epictetus junior, or, maximes of modern morality in two centuries / collected by j.d. of kidwelly. maximes. english la rochefoucauld, françois, duc de, 1613-1680. 1670 approx. 89 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 78 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a49597 wing l451 estc r10485 12092125 ocm 12092125 53906 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a49597) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 53906) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 74:6) epictetus junior, or, maximes of modern morality in two centuries / collected by j.d. of kidwelly. maximes. english la rochefoucauld, françois, duc de, 1613-1680. davies, john, 1625-1693. [11], 137, [6] p. printed for t. bassett ..., london : 1670. attributed to franco̧is la rochefoucauld. cf. wing (2nd ed.). collected and translated by john davies. cf. halkett & laing (2nd ed.). licensed nov. 8, 1669. roger l'estrange--p. 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ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng maxims. 2005-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-07 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2005-07 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion licensed , nov. 8. 1669. roger l'estrange . epictetus junior , or maximes of modern morality . in two centuries . collected by j. d. of kidwelly . london , printed for t. bassett , at the george in fleet-street , near cliffords-inn , 1670. to the much honoured francis watson esq . sir , though all the parts of philosophy have their several excellencies , and perfections , yet may we justly , in point of extent , assign the preheminence to morality . for , if the dictates of this last , by a natural currency , diffuse themselves into all humane transactions , so as that whatever is done by man derives its approbation or disallowance from a consonancy or opposition thereto , what can be less said of it , then that it hath a general influence over mankind , that all rational nature is its adaequate subject , and that all action , as well that of those of the highest , as those of the lowest rank , falls under the verge of it's direction ? hence came it , that among the ancient philosophers , they who most earnestly apply'd themselves to the cultivation and advancement of morality , were look'd upon as the greatest exemplars of life , and had , from their numerous auditors , all the veneration and respects , which generous contributors to the happy government and civilization of their countries could with justice expect : whilst those others , whose studies transcended the capacities of the many , were forc'd to content themselves with the applause and acclamations of the few . nay , this consideration may be press'd yet further , if we come to weigh the obligations , which the other parts of philosophy have to this. for , whether we reflect on the naturalists , searching into the miraculous abysses of nature ; or on the politician , contriving the government of nations , by a strict inspection into their different humours and manners ; or lastly on the oeconomist , regulating his private and domestick concerns , we must affirm , that their several attempts will not attain their proposed accomplishment , without the concurrence and illumination of morality . these , sir , were the prerogatives of morality while its precepts were gently conducive to the happy conduct of mens lives . but into what impure hands it hath fallen of late years , and how it hath been disorder'd and debauch'd into pestilent and pernicious deductions , i am unwilling to press at this time ; wishing only , that the present age may be so happy , as to weather out the mischievous principles wherewith extravagant casuisme hath so strangely pester'd it . as to the present collection of maximes , i am to acknowledge , that the greatest part of it was made by a person of eminent quality in france . the several editions of it there , and in the low-countries , sufficiently argue its kind reception among the ingenious , in those parts . that it will be in some measure kindly entertain'd here , i have some encouragement to hope ; and this , partly from the excellency and novelty of the things themselves , and partly from their dedication to a person , who , by his engagement in embassies to the remotest parts of christendome , and his publick concerns abroad upon other accounts , hath had the opportunities of seeing the manners , and surveying the cities of many nations . that your great and generous designs may meet with the success you propose to your self , is the earnest wish of , sir , your most humble , and much obliged servant , j. davies . epictetus junior , or maximes of modern morality . vices enter into the composition of virtues , as poisons do into that of physical remedies ; the intermixture thereof is made by prudence , which by that allay makes an advantageous use of them , against the evils and inconveniences of humane life . ii. the virtue observable in the ordinary sort of men is only a phantasm , fram'd by our passions , on which we bestow a plausible name , that we may pursue our own inclinations , without any fear of punishment . iii. all the virtues men so much pretend to , are swallow'd up in interest , as rivers lose their names when they fall into the sea. iv. crimes put on a certain shew of innocence , nay sometimes become glorious , either upon the account of their number , or their quality : thence it proceeds , that publick robberies are look'd on , as the effects of conduct , design , and subtilty , and the taking of provinces without any just pretence , is called conquest . thus is there an heroick management of criminal actions , as well as of virtuous . v. we are many times kept within the limits of our duty by shame , sloth , and timorousness , while in the mean time our virtue hath all the credit of it . vi. if we excise from that which is called courage the desire of preserving and the fear of losing , it would not have any great matter left it . vii . clemency is an intermixture of repute , sloth , and fear , of which we make up a virtue ; and among princes , it is only a political intrigue , whereof they make their advantage to cajol the affection of the people . viii . the constancy of the wiser sort , is but a certain artifice , wherewith they know how to repress the agitation of their souls . ix . gravity of deportment is a mysterious carriage of the body , found out to eclipse the imperfections of the mind . x. severity and reserv'dness in women is a daubing embellishment , whereby they endeavour to heighten their beauty ; in a word , it is a certain delicate and subtle attraction , and a disguis'd insinuation . xi . those reconciliations between enemies , which seem to be carry'd on with sincerity , complyance and tenderness , are truly the effects of a desire of bettering ones condition , weariness of war , and a fear of some unfortunate adventure . xii . we are to make the same estimate of gratitude , as of just dealing among merchants ; this maintains commerce , and we satisfy our obligations , not so much upon the score of justice , as out of a conceit , that we shall thereby more easily prevail with others to give us credit . xiii . men are not only apt to be guilty of an equal oblivion of benefits and injuries , but they also hate those who have obliged them . pride and interest are upon all accounts the parents of ingratitude . the acknowledgments of kindnesses , and the requitals of ill-turns seem to them a kind of slavery , whereto they think it a hard matter to submit . xiv . there is no virtue so highly celebrated as prudence , and men have that fondness for it , as that it deserves the greatest elogies . it is the square of our actions , and the level of our conduct . though fortune-seems to be an universal mistress , yet prudence is hers . she causes the dilatations and decays of empires ; her absence occasions all inconveniences and disasters ; her concurrence , all felicity . and as an ancient poet expresses himself , when we are guided by prudence , we are surrounded by all the other divinities , as if he said , that , in prudence , we meet with all the assistances we desire of the gods. and yet the most accomplish'd prudence we can imagine , cannot give us any assurance of the most inconsiderable effect of the world , inasmuch as being exercis'd on a subject so inconstant and so common , as man is , she cannot with any certainty execute any of her designs . god only , who hath the guidance of all mens hearts , and the absolute disposal of their inclinations , brings the things dependent thereon to their due effect . whence we are to make this conclusion , that all the commendations we give our prudence , whether out of ignorance or vanity , are so many injuries done by us to his providence . xv. the qualities a man really hath , make him not so ridiculous as those which out of pure affectation he pretends to have . xvi . our promises are always made with a reflection on our hopes , and perform'd according to our fears . xvii . a man is extreamly exasperated to be circumvented by his enemies , and betrayed by his friends ; and yet he is satisfied to be deceiv'd by himself . xviii . it is as easie for a man to be self-deceiv'd , without being sensible of it , as it is hard to deceive others , without their perceiving it . xix . it is one of the most pleasant humours in the world to see two men met together , one to receive advice , the other to give it . the one demeans himself with a respectful and compliant indifference , and says , that he comes to receive directions , and to submit his sentiments to the other's ; and yet for the most part he comes to have his own confirm'd , and to get the other's warranty of his advice upon the affair he proposes to him . on the contrary , he who is consulted seems to requite the sincerity of his friend with an earnest and dis-interessed zeal to serve him , and in the mean time examines his own concerns , for rules whereby to advise him ; so that his counsel becomes more advantageous to himself , than to him who receives it . xx. 't is an ill expression , to say , such or such a thing proceeds from weakness of mind ; for it is , in effect , a weakness of the temperament , which is only an inability of acting , and a default in the principle of life . xxi . nothing is impossible ; there are certain ways conducing to the accomplishment of all things , and if we had will enough , we should never be destitute of the means . xxii . compassion is a resentment of our own evils , and a reflection on them in a subject at some distance from us . it is a crafty foresight of those misfortunes into which we may fall our selves , which inclines us to the relief of others ; out of an imagination , that they are engag'd to retaliation upon the like occasions . so that the services we render those who are fallen into any misfortune , are , properly speaking , but kindnesses done to our selves by way of anticipation . xxiii . he is not to be accounted a rational person , who thinks he hath reason for what he does , but he who hath a delightful and discerning assurance , of his acting according to the dictates thereof . xxiv . as for the acknowledgment of our failings and imperfections , it proceeds from a desire of repairing the prejudice which they do us in the apprehensions of others , by the impression we give them of the justice of our own . xxv . humility is a counterfeit submission , whereby we endeavour to bring all others into a complyance with our humours . it is a slight sally of pride , whereby it humbles it self before men , out of a design to advance it self above them . this is its greatest disguise and its first stratagem : and as it is out of all question , that there never was any such thing , as the proteus mentioned in the ancient fables , so is it certain , that pride is such a real one in nature . for it assumes what forms it pleases ; but though it be a strange and pleasant spectacle , to see it in all its figures , and in all its insinuations , yet is it to be acknowledged , that it is never so rare , nor so extraordinary , as when we see it with its eyes fixt on the ground , a countenance full of modesty and composure ; words overflowing with mildness and respect , and a certain contempt of it self : as if it would say , i am unworthy the honours that are done me , incapable of the employments forc'd upon me ; and that it receiv'd the charges whereto it is advanc'd only as an effect of mens excessive goodness towards it , and a blind supererogation of fortune's liberality . xxvi . moderation in prosperity is either a dreadful apprehension of losing what a man is possess'd of , or a fear of that shame which attends extravagance and excess . it may also be said , that a moderate person is one whose humours are in a certain indisturbance , as being becalm'd by the satisfaction of his mind . xxvii . we may further give this character of moderation , that it is a fear of disparagement and contempt , which attends those who are besotted with their own felicity . it is a vain ostentation of a resolute mind . in fine , to give it yet a more pertinent definition , we may affirm , that the moderation of men in their highest advancements is an ambition of seeming greater , than those things whereby they are advanc'd . xxviii . how can a man forbear laughing at this virtue , and the opinion generally conceived of it ? how fondly is it imagined , that ambition is oppos'd , and in a manner reduced to a certain mediocrity by moderation , when they never meet together , the latter being truly but a certain sloth , demission of spirit , and a defect of courage ? so that it may justly be said , that moderation is a certain depression of the soul , as ambition is the elevation of it . xxix . chastity in women is a certain fondness of their reputation , and a love of their quiet . xxx . since the neapolitane evil came to reign in the world , the fear of infection hath contributed more to the honesty of both sexes , then any consideration of virtue : and yet there will ever be such , as shall prosecute their enjoyments , with a defiance of diseases . xxxi . there is no such thing as liberality , and it may be said to be a vanity of giving , whereof we are more fond , then of that which we give . xxxii . temperance and sobriety are the effects of our love of health , or argue disability of eating or drinking much . xxxiii . fidelity is a rare invention of self-love , whereby a man advancing himself to be a depository of precious things , enhances himself to a more extraordinary value . of all the several commerces of self-love , this is that wherein it makes least advancement , and greatest advantages . it is the subtlest part of its politicks ; for it engages men by their liberties and their lives ( which they are forc'd to expose upon certain occasions ) to raise the faithful person to a pitch of esteem above all the world. xxxiv . the ordinary education of princes , is a second self-love inspir'd into them . xxxv . our repentance proceeds not from the remorse conceiv'd at our actions , but from the prejudice we are apt to receive thereby . xxxvi . it is a hard matter to distinguish between goodness consider'd in its full extent generally exercis'd towards all persons , and an accomplish'd subtlety . xxxvii . whoever shall superficially consider all the effects of goodness , which causes us to neglect our own concerns , and obliges us to make a perpetual sacrifice of our selves for the benefit of others , will be tempted to imagine , that , while it acts , self-love admits a certain oblivion and abnegation of it self . nay he will be apt to think , that it suffers it self to be devested and impoverish'd , without so much as perceiving any such thing ; insomuch that self-love seems to be a certain decoy to goodness . and yet , it is to be presum'd that goodness is the most proper of all the means , which self-love makes use of , to compass its ends . it is a close and secret path , whereby it returns to it self with a richer booty . it is a certain discare of its own concerns , which it puts out at an excessive usury . in fine it is a well-lodg'd spring , wherewith it reunites , disposes , and winds up all men to promote its own advantages . xxxviii . no man deserves the commendation due upon the account of goodness , if he have not the resolution and courage to be wicked . all other degrees of goodness argue only a privation and lethargy of vices . xxxix . the love of justice in upright judges , who are moderate persons , is only a love of their own exaltation . in the greatest part of men , it is only a fear of suffering injustice , and a lively apprehension of our being depriv'd of that which belongs to us . hence proceed that consideration and respect which we have for the concerns of our neighbour , and that scrupulous suspence of doing him any prejudice . were it not for this fear , which confines a man to a contentedness with those goods bestow'd on him by his birth or fortune , he would , incited by a violent desire of self-preservation , endeavour to be continually preying upon others . xl. in justice we may reflect on four considerables , justice it self which sees no more then what it ought to see ; integrity , which weighs the true right and merit of things ; perspicacity , which perceives things imperceptible of themselves ; and judgment , which gives sentence what the things are . and yet if we perfectly examine it , we shall find , that all its qualities may be summ'd up in one accomplishment , called grandeur of mind , which in all emergencies , by reason of its extraordinary illumination , sees all the advantages before mentioned . xli . judgment is only a grandeur of the mind ; heightned with all acquirable illumination : the same thing may be said of its extent , of its depth , of its discerning faculty , of its justice , of its integrity , and of its perspicacity . the extent of the mind is the measure of that illumination ; the depth is that which discovers the grounds of things ; by the discretive faculty the same things are compar'd together and distinguish'd . xlii . perseverance is neither blame-worthy nor praise-worthy ; inasmuch as it is a continuation of those gusts and sentiments , which it is not in a man's power to assume or devest himself of . xliii . truth , from which men are denominated ingenuous and sincere , is an imperceptible ambition they have , to render their testimony considerable , and ingage others to give a religious respect and credit to their words . xliv . truth is the ground-work and justification of reason , perfection , and beauty : for it is certain , that a thing , what ever nature it be of , is beautiful and perfect , if it be all it ought to be , and if it have all it ought to have . xlv . true eloquence consists in saying whatever is requisite , and in not saying any more then what is requisite . xlvi . there is as great a discovery of eloquence in the accent of the voice , 〈…〉 he choice of words . xlvii . the passions are the only orators which always perswade : they are as it were an art in nature , whose rules are infallible . by this latter the simplest person in the world may have greater success in perswasion , then another with all the artifices and flowers of eloquence . xlviii . there is not any thing so contagious as example , and whatever actions are done remarkable either for their goodness or mischief , they are patterns to others to do the like . the imitation of virtuous actions proceeds from emulation ; and the imitation of lewd actions proceeds from an excess of natural malignancy , which , being as it were kept in restraint by goodness , is set at liberty by example . xlix . imitation always proves unfortunate , and whatever is counterfeited breeds a disgust , and that in those very things which would delight , if they were naturally represented . l. it is observable in persons brought to publick execution , that they express a certain constancy , in their punishment , and betray an indifference and contempt of death : yet all is but a personated affectation , and done out of design to perswade that they think not of it . so that it may be said , that those seeming indifferences and contempts do that to their mind , which the cap pull'd down over their faces does to their eyes . li. few know what death is . it is endúr'd , not out of resolution , but stupidity and custom , and the greatest part of men dy , without any other reflection on their departure hence , then that others go the same way . lii . we fear all things with a certain acknowledgment of our mortality , and we desire all , as if we were immortal . liii . subtlety is a counterfeit perspicacity , and perspicacity is a solid subtlety . liv. the world not having the apprehension or knowledge of true merit , must accordingly be incapable of requiting it . thence it comes , that it advances to its grandeurs and dignities , only such persons as have some excellency of endowments in appearance , and it generally crowns whatever glisters , though all be not gold that does so . lv. as there are some meats , which , though good , bring a certain qualm and coldness over the heart , so is there a kind of faint merit , and some persons , who , with their excellent and esteemable qualities give a disgust to those they converse withal . lvi . whatever dazles breeds admiration , and the art of setting off mean qualities with advantage surprizes mens esteem , and many times gains greater reputation then true merit . lvii . soveraign princes use their subjects as they do their coins ; they give them what value they please , and others are forc'd to receive them according to their currency ; and not according to their true worth . lviii . it is not only sufficient that a man be master of great qualities , but it is also requisite he have the oeconomy thereof . lix . there are certain persons whose recommendation and merit consists in the saying or doing of ridiculous things with some advantage , and who would spoil all they undertook , if they took any other course . lx. nay there are some persons whom their imperfections become well , and others , who are disparag'd by their good qualities . lxi . there are a sort of simple persons , who are sufficiently sensible of their simplicity , and yet betray a certain subtilty in the management of it . lxii . god hath dispos'd different talents in man , as he hath planted kinds of trees in nature ; insomuch that , as every tree , so every talent hath its properties and effects which are peculiar thereto . whence it comes , that the best pear-tree in the world cannot bear apples , though of the most ordinary sort , and so consequently the most excellent talent cannot produce the same effects with those which are most common . thence we may also make this further deduction , that it is as ridiculous for a man to pretend to those fruits whereof he hath not the seeds in himself , as to expect that a garden should bring forth tulips , when nothing but onions had been sown in it . lxiii . whoever is desirous to be setled in the world uses his utmost endeavours to have it believ'd , that he is so setled already . in all professions and arts , every one assumes a certain mean , and exteriour deportment , which he substitutes into the place of the thing , whereof he would pretend to the reality and merit . so that all the world is but an artificious representation of several garbs , and it is in vain we take pains to find therein the things themselves . lxiv . there are a sort of people may be compar'd to those trivial songs , which all are in an humour to sing for a certain time , how flat and distasteful soever they may be . lxv . that degree of honour which a man hath already acquir'd is the security , to him , of what he may afterwards acquire . lxvi . as in nature there is an eternal generation , and that the corruption of one thing is always the production of another : in like manner is there in the heart of man a perpetual generation , or repullulation of passions , so that the expiration of one is always the re-establishment of another . lxvii . i am in some suspence , whether that maxime , that every thing produces its like , be true in natural things : but certain i am , that it is false in morality , and that among the passions , some many times beget such as are contrary to them . thus avarice does sometimes produce liberality ; a man may be constant or resolute , out of weakness , and boldness may proceed from timidity . lxviii . that man was not created as he now is , may be convictively argu'd hence , that the more rational he becomes , the more he is asham'd in himself at the extravagance , the meanness , and the corruption of his sentiments and inclinations . lxix . men are always mistaken in the judgment they make of our actions , when these latter transcend our designs . lxx . it is requisite there should be a certain proportion between the actions and the designs whereby they are produced : the actions are never so fully effectual as they ought to be . lxxi . passion does many times make the subtlest man a fool , and , on the contrary for the most part makes the simplest persons seem to be subtle . lxxii . every man is not more different from other men , than he is many times from himself . lxxiii . all people are apt to censure and find fault with that in others , which is no less censureable in themselves . lxxiv . a person of excellent parts would many times be at a loss , were it not for the company of fools . lxxv . mens reflections and sentiments have each of them a certain accent of voice , and an action and air peculiar thereto . lxxvi . these qualifications make either good or bad comedians ; and hence it comes also that certain persons are pleasant or unpleasant in conversation . lxxvii . the confidence a man hath of being pleasant in his demeanour is a means whereby he infallibly comes to be such . lxxviii . there is not any thing should abate so much of the satisfaction we conceive of our selves , as our observance , that we now disapprove of the conditions and sentiments we formerly had been of . lxxix . we never in a manner have courage enough to follow the full bent of our reason . lxxx . the love and inclinations we find in our selves for new acquaintances , proceeds not so much from a weariness or satiety of the old ones , nor yet from the satisfaction of variety , as from the disgust we conceive at our not being sufficiently admir'd by those who know us too well , and the hope we are in of gaining a greater admiration among those who are not much acquainted . with us . lxxxi . great souls are not those who are less subject to passions , and have greater attendance of virtues , than the ordinary ones , but those only who have greater illuminations . lxxxii . there are some who make it their boast that they are not wearied , or out of humour ; but how impertinently they do it , appears hence , that no man without being ridiculous , can be so fondly conceited of himself , as that some time or other he should not be ill company . lxxxiii . the welfare of the soul is not more certain than that of the body , how far soever we may seem to be out of the jurisdiction of those passions , which we have not yet had occasion to struggle withal . yet is it to be imagined , that a man is no less exposed thereto , than he is to fall sick , when he is in perfect health . lxxxiv . there is a certain injustice and self-concern in the passions , whence it comes that they are always offensive and injurious , even when they seem to speak most reason and equity . only charity hath the priviledge of saying in a manner what it pleases , and never injuring any one . lxxxv . greatness of wit is a perpetual decoy of the heart . lxxxvi . though a man be ever so industrious in the smothering of his passion , under the veil of piety and honour , yet some claw thereof will still be visible . lxxxvii . philosophy may easily triumph over evils past , as also over those not yet ready to assault a man ; but the present triumph over it . lxxxviii . the duration of our passions hath no more dependance on us , than that of our lives . lxxxix . though all the passions should conceal themselves , yet are they not afraid of the light ; only envy is a timorous and bashful passion , which a man is asham'd to countenance or acknowledge . xc . the most sacred and most sincere friendship is but a kind of commerce , whereby we imagine there is still some advantage to be made . xci . the sickleness and inconstancy of our friendships proceed hence , that it is an easie matter to discover the qualities of the mind , and difficult to be acquainted with those of the soul . xcii . we are impertinently induc'd to affect some persons more powerful than our selves . but we are to impute the production of our friendship to interest , inasmuch as our promises to them are not regulated according to what we would bestow on them , but according to what we expect to receive from them . xciii . love is , in the soul of him who loves , what the soul it self is in the body , which it animates and informs . xciv . it is impossible there should be a love that is pure and free from all intermixture with our other passions . xcv . it is a hard matter to define love : all we can say of it , is , that , in the soul , it is a passion admits no corrivalship in point of empire ; in the spirits , it is a sympathy , and in bodies , it is a close and delicate desire of enjoying what we love after a mysterious way . xcvi . 't is a great mistake , to think that love and ambition triumph over all the other passions : on the contrary , sloth , notwithstanding all its languishment , hath many times a soveraignty over them ; this insensibly usurps an empire over all the designs , and over all the actions of life ; this destroys and compleats all the passions , and all the virtues employ'd in the conduct of it . xcvii . there is not any disguise can long smother love where it is , nor long personate it , where it is not . xcviii . whereas there is no admission of free-will in loving or not-loving , it follows that a lover cannot with any justice complain of the cruelty of his mistress , nor the mistress of the fickleness of her lover . xcix . if we make an estimate of love , according to the generality of its effects , it hath a greater resemblance to hatred than to friendship . c. it is possible there may be found some women who were never guilty of any gallantries ; but it were a rare thing to meet with any one , that had never been guilty thereof but once . ci. there are two kinds of constancy in love , one proceeding hence , that a man perpetually finds new motives of loving , in the person whom he loves , as in an inexhaustible source ; and the other proceeds hence , that a man thinks himself concern'd in point of honour to keep his word . cii . all constancy in love is a perpetual inconstancy , inasmuch as we find our hearts continually wavering in a vicissitude of inclinations , towards the perfections of the person whom we are in love with , giving one while the preheminence to one , another , to another : so that this constancy is but an inconstancy limited and confined within the same subject . ciii . there are two sorts of inconstancies ; the former proceeds from that fickleness of mind , which ever and anon admits of a change of opinion ; or rather from that meanness of spirit , which complies with all the several opinions of others . the latter , which is the more excusable of the two , proceeds from the different apprehensions we have of the things which we love . civ . great and heroick actions which dazle their eyes who consider them , are represented by politicians , as if they were the effects of great interests ; whereas they are ordinarily the effects of humour and passions . thus the war between augustus and marc antony , which some imputed to the ambition they had of aspiring to the empire of the world , was an effect of their mutual jealousie . cv . the affairs and actions of great men are in this particular comparable to statues , that they are to be survey'd according to a certain observance of perspective . some are to be view'd neer at hand , that we may the better discern all the circumstances thereof ; and there are others , whose beauties and symmetry are best discoverable at a distance . cvi. jealousie is in some respects rational and just , since its design is only to secure to our selves a good which we conceive ought to belong to us ; whereas envy is a distraction and extravagance , which makes us wish the ruine of a good properly belonging to others . cvii . self-love is a fond conceit in any one , that his affection to all other things ought to promote the pursuit of his own concerns . it s subtlety and insinuation transcend those of any thing else . it makes men idolaters of themselves , and would make them tyrants over others , if fortune gave them the means to be so . it is never at rest out of it self , and makes no stay in other subjects , but as bees do upon flowers , to get out of them what promotes its own interest . there is not any thing so impetuous and violent as its desires ; not any thing so insearchable as its designs ; not any thing so craftily carry'd on as its contrivances . its compliances are not to be represented ; its transformations exceed those of poetical metamorphoses ; and its sublimations of things transcend those of chymistry it self . a man cannot sound the depth of its projects , nor find any passage into the darkness of its recesses : there it defies the sharpness of the most piercing opticks . it there makes a thousand turnings and windings ; nay it is there many times invisible even to it self . there it conceives , there it nurses , there it raises up ( not knowing it ) a multiplicity of affections and aversions : of these it many times frames some so monstrous , that when it hath brought them to light , it disclaims all knowledge of them , or cannot be prevailed with to own them . from this darkness , wherein they are involv'd , spring those ridiculous perswasions which it hath of it self . thence proceed its errors , its ignorances , its stupidities , and its simplicities , as to what relates to it self . thence it comes , that it imagines its sentiments to be dead , when they are but laid asleep , that it thinks it hath no further desire to run , when it does repose it self , and conceits it hath lost all the gusts , which it hath satiated . but this great obscurity , which deprives it of its own view , hinders not its perfect survey of whatever is without it , upon which consideration it may be compar'd to our eyes , which discover all about them , and are blind only as to themselves . to be short , in its greatest concerns , and most important affairs , wherein the violence of its wishes summons all its attention , it sees , it resents , it understands , it imagines , it suspects , it penetrates , it guesses at all things ; so that it raises in others a temptation of believing that each of its passions hath a certain enchantment peculiar thereto . there is not any thing so close and so strong as its engagement , which it vainly endeavors to dissolve , upon the first sight of the extraordinary misfortunes which threaten it . and yet it often does in a short time , and without any violence , what it could not have done with all those efforts , whereof it is capable , in the course of several years . whence it might with much probability , be concluded , that its desires are inflamed by it self , rather than by the attractions and excellency of its objects ; that its own gust is the motive whereby they are heightned , and the paint whereby they are embellish'd ; that it pursues it self , and follows only what it has propos'd to it self . it is a confus'd intermixture of contraries , as participating of imperiousness and submission , sincerity and dissimulation , clemency and cruelty , timorousness and audacity , and it betrays a diversity of inclinations , according to that of the temperaments , whereby it is turn'd and directed to the pursuance of repute , wealth , or pleasures . and in these it admits of a change and vicissitude , according to the difference of our ages , our fortunes , and our experiences : but it is indifferent to it , whether it have many of those inclinations , or that it hath but one , because it hath the knack of dilating it self into several of them , or contracting it self to one , when it thinks requisite , and as it thinks fit . it is inconstant , and besides the changes which happen to it from other causes , there are an infinite number of such flowing from it self , and arising upon its own account : this inconstancy also proceeds from different motives , as pure fickleness , love , novelty , weariness , and disgust . it is humorous to extremity , insomuch that it is sometimes employed with the greatest earnestness imaginable , and incredible pains-taking , about the attainment of things , which are so far from being advantageous , that they are prejudicial to it , and it is engag'd upon the pursuit of them , out of no other reflection than that it would needs have them . it is fantastick , and thence it comes also , that it is extreamly intentive in the most frivolous employments . it finds a height of pleasure in the meanest occupations , and abates nothing of its ardency in the most contemptible . it posts it self in the several stages of life , and spreads it self into all conditions and qualifications . it finds a being every where , it lives on any thing , and can make a shift to subsist without any thing , making its advantage of things , and of their privation . nay , sometimes , out of pure compassion , it sides with those who profess an hostility against it . it finds a way to creep into their designs , and , what cannot be consider'd without admiration , it raises in them an aversion for it self , conspiring its own destruction and promoting its own ruine . in fine , it matters not where it hath a being , so it have one , and in order to that , it is content to be its own enemy . nor is it to be wondred at , that it should so confidently enter into an association with the severest pity , when it contributes to its own destruction , in regard that at the very same time that it is ruined in one part , it is re-established in another : when it is imagined , that it quits its enjoyment , it does only change it into satisfaction : and when a man gives it over for conquer'd , and thinks himself rid of it , he meets with it again rallying in the triumphs of its defeat . this may serve for a description of self-love , whereof all humane life is but a great and long agitation . the sea is the most sensible representation we can propose to our selves of it ; inasmuch as self-love finds , in the violence of its continual waves , a faithful expression of the successive and reciprocal disturbance of its own reflections and perpetual motions . cviii . but we have this further remark to give of self-love ; that , as if it were not enough for it , to have the virtue of transforming it self , it has also that of transforming the objects on which it works ; which it does after a strange and surprizing manner . for it not only disguises them so well , that it is it self deceiv'd therein , but also as if its actions were miracles , it makes , in effect , an unexpected change in the state and nature of the things . when any person opposes us , and employs all the hatred and persecution he can against us , it is our own self-love that judges of his actions . this is that which takes a full prospect of his imperfections , which renders them enormous , and places his good endowments in so disadvantageous a light , as causes in us a greater disgust of them than of his miscarriages . yet is it observable withal , that assoon as the same person is admitted into any favour in our apprehensions , or any concern of our own hath wrought a reconciliation between him and us , our particular satisfaction immediately restores his merit to that lustre , which our aversion had before depriv'd him of . all his advantages are then susceptible of all the biass we can give them , and we look on them accordingly . all his ill qualities vanish , and we are so partial on the other side , as to summon all our abilities and understanding , to justifie the prejudice which those had against us . cix . though all the passions make a certain discovery of this truth , yet does love make a greater demonstration of it than any of the rest . for we find an amorous person exasperated with rage , at the apparent forgetfulness of a mistress , and breaking forth into extravagant exclamations against heaven and hell , upon a discovery of her infidelity : and yet assoon as the same beauty comes into his sight , and that her presence hath calm'd the fury of his transportations , his ravishment pleads for her innocence . he hath no longer any thing to object against her , but turns all his accusations upon himself , and reverses his former sentence of condemnation , and , by that miraculous virtue of self-love , he so translates all criminousness from the actions of his mistress , as to change his jealousie into adoration . cx . familiarity is a deviation from the observance of most of those rules establish'd for the conduct of civil life . or we may say , it is a certain lightness of demeanour , which libertinism hath introduc'd into society , to lead us into that kind of correspondency , which is accounted most convenient . cxi . it may be further affirmed , that this familiarity is an effect of self-love , which , desirous to make all things compliant with our weakness , obliges us to cast off that decent subjection impos'd upon us by sound morality ; and out of an over-earnestness of finding out the ways to make good manners convenient for us , occasions their degeneration into vices . cxii . the weaker sex being naturally more inclin'd to effeminacy and mildness than the other , is accordingly more apt to be guilty of this relaxation , and makes a greater loss thereby . as for instance , the authority and prerogatives of the sex are not kept up ; the respect due thereto suffers a diminution ; and it may be said , that decency loses thereby the greatest part of its rights . there are but few inclin'd to cruelty , out of a pure motive of cruelty ; but it may be affirmed , that the cruelty and inhumanity of most men proceeds from a certain suggestion of self-love . cxiii . there are many things , besides the love of fame , which contribute to the acquisition of that valour that is so highly celebrated among men . for it is sometimes the effect of a dread of ignominy ; sometimes of the design a man has laid for the raising of his fortunes ; sometimes , it proceeds from a desire of promoting the divertisements and conveniences of our life , and sometimes from an affectation of depressing others , and getting them under our jurisdiction . cxiv . it may be further affirmed , that valour in men , and chastity in women , two qualifications which make so much noise in the world , are the products of vanity and shame , and principally of their particular temperaments . cxv . mens insatiate inclinations to women proceed from a certain envy of their chastity , since they endeavour all the ways imaginable to corrupt them , as if they were not yet fully reveng'd for the first temptation of the sex. cxvi . perfect valour and compleat cowardise , are extremities whereto men seldom arrive ; the distance between them is of a vast extent , and comprehends all the other species of courage ; and there is no less difference between these , than there is between mens faces and humours . yet is there a certain agreement and conformity among them in many things : there are some men who cheerfully expose themselves at the beginning of an action , but easily flag , and are disheartned in the prosecution of it . there are some again , who think they have sufficiently acquitted themselves , when they have behav'd themselves to that pitch of honour which satisfies the world , and seldom offer at any thing transcending it . we also observe some , who are not at all times equally masters of their fear : others are discourag'd by general frights ; others think it more safe to run into a charge than to continue in their posts . in fine , there are some , whom an habitual acquaintance with lesser dangers heightens into a higher degree of courage , and prepares for an exposal of themselves to greater hazards . moreover , there is yet a general correspondence observable among the courages of the different species before mentioned , which is , that the darkness of night augmenting fear , and casting an obscurity over good and bad actions , gives them the liberty to make a greater husbandry of their valour . there is yet a more general thrift of courage , which , speaking absolutely , hath an influence over all sorts of men , and is this , that there are not any but would demean themselves to the utmost of their power in an action , if they had but an assurance of their coming off . so that it is certainly deducible hence , that the fear of death makes a certain abatement of their valour , and subtracts somewhat from its effects . cxvii . pure valour , if there were any such thing , would consist in the doing of that without witnesses , which it were able to do , if all the world were to be spectators thereof . cxviii . intrepidity , or a defiance of fear , is an extraordinary force of the soul , whereby it represses the troubles , disturbances and disorders , which the apprehension of great dangers is wont to raise in it . by this force , or courage , persons of a truly heroick spirit keep themselves in a continual serenity , and have a free exercise of all their functions , in the most dreadful and most surprizing accidents of humane life . this intrepidity is that which must keep up the heart in great conspiracies , whereas bare valour supplies it only with that constancy and resolution , which are requisite in the hazards of war. cxix . men are loth to lose their lives , yet desirous to acquire fame ; thence it comes , that persons of much gallantry and courage discover greater subtlety and evasions in their endeavours to shun death , than they who are best versed in the law do , to preserve their estates . cxx . valour in the common soldiery is a hazardous trade they have taken up , to get a miserable subsistence . cxxi . most men make a sufficient exposal of themselves to the hazards of war , out of a motive of securing their reputation ; but few will at all times expose themselves , as far as is necessary , to compass the design , for which they do expose themselves . cxxii . persons of great and ambitious spirits are more miserable than those of a meaner condition ; for there is less requisite for the satisfaction of the latter , than of the former . cxxiii . generosity is a desire of being eminently remarkable for some extraordinary actions : it is a subtle and industrious packing together of unconcernedness , constancy , friendship , and magnanimity , to make a speedy advance to a high reputation . cxxiv . how great soever the advantages and accomplishments of nature may be , yet is it not she , but fortune , that makes heroes . cxxv . felicity consists not in the things themselves , but in mens imaginations of them ; whence it comes , that he is happy who hath what he loves , and not what others think amiable . cxxvi . it may be affirm'd that either there are not any happy or unhappy accidents , or that all accidents are both happy and unhappy , inasmuch as the prudent know how to make their advantages of the bad , and the imprudent many times turn the most advantagious emergencies to their own prejudice . cxxvii . merit comes from the treasury of nature , but is set on work by fortune . cxxviii . goods and evils are much greater in our imaginations of them , than they are in effect ; and men are never so happy or unhappy , as they think themselves . cxxix . what difference soever there may be between the fortunes , yet is there a certain proportion of goods and evils which makes them equal . cxxx . those who have any conceitedness of their own merit are always repining at their being unfortunate , whereby they would perswade others , as well as themselves , that there is something heroick in them , since it is to be presum'd , that the malice of fortune is never so much bent upon the persecution of any persons as those of extraordinary endowments . thence it comes that men comfort themselves in their being unfortunate , out of a certain pleasure they take in seeming such . cxxxi . men are never so unhappy as they imagine themselves , nor so happy as they hope . cxxxii . most people observe , in men , only the esteem they are in , and the merit of their fortune . cxxxiii . it is incident only to great persons to be guilty of great miscarriages . cxxxiv . though ministers of state flatter themselves with a conceit of the greatness of their actions , and attribute them to their conduct and prudence , yet are they many times but the effects of hazard , or some inconsiderable design . cxxxv . the aversion which many express towards favourites , is only a love of fortune and favour . the same aversion proceeds also from a certain exasperation conceiv'd at ones being out of favour , which is a little comforted and alleviated , by the contempt of favourites . in fine , it is a secret desire of their ruine , which makes us deprive them of their own homages , it being not in our power to devest them of those qualities and accomplishments , which draw those of all others towards them . cxxxvi . great men are at last brought down and crush'd by the continuance of their misfortunes . it is not to be inferr'd hence , that they were undaunted when they supported them , but it may be said they suffer'd a kind of torture , to gain the opinion of seeming such ; and that they bore their misfortunes , by the force of their ambition , and not by the greatness of their courage . hence it is further manifest , that , abating the greatness of their vanity , heroes are of the same making with other men . cxxxvii . it is a fond imagination to think that men are lov'd and honour'd for their virtues ; on the contrary , it is for them , that they are hated and envy'd . cxxxviii . yet may it be said , that whenever we honour any upon the account of their virtues , it proceeds either from our being truly inclin'd to virtue , or a desire of being accounted such . cxxxix . they who would define victory by its birth , would be tempted , in imitation of the poets , to call her the daughter of heaven , since we find not her origine upon earth . in effect , she is the product of an infinite number of actions , which instead of taking her for their aim , relate only on the particular concerns of those who do them ; since all those persons , whereof an army consists , endeavouring the acquest of their own reputation and advancement , jointly procure a good so great and so general as victory . cxl . there is little distinction made in the species of anger , though there be a slight , and in a manner an innocent kind of it , proceeding from the earnestness of the complexion ; and another very mischievous , which is , properly speaking , pride , and self-love combining into a fury . cxli . we are sensible of , or reflect on the transports and extraordinary agitations of our humours and temperament , and impute them to the violent sallies of anger ; but there are very few perceive , that these humours have an ordinary and regular course , which gently moves and turns our wills to the performance of different actions . they roll together ( if i may so express it ) and exercise their jurisdiction with a certain vicissitude , so as that they have a considerable part in all our actions , whereof we imagine our selves to be the only authors ; and the capriciousness of the humours is yet more fantastick than that of fortune . cxlii . we are liberal of our remonstrances and reprehensions towards those , whom we think guilty of miscarriages ; but we therein betray more pride , than charity . our reproving them does not so much proceed from any desire in us of their reformation , as from an insinuation that we our selves are not chargeable with the like faults . were we our selves without pride , we should be the farther from charging others with it . cxliii . we are so strangely besotted with a favourable conceit of our selves , that many times what passes for virtues in our apprehensions , is , in effect , but an accumulation of vices , which have some resemblance thereto , so disguis'd by our pride and self-love . cxliv . pride is always on the winning hand ; nay it loses nothing , even when it seems to discard vanity it self . cxlv . the blind precipitancy of men in their actions , is , of all the effects of their pride , the most dangerous . this is that which affords it nourishment and augmentation ; and it is a manifest argument of our want of light , that we are ignorant of all our miseries , and all our imperfections . cxlvi . we do not hug our selves in any thing so much , as the confidence which great persons and such as are considerable for their employments , parts , or merit , seem to repose in us . from this we derive an exquisite pleasure , as being that which raises our pride to the highest pitch , because we look on it as an acknowledgment and effect of our fidelity . and yet , if we consider'd well the imperfection and bastardise of its birth , it should rather raise a confusion in us : for it proceeds from vanity , a letchery of making discoveries , and a disability of keeping secrets . so that it may be said , that confidence is a relaxation of the soul caus'd by the number and weight of the things , which before gave it some pressure . cxlvii . the ancient philosophers , and especially seneca , have not taken away crimes by their precepts , but have only laid them down to carry on the superstructures of pride . cxlviii . the comedy of humane life consists of many several parts , yet pride alone makes a shift to act most of them ; but , at last , weary of its artifices and different transformations , it appears in its natural looks , and makes an open discovery of it self in scorn ; so that , to speak properly , scorn is the lightning , or declaration of pride . cxlix . vanity is the great author of all complemental and superfluous talk ; when that gives over suggesting , people have no great matter of discourse . cl. it were too hard a task to enumerate all the species of vanity , inasmuch as it extends to the infinity of things . thence it comes that so few persons are knowing , and that our knowledges are superfluous and imperfect . instead of definitions of things , we content our selves with the descriptions of them . in effect , we neither have , nor can come to the knowledge of them , but at random , and by certain common marks . which is as much as if one said , that the body of man is streight , and consists of different parts , without assigning the matter , situation , functions , correspondencies , and differences of its parts . cli . as concerning the good qualities remarkable in others , we heighten them rather according to the esteem of our sentiments , than proportionably to their merit ; and we in effect commend our selves , when we seem to give them their due praises . and that modesty which stands so much upon the refusal of them , is indeed but a desire of having such as are more delicate . clii. in all commendations , where-ever they are bestow'd , there is some dormant design and interest of the giver . praise is a subtle secret and delicate flattery , from which both the person who gives it , and he who receives it , derive a different satisfaction : the one takes it as an acknowledgment and reward of his merit ; the other gives it , to make a discovery of his equity in discerning worth . cliii . we many times make choice of poysonous praises , which by an unexpected cast discover those imperfections in our friends which we durst not divulge otherwise . cliv. we hold mens praises and dispraises in several scales , and make them weigh heavier or lighter , as we please our selves . clv . there are few arriv'd to that degree of wisdom , as to prefer the discommendation , which is advantageous to them , before the praise which betrays them . clvi . there are some who commend when they make account to reproach ; and others whose praises are detractions . clvii . raillery is a frolick humour of the mind , which gives a life and smartness to conversation , and is the cement of society , if it be obliging , or disturbs it , if it be not such . clviii . he who is inclin'd to raillery is more likely to be the subject of it , than he who endures it . clix. to give it a fuller character , we may say it is always a certain skirmish of wit and drollery , whereto the several parties are egg'd on by vanity . whence it comes , that as well they who are awanting in those , to carry it on , as they whom a reproach'd imperfection causes to blush , are equally offended at it , as at an injurious defeat , which they know not how to pardon . clx . in fine , this raillery is a poyson , which taken without mixture extinguishes friendship , and excites aversion , but , being corrected by the ingredience of jocundity , and the flattery of praise , does either acquire or continue it . it is a medicine to be used with much caution and prudence , amongst friends and the weaker sort . clxi . interest is the master-spring , which sets all sorts of persons in motion ; it makes them act all parts , even to that of a dis-interess'd person . clxii . men may pretend as much as they please to candour , sincerity , and honesty , in their actions , but god only knows how far they are carried on with those qualifications . clxiii . sincerity is a natural and voluntary overture of the heart : it is a rarity , and found in very few persons : and that which is commonly practis'd is only a subtle dissimulation , or stratagem , whereby some endeavour to inveigle others into confidence . clxiv . had not mens hearts been so skreen'd , as that there should be no mutual observance of one another's thoughts , there had been more tragedy than comedy in humane life . clxv . in this the prudent man is distinguishable from the imprudent , that he regulates his interests , and directs them to the prosecution of his designs each in their order . our earnestness does many times raise a disturbance in them , by hurrying us after a hundred things at once . thence it proceeds , that out of an excessive desire of the less important , we do not what is requisite for the attainment of the most considerable . clxvi . interest may be compar'd to an eclips'd luminary . for as the latter is such only in respect of those to whom the eclipse is visible and not to others , who have their abode in climates far remote from it ; so of interest , it may be said , that if some are blinded by it , to others it is all the light , whereby they carry on their designs . clxvii . it is the common assertion , that vice deserves reproach , and virtue praise ; but it is certain , that both derive their several degrees and measures thereof from interest . clxviii . nature which makes ostentation of being always sensible , is upon the least occasion smother'd by interest . clxix . the philosophers do not discommend riches , but only with a reflection upon our ill husbandry of them , as being in their own nature innocent and indifferent , since it depends on us to acquire them , and to make an irreproachable use thereof , whereas they contribute support and augmentation of vices , as fuel does to the keeping in and increasing of fire . it is in our power to consecrate them to the cultivation of all the virtues , and to make these , by their means , the more delightful and remarkable . clxx . the contempt of wealth , in the philosophers , was a secret desire of vindicating their merit , against the injustice of fortune , by an affected slighting of those goods , whereof she depriv'd them . it was an humorous secret , which they had found out , to indemnifie themselves from the disparagement accessory to poverty . in fine , it was a winding path , or by-way to get into that esteem , which they could not obtain by riches . clxxi. of all the kinds of subtlety , that proceeding from insinuation is the poorest , since it ever argues a lowness of spirit , and an indigency of intrinsical merit . clxxii . there is not any thing so dangerous as the use of those insinuations and artifices which so many ingenious persons are commonly guilty of . the most vers'd in humane transactions endeavour all they can in ordinary occurrences to shun them , to the end they may make their advantage thereof upon some great occasion , and in the pursuit of some considerable interest . clxxiii . whereas these crafty insinuations are commonly the refuges of a mean spirit , it accordingly , for the most part , comes to pass , that he who makes use thereof to disguise himself in one part , discovers himself in another . clxxiv . it is the quintessence of all craft , for a man to make a show of falling into those snares which are laid for him , and yet to keep out of them . men are never so easily deceived as when their thoughts are most bent upon the over-reaching of others . clxxv . it is a fond conceitedness , which makes every one think himself a greater master : in point of craft than another : if men endeavour'd to understand what are the offices of true prudence , all the designs of subtlety and treachery would be defeated by circumspection . clxxvi . follies and imprudencies are our perpetual attendants through the several scenes of our life ; and if any one seem to be discreet , it is only in this , that his extravagances are proportion'd to his age and fortune . clxxvii . the wisest men are only such in things indifferent , but seldom have that denomination justly attributed to them in their most serious affairs ; and whoever thinks he lives without some ingredient of extravagance , is not so wise as he imagines himself . clxxviii . weakness occasions the committing of more treacherous actions , than the real design of being treacherous . clxxix . sycophancy , evasions , and dissimulations are instill'd into us from our very cradles , and afterwards grow so habitual to us , that we can hardly be ever wean'd from them . clxxx . what pretences soever we disguise our afflictions withal , yet are they but the effects of interest and vanity . clxxxi . there is a great mixture of hypocrisie in afflictions . for under pretence of bewailing a person , for whom we have a more than ordinary kindness , we lament the diminution of our own good , satisfaction , or concern in the person whom we have lost . and thus is it , that the deceas'd have the honour of those tears , which are shed only for them , from whose eyes they fall . i affirm'd it to be a kind of hypocrisie , because a man does thereby deceive only himself . clxxxii . there is yet another kind of this hypocrisie , which is not so innocent , but imposes upon all the world , and that is , the affliction of certain persons , who aspire to the glory of a noble and immortal grief . for time , who is the insatiate devourer of all things , having consum'd that which they so much bemoan , yet do they still persist in an obstinacy of weeping , sighing , and complaining . they assume a mournful part , and act it so well , as if they made it their business to perswade the world , that they will spin out the continuance of their lamentations to an equal length with that of their lives . this dumpish and importunate vanity is commonly observable in women of ambitious inclinations ; proceeding hence , that their sex obstructing their pursuit of fame all other ways , they cast themselves into this , and make it their endeavour to become eminent by the ostentation of a disconsolate grief . of this kind would have been that of the famous ephesian matron , if the seasonable relief and kindness of the souldier had not given it an unexpected check . clxxxiii . besides the account we have already given of grief , and the inherent hypocrisie that attends it , we have this further to adde , that there are other kinds of tears , springing from certain small sources , and consequently soon perceivable . thus some weep , only to gain the reputation of being good-natur'd , and tender-hearted . others are liberal of their lamentations , to the end others might express the same compassion towards them . and in fine , there are those who shed tears , meerly out of a consideration that it were a shame not to bear others company in doing so . clxxxiv . there are a sort of people who have the repute of honesty and fair dealing , yet are not really possess'd of those qualities , in regard they disguise the corruption of their hearts , not only from others , but even from themselves . but they are the truly honest who have the perfect knowledge of that corruption , and make no difficulty to acknowledge it to others . clxxxv . the truly honest person is he who is not offended at any thing . clxxxvi . there may be several causes assigned why we meet with so few persons , whom we allow to be rational and divertive in conversation . of which this is one , that there is hardly any body , whose thoughts are not rather taken up with what he hath a mind to say himself , than in precisely answering what had been said to him ; and that persons of greatest abilities and complaisance think it enough to make a show of attention in their countenances , even when there may be observ'd , in their looks and apprehensions , a certain distraction , and a precipitancy of returning to what they would say , instead of considering , that it is an unlikely method of pleasing or perswading others , to be so intentive to please themselves ; and that to hearken attentively , and to answer pertinently , is one of the greatest perfections a man can be master of . clxxxvii . we will not say with monsieur de la chambre , in his art how to know men , that all the formations of the parts in a woman are prognosticks of vice , since it holds not true in other countries , though haply it may in his ; but this we shall not stick to affirm of the sex in general , that the pretty humour they have in talking , their desire of gaudiness in apparel , that of being waited on into parks , walks , spring-gardens , or any other place where they may make ostentation of their artifices , in heightning the advantages of art or nature , ( all which accomplishments , with divers others , the french comprehend in the word coquetterie ) are so necessary to the composition of a woman , that without some of them she must disclaim her name . yet have not all of that sex the exercise of it , because this coquetterie , in some of them , is check'd and restrain'd by their temperament , their reason , and want of conveniences and opportunities . clxxxviii . gallantry is a volubility of the mind , whereby it penetrates into things the most insinuating and colloguing , that is , such as are most likely to please . clxxxix . politeness is an artificial improvement and cultivation of the mind , whereby superfluous excrescencies are kept under in order to the production of what will be decent , delightful and beautiful . cxc . there are certain ingenious things which the mind seeks not after , but finds brought to their full perfection in it self ; so that it should seem they lay hid there , as gold and diamonds do in the bosom of the earth . cxc . when kingdoms are come to their height in point of politeness and civilization , it argues the approach of their declination , inasmuch as then , all their particular inhabitants are bent upon the pursuit of their private concerns , and diverted from promoting the publick good . cxci. if it be enquired why some men are so liberal of their civilities towards others ; it may be answer'd , that it is done , partly out of an expectation of having the like return'd to them , and partly out of a desire of gaining the repute of understanding the mysteries of civility . cxcii . the magisterial part of a person who hath the repute of being well vers'd in humane affairs , is , that he perfectly know the value of every thing . cxciii . it happens sometimes that vices are hated , but the indigency of virtue never escapes contempt . cxciv . when a man cannot find tranquillity within himself , 't is to no purpose for him to seek it elsewhere . cxcv. that which many times obstructs our right judging of those sentences , which prove , that there may be only a show and pretence of virtues , is this , that we are over-easily inclin'd to believe them real in our selves . cxcvi. if men are advanc'd to great charges , they accordingly meet with the greater difficulties in the administration of them . among those , that of a supream governour is the greatest ; and of this qualification again , that prince hath the hardest task of government incumbent upon him , whose subjects are distracted into a greater multiplicity of perswasions . cxcvii . if that great prince , who first had the denomination of wise given him , and infinitely transcended in that attribute all those who assum'd it some ages after him , concluded his ethical recantations with a vanity of vanities , all is vanity , what is there left for us to say , who are fallen into the dregs of time , but the same thing in other words , that in all humane prescriptions there is an apparent dose of vanity ; that there is an eye of it runs through the whole web of mortal transactions , not to be worn out of them , till the final dissolution of all things ? cxcviii. of all the kinds of vanity , that may be ranked among the highest , or rather may claim a certain supremacy , which some persons are commonly subject to , who , to gain the repute of ingenuity with others , speak such things as cannot fall from them , without a secret compunction upon the delivery thereof . of this predicament are they , who employ their drollery upon the subject of obscenity , and atheism . as to the former , the greatest end they can propose to themselves , is , to have it imagin'd , that their forces , as to the venereal militia , have been , or are , in some measure , answerable to the muster they make of them in their discourse , or at least , that their well-wishes and inclinations to the service are as great as ever . of the latter , this may be said , that their satyrizing in divine concerns discovers their unsetled apprehensions of a future being , and begets , in those whom they seem to divert , a secret horrour for their positions , and a disrespect for their persons . cxcix . how strangely hath providence ordered the conduct of humane affairs , that they , who are insatiably desirous of wealth , honours , or pleasures , should , for the most part , obtain their desires , though prosecuted by indirect courses ! what greater encouragement can they have , whose generous ambition aspires to things of a more permanent concern , that their industry shall be rewarded ? if they whose apprehensions of happiness are confin'd to the narrow limits of this world , are many times gratifi'd with the success they propose to themselves , what accumulation of recompence may not they expect , who , adjourning their felicity to the other , are no less fervent in the pursuance of it ? cc. it was an excellent dichotomy of things found out by my predecessor of famous memory , the ancient philosopher epictetus , that they are either dependent on us or not . what a man is possess'd of within the sphere of that dependency on himself , he may truly call his own , and look on as contributory to his happiness and satisfaction ; what are out of it , must , if he survey them not with an indifferent eye , prove the continual exercise of his hopes and fears , and so many disturbances of his tranquility . finis . a catalogue of some books printed for , and are to be sold by , tho. basset at the george in fleet-street . 