and suppress'd by thy self have yet made a forcible Eruption and fill'd the Mussulman Kingdoms with the fragrant Odour of thy Incomparable Piety and Vertue Even these Remote and Infidel Regions of the West are edify'd by thy sacred Rules and Institutions of a Spiritual Life The Nazarene Priests and Doctors begin to harbour Emulations of thy Sanctity since they have seen no fairer Draught of true Acceptable Religion than what the Chaplains to the French Embassadors at the Port have copied from thy Principles and recommended to their Friends among the Clergy of France Insomuch as Francis Malevella a Blind Ecclesiastick but an Argus in the Sciences has publickly espous'd thy Theorems and Practices having in Print now lately undertaken the Patronage of a Contemplative Life so much insisted on by thee to which the College of Sorbonne have also given their Approbation That Excellent Man tho' he has lost the Use of his Corporeal Eyes yet has a Soul transform'd all over into Light by which he clearly can survey the vast Mysterious Horizon of the Invisible World and penetrate the most recluse and hidden Secrets of Eternity The Age is ravish'd with the Book he publish'd He has Ten thousand Proselytes among the Roman Priests and Derviches None but the Jesuits and Dominicans oppose him The former of these Orders is grown odious throughout Christendom for the Impious Doctrines they maintain and the Enormous Crimes they have committed being notorious Boutefeu's Traytors Hypocrites and Secret Libertines Their Colleges are esteem'd the Shops and Forges of Sedition Faction Publick Animosities Broils and Wars with all the Mischief that is done in Europe The Latter are not lov'd in France because they are generally chosen Officers of the Inquisition Which inhumane Judicature was first projected by St. Dominick their Founder in order to exterminate the Moors from Spain There is a Natural and Irreconcilable Antipathy between the French and Spaniards They mutually abhorr each others Customs Laws and Humours But above all the French can ne'er be reconcil'd to that Infernal Court which tyrannizes o'er the Souls of Men and punishes them for Thoughts It is an equal Crime to speak or to be silent to pray or not to go to Church or stay at Home provided you are Rich. 'T is Wealth the Inquisitors aim at not the pretended Safety and Deliverance of the Church from Enemies and Rebels Therefore the Dominicans and Jesuits being look'd upon as Favourers and Patrons of the Inquisition and for that Reason hated by the French in vain they argu'd against Malevella's New reform'd Model of Interiour Religion which is but a Translation of the Original Dogmata laid down by thee Thy refin'd Sentiments are Prolifick as the Solar Beams which by Ineffable Encreases propagate themselves without diminishing the Illustrious Fountain Each bright and fertile Atom by a miraculous Emanation begets another they multiply by an Admirable Progressive Issue and Expansion from every Point of the Refulgent Center till every splendid Particle becomes a Ray of equal Length and all together produce an entire Orb of Light Thus thy serene Idea's of Religion dilate themselves through this dark Side o' th' VVorld as fast as they illuminate the Moselman Hemisphere The Honester Sort of Western Franks are already by a Demi-Metamorphosis grown half Mahometans capitulating with their Pre-possessions Prejudices and the Force of Education for the rest They go to Church but not to babble o'er a Thousand vain Tautologies which are taught 'em by their Priests and to ensure their Memory are printed in their Pocket-Manuals or Books of Prayer Nor do they number a long Series of the same repeated Oraisons on Beads or use any other Exteriour Form of blind and lame Devotion But with inward Recollection Silence Purity and fervent Application of the Spirit they address themselves to God or rather by a certain gradual Passiveness Oblivion of Outward Things and dying to themselves they prepare and fit their Souls for the Divine Approaches Thus having barricado'd up their Senses and made Retrenchments round the Center of the Mind to secure it from the last Invasion and Assault of Mundane Objects thither they retire desiring Death rather than to take Quarter by a faint Cowardise or timorous Apostacy and surrender to the VVorld These People undergoe at certain Times strange Drynesses Desertions and Sterilities of Spirit which are the Torments that compose the most severe and painful Martyrdoms A common Death or any violent Dissolution of the Body is but the Recreation Sport or Play of Nature when compar'd with these Tremendous Tragical and Dark Annihilations of the Soul A Man at such a Season seems to be reduc'd to an Eternal Catastrophe His Spirit descends and is engulph'd in the Abyss of Hell or Hell comes up to him and yawning with its horrid Dragons-Jaws Murders the Soul with Baneful and Infernal Breath Yet this they find to be the only near directest VVay to Heaven This is the Mystick Fence the Ditch Bastion and Counterscarp of Paradise He that would scale the VValls or enter by the Gates of