Selected quad for the lemma: water_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
water_n	earth_n	fire_n	great_a	4,376	5	3.2677	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51897	The fifth volume of letters writ by a Turkish spy who lived five and forty years undiscover'd at Paris : giving an impartial account to the Divan at Constantinople of the most remarkable transactions of Europe, and discovering several intrigues and secrets of the Christian courts (especially of that of France) continued from the year 1642 to the year 1682 / written originally in Arabick, translated into Italian, and from thence into English, by the translator of the first volume.	Marana, Giovanni Paolo, 1642-1693.; Bradshaw, William, fl. 1700.; Midgley, Robert, 1655?-1723.	1692 (1692)	Wing M565CL; ESTC R35022	171,587	384

casta e Putana Errante I send thee these Verses in the Original knowing thou art a Critick in the Italian Language besides they will not found so well in Arabick Thou that hast been in Rome know'st what Pasquin is and art no Stranger to the Humours of that City Let not Lampoons of Morose Italians abate thy Charity for this Renowned Princess But let her Extravagances be an Argument of the Greatness of her Soul and remember the old Roman Proverb which says There 's no surpassing Genius without some Mixture of Madness Paris 30th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1656. LETTER XV. To the same HAving the Space of an Hour before the Post goes I cou'd not forbear to inform thee of a New Star which lately appear'd in these Parts moving in a direct Line from East to North. The Astronomers have made Accurate Observations of it and yet are at a Loss what to conclude Some say 't is below the Moon others place it in the Sphere of the Fixed Stars One will have it a Meteor a Second affirms it to be a Planet whilst the Jews report every where that 't is the Star of Jacob and a Sign that their Messias is at Hand Nathan Ben Saddi one of that Nation at Vienna sends me strange Stories concerning the Prodigies which shall go before and accompany the Appearance of the Deliverer of Israel as he calls him He says there shall speedily come a Sort of People from the Vttermost Parts of the Earth of a Black and Horrible Aspect so that whoever shall but cast an Eye on any of them shall immediately die as by the Glance of a Basilisk For every one of them shall have Two Heads and Seven Eyes glowing and sending forth Sparks of Fire as Poisonous as the Flashes of the Wind El-Samiel in Arabia They shall also be Swift as Stags And about the same Time an extraordinary Heat shall flow from the Sun which being dispers'd through the Elements shall corrupt the Air Earth and Waters and infect all this Lower World with such Pestilential Qualities that a Million of Gentiles for so the Jews call all that are not of their Own Nation shall die every Day And Men shall be in so great Consternation that they shall run up and down the Streets crying Wo Wo to us and our Children They shall dig their own Graves and go down into them of their own Accord expecting Death But that all this Time the Jews shall be in Safety and Health This Hebrew adds That the Light of the Sun shall be totally extinguish'd for the Space of Thirty Days during which horrible Darkness the Christians and Mahometans shall acknowledge their Errors and many of them shall embrace the Law of Moses for which God being mov'd to Mercy will restore that Planet again to its former Brightness But what he says next is an Unhappy Presage to the Romans whose Empire according to this Tradition shall be extended over all the Regions of the Earth for the Space of Nine Moons After which Term God shall send the First Messias the Son of Joseph who shall gather the dispers'd Tribes of Israel and conduct them to Jerusalem From whence he shall issue forth with a Victorious Army and lay waste the Roman Empire sack Rome it self and carry away the Immense Riches of the Christians to Jerusalem And the very Fear of him shall reduce all Nations to his Obedience He shall fight with Armillai Harascha the Antichrist of the Christians and shall destroy Two Hundred Thousand of Armillai's Followers but in the End shall be slain himself and the Good Angels shall transport his Body to the Apartment of the Fathers The Jews hold That this Armillai shall spring out of an Image of the Virgin Mary in Rome made of Marble with which the most Wicked and Profligate among Men shall be enamour'd and commit the most execrable Uncleanness that can be nam'd The Result of these Adulterous Congresses shall be That the Statue by a Supernatural Power shall prove Impregnate and cleaving asunder shall be deliver'd of this Young Antichrist who is to vex and persecute the Jews and afflict them with greater Calamities than either they or their Fathers felt since the Beginning of the