poor thing indeed which is freely given and is not worth the taking The Mogol sometimes by his Firmauns or or Letters Patents will grant some particular things unto single or divers persons and presently after will contradict those Grants by other Letters excusing himself thus that he is a great and an absolute King and therefore must not be tied unto any thing which if he were he said that he was a slave and not a free man Ye what he promised was usually enjoyed although he would not be tied to a certain performance of his promise Therefore there can be no dealing with this King upon very sure terms who will say and unsay promise and deny Yet we English men did not at all suffer by that inconstancy of his but there found a free Trade a peaceable residence and a very good esteem with that King and people and much the better as I conceive by reason of the prudence of my Lord Ambassadour who was there in some sense like Joseph in the Court of Pharoah for whose sake all his Nation there seemed to fare the better And we had a very easie way upon any grievance to repair to that King as will appear now in my next Section which speaks SECT XXIV Of him shewing himself three times publickly unto his people every day and in what state and glory he doth oftentimes appear FIrst early in the morning at that very time the Sun begins to appear above the Horizon He appears unto his people in a place very like unto one of our Balconies made in his houses or Pavilions for his morning appearance directly opposite to the East about seven or eight foot high from the ground against which time a very great number of his people especially of the greater sort who desire as ofâ—en as they can to appear in his eye assemble there together to give him the Salam or good morning crying all out as soon as they see their King with a loud voice Padsha Salamet which signifies live ô Great King or O great King health and life as all the people cried 1 King 1. 39. God save King Solomon and thus they clapped their hands for joy when Jehoash was made King crying God save the King or let the King live 2 King 11. 12. At noon he shews himself in another place like the former on the South-side and a little before Sun-set in a like place on the West-side of his house or Tent but as soon as the Sun forsakes the Hemisphear he leaves his people ushered in and out with Drums and Winde instruments and the peoples acclamations At both which times likewise very great numbers of his people assemble together to present themselves before him And at any of these three times he that hath a suite to the King or desires Justice at his hands be he poor or Rich if he hold up a Petition to be seen shall be heard and answered And between seven and nine of the Clock at night he sits within his House or Tent more privately in a spacious place called his Goozalcan or bathing house made bright like day by abundance of lights and here the King sits mounted upon a stately Throne where his Nobles and such as are favoured by him stand about him others finde admittance to but by special leave from his Guard who cause every one that enters that place to breath upon them and if they imagine that any have drunk wine they keep him out At this time my Lord Ambassadour made his usual addresses to him and I often waited on him thither and it was a good time to do businesse with that King who then was for the most part very pleasant and full of talk unto those which were round about him and so continued till he fell a sleep oft times by drinking and then all assembled immediately quitted the place besides those which were his trusted servants who by turns watched his Person The Mogol hath a most stately rich and spacious house at Agrae his Metropolis or chief Citie which is called his Palace Royal wherein there are two Towers or Turrets about ten foot square covered with massie God as ours are usualy with Lead this I had from Tom. Coriat as from other English Merchants who keep in a Factory at that place And further they told me that he hath a most glorious Throne within that his Palace ascended by divers steps which are covered with plate of silver upon the top of which ascent stand four Lions upon pedestals of curiously coloured Marble which Lions are all made of Massie silver some part of them guilded with Gold and beset with precious stones Those Lions support a Canopy of pure Gold under which the Mogol sits when as he appears in his greatest state and glory For the beauty of that Court it consists not in gay and Gorgious apparel for the Countrey is so hot that they cannot endure any thing that is very warm or massie or rich about them The Mogol himself for the most part is covered with a garment as before described made of pure white and fine Callico Laune and so are his Nobles which Garments are washed after one dayes wearing But for the Mogol though his cloathing be not rich and costly yet I believe that there is never a Monarch in the whole world that is dayly adorned with so many Jewels as himself is Now they are Jewels which make mens covering most rich such as people in other parts sometimes wear about them that are otherwise most meanly habited to which purpose I was long since told by a Gentleman of honour sent as a Companion to the old Earle of Nothingham when he was imployed as an extraordinary Ambassadour by King James to confirm the peace made 'twixt himself and the King of Spain which Ambassadour had a very great many Gentlemen in his train in as Rich cloathing as Velvets and Silks could make but then there did appear many a great Don or Grandee in the Spanish Court in a long black bayes Cloak and Cassack which had one Hatband of Diamonds which was of more worth by far than all the bravery of the Ambassadours many followers But for the Mogol I wonder not at his many Jewels he being as I conceive the greatest and richest Master of precious stones that inhabites the whole earth For Diamonds which of all other are accounted most precious stones they are found in Decan where the Rocks are out of which they are digged the Princes whereof are the next Neighbours and Tributares to the great Mogol and they pay him as Tribute many Diamonds yearly and further he hath the refusal of all those rich stones they sell he having Gold and Silver in the greatest abundance and that will purchase any thing but heaven and he will part with any mony for any Gems beside that are precious and great whither Rubies or any other stones of value as also for rich Pearls And his Grandees follow him in that
Caroom raised and kept together very great forces and stood upon his guard and would not disband till his Father had delivered his eldest Son Sultan Coobseroo into his hands and how when he had him in his power he used him you shall after hear In the mean time take one admirable example of a very grosse flatterer but a great favourite of that King who was noted above others of that Nation to be a great neglecter of God believing it Religion enough to please the Mogol his Master This man was a Souldier of an approved valour But upon a time he sitting in dalliance with one of his Women she pluckt an hair from his breast which grew about his Nipple in wantonnesse without the least thought of doing him hurt But the little wound that small and unparalel'd instrument of death made presently began to fester and in short time after became a Canker incureable in fine when he saw that he must needs dye he uttered these words which are worth the remembring of all that shall ever hear them saying VVho would not have thought but that I who have been so long bred a Souldier should have dyed in the face of mine Enemy either by a sword or a Launce or an Arrow or a Bullet or by some such instrument of death But now though too late I am forc'd to confesse that there is a great God above whose Majesty I have ever despised that needs no bigger Launce than an hair to kill an Atheist or a despiser of his Majesty and so desiring that those his last words might be told unto the King his Master died Till sin into the world had made a breach Death was not heard of ever since in each Poor creature may it doth it couchant lye The kernel of a Grape kills one a fly Another choaks by a câ—rrupted breath Of air one dies and others have found death In a small bit of meat or by a Corn Too closely cut or by a prick of Thorn When death comes arm'd with Gods imperial word An hair can pierce as deep as sharpest sword The Mogol never advanceth any but he gives him a new name and these of some pretty signification as Pharoah did unto Joseph when he made him great in his Court Gen. 41. 