Selected quad for the lemma: land_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
land_n	great_a	keep_v	king_n	2,594	5	3.5237	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51903	The eighth and last volume of letters writ by a Turkish spy who lived five and forty years undiscover'd 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) continued from the year 1642 to the year 1682 / written originally in Arabick, translated into Italian, and from thence into English, by the translator of the first volume.	Marana, Giovanni Paolo, 1642-1693.; Bradshaw, William, fl. 1700.; Midgley, Robert, 1655?-1723.	1694 (1694)	Wing M565EA; ESTC R35024	164,847	384

thee all manner of Enjoyments that may consist with Purity and Innocence Paris 7th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1677. LETTER XII To the Captain Bassa BY Ships newly arriv'd from America Advice is brought to this Court of a signal Defeat given to a Squadron of Dutch Ships in those Parts and of the Taking the Isle Tabago by the French This Exploit was performed under the Conduct of the Count D'Estrees an Admiral of rising Fame here in the West But in my Opinion the French magnifie this Emerprize beyond its true Value for they lost as many Ships and Men as the Hollanders and all the Gain they can boast of is a Place which will cost them more to Defend than 't is really worth I wonder this potent Monarch does not rather set out a Fleet of Ships well Mann'd and provided of all Necessaries to make some Discoveries in that vast Tract of Land called by Geographers the Southern Vnknown World It runs along from East to West between the Tropick of Capricorn and the Antartick Circle taking up the whole Southern Temperate Zone or at least the greatest part of it There have been many fabulous Relations of that distant Part of the Globe Some of the Antients mention'd it and modern Writers have utter'd various Conjectures about it One will have it to be the Original Paradise of Adam and Eve Another supposes it to be the Place whither the Ten Tribes of Israelites retir'd that were carried away Captives by Salmanassar King of Assyria Which has occasion'd so many Disputes and Controversies between different Historians Be it how it will the delightful Situation of that Quarter has given perhaps Encouragement for such kind of Thoughts which I should think were also Invitation sufficient to draw thither the Arms of some magnanimous Prince besides the pure Novelty of the Design and the Glory of making a Descent and Conquest where no Mortals of our known World had ever set Foot before Surely they are not afraid that it is enchanted Ground or that they shall encounter an Army of Devils at their first Landing that they shall be trepann'd into hidden Snares of Magick or be surpris'd by some Infernal Ambush What fatal Timorousness what panick Suspicion is it that renders Potentates of the Earth thus ingloriously prudent and wretchedly cautious to spare their Men their Ships and Mony when so noble an Undertaking seems to challenge their Courage and awaken their utmost Resolution to combat a few Difficulties which being once vanquished Eternal Honour and Renown follow What Discouragements Le ts and Obstacles did not the brave Columbus meet with when he sought the Assistance of several Princes and States to set him out to Sea that he might discover the then unknown Western World How coldly was his Project entertained at Genoua his own Native Country and at last after long waiting utterly rejected No better Reception found he in the Court of England though a Nation claiming the first Rank among Sea-faring People What Fatigues did he not undergo in travelling up and down by Sea and Land from one Kingdom and Country to another Neither rested he till he had accomplish'd his Desire and procur'd Vessels Men and Mony from the King of Spain to carry on his Enterprise Yet he had no other Ground to believe there was any Unknown Continent beyond the Atlantick Sea save his own Conjecture started from the Observations he had made on the Course of the Sun and the Inequality of the known part of the Earth compar'd with the vast Body of Waters which must be suppos'd necessary to make up an entire Globe if there were not some Unknown Land extant to supply their Room and prevent a Vacuum in Nature For he consider'd that though this unequal ballancing of the Globe might pass Muster in the School of Natural Philosophy yet it cou'd not answer the strict Scrutiny of the Mathematicks But that there must be an even Counterpoise of Earth and Water to keep this Ball fast in its Vortex and regular in its Circulation So that this Great Man built all his well-pitch'd and happy Design upon a bare Geometrical Speculation whereas there is evident Matter of Fact the Testimony of many Authentick Eye-witnesses to prove that there is such a Land as what I have been speaking of and all that ever pass'd the Megellanick