Paul wrote two Epistles in the latter whereof he forewarneth them of a great Defection to come before the latter day Before this Christian City then in the Protection of the Venetians Amurath encamped his great Army of misbelieving Turks and laid hard Siege to it with most terrible Battery at which time he by secret means corrupted certain of the wicked Citizens to have betrayed the City by a secret Mine and to have let him in which Treason was by the Venetian Governors perceived and the Plotters thereof for safeguard of their lives glad to leap over the Walls and to fly into the Turks Camp. Amurath having greatly battered the Walls of the City the more to encourage his Souldiers promised to give them all the Spoil thereof if they could by force win it The greedy desire of this rich Prey wherein every common Souldier promised unto himself whatsoever his foolish fancy or unbrideled affection could desire so inflamed the minds of these barbarous Souldiers and especially of the Janizaries that giving a most terrible Assault to the City they by force entred the same and won it The Venetian Souldiers fled to their Gallies lying at Anchor in the Haven and so got to Sea but the infinite miseries which the poor Christian Citizens endured in the fury of that barbarous Nation no Tongue is able to express or Pen describe death was less pain than the ignominious Outrages and unspeakable Villanies which many good Christians there suffered heartily wishing to die and could not and yet the furious Enemies Sword devoured all the people without respect of Age or Sex except such as for strength of body or comeliness of person were reserved for painful labour or beastly lust which poor Souls were afterwards dispersed into most miserable servitude and slavery through all parts of the Turkish Kingdom The infinite Riches of that famous City became a spoil unto the barbarous Souldiers the goodly Houses were left desolate void of Inhabitants Thus the beautiful City of Thessalonica sometime one of the most glorious Ornaments of Graecia the late pleasant dwelling-place of many rich Christians was by the Tyrant given for an habitation to such base Turks as at their pleasure repaired thither to seat themselves and so is by them at this day possessed This Calamity happened to Thessalonica in the year of our Lord 1432. Thessalonica being thus taken Amurath returned to Hadrianople himself and at the same time sent Caratze with the greatest part of his Army into Aetolia Charles Prince of that Country dying a little before the coming of Amurath to Thessalonica and having no lawful Issue had divided the Country of Acharnania amongst his three base Sons Memnon Turnus and Hercules leaving all the rest of his Dominion to his Brothers Son called also Charles But shortly after such discord â—ell among these Brethren that Amurath sending his Turks to Aid one of them against the other as he was by them requested in fine brought all that Country of Aetolia into Subjection to Himself leaving nothing for the foolish Brethren to strive for more than the bare titles of imaginative Honour The other Grecian Princes of Athens Phocis Boetia and all the rest of Graecia unto the strait of Corinth terrified by their Neighbours harms were glad to submit themselves to the barbarian Yoke and to become Tributaries unto the Turkish Tyrant under which slavery they of long time most miserably lived if intollerable slavery joyned with Infidelity may be accounted a life Thus the Grecians lost their Liberty which their Ancestors had many times before to their immortal Praise worthily defended against the greatest Monarchs of the World and are now so degenerate by the means of the Turkish Oppression that in all Graecia is hardly to be found any small remembrance of the ancient Glory thereof insomuch that whereas they were wont to account all other Nations barbarous in comparison of themselves they are now become no less barbarous than those rude Nations whom they before scorn'd Which misery with a thousand more they may justly impute to their own Ambition and Discord At this time amongst the distressed Princes of Macedonia and Graecia one Iohn Castriot reigned in Epirus who seeing how mightily the Turk prevailed against the Princes his Neighbours and considering that he was not able by any means to withstand so puissant an Enemy to obtain Peace he was glad to deliver into Amurath his Possession his four Sons Stanisius Reposius Constantine and George for Hostages whom Amurath faithfully promised well and honourably to entreat But assoon as he had got them within his reach he falsified his Faith and caused them to be circumcised after the Turkish manner and to be instructed in the Turkish Superstition to the great grief of their Christian Parents and afterwards when he understood of the death of Iohn Castriot their Father he poisoned all the three elder Brethren and by Sebaly one of his great Captains seised upon Croia his chief City and all the rest of his Territories as if they had by good right devolved unto him But George the youngest whom the Turks named Scander-beg or Lord Alexander for this excellent Feature and pregnant Wit he always entirely loved as some thought more passionately than he should have loved a Boy Him he caused to be diligently instructed in all kind of activity and feats of War wherein he excelled all other his Equals in Amurath his Court and rising by many degrees of Honour came at last being yet but very young to be a great Sanzack or Governor of a Province and was many times appointed by Amurath to be General of his Armies in which Service he so behaved himself that he got the love of all that knew him and increased his credit with Amurath until at last he found opportunity by great policy and courage to deliver both himself and his native Country from the horrible slavery of the Turkish Tyranny as shall be afterwards declared Shortly after that Amurath had thus danted the Princes of Graecia he turned his Forces into Servia but the Prince of Servia unable to withstand so mighty an Enemy to procure his Favour sent Embassadors offering to pay him a yearly Tribute and to do further what he should reasonably demand Amurath beside the yearly Tribute required to have Mary this Princes fair Daughter in marriage and that he should not suffer the Hungarians to pass through his Country to invade him and further not at any time to deny passage unto the Turkish Army when he should send forth the same for the Invasion of the Kingdom of Bosna All which unreasonable conditions the Prince was glad to agree unto and fent his fair Daughter by Saratze who was afterwards married to Amurath About this time Iosephus and Machmutes Amurath his Brethren and Orchanes the Son of Solyman who had his Eyes put out by his Uncle Mahomet with many other Men of great account among the Turks died of the Plague at Prusa
produce factions or disturbances in the State. But these modern times have produced other Sects amongst the Turks some of which seem in part dangerous and apt to make a considerable rupture in their long continued union when time changes and revolutions of State shall animate some turbulent spirits to gather Souldiers and Followers under these Doctrines and other specious pretences One of which is call Kadezadeli a Sect sprung up in the time of Sultan Morat whose chief Propagatour was one Burgali Effendi who invented many Ceremonies in praying for the Souls departed at the burial of the dead Those that are of this Sect cause their Imaum to cry loud in the ears of the inanimate body to remember that God is one and his Prophet one Those who are principally devoted to this Sect are the Russians and other sort of Renegado Christians who amongst their confused and almost forgotten notions of the Christian Religion retain a certain Memory of the particulars of Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead But the opinion esteemed Orthodox and most generally allowed amongst the Turks is That no Mahometan gones eternally to Hell but after a certain space of years is delivered thence and passes into Paradise After death they assign two sorts of punishments the first is called Azabâ— Kaberi or the punishment of the Grave which being the bed of wicked men binds with its Earth so fast as it crushes their bones and shuts the pores and crevises through which they should see into Heaven but the bodies of good men enjoy the comfort of having a window from their dark inclosure to behold the