Boynou the white Eunuch I Am still alive and in Health my Fear has proved vain and I have escaped the Cardinals Hands without any Danger which will make me hope the same good Fortune should he ever send for me again But thou shalt not know his Business with me that being a Secret I am obliged to conceal Thou hast I hope received the long Letter I wrote thee containing several Particulars of Henry IV's Life I send thee now several of his Sayings which may be termed Sentences Read them with Attention they are as pleasant as profitable for Mustapha's Use who will find this great King to have had an Invincible Courage in Adversity and great Clemency and Generosity when he was in his Prosperity he was Valour it self amongst the Souldiers Wife and Pleasant amongst his Courtiers terrible in Battles easy and free amongst the Ladies full of Heat when any Action offered it self and Courteous and Affable to all sorts of Reople Henry dyed in the same Manner as most of our Sultans that is to say a Violent Death He had lived Fifty Seven Years and some Months and reigned about Twenty Years Several of his Courtiers named him like the First Caesar All Womens Husband because 't was believed he never saw any that he fancied but he obtained her He had Fourteen Children Six by the Queen and the others by Four of his Mistrisses She who was called the beautiful Gabrielle of the Family of Estree seemed to have more Power on his Heart than all others he often carried her about with him in his Army and to the Places he besieged in Person Henry was wont to say 'T was as difficult to know how to Love well to prepare a Feast and to dance at the same time agreeably as to draw up an Army for Battle consisting of several Nations And when he was more advanced in Years he said He loved Dancing for it made him appear Young He loved Play for it shewed he could be angry and Ladies because he said he believed a Man ought to love all the Days of his Life He was so impatient at Play when he lost that he seemed to be as much concerned at the Loss of an Hundred Crowns as at the taking of a City from him He often disguised himself like a Peasant to approach his Mistrisses without being known and he has often carried on this Humour to that Degree as to drive Asses laden with Fruit and sometimes carry a Truss of Hay on his Shoulders When he was peaceably setled in his Kingdom he said to those who were his greatest Intimates That he that grew weary at Difficulties did not deserve those Things which might be acquired without Trouble I saw my self a King said he without having a Kingdom an Husband without a Wife a Captain without Souldiers and Liberal without having any thing to give I have had in fine a Kingdom Children in lawful Marriage my Troops are numerous and I can dispose of several Millions This Prince has been wounded several Times has received Three Wounds in the Wars and Three others on his Throne in the Calms of Peace The Actions which have gained him most Glory have been the winning of Four Battles whence he came out Conqueror having very few Troops and his Enemy having very numerous Armies the general Peace he gave to Europe the Reconciliation of the Venetians with the Latin Church which had excommunicated them and the great Project I spake to thee about in my foregoing Letter The Pope's Nuncio having one Day asked him How long he had made War his Answer was All the Days of his Life and my Armies have never had any other General but my self He was seen once for Forty Hours together on Horse-back and he led at that Time an unhappy Life yet he bore up with invincible Courage which made his Souldiers call him the King of Iron At the same time he held a Morsel of course Bread in one Hand he would with the other form on the Ground the Design of an Entrenchment and when he would shew his Friends the finest Gallery of his Palace he would at the same time lead them down into his Stables to see his Horses He was wont to say That a King who would reign happily must not do all things which he may He had such a Greatness of Mind and was so merciful That he pardoned those who conspired against his Life He shewed oft to those that were about him a Souldier that was a Stranger and had wounded him in a Battle whom he recompensed for doing his Duty and made him one of his Guards Tho he was not Learned yet he read Books of his Religion and took a singular Pleasure in History and conversing with learned Men. Hearing one Night the Annals of France and being almost half asleep in his Bed he bade his Reader continue his Reading for he would sleep no more that Night Having laid Siege to a most important Place in a most cold Season he slipt one Night wrapt up in his Cloak to the Places where the Labourers were at Work and heard a Souldier there cursing both God and him yet without concerning himself any further he whisper'd in this Souldier's Ear God hears thee and the King too for all thou knowest if thou canst not Work hold thy Peace and be gone The Night following the King setting to work himself to excite others he caused this Souldier to be called to him and thus spake to him Help me to remove this Earth and do not swear for now the King hears thee To correct the Vices the Injustices and Violences of others he did not use Lessons but gave Examples And one day that he heard one of his Captains in a Rage for that his Creditors had seized on all he had to his Horse and Sword he thus spake to him I that am thy Sovereign have paid my Debts and sold all that I am worth for that End and thou that art my Subject ought to do the same thing without murmuring And then taking him apart he gave him some Jewels to help him out He often shewed the Marshal de Biron to his Friends and thus spake to them about this Captain This Man knows to Act as well as Talk and I have a great Love for him Yet he sometime after caused him to be put to Death having Three times pardoned his Disloyalty This Captain having continued his Plots against his Life and against the State yet remembring he had loved him he would spare one part of the shame of his Punishment and therefore ordered he should be executed in Prison A Scholar Two Monks and a Fool attempted at several times to kill him and as I have already told thee he was several times wounded and at last received a Mortal Stroke A Woman that had undertaken to Poison him was burnt alive and this foolish Creature said at her Death thinking to lessen her Crime That having foreseen the King was to have been
THE First Volume OF LETTERS Writ by a Turkish Spy Who lived Five and Forty Years Undiscovered at PARIS Giving an Impartial Account to the Divan at Constantinople of the most Remarkable Transactions of Europe And discovering several Intrigues and Secrets of the Christian Courts especially of that of France from the Year 1637 to the Year 1682. Written Originally in Arabick first Translated into Italian afterwards into French and now into English The Second Edition LONDON Printed for Henry Rhodes near Bride-Lane in Fleet-street 1691. Mahmut The. Turkish spy Aetatis suae 72. F. H. Van. Hove sculp TO THE READER I Here offer you a Book written by a Turk whose Matter is as instructive and delightful as the Manner of finding it was strange and surprizing I do not doubt but you would know where 't was written and perhaps whether the Author be living and whether you must expect a Romance or a real History Hear then in short what will fully satisfie you The Curiosity of seeing Paris made a Man of Letters leave Italy in the Year 1682 where being arrived he found such Diversions as caused his stay longer than he intended Scarce had he been Two Months in Paris when by changing his Lodging he discovered by meer Chance in a Corner of his Chamber a great heap of Papers which seem'd more spoil'd by Dust than Time He was at first surprized to see nothing but barbarous Characters and was upon the Point of leaving them without any further search if a Latin Sentence which he perceived on the top of a Leaf had not retained him Vbi amatur non laboratur si Laboratur labor amatur The Surprize of the Italian was yet greater when after having considered these Characters with more Attention he found them to be Arabick which Language was not altogether unknown to him which made him look narrowlier into them where he found That they treated of Affairs of State that they contained Relations of War and Peace and discoursed not only of the Affairs of France but of those of all Christendom till the Year 1682. The curious Italian was in no small Impatience to know how and where these Memorials had been writ and by what Adventure they came to lie so neglected in a Corner of his Chamber But before he further informed himself he thought it expedient to transport these Manuscripts into another House as a Place of greater Security He afterwards questioned his Landlord with great Precaution concerning the Papers and he inform'd him even to the least Circumstances He told him That a Stranger who said he was a Native of Moldavia Habited like an Ecclesiastick greatly Studious of small Stature of a very course Countenance but of surprizing Goodness of Life had lived long at his House That he came to lodge there in the Year 1664 and had staid Eighteen Years with him that being gone abroad one day he returned no more and they had had no certain News of him since He was about Seventy Years old had left Manuscripts that no Body understood and some Moneys which was an Argument that his Departure was not premeditated He added That he had always a Lamp Day and Night burning in his Chamber had but few Moveables only some Books a small Tome of St. Austin Tacitus and the Alcoran with the Picture of Massaniello whom he praised very much calling him the Moses of Naples He said further That this Strangers greatest Friend and whom he saw often was a Man which most People took for a Saint some for a Jew and others suspected to be a Turk According to the Landlord's Report he came to Paris in the Year 1637 being then but Twenty Eight Years of Age. At first he had lodged with a Flemming he went oft to Court Moneys never failed him he had Friends and passed for very Learned As for his End this Man thinks he died miserably it being suspected that he had been thrown into the River The Italian being sufficiently instructed by what he had heard applyed himself to the Study of the Arabian Language and as he had already some Knowledge in it he quickly learnt enough to Translate these Manuscripts which he undertook a while after and he examined with care the Truth of what the Moldavian had writ confronting the Events he met with the Histories of those Times and to succeed the better searched the most approved Memorials having had Access into the Cabinets of Princes and their Ministers These Letters contain the most considerable Intrigues of the Court of France and the most remarkable Transactions of Christendom which have been sent to several Officers of the Ottoman Court. By these may be known the Perspicacity of this Agent of the Turks and by him the Prudence of those that command in that Nation who chose the better to penetrate into the Affairs of Christians a Man who could not be suspected by his Exterior who was deform'd but prudent and advised and for the better concealing him destined his ordinary Abode in one of the greatest and most peopled Cities of Europe During his being at Paris which was Forty Five Years he has been Eye-witness of many great Changes has seen the Death of two great Ministers of State has seen that Kingdom involved in War without and within He was scarce setled in Paris but he was witness to the Birth of a King who surpasses those that preceded him in a time when the Queen's Barrenness caused the King her Husband to despair of ever having a Son that should succeed him During the Course of so many Years he hath seen Cities revolt and return again to the Obedience of their Sovereign Princes of the Blood make War against their King and Queen Mary de Medicis Wife Mother and Mother-in-Law to some of the greatest Kings in Europe die in Exile in Cologne He speaks frankly of the Princes of Christendom and explains his Sentiments with Liberty He saith The Emperor commands Princes the King of Spain Men and the King of France sees Men and even Kings obey his Orders He adds That the First commands and prays the Second sees oft times more effected than he commanded and that the Third commands many brave Souldiers and is well nigh obeyed by Crowned Heads There appears no Hate or Animosity in him in what he writes against the Pope In Discoursing of the Emperor and King of Spain he says That both of them having Provinces of such vast Extent they are not much concerned at the Losses they sustain He believed that England was more powerful than the Empire and Spain he might have added France at Sea He apprehended more the Counsels of the Republick of Venice than their Arms. He magnifies what passed in the Wars of Candy which the Venetians supported with so much Bravery against the Forces of the Ottoman Empire The Genoeses with him are perfect Chymists He speaks of the last Plague and last War that this Commonwealth hath been afflicted with he touches something of
Effendi c. 193 Of Assam Bassa of Algiers his Death and barbarous Sentiments in respect of his Slaves II. To the Invincible Vizir Azem at the Camp under Babylon 195 Of the Memoirs which Mahmut gave to the Cardinal Richlieu on the Lives of Illustrious Men. III. To Lubano Abufei Saad an Egyptian Knight 210 What Cardinal Richlieu did at a Ball. IV. To Mehmet an Eunuch Page 211 Of the beginning of Mahmut's Sickness and of the Cruelty of Amurath V. To Zelim of Rhodes Captain of a Galley 215 That a Man is parted expresly from Legorn to Assassinate him at Constantinople VI. To the Invincible Vizir Azem c. 217 Of the Seige of Babylon VII To the same 220 Of Brizac Piemont Italy and Brandenburg VIII To Breredin Superior of the Dervises in Natolia 224 IX To Ocoumiche his Mother at Scio. 225 Of his Sickness X. To Pestely Haly his Brother 227 Of his Sickness XI To Dgnet Oglou 228 Of his Sickness in a particular Style XII To the Kaimakan 231 He discourses of the Dexterity of the Dwarf Osmin and of the Embassador of Venice's Solicitations at Court to induce the King to make War with the Turks XIII To Isouf his Kinsman 235 He speaks of his Sickness entreats him to give Alms for his Recovery and to pray to God for him XIV To the Invincible Vizir Azem c. 236 A Relation of his Sickness and of the Death of the Duke of Wimar XV. To the Kaimakan 239 Of his Sickness and Cure Of Germany and Italy and of a Sea Fight between the Dutch and French XVI To Dgnet Oglou 242 Of his perfect Cure and of Friendship XVII To Adonai a Jew at Genoa 244 He blames him for sending false News about the Genoeses to the Port. XVIII To the Kaimakan 246 Of Turin of the new invented Bullets of the Affairs of Italy and Spanish Fleet that was lost XIX To Dgnet Oglou 250 Of Mahmut's Amours with a beautiful Greek XX. To the Invincible Vizir Azem 257 Of a Chiaus from the Port who came to Paris and touching the Affairs of Persia XXI To Cara Hali the Physician c. 260 He gives him an Account of his Recovery of the violent Frosts at Paris and Austerity of the Capuchins XXII To the Kaimakam 264 Of the Troubles in Spain Catalonia and Portugal and a Description of the Revolt in Barcellona XXIII To Dgnet Oglou 268 Letter of Consolation on the Fire at Constantinople XXIV To the Captain Bassa of the Sea 273 Of the Vessels of Africk taken by the Christians and of the Knights of Maltha XXV To the Invincible Vizir Azem 275 A Description of the Revolution of Portugal XXVI To Enguril Emir Cheik c. 287 Of the Death of Amurath IV. of the new Sultan