into their Protection having also subdued them by Force of Arms. They add That this Francis I. continued a great while to send them Governors and that it was by the Valour and Resolution of Doria that this Republick recovered its first Liberty These are the Discourses that People make at Paris the Entertainment of idle Persons as also of our Politicians It will be a hard Matter to tell what the King thinks and what are the Sentiments of his Council Consider in the mean Time with what Impudence People discourse here they presume to decâ—â—e Affairs of State they divide and accommodate Differences they support and ruine Common-wealths and Kingdoms but this is no new Thing the People in all Times having taken the Liberty to censure the Actions of Soveraigns It is not for enlarging my Letter That I write these Particulars of the History of Genoa But being an Ancient Nation which hath formerly wearied the Courage of the Romans by their Enterprizes and Opposition and have performed upon our Seas great and noble Actions The Osmans have her therefore in Consideration and the rather because we possess many Countries and considerable Places that were under their Dominion in Asia minor upon the Black Sea and in the Archipelago I shall ever recommend all thy Words and Actions to Almighty God and pray him to hinder thee from falling into Error and prosper all thy Undertakings Paris 24th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXII To the same HEnry of Bourbon First Prince of the Blood of France marching by Bourdeaux came upon the Frontiers of Spain where he besieged Fontarabia strongly seated upon the brink of the Ocean His Army is made up of Twelve Thousand Foot and Twelve Hundred Horse The two Nations have had several Encounters and Skirmishings wherein the Loss and Gain have been equal on Land But the Spanish Affairs go so ill at Sea that thou wilt wonder at the great Losses they received there The French have burnt Two Gallions upon the Stock that were a making and six others intirely finished which had not been yet at Sea They have further taken Eleven great Ships whereof Six were richly loaden for the Indies besides the Equipage and Munitions of War with Two old Gallions that were of no great use They further took a prodigious number of Cannons which lay upon the Shore One hundred whereof were Brass all with the Arms of Austria If all this I write be true as I verily believe it is we may say that this Prize where there were more than a Hundred and fifty Pieces of Ordnance was no mean Purchase I say nothing of the great Quantity of Artillery mounted upon the Ships and Gallions for fear of troubling thee with the News of so great a Victory wherein the French gained so many Vessels and such great Riches as will suffice to equip a great Fleet. The Prince besieges the Place and presses it but the Spaniards defend themselves bravely and â—uch Blood will be shed there The Priest of Bourdeaux which these Infidels call the Arch-bishop was come thither with Sixty Sail whereof Forty two are Men of War and the rest Attenders with some Fireships filled with Bituminous Matter which inflames easily to burn the Enemies Ships where they can come at them so that there is nothing wanting in the Armies by Sea or Land This Arch-Bishop of Bourdeaux makes more noise at present than the Pope and 't is credible that what he has done will gain him great Favour with his King He has with as much Courage invested Fourteen Galleys and Four Frigats which came from the Neighbouring Ports to the Relief of Fontarabia with Three thousand natural Spaniards He fought six Hours together with this new Army which he entirely defeated having burnt and sunk all these Ships except one Galley which was stranded and rendered useless The Admiral of Spain with Eight hundred Men was blown up which was no small Misfortune to the Spaniards who lost upon this Occasion a great number of Souldiers and Seamen And 't is believed they will not be able to appear before their Enemies in Sea this great while If so many Losses suffered by a Party are not advantageous to the Grand Seignior because the other is grown so much the stronger thereby he will however gain this Benefit by it That the French and Spanish being both Enemies to our Nation and Religion our Affairs will be in greater Security when of two Enemies we see one suppressed The French publish by their Joy and continual Feastings the Advantage they receive from these Successes And these Infidels have reason to rejoyce their Victory having all the Agreements possible it is indeed great and their Loss very inconsiderable They say there were but Twelve of the Ships of France disordered and that they lost not above a Hundred Seamen and very few Officers Here hath been made a large Relation of this Victory and 't is graved in Copper to the end it may be made publick in all its particulars and the Memory of it conserved to future Ages Since the Loss of the Armado surnamed The Invincible which Philip II. sent into England in the Year 1588. to make War upon a Woman we have not known that Spain suffered so great a Loss This is the only News I can tell thee at present So many Armies as are in continual Action will furnish Matter enough hereafter to divert thee by reciting the Follies of these Infidels who seem to destroy themselves daily and ruine their Affairs to gratifie Us by their Defeats and make Us triumph Paris 17th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXIII To Afis Bassa IF thou always followest thy Inclination and thy natural Honesty thou wilt be indefatigable in faithfully serving the Sultan and thou wilt not be averse to him that esteems thee and loves thee Read what I write to thee and publish it when thou hast read it that the Council may know that it is resolved at the Diet held at Stockholm the Residence of the King of Sweden to continue the War against Austria and that the Duke of Weymar and the General Banmer begin already to combat the Imperialists Thou wilt see Spain and Germany attack'd on so many Sides and by such powerful Enemies that 't is credible there may happen such vast Losses to all these Christians that the True Believers will have Occasion to rejoyce and to hope yet the aggrandizing of the Great and Most Mighty King of Kings Sultan Amurath Master and absolute Soveraign of both Seas and Vanquisher of all Nations This King hath sent an Army into Picardie under the Command of Marshal Chatillion to besiege St. Omer a very strong Place in Artois belonging to the Spaniards several Villages and Towns of Consideration being already burnt and pillaged The faithful Slave Mahmut salutes thee gives thee a friendly Kiss and wishes thee all Sort of Prosperity Paris 24th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER
been advertised by some Divine Revelation and will pass for Prophets and amongst these there are many Religious Observe how far theâ—â— Superstition extends The Court has dispatched many Expresses into all the Provinces of France and others have been sent to all the Embassadors to give Notice of this Birth to their respective Princes A Priest who is a Bishop hath baptized this Child without any Ceremony in Presence of the Chancellor of France the Princes Princesses and Grandees of the Kingdom the further Solemnity being reserved for another time The King commanded Te Deum to be publickly sung being the Hymn which is usual to all Christians to thank God for extraordinary Successes Nothing is seen in the Streets of Paris but Bonfires and Fountains of Wine which run Day and Night The People testifie their Joy and the Fires are so great on all Sides that it looks as if the City were to be reduced to Ashes Amongst so many Subjects of Joy the King has wherewith to afflict him having been for some Days tormented with a violent Tertian Ague and it cannot be but he must have his Spirits agitated with so many Wars at once He has Armies against Spain in Flanders Italy Burgundy and the Empire in Germany without mentioning his Naval Forces and the Designs and Pretentions which he doth not yet declare Thou maist be confident that Leagues will be formed against him and Conspiracies against his State The Great Ones of the Kingdom are not asleep having long since had Designs to humble the Favourites and Ministers whose Deportments displeased them and to make themselves Masters of Affairs and the Government I have a Plece of News to tell thee but receive it as coming from a Woman not Mahmut I seldom send that for assured which in Appearance is not Truth What I am gâ—ing to say will undoubtedly seem ridiculous The Women give out that the Dauphin has Teeth and the Nurses will witness it Those who easily believe Wonders publish this as a most certain Truth The People who add Faith to the most Incredible things raise Stories upon this and are full of pretended Auguâ—ies But there being no Law that obliges us to believe that which we find Incredible thou maist therefore receive this News as thou pleasest and look upon it as useless and excuse me They give the King the Title of Saint which they add to that of Just because of his great Piety in devoting his Son before he was born to the Virgin which the Christians say is the Mother of their Messiah with his Kingdom People and Person which he hath put under the Protection of the Mother of his God which he has made appear by Prayers Processions and extraordinary Alms. This Ceremony is ordinary enough with these Infidels who by an inexcusable Idolatry devote their Towns and dedicate their Temples to Men that are dead whom they call Saints worshipping them afterwards upon their Altars and invoking them in their Distress I have nothing more at present to write to thee God give thee always the Grace to be just to thy self and others Paris 16th of the Ninth Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXIX To the Captain Bassa THE Birth of the Dauphin of France happened this Month whereof I forthwith advertised the Kaimakam I find my self in a great City where they feast continually to testifie the Love they have for the King the Queen the Young Prince and the State Joy spreads equally the most miserable to whom Fortune has given nothing but Tears do now divert themselves The Women rejoyce yet most and it seems this Adventure regards them principally There is not one of 'em that would not lie in all the Maids would be Mothers and the most advanced in Years do not now despair It seems here that God only hears the Prayers of the French for they believe the Queen had never been with Child if the People were not holy Thus all believe that they owe it to a Miracle of Heaven not of Nature that the Child is born and for that reason he is called Given of God If this be so thou must conclude this Prince will be very Great and much to be redoubted who hath God for his Father and is Heir of a great Kingdom To say the truth France was never so flourishing besides the great Armies they entertain by Sea and Land But that which appears most important to me is their vanquishing the Hugonots and defeating the Rebels The Birth of a Successor does much heighten these Advantages and causes a great Happiness to this Kingdom I have my Share in the Feasting being obliged to do as others for to what purpose should I appear afflicted Before I relate to thee a bloody Combat of Galleys which was fought in the Sea of Genoa I will inform thee of a ludicrous one in that of Marseilles which resembled those Spectacles the Ancient Romans exhibited with so much Pomp and Magnificence called Naumachies The Count of Alais Governor of Provence caused four Galleys two against two to combat first with Cannon and afterwards with Small Shot and lastly to board with Swords and Pikes which was a fatal Presage for two Nations who ran in search of each other through all the Ocean and exhibited a sad Spectacle by Battles where a Number of valiant Men were seen to perish Five and twenty Spanish Galleys appeared on the Coasts of Provence where it was said they were come to surprize some Maritime Place But the Count of Harcour General of the Armies of the Levant for the King having given them Chace some of them retired to the Coasts of Genoa where they were attacked by a like Number of those of France which had still followed them since they were seen before Marseilles It was the First of this Month that they fought Never appeared more Valour never was Combat more terrible and 't is scarce conceivable what Blood was shed Thou who art a great Captain and an excellent Sea-man mayst guess These thirty Galleys having began their Combat with their Cannon and Muskers the Sea was in a little time coloúr'd with Blood and covered with dead Bodies Each Galley having singled out his Enemy the Fight was the more bloody and obstinate 'T is said this Battel was seen from the Walls and Tops of Houses in Genoa which were crowded with Spectators and looked on with the same Concern as if they had fought for the Empire of Italy The Victory cost much Blood which the French pretended to seeing they took six Galleys from their Enemies amongst which was The Royal Patron of Spain the Captain and the Patron of Sicily with Eight hundred Prisoners having themselves lost but three Galleys which were taken by the Spaniards The following Night there arose so violent a Tempest that the Sea had well-nigh swallowed the Victorious and the Vanquished The French lost the Royal Patron of Spain which breaking loose retired into a little Port of the River of Genoa where the
Boynou the white Eunuch I Am still alive and in Health my Fear has proved vain and I have escaped the Cardinals Hands without any Danger which will make me hope the same good Fortune should he ever send for me again But thou shalt not know his Business with me that being a Secret I am obliged to conceal Thou hast I hope received the long Letter I wrote thee containing several Particulars of Henry IV's Life I send thee now several of his Sayings which may be termed Sentences Read them with Attention they are as pleasant as profitable for Mustapha's Use who will find this great King to have had an Invincible Courage in Adversity and great Clemency and Generosity when he was in his Prosperity he was Valour it self amongst the Souldiers Wife and Pleasant amongst his Courtiers terrible in Battles easy and free amongst the Ladies full of Heat when any Action offered it self and Courteous and Affable to all sorts of Reople Henry dyed in the same Manner as most of our Sultans that is to say a Violent Death He had lived Fifty Seven Years and some Months and reigned about Twenty Years Several of his Courtiers named him like the First Caesar All Womens Husband because 't was believed he never saw any that he fancied but he obtained her He had Fourteen Children Six by the Queen and the others by Four of his Mistrisses She who was called the beautiful Gabrielle of the Family of Estree seemed to have more Power on his Heart than all others he often carried her about with him in his Army and to the Places he besieged in Person Henry was wont to say 'T was as difficult to know how to Love well to prepare a Feast and to dance at the same time agreeably as to draw up an Army for Battle consisting of several Nations And when he was more advanced in Years he said He loved Dancing for it made him appear Young He loved Play for it shewed he could be angry and Ladies because he said he believed a Man ought to love all the Days of his Life He was so impatient at Play when he lost that he seemed to be as much concerned at the Loss of an Hundred Crowns as at the taking of a City from him He often disguised himself like a Peasant to approach his Mistrisses without being known and he has often carried on this Humour to that Degree as to drive Asses laden with Fruit and sometimes carry a Truss of Hay on his Shoulders When he was peaceably setled in his Kingdom he said to those who were his greatest Intimates That he that grew weary at Difficulties did not deserve those Things which might be acquired without Trouble I saw my self a King said he without having a Kingdom an Husband without a Wife a Captain without Souldiers and Liberal without having any thing to give I have had in fine a Kingdom Children in lawful Marriage my Troops are numerous and I can dispose of several Millions This Prince has been wounded several Times has received Three Wounds in the Wars and Three others on his Throne in the Calms of Peace The Actions which have gained him most Glory have been the winning of Four Battles whence he came out Conqueror having very few Troops and his Enemy having very numerous Armies the general Peace he gave to Europe the Reconciliation of the Venetians with the Latin Church which had excommunicated them and the great Project I spake to thee about in my foregoing Letter The Pope's Nuncio having one Day asked him How long he had made War his Answer was All the Days of his Life and my Armies have never had any other General but my self He was seen once for Forty Hours together on Horse-back and he led at that Time an unhappy Life yet he bore up with invincible Courage which made his Souldiers call him the King of Iron At the same time he held a Morsel of course Bread in one Hand he would with the other form on the Ground the Design of an Entrenchment and when he would shew his Friends the finest Gallery of his Palace he would at the same time lead them down into his Stables to see his Horses He was wont to say That a King who would reign happily must not do all things which he may He had such a Greatness of Mind and was so merciful That he pardoned those who conspired against his Life He shewed oft to those that were about him a Souldier that was a Stranger and had wounded him in a Battle whom he recompensed for doing his Duty and made him one of his Guards Tho he was not Learned yet he read Books of his Religion and took a singular Pleasure in History and conversing with learned Men. Hearing one Night the Annals of France and being almost half asleep in his Bed he bade his Reader continue his Reading for he would sleep no more that Night Having laid Siege to a most important Place in a most cold Season he slipt one Night wrapt up in his Cloak to the Places where the Labourers were at Work and heard a Souldier there cursing both God and him yet without concerning himself any further he whisper'd in this Souldier's Ear God hears thee and the King too for all thou knowest if thou canst not Work hold thy Peace and be gone The Night following the King setting to work himself to excite others he caused this Souldier to be called to him and thus spake to him Help me to remove this Earth and do not swear for now the King hears thee To correct the Vices the Injustices and Violences of others he did not use Lessons but gave Examples And one day that he heard one of his Captains in a Rage for that his Creditors had seized on all he had to his Horse and Sword he thus spake to him I that am thy Sovereign have paid my Debts and sold all that I am worth for that End and thou that art my Subject ought to do the same thing without murmuring And then taking him apart he gave him some Jewels to help him out He often shewed the Marshal de Biron to his Friends and thus spake to them about this Captain This Man knows to Act as well as Talk and I have a great Love for him Yet he sometime after caused him to be put to Death having Three times pardoned his Disloyalty This Captain having continued his Plots against his Life and against the State yet remembring he had loved him he would spare one part of the shame of his Punishment and therefore ordered he should be executed in Prison A Scholar Two Monks and a Fool attempted at several times to kill him and as I have already told thee he was several times wounded and at last received a Mortal Stroke A Woman that had undertaken to Poison him was burnt alive and this foolish Creature said at her Death thinking to lessen her Crime That having foreseen the King was to have been
extream Passion at any one's daring to offer him a Match so greatly beneath him when Madam de Combalet was the Widow of a Gentleman of a mean condition and Neece to a Cardinal whom he hated and himself a Prince of the Bloud The Cardinal's Messenger desirous his Negotiation should succeed was not repelled by this Affront He insisted on the Vertue of the Cardinal's Neece saying she would be courted by the greatest of France and added farther in Commendation of this Lady That she was a Virgin altho' married because her Husband out of respect dared not approach her and that Heaven had so ordered it that this Adventure should be found written in the Anagram of her Name This Minister could not dissemble his Vexation at the Refusal his Choler became excessive and he resolved to practise his usual Maxim of violently persecuting those whose Friendship he had sought with most Eagerness He therefore wholly set himself against this Prince spake all the Ill he could of him publickly threatned his Enemy but he valued him not looking on the Cardinal as beneath his Notice In the mean time the Cardinal plotted to put his Threats into Execution and brought the King in to countenance him by his Authority which obliged the Count to absent himself and make a Voyage into Italy to avoid the Storm he was threatned with Yet his Voyage lasted not long and at his Return the Cardinal did all he could noâ— to win him he procured him suitable Employs in the Armies and made him at length be declared General of that which the King sent on the Frontiers of Picardy Yet this haughty Prince received all with Indifferency saying openly That a Captain was given to the Army and not an Army to a Captain The Grandees of the Court who observed afar off what past in this Intrigue instead of mollifying the Count's Humour did all they could to sharpeâ— it The Duke of Orleans the King's Brother whâ— was always this Minister's Enemy linkt himself with Soissans exhorting him not to yield to the Cardinal's Pursuits and it is said he drew a Promise from him under his Hand that he would never accept of the Marriage proposed and they afterwards swore Fidelity to one another and thaâ— they would joyn together for the Destruction of the common Enemy and for this effect they took measures with Prince Thomas of the House of Savoy who is at present General of the Spanish Army in Flanders They also brought the Duke de Valette and several Lords of the Kingdom into their Party Almost all the Conspirators were for killing the Cardinal and the time of the Stroak should be when he visited the Quarters of the Army which besieged Corbie but the Count alone would not consent to dip his Hands in the Bloud of a Priest But the Duke de Vallette who saw the Danger wherein he was when the Conspiracy came to be discovered resolved to shelter himself by the blackest Treachery that could be imagined he discovered to the Cardinal all the Accomplices of which the Count de Soissans having Notice he speedily withdrew to Sedan I shall not make thee Inincible Leader a Description of this Place which regards on one side Luxemburg and on the other France it not lying in my way to make Draughts of Fortifications like an Engineer but to give thee a full Account of what the Infidels do and discover their Designs whereby thou mayst gather what may make for the Advantage of our great Monarch whose Power cannot be shaken but by the entire overthrow of the Universe Sedan is a Dominion which formerly belonged to the Dukes of Cleves who were Sovereigns of it and at the same time Dukes de Bouillon When the Count was in this place he thought himself safe the Mareschal de Bouillon who was the Master of it by the Testament of the last of this Family declared himself of his Party either to make War together against the Cardinal by open Force or drive him out of this Kingdom or to get rid of him by Death Here it was they made their secret Treaties with those who commanded for the Spaniards in the Low Countries and a Prince of the House of Lorrain entered into their Cabal He bearâ— the Cardinal as much as ill will and appears as resolute as the rest for his Destruction he is called the Duke of Guise There wanted only to this Party the Duke of Orleans the King 's only Brother and therefore the Duke of Guise dispatched a Messenger to him who sold in one day both his Master and all the reâ—â— that were of the Conspiracy He discovered aâ— the Secrets of the Cabal and the better to carry on his Deceit he caused himself to be apprehended and thrown into Prison having given his Dispatches to the King's Brother which he had before shewed the Cardinal This Traytor was noâ— contented with revealing these Gentlemens Secrets who had sent him but also made it appear That the Prince the King's Brother was guilty as an Accomplice of the others Rebellion Thuâ— these great men grown desperate at the Discovery of their Projects which were indeed contrary to their Sovereign's Interests and the Kingdoms were forced to throw themselves into the Arms of the Spaniards and to joyn with them They have raised Troops amongst their Vassals and Friends and openly declared themselves and fought with great Valour as I have already mentioned in the beginning or my Letter The King's Army has been very ill handled and it appearâ— that the Advantage was wholly on the Confederateâ— side but it has cost the Count of Soissons his Life who was General and Chief of the Party and it is at present disputed to whom is due the Honour of the Victory I prostrate my self continually at thy Feet to kiss with all Humility the Dust of them assuring thee thou hast in me a most faithful Slave that will never change Paris 15th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1641. LETTER VI. To Solyman his Cousin at Constantinople POntius Pilate was an honester man than thou He although a Pagan excused himself of the false Sentences he should pronounce on the Christion's Messias by washing his Hands before the Jews who sought his Death And thou that art a Mahoâ—etan as I am and washest thy whole Body in the Baths at Constantinople in the Presence of our Friends accusest and condemnest me rashly without any scruple Thou usest me like a Rogue so maliciously art thou set against me who am of the same Religion which thou professest How canst thou justifie the Hatred thou bearest me in endeavouring to make the Kaimacam believe I have been corrupted by the Cardinal who is the King of France's Chief Minister Adding that he ought no more to heed my Letters and Relations sent to the sublime Port where lie prostrate all the Powers of the World as not written by an Arabian but by a Sacrilegious Heretick That I deceive the Mufti so venerable for the Authority which
