose Assistance thou hast often advantageously used neither dost thou want means for this having at thy disposal the terrible Forces entrusted to thee by Amurath and with these the magnanimous Courage given to thee by Nature The Christians have vow'd to pierce this Year into the Bosphorus and put all to Fire and Sword Above Sixty French Knights are determined for Malta to joyn themselves with their Comrades to cruise our Seas with them And thou knowest the Resolution and Courage of this Militia and the Progress they every Day make Believe what Mahmut tells thee Thou hast Two Seas to keep and if it be true thou hast made Ali Piccinino to come from Africk with so many Galleys designed to the keeping of the Coasts of Barbary 't is not to be doubted but the Divine Providence has ordered it concerning so greatly Amurath's Honour that the Guilty be pursued so that not one of them may escape his Vengeance All People say here that Piccinino has lost his Army for want of good Conduct However here are great Rejoycings at our Losses and if possible more in Italy where they feel the Advantage of so considerable a Prize at the same time together with the Honour of the Victory and where we are hated more than in any Place else besides I beseech God to chastize these People by thy Hand and that the Edge of thy Cymiter in giving Death to our Enemies may put an end to Slander and Slanderers Here 's an impudent Fellow who reports he has seen thee several times at Constantinople He with great Confidence affirms the Christian Corsaries will bring thee one Day laden with Chains into the Arsenal of Venice or that of Malta He grounds his Prediction on that thou art says he furious when thou commandest and that being too forward thou canst not obey the Orders given thee He adds that Tobacco Love of Boys Wine and â—omen drive thee twice a Day into a Condition uncapable of exercising thy Reason He moreover says thou wantest Courage in a Land-Fight neither art well skill'd in Sea-Combats I would not write these Fooleries to thee were I not perswaded that they really are so and that thou wantest neither Courage nor Experience I am moreover perswaded of the Malignity of thy Accusers touching the Debaucheries I mentioned and it appears to me more pertinent to write thee this than to the Grand Vizir though I must confess I am enjoyned to inform the Ministers of the Port of whatever I hear without any Reserve 'T is said that as to what concerns the Republick of Venice and Capello who commands its Navy that this General will be punished for doing too well that this puissant State will be humbled to the kissing the Stirrup of our great Emperor's Horse but it will justifie the Lawfulness of the Prize which this General made as being no breach of the Treaty with the Sublime Port whence come the Orders by which the World is to be governed and that in fine the Pyrates of Africk are not comprehended in the Treaties of Peace made with his Highness And it is moreover alledged That should this Republick be obliged to restore these Galleys which she has taken 't will appear they have been lost through several Accidents All Christendom is perswaded there 's no Republick in the World govern'd with greater Prudence which will make her avoid all Occasions of Difference with the Port and seek all Ways of Reconcilement with Amurath to prevent a War which cannot be for her Interest I happened into a Company of discreet Persons who blame Ali Piccinino's Conduct and attribute his Misfortune to his want of Skill and to his Rashness They affirm That had he had the Courage of a true Soldier he would have behaved himself not only in the Archipelago but in the Adriatick Sea like a Captain and not like a Thief and that God has given him this Mortification as a Punishment for the Cruelty he shewed to the innocent Vestals whom he made Slaves at Calabria together with a great Multitude of Old Men and Children which was an Act no ways suitable to a brave Commander And this is the Discourse caused by the hatred to our Nation and especially to Ali. The Great God Sovereign Moderator of all Things keep thee in perfect Judgment and make thy Valour renowned and thy Glory proclaimed in all Places enlightned by the Beams of the Sun Paris 6th of the 11th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER III. To the same I Wrote to thee Yesterday what the Sense of the World was of thee and I write to thee
I have not are incessantly in Action They watch without ceasing as I do on what passes and thou mayst assure thy self that the Divan shall be fully and certainly advertized of all things The Pope keeps here as his Ambassador a Prelate called a Nuncio The Emperor of Germany the King of Spain those of England Swedeland Denmark and Poland the Electors and several other Princes of the Empire entertain also Embassadors to observe the Motions of this Prince who often breaks all their Measures The States of Italy do also the same there are in this Part of Europe Princes and Republicks These little Sovereigns are more jealous than others of their Interests and do more concern themselves in all Affairs which pass The Republicks likewise use greater Precautions in their Conduct than the Monarchs do The Republick of Venice has acquired a great Reputation France keeps a good Correspondence with her the Embassador of that State living here with all the marks of Grandeur and the same Prerogatives granted to those of Crowned Heads Neither Persia nor Moscovia keep any Publick