Eden must first pass through these terrible Out-works This is the streight and narrow Bridge o'er which each Soul must pass that would attain Immortal Life Moses Jesus Mahomet and all the Messengers of God have pointed at this as the only VVay to our supreme Felicity Neither was it unknown to the Ancient Poets and Philosophers among the Gentiles Orpheus and Hesiod recommended it in their Mysterious Verse Empedocles Theophrastus Plato Plotinus Porphyry Jamblichus with many others improv'd the Sacred Revelation adding new Lights unto the Blest Discovery And if we take the History in a right Sence unless I am deceiv'd Socrates died a Martyr to this Important Truth Many of the Learned Hebrew Rabbi's have asserted it The Persian and Arabian Doctors before and since the Holy Flight have been its Advocates And let not Envy refuse to give some of the Christian Priests their due Acknowledgment who preach'd this Doctrine in the Primitive Assemblies taught it in the Publick Schools and ensur'd it to Posterity in Learned Manuscripts Such were Origen and Ammonius Clemens of Alexandria Simplicius Chrysostom Tertullian Augustine and in more modern Times Thomas of Aquin Marsilius Ficinus Bonadventure with many others And 't is esteem'd the Height of Indian Religion to this Day the Bramins delivering it as an Hereditary Article of Faith and Point of Practice from Immemorable Ages Since therefore all Religions in the World agree in this notwithstanding their other Ceremonial and Speculative Differences Doubtless it is the Voice and Will of God not the Contrivance or Innovation of Man Reverend Effendi It is a common Proverb among the Christians That wheresoever God has a Temple the Devil has a Chappel That cunning Spirit like a Serpent winds himself into outward Forms and Ceremonies of Devotion But he that builds a Mosque in the Center of his Soul may bid Defiance to Tagot For that 's the Throne of God near which the
If either of these Opinions were to be taken in the Literal Sence 't wou'd put the dullest Philosopher to Subsannation or at least a Fit of Laughter But doubtless they are Allegories under which are veil'd some True and Natural Secrets However let the Globe rest where it will on Bulls or Bears or Elephants or Camels Dromedaries Horses or the Back of Atlas as the Gentiles did affirm I wou'd fain know methinks how large a Space of Land we have to tread upon and what Proportion is allotted to the Sea 'T is true we have a Common Notion of Four Quarters of Dry Land Asia Africk Europe and America Yet this is quarrell'd at by those of Later Times who add a Fifth which they call Magellanica or the Southern Vnknown Earth From Immemorial Times our Fathers were acquainted with the Three First Divisions or Precincts of the Globe But the Two Last were but of late discover'd since the Improvement of Navigation and the Invention of the Compass There is a Vulgar Tradition every where in Vogue That after Noah's Flood Asia fell to the Share of Sem and his Posterity Afrique to Cham and Europe to Japhet Whether this be true or no cannot be prov'd but is wholly owing to Conjecture However this is certain That if it were so there have been mighty Changes in the Inheritances of Noah's Off-spring and Alterations of their several Limits Insomuch as now they seem to be in Part blended and mix'd together or at least shuffl'd from one to another Those who liv'd in the Middle Ages made but Two Divisions of the Globe Viz. Asia and Europe And in this they also differ'd For some made Africk onely a Province or Part of the Former perswading themselves that they were Anciently joined together tho afterwards separated by a violent Irruption of the Atlantick Sea by the Streights of Gibralter which before was a Narrow Isthmus or Neck of Land but from the Time that Bank was washed away the Mediterranean Sea deriv'd its Origin Others made Africk a Part of Asia they being not absolutely parted by any Sea though some Egyptian Kings and Roman Emperours attempted to make a Canal between the Mediterranean and Red Sea A Third Sort divided the Known Part of the World into Asia Europe Africk and Egypt Whilst a Fourth plac'd Egypt to the Account of Asia making the River Nile the Boundary between it and Africk But this was Incommodious in Regard it left that of Egypt on the West of Nile to Africa Such was the Confusion of the Ancient Greek and Roman Geographers As for America it takes its Name from Americus Vesputius a Florentine who made the Second Voyage to discover it For it was First descry'd by Christopher Columbus a Genouese in the Year of the Christian Hegyra 1492. by the Order and at the Charge of Ferdinand King of Arragon and Castile This Part of the World is divided into Two Mighty Empires the Northern or that of Mexico and the Southern or that of Peru. Magellanica or the Southern Vnknown Land derives its Name from Ferdinand Magellan the First that e'er discover'd it in the Year 1520. when he sail'd quite round the Globe About Five and Forty Years afterwards Francis Drake an Englishman touch'd upon the same Coasts and Twelve Years after him Thomas