Liberty to ask of thee If the King of Portugal accepted the Combat and killed the Duke of Medina which of the two would have been declared Infamous Whether there be any Certainty in the Decisions made by Arms I am willing to think Justice is on the Side of the Conqueror But if on the contrary the Event of the Duel be uncertain I take it to be a foolish thing for the Duke to expose himself and thus Affront the King his Brother-in law In short the Duke's Prudence is not to be admired in this Occasion and Braganza has had the Advantage on his Side seeing he has shewed by his Conduct that he is effectually King of Portugal I cannot but call these Christians Fools who suffer such Customs among them and yet adore a Messias who is a God of Peace and who calls us Barbarians when they are the only People that teach us and all other Nations the Arts of single Combats which is the most pernicious Custom that can be introduced amongst Men who cut one anothers Throats oftentimes on slight Occasions and become Prodigals of that Treasure with which the Immortal has intrusted them Neither can I any more approve of Kings and Princes of the same Beliefs making War with one another as we see every Day amongst those who profess the Christian Religion which yet as far as I can find scarcely permits any Wars but such as are Defensive Pardon this tedious Letter excuse my Conjectures in it and honour me with thy Commands which will be respected by me as so many Obligations Paris 25th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1642. LETTER XXV To the Invincible Vizir Azem at Constantinople WE hear of nothing now-a-days but Wars and Conspiracies Seditions Treasons Infidelities and Revolutions of State and it is in the Kingdoms of Vice wherein these Plagues of Heaven make these Disorders I mean in the Christians Countries Infidelity reigns amongst the People of Catalonia England and Portugal the Revolutions which have hapned in Barcellona have no Example the Defiance or the Challenge of a Subject to a King as is that of the Duke of Sidonia to the King of Portugal as his Brother-in-law and his Enemy does equally surprize all the World We have reason to think that God is angry with the Christians when we consider Flanders Germany Italy and the Frontiers of Spain pestered with Wars which they make one against another The Animosity of most of the great People of France against the Cardinal Favourite enduces them to lay Plots against his Life whence we may see that great Places are good for nothing but to expose men to great Dangers The last Conspiracy discovered against the Life of D. John IV. of Portugal raised to the Throne by the Nobility and betrayed by the same Nobility not by the whole Body of them but by a small Number of those who had taken an Oath of Fidelity to him as well as the rest does plainly shew us That there is nothing in this World whereon a Man may rely with any Certainty and that here are many People who undertake just Actions by the Motions of an unjust and turbulent Spirit which cannot suffer Things to remain long in a quiet State and aspire continually after Change and to whom every Thing is good that is new I shall relate to thee in few Words this last Event Thou hast been informed of the others by the Letters I have written to thee Invincible General of the Ottamon Armies and Steward of the Emperour's Laws who is the Soveraign of Soveraigns and by those which the Kaimacam and the Bassas have received from me who are obliged to give thee an Account of whatever comes to their Knowledge Several of the great ones in Portugal and amongst them some of the new King's Kindred hatched a Conspiracy against him and resolved to put the Kingdom again into the Spaniard's Hands and entirely ruin the Family of Braganza The principal Author of the Conspiracy was D. Sebastian de Mattos Archbishop of Brague the Count Duke d' Olivarez's Creature to whom he owed his Fortune The chief who conspired with this Seditious Priest were the Marquis de Ville Reale and the Count d' Armamar these two Men of great Birth and Credit soon drew several others into their Party some by the Hope of Recompences and others through Weariness of obeying their new Sovereign or weary with the new Form of State which they thought might change to their Advantage They long held a secret Intelligence with the Catholick King 's Council who promised them all possible Assistance for the Execution of their Design and after that infinite Recompences This Conspiracy was to produce a dreadful Tragedy wherein all the Bloud of the Royal House and Family of Braganza was to be spilt The King was to be the first Victim with his Children and the Queen his Wife D. Duart also was to be put to Death who was kept close Prisoner in the Castle of Milain A Domestick affectioned to his Master and who was attentive to what past delivered the King and Family of Braganza out of this Danger He was ordinarily employed in secret Intrigues and made frequent Courses into Spain to discover the Designs of the Court of Madrid He met by chance in an Inn a man who seemed of a mean Condition born in the Kingdom of Bohemia with whom having entered into a strict Friendship as it happens usually amongst Travellers he came to discover he was often dispatched by the Catholick King 's principal Minister on Affairs of great Weight and that he expected in a short Time to raise his Fortune to a considerable Pitch being entrusted with Packets of Letters containing Things of the highest Importance to the State The crafty Portuguese soon discerning he might get out Secrets of great Concernment from this imprudent Man for the good of his Master resolved to kill him in a desart Place where they were to pass which he did having first made him drunk with strong Wine Assoon as he had done his Work he stript him and found Letters and Instructions to the Conspirators which he speedily carried to D. John who thereby discovered the whole Conspiracy Others say that D. Alphonso of Portugal Count de Vermissa having been solicited by the Achbishop of Brague who thought he could easily bring him into the Conspiracy being discontented at the King for taking away from him a great Office went to his Soveraign and freely discovered to him the Conspiracy which had been made to deprive him both of his Crown and Life And 't is added That this Count appeared since one of the hottest of the Accomplices till the very Instant wherein they were to execute their Project at which Time they were apprehended and punished as they deserved Others say the Duke of Medina Sidonia the King's Brother-in-law who appeared to the Accomplices to be of the Plot gave notice of it to the King his Brother In fine the Conspirators were executed
THE First Volume OF LETTERS Writ by a Turkish Spy Who lived Five and Forty Years Undiscovered at PARIS Giving an Impartial Account to the Divan at Constantinople of the most Remarkable Transactions of Europe And discovering several Intrigues and Secrets of the Christian Courts especially of that of France from the Year 1637 to the Year 1682. Written Originally in Arabick first Translated into Italian afterwards into French and now into English The Second Edition LONDON Printed for Henry Rhodes near Bride-Lane in Fleet-street 1691. Mahmut The. Turkish spy Aetatis suae 72. F. H. Van. Hove sculp TO THE READER I Here offer you a Book written by a Turk whose Matter is as instructive and delightful as the Manner of finding it was strange and surprizing I do not doubt but you would know where 't was written and perhaps whether the Author be living and whether you must expect a Romance or a real History Hear then in short what will fully satisfie you The Curiosity of seeing Paris made a Man of Letters leave Italy in the Year 1682 where being arrived he found such Diversions as caused his stay longer than he intended Scarce had he been Two Months in Paris when by changing his Lodging he discovered by meer Chance in a Corner of his Chamber a great heap of Papers which seem'd more spoil'd by Dust than Time He was at first surprized to see nothing but barbarous Characters and was upon the Point of leaving them without any further search if a Latin Sentence which he perceived on the top of a Leaf had not retained him Vbi amatur non laboratur si Laboratur labor amatur The Surprize of the Italian was yet greater when after having considered these Characters with more Attention he found them to be Arabick which Language was not altogether unknown to him which made him look narrowlier into them where he found That they treated of Affairs of State that they contained Relations of War and Peace and discoursed not only of the Affairs of France but of those of all Christendom till the Year 1682. The curious Italian was in no small Impatience to know how and where these Memorials had been writ and by what Adventure they came to lie so neglected in a Corner of his Chamber But before he further informed himself he thought it expedient to transport these Manuscripts into another House as a Place of greater Security He afterwards questioned his Landlord with great Precaution concerning the Papers and he inform'd him even to the least Circumstances He told him That a Stranger who said he was a Native of Moldavia Habited like an Ecclesiastick greatly Studious of small Stature of a very course Countenance but of surprizing Goodness of Life had lived long at his House That he came to lodge there in the Year 1664 and had staid Eighteen Years with him that being gone abroad one day he returned no more and they had had no certain News of him since He was about Seventy Years old had left Manuscripts that no Body understood and some Moneys which was an Argument that his Departure was not premeditated He added That he had always a Lamp Day and Night burning in his Chamber had but few Moveables only some Books a small Tome of St. Austin Tacitus and the Alcoran with the Picture of Massaniello whom he praised very much calling him the Moses of Naples He said further That this Strangers greatest Friend and whom he saw often was a Man which most People took for a Saint some for a Jew and others suspected to be a Turk According to the Landlord's Report he came to Paris in the Year 1637 being then but Twenty Eight Years of Age. At first he had lodged with a Flemming he went oft to Court Moneys never failed him he had Friends and passed for very Learned As for his End this Man thinks he died miserably it being suspected that he had been thrown into the River The Italian being sufficiently instructed by what he had heard applyed himself to the Study of the Arabian Language and as he had already some Knowledge in it he quickly learnt enough to Translate these Manuscripts which he undertook a while after and he examined with care the Truth of what the Moldavian had writ confronting the Events he met with the Histories of those Times and to succeed the better searched the most approved Memorials having had Access into the Cabinets of Princes and their Ministers These Letters contain the most considerable Intrigues of the Court of France and the most remarkable Transactions of Christendom which have been sent to several Officers of the Ottoman Court. By these may be known the Perspicacity of this Agent of the Turks and by him the Prudence of those that command in that Nation who chose the better to penetrate into the Affairs of Christians a Man who could not be suspected by his Exterior who was deform'd but prudent and advised and for the better concealing him destined his ordinary Abode in one of the greatest and most peopled Cities of Europe During his being at Paris which was Forty Five Years he has been Eye-witness of many great Changes has seen the Death of two great Ministers of State has seen that Kingdom involved in War without and within He was scarce setled in Paris but he was witness to the Birth of a King who surpasses those that preceded him in a time when the Queen's Barrenness caused the King her Husband to despair of ever having a Son that should succeed him During the Course of so many Years he hath seen Cities revolt and return again to the Obedience of their Sovereign Princes of the Blood make War against their King and Queen Mary de Medicis Wife Mother and Mother-in-Law to some of the greatest Kings in Europe die in Exile in Cologne He speaks frankly of the Princes of Christendom and explains his Sentiments with Liberty He saith The Emperor commands Princes the King of Spain Men and the King of France sees Men and even Kings obey his Orders He adds That the First commands and prays the Second sees oft times more effected than he commanded and that the Third commands many brave Souldiers and is well nigh obeyed by Crowned Heads There appears no Hate or Animosity in him in what he writes against the Pope In Discoursing of the Emperor and King of Spain he says That both of them having Provinces of such vast Extent they are not much concerned at the Losses they sustain He believed that England was more powerful than the Empire and Spain he might have added France at Sea He apprehended more the Counsels of the Republick of Venice than their Arms. He magnifies what passed in the Wars of Candy which the Venetians supported with so much Bravery against the Forces of the Ottoman Empire The Genoeses with him are perfect Chymists He speaks of the last Plague and last War that this Commonwealth hath been afflicted with he touches something of
wit Ambrose and Austin When the French beat the Spaniards they sing the Te Deum and when these vanquish their Enemies they do the same These Two Nations do the duty of the Mussulmen in destroying one another and when this is done they give God Thanks for the Evil they have committed Whence we may judge of the Wisdom and Piety of the Mahometans amongst whom there 's seldom seen an open War and if it should happen 't is generally Condemned The Rejoicing of the French proceeds hence the Spaniards had besieged Leucate a small Peninsula in Languedoc which is but four Leagues round with Two Ports where a few Galleys and Four small Vessels may Anchor in safety The Place was attack'd by the Spaniards with much Heat but was afterwards given over with as great Loss The Assailants being obliged to make a Retreat not unlike a shameful Flight quitted their Baggage their Arms and all their other Provision Count Serbellon offered at first to Barris who commanded the Place a great Sum of Money which was to be attended with a constant Pension which refused they were necessitated to betake themselves to force by which in short the Spaniards were entirely defeated Serbellon withdrew towards Perpignan with the Duke of Cardonn's Son who was Viceroy of Catalonia He lost all his Tents his Plate and the Moneys designed for Payment of the Army And I will say yet more that he has lost the Reputation of a good Captain and valiant Soldier until he can recover an Opportunity to Fight and Vanquish This Victory must have been of Consequence and very Glorious seeing the King assisted in Person together with the Queen Two Cardinals the Council of State and that of the Finances and that which they call here the Courts Sovereign which are a Company of Men chosen to judge others Besides these there was an innumerable Concourse of People who testified their Joy for the Advantage gained by their King notwithstanding it be at the Cost of their Brethren of the same Religion Live happily and conserve thy Honour as thy Life Paris 25th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1637. LETTER IV. To Isouf his Kinsman I Tell thee I live and am well I have received no News from thee perhaps thou thoughtest me Dead I Salute thee first with my Letters though thou oughtest to have begun If thou art ashamed of my Kindred accuse thy Parents by whom thou art become of the same Family But be not ungrateful to them nor forgetful of the Good thou hast received from me Thou shalt now know where I am and ought to stay and mayest answer me if thou wilt Believe in the mean time the Counsel I give thee although thou dost not demand it Be devout in thy Religion without Hypocrifie and remember there is no more Gods but One as also that the Favourite and sent of God is Mahomet his Prophet After that love thy Master without desiring any thing more than the Execution of his Pleasure Embrace thy Father as from me and give thy Mother a Kiss saluting her as my Sister and Friend which is the most endearing Title that Antiquity could invent for Persons who had the same Sentiments of Affection Live happily and conserve thy Chastity Paris 25th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1637. LETTER V. To the Aga of the Janisaries I Shall give thee some Pleasure in telling thee that the Christians lose easier than they acquire It seems the Marquess Ambrose Spinola whom all the World took for a great Captain has lost much of his Reputation seeing that a Place is lost in eleven Weeks which he had formerly besieged eleven Months and where he had expended eleven Millions If these Circumstances are true they are very extraordinary However he shall continue a Great Captain in my Opinion and it is ordinary enough to see that lost in a little Time by the Cowardliness of one which has not been acquired in a great while by the Valour of a whole Army The Prince of Orange hath taken Breda a Place of great Importance which had been surrendred twelve Years and three Months since to the said Spinola who commanded the Army of Spain This Conquest is great for 't was the general Opinion the Place could not be taken but by Famine yet hath it been constrained to yield by the continual Fire and Valour of the Besiegers Had not the Hollanders become Masters of this Place they had been as it were block'd up on the side of Brabant and had the Enemy always at their Gates whereas now they are more at large We ought to rejoice rather at their acquisitions than those of the Spaniards with whom we never have had Peace This Place is fortified with much Regularity It hath fifteen Bastions besides some little Forts on the Moat side There are five Horn-works without The Place is considerable for its Greatness It contains five thousand Houses with great Gardens and there are three principal Gates I mention these Particulars because thou art a Man of War Receive my Letter kindly believe me thy Friend and do not doubt of my Fidelity If thou wilt add to thy Valour by new Merit which will heighten the Consideration Men have for thee I will teach thee a Secret which will not be very Expensive but very Delightful Read at Times the Histories of others and particularly those of the Greatest and most Fortunate Princes and their Captains Imitate rather the Wise than those who have only signalized themselves by their Valour To conclude be conversant in Histories but choose always the best I mean such as cannot be suspected for Lyes Thou canst not fail of good Books both Greek and Arabick which are Translated into the Turkish and Persian Tongues Thou wilt learn to be wise by the Folly of others and wilt become yet more Prudent by observing the sage Conduct of such who performed great Actions Above all Things never neglect to make serious Reflections upon the least Events It happens sometimes that passages are found in Books that seem of no Consequence which may yet be of Use in important Occasions for the clearing of Difficulties And for Example learn this from a great King Henry IV. who Conquered his Kingdom by the Dint of his Sword I will finish with a worthy Saying of Marquess Spinola's which I think is to the purpose He saith That a Captain 's Sword must be tyed to his Heart his Heart fixt to his Head and Conducted by his Judgment which ought particularly to be formed by the reading of Histories Love me as much as I esteem thee and thou wilt never love me enough Paris 25th of the 10th Moon of the Year 1637. LETTER VI. To Mehemet Page Eunuch to the Sultan Mother THou hast spent fourteen Years in the Seraglio and to thy unhappiness always been in the Service of Women serve now a Man who is certainly somewhat more than a Woman Thou knowest the Confidence we have in each other is arrived to
that Degree as to discover our failings to each other and to suffer them Seeing I am at present far off and by consequence the more exposed to Criticks and ill Offices do not forget the Interests of thy Friend Watch Day and Night for the Advantage of my Life Observe search and endeavour to penetrate what People discourse of me and what is said concerning me at Court Our Great Emperor sent me hither to observe what passes here and render him an Account I know I am where I ought to practise what I am commanded to do but I do not yet know whether I shall return to the place where I would willingly end my Days Most things are done on that side but they are not all equally performed I have therefore more just Reason to apprehend that all Men do know that I shall acquit my self with Fidelity of the Orders I have received Consider how far his Unhappiness doth extend who serves another who is Master of so many Millions of Subjects I will inform thee of two Things whereof thou shalt tell the first to the Bassa of the Sea and the other to the Musti's Vicar We are told that the King of England hath set forth a Vessel upon the British Ocean of such Prodigious Greatness that it exceeds all others as well in Force as Vastness It is Armed with One hundred and twenty Brass Guns It draws Unrigg'd Seventeen Foot of Water and its Bulk is Eleven hundred Tun. 'T is reported that it cost Two Millions of Piasters and as if it were the King of all other Ships it is called The Sovereign The Second News is a Prodigy that happened in Upper Saxony which finds but a little Credit with the Wise but is easily believed by the Women and the Common-People They say That at Dresden one of the Duke of Saxony's Courtiers having cut a piece of boiled Beef there issued so much blood out of it that the Elector's Table was wholly covered with it which extreamly troubled this Prince looking upon the Adventure as a Presage of Famine and War Let me hear often from thee and of our Friends but make no Confidence to any of that which is betwixt us Thou shalt learn from me Secrets of great Importance provided thou be Faithful and Discreet God grant thee in an Instant the Good which I shall wish to acquire in my whole Lise Paris 15th of the 11th Moon of the Year 1637. LETTER VII To the Invincible Vizir Azem SEeing thou hast acquired the Knowledge of Things present by thy Prudence and rare Understanding and hast desired me to inform thee of those Things which shall happen in the Places whither thou hast sent me I will endeavour to penetrate the Affairs the most secret to the end that nothing in this World may be hid from thee At present there are but few Actions in Christendom which deserve to be reported and thou art sufficiently instructed in the Affairs of France and touching the Person of her King I expect to inform thee of Events which at the same time may divert thee and instruct thee This Prince is called Henry the Just He cannot be called the Happy for having as yet no Son to succeed him there will be always Occasions of Trouble in his Kingdom Nor is there any Hopes that the Queen may prove with Child by Reason of her long Barrenness If the King will resolve to be divorced from her and take another it cannot be effected without Rome and Rome the Mufti and all their Priests will according to their usual Manner raise so many Difficulties and be so long before they determine that it will be a hard Matter to extort from them that Consent which the Laws of the Christians render necessary for the dissolving a First Marriage Certainly this Slavery which doth thus subject the Christian Princes is hard but it is a Point of their Law which being of no Importance to thee I will trouble thee no more with it This defect of a Successor in the King of France is of great Advantage to the Spaniards and one would think Heaven had created this Nation to be Enemies to the French It seems moreover there is a secret Violence which entertains an Antipathy betwixt the Two Nations which enforces a belief that there can never be a solid Peace betwixt them Thou hast already understood from those I writ to and who dare hide nothing from thee what has happened here during the small time of my sojourning in these Quarters I will not repeat little Things the Greatness of thy Genius and the Eminency of thy Employment have put thee far above every Thing that is not Extraordinary that we ought to inform the of nothing but transcending Events I will not entertain thee with the taking of the Old Town of Sally nor of the Disorders in the New Thou wilt have learned more swiftly from the Coasts of Africk Advices of the Hostile Acts which the English have committed with their Ships of War against that City which the King of Morocco protects The Attempt was great and is discoursed of here as a hardy Enterprise The Vastness of thy Understanding will easily judge of the Consequence They say here that the King of France has writ to Rome that he will willingly resolve to make a long Cessation of Arms with his Enemies If that happens this Repose will serve but to encrease the Forces of both sides which may hereafter render the War more cruel In the mean time 't is thought they design a General Peace but Time will discover to the Politicians what we cannot at present divine This Court is Great and Magnificent It stays not long in a Place and is very seldom at Paris being in the Camp amongst the Armies or for Pleasure in the Country The Genius of the Courtiers is different but they have an equal Inclination for two Things very opposite War and Love and apply themselves to both with much Constancy The Religion which they call Protestant and which has been the occasion of so much Disturbance to the Kingdom is now low by the Surrender of Rochell which was as thou knowest the principal Bulwark of those of that Party It seems this King will imitate our Mighty and Formidable Emperors and will regulate his Conduct by thine in not suffering within his State two Religions which are opposite The Kingdom is notwithstanding as yet full of Trouble Cardinal Richlieu who holds the Helm of Affairs in France as thou directest that of the Empire of the World seems as may be said in the midst of a Tempest and hath Reason enough to apprehend Danger for there are an infinite number of People who follow the Standards of Luther and Calvin who have no other Thoughts but of his Ruine In the mean time the Power of France seems mighty Great and 't is to be apprehended it may in Time augment infinitely Thou knowest Invincible Bassa what the Ancient Gauls did in Old Time They were
