in Peru or Guinea where the Rusticks plow up Gold more beautiful and pleasant than the famous Fields of Thessaly God knows what will become of us after our Dissolution But the Ignorance of this one Truth occasions all my Melancholy Death is not formidable of it self nor all the dolorous Circumstances that precede it 'T is only what comes after raises all my Terror Were I to melt away in lingring Agues and Consumptions or to be sooner posted off in high wrought Fevers Pleurisies or Pestilence Or if it were my Fate to die by Pistol Sword or Poyson or any other Kind of Slow or Sudden Death allotted me from Chance or Nature Providence or Fate Should Heaven consume me in a Trice by Lightning or this Globe with equal Swiftness bury me in some surprizing Earthquake 'T would be all one to Mahmut were it not for the After-Claps to which I am a Stranger I tremble at the Hidden and Unsearchable Force of Nature I dread the Irreversible Unknown Decrees of Fate the Secret Methods of Eternal Destiny the Laws and Order of the Other World in Billetting the Troops of Humane Souls that go to Winter there after this Life 's Campagne is finished Once in a Cold and Frosty Evening as I was travelling o'er a bleak wide Plain and felt the penetrating Blasts of North-East-Winds with chilling Sleet which fell upon me from the Clouds my Spirits also tyr'd with tedious Journeys and my anxious Thoughts were wholly taken up about a Resting-Place that Night and how to avoid the Assaults of Robbers with a Thousand other Perils threatning a Stranger on the Road at length I chanc'd to think of the Untry'd and Remote Voyage I must One Day make to Another World It chill'd my Blood to imagine the disconsolate Naked Circumstances of a Separate Soul which for ought I knew might be bewilder'd lost and forc'd to wander up and down through untrack'd Wastes of misty frozen Air where the Inhospitable Element affords no Guides nor Carvansera's to comfortless poor straggling Ghosts unless they would accept a Lodging in some Cloud the Cistern and Chariot of Rain Hail or Snow there to Incorporate with the unwelcome Meteors and be whirl'd round the Globe or else precipitated down to Earth again in Showers from thence perhaps to be exhal'd by the Sun and mix with Embryo's of Lightning Fiery Dragons Ignes Fatui or other Bodies hourly Flaming in the Welkin and thus to circulate in Endless Transmigrations Who knows the Circumstances of departed Souls or Laws of a Separate State Let him declare what Usage we shall find in that Invisible and Dark Recess from Life He shall be then esteemed more than Apollo by the pensive Mahmut Not the old Delphick Oracle could receive greater Reverence from the Inquisitive World nor Mecca now from devout Mussulman Pilgrims or Medina Talnabi where the Prophet rests in Peace than such an one should have from me who could with unfeigned Truth discover how we shall be dispos'd of when we die But I am cloy'd and nauseated with the dull Romances of the Priests and Derviches My Friend let thou and I learn to improve the Joys of present Life and not by damn'd Mistakes deprive our selves of double Happiness But let us so comport our selves that our Transmigration may be but from the Pleasures of Earth to those of Heaven from one Paradise to another Paris 6th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1667. LETTER XVII To Kerker Hassan Bassa THE Blessings of God and his Prophet chear thy Heart as thou hast exhilarated mine by thy last Letter wherein thou encouragest me with the Hopes of being remov'd from this disagreeable Post to one more Delightful and Happy even to a Sweet Country Retirement either in Arabia or any other Part of the Grand Signior's Dominions which is the very Mark of all my Wishes I have a Natural Aversion for Great and Populous Cities They seem to be so many Magnificent Sepulchres of the Living where Men are shut up imprison'd and buried from all Commerce with the Elements or they are like Hospitals and Pest-Houses where People crowd infect and stink one another to Death with a Thousand Pollutions They hive together like Bees and build their Apartments in Darkness Like Nests of Pismires they trudge up and down all the Summer of their Youth to heap up Treasures that they may spend the Winter of their Old Age in loathsome Ease and benumm'd Stupidity not daring to venture out of the Purlieu of their nasty smoaky Habitations and yet there ready to be stifled with their own Breath 'T is with Pleasure I contemplate the Face of the Infant Earth before it was deform'd by the unnecessary Arts of the Carpenter Smith and Mason When Men had no other Houses save what they made themselves every one for his Family of the Branches and Boughs of trees interwoven with Osiers Reeds and Ivy and cover'd thick with Leaves and Grass to shelter them from Wind Hail Rain and other Injuries of Weather Or perhaps some had found out a Den or Cave in the Earth or the Hollow of a Rock for a Sanctuary in such Cases where they repos'd in perfect Tranquillity without Fear of Snares or Violence without Apprehension of Robbers or any Tragical Surprize They went out and in slept and wak'd labour'd and rested in safety and quiet Avarice Envy and Injustice had not as yet corrupted the Minds of Mortals The Earth brought forth Corn Herbage and Fruits without the Husbandman's or Gard'ners Labour All Places abounded with Plenty of Innocent Refreshments and those Primitive Inhabitants coveted no more The Cattle and Bees afforded them Milk and Honey and the Fountain-Waters were Generous as Wine This Globe was a complete Paradise and no mistaken Zeal had taught Men Religiously to invade one anothers Rights and in a pious Fury to murder their Neighbours in hopes of meriting Heaven hereafter There was no such thing as Bigottry or Superstition to be sound among any of Humane Race The Law of Natrue was in Universal Force Every Man pursu'd the Dictates of Reason without hearkning after Religious Sophistry and Sacred Fables But when once the Lucre of Gold had corrupted Men's Manners and they not contented with the Riches and Sweets which they daily cropt from the Surface of the Earth had found a Way to descend into her Bowels stung with an Insatiable Desire of hidden Treasures then began Injustice Oppression and Cruelty to take place Men made Enclosures to themselves and encompass'd a certain Portion of Land with Hedges Ditches and Pales to Fence them from the Invasions of others For the Guilt of their own vicious Inclinations fill'd them with Fears and made them Jealous of one another They built themselves strong Holds Fortresses Castles and Cities And their Terrors encreasing with their Criminal Possessions they perswaded themselves that the very Elements would prove their Enemies if not pacisied by Bribes and Presents Hence sprung the first Invention of Altars and Sacrifices
manner Therefore they concluded that either the Devil or some body else had put a Trick upon ' em That which made it seem the greater Mystery was that when they came behind the Scenes to uncase and examine the Matter they found but Twelve Antiques whereas on the Stage there were Thirteen The preciser Sort of Bigots gave it out for certain That the Devil was amongst 'em Whilst others more probably say 'T was only some Envious or Ambitious Dancing-Master who was either resolv'd to be reveng'd for not being one of the Twelve or design'd to shew his Parts Incognito against another Opportunity and in the Interim set the Court a wondring at his Singular Skill and Dexterity For it was observ'd That one of the Thirteen far surpass'd all the Rest and did Things to a Miracle Be it how it will it has brought to Memory a Passage that happen'd on the like Occasion at a Town not far from Paris about Eighteen Years ago yet was not half so much talk'd of then as 't is now Which was the Reason I took no Notice of it in any of my Letters But now they are big with it 'T is the general Discourse of all Companies who make Comparisons of that Event with this Perhaps 't will not be unpleasant to thee to know it In the Year 1644. toward the latter End a Company of Stage-Players were at a Place call'd Vitry entertaining the People with Comedies But there happen'd something really Tragical to one of the Actors This Man was to perform the Part of one Dead and then he was to revive again by Magick He acted his Part too truly and baffl'd the Necromancers Art For when he touch'd him with his Talisman as the Rules of the Play requir'd in Order to his Resurrection the Inanimate Trunk could not obey The Man was Dead indeed Whether he overstrained himself in imitating the Silent Still and Irrecoverable Privations of that Passive State and gave his slippery Soul a strong Temptation with a fair Opportunity to escape its Bonds Or whether Heaven had a Particular Hand in so Remarkable a Catastrophe I will not presume to divine But this and the other Occurrence has put the People quite out of Conceit with Plays Sage Hali remember the Arabian Proverb which says 'T is not good to Jest with God Death or the Devil For the First neither can nor will be mocked the Second mocks all Men one Time or other and the Third puts an Eternal Sarcasm on those that are too familiar with him Adieu Paris 30th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1662. LETTER XI To Dgnet Oglou GOD unravel my Soul reverse my Faculties turn my Nature inside out make me a Monster of a New Predicament or annihilate me which he pleases if I am not true to my Trust Yet the Ministers of the Port suspect me By the Thoughts of Mahomet our Holy Law-giver whilst he was climbing the boundless Heights of the Firmament I 've a Heart like the Roman Curtius who bravely leap'd into the Fathomless Abyss to save his Country from Ruin They mistake Mahmut who think he 'll be pimp'd out of his Loyalty by Frowns or Smiles Flatteries or Threats Gold or Tortures I 'd run the Risque of Damnation it self to serve my Sovereign or to do any Thing becoming a Man of Honour Yet my Superiours use me like a Villain or a Traytor Their Letters are full of Reproaches and Threatnings as if I were not worthy to live 'T is strange to me whence all this Malice should proceed and that after I have done and suffered all that could be expected from a Mussulman in my Post to demonstrate my Incorruptible Fidelity to the Grand Signior I should still be persecuted as a Tiafer and Enemy to the Ottoman Interest I know not what to think of it If I have done any Thing which deserves Death or Imprisonment why do they not send for me to Constantinople and execute Justice on me Or if I am not thought fit to continue any longer in this Post why do they not call for my Commission and give it to some Body better qualify'd Either of these wou'd be a merciful Proceeding compar'd with the more Cruel and Ignominious Way they have invented to murder me For now they put me to a lingring Death by continually corroding and wasting the Piece of my Soul which is my Life with Contempts and Reproaches I am not at all troubl'd when they tax me with Atheism or say I 'm a Kysilbaschi a Libertine a Christian a Heathen Philosopher or when they are pleas'd to make a Monster of me a Mungrel Gallimaufry a walking Hotchpotch compounded of Jew Turk Nazarene and Epicure