Selected quad for the lemma: water_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
water_n	air_n	element_n	fire_n	13,062	5	7.1789	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42086	A late voyage to Constantinople containing an exact description of the Proportis and Hellespont, with the Dardanels, and what else is remarkable in those seas, as also of the city of Constantinople ... : likewise an account of the ancient and present state of the Greek Church, with the religion and manner of worship of the Turks, their ecclesiastical government, their courts of justice, and civil employments : illustrated ... in fourteen copper-plates ... / published by command of the French King by Monsieur William Joseph Grelot ; made English by J. Philips.; Relation nouvelle d'un voyage de Constantinople. English	Grelot, Guillaume-Joseph, b. ca. 1630.; Phillips, John, 1631-1706.	1683 (1683)	Wing G1934; ESTC R5793	148,879	261

which the one flows from the North-East the other lyes toward the North-West and the third to which both those contribute their waters discharges it self into the round Receptacle of the Propontis These three great Arms of the Sea as far as you can see employ their Waves on both sides to wash the shoars of several parcells of Land insensibly rising into a great number of Hills cover'd with Houses of pleasure Gardens and Kioscs And the nearer these three great Arms of the Sea waft ye to the City the more increases the infinite number of Houses They appear all together one above another in form of an Amphitheater so that they all afford the benefit of a most beautiful Prospect In the midst of those houses variously Painted appears an incredible number of Domo's Cupola's Steeples and Towers much higher than the ordinary Buildings All those Domo's are cover'd with Lead as also the Steeples the Spires of which are Gilded And the verdure of the Cypress and other Trees abounding in a prodigious number of Gardens contribute infinitely to the pleasing confusion of various colours that charm the eyes of all that approach near to the City The multitude of Vessels that make as it were a Crown round about the Port without encumbring the middle appears like a spacious Circle of lofty Trees depriv'd of their Leaves on purpose because they should not hide those beautiful Objects that lye behind them And the vast number of Kaicks Gondola's and little Boats which is said to amount to above Sixteen Thousand which are continually in motion from all parts some under Sail some Row'd with Oars for the convenience of the Inhabitants seems to represent to the Spectators of so lovely an Amphitheater the continual divertisement of a Naval Combat In short when you are in the middle of the Harbour of this great City which way soever you turn your eye you cannot but admire how favourable Nature has been to it in making choice of whatsoever she thought might conduce to the Glory of its situation Seeing then it has such great advantages and those peculiar to it self we need not wonder that Constantine the Great so easily quitted the delights of Rome and Transported the Seat of his Empire to Byzantium and that he call'd it by his own name nor indeed is there any other City so proper to command the Universe With one glance of her eye she beholds the two most lovely parts of the whole and in less than a quarter of an hour can send her Orders from the one part of the World where she is seated to the other Which therefore seems to make so near an approach to her lofty Towers on purpose to receive her Commands and submit to her Obedience So that had Art and Nature consulted together to form a Place where Beauty and Plenty should equally contend they never could have been more successful than in the adornment of that where Constantinople stands The Soyl produces all sorts of Fruits as pleasing to the Eye as delicious to the tast so that there is nothing to be desired either necessary or superabounding for the support of human life Their Fresh and Salt Waters furnish them with all sorts of Commodities which it is possible for an Element so advantageous to mankind to afford them Fish not to speak of Oysters in so great abundance stores their Markets that I know not whether it may not be one part of satisfaction to Curiosity for that very reason to view a City so well furnished with provision You shall see them frisking every moment above Water But whether to admire the Glory of that City or to breath in the sweetness of the Air be more pleasant is a question The vast plenty of Fowl is not to be imagin'd yet the havock which they make Mornings and Evenings among the Gardens and neighbouring Hills sufficiently declare the fruitfulness of the Climate in their production Nor are they less stor'd with those Amphibious winged Creatures that live sometimes upon Land sometimes in the Water and sometimes in the Air to shew that all those three Elements are at Constantinople in their Highest perfection Even the Fire it self not enduring to be confined within the smaller hearths of so fair a City breaks forth oft-times into most violent constagrations as if become capable of jealousie and not being able to render it self sufficiently remarkable by its ordinary uses it rather chose to shew it self dreadful by its effects than to be the onely Element idl● and inglorious in that City while all the rest seem to have their Thrones at Constantinople This Prodigality of Nature caused the Emperour Iustinian to believe that it behov'd men rather to abandon all the rest of the World to come and live at Constantinople than suffer so delightful a place to be one single day without Inhabitants as it has been the fate of several other great Cities And upon this consideration it was that he chang'd it's name of Constantinople and gave it the Appellation of the Eternal City as appears by that Law of his si qui quinta cap. de divers praed urb tit 69. Neither is Constantinople the onely name which this City has born nor yet the last having had almost as many Names as Masters while all that have rul'd within her Walls either as Kings or Tyrants have all had their fancies to change her Name as well as her Fortune In the first place it was call'd Chrysoceras or Horn of Gold Perhaps from that plenty and abundance which some of the Thracian Shepherds found upon that Out-let of Land upon which it is Seated or for the advantage of the place by reason of its Situation and the exteriour Figure of it which represents the shape and substance of Amalthea's Horn usually call'd the Horn of Plenty This fell out in the Year of the World 3286. which was within the 22 d. Olympiad in the Reigns of Ezechias and Numa Pompilius six hundred fourscore and ten years before the Birth of Christ. After this first erecting of certain Shepherds Cottages at Chrysoceras the number of Inhabitants charm'd with the Situation of the Place increas'd so fast that in a little time it grew to be a considerable Borough to which they gave the name of Acropolis or the City of the Point or Promontory and afterwards that of Lygos Nor was it long after that Byzis Byzas Bysantus or Bysanta for such is the variety among several Authors carrying thither a Collony of the Megarians call'd it by his own name Byzantium which continu'd 'till the Reign of the Emperour Antonine who greatly added to the Buildings and call'd it Antonina It has also born the name of Anthusa afterwards that of New Rome 'till at length Constantine the Great who Translated thither the seat of the Roman Empire enlarg'd it and to adorn it with a Magnificence becoming the honour which he had done it added his own and call'd it Constantinian new Rome which