Vision of God's glory The other is the pain of Hell where the souls remain untill their torments are accomplished and Divine Justice satisfied There is an opinion of late years principally maintained amongst the Gallants of the Seraglio and common in Constantinople the professours of which are called Chupmessahi or the good followers of the Messiah these maintain that Christ is God and Redeemer of the World the young Scholars in the Grand Signior's Court are generally devoted to this Tenent especially those which are the most courteous affable and best disposed that it is grown into a Proverb amongst them when they would commend and praise gentleness and courtesie of each others nature they do it with the expression of Chupmessabisen as if they would say You are gentle accomplished and excessive in your favours as becomes one who professes the Messiah Of this sort of people there are great numbers in Constantinople some of which have so boldly asserted this Doctrine that they have suffered Martyrdom under this denomination which is still maintained and secretly professed by such multitudes as wear white Turbants that upon some notable opportunity were this Cause and Religion made the ground of some Toleration and Insurrection amongst its Disciples and Professours it might take an unexpected footing and prepare a ready way for the Plantation of the Gospel but of this we shall speak more hereafter in its due place And because it is our intent here to declare the several Religions amongst the Tâ—â—ks it will not be from our purpuse to mention how far Atheism hath spread it self into the Countries and as Logicians illucidate one contrary with another and Painters set off the Whiteness of their Colours with a foil of Jet or other Blackness so the privation of all Religion is not unaptly placed in the same Chapter with the various and different professours of it These then give themselves the Title of Muserin which signifies The true secret is with us which secret is no other than the absolute denial of a Deity that nature or the intrinsecal principle in every individual thing directs the orderly course which we see and admire and that the Heavens Sun Moon and Stars have thence their original and motion and that man himself rises and fades like the grass or flower It is strange to consider what quantities there are of men that maintain this principle in Constantinople most of which are Kadies and learned men in the Arabian Legends and others are Renegadoes from the Christian Faith who conscious of the sin of their Apostasie and therefore desirous that all things may conclude with this World are the more apt to entertain those opinions which come nearest to their wishes One of this Sect called Mahomet Effendi a rich man Educated in the knowledge of the Eastern Learning I remember was in my time executed for impudently proclaiming his blasphemies against the being of a Deity making it in his ordinary discourse an argument against the being of a God for that either there was none at all or else not so wise as the Doctours preached he was in suffering him to live who was the greatest enemy and scorner of a Divine Essence that ever came into the World. And it is observable that this man might notwithstanding his accusation have saved his life would he but have confessed his errour and promised for the future an assent to the principles of a better but he persisted still in his blasphemies saying That though there were no reward yet the love of truth obliged him to die a Martyr I must confess untill now I never could believe that there was a formal Atheism in the World concluding that the principle of the being of a God was demonstrable by the Light of Nature but it is evident now how far some men have extinguished this light and lamp in their Souls This poisonous Doctrine is so Infectious that it is crept into the Chambers of the Seraglio into the Appartments of the Ladies and Eunuchs and found entertainment with the Pashaes and their whole Court this sort of People are great favourers and lovers of their own Sect courteous and hospitable to each other and if any by chance receives a Guest within his Gates of their own judgment besides his Diet and Fare with much freedom he is accommodated with a handsome Bedfellow of which Sex he most delights they are very frank and liberal and excessive in their readiness to do each other service It is said that Sultan Morat was a great favourer of this opinion in his Court and Militia desirous withal to propagate that of Kadizadeli amongst the vulgar that they being a severe morose and covetous people might grow rich and spare for the benefit of his Exchequer for the Sect of Kadizadeli before-mentioned is of a melancholy and Stoical temper admitting of no Musick chearfull or light discourses but confine themselves to a set Gravity in publick as well as private they make a continual mention of God by a never wearied repetition of these wordâ— Ilahe ila Ellah that is I profess there is one God There are some of these that will sit whole nights bending their bodies towards the Earth reciting those words with a most dolefull and lamentable Note they are exact and most punctual in the observation of the rules of Religion and
Grandfather being with as little stir as might be deposed he himself might alone injoy the Empire But needing Mony for the effecting of so great matters he by force took all the Mony from the Collectors whom the old Emperor had sent into Thracia for the taking up of Mony there telling them that he was an Emperor also and in need of Mony and that the common charge was likewise by the common Purse to be discharged After that he took his way towards Constantinople pretending that upon special causes he had occasion to send Embassadors unto the Sultan of Egypt for the transporting of whom he was there to take order for the setting forth of a great Ship and other things necessary for the journey Neither went he slenderly appointed but with a great Power and the Cities of Thracia before well assured unto him such as he suspected being thrust out of Office and others more assured unto him placed in their steads But whilst he thus bestirreth himself one of those that were most inward with him detesting so foul a Treason secretly fled from him unto his Grandfather from point to point discovering unto him all the intended Treacheries and withal how that his Nephew had determined to depose him from his Empire or otherwise to bereave him of his life if he should stand upon his Guard but if in the attempt he should find easie success then to spare his life and depriving him of the Imperial Dignity to thrust him as a Monk into a Monastery and therefore advised him to beware how he suffered him after his wonted manner to come into the City for fear of a general revolt but rather by force to keep him out Which the Emperor hearing and comparing with other things which he had heard of others yet sounding in his Ears deeming it to be true stood up and in the anguish of his Soul thus complained unto God Revenge my quarrel O God upon them that do me wrong and let them be ashamed that rise up against me and preserve thou unto me the Imperial Power which by thee given unto me he cometh to take from me whom I my self begot and advanced After he began to consider what course to take for the assurance of himself and his State in so great a danger And first he sent unto his Nephew come half way to forbid him from entring the City and to tell him that it was a great folly for him being so manifest a Traitor both unto his Grandfather and the State to think his traiterous purposes to be unknown unto the World. And beside in way of reproof to rehearse unto him how many occasions he had given for the breaking of the League with his Grandfather first in taking away the Mony from the Collectors whereof the State never stood in more need by reason of the division of the Empire which required double charge then in that he had in the City every where displaced such Governors and Magistrates as his Grandfather had sent thither and placed others at his pleasure with many other like facts declaring his treacherous aspiring mind for which he was not without cause by his Grandfather forbidden to enter the City After that the old Emperor by secret Letters craved aid of Crales Prince of Servia and Demetrius the Despot his Son who was then Governor of Thessalonica and the Countries adjoyning commanding him with Andronicus and Michael