In loading me with these opprobrious Titles they rank me with some of the Greatest Mortals and engage even our Holy Prophet himself to espouse my Cause and vindicate my Reputation since he is in these very Terms blasphem'd by the Followers of Jesus Those Infidels forgetting that their own Messias was after the like Manner traduc'd by the Jews who call'd him Impostor Magician Heretick Devil and I know not what This has been the Lot of all Holy Men and Prophets to be envied and aspers'd by the Grandees of the Nation and Age wherein they liv'd Because they boldly reprov'd their Vices and taught them the sincere Maxims of Vertue both by Word and Example And though I have not Vanity enough to list my self in the Number of Prophets or Perfect Men yet I have Reato conclude That all this Persecution is rais'd against me on the Account of the Liberty I take to reprehend the Errors and Failings of those who are Slaves to the Grand Signior as well as I Tho' I have been commanded to do this by the most August Ministers of the Empire But great Men in Power love not to be told of their Faults They wou'd live Arbitrary as Sovereigns without the least Check or Controul They will rather cherish a Thousand Flatterers and Sycophants than suffer one Diogenes to live But that which vexes me most is That they glance upon me in some Expressions as if I were false to the Trust which is repos'd in me A Crime for which I ever had an Invincible Abhorrence and which wou'd sooner tempt me a Thousand Times to die than to be once guilty of it Thou know'st my Temper and I need say no more I shou'd have burst with Grief and Indignation had I not given my Resentments this Vent and that to a Friend who by knowing my Affliction takes one Half of it for his own Share and so I 'm eas'd Paris 2d of the 4th Moon of the Year 1662. LETTER XII To Abrahim Eli Zeid Hadgi Preacher to the Seraglio THEY have a Proverb here in the West which says All is not Gold that glisters And 't is frequently verify'd in their own Priests who are generally the greatest Hypocrites in the World I had not been long in this City before I sent a Letter to Bedredin Superiour
to this Day But I would have thee Nathan reflect impartially on Things and suffer not thy Judgment to be imposed on by the Sophistry of your Scribes Look back to the Primitive Times of Israel examine the Written Law the Records of Moses and the Seniors There thou wilt meet with frequent Examples of those very Crimes which you lay to our Charge true Parallels of the supposed Tyranny and Inhumane Actions with which you tax the unblemished Ismaelites Did not your Father Jacob supplant his own eldest Brother Esau Did he not cheat his Uncle Laban of his Sheep What was wanting to him of Ismael's Valour and Fierceness he supplied with a Fox-like Craft and Subtilty Yet how often did he plunder the Children of Hamor And boasted afterwards of the Preys he had taken from them with his Bow and Spear When your Fathers came out of Egypt what a Carnage did Moses their Leader commit when he commanded the Sons of Levi to arise with their Swords in their Hands and every Man to kill his Brother his Friend and his Neighbour so that there fell that Day at the Foot of Mount Sinai Three and Twenty Thousand Men Yet for the Sake of this detestable Tragedy he bless'd 'em saying You have consecrated your Hands this day in Blood every Man in the Blood of his Neighbour Behold the Original of your Priesthood which is the Highest Rank of Nobility among the Jews Remember how your Fathers almost cut off the whole Race of Benjamin so that there were not above Six Hundred Men of that Tribe left alive Forget not also how Abimelech of the Tribe of Menasse got the Sovereignty by Massacring Seventy of his own Brothers on one Stone Your own Records say That God gave you Kings in his Wrath among whom there was not one who was not a Man of Blood And in the whole Catalogue you can scarce find Four who were not tainted with Sacrilege Idolatry and other enormous Vices In a Word Nathan both the Sons of Ismael and Isaac were but Men and if thou hast nothing else to object against the Former but what thou must confess the latter were equally guilty of I advise thee henceforth to lay thy Hand upon thy Mouth and cease to speak Evil of those against whom No-Man can sharpen his Tongue or Pen and prosper Paris 22d of the 2d Moon of the Year 1663. LETTER XXII To the same I Concluded my other Letter something imperfectly and short of my Design being interrupted by a sudden Deluge of Humours overflowing my Eyes accompanied with a Tempest in my Head which at once took from me the Power of thinking regularly and of seeing how to Write I am often subject to these Weaknesses of late and to many other Maladies My Body sensibly decays Age and Care Watching and Sickness with a Thousand Casualties beside have almost dissolv'd this congeal'd Medly of the Elements Methinks I aw now no more than a poor Skeleton to which Nature and Fortune have left a dry wither'd Skin for Modesty's Sake to cover its Nakedness with a few evacuated Veins and Arteries shrunk Sinews Tendons Muscles and Cartilages to tack this Machine of Bones together and keep it in Motion In a Word I seem to my self to be only a Hobgoblin or Ghost in Disguize I cannot say Incarnate for I 've lost all my Flesh but only bagg'd or clouted up in the most contemptible Shreds Rags and antiquated Reliques of Mortality like a Maudlin or Scare-crow I hang together by Geometry Yet such as I am at these Years I still possess at certain Seasons more serene and vigorous Thoughts than in the Days of my Youth when I was full of Marrow and good Blood I can feel my Soul sometimes fluttering her Wings and briskly shaking off the heavy slimy Cloggs of Earth of Sleep and of enchanted Life or living Death She struts and plumes herself she mounts aloft and glides in Happy though but Momentary Foretastes of Eternal Bliss And then lur'd down again by Charms of her accustom'd Ease and Pleasure in the Flesh she comes to Hand at Call and being hood-wink'd from the Radiant Light of Heaven she tamely perches on the meanest sensual Appetite which easily conveys her to her wonted Darkness This is the changeable State of Mortals and we must not expect a fixed Condition on this side the Sepulcher The Noble and the Vulgar are equally liable to these Inconstancies of Spirit neither can the most exalted State of Sovereign Monarchs Privilege them from the common Frailties of Mankind They are no otherwise distinguished from the Meanest of their Slaves than only by the Vastness of their Possessions their numerous Retinue their unlimited Power and the vain Pageantry of external Honour If we examine the Origin of Nobility and Royal Grandeur if we trace the Genealogies of Princes and Potentates up to their Fountain we shall find the First Fathers of these noisy Pedigrees to be cruel Butchers of Men Oppressors Tyrants Perfidious Truce-breakers Robbers and Parricides In a Word the most Primitive Nobility was no other than Potent Wickedness or dignified Impiety And all the successive Continuations of it by Inheritance Election or otherwise even to those Modern Times are but so many Traducts of exorbitant Power and Honour acquir'd and propagated by the most enormous Vices by Practices unworthy of Men and of which the Authors themselves are always asham'd Therefore they cover their unjust Encroachments and Invasions with the specious Pretexts of Justice and Vertue calling that Conquest which is no other than down-right Robbery and professing themselves Patrons of Mens Liberties and Rights Religion and Laws whilst in Effect they are the greatest Oppressors Hypocrites Atheists and Out-laws in the World This is not only true in the Race of Ismael and Isaac of whom I made mention in my other Letter but in all the Families which have ever made any eminent Figure and Noise in the World What were the Four renowned Monarchies but so many Empires of Banditi Governments of Free-booters Pyrates and Licens'd Thieves As Diomedes told Alexander the Great I says he because I play the private Corsair and cruise up and down the Seas with one single Ship am accus'd as a Pyrate Thou that dost the same Thing with a mighty Fleet art call'd an Emperour If thou wert alone and a Captive as I am they wou'd esteem thee no better than a Thief And were I at the Head of a numerous Army as thou art I shou'd be reverenc'd as an Emperour For as to the Justice of our Cause there is no other Difference but this That thou dost more Mischief than I. Misfortune has compell'd me to be a Thief whereas nothing but an intolerable Pride and insatiable Avarice puts thee upon the same Course of Life If Fortune wou'd prove more favourable to me perhaps I might become better Whereas thy continual Successes make thee but the worse Alexander admiring the Boldness of the Man and the Resoluteness of his Spirit gave
due 'T is with inexpressible Pleasure I throw my self at the Feet of a Wise and Vertuous Man with extream complacency I kiss the Dust whereon he treads and unfold all my Faculties in expressing my Esteem I am full of Platonick Love and build Altars in my Breast to a Soul deserving the Innocent Sacrifices of amorous Passions the Incense of Gratitude and a pure Affection an Holocaust of Integrity and Loyal Friendship I protest by the hopes I have of sitting on the Banks of the Rivers in Eden and of being regal'd in the delectable Chioscs of Paradise that I honour thy Learning and other Sage Perfections that unblemish'd Life those excellent Morals and the unparallell'd Sweetness of Modesty which Crowns all thy Actions But I will say no more to a Man who cannot hear his own Praises The best Method of expressing my Regard will be to answer thy Expectations in presenting thee with the true Pourtraicture of these Western Nations and People which thou so passionately covetest I must desire thee to excuse the Confusion and want of Order in my Letters since I send thee a Medly of Remarks as they come to my Knowledge and Memory It is not long ago since I wrote to Isouf Eb'n Achmed a Kinsman of mine a Merchant at Astracan and among other Things I took Notice of his neglecting to see Spain in his Travels for he has been in most of the Kingdoms of Europe and over all Asia and Africk In that Letter I describ'd Spain in its worst Colours Now I will shew it to thee in another Figure without swerving from the Truth For every Country has its Perfections and Excellencies as well as its Defects and Blemishes If Spain have a barren Soil for Corn Nature has made Amends for that Fault in the Purity of the Air and the Plenty of Fruits The Sands of her Rivers are the most perfect Gold Her Villages tho' few are greater and more Populous than some Cities witness Madrid Her Mountains are of Iron Marble and Jasper Her Vallies underlaid with Lead Brass and Silver Spain of old was the Tharsis of Solomon the Ophir of the Phoenicians and the Peru of Rome In those Days the Inhabitants of Spain were Famous for their Fortitude and Invincible Constancy 'T is recorded that the Inhabitants of Sagunto in the Province of Valentia when they were besieg'd by Hannibal and sore press'd by the Carthaginians chose to burn themselves with their Wives Children and all their Wealth