1669. folios . cosmography in 4 books , containing the chorography and history of the world , by pet. heylyn . price 20s . the voyages and travels of the duke of holstein's embassadors into muscovy , tartary , and persia , begun in the year 1633. and finisht in 1639. containing a compleat history of those countries ; whereto are added the travels of mandelslo from persia into the east-indies , begun in 1638 , and finisht in 1640. the whole illustrated with divers accurate maps , and figures : written originally by adam olearius , secretary to the embassy . englished by j. davies , price 18 s. an historical account of the romish state , court , interest , policies , &c. and the mighty influences of the jesuites in that church and many other christian states , not hitherto extant . written originally by mons . de sainct amour doctor of sorbonne , englished by g. havers , price 14 s. the history of barbados , s. christophers , mevis , s. vincents , antego , martinico , montserrat , and the rest of the caribby islands , in all twenty eight , in two books : containing the natural and moral history of those islands . illustrated with divers pieces of sculpture representing the most considerable rarities therein described . englished by j. davies , price 10 s. the history of the late wars in denmark comprising all the transactions both civil and military , during the differences betwixt the two northern crowns , by r. manley , price 6 s. ecclesia restaurata , or the history of the reformation of the church of england , containing the beginning , progress , and successes of it ; the counsels by which it was conducted , the rules of piety and prudence upon which it was founded , the several steps by which it was promoted or retarded , in the change of times ; from the first preparation to it by k. henry the 8. until the legal setling and establishment of it under queen elizabeth , together with the intermixture of such civil actions and affairs of state as either were co-incident with it , or related to it : the second edition , to which is added a table of the principal matters contained in the whole book , by p. heylyn , price 10 s. herius redivivus , or the history of the presbyterians , containing the beginnings , progress , and successes of that active sect. their oppositions to monarchical and episcopal government . their innovations in the church , and their imbroilments of the kingdoms and estates of christendom in the pursuit of their designs , by p. heylyn , price 10 s. the compleat body of the art military , in three books ; being perfect directions for the right ordering and framing of an army , both of horse and foot , together with all the manner of fortifications , and the art of gunnery , by r. elton lieutenant colonel , price . 8 s. twelves . a help to english history : containing a succession of all the kings of england , the english saxons , and the britains : the kings and princes of wales , the kings and lords of man , the isle of wight : as also of all the dukes , marquesses , earls , and bishops thereof : with the description of the places from whence they had their titles : together with the names and ranks of the viscounts , barons and baronets of england , by p. heylyn . d. d. and since his death continued to this present year 1669. price 2 s. 6 d. now in the press . a perswasive to conformity , written by way of a letter to the dissenting brethren , by a country minister . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a49597-e830 p. 19. reflections upon monsieur des cartes's discourse of a method for the well-guiding of reason, and discovery of truth in the sciences. written by a private pen in french, and translated out of the original manuscript, by j.d. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a92327 of text r208515 in the english short title catalog (thomason e1491_3). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 108 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 55 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a92327 wing r720 thomason e1491_3 estc r208515 99867461 99867461 119773 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a92327) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 119773) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 191:e1491[3]) reflections upon monsieur des cartes's discourse of a method for the well-guiding of reason, and discovery of truth in the sciences. written by a private pen in french, and translated out of the original manuscript, by j.d. davies, john, 1625-1693. [14], 93, [1] p. printed by tho. newcomb., london, : 1655. the epistle dedicatory signed: jo. davies. annotation on thomason copy: "1654. febr. 2."; the second 5 in the imprint date has been crossed out and replaced with a "4". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng descartes, rené, 1596-1650. -discours de la m'ethode -early works to 1800. a92327 r208515 (thomason e1491_3). civilwar no reflections upon monsieur des cartes's discourse of a method for the well-guiding of reason, and discovery of truth in the sciences.: writt davies, john 1655 19235 25 55 0 0 0 0 42 d the rate of 42 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-06 robyn anspach sampled and proofread 2007-06 robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion reflections upon monsieur des cartes's discourse of a method for the well-guiding of reason , and discovery of truth in the sciences . written by a private pen in french , and translated out of the original manuscript , by j. d. london ▪ printed by tho. newcomb . 16●…4 to the right honorable , bulstrode whitlock , one of the lords commissioners for the great seal of england , &c. my lord , had i been so fortunate as to have brought your lordship somwhat equal unto you , that is to say , great , excellent , and worthy the eyes of all europe , i should not have need to begin this address with a prayer for pardon ; which now i must needs do , since , my lord , i only beseech you to be a tutelar angel to a poor orphan , whose parents are unknown , and which is like to perish , if not shelter'd by your lordships shadow . those who have had the honour to converse with your lordship , very well know how much , among your other vertues , your candor and humanity are conspicuous , and what goodness and tenderness resides in that high and noble soul of yours , which makes you so universal a patron to all liberal studies , and a fosterer of every thing vertuous , animating and quickening the inferior bodies with that great light which continually dwels in your own sun . and , my lord , more particularly , since i fear you have that admirable defect of forgetting the favors you confer , give me leave to put your lordship in mind of what you have done to me , both in doing me the honour to think i might be somewhat serviceable to you , as also in encouraging my poor studies ; which having received warmth and life from your protection , bring this poor offering as the first fruits , which i beseech your lordship to accept with the same easiness as that great prince did the hand-full of water , since it is the heart that proportions and estimates every gift . in the mean while , my lord , i shall not cease , by my prayers and actions , to make appeare that high reverence that i carry towards you ; and though i be the meanest among your innumerable adorers , yet is there none more cordial , more fervent , more sincere , then my lord , your most humble , most devoted , and most obedient servant , jo . davies . the publisher to the impartial reader . if a man should look on all books , since there were any , he shall finde that few authors have been so fortunate in their writings , but they have left somewhat for those that should come after them to except against ; and so consequently few have been transmitted to posterity , without the castigations and censorious remarks of other men ; and these not proceeding from envious emulation , but from sober and serious enquiry after truth . but if any have been thought so transcendent , as to have been able to escape these , yet whether posterity have not been abus'd by a servility of imitation of them , or precipitate superstruction on them , is much to be question'd . however it be , all these kinde of labors have ever been encourag'd and rewarded as such , as have both as to religion and policy not meanly oblig'd mankinde : nor indeed can we look on those that decry such endeavors , but as such as seek fig-leaves to cover some secret errors , or are too fondly enamor'd of their own opinions . truth , as it is a mettal that cannot be counterfeited , so doth it not decline , but endure the severest test , and reckons its triumphs by its tryals , which do not consume , but refine it . nature certainly is not grown old to feebleness and sterility ; or if it produce now as great ingenuities as it hath formerly , can it possibly be , that she will not finde employment for them ? otherwise a traditional acquiescence were as commendable as all the disquisitional recherches after truth . what excellent discoveries are there daily found out , even in things wherin our ordinary subsistence is concern'd , which yet we are not content onely to embrace , but endeavor to improve and advance ? and why may not the same thing happen also in philosophy , which is of that extent , that she is not limited but by the universe ? it is indeed our weakness and our unhappiness together , to attribute to some men that authority over our reason , which our passions are not able to recal ; nor are we easily reduced to hearken to others , who shall tell us truer things , though different from what we knew before . but how little do we herein consider how often error and humanity may lodge in the same inn ; whereas infallibility is a thing , that , in this world , hath not what the foxes , nor the fowls of the air have , neither hole nor nest . it is a negative attribute of the divine majesty , one of the regalia of omnipotency , which it is treason in any thing that is humane to assume . religion it self , which of all things hath the greatest participation of , and correspondence with the divine being , is hardly allow'd infallible , when we look on it with relation to the humane dispensation thereof . heresies , schisms , errors , &c. are not certainly the motes that render that great beauty the fairer ; but the black patches , the imperfections , and the acknowledgment of our humanity , and the then consequent presumption of our error . now if this happen in that affair , wherein our precious and immortal souls are embark'd ; what may we expect in things which have onely an alliance and conjunction with our external happiness ? but as it happens in religion , that the most eminent hereticks have been men of excellent learning and endowments ; so it must be supposed , that those onely can be hereticks in philosophy , who are indeed great philosophers , and such as imagined in themselves , that they had something to acquaint the world that should astonish it more then any thing it knew before . but he that undertakes such a thing , ought to conclude with himself , that he intends to quarrel with the common opinion , and therefore ought to presuppose whatsoever may make good the ground of the received tenets , which must be taken away to facilitate the charge of a new , and , before , unheard of assertion . it is no easie matter for one man to foresee what a many may be able to object ; and yet this was the case of the great author of the discourse concerning the conduct of our reason , &c. the truly great des cartes , the prodigy of his age , and whose departure hence so soon is yet the regret of the philosophical world . but being withal but a man , it were an injury to the divinity to think him inerrable ; we may well place him among the heroes , but not among the gods . nor ought any man to think it a thing any ways injurious to him , to reflect on what he hath done , since it is a thing he is so far from declining , that it is his invitation , as who thought that learning gained no small advantages by communication and correspondence , and hath obliged the world with his labors , with this caution , that others by their experiments might advance his discoveries . some there have been , who have wrestled the world out of some tenet of publick faith , who yet in some other things , have that weakness which is the most adequate attribute of mankinde ; and that it hath far'd thus with our great author , may partly appear by these reflections on his discourse . i am in some doubt , whether he might have seen them before he died , much more , before the publishing of his discourse , ( it being his custom to communicate all things to be strictly examined by his friends and correspondents , before he committed them to the press ) for however he might haply think them slight , yet certainly we should somewhere have met with his resentment . as for the author of these reflections , i cannot do him so much honor as tell the world his name , for i never knew it , having met with them accidentally in a manuscript . if i have done him right ( as i believe ) in the translation i have perform'd what i undertook . if any man will reflect upon these reflections , he is at liberty , and will shew himself a philosopher , by engaging ingenuities into those olympick exercises , where the prize is truth . j. d. errata . pag. 19. l. 3. r. ancients , p. 28. l. 2. r. of those , p. 38. l. 19. r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , p. 45. l. 1. r. which it , p. 46. l. 23. r. internal , p. 53. l. 15. r. depend , p. 59. l. ult. r. conceive , p. 74. l. 20. r. t. reflections upon monsieur des cartes's discourse of a method for the well-guiding of reason , and the discovery of truth in the sciences , &c. whenever i have to deal with any work of monsieur des cartes , i rowse my self up to all the attention and vigilance possible : and this i do , not only out of the justice which obliges a man to use the nicest scrutiny and ponderation of reason , where nothing can be obtained but by the irrefragable conviction thereof ; but also , to examine how deservedly this man is plac'd in that extraordinary esteem wherein we find him in the world , even amongst the greatest men ; which is as much as to say , whether fame be not in great part out of his debt . as for his dioptriques and his geometry , i can pass no other censure upon them , then what socrates pass'd on a book of heraclitus in these words ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . but for his doctrine of the nature of light , which he inserts in his d●optriques , and the hypotheses he hath at the beginning of his meteors , he must pardon me , if in stead of calling them {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . i name them {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . and seeing he prostitutes them in their nakedness , without the least shadow of proof , he is unjust according to his own rule : for how can he expect i should receive them as true , when he hath tyed me to this general rule , viz. never to admit any thing into perswasion , but by the sufficient evidence of reason ? and though he have made a handsom superstructure of doctrine upon them , ( as may , and ought to be acknowledged ) yet have they no dependance on those principles , nor is any thing that is said advanc'd out of any design to prove them . but i shall not at the present give you my particular opinion of them , but shall content my self to send you certain reflections on the same authors discourse of a method , as he calls it , for the well-guiding and conduct of our reason , in the discovery of truth in the sciences . the piece , resembling the great author that brought it forth , must be noble and excellent ; and if there be any thing deficient , it is the more excusable , in regard he protesteth that he hath only advanced it as a proposition , which he exposes to the battery of other mens judgments . and therefore whatever i shall say of it , shall carry that reverence as shall witness i have done no violence to that deserved respect which the world beares him , and shall calmly give my judgment of it , which is that he himself desires all men should do , who any ways conceive themselves able to be contributors to the commonwealth of learning . to the first part. the first part of his discourse may be reduced to these heads . that that which ( according to the french word ) is called bon sens , that is to say , reason , or sound judgment , or ( as the english translation of the said discourse hath it ) right understanding is naturally equally distributed among all men , so that one man ought ▪ not to be called more rational or more understanding then another ; yet with this restriction , that all had not the same conduct of their reason ; and that therefore it were necessary there were a certain method contrived for the regulation and conduct thereof . that he had form'd to himself an idaea of such a method , as if there be any thing solidly good and of importance , it must be that ; and by the assistance thereof his progress in the sciences hath been mightily advanced ; that he hath been so liberal as to communicate this method unto us , that we might judg of it . that having studied in the most famous universities in europe , and arrived to as great reputation of learning as any of his contemporaries whatsoever ; when yet he came seriously to cast up his accounts , he found the summa totalis to amount to this , that all the advantage he had made , was , that he had only more and more discover d his own ignorance ; that he had not found any thing in philosophie ( though cultivated by the most excellent wits that have lived these many ages ) which was certain and indisputable , nothing but doubt , ambiguity and sophistry : and , that in regard there were so many different opinions about the same thing , he thought himself sufficiently disobliged from any further prosecution of his studies , and consequently resolved to seek no other knowledge but what he should find in himself and the great volume of the world . it hath been ever generally observed , that those men who either out of restlesness of humor , or contempt of what is past , have been most busie and agitating in the introduction of any new doctrines or opinions , have ever observed this rule , to make their advances very gradual at the first , and to temper their propositions with so much plausibility , as a doctrine which comes to quarrel with the common tenent can bear , so for a while to support the spirits of those they have to deal with . but monsieur des cartes , to my great astonishment , begins his discourse with a paradox ▪ which not only causes the reader to make a halt at the first step , but is withall so slenderly proved , that i wonder it could proceed from one who admits nothing for current but what hath undergone the grand test of reason , and desies all perswasion which is not induc'd by irrefragability and demonstration . but that we shall here first examine , shall be these two questions , which are easily started out of the foregoing words . 1. whether reason , sound judgment , or right understanding be equally distributed ? 2. whether there be not some presumption in that assertion of his ; that there is nothing in philosophy which is not doubtful ? since we must confess that all things that god hath made are good , we cannot without a quarrel with his providence doubt , but that reason or right understanding , or as the author cals it elswhere , the faculty of right judging and distinguishing truth from falshood , is excellently well divided and distributed among men . this is one reason produc'd by the author for the proof of the first question ; but how strongly , we shall see anon : at present it shall suffice to say , that it doth not hence follow , that right understanding is equally distributed . the omnipotence of god may be as much or more acknowledg'd and admired in the great inequality which there is of right understanding among men , as if it were equally weigh'd to everyone . and therefore this proposition lies open to the battery of 1. the common opinion of all men . 2. experience . 3. the author himself . first , that it crosses the common opinion , we need but consider what we say of those men whom we desire to commend or prefer before others : we say they are rational , knowing , understanding men ; or they are such as can judg or distinguish so rightly of things , that they will not be easily surprised by misrepresentations . now , if the right understanding were equal in all , this manner of speaking were impertinent and ridiculous , and would signifie as much , as if being to commend a beauty , we should say that she had two eyes , and that her nose were in the midst of her face . 2. that it stands not the charge of experience , we are only to look on our selves as men . some have such and such endowments and excellencies , others have others : some are of a quick and nimble ratiocination ; others are so dull and flegmatick , that they seem not to reason at all ; and these are they which aristotle in his politicks calls {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , as if nature for want of ratiocination had designed them for slaves and subjects to others . there are others ▪ that are more discoursive and understanding by the simple liberality of nature , then some others , who with all the assistance and advantages of books , study , precepts , &c. can hardly arrive to mediocrity . 3. the author in this very point is as unfortunate as other men that maintain paradoxes ; that is , when they have rack'd their wits and inventions to make good a paradox , they in treating of some other question insensibly contradict their former hypothesis . for in another place of this discourse he sayes , * that philosophy us the means to speak of all things with probability , and makes herself to be admired by the least knowing men . here while he is wrapt into the exaltations of those reasonings which a man of right understanding may naturally arrive to , he presupposes that all have not that right understanding . besides he also allowes that mens knowledge or right understanding may admit of comparison ( which utterly destroyes equality ) and according as it is more or less in men , accordingly do they more or less admire philosophy . in another ( pag. 11. ) he says , that those who have the strongest reasoning faculties , and who bestdigest their thoughts to render them more cleer & intelligible , are more fit to perswade then great masters of rhetorick . here he admits & applauds the strength of reasoning faculties , which he certainly would not , did he not suppose there were some weaker reasoning faculties ; and this i think makes against the equality of right understanding . nor doth he only commend the subtle ratiocinations which a man of right understanding , or a right judging man may have , but elswhere , viz. pag. 25. he confesses that some have reason and modesty enough to judge that they are less able to distinguish truth from falshood then others , and that they ought much rather to follow others mens opinions then seek after better themselves . in another place he says , some men are stupid , dull and insensible . if this does not evince a graduality of understanding in men , i know not what does ; or else we must say that stupid and dull men are very good understanding , and very right judging men . now to prove this equal distribution of right understanding , the author of the discourse , besides what is above alleadged , insists on two other reasons . the first immediately follows his proposition in these words : for that every one believes himself so well stored with it , that even those who in all other things seem the hardest to be pleas'd , seldom desire more of it then they have . this reason to me seems to want many grains to make it weight ; for a distribution may be very good and well done , though all are not content with their shares . but that which he subjoins , i much more wonder at , where he says , that 't is not likely all men should be deceiv'd in this ; but that this is the very thing that witnesses that the faculty of right judging and distinguishing truth from falshood ( which is properly called reason or understanding ) is naturally equal in all men . but to answer this , i deny that all men are so well contented with their portions of right understanding ; nay it may be affirm'd that they would willingly have more if they could ; nor want there those , were the division to be made again , who would be glad of more then they have , though they do not openly complain of their deficiencie at the present . besides , there are many that will not complain , only to avoid the contempt which may be consequential to the want of right understanding : as we see divers who are very sensible of their poverty and exigencies , and privately bewail their wants , who yet set the best face on it to the world , because they will not be slighted and treated below themselves . 't is upon this account , that it is natural to women to wear black patches , and to hide their other deformities by all the artifice humane invention can furnish them with . the other reason which the author makes use of , seems at first sight to be more forcible to his purpose . for , pag. 4. he says , that reason or right understanding is the only thing which makes us men , and distinguisheth us from beasts ; and this he believes to be entire in every man . to which my answer peremptorily is this , that right understanding is not that which makes us men , as he affirms ; for we may be men without it ; and i believe no man will deny but that the stupid , the dull , nay the distracted are equally men with others . but to disperse those clouds of imaginations which may darken this question , we are to distinguish the cause and principle of this rationation from the state or condition wherein a man ought to be when he is to execute his functions . he that hath his eys bound about with a cloth , can make no use of them till the cloth be taken away : in like manner he that hath good legs is not in a condition to walk if he be fetter'd , unless you take away the fetters . the principle then of this ratiocination , which the philosophers call {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , is that which distinctively makes us men , and in that i do confess that all men are equal ; but right understanding is not absolutely that principle , but is the state or condition wherein our understanding ought to be for to exercise its functions . now for an interemptory conclusion to this point , i need say but this , that the state or condition before mentioned , which is the constitutive and distinctive difference between man and beast , hath no dependance on the understanding ▪ but on the disposition and temperament of the body , whereof there being a great diversity , it will follow , that the author , to prove an equal division of right understanding among men , should have built it upon this paradox , that the disposition and temperament of all mens bodies is one and the same . before i break open the other question , i shall beg the authors favor to tell him , that though he had made it his design to ▪ bring philosophy into disrepute as much as lay in his power , yet cannot he do it without commending it , and that more then he intended . for first of all , he confesses that by the assistance of it he hath discovered his own ignorance , that is to say , it hath been his collyrium whereby he hath seen the difficulty which is in the acquisition of the knowledge of things . but there are many degrees of ignorance . for the present it shall suffice us to observe ▪ that there is a kind of gross beastly ignorance , which philosophy abhors ; and another kind which in respect of this may be said to be knowing , and such as wherein philosophy many times leaves us . the first is in those who are utterly ignorant of the state of a question ; the second is in those that know it well enough , but finding that many things may be brought both for , and against it , they are not convinc'd whether opinion to cleave to . as for example , to make a square to a circle , would be thought by those that are not acquainted with the mathematicks , a very easie thing to do , and that a carpenter or a bricklayer would not stick at it ; but a good mathematician will tell you he cannot doe it , nay haply will question whether it can be done at all . secondly , the author confesses that philosophy affords us the means to speak of all things with probability . if it do so , then certainly it hinders us from advancing propositions that are ridiculous or impertinent . to which i may adde this , that as in consultation or deliberation , though we cannot be assured of the success of what we design , we ought not to hold our arms across , but put that in execution which seems most conformable to reason ; so in the speculative sciences we must not always suffer our minds to be gravel'd in an indifferencie or aequilibrium as to all opinions like scepticks , but embrace that which carries with it most probability . but what shall we say of the procedure of the author in this case ? as soon as he had gone through the ordinary course of philosophy in the schools , because he found not the satisfaction he expected , he perswades himself , that there is nothing in all philosophy which is not disputable , and by consequence not doubtful ; and thereupon quits the reading of all books of philosophy , resolving to seek no other knowledge but what he could find in himself and the great volume of the world . but is not this resolution a little too precipitate ? i would gladly ask him , whether when he had finished his course of philosophy , he had read all aristotles works leisurely , and with that attention of mind which were requisite , and with the necessary helps for the understanding of them ? when he had done this , whether he had consulted alexander , themistius , simplicius , philoponus , and other greek philosophers , for their opinions concerning what he thought of most importance , to see whether they agreed among themselves , and with their great master ? i am confident he will not affirm that he had done all this at that time . besides that , i know these books are not so common among young students , nay many times their tutors and professors read them not but upon the reputation of others . but let us put the case , that aristotle and his disciples should never have done any thing but gull'd us , i doe not perceive how a man could thence infer that there is nothing certain in all philosophy , before he had read plato's works , were it only to see whether the antiens had with just reason entitled him divine : but especially before he had decipher'd his timaeus , to see if there were any thing more solid in that then in the works of aristotle and when both aristotle and plato should have been deceived , had it been amiss , or was it not necessary to have sifted the philosophy of epicurus , as also that of the stoicks , before the pronouncing of this severe sentence against all philosophy ? not to mention , that it had not been any crime to have turn'd over the writings of hippocrates , to see on what princiciples of philosophy he had built his physicks . but to rip up the bottom of the question : if the author had contented himself to say that there were but few things in philosophy that were certain and indisputable , he would have had that advantage of ground of me , that i durst not have set upon him ; but since he flies so high as to declare absolutely and without any exception , that there is not any thing in all philosophy which is not doubtful , i think there needs no great forces to encounter with him . i shall say nothing of the certainty and clearness of the demonstrations of geometry , because he seems not to reckon it as any part of philosophy ; but as for logick , he doth her the honor to make her one of the children , or at least the handmaid of philosophy . when i seriously consider it , i cannot but wonder how he should , without any exception , say that there were nothing certain in philosophy . for not to speak of the other parts of logick , those very precepts which aristotle gives us of opposition , conversion , and the transposition of the three figures of syllogisms , and the manner how to reason in any of them , and of the reduction of the syllogisms of the second and third figures to the first ▪ all which are as firm and indisputable as any demonstrations of geometry , and so generally received , that no man hath hitherto call'd them into the least question : and to produce one conclusive proof hereof , let us see what the author himself confesses pag. 28. of his discourse , where he says , that logick contains divers most true and good precepts , and teaches us to speak with judgment of the things we are ignorant of . to pass from logick to moral philosophy , which forasmuch as it may be treated of two manner of ways , the one parainetick , the other dogmatick , the former he honours with those elogies and commendations it deserves ; but for the latter , he taxes it with a deficiencie as to the teaching of the vertues , and lays it to his charge , that many times it bestows that fair name on what might more properly be termed insensibility , pride , despair , or a parricide . wherein i confess i have no great quarrel with him , if we speak of the moral philosophy of the stoicks which indeed sometimes would make us too insensible , sometimes equals us to god , nay in a manner prefers us before him . but as for aristotle , in the writings he hath left us of this part of philosophy , he hath so excellently well describ'd the vertues and vices , and hath been so fortunate in it , that there are very few things to be carp'd at in him , unless it be this one grand omission , not to have left any one word of mans duty towards god . as for his politicks , it cannot be denied , but that the rules and maxims he gives are fallible , the nature of the thing being such as will not admit infallibility : yet shall i not stick to say , that he that shall find nothing in them that satisfies him , is a man of a very odd stomach . but it may be it is his physicks that the author particularly quarrels at . i must indeed confess that it is like a great forrest , where there are so many cross paths , that it is no hard thing for a man to lose his way in them . truth may be compar'd to those birds which build their nests on the tops of the highest rocks , such as are almost inaccessible by reason of their horrid precipices , and such as it is very hard , if not impossible to climbe up to . or if you will have it , suppose truth scattered and lost in a great forrest , it may be presumed some huntsmen may be so fortunate as to give her a start● but in their chase of her they must expect to meet with bushes and quicksets , which are so thick , that it is none of the easiest things to make way through them . it is the pleasure of god to keep nature under a cloud undiscovered , the more to oblige us to humility by a sense and an acknowledgment of our ignorance . yet all this suppos'd and granted , it is not to be thought that so many great and eminent personages , who made it their only business in their several ages to study and find out nature , should have taken all that pains to no purpose , and after all their pursuit to have discovered nothing at all . and it is on the other side an injurious and dishonorable disesteem of reverend antiquity , and an overweening opinion of our selves , to imagine that one of us now living , contracting all study into himself , and thence directing it to the great volume of the world , ( which yet must be acknowledg'd to have been equally open at all times and in all ages ) can without the least external assistance or advantage doe more then all others , though furthered and advanced by mutual helps and endeavours . nor shall i stick to say , that the fairest stones of this our authors new building , will be found to be such as he shall have reserved out of the rubbidge and ruines of aristotles physicks . nor is it hard to make this appear , if by a pattern we may judge of the whole peece . for let a man but read his explication of the motion of the heart , which we have in the fift part of this discourse ; there he would maintain the moving of the heart to proceed from the heat which is within it . now this great point , which he conceives to be grounded upon the evidence of reason , is borrowed from aristotle . but that we may exempt so great and eminent a person from the indiscretion of holding any thing which is inconvenient or incoherent , i am perswaded that , however he may speak of the philosophy taught in the schools , as slightingly and disadvantageously as may be , he intended to assume no more then i am willing to grant him . but to come yet a little nearer , let it be granted that there is nothing but what is doubtful in philosophy , yet the author proves this assertion but very weakly . there is nothing , says he , in philosophy which is not disputable , therefore nothing which is not doubtful . do we not know that there are many who endeavour to perswade others to what they themselves believe not ? and there want not those who will dispute about what they nothing at all doubt of . to which i shall add thus much to make it overweight ; that to say that any thing is doubtful , because some men doubt of it , argues a not full understanding of the definition of doubtful . for as all that 's admitted into the creed and approbation of some certain men , is not for that reason esteemed probable , but only that which hath pass'd the approbation and allowance of the most learned , or greatest part of the wisest and most knowing men , or at least the most eminent among them . to the second part. that which we shall think fit to epitomise out of the second part , amounts to thus much . there is not , sayes he , so much perfection in those works whereto divers have contributed their helps and endeavors , as in those wherein one particular man hath disposed of all things : as may be observ'd in t●ose edifices which have their designations and perfection from one particular architect , as being commonly more regular and uniform then those wherein divers have endeavered to reedifie , who haply have been oblig'd to make use of old walls to such or such purpose , which had been built for some other different purposes . he consequently is of opinion , that he should more fortunately advance into philosophy , if he should first rase out of his creed all those opinions which he had received in the schools , then if he should build on those old foundations . that being a private person , his design is not to reform the body of the sciences , nor to offer any violence to the method established in the schools of the delivery ▪ and tradition of them , but only to reform his own thoughts . that in enquiring after a fit method for the advancement of his design , he hath found out that as to logick , and the most part of its instructions , he knew no other use of them , then that they served only to explicate to another those things which one knows , or rather to discourse without judgment those things whereof we are ignorant , then to attain the knowledg of any thing not known before . and though it contain a many most true and most necessary instructions , yet there were so many other things intermingled which were hurtful or superfluous , that it was as difficult a matter to distinguish the one from the other , as to draw a diana or mercury out of an unhewen stone . so that in stead of the great and infinite number of logical precepts , he contented himself with these four following . 1. never to admit any thing for true , but upon evident discovery that it were so indeed . 2. to divide each of the difficulties that occurr'd , into as many parcels as could be , and as was requisite , the better to resolve them . 3. to begin with the most simple objects , and the most easie to be known , and so to proceed by little and little to the knowledge of such as were most opposite . 4. to make such exact and perfect calculations , as to be assured to have omitted nothing . it must indeed be acknowledged , that this design is high and noble ; and it is extremely to be wished , that one particular man had at first laid the foundations of philosophy , and consequently built it up to its perfection . nor can i but with the author heartily wish , that some one man would undertake the reformation of philosophy , whereof he having conceiv'd so noble and heroick a design , i wish him so much life , and that vigor of body and mind , as that he may see it accomplished . but in case he leave his work imperfect , can he expect any better handling from those that shall come after him , then he hath afforded those that have gone before him ? is it not probable that som eminent wit , like his own , may even in his edifice find somewhat which his understanding should not admit for good contrivance , and consequently would not oblige himself to his designations , but after his example would build upon new foundations . but whereas he says , that being a private person , he doth not undertake the reformation of the sciences , nor intends to invert the established method of the schools for the dispensation of them ; he should have remembred , that not only those who actually embroil a state into seditions and disorders are guilty of treason , but also those who by libellous writings calumniate the present government thereof . if therfore there be reason to blame any particular man that should undertake rashly to reform the schools , he surely cannot be altogether exempt from censure , who shall , medea-like , cut in peeces the philosophy commonly and universally received in the schools , and not propose any means to recompose it . but to come to an examination of the particular charge he hath against logick , we must in every art or science distinguish the truth and certainty of its precepts from the use of them . he doth not condemn any of its precepts of falshood , nor indeed could have done with reason , but he censures the most part as superfluous and hurtful . if he had contented himself to have said that there were many superfluous , i should not have had much to say to the contrary ; for i acknowledg that aristotle had sometimes reason to compare logick to a feast of crabs , where there is much shell , and little meat , but that little is both delicate and wholsom . but if this be admitted of logick , all other arts and sciences will fall under the same lash . those hardy dashes and circumvolutions , and the cadences of the pen , wherewith writing-masters do incircle the copies they give to their scholars , are of little or no use at all ; and i have heard say , that those who learn academical horsmanship are taught many tricks , which haply they will never have occasion to make use of in a battel ; yet both these have their several , though it may be insensible helps and advantages . by the same reason may nature it ▪ self be taxed with superfluity , because men must sow , thrash , winnow and grind the grain ▪ before it can be made into bread for their nourishment . and after all this , neither the bread nor any thing else we eat is so clearly converted into nourishment , but that there must be some excrement● this doctrine should also reduce the houses of great men to a wonderful simplicity , if they should be indulged nothing which were superfluous , and were not of present use , nor should admit of more dishes of meat on their tables then were necessary for the pure satisfaction of those they have to entertain . but above all , i am somewhat amazed that the author should say , that the syllogisms and other instructions of logick should serve us to no other purpose then to discourse without judgment of those things whereof we are ignorant . certainly he cannot forget that logick gives us this precept , that we should not admit as principles of a ratiocination , any propositions which were not true , or at least probable . now i cannot believe , that to discourse probably of a thing , is the same thing as to speak of it without judgment . if therefore one that hath read logick , discourse without judgment of a thing whereof he is ignorant , the fault is not to be imputed to logick , but to the logician ; and 't is the same case as when a musty cask spoils good wine . moreover , how can he deny but that the syllogisms assist us in what we are to learn , and not only enable us to teach others what we already know ? can we attain the sciences without reasoning , or can we reason without syllogisms ? those demonstrations of geometry , by the means and aid whereof he hath learn'd so much , are they not syllogisms ? but he will say , nature hath taught us to reason : but it doth not thence follow , that the precepts which nature hath furnished us with for the direction and conduct of our reasoning , are superfluous and unprofitable . by this kind of reasoning , he shews us by his own example that we do not reason well . and therefore are we so much the more obliged to those wise men and philosophers , who reflecting both on their own and other mens reasonings , have observed the faults which might happen in them , and have left us instructions to shun them . in the last place , it seems to me very strange , that he should say that syllogisms should assist us rather in explicating to another what one knows , then to learn what one knows not ; for to explicate to another what one knows , is nothing else but to suppose it to another in such a manner as that he may learn it . but it being granted , that syllogisms stand us in no stead but to explicate that to another which we know , it follows they are helpful to him that doth learn of us : but it may be rahter said , that as the same light serves me to shew something to another which i see my self , and serves him to perceive that which i shew him , so may it be said of syllogisms . but can we believe he is serious with us , when he would only oblige us to four precepts of logick , seeming to esteem the rest as worth nothing ; since it will appear that these four precepts cannot be put in practice , but only by such as have learned for the most part all the other which aristotle and his interpreters have delivered ? i may with as much reason say , that for a man to approve himself to be a good and able physitian , he shall need observe but these three precepts ; to expel diseases , abate the violence of their symptoms , and never undertake the cure of any incurable disease . but now to put these precepts in practice , it must first be enquired what are the causes of every disease whereto man is subject , as also what their symptoms are , by what remedies they are to be overcome , and by what means it may be known whether the patient be desperate or no , which i take it is a business of longer breath . it is certain there is nothing so unworthy a philosopher , as to be too credulous ; and therefore epicharmus , with much reason , said , nervos atque arcus sapientia esse , nihil temerè credere . now there are two sorts of propositions , whereof a man may arrive to a clear and distinct knowledge . some are clear and evident in themselves , as being the first ; others have need of proof : as it is in bodies , some are perceiv'd by that light which they have in themselves , as the sun and the fire ; others , that they may be seen , have need of some exterior light , and such are all colour'd and illuminous bodies . the first propositions , as they are but few in number in every science , so they cause us no great trouble , but are acknowledged by all those that are arriv'd at discretion ▪ in which state being proposed to us by our masters , and we understanding only the sense of them , and considering it attentively , they force us to acknowledg them for true . the number of the propositions of the other kind is infinite ; and though they depend of the first by certain concatenations which are most strong , nay , such as are impossible to be broken , yet the links of that chain whereby they are ty'd together , are in a manner imperceptible , unless it be to those who are very clear-sighted ; and the reasonings whereby we discover them are called demonstrations . whence it may be inferred , that that which makes the greatest difficulty in the sciences , is to find out the demonstrations of this sort of propositions , and to proceed methodically in the search of them : whence it is to be inferr'd , that it must be known what demonstration is , and how many sorts there are of it , and what are the qualities and conditions of their principles . and this is it that aristotle teaches us in his analyt . posterior . for what concerns the division he speaks of ; it is certainly a thing very necessary , to divide the matters which we would treat of into many words , that so we the more easily come to a clear understanding of what we are to enquire into . as we find there is a necessity of cutting our meat before we put it into our mouths , and besides of chewing it with our teeth , so to ease our stomachs , which otherwise would have the harder task to digest it . but it is a hard matter to divide well ; and for that reason plato in his phaedr ▪ said , that if he met with one that could divide well , he would follow his steps as those of some god ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . the search of truth would therefore be so much the harder to one that hath not learn'd the art to divide ; for a thing must be divided into as many words as it may possibly , and the denumeration of the parts must be perfect . otherwise it will be all one , as if at a table where there were much fowl , they should intreat one to carve , who should understand so little in carving , as that by reason of his ignorance of the joynts , he should endeavour to cut athwart the bones . to the third part. the third part of the authors discourse contains nothing but that platform of moral philosophy which he hath framed to himself : which i do not pretend to examine , seeing he professes that he hath not set it forth but with a proviso ; for haply when he comes to his second or after-thoughts , or to the definitive sentence whether they shall stand or no , he will rase it down , not leaving one stone upon another , and afterwards build up another a new . and that this is not improbable , may be presumed out of his own words . for , sayes he , i should have thought my self guilty of a great fault against right understanding , if because then i approved any thing , i were also afterwards obliged to take it for good , when perhaps it ceased to be so , or that i had ceased to esteem it so . to the fourth part. in the fourth part of this discourse he entertains us with the first fruits of his metaphysical meditations : and to the end we might be our own judges , whether the foundations he hath laid be not strong enough , he discovers even the corner-stone of it . he sayes therefore , that he could not safely build any thing upon the testimony of the senses . but because they sometimes deceive us , he supposes they deceive us always ; and because there are some men who mistake themselves in reasoning , that therefore he was obliged to reject all those reasons as false , which he had before received as demonstrations . and lastly , because that the same thoug his which we have waking may happen to us sleeping , and yet not any of them be true , he resolved to imagine that all those things which ever entred into his mind , were no more true then the illusions of his dreams . but a while after , reflecting on the judgment he had made that every thing is false , he observed that this truth , i think , therefore i am , was so firm and immoveable , that he might lay it down for the first principle of his philosophy . and this is the summary of the first part of this part of his discourse . according then to the authors judgment , to appeal from the testimony of the senses , is to quit the quick sands and the quag ▪ mire , and to come to the rock and solid ground . but i cannot but say with lucretius , that this is rather violare fidem primam , & convellere tota fundamenta , quibus nitatur vita salusque . the testimony of the senses is the true and natural foundation of all philosophy , and that in two manner of wayes . first , the senses judge of all objects which are presented to them , and their judgments are registred among the records of memory , where reason makes a review of them , ( which the schools call induction ) by the way of universal propositions . just as if there were no written law in france , and that a law-maker should turn over the parlament-rolls , and from the acts and ordinances which had been enacted at several times and upon several occasions , should extract certain laws , which being conformable to the common practice of the courts of justice , would not cause any trouble to the state in general , nor incommodate any particulars in the possession of their respective rights and priviledges . secondly , the effects of all natural things being for the most part sensible , and the senses having taken cognisance of them , the reason , without controlling the judgments made by the senses , besets it self to the search of their causes . for the proof of this assertion , we will content our selves with what the force of truth hath wrested from the author himself ; who having forgoten his hypothesis of the uncertainty of the judgment of the senses , is strangely surpris'd : for in the last part of this discourse he speaks of nothing so much as of those experiences which are necessary for the perfection of philosophy , and professes that he hath need of an infinite number more then he hath , which he could not compass without the assistance of some other . and elswhere , he invites all those who profess any tenderness or affection to vertue , to communicate unto him those which they have made . now i humbly conceive these experiences are not reasonings , but sensitive observations . how came he to know that the heart hath motion within it self , if not by the senses ? and to what purpose doth he take so much pains to teach us to make spectacles for to assist us in the contemplation of the stars , if after all our star-gazing we may not give any credit to our senses ? to what hath been said , i dare presume to add thus much ; that to reject altogether the testimony of the senses , is to be ungratefull and injurious to god and nature who have bestowed them on us , certainly out of a design and knowledge that they were necessary , and that we should find employment for them . for every sense hath its proper and peculiar object , whereof it is the sole and absolute iudge without appeal . as for instance , it is only the sight that can judge of colours , and reason in that judgment concurs not nor contributes any thing at all . in like manner , the hearing only distinguishes the divers tones and accents of the voice , and the greatest wit in the world could never doe it by ever so many reasonings . but , sayes he , the senses deceive us sometimes ; and to strengthen his argument i will adde , that whosoever is once convinc'd of having borne false witness , may never again be admitted to bear any . to which it is easie to answer . for if they deceive us sometimes , they afterwards undeceive us again , and suffer us not to continue long in our error . they are not like the false witnesses who witingly and willingly speak against their consciences , but would always render a true testimony if they could , and they always can do it , when the question is of their proper objects ; for all that wherein one of our senses is deceived , is not its particular object . for there are some objects which are common to divers senses , as quantity , figure , motion and rest , unity , multitude , continuity or discontinuity . there are moreover some things which considered in themselves cannot move the senses , which yet are sensible , by how much as they have a relation to those things , which of themselves and according to their proper nature operate on the senses . i say therefore , that those things which operate not by election , but by that invincible inclination which they receive from nature , and as they express it in the schools , ex necessitate naturae , do always operate as strongly as they can , and they are by natnre provided of those forces which shall be sufficient to make them attain the end whereto they aspire in operating . but it is most evident that our senses do not operate by election or choice , but by that invincible inclination which nature hath bestowed on them ; and consequently nature having assigned to each of them its proper and peculiar object , whereof it should be alone able to discern , it is impossible but that they should judge thereof , if there happen not some hinderance or impediment in their operations . these hindrances are either internal or external : inrernal i call the defaults and indispositions of the organs ; the external can consist but in two things ; the one , when the object is at too great a distance , and that the organ which it should smite is out of its just reach , and that the object is not represented but as it were ttansiently , so that the sense hath not the leisure to discern it . the other is , when the space between the sense and the object is not well disposed ; as when we look through a coloured glass , or when the air is not clear enough . whence it may be inferr'd , that it is impossible that our senses should deceive us in the discernment of their proper and particular objects , if their organs are well disposed , and that the objects are well and duly represented unto them , and lastly when the space is in the requisite condition . if therefore the eye when it is hurt doth not perfectly discern the colours , we must expect the judgment it shall make of them when it is well . if it cannot distinctly discern them by the light of a candle , or in the twilight , we must suspend our censure till we see how it will judge of them when it hath full day ▪ light . and if it be not able to discern the objects when they are at too far a distance , we must endeavour to bring them nearer to it . when therefore the sense is to judge of its proper object , it is the charge of the intellectual faculty to judge whether there want not any of the requisite conditions ; and if any of them be awanting , it ought to suspend its satisfaction until there be a concurrence of them altogether . the understanding therefore never pretends to any jurisdiction over the senses , unless it be that it enjoins them to repeat their judgments about their proper objects , which hinders not at all but that they are always the soveraign iudges thereof : as when the king enjoins the parlament to take a review of any business which before had past their votes , he doth not by that action take away from it the quality of a soveraign court . whereas he says , that because those things which we imagine being asleep are false , we can have no assurance but that those thoughts which we have when we are awake are also to be rejected as equally false , we shall examine it more fully anon . for the present we shall take into consideration , how the chief corner-stone of this philosophy is laid . he says , that he hath at last observed this truth , i think , therefore i am , to be so firm , that it only deserved to be receiv'd for the first principle of his philosophy . however i take no great pleasure to pnnctiliate and criticize about words , yet i cannot but take notice by the way , that it is not handsomly nor properly spoken to call this either a verity or principle . for there are certain truths which he himself formally distinguishes , making use of some for the demonstration of others . therefore to speak properly , this proposition , i think , is a principle , and i am , is a proposition : i think , is the first principle ; and i am , is the conclusion which he thence infers . yet can i not be assured that this proposition ▪ i think , may be made a first principle , according to the author 's own doctrine , seeing all the force of the consequence depends on another principle mentioned afterward , that is to say , on this universal proposition , that for to think , there is a necessity to be . methinks an excellent metaphysitian , such as is the author , should not have put it down nakedly for a first principle , for the truth of it doth not proceed from its own nature , or from the specifical difference of thinking , but generally every action whatsoever presupposes the existence of the agent . he should therefore , in my judgment , have gone a little higher to the mother-truth ( as i may so call it ) and say , that to act , there is a necessity to be . just as when we would clear the pretension of any mans succession , we ascend upwards , and examine whence he derives his right . moreover the reader may take notice , that in laying down the proposition , i think , for a first principle , he unawares founds his philosophy upon the testimony of the senses . for notwithstanding that to judge of the truth or falshood of a proposition , it is necessary to understand well the terms whereof it consists , yet i would withall gladly ask him what he means when he sayes , i think ; and i am confident that he will not deny , but that the first knowledge which he hath had of the difference between me and thee ▪ hath proceeded from the sense . lastly , this way of reasoning , i think , therefore i am , cannot any way be acknowledg'd for a demonstration ; because this principle , i think , is not more clear and evident , then the conclusion which he draws from it ; for as my existence hath preceded my thinking , so the assurance which i have of my existence is upon the credit and testimony of my senses , and that without any assistance of my reason , and before i had made any reflection at all on my thoughts . but the author being in this manner assured of his existence , he undertakes to shew wherein the nature and essence of man consists . seeing says he , i can fain that i had no body at all , and that there were no world , and that there were no place wherein i was ; yet i cannot imagine i should be able to think , unless i were . and thence he would infer , that his thinking was the only means wherehy he was assured of his being ; and from thence , says he , i learned that my self , that is to say , my soul , whereby i am what i am , was a substance whose essence consists only in thinking , and which , as concerning its being , doth not depeud of any thing that is material . nay , he advances yet farther , where he affirms that the soul is more easily known then the body . in this ratiocination methinks there are many things lie very open to censure . first he seems to platonise , and to make the soul of a man to be the man , without alledging any thing for the proof thereof . if that be granted , we cannot call a man a rational creature , since the soul cannot be call'd a creature . by the same reason we may not say that a man is mortal , seeing the soul is immortal . but though sometimes the soul of a man be called the man , yet is it not properly spoken , but synechdochically , which is a manner of speaking whereby we give the name of the whole to some part , especially to the more principal part . and it is in this sense that aristotle in the 10 book of his ethicks says , that the understanding of a man , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , is principally the man : {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , sayes he , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . and if the scripture in one place sayes , this day shalt thou be with me in paradice , it sayes in another , that god formed man of the dust of the earth , and that he shall return into the earth . for if in the former of these passages the denomination of man be given to the soul , as the more noble part , in the latter the name of man is attributed to the body , though it be the more ignoble part : and it is in this sense that we say that such a one is interr'd , meaning that his body is so . but this error were in some sort tolerable in some other person who should not make so severe a profession , not to acknowledge any thing upon the account of any mans authority , how great soever he may be , as the author pretends to doe , though plato had obtained that esteem and opinion of infallibility amongst the ancients , that cicero blush'd not to say , that he should not be asham'd to erre with plato . but this assertion methinks is more strange , that the whole nature or essence of the soul consists in thinking . if the essence of the soul consisted altogether in thinking , it hath thence forward neither existence nor essence . moreover , if thinking , which is the action of the soul , be not a thing different from its essence , the soul must be thought to have attained the highest degree of simplicity , which appertains not but to the highest intelligence , and by consequence we may say that anima est actus purus . but granting that it were true that the whole essence of the soul consisted only in thinking , yet we may say that the proof which the author brings for it is weak and insufficient ; for from this principle , that thinking is the only thing which assures us of the essence of the soul , it does not follow that the whole essence of the soul is nothing else but thinking , unless it must be also granted that i cannot assure my self of the existence of any thing but by that thing wherein consists its essence ; which is a proposition so remote from reason , that i believe the author will not presume to maintain it . moreover he lays down for a principle a proposition which i cannot by any means grant him , which is , that thinking is the only means whereby i can assure my self of the existence of my soul . i would gladly know of him whether these reasonings , i rejoice , i love , i hate , i fear , therefore i am , be not as firm and immoveable as that of his , i think , therefore i am ? for when i rejoice , or when i love , i am assur'd that i think : and these propositions , for to rejoice i must needs be , and to love i must needs be , are as certain as this , to think i must needs be . the second part of his doctrine of the essence of the soul , to wit , that it depends not on the body , nor on any other material thing , is true ; but the reason whereby he pretends to prove it , is not satisfactory . for from that supposition , that i can imagine that my soul is not clothed with any body , there doth not follow any other thing , but that it depends not of the body by any essential and absolutely necessary dependance . for there is another kind of dependance between natural things , which yet god by his omnipotence may dissolve ; such is the dependance of my life on the air which i breathe , on the earth which bears me up , as also of the other elements which concur to my composition . now that which hath puzzled the philosophers in this business , hath not been to know whether the soul of a man depends in such a manner on the body , that it is altogether impossible that it can subsist without it ; but to prove by demonstration clearly and evidently , that it can naturally subsist , and that in effect it doth subsist after its separation from the body . and here it was that the author should have shewn whether he knew any thing more then others who have entangled themselves in that question . nay further , when i should have granted him that the essence of the soul were nothing but to think , the controversie were not thereby decided , because our thoughts ordinarily depend on the body ; in as much as we cannot think on any thing , if the imagination , which is fasten'd to the organ of the body , do not represent to the understanding the image of some material thing , as we shall prove anon . the last part of his discourse of the essence of the soul hath this assertion ; that the soul is more easily known and discovered then the body : a paradox which he offers not to prove by any reason at all . if all what is above spoken were granted him , yet could he not from thence draw this conclusion , but the contrary rather , that is , that men have but a very confused knowledge of their bodies , even before they have once considered whether they have any souls or no . and as to the distinct and perfect knowledge of the soul , i do not think the author will presume to boast he hath attain'd it . in the next place he makes it his task to find out and determine that which is requisite in a proposition to make it true and infallible , and gives us this rule , that those things which we conceive the most clearly and most distinctly are all of them true . the clear and distinct knowledge which we can have of a proposition , consists in two points . the first is , when we conceive clearly and distinctly the parts whereof it is composed . the second , when we clearly perceive their alliance and union , or their antipathy and incompatibility . if the author speak of the former manner of conceiving , i shall presume to declare his rule utterly false ; for we can as well , and as clearly conceive the parts of a proposition that is false , as those of one that is true . as for example , i have a clear and distinct knowledge of the parts of this proposition , though it be a false ; latus & diameter quadrati sunt commensurabilia . but if his meaning be of the second manner