Candish one of his Countrymen Likewise Oliver van Noord a Hollander undertook the same Voyage But none made such Advances in this new Discovery as a certain Spaniard call'd Ferdinand de Quier God knows what strange and unexpected Novelties this Country might afford if Men were once acquainted with it This may be the Sanctuary of the Ten Tribes of Israelites which were led away Captives by Salmanassar King of Assyria Or perhaps the Inhabitants of this Country are of another Race than that of Noah and Adam We may from them 't is possible derive new Lights as to the Pre-existence of Human Souls Who knows but they have Records more Exact and Ancient than the Indians and Chinese Be it how it will I 'm clearly for new Discoveries There is a certain Specifick Boldness in my Spirit which prompts me to invade the pretended Modesty of Nature I long to furle the Veil which hides so many Secrets and wiâ—h a Philosophick Confidence were I in Power I 'd rumple up the Envious Coverings of such Desirable Wonders Oh! that some Godlike Monarch in this Age wou'd in Royal Bounty equip a Navy and man them with the most Expert and Resolute Mariners on Earth with Vessels to transport an Army of Land-Soldiers With Tenders to carry Meat Drink Apparel and other Necessaries for so vast an Expedition Surely the Event wou'd answer Expectation the Gains wou'd far transcend the Cost the Honour infinitely surpass the Peril and all our Known Familiar World wou'd be oblig'd by such a fortunate Undertaking Sage Omar it depends on thee to bring this thing to pass Start but the Proposal to some Mighty Sovereign Thy Recommendation will be of Force Thou wilt be more than a Columbus Magellan or Pizarra In fine thou wilt wind up the Searches of this Inquisitive Age and put a Stop to future Scrutinies I only hint the Thing do thou pursue it and all Generations shall celebrate thy Fame God inspire thee with fresh Ardours Paris 7th of the 3d. Moon of the Year 1668. LETTER XX. To Osman Adrooneth Astrologer to the Sultan at Adrianople OLD Ptâ—lomy was much out of his Byass his wild irregular Phansy drunk with the Lees of Aristotle's Dark Opinion and Conceit stumbl'd and fell asleep upon the Thought of the Earth's being Center to the Vniverse and then the Rest of the World seem'd to run round his giddy Head He often strovo to lift his Heavy Noddle up to see whether it were so or not But the besotting Load of Prepossession weigh'd him down again He slumber'd dream'd and snorted loud stretch'd out at large upon the fair Chimaera The studious Candidates of Truth and Science by his Example fell to the same Riot in Philosophy and continu'd the Debauch for many Ages Till too much surfeited and cloy'd with such a fulsome Entertainment bold Tycho Brahe rubs up his Eyes and wakes the Company with a new System of the Mighty Frame Then all began to start and rowze as at some Prodigy His Heavenly Gim-cracks pleas'd the Palate of the Age. His Epicycles Eccentricks Perigae's and Apogae's with all the Rest of his gay Whim-whams were received with General Applause Till the more Excellent Copernicus appear'd with something Newer still And then the Blundering Dane abash'd slipt off the Stage without so much as taking his Leave The Astronomers soon fell in Love and pay'd Implicite Adoration to the Idol which Copernicus set up And 't was but Reason since they had never seen a fairer or a juster Scheme of the World before Yet every Age improves it self in Knowledge on the Ruines of the Former And thus what Ptolomy ne'er found out nor Tycho Brahe or Copernicus cou'd mend
Daemon cannot approach May thou and I live always Skreen'd behind our Selves for in that Dark Recess from Visible Things the Eternal loves to manifest his otherwise Invisible Light Adieu Paris the 17th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1670. LETTER XII To Cara Hali Physician to the Grand Signior AFter all my Scepticisms I at this Hour believe there 's Something of us remains Immortal and Incorruptible when our grosser Bodies are dissolv'd Call it what you will an Astral Body a Ghost a Spirit or any Thing else I 'm sensible some Part of us will never die What signifies the vain Dispute of Words the dark Resolves of Plato's Cave Let it be Substance or Accident Matter or Form or a Result of all There 's still a certain Portion of our Nature against which the Stroak of Death and of Ten Hundred Thousand Deaths can ne'er prevail We may be chang'd indeed and masquerade it up and down perhaps through Infinite Worlds in so many different Disguises But we can never be annihilated or made Nothing We cannot be excluded from the Eternal List of Atomes The Loss or Absence of the least Particle from the Vniverse would either cause the Loudest never-ending Thunders and Lightnings or an Everlasting Silence Sullenness and Darkness This mighty Aggregate and Stupendous Heap of Beings would fall to Ruine if there were the least Vacuum or the smallest Mite missing Steal but the most Indivisible Atom from the rest and down comes all the Fabrick For one supports another by an Inseparable Adhesion Reciprocal Congruity