his Nephews Governors of Macedonia with all the Forces they were able to raise and such aid as should be sent unto them out of Syria with all speed to joyn together and to go against the young Emperor But these Letters thus written unto the Prince of Servia the Despot and others as is before said were for the most part intercepted by such as the young Emperor had for that purpose placed upon the Straits of Cristopolis and the other passages especially such as were written in Paper yet some others in fine white linnen Cloth and secretly sowed in the Garments of such as carried them escaped for all their strait search and so were delivered And in truth nothing was done or about to be done in Constantinople but that the yong Emperor was by one or other advertised thereof whereas the old Emperor on the other side understood nothing what his Nephew did abroad or intended For all men of their own accord inclined to him some openly both Body and Soul as they say and such as could not be with him in person yet in Mind and good Will were even present with him and that not only the common sort of the Citizens of Constantinople but the chief Senators the great Courtiers yea and many other of the Emperors nearest Kinsmen also who curiously observing whatsoever was done in the City forthwith certified him thereof Amongst whom was also Theodorus the Marquess one of the old Emperors own Sons who many years before by the Empress his Mother sent into Italy and there honourably married was by his prodigal course of life there grown far in debt so that leaving his Wife and Children behind him he was glad after the decease of his Mother to flie unto his Father at Constantinople and there now lived who beside that he most honourably maintained him in the Court and bestowed many great things upon him paid also all his Debts which were very great All which Fatherly kindness he forgetting went about most Iudas like to have betrayed his aged Father For he also dreaming after the Empire and for many causes but especially for that he was in Mind Religion Manners and Habit become a Latine by him rejected thought he could not do him a greater despight than by revolting unto the young Emperor so that the nearer he was in blood the more he was his Fathers unnatural Enemy Shortly after Demetrius the Despot having received the Emperors Letters at Thessalonica called unto him Andronicus and Michael his Nephews the Governors of Macedonia with whom joyning all his Force and dayly expecting more aid out of Servia he first spoiled the young Emperors Friends and Favourites in Macedonia giving the Spoil of them in all the Cities and Towns of Macedonia unto their Souldiers who made havock of whatsoever they light upon and whosoever seemed any way to withstand them or dislike of their Proceedings their Goods and Lands they confiscated and drave the men themselves into exile Neither was the young Emperor Andronicus in the mean time idle but secretly sent out his Edicts into all parts of the Empire yea into the very Cities of Constantinople and Thessalonica and over all Macedonia whereby he proclaimed unto the People in general a releasement of them from all Tributes Impositions and Payments and frankly promised unto the Souldiers and Men of War the augmenting of their Pensions and Pay which were no sooner bruited but that most men were therewith moved both in Word and Deed to favour his proceedings doing what they could to further the same and by secret Letters
Faith and Protector of Europe and that is it for which the Pope doth with his Letters dayly solicite and importune you And albeit that the common cause and quarrel of the Christian Religion require it yet doth the necessity of Hungary and Polonia no less enforce it of which the one is most miserably and dayly vexed with the Turks Forces and Fury out of Servia and Dalmatia and the other out of Moldavia and Valachia Now if any there be whom neither the zeal of Religion the necessity of the cause the hope of immortal Fame and Glory can move let their own Safâ—ty the present Servitude of their Wives and Children the Safeguard of their Wealth and Substance the lawful Revenge of the Wrongs done them stir them up to take in hand this sacred Expedition So fit an opportunity is now given unto you that at one and the self-same time you may set your bodies in perpetual Safety and Happiness your Souls in Quietness and Rest and unto both give Eternal Glory and Happiness You lack not worthy Captains Mony the Sinews of the War which shall be brought unto you from all parts of the Christian Common-wealth not lusty and couragious Souldiers not Policy not Fortune not the propitious Hevenly Powers which have made choice of you for the defence of the true Faith and Religion you want nothing worthy Princes but Will. It is an Expedition necessary religious profitable and honourable wherein are propounded most ample Rewards both in this Life and in the Life to come Wherefore most mighty Prince and you right worthy Princes all I pray and beseech you by the Faith of Christ Iesus by the Love of your Children by the Health of your Kingdom and deliverance from your present destruction with valiant Courage and one Consent to take this sacred War in hand and so thereby to enrol your Names in the Eternal Book of Fame And sith that you are to go not so much to a Worldly as a Spiritual War against the Enemies of Christ and his Truth take up your Arms with such Zeal Courage and Chearfulness as the Expectation and Hope of Men as your Valour the present Danger and the Mercies of God towards you seem of right to require This Legate having made an end forthwith ensued the miserable Supplication and Tears of the Despot perswading them of the necessity of that Expedition to be taken in hand declaring unto them the Cruelty of the Turks their Torments and strange Tortures his Sons deprived of their Sight and spoiled of their Genitories many half mangled and more cut in sunder with Saws some slain quick and others buried alive with many other strange kinds of death such as would abhor any Christian Ears to hear And warning the Hungarians by his example to beware how much they had need to look to themselves told them That they were but by the River Savus divided from the Turks which in Summer was oftentimes to be waded over and in Winter hard frozen and so to be passed that the Country beyond Danubius lay all open upon them and that he sometime the rich King of Servia was now driven into exile by the power of the Turk deprived of his Kingdom of his Children shamefully disgraced spoiled of his Wealth and Fortune glad to flie from place to place and yet not able to find any safe place to rest in First he fled as he said to Ragusium where by and by he was sought after and endangered by the Turks then into Hungary which was also forthwith by them on every side infested and whereof the Barbarian King now asked Tribute to have some colour for the invasion thereof which dreadful Enemy was not far off from it but still hovered even over it as well witnesseth Valachia and Transylvania two of the greatest and richest Provinces of the Hungarian Kingdom which had not the Valour of Huniades the Fortune of the Common-Weal and above all the Mercy of God delivered out of the Hands of this filthy Nation the State of Hungary had now been utterly forlorn The Events of War he said were divers Fortune uncertain and that God would not every day be tempted Wherefore with many Tears abundantly running down his aged Face he besought King Uladislaus and the rest not to let slip this fair occasion neither by Cowardise or Negligence to break off the course of their good Fortune and Victory but to make choice rather to become Revengers of other mens harms than of their own and to satisfie the good opinion the World had conceived of them He was as he said a sufficient Example to all Men. Besides that he offered a great sum of Mony himself towards the defraying of the Charges of the War assuring them also of great supplies both of Men and Mony from divers other Christian Princes Which opinion of the Legate and Despots being generally liked and approved a Decree was made by a whole Court of Parliament there assembled That the King should himself in person with all speed possible entertain that honourable War. So that though it were now upon the approach of Winter yet were Men taken up in every place and Embassadors sent unto the Emperor and the other Neighbour Princes to pray of them