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
Ceremonies and proud Titles of the Eastern People What is represented here is in a familiar Style such as the Ancient Latins used in their Writings to their Consuls Dictators and Emperors themselves And if the Translation be not Elegant as the Arabick do not accuse the Author seeing it is not possible to reach the Force and Beauty of the Original Have moreover some Respect for the Memory of this Mahometan for living unknown he was safe from the Insults of the Great Ones so that he might write Truth without Danger which ordinarily is disguised by Fear or Avarice having still reported the Transactions of Christians with no less Truth than Eloquence If what I have said cannot satisfie the Curious expect the rest of these Letters which will be found full of great Actions profitable Instructions and good Morals Thank God however who raises Men that employ themselves in vanquishing Ignorance and Idleness and in rendring Justice to Mahmut a passionate Slave for the Interest of his Master and the Truth Have some Goodness for the Translator who being born free acknowledges no Master but God his King and his Reason A TABLE OF THE LETTERS and Matters contained in this Volume BOOK I. LETTER I. MAhmut an Arabian and the Grand Seignior's Vilest Slave to Hasnadarbassy Chief Treasurer to his Highness at Constantinople p 1. Of the Arrival of Mahmut at Paris Description of the Place His Disguisement and Manner of living amongst the Christians II. To the same Hasnadarbassy 4 Of the Isles of St. Margaret and Honorat taken by the Spaniards and of the Archbishop of Bordeaux III. To Darnish Mehemet Bassa 6 Touching the Te Deum and the Rejoycings of the French for the Victory of Leucate 8 IV. To Isuf his Kinsman He exhorts him to love God his Religion and the Grand Seignior V. To the Aga of the Janizaries 9 Of the taking of Breda of Marquiss Spinola He exhorts him to read History VI. To Mehemet an Eunuch Page of the Sultan Mother 11 He recommends to him his Interests at the Port. Of a Prodigy which happened in Germany and of an English Ship VII To the Invincible Vizir Azem 12 Of the Queen of France's Barrenness Of the Court the Genius of the French and Affairs of Africk VIII To Muslu Reis Effendi the Chief Secretary of the Ottoman Empire 17 Of his Manner of living and of the Town of Paris IX To the Mufti Prince of the Religion of the Turks 20 Touching Religion X. To the Kaimakam 23 Of the Pictures of the King of France Cardinal Richlieu and Prince of Conde's Son XI To Bedredin Superior of the Convent of the Dervises of Cogny in Natolia 26 Of the Conversation he had with a Jesuit touching the Mahometan Religion XII To Chiurgi Muhammet Bassa 33 Of the Queen of France's being with Child XIII To Carcoa at Vienna 36 He sends him Three Pictures and asks of him Necessaries XIV To William Vospel a Christian of Austria 37 Touching the Death of his Wife and on the Design he had of retiring into a Convent of Carmelites XV. To Ibrahim that renounced the Christian Religion 41 That one should not write Falsities touching Religion XVI To Dicheu Hussein Bassa 42 Of the everlasting Wars amongst Christians Of Gustavus King of Swedeland and Weymar's Victories XVII To Ahmet Beig 45 Of Italy of the House of Savoy and of the War which the Spaniards and French made in Piemont XVIII To Berber Mustapha Aga. 48 Of the Death of Marshal de Crequy of Magick and of the Fort of Breme XIX To Murat Bassa 53 Of Madam de Savoy the Cardinal de Valette Of Vercelle and of the Duke of Rohan XX. To Dgnet Oglou 57 Of his Captivity at Palermo and his Employment XXI To the Kaimakan 63 Of Piemont and of a Conspiracy discovered at Genoa XXII To the same 67 Of the Siege of Fontarabia Of the Prince of Conde and of the Loss of several Spanish Vessels XXIII To Afiâ— Bassa 70 Of a Diet held at Stockholm where 't was determined to continue the War with Germany and the French Design on St. Omers XXIV To the Kaimakam 71 Of the French Armies their Progress and of Cardinal Richlieu XXV To the same 73 Of the Queens drawing near her time of Casimir taken Prisoner XXVI To the same 75 Of the King of Poland's Travels into Hungary and Germany XXVII To Kerker Hassan Bassa 76 Of Amurath's Exploits on the Frontiers of Persia and of the Death of Two great Personages XXVIII To the Kaimakan 79 Of the Birth of the Dauphin XXIX To the Capitan or Captain Bassa 82 Of a Sea-Fight between the French and Spaniards XXX To the Captain Bassa 85 Of the Galleys of Malta BOOK II. LETTER I. TO the Captain Bassa 87 Mahmut reproaches him with the Intelligence he held with the Emperor of Germany's Secretary II. To the same 90 Of the Galleys the Barbarians lost III. To the same 94 He discovers the Means of surprizing Loretto IV. To the Kaimakam 97 He discourses of the Ministers of Foreign Princes and of the Affairs of Vallone and Loretto V. To the same 101 Touching the setting at liberty the old Renegado Durlu VI. To the same 104 Of the War of Piemont Misfortunes of the House of Savoy of the Duke of Saxony of the taking of Brisac by the Duke of Wimar VII To the same 109 Of the Duke of Lorrain Affairs of Germany Swedeland and Alsatia VIII To Melec Amet. 114 Of the Disgrace of Stridya Bey and of another Adventure IX To the same 118 Of a particular Accident that happened to a Son that rejoyced at the News of his Father's Sickness X. To Enguruli Emin Cheik a Man of the Law 121 Of the King's Goodness to an ancient Father of a Family that would needs turn Souldier in his old Age c. XI To Cara Hali a Physician 125 Of the Mountains of Sicily and Naples which cast forth perpetual Flames Of the Nature of these Flames and of their Effects XII To the Venerable Mufti c. 128 On Religion on some of his scruples and touching the Alcoran XIII To the Kaimakan 131 Of a Man that was sent as a Spy to the Court of Rome by Cardinal Richlieu and of other Matters XIV To Egry Boynou the white Eunuch 135 Touching the Life of Henry IV. XV. To the Invincible Vizir Azem 149 Mahmut's Conference with Cardinal Richlieu touching the Affairs of Jerusalem XVI To the same 155 Of the Dauphin of France and the Sultan's Voyage to Babylon XVII To Bechir Bassa Chief Treasurer to the Grand Signior 156 Of a pleasant and dangerous Adventure which happened to Mahmut and of the Jew Eliachim XVIII To Carcoa of Vienna 160 Mahmut sends word that he has lost the Money he sent him and how XIX To Dgnet Oglou 161 A Relation of the Life of Birkabeb and of a Persian Prince XX. To Egry Boynou an Eunuch 164 Remains of the Life of Henry the Great BOOK III. LETTER I. TO Muslu Reis