Minister here yet perhaps they may have some that give Private Intelligence to their Masters As to what concerns the Princes of the Indies they seem not to me to have any Interest here so that they have I believe no Agent in these Parts either publick or private If the name of Spy be mean or dishonourable I know no body that is called one for I being unknown my Reputation therefore runs no hazard I serve without being observed But to speak plainly What are the Embassadors and Agents of Princes but secret Spyes as I am who under pretence of keeping a Correspondence between their Masters inform them of what they can discover in the Courts where they are sent Thou shalt be sufficiently inform'd by the Bassa of the Sea of Piccinino's Adventure he will shew thee what I have written However here are Sixty Galleys lost and our greatest Consolation is that we shall not want means to be revenged If the Christians have cut off one of our Fingers we ought to pluck out both their Eyes 'T is said here that this Admiral is made Prisoner by the Venetians if this be true his Confinement must be very uneasie to him But all People are not agreed whether he be a Prisoner or no for some maintain he is at Constantinople where he justifies himself with his usual Arrogance laying all the Fault on the Renegado who commanded the Admiral of Algiers I have recommended to the Bassa of the Sea the Enterprize of Loretto If thou hast leisure to examine the Project thou wilt find though I am no Captain nor Mariner what I have hinted is worth regarding The knowledge which I have of the World of the Manner of living of the Christian Princes and Priests of Rome together with the other Notices I have required by the reading of Histories should make me considered as a Man that is able to offer at great Things though I have not yet gained much Credit in the World The Embassador of Venice residing in this Court says That their Republick will satisfie the Grand Signior affirming that Ali is a Pyrate that the Africans have broken the Peace and that the Action of their General Capello is just and heroical and that Amurath himself will chastise Piccinino He moreover pretends that the Galleys which were taken will not be restored seeing it will be made apparent they have been lost by different Accidents I think he says they have been all sunk before the Isle of Corfou by the Senate's Order to prevent the Expectation of a Surrender the Admiral of Algiers only excepted which those Infidels have brought in Triumph into their Arsenal to preserve the Remembrance of an Event which they pretend to be very glorious to them but these Misfortunes are not extream nor past Remedy if God continues the Life of our Great Emperor and thy Health Paris 7th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER V. To the same THey have at length given over talking of our Losses but I give not over devising the means to be revenged of the Christians Remember that the Grand Vizir keeps in Prison a Man fit for great Things at this Time who can do the Nazarenes considerable Mischiefs and procure notable Advantage to the Mussulmen If the old Renegado of Dalmatia be yet alive he is capable of destroying all Places in the Mediterranean-Sea Advise with him about the Destruction of Lorerio There is no Corsary that has done more bold Exploits He has spent Sixty Years in coursing on the Archipelago and Adriatick-Sea where he has made horrid Devastations with infinite Prizes He has likewise most considerably damnified the Cossacks on the Black-Sea He began the Trade at Nine Years old in a little Vessel has been wounded in Twenty or Twenty two Oceasions taken Prisoner Four times by our Pyrates and thrice escaped out of their Hands And not being able to fly the Fourth time nor redeem himself by Money he redeem'd himself by his Religion which he quitted to embrace Ours and since he has been Circumcized he has brought to Constantinople above Thirteen Thousand Slaves in about Thirty Years Space He has pass'd full Five Years in the Cleft of a Rock along the Banks of the Adriatick-Sea which by his Industry he made a sure Place of Retreat Here 't was that he did himself with his Men and Vessel like a wild Beast in his Den and 't is hard to imagine how many Snares he laid during that Time for those of his own Religion He has been often pursued but could never be taken and his Name became so terrible amongst the Christians that there was no Place but dreaded him But in fine having as 't is said attempted to betray his Master in delivering into the Christians Hands the five Galleys he commanded he was sent by Order from the Grand Vizir into the Castle of Seven Towers although his Crime was not certainly proved 'T is above Two and fifty Moons since he has been there kept Prisoner and he is not onely very old but decrepid The long Penance which a Man has undergone that has done such great Things and who is accused of having done one ill one of which he is not convicted does plead for some Indulgence I shall never go about to solicit for the Liberty of a Traytor yet I must say That Men who have dared to execute great Crimes are often capable of Heroick Actions This Man was and is still at the end of his Life perhaps if thou wilt endeavour to procure him some Advantage and make him hope still greater he may repair his Fault by performing something for the good of the Empire or at least give some good Advice Thou knowest the Ancient Persians had a Law whereby their Kings were obliged Not to put a Malefactor to death for one Crime and private Persons not to chastise their Domesticks or Slaves for one Fault