of conceiving and knowing , his rule signifies no more then this , viz. that those propositions which we conceive clearly and distinctly to be true , are indeed and really true , whereof never any man yet doubted . but it were only to fight with shadows to bestow any further examination on this rule of the authors , since he himself confesses elswhere , that there is great difficulty to discern certainly those propositions which we conceivc most clearly and distinctly . for every man that is fully convinced that such a proposition is true , how false soever it may be , will say that he conceives it clearly and distinctly in one of these two manners . but the author proceeds , and entertains us with an essay of his philosophy concerning the nature of god : wherein i must ingenuously confess i have found no more satisfaction then in what he hath delivered of the nature of man . and here he advances this proposition , making it his business to find out whence he had learned to think anything more perfect then himself ; and at last he evidently discovers , that it must have proceeded from some nature that were effectually more perfect then his own , whereof the idea should be infus'd into him ; and in a word , that that nature can be no other then god , because , saith he , that i could not entertain within my self the idaea of a being more perfect then my own , and that that which is more perfect cannot proceed from that which is less perfect . now from hence in my opinion it should rather have been inferr'd , that the contemplation of things which were less perfect then himself , should have given him occasion to examine whether there were not some nature more perfect then his own . for considering that the plants are more perfect then inanimate creatures , and among animals dogs and horses are more perfect then shelfish , and men arrive to a higher degree of perfection then all the other creatures ; he might by the consideration of such a dependence have been induced to consider and examine whether there were not yet some other nature more perfect then this rational nature of ours : and to bring him to this , he needed but only have compared himself with the other creatures . for , i conceive my self to know some things , and i doubt of many others , nay there are an infinite number of things whereof i am utterly ignorant . there are others in the world who know less then i do , and there are those also who know much more ; but there is not any man who doubts not of somewhat . now this consideration i should think sufficient to excite any rational soul to examine whether there were not some intelligent nature altogether exempt from all error , doubt and ignorance , and that for to advance into such an examination , there should be no need that god should infuse into me the idaea of any thing more perfect then my self , nor should i have wanted any more particular assistance of god in this , no more then in any other ratiocination . for as it is as natural to us to lift up our eyes to heaven to contemplate the sun and moon , as to look down upon the earth ; in the same manner , it is as natural for a man to endeavour to find out the most perfect nature in the universe , as to entertain his mind with things below ; just as when we see a river , it is as natural for us to seek out the source from whence it springs , as the place where it disembogues it self . but it being admitted that the proposition were true , yet is the proof of it weak and insufficient : for though it be true , that a thing which is more perfect cannot depend of a thing which is less perfect , yet it is not equally true that the idaea of a nature more perfect then mine may not depend on mine ; for the idaea which i have of a thing which is more perfect then my self , is not more perfect then i . all the idaea's whereof my mind is susceptible , whencesoever they proceed , are but accidents are representations , and therefore cannot come into the ballance , as to perfection , with the rational soul , which is a substance . moreover , if to know god , it be necessary that he must have infused into us some idaea of his nature , i demand whether he have bestowed that idaea on all , or only on some in partieular ? if he have bestow'd it equally on all , how comes it to pass that so many have such extravagant thoughts of god , and so disproportionable to his nature ? if this indulgence of heaven reaches but some in particular , it makes nothing to the present purpose , it being here a question of philosophy , and not of visions , inspirations , revelations , or any other such lights . but how then shall we satisfie or convince the author in this point ? certainly it cannot be , but he well understands the doctrine of the schools touching the necessity which the understanding hath of the senses and the imagination , in all things whereof it undertakes the consideration . or is it that he dissembles it , out of the aversion which he bears to that more then any other tenet of the schools ; and does as the french do , who can never be perswaded that the plot of a play is well laid , if a spaniard be not introduc'd in some extravagant and ridiculous posture ? hower it may be , i doubt not to make it appear that he hath not had reason to speak so disadvantageously ; nay , and what is more , that all the idaea's which we have of the nature of god , do but too much betray and discover the imperfection of the nature whence they proceed ; so far are we from having any cause to affirm that god should infuse them into us . our saviour cals god creator , preserver , lord , judge , revenger , rewarder , &c. but all those attributes do not discover what he is in himself , but only denote him such as he expresses himself towards us , and consequently make no representation of his essence , seeing he may be without us . we call him most good , most wise , almighty , and in like manner attribute to him all the other perfections , which are not in us but imperfectly : but in so doing we imploy divers thoughts to represent , that all these in him are but one ; and further to rectifie all these idaea's and notions , we must adde , that he is all these incomprehensibly . so that the most proper notions we can have of him are negative , as that he is invisible , incomprehensible , infinite , incorruptible : all which give us to understand what he is not , but acquaint us not what he is . for as concerning the affirmative notions we have of him , a day will come when we shall find how gross and rustick they were , and shall do as tityrus in virgil , who when he came to see rome , condemned all the idaea's which he had conceived of it before , saying , urbem quam dicunt romam , melibaee , putavi stultus ego huic nostrae similem , &c. as for the rest of his ratiocinations concerning god , they seem to me good and solid : but i must withall tell him , he is not the first author of them , but scotus and most authors who have written of metaphysicks have made use of them . if he have borrowed them of others , he is justly censureable , since he affirms that he found nothing that was firm and certain in philosophy . if he have been ignorant that any others before him had made use of them , he must needs acknowledg that he hath been guilty of some precipitation in condemning the writings of the philosophers without any previous perusal of them . in the fifth section , where he speaks of geometrical truths , i have not observed any thing remarkable ; unless it be , that in speaking of a sphere , he hath unawares let slip this , that all the parts are equally distant from the centre . in the sixth section , he says that the reason why there are so many who perswade themselves that there is much difficulty to know god and the soul , is because they are so accustomed never to consider any thing but through the imagination , that they conclude that whatsoever is not imaginable , is not intelligible : which is manifest , says he , in that the philosophers themselves hold , that nothing enters into the understanding , which before had not pass'd through the sense . where it is to be observed , the idaea's of god and the soul have never been admitted . to which he adds ▪ that those who would make use of their imagination to comprehend them , are of the same opinion . although it be on all sides confess'd that the soul of man is immortal , yet in regard it is , in such a manner as it is , joyned to the body , the soveraign faculty thereof , which we call the intellect or the understanding , cannot , in its operations , be without some dependance on the senses & the imagination . and that is it which hath given occasion to the philosophers to say , that there is nothing in the understanding , which hath not before been in the sense ; and that the understanding doth not know nor comprehend any thing without the assistance of the imagination . as concerning the former of these maxims , i could wish that those whose authority first brought it into reputation , had bethought themselves of some other manner of expression , and that they had contented themselves to have said with aristotle , that he which had no sense could never comprehend any thing . but the interpretation which they give of it is indubitably true . now in my judgment there is nothing less becoming a philosopher , then to be too nice and critical about words , when it is fully agreed about the things themselves . the authors therefore of this maxim , that there is nothing in the understanding , &c. did not mean thereby , that there is nothing intelligible but what is sensible , but hold forth two things for us to observe . the first is , that the understanding cannot think of any thing , unless somewhat have before smitten the senses ; and consequently , that the first thoughts of the understanding have for their object something that is sensible . for the understanding , before it have conceived any thing , being of it self indifferent as to all sorts of objects , it cannot be determined to one object rather then to another , but by the mediation of the senses . the second thing is , that the notions which we have of sensible things do produce in us others , being as it were the seed which is cast into the ground , nay leads us to the knowledg of immaterial things which are not under the reach of our senses . and so by consequence , all the notions and idaea's which the understanding can have of the nature of god and the soul , and all other things which fall not under our senses , have had their conception of these former , after the same manner as the conclusions are said to be in their principles , or a great tree with its fruit and its leaves may be said to be contained in a kernel . now the understanding multiplies its first discoveries two manner of ways , that is to say , by abstraction , as when from the notion of individuals , which are material and sensible , it advances to the occult causes of things ; and when in geometry , from a small number of principles it draws so many admirable conclusions . as concerning the second maxim , it is capable of two interpretations . the first is , that nothing is intelligible but what is imaginable ; or , that the understanding cannot conceive any thing , whereof the imagination doth not furnish it with a representation . the second is , that so often and whensoever the understanding is busied about any thing , the imagination also acts its part by presenting it with the image of the same thing or some other . and this sense , and not the other , is held by the schools of this opinion . now this sense may yet be divided into two ; the first is , that the imaginative faculty always accompanies the understanding , as a dog follows his master every where , though he be not every foot called to that duty , nay sometimes whether the master will or no , so far is it from that there should be a necessity . and that is it which philoponus sayes ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . the other is , that the understanding cannot comprehend any thing without the assistance of the imagination . now here we are to make a difference between the state of the understanding while it is as it were in its apprentiship , and its state of perfection : for the peripateticks hold , that to the learning of any thing , the understanding stands in need of the imagination . but some of them have been of opinion , that the understanding may arrive to such a degree of perfection , that it may dispence with this assistance of the imagination . like as the scaffolds are necessary , while the walls of an edifice are a raising ; but those being once perfected , there is not any further need of them , nay they hinder the outward appearance of the walls : or as young swimmers make use of bladders for some while , whereof they afterwards slight the assistance . by this time it may be easily discovered whether the author have dealt justly with the schoolmen in this particular . for if there are some people who understand not any elevation of their spirits above sensible things , and who believe that that wch is not imaginable , is consequently not intelligible ; the schools reprove them as much as may be ; and the manner how it is understood , that whatsoever enters into the understanding , hath before been in the senses , cannot be any more civilly called into doubt . as to the objection which he proposes in the last place , where he says , that to make use of our imagination to comprehend immaterial things , were as if to hear sounds we should make use of our eyes , is , without any great difficulty avoided : for who doth not see the disparity that is between these things ? of the outward senses , some have not been made to exercise the functions of the others , and their proper and peculiar objects are different ; so that what is discerned by any one , falls not under the discernment of another . but the imagination hath been bestow'd on man for the service of the understanding ; and though the imagination cannot advance to whatever is intelligible , yet the understanding judges of whatever is imaginable . now this proposition , that the imagination assists us in the comprehension of immaterial things , may be interpreted two manner of ways ; whereof the one is true , the other false . for , to see my self , i make use of my eyes , not of a looking-glass , yet i see my self in the glass , and without it i cannot behold my self . in like manner , for to comprehend immaterial things , i make use of my understanding and of my imagination too , but in divers manners ; for 't is by the help of my understanding th at comprehend them , and not by the imagination : but my understanding would not be able to comprehend them without the assistance of my imagination , nay stands me in no stead , if the imagination should not represent to the understanding standing the idaea's of material things . for when i cast my eys on the picture of the king of sweden , which represents to me no more then the lineaments of his face , my mind goes beyond that , and entertains it self with his generous and heroick actions . i see no more in a book but figures , letters and characters ; but my mind contents not it self with that , but is carried to the consideration of the words and things which those letters are designed to signifie . in like manner , when i read the fables of aesop , i do not acquiesce in the literal sense , as children use to do , but i thence make moral inferences . why therefore should we say that the representation of a material thing presented to the understanding by the imagination , may not be helpful to it , to make it understand an immaterial thing ? from what hath been said it may be easily gathered what is the true and natural cause why immaterial things are not so easily known as material . for , the understanding not being able to comprehend any thing without the imagination , and the representations wherewith it constantly furnishes the understanding being but the images of material things , it follows that it is more easie to comprehend material things then immaterial : just as when one proposes a riddle , the explication is difficult , but the literal sense is easily understood . in the seventh section he continues to discredit the testimony of our senses , and calls the assurance they give us of the existence of our bodies , a moral assurance . a moral assurance is that which is grounded upon moral reasons , or such as a man must content himself withal in moral matters , although those reasons are not receivable in physick . now i think i may say , without incurring the censure of an unreasonable man , that the testimony of our senses , when our reason doth not any ways contradict it , is more satisfactory then a hundred moral reasons , and is receivable in physick ; nay , which is more , is the foundation thereof , as we have shewed before . as for example , i am obliged to believe what a many persons of credit ( who have no design to surprise or deceive me ) do unanimously affirm they have seen ; this is to me a moral assurance that such a thing is true ; but i should be more indubitably assured , if i had seen the same thing with my own eyes . in like manner , because i have not known nor heard of any dishonest actions in such a man whom i have long conversed with , i have a moral assurance that he is an honest man : but the assurance that i have that he is crooked-nos'd , or that he is of a red complexion , is without comparison greater , and cannot well be called moral . but , says the author , the senses do not give us a metaphysical assurance of things . now there is a threefold assurance . the moral assurance is the least considerable in things , and that is when we cannot contradict a thing without some injury done to good manners , although we know well enough that it is possible the thing may be otherwise . the greatest is that which the author cals metaphysical , which also may be called mathematical . there is yet another which we may call physical , and that is , when we know that a thing must absolutely be so or so , because it is impossible it should be otherwise then we affirm it to be , that is to say , when we know that according to the course of nature , and without the intervention of a miracle , the thing cannot be otherwise . as i am assur'd , if i put my hand into the fire , and continue it there some while , it will be burned : and that the sun never goes backward , nor ever stands still . but to proceed , after he had thus invalidated the testimony of our senses , and made the assurance which we have of what they dictate to us very weak and uncertain , he hath observed that a man may imagine being asleep , that he hath another manner of body , and that he sees other kinds of stars , though there be no such thing . and in consequence of this he asserts , that the greatest wits that ever have been in the world could not give any rational account whence men came to know , that the thoughts which we are entertain'd with being asleep , are more false then our others , seeing that oftentimes they are as lively and express'd as the others , unless it be in presupposing the existence of god . but we see what he means by this question , namely , that the solution of it should depend upon this rule , viz. that those things which we most clearly and distinctly know , are all true . which rule yet he confesses is not infallible out of any reason ; but because that those idaea's and notions , inasmuch as they are clear and distinct , proceed from god , who is all wisdom and all perfection ; and when there remains in them somewhat of obscurity or confusion , they proceed from us , because we are not arrived to such a degree of perfection : and so consequently , by how much they are more clear , by so much are they the more true ; and if there be any falshood , it must be onely said of those notions which have somwhat of obscurity or confusion . having therefore thus proved the rule , he answers the question in this manner . whether we sleep , or whether we wake , we ought not to suffer our selves to be perswaded to any thing but by the evidence of our own reason , and not of our imagination or our senses . and because our ratiocinations are not alwayes so evident and perfect while we sleep as they are while we wake , ( although somtimes our imaginations may be equally , if not more lively and effective ) if there be any thing of truth to be expected in our thoughts , it must be found in those which we have when we are waking , rather then in our dreams . in the first place , the author must pardon me if i deny him this consequence , viz. that because the imaginations which we have when we sleep are false , therefore we may not be fully assured of what our senses dictate to us when we are awake . for i shall presently take occasion to shew that there is no proportion or similitude between these two things . secondly , it is true , and well advised , that we should not suffer our selves to be perswaded by our imagination , if it be not it self conformable to reason , or the testimony of our senses . but seeing all that is in us proceeds from god , our imaginations as well as our thoughts ; if the thoughts of our understanding are true so far as they are clear and distinct , wherefore is it that our imaginations may not by the same reason be all true , when they are lively , affective and distinct ? thirdly , where he sayes , that our ratiocinations are never so clear and perfect while we are sleeping , as when we are waking ; he speaks too generally , for it happens sometimes that in our sleep we make most excellent ratiocinations . lastly , i conceive it is not enough to say , that in the time of our sleep our ratiocinations arrive not to that evidence and perfection which they may come to when we are awake ; but the reason thereof should have been assigned . for it may seem that in the time of sleep the rational soul hath a greater and freer enjoyment of her self , and , as being so much the less diverted by exterior objects , she ought the better to acquit herself of her noblest function . but to treat this matter a little more tenderly , and to penetrate to the bottom , here are three questions so linked together , that he that answers one of them , answers all . 1. why the imaginations which we have when we are asleep , are false rather then those we have awake ? 2. why our imaginations , whether we sleep or wake , are more likely to be false then the judgment of our senses ? 3. why our ratiocinations are neither so evident nor so perfect in the time of our sleep , as in the time of ou● waking ? i shall endeavour to answer these questions upon other ●y●otheses then those of the author , that is , without medling with the existence of god , nor with his nature ; submitting my self to the learned , who may judge whether i have hit the mark or no . i say then , that our imaginations are rather false when we sleep , then when we wake : because in the time of sleep , our imagination strays up and down without any thing to guide or conduct it . but when we are awake , our senses and our reason hinder it from being extravagant , and either keep it from wandring , or reduce it when it hath . for we have imaginations of two sorts : some are voluntary , others have no dependance at all on our will , but on some other natural causes , which are yet naturally in our power . which causes may be reduced principally to three kinds , and they are 1. the objects which smite our senses 2. the passions of our souls , and 3. certain dispositions of our bodies . the voluntary imaginations are very frequent to us when we are awake : as when an architect imagines within himself the idaea of an edifice for to imitate it , or when a painter imagines some chimaera or other fiction to make a picture of pleasure , or when we apply our imaginative faculty to some wholsom idaea's , such as may assist us in the understanding of any thing , whereof we have proposed to our selves the contemplation but in our sleep , we have no voluntary imaginations ; for though some of our dreams please us , and others displease us and afflict us , we can neither invite the one , nor avoid the other . as concerning the imaginations which are not in our power , according to the natural order of things , in the time of our waking , they are but attendants and dependants on our senses . but sometimes the idaea's of certain things which are absent , that have rais'd strong passions in our minds , cast themselves in the way , and do in such a manner possess and divert the imaginative faculty , that we perceive not what is before our eyes , nor hear the sounds which smite our ears . and in that posture , our imaginations , though we are awake , are in a manner dreams . in the same manner , the indispositions of our bodies do work in us sometimes very strange imaginations , as it daily appears in phrenetick persons , and such as are hypocondriacal . now these disorders and irregularities happening while we wake , fall not out very often , nor to all persons . but while we sleep , all our imaginations are nothing else but illusions , as when false idaea's are represented to the imaginative faculty , that is to say , the idaea's of things that are not , or in another manner then they are , or some other circumstances : as if a man that is in love should in his sleep imagine that he saw his mistress , such as she is indeed ; but with this false circumstance , that she lay close by him , there being no such thing . in like manner , when in sleeping we imagine and dream of somewhat that was past the day before , or somewhat that shall happen the day after , 't is but an illusion , because we do not imagine the thing as past , but as if it were present , and in effect before our senses . as to the second question , i say that our imaginations are more likely to deceive us then our senses , because that those things which smite our senses must be truly real and exist ; but they are but things in picture , as it were , which smite our imaginative faculty , when it operates alone and without the senses ; for external things cannot move the imaginative faculty but by the interposition of the senses . from hence it may be inferr'd , that when the senses are at rest , the imagination must necessarily be at rest too , or it must contemplate those images which had at other times been represented to it by the senses , those images having remain'd imprinted in the memory , though perhaps the things themselves which they represent have ceas'd to be , or at least are absent or far distant from the sense . there is further this difference between the imaginative faculty and the senses , that the senses cannot change any thing in their object , nor in their operation . but when we are awake , and that we would beset our selves to contemplation , the imagination disposes and disciplines the images as we will our selves ; but when we are asleep , they are alwayes represented in the same manner , and in the same order as they had pass'd by the senses ; but most commonly without order , inconsequently , and many times making monstrous and ridiculous figures , as when the image of a goat is represented with the head of a lion . it is evident therefore , that however our imaginations may be lively and affective , we never ought to suffer our selves to be perswaded by them , but in as much as they keep harmony with our senses and with our reason ; and if they do so , it is not a perswasion of our imaginations , but of our senses and our reason . nor doth it avail any thing against us , to say , that the imaginative faculty is of greater excellence then the senses ; for its excellence doth not consist in the truth of what it represents , but in the perfection of the representation ; as it is the excellence of a painter , not to represent any thing in a picture but what is truly and really so , but to represent any thing to the life that he hath a mind to represent . in like manner hath nature bestow'd the imaginative faculty on man , not for to discern what is , or what is not , nor to judge of what is possible or impossible , but to be serviceable and subject to the understanding upon the default of the senses , which is when it represents unto it the images of things past or absent , or abstracted from our senses . from what hath been said it is easie to answer the third question . for it being once granted , that the understanding cannot work without the aid and assistance of the imagination ; and that all the imaginations which we have when we are asleep , are false either in their substance , or at least in some circumstance , they are not so fit to be the foundations of good ratiocinations , the subsequent imaginations having no alliance , nor holding correspondence with the precedent , hinder the understanding to finish its work , and before it hath ended one , cause it to begin another . all that now lies on my hands to examine , is what the author treats us with in the eighth section , where he would prove that we should never suffer our selves to be perswaded by the evidence of our senses , no more then of our lively and affective imaginations . our senses , sayes he , deceive often enough , though we be not asleep ; as when to those that have the yellow jaundies all things seem yellow ; and though we see the sun very clearly , we ought not thence to judge that he is no bigger then it seems to us . to ruine the reputation of the senses , he should have shewn that they are sometimes deceiv'd in judging of their proper objects , the organs being sound and in their natural state and condition , the objects being well and duly represented unto them , and the space between well dispos'd , according to these three requisites i mentioned before : but that he doth not so much as offer or pretend to do . those , says he , who have the yellow jaundies see all things yellow ; and consequently the sight is deceiv'd in discerning colours , which are its proper objects . it is indeed a proverb of no small standing , that the yellow jaundies causeth all things to appear yellow to them that have it ; but ordinarily the reason of it is , because melancholy , which causes that the jaundies diffusing it self through all the skin , nay even through the white of the eyes , doth fasten on the horny tunicle . but let it be granted that this common saying is always true , i presume the author will grant me that the eye is not then in its natural condition . but there is a great deal more to be said . i deny that in the case proposed , the eye is deceiv'd in the discerning of colours , for in effect it sees nothing but what is yellow ; it is only deceiv'd in not discerning where the yellow is which it sees . for it is the horny tunicle , which naturally not being of any colour , but is absolutely diaphanous and dy'd with the melancholy , that causes the objects to seem yellow ; as when we look through a yellow glass , everything seems yellow , and if the glass be red , all things will appear red . in like manner when a web begins to form it self in the eye , we seem to see little flies in the air , yet they are nothing but thin and obscure vapors , or clouds which are raised between the horny tunicle and the chrystalline humor . and if sometimes we conceive that we see somethings which are not at all , as it happens to frantick persons , it is not the sight which deceives us , but the imagination . as concerning what he says of the greatness of the sun and other celestial bodies , what matters it if the sight be deceived therein , seeing the celestial bodies are not at the distance requisite to be seen distinctly . but above all , methinks it is a strange assertion which the author advances , when he sayes that the sun is most clearly seen : for , his light is so great , that it dazles and so overcomes our sight , that we can see it but very confusedly and imperfectly . too much light is no less injurious to the sight then too little ; and generally the proper objects of every sense being excessive in the highest degree , is insupportable to the organ , and does violence to the temperament , whereby it is what it is . to conclude , i would gladly ask the author whether he hath composd this discourse awake or asleep ? if he have done it asleep , i would entreat him to review itbeing awake , because it is not reasonable that we should suffer our selves to be perswaded to credit his dreams . if he have done it awake , how knows he that he was then awake ? it is indeed true , that our reason dictates to us that we are awake , when we do effectually see and hear , and have all our senses open and attentive to the exterior objects : but that he then saw and heard , and felt actually , and not only by imagination , he could not any wayes be assured but by the testimony of the common sense , which judges whether the particular senses do their duty or no , as being their centre and mark . if he unravel this skain , he will very much undeceive me , — et erit mihi magnus apollo . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a92327e-1030 * pag. 9. according to the english translation , printed 1649. the ceremonies of the vacant see, or, a true relation of what passes at rome upon the pope's death with the proceedings in the conclave, for the election of a new pope, according to the constitutions and ceremonials, as also the coronation and cavalcade / out of the french by j. davies of kidwelly. ceremoniale historico e politico. part 5. english leti, gregorio, 1630-1701. 1671 approx. 120 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 59 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a31475 wing c1677 estc r17737 11741020 ocm 11741020 48490 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a31475) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 48490) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 486:1) the ceremonies of the vacant see, or, a true relation of what passes at rome upon the pope's death with the proceedings in the conclave, for the election of a new pope, according to the constitutions and ceremonials, as also the coronation and cavalcade / out of the french by j. davies of kidwelly. ceremoniale historico e politico. part 5. english leti, gregorio, 1630-1701. davies, john, 1625-1693. [6], 102 p. : ill. printed by h.l. and r.b. for tho. basset, london : 1671. epistle dedicatory dated: jan 7, 1671, j. davies. 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that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholic church. popes -election. papacy. 2005-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-07 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-08 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2005-08 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the ceremonies of the vacant see. the ceremonies of the vacant see . or a true relation of what passes at rome upon the pope's death . with the proceedings in the conclave , for the election of a new pope ; according to the constitutions and ceremonials . as also the coronation and cavalcade . out of the french by j. davies of kidwelly . london , printed by h. l. and r. b. for tho. basset at the george in fleetstreet , near cliffords inn. 1671. to my worthy and much honoured friend , mr. michael hall of durham . sir , the obligations i had to your worthy brother john hall , somtime of grey's inne esquire , are no less present to my thoughts , when i am at the greatest distance from his relations , then they are during my long residences at london , where i frequently converse with those , who , knowing his worth , take occasion to celebrate it , upon the least mention of his name . but the account i receiv'd from you of him not long since , and what you design'd to have done thereupon , rais'd in me a general reflection on the excellencies of that person , at least what was within the reach of my happy knowledge of him . of this i gave the world what satisfaction i could , before his translation of hierocles upon the golden verses of the pythagoreans ; that is , a short collection of my own observations , without communicating my design to any of his friends . what overtures you have made in order to the compleating of it , i shall not here insist upon , further then to assure you , that my prosecution of it , shall , what lies in my power , be answerable to your desires . as to what is at present usher'd to you by this dedicatory , be pleas'd , sir , to take this short character of it ; that it is a particular account of that action , which being of highest importance in the concerns of christianity , occasions the discourse of all persons , during the process of it , as well of these , whose principles induce them to a belief , as those , who stand upon the denial of a supream pastorship of the christian flock upon earth . whence rome derives the priviledge of being the scene of this great transaction , is not my business to enquire : yet i think it not amiss , to bring in here two distichs of that worthy author , sir r. stapylton , comprehending , first , the metropolism of that city , upon the gentile account , and then its loss of that super-intendency , and afterwards its retrival thereof upon the christian score ! roma fuit quondam terrae regina marisque ; at nunc nec terras , nec mare roma regit . roma fuit quondam terrae regina marisque . nunc mare , nunc terras , amplius illa regit . thus as to the subject of the ensuing treatise . the further business of this address , is , to acquaint you , that the manuscript left in my hands by one nearly related to you , concerning your ancient cathedral , will ere long appear in publick . what else i have to adde , is only the usual complement made in the infancy of the year ; that is , my wishes to you , of health , prosperity , in friends and affairs ; and , the greatest transient happinesse , all the endearing enjoyments of a conjugal life ; and all this , without any other design , but that of assuring you , how much , and how truly i am , sir , your most affectionate and most humble servant , j. davies . jan. 7. 1671. an historical account of the ceremonies at the election of a pope . rome , having heretofore rais'd it self to that greatness as to become the seat of the world's empire , continu'd its possession thereof for many after-ages . during that vast interval of time its councils had an influence over the affairs and concerns of most nations : the changes and revolutions of states were regulated by its policies ; and its judgments were legislative to all places over which the roman-eagles had spread their victorious wings : in a word , the general emergencies of the universe are the ordinary discourse of the inhabitants of this great city : and on the contrary , what is done in it employs the reflections of all those who have heard of its name . but as it hapned heretofore at the death of any of its emperours , all eyes were upon it , to observe the management of an election , which they thought contributory to their happiness or unhappiness , though as yet the jurisdiction related only to temporal concerns : so is it since it became the seat of a spiritual monarchy and hierarchy . for upon every vacancy in this , the whole christian world is inquisitive to know what passes in a conjuncture of so great importance , to the tranquillity and advantage of christendom , and wholly taken up with a consideration how worthy or how happy that subject ought to be , who is to fill a chair exalted above all the thrones upon earth . as therefore every one thinks himself concern'd in this exaltation to the papal dignity , so does every one imagine he hath a right and freedom to speak , and give his judgment of it . accordingly hath it hapned , that all the circumstances of so celebrious and sacred an action have been so well observ'd , and thought of such consequence , that the memorials thereof have been transmitted to after-ages ; to the end it should be known , with what extraordinary precautions they were to proceed upon the like occasions , in order to the prevention of those misfortunes and disturbances , which the long continuance of a vacancy hath many times occasion'd in the church . but what occasions long vacancies , and how far they are to be imputed to the interfering interests of those temporal princes , who think themselves more nearly concern'd in the election , is no● our business here to determine : onl● this seems rationally deducible from their proceedings therein , that they would demean themselves with a greater indifference , as to the election , were they less perswaded , that the person once elected must be acknowledg'd supreme pastor of the catholick church . but in process of time , through the prudent provisions , which the popes have made by their constitutions : things are reduc'd to a certain order , so as that there is the less ground of fearing those fatal accidents , wherewith the church hath been but too much afflicted by so many schismes , most of which have deriv'd their birth or growth from the long continuance of conclaves . and the city of rome seems from that time to have attain'd a better constitution , so as not to be subject to any disturbance during that interregnum ; of which it is the design of this discourse to give a particular account , by discovering what is done , not only within the walls of rome , but also those of the conclave it self , upon the occasion of a vacancy in the see apostolick , and representing the ceremonies observed at the exaltation of a person to a spiritual jurisdiction and supremacy . as soon as the pope hath submitted to the laws of mortality by resigning up his last breath , or seems past all hopes of recovery , the cardinal patrone , who is ordinarily the nephew , and entrusted with the management of state-affairs , sends an account of his condition to the several cardinals and embassadors : by the prelates he dispatches to them , and orders all the considerable prisoners to be remov'd out of the ordinary prisons to the castle st. angelo , in regard that immediately upon the pope's death the senate and people of rome set open the prison-doors , and give liberty to all those whom they there find in restraint . soon after the cardinals and embassadors make their visits to the cardinal patrone , condoling the loss he hath received by the pope's death ; and if it happen that any of them be in the pope's antichamber , when he is ready to expire , they are admitted into his chamber to see his departure , and to address their prayers to god for him . assoon as he is given over for dead the cardinal 's , and all the officers , who had lodgings assign'd them in the palace , dislodge themselves and go to their houses in the city , save only the cardinal , who has the title of chamberlain , whose priviledge it is to continue still in the pope's appartment . there are in the sacred colledge of cardinals , ( whose number is by the constitution of sixtus quintus limited to seventy ) three principal charges , which admit not of any vacancy upon the pope's death , but only upon theirs who were possest thereof . those are that of chancellour , ( who yet assumes only the title and quality of vice-chancellour , though there be not any other person above him ) that of the grand penitentiary , and that of chamberlain . the functions of the two former charges are sufficiently known by their nam●s ; but the third is in its greatest lustre during the vacancy of the see , though the person who is possest of it be at all other times chief of the chamber of accompts and the finances of the holy see. but when , and as long as there is no pope , he commands the swisses of the guard , who had belong'd to the deceas'd , and they keep guard about his palace , and follow him up and down the city . he orders the coynage of money , on which there are engraven his own armes under those of the vacant see , which are two keys crossing one the other under a canopy . he has this further priviledge , to be present with the three chiefs of the order of the cardinals , ( that is to say , the dean of the sacred colledge , the first cardinal-priest , and the first cardinal-deacon ) in all the assemblies they shall hold during the vacancy of the see , to advise with them about the affairs of the church . it belongs also to the cardinal-chamberlain to see all things ordered relating to the conclave , which he disposes to whom he thinks fit after the election of a pope . the chief officer of the datary , the secretaries , and all others who are intrusted with seals of any kind , which they had had from the deceas'd pope , bring them immediately upon the first news of his death to the cardinal chamberlain , who , in the presence of the auditor , and the clerks of the chamber ( who are the masters of accompts ) and of the grand treasurer ( who is surintendant of the finances or revenues ) orders them to be broken , that no foul play or forgerie be done with them ; and the ring of the fisher , which is of gold , and valu'd at about a hundred crowns , after it is broken , belongs to the masters of the ceremonies . it is also incumbent on the said cardinal to send notice at the same time to all the cardinals , the senate , and people of rome , of the pope's death , and the three chiefs in point of denomination ( there being three different classes of cardinals , according to the difference of their titles ; to wit , six titles of episcopal cardinals , fifty of priesthood , and fourteen deacon-cardinals ) send the like notice to all the other cardinals , to make their appearance in the hall of the consistory that very evening ; or if that cannot be done with convenience the next morning to take order for all the charges which shall be vacant upon the pope's death , and to appoint a governour of the conclave , and of st. peter's , which is the most fortify'd quarter of rome , and wherein lie the castle of st. angelo , the church of st. peter , and the vatican palace , and where the conclave is ordinarily kept ; and they all go with the roquet uncover'd , as a mark that the sovereign spiritual authority is devolv'd into their hands , as having then no superiours over them . those who are creatures of the deceas'd pope are clad in violet , as are also the other cardinals , but with this distinction , that the borders and ornaments of their garments are red . in the mean time the pope's almoners , after they have washt the corps , cloath it with his cassock , his roquet , his camad , and his caloth , and by a secret pair of stairs convey it to the chapel of sixtus , which is in the palace . there it is received by the penitentiaries of st. peter , who vest him so as if he were going to celebrate mass , setting on his head a mitre of cloth of gold , with all the other ornaments peculiar to this ceremony ; and among others the pallium and pannona , which none is to wear but only the pope in his pontifical habiliments . being thus habited , they lay him on a couch in the midst of the chappel , with a silver cross upon his breast , and two cardinals hats at his feet , representing his spiritual and temporal authority . ordinarily , there are but a dozen torches set about the corps , and no canopy . the congregation of cardinals being risen , the creatures of the deceas'd and his particular servants come into the chapel ; where , after they have said certain prayers for his soul , the canons of st. peter make their entrance with their crosses , with every one a wax candle in his hand , and taking the corps they carry it into one of the chapels of their church , where it lies expos'd for the space of three days to the sight of all the people , who are admitted to kiss his feet and hands . after the expiration of those three days , the same canons , accompany'd by the relations of the deceas'd ( the church-doors being shut ) dispose the body into his sepulchre , in case he had ordered any to be made in his life-time ; but if not , they cover it with plaister in some part of their said church , till his sepulchre be made ready , which the succeeding pope , if he be a creature of the deceas'd , does ordinarily cause to be made at his own charge , together with one for himself , in such church as he shall think fit to make choice of : yet is it to be observed , that the body is to continue a whole year deposited in the said church of st. peter ; after which it may be buried any where else , and the translation of it is celebrated with great pomp aud magnificence ; and they use in that ceremony a particular herse-cloth embroidered , which the clergy of st. peter are oblig'd to get made for every pope immediately after his eelection , which cloth is carefully laid up , during the life of the said pope . the first day after the departure of any pope being over , the cardinals employ the mornings of the nine subsequent days in having dirges sung for the repose of the soul of the deceas'd ; and on the ninth the funeral-oration is made ; after which all the cardinals come about the quire beset all with lights , under which there is a bed of state , and five among them ( of which number the cardinal , who says mass is one ) with black . on , having given holy-water and incense , say the suffrages and accustomed prayers . all the days next following the said dirges of the said cardinals meet in the sacristy of st. peter , to name the officers of the conclave , and to settle other affairs of the ecclesiastical state. the embassadors make them proffers of the assistance of their masters , in order to the security and freedom of the conclave . at their coming in , they make a genuflexion , and speak standing and cover'd ; and at their departure thence they make the like genuflexion . the house of the ursini , and that of the colonni , as being the chiefest houses of rome , are also receiv'd into it , but kneeling and bare-headed . they pretend that they have a priviledge to offer with their own service , that , of all the other roman princes and lords . these latter on the contrary , ( whose body is called the baronage ) are not willing to acknowledge any dependence on the former two houses , and ordinarily make choice of the most ancient person of their body to make their harangue . this contest upon the death of urban the eighth , occasion'd the ursini and the colonni to forbear going at all , and yet the baronage was admitted to make proffers of their service . the ten days above-mentioned being expired , on the eleventh the cardinals have a dirge sung at st. peters , one of them celebrating mass in honour of the holy ghost , after which there is a sermon preach'd , wherein they are exhorted to divest themselves of all passion and self-interest in the election they are to make of a good common father of the church . after which they make their entrance by way of procession into the conclave , the musick singing the veni creator , and lay their crosses in the chapel paulina . the dean being come up to the altar says the prayer , deus qui corda fidelium : which ended , the cardinals take the oath appointed for the observance of the constitutions of former popes concerning the election of the new one . that done , every one goes to dinner in his own apartment , which had been assign'd them in the palace , for the preparing of their sustenance during their abode in the conclave , they being not permitted to come out of the palace till they have chosen a pope . all that day the conclave lies open , to satisfie the curiosity of the people , who are permitted during that time to visit it ; and towards the evening every one withdraws into his cell , and about three or four hours after , the cursors or heralds put out the multitude , crying aloud extra omnes . but the embassadors , who had spent the eleven days aforesaid in visiting all the cardinals at their several lodgings , come to see them once more in the conclave ; and as soon as they are come out thence , ( which they commonly do last of any ) the chief person of the house of the savelli , as hereditary marshal of the holy church , locks the door of the conclave , sets a guard at it , and hath an apartment adjoyning thereto , out of which he is not to stir either night or day till there be a pope chosen . at the last conclave , there arose a contest between him and the governour of the said conclave about the keys of it ; but they were adjudg'd to the prince savelli , as'having been in former times in the possession of his predecessors . the keeping of the keys within the conclave belongs to the cardinal-chamberlian and the master of the ceremonies . in the door of the conclave there is a little square window , which may be shut on both sides within and without , and is not open'd , but only when embassadors or some other person of quality brings some very important advertisement or intelligence to the sacred colledge , and then they direct their speech through the said window . according to the constitution of pius the fourth every cardinal may have two men with him to wait upon him in the conclave ; but princes and the more ancient cardinals may have three and no more : and these persons are called conclavists , who all joyning together oblige all the cardinals to take an oath for the observance of their priviledges . nor can any of the cardinals balk the taking of the said oath , out of a fear of the reproach which might be made him of his desire to be pope . their priviledges consist in having ten thousand crowns out of the chamber , to be divided among them , and all the vacant benefices , not exceeding two thousand crowns revenue . moreover , it is further requisite , according to the foresaid constitution of pius the fourth , that the conclavists , be actually menial servants to the said cardinals at the vacancy of the holy see , and that they had been in their service for the space of a year before . with this further proviso , that the ministers of princes , persons possessd of in for , ost . temporal seigneuries , having the rights of the administration of justice annex'd thereto , as also persons employ'd in traffick and commerce ; and lastly , the brothers or nephews of cardinals , cannot be chosen by them for their conclavists , though they were their domesticks , and receiv'd wages or salaries from them . to this kind of persons there are added also two others , one for the service of the two masters of ceremonies , and the other , for the secretary of the sacred colledge . with this reservation nevertheless , that the servant of of the masters of the ceremonies ought to be actually a domestick of one of them , and have been such for the space of six months before : which condition is in like manner requisite in the servant to the secretary of the colledge of cardinals . besides the cardinals and their conclavists , the two masters of ceremonies , the secretary of the colledge , and their servants there are also shut up in the conclave a penitentiary , to receive confessions , and resolve such cases of conscience as may be propos'd to him ; as also a sacristan , with a chaplain to assist him in the service of the sacristy , a physician , an apothecary , and a chyrurgeon , with one or two servants , and the drugs and medicines requisite for the relief and accommodation of the indispos'd ; a carpenter , a mason , and about twenty porters or servants of the meanest sort , to be employed in the carrying of wood , sweeping the chambers and the streets of the conclave , and to what other services may be necessary within . all these officers and servants are chosen by the cardinals by plurality of voices , and are not to be taken out of the houses of any of the said cardinals , and their salaries are paid out of the chamber . assoon as they have clear'd the conclave of all those persons , whom either their curiosity or some other occasion had brought thither , the embassador's also being retir'd , and the door lockt on the out-side by the marshal of the conclave , who has the keys of it , and is to see it guarded , the three cardinals , chiefs of the three different classes , accompany'd by the cardinal-chamberlain , and one of the masters of ceremonies , who have the custody of the keyes within , ( as hath been observ'd already ) go with torches all about the conclave , visiting all parts of it , to see if there be any there who ought not to be , and whether the shutting up of the conclave be performed according to the constitutions . and the next day , immediately after dinner , there is a review taken of all the conclavists and servants in the chapel , out of which they are ordered to go one after another , to be examin'd , whether they have the qualifications requisite for their admission , as also whether they exceed not the number appointed by the said constitutions . but , before we come to a particular account of what passes among the cardinals in the conclave , it will not be amiss to say somewhat of what is done in the mean time , in reference to the government of the city . upon the news spread abroad of the pope's death , the senate and people of rome , ( that is to say , the consuls of the city ) being assembled in the capital , cause it to be publish'd through all the streets by beat of drum , order the prison-doors to be open'd , and set at liberty all they find in restraint , thereby signifying that the jurisdiction of rome during the vacancy of the holy see , is devoted to them . they order all the inhabitants to keep a candle lighted at their window during all that night , and enjoyn the captains of the several wards or quarters , ( whose companies consist of men , whom the inhabitants of all ranks and orders , ( excepting only both the roman and foreign nobility ) are oblig'd to furnish them withal , to the number of one for every house with their armes ) to keep strict guards day and night , every one in their lodgings , and to take their several rounds and patrouilles , to prevent the disorders which are many times very great , proceeding hence , that such as have been hardly or injuriously dealt with , during the precedent papacies , do for the most part defer their resentments thereof to the next vacant see ; so that it happens many murthers and assassinations may be committed . not but that justice is very severely administred at that time , and with greater expedition , then at any other ; but if the murtherers and other mischievous persons be not surpriz'd in the very facts , and can make a shift to abscond themselves and keep out of the way till the creation of a new pope , they return to their habitations as if they had committed those crimes in some other countrey . all the cardinals , embassadors , princes and lords about rome raise souldiers for the guarding of their palaces and their houses , and they among the cardinals who have any pretensions to the papacy are more careful in this particular then the others , by reason of the priviledge the people assume to themselves of pillaging them assoon as they are chosen . there passes not a day without some processions , which from all churches and monasteries take their way to st. peter's , and about the conclave , singing as they go the hymn veni creator , to implore the assistance of the holy ghost and its inspirations upon the cardinals . the conclave consists ordinarily of three galleries , aud twenty five or thirty withdrawing-rooms or chambers , all of a floor , from the vatican-palace of equal height with the gallerie which is over the portal of st. peter's , which is the ordinary place of the benediction given by the pope to the people after his coronation , and upon the great festivals of the year : which gallery makes also part of the conclave . in all which galleries , rooms and chambers , they make partitions of boards for so many cells as there are cardinals . every cardinal hath a cell assign'd him about five paces in length , and about four in bredth , with a little wardrobe proportionable thereto . the cells are taken by lot , and every cardinal is to take that the number whereof he finds in his lot : and whereas it happens that the cardinals are not all of them , during the whole time , confin'd within the conclave , either upon the account of sickness or absence , the cells which are not taken up are divided among the next neighbors , who make this advantage only of the absence or indisposition of others , that their rooms are somwhat enlarg'd therby ; but the absent or sick cardinals , returning into the conclave , reassume their cells , and so oblige those who had made use of them to content themselves with their own divisions . they among the cardinals , who were creatures of the deceas'd pope , hang their cells within and without with cloth or serge of a violet colour , and the others with green serge , all setting up their armes over their doors , which they make fast only with two staves crossing one the other after the form of a st. andrews cross . the officers and servants of the conclave have their quarters assign'd them in some remote part . at three or four avenues of the said conclave , there are turning-boxes , like those in the monasteries of nuns , through which the meat sent in to the cardinals and their conclavists is received . their partizans and servants attend their meat as they were wont to do their persons when they were at liberty . before the entrance of the cardinals into the conclave , there is a list taken of all the prelates then about the court of rome , and the governour of it appoints every day , two in the morning , and as many in the afternoon , every one in his rank , to be present at the said turning-boxes , to visit and observe whatever is sent in to the cardinals , to prevent the sending in of letters or notes with the meat . they are also to hinder all persons from speaking to them or their conclavists at the said boxes , unless they speak aloud , and in the italian or latin tongue , that every one may understand what is said ; inasmuch as by the constitutions , it is matter of excommunication to talk of , or to enquire what is done within the conclave . but notwithstanding all the caution and vigilance us'd as to this particular , yet cannot some abuses be prevented ; and people come to know what passes there . this happens sometimes by the way of notes or advertisements in writing , which they find means to get in , either by the connivance of some prelates , who are unwilling to disoblige the crowns and princes , whose patrizans they are , as they think they should do , by obstructing their having intelligence of what passes . sometimes also this is attributed to the cardinals themselves , who do it to promote their different engagements and affections , or to prevent prejudicing their hopes , or that their precautions are really eluded . another way yet , where there may be a discovery made of proceedings in the conclave , is , a secret kind of language before-hand , studied and agreed upon between the conclavists , and their correspondents , whereof they make their advantages when occasion serves , comprehending under the supposititious termes of houshold-stuffe , relations , or domestick affairs , concerning which they enquire news , the names of such cardinals as are propos'd , or excluded , or that stand fair for the papal dignity ; and so by disguiz'd discourses , and an affected jargon applicable to divers senses , disclosing what is most secretly carried on in the conclave . yet is there not any thing to be objected against the shutting up of the conclave , since it is done with all the exactness imaginable . for the chimneys are close done up at the tops , and the windows of all the rooms and galleries are in like manner stop'd to within a foot of the upper part , which small distance is clos'd with course linen cloth , whereby a little light comes in ; but so that if the cardinals have any occasion to write or read , they must always have a wax-candle standing by them . and thence it proceeds , that not receiving any supplies of fresh air from without , and that within being many times infected and corrupted , they are apt to fall sick , especially when the conclaves are of long continuance . the twelfth day after the pope's death ( the first , as hath bin already observ'd being spent in conveying the body into one of the chapels of st. peter's church , and the nine subsequent days in celebrating obsequies and singing dirges for the soul of the deceas'd , and holding the ordinary congregations at the end of the said dirges ; and the eleventh , in the cardinals taking possession of the conclave , which for all that day lies open to satisfie the curiosity of the people , who come not out of it till three or four houres after night ) all the cardinals resident about the court of rome , having shut themselves up in the conclave , ina much as by the constitution of gregory xv. there can be no warrantable proceeding to the election , till the shutting up of the conclave be compleated , and acknowledg'd such by a publick act , which is made thereof at the request of the master of the ceremonies : all these things being thus order'd in the morning of the said twelfth day , before they apply themselves to any thing concerning the election , the three cardinals , chiefs of the several orders , and the cardinal chamberlain give a commission to some within , to take an exact survey of all parts of the conclave , to see that it is close and well shut up of all sides . which if they find accordingly , after they have made their report thereof to the company , it is form●d into an authentick act , the substance whereof amounts to this , that the conclave is close and shut up , as it is requir'd it should be by the constitutions , and accounted and reputed such by the sacred colledge of cardinals . and this ceremony is so essential , and of so absolute necessity , that there would be a nullity in the election , which should be made without this precedent act. and as long as there is no declaration contrary to that of the shutting up of the conclave , that is , till such time as it shall have been declared by the suffrages of two thirds of the cardinals , that there is an overture of the said conclave , it is always accounted and reputed duly shut up ; and the election which might be made after the publication of the closure , cannot be disputed as to nullity , under pretence of any overture hapning afterwards , if the declaration of the overture had not been made with the advice of two thirds of the colledge of cardinals . the cardinals are permitted to hold their capitulary assemblies or congregations , to agree among themselves upon certain articles , before they engage npon the business of the election . these articles are to be sign'd by all , even those which concern the privileges of the conclavists heretofore mentioned , before or after their entrance into the conclave , provided always that the election be not retarded thereby . there is also a further examination made , before they fall upon any thing touching the election , whether among the cardinals there be any one that hath not receiv'd the order of deacon , to the end he might not be admitted to give his voice , inasmuch as he is excluded by the constitution of pius iv. unless he had obtain'd permission in writing from the deceas'd pope to do it . nay , it hath sometimes heretofore come into debate , whether a cardinal , on whom silence had been impos'd before the pope's death , could give his suffrage for the election of another pope ? but this question was decided by pius v. who , by the decretal of january 26. 