World They shall be forc'd to flee into the Desarts and hide themselves in the Dens and Caves of the Earth living onely on the Grass and Herbage with the Leaves of Trees till the great Michael the Archangel shall Thrice wind his Horn. Then shall the Second Messias the Son of David with Elias the Prophet appear who shall rescue 'em out of all their Troubles and lead them Triumphant to Paradise This is the Sum of what Nathan and all the Jews believe concerning the Last Times which they say are now approaching As is evident by the Rising of this New Star accompany'd with terrible Thunders and Lightnings And the Chief Patriarch or Prince of the Jews is come from Jerusalem to Vienna to prepare those of his Nation in these Western Parts for the Grand Revolutions which they believe are ready to fall out in the World All the Jews in that City went out a League to meet him with great Pomp and Solemnity In the mean while I hear that the Son of the late Vizir Azem makes a Confusion amongst you at Constantinople and the Parts adjacent being at the Head of Fifty Thousand Men on Pretence to revenge the Death of his Father But really to recover his Ravish'd Mistress the Fair Soltana Zamiouvre who was forc'd from his Seragl ' by the Grand Signior's Command Women and Wine according to the Proverb of the Franks make all the Disturbance in the World And without calling to Remembrance the Trojan Wars the Unhappy Effects of Helena's Perfidy we may conclude That Women are the Occasions of many Quarrels among us There is a Peace lately concluded between the French and the New English Common-wealth By which Means the Exil'd King of the Scots was forc'd to depart from this Realm which has been his Sanctuary for many Years He went away at the Beginning of the Treaty and has wandred up and down Germany ever since sometimes keeping a Court like a King at other Times living Incognito and very privately with onely Two or Three Attendants That poor Prince is very Unfortunate yet they say he bears his Calamity with singular Moderation and a certain Royal Stiffness of Mind which will rather break than bend This Pope is a great Peace-Maker and has sent Nuntio's with Letters to all the Princes of Christendom within the Pale of the Roman Church earnestly perswading them to Unity and Friendship that so their Arms may be turn'd against the Mussulmans His Predecessor was of another Sentiment and wou'd not inter-meddle in the Quarrels of any One Day as he was looking out of a Window of his Palace with some Cardinals they spied Two Men a fighting in the Street whereupon they desired the Holy Father to interpose his Authority and command

Excommunicated Girolamo Loredan and Giovanni Contarini in whose Custody the Chief Fortresses of the Island were accusing them of Cowardice and Treachery Offering also Two Thousand Sequins to any that seizes on 'em within the Dominions of Venice and Three thousand to him that kills 'em in another Country I know 't is in the Power of the All-Commanding Port to protect these Exiles if they are within the Territories of our Sovereign much more if they shelter themselves in that Sanctuary of the Distressed But thou and the other Supreme Ministers are best able to judge whether these Infidels merit so great a Favour Perhaps their Case may be like that of Nadast Governour of Buda when Solyman the Magnificent besieged that City For Nadast was a Man of Invincible Courage and Fidelity but was betrayed by the Soldiers who bound him in Chains and deliver'd up the City and Castle to the Victorious Sultan That brave Hero understanding their Treachery and the Resolution of Nadast set him at Liberty and presented him with Noble Gifts but commanded the Perfidious Garrison to be cut in Pieces A due Reward of their Treason For tho' Princes often make Use of Traytors to serve their own Designs yet when the Work is done they commonly pursue the Hated Instruments with the Effects of a Just Contempt and Indignation Plutarch the Greek Historian abounds with Instances of this Nature so does Herodian and other Roman Authors But no Example of Punishment in this Kind seems so Proportionate Regular and Ingenious as that which Brennus King of the Gauls caused to be Inflicted on a Virgin of Ephesus who when he besieged that City promised to deliver it into his Hands on Condition that his Soldiers would bestow on her all their Ornaments of Gold which they had Plundered in the Wars of Asia and wore about them as Trophies For when she had performed her Contract the Wise General to do his Part caused this Virgin to sit down on the Ground and then every Soldier in his Army casting his Plate into her Lap she was oppressed with the Insupportable Weight and buried Alive in a Heap of Gold I do not mention this as if the like were due to the Venetian Captains I refer the Judgment of such Things to my Superiours Ministers