not yet fully establish'd and confirm'd There has been a Cessation of Arms since that Time And now the Duke Amalfe on the Emperor's Side the Duke of Vandort for the King of France and he of Ersken for the Crown of Suedeland are met at Norimbergh to conclude a Final Ratification of the Articles During this Consult the Suedish Army are permitted by the Emperour's Agreement to Quarter up and down in Seven Circles of the Empire and not to be discharg'd till all their Arrears are paid at the Cost of the Germans 'T is said it will amount to Three Millions of Sequins This War has lasted near Thirty Years in which above Three Hundred Thousand Men have lost their Lives As to the English Affairs the Prevailing Party there have declar'd that Ancient Kingdom to be a Free State and the Monarchy is Abolish'd by a Publick Act. Nevertheless after Charles was beheaded his Eldest Son was Proclaimed King both in England and Ireland by some of the Nobles and Gentry that were Friends to that Royal Family And in Ireland a certain great Duke appear'd at the Head of a Numerous Army in Behalf of the Young King's Interest having laid Siege to the Metropolis of that Kingdom which with one other Town were the only strong Holds that resisted the King's Party But in the 8th Moon the Army which the English States had newly sent over to that Island engag'd with the Forces of this Duke entirely routed them killing Two Thousand Men on the Spot and taking many Thousand Prisoners with all their Ammunition and Baggage This being seconded with other Victories in a short Time reduc'd that Kingdom under the Obedience of the English States In the mean Time I hear no pleasing News from the Levant Vessels daily arrive in the Havens of France who confirm each other's Relations of a Dreadful Naval Combat between Our Fleet and that of the Venetians wherein they say we have lost Seventy Two Gallies Threescore Merchant-Vessels and Eighteen Ships of War That in this Fight Six Thousand Five Hundred Mussulmans have lost their Lives and near Ten Thousand were taken Prisoners I tell thee these are great Breaches in the Navy which belonging to the Lord of the Sea and Land has assum'd to it self the Epithet of INVINCIBLE These are Blemishes in the Ensigns of high Renown Reproaches to the Empire which we believe is to subdue All Nations I reflect not on the Courage or Conduct of the Captain Bassa Neither am I willing to help forward the Ruine of a Man who cannot expect to be honour'd with a Vest a Sword or any other Marks of the Sultan's Favour for his Service in this Sea Campagne I am Naturally compassionate 'T is not in my Praise I speak it for I believe this Tenderness to be rather a Vice of my Constitution than to have any Rank in the Morals much less to be of Kin to the Family of Vertues I pity a Man falling into Disgrace on whom the Weather of the Seraglio changes from which he must expect Nothing but Clouds and Storms Those Tempests will prove more Fatal to him than any that ever toss'd his Fleet on the Ruffled Ocean In all Probability he will suffer a Shipwreck of his Fortune if not of his Life Therefore 't is with extreme Regret I must say that which may hasten his Fall But I am commanded not to conceal any Intelligence that relates to the Interest of the Sublime Port nor to spare the Son of my Mother if I know him Guilty of Criminal Practices All that I have to lay to the Charge of the Bassa of the Sea is a Private Correspondence which he holds with Cardinal Mazarini This I discover'd by the Assistance of a Dwarf whom I have often mention'd in my Letters to the Grandees of the Port. I need not repeat to thee what I have said already to them of the Birth Education and Genius of Osmin for so is the little Spark call'd nor of the Method I have put him upon to wind himself into the Secrets of the Publick Ministers Onely thou mayst report to the Divan That this diminutive Man continues to pursue his Advantages of Access to the Closets of the French Ministers whereof I gave an Account last Year in a Letter to Chiurgi Muhammâ—t Bassa Thou mayst assure them also that when he was Yesterday in the Chamber of Cardinal Mazarini he cast his Eye on a Letter which lay open on the Table whilst the Cardinal was in earnest Discourse with an Extraordinary Courier from Rome He had not Opportunity to read more than the Superscription and a Line or two of the Matter which contain'd these Words The Mild Commander The humble Shadow of the Bright Star of the Sea Bilal Captain Bassa To the most Illustrious Prince of the Kingdom of the Messiah Eminent among the High Lords of Holy Honour the Sublime Directors of the People of Jesus Assistant to the Chair of Sovereign Dignity the Seat of the Roman Caliph Julio Mazarini Cardinal and our Friend May whose later Days encrease in Happiness THY affectionate Letter and Presents were deliver'd safe to me as I lay at Anchor with the Fleet under my Command not far from the Island of Chios And as a Mark of my Acknowledgment and good Will to thee and all the Nazarenes I embrac'd in my Arms the Noble Captain Signior Antonio Maratelli who had the Honour to be trusted with this Negotiation I immediately disrob'd my self and caus'd that brave Italian thy Messenger to be vested with my own Garment as a Pledge of Before Osmin cou'd read farther the Cardinal approach'd the Table and took up the Letter letting fall some Words to the Courier by which the Dwarf was confirmed in his Suspicion of the Bassa's Perfidiousness and that this Letter newly came from him He posted immediately to give me an Account of this Passage believing it to be as it is of great Import For he has a singular Regard for the Family which first exterminated the Greeks from Constantinople Thou know'st what Use to make of this Intelligence I am not Cruelly inclin'd but I must do my Duty The Rest I refer to thy Prudence I will only advertise thee of One farther Remark of Osmin who by comparing what he has seen now with a Discourse he once before over-heard between Mazarini and a French Nobleman whilst he lay under the Cardinal's Table which I have inserted in one of my Letters concludes That the Bassa there mention'd by the Cardinal was this same Bilal Bassa who was at the Instance of the Janizaries made Bassa of the Sea I could not without making my self an Accomplice conceal so foul an Ingratitude to the Grand Signior and so Villainous a Treason against the Empire which holds the First Rank among all the Dominions on Earth Paris 24th of the 9th Moon of the Year 1649. LETTER XVIII To Cara Hali Physician to the Grand Signior VVE have had a violent hot Summer in these Parts with much
Interest However on the 3d. Day of the 5th Moon some Scots enter'd into the Lodgings of the Embassador and having dispatch'd him with several Wounds made their Escape It is not certainly known who set these Assassins at Work People descant variously as their Affections byass them Some reflect on it as a Judgment Justly inflicted by God though by an Vnjust Act of Men on one who had been a Notorious Promoter of his Sovereign's Death Others censure it as a most Impious Sacrilege in Regard the Persons of Embassadors are by the Law of Nations esteem'd Sacred and Inviolable and the Injuries which they suffer are interpreted not only as done to their Masters who send them but to all Mankind As if Human Nature it self were wrong'd in the Persons of Publick Ministers Indeed there is no Method of establishing or conserving Friendships and Alliances between different Nations if their Agents be not secured with an Immunity from Affronts and Violences The French relate a pretty Passage of one of their Kings who before he came to the Crown being Duke of Orleans had receiv'd very ill Usage in his Travels from a certain Italian Lord call'd the Baron of Benevento After this Prince was possess'd of the Kingdom the same Italian Lord was sent Embassador from the Viceroy of Naples to congratulate his Accession to the Throne of his Ancestors Some French Courtiers who had been Witnesses of the Injuries this Lord had formerly done to their Master now perswaded the King to Revenge himself by causing some gross Indignities to be done him whilst he had him in his Power To whom the Wise Monarch reply'd It becomes not the King of France to revenge on the Embassador of Naples the Injuries which the Duke of Orleans receiv'd from the Baron of Benevento 'T is said the English Nation have demanded Satisfaction of the Hollanders for the Murder of their Embassador but were answer'd That they themselves ought first to Expiate the Murther of their King The Scots have Revolted from the New Government in England and are yet in Suspence Whether they shall set up the Son of the Late King or Form themselves into an Independent Republick The Irish are stedfast to the Interests of the Crown And many Islands in America subject to the Kings of England have now deny'd all Obedience to the New English Government which seems to tend towards a Democracy There is much Talk of one Cromwel the General of the English Forces in Ireland This Man from a Private and Obscure Estate is ascended to the Dignity of a General having purchas'd this Command by his Conduct and Valour The French extol him for the Greatest Souldier of this Age And if Fame be true he is no less Statesman As a Mark of the Respect I owe thee thou wilt receive with this Letter a Pistol of Curious Workmanship which being once charg'd will deliver Six Bullets one after another If thou acceptest this small Present it will be an Argument of thy Friendship Paris 19th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1649. LETTER XVI To the Venerable Mufti I Have often wondred at the Lethargy wherein the Nazarenes seem to be drown'd They forget what they read in their own Bibles They there encounter with Expressions which savour of the East Every Page of the Written Law relishes of the Dialect which is Pure and Lively though the Translators have cropt the Flower of the Sence I have read their Bible in Greek Latin and French but none of these Languages express to the Life the Original Hebrew Nor can it be expected It is impossible to screw up the Dull Phrases of Europe to the Significant Idioms of Asia We may as well expect Dates to spring from a Reed And for that Reason it is forbidden the True faithful to Translate the Volume of Light from the Original Arabick Which is no other than Hebrew in its Ancient Purity This is the Language of those who dwell above the Seventh Orb. 'T is the Dialect wherein God converses with the Pages of his Divine Seraglio Wherein all the Records of the Celestial Empire are writ And when he issues out Orders to the Ministers and Bassa's of Heaven Hasmariel the Secretary of the Immortal Divan uses no other Character or Speech but that which is peculiar on Earth to the Sons of Ismael the Inhabitants of the Region on the East of the Red Sea In fine this is the Language wherein the Omnipotent thought fit to discover his Pleasure to Mortals Believe Mahmut when he tells thee with profound Submission that he has taken some Pains to pry into those Languages which have been the Channels of Divine Knowledge I have been peculiarly ambitious to study the Anatomy of Oriental Words And it would be no Hyperbole to say I have learn'd to dissect even the very Syllables Wherein the various placing of Points and Letters alters the Sence or at least makes it Ambiguous So Significant and Mysterious are Our Sacred Characters I speak not this in Peevishness or to vindicate my self from the Contempt which Ichingi Cap ' Oglani has put upon me I have no Emulation in that Point Nor can any little Spur of Pedantick Ambition make me forward to contend with a Man whose whole Talent consists in knowing and remembring other Mens Works as if he had studied at Athens only for this End to learn the facetious Art of turning his Brains into a Catalogue of Books But I reflect on the Learned among the Nazarenes who are chiefly to blame having the Custody of the Book delivered to 'em from the Jews And among them the Translators of that Volume are past Excuse for they have deflowr'd the Original and robb'd the Virgin Language of its Beauty and Honour While the Rest are Witnesses and silent Abettors of the Rape in concealing the Indignity has been done to the Letters Form'd by the Finger of God and full of Divine Mysteries In thus accusing the Christian Interpreters of the Bible I do not patronize the Critical Whimsies of the Jewish Caballists They are exploded by all Men of Sence Yet there is a Medium between the Excess of that affected Niceness which has rendred the One Ridiculous and of that study'd Carelessness to which the Obscurity of the Other is owing As the Hebrews by pressing the Letters too close have squeez'd out Divine Chimaera's so the Christians in using too slack a Hand have scarce gain'd a gross Draught of Common Human Sence leaving the Genuine Elixir of the Writer's Meaning behind I will not lay much to the Charge of the Translators employ'd by Ptolomy Philadelphus King of Aegypt These were no Christians nor yet in the Number of those who Adored the Celestial Bodies and Elements Nor did any of them pay their Devotions at the same Altar with that Aegyptian Monarch who was a Worshipper of the God Serapis But they were Jews Seventy or Two more in Number as the Tradition goes And being every one Commanded severally to Translate those