Streights must have seen it if they were not blind I counsel thee therefore Mighty Bassa to represent these Things effectually to the Grand Signior It will be no Disgrace if he hearken not to thy Proposals Shew him the Easiness of the Undertaking if a small Fleet be fitted up and sent by Way of the Red Sea to make Discoveries toward the South Let them be well Mann'd and Victuall'd provided also with all sorts of Arms and Ammunition in order to a Descent with Materials and Instruments to raise a Fortress if there be Occasion 'T is a thousand to one if the Inhabitants of those Unknown Regions have ever found out the Use of Guns which will be a prodigious Advantage on our Side The very Thunder of the Mussulman Artillery will terrifie them into Obedience They will either Surrender as to Gods or fly as from Devils leaving all the Maritime Coasts to the Invaders Possession Where Colonies of True Believers may be soon planted and established to the Glory of God and his Prophet and the Eternal Exaltation of the Ottoman Empire Great Commander of the Marine I desire thee to pardon the Liberty I take in this Discourse and to esteem what I have said only as the humble Suggestions of an honest Slave who is zealous for his Master's Honour the Glory of the Osman House and the general Good of Mankind Paris 14th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1677. LETTER XIII To Dgnet Oglou I Am convinc'd by long and manifold Experience That God and the World and every Thing appear to Man in what Figure he pleases We may make our own Opticks though the Generality of Men take up with those which are prepar'd for them by their Fathers and Tutors We use the Prejudices and Prepossessions of Education as the Spaniards wear their Spectacles even at Dinner Time for Fashions sake Young and Old that they may appear Grave and Regular We adhere to the Opinions we received in our Infancy with a partial Stiffness and Pride that we may not seem to call in question the Wisdom of our Ancestors or appear wavering or inconstant our Selves So the Christian Gallants swallow down whole Dozens of venomous Oysters without saying Grace only because 't is the mode Though they will not venture on a Crust of wholsome Bread without conjuring a Blessing on it by making the Sign of the Cross and squinting two or three magical Glances at Heaven seconded by Hocus-Pocus-Whispers to compleat the Charm But let thou and I be more rational in our Principles and Practice There is no God that will be banter'd with vain Mummery or by Musick be melodiously

greatest Office and Dignity in the Kingdom next to that of the Soveraignty it self Others were made Marshals Dukes and Peers of France Generals of the French Armies Vice-Roys of Tributary Provinces and Kingdoms All the Scots in general were had in high Honour and Esteem at the French Court and enjoy'd the same Rights and Immunities as the very Natives themselves by the special Grant of Henry II. But with this Condition that they should persevere in their Fidelity and Friendship to the French And that the French who dwelt in any Part of Scotland should enjoy the same Rights and Privileges as the Natives of the Country The Parliament of Paris subscrib'd to this Grant and it was confirm'd by Henry IV. about the year 1599. Likewise Charles XI confirmed to the Scotch Merchants all those Privileges and Immunities which their Ancestors had enjoy'd That they should be free from all Exactions Imposts and Customs which are usually paid for Merchandises As to the Original Rise of the Scotch Guards about the French King's Person I will tell thee as briefly as I can Louis who acquir'd the Title of Saint for Warring in Person against the Mussulmans when he march'd towards Palestine appointed Four and Twenty Scotch Soldiers to have the Guard of his Person Night and Day Charles V. augmented their Number to Seventy Six yet still reserving this Honour for the First Four and Twenty That they should have the Command of the Rest Thus the Custody of the King's Body remain'd with the Scots for the space of Seventy Years and upwards But Charles VII being willing to oblige the French appointed a Guard of them to be about his Person under one Standard Lewis X. added another Standard and Francis I. adjoyned a Third Yet without entrenching on the Prerogatives of the Twenty Four Scots which they still enjoy'd by Right of Antiquity and Prescription as also by the Sanction of St. Louis for whom the French profess a great Veneration These Twenty Four Scots kept the Keys of the Royal Palace after Sun-set They alone guarded the King when he was in the Temple at Mass They alone carried the King when the Laws of the Land and the Ceremonies of State requir'd him to be carried on Men's Shoulders They guarded the Ships when the King went by Water And to them were the Keys of every Town deliverd through which the King pass'd in his Travels by Land with many other singular