of the Blessed Sanctuary of Mankind 'T is possible the Vizirs of the Bench thought me dead or turned Renegado because they have not received any News from me these Five Moons But I tell thee neither Men nor Devils can corrupt the Faith of Mahmut By the God of my Vows there is not a more Trusty Man in the Vniverse All the Reason of my Silence was the Height of the Waters which seemed to threaten the Earth with a Second Deluge Germany was a Sea and Flanders a Lake for above Three Moons together so that 't was Impossible for the Post to travel There were seen also strange Spectres of Fire in the Air And the People of Brabant were Alarmed with Uncouth Noises in the Elements Perhaps Illustrious Kaimacham these are the last Preparations to the Grand Cholick of Nature when Wind Water and Fire shall strive to turn this World into its Old Chaos Paris 3d. of the 6th Moon of the Year 1658. LETTER VI. To Solyman his Cousin at Constantinople MORE Melancholy still Wilt thou have no Compassion on thy Exil'd Vncle but harangue him to Death with thy Religious Jargon Believe me thy Letters of this Kind are as Irksom to me as the Continual Din and Babling of Boys is to a Poor Weary Pedagogue I forbid thee not to write to me and that as often as thou wilt 'T is a Comfort in my Banishment to hear from those of my Blood But let me beg of thee to alter both thy Theme and Style Leave Spiritual Things to the Mollahs and Imaums And let thy Thoughts be taken up in Things belonging to thy Trade In that be as Inquisitive as thou canst Bend thy Mind wholly to make new Discoveries and Improvements in that and it will turn to thy Advantage At thy Hours of Leisure I counsel thee to read Histories and sometimes go into Company There is much to be gain'd by Conversing with Men of Sence Such will ferve as Mirrous wherein thou may'st behold Humanity in its Proper Figure and the Deformity of that Vizard with which Errour and Superstition disguize our Nature They will correct thy Mistakes without putting thee to a Blush Wit and Reason shall flow from their Tongues as soft Harmonies breathe from the Pipes of an Organ which chear the Spirits and serene the Heart that was clouded with Sadness The Imperial City is full of such both Natives and Strangers Cull them out from the mix'd Multitude and make 'em thy Companions without regarding the Difference of Religion whether they be Mussulmans Franks Armenians Jews or others Above all Things shun the Society of Bigots and number not thy self among those who are Opinionated because they profess the True Faith For what signifies that if their Lives be Vitious I tell thee they are worse than the Infidels Give no Heed to Fortune-Tellers and such as pretend to Astrology For whilst they boast of knowing other Mens Fates they are Ignorant of their own And if there be any Truth in that Science one may say their Ignorance in it affronts the Stars and often provokes 'em to hasten their own Ruine Assure thy self they only amuse the World with Portentous Stories to get Fame and Money Associate thy self with none but Prudent and Moderate men whose Morals are not leaven'd with a too Furious Zeal who look not Superciliously and with Disdain on a Frank as he walks along the Streets much less offer him any Indignity when he goes about his Honest Business under the Protection of the Grand Signior It becomes none but Janizaries and Ruffians to be guilty of these Incivilities to Strangers The Law of Nations and the Particular Commands of our Holy Prophet oblige us to treat such with all Humanity and Tenderness Besides 't is a Reflection on the Justice and Hospitality of the Magnificent-Port which is the Refuge and Sanctuary of all the Earth that a Stranger cannot walk the Streets in Peace Despise no Man on the Score of his Religion for there are no Factions in Paradise But consider that whilst Thousands of Mussulmans shall go to Hell for their Wicked Lives so an Equal Number of those we call Infidels may be receiv'd into the Mansions of the Bless'd for their Virtues Thou seemest to be much concern'd for thy Soul Thy Letter abounds with overmuch Care in this Point In being too sollicitous it is Evident thy Faith is small Every Line is tinctur'd with Sad Expressions about the Perils Snares Ambushes Hooks Gins and I know not what other Devices the Devil has to ruine thy Poor Soul as thou call'st it Cousin dost thou know what the Soul is about which thou keep'st such a Pudder If thou do'st 't is more than I do and