and Mathematical Fitness They are so cunningly hitch'd and knit together so closely fasten'd and indented each with other by the Original Art or Chance which form'd the World that all the Motions of this Grand Machine would at an instant stop in such a Case as does a Watch when the least Tooth is missing from any one of the contiguous Wheels Every Thing in Nature is full and pregnant Neither can there be any other Emptiness save what we think we see in Bottles or other Hollow Vessels which when they are void of Water Wine or other Liquors it is but to be cramm'd brim-full of Air which Element insinuates and crowds it self into each Diminutive Crany Chink and Pore of grosser Substances So if the Airy Atomes have any Hollownesses in 'em the smallest Vacancy possible is still supply'd with its full Measure of the purer Aether and that again with some Matter more refin'd if any such there be or else it drinks full Draughts of Immaterial Essences and by such a Sub-ordinate Gradation Humane Souls though in themselves perhaps pure Incorporeal Spirits are yet fasten'd and cemented to our Bodies Thus is one Being successively and Eternally either a Syringe or a Sponge to another The Elements inebriate one another by Turns an Universal Epicurism and Drunkenness Reigns So the Hot Stomach of the Earth parch'd with Inward Mineral Fires greedily guzzles down the very salt unpalatable Lees of the Sea rather than be adry With a Thousand Thousand gaping Throats it gulps the Beverage which Neptune's Deep and Mighty Cellar runs withal It pants and sucks eternally the thick ropy Settlements of the Ocean's Bottom These are distill'd again in hidden Limbecks Cylinders and other Chymical Vessels below that so the gaping Channels on the Superficies may be constantly supply'd with more refin'd Liquor through the Springs and Fountains And yet the Globe not having quench'd its Thirst with this perpetual Draught continually sups up the Rain a Liquor more sublime and pure than all the rest But this is only on certain Holy-days of Fate when the Celestial Powers the Planets Stars and Constellations order a Dunalma for the Vegetable Race Below to refresh the Herbs the Corn and Trees with Banquets from the Clouds Then the Big-belly'd Tuns above are rowl'd out of their hidden Store-houses and broach'd the Conduits of the Vpper Region spout and run with plentiful Showers and Cataracts of Nature's Seminal Juice the Radical All-chearing Nectar of Heaven The greedy Soil imbibes the sacred strong Cascade each joyful Turf is frolicksome and swallows down large Bumpers of the Elemosynary Wine Whilst the least dry and crumbling Lump of the late fainting Glebe has Drops and Supernaculum's enough to revel on till party-colour'd Iris the Major-Domo in these Yearly Festivals perceiving the tender Seeds and Roots are well nigh fuddl'd with what at Second Hand they have exhausted from the over-laden Ground makes her Appearance in the Clouds inviting all the Guests to a splendid Collation of warm Beams and Rays with which the Sun is minded to regale them A grateful soft and chearful Noise was heard throughout the Room before The Earth and Air were in a merry Humour Well pleas'd with the Debauch they would have sat till Morning at it being loth to leave their Liquor behind 'em or change it for dry Meat But at the sight of Iris every one chang'd Countenance an universal Murmur ran throughout the Hall they were sorry thus to be baulk'd i' th' midst of all their Mirth Till courtly Zephyrs come with their soft Compliments and tell 'em It is necessary for their Ease and Health Then are the Tuns and Bottles remov'd with all the drunken Tackle The Table soon is spread and cover'd with a Rich Course of glittering Chargers sent from Phoebus That Sponging Planet only lives by Bantering and Wheedles The Illustrious Figure he makes i' th' World is always borrow'd He never wore a Fashionable Dress in 's Life but what he took up by Tally from the First Source of Lights For which he 's bound to pay so vast an Interest that he would necessarily become a Bankrupt did he not repair his broken Fortune by playing Tricks upon the Earth Thus whilst he mocks this Sublunary World with his pretended Treats he makes it pay for all with costly Exhalations He plunders the Elements picks the Pockets of the Earth and robs the Treasuries of the Sea Nor can he forbear filching something from the Air and when he has stollen enough he slinks away i' th' Dark and flies to th' other side of the Globe there to commence New Shams and Cheats upon the Antipodes And all the while the Stars are full as bad as he For like a Brave Highway-man that Luminary frequents the Publick Road of Heaven by Day he robs in open sight of all the World and leaves a generous Viaticum where-ever he borrows any Thing But the Stars those little Bullies of the Sky are perfect Night-Pads Shop-lifts and Sharpers they skulk about i' th' Dark through all the private Alleys of the Firmament and commit a Thousand Murders Rapes and other Violences Some of their Aspects are as venomous as the Fatal Eyes of Basilisks they carry divers Kinds of Mortal Poysons in their Looks which they disperse at Random in this lower World They strew the Earth with Hemlocks Aconites and other baneful Weeds They also scatter up and down the more contagious Seeds of Envy