Honours But after the Death of Henry II. when the Eurl of Montgomery the last Commander of the Scotch Guards was remov'd from his Office and a French Officer plac'd over them in his stead that Command always fell into the Hands of French-men who by degrees substituting those of their own Nation in the Room of the Scots who died it came to pass at length that there remain'd but a very few Scots in the Guards and those were bereft of all their ancient Privileges Pardon this tedious Digression Great Patriarch of the Faithful since it contains some curious Memoirs in it and I naturally fell into it by speaking of the Scots who are very Numerous in Paris to this Day and from whom I learn'd the foregoing Character of their Murder'd Archbishop who was the Prime Patriarch of all the Land his Ordinary Title being Archbishop of St. Andrews This great and highest Ecclesiastical Dignity was given him by the present King of England at his Return from a Twelve Years Exile as a Debt to his Great Abilities and a Reward of his Merits and Services in labouring might and main to effect the King's Restauration From the Moment that he acquir'd this Honour such as were equally Enemies to the Government of King's and Bishops persecuted him with Slanders and Invectives The Streets swarm'd with Libels against him and Mens Tongues were as busie as their Pens in Railing at him because he was resolved to endeavour his utmost that Episcopacy might be restor'd in Scotland as it was in England though it had been subverted in both Nations during the Vsurpation of Oliver the Tyrant 'T was this drew upon him the Malice and Revenge of the Seditious and they spar'd not in Publick to threaten his Death Nay some Years before he was murder'd one of these Furioso's shot at him in the open Streets of Edinburgh but miss'd him Then the Seditious publish'd Libels wherein they gloried in the Attempt and were only sorry that it took not Effect They also Prophesied that he should die a Violent Death and it was easie for them to presage this which they were resolv'd to execute themselves Accordingly in the 3d. and 4th Moons of this Year they were ready to give the Fatal Blow but his Watchfulness prevented them However on the 3d. of the Moon of May as he was Travelling with his Eldest Daughter in his Coach with Two or Three Servants attending him he was set upon at Mid-day by Nine of these Religious Ruffians who having first wounded his beloved Daughter to enhaunce his dying Grief then hack'd and hew'd him in a Butcherly and Barbarous Manner till at length they left him Dead on the Spot Venerable Cadilesquer I pray God defend thee from Popular Envy Malice and Revenge from the Wounds given by the Pens of Libellers and the Tongues of the Spightful But above all I pray Heaven Guard thee from being Massacred by Religious Assassines and Bloody Zealots Paris 17th of the 9th Moon of the Year 1679. LETTER XI To Hebatolla Mir Argun Superior of the Derviches at Cogni in Natolia DOubltess there never was any Creature form'd of Flesh and Blood comparable to the Messias No Mortal like the Son of Mary Jesus was replenish'd with all the Natural Excellencies and Perfections of the Universe I am not so profane or presumptuous as to think or say any Thing in Contempt of Mahomot though I take the Liberty to Celebrate the high Praises of the WORD incarnate the First-Born and most Illustrious of all Beings on this Side the Eternal Father The Holy Ghost it self comes behind him When the Everlasting Intellect had from Indeterminate Ages lain dreaming on the soft and downy Bed of CHAOS or the First Matter In the Grand Cabin of uncircumcised Darkness and envelop'd with the shady Curtains of Old Old NIGHT When he had tumbl'd toss'd and rowl'd from side to side When he had stretch'd his Endless Limbs for Ease to seek one Corner of the Infinite Expanse where he might abate the Sempiternal Heat of Love At last he fix'd his Foot upon the cool Idea of this World of ours Then sprang the WORD from the allfertile WOMB The Melancholy sad Abyss rejoyc'd for in the WORD was Light and Life which darting through the Eternal Heap of Sluggish and unactive MATTER with Divine Chymistry first drew an Extract of the purest Parts which form'd the Firmament Next rose the Sun the Moon and Stars and then the grosser Elements with all their different Productions These are the Generations of the Universe when God made