rather than yield to their Enemies Their Fidelity also was so remarkable that some of the Roman Emperours had always a Guard of Spaniards near their Persons as the French King the Pope and other Princes do now confide in the trusty Swisses But tho' there remain still some scatter'd Remnants of the Ancient Vertue among them especially in Biscay and Castile yet the greatest Part of the Spaniards are degenerated They make no Figure now in the World but only for their Gold and the Vastness of their Dominions For they possess the best half of America are Lords of Two Mighty Empires and not without large Territories in the other Three Quarters of the World Yet the too great Extent of their Power has weaken'd its Vigor the Affluence of their Wealth has really impoverish'd them and by straining their Honour too high they have crack'd it being now of little or no Eeem in Europe Their Glory fades at the rising Grandeur of France which makes radiant and swift Advances towards its Zenith This young Monarch is already become the Arbiter of all Christendom Accomplish'd Minister there is nothing in Nature stedfast The World is but an Eternal Circulation of Events Vicissitudes and Changes without Beginning or End Only God remains Immutable in his own Essence which is the Center of every thing May thou and I meet there and then we shall be eternally happy Adieu Paris 12th of the 9th Moon of the Year 1664. LETTER XIV To Musu Abu'l Yahyan Professor of Philosophy at Fez. BY the Faith and Obedience I owe to Mohammed our Holy Lawgiver by the Alcoran and all that is esteem'd Sacred among the Mussulmans I swear thy long Silence made me conclude my First Letter was unwelcome to thee But now I 'm convinc'd to the contrary Thy generous Answer has remov'd my Apprehensions and fill'd me with Complacency Henceforth I shall rest assur'd and confident of thy Friendship promising my self vast Improvements from so learned a Conversation tho' only by Letters at many hundred Leagues Distance As to what thou requirest of me concerning the various Languages of Europe I will inform thee the best I can according to the Observations I have made and the Intelligence I have receiv'd from Men of Letters and from Books which are the Pictures of learned Souls Mirrors wherein they may behold their own Perfections whilst they are on Earth and after their Departure to the Invisibles other Men may see the Interiour Beauties of their Mind represented to the Life For Words are the perfect Sculpture of the Intellect or at least its Mezzo-Tinto They are the express Portraicture of Divine and Humane Reason Thus the Alcoran is call'd by some of our Holy Doctors The True Image of Original and Increated Wisdom Now of all the Words and Languages on Earth thou know'st the Preheminence has been for ever given to those of the East and among them to the Arabian both in Regard of its Purity and of its Antiquity from whence it is Styl'd the Virgin-Mother of Languages the Dialect of the Blessed above Thou know'st that for this Reason it is the True Faithful covet no Species of Learning more ardently than to be perfectly skill'd in so Divine a Speech wherein the Volume of Celestial Majesty was penn'd in Heaven before the Throne of God and sent down on Earth by the Hand of Gabriel Prince of the Messengers who fly on the Errands of the Omnipotent It was sent I say to the Prophet who could neither write nor read that the World might be convinc'd of its Divine Original Yet the Incredulous will not believe Tho' it is manifest to any Man of Impartial Sense That a Person altogether ignorant of Letters could not possibly compose a Book the most Elegant that ever was penn'd in the World and wherein not the least Blemish or Contradiction can be found from the Chapter of the Preface to the last Versicle which winds up the whole Volume Oh! obdurate Hearts of Infidels Oh! wilfully Blind that shut their Eyes against the Splendors of Eternal Light Oh! resolvedly Deaf that stop their Ears against the Voice of God and his Prophet neither will they listen to the soft Whispers which are wafted from Paradise Such are the Nazarenes who for the Sake of the Greek and Roman Tongues of which they are passionately enamour'd educate their Children in a fair Way to believe all the Monstrous Fictions of the Ancient Poets or at least all the Lying Tales and Legends of their own Priests
and from these vain Panick Fears of Mortals the Gods deriv'd their Pedigree For one built a Temple to the Sun another to the Moon a third to Jupiter Mars or the rest of the Planets Some adord the Fire others the Water or Wind Every one set up to himself such a God as he phansied would be propitious to him Thus Error being equally propagated with Humane Nature they created an Infinite Rabble of Imaginary Deities paying to those Idols the Supreme and Incommunicable Honours due only to the Eternal Essence Father and Source of all things Besides they liv'd in Intolerable Pride and Luxury in constant Wars and Strife in Darkness Ignorance and Confusion I speak of such as dwelt in Cities and were incorporated together by one common Interest For still there remain'd some who obey'd the Original Laws of Nature and the Traditions of Primitive Humanity These dwelt in Tents or other Moveable Habitations as our Countrymen the Arabs do at this Day with the Tartars their Brethren They scorn'd to fasten themselves to the Earth by possessing any Part of it in Propriety Every Field and Wood Hill and Valley River and Well were with them in Common They straggled whither they pleased This is the Life so emulated by me or instead of that at least a Retirement from Cities that I may breath out my last Hours in a free Air remote from the stifling Company and Contagion of Mortals I long to range at Liberty through unfrequented Paths of Desart Ground o'er wild unpolish'd Heaths from thence insensibly to fall into some Venerable Solitude where the dry mossy Barks of Trees in silent Characters proclaim the Antiquity of the Place and gentle Whispers of the Winds instruct the Methods of Platonick Love inspire strange Passions which we never felt before and teach us to converse with Satyrs Nymphs and other harmless Tenants of the Shades How great is the Pleasure to be thus surpriz'd with some harmonious warbling Stream or Silent soft deep Christial River To speak Incognito with Dryads Hamadryads and the Sporting Eccho's To lie dissolv'd in Loose yet Innocent Enjoyments on the Banks to talk with Nature with Immortal Substances and with Eternity it self Oh God! Is not this ravishing 'T is difficult to say whether it would be Pleasant or Painful to return from these Ineffable Parades of the Soul to our Domestick Felicities tho' even in a Rural Life which I acknowledge to be the Happiest on Earth Yet there to trace the Herds and Flocks to walk amidst the High-grown Corn and Grass to pluck the bearded Ears of Barley to let our Eyes rowl o'er the various Figures of the Wind-blown Wheat and Millet our Noses to suck the Fragrant Airs of Marjoram Thyme Oranges and Limons with Innumerable Spices our Ears to hear the Inimitable Melody of Birds and every Sense to be transported snathh'd away and lost in Sacred Ecstacies must needs be rank'd among the Highest Kinds of Earthly Pleasures But to descend from these Enjoyments to the Meanest and most Common Diversions of a Country-Life methinks there 's something peculiarly charming in the very Ellenge Situation of the Houses whether it be on the Brow of a Hill or the Bottom of a Valley in the midst of a Wood or the Opening of a Heath on the Side of a Road or in some obscure Corner of the Country 'T is agreeable when waking in the Morning to hear the Bleating of Sheep Lowing of Oxen Screaming Quacking and Crowing of Geese Ducks Cocks and other Home-bred Animals to hear the lowder Winds threatning to tear up Trees by the Roots demolish Houses and remove the Globe it self if possible from off its Basis This would be better Musick to me for a Change than a Consort of Dulcimers Theorbo's Tymbrels and Viols Humane Nature delights in Variety and there is a certain Audacious Curiosity in the Soul which loves to venture on Extreams The Rain the Dirt the Stink of Hogs Camels Dromedaries and other necessary Rural Beasts would please me better than the constant tedious Ease and Fulsom Sweets of Court or City I sweat whilst thus shut up within these Walls It cloys me to be daily walking in a Circle to trample always o'er the same Ground in a vast Labyrinth of Houses where my Senses meet no new refreshing Objects but my Ears are hourly nauseated vex'd and tyr'd with Ratling Din of Coaches Carts Artificers and the harsh Voices of such as sell Flesh Fish and other things about the Streets My Eyes can find no grateful Prospects but dash'd with surly rugged Looks of proud and wealthy Infidels or with the fly Satyrick Smiles of well-shap'd People who contemn me for my Bandy-Legs and Crooked Back In a word my dear Bassa I long to feel the gentle Breezes of the East purifying my Soul and cleansing it from so many Pollutions I languish for the Sight of Turbants and Crescents for the devout Call of the Muezins on the lofty Minarets I die in Contemplation of the Sacred Fasts and Feasts the Nocturnal Joys of Ramezan the Revels and Chearful Illuminations of Beiram and the Imperial Dunalma's When I think of these things my Soul bursts forth in fervent Invocations and every Faculty crys Alla Alla. May that Divine and Immortal One hear my Prayers and grant me the Happiness to see the Face of Noble Kerker Hassan in an Horizon pure and free from the Defilement of Infidels Paris 14th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1667. LETTER XVIII To Isouf his Kinsman a Merchant at Astracan I sent a Dispatch to thee in the Year 1664. wherein among other things I recommended our Cousin Solyman to thy Friendship and Patronage if ever he should travel to Astracan as I advis'd him For thou know'st he has a Roaming Genius without the Wit to improve himself in any Foreign Country unless he has a Friend to guide and take care of him And then 't will be a difficult Task to make him sensible where he is He 'll always think he is within the Verge of the Grand Signior's Hunt where he may domineer at large under the Notion of a Retainer to the Sultan He 's a strange humour'd Fellow I know not what to make of him He 's as Changeable as Proteus or a Chamelion Sometimes Religiously dull and Flegmatick like a Hadgi at another Season you shall fell his Pulse beating to the Tune of Youthful Pride Ambition Lust and other Vices To Day he 'd be a Dervich Santone or any thing that bears the Form of Holiness But when he 's slept upon 't the vain Young Convert would return again to the World and be a Soldier Courtier Professor of the Law or any Thing that makes a Figure in the Eyes of Men. So unwelcome are the rigid Paths of Vertue to a Soul not well establish'd in its Principles And yet our Cousin Solyman as I am told is the Mussulman of the Mussulmans as to his Exteriour With Hand devoutly laid to Breast and humblest Couch o' th' Head he gives the Salem to his Friends and Neighbours Soft as the Signs of Mutes in the Seraglio Humble as the Grecian Chapman walking through the Streets is forc'd to imitate when