yet I have been searching and prying into it above these Thirty Years I mean from the Time that I First began to think and consider of Things but am as far to seek as ever I was Neither cou'd all the Wise Men of Old the Philosophers and Sages for ought I perceive agree in their Verdict about this Mysterious Thing which we all the Soul One will have it to be Only the Finest Part of Matter in the Body Another says 'T is the Air which the Lungs suck in and diffuse through all our Members A Third Sort affirm it to be A Mixture of Air and Fire A Fourth Of Earth and Water A Fifth call it A Complexion made up of the Four Elements a Kind of Quintessence and I know not what The Egyptians call'd it A certain Moving Number And the Chaldeans A Power without Form it self yet Imbibing all Forms Aristotle call'd it The Perfection of a Natural Body All these agreed That it was Corporeal and as it were Extracted from Matter The best Definition among them is not worth an Aspre But there were Men of Sublime Speculations who affirm'd the Soul to be A Divine Substance Independent of the Body Of this Opinion were Zoroaster Hermes Trismegistus Orpheus Pythagoras Plutarch Porphyry and Plato This last defin'd the Soul to be A Self-Moving Essence endu'd with Vnderstanding But when they have said all I prefer the Modesty of Cicero Seneca and others who acknowledg'd they were altogether Ignorant what the Soul is There was no less Disagreement among the Philosophers about the Seat of the Soul Hippocrates and Hierophilus plac'd it in the Ventricles of the Brain Democritus assign'd it the Whole Body Strabo was of Opinion it resides between the Brows Epicurus in the Breast The Stoicks lodg'd it in the Heart and Empedocles in the Blood Which last seems to be the most Current Opinion of the East to this Day In Regard both Moses the Lawgiver of the Jews and Mahomet our Holy-Prophet asserted the same and for that Reason forbid Flesh to be eaten with the Blood But be it what it will either Corporeal or Incorporeal a Substance or an Accident whether it dwell in the Head or in the Feet Within or Without the Body there is no Certainty of these Things neither can we be assur'd what will become of it after Death Therefore 't is in vain to disquiet thy self in Search of a Mystery that is hid from Mortals And Equally foolish it will be to frighten thy self with an Imagination of Hooks Gins and such like Chimera's which thou supposest the Devil is busy with to entrap thy Soul 'T is a Wonder thou art not afraid to sleep lest he should catch thee Napping and steal thy Soul from thee I wou'd fain know what Sort of Tools he must use to take hold of a Substance more Thin and Imperceptible than a Shadow or how he will be able to seize and run away with a Being Active and Free as Thought Cousin serve God after the Manner of thy Forefathers love thy Friends pardon thy Enemies be Just to all Men and do no Injury to any Beast If thou observest this Rule thou may'st defy the Devil for thy Soul is in Safe Custody God is nearer to thee than thou art to thy self He is in the Center of Every Thing and is Himself the Centre of All Things In a Word He is All in All. Paris 3d. of the 6th Moon of the Year 1658. LETTER VII To Afis Bassa NOW the Scenes are changed in Europe Enemies are become Friends and those who professed a Mutual Friendship are at open Defiance Constancy is a Vice in the Politicks and a Dextrous Way of shifting from one Engagement to another for Interest is esteemed the only State-Vertue I have already Intimated to the Divan the War which broke out last Year between the Suedes and Danes The latter begun it by Solemn Proclamation sending a Herald at Arms to the Suedish Court and dispatching Embassadors to all his Allies in Christendom to give them an Account of his Proceedings Now I shall entertain thee with a short Idea of this War By which thou wilt comprehend That the Danes are either much degenerated from the Valour of their Ancestors who formerly made the most terrible Figure of all the Nations in the North Or else they are less obliged to Fortune who has not favoured them with so many Successes and Triumphs of late but rather exposed 'em to the Insults of their Enemies and the Contempt of all Men. When the King of Denmark first proclaimed this War he had a fair Advantage of the Suedes who at that Time were sorely entangled between the Polanders Germans and Moscovites and had more Need of Helps than Hind'rances Yet King Gustavus turning Part of his Forces into Holstein Schoneland and Juitland he took one Part after another till he had over-run those Provinces in the Space of Six Moons And reduced the Danes to a Necessity of Composition and that on such Dishonourable Terms as renders them the Scorn of the Neighbouring Nations On the 13th of the 3d. Moon the Two Kings had an Interview near Copenhagen the Capital City of Denmark For so far had the Fortune of the Suedish Arms carried their Victories They Eat and Drank together several Times and Conversed privately some Hours At last a Firm Peace was Concluded between them and they concerted the Measures of a Perfect Friendship But before this the Dane had been forced to yield up Schoneland with Elsimberg which commands Half the Baltick Sea He