After this Manner I many Times pass away some Hours in the Gardens of this City whereof there are great Plenty And when I am cloy'd with the forementioned Pleasures then I take out thy Journal and fall to Reading which winds up my Thoughts afresh ' like a Watch that is down Nay it opens new Sources of Contemplation and serves as a Miraculous Talisman to bring China India and all the East into the Place where I am so Lively and Natural are thy Discourses of those Parts When I am in the Churches it serves me instead of a Prayer-Book And whilst Others are babbling over they know not what or at least they care not what I offer up to God the First Fruit of my Reason and Knowledge which he has given me to distinguish me from all Sorts of Beasts whether in Humane Shape or not When I go to the Libraries I compare thy Journal with the Writings of Others who treat of the same Matters and find that thou agreest with some correctest the Mistakes of others and in all shewest a Genius elevated above all others of the Common Historians and Travellers who seek rather to amuse the Reader with uncouth Stories and Adventures than to Instruct him with what is really Useful and Profitable Thus thy Journal is become the Companion of my Solitudes the Object of my Studies and the Help to my Devotions Abroad and it is no less the Diversion of my Retirement and Melancholy at Home I am a great Admirer of Antiquity And therefore an old Craggy Rock o'er-grown with Moss and full of gaping Chasms is a more agreeable Sight to me than the Flow'ry Meadows or Verdant Groves because the Former looks like a Relique of the Primitive Chaos whereas I know the Latter to be only the Product of the Last Spring 'T is for this Reason thy Narrative affords me so vast a Delight because it treats of the most Ancient Kingdoms and Governments in the World And is not stuffed with Chimaera's and Fables as most Relations of those Countries are but gives a sincere and true Account of whatever is Considerable without touching on Impertinencies But above all I am delighted with that Part which relates thy Travels in China That Country being of so vast an Extent so Rich so Populous the People so Industrious Learned and Politick besides the Antiquity of their Empire which cannot in that Point be matched by any Government under the Heavens that the exact Knowledge of these Things seems to me of greater Moment than any other Discoveries whatsoever What thou sayest of the Chinese Letters and Words shews that thou hast made some Inspection into that Language And thy Remarks on the long Succession and Series of their Kings is an Argument That thou art no Stranger to their Chronology which takes in many Thousands of Years before Noah's Flood Thou art very exact in enumerating their Publick Tribunals and Courts of Justice as also in describing some Remarkable Bridges Temples Palaces and other Structures Which serves to give the Reader a true Idea of the Magnificence and Grandeur of the Chinese Emperors and of the Ingenuity of the People who seem to excel all others in Arts and Sciences In a Word it is evident That thou didst not pass thy Time with thy Arms folded whilst thou wert in that Kingdom And I know not how better to express the Esteem I have for thee on the Account of the Pains thou hast taken to Inform both thy self and me in Matters of so great Importance than by giving thee an Account of what Progress the Tartars have made in the Conquest of that Empire since thy Return to Constantinople In my Last I acquainted thee with the Coronation of the Tartar-King at Pekin Since which Other Vessels are arrived from those Parts which bring an Account that the Young Tartarian Conquerour soon pushed forward his Victories And marching with an Army into Corea which Kingdom thou knowest borders on China the King of that Country made his Submissions and entering into a League with Zunchi held his Crown in Fee of that Victorious Emperour Afterwards he hastened to subdue the Provinces which remained Unconquered His Method in accomplishing this Great Work was by swift Marches like another Alexander the Great and by laying Siege to the Principal City of a Province which he never failed either to take by Force or compelled to surrender that so they might escape Famine And when this was done he took Possession both of it and the whole Province summoning the Cities of Lesser Note to surrender which they seldom refused after they had beheld the Fate of the First Thus in a little Time he became Master of all that spacious Empire The Fame of his Success quickly brought Innumerable Tartars out of their Native Country to follow the Fortune of their Emperour To these he gave the Chief Offices of his Army and continued the Chineses in the Administration of Civil Affairs And as a Token of their Subjection he commanded all the Chineses to cut their Hair short and to Cloath themselves after the Fashion of the Tartars They give a High Character of this Young Prince who amidst so many Successes and Triumphs discovers not the least vain Glory but contains himself within the Bounds of a vertuous Moderation ascribes all to the Decrees of Destiny and is not in the least puffed up with any of his Glorious Actions which is an Argument of a Spirit truly Heroick And yet this Prince is an Idolater as are all the Tartars of that Nation or rather they are Men of no Religion which makes their Morals the more admirable For according to the Relation of those who came last from China the Tartars are a very Temperate and Continent People abhorring those Vices which are but too common in other Parts of the World and from which the True Believers them selves are not Free They are Rigorously Just also and punish all Manner of Fraud and Deceit with Immediate Death As for their Conduct and Courage in the Wars there is no Nation surpasses them Few are their equals They are Passionate Lovers of an Active Life spending most of their Time on Horse-back either in Hunting Wild Beasts or fighting with their Enemies And their Horses are the best and most Courageous in the World There is Nothing the Tartars so much despise as the Sedentary Life of Students and Learned Men accounting them the Burden of a Common-Wealth Lazy Drones fit only to be sold for Slaves But Men of Service and Merit in the Wars they have in great Esteem never failing to reward such with Dignities and Commands proportionable to their Deserts and Capacities Nay such is the Martial Genius of this Nation That the very Women Ride to the Wars with the Men and perform Exploits above what is expected from that soft and delicate Sex Both Men and Women are habituated from their Infancy to live in Tents or Waggons there being very few Cities in all Tartary There
by this Loss and with the Inconveniencies of the approaching Winter was forc'd to raise the Siege in the Moon of October The French magnify the Valour of the Knights of Malta who signaliz'd themselves by many brave Actions during this Siege And if all be true that is related of these Christian Champions we cannot in common Justice deny 'em their due Character and number some of them at least among the Heroes Otherwise we shou'd come short of these Western Nazarenes in Generosity who with no less honourable Expressions extol the repeated Courage and Invincible Constancy of the Illustrious Chusaein and the Alacrity of all the Mussulman Soldiers in the Service of our Great Master Yet they cannot forbear reflecting on the Cowardise of the Janizaries who after that fatal Blow had they stoutly maintain'd their other Posts that brave Bassa wou'd not so soon have quitted the Siege of this Important Place As for other News I have little to acquaint thee with save a seeming Calm at present in this Kingdom of France which has for the greatest Part of the Year been harrass'd with Civil Discords and Slaughters Bourdeaux the Chief City which held out against the King is now reduc'd to Obedience the pacify'd Monarch retir'd and an Appearance of Peace The Queen of Sueden we hear was solemnly Crown'd in the Tenth Moon of the last Year having declar'd for her Successor Carolus Gustavus Prince Palatine and her Cousin In the same Moon died the Prince of Orange and soon after the Count d' Avaux a French Grandee and Minister of State In the mean Time I rejoice to hear that my old Friends are Alive and Flourishing and that the Knot is not loosen'd which was ty'd in our Youth May it continue firm to the Day of the Earthquake and to a Term Vnlimited Paris 29th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1651. LETTER XII To Kisur Dramelec Secretary of the Nazarene Affairs at the Port. IN the Name of God and his Prophet what Occasion hadst thou to send me such an angry Letter Thou that art thy self but a Slave as I am to the Slaves of him whose Throne is above the Flight of the Eagle Dost thou think to frighten Mahmut into a sordid Compliance with thy Ambition whom Nothing can terrify so long as he preserves himself free from any Stain of Disloyalty I tell thee I 'm another Achilles Invulnerable all over save the Soles of my Feet which are the Emblems of our most tender Affections There thou may'st wound me with the soft Arrows of pretended Friendship But if once thou appearest with the Naked Face of an Enemy I 'm presently on my Guard Thou accusest me of many Crimes whereof I was never Guilty loadest me with a Thousand undeserved Reproaches and all to vent thy Choler Threatning me with Revenge because I once excus'd the Lateness of my Address to Minezim Aluph Bassa then newly Vested by our Munificent Sultan by laying the Blame on the Badness of the Ways or the Insolence of Soldiers by whom the Posts are often intercepted in Time of War or in Fine on thy Neglect in not supplying me with more early Intelligence Wherein 't is easie to discern That thou wert the last I wou'd accuse to that Minister though thou wert Principally in the Fault For I was afterwards inform'd That the Posts were neither retarded by any Impassable Roads or stopp'd by the Orders of Military Men but arriv'd here at their accustom'd Seasons Wherefore