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	sea_n	see_v	4,259	5	3.9841	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51903	The eighth and last 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.	1694 (1694)	Wing M565EA; ESTC R35024	164,847	384

thee all manner of Enjoyments that may consist with Purity and Innocence Paris 7th of the 5th Moon of the Year 1677. LETTER XII To the Captain Bassa BY Ships newly arriv'd from America Advice is brought to this Court of a signal Defeat given to a Squadron of Dutch Ships in those Parts and of the Taking the Isle Tabago by the French This Exploit was performed under the Conduct of the Count D'Estrees an Admiral of rising Fame here in the West But in my Opinion the French magnifie this Emerprize beyond its true Value for they lost as many Ships and Men as the Hollanders and all the Gain they can boast of is a Place which will cost them more to Defend than 't is really worth I wonder this potent Monarch does not rather set out a Fleet of Ships well Mann'd and provided of all Necessaries to make some Discoveries in that vast Tract of Land called by Geographers the Southern Vnknown World It runs along from East to West between the Tropick of Capricorn and the Antartick Circle taking up the whole Southern Temperate Zone or at least the greatest part of it There have been many fabulous Relations of that distant Part of the Globe Some of the Antients mention'd it and modern Writers have utter'd various Conjectures about it One will have it to be the Original Paradise of Adam and Eve Another supposes it to be the Place whither the Ten Tribes of Israelites retir'd that were carried away Captives by Salmanassar King of Assyria Which has occasion'd so many Disputes and Controversies between different Historians Be it how it will the delightful Situation of that Quarter has given perhaps Encouragement for such kind of Thoughts which I should think were also Invitation sufficient to draw thither the Arms of some magnanimous Prince besides the pure Novelty of the Design and the Glory of making a Descent and Conquest where no Mortals of our known World had ever set Foot before Surely they are not afraid that it is enchanted Ground or that they shall encounter an Army of Devils at their first Landing that they shall be trepann'd into hidden Snares of Magick or be surpris'd by some Infernal Ambush What fatal Timorousness what panick Suspicion is it that renders Potentates of the Earth thus ingloriously prudent and wretchedly cautious to spare their Men their Ships and Mony when so noble an Undertaking seems to challenge their Courage and awaken their utmost Resolution to combat a few Difficulties which being once vanquished Eternal Honour and Renown follow What Discouragements Le ts and Obstacles did not the brave Columbus meet with when he sought the Assistance of several Princes and States to set him out to Sea that he might discover the then unknown Western World How coldly was his Project entertained at Genoua his own Native Country and at last after long waiting utterly rejected No better Reception found he in the Court of England though a Nation claiming the first Rank among Sea-faring People What Fatigues did he not undergo in travelling up and down by Sea and Land from one Kingdom and Country to another Neither rested he till he had accomplish'd his Desire and procur'd Vessels Men and Mony from the King of Spain to carry on his Enterprise Yet he had no other Ground to believe there was any Unknown Continent beyond the Atlantick Sea save his own Conjecture started from the Observations he had made on the Course of the Sun and the Inequality of the known part of the Earth compar'd with the vast Body of Waters which must be suppos'd necessary to make up an entire Globe if there were not some Unknown Land extant to supply their Room and prevent a Vacuum in Nature For he consider'd that though this unequal ballancing of the Globe might pass Muster in the School of Natural Philosophy yet it cou'd not answer the strict Scrutiny of the Mathematicks But that there must be an even Counterpoise of Earth and Water to keep this Ball fast in its Vortex and regular in its Circulation So that this Great Man built all his well-pitch'd and happy Design upon a bare Geometrical Speculation whereas there is evident Matter of Fact the Testimony of many Authentick Eye-witnesses to prove that there is such a Land as what I have been speaking of and all that ever pass'd the Megellanick Streights must have seen it if