Aid against the common Enemy Who for the most part excused themselves by their own particular Affairs but sent no Aid at all Nevertheless many devout Christians both out of France and Germany for the Zeal they bare unto Christ and the Christian Religion forsaking Wife and Children and whatsoever they had else came and worthily served upon their own Charge The Spring being come and Supplications made in all places for the prosperous success of this Religious War King Uladislaus the first of May set forward from Buda where passing the River Danubius and marching fair and softly and coming to the River Tibiscus he there staied three days for the coming of his Army Departing thence and marching on alongst the side of Danubius until he came within the sight of Bulgaria he there at a place called Cobis over against Sinderovia passed over Danubius with his Army which was now grown very great and so marched directly to Sophia situate about six days march from Danubius in the Frontiers of Bulgaria so called of a most sumptuous and magnificent Temple there built by Iustinian the great Emperor Which City being then old and ruinous and but badly fortified was easily taken and afterward for that it was not well to be holden was by the Kings commandment burnt as were all the other Country Towns and Villages thereabouts to the terror of the rest Marching thence he came unto the River Morava and there incamped where the plain Country easily riseth and falleth in manner of the Sea when it is moved with a little Wind. Here five hundred Horsemen being sent over the River not so much to seek after Prey as to view the Country which way the Army might most safely and easily pass
his hands bound behind him as a Slave speechless and confounded unable to hold up his head for shame whose misery moved most of the beholders to compassion and forced tears out of the eyes of many The next day after this great Victory Scanderbeg caused the bodies of the slain Turks to be buried together with their Horses which he did not for any regard of them but that their loathsome Carkases should not infect the Country and after that returned in great Triumph to Croia By the way as he went the Country people which were before for fear of the Turks fled into the Woods and Mountains in great multitudes met him as he did others also out of the Cities whose mouths were all full of his worthy Praises Before him went the Captive Turks with their hands bound behind them excepting such as were enforced to carry the Turks Ensigns Next unto them followed the great Bassaes rich Pavilion in such manner supported by the Souldiers as if it had been in the field Then came Scanderbeg himself with the Turkish Sanzack â—nd Amesa following him for Amesa had with great and humble Suit obtained of his Uncle that he might not as he well deserved be carried bound among the other Captives Last of all came Scanderbeg his Victorious Souldiers in goodly order every man leading a spare Horse taken from the Enemy and loaded with spoil So when he was come to Croia and there of his Subjects joyfully received he brake up his Army and gave every man leave at his pleasure to depart The Sanzack and Amesa were committed to safe keeping until farther Order was taken for them Amesa afterwards was for his Treason worthily condemned to perpetual Prison and by an Embassador from Scanderbeg sent unto King Alphonsus to Naples there to be kept in durance and with him was also sent an honourable Present of part of the spoil taken from the Turks in token of the Victory What became afterward of this Amesa concerneth not much the course of our History yet to satisfie the desirous I think it not amiss with him to stray a little out of the way When Amesa had remained a year in Prison at Naples Scanderbeg understanding of the death of Alphonsus by his Embassador requested of Ferdinand his Son to have Amesa restored to him again But which means he was brought back again into Epirus and cast in Prison at Croia but not in such straight manner as before for Scanderbeg according to his accustomed Clemency began now to forget the injury to him before done and at last overcome with the continual Supplication and Tears of his Nephew pardoned him his life and restoring him to his former liberty received him also into his former favour But Amesa remembring what Pledges of his Loyalty he had left with Mahomet at Constantinople and fearing what would become of his Wife and Children if he should hastily use that his liberty giving his Uncle most humble thanks brake unto him his mind concerning that matter as followeth Whereas you of your own gracious goodness only without any desert of mine have regarded my Life and Welfare it behoveth me also to be careful for the life of others lest whilst I receive your exceeding bounty with too much desire of minâ— own Health and Honour I do at this present by this same benefit of yours cast away them whom I have long sithence by mine own Treachery undone Mine unfortunate and guiltless Wife is with Mahomet my little and innocent Children are with him also these yet live and shall live so long as the Tyrant shall think that I live in heart his but when be shall once perceive by this your gracious dealing that I am fallen from him the cruel Creditor will forthwith cut and rend in pieces the Pledges of my Faith and their innocent blood shall pay the guilt of their Fathers offence Wherefore the Othoman Tyrant is of me by some device to be deceived that I may in the mean time preserve those Pledges until I may by some fit occasion afterwards redeem the same I will by your leave this night take my flight out of Croia as if I had broken Prison and escaped against your will and so fly unto Mahomet making the greatest shew I can of my wonted Love and Loyalty towards him not omitting to hear or speak unto that credulous King such things concerning your Estate as I was wont in my better Fortune that having so cleared my self of all suspition which he perhaps hath conceived by reason of my Captivity and long stay with you I may at length with my Wife and Children so escape from him Wherein you may help me much if you shall openly make shew as if you were grieved with my escape and seem to be highly offended with the Keepers of the Prison for the same In the mean time whilst I shall stay in the Tyrants Court expecting some fit time for my escape I will stand you in stead of an Intelligencer so that your Enemy shall not to my knowledge either attempt or go about any thing against you which shall be kept from your hearing or knowledge Scanderbeg refused not to grant whatsoever he had requested but said unto him Amesa sithence we have granted you life with all the good things thereunto belonging we will not prohibit you to use that our Gift to your most good and to the preservation of them who for ever may most justly call upon you as debtor unto them for their welfare and liberty Go thy ways proceed take thy time and occasion as it seemeth unto thâ—e best and at length reform thy self whilst thou yet hast sufficient time and space We now believe you in all things and well like of this your device Amesa you shall herein deceive no man but your self if you shall longer follow the Faith and Court of the barbarous King whereas like danger is both of Body and Soul both to thee and thine Whensoever thou shalt return unto us thou canst not do us a greater pleasure and in what regard thou hast heretofore been with us in the same thou shalt be with us again The same night Amesa by secret Order from Scanderbeg escaped both out of Prison and out of Croia and in the morning it was all over the City that he was gone and the Keepers sharply rebuked for their negligence He coming to Constantinople easily perswaded Mahomet that he was by chance escaped with all things else that he told him yet was he not for all that so well graced of him as before not for any distrust he had in the man but for the evil success he had in the former Wars Now whether Amesa neglected his promised return or could find no opportunity to perform the same is uncertain but certain it is that shortly after he died at Constantinople poisoned as was thought by the commandment of Mahomet who could no longer endure the sight of him whom he reckoned the Author of