from a Mahometan These Barbarians are sufficiently Instructed in Morality to Teach others that which they do not always Practise themselves Vertue and Truth are respected every where Turn thee from East to West from the South to the North thou wilt find on all Sides impious Men who Blaspheme against the Deity but true Vertue has that of singular That she is always Respected and even by the most Profligate Consult once again thy Forces and thy Courage and take a better Resolution if thou art not yet well fixed in thy first Titus salutes thee out of this World and prays Heaven to give thee the Pleasures of the Happy in thy Solitude if thou beest no Hypocrite and if thou hast not yet Repented of the Resolution thou hast taken Paris 28th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XV. To Ibrahim who Renounced the Christian Religion THou hast Renounced thy Religion either to save thy Life or for some other Consideration I do not say this to make thee Scrupulous but in Quality of Resident in this Kingdom to serve here the Sultan Emperor of both Seas and of the Two Parts of the Earth Distributer of all Crowns the Grandeur of whose Majesty I beg of God may last till the last Day of Universal Judgment I advise thee to take heed not to sollicite those Infidels whose Religion thou hast abandon'd to run the same Course that thou hast done Thou hast written to thy Brother that he is become a Beggar because he Renounces his God a Thousand Times at Play and that thou art at present very Rich for having Renounced him but Once and by that thou exhortest him to turn Mussulman I thought good to write to thee That Souls are not to be gained with a Letter and a scurvy Jest Think of becoming a Good Man after thy Change of Religion and give no Occasion to the Marsilians to say That thou art Infamous because thou hast Renounced thy Faith and that we are all damned because we are Mahometans If thou dost not approve the Advice I give I shall he obliged to acquaint the Port with what shall come to my Knowledge which I shall do with Regret because thou may'st suffer by it The Great God make thee rather Wise than Fortunate Paris 28th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XVI To Dicheu Hussein Bassa AS the Knowledge which I shall have of Affairs will augment daily so I shall have the more Matter to write and will omit no Occasion to remark what occurs which I will not fail immediately to communicate Thou who with great Application observest what passest amongst Men and art desirous of knowing the most secret Transactions of Potentates thou may'st observe That there are more violent Enmities betwixt the Christian Princes of Europe than all the other Princes of the World I cannot comprehend whence it is that these Infidels cannot live in Peace and perhaps they do not comprehend it themselves It seems a Decree of Heaven That Man ought to be contrary to Man and that whilst there are Kingdoms there will be Wars and Enmities The Wars which are carried on at present in Alsace look as if they would last long The Death of Gustavus Adolphus King of Sweden the second Scourge of the Imperialists who was slain Six Years since did not terminate the Differences of Germany they are greater than ever and there appears in the New Generals of the Armies vaster Designs than those in their Predecessors Perhaps they will revenge the Death of Gustave who was kill'd not as the Christians affirm but by one of the Forty Germans who had bound themselves by Oath never to quit their Swords before they had slain him as the Turkish Historians do write Duke Bernard Weymar of no less Valour than Gustave commands the rest of the Swedish Army with a good Number of French Troops and many Christian Hereticks of Germany Victory attends the Arms of this General and the Princes which are united for Defence of the Empire begin to apprehend a Captain who observes less the Rules of War than the Emotions of his Valour and whom they perceive seconded by Fortune But he doth not consider That in weakening an Emperor he doth augment the Forces of a King who will enjoy the Fruits of his Labours and suppress him in Spite of his Bravery when he pleases In the mean time I am of Opinion That it is our Interest that Weymar be always Victorious It may be said of him That he hath sold to France all but his Glory having reserved nothing for himself but Hope All that this Duke can Conquer from the Germans is for the French King who furnishes him with Troops with Arms and with Moneys besides wise Advice Cardinal Richlieu who is an able States man fails not to perswade his Master That the Places which Weymar shall take in the Empire with the Army which he Commands are the Effects of his Councils and his Majesty's Moneys The French begin to preserve their Conquests and know how to defend the place which are subject to their Power This Prince makes Acquisitions which are in truth of more Importance than they seem considerable for their Greatness He took Rhinfeld almost as soon as he had Besieged it The Place was strong