called Gallogrecians for having over-run Italy and sack'd Rome they settled in the middle of Asia and could not be overcome but by the Romans because the Heavens had ordained that the Romans should subjugate all Nations But now that these Gauls are no more and there are no more of these brave Romans we must pray the Infinite Goodness of the most High that the Power of these Modern Gauls may be limited If the French however would do what a Spaniard who fled from the Passion of Philip II. counselled Henry IV. their King which was To set himself right with Rome to have a great Power at Sea and a Council composed of Wise Secret and Faithful Men by that means he might one day perhaps equal the Ancient Romans I think he that gave this Advice was named Antonio Perez I observe every thing with care but shall observe them nearer for the future It appears to me that the Genius of this Nation is to aggrandize it self and extend its Limits The French have a common saying That Kings having nothing above them that may limit them God hath given the Empire of the Earth to the strongest They add That Adam left no Kingdoms to his Children but that they made them for themselves They glory in certain Prophecies which promise them the Empire of the World In relating this I tell what they say not what ought to happen They entertain here the same hatred for us as others do when our Power is Formidable but wise Men who have Knowledge of our History speak with more Admiration of the Ottoman Empire than of that of the Romans and if these last were destroyed by the Civil Wars which tore them in pieces the other will encrease and maintain it self by the great Pre-cautions used to hinder them and by the Union of their Forces Thou knowest more of the Extent of the City of Paris than I can tell thee It appears to me great and full of People but Constantinople is yet Greater and more Populous Thou wilt pardon me after all if I make not a certain Judgment of a Nation which I do not yet well comprehend However I will assure thee the French are no Fools and I believe never were They do not love Novelty through Levity but for Reason of State and when they are unconstant it is not to do Ill but to acquire Good They are Happy and Unfortunate in Wars like others but what is considerable They do not combat their Enemies because they hate them but in Obedience to their Prince which occasions the great Discipline which is in their Armies And what seems worthy of Reflection is That they love their King by Inclination and this Love produces in them that which our Attachment to the Precepts of the Law does in the Hearts of the best Turks I use this Comparison which I learnt from thee who art the Wisest Man in the World from whose Mouth I have heard as from an Oracle That it is not much material whether Subjects love their Master by Inclination or Fear provided they always faithfully serve him and are always humble If ever it happen I am discovered thou wilt do me a great Honour to let me know If I ought to avow my self an Agent from the sublime Port or whether I ought to die without confessing any Thing I end with my Head in the Dust without ever ceasing to supplicate the most High that he will shower his continued Happiness upon thee and the Empire Paris 15th of the 11th Moon of the Year 1637. LETTER VIII To Muzlu Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire THis is the second Letter which I have writ to thee My Dispatches hitherto have not been filled with Things of great Importance by reason I have not yet had Time to learn them I wish greatly to write what may please thee Receive therefore what I offer kindly and be perswaded That I fear thy Censures as much as if I did deserve them I live here according to the Instructions which were given me and live easie enough The Country is good and fat the Men good Companions are frank and seem Discreet I have not as yet any Acquaintance with Women and yet it is necessary I find Means to introduce my self into their Companies It is a Sex that will not pardon when they think themselves neglected They are proper to discover Things one would know and to say them when one would have them published and likewise they as much penetrate into the Secrets of Hearts as the most refined and spiritualest Courtiers Further there are many of them that can conceal nothing but what they do not know I frequent not the Monks but when necessitated If I see them it is to seem Devout upon Design of being introduced by them into the House of a Minister of State when I teach his Son the Greek Language We must not expect to find here the great Tranquility which is at Constantinople The Town is so full of Coaches of Horses and Waggons that the Noise surpasses Imagination Thou wilt certainly find it strange that Men who are in Health and have no sore Legs should cause themselves to be drawn in an Engine with four Wheels but I more wonder to see these same Men can resolve to suffer the Inconveniency of the Noise and of the Expence which they throw away out of Vanity The more moderate French which do not approve of this Luxury say That in the time of Henry III. there were but three Coaches in Paris whereof two were the Kings But the Number is now so great that they are not to be counted I can tell thee no more of the Genius of the French thou knowest it perfectly There is in all their Actions a Spirit very delicate and an Activity like that of Fire It seems as if none but they knew the short Duration of Man's Life they do every Thing with so much haste as if they had but one Day to live If they go on Foot they run if they ride they fly and if they speak they eat up half their Words They love new Inventions passionately I can say nothing certain of their Fidelity though methinks we might suspect such who do not read as they write nor write as they speak They love Moneys which they look upon as the first Matter and second Cause of all Things They well-nigh adore it and that is the Original Sin of all Nations Paris ought to be destroyed to enrich many Cities in Europe Whence thou mayst comprehend her Greatness her Traffick how Rich she is and how all Sorts of Arts do flourish in her The French Nobility is always ready to get on Horse-back at their King's Commands And they love War so well that it is to be supposed we should have enough to do with them if we were as near them as the Spaniards and they did not want Infantry I shall hereafter observe every Circumstance with so much Care as well in this
Kingdom as elsewhere that nothing shall escape me In the mean Time I shall endeavour to get Acquaintance but shall want more Moneys than is allowed me to answer what is expected from me Two Chequins a-Day are more than enough to support a Man that will live like a Cynick but not sufficient to introduce me into Houses to dive into their Secrets and enable me to discover the Affairs of most Importance according to my Commission so that thou must assist me to obtain more I hope to succeed in my Employment if thou dost not refuse me thy Assistance finding no Difficulty in the Execution of my Orders but the Necessity of Lying when I pass for a Christian I fancy I see Mahomet in a Rage and believe my Soul lost though I am from my Heart more faithful in my Religion than all the Mahometans put together Seeing I am resolved to do a Thing to which I have so much Aversion thou mayest be assured I will bear all the Evil imaginable that can happen to me with Firmness though in all appearance I ought to hope nothing but Good Deliver I beseech thee this inclosed Letter into the Hands of the most Venerable Mufti and extort from him if possible a Solution of my Doubts There is nothing that touches me nearer than what regards my Religion and with my Religion the Service of my Emperor Paris 15th of the 11th Moon of the Year 1637. LETTER IX To the Mufti Prince of the Religion of the Turks I Will die a true Mussulman though I should see all the Crosses of the Carthaginians set up for my Punishment and had before mine Eyes all the Instruments of the most Cruel Tortures that the Enemies of our Holy Religion could invent But seeing there is no Question at present of dying but of living to serve my Emperor I beg of thee Sovereign Prelate that thou wilt be pleased to conserve my Innocence in giving me an ample Absolution or in imposing a Penance that may cancel all my Crimes Paris hath always been the Residence of the Kings of France whence it is that the Exercise of no other Religion but the Christian is suffered there and those who acknowledge the Bishop of Rome for their Head have the principal Management of the Affairs of Religion and 't is with these that the Rites of the Latin Church are more strictly observed I live here in Appearance as if I were a Christian and a Catholick I enter into their Churches assist at their Ceremonies kneel before the Cross and I appear with great Devotion and Humility before the Images which are had here in Veneration I know well enough if the Life which I lead be not permitted me as advantageous to the Affairs of State and the Person of the Grand Signior that I commit Sacriledge acting as I do contrary to the Precepts of Mahomet expressed in his Alcoran I am guilty of violating the Law which is prescribed me and deserve death if thou dost not by approving this Life I am obliged to lead assure me of both my Salvation and Life 'T is true thou hast already given me Absolution from all the false Oaths I shall be necessitated to take when they are for the Service of my Master but I am not assured this Absolution extends far enough to secure my Conscience when I abuse Holy Things 'T is thy Province to decide this Point which is of such importance to my Repose which makes me expect thy Resolves with impatience if thou thinkest a Faithful Mussulman who conserves his Religion in his Heart and lives as I do amongst the Enemies of the Law worthy this Grace The interest of my Conscience obliges me to demand after what manner I ought to govern my self when I see them who are effectively what I seem to be practise the same Acts of Religion The French will in a little Time celebrate their Carnaval or Shrove-tide As soon as it is done the Catholicks think of Fasting having first assisted at a Ceremony where Ashes are put upon their Foreheads to make them remember they were formed out of the Dust and shall return to Dust again It is at this Time they go to hear Sermons their Priests explaining that which they call the Gospel and frequent the Church more than ordinary They apply themselves oftener to Works of Piety and having purged their Consciences by Penances and secret Confessions which one Man makes to another they eat of a certain Bread which they call The Sacrament of the Eucharist where after certain Words pronounced by their Priest they will have the Body of their Messiah to be really present under those Apparent Species This Ceremony is an Obligation that good Christians cannot dispense with it being ordained by their Law and by their Great Prelate the Bishop of Rome They commonly call it Confessing and Communicating and Keeping Easter Ought I hazzard my self in committing so horrid a Sacrilege and tempt as I may say God by so great a Superstition and so irritate our Great Prophet It may be said perhaps that many Jews have done the same Thing and do it yet every day to preserve themselves more securely But how many of them have been chastised by visible Miracles from Heaven and undergone terrible Punishments by the Ordinances of the Judges All these Reflections trouble my Spirit O Holy Primate of the most Divine Law I do not think it lawful to mock the Mysteries of any Religion whatsoever The God of the Christians is the same that we adore but Their Religion is quite opposite to Ours There is a great Difference betwixt their JESVS Crucifi'd with all the Ignominies possible as these Infidels do believe and a Mahomet Immortal and Triumphant a great Legislator and the Angular Stone of the first Empire of the World Give me then positive Orders to the end I may be eased of my Scruples and may believe That what thou permittest me may be an Effect of thy Justice and not of a Toleration which may be pernicious to me It is true I may wave all these things in feigning to have done them but it will be more advantageous for my Affairs not to exempt my self if that may be without a Crime Teach then a most Obedient Slave what thou shalt believe most conducible to the Glory of God and most profitable for the Service of our Sovereign Lord. I do not send thee my Doubts to puzzle thee but to draw from thy great and sublime Genius such Lights as may dissipate the Darknesses I live in This done Sovereign Prelate remember thy Humble Servant and pray our Holy Prophet that he will keep me from perishing Paris 15th of the 11th Moon of the Year 1637. LETTER X. To the Kaimakam I Received from thy Hand the first Dispatch that has been addressed to me from the Sublime Port and I received it at the beginning of the Year according to the Moons of these Infidels The Date is of the Month Mielidge Thou order'st me
to write to thee of Two Things and to do Three Thou wilt first know If this King be Aged and of perfect Health and afterwards If there be any Hopes that the Queen may have Children Thou wouldest also have me send his Highness the Pictures of the King the Cardinal of Richlieu and the Eldest Son of the Prince of Condé As thou art one of the principal Supports of the Power of the Sublime Port elevated above all the Thrones of the World after the Vizir Azem whose Orders are the Rule of the Universe Minister and first Slave of the happy Emperor of the Ottomans I ought to do what thou commandest me I tell thee then I have seen this King thrice nor doth he appear by his Countenance by his Hair or by his Shape to be yet Old neither would it be easie to divine the Number of his Years if we were ignorant of the Day of his Birth But it is known to every Body That this Prince was born the 27. of the Ninth Moon of the Year 1601 according to the Style of the Christians By this thou mayst justly calculate the Age of this Monarch who though he is in his Flower seems fading because he hath as yet given no Heir to his Kingdom besides his Years being near Forty surpass that of a Young Man and 't is observed That few Princes arrive to a great Age. The Queen may still lie in if she prove with Child which if it should happen after Twenty three Years of Barrenness 't is certain a Fruit which hath been so long in ripening will give an ample Subject of reasoning to the Astrologers of Europe For my part I fancy this King will scarce become a Father unless he Repudiate this Wife and marry another It is not permitted to be inquisitive into the Cause of this Sterility Hereby thou seest the Weakness of those Christian Princes who are subjected to the Laws of Rome which think it a Crime to give themselves Heirs that are not born of Lawful Wedlock tho' it often happens that when such are wanting this Kingdom is exposed to Ruine by the Dissensions and Civil Wars which on these occasions are always inevitable The Most High who hath always protected the Grandeur of the Ottoman Empire hath left the Infidels in these Errors to the End that he might give our most Mighty Monarch who is the Avenger of the Divine Vnity an Eminence Superior to that of all Kings who are his Slaves and at the same Time made him Holy above all the Saints in the World and permitted us to have Children that may succeed us from as many Wives as we can entertain the Children of True Believers being always Legitimate I humbly beg Pardon I forgot I spoke to thee who art Wisdom it self and to whom no Secrets of the Law or State are unknown I wlll send to Carcoa at Vienna the Pictures of the King of the Prince of Conde's Son and of the Cardinal Richlieu according to the Orders I received from thee and they shall be dispatch'd in little Time I would to Heaven I could as easily send thee the Originals I should at one Stroke disarm this Kingdom which would thereby be suddenly involved in Fire and Blood The Habit I wear and the Manner after which I live hath already gained me many Friends I find Means to go once a week to Court My Deformity protects me against the Jealousies of Husbands Some People take me for a Wise Man and discourse confidently in my Presence of Politicks and Affairs of State neither do I neglect the making Use of every Thing which may be advantageous to me in my Ministry Thus in doing a Thing for the which I have much Aversion I compass all I desire and I assure thee upon my Faith If thou wilt continue to protect me and assist me with thy Counsels I will do somewhat extraordinary I supplicate the Great God to give a perpetual Health to thy Body and make thy Soul enjoy upon Earth and in Heaven the Felicity of the Blessed Paris 1st of the 1st Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XI To Bedredin Superior of the Convent of Dervises of Cogny in Natolia I Write to thee who art Venerable by thy Age and so many long Voyages which thou hast made Thou who hast been so many Times in Pilgrimage to Arabia Tartary Persia and the Indies always bare-foot and begging out of pure Devotion to the Saint of Saints our Great Prophet Mahomet I address this Letter to thee Thee who bearest the Scars of five and twenty Great Wounds Thee who hast pray'd nine and fifty Times in the Sacred Porch and adored the Holy Mysteries in the most retired Sanctuary of Mecha and hast lived more than seventy Years of Religion amongst the Dervises where thy Merit caused thee to be elected Superior of the Convent in Natolia Thou knowest well that I serve him who is Arbitrator of the Destiny of the Universe I mean the Sultan Sovereign of the World Learn what I heard here from the Mouth of Christians and pardon me if I have not sufficiently answered them but do not accuse me to have deserved Death for having seemingly cursed our Holy Law and Him that gave it us and if I have seemed to reject his Successors Ali Osman and Omar it was expedient that I should commit some Evil not to lose the Opportunity of doing much Good Thou knowest well I am destined to serve and that being absolved from all the Perjuries I shall commit I may transgress the Law by being permitted to lye That suffices Read my Letter and learn how far their Malice does extend who are Enemies to our Religion To instruct thee better in what has happened to me I must tell thee that amongst these Infidels there is an Order of Religious much in Vogue called the Company of JESVS wherein there is an infinite Company of Men some more able than others in all Sorts of Scienes sacred and prophane and according to Appearance ought to be very recommendable for the Holiness of their Manners These Religious who are ordinarily called Jesuites have the Education of the Youth almost in all the Cities of Europe as well as in the Indies and many excellent Wits are brought up in the Seminaries they have established When they preach the People crowd to their Sermons They are the Confessors of almost all the Princes and Monarchs of Christendom who discover to them their Weaknesses their Sins and the Vices whereunto they are enclined and receive from them upon their Knees like Slaves such Penance as they think fit to impose on them A Man may say of them That being Dispensers of Penances they are also the Masters of Recompences They are Habited in a long Vest of black Wooll which descends to their Heels They go not bare-foot but their Vestments are simple They observe great Modesty in all their Actions they march with Gravity never go alone and suffer not their Beards to grow They
say to thee in this Matter but I shall not end this Discourse without some violent Scruples of Conscience Pray the Great God with me That he will illuminate my Understanding with Inward Lights until the Man promised by our Holy Prophet the Man I say who ought to be born of his Race be descended upon the Earth who is to see all Kings humbled in his Presence and to unite with Jesus the Two Religions that they may make but One. In the mean Time let us live as honest Men who have Sin in horror like the Plague which poisons the Soul and apply our selves as much as in us lies to what is truly Good and above all things let us carefully observe this Precept writ in the Book of their Law but is not always imprinted in their Hearts Never do to Others no not thy Enemies that which thou wouldst not have done to thy self A Duke of Guise gave an Example of this to all France and 't is what thou oughtest to Preach in the vast Empire of the Mussulmans This Prince surprized a Villain that would have Assassinated him who confessed that the Interest of his Religion which was that of Calvin had obliged him to form a Design to take him away to deliver himself and those of his Party from so great an Enemy The Duke instead of causing him to suffer the Pains due to so black an Enterprise Pardoned him contenting himself to tell him Friend If thy Religion Obliged thee to Kill me without hearing me my Religion Obliges me to give thee thy Life and Liberty now I have heard thee Go thy ways and amend thy self This Prince was then General of Charles the IX 's Army Sage Bedredin our Mahomet never shewed such generous Sentiments when he prescribed in his Law this Precept against Christians that had never Offended him When you Encounter the Infidels kill them and cut off their Heads imprison them and keep them in Chains until they have paid their Ransoms or till you find it requisite to set them at Liberty Persecute them until they have all submitted or are entirely overthrown Observe in this Letter what may be of use to thee Pardon my Friendship the frank Manner of Writing and remember Mahmut in thy Prayers who personates a Christian and is in his Heart a most faithful Mussulman If it be in thy Power to succour me never do me any Injury God protect and govern thy great Age to the last Moment Paris 28th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XII To Chiurgi Muhammet Bassa THE Queen is with Child when least expected which occasions much Joy at Court especially to the King who after so many Years of Marriage will become a Father Thou who hast applied thy self so long to the Studies of Astrology in the Schools of Egypt yet makest Profession of this Divine Art which discovers thee Things the most hidden to thee who readest so learnedly in the Book of Heaven whatever the Stars have traced there who hast found the Moment of their Rising and Disappearing with the Intervals betwixt these two Times and the Causes which render their Motion quicker or slower thou who penetratest into the most hidden Secrets of Men and knowest the Seasons of Famine of Shipwracks of Victories and of loss of Battels Divine in God's Name Great Interpreter of the Secrets of Nature Wiser than Albumazar and Ptolemy what will become of this Impregnation and whether it be true That this Child that 's to be Born has been more than two hundred and seventy Moons in forming If thou believest what I writ last to thee to be impossible say nothing of it it would be no Credit to me to pass for the Author of a Novel that has no Grounds of Truth The City of Paris is in an inconceivable Joy and this Joy is spread all over France Thou may'st perceive by that the Passion of this People to see their King a Father 'T is true they have much to hope by it but it is as certain they have yet much to apprehend seeing all their Hopes vanish in an instant Nature uses all her Power when she forms a Man the most perfect of all Creatures But there needs but a slight Fall to destroy this Workmanship before it is finished as well as after I have heard a great many People question much the Sex and Life of that which will be born All the Conversation at the Court at Paris and in all the Kingdom is no more of Wars of Leagues of Peace or Naval Preparations they all rowl upon the bringing to Bed of Women There will be other reasoning in some small time in Christendom and even amongst us if the Queen do not miscarry France being no less considerable amongst other Kingdoms than the Bourbone are amongst Men. Harry IV. who introduced the Crown into this Branch of the Family was a Prince very Brave and if we live long enough to see his Grand-Children we shall see whether they will have as much Courage as the Chief of their Family As for thee thou wilt have wherewith to divert thee and excercise thy Talent if this Queen be brought to Bed happily of a Prince I shall in the mean time be very Exact to mark not only the Days and Hours but the least Minutes to the End thou may'st know by the Situation of the Planets which ordinarily regulate the Inclinations of Men in what manner a Prince so long expected will regulate his Affairs and consequently those of others It is a great while since we have had any Commerce here with the Sun there being forty nine Days since this beauteous Planet appeared to us and the Cold is so violent that it has changed as I may say the Waters of the Seine a large River into Crystal Do not look upon these Effects as extraordinary it happens here frequent enough for when the Days are shortest the Cold is most intense Thou knowest that this Climate is very inconstant I have often seen in a little space of Time Rain Hail Snow and terrible Winds and presently after the Air become Fair and Serene This inconstancy of the Climate has its Advantages for if the fair Weather do not last long the foul is also of less Duration Fail not upon the Receipt of my Letter to communicate the News I send thee to the Grand Vizir without telling him the Reflections which I make They are of no Use to such great Ministers particularly by us who are in Comparison of them but vile Slaves always subject to the Sentences they pronounce of us Love me and consult the Stars to know whether thou wilt be always Faithful to me and if it be by Force or Inclination As for my self I assure thee that following the Inclination of my Heart I will conserve thee that Fidelity which I owe by Obligation Paris 28th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XIII To Carcoa at Vienna THE Kaimacan commands me forthwith to send the