they were not blind I counsel thee therefore Mighty Bassa to represent these Things effectually to the Grand Signior It will be no Disgrace if he hearken not to thy Proposals Shew him the Easiness of the Undertaking if a small Fleet be fitted up and sent by Way of the Red Sea to make Discoveries toward the South Let them be well Mann'd and Victuall'd provided also with all sorts of Arms and Ammunition in order to a Descent with Materials and Instruments to raise a Fortress if there be Occasion 'T is a thousand to one if the Inhabitants of those Unknown Regions have ever found out the Use of Guns which will be a prodigious Advantage on our Side The very Thunder of the Mussulman Artillery will terrifie them into Obedience They will either Surrender as to Gods or fly as from Devils leaving all the Maritime Coasts to the Invaders Possession Where Colonies of True Believers may be soon planted and established to the Glory of God and his Prophet and the Eternal Exaltation of the Ottoman Empire Great Commander of the Marine I desire thee to pardon the Liberty I take in this Discourse and to esteem what I have said only as the humble Suggestions of an honest Slave who is zealous for his Master's Honour the Glory of the Osman House and the general Good of Mankind Paris 14th of the 6th Moon of the Year 1677. LETTER XIII To Dgnet Oglou I Am convinc'd by long and manifold Experience That God and the World and every Thing appear to Man in what Figure he pleases We may make our own Opticks though the Generality of Men take up with those which are prepar'd for them by their Fathers and Tutors We use the Prejudices and Prepossessions of Education as the Spaniards wear their Spectacles even at Dinner Time for Fashions sake Young and Old that they may appear Grave and Regular We adhere to the Opinions we received in our Infancy with a partial Stiffness and Pride that we may not seem to call in question the Wisdom of our Ancestors or appear wavering or inconstant our Selves So the Christian Gallants swallow down whole Dozens of venomous Oysters without saying Grace only because 't is the mode Though they will not venture on a Crust of wholsome Bread without conjuring a Blessing on it by making the Sign of the Cross and squinting two or three magical Glances at Heaven seconded by Hocus-Pocus-Whispers to compleat the Charm But let thou and I be more rational in our Principles and Practice There is no God that will be banter'd with vain Mummery or by Musick be melodiously

and other Cities of Holland and in General throughout all the Seven Vnited States Neither have they much more Regularity and Order in other Matters Wonder not therefore if my Pen observes no Method in Treating of a Country which is the very Emblem Proverb and Centre of Ataxy and Confusion However I will now begin to make more Particular Distinctions than in the Former Part of my Letter Zeland has a bad Air especially in the Summer time when the Sun exhales Stinking and Infectious Vapours from the Lakes and Pools of which there is a great Number in that Province Yet it has an Excellent Soil abounding with Wheat and other Corn also with good Pasturage for Sheep and Cattel There is little more to be said of this Province Holland has this Observable in it That frequently the Earth trembles there under the Burden of Coaches Wagons Horses c. Which is an Argument that the Ground is hollow underneath and full of Caverns To confirm this Opinion they say That a Cow once falling into a Gap or Chasm in the Earth was found dead three Days afterwards in the Sea being known to the Owner to be the same Hence a Part of Holland in the Language of the Country is called Waterland Which at first Hearing sounds like a Contradiction But they mean by it a Land situated in the Waters For so indeed the whole Province appears to be divided into small Islands by Innumerable Canals Lakes and Pools that every where expose themselves to your Eye This Province deserves most properly of all the Rest the Appellation of Netherland it being sunk so very low that in many Places the Sea rises higher than it Which compels the Hollanders to fortifie their Shores with High and Strong Banks which with great Cost they continually keep repair'd They have but little Corn or Fruit of their own Growth being supply'd with those Things from Germany Poland and other Countries But there is an Immense Quantity of Grass to nourish Millions of Sheep Oxen and Horses And what I have said of these two Provinces may be in some Degree apply'd to all the