if I were a Christian Thou seest I have a Doctor of the Arabs for my Author A True Believer and reputed Saint Besides if I am worthy to advise thee let not the Common Practice of Mussulman Professors in the Imperial City tempt thee to despise the Blessed Son of Mary of whom our Holy Prophet speaks so honourably How many Chapters in the Alcoran do celebrate his Praise I rather counsel thee to imitate the honest Turcomans who are esteem'd the best of True Believers These honour both Jesus and his matchless Virgin-Mother So do the Chupmessiasi and all good Mussulmans As for the Rest they 're either Superstitious and Morose Fanaticks Profligate Renegades or Loose Wild Libertines who fear neither God or Man And now I 've mention'd that Incomparable Mary Mother of the Messias of whom the Mighty Alcoran speaks such Venerable Things it is a fit Occasion to return from my Digression and proceed in relating what the Jewish Rabbi's say farther in Commendation of the Female Sex They consider the Order which God according to the Writing of Moyses observed in the Creation viz. That among his Works some are Incorruptible and Immortal others subject to Corruption and Change and that as he began in the Noblest Species of the Former to wit pure separate Spirits so he ended in the Most Illustrious of the latter that is Woman the last of all his Works and the most Perfect of Compound Beings for in her are center'd and consummated the Nature of the Heavens the Earth Air Fire and Water with Minerals Plants and Animals and whatsoever else was made before her This is the Opinion of some Hebrew Writers who believe that God having made Eve and then survey'd the System of his Works found nothing more Excellent or Divinely fram'd than Woman Therefore in her he rested and commenc'd the Sabbath as if his Power and Wisdom now were tir'd and foil'd and that he cou'd not start the Idea of another Creature more perfect than her Or as if he did not esteem the Vniverse it self compleat without the last and most accomplish'd of his Works For they hold it is absurd to believe that God wou'd finish such a prodigious and admirable Task in any mean or abject Thing They also illustrate this by a Similitude asserting That the World being as it were an Intire Circle it follows by a Necessary Consequence that it was finish'd in that Part which by the most Intimate Union couples the First Atome to the Last They endeavour to strengthen this by the Common Principle of Philosophy which teaches That the End is always First in the Intention and Last in Execution Woman therefore being the Last Work of the Creation it is evident say they that she was the Chief Design and Aim the Almighty had in building this Immense Fabrick which he first furnished and adorned with infinite Riches and Delights and then introduc'd her as into her Own Native Proper Palace there to reign as Absolute Queen over all his Works Besides they take Advantage from the particular Place of her Creation to exalt her in that she was form'd in Paradise among the Angels whereas Man was made in the Common Waste among the Brutes And therefore they say Women have this peculiar Privilege That when they look down from any Eminent Height or Precipice they feel no Dizziness or giddy Symptoms in their Head no Mist or Dimness in their Eyes being as it were nearer their proper Element or lofty Birth-Place Whereas it is common for Men to be troubled with these Accidents in such a Case But the most prevailing Argument they use is taken from the Stupendous Beauty of that Sex which like the finer Sort of Clouds in Summer seems to engross the Splendors of Immortal Light and so reflect them on the World How matchless is a Woman's Form What dazz'ling Majesty environs her from Head to Foot Gaze on her lovely Countenance without Astonishment or fix your Eyes on her's without an Ecstasie Those Lights which do mislead the Morning Stars and cause the Gods to ramble from their Heaven if what the Ancient Poets say be true So did Apollo for his Daphne and Jupiter for others of that charming Sex Neither need we wonder at this since the Written Law it self records that Angels fell in Love with Admirable Maids of Human Race and took 'em for their Wives or Concubines from whom the Progeny of Giants came Thus more Modern Writers testify that Incorporeal Spirits and Daemons of all Ranks and Qualities both Good and Bad have been enflam'd with Ardent Passions for some Mortal Virgin Which is no false or vain Opinion as the Incredulous Part of Men wou'd fain insinuate but a known Truth confirm'd by many Experiences Indeed so admirable is the Figure Voice and Mien of a Fair Woman that he is willfully blind who does not see whatsoever Beauties the whole World is capable of concenter'd in that Sex And for this Reason 't is that not onely Man with Angels Daemons