XXIV To the Kaimakam THE King of France hath sent forth another Army I have already informed thee that this Prince hath already Three Armies in Three Parts of Europe There is one in Piemont commanded by Cardinal la Valette another whereof Prince Henry of Condè is Generalissimo which they hope will quickly take Fontarabia and a Third commanded by Marshal Chatillion which besieges St. Omer The Duke of Longueville is at the Head of the Fourth which is entred into Burgundy with design to ruine the French County defended by Duke Charles of Lorrain one of the Emperor's Generals So many Armies and so many Captains march against the Spaniards This Nation sufficiently manifests her Force she is attack'd on all Sides and resists and defends her self on all Sides This vast Extent of Countries which the Austrians possess though separated from each other makes that they are always employed in defending themselves but they will be eternally exposed to lose without any Appearance of Gain Thou knowest that the true Secret of preserving Union amongst the Good is to entertain perpetual Differences amongst the Bad and thou wilt see that all the Adventures of this Country will render Us Invincible What I tell thee is a true Saying The French at Present are too powerful with so many Troops so many Armies by Sea and Land which are seen in the Provinces of their Enemies The other Christians are in continual Apprehensions The Embassadors of Princes which reside in this Town and Court observe with great diligence so many extraordinary Things but say nothing they do like me they write and advertise their Masters I am afraid thou wilt take no Pleasure in the Relations I make thee of the Successes of so great a Power but I ought to let thee know the Truth Affairs are carried on here with much Art The Ministers serve with great Fidelity and are very secret Cardinal Richlieu hath an entire Ascendant over the King's Spirit and to say Truth is a Person of great Merit They say he aspires to true Glory and will place the Crown which Charlemain wore as Emperor of the West upon his Master's Head If the good Fortune of France marches always at this Rate the Misfortunes of its Enemies must be excessive The manifold Wars which this Monarch undertakes and Richlieu counsels him do in the mean Time make the People who bear the Burthen by the Taxes which they are forced to pay murmur besides their Grief for the Loss of their Parents and Friends slain in these Wars The Cardinal fears Peace and apprehends his Enemies may destroy him if they have leisure to cabal against him Thus he finds his Interest in the War and the Armies support his Authority I cannot yet make any certain Judgment of him nor have a perfect Knowledge of his Manners no more than of the Extent of his Genius because the Man hides many Things during his Life with a Dress which will be discovered when he dies We can see which are his good Inclinations and it is not easie to penetrate into a Discovery of the Vices which he is inclined to In few Words he has much contributed to the â—eace of France divided by Diversity of Religion â—e hath succoured Italy and manifested there the â—ower of the King his Sovereign has weakened â—e Empire of Germany by the War he hath carâ—â—ed into her Bosom by the joynt Forces of the â—rinces of the North and them of France at once â—nd no less weakned the Power of the King of â—pain Thou that knowest every thing that passes and last Intelligence from all the Parts of the World canst truly judge of Affairs which makes thee know and foresee all that may prejudice the formidable Empire of the Mussulmans Paris 20th of the 7th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXV To the Kaimakam ALL is in Peace here the War being carried on abroad The Court continues to make Vows for the Queen's Health and happy Delivery They seem not so much concerned for the King's Welfare as the Queen's every Body being perswaded That the Happiness of France depends on her safe Delivery I writ to Ghiurdgi Muhamet that he should mention the Queen's being with Child as a doubtful Thing and which might vanish but at Present it is most certain for she will shortly be brought to Bed She lives in great Repose for fear of hurting her self she scarce stirs out of her Bed-Chamber and every body endeavours to please her There is News from Provence of the arresting of a King's Son by that Governor The Prisoner is Brother to Uladislaus King of Poland 'T is said that the King of Spain had made Prince Casimir Vice-Roy of Portugal in Recompence of the Troops of Cossacks he had formerly raised to defend the County of Burgundy They add that being embark'd at Genoa upon one of the Gallies of that Republick for Spain to take Possession of the said Charge with a small Train of Domesticks and Count Konickpolski who called himself Uladislaus's Embassador with the Marquiss of Gonzague his Kinsman being arrived in Provence and visiting with Care all the Ports and Fortresses this gave no small Cause of Suspicion to the French He staid four Days privately in Marseilles but his Galley was arrested at Bouc the last Port of France by Orders of this King 'T is not yet known what obliged France to make a Person of this Quality Prisoner having nothing to do with Poland and King Lewis XIII having no particular Pique against Prince Casimir But the Secrets of State being only known to them that govern Kingdoms I pretend to penetrate no further but content my self to write what they do and what they say Thou who in the Absence of the Vizir Hazem art the Glory of his Highness's Council art best able to discover the reason of so extraordinary a Novelty The most knowing Persons at Court say this Prisoner will suddenly be set at Liberty and that having no War that may authorize his Detention it would be unjust to retain him The Event will teach me who am Ignorant and them that will divine that which perhaps no body knows at present May it please the Great God Master and Soveraign Moderator of all Things that the Intelligences and Guesses which I give may always be profitable and agreeable and that thy Life may be of eternal Duration for the Happiness of our Great Emperor and his Empire Thou shalt suddenly know whether Prince Casimir be retained longer in Prison or set at Liberty I would that King Uladislaus were in the same misfortune in the hands of the Janizaries and that he as well as his Kingdom were Slaves to the Invincible Sultan King of Kings to whose Power may it please the divine Goodness and the wisest of his Prophets to subject all the Countries of the Infidels and then to place him with his Wives and all the Prophets in his Paradise Paris 20th of the Seventh Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXVI To the
Kaimakam HAving given thee an Accompt of the Imprisonment of Casimir I will relate to thee the Voyage of King Ulidislaus his Brother who is gone a Progress into Hungary and Germany The News here is That the King of Poland was gone to make a Visit to the King of Hungary who to do him Honour sent the chief of his Nobles to receive him upon the Confines of Moravia They write also That Arch-duke Leopold went from Vienna to meet him They embraced like Brethren and returned together with the Queen of Poland and her Sister back to Court 'T is added that the People received this Company with great Acclamations with the Noise of the Cannon and all the small Shot of the City The Day following having dined in the Imperial Palace they went together to Luxemburg to visit the Empress Eleanor Widow to the late Emperor of Germany If Carcoa hath not informed thee of these Particulars thou wilt receive them from Mahmut who watches incessantly to give true Intelligence and penetrate as much as may be into all that occurs and is done in this great Court which gives motion to all the Courts of Europe Reprove me if I do not well and punish me ' if the Emperor be not well served and thou satisfied Paris 15th of the Eighth Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXVII To Kerker Hassan Bassa DO not accuse me of being ill advised or negligent if I write to thee things that thou knowest already I am only careful in telling thee what happens here and my Business is not to enquire whether thou art better informed another way When I am ordered to write all that comes to my Knowledge I do my Duty in doing it and I ought not to be reprehended for it I am told that the Sultan is gone with an Army more numerous than all the Leaves on the Trees to destroy the * Persians Red-Heads and conquer Babylon I know that the Mufti the Grand Vizir and all the Grandees of the Divan followed him but am ignorant of what he did in his first Expedition when he took Revan An old English Merchant who comes from Ispahan and has served in the Army of the faithful Mussulmans passed this Way in his Return to England He hath been an Eye-witness of the great Actions of Amurath He says that this mighty Emperor after his taking of Revan left Twelve thousand Souldiers in Garrison there with Two hundred thousand Crowns in Silver besides Copper Moneys to pay them He saith also that our mighty Monarch being wearied to see so much Blood of the faithful yea of the Heretick Mussulmans spilt he had sent the King of Persia a Challenge offering to fight singly in Duel with him but he would not accept of his Defie He tells how Amurath being fallen in the Water in passing the River Haret was in great hazzard of being laid up in Expectation of the last Judgment Day in the other World had it not been for a Young lusty Solack who took him by the Arm and dragged him out of the River This Accident was the Prelude of a great good Fortune which happened to this mighty Prince upon the Bank of another River called Mako where he had the News of the Birth of a Son born to him in the Seraglio at Constantinople whom they call Alaaddin whose Nativity hath been celebrated with infinite Demonstrations of Joy This English-man tells us further that Amurath has taken Tauris and appeared publickly there with all the Marks of a formidable Power that he had destroyed the King of Persia's Seraglio burnt the publick Markets and caused a Million of fine Trees which renders the Loss irreparable to be cut down Let me know when thou art at leisure whether this News be true and do me the Favour to tell me our great Emperors Success in the Expedition of Babylon The Politicians here attend the News of it with much Impatience 'T is allow'd that Amurath is the most Potent of all Princes the strongest Man alive and that only he can vanquish and ruine the Kings of the Earth Two Strangers of differing Nations and both of Royal Blood are dead in this City The one is Don Christopher Son of Don Antonio King of Portugal who after he had lived Sixty six Years without ever attaining the Crown of his Father died in a Convent of Dervises called Cordeliers where he was buried in the same Place where his Father's Brother had been formerly The other Stranger was called Zaga Christos who was the legitimate Successor of the Kingdom of Aethiopia a Young Man of Twenty five Years Son to the Empress Nazarenne Widow of Jacob Emperor of the Abyssins who died in a Village near Paris He quitted his Kingdom as thou knowest forced by Civil Wars he arrived in France in the Year 1635. of the Aegyra of the Christians After many Adventures he composed the History of his Travels which he performed with Troubles and Incommodities which seemed insupportable What has he not suffered in traversing many Kingdoms Arabia the Desart Egypt Asia Minor and Jerusalem where he ran the Hazard of being arrested by the Bassa that resides there whom he escaped by retiring by Night to Nazareth amongst the Christian Dervises where he concealed himself five Months He said here that an Eunuch of the Bassa of Cairo had much sollicited him to forsake the Christian Religion to which he would never consent and refused to go to Constantinople to humble himself by prostrating his Face in the Dust of the Grand Signior's Feet although the Bassa extreamly pressed him to it with very advantageous Offers This King has done much Honor to the Manes of the dead Prince whilst perhaps he suffers everlasting Torments which neither thou nor I shall suffer if we always live like faithful Mussulmans according to the Precepts of the Law ordained by Mahomet and written in the Alcoran I shall gladly hear that thy Life is safe and my Friendship agreeable to thee Paris 20th of the Eighth Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXVIII To the Kaimakam THat which hath been so long expected is at length happened The Queen is brought to Bed of a Dauphin the King is a Father the Kingdom seems to desire nothing more and the People witness their Joy by a Thousand differing Festivities The Men the Women the Children and the Aged run through the Streets as at Bacchanals They rejoyce with their Friends they go to Church and thank God as if a Messiah had been born to them All the Priests praise God in their Temples for such a Present and the Monks not so content deafen the People with the Noise of their Bells and do more than the Drums and Trumpets of the Souldiers and all the Cannon of the Cittadel and Arsenal I did in Company of others what I should not have dared to perform if I had been alone or had not been observed Those who affirmed the Queen would be brought to Bed of a Son pretend now they had
acquired in this mean Occupation His great Wealth made him find the Means of obtaining the Favour of the Ministers and Favourites of the Prince and his Highness himself honoured him with his Friendship gave him Offices and heap'd up Riches on him Thou shouldest know all I say but I am astonished thou shouldest write to me That this Wretch having been put out from the Government of Walachia by reason of his insupportable Pride and extream Covetousness should pretend to re-enter on this Office by means of Money trying in some sort to corrupt the Justice of Amurath Observe how many ways he draws on him the Prince's Indignation The Emperor must have been more covetous than Stridya had he favoured his Design but 't was the Decree of Heaven that Stridyâ— should be punished and that our Master should give a terrible Example of his Justice to terrifie those who use their Riches to commit all Sorts of Crimes and to purchase all manner of infamous Pleasures The News of the Fall of this Slave had in some sort mitigated the great Melancholy I felt when I received the Letter But the Death of Zagaribasci our common Friend does not a little afflict me as well as the Marriage of his Son Caragurli made the same Day does astonish me For I cannot comprehend how there could well be celebrated in the same Day and at the same House two such different Ceremonies as is a Funeral and a Wedding I find this Adventure very strange and though our Friend indeed was very old yet I bewail him as if he had dyed before his Time He was an honest Man of great Piety and moderately Rich and this is what makes Mortals Happy in this World and the other too But thou dost not inform me whether the excessive Joy he had to see his Son married to a Greek rich with the Goods of Fortune endued with great Vertue and a Mute has not caused his Death I rather think thou wilt say our Friend Zagarabasci is dead by some Excess than yield to what we contested about formerly I always found in this Friend great Marks of Honesty and Sobriety and he also appeared to me to have great Tenderness for his Son I cannot without offending thee accuse this old Gentleman of want of Moderation yet he is dead with a Transport of Joy Thou seest I affirm'd no impossible thing when I maintained in my Youth That an extraordinary and unfore seen Joy is more likely to kill than sudden Grief though never so violent Didst thou think it a Matter of small Satisfaction to a Father that is a wise and sober Man to obtain for his Son a Woman that is a Mure For what greater Pleasure can a Husband have than to have a Wife that is not talkative The Christians understand not the Wisdom of the Turks when they laugh at our Sultans who find the greatest parts of their Pleasures in the Conversation of Mutes Is there any thing more delightful than to hear a Man that does not speak and to see one reason on all Things that has no Tongue Thou knowest how many Things these Mutes of the Seraglio do give one to understand and what Eloquence there is in their Signs and Gestures Thou remembrest That when Amurath would give Thanks to the Sovereign Moderator of all the World in that he had escaped Death when the Lightning fell on his Bed and burnt to his very Shirt he seemed to offer him a great Sacrifice in putting a Mute out of the Seraglio which he dearly loved by reason of her Tricks and Gestures The Muses were one day ready to fall together a fighting because they would not receive amongst them a Tenth Companion sent them by a Mandamus from a King of Italy But when this Tenth Muse signified to them That she was Dumb all the Voices were for her Dear Melec 't is not without Reason I write thee this Thou art still young and designest for Matrimony Believe Mahmut There are few Women that are Wise and they say little that is good Think then what those say who know nothing and whose Number is infinite When they have talked a whole Day believe me they have said nothing If thou marriest follow my Counsel Take not a Mute for then thou wilt marry a Beast Neither chuse one that talketh for thou wilt be linked with a Monster As to our Friend he died by a particular Grace from Heaven Yet I cannot but think still of his Death How many more extraordinary Accidents wilt thou see if thou livest to old Age and especially if thou livest at Constantinople where are continually beheld strange Adventures and extraordinary Effects both of Life and Death Cruelty and Clemency as well as of good and bad Fortune Being in breath I could continue still to write to thee but I think it's time to end lest I prove tiresome And I end in praying Heaven to keep thee in Health where-ever thou art Paris 25th of the last Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER IX To the same PARIS where I live is a very healthful City and so are all the Places thereabouts free from Pestilential Airs and yet there oft happens sudden Deaths as well as at Constantinople and they die here likewise of Joy I will relate to thee what I have partly seen and not what I have heard to happen in London the most ancient and chiefest City of the Kingdom of England A rich old Man falling sick and lying on his Death-Bed sent to his only Son living at Paris where he spent his time in Pleasures to come over that he might with his Estate give him his Blessing Think what News this was to a Young Man to whom the Life of a Father was troublesome as being an Obstacle to his Liberty and who waited his Death to take his Swing of all the Pleasures which his corrupt Nature makes him respect as his Sovereign Good This Young Man intending to get upon Horseback to run where he was called found himself embarked for a Voyage which he did not design to make he fell dead on the Place and I saw him in the same Instant wherein he was living and healthful to expire Were I of the Sect of our Philosopher Muslaadin Saadi I would tell thee It matters not whether one dies suddenly or languish a long Time whether a Man dies in his Bed or at the Gallows But I being none of Zeno's Disciples and knowing no Peripatetick or Philosopher amongst so many Sects than were in Greece who disputed Whether Life or Death was to be preferred So expect not from me any Arguings on the Morals of those Greeks nor yet of the Persians But if Death be such a terrible Thing endeavour to live in such a Manner that it may never affright thee when it shall approach thee or when thou shalt see it invade others expecting it at all times and in all places Dost thou know by what Herb or by what secret Magick Charm I do not fear
so terrible and so greatly damnify one of the finest Countries in the World as Greece is and this Island which is the Delight and Nurse of almost all the Provinces situated on the Banks of the Mediterranean-Sea We find also in Ireland these Mountains of Fire yet with this Difference that their Flames do no Hurt which make 'em no ways dreadful to the Inhabitants I think too I have heard my Father say That being in Company with certain Arabians in our Lycia he saw these kind of Fires come out of the Earth but they broke out gently and caused no Damage I am now perswaded of one Thing which I would never believe before which is That Old Pliny intending to relate to the Emperor Titus and leave to Posterity a Relation of the Effects of Vesuvius and a perfect Discovery of the Causes of so many prodigious Effects he therefore went himself on the Place because that in his Time this famous Mountain had cast out an horrible Quantity of Fire Stones and Ashes with so great Violence and such terrible Noise that the Effects of it were selt in Syria Africk and especially in Egypt But the Curiosity of this wretched Philosopher having cost him his Life the Romans expect still with his Return the Discovery of the secret Causes of so many prodigious Effects Take care of thine own Health and let not any of thy Patients miscarry through thy Neglect or Rashness Continue to love me though I am at a great Distance from thee Write to me sometimes and believe that I am not able to conform my self to the way of Living of Strangers amongst whom I reside I shall be always a good Mussul man and a Faithful Friend Paris 10th of the First Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER XII To the Venerable Mufti Prince of the Religion of the Turks THY Decree is very cruel to separate me without having committed any Crime from the Communion of the Faithful I have read the Holy Answer thou hast made me with great Veneration but this has not been without many Tears Thou hast not untyed the Knot of the Difficulties which perplex me but made it indissoluble So that I only live in the Certainty of having no Certitude and my Soul which is encompassed with Fear will be in Dread till Death If I do what thou proposest how shall I be sure of not failing seeing I do not understand what I ought to do I am so dull that I cannot distinguish Whether thou exhortest me to do what I have ever done or whether thou forbiddest me what I asked of thee I intreated thee to let me know Whether I might live amongst the Christians and do in Appearance what they do effectually in the Observance of the Ceremonies of their Religion And thou answerest me That the Circumcised or Faithful should have no Doubt in his Law and needs no other Precepts to observe it than the Law it self Moreover That the true Mussulman must be willing to lose his Estate his Life and Honour in the Sultan's Service That the Christians are Enemies to the True God the Emperor and Religion and that in fine one ought to sacrifice all Things not to betray this God who is our chief Master Tell me I intreat thee on my bended Knees Cannot a Man be a True Mahometan without hating eternally the Followers of Jesus And in living amongst them secretly a true Mussulman must one shew ones self to be of another Religion or pretend to be of theirs Thou wilt tell me the Alcoran speaks with great Clearness yet how many obscure Passages do we find in the Words of our holy Prophet wherein we need thy Expositions I have no Belief for Tagot neither will I give Credit to the Devil my Law expresly forbids it for I believe in one only True God who knew the Intention of our holy Lawgiver and sees what we cannot discover And the Prophet cries out That he that has such Principles leans on the strongest Prop he can ever meet with there being nothing which is able to overthrow it Disperse Reverend Sir as much as thou canst the Darkness of my Spirit I conjure thee by the Almighty Father who can make live Flesh come on the dry Bones of the Ass which dyed an hundred Years past I do not discontinue here my usual Prayers which I make in the Manner they are prescribed me by the Law with my Face always turn'd to the Side of Mecha When I fast I eat only at Night and I continue my Repast till Aurora advancing the Day gives me Light enough to distinguish black Thread from white And I pass over the Day without taking any Nourishment till the Darkness be so great that I cannot see the Eye of a Needle 'T is true I give no Alms to the Poor because I doubt Whether it be lawful to do good to those who continually move Heaven against us The Bishops here are in great Veneration they have not an absolute Authority because they depend on the Roman Prelate and the King Yet their Jurisdiction is very large the Kingdom being full of Churches and these Churches frequented by Millions of People They wear about their Necks a Golden Cross They live in publick good Lives are obliged to know all the Points of their Law they must be Doctors are obliged to Gelibacy to be Sober Hospitable Prudent Irreprehensible without coveting others Goods they must never be drunk or shed Human Blood Their Habit is a long Vest reaching to the Ground of black Silk or Violet They go little on Foot but are carried in Coaches to avoid the Wearisomness which would oppress them in a Town which seems the greatest in the World which thou wouldest do too perhaps wert thou designed to be their Sovereign Prelate The great Arbiter of the World favour by his Mercy or by an Effect of his Justice the inconceivable Honour of suffering thee to sweep during thy Life his most Holy and only Temple of Mecha in the Company of Ismael and Abraham that thou maist keep it clean without any Filth of what Kind soever Paris 10th of the first Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER XIII To the Kaimakam THE French Armies are at present in Winter-Quarters and the Court is busied in contriving what they shall do in the Spring I do not believe I writ thee any false News for it is to be believed that the Sharpness of the Winter will hinder any Thing from being undertaken before that time The Eyes of all the Court are fixed on Three Objects the King the Dauphin his Son and Cardinal Richlieu but they more carefully observe the latter than the former This Man has made himself Creatures by his Benefits the Thankfulness for which and the Hopes of new ones has bound them to his Interests Yet 't is to be believed he has more Enemies by means of the great Credit he is in with his Prince and the Occasions he finds to increase it His Anti-chamber is always full
