Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	good_a	life_n	see_v	9,943	5	3.4753	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51903	The eighth and last volume of letters writ by a Turkish spy who lived five and forty years undiscover'd at Paris : giving an impartial account to the Divan at Constantinople of the most remarkable transactions of Europe, and discovering several intrigues and secrets of the Christian courts (especially of that of France) continued from the year 1642 to the year 1682 / written originally in Arabick, translated into Italian, and from thence into English, by the translator of the first volume.	Marana, Giovanni Paolo, 1642-1693.; Bradshaw, William, fl. 1700.; Midgley, Robert, 1655?-1723.	1694 (1694)	Wing M565EA; ESTC R35024	164,847	384

Affairs But I address my self to a Good and knowing Man who understands himself and what his Business is in this World who comprehends the force of the Chains which intangle his Soul in this Mortal Life and is instructed in the Method of disingaging himself To such an one I speak and not to others who lye snoring in their Lethargy and will not be wak'd Certainly 't is as impossible that one and the same Rule of Life should fit the various Tempers and Conditions of Men as that one and the same course should be taken effectually to dispose a Man to Sleep and violently to keep him Awake For he that would sleep out his whole Life if any be so sottish it behoves him to procure a constant supply of things which create Sleep Whereas he that designs to be Vigilant and Active must furnish himself with such things as chase away Sleep and incline to Watchfulness The former therefore ought to give himself up to Gluttony Drunkenness and Surfeiting He should have a dark House a soft and large Bed And should use all manner of Applications that cause Drowsiness as Soporiferous Perfumes Potions c. Whereas the latter ought to be always Sober to Drink moderately and Eat a slender Diet to have a light House a serene Air a sense of Pain a streight and hard Bed little sitted for Mans Repose But whether we Mortals are in a Place where we ought perpetually to be upon our Watch or whether our whole Life ought to be but one Night of Sleep is known only to such as thee who hast discover'd the Prestigious Magick of the Body and how the Soul is enchanted in this World who hast found out the Native Activity of the Mind and how it comes to be ●tupified by the hidden Opiates that lie lurking in the Flesh Holy Santone whilst we are in this World of Shadows we are perfect Exiles banish'd from our Native Country which is the World of Real Substances The more we are drench'd in Matter the farther do we straggle from Home wandring in foreign Desarts of Enchanted Ground where we converse with none but empty Spectres Fairies Daemons Elfs and cheating Apparitions For all that 's in this Outward World is but a false Delusion the Mimickry of Nature a heap of Shadows revers'd and tinctur'd with a faint Projection from the World of Light Knowing therefore these things let us make haste to return to our Native Seats again let us divest our selves of the strange Habits we have taken up by Imitation in this our Pilgrimage and Purge our Minds of all the Ill Qualities we have Imbib'd on Earth Let us cast off corrupt Affections Appetites and Inclinations with every vain and false Opinion When we are free'd from all these Weights our Souls will easily mount aloft their Wings never flagging 'till they perch upon the Trees of Paradise What is more Generous than the Mind of Man when once awaken'd from the Slumbers of this Mortal Life How it despises these Terrene Enjoyments and only pants and thirsts for the Supream Delights Above As Iron turns it self and makes its Amorous Approaches to the Magnet so is the Soul attracted by the Original Essence which is its Source and Center There are Two Species of Chains which tye the Soul down to this Earth and cause her to grow dull and torpid as if she were inebriated with deadly Poison forgetting her very Native Faculty of Contemplation These are Pleasure and Pain of which our Sense is the Author with the Prepossessions Phantasies Opinions Memories and Appetites which accompany our Sense These hurry and precipitate the Soul down from her proper Mansion and alienate her from the Love of the only true Substantial Being Therefore we ought to abstain from Sensible Things as much as in us lies and shun all Objects that stir up Irregular Appetites and produce Absurdities in our Reason How many strange Affections flow from our Taste binding fast the Soul with a double Cord whilst the high Relish and Gust of Savoury Meats ensnare her in the Palate as in a Net and the load of indigested Crudities weighs and sinks her down into the Belly where she 's kept as in a Dungeon till Sacred Abstinence releases her again The Sense of Touch does often draw the Unwary Soul forth from her