wou'd become a Mussulman she yielded at last to the Thoughts of taking him for her Husband and they were married on the 7th of this Moon in a private Synagogue of the Jews For they are not allow'd a Publick One in this City as they are in many other Cities of Europe My Mother appear'd neither too dejectedly sad nor profusely merry during the Nuptial Feast But comporting her self with a chearful Reservedness seem'd to have her Thoughts rather fix'd on something else than the vain Ceremonies Noise and Mirth of the Company It looks as if her Prophetick Soul was sensible of its approaching Release For to be Brief she was found Dead in her Bed next Morning Brother she is now in her Sepulchre at Rest from all the Toils of Humane Life Let not this News affect thee with fruitless Melancholy since Death is the Common Fate of all Mortals Rather advance the Bliss of our deceas'd Parent with devout Oraisons for her Soul Remembring that e'er long we shall be in the same Condition For tho' Man like a Moth be passionately enamour'd with the Light of this World tho' he flutter and dance about it for a while basking in the Splendor and Warmth of his good Fortune yet at length he is consum'd by the very Flame which gave him Nourishment and falls a Victim to his own Pleasure Paris 9th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1669. LETTER VI. To Hamet Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire I Sent thee a Letter some Days agoe wherein I expos'd the General Nakedness Imbecillity and languishing State of the German Empire in this Age. My Dispatch abounded with Characters of their Vices It describ'd exactly the present Eclipse of Ancient Imperial Majesty Power and Strength the Revolt of many Principalities and States the Feuds and Discord of those that yet remain in Obedience and pay a seeming Homage to Caesar with many other Things which being well consider'd may for the Future prevent or at least diminish that Consternation and Panick Terror which uses to seize the Hearts of Mussulmans when we are in War with the Emperour Now as a farther Incentive and Encouragement to take up Arms against the Infidels as a Spur to certain Victory and Conquest I will unlock the Treasures of the Country without taking Notice of the Inhabitants And since nothing more excites the Resolution and Valour of Military Men than the Hopes of Plunder and passing away a Campaign in Plenty of all necessary Comforts I will give thee a true Account of the Natural Dowry of these Regions the Riches of the Soil and the Wealth which Commerce with other Nations together with the Spoils of former Wars the Industry of the People and the Benevolence of Fortune have added to their Store Germany abounds in Generous Wines and those more lasting than any other in Europe The Rhenish Wines will keep above Fifty Years The Wines of the Neckar are wholsome and clear as Water from the Rock Those of Franconia are strong and operative The Austrian Grape is sweet and luscious Several Roman Emperours have preferr'd the Fruits of the German Vintage to those of Italy and Greece And such is the superabundant Plenty of Vineyards that at a Place call'd Stutgard there is a Proverb currant That they have more Wine than Water If our Janizaries knew this they wou'd be for an Expedition into Germany Nay they temper their Mortar with Wine in some Places and slack their Lime with it They have strong Beverages also made of Barley Wheat and other Grain which they transport from Brumswick Breslaw Delph Dantzick Lubeck and other Places to most Countries in the North and West of Europe They likewise make a Sort of Wine of Honey as strong and Sweet as the Wine of Candy There is abundance of Frankincense and Myrrh in Moravia of Saffron in Austria of Licorice in Franconia of Madder for Dyers in Silesia of Amber in Thuringia There are Innumerable Orchards full of all delectable Fruits the Fields stand thick with Corn the Pastures are throng'd with Cattel and they have a Breed of the stoutest Horses in the World They have Timber enough to serve all the Nations in the World for Shipping But that which is most inviting is the Variety of Mines of Gold Silver Copper Lead Tin and Iron Before America was discover'd Germany was the Peru and Potosi of all Europe They have also Plenty of Marble as bright as Crystal Besides their Native and Domestick Riches they have mightily improv'd their Stock by Foreign Commerce exchanging their Superfluities for things more precious and of greater Value Which in a constant Course of Bartering brings into the German Coffers many Hundred Millions of Crowns in a Year In a Word their Cities are so Rich that when they have been pillag'd by an Enemy the booty of one City has been valu'd at Two Millions of Crowns in ready Money besides Plate and Jewels The Common Souldiers have made Hilts for their Swords and Daggers of Gold and Silver nay some would have their very Helmets of the same Metals Publick Gaming Tables have been set up in the Streets and it has been Common for a private Trooper to win or lose Five or Ten Thousand Crowns at a Time This would be rare Sport for our Janizaries and Spahi's I tell thee Serene Minister considering the Immense Wealth of Germany and the Degeneracy of its Inhabitants Providence seems to invite our Arms to make a Conquest of those Fertile Regions and take from the Vncircumcis'd the Goods which surfeit them They abuse the Gifts of Nature and Fortune by employing them to the Ends of Vice whereas the True Believers were they once possess'd of them wou'd turn them to Vertuous Purposes the Publick Advantage the Encrease of the Empire Glory of God and Propagation of the Faith Vndefiled Paris of 13th the 4th Moon of the Year 1669. LETTER VII To Hebatolla Mir Argun Superiour of the Convent of Derviches at Cogni in Natolia 'T Was with a Specifick Kind of Joy not easie to be desin'd that I receiv'd thy Venerable Dispatch I perus'd the Welcome Orders therein contain'd with a Delight not in the least Inferiour to his who being abandon'd to Distress and miserable Poverty has by good Luck discover'd a hidden Wealthy Treasure For so my Spirit is ravish'd to find in this degenerate Age a Rich Reserve of Piety and Devotion to the Ancient Prophets of God I 'm glad to hear the Character of John the Baptist which I sent thee formerly was so well accepted by thee and all the Religious under thy Charge That thou vouchsafest only to accuse the shortness of the Relation desiring a more particular Account of that Prophet's Manner of living especially of his Abstinences and what may be the most proper Interpretation of the Graecian Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mention'd in the History of his Life Praise be to God who has inspir'd thee with this Critical Regard to one of his most Holy