settle on him a Pension of Eight Thousand Livres a Year and to present him out of Hand with Five Thousand Pistoles if he would put them in Possession of Quillebeuf a strong Place in the Province of Normandy The Chevalier de Rohan had made himself and them believe that it was in his Power with much Ease to perform this But he was mistaken Some of his Friends say he never thought of accomplishing his Bargain his Credit being too small in that Place and that he only aim'd to repair his Fortune by cheating the Spaniards of their Five Thousand Pistoles However the Plot was discover'd to the French King who has his Spies in all Corners of the Kingdom The unfortunate Chevalier was seiz'd and brought to the Bastille and being convicted of Treason was condemn'd to lose his Head which was accordingly Executed The Marquis of Villars and the Sieur de Pereau suffer'd the same Punishment as Accomplices in the Treason Another French Lord of the Party was Kill'd in defending himself against those who were order'd to arrest him These had undertaken to deliver other Places of Strength into the Hands of the Hollanders who first begun the War Had their Conspiracy taken Effect it would have been no difficult matter to corrupt other Grandees with the Spanish Gold and so a Third Part of France might have been sold for a Price not allowable in the Mereats of Kings For it seems the Hollanders and Spaniards were upon the Point of making their Descents in Normandy and Bretagne being invited thereto by the large Promises of the Persons before-named and their Confederates who made them believe that a great Part of the Nobility and Gentry of those Provinces wou'd come over to them as soon as they saw them Landed and there was no need to fear any opposition from the Vulgar who are bound to follow the Fortune of their Lords Besides they are always desirous of Novelty and Change There is nothing so Abject Poor and Contemptible as the Peasantry of France who labour only for others whilst they can hardly get Bread for themselves out of all their Toil. In a word they are absolute Slaves to them whose Tenants they are and whose Lands they farm They are not more oppressed by the Publick Taxes and Gabels than they are by the Private Impositions of their Country Lords beside the unreasonable Demands of the Priests These Sufferings dispose them to wish for any Revolution in the Government from which they might hope to receive gentler Usage 'T was this partly which encourag'd the Hollanders and Spaniards to think of invading France Otherwise they had only been upon the Defensive This King has to do with a great many Potent Enemies The Emperor holds him play on the Rhine the Duke of Lorrain gives him Diversion in his New Conquests on that side The King of Spain puts him to a great Expence of Men and Mony in Flanders The Hollanders infest him by Sea and would do by Land if they knew which way Yet this Monarch copes with 'em all baffles their Plots and Intrigues foils their Arms daily gains Ground and by a continued Series of Conquests makes it apparent that his is the only flourishing Fortune in the West The King of Sweden had made certain Proposals of Peace between the Emperor the King of France the King of Spain the States of Holland and some of the Electoral Princes In order to which he offer'd himself to become a Mediator between them He sent his Embassadors accordingly to a Place agreed upon by all Parties as the most convenient for Conferences of this Nature So did all the other Princes and States concern'd in the Wat. But it seems there was a gross Affront put upon Guillaume de Furstemberg Plenipotentiary to the Elector of Cologne by the Marquis de Grana Embassador to the Emperor This was deeply resented at the French Court as being a Notorious Breach of the Law of Nations and the King published a Manifesto wherein he charg'd the Emperor with giving Order for this Insult declaring also that unless due Satisfaction were made he would withdraw his Embassadors from the Place of Conference and seek Justice with Sword in Hand He complain'd to the King of Swedeland of this Violence and enter'd into a close and strict League with him Gustavus presently recalls his Embassadors from the publick Meeting commanding them to protest against the Action of the Marquis de Grana as a Violation of the Civil Laws The French King has done the same and all Things seem to portend a general Distraction in Europe Those of the Roman Church fight against one another as well as they combine against the Protestants whom they esteem as the Common Enemy and have little beter Regard for them than we Moselmans have for the Persian Kysilbaschi whom we execrate as abominable Hereticks One sort of Protestants also cabal against another the Lutherans hate and persecute the Calvanists which the Latter return with equal Animosity These Infidels are caught in the Devil's Snare where they bite and devour one another They are in egregious Darkness toss'd about in the Tempest of Errors They are surrounded with Enchantments Their Guides are Sorcerers and Magicians Hell has a Hand in all their Devices O ye True Believers lift up your Heads For the Hour is approaching wherein the Ancient Prophecies must be fulfilled That the Dragon of the East shall wage War with the Eagle of the West and shall devour him Whole with all his Feathers Woe be to thee O Land of Japhet in the Year 1700 of the Christians Style Mighty Bassa thou