in the Beginning that having lost a Battle he was obliged to fly for Six Months together with the rest of his Army and to traverse almost throughout all the Provinces of the Kingdom without taking any Rest for Fear of being surprized Thou hast never read I believe of any Captain that made a Flight of that durance before him The Queen his Mother being a Woman of a masculine Courage and Firmness of Mind dyed poysoned by a pair of Gloves At Nineteen Years of Age he married the King's Sister who then Reigned named Charles IX and never any Wedding was solemnized with such bloody Tragedies 'T is hard to believe what an infinite Number of Hugonots was then massacred the Design was secretly laid during the Celebration of the Wedding and executed Six Days after at full Noon 'T is said that in one Day all France was died with the Blood of these poor People there being at least an Hundred thousand of them slain amongst which were Twenty Lords of great Consideration with the Great Admiral of the Kingdom and at the fewest Four thousand Soldiers massacred in Paris Henry did not perish on that unhappy Day but he was very near Death and the King having called him thus spake to him with an angry Tone and fierce Countenance Henry thou art alive because I would spare thee but I will not spare thee if thou persistest in thy Heresy Choose one of these two things either the Mass or Death If thou knowest not what the Mass is I will shew thee in another Letter This Prince chose to go to Mass rather than to lose his Life and therefore publickly abjured the Religion he professed These two old Men affirm That Nero or Caligula's Court were never corrupted as that of France was then No People were more in Fashion than Buffoons and never did the worst sort of Debaucheries so abound Sorceries Empoysonings Assassinations and all other Sorts of Crimes were permitted in such a Manner that all the Laws and good Order seem'd to be overthrown 'T is not known whether the King of Navarr took up his former Religion through Policy or some Corruption he saw amongst the Catholicks however he return'd some Time after to Calvinism whereunto he was so obstinately addicted that having lived several Years in this Sect he was forced to offer great Violence to himself to enjoy peaceably the Kingdom of France and accommodate himself with the Pope of Rome and to make again publick Profession of the Roman Religion Never any Prince more loved Women than he did This Passion prevailed over him all the Days of his Life and there were Two different Natures observable in his Person An Invincible Courage in the Field and such a Passion for Women as made him be often seen to Weep amongst them He has had greater Weaknesses than Hercules and he gloried in them He challenged the bravest Man in all France the Duke of Guise to a single Fight but the King interposed his Authority to hinder the Combat This King performed an Action during his Youth which our Dervises would have certainly set down in their Registers as greatly remarkable On a certain Day wherein he was to fight a pitched Battle being on Horseback in the midst of his Army he made publick Reparation to a young Woman whom he had deflowred and spake in these Terms I have forced this Woman you see here and used Threats when Entreaties would not bring her to my Lust Let all that hear me detest the bad Example I have given And as for your part whom I have thus wronged choose an Husband and receive from me such a Portion as may seem in some sort an Amends for the Injury I have done you It seems as if this so laudable an Action was approved of by Heaven for having immediately hereupon given Battle he overthrew a mighty Army with a few Troops The Ladies who bore Henry no Ill-will for his Tenderness to their Sex greatly interessed themselves in the Affairs of War wherein this Prince was always Head of the Hugonot Party and they gave Occasion to a Proverb which lasted a great while There being some who were for making a Peace and others for War This War was called The Ladies War This Prince had been in so many Fights that I believe one may truly say in this particular never any Prince came near him For who ever in one Day was in two Battles and came off victorious King Charles IX dying during this Time the Queen-Mother sent for her other Son in great Diligence who had been elected some Months before King of Poland by the Death of Sigismond Augustus 'T is said that Charles's Successor having been advertised of the Death of the King his Brother fled in the Night from Cracovia only with Two Persons who were his Confidents and retired to Venice and 't is said That the Courtisans of this famous City having assured the Crown to our Henry for having been infected with this Distemper which the French call the Neapolitan Disease and other Nations the French-Pox he became incapable of having Children to perpetuate the Crown in the Branch of Valois After his Death which was violent and perpetrated by a Christian Dervise Henry III. dying without an Heir and his Throne being sought by different Pretenders Henry to whom alone his Birth had given Right became Master of it by his Patience his Fatigues in War and his Courage made him vanquish all Obstacles He maintained his Right with an unparallel'd Valour and carried himself with the greatest Prudence yet his greatest Successes are owing to the Greatness of his Heart He met sometimes with Disadvantage but oftner came out Conqueror from all Engagements and 't is observable he was the prouder after the Battles won because he had before appeared extraordinary familiar with the Souldiers who had helped him to win them He was wont to be often in his Stables to see his Horses and often slept amongst these Creatures whom he termed his most faithful Courtiers How difficult soever the way was which was to lead him to the Throne he would not be disheartned these Difficulties serving only to increase his Courage He saw the Spaniards confederated with his Enemies yet he alone without any other Assistance but of some few faithful Troops sate down before Paris which was the most famous Siege since that of Jerusalem by Titus He reduced the Inhabitants of this Capital of the Kingdom to live on the most abject Meats one can imagin after they had consumed the Rats Mice Dogs and Cats which were for some time the richest Delicacies the best People of the Town could meet with But he was for all this after he had given several Assaults forced to raise the Siege and accommodate himself with the Prince who commands all the Priests amongst the Catholicks and he again renounced Calvinism wherewith he was infected and which served as a Pretence to his Enemies He was crown'd in the same manner his
other Predecessors had been before him He began to govern his Kingdom ruined by so many Wars Pillages and Concussions made by all sorts of People and so repaired it by his good Government that he was soon in a Condition to embellish it He built several magnisicent Bridges raised stately Edifices and forgot nothing which might re-establish those good Orders which the Licentiousness of the Times had overthrown But what this King designed against us as soon as he was setled on the Throne will appear at the same time to thee both dreadful and admirable As soon as ever he had made a general Peace with his Enemies he laid the Foundations of the most Heroick Design that ever Man invented wherein he shewed himself not inferior to the first of the Caesars nor the Conqueror of Asia He undertook to overthrow all the Monarchies of the World to give a new Face to all the Affairs of it and to destroy in a short time the Empire of the Ottomans But before he began such a great Enterprize he was for paying all the Debts of the Crown and his own in particular which amounted all together to near an Hundred Millions and 't was a prodigious thing to find so much Money without selling the Kingdom or engaging the People yet it is true that he got this Money and paid those Debts with it He was for dividing Christendom into Fifteen equal Dominations Five of which should obey Kings that were so by Succession and Six to be subject to Kings that were Elective and the Four remaining should be Republicks By this Division he left the Pope the Countries belonging to the Church and added thereunto the Kingdom of Naples with the Homage of Sicily and the greatest part of Italy modelled into a Republick with Obligation to give the Pope every Year a golden Crucifix and Four Thousand Sequins Only Venice was left in the Condition 't was in with its Laws and Customs But there were allotted to this Republick Kingdoms and Isles which were to be taken from us in the Archipelago with an Homage to the Roman Prelate of an Embassy to kis his Feet and at the End of every Twenty five Years a small Statue of Gold representing St. Peter whom they term God's Vicar on Earth Flanders should make a Republick with therest of the Low-Countries which would be a Loss for the Spaniards and to this Republick should be added some of the neighbouring States The Franche County Alsatia Tirol and Trante were added to the Democratical State of the Swisses with the Homage every Fifteen Years of an Hunting Dog with a golden Collar about his Neck fastned to a Chain of Gold which this Republick should present to the Emperor of Germany This Emperor should be obliged to renounce the aggrandizing of his Family and only dispose of vacant Fiefs the Investiture of which he should not bestow on any of his Kindred and there should be a Law inviolably observed in the Empire That never Two Princes of the same Race should enjoy successively the Imperial Crown The Dutchy of Milan should be added to the other Provinces belonging to the Duke of Savoy together with the Title of King of Lombardy The Kingdom of Hungary should be enlarged with the Principalities of Transylvania Walachia and Moldavia And the King who was to be Elective should be chosen by the Suffrages of the Pope the Emperor of Germany the King of France England Spain Swedeland Poland and Denmark and Bohemia should be submitted to the same Laws France England Spain Poland Swedeland and Denmark should not change their Form of Government when for the general Affairs these Kingdoms were to be subject to the Universal Republick of which the Pope was to be the Head Things thus established Henry was to be the Umpire of all Christendom to decide all Differences which might happen between the aforesaid Princes and States with Fifteen Persons chosen from amongst the most famous for Learning and Arms which could be found among these Fifteen Dominations and besides these there was to be established a great Council consisting of Sixty other Persons for all the Differences which might happen in all the Kingdoms and Republicks between those who govern'd them and this great Assembly should make their Residence in the Capital City Rome Every State was to be obliged to furnish a certain Number of Troops and Summ of Mony to make War against the Turks and the Business of Poland and Swedeland should be to make War together against the Moscovites and Tartars There were afterwards Three Generals to be chosen by common Consent for the conquering of Asia one for the Sea and Two for the Land and Three hundred Thousand Foot entertained with One hundred and fifty Thousand Horse and Four hundred Pieces of Canon and the Naval Army was to consist of an Hundred and fifty Vessels and one Hundred Gallies and a Fund was to be raised for this of an Hundred Millions of Gold This Treasure was to be put into the Pope's Hands the Isle of Malta was to be the Store-house of all things belonging to the Sea the Port of Messina the Arsenal for the Gallies and the City of Metz one of the principal Magazins for the Land Forces All the Christian Princes were to be obliged to lessen their ordinary Expences and to contribute to this great Design according to their Ability There were to have been several Spies in Constantinople in the Habit of Greeks who were persectly skill'd in the Eastern Languages to observe the Motions of our Empire And besides these Forty resolute Men who were at a certain Time and Signal to set Fire to the Seraglio and Arsenal and several other Quarters of the Town There was found in this Hero's Closet after his Death a Memorial written with his own Hand wherein he had already markt Twelve Embassadors for several Places in Christendom for the negotiating of so great an Affair and the Pope and Republick of Venice and Duke of Savoy had been already acquainted with it In the mean time this King had an Army already of Forty thousand Foot with Eight thousand Horse and he was under Petence of visiting the Frontiers of Flanders thence to begin the Execution of his Project affirming That as to his own part he had no other Pretension but the Glory of delivering Christianity from the Tyranny of these Barbarians 'T is said he applied himself for Ten Years together in searching the Means to make his Project take he gave great Pensions to the Cardinals at Rome and in Germany to several Officers and he had in France besides the Troops I have already mentioned Four thousand Gentlemen who were so devoted to him that they were ready to mount on Horseback on the least Order from him He had already Fifteen Millions in the Bastil and he that had the Superintendancy of his Treasure promised to add thereunto in less than Three Years Forty other Millions without touching the ordinary Revenues I have no
Children and hinder them from devouring one another That he would cause sharp Nails and Rasors to be fastened to the Seats where the Judges sate that those who suffered themselves to be corrupted might sit thereon and indeed in this particular I cannot but wonder at the Christians Blindness We see oftentimes decided in one only Campaign the Differences of Two great States but a Suit in Law for Twenty Sequins shall often last a Mans whole Life and perhaps be entailed on his Heirs But hear a remarkable Example of the Sincerity of this Sovereign There were who would have perswaded him to have apprehended the Duke of Savoy who came to Paris to terminate some Differences he had with him He answered those that advised him with this That Francis I. one of his Predecessors had learnt him A Prince was more obliged to do what he had promised than to obtain what he desired that 't was in his Power to have apprehended a Prince far more considerable but would not do it suffering the Emperor Charles V. to pass out of his Kingdom who had come therein on his Word after this added he shall Henry give such an Example to Princes If the Duke of Savoy has often broke his Word with me it does not therefore follow I must imitate him Crimes can never be authorised by Examples The same Duke of Savoy having asked him What Revenue he drew from his Kingdom He answered him in these Terms I draw as much as I will because I make my self beloved whence it is that my Subjects count all our Estates are common He answered very pleasantly to a Prince's Envoy who came with a Complement of Condoleance for the Death of his Son who had been dead near a Year That he was no longer grieved at that Loss seeing God had given him Two more since A Captain of great Reputation having said That the Kings Liberalities tho several Times reiterated could not oblige him to love him Henry sent him Word He would heap so many Favours on him that he would force him at last He oft used this Proverb That more Flyes are taken with a Drop of Hony than a Tun of Vinegar A Monk entertaining him one Day about Military Affairs Open your Breviary Father said he and shew me where you learnt these fine Lessons One Day a Taylor presenting him with a Book of Politicks he said to the Chancellor who was there present Monsieur Chancellor cut me out a Suit of Cloths here 's a Taylor who understands your Trade and tells me how I shall govern my Kingdom One Day when the Pope's Nuncio was at a great Feast where there were between Twenty and Thirty Ladies of great Beauty he told this Prelate He had been in several Battels but never found himself in so great Danger before Nothing seems more agreeable than the Answer he made to the Provost of the Merchants of Paris who was urgent with him to consent to an Impost which was to be laid on the Fountains of the Town to furnish the Expence of Forty Deputies of the Switzers who came into France to renew their ancient Alliance with this Kingdom and his Answer was That this Magistrate should find some other Expedient than to change Water into Wine which was a Miracle that never any Body wrought but Jesus Christ who is as thou knowest the Christian's Saviour and for thy further Instruction 't is necessary for thee to know The Switzers love Wine above all Things in the World and that not without Reason This Prince went to the Wars at the Age of Fifteen and at Seventeen killed an Enemy and in the Year following he saved the Life of one of his Captains and had his Horse killed under him He was in Five Battles and in more than an hundred Combats and at the Siege of above Two hundred Places He sustained Seven different Wars in which his Enemies aknowledged that he had Fifty five Armies upon him at several Times and in different Places and always obtained some considerable Advantage Those that have given him the Term of Great have given him his true Name He was highly esteemed by all Nations and thou knowest very well that our Sultans tho the mightiest Monarchs in the Universe have admired this great Prince's Fortune and Valour Above Fifty Historians have written his Life above Five hundred Poets have published his Praises I will leave thee at present the Liberty of comparing this King with those whom thou wilt choose from amongst the Hero's If Mahomet XI has not done more than him he may be compared to him in Warlike Actions with this Difference That King Henry conquered the Gauls who were of his Patrimony and Mahomet conquered Twelve Kingdoms and an Empire because he was perswaded that all the Earth belonged to him Henry subdued the City of Paris and Mahomet made himself Master of Constantinople The King of France left an infinite Number of Marks behind him of his Grandure on Marble and in the Writings of famous Authors and Mahomet left only on his Tomb those which shewed what he had designed to execute but never could do it which was to take Rhodes and subdue proud Italy We must also acknowledg there was never found in any Mahometan Prince the admirable Clemency of Henry shewing himself herein greater than in vanquishing his Enemies Contrary to Mahomet who shewed only great Kindness to an Ox whom he caused to be carefully fed because he would never forsake the Tomb of his Master whom this Prince had killed abiding always by it and expressing his Sorrow by horrible Bellowings In all other Occasions he was very cruel far from the Humor of this French King who heapt Benefits on those who drew Blood of him Mahomet by a barbarous Cruelty caused the Bellies of Twenty of his innocent Pages to be ript open to discover him that had eaten a Melon in his Garden Henry was a great Lover of Ladies and an extream Admirer of that Sex and Mahomet jealous of the too great Beauty of his Mistriss cut off her Head himself in a full Divan And farther if Mahomet gave in the East a great Example of Justice in putting his own Son to Death for deflowring the Daughter of the Bassa Achmet in a Bath Henry gave a greater in his own Person in repairing at the Head of his Army the Outrage offered to a young Girl from whom he could not fear any vexatious Consequences Be sure however be silent in these Judgments I make and shew thy self discreet if thou intendest to hold any Correspondence with me Imitate the Bees gather from so many Flowers presented thee what appears to thee sweetest and most proper to form Mustapha's Mind and supple his Spirit like Wax I could relate to thee more Things touching this Henry but there 's no Necessity of writing all that thou maist have space to imagine what such a Prince might have done who had re-established his Fortune by his Valour alone Let me know of