1571. declar'd , that that imposition of silence was only a ceremony introduc'd only to keep the cardinals in a certain advertency ( before they were admitted to give their voices and suffrages , as the consistories and congregations wherein they were to assist ) of that modesty and reservedness , which they were oblig'd to express in those and all other acts , but not to deprive them of their power and principal function , which consists in the election of a pope . and this constitution hath ever since been inviolably observ'd . the shutting up of the conclave introduc'd at the council of lyons , by the constitution of greg. x. 1274. having therfore bin duly acknowledg'd and verifi'd , the cardinals ( being advertis'd by the ringing of a bell to resort to the chapel paulina , which is within the compass of the conclave , if not diverted by sickness ) on the very morning of the twelfth day , go to hear mass , and communicate , as they are oblig'd to do , and immediately after ought to proceed to the election . which election , at the present , by the constitution of gregory xv. confirmed by another since of urban viii . cannot be made , otherwise then by one of these three formes and manners following ; to wit , either by way of inspiration , or by compromise ; or lastly , by scrutiny and access ; all which it is but requisite that we expicate , and make as intelligible as may be , that it may be the more easily comprehensible , with what extraordinary circumspection and wise precautions they are guided , in an affair of so high consequence . the first means or method of choosing the pope , which they call the way of inspiration ; or as it is exprest by the sacred canons as-it-were-by-inspiration , is , when all the cardinals in general , and every one in particular , with a common voice , as being inspir'd by the holy ghost , are unanimously agreed , without any one contradicting it , and without any precedent particular treaty , and do freely concur to the acknowledging and proclaiming of such a person pope . concerning which manner of election we are to observe the following circumstances , which are necessarily requisite by the gregorian constitution , which is a perfect directory , as to the ways of proceeding at elections , and observ'd at present without any contradiction . the first circumstance is , that this kind of election cannot be allowably made any where but in the conclave , and that after the publication of its being duly shut up . the second is , that this election is to be made by all in general , by every one of the cardinals in particular , who are present in the conclave , by a common suffrage , and without contradiction from any one . the third circumstance is , that there must not have been any precedent proposal , or particular treaty , in reference to a choice to be made by this kin● of way , which ought to be clearly ●●…prest by this word eligo , i chuse , pronounc'd with a loud and intelligible voice , or , for want of pronunciation , to be expresly set down in writing . the roman ceremonial gives an instance of an election , which might be allowably made by this kind of way , which brought in hither will render the business more cle●… . it is said in the forementiond ceremonial , that if any one of the cardinals , after publication of the shutting of the conclave , ( there having not been any precedent particular treaty about the person whom he would propose ) should say , for example , in a full chapel , addressing his speech to the whole sacred colledge , my lords , having always observ'd the rare and excellent qualifications and vertues of my lord the cardinal n. and having an esteem for his remarkable integrity , it is my judgement that we cannot make choice of a worthier subject to be pope , and thereupon i from this present give him my suffrage , and chuse him for pope . and that afterwards all the cardinals , with one voice , without excepting any one , being of the same opinion , and all of them intelligibly pronouncing one after another the same word , i chuse him ; or not being able to pronounce it , setting it down in writing , that person would be canonically chosen , and acknowledg'd for a true and legitimate pope , by that way which they call of inspiration , or as-it-were-by-inspiration ; which in regard it is immediately attended by adoration , is thence commonly called the way of adoration . the second manner of proceeding in the election of the pope , is the way of compromi'se , which is , when the cardinals , either immediately after their entrance into the conclave , or wearied out with its long continuance , refer themselves to one or more among them , whom they empower to make provision , in the name of all , of a common father to the catholick church . and this kind of election is practis'd conformably to the gregorian bull , and the conditions and provisions contain'd therein , which may also be reduced to three . the first is , that all the cardinals in general , and every one in particular , who are present in the conclave , not one contradicting or opposing it , ought to make a compromise in writing , whereby they invest those persons whom they take for compromissaries with an absolute power and faculty to make provision of a pastor for the holy roman church , yet with an observance of the forme , as also the clauses and conditions inserted and express'd in the compromise , and to do it within the time prescrib'd thereby : the said cardinals , promising to acknowledge and account the person , whom the compromissaries shall have thus chosen , according to the extent of that power which had been granted them by the compromise , the true and lawful pope . the second circumstance is , that it is not permitted any one of the compromissaries should give himself his own voice , otherwise his election should be null . the third condition is , that the compromissaries are oblig'd twice every day to assemble , in order to their conferring together , and promoting the execution of the compromise ; in the morning immediately after the hearing of mass , and in the evening after the recitation of the hymn veni creator spiritus , and the prayer of the holy ghost , to implore its illuminations upon them . but before they fall upon any thing of business , they are wont to make this protestation precedent thereto , that they would not be understood to give their consent by all sorts of words or expressions which might fall from them in the heat of the debate , if they do not expresly set it down in writing . when they have absolutely agreed upon the choice of any person , and have prpos'd him as such to the sacred college , he it to be immediately acknowledg'd as true pope , and canonically elected . these two ways of inspiration and compromise are not now much in use ; but the way of scrutiny , or of scrutiny and access joyned together , is the most ordinarily practis'd , wherein there are many ceremonies to be observed . for the election of a pope by this last way , it is requisite , according to the constitution of alexander the third , in the year of our lord mclxxx . made at the council of lateran , that there should be two thirds of the voices of the cardinals ; which hath been confirm'd by subsequent bulls , and in our age by those of gregory xv. and urban viii . and it is further requiste , that in the two thirds of the voices , that of the cardianl chosen , be not included , inasmuch as there is a prohibition upon pain of nullity of election for any one to chuse himself , or give himselfe his own voice . they are oblig'd twice every day to take the scrutiny and the access ; in the morning , after mass ; and in the evening , after the hymn veni creator spiritus , and the prayer of the holy ghost which are said in the chapel paulina at which the cardinals are oblig'd to be present , if not detain'd by indisposition , immediately , after the third ringing of the bell. there is a great secrecy to be observ'd in the scrutiny and access , and the manner of proceeding therein may be reduc'd to three principal actions . the first is the previous or fore-scrutiny ; the second , that of scrutiny and access ; and the third , that of the post-scrutiny , or what follows the scrutiny and access assoon as they are compleated . the particular explication of these three different actions will give us a fuller comprehension of this way of scrutiny and access , and give us to understand what it is , by distinguishing them as they are found explicated in the roman ceremonial . the fore-scrutiny may be distinguish'd into five principal acts : the preparation of the billets for the scrutiny and access ; the taking out by lots , the names of the scrutators and deputies , who are to collect the suffrages of such as are indispos'd ; that of writing them in the billets of access , that of folding them , and that of sealing them . the masters of the ceremonies are the persons who take care for the preparation of the billets , which they cause to be printed according to the forme hereafter set down , as well for the scrutiny as access . they put them into two basins upon a table before the altar ; those of the scrutiny by themselves in one of the basins , and those of the access in the other ; in number so many as there are cardinals . the figure of the billet of the scrutiny is such , that the length exceeds the bredth . it is about a hands bredth in length , and about half as broad . the outside of the billet comprehends three things ; in the upper part of it are written these words , ego cardinalis , with as much distance between the one and the other , as may be requisite for the setting down of the cardinal's name who gives his voice , and a little lower there are two little circles denoting the places where the seal is to be set . in the midst of the billet are imprinted these words , eligo in summum pontificem reverendissimum d. meum , d. cardinalem — i chuse for supream bishop the most reverend lord , my lord cardinal . — in the third and lowest part of the billet are in like manner imprinted two little circles , denoting also the places of the seal , and all the rest is blank . the form and figure of the billets for the access , is in all respects like that of the billets of the scrutiny , save only that in the midst of them , in stead of these words [ eligo in summum pontificem reverendissimum d. meum , d. cardinalem ] these are inserted , accedo reverendissimo d. meo , d. cardinali , that is to say , i give again my voice to my most reverend lord my lord cardinal . but these things will be more easily comprehended by exhibiting here the figures of the billets . the figure of the out-side of the billet of the scrutiny . fgo cird . eligo in summum pontificem rm. d. meum d. cardin. the figure of the out-side of the billet of access . ego card. ac●ed● rev●rendiss . d. m●o card. upon the other side of the billets , as well those of the scrutiny , as those of the access , there are imprinted certain bordures , or flourishes , one about the midst of the upper part of the billet , upon which is written the word nomen , and the other in like manner in the midst of the lower part , upon which is also written the word signa . the flourishes were invented purposely to render the paper the more obseure , and that the names and signes of the cardinals electors might not be perceiv'd through it : which will also be more easily understood by an inspection of the figure here annexed . the figure of the other side of the billets of the scrutiny and access . nomen . signa . the second act of the fore-scrutiny is , that of drawing by lot , the names of the scrutators and the infirmaries , who are the cardinals appointed to go to the cells of such as are indispos'd ▪ and there to take their suffrages , which is done in this manner . there are put into a purse as many little bullets or balls , hol'd through the middle , about the bigness of beads , as there are cardinals in the conclave , with their names written in little snips of parchment roll'd up , and thrust through the holes in the little bullets , which the masters of the ceremonies take care to provide , as they do the billets . as they are put into the purse they are counted all one after another , in the presence of the cardinals , and then after they have been well shaken together , the last of the deacon-cardinals draws three out of the purse , and they whose names are found in them are chosen for scrutators , according to the order wherein they are drawn out of the purse . then they draw out three others for the infirmaries or deputies , who are to go to such as are sick . and that done , the little bullets are return'd into the purse . twice a day , that is , in the morning and afternoon before the scrutiny , there is an election made of the said officers . but if it happen that they draw the names of any of the cardinals that are sick , or cannot by reason of some other impediment acquit themselves of the function of the said charges of scrutators and infirmaries , there are others drawn in their stead . the third act of the fore-scrutiny consists in setting down what is to be written in the billets , and in the filling of them by the cardinals with their own names , and the name of the cardinal to whom they give their suffrages , and their signets . to do this , every cardinal , according to his rank , beginning with the dean or most ancient , goes and takes out of the basin wherein the billets of the scrutiny are standing upon the altar one billet , and thereupon retiring into one of the two or three little desks or seats prepared for that purpose , and furnished with pen and ink in the middest of it , or to some other part of the chapel , so expos'd to the sight of all , that they may easily see him writing , but not discern what is written ; and taking his seat prepar'd also near the desk , he fills up his billet thus ; in the upper part he writes between these words [ ego cardinalis ] his own name ; in the midst of it he inserts the name of him to whom he gives his voice , with some difference and disguise of character as much as he can , according to the bull of gregory xv. that it may not be known by the writing : and in the lower part of the billet is written some certain number in figures , according to his own phansie , with some sentence out of the holy scripture , or somewhat of that nature . the figure of a billet fill'd up will render what we have said more manifest to the eye . the figure of the out-side of the billet of the scrutiny . ego fra. card. barb. eligo in summum pontificem rm. d. meum d. card ca pineum . 10. in manibus tuis sortes meae . the folding of the billets is the fourth act of the fore-scrutiny : it is no hard matter to comprehend how it is done . by the fold which is made of the billet , in the upper part of it , the corners whereof are to be turn'd down upon the marks of the seal , the name of the cardinal elector is cover'd . in like manner , by the folding which is made of the lower part of the billet , the corners whereof are also to be laid over the marks of the seal , the signes are likewise cover'd . after these two foldings , they fold it so often as is requisite to reduce it to the bredth of an inch or thereabouts . there remains yet the last act of the fore-scrutiny , which consists in sealing the billets , the form whereof is as easily conceivable , as that of the precedent folding . every cardinal before his entrance into the conclave , must have furnisht himself with a seal , unknown to the others , purposely grav'd for this occasion , containing some fancy or character , or simple-figure , the impression whereof may be easily perceiv'd . with this seal the cardinal makes an impression on the back of the billet , at the places design'd by the little circles , on which the masters of the ceremonies , before the putting of the billets into the basins , had claqt little bits of red wax . these things thus perform'd , the cardinals proceed to the second principal action called the scrutiny , which the ceremonial hath distinguish'd into eight particular acts. these are , the carrying of the billets to the altar ; the taking of the oath ; the putting of the billets into the chalice prepar'd for the reception of them ; the mixture which is thereupon made thereof ; the numbring of the billets ; the publication of the scrutiny ; the filing of the billets ; and the laving of them aside , either upon some part of the altar , or upon the desks of the scrutators , or in an empty chalice . the carrying of the billets to the altar , the taking of the oath , and the putting of the billets into the chalice , are three acts , so consequent one to the other , that it is no hard matter to make a joynt imagination of them . and to that end , presupposing that every cardinal hath at the desk ( as aforesaid ) fill'd up the billet of the scrutiny with his own name , the name of him , to whom he gives his voice , and the ordinary signes , that he hath folded it , and seal'd it , according to the precedent explication , he takes the said billet with the two fore-fingers of the right hand , he carries it openly up to the altar , where the scrutators are standing at the desk , which had been there prepar'd for them ; and being come thither , he falls down on his knees , and makes a short prayer ; after which , rising up , with a loud and intelligible voice , he takes the oath according to the forme , wherein it is transcrib'd in a table upon the altar , in these termes , testor christum dominum , qui me judicaturus est , me eligere , quem , secundum deum , judico eligi debere , et quod idem in accessu praestabo . that is to say , i attest jesus christ my lord , who is to be my judge , that i chuse him , whom according to god's will i think fittest to be chosen ; and that i will do the like in the access . having thus taken the oath , he lays his billet upon the cover of the chalice , and with the cover he puts it into the chalice , and thereupon making an obeisance to the altar , he retires to his place . this ceremony is observ'd by all the cardinals , who are able to come up to the altar . for if it happen , that any one of the cardinals then present in the chapel is not able , by reason of infirmity , to come up to the altar , the junior of the scrutators takes the basin , wherein the billets of the scrutiny are , and carries it to him , out of which the indispos'd cardinal having taken a billet , he secretly fills it up , at his own desk , folds it , and seals it , as is before-mentioned ; and after he hath taken the foresaid oath in the place where he is , he delivers his said billet to the scrutator , who openly carries it up to the altar , and without any prayer or oath lays it on the cover , and with the cover conveys it into the chalice . the same thing is done towards all the indispos'd cardinals who are in the chapel . but as to those cardinals , who , by reason of sickness are not able to stir out of their cells , the infirmary-cardinals chosen by lot to go and receive their voices , go to the desk of the scrutators , and take from their hands a box with a hole in the upper side of it , having a lock and key to it about a hands bredth high . this box is publickly opened by the scrutators , before the delivery of it to the infirmaries , to the end that every one of the cardinals may see it is empty , and that done they lock it up with the key , which they lay upon the altar , and then give the box to the infirmaries , who , having taken a little basin , with as many billets therein as there are cardinals sick in their cells , go to them . the indispos'd cardinals having taken their billets out of the basin , secretly fill them up , fold them , and seal them , and after they have made the ordinary oath , put them into the hole of the box. if the cardinal's sickness be such as that he is not able to write , he makes choice of such person as he thinks fit to fill up his billet . but the said person so appointed to fill it up , is oblig'd to make oath before the infirmary-cardinals , that he will not reveal the secret then entrusted to him : and this he is bound to do , not only upon the obligation of the said oath , but also upon pain of incurring excommunication ipso facto . the suffrages of the indispos'd cardinals being thus collected by the infirmaries , they return to the chapel , deliver the box to the scrutators , who opening it , take out the billets , which after they have been numbred , they lay , one after another upon the cover of the chalices , and with the cover convey them into the chalice . but to the end the scrutiny may not hold too long , and that it may be carry'd on without any interruption , ( as it is requir'd by the balls ) the infirmary-cardinals , before they go to the indispos'd , may fill the billets with their voices immediately after the dean-cardinal ; and then , while the others make the scrutiny , address themselves to the sick to collect their suffrages . the mixture of the billets makes the fourth act of the scrutiny , and consists in the shaking of them well in the chalice with its cover on ; which is performed by the chiefest of the scrutators , who , to that end , takes the chalice from the altar , and holding with one hand by the foot , and having the other upon the cover , shakes the billets so as that it may not be discover'd which were put in first , which last . the numbring of the billets is the fifth act , immediately following the mixture thereof , and is performed by the junior of the scrutators , who takes them one after another out of the chalice , and counts them , and puts them into another empty chalice prepar'd for that purpose . if the number of the billets be not equal to that of the cardinals , they are all burnt , and without removing out of the place they renew the scrutiny . but if the number be equal they proceed to the other subsequent acts of the scrutiny . the publication , which is the sixth act , and ought to be done by the scrutators sitting at their desk placed before the altar , is thus performed . the chief scrutator takes a billet out of the chalice , which he unfolds , without breaking the seals of it , and having discover'd and seen the name of him to whom the suffrage is given by the billet , he delivers it to the second scrutator , who having also seen the same name puts the billet into the hands of the third scrutator , who reads it with a loud and intelligible voice , so as that all the cardinals present in the chapel may hear it , who having before them their names set down in a printed sheer of paper , wherein opposite to every name there are lines drawn to the right hand and to the left , upon which they make as many dashes as a cardinal hath voices . upon 〈◊〉 line on the right hand they are to mark the votes of the scrutiny , and on that to the left those of the access . and this ceremony is observ'd in the publication of all the billets from the first to the last . here place the catalogue . a figure of the printed sheet which every cardinal hath lying before him , where upon to mark the suffrages of the scrutiny and access . accesse day suffrages month   accesse day suffrages , 1667. — r. fran barberin —   — ● dono — — r. ginetti —   — r. barbarigo — — r. ant. barberin —   — r. arragon — — r. palotta —   — r. boncompagno — — r. branciacco —   — r. litta — — r. carpegna —   — r. corsino — — r. harach —   — r. bonelli — — r. durazzo —   — r. picolomini — — r. cabrielli —   — r. caraffa — — r. ursino —   — r. palutio — — r. fachinetti —   — r. rasponi — — r. grimaldi —   — r. de comitibus — — r. rosetti —   — r. nini — — r. ludovisio —   — r. roberti — — r. cybo —   — r. spinola — — r. sfortia —   — r. visconti — — r. odcscalchi —   — r. caraccioli — — r. raggi —   — r. delphini — — r. ●e retz —   — r. de thun . — — p. homodei —   — r. d'est — — r. otthobono —   — r. donghi — — r. imperiale —   — r. rondanini — — r. borrhomaeo —   — r. maldachini — — r. santa-croce —   — r. de assia — — r. spada —   — r. carl. barbarino — — r. albici —   — r. pio — — r. aquauiua —   — r. gualtieri — — r. chisi —   — r. azzolini — — r. ilcio —   — r. vecchiarelli — — r. farneze —   — r. franconi — — r. rospigliosi —   — r. manchini — — r. bonvili —   — r. celsi — — r. bichi —   — r. perretti — — r. palavicini —   — r. vendosme — — r. bandinelli —   — r. moncada . — present in the conclaue — absent upon sicknesse , from the scrutiny-palavicini . absent from coart-arragon . the number is 70. if it should happen in the publication , that the scrutators found two billets so folded together , to any ones thinking , as if they were brought in by one and the same person ; if in both these billets there should be found one and the same thing , and one and the same cardinal named , they shall be counted but for one ; but if there be a diversity of suffrages , neither is worth any thing , yet shall not there be any defect in the scrutiny upon thar score . moreover , the publication being compleated , they set down in two or three sheets of paper the names of all the cardinals who have had voices , with the number of the voices ; to the end , that when there is any occasion , they should not be oblig'd to make any new enumeration of the suffrages , which the cardinals might have mark'd and cross'd on the side of their names upon the lines of the printed sheet , of which we spoke before . the two last acts of the scrutiny , which are the filing and laying aside of the billets , are performed by the junior of the scrutators , who , after he hath with a loud voice publish'd the name of the cardinal who hath the suffrage by a billet , files the said billet with a needle provided for that purpose , at the place where the word eligo is written . and after he hath so filed all the billets immediately after his publishing them , he tyes a knot on the thing , and then lays them aside , either on some part of the altar , or on the desk of the scrutators , or in an empty chalice . the third and last principal action perform'd at the election of a pope , by way of scrutiny is , in the ceremonial called the post-scrutiny ; which , if the election be compleated by the scrutiny , ( which very seldom happens by reason of the different factions in the conclave ) comprehends three acts or circumstances only , to wit , the numbring of the billets , taking a review of the suffrages , and burning the said billets . bnt if the pope be not chosen by the scrutiny , there are seven remarkable circumstances in the post-scrutiny ; to wit , the access , the opening of the seals and signs , the remarks made thereof upon the printed sheet , the examination or confrontation of suffrages , the review of the billets , and the destroying of them by fire . the access therefore , which is the first act or circumstance of the post-scrutiny , immediately follows the deposition or laying aside of the billets of the scrutiny in some part of the altar or elsewhere , when the election is not compleated by the scrutiny ; otherwise , if the pope were once chosen , there would be no place for the way of access , inasmuch as it were of no advantage , as being introduc'd to supply the defect of the scrutiny , whereby , as hath been observ'd , we seldom find the election compleated , by reason of the diversity of the factions . there are observed in the access the same things as in the scrutiny , as well in reference to the manner of filling the billets , folding them , sealing them , carrying them to the altar , and putting of them into the chalice , as to that of numbring them , and making publicatiou of them , noting the suffrages , filing and depositing the said billets aside , save only that there is an observance of these circumstances following . the first is , that the cardinals go and take their billets in the basin of the billets prepar'd for the access , which stands upon the altar , as does that of the billets for the scrutiny . the second is , that if a cardinal be unwilling to give his voice to any one , ( which he is at liberty to do ) he must remember , in the midst of the billet , in stead of the cardinal's name , to whom he should have given his suffrage , to write down the word ( nemini ) to no body . now it is to be observ'd , that the billet of access is to be fill'd with the same signes ; and seal'd with the same seals , and as the billet of the scrutiny , upon pain of nullity of the suffrage of access . the third is , that one cannot make access , ( that is , give his voice a second time ) to the person of a cardinal , who had not had at the least one voice by the scrutiny ; nor yet to the same person to whom he had given his voice by the scrutiny . the fourth is , that though a cardinal is not permitted to nominate several persons in the access , as he is not permitted to choose divers by the scrutiny , upon pain of nullity of the suffrage as well of the access as the scrutiny ; yet is it lawful for him , to give his voice by access to one of many who had been nam'd in the scrutiny , though with nullity of suffrage , provided he had elsewhere procured of some other a suffrage , which was not null . the fifth is , that there is no taking of the oath anew in the access , in regard it had been done before , for the scrutiny and access . the sixth and last circumstance is , that the infirmaries are oblig'd to carry to the sick cardinals , with the billets of access , one of the sheets upon which they had marked the number of the voices which every cardinal had in the scrutiny , publickly and duly verify'd . the second , third , and fourth acts of the post-scrutiny are , the opening of the seals and signs of the billets of access , the marking of it upon the sheet , and the examination or confrontation of the suffrages , which are practised only when the election is compleated by the scrutiny and access , and thus put in execution . the chief scrutator takes the billets of access filed , as they were upon the publication of them , and opens only those which contain voices in favour of the elect , in the lower part of them which comprehends the signes ; then after he hath exactly consider'd the seals and the said signes , he presents the said billets as they are filed to the second scrutator , who also takes a view of them , and then delivers them to the third , who having made the same observation thereof , does , with a loud and intelligible voice , make publication of the seals and signes of the said billets . that done , he marks down the seals and signes on the left side of a sheet of paper ; where these words are imprinted , and under the said words ( sigilla et signa accessuum , that is to say , the seals and signes of the accesses ) which remark may also be made by all the cardinals , if they think fit so to do , upon the like sheets which they have lying before them , upon their desks . this done , the said chief scrutator takes the billets of the scrutiny from the place where they had been deposited , in order to the making of an examination or confrontation of the suffrages which they contain , with those which are brought in by the billets of access . and beginning the examination at one of the ends of the string , on which the billets are filed , he with the two other scrutators , views the seal of the first billet of the scrutiny , and then seeks it out in the sheet , upon which the seals and signes of the billets of access were marked . if he find it not there , leaving that first billet of the scrutiny , he proceeds to the examination of the second , taking a view again with the other scrutators of the seal , and then seeks it upon the same sheet , where not finding any thing like it , he quits the said billet , to pass on to the examination of the third , and so of all the other billets , till he meet with the seal of some one of the billets of the scrutiny , mark'd on the said sheet . but having found it , he opens the said billet at the lower part where the signes are written , to see whether the signes of the said billet are answerable to the signes marked upon the said sheet : which if they are not , he there quits the billet , and proceeds to the examination of the next , and if he find the signes to be answerable and correspondent to those of the access , marked upon the said sheet , he shews them to the second and third scrutators , who all together , after they have maturely considered the correspondence there is between the seals and signs of the billets of the scrutiny and access , observe whether in both the billets there be a nomination of one and the same cardinal , or of divers cardinals ; for if the same cardinal be named in both the billets , the suffrage of the access is null , in regard that ( as hath been already observ'd ) it is not lawful for any one to give his voice in both the scrutiny and access to one and the same person . but if there be a nomination of different persons , the suffrage of the access being good , then the third scrutator does with a loud and intelligible voice publish the seal , the signes , and the name of the person elected by the billet of the scrutiny , and makes a mark thereof upon his sheet under those imprinted words ( sigilla et signa scrutinii respondentia accessibus , that is to say , the seals and signes of the scrutiny answerable to those of the accesses ) opposite , and on the side of the seals and signes of the billet of access , whereto they are answerable , which note and mark all the cardinals may also make upon their sheets . but these acts , which are more hard to be explicated , then to be put in execution , are always best understood by figures thereof . a figure of the printed sheet upon which they note and mark the seals and signes of the access and scrutiny , which are answerable one to the other . seals and signs of the accesses . seals and signes of the scrutiny answerable to those of the access . cardinals named in the scrutiny . acd 50 deus . brf 35 bonitas roi 44 beatitudo . nsp 26 gl●ria . brf 35 bonitas . rgi 44 beatitudo card carpegna . card s. clement . note that the letters of the alphabet represent the seal of the billets . if it happen , in this examination and confrontation of the suffrages , that two , three , or some greater number of the billets of the scrutiny , be found to have the same seals and signes with some billet of the access , as it may come to pass , if the person who is chosen be named in one of the said billets of the scrutiny , and another cardinal be named in another of the said billets , then the scrutator ( his colleagues observing what he does ) is to open the billet of the said scrutiny , wherin the said elected person is named , together with that of the access , at the very place where the name of the elector is set down , to the end a judgement may be made , according to the gregorian constitution , of the validity or invalidity of the access . for if it be discover'd , that one and the same cardinal hath given his voice to the elected in the billet of the surutiny , and by that of the access there will be an invalidity in the suffrage of access , as hath been observed before . but as to the billet of the scrutiny , wherein he who is elected is not named , it shall not be opened , and the scrutators shall proceed to the examination and confrontation of the other suffrages . the fifth act of the post-scrutiny is , the enumeration of the suffrages either of the scrutiny alone , or of the scrutiny and access together , which is made by the scrutators , whether the election ensue thereupon or not ; if it do not ensue , it is done , to the end it may be known in that very scrutiny , or in the scrutiny and access together , whether the pope be not chosen ; and if the election do ensue , that it may appear , whether the pope be canonically chosen or not . now the enumeration of the suffrages is perform'd in this mann●r . the scrutators reduce into one summe all the suffrages which they have obtain'd , who were named either in the scrutiny alone , or in the scrutiny and access jointly ; and if they siad , that not any one of the persons named , hath got two thirds of the suffrages of the cardinals , there is no election at that time . but if , on the contrary , they discover that any one of the said nominated persons hath got just the two thirds and no more of the suffrages , they , in that case , open the billet of him who is chosen , at the part where his name stands ; which is the upper part of the billet , to see whether he hath given himself his own suffrage , which if he hath , the election is null'd , according to the gregorian constitution , by reason of the want of one suffrage , it being not in his power to give himself his own upon pain of invalidity ; but if he hath given it to another , and that he have two thirds of the suffrages the election is compleated . moreover , if it should happen , that several persons had obtain'd the two thirds of the suffrages , or possibly some number exceeding the two thirds ; in such case , through the parity and concurrence of the suffrages , the election would be null ; but , if there be an inequality , he who surpasses the other in number , though it were but by one voice , is accounted and acknowledg'd for a true and canonically elected pope . the fixth act of the post-scrutiny is the review which is made , whether there be any election or not , by the commissaries , drawn out by lot , to the number of three cardinals , whom the bulls call recognitors , who take cognizance of , and look over , as well the billets of the scrutiny and access , as the notes and marks of the suffrages made by the scrutators , to verifie and confirm what they have done , if they have acquitted themselves of their functions , with all the sincerity and fidelity whereto they were oblig'd . the said commissaries are drawn by lot after the same manner , as the scrutators and infirmaries had been ; but still , after the compleating of the scrutiny , if the election be made thereby ; if not , after the scrutiny and access , as soon as the scrutators have finished the numbring of the suffrages . the seventh and last act of the post-scrutiny consists in the burning of all the billets , which belongs to the function of the scrutators , who cast them into the fire in the presence of the whole colledge , immediately after the review made by the said commissionated recognitors , whether there have been any election , or not . all the things before-mentioned ought to be observ'd twice every day ; in the morning , after mass ; and in the evening after the hymn of the holy ghost ; and this , till such time as the church is provided of a head and lawful pastor , which custom hath been introduc'd , to prevent the long continuance of conclaves . those persons who pretend to make assured judgments of elections , are many times mistaken in their conjectures , not only upon account of the diversity and clashing of interests , but also by reason of the ordinary alterations hapning in the colledge of cardinals , by frequent promotions , which strangely invert the course of all proceedings in the conclave , and destroys all the former measure which might have been taken of an election . let not therefore any be over-positive as to what they assert , in a matter so uncertain , and which finds so much exercise for the wits of the citizens of rome , whom the air of the countrey ordinarily entertains in a certain languishment , whence it comes that they spend the best part of their time in speculative discourse , and political divinations . they for the most part ground their reasonings on certain considerations of the time , when the vacancy of the see happens , and then from the quiet or disturb'd posture of affairs , draw their consequences in favour of a person to be exalted into the pontifical chair in one season rather then another , according to the difference of the humours , and the vigour and force of the person . some again reflecting on the length of the precedent papacies , do commonly make their conclusions in favour of those cardinals who are well advanc'd in years . for the sacred colledge being wearied out with a long-continu'd subjection to the government of the same person , takes resolutions many times to exercise a right which makes them considerable every where , and causes them to be courted by crowns and scepters , and the princes , in that case pitching their choice upon ancient cardinals . on the other side again , when it happens that , by reason of the great age of popes , the see comes to be too frequently vacant , they endeavour to exalt into the pontifical chair a person , who likely to reign some years , may re-establish and settle the affairs of the church , which might have receiv'd some prejudice by the frequency of mutations , and so prevent the troubles it would be to the cardinals to remove themselves from the remote parts of europe , once every year or two , to be shut up in the conclave . moreover , as to the persons whose pretensions are considerable to the pontifical chair , there is a consideration had of their engagement to the kingdoms and provinces , where they had their birth or extraction . whence it is affirmed by some , that the chiefest persons among the italians , nor the tramontanes , ought not to be advanc'd to the papacy , not only in order to the avoiding of partialities , but also by reason of the possession , or rather usurpation , which the italians , from the time of hadrian vi. are chargeable with , in having not rais'd to the papal dignity , but such as have been of their own countrey , there having been from his time eighteen or nineteen popes of the several provinces of italy , who have successively fill'd the chair of st. peter . it is by some insisted on further , that , to be a subject fit for this elevation , he have not many relations and friends , that he may make the greater communications of his grandeur , and that his benefits being not wholly exhausted upon his own relations , he may exercise greater liberalities towards many others . there are yet some among the romans guilty of a superstition , which argues them not fully clear'd from the augural humour of their ancestors . these discover such an excess of weakness , as , by a kind of onomancy , to search out of the names of the cardinals some conjectures of their elevation ; and this out of a persuasion , that a subject , who shall not have in the name of his house the letter r. when the deceas'd pope had not the said letter in the name of his house , will hardly be chosen pope ; and on the other side , that if the said deceas'd pope had the said letter in the name of his house , the cardinal who shall in like manner have it in his , can hardly be advanc'd to the papacy ; by reason of an alternate succession of the names of families , having , and not having the said letter r. which hath been observ'd to have happen'd without interruption during about fourteen exaltations to the papal chair . there are yet others so weak , as not to content themselves with this kind of superstition , but they must go and pick matter of divination , out of the brazen gates of st. peter's church , which they consult as oracles , by the over-curious re-searches they make , amongst the diversity of figures , whereof they are full , for the armes of those cardinals who aspire to the papacy . and so their presages are in his favour , whose chance it is to have his armes graven in some part thereof , and this upon no other account then that those of the last deceas'd popes have been found there , which the people immediately after their election have made the more remarkable by their polishing and clensing . true it is , that there are many of the colledge of cardinals , whose armes may partly be found amongst the numerous multitude of figures in the said gates , but without any design of the artist by whom they were cast . but quitting these vain superstitions , we affirm further , that how strong and considerable soever their reasons may be for the judgment they make of an election , it happens that they are for the most part mistaken . this disappointment proceeds from the changes hapning in the conclaves , where parties and factions are made , for the exclusion or inclusion of subjects , according to the variety of humours , affections and engagements . and as it is the design of every faction to oppose the elevation of a subject contrary thereto , so is it the business of it to be assur'd of a third part of the voices in order to the framing of exclusions , wherein it is no hard matter to have their desire , by reason there is not any cardinal that aspires to the papacy , and hath the qualifications before requir'd , but will readily joyn with all those who would exclude a subject , who might contest with him for the dignity . and thence it for the most part comes to pass , that they who are thought to stand fairest for the chair , are always most easily excluded . the factions most ordinarily fram'd in the conclaves , are commonly reducible to two or three principal ones , all the rest joyning with the former , according to the different interests which they may have in the inclusion or exclusion of the subjects proposed . the nephews of the deceas'd popes are the ordinary heads of factions , upon whom the creatures of their uncles have a certain dependence , and concur with them for the exaltation of those whom they are inclin'd to , and the exclusion of all others , not creatures of their deceas'd uncles , especially when by reason of their long sitting in the chair , they had the opportunity to make a great number of promotions . and this is done , to avoid the reproach of not having made choice of creatures worthy to be advanc'd to so high a dignity , and of being expos'd to the inquisitions and inspections which a pope , not being of their creatures , might make into their administration of affairs . the cardinals protectors of crowns are also heads of factions , to prevent the elevation of a subject , whom they suspect , or to promote to the papacy some cardinal well-affected to their interests . those sovereigns whose intentions incline most to justice and moderation , wish only a common father ; and yet all many times under that pretence prosecute their own particular advantages . there are also brigues and factions upon a national account , as that of the roman for instance , so as not to consent to the election of any one to be pope , unless he be a roman . thus it happen'd at the conclave upon the death of pope urban viii . at which the lately deceas'd innocent x. a roman born was chosen . nay , there are some factions which carry on their designes with that subtilty and independency on the other factions , that they make no publick profession of their declaring themselves for any in particular ; and to follow their own inspirations for the advancement of such as are propos'd to the papacy ; and so vote for those whom they in their consciences think worthy of that dignity . these are easily induc'd to joyn with any of the others , either for the exclusion of those whom they think unworthy of that elevation , or to give their suffrages with those whom they think ably qualify'd to maintain with reputation the dignity of head of the catholick church . this diversity of factions when they are of equal strength , so as the voices are equally parted , is ordinarily the cause of the long continuance of conclaves . for being equally in a capacity of excluding the subjects propos'd of either side , and each of them promoting the elevation of those whom they are inclin'd to , the heads of the said factions make it their only business to hinder the cardinals of their party , of whose voices they think themselves assur'd from ever giving their said voices in the scrutiny , to any of the subjects propos'd whom they would exclude . and the design in this is , that the said propos'd subjects wanting still above a third part of the suffrages cannot be chosen popes against their consent , as it might happen by the access , if any of the said cardinals of the contrary party had given them their voices in the scrutiny . and hence it comes , that there are very few instances of any pope chosen by the way of the scrutiny alone . but whereas none of the said head-factions can be fully assur'd of the voice of a cardinal , by reason of the secret of the scrutiny , which hinders the discovery of those who may change parties , and that whatever engagement any cardinal may have made to the said head factions , either by word , oath , promise , or upon the score of gratitude , affection , or otherwise : he is dispenc'd from it by the late bulls of gregory xv. and urban viii . besides the precautions there are , that he be not suspected of having been wanting to his engagement , whereof he may avoid the blame and reproach by means of the secret of the scrutiny , it happens many times ; that the said leading factions are mistaken in the computation of their suffrages , and they want voices , yet cannot discover whence that want proceeds and when they think themselves the most assur'd of an exclusion , one or two of their own partizans having chang'd their humour or inclination , oither upon some disgust receiv'd , or greater hopes of establishment elsewhere , or other private considerations , and transferring their suffrages to another party , some other is chosen pope , who 't was imagin'd would never have attain'd that dignity . and whereas many among them , to prevent the elevation of such as they suspect , bestow their suffrages , as it were , at random on some other cardinals , whom they presume not fit to be advanc'd to the pontifical chair , it happens sometimes that some one is chosen pope , who had not been thought of before ; so that what may be most securely affirm'd of these matters is , that we cannot make any certain judgment of elections ; and that , through ways wholly opposite to those which humane policy had contriv'd , a more transcendent wisdom presiding over these great dispensations , disposes of them quite otherwise , and turns and winds the spirits of those concern'd therein correspondently to those designes which it hath from all eternity over the conduct of the church . assoon as any one is chosen pope , the two principal deacon-cardinals conduct him from the place where they find him behind the altar , where they vest him with the black cassock , the roquet , the camail , and the red or white calotte or cap , according to the season , and put on his slippers or pantofles with the gilt cross on them ; they then bring him before the altar , and set him in a chair , where all the cardinals come to adore him , that is to say , kiss his feet , hands and cheek . thence he is carried to st. peter's church , where he is seated on the high altar , and the cardinals render him again the same homage : then the canons of the said church come up to kiss his feet : and then he is carried to the ordinary apartment of the popes , and the cardinals retire to their palaces . the first thing that is broken about the conclave is that part of the walls which shuts up the lodg of the benediction over the portal of the church ; there the principal deacon-cardinal goes and places the cross , and cries out to the people vivat n. who is made pope , and hath assum'd the name of n. some days after the pope is crown'd in st. peter's church . to that end , the cardinals , the embassadors of princes , and the principal lords about the court wait on him at his apartment , whence they accompany him to the church , and even into the sacristy , whether he is carried in a chair . there he is clad in his pontifical habit , and at his coming out thence , he ascends a portable theatre , upon which stands his pontifical chair , and is so carried up to the altar , cross the church , then ordinarily full of people assembled to see that ceremony . nay , in some parts of the church , there are scaffolds set up for the principal lords and ladies of eminent quality , who are desirous to be spectators of that celebrious action . he is preceded by the cardinals and embassadors , while all the people kneeling echo out their acclamations of long live pope n. just at his coming out of the sacristy , and his going up the said theatre , is performed the ceremony of setting fire to flax fastned at the end of a stick , and held up as high as his person , with these words , sancte pater , sic transit gloria mundi ; holy father , thus does the glory of the world pass away , as an advertisement to him , that he suffer not his heart to be surpriz'd with vanity , at that elevation , while he sees all the people under his feet . in the midst of the church the same ceremony is reiterated , and is again performed a third time , when he is come up to the altar . being come down from the theatre , he says a pontifical mass , whereat the most eminent amongst the embassadors or princes , who had accompany'd him , minister to him at the washing and presenting the towel . at which mass there are some extraordinary prayers said , as we find them in the ceremonial . the mass ended , he is carried to the lodge of benediction , where in the presence of all the people then assembled , in the spacious place of s. peters , the chief deacon-cardinal takes off his mitre , and sets on his head the three crowns , or triple-crown , telling him , that he is to consider himself from thenceforward as the common father of kings and princes , for the maintenance of peace amongst them . that done , he gives the benediction , and is afterwards carried back to his apartment . there is yet another thing he is to do after his coronation , which is to go and take possession of his bishoprick , which is st. john's of lateran . to do that , he appoints what day he thinks fit . the streets through which he is to pass are hung with tapistry , and there are some triumphal arches erected , representing the most remarkable actions of his holiness's life . and this is the order of the cavalcade and procession . four light horsemen of the guard go first to clear the way , then come the carriers of the valises and mails belonging to the cardinals , then the judges and fiscalls of the covernour of rome , the gentlemen of the retinue of the cardinals ; then all the princes and roman lords , who ordinarily go confusedly , to avoid contesting about precedence , and have belonging to them a great number of pages and halberdiers sumptuously cloath'd . then follow the ordinary gentlemen of the pope's house in scarlet robes . then the white gennets presented every year by the king of spain , by way of homage for the kingdoms of naples and sicily , are led one after another , having their harness of crimson-velvet , with fringes of gold , and bosses of silver ; then come the white mules , and three litters , one of scarlet , and the others of crimson-velvet both within and without , and gold fringes . then the pope's trumpeters ; his taylor carrying his valise ; and the ten officers of the palace ; the consistorial advocates in garments of a violet-colour , furr'd with ermine about the neck : all the honorary camerarii in violet cassocks and scarlet cloaks , four of whom carry at the end of a staffe , every one of them , a hat of the pope of crimson velvet , with fringes of gold . then follow several roman gentlemen , who have been conservators ( that is to say , consuls ) in their garments and caps of black velvet , and after them the apostolical prelates in black garments . the auditors of the rota in their ordinary habit , the master of the sacred palace , who is always a jacobin-frier , the embassador of bologna and ferrara , the captains of the several quarters of rome , richly clad , and the principal of them , whom they call their prior , is in a garment of cloth of gold , marching between the two chancellors of the roman people ; then the three conservators of rome in vests of cloth of gold , and caps of black velvet , and their horse-cloathes with fringes of gold ; on their left hand do ordinarily march the chiefs of the houses of the ursini's and the col●●●…i's , or one of them , when they cannot agree about precedence ; then come the embassadors , and after them the cross-bearer , and with the cross of his holiness , the four masters of the ceremonies , with red cassocks and violet cloaks ; fourscore estaffiers of the pope's , for he is oblig'd at his coming to the papacy to take all the most ancient standers among the estaffiers of the cardinals and embassadors of crowns , whom they call palfreniers , to distinguish them from the estaffiers of persons of a lower rank , ( as in france , they who are called lacqueys , when related to persons of of ordinary quality , are named valets de pied , when they belong to royal persons and princes : ) then follows the governour of rome , and after him the pope's pages , when he has any , follow afoot , and bare-headed . next them immediately is conducted the pope himself in a close litter , having on each side of him the two grand overseers of the high-ways , clad in black , on horseback , and bare-headed , and all those who march between the pope's cross and his holiness , what condition or quality soever they be of , are oblig'd to be uncover'd . after his holiness follow all the cardinals mounted on their mules , the patriarchs , arch-bishops , bishops and other prelates , two and two , every one according to their quality : and the whole pomp is brought up and clos'd by the two companies of the light horsemen of his holiness's guard , armed cap-a-pied . being come to st. john of lateran's , the pope puts off his ordinary habit , and puts on the mitre and hood , and takes up his seat in a throne which is prepar'd for him in the entrance of the church , where the canons of it come and kiss his feet . then he goes to the church-door , which he finds shut ; they give him the key to open it ; te deum is sung , after which the pope ascends into the place of benediction , whence he gives it to all the people assembled below . as all the pope's tribunals cease during the vacancy of the see , so they begin not their functions again till after the pope's coronation , upon which all affairs reassume their ordinary course . finis . a catalogue of the names ; surnames and dignities of the cardinals at the elections of clement ix . may 1667. names and dignities . countrys . crtations cardinals bishops .     1. francis bishop of ostium , d●a● , or the must ancient cardinal of the sacred colledge , cardinal barberin vice-chancellor of the roman church and summiste , arch-priest of the church of st. peter . aflorentine . urban viii . oct. 2. 1623. 2. martio bishop of porto cardinal ginetti , vicar to his h●liness . of velitra urb. viij . aug. 30. 1627. 3. anthony barberin b. of palestrina cardinal antonio , chamberlain of the roman church , pref●ct of the signature of fa●our and briefs , arch-priest of st. mary major . a roman . urb. viij . aug. 30. 1627. 4. iohn baptist b. of frascati , cardinal palotta . dela marche d' ancona . urban viij . no. 29. 1629. 5. francis maria b. of sabina , cardinal brancaccio , b. of viterbo . a neapolitane . urb. viij . no. 28. 1663. 6. ulderic b. of albano , cardinal carpegna . of urbin urb. viij . no. 28. 1633. cardinal priests     7. ernest adelbert of the title of s. praxeda , chiefest of the priests , cardinal of h●rrach , archbishop of prague . a germane . urb. viij . jan 19. 1626. 8. stephen of the title of s. laurence in lucina , cardinal durazzo . a genoese . urb. viij . no. 23. 1633. 9. julius of the title of s prisca , cardinal gabrielli bishop of ascoli . a roman urb. viij . dec. 16. 1641. 10. virg●nio , of the title of s. mary of the angels , cardinal u●fino . a roman urb. viij . dec. 16. 1641. 11. caesar of the title of the four crowns . cardinal faceh netti , b. ●f spoletum . a bolonian . urb. 8. july 13. 1643. 12. hierome of the title of the holy trinity in monte pencio , cardinal grimaldi arch-b . of aix . a genoese . urb. viij . july 13. 1643. 13. charles of the title of s. silvester in capite card. rosetti , b. of faenza . of ferrara urb. viij . july 13. 1643. 14. nicholas , of the title of st. marytrans tiberim , card. ludovisio grand penitentiary . a bolonian innoc. x. mar. 6. 1645. 15. alderan , of the title of s. pudentiana , card. cybo , b. axinus , or axinas . of masle innoc. x. mar. 6. 1645. 16. frederic , of the title of s. peter ad vincula , card. sfortia . a romane innoc. x. mar. 6. 1645. 17. benedict , of the title of s. onuphrius , card. odescalchi . of come . innoc. x. mar. 6. 1645. 18. laurence , of the title of ss . quiricia and julitta , card. raggi . a genoese . innoc. x. oct. 7. 1647. 19. john-francis-paul , de gondy , of the title of st. mary super minervam , card. de retz . a frenchman . innoc. x. feb. 19. 1652. 20. louis of the title of s. alexis , card. homodei . a milaness . inn. x. feb. 19. 1652. 21. peter , of the title of s. mark , card. otthobono . a venetian inn. x. feb. 19. 1652. 22. laurence of th● title of s. chrysogon , cardin●l imperiale . a genoese . innoc. x. febr. 19. 1652. 23. gilbert , of th● title of ss john and paul , cardi●al borromeo . a milaness . innoe . x. febr. 19. 1652. 24. marcel , of the title of s stephen in monte celio card. sainte croix b. of tivoli . a romane . innoc. x. febr. 19. 1652. 25 jo. baptist , of the title of s. marcel , cardinal spada . of lucca . innoc. x. mar. 2. 1654. 26. francis , of the title of s. mary in via , cardinal albici . a florentine . innoc. x. mar. 2. 1654. 27. octavius , of the title of s. cecily , card. aquaviva . a neapolitan . innoc. x. mar. 2. 1654. 28. flavius , of the title of s. mary del populo , card. ghisi , arch-priest of the church of s. john lateran , library-keeper of the roman church , and legat of avignon , prefect of the signature of justice . of sienna alex. vij . apr. 9. 1657. 29. scipio , of the title of s. sabina , card ilcio . of sienna . al. vij . ap. 9. 1657. 30. hierom , of the title of s agnes , card. farneze . a romane . al. vij . ap. 9. 1657. 31. julius , of the title of s. sixtus , card. rospigliosi . of pistoya . al. vij . ap. 9. 1657. 32. hierom of the title of s. hierom of the illyrians , card. bonvisi b. of lucc . of lucca . alex. vii . apr. 9. 1657. 33. anthony , of the title of s. augustine , card. bichi b. of osimo . of sienna . alex. vii . apr. 9. 1657. 34. sforza , of the society of jesus , of the title of s. saviours in lauro , cardinal palavicini . a roman . alex. vii . apr. 9. 1657. 35. volumnio , of the title of s. martin , in montibus , card. bandinelli . of sienna . alex. vii . apr. 9. 1658. 36. peter , of the title of s. calixtus , card. vidoni b. of lodi . of cremona . alex. vii . apr. 5. 1660. 37. gregory , of the title of s. thomas in parione , card. barbarigo b. of pavia . a venetian alex. vii . apr. 5. 1660. 38. paschal , of the title of s. balbina , card of aragon , arch-bishop of toledo : a spaniard alex. vii . apr. 5. 1660. 39. hierom , of the title of ss . peter and marcellin , card. boncompagno , arch-bishop of bolonian a bolonia . alex. vii . jan. 14. 1664. 40. alphonsus , of the title of the holy cross in jerusalem , card. litta arch-bishop of milan . a milaness . alex. vii . jan. 14. 1664. al. vii . jan. 41. nerio , of the title of ss . a florentine . 14. 1664. nereus and aquileius , card. corsino , legat of ferrara .     42. charles , of the title of s. anastafia , card. bonelli . a roman . alex. vii . jan. 14. 1664. 43. caelio , of the title of s. peter in monte aureo , card. piccolomini . of sienna . alex. vii . jan. 14. 1664. 44. charles , of the title of s. susan , card. caraffa , legat of bolonia . a neapoitane . alex. vii . jan. 14. 1664. 45. palutio palutio albertonio , of the title of the church of the 12 apostles , card. palutio , b. of montefiascone . a romane . alex. vii . jan. 14. 1664. 46. caesar , of the title of s. john ad portam latinam , card. rasponi legat of urbin . of ravenna . alex. vii . jan. 14. 1664. 47. john nicholas , of the title of s. mary trans pontem , card. de comitibus b of ancona . a roman . alex. vii . jan. 14. 1664. 48. james , of the title of s. mary of peace , card. nini . of sienna . alex. vii . jan. 14. 1664. 49. charles , of the title of — card. roberti . a roman . al. vii . feb. 15. 1666. 50. julius , of the title of — card. spinola . a genoese . al. vii . fe. 15. 1666. 51. vitalian , of the title of — card. visconti . a milanes● . al. vii . fe. 15. 1666. 55. innico , of the title of — card. caracciola , arch b. of naples . a neapolitane . alex. vii . feb. 19. 1666. 53. john , of the title of — card. delphini , patriarch of aquileia . avenetian alex. vii . mar. 7. 1667. 54. guibald , of the title of — card. de thun , arch-b . of salsbourg . cardinal deacons . a german alex. vii . mar. 7. 1667. 55. raynald , of the title of st. nicholas in carcere tulliano , principal deacon , card. d' est . a modenese . urban viii . dec. 16. 1641. 56. john stephen , of the title of s. agatha , card. donghi , b. of ferrara . a genoese . urban viii . july . 13. 1643. 57. paulus emilius , of the title of s. mary in cosmedin , card , rondanini b. of assisium . a roman . urban viii . jul. 16. 1643. 58. francis , of the title of s. mary in via lata , card. maldachini . of viterbo innoc. x. oct. 7. 1647. 59. frederic , of the title of s. caesarius , card. of affia . a german . innoc. x. febr. 19. 1652. 60. charles barberin , of the title of s. angelo , in foro piscium , card. carlo . a roman . innoc. x. jun. 13. 1653. 61. charles , of the title of s. eustace , card. pio. of ferrara . in. x. mar. 2. 1654. 62. charles , of the title of of orvieto in. x. ma. 2. 1654. s. pancrace , card. gualtieri , arch-b . of ferme .     63. decio , of the title of s. adrian , card. azzolini . of ferme . innoc. x , mar. 2 , 1654. 64. odoard , of the title of ss . cosmus and damianus , card. vecchiarelli , b. of reate . of reate . alex. vii . apr. 9. 1658. 65. james of the title of s. mary in aquino , card. franconi . a genoese . alex. vii . ap. 9. 1658. 66. francis maria , of the title of ss . vitus & modostus , card. mancini . a. roman . alex. vii . apr. 5. 1660 67. angelus , of the title of s. george , card. celsi . a. roman . al. vii . ja. 14. 1664. 68. paul , of the title of s. mary de scala , card. sabelli perretti , legat of romaniola . a. roman . al. vii . ja. 14. 1664. 69. lewis — card. of vendosme . a frenchman . alex. vii . mar. 7. 1667. 70. lewis — card. of moncada . a sicilian . alex. vii . mar. 7. 1667. in all lxx . whereof urban viii . created vi. bishops , vii . priests , and iii. deacons . innocent x. created xiv priests and vi. deacons . and alexander vii . created xxvii . priests , and vii . deacons . finis . political and military observations a new collection / by j.d. of kidwelly. davies, john, 1625-1693. 1679 approx. 129 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 81 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a37231 wing d396 estc r16079 12952207 ocm 12952207 95949 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a37231) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 95949) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 735:8) political and military observations a new collection / by j.d. of kidwelly. davies, john, 1625-1693. 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ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng political science -early works to 1800. military art and science -early works to 1800. 2005-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-07 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2005-07 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion political and military observations . a new collection . by j. d. of kidwelly . london . printed for h. cox next castle-yard in holborne : and h. bonwick in st. pauls church-yard , 1679. political , and military observations . i. it is the common humour of mankind , principally to fear the danger which is next at hand , and to be more carefully concern'd for things present , than is requisite ; and on the contrary , to make less account than they ought of those things which are to come , and at a distance ; and this out of a certain presumption , that time and the contingency of humane accidents may afford some remedy for the latter . ii. it happens many times that the wisdom which is over-curious , and too too considerative , may be blame-worthy ; inasmuch as the affairs of the world are subject to so many and so great a diversity of occurrences and disappointments , that that seldom happens , which wise men imagined would come to pass . that person therefore who quits the present good , out of a fear of the future danger , ( it being presuppos'd that the danger is not inevitable and too near at hand ) finds , to his sorrow , that he has let slip the occasion which presented it self to him of gaining honour or advantage , meerly out of a fear of the danger , which is afterwards found to have been vain . iii. when the prudent man finds himself induc'd to give way to some just cause of discontent ( from what occasion soever it may proceed ) he ought to moderate it , what lies in his power , with a mature judgment ; out of this motive , that he is not so much to mind his own private interest , as that of the publick ; since it is not unlikely , but that his discontent may be prejudicial to the welfare of the state. iv. a great power , and that united in one person , is more to be dreaded than that which is divided amongst several parties ; which latter , as it has a diversity of motives , so has it also a diversity and discordancy of operations , and those promoting a diversity of designes . v. there is this observable in republicks , that they are not govern'd according to the inclinations of a single person , but by the joint deliberations and consent of many ; and thence it comes , that commonly they are thought to carry on their consultations with more moderation and respect . vi. such as the prince is in point of morality , such is the government of affairs . if the prince himself be a person of no great esteem , those are in a condition tending to ruine ; is he be a person of conduct , and vertuous , they flourish . vii . new conquests , if they be not not well regulated , nor prudently governed , do rather burthen the person who has made them , than render him more potent and considerable . for it is not to be expected that he should be the occasion of any good or happiness to a government , which he hath acquir'd by indirect means . viii . aswe find in the ordering of mans body , that it is not sufficient the head be free from all indisposition , but it is withal requisite that the other members exercise their several functions : so neither is it sufficient in the government of a state , that the prince himself be unchargeable with any default in the management of affairs , if there be not a correspondency of diligence and vertuous action in his officers . ix . the prince and the republick are seriously to consider , what difference there is between being the first aggressors in a war against another , and expecting the other to be the first beginner thereof ; between treating about the dividing of another state , and expecting till their own be in danger thereof : and lastly , whether it be better to have one only assistant , or to engage alone against several joint adversaries ; and after such consideration made to deliberate about what is likely to prove most conducive to their particular interest . x. it is a thing of singular prudence and great repute in a great prince , when he so demeans himself in his affairs , as that they who are inferiour to him , have no occasion to suspect , that he does any thing out of dissimulation , or by way of personation , or out of any other design that is not good and justifiable . xi . when princes enter into leagues , in order to the reducing of interests to a certain equality , there easily arise disgusts and jealousies among them ; whence it often happens , that enterprises begun with a great opinion of success , meet with many difficulties , and in fine come to nothing . xii . for a man to be a king may sometimes be the effect of success ; but to exercise that sacred and royal function , which proposes to it self for its last end , the good and welfare of his people , depends wholly on the person himself , and the vertue which ought to be attendant on him . xiii . in difficult and intricate deliberations , the prince ought to approve those for easie and desirable which are necessary , or at least those which in comparison of others , seem to imply less difficulty , and less danger . xiv . the greater and more powerful a king is , the more honourable it is for him to employ his grandeur in the maintenance and administration of justice , and the publick faith ; there being not any thing more unbecoming a prince or republick , than to be defective in the observance of publick obligations . xv. in things that are doubtful , the prince ought to continue in suspence , and to reserve to himself , as much as lyes in his power , the means of taking and fixing upon that resolution , which he shall find by the general course of affairs likely to prove most beneficial and expedient . xvi . the prudential captain is he , who to obtain a victory with greater security , would rather do it with great protraction of time , much hardship endur'd , and cautious adventuring forward , with sufficient provision for all accidents , than to overcome with ease and expedition , meerly to acquire glory to himself by puting all to an immediate hazard . xvii . it commonly happens through the corrupt judgment of mankind , that prodigality is more recommended in a king , though in some measure attended with rapine , than frugality , though accompani'd by an abstinence from encroaching upon that which is anothers . xviii . all the things , for which men are so industrious and concern'd in this world , are reducible to two points , to wit , profit and honour ; under that of profit is comprehended whatever concerns the body , under that of honour , whatever concerns the mind . xix . the prince ought to be grave , by a regular stayedness of demeanour , governing himself with moderation in all his affairs , performing the promises he hath made , and standing more in fear of doing that which is evil , than that any ill should be done to him ; and all this with a continual remembrance , that he being but a man , has receiv'd from god a power almost divine ; but to this end , that he might be a furtherer and advancer of things just , and of good report , in his government . xx. the citizen who begins to concern himself in the management of the publick affairs , ought to live according to the usual course of the other citizens , and accommodate himself to their humour , and with all the dexterity and prudence he can , promote those things , wherewith the populace are more satisfy'd , and by which they are ordinarily kept in a good humour . by these compliances he will come into repute and credit , and acquire authority . xxi . they who are entrusted with the management of the affairs of a free state , ought to be always mindful of two precepts of plato . one is , that they principally promote the advantage of the citizens , and make all their endeavours subservient to that end , not regarding their own private interests . the other is , that they have an eye on the whole body of the republick , so as that though they incline to one party , yet they must notdesert another . the reason of it is , that the commonwealth ought to be govern'd as a guardianship ▪ is , to wit , for the good and advantage of those who are receiv'd under the charge thereof , and not altogether for theirs , to whom it is committed . xxii . it is the peculiar charge of the magistrate , to be careful , that he represent the person of the city , and that he maintain the order and dignity thereof , observe the laws , and be mindful of the things committed to his trust , and make provision not only for what is done , but also for what ought to be done ; it being his business , that the common-wealth be as well regulated after his death , as it was , while he liv'd . xxiii . that war is just which is necessary , and that is a pious ▪ recourse to arms , when there remains no hopes otherwise than in arms ; and that war is just which a prince enters into ▪ either to recover what is lost , or to prevent the wrong intended him . xxiv . this ought to be heeded by governours , that when they pardon a small number of delinquent persons , they disoblige all the good ; in regard that these latter perceiving that mischief is pardon'd , cannot promise themselves that good will be requited by the governours ; and thereupon ▪ persuading themselves that there is more to be gotten among the wicked , they are easily diverted from well doing . xxv . it is always observ'd , that in cities , they who are necessitous envy the good , and have an esteem for the wicked ; they quarrel at things of ancient establishment , and are forward to promote novelties ; and out of the aversion they have for the wealthier sort , they study tumult and seditions , imagining that their poverty and multitude will indemnify them from the punishments , due to the disorders , whereof they are the occasions and abettors . xxvi . when persons of a mean and despicable condition are guilty of any miscarriage , it is known but to few persons , and the noise of their actions reaches no further than their conditions will bear . but the acts and demeanour of those who are of great quality , and owners of great estates , are remarkable to all , and so become more highly censureable . xxvii . it is seldom seen that a vertuous man loses his liberty , but he withal in some respect loses his life ; in regard it is a thing notorious to all , and of great difficulty to those who have been educated and enur'd to freedom , to be reduc'd to a servile life , inasmuch as of all things in the world liberty is the best and most desireable , the very name whereof is a character of vertue , as servitude is a mark of misfortune . xxviii . when a person of noble extraction degenerates from his ancestors by the doing of things that are not vertuous , he ought to remember , that by how much the more illustrious the lives of his progenitors were , in their times , so much the more scandalous and reproachable will his appear : inasmuch as the lustre and reputation of ancestors is as it were a light to their descendents , which discovers , to the eyes of others , the vertue or vice which is remarkable in them . xxix . 