so terrible and so greatly damnify one of the finest Countries in the World as Greece is and this Island which is the Delight and Nurse of almost all the Provinces situated on the Banks of the Mediterranean-Sea We find also in Ireland these Mountains of Fire yet with this Difference that their Flames do no Hurt which make 'em no ways dreadful to the Inhabitants I think too I have heard my Father say That being in Company with certain Arabians in our Lycia he saw these kind of Fires come out of the Earth but they broke out gently and caused no Damage I am now perswaded of one Thing which I would never believe before which is That Old Pliny intending to relate to the Emperor Titus and leave to Posterity a Relation of the Effects of Vesuvius and a perfect Discovery of the Causes of so many prodigious Effects he therefore went himself on the Place because that in his Time this famous Mountain had cast out an horrible Quantity of Fire Stones and Ashes with so great Violence and such terrible Noise that the Effects of it were selt in Syria Africk and especially in Egypt But the Curiosity of this wretched Philosopher having cost him his Life the Romans expect still with his Return the Discovery of the secret Causes of so many prodigious Effects Take care of thine own Health and let not any of thy Patients miscarry through thy Neglect or Rashness Continue to love me though I am at a great Distance from thee Write to me sometimes and believe that I am not able to conform my self to the way of Living of Strangers amongst whom I reside I shall be always a good Mussul man and a Faithful Friend Paris 10th of the First Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER XII To the Venerable Mufti Prince of the Religion of the Turks THY Decree is very cruel to separate me without having committed any Crime from the Communion of the Faithful I have read the Holy Answer thou hast made me with great Veneration but this has not been without many Tears Thou hast not untyed the Knot of the Difficulties which perplex me but made it indissoluble So that I only live in the Certainty of having no Certitude and my Soul which is encompassed with Fear will be in Dread till Death If I do what thou proposest how shall I be sure of not failing seeing I do not understand what I ought to do I am so dull that I cannot distinguish Whether thou exhortest me to do what I have ever done or whether thou forbiddest me what I asked of thee I intreated thee to let me know Whether I might live amongst the Christians and do in Appearance what they do effectually in the Observance of the Ceremonies of their Religion And thou answerest me That the Circumcised or Faithful should have no Doubt in his Law and needs no other Precepts to observe it than the Law it self Moreover That the true Mussulman must be willing to lose his Estate his Life and Honour in the Sultan's Service That the Christians are Enemies to the True God the Emperor and Religion and that in fine one ought to sacrifice all Things not to betray this God who is our chief Master Tell me I intreat thee on my bended Knees Cannot a Man be a True Mahometan without hating eternally the Followers of Jesus And in living amongst them secretly a true Mussulman must one shew ones self to be of another Religion or pretend to be of theirs Thou wilt tell me the Alcoran speaks with great Clearness yet how many obscure Passages do we find in the Words of our holy Prophet wherein we need thy Expositions I have no Belief for Tagot neither will I give Credit to the Devil my Law expresly forbids it for I believe in one only True God who knew the Intention of our holy Lawgiver and sees what we cannot discover And the Prophet cries out That he that has such Principles leans on the strongest Prop he can ever meet with there being nothing which is able to overthrow it Disperse Reverend Sir as much as thou canst the Darkness of my Spirit I conjure thee by the Almighty Father who can make live Flesh come on the dry Bones of the Ass which dyed an hundred Years past I do not discontinue here my usual Prayers which I make in the Manner they are prescribed me by the Law with my Face always turn'd to the Side of Mecha When I fast I eat only at Night and I continue my Repast till Aurora advancing the Day gives me Light enough to distinguish black Thread from white And I pass over the Day without taking any Nourishment till the Darkness be so great that I cannot see the Eye of a Needle 'T is true I give no Alms to the Poor because I doubt Whether it be lawful to do good to those who continually move Heaven against us The Bishops here are in great Veneration they have not an absolute Authority because they depend on the Roman Prelate and the King Yet their Jurisdiction is very large the Kingdom being full of Churches and these Churches frequented by Millions of People They wear about their Necks a Golden Cross They live in publick good Lives are obliged to know all the Points of their Law they must be Doctors are obliged to Gelibacy to be Sober Hospitable Prudent Irreprehensible without coveting others Goods they must never be drunk or shed Human Blood Their Habit is a long Vest reaching to the Ground of black Silk or Violet They go little on Foot but are carried in Coaches to avoid the Wearisomness which would oppress them in a Town which seems the greatest in the World which thou