Genii Satyrs and the whole Series of Rational Beings admire a Fair Woman But also the very Brutes are struck with a profound Amazement at her Sight With Sighs and silent Vows the Animal Generations pay Homage to her and adore the stately Idol Every Thing in Nature is enamour'd and lies prostrate at her Feet She alone commands the Vniverse Yet after all my Brother they have their dark side too like the Rest of Mixed Beings They are the Frontier-Passes of the World Above and that Below The Gates of Life and Death the very Avenues to Heaven or Hell according as they 're us'd Like Fire they 'll warm and refresh a Man if he keep at a due Distance but if he approach too near they 'll scorch and blister him if not consume him quite Or like that other Element of Water they 're very good and serviceable whilst kept within their Bounds but let 'em once break down the Banks of Modesty they 'll threaten all with Ruine In a Word 't is neither safe to vex 'em in the least or humour 'em too much The Excess of Foudness as well as the Defect of Natural Love may equally undoe us Prudent Generosity is the onely Method of making our selves happy in the Enjoyment of this Sex Dear Pesteli let us Reverence our selves and then we cannot fail of due Respect from our Wives and Concubines For they love a Man that 's truely Masculine and Brave Paris the 15th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1667. LETTER XIV To the Same JUst as I 'd finish'd t'other Letter I was alarm'd afresh with new Disoveries of Solyman's Treachery That Barbarous Dog is certainly an Imp of Hell a Devil in Human Flesh an Adventitious Plant pluck'd from the Drery Banks of Phlegeton or Cocytus and engrafted in our Noble Stock on Purpose to ruine and destroy us The whole Tribe is bound to curse him with immortal Execrations He industriously seeks and studies all Occasions to do Mischief His Veins
be deliver'd safe down to Posterity By what I have said Nathan thou may'st perceive That I aim at nothing else but to wean thee from the Superstitious fond Conceit of your Nation and to make thee sensible That though God once favoured the Jews with Oracles of Light and Reason yet they have for many Ages forfeited this Privilege Since which he gave the Gospel to Jesus the Son of Mary the Alcoran to Mahomet and at all Times has sent Messengers and Prophets to every Nation and People on Earth There are no Partial Byasses in the Divinity which made the Worlds He is an Inexhaustible Abyss of Love of Light and Life Where every Creature drinks its Fill of Natural Happiness according to the different Ranks Capacities and Desires of Things He Vests the Sun with an Immortal Robe of Light the Train of which is born up by the Moon and Stars When Phoebus is upon the Wing by Day his Garment covers all the Sky the Golden Fringes of it dangle to this Globe and trail along i' th' Miry Soil yet never gather the least Speck of Dirt They 're dipt and plung'd in Rivers Lakes and Seas without being wet and yet they drink up all the Ocean by Successive Draughts This Lower World rejoices in the glittering Shew the Elements with every Being compounded of them bask in the welcome Rays So do the Planets Above who take a singular Pride to fold some Part of the Illustrious Dress about them They wrap themselves half up in borrow'd Light and then like Western Franks they foot it to and fro' in their beloved Walks Above giving the necessary Salutes and Conge's to each other en Passant and to the Sedentary Signs and Fixed Stars to see if any of them mind their Courtly Garb and Mien For they are the Sun 's Domestick Pages the Favourites of his Serail At other Seasons they stand still perhaps to gaze upon themselves in Contemplation of the Majestick Figure they make So have I seen a proud conceited Spanish Trumpeter after he 'd blown a Levet pretty well lay down the Silver Instrument with a Disdainful Gravity His Cheeks all swoln with enclos'd Air and Soul puff'd up with Arrogance he struts and curls his Black Mustaches Then with big Looks surveys himself from Head to Foot casting an Eye of Scorn upon the Silent Tube conscious that he alone can make it sound so well Thou wilt say I wander in my Discourse as much as those Heavenly Bodies I 'm speaking of 'T is true Nathan our Thoughts are free and not confin'd to Rules and Forms We easily slip from one Imagination to another And since I 've made this Planetary Digression suffer me now like them to run Retrograde and come to the Point from which I rov'd Doubtless each Individual Being is fill'd with its Essential Blifs The Fire has its Specifick Happiness so has the Air the Water and the Earth with all the Living Generations on it And when the Most High distributed the Sons of Humane Race through all the Various Climates Zones and Provinces he furnish'd every Region of the