Rest Frizland only excepted which is more Fertile of Corn yields Abundance of Pulse and Salt and is well cloath'd with Woods As to the Manners of these People The Zelanders are of a Ready Wit Provident and Subtile Of Stature generally very tall as will appear by a Woman of this Province whom William Count of Holland sent to the Nuptials of Charles the Fair King of France She was of so vast an Heighth and Bulk that the French look'd like Pigmies or Dwarfs in Comparison of her And such was her Strength that She could lift from the Ground a Beam and carry it on her Shoulders which Eight Labouring Men cou'd hardly stir 'T is observ'd of Geldres That it was the First of these Provinces which submitted to the Rising Fortune of the Roman Empire And again The First that shook off the Yoke when that Empire was in its Wane In Vtrecht there are Abundance of Nobles who are more Soft and Polite in their Conversation than the Rest of the Hollanders The Women of Quality there go Veil'd The Publick Affairs of all these Provinces are manag'd by those whom they call the States-General of the Vnited Provinces These are a Convention or Assembly of the Chief Nobles Principal Magistrates and most Eminent Citizens in every Province Courteous Effendi These are the Chief Things which I know of the United Provinces unless thou wouldst have me write their Compleat History Which wou'd be too tedious for Letters Accept of my Labours which tho' Mean yet are Voluntary Chearful and done at a Jerk Paris 4th of the 12th Moon of the Year 1678. LETTER VI. To the same THou wilt say I 'm all upon the Extremes In my last I dragg'd thee through the most Dirty Nasty Abject Valley of all the Earth I mean Holland with the rest of the Vnited Provinces Now I 'm going to lead thee out of those Fenny Bogs and give thee a Breathing up the Salubrious Hills and Mountains of Helvetia or Swisserland 'T is true this cannot be done without a considerable Leap over many Provinces of Germany Part of Lorrain and Alsace But having spoken formerly of the Empire and from thence in my next by a kind of Natural Descent fallen into the Low Countries the Consideration of their Form of Government put me in mind of the other Republicks in Europe Among which that of Switzerland lying next to the Vnited States I chose to make it the Subject of this Letter designing to give thee an Account of Venice Genoua Lucca and the Rest in Order Know then that Helvetia or Swisserland was once a Province of Germany but now 't is a Commonwealth subsisting by it self and not subject to any Foreign Power It is divided into Thirteen Cantons or Provinces I will not trouble thee with the Names of each Districh or with their several Characters The whole Country in general looks like a great Bunch of Rocks and Mountains separated by small but very pleasant Valleys And though the Mountains seem rough yet their Tops and Brows flourish no less with all sorts of Trees and Herbage than the fairest Plains The Inhabitants nourish abundance of Sheep on them besides Goats Hinds Horses with many other Kinds of Beasts For there is great Plenty of Animals in this Country both Wild and Tame The Air is piercing and serene the Soil though not of it self fertile yet is made so by Industry of the Inhabitants In some Parts they have Vineyards which produce a Grape of wonderful Delicacy The Wine of which is much esteem'd in those Parts The Lakes also and Rivers abound with Fish of all sorts Neither is there any Scarcity of Fowls or of any Thing else which immediately serves the Necessities of Human Life Only Things tending to Luxury and other Kinds of Wantonness are not to be found in this Happy Region It is a second Scythia or Tartary And indeed the Inhabitants of Swisserland are thought to come out of those more Northern Regions They have ever been Famous for their invincible Constancy and Valour in War Julius Caesar himself was afraid of them and built a Wall to hinder them from going into France or Gaul when he remember'd that L. Cassius a Roman Consul was Vanquish'd by them and his whole Army routed Some Authors affirm that in the Times of Old the Inhabitants of the North of Europe were so prodigiously multiplied that some of them were forced to seek new Seats Wherefore rushing through Germany and passing the Rhine they were met by the Gauls whom they Overcame and Defeated Upon which News the Neighbouring Nations being terrified sent Embassadors to them desiring Peace The Conquerors replied They came not to wage War or disturb the Peace of Mankind That they only sought a Place to live in quietly where they might manure the Ground without hurting any Body Then Helvetia was granted to them where