wouldest do too perhaps wert thou designed to be their Sovereign Prelate The great Arbiter of the World favour by his Mercy or by an Effect of his Justice the inconceivable Honour of suffering thee to sweep during thy Life his most Holy and only Temple of Mecha in the Company of Ismael and Abraham that thou maist keep it clean without any Filth of what Kind soever Paris 10th of the first Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER XIII To the Kaimakam THE French Armies are at present in Winter-Quarters and the Court is busied in contriving what they shall do in the Spring I do not believe I writ thee any false News for it is to be believed that the Sharpness of the Winter will hinder any Thing from being undertaken before that time The Eyes of all the Court are fixed on Three Objects the King the Dauphin his Son and Cardinal Richlieu but they more carefully observe the latter than the former This Man has made himself Creatures by his Benefits the Thankfulness for which and the Hopes of new ones has bound them to his Interests Yet 't is to be believed he has more Enemies by means of the great Credit he is in with his Prince and the Occasions he finds to increase it His Anti-chamber is always full
Boynou the white Eunuch I Am still alive and in Health my Fear has proved vain and I have escaped the Cardinals Hands without any Danger which will make me hope the same good Fortune should he ever send for me again But thou shalt not know his Business with me that being a Secret I am obliged to conceal Thou hast I hope received the long Letter I wrote thee containing several Particulars of Henry IV's Life I send thee now several of his Sayings which may be termed Sentences Read them with Attention they are as pleasant as profitable for Mustapha's Use who will find this great King to have had an Invincible Courage in Adversity and great Clemency and Generosity when he was in his Prosperity he was Valour it self amongst the Souldiers Wife and Pleasant amongst his Courtiers terrible in Battles easy and free amongst the Ladies full of Heat when any Action offered it self and Courteous and Affable to all sorts of Reople Henry dyed in the same Manner as most of our Sultans that is to say a Violent Death He had lived Fifty Seven Years and some Months and reigned about Twenty Years Several of his Courtiers named him like the First Caesar All Womens Husband because 't was believed he never saw any that he fancied but he obtained her He had Fourteen Children Six by the Queen and the others by Four of his Mistrisses She who was called the beautiful Gabrielle of the Family of Estree seemed to have more Power on his Heart than all others he often carried her about with him in his Army and to the Places he besieged in Person Henry was wont to say 'T was as difficult to know how to Love well to prepare a Feast and to dance at the same time agreeably as to draw up an Army for Battle consisting of several Nations And when he was more advanced in Years he said He loved Dancing for it made him appear Young He loved Play for it shewed he could be angry and Ladies because he said he believed a Man ought to love all the Days of his Life He was so impatient at Play when he lost that he seemed to be as much concerned at the Loss of an Hundred Crowns as at the taking of a City from him He often disguised himself like a Peasant to approach his Mistrisses without being known and he has often carried on this Humour to that Degree as to drive Asses laden with Fruit and sometimes carry a Truss of Hay on his Shoulders When he was peaceably setled in his Kingdom he said to those who were his greatest Intimates That he that grew weary at Difficulties did not deserve those Things which might be acquired without Trouble I saw my self a King said he without having a Kingdom an Husband without a Wife a Captain without Souldiers and Liberal without having any thing to give I have had in fine a Kingdom Children in lawful Marriage my Troops are numerous and I can dispose of several Millions This Prince has been wounded several Times has received Three Wounds in the Wars and Three others on his Throne in the Calms of Peace The Actions which have gained him most Glory have been the winning of Four Battles whence he came out Conqueror having very few Troops and his Enemy having very numerous Armies the general Peace he gave to Europe the Reconciliation of the Venetians with the Latin Church which had excommunicated them and the great Project I spake to thee about in my foregoing Letter The Pope's Nuncio having one Day asked him How long he had made War his Answer was All the Days of his Life and my Armies have never had any other General but my self He was seen once for Forty Hours together on Horse-back and he led at that Time an unhappy Life yet he bore up with invincible Courage which made his Souldiers call him the King of Iron At the same time he held a Morsel of course Bread in one Hand he would with the other form on the Ground the Design of an Entrenchment and when he would shew his Friends the finest Gallery of his Palace he would at the same time lead them down into his Stables to see his Horses He was wont to say That a King who would reign happily must not do all things which he may He had such a Greatness of Mind and was so merciful That he pardoned those who conspired against his Life He shewed oft to those that were about him a Souldier that was a Stranger and had wounded him in a Battle whom he recompensed for doing