45. the new names I say that the Mogol gives unto those he advanceth and favours are significant As Asaph Chan the gathering or rich Lord whose sister the Mogol married and she was his most beloved wife and her brothers marvelous great riches answered his name for he died worth many Millions as I have been credibly informed the greatest subject I believe for wealth that ever the world had so another of the Mogols Grandees was called Mahobet-Chan the beloved Lord. Another Chan-Jahan the Lord of my heart Another Chan-Allaam the Lord of the world Another Chan-Channa the Lord of Lords He called his chief Physician Mocrob-Chan the Lord of my health and many other names like these his Grandees had which at my being there belonged to his most numerous Court And further for their Titles of honour there all the Kings Children are called Sultans or Princes his daughters Sultanaus or Princesses the next title is Nabob equivalent to a Duke the next Channa a double Lord or Earle The next Chan a Lord. So Meirsa signifies a Knight that hath been a General or Commander in the Wars Umbra a Captain Haddee a Cavalier or Souldier on horse-back who have all allowed them means by the King as before proportionable for the supports of their Honours and Titles and Names His Officers of State are his Treasurers which receive his revenues in his several Provinces and take care for the payment of his great Pensions which when they are due are paid without any delay There his chief Eunuchs which command the rest of them take care for the ordering of his house and are Stewards and Controulers of it his Secretaries the Masters of his Elephants and the Masters of his Tents are other of his great Officers and so are the keepers of his Ward-robe who are entrusted with his Plate and Jewels To these I may add those which take care of his Customs for goods brought into his Empire as for commodities carried thence But these are not many because his Sea-ports are but few The Customs payd in his Ports are not high that strangers of all Nations may have the greater encouragement to Trade there with him but as he expects money from all strangers that Trade there So it is a fault he will not pardon as before for any to carry any quantity of silver thence He hath other Officers that spread over his Empire to exact monies out of all the labours of that people who make the curious manufactures So that like a great Tree he receives nourishment from every even the least Roots that grow under his shadow and therefore though his Pensions are exceeding great as before they are nothing comparable to his enuch greater revenues By reason of that Countries immoderate heat our English Cloath is not fit to make Habits for that people that of it which is sold there is most of it for colour Red this they imploy for the most part to make coverings for their Elephants and Horses to cover their Coaches the King himself taking a very great part thereof whose payments are very good onely the Merchant must get the hands of some of his chief Officers to his bill appointed for such dispatches which are obtained as soon as desired And this the King doth to prevent the abuses of particular and single persons And now that I may present my Reader with the further glory of this great King I shall lead him where he may take a view SECT XXVII Of the Mogols Leskar or Camp Royal c. WHich indeed is very glorious as all must confesse who have seen the infinite number of Tents or Pavilions there pitched together which in a plain make a shew equal to a most spacious and glorious Citie These Tents I say when they are altogether cover such a great quantity of ground that I believe it is five English miles at the least from one side of them to the other very beautifull to behold from some Hill where they may be all seen at once They write of Zerxes that when from such a place he took a view of his very numerous Army consisting at the least of three hundred thousand men he wept saying that in less than the compasse of one hundred years not one of that great mighty Host would be alive And to see such company then together of all sorts of people and I shall give a good reason presently why I believe that mixt company of men women and children may make up such an huge number as before I named if not exceed it and to consider that death will seize upon them all within such a space of time and that the second death hath such a power over them is
travel not but sit still a great way I must applaud whither thy choise or lot Which hath beyond their lazie knowledge got Who onely in the Globe do crosse the line There raise the Pole and draw whole Maps in wine Spil'd on the Table measure Seas and Lands By scale of miles wherein their Compasse stands But you the truths eye-witnesse have not been Homer it'â— dark but what you write have seen A rich and absolute Prince whose mighty hand Indus and Ganges solely doth command A numerous people wealthy traffick new Manners and men things wonderfull and true Some Relicks of the ancient Bramins race And what religious follies yet take place Whose pious eirours though they want our sense Have in lesse knowledge more of conscience Who to condemne ouâ— barren light advance A just obedient humble ignorance While vice here seeks a voluntary night As over-glitter'd with to clear a light Neglected love and the fair truths abuse Hath left our guilty blushes no excuse And their blinde zeal ' gainst us a witnesse stands Who having so good eyes have lost our hands This you with pious faithfulnesse declare Nor quit the Preacher for the Traveller And though these leaves nothing to Merchants owe For Spices Cuchineal or Indico Yet all confesse who weigh the gains you brought Your ship was laden with a richer fraught While the glad world by you instructed sings Wisdom's the noblest ware that Travel brings Robert Creswell The Printer to the Reader IF this whole Relation had been brought unto me at first as it is here presented unto thee it should not have been so crouded together as here thou seest it but had found better room where it might have been more decently lodged in a fitter Edition the want of which may make some curious eye behold it as a bundle rather then a book But the Author revising and enlarging some of it while I was printing the rest in conclusion it grew much bigger than either of us supposed it would which hath put me now upon this Apologie who had proceeded so far in the printing thereof as that I thought it great pity to make what I had done waste paper and so wilt thou think now thou hast it all before thee if thou readest it over Fare well The Contents of this following Relation THe beginning of our Voyage our Ships and chief Commander pag. 1. 2. A Tempest pag. 2. 3. The grand Canaries and and Island of Teneriffa p. 3. 4. The Turnadoes or self opposing windes 5. 6. Divers kinde of Fishes 7. c. The Bay of Souldania and Cape of good Hope with the Barbarous people there inhabiting 13. c. The great Island Madagascar and some other parts of Africa 33. 34. A Sea fight with a Portugal Caraque and the issue thereof 35. c. The Island Mohilia 53. 