wounded Which so weaken'd and discourag'd the Confederates That the next Day they retir'd and left the French Masters of the Field Now I will tell thee That had the Prince of Conde been contented with his First Victory at Senef he had sav'd abundance of French Blood For in that Fight the Confederates lost above Two Thousand Men and the French scarce a Hundred But the Fieryness of his Temper carried him beyond his Judgment to pursue them into difficult Places So that in the winding up of the Matter though the Victory was his it cost him above Fifteen Hundred Lives of his Souldiers which might have been as well spar'd and his Honour remain'd the same Valiant Serasquier I send thee this Narrative as a Chart by which to steer thy Course in the like Emergencies advising thee to temper thy Courage with sage Conduct and Prudence and not to sacrifice thy Men to a Rash Caprice of Martial Phrensy Paris 12th of the 9th Moon of the Year 1674. LETTER IX To Mehemet an Exil'd Eunuch at Al-Cairo in Egypt HOw changeable is the state of Mortals how inconstant our Thoughts Passions Words and Actions We are never fix'd long on any thing If we are invited to cast Anchor a while in some calm and serene Season whilst we furl the Sails of Human Care and Anxiety if we are permitted to careen and recruit our Weather-beaten Spirits enjoying some short interval of Rest and Ease the Indulgence soon expires and we are forc'd to weigh and hoist with double Diligence lest we incur a Wreck The Tempests rais'd by our Evil Stars blow hard upon us we run adrift and are toss'd up and down on the Billows of Human Misery without any approv'd Pilot Chart or Compass to direct us in the uncertain Road of Life We float at Random in a Sea of perpetual Hazards and Difficulties O Mehemet I will not now as once formerly I did wish my self in one of the Egyptian Pyramids or court the Society of Ghosts and Daemons I will not take Sanctuary in those Superannuated Prisons of Royal Souls nor seek Diversion among the Dead Not the black Masquerades of Cheop's Sepulcher danc'd each Night by Antique Shadows or wildest Measures of Hobgoblins in the Galleries of that horrid Pile cou'd now relieve my Melancholy or ease my Phrentick Pain Because the Entertainment is too narrow close and stale for such a Soul as mine I wou'd fain ramble through an Infinite Space planted each Stage with Seminaries of new Idea's uncouth Forms and strange Chimeras I wou'd see the Essence of all Beings that I have already seen revers'd turn'd upside down or inside out or any way transform'd so as I might not know 'em again I wou'd have all the Elements change their Qualities the Fire to lose its Innate Heat and Water to expunge its Moisture the Earth take Fire and blow it self up into the Ninth Sphere whilst the Air shall condense and crush it self into a Solid Globe producing a new Race of Minerals Vegetables and Living Creatures which our Old Purblind World ne'er saw before I wou'd have flying Trees and Birds whose out-spread Claws take Rooting in the Air and grow like Baucis and Philemon their Wings to Branches turn'd their Feathers into Leaves Besides a Thousand Kinds of Monsters more than ever Ovid spoke of in his Metamorphosis After all this I would go up and view the Orbs above restore the Rotten Corruptible Heavens pull all the Bulls and Bears the Scorpions Lions Centaurs and other antiquated Beasts out of the Sky make the New Star of Cassiopaeia pay a Swinging Fine for her damn'd late unmannerly Appearance in the Senate of the Stars Then wou'd I set up an Inquisition for the Comets to know from whence they are and what their Business is among the Orbs above I wou'd examine all the Constellations and know the meaning of their Names and ill-shap'd Figures And then I 'd trace the Milky Way mounting directly to the Holiest Heavens of all There perhaps I shou'd begin to be Modest and Sober considering that it is the Presence-Chamber of the Omnipotent I wou'd not broach Sedition nor talk Factiously before the King of all Things But behaving my self like a Courtier during the Publick Audience I wou'd afterwards retire and scamper through the Endless Fields beyond the Coelum Empyraeum where I wou'd either find out new Worlds or Room for them Nothing shou'd confine my Search less than Infinity Is not our Sense Fansy and Reason without Bounds Are not these Parts of the