to themselves and others all things easie and safe But when they began to approach the Island they sent a Scout before to understand by signs from the Castle of St. Angelo whether they were to proceed forward or not who coming so far that they might discover the sign perceived thereby that they should retire Which thing the Turks perceiving also presently with the smoke of their great Ordnance and other things they so obscured the Air as with a thick Cloud in such sort as that those signs were no more to be discerned but all in vain for why our Men had already descried them so those three Gallies returned again to Sicilia For Valetta that good Prince thought it not meet to bring so many of the sacred Knights so many noble Gentlemen and valiant Souldiers into a most manifest danger for he saw certain of the Turks Gallies to lie by night in the mouth of the Haven Marza Moxet at a place called The Little sands to impeach the going in or out of the Haven Major About the same time they which lay in Garrison in the City Melita hearing of the notable Sally made by the Souldiers lately come and taking heart thereupon at such time as the Turks were fetching in a certain booty of Cattel the Horsemen pursued them and having slain divers of them recovered the Prey and yet not so contented chased them even to their Camp. But the other Turks seeing their Fellows flying in such hast towards them raised an Alarm ran to their Generals Tent and for that time ceased their battery The Great Master probably conjecturing that the Turks would in short time assault both the Town and Castle of St. Michael thought good by his presence to encourage and strengthen the Garrison and therefore was about to have gone thither by a Bridge made of Boats from the one point of the Land to the other between St. Michaels and S. Angelo but quickly understanding the certainty thereof returned again into his Castle Some there be that think For him to have so done had been a venturous part and full of danger and therefore to have been discommended for that great things are performed not so much by strength of body as of mind by politique counsel and direction wherewith a General although absent may yet with his Forces be always present but the General once lost which may easily happen if he will present his Person to the danger we see most commonly all fall together with him no otherwise than do all parts of the Body when the Soul departeth But other-some are of contrary opinion That the Generals presence especially in great dangers is both praise-worthy and most necessary for that he as the Soul cannot provide for or rule the body except it be present yea placed therein and that Valetta in so doing followed the Examples of the greatest Kings and most famous Generals as of Alexder the Great Iulius Caesar Themistocles Marius and others whose words unto their Souldiers were these I my self will be your Conductor in the Field in the battel partaker of the danger with you you shall be in all things as my self Besides that who knoweth not that as in other things so most of all in Martial Affairs all things are better more orderly and more easily done when the Master is present neither was the learned Poet his meaning any thing else when in the Wars betwixt the Latins and the Rutilians he saith Urget praesentia Turni whereupon they concluded that the Great Master in going had done both valiantly wisely and according to his duty But this we leave for martial men to determine At the same time the King of Algiers tame to Aid the Turks with seven Gallies and ten Galliots and in them 2200 Souldiers who sorry that he was not there at the beginning and desirous to do some notable Act and withall to make proof of the Valour of his Souldiers requested the great Bassa to bestow upon him the first place in the besieging the Castle of St. Michael which he not only granted but joyned to his Forces 2000 of his own best Souldiers These things obtained he commanded ninety small Vessels by devices to be carried over land out of the Port Marza-Moxet to Aqua Martia for that he purposed on that side to besiege the Castle by water But Valetta perceiving the Enemies purpose both by seeing that was done and also advertised thereof before by a Christian Fugitive presently called unto him two faithful and skilful Ship-Masters of Malta and imparting the matter unto them demanded what they thought best to be done to keep the Turks from landing as it seemed they purposed at the Walls foot They quickly perceiving the matter answered That in their opinion if a Chain were made of Masts and Sail-yards as Spars joyned together with iron rings and so drawn all alongst from the corner of the Castle of St. Angelo to that place where the Enemy thought to land their purpose might be so defeated This device so pleased the Great Master that the night following such a Chain was made and fast mored in the appointed place The Turks so soon as it was day perceiving this bar stood as men doubtful not knowing how by any means to land their men as they had before purposed Whilst they stood so abashed a Christian Fugitive a most desperate Villain in which kind of men foolish hardiness is accounted a vertue and desperation constancy came to the King and promised him to break the Chain and so with a Hatchet in his hand cast himself into the Sea after whom followed two or three more to help him who swimming to the Chain got up upon it and began to hew apace with their Hatchets Which the Christians beholding suddenly five or six of the Maltaeses swam thither with their drawn Swords in their hands and having slain two of them caused the other to fly after which time none of the Turks was so hardy as to attempt the same The barbarous King for all that gave not over his purpose so but with wonderful diligence prepared for the Siege which the fifteenth day of Iuly began both by Sea and Land. But the Defendants turning their great Ordnance upon that place from whence the Galliots came with the fury thereof in the space of three hours which the Assault endured slew two thousand Turks and sunk twelve of the Galliots the rest coming as far as the Chain when they could get no farther nor land their men turned their Prows upon the corner of the Castle but were glad at last to retire and leave that they came for undone The assault by Land also endured five hours wherein many of the Turks were slain and of the Defendants 200 amongst whom was Fredericus the Vice-Roy of Sicilia his Son struck in sunder with a great Shot Gordius a Frenchman Franciscus Sanoghera and his Nephew Iohn Spaniards all Knights of the Order Medina was also wounded whereof he
Nehemiah was contented to be Ben Ephraim the afflicted and poor Messiah and Sabatai was well enough contented he should be so but that Nehemiah accused him for being too forward in publishing himself the latter Messiah before Ben Ephraim had first been known to the World. Sabatai took this reprehension so ill either out of pride and thoughts of his own Infallibility or that he suspected Nehemiah being once admitted for Ben Ephraim would quickly being a subtle and learned Person perswade the World that he was Ben David would by no means understand or admit of this Doctrine or of Ben Ephraim for a necessary Officer And thereupon the Dispute grew so hot and the Controversie so irreconcileable as was taken notice of by the Iews and controverted amongst them as every one fancied but Sabatai being of greater Authority his Sentence prevailed and Nehemiah was rejected as Schismatical and an Enemy to the Messiah which afterwards proved the ruine and downfal of this Imposture For Nehemiah being thus baffled and being a Person of Authority and a haughty Spirit meditated nothing but revenge to execuâ—e which to the full he took a Journey to Adrianople and there informed the chief Ministers of State and Officers of the Court who by reason of the gain the Turks made of their Prisoner at the Castle on the Hellespont heard nothing of all this concourse of People and Prophecies of the Revolt of the Iews from their obedience to the Grand Signior And taking likewise to his Counsel some certain discontented and unbelieving Cochams who being zealous for their Nation and jealous of the ill consequences of this long continued and increasing madness took liberty to inform the Chimacam who was Deputy of the Great Vizier then at Candia that the Iew Prisoner at the Castle called Sabatai Sevi was a lewd person and one who endeavoured to debauch the minds of the Iews divert them from their honest course of livelihood obedience to the Grand Signior and that therefore it was necessary to clear the World of so factious and