't is an humour highly commendable in a victorious prince , when he is so far mindful of himself , as to endeavour rather to do what is consistent with the rules of generosity , than to impose conditions too insupportable upon his conquer'd enemies . xxx . he who is of an humour inclin'd to peace , will not be diverted from the concluding of it by the great difficulties which present themselves in the negotiation thereof ; inasmuch as the difficulties occurrent therein , are remov'd either by the force of down-right justice , or by retaliating injustice with injustice , and counterpoising reason with reason , or by the enduring of a lesser prejudice , or by a mutual deference of several parties in abating somewhat of their right ; as shall seem most convenient to prudent persons , according to the importance of the thing in dispute . xxxi . it is the property of a well establish'd and well regulated commonwealth , that all affairs , or the greatest part thereof , as far as it is possible , be manag'd , and decided by the laws , rather than left to the decision and discretion of a judge ; inasmuch as there are few of so great abilities and sound understanding , as to be sufficiently skill'd in the laws , and withal of unquestion'd integrity , to give right judgement in a doubtful case ; whereas the laws themselves , by long experience of affairs , and by mature consideration , are reduc'd to perfection : but the judgment of man according to his natural bent to love or a version is wrested and corrupted without the support of the law. xxxii . among those of the popular rank , discords arise from the disparity of estates , in regard those of the lower rate are desirous to be equal to those of the higher ; but among the nobility , they proceed from grandeurs , inasmuch as they who are equal are desirous to aggrandize themselves . xxxiii . when men are come near that disaster or inconvenience into which they are fatally design'd to fall , 't is then that they are principally depriv'd of those advantages of circumspection and prudence , with the assistance whereof they might , in all likelihood , have avoided the inconvenience which threatned them . xxxiv . when matters of great importance are under debate , there is not any thing more necessary on the one side , nor more dangerous on the other , than to take advice thereupon ; and no doubt the prudent person stands less in need of counsel than the imprudent , and accordingly the former derives greater advantages from taking counsel than the other , because he has so great a stock of prudence , as to be able to consider and weigh things of himself , and amongst the reasons that are offer'd , to discern those which make most for his interest . but what assurance can the imprudent person have , in asking counsel , that the advertisements he receives are good and faithful ? for if the person who gives counsel be not highly faithful and well affected to him who desires it , but is inducible to be otherwise , out of some notorious concern of his own , or out of some motive of advantage , or flender satisfaction , he will frame his advice so as that it may be most beneficial to himself . and that intention of his being for the most part unknown to the party consulting , he makes no discovery , if he be not a prudent person , of the perfidiousness of the counsel that is given him . xxxv . he who is desirous to ballance things between princes , and to observe a punctual neutrality , must , with the greatest circumspection he can , abstain not only from all acts , but also from any discovery , which may raise a suspicion of his being inclin'd to one side more than the other . xxxvi . youth , as it is that part of man's age which is most greedy of honour , and looks upon disgrace with the greatest indignation , so is it also the most capable of enduring the inconveniencies , difficulties , and hardships , which necessarily attend war. the difference there is between men or nations is not to be measured by years , but by ingenuity , vivacity , and soundness of judgment , study , industry , and the particular exercises of vertue . xxxvii . if a great person has done thee an injury , dissemble thy reception thereof , and smother thy resentments ; for it is a pure extravagance to be disgusted against a person , whom thou dar'st not call to account , and whom it were imprudence in thee further to exasperate . xxxviii . there happens an infinite variety of turns and changes in military affairs ; therefore ought not a man to grow too confident upon new advantages , nor be too much depressed , upon the contrary : inasmuch as ever and anon , there comes some alteration , whereby this lesson may be learnt , that when opportunity presents it self , it should not be neglected , because it lasts but for a short time . xxxix . when matters come first under deliberation , it is most seriously to be consider'd , what the issue thereof may be ; and then ought men to be cautious how they assent to uncivil and pernicious demands . for some have found by experience , that when such as they are treating withal have obtain'd what they desir'd , it has prov'd only an encouragement to them to make a further progress in their demands . xl. the more sudden and unexpected accidents are , the greater discomposure and astonishment do they cause to those to whom they happen . it is therefore the part of a prudent person , to make that provision before-hand , which may prevent his being surpriz'd or disturb'd ; or if it so happen that it cannot be avoided , let him endeavour , from the present state of things , to foresee what may come to pass , using all the precautious remedies , which his experience and prudence can suggest , and not suffering things to grow worse and worse . xli . it always happens , in civil conversation , that , whether a vicious act be chastis'd , or a vertuous act recompenc'd , the whole body of the citizens receives a good thereby ; nor was there ever any expedient more contributory to the preservation of cities in a happy and flourishing state , than that counterballancing of punishment and reward , justly apply'd according to desert . xlii . all the assurances that can be had of an enemy whether by oath , parole , engagement to friends , promises , or whatever other way can be imagin'd , are good ; but by reason of the corruption of persons , the depravation of morality , and the vicissitude of times and accidents , the best expedient is for a man to take such order in his affairs , as that the enemy may not be in a capacity to annoy him . xliii . the present method of carrying on a war is much different from that of the ancients , who did not their work by assassinations , and surprises , but discover'd to the enemy , if any base contrivance were in hand against him , and all out of a confidence that they should be able to overcome him by vertue . xliv . when a man is advanc'd to some great charge ; it is soon discover'd whether he be a person of great abilities , or not ; but above all , by the augmentation of his worldly concerns , and the advantages he may have by his office , the affections of his heart are discover'd , together with his disposition ; inasmuch as , the greater person he is , so much the less cautious will he be , in suffering himself to be carryed away with the current of his own natural humour . xlv . be it thy continual care , that thy superiour conceive no ill opinion of thee , and be not over-confident of the leading an unblameable course of life , but endeavour to be such an one as that thou maist not be much afraid to fall into his hands ; inasmuch as there is an infinite number of unforeseen occasions , wherein thou mayst stand in need of him , and be glad to insinuate into his favour . xlvi . the governour ought rather to fix his consideration upon the substance and reality of the thing , than upon the appearance of it , measuring it rather by prudence , than by his own will , and being always distrustful of himself ; in regard it is a great reproach to a state , when imprudence is attended by danger . xlvii . the grand mystery of war consists rather in obedience , than a curiosity of knowing the reason of the general 's orders ; and that army is well fitted and prepar'd for danger , which , before it is set on work , is the most exactly kept under discipline . xlviii . all those who are concern'd , or commissionated to deliberate and treat of affairs of great importance , ought to consider with themselves , whether that they undertake will prove beneficial to the commonwealth , honorable to themselves , and may be compass'd without any great difficulty . xlix . in the carrying on of enterprises , it is to be observ'd , whether he who gives the advice , is also willing to expose his person to danger ; and when the enterprise has taken effect it is to be consider'd , to whom the honour thereof is principally to be attributed . l. in the times of publick disturbances and seditions , they always have the greatest power and credit , who of all are the most wicked ; but in times of peace and tranquillity , they are most in esteem who are the most remarkable for their conduct , and observance of discipline . li. men would not be so violently addicted to mischief , were it not for the advantages or satisfaction they reap thereby . this gave occasion to wise law givers to make punishments and rewards the ground-work and support of their governments , not so much out of a design to afflict their subjects , as to divert them from those things wherein they are apt to follow their own corrupt inclinations . lii . as discord divides one city and makes it two , or more , and gives occasion to those who have their eye upon it to advance and carry on their designes with greater success against it ; so union restrains and cements the counsels of many , and reduces them into one body , and by that means keeps the government closely compacted together , and uncorrupted . liii . as it happens in a structure of importance , that there is more danger of the falling of one stone towards the foundation , than if a hundred tiles fall down from the roof of it : so is it a much greater fault in point of policy , to disobey justice , than to commit many slight faults against the particular devoir between man and man ; since it has been observ'd , that many times great scandals have been rais'd in the commonwealth , which were occasion'd at first by some small disobedience . liv. it would be a good and wholsom law , if those persons , who observe no regularity in their lives , who are negligent in the managery of their domestick concerns , who order not their affairs as they ought to do , and discover no observance of discipline in their own families , but live in perpetual jarring and contention with their neighbours , should be put under the tuition of guardians , who might treat them and keep them in , as distracted and extravagant persons , to prevent the communicating their extravagance to others ; inasmuch as the commonwealth is never more likely to fall into disturbance , than it is by their means who observe no rule in their private demeanour . lv. there is not any thing more common or more pernicious among men , than that deceitful imagination of one mans condition being better than another . and this proceeds hence , that mens eyes are so blinded with malice and envy , that they would rather with much trouble grasp at what belongs to another , than quietly enjoy their own . the condition of princes is really good , if they make a good use thereof . in like manner , the popular state is good , if men acquit themselves therein as they ought to do . the condition of the wealthy is good , if they use it with moderation ; and so is that of the poor , if it be attended with patience , which is of such a soveraign vertue , as to make that good which is generally accounted otherwise . lvi . if subjects knew what a hard task the prince has in commanding , or if the prince knew how sweet a thing it is to live in tranquillity , the meaner sort would have a great compassion on the grandees , and the grandees would envy those of a mean condition ; inasmuch as the divertisements which the prince enjoies , amount to little in comparison of the discontents he is forc'd to endure . but as the station of the prince is the highest of all , as he can do more than all , as his worth exceeds that of all the rest , as he endures more than all , and surpasses all in government ; so is it necessary , that the court , the person , and life of the prince be better regulated than those of all the rest , inasmuch as it is the rule , measure , and standard thereof . lvii . there is not any thing whereof a wise prince should be more selfsatisfy'd , than that he has about him some persons eminent for their valour and conduct , to carry on the military concerns , and others signal for their prudence and integrity , to manage the civil . lviii . it is a very remarkable observation , that men eminent for their valour and good fortune in military affairs are born and flourish much more in one time than they do in another . for if a valiant person rise up in the time of a daring prince , he shall be in great esteem , and employ'd upon extraordinary designes ; but if he live under a timorous and distrustful prince , such a prince shall make greater account of those who study how to improve and advance his revenues , than he will do of him who shall return crown'd with laurels from the wars . lix . they who are desirous of the reputation of good princes , ought to propose to themselves the examples of such as have been such in their several ages : for to that end are the lives and actions of illustrious persons , by faithful historians , transmitted to posterity ; that princes and grandees may have such exemplars set before them as they ought to imitate . lx. the greatest care a governour ought to take , is to find out the person who shall advise him to govern well , and to maintain his estate with justice . and that is not done with harsh words , but with a meekness that gains mens hearts , and acts of good example ; for a generous soul is easily drawn in to obey , when the person who imposes the command is of good repute and example . lxi . there happens one thing in the world which is worthy our serious observance ; to wit , that as among the good , there is some one , transcendently good , so in like manner , among the bad , there is one transcendently such . but the misfortune is , that the good person does not gain so much honour by his vertue , as the lewd person does reputation by his lewdness ; in regard vertue renders a man naturally inclin'd to retirement , whereas the vicious person never thinks better of himself , than when he appears upon the stage . lxii . princes ought not to betray their surprize and astonishment at any thing , even when things seem to go most against them ; but they should obstinately stand upon the defence of their own , expecting their neighbour princes will find it their own interest to keep them up in their former station , to prevent the over-growth of some ambitious pretender . lxiii . the person o'repress'd with calamities and disasters is always hearkning after some change of fortune , whereas he who is at his ease does not so much as think of any alteration ; the litter is sufficiently satisfi'd with the present posture of his affairs , and the other looks on vicissitude as the only means to cause some amendment in his condition . lxiv . some wise men affirm , that when the commonwealth is upon the choice of a governour , they should be sure to pitch upon a person who has been at least ten years in the wars ; in regard that he alone is most likely to be the best preserver of a desired peace , who has been experimentally acquainted with the miseries and calamities consequent to war. lxv . no doubt but that prince does most wisely , who regulates his affairs answerably to his revenues ; in regard that if he do not , and his territories be but small , he must either run the hazard of losing what he is possess'd of , or , to keep himself up , do those things that are burthensom to his subjects , and so his government must degenerate into tyranny . lxvi . it is the greatest commendation that can be of the supream magistrate , to be conversant and familiar with the good , ( since that familiarity is the greatest incentive and encouragement that can be to goodness ; ) to be liberal of his estate in doing of good works , ( it being notorious , that he who values his reputation , makes but little account of mony ; ) to extirpate tyranny ( inasmuch as the concent and harmony of the princes government consists in the chastisement of the bad , and the rewarding of the good ; ) and to shew his munificence upon all occasions ; in regard there is not any thing more endears the majesty of the prince , than when he makes all the demonstrations he can of his grandeur , in relieving others , and not expecting that he should derive great advantage from others . lxvii . two things render a city secure , and highly contribute to the commendation and honour of its governours ; the one , when it is guarded by those whose estates are the most considerable , & is well provided with all things relating to the defensive part ; the other , when there is a fair correspondence between its governours and their neighbours ; without which there cannot be a free intercourse of commerce , and mutual supplies of all necessary provisions . lxviii . a soveraign lord , who would be obey'd , will do well , in the first place to conclude it necessary , that when he commands , he should make some discovery of his own personal observance thereof , in regard that no lord is to propose that soveraignty to himself , as to be exempted from the acts and exercises of vertue ; especially since that the prince , being the mirrour of others , is oblig'd so evidently and actually to apply himself thereto , as that he himself should give example to those that are under his government . lxix . to meet with some unexpected misfortune , is a thing , of its own nature , not good ; yet may it accidentally contribute to the advantage of a person of sound understanding ; in as much as it may be an occasion to him of standing more strictly upon his guard , in case the like accident may happen another time , there being few who truly believe what evil is , till they have had some experience thereof . whence it comes , that all persons not well vers'd in affairs proceed ordinarily either with too much negligence , or too much presumption ; whereas he who has once weather'd out a disastrous chance , becomes thereby so much the more cautious and considerate . lxx . princes will do well , so to converse with their subjects , as that they may be induc'd to serve them rather out of a readiness of inclination , than out of hopes of reward ; in regard that the less respect men have for mony , the less it implies of servitude . for he who loves another sincerely and generously , does not become arrogant in prosperity , nor flinches from him in adversity ; does not bemoan himself upon the consideration of poverty , nor is cast down and disgusted at his not being much in favour , nor recoyles in the time of persecution . in short , there is a correspondence between life and love to the last gasp . lxxi . every state ought so to desire peace , as to be nevertheless diligent in the making of all military preparations ; for peace without arms is weak and indefensive . thence it came , that the heathens represented even the goddess of arts and sciences armed ; and so , to be desirous of peace and to carry on the preparatives of war , are not things simply contradictory . lxxii . he truly understands the tender and transcendent concern of friendship , who obliges his friend before he be requir'd to do it . for in so doing , he is not only generous in the disposal of his kindnesses , but also causes them to be receiv'd with a greater sense of obligation , by disburthening his friend of that bashfulness and fear of repulse , which commonly attends asking . lxxiii . that prince does well who makes it his business to be well supply'd with prudent commanders and persons eminent for their valour for the management of war : but no doubt , he does better , whose court flourishes with wise counsellors , and statesmen ; in regard that the gaining of battels consists in the prowess and valorous deportment of many , but it happens sometimes , that the government of the commonwealth is committed to the management of one particular person . lxxiv . of all employments the worst is that which is concern'd in the chastisement of other mens miscarriages ; and thence is it that a well-advis'd person does what lies in his power , to avoid them ; in regard that the reprehension of vices does more commonly beget an aversion for the reprover , than it does amendment in those that are reprov'd . lxxv . every fault , what excuse soever there may be for it , is however condemnable ; inasmuch as if it be committed out of a sudden sally of passion , it is already a great miscarriage , but if out of forethought and deliberation , the mischief is so much the greater . lxxvi . 't is well done for a man to endeavour to manage all his concerns with reason , and to carry on every enterprize by order ; but in the doing of it , there is much difficulty . and yet considerate persons , to compass what they have design'd , will use such diligence and precaution , as may prevent those inconveniences ; which , for want thereof , might otherwise ensue . lxxvii . it is but reasonable , that the citizen , who , while he continu'd in the quality of a private person , was affable and familiar with his friends , should demean himself with an equal degree of affability and humanity towards them , when he has put on the robe of magistracy . for as it is the character of a mean spirit to be arrogant upon the honours successively acquir'd by valorous atchievements ; so when a man grows proud upon his advancement to an office , whereof he must within a short time after be devested , he betrays his indigence of modesty and vertue , and little reflects , that if mens exaltation to honours must change their manners , humours , and deportment , it ought to change them for the better , and not for the worse . lxxviii . when persons of understanding propose to themselves the obtaining of somewhat which is not to be obtain'd without some difficulty , they bethink themselves of the proper means to compass their ends . many things are obtain'd , by the dextrous and insinuating applications of those employ'd therein ; as appears frequently by the negotiations of ambassadors , and other publick persons . lxxix . the chief commander of an army , besides his skill and experience in military affaires , ought to be magnanimous , of a sedate temper , valiant , liberal , and prudent . it is expected from him , that he should stand upon his authority in the management of affairs , that he should be grave in discourse , and a punctual observer of his promises . when affairs of importance come into debate , he ought to use all imaginable circumspection , to deliberate with a mature judgement , and then put things in execution with great diligence . his demeanour and countenance towards his soldiers ought to be cheerful , serene , and obliging to all , yet with a remembrance of his quality , and the distance there is between them ; that so he may not , by his excessive familiarity , give his army occasion to be disobedient and undisciplin'd ; nor disgust it , by being too morose and severe . and whereas the good affections of the souldiery is the most certain hope he has for the obtaining of a victory , it ought to be his constant endeavour not only that they should bear him the reverence and respect due to his character , but also that they should have a mutual kindness one for another , and be sensible of their being members of the same body ; rewarding those who merit it , and disgracing and punishing the neglectors of their duty . lxxx . the power of fortune ( by that name did the heathens call the secret and not ordinarily perceptible disposition of the extraordinary works of god ) is of wonderful consequence in humane accidents , but especially in the case of war and armes . so that a command not rightly understood , an order not well executed , some temerarious action , or the voice of an ordinary souldier , does many times transfer the victory to those who before seem'd vanquish'd . and that causes of a sudden an infinite number of accidents , which it is impossible to foresee , or remedy . lxxxi . men are never more easily deceiv'd , than they are by those who have the reputation of being most sincere , that is , at the greatest distance from deceiving . lxxxii . the greater and more important things are , the more apt are men to discourse of them , never minding how closely they keep to the truth , or how far they receed from it . there are some who believe , and hold to be most certain , what they have heard , not regarding whether it be true or false . others , though a thing be ever so true , relate it otherwise than it is , and afterwards time making some additionals to the story , the thing is much augmented beyond what was reported at the first . lxxxiii . to come into favour and authority , one while by ostentation and munificence , another while by industry and vigilance , are two ways equally prejudicial and pernicious , when they are practis'd subtilly in order to a mans advancement to government . thence came it that wise men have affirm'd , that the tracks leading to principality are steepy and difficult , but when once men are gotten into them , every thing helps and sets them forward . lxxxiv . it cannot be easily imagin'd , whence it comes that princes are so favourable to some , and so cross and inflexible to others ; to wit , whether there be in that some secret of nature , or that it lies in our power to keep our selves in a mean , so as that we may not too obstinately oppose the inclinations of him who governs , and yet withal , that we forbear precipitating our selves into a scandalous adulation , and a kind of servile deportment , but that we observe such a moderation as neither to crouch to ambition , nor be over desirous of honour , and by that means pass our lives with more security , and less danger . lxxxv . there are but few that can by prudent advertisements distinguish between good and evil , between what is profitable , and what is prejudicial , but follow the ordinary road of growing better , and more cautious , by the knowledge which they derive from the common events of things . lxxxvi . those things that are foreseen prove much less hurtful , than those whereof we have no preapprehension at all . he therefore may be accounted a person of a sound understanding and excellent temper , who has the government of himelf , and as with an unstartled spirit , entertains the arrival of sudden and unexpected accidents . lxxxvii . though the particular thoughts and imaginations of every one be known only to god himself , yet the natural inclinations of a people or a province is a thing obvious and easy to be known ; inasmuch as their actions being publick , they must needs thereby discover their intentions and affections ; from which prudent men will be able to give a character of them accordingly . lxxxviii . subjects are much more satisfi'd to have their prince near them , than at a great distance from them ; inasmuch as there accrew thence two considerable advantages ; one , that the truly loyal , and well affected , being more immediately under his protection , are so much the more engag'd to his service ; the other , that the pernicious designes of turbulent persons are the more easily prevented . lxxxix . a commander in chief ought to to acquire reputation , not by the hardships and dangers of others ( as many do ) but by the sweat and hazard of his own person , and by the interposition of his own vertue . and whereas it is no less honourable to terminate a war by counsel , than to put a period thereto by arms , he ought to use both means , and should principally reflect , that the first successes are those which rendor him most dreadful to the enemy , or , on the contrary , despicable and of little repute ; in regard that , for the most part , such as the beginning is , such is the issue . xc . as it is a thing unquestionably certain , that victories are gain'd by preventions and diversions , so is it withal certain , that he is at a great distance from good counsel , who , without evident necessity , transfers the war , which another had been first engag'd in , to himself . xci . a person of comprehensive parts , who can husband time well , has no reason to complain that his life is too short ; for he who makes advantage of the infinite occasions that present themselves to him does anticipate time it self . xcii . liberty is a thing makes a great noise in the world , yet few truly understand wherein it consists . but of all kinds of liberty , that of persuasion is the most desir'd by all , in so much that to gain it , some would rather be transplanted to people solitudes , than smother their discontents to live in well-govern'd societies . xciii . he who desires to be in favour with his superiour ought to make all the discoveries he can of the respect and reverence he bears him ; for if there be once a failure in that , the endearing correspondence between superiours and inferiours is immediately dissolv'd . xciv . he who is entrusted with the custody of a city which expects a siege , ought above all things , to be think himself of all the remedies which may protract time , and to cut off all opportunities , though ever so small , from the enemy , inasmuch as many times one day , nay one hour , produces some accident which may occasion the relief of it . xcv . he is easily deceiv'd who relies on the first advertisement he receives of some accident that hath happen'd , in regard that commonly the effects are not aswerable to the first advices that come . he therefore who is not forc'd by necessity to do otherwise , ought to expect several confirmations thereof , ere he takes up his final resolution , what he ought to do . xcvi . it is a dangerous thing to be govern'd by examples , if there be not a concurrence in the general , and also in all the particulars of the same reasons to be consider'd . the same may be said , if things be not regulated by the same prudential motives and reflections ; and withal , if there be not a combination of all the other inducements , and the accidents and success consequent thereto . xcvii . as it is a servile act for any man to be a slave to his affections ; so , to subdue anger , the great disturber of counsel ; to be moderate in victory , which , of its own nature , is insolent and haughty ; to be absolute master of ones self , which is the devoir of a well temper'd and generous soul ; to exercise humanity , meekness , and liberality towards an enemy , is a thing truly royal , divine , and worthy of eternal memory . xcviii . there is not any thing more becoming or more necessary to a prince , than to be just , liberal , and benevolent ; inasmuch as it is the inseparable ; attribute of grandeur and power to relieve the oppressed , and to alleviate the calamities of others ; and this especially in kings , who , by such acts , approach so much the nearer the divinity , whose living images they are , upon the score of their supereminent rank . xcix . persons of lewd inclinations have always some opportunity of doing evil , and though they do it not , yet is it not so great a satisfaction to others , to see that they do not commit those enormities which they might , as it is an affliction , to think that it is in their power to commit them . c. that commonwealth wherein there is justice duly administred for the poor , chastisement for such as are insolent and tyrannically inclin'd , an exact observance of weights and measures , as to those things which concern the sustentation of humane life , discipline and exercise for the younger sort , and as little avarice as may be in those that are advanc'd in age , must needs be an excellent constitution of government . ci. let not any prince think that the choice of a tutor for his son is a thing of small importance . for in that case , his diligence and circumspection ought to be the greater , in that he is not to do in this , as in other offices which are bestow'd either upon the mediation of others , or by corruption , or importunity or friendship , or for a reward of some services already done : in regard that though some one of his courtiers has manag'd an embassy with good success , or been general of an army , or some great officer about the prince's person , or relating to his houshold , yet does it not follow that such a person is fit to teach his son. the reason is , that for a man to be an ambassador , or general , it requires only in the former a good stock of dexterity and dissimulation , and in the latter , that he have valour and good fortune ; but to be governour to a prince , it is requisite , that he have all the accomplishments , and qualifications , suitable to the education of a person of that transcendent dignity . cii . in the disastrous accidents of our life , wherein our own industry and strength are of little account , the only remedy we have , is to look on the worst of misfortunes as things not incompatible with the condition of humanity , and to be so far prudent , as to smother our resentments thereof . ciii . between two princes , the one addicted to the exercises of vertue , the other complying with the suggestions of vice , there is this difference , that the latter is only obey'd , but the former is both obey'd and belov'd . besides , the good and vertuous prince makes the most difficult enterprises seem light , and on the contrary , the tyrant makes the lightest seem most heavy . happy therefore is he who is obey'd , but much more happy he who is both obey'd and belov'd ; for the body grows weary of obeying , but the mind is never wearied nor cloy'd with loving . civ . there is one thing which a wise prince will always be mindful of , to wit , that , in the management of the publick affairs , his governours and judges never permit the abrogation of ancient customes , nor the introduction of new ones ; in regard the populace is commonly so humorous and extravagant , that they would every day have new princes , and new laws . cv . it is an easy matter to design what a man would have done by another person , and by what means it is most likely to be brought to effect ; but to command the execution thereof is no slight thing , inasmuch as between those two there are many things which obstruct , retard , and disturb such executions . cvi. 't is a thing out of all dispute , as aristotle affirms in his rhetorick , that riches do often render those persons , that are possess'd thereof , proud and insolent : but he who shall wisely consider it , will say with seneca , that none is more worthy , none makes greater approaches to the divinity , than he who makes no account of riches ; which , saies he , i am far from affirming that thou shouldst not be possess'd of , but i would have thee possess'd thereof without any fear , distraction , or disturbance . which happiness thou art not to acquire , but by this only expedient , to wit , by a firm persuasion , that thou canst live happily without them , and that thou shouldst always look on them , as if they were taking their flight away from thee . cvii . what presumption soever a man may have of his own abilities , yet ought he not so to rely on his own counsel , as that sometimes it may not be more safe for him to submit to that of others ; in regard that he who is asham'd of consulting , and defies the conduct and directions of another , may assure himself , for the most part , that he has a fool to his guide , and consequently that he must needs be guilty of many miscarriages . cviii . it is not prudence to judge of counsels by the event of things , in regard that many times good counsels have not an issue answerable thereto , and on the contrary , evil counsels may prove fortunate . but when evil counsels are applauded , upon the score of their being successful , it is a secret encouragement for men to do those things that are unjust , which may prove highly prejudicial to the commonwealth , inasmuch as evil counsels are not always fortunate ; and there is also another fault in blaming and censuring the more prudent party , whose advertisements have not had the success which was expected , in regard that such a procedure disheartens the citizens from giving their opinions freely , when the publick concerns of their city requires it . cix . when it happens that there is a necessity of denying some person his request , it is but requisite , to keep the said person from being disgusted , and to assure him of the good will they bear him , and to make some other overture to him , so that he may thereby perceive that they have a respect for him , and would gladly oblige him . upon this demeanour , the other , if he have any sentiment of humanity , will be as much , if not more , satisfi'd , than if his request had been granted : so great an influence have kind words and an obliging carriage over the minds of good natur'd persons . cx . in publick affairs it is requisite that men be extreamly careful and considerate at the beginning of what they design ; in regard it will not be afterwards in their power without dishonour and danger , to receed from the deliberation once fixt upon , and in which they have for some time persisted . cxi . what is wish'd by the greater number does not often succeed in regard that for the most part the events of humane actions depend on the wills of few ; and the intentions of these latter being in a manner always different from those of the greater number , things seldome happen otherwise than according to the intention of those from whose directions they derive their first motion . cxii . neutrality is most commendable in the wars wherein other parties are engag'd , in regard that many inconveniences and great charges are thereby avoided ; and it may be time enough to be concern'd for either party , when success seems to intimate which side is most likely to prevail . cxiii . the clemency of princes hath always gain'd them good-will and reputation ; and , on the contrary , rigour , ( if there be not some extraordinary necessity for it ) has always produc'd the contrary effects , and instead of removing the obstacles and difficulties , which lay in their way , it has made some additionals thereto . cxiv . it is more wisely done for a man to court his friendship who is unwilling to become his enemy , than to curry favour with him , who one time or other cannot be his friend . cxv . there are three principal considerations to be minded in the carrying on of all enterprises , to wit , the justice of the cause , the facility of the victory to be obtain'd , and the conveniences and advantages accruing thereby . cxvi . there is not any thing so short-liv'd as the remembrance of a benefit , and many times , the greater it is , the more likely it is to be repay'd with ingratitude . for , he who is not willing to take off the obligation , by retaliation or remuneration , often endeavours to do the same thing in another sense , perswading himself , that the good turn was not so great ; and they who are asham'd of their having been reduc'd to the necessity of desiring a kindness , are vext and tormented in their minds that they have receiv'd it . so that the remembrance of the necessity into which they were fallen makes a greater impression upon them , than that of the obligation which had been layd upon them . cxvii . many are the inconveniences that happen in the armies of confederated parties ; while they are concerting their designes , the opportunity of entring into action slips away , their preparatives are delay'd , interrupted , and diverted , according to the forces , aimes , and counsels of the princes concern'd , so that it must needs prove a hard matter to make a firm union , where there is so much disorder and distrust , and withal so great a diversity of inclinations , and courages , and varieties of conditions . cxviii . 't is the natural humour of the populace to be always desirous of novelties , and to be easily fill'd with false and vain persuasions , lightly hurry'd away with the insinuations of those who have once set them on work , as the waves of the sea are stir'd by the blowing of the wind . cxix . so extravagant is the nature of mankind , that when they are forc'd out of one extreme , wherein they have been violently detain'd , they ride in full speed to the other extreme , without ever making the least halt in the mean. cxx . there is one thing highly considerable in military concerns , and that is the reputation of the chief commanders . assoon as this begins once to decline , the souldiery is immediately discourag'd ; the loyalty of the nations concern'd is shaken ; there follow distraction and distrust in counsels , and want of a hearty and cheerful concurrence in action ; the provision for the army's subsistence is interrupted ; and on the contrary the enemy is heartned , those who were content to observe a neutrality , are apt to incline to the successful party , and all difficulties grow greater and greater . cxxi . in human actions men ought for the most part to make their counsels complyant with the present necessity , and not , out of an over-earnestness to overcome that which is too difficult , and as it were impossible , to expose the generality to a manifest danger and inconvenience . cxxii . we find many times by experience , that those things which at the first prospect present themselves as highly dreadful , appear by degrees so much the less considerable , that , if the former errour be not renew'd by some additional accident , all the terrour in process of time vanishes , and we are induc'd to laugh and wonder at our former astonishment . cxxiii . he who finds that there is no account made of him , gives way to disgust , and that inspires him with thoughts of revenge , and inclines him to attempt dangerous things , which sometimes meet with their design'd effect ; especially when the person who is become so daring is of any authority , or remarkable for some extraordinary qualification . cxxiv . all subjection is burthensome , all restriction is insupportable to him who would live as he pleases himself . a person of that humour can find but little quiet under a regular government , in regard that there is a necessity either of his complyance which the prince , or of his ruin by him . cxxv . it is commonly observ'd , that a resolution taken either too hastily , or with too much affection comes off with a slur . for the much celerity of the resolver does not allow him the leisure to reflect on those things which ought to be consider'd , before the resolution be taken ; and the excessive affection so prepossesses the mind , that it does not take notice of any thing but what is most pressing in such or such a point . to these two examples may be added two others , to wit , in these cases , when there is time enough to deliberate , and the person deliberating is unprepossess'd with any particular affection , yet out of a certain natural incapacity , or through an insuperable kind of remisness or debility of spirit , remarkable through all their actions , they never do any thing that holds water . cxxvi . when affairs are reduc'd to the extremity , as that there remains nothing for hope to rely upon but the pure providence of god , the prosecution of the adventure in such a case must be look'd on as the result of reason and prudence , insomuch that we ought to attempt the danger , not minding how little ground there presents it self to humane prudence . for god many times takes a certain delight in sending a spirit of infatuation upon the counsels and designs of some people , and making those calamities which they intended to bring on others to recoyle upon themselves . cxxvii . the greater a man's credit and reputation is amongst the generality of the people , the more dangerous it is to support and advance him . as therefore it is an easy matter at the beginning to oppose the disorders which may ensue thereupon , so when they are come to any growth , it will be so much the more difficult to remedy them . cxxviii . the exercise of arms , the observance of the lawes , and the frequent celebration of divine service , in a well regulated city cannot ordinarily be separated , without the destruction of them all . so that there is a correspondence between them and the state of the soul , wherein there are the vegetative part , the sensitive , and the intellectual ; which parts yet do not make three souls , but one only distinguish'd by the operations of the three faculties : so the establishment of the state requires a reciprocal aid and correspondence . cxxix . where ever there is servitude , there is also fear ; and the greater the former is , the greater also is the latter . but though servitude implies tyranny , yet has the tyrant as great a share of the fear , as they over whom he tyrannizes , inasmuch as he who commands slaves , is not himself free ; now the tyrant being such , it follows that he himself is servile as well as his people , and so as there is force and indignity on both sides , so is there a continual augmentation of fear . cxxx . in matter of war , valour and artifice are highly recommended ; but the perfection of arms consists in knowing the true use of the moral vertues , a right understanding of political affairs , and treading in the steps of ancient and eminent commanders . cxxxi . in military affairs , when there is some great designe in hand , the absolute authority of ordering all is to be conferr'd on one single person who transcends all the rest in point of merit ; yet so as that he be oblig'd to have always about him such as are well skill'd in counsel , with whom he may confer , and to whom he may communicate all concerns of importance . cxxxii . men are glad of advertisements and directions in things that are doubtful , not in the certain ; in things subject to hazard , and not to prudence : it were therefore but requisite to consider what is the principal concern in the matter whereof we are to deliberate . for in deliberations , when any one is not constrain'd by necessity , he sets himself on work according to the unconfined plenitude of his own will , which is in all things and every where free , and then his thoughts are wholly taken up with the success of the enterprize , to wit , whether his fears or hopes outweigh one the other ; and thereupon he resolves to forbear attempting any thing when hazard has the principal part , and is most likely to carry it ; or on the contrary he will attempt the execution of his designe , when prudence tells him that it will prove advantageous . cxxxiii . when commonwealths are well govern'd , the prosecutions of envious persons turn to the advantage of those against whom they are intended , for innocency being clear'd by truth , their endeavours prove like the stroaks given to the ball , which the harder it is struck , the higher it rebounds ; so the calumniations of the envious instead of eclipsing , add more lustre to those against whom they are directed . cxxxiv . continual severity must needs exasperate those over whom it is exercis'd . but as the excessive indulgence of parents makes their children apt to lead an irregular and disobedient course of life ; so the remisness of a prince , who suffers his authority to be slighted , renders the citizen dissolute , and the soldier undisciplin'd and licentious , and proves withal the occasion of greater mischief , when persons of quality are concern'd . for the insolence of these last is more dangerous than that of a multitude , it being not so difficult to discover the designes wherein many are engag'd , as it is to pump out the secret plottings of one particular person . cxxxv . when the prince is sollicited by a grandee in some concern of great importance , and that he is unwilling to grant his request , he ought to consider two points , one relating to the necessary circumstances , as the cause from whence the discontent proceeds , the person disgusted , and the present conjuncture of time ; the other , how requisite it may be , to counterballance the refusal , by conferring some other boon on the petitioner . cxxxvi . the good soldier may be likened to polish'd steel , which while it is handled preserves its lustre and brightness , and on the contrary , for want of being us'd , growes rusty , and that rust consumes it , and in time makes it contagious ; so the good souldier , who is good only while he is handling his arms , in the time of war , is prejudic'd in himself , and may prove dangerous to others , when he is out of his proper element and employment . cxxxvii . in the competitions that happen between two several parties , that which is excluded will be rather inclin'd to close with a third party , than comply with that , between whom and it the precedent competition was . cxxxviii . there is not any thing so prejudicial to mankind as a transcendent prosperity ; for the effects of it , are , licentiousness , luxury , confidence to do mischief , an irreclaimable inclination to disturb the publick by some novelty , and all the inconveniencies consequent to satiety . cxxxix . the infamy of being temerarious is more prejudicial to a military commander , than the honour of a victory is advantageous to him ; inasmuch as when he is chargeable with temerity , the blame is wholly attributed to him alone , but the honour of the victory , and the prosperous management of affairs ( at least according to the opinion of many ) is communicable also to others . cxl . since there is frequent necessity of changing orders and deliberations , in the time of war , according to the variety of accidents , it should be the principal consideration of a chief commander , so to accommodate all things at the beginning , as if he had , as much as may be , foreseen all events , and all counsels ; in regard that , as the prosperous successes engage the respects and affections of the army towards their general , so the contrary makes a proportionable abatement of the same respects and affections , and consequently there is not that sympathetical correspondence which ought to be between them . cxli . the prudent person ought not to entertain any suspicion that men distrust his integrity , and if he does suspect it , he should demean himself so as that the wicked may not be sensible of his having any suspicion of them , lest that upon that occasion fear may augment their licentiousness , and that , as to others , there may not be an abatement of their diligence and promptitude . cxlii . 't is prudence in a man to make as if he knew nothing of uncertain newes , or at least to keep it so secret , as not to betray any confirmation thereof ; in regard that many times , either it is absolutely false , or the credit to be given thereto admits of a considerable diminution . cxliii . they who are induc'd to commit some act in the night time proceed commonly upon some sinful motive , presuming that the night covers in them what the day would discover , to wit , their fear and shame . cxliv . for this reason has god entrusted princes with the government of their dominions , that their subjects may , in order to the obtaining of their right , appeale from that law which is dumb , and as it were dead , and without force in it self , to the living law which ought to be the magistrate . cxlv . the principal commendation of military discipline consists in not opposing danger without necessity , by industry , patience and policy to defeat and elude the enterprises of the enemy , rather than by destroying them in a cruel and bloody engagement . cxlvi . a benefit conferr'd upon one who is persuaded that he has receiv'd an injury counterballanceable thereto , is not sufficient to remove out of his disaffected mind the memory of the offence ; especially when the benefit comes at such a time , as that it seems rather occasion'd by necessity , than to proceed from good will. cxlvii . the counsels and secret designs of princes are most commonly divulg'd after a manner much different from that which is true in effect ; and this they do purposely to amuse the generality , that they may busy themselves in discoursing of one thing , while another of different nature is in agitation . cxlviii . peace is desirable and holy , when it smothers all distrusts and jealousies , when it gives a check to all dangers , and when men are exonerated from all charges , and may repose themselves without the least fear of disturbance . but when it hatches the contrary effects , it is a pernicious war , under the counterfeit title of peace , and a pestilent poison under the name of a good medicine . cxlix . ambassadors are the eies and ears of states , and the other publick ministers are the spectacles of the respective princes by whom they are employed . cl. mens favours are to be measur'd by the real effects , and not by the external demonstrations thereof ▪ and yet it can hardly be imagin'd how great a satisfaction it is to a man , to be treated with the ceremonious part of courtesy and humanity ▪ the reason of it may possibly be this , that every one is apt to think , that he deserves more than he receives , and consequently is disgusted when he perceives there is not that account made of him which he thinks due to him . cli . subjects cannot be well govern'd without the exercise of some severity at certain times , yet is there a necessity that it should be season'd with a dextrous insinuation of its being not so much the inclination of the prince to be severe , as that it is requisite for the publick good , that the reformation of some should be occasion'd by the punishments inflicted upon others . clii. a man should endeavor to refrain from whatever may cause the least dissatisfaction or prejudice to another . it is consequent therefore , that he should never say any thing either in a mans presence , or his absence , which may displease him , unless there be some necessity of his so doing ; in regard it is the greatest extravagance in the world , for a man to make a needless creation of enemies to himself . cliii . he who runs himself into a danger without ever considering , of what concern it is likely to be , may be accounted a person of a bestial humour . but he who knows the importance of it , and yet freely exposes himself thereto , either upon the necessity there is of so doing , or upon some honourable account , must a person of great courage , and truely magnanimous . cliv. it is a vulgar errour to affirm , that learning and study are prejudicial to the brain ; though peradventure it might be truly said of some one , who has a weak brain , and is of an infirm constitution ; but where there is a conjunction of a good constitution , and the accidental good of learning , it makes a most accomplish'd person , and of an excellent temperament . clv . that glory is to be accounted vain which is purchas'd with any injury done to another ; but the true , solid , and immortal glory is that which consists not in the ruining of nations , and destruction of cities , but rather in the consolidation of kingdoms , the association of provinces , the settlement of publick tranquillity , the establishment of commerce , and the deliverance of people out of the miseries and calamities attending humane nature . clvi . all the fruit and advantage of having obtain'd a victory consists in knowing how to use it , and it is a greater infamy not to know how to use it , than not to have gain'd it ; in regard it is more ignominious for us to be deceiv'd in those things that are within our power , than in those that are not . clvii . inconsiderate and doubtful deliberations are not excusable in any but those whose concerns are in a distracted and unfortunate posture , or in a person whose thoughts are wholly bent upon ambition , and one who being desirous by all the ways imaginable to get himself a greater name , is afraid he has not time enough to do it in . clviii . all humane actions are subject to many dangers ; but this is the advantage of wise men , that they know that what ever may happen does not always come to pass , but that upon some occasion or other many dangers become none at all , many are stav'd off by prudence and industry ; and many are weather'd out by patience and equanimity . clix. he who is more apprehensive of the future than he ought to be , must not expect to be accounted a wise man , nor yet they who presuppose for certain the dangers that are but doubtful , and accordingly regulate all their deliberations , as if the danger were inevitable . but it argues a certain magnanimity in that person , who knowing and throughly considering the dangers , yet discovers how that many times , either by some unexpected chance , or by the assistance of vertue , men extricate themselves out of great difficulties and inconveniences . clx . it happens sometimes , that when a prince assumes thoughts of aggrandizing himself , or growes jealous of losing his dominions , he takes occasion to forget what obligations may ly upon him for benefits receiv'd . a remarkable instance of this kind of demeanor we find in lewis sforza , who instead of expressing his gratitude to charles viii . of france , for the kindnesses he had receiv'd from him , contributed his assistance for the driving of him out of italy , and sided with his enemies , and all only to preserve his own concerns , and out of the apprehension he had of the greatness of charles . clxi . in the giving and receiving of advice there are many things to be considered , but principally two , to wit , prudence in him who is to receive the advice , and fidelity in him who is to give it . for counsel being nothing else but a discourse consider'd and weigh'd by reason , in order to a discovery whether a thing ought to be done or not , if the person who is to receive the advice be not prudent , he will not accept of that which is given him for the best , but will follow that , which , according to his apprehension , seems most convenient ; in as much as not being prudent , he will be apt to fancy those things that are most inconvenient , and so will never set himself seriously to work as he should do . on the other side , he who gives the advice , it he be not faithful , will find so many ways to disguise the truth , that many times that is put in execution , which is more beneficial to the consultee , than to the consultor . clxii . he who intends to engage in a war ought to be alwaies prepar'd , and to have his mind fortify'd against whatever event may happen , and to be ready to entertain all occurrences ; and he should principally bethink himself not to enter into a war unjustly , and consider well against what potentate he is to be concern'd , what allyances and combinations may be made against him , and lastly examine his own forces and those of his adversary , and what confederates either party may have . clxiii . the ambition of a general often proves pernicious to the state by which he is employ'd . for it is the ordinary humour of such persons to be backward in putting a period to the war , even when they may do it with honour and advantage , that they may continue longer in their charges , and by that continuance they gain the affections of the soldiery , and so are in a fair way to their assumption of soveraignty . he who has a powerful army at his devotion has the command of all as far as that can extend its quarters . clxiv . are men desirous of coming into great repute and esteem ? let them be always careful of doing those things which are commendable and of good report ; inasmuch as vertuous actions are not the effects of honour , but honour is the effect and recompence of vertuous actions . clxv . it is generally acknowledg'd by all , that the government of a country by one single person , when he is but tolerably good , is better than that of a greater number , though it be granted that they also are good . and it may be withal rationally concluded , that in a greater number of govenours there may be a greater likelihood of degeneration from the principles of government , and a greater combination of tyranny , than there can be in one individual person . clxvi . to frame instructions for the particular benefit of every one , is a very difficult task ; but it is much more difficult to put such a project in execution ; in regard that men know well enough what they ought to do , but they are extreamly backward in applying themselves to the performance thereof . let him therefore who thinks that application incumbent upon him , endeavour to offer a certain violence to his own disposition , and make that habitual which yet admits of no greater perfection than that of desire ; by which means , he will easily attain whatever shall be taught him , and will voluntarily do any thing , according as reason shall command him , or experience direct him . clxvii . the acquisition of a great estate or honour is a thing commendable , provided it be done without fraud or any indirect means ; yet so great is the corruption of mankind , that men commonly are ambitious of high titles , and magistracy , as if they were illustious and magnificent of themselves , and did not derive their true value and esteem , from the vertue of those who are deservedly advanc'd thereto . clxviii . a military commander ought so to mind all things as if he had not charg'd any person with the care thereof ; and this , not only out of the distrust he should have that his commands may not be punctually executed , but also out of this consideration , that his soldiers will be more forward to execute his orders , when they shall find him so laborious and vigilant himself . clxix . he who would prognosticate what will be the effects of another mans deliberation , ought , to avoid being deceiv'd , to consider seriously , not only what a prudent person would be inclin'd to do upon the like emergency , but also to measure the abilities and disposition of the deliberator . clxx . a physician who undertakes to cure the infirmity of some particular member , is very careful that the medicine he applies does not prejudice any other member : so ought that privy councellor , who is to advise his prince , to be so his remembrancer of the concerns of the commonwealth , as that he is withal mindful of the honour and preservation of the prince . clxxi. there is not any man of so weak abilities , but that he may manifestly perceive the difference there is between actions proceeding from fear and errour , and those which proceed from fraud and an evil intention . clxxii . he who knows in himself what is advantageous , and for the good of the commonwealth , and yet forbears communicating it to others , is an insignificant member of that body . clxxiii . a commander may make a retreat upon two occasions , either out of timorousness , or prudence ; the former whereof is reproachable , the other deserves commendation , in regard it seems to wave the hazarding of what is not sufficiently secur'd . that victory is the most advantageous and most glorious , which is gain'd with the least loss and effusion of the souldiers blood . clxxiv . as the soul , which ordinarily ought to be the governess of the body , becomes a tyrant , when , regarding only her own excellency , in comparison of the body , she so thinks of her self , as not to allow any part of time for the service of the body , whereby the latter is weakned , and rendered uncapable of performing its offices : so , on the contrary , they who make the body lord over the soul , and employ their whole time in satisfying the appetites thereof , without reserving some part for the other , can never become vertuous , nor have any valour in themselves . clxxv . avarice is , no doubt , much more blameable in a prince , than in a private person ; not only upon this score , that the prince having more to distribute , frustrates men of the benefits they expect from him , but also in regard , that whatever the private person hath , he may dispose thereof without any others being much concern'd in it . but whatever the prince has , he has chiefly for the benefit of others ; what therefore he retains to himself is so much deducted out of what men should receive from him . clxxvi . princes have cause to be more distrustful than other persons , not only in regard they are many times flatter'd , but also that many doubtful advertisements are propos'd to them , and that it is a difficult matter for them to follow those that are most advantageous to their concerns . clxxvii . that prince who has the most obliging way to gain the affections of his people , makes a great discovery of an excellent good nature , and withal gives a certain demonstration of his being unchargeable with the vice of pride , which brings an odium upon the vertues themselves . clxxviii . when any of the enemies forces fall off from him , and come into thy service , it is no small happiness if they prove faithful to thee ; inasmuch as the forces of the enemy are much more weakned , by the defection of those who desert him , than by the loss of those who are kill'd , though the name of turn-coat , or fugitive be suspicious in new-rais'd men , and odious in old souldiers . clxxix . in military concerns ; the prosperous success of the victorious prince proceeds for the most part from the want of counsel and conduct in the enemy . and thence it comes , that it is a difficult task to subdue him who knows the extent of his own forces and those of his enemy . besides , the performances of the souldiery are to be attributed more to their gallantry than to their multitude , and sometimes the advancement they make depends more on the advantages of the place , where the engagement happens , than upon their personal valour . clxxx . men , armes , mony , and provisions are the sinews of war ; but of these four , the two former are the most necessary , in regard that resolute men , well arm'd , will make a shift to find mony and provisions ; but those two last will not so easily find men and arms. clxxxi . when the prince is surrounded by his familiar friends in a time that requires nothing of action , he communicates his favours to those who are most acceptable to him , and most complyant with his humour . but when he has some