thou hast no Reason to be offended at me unless it be for the Shortness of my Accusation and that it was defective in Malice Thou wouldst take it ill if in my own Defence I shou'd complain to the Vizir Azem of thy frequent Neglects in this Kind But I scorn to vindicate my self at the Price of another Man's Disgrace and Peril Onely I advise thee to forbear threatning It is a Reflection on thy Prudence to menace a Man who has no other Resentments of thy Passion than to own himself oblig'd to thee for so open a Discovery of it Woud'st have the very Spleen of my Humour I smile at thee Thou hast made me as Jocund as Democritus If thou know'st not who I mean He was a pleasant sort of a Philosopher to whom all Human Actions were Objects of Mirth There was another Whining Sage that perpetually Wept The most Comical Passages and such as mov'd all Men to Laughter drew Floods of Tears from his Eyes His Name was Heraclitus It is hard to determine which of these Two was in the Right But I think I am not much in the Wrong to be a little pleasant with thee Perhaps it may put thee into a better Humour However I wou'd not have thee be displeas'd with thy self for being of so peevish a Disposition 'T is observ'd That Passionate Men are always best Natur'd and free from secret Malice Choler is as necessary as our Blood Without the Latter we cou'd not live and if we were void of the Former our Lives wou'd be as Vnactive as that of Snails and Oysters We shou'd be absolute Drones Hippocrates the famous Physician says This Complexion is the most Noble of all the Four transforming Men to Heroes and refining our Earthly Mold to a Constitution like that of the Immortal Gods whose Bodies according to the Poets consist wholly of an Ethereal Flame Therefore be not discouraged neither repine at a Temper which ranks thee among those to whom Sacrifices are made On the other Side take it not amiss from Mahmut if he tells thee he has not Devotion enough to become thy Voluntary Victim Yet if I cannot be so Obsequious as to throw my self away by acknowledging Crimes wherein I was never concern'd and for which I have a Natural Abhorrence rest satisfy'd at least That I will serve thee as far as I can without entrenching on the Duty I owe to the Grand Signior And be assur'd I will do thee no Harm so long as thou observest that Rule In fine I advise thee to order thy Steps like a Man that is walking in the Bogs of Egypt where if he observe the Track of those who have gone before him he may be safe but if his Foot slips he Sinks in the Mire Such is the Life of Courtiers Paris 18th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1651. LETTER XIII To Minezim Aluph Bassa IN the Beginning of the last Year I sent thee a Dispatch wherein I acquainted thee with the Imprisonment of Three Princes of the Royal Blood of France Now thou shalt receive the News of their Liberty They were releas'd by an Order from the King on the 13th Day of this Moon and arriv'd in this City on the 16th which was Yesterday attended by a numerous Cavalcade consisting of some Princes divers of the Nobility and Gentry and one wou'd think of Half the Citizens of Paris Even those who triumph'd last Year and made Bonfires for their Confinement Yesterday throng'd out of the City to welcome them
the Divisions of the Italian Princes the Universal Security and Voluptuousness of the Inhabitants and yet the Oppressions and Tyranny they live under being fleec'd and poll'd of all their Substance to maintain the Grandeur of their Governors and the Pride of the Clergy which renders 'em equally disgusted at their present Slavish Manner of Life and desirous of a Change It is not hard to surmise after all this that a Conquest wou'd be easy to the Victorious Mussulmans or at least such Depredations as would mightily enrich them The most proper News that I can send thee is of a Combat lately fought at Sea between the English and the Dutch The Generals on both Sides are said to be brave Men. He of Britain is call'd Blake the Other 's Name is Trump Which had the best on 't is not certainly known Men speak as they are byass'd Yet the Dutch lost Two Ships in this Engagement tho' their Fleet was far more Numerous than that of the English If I were worthy to advise my Superiours I would propose some Notable Exploit by Land for God has given the Earth to the True Believers but the Sea to the Christians Paris 14th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1652. LETTER VI. To the Kiaya Bey or Lieutenant General of the Janizaries I HAD once a great Intimacy with Cassim Hali the brave Aga who now is no more on Earth That Honest Old General merited all Men's Love Follow thou his Example and in Time his Post will fall to thy Lot Thou art already in the last Advance to it let no Airy Vice make thee Giddy and give thee a Fall 'T is a Common Aphorism That Health long Life and Honour descend from Above But if they do I tell thee 't is like the Rain which only then does good when it penetrates the Earth and moistens to the Root An Humble Heart is like a kindly Mold receiving the Dews of Heaven with Advantage and Profit but Pride is a Rock which spatters away the Blessings showr'd down on it Perhaps thou wilt be affronted at my blunt Way of Writing Yet assure thy self I honour thee more than a Thousand Flatterers I am not sent hither to study Nice Expressions but to serve â—he Grand Signior with Integrity Besides I know thou hast not been accustom'd to the soft Entertainments of Ladies Chambers but the Rough Dialect of War It is thy Honour to be unacquainted with the Delicacies of Discourse Diet or Dressing Things only fit to enervate a Man's Courage and change his Heart into that of a Woman Thou know'st how to handle the Curiass and Lance the Sabre and Shield the Bow and Gun and art perfectly vers'd in all the Military Terms of Art A Discourse of Sieges and Campaigns storming of Forts and plundering of Camps is more agreeable to thee than all Tully's Oratory or the finest Strains of the Persian Poets I am therefore confident thou wilt not take it ill that I address to thee in a Style void of Artifice yet full of Real Respect and Love If I counsel thee 't is for thy Good and I am commanded to express my Sentiments with Freedom Besides I have a Personal Privilege to advise thee the Right of a Friend Which thou wilt acknowledge when I tell thee that I once had the Happiness to save thy Life as we travell'd together in Arabia Thou canst not but remember that Passage and how that in heat of Youthful Blood thou had'st provok'd an Emir to kill thee in the Sight of the whole Caravan had not I fallen at his Feet and told him Thou wert a Stranger to the Customs of the Country Believe me I do not reproach thee with this but only make Use of it as an Argument to convince thee That the same Motive which prompted me 〈◊〉 interpose my self at that Time between thee and Certain Death induces me now to give thee Warning of a Precipice of which thou art in Danger Every one gives thee the Character of a brave Man and no Body dislikes thee the Worse for being of an Air as Fierce as a Tartar All this becomes a Man of the Sword And they say thou dost every Thing with a Martial Grace But I am told likewise that thou art Guilty of Avarice and that for the Lucre of Presents thou enrollest Men in the List of the Janizaries who are not fit to serve in the Wars such as are House-keepers Persons entangl'd with VVives and Children with Debts and other Encumbrances That they only appear on certain Days in the Military Habit and then return to their Domestick Business without ever regarding the Discipline of the Royal Chambers or thinking themselves oblig'd to learn the Art of War That thou in the mean Time takest their Pay and many Additional Bribes whilst they are only contented with the Title and Privilege of a Janizary to shelter themselves from Justice and protect them in their Rapine and Villanies I tell thee shou'd this be known and prov'd against thee it wou'd be to thy Ruine But I hope better Things and that these are only the Surmizes of thy Enemies For thou knowest that none ought to be admitted into that Ancient Order but the Tributary Sons of the Nazarenes who being in their Infancy listed in â—he College know neither Father nor Patron save the Grand Signior who is the Common Parent and Protector of the Osman Empire On his Service is all their Zeal and Courage fix'd having no private Byass no partial Inclinations to warp them from the Fidelity they owe their Great Master They are devoted to Indefatigable Toils and Hardship during their whole Life This was the First Institution of the Janizaries though through the Corruption of the Times they have much degenerated from their Primitive Rules But thou who art honour'd with an High Command wilt signalize thy Vertue and Loyalty in reforming these Abuses and in not suffering the College of Men of War to become a Receptacle of Rogues and Drones Such Disorders as these have promoted the Intestine Broils of this Kingdom I say not that they are the Original Causes Yet 't is a great Diminution of Sovereign Majesty when a King shall find his Own Armies fighting against him as they do at present here in France How many Mutinies and Rebellions have been rais'd by the licentious Janizaries at Constantinople When laying aside all Respect and Duty they have not spar'd to violate the Seraglio it self but entring within those Sacred Walls with Bands of Arm'd Men have turn'd all things Topsy-Turvey seiz'd on the Imperial Treasure chang'd the Domestick Officers of their Sovereign and sometimes chas'd him from his Oâ—â—n Palace to the Hazard if not to the Losâ— of his Life If thou would'st know what they are doing here in France the Men of Arms are cutting one anothers Throats whilst the Rabble are burning their Neighbours out of their Houses Two Days agoe the Multitude assembled in the Streets and having beset a certain Palace in
a while ago seem'd to be compos'd are now again broke out afresh The Private Grudges of Some and the Ambition of Others of the Nobility have once more put all in Arms. This City is Block'd up by the Prince of Conde's Army who has not been long return'd from Flanders The King the Queen with Cardinal Mazarini and the whole Court are at St. Germains en Lay whither they went by Night This abrupt Departure gave fresh Courage to the Seditious and at the same Time furnish'd them with new Matter of Accusation against Cardinal Mazarini who they say has stole away their Sovereign from them The Parliament have declar'd him an Enemy to the Government They are levying Soldiers as fast as they can and Provisions are laid in as if they were to sustain a long Siege Several Princes and Grandees are come over to the Citizens having deserted the Court among whom is the Prince of Conty Brother to the Prince of Conde Yet the Parisians are distrustful of him and have Consin'd his Sister as a Hostage for his Fidelity not knowing that his Desertion is Real being occasion'd by some Quarrel between him and his Elder Brother 'T is said That Cardinal Mazarini has taken a Resolution to depart the Kingdom that so he may avoid the Tempest that threatens him from all Hands The Queen has sent Orders to the Colonels that serve under Mareschal Turenne in Germany commanding them to abandon that General who they say has declared for the Parliament and sent to offer them his Service On the other Side the Citizens endeavour to strengthen their Party by sending to all the Parliaments of France to desire their Conjunction in espousing the Quarrel of this of Paris The Companies which the Burghers of this City have rais'd wear this Motto in their Ensigns WE SEEK OUR KING In the mean while the Arch-Duke of Austria keeps