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
Messengers I revere thy Learned Soul and that accomplish'd Intellect which is ever busie prying into Weighty and Important Matters I honour thy Impartial Mind which scruples not to pay th' Attach that 's due to a Saint tho' of the Christian Calendar If we should reject all that the Followers of Jesus do we should neither Fast Pray give Alms or perform any other Good Works Therefore in this thou art an Exemplary Pattern to the Rigid Superstitious Sort of Mussulman Phanaticks who bear an endless Grudge against all those that are not of their Narrow Faith and Dark Opinion Glory be to God with whom the WORD was present from the Dawning of Eternal Light before the Morning of his Works had peep'd o'er the Mountains of the Ancient Chaos or penetrated the Dark Abyss and Misty Vale of Nothing and painted the Tops of the Creation the Highest Ranks of Beings with Splendors of the Early Day Before the Sun had drank th' Immortal Halo in and spong'd up all the Visible Beams to squeeze them out again upon the Moon the Stars and on this Lower World That WORD remains for Ever and at a determin'd Hour became Incarnate in the Person of Jesus the Son of Mary as the Holy Alcoran informs us In those Days John the Baptist went into the Wilderness and preach'd Repentance to the Jews foretelling the near Approach of the Messias The Sacred Hero made a Cave his Residence and at first to wean his Body from all Softness he wore a Vest or Shirt of Camel's Hair which was girt about him with a Belt made of that Painful and Religious Creatures Skin to put him in Mind that he was born for Holy Labours Toils and Mortifications He had no Table spread with far-fetch'd costly Dainties no Dishes cramm'd with bloody and large Inventories of Birds Four-footed Beasts and Fish His Diet was Simple Cheap and Innocent easie to be got in every Wood or Field without the Detriment of his Fellow-Animals For he either contented himself with a Repast on Honey which he found in Hollow Trees or on a Kind of Manna a sweet Dew falling on their Leaves and there condens'd by Heavenly Influence Or else it was a kind of luscious Moisture which he suck'd from certain Plants perhaps not much unlike our Sugar-Canes For thus Interpreters do differ about the Words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whatever it was we may conclude it to be some slender light and easie Nourishment And when this Diet fail'd him or his Stomach requir'd a little more Variety he banqueted on what the Graecians call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some will have these to be a Kind of Locusts or Grass-hoppers a Meat indulg'd the Jews by Moses in the Law The Syrians also counted them a Dainty so did the Ancient Parthians as Aristotle and Pliny tell us And my Country-men the Arabians eat of them to this Day Others are of Opinion that these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were a sort of little Shell-Fish such as Crabs Crawfish or Shrimps which Nature has generally lodg'd in Holes along the banks of Rivers A pleasant temperate Sort of Diet commended for their Virtues in expelling Poyson and being Remedies for the Strangury and Antidotes to cure the Biting of Mad Dogs The Divine Prophet therefore oft frequenting the Waters of the River Jordan wherein he us'd to wash his Converts and Disciples these Men suppose he took Occasion to allay his Hunger with these little Shell-fish which he might easily take in mighty Numbers from their watry Nests And they endeavour to strengthen this Opinion by asserting That the Food which the Waters afford us is much more Pure and Holy than what the Earth brings forth in regard the Earth lies under the Malediction of God ever since Noah's Flood whereas the Waters ne'er were Curs'd Hence say they it is very probable That the consecrated Hero wou'd not defile his Spotless Life with cursed Banquets from the Earth but rather chose to appease his Hunger with the harmless bless'd and wholsome Product of the Waters If thou wilt have my Opinion after all I 'm apt to think these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were nothing else but the tender Tops of Plants such as we call Asparagus or perhaps they were wild Apples of the Wood and then we may suppose there 's some Mistake in the Greek Copy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Or it may be the Holy Prophet in the proper Season of the Year did use to crop and eat the Ears of Barly and then the Word shou'd be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For what cou'd be more sweet and pleasant to an Abstemious Man than to sustain his Life with fruits Grain Herbs or Roots Nor did the Malediction reach the Vegetables but only the Animal Generations from which a perfect Man abstains Certainly those who out of an Aversion for Purity Prayer and Fasting turn themselves from Humane Bodies to Swine and from Religious Abstinence to Salvage Gurmundizing on Flesh seem to derive their Pedigree from a Race of Devils Especially such as after the manner of Spiders gathering Poison from the Flowers of Piety Blaspheme