Globe with Gifts and Products Riches and Delights Agreeable to the Inhabitants With this Proviso That they shou'd live in Innocence Justice and according to Reason From which Eternal Law if any People swerv'd they should forfeit these Privileges and be subdu'd if not extirpated by some more Vertuous Nation From hence sprung all the Revolutions of Mighty Kingdoms and Empires one successively supplanting another to this Day And the Sins of your Nation being greater it seems than those of any other God has dispers'd you over all the Earth without suffering you to inherit or possess a Foot of Ground If ever therefore Fate designs to restore the Jews again to the Holy Land wherein their Fathers liv'd never expect it till your Erroneous Minds and Vicious Manners are reform'd For Palestine was never seated so deliciously for Bloody Zealots Hypocrites and Cruel Usurers to enjoy Paris the 2d of the 11th Moon of the Year 1667. LETTER XVII To Dgnet Oglou DAria's a Quean a Gilt and I 'm once more cur'd of my Dotage There is no Trust in Woman's Beauty Faith or Wit They are deceitful as the Fruit of Asphaltites They are Perfect Riddles and Paradoxes and have more Unlucky Tricks than cross-grain'd Elfes or Fairies When a Man over-heated by his Amorous Passion thinks to embrace a Goddess he meets with Ixion's Fate and only hugs a gaudy Cloud or Meteor I will not make thee sick with a particular Rehearsal of my second Folly in being so fond of one who had betray'd me formerly I 'll not repeat the vain Addresses I made the Kind obliging Things I spoke nor her deceitful Answers I will not tell thee how she drill'd me on into her Snares and led me Captive in an Amorous Circle Content thy self to know that I 've been Twice her Cully and if e'er I am the Third Time 't will be my own Fault as the Italian says No my Dgnet I 've done with that False Sex Henceforth for ever I abjure all Amarous Regards of Women I 'll shun 'em as I would a Pestilence I 'll either shut my Eyes or turn 'em another way at least whene'er I meet a Female I will not think of them but with Disdain and Hatred Finally I 'm off from 'em to all Intents and Purposes However as the Arabian Proverb says That Wind blows from an Vnlucky Point o' th' Compass which wafts no Good to somebody So from Daria's False and Feigned Smiles I reap some Benefit I 've learn'd a Secret which has rid my Spirit of a Thousand Cares Disquiets and Agonies In the Year 1664 of the Christians Hegira I sent a Letter to the Noble Kerker Hassan Bassa our Countryman Wherein I inform'd him of an Assassine made upon me in the Dark as I was going to my Lodgings and how I kill'd the Ruffian that attempted on my Life I told that Generous Grandee all my Jealousies and Conjectures on that Subject how I suspected some of my Enemies at the Port to have a Hand in the Design or else that my Sicilian Master was concern'd in 't I knew not well what to conclude But now I 'm satisfied 't was Daria's Husband who resenting deeply my former Amour with her which she discover'd to him at large cou'd never be at Rest till he saw Paris where he design'd to be the Executioner of his own Revenge and lay in wait accordingly for my late Returning Home For he was not ignorant of my Lodging His Wife knew nothing of his Design he having pretended other Business at the City And 't was from Accidental Words in her Discourse that I collected this great Secret For when I asked her of her Husband's Health she told me he was kill'd at such a Time by Night in an Alley of Paris by whom she never yet cou'd learn But I straight blush'd with Consciousness and took the Hint I drop'd some Necessary
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
he is deservedly Chastis'd for his Folly So may all those suffer who abuse their Benefactors But upon the Benign and Good may the Favours of Heaven rest till the Splitting of all Things Paris 13th of the 9th Moon of the Year 1670. LETTER VI. To Isouf his Kinsman a Merchant at Astracan I Receiv'd thy Letter and perus'd it with much Complacency finding thy Sentiments very agreeable to Reason Yet give me leave to warn thee of an Excess which thou art running into For I have had Experience of its ill Consequence Thy Losses have made thee Melancholy and the Fraudulent Dealing of thy Correspondents Factors and supposed Friends has taught thee to declaim against Friendship Men and Business And not only so but it seems thou hast taken a Resolution to abandon all Worldly Affairs Pleasures and Engagements whatsoever and turn Faquir Eremit or Dervich at least For thou art disgusted at Humane Society and weary of all Things but Solitude I must confess Isouf these are very Generous Thoughts and Pious Resolves But they are not easily put in Practice They are Undertakings fit only for perfect Saints Men of unblemish'd Lives and free