near the Frontiers of this Kingdom with an Army of Twenty Thousand Men and sends frequent Proposals to the Parliament in Order to a Peace Whilst I was writing the last Word News was brought me That Eliachim the Jew is seiz'd and clapt in Prison at St. Denis which Place is in the King's Hands I cannot learn the Reason of his Confinement but am apt to suspect 't is on the Score of his late appearing among the Rabble of Paris whereof I gave an Account in a Letter to the Aga of the Janizaries The Surprize I am in at this Unfortunate Accident puts me upon a Thousand Thoughts I know not what Course to take for my own Safety If Eliachim's Papers should be search'd Mahmut must be discover'd and then if I tarry in the City I cannot escape a Prison For tho' at this Juncture one would think this Place a sufficient Protection from the Court yet the Hatred they bear to the True Believers and the Discovery of so Important a Commission as mine would supersede their Intestine Animosities I should infallibly be either deliver'd up to the Court or sent to the Bastile If I go out of the City my Danger is yet greater all the Passes of the Country being narrowly watch'd and strongly guarded by the King's Soldiers This made me at first resolve to deferr the Conclusion of this Letter to another Time whilst I provided for my own Safety as thinking it impossible to convey any Intelligence out of France undiscover'd But being inform'd of a Courier that was just going from the Parliament to the Arch-Duke of Austria and fearing lest I should never have the Privilege of Pen Ink and Paper again I have ravish'd a few Moments from that little Time I have left to shift for my self that so I might give thee Notice of this Accident I have written also to Nathan Ben Saddi at Vienna to prevent any Dispatches from him till farther Order Both these Letters I venture in the Hands of a faithful Messenger who has caused them to be sew'd up in the Heels of his Shooes to prevent Discovery He travels under the Protection of the Courier I have not a Minute left to say more than that I am at this Instant parting from my Lodging my Books and other Things being packt up and Porters ready to carry 'em away If I get safe out of the House I must change my Habit and Name and so lay the Foundation of a New Concealment till the Issue of this Adventure shall direct me what to do Adieu Illustrious Kaimacham and expect to hear more in my Next or let my Silence convince thee that Mahmut is no longer at Liberty Paris 26th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1649. LETTER III. To Nathan Ben Saddi a Jew at Vienna IF thou hast any Dispatches coming for me and it be yet in thy Power to stop them use Wings in doing it for I fear we are discover'd in this Place Thy Brother Eliachim is arrested by the King's Orders What is laid to his Charge I know not for certain Neither is it necessary for thee to be inform'd in that Point But if his Confinement be owing to some Services he has lately done me we are all lost His Papers will be search'd which must of Necessity betray our Secrets And then we have Nothing to expect but the severest Execution of the Christians Fury and Revenge I am in no small Confusion at this Accident having scarce Time to provide for my Concealment Send no more to Paris till thou receivest farther Advice We are all in Arms this City being block'd up by the Queen's Troops so that I know not well which way to shift for my self and escape a Thousand Scrutinies which they will every where make into the Affairs of a Stranger But that Fate which over-rules Humane Contingencies will I hope rescue me out of this Danger To which I commend both thee and me bidding thee Farewel as if I were never to write to thee again For so the Issue may prove Paris 26th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1649. LETTER IV. To Adonai a Jew at Venice I Have something more Respite now than when I wrote last to thy Brother Nathan at Vienna to inform him of Eliachim's being made a Prisoner I was in a greater Hurry at that Time than the Ninth Sphere All my Motions were swift I went Backward and Forward like the Planets but had no Leisure to stand still as they do sometimes In a Word I have run over the whole Zodiack of Policy to seek for a New House that wherein I Lodg'd being like to prove too hot for me At Length I have found one wherein I hope to meet with no Malevolent Aspects but to remain as before in a Friendly Conjunction with the Moon behind whose Splendors I may lie cover'd from the Inquisitions of peering Mortals To speak more Intelligibly I am for the Present remov'd to other Lodgings in this City the better to shelter my self from the Storm which seems to hang over my Head since Eliachim was seiz'd Yesterday I wrote to the Kaimacham
Feet of Twelve Pilgrims and that Cardinal Ludovisio entertain'd Nine Thousand of these Devotees at once with a very Magnificent Feast They say also That the Pope will get this Year Two Millions of Sequins by the Resort of Pilgrims to that City The King of Denmark's Resident at this Court has received a Letter which Certifies him that his Master has declar'd Prince Christian his Son Successor in the Throne They talk also of a Marriage lately Solemniz'd between Charles a German Count and Charlotte Sister to the Lantgrave of Hesse-Cassel But that which most takes up Mens Ears and employs their Tongues and Thoughts are the Civil Wars of this Kingdom which is all in a Flame by Occasion of the Imprisonment of the Prince of Conde and his Brothers The Citizens of Paris are very jocund at the repeated News of the King 's Ill Success For they wish not well to his Arms whilst employed against the Malecontents Illustrious Old Grandee I wish thee the Years of Nestor and those Calculated by Full Moons of Prosperity But I pray Heaven avert from thee some of his Moments wherein they say he was tormented with the Gout as I am at this Instant It is a Pain hardly to be supported Paris 11th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1650. LETTER VII To the same BY the God whom I Adore and by his Shadow I swear There is no Disloyalty in Mahmut Yet his Life is full of Temptations and Perils The Box of Letters I mention'd in my Last is irrecoverably gone and laid up in the Bowels of the Earth if we may believe the Confession of a Man every Angle of whose Heart has been search'd with exquisite Torments even to Death Eliachim's Slave the Negro whom I spoke of mistook that Box for one very like it out of which he had often seen his Master take Jewels For this is the particular Merchandise of that Jew And the Weight of each was not so Unequal as to rectifie his Error Lucre tempted him and the desire of Liberty Whilst the Darkness for he committed this Villainy before Sun-rising and his own Guilty Fears conspir'd to baffle his intended Theft The Boxes stood together so Careful was Eliachim of the Sublime Secrets as not to venture 'em in a Place less secure than that of his Jewels and the Villain hasty to be gone and confounded for want of Light took up that wherein were the Writings instead of his design'd Prey the Jewels He went directly into the Fields purposing to bury this suppos'd Treasure in the Earth in some private Place where he might take it forth at Discretion But first opening the Box to supply himself with such Stones as he thought would be unquestionable Pawns for Money to answer his present Necessities that so he might the better provide for his Concealment he was astonish'd and his Heart became like Lead when he found Nothing but Papers full of Characters to which he was wholly a Stranger A Thousand Resolutions presented themselves to him in that Agony of his Mind and he knew not which to fix on Sometimes he thought to carry the Box back again as he found it and since his Design had been thus strangely baulked to Content himself till another Opportunity But then he consider'd 't was too late to return before his Master would miss both his Slave and Box for the Sun was now far advanced in our Hemisphere and Eliachim is an early Riser In a Word therefore he thought it the safest Way to bury it in the Ground as he first intended had it been the Box of Jewels and so shift for himself Proposing to himself this Advantage in hiding the Papers in a secure Place That if they were of Value he might at any Time make Composition with his Master by discovering where they were All that I have here related is drawn from his own Mouth in the Midst of Tortures For Eliachim soon heard of his Fugitive Negro who was seiz'd on the Rode to Lyons by some Correspondents of this Jew Who having Intelligence of it took Horse immediately and went to the Place He did not think it safe to make a publick Business of it or to arraign him before the appointed Judges of the Country But relying on the Justice of his Cause and the Right of a Master he privately put him to Tortures of divers Kinds in a House where he cou'd command any Thing The stout African at first deny'd that he had medl'd with any Box saying he escap'd purely for the Sake of Liberty But when a Succession of divers Torments had quite overthrown his Constancy he confessed all that I have already related Eliachim still suspecting worse and that he only fram'd this as a plausible Story to be freed from or at least to respite the Pains he suffered caus'd sharp Thorns to be thrust under the Nails of his Fingers and Toes believing that the Extremity of so sensible a Pain wou'd extort the true Secret from him But he cou'd get Nothing else from the poor excruciated Negro though now almost ready to expire than that he had hid the Box under-Ground in a certain Corner of a Field out of the City To which he knew not how to direct Eliachim but promis'd to shew it him if he wou'd carry him alive to Paris This was no hard Task to perform in the Opinion of the Jew it being but a Days Journey to this City from the Place where they then were But he was deceived in his Hopes and now all the Applications and Cordials they cou'd use came too late For that very Night the Negro breath'd out his Soul However when Eliachim came to Paris he follow'd the Directions of his dead Slave as well as he cou'd in searching every Corner of the Fields on that Side of the City where this Black had been seen to go out But all to no Purpose He cou'd find nothing nor have we any Hopes ever to see that Box again Yet I have many Qualms of Fear lest some Time or other it should come to Light to our Disadvantage and Ruine I desire thy Instructions Sage Governour of the Capital City how I shall deport my self if it be my Lot to be discover'd As to the Remaining Box which has in it the Transcripts of my own Dispatches I have taken it Home to my Lodging Believing it will be as safe here as in the House of Eliachim since that faithful Jew is no more exempted from Contingencies than my self And I have no Servant to betray me This Kingdom abounds at present in Treasons and Rebellions The French spare not to massacre one another for the Sake of a Passion While the Spaniards make their Advantages of these Intestine Feuds For under Pretence of assisting the Princes of the Blood they get Footing in Picardy from whence it will not be easy to expel them Leopold Arch-Duke of Austria is at the Head of the Spanish Army and has taken several Towns belonging to the French King