Fastnesses within trepanning her with soft Allurements and sly Promises of Pleasure to take the Air o' th' Body Thus having got her into the open Field an Ambuscade of Lusts Concupiscences Perturbations Fears Cares Love Joy Grief and other Passions rush upon her on a sudden and take her Captive How necessary therefore is it to be always on our Guard and not to lull our selves in dangerous Security Nor ought we to be rash and fool-hardy in venturing on a Combat where 't is better to decline it lest instead of victory we betray the weakness of our Arms and Want of Proper Conduct O Perfect Man Thou seest these things in clearer Light than I 't is not to inform thee that I write but to confirm my self whilst I collect my scatter'd Thoughts and put 'em into Order If thou shalt vouchsafe to send me thy Conceptions on this Subject I will revere the blessed Dispatch as tho it were an Oracle In the mean while may Heaven regard thy Innocent Life and still protect thee from the Casualties that threaten all of Mortal Race May thy Prayers be heard and thy Good Works rewarded Finally may thy End be like that of Enoch who never saw Death but was translated alive to Paradise Paris 9th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1674. LETTER IV. To Ali Bassa IT is evident That the French Arms are destin'd not to rust One Provocation or other always keeps them in Action The Neighbouring Princes and States take their Turns to affront and injure this Monarch and sometimes they set upon him all together Surely they Envy and Fear the rising Fortune of France and therefore strive by Stratagems and Force to check its Growth There having been several Acts of Hostility done by the Governour of the Spanish Netherlands without any Hopes of a fair Redress this King found himself oblig'd to declare open War against Spain This was done very lately and at the same time the Duke de Navailles was sent with an Army into Flanders where he soon took the Town and Castle of Aubespine the Towns of Pesme and Mornais the Castle of Oigny with the Towns of Gray and Vezont This last is a Place of considerable Importance being called the Gate of Lorrain and the Postern of the Franche Comté Whereby this Monarch is become actual Master of the Baillage of Amont which comprehends above Five Hundred Villages The Spaniards seeing him thus Successful and that they could not by open Resistance stop the course of his Victories took another Method and sought to undermine him by Plots and Confederacies with some of his Subjects They had agreed with the Chevalier de Rohan to

Intercession with God for the Province and City committed to her Patronage And the People are willing enough to believe it If this Shrine be as efficacious in causing Rain when there is a Drought as the Inhabitants of Paris affirm it may nor unfitly be compared to the Lapis Manalis of the Ancient Romans This was a certain great Stone which in Time of Excessive Dryness the Romans us'd to draw into the City with vast Ropes by the Gate Capena whilst the Priests of the God Mars danc'd before it and all the Vestals left the Sacred Fire to follow the Procession They drew the Stone to the Temple of the Goddess Flora where they strew'd upon it a Handful of wither'd Flowers and Herbs Then immediately it began to Rain and they let the Stone lye there as a Memorial before the Temple of the Goddess till they had enough of that sort of Weather to secure the Growth and Maturity of the Vegetables and then they drew it back again in the same manner as before only each Vestal now carried some of the Sacred Fire in an Earthen Vessel whereas before they carried none Whether there be any real Efficacy in those Religious Ceremonies or no is not in my Power to determine But 't is certain that every Nation consides much in the Mysteries taught them by their Priests The Force of Education prevails on most Men even to old Age in regard they think it an Impiety to examine or question the Traditions of their Fathers especially when Heaven it self confirms their Implicite Faith by seeming to regard and answer their Religious Addresses in so peculiar a Manner as these foremention'd Instances describe Sage Effendi Tell me whether it be Heresie to affirm That God has sent Prophets into all Nations each furnish'd with Instructions and Doctrines agreeable to the Genius of the People whom they were to teach And that he is not displeas'd at the various Rites and Ceremonies by which every distinct Region and Climate adore his Divine Vnity Satisfy me in this and then thou shalt be more than Apollo in my Esteem for I am full of Doubts Paris 10th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1675. LETTERS Writ by A Spy at PARIS VOL. VIII BOOK II. LETTER I. To Dgnet Oglou SOmetimes I could wish my self without a Spleen it overwhelms me in such deep Melancholies Yet when I consider the same Vital is a necessary Instrument of Mirth and Laughter