Self-denials Mortifications Abstinences and the whole System of thy Accomplish'd Sanctity stop the Wrath of Heaven from falling in large Cataracts on Mankind When the Eternal Eye beholds thy Virtues it drops down Tears of Love and Mercy on the Earth glad that a Son of Adam yet survives not stain'd with Vice Thou art the effectual Propitiation for the Sinful World When Storms and Tempests of Impetuous Winds when Lightning Thunder Hail or Rain disturb the Air or Earthquakes menace more effectual Tragedies to the Earth I think of thee the Favourite of Heaven and then repose in full Security Thy very Idea is my shelter from all evils I shroud my self under the Shade of thy Inviolated Beard o'er which the Razor never pass'd I take Sanctuary in the Vmbrella of thy Arms when stretch'd in fervent Oraisons Thy Remembrance is my certain Refuge in Calamity I am Impregnated with Sacred Emulations of thy Vertue I burn with fervent passionate Desires to become thy Disciple I languish to withdraw my self from this vain World and from the Contagious Society of Mortals How Happy is the Life that 's led in quiet Solitude Where the Soul can feel her self and being awaken'd to a Sense of her Immortal Strength rouzes and vigorously shakes off the heavy Clogs of Sleep and Death Whilst the Divine Afflatus gently breathing on the Intellect and fanning the oppressed Sparks of Reason which lay smothering under a Heap of Errours Lusts Affections and unlimited Desires kindles the Mind into a perfect Flame of Light which soon consumes the Rubbish of Bodily Pleasures dissipates the Smoak and Mists of Pamper'd Flesh and Blood and then a Man becomes all Radiant within shining with Unclouded Splendors We Mortals seem to be rank'd in a Middle State between the Separate Spirits and Beasts Our Vertues make us like the Former our Vices like the Latter For when a Man has quite subdu'd his Appetites and Reason sits Triumphant in her Throne he 's like an Angel living above the Rate of his Mortality He does not with the Stagyrite place Vertue in a Medium or rank the Excess of Goodness in the Predicament of Vice But makes direct and swift Advances to the Zenith of Heroick Generosity scorning to halt or make lame mungrel Capitulations with himself as if he were afraid of being too Good I wou'd ask a Peripatetick Whether it be a Vertue or a Vice in him that stomaching the Enormous Villanies of Wicked Men boyls up with an Excessive Vehement Anger Or Whether a Man can err in loving God too much or in conceiving too Violent a Sorrow for his past Offences Or who can be too Thankful for the Favours of Heaven No the farther Distance Vertue keeps from this Cold Earthly Mediocrity the brighter is its Splendor And so on the other Side the Greater is the Barbarism Brutality and Infernal Stamp of Vice by how much more Remote it is from this Indifference In a Word Vertue and Vice are Two Contrary Extremes So Piety is diametrically opposite to Prophaneness Intemperance to Sobriety Fortitude to Cowardise Incontinence to Chastity Avarice to Bounty Modesty to Impudence Pride to Humility Enmity to Friendship c. Now the Mediums between these Extremes are Hypocrisy between Vertue and Vice Superstition between Piety and Prophaneness Bashfulness between Modesty and Impudence and so of the Rest Yet after all 't is Necessary to observe a Medium in those Things which pertain to Mortal Life and to the Perpetuation of Mankind Such are Meats Drinks Natural Passions of the Body and Mind proceeding from the alternate Sense of Pleasure and Pain So when we are press'd with Hunger and Thirst we ought not presently to covet the Plentiful Tables and Superfluous Banquets of the Great But rather such a Diet as being easily prepar'd may satisfie the Cravings of our Nature without nauseating and giving us a Surfeit To this End the Divine Providence has scatter'd up and down the Surface of this Globe an Infinite Variety of Roots Herbs Fruits Seeds with all Sorts of Corn and Pulse The Cattle afford us Plenty of Milk the Bees are no Niggards of their Honey the Fountains Rivers and Lakes abound with ever-springing fresh Supplies of sweet refreshing Water We also have the Use of Salt Oyl Wine and other exhilarating Beverages That being content with so many Benefits and Enjoyments we might prolong our Lives in this World by Sobriety as in a most pleasant Garden or Paradise of Health But alas instead of gratefully acknowledging the Bounty of Heaven and pregnant Fertility of the Earth Instead of sitting mannerly down at the Table which God has spread and cover'd for us with such a Train of Festival Dainties we break the Rules of Hospitality and rushing violently on the Creatures under his Protection we kill and slay at Pleasure turning the Banquet to a Cruel Massacre being transform'd into a Temper wholly Brutal and Voracious we glut our selves with Flesh and Blood of Slaughter'd Animals Oh! happy he that can content himself with Herbs and other Genuine Products of the Earth That sleeps as well in a Solitary Cave upon a Bed of Moss or Leaves as in a Palace on a Couch of Down He never wants because he ne'er desires what is not in his Power He is not burden'd with a Crowd of Servants and Flattering Retainers nor his Repose disturb'd with early and late Addresses of pretended Friends Officious Sycophants Importunate Petitioners and other fretting Business of the World Why shou'd I longer then demurr or hesitate what hinders me from presently embracing a Course of Life that promises so much Happiness A Discipline that will at once free me from a Thousand Tyrannies of Imperious Lusts and Hostile Passions I shall then have no Need of Money or the Help of cross-grain'd Servants I shall not want a Multitude of Goods the Needless Pageantry of superfluous Ornaments to make a dazling Figure and draw the Eyes of People to a Reverend Admiration I shall be free from Sottish Drowsiness and turbulent Dreams My Lungs will in my Sleep respire the Air with Ease whilst gentle Slumbers mix'd with happy Visions shall transportt my Soul to Unknown Worlds No Fevers Gouts or Dysenteries shall invade my Health Nor magisterical Menaces of Empericks bespeak my certain Death unless I 'll patiently submit to all the needless Tortures they 're contriving for me and tamely swallow down their new-invented Poisons and be rack'd to Death in Hopes of Ease and Life From all which horrid Circumstances a slender innocent Diet not stain'd with Blood of any Animal will set me free Holy Eremite the Idea I have of this Manner of Life makes a profound and durable Impression on my Soul I am ravish'd with the Sentiments of Plato and Pythagoras and resolutely bent to undergoe the Discipline of their Philosophy I 'll first endeavour to rid my self of vain Affections Habits and prophane Negotiations of the Earth I 'll gradually die to all Concupiscence and Bodily Pleasure that so I