from all Sorts of Vice Persons who have a Stock of Temperance Chastity Prudence Justice Fortitude Patience Humility and all the other Vertues a Fund of Magnanimity which can never be exhausted by any Temptations Difficulties or Perils that usually assault and environ such as enter into so austere a Course of Life Wilt thou be able to endure the unrelenting rigid Cold of Winter in the Desart where there are no Chimneys Hearths or Stoves nor any other Method of keeping Fire to warm thee by Canst thou sustain the raging Blasts of Boreas at that Season or the killing Tempests of North-Eastern Winds which blow from far and fill the Air the Earth and Sea with baneful Mists Frosts Ice Snow Sleet and other chilling Meteors out of their Eternal Magazines within the Artick Circle which Ovid calls the Frigid Zone There are many other Extremities to which a Man 's expos'd in such a Solitary State Nor wilt thou be less liable to Inconveniences and Hardships if thou should'st ramble as a Faquir up and down the World Much less could'st thou endure the sad Restraints and Mortifications of a Convent thou 'dst hardly live out thy Novitiate with Patience It goes against the Grain of Nature to obey another's Will in every trifling Matter that he commands Thou must not Eat or Drink but thy Superiour will set the Place the Time and Manner of thy Diet which will be irksome to thy Free-born Soul And then thou must forsake thy Amorous Pleasures for ever Forswearing also the very Thoughts of Money or of being Rich. I tell thee thou must resolve to become a Religious Drone fit for nothing but to mumble o'er thy Beads or turn the Superstitious Round till thou art Giddy or Dance an Hour together to the Musick of a Thousand Hue's and Hei's hoarsly croak'd out in Frantick Tones by thee and all thy Brethren Derviches till ye are sick and foam at Mouth Then your Devotions are thought Meritorious Canst thou digest these sacred Fooleries Or grant this to be a Rational Service of the Divinity as some will plead who say We ought to employ each Member and all our Faculties in Praising him that made 'em yet canst thou brook a Confinement all thy Days to this Religious State I tell thee Isouf I have been often tempted in this Manner to forsake the Sultan's Service with all other Engagements of the World and throw my self into a Convent or spend the Residue of my Days in some obscure and solitary Corner of a Desart Yet I found at length that this was nothing but Delusion and the subtle Sophistry of that Malicious Daemon who envies Man his Happiness 'T is he that whispers Arguments of Discontent and Murmuring into our Souls watching his Opportunities when any Thing gives us exquisite Pain or Grief to drive us to Despair So have I sometimes labour'd under an Intolerable Anguish of Mind besides the fretting Maladies of Flesh and Blood with outward Crosses in my Fortune Then have I wish'd my self in some dark Cavern of the Earth or on the solitary Top of Teneriff where I should converse with none but Spirits and Daemons dwelling above the Clouds Or else I coveted the Melancholy Retirements of the Lybian Desart which affords no other Society than that of Lyons Tygers Dragons and other Beasts of Prey When these Wishes have appear'd too Extravagant and Wild I then retrench'd my Thoughts and pitch'd upon some other Manner of Life equally promising Comfort yet less threatning and Dangerous I gave my self up wholly to Prayer and Fasting for a while thinking to hold out thus for ever So sensible a Pleasure attends these Exercises That at certain Moments a Man 's all Rapture Ecstasy and I know not what He is apt to think himself in some New World A Sacred Pride invests his Soul He seems all Majesty within an inseparable Companion of the Immortals and the Darling Friend of God Whereas all this results but from the Ventilation of his Blood by Vocal Oraisons and is no more than a meer Natural Operation whereby his Lungs are artificially breath'd and gently forc'd to Disembogue their over-heated Airs their thick caliginous Vapours which fill the Heart and all the rest of the Vitals with Seeds of Melancholy Fear Suspicion Grief and other doleful Passions But mark a Zealot when his Prayers are over his Fast is done and all his Fervent Pious Discipline is accomplish'd how like a Hypocrite he looks and acts How formal is his Carriage or at least how vain and light He either heaves out fulsom Hypocondriack Sighs with Supercilious Looks and Chaps set like the Furrows of a sowr-fac'd Hadgi or else he 's tickl'd into a loud ungovernable Laughter and all his Carriage is ridiculous and wanton Either his Hunger Thirst and Faintness the usual Effect of such Excessive Devotion makes him Peevish Cholerick and Unmortified or else he is as Apish as a Cat. Humane Nature cannot abide long in the same Humour and