54. The Coquer Nut-tree 55. Our arrive at Swally-Road in East-India 57. Some particulars to revive the memorie of that now almost forgotten English Pilgrim Tom. Coriat 58. c. The large Territories under the subjection of the great Mogol Where Section 1. pag. 78. c. Of the several Provinces the chief Cities the principal Rivers the extent of that vast Empire in its length and breadth Section 2. p. 92. c. Of the Soyl there what it is and what it produceth Section 3. p. 111. c. Of the chief Merchandizes and most staple and other Commodities which are bought in this Empire Section 4. p. 121. c. Of the discommodities inconveniences and annoyances that are to be found or met withall in this Empire Section 5. p. 127. c. Of the Inhabitants of East-India who they are of their most excellent ingenuity expressed by their curious manufactures their Markets at home to buy and sell in and of their trade abroad Section 6. p. 139. c. Of the care skill of this people in keeping and managing their excellent good Horses of their Elephants and the ordering and managing them and how the people ride and are carried up and down from place to place Section 7. p. 158. c. Of their numerous Armies their Ammunition for war how they lade themselves with Weapons how terribly they appear yet how pusill animous and low spirited they are Section 8. p. 170. c. Of our safe and secure living amongst the Natives there if we do not provoke them of their faithfulnesse unto those that entertain them as servants for how little they serve and yet how diligent they are Section 9. p. 187. c. Of their buildings in Villages Towns and Cities How their houses are furnished Of their Sarraes or houses for the entertainment of Passengers Of their Tankes and Wells and of their places of pleasure Section 10. p. 205. c. Of their diet and their Cookery in dressing it Section 11. p. 212. c. Of the civilities of this people Of their compliments and of their habites Section 12. p. 232. c. Of their Language their books their learning Section 13. p. 241. c. Of their Physicians diseases cures when they begin their year and how they measure their time Section 14. p. 248. c. Of the most excellent moralities which are to be observed amongst the people of those Nations Section 15. p. 259. c. Of their Religion their Priests their Detion their Churches Section 16. p. 281. c. Of their Votaries where of the voluntary and sharp penances that people undergo Of their Lent and of their fasts and feasts Section 17. p. 297. c. Of the marriages of the Mahometans and of their Poligamy Section 18. p. 305. c. Of their burials and of their mourning for their dead and their stately Sepulchres and Monuments Section 19. p. 318. c. Of the Hindooes or Heathens which inhabite that Empire Section 20. p. 326 c. Of the tendernesse of that people in preserving the lives of all inferiour creatures Section 21. p. 342. Of strange groundlesse and very grosse opinions proceeding from the blacknesse darkness of ignorance in that people Section 22. p. 363. Of their King the great Mogol his descent c. Section 23. p. 369. c. Of the Mogols policy in his Government exercised by himself and Substitutes Section 24. p. 389. c. Of the Mogol shewing himself three times publickly unto his people every day and in what state and glorie he doth oftentimes appear Section 25. p. 402. c. Of the Mogols pastimes at home and abroad where something of his quality and disposition Section 26. p. 410. c. Of the exceeding great Pensions the Mogol gives unto his subjects how they are raised and how long they are continued Section 27. p. 418. c. Of the Mogols Leskar or Camp Royal. Section 28. p. 426. c. Of the Mogols wives and women where something of his Children Section 29. p. 436. c. Of the manner of the stile or writing of that Court. Section 30. p. 440. c. Of
all this contented him not for never any seemed to be more weary of ill usage than he was of Courtesies none ever more desirous to return home to his Countrey than he For when he had learned a little of our Language he would daily lye upon the ground and cry very often thus in broken English Cooree home goe Souldania goe home goe And not long after when he had his desire and was returned home he had no sooner set footing on his own shore but presently he threw away his Clothes his Linnen with all other Covering and got his sheeps skins upon his back guts about his neck and such a perfum'd Cap as before we named upon his head by whom that Proverb mentioned 2 Pet. 2. 22. was literally fulfill'd Canis ad vomitum The dogge is return'd to his vomit and thâ— swine to his wallowing in the mire From all which wee may draw this Conclusion that a continued Custome may make many things that seem strange and loathsom to some even naturall to others and that the most brutish life may seem civill and best to a most brutish man and he thus pleading for it Custome the Nurse of Nature oft is prov'd Like Nurses than the Mother more belov'd Thus Bestiall crimes men by their wont excuse And love not what is good but what they use So Plutarch's Gryllus argues turn'd a Swine Against the Lawes that Wit and Arts refine Affirmes that man too curiously nice Bought his poor Reason at too dear a price Since all his actions limited must bee By measur'd Rules when beasts have liberty And unconfin'd on Natures Common feed No Lawyer no Physician Taylor need Clothes are but marks of shame medâ—cines but show Diseases and we Lawes to Quarrells owe Cookes are the Instruments of Luxury Painters of Lust Builders of Vanity Let all then live as Nature them produc'd And frame their maners as they have bin us'd 'T is most strange that a Creature who hath any thing of Reason in him should thus degenerate thus plead or thus doe but it is most true in these as of millions more of brutish Heathens in the world who live as if they had nothing at all of man left in them For man the worst of brutes when chang'd to Beast Counts to be civiliz'd to be opprest And as he tames Hawks makes Lions mild By Education so himself growes wild After this fellow was returned it made the Natives most shie of us when we arrived there for though they would come about us in great Companies when we were new come thither yet three or four dayes before they conceiv'd we would depart thence there was not one of them to be seen fearing belike we would have dealt with some more of them as formerly we had done with Cooree But it had been well if he had not seen England for as he discovered nothing to us so certainly when he came home he told his Country-men having doubtless observed so much here that Brass was but a base and cheap commoditie in England and happily we had so well stored them with that metall before that we had never after such a free Exchange of our Brass and Iron for their Cattell It was here that I asked Cooree who was their God he lifting up his hands answered thus in his bad English England God great God Souldania nâ— God Now if any one desire to know under whose Command these Brutes live or whether they have any Superiority Subordination amongst themselves or whether they live with their females in common with many other questions that might be put I am not able to satisfie them But this I look upon as a great happiness not to be born one of them and as great nay a far greater misery to fall from the loyns of Civill Christian Parents and after to degenerate into all brutishness as very many doe qui Gentes agunt sub nomine Christianorum the thing which Tertullian did most sadly bewail in many of his time who did act Atheism under the Name of Christianity and did even shame Religion by their light and loose professing of it When Anacharsis the Philosopher was sometime upbraided with this that he was a Scythian by birth he presently returned this quick and smart answer unto him that cast that in his teeth Mihi quidem Patria est dedecus tu autem Patriae my Country indeed is some disparagement to me but thou art a disgrace to thy Country as there be many thousands more beside who are very burdens to the good Places that give them Breaâ—h Bread Alas Turkie and Barbary and these Africans with many millions more in that part of the world in America and in Asia I and in Europe too would wring their hands into peeces if they were truly sensible of their condition because they know so little And so shall infinite numbers more one day born in the visible Church of God in the valley of visions Es 22. 