I reverse that Wish again Not that I am fond of a Levity which makes us resemble Apes rather than Men tho the Philosophers say the contrary But I correct my Partial Thoughts which would lay the fault on my Body when my Mind● is chiefly to Blame For he that is Master o● his Reason r●ed ●ot fall into either Extreme to be always a grinning like Democritus or howling with Heraclitus Resignation and Tranquility are the Golden Mean And he that steps over this Line on one side or other falls into the same Vanity which he bemoans or ridicules in the rest of Mortals I have studied to know this World and the Nature of all Things but am never the Wiser after so many Years of search I have perus'd many Books and convers'd with more Men yet none of them all can inform me of a certainty what I am my self How then should I be able to comprenend the Essences of Other Things Henceforth I 'll lay aside this Inquisitive Folly and be careless till Death shall either quite extinguish so troublesome a Passion or fully satisfy it with new Discoveries In that separate Stare I hope to see in open Light the Naked Forms of Things without the Interposition of a Veil or Gless to thicken and dusk the Prospect Whereas in this Life we are fain to peep into the World through the close Windows of our Senses which are so o'rlaid and darken'd with the Dust our Passions raise besides the Natural Dullness of their Composition That we are fain to run from Pannel to Pannel and use the Opticks of Philosophy to help our Sight Yet after all we still are purblind and so are like to be during this Mortal Life But when once this Prison of ours shall be demolish'd by a Tempest of Misfortune or by some sudden Disaster or it shall moulder away through Sickness Age and Native Weakness thus crumbling to its primitive Dust then shall the Soul expand it self and fly at large in the open Firmament of Wisdom Light and Science My Dgnet Let thou and I be content to bear the Inconveniences of these Earthly Cages for a while and in a little Time we shall be consign'd over to Eternal Liberty I design'd to have said more but I ●ell thee I 'm too Melancholy Therefore Adieu for the Present Paris 19th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1675. LETTER II. To Hamet Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire IT is above Ten Years ago since I gave thee an Account of the Renowned Mareschal de Turenne Wherein I did not pretend his compleat History or present thee with his full Character but only to inform thee of some remarkable Passages in his Life and to draw an imperfect Idea of his Vertues Which though they were very great yet were not sufficient to skreen him from the Chance of War and the Stroke of a Violent Death On the Six and Twentieth of the Moon of July this great General having given all necessary Orders for a Battel with the Imperialists in Alsatia was surveying a certain rais'd Ground near Strasbourg on which he design'd to plant a Battery when a Cannon Shot from the Town guided by Fate more than by the Gunners Aim or Skill came grazing along on the Earth and in its Carcer gave this Heroe a Mortal Blow on the Breast of which he instantly died without speaking a Word There was an Officer of the Artillery in his Company who spied the Course of the Bullet at a Distance and happily started out of the Way He reports that Monsieur Turenne saw the same but whether out of the Greatness of his Spirit which would not suffer him to appear timerous of Death or whether his extream Thoughtfulness on the approaching Battel kept him from providing for his own Safety 't is certain he stood Immoveable and sustain'd the Fatal Stroke which cost him his Life The Court of France laments his Death with extraordinary Demonstrations of Sorrow And so does all the Kingdom Indeed they have Reason France having never sent into the Field a Man more accomplished with all the Vertues and Heroick Qualities requisite in a great General They relate Two or Three remarkable Passages of his Life which either happen'd since I wrote my former Letter to thee about him or at least they came not to my knowledge at that Time One was a little after his Brother the Duke of Bouillon's Death when he was seen to weep very affectionately tho he endeavour'd to hide his Passion from the Observation of others