Ibrahim and of the Affairs of the Seraglio BOOK IV. LETTER I. TO the Venerable Mufti c. 293 Of Cardinal Richlieu his Craft and Policy II. To the Reis Effendi c. 295 Of a Conspiracy discovered at Paris against Cardinal Richlieu III. To the Kaimakan 297 Of Julius Mazarin and his Negotiation in Savoy IV. To Dgnet Oglou 300 A particular Description of the Greatness of the Spanish Monarchy V. To the Invincible Vizir Azem 303 Of the Battle of Sedan of Count Soisson's Death and Conspiracy against the Cardinal VI. To Solyman his Cousin 309 Mahmut complains of his Perfidiousness VII To Dgnet Oglou 312 Against the Infidelity and Inconstancy of the beautiful Greek VIII To Carcoa at Vienna 316 He informs him of the Receipt of his Letters with the Money and Balm of Mecha IX To Berber Mustapha Aga c. 317 Of the Duke of Lorrain the Loss of his Country and of the King of France's Indignation X. To Bedredin Superior of the Dervises c. 332 On his own Age and of a Man that lived an 129 Years XI To the Redoubtable Vizir Azem 325 On the Life and Death of General Bannier and Imprisonment of Dom Duartus Brother to the new King of Portugal XII To the Kaimakan 328 Of the Parliament of Paris and Affairs of Catalonia XIII To the Venerable Mufti c. 331 Of Cardinal Richlieu and the Calumnies published against him touching his Design of making himself Patriarch of France XIV To Oucoumiche his Mother c. 333 Letter of Consolation on the Death of her second Husband that the Countess of Soissons has greater cause of Trouble for the Death of her Son XV. To the Grand Seignior's Chief Treasurer 338 Of the disgrace of the Archbishop of Bourdeaux XVI To the Kaimakan 339 On the Imprisonment of Count Allie apprehended at Turin by Richlieu's Order XVII To the Reis Effendi 342 Of a Spaniard found dead in Paris who had in his Pocket a Catalogue of all the great Lords whom Cardinal Richlieu caused to be destroyed XVIII To William Vospel 343 Of his Retirement from the World on Thieves and the Invention of Keys XIX To the Venerable Mufti 347 Of Cardinal Richlieu and what he did in respect of a General of Dervises and of the great Newâ— brought him XX. To the Kaimakan 350 Of the Books of Geber and of Chymistry XXI To Mehemet an Eunuch Page 358 What Cardinal Richlieu did against the Queen of France and of his Ambition XXII To the Kaimakam 360 Of Dom Sebastian King of Portugal who died in Africk and of him that took on him that Name XXIII To the Mufti 365 Of a Mule laden with Gold which Cardinal Richlieu sent to an unknown Person in a Wood. XIV To Berber Mustapha Aga. 366 Description of Duels of a Bill of Defiance which the Duke de Medina Celi sent to Dom John of Braganza the new King of Portugal XXV To the Invincible Vizir Azem 37â— Of a new Conspiracy discovered at Lisbon againsâ— the new King of Portugal LETTERS Writ by A Spy at PARIS VOL. I. BOOK I. LETTER I. Mahmut the Arabian and Vilest of the Grand Signior's Slaves to Hasnadarbassy Chief Treasurer to his Highness at Constantinople I Have at length finished my Journey after one hundred and forty days March arriving at Paris the 4th of this present Moon according to the Christians Style I made no stay in Hunâ—ary yet sojourned One and forty Days at Vienna where I observ'd all the Motions of that Court â—ccording as I was ordered of which I shall not â—ow speak having given a full Account to the ever â—nvincible Vizir Azem Being but newly arrived scarce know any Body and am as little known my self I have suffered my Hair to grow a little below my Ears and as to my Lodging 't is in the House of an old Flemming where my Room is so small that Jealousie it self can scarce enter And because I will have no Enemy near me I will therefore admit of no Servant Being of low Stature of an ill-favoured Countenance ill shap'd and by Nature not given to Talkativeness I shall the better conceal my self Instead of my Name Mahmut the Arabian I have taken on me that
of Titus the Moldavian and with a little Cassock of black Serge which is the Habit I have chosen I make two Figures being in Heart what I ought to be but Outwardly and in Appearance what I never intend Carcoa at Vienna furnishes me with Bread and Water supplying me with just enough to Live and I desire no more The Eggs here are dearer than Pullets with you It is to him that I will address my Letters Eliachim the Jew came to see me who seems to be sufficiently informed of what passes in the World and will be an useful Man to me Yet I will never trust him more than I need Although I have a Dispensation from the Mufti for Lying and false Oaths which I shall be obliged to make yet I have still some Qualms on my Mind However our Sovereign must be served and I can commit no Sin as long as this is my sole End Aâ— for the Intelligence which I shall send none shall come from me but what is true unless I be first deceived my self It will be hard for me to mention any thing considerable of a City which is not to be viewed in One day I having been there but Seven 'T is peopled like the Borders of the Sea with Sand the Inhabitants lodging to the very Cock-lofts and Houses are built on the Bridges This great City is divided by a River and both â—arts of it are joined by a great Bridge of Stone â—ell built and very stately In the midst of it is â—en an Horse of Brass with the Statue of Henry 〈◊〉 which bestrides it whose Heroick Actions â—ave justly surnamed him The Great and he seems â—ill to command this Capital of the Kingdom â—he other Bridges being full of Houses are not â—en appearing as if they had been made for the â—ity not the River The King's Palace is an ancient Building yet reâ—ains a certain Majesty which denotes the Granâ—eur of its Master Within it appears a Desart â—or the Court is always abroad or in the Army A Church-man term'd at Rome a Cardinal is â—he principal Minister of State his Name is Arâ—and du Plessis Cardinal of Richlieu He is esteem'd 〈◊〉 great Politician a Man of Wit and Action and â—very way fitted for the Place he holds All the People make Vows to Heaven That â—heir King may become a Father for the Queen â—as been barren these many Years I go into the Churches as a Christian and â—hen I seem attentive to their Mysteries I hold â—ur sacred Alcoran in my Hands addressing my â—rayers to our Holy Prophet and thus behaâ—ing my self I give no Offence I avoid Disputes â—ind my own Concerns and do nothing which â—ay endanger my Salvation Preserve thy Health and expect to hear from â—e as oft as the Interest of our Great and Mighty Monarch requires who is the Master of my Life â—nd Affections I make thee no Present of my Services for they â—e devoted to that Lord whose Slave thou art as well as I. The Letters I write for the future shall â—e directed to the Ministers of the Divan Live with the Piety of a good Mussulman and the Prudence of an able Minister and preserve the Treasure as thine own Heart which thou knowest is the last expiring Paris 11th of the 9th Moon of the Year 1637 according to the Christian Style LETTER II. To the same Hasnadarbassy I Had too good an Opinion of my self and did not sufficiently consider to whom I wrote when I attempted in so little a time to give thee an account of the Court of France and how this King lives An old Arabian was wont to say To have a perfect Knowledge of Things we must know them more than Once and forget them Thrice to the end that learning them a Fourth time they may become perfectly our own This will instruct me how to write to my Friends hereafter not as I understand Affairs but as they ought to be understood For once well done is better than twice ill done I think I may say the Spaniards want Ground themselves by taking an handful from others Two and twenty of their Galleys with some other small Vessels have taken two small Islands named St. Margaret's and St. Honorat's which lie over against Provence and are barren and unprofitable Places and will serve to little purpose unless for Ports and 't is also a question how long they will hold them The War betwixt these two Nations is like to continue especially from the death of the two Italian Princes Victor Amade Duke of Savoy and Charles Gorague Duke of Mantua I believe it an Effect of Providence that these Two Nations know not their own Interest or knowing it neglect it Heaven is more kind to us for as our Empire transcends all others in Strength and Greatness so it does in Unity and Concord by which means 't is in our Power to make War or live in Peace The Christians never consider the Advantage they lose and the Good they may acquire by attacking of us whom they yet hate and treat as Barbarians The Archbishop of Bordeaux is at present General of the French Naval Forces who though a Priest is yet permitted to turn Tarpaulin and Soldier For my part I understand not how a Prelate of his Rank can forsake his Flock his Altar and his Function If what the Christians say be true but that is nothing to us and the King of France being so enlightned a Prince and imploying him as he does he must needs be a good Seaman and Soldier To say no more in this Matter For Princes of what Religion soever they be are always sacred and not to be approached but with Respect seeing their Doings lie above the Reach of a common Capacity I would fain hear of the Grand Signior's Health for when he is well all the World is so to me and without him I am nothing I will not write so soon to the Grand Vizir being desirous to write what passes here with more Exactness I am in this Place like a Man lost in Confusion for this Town seems rather a Province than a City All is Hurry and Noise every Body brushing about after Action The Men for the most part are for Martial Exploits either at Sea or Land and as to the Women they are not idle employing themselves as becomes them either in the Shops or Kitchins Yet they take more care to shew themselves than ours do to hide themselves Dâ— thou be careful of thy Health for I shall never bâ— Miserable having thee to my Friend Paris 25th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1637. LETTER III. To Darnish Mehemet Bassa I Have been at a Ceremony which I am willing to see often to give an Account of it in my Letters 't is the Te Deum which Christian Princes cause to be sung in their Churches on the gaining any considerable Advantage over their Enemies which Te Deum is an Hymn composed by two of their Saints to
wit Ambrose and Austin When the French beat the Spaniards they sing the Te Deum and when these vanquish their Enemies they do the same These Two Nations do the duty of the Mussulmen in destroying one another and when this is done they give God Thanks for the Evil they have committed Whence we may judge of the Wisdom and Piety of the Mahometans amongst whom there 's seldom seen an open War and if it should happen 't is generally Condemned The Rejoicing of the French proceeds hence the Spaniards had besieged Leucate a small Peninsula in Languedoc which is but four Leagues round with Two Ports where a few Galleys and Four small Vessels may Anchor in safety The Place was attack'd by the Spaniards with much Heat but was afterwards given over with as great Loss The Assailants being obliged to make a Retreat not unlike a shameful Flight quitted their Baggage their Arms and all their other Provision Count Serbellon offered at first to Barris who commanded the Place a great Sum of Money which was to be attended with a constant Pension which refused they were necessitated to betake themselves to force by which in short the Spaniards were entirely defeated Serbellon withdrew towards Perpignan with the Duke of Cardonn's Son who was Viceroy of Catalonia He lost all his Tents his Plate and the Moneys designed for Payment of the Army And I will say yet more that he has lost the Reputation of a good Captain and valiant Soldier until he can recover an Opportunity to Fight and Vanquish This Victory must have been of Consequence and very Glorious seeing the King assisted in Person together with the Queen Two Cardinals the Council of State and that of the Finances and that which they call here the Courts Sovereign which are a Company of Men chosen to judge others Besides these there was an innumerable Concourse of People who testified their Joy for the Advantage gained by their King notwithstanding it be at the Cost of their Brethren of the same Religion Live happily and conserve thy Honour as thy Life Paris 25th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1637. LETTER IV. To Isouf his Kinsman I Tell thee I live and am well I have received no News from thee perhaps thou thoughtest me Dead I Salute thee first with my Letters though thou oughtest to have begun If thou art ashamed of my Kindred accuse thy Parents by whom thou art become of the same Family But be not ungrateful to them nor forgetful of the Good thou hast received from me Thou shalt now know where I am and ought to stay and mayest answer me if thou wilt Believe in the mean time the Counsel I give thee although thou dost not demand it Be devout in thy Religion without Hypocrifie and remember there is no more Gods but One as also that the Favourite and sent of God is Mahomet his Prophet After that love thy Master without desiring any thing more than the Execution of his Pleasure Embrace thy Father as from me and give thy Mother a Kiss saluting her as my Sister and Friend which is the most endearing Title that Antiquity could invent for Persons who had the same Sentiments of Affection Live happily and conserve thy Chastity Paris 25th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1637. LETTER V. To the Aga of the Janisaries I Shall give thee some Pleasure in telling thee that the Christians lose easier than they acquire It seems the Marquess Ambrose Spinola whom all the World took for a great Captain has lost much of his Reputation seeing that a Place is lost in eleven Weeks which he had formerly besieged eleven Months and where he had expended eleven Millions If these Circumstances are true they are very extraordinary However he shall continue a Great Captain in my Opinion and it is ordinary enough to see that lost in a little Time by the Cowardliness of one which has not been acquired in a great while by the Valour of a whole Army The Prince of Orange hath taken Breda a Place of great Importance which had been surrendred twelve Years and three Months since to the said Spinola who commanded the Army of Spain This Conquest is great for 't was the general Opinion the Place could not be taken but by Famine yet hath it been constrained to yield by the continual Fire and Valour of the Besiegers Had not the Hollanders become Masters of this Place they had been as it were block'd up on the side of Brabant and had the Enemy always at their Gates whereas now they are more at large We ought to rejoice rather at their acquisitions than those of the Spaniards with whom we never have had Peace This Place is fortified with much Regularity It hath fifteen Bastions besides some little Forts on the Moat side There are five Horn-works without The Place is considerable for its Greatness It contains five thousand Houses with great Gardens and there are three principal Gates I mention these Particulars because thou art a Man of War Receive my Letter kindly believe me thy Friend and do not doubt of my Fidelity If thou wilt add to thy Valour by new Merit which will heighten the Consideration Men have for thee I will teach thee a Secret which will not be very Expensive but very Delightful Read at Times the Histories of others and particularly those of the Greatest and most Fortunate Princes and their Captains Imitate rather the Wise than those who have only signalized themselves by their Valour To conclude be conversant in Histories but choose always the best I mean such as cannot be suspected for Lyes Thou canst not fail of good Books both Greek and Arabick which are Translated into the Turkish and Persian Tongues Thou wilt learn to be wise by the Folly of others and wilt become yet more Prudent by observing the sage Conduct of such who performed great Actions Above all Things never neglect to make serious Reflections upon the least Events It happens sometimes that passages are found in Books that seem of no Consequence which may yet be of Use in important Occasions for the clearing of Difficulties And for Example learn this from a great King Henry IV. who Conquered his Kingdom by the Dint of his Sword I will finish with a worthy Saying of Marquess Spinola's which I think is to the purpose He saith That a Captain 's Sword must be tyed to his Heart his Heart fixt to his Head and Conducted by his Judgment which ought particularly to be formed by the reading of Histories Love me as much as I esteem thee and thou wilt never love me enough Paris 25th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1637. LETTER VI. To Mehemet Page Eunuch to the Sultan Mother THou hast spent fourteen Years in the Seraglio and to thy unhappiness always been in the Service of Women serve now a Man who is certainly somewhat more than a Woman Thou knowest the Confidence we have in each other is arrived to