scarce worth the Naming much less their Authority to be trusted to in compiling an Universal History which is to give a new Lustre to the Ottoman Empire and raise its Credit in the Learned World As for the Roman Empire it will be necessary to make Use of Josephus Tacitus Suetonius Philo Xiphilus Zonaras Ammianus Marcellinus Velleius Paterculus Seneca Florus Livy and Suidas These will be sufficient Materials with which the Translators Scribes and Compilers may accomplish this Illustrious Undertaking the Encouragement whereof I again earnestly recommend to thy Liberality and Munificence What concerns the Injunction thou hast laid on me to draw a Pattern or Model of this Great Work in presenting thee with a Brief Abstract of the Rise and Fall of the Four Monarchies with such Memorable Events as will be proper to direct the Undertakers in the Method of digesting this Universal History I will reserve it for another Letter not having those Books by me which are requisite to assist me in this Affair In the mean Time I pray Heaven prosper this Noble Enterprize and grant that thou mayst live the Space of many Olympiads to see the Effect of thy Bounty When this Universal History being finish'd shall instruct the Mussulmans and defeat the Calumnies of the Vncircumcised Paris 2d of the 5th Moon of the Year 1668. The End of the First Book LETTERS Writ by A Spy at PARIS VOL. VII BOOK II. LETTER I. To Mehement an Exil'd Eunuch at Alcair in Egypt THY Sufferings pierce my Heart I owe thee Pity on the Score of Humane Nature and a more Compassion as thou art a Mussulman But where 's the Tongue or Pen that can describe the Sympathy of Friends Canst thou in a desponding Manner cast thy self upon thy Bed there to exhale in Melancholy Sighs that pungent Sorrow which can find no other Vent unless those Vapours of the Spleen condense to Show'rs of Tears Canst thou do this and I remain Insensible all the while No! I in a perfect Eccho to thy saddest Groans And when thou weep'st my Heart is not a Stone that spatters back again the Drops that fall on it but 't is like Clay that softens with the Gentle Solemn Distillation Believe that I sweat Blood when thou dissolv'st in Tears I am not capable of Moderation toward my Friend My Love my Joy my Grief and Anger are all Excessive when such a one as thou occasion'st them 'T is equal Pleasure to live or die in this Magnetick Point For Souls of Friends are perfect Vnisons Then if thou hast a Spark of Love for Mahmut do not kill me with thy sad Complaints For whilst I hear that thou art thus abandon'd to Misfortune and Despasr how can I live without perpetual Deaths more Terrible than what we all must undergo by the Course of Nature Dost thou delight to make a Constant Martyr of me Thou 'rt bred a Courtier and so was I Our Infant Blood was season'd with the Grand Signior's Bread and Salt We equally imbib'd the Manners Habits Customs Maxims and the Pride of the Seraill ' with the Pillow the Milk Sorbets and other Nourishment of our Early Years Since which we have seen the various Revolutions of Mighty Kingdoms States and Empires We have beheld the Invincible Emperour of China fall a Victim to the Perfidy of his Slaves and to the more propitious Fortune of the Tartars After another Manner was the Glory of the British Monarchy eclips'd But no foreign Story can match the Barbarous Massacres of our Majestick Sultans Mustapha Osman and Ibrahim all within our Memory Oh! Mehemet we have liv'd too long after these Spoils of Royal Blood How can we repine at our own Private Losses and Afflictions whilst we do but sip the Flat Insipid Reliques of those Tragical sprightly Potions brew'd for the Palates of the Greatest Princes Henceforth let 's live as if we were among the Dead Let 's hear and see feel taste and smell these Outward Objects en passant without being sensible what we do or suffer Let us Anticipate by a wise Prevention the last Stroke of Death in dying every Moment Go to the Pyramids my Mehemet or would to God I cou'd go thither for thee there to Contemplate the Fate of Humane Glory the Mock Grandeur of this World Consider all the Race of the Egyptian Kings who built these Costly and Magnificent Structures or their Fathers for 'em Who fill'd the Hollow Piles with Silver Gold and Precious Stones Whilst with their Magick Laws they listed Legions of Spirits dwelling in the Air Fire Earth and Water obliging them to guard the Wealthy Sepulchers And tell me then what thou can'st find in those superannuated Vaults Nothing but Stench and Darkness Old Time has filch'd away the slighter Glory 's of the Place and his Younger Brother Avarice has plunder'd all the Rest which was the more Substantial Part. He cou'd have done no less in Common good Manners than take the Leavings of the Heir the Elder of the Two The Great Al Maimun thought to have the Gleanings of their Harvest but he found the Gain wou'd ne'er exceed the Cost But what 's become of all the Founders of these Astonishing Fabricks Look in the Tomb of Cheops who is suppos'd to build the Greatest of the Pyramids and thou wilt find not the least Relique of his Ashes Or if thou should'st 't will be Impossible to distinguish them from the Common Dust of other Mortals tho' his Meanest Slaves So Mutable is Human Glory So Inconstant all the Smiles of Fortune Do but reflect on all the Glorious Conquests of Alexander the Great and on the Triumphant Entry he made in Babylon when the Chariot which carry'd him was an Epitome of all the Riches which the Indies cou'd afford and yet that Chariot ought to be esteem'd but one Degree before his Hearse which in a very few Days with an Obscurity beneath the Merits of so great a Victor convey'd him to his Grave Consider Caesar who after Four and Twenty Battels wherein he always got the Day was drawn in a triumphant Chariot to the Capitol by Forty Elephants yet now his Name is hardly thought of So Epaminondas thought to outvye the world in his Magnificent Insults yet all this Glorious Pageantry ended in Dust and Ashes Aurelian led the Graces Captive with Zenobia yet he himself at last became the Prisoner of Death The Pompous Galley of Cleopatra when she Celebrated the Cilician Triumph serv'd but to mend the Poop of Charon's Boat when she was to be ferry'd to Elyzium So the Proud Sesostris whose Coach was drawn by Four Vanquish'd Kings at last was fain to owe his Uncouth Funeral to Four Sordid Slaves who stole his Naked Corps away from the Design'd Revenge of Factious Eunuchs and buryed it in a Heap of Camel's Dung. But where 's the Pen or Pencil that will to the Life describe the Unmatch'd Cavalcade of Pompey when by a prosperous Chymistry he had extracted all the Richest Spirits and