great design to carry on , he knows how to make a distinction between those who are purely favourites , and such as may be more serviceable to him . clxxxii . a person reputed to be of great conduct and well experienc'd in the management of affairs , who can maintain ten thousand men , is more to be fear'd and esteem'd than ten others confederated together with each of them five thousand men ; in regard they are tedious and dilatory in the concerting of their designes , and much time is commonly lost ere they can be unanimously brought to resolve upon the same end . clxxxiii . that person who is desirous to be entertain'd into the service of some grandee , should rather pitch upon one of some repute for his prudence , than one notorious for his ignorance : in regard that if his dependence be on a wise man , he will find means to ingratiate himself into his favour ; but with an ignorant man , his applications will in all likelihood prove ineffectual , by reason of the want of apprehension in the person to whom they are made . clxxxiv . the affairs of this world are in a perpetual fluxe of uncertainty and instability ; yet are they always in a progressive course towards the end to which they ought to tend according to their nature . but this progress meets with greater obstructions than we imagine , in regard that we measure their motion according to our life , which is of no great duration , and not according to their continuance , which seems long to us in respect of our selves . and thence it comes , that the judgements which we make of them are commonly false and defective . clxxxv . in things of importance , he who does not take into his consideration all the particulars relating thereto , cannot frame a right judgement of them ; in regard that any single circumstance , how inconsiderable soever it be , may change the whole face of the thing which is to be judg'd . yet true it is , that many times , a man may frame a good judgement thereof , though he have the knowledge but of the affair , only in general ; and on the contrary , he who knows the particulars may be guilty of a greater miscarriage ; in regard that if his head be not clear , and disengag'd from passion , his attention to the particular part will confound and disturb his apprehension of the whole matter under consideration . clxxxvi . it is a great felicity for a man to see his enemy cast down and lying at his mercy ; but the greater his happiness is , to whom that happens , the greater reason he has to make a commendable use of that victory , by expressing his clemency and readiness to forgive , it being the particular mark and property of a great and generous soul . clxxxvii . an inferiour prince ought not to hazard all he has in one fight ; for if he get the better , he only gains the more glory ; if he miscarries , he is ruin'd to all intents and purposes . clxxxviii . we find that in the ordinary differences which happen between men upon the civil account , and in the diseases whereto men are subject , the judges and physicians have recourse to the judgements of those who have been anciently eminent in those several professions ; the same may be said of affairs of state and policy , that it were expedient the present statesmen consulted the directions of the ancients , who have been eminent for the good government and civilization of such as were subject to them . clxxxix . there are many who seem to be highly diligent in the reading of ancient histories , and to take a particular divertisement therein , by reason of the remarkable variety of accidents which occur ; but few apply themselves to the imitation thereof ; and that with the greater reproach to themselves , in that they think it a thing not only difficult , but also indeed impossible ; as if the heavens , the sun , and the elements had chang'd their motions , order and influences , in comparison of what they were heretofore . cxc . the friendship there is between persons of quality , of a private condition , proceeds from the mutual correspondence of their minds , and the consonancy of their humours and dispositions . but among princes , this correspondence of humours does not always beget amity , but sometimes , out of a certain judgement which they frame to themselves , of the advantages accrueing by the contraction of such friendships , and sometimes their confederations are the effects of the present exigences forcing them thereto . cxci. adversity is the touch stone which distinguishes between those who are friends out of design , and those who are really such . it makes a full discovery of the fidelity and constancy of some , and how slight and superfluous others may be . so that a man has this benefit by adversity , that there are driven from him , without the help of a staff , all that throng of persons whose souls are mercenary and of no value , full of avarice and ingratitude , and there remain behind only those minds which are fortune proof , and such as cannot be surmounted by adversity . cxcii . he who founds a commonwealth , and establishes laws for the government thereof , ought to have presuppos'd that men are inclin'd to wickedness , and will make a discovery of that inclination , upon any occasion that shall offer it self . and when the malignity lies conceal'd for some time , it proceeds from some secret cause , which , for want of having seen the experience of the contrary , was not observ'd ; but it is afterwards discover'd by time , which brings all things to light . cxciii . neutrality , of its own nature , is full of danger , in as much as it gives offence , on the one side , to the stronger party , who expected to be sided withal upon the score of his grandeur , and on the other to the weaker , who takes it unkindly , and thinks it an injury that he is not assisted and reliev'd . so that the neutral party is neither secur'd against an enemy , on the one side , nor preserves a firiend , on the other . cxciv . as long as a prince continues in a neutral condition , every one endeavours to caress him , & to draw him to his party , and consequently he is honour'd , and not only enjoys his neutrality in quietness , but also makes an advantage of it by the presents he receives from those who would lure him into their allyance ; whereas if he has once declar'd himself , he has lost the satisfaction of being a spectator of the difference , and one of the contending parties must look upon him as an enemy , though the reasons and motives he had to appear against him be never so plausible . cxcv. it is a hard question to decide , whether be the more ambitious person , he who is desirous to keep what he is possess'd of , or he who endeavours to make new conquests . for many times great alterations are caus'd by him who is peaceably possess'd , in regard the fear of losing begets in such persons the same inclinations , which they have who would conquer . nay sometimes , he who is possess'd does not think himself secure , if he be not always in a readiness to make new acquests , and to do that , there is a necessity of having forces , and those must be in action , answerably to the ambitious desires of those by whom they are maintain'd . cxcvi. those who are entrusted with the administration of publick offices , or the government of provinces ought to have these three conditions ; to wit , that they have ● tenderness and affection for those who are under their jurisdiction ; that they be invested with sufficient authority to constrain , where it is requisite ; and that they be persons remarkable for their justice and valour . but with this precaution into the bargain , that they who are advanc'd to the government of others be such as have been in their younger days govern'd and directed by others . cxcvii . in all the resolutions of this world , there is an intermixture of good and evil ; god having so order'd it , that men might be the more sensible of the imperfection of their present state . but it is the part of a prudent person to counterballance the good and evil , and to embrace that resolution wherein he finds either less evil , or more good . cxcviii. since man is to look on his own good and preservation as his main concern , he ought not in reason to be tax'd with any inconstancy , when upon the vicissitude of human affairs , he also admits some change in his designs and procedure , yet continuing constant and resolute as to the end he had propos'd to himself . and this is but to follow the example of good pilots , who being bound for such a port , yet upon alteration of wind and weather seem to change their course , but still in the midst of the tempest they mind the prosecution of their voyage , and the preservation of the vessel . cxcix . good souldiers require a good captain , he being the guide of all , and the success or miscarriage of a design depending on his action and conduct . thence came the greek proverb , that an army of deer having a lyon in the head of it , is more terrible than an army of lyons headed by a deer . but it is however requisite , that both commanders and souldiers should be good , that it may not happen as caesar said going against pompey , that he went against a captain without souldiers ; and afterwards going against afranius that he was to en●gage an army without a captain . cc. there are four sorts of men who are always mention'd with honour . first , they who have been highly successeful in the establishment and promotion of true religion . secondly , those who have been the founders of states and kingdoms , and setled the government thereof by good laws . thirdly , they who have been successors to the last mention'd , and have made great dilatations of the empires which they found so established . and lastly , persons who have been great promotors of literature , and patrons of learned men . on the contrary , the teachers of a false religion or destroyers of the true , the disturbers of government , and the enemies of learning and vertue , have been , through all ages , infamous and detestable . cci. a people which hath been accustomed to live in servitude , being left to their own liberty , may be likened to a beast that has been kept in a park , which having once got out of it , will be continually mischievous , till at last it be either destroy'd or brought into its former restraint . ccii. we ought to be very moderate and cautious in the commendations of persons . for as it is natural for any one , to resent his being disparag'd , so , on the contrary , excessive , commendation ( besides the hazard it implies of his judgement who commends , and the greatness of his merit who is commended ) is many times offensive to him who hears it . that portion of self love , which every one has , even though he is not sensible of it , makes us immediately apply to our selves the commendations and discommendations which we hear given to others , and confequently we imagine our selves concerned therein , though they are not purposely directed to us . cciii . when the prince has fortify'd himself with the allyances of excellent captains , valiant souldiers , arms , mony , and strong places , his next work must be to weaken the forces , and to defeat the designes of the enemy ; and that is done more slowly or with greater expedition , according as occasion offers it self , which is the source of every great and transcendent action . cciv. it seldom happens , that a vertuous man will be ambitious of soveraignty by indirect ways , though his aim therein may be good ; and that a wicked person being once become great , will ever use that authority well , which he has attain'd by evil courses . ccv . though a successor in government be not fully so remarkable for his vertue as the person whom he succeds , yet may he maintain the state in the same grandeur he found it , by the vertue of his predecessor , and make his advantage of the others labours . but if it happen that he does not live long , and that he be again succeeded by one that does not follow the footsteps of the former , such a state must needs degenerate . so , on the contrary , if two persons , both eminent for the greatness of their vertue , happen to be immediate governours of the same province , they commonly do great things , and give a smart stroke to the firm establishment of their government . ccvi. ii is a thing out of all controversy , that if there be not souldiers where there are men enough , it proceeds from some defect in the prince , and not from that of nature , or the situation of the country , or genius of the inhabitants . and thence it comes , that wise princes keep up the exercise of war even in the times of peace . ccvii. in a well-regulated common-wealth , the good services and merits of citizens shall make no plea for their crimes , if they be of any importance . for rewards being appointed for well doing , and punishment for miscarriages , it is an aggravation of their lapses who have done well , that they have done so , and therefore if they do amiss , there is no account made of their former vertuous demeanour . ccviii . he who would reform . a city , to the general satisfaction of all its inhabitants , should endeavour what he can to retain the ancient customs , and that course of life which the people was traditionally inclin'd to , that it may not seem to the generality , that there is any alteration in the government , though really there be , and that the constitution thereof is a quite different thing from what it was before . for it is the humour of the populace , to be contented and layd asleep with that which seems , as much as with that which really is ; and many times there are greater disturbances occasion'd by that which seems to be , than there are by that which really is . ccix. the vice of ingratitude proceeds either from avarice , or distrust . when therefore a prince or state sends out a general upon some important expedition , and the other growes highly into repute thereby ; such a prince or state is oblig'd to acknowledge and recompence the service done them . but if , on the contrary , they dishonour or affront him , avatice prompts him to commit some inexcusable fault , and so he brings himself into perpetual infamy . ccx . ambition has so great an influence over the heart of man , that it keeps a perpetual possession thereof . the reason of it is , that mans disposition being naturally inclin'd to desire all things , and his desires always excessively surmounting the means of obtaining them , proves a continual occasion of discontent and repining . thence proceeds the variety of mens conditions , inasmuch as their labouring to augment , and the fear of losing what they are possess'd of , occasions quarrels , animosities , and wars , and those are the fore-runners of the ruine of one province , and the aggrandization of another . ccxi. that prince who would keep up his estate in a flourishing condition , will not only be careful in the removing of present scandals , but also use his utmost industry in providing against such as may happen . in regard that if he make timely provision against them , they are easily reform'd ; whereas if the evil be grown up to a head , the remedy comes too late . ccxii. it is not to be admir'd , that those princes who are very powerful and have a numerous issue should have their thoughts much bent upon war ; and that , either out of a motive of honour , or to make provision for their progeny , by military employments , or forreign governments , if they have colonies in remote parts of the world ; or lastly to prevent the disturbances which may be occasion'd by the different pretensions of younger brothers . ccxiii. the wise servant ought to imitate the excellent physician , and foresee what he should hope or fear , neither hoping nor fearing more or less than is convenient , so that he may always know whether his hope be in its augmentation , or at its full height , or in its declining state , and accordingly prognosticate what he is to expect . being thus precaution'd , he will have his judgment as it were in his hand , not suffering it to be heightned by hope , or to be depress'd by fear : and so he will prudently manage the affairs of his master , whose advantage . he minds equally with his own repute , in the negotiation wherein he is employ'd . ccxiv. plato would have the devoir of a good citizen to consist in these four things ; to wit , that he should be prudent in diserning well what is most conducive to the common good , as well as to things present , as to come ; that he be just , in distributing to every one what is due to him ; that he be vertuous , in surmounting the fear which commonly obstructs he exercises of vertue ; and lastly , that he have an absolute soveraignty over his affections . ccxv . the shortest and surest way for princes to make a mutual discovery of their different designes , is that of ambassadors , especially if they be persons of great repute either upon the score of the grandeur of their masters , or that of their own vertue . for it being their business to treat always with great persons , and diligently to weigh the actions , deportment , words , and advices of those with whom they negotiate , and also those of the prince himself , they from the present conjuncture of affairs infer what is most likely to come to pass afterwards . ccxvi . when men propose to themselves the doing of some thing of great importance , they ought , with all the industry they can , prepare themselves for it , that when opportunity offers it self , they may be ready to put their design in execution . when therefore all the preparatives are cautiouslly made , there should be no discovery made thereof till the opportunity of action does it ; and then if there be a neglect in the execution , it argues that the persons concern'd therein were not sufficiently prepar'd , or wanted courage to carry it on . ccxvii . distributive justice in a political government ought to be regulated according to geometrical proportion , to wit , according to the quality of persons : otherwise , it is not justice : as we see , that infamy to a person of mean extraction amounts to little , but to one nobly descended , it is the most indigestible punishment . that magistrate therefore who proceeds to the cognizance of merits and miscarriages , favours and disgraces , by the same measure , not considering the diversity there may be between some persons and others , according to their several qualifications , is defective in the understanding of his duty ; in regard , that persons of noble birth are discourag'd by the ignominy of being reduc'd to an equal rank with their inferiours , and those , of the meaner sort , finding themselves treated as persons of better extraction , grow thereby the more insolent and insupportable . ccxviii . when the forces of a prince are regulated by prudence and conduct , they do admirable things , securing his own concerns , and those of his friends , causing confusion and astonishment to his enemies . ccxix. it may easily be observ'd by a person who shall examine things present with a reflection on the past , how that in all cities , and among all nations , there are now the same inclinations , and the same humours , as were heretofore . so that it is no hard matter , for such an examiner , from the things past , to foresee what may happen in any commonwealth , and consequently that prudence advises the practising of the same remedies which were used by the ancients . but in regard those considerations have either been neglected , or not fully comprehended by such as read , or if they have been read , they have not been understood by those who govern , it follows , that the same scandals and misgovernments happen at all times . ccxx . the only way to make a city flourish is to use all possible endeavours to supply it with inhabitants ; and that is done either by love or force . 't is done by the former , when the ways to it are free and secure to strangers who are desirous to make their habitations there ; by the latter , when the neighbouring places are destroy'd , and the inhabitants thereof obliged to transplant themselves thither . ccxxi . a small republick cannot safely be possess'd of a city that is stronger and greater than it self . for otherwise its case would be like that of a tree , whose branches being too weighty for its boal , weaken it so that the first blast of wind lays it on the ground . ccxxii . a prince or republick should submit to any terms rather than have recourse to that nation from which it hath assistance . for there cannot be a more plausible occasion for a prince or republick to possess themselves of a city or province , than when they send their forces for the defence thereof . ccxxiii. of all estates that is the most miserable , whether it be the case of a prince or republick , when they are reduc'd to such extremities , that they can neither accept of a peace , nor carry on a war. such is the condition of those who on the one side are over-crush'd by the conditions that are proffer'd them of a peace , and on the other being oblig'd to continue the war , are forc'd to become a prey either to those who are their auxiliaries , or to their enemies . ccxxiv. the welfare of a government consists in this that the subjects be so kept in , as that they have not the power , nor any reason to make a disturbance . and this is done , either by making all secure in depriving them of the means of doing evil , or gratifying them so well , as that they may not have any plausible reason to desire a change of government . ccxxv. the prince who is set upon by another greater than himself , can hardly commit a greater errour than to refuse all overtures of accommodation , especially when they are offer'd him ; in regard that what is proffer'd cannot be so inconsiderable but that some advantage accrewes to him who accepts of it , and is consider'd as part of a victory obtain'd by him . ccxxvi . among the marks whereby it may be known what condition a state is in , we are to consider the correspondence there is between it and its neighbours . for when it is so govern'd , as that its neighbours to gain its friendship become its pensionaries , it is a certain argument that such a state is in a flourishing condition : but when the neighbours that are inferiour to it , are as so many suckers thereto , perpetually draining its exchequer , it is a great sign of weakness or want of conduct , or corruption in the government . ccxxvii . men in their actions , especially those of importance , ought to consider , what is most convenient to be done , and to accommodate themselves to the present conjuncture ; for they who either through an unfortunate election , or out of a mutinous humour can admit of no acquiescence with the present time , live for the most part in a wretched condition , ever repining , and vainly expecting a change of affairs . ccxxviii . that some men are successful in their undertakings , and others not , it is to be attributed to their complyance or discomplyance with the time proper for the execution thereof . thence is it that we say some men proceed in their actions inconsiderately , and as if they were surprized , while others do nothing without a previous circumspection and scrutiny into all the particulars that may occur in their deportment . ccxxix . that commander who would have a city obstinately defend it self , or an army once engag'd to fight it out to the last man , ought above all things to insinuate into them a persuasion of the necessity there is of fighting . ccxxx . the wise chieftain who proposes to himself the conquest of a country or province , ought to measure the difficulties he may meet withal , by considering the necessity , which may force the inhabitants of the country to defend themselves , answerably to the greatness of the necessity in those who are to defend themselves against him , to make account that his expedition will be more or less difficult . ccxxxi . among other points of military discipline , a wise captain ought to be especially careful , what persons they are who take the word from him ; and to take order that his souldiers believe not any but their own officers , who are not likely to say any thing to them but what they are entrusted withal . for want of a punctual observance of this point , incredible disorders have many times happen'd . ccxxxii . in a military expedition , it is much better to send one single person , though endu'd but with ordinary prudence , than two together , though very valiant persons , invested with equal authority . cxxxiii . some cities and provinces , which have held out against all extremities of war , have been reduc'd by some extraordinay example of generosity , humanity , or chastity . of this there are many examples in the roman histories . ccxxxiv . he who is over-earnestly desirous of being lov'd , if he exceed ever so little in the artifices of insinuating himself , becomes contemptible ; and , on the contrary , he who is over desirous to be fear'd , if he exceeds the true measure , becomes odious . he who can observe a mean in these procedures must be a person of a great and exemplary vertue . ccxxxv . the only way to avoid the infamy or danger which is consequent to the giving of counsel , is , to take things moderately , to give advice without passion , and to defend it with modesty ; so that the prince or city , who receives and follows the advice may do it voluntarily , and not seem to be over-sway'd by the importunity of him who is consulted . ccxxxvi . the wise captain who has to do with a new enemy , whose reputation is great , should make a previous tryal of his souldiers , by small engagements with the enemy , before he comes to the hazard of a pitch'd battel , to the end that by such prelusory skirmishes there may be an abatement made of that terrour , which the noise and reputation of such an enemy might have rais'd in them . ccxxxvii . to use stratagems and circumventions upon all other occasions , raises a dislike of the person using it ; but in military concerns it is otherwise , in so much , that he who subdues his enemy by a stratagem , is as highly commended , as he that does it by force . ccxxxviii . a resolution taken up with too much precipitancy , or an over earnest affection , proves for the most part unfortunate . the former allowes not the time to ruminate on the things which are to be considered ; the latter takes up the mind so , that it heeds not any thing but what immediately press upon it . ccxxxix . a man is much more concern'd at a pleasure or dipleasure newly done him , than he is at a signal kindness , which he had receiv'd some considerable time before . thus a mans immediate exigences make a much greater impression upon him , than either the remembrance of that which is past , or the foresight of that which is to come . ccxl . besides many other misfortunes which must attend a prince who is neligent in the affairs of war , these two are most obvious , to wit , that he cannot be respected by the souldiery , nor repose any trust in them . to remedy this , there are two expedients ; one relating to the body , the other to the mind . the former requires the following of the noblest and most generous sort of exercises , such as hunting , whereby his person is enur'd to the supporting of all inconveniencies , and he is enabled to observe the advantages and situation of places . the latter consists in the reading of histories , and , in them , reflecting on the actions of excellent men , and how they demean'd themselves in their wars , examining the occasions of their victories , or losses , and above all , in imitating those whose great characters time has transmitted to us . ccxli. it is greater wisdom for a man to be accounted poor , though some shame be consequent thereto , provided he do not incurhatred or contempt , than to gain the title of a liberal person by rapine and injustice , which are ever attended by infamy and aversion . ccxlii. he who thinks to advance himself by his dependence on a great person , and is desirous to be employ'd by him , ought to keep as much as he can possibly in his presence . for ever and anon , there happen occasions , wherein he recommends some affair to him who is next at hand , which he would not do , if the other were to seek : and he who misses the beginning of his advancement does many times forfeit his access to great things . ccxliii . in the particular accidents of war , chance ( which is commonly known by the name of fortune ) has a greater influence than in other humane actions . for the different situation of places , the advantages of encamping , the diversity of the air , diseases , want of mony , scarcity of provisions , spies , guides , false intelligence , the contrivances of publick ministers , and divers other things occasion an infinite variety in the occurrences of war. ccxliv . it is more probable , that an experienc'd sea commander , who has ben accustom'd to fight against winds , waves , and men , should make a good captain at land , where he has only men to deal withal , than that a land-captain should make a good commander at sea. ccxlv . those very persons , who attribute most to vertue or prudence , only that they might exclude what is attributed to fortune , cannot deny but that it is an extraordinary chance , for any man to live and flourish at such time , when those vertues are in esteem for which he is most recommendable , or to be concern'd in such an occasion , as where they are most necessarily to be practis'd . ccxlvi . the ministers and favourites of princes , if they are wise , ought to procure all the fair correspondence that may be between them and their neighbouring princes , and withal to raise in them a tenderness and affection for their subjects . ccxlvii. it being every mans case at some time or other to stand in need of anothers assistance , where there is no precedent obligation upon the score of benefits receiv'd , nor any consideration of intimate friendship , or allyance , the person solliciting ought , for this reason , to make it appear , that such his request is of great advantage , or at least not any way prejudicial to him whom he expects liberally to grant his desire ; then he is to make him sensible , how transcendently he will be oblig'd to him . and where he cannot urge any thing of this nature , he ought not to be disgusted , if he does not obtain what he desires . ccxlviii . in all affaires , it is requisite first to use reason , and afterwards force . in military designes therefore , it is of greater concern to set ambushes for the enemy , than only to avoid his . the more a man governs himself by reason in any affair , the more he advantages himself . ccxlix . a man makes a greater complaint when an injury is done him contrary to reason , than when a violence is done him by force : for an injury has place between those who are otherwise equal in condition ; but force is a mark , that he who uses it is more powerful , than he on whom it is used . ccl . when we prepare our selves to go against our enemies , we should make account , that the preparatives on their side are as great as those on ours , not promising our selves any more success for the faults which we imagin they have committed , but rather presuposing , that having their senses , and judgment about them , they have provided for their affairs , as well as we have done for ours . ccli . a wise man ought not to conceal the advantageous advice which he has to give his country , meerly out of the uncertainty there is of its being put in execution ; for time will discover the integrity and prudence of him that gave the advice , and withal the temerity and extravagance of those who rejected it . cclii . though the act of clemency should prove beneficial to the person by whom it is exercis'd , yet does it sometimes tend to his prejudice . but this happens according to the subject on which it is exercis'd . for when it is done to a multitude , it proves so much the more beneficial , the more the obligation conferr'd thereby is multiply'd , it being in a manner impossible , that a numerous party having receiv'd a benefit , should conspire together to be ungrateful to so great a benefactor ; whereas one or few particular persons may be of so malignant a disposition , as to fall , immediatly after the reception of a great kindness , into that horrid vice of ingratitude . ccliii . the best way for a captain to inspire his souldiers with an obstinate resolution of fighting , is , to put them out of all hopes of safety , otherwise than by fighting . and that resolution is augmented in them by the confidence they have of their comanders experience , and the love they bear their country . divers other inducements may concur , but the most pressing consideration is that which forces them either to conquer , or dy . ccliv . the accomplishment of every enterprize is much more difficult than the beginning of it ; since the latter may be the effect of some lucky accident , but the former requires resolution , experience , and conduct . thus a vessel may weather out a tempest at sea , but when it comes near the port , the pilot shews the utmost of his skill by reason of the narrow passage into it . cclv. it is a great presumption , in any person , how much so ever he may imagine himself in favour with his prince , to be over-forward in giving him advice . for the reflectons of soveraigns being many times fixt upon things of a nature transcending the capacities of such as are about them , it happens , that they are secretly dissatisfy'd when they seem in some measure pleas'd . it is therefore the prudence of a courtier , to be alwaies so cautious , in offering his advice , as that there may be a presumptive probability , of it s not becoming prejudicial to the offerer . cclvi. when a person , who thinks himself in savour , is of a sudden discountenanc'd , he should not give the least admission to murmuring , disgust , or animosity ; but , reflecting on what might be applicable to him , upon the score of miscarriage , endeavour , by the arts of insinuation , and complaisance , to recover himself into his former station , in the princes affections . cclvii . there are two eminent requisites , in those , who are concern'd abroad , as publick ministers . for , if they do not give evident proofs of their vigilance , sedulity , and sufficiency , in managing the negotiations wherein they are entrusted , as also of their perspicacity , in foreseeing what influence they may have on posterity , there is a great deficiency in the discharge of the trust reposed in them . cclviii. the main design of government is prudentiallity carried on , and advanc'd , when there is an unanimity of counsels amongst those who have the administration of publick affairs . but when they are divided amongst themselves , and promote different interests , it argues a dangerous crisis . cclix . great are the calamities consequent to war. the treasury of the prince is exhausted : commerce is obstructed : and the devastations , committed in a short time , are not repair'd , without a subsequent peace , of many years continuance . and such must needs be the condition of the many countries , now the seat of the present war. finis . observations on the poems of homer and virgil a discourse representing the excellencies of those works; and the perfections in general, of all heroick action. out of the french, by john davies of kidwelly. comparaison des poèmes d'homere et de virgile. english. 1672. rapin, rené, 1621-1687. 1672 approx. 138 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 70 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2006-02 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a58062 wing r266 estc r217966 99829598 99829598 34038 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a58062) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 34038) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1998:3) observations on the poems of homer and virgil a discourse representing the excellencies of those works; and the perfections in general, of all heroick action. out of the french, by john davies of kidwelly. comparaison des poèmes d'homere et de virgile. english. 1672. rapin, rené, 1621-1687. davies, john, 1625-1693. [6], 128 p. printed by s.g. and b.g. and are to be sold by dorman newman at the kings-arms in the poultrey, and jonathan edwin at the three roses in ludgate street, london : 1672. a translation, by john davies, of the rapin, rené. comparaison des poèmes d'homere et de virgile. running title reads: observations upon homer and virgil. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng homer -criticism and interpretation -early works to 1800. virgil -criticism and interpretation -early works to 1800. epic poetry, classical -early works to 1800. 2005-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-09 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-10 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2005-10 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion observations on the poems of homer and virgil a discourse representing the excellencies of those works ; and the perfections in general , of all heroick action . out of the french , by john davies of kidwelly london ▪ printed by s. g. and b. g. and are to be sold by dorman newman at the kings-arms in the poultrey , and jonathan edwin at the three roses in ludgate street . 1672. there is in the press and ready to be published . the comparison of plato with aristotle , with the opinions of the fathers on their doctrine , and some christian reflections . judgment upon alexander and caesar as also ●pon sen●ca , plutarch , and petronius . and are to be sold by jonathan edwin at the three roses in ludgate-street . to the honourable sir john berkenh●a● master of requests to his majesty , master of the faculties , and one of the members of the honourable house of commons . sir , i here present you with a discourse on the poems of homer and virgil , the most accomplish'd productions of mans's wit in their kind , their excellency being such , that they have been the delight and admiration of all after-ages , and the models of all those who have since written upon the subject of heroick action . as to the former , you know , sir , what was said of him by alexander the great , that kings gave their votes for him , when hesiod had only those of the pesantry : not to urge that horace's eloge of him , when he said — nil molitur ineptè , was certainly the greatest could be given an author . and as to virgil , what can be imagin'd more remarkable , than that the romans , a people so intelligent , & such as numbred crowned heads amongst their subjects , should render him , one day , in the theatre , the same honours which they were wont to render augustus ; making thereby a publick acknowledgement of such a grandeur of genius , in that admirable person , as they thought worthy the respects due to scepters and diadems ? how intimately sir , you , are acquainted with these transcendent poets , all know that know you especially théy who reflect on your recesses during the late unparallel'd usurpations , when the envy'd ingenious had no other consolations , than those of poesy and philosophy . these observations of my author will haply recal to your mind some your self had made on this subject , which , had not the distractions of those times smother'd them , might have prevented the present addresse of these to you , from , sir , your most ●●●ble and ●●●h obl●●e● servant , jo. davies observations upon homer and virgil . observation i ▪ of the value of their several works . of all the productions man 's mind is capable of , the epick poem is doubtless the most accomplished , in regard it involves all the perfections of the others . this is the general sentiment of all the ‖ learned , though aristotle attributes the advantage to tragedy , as to the quantity , in as much as its parts being of less extent , and bearing a more equal and timited proportion , it is more proper to excite a less wearisome & less languishing divertisement . yet may it be affirm'd , that the other advantages , which the heroick poem hath over the dramatick , are so considerable , nay so much acknowledg'd such , that all allow it to be the most excellent and most transcendent of all humane productions . so that the poems of homer and virgil being , by the consent of all ages , the most perfect modells that ever appear'd in that kind of writing ; to judge which of them ought to be preferr'd before the other , is , in my opinion , to decide the most important question that can be advanc'd in matter of literature , and peremptorily to define upon the point of their highest grandeur and perfection . for never any equall'd the sublimity and loftiness of genius of those two great persons . this is the sentiment of ‖ one of the ablest criticks of the later ages , who calls these two authors the two chiefs and soveraigns of all the sciences : not to insist on the suffrage of two of the most learned and most judicious princes that ever were . for ‖ alexander , having found homer's iliads in a cabinet of darius , after his defeat , call'd it the richest and most exquisite work of mans wit : and augustus made it sufficiently appear that he had not ever esteem'd any thing comparable to the aeneids . by the impatience he was in to see it during virgil's life , and the care he took of it after his death . but not insisting , i say , on the authority of these two great and so intelligent princes , it may be said , that there never was any merit more universally celebrated then that of those great genii , nor any more unanimously acknowledg'd : * and there hath not risen up any one during the whole process of time since , that durst dispute it , without dishonouring himself , and , by so irrational a presumption , betraying his insufficiency and the weaknesse of his endowments . observ . ii. how these two poems are to be consider'd in order to a right judgement of them . among the learned of the latter ages , who have pretended to give their opinions of the poems of homer and virgil , and to make a parallel between them , the most considerable are macrobius , julius scaliger , and fulvius vrsinus . but as they have examin'd those works meerly as grammarians , so have they not judg'd rightly of them , having only apply'd their reflections to the externall and superficial part thereof , and sparing themselves the trouble of penetrating to the bottome . this defect hath hindred in a manner all the learned from judging rightly of them ; and the prepossession they had for homer hath dazled all those who pretended to the glory of being thought learned . for it is known , that they who affect the repute of being thought learned men imagine themselves the more considerable , i account it an honour to declare their judgment in favour of homer , and to give him the advantage over virgil. and they are of opinion , that it argues a certain discovery of greater sufficiency , to declare in favour of merit , which requires more capacity and attentive application to be known . and indeed as there is a greater depth of learning requisite to judge of homer then of virgil ; so men think themselves much distinguish'd from the common sort , in preferring the former before the latter , and , by that means , that they acquire a reputation of superiority in point of abilities , which highly satisfies the slight vanity of those who make ostentation of science . this is a prejudgment , which a man would do well to rid himselfe of , how great soever his ability may be . for one is many times more capable of judging when he thinks himselfe not to be so ; nay sometimes it is a certain assumption of authority for a man not to take it upon him , in as much as presumption ordinarily deprives the mind of the liberty of judging with absolute indifference , which is requisite for the well doing of it . this is the party it is my design to take , that so i may not expose my selfe to prepossession , if while i am desirous to examine things , i took the liberty to judge of them : but i declare that i only intend to propose my observations and scruples , upon the works of these two authors , yet so as to leave it to those who are more excellently qualify'd than i am , to make what decision they please upon my remarks . but to enter upon the discussion of the question , i shall not stick to make a previous acknowledgment , that homer has a much larger ground-work to build upon , than virgil ; that he hath a greater extent of characters , that he deciphers things much better ; that his representations are more accurate ; that his reflections are more moral and sententious ; that his imagination is more pregnant ; that he hath a more universal fancy ; that he is of all professions , poet , orator , mathematician , philosopher , astronomer , artizan , when he pleases ; that he has more variety in the disposition of his fable ; that he discovers more of that impetuosity , which makes the elevation of the genius ; that his expression is more pathetical ; that he is more fortunate as to his natural inclination ; that he is a poet upon the account of his temperament ; that his verses are fuller of pomp and magnificence ; that they more delightfully fill the ear by their number and cadence , to such as know the beauty of versifying . but after all this consider'd , it were only to judge of homer and virgil , only by what is most superficial in them , as the grammarians do , if one should frame his judgement on those considerations , since there are other more essential things in their works to be examined . to come then to a regular judgement of them , we must begin with an enquiry , what an epick poem is , what is its matter , its form , its end , and its other parts . the epopoea , saith ‖ aristotle , is an imitation , or a draught or portraiture of an illustrious action . it has that common with tragedy ; yet with this difference , that the latter imitates by representation , and the former by narration . so that its matter is heroick action ; its form , fable ; its end , the instruction of princes and grandees . let us now examine the poems of homer and virgil , according to these rules and principles ; and that we may not be mistaken , let us not look on those great works by fragments ; let us not examine those two authors , by their descriptions , similitudes and epithetes : that is onely the superficial part of them ; let us search into what is essential therein , as to the design and execution . to do it methodically , let us reflect on the order of the parts of the epick poem , which ‖ aristotle gives us some account of , to wit , fable , manners , sentiments , and words , let us compare homer and virgil by those rules , and according to that order . observ . iii. the fables of the iliad and the aeneid compar'd . let us begin with fable , which is the first of the parts of the epick poem , and consider that of the iliad , and that of the aeneid , as they both ly naked without the episodes or digressions thereof . the fable of the iliad is , that one of the chieftains of the grecian army being malecontent and disgusted by the general , retires from the camp , without hearkning to his duty , reason , or friends ; deserts the publick interest and that of the state , to comply with the impetuosity of his resentment ; he abandons himself to grief in a solitary retirement . his enemies make their advantage of his absence , and grow too powerful for his party ; they kill his best friend ; he takes up arms again to revenge his death ; and passion makes him do what reason had not been able to get from him ; and in fine , he kills the head of the adverse party . this is the fable of the iliad , abstracting the episodes , and despoil'd of all its ornaments . that of the aeneid is this . a prince forc'd to fly by reason of the ruine of his country , comes to seek up and down the world for another establishment ; he makes his gods and his father the companions of his flight . the gods , moved with that piety of his , concern themselves to establish him in the noblest country in the world ; and he becomes the founder of the most flourishing empire that ever was . let us make a comparison between these two fables , and compute the grandeur of the two heroes by that of their actions . the action of achilles is ‖ pernicious to his country , and his own party , as homer himself acknowledges : that of aeneas is advantageous and glorious : the motive of the former is a passion , that of the latter , a vertue : the action of achilles is the occasion of the death of patroclus , his best friend ; the action of aeneas is the occasion of the liberty of his gods , and that of his father , and of the safety of those who were with him : the one is heroick , that is , above the ordinary vertue of man ( so ‖ aristotle defines heroick vertue , in his ethicks ) : the other is not so much as rational , and implies in it self a character of ferocity , which , according to the same aristotle , is the vice opposite to heroisme , if we may use that term . for as heroisme is above man , so its contrary is below him . the action of aeneas has a more perfect end than that of achilles ; it puts a period to affairs by the death of turnus ; that of achilles puts no period to them . the siege of troy lasts a whole year after hectors death ; which occasioned quintus calaber , and an egyptian named tryphiodorus , authors of no mean note , to observe , that the iliad is imperfect , because they are not terminated by hector's death , but his death made an obstacle to that termination ; and consequently , which way soever we look on the aeneid , we find , that its end is much more fortunate and fully compleat than that of the iliad . but if we be at the trouble to consider how much conduct , invention , perspicacity , and wit , must club together , in the choice of a subject that derives the romans from the blood of the gods , particularly augustus , who reign'd during the poets life , and whom he so delightfully flatters with the promise of an empire that was to be eternal ; what beauty , what grandeur , what an insinuation of divertisement , what excellency do we not find in the admirable choice with virgil has made ? and what is there to be found comparable thereto in that of homer ? for as never any author more honour'd his country by his works than virgil has done his , by attributing to the romans a divine extraction , and an eternal posterity according to the decrees of the destinies ; so it may be said of homer , that he has disgraced his country , in taking for his hero , a person who occasioned the ‖ destruction of so many heroes , whom he sacrificed to his grief and discontent . which gave plato occasion so much to blame hat anger of achilles , the consequences whereof were so prejudicial to the greeks : l' ira di achille , fù con amaritudine ripresa da platone : the anger of achilles was sharply reproved by plato , as tasso hath observ'd after him in his opuscula . yet to excuse homer , for his having made that passion the subject of his poem , it may be urg'd , that the animosities of the ancient heroes , before the affability and meekness of christianity had been preach'd , was not either a weakness or defect , as tasso seems to insinuate , in his dialogue of vertue ; il souverchio dell ' ira fù attribuito a hercole , achille , aiace , & altri heroi . et alessandro per ammaestramento filosofico , non pote tener laa freno , quantunche alcuna volta vincesse il piacere come dimostro doppo la morte di dario , nel respetto portato a la moglie , e a la madre : a certain transcendency of anger was attributed to hercules , achilles , ajax , and other heroes . and alexander himself , notwithstanding all his documents of philosophy , could not bridle that passion , though sometimes he master'd his concupiscence , as he shewed upon the death of darius , in the respect he bore to his wife and mother . but as the same plato tells us , that anger is not vertuous , but when it takes up arms for the defence of reason , so is it to be inferr'd , that that of achilles was not upon any account a vertue , since it was far from being rational , as tasso sayes in the second book of his opuscula : pare che homero con la persona di agamemnone ci metta inanzi a li occhi una figura della ragione depra●ata : e con quella d' achille l' imagine dell ' ira smoderata , & trapassante ●termini presscritti della ragione : it ap●ears , that homer , in the person of agamemnon sets before our eyes an image of deprav'd reason ; and in that of achilles that of an excessive anger , and such as ●ranscends the prescribed bounds of reason . thus is the matter or subject of virgil's poem more happy , nay , and more advantageous , both to himself and his country , and consequently his choice more prudent and judicious than that of homer . observ . iv. a comparison made between the two heroes : achilles and aeneas . the action of achilles importing somewhat more of marvellous , than that of aeneas , in regard it is managed by him himself , without any assistance or company , and that his presence in , or absence from the army occasions all the advantages and disadvantages of his party , every one wil● be apt at the first sight to give it the preference . but it will not be so when a man takes the leasure to look into things more narrowly , and more strictly examines these two great heroes ▪ the first observation to be made i● order to the clearing of the point , is that it is likely it was not homer intention to give us , in his hero , the idea of a great captain , or an accomplish'd prince ; but to shew how prejudicial discord is in any party , and so to make a draught of an action at the same time , both dreadful and miraculous . this is the opinion of tasso in his opuscula : per ció fare l'idea di una terribile et mara●igliosa attione . wherein he did not as xenophon did , who , describing his prince , the grand cyrus , to make an absolutely accomplish'd person , confin'd himself not to the truth of things , but to the idea in general , of a compleat prince , according to ‖ aristotle's precept , who would have the poet , in the representation and descriptions he makes , imitate , not such as are like , nor yet such as have any imperfections , but the most perfect in their kinds . and * plato teaches that imitation is not to be made , but from the things that are most accomplish'd . besides as the image , in a just and regular imitation , ought to be like the original ; so ought not this original to be any one man or prince in particular , but the idea of a prince or accomplish'd person in general . according to this model hath plato describ'd the perfect idea of a just man ; xenophon , that of a prince ; and cicero , that of an orator ; by attributing to each what was most transcendent and accomplish'd in the idea which he fram'd to himself thereof . and hence it is apparent , not only that homer followed not that maxime in framing his hero , since he has made him subject to great weaknesses and notorious imperfections , instead of inserting into the idea , which he pretends to give of him , the consummation of all the vertues , according to the advertisement of paul beni in his academicall discourses : nel poema heroico conviene esprimer l'idea di perfettissimo capitano : ò vero formar heroe in cui sia il colmo di tutte le vertù militari e ciuili . in an heroick poem , t is requisite to expresse the idea of a most perfect captain , or to forme such an hero in whom should be the height of all vertues military & civil . and this is a very considerable advantage that virgil had over homer . for whereas the latter had not , for the making up of his hero , any other idea then that of the vertue of hercules , theseus , or some other person of the primitive times , who were celebrated only for their strength and vigour , it is no wonder if there be such a defect of morality in the hero he hath given us , considering the time wherein he fram'd him : there being not then either in history or books any idea of moral vertue . and whereas men knew not of any greater enemies to oppose , than monsters and wild-beasts , there needed only bodies and armes to pretend to the title of hero. they knew not then that there were some dangerous and terrible enemies , to wit , their passions and their own desires , and moderation and justice were not as yet vertues much known in the world . thus virgil , besides the advantage he had of framing his heros out of the two heroes of homer , that is , the valour of achilles , and the prudence of vlysses , had also the opportunity to adde thereto the gallantry of ajax , the wisedome of nestor , the indefatigable patience of diomedes , and the other vertues , whereof homer sets down the characters in his two poems : to all which reuniting yet further the other vertues which he had observed in all other illustrious men , as themistocles , epaminondas , alexander , hannibal , ingurth , and a thousand other forreigners , as also in horatius camillus , scipio , sertorius , pompey , caesar , and a great number of others of his own country . had he not a ground-work infinitely greater to fancy to himself an accomplish'd hero than homer had ? thus did the painter zeuxis finish that famous picture of helena , which he had undertaken , and was the admiration of his age , much more happily , and after a more compleat manner , than apelles did that of venus ; inasmuch as zeuxis fram'd his idea from all the perfections he had found in the rarest beauties of his time , whereas apelles would frame his only from his own pure imagination , which he found to fall short in the execution ; so that he was forc'd to leave his piece imperfect , as being of opinion , that he was not able to finish it as he had begun it . this inequality in the subject whereof i treat will appear yet much more evident , if we but take the pains to compare the pourtraicture which horace hath left us of achilles , with that which virgil makes of aeneas . achilles is a bravo , but withal a hasty , impetuous , furious , passionate , violent , unjust , inexorable one , a contemner of lawes , and one that places all his reason in the sword he wears by his side ; ‖ impiger , iracundus , inexorabilis , acer , jura negat sibi nata , nihil non arrogat armis . besides those excellent qualities , which certainly are not very heroick , he is cruel towards the body of hector , so far as to take a pleasure in exercising his vengeance upon it , and out of an un●xampled avarice he sells to the afflicted father , the body of his son . i shall not say any thing of his quitting ( with a lightnesse not to be pardon'd ) that great and generous enterprise made by a general combination of all greece , upon the occasion of a she slave , for whom he abandons himselfe to tears and complaints , with so many discoveries of weaknesse . in fine , this hero of homer , whose repute is so great , and so highly celebrated through all ages , is but an epitome of imperfections and vices . but on the contrary , virgil makes a conjunction , of all the vertues to frame his : he gives him religion towards the gods ; piety , towards his country ; tendernesse and friendship for his relations and equity and justice , towards all . he is undaunted in danger , patient in labours , courageous when occasion requires , prudent in the management of assaires . in sine he is a good peaceful , liberal , eloquent , gentile , civill person ; his very aire makes a certain discovery of grandeur and and majesty ; and that he may not be destitute of any one of those qualifications which might contribute to the accomplishment of a great person , he is fortunate . ilioneus gives dido a character of him in these two verses , which may be confronted to those two of horace , wherein achilles is describ'd ; rex erat aeneas nobis , quo justior alter nec pieiate fuit , nec bello major & armis . these are the three soveraign qualities which make up his essentiall character , religion , iustice , and valour , and which were those of augustus , whose pourtraicture , virgil drew in the heroes he dedicated to him , as monsieur de segrais hath well observ'd in the learned preface to his traduction of the aeneid : which is one of the most subtle and ingenious flateries that ever were : wherein happen'd to him , what ‖ pliny said somtime after with so much smartnesse in his panegyrick to the emperor trajan : for ovid tells us that piety was one of the eminent qualities of augustus , who made it so much his care to reestablish the temples at rome : † sub quo delubris sentitur nulla senectus , nec satis est homines , obligat ille deos. so that out of the vertues of augustus , and an infinite number of perfections distributed and scattered among divers other heroes , virgil fram'd his ; in as much as the true heroick vertue is a combination of all the vertues , as aristotle affirmes in his ethicks . and indeed , if the pythagoreans would have a soveraigne , that he might deserve the preheminence over others , not only to be without any defect , but also absolutely accomplish'd in and possess'd of all the vertues ; with much more reason should a hero , who is the model according to which kings ought to regulate themselves , be a person of transcendent and consummate vertue . observ . v. which of the two heroes was most eminent , as to gallantry and valour . yet may we allow all these observations , without giving the preheminence to aeneas for the character of valiant , which homer gives achilles , which of all the characters implies most of the heroick humour , makes a great show , and is infinitely more accomplish'd than that which virgil gives aeneas , and denotes and distinguishes him much better from all those of his party , though all valiant . for there is nothing done without him , and he alone occasions the good and bad fortunes of his army . i must confesse the valour of achilles makes a greater noise and show then that of aeneas , in regard it is the only heroick quality homer gives him , and by which he distinguishes him ; and so itis the more remarkable , being alone : and in aeneas , being attended by many others , it is so much the lesse observable , inasmuch as the lustre of it is confounded with that of all his other qualities . we find in achilles only the hero of homer , but in that of virgil , we have menelaus , agamemnon , vlysses , ajax nestor , diomedes , and achilles himself , if we follow virgil but any thing closely through all the transactions he makes him go through in the second book of aeneids nay it may be affirm'd , that if we can exactly distinguish between true valour and temerity , and shall have well observed the circumference which aristotle , in the ethicks attributes to the magnanimous person , we shall find that virgil exalts the valour he attributes to aeneas as far as it ought to go ; but we must take the leisure to make an attentive reflection thereon , to find that character in him , and ought not to suffer any of all the circumstances , wherewith he endeavours to prepossesse our minds , to escape our observance . in the first place he brings in aeneas advertis'd by hector , who appears to him after his death , that the greeks have supriz'd troy , that they are masters of it , and that its destiny is to be destroy'd . this advertisement coming from a deceas'd person , religion renders his testimony sacred ; and to take him off from all endeavours to defend it , he assures him , that he had done the utmost he could by his courage ; sat patriae priamoque datum est — he might have contented himself with ●hat , being inform'd by so sacred a ●estimony of the will of the gods ; but ●waken'd by the noise of the sacking of the city , and the conflagration of the neighbouring houses ; he goes up himselfe to the top of his house to discover the cause of that noise and disorder ; and his apprehensions prompt him to take armes , and die for his country ; — pulchrumque mori succurrit in armis . the danger startles him not , though he were alone at his going forth arm'd out of his house . without consulting his own people he runs to the place where the tumult was , the confusion of a surpriz'd city , and the most pressing exigency , that could be , call him away ; in flammas & in arma feror — having in his way met with choroebus , dymas , and hypanis , with some others whom he knew , he leads them on , and animates them by his example ; moriamur & in media arma ruamus — he with his own hands kills androgeos , one of the most forward of the enemies commanders ; he makes a great slaughter of the greeks , with a handful of his own people ; he and they take up the arms of the slain to disguise themselves ; which proved so successeful , that he forc'd some out of the city , and pursues them flying , quite to their ships ; diffugiunt alii ad naves , & littora cursu fida petunt — but orepress'd by number , dymas , hypanis , and his other friends , being killed by his sides , he runs to the palace , where the danger was greatest , and attaques it with all his might , in hopes to rescue the king and all of the royal family ; instaurati animi regis succurere tectis . he comes thither too late , the greeks had put all within it to the sword , and , being the only person left of his party jamque adeo super unus erami — and finding himself deserted by all , there being not any thing left in the palace , that might occasion his stay , after he had seen the king , the queen , and her daughters slaughter'd , he runs to his own house , to spend his own life , in defending that of his father . but his mother venus stops him in his way , and opens his eyes to let him see , that it is against the gods he thinks to fight , and that they are the destroyers of troy , and not only the greeks ; — mixtoque undantem pulvere fumum neptunus muros , magnoque emota tridenti fundamenta quatit ; totamque a sedibus urbē eruit . hic juno scaeas saevissima portas prima tenet , sociumque vocans a navibus agmen . ferro accincta vocat — &c. jupiter and pallas are also against him . so that aeneas , who saw them , might have contented himself , without pursuing things any further ; it had been an impiety , and not a mark of valour to stand out longer against so many gods combin'd together . yet being come to his house , which he did only in order to the defence of his fathers life , though with the loss of his own , and perceiving he would not survive the destruction of his country , he arms once more at least , to go and court a glorious death ; hic ferro accingor rursus — and there must be prodigies from heaven , and advertisements from the gods themselves , ere he will be diverted ; — subitoque fragore intonuit laevum , &c. — anchises himself is the interpreter of them , and aeneas could not submit to any thing but that ; cessi , & sublato montem genitore petivi , t is not to men , but to the gods only that he yeilds ; i am in doubt , whether gallantry can be advanc'd any higher ; and yet this is but the beginning , and the first essay of that of aeneas : all the courageous actions he performs in the sequel of the aeneid bear the character of his valour : which will appear miraculous even in these times , wherein that excellent name is without any distinction bestowed on the most temerarious sallies and eruptions of fury and brutality . from these observations it will be no hard matter to judge , which of the two heroes , achilles and aeneas is the most compleat and accomplish'd ; which is one of the most essential parts of the poem . i come to the second , which is the disposition of the fable . observation vi. of the disposition of the fabulous part of the two poems . the disposition or distribution of the fable consists in three things , to wit , the natural deduction or consequence of the principal action , and all the matters which compose it ; an exact intermixture of what is probable and what miraculous ; and the marshalling and correspondence of the episodes or digressions , with the principal action . these three qualities , which comprehend the distribution of the fable , by aristotle , called the ‖ constitution of the things are so essential to the poem , that it cannot be absolutely compleat without them . the first is the action , which ought to be entire , and perfect , according to the advice of aristotle : that is to say , as he explains it , such as hath a beginning , a middle , and an end . horace would have these parts to have a certain proportion and connexion among themselves ; primo nè nedium , medio ne discrepet imum and these are the observations which may be made upon our poems as to this point . if the action and principal subject of the iliad be the war of troy , according to the sentiment of ‖ horace , a great master in that art , who calls homer trojani belli scriptorem , and that of many others ; that action is defective and imperfect , for that war has not , in the iliad , either beginning or end ; and it would be as it were a statue which should have neither head nor foot . so that we might apply to that work this verse of horace ; † infelix operis summâ , qui ponere totum nesciat — but if it be the anger of achilles , as it is more likely , and as homer himself acknowledges by his proposition ; that anger has indeed a beginning ; but it has neither end , nor middle : for it is thrust out of doors by another animosity of the same person against hector for the death of patroclus . so that there are two angers , one upon the losse of his friend , the other upon their taking away of his mistresse . but the greatest defect is , that the rest of the poem has no connection with that anger ; and homer , during the space of eighteen books , thinks no more of it , as if he had clearly forgot his proposition and designe , which like a starre should regulate the course of it , or be as it were a compasse which a man cannot have out of his sight but he must deviate . during that long intervall he speaks only of sieges , battells , surprises , consultations of the gods , and all relates to the siege of troy. which occasion'd horace's being of opinion , that the subject of the iliad is the war of troy , according to the very name it goes under . and so which way soever we look on that poem , it will appeare defective in that part nor is the odyssey an action , any way more perfect than that of the iliad . it begins with the voyages of telemachus and ends with those of vlysses . all is made for telemachus in the four first books ; menelaus , nestor and the other grecian princes relate to him the adventures of troy ; all relate to that , there 's no thought at all of vlysses ; which made paul beni affirme in his academical discourses upon homer and virgil , that the fable of the odysses is clearly double ; e chiaramente provato che l'odisse a contenga due peregrinationi , e in somma sia di doppia favola . not that i absolutely allow it to be so ; yet i stick not to pretend , that it is hard to find therein the principal action very regularly carried on , and according to the proportions requir'd by horace , in the forementioned precept for the natural connection of the parts . nay this very voyage of telemachus bears not any proportion to that of vlysses , which is the principal action . it contributes nothing at all , nay not so much as to minister any occasion for his returne , which is brought about by the disposition of iupiter and the assistance of the phenicians . which made beni say , that the four first books of the odyssey are neither episode nor part of action , nor have any connection with the rest of the work . take them as they are , one knows not what to make of them . the aeneid , methinks , is not chargeable with that defect . aeneas leaves phrygia , makes his voyages , and settles himself in italy ; all is consequent in that designe , and all relates to the establishment of a new empire , which is the true subject of the poem . and virgil prosecutes it to the design'd mark without digressing to what hath no relation thereto . semper ad eventum festinat , & in me diasres non secus ac notas auditorem rapit — hor. he is also more happy than homer in the distribution of the particular matters and occurrences which relate to the general disposition of his poem . and it is this distribution and this disposition of things which makes that admirable regularity , and that proportion ; wherein alone consists the perfection of a great work , which is neither beautiful nor compleat any further then there is that correspondence between its parts . which occasion'd beni's observation in his academical discourses , that the perfection of a poem ought not to be computed by the beauty of one , or several parts , but by all together : non dee stimarsi l' excellenza del poema da una sola circostanza o parle , ma da tutte insieme . this regular proportion of the parts , and the exact rapport there ought to be between them , seems to be incomparably better observ'd in the aeneid , than the iliad ; for there , every thing is introduc'd in its order and place , and no man ever better follow'd that distribution of matters , and that series of events then virgil has done . thence horace recommends it above all things to the poet , ‖ vt jam nunc dicat , jam nunc debētia dici . insinuating that all the excellency and perfection of a work consists in that order ; adding * ordinis haec virtus erit , & venus — in regard the grace and divertive satisfaction in a work cannot proceed from any thing but that distribution . and not to dilate here , upon what may be particularly and minutely observ'd therein , i shall only make a transient comparison between the games or divertisements , which achilles makes in the 23. book of the iliads upon the death of patroclus , and those which aeneas makes for the apotheosis of anchises in the 5. of the aeneids . games may be numbred among those actions which may occurre in the lives of heroes , and be so introduc'd into the matters of the heroick poem , in regard they are occasions of magnificence , which is one of the qualities that make up the hero. virgil makes his in the v. of his aeneids , first to divert the imagination of his reader from the mournfull object of dido's death , which he had represented in the fourth book , and which had something of savagenesse in it ; secondly to divert himself by the diverting of his hero ; and these are of those sorts of pleasures , which , to be receiv'd well ought to come in , in their place . ‖ ne spissae risum tollant impunè coronae . if virgil had not plac'd his games well in the second or third book ; it had been to take breath too soon , as homer does it too late in the 23. of the iliad . the time is elaps'd ; 't is unseasonable ; people are quite tir'd out ; he should not have amus'd himself being so neer the cloze of it . 