seated near the Black Forest where the Garrison was furnished with Abundance of all Sorts of Ammunitions John de Wert General of the Imperial Army had reliev'd it with Nine Regiments of Horse and Five Thousand Foot He defeated Weymar's Horse took part of his Baggage and Artillery The Duke of Rohan a great Captain and great States-man was hurt and taken Fighting and the City relieved with Men Ammunition and Victuals which rendered the taking of it more Glorious They write that Two Imperial Generals the said John de Wert which had succoured Rhinfeld Enhenfort as also Duke Savelli had been taken in a Combat which preceded the Rendition of the Place besides Thirty Eight Cornets and Nineteen Foot Captains These Spoils were gained by the Blood of the Swedes and sent to the French King who after he had caused them to march through all the Streets of this Great City commanded them to be hung up in the Principal Church where I saw and considered them as Marks of the Triumphs of Policy The Siege of this Place lasted but Eightteen Days The Duke of Weymar after this Victory marched into the Marquisate of Durlach where he took the Castle of Rotelen Defended by the King of Hungary in which he found great store of Provisions and all sorts of Ammunitions which served greatly for the refreshing of his then needy Army In the mean time Duke Savelli escaped out of Prison and retired to Luzerne in Switzerland The Officers that guarded him were accused of Favouring his Escape which cost them their Heads All I write to thee is most true and thou may'st cause my Letters to be inregister'd God grant that Brisac together with all Alsatia may fall into the
thy Departure and when thou shalt arrive at the Place of thy Retreat forget not thy faithful Friend Mahmut who wishes thou maist prove an happpy Tutor to the Son of a Prince and a faithful Minister of a wise Emperor Paris 18th of the Second Moon of the Year 1639. The End of the Second Book LETTERS Writ by A Spy at PARIS BOOK III. LETTER I. To Muslu Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire SCARCE had I finisht my Letter to Egri Boynou when News came from the Coasts of Provence of so extraordinary and scandalous an Event that I cannot but inform thee who art a wise and experienced Person of it and because I would have thee set it down in the Sacred Register-Books of the Empire of which thou hast the Charge Assam Bassa a Corsary of Algiers dyed at the Age of 40 Years the Relation of whose Death was attended with such horrid Circumstances that even the Enemies of the Alcoran do detest them 'T is said That being sensible he was near his End he caused two young Christian Slaves to be strangled who were nobly descended and for whose Ransom great Sums of Money might have been expected without alledging any reason for his Cruelty nay after he had confessed he had no cause of Complaint against them having observ'd from certain Tokens in their Countenances that they were of a sweet Disposition and inclined by Nature to be Faithful When he was laying out there was found a kind of fine Scarf about him with these Words embroidered on it in Letters of Gold Asam Bassa will have the handsomest of his Slaves to be buried alive with him being desirous of good Company in his Voyage into the other World The Report of so terrible an Adventure has increased the hatred of the French against us and that in so excessive a manner that I am forced to keep my self concealed lest I should by my Zeal discover my self being not able to endure the Blasphemies of our Enemies There 's no question but this cruel Monster is kept by the Black Angels in the other World God grant that so horrid a Crime may not corrupt the rest of Africk However may I be so free as to counsel you Let the Body of this Impious Wretch Assam be dug up and burnt and his Ashes thrown into the Sea to drown the Memory of him Mahmut salutes thee from the Town of the Universe the fullest of Noise and wishes thee at Constantinople or wherever else thou art a long sequel of happy Years and after Death the enjoyment of the bliss of our hundred twenty four thousand Prophets Paris 18th of the Moon of the Year 1639. LETTER II. To the Invincible Vizir Azem at the Camp under Babylon BEfore I give thee an Account Great and Magnanimous Vizir of whatever I have done to satisfie the Curiosity of Cardinal Richlieu I am obliged to tell thee how I spend my leisure Hours 'T is impossible I should observe exactly the Motions of this Court without following it and holding a Correspondence with People of all sorts as Tradesmen Soldiers Scholars Sea-men Politicians and even Musicians The Court consists of all these Professions and there are some particular Persons who are Masters of all these Sciences of which number is Cardinal Richlieu He is not content with this his Knowledge but seeks still for further Light in the Commerce of all Persons of Merit who arrive here neglecting nothing which may enrich this Kingdom with new discoveries in Arts and Sciences out of love to his Country and desire to render his Ministry more famous Thou seest by this Invincible Bassa that to keep company with Courtiers who have so many different Qualities a Man must have some for his share that he may say something in his Turn and not be always a bare Hearer of other People's Discourse For this purpose the particular Study to which I applied my self whilst I was a Slave in Sicily does much help me though not sufficiently 'T was Books I read in this Island not Men. Now knowing my Business required much Dissimulation an Awakened Mind an Especial Prudence Eloquence and Learning to speak properly in Occasions great Reading to obtain the Knowledge of Ancient and Modern Things a Refined Policy to discover or conceal ones self and to counterfeit sometimes a mighty honest Man