he is hector'd by the Rampant Janizaries But Oh my Cousin Isouf 't is Grief to say that Solyman Partaker of our Blood is Base Ungrateful and Perfidious That he shou'd be thus Unnatural studying the utmost Period of our Life instead of Honest Just and Noble Presents to prolong it I had Reason long ago to compare him to Pontius Pilate and if I had gone on and scum'd off all the most Enormous Crimes of Humane Race 't would be too little to express his Enmity against Mahmut the kindest Uncle and the truest Friend that e'er poor Solyman cou'd boast of But he is Degenerate and that 's too little without the mournful Sighs of thee and me to increase the Aggravation of his Crime In Fine he 's our Kinsman and let us shew Mercy He has been perfidious to me and I wou'd retrench the Words I have spoken in his Disgrace If he comes to Astracan do as thou pleasest But have an Eye over thine own Affairs Take not Solyman for an Angel He is still but a Turbant maker a Frolicksom Blade and a Merchant that makes a very small Figure Cousin Isouf forget not the Maxims thou hast learn'd in thy Travels Be true to thy Friends and thy self Honour the Memory of thy deceased Parents Love all Men that are good And be not remiss in praying for the Soul of thy deceased Uncle whenever God shall call for it Paris 26th of the 2d Moon of the Year 1664. The End of the Sixth Volume BOOKS Written by Sir Roger L'Estrange and Printed for Joseph Hindmarsh and Richard Sare 1. FAbles of Aesop and other Eminent Mythologists with Morals and Reflections Folio 2. Seneca's Morals by way of Abstract the Fifth Edition Octavo 3. Select Colloquies out of Erasmus Roterodamus pleasantly representing several Superstitious Levities that were crept into the Church of Rome in his Days the Second Impression corrected and amended with the Addition of Two Colloquies to the former Octavo 4. Tully's Offices in Three Books turned out of Latin into English the Fourth Edition corrected Twelves 5. A Guide to Eternity extracted out of the Writings of the Holy Fathers and Ancient Philosophers written originally in Latin by John Bona and now done into English the Third Edition The Genuine Epistles of the Apostolical Fathers St. Barnabas St. Ignatius St. Clement St. Polycarp the Shepherd of Hermas and the Martyrdoms of St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp written by those who were present at their Sufferings being together with the holy Scriptures of the New Testament a Compleat Collection of the most Primitive Antiquity for 150 Years after Christ Translated and Published with a Large Preliminary Discourse relating to the several Treatises here put together By William Wake D.D. Chaplain in ordinary to their Majesties and Preacher to the Honourable Society of Grays-Inn Octavo Price 5 s. Humane Prudence or the Art by which a Man may raise himself and Fortune to Grandeur the Sixth Edition corrected and enlarged by the Authour These Two Last printed for R. Sare at Grays-Inn Price 1 s. 6 d.
of Egyptian Kings hugg Daemons in my Arms and run the Gerit with Hobgoblins and all the Spirits of the Night round the Tomb of Cheops or up and down the dismal Galleries or in the Nest of Bats Screech-Owls Harpies and the rest of the Winged Monsters the Excrementitious Spawn of Humane Souls or at least the Superfetation of pickled Carcasses reposited there for Eternal Mummies some of them before Noah's Flood and the Rest after if the Story be true God knows whether it be or no That 's Nothing to me But I have a strong Inclination to try what I can find in those Antique Monuments after all the Search of so many Travellers I have a Specifick Sort of Melancholy upon me which cannot be vented any other Way than by keeping Company with the Dead or having Ten Hundred Thousand ugly rampant Spirits dancing their Infernal Measures about me and grinning like Babboons of Hell Oh God! How 't would set me a Laughing An Entertainment of this Nature would ease my Spleen and restore me to a Good Humour Are there no Beings extant but those which are every Day expos'd to our Senses Or is Nature Poorer than the Imagination of a Mortal which can form the Idea's of an Infinity of Creatures that he never saw I am cloy'd with the Crambe of Objects and Joys which these Narrow Elements afford and therefore would fain grope out some New and Untry'd World to find Refreshment in But oh my Mehemet when I look toward the Heavens and behold the Moon and Stars when my Eye is lost in the Boundless Firmament and my Soul can find no Limits to the Vniverse then I sink into my self full of Humility and Confusion because I have injuriously reproach'd the Omnipotent and cast Obloquies on his Works For all Things appear admirably Beautiful and Perfect and the least Atome is large enough to afford Apartments for a Thousand Souls Every Thing in Nature is pregnant and full of pleasing Wonders Yet I cannot be free from these Hypochondriack Fits at certain Seasons I am sometimes the saddest and most Melancholy Man in the World I take all things by the wrong Handle look on them through false Opticks and yet persuade my self I am in the Right and see them in their true Complexion Such is the Fatal Sophistry of this black and sullen Passion It takes away the Gust and Relish of the sweetest Enjoyments And if the Contagion could possibly find Admittance among the Bless'd Above surely 't would renber their Paradise a Hell and would afford some Ground for the Fiction of the Ancient Poets who brought up the Use of Nepenthe among the Gods to appease their Choler and put 'em in a good Humour I know not what that Drink was But I tell thee my Nepenthe is a Glass of good Languedoc Wine which is as Rich and far more Delicious than the Wines of Tenedos and Mitylene I once could boast of another Method to subdue my Melancholy by giving Battle to my Thoughts in open Field but now I am fain to have Recourse to Stratagems and Ambuscades trepanning the ugly hideous Monsters out of their strong Retrenchments and Fastnesses in the Spleen by Generous Frolicks with Wine Women and Musick I bury all Care in profound Sleep the Effect of brisk and free Drinking And then I awake as merry as a Lark as young as if I 'd been in Medea's Cauldron What signifies it to pretend Sanctity in our Words and Exteriour Carriage whilst at the same Time we are ready to burst with Malice Pride Ambition Avarice and a Thousand more Vices Whereas Wine seasonably drank cures all these Distempers of the Soul makes a Miser Liberal a Cruel Man Tender a Spightful Fellow Kind melts Stiff and Haughty Spirits into a Wonderful Softness and Complaisance In fine it makes a Lamb of a Lion and changes a Vultur to a Dove purifying and transforming Souls into a Temper wholly Divine Why then should we be ty'd to Laws of Morality never practis'd by those who made them All the Philosophers were boon Companions and our Holy Prophet himself privately drank the Juice of the Grape Our Emperours and Grandees do the same The only Reason why they forbid it to their Subjects is lest they should grow too Wise and strive to shake off the Yoke For Wine elevates the Spirits emboldens the Heart and transforms a Slave to a Lord in his own Conceit For want of this Liquor all Nations where the Vine grows not have found out one Beverage or another as efficacious to relieve Melancholy and drive away Sorrow from the Heart The Chinese make Wine of Rice In my Country they have another Intoxicating Drink compounded with certain Roots The same is used in some Parts of Persia In these Western Provinces they brew divers Sorts of Strong Liquors of Wheat Barley Honey Molossa's and other Ingredients And they make Wine of Apples Pears Cherries Currans and most Fruits that grow I tell thee my Friend there 's no living unless we sometimes give Nature a New Ferment to rouze her from her Lees. Yet let us practise a due Mediocrity remembring that God gave us these Things for our Health and Refreshment and not for our Bane In a Word Mehemet let us be Merry and Wise Paris 26th of the 8th Moon of the Year 1660. LETTER XI To Hamet Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire I Have taken some Pains turn'd over a great many Memoirs of Old Courtiers and convers'd with not a few now living who can remember the Days of Henry IV. that so I may comply with thy order and oblige thee with some Remarks on the Life of that Prince who tho' he had but a little Body yet like another Alexander had so vast a Soul and perform'd such illustrious Actions as deservedly fasten'd on him the Title of Great and made him be esteem'd the Arbiter of all Europe It is observ'd of him that he was always Unfortunate in his Wives yet they relate a pretty Passage of his First Wife Margaret of Valois which seems to contradict that Remark He was then a Protestant and only King of Navarre when the Famous Massacre of Paris was committed with Design to Murder him among the Rest of his Religion But being aware of this when he heard the Assassins making toward his Chamber where he sate with the Queen he hid himself under her Garments as she sate in a Chair The Villains rushing in ask'd for the King She with a great Assurance of Spirit told 'em He went out from her in a Passion They seeming satisfy'd went away without doing any farther Hurt Which occasion'd a Common Jest That Queen Margaret 's Smock sav'd King Henry 's Life This Woman was call'd the Minerva and Venus of France on the Score of her Learning and Amours never denying any Thing to her Lovers and being seldom without Men of Science in her Company In a Word King Henry look'd on himself as a Noted Cuckold and so gave