Home with Acclamations of Joy and to congratulate their Release So fickle and inconstant a Thing is the Multitude driven hither and thither with every Artificial Declaration of Statesmen or Pretence of Faction But there were divers Princes and Noblemen who from the First Hour of their being seiz'd resolv'd not to leave a Stone unturn'd to procure their Freedom The Grandees that were their Friends retir'd to their Governments and rais'd Rebellions in the Provinces All the Kingdom was harass'd with Civil Wars The Parliaments decreed against the Court And there wanted not Cabals of Seditious Courtiers even in the Palace of the King to undermine the Royal Authority which the Cardinal Minister thought to establish by the Imprisonment of the Princes In all Places the King's Interest ran Retrograde Thou wilt not wonder at this when thou shalt know that the Princes of France are not Slaves to the King like the Bassa's of the most Serene Empire who owe all their Greatness to the sole Favour of our Munificent Sultans These Princes enjoy all that and more by Inheritance which our Grandees acquire only by their Merits and the Smiles of their Sovereign Hence it is that their Interest is rivetted in the Hearts of the People who revere the Blood Royal in whatsoever Channels it runs Therefore thinking Men blame the Cardinal's Conduct in this Affair saying There was neither Justice nor Policy in it Indeed if a Mans Wit is to be measur'd by the Success of his Contrivances the Censure of these People is true For the Cardinal seems to have made a Trap for himself As soon as he perceived the King was prevail'd on by the Importunity of his Uncle the Duke of Orleans and the Parliament of Paris to release the Princes and that they had at the same Time earnestly begg'd of him that this Minister might be remov'd from the Court he suddenly pack'd up his Moveables and with-drew privately towards the Place where the Princes were Confin'd Hoping that though he had lost his First Point yet he might make an indifferent After-Game by going in Person to the Royal Prisoners and assuring them 't was to him they ow'd their Release since it was in his Power to carry 'em away with him as also those who brought 'em the King's Mandate For he travell'd not without a considerable Guard 'T is said the Princes receiv'd him with seeming Compliments and Addresses of Civility promising their Friendship to the Cardinal now a Voluntary Exile and in a worse Condition than themselves It is very strange that so great a Minister who Inherited all that Absolute Power which his Predecessor Richlieu had at this Court should thus on a sudden abandon his Fortune But it is thought he is not gone to pick Straws However he has by this timely Flight avoided the Displeasure of seeing himself compell'd to depart by an Arrest of Parliament which was publish'd within Two Days after he was gone commanding him to depart the Kingdom within Fifteen Days The Wise Minister foresaw this Disgrace approaching and therefore thought it more becoming his Honour to depart of his own Accord Having still the Advantage to reproach the State with Ingratitude in that they have reduced to such Streights the Man by whose Auspicious Conduct France had been elevated to an Extraordinary Grandeur in Europe By this thou mayst comprehend Illustrious Bassa that there is no Stability in Human Greatness but that the Wheels of a Courtier 's Life run through Vnequal Tracks often sticking in the Mire of the Valley and not seldom threatning to overthrow a Man and cast him Headlong from the Precipice of a Mountain Against these Inconstant Turns of Fortune I advise thee to be arm'd with Moderation since no Man can avoid his Destiny Paris 14th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1651. LETTER XIV To Isouf his Kinsman at Fez. I Am glad to hear thou art alive Thy Letter came in a good Hour for I bear a true Affection to those of my Blood and have been particularly anxious for thee these many Years The Sun has Nine Times measur'd the Twelve Signs of the Zodiack since I received thy last Letter before this or heard any News of thee It seems thou hast travell'd a great Part of the Earth during that Time 'T was kindly done of thee to remember thy Sick Vncle's Request when thou wert at Aleppo in making Oblations for his Health to Sheigh Bonbac the Santone and distributing Corban to the Poor in Honour of Syntana Fissa Thou hast sent me a large and satisfactory Account of thy Observations in Asia Yet I am sorry thou hadst not Time to penetrate into the Religion and Secrets of the Indian Bramins I am more ambitious to pry into the Wisdom and Learning of those Philosophers than into any other Species of Knowledge whatsoever Methinks 't is pity the Records of so vast an Antiquity shou'd be conceal'd from the Rest of the World and onely known to those Happy Priests I protest 't is impossible for me to think of it without Envy But perhaps it is the Will of Heaven to lock up those Mysteries in the Remotest Provinces of the East as a Reward of their Constancy in adhering to the Traditions of their Fathers which know no Origin and as a Reproach to all other Nations who in Matters of Religion have been Mutable as the Winds I have convers'd with several Jesuits and others who have been in the Indies but they seem to relate all Things Partially out of a Natural Aversion for the Manners of the East And I knew not how to disprove 'em till my Brother Pestelihali undeceived me He has also visited those Parts and resided a considerable Time in China It is a difficult Thing for a Traveller to keep himself within the Bounds of Truth in his Relations but I believe he has not exceeded Thy Journal touches but lightly the Indian Affairs not having Leisure as thou tellest me to observe much However thou hast made Amends in thy Relations of Persia Tartary and the Land of the Curds I depend much on thy Promise of sending me a Journal of thy Travels in Africk To that Quarter of the World I am much a Stranger not having met with any Authentick Relation of the Regions in the South It seems thou hast been in Aethiopia Lybia Egypt and in Fine all over the Torrid Zone Historians tell Wonderful Things of these Parts Herodotus mentions a Sort of People in Africk whose Bodies were more Venomous than Serpents These affronted once at the Winds for driving the Sands of Lybia into their Country and filling up all their Wells and Streams enter'd into a War against the Kingdom of Aeolus but the South Wind met 'em in their March and bury'd 'em under Mountains of Dust I do not represent this to thee as a Truth though related by that Learn'd Grecian Thou mayst repute it for a Fable as I do But let this Passage be a Hint that I expect from thee none
the Prince of Conde with his Brothers were releas'd from their Imprisonment whereof I have given an Account to Minezim Aluph there appear'd much Coldness in the Queen's Reception of 'em and their Addresses to her On both sides they were at a Loss how to behave themselves For all their Civilities were forc'd 'T is true there was a Splendid Umbrage of Reconciliation but it soon vanish'd Their suppress'd Passions discover'd themselves by Degrees and at length broke out into open Enmity The Queen appear'd full of Condescensions and Favours But Young Conde is as full of his Merits and brave Exploits remembring what Services he has done to this Crown Besides he is not void of Suspicion and Jealousie lest all those Excesses of Royal Kindness are strain'd only to render him more secure and so entrap him a second Time with greater Advantage The Horror of his First Imprisonment is yet fix'd in his Mind from whence it will not be easy to efface it Three Principal Servants of the Queen were Banish'd to remove his Fears For he imagin'd them to be Instruments of Correspondence between the Queen and his old Enemy Cardinal Mazarini Yet she publish'd a Declaration signifying That the Cardinal should be for ever Banish'd not only from the Court but from the Kingdom And this Moon the King being come of Age invited the Prince to the Ceremonies usual on such Occasions Which Conde apprehended as a Snare and so fled out of Paris The Event of these Emergencies is yet in the Secret Pages of Destiny But in all Likelyhood a Civil War will follow People are whispering caballing and making Parties on both Sides All the Powder in Paris is engrossed and gone but no body knows by whom Some say the Prince is posted into Flanders others report that he is retir'd to his own Government there to raise an Army The most knowing averr That wherever he is he has Two Hundred Thousand Sequins in Bank to give Life to his New Designs let them be what they will Think not this News of small Importance Serene Bassa But when thou hearest of the Civil Wars among Christians especially in the Realm of France the First and most Victorious Empire of the West look on thy Right Hand and on thy Left for our Holy Prophet or his Herald is near at Hand Paris 22d of the 9th Moon the Year 1651. LETTER XIX To Solyman his Cousin at Constantinople THou seest what thy Libertinism has brought on thee For my Part I am Sick in reading thy Letter full of Melancholy and the worst Kind of Enthusiasm Hadst thou follow'd my Advice or if that be contemn'd hadst thou but obey'd the Precepts of thy Father an honest Man and one that went down to the Grave in Peace thou would'st have Liv'd as happily as other Men but now thou art overwhelm'd with Hypochondriack Vapours and Dreams of a sickly Brain I counsel thee to purge thy self with Hellebor for thou hast more Need of that than of Books In all my Life I never heard such Religious Nonsence from a Mussulman as thy last Letter is stuff'd with I have not Patience to make Repetitions or answer every Particular Whimsie of thine But in God's Name what makes thee fright thy self with such a Wrong Notion of Hell It is a Common Maxim in Nature That Nothing Violent is Permanent Either therefore the Pains of the Damn'd are not Infinitely Intense or else they are not Eternal in their Duration Thou wilt say The Alcoran it self asserts the Eternity of those Torments But dost thou understand the Figurative Manner of Speech us'd in that Divine Book and in all our Eastern Writings Is it not Common to call a very High Mountain the Mountain of God As if all the Mountains and Valleys of the Earth were not equally his So to express an Uncertain Length of Time 't is Customary to use the Epithet Eternal Thus we in ordinary Conversation say in Arabia I love You Eternally I will serve You fight for You c. Eternally and the same of the Contrary Passions And yet we all know we shall live but a few Years But granting that the Alcoran speaks in a Literal Sence it does not follow That those Pains are without Intervals of Rest We read of the Tree Zacon which grows in the Center of Hell But who will interpret what is understood by this Plant Cousin make use of thy Reason and practise the best Things As for our Condition after this Life trouble not thy self for no Man knows what will become of him when he goes Hence However we cannot believe the Supremely Merciful Delights in Cruelty There is a Path which the Eagle has not winged nor the Serpent trac'd though 't is obvious to both But their own Rashness blinds them and they cannot discern the Way of the Wise There are Men of towring Speculations and others very Crafty yet neither one or 'tother can grope out the Direct Road to Bliss If I may advise thee let Nature be thy Guide Do nothing but what Humanity prompts thee to 'T is this alone distinguishes thee from other Animals Honour the Memory of thy deceas'd Parents love thy Friends and be generous to thy Enemies Do Justice to all Men Observe the Purifications and Prayers prescrib'd by the Law But give no Credit to the Fables of Infidels It is common here among the Christians to paint Hell with Horrid Flames and Devils flying up and down with red-hot Prongs to toss the Damn'd from Fire to Fire And their Preachers make long and direful Harangues on the same Subject When all the while neither they nor we know What or Where Hell is or after what Manner the Wicked shall be Chastis'd Only the Illuminated of God have this Standard of Truth That both our Pains and Pleasures after this Life shall be Exactly proportion'd to our Vertues and Vices There is no Malice or Injustice in the Good Creator of All Things Cousin once again let thy Sences be awake and suffer not thy Reason to dream of Things which have no Existence For assuredly God is the most Impartial Judge of the Vniverse Paris the 22d of the 10th Moon of the Year 1651. LETTER XX. To Enden Al' Zadi Jaaf Beglerbeg of Dierbekir I Have not the Honour to know thee in Person but have heard of thy Fame So Mortals are unacquainted with the Secrets of the Fixed Stars yet we observe their Lustre and Rank and the Figure they make in those Remote Worlds Thy Exploits among the Curds and Georgians are not unknown in these Parts The Franks that travel in the East have transported hither such a Character of thy Magnanimous Actions as makes all Men of Honour in Love with thee And I have conceiv'd a particular Veneration for thy Vertues May God encrease them with thy Hours and grant thee a Monopoly of Bliss Thou art plac'd in an Eminent Seat and may'st with Reason be call'd Lord of Lords as thy Title imports for thou art Possessor of