1. have their very hearts broken into shivers because they knew so much or might have known so much and have known and done so little for without all doubt the day will one day come when they who have sinned against the strongest means of Grace and Salvation shall feel the heaviest miserie when their means to know God in his will revealed in his Word shall be put in one Balance and their improvement of this means by their Practice in the other and if there have not bin some good proportion betwixt these two manifested in their lives what hath been wanting in their Practice shall be made up in their Punishment But I would not here more digress I have one thing more which accidentally relates to this place and then I will leave it In the year 1614. ten English men having received the sentence of death for their severall crimes at the Sessions house in the old-Baily at London had their Execution respited by the intreaty of the East-India Merchants upon condition that they should be all banished to this place to the end if they could find any peaceable abode there they might discover something advantagious to their trade And this was accordingly done But two of them when they came thither were taken thence and carried on the voyage One whose sirname was Duffield by Sir Thomas Row that year sent Ambassadour to the Great Mogol that fellow thus redeemed from a most sad Banishment was afterward brought back again into England by that noble Gentleman and here being intrusted by him stole some of his Plate and ran away another was carried on the Voyage likewise but what became of him afterward I know not So that there remained eight which were there left with some Ammunition and victual with a small â—oat to carry them to and from a very little unâ—â—habited Island lying in the very mouth of that Bay a place for their retreat and safety from the Natives on the Main The Island called Pen-guin Island
small one had Great Pompey none When Iulius Caesar had vanquished Ptolomey and the distressed King hoped to preserve his life by flying into a Boat there were so many of his Souldiers which followed him that they lost their lives by that very means they hoped to preserve them for their too much weight sunk the Boat and they all with their most unhappy King drown'd together Concerning whom I have what here follows but a little varied thus observed to my hand Mixt with Plebeians there a Monarch lies The last o' th race of Egypts Ptolomeys Under no covert but his Niles cold waves No Pyramids nor rich Mansolian graves Nor Arched vaults whose structures do excell As his forefathers Ashes proudly dwell And dead as living do their wealth expresse In sumptuous Tombes or gorgious Palaces This was the Fate of that last Egyptian Monarch and it is sad to consider that an Egyptian Monarch should be buried under water and mudd and a Roman Barber covered with Marble The like hath been the condition of many others who have deserved in their generation lasting remembrances in this kinde but have not found them when others who have merited nothing at all have had much said and in that respect much done for them after death And therefore one of this age very eminent for great parts writing of a great man by place and deserts but obscurely buried and observing rich Monuments set off with large and undeserved Encomiums for others which deserved them not first blames The flattering stone Which oft belies the dead when he is gone And after writes further in relation to him before mentioned thus Let such as fear their rising purchase vaulâ—s And statues onely to excuse their faults While thou shalt rise thorough thy easie dust At the last day these would not but they must And truly if we consider and impartially read many Hyperbolical expressions engraven upon some Monuments we may make a pause at the two first words which are commonly these Here lies and write them thus hear lies and there make a stop because little or nothing that follows hath any truth in it And therefore though many great and rich men have their bodies after death covered with stately Piles which hold forth many and high commendations of them yet these cannot keep their names from putrifying and rotting as much above ground as their bodies do under it The name of the wicked shall rot Prov. 10. 17. His remembrance shall perish from the earth and he shall have no name in the street Job 18. 17. or if their names survive and be remembred they shall but continue their shame as here lies or there dwelt such an oppressor such a cruel or such a covetous Muck-worm or such a filthy or such a prophane ungodly person or such an intemperate drunken sot whom many times such an inscription would fit if it were written over their doors as Diogenes sometimes caused to be written upon the door of a like intemperate person who had written before that his house was to be sold under which that Cynick wrote thus I thought this house would surfet so long that it would spue out its master for God shall take such away and pluck them out of their dwelling places and root them out of the land of the living or as the Prophet Jeremiah speaks their dwellings shall cast them out But however they which deserve true honour should have it both alive and dead The memory of the just shall be blessed Abel was the first that ever tasted death and he died by violence he died for Religion Oh how early did Martyrdom creep into the world yet Abol who hath been so long dead yet speaketh Heb. 11. 4. or the Testimony which Almighty God gave of that righteous Abel is yet spoken of and so shall be till eternity hath swallowed up time The remembrance of Josiah is like a composition of the perfume that is made by the art of the Apothecary sweet in all mouths c. and so shall remain when stately Monuments erected to preserve the memorie of others shall be so defaced that it will not appear where they once were In a word all Kings and Potentates of the earth of what Nation soever they be must first or last lay down their swords and Scepters and Trophies at the gates of death No earthly King shall ever carry his Crown further than Simon the Cyrenian did the Crosse to Golgotha to the grave which narrow compasse of earth shall at last put a confinement to all their great thoughts who have believed as Alexander sometime did the whole world by much to little to bound their desires Unus Pellaeo juveni non sufficit Orbis Aestuat infelix angusto limite mundi Ut Gyarae clausus scopulis parvaque Seripho CuÌ„ tamen a figulis munitam intraverit urbem Sarcophago contentus erat Mors sola fatetur Quantula sint hominuÌ„ corpuscula Ju. Sat. 10. One world the youth of Pella cannot hold He sweats as crouded in this narrow mold To close Seriph's and Gyara's Rocks consin'd But when into the Towns with brick-walls lin'd He entered once there must he rest content In a straight Coffin and slight Monument For death alone is that which will confesse Though great mens mindes their bodies littlenesse Ecce vix totam Hercules implevit urnam Behold great and victorious Hercules the subduer of the Monsters of the World when he was dead and his body resolved into aslies scarcely fill'd one earthen Pitcher Death is the great Loveller which cuts down and then layes all people flat before God Oh if sicknesse and death could be brib'd how rich they would be this death makes all men to appear as they are men upon even â—erms in the sight of God The great men there shall not be offered a Chair and Cushion to sit down while others stand and wait I saw the dead both small and great stand before God Rev. 21. 12. The small and the great are there and the servant is free from his master Job 3. 19. The distinction then in that day shall not be 't wixt poor and rich 'twixt mean and mighty 'twixt them that are nobly born and those of low parentage But good and bad shall be the onely Terms to distinguish one man from another before that great Tribunal when every one of what degree or condition soever he hath been shall receive from the hands of God according to that which he hath done in the flesh be it good or evil When the two Cups the two rewardâ— the two recompences shall be impartially distributed and none but those which shall be found in Christ accepted rewarded in the mean time as it is in natural rest it is much better to lodge in a very poor base and mean cottage upon an hard open pallat and there to have sweet and quiet sleep than in a most sumptuous Palace upon a bed of down enclosed with the richest Curtains that cost