Essences of Eastern wealth to grace his Entry into Rome The Front of the Procession dazl'd every Eye with the strange Lustre of Diamonds and Carbuncles mix'd in chequer-wise An Orental Figure or rather the Substance of all Asia in Epitome Then follow'd the Image of the Crescent Moon in massy Gold with a Train of Mountains of the same Metal whereon were Woods of Jet Vines whose Grapes were entire Saphires and Animals all of Porphyry Grazing on Fields of verdant Amethysts To sanctify this Glorious Shew the Golden Images of Jupiter Mars and Pallas came next in Sight with Thirty Crowns of Gold born up by the Chief Captains of his Army as if so many Kingdoms were design'd for their Rewards And because Gods and Goddesses should not want a Temple Five Hundred Slaves bore up a Fane built all of Massy Silver washed with Gold And at the Back of this appear'd the Statue of the Conqueror on which no Eye cou'd fix being crusted o'er with Hyacinths and Pearls Behold my Mehmet an Exuberance of Humane Glory Yet wonder not to see a Man come after all a Mortal Man I say made Radiant as the Sun with borrow'd Jewels And to complete his fading Triumph read these Letters all pure Jaspers on his Chariot-Wheels Armenia Cappadocia Paphlagonia Media Colchis Syria Cilicia Mesopotamia Phoenicia Paelestine India and the Desarts of Arabia All these were the Conquests of this Triumphant Warriour and yet his Destiny Insulted over him Poor Pompey thou art gone and all thy Mighty Territories in the East are now possess'd by Sultan Mahomet our Glorious Sovereign And what need thou and I repine after we have seen all this Let Asdrubal astonish Carthage with the Glory of Four Publick Triumphs Yet that Theatre of his Honour quickly proves the Stage whereon he was degraded stript stark naked and in Triumph led away by Death So Marius after he had been exalted to the Top of Human Felicity on Earth was seen all naked lying in a stinking Ditch What is become of Nero's Silver Gallery in the Capitol Or the pendant Gardens of Semiramis which cost no less than Twenty Millions of Gold Where is now the Glittering Hall of Atabalipa King of Peru whose Pavement was of Saphires Or the Gardens of Cyrus fenc'd round with Pales of Gold Or Caesar's Fountains garnish'd with Dryads of the same Metal Where is the Ivory Palace of Melaus or the Crystal Louvre of Drusus All these Things are vanish'd with their Founders How Wise and Happy then was Saladine the Great and most Invincible Conquerour of Asia who Triumph'd o'er himself and in his Victorious Return caus'd a Shirt to be carryed before him on the Point of a Spear with this Proclamation That after all his Glories he should carry nothing to the Grave but that poor Shirt So Adrian a Roman Emperour to qualify the excessive Joys of his High Fortune Celebrated his own Funeral and caus'd his Coffin to be born before him when he was to make a Publick Cavalcade through Rome This was a sacred Triumph an Heroick Insult over himself and Death Let thou and I my Friend imitate these sage Examples and ever have the Image of Death before our Eyes Then we shall never mourn for the vain Trifles we have lost or covet what we ne'er enjoy'd But being ever content with what our Destiny allots us shall pass our Time away in a Divine Tranquility Mehemet thou 'lt find this to be a Profitable and True Experiment Try it and the Issue will convince thee more than a Thousand Counsellors Paris 12th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1668. LETTER II. To Mohammed the Illustrious Eremit of Mount Vriel in Arabia the Happy I Lodge in a House near the Wall of Paris which gives me a daily Opportunity of surveying out of my Window the Adjasent Fields These extend themselves in a Plain for the Space of a League or thereabouts And then the Eye is arrested by a long Ridge of Rising Ground a Row of Hills or Hillocks not meriting the Lofty Name of Mountains yet high enough to put a Valley out of shape and make th' Horizon crump-back'd Those Hills are cover'd thick with Woods and Groves amongst whose verdant shady Tops some Stately Palaces lift up their glittering Crests and make a Sociable pleasant Figure in those Solitudes This Prospect represents so much to th' Life the Valley of Admoim in Arabia the Place of my Nativity that I cou'd as well grasp Coals of Fire with naked Hand and not be burnt as cast my Eye out of my Window on this lovely Landskip and not be inflam'd with secret passions for my Native Soil the Place where I first drew the Vital Air. It is a perfect Magnet to my Spirit wheresoever I am attracting all my Wishes Inclinations and Desires Methinks the Eastern Winds at certain Hours waft to my ravish'd Ears the Whispers of my Countrymen Methinks sometimes I see the Faces of my Kindred and their Rural Train I hear their Voices and converse familiarly with them as tho' they were present Such is the Magick of strong Desire and Sympathy It steals the Soul away from it self and with sweet Violence unites it to the belov'd Object tho' at never so great a Distance Thus when my wandering Thoughts have taken up their Residence for a while in that delicious Vale where I was born a far more powerfull Magnet draws 'em to thy Cave Mysterious Solitary Mirrour of Virtues Exemplary Guide of such as consecrate themselves to God Glory to Him that was before All Time the Father of Eternal Ages He changes not yet is the Source of Indefatigable and unwearied Revolutions He is the only Independent True and self-Existent Being The Increated Essence from whom all other Beings derive their Origin and Conservation He is the Prop and Basis of the Vniverse He is but One the Primitive Vnity and cannot be divided into Fractions yet every Species and Individual Being i' th World participates a Share of his Divinity Immortal Praises exhale from all his Creatures and ascend like Clouds of Incense before the Throne of his Adorable Majesty or like Vapours which the grateful Earth returns in a hot Summers Day by way of acknowledgment for the Benefits perpetually flowing on her from the Sun So all the Elements respire their Thanks to Him that made ' em The Firmament expands its selfe and bows ' down to the Brims of this low Globe Sun Moon and Stars do stoop and kiss the Floor o' th' Earth in token of profound Humility and Devotion to the Immortal Source of Light Onely Ungrateful Man repays the Bounty of th' Omnipotent with Neglects Contempts Affronts and Blasphemies I mean the General Part of Humane Race excepting always from this Charge the Just the Innocent and Pious Were it not for such as these the Divine Patience wou'd be tir'd with the continual Prophanations of vain Mortals Oh! Venerable Sylvan thou art the only Pacifick Victim of this sinfull Age. Thy constant