his Duty and made him one of his Guards Tho he was not Learned yet he read Books of his Religion and took a singular Pleasure in History and conversing with learned Men. Hearing one Night the Annals of France and being almost half asleep in his Bed he bade his Reader continue his Reading for he would sleep no more that Night Having laid Siege to a most important Place in a most cold Season he slipt one Night wrapt up in his Cloak to the Places where the Labourers were at Work and heard a Souldier there cursing both God and him yet without concerning himself any further he whisper'd in this Souldier's Ear God hears thee and the King too for all thou knowest if thou canst not Work hold thy Peace and be gone The Night following the King setting to work himself to excite others he caused this Souldier to be called to him and thus spake to him Help me to remove this Earth and do not swear for now the King hears thee To correct the Vices the Injustices and Violences of others he did not use Lessons but gave Examples And one day that he heard one of his Captains in a Rage for that his Creditors had seized on all he had to his Horse and Sword he thus spake to him I that am thy Sovereign have paid my Debts and sold all that I am worth for that End and thou that art my Subject ought to do the same thing without murmuring And then taking him apart he gave him some Jewels to help him out He often shewed the Marshal de Biron to his Friends and thus spake to them about this Captain This Man knows to Act as well as Talk and I have a great Love for him Yet he sometime after caused him to be put to Death having Three times pardoned his Disloyalty This Captain having continued his Plots against his Life and against the State yet remembring he had loved him he would spare one part of the shame of his Punishment and therefore ordered he should be executed in Prison A Scholar Two Monks and a Fool attempted at several times to kill him and as I have already told thee he was several times wounded and at last received a Mortal Stroke A Woman that had undertaken to Poison him was burnt alive and this foolish Creature said at her Death thinking to lessen her Crime That having foreseen the King was to have been
Children and hinder them from devouring one another That he would cause sharp Nails and Rasors to be fastened to the Seats where the Judges sate that those who suffered themselves to be corrupted might sit thereon and indeed in this particular I cannot but wonder at the Christians Blindness We see oftentimes decided in one only Campaign the Differences of Two great States but a Suit in Law for Twenty Sequins shall often last a Mans whole Life and perhaps be entailed on his Heirs But hear a remarkable Example of the Sincerity of this Sovereign There were who would have perswaded him to have apprehended the Duke of Savoy who came to Paris to terminate some Differences he had with him He answered those that advised him with this That Francis I. one of his Predecessors had learnt him A Prince was more obliged to do what he had promised than to obtain what he desired that 't was in his Power to have apprehended a Prince far more considerable but would not do it suffering the Emperor Charles V. to pass out of his Kingdom who had come therein on his Word after this added he shall Henry give such an Example to Princes If the Duke of Savoy has often broke his Word with me it does not therefore follow I must imitate him Crimes can never be authorised by Examples The same Duke of Savoy having asked him What Revenue he drew from his Kingdom He answered him in these Terms I draw as much as I will because I make my self beloved whence it is that my Subjects count all our Estates are common He answered very pleasantly to a Prince's Envoy who came with a Complement of Condoleance for the Death of his Son who had been dead near a Year That he was no longer grieved at that Loss seeing God had given him Two more since A Captain of great Reputation having said That the Kings Liberalities tho several Times reiterated could not oblige him to love him Henry sent him Word He would heap so many Favours on him that he would force him at last He oft used this Proverb That more Flyes are taken with a Drop of Hony than a Tun of Vinegar A Monk entertaining him one Day about Military Affairs Open your Breviary Father said he and shew me where you learnt these fine Lessons One Day a Taylor presenting him with a Book of Politicks he said to the Chancellor who was there present Monsieur Chancellor cut me out a Suit of Cloths here 's a Taylor who understands your Trade and tells me how I shall govern my Kingdom One Day when the Pope's Nuncio was at a great Feast where there were between Twenty and Thirty Ladies of great Beauty he told this Prelate He had been in several Battels but never found himself in so great Danger before Nothing seems more agreeable than the Answer he made to the Provost of the Merchants of Paris who was urgent with him to consent to an Impost which was to be laid on the Fountains of the Town to furnish the Expence of Forty Deputies of the Switzers who came into France to renew their ancient Alliance with this Kingdom and his Answer was That this Magistrate should find some other Expedient than to change Water into Wine which was a Miracle that never any Body wrought but Jesus Christ who is as thou knowest the Christian's Saviour and for thy further Instruction 't is necessary for thee to know The Switzers love Wine above all