want Is it to any Thing that I have seen or can see or that I can represent to my self under a Figure Is it to any Part of the Vniverse or no No To the whole Complex together No. I have a Thousand kind Thoughts for the Sun Moon and Stars for the Elements and many other Compound Creatures My Soul and that of the World are Vnisons But 't is the Profound Depth of Eternity the Infinite and Immortal who is the Diapason and makes perfect Harmony To that Being which has no Resemblance neither is Divided into Parts nor Circumscrib'd with Limits whose Center is every where Circumference no where Who hath neither Beginning nor End To the only Omnipotent from whom all other Things flow and to whom they all return To him I owe all that I have and will pay what I can And something by his Determination I am Indebted and will discharge to thee Orient Light of the Moresco Mussulmans that is the Duty of an Humble Slave in begging Pardon for this Presumption Paris 14th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1652. LETTER II. To the Kaimacham 'T Was the Contemplation of Isouf Eb'n Hadrilla an Arabian Philosopher That all Men were at First Created in a State of War For this Sage gave no Credit to the Writings of Moses the Jewish Historian and Prophet neither cou'd any Arguments perswade him to believe That all Mortals descended from Adam 'T was an Article of his Faith That in the Infancy of the World Men were Form'd of the Prolifick Slime of the Earth Impregnated by the Vigorous Warmth of the Sun and that all other Animals had their Original in the same Manner But that in Process of Time the Richness of the Seminal Soyl being exhausted by a continual Spontaneons Production of Living Creatures there was no other Way to perpetuate the Various Kinds of Beings and multiply the Individuals but by the Ordinary Method of Generation For which Reason Nature seems to have subdivided every Species into Two Sexes Hence this Philosopher concludes That at First there was no nearer Relation between Man and Man than there is now betwixt a Lyon and a Sheep or any other different Kinds of Animals Saving onely that as these are distinguish'd by their Forms into Four-Footed Beasts Fowls Fishes and Creeping Things so Men assum'd to themselves the Character of Rational Creatures And a Principle of Self-Preservation was the First Ground of a Tacite and Common League between Men against the Rest of their Fellow-Animals Especially against those which made a more frightful Figure on Earth than we do and seem'd more Rapacious and Inclin'd to Mischief such as Dragons Tygers Bears Lions c. But notwithstanding this General Association of our Race against the more Salvage and Fierce Troops of Beasts yet one Man still stood upon his Guard against another And all the Sons of the Earth endeavour'd to maintain the Posts which Nature had alotted each Man That is the Place where he was first Form'd and drew Breath But Things cou'd not last long in this State For either by Instinct or Reason call it which you will says this Author Men being streightened for want of Fruits or spurr'd on by some secret Desire of Novelty soon went out of their Bounds and encounter'd each other more by Chance than Design Whence arose the First Occasions of Actual War For every Stranger appear'd like an Invader They Naturally startled and suspected each other Reciprocal Passions of Choler sprung in their Breasts and every Man to prevent the Effect of his own Fears and Apprehensions rush'd on his Neighbour who was on the same Ground as ready for an Assault as himself Thus an Vniversal War Commenc'd in the World which by various Methods of Improvement was carry'd on by the Succeeding Generations and continu'd to the Present Times As for the Original of Governments the Particular Time cannot be determin'd but it may be supposed That Men Generally finding the Inconvenience of these private Personal Combats and by Degrees arriving to greater Maturity of Experience form'd themselves at First into little Societies and Friendships or as they dwelt near one another or as they agreed in some Common Inclinations Principles and Interests From which Small Associations they gradually spread into Larger Communities living under certain Laws and Obligations of Mutual Peace Justice and Assistance toward each other and of Defence against their Common Enemies Some living under the Form of a Common-Wealth Others of a Monarchy each Body of Men setting up such a Model as best suited their own Interests and Necessities From hence sprung the Distinction of Nations Kingdoms and Empires Thus far the Arabian Philosopher But without enquiring into the Truth of his Principles one wou'd think that some of these Western Nazarenes were his Disciples And indeed all Civil Dissentions seem to be grounded on the same Maxims Whilst Men on the least Discontent or Jealousie lay aside the Obedience they owe to their Sovereigns claiming I know not what Natural Right to defend themselves against the Encroachments and Usurpations of others Thus no sooner was it suppos'd here that the King intended to recall Cardinal Mazarini from his Exile buâ— the Parliament of Paris who are secret Friends to the Prince of Conde publish'd an Arrest against the Cardinal whereby all Persons are forbid to contribute toward the Return of this Minister and Ordering That his Library with all his Moveables shou'd be sold to raise a Sum of a Hundred and Fifty Thousand Livres which is promis'd as a Reward to those who shall either take him Prisoner or kill him They also Petition'd the Duke of Orleans to make the utmost Use of his Authority against the Cardinal Who thereupon rais'd Considerable Troops and gave the Command of them to the Duke of Beaufort In the mean Time the Cardinal is not Idle but with what Forces he has performs some Considerable Actions in his own Defence He has taken Prisoner an Eminent Councellor of Parliament The Parliament sent a Trumpet to demand his Release This Messenger was rejected Whereupon the Parliament are taking New Methods The Prince of Conde has sent a Letter and Request to the Parliament desiring them to suspend the Execution of the Arrest publish'd against him since the Time given him to lay down his Arms was not yet expir'd and that the Cardinal was returned into the Kingdom contrary to a Prohibition sign'd by the King But notwithstanding all these Traverses Mazarini is come again to the Court which is now kept at Pâ—â—ctiers Where he was receiv'd with Infinite Respect and Caresses by the King the Queen and all his Friends Animosities daily encrease between the different Parties Private Grudges are improv'd to Publick Factions An Universal Peevishness has possess'd the Hearts of the French Nation They are alarm'd and offended at one another's Looks If a Man smiles too much or too little in conversing with his Friend 't is enough to give him the Character of an Enemy
or at least to render him suspected So that he who wou'd live peaceably here at this Juncture had need to be well skill'd in all the Secrets of Physiognomy and make frequent Use of his Looking-Glass lest any Oblique Cast of his Eye or Satyrical writhing of his Nose shou'd be Interpreted for Symptoms of Hidden Malice For now they 'll spy Treason in every Feature of a Man's Face As for me when I go abroad I conform to all Companies yet alter not my Address I neither play the Ape nor counterfeit a Statue But observing a Medium I pay a Civil Respect to all without being Courtly or Rude For this Carriage best Suits with my Circumstances Hence it is that no Body suspects the plain deform'd blunt Crook-back'd Titus of Moldavia to be what I am really Mahmut the Slave of the Exalted Port. Paris 14th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1652. LETTER III. To the Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire THE Prince of Conde's taking up Arms has more puzzl'd the Counsels of the King of France and more embarass'd his Affairs than any Occurrence that has happen'd since the Death of his Father I have already inform'd the Kaimacham and others of all Passages hitherto relating to these Intestine Broils Since which they seem to be improv'd into a War wherein Foreign Nations take a Part. After the Return of Cardinal Mazarini to this Court the Prince of Conde was driven to great Streights being compell'd by the swift Marches of the King's Army to retire to Bourdeaux Where considering that it would not be so much his Interest to keep this Place as to encrease his Forces he sent Envoys to the King of Spain and Arch-Duke Leopold in Flanders to desire their Assistance The Former immediately dispatched away Orders for a considerable Body of Men to approach the Confides of Gascoigne where the Prince had a great Interest And the Latter lent him Eight Thousand Men to act on the side of Flanders and towards Paris as Occasion offer'd This is the particular Game of the Spaniards to take Advantage of the Civil Wars in this Kingdom that so by assisting the weaker Party they may balance the Contesting Powers of the Nation and keep 'em in a perpetual Quarrel Whilst in the Interim they gain Ground recover the Places which the French took from 'em in Time of Domestick Peace and so pave the Way to New Conquests In the mean Time the Parliament sent Deputies to the King beseeching him to remember his Royal Word by which he had for ever banish'd Cardinal Mazarini and representing to him the Fatal Consequences which were like to proceed from his Return But the King instead of complying with their Requests caus'd an Edict of Council to be Publish'd which justify'd his Conduct in this Matter He also writ a Letter to the Parliament full of Complaints that they had not yet publish'd any Order to hinder the Entrance of a Foreign Army into the Kingdom But all signified Nothing to Men passionately bent to maintain the Prince of Conde's Quarrel against their Sovereign He has but few trusty Men in that Senate and they are over-aw'd by the Rest Besides the Duke of Orleans bears a strange Sway both in the Parliament and Country At the Instigation of the Prince the Citizens of Orleans shut up their Gates when they heard the King was coming that Way in his return to Paris Yet the Country was open for the Prince of Conde a Subject He travell'd up and down the Provinces to make New Interests and confirm the Old leaving the Command of his Army in Gascoigne to his Brother the Prince of Conti. There have been many Skirmishes and Encounters between the King's Forces and those of