hurtfull Creatures too And those which are most tender hearted in this case are called Banians who are by far more numerous than any other of those Indian Sects and these hold Pythagoras his Metempsycosis as a prime Article of their Faith and from hence it is that they cannot abide to kill any living Creatures and from this ground that Philosopher disswades from eating of flesh by many arguments laid down in the fifteenth book of Ovids Metamorphosis Heu quantum scelus est in viscere viscera condi Congestoque avidum pinguescere corpâ—re corpus Altâ—riusque animantem animantis viverâ— Letho Ah sinfull who in Bowels Bowels hide And flesh by greedy eating flesh do breed That Creatures life by Creatures death may feed And after this that Philosopher placeth the Souls immortality in its Transmigration from one Creature to another saying Morte carâ—nt animae semperque priore relictâ— Sede â—ovis domibus vivunt habitantque receptae Ipse ego nam memeni Trojani tempore belli Panthoides Euphorbus eram Souls are immortal and when ere they leave Their former houses new ones them receive I' th Trojan War I well remember I Was Panthos Son Euphorbus And a little after he thus speaks Omnia mutantur nihil interit errat illinc Huc venit hinc illuc â—uâ—slibeâ— occupat artus Spiritus eque feris humana in corpora transit Inque fer as noster nec tempore deperit â—llo Utque novis facilis signatur cera figuris Nec manet ut fuerat nec formas servat easdem Sed tamen ipsa eadem â—st animam sic semper â—andem Esse sed in varias doceo migrare figuras Ergo ne pietas sit victa cupidine ventris Pâ—rcite vaticinor cognatas câ—de naâ—andâ Exturbare animas ne sanguine sanguis alatur Things are not lost but chang'd the Spirit strayes Hence thither hither thence nor lodged stayes In any limbs to humane bodies flies From beasts from these to these nor ever dies And as new prints in easie wax we make Which varying still several impressions take Yet is it self the same so the same Soul I teach doth into several fashions roul Then let not piety by lust subdued Suffer your hands in Parricide imbrued Dislodge the souls or nourish bloud with bloud Thus much from Ovid of that Pythagorian fancy which that untaught people come up very near unto thinking that all the Souls both of men and women after they leave their bodies make their repose in other Creatures and those Souls as they imagine are best lodged that go into Kine which in their opinion are the best of all sensible Creatures therefore as before they give yearly large sums of mony unto the Mogol to redeem them from slaughter And this people further conceit that the Souls of the wicked go inâ—o vile Creatures as the Souls of Gluttons and Drunkards into Swinâ— So the Souls of the voluptuous and incontinent into Monkies Apes Thus the Souls of the furious revengefull cruel people into Lions Wolves Tygres as into other beasts of prey So the Souls of the envious into Serpents and so into other Creatures according to peoples qualities and dispositions while they lived successively from one to another of the same kinde ad infinitum for ever and ever by consequence they believing the immortality of the world And upon that same mad and groundlesse phansie probably they further believe that the Souls of froward peevish and teachy women go into Waspes and that there is never a silly Fly but if they may be credited carries about it some Souls happily they think of light women and will not be perswaded out of their wilde conceivings so incorrigib â—are their sottish errours The day of rest which those Hindoos observe as a Sabboth is Thursday as the Mahometans Friday Many Festivals they have which they keep solemnely and Pilgrimages the most famous briefly spoken of before in those short descriptions of Nagraiot and Syba observed in my first section Now there are a race of other Heathens I named before living amongst those Hindoos which in many things differ very much from them they are called Persees who as they say originally came out of Persia about that time Mahomet and his followers gave Laws to the Persians and imposed a new Religion on them which these Persees not enduring left their Countrey and came and setled themselves in East-India in the Province of Guzarat where the most part of them still continue though there are some of them likewise in other parts of India but where ever they live they confine themselves strictly to their own Tribe or Sect. For their Habits they are clad like the other people of that Empire but they shave not their hair close as the other do but suffer their beaâ—â—s to grow long Their profession is for the generality all kinds of husbandry imploying themselves very much in sowing and setting of Herbs in planting and dressing of Vines Palmeeto or Toddy Trees as in planting and husbanding all other Trees bearing fruit and indeed they are a very industrious people and so are very many of t 〈…〉 Hindoos as before observed and they do all very well in doing so and in this a due and deserved commendation belongs unto them For There is no condition whatsoever can priviledge a foulded arm Our first Parents before their fall were put into the Garden of Eden to dress it Certainly if idlenesse had been better than labour they had never been commanded to do work but they must labour in their estate of innocency because they were happy and much more we in our sinfull lost estate that we may be so It was a Law given before the Law that man should eat bread by the sweat of his brows and it is a Gospel-precept too that he who will not work should not eat The sluggard desireth and hath nothing saith Solomon because he doth nothing but desire and therefore his desires do him no good because his hands refuse to labour That body therefore well deserves to pine and starve without pity when two able hands cannot feed one mouth Bâ—t further for those Persees they use their liberty in meats drinks to take of them what they please but because they would not give offence either to the Mahometans or Banians or to other Hindoos amongst whom they live they abstain from eating Beef or Swines flesh It is their usual manner to eat alone as for every one of them to drink in his own Cup and this is a means as they think to keep themselves more pure for if they should eat with others they are afraid that they might participate of some uncleannesse by them Alas poor Creatures that do not at all understand themselves and their most miserable condition for to them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure Yet I observed before the Mahometans and Gentiles there are very strict in this particular so that they will not eat with
any mixt company and many of the Gentiles not eat with one another And this hath been an ancient custom among Heathens It is said Gen. 43. 32. that the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews for that was an abomination to the Egyptians for this very reason it was that the women of Samaria spake thus unto our blessed Saviour John 4. 9. how is it that thou being a Jew askest water of me which am a woman of Samaria for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritanes But without doubt that forbearance or shy-ness to eat one man with another can fetch no ground either from religion or reason if it could Peter would never have eaten with the Gentiles Gal. 12. Nor our blessed Saviour with Publicans sinners at which the Scribes Pharisees take very much exception Marc. 2. 16. No man as a man is to be accounted common or unclean Act. 10. 