may get an Estate by oppressing the Fatherless and Widows or encrease his Wealth by ruining whole Families Tell him how he may over-reach some Silly Credulous Young Heir or outwit his Neighbour in a Bargain He cherishes a Spider in his Brain and his Heart is full of Webs To such a Temper as this I cannot be reconciled there is an Innate Antipathy an Immortal Contrariety in our Souls My Spirit is daunted and retreats within me at the sight of such an one A Languor and Faintness seizes my Limbs I am like one that has touch'd a Torpedo Surely there is no Species of Four-footed Beasts of Birds of Fish of Insects Reptiles or any other living Things whose Nature is not found in Man How exactly agreeable to the Fox are some Mens Tempers Whilst others are perfect Bears in Human Shape Here you shall meet a Crocodile who seeks with feigned Tears to entrap you to your Ruin There a sly Serpent creeps and winds himself into your Affections and when he is well-warm'd with Favours on a sudden he will bite and sting you to Death Tygers Lions Leopards Panthers Wolves and all the Monstrous Generations of Africk may be seen Masquerading in the Forms of Men. And 't is not hard for an observing Mind to see their Natural Complexion through the borrow'd Vizard The Physiognomy of Vice and Vertue are easily distinguish'd There are some secret Characters in every Face which speak the Nature of the Person So does Platonick Love with Eagle Eyes soon trace the Signatures of what is Amiable in the Soul We read the hidden Qualities of Men at the first Glance and hence are lasting Friendships often contracted I love my Friends without Reserve and because those are very few among our Mortal Race I contract Familiarities with the Harmless Animals I study like a Lover to oblige and win their Hearts by all the tender Offices I can perform I bear with Patience their wild froward Tricks till constant Perseverance vanquishes their stubborn Humours Then when we once begin to understand each other aright they make me a Thousand sweet Returns of Gratitude according to their Kind When I am Melancholy they 'll soon divert me with one pretty Trick or other as if they were sensible of my Pain But because my Love is large and strong still seeking to dilate it self though still recoyling from the degenerate Race of Men I go into the Fields and Woods and make my silent Court unto the Trees and Flowers and sometimes I converse in Raillery with Eccho's I languish on the Banks of Chrystal Streams and pine away for an old Mossy Rock The Oak enflames me with a Sacred Passion when I behold her Venerable Bulk and Shade I could almost turn Druid for her sake and take my Residence up for ever in her hollow Trunk where the Kind Genii of the Air wou'd visit me and tell me Things to come instructing me in all the Mysteries of Nature for I 'm in Love ev'n with those Invisible Beings and often tell my Passion to 'em in the Woods or on some Mountain where the Courteous Winds transport my Words and waft their secret Answers back again Then is my Soul snatch'd up in Sacred Ecstasies because th'Immortals condescend to talk with me I often fall into a Trance and wake not till the Sun is got half way into t'other Hemisphere Then I resolve to pass away the Night in this sweet Solitude Had I the Tongues or Pens of Cicero and Demosthenes I could not to the Life express the Pleasures that I feel at such a Time when free and undisturb'd I can for several Hours behold the Motions of the Moon and Stars Oh God! What Thoughts what Contemplations rise within my Breast My Ravish'd Soul is ready to break Prison for Joy when 't is inspir'd with certain Demonstrations of the World's Etérnity Methinks at such a Time I hear the Noise and Bustle of the Worlds Above Methinks I see the Active Busie Tenants of the Moon and Stars trudging about their daily Business even like us Mortals here Below Then 't is I nauseate the narrow Principles of Ignorant Superstitious Men I hate to think of e'er returning to the City again there to prophane my Reason with the vain Discourse of Self-conceited Fools and Idiots I am cloy'd with Life and wish to die amidst these charming Speculations Thus do I pass the Time away till fair Aurora ushers in the Rosy-finger'd Morn Then I begin to reflect on my Duty as a Moselman and Slave to the Grand Signior I haste to wash my self in the next Stream and chearfully prostrate my self upon the Ground adoring the Eternal Source of all Things After which abundantly satisfied with these Nocturnal Pleasures I return to the City and to my Business considering That I were not wholly born for Contemplation Learned Hali I wish thee consummate Happiness in this Life and fortunate Transmigrations after Death praying also that I may merit one Day to enjoy thy Company in Paradise where we may discourse these Things more at large and in a clearer Light than what this Earth affords Adieu Paris 2d of the 5th Moon of the Year 1674. LETTER VI. To Kerker Hassan Bassa TO what Purpose am I kept longer in Paris Why do the Ministers of the Port put the Grand Signior to a needless Expence in maintaining here an Old Superannuated Slave not worth his daily Bread And yet God knows I eat not much neither can I taste any Pleasure in that little I eat My Refections are like the Entertainments of Magical Tables where the Eye is deluded with a fair shew of various Delicacies but the Stomach is not satisfied with any real Food nor the Body strengthened by any substantial Nourishment Only the languishing Imagination feeds