those that seem to be always Even Temper'd People like the Caspian Sea without Ebb or Flow are only Counterfeits and Politicians There is an Art to conceal ones Passions but there is none that can annihilate them We change from one Affection Appetite and Desire to another Our Inclinations circulate with our Blood They are transform'd each Minute Hour and Day they vary like the Wind and Weather Therefore never think of taking an Eternal Pleasure or Distaste in any Thing here Below Prayer is good in its Turn I mean the Vocal Aspirations So are Fasting Abstinence and other Religious Severities But if all Men shou'd be perpetually at these Exercises God in a little Time wou'd have but few Adorers on Earth The Ground must be left Untill'd the Fields would quickly bring forth Crops of Briars and Weeds instead of Corn. The Gardens then
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
Messengers I revere thy Learned Soul and that accomplish'd Intellect which is ever busie prying into Weighty and Important Matters I honour thy Impartial Mind which scruples not to pay th' Attach that 's due to a Saint tho' of the Christian Calendar If we should reject all that the Followers of Jesus do we should neither Fast Pray give Alms or perform any other Good Works Therefore in this thou art an Exemplary Pattern to the Rigid Superstitious Sort of Mussulman Phanaticks who bear an endless Grudge against all those that are not of their Narrow Faith and Dark Opinion Glory be to God with whom the WORD was present from the Dawning of Eternal Light before the Morning of his Works had peep'd o'er the Mountains of the Ancient Chaos or penetrated the Dark Abyss and Misty Vale of Nothing and painted the Tops of the Creation the Highest Ranks of Beings with Splendors of the Early Day Before the Sun had drank th' Immortal Halo in and spong'd up all the Visible Beams to squeeze them out again upon the Moon the Stars and on this Lower World That WORD remains for Ever and at a determin'd Hour became Incarnate in the Person of Jesus the Son of Mary as the Holy Alcoran informs us In those Days John the Baptist went into the Wilderness and preach'd Repentance to the Jews foretelling the near Approach of the Messias The Sacred Hero made a Cave his Residence and at first to wean his Body from all Softness he wore a Vest or Shirt of Camel's Hair which was girt about him with a Belt made of that Painful and Religious Creatures Skin to put him in Mind that he was born for Holy Labours Toils and Mortifications He had no Table spread with far-fetch'd costly Dainties no Dishes cramm'd with bloody and large Inventories of Birds Four-footed Beasts and Fish His Diet was Simple Cheap and Innocent easie to be got in every Wood or Field without the Detriment of his Fellow-Animals For he either contented himself with a Repast on Honey which he found in Hollow Trees or on a Kind of Manna a sweet Dew falling on their Leaves and there condens'd by Heavenly Influence Or else it was a kind of luscious Moisture which he suck'd from certain Plants perhaps not much unlike our Sugar-Canes For thus Interpreters do differ about the Words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whatever it was we may conclude it to be some slender light and easie Nourishment And when this Diet fail'd him or his Stomach requir'd a little more Variety he banqueted on what the Graecians call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some will have these to be a Kind of Locusts or Grass-hoppers a Meat indulg'd the Jews by Moses in the Law The Syrians also counted them a Dainty so did the Ancient Parthians as Aristotle and Pliny tell us And my Country-men the Arabians eat of them to this Day Others are of Opinion that these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were a sort of little Shell-Fish such as Crabs Crawfish or Shrimps which Nature has generally lodg'd in Holes along the banks of Rivers A pleasant temperate Sort of Diet commended for their Virtues in expelling Poyson and being Remedies for the Strangury and Antidotes to cure the Biting of Mad Dogs The Divine Prophet therefore oft frequenting the Waters of the River Jordan wherein he us'd to wash his Converts and Disciples these Men suppose he took Occasion to allay his Hunger with these little Shell-fish which he might easily take in mighty Numbers from their watry Nests And they endeavour to strengthen this Opinion by asserting That the Food which the Waters afford us is much more Pure and Holy than what the Earth brings forth in regard the Earth lies under the Malediction of God ever since Noah's Flood whereas the Waters ne'er were Curs'd Hence say they it is very probable That the consecrated Hero wou'd not defile his Spotless Life with cursed Banquets from the Earth but rather chose to appease his Hunger with the harmless