Father you know not the Temper and Dispositions which this Heir may have being as yet so much a Child that a man cannot gather any thing certain of this matter But a Prince that has been so long lookt for requires extraordinary Designs to be laid for him and great Preparations made betimes to raise a Palace that may be worthy to entertain him I would propose to you a Palace I say of miraculous Architecture the like was never seen or imagined and which you may with your own hands rear up in Paris which must be of a square Form whose Corners shall regard Europe Asia Africa and America and whose Richness shall draw all Nations to it You will not need Stone Sand Wood nor Iron for this Work The Architects which you shall employ shall have the Secret with their Pen Ink and Paper to raise this Edifice which shall be of a more lasting Durance than the Pancteon of Agrippa and whereon as on the Temple of Solomon there should be no noise of Hammers Think not Wise Minister they are Chimera's which Titus has in his Head Hear then the Design of this Majestical Palace whose Foundations are already laid by Plutarch with Materials more precious than Gold or Rubies Thou knowest the Happiness this Philosopher had of rendring immortal the Actions of so many Great Men of whom perhaps there might have been no Mention had Plutarch lay silent Men now read in the most remote Provinces of the Indies written on Leaves and Barks of Trees the Lives of Alexander Caesar Scipio Pompey and Xerxes Amongst the Solitary's of the most Desart Parts of Arabia and amongst the Dervises who dwell at Medina are found written in Arabian Characters the Histories of Numa Aristides Cato Lycurgus and Epaminondas The Spaniards and Portugueses have rendred this Author so famous in China and Japan that these Barbarians not contented with having translated into their Languages all the Lives of the Greeks and Romans they have ordered if I mistake not that every Five Years new Copies be made to the end they may be eternally preserved I have seen my self at Constantinople above an hundred Volumes in Silken Paper wherein the Works of this Famous Greek are read with Veneration by the greatest Captains Lawyers and Divines and these Works are enriched with most curious Notes in Arabick in Persian and the Turkish Language by the express Orders of the Sultans who make them be preserved as Illustrious Monuments of the Ancient Greek Eloquence You are not ignorant of the Esteem which Solyman the Great had of Pompey Caesar Pyrrhus and Alexander and that he never undertook any Military Enterprize till he had consulted these great Masters in the Art of War being wont to say he knew not whether Alexander or Pyrrhus had shewed more Valour in Engagements than Plutarch had shewed Wit and Judgment in describing them But in a Voyage I made into Germany what did not an old Rabin tell me in shewing me the Lives of Illustrious Men of this Incomparable Author translated into Hebrew which he carried ever about with him he assured me that the Curious of his Religion set such a value on them that there are above Ten Thousand Manuscript Copies dispersed in the Synagogues both in the Eastern and Western Parts Men Women and Children know of what Account this Famous Author is in all our Europe He now speaks all Languages The English the Spaniards Italians Germans Polanders and Hollanders have naturalized him among them And you know very well Sir that in this Kingdom of France the Learned not content with having him Translated into their Idiom they carefully adorn their Libraries with this Author in his own natural Tongue and have Collected the Latin Italian and Spanish Versions of him But 't is now Sixteen Hundred Years since Plutarch keeps silence so many Men Famous for their Knowledge and so many great Captains who have lived since are unknown to the World because they have met with no Plutarch to know them And this is the stately Building which I offer you to finish who are so great a Lover of Glory for God has given you a Mind with a necessary Power to finish what Plutarch has so profitably begun Raise up immediately by your Authority on the precious Foundation which this Incomparable Philosopher has laid the Walls and Roof of this vast Building Order Lodgings to be made ready for all the Hero's who could not enter into this first Edifice I mean those Illustrious Dead whose Lives have not been carefully Collected and who should honour Europe Asia and Africa where they were born and the New World will yield you wherewith to fill this Palace with Atabalippa's and Montezuma's Hereby wilt thou be the Restorer of those Ruins which Time has made and in raising the Statues of so many Excellent Persons in Civil Administrations in War and in good Letters you will raise up an infinite Number throughout the World as the first Emperor of the Romans did 'T is to no purpose to say there are a great many Authors that have written since Plutarch the Actions of several Great Commanders Kings and Great Ministers whose Vertues were eminently conspicuous both in Peace and War I hope I shall not give just offence in saying That few of these Writers have observed Plutarch's excellent Method for either they appear obscure by reason of their great Conciseness or the Facts are ordinarily confounded in General Histories or Written by interessed or passionate Pens who disguise the Truth and impose Fabulous Relations on the World For a Proof of this be pleased to examin particular Events related in the Lives of Francis I. King of France and of the Emperor Charles V. and you will find there are those who assure us that Charles dyed a Saint and that scarcely was he expired when Flower-de-Luces were seen to spring up in his Chamber which yielded a most admirable Scent Whilst others affirm that this Hero dyed an Heretick by the Assistance of his Confessor who had embraced the Lutheran Doctrin And how many Romances are made of Francis I Has it not been said That he fought a Duel with this Emperor and that this Prince passing through France the King by a Motive of Generosity beyond any Precedent offered him his Kingdom That Charles had one day sat on Francis's Throne and condemned a Malefactor and afterwards reprieved him as a Mark of his Authority And has it not been moreover said That Francis took Charles in a Battel How many false Relations have been made of Andrew Doria and Barbarossa Two famous Sea-Captains the one a Christian and the other a Mussulman and both of them Chief Admirals of Two mighty Emperors Charles V. and Solyman Has it not been confidently affirmed That Barbarossa being in the Archipelago gave a Visit in the Disguise of a Monk to Doria That in an Island where this Interview was made they had sworn one on the Gospel the other on the Alcoran to help one
Bassa's and moreover Twelve Princes Tributary to the Port. 'T is also said Bagdet is a Place not to be won by Force that a River the swiftest in the World runs through the midst of it and that the place has an Hundred Gates of Brass and its Walls which are very high be defended by three Hundred Pieces of Cannon That the Persian Forces are great enough to tire out the Ottoman Army and that the example of Cha Abbas Father to the Sophy who now reigns over the Persians will encrease their Valour and Obstinacy to suffer the greatest Extremities rather than to think of a Surrender The rash Resolution of this King Abbas in the last Siege of this Great City is so cryed up and magnifyed here that scarce is there any Room left for the Praises of Amurath This Prince's passing and repassing more than once in a Bark in the Sight of Two Hundred Thousand Turks to advertize in Person the besieged of the condition of Affairs and to give them a fresh Courage assuring them they should be soon succour'd and having at the same time about him wherewith to hinder him from falling alive or dead into the Hands of his Enemies was an Action which they think is above all Elogium's and appears to them greater than Story could ever parallel 'T is said That this King carryed in his Bark two great Stones fastned to one and the same Cord to put them on his Neck to sink himself into the River which was of an unfathomable Depth in case he was discovered To which they add That Amurath who can never have his Fill of Bloud will recompense thy Services in the same manner he did thy Predecessors These Infidels hold moreover other Discourses which are very impertinent confounding such things as are true with false as they do the Justice and Liberality of the Generous and ever Invincible Sultan with the Cruelty and Avarice wherewith they reproach him 'T is said likewise That the Sequins which he distributed the Day whereon he was proclaimed Emperour were not by one half of the value which was set upon them That he caused Mehemet Bassa of Caire to be strangled for no other Reason but to become Master of his Wealth 'T is further added That this Prince having had advice that a Gally was taken having Seventy Five considerable Officers belonging to the Port on Board whilst he was diverting himself in a Pleasure-House at the Entrance into Asia he said by way of Jest Let 's drink the Health of these Stout Blades 'T is moreover said That having given his Word and promised a secure Passage to the brave Facardin an Arabian Prince he caused him to be stabb'd in a thousand places in his Sight But what do not they say of his destroying the Mufti and Cyril the Greek Patriarch In fine they set forth Amurath as a Sacrilegious Wretch that despises his own Religion an Heretick and Enemy to our Holy Prophet They relate the particulars of Cyril's Death which makes me doubt there be Traitors at the Port who advertise the Infidels of the most secret Matters which pass there Some say his Eloquence rendred him suspected to Amurath and that he said these Words when he was led to the Castle of Seven Towers Could I speak but once to our great Emperour he will be forced to love me or repent And 't is said That having voyaged into England he had learnt Magick there Many People believed he would introduce Novelties in Religion and for this End held strict Correspondences with the Latinised Monks and 't is known here that when his Sentence was pronounced he said He would rise again to torment the Emperour and perplex his Affairs The French haivng blamed what I now mentioned do extreamly praise the Moderation of Amurath when he took the Persian Spy who slid into his Camp in Turkish Habit and crouded amongst the True Faithful for he caressed him and sent him back with Rich Presents They also admire the Patience of this Prince in only condemning to the Gallies the Thirty Indian Pilgrims who occasioned his Fall from his Horse in the Capital City of his Kingdom For the Horse was affrighted at the Apparel of these Men and the strange Figure they made when they threw themselves on the Ground to beg Mony of him but they at the same time charge this Emperour with Brutishness for killing with his own hand immediately the Horse that threw him down The Discourses of this Nature however injurious they are be not of great Importance But if I be not mistaken there is something carrying on against us with the Republick of Venice I observe its Embassadour since the Loss we have made of Fifteen Gallies at Valentia has frequent and secret Conferences with the King and Cardinal de Richlieu As 't is not doubted but that the Ottoman Empire will be reveng'd of so deep an Injury so 't is also judged that the Venetians will use their utmost Endeavours to unite into a Confederacy the Christian Princes and 't is to be feared lest they take the Time when the Emperour is employed in the Seige of Babylon to form some Enterprize or put themselves into a Condition wherein they cannot be attacked I shall carefully observe all the Motions of the Venetian Embassadour and if need requires dispatch an express Messenger to the Kaimakan I adore thy Grandure buryed in the Dust of thy Feet Paris 10th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER VII To the same THe Courier not parting till the Morrow I make use of this short Time to write again to thee Brizac as I have already given Advice was taken by the Forces of France and Swedeland and the Duke of Wimar who commands the Army brags that being become Master of this Place which has always been besieged in Vain he shall take several others there being none which henceforward can resist him The Mareschal de Bannier one of the Generals of the Swedish Armies wearied out the Imperialists in Pomerania with continual Alarms He took Gratz a considerable place and has beaten Galas one of the Emperour of Germany's Generals But Fortune having chang'd her Countenance has favoured the Emperour against the Troops of the Palatin who is taken Prisoner with Prince Robert his Brother having been like to be drowned in the River of Wezer whereinto he was drawn in his Coach by his Horses who took Fright at the noise of the Cannon And these unfortunate Princes have lost in this occasion with their Liberty whatever was most precious to them The Swedes have in the mean time encreased their Strength by the Conjunction of new Troops They make frequent Incursions on the Imperialists and 't is thought this War will last a considerable Time by the great Preparations which are made on all Hands and especially by the French to whom it seems important that it should not end speedily There is News from Italy That a Discovery has been made in Piemont of new
Cabals of the Princes of the House of Savoy who designed to put by the Dutchess from her Regency and make themselves Master of the Government during the Minority of the young Duke There is a Cardinal of this Name an ambitious Man a great Lover of War and given to Liberality He would fain have the chief Share in the Government and be the Master of his Nephews Fortune This Cardinal lay concealed in the State of Genoa being cloathed in an Habit little becoming his Character and whence he sent his Orders for the Execution of whatever he had concerted with his Partisans but the Conspiracy got Wind and proved a Bloody Tragedy to his Accomplices 'T is said that this Prince having twice disguised himself in the Habit of a Peasant had entred with a Bag of Fruit on his Back into one of the most considerable Towns of Piemont to give by his Presence more Heat to his Party and that with a greater Boldness he had entred into Turin in the Habit of a Capuchin with a long thick Beard and abode there two Days not in design of ridding himself of the Prince or his Mother but to become Master both of one and the other to govern the State alone But the Conspiracy having been discovered and the Accomplices seized Fourscore of them were put to Death by the Common Hangman and he escaped by a new Stratagem A Secretary of State of Savoy is to be reckoned amongst this Number Another Cardinal who commands the Army of France sent to the Assistance of the Duke and Dutchess had also put to Death the Governour of Cazal accused of Treason though he was not fully convicted of it 'T is Written from Rome That two Embassadours from the King of Hungary who is lately Elected Emperour of Germany had made a magnificent Entrance into that great City clad after the Hungarian manner with Vests called here a la barbaresque That they had above an Hundred Horse whose Harness were of Gold and their Shoes of Silver and 't was especially observed that all the Foreign Ministers in that Court had sent their Retinue to accompany them in their Entrance that it might appear more Magnificent and that these two Embassadours of the new Emperour being arrived in the Presence of the Infidel's Mufti whom they call the Pope they told him their Prince would continue to render him the Obedience which his Father Ferdinand now deceased paid him and that he recommended to his Holiness his Person his House and his State as a new Emperour elected by the Suffrages of the Princes Electors of the Empire Observe Magnanimous Vizir the Authority of this Mufti those who are so audacious as to resist the Mussulmen will yet abase themselves at his Feet which they really kiss before they open their Mouths to speak to him The greatest Christian Princes are wont to choose from amongst the most considerable Persons of their State the Embassadors which they send with great Expence to pay their Homage to this Supream Head of their Church Moreover these Embassadors of the New Caesar have assured the Pope as from him that he will never cease to make War with the Enemies of the Christian Faith and 't is said they received this Answer That he ever respected the King of Hungary the late Elected Emperor as his Son to whom he would never be wanting in Concil and all other necessary Assistances and exhorted him to employ his Victorious Arms against the Enemies of the Cross and that on his side he would employ the Succors of his Prayers that the Church should open her Treasures by granting Indulgences and that he would besides this give Supplies of Men and Mony People who are idle amuse themselves with Discourses on future Events and those that consult the Stars to penetrate into what is to come have made a Marriage between the Dauphin of France a Prince born some Months since and the Infanta of Spain lately come into the World 'T is true that at the moment this Princess saw the Light the King of Spain and the Grandees of the Kingdom tryed who should out-do one another in Feastings to solemnize this Birth And the like was done in France for that of the Dauphin both being accompanied with extraordiary Magnificence and prodigious Liberalities The Catholick King has given the Quality of Grandee to the Duke of Modena who was Godfather to the Infanta and has declared him Generalissimo of the Four Seas with a Pension of Twenty Thousand Sequins of Gold He has moreover made magnificent Presents to the Dutchess his Wife esteemed at an Hundred Thousand Crowns and besides made Knights of the Order of St. James several Gentlemen of this Princes Court The Elector of Brandenburg has also given several splendid Entertainments in his House and State for the Marriage consummated with the Duke of Saxony's Son and whilst I am writing I am told there is a Son born to this King of Hungary now Emperor of Germany But whilst these Rejoycings are in several parts of Europe an unforeseen Tempest has ruined whole Countries in Germany the Damage done thereby in Franconia and near Francfort is incredible And it lackt but little but this same King of Hungary now mentioned being at the hunting of a Boar had been slain through a Whirlwind which having pull'd up a great Oak by the Roots of prodigious Greatness fell so near this Prince that he received some slight Hurt by a Branch of it I pray Heavens that all the Wisdom of our Holy Prophet and the Blessing of the Great God be always upon thee and in thee and ever augment thy Strength and good Fortune to the Ruin of these Persian Hereticks whose Country I hope will be subjected by thy Sword to our Dread Emperor Paris 10th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER VIII To Breredin Superiour of the Dervices in the Convent of Cogny in Natolia THou art happy in living long and holily too I cannot choose but reflect with Regret on thy great Age considering how infirm I am After Fifteen Days Illness my Strength quite failed me so that necessitated I was to look out for a Physician for I cannot easily commit my self to the hands of those of this Country who kill such as trust them in the same manner as if they were their Enemies When I discourse these Doctors about the State of my Health they tell me I am in eminent Danger and that my Cure is hazardous In writing thus think not I rave for I speak the pure Truth They will certainly kill me should I discover to them under what Climat I am born whereas if I tell them I am of Moldavia they may chance to do me good though that Country Air is very different from that of Arabia where I first drew my Breath To how many Miseries is the Life of Man subject especially mine when I cannot speak the Truth though it be to save my Life Pray for me Holy Dervis and if you
were of none effect to soften Daria and I have cast my self a Thousand times in vain at her Feet all my Cares and Respects have served only to give me Proofs of her Virtue Receive as thou oughtest the Confidence I put in thee and if thou hast not an Heart that can love so ardently at least have some complacency towards a man whose Passion has no Bounds and reproach me not with having had too much Weakness for having been vanquisht by a Woman 'T is Women that have always won the greatest Victories it is their Trade to conquer and even those too who subdue all things It is impossible for me to comprehend how I could love so strongly without dying neither can I imagine how I shall live if I be long deprived of the Sight of her I love Daria has left Paris and is distant thence above Three Hundred Miles consider then the condition I am in I reckon my self in a solitary place although there be above a Million of Inhabitants in the Town where I dwell I stir not out of my Chamber and as to my Books they will yield me no Comfort My only Care is to nourish my Distemper whereby I study to make my self more miserable because it is not in my power so much as to seek the way to the only Happiness I wish for Mahmut may be said to be the Son of Sorrow my Beard is nasty and overgrown I am out of love with my self comfortless avoiding all Society and am become invisible to all People I have no Hope amongst so many Causes of Despair but the Assurance which Daria has given me that I possess a place in her Heart and I believe it because she says so Heaven has given her a frank and generous Soul and promises her great things in the course of her Life I have secretly drawn her Horoscope as as far as I could find all the Planets are favourable to her she is to live a great while Fortune will second her Intentions she will enjoy an uninterrupted Health and this lovely Person will ever gain the Advantage on all that shall oppose her Happy is he that shall be of the number of her Friends but more happy is he that shall be beloved of her for he may assure himself of being beloved of the handsomest and most deserving Lady in the World Read my Follies with some Indulgence and be not angry with me when thou knowest I was ready to renounce my Religion for that of Daria's she began to convince me and I began to believe that the Religion of the most perfect and most vertuous of Women was the best If thou hast Interest enough in the Grand Visir or the Kaimakan obtain for me the Permission of leaving Paris for Six Months only but by no means let them know the Occasion I love much absent from Daria but it seems to me I do not yet love enough I would have more violent Transports during her Absence than those I suffer whilst I see her to the end I may say that at all times and in all places never any body loved so much I have discovered to thee my whole Heart excuse my Passion if thou wilt not excuse thy Friend so horridly tormented with it and remember what the Beautiful Roxalana said to the great Solyman That the Pleasure of commanding and making one's self obeyed is to bereckoned but in the second Rank of Pleasures whereas that of loving and being beloved is the first Henry IV. was one of the greatest Kings of France than whom no man ever more greatly loved When he reproached the Duke de Biron with the Love he had for a Lady mark what this Cavilier told him Great King how is it possible thou shouldst not be indulgent to Lovers who hast so often said when thou wast in love thou forgattest thy self thy Kingdom and Subjects And this dear Oglou is what has happened to me at Paris with this admirable Person whom thou couldst no longer find at Constantinople But alas I should be an unhappy Friend if with such a Love a mine I should prove thy Rival I will not imagin it yet I must tell thee that rather than yield thee Daria I will sacrifice to thee all the time I have to live I have given my Picture to this charming Greek who has received it very courteously yet rather as the Work of an excellent Painter than the Picture of a Lover But being full of Goodness and perfectly discreet she said thus to me when I gave it her Mahmut thank Heaven thou art not handsom such sort of Men have not ordinarily all the success they pretend to in their Amours Wise Ladies think these kind of People doat too much on themselves and those that are disdainful find them not submissive enough and respectful and such as fear evil Tongues dare not look on them and also these Gentlemen imagin Ladies Favours are granted them because they cannot withstand them and they expect oftentimes to be entreated to receive them Whereas those to whom Nature has not been so liberal of her Favours do more than bare love they adore their Mistresses they are always humble and know how to gain the coyest Beauty by their Respectfulness As to thy part who art none of the fairest thou wilt be happy if thou changest not thy manner of living with me It is impossible for me to say whether Daria has any considerable Imperfections being too greatly prepossessed by my Passion to discover Defects in a Person whom I regard as an Angel Time and her Promises will one day shew me whether she has the Vices usual to those of her Nation which are commonly an Infidelity covered over with the most specious Pretences and a continued Dissimulation However send me a Cask of the white Balm of Mecha and of the best sort for Scent thou canst get and at the same time send me also some of that precious Eastern Wood whose Scent is admirable to perfume the Body I have promised the fair Daria this Present let me soon have it to the end I may accustom Daria to the Neatness and Delicacies of the Mahometans Preserve also thy Health and if thou enviest me love as much as I do but love with Continency if thou wilt love long and be long beloved The Great God preserve thee from loving however so excessively as thy Friend Mahmut does the Dolors being therein always certain and the Fruition uncertain Paris 10th of the â—st Moon of the Yeay 1641. LETTER XX. To the Invincible Vizir Azem THE Chiaus arrived here this same Moon in which I write to thee and is in perfect Health with all his Attendants I do not tell thee in what manner he was received by the People at Paris it being of small Importance seeing they have no other part in the Government of the Kingdom than that of Obeying The Populacy curiously observed his Habit his Beard and his Gate all as extraordinary 'T is certain