on Phantastick Dishes mere Shadows and Enchanted Resemblances of Solid Meat while the Man is ready to faint for Hunger So I seem to my self to Eat and Drink but 't is with so little gust at present and I receive so little benefit from it afterwards that all appears no more than a Visionary Feast or a Collation in a Dream I have now pass'd the Grand Climacter of Human Life being enter'd into the Sixty Fourth Year of my Age. My Senses droop and all the Faculties of my Soul and Body decay apace My Bones are weary of supporting their accustomed Burden My Sinew and Muscles refuse to perform the Offices of Motion at least their Vigor is much slacken'd and impair'd In a Word the Infirmities of my Body have rank'd me under a new Predicament I am become a Three-footed Animal being forced to walk with a Staff to prevent the necessity of Metamorphosing my Hands to Feet and crawling on all Four Judge now Illustrious Arab after what I have said whether I am fitting to do the Grand Signior service in this Station As for the Intrigues of the Court I am quite tyr'd of them Besides here are now no more Richlieu's and Mazarini's in Being with

Belov'd by his Mistress Whilst the Italian takes the nearest Course to be Belov'd by her in Reality The French-man loves a Pleasant Witty Maid tho' she be Deform'd The Spaniard prefers Beauty to Wit and Good Humour The Italian is for a Female of a Timorous Spirit Whilst the German adores a Virago The French-man by his Wandring Loves of a Wise Man becomes a Fool and exchanges his Health for a Thousand Maladies The German having profusely spent all in Amorous Liberalities at length from a Fool tho late becomes a Wife Man The Spaniard undertakes Heroick Enterprizes to please his Mistress Whilst the Italian despises Honour and every Thing else that he may enjoy her Certainly the Greatest Men in the World have been subject to this Soft Passion And have sacrific'd their Reputation Glory and Vertue with their very Reason to the Regards of Love How ensnar'd was Mithridates in Pontus by a Beautiful Woman How did Hannibal suffer his Courage to be Enervated with the Luxuries of Capua So Hercules of Old left the Glorious Toils of War and suffer'd his Arms to Rust for the sake of his Iole So Vlysses was Captivated by Circe Achilles by Briseis and Caesar by Cleopatra And thou know'st that our Annals record strange Things of the Amours of our Glorious Monarchs There is no Nation free from the Sentiments of Love Yet every Age and Region vary in their Conduct toward Women Here in the West they are all for Intriguing and Gallantry They accuse the Mussulmans for having more Wives than one and for Keeping as many Concubines as they please whilst they themselves have their Wives almost in Common and Lie with every Wench that comes in their Way Adultery passes with 'em for Good Breeding and Fornication is esteem'd as Innocent an Action as Eating and Drinking Whereas thou know'st among the True Believers these Crimes are punish'd with Death Promiscuous Copulation was forbid by Moyses Jesus and Mahomet and in General by all the Prophets It is a sufficient Indulgence That every Man may Marry four Wives and enjoy as many other Women as he either Takes Captives from the Enemy in Wars or purchases with his Mony But these Infidels had rather follow the Sentiments of the Old Heathen Law-givers and the Examples of Idolatrous Nations than obey God and his Messengers They applaud Solon the Great Law-giver of the Athenians calling him a Wise Man as he was plonounc'd by the Delphick Oracle and a Generous Patriot for procuring Harlots to accompany the Youths of the City and building a Temple to Venus out of the Mony they got by Prostituting themselves 'T is certain Whores were much esteem'd in those Days among the Graecians For the Magistrates built them Publick Houses on purpose and free for all Comers They also made Laws to protect them from Injuries And so great was the Veneration that Besotted People had for them that when Perses invaded Greece the Harlots of Corinth undertook to intercede for their Country in the Temple of Venus Nay whatsoever Extraordinary Favour they had to ask of that Goddess it was done by the Mediation of the Whores And there seems some Reason on their Side since Venus her self was Translated to Heaven and made a Goddess for being the Greatest Whore and Bawd that ever liv'd She first taught the Cyprian Women to prostiture their Bodies for Gain What a Work did Aspasia make who fill'd all Greece with Whores For the Love of her and her Wenches it was that Pericles begun the Peloponesian War that lasted so many Years and is so much talk'd of in Ancient History There were also Learned Whores as Sappho the Mistress of Phaon Sempronia Leaena and Leontium Who wrote publickly in Vindication of their Lewd Practice and inveigh'd against Marriage There were also Noble Whores as Rhodope who built one of the Egyptian Pyramids with