this Sacred Vertue of Abstinence and call it by the Infamous Name of Superstition For if the Veneration we pay to God consist in the Knowledge Love and Fear of his Divine Majesty with Adoration and Praise of his Eternal Attributes it follows That we ought to worship him with the most Fervent Application of our Spirits But this Religious Ardour cannot subsist in any Soul whose Body is not mortified nor can the Body be mortified without Austerity which always is accompany'd with Rigorous Fasting and Abstinence from Flesh Wherefore if we ascend to God by the very same Degrees as we fall from him it follows That Abstinence is the First Step to Immortality and Supreme Happiness I do not mean by Abstinence that Natural Aversion which some Men have for Flesh who never durst to taste of any in their Lives compell'd to this by some Occult Antipathy in their Stomachs For such a Necessity cannot make a Vertue it being common to Men and Brutes there being many Animals who fast from all Provender at certain Seasons of the Year and others that taste not some Kinds of Food during their Lives So there are some Men to whom Wine Flesh Cheese Apples Herbs and other Things are an Abomination from their Cradles There have been others who by a Praeternatural Necessity have lived some Days VVeeks Months and Years without either Meat or Drink So Plato records That Herus Pamphylius lay Ten whole Days among the Dead Carcases of Soldiers slain in Battel and when he was taken up to be laid on the Funeral Pile they perceiv'd him to be alive Laertius tells us That Pythagoras fasted Forty Days and Forty Nights from Meat and Drink From whom Apollonius Thyanaeus learn'd the Art of keeping almost a perpetual Fast And these Modern Times afford us the Example of a Spaniard whom they call Alcantaro
who every Moon us'd to Fast for Seven or Eight Days together So a famous German Maid was diligently observ'd and watch'd whilst she pass'd away full Seven Years Time without Meat Drink Sleep or Excrements France also boasts of another Virgin who fasted above Three Years together Such Abstinences as these are not to be put to the Account of Vertue in regard they were not the Effects of Humane Choice but the Decrees of Fate So wou'd our Abstinence be deprav'd if we shou'd only practise it as the old Gentiles did who forbore to kill or eat some certain Beasts because they held them consecrated to their Gods As the Dog to Diana the Tyger to Bacchus the Horse to Neptune the Woolf to Mars the Eagle to Jupiter the Peacock to Juno the Swan to Apollo the Dove to Venus the Owl to Minerva Nor need we abstain on the Account of the Soul's Transmigration for so we ought to forbear the Vegetable Products of the Earth as well as Animals since the Soul is Indifferent to all Bodies in its separate State But our Reason in this Point ought to take its Rise from the Fundamental Law of Nature the Original Justice of the World which teaches us Not to do that to another which we wou'd not have another do to us Now since 't is evident That no Man wou'd willingly become the Food of Beasts therefore by the same Rule he ought not to prey on them Next to this Foundation of our Abstinence we ought to build our Aims at the Perfection of our Nature which cannot be acquir'd but by Degrees We must endeavour to abate the Aliment of our Concupiscences by exhaling the superfluous and grosser Vapours of our Blood in Sacred Fasts and Oraisons Then we shou'd refresh our fainting Bodies with Food affording little Nourishment and Pleasure That so our vain Affections Appetites and Lusts may gradually die Whilst the pure Mind revives and being free from the gross Vapours arising from too much and too fatning Meats and Drinks the Films which darken'd her Sight fall off and she can better now discern the Naked Forms of Things by her own simple Intuition than before she cou'd through all the borrow'd Spectacles and other Opticks of Book-Philosophy Also she will more easily raise her self to the Contemplation and Science of Divine Eternal Things He therefore that in Earnest will apply himself to the Study of accomplish'd Sanctity must first by Fasting exhaust the Marrow from his Bones the Fatness from his Flesh the Wild and Rampant Spirits from his Nerves and then he must purge the Words and Actions of his Life from Vice When this is done the Soul becoming a pure Tabula Rasa is fit for the Impressions of Celestial Vertue Those who labour under acute Diseases run great Hazard of their Lives according to Hippocrates unless their Diet be accommodated with proportionate Regard to the Quality and Time of the Critical Fits or Paroxisms But those who are entangl'd with Vice do labour under far more dangerous Distempers than such as afflict the Body Wherefore the Prophet our Holy Law-giver like a Wise Physician appointed certain Seasons of the Year for Sacred Abstinences Fastings Pilgrimages Vigils and other Holy Exercises especially the Mighty Fast and Vigil of Ramezan wherein tho' it be not forbid to eat of Flesh after the Stars appear at Night yet none but loose and indevout Believers take that Liberty whereas the better