who hast not number'd half my Years mayst live to see these Things come to pass As for me I am hastning to the Spirits of my Fathers to a Region of Silence and Eternal Retirement to a Place where all the Vanities of this Earth shall be forgotten In the Mean Time live thou to be a Witness of the Grand Revolution which will astonish all the World Paris 7th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1674. LETTER V. To Cara Hali Physician to the Grand Signior PRaise be to God from whom alone proceed Health Long Life and Immortal Happiness In the whole Family of Fevers I never was much subject to any except it were that of Love This indeed is become Habitual to me 't is grown a perfect Hectick surely 't is more than Second Nature I feel something in the very Roots of my Essence prompting me to Eternal Softnesses wild melting Fits of fresh Platonick tender Passions Nothing can provoke my Hatred but an Obdurate Surly-temper'd Fellow who being the Offspring of some Bloody Butcher Poulterer or Greasy Cook his very Face portends a present Massacre and all his Words breath nothing else but a continued Train of Cruel Wrongs and Violences against the Innocent Pity to him sounds like the News of Famine to a Starving Man But if you 'd make him smile and put him in good Humour tell him how he

has thee for his Portion in this Life The Gold has no Value or Beauty when compar'd with thee The Diamond and Saphir sad and look dull and the choicest Pearls of the Orient lose their Lustre in thy Presence Doubtless Wisdom shines for ever and is incorruptible It is a pure resplendent Essence flowing from the Eternal Glory a sincere Emanation from the Divine Nature The Spotless Mirrour of God wherein he beholds his own Immortal Excollencies It is Ten Thousand Times more serene than the Light it self brigher than the Sun purer than the Sky and more sparkling than all the Host of the Stars The Glittering Crowd of Angels are edlips'd in her Presence and all the Radiant Orders of the Blessed Above serve but as Foils to set forth her Superlative and all-penetrating Coruscations God brought her forth from the Womb of his Unfathomable Depths she sprang from the Treasures which cannot be exhausted In the Morning of the World she ronz'd the benumm'd Chaos with her efficacious Beams Her Energy gave Life and Form to the confus'd and dark Abyss She shines from one Extremity of the Universe to another illuminating Infinite Spaces She is a refulgent Circle of Light whose Center is every where but whose Circumference is not to be found Ask those who pitch their Pavilions above all Worlds the outlying Camps of the Omnipotent who guard the Frontiers of the Blisful Regions and walk the Rounds of our Remotest Heaven the Coelum Empyraeum to fire its Beacons on the Discovery of any foreign Invasion threatn'd by some New Vpstart Republick of Beings hatch'd in the cold and frozen Climates of the Endless Expanse Ask those I say whether they e'er cou'd trace the Eternal Wisdom in her Flights Or find the Solitary Haunts of Everlasting Reason They may pursue the glorious Chace o'er the Untrack'd Wastes of the Unlimitted Unform'd First Matter as well as through the Fenced Fields and Parks the enclos'd Land-mark'd Grounds of this known World But all in vain There is no catching what is Infinite The Wings of all created Fancies are too short and weak The Cherubims themselves and Seraphims are far too flow to seize so swift a Prey Wisdom is wild as Chance conceal'd as Nature yet fix'd as Destiny She dwells beyond the Highest Heavens her Throne is inaccessible yet she fills all Things with her Presence She sought for a Place of Repose on Earth among the Sons of Men. She travers'd the Nations by Land and visited the Isles of the Sea She descended into the Abysses below and made her Scrutiny in the Horrid Caverns of the Clobe At length she found Rest in Abraham and pitch'd her Habitation in Ismael Because it was so determin'd of old from Sempiternal Ages and recorded in the Archives of Fate She was establish'd in Mecca the Birth-place of the Prophet and her Power is rooted in Medina Telnabi the place of his Burial The Holy Cities are ennobl'd by her Presence and she shines in the midst of an Honourable Race an Offspring born to Glory a Renowned People a Sanctify'd Pregeny a Generation of Worthies a Family of Hero's a Lineage whereon rest the Favours and Smiles of the Omnipotent Oh Arabia Well may'st thou be call'd the Happy since in thee is the Seat of the Eternal Sapience Go Mourn ye Mountains of Judaea and all ye desolated Valleys of Palestine For the Dew and the Rain have forsaken you Your Soil languishes for want of Moysture and your Glebe is dried up Your Trees wither and fade neither does the Ground bring forth any Grass or Flowers The Pastures are become like a Wilderness overrun with Bryars and Thorns and your Arable Fields are as the Lybian Wastes barren and unprofitable