depart till all their Money 's is gone Nay they will pawn their very Garments from their Backs in a Frolick rather than want their Dose of this Inebriating Stuff and go out stark Naked in the Coldest Weather that is fall asleep in the open Streets and yet are ne'er the worse for it when they wake but go to their daily Work with the greater Ardour For 't is only the Common People are guilty of this Extravagance As for the Gentry and Nobility they are more close and reserv'd in their drunken Debauches The Moscovites according to the Character he gives me of them are a very rude and unpolish'd People Surly to one another and extremely rugged to Strangers They despise all other Nations in the World and say 't is impossible for any Man to go to Heaven who has not a Moscovite Soul in him They profess the Christian Religion and were formerly of the Greek Church but now they have separated themselves and set up a Patriarch of their own to whom so great a Veneration is paid that the Emperour himself holds his Stirrop when he mounts on Horse-back Brother I desire thee to speak advantageously of Isouf to the Illustrious Kerker Hassan and to the other Bassa's of the Bench. He will be a serviceable Man to the Grand Signior if encourag'd by some Place of Honour and Profit I wish I could say the same of our Cousin Solyman But he is too Wise in his own Conceit Dear Pesteli excuse my Abruptness For my Hours are divided between the Service I owe to the Sultan and the Affection I bear my Friends Paris 7th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1661. LETTER IV. To Orchan Cabet Student in the Sciences and Pensioner to the Sultan I Have heard of thy Fame and the Manner of thy Conversion to the Law brought down from Heaven How that from a Christian Priest thou art become a Mussulman Abdalla that is a Believer and Servant of the True God May thy Reward both here and hereafter be according to thy Integrity in this Change of Faith and Religion For Hypocrites are neither Acceptable to God nor Man Yet most Men are Proselyted for Interest Fear or other Humane regards And in the Sense of the Christians thou knowest a Renegado and a Villain are Reciprocal Terms The Insupportable Miseries of Servitude tempt many to embrace Circumcision which at once sets 'em free and often puts 'em in a Condition to mend their Fortunes and live more happily than they did even before they were Captives whilst Ambition and Avarice are prevailing Motives with others in more Prosperous Circumstances to be of the Grand Signior's Religion that so they may rise in his Favour and obtain some Considerable Preferment at the Court or Office in the Army like the Ancient Melchites among the Christians who were so call'd because they always profess'd the Faith of the Grecian Emperours without examining whether it was Orthodox or no. A Sort of Religious Parasites who would be any Thing to serve their own Interest and Adore the Devil himself provided their Sovereign shew'd 'em an Example Yet after all there are some who change their Religion in pure Sincerity only compell'd thereto by the Dint of Exalted Reason and Motives of Vertue Such as these are Thinking Men Persons of Bold Spirits who dare call in Question the Tradition of their Fathers examine the Principles in which they were Educated dispute every Thing and bring all to the Standard of Natural Truth I rejoyce to hear that thou art one of this Character and not in the Number of Counterfeits or Bigots For such bring no Credit to the Religion they embrace but rather a Scandal Yet the Arms of the Munificent Port are open to receive all who profess that God is One and that Mahomet is his Apostle leaving the Scrutiny of their Intention to him who searches the Heart Thy Learning gives thee Fair Opportunities of doing Good Put it to a Right Use Convince the Infidels whom thou hast forsaken of their Errors Confirm the True Believers in the Faith without Blemish Do this by Discourse by Writing and by thine own Exemplary Life which last will prevail above Ten Thousand Eloquent Sermons In a word shew thy self a True and Faithful Follower of the Prophet on Earth and God will translate thee to his Company in Paradise where Moses will introduce thee Jesus will Entertain thee with Joy and all the 124000 Prophets will welcome thee to the Pleasures which know no End Paris 21st of the 5th Moon of the Year 1661. LETTER V. To the Mufti WE are apt to admire some Strange Passages which we find Recorded in Ancient History and whose Truch is out of the Reach of any Mortal to prove Yet we slight the Miracles which are before our Eyes Evident Matters of Fact which no body can contradict Whence this should proceed I know not unless it be from a Natural Kind of Drowsiness in the Soul Common to the greatest Part of Men like the Sleep of those who cannot so soon be awaken'd by the loudest Noises they are accustom'd to as by the soft and still Idea's of a strange Dream So we regard not the Things to which we are daily habituated tho' in themselves never so prodigious Whilst we start and are amaz'd at the most Ordinary Relations of Antiquity only because they are Novel to us and we were not Eye-Witnesses of the Things themselves I formerly sent a Letter to Cara Hali the Sultan's Physician wherein I mentioned several Physicians of Arabia who in past Ages were Eminent for some Remarkable Cures But I tell thee not one of them could match the King of France's Success in Curing an Epidemical Distemper which they call the KING 's EVIL The General Symptoms of this Malady are certain Swellings in the Face Neck or other Parts of the Body sometimes accompanied with Blindness Deafness Lameness and other Imperfections Those who are troubled with this Disease flock to the King's Court at certain Seasons of the Year and being introduced into his Presence he only touches the Part affected with his Hand and an Infallible Cure follows They say this Gift has been Inherent in the Kings of France for many Generations And the Priests magnify it as a Great Miracle But I tell thee all the Prodigy in my Opinion lies in the Strength of the People's Imagination which thou knowest works half the Cure in many Distempers The Priests stand by the King whilst he touches the Sick They repeat their Gospel and use certain Prayers and Exorcisms being vested all in White like Magicians These Ceremonies are perform'd with abundance of Gravity which strikes an Awe into the Credulous Patients And to render the Business yet more Mysterious whereas other Physicians take Money of the Sick this Royal AEsculapius bestows a Piece of Gold on every one whom he touches which they are obliged to wear about their Necks as long as they live Now whether the Charm lies in the
secret Correspondence with the Family from which they Descend Assuredly the Ottoman Politicks are the most refined and secure of any in the World our Religion most Holy and our Morals most Sound Which Three are evident Signs That God has raised up this Sacred Empire to subdue all the Nations on Earth and bring 'em to the Faith of his Divine Vnity Paris 9th of the 11th Moon of the Year 1661. LETTER IX To Cara Hali Physician to the Grand Signior I Am now in my Chamber by a Glowing Fire wanting Nothing that can comfort a Reasonable Man Whilst I hear the Winds whistling the Snow driving upon my Windows and the hollow Voices of the Watch proclaiming a Night little less Cold than that lasting one they feel in the Artick Circle once a Year Yet I wish my self in a Plain or on the Top of some High Mountain where I might feel Nature in the most Rigid of all her Humours I love Variety and 't is a Pain to be confined to Pleasure it self when 't is all of one Kind or what I 'm us'd to 'T is to thee my Dear Hali I owe this Thought when you told me once as we were walking together in the Cemetery of Sultan Solyman's Mosque That Man is made for all Things I remember the Elegance and Force of Reason with which you explained your Sentiments upon a Loss which I had then sustained by Shipwrack comforting me with this Reflection that all the Gains on Earth are only Burdens all the Riches Honours Pleasures and whatsoever is desired by Mortals are but so many Clogs to tie us faster to this Little Narrow Globe where we are born to trample on as our Foot-stool All this is true but I consider farther That the Occurrences of this Life ought to be received with Indifference and we should be as Chearful in a Prison as in a Palace because Nothing can happen to us which was not decreed by Fate Methinks I could go as freely to Torments in a Just Cause as to a Sumptuous Banquet I could smile at the Malice of my Persecutors and triumph o'er the Vain Executioners when I see them sweat at their Inhumane Toil and yet can never have their Wills of a Soul cast in such a Mold as mine Whatever they may do with my Body tho' they excruciate me with a Thousand Inventions of Cruelty tho' they reduce me to Ashes yet they cannot rob me of my Reason Neither Fire nor Sword nor Rack nor any other Instrument of Barbarous Rage can hurt my Thoughts I shall still have the Power of Meditating in Spight of 'em all And I esteem that the Specifick Happiness of a Rational Creature There 's no such Thing as Pleasure or Pain but what our Opinion makes so I have try'd to handle Fire I 've grasped hot burning Coals in the Palm of my Hand with which I now write The devouring Element soon fastened on my Skin and eat its way through into my Flesh whilst I was busy in Contemplating its Nature and Effects without being concern'd in any Sense of Pain I kept a tite Rein and curb'd my Soul I held it within Compass and would not suffer it to winch or lash or flounce out of it self or descend into my Body to rescue the Part affected or be concern'd at its Grievance But when I reflect on the Inconveniences that might follow and that it would hinder me from serving the Grand Signior and my Friends I threw the Coals away well satisfied that I had made the Experiment without prejudicing my Reason or falling into any Passion Unbecoming a Man I take as much Pleasure in Fasting as in Eating or Drinking in Labour as in Rest in Watching as in Sleep There 's no Excess or Contrariety in Nature which does not afford me as much Delight as Mediocrity or the Golden Mean it self I find Gust in every Thing that happens to me And this I take to be the Proper Part of a Mussulman or of one Resigned to God Yet this hinders me not from bustling in the World and prosecuting my Business with Alacrity and some Eagerness We are born for Action and not wholly for Thought 'T is a mix'd Life we are to lead on Earth But when I fail of my End or desired Success in any Undertaking I am not troubl'd considering I was born to encounter Evil as well as Good in this Mortal State In all that I have said I do not pretend to the Celebrated Apathy of the Stoicks I feel Pleasure and Pain from the same Objects which thus affects other Men But I feel 'em with Indifference not suffering my Understanding and Judgment to participate with my Passion and Sense I have perceived my self sometimes in Agonies which I thought exactly answered the Character of those which dying Persons feel And I believe they were in a Degree the very same Yet I found no Panick Fears upon me no Dread of that Amazing Change But rather certain Blooming Hopes Young Tender Springing Joys arising from the Thoughts of a New Life the Unavoidable Effect of that which we call Death wherein I promised my self the Pleasure of Fresh Enjoyments and Diversions to which I was wholly then a Stranger If thou thinkest this too Extravagant and that Death is not a proper Object of our Wishes yet thou wilt at least acknowledge That it may furnish us with sufficient Arguments of Content and Acquiescence since no Man can avoid it and it is sure to entertain us with Novelties which we never were acquainted with before which recommends it under a very desirable Figure because Humane Nature perpetually covets New Things I have seen Persons Condemned to Death here in Paris who have been offer'd Life on certain Conditions not agreeing with their Humour yet have refused it and rather chose Death which they knew would free 'em at once from all their Present Troubles And thou know'st with what Resignation our Greatest Bassa's submit their Necks to the Executioners when the Grand Signior thinks fit to call for their Lives All that they reply to the Fatal Mandate is The Will of my Sovereign Lord be done They at once gather up all the Strength of their scattered Reason and shrink their dilated Souls to a Point Then with a Re-doubled Force they shake off their Inclinations to Honours Riches and the Pleasures of this Life as a Man rowzes from a long Dream or Trance With Smiles and a profound Submission they kiss the Royal Firme being awaken'd to the Thoughts of more illustrious and Serene Joys than this gross Earth affords even to the Ineffable Pleasures of Eden the sure Reward of those that die in Obedience and Peace Since they are to be esteemed Martyrs as well as those who meet Death in the Field of the Sacred Combat in the War for our Holy Faith Oh! That it were my Lot thus to expire in Honour to have my last Breath mixed with the Devout Aspirations and Suffrages of True Believers that so my