to write to thee of Two Things and to do Three Thou wilt first know If this King be Aged and of perfect Health and afterwards If there be any Hopes that the Queen may have Children Thou wouldest also have me send his Highness the Pictures of the King the Cardinal of Richlieu and the Eldest Son of the Prince of Condé As thou art one of the principal Supports of the Power of the Sublime Port elevated above all the Thrones of the World after the Vizir Azem whose Orders are the Rule of the Universe Minister and first Slave of the happy Emperor of the Ottomans I ought to do what thou commandest me I tell thee then I have seen this King thrice nor doth he appear by his Countenance by his Hair or by his Shape to be yet Old neither would it be easie to divine the Number of his Years if we were ignorant of the Day of his Birth But it is known to every Body That this Prince was born the 27. of the Ninth Moon of the Year 1601 according to the Style of the Christians By this thou mayst justly calculate the Age of this Monarch who though he is in his Flower seems fading because he hath as yet given no Heir to his Kingdom besides his Years being near Forty surpass that of a Young Man and 't is observed That few Princes arrive to a great Age. The Queen may still lie in if she prove with Child which if it should happen after Twenty three Years of Barrenness 't is certain a Fruit which hath been so long in ripening will give an ample Subject of reasoning to the Astrologers of Europe For my part I fancy this King will scarce become a Father unless he Repudiate this Wife and marry another It is not permitted to be inquisitive into the Cause of this Sterility Hereby thou seest the Weakness of those Christian Princes who are subjected to the Laws of Rome which think it a Crime to give themselves Heirs that are not born of Lawful Wedlock tho' it often happens that when such are wanting this Kingdom is exposed to Ruine by the Dissensions and Civil Wars which on these occasions are always inevitable The Most High who hath always protected the Grandeur of the Ottoman Empire hath left the Infidels in these Errors to the End that he might give our most Mighty Monarch who is the Avenger of the Divine Vnity an Eminence Superior to that of all Kings who are his Slaves and at the same Time made him Holy above all the Saints in the World and permitted us to have Children that may succeed us from as many Wives as we can entertain the Children of True Believers being always Legitimate I humbly beg Pardon I forgot I spoke to thee who art Wisdom it self and to whom no Secrets of the Law or State are unknown I wlll send to Carcoa at Vienna the Pictures of the King of the Prince of Conde's Son and of the Cardinal Richlieu according to the Orders I received from thee and they shall be dispatch'd in little Time I would to Heaven I could as easily send thee the Originals I should at one Stroke disarm this Kingdom which would thereby be suddenly involved in Fire and Blood The Habit I wear and the Manner after which I live hath already gained me many Friends I find Means to go once a week to Court My Deformity protects me against the Jealousies of Husbands Some People take me for a Wise Man and discourse confidently in my Presence of Politicks and Affairs of State neither do I neglect the making Use of every Thing which may be advantageous to me in my Ministry Thus in doing a Thing for the which I have much Aversion I compass all I desire and I assure thee upon my Faith If thou wilt continue to protect me and assist me with thy Counsels I will do somewhat extraordinary I supplicate the Great God to give a perpetual Health to thy Body and make thy Soul enjoy upon Earth and in Heaven the Felicity of the Blessed Paris 1st of the 1st Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XI To Bedredin Superior of the Convent of Dervises of Cogny in Natolia I Write to thee who art Venerable by thy Age and so many long Voyages which thou hast made Thou who hast been so many Times in Pilgrimage to Arabia Tartary Persia and the Indies always bare-foot and begging out of pure Devotion to the Saint of Saints our Great Prophet Mahomet I address this Letter to thee Thee who bearest the Scars of five and twenty Great Wounds Thee who hast pray'd nine and fifty Times in the Sacred Porch and adored the Holy Mysteries in the most retired Sanctuary of Mecha and hast lived more than seventy Years of Religion amongst the Dervises where thy Merit caused thee to be elected Superior of the Convent in Natolia Thou knowest well that I serve him who is Arbitrator of the Destiny of the Universe I mean the Sultan Sovereign of the World Learn what I heard here from the Mouth of Christians and pardon me if I have not sufficiently answered them but do not accuse me to have deserved Death for having seemingly cursed our Holy Law and Him that gave it us and if I have seemed to reject his Successors Ali Osman and Omar it was expedient that I should commit some Evil not to lose the Opportunity of doing much Good Thou knowest well I am destined to serve and that being absolved from all the Perjuries I shall commit I may transgress the Law by being permitted to lye That suffices Read my Letter and learn how far their Malice does extend who are Enemies to our Religion To instruct thee better in what has happened to me I must tell thee that amongst these Infidels there is an Order of Religious much in Vogue called the Company of JESVS wherein there is an infinite Company of Men some more able than others in all Sorts of Scienes sacred and prophane and according to Appearance ought to be very recommendable for the Holiness of their Manners These Religious who are ordinarily called Jesuites have the Education of the Youth almost in all the Cities of Europe as well as in the Indies and many excellent Wits are brought up in the Seminaries they have established When they preach the People crowd to their Sermons They are the Confessors of almost all the Princes and Monarchs of Christendom who discover to them their Weaknesses their Sins and the Vices whereunto they are enclined and receive from them upon their Knees like Slaves such Penance as they think fit to impose on them A Man may say of them That being Dispensers of Penances they are also the Masters of Recompences They are Habited in a long Vest of black Wooll which descends to their Heels They go not bare-foot but their Vestments are simple They observe great Modesty in all their Actions they march with Gravity never go alone and suffer not their Beards to grow They
say to thee in this Matter but I shall not end this Discourse without some violent Scruples of Conscience Pray the Great God with me That he will illuminate my Understanding with Inward Lights until the Man promised by our Holy Prophet the Man I say who ought to be born of his Race be descended upon the Earth who is to see all Kings humbled in his Presence and to unite with Jesus the Two Religions that they may make but One. In the mean Time let us live as honest Men who have Sin in horror like the Plague which poisons the Soul and apply our selves as much as in us lies to what is truly Good and above all things let us carefully observe this Precept writ in the Book of their Law but is not always imprinted in their Hearts Never do to Others no not thy Enemies that which thou wouldst not have done to thy self A Duke of Guise gave an Example of this to all France and 't is what thou oughtest to Preach in the vast Empire of the Mussulmans This Prince surprized a Villain that would have Assassinated him who confessed that the Interest of his Religion which was that of Calvin had obliged him to form a Design to take him away to deliver himself and those of his Party from so great an Enemy The Duke instead of causing him to suffer the Pains due to so black an Enterprise Pardoned him contenting himself to tell him Friend If thy Religion Obliged thee to Kill me without hearing me my Religion Obliges me to give thee thy Life and Liberty now I have heard thee Go thy ways and amend thy self This Prince was then General of Charles the IX 's Army Sage Bedredin our Mahomet never shewed such generous Sentiments when he prescribed in his Law this Precept against Christians that had never Offended him When you Encounter the Infidels kill them and cut off their Heads imprison them and keep them in Chains until they have paid their Ransoms or till you find it requisite to set them at Liberty Persecute them until they have all submitted or are entirely overthrown Observe in this Letter what may be of use to thee Pardon my Friendship the frank Manner of Writing and remember Mahmut in thy Prayers who personates a Christian and is in his Heart a most faithful Mussulman If it be in thy Power to succour me never do me any Injury God protect and govern thy great Age to the last Moment Paris 28th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XII To Chiurgi Muhammet Bassa THE Queen is with Child when least expected which occasions much Joy at Court especially to the King who after so many Years of Marriage will become a Father Thou who hast applied thy self so long to the Studies of Astrology in the Schools of Egypt yet makest Profession of this Divine Art which discovers thee Things the most hidden to thee who readest so learnedly in the Book of Heaven whatever the Stars have traced there who hast found the Moment of their Rising and Disappearing with the Intervals betwixt these two Times and the Causes which render their Motion quicker or slower thou who penetratest into the most hidden Secrets of Men and knowest the Seasons of Famine of Shipwracks of Victories and of loss of Battels Divine in God's Name Great Interpreter of the Secrets of Nature Wiser than Albumazar and Ptolemy what will become of this Impregnation and whether it be true That this Child that 's to be Born has been more than two hundred and seventy Moons in forming If thou believest what I writ last to thee to be impossible say nothing of it it would be no Credit to me to pass for the Author of a Novel that has no Grounds of Truth The City of Paris is in an inconceivable Joy and this Joy is spread all over France Thou may'st perceive by that the Passion of this People to see their King a Father 'T is true they have much to hope by it but it is as certain they have yet much to apprehend seeing all their Hopes vanish in an instant Nature uses all her Power when she forms a Man the most perfect of all Creatures But there needs but a slight Fall to destroy this Workmanship before it is finished as well as after I have heard a great many People question much the Sex and Life of that which will be born All the Conversation at the Court at Paris and in all the Kingdom is no more of Wars of Leagues of Peace or Naval Preparations they all rowl upon the bringing to Bed of Women There will be other reasoning in some small time in Christendom and even amongst us if the Queen do not miscarry France being no less considerable amongst other Kingdoms than the Bourbone are amongst Men. Harry IV. who introduced the Crown into this Branch of the Family was a Prince very Brave and if we live long enough to see his Grand-Children we shall see whether they will have as much Courage as the Chief of their Family As for thee thou wilt have wherewith to divert thee and excercise thy Talent if this Queen be brought to Bed happily of a Prince I shall in the mean time be very Exact to mark not only the Days and Hours but the least Minutes to the End thou may'st know by the Situation of the Planets which ordinarily regulate the Inclinations of Men in what manner a Prince so long expected will regulate his Affairs and consequently those of others It is a great while since we have had any Commerce here with the Sun there being forty nine Days since this beauteous Planet appeared to us and the Cold is so violent that it has changed as I may say the Waters of the Seine a large River into Crystal Do not look upon these Effects as extraordinary it happens here frequent enough for when the Days are shortest the Cold is most intense Thou knowest that this Climate is very inconstant I have often seen in a little space of Time Rain Hail Snow and terrible Winds and presently after the Air become Fair and Serene This inconstancy of the Climate has its Advantages for if the fair Weather do not last long the foul is also of less Duration Fail not upon the Receipt of my Letter to communicate the News I send thee to the Grand Vizir without telling him the Reflections which I make They are of no Use to such great Ministers particularly by us who are in Comparison of them but vile Slaves always subject to the Sentences they pronounce of us Love me and consult the Stars to know whether thou wilt be always Faithful to me and if it be by Force or Inclination As for my self I assure thee that following the Inclination of my Heart I will conserve thee that Fidelity which I owe by Obligation Paris 28th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XIII To Carcoa at Vienna THE Kaimacan commands me forthwith to send the