Martius being not by a Fifth Part so large as formerly nor yet so populous All over Italy thou'lt meet with Reliques of the Ancient Roman Majesty and Greatness And in some Places thou may'st encounter Persons of great Extraction but very Poor who may not unfitly be call'd the Ruines of Ancient Nobility Such as the Marquisses of Ceva the Earls of Piacenza and the Knights of Bologna who are become the Proverb of Illustrious Poverty Such also are the Counts of Lusigniani Three of whom were once seen upon a Fig-Tree eating the Figs to keep 'em from Starving And many Italian Lords get their Livelyhoods by selling of Ptisans Limonades Essences Powders and other Refreshments to the Gentry Yet they are Proud and when any one Addresses to them he must entitle them Most Excellent Most Illustrious or else they 'll Frown and be Affronted Zeidi If ever it be thy Fortune to be made a Lord I pray Heaven give thee an Estate answerable to the Title For a Lord without Riches is like a Soldier without Arms very Ridiculous Paris the 15th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1671. LETTER X. To Dgnet Oglou THis Day something has happen'd to me very Prodigious and I know not what to make of it About the Hour of Quindinamasi I was suddenly taken with strange Fits of Vomiting My Stomach was in a Prodigal or rather a Philosophical Humour resolving to cast off all Superfluities and only retain what was necessary to its Ease and VVelfare in this Life I labour'd under a Thousand Horrid Agonies which made me fear that either an Imposthume was the Cause of such violent Convulsions or at least that they would end in opening the inward Sluces of my Blood by too much forcing of the Pectoral Veins VVhilst I were busied thus with sad Presages of a sudden Death for I dread to be so unawares thrust out o' th VVorld I long'd and passionately languish'd for an Arabian Orange It happen'd at the same Time my Mother Oucoumiche Daria and Eliachim the Jew were with me in my Chamber and had been there an Hour They all stood at the VVindow to see a Procession that was going by But when they heard the straining Noise I made immediately they ran to my Bed-side as Human Nature Curiosity or Passion uses to prompt in such like Cases With a faint broken Voice I told 'em what I wish'd for Eliachim forthwith gives Order to his Boy that waited in an Anti-Chamber to run with speed and buy the best Arabian Oranges he cou'd find The arch Young Lad was gone full Thirteen Minutes by my Watch and then return'd with Half a Dozen Oranges of Spain for he could get no other But Heaven as I have Reason to think supply'd his Negligence and unsuccessful Mercating For long before he came with that sowre crabbed Fruit Daria spy'd an Orange of Arabia on the Table No body knew from whence it came or what kind Hand had laid it there They were all equal Witnesses That there was no such Thing upon the Table when they came to the Bed-side nor a considerable Time afterward And when it was suggested that some one of the Company had privately convey'd it thither whilst the rest were looking another way Eliachim with solemn Vows and Imprecations clear'd himself so did Daria and my Mother As for my self they all were sensible it was impossible for me to do it as I lay in my Bed A General Astonishment possess'd us all and the Women would needs have it to be a Miracle whilst I greedily eat the Delicious Fruit not troubling my Thoughts with making endless Scrutinies or so much as caring which way it came there so long as I had the Enjoyment of it Yet I ceas'd to be thus Indifferent when I perceiv'd my Malady on a sudden remov'd by eating of this wondrous Orange And whereas I had lain for Six whole Days and Nights in a continual faint and languishing Condition not able to get down a Morsel of Bread now my Spirits grew brisk and fresh I seem'd like one transform'd or in another VVorld My Stomach reviv'd my almost dissipated Vigor rally'd and I rose chearfully to eat a hearty Supper These Things I must confess put me as well as the rest of the Company upon thinking I tell thee upon the strictest Examination possible I am very well satisfied that there cou'd be no Design or Trick i' th' Case For if there were no body would be guilty of so many repeated horrid Perjuries in denying it But every one rather would have been forward to own themselves the Instruments of thus happily and unexpectedly rescuing a poor sick Man from the very Jaws of Death For I was just then ready to expire VVhether there be Magick in the strength of a Man's Fancy at such Times and that through the Intense Agitation of his exalted Spirits he moves the Soul of the Vniverse by Sympathy to exert some of its hidden and uncommon Faculties and gratifie his necessary Desires Or whether there be an Order of Officious Beings Invisible about us who have the Charge of Mortals committed to them and are bound by the Laws of their conceal'd Kingdom to assist us in Extremities even to the Height of a seeming Miracle where it cannot be done without I know not But 't is certain any observing Man may take notice of some extraordinary Passages in the Course of his Life of which he can give no Rational Account but must be forc'd to put 'em on the Score of Praeternatural Causes Such is our Ignorance of the Secret Operations of Nature All the Company were ready to list me among the Prophets or in the Catalogue of Saints for this stupendous Occurrence But I had other Thoughts of my Self For comparing this with some former Occurrences of my Life I presently concluded 't was the Fore-runner of some grand but short Affliction And so I told them All. I believe my Dgnet that God will hedge me in with diverse Kinds of Adverse Circumstances He 'll rush upon me on a suddain like a Troop of Tartar Horse who swiftly spread themselves all round the affrighted Country and take Possession of the Roads and Passes They hunt the Conscious Infidels from Dens and Caves and other lurking Places in the Woods and Mountains None can escape their Chastisement and Revenge So my presaging Soul foretells some sad surprizing Inrodes from the Omnipotent That which I have to do in this Case is to make speedy Expiations for my past Security and Presumption to repair the ruin'd Fastnesses of Vertue and build new Ones where they are wanting to keep strong Guards and lastly to retire my self into a most profound Humility and Complyance with the Will of God which is the strongest Fortress in time of a Divine Invasion Paris 23d of the 6th Moon of the Year 1671. LETTER XI To Sephat Abercromil Vanni Effendi Preacher to the Sultan THE Character and Fame of thy Exemplary Life and profound Doctrine tho' studiously conceal'd