surrendred also the Provinces of Blakin and Halland with a very strong Castle the Island of Burtholme Ten Ships of War and obliged himself to pay a Million of Dollars and to maintain Four Thousand Horse and Foot in the King of Suedeland's Service and give Free Quarter to all the Suedish Forces till the 5th Moon These are such Dishonourable Articles that the King of Denmark has quite lost himself in the Esteem of all his Allies They call him a Poor-Spirited Prince not Worthy of Support or Assistance In a Word Serene Bassa it is like to fare with him as with other Unfortunate Men who when they are once falling every Body will help to throw them down Therefore conserve thy Honours as the only Bulwark of thy Interest and Life Paris 3d. of the 6th Moon of the Year 1658. LETTER VIII To the Mufti BY the Faith of a True Believer I swear the Christians are Enemies to themselves if they do not embrace the Project of a certain Jesuite They are no Friends to their Messias if they reject so Regular an Idea so Reformed a Model of the Nazarene Empire as this Sage has lately proposed to the Pope and the Cardinals He lays his Foundation very deep and draws his Examples from the Practice of Peter the Prince of the First Twelve Christian Caliphs whom the Franks call the Apostles of Jesus the Son of Mary For according to their Traditions the Messias before

Nation and the Christians believe That the last of these Three died on a Cross As for all others they have either been dissolv'd by Sickness or snatch'd away by sudden Death Some by an Invisible Dart from Heaven Others by the Ruder Hand of Mortals like themselves Millions by the Sword and Spear and Ten Millions by the swifter and more Unavoidable Stroke of the Arrow and Bullet Whilst not a few have receiv'd their Death from the very Elements which supported their Life An Unruly Fire has crumbled some into their First Atomes and mingl'd their Ashes with those of their Houses and Beds of Repose Whilst Water a Contrary Principle has quench'd the Vital Flame in others There is but One Way to enter into this Life but the Gates of Death and the Invisible State are without Number And the Greatest Monarch may as well fall by the Prick of a Thorn as by the Edge of a Sword Every Time I swallow my Meat I remember the Fate of him who was choak'd by a Grain of Pepper And that of Anacreon the Poet who was strangl'd by the Stone of a Raisin Yet I am not solicitous in Chusing or Avoiding Particular Deaths knowing that no Human Counsel can prevent the Decrees of Destiny It rather pleases me to think such is my Ambition that by whatsoever Method I am sent to the Grave there I shall be Equal to the Alexanders Caesars Timurlengs and the Greatest Mortals For there is no Distinction of Noble and Vulgar in that Region of Anarchy where all ranks are levell'd in the Dust As Diogenes told Alexander the Great when the Monarch beholding that Philosopher in a Charnel-House his Eyes attentively fix'd on the Bones of the Dead which lay in Heaps ask'd him What he was doing To whom Diogenes reply'd I am looking for thy Father Philip 's Bones but cannot distinguish 'em from those of his Slaves Some such Thought as this might perhaps first occasion the Custom of writing Epitaphs on the Sepulchers of Eminent Persons Among which I have read some made by the Entomb'd themselves whilst they were on this side the Grave and for their singular Phancy were thought worthy to be Recorded by Historians Such as this I Sabbas of Milan by Blood a Castilian Friar and Knight of Jerusalem wish a happy Resurrection to my Ashes While I was alive among Mortals a little satisfy'd me Now I am dead and alone in my Grave I am content with less I neither knew my self what I was nor do thou enquire Traveller whoever thou art if thou be Pious pray for me and pass on Farewell and live mindful of Death Living I provided this Epitaph knowing I must die The Birth and Life of Mortals are nothing but Toil and Death Such another was that of Heliodorus a Moor who caus'd himself to be Bury'd near to the Pillars of Hercules with this Inscription on his Tomb. I Heliodorus a Mad Carthaginian have commanded by my last Will and Testament that I shou'd be Interr'd here in this Farthest Angle of the World To make Experiment whether any Man more Mad than my self wou'd travel thus far to visit my Sepulcher But that which Semiramis caus'd to be Inscrib'd on her Tomb was a perfect Satyr on the Living It was this I Semiramis whilst Living never was in need of Money yet was always Compassionate to the Poor Now I 'm Dead my Grave is my Treasury If any of Royal Race be in Want let him open this Dormitory and he shall find a Supply When Darius Conquer'd Babylon and was told of this Epitaph stung with Avarice he caus'd the Sepulcher to be open'd in his own Presence But instead of Money they only found a Tablet of Brass with these