nothing I say appeared to me more conducing to this purpose than the turning over Histories And therefore I have earnestly applyed my self to this Work And because few Books are not sufficient and a great many breeds confusion I have happily got Admission into the Acquaintance of an Ancient Learned Man whose Study consists of none but choice Books and has travelled over most Parts of the World not like Apollonius to learn the Language of Birds and Beasts but to know the Customs Laws Virtues and Defects of Nations I was first for informing my self of all the Prodigies which the God of the Jews has done in favour of that ungrateful People I afterwards enquired into the Life and Doctrin of the Messias whom the Christians Worship I also lookt into what had been done considerable at Athens and Sparta Thebes Rome and Carthage and carefully remarkt what Divinities were adored in those so famous Places and found that the Great Philosophers and Captains who made such a Noise about their Religions had at Bottom none at all Having run over what the Christians call the Old and New Testament the Histories of Josephus Xenophon Polybius Thucydides Livius and Tacitus my greatest Application has been and shall be for the future to read and meditate on the Works of the Great Plutarch especially his Lives of Illustrious Greeks and Romans related by him with so great Exactness And thus far have I arrived in this short space and here I have stopt I have learnt by the reading of Plutarch to amuse the Cardinal Richlieu to whom I offered my self two days ago and have put into his Hands the following Discourse made after the manner of Christians and have stript my self if a man may so speak of the Manner and Style of the Turks as I have done of their Habits the better to disguise Titus the Faithful Slave of the Great Amurath Great Cardinal and most Sage Minister of the greatest Christian Kings Titus of Moldavia is come to wait on you according to your Commands not to entertain you with the Riches of Asia nor in what manner by the Wisdom of your Counsels and Forces of the King your Soveraign you may destroy the mighty Turkish Empire of whom you have no reason to complain but to tell you what seems most agreeable to the Greatness of your Genius Know then Sage Moderator of the French Monarch that I shall not offer any thing which may make you hate me and repent of believing me seeing what I propose is an easie Enterprize and full of Glory Thy King has a Son who will one day inherit the Greatness and Authority of his
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
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
to these Priests and obliged them to wear red Hats Caps and Bonnets that this Colour might always put them in mind they ought to shed their Blood for the Service of their Church and Religion I have been told that formerly there were but Five and twenty and now their Number is said to be Seventy two which is that of the Disciples of the Christian Messias but they are seldom compleat I was desirous of being precisely informed what the Dignity of a Cardinal is and an old Physician that seems an honest Man instructs me in all things that regard the Religion and Politicks of the Christians He is such an Enemy to the Circumcision that he gives often the uncleanest of all Meats to his Patients such as we think unwholesome and cannot be eaten without Sin Thou that art a States-Man and obliged to assist at Council and in the Divan ought to know more Things than others and those more perfectly I will inform my self with care of the Life Actions and Genius of this Cardinal la Valette to know whether the King his Master has any other reason than that of his Valour and Experience in War to make use of a Priest in his Armies to shed Blood and ruine People for I never heard the Mussulmans did ever make use of a Cheik to command the Armies of the Empire Besides they are without Experience Fearful and Superstitious The Spaniards are more powerful in Infantry and Cavalry having Eighteen thousand Foot and Five thousand Horse whereby they pretend to render themselves Masters of Piemont and drive the French wholly out of Italy The Marquiss of Leganez Governour of Milan affirms That his King will not suffer the Children of the late Duke of Savoy to be under the Protection of Strangers He says That Pignerol and other Places in the Power of the French were usurped upon the House of Savoy and must be restored They affirm That the House of Austria will hinder the Widow her Children and Subjects from being Oppressed Behold here an Example of the singular Piety of the Spainards in Favour of a Widow and her Children and on the other side admire the Kindness of the French who fight against these same Spaniards for the Conservation of that which concerns neither of them It will be difficult to discover these secret Mysteries Every Prince puts a value upon his Reasons as he does upon his Moneys The Dutchess of Savoy came accompanied with a great number of Ladies and the greatest of her Court She was on Horseback at the Head of all the Company both Horse and Foot and harangued the Army amidst the Battallions She conjured not only the Captains but even the Corporals and private Souldiers not to abandon her Defence She showed all the Sentiments of Grief that a Person of Courage could have in seeing her self exposed to lose her Estate or to see her Children in a manner Captives and upon this Occasion she failed not to mingle Torrents of Tears with the most charming Expressions which is ordinarily the strongest Eloquence of Women The Army being sensible of the Dutchess's Misfortune which she had represented with all possible Earnestness the Cardinal Valette caused it to discamp to relieve Vercelle He forced the Spaniards Lines and put Two thousand Men into