Sort content themselves with an Ascetick Diet. The Hebrews fasted with Unleaven'd Bread and a little Salad the Christians also taste no Flesh on their prohibited Days And shall the Mussulmans be greater Libertines than these Infidels O Hebatolla how radiant is the Lustre of a Lamp when shining through a clean and fine defaecate Chrystal So does the Soul display the Rays of her Immortal Vertue round about when she inhabits in a well purifi'd chaste and almost pervious Body VVherefore it is absolutely necessary for him to attenuate his Body with perpetual Temperance and Abstinence who consecrates himself to Vertue and Devotion He will not be ensnar'd or catch'd by any Baits of Luxury or Voluptuousness not yet affrighted from his constant sober Course of Life by any Pain or thwarting Accident No Frowns or Menaces shall divert him from his Noble Purpose But he will so nourish his Body all his Life that it shall never be Surfeited or over-fill'd with Meats And such is the Magick of this Sacred Vertue That it can never be hurt much less subverted by all the Machinations of Evil Daemons or the Malicious Attempts of Men. But it proceeds from Strength to Strength and fights the Combat valiantly till having overcome at last it Triumphs for ever and receives the Palm the Crown and Chaplet of Divine Reward in Paradise Holy President pray that I may practise what I so admire and not be self-condemn'd for living contrary to my Knowledge For God neither loves a double Tongue or Heart neither delights he in Feet or Hands that are swift and nimble to do Mischief Paris 13th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1669. LETTER VIII To Hamet Reis Effendi Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire NOw the Christians are in a general Consternation for Candy The Pope has sent Letters to all the Princes that are in his Communion inviting and pressing them to succour that Distress'd Island Levies are making every where and the King of France who seeks all Occasions of Glory appears the most forward of any to assist the Republick in this Fatal Juncture The Duke of Beaufort and the Chevalier de Vendosm are appointed to lead the Forces design'd for that Service They are gone to Toulon in Order to embarque The Pope has sent the Duke of Beaufort a Breve declaring him General of the Troops Ecclesiastick that are to serve in Candy and for his greater Encouragement he has sent him the Pontifical Standard In the mean while there is a Triple League concluded between the Emperour the King of Spain the King of England the King of Swedeland and the States of Holland There is great Joy in Portugal for the Birth of the Infanta who is call'd Elizabetha-Maria-Louisa She was Born the 6th of the 1st Moon and on the 18th the Empress of Germany was also deliver'd of a Daughter These Western Queens are very pregnant Not a Year passes without the Birth or Baptism of some Royal Infant This is all the News at present but to oblige thee I will say something of Italy which is esteem'd the Garden of Europe Nay Constantine Paleologus Emperor of Greece was wont to say Vnless I had been assur'd by very Learned and Holy Men that Paradise was seated in Asia I shou'd have sworn that Italy had been the Place It is most certain Italy is a delectable Country abounding in Riches and Pleasures The Eye is not satisfi'd with seeing the infinite Variety of Beauties which grace this happy Region Such is the lovely Intermixture of Hills and Valleys Groves and
Martius being not by a Fifth Part so large as formerly nor yet so populous All over Italy thou'lt meet with Reliques of the Ancient Roman Majesty and Greatness And in some Places thou may'st encounter Persons of great Extraction but very Poor who may not unfitly be call'd the Ruines of Ancient Nobility Such as the Marquisses of Ceva the Earls of Piacenza and the Knights of Bologna who are become the Proverb of Illustrious Poverty Such also are the Counts of Lusigniani Three of whom were once seen upon a Fig-Tree eating the Figs to keep 'em from Starving And many Italian Lords get their Livelyhoods by selling of Ptisans Limonades Essences Powders and other Refreshments to the Gentry Yet they are Proud and when any one Addresses to them he must entitle them Most Excellent Most Illustrious or else they 'll Frown and be Affronted Zeidi If ever it be thy Fortune to be made a Lord I pray Heaven give thee an Estate answerable to the Title For a Lord without Riches is like a Soldier without Arms very Ridiculous Paris the 15th of the 4th Moon of the Year 1671. LETTER X. To Dgnet Oglou THis Day something has happen'd to me very Prodigious and I know not what to make of it About the Hour of Quindinamasi I was suddenly taken with strange Fits of Vomiting My Stomach was in a Prodigal or rather a Philosophical Humour resolving to cast off all Superfluities and only retain what was necessary to its Ease and VVelfare in this Life I labour'd under a Thousand Horrid Agonies which made me fear that either an Imposthume was the Cause of such violent Convulsions or at least that they would end in opening the inward Sluces of my Blood by too