bless'd and wholsome Product of the Waters If thou wilt have my Opinion after all I 'm apt to think these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were nothing else but the tender Tops of Plants such as we call Asparagus or perhaps they were wild Apples of the Wood and then we may suppose there 's some Mistake in the Greek Copy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Or it may be the Holy Prophet in the proper Season of the Year did use to crop and eat the Ears of Barly and then the Word shou'd be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For what cou'd be more sweet and pleasant to an Abstemious Man than to sustain his Life with fruits Grain Herbs or Roots Nor did the Malediction reach the Vegetables but only the Animal Generations from which a perfect Man abstains Certainly those who out of an Aversion for Purity Prayer and Fasting turn themselves from Humane Bodies to Swine and from Religious Abstinence to Salvage Gurmundizing on Flesh seem to derive their Pedigree from a Race of Devils Especially such as after the manner of Spiders gathering Poison from the Flowers of Piety Blaspheme this Sacred Vertue of Abstinence and call it by the Infamous Name of Superstition For if the Veneration we pay to God consist in the Knowledge Love and Fear of his Divine Majesty with Adoration and Praise of his Eternal Attributes it follows That we ought to worship him with the most Fervent Application of our Spirits But this Religious Ardour cannot subsist in any Soul whose Body is not mortified nor can the Body be mortified without Austerity which always is accompany'd with Rigorous Fasting and Abstinence from Flesh Wherefore if we ascend to God by the very same Degrees as we fall from him it follows That Abstinence is the First Step to Immortality and Supreme Happiness I do not mean by Abstinence that Natural Aversion which some Men have for Flesh who never durst to taste of any in their Lives compell'd to this by some Occult Antipathy in their Stomachs For such a Necessity cannot make a Vertue it being common to Men and Brutes there being many Animals who fast from all Provender at certain Seasons of the Year and others that taste not some Kinds of Food during their Lives So there are some Men to whom Wine Flesh Cheese Apples Herbs and other Things are an Abomination from their Cradles There have been others who by a Praeternatural Necessity have lived some Days VVeeks Months and Years without either Meat or Drink So Plato records That Herus Pamphylius lay Ten whole Days among the Dead Carcases of Soldiers slain in Battel and when he was taken up to be laid on the Funeral Pile they perceiv'd him to be alive Laertius tells us That Pythagoras fasted Forty Days and Forty Nights from Meat and Drink From whom Apollonius Thyanaeus learn'd the Art of keeping almost a perpetual Fast And these Modern Times afford us the Example of a Spaniard whom they call Alcantaro
a Second Remove from the Eternal Light The Mirrour of the Sun in which that Glorious Planet may see his Face in whose by Reflection we see the Face of God So do the Stars keep on their various Traverses through the Heavens Each Constellation faithfully maintaining its Post each Planet pursuing its Road. VVhilst all together at so vast a Distance appear a flying Camp ne'er setting up their bright Pavilions but by Night and in the Morning taking 'em down again This may be call'd the Army of Heaven the Host of God embattel'd in the Firmament to guard his Friends on Earth and to chastise his Enemies To descend lower yet into our Sublunary Elements we find the Rain Hail Snow VVinds Thunder Lightning and other Meteors are impartially scatter'd up and down the Climates of the Earth I do not mean by Chance but by the Universal Providence which governs all Things As the Alcoran expresses it 'T is he directs the Seminal and Prolifick Showers to Barren and Desart Places Doubtless this is a Sign of his Divine Vnity In fine all Provinces and Corners of the Earth bring forth their proper Fruits in Season And the Negro's of Africk and America tho' gross Idolaters and some of them worshipping Infernal Daemons yet enjoy God's Blessings and live as Plentifully with as much Content and Joy as we that Adore his Eternal Vnity Every Nation takes up their Religion on the Credit of their Priests and so long as they observe the Natural and Moral Law imprinted in their Hearts The Indulgent Judge and Father of Men will dispense with those that Err in Obedience to the Positive Laws of their Nation for Sedition is like Magick odious to God and Man and equally liable to Universal Punishment Once more O Pious Father of the Derviches I beg of thee to pardon the Freedom I take in discoursing of Religious Matters in thy Presence who art a Light to the Blind a Guide to those that Err a Resolver of