from a Mahometan These Barbarians are sufficiently Instructed in Morality to Teach others that which they do not always Practise themselves Vertue and Truth are respected every where Turn thee from East to West from the South to the North thou wilt find on all Sides impious Men who Blaspheme against the Deity but true Vertue has that of singular That she is always Respected and even by the most Profligate Consult once again thy Forces and thy Courage and take a better Resolution if thou art not yet well fixed in thy first Titus salutes thee out of this World and prays Heaven to give thee the Pleasures of the Happy in thy Solitude if thou beest no Hypocrite and if thou hast not yet Repented of the Resolution thou hast taken Paris 28th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XV. To Ibrahim who Renounced the Christian Religion THou hast Renounced thy Religion either to save thy Life or for some other Consideration I do not say this to make thee Scrupulous but in Quality of Resident in this Kingdom to serve here the Sultan Emperor of both Seas and of the Two Parts of the Earth Distributer of all Crowns the Grandeur of whose Majesty I beg of God may last till the last Day of Universal Judgment I advise thee to take heed not to sollicite those Infidels whose Religion thou hast abandon'd to run the same Course that thou hast done Thou hast written to thy Brother that he is become a Beggar because he Renounces his God a Thousand Times at Play and that thou art at present very Rich for having Renounced him but Once and by that thou exhortest him to turn Mussulman I thought good to write to thee That Souls are not to be gained with a Letter and a scurvy Jest Think of becoming a Good Man after thy Change of Religion and give no Occasion to the Marsilians to say That thou art Infamous because thou hast Renounced thy Faith and that we are all damned because we are Mahometans If thou dost not approve the Advice I give I shall he obliged to acquaint the Port with what shall come to my Knowledge which I shall do with Regret because thou may'st suffer by it The Great God make thee rather Wise than Fortunate Paris 28th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XVI To Dicheu Hussein Bassa AS the Knowledge which I shall have of Affairs will augment daily so I shall have the more Matter to write and will omit no Occasion to remark what occurs which I will not fail immediately to communicate Thou who with great Application observest what passest amongst Men and art desirous of knowing the most secret Transactions of Potentates thou may'st observe That there are more violent Enmities betwixt the Christian Princes of Europe than all the other Princes of the World I cannot comprehend whence it is that these Infidels cannot live in Peace and perhaps they do not comprehend it themselves It seems a Decree of Heaven That Man ought to be contrary to Man and that whilst there are Kingdoms there will be Wars and Enmities The Wars which are carried on at present in Alsace look as if they would last long The Death of Gustavus Adolphus King of Sweden the second Scourge of the Imperialists who was slain Six Years since did not terminate the Differences of Germany they are greater than ever and there appears in the New Generals of the Armies vaster Designs than those in their Predecessors Perhaps they will revenge the Death of Gustave who was kill'd not as the Christians affirm but by one of the Forty Germans who had bound themselves by Oath never to quit their Swords before they had slain him as the Turkish Historians do write Duke Bernard Weymar of no less Valour than Gustave commands the rest of the Swedish Army with a good Number of French Troops and many Christian Hereticks of Germany Victory attends the Arms of this General and the Princes which are united for Defence of the Empire begin to apprehend a Captain who observes less the Rules of War than the Emotions of his Valour and whom they perceive seconded by Fortune But he doth not consider That in weakening an Emperor he doth augment the Forces of a King who will enjoy the Fruits of his Labours and suppress him in Spite of his Bravery when he pleases In the mean time I am of Opinion That it is our Interest that Weymar be always Victorious It may be said of him That he hath sold to France all but his Glory having reserved nothing for himself but Hope All that this Duke can Conquer from the Germans is for the French King who furnishes him with Troops with Arms and with Moneys besides wise Advice Cardinal Richlieu who is an able States man fails not to perswade his Master That the Places which Weymar shall take in the Empire with the Army which he Commands are the Effects of his Councils and his Majesty's Moneys The French begin to preserve their Conquests and know how to defend the place which are subject to their Power This Prince makes Acquisitions which are in truth of more Importance than they seem considerable for their Greatness He took Rhinfeld almost as soon as he had Besieged it The Place was strong seated near the Black Forest where the Garrison was furnished with Abundance of all Sorts of Ammunitions John de Wert General of the Imperial Army had reliev'd it with Nine Regiments of Horse and Five Thousand Foot He defeated Weymar's Horse took part of his Baggage and Artillery The Duke of Rohan a great Captain and great States-man was hurt and taken Fighting and the City relieved with Men Ammunition and Victuals which rendered the taking of it more Glorious They write that Two Imperial Generals the said John de Wert which had succoured Rhinfeld Enhenfort as also Duke Savelli had been taken in a Combat which preceded the Rendition of the Place besides Thirty Eight Cornets and Nineteen Foot Captains These Spoils were gained by the Blood of the Swedes and sent to the French King who after he had caused them to march through all the Streets of this Great City commanded them to be hung up in the Principal Church where I saw and considered them as Marks of the Triumphs of Policy The Siege of this Place lasted but Eightteen Days The Duke of Weymar after this Victory marched into the Marquisate of Durlach where he took the Castle of Rotelen Defended by the King of Hungary in which he found great store of Provisions and all sorts of Ammunitions which served greatly for the refreshing of his then needy Army In the mean time Duke Savelli escaped out of Prison and retired to Luzerne in Switzerland The Officers that guarded him were accused of Favouring his Escape which cost them their Heads All I write to thee is most true and thou may'st cause my Letters to be inregister'd God grant that Brisac together with all Alsatia may fall into the
French Hands and that the Emperor of Germany be subjected to the Laws of the Osmans Thou seest the Time come wherein the French make Conquests without being present at them The King of this Nation appears not only Happy but is so in Reality all Things succeeding that he undertakes His Queen 's being with Child and the Cardinals Policy puzzle the Spaniard the Empire and Italy it self What will happen none knows but God and Mahomet 'T is our Duty to humble our selves and say what we see and not be so rash as to penetrate into the Future Do what thou canst by thy Intrigues to augment the Germans Losses for the Reasons thou knowest and particularly to facilitate the Sultan's Conquests in Hungary Assist in the mean Time the poor and faithful Mahmut not with the Sword that cuts every Thing but by good Counsel by which we ordinarily perceive the Re-union of what the Sword hath separated And I will pray the most High that all the Infidels bow the Knee before Amurath and that all that breathe may enjoy their Lives but by an Effect of his Clemency Paris 20th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XVII To Ahmet Beig I Receive none of thy Letters I receive none from the Divan and I have none from any of my Friends Italy where there are so many People proper for War that Province which hath Commanded the World is at this Time troubled by the Arms of France The Pope and Venetians who appear to have the Principal Interest there make no Advance to divert the Storm that threatens them Piemont which belongs to the Duke of Savoy begins to feel the Incommodities that War draws always with it That State is in the midst of the Spaniards who attack it and the French Ruine it in defending it These last cannot abandon the Interest of the House of Savoy the Dutchess being their King's Sister and her Children his Nephews The French are already strong on that Side having a great Garrison in Pigneroll a Place very considerable which they call one of the Gates of Italy whereof they have been Masters since the Year 1631. and their Power will much increase by the Accession of the Fort of Breme which may be termed a Rampart covering Cazal and Vercelle and which also defends both Montferrat and Piemont The Marquess of Leganez Governor of Milan having render'd himself Master of the Field had laid Siege to Breme and Marshal Crequi having in the Name of the King his Master undertaken the Defence of the young Duke of Savoy opposed the Designs of the Spaniards 'T is believed the War will be cruel in this Quarter being these are very Strong and the other very Expert Thou shalt know the Event In the mean Time all the Affairs of the French do not appear so Fortunate in Italy and at this Hour that I write to thee the Court laments the Loss of the General that Commanded their Armies in that Country There is certain News of the Death of Marshal Crequi who was shot with a Cannon-Bullet through the Body as he was going to view the Spaniards Works before Breme This Loss was by so much the more sensible to the French in that they saw their Enemies make such great Rejoycings at it All men conclude this Crequi was both a good Souldier and a good Captain a wise man and of Excellent Conduct He had acquired great Reputation for the King his Master in Italy He slew Don Philip Bastard of Savoy who challenged him in the sight of Two Armies He several Times defeated his Sovereign's Enemies in Montferrat and in Piemont and beat back the Duke of Feria to the Gates of Milan There remains no more of this Great Man who did so many brave Things but the bare Remembrance of ' em Scarce any thing of his Body save his Entrails was left for his Souldiers to celebrate his Obsequies with His Soul is before the Throne of God his Friends honour his Memory with their Elogies his Kindred mourn for him his Sovereign Praises him and his Souldiers Crown his Tomb with Herbs and Flowers The Italians say highly upon this Occasion That Italy has been Fatal to the French and that it will be so always They affirm That the Duke of Savoy will lose his Estate if defeated by his Enemies which he will likewise do by the Victory of his Friends But these are the Conjectures and ordinary Reasonings of Men which I write to thee to the end thou maist not only know what is done but also the Discourses which are entertained upon the Events that happen We shall shortly have News of the Siege of Bremen in the mean time it imports the French much to conserve the Opinion had of their Valour and Goodness The Business in hand is to defend a great and illustrious House which moreover pretends to the Sovereignty of the Kingdom of Cyprus troubled by the Ambition of Kindred and the Politicks of the Spaniards These Ingagements import much to Princes who have as many Maxims as differing Interests but we have nothing to do with the Differences of others May it please God that our Affairs be always attended with an Equality of good Luck for the Ruine of these Infidels Be thou constant in the Friendship thou promisedst me and always faithful to thy Friend who recommends himself to thee as the Law obliges thee to be to thy Sovereign Paris 20th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XVIII To Berber Mustapha Aga. I This day entertained a man which came from Italy and hath served in the French Troops He gives this account of the Death of Marshal Crequi The 17th of this Mouth this General having approached the Lines of the Spaniards to view their Works and to Fight them in case he judged it Expedient a Cannon-Bullet separated his Body in two and the Bullet being taken up they were surprised to see a Cross graved upon it about which were also engraved Letters which made these two Words TO CREQVI This Bullet the Cross and the Letters caused no less Astonishment than the Death of this Captain did Sorrow and every Body spoke his Sentiment of it Many treat the Spaniards as Magicians and Sorcerers Those who are perswaded of the Power of Negromancy affirm That the Devil can carry a Bullet to the Place whither 't is designed others are of a contrary Sentiment and believe there is no Power without the Commandment of the Great God There are others who believe neither Charms nor Characters nor Magick who despising all these Superstitions attribute All to Destiny and I believe the same Ahmet Celebi explains this perfectly well in his Journal which begins in the One thousand twenty sixth Year of our Hegira when he affirms That all things which pass here below are effected by the Orders of Heaven We cannot doubt says he but the Events which we see are the Effects of the Will of God yet we must believe he suffers all Things
XXIV To the Kaimakam THE King of France hath sent forth another Army I have already informed thee that this Prince hath already Three Armies in Three Parts of Europe There is one in Piemont commanded by Cardinal la Valette another whereof Prince Henry of Condè is Generalissimo which they hope will quickly take Fontarabia and a Third commanded by Marshal Chatillion which besieges St. Omer The Duke of Longueville is at the Head of the Fourth which is entred into Burgundy with design to ruine the French County defended by Duke Charles of Lorrain one of the Emperor's Generals So many Armies and so many Captains march against the Spaniards This Nation sufficiently manifests her Force she is attack'd on all Sides and resists and defends her self on all Sides This vast Extent of Countries which the Austrians possess though separated from each other makes that they are always employed in defending themselves but they will be eternally exposed to lose without any Appearance of Gain Thou knowest that the true Secret of preserving Union amongst the Good is to entertain perpetual Differences amongst the Bad and thou wilt see that all the Adventures of this Country will render Us Invincible What I tell thee is a true Saying The French at Present are too powerful with so many Troops so many Armies by Sea and Land which are seen in the Provinces of their Enemies The other Christians are in continual Apprehensions The Embassadors of Princes which reside in this Town and Court observe with great diligence so many extraordinary Things but say nothing they do like me they write and advertise their Masters I am afraid thou wilt take no Pleasure in the Relations I make thee of the Successes of so great a Power but I ought to let thee know the Truth Affairs are carried on here with much Art The Ministers serve with great Fidelity and are very secret Cardinal Richlieu hath an entire Ascendant over the King's Spirit and to say Truth is a Person of great Merit They say he aspires to true Glory and will place the Crown which Charlemain wore as Emperor of the West upon his Master's Head If the good Fortune of France marches always at this Rate the Misfortunes of its Enemies must be excessive The manifold Wars which this Monarch undertakes and Richlieu counsels him do in the mean Time make the People who bear the Burthen by the Taxes which they are forced to pay murmur besides their Grief for the Loss of their Parents and Friends slain in these Wars The Cardinal fears Peace and apprehends his Enemies may destroy him if they have leisure to cabal against him Thus he finds his Interest in the War and the Armies support his Authority I cannot yet make any certain Judgment of him nor have a perfect Knowledge of his Manners no more than of the Extent of his Genius because the Man hides many Things during his Life with a Dress which will be discovered when he dies We can see which are his good Inclinations and it is not easie to penetrate into a Discovery of the Vices which he is inclined to In few Words he has much contributed to the â—eace of France divided by Diversity of Religion â—e hath succoured Italy and manifested there the â—ower of the King his Sovereign has weakened â—e Empire of Germany by the War he hath carâ—â—ed into her Bosom by the joynt Forces of the â—rinces of the North and them of France at once â—nd no less weakned the Power of the King of â—pain Thou that knowest every thing that passes and last Intelligence from all the Parts of the World canst truly judge of Affairs which makes thee know and foresee all that may prejudice the formidable Empire of the Mussulmans Paris 20th of the 7th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXV To the Kaimakam ALL is in Peace here the War being carried on abroad The Court continues to make Vows for the Queen's Health and happy Delivery They seem not so much concerned for the King's Welfare as the Queen's every Body being perswaded That the Happiness of France depends on her safe Delivery I writ to Ghiurdgi Muhamet that he should mention the Queen's being with Child as a doubtful Thing and which might vanish but at Present it is most certain for she will shortly be brought to Bed She lives in great Repose for fear of hurting her self she scarce stirs out of her Bed-Chamber and every body endeavours to please her There is News from Provence of the arresting of a King's Son by that Governor The Prisoner is Brother to Uladislaus King of Poland 'T is said that the King of Spain had made Prince Casimir Vice-Roy of Portugal in Recompence of the Troops of Cossacks he had formerly raised to defend the County of Burgundy They add that being embark'd at Genoa upon one of the Gallies of that Republick for Spain to take Possession of the said Charge with a small Train of Domesticks and Count Konickpolski who called himself Uladislaus's Embassador with the Marquiss of Gonzague his Kinsman being arrived in Provence and visiting with Care all the Ports and Fortresses this gave no small Cause of Suspicion to the French He staid four Days privately in Marseilles but his Galley was arrested at Bouc the last Port of France by Orders of this King 'T is not yet known what obliged France to make a Person of this Quality Prisoner having nothing to do with Poland and King Lewis XIII having no particular Pique against Prince Casimir But the Secrets of State being only known to them that govern Kingdoms I pretend to penetrate no further but content my self to write what they do and what they say Thou who in the Absence of the Vizir Hazem art the Glory of his Highness's Council art best able to discover the reason of so extraordinary a Novelty The most knowing Persons at Court say this Prisoner will suddenly be set at Liberty and that having no War that may authorize his Detention it would be unjust to retain him The Event will teach me who am Ignorant and them that will divine that which perhaps no body knows at present May it please the Great God Master and Soveraign Moderator of all Things that the Intelligences and Guesses which I give may always be profitable and agreeable and that thy Life may be of eternal Duration for the Happiness of our Great Emperor and his Empire Thou shalt suddenly know whether Prince Casimir be retained longer in Prison or set at Liberty I would that King Uladislaus were in the same misfortune in the hands of the Janizaries and that he as well as his Kingdom were Slaves to the Invincible Sultan King of Kings to whose Power may it please the divine Goodness and the wisest of his Prophets to subject all the Countries of the Infidels and then to place him with his Wives and all the Prophets in his Paradise Paris 20th of the Seventh Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXVI To the
Kaimakam HAving given thee an Accompt of the Imprisonment of Casimir I will relate to thee the Voyage of King Ulidislaus his Brother who is gone a Progress into Hungary and Germany The News here is That the King of Poland was gone to make a Visit to the King of Hungary who to do him Honour sent the chief of his Nobles to receive him upon the Confines of Moravia They write also That Arch-duke Leopold went from Vienna to meet him They embraced like Brethren and returned together with the Queen of Poland and her Sister back to Court 'T is added that the People received this Company with great Acclamations with the Noise of the Cannon and all the small Shot of the City The Day following having dined in the Imperial Palace they went together to Luxemburg to visit the Empress Eleanor Widow to the late Emperor of Germany If Carcoa hath not informed thee of these Particulars thou wilt receive them from Mahmut who watches incessantly to give true Intelligence and penetrate as much as may be into all that occurs and is done in this great Court which gives motion to all the Courts of Europe Reprove me if I do not well and punish me ' if the Emperor be not well served and thou satisfied Paris 15th of the Eighth Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXVII To Kerker Hassan Bassa DO not accuse me of being ill advised or negligent if I write to thee things that thou knowest already I am only careful in telling thee what happens here and my Business is not to enquire whether thou art better informed another way When I am ordered to write all that comes to my Knowledge I do my Duty in doing it and I ought not to be reprehended for it I am told that the Sultan is gone with an Army more numerous than all the Leaves on the Trees to destroy the * Persians Red-Heads and conquer Babylon I know that the Mufti the Grand Vizir and all the Grandees of the Divan followed him but am ignorant of what he did in his first Expedition when he took Revan An old English Merchant who comes from Ispahan and has served in the Army of the faithful Mussulmans passed this Way in his Return to England He hath been an Eye-witness of the great Actions of Amurath He says that this mighty Emperor after his taking of Revan left Twelve thousand Souldiers in Garrison there with Two hundred thousand Crowns in Silver besides Copper Moneys to pay them He saith also that our mighty Monarch being wearied to see so much Blood of the faithful yea of the Heretick Mussulmans spilt he had sent the King of Persia a Challenge offering to fight singly in Duel with him but he would not accept of his Defie He tells how Amurath being fallen in the Water in passing the River Haret was in great hazzard of being laid up in Expectation of the last Judgment Day in the other World had it not been for a Young lusty Solack who took him by the Arm and dragged him out of the River This Accident was the Prelude of a great good Fortune which happened to this mighty Prince upon the Bank of another River called Mako where he had the News of the Birth of a Son born to him in the Seraglio at Constantinople whom they call Alaaddin whose Nativity hath been celebrated with infinite Demonstrations of Joy This English-man tells us further that Amurath has taken Tauris and appeared publickly there with all the Marks of a formidable Power that he had destroyed the King of Persia's Seraglio burnt the publick Markets and caused a Million of fine Trees which renders the Loss irreparable to be cut down Let me know when thou art at leisure whether this News be true and do me the Favour to tell me our great Emperors Success in the Expedition of Babylon The Politicians here attend the News of it with much Impatience 'T is allow'd that Amurath is the most Potent of all Princes the strongest Man alive and that only he can vanquish and ruine the Kings of the Earth Two Strangers of differing Nations and both of Royal Blood are dead in this City The one is Don Christopher Son of Don Antonio King of Portugal who after he had lived Sixty six Years without ever attaining the Crown of his Father died in a Convent of Dervises called Cordeliers where he was buried in the same Place where his Father's Brother had been formerly The other Stranger was called Zaga Christos who was the legitimate Successor of the Kingdom of Aethiopia a Young Man of Twenty five Years Son to the Empress Nazarenne Widow of Jacob Emperor of the Abyssins who died in a Village near Paris He quitted his Kingdom as thou knowest forced by Civil Wars he arrived in France in the Year 1635. of the Aegyra of the Christians After many Adventures he composed the History of his Travels which he performed with Troubles and Incommodities which seemed insupportable What has he not suffered in traversing many Kingdoms Arabia the Desart Egypt Asia Minor and Jerusalem where he ran the Hazard of being arrested by the Bassa that resides there whom he escaped by retiring by Night to Nazareth amongst the Christian Dervises where he concealed himself five Months He said here that an Eunuch of the Bassa of Cairo had much sollicited him to forsake the Christian Religion to which he would never consent and refused to go to Constantinople to humble himself by prostrating his Face in the Dust of the Grand Signior's Feet although the Bassa extreamly pressed him to it with very advantageous Offers This King has done much Honor to the Manes of the dead Prince whilst perhaps he suffers everlasting Torments which neither thou nor I shall suffer if we always live like faithful Mussulmans according to the Precepts of the Law ordained by Mahomet and written in the Alcoran I shall gladly hear that thy Life is safe and my Friendship agreeable to thee Paris 20th of the Eighth Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXVIII To the Kaimakam THat which hath been so long expected is at length happened The Queen is brought to Bed of a Dauphin the King is a Father the Kingdom seems to desire nothing more and the People witness their Joy by a Thousand differing Festivities The Men the Women the Children and the Aged run through the Streets as at Bacchanals They rejoyce with their Friends they go to Church and thank God as if a Messiah had been born to them All the Priests praise God in their Temples for such a Present and the Monks not so content deafen the People with the Noise of their Bells and do more than the Drums and Trumpets of the Souldiers and all the Cannon of the Cittadel and Arsenal I did in Company of others what I should not have dared to perform if I had been alone or had not been observed Those who affirmed the Queen would be brought to Bed of a Son pretend now they had
it 'T is by the leading of an Innocent Life Here is published and that with great Reason the last Words of a Man of great Birth who died when he was very Old by a Wound he receeived He had served divers Kings in Places of the highest Trust and being mortally wounded in a Battel mark what he said to those that exhorted him to die like a good Christian and with the same Courage he had shewed in Life His Reply was That a Man who had lived well Fourscore Years cannot be to seek how to die well for a Quarter of an Hour This great Man who was a famous Soldier was also a true Philosopher and I might say he was a Saint had he been of our Religion I believe he was a most edifying Spectacle and the more considerable in as much as the Example he gave of dying well is more valuable than that which he gave in so many Battels of courageous Fighting He was called Anne de Montmorancy Constable of France whose Life I had the Curiosity of reading being to be found in the History of the Civil Wars of that Kingdom But before I end this Letter let me denote to thee the Difference there is between the Effects of Grief and Joy The Messenger from England of whom I already spake finding at his Return the Old Man whom he had left dying still alive he gave him such a strange Stroke by telling to him the Death of his Son that Grief having vanquished the Assaults of Death restored to this unhappy Old Man that Strength he had lost in his Health so that coming himself some Days after to Paris I saw him bewail the Loss of his only Son He that said heretofore A man should learn all his Life to die well uttered no strange Doctrine Our days will last long enough if we be ready to say at all times We have lived enough And if we love as we ought our great Emperor who is Invincible Holy and the most Just amongst Men And if we observe what a French Peasant said to all those that passed before his Door Never deny your Assistance and never do any Body any Hurt Let thou and I number our Days as was preached heretofore in the Seraglio to the white Eunuchs by the Persian whose Eyes were put out because he saw too clearly He always insisted on the Shortness Vneertainty and Vanity of Humane Life He said T was short considering what he had to do in it uncertain as to what we shall do in it and always mix'd with what we have done and what remains for us to do Teach not thy Son Mehemet yet for whom thou hast so much Affection these Precepts Children have not that Ripeness of Judgment as is necessary to hear Discourses of Death They are too hard Bits for their Stomachs and which indeed Old Men can hardly digest and which they swallow not without feeling all the Bitterness of them I pray God keep the Imperial City with those that dwell in it and shelter it from the Storms which fall on infamous Cities and I beseech him thou mayst live without Offence that thou mayst never fear Death Paris 2â—th of the lest Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER X. To Enguruli Emin Mehemet Chuk a Man of the Law WHEN I parted from Constantinople I gave thee a Stone of excellent Virtue against the Gravel and thou presented'st me with a Paper which was to secure me against all bodily Evils Time only can decide which of us two made the best Present to his Friend Thou hast pretended to learn me in few Words how to live amongst the Infidels and I thought in giving thee a Stone to give thee a Remedy against the Distemper thou art troubled with I never turn my self towards the Place where Mecha lies but I remember where thy Amity began and how far since it has been extended towards me Absence has not lessened thy Kindness nor hindred thee from sending me thy grave Counsels but I am as yet too young to set about the preparing my self for the other World and too vigorous and healthful to hearken to thy serious and melancholy Discourses I wish thou wert but at Paris where thou wouldest see a great Number of People who sell a most precious Thing to purchase a vain and fantastick Title How many with great Earnestness sue for Placeat's from the King that they may seek their Deaths Perhaps thou never thoughtest there were any such kind of People What dost thou think then of the Souldiery in General are they any others than Martyrs of Ambition to whom one would think Life is a Burthen 'T is a sad Spectacle to see how many Dead lie in the Streets or carried on the Shoulders of their Friends or Kinsmen to their Graves Yet this is so common a thing in Paris that the People make no Wonder of it This way of Living obliges me to do as the rest I begin to consider That what happens to another may happen to me there 's no avoiding ones Destiny This Preface is only to bring in a Story of this King's Goodness which ought to be an Example to all Princes The French have need of fresh Souldiers to fill up so many Troops as they continually entertain Not long since then there came a Man full of Years and overwhelm'd with Despair who desired to be Listed in this Princes Service To obtain what he desired he told the King That he was the Father of Twelve Children Seven of which were Daughters who were Marriagable that he could no longer live being not able to maintain such a great Family and that being ignorant as yet how to die he would learn it in the King's Service The Prince having appointed him to wait upon him one Day privately in his Closet thus spake to him Thy Despair makes thee desirous to be listed amongst my Souldiers and Charity obliges me to retain thee amongst the Citizens Those that are Fools when they enter into Troops commonly come out wiser because they learn several things of which they were before ignorant but as to thy part what Time hast thou to learn who art ready to fall dead at the same moment thou enterest into the School Yet I receive thee take this Sword go and combat thy Folly and take this Purse to succour thy Family and be cured but if thou art wise say not from whom thou hast received thy Cure I know not what Sum was in the Purse no more than I do of what Mettle the Sword was But I have this Story from an Officer of the King's Closet with whom I have that strict Converse that he told me this Passage as soon as ever it happened I 'll tell thee if thou wilt some of the principal Passages of my Life for I conceal nothing from the Ministers and the most venerable Mufti who knows all that I do I adore the Sovereign Master of the Universe and have a great Veneration for his holy Prophet I never