the Mony given her by the King Thais the Corinthian who was so surpassing Beautiful that she scorn'd to Lie with any but Kings and Princes But Messalina the Wife of Claudius Caesar exceeded them all in the Salaciousness of her Temper I will not omit to mention Joan Queen of Naples who caus'd her First Husband to be hang'd because he could not satisfle her Lust His Name was Andrew Son to Elizabeth Quen of Hungary Her Second Husband to repair the Fault of the First so wasted his Strength in the Conjugal Embraces that in a little Time he kill'd himself Her Third Husband was James King of Majorca whom she Beheaded for Lying with another Woman Her Fourth and Last Spouse was Otho Duke of Brunswick He liv'd to see her hang'd in the same Place where her First Husband had by her Order suffer'd the same Fate This was the Revenge of Charles Prince of Dyrachium Cousin-German to Andrew before-mention'd This Lascivious Queen would have the Company of Ten or Twelve Young Men one after another the same Night What shall I say of Semiram is Empress of the Assyrians Of Pasiphae Wife to Minos King of Crete or of an Hundred other Royal Whores When it is observable that the most Illustrious Heroes on Earth have sprung from Adulterous Beds Witness Hercules Alexander Clodoveus King of the Franks Theodoric the Goth William the Norman Raymir of Arragon and many more too tedious to be recited Nay few Kings or Princes are born of Lawful Mothers Doubtless the Infidel Nations live in great Corruption of Manners they confound and blend together Divine and Profane Maxims from whence result Monstrous and Abominable Practices and a General Uncleanness of Life in all Things But the Chaste Followers of Mahomet have all Customs in Abomination that desile the Soul and rob it of its Native Purity We obey the Traditions of Abrahim Ismael and the rest of the Holy Line who never touch'd any Women but their own Lawful Wives and Concubines resting contented with this Indulgence of the Omnipotent We put in Practice the Law brought down from Heaven and the Precepts of the Prophet which forbid all Adultery Fornication and Incest We preserve in our Veins the Pure and Unpolluted Blood of our Fathers and transmit the same to our Children and the Posterity to come That the Promises made to Abrahim the Glorious Patriarch of the East may not be disanull'd by the Sins of his Off-spring but may be verified till the Day when the Moon shall be cancell'd in the Heavens and all the Stars be blotted out Oh Sage Hamet We are of a Sacred Lineage an Illustrious Pedigree Our Progenitors were the Favourites of Heaven and Lords of the Earth by the Special Benediction of God The Light of the Eternal shines upon the Ottoman House and is reflected from thence on all the Empire I pray Heaven that we may not forfeit these Privileges by our own Folly and cause an ill Report to be whisper'd of us among the Angels Saints and Prophets and throughout the Precincts of Paradise I consign thee to the Custody of God and thy Guardian-Genius wishing

Famous Genorals and Leaders of Armies in several Parts of Europe Of such as these has Genoua more Cause to boast than of any Strong Forts Castles or fenced Cities within her Dominions in Italy Nay the Chief City Genoua it self trusts more in the King of Spain's Protection than in her own Strength That Monarch is indebted to the Genouese-Merchants Eighteen Millions of Gold besides the Interest of **** Years For this Bill was given in to him in the Year 1600. of the Christians Hejira By this thou may'st guess at the Riches of this Commonwealth As to the Manner of their Government it differs not much from that of Venice The Supreme Power being in the Hands of the Senate who Elect a Duke every Two Years by Lot out of Four Men who are propos'd as worthy of that High Office No Man can propose any Thing to the Senate but the Duke himself Who lives in a Publick Palace during the Two Years of his Government and has a Guard of Five Hundred Germans about his House and Person It wou'd be Superfluous to trouble thee with an Account of their Judicial Courts the Manner of Electing the Senators and other Publick Magistrates with the rest of their peculiar Politicks Besides I believe thou art almost cloy'd with the Length of this Letter Wherefore begging thee to put the best Construction on my Endeavours I bid thee Adieu Paris 17th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1681. LETTER X. To Dgnet Oglou I Formerly sent a Letter to the Sage Osman Odrooneth Astrologer in Ordinary to the Grand Signior Wherein I inform'd him of a Comet or Blazing-Star which then newly appear'd in the Heavens I took an Occasion in that Dispatch to venture my Thoughts concerning the Nature of these Amazing Phoenomena which so astonish the Minds of Mortals and puzzle the Ablest Philosophers to discover the Origin From this Discourse I past insensibly into a more General One concerning the Stars