and suppress'd by thy self have yet made a forcible Eruption and fill'd the Mussulman Kingdoms with the fragrant Odour of thy Incomparable Piety and Vertue Even these Remote and Infidel Regions of the West are edify'd by thy sacred Rules and Institutions of a Spiritual Life The Nazarene Priests and Doctors begin to harbour Emulations of thy Sanctity since they have seen no fairer Draught of true Acceptable Religion than what the Chaplains to the French Embassadors at the Port have copied from thy Principles and recommended to their Friends among the Clergy of France Insomuch as Francis Malevella a Blind Ecclesiastick but an Argus in the Sciences has publickly espous'd thy Theorems and Practices having in Print now lately undertaken the Patronage of a Contemplative Life so much insisted on by thee to which the College of Sorbonne have also given their Approbation That Excellent Man tho' he has lost the Use of his Corporeal Eyes yet has a Soul transform'd all over into Light by which he clearly can survey the vast Mysterious Horizon of the Invisible World and penetrate the most recluse and hidden Secrets of Eternity The Age is ravish'd with the Book he publish'd He has Ten thousand Proselytes among the Roman Priests and Derviches None but the Jesuits and Dominicans oppose him The former of these Orders is grown odious throughout Christendom for the Impious Doctrines they maintain and the Enormous Crimes they have committed being notorious Boutefeu's Traytors Hypocrites and Secret Libertines Their Colleges are esteem'd the Shops and Forges of Sedition Faction Publick Animosities Broils and Wars with all the Mischief that is done in Europe The Latter are not lov'd in France because they are generally chosen Officers of the Inquisition Which inhumane Judicature was first projected by St. Dominick their Founder in order to exterminate the Moors from Spain There is a Natural and Irreconcilable Antipathy between the French and Spaniards They mutually abhorr each others Customs Laws and Humours But above all the French can ne'er be reconcil'd to that Infernal Court which tyrannizes o'er the Souls of Men and punishes them for Thoughts It is an equal Crime to speak or to be silent to pray or not to go to Church or stay at Home provided you are Rich. 'T is Wealth the Inquisitors aim at not the pretended Safety and Deliverance of the Church from Enemies and Rebels Therefore the Dominicans and Jesuits being look'd upon as Favourers and Patrons of the Inquisition and for that Reason hated by the French in vain they argu'd against Malevella's New reform'd Model of Interiour Religion which is but a Translation of the Original Dogmata laid down by thee Thy refin'd Sentiments are Prolifick as the Solar Beams which by Ineffable Encreases propagate themselves without diminishing the Illustrious Fountain Each bright and fertile Atom by a miraculous Emanation begets another they multiply by an Admirable Progressive Issue and Expansion from every Point of the Refulgent Center till every splendid Particle becomes a Ray of equal Length and all together produce an entire Orb of Light Thus thy serene Idea's of Religion dilate themselves through this dark Side o' th' VVorld as fast as they illuminate the Moselman Hemisphere The Honester Sort of Western Franks are already by a Demi-Metamorphosis grown half Mahometans capitulating with their Pre-possessions Prejudices and the Force of Education for the rest They go to Church but not to babble o'er a Thousand vain Tautologies which are taught 'em by their Priests and to ensure their Memory are printed in their Pocket-Manuals or Books of Prayer Nor do they number a long Series of the same repeated Oraisons on Beads or use any other Exteriour Form of blind and lame Devotion But with inward Recollection Silence Purity and fervent Application of the Spirit they address themselves to God or rather by a certain gradual Passiveness Oblivion of Outward Things and dying to themselves they prepare and fit their Souls for the Divine Approaches Thus having barricado'd up their Senses and made Retrenchments round the Center of the Mind to secure it from the last Invasion and Assault of Mundane Objects thither they retire desiring Death rather than to take Quarter by a faint Cowardise or timorous Apostacy and surrender to the VVorld These People undergoe at certain Times strange Drynesses Desertions and Sterilities of Spirit which are the Torments that compose the most severe and painful Martyrdoms A common Death or any violent Dissolution of the Body is but the Recreation Sport or Play of Nature when compar'd with these Tremendous Tragical and Dark Annihilations of the Soul A Man at such a Season seems to be reduc'd to an Eternal Catastrophe His Spirit descends and is engulph'd in the Abyss of Hell or Hell comes up to him and yawning with its horrid Dragons-Jaws Murders the Soul with Baneful and Infernal Breath Yet this they find to be the only near directest VVay to Heaven This is the Mystick Fence the Ditch Bastion and Counterscarp of Paradise He that would scale the VValls or enter by the Gates of Eden must first pass through these terrible Out-works This is the streight and narrow Bridge o'er which each Soul must pass that would attain Immortal Life Moses Jesus Mahomet and all the Messengers of God have pointed at this as the only VVay to our supreme Felicity Neither was it unknown to the Ancient Poets and Philosophers among the Gentiles Orpheus and Hesiod recommended it in their Mysterious Verse Empedocles Theophrastus Plato Plotinus Porphyry Jamblichus with many others improv'd the Sacred Revelation adding new Lights unto the Blest Discovery And if we take the History in a right Sence unless I am deceiv'd Socrates died a Martyr to this Important Truth Many of the Learned Hebrew Rabbi's have asserted it The Persian and Arabian Doctors before and since the Holy Flight have been its Advocates And let not Envy refuse to give some of the Christian Priests their due Acknowledgment who preach'd this Doctrine in the Primitive Assemblies taught it in the Publick Schools and ensur'd it to Posterity in Learned Manuscripts Such were Origen and Ammonius Clemens of Alexandria Simplicius Chrysostom Tertullian Augustine and in more modern Times Thomas of Aquin Marsilius Ficinus Bonadventure with many others And 't is esteem'd the Height of Indian Religion to this Day the Bramins delivering it as an Hereditary Article of Faith and Point of Practice from Immemorable Ages Since therefore all Religions in the World agree in this notwithstanding their other Ceremonial and Speculative Differences Doubtless it is the Voice and Will of God not the Contrivance or Innovation of Man Reverend Effendi It is a common Proverb among the Christians That wheresoever God has a Temple the Devil has a Chappel That cunning Spirit like a Serpent winds himself into outward Forms and Ceremonies of Devotion But he that builds a Mosque in the Center of his Soul may bid Defiance to Tagot For that 's the Throne of God near which the