of Attendants who aspire to Employs of such as are in Offices and several other Persons who are desirous to be Witnesses of his Actions Those who threaten him in secret do but increase his Courage and make him more carefully stand on his Guard and those who have most Experience of the World affirm this Cardinal knows too much to be surprised Hear the Recital of one of the least of his Actions whereby thou maist figure the greatest and give them the due Price they deserve For Three Years together was observed in this Cardinal's Anti-chamber a Man who was â—ot far advanced in Years and as assiduous to make his Court as he was modest in his Discourse very reserved and patient and which is very rare at Court was never heard to complain The Cardinal who pretends to read the Souls of Men and who is inferior to none perhaps in this Art caused this Person who had so long attended to be called to him and thus spake to him I know who thou art and how long time thou hast spent in observing me although thou outwardly appearest a French-man thy great Patience assures me thou art of another Climate get thee to Rome and wait but half the time in the Pope 's Anti-chamber as thou hast done in mine and I doubt not but thou wilt penetrate into the most hidden Secrets Part then immediately for Italy and observe the Actions and Motions of the Wisest and most Dissimulative Court in the Universe discover not thy self to any body send me an Account every Week what thou canst discover and in this manner thou wilt be useful to me and avoid Idleness My Secretary will give thee a Cypher and my Treasurer has order to give thee what 's necessary for thy Voyage as well as to keep thee when thou art at Rome The Cardinal studies to extend the Bounds of the Kingdom and for that purpose consults those who can any ways advance his Projects especially the King being now certain of a Successor by the Birth of the Dauphin who seems very likely to live long All Hands are employed at Toulon and Marseilles for the fitting out of Galleys and other Vessels and 't is thought the chief Designs of this Minister are on the Coasts of Italy I am told he was heard to say That the Romans could never have conquered all the World as they did had they not before been Masters of Italy That Hannibal had the same Design and after Hannibal Pope Alexander VI. intended to see whether such a Design would take Effect but his Pride and Cruelty made all his Projects prove abortive and that he could meet with greater Success than Hannibal could he be so happy as to obtain one Thing And here he ended his Discourse He so greatly minds whatever passes in the Royal Family and Kingdom that he can discover as he pretends all the Thoughts yea and the very Dreams of the Grandees Governors of Provinces and those that command in Places He says he has learnt several useful Things in the Relation given us of the Government of the Chineses having from them the Way of discovering the most difficult Matters without its appearing he does any Thing for this Purpose And this is the Method of governing he observes in this Kingdom wherein are so many restless Spirits He maintains near all People who are in any considerable Offices Persons that depend only on him and who are known to no body else who in all Places wear mean Cloaths and incessantly watch over the Actions of the Officers and give him notice of whatever passes He makes use of these kind of People about his Master's Embassadors in foreign Courts He always carries a Book about with him which he calls Richlieu's Soul which Book contains the Designs the Interests the secret Practices and Inclinations of all the Princes who hold a Correspondence and have any Tyes with France and on whom France has any Pretensions The most skilful Astrologers in Europe have also sent him the Horoscopes of all the Kings and great Men with their Judgments touching the Term of their Lives and what they may probably undertake in all Times This Cardinal said on another Time That he kept a great many Couriers yet he could well enough spare them That he knew what passed in remote Places as soon as what was done near him He once affirmed he knew in less than Two Hours That the King of England had signed the Warrant for the Execution of ...... If this Particular be true this Minister must be more than a Man Those who are his most devoted Creatures affirm he has in a private place in his Closet a certain Mathematical Figure in the Circumference of which are written all the Letters of the Alphabet armed with a Dart which marks the Letters which are also marked by their Correspondents And it appears that this Dart ripens by the Sympathy of a Stone which those who give and receive his Advices keep always at hand which hath been separated from another which the Cardinal has always by him and 't is affirm'd that with such an Instrument he gives and receives immediately Advices This great Man who knows all these reports only laughs at them yet he says with a serious Air That God has given him Two Angels one White and another Black to inform him of both good and bad Matters and that with their Assistance he shall overthrow the Cabals of his Enemies He sent some Days past a Man to the Gallies that was accused for cutting in pieces the King's Picture but having been better inform'd and knowing t was his he told those about him That this Man should be pardoned because he had done no Hurt to the Original Here are Theaters and Feasts preparing to entertain the People in Honour of the King and Cardinal and 't is whispered that the Queen is again with Child Heaven preserve thee ever from the Sultan's Anger and all other Misfortunes which may sowre the Comforts of thy Life Paris 25th of the first Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER XIV To Egri Boynou the white Eunuch IF thou goest into Prussia in Bithynin as thou writest above all Things remember to prepare thy self not to live long and never to inform the young Sultan Mustapha of the Misfortune of the Grandson to Solyman the Great and Son to poor Bajazet whom his Grandfather caused to be strangled in his Infancy This unhappy place makes me fearful of thy Life as well as that of the Prince's the Care of whose Education is committed to thee I cannot forbear weeping every time I call to mind what passed between the Victim and the Executioner Thou thy self toldest me That this unhappy Child embraced and kissed several times him that was to give the Fatal Stroke even in the Moment when he was putting about his Neck the Silken String which was to strangle him All Asia is informed of the rest of the History and 't is known That this Child altho
strangâ—ed yet triumphed at his Death over his Murtherer For being softned by the Caresses of this Infant whom he was about destroying he dropt down in a Swoon and Bajazet's Son had by this Occasion escaped Death had not the other Executioner more cruel than the former done the Work Altho thou dost not certainly know who is Mustapha's Father yet thou maist well presume he is the Emperor's Son Thy Age and Prudence so long experienced and the-Office of Chief of all the Eunuchs of the Empire which thou hast so long enjoyed leaves no place of doubting but that thy Pupil is of Royal Blood Arm thy self then with Courage and study to perform well thy Duty in this solitary Place Nothing is so troublesom as the instructing of Children when they will be taught as Masters by their Slaves and will not submit to Rules like private Persons Thou maist be sure I shall render thee all the Service I am able seeing I consider thee as a Friend that is extream dear to me But why dost thou seek amongst the Christians an illustrious Subject which may serve for a Model to form a Child born in the Religion of the Mussulmen Did I not know thy Wisdom I should think thou art very simple in searching after Examples amongst the Enemies of our holy Law to propose them to be followed by the Ottoman Children Thou hast chosen for this Purpose Henry of France termed the Great and art thou ignorant that this so famous a King was the most implacable Enemy of the Empire Be it known to thee That this Prince undertook the boldest and dangerousest Design as was ever imagined to destroy the Monarchy of the Mussulmen and might probably have succeeded had not Heaven by an unforeseen Stroke snatched him from the Earth to appear before the Tribunal of the True God who judges Kings as well as other Men. But lest thou should'st imgin I make this a Pretence to excuse my self from satisfying thee in what thou desirest receive at least one Part of what thou expectest Thou wouldst have me send thee the History of this Prince content thy self with a short Extract of it otherwise I must be forced to send thee a large Volume However make not use of his Example in all Things the Way of Living the Laws and Customs of the French do not suit with the Turkish Way of Regiment If thou wilt make thy Pupil accomplished form him on the Model of some one of those Hero's which the East has given us Mustapha will read with greater Profit the History of Alexander and Pyrrhus than that of Charlemain and Henry and should one wonder at the Defaults of the King of Macedonia's Son and at the small Fortune of the other Pray shew me what Men there ever were who had at the same time the Frailties of human Nature and the Perfections of the Divinity And if thou wilt search into Persia and Egypt thou wilt find a Cyrus and an Artaxerxes Ptolemy Psammeticus Campson and Tomombeis all great Princes whose Actions honour Antiquity And how many Heroes wilt thou find in our Greece if thou wilt take no Notice of those whom Rome has sent into the World But not to go out of the Ortoman Family thou knowest very well that we Turks have for Proverbial Speeches The Modesty of Solyman The good Mien of Alis The Justice of Nonquirevan The Majesty of Osman The Gravity of Humer and the Justice of Abubekir not to mention the Courage and Magnanimity of Amurath who is at this Day more valorous than any of his common Soldiers whether he be in his Seraglio of Constantinople or in his Tents before Babylon Ten Days ago I received thy Letter and I have employed a great deal of that Time in collecting what thou hast desired of me and to speak truly thy Commands have suppli'd me with matter wherewithal to divert me Thou wilt be without doubt surprized that Two Men who long served this King in mean Employs have discovered several Particulars of his Life with which the French themselves perhaps are not acquainted My Sentiment has ever been That 't is more necessary to know the Manners and Customs of Men than to know the Number of Places they have besieged or taken and to be informed of their good Qualities and bad ones than to learn the Manner of their Encampments and the Number of the Battles which they have won or lost All Histories contain the Actions of Men and the Principal is to know these Men to instruct others for Histories do generally rather divert than instruct Men. These will teach thee better what thou art to learn than the Historians themselves Christian Authors are at present like the Elements always in War and ever contrary to one another and never agreeing These Two above-mentioned Friends who are now very old Men have served King Henry above Thirty Years and ever held a strict Correspondency with one another One was his Barber and the other's Business was to divert him with reading to him when he was going to Rest That which is related of Henry's coming into the World without weeping is certainly a Fable but it is certain the Queen of Navarr his Mother sung a French Song in the Time of his Birth whereby this Princess seemed to shew other Women that 't is possible to be brought to Bed without Crying out The first Milk which this Royal Babe drank was an Ambrosia which the Gods of our Friend the Poet Oglou never tasted His Father made him drink in a Golden Cup of the strongest Wine that could be gotten wherein he put and squeezed a Clove of Garlick which he thought proper to strengthen his Temperament and render him more vigorous He was afterwards bred up like Cyrus spending his first Days in Woods and oftentimes in the Company of Sheepherds He went always with his Head bare whether exposed to the scorching Heats of the Summers Sun or during Winter to the Rain and most rigorous Frosts Snow and Hail It seems as if he had began his Life in Prison being confined to the Fields distant from all Converse clad in coarse Hair-cloth to accustom his Body to Fatigues and souple his Spirit to the Accidents of Fortune He was but Nine Years old when he lost his Father Anthony King of Navarr The Death of this Prince may serve for a Lesson to Mustapha for having received his Death's Wound at the Siege of a considerable Place he made the Wall of the Chamber where he lay to be broken down that he might be carried into his own Bed dying as it were in Triumph into the Town miserable Ambition of Great Men who strip not themselves of it till Death strips them of their Lives Seven Years after the Death of Anthony the Young Henry was declared Head and Defender of the Hugonot Party and when Eighteen Years old he was in a considerable Fight but 't is not well known whether he himself was engaged Fortune was so contrary to him