I said what I thought was proper to One of his Profession being unwilling to offend by too much Boldness a Man esteem'd the Most Learned and Accomplished in that Science of this Age. For though I give little Credit to Judicial Astrology as 't is practis'd now a-Days yet it would have been an Incivility to express so much to one that lives by it and who for his Eminent Skill therein is honour'd with the Grand Signior's Friendship and a Noble Pension But with thee I will take the more Freedom in Respect of that intimate Familiarity that has been always between us That the Heavenly Bodies have an Influx on this Lower World is an Article the General Sense of all Mankind gives Testimony to whilst every Morning we rejoyce to see that Glorious Orb of Light the Sun imprint the Eastern Skies and Clouds with his Refreshing Rays he gilds the Frontiers of the Horizon and decks the Tops of Mountains with a chearful Brightness The Earth the Air and Seas participate of the Vertue of his Beams 'T is He gives Life to Plants and Animals He renovates the Elements and every Sublunary Being So when he takes his Congè every Evening of our Hemisphere he still affords us Light though but at Second-Hand Whilst he in Person makes his Progress to the Western Continent to chear and recreate by his Presence the Remote and Solitary Borders of America Fair Cynthia is his Proxy here attended on by other Planets waiting in their Turns and a whole Hemisphere of Fixed Stars These shine by Night for other Ends no doubt than meerly to light the Shepherds as they watch their harmless Flocks or serve as Flambeaux to the wandring Traveller Yet this is comfortable in our Elementary Darkness The Mariner rejoyces when in the Mighty Waste of unknown Seas he makes a Lottery of his Fortune and trusts his Soul and Body to a rotten Skiff where Slavery and Freedom Life and Death are equal Chances When he struggles with Impetuous Winds and Boisterous Waves threatn'd on all Hands by the Bedlam Fury of the Sea I say he 's glad at such a Time to have the Light his Friend though it be but the faint Glimmering of the Stars that he may see the Perils that encompass him and use the properest Means to avoid them How is his Heart reviv'd if in the dreadful Storm he spies but one poor Chink or Cranny in the Close Gloomy Clouds through which the Azure Sky can shew it self And then some Prosperous Constellation to appear amidst that Checquer-Work of this Low Orb and those Above makes him take Courage and defy the Powers of Aeolus and Neptune He challenges the Rocks and Sands to hurt him and mocks the Fatal Apparitions of Castor and Pollux Yet these and many more Inferiour Uses were not all for which the Stars were made They have befides undoubtedly some Dominion Influence and Power on Earth and all the Beings dwelling on it Wherever they cast their Rays there 's some Material Emanation felt An Efflux full of hidden Magick They dart on Men and other Animals on Plants and other Minerals on every Thing that is Compounded of the Elements and does reside within the Sphere of their Activity Each darts I say it s own Peculiar Force and Vertue 'T is probable that every Nation Tribe and Family each Climate Province Spot and Corner of the Earth have their Particular Stars So have the different Species of all Sublunary Things and every Individual Being But how to determine their Influence particularly by Divination by Calculating Nativities erecting Horoscopes and other Schemes of Astrology to foretell Things to come to avoid Prognosticated Evils and engross all happy Events to predict other Mens Fates whilst we are ignorant of our own c. is a thing which appears to me beyond the Power of Human Reason and a Science built on Sand. For who has numbred the Stars or visited the Places of their different Situation Who has understood their various Qualities Engagements Asterisms and Obligation their Tyes to one another and their Obedience to the Laws of the Universe O that Mortal Man shou'd presume to dive thus far even into the Heavenly Arcana the Cabinet-Secrets of God Allmighty Will he be Wiser than Ptolomy Cassander Eudoxus Archelaus Hoychilax Halicarnassaeus and many others most expert Mathematicians and Men of a profound Judgment who have confess'd that after all their Search in this Science they find it impossible to make any certain Conclusion from the Configurations Above in Regard of the Innumerable Multiplicity of Causes co-operating with them to which we are wholly Strangers besides those things which oppose or favour the Influence of the Stars among our selves and with which we are very familiar as the Force of Blood Customs Traditions Manners Education Prejudice Prepossession Place and Time Empire and Subjection Diet and Discipline Finally the Freedom of Mind or its Servitude All which they say the Stars cannot compel but only dispose and incline Moreover they who have prescribed the Rules of