't were much at one , as if a traveller earnestly desirous to returne from the indies to paris , after he had spent two years in his voyage , should trifle away a whole month at dieppe , in playing at tick-tack , or seeing playes . this would argue a strange want of judgment . and this we must seriously say of homer , that he might have been more serious towards the end of his work , and in all likelihood he ought to have been a little weary , and not have diverted from making up to his final stage , being got so neer it . there are abundance of things utterly incredible in the representation of those games . the surveyors or judges make discourses in them , which tire out and exhaust the patience of the readers . the second part of the disposition which is the just intermixture and attemperation of what is miraculous with what is probable , is also essentiall to the epick poem , which ought to have somewhat admirable in it , to move the hearts of grandees for whom it is writ , that they may be animated to great things : but with this caution , that it ought also to be probable , so to avoid giving an absolute check to their emulation , and in fine running them into despair . truth it self which the historian ought strictly to enquire into , being sometimes too strong to be imitated , is not alwayes so convenient to be the matter of the epick poem , as probability , which has a greater proportion to things than men are wont to make . for example the action of sampson , who defeated the philistins with the jaw bone of an asse , is an heroick action ; yet can it not be the subject of an epick poem . for though it bee true , yet is it not likely to be so ; and consequently it is too miraculous to be propos'd for imitation ; we are therefore to avoid that excesse by a just attemperation of probability , without which all becomes fabulous and incredible , and makes no impression on mens hearts , which cannot endure to be mov'd at any thing but what seems possible to them . let us see whether homer hath been more fortunate in the observance of this rule , than of that i spoke of last . he insists ▪ so little on the probable part , and so far expatiates in the miraculous , out of an excessive earnestnesse to be alwayes thought admirable and to hurry mens minds along with him , that he does not leave any thing to be done by reason , or passion , nor indeed by nature ; all is done by machines and engines . if priamus hath lost hector , there is a necessity of jupiter's sending the goddesse iris , his messenger , to give him an advertisement that he should take a care of his sons body , and redeem it from achilles . could not his father , who had so great a tenderness for his son , and was so superstitious to observe the ceremonies perform'd at funeralls , and was so loath that precious depositum should be left to the mercy of the birds , think of it himself ? there must be a machine to put him in mind that he is a father . if telemachus in the odyssey go to find out vlysses in the courtes of greece he cannot stir a foot forwards without the assistance of minerva , she is his guide wherever he goes , his remembrancer of all things ; he does not do or think of any thing himself , he is a great child , whom a governesse leads up and down , by the sleeves . should not honour , duty , nature have mov'd his heart , and have rais'd a litle disquiet in him for an absent father , and that near the space of eighteen years , but there must be a necessity of another's help and a recourse to the machine ? nay this very machine hath not any appearance of probability , in as much as minerva conducts telemachus to seek for vlysses all over greece , save only to the place where he is , which she ought not to have been ignorant of , upon the score of her divinity , from which nothing should be conceald . and yet this is homer's method , who to be alwayes vaulting and jumping , that he might be every where the more wondred at , would do all things by extraordinary waies . it may be said , that he makes his gods such as are to be daily employ'd , and orders them , as those among the comedians who are to act any part . mercury becomes coachman to priamus , to carry him to achilles , to demand the body of his son ; and least he should be expos'd to the scouts in his way to the grecian campe , iupiter makes use of the same mercury , and his ministery , to set them asleep : and to prepare achilles's heart by some sentiment of compassion , thetis , his mother , must go and prevent him , and dispose him thereto by jupiter's order . in fine the ‖ gods are employ'd to do all things ; there 's no regard had of their rank , nor the peace and tranquillity of heir condition . they are so many galley-slaves to be put upon any work . this is not the aire of virgil , who so religiously observes what horace hath since advis'd , that the gods be not brought into the action , if the thing do not deserve it . nec deus intersit , nisi dignus vindice nodus incide●it — and thus does that judicious poet introduce mercury in the fourth of the aeneids , to satisfy aeneas , who was in a terrible perplexity . the promise he had made to dido detains him at carthage ; the destinie of his son , and that empire of the whole world promis'd by the gods , presse his departure thence . he is troubled on the one side to be chargeable with a defect of fidelity towards dido , and on the other , of submission to the gods. there must come another from above and it must ‖ be some superiour power to deliver him out of so strange a trouble . there is a necessity that a god should speak to surmount his difficulty and break that engagement . mercury does it the same may be said of the adventure of aeneas in the first of the aeneids . 't is not a shepherd or a huntsman that serves him for a guide , in the wandring condition he was in , which was naturall enough ; but venus appears to him , acquaints him what country he is in , and with the adventure of his companions , whom he thought lost , and shews him the wayes . for such was the conjuncture of things then , that it was necessary it should be a divinity to raise up aeneas's courage who had suffer'd extreamly in a dreadful tempest , who had seen some ships of his fleet cast away , and had been forc'd by the storm upon a desert shore , destitute of all humane relief and reduc'd almost to despair . it was fit the poet should not leave him in that extremity : nay it was likely the gods ought in some measure to concerne themselves for him , since his piety made him so careful of their interest , and since they were the companions of his exile and flight ; and decorum requir'd that it should be his mother who appear'd in it , and should make it her businesse to encourage him , especially after she had been inform'd by iupiter of his destiny . moreover , besides that all these machines and contrivances of virgil are more grounded in reason and likelihood than those of homer ; you will find them lesse frequent , and lesse forc'd , if you take the leasure to examine them one after another . nay the very management of the ministery of the gods is much more suitable to their rank and condition , and incomparably more judicious in virgil then in homer , whom for that reason , dion chrysostome calls the ‖ greatest impostor in the world , and that in the things most hard to believe . we may adde further , according to tasso's remark in his opuscula , that virgil had the happiness to embellish his poem with a kind of the miraculous part , which homer notwithstanding all his affectation to find out such matter , never thought of : which is to bestow valor on women , and to make them fight , as camilla does in the eleaventh book , and that so effectually , which is a very great ornament of the aeneid . thus speaks tasso of it : niuna cosapar pui maravigliosa della fortezza feminile : virgilio occupo questa parte , della quale homero . s'era dimenticato . nothing seems more admirable than feminine fortitude ; virgil was master of this part , wherein homer was wanting : after the observation of dion chrysostome , who had observ'd it in his discourse of the affaires of troy. the third part of of the disposition is the intermixture of the episodes with the principall action . the episode is a kind of digression from the subject ; and consequently it ought ‖ not to be long , if there be a right observance of the proportions . it ought not to be forc'd , violently brought in , nor drawn from far , and so betray its disaffinity to the subject ; in fine it ought not to be too frequent , that it may not occasion a confusion of matters . homer begins his odyssey , which is his more perfect poem , by an episode of four books ; he recedes from his subject e're he was well gotten into it , and to make a regular structure he begins with a piece not suitable to the workes , according to the observation i have already made of it . has virgil any such thing in his episodes , which are so admirably proportionable to the subject , as is that of pallas and evander , that of nisus and euryalus , that of camilla and others ? nay that of dido which is the greatest and largest of them all , never excludes the person of the hero but it is he that spakes , and relates his own adventures : if he recedes ought from his subject , he still makes frequent returns upon himself ; a thing not to be found in the illiad or odyssey . achilles and vlysses , who are the heroes celebrated in them , are quite out of sight for the space of several books , and a man may travel a great way ere he can meet with them . i leave it to those who can better spare leisure , to examine , whether the episodes of homer are not more forc'd and lesse natural than those of virgil. what reference has the wound which mars received from diomedes to the anger of achilles ? homer expatiates upon that adventure in the fifth of the ilimars crying like a child and makes his complaint to jupiter , who unkindly entertains him with bitter railleries . however , to try all wayes , they think fit to send for paeon , the physician of the gods to cure him : the god , dess hebe concernes her selfe for him . the poet , who thinks the passage pleasant , prosecutes it with might and maine . he descends to obscenity , and would bee pittied , were it not for the respect wherewith men are possess'd for the grandeur of his genius . but to forbeare being too particular , which would be an endlessework we may say virgil never recedes from his subject , homer is for the most part at a distance from his ; and by the multiplicity and great traine of his episodes , he is continually hurried away with the impetuosity and intemperance of his imaginations , which he followes without any discretion or choice . he may be compar'd to those travellors , who have a great journey to go , yet every thing stops and amuses them . there is not a good blow given with a sword in the heat of an engagement . , but he must take occasion thence to tell stories and derive genealogies . observ . vii . of manners morality , or maners , ought to follow the disposition of the fable , according to aristotles design . it is the third quality of the poem , and it is not so much the morality of the poet himself that is to be understood by these manners , as that of the actors and persons who are to enter into the action . what a vast difference shall we find , as to this point ' between our two admirable poets ? in homer , kings and princes speak as scurrilously one of another as porters would do . agamemnon , in the iliad , treats chryses the high priest , as an extravagant and impious person , when he only demands , with much respect , nay with presents , his own daughter , which he had taken away from him . he told him , that he had no regard at all to the external marks of his priestood , whereby he ought to have gain'd his respect . nor does that priest speake afterwards like a good and vertuous man in the prayer he makes to apollo , wherein he desires him to destroy the greeks , that his resentment might be reveng●d . that is somewhat uncharitable , litle beseeming him , whose office it was to pray for the people , and the preservation of the state , according to his function of high-priest . achilles , in the nineteenth of the iliads goes to his mother thetis , to make her sensible of the fear he was in , that the flies might injure the body of his friend patroclus , then newly kill'd , and enter into his wounds , which might breed corruption , such as might render the body most deformed . is the same zeal against the flies a thing beseeming a hero ? and is he not an excellent poet who employes a divinity to drive them away ? vlysses , whom homer proposes as an exemplar of wisdome , suffers himself to be made drunk by the pheacians , for which aristotle and philostratus blame that poet. but what extravagance was it in that accomplish'd sage , so soon to forget his wife , a women so vertuous as she was , and his son who was so dear to him , to squander away so long a time in the dalliances of his prostitute calypso , and to run after the famous sorceres circe , and being a king , as he was , to abase himselfe so far as to go to fifty-cuffes with a pitiful raskally beggar named irus ? priamus , in the 24 of the iliad , does not speak like a father at all ; he cruelly all treats his other children , to expresse his griefe for the death of hector . he wishes them all dead , so hector were but alive again . his affliction might have been express'd some other way . i say nothing of the inhumanity of achilles upon the body hector , after his death , but only cite what cicero sayes of it trahit hectorem ad currum religatum achilles lacerari eum et sentire , credo , putat , et ulciscitur , ‖ ut sibi videtur . achilles , saith he , drags hector being fasten'd to a chariot , i suppose he conceives that he was torn and sensible of that treatment , and thinks that he is thereby reveng'd . this pleasure is not very heroick . the accidentall interview between vlysses and the daughter of alcinous in the 6. of odysseys is clearly against the rules of deceny ; and that princesse forgets her own modesty to give too long an audience to his compassion or curiosity . in fine there is but litle observance of decorum in homers poems : fathers are therein harsh and cruell , the heroes weak and passionate , the gods subject to miseries , unquiet , quarrellsome , and not enduring one another ; there being not yet any thing of that stoick philosophy , which zeno and his followers taught men since , to make them more rationall and perfect than the gods of the iliads and odysseys : whereas in virgil , every thing observes its proper character . drances and turnus quarrel there , but as persons of quality . the passion between aeneas and dido is indeed pursu'd to the greatest extremity ; yet is there not any violation of modesty , or of the rules of external decorum : nay the gods themselues are people of quality and good repute ; and whatever is essential as to devoir or decency is therein most religiously observ'd . for virgil had follow'd that admirable model which he had found in terence , of whom ‖ varro saies , that he had , as to morality and good manners , borne the advantage over cecilius and plautus who had bee eminent for other talents . but we must pardon this weaknesse in homer , who writ in a time when morality was hardly come to any perfection ; the world was yet too young to be imbu'd with principles of modesty and decorum . morality was more accomplish'd and better known in virgils time , in whom it was much more cultivated than in homer's . for virgil could not himself smother his sentiment as to the injustice of the civil war ; though it had occasion'd the establishment of the empire , and that of augustus fortune . he could not approve it , and as if his heart had been republicane even in monarchy , he condemnes it , but with the greatest caution and tendernesse imaginable , by cajolling even caesar himselfe , who was the author thereof ; tuque prior , tu parce , genus qui ducis olympo projice tela manu sanguis mens ! — so full was his morality of honour and uprightnesse , and so opposite to that spirit of flattery , which that of monarchy began to countenance . observ . viii . of sentiments . the sentiments , which are the fourth qualification of the poem , have so great a reference to manners that the principles of the one are those also of the other . nay it may be said , that the sentiments are in effect , but only the expressions of the manners . it is not therfore to be admir'd , if virgil have that advantage over homer , since he had , after so singular a manner , that of the manners . he has that obligation to the age wherein he writ , the spirit and humour whereof was much more just and polite than that of homer , who made it not so much his businesse to think well , as to speak well : for his sentiments are never so excellent as his discourses . and therefore i shall not stand to make a long parallel between them , but only a particular observation of some of the sentiments which homer attributes to his heroes , whence a judgement may be fram'd of the rest . agamemnon , in the first of the iliads , saies , that the reason obliging him to retaine chryseis , is , that he has a greater affection and esteem for her than for clytemnestra . a very kind husband ! to preferre a stranger before a princesse , who was his wife , and a well deserving person . nestor , in the 9 of the iliads , tells agamemnon , who desires his advice upon the distraction of affaires , by reason of the absence of achilles , that he will give him an incomparable counsell , and that never any person since the beginning of the world , hath given any that was more prudent and more excellent . the good man reads a lecture full of ostentation upon the chapter of prudence ; and indeed considering his reputation of being so wise a man , he might have been more modest and reserv'd . yet is not the counsell he gives him of so great account , since it amounted only to this , that achilles should be appeas'd , satisfy'd , and by plausible insinuations , oblig'd to return to the army . this argu'd not any great reach of policy ; a person of ordinary endowments might have given that counsel . antilochus , his son , in the 23. of the iliads , speaks to his horses , enters into a formal discourse with them , and conjures them to do their utmost to get the better of menclaus and diomedes , in the course which was to be run at the games , celebrated upon occasion of the death of patroclus . he excites them with the most pressing earnestnesse of discourse imaginable ; yet with very childish reasons , telling them that his father , nestor , will turne them out of his service , or get their throats cut , if they do not as they should do : in fine , he becomes a pathetick orator to brute beasts . true it is , that plutarch , in the discourse he made upon homer , excuses him for the liberty he took to make antilochus , in that passage , as also hector in another , speak to their horses , upon the score of his opinion of the transmigration of soules , which he had taken from phythagoras ; but i referre my self to that philosophy , whether it renders beasts lesse beasts than they were , and more capable of hearkening to reason . jupiter tells mars , in the fifth of the iliads , after diomedes had wounded him , that he could not endure him , that he deserv'd the misfortune which had happen'd to him , for haveing comply'd too far with the counsells of his mother iuno , whose humour was intractable . what kindnesses were these in the prince of the gods , towards his wife ? what consolation to his son mars who was then newly wounded ? we should never come to an end , if we minutely remark'd all . besides that , virgil is not subject to those weaknesses , he is alwayes serious , alwayes great , alwayes soaring on high , to keep up the heroick character : he does not abase himself to act the pleasant droll , nor fall down to a childish familiarity , contrary to the decorum of his rank , from which homer many times degrades himself . this latter puts off that air of majesty , which ought to be annex'd to his character ; he ever and anon falls into foolish freaks , by degenerating to the familiar way of talking , and turning things to an aire of divertisment : as when , in the 8. of odysseys . he entertains the gods at a comedy , some of whom he makes bouffoons , by introducing mars and venus surpriz'd in the nets lay'd for them by vulcan . the battell between irus and vlisses , in the 18. book savours strongly of the burlesque humour , as do also the character of thersitis , and the wounding of venus in the iliad . but to do homer all the right he deserves , we may justly affirm , that that weaknesse is not so much to be attributed to him , as to the age he liv'd in , which was not capable of any greater politenesse observ . ix . of words . the sentiments are the expression of the words , and the words that of the manners . in this part , which is the fifth , according to aristotle's order , homer triumphs , and is most accomplish'd there is no contesting with him as to this advantage , which he has over all the other poets , in such a manner as cannot sufficiently be express'd . t was also this admirable talent of wording well , that made sophocles , who passes for the model of tragedy , his perpetuall admirer and most exact imitator : which gave the critickes occasion to call him ‖ the great lover of homer . plato , for the same reason , in the 10. book of his republick , calls him the prince of heroick poets . pindar , in the 7. ode of the nemaean games , does not commend and admire him , upon any other account , than that of the loftinesse of his discourse . and longinus proposes him in his † treatise , as the most accomplish'd idea of a majestick stile . in fine it may be said , that it is upon this qualification he hath imposed upon all antiquity ; and that the elegance and excellency of his words and expressions was the charme and enchantment , whereby he merited the dmiration of all those who have had any acquaintance with literature , and that he hath engross'd to himselfe the esteem and consideration of all the learned . for whereas the diversion and lustre of poesy consists only in its expression , which is alwayes in a manner the most remarkable part of its beauty , homer , who hath excelled all poets in the riches , elegance , and grandeure of his , hath thereby merited , among the ablest persons , that admiration which all ages have had for him . t was this that put pindar , whom horace proposes to himself for a model , and all the greek lyricks , into a despaire of ever attaining the majesty of homer's verses ; pindarus novemque lyrici homericis versibus canere timnerunt . and paterculus hath this commendation of him in the first book of his history , fulgore carminum solus poeta appellari meruit ; and a litle after , mollissimâ dulcedine carminum memorabilis . t was for this admirable advantage , that lycurgus made so great ostentation of his poesy , in the oration he made against leocrates ; that aeschylus saies , in plutarch and athenaeus , that his tragedies are but the crums of homer's great banquets ; that plato affirms him to be the most accomplish'd and most divine of all the poets ; that aristides saies in the third tome of his orations , that no man ever spoke better ; that aristotle , in his treatise of poesy said , that he transcends all other in the height and grandeur of his expressions . socrates , in one of his epistles to xenopon ; xenophon himself , in his banquet ; democritus in dion chrysostome , aristophanes , in the froggs ; hierocles , in his fragments preserv'd by stobaeus-hermogenes , in his ideas ; philostratus , in his heroick images , theocritus , in his 16. idyll ; moschus , in his third ; plutarch , in the discourse he made upon homer ; dionysius halicarnassaeus , in the construction of names ; iamblichus , in the life of pythagoras ; origen against celsus , lib. 7. thucydides , in the funeral oration of pericles ; maximus tyrius , in his 16. dissertation ; lucian , in the elogy of demosthenes ; themistius , in his 16. oration ; theodoret in the second book de curandis affectibus graec. and abundance of others do all affirme the same thing . but all these great persons , whom i have named , gave homer these eloges , only upon the score of the beauty and luster of his discourse , for which he cannot be sufficiently commended . and it must be acknowledg'd , that , upon this advantage , which he hath in an eminent manner , he deserves to be preferrd before virgil ; though virgil be the most prudent , the most discreet , and the most judicious of all those that ever writ . observ . x. reflections upon the expression of homer and virgil. yet is there still somewhat to be further remark'd upon this expression of homer , the luster whereof hath so highly merited the esteem and applause even of all antiquity . transitions , which , upon the account of their character , ought to be very much varied , for the greater divertisement of the reader , are much alike , in the greatest part of his work . we cannot reckon up above twenty or thirty sorts in the whole extent of neere thirty thousand verses : and consequently one and the same connection , presenting it selfe ordinarily , is very apt to give disgust , by so frequent a repetition : which gave martial occasion to make a little sport at the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to say , that the latine muses are not so light and such libertines us the grecian ; qui musas colimus severiores . the comparisons , in the same work , are flat , forc'd , not very natural in some passages , never very excellent , though , in so great a number as there are of them , it is impossible but there should be some pertinent and suitable enough . i shall say nothing of that which is grown so famous for its bluntnesse , its undecency , and its meannesse , which is generally known to all , of the asse feeding in a wheat field , and which the children would drive out thence with poles and staves compar'd to ajax in the midst of an engagement orewhelm'd with a haile-shower of blowes by the enemies . i leave it to be imagin'd what a noble effect that should have in a production so grave and serious as that of the iliad ; and whether the draught and colours of this comparison afford a prospect any thing pleasant , whatever light it be turn'd to . for these are some grammarians , who set their wits on the rack to find some delicacy in it . yet shall not stick to acknowledge , that there are in this poet , some admirable comparisons , but very seldome to be met withall , wherein he exposes all that is imaginable of graces and beauty in the discourse and expression , and whereof virgil hath so admirably made his advantage , and which he hath so well plac'd in his work by assigning them his own air and light . descriptions , which are to be accounted , what is most childish and of least force in eloquence , are over-frequent in homers works , and spun out too much ; and they carry with them a certain air of affectation . the description of alcinous's garden in the seventh , and that of the port of ithaca in the thi●teenth of the odyssyes , are of that sort . the description of the port , and that of the grot inhabited by the nymphs , takes up eighteen verses , upon which porphyrius hath certain commentaries . that of virgil , where he describes mount aetna , in the third , consists only of three verses , though it might have given him so fair an occasion of dilating . true it is , the description of the port of lybia amounts to ten verses , and that of fame , in the fourth , to much more : but the former is pardonable , in regard it was requisite to give the readers mind some breathing-time , after that of the tempest ; and it is the greatest description of any place in the whole aeneid . and the second , which is the description of fame , is not the noblest part in that author . for he is reserv'd every where else , and does not fall into those childishnesses , which horace , in his art of poetry treats as insupportable in very serious matters . — cum lucus & ara dianae et properantis aquae per amaenos ambitus agros . aut flumen rhenum , aut pluvius describitur arcus . these descriptions of woods , temples rivulets , the rain-bow , and other pleasant things , have a smack of puerility , sayes that great man , and are no more suitable to great subjects , than a very rich and glittering stuffe , to another that is very simple and modest . incaeptis gravibus plerunque & magna professis purpureus latè qui splendeat unus & alter assuitur pannus — these far-fetch'd beauties never do well , in as much , as wherever they are plac'd , they cannot have any rapport to the rest , by the reason of their being too glittering ; non erat his locus — it must also be acknowledg'd , that homer is more admirable than virgil , in epithets and adverbs . this indeed is his master-piece never was there any imagination richer , or more happy , and it is but a raillery , to pretend that he repeats the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . there is no such thing , he is impos'd upon ; i have counted above twenty sorts of other epithets in the iliad , for achilles alone . virgil , in comparison , is poore as to those kind of ornamants , which proceed from the rich and fruitfull treasury of the greek tongue , which the latine has not . yet may it be said of this exteriour dress , what a certain person said , sometime since of a great courtier , who was a very handsome person , that , if his ranting sleeves and periwig , were taken off , he would be but as another man. for if we strip homer of his adverbs and epithets , he would come into the rank of ordinary poets . and that doubtless is the most ornamental part of him , and what makes up one of his greatest beauties . but it were not amiss , after all , to observe , that these epithets , which so much adorn him , are very simple , obvious , and ordinary . for without any more ado , he calls snow white ; milk sweet ; fire burning . he does seek so much delicacy therein as our young authors , who do not allow any epithets supportable , if they have not a kind of contrary or counter-signification to the words join'd with them , to give a more extraordinary aire to the discourse , and to make it glitter and sparkle by that opposition , of which the depraved taste makes a delicacy . for there are some who think it the pleasantest thing in the world to see those words join'd together , which cannot endure one the other . ovid , in his metamorphoses and heroick epistles , and velleius paterculus were the first that gave that false gusto to their age , which was so much a lover of simplicity . seneca would needs imitate them , with all the writers of declamations , the fragments of whom we read in his controversies ; but they did it without that distinctive precaution , which is observable in ovid and paterculus , who knew how to be thrifty in the disposal of those counterfeit pearles , lucan and tacitus made that character their particular study , and made an art of clinching or quibbling , which for the most part is only a game consisting of words opposite among themselves , such as superficial witts are so much enamour'd of . and in fine , 't was consequently to the propagation of this universal debauche , that the epigrams of martial , and the panegyricks of pliny , pacatus , and mamertinus came into play . not but that this kind of writing has its beauties , but they are like those of women who paint , and are forc'd to seek out exteriour and artificial ornaments , because they have not any naturall or reall ones . nor is it to be argu'd hence , but that an epithet which is smart , brisk , and well plac'd , is a marvailous ornament in a discourse , as that us'd by dido in her epistle to aeneas , exerces preciosa odia — in the heroick epistles of ovid , which alwayes call the most glittering par● in those works that are the pure productions of the mind , and whereto our poets will never attain ; and that which velleius paterculus gives to l. domitius , when he calls him eminentissimae simplicitatis virum , and abundance of others which may be found in those two authors . but whereas those kinds of expressions betray a certain luster , it happens , that some have not the moderation requisite in the cautious husbanding of them which they had . for the ordinary imperfection of those persons who have the talent of expressing themselves in a pleasant and facetious way , is that they are apt to speak too much , in regard they suffer themselves to be transported with the success they meet withal , accustome themselves thereto , and at length become disgustful and importunate , through an excessive passion they have to be alwayes divertive in their discourse . so that it were much better , in order to the preventing of this imperfection , and the more to keep themselves within the limits of sound sence , especially in a continued discourse , which ought to discover a certain character of grandeur and elevation , to forbear the use of those so far fetch'd epithets , and such as have a certain aire of mystery . those which are the most obvious and common , and which best expresse the nature of the things , are alwayes the most pertinent , such as are those used by homer . i must acknowledge that to do this , there is requisite a greater stock of prudence and discernment , than of wit and fancy but men never speak well , but when they think wisely , and such as do so , are never short of their reckoning , as the critick hath observed ; adeo nihil commodius est quam semper ●um sapientiâ loqui . which is to be understood , as much of the nature of ●he discourse , as of its morality . observation xi . how the character of homer is to be distinguish'd from that of virgil. whoever is desirous to judge with any kind of certainty of these two incomparable authors , must be very exact in discerning between their several characters , which are extreamly opposite . for if homer be observable in the inclination he has to speak much , virgil is remarkable for his inclination to be silent : and it is from this difference , that we may make an exact computation of the singularity of their genius's , and of the essential mark of their character . there are many persons guilty of a great affectation to be thought criticks , and make it their business to judge of virgil by profound reflections , without having ever observ'd in what the eminent quality of the fancy and judgement of that poet , whereby he is distinguish'd from all the rest , does consist . for my own part , who admire nothing so much in his way of writing , as the admirable reservednesse and moderation he is master of in expressing things , and in not expressing any more then what is requisite , i have ever been of opinion , that he might be distinguish'd by them . a man must be very attentive in the perusall of him ; to find out that his reservednesse and silence in certain passages , speakes much , and argues an exquisite discretion ; and when he has discover'd the secret of being well assur'd of his meaning , he finds him sometimes as admirable in what he saies not , as in what he sayes . and for my part , i do not know any author but virgil that has a talent of prudence great enough to keep in the whole stock of his moderation and stayednesse of iudgement , amidst the ardour and excitations of an imagination enflam'd by the genius of poesy , and that the most inspire'd of any that ever was , lucan , in comparison of him , is an inconsiderate writer ; and statius , a furious one . nor could ovid ever arrive to that excellency , till towards his latter dayes , when he writ his fasti , which is the only part of his works , wherein he is moderate and discreet : in all the rest he discovers his youthfullnesse . nor do his inductions of examples and comparisons in his books de tristibus , and his other elegies , come neer that character ; and his heroick epistles , which i call the flower of the roman wit , have not any thing of that maturity of judgement , which is the transcendent perfection of virgil. as to which perticular i compare him to those generalls of armies , who carry along with them into the midst of a fight all the flegme and tranquillity of there closet counsells , and who in the greatest heat of action , amidst the noise of canons , drums , and trumpets , and the general distraction and tumult of an engagement , are not attentive to any thing but what their own prudence and moderation dictates to them , inducing them to consult only thier own reason . and this is a character not to be imagin'd in any but great soules , and such as dare pretend to a consummate wisdome , as was that o virgil , who in the heat of his poetica fury , saies no more then is requisite to be said , and alwayes leaves more to be thought of , then he saies of a thing . this is a commendation much like that which pliny gives the admirable painter named timantes , whose elogy he makes in the 10. chap. of the 35. book of his history : timanti plurimum adfuit ingenii , in omnibus operibus ejus intelligitur plus semper quam pingitur . and a litle lower he addes , the better to expresse his reflection ; rarum in successu artis , ut ostendat etiam quae occultat : and which was that miraculous eloquence whereof cicero speaks to his friend : ‖ sumpsi aliquid hoc loco de tuâ eloquentiâ , nam tacui . and it is my judgement , that in this exact circumspection , and this admirable parsimony of discourse , we are to find the true character of virgil , who slightly passes over things , as a traveller that is in great haste , without insisting too long upon them : he generously prunes & cuts off all the superfluities , that he may retaine but what is purely necessary . and indeed in that anatomy of things consists the excellency of a work , which is never more perfect , than when there cannot be any thing cut off from it . it was also in this perfection that that exquisitenesse of sound sence consisted , which reign'd at rome in the time of augustus , and which was the character of all the excellent witts that writ then , and whom we look on as the only modells of the purity of discourse , sobriety of expressions , and that admirable aire of writing which is in vogue at this day . of this we have a proofe in the order which augustus gave tacca and varius , to review the aeneid , which the author would have suppress'd , as not thinking is compleat . he permitted them to cut off those parts of it , which might be taken away without injury to the work ; but he forbad them to doe any thing thereto , nay not so much as to compleat the verses which were imperfect . t was the humour and gusto of that happy time to cut off what they could in discourse , to be sober and frugal therein , and to speak little . lucretius , who is so pure and so polite had not yet attai'd that perfection . and catullus , who was the first among the romanes , that began to improve and heighten the language wtih the advantages of elegance , had not as yet learnt that great precept which horace has since so much inculcated to the pisone●s ; — prudens versus reprehendet inertes ambitiosa recidet ornamenta ; luxuriantia compescat : he does not repeat any thing else , in his satyr upon lucilius : — currat sententia , neu se impediat verbis lassas onerantibus aures . and a litle lower , speaking of the same lucilius , hee saies , that if he had florish'd in his time , he would have known how to have contracted himself , and no doubt would have dash'd out many things out of his verses ; detereret sibi multa , recideret omne quod ultra perfectum traheretur — this was their course in that time , which they had learnt from the dictates of sound sence , then in its empire , which virgil hath so well practis'd , and whereof he makes his essentiall character . on the contrary , that of homer is observable for his tediousnesse in speaking and relating things . he is the greatest talker of all . antiquity , insomuch that the greeks themselves , though chargeable with excessive discoursing above all others , have reprehended homer for that intemperance of words , as a considerable miscarriage in discourse , which they call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . he is ever in his rehearsalls , not only as to the same words , but also to the same things ; and so he is in a perpetual circulation of repetitions . that flux of the tongue , and that ebullition of fancy make him carry things much beyond the mark they ought to have been levell'd at ; and thence it comes , that the draughts he makes of things are for the most part too accurate ; and by that means he leaves nothing to be done by the imagination of the reader , who , in order to his particular satifaction , ought regularly to be as much taken up with what he thinks of , as what he reads . vpon this account is it that virgil never burthens his thoughts with the whole matter lying before him , that so he may leave some part of it expos'd to the reflections of those who read him . young authors , who are all apt to be impertinently zealous in what they do , and to run into the character that has a smock of puerility ; and all those who are lesse fortify'd with judgment , then fancy , are not able to comprehend this maxime : for , out of a defect of experience , they follow their natural inclination , and as by an excess of discourse and verbosity they carry things beyond their proper limits , so they ordinarily give ideas for true objects , by making too too accurate representations of all the matter they handle . this is an imperfection which apelles reprehended in the painters of his time , as cicero observes , pictores eos errare dicebat , qui non sentirent , quid esset satis . yet are we further to observe , that this defect relates only to the expression and the words . for it is a very great perfection for any one to give the most compleat images he can of things , and alwaies to raise his superstructures upon the ground-work of the greatest ideas . observ . xii . of the unity of the subject and time of the two poems . yet is it to be acknowledg'd , that there cannot be any thing more advantageously said of homer , than what aristotle , the wisest and most judicious of all the criticks , hath said of him . he proposes him in his books of poesy for the model of the epick poem , and he derives all his precepts from the iliad and the odyssey . but it may also be urg'd on the other side , that aristotle having not met with , in his time , but only two inconsiderable poems , one upon hercules . and the other upon theseus , whereof he speaks in his poeticks , which might come into any contest with the iliad and the odyssey , it is not to be wondred at , that he takes these for a model , since the two others are rather the lives of hercules and thesius , than the subject of an epick action . and that was it made horace speak so earnestly against those poets , whom he calls cyclick authors , by reason of the pure natural and historical representation they gave of things , multiplying matters clearly against the simplicity and the unity of action , which is essential to the epopaea : upon which score we are yet further to examine homer and virgil , that so we may not omit any thing requir'd in an exact comparison . i grant , that as to the unity of the time , the iliad and the odyssey have the preheminence over the aeneid : for the action of the odyssey , from vlysses's leaving calypso to his being discover'd , lasts but forty five days ; and the action of the iliad takes up but eight or nine months at most : and the aeneid takes up a whole year and somewhat more . nay some pretend that the unity of action is more perfect in the two poems of homer , than it is in that of virgil ; inasmuch as not only the action of both of them is one and the same , but also of one single person . for achilles does all things himself ; the same thing is to be said of vlysses , ( as aristotle affirms ) who reestablishes himself without the assistance of any other : and that seems to argue a certain hint of grandeur . aeneas does not any thing but with the assistance of his people ; which is not so much to be wondred at . and paul beni observes in the second of his academical discourses , that the apologist of dante pretends that his poem is more perfect in regard it is the action of one single person : costui poema , oltre esser heroico e fatto anco di attione , di uno assolutamente solo . e ciò ad essempio , non gia de l aeneide , ove con assercito opra enea : ma ●en dell iliade e odissea ; dove al fin e achille e vlisse solo fa heroiche imprese : perciò conclude che il poema di dante sia eccelentemente maraviglioso e this poem , besides that it is heroick , is also compos'd of action , and that of one person only : and this according to the example , not only of the aeneid , wherein aeneas acts with an army ; but also of the iliad and odyssey , where in fine both achilles and ulysses perform alone all the heroick actions : whence he concludes , that dante 's poem is excellently marvellous and illustrious . to this it may be answer'd , that the unity of the person is sufficiently preserv'd by that of his character and condition ; that the epick poem ought to present the perfect idea of a great captain and general of an army , and and not of a knight-errant , who most commonly is but a phantasm and a romantick palladine : and it frames a greater character of a hero , and it attributes to him a much more noble aire of dignity , to make him a soveraign and the head of a people , as beni observes in the same place : l' attione heroica debbe esse una d'un solo , ma però prencipe & capo di molti : in regard that , as he saies , great enterprises , such as the conquest of countries and kingdoms , the sieges of cities , and battels , ought to be carry'd on by armies , managed by the conduct and designes of one person , which is as much as is requisite for the unity of the action . besides , there is always a defectiveness as to matter of probability in those actions of knight-errants and solitary worthies , such as hercules was , and however they are dress'd up , they still smell strong of the romance and fable . nay we may further add , that the unity of action , so it be rightly taken , is more perfectly serv'd in the aeneid , than in the iliad , where after the death of hector , which ought to have clos'd the action , there are still two books to come ; the 23. which comprehends the exercises celebrated for the death of patroclus , and which contribute nothing to the principal action ; and the 24. which contains the lamentations of the trojans , and the ransoming of hector's body , which have no connection to the principal action , that being compleat without it . there is yet this further fault to be noted , that a poem , which had no other design then to celebrate the honour of the greeks , should be clos'd with that which is done to hector , the chiefest of their enemies , where the poet employes a whole book , to give the description of his funeral solemnities ; which procedure seems to be in some manner defective ; and it is of such a work we may cite that passage of horace , which few understand as it ought to be understood ; ‖ — amphora caepit institui , currente rotâ cur urceus exit ? homer takes his beginning the best in the world , for the honour of the greeks : their glory is the only thing he prosecutes in all his work ; and he makes an end by that of hector , whose loss he brings in lamented with so much magnificence . was it not a little mistake in him to forget the design he had proposed to himself ? does not the aeneid take its period much better by the death of turnus , which closes the action ? virgil does not carry on things any farther ; he knew well enough , that he had committed a fault if he had not stop'd there . abundance of other observations might be made upon a minute examination of those two works ; and particularly upon the delicacy wherewith virgil reflects on things , wherein he hath still a great advantage over homer , whose thoughts are not delicate upon any subject . for what more insinuating , what more surprising can there be imagin'd then that of the apotheosis of anchises , in the fift of the aeneid , which so highly flatters augustus and the romans , with an extraction whereof he so ingeniously establishes the divinity ? not to make any mention of the most illustrious roman families allegorically decipher'd in the combats describ'd in the same book , the mystery and application whereof paul beni explicates in his commentaries upon virgil. what is there to be found in homer any way comparable to that passage , which i have ever look'd upon as of exquisite delicacy , in the sixt of the aeneids , where virgil is content to attribute to the greeks , the glory of being ingenious , reserving to the romans that of authority and jurisdiction ? excudent alii spirantia molliùs aera , orabunt causas meliùs , &c. — tu regere imperio populos , romāe , memēto . what shall i say of the littora littoribus contraria — in the fourth book , which works so admirable an effect in order to the war between rome and carthage ? of dido's imprecation , by the expression of so passionate a revenge ? exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor , &c. which , in the obscurity of future events does so delicatly point at the great hannibal , the most illustrious enemy of the common wealth , and with whom rome was so long disputing the empire of the world . the death of marcellus in the sixt is of the same force , nay hath somewhat that is more insinuating and more exquisite , as it appear'd by the impression which that passa●e on the spirit of augustus , and much more upon the heart of octavia his mother , who fell into a swound at the very recitation , ● which virgil made of it in the emperors presence . shall say nothing of all the complants of dido in the fourth , which ma●e saint augustine weep so often as , he himself acknowledges in his ‖ confessions . he is far enough from haveing that tenderness for homer whom he complements no better , then to call him dulcissimè vanus . in a word , virgil is much more solid , his expressions have somewhat in them that is more real ; he does not speak so much at randome , nay his very discourses of greatest tendernesse and passion , which in any other would discover a certain character of lightness , have not in his work any thing that is frivolous and chimericall ; there is no● any thing , but has some ground , and his words are so many things ; which renders him more affective and more patheticall there are yet a thousand other passages , which i shall not stand to insis● upon , as that of the second of the aeneid ; iliaci cineres , et flamma extrema meoru● which alone destroys all the objectios that may be made against aeneas , of his defect in point of valour . the death of dido , touch'd over with an aire so pathetick , which begins with this verse at trepida et caeptis immanibus ; — the abbridgement of the romane history grav'd upon the buckler in the eight , the explication of the destinies of the romane empire by jupiter , in the first , the conquests of augustus , to whom he dedicates his work in the sixt which make an admirable elogy of that emperour , hic vir hic est &c. and all those admirable insinuations , whereof he does with so much artifice make his advantage , to force his way into mens apprehensions , and to inspire them with his inclinations and affections , which every where beare the expression of his genius , which are are so many miracles of art , and cannot be perceiv'd but only by such as are intimately acquainted with him , and accordingly able to judge of him . for there is a greater penetration and perspicacity of apprehension requisite , to discover what is good and excellent in a work , than to find in it what is defective : inasmuch as the defects are more remarkable than the true beauties , which easily elude the reflections of persons of an ordinary rate of understanding , and discover themselves only to the more intelligent . but whereas the noblest passage of virgil , and his reall master-piece , is the passion of dido , i cannot let it pass without allowing it a stricter reflection than any of the rest . true it is , that eloquence never employ'd all its advantages of artifice and ornaments in any work with so great success as in that . all the degrees of that passion , all the renovations of that growing affection , and that well known frailty of the sexe , are there discover'd in such a manner as raises admiration in the best able to judge of them ; and the greater their abilities are , the more will they be dispos'd to discover the excellency of that passage , and to admire all the parts of it . all is neat , delicate and highly passionate in the description of that adventure , and the world is not likely ever to see any thing that shall surpasse it . tasso indeed may haply afford us some passages which seem to have a greater eye of lustre , as that of the adventure of tancrede and clorinda : but if we look on him of all sides , we shall find , that all the proportions and correspondencies with the principal action , do not seem to be so exactly observ'd there , as they are in that of dido . yet is there one great reproach made to virgil , to wit , that he has put a filthy slur on that lady , by attributing so great a passion to her , contrary to her true character . for history makes her a woman of good repute . but this is an artifice , and that the most delicate and subtle of any observable in virgil , who to excite a certain contempt for a nation which was afterwards to be so detestable to the romans , conceiv'd himself oblig'd , not to celebrate any vertue in her , who should be the foundress of it , imagining he might , without any disparagement to himself , sacrifice her , the better to flatter his own country , which no doubt , would have boggled at the reputation history gave that princess . and whereas this artifice was advanc'd only to humour the romans , and that the poet himself look'd on them as masters of the world , with whose sentiments all other nations ought to comply , or at least to conform thereto , yet he thought himself concern'd to use all precautions , to prepossess their minds , upon that disguising of the truth . to that purpose he cunningly brings the gods into the plot , to put a better gloss upon the sacrificing of her . venus and cupid make it their business . nay he makes them use all their art to smother the good repute which common fame gave that queen . this is the subject of juno's complaint to venus , which serves only to make a fuller discovery of the earnest sollicitation of those two divinities to surprise , and , in the end , to seduce dido ; egregiam verò laudem , & spolia ampla refertis tup ; puerque tuus , &c. the characters of sinon in the second of the aeneid , and that of mezentius , in the eighth and tenth , are also of the highest pitch of accomplishment . homer indeed has many more of that kind , and a greater variety of them : but those on which virgil thought fit to bestow a particular draught , are better prosecuted than those of homer , and he has found the secret to express them with a greater liveliness . yet must it be acknowledg'd that homer has a better stor'd and more sumptuous stock of invention , and greater varieties ; a more delicate and and divertive cast of versification ; a more sparkling air of expressing things , nay a smarter and more peircing sound of words , more suitable to poesy , and such as much more fills the ear ; for the defect whereof ‖ : cicero found fault with demosthenes : vsque eò difficiles ac morosi sumus , ut nobis non satisfaciat ipse demosthenes , non semper implet aures meas , ita sunt avidae & capaces , & semper aliquid immensum infinitumque desiderant . this indeed homer has much beyond virgil , and the eare is much more satisfy'd with the currency , the harmony , and the whole air of his versification ; because the greek tongue has all those advantages over the latine , which is more modest , more grave , and more serious . true it is also , that he has a greater extent of matters , and affords his readers a larger prospect ; but his fancy ever and anon hurries him from one place to another ; he is not so much master of it , as virgil is of his . t was this defect that made him commit that so essential an oversight of adding the two books of the iliad after the close of the action ; one , of the death of hector the other , of the games for that of patroclus ; and one other after that of the odyssey , which is the mutual discovery , of one to the other , of vlysses and penelope . for as every poem , as well epick as dramatick , ought to take its period with the close of the principal action , so after the said close , which ought to put an end to things , a man cannot make any addition thereto , without committing an extravagance . i find few passages in homer , such as may be oppos'd to those of virgil. yet can i not forbear having a kindness for that of the sixt book of the iliad , where andromache , who was so honest and vertuous a woman , bids adieu to her husband hector , then going to his last combat with achilles . in a word , t is impossible to imagine any thing of greater tenderness than that a ? ? ? dieu , wherein that princess , by a presentiment of something disastrous , let fall some tears , a thing she was not wont to do , for she was not subject to any weakness , and the poet saies delicately enough , that she began to lament with her women , the death of hector , who was yet alive . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ true it is , that in regard people do bewayl only dead persons , and that she bewayls a man that is alive , that expression is tender and well imagin'd ; there are but few such in homer ; for though the expressions are still kept up in him , and are not ever neglected , yet the things he saies do as it were lagg and languish . of this rank is the numbring of the graecian fleet in the second of the iliad : all there is at the same rate , and the squadrons are all for the most part terminated by one and the same verse : — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and all the banquets of the iliad are serv'd up in the same fashion , without any variety . nay vlysses's being known by his wife penelope , in the 23. of the odyssey , which was the most favourable passage in the world to set all the subtleties of art on work , has nothing but flat and simple surprises , cold and heavy astonishments , and very litle delicacy of sentiment and real tendernesse . penelope is too long obstinate , in opposing the reasons they alledge to persuade her , that he is her husband , who contributes nothing himself to his own discovery ; he suffers his wife to hearken too long to her distrust and circumspection ; the formalities she observes to be assur'd of all things , are there set down by tale and measure , least there might be any mistake , which methinks has somewhat that is mournfull and languishing , in a place which requir'd so much fire and vivacity . ought not the secret instinct of her love to have inspir'd her with other thoughts ? and should not her heart have told her what her eies did not tell her ? for love is illuminated and inspir'd ; he has a secret and mysterious voice , which explicates his meaning better than the senses . but homer was not skill'd in that philosophy , which the italians have since so much taught ; and virgil , who makes dido foresee the designe aeneas had to forsake her , before she had notice brought her of it , would have made a better advantage of that occasion . observ . xiii . that there is in homer a greater air of morality and sententiousness , than in virgil. we must not also dispute this advantage with homer ; for this is so true , that macrobius lib. 5. c. 6. of his questions , saies that homer has stuff'd his poems with sentences , and that his pleasant sayings were quoted by the people as proverbs . homerus omnem poesim suam ita sententiis farsit , ut singula ejus apophthegmata vicem proverbiorumin civium ore fungantur . and an english author hath lately given us a considerable volume of sentences collected out of homer , upon all the matters of morality , which he has reduc'd into common places . but i pretend with heinsius . in his poetical tract upon aristotle , that those sententious reflections of morality are rather design'd for the theatre , and of the dramatick kind , than of the heroick , the essential character whereof is narration , which ought to be of a continued thread , and simple , without affectation of figures , and without all that tackle of reflections , which despoil a discourse of its natural colour and force : a fault wherewith that excellent author of the satyricon does so earnestly reproach the declamators of his time , inanibus sonis ludibria quaedam excitando effecistis , ut corpus orationis enervaretur , & caderet . by gingling and rediculous discourses , you have enervated the body of the oration , and brought it to the ground . in a word , that force which some pretend ordinarlily to summe up in a small compasle of words to make up a sentence , is wont to exhaust , and extreamly weaken the rest of the discourse , by depriving it of its natural simplicity , and giving it a forc'd aire . for this reason is livy a much more accomplish'd historian than tacitus , in regard he has lesse reflections , which are more proper for the theatre , than for history , and narration . ‖ cicero is also of that judgment in one of his books of rhetorick : sententias interponi rarò convenit ; ut rei actores , non vivendi praeceptores esse videamur . so that sentences and morall reflections are a beauty not sit for the epick poem , in regard they are not suitable to narration , which is the principal and essentiall character thereof . yet may the poet bring in to it some sentences or reflections , when he makes the actors speak whom he introduces ; but he ought not to do it , when he speakes himself , unlesse it be very seldome ; and then too it must not seem to have been sought for . as to this we may safely imitate livy who in the body of his history puts in very litle of that kind , but reserves it to be said by those whom he makes to speak . so that the poet is to let them slip by , without affecting to be the utterer of them , much less to scatter and strew them up and down as homer does : and it is a mistake for any to think to esteem him upon that account , inasmuch as that affectation is certainly an imperfection , which virgil found out a way to avoid ; reflecting that there was not any thing more opposite to that simple and continu'd air , which he professed to observe , than those glittering words and fancies , which seem independent from the discourse , and jutting out of the structure , in regard they are not well proportion'd thereto , and serve only to magnify the object , and make a noise ; rerum tumore & sententiarum vanissimo strepitu . and this has some reference to that great precept of natural reason , for those who make it their business to write ; which one of the most expert and subtle criticks of all antiquity gave heretofore , and which is not sufficiently understood : curandum ne sententiae emineant extra corpus orationis expressae ; sed intexto vestibus colore niteant : which passage i translate not , that all may be at liberty to render it , according to their several abilities . it suffices , as to what i pretend , that it appears , that author , does in that place condemn the fancies which a too strong and too brisk expression , makes , in some sort , distinguishable from the body of the discourse ; he would have nothing over exquisite , or too far ? ? ? fetc'd , and that all the lustre be as natural to it , as colour is to garments . these sorts of simple and natural words , saith he , did natural reason dictate to sophocles and euripides , and which they saw it necessary to use in speech , before men bethought themselves of shutting up youth in schools , and to limit all the exercises of the mind to pure declamations . nondum juvenes declamationibus continebantur , cum sophocles & euripides invenerunt verba quibus deberent loqui . in a word , all these ornaments of words and brisk fancies so far-fetc'd and so frequent , deprive the discourse of its natural beauty and true dignity : ‖ gravitas minuitur exornationibus frequenter collocatis , quod est in his lepos & festivitas , non dignitas neque pulchritudo , and this principal is general for all great things , whose grandeur attended by a regular simplicity , makes all the excellence and dignity of them ; as we see in painting and architecture , where great fancies are kept up much less by the multitude of ornaments , than by that simple and even , but regular air , which gives them their grandeur and majesty . observ . xiv . shewing how homer has the glory of invention over virgil. invention , one of the qualities most essential to the poet , is one of the advantages of homer wherein he deserves preference before virgil. for he is the model , and original , which virgil propos'd to himself . but it is to be observ'd , that as ‖ aristotle makes mention of a small iliad , attributed by suidas to one named antimachus , which was the abbridgment of a greater , upon which there is some likelyhood that homer fram'd his work ; so it may be conjectur'd thence , that the glory of the invention was not wholy due to him . besides , we read in ‖ athenaeus , that one hegesianax had writ , in verse , before homer , what had pass'd at the siege of troy. cicero also makes mention of one callisthenes , who had written upon the same subject . t is true that he liv'd in the time of alexander , that is to say , some ages after homer : but it is to be conceiv'd , that he had other collections different from those of homer , since he gave a different account of that expedition , then he has done . suidas affirms , that one corinnus , a disciple of palamedes , had also written an iliad in verse , about the time that troy was taken : and that another poet , contemporary to homer , named syagrus ▪ has also written upon that subject : that all those works were suppress'd by the endeavours of homer , who was not so blind , ( as some have imagin'd ) as not to make it his business to transmit his own labours only to posterity , and so to be accounted the first author of the iliad . and as the others were his model , as he was that of virgil , so it were to be wish'd , that we knew , whether he has been as happy in the coppying of others , as virgil has been in imitating him . but we are to make a great abatement of the esteem which all antiquity hath had for homer , if we credit what aelian saies in his ‖ history . he pretends , that the opinion of the learned of his time was , that homer had not compos'd the iliad and odyssey , but only by fragments , not proposing to himself any continu'd design ; and that he had not given any other title to those diverse parts , which he had compos'd in the heat of his fancy & the impetuosity of his genius , without any order , save only that of the subject and matter whereof he treated , as the valour and prowess of agamemnon . the exercises instituted for the funeral solemnity of patroclus ; the engagement neer the ships , their number ; and so of the rest ; that he had done the like for the odyssey that lycurgus was the first that brought from jonia to athens , those several parts , distinct one from the other , and without any connection ; and that pisistratus was the person who dispos'd them into some order , and , of them , made up the two poems of the iliad and the odyssey , which we now have : and from thence , as some pretend , is derived the name of rarpsodies , which hath since been given to those two poems . but i find in my self a backwardness to assent to this story ; for it were to deprive homer of his greatest glory , to take away from him the disposition of his poems : that were a weakness , which i cannot allow that great man to be chargeable withal , especially considering that aristotle hath authorised the belief establish'd since in all ages , to wit , that he is the true author of those poems , though josephus in his first book against apion , seems to be of the same opinion with aelian , and plutarch , in the life of lycurgus , and cicero in his third book de oratore , give some occasion to believe it . but this opinion would so highly contribute to the absolute destruction of homers merit , that it were better to give aelian the character of a collector of trivial stories . as for the other three , who countenance his sentiment , as they do not so peremptorily stand upon the affirmative , so we may well adhere to the common opinion , and be favourable to the reputation of homer , which , as to this point , is too strongly establish'd , to admit of any contest . observ . xv. of the exordiums of homer and virgil's poems . it were to be further wish'd , in order to the fuller satisfaction we might derive from an exact comparison of these two great men , that a parallel should be made , between the beginings of the iliad and odyssey , and that of the aeneid , which is the first touch towards the execution of those excellent poems . for though the beginings of great works ought to be simple and modest , as ‖ cicero advises ; principia verecunda , non elatis intensa verbis , and that horace so highly blames him who begins with so much pomp and ostentation fortunam príami cantabo , &c. yet were it not amiss to to take a fair start , and to begin well . the beginning of the iliad , as i translate it , runs thus . sing , o my muse , of the wrath of achilles the son of peleus , that wrath which prov'd so pernicious to his own party , by abundance of misfortunes which itbrought upon them ; it occasion'd the death of many heroes . he takes a pleasure in aggravating that wrath by its causes and effects ; he advances things with a too-confident , too violent , and too hyperbolical expression , for a begining : ‖ that wrath , saith he , made a bloody slaughter of the bodies of the heroes . thus didimus , one of homers most exact interpreters explicates him . he does not reflect , that it is his heroe , of whom he speaks , whose passion he aggravates , and that he seeks out extraordinary terms , to express the distraction it made in the army whereof he was a great commander . he might have said things more in general , in a proposition which ought to be simple ; there was no necessity of running it over again , 't was enough that he had call'd that passion pernicious ; there is a certain affectation in the repetition of it so often ; and he takes a pleasure in amplifying what he ought to have conceal'd , or at least alleviated . he prosecutes things yet farther , saying , that that implacable wrath made the bodies of those heroes a prey to all the dogs and birds . nay so far was he possess'd by that spirit of exaggeration , that he imposes upon him ; for of that number of heroes , whom the wrath of achilles brought to destruction , we cannot in reason allow any to deserve that name but patroclus ; and i much question whether there were many among those that perish'd who might deserve it , or had a good title thereto , a man should never descend to that particularity in a proposition intermixt with invocation ; but what this poet adds compleats his miscarriage , and makes an enormous contrariety ; — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 't was the will of jupiter it should be so . he forgets that he is speaking to his muse , which is a divinity , that knows all things and ought not to have forgotten any thing of what it knowes : he takes occasion to inform it , that it was the will of god ▪ that things should happen so . it was the part of homers muse to acquaint him with the secrets of the divine will , and what passes in the order of its decrees , and not homers to tell that to his muse , the daughter of mnemosyne and jupiter , that is to say , of the understanding and memory . it is yet much more strange in him to add those words to amplify the excess of the destruction , which that wrath had caused the greeks , since it had oblig'd the gods to concern themselves in the resentment of that passion , and that it was their pleasure , it should occasion that destruction of all the people of good repute in that army . and it is to carry on the dreadful effects of that wrath to the utmost extremities , to authorise by the will of the gods , the defeat of the grecian army , whose loss was the accomplishment of the good pleasure of jupiter , who has the character of shewing kindness . upon that benignity his very name is grounded , which is the same as juvans pater . it would be a hard matter to tell where this invocation ends : the two subsequent verses are part of it , and it is confounded with the narration , if we look narrowly upon it : besides , to say the truth , what construction soever be made of those words , we shall find a certain affectation in them : he has a mind to fall a moralizing too soon , when he does it at the very entrance of a work , which is not moral , and that at the fourth verse of it . the readers mind is not yet prepar'd for reflections : it ought to have been instructed , prepossess'd , and a little inflam'd before-hand . the exordium of the odyssey is this , i know not whether it appear any thing more rational . give me an account , o my muse , of that subtle and expert man , who travell d through so many countries , and cross'd so many seas ; he suffered much indeed ; but still he was extreamly careful to preserve himself . he also took some care for the preservation and return of his companions : but he brought not one home , they all perished . an admirable hero ! whose essential character is to be subtle , crafty , and circumspect , yet the interpreters allay the signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to excuse homer . put i do not see what allay can be allow'd it ; besides that in the whole prosecution of the story , the conduct of vlysses bears no other quality in particular then that of craft , which is many times manag'd by impostures and lies , which is in no wise heroick ; and minerva her self , however she may be favourable to him , cannot forbear reproaching him therewith . and if it be urged that that craft is a dexterity and readiness of wit , why does he not make use of it for the safety of his companions , but imploy all his subtlety to preserve himself ? but they all perished through their own fault . ought not this heroe , a person so wise , and of such extraordinary prudence , to have had conduct enough to secure them from that misfortune ? nay the very reason of their destruction is ridiculous and fabulous ; they were destroyed for their having eaten the sunnes oxen , this is a far-fetch'd destruction ; the heroe , or the poet was willing to be rid of them ; and if vlysses's providence had not been great enough to save his companions who ran the same fortune with him , ought not the poet at least to have dissembled it ? who obliges him to begin with that , and to advance that weakness of his heroe in the frontispiece of his poem , and the most obvious part of it , and to implore his muse to celebrate the fame of that so subtle heroe , who made a shift to save himself , and suffer'd all that were with him to be destroyed ? is there any thing in the world less heroick , more weak and more despicable than this ? tasso , in the proposition of his poem , makes a good advantage of that fault , for the accomplishment of his hero , of whom he saies , — e sotto i santi segni ridusse i suoi compagni erranti . the beginning of the aeneid is more simple and more natural , and its proposition is without any difficulty . i sing , saies virgil , the arms and valour of that man , who having retreated from the ruines of troy , was the first that came into italy . he had much to suffer , through the persecutions of the gods , and the animosity of juno . an enemy of that consequence renders him the more considerable . but after all that , he builds a great city , which is to be the seat of the worlds empire , and the metropolis of the vniverse . according to this model of comparison , all the rest may be compar'd at leisure . observ . xvi . the conclusion of the discourse . i leave it to the decision of the learned , what judgement ought to be made of both these admirable poets , when they shall have taken the pains to inform themselves of the truth of these observations , and have perticularly reflected , that all the grammarians , who are the true criticks of state having not been able to endure the lustre of homers manner of expression , and the magnificence of his way of versifying , which doubtless , is more brisk and glittering than that of virgil , have suffer'd themselves to be dazled thereby , and without penetrating to the ground of both their works , have for the most part attributed the advantage to homer . but they all judge of of them as grammarians , without considering the observations i have made . nay plutarch himself , in a discourse expressly writ by him upon homer , expatiates much upon his great learning , and the universal knowledge he had of all the sciences ; and he sufficiently denotes the vast extent of that great genius by the idea he gives of his character , without insisting upon what is essential to the poem . accordingly , all the learned , who fix their reflections upon the expression of homer , and the exteriour part of his works , are not competent judges . to judge aright of them , they must take in the knowledg of what is essential , compute all the proportions thereof , consider whether the beauties are well plac'd therein , whether the intertexture of the probable part with the miraculous , be therein judiciously observ'd , whether the licences , which poesy permits , be not over confident , or violent , whether all the decorums , as to manners and sentiments be therein exactly prosecuted , whether the expressions be smart & passionate , whether every thing keeps its proper rank , and bears its true character , whether soundness of sence and reason spread through the whole production , and whether things are all as they ought to be : for nothing can please , if it be not so , according to the great precept of quintilian ; nihil potest placere quod non decet . in a word , they are to judge of these great works , as they would do of a palace or sumptuous structure , whose chief beauty consists in the proportion there is between the design in general and its parts , and their mutual rapport : this is that which such as are well skill'd consider in them , without fixing their thoughts on the exteriour ornaments , which take up the survey of the ignorant . to conclude there is among the catalects of the ancient poets , the fragment of an epigram of an uncertain authors , which may contribute somewhat to the judgment , which ought tobe made of homer and virgil's poems . this fragment saies , that the former is more ample , the latter more regular and compleat . virgil himself is the epigrammatist . maeonium quisquis romanus nescit homerum , me legat , & lectum credat utrumque sibi : illius immensos miratur graecia campos , at minor est nobis , sed benè cultus ager . the lesser works are indeed ever more compleat than the great ones , in regard the authors may bestow more time and leasure in the polishing and perfecting of them . but in fine , to avoid being tedious by insisting on any further perticulars , which to do , we should be oblig'd to borrow matter from eustathius , and servius , the most eminent and exact commentators of those two great men ; methinks , i may say , without deciding any thing , as i have always pretended , that , according to the observations i have made , things may be thus divided : that homer has more fancy , virgil more discretion and judgment ; and that if i should choose rather to have been homer , then virgil , i should also much rather wish that i had writ the aeneid , then the iliad and odyssey . in which i have the approbation of propertius , as it appears by his suffrage , which he bestows on virgil , in so disinteressed a manner , for though his reputation were much more established than that of virgil , and though the jealousy of the mind , which is the true self-love , be incomparably greater than that of the heart , yet does he not stick to take off the crown from his own head , to place it upon virgils , and to acknowledge , that all ought to give him place , nay even homer himself . cedite romani scriptores , cedite graii , nescio quid majus nascitur aeneide , finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a58062-e620 ‖ poet , c. 26. ‖ duo illi omnis doctrinae apices homerus & virgilius . casaub . praes . in pers . ‖ pretiosissimum opus animi humani . plin. lib. 7. c. 9. * qui homerum contemnunt vix illis optari quioquam pejus potest , quàm ut fatuitate suâ fruantur . casaub , dissert . de homero . notes for div a58062-e870 ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . poet. c. 5. ‖ poet. cap. 5. notes for div a58062-e1300 ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iliad . 1. ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . notes for div a58062-e2150 ‖ poetic● * leg. l. 5. ‖ de art poetic . ‖ fingenti formantique principem voto concipe●e succur●i● similem huic qu●m videmus . † fast . l 2. notes for div a58062-e3740 ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ‖ ad loll. l. i. ep. ii. † ad pison . ‖ ad pison . * ibid. ‖ horat. ad pison . ‖ per ambages deorumque ministeria . ‖ art. poet. ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , pollux . ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . suidas . notes for div a58062-e5780 ‖ tusc . qu●st . l. 1. ‖ in argumentis cacilius pa●m●m poscit , in sermonibu . plautus , in moribus ter●n●ius . notes for div a58062-e6850 ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . notes for div a58062-e8240 ‖ epist . ad . att. lib. 13. notes for div a58062-e8820 ‖ art. poet. lib. 1. c. 14. in bruto . notes for div a58062-e10730 ‖ ad ●●●en l ▪ 4. ‖ cic ad heren . lib ▪ 4. notes for div a58062-e11170 ‖ poet. c. 23. ‖ lib. 3. ‖ lib. 13. c. 14. notes for div a58062-e11830 ‖ orat. ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . the religion of the dutch represented in several letters from a protestant officer in the french army to a pastor and professor of divinity at berne in switserland ; out of the french. religion des hollandois. english stoppa, giovanni battista. 1680 approx. 165 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 36 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2006-02 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a61701 wing s5769 estc r8262 13730277 ocm 13730277 101606 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a61701) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101606) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 852:15) the religion of the dutch represented in several letters from a protestant officer in the french army to a pastor and professor of divinity at berne in switserland ; out of the french. religion des hollandois. english stoppa, giovanni battista. davies, john, 1625-1693. [4], 66 p. printed for samuel heyrick ..., london : 1680. written by giovanni battista stoppa. cf. bm. translated by john davies. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce 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of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng reformed church -netherlands -early works to 1800. netherlands -church history -17th century. 2005-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-09 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-10 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2005-10 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the religion of the dutch . represented in several letters from a protestant officer in the french army , to a pastor and pr●●●●●● of divinity , at berne in swis●erland . out of the french. london , printed for samuel heyrick at grayes-inn gate in holbourn , 1680. the contents of the letters . the first letter discovers by what means , and upon what motives , the reformed religion , according to the calvinistical way , was establish'd in the united provinces . the second and third give an account of all the different religions , that are in those provinces , and their principal opinions . the fourth and fifth prove , that the united provinces cannot be said , to be an estate of the reformed religion . the sixth makes it appear , that , though the dutch were the most reformed christians in the world , yet were it an act of temerarious imprudence in those of the reformed religion , to confederate together , for their relief , in the war between them and the most christian king. and that , of the protestant-cantons , of swisserland , those were highly to be blam'd , which refus'd to raise forces for his most christian majesty ; as was also that of berne , which having granted his most christian majesty a regiment , kept so much stir , to hinder its serving against the dutch. the religion of the dutch . the first letter . reverend sir , though i have alwaies known , and look'd upon you , as a most zealous man in the calvinistical persuasion , yet i should never have imagin'd , that your zeal would have transported you so far , as to induce you , to pronounce an anathema against all those of the reformed religion , who now serve the most christian king in the war , wherein he is engag'd against the dutch. mean time , you know , that you have run into this strange extremity , in the letter you were pleas'd to write from borne , of the 15 th . of the last moneth , which yet came not to my hands till within these two daies . you , at the first dash , tell me , it is a matter you cannot be sufficiently astonished at , that any officer , who makes profession of our religion , whether he be swisse , or french , or of what other countrey soever , should presume to fight against our dear brethren in christ , the dutch , and make it their business to destroy that sanctifi'd republick , which has alwaies been the refuge and sanctuary of those of the reformed religion , and to which all protestants are in the highest manner oblig'd . you , afterwards , make it your most earnest entreaty to us , that , out of the tenderness we ought to have of our salvation , we should quit our employments , and enter our selves into the service of the dutch , so to expiate the sin we have committed in serving against them . you solemnly declare to us , in fine , that , if we do not , upon sight , follow this advice of yours , we are a sort of damn'd wretches , never to be retriev'd out of the deplorabl● condition we are in , and that we ought not to expect any forgiv●ness for our crime , either in this world , or that to come , no more , or less , than if we had sinn'd against the holy ghost . as for your protestant-cantons you highly celebrate the prudence of those among'st them , who hav● deny'd his majesty of france any forces , in his unjust war , as you are pleas'd to call that , wherein he is now involv'd , against the dutch. besides , you highly condemn those , who , having supply'd him with such forces , have not been importunate in the recalling of them , and have not been dissatisfi'd , to see them employ'd , in attacking and maintaining the cities which have been taken from the states-general . i should not have been much startled , if i had receiv'd such a letter from the minister of some country village , or from some person whose abilities rais'd him not above the ordinary rate of men . but i must acknowledge my self surpriz'd , as much as man can be so , to see that you , reverend sir , who are a professor of divinity , and have the reputation of being one of the most experiensed men of swisserland , especially upon the score of politicks , should write me a letter fraught with things very strange and extravagant , and maxim●s absolutely inconsistent with sound sence , and reason , and contrary even to the end you have propos'd to your self , which is , doubtless , the preservation and propagation of our reform'd religion , and of the churches which profess it . i undertake to make a clear justification of the truth of the things which i advance , and to let you see the mistake you lye under , and with what injustice you have so slightly pronounc'd the sentence of condemnation , against all those of the reform'd religion , who serve the most christian king , in the war which he is now concern'd in against the , dutch. to that end , it is my design , to shew you , somewhat at large , of what nature the religion of the dutch is , and what sanctity is to be attributed to their republick ; and thence it will appear , how highly the protestants are concern'd to wish the preservation of it . and when that is done , i shall afterwards prove , that though the hollanders were the most reform'd of all people , in their religion , as well as in their morality ; yet you would not have any reason , to condemn either those private persons of their persuasion , who serve against them ; or yet those of your cantons , who have supply'd the most christian king with forces , upon this occasion . i must acknowledge , that if we consider the dutch confession of faith , and the cathechism they use ; it cannot be denyed , but that they profess the same religion , with that which is received at geneva , and in your protestant-cantons . but in the mean time , this is to be noted , that though they make an external profession of the same religion with yours , yet their conduct and deportment do evidently demonstrate , that they make not any account of it , or that they believe it not at all . to that end , it is requisite , that i make a higher enquiry into things , and go to the very source , and give you a discovery , by what degrees , and by what means , this religion was established in the state , and the different conduct which the states-general have observ'd , in reference thereto . i am of opinion , in the first place , that there is not any necessity of my telling you , that religion was neither the cause , nor the pretence , of the disturbances , revolutions , and seditions of the low-countries ; and that it was not upon that score , that the people of several provinces , after they had carried on the war against their prince , for many years , resolv'd at last to degrade him , and to shake off the yoke of his dominion over them . the great lords of the country , as the prince of orange , the count of egmont , and count horne , were extreamly exasperated , to see , that cardinal de granvelle , a forreigner , and a person of very obscure parentage , had the management of all things , and was the supreme arbitrator of all affairs ; and to think , that they themselves had not any authority in the government . they maintained in the mean time , that the said authority belong'd to them , of right , upon the score of their merit , that of their birth , that of the great estates they were possess'd of , and that of the services they had done the state. the ecclesiastical party were most highly disgusted , upon this account , that their abbeys , their priories and their benefices were to be abolished , for the raising of a revenue for the new bishopricks , which had been erected ; as also for that they had set over them certain persons , who devour'd their annual profits , and who censur'd their conduct , and their manners . to which they added another grievance , that , according to the decisions of the most learned lawyers of the country , it was an impi●ty , to convert the goods of ecclesiastical persons to any other use , than that whereto they had been design'd , by the wills of those , who had made the donations of them . the magistrates of cities and corporations made their complaint , that they had deny'd audience to the states , who had desir'd a free assembly , that there might be a common consultation , about the remedy , most likely to promote the remedying of their grievances ; and that there had been new and insupportable impositions laid upon them , not only without the consent of the estates , but also in spight of their opposition . the ordinary people loudly declar'd , that the king of spain would have abolish'd the ancient form of their government , to the subversion of their lawes and customes , that he might thereby introduce a tyrannical dominion , like that which he made use of , for the government of some kingdomes of spain , that of naples , and the indies . in a word , the grandees , the ecclesiasticks , the magistracy , and the common sort of people , had all a particular occasion of discontent ; but they had also one which was common to them all . above all things they had an extream horror for the inquisition , which had been establish'd amongst them ; out of a fear , that under pretence of religion , some design might be carried on , against the liberties and estates of all . it was for the same reason , that the inhabitants of the kingdom of naples , and of the dutchy of milan , would not endure the establishment of the inquisition amongst them , though neither of those two countries ever had any design , to desert the doctrine and worship of the roman-catholick religion . most part of the inhabitants of the low-countries were , at the beginning , strongly inclin'd to the profession of the ancient religion ; and yet they could not endure , that any man should be put to death , upon the score of any religion whatsoever . and though that cruelty gave them not any occasion of fear for themselves , yet did it however raise in them a compassion for their fellow-citizens . howe're it were , whether out of pity to others , or by way of precaution for themselves , those people , who were extremely jealous of their liberty , and for the conservation of their lawes and customes , which , at best , are but temporal things , contributory to the conveniences of the present life , could yet much less endure to be depriv'd of the spiritual things , which rela●e to the service of god , and eternal salvation . in the year 1566. the greatest lords of the country , and several gentlemen , considerable upon the score of their extraction , of whom most were catholicks , entred into an alliance , for the preservation of their municipal laws , and for the abrogation of the sanguinary edicts which had been made for the establishment of the inquisition . in pursuance of this first treaty of union , was it , that they presented to margaret , then governess of the law-countries , that famous petition , which occasion'd the first insurrections , and which procur'd them the denomination of beggars , which was then given them , and which they could not get off for a long time : after the treaty of gaunt , all the catholick provinces , save only that of luxemburg , enter'd into an alliance with those which were already confederated , for the security of their lawes , their privileges , and their liberty . the alliance of union , and armes , which they had contracted , against the spaniards , was immediately publish'd in brussels , and confirm'd by the solemn oaths of the clergy , the nobility , the gentry , the people , and of the senate it self . in the year 1578. the estates , as well of the roman-catholick religion , as of the reformed persuasion , being assembled at the hague , did unanimously declare , that king philip was devested of the principality of the low-countries . in the year 1579. the estates being assembled at vtrecht , made a new union , from which they took the name of the vnited provinces . and in the 13 th article of that treaty , it is expresly order'd , that every man shall be allow'd the liberty of religion , without any trouble of persecution to any one , upon that occasion . all these treaties of alliance , which the provinces , as well catholick , as protestant , had made together , for their mutual defence against the spaniards , make it evidently appear , that the design of establishing a new religion was neither the ground nor motive thereof . prince william himself , in his declarations and apologies , did alwaies openly protest , as did also the states in theirs , that they had not taken up armes for religion , and that the provinces had not united , in order to the profession of any one particular religion . so far was it from this , that it is certain , all the treaties , as that of gaunt , and the union of vtrecht , all the declarations of the arch-duke matthias , and of the duke of anjou , do loudly establish the free exercise of all religions , and in express terms , forbid the disturbing and persecuting of any man upon that occasion . in the mean time , though they had not , at the beginning , any reflection by way of conscientious motive , for the having of any one publick religion , yet could they not forbear establishing it afterwards , out of a pure interest of state. the inhabitants of the low-countri●● having then ▪ in a manner quite shaken off the yoke of obedience to the magistrates , that juncture of time seem'd wonderfully fit for the establishment of new religions . about thirty or forty years before , men had seen budding out afresh , in germany ▪ the opinions of john hus ; in england , those of wickliff , and in france , those of the waldenses . all these different doctrines were much about the same time spread up and down amongst the belgians . the prince of orange having got out of germany and france , some of the disciples of luther , and calvin , where their religions were already establish'd , order'd them to preach in the low-countries , by the means of those new doctors . but he himself persisted in a publick profession of the roman religion , and was unwilling , in the principality of oran●e , to permit the exercise of our reformed religion , which was otherwise well establish'd in france . but as he had his prospects at a great distance , he either under-hand , or openly , when he thought it most convenient , countenanc●d , or conniv'd at all the assemblies which the people made , for the exercise of all the new religions , which were of no long standing in the world. by this m●ans did he make account to gain the affections of the people , and , at one time or other , to make his advantage of those different r●ligions , for the execution of his great designs . he knew that all those new christians , whom he protected in the exercise of religions , were so many creatures , whom he made sure to his party , by an inviolable bond ; and as many irreconcileable enemies to philip , who was the cruel persecutor of all those upstart professors of religion . in the mean time , prince william , who had all this while conconceal'd his sentiments for religion , took a very convenient opportunity , to lay by the roman-catholick persuasion , which he had till then profess'd , and to embrace that of the protestants . he was in germany , at his brothers , the count of nassaw , and had been forc'd by the intreaties of many of his relations , and some friends , banish●d out of the low-countries , to try an expedition , to endeavour the deliverance of their country from the oppression wherein it was , and to set it at liberty . when therefore he saw , that he stood in need of the assistance of the protestants , for the getting of an army tog●ther , he thought it a fit time to cast off the mask , and to publish , by his m●nifesto , that he had deserted the roman church , to follow a better religion . he had also in his eye this considerable advantage , that by the settlement of a religion different from the roman , he rendred the reconciliation between the provinces and the king of spain , more difficult , or indeed impossible . he had observ'd , that some of the catholick provinces had devia●ed from the alliance of gaunt , and put themselves under the obedience of philip ; and he saw , that the catholicks of the confed●rated provinces would rather have enclin'd him to reassume the yoke of their ancient domination . it was his fear , and with reason , that when the dispute should be only about the privileges , the lawes , and the customs , and in a word , things of a temporal concern , king philip coming to satisfie his subjects , or the subjects to recede from their rights for the obtaining of a peace , it would be no hard matter to see those people reconcil'd to their prince . whereas , on the other side , having dispos'd the confederated provinces , to embrace a new religion , he thereby put an insurmountable obstruction to their reunion with philip. he knew that that prince , who with an implacable fury persecuted all those who had renounc'd the ancient religion , would resolve rather to lose the low-countries , than to grant his subjects the free exercise of a new religion . there had been a report spread about , that presently upon his return into spain , after he had order'd the condemnation of some men eminent for their learn●ng , and women illustrious for their birth , to be burnt ; he would himself be present at so cruel an execution ; and was a spectator of it , as if it had been a delightful show . many persons therefore , amongst the inhabitants of the low-countries , having embrac'd the new religions , the prince of orange engag'd them by the bond of conscience , and by the despair or pardon , to maintain the change he had made , that so they might not relapse under the power of their ancient master . happy was it , for the prosecution of his design , that he had made this advantage of that liberty of conscience , which he had given to all sorts of persons ; but perceiving withal , that that unbounded liberty , without the establishment , and preference , of some one religion , occasion'd a great confusion in the government , he thought it necessary to make choice of one , which should be the pub●ick , and predominant religion , and the religion of state. yet had he not as yet absolutely pitch'd upon what he intended , nor determin'd which religion he ought to embrace ; whether that of the lutherans , that of the calvinists , or that of the anabaptists ; all those three religions not making any acknowledgment of the popes authority , or the jurisdiction of the roman church . but he had afterwards some reasons , which oblig'd him to determine upon the choice of one , as well for his own private concern , as for that of the state. the sect of the anabaptists was the least considerable upon all accounts , and was not much to be fear'd , as well by reason of the divisions wherewith it was shaken , as by reason of its sectators , who , for the most part , were persons of a very obscure condition , and of their sentiments , by which they are not admitted to magistracy , or the use of arms. for which reason , the prince of orange could not make any use of them , as being not proper for his design . he aspir'd to the principal charge of the state ; and that religion permitted not its disciples to exercise any kind of magistracy . he needed the assistance of arms , to maintain and make good the change he had made in the state , and the new form of government which he had establish'd ; and the anabaptists would not have arms used upon any occasion . the lutheran religion was very considerable , by reason of the affection and support of several princes of germany , who had embrac'd it , and highly protected those who made profession thereof . prince william had more inclination for that religion , in which he ha● been instructed from his infancy , and he might very well hope for assistance and protection from the electoral house of saxony , of which he had married a daughter , to his second wife . but on the other side , he hoped for more considerable assistances from the princes who made profession of our reformed way of religion . that which queen elizabeth had establish'd in england , was wholly conformable to ours , as to the doctrine , and differ'd from it , only as to the form of government , and the use of ceremonies . the elector-palatine , who was then the most powerful prince of the empire , did absolutely profess the same religion . the king of navarre , the prince of condé , and the admiral castillon , and a considerable number of the lords and gentlemen , and a numerous people of france , made a publick profession of it . the prince of orange therefore , hoping to engage all those princes , by the interest of one and the same religion , to give him powerful assistances , for the corroboration of the new republick , thought fit to make choice of that religion for himself , and the state. besides , as that religion was more contrary to that of the romish church , than the lutheran , so he thought it more fit for the common-wealth , which he had founded , out of an aversion to the tyrannical domination of spain . the inhabitants of the low-countries having a strong aversion for the spaniards , the prince of orange endeavour'd to persuade them , that there was no likelihood , that a people so corrupted , should have received directions from god , to serve him purely , by the worship of the true religion . he afterwards endeavour'd to insinuate to them , that our reformed religion , which was more different from theirs , was , doubtless the best , and most acceptable to god. there comes into my mind , upon this occasion , what i have read in the history of the indies , that they could not by any means dispose a great number of persons of that country , to be converted to the christian religion , because the spaniards made a profession of it . for , as those poor people had seen them commit such cruelties , as they had never seen any example of before , so they had a horror for their religion , upon a supposition that it inspir'd them with such barbarous sentiments . they could not be mov'd with the hope of celestial felicity , after they had been told , that the spaniards , together with all good christians , would have their abode in that happy place . they saw no charms in the glories of paradice , since they were to be partakers of ●hem with a nation so barbarous ; and they could not believe , that the felicity , which they put them in hopes of , could secure them from the persecution of so inhumane a people . in a word , they could not be induc'd to embrace a religion , which was to conduct them , after their death , to live eternally in the company of a people , which , according to their sentiment , was the most wicked of any upon earth . the duke of alva having exercis'd , in the low-countries , as strange cruelties , as those of his country had done in the indies , the inhabitants of flanders and no less an aversion for the spaniards , then the indians . and as all the rigorous punishments , which had been inflicted upon the people of the low-countries , were imputed to the roman-catholick religion ; so the prince of orange did cunningly make use of that prejudgment , to induce them to embrace a religion , contrary to that of the spaniards , which had made them endure so many calamities . it was in the year 1572. that that religion , which was receiv'd in your protestant-cantons , at geneva , in the palatinate of germany , and in the churches of france , was established in the confederated provinces , for the only publick religion . and yet they put a difference in it , which you will think very considerable , if you consult the sentiments of your first reformers , those of the doctors who were their successors , and the constant practice of your protestant-cantons , and of all the estates of the reform'd religion . for you know , that in all the countries , where those of our religion are the masters , they do not suffer the exercise of any other religion , nor allow , in all their territories , a place of habitation , to those who profess a different one ; whereas the vnited provinces did not only permit the exercise of all sorts of religions , but did also reject as tyrannical , all the laws , whereby there was any prescription made for uniformity of sentiments , upon that occasion , attributing to them the name of inquisition , so odious amongst them . and this liberty of conscience , was , as i have already observ'd , establish'd , not only by the writings of the prince of orange , by the peace of gaunt , by the publick and particular agreement , which was made for religion , under the regency of the arch-duke matthias ; by the union of vtretcht ; and by several treaties which have been made with the cities of the country . if i mistake not , methinks it may be affirmed , that the confederated provinces were of our reformed religion in particular , while the , liberty of conscience was establish'd for all sorts of persons , and the exercise of all religions was publickly permitted ; and it was so till the year 1583. all the regulations which the states-general have made afterwards for religion , and the conduct they have been guided by , in reference to that , are so far from proving them to be of our religion , that they make it evidently appear , that they never were , nor are not at all of it . and this , sir , is what i design to justifie to you in the first letter , which i shall write to you upon this subject . this is long enough ; and if i am weary of writing , you possibly may be more weary of reading what i have written . let us then repose a while . it will not be long e're you hear from me again ; mean time , be assur'd , that i am , reverend sir , your most humble , &c. vtretcht , may 4 th . 1673. the second letter . reverend sir , if you have seriously reflected on what i have written in my first letter , i conceive you will readily make this acknowledgment , that the vnited provinces were not of the reformed religion , as long as there was not any such establish'd by any publick decree ; and that all the sectaries had as much liberty there , as those of the reformed persuasion . i know well enough , that that liberty of conscience , which had been establish'd by so many treaties , and by so many publick acts , was absolutely forbidden , by the regulation which the states-general made in the year 1583. take here , in express terms , what it contains . since there has been a permission granted , by the vnion of utrecht , to amplifie , to abridge , and change , some articles , when ever the welfare and security of the provinces should seem to require it , the states , attentively considering the xiii . article , have unanimously ordain'd , and appointed , that the exercise of any religion shall not be henceforward receiv'd , other then that which is publickly taught in the united provinces , which is the reformed religion . with this proviso however , that if any provinces , members , or cities of the popish religion shall be willing to enter into this alliance , they shall be continu'd in the freedome of their religion , conditionally , that they sign and subscribe the other articles of this alliance . to render this ordinance of no effect , i might tell you , what was alledg'd , as soon as ever it was past , by the catholicks , and all those who were not of our reformed religion . their complaint was , that it had been made , contrary to all manner of justice and reason , contrary to the stipulated faith of all the treaties , which the inhabitants of the same provinces had made , and of those which the provinces had made mutually one with an other . they maintain'd , that , having united themselves together , for the preservation of the laws and privileges of the country , it was a great injustice , to make an establishment of one single religion , to be the publick religion , and to deprive the others of the exercise of theirs , and not to allow them any part in the government of the state. but , above all others , the catholicks thought it very strange , that they , having taken up arms against the spaniards , only for the defence of their liberty , should not be allow'd the free exercise of their ancient religion , as if they had spent all their labour , only to deprive themselves thereof , and to acquire liberty of conscience for others , and to make the reformed religion the most predominant , and to raise that only into the throne . nor did the followers of the other religions , think they had less cause , then the catholicks , to be dissatisfy'd and disgusted , at that ordinance , which took away the exercise and absolute freedom of their religion . they urged , that from the time of their first intertexture of the interest of religion , with that of the state , in the contest which they had with the spaniards , liberty of conscience had been establish'd by so many publick decrees , that they could not be violated , without extremity of injustice . the prince of orange , without concerning himself much at the complaints of the one or the other of the aggrieved parties , did , for his own private interest , and for that of the republick , prosecute his design of making an establishment of our reformed religion , to be the only publick religion , of which all those , who should pretend to any concern in the administration of the government , were oblig'd to make their profession . he had a jealousie of the catholicks , upon the score of his being afraid , that they might employ their credit , to dispose the people to resettle themselves under the domination of the spaniards . nor had he any greater liking to the adherents of the other religions , by reason of their being odious to all the rest of the protestants . as therefore those who profess'd our reformed religion were the best-affected to him , so he thought it convenient , to entrust them with all the authority , for the management of publick affairs . now , reverend sir , be your self pleas'd to judg , whether these provinces deserve to be called of the reformed religion , for this reason , that , out of pure interest of state , and without any justice , they have made an ordinance for the establishment of one single religion , exclusively to all the rest ? but supposing i should grant , that whatever is alledg'd by the catholicks , and the sectaries , against that ordinance , is groundless , and irrational , and that they had the justest reasons in the world to make it ; yet i maintain , that the bare making of it is not a sufficient inducement , for any one to affirm , that this state is of the reformed religion . i cannot forbear acknowledging , that this ordinance does so expressly comprehend the sentiment of all our doctors , that if the vnited provinces had been as careful in the execution of it , as the elector-palatine , your protéstant-cantons , and the city of geneva are , it could not be deny'd , but that their state really and truly is of our reformed religion . but i think , sir , that you do know , and if you do not know it , i shall make it so clearly appear to you , that you shall not in the least doubt of it , that this ordinance has been so far from being put into execution , that they have always practic'd , and still do practice , what is directly contrary to the contents thereof . by this ordinance , there is an express prohibition of allowing any other religion then the reformed , in the provinces ; and yet we there find the publick exercise of many other religions , besides the reformed , not to say of all those who were desirous to have it . and that you may not doubt of it , i shall here give you a short catalogue of the religions in that country , which have an uncontroulable liberty of celebrating their mysteries , and serving god , as they themselves think fit . be pleas'd then to know , that besides those of the reformed religion , there are roman-catholicks , lutherans , brownists , independents , arminians , anabaptists , socinians , arrians , enthusiasts , quakers , borrelists , armenians , muscovites , libertines , and others . and there are in fine some whom we may call seekers , because they are still seeking out for a religion , and do not profess any of those which are already establish'd . i give you no account of the jews , the turks , and the persians , in regard that , as they are not sects o christians , so what i might say of them would signifie nothing to the subject i have in hand . and since i am well satisfy'd , that there are not any turks and persians , but what are in amsterdam , or haply in some other sea-port-towns , there is no consequence deducible thence , for the residence of any such in the other cities of that country . nor shall i say any thing of the armenians and muscovites , who are all of the greek religion . and as i conceive , that there are only some merchants of the one , and of the other of those nations , and that none of the natives of the country do profess their religion ; so i do not think there is any person , that will condemn the liberty which is given them , to serve god , according to the ceremonies and precepts of their religion . and whereas , of all the other religions , and sects , we find a great number of persons , born in that country , who make an open and publick profession thereof , i conceive you will not take it amiss , that i should here in few words , give you an account of the opinions , of all the religions , which are in this country . as to the doctors and professors of our religion , i question not but you know , that they also differ amongst themselves , in many things . voëtius , and des marets have , by their disputes , distracted and dishumour'd all the province of holland , where they have been so violent , one against the other , that if men would believe either the one , or the other , they must , upon pain of damnation , stick to the sentiment of the one , and reject that of his adversary . voëtius did , and still does maintain , that it is sacriledge , to leave the ecclesiastical revenues at the disposal of slothful paunches , which are not any way serviceable to church or state ; that those who are known by the name of lombards , are not to be called , or admitted to the lord's supper , inasmuch as , lending out money at interest , they exercise a profession forbidden by the word of god ; that the sabbath-day is to be very carefully and religiously observ'd ; that we ought not to celebrate any festival-day , no not easter , whitsuntide , or christmas ; that when we speak of the apostles , evangelists , or disciples of jesus christ , we are not to give any one the name of saint , and that we are not to say , saint peter , saint paul , saint john , saint thomas , but to say downright , peter , paul , john , and thomas ; and that all the faithful ought to follow a severe kind of life , to retrench themselves from the greatest part even of the most innocent enjoyments of life , that they may the better work out their salvation with fear and trembling . on the other side , des marets is opposite to voetius , almost in all these things , and hath argu'd against his sentiments , with so much animosity , as if their dispute had been about those points of religion which are most important , and most necessary to salvation . and i think they had not yet ended their dispute , if cocceius had not publish'd some opinions , which were displeasing to both ; upon which they thought fit to agree together , in order to the opposing of them . this cocceius was a professor of the university of leiden , very well skill'd in the hebrew tongue , who read the scripture with a continual attention , and has therein discover'd many things , which were not before known to any one , and hath penetrated into the mystical and profound sence of it . in all the prophecies of the old and new testament , he almost every where finds the reign of christ , and that of anti-christ , which is opposite thereto . he has dispos'd the oeconomy of the old and new testament after a way not known before , and such as had not yet been establish'd by any doctor . he is the first that has discover'd , and taught , the difference there is , between the government of the church before the law , and that under the law , and that after the law. he affirms , that before the law , the promise took place ; during which time of the promise , the church was free . that to the promise , god had added the law , which , having been at first represented in the decalogue , contains only an abridgment of the covenant of grace , and the commandments of faith , repentance , and the gratitude we owe to god ; as it appears by the sence of the preface , and of all the commandements in particular . he adds , that after the worshipping of the golden calf , god , to chastize his people for the idolatry , which they had committed , had given them a law , consisting of ceremonial and carnal commandements , which were not good ; having impos'd upon them a yoke , by the establishment of his ordinances and ceremonies . whence it comes , that the law had been made , in appearance , a covenant of works , promising life to those , who should obey his commandments , and denouncing malediction and death against those , who should transgress them . it is also another persuasion of his , that the commandement concerning the observation of the sabbath-day , was one of those ceremonial and carnal commandements , which have been abrogated by jesus christ . during all the time before jesus christ had paid the father the price of our redemption , he affirms , that all the faithful were sav'd , by the security which jesus christ had given for us ; that the forgiving of sins did not take place , otherwise than by a connivance of grace , in as much as they were only under the promise ; the payment , or satisfaction , having not been yet made by jesus christ . that the law being added , as an obligation , did reproach the people with their sins , and put them into a mindfulness thereof by the sacrifices ; and that it is upon that score that the ancient people were under servitude , and in fear of death , till such time as jesus christ , having , by his blood , paid the ransom of our sins , the obligation , which was in force against them , being cancell'd , we have fully and perfectly obtain'd the pardon of our sins . he is of opinion , in fine , that there is to spring up in the world a reign of jesus christ , which will abolish the reign of antichrist ; and that , when they who shall have corrupted the earth shall be destroy'd , the church shall be in a happy condition in the world ; and when there shall be a restauration of the reign of jesus christ , before the end of the world ; and that after the conversion of the jews , and of all nations , the catholick church shall scatter the rayes of its meridian light and glory , into all parts of the world. he believes her to be the celestial hierusalem , which is describ'd in the revelation , the emblem whereof represents to us the condition of the church , such as she ought to be in her greatest splendour upon earth , and not that which is to triumph in heaven . i thought my self oblig'd to give you an account of the particular sentiments of this divine , because he has a great number of followers ; as also for this reason , that voetius and des marets condemn his opinions as heretical ; nay indeed represent him as a socinian , in many things . they affirm , that he is an innovator , and give him the title of scripturarius ; as if it were a great crime , to be closely addicted to the scripture , and to make it the most important of our studies . there are many other divines , especially such as have studied under the professors , whom i have before named , who obstinately oppose his sentiments , and endeavour to persecute , and to procure the condemnation of all his disciples . it is not requisite that i should give you any account of the roman catholicks , it being notorious to all the world , what their sentiments are . you know also , what the opinions of the lutherans are . the famous confession which they made at ausbourg , in the year 1530 , has made a sufficient discovery of them to all the world. true it is , that most of their doctors have opinions very different from their first confession . they are divided amongst themselves , upon the score of very disconsonant sentiments . but as that diversity is found only in those of them who are in germany , i shall say nothing of it . they who are in this country , keep closely enough to the sentiment of their first doctor . only observe here , in what they differ from those who are in germany , denmark , and sweden . they do not use auricular confession ; th●y have neither images , nor altars , in their churches ; their ministers wear no sacerdotal habits ; they have not the several orders of priests , deacons , arch-deacons , and superintendents , or bishops , as they have in most other parts . the arminians took their denomination from arminius , their first doctor , who was a famous professor in the university of leyden . they would rather be called remonstrants , by reason of the book , which they presented to the states-general , in the year 1611. to which they had given the title of remonstrance , and which comprehended the principal articles of their belief . you know the five remarkable points , upon which they were condemn'd by the synod of dort , held in the year 1618 , in which were present some divines of your cantons , as also out of several countries professing the reformed religion , as england , germany , and other plac●s . after the death of arminius , and in the time of vorstius , and of episcopius , a most eminent doctor amongst them , they adopted many errours of the socinians . nay most of them have deserted the opinion of their first master , upon the point of predestination , and eternal election . arminius had taught , that god had elected the faithful , by the prevision of their faith. and episcopius is of opinion , that god has not elected any one from all eternity , but that he does elect the faithful , in time , when they actually believe . he speaks only in very doubtful and ambiguous terms of the prescience of god , which was the great fortress , in which arminius secur'd himself . these same arminians of the present time believe , that the doctrine of the trinity of persons , in one only essence , is not necessary to salvation ; that there is not any precept in the scripture , by which we are commanded to adore the holy ghost ; nor any example , or indication , by which it appears , that the holy ghost has been ador'd ; that jesus christ is not a god equal to the father ; that faith in jesus christ , by which we are saved , hath not been commanded , nor took any place under the old covenant . most of them do make it their study to avoid that expression of the satisfaction of jesus christ . episcopius , in the mean time affirms , that jesus christ has , by his passion and death , so far satisfy'd god , as to render him propitious to all mankind , and ready , henceforwards , to receive all men into his communion ; provided they , by faith , embrace that propitiation of jesus christ ; so that god being no longer displeas'd , there is no enmity remaining , but what proceeds from men , refusing to entertain the grace of jesus christ . they very earnestly press the toleration of all the opinions of those who profess christian religion ; maintaining , that all christians agree in the most important , and , such as they call , the most essential and fundamental points of religion ; that it has not been hitherto decided , by an infallible judgment , who they are amongst the christians , who have embrac'd the truest and purest religion , and such as is most conformable to the word of god ; that to the effect all may be mutually united , to make up one and the same body or church , and that they ought to love one another as brethren , and not to have any enmity or animosity one against another , upon the score of their dissenting in some points of religion , especially such as are not of the most considerable . that men ought not to force any one to condemn , and renounce his own sentiments , or to approve and follow those of another . they say , that heretofore amongst the jews , the pharisees , the sadduces , and the esseni , of whom the sects were very different , and had most dangerous opinions , were however tolerated by the jews , and all receiv'd into the temple , to present thei● sacrifices and prayers to god , and to perform all the other functions of religion . if arminius were to come into the world again , certainly , he would not own most of those who bear his name , to be his disciples . and yet there are some amongst them , who have not added any thing to his sentiments . but they all agree in this point , that all christians ought to be tolerated ; either that all-together they might make up but one and the same church , or that every one may be allow'd the liberty of his religion . the brownists have many great assemblies in the low-countries . they are a sort of people separated from the english church , and from all the other reformed churches , which they think to be corrupted , not as to the doctrinal points of faith , concurring in that respect , with those of the reformed religion of holland , germany , and other places , but as to the form of government . they equally condemn episcopal government , and that of the presbyterians , by consistories , classes , and synods . they will not joyn with our churches , for this reason , as they say , that they are not assur'd of the conversion , and probity of the members , whereof they consist , because they therein suffer sinners , with whom men ought not to communicate ; and that in the participation of the sacraments , the good contract impurity in the communion of the wicked . they condemn the benediction of the marriages , which are celebrated in churches by the ministers , maintaining , that , being a political contract , the confirmation of it depends on the civil magistrate . they would not have their children to be baptiz'd , who are not members of the church , or are not as careful , as they ought to be , of the children that have been baptiz'd . they reject all forms of prayers ; nay they affirm , that the prayer , which our lord has taught us , ought not to be recited as a prayer , but that it was given us to be the rule and model , by which we ought to frame all those , which we present to god. they reject the use of bells , and churches , especially such as they say had been consecrated to idolatry . the independents are a brood of the brownists . john robinson , an english man , is the father of all those who are in this country . they believe , that every church , or , as they call it , every particular congregation , has in it self , radically , and essentially , whatever is for its conduct and government , and all ecclesiastical power and jurisdiction . that such a church , or congregation , is not subject either to one , or more churches , or to their deputies , or assemblies , or synods , or to any bishop ; or that any one church , or assembly has any power over any other church whatsoever . that every particular church ought to manage its own affairs , without any dependence on any other ; and hence it comes , that such as follow these s●ntiments , have the denomination of independents . and though they do not think there is any necessity of assembling synods , yet they affirm , that if any be assembled , there ought to be a consideration of their resolutions , as of the counsels of wise and prudent men , whereto a certain submission is due ; and not as definitions , and establishments , requiring conformity and obedience . they are willing to acknowledge , that one or more churches may be assistant to another church , as to advice , and admonition ; nay that they may reprove it , if there be any offence ; yet not upon the account of any superiour authority , which has any power of excommunication , but as a sister-church , declaring , that she cannot have any communion with such a church as hath offended , and does not demean her self , according to the rules and commandements of jesus christ . and these are the particular sentiments of the independents , in reference to the government of the church . their very name had render'd them very odious even to the protestants ; but the confession of faith , which their brethren of england publish'd , when they assembled at london , in the year 1651. has made it appear , that they have not otherwise any particular sentiment , as to matter of doctrine , but that in reference to that , they concurre in all things with those of the reformed religion . i have hitherto given you an account of but three or four different religions , or rather persuasions ; but this letter being come to a considerable length , i will adjourn what i have to say of the other sects of this countrey , to the next opportunity i shall have to write to you , remaining , in the mean time , reverend s●r , your most humble , &c. the third letter . reverend sir , i am now , according to my promise , to give you an account of all the different sects , or religions , which are in this country . they , who , in other places are called anabaptists , are known , in these provinces , by the denomination of mennonites , and have deriv'd that name from menno , a man born at a village of friezland , in the year 1496. not that the said menno was the first father of the anabaptists in this country ; but that he , having rejected the enthusiasmes and revelations of the primitive anabaptists , and their opinions concerning the new reign of jesus christ , which they pretended to establish upon earth by force of arms , has broach'd certain new doctrines , which his followers have embrac'd , and persisted in to this day . their tenets are these ; that the new testament only , and not the old , ought to be the rule of our faith. that in speaking of the father , the son , and the holy ghost , there is no necessity of using the terms of persons , or the trinity . that the first productions of the creation , as to mankind , were not created in a state of justice and holiness . that there is no such thing as original sin. that jesus christ did not take flesh of the substance of his mother , mary , but of the essence of the father ; or that the word was changed into man , or that he brought it from heaven , or that it is not known whence he took it . that the union of the divine nature with the humane , in jesus christ , was so made , that the divine nature was render'd visible , subject to suffering , and death . that it is not lawful for christians to swear , to exercise any charge of civil magistracy , or to make use of the sword , not even to punish the wicked , or to oppose force with force , or to engage in a war , upon any account , or occasion . that a man may , in this life , come to that pitch of perfection , as to have an accomplish'd purity , and to be without any defilement of sin. that it is not lawful for the ministers of the word to receive any salary of their churches , for the pains they take . that little children ought not to be baptiz'd . that the souls of men , after their death , rest in an unknown place , till the day of judgment . these mennonites are divided into several sects , upon very slight occasions . of these sects , there are two of a considerable standing , whereof one is that of the ancient mennonites of flanders ; the other , that of the mennonites of friezland . those of flanders exercise ecclesiastical discipline , with extraordinary severity , and excommunicate those of their sects , for very trivial miscarriages . they are of a persuasion , that it is not lawful to eat , or drink , or to have any communication , no , not as to the concerns of a civil life , with those who are excommunicated . they , by that means , make a division between husbands , and their wives ; children , and their parents ; maintaining , that all the obligations of friendship and society are to be cancell'd with those , whom the church has anathematiz'd . those of friezland receive into their communion such as have been rejected by the other sects of the mennonites ; and they exercise so great a relaxation in their discipline , that they entertain all sorts of polluted persons into their society ; and for that reason are they called borboritae , or stereorarii . but as there are , even amongst them , some more scrupulous than others , so they also are parcell'd into divers s●cts , upon very slight , and trivial occasions . i shall only give an account of one , by which a judgment may be made of the rest . there is one sect of them called mamillarii , upon this score , that a young man had taken the freedom to put his hand into a young maids bosome , whom he was then courting , and , within a few dayes , to marry . some amongst them maintain'd , that he ought to be excommunicated ; and others condemning that severity , there happ●n'd a schisme . they , who would not have the young man to be excommunicated , were called mamillarii . there are daily divisions , and separations amongst them ; and assoon as they chance to be ejected out of one society , they find a reception in some other . many amongst the mennonites have embrac'd most of the opinions of the socinians , or rather those of the arrians , concerning the divinity of jesus christ . they generally press that toleration of all sects , which is so earnestly recommended by the arminians . it is their persuasion , that they ought not to expell ▪ out of their assemblies , any man who leads a devout life , and acknowledges , that the holy scripture is the word of god , though the same man does not agree with the others , in many things which are accounted articles of faith. these last are , by the others , called galenists , taking their name form one