dangerous a Spirit The Chimacam being thus inform'd could do no less than acquaint the Gr. Signior with all the particulars of this mans condition course of life and Doctrine which were no sooner understood but a Chaouse or Messenger was immediately dispatched to bring up Sabatai Sevi to Adrianople The Chaouse executed his Commission after the Turkish fashion in haste bringing Sabatai in a few dâ—ys to Adrianople without farther excuse or ceremony not affording him an hours spâ—ce to take a soleâ—n farewel of his Followers and Adorers who now were come to the vertical point of all their hopes and expectations The Grand Signior having by this time received divers informations of the madess of the Iews and the pretences of Sabatai grew big with desire and expectation to see him so that he no sooner arrived at Adrianople but the same hour he was brought before the Grand Signior Sabatai appeared much dejected and failing of that courage which he shewed in the Synagogue And being demanded several questions in Turkish by the Grand Signior he would not trust so far to the vertue of his Messiahshâ—p as to deliver himself in the Turkish Language but desired a Doctor of Physick who had from a Iew turned Turk to be his Interpreter which was granted to him but not without reffection of the standers-by that had he been the Messiah and Son of God as he formerly pretended his Tongue would have been loosed into Eloquence and perfection of Languages But the Grand Signior would not be put off wiâ—hout a Miracle and it must be one of his own chusing which was that Sabatai should be stripped naked and set as a mark to his dextrous Archers if the arrows passed not his body but that his flesh and skin was proof like Armour then he would believe him to be the Messiah and the Person whom God had designed to those Dominions and Greatness he pretended But now Sabatai not having Faith enough to stand to so sharp a tryal renounced all his Title to Kingdoms and Governments alledging that he was an ordinary Cocham and Jew as others were and had nothing of priviledge and virtue above the rest The Grand Signior notwiâ—hâ—tanding not wholly satisfied with this plain conâ—ession declared â—hat having given publick scâ—ndal to the Professors of the Mahometan Religion and done dishonour to his Soveraign Authority by pretending to withdraw from him so considerable a portion as the Land of Palâ—stine his Treason and Crime could not be expiated without becoming a Mahometan Convert Which if he refused to do the Stake was ready at the Gate of the Seraglio to impale him Sabatai being now reduced to his last game and extremity not being in the least doubtful what to do for to dye for what he was assured was false was against Nature and the death of a mad man Replied with much chearfulness that he was contented to turn Turk and that it was not of force but of choice having been a long time desirous of so glorious a profession he esteemed himself much honoured that he had an opportunity to own it first in the presence of the Grand Signior And here was the Non plus ultra of all the bluster and noise of this vain Impostour And now the Reader may pause a while and contemplate the strange point of consternation shame and silence to which the Iews were reduced when they understood how speedily their hopes were vanished and how poorly and ignominiously all their fancies and promises of a new Kingdom their Pageantry and Offices for Devotion were past like a tale or a midnights dream And all this was concluded and the Iews sunk on a sudden and fallen flat in their hopes without so much as a line of comfort or excuse from Sabatai more than in general to all the Brethren that now they should apply themselves to their callings and seâ—vices of God as formerly for that matters relating to him were finished and the sentence past The News of Sabatai turning Turk and of the Messiah to a Mahometan quickly filled all parts of Turky the Iews were strangely surprised at it and ashamed of their easiness of belief of the arguments with which they had perswaded others and of the Proselytes they had made in their own Families Abroad they became the common derision of the Towns where they inhabited the Boys houâ—ed after them coining a new word at Smyrna Pouftai which every one seeing a Jew with a finger pointed out would pronounce with scorn and contempt so that this deceived People for a long time after remained with confusion silence and dejection of spirit And yet most of them affirm That Sabaâ—ai is not turned Turk but his shâ—dow only remains on Earth and walks with a white head and in the habit of a Mahometan but that his Body and Soul are taken into Heaven there to reside until the time appointed for accomplishment of these Wonders And this
the Algierines always amongst other Gifts present some Youths whom they have taken by Piracy the Policy herein is very obvious because the Sons of Christians will hate their Parents being educated with other Principles and Customs or coming from distant Places have contracted no acquaintance so that starting from their Schools into Government they will find no Relations or Dependences on their Interests than that of their great Master to whom they are taught and necessity compels them to be faithful In the next place these Youths must be of admirable Features and pleasing Looks well shaped in their Bodies and without any defects of Nature For it is conceived that a corrupt and sordid Soul can scarce inhabit in a serene and ingenious Aspect and I have observed not only in the Seraglio but also in the Courts of great Men their personal Attendants have been of comely lusty Youths well habited deporting themselves with singular Modesty and Respect in the presence of their Master So that when a Pascha Aga Spahee travels he is always attended with a comely Equipage followed by flourishing Youths well cloathed and mounted in great numbers that one may guess at the greatness of this Empire by the Retinue Pomp and number of Servants which accompany Persons of Quality in their Journies whereas in the parts of Christendom where I have travelled I have not observed no not in Attendance of Princes such ostentation in Servants as is amongst the Turks which is the Life and Ornament of a Court. And this was always the custom in the Eastern Countries as Q. Curtius reports Lib. 6. Quippe omnibus barbaris in corporum Majestate veneratio est magnorúmque operum non alios capaces putant quam quos eximiâ specie donare natura dignara est But these Youths before they are admitted are presented before the Grand Signior whom according to his pleasure he disposes in his Seraglio at Pera or Adrianople or his great Seraglio at Constantinople which is accounted the Imperial Seat of the Ottoman Emperors For these are the three Schools or Colledges of Education Those that are preferred to the last named are commonly marked out by special designation and are a nearer step to Degrees of Preferment and are delivered to the charge of the Capa Aga or chief of the White Eunuchs The Eunuchs have the care of these Scholars committed unto them whom they treat with an extraordinary severity for these being the Censores morum punish every slight Omission or Fault with extreme Rigour For Eunuchs are naturally cruel whether it be out of envy to the Masculine Sex which is perfect and entire or that they decline to the disposition of Women which is many times more cruel and revengeful than that of Men they will not let slip the smallest Peccadillo without its due chastisement either by blows on the soals of the Feet or long Fasting Watchings or other Penance so that he who hath run through the several Schools Orders and Degrees of the Seraglio must needs be an extraordinary mortified Man patient of all Labours Services and Injunctions which are imposed on him with a strictness beyond the discipline that Religious Novices are acquainted with in Monasteries or the severity of Capuchins or Holy Votaries But yet methinks these Men that have been used all their lives to Servitude and Subjection should have their Spirits abased and when licensed from the Seraglio to places of Trust and Government should be so acquainted how to obey as to be ignorant how to Rule and to be dazled with the Light and Liberty and overjoyed with the sense of their present Condition and past Sufferings passing from one extreme to another that they should lose their Reason and forget themselves and others But in answer hereunto