The Land that was once call'd Holy is now become Execrable a Habitation of Satyrs and Damons Because Wisdom has translated her Residence from Sion and the Angels have Decamp'd from the Climate of Jerusalem Rejoyce O Regions bordering on the East of the Red Sea For with you is a Great Light even the Law brought down from Heaven and the Glory of the Most High overshadows you Wisdom is exalted in Arabia she lifts up her Head above the Top of Mount of Vriel She flourishes like the Palm-Tree and spreads her Boughs as the Terebinth Many Nations rest under the Shadow of her wide-spread Branches Her Ways are Uniform and Beautiful like an Alley of Cypresses and all her Paths are sweet as a Garden of Cinnamon Myrrh and Roses Her Fruit feeds the East and the South her Salutiferous Leaves are scattered from India to the Land of the Moors where thou dwellest Her fragrant Odour is diffus'd from Pole to Pole She is the Mother of Science and Virtue in her Custody are the Springs of Life and Health of Honour and Riches She has in her Treasures lock'd up Innumerable Kinds of Felicities which she plentifully pours forth on them that obey her Inspirations She appears chearfully to them that wait upon her and no Man ever departed from her Presence but he fell into Sadness For a certain enlivening Influence flows from her Countenance a Man is ravish'd with her Conversation Her Breath is sweeter than Ambrosia or the Vapour of Eastern Incense Her Thoughts are fragrant as the Aromatick Exhalations of Nardus Onyx and Stacte All Words are too short to express her Praises neither is there any Style or Language that can describe her Incomparable Worth Therefore with Reverence I desist from saying any more at this Time on so sublime a Subject lest whilst I am prolonging the Panegyrick of Wisdom I proclaim my own Folly to a Sage who is familiar with her and best knows her Character In the mean Time Vouchsafe to accept of these Lines as a Testimony of the profound Veneration I have for thee who art known through all Africk and other Parts of the World to be One of the First Rank among Wisdom's Favourites Adieu Great Lamp of Mauritania and believe That Mahmut is no Flatterer Paris 19th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1676. LETTER V. To the Captain Bassa IF I write often to the Bassa's of the Land I do not forget the Duty I owe to him of the Sea Only that Element has not been the Stage of so many Remarkable Actions as the other There are no Forts Castles or strong Cities built upon the Waves No settled Camps or formal Sieges unless it be upon the Frozen Seas within or near the Artick Circle And there they only imitate the Trade of War to exercise their Youth However on the other Parts of the Ocean there are flying Campagnes Battels en Passant and this Year has afforded some Marine Engagements between the French Hollanders and Spaniards not altogether unworthy of thy Knowledge On the 8th of the 1 st Moon there happened a Naval Fight between the Sieur de Quesne Lieutenant General of the French Fleets and de Ruiter Vice-Admiral of the Dutch Wherein the later suffer'd considerable Damage But far greater was

A great deal more might be said but this is sufficient to render it very Probable if not to Demonstrate that this was no more than a particular Deluge by which God was resolv'd to Exterminate the Infidels out of that Land Even as he has inflicted Judgments as Terrible on other Nations destroying them by Lightning or Vehement Winds or by Armies of Wild Beasts as the Alcoran often intimates Other Histories speak of Whole Cities in Africk with all their Inhabitants turned into Stone in one Nights Time as a Punishment of their Wallowing in that Vice whose very Imagination creates a Horrour in Chaste Souls Supposing therefore that only Armenia or the Adjacent Countries were overwhelm'd in this Deluge it will be easie to suggest that the other Nations such as Aegypt China and the Indies might retain their Chronologies uncorrupt from the Original Source of Time It is of great Importance to True History that this point shou'd be throughly examin'd and the Extent of the Flood adjusted For if it could be apparently made out that Noah's Flood was but such another as those of Ogyges and Deucalion all the Mists which darken Antiquity would Vanish The whole Firmament of Chronology would become Clear and Serene and we should Walk in the Light of the Primitive Ages without being dazl'd or forc'd to Wink Methinks I behold this Light glimmering from afar like Aurora the Chearful Harbinger of Approaching Day Methinks I see the Splendour of Historical Truth rising from the Orient and Gilding the Tops of those Mountains which the Ignorance and Superstition of some the Pride and Ambition of others have rais'd to hinder our Prospect of the far extended Ages of the Primitive World And without Rapture or Hyperbole I dare be bold to presage That a little more Knowledge in