consider the Wonderful Architecture of those Infernal Prisons the inexpugnable Strength of the Walls their Prodigious Thickness and unmoveable Fastness I wou'd contemplate every Thing with the Reason of a Philosopher and the Piety of a Mussulman not giving my self up to the Passions of a Fool and an Infidel All this I imagine were easy to perform in those Fatal Caverns and much more but God knows how the Experience of such an Intolerable Anguish and Restraint might alter a Man's Mind However I find it Medicinal to think of the last and worst Things to be always prepar'd for Death and whatsoever shall follow it For Surprizes are apt to unman us and plunder us of our Reason I was in the Heighth of a violent Fever when I began this Letter yet now 't is abated and I palpably feel the gentle Returns of Health and Life This is owing in my Judgment to the real Belief I had that my last Hour was come which I have so long expected And I cou'd almost perswade my self That I shall disperse a Thousand Maladies recover out of the most dangerous Paroxysms and prolong my Days to Old Age by the mere Force of these Contemplations My Faith in this Point is grounded on Experience For I have often found That to be arm'd against Calamities with an even Mind is either a sure Way to avoid them or at least to protract the Season of their Arrival And if there were nothing else in 't but the rendring 'em more easy when they come 't were worth any Man's Pains to try the Experiment Doubtless there is no Terrour in Death but what the vain Opinion of Men creates 'T is as pleasant for a Thinking Man to die as to live if it be only for this Reason that in his Passage from the Life he has lead before he shall not have bare naked Idea's for his Contemplation but Matter of Fact and the most Important that ever employ'd the Souls of Men. O Admirable Sylvan consider with thy self whether it will not be highly grateful to thy languishing Soul when thou shalt perceive demonstratively by the Infallible Enthymema's of thy trembling Pulse that thou art just ready to be releas'd from the deceitful Sophistry of Humane Life That thou art near escaping from a narrow Cage to be upon the Wing at large to fly into the Ample Fields of Beauty Light and Endless Happiness Reflect also at the same Time O Holy Eremite that I shou'd think it no Pain to be freed from my Confinement to a stinking Nest of Infidels But why shou'd I give them that Reproachful Epithet when for ought I know I am a greater Infidel my self 'T is true indeed I am of the Lineage of Ibrahim Ismael and the Holy Race I bear in my Body the Seas of a Divine League or Covenant between God and Man I was circumcis'd in due Time and gave Supreme Glory to One God and Honour to Mahomet his Messenger I pronounc'd the Seven Mysterious Words whose Sound excites the Harmony of the Spheres sets the Angels a dancing puts all Nature into Motion and makes the Devil as deaf as a Beetle Nay as our Holy Doctors teach the very Breath with which that Sacred Confession is utter'd blows the Ashes of Hell into the Eyes of the Damn'd and strikes 'em blind In a Word I have fasted pray'd given Alms and perform'd all the External Duties of a True Believer yet I have Reason to fear that the best of my pious Actions are not sufficient to cancel my Sins My Practice runs counter to my Faith there seems to be a double Spirit in me one inclining me to Good and the other forcing me to Evil. For whilst I really in my Heart believe the Alcoran and obey Mahomet our Holy Law-giver I am compell'd to deny both to profess the Life and Manners of a Nazarene to counterfeit an Infidel and do a Thousand other ill things to please the Grand Signior and his Slaves Thus I play fast and loose with God Almighty and turn Religion into Cross Purposes Yet Heaven knows and I obtest all the Elements to Witness that I wou'd fain be Innocent and live in unblemish'd Vertue But the Fatal Necessities I lie under constrain me to a perpetual Course of Vice Which makes me sometimes cry out in the Agonies of my Soul O God! I pray thee either to alter my Circumstances and reform my Nature or make new Laws more easy to be kept Venerable and Patient Solitary bear with my importunate Complaints and remember that though thou art as an Angel for thy Perfections yet Mahmut is but a Man subject to a Thousand Frailties Pity him and continue to afford him thy Sage Counsel rest also assur'd that amongst all his Infirmities he still retains an Inviolable Affection and Dutiful Regard for the Tenant of God's Prophet Paris 22d of the 2d Moon of the Year 1666. LETTER VI. To the Kaimacham THou mayst report it to the Divan for a Certainty That Mirammud the Son of the Xariph of Salle is taken Prisoner by the French That bold Youth has long rov'd the Seas uncontroul'd has done many Injuries to the Christians fill'd Salle with Slaves Now he himself is become a Captive Such is the Fortune of War by Sea and Land to Day Triumphant and Victorious to Morrow Vanquish'd and in Chains Yet he lost not his Honour with his Liberty having bravely defended his Vessel and strew'd the Decks with slaughter'd French till overpower'd with Numbers he was compell'd to yield His Enemies extol his Courage and the Greatness of his Mind which would not sink under the Pressure of this Misfortune He seem'd to have the Command of himself which is the most Glorious Victory and suffer'd not his Free-born Soul to be led Captive by his Passions but behav'd himself with such an even Temper as plac'd him above the Pity of his Enemies and rather made him the Subject of their Emulation He is brought to the Court where he is entertain'd as a Guest rather than as a Prisoner Being invited to their Banquets Masks Plays and other Divertisements Neither is he debarr'd the Privilege of Hunting which might give him the fairest Opportunity to escape But he is ignorant of the Language of this Country and few of the French understand Moresco So that it is almost impossible for him to make any Party or consult his Flight unless the King's Interpreter should assist him Besides the French have a higher Opinion of his Generosity than to apprehend such an Ingrateful Return of the Royal Usage he finds in this Court As for Mahmut he has not as yet made himself known to this Brave Captive But if the Ministers of the Divan shall think it the Interest or Honour of the Sublime Port to engage in this Affair I want but a Commission to set Mirammud safe ashore in Africk I will not hazard any thing in an Affair of this Importance without an Order from my Superiours When their Pleasure is once
and the People Inhabiting there it is necessary for thee to be inform'd of Particular Emergencies and such Events as deserve a Place in the Eternal Records of the Ottoman Monarchy the Fifth and Last in the World That so the Ministers of the August Divan the destin'd Arbitrators of the Vniverse Judges of all Humane Affairs and Counsellors of the Great Sultan may in the Sacred Code as in a Mirrour behold whatever happens in the distant Climates worthy of Remark After the Salutations therefore proceeding from profound Humility entire Respect and perfect Friendship know that a devouring Pestilence has lately made a Fatal Decimation in the English Territories especially in London the Capital City of that Island where above a Hundred Thousand Souls struck with Invisible Darts from God went off the Stage of Humane Life in less than Six Moons Revolution The dire Contagion by Degrees spread farther through the Adjacent Provinces and reach'd the most remote and solitary Corners of the Land Death set his Standard up proclaiming Open War against the Inhabitants with flying Troops of Mortal Plagues he ravag'd o'er the Isle filling all Parts with doleful Cries and Lamentations The Cemeteries were not large enough to hold the Carcasses of such as fell before the dreadful Conquerour But open Fields were turn'd to Sepulchres and cramm'd with Spoils of Humane Race An Universal Desolation reign'd Death celebrated Cruel Triumphs every where Such as pretend to Astrology and hidden Sciences will have this to be an Effect of the late Comet which appear'd at the End of the Year 1664. whilst others attribute it to nearer Naturar Causes and some conclude it is a Judgment sent from Heaven on that Rebellious People who a few Years before had involv'd the Nation in a Civil War and barbarously Massacr'd their King God only knows the Truth that is conceal'd from Man Thou mayst Register also That the Queen-Mother of France is newly dead and the Crook-back'd Prince of Conti. On which Account this Court is now in Mourning and the Churches hung with Black whilst Melancholy Bells perpetually invite the Living to pray for the deceased Royal Souls and deep-bass'd Organ Pipes breath out Incessant doleful Aspirations sounding like Inarticulate Prayers and Funeral Sighs for the departed In this the Nazarenes approach near to the Faith of True Believers They give Alms also as we do and settle Stipends on certain Priests and Derviches to mumble over daily Masses for the Dead which is an evident Sign That they have Hopes of Immortality and look for the Resurrection Doubtless there 's something Good at the Bottom of all Religions tho' it be overlaid with Errors and Corruptions God direct us through the Meanders which Humane Frailty involves us in and grant every Mussulman a Particular Chart and Compass whereby to steer his Course through the uncertain Tracts of Mortal Life that he may at last arrive in Paradise For we shall never find the Way thither by General Rules Illustrious Hamet I pray that thou and I may at a destin'd Hour encounter one another in the Walks of Eden there to converse under Immortal Shades near to some warbling Stream of matchless Wine or Water to revolve our past Fatigues on Earth and to caress our selves in the Security of Endless Bliss Paris 15th of the 7th Moon of the Year 1666. LETTER XI To Nathan Ben Saddi a Jew at Vienna THou and thy feigned Messias be damn'd together for Company Must I be baulkt of my Money for the Sake of your New Superstition How many Messias's have ye had Twenty Five at least besides the Son of Mary who is acknowledg'd and bless'd for ever Must all the World be bubbl'd to Eternity by the Fables of your Nation Curse upon your Rabbi's and Cochams those Pimps to the more Religious Debaucheries of Mortals Nathan I took thee for another Manner of Man However if thou art a Sworn Servant to Sabbati Sevi the new Sham-King of the Jews I have nothing to say to it Do as thou wilt But I dare be a Prophet so far as to tell thee thou wilt be cursedly left in the Lurch with the Rest of the Fools thy Bigotted Brethren Let what will be it behoves thee as an honest Man to transmit the Bills that are entrusted to thee Whether Sabbati Sevi Ben Joseph or Ben David be the Name of your expected Messias I wou'd not have Ben Saddi degenerate Continue thou Faithful