Chaban However the Prayers which are said all these times never last above half an hour and sometimes they chop'em up in less than a quarter So soon as Friday's Salah is done the Tradesmen and Shopkeepers may all attend their employments and go to work if they please for all Prayer and no work would turn but to very little profit The words which the Muezins baul out at Constantinople are not many no more than Alla Hecber but they repeat these words several times and at several quarters of the Galleries which surround the Towers concluding at last with these words Ahia Elsela Ahiah Elsela as much as to say Come away to Prayers I have given ye notice sufficient Upon great Festivals and during Bairam you shall have a whole consort of these Cryers all in one Gallery baulling their Alla Hecbers in different tones like so many Cats upon the Tiles which to the Turks that know no better sounds more pleasantly than the Scotch Bagg-pipes to a Foot Company While I was at Constantinople one day in Bairam at what time a whole Kennel of these Muezins were yelling at the top of a large Tower a young Christian Greek Lad passing by the Mosquee and not liking their Musick began to mock them with an imitation of his own which the Mahometans that were going to the Mosquee over-hearing they laid hold of the Child and endeavour'd to perswade him to turn Turk using at first fair words and large promises which not prevailing they put the poor Child in Prison and yet all their torment could not move the resolute Lad who out of a generosity truly celestial chose rather to suffer the Bastinado and the loss of his life which the merciless Turks took from him by cutting off his head than to renounce the Christian Faith only breathing out with his last Breath these words which the Greeks frequently make use of in their Prayers Christ have mercy upon us A rare example of cruel superstition in the Turks and of Christian constancy in the Child Now though it is impossible their Cryers should make such a noise with their throats as the Bells with their Clappers yet in regard there are no Coaches at Constaninople and few of those Trades that deafen the eares their Voices being clear and strong may be heard a great way even to the mo●t remote Quarters of the City and into the Fields adjoyning where I have heard them my self at a good considerable distance Besides there is such a vast number of these Muezins that they never want a full cry to make a noise it being lookt upon as an act that merits pardon of their sins to proclaim the Hour of Prayer to the Good Musselmen Of the Purification of the Turks THe last preparation of the Turks for Prayer is that of washing Which Ablutions are of five sorts and call'd by five several names The first which is the most general as being made use of as well by the Christians as Turks is in the ordinary Bath which they call Amam The second is what necessity requires and is call'd Taharet which signifies cleaness The third is to cleanse themselves from any defilement which they may have fallen into by day or night which they call Gousla or Purification The fourth is to wash away all the contaminations contracted in the day time through the Organs of the five senses For which they are forc'd to borrow a name from the Persians who call it Abdest which signifies ablution And the last is the Bath provided for dead Body's which they call Eulu-i akmakh or the washing of the Dead Of their Baths Over all the world there is no Nation that affects cleanliness so much as the Mahomet●ns as well Persians as Ottomans So that I may say the essential part of their Religion consists in these outward Ceremonies For which reason they have been forc'd to Build a great number of Bathing houses that they may have the liberty to wash their body 's all over Hence it comes to pass that there are a great number of these houses all over Turkie and some not inferiour to the ancient Thermae of the Roman Emperours You need no more than take a view of those in the City of Boursa which are all of hot water contain'd in a large receptacle encompass'd with seats They are cover'd with two very fair Domo's under which are two large Chambers where the Air and the Water afford a different heat With another large Room somewhat cooler where you undress before you go into the Bath So that every one of these Buildings require at least three large Rooms The first where you enter and undress where the Air is Temperate yet not so cool as in the street The second warmer than the first and the third so hot that it sets you presently in a sweat All sorts of persons are admitted into these Baths as well Christians and Jews as Turks in regard they are Built for the publick good and for the common health of all people I am perswaded that these Baths are in good part the Cause that the Ottomans are not so subject to Diseases as the Europeans and that they would be more healthy than they are but that they frequent them too much For these Baths as all sorts of Physick are only to be made use of in case of necessity otherwise they become more prejudicial than advantageous to the health I was acquainted in Persia with a Capuchin Fryer who notwithstanding that he was above Fourscore years of Age was nevertheless very vigorous and healthy because he never was wont to drink Wine but when he found himself not very well For when he perceiv'd himself indispos'd all the Physic he took was only a large glass of generous Wine which restor'd him to his former temperament The same may be said of the Eastern Baths there could be nothing more wholesome were they moderately made use of that is to say not above once a month but in regard the Turks Bath themselves almost every day their brains are thereby so over moisten'd that they are generally troubled with a continual Rheume in their eyes But such is their superstition that they choose rather to prejudice their health than to give any Example of disobedience to their Law It would require a good revenue to use the Baths so frequently as they do were it as dear Bathing in Turkie as in France and they would have as much reason to complain as Martial of the exaction of the Age Balnea post decimam lasso centumque petuntur Quadrantes Then weary to the Baths he hasts and payes A hundred Quadrants for his future ease But in regard there is set no price only every man gives as at a Barbers shop what he thinks fitting himself the pleasure becomes cheap without exaction and he 's a good customer of a Turk that gives the value of Two Sous a time for the Franks and Europeans are more generous All sorts and Sexes pay Masters