much forcing of the Pectoral Veins VVhilst I were busied thus with sad Presages of a sudden Death for I dread to be so unawares thrust out o' th VVorld I long'd and passionately languish'd for an Arabian Orange It happen'd at the same Time my Mother Oucoumiche Daria and Eliachim the Jew were with me in my Chamber and had been there an Hour They all stood at the VVindow to see a Procession that was going by But when they heard the straining Noise I made immediately they ran to my Bed-side as Human Nature Curiosity or Passion uses to prompt in such like Cases With a faint broken Voice I told 'em what I wish'd for Eliachim forthwith gives Order to his Boy that waited in an Anti-Chamber to run with speed and buy the best Arabian Oranges he cou'd find The arch Young Lad was gone full Thirteen Minutes by my Watch and then return'd with Half a Dozen Oranges of Spain for he could get no other But Heaven as I have Reason to think supply'd his Negligence and unsuccessful Mercating For long before he came with that sowre crabbed Fruit Daria spy'd an Orange of Arabia on the Table No body knew from whence it came or what kind Hand had laid it there They were all equal Witnesses That there was no such Thing upon the Table when they came to the Bed-side nor a considerable Time afterward And when it was suggested that some one of the Company had privately convey'd it thither whilst the rest were looking another way Eliachim with solemn Vows and Imprecations clear'd himself so did Daria and my Mother As for my self they all were sensible it was impossible for me to do it as I lay in my Bed A General Astonishment possess'd us all and the Women would needs have it to be a Miracle whilst I greedily eat the Delicious Fruit not troubling my Thoughts with making endless Scrutinies or so much as caring which way it came there so long as I had the Enjoyment of it Yet I ceas'd to be thus Indifferent when I perceiv'd my Malady on a sudden remov'd by eating of this wondrous Orange And whereas I had lain for Six whole Days and Nights in a continual faint and languishing Condition not able to get down a Morsel of Bread now my Spirits grew brisk and fresh I seem'd like one transform'd or in another VVorld My Stomach reviv'd my almost dissipated Vigor rally'd and I rose chearfully to eat a hearty Supper These Things I must confess put me as well as the rest of the Company upon thinking I tell thee upon the strictest Examination possible I am very well satisfied that there cou'd be no Design or Trick i' th' Case For if there were no body would be guilty of so many repeated horrid Perjuries in denying it But every one rather would have been forward to own themselves the Instruments of thus happily and unexpectedly rescuing a poor sick Man from the very Jaws of Death For I was just then ready to expire VVhether there be Magick in the strength of a Man's Fancy at such Times and that through the Intense Agitation of his exalted Spirits he moves the Soul of the Vniverse by Sympathy to exert some of its hidden and uncommon Faculties and gratifie his necessary Desires Or whether there be an Order of Officious Beings Invisible about us who have the Charge of Mortals committed to them and are bound by the Laws of their conceal'd Kingdom to assist us in Extremities even to the Height of a seeming Miracle where it cannot be done without I know not But 't is certain any observing Man may take notice of some extraordinary Passages in the Course of his Life of which he can give no Rational Account but must be forc'd to put 'em on the Score of Praeternatural Causes Such is our Ignorance of the Secret Operations of Nature All the Company were ready to list me among the Prophets or in the Catalogue of Saints for this stupendous Occurrence But I had other Thoughts of my Self For comparing this with some former Occurrences of my Life I presently concluded 't was the Fore-runner of some grand but short Affliction And so I told them All. I believe my Dgnet that God will hedge me in with diverse Kinds of Adverse Circumstances He 'll rush upon me on a suddain like a Troop of Tartar Horse who swiftly spread themselves all round the affrighted Country and take Possession of the Roads and Passes They hunt the Conscious Infidels from Dens and Caves and other lurking Places in the Woods and Mountains None can escape their Chastisement and Revenge So my presaging Soul foretells some sad surprizing Inrodes from the Omnipotent That which I have to do in this Case is to make speedy Expiations for my past Security and Presumption to repair the ruin'd Fastnesses of Vertue and build new Ones where they are wanting to keep strong Guards and lastly to retire my self into a most profound Humility and Complyance with the Will of God which is the strongest Fortress in time of a Divine Invasion Paris 23d of the 6th Moon of the Year 1671. LETTER XI To Sephat Abercromil Vanni Effendi Preacher to the Sultan THE Character and Fame of thy Exemplary Life and profound Doctrine tho' studiously conceal'd
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
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