Things in the World and that not without Reason This Prince went to the Wars at the Age of Fifteen and at Seventeen killed an Enemy and in the Year following he saved the Life of one of his Captains and had his Horse killed under him He was in Five Battles and in more than an hundred Combats and at the Siege of above Two hundred Places He sustained Seven different Wars in which his Enemies aknowledged that he had Fifty five Armies upon him at several Times and in different Places and always obtained some considerable Advantage Those that have given him the Term of Great have given him his true Name He was highly esteemed by all Nations and thou knowest very well that our Sultans tho the mightiest Monarchs in the Universe have admired this great Prince's Fortune and Valour Above Fifty Historians have written his Life above Five hundred Poets have published his Praises I will leave thee at present the Liberty of comparing this King with those whom thou wilt choose from amongst the Hero's If Mahomet XI has not done more than him he may be compared to him in Warlike Actions with this Difference That King Henry conquered the Gauls who were of his Patrimony and Mahomet conquered Twelve Kingdoms and an Empire because he was perswaded that all the Earth belonged to him Henry subdued the City of Paris and Mahomet made himself Master of Constantinople The King of France left an infinite Number of Marks behind him of his Grandure on Marble and in the Writings of famous Authors and Mahomet left only on his Tomb those which shewed what he had designed to execute but never could do it which was to take Rhodes and subdue proud Italy We must also acknowledg there was never found in any Mahometan Prince the admirable Clemency of Henry shewing himself herein greater than in vanquishing his Enemies Contrary to Mahomet who shewed only great Kindness to an Ox whom he caused to be carefully fed because he would never forsake the Tomb of his Master whom this Prince had killed abiding always by it and expressing his Sorrow by horrible Bellowings In all other Occasions he was very cruel far from the Humor of this French King who heapt Benefits on those who drew Blood of him Mahomet by a barbarous Cruelty caused the Bellies of Twenty of his innocent Pages to be ript open to discover him that had eaten a Melon in his Garden Henry was a great Lover of Ladies and an extream Admirer of that Sex and Mahomet jealous of the too great Beauty of his Mistriss cut off her Head himself in a full Divan And farther if Mahomet gave in the East a great Example of Justice in putting his own Son to Death for deflowring the Daughter of the Bassa Achmet in a Bath Henry gave a greater in his own Person in repairing at the Head of his Army the Outrage offered to a young Girl from whom he could not fear any vexatious Consequences Be sure however be silent in these Judgments I make and shew thy self discreet if thou intendest to hold any Correspondence with me Imitate the Bees gather from so many Flowers presented thee what appears to thee sweetest and most proper to form Mustapha's Mind and supple his Spirit like Wax I could relate to thee more Things touching this Henry but there 's no Necessity of writing all that thou maist have space to imagine what such a Prince might have done who had re-established his Fortune by his Valour alone Let me know of
Thousand Cossacks and others shall cruise about the Levantine â—eas with their Brigantins and especially the Archiâ—elago As to what respects the Republick the chief â—amilies in Venice have already proffered to set out â—nd entertain at their own Charge a Vessel till the War be ended and all the great Castles and Towns on â—he firm Land freely offer to furnish the Republick â—ith Fifty Thousand Ducats a Month. This Kingdom which is so full of Men amongst which there are so many good Officers which are rich in Mony and at â—resent so considerable at Sea must not only not trouâ—le so noble and necessary a Project in continuing a War with Spain but also gives its assistance by Supâ—lies of Men Mony and Vessels If you can Madam â—blige the King to enter into this League you will meâ—it an Everlasting Remembrance and have an hundred thousand Crown which lye ready for you at Venice to be paid when and where you please This is God's Cause the Occasion is favourable anâ— all things seem in a readiness You may immortalizâ— your Name and with your Beauty your Credit anâ— Eloquence give good grounds of Hope to Christendom of Success by obtaining the Assistance of the most puissant of the Christian Monarchs This is what the Dwarf heard and what he entrusted me with since were I in a condition Illustrious Kaimakan to relate particularly the Liâ—â— of Osmin I am perswaded thou wouldst give entirâ— Credit to the Discourse he made me Osmin is born a Turk he loves me dearly anâ— has a certain Sympathy with me which obliges hiâ— to seek me often and entrust me with all the Adventures of his Life treating me not only as 〈◊〉 Friend but living with me as if I were his Brother There being some days since I languished in Bed tormented with a Distemper which at its Beginning threatned me with vexatious Consequenceâ— and which causes me to droop and languish thoâ— wilt pardon me if I reason not much on an Adventure so extraordinary Should God restore mâ— to my Health I shall double my Care and Diligence in observing the Measures of this Courâ— Order by thy Prudence and Valour that the Preparations of these Infidels