and the few others that are entrusted with the Sublime Affairs and let all the Rest of the Common Jews go to Gehenna or to the Vale of Tophet which you please But I wou'd fain have thee in the Number of the Righteous who shall possess Paradise Some of thy Letters have encourag'd me to hope for this but thy last makes me almost despair of seeing thee happy either in This World or the Next For thou writest like one in a Phrensy raving on Chimera's of strange Honour Glory and Power which thou shalt shortly enjoy in the Kingdom of thy Phantastick Messias thou art already a Prince in thy own Conceit For God's Sake Nathan wean thy self from these Religious Fondnesses Awaken thy Reason which is the distinguishnig Character of a Man Examine the Grounds of this New Delusion search into the Birth and Origin of Sabbati Sevi and thou wilt find him to descend of an Obscure and Base Parentage his Father being but a Kind of Mungrel Jew and by Profession an Vsurer which is forbid by the Written Law of Moses and in the Great Alcoran it is accounted Execrable His Mother a Woman of the Curds suspected for a Witch in Regard most of that Infidel Nation practise Magick Arts and Diabolical Charms And 't is not altogether improbable that your Counterfeit Messias was educated privately by her in the same Studies whence he learn'd the Methods of Enchantments and Illusions to deceive the Senses and impose on the Reason of Mankind I can tell thee of a Truth that there are more Eyes on him and his Actions than he is aware of and I my self at this Distance have receiv'd a particular Relation of his Life from such as knew him a Youth at Smyrna the Place of his Nativity He is accus'd of many Vices and Extravagances during his early Years His Conversation was wild and dissolute being a noted Inamorato or Stallion over all that City For which and some other Crimes he was expelled the Synagogue and banish'd from Smyrna by the Mutual Consent of the Mussulman Cadi and your own Rulers He was also excommunicated by the Rabbi's as a Heretick for broaching certain Doctrins repugnant to your Law and the General Faith of the Jews All which cannot but be a prevailing Recommendation of him to the Office of Messias or King of Israel From hence he rambled up and down the Morea and other Provinces of Greece leaving a Memorial of Infamy where-ever he set his Foot continually marrying and divorcing of Wives debauching of Virgins and frequenting the
Death's Name King of the World Invisible to claim and carry away a certain Number of Ghosts prick'd down by Destiny a Tribute set by Fate However it be that whole Island may well be call'd at this time the Grand Infirmary of Europe where Baneful Sickness makes its Publick Residence The timerous Giafers run from Place to Place thinking to escape from Heaven's all searching Pursuivants They fly from Populous Towns to Villages and from these again to unfrequented Desarts Woods and Heaths carrying their Wives and Children with 'em and all the Substance of their Houses The Roads are cover'd with the Caravans of doubtful Passengers who dread to think of going back to the Contagious Seats they left behind yet know not where to be receiv'd anew So general is the Consternation so strong the Fear of those who yet survive lest they should also catch the Infection and die Besides this they have felt the strokes of another surprizing Calamity London the Capital City of England being newly consum'd by Fire It is not certain whether Design or Chance first kindled the devouring Element But it fell out at an unlucky Season when the Wind was high and from its Eastern Quarter blew the Flames full West which spreading North and South demolish'd all before them laying the greatest Part of that Rich and Famous City in Ashes Some ascribe this to a Plot of the French others term it a Judgment of God for their Rebellion Pride and other crying Sins Whilst with equal Probability a third Sort affirm 'T was contriv'd and put in Execution by a Cabal of Carpenters and Masons who wanting Employment and projecting the Method of enriching themselves disdaining also the Inartificial and Obsolete Form of Buildings resolved to put this City into a New Figure and raise it according to the Models of Foreign Architecture Every one guesses as his Affections incline him or his Conjectures follow the Byass of his Interest Men are always partial to themselves and the Cause they have espous'd God only knows the Truth The Superstitious among the Roman Catholicks take Occasion from the timing of this Horrible Conflagration to insult o'er the English Protestants who from some obscure Passages in the Book of their Gospel used to foretel in a Prophetick Manner That the Final Ruin and Catastrophe of Rome would happen in this Year 1666. Whereas by Fatal Experience more sure than vain Predictions they find the Metropolis of their own Nation reduc'd to Ashes Whoever are the Instruments in these Tragedies 't is certain the Designs of Fate are still perform'd Every Kingdom State and Community has its Critical Periods and Climacters wherein it suffers Detriment * This Blank the Italian Preface mentions and says 't is owing to the Loss of some Part of the Arabick Letter suppos'd to be torn off by Chance or on some other Occasion c. Paris 2d of the 11th Moon of the Year 1666. LETTER XVI To Cara Hali Physician to the Grand Signior I Am melancholy beyond the Description of Painters Poets or the lively Eloquence of Cicero Methinks I 'm some Exotick Being a perfect Foreigner on Earth a Stranger to his Laws and Maxims I appear to other Mortals like a Giafer or Frank in his Western-Dress at Morocco Babilon or Constantinople I mean not for my outward Habit for in that I 'm Conformable enough to the Mode of the Region where I reside but I 'm all Unfashionable within Ridiculous in my Sentiments and Conversation When others laugh I sigh and find a Reason to be sad in the midst of merry Company Even Wine it self that exhilarates all the World beside does but encrease my Melancholy by adding Strength unto my labouring Thoughts It sublimates my Spirits up to Sacred Phrensies I am all Lunatick at such a Time Each Glass creates new Dreams more wild than the strange Flights and Raptures of a Santone My heated Spleen like Mount Gibel belches forth horrid Clouds of Smoak and Vapours which lay long smothering in its spongy Caverns these quickly spread and cover all the Horizon of my Soul rendring it Dark and Gloomy as the Cymmerian Solitudes or the more dismal Valleys bordering on the River Styx where surly Charon waits to Ferry o'er the Caravans of trembling Ghosts and land 'em in Elyzium Oh! that those Fables of the Ancient Poets were but true Or that I knew but something certain of our Future State Whether the Soul survives or no when Death has stopt the Circulation of our Blood And what becomes of that Immortal Substance after its parting from the Body Whether it pass by Transmigration into the Embryo of some other Animal as Pythagoras taught or be united swallowed up and lost in the Vniversal Soul of the World as Plato did believe Or if some other Magnet does attract its Presence and hidden Sympathies of Nature teach it to form its self a Vehicle or Body of the Elements Perhaps some Souls unite with Air whilst others mix with Water Earth or purer Skies This for its horrid Sins in Mortal State may be by the Eternal Nemesis sunk down into the Fatal Caverns of Mount Aetna Strombolo or Vesuvius there to Incorporate with burning Rivers and Lakes of Sulphur and other Minerals to hear perpetually the frightful Cracking Rumbling and loud Thunders of those Infernal Vaults to be without Intermission annoy'd with the Eternal Stench of melted Mines whose poignant Vapours equally kill it and revive it every moment that it may be confin'd to an endless Circle of Miseries To feel the Excruciating Torments which no Tongue can utter whilst the Incessant Rapid Motion of those Exalted and most Violent Fires with which it is embodyed by Decree of Fate rob it of the very Possibility of the least easy Thought or quiet Minute and at the same time rack it with Infinite Tortures Think not my Dear Physician that it is Impossible a Separate Spirit can thus be sensible of Pains There 's no such thing as a Separate Spirit save God who made all Bodies and therefore was before them The Angels themselves are partly Corporeal so are the Devils Do not believe then that Mortal Man who is in a middle State between these Two shall by Dying gain a Priviledge above the most Illustrious Spirits in Heaven As soon as Death has dislodg'd us from One Body Nature Providence or Fate provides us Another according to our Qualities Inclinations and Merits We may as well by Metempsychosis become the Spirit or Soul of a flaming Sulphur-Mine or at least of some Part of it as of a Horse an Eagle or a Dove For such for ought we know may be the Disposition of Divine Wisdom Justice and Omnipotence By the very same Reason another Soul may be transported to the Open Happy Skies where it may either range in boundless free and serene Tracts of Bliss or be Enfranchis'd in the Corporations of the Stars to dwell in Palaces of Azure Topazes and Diamonds to possess Privinces more Rich than
known the Execution shall be swift I wait for thy Commands as for a Decree of Destiny which cannot be repeal'd The God of our Fathers who multiply'd the Seed of Ismael as the Grass of the Field and gave them the Sovereignty over many Nations grant that the Sublime Port which is the Nursery of the Faithful may always take such Measures as shall advance the Interest of the Mussulman Empire Paris 14th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1666. LETTER VII To Hamel Muladdin Xariph of Salle THY Son is no longer a Captive but a Conquerour His first Appearance before the Ladies of this Court was an Equivalent to his Ransom He is like to do thee greater Service by his Chains than when he rang'd the Seas His Beauty may do more Mischief in France than all thy Ships of War since it has already created such Rivalships and Factions among the Fair Sex as engages the French Gallants on many unhappy Rencounters and in a little time it will be difficult for the Interressed Sparks to meet and part with unsheath'd Swords Libels and Panegyricks divide the Studies of the Wits while one flatters another Lampoons the Amorous Females and Mirammud the Illustrious Slave is all the Talk In a word he finds Royal Usage having the Liberty of the Court and all are pleas'd with his graceful Deportment and undisguiz'd Conversation Every one affects his Company and he has the Fate of Princes Never to be alone His Skill in riding and throwing the Lance has enflam'd the Noble Youth with Martial Emulations They esteem Mirammud the most accomplish'd Person of this Age. Canst thou now repine at thy Son 's Glorious Thraldom A Captivity that loads him with so many Honours That lays his Conquerours at his Feet And subdues all Hearts to his Matchless Perfections His Followers find Friendship among the Infidels for his sake 'T were to be wish'd that equal Humanity were shew'd to the Christian Slaves in Barbary I tell thee thy Son is so admir'd and lov'd that all thy Treasure will not redeem him The French are generous and scorn to sell