Universe And has God made any Part greater than the Whole This is a Contradiction in Nature He has given us Faculties which if rightly us'd cannot err Our Conceptions are squar'd to his Eternal Model of the World if we do not debauch our own Thoughts or suffer 'em to be corrupted by others He is the Primitive and Original Reason the Everlasting Common Sensorium of Nature in whom and by whom we all see that we have Eyes hear that we have Ears smell that we have Noses taste that we have a Tongue and feel that we are all over full of Sensible Spirits Oh God! thy Praises are without Beginning or End Thou art an Eternal Circle of Wonders and Miracles Thou surpassest all our Sublimest Thoughts no Words can decypher the Skirts of thy Garment On thee Infinite Worlds have rested from Eternal Ages Thou art no Niggard of thy Gifts Why shou'd Infinite Goodness and Bounty be traduc'd by Infidels They say the World is but so many Thousand Years Old perhaps Five or Six It is a damn'd Blasphemy thus slily to Calumniate the Omnipotent and to say by Craft he was not so early Gracious as he might have been What should ail the Eternal that he was not in a Condition to produce the World before Or was he in a sullen Humour that he should suffer a lapse of Indeterminate Ages before he wou'd display his Attributes Oh No! Suffer not this Doctrin to take Root in thy Soul My Dear Mehmet but Remember there is no Envy in the Deity Doubtless he was as Good Powerful Just and Wise from all Eternity as at Moses's Hour of the Creation or as he is now and ever will be World without End Amen As the Nazareens have in their Prayers My Mehmet let us shake off the Prejudices of Education with all the Prepossessions and False Dogma's of our Early Years and adhere to firm Reason and the Inspirations that are from beyond the Visible Frame Take this as my last Adieu for I am just Equipping for the Unknown Eternal Voyage Paris 5th of the 11th Moon of the Year 1674. LETTER X. To the Kaimacham THe Affairs of France seem to be in a very flourishing Condition This Invincible Monarch not only conquers Cities and Provinces by Force but some yield to him voluntarily courting his Protection Here are arriv'd Deputies from the Senate of Messina in Sicily to desire the King to free that City and People from the Yoke of Spanish

from the Jews Which made him once say to his Disciples Are there not Twelve Hours in a Day when they warn'd him not to go into the City on such a Day for fear of the People They add That whosoever has Mars happily plac'd in the Ninth House at his Nativity shall have Power to Expel Daemons from the possess'd And whosoever has the Moon with Jupiter in Conjunction with the Dragons Head in the Zenith and shall pray to God whatsoever he desires shall be granted And that Immortal Felicity depends on Jupiter and Saturn if they be happily posited in Leo. For whosoever has this Configuration his Soul after Death being freed from Infinite Streights and Perils shall ascend to its Original and Native Seat the Region of Endless Liberty and Bliss All this may be true for ought I know but till I have a Demonstration for it I shall desire to suspend my Belief In the mean while this is my Faith That all Things depend on Everlasting Destiny Whether the Stars be Instruments in Executing the Eternal Decrees or no it matters not much All sublunary Beings must obey the Law that cannot be revoked Then suffer not thy self Dear Friend to be dismay'd or over-anxious at any Thing that happens in this Mortal Life But practise that Ode of Horace Aequam memento rebus in arduis Servare Mentem non secus in bonis Ab insolenti temperatam Loetitia Moriture c. Finally My Dgnet be mov'd at Nothing Adieu Paris 5th of the 11th Moon of the Year 1681. LETTER XI To Ibro Kalphaser Effendi a Man of Letters at Constantinople I Congratulate the Honour thou hast in being made Supervisor of that Noble Work an Vniversal History of the World I wish thee and the other Undertakers a Whole Hegyra of Happiness whose Date may commence with the Finishing this Illustrious Volume The Mufti has ordered me to address to thee such farther Instructions as are necessary to render the History complete that nothing either of Substance or Ornament may be wanting I formerly sent that Patriarch of the Faithful a Scheme or Model of the Whole Work which I drew up in the Best Manner I cou'd for the Time that was allowed me Now I send thee one more ample and correct 't is inclos'd in the Box which comes with this Wherein thou wilt also find a