the Indian Language and Histories will bring those Things to Light which have been hid for many Thousands of Years from the greatest Part of Mankind Go on then thou Sacred Patron of History Go on to encourage this Unparallell'd Work Send Messengers to the Indies Men of Learning and Prudence Let them Court the Brachmans with the Promises of Inestimable Rewards Let them try to win those Renown'd Philosophers to come with their Books to the Sanctuary of the World that so this Vniversal History may Transcend all that have been Written before it and that the Proud Contemners of the Mussulmans may have this Proverb Common among themselves when they wou'd assert any Thing seriously to say It is as true as an Orable or as the Chronology of those who Believe the Alcoran Great Light of the Faithful Adieu Paris 14th of the 12th Moon of the Year 1681. LETTER XIII To Cara Hali Physician in Ordidinary to the Grand Signior I Am now arriv'd to a Great Age and have rubb'd through many Fatigues in my Life-Time I have stood the Brunt of a Thousand Perils and undergone much Hardship Pains and Afflictions have invaded me in Body and Soul Labour Persecution and Grief have been the Portion of my past Years Now I wou'd fain Live at Ease if 't were possible Therefore I have Recourse to thee my Old Friend who hast often afforded me thy Counsel in Time of Need. I do not Address for Fashion sake or to discover the Vast Esteem I have for a Physician whose Skilful Prescriptions have so often sav'd my Life No No I 'm really in Want of thy Aid and no Man but thy self can Cure me It is not easie for me to define my Distemper since 't is Heterogeneous and complicated of many different Maladies However it is fit that thou shouldst be inform'd of the particular Symptoms and the Causes as far as I can guess at 'em And I can do no less than make thee in Part my Confessor Methinks I feel the Reversion of my Youthful Vanities Inherit the Entail of my past Pleasures which is certainly nothing but Pain and Torment Those Agonies which I laugh'd at in other Men are now fallen to my own Share The Comedies of my Greener Years are become the Sensible Tragedies of my Weather-beaten Age. Whilst I Sweat Frown and make a Thousand Grimaces at the Anguish given me by the Gout Stone Strangury Cholick Cramp and other Acute Diseases which Excruciate me by Turns I think the Divine Nemesis has appointed some Devil for an Inquisitor and Tormenter of every Bone Vein Artery Nerve Muscle and Gut in my Body Surely I 'm laid in the First Pickle of Nature's Wrath I wish it may be the Last For I do not in the least covet her Ill-Will Then I have my Successive Intervals of Dropsies Asthma's Dysenteries Fevers Consumptions and God knows how many more Species of Sickness Yet sometimes I am as seemingly well in Health as Marogli Zudistan the Old Aga that liv'd just by the Obelisk in the Hippodrom who ran away from his Father in his Youth and serv'd Seventeen Years in the Wars of Persia liv'd till he was Eighty and Nine Years Old yet never was let Blood took Physick or was Sick in all his Life I protest 't is hard for me to guess at my own Constitution or to find out the Originals of those different Habits in my Body Yet I have a feeling Sense of that my self which I cannot express to another Sometimes I think there is some Native and Radical Venom in my Body deriv'd from the Influence of Malignant Stars that had the Dominion at my Birth though how or why it should be so I am altogether Ignorant Neither can any Astrologer with all his Schemes and Heavenly Figures convince me which of the Constellations or Planets did me the Fatal Injury I give no Credit to their Antiquated Tales of Trines Conjunctions Oppositions Quartiles and the Rest of their Egyptian Jargon I believe there may be someting True and Sacred at the Bottom of Astrology but 't is cover'd with a Heap of Rubbish Rules and Observations And they that take most Pains dig deepest and make the Narrowest Search into the Ruins of that Noble Science shall for one genuine Pearl find a Thousand Counterfeits for one Truth a Thousand Errors It fares with Astrology as it does with Religion which is Cantonized into Innumerable Sects and Factions each positively asserting that they have the only Incorrupt Laws of God Whereas if you make a Strict Scrutiny you shall find a very little Sincere Piety but Abundance of Prophaneness Hypocrisy and Superstition Well let it be how it will whether the Stars have any Hand in the Plot of Human Events or no whether Saturn or Mars be Malevolent or Benign Planets it matters not much No more does it to hear what they prate of all the Various Aspects and Configurations of the other Stars This I am sure of That I endure a great many Pains which let them be deriv'd from Above or Below are very troublesome 'T is possible that all or most Distempers which afflict Human Bodies in so many different Kinds may be but the Effects