asunder with a Knife poisoned on one side and gave the Envenomed Part to Statyra eating the other her self Upon which the Queen died in horrible Anguish and Torture The famous Deeds of many Heroes are also Recorded during the Reign of this Artaxerxes as of Agesilaus King of the Spartans Iphicrates Pharnabazus Tissaphenes and Tizibazus Persians with Conon the Athenian But fearing to entrench on thy Patience I content my self with only mentioning their Names and so finish my Letter with the Conclusion of Artaxerxes his Life who died of Grief for the Death of his Son Arsames whom Ochus his Brother had caused to be Murdered out of Envy and Jealousie because his Father doted on him If I have not answered thy Expectation in this Letter blame not me but the Historians from whom I have collected these Passages or accuse the Men of that Age that they did not perform Greater Actions However in the next thou shalt hear of the Birth and Life of a Great Prophet even Alexander the Conqueror of all Asia In the mean time I plunge my Self in the Idea's of the Dust thou treadest on and shrinking into an Abstract of Humility I bid thee Adieu Paris 2d of the 9th Moon of the Year 1671. The End of the THIRD BOOK LETTERS Writ by A Spy at PARIS VOL. VII BOOK IV. LETTER I. To Pesteli Hali his Brother Master of the Customs and Superintendant of the Arsenal at Constantinople I Know not well whether it is my Part to be sorry or glad when I hear thy Son is Wild and Prodigal That he is Amorous and very much addicted to Frolick with Women Wine and Musick That he frequents the Bathes and Play-Houses on purpose to make some Interest for his Love that he may sometimes get a sight of Beautiful Ladies and have the Pleasure of being admitted into their Company That he haunts the Society of Foreign Merchants the Houses of Christian Embassadors and insinuates himself into the Acquaintance and Familiarity of all Travellers who make any Figure in the Imperial City I protest it seems difficult in my Opinion to determine whether thou thy self hast Reason to be griev'd at all this or not rather to rejoice as at a Presage of his future good Fortune since it is a manifest Argument of the Greatness of his Soul And let that alone to work out its own Way to Happiness Never check a Generous Spirit For such are full of the Divinity They are the Eagles the Lyons the Kings and Princes of the Earth Their Veins flow with Sacred Blood their Nerves strut with the Milk of Paradise A Thousand Excellencies possess their Hearts and Ten Thousand Perfections take Root in their Brains Whatever of Precious is scatter'd up and down in the Elements meets in their Accomplish'd Nature as in an Epitome or rich Compendium of the Brightest Essences an Extract of all that 's Valuable Good and Lovely in the Vniverse Be not discourag'd to see thy Son Amorous of Women 'T is a Sign of a good Nature and he is lookt upon as a Monster or degenerate Person who feels no Warmths or Passions for that lovely Sex Women are sent into the World on purpose to blow up those gentle Flames within our Breasts which sublimate our grosser Mold and make us more refin'd Love is a sacred Phrensie of the Soul a Divine Madness elevating a Man up to the Pitch of a Santone and rendring him the Care of the Benigner Daemons He is every where safe having the Favour of Gods and Men as the Roman Poet expresses it Quisquis Amore tenetur eat tutusque sacerque And had it not been for thy own Experience of this Noble Passion thou hadst not had a Son to complain of Perhaps it makes him expensive and costly in his manner of living He wou'd no doubt appear Gay and Polite in the Eyes of his Mistresses He would be Generous and Magnificent in his Entertainments Liberal to his Friends and Acquaintance Charitable to all Persons in Distress And canst thou really blame him for putting in Practice so many Amiable Vertues Is not this better than to see him of a sneaking sordid Temper addicted to Avarice and other Ignoble Vices Remember thy own Genius when thou wert Young what a passionate Delight thou took'st in Travelling Yet this cou'd not be maintain'd without great Charges Consider therefore that it is thy own Blood running in the Veins of thy Son which prompts him to a Noble Way of living And do not thou imitate those Fathers who by their Severity teach their Children to degenerate instead of making them better or more reform'd They frighten them from the Paths of innate Vertue for the Lucre of their Gold and take Abundance of Pains to instruct them in the Methods of Covetousness as if that alone were the Zenith of Wisdom and Vertue whereas it is in Truth the very Sink and Seminary of all Vice I will relate to thee a Story which I have heard in Paris which has something in it very Singular and Remarkable concerning the Affection and Care of a Father toward his Extravagant and Prodigal Son