Daemon cannot approach May thou and I live always Skreen'd behind our Selves for in that Dark Recess from Visible Things the Eternal loves to manifest his otherwise Invisible Light Adieu Paris the 17th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1670. LETTER XII To Cara Hali Physician to the Grand Signior AFter all my Scepticisms I at this Hour believe there 's Something of us remains Immortal and Incorruptible when our grosser Bodies are dissolv'd Call it what you will an Astral Body a Ghost a Spirit or any Thing else I 'm sensible some Part of us will never die What signifies the vain Dispute of Words the dark Resolves of Plato's Cave Let it be Substance or Accident Matter or Form or a Result of all There 's still a certain Portion of our Nature against which the Stroak of Death and of Ten Hundred Thousand Deaths can ne'er prevail We may be chang'd indeed and masquerade it up and down perhaps through Infinite Worlds in so many different Disguises But we can never be annihilated or made Nothing We cannot be excluded from the Eternal List of Atomes The Loss or Absence of the least Particle from the Vniverse would either cause the Loudest never-ending Thunders and Lightnings or an Everlasting Silence Sullenness and Darkness This mighty Aggregate and Stupendous Heap of Beings would fall to Ruine if there were the least Vacuum or the smallest Mite missing Steal but the most Indivisible Atom from the rest and down comes all the Fabrick For one supports another by an Inseparable Adhesion Reciprocal Congruity and Mathematical Fitness They are so cunningly hitch'd and knit together so closely fasten'd and indented each with other by the Original Art or Chance which form'd the World that all the Motions of this Grand Machine would at an instant stop in such a Case as does a Watch when the least Tooth is missing from any one of the contiguous Wheels Every Thing in Nature is full and pregnant Neither can there be any other Emptiness save what we think we see in Bottles or other Hollow Vessels which when they are void of Water Wine or other Liquors it is but to be cramm'd brim-full of Air which Element insinuates and crowds it self into each Diminutive Crany Chink and Pore of grosser Substances So if the Airy Atomes have any Hollownesses in 'em the smallest Vacancy possible is still supply'd with its full Measure of the purer Aether and that again with some Matter more refin'd if any such there be or else it drinks full Draughts of Immaterial Essences and by such a Sub-ordinate Gradation Humane Souls though in themselves perhaps pure Incorporeal Spirits are yet fasten'd and cemented to our Bodies Thus is one Being successively and Eternally either a Syringe or a Sponge to another The Elements inebriate one another by Turns an Universal Epicurism and Drunkenness Reigns So the Hot Stomach of the Earth parch'd with Inward Mineral Fires greedily guzzles down the very salt unpalatable Lees of the Sea rather than be adry With a Thousand Thousand gaping Throats it gulps the Beverage which Neptune's Deep and Mighty Cellar runs withal It pants and sucks eternally the thick ropy Settlements of the Ocean's Bottom These are distill'd again in hidden Limbecks Cylinders and other Chymical Vessels below that so the gaping Channels on the Superficies may be constantly supply'd with more refin'd Liquor through the Springs and Fountains And yet the Globe not having quench'd its Thirst with this perpetual Draught continually sups up the Rain a Liquor more sublime and pure than all the rest But this is only on certain Holy-days of Fate when the Celestial Powers the Planets Stars and Constellations order a Dunalma for the Vegetable Race Below to refresh the Herbs the Corn and Trees with Banquets from the Clouds Then the Big-belly'd Tuns above are rowl'd out of their hidden Store-houses and broach'd the Conduits of the Vpper Region spout and run with plentiful Showers and Cataracts of Nature's Seminal Juice the Radical All-chearing Nectar of Heaven The greedy Soil imbibes the sacred strong Cascade each joyful Turf is frolicksome and swallows down large Bumpers of the Elemosynary Wine Whilst the least dry and crumbling Lump of the late fainting Glebe has Drops and Supernaculum's enough to revel on till party-colour'd Iris the Major-Domo in these Yearly Festivals perceiving the tender Seeds and Roots are well nigh fuddl'd with what at Second Hand they have exhausted from the over-laden Ground makes her Appearance in the Clouds inviting all the Guests to a splendid Collation of warm Beams and Rays with which the Sun is minded to regale them A grateful soft and chearful Noise was heard throughout the Room before The Earth and Air were in a merry Humour Well pleas'd with the Debauch they would have sat till Morning at it being loth to leave their Liquor behind 'em or change it for dry Meat But at the sight of Iris every one chang'd Countenance an universal Murmur ran throughout the Hall they were sorry thus to be baulk'd i' th' midst of all their Mirth Till courtly Zephyrs come with their soft Compliments and tell 'em It is necessary for their Ease and Health Then are the Tuns and Bottles remov'd with all the drunken Tackle The Table soon is spread and cover'd with a Rich Course of glittering Chargers sent from Phoebus That Sponging Planet only lives by Bantering and Wheedles The Illustrious Figure he makes i' th' World is always borrow'd He never wore a Fashionable Dress in 's Life but what he took up by Tally from the First Source of Lights For which he 's bound to pay so vast an Interest that he would necessarily become a Bankrupt did he not repair his broken Fortune by playing Tricks upon the Earth Thus whilst he mocks this Sublunary World with his pretended Treats he makes it pay for all with costly Exhalations He plunders the Elements picks the Pockets of the Earth and robs the Treasuries of the Sea Nor can he forbear filching something from the Air and when he has stollen enough he slinks away i' th' Dark and flies to th' other side of the Globe there to commence New Shams and Cheats upon the Antipodes And all the while the Stars are full as bad as he For like a Brave Highway-man that Luminary frequents the Publick Road of Heaven by Day he robs in open sight of all the World and leaves a generous Viaticum where-ever he borrows any Thing But the Stars those little Bullies of the Sky are perfect Night-Pads Shop-lifts and Sharpers they skulk about i' th' Dark through all the private Alleys of the Firmament and commit a Thousand Murders Rapes and other Violences Some of their Aspects are as venomous as the Fatal Eyes of Basilisks they carry divers Kinds of Mortal Poysons in their Looks which they disperse at Random in this lower World They strew the Earth with Hemlocks Aconites and other baneful Weeds They also scatter up and down the more contagious Seeds of Envy