the Place The besieged fortified with such Succours made a great Sally and much Infidel-Blood was shed on both Sides But all that the Cardinal could do with his Care and the Dutchess with her Tears could not hinder Vercelle to fall into the Hands of the Spaniards 'T is said that the Commander oâ— this Place and his Garrison defended themselves to the last Extremity and having no more Powder or Lead they fought at Push of Pike with Stones and finally when all was gone with their Fists But this is not believed here it being alledged that the Governor or the General did not do their Duty The Cardinal say they failed in his Duty also for knowing they wanted Ammunition yet he did not send it though he found Means to put into the Place such a great Number of Men. But the Governor is blamed yet more that did not discover this his Necessity to the General I tell thee all these Particulars to inform thee of the Manner how the French make War many of whose Over-sights would cost us our â—â—â—es There marched out of Vercelle Four Thousand Men bearing Arms. Thence thou may'st judge that our Generals are not cruel when they cause the Heads of Commanders to be taken off that behave themselves so ill The Princess of Mantua who has lost her Husband would they say marry a Prince of the House of Austria called the Cardinal Infant which is an Effect of the Policy of the Spaniards to have a better Pretence to attack Montferrat and drive out the French who entered there by Consent of the Duke of Mantua who was Soveraign thereof The valiant Duke of Rohan is at length dead in a Castle near Berne I think I writ he was hurt and taken Prisoner in the Battel fought by the Swedes against the Germans He was in the Sixty eighth Year of his Age and was very considerable for his Erudition Valour and Experience in War He was bred a Souldier from his Youth was always employed in Military Affairs and had often commanded Armies He supported by his Bravery and Experience for a long time the Remains of a feeble and dying Party against the Power of the King He was illustrious by the Greatness of his House and his Religion was that of the Calvinists called the Reformed His Body was Embalmed and afterwards brought to Geneva with great Magnificence and Warlike Pomp. This City is the Retreat of such as the Church of Rome calls Hereticks who are all well received here which gives great Occasion of Complaint to the Pope's Partizans how reasonably I will not presume to determine but there appears to me much more Splendour in the Ceremonies of those of the Catholick Church and they pretend to greater Vertue and Antiquity These are the Transactions in Italy which came to my Knowledge I will not fail to write what passed in Germany these last Moons as soon as I have the Certainty of them Pray God the many Differences and Wars which are amongst the Infidels may never end that Italy may be humbled even to the Stirrop of the Horse on which rides the Great Emperor of the Elect of God the faithful Mussulmen and that all Germany adore the sacred Porch of Mecha I pray God support thee always that thou never fall and so conduct thee that thou never goest astray Paris 20th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XX. To Dgnet Oglou THE Condition I am in at Present makes me think of those long and tedious Days we pasâ—ed together at Palermo in Slavery How fruitless â—ere the Tears which the Irksomness of our Captiâ—â—ty made us shed yet nothing befell us but what is common to other Men But
Kaimakam HAving given thee an Accompt of the Imprisonment of Casimir I will relate to thee the Voyage of King Ulidislaus his Brother who is gone a Progress into Hungary and Germany The News here is That the King of Poland was gone to make a Visit to the King of Hungary who to do him Honour sent the chief of his Nobles to receive him upon the Confines of Moravia They write also That Arch-duke Leopold went from Vienna to meet him They embraced like Brethren and returned together with the Queen of Poland and her Sister back to Court 'T is added that the People received this Company with great Acclamations with the Noise of the Cannon and all the small Shot of the City The Day following having dined in the Imperial Palace they went together to Luxemburg to visit the Empress Eleanor Widow to the late Emperor of Germany If Carcoa hath not informed thee of these Particulars thou wilt receive them from Mahmut who watches incessantly to give true Intelligence and penetrate as much as may be into all that occurs and is done in this great Court which gives motion to all the Courts of Europe Reprove me if I do not well and punish me ' if the Emperor be not well served and thou satisfied Paris 15th of the Eighth Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXVII To Kerker Hassan Bassa DO not accuse me of being ill advised or negligent if I write to thee things that thou knowest already I am only careful in telling thee what happens here and my Business is not to enquire whether thou art better informed another way When I am ordered to write all that comes to my Knowledge I do my Duty in doing it and I ought not to be reprehended for it I am told that the Sultan is gone with an Army more numerous than all the Leaves on the Trees to destroy the * Persians Red-Heads and conquer Babylon I know that the Mufti the Grand Vizir and all the Grandees of the Divan followed him but am ignorant of what he did in his first Expedition when he took Revan An old English Merchant who comes from Ispahan and has served in the Army of the faithful Mussulmans passed this Way in his Return to England He hath been an Eye-witness of the great Actions of Amurath He says that this mighty Emperor after his taking of Revan left Twelve thousand Souldiers in Garrison there with Two hundred thousand Crowns in