This old Gentleman had a fair Seat about ten Leagues from this City which had belong'd to his Family for the space of Five Hundred Years His Yearly Revenue was very considerable and having only one Son he gave him the Liberty of managing Half his Estate when he came to the Age of One and Twenty Years This young Spark being of a High Spirit was so far from harbouring any Thoughts of Frugality that he cou'd hardly brook the Necessity of living within the Compass of his Allowance He addicted himself to Gaming Drinking and other lewd Courses which in a short Time consum'd his Means and reduc'd him to great Streights About the same Time his Father dyed and left him the Remainder of his Estate giving him all the Instructions that are usual in such Cases and among the Rest of his Sage Counsels he charg'd him If it shou'd be his Misfortune to become a Bankrupt again so as to be forc'd to sell his Estate that he wou'd at least not part with that House which had been so long in the Possession of their Family Especially he conjur'd him to reserve one particular Chamber for himself as long as he liv'd which was the same where he then lay a-dying For this said he will be a Sanctuary for you when you have no other Place of Refuge in the World After the Old Man's Decease his Son fell to his former Course of Life and to make short of it in a few Years spent all his Patrimony even that very House it self which he was forc'd to sell at last for an under-price to supply his present Necessities However he obey'd his Father's last Injunction and in the Sale of the House made Articles for the perpetual Claim and Use of that Chamber to himself It was not long before he had consum'd the Money which he receiv'd for the House So that now his
have Occasion to retrench such Indifferent Niceties Nay to go farther if we should neglect the stated Periods of Solemn Adoration compell'd thereto by Sickness Travelling or any other Necessity Be not disconsolate as if thou hadst been guilty of a Mortal Sin Some supererogating VVork of Charity will cancell Ten such Faults as that Or at least thou may'st look boldly in the Face of God when at another Season on thy Knees thou makest ample Compensation Or by sacred Abstinence and Fasting dispersest all the Mists and Clouds of Guilt that sate so heavy on thy Soul The Times are all alike to him who is Eternal There 's no Distinction of Day or Night with that Immortal Essence who made the Sun and Stars and is himself th' unchangeable Source of Light So if we shou'd address our Selves to Heaven without the usual Forms of Prayer or any words at all we have no Reason to be sad as if our Oraisons were Ineffectual and Unheard In the Eternal High Recess our silent Vows and softest VVhispers of the Soul Eccho as loud as the most bold and noisy Clamour of the Tongue There is a Rank of Spirits among the Rest Above on purpose made to waft the Secret Thoughts of Mortal Men to Heaven We cannot fail of Audience there when e'er we send the least Ejaculation up with firm Credentials from the Heart In a word believe my Dgnet That the Supremely Intelligent and Wise chiefly regards the Intention and Fervour of our Minds the Habitual Bent of our Souls with the Innocent and Pious Actions of our Lives He is not to be mov'd unless to Indignation by the vain Tautologies of our Verbal Oraisons the nauseating Crambe of devoutest Words common to Hypocrites and Persons of Sincerity to the most Incorrigible Sinners and the Greatest Saints The humble Silence of a Heart resign'd to Destiny is a Pacifick Sacrifice attoning for the greatest Sins attracting choicest Favours Smiles and Benedictions from the Eternal This is the Discipline of Sacred Love the Rule of perfect Life the Secret Chart of the Elect whereby they steer their Course to Paradise Which of the Prophets was a formal Beadsman to number out his Oraisons at Finger's End and offer up to God a short and vain Retail of Words in Recompence of Infinite Bounties Past and in Hopes of more to Come VVhen Mahomet was pursu'd by cruel Infidels and forc'd to make the VVilderness his Sanctuary and hide himself within the Hollow of an Aged Oak He did not seek to amuse th' Eternal with studied Forms of Speech and Humane Eloquence or tire th' Immortal Ears with a Religious long Harangue as if he thought to ensnare the General Mercy of the Holy One in Trains of Artificial and Elaborate Language or catch his more particular Indulgence in a Trap of Subtile Rhetorick The harmless Saint with Heart and Face compos'd with Self-denying Thoughts and Looks stood like a Statue in the Bless'd Asylum VVhilst gentle Rivolets of Compassionate Tears trill'd down his Cheeks His Soul was pierc'd with Sacred Pity to his Enemies He sigh'd and wish'd in short whatever Blameless Piety cou'd suggest for him and them Angels immediately carried the Prophetick Vows to Heaven His silent passionate Prayer was heard The Cruel Persecutors blinded with Impious Fury rush'd into the Desart they spâ—…ad themselves abroad and rode at large One Traytor spurr'd his Horse through thickest VVebs of low entangl'd Thorns and