the Brave for Gold They will sooner give thee thy Son again expecting from his Gratitude a Recompence surpassing the Value of Mony that is an Inviolable observing the Conditions of Peace which they say thou hast so often broke Thy Embassadors are expected here to consummate a lasting Friendship When that is done thou wilt quickly see thy Son return attended by a numerous train of French who have vow'd to follow his Fortune through the World so long as he draws not his Cymetar against their King I have dispatch'd an Account of this Adventure to the Kaimacham that so the Sublime Port which gives the Law to all the Kings on the Earth may interess it self on thy Behalf The French seem to have a profound Attach to the Ottoman Empire Whether it proceeds not more from Fear and the Principles of Policy than from any real Love to the Mussulmans I will not determine They speak reverently of the Grand Signior covet his Friendship and applaud the Victorious Enterprizes of the True Believers Indeed they are Naturally a Martial People and honour all Men of brave Spirits and daring Resolutions They have this particular Reason also to bear Friendship to the Invincible Osmans because we are almost continually in Wars with the House of Austria the Old Enemy of France The Germans are wont to say That the Dragons Head and Tail are in Conjunction when the Turks and the French invade the Empire at the same time These are numbred among the Constellations by Astrologers to which the Germans allude in this Proverb being ever Jealous of â—ome private Treaty between the Sultan and the French Court. God who is the Wisest of the Wisest instruct thee to adjust thy Differences Happily with this Noble Nation that so thou mayst see thy Son again in Peace at Salle Paris the 14th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1666. LETTER VIII To Pesteli Hali his Brother Master of the Customs at Constantinople UPon my Word thy Letter came in a Critical Hour to prevent for ought I know more Mischief than could have been repair'd again all the Days of my Life I have but just taken my Eyes off from it and set Pen to Paper to express my Thanks to thee for the Care thou tak'st of thy Exil'd Brother for the Post goes this Night and I have appointed to meet Eliachim the Jew with some Armenians within these few Minutes It had been an Unfortunate Meeting for me had not thy Dispatch come so opportunely to give me Warning of our Cousin Solyman's Perfidy For these Furr'd-Caps are his Spies and Confidents The Back-Blows of Tagot Negidher and the Great Devil be upon him and them What have I done to that Ungrateful Villain to merit such ill Offices from him But upon thee be the Mercies of God the Favours of his Prophet and the Benedictions of all good Men and Angels For thou art to me as one of the Watchers above more than a Brother Thou art the Tutelar Genius of my Life my good Daemon in time of Danger We had design'd this Evening for a private Banquet of Wine which thou knowest dilates the Hearts of Mortals unlocks Secrets and makes the most resery'd Man in the World too Talkative and Open. I keep as great a Guard upon my Tongue perhaps as another but God knows how far I might have been tempted by such good Company to let it loose for the sake of Discourse For these Fellows are soft as the Air in their Address and Conversation they appear as Innocent as Santones sincere as Hadgi's Loyal and Courtly as the Pages of the Seraill ' They would wheedle Ninety Nine of Argus's Eyes out of his Head successively before he miss'd One. They came first to Paris as Merchants and no doubt but Solyman had given 'em Instructions how to insinuate into Eliachim's Acquaintance and so by Degrees into mine For that honest Jew trades with People of all Nations and Characters However it be I remember the very Words which thou insertest in thy Letter were spoken by me in Company with these Infidels But I shall find a way to be even with them and Solyman too before they 'll dream of it In the mean time I pray heartily that if ever it shall be thy Misfortune to be in the like Peril Destiny or Chance Providence or Fate may raise some Friend to give thee a Caution and that thou may'st not with the Unhappy Caesar neglect to read it in time I 'm now going to encounter these Giafers perhaps I shall catch 'em in their own Snares If not I 'll secure they shall not catch me Dear Pesteli may thy Soul repose under the Protection of God Paris 1st of the 5th Moon of the Year 1666. LETTER IX To Dgnet Oglou TO whom should I complain in my Adversity but to my Friend I have been more embarass'd within these Two Moons than through
all the former Course of my Life Troubles of divers kinds throng in upon me I seem like a Butt or Mark whereat every Species of Misfortune like a skilful Archer directs the Fatal Arrows of its Malice I am near overwhelm'd with Calamities Heaven and Earth are set against me and all the Elements conspire my Ruin Yet no Persecution appears so terrible as that of Men nor any Affliction so poignant as that which proceeds from the Ingratitude and Perfidy of my own Country Men Persons related to me by Blood Age and much Sickness have confin'd me to my Bed for a considerable time which is no small Alloy to Human Happiness But to render me perfectly miserable the Ministers of the Port are angry with me for being Old and Infirm and for not continuing to serve the Grand Signior with the same Vigour and Strength as formerly Else what mean the frequent Reproaches they send me whilst I am not in a Condition to answer them or make an Apology for my self Would they have me Immortal and Proof against the strokes of Destiny and Death which thou know'st are Unavoidable Whilst I were in my Prime Healthy and strong as an Eagle they encourag'd me with the fairest Promises in the World telling me I should never want for Mony or the Protection of the Grand Signior Yet even then I receiv'd not my Pension without Murmurs and obscure Menaces So hard a thing is it for Courtiers to be touch'd with any Man's Necessities But now they threaten plainly to stop all farther Supplies unless I will grow Young again and do Business as briskly as when I 'd number'd but Thirty Summers Thus they serve poor Mahmut as we use Oranges and Limons whose vital Spirit when we have suck'd out we throw the rest away as unprofitable Yet not one of them will contribute in the least to my Recovery Only the generous Cara Hali our beloved Friend hearing of my Malady sent me a strange Chymical Liquor with the Celebrated Confection El Razi some Bezoar and the most precious Balm of Gilead All prepar'd to my Hand with Directions and leal'd with an Authentick Signet These indeed had a marvellous Operation on me I tried them but Yesterday and find my self suddenly restor'd to some Degrees of Health as by a Miracle Whether it be the vast Esteem I have for that Excellent Physician with the Confidence I repose in his Skill and Judgment has had some Influence on me or what else I know not yet we use to observe that the Patient 's good Opinion of his Physicians is half a Cure However these Sovereign Medicines have inspir'd me with a new Energy And had I not other Afflictions to break my Heart I cou'd almost promise my self to reach the Age of Nestor But my Vnfortunate Stars will have it otherwise and I am resign'd to Destiny Thou know'st my Cousin Solyman the Turbant-Maker and art no Stranger to his Humours and Fortune What an unsetled Man he has been in the whole Course of his Life That no Employment cou'd ever please him nor he be long fix'd in any Place How he has rambl'd from Constantinople to Scutari from thence to Chalcedon c. Always murmuring against Heaven and complaining of his hard Fate in that he was not bred a Courtier a Student a Soldier or any Thing but what he really is Thou art acquainted also with some of his Religious Caprices how he is addicted to doing the Book making the Triple Knot and to a Thousand other foolish Superstitions by which whilst he aspires at the Character of a Sage or a Cunning Man he renders himself more Contemptible than an Ideot forfeiting the Esteem of all wise and good Men for the Sake of a little Fame and noisy Character among the Empty Giddy Multitude But after all I believe thou art wholly a Stranger to his Secret Malice and the Rancour with which he persecuted me his poor Exil'd Uncle I my self was deceiv'd by the Subtle Apology he made some Years ago for the Slanders his Tongue had utter'd when he transferr'd all the Guilt of that Injury on Shashim Istham the Black Eunuch and Ichingi Cap Oglani Master of the Pages But now I 'm convinc'd he 's a Traytor a Villain and a Fellow void of Faith or Honesty I receiv'd a Letter from him within these seven Days full of Tender and Insinuating Expressions thanking me for all the good Offices I had done him and for my seasonable Counsel in several Cases Professing also at the same time an Inviolable Friendship and that he would make it his Study to do me some Effectual Service Yet the next Post brought me a Dispatch from my Brother Pesteli Hali wherein he bids me beware of Solyman assuring me that he had good Reason to suspect that Cousin of mine had some ill Design upon me This is certain says my Brother Solyman boasts to his Familiars not without some Insult that there is not a Word or Action escapes his Uncle Mahmut at Paris but he is soon inform'd of it at Constantinople And that which confirms me in the same Jealousy with Pesteli is That he inserts in his Letter to me some Passages and Discourses Verbatim which I must needs own to have been between me and Eliachim the Jew with two or three Armenian Merchants in our most private Meetings at Eliachim's House or my Chamber These he learnt from some of Solyman's most Intimate Companions What can I make of all this but that these Armenians are of Solyman's Council his Privado's his Chronee's c. whom having Business of their own at Paris that perfidious Wretch has engag'd to pry into my Secrets to give him a constant Account of what Discoveries they make and if possible to trepan me into some Irrecoverable Error in my Conduct that so he may finally ruin me O Mahomet What is become of the Reverence due to thy Sacred Name to thy Law and to the Book penn'd in Heaven Where is the Mussulman Faith and Integrity The Religious Fastness of Friendship with which our Fathers prop'd up one another in the Service of God and the Empire of True Believers But there is no need of exclaiming against Faith and Piety on this Account Humane Nature it self is Responsible for the Baseness and Ingratitude of my Kinsman He no longer deserves the Character of a Man I advise thee to shun his Company as a Pest a walking Contagion among Mortals In a word dear Dgnet let not thou and I suffer our selves to be carried away by a vain Pity or Tenderness for any Man tho' he be the Son of a Mother's Sister since there is no Trust in Flesh and Blood But let us learn the Maxims of French Wisdom which teach Men to lay the Foundation of their own Happiness in smiling at the Misfortunes of others Paris 14th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1666. LETTER X. To Hamet Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire BEsides the General Characters of Countries