Silver besides Copper Moneys to pay them He saith also that our mighty Monarch being wearied to see so much Blood of the faithful yea of the Heretick Mussulmans spilt he had sent the King of Persia a Challenge offering to fight singly in Duel with him but he would not accept of his Defie He tells how Amurath being fallen in the Water in passing the River Haret was in great hazzard of being laid up in Expectation of the last Judgment Day in the other World had it not been for a Young lusty Solack who took him by the Arm and dragged him out of the River This Accident was the Prelude of a great good Fortune which happened to this mighty Prince upon the Bank of another River called Mako where he had the News of the Birth of a Son born to him in the Seraglio at Constantinople whom they call Alaaddin whose Nativity hath been celebrated with infinite Demonstrations of Joy This English-man tells us further that Amurath has taken Tauris and appeared publickly there with all the Marks of a formidable Power that he had destroyed the King of Persia's Seraglio burnt the publick Markets and caused a Million of fine Trees which renders the Loss irreparable to be cut down Let me know when thou art at leisure whether this News be true and do me the Favour to tell me our great Emperors Success in the Expedition of Babylon The Politicians here attend the News of it with much Impatience 'T is allow'd that Amurath is the most Potent of all Princes the strongest Man alive and that only he can vanquish and ruine the Kings of the Earth Two Strangers of differing Nations and both of Royal Blood are dead in this City The one is Don Christopher Son of Don Antonio King of Portugal who after he had lived Sixty six Years without ever attaining the Crown of his Father died in a Convent of Dervises called Cordeliers where he was buried in the same Place where his Father's Brother had been formerly The other Stranger was called Zaga Christos who was the legitimate Successor of the Kingdom of Aethiopia a Young Man of Twenty five Years Son to the Empress Nazarenne Widow of Jacob Emperor of the Abyssins who died in a Village near Paris He quitted his Kingdom as thou knowest forced by Civil Wars he arrived in France in the Year 1635. of the Aegyra of the Christians After many Adventures he composed the History of his Travels which he performed with Troubles and Incommodities which seemed insupportable What has he not suffered in traversing many Kingdoms Arabia the Desart Egypt Asia Minor and Jerusalem where he ran the Hazard of being arrested by the Bassa that resides there whom he escaped by retiring by Night to Nazareth amongst the Christian Dervises where he concealed himself five Months He said here that an Eunuch of the Bassa of Cairo had much sollicited him to forsake the Christian Religion to which he would never consent and refused to go to Constantinople to humble himself by prostrating his Face in the Dust of the Grand Signior's Feet although the Bassa extreamly pressed him to it with very advantageous Offers This King has done much Honor to the Manes of the dead Prince whilst perhaps he suffers everlasting Torments which neither thou nor I shall suffer if we always live like faithful Mussulmans according to the Precepts of the Law ordained by Mahomet and written in the Alcoran I shall gladly hear that thy Life is safe and my Friendship agreeable to thee Paris 20th of the Eighth Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER XXVIII To the Kaimakam THat which hath been so long expected is at length happened The Queen is brought to Bed of a Dauphin the King is a Father the Kingdom seems to desire nothing more and the People witness their Joy by a Thousand differing Festivities The Men the Women the Children and the Aged run through the Streets as at Bacchanals They rejoyce with their Friends they go to Church and thank God as if a Messiah had been born to them All the Priests praise God in their Temples for such a Present and the Monks not so content deafen the People with the Noise of their Bells and do more than the Drums and Trumpets of the Souldiers and all the Cannon of the Cittadel and Arsenal I did in Company of others what I should not have dared to perform if I had been alone or had not been observed Those who affirmed the Queen would be brought to Bed of a Son pretend now they had
it 'T is by the leading of an Innocent Life Here is published and that with great Reason the last Words of a Man of great Birth who died when he was very Old by a Wound he receeived He had served divers Kings in Places of the highest Trust and being mortally wounded in a Battel mark what he said to those that exhorted him to die like a good Christian and with the same Courage he had shewed in Life His Reply was That a Man who had lived well Fourscore Years cannot be to seek how to die well for a Quarter of an Hour This great Man who was a famous Soldier was also a true Philosopher and I might say he was a Saint had he been of our Religion I believe he was a most edifying Spectacle and the more considerable in as much as the Example he gave of dying well is more valuable than that which he gave in so many Battels of courageous Fighting He was called Anne de Montmorancy Constable of France whose Life I had the Curiosity of reading being to be found in the History of the Civil Wars of that Kingdom But before I end this Letter let me denote to thee the Difference there is between the Effects of Grief and Joy The Messenger from England of whom I already spake finding at his Return the Old Man whom he had left dying still alive he gave him such a strange Stroke by telling to him the Death of his Son that Grief having vanquished the Assaults of Death restored to this unhappy Old Man that Strength he had lost in his Health so that coming himself some