the Male-contents and one fierce Combat wherein the Prince of Conde defeated the Vanguard of the King's Army as he was marching to this City Whereby getting the Start of his Sovereign he arriv'd here and was receiv'd in the Parliament whilst the Monarch was forc'd to lie encamp'd in the Field The Prince found a different Reception according to the various Humours of People The Greatest Part favour'd him and he receiv'd infinite Caresses from the Citizens of Paris But met with some Opposition from Persons of Higher Rank and more stedfast Loyalty to the Crown The Duke of Orleans is his greatest Friend and one for whom the Parliament have a great Deference Not so much in Contemplation of his Wit and Policy as for the Sake of his near Relation to the Crown he being Vncle to the present King Whereby he has a Right to assume more Authority than others in regulating the Disorders of the Court among which the greatest is esteem'd that of Cardinal Mazarini's Return In a Word both Parties serve themselves of those who have the greatest Interest and are most likely to compose the Quarrel The Exil'd Queen of England and her Son who have taken Sanctuary in this Kingdom from the Persecutions of their Own Subjects make it their Business to mediate between the Court-Party and the Faction of the Princes The Prince of Conde also sent Deputies to the King to represent to him That the only Means to give Quiet to the State was to banish the Cardinal-Minister And as they were delivering their Address Mazarini came in at the Sight of whom they aggravated their Charge and said to his Face That he was the Cause of all the EVILS which the Kingdom suffer'd The Cardinal Interrupting them turn'd to the King and said Sir It will not be Just that so Flourishing a Kingdom and to whose Grandeur I have contributed all that lay in my Power should ruin it self for my Sake Therefore I humbly entreat your Majesty to grant that I may return to my own Country or whithersoever my Fortune shall call me No no reply'd the Queen not without some Passion This cannot be granted The King had never more need of your Counsels than at this Juncture We cannot consent that so Serviceable a Man should be Banish'd only to humour his Enemies Therefore let us hear no more of that The Deputies perceiving nothing of Hopes return'd to Paris Then the Parliament deputed others to go to the King and Remonstrate the Deplorable Crate of the Realm This was done a few Days agoe In the mean Time we have been alarm'd here in this City with daily Insurrections of the Multitude The Occasion was some private Orders which the Duke of Orleans had given to the Provost of the Merchants relating to his Charge and the Welfare of the City This being misunderstood by the People who have not the Sence to distinguish the Good Offices of their Governours from Injuries put 'em all into a Tumult They assaulted the Provost in his Coach as he was passing the Streets And had he not escaped into an Apothecary's Shop they wou'd perhaps in their Fury have torn him in Pieces For so they serv'd his Coach as an after Revenge I am weary of beholding the
this City they put Fire to it resolving to kill all that should attempt to make their Escape out of the Flames A Person of Quality coming out to pacify them fell a Victim to their unbridl'd Rage And had not the Duke of Beaufort of whom I have often made mention in my Letters interpos'd his Authority they had murder'd all that were within those suspected Walls Sometime before this the Mareschal Turenne took a Place of Strength from the Prince of Conde who in Lieu of it took St. Denis a Town not far from Paris wherein there is a Temple which the French say is the Richest in Europe But they are laught at by the Italians who boast of far Richer Mosques in Venice Milan Naples and Rome The Duke of Lorain plays fast and loose with the Prince of Conde He enter'd the Kingdom with an Army pretending to espouse the Prince's Quarrel but was quickly bought off by the Queen so that he is now gone to Flanders again by this Action leaving a Free Passage to the King's Army under Marshal Turenne to â—ange whither they please which were before block'd up by his Forces Four Days agoe there was a Bloody Encounter between the Troops of the Prince and those of Marshal Turenne in one of the Suburbs of Paris Neither cou'd boast of the Victory though the Battel lasted Five Hours But at length the Prince of Conde's Troops retir'd into the City being frighten'd with the Main Body of the King's Army which appear'd on the Neighbouring Hills Illustrious Janizary fortify thy Heart with all the Necessary Retrenchments of Heroick Vertue And rather than Surrender to Temptations of Vice on dishonourable Terms run the Hazard of a Storm Paris 6th of the 7th Moon of the Year 1652. LETTER VII To Nathan Ben Saddi a Jew at Vienna WE are all together by the Ears in this Kingdom killing burning and destroying one another Whilst you in Germany enjoy Abundance of Peace The Occasion of our Quarrels here is the Return of Cardinal Mazarini against whom the Duke of Orleans and Prince of Conde are Inveterate Enemies The Former is declar'd Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom by the Parliament of Paris Who give it out That the King is Cardinal Mazarini's Prisoner They have also bestow'd the Command of all the Forces under the Authority of the said Duke on the Prince of Conde Their Principal and only Pretence is the Removal of the Cardinal from the King and his Councils What will be the Issue Time will demonstrate There has been a Duel lately fought between the Dukes of Beaufort and Nemours Two Eminent Friends to the Prince of Conde The King going to a Town call'd Pontoise some Leagues from Paris drew a great many Counsellors and Presidents of Parliament thither Men who are Loyal and Stedfast to his Cause This encourag'd the King to put forth a Declaration commanding the Parliament to meet at Pontoise They on the other Side publish'd aâ— Arrest against this Declaration Thus tâ—ey continue pickeering one at another But here is News arriv'd from Cologne which surprizes People very much I know not the true Ground of their Astonishment but the Priests seem to be Mad for Joy All that I can hear about it is The Restauration of the Roman Catholick Religion in that Province which is a Novelty unexpected especially the Ecclesiastick Grandeur which it seems has been laid aside above these Hundred Years I tell thee only as I am inform'd my self It lies in thy Power to certify me of the Truth of Matters They say also That the famous General John de Werdt is dead As likewise the Arch-Bishop of Treves It is added that Frankendal is surrendred to the Elector of Heidelberg according to the late Agreement at Munster And that there is a Diet begun at Ratisbon I desire thee to inform me of all these Things particularly and of whatsoever else occurs in the Court where thou residest As to Matters of Religion be not over-sedulous Piety is compriz'd in a Few Rules Yet the Soul of Man is Naturally Inquisitive and would fain be acquainted with All Things I advise thee to cast thy Eyes frequently on the Earth that is under thy Feet survey the Groves and Fields the Mountains and Valleys Rocks and Rivers Then look up to the Heavens and take a stedfast View of the Stars Câ—nsider the Beauty and Order of All thingâ— And after this tell me if thou canst imagine That the Great and Immense Creator of this Wonderful Fabrick Form'd all the Nations of the Earth to Damn 'em Eternally save only those of Your Race Son of Israel I wish thee heartily Adieu Paris 11th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1652. LETTER VIII To the Kaimacham THE Parisians seem to be all in a Dream or Trance They know not what they say or do or at least they care not Such is the Immense Joy for the Return of the King to this City The Steps to this suddain Change were the Retiring of Cardinal Mazarini from the Court. Which was seconded with a Declaration of Indemnity or a General Pardon for all that had pass'd during these Troubles save some particular Reserves of Sacriledge Fires and such like This work'd strangely on the Inhabitants of Paris But the Prince of Conde not finding any Satisfaction as to his own Person in his Amnesty call'd in the Duke of Lorraiâ—'s Army to his Assistance These reduc'd the King's Forces to so great a Streight and Extremity that the Parliament being sensible of the Advantage made use of it and sent Deputies to the King beseeching him to continue in the same good Resolution he had taken before this Misfortune The Monarch suffer'd himself to be overcome by a Violence mix'd with so much Submission and yielded to their Requests Immediately the Hearts of the Prince of Conde's Friends grew cold and began to change their Sentiments In a word they were resolv'd to desert their New Master and cast themselves at the Feet of their Lawful Sovereign The Grandees who had most affected Conde's Interest laid down their Offices The Foreign Armies of Spaniards and Lorrainers retir'd out of the Kingdom The Citizens of Paris sent a Deputation consisting of Sixty Six Persons of Honour to invite the King to this City and assure him of their Future Allegiance All the Officers of the Militia did the like The King being satisfy'd with the timely Penitence of his Subjects and having commanded some Preparatory Alterations in Places of Trust enter'd this City on the Twenty First of the last Moon with all the Joy and Acclamation which cou'd express the Love of his People and the Regret they had abour'd under during his Absenceâ— Thou seest Illustrious Minister that tho' by the Artifices of a Facâ—â—on a King may be render'd odious to his Subjects be banish'd from his Palace and have the Gates of his Cities shut against him as befell to this King Yet the Inconveniences they feel in taking up Arms against him sooner or later
half filling the Pot forced the Oil up to the Mouth so that he could Lap his Belly full Of this Plutarch says he was an Eye Witness Was not this thinkest thou an Archimedes among the Dogs Are not the Goats of Candy absolute Physicians when being wounded they never cease ranging the Plains of that Fertile Island till they have four'd the Herb Dittany with which they restore themselves to Health Should the French read these Lines and those others I have writ on this Subject to Cara Hali and the Great Mahummed of the Desart they would censure me as a Heretick a Fool or a Madman Or at least they would conclude I am too Importunate an Advocate for the Beasts They would call me Brute my self and fix my Pedigree among some of the Dumb Generations But thou who hast been Educated in the serener Principles of the East and hast had the Honour to pour Water on the Hands of the Abstemious Eremit wilt have another Opinion of what I say in Defence of our Kindred Animals He that has given Wisdom and Language to the Pismires and Instructed them to converse together by Mute Signs so that when the Signal was given the Alarm was taken throughout their humble Territories and they all fled away with their Bag and Baggage when the Army of Solomon approached Inspire us with Grace to understand the Language of the Beasts or at least not to think our Selves Wiser than them who understand Ours Paris 14th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1654. LETTER VIII To Afis Bassa THIS Court is wholly taken up at present with the Preparations that are making to Crown the Young King The Place design'd for that Ceremony is a City call'd Rhemes 'T is said the Duke of Orleans will not be there though the King has Summon'd all the Princes and Nobility to attend at his Inauguration according to the Ancient Custom But that Prince stomacks the great Sway Cardinal Mazarini bears at Court Besides his Daughter who has no small Power over him is affected to the Party of Malecontents 'T is through her Perswasions the Duke her Father absents himself from the King his Nephew Yet there are that say his Mind will change before the Time appointed for the Coronation And that he will rather dissemble his Grudge that so he may more advantageously ruine the Cardinal Who keeps the King lull'd in a Circle of Pleasures agreeable to his Youth that so he may not have Time or Inclination to pry into his Management of Affairs The Court is at present at Fontainbleau a House of Pleasure belonging to the King They pass their Time away in Delights drown'd in Security Whilst the Wakeful Princes of the Blood are plotting new Methods to rowze 'em from their Lethargy and teach the Young Monarch That the Sound of the Trumpet and Beat of the Drum will in a short time be a more Necessary Musick than the soft Airs of the Lute and such Chamber-Melody In the mean Time the Prince of Conde being Condemn'd the Princess his Wife has petition'd the Parliament that her Dowry may be secur'd to her But they have referr'd the Matter to the King Her Husband seems to be lost in all Respects save those of the People's Affections who favour any that are Enemies to Cardinal Mazarini Monsieur Broussel one of the Councellors of Parliament whose Imprisonment I formerly mention'd to be the Cause of the First Sedition at Paris is newly dead Yet the Cause whereof he was a Patriot dies not with him but rather takes fresh Vigour from daily Grounds of Discontent It was more particularly reviv'd upon the Death of the late Arch-Bishop of Paris The Clergy chusing for his Successor the Cardinal de Retz a Prisoner of State and under the severe Displeasure of the King This Election was countermanded by a Declaration from the Council-Royal Nevertheless the Ecclesiasticks persist in their First Choice Whilst Cardinal Mazarini threatens 'em with the Punishments due to those who contemn the King's Authority But they slight his Menaces trusting to the Arms of the Prince of Conde which they hope will deliver 'em in Time from the Oppressions of that Great Minister The Men of Ability Cabal whilst the Vulgar are easily drawn into Parties as their Affections byass'em Here is Nothing but Murmuring and Whispering against the Government Every Man endeavours to purchase Arms and lay 'em up privately as against some Publick Invasion Nay the Citizens walk not abroad without Daggers hid under their Garments As if they either intended a Massacre or were afraid of one All things seem to portend some sudden Eruption of Popular Fury And the Wisest know not what will be the Issue of so many Threatning Occurrences Only Mahmut surrounded with Infidels is resign'd to Destiny Knowing that no Human Counsel can hasten or retard the Decrees Sign'd Above Paris the 17th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1654. LETTER IX To Murat Bassa IT seems the Devils have been lately let loose in these Western Parts if we may give Credit to the Deposition of such as have accus'd certain suppos'd Witches In Bretagne and Province of this Kingdom above Forty Old Women have been seiz'd and Imprison'd for holding Correspondence with Infernal Powers And above half of them condemn'd to Death God knows with what Justice Some of them are accus'd of Enchanting the Persons of their Neighbours Others for Bewitching their Cattle And a Third Sort for dissolving the Mischievous Charms of the First and Second All of them for assembling in the Night-Time and using certain Diabolical Ceremonies which they say begin and end in kissing the Posteriors of a Goat or the Devil in that Form I know not how far these poor superannuated Figures of Mortality may be wrong'd 'T is a Question whether their Judges are always in the Right A shrivell'd meagre Face a hollow Eye join'd with irrecoverable Poverty are many Times the Chief Grounds of Suspicion Which improv'd by Superstition Mistakes and Malice have often prevail'd on those who ought to administer Justice to condemn poor Wretches more Innocent than themselves as Guilty of Witchcraft Yet it cannot be deny'd but that there have been both Men and Women vers'd in Magical Arts as they are commonly call'd which I take to be only the more Mysterious Science of Nature Such was Zoroaster the Great Grand-Child of Noah and King of that Part of Asia which was then call'd Bactria Such was Apollonius Tyaneus Philistides Syracusanus with many others of Ancient Date These understood the Hidden Force of the Elements the Influence of the Stars the Specifick Operation of Metals Minerals and other Subterranean Bodies with the Virtues of all Vegetables They knew exactly how to frame Astral Images and Talismans by the Help of which they were able to effect Wonders And all this perhaps without once dreaming of Infernal Spirits or having the least Society with Devils Yet I believe Lucian an Ancient Writer who never spoke seriously of any Thing scarce
believ'd himself when he related the Story of Pancrates a Famous Magician of Egypt who by these Talismans was able to transform Inanimate things into the Appearance at least of Living Creatures Thus he wou'd turn a Stick or Piece of Wood into a seeming Man who shou'd walk discourse and perform all the Actions of a Rational Being A certain Stranger travelling with him once to Memphis and lying with him in the same Carvansera as soon as they were alighted from their Camels Pancrates took a Plank of Oak and having touch'd it with his Talisman and pronounc'd Two or Three Syllables incontinently the Stock mov'd stood upright walk'd and taking the Camels by the Bridle led them to the Stables After which this Wooden Man came in and prepar'd their Pillaw went of whatsoever Errands Pancrates sent him And when they departed the Magician using a certain Private Ceremony this Officious Servant return'd to a Plank again This was his Practice all along the Road. One Day his Fellow-Traveller being resolv'd to try the Experiment took Advantage of the Magician's Absence who was gone to the Temple and had left his Talisman behind him The Curious Travelle having been often an Eye Witness of this Trick takes a Piece of Wood and touches it with Pancrates's Talisman repeating the Syllables he had heard him utter Immediately the Inanimate Timber became a Man asking his Pleasure The Traveller astonish'd at the Event commanded his new Servant to bring him a Bucket of Water The Enchanted Spark obeys The Traveller told him it was enough and bid him return to a Piece of Wood again but instead of that he continu'd drawing of Water and bringing it in till the House was full The Traveller fearing the Anger of Pancrates thought to dissolve the Enchamment by cleaving the Wooden Animal in Two But this augmented his Trouble For each Piece taking a Bucket fell to drawing of Water so that of One Servant he had made Two This continued till the Magician came to his Rescue who having sternly rebuk'd the Traveller's Rashness at a Word turn'd the Two busie Drudges to their Primitive Loggishness and Inactivity again I do not tell this Story as if I would have thee believe it or that I give Credit to it my self Let us imitate the Author of it who laughs at all that delight in such Fables But the Christians who believe a Piece of Bread is Transform'd to Flesh and Blood and becomes an Immortal God at the pronouncing of Four Words by the Priest may be excus'd if they put Confidence in the Figments of Poets and Orators I have in my Custody the Journal of Carcoa who formerly resided at Vienna a Private Agent for the Ever Happy Port. Some of his Letters speak of the Superstition and Credulity of the Germans in this Kind Yet in a Letter to the Mufti he acknowledges himself overcome by the Unquestionable Testimonies of such as had been Eye-Witnesses of the Life and Death of one Faustus a German Magician who play'd a Thousand Infernal Pranks as he calls them even before the Emperour himself He tells also of another Magician call'd Zyto who liv'd in the Days of the Emperour Charles IV. And when the Emperour's Son to whom Zyto belong'd was to Marry the Duke of Bavaria's Daughter the Duke to oblige his Son-in-Law who was much taken with Magical Tricks as were all the Germans sent for a great many Famous Sorcerers to the Wedding Among the Rest while One was performing a rare Exploit on a sudden Zyto the Prince's Conjurer came up to him with a Mouth seeming as Wide as that of an Old Crocodile and swallows him up at a Morsel When he thus had done he retires and voids him again in a Bash and brings him thus drench'd into the Company challenging any of the other Magicians to do a Feat like that but they were all silent I hear of no such Tricks done by those French Witches who cause so much Discourse at present The worst they are accus'd of is Bewitching their neighbours Hogs to Madness which thou knowest may be only a Natural Malady I pray Heaven defend us from the Enchantments of a deluded Phansy that Domestick Incubus of every Mortal and we need fear neither Witch nor Wizard Paris 20th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1654. LETTER X. To Cornezan Mustapha Bassa THE Fame of Christina Queen of Sueden has no doubt reach'd thy Ears I have made Mention of her in several of my Letters That Royal Virgin is now about to surrender her Crown to her Cousin whom they call Charles Prince Palatine This is a Voluntary Resignation And her Motive is said to be a strong Inclination to Solitude and a Private Life being esteem'd the most Accomplish'd and Learn'd Princess of this Age. But those who pretend to know more than others say That the True Ground of her abandoning the Kingdom is a Resolution she has taken to change her Religion and embrace the Faith of the Roman Mufti which is forbidden by the Laws of Sueden Thou wilt smile at the Proposals which this Queen sent to her design'd Successor and his Answer to them In the first Place She will keep the Greatest Part of the Kingdom and Revenues in her own Hands Secondly She will be no Subject but altogether Independent and Free Thirdly She will have Liberty to travelinto Foreign Countries or into any Part of that Dominion Lastly She will not have the Offices of Trust or any other Gifts that she shall have disposed of to her Favourites revok'd by her Successor To these Articles Prince Charles Answer'd First That he will not be a mere Titular King without Dominions nor without such a Revenue as is Necessary to defray the Royal Expences both in Peace and War Secondly That he will suffer no Competitor Equal or Sovereign in his Kingdom Thirdly That he will not run the Hazard of her Intrigues in Foreign Courts Lastly That if he be King he will dispose of Preferments as he thinks fit And in Fine That he will not be the Shadow of a King without the Substantial Prerogatives of Sovereignty 'T is added That when the Queen heard his Reply she said aloud I propos'd those Articles only to try his Spirit Now I esteem him Worthy to Reign who so well understands the Incommunicable Rights of a Monarch This Intelligence comes by a Secretary to the Spanish Embassador who is newly come out of Sueden to Negotiate at this Court a Ten Years Truce between France and Spain Here is likewise an Embassador from Portugal who acquaints the Court That the Portugueze have Expell'd the Hollanders out of the Places they held in the East Indies But if our Merchants bring true Intelligence the Tartars will Exterminate all the Franks that are in China In the mean Time the Young King of France passes away his Hours in Dancing seeing of Plays and other Recreations provided with vast Expence by Cardinal Mazarini to divert him from medling with Publick Affairs and