in the Beginning that having lost a Battle he was obliged to fly for Six Months together with the rest of his Army and to traverse almost throughout all the Provinces of the Kingdom without taking any Rest for Fear of being surprized Thou hast never read I believe of any Captain that made a Flight of that durance before him The Queen his Mother being a Woman of a masculine Courage and Firmness of Mind dyed poysoned by a pair of Gloves At Nineteen Years of Age he married the King's Sister who then Reigned named Charles IX and never any Wedding was solemnized with such bloody Tragedies 'T is hard to believe what an infinite Number of Hugonots was then massacred the Design was secretly laid during the Celebration of the Wedding and executed Six Days after at full Noon 'T is said that in one Day all France was died with the Blood of these poor People there being at least an Hundred thousand of them slain amongst which were Twenty Lords of great Consideration with the Great Admiral of the Kingdom and at the fewest Four thousand Soldiers massacred in Paris Henry did not perish on that unhappy Day but he was very near Death and the King having called him thus spake to him with an angry Tone and fierce Countenance Henry thou art alive because I would spare thee but I will not spare thee if thou persistest in thy Heresy Choose one of these two things either the Mass or Death If thou knowest not what the Mass is I will shew thee in another Letter This Prince chose to go to Mass rather than to lose his Life and therefore publickly abjured the Religion he professed These two old Men affirm That Nero or Caligula's Court were never corrupted as that of France was then No People were more in Fashion than Buffoons and never did the worst sort of Debaucheries so abound Sorceries Empoysonings Assassinations and all other Sorts of Crimes were permitted in such a Manner that all the Laws and good Order seem'd to be overthrown 'T is not known whether the King of Navarr took up his former Religion through Policy or some Corruption he saw amongst the Catholicks however he return'd some Time after to Calvinism whereunto he was so obstinately addicted that having lived several Years in this Sect he was forced to offer great Violence to himself to enjoy peaceably the Kingdom of France and accommodate himself with the Pope of Rome and to make again publick Profession of the Roman Religion Never any Prince more loved Women than he did This Passion prevailed over him all the Days of his Life and there were Two different Natures observable in his Person An Invincible Courage in the Field and such a Passion for Women as made him be often seen to Weep amongst them He has had greater Weaknesses than Hercules and he gloried in them He challenged the bravest Man in all France the Duke of Guise to a single Fight but the King interposed his Authority to hinder the Combat This King performed an Action during his Youth which our Dervises would have certainly set down in their Registers as greatly remarkable On a certain Day wherein he was to fight a pitched Battle being on Horseback in the midst of his Army he made publick Reparation to a young Woman whom he had deflowred and spake in these Terms I have forced this Woman you see here and used Threats when Entreaties would not bring her to my Lust Let all that hear me detest the bad Example I have given And as for your part whom I have thus wronged choose an Husband and receive from me such a Portion as may seem in some sort an Amends for the Injury I have done you It seems as if this so laudable an Action was approved of by Heaven for having immediately hereupon given Battle he overthrew a mighty Army with a few Troops The Ladies who bore Henry no Ill-will for his Tenderness to their Sex greatly interessed themselves in the Affairs of War wherein this Prince was always Head of the Hugonot Party and they gave Occasion to a Proverb which lasted a great while There being some who were for making a Peace and others for War This War was called The Ladies War This Prince had been in so many Fights that I believe one may truly say in this particular never any Prince came near him For who ever in one Day was in two Battles and came off victorious King Charles IX dying during this Time the Queen-Mother sent for her other Son in great Diligence who had been elected some Months before King of Poland by the Death of Sigismond Augustus 'T is said that Charles's Successor having been advertised of the Death of the King his Brother fled in the Night from Cracovia only with Two Persons who were his Confidents and retired to Venice and 't is said That the Courtisans of this famous City having assured the Crown to our Henry for having been infected with this Distemper which the French call the Neapolitan Disease and other Nations the French-Pox he became incapable of having Children to perpetuate the Crown in the Branch of Valois After his Death which was violent and perpetrated by a Christian Dervise Henry III. dying without an Heir and his Throne being sought by different Pretenders Henry to whom alone his Birth had given Right became Master of it by his Patience his Fatigues in War and his Courage made him vanquish all Obstacles He maintained his Right with an unparallel'd Valour and carried himself with the greatest Prudence yet his greatest Successes are owing to the Greatness of his Heart He met sometimes with Disadvantage but oftner came out Conqueror from all Engagements and 't is observable he was the prouder after the Battles won because he had before appeared extraordinary familiar with the Souldiers who had helped him to win them He was wont to be often in his Stables to see his Horses and often slept amongst these Creatures whom he termed his most faithful Courtiers How difficult soever the way was which was to lead him to the Throne he would not be disheartned these Difficulties serving only to increase his Courage He saw the Spaniards confederated with his Enemies yet he alone without any other Assistance but of some few faithful Troops sate down before Paris which was the most famous Siege since that of Jerusalem by Titus He reduced the Inhabitants of this Capital of the Kingdom to live on the most abject Meats one can imagin after they had consumed the Rats Mice Dogs and Cats which were for some time the richest Delicacies the best People of the Town could meet with But he was for all this after he had given several Assaults forced to raise the Siege and accommodate himself with the Prince who commands all the Priests amongst the Catholicks and he again renounced Calvinism wherewith he was infected and which served as a Pretence to his Enemies He was crown'd in the same manner his
which thou mayst add That the Inheritance of the poorest Genoese does at this time much surpass those of their Predecessors Shew him they have begun to give considerable Succours to great and puissant Monarchs by immense Sums and that in fine in the Registers of particular Traders one may see the Names of the greatest Monarchs on Earth to whom they are become Creditors Be more careful of what thou writest for the Future and when thou givest Advice set down what thou knowest without Exaggeratings and be reserved in what 's doubtful Never write Falsehoods in thy Dispatches Be also never the Author of vulgar Rumors and Stories made by People at leasure who abound with Extravagancies God help thy Understanding and heal thy Distempers if thou hast any Paris 10th of the 11th Moon of the Year 1640. LETTER XVIII To the Kaimakan THE Christians are become Magicians or to speak better the Spaniards who make War in Piemont have fill'd the World with Astonishment by an extraordinary and new Enchantment I wrote to thee there were two great Armies before Turin one to take it and the other to succour it but I have not yet made known to thee that the Canon of the Spaniards are become Couriers who carry their Dispatches in the Air into the besieged Cities and moreover Ammunition Powder Salt-Petre and Mony a marvellous Invention which fills me with Admiration in writing it There is a Man in the Camp of General Leganez who makes brass Bullets so artificially that having shot them into the Ditch of the Place they have for a long time succoured the Besieged 'T is said that being made in a Vice and hollowed within they have served for two Uses to convey into Turin what was wanting and to bring back into the Spaniards Camp the things they most needed But this Industry proved in the end useless for after several Conflicts Turin has faln again into the Hands of King Lewis who has therein restablished the Dutchess of Savoy to the great satisfaction of her People who have thereupon shewed the Signs of the greatest Joy This Restablishment is owing to the Valour and Conduct of Count Harcourt who has sustained and repelled the Assaults of two Armies stronger in number than his own This Captain has made his Name as famous in Italy as were heretofore those of the Hero's of Rome and Athens The Marquiss of Leganez undertook the Siege of Cazal an important Place belonging to the Duke of Mantoa situated on the famous River of Po in Italy Count Harcourt being not able with all his Army to put Succours into the place he took the Party of forcing himself the Besieged entring on Horseback into the Lines with his Sword in his Hand where he was followed by some of his Gentlemen The Spaniards being surprized and astonisht found no Safety but in Retreat which they made disorderly and the French under such a Captain bore away that day the greatest and most glorious Victory they ever won in Italy If thou requirest an Account of me of what has past in Germany I can tell thee that the War has been carryed on there this Year with equal Success and Losses to both Parties to whom Fortune has been sometimes favourable and otherwhiles contrary But I am informed there 's a design of making a great Assembly at Cologn to restablish a Peace between all the Christian Princes and that the King of France has named for his Plenipotentiary there the Cardinal Julius Mazarin an Italian by Nation a Man of great Parts and Experience in Business Prince Casimir is set at Liberty at the Intreaty of the King of Poland his Brother and been since well received by the King who made him Dine at his Table and presented him with a rich Diamond The Town of Arras which the French have taken in the Spanish Netherlands is of great Importance and is a considerable loss to the Catholick King who will give great Reputation to his Enemies that have taken the Place in the sight of a great Army commanded by the Cardinal Infant Governour of the Low Countries which Conquest has mightily raised the French Courage and encreased the Glory of their Prince The Queen is brought to Bed of a Second Son who was born the 21st of September and he is named the Duke of Anjou The Spaniards are as unfortunate on the Sea as at Land Their Fleet which return'd from the West Indies richly laden with Commodities of all sorts have been most of them dispersed by the French Naval Army commanded by the Duke of Breze The Spaniards truly fought with much Valour but Fifteen Thousand of their Men were slain and Two Hundred taken Prisoners together with Five great Vessels richly laden One of their great Gallions was burnt and it is said the other Ships were saved having first thrown the best part of their Lading overboard which they had brought with such great Care and Pains from the other World That which has past on the Ocean has not hindred the Archbishop of Bordeaux from shewing the Strength of the King his Master on the Mediterranean where he has fought an Occasion of fighting the Spaniards with a lighter Army consisting for the most part of Gallies He had sent a Defiance to the Duke de Ferrandine General of the Spanish Gallies who being unwilling to accept of the Challenge this Prelate advanced towards the Coasts of Naples where he did some Mischief One may say That the Misfortunes of Philip King of Spain are as great this Year as his Power is But it is said these Losses are not comparable to what he is threatned with if Portugal and Catalonia shake off the Yoak of his Domination as the common report runs I have heard much talk in General on these considerable Affairs without being however informed of any certain Particulars But henceforward when I shall be able to leave my Chamber to go into the Churches Walks and Gardens about the City and the Court I shall let nothing pass without a strict Enquiry and give a Faithful Account of whatever deserves thy Notice and shouldst thou desire any particular thing of thy Slave Mahmut 't is but mentioning it and thou shalt not want an exact and humble Answer It makes me tremble in telling thee that a Report runs here of the Death of the Invincible Prop of the World the Mighty of Mighties in fine of the Glorious Amurath 'T is false News I hope yet however asserted with great Confidence The Arbiter of Heaven and Earth confound all our Enemies and give the Grand Seignior and thy self a Life which knows no End and attended with a Happiness which cannot be encreased Paris 7th of the last Moon of the Year 1640. LETTER XIX To Dgnet Oglou THe Lovely Greek after whom thou enquirest so earnestly is long since retired into France and has been married Eighty Moons to a great French Merchant with whom I am not acquainted but am informed is very rich and fortunate in
without its being known whether 't was by his Fall or the Musket-shot which he received The Confederates with as little trouble seized on the Gallies and other Vessels in the Ports whence they drove the Spaniards they afterwards commanded the Vice-Queen to retire This Princess thought she ought in this occasion to insist on the Greatness of her Birth she threatned the Conspirators and afterwards flattered them assuring them of the Clemency of King Philip. She set before them the Greatness of his Power and forgat not to speak of the Authority of his Favourite who must needs be much offended in this Occasion exaggerating the Offence commitred against her both as a Princess and Depository of the Catholick King 's Power But as well her Promises as her Threats were in vain and she her self was at length glad to accept Conditions from them who a while before by Connivance from the Prince might have executed an absolute Power In Eight days time all the Castilians were subdued or driven out of the Kingdom All the Forts were rendered without any trouble to the new King except the Castle of St. John which having made some slight Resistance was sold for Forty Thousand Crowns by the Governour The Duke of Braganza appeared immediately afterwards in the City of Lisbon where the People soon shewed the Affection they had for him the Prison-Doors were set open and all poor Debtors freed and a great part of the Taxes taken off Such an astonishing Success was attended with what ever might set forth the Joy of the People who solemnized the Festival with the Sound of Trumpets and the Noise of the Cannon and by Shouts and Acclamations which reached up to Heaven whom the Portugueses thanked for the Liberty which they believed they had recovered This Event was accompanied with so many miraculous things that the Wisest as well as the Vulgar were persuaded 't was markt in Heaven from all Eternity by the Finger of God The Clergy the Nobility the Citizens and Peasants were profuse in their Liberalities on this Occasion to give their new Soveraign ample Marks of their Affection and even the Poor hid their Misery that they might not lessen the Publick Joy The Spanish Vessels which returned from the New World which then entered into the Ports of Portugal remained at the Disposal of the new King the Pilots not knowing what had hapned so that the Coffers of the Prince were filled thereby as 't is said with some Millions This King was exalted to the Throne in the last Moon of the last Year and wise People do hope he will reign very happily all the Planets being too well disposed not to make him finish his Reign with the same Fortune as he began it The vigilant Portugueses have ordered out several Vessels fill'd with good Soldiers and necessary Provisions to sieze of Places and Ports which this Nation possesses in the New World and in the East Indies and 't is to be supposed they will meet with good Success if Fortune prove as favourable to them in America and the Indies as she was to them in Europe As soon as the Duke of Braganza was proclaim'd King he sent Manifesto's into all Parts and dispatched Couriers and Ambassadors to give Advice of his Promotion in the Courts of France England Holland Swedeland and Denmark 'T is not to be imagined the Joy which this Adventure gave to the Catalonians The King imparting to them what had happened offered them also his Assistance and these People answered him with the same Offers And this is the end of Sixty Three Years of the Despotick Authority which the Spaniards have exercised on the Portugueses The News of so strange a Revolution having been carried unto Madrid hear and consider well the unhappy Condition of the Catholick King to whom his Favourite declared this News Sir said he I come to rejoyce with your Majesty at the good News I bring Your Majesty is now become Master of a considerable Dutchy Dom Juan de Braganza has had the boldness to make himself be proclaimed King of Portugal has thereby faln into the Crime of Laesae Majestatis All his Estate belongs to you and is devolv'd to the Crown and his Person will soon be in your Power Dom Juan was Son to Theodosius Duke of Braganza Grandchild to Donna Katharina who was the Daughter of Dom Duarte Brother to Henry King of Portugal and Philip II. King of Spain took away the Crown