28. and a man shall do much better who eats and drinks with a sober Heathen than to keep company with a debaucht drunken sensual man though he call himself a Christian eating and drinking with him such things as please him by being his companion in his Riot and excesse For those Persees further they believe that there is but one God who made all things and hath a Soveraign power over all They talk much of Lucifer and of other evil Spirits but they say that those and all Devils besides are kept so under and in awe by two good Angels that have power over them as that they cannot hurt or do the least mischief without their leave and licence As many of the Hindoos ascribe to much unto water as before so these to fire and the reason of it is this because they have had this tradition from many ages generations past that their great Law-giver whom they call Zertoost was rapt up into Heaven and there had fire delivered unto him which he brought down thence and he ever after commanded his followers to worship it and so they do and further they love any thing that resembles fire as the Sun and Moon and therefore when they pray in the day time they look towards the sun and so towards the Moon in their night-devotions and from that so over-high esteem they have of fire they keep fires continually burning in their Eggarees or Temples in Lamps fed with Oyl which are alwayes attended by their Priests and they talk of many of these which have burned without extinguishment from many foregoing generations And by the way that wilde and mad phansie of theirs that their Zertoost did fetch fire from Heaven is as certainly true as that ancient fiction and fable of Prometheus that he did steal fire thence But to proceed their Priests they call Daroos or Harboods above both which they have a Chief or High Priest they call the Destoor who not often appears openly but when he doth he meets with much reverence and respect given unto him by the common people and so do those other Church-men which are his inferiours unto all which they allow free maintenance for their more comfortable subsistance Those Church-men by their Law are commanded to dwell near and to abide much in their Eggarâ—â—s or Temples to give advice or direction unto any that shall repair unto them for it They observe divers Feasts and immediately after each of them a Fast follows That living sensible Creature which they first behold every morning that is good serviceable is to them as they say a remembrancer all the day after to draw up their thoughts in thanks-giving unto Almighty God who hath made such good Creatures for mans use and service There are good things as I have been informed in that book of their Religion delivered them in precepts which their Law-giver hath left unto them for the direction of their lives As first To have shame and fear ever present with them which will restrain and keep them from the committing of many evils Secondly when they undertake any thing seriously to consider whither it be good or bad commanded or forbidden them Thirdly To keep-their hearts and eyes from coveting any thing that is anothers and their hands from hurting any Fourthly To have a care alwayes to speak the truth Fifthly To be known onely in their own businesses and not to enquire into and to busie themselves in other mens matters All which are good moral precepts but they have another which mars and spoils all the rest and that is upon the greatest penalties they can be threatned withall Sixthly Not to entertain or believe any other Law besides that which was delivered unto them by their Law-giver This people take but one wife which hath liberty as the wives of the Hindoos to go abroad They never resolve to take Wives or Husbands without the advice of their Church-men and when they come to be married they stand some distance one from the other there being two Church-men present on in the behalf of the Man and in behalf of the Woman the other The first of these asks the Woman whither or no she will have that man to be her Husband and the other asks the Man whither or no he will have that Woman to be his Wife and they both consenting the Priests bring them together and join their hands praying that they may live in unity and love together and then both those Church-men scatter Rice upon the married couple intreating God to make them fruitfull in sending them many Sons and Daughters that they may multiply as much as that seed doth in the ears that bear it And so the Ceremony being thus performed which is about the time of midnight the whole company depart leaving the married couple together At the birth of every Childe they immediately send for the Daroo or Church-man who comes to the parties house and there being certainly enform'd of the exact time of the child-birth first undertakes to calculate its Nativity and to speak something of it by way of prediction after which he confers with the Parents about a name whereby it shall be called which when they have agreed upon the Mother in the presence of the company there assembled gives it that name And now lastly touching the Burials of that people they incircle pieces of ground with a round Wall that is of a good height set apart for that purpose These burying places stand remote from houses roade wayes the ground within them is made smooth or else paved on the bottom in the middest whereof they have a round pit made deep like a draw well The bodies of their dead both men women and children are carried to those places upon a Beer made of slight round Iron bars for they will not have dead bodies touch any wood least they should defile it because that is fewel for their adored fire and thus brought thither are laid round about near the inside of that Wall upon the ground or pavements Covered with a thin
phansie for one of his great Lords gave our Merchants there twelve hundred pounds sterling for one Pearle which was brought out of England The Pearle was shaped like a Pare very large beautifull and Orient and so its price deserved it should be Now the Mogol having such an abundance of Jewels wears many of them dayly enough to exceed those women which Rome was wont to shew in their Starlike dresses who in the height and prosperity of that Empire Were said to wear The spoils of Nations in one ear Or Lollia Paulina who was hid with Jewels For the great Mogol the Diamonds and Rubies and Pearls which are very many dayly worn by him are all of an extraordinary greatnesse and consequently of an exceeding great value And besides those he wears about his Shash or head covering he hath a long Chain of Jewels hanging about his Neck as long as an ordinary Gold Chain others about his wrists and the Hilts of his Sword and Dagger are most curiously enriched with those precious Stones besides others of very great value which he wears in Rings on his fingers Ventilat aestivum digitis sudantibus aurum Nec sufferre queat majoris Pondera gemmae Ju. Sat. 1. He airs his sweaty fingers with rings freight And Jewels as if burdened with their weight The first of March the Mogol begins a royal Feast like that which Ahasuerus made in the third year of his Reign Esth 1. wherein he shewed the riches of his glorious Kingdom This feast the Mogol makes is called the Nooroos that signifies nine dayes which time it continues to usher in the new year which begins with the Mahometans there the tenth day of March. Against which Feast the Nobles assemble themselves together at that Court in their greatest Pomp presenting their King with great gifts and he requiting them again with Princely rewards at which time I being in his presence beheld most immense and incredible riches to my amazement in Gold Pearls Precious stones Jewels and many other glittering vanities This Feast is usually kept by the Mogol while he is in his Progresse and lodges in â—ents Whether his Diet at this time be greater than ordinary I know not for he alwayes eats in private among his Women where none but his own Family see him while he is eating which Family of his consists of his Wives and Children and Women and Eunuchs and his boyes and none but these abide and lodge in the Kings houses or Tents and therefore how his Table is spread I could never know but doubtlesse he hath of all those vanities that Empire affords if he so please His food they say is served in unto him in Vessels of Gold which covered and brought unto him by his Eunuchs after it is proved by his Tasters he eats not at any set times of the day but he hath provision ready at all times and calls for it when he is hungry and never but then The first of September which was the late Mogols birth day he retaining an ancient yearly Custom was in the presence of his chief Grandies weighed in a Balance the Ceremony performed within his House or Tent in a fair spacious Room whereinto none were admitmitted but by special leave The Scales in which he was thus weighed were plated with Gold and so the beam on which they hung by great Chains made likewise of that most precious Metal the King sitting in one of them was weighed first against silver Coin which immediately after was distributed among the poor then was he weighed against Gold after that against Jewels as they say but I observed being present there with my Lord Ambassadour that he was weighed against three several things laid in silken Bags on the contrary Scale when I saw him in the Balance I thought on Belshazzar who was found to light Dan. 5. 