Words Engraven on it My Epitaph is a Riddle This is the Interpretation I never was Covetous onely such are Poor these I pity and have therefore provided this Lesson as a Treasure for the Man who for Lucre shall presume to violate my Tomb If thou wilt Rob the Living forbear to Plunder the Dead lest they bring thee to Shame as I have done Thou tellest me that the Emperour seems not to be much griev'd for the Death of his Son the Roman King Perhaps his Sorrow is so great that it cannot find a Vent Violent and Uncommon Passions are apt to smother within the Heart whilst only smaller Griefs break forth in Tears It was a Memorable Saying of a certain King of Egypt who was overcome by Cambyses the Persian Monarch and taken Captive with all his Children When the Cruel Conquerour to sport himself in the Misery of his Royal Prisoners and insult o'er the Vanquish'd Egyptians first caus'd the Daughter of the Captive King to be employ'd in the Meanest Offices with the Common Slaves before her Father's Face Then his Son to be bridl'd and curb'd like a Horse with a vast Burden ty'd on his Back At both which dismal Spectacles the Poor Egyptian Monarch shed not one Tear But when he saw one that had formerly been his Servant reduc'd to great Poverty he wept bitterly Cambyses aking him the Reason Why he seem'd so Insensible of his Childrens Calamity and yet was touch'd with so tender a Grief for the Misfortune of a Stranger He answer'd Son of Cyrus the Desolation of my Family afflicts me with so profound a Sorrow that no Tears can express it But my Compassion to this distress'd Servant being not so Violent easily breaks forth in Tears Nathan I wish thee neither Extreme Joy nor Grief for they are both hurtful to the Heart Paris 1st of the 8th Moon of the Year 1654. LETTER III. To Mahummed Hodgia Venerable Eremit of the Cave replete with Wonders WHen I contemplate thy Life so full of Innocence and void of the very Shadow of Vice I am like a Serpent rowz'd from his Sleep by a Breeze of Cooler Wind or the Noise of a Traveller on the Road. My Soul starts and unfolding all the drowzy Curls of Sensuality stretches it self at full Length Surpriz'd and asham'd of its own Lethargy it swiftly retires into any dark Corner to cover it self from the Light of its own Faculties and from the brighter Reflections of thy Spirit which penetrate like the Beams of the Sun I do not presently curse my self the Hour of my Nativity my Friends that have flatter'd me into an Erroneous Belief of my own Vertue or my Enemies that have provok'd me and by various Trains entangl'd me in the Paths of Vice Such Malediction onely becomes the Mouth of a Jew or a Libertine For we arrive at Perfection not by Cursing the Evil but by Imitating the Good I rather bless the Hour of Conjunction the Influence of my better Stars and the Constellations of a more propitious Horoscope The Moment when I had the Honour to touch the Sand before thy Feet with my Lips in that Sanctuary of Holiness O thou Patron of Good Intentions Sincere Reformer of Human Errors Refulgent Pattern of the Pious Glory of the

Rank of true Felicities However our Patience under this Fatigue of Life our Indifference to Pleasure and Pain Poverty or Riches Sickness or Health Honour or Disgrace with all the other Objects of Humane Passion will prove a singular Argument of Merit a prevailing Recommendation to the Life to come and an effectual Passport to Paradise For he that is thus insensibly yet willingly wean'd from the Fulsom Joys of Earth by the very Course of Nature and Decree of Destiny must unavoidably ascend to a Purer Region to a Place capable of satisfying his Aspiring Soul For Nature created no Appetite to baulk it This is the Life so recommended by Jesus the Son of Mary whose Character thou hast in the Library of thy Convent Here I send thee in a Box that which by all the Nazarenes is esteem'd his true Effigies I remember I once saw another of the same Lineaments in the Treasury of the Grand Signior These Pieces are very Rare because not copy'd by the Hands of Common Painters but by the most Celebrated Masters in Europe And the Original Draught they say was made by the Messias himself on an Handkerchief which he clapt to his Face and so left his lively Portraicture I cannot ascertain the Truth of this Tradition But in Regard this is one of those Copies which is Closeted by the Greatest Monarchs in Christendom I send it to thee as a worthy Ornament of thy Cell without either the Peril or Scandal of Idolatry The Pious Bedredin was Covetous of any Memoirs of the Messias whether written in Hieroglyphicks or in the more usual Characters of Speech He wou'd have made no more Exception at a Picture than at a Poem in Praise of that Holy Prophet And I question not but thou equallest him in the same Indifference I cou'd not so easily procure the true Picture of John Surnam'd