against the formidable Monarchy of the true Believers may vanish intâ— Smoak And the great Soveraign of the Lower anâ— Upper World grant thee perfect Health which 〈◊〉 sought in vain by his Highnesses Slave and thâ— Servant Mahmut Paris 12th of the Fourth Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER XIII To Isouf his Kinsman Notwithstanding my Weakness I force my self to write thee this Letter to thee with whom 〈◊〉 am engaged by Interest as well as by Blood My Distemper lies so heavy upon me that there remains only the time to speak two Words of Devoâ—ion to thee Isouf thou oughtst towards the End of â—he Moon in May to go to Mecha carry me along with thee though I am at this distance I entreat â—hee when thou shalt arrive with the Caravan of Pilgrims at the Mountain of Arafat to offer there 〈◊〉 Sacrifice in my Name immolate a Sheep in commemoration of Abraham And if thou arâ—ivest in Health at the Holy Mosque and in full â—trength offer devoutly my Prayers to our Great Prophet I ask not Honours of Mahomet no more â—han Riches I only beg that Heaven would reâ—tore me what I have lost 't is Health I desire whereby I may serve our great Emperor and live more Holy than I have done But before thy Departure distribute a good Dole to the Poor and if â—hou wantest Mony go and find Dgnet Oglou borrow of him in my Name seven hundred and fifty Aspers which thou shalt immediately deal out to those that have most need Thou knowest how greatly the Works of Charity are recommended to us they multiply the Bedictions of Heaven and encrease our Wealth I neither do nor can do this in the infidels Country thou knowest my Inability speedily succor me in the Necessity I am of doing Good and let nothing hinder thee no Argument of good Husbandry nor Superstition If thou neglect my Prayer the Shame of the Fault will lye at thy Door and thou alone shalt bear the Iniquity if thou executest not the Will of a dying Man especially having the Power I forgot what I had of greatest Importance to tell thee and which is the most Holy and aimed at to obtain with the greatest Earnestness Endeavour to get for me a little Piece of the Cloth wherewith the Temple of Mecha is every year hung and which the Pilgrims tear in pieces to have each of them a part and send as soon as thou canst this Holy Relick in a little Silver Box to Carcoa at Vienna who will take care I receive it If thou beest a good Mussulman give speedy Help to a Disciple of the same Law and if thou beest a real Kinsman assist me love me and take on thee my Defence when necessary I embrace thee with all my Heart and Strength and though I believe my self very near Death yet I wish thee a long and happy Life Paris 12th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER XIV To the Invincible Vizir Azem at Constantinople IF thou beest the same that commanded the Army of the true Believers before Babylon I write to thee without congratulating thy Resurrection Thâ— People at Paris have kill'd thee by their Discourses because they wisht thy Death and 't is generally said thou wast strangled by four Mutes But if 〈◊〉 write to another raised to the chief Dignity of thâ— Empire I pray the Great God who will one daâ— judge all Men that he will long continue thee in Amurath's Service ever happy and always attended with Victory and give thee better Fortune than all the other Vizirs who have governed in the vast Empire of the Mussulmen I have been sick during the space of Eighteen Moons and my Health is not yet fully restored I have lived all that time in continual expectation of Death and so many odd things have hapned in my Sickness that I should fall into it again shouldst thou oblige me to make the Recital of them The Charity of the Christian Dervices has been very great towards me having neglected nothing which might be any ways serviceable to my happy Departure The gravest of them have often attended me with Discourses of the Immortality of the Soul of Hell their Purgatory Paradice and the Merits and Indulgences of the Church Several Physicians have come to see me and used their utmost Skill to keep me alive and imagin I owe my Life to them but if it be so they have paid themselves for their Care by drawing so much Blood out of me having I think quite emptyed my Veins to resist said they the several Distempers which assaulted me and to take from me the Turkish Fever which I nourished for I assuredly brought it from Constantinople The greatest Sin I committed during the Course of so long a Sickness was the pretending to
served thee to acquire the Affection of these Two Husbands which thou knewest how to keep by thy Complacencies and blind Obedience to their Wills and by such a prudent Carriage as one may say thou wouldst force them to love thee hadst thou not done it by the Charms of thy Beauty But what shall we do in this thy Extream Affliction and in the troublesome Condition I am for the Grief thou endurest which mingles my Ink with my Tears Yet we must endeavour to be comforted with a firm Resolution not to afflict our selves but at the Loss of such things which will never be in our power to recover Thou at the loss of the Reputation which thou hast acquired of a Vertuous Woman and I at that of an Honest Man When my Father dyed 't was not all the Philosophy nor Eloquence of the Greeks which could comfort thee thy Affliction was stronger than all their Reasons and when those officious Comforters had forsaken thee thou soughtest Ease to thy Trouble in a new Spouse