Underwoods greedy of the Royal and Majestick Prey whilst others took the open Paths hoping to overtake the Prophet on the Flight They seem'd to swim or fly rather than ride such was the Swiftness of their Course Fierce was the Cry re-eccho'd from the Hollows of the Rocks and Valleys Mecca for the Head of Mahomet Some stumbled at the out-creeping Roots of Trees and broke a Leg or Arm by a Precipitate Fall from off their Beasts whilst others had their Eyes struck Blind by Interfering Twigs One had his Turbant rudely brush'd off and Scalp severely shav'd by broken Stumps of Boughs and Rows of Knotty Branches plac'd and bent down by Fate on Purpose to revenge th' Apostle's Cause on such a Miscreant as this Another cou'd not curb his Horse from jumping down into a deep blind Quarrey dugg i' th' midst o' th' VVood where the proud Heretick dash'd his Skull and Brains upon the Marble Pavement at the Bottom So Sensible and Vindictive are Inanimate Creatures when a Good Man a Saint a Friend of God is wrong'd The very Stocks and Stones and all the Elements are touch'd with Sacred Sympathies at such a Time The Frame of Nature feels strange tender Passions Fits and Qualms of Amorous Regard And God himself if I may so express my self is rowz'd as from a Trance and snatching up the Weapons of his Power and VVrath runs like a Champion to defend the Cause of injur'd Innocence But I forget that I am writing a Letter and therefore ought to be Brief Besides what I have said is sufficient to convince thee That I have an Idea of Religion far different from that which the Casuists whether Mussulmans or Christians would Imprint in Men's Minds If thou can'st not think as I do I condemn thee not Use thy Native Freedom but remember That tho' Men's Reasons and Opinions vary as do their Faces yet Truth is Homogeneous Uniform and ever of the same Complexion in all Ages and Nations Paris the 1st of the 2d Moon of the Year 1672. LETTER IV. To the Kaimacham THE King of France has lately made a League with the King of England VVhereupon the People by way of Proverb say That Mars and Jupiter are now in Conjunction Reflecting thereby on the different Tempers of these Two Princes The One Debonaire and Jovial Excessively addicted to VVomen and VVine yet not forgetting or declining Martial Affairs when his Honour or Interest invites him to take up Arms The Other seeming wholly taken up with the Thoughts of Conquest and enlarging his Dominions yet sparing some Time for the Enjoyment of Himself and Prosecution of his Amours However both of them now have proclaim'd Open VVar against the Hollanders by Sea and Land The King of Sweden who was before an Allie of the Dutch has of late declar'd himself a Neuter And the Bishop of Munster who is one of the Electors of the German Empire is engag'd in the French Interest Thus are some of the Princes and States in Europe divided already and God knows how far the Breach may extend in Time 'T is not altogether unworthy of Remark what different Factions there were of Late amongst the Hollanders themselves tho' a Republick pretending to greater and faster Union of Interests than what can be found in any Monarchy Yet this Commonwealth was rent into Three several Parties VVhereof One was headed by the Prince of Orange the Other by John De-Wit and the Third was compos'd of the Commons without any Chief of Note I will 〈◊〉 trouble thee with a Character of the Prince
Nature Then having by a curious and painful Scrutiny trac'd out the true Genealogies of Things cast their Nativities and discover'd all their Kindred Allies Friends and Enemies knew by applying in due Seasons Actives to proper Passives how to produce Effects appearing stupendious Prodigies to the Vulgar and no less than Miracles VVhereas all this is but a pure Result of Nature help'd by Humane Art So VVatches Dyals Clocks and Mirrours appear'd at first to th' Ignorant VVorld the Effects of Magick Especially the Simple Natives of America shew'd little more VVit than Apes or Cats which look behind the Glass to find the Active Figure of themselves that they saw in it And now I 'm got amongst those poor Barbarians I can't forget a Passage of a Peruvian Slave who being sent by his Spanish Master with a Basket of choice Fruit and a Letter to his Friend The silly Ignoramus being faint by Reason of the excessive Heat his Journey being also tedious from the Town of Lima to a Village near the Mountains of Potosi eat up the Fruit by the way to allay his Hungry Thirst However not having so good a Stomach to the Letter he deliver'd it safe to the Person to whom it was address'd never once dreaming that an Insensible Piece of Paper cou'd tell Tales But that discovering his Crime when he came home his Master order'd him the Bastinado to make him sensible of it Then he was sent again on the same Errand with Oranges and a Letter and meeting with the same Temptation he knew not what to do At last he hid the Letter under a Heap of Sand wisely concluding That if it saw him not it cou'd ne'er betray his Fact However to secure it from all Means of peeping he spread his Mantle