large Catalogue of Historians containing almost all that have written the Affairs of Kingdoms and Empires since the Beginning of the World With their particular Characters that thou mayst distinguish such as are worthy of Credit from the Authors of Figments Neither art thou to wonder that I have in these Papers given thee Cautions how to use even some of those whom we esteem of greatest Integrity and Reputation For though they scorned to broach Fables or transmit Romances to Posterity yet they were Flesh and Blood as well as other Men and many times their Interest or Passions byass'd their Judgment and drew their Pens into Cabal with a Party Thus Herodotus himself though otherwise a Man of approv'd Veracity yet when he relates the Wars of the Athenians appears too partial to his darling Country-Men and lets those Passages escape his Pen in their Favour which are contradicted by Plutarch and other more disinteressed Writers and for which he is particularly reproached by Plutarch in a Treatise of his entituled Of the Malice of Herodotus Therefore in Cases of this Nature thou art not to confide wholly in any one Author whom thou hast Reason to suspect guilty of Fiction in History or supinely pass thy Sentiments into those of another without examining whether his Relations be true or false But having so great a Throng of Testimonies reserve the last Appeal to thy self and let thy own Judgment be the Tribunal where every ones Sentence is finally determin'd Thus much may serve for a Direction as to the Matter of the History What concerns the several Periods of Time wherein Things were done Authors cannot with such Reason be suppos'd designedly Faulty as mistaken in their Chronology and those chiefly who wrote in later Times and seem only to have collected and transcribed out of others what was for their Turn And thou wilt have Reason to be particularly circumspect in what thou takest on the Credit of Diodorus Siculus Pliny Paterculus and some others who seem to have been too Precipitate in fixing the Terms and Periods of Time requisite to the Illustrating their Histories without making a due Comparison of the several Epocha's in Use among the Precedent Historians from whom they borrow their Light In Order therefore to the rendring this Vniversal History the most correct and free from Error of any yet extant to the Eternal Honour of the Mussulmans and Advantage of all Mankind It will be necessary for thee to have a Right Notion of all the different Hegyra's or Comptuation of Years us'd by divers Nations from the First Invention of Records to this Day These I have nam'd in short at the Tops of the Columes to which they belong in the Scheme I have sent in the Box. Now I will explain their Meaning to thee and shew which are of most Import in this Work and which not To begin then with that Aera which is commonly taken for a Series of the Years of the World or a Computation from the suppos'd Origin of Time Thou oughtest to observe that this is most disputable and uncertain of all other Epocha's in Regard it is impossible to adjust the different Accounts of the Jews Grecians Romans Aegyptians Arabians Persians and other Nations not to mention the almost Eternal Chronologies of the Chineses and Indians which extend many Millions of Years beyond the suppos'd Time of the World's Creation Wishing thee therefore in this Point to adhere to those Epocha's which are most commonly receiv'd in the East we will pass to Noah's Flood wherein thou must expect no other Light save what is deriv'd from Moses and the Hebrew Doctors Which has occasion'd many to confound this Deluge with those of Deucalion and Ogyges mention'd by Ovid and other Gentile Writers And indeed it may well start a Scruple in a Mind not over credulous how it came to pass that this Universal Deluge of Noah supposing it to be such was recorded by no other Nation on Earth save only by the Jews As if it had not equally concerned all Mankind to transmit to Posterity the exact Time of so General a Depopulation of our Race made by Water But so far are we from finding any such Memoirs that there are no Footsteps to be trac'd of the bare Matter of Fact or any Mention made of a Flood save those of Ogyges and Deucalion Whence proceeded this Neglect in the Writers of Asia What Interest Prepossession or Prejudice cou'd byass the Phoenician Antiquaries tho Persian Magi the Chaldean Sages the Indian Gymnosophists or the Bonzi's of China from Registring such an Inundation as if the Story be true swept away all the