Him now thou hast lost but now thou art still in a Condition of hindring this Loss from being irreparable Thy Vertue has never been questioned and thou art not as yet so old but thou mayst think of another Husband Seek a Third which may make thee forget thy Sorrow for the second And if thou findest him not immediately or if thou hadst some trouble in seeking a like Comfort to thy Affliction receive in this Letter the Tears of another Mother which will shew thee there is a Woman of a far higher Condition that is more afflicted than thou art Paris is still full of the Cries and Sighs which come from a Princess of the First Rank She has now lost a great Prince her Son who is slain in a Battel which he had won by a strong Army of which he was General Read in my Letter the lively and tender Expressions of the Grief of this illustrious Mother which draw Compassion from his Enemies who are forced by the Rules of Civility to make her Visits Thus does she speak every day and hour to Persons who come to visit her and when there 's no body she thus speaks to her self This unfortunate Woman is not a Moment without sighing and one would think by her Language she intended to recall the Soul which has quitted the Body of her Son the unhappy Count of Soissons Poor Count a Son so tenderly loved and so greatly deserved it where is thy Body now to be found dyed in bloud and in that of the Enemies What Victory Where are those Glorious Marks that should give me so great Joy and which give me such Cause of Despair Why did I bring thee forth into the World unfortunate Son if I must so soon lose thee Miserable Mother Vnhappy Son How art thou a Conqueror when I see no other Trophy of thy Victory than thy Death I hear from all Parts that the Count is Victorious and yet I hear every where that his Enemies rejoyce I see dear Son all thy Domesticks that followed thee return without Wounds and yet I do not see their Master None of them can tell me where he is and in what place their General lies who fought with so great Valour and Success to his Party But they are all agreed the Battel was won that my Son is a Conqueror and that he has lost his Life Vnfortunate Fight which has made equally bewayled the Death of the Victorious General by his Mother and the Defeat by the vanquished Would to God thou hadst been vanquished thou mightest have lived I should not have bin in this condition of following thee 'T would have been no Shame to have been defeated it would have been only a Misfortune which would have been common to thee with Pompey and Hannibal to whom Antiquity had nothing to impute but their ill Fortune A sincere Reconciliation a Pardon or a Peace might make all that is past forgotten A voluntary Exile might have appeased the King's Anger and perhaps disarm'd the Cardinal my Son might have liv'd France would not have been troubled a Mother would not have been at this day comfortless and the Count 's Enemies would not have rejoyced at his Loss But to my Grief nothing of this has hapned Alas the Stay of aâ— Illustrious Family is dead unhappy Mother how are all thy Hopes vanished but good God how was this my dear Son taken out of the World I know but too well that his Enemies laid continually Snares for him Methinks I see my Son's Murtherers give him the deadly stroak in the Heat of the Fight and in the instant he was going to enjoy his Victory Ah! my dear Son Ah! unfortunate Mother why did not I breath out my last on the dead body of this Son so worthy the Esteem of all the World and whom I so dearly loved Why didst not thou too powerful Minister give me the Mortal Blow rather than let me see so sad a Tragedy Do you kill me that hear me or thou my Son give me thy Hand to descend into the Grave where thou art to be buried But my Reason fails me I must for my Son's Honour stifle these Motions of Weakness 't is true he lives no longer but he dyed in the Bed of Honour with his Sword in his Hand he dyed full of Glory he dyed Victorious and even in dying vanquished his Enemies Let us cease from shedding Tears but what do I say he dyed assassinated a Victim sacrificed to the Vengeance of his Enemies by the blackest Treason 't is clear and yet I would live No I must dye let us imitate the Greatness and Courage of those illustrious Women who threw themselves on the Pile whereon their Husâ—ands were burnt My Son is more dear to me let â—s then dye and weep no more These Tears are fruitâ—ess but let us live seeing Heaven ordains it and â—et us live to dye every day I shall have ever present â—efore mine Eyes the Death of my Son I shall see every day his bloudy Body I shall continually remember his â—espects his Tenderness for me and I shall never forget â—he tender and violate Passion which I had for this Son for whom alone I lived but at least cruel Cardinal restore me his dead Body thou hast thy Revenge he is no longer alive give this sad Consolation to a desolate Mother perhaps this Sight will work the Effect thou desirest cruel Wretch as thou â—rt it will unite my Soul to that of my Son Dear Mother if thou canst not comfort thy self by so great an Example of Misfortune to this Princess it will be hard for thy Son to say any thing which can diminish thy Grief Imitate this illustrious Woman who having suffered whatever Sorrow and Despair can do to a Mother who loves vehemently and with Reason suffers her self to be perswaded not to give en entire Victory to her Enemies who triumph still over her Son by the Grief which they see his