so here is certainly punish'd with Death I sometimes meet with Ingenious and Candid Souls with whom I can discourse freely and like a Man that doubts of many Things which others currantly believe Yet we dare not trust each other too far nor the very Air into which our Words vanish after it has help'd to form 'em lest some sly envious Daemon shou'd catch the transient sound and reverberate the yet articulated Body of Particles which made it into some Inquisitive Ear to ruine us For there are certain busie Gossiping Eccho's scatter'd up and down the Elements which are always listning to the Words of Mortals And if the spightful Elves can but take Hold of any Syllable to do a Man an Injury they are big till they have vented it Yet they make no Shew nor Noise but whisper out their Tales in Secret sometimes in Dead of Night when Men are fast asleep at other times when they are deeply musing on the hidden Things of Nature For 't is only to the VVise the Sage the Noble and the Great that they reveal these Passages beeause 't is such alone have Ears to hear Them They haunt the Bed-Chambers of Kings and Princes to tell 'em News in Dreams They are the swiftest Couriers in the VVorld For they have VVings and fly from Court to Court and from one Climate to another in a Moments time They 're always buzzing in the Ears of Statesmen and great Politicians to whom they shew the Dark Intrigues of Foreign and Domestick Enemies Thus are Conspiracies and Plots of Rebels oft discover'd tho' manag'd ne'er so secretly They visit now and then the Closets of Philosophers and such as love the Sciences Men of abstracted Souls whose Thoughts are volatile and pure their Phancies lively and vegete To these they unfold the covert Mysteries of Nature and shew 'em Things to come They frame th' Idea's of remote unknown Events which they imprint upon the Ductile Minds of Prophets and Holy Men Inspiring them with strange and unaccountable Presages of what shall shortly happen to themselves or others whether it be Good or Evil. For these Busie-bodies are the Daughters of the World 's great Soul and they inherit an Universal Sense and Feeling of whatsoever happens in the Elements 'T is true some Knowledge they acquire by Study and Observation even as we Mortals do but at a far swifter Rate Their Airy Bodies do not so oppress their Intellectual Faculties as our gross Hulks of Flesh do ours We 're forc'd to Dig and Plough to Sow and Harrow for small Returns of Science Our Soil is barren it must be manur'd and cultivated with Art and Cost before it yields a tolerable Harvest of what deserves the Name of Solid Knowledge But these defecate Tenants of the Air have no more to do but to be merely passive and they streight learn every Thing For the Eternal Sapience wanders through the Universe to seek out such as will or can imbibe her free Impressions She voluntarily slides into receptive Souls and fills them with her Rays Thus the Sublimer Genij of the Air bask in an open Orb of Intellectual Light because they are embodied in the most refin'd and purest Matter Whereas we Mortals must be thankful for her Illuminations by Retail She only shines on us through Chinks and Cranies of our Dungeon Flesh And yet but seldom so in direct Beams Few Men can boast that Privilege The greatest Part walk only in the Uncertain Twilight of Opinion or at best in the faint languid Glimmerings of Humane Reason which like the Moon conveys the Original Light of Science to us by Reflection and at second Hand We 're fain to learn from Books from Conversation and Experience Courteous Hali thou wilt pardon the Confusedness and want of Order in this Letter when thou shalt consider the Force of Melancholy which first prompted me to write it For being very sad and overcast with Clouds of dark and gloomy Thoughts which different Passions caus'd to justle one against another in my troubl'd Mind I knew not how to escape the Tempest better than by writing to thee my Learned Friend tho' only to express my Circumstances For when I began I knew not what to say but 't was an Ease to write at random any Thing to breath my Heart and ventilate my Spleen But the Specifick Remedy of my Grief consisted in addressing to thee my Dear Physician whose very Remembrance is a Catholicon proof against all my Maladies Adieu thou Aesculapius of the Ottomans and live for ever Paris 15th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1673. LETTER XVIII To Musu Abul Yahyan Professor of Philosophy at Fez. THou shalt see That I am a Man of my VVord and will keep my Promise For this Dispatch contains a farther Description of Constantinople which I engag'd to present thee with in my last This Famous City is Sixteen Miles in Circuit and contains Nine Hundred Thousand Inhabitants 'T is divided into Three Parts by the Intercourse of certain Arms of the Sea and almost forms the Figure of a Triangle The VValls are of an Incredible Height and encompass Seven Hills within their Extent One is near the Grand Signior's Serail Another is in the Opposite Corner of the City which leads to Adrianople Between Two others there lies a Plain which is call'd the Great Valley In this is to be seen an Aqueduct of Admirable Contrivance and Structure the VVork of Constantine the Great who by his convey'd VVater to the City from Seven Miles distance Solyman II. augmented it by opening a Current of VVaters Two Miles beyond the Source of Constantinople which run through Seven Hundred and Forty Pipes into the City besides those which serve the Mosques the Bathes and Houses of Purification At the Extremity of the Town is seen the Antique Building of a Fortress which is call'd the Castle of the Seven Towers a VVork of Inimitable Architecture There is a Garrison in it of Two Hundred and Fifty Soldiers not one of which dares to set his Foot out of the Castle Gates without the Leave of the Vizir Azem unless it be on Two certain Days in the Year That is the First of Beiram and Ramezan In this Place formerly the Ottoman Emperours us'd to lay their Treasures of Gold and Silver their Arms and Ammunition their Books and whatsoever they esteem'd Precious But Amurat the Son of Selymus II. translated all these Things into the Serail ' where they have been kept ever since And this Castle is turn'd into a Prison for Kings and Princes taken Captives by the True Faithful as also for Rebellious Bassa's and other Persons of Quality Here Coresqui Vayvod of Moldavia was shut up in the Year 1617. of the Christians Aera And in the Year 1622. of the same Date the Rebellious Janizaries Imprisoned their Sovereign Lord Sultan Osman whom afterwards they strangl'd in the same Place There are above Two Thousand Mosques Oratories and Sepulchres within the VValls of Constantinople