o'er the Place and then fell roundly to his Banquet thinking he shou'd now have no Accuser In fine he eat up all the Oranges and was worse bang'd for his Pains than the time before Generous Hali thou seest I 'm fall'n into the same Error for which I made Apology at the Beginning of this Letter But thou canst easily forgive such Crimes as these Suffer me only to relapse thus far That I may mention the Mathematical Magicians such as Archytas who made a Wooden Pigeon to fly and Albert the Great who taught a Brazen Head to speak not forgetting him unknown by Name who gave to the Statues of Mercury Voluble Tongues and Elegant Language by whose Mechanick Art a Brazen Serpent learnt to hiss and Birds of the same Metal with other Helps outvy'd the Nightingales and Thrushes in their Melody I will not omit the Execrable Practices of Necromancers or such as Invocate the Dead and with nefandous Ceremonies Rites and Sacrifice call to their Aid Infernal Spirits bind them in Crystals or some other Vehicle and then Adore them as the Ancient Romans did their Lares and Penates These are their Oracles which they consult in all Emergencies and by their Help work Wonders in the World foretell Things Future and reveal the most remote and hidden Secrets whether Past or Present Nor is this a Fable or an Old Wives Tale for unless the experienc'd Nations of the Earth had found some real Evils from Wizards Magicians and Witches they wou'd not have made so severe Laws against them as to aim at their Extermination from the Earth Neither need we admire that Women are as much addicted to these cursed Vanities as Men since they are naturally more inquisitive into Secrets and less cautious of being impos'd upon They 're prone to Superstition and from their Infancy bred up to observe their Dreams their Moles and other Marks upon their Bodies They covet all the Depth of Palmestry and Physiognomy besides a thousand other little Follies If they meet a Man i' th' street at first going out they are encourag'd and take it for a Sign of their good Fortune but if one of their own Sex encounters them they curse the undesigning Female and return home again They observe Fatal Days and Nights and certain Critical Hours wherein they try Experiments to know their Future Husbands They brew Enchanting Philters for their Lovers and Intoxicate them with Liquors wherein young Human Cupids have been boil'd with Herbs as powerfull to effect their Wish as those that Circe or Medea knew In short there is no Species of Sortilegy or Divination which vain young Maidens are not practis'd in Which is a fair Disposition or Introduction to the Blackest kind of Magick But blessed are they O Pious and most learned Hali who being profoundly skill'd and daily conversant in the Science of Nature have never yet tainted themselves by any unlawfull Commerce with Spirits Unclean Infernal and Enemies to God They are Divine Magicians having Celestial Characters the Hidden Name of God imprinted on their Souls whereby they are able to attract the Angels and make the Highest Spirits obey them Hali God grant that thou may'st be one of this Venerable and Happy Number Farewell Paris the 5th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1672. LETTER VI. To Orchan Cabet Student of the Sciences and Pensioner to the Grand Signior IT has been a long time since the Christians have openly publish'd Libels against our Holy Lawgiver and the Book which he received from the Hands of Gabriel one of the Chief Princes of Heaven They affirm for an undoubted Truth That Mahomet himself compos'd that Volume of Light by the Help of Nestorius a Christian Monk and Abdalla a Jew And that it is but an Artificial Medley a Hotch-potch or Gallimaufry of Pagan Jewish and Christian Principles cunningly suited and blended together in order to gain Proselytes of all Religions I protest by the Veneration I owe to the Eternal God of Heaven That I really believe the Alcoran to be of Divine Original Such is the inimitable Elegance of the Style the Brightness and Force of its Reasons and Arguments the wonderfull and charming Contexture of Things Historical Moral and Divine That all the Writings in the World beside seem to me flat and insipid compar'd with this Sacred and Stupendous Pandect of Wisedom Yet I must confess I know not how to answer the Accusation of the Nazarenes because I have never read any Mussulman Treatise that undertook to refute these Calumnies Which makes me apt to think there is none such extant For I have made diligent Enquiry discours'd with several Learned Doctors of our Law but can gain no Satisfaction in that Point Perhaps our Fathers in former Ages were ignorant how the Messenger of God had been traduc'd by the Christians or if they knew it yet they disdain'd to answer such Malicious Lyes And as for these Modern Times the Zeal of Religion is grown too Cold among the True Believers Every one is carried away with Self-Love whilst no Man will be at the Pains to defend the Truth or manifest the Errors of our Enemies Besides it is now impossible to disprove what they say concerning Nestorius