the Washer but here I will give thee a short History of his Life This was a Famous Prophet who liv'd in the Days of the Messias and was of the Race of the Priests His Habitation was altogether in the Desert for he was an Eremite and liv'd in a Cave on one of the Mountains of Judaea Some of the Jews took him for Elias others for the Messias and a Third Sort said he was Mahomet whose coming was foretold in the Book of their Law and in the Writings of their Prophets But John deny'd that he was any of these calling himself in Modesty A Voice or Eccho His Life was very Abstemious For he fed only on the Tops of Plants and wild Honey drinking Nothing but Water of the Fountain which ran by the Side of his Cave And his Body was onely cover'd with a Vest of Camels Hair using a Leathern Thong for a Girdle To that Solitary Residence of his there was great Resort of People from Jerusalem and the Cities round about For the Fame of his Sanctity had spread through all Palestine and Syria He Wash'd his Disciples with his own Hands in the Waters of Jordan from whence he was call'd the Baptist or Washer He daily preach'd Repentance and Good Works to the Incredulous Jews and openly declar'd That Jesus the Son of Mary was the Messias That Holy Prophet it seems was one of John's Disciples and had been Wash'd by him in the River Jordan In fine after many Years of Heroick Vertue and Piety John had his Head cut off by the Order of Herod the Governour of Judaea because he had reprov'd the Tyrant for marrying his Brother's Wife Behold these Memoirs are the best Presents the Poor Exil'd Mahmut can send thee when he Congratulates thy Accession to that Holy Chair Yet such as these were more welcome to thy Predecessor than Gifts of Silver Gold or Precious Stones For he was a diligent Collector of Choice Antiquities and Select Fragments of History He was also a Liberal Patron and Encourager of Philosophy and all Sorts of Learning Follow thou his Example and the True Faithful will be eternally oblig'd to thee Thou hast a fair Opportunity there being as I 'm inform'd the best Library in thy Convent of any throughout the Mussulman Empire And the Dervishes under thy Government are Men addicted to the Study of the Sciences 'T is Pity such Inclinations shou'd want Encouragement whilst the Infidels are every where busie in Founding New Academies and Augmenting the Old There is one lately erected in the Dukedom of Cleve by the Elector of Brandenburgh where the Oriental Languages and Sciences are profess'd If the Nazarenes are thus Curious to pry into our Learning why should we be remiss in attaining the Knowledge of their Languages and Histories since thereby we shall be in a Condition to know their Greatest Secrets Sage Hebatolla let not the Infidels have any longer Occasion to term us Barbarous and Ignorant But remember that in promoting Literature thou wilt perform a meritorious Service to the Grand Signior Paris 17th of the 1st Moon of the Year 1657. LETTER IX To Selim Al' Mosel Venerable Imaum of the Mosch of Sancta Sophia PRaise be to God sole Lord of the Zenith and the Nadir Possessor of Infinite Regions who hides the First Meridian in the Palm of his Hand The Names of Peru and Mexico are not now Foreign in the Ottoman Empire especially to Travellers and Men of Science When our Fathers first heard of America they had no other Way to express so Unknown a Part of the World than by calling it the Land of the Golden Mines because of the Abundance of that Metal which was brought from thence by the Spaniards since their Conquests in those Parts But now we are no Strangers to the Geography of that Remote Continent Commerce and Traffick have render'd all the Known Nations of the Earth familiar one with another And I remember when I was at Constantinople the Names of Peru Mexico Florida c. were as Common in the Copha Hans as the Names of Indostan Turquistan Gurgistan or any other Province of Asia So that a Man wou'd have been laugh'd at who in speaking of America shou d have us'd any Circumlocutions as to call it the Empire of the Golden Mines the World beyond the Great Sea or the like Yet we must confess our Knowledge in this Kind is owing to the Franks who sail into those far-distant Regions and at their Return communicate their Intelligence and Observations to us For else we had been yet altogether Strangers to the History of that New World It was first discover'd by Christopher Columbus a Genouese in the Year 1492. of the Christians Hegira This Man had a happy Genius in Contemplating the Motion of the Sun and the Frame of the Vniverse He was no Stranger to the Extent of our Continent and the Situation of all its Parts He had been often at Sea and seen divers Regions And particularly when he was in Portugal the most Westerly Part of Europe he took great Delight to walk on the Shore in the Evenings and observe