from this Katharine to whom it is said it did rightly belong The Titles he assumes are King of Portugal of Algraves Africk on both sides of the Sea Lord of Guinea of the Navigation and Commerce of Aethiopia Arabia Persia and the Indies This new King is not above 37 Years Old of a middle Stature but well proportioned his Face marked with the Small Pox his Hair enclining to Yellow an Aquiline Nose high Forehead lively Eyes his Mouth indifferent great and a Masculine Voice His Carriage is grave affects great Modesty in his Cloaths is temperate in his Dyet affable to all sorts of People unless Slaves and such as he believes are Hypocrites and his common Word is That mean Cloaths will keep out the Cold and ordinary Meats satisfie Hunger This Prince is not much versed in Books is of an healthfull Constitution loves laborious Exercises especially Hunting wherein he 's never tired He 's also Musically given and so light of Heel that there are few People can out-walk him He is wont to go to Bed late and rise early as knowing that Sleep does take off much from Man's Life and to compleat his Happiness he has Children of both Sexes His Wife is a Spanish Lady of extraordinary Merit to whose marvellous Courage and good Qualities he owes his Crown The Kingdom of Portugal contains 120 Leagues in Length 40 in Breadth and has several Millions of Subjects comprehending those in the Two Indies It has Three Archbishopricks and Eight Bishopricks keeping ordinarily Forty Vessels which find Ports in Eight places of the Country They can maintain Thirty Thousand Foot and several Regiments of Horse The Revenue of this Kingdom may amount to Twenty Millions of Gold reckoning in the Riches which come from the Indies Brasil Angola and several other Islands The French Monarch will hold a good Intelligence with the House of Braganza England will enter into an Alliance with her the Pope will concern himself on neither side the Emperour united by Bloud and Interest to the Spaniards will be an irreconcilable Enemy but unable to doe them any Hurt and the States of Holland will find greater Advantage than all others in this strange Revolution These are the Sentiments of those that pretend to penetrate into the Future and to know more than others And if it be true that this new Soveraign has had as all men in his place would have had a secret desire of being King he has so well concealed his Ambition that 't is to be supposed he
Death has caused She has been ruled by the Advice of her Friends and received great Comfort from a Letter sent her by the King written with his own Hands Cousin The Grief which you show at your late Loss obliges me to testifie the Share which I have in it and the Displeasure I conceive at the fault of him which has caused it And though I ought not to be sorry by reason of the Conjuncture wherein it has hapned yet I must heartily condole with you and contribute what I am able to your Consolation I can say nothing more to thee my most honoured mother unless it be that thou shalt always have in me a most obedient Son and if thou takest a Third Husband thou wilt be perhaps less unfortunate but please thy self The great God who has created all Things and provides for their Necessities by his Infinite Goodness comfort and fill thee with his Blessings Paris 25th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1642. LETTER XV. To the Grand Signior 's Treasurer THE Priest which plaid the Tarpaulin whom the French call the Archbishop of Bordeaux of whom I believe I have given thee some Account the 10th Moon of the year 1637. has lost the Credit which he had with the King and is at present disgraced The Opinion of his Valour at Court is much lessened by his not hindring with the Fleet he commanded the Spaniards from putting Succours into Tarragone a famous Sea-Port near Barcellona They lost the last year twelve Gallies in Fight against the French Naval Forces but having fitted a mightier Fleet they have put into this Place the Succours they intended The Archbishop could not or would not hinder them which will be the cause that this Place will not come so soon under the Power of the French 'T is said that this Prelate was banisht France and was retired into a City situated on the Rhosne named Avignon and belongs to the Roman Prelate It being a thing very usual to run down the Unfortunate all the World blames this Prelate having not always met with equal Success on the Sea in the Employs he sought and which did not at all agree with his Function of Archbishop which he might have performed with Applause in imitating his Predecessor who was his Brother the Cardinal de Sourdis and who had left him a Diocess well regulated rich furnished with great store of Churches well served Pastors of great Piety and Learning whom this man had procured and setled in his Diocess with great Care which made his Death extreamly lamented The Catalonions are at length become this King's Subjects they maintain their Revolt with the French Forces and strengthen themselves after the Example of the Portugueses They fight with such Courage that they come off continually Conquerors but I shall make no Relation of their Fights nor of the Blood which is spilt on either side which are Matters I do not care to treat of God give thee a continual Tranquillity of Mind make thee in love with Peace and preserve in thee that vigilant Spirit so necessary for the keeping the Treasure entrusted to thee LETTER XVI To the Kaimakam THe Cardinal Favourite of France has such long Hands that he makes Seizures in those places which are not subject to his Jurisdiction and when he has made them he keeps them without any thoughts of restoring them There 's no probability at present That this bold Politician will lay hands on what belongs to the Grand Signior However I have some Reason to write this There has been carry'd some days since an illustrious Prisoner into the Castle of the Wood of Vincennes and thou shalt hear this new way of apprehending a great Man in another's House and in the Court of a Foreign Sovereign who is absolute in his own Estates This Prisoner was apprehended in the midst of the finest Ladies in the Court of Turin at a magnificent Ball which the Dutchess Regent of this Estate gave in her Palace It was this Princess whom I mentioned to thee who was Widow to Victor Amadaeus Duke of Savoy and Sister to the King which now so happily reigns over the French The Dutchess who had a particular Considerasion for this Prisoner could not behold this Exploit of the Cardinal 's without extream Vexation His Name is if I be not mistaken Count Philip a' Aglie a Person of great Quality and whose excellent Parts and Courage do yet render him more illustrious than his Birth 'T is not yet known why the Cardinal undertook such a bold Stroak though 't is said the Council of France has had great reasons to secure the person of this Favourite The chief Motive they say was That he was caarying on some Designs against the Interests of this Crown with the Cardinal of Savoy whom 't is thought he would have married to the Widow of Amadaeus his Brother Richlieu attempted not to carry off Count Philip till having made several Tryals to remove him from the Court of Turin under the pretence of some Embassie to which he would never consent so that his Obstinacy cost him his Liberty The Dutchess greatly complains and reproaches the King her Brother with the Violation of the Right of Nations and Sovereignty but only her own Court are sensible to these Complaints they being not heard in that of France and her Embassadour has been seen there in a supplicant Posture humbly suing for the Count's Liberty or that he might be sent on an Embassie to Rome or at leastwise That in leaving the Castle of Vincennes he might be imprisoned somewhere in Paris The Cardinal answered the Supplications of the Ambassador of Savoy That the King his Master did not apprehend Philip and bring him into France but out of regard to the Interests of his Sister of Savoy and that she might be assured that for her sake he should be well used Thou maist see by this Answer a great Haughtiness and frivolous Reasonings which sufficiently denote that this great Minister does not love to be contradicted or opposed in the Resolutions he takes and if an Account of what 's done in the World must be given to any one man alone he would take it very ill if it were to any body but himself I shall not fail to send thee the Books thou requir'st and inform thee the best I can of the false or true D. Sebastian King of Portugal whom his Subjects do believe to be still alive when I have made sufficient Enquiries into the Truth of the Matter I kiss with a profound Humility the Hem of thy rich Vest on which I fasten the Lips of a Respectful and Obedient Slave Paris 21st of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1642. LETTER XVII To the Reis Effendy Secretary of the Empire THere was found last Night a Man dead in the Streets of Paris who seems not to be above 30 Years old he is a Spaniard and had about him a Letter or Memoir which it seems he had written
is unhappy when they are handsome but more when they are homely and deformed The Fathers Brethren and Husbands guard the former as Cerberus guarded the Gates of Hell and the others guard themselves and look on all things with Eyes of Envy and Discontent which makes them empoyson every thing But that which happens amongst us is very different from what 's in France where Women enjoy almost a Liberty equal to that of Men. Not but that we see notable Adventures happen there witness the Queen who is Mother to a great King now reigning and yet lives in Exile and as a Fugitive amongst Strangers through the Credit of Cardinal Richlieu for whom she has not all the Deference he expected And an ancient Lady I may call her so now she does not hear me told me such things some days past on this occasion which I can scarce believe my self did I not know them to be true from elsewhere I am farther told that this Cardinal not having succeeded in the design he had of marrying his Niece with a Prince of the Bloud intended if he could to marry her to the King's Brother But there 's no great likelihood but so able a Minister must see into the mischievous Consequences into which this Promotion would bring him for it would undoubtedly draw on him the Hatred of all the great People in the Kingdom And I would not be mentioned at Constantinople for the Author of all the News talk'd of at Paris But 't is certain this Priest sent the Chancelor a venerable Person and by his Office a man of great Authority to seize on this Princess's Papers in hopes he might meet with some Letter which might favour that Design The Chancellor executed the Order he had received but found nothing of what the Cardinal pretended so that this Persecution served only to manifest this Princess's Vertue who lives in such a manner as may not only serve as an Example to all Queens but all the Women in the World Some time after this same Chancellor being come to compliment the Queen on the Birth of the Dauphin she told him in a composed manner but very pleasantly That this Visit was very different from that she had received from him about a Year past If Persons that are seated in the highest degrees be not secure from the bold Attempts of those who are infinitely below them and who are born to serve them the beautiful Ciâ—câ—ssian should comfort her self in the Misfortune she had of being accused If her Innocency be well proved she will be the more pleasing to Ibrahim and the false Accusation laid against her will be a new Charm to him whereas should she be found guilty we must grant she deserves the most dreadful Punishments for having violated if I may so express my self the Sacred Nights of the Seraglio However the young Persian was found disguised in Woman's Apparel in some of the neighbouring Stables And though he in the midst of the Torments he suffered died without confessing any thing yet it cannot be said he died innocent after such an Attempt I hope thou wilt inform me what has happened since thy last Letter and in what manner the Adventure of this beautiful Slave shall be ended I shall be much troubled for her if she be innocent and cannot be wholly free from Compassion for her if she prove guilty Leave not off writing to me and if it be possible be not weary of loving me I speak in the Presence of our holy Prophet I love thee with the same Affection as ever and I dare not utter an Untruth before him Paris 20th of the 5 th Moon of the Year 1642. LETTER XXII To the Kaimakam T IS about 60 years since D. Sebastian King of Portugal died in Africk by the Hands of the Moors and yet his Subjects will believe him still living He parted from Lisbon in the Year 1578. in the Design of re-establishing on his Throne Muley Mehemet Cheriff of Africk whom his Uncle Muley Abdelemelech would bereave of his Kingdom but in effect to endeavour at the making himself Master of Barbary His Army consisted of a Thousand Sail well furnish'd with Provisions few Soldiers but a great many Nobility This Prince was not above 25 years of Age when he formed this Enterprize he was a strong bodied Man of a moderate Stature but well set his Hair was yellow his Eyes great and full of Fire his Courage was not inferiour to his Strength and he had no violent Inclination to Pleasures which generally take Men's Minds off from gallant Actions he was temperate in all things yet very forward in Undertakings and always firm and unmovable in greatest Dangers He was a great Husband of his Revenues employing them in his Subjects Defence or to the Increase of his own Power He was agreeable to all those that waited on him and in the freest Conversations he took care not to disoblige any one by sharp Raillery or distastful Sayings and so merciful was he that he avoided all Occasions of condemning his Subjects to Death He passionately loved War but 't is thought the Expedition into Africk wherein he perished came from Spanish Counsels D. Sebastian was kill'd in fighting with an Invincible Courage The Moors say That his Enemies were so charmed with his Courage that his Death drew Tears from their Eyes He was forsaken by his own mortally wounded near the right Eye-brow and pierced with Darts in several Parts of his Body He had no Wound in his Head because he was armed but he had a great one in his Arm which seemed to come from a Musket-Bullet 'T is said he was buried in the Field near a Moor without any Ceremony Prayers or Company of his Relations or Subjects And this was the End of this Great King who made all Africk at first to tremble Although the Moors rejoyced at the Death of so puissant an Enemy that his Friends bewailed his Misfortune The Kingdom of Portugal celebrated his Funeral in a magnificent manner and the King of Spain proffered several thousand Crowns for his Body to bury him in a manner answerable to the Dignity of his Birth and Merit and that Four Kings have since supplied his Throne yet was there found a Man bold enough to maintain in the Face of all Italy that he was really D. Sebastian King of Portugal He presented himself at Venice in an Assembly of the wisest Magistrates in Europe he recited to them the Accidents of his Life the History of his Predecessors the Misfortunes he met with in Africk whence he retired into Calabria He did more for he stripp'd himself before this Illustrious Assembly he shewed them Seventeen Marks on his Body which were acknowledged with Astonishment by the Portugueses themselves to be at least very like those which they knew their Sovereign had on his Body and he also shewed that he had one Hand greater than the other and a Lip disproportionable in the same manner which were the