the Turks affirm That none know so well how to govern as those who have learned how to obey though at first the sense of their freedom may distract them yet afterwards the Discipline Lectures and Morality in their younger Years will begin to operate and collect their scattered Senses into their due and natural places But to return from whence we have a little digressed These young Men before they are disposed into their Schools which are called Oda their Names Age Country and Parents are Registred in a Book with their allowance from the Grand Signior of four Aspers a day the Copy of this Book is sent to the Tefterdar or Lord Treasurer that so quarterly they may receive their Pension Being thus admitted they are entred into one of the two Schools that is to say into the Bojuck Oda which is the great Chamber or the less the former commonly contains 400 and the other about 200 or 250. These two Schools may be said to be of the same Form or Rank and what is taught in one is likewise in the other neither of them hath the precedency all of them equally near to Preferment Their first Lessons are Silence Reverence humble and modest Behaviour holding their Heads downwards and their Hands across before them Their Masters the Hogias instruct them in all the Rights Discipline and Superstition of the Mahometan Religion and to say their Prayers and understand them in the Arabick Language and to speak read and write Turkish perfectly Afterwards having made proficiency in the former they proceed in the study of the Persian and Arabick Tongues which may be of benefit to them if their Lot chance to call them to the Government of the Eastern parts and is a help to the Improvement of their Knowledg in the Turkish which being of it self barren is beholden to those Tongues for its copiousness and enrichment Their Cloathing is good English Cloth and Linen neither fine nor course their Diet is chiefly Rice and other wholsom Meats which become the Table of Scholars where there is nothing of superfluity as there is nothing of want Their Manners and Behaviour are strictly watched by the Eunuchs their careful Guardians so as they cannot be familiar one with another at any time without Modesty and respect to the Presence they are in If they go to perform the necessary Offices of Nature or to the Bath they are never out of the Eye of an Eunuch who will admit none of their nearest Relations to speak with them or see them unless special Licenee be obtained from the Capa Aga or chief of the Eunuchs Their Bed-chambers are long Chambers where all Night Lamps are kept burning their Beds are laid in ranks one by another upon Safrawes or Boards raised from the Ground and between every five or six lies an Eunuch so as conveniently to see or over-hear if there be any wanton or lewd behaviour or discourse amongst them When they are arrived to some proficiency and almost to Man's Estate and strength of Body fit for Manly Exercises they are trained up in handling the Lance throwing the Iron Bar drawing the Bow and throwing the Geâ—iâ— or Dart. In all these
generally addict themselves to the study of their Civil Law in which they use constant exercises in arguing opposing and answering whereby to leave no point undiscovered or not discussed In short they are highly Pharisaical in all their comportment great admirers of themselves and scorners of others that conform not to their Tenents scarce affording them a salutation or common communication they refuse to marry their Sons with those of a different Rite but amongst themselves they observe a certain Policy they admonish and correct the disorderly and such who are not bettered by their persuasions they reject and excommunicate from their Society These are for the most part Tradesmen whose sedentary life affords opportunity and nutriment to a melancholy and distempered fancy But those of this Sect who strangely mix Christianity and Mahometanism together are many of the Souldiers that live on the confines of Hungary and Bosna reading the Gospel in the Sclavonian Tongue with which they are supplied out of Ragusa besides which they are curious to learn the Mysteries of the Alchoran and the Law of the Arabick Tongue and not to be accounted rude and illiterate they affect the Courtly Persian They drink Wine in the month of Fast calâ—â—d the Ramazan but to take off the scandal they refuse Cinamon or other Spices in it and then call it Hardali and passes current for lawfull Liquor They have a Charity and Affection for Christians and are ready to protect them from injuries and violences of the Turks They believe yet that Mahomet was the Holy Ghost promised by Christ and that the descending of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was a Figure and Type of Mahomet interpreting in all places the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signifie their Prophet in whose Ear the white Dove revealed the Infallible directions to happiness The Potures of Bosna are of this Sect but pay Taxes as Christians do they abhor Images and the Sign of the Cross they circumcise bringing the Authority of Christ's example for it which also the Copticks a Sect of the Greek Church imitated but have now as I am informed lately disused that custome Another subtle point about the Divine Attributes hath begot a Sect amongst the Ianizaries called Bektaschi from one Bektash which seems an improper subject so deep in the Metaphysical speculation to trouble such gross heads as theirs they began as it is said in the time of Solyman the Magnificent and are called by some Zerati that is those who have Copulation with their own Kindred and by the vulgar Mumsconduren or extinguishers of the Candle This Sect observe the Law of Mahomet in Divine Worship with a strictness and superstition above any of the Precisians of that Religion but hold it unlawfull to adjoyn any Attributes to God by saying that God is great or God is mercifull by reason that the nature of God being infinite and incomprehensible cannot fall under the weak and imperfect conceptions of man's understanding which can imagine nothing applicable to his Nature Of this Sect there was a famous Poet amongst the Turks called Nemisi that was flead alive for saying when the Emaum called the People to prayers at the ordinary hours from the Steeple with the usual word Allah Ekber God is one That he lied upon the supposition that no Epithete can be predicated of the Divine Essence Amongst the Ianizaries are at present many principal Commanders of this Sect but formerly were more in the time of Becktosh Aga Kul Kabya Mahomet Aga and others who for their Rebellion in Constantinople as we related before were put to death under the Historical Pillar in the time of this present Emperours minority These people against the instinct of nature use Carnal Copulation promiscuously with their own Kindred the Fathers mixing with their Sons and Daughters without respect to proximity of bloud or nearness in the degrees of relation suffering themselves to be transported contrary to the abhorrency of Nature by a weak and illogical comparison of the lawfulness and reason that he who engrafted the Tree and planted the Vine should rather taste of the Fruit than resign the benefit of his labours to the enjoyment of others and in this Argument act against the inclination of innate modesty according to that of Seneca Ferae quoque ipsae Veneris evitant nefas Generisque leges inscius servat pudor These people are easily induced to give false witness or testimony in the favour of their Sect without consideration of Equity or reasonableness of their cause by which means invading the right of others they became rich and powerfull untill they were debased by the deprivation of Becktashes Authority and Power of other potent favourers of their Sect and though afterwards upheld by Sudgi Beker a Standard-Bearer of the Ianizaries a rich and learned man they received a second blow by his death he executed by a Visier Kupriuli Mahomet for his diversity in Religion and Wealth together but farther animosity against this Sect was dissembled at that time by reason of the multitude of those professours in Constantinople and because reason of State saw it at that time necessary to draw bloud in many parts of the Empire for other causes than for errours in Religion The Sect called Sabin though Mahometans in profession seem yet to run contrary to the stream and general consent of all its professours who give themselves commonly the