with this are so exactly obedient to their Head that they have no Will left They have very obscure Prisons under Ground wherein they thrust those who scandalize their Order by their Crimes For notwithstanding the Holiness of their Rule and the Vigilancy of their Superiours to make it observed there 's never wanting some who wander from the right way and often make use of the Esteem which Men have of their Piety to commit such Enormities as would be soundly punished by the Men of the World These kind of Dervises cannot handle Money without being guilty of a mortal Sin Notwithstanding this Profession of Poverty I have seen these Dervises drest up with greater magnificence than our Mâ—fti in the time when they celebrate their Mâ—sses ascending up to the Great Altar covered with the finest Linnen and thereon Vests embroidered with Gold the most delicately wrought as can be imagined and oft enriched with Pearls and precious Stones In their Sacrifice they eat the consecrated Bread which they call the Messias his Body which they are wont to place on a Plate of fine Gold and they also put into Cups of the same Metal a Liquor which they say is changed into the Blood of their God as the Bread into the Body assoon as they have pronounced certain Words which they secretly mutter The Sacrifice is offered every day and not only the People are present at it but the greatest of the Kingdom with their Monarch on his Knees and in a supplicating posture There stand about the Altar several stately Candlesticks wherein burn white Wax Candles which renders the Sacrifice still more solemn I relate to thee what I have often seen for I choose to be frequently in these Infidels Churches and at their solemn Festivals the better to conceal who I am Yet happy is he that lives satisfied with himself assured he serves God in the manner he will be served Thou hast this good Fortune and that of being in thy House at thine Ease when thou goest out thou wearest a long Vest down to thy Heels lined with soft and warm Furrs whilst I am obliged to cover my self barely with a blackshort Cloak which scarcely reaches below my Knees and is too thin to resist the piercing Northern Blasts and is in truth a very ridiculous Habit yet which I am obliged to wear for the service of him whose Slave I am which cannot cover my Bandy-Legs and ill-shap'd Body I expect with great impatience the Season which o'respreads the Gardens with Flowers the Fields with Grass and crowns the Trees with Blossoms and brings back the pretty Birds who publish the joyful News of the Spring 's approach that being the Time wherein I may expect my Health As to what remains thou wilt oblige me in making Trial of my Friendship that thou maist know there 's not in all the Empire of the true Believers a more faithful Friend and one that loves thee more cordially Adieu Paris 10th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1641. LETTER XXII To the Kaimakan THE Court of France is an Assembly of Politicians who discover or hide themselves according to their Interests and are more wont to hold their peace than to talk They explain themselves in more than one manner on the things which they cannot conceal and I draw from them what is necessary for my Instruction and thy Information There have happened such sudden and surprizing Motions in Spain as cause considerable Advantages to be hoped for by France which seems to have had a great hand in them on which thou maist make what Reflexions thou thinkest convenient The Mountains which divide France from Spain are called the Pirenees Catalonia is a Province watered on one hand by the Mediterranean Sea and bounded by Navarr it lies situated at the Foot of these Mountains The People have taken up Arms and vigorously opposed the Catholick King 's Ministers and the Portugueses have done the same thing but with different Success This Kingdom is comprised within the States of Spain and the richest under her Dominion Her Situation is advantageous lying between Galicia and Castile and watered with the Ocean which brings her immense Riches The principal Town of Catalonia is Barcellona and Lisbon is the chief Town of Portugal The first has taken for the pretence of its Insurrection the Insolencies committed by the Protestant Troops which served the Catholick King and were quartered in this Province And the other having long concealed its Design has at length shaked off the Spanish Yoak and set up a King of their own Royal Race 'T is said that Count Olivarez the King of Spain's Chief Minister and Favourite designing to mortifie the Catalonians horribly charged that Country with Soldiers and sent thither the most licentious Troops to Quarter imagining to chastise the Pride of this People in this manner without any Form of Process This Minister's Design has had so far its End the Province being full of Divisions and Slaughters there wanting nothing to compleat their Miseries The Soldiers exercise unheard of Cruelties they shed indifferently the Blood of Infants Old Men and Women overthrowing Altars and ruining Temples The most couragious Peasants gather together to repel Force with Force and revenge themselves most cruelly on as many of the Castilians as they can light of without sparing the King's Ministers killing all they meet seeking those who are hid to punish them with the greatest rigour running after those who seek their Safety by flight not pardoning the very Priests if never so little suspected The Count of St. Colomme commanded not long since in Catalonia with the Title of Vice-Roy which poor Man is now before God where he receives the Recompences or Chastisements he has deserved being the first Victim sacrificed to the Peasants Fury His Bloud was the Prologue of a dismal Tragedy which will not end without more dismal Events to the Spanish Monarchy and the Catalonians themselves The Vice-Roy withdrew himself into the Arsenal of Barcellona at the first Insurrection of the Peasants where he was besieged by a great Multitude of these Seditious People and seeing he could not remain there in Safety he went out to go on board the Gallies but the Grossness of his Body hindring him from hastning as fast as those who accompanied him in his Flight he remained alone and being tired fell into a Swoon and lay dead for some time on the Sand between the Rocks which lie upon the Sea His Servant the only one that remained with him brought him again to himself by casting the Sea-Water on his Face but he opened his eyes only to see his own Departure more nearly He was set upon in this Condition wherein he could not stir himself by a crew of Blood-hounds who first shot at him and then hack'd him in pieces having first stabb'd him in a thousand places His Servant defended him as well as he could in covering him with his Body but his Zeal was fruitless and all
earnest thy Cymiter and cast its Sheath away The King here is very well he said publickly when he heard the Victory of the Malteses That if he were not a King he should choose to be one of the Knights of that Place Thou wilt gain greater Honour and more Trophies will be raised to thee than was to Ariademus and Cigala if thou undertakest effectually the Destruction of this People Thou hast my Prayers That our Holy Prophet would strengthen thy Arm and that God would give thee still Favour in the Sight of our most puissant Emperor chosen to be the chief Commander of the World Paris 15th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1641. LETTER XXV To the Invincible Vizir Azem AN Illustrious Woman of the House of Savoy governed not long since in Portugal in the Name of Philip IV. King of Spain Her Name is Margarita and commonly resides at Lisbon but this Princess with the Title of Vice-Queen had not the Credit or Authority necessary to sustain the Dignity though she had otherwise all the Prudence and Courage requisite thereunto Michael Vasconcelli her chief Secretary having usurped all the Authority carried all things with a high Hand to which he added a most griping Covetousness which was no less disadvantageous to his Mistress's Reputatior And the Marquis de la Puebla a Castilian Minister an Accomplice of Vasconcelii had established himself in this Court as a rigid Censurer of all the Vice-Queen's Actions The Christians call these Two Men Two Pedants set over the Princess as if she had been still in her Minority to correct and regulate her Actions The too great Authority of these Two Ministers became at length a kind of Tyranny The Nobility complained for the loss of their Privileges and the People at their being oppress'd with Taxes which made the Ministry of Vasconcelli seem insupportable in which ' was seen the Vice-Queen had no part This Princess not having the Power to stop the course of the Mischiefs which began to spring up gave Advice of it to the Court of Spain and expected thence the Remedy But whether the King was not in a Condition to give any or his Ministers concealed from him the state of things the Mischiefs encreased and Vasconcelli's Friends by excusing him made it almost impossible to avoid them When Margarita represented the Danger wherein Portugal lay she was heard as a weak and credulous Woman and was often accused of being over timerous which caused a general Revolt in this Kingdom which was few days in contriving and as few hours in executing If thou wilt hear thy humble Slave I 'll relate to thee all the Circumstances of so great an Event which will seem a Fable should we refer our selves to only Reason but which however is a real History as is now well known throughout all Europe Never was there a greater Hatred between Two Nations than that which was between the Spaniards and the Portugueses And though they had one and the same Religion and almost the same Humour yet 't is not to be imagined how far their mutual Aversions carryed them The Portugueses have a common Proverb which says That a Man is obliged to treat and love another Man as his Brother whether he be a Turk a Jew a Pagan or a Moor without excepting the most Barbarous of Mankind yea though he were a Spaniard They have lived with great Patience under the Domination of Philip II. and his Successors since the Death of their King D. Sebastian who was kill'd in Africa in a Battel against the Moors whilst they were suffered to enjoy the Privileges which were granted them Moreover they still expected the Return of their Sovereign who was said not to have dyed in the Field but having long wandred about in strange Countries was in fine about to return But the Example of the Catalonians made them at length resolve upon what they now executed The Nobility were the first that began the Revolt and past over those Bounds which Respect does ordinarily place between the Sovereign and his Subjects They alledged several Pretences for their Rebellion but the most specious was their unwillingness to be sacrificed in unjust Wars vvherein the most dangerous Posts vvere committed to them as they several times reproached the Duke Favourite and Minister of King Philip IV. They immediately carryed on their Intelligences vvith great Secrecy and vvhen they came to declare themselves the greatest Persons consented to the Conspiracy and the boldest amongst them have executed it vvith great Valour Dom Juan Duke of Braganza is the greatest Noble-Man in this Kingdom and perhaps in all Spain and already of the Age vvherein men are vvont to have Wisdom together vvith Strength of Body He vvants not for Ingenuity and Svveetness of Temper He received the Crovvn after long pressings and refusals and indeed is the more vvorthy of it as being the lawful Heir to it The Favourite Duke was well enough informed of the Reputation and Authority of the Duke of Braganza and considering him as a Prince who might lawfully pretend to the Crown he made use of several Artifices to drive him out of Portugal or seize him Prisoner But having always tryed this in vain whether by reason of the extraordinary watchfulness of Dom Juan or that the Heavens on which depend the things here below had otherwise ordered it 't was impossible for this Minister to get so good a Prey into his Hands This crafty Minister has tryed all Ways and sometimes made use of the Fox's Skin and otherwhiles of the Lyon's Voice to bring about his Ends. Sometimes he tryed to draw him to Court offering him the most honourable Employs there perswading him to accompany the Catholick King in his Voyage into Catalonia But the Duke knew how to defend himself against the Snare and timely withdrew to Villa Viciosa the ordinary place of his Abode and whence he excused himself from going to Madrid sometimes for that he had not sufficient to bear his Charges according to his Quality in such a Journey and otherwhiles on other Pretences with which the Favourite Duke was obliged to seem contented Though he was not yet he feigned himself to be satisfied to put in practice the most exquisite piece of Policy he ever made use of He sent him Forty Thousand Pistols to buy Necessaries and at the same time sent him also the General Command of the Troops in Portugal with Order to come to Lisbon and as High-Constable of the Kingdom to observe the Motions of the Vnited Provinces which threatned Spain and Portugal with a powerfull Fleet. But he had sent the following Order to D. Lopes d' Ossio Thou hast the Command of the Naval Army get immediately before Lisbon Dom Juan de Braganza has Orders to visit the Vessels as soon as he shall enter the first Gally clap him in Irons and immediately depart with this Prisoner to Cadis where I have appointed People to convey him to Madrid Dom
Lopes could not execute his Commission his Army was lost on the English Seas and 't was written in Heaven That Dom Juan should live and be a King This Artifice having fail'd the Duke had recourse to another which was to send an Order to the Duke of Braganza to visit all the Forts on the Frontiers where there were strict Injunctions to detain him But he perceiving the Project of this Spanish Minister knew so well to excuse himself from undertaking this Business that he made the Designs of his Enemy to vanish this time also and got leave to retire to Villa Viciosa Those who penetrated not the Artifices of the Court of Spain were astonisht at the Accumulation of so many Favours and Honours on the Person of the Duke affirming the Court had Intentions of raising him to the Throne or bringing him to the Scaffold in which last they were not mistaken Olivarez who let slip no Occasion of laying Snares for Braganza grew the more obstinate by the Difficulties he met with He sent him a new Order to raise Troops and to lead them himself into Catalonia for the Chastisement of the Rebels this being of absolute Necessity said he in his Letters for the upholding of the Spanish Monarchy to which the Revolt of this Province caused great Mischiefs The Duke obeyed in part he raised a considerable number of Troops at his own Charge but he took care of his own Person He wrote to the Court to excuse him from that Voyage and added to his excuses most earnest Prayers representing That being sick of the World he had retired into his own Estate to lead there a quiet Life free from the Vexations of Business which obliged him to entreat his Catholick Majesty to grant him that Rest which was the only thing he desired The Duke de Braganza's Letter drew no Answer from the Spanish Minister but his Designs were discovered and the Nobility foreseeing how likely they were to be brought under a more strict Subjection began to murmur saying 'T was their Duty to rid themselves of those Oppressors who had so long peeled them and set up a New Form of Government The Poor who suffered most by the Taxes were the boldest and encouraged the rest Some were for setting up an Elective King others proposed the raising to this Honour the Family of Braganza who alone seemed worthy of it Some there were who were for putting themselves under the Domination of France and other persons of Credit amongst the People were for a Democratical Government and others again were for turning the Kingdom into a Republick The Nobility were in great Perplexity in the Choice they should make for 't was not known whether the Duke of Braganza would receive the Crown in case t was offered him again for the most qualified Persons of the Kingdom had proposed it to him There was none but D. Gaston Cattique a Gentleman as Eloquent as Stout whom Heaven design'd for the persuading of this Prince that could accomplish it He pretended to fight a Duel with a Nephew he had whom having slightly wounded he left Lisbon as a man that had brought himself into danger and wandring about from thence uncertain as it were of the place of Retreat he would chuse he went at length to Villa-Viciosa where having found Braganza in his Solitude he thus spake to him I bring this day a Crown which the Nobility of Portugal presents thee and if thou hast the Courage to receive it we are ready to put it on thine Head This Kingdom belongs to thee as the undoubted Heir of our Natural and Lawful Princes If thou acceptest of the Crown the Kingdom justly belongs to thee and if thou darest not receive it we will choose another Sovereign of greater Resolution and who is willing to command us The Scepter shakes in King Philip 's Hand by reason of the Wars made against him from all parts Consider if thou receivest not at present what Fortune presents thee thou wilt be obliged against thy Will to obey another Neither the Nobility the Clergy nor the People will any longer suffer the Arrogance of the Castilians It belongs to thee at present to declare whether thou wilt reign and be a happy Prince All the faithfull Portugueses breath after thee and desire thee for their Soveraign Resolve to accept of what is so advantageous and let us alone for the executing of our parts Dom Juan answered coldly to such a bold Proposition more affrighted at the Peril there was in such an Enterprize than flattered with the Hopes of possessing a Kingdom But in another Conference wherein the Duke was told the Conspirators were resolved to raise on the Throne another King if he came not to a speedy Resolution the Dutchess his Wife who has a Man's Heart and is more courageous than her Husband coming into the Conversation thus spake to him with great Assurance My Lord the Catholick King has sent for thee again to Court at Madrid thou wilt certainly meet with thy Death and in receiving the Crown which is offered thee thou art still in danger of it but if thou must perish which way soever thou turnest thy self is it not more honourable to dye a King in thine own Country than to dye with Chains in a Prison by the hands of thine Enemy So courageous a Discourse brought Dom Juan to a Resolution wherefore he sent Word to the Nobility of his Readiness to comply with them The Conspirators were ready at the hour appointed for the Execution of their Design Being well armed and each of them accompanied with a good Number of Young Men who were to follow them although they knew not the Design As soon as ever the Signal was given they all set forth from the Places where they were assembled and those that were farthest distant joined the nearest and all together soon possessed themselves of the Palace of the Vice-Queen they immediately made themselves Masters of the Guard finding no resistance from them and this without spilling a Drop of Bloud or doing any Violence They afterwards cryed out altogether Long live the new King D. Juan de Braganza and let them dye that govern ill They siezed on the Vice-Queen and entreated her to retire into an Apartment where she should be treated with the Respect due to a Princess but not obeyed as having Authority to command them Vasconcelli who knew himself faulty and to whom his Conscience reproached his Crimes in this moment hid himself in a great Press under an heap of Papers where having been discovered by an old Woman he had immediately his Throat cut and his Body thrown out at a Window where he served for some time a May-game to the People who left not one part of his Body free from some Mark of their Indignation One of this Minister's Domesticks threw himself out at the same Window his Master was thrown not in a design of following his Fate but of saving himself and he dyed
and many of the solidest think it will be the King of the Tartars and that those of the Race of Mula Honkiar will be excluded This Race is really Illustrious but every body knows not the Rise of it The Head of this Family descends from Tamerlane thou knowest the rest and I will not dispute with thee about Genealogies Whatever passes here below is so uncertain that thou maist accuse me of Imprudence in discoursing of things at this distance for in Effect Ibrahim may be a Father by this time Pray to God who disposes of Thrones makes Races endure or decay merit from him by Fastings and Prayers and beg of him that he would give me the Grace to live blameless and die innocent that I may enter with thee into Heaven and there enjoy those unspeakable good things which are reserved for the Faithful Love me though distant from thee and let me have Tokens of thy Friendship by stealing some Moments of Leisure from thy ordinary Business to write to me Paris 25th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1641. The End of the Third Book LETTERS Writ by A Spy at PARIS BOOK IV. LETTER I. To the Venerable Mufti Prince of the Religion of the Mussulmans THere is now found in one man alone what ever several Persons of great Ingenuity could acquire by long Experience and this man is Cardinal de Richlieu to whose Reputation thou art no Stranger He was designed like thee for the Affairs of his Church and dedicated to Religion but he is not so much employed about them but that he applies himself with as great Care to the Affairs of the World and 't is he who under the Authority of the King his Master governs the Affairs of the French I obey thee Venerable Mufti thou hast enjoyned me to inform thee of the particular Actions of this famous Prelate but I shall not say much of him it being impossible to fathom him He is the most dexterous and subtle Politician that lives in all the Countries of the Vnbelievers The famous Greek Lisander was never so cunning neither did Tiberius shew half so much Dissimulation at Rome nor Judgment in Affairs as he no not in the time when he set himself to remove his Rivals and take away all Obstacles which might hinder his obtaining the Empire He interprets all the Doubts which arise in his Religion he 's the Arbiter of Rewards and Punishments and the King who knows his Zeal and Ability leaves to him the Direction of his Kingdom and People which he governs and leads as Jacob led the Flocks of Laban This Cardinal wants only the Art which this great Patriarch had to make Men be born as he pleased as this Holy Israelite made the Sheep There came some days since a Person from Germany who went immediately to the Palace of this Minister and sent him word by his Captain of the Guards that the Letter B was come The Officer was unwilling to deliver this kind of Message to his Master and therefore desired the German to explain this Riddle but he only told him laughing That the Cardinal's Alphabet was like the famous Knife of Delph which served to all purposes so that he needed only to mention the Arrival of the Letter B and he would be understood which was no sooner done but the German was privately introduced into this Minister's Closet where he had a long Conference but I could never hear the Subject of it He that by his Word created all things encrease thy Health and make thy Authority ever adored and feared even in Rome it self Paris 25th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1641. LETTER II. To the Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire I Come but now from learning an Adventure which yet happened some days since but all things are carried on with such Secrecy in France that it is almost impossible to know any thing before 't is made publick There were apprehended here in the last Moon of January certain Ruffians in the Habit of Hermits who were to assassinate Cardinal Richlieu These Wretches confessed before the Judges as soon as they were put on the Wrack their Intention of killing the King's Favourite because he was no Friend to the Duke de Vandome who is Natural Son to the deceased King Henry the Great This Adventure has greatly surpriz'd the Court each man speaking of it according as his Interest or Affection inclines him The Duke of Vandome's Friends have declared themselves against the Cardinal and this Minister's Creatures have much aggravated this Attempt to render this Prince's Family more odious and heighten the Cardinal's Reputation But the Duke de Mercaeur the Duke of Vandome's Son rode immediately to Paris with the Duke de Beaufort his Brother the first incognito to consult his Friends and the other to present himself to the Cardinal to obtain that their Father might justifie himself before the King from the Accusation laid against him The Grand-child of Henry the Great has since desired to he confronted with the Hermits and has obtained it but his Departure at the same time into England has wrought much amazement Some say he has taken an unwise Course and others say no because he could not prudently expose himself of the Testimony of such Wretches who would not matter what they said However these Hermits were publickly executed and their Accomplices are not yet discovered neither is it yet known whether any persons of Quality have had a part in the Conspiracy which is not the first that has been carried on against this Favourite and it is believed will not be the last He has a great many Enemies and the absolute Authority with which he governs by the favour of his Prince will always raise him such Adversaries as will either ruine his Fortune or take away his Life If I write not oftner to thee thou oughtest not to think my Affection ever the less Set down in thy Register what I inform thee Let me have thy Friendship and Protection in things which are just and change not thy Opinion of me till I am changed my self Paris 15th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1641. LETTER III. To the Kaimakan JVlius Mazarin a Man about 45 Years of Age of a solid Judgment and incredible Perspicacity of whose Family I know no more but that he is originally from Sicily and born in Italy in the chief City of it Rome is lately introduced into this Court. He has by his ingenious Carriage gained the Favour and Confidence of Cardinal Richlieu and he begins already to be employed in the most important Business Those who make Reflexions on the Affairs of the World and carefully examine the extraordinary Talents of this Italian are persuaded one may expect great things from him yet however the best way is not to be hasty in judging of the good or bad Qualities of a Man He has already been employed in Quality of Plenipotentiary for the King of France in Piedmont