27. By his weight of which his Physicians yearly keep an exact account they presume to guesse of the present estate of his body of which they speak flatteringly however they think it to be When the Mogol is thus weighed he casts about among the standers by thin pieces of silver some of Gold made like flowers of that Countrey and some of them are made like Cloves and some like Nutmegs but very thin and hollow Then he drinks to his Nobles in his Royal wine as that of Ahasuerus is called Esth 1. 7. who pledge his health at which solemnity he drank to my Lord Ambassadour in a Cup of Gold most curiously enameled and set all over the outside with stones which were small Rubies Turkesses and Emeralds with a Cover or Plate to set it in both of pure Gold the brims of which plate and the cover were enameled and set with stones as the other and all these together weighed twenty four ounces of our English weight which he then gave unto my Lord Ambassadour whom he ever used with very much respect and would moreover often ask him why he did not desire some good and great gifts at his hands he being a great King and able to give it the Ambassadour would reply that he came not thither to beg any thing of him all that he desired was that his Countrey-men the English might have a free and safe and peaceable trade in his Dominions the Mogol would answer that he was bound in honour to afford them that we coming from the furthermost parts of the world to trade there and would often bid the Ambassadour to ask something for himself who to this would answer that if that King knew not better to give then he knew to ask he must have nothing from him upon these terms they continually both stood so that in conclusion the Ambassadour had no gift from him but that before mentioned besides an horse or two and sometimes a Vest or upper Garment made of slight Cloath of Gold which the Mogol would first put upon his own back and then give it to the Ambassadour But the Mogol if he had so pleased might have bestowed on him some great Princely gift and found no greater misse of it than there would be of a Glasse of water taken out of a great Fountain yet although the Mogol had such infinite Treasures yet he could finde room to store up more still the desires of a covetous heart being so unsatiable as that it never knows when it hath enough being like a bottomlesse purse that can never be fill'd for the more it hath the more still it covets See an image hereof in Alcmaeon who being will'd by Craesus to go into his Treasure house and there take as much Gold as himself could carry away provided for that purpose a long Garment that was double down to his ankles and great bootes and fill'd them both nay he stuffed his mouth and tied wedges of Gold to the locks of his head and doubtlesse but for killing himself he would have fill'd his skull bowels therewith Here was an heart set upon Gold
like Pikes in a great Pond that eat up all the lesser Fishes about them which can make no resistance by which they have enlarged themselves like Hell by a strong hand and have gained what they have by force and by force keep what they have gotten ruling by an Arbitrary and an illimited Power so time in probability will ravel and rent all again in pieces for Regum timendâ—rum in Proprios greges Reges in ipsos imperium est Jovis Hor. Over slav'd men dread Powers do reign God over them is Soveraign I shall adde but a few things more to this Relation before I conclude it And one shall be to give my Reader a tast but very briefly SECT XXIX Of the manner of the stile or writing of that Court. WHich I shall here insert and in some measure shew by a Copy of a Letter written by the great Mogol unto King James in the Persian tongue here faithfully translated which was as follows UNto a King rightly descended from his ancestors bred in Military affairs clothed with honour and Justice a Commander worthy of all Command strong and constant in the Religion which the great Prophet Christ did teach King James whose love hath bred such an impression in my thoughts as shall never be forgotten but as the smell of Amber or as a Garden of fragrant flowers whose beauty and â—dour is still increasing so be assured my love shall still grow and increase with yours The Letters which you sent me in the behalf of your Merchants I have received whereby I rest satisfied of your tender love towards me desiring you not to take it ill that I have not wrote to you her etofore this present Letter I send you to renew our loves and herewith do certifie you that I have sent forth my Firmaunes throughout all my Countries to this effect that if any English Ships or Merchants shall arrive in any of my Ports my people shall permit and suffer them to do what they please freely in their Merchandizing causes aiding and assisting them in all occasion of injuries that shall be offered them that the least cause of discourtesie be not done unto them that they may be as free or freer than my own people And as now and formerly I have received from you divers tokens of your love so I shall still desire your mindfulness of me by some Novelties from your Countries as an argument of friendship betwixt us for such is the custome of Princes here And for your Merchants I have given express order through all my dominions to suffer them to buy sell transport and carry away at their pleasure without the let or hinderance of any person whatsoever all such goods and Merchandizes as they shall desire to buy and let this my Letter as fully satisfy you in desired Peace and love as if my own Son bad been the Messenger to ratifie the same And if any in my Countries not fearing God nor obeying their King or any other void of Religion should endeavour to be an instrument to break this league of friendship I would send my Son Sultan Caroome a souldier approved in the wars to cut him off that no obstacle mâ—y hinder the continuance and increase of our affections Here are likewise the Complements of two other Letters of later date sent home by Sir Thomas Row whereof the first doth thus be-begin WHen your Majesty shall open this Letter let your Royal heart be as fresh as a small Garden let all people make reverence at your gate Let your throne be advanced higher Amongst the greatness of the Kings of the Prophet Jesus let your Majesty be the greatest and all Monarchs derive their wisdom and Counsel from your breast as from a fountain that the Law of the Majesty of Jesus may receive and flourish under your protection The Letters of love and friendship which you sent me the present tokens of your good affection towards me I have received by the hands of your Ambassadour Sir Thomas Row who well deserveth to be your trusted servant delivered to me in an acceptible and happy hour upon which mine eyes were so fixed that I could not easily remoove them unto any other objects and have accepted them with great joy and delight c. The last Letter had this beginning HOw gracious is your Majesty whose greatness God preserve As upon a Rose in a Garden so are mine eyes fixed upon you God maintain your estate that your Monarchy may prosper and be augmented and that you may obtain all your desires worthy the greatness of your renown and as the heart is noble and upright so let God give you a glorious reign because you strongly defend the Law of the Majesty of Jesus which God made yet more flourishing for that it was confirmed by miracles c. What followed in both those Letters was to testifie his care and love towards the English Now all these Letters were written in the Persian tongue the Court language there and their Copies were sent to the Ambassadour that he might get them translated The Originals rowled up somewhat long were covered with Cloth of Gold sealed up on both ends the fashion in that Court and