Title of Enemies and Confounders of Idolatry and yet these notwithstanding seem from the influence the Sun and Moon have on sublunary bodies of all living sensitive Creatures to conclude a certain Divinity in those common Lights of the World. In Constantinople there are some few Astrologers and Physicians of this Sect but in Parthia and Media they are numerous the Men commonly worshipping the Sun and the Women the Moon and others the Artick Pole they are not strict in a severity of life or in the conformity to the prescriptions of their Law but govern themselves with morality and prudence They are not apt to believe the immortality of the Soul nor the reward of Vertue or punishment of Vice in the next World nor prone to vindicate themselves from injuries reproachfull language or other evil actions of men but regarding them as the natural effects of the Celestial influences are no more provoked by them than we are with a shower of Rain for wetting us or the intense heat of the Sun in the Summer Solstice Munasihi is a Sect purely Pythagorical which believes the Metempsychosis or Transmigration of Souls of which there are some in Constantinople one Albertus Bobovius a Polonian by Nation but educated in the Seraglio and instructed in all the Learning of the Turkish Literature from whom I freely confess to have received many of my observations related to me a pleasant discourse that passed between him and a Dorgist at Constantinople touching this subject This Dorgist being Learned was the occasion that Albertus frequented his Shop
the oftner and once being after some familiar acqâ—aintance at a Coâ—lation together it chanced that a black Dog giving them interruption at their Banquet that Albertus kicked him to drive him to a farther distance at which the Dorgist growing pale and disordered Albertus guessed by his countenance that he was displeased at this unkindness towards the Dog and therefore desired his pardon if thereby he had given him any subject of offence the Dorgist being thus pacified with the courtesie of his Guest advised him to ask pardon of God for that it was no small crime and sin that he thereby committed This happening at the same time that the Funerals of a Mufti called Behai Efendi were then solemnizing afforded an occasion of discourse concerning the Soul of the Mufti and Dog together the Dorgist demanding the opinion of his Guest whether he conceived the Soul of that Mufti was predestinated to remain within the â—onfines of the Grave untill the day of Resurrection in the knowledge of which question Albertus seeming wholly ignorant and desirous to understand the solution from him the Dorgist began freely to declare that the Souls of men deceased enter into the Bodies of Beasts which are in temperament most agreeable to the dispositions of those whom before they animated as the Soul of the Glutton enters into the Swine the Soul of the Lascivious into the Goat of the Generous into the Horse of the Vigilant into a Dog and so the like in proof of which he producing a Book treating of all the distinctions of Nature and the proper assignments for their habitation after death Adding moreover that of this opinion it was pity there were so few in Constantinople some there were and those all of his own Trade and Profession but that at Grand Cairo were great numbers strict adherers to this Doctrine that for his part he prayed to God with the rest of his Brothers of the same Trade that their Souls may hereafter be so honoured as to inform the body of the Camel because they are Beasts that are laborious abstemious patient and meek and bring their Dorges from the remotest part of the East and that he did not doubt but after the Circle of 3365 years that his Soul had travelled for several Ages through the World and wandred from the body of one Camel to animate another it should with the viciâ—situde of time return again to a humane body more purified and refined than in its first Principles And this was the Credo of the Dorgist to which opinion it is said all China is greatly devoted Eschraki which signifies illuminated is a Sect purely Platonical contemplative of the Divine Idea and the number in God for though they hold the Unity yet they deny not the Trinity as a number proceeding from the Unity which conception of theirs they usually illustrate by three folds in a Handkerchief which may have the denomination of three but being extended is but one entire piece of Linen Tâ—â—se men are no great admirers of the composition of the Alchoran what they meet therein agreeable to their principles they embrace and produce as occasion serves in confirmation of their Doctrine other parts which with difficulty are reconciled they reject and style abrogated and because they apprehend that the true beatitude and bliss of Paradise consists in the contemplation of the Divine Majesty they contemn all the fancies and gross conceptions of Heaven which Mahomet hath framed to allure and draw the mind of rude and gross men Of this Sect are all the Scheghs or able Preachers that belong to the Royal Moschs or Churches who are men constant in their devotions abstemious in their diet of a chearfull countenance and taking behaviour great lovers of Harmony and Musick of an indifferent strain in Poetry whereby they compose certain Songs in Metre for entertainment of their Auditory They are likewise generous and compassionate of humane frailty and are not Covetous Stoical or Conceited of themselves by which means their behaviour is rendred extremely taking through all Constantinople they are greatly delighted with an ingenious Aspect in youth and from thence gather matter of contemplation on the comeliness of the increaâ—ed beauty they are addicted to entertain a charitable affection for their neighbour because as they say he is a Creature of God from whom our love is converted to the Creatour Their Disciples they procure as much as possible to be men of comely and pleasing countenances and Majestick presence whom they instruct in all the rules of abstinence gravity and other vertues most appropriated to their Sect. And these of all sorts of Turks seem worthy of the best Character whom I compassionate for not being born within the Pale of a Christian Church nor duely instructed in the Mystery of Christianity to which they seem by their morality and vertues already to have prepared many previous dispositions A Sect much different to that immediately foregoing is the Haireti signifying amazed and doubtfull in determination of all controversies who can endure any thing rather than to controvert opinions and dispute one question in chase of truth they will neither undertake to persuade or dissuade but like the Academicks affirm that falsity may by the wit and contrivance of man be dressed in a habit as not to be distinguished from truth it self and on the contrary truth may be so disguised with Sophistry and Delusions as to be rendred as deformed and ugly as falshood and therefore they conclude all questions to be meerly probable and no ways admitting of certain demonstration so that in points of dubious controversies their common sayings are Allah Bilur God knows bize karanuk it is unknown to us and such like expressions savouring of negligence and a brutish want of curiosity to search into the Studies of Arts and Sciences Of this Sect some notwithstanding are Preachers and from that degree are promoted to the Office of Mufti in which they behave themselves according to their affected carelesness with a readiness and facility to subscribe all sentences to the satisfaction and in favour of the demandant adding for the most part these words Well ahu ealem bissenah God knows that which is best As to the manner of their life and practice they are punctual observers of the Rites of the Mahometan Religion and Constitutions of their Civil Law but much incline to yield to the course of their own nature and the force of passion they drink Wine not to appear Cynical or unsociable but more generally addict themselves to Electuaries composed of Opium which tends to augment their natural sâ—upefaction and when they are overcome with the obscurity of this vapour whatsoever you affirm though never so contradictory they readily assent to not so much as they confess from a persuasion to one proposition more than another but of a pleasing compliance to their companions which humour the nature of their Sect allows of And though they stile the Eschraki Dogmatical and obstinate