Days after to Paris I saw him bewail the Loss of his only Son He that said heretofore A man should learn all his Life to die well uttered no strange Doctrine Our days will last long enough if we be ready to say at all times We have lived enough And if we love as we ought our great Emperor who is Invincible Holy and the most Just amongst Men And if we observe what a French Peasant said to all those that passed before his Door Never deny your Assistance and never do any Body any Hurt Let thou and I number our Days as was preached heretofore in the Seraglio to the white Eunuchs by the Persian whose Eyes were put out because he saw too clearly He always insisted on the Shortness Vneertainty and Vanity of Humane Life He said T was short considering what he had to do in it uncertain as to what we shall do in it and always mix'd with what we have done and what remains for us to do Teach not thy Son Mehemet yet for whom thou hast so much Affection these Precepts Children have not that Ripeness of Judgment as is necessary to hear Discourses of Death They are too hard Bits for their Stomachs and which indeed Old Men can hardly digest and which they swallow not without feeling all the Bitterness of them I pray God keep the Imperial City with those that dwell in it and shelter it from the Storms which fall on infamous Cities and I beseech him thou mayst live without Offence that thou mayst never fear Death Paris 2â—th of the lest Moon of the Year 1638. LETTER X. To Enguruli Emin Mehemet Chuk a Man of the Law WHEN I parted from Constantinople I gave thee a Stone of excellent Virtue against the Gravel and thou presented'st me with a Paper which was to secure me against all bodily Evils Time only can decide which of us two made the best Present to his Friend Thou hast pretended to learn me in few Words how to live amongst the Infidels and I thought in giving thee a Stone to give thee a Remedy against the Distemper thou art troubled with I never turn my self towards the Place where Mecha lies but I remember where thy Amity began and how far since it has been extended towards me Absence has not lessened thy Kindness nor hindred thee from sending me thy grave Counsels but I am as yet too young to set about the preparing my self for the other World and too vigorous and healthful to hearken to thy serious and melancholy Discourses I wish thou wert but at Paris where thou wouldest see a great Number of People who sell a most precious Thing to purchase a vain and fantastick Title How many with great Earnestness sue for Placeat's from the King that they may seek their Deaths Perhaps thou never thoughtest there were any such kind of People What dost thou think then of the Souldiery in General are they any others than Martyrs of Ambition to whom one would think Life is a Burthen 'T is a sad Spectacle to see how many Dead lie in the Streets or carried on the Shoulders of their Friends or Kinsmen to their Graves Yet this is so common a thing in Paris that the People make no Wonder of it This way of Living obliges me to do as the rest I begin to consider That what happens to another may happen to me there 's no avoiding ones Destiny This Preface is only to bring in a Story of this King's Goodness which ought to be an Example to all Princes The French have need of fresh Souldiers to fill up so many Troops as they continually entertain Not long since then there came a Man full of Years and overwhelm'd with Despair who desired to be Listed in this Princes Service To obtain what he desired he told the King That he was the Father of Twelve Children Seven of which were Daughters who were Marriagable that he could no longer live being not able to maintain such a great Family and that being ignorant as yet how to die he would learn it in the King's Service The Prince having appointed him to wait upon him one Day privately in his Closet thus spake to him Thy Despair makes thee desirous to be listed amongst my Souldiers and Charity obliges me to retain thee amongst the Citizens Those that are Fools when they enter into Troops commonly come out wiser because they learn several things of which they were before ignorant but as to thy part what Time hast thou to learn who art ready to fall dead at the same moment thou enterest into the School Yet I receive thee take this Sword go and combat thy Folly and take this Purse to succour thy Family and be cured but if thou art wise say not from whom thou hast received thy Cure I know not what Sum was in the Purse no more than I do of what Mettle the Sword was But I have this Story from an Officer of the King's Closet with whom I have that strict Converse that he told me this Passage as soon as ever it happened I 'll tell thee if thou wilt some of the principal Passages of my Life for I conceal nothing from the Ministers and the most venerable Mufti who knows all that I do I adore the Sovereign Master of the Universe and have a great Veneration for his holy Prophet I never
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