Country to make up Letters though they be not all cloathed there in such a glorious dress In which Letters notice may be taken what was observed before how respectively that King speaks of our Blessed Saviour Christ And here it will not be impertinent to speak something of those who pretend to enlarge the name of Jesus Christ in those parts I mean SECT XXX Of the Jesuits sent thither by their Superiors to convert people unto Christianity c. IN that Empire all Religions are tolerated which make the Tyrannicall Government there more easy to be endured The Mogol would speak well of all of them saying that a man might be happy and safe in the profession of any Religion and therefore would say that the Mahometan Religion was good so the Christian Religion good and the rest good and therefore by the way The Priests or Ministers of any Religion find regard and esteem amongst the people I shall speak something to this from my own particular usage there then very young while I lived in those parts yet when I was first there brought into the presence of the Mogol immediatly after my arrive at his Court I standing near the Ambassadour for no man there of the greatest quality whatsoever is at any time suffered to sit in his presence and but a little distance from that King in his Gozâ—lcaâ— he sent one of his Grandees to me to let me know that the King bad me welcome thither that I should have a free access to him when ever I pleased and if I would ask him any thing he would give it me though I never did ask nor he give and very many times afterward when waiting upon my Lord Ambassadour I appeared before him he would still shew tokens of Civility and respect
be upon your own heads as if he had said I found you the Children of Death and so I leave you grow in your filthiness and unrighteousnes 〈…〉 you have fullfilled the measure of your Fore-fathers for my own part I wash my hands in innocency I can free my Soul in the sight of God I was carefull â—o apply my Cures unto the hurts of Corinth but they would not be healed Which thing if the Lord in just judgement ever suffer to betall this Land as there are not very many moneths passed since there was a great and strong endeavour by some who fetched their Counsells from the depths of Hell to remove both Candlesticks and Candles cut of it that so the people of this Nation might have returned again to Aegypt and in time become Bruits Atheists and worse than Heathens For if it be tâ—ue of Humane Learning Emollit mores that it softens and sweetens mens Manners it is more true of that Knowledge which is divine and spiritual without whâ—ch people may grow Barbarous as in all probability this whole Nation might have done if the Lord had not appeared in the Mount and by an immediate Providence prevented it I say if any such thing ever happen to this Land they who shall be so unhappy as to live to the fight of that wofull day may borrow those words which that poor distressed woman somtimes uttered in the extream bitterness of her soul saying 1 Sam. 4. 22. The Glory is departed the Ark of God is taken and again the Glory is departed If this I say ever happen to this Land which the Mercy and Goodness of Almighty God forbid it may be then said that Judgment â—ath both begun and made an end with it and that the case of it would be more desperate than if the Ground of this Island had opened her Jaws and in one common Grave buried all her Inhabitants But blessed be God Prophets are yet in England and long may they continue in it the Pearl is yet to be found in our field the Gospell is yet amongst us Oh that as we have the sound thereof daily in our eares the letter of it walking through our lipps so we might see the power thereof more manifested in our lives To speak a few words more of those Indians with reflection still upon our selves let us consider that as the Ground is more or less manured so t is expected it should bring forth fruit accordingly some an hundred and some fifty and some thirty fold some more some less but all some Five Talâ—nts must gaine other five two must return two more and one shall satisfie with less proportion A Child may think and do and speak as becometh a Câ—ild but a Man must behave himself every way as becometh a man An Hebrew must live as an Hebrew not as an Aegyptian A Prophet as a Prophet and not by drudging and digging as an Husbandman A Believer must live as a Believer and not as an Heathen or Infidel A Professor of the Gospell must walke as a Professor of the Gospel not as a Libertine an Epicure or Athiest For a Wilderness to be barren there is no wonder at all in that but if those Trees which have been well husbanded dung'd and dress'd continue still fruitless they deserve cursing Arbori infructuosae debentur duo secur is et ignis Two things belong unto the fruitless tree the Axe to cut it down and the Fire to consume it When I have seriously thought on the many and mighty Nations at this day inhabiting the remote parts of the Earth and how that many of them are people that live in happy and most fruitfull Soils which afford every thing to please deâ—ight and to enrich the Sons of Men in sweet Aires that being most true of the Psalmist The earth hath God given to the Children of men Psal 115. 16. To the Children of men who are meer Aliens and Strangers to God Many of these enjoying as delectable places as the Sun shines on And for the people themselves many of them for flesh and bloud as comely as the Earth bears And further many of them people which are provident to forecast ingenuous to invent and most able and active to perform Concerning whom they who have tryed them may further say surely they are a wise people aâ—d of great understanding but considering again that they enâ—oying every thing want every thing in wanting Christ it makes their condition in all their enjoyments which seeme to make them happy most miserable To which purpose Lactantius speaks well of the Learning of Heathen Philosophers Omnis Doctrina Philosophorum sine capite c. That all their learning was without an head because they knew not God and therefore seeing they were blind and hearing they were deaf and understanding they understood nothing as they ought to have done it So for outvvard things though they have abundance yet they have nothing because they have not God in the right knowledge and understanding of him as he ought to be known in Christ Jesus They want Christ because they are altogether unacquainted with him but if vve who have had such a continuall povver of him and have such advantages to knovv him by hearing him so often teach in our streets if vve vvant him for vvant of closing vvith him and consequently be never a vvhit the better for him it will make our estate by far to be more lamentable than theirs Tyre and Sydoâ— and Gomorrah and Sodome and all the people I have named will speed better at the day of judgement than we shall do These Heathens in East-India as I strongly believe see as far with the eye of Nature as it can possibly reach and nature it self teacheth them and teacheth all the world beside that there is a God but who this God is and how this God is to be worshipped must elsewhere be learn'd Thus nature without Grace being like Sampson when his eyes were out who could not readily find the Pillars of the house wherein he was no more can any man of himself fasten unto any pillar of prop of truth unless the Spirit of God instruct and direct him how to do it Veritatem Philosophia quaerit Theologiâ— invenit Religio possidet saith Mirandula Philosophy seeks truth Divinity finds it but Religion possesseth it not the face or mask or visard or forme but the truth and power of Religion of which something by the way The truth and power of Religion I say for there have been ever many misconceivings about Religion How many stirs and quarrels and Heats have we known about the list and fringe of Christs Garment as one of most high deserving long since observed and these mistakes in Religion have made many to agree no better than the Bricklayers of Babel who when their tongues were divided could not understand one anothers speech but did mistake one thing for another And thus do many now who take nature if but a