Doubts an Arbitrator of difficult Questions The Onely Oracle of thy Province I endeavour not to inform thee but to dis-entangle my self from Error and testifie that tho' I Honour God and his Prophet yet I think there is no need of a Falsehood to defend the Truth Paris 7th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1670. LETTER XII To Useph Bassa DEath has of late Celebrated a Triple Triumph in the Court of France having lead away Captives to the Invisible World The Cardinal Duke of Vendôme a Dutchess of the same Title and Henrietta Maria late Queen of Great Britain being the Relict of King Charles I. and Youngest Daughter to Henry IV. of France Thou may'st also report to the Divan that Casimir late King of Poland is now at this Court Having left Poland as soon as he saw Prince Wiesnowiski elected his Successor The Dukes of Lorrain and Newburgh had severally laid Claim to that Crown and levied Armies a-part in order to make good their Pretentions But the Polanders being aware of it were resolv'd not to bring themselves under the Jurisdiction of any Foreigner so long as there was a Prince of their own Nation capable of the Dignity and one who being the Son of King Casimir seems to have the best Title to his Father's Throne whose Vertues he inherits Here is also arriv'd the Prince of Tuscany who has travell'd through all Europe and takes France as the last Kingdom in his Return Homewards Protesting That he does this in good Manners as preferring France to all the Nations in Christendom Indeed he cou'd do no less in Good Manners than make this Apology which yet sounds very Flat toa Court so refin'd as this which might have expected his First Visit as a Token of his Regard since tho' in Domestick Processions Entries and Cavalcades those of highest Dignity take the last Place yet in Foreign Embassies and Voyages it is usual for Princes to address to those first for whom they have the Greatest Esteem The Politicians here keep very secret the News that comes from Candy which makes all Men conclude 't is none of the most Prosperous 'T is generally reported for a Truth That Admiral Beaufort is either Kill'd or taken Prisoner by the Ottomans and that the French have lost near Two thousand Men in this Undertaking I wonder why the Painters always describe Death in the Form of a Naked Skeleton a Starv'd System of dry Bones whereas one would think he ought to be pourtray'd as a Monster a Miracle of Fatness since he is the greatest Glutton in the World hourly gurmundizing on all manner of Flesh and is the very Original Universal Cannibal of Nature who from the Beginning of the World has feasted himself with Humane Bodies But perhaps he has a bad Digestion and none of all his raw and bloody Diet will afford Nutriment enough to form so much as a poor Skin to cover his Nakedness And therefore 't is he 's always drawn in this lean Figure Courteous Bassa suffer me from this vain Jest to fall into a serious Reflection on our Mortality and the frail Estate of Humane Race Man 's but a fetid Vapour first exhal'd from the Earth and afterwards advancing is condens'd into a Cloud that so his Filthiness may be conceal'd under the Covert of a Skin there in Secret to engender a Thousand Meteors of Fiery Passions Lusts Concupiscences and Extravagant Thoughts Which in time burst forth and trouble all the World Yet end at last in empty Smoak Rain Hail or Wind and are extinct almost as soon as they were form'd The Elements of which we are compounded may serve as Mirrours to represent the constant Mutability of our Nature So the devouring Fire when all its Fuel is spent decays and dies Earth Air and Water all are subject to Corruption and from thence our Generation takes its Rise likewise thither we return again This is the Eternal Circle of Natural Products The Trees the Flowers with all the Vegetable Race the Birds the Beasts and Fishes with every Species of Animals are so many Remembrancers of our Mortality Which way soe'er we turn our Eyes they are presented with fresh Images of Humane Weakness And the very Breath which does prolong our Life helps equally to shorten it since every Respiration carries away some Portion of our Substance Our finer Particles gradually vanish into Smoak and Air whilst the more gross Remainder scums off in noisome Excrements And if there appear a Shew of any thing solid in us at our Death 't is soon reduc'd to Ashes Dirt or Worms Our Bodies of which we make so great Account whilst living are lost in the Abyss of Universal Matter soon after Death What were the greatest Prince the happier tho' he possess'd the whole Circumference of this Globe 'T is but a Mighty Heap of Dirt or Dung perpetually exhaling or crumbling away 'T is one of the Dishes which compose the Banquet of All-devouring Time And whilst the insulting Monarchs of the Earth