to some Confident at Madrid in these Terms Cardinal Richlieu told me he did not know the Hand nor Signature of Count Olivarez's Secretary and that when he should fill up his signed Blank which I presented him and let fall the pretended Letter of this Secretary into the King of Spain's Hands he saw not what Advantage could result hence to the King of France his Master I am very willing added he that the King of Spain should suspect the Count or Secretary of Infidelity and of having some Commerce with me but it would not be advantageous to us he should be plainly convinced of it seeing the greatest happiness France could have is that Count Olivarez his Ministry should be perpetual For being the most unhappy of all the Favourites that have ever been in the place he possesses all good Frenchmen are obliged to pray to God to give him a long Life and to continue him ever in the King his Master's Favour to perpetuate by his Counsels the Disgraces of Spain He pursued his point of Raillery in this manner Of a Duke of Braganza Olivarez has made a King of Portugal Of a King of France a Count of Barcellona Of a Sovereign Duke of Lorain a Vassal Of a Prince Cardinal a Knight Errant Of a Lord of Monacho a Duke and Peer of France and in fine of Philip IV. King of Spain he has made a Count Duke d' Olivarez This is all I could get from so great and illustrious a Genius The just God who has sent us his Prophet ever direct thy Actions that thou mayst enjoy an happy Eternity and give thee Opportunities of doing Good Paris 24th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1642. LETTER XVIII To William Vospel a Christian of Austria GOD be praised thy Patriarch Elias and his Companion forasmuch as I see thou art a Saint and content in the Religion of the Bare-footed Fryars which thou hast embraced Thou stirrest me up to do Good and encouragest me to suffer and become serious enough to renounce the Pleasures of the World seeing thou tracest me a Way so necessary to walk in in order to arrive at Heaven I did not believe indeed I confess it thou wert endued with that Constancy and was afraid thou wouldst change but seeing thou hast the courage of keeping thy Resolution and enduring all the Incommodiousness which is to be met with in that kind of Life which thou hast embraced I am sorry for my Suspicions and profess I have all due Esteem for thee I love thee as much as one honest Man ought to love another who having found out the True Good has ran impetuously after it and who has past immediately from a soft and voluptuous Life to the Severities of an austere Religion in search of an assured Port which is more usually found in Sufferings and Macerations than in Delights and Pleasures There is one thing amongst others which extreamly pleases me in the Order thou hast entred All things are in Common amongst you one Key opens an hundred Doors you have no Meum Tuum all clad in the same Fashion and all go bare-footed you eat at the same Table and no body has better or worse Fare than another In fine your Prayers are the same and so are your Vows of Poverty But prithee tell me What would a Thief have found in thy Cell whom I saw yesterday hanged with a Key about his Neck He had the Dexterity of opening with this Key all sorts of Locks and has done a Thousand Roguish Exploits which have at length brought him to the Gallows He told the People he died a most happy Man as having practised with great Success an Art inferiour to none That the only Crime he thought he had been guilty of for this 30 Years was his committing but small Thefts That had he found the Doors always open he had never entred into any House and he exhorted Magistrates to chastise only those who suffered themselves to be robbed Spanish Authors have written There 's no Law which allots Penalties to those that rob with Prudence and Ingenuity thus call they those who steal wherewithal to appease the Envious who would accuse them the Witnesses which might serve to convict them and the Magistrates by whom they are to be judged So that the Thief that shall have stoln for himself and for all others I now mention'd shall be ever sent away absolved Which makes me think that Theft is of the Nature of Women for both one and the other seem at this day to be necessary Evils just as Keys seem only good now adays to preserve what may be stoln and not to hinder it from being so How many things has the Injustice of some People authorized for the Safeguard of a Town 'T is not enough to have a strong Garrison of Soldiers Three Elements are not sufficient to defend it against a greater Power that would oppress it The Earth is raised to make thereof Trenches the deepest Ditches are dried up whatever quantity of Water may be in them and Fire is enclosed in Cannons the Effects of which are terrible If thou surveyest Italy thou wilt find in several Towns Palaces which have more Gates than Thebes had heretofore And if thou countest the Keys which serve to open them thou wilt find the Iron they are made of to cost more than the Doors themselves Men are not contented to use these Keys according to the common Use they seem to be designed for their Ambition makes them serve for Marks of Honour in several Princes Courts where they be Recompences for Services for Vertue and Valour The Golden Key in Spain which the great Lords wear denotes That they know how to open the Gate of Favour And 't is the same in Germany and especially in the Emperor's Court. Happy was Ancient Rome whose Citizens were so wise that being advised to turn the Front of their Houses on that side where they could not be observed by their Neighbours they answered the Architect We rather desire our Houses may be over-look'd into because we do nothing wherein we fear a Surprize Whereas Modern Rome on the contrary may be termed unhappy wherein there are not enough Gates and Porters of them to conceal what is done in the most retired places of their Palaces It is in this City where Luxury grew to that height under the first Emperors that all Mens Studies were to find out new Pleasures But I must end this Discourse of Keys of Doors and Door-keepers I must not expect to reform the World nor would I weary thy Patience Pardon me my passing from the Cell to the Story of the Thief whom I saw executed and from the Thief to a Discourse of Keys and other things with which I have entertained thee I was so full of it that I could not forbear the Discourse no more than I can now to speak of the Subtilty of the Spaniards who have vaunted of the Worth of their Escurial by the
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