which is due to thy sublime Grandeur whereunto thy Merit has raised thee And having cast my self at thy Feet in Spirit seeing I cannot really kiss them I obey the Orders thou sendest me which are to me inviolable Laws Banniere the Swedish General is dead when Picolicomini one of the Generals of the Emperor's Army lay just by him In half an hours time he saved himself the Army all the Baggage and Cannon and retired with incredible Swiftness over Mountains and Forrests where the Beasts alone could make Passages having continually the Emperor's Army at his back He was a Man of great Valour had been highly serviceable to the Crown of Swedeland and acquired the Reputation of an excellent Commander The Emperor had offered him some time before great Recompences and the Dignity of Prince of the Empire if he would change his Master and forsake the Confederates Party He had also offered thinking this might more move him to make him General of his Army against the Grand Signior but he refused all these Offers his Fidelity being unmoveable This great Captain was born in Swedeland and when a Child he fell down from a high Window without receiving any Hurt which made the King imagine Heaven design'd him for some thing extraordinary He travelled much in his Youth and he was seen never tired in running to all places where there was any War sometimes in Poland and otherwhiles in Muscovia And being become General of his King's Army he soon acquired the Reputation of one of the greatest Captains of the Northern Part. He was perfectly skilled in the Art of Encamping and no body could ever better draw up an Army for Battel His way of Retreat from before an Army stronger than his must needs be admired by all the World He ever chose good Posts and when once he was possess'd of them he knew well how to keep them so that he was never defeated whatever Forces his Enemy might bring against him He has destroy'd Fourscore Thousand Men in different Rencounters and Swedeland glories in having above Six hundred Standards He was so like King Gustovus thaâ— they have been often taken for one another He was never covetous but was observ'd to be a good Husband Among so many Occasions wherein he signaliz'd himself what he did when the Swedish Army was worsted at Norlinge is most remarkable he preserved the Rest though wholly forsaken by the Allies and so ordered the Matter that he raised fresh Troops almost in an instant and gave his Party Time and Courage to rise up And this is all I could learn of this great Captain whose Reputation has given thee Curiosity Although Don Duarte de Braganza the new King of Portugal's Brother served with great Reputation in the Emperor's Army yet 't is said the Spaniards had been very urgent with this Monarch to make him be apprehended as soon as ever they heard the King his Brother was raised to the Throne But 't is said the Emperor was scandaliz'd with such a Proposition alledging this would be against the Rules of Hospitality But the Empress's Confessor found such Reasons in his Divinity as brought over the Emperor to yield he should be delivered into the Spanish Minister's Hands who conducted him with a very strong Party to the Castle of Milan whence he is not like to stir out till his Brother shall restore the Crown of Portugal to Philip IV. of Spain I shall write what remains behind to the Kaimakan who has the Honour of being thy Lieutenant that I may not the thee who art to be reverenced as the instrument of the Wills of the Master of Lights and all whose Hours are destin'd to the Government of the World May it please him who of nothing has created all things that thou maist lay one day at the Feet of the Grand Signior the Crowns of all the Monarchs who command in the Infidels Countries and become thereby the Arbiter of the Universe Paris 18th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1642. LETTER XII To the Kaimakam at Constantinople THis King here has mortified his Parliament by the Advice of Cardinal Richlieu The Parliaments are Bodies of Learned Men who decide all Affairs in the Kingdom as well Civil as Criminal and the Parliament of Paris has a larger Jurisdiction than all others and as considerable Prerogatives What I have to say on this Subject has happened from the beginning of the last Year and I now relate it because I forgat to do it when the thing happened And I will inform thee before I enter on the Matter what obliged heretofore the Kings of France to set up this great Seat of justice The ancient Kings of France gave it Authority of approving and verifying the Edicts and Declarations which they should make which was a Bar which these wise Princes would fix between the People and the Sovereign Authority Whence it appeared that Monarchy was mix'd with Aristocracy without which the Wise have thought that States could not long subsist And the Princes of this Age have submitted to a Tribunal re-established by themselves the Resolutions they take to the end they may discharge themselves towards God to whom they are accountable as well as other Men and to obtain Confidence from their Subjects in taking from amongst them Arbiters to regulate them Yet they have ever reserved the Liberty of making use of their Absolute Power as is seen in their Letters Patents where they forget not to insert these Words For such is our Will and Pleasure These Monarchs also thought hereby to have found out a way to defend themselves from the Importunities of the Grandees who often demanded such things which could not be granted without Prejudice to the whole Kingdom The Authority of the now reigning King being out of danger of being shaken or destroyed this Monarch having his Exchequer well stored has valiant and experienced Captains stout Soldiers and numerous Armies and good Fleets of Ships at Sea whereby he would make known to this puissant Tribunal That if it had been set up to assist the Kings by its Counsels when required yet it must not pretend that its Decrees should become Laws to their Sovereigns He went to the Parliament with all the Marks of Grandeur with which he is usually attended on these Days of Ceremony and with such a great Company of Lords as made the Power of this Monarch easily discerned He gave these Gentlemen to understand he would have them ratifie without more adoe the Orders he would send them which they term Edicts requiring them to be immediately enregistred He afterwards gave them an express Charge not to concern themselves henceforwards in Affairs of State and to humble them the more he declared to them That he would be henceforward the Disposer of Graces and Offices and bestow Recompences to such as deserved them He added hereunto an Order of giving an account every Year to his Chancellour of their Deportments and to come and receive every year
great Number of the Keys which belong to it like that foolish Emperor who valued the Greatness of Rome by the great weight of Spiders Webs which were there The Spaniards affirm There are so many Doors to this Stately Edifice that the Keys which serve to open them weigh above Ten Thousand Weight But 't is time to end this tiresome Letter Let me then counsel thee to watch over thy Conscience as the Parisians do over their Shops to prevent Violences Here are so many great and small Thieves that should they be punished as they were chastised in Syria where the same Punishment is imposed on him that is robbed as him that robs this great Town would hoâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 peopled or become a Prison to an infinite â—â—mber of People who would be found faulty May it please the Great God who should be adored by all Creatures to encline the Great Prelate after thou art delivered from the Burthen of the Flesh to place thee amongst the Number of those for whom the Church has a pious Veneration and respect thy Ashes in such a manner as I hope thy holy and exemplary Life will deserve Paris 24th of 4th Moon of the Year 1642. LETTER XIX To the Venerable Mufti THou wilt not think me troublesome if thou remembrest the Order thou haft given me and sought rather to hazard the tiring thee by frequent Letters than be accused of Neglect for not obeying thee Obedience must needs be agreeable where the Command is made with Wisdom When I write to the Grand Vizir 't is in trembling and if I write to the Kaimakam I am not without Hope and I send no Letter to the other Bassa's without Inquietude and great Trouble As to what concerns my Friends I divert my self in writing to them But when it is to thee that I write I may say 't is that I may hope live and obtain in the other World that happy State spoken of by our Holy Prophet that Life which is to be the Recompence of all those who shall perform good Actions whilst they dwell among Men. Cardinal Richlieu would willingly be absolute in Matters of Religion as thou art he would also be thought a Saint but he knows not how to be one And indeed he would be every thing However he does abundance of things which thou dost not and pretends to be above thee because he does not live as thou dost This Man whose Head is full of the Affairs of the World concerns himself in whatever passes in Europe one only Employ cannot satisfie him he is not contented with being the Favourite of a great King under whose Authority he governs all things Some time ago 't was reported he would make himself a Patriarch He aspires extream high undertakes the most difficult Matters and takes a singular Pleasure in making use of extraordinary Means for the Execution of his Projects that Posterity and Historians may write That being come into the World with a small Fortune he died Rich and being born in the Condition of a private Man he lived in the State of a great Prince Observe Venerable Prince of that Religion which can alone be approved of by him who drew the World out of Nothing two remarkable Stroaks of this French Tiberius which I have learn'd but lately This Cardinal sent to Madrid incognito a General of certain Dervises a Man of a fit Genius to second his own of a piercing and subtle Wit and very understanding in Secular Affairs after having given him express Order that assoon as ever he should be in Spain he should do such and such a thing and that at his return into France he should remit into his Hands alone the Memoirs of what he had transacted This Monk succeeded very well in the Employ he undertook but in his Return the Cardinal sent an express Command to him to deliver before he entred into France all his Papers into the Hands of a Gentleman who brought him his Letter This Dervis obeyed but he was disgraced and the Cardinal maintained 't was a Crime to obey in this Occasion for having once received an Order to entrust no body with these Papers but himself he could not be excused for delivering them to others and for this Reason he forbad him to set Foot within the Kingdom This poor Religious died some time after desperate at this Usage and perhaps this is the first time a man has been punished for too punctual Obedience 'T is not many Moons since there came Post a Person of Quality from Italy who brought considerable News to the Cardinal 'T is impossile for me to express the Caresses this Favourite made him And to denote his Joy he immediately presented him with a rich Diamond and made him hope for still greater Recompences yet this same Person that had brought this so good News was carried to the Bastile assoon as he came out of the Cardinal's Closet where he remained for some Months without seeing any Body so that he imagined himself all that while in a Dream but at length his Prison-Doors were set open and the Cardinal would see him and made him be given as many Hundred Crowns as he had past over Days in his Solitude He accompanied this Present he made him with all the Civilities imaginable and said these Words to him Thou art not to blame and yet I could not but punish thee for my Fault when I made thee enter into my Closet assoon as thou camest from Italy to bring me so advantageous News The great Desire I had to know the Parriculars of the Business made me forget to take off from my Table a Writing of great Importance which thou mightest have read entire which contained the Revolt of Catalonia the Demands of this Province and the Intrigues of France which caused this Insurrection And the Knowledge of so important a Mystery might make my Prince lose the Acquisition of so Rich a Province so that I could not imagine a more safe and speedy Remedy than to shut thee up in a Place where it was impossible for thee to make any use of the Notices thou didst get by my Imprudence But things being at present in such a Condition wherein 't is impossible France should receive any prejudice I restore thee thy Liberty and entreat thee to forget the Severity which Reasons of State have put me upon Receive from my Hands the Present which the King my Master makes thee and be pleased to reckon me amongst the Number of thy particular Friends I prostrate my self again at thy Feet Holy Prelate intreating thy Benediction and that thou wilt look on me as one of thy most obedient Children having such a Respect to thy Holiness as is due to the greatest Minister of Heaven that ever interpreted the Holy Alcoran in the Empire of the Faithful I also intreat thy Prayers that God having regard to the Supplications which thou shalt offer him would give me the Grace to live honestly and serve the
is unhappy when they are handsome but more when they are homely and deformed The Fathers Brethren and Husbands guard the former as Cerberus guarded the Gates of Hell and the others guard themselves and look on all things with Eyes of Envy and Discontent which makes them empoyson every thing But that which happens amongst us is very different from what 's in France where Women enjoy almost a Liberty equal to that of Men. Not but that we see notable Adventures happen there witness the Queen who is Mother to a great King now reigning and yet lives in Exile and as a Fugitive amongst Strangers through the Credit of Cardinal Richlieu for whom she has not all the Deference he expected And an ancient Lady I may call her so now she does not hear me told me such things some days past on this occasion which I can scarce believe my self did I not know them to be true from elsewhere I am farther told that this Cardinal not having succeeded in the design he had of marrying his Niece with a Prince of the Bloud intended if he could to marry her to the King's Brother But there 's no great likelihood but so able a Minister must see into the mischievous Consequences into which this Promotion would bring him for it would undoubtedly draw on him the Hatred of all the great People in the Kingdom And I would not be mentioned at Constantinople for the Author of all the News talk'd of at Paris But 't is certain this Priest sent the Chancelor a venerable Person and by his Office a man of great Authority to seize on this Princess's Papers in hopes he might meet with some Letter which might favour that Design The Chancellor executed the Order he had received but found nothing of what the Cardinal pretended so that this Persecution served only to manifest this Princess's Vertue who lives in such a manner as may not only serve as an Example to all Queens but all the Women in the World Some time after this same Chancellor being come to compliment the Queen on the Birth of the Dauphin she told him in a composed manner but very pleasantly That this Visit was very different from that she had received from him about a Year past If Persons that are seated in the highest degrees be not secure from the bold Attempts of those who are infinitely below them and who are born to serve them the beautiful Ciâ—câ—ssian should comfort her self in the Misfortune she had of being accused If her Innocency be well proved she will be the more pleasing to Ibrahim and the false Accusation laid against her will be a new Charm to him whereas should she be found guilty we must grant she deserves the most dreadful Punishments for having violated if I may so express my self the Sacred Nights of the Seraglio However the young Persian was found disguised in Woman's Apparel in some of the neighbouring Stables And though he in the midst of the Torments he suffered died without confessing any thing yet it cannot be said he died innocent after such an Attempt I hope thou wilt inform me what has happened since thy last Letter and in what manner the Adventure of this beautiful Slave shall be ended I shall be much troubled for her if she be innocent and cannot be wholly free from Compassion for her if she prove guilty Leave not off writing to me and if it be possible be not weary of loving me I speak in the Presence of our holy Prophet I love thee with the same Affection as ever and I dare not utter an Untruth before him Paris 20th of the 5 th Moon of the Year 1642. LETTER XXII To the Kaimakam T IS about 60 years since D. Sebastian King of Portugal died in Africk by the Hands of the Moors and yet his Subjects will believe him still living He parted from Lisbon in the Year 1578. in the Design of re-establishing on his Throne Muley Mehemet Cheriff of Africk whom his Uncle Muley Abdelemelech would bereave of his Kingdom but in effect to endeavour at the making himself Master of Barbary His Army consisted of a Thousand Sail well furnish'd with Provisions few Soldiers but a great many Nobility This Prince was not above 25 years of Age when he formed this Enterprize he was a strong bodied Man of a moderate Stature but well set his Hair was yellow his Eyes great and full of Fire his Courage was not inferiour to his Strength and he had no violent Inclination to Pleasures which generally take Men's Minds off from gallant Actions he was temperate in all things yet very forward in Undertakings and always firm and unmovable in greatest Dangers He was a great Husband of his Revenues employing them in his Subjects Defence or to the Increase of his own Power He was agreeable to all those that waited on him and in the freest Conversations he took care not to disoblige any one by sharp Raillery or distastful Sayings and so merciful was he that he avoided all Occasions of condemning his Subjects to Death He passionately loved War but 't is thought the Expedition into Africk wherein he perished came from Spanish Counsels D. Sebastian was kill'd in fighting with an Invincible Courage The Moors say That his Enemies were so charmed with his Courage that his Death drew Tears from their Eyes He was forsaken by his own mortally wounded near the right Eye-brow and pierced with Darts in several Parts of his Body He had no Wound in his Head because he was armed but he had a great one in his Arm which seemed to come from a Musket-Bullet 'T is said he was buried in the Field near a Moor without any Ceremony Prayers or Company of his Relations or Subjects And this was the End of this Great King who made all Africk at first to tremble Although the Moors rejoyced at the Death of so puissant an Enemy that his Friends bewailed his Misfortune The Kingdom of Portugal celebrated his Funeral in a magnificent manner and the King of Spain proffered several thousand Crowns for his Body to bury him in a manner answerable to the Dignity of his Birth and Merit and that Four Kings have since supplied his Throne yet was there found a Man bold enough to maintain in the Face of all Italy that he was really D. Sebastian King of Portugal He presented himself at Venice in an Assembly of the wisest Magistrates in Europe he recited to them the Accidents of his Life the History of his Predecessors the Misfortunes he met with in Africk whence he retired into Calabria He did more for he stripp'd himself before this Illustrious Assembly he shewed them Seventeen Marks on his Body which were acknowledged with Astonishment by the Portugueses themselves to be at least very like those which they knew their Sovereign had on his Body and he also shewed that he had one Hand greater than the other and a Lip disproportionable in the same manner which were the
thy Feet and be acknowledged to be of the number of those for whom he has written his Holy Alcoran Paris 25th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1642. LETTER XXIV To Berber Mustapha Aga at Constantinople I Cannot tell whether thou hast Knowledge of the Use of Defiances which are made amongst the Christians when they be dissatisfied or offended with one another which they term Acts of Honour or the Marks of a gallant Spirit This Custom of Duels is become so common in Italy and especially in the Kingdom of Naples that the greatest Affairs as well as the smallest are therein decided by the Sword and the Gentry affirm this to be the best way of terminating their Disputes and Quarrels which belonging onely to them cannot be referred nor so well determined by the grave and cool proceedings of Courts of Justice This Invention of deciding these Differences by Arms either with the Sword or Pistol alone in a close or open Field naked in their Shirts so that one has no Treachery to fear is a Way of drawing Satisfaction for the Injuries received found out by Men of great Courage who more esteem their Honour than their Lives The offended Person sends a Challenge to him from whom he has received the Injury this note of Defiance is express'd in choice and elegant Words which invite and press the Offender to fight in such a Place on Horseback or on Foot cloathed or in their Shirts single or attended by an equal Number of Friends which they call Seconds with Sword and Dagger or Sword alone or pistol If the Challenge be received he is civilly treated who brings it and it may be has rich Presents given him But before they sight the Enemies embrace as if they were reconciled and then in an Instant following the Inclinations of their Hatred and Revenge they would one another they spill each others Blood and oftentimes their Souls go out furious through the Wounds they have made Those that have the Honour of dying in these Combats do oft refuse their Lives which a generous Enemy would give them believing they cannot live without Shame should they receive them from an Enemy But the Roman Church as a note of the Horror she conceives at these Combats shuts Heaven's Doors against the Souls of those who leave this Life without doing Pennance denying Burial to those who dye in the Field of Battle or yield them onely that which is granted in some Parts of the East-Indies to certain Women who prostitue themselves whose Corpse are thrown a Prey to the Birds of the Field and other Animals who live on Carrion It is not only in Italy People kill one another in single Combats 't is the same in France amongst the Nobility who manage these Combats in a different Sort. The best Friends tear one another on the smallest occasion and they prepare for a Duel in such a manner as will appear to thee without doubt ridiculous These Enemies sup together the Night before the Combat and often lie together in the same Bed The Friends which serve as Seconds do the same and when they are come to the Place where they be to fight a Friend is forced by the Maxims of Honour to cut his own Throat with the Man's he perhaps most loves Nothing happens more frequently in Paris than these Kind of Combats and they produce several Adventures of which I would give thee an Account had I not a particular Story to tell thee on this Subject It is of a Challenge of a Spanish Prince sent to a King whose Crown could not exempt him from a Letter of Defiance Thou hast without doubt heard of what has hapned in Lisbon where D. John de Braganza has been elected and proclaimed King of Portugal as the true Heir of the Royal Race Thou knowest also he drove the Spaniards out of his Kingdom The Duke of Medina Sedonia a Grandee of Spain and this new King's Brother-in-law could not hinder himself from being suspected of having underhand assisted this Prince to ascend the Throne whether it be true or an Artifice of his Enemies God onely knows But however it 's certain that the Count Duke d' Olivarez the King of Spain's chief Minister sent an order to him to appear at Court to justifie himself from this Suspicion he thought to clear himself perfectly from the Jealousies of the Catholick King by sending a Challenge to D. John of Braganza to oblige him to fight with him which Letter of Defiance was conceived in these Terms D. Gaspar Alonzo Peres Gusman the Good Duke of the Town of Medina Sedonia Marquis Count and Lord of the Town of St. Lucar of Barameda Captain General of the Ocean and Gentleman of his Catholick Majesty's Chamber I say that John of Braganza who was never but a Duke calls himself King of Portugal that his Treason known to all the World is detestable and in Abomination for having thrown a Stain on the Faithful House of Gusman which has never failed in any Duty to her Soveraign and for this reason defie and challenge to a single Combate Body to Body with Seconds or without Seconds this Don John heretofore Duke of Braganza leaving all this to his Choice as also the Arms or Weapons and Place of Combat Written near Valentia d' Alcantara where I shall expect fourscore days News of him and the last twenty Days I shall transport my self into the Place he shall appoint accompanied or alone with such Arms as he shall prescribe Not only the Tyrant of Portugal shall be advertised of my Challenge but all Europe and the whole World I pretend to make known in this Combat the infamous Action of D. John and in Case he does not accept of this Defiance and fails in the Duty of one who is born a Gentleman I desire this King who is only a Phantasm may perish in some sort or other I promise to give my Town of St. Lucar the principle Seat of the Dukes of Medina to him that shall kill him In the mean time I entreat my Lord the King of Spain to give me no Command in his Armies but to grant I may onely serve him as a Volunteer with a Thousand Horse which I will maintain at my own Charge till that serving him in this manner I may help to recover the Kingdom of Portugal and may bring along with me and cast at his Majesty's Fleet the Duke of Braganza if he will not fight with me in the Manner I proposed If thou shewest this Letter of Defiance to the Janizaries that Militia which is terrible to all Nations whom nothing can resist when they execute the Grand Seignor's Orders they will tell thee what such a Challenge requires from Men of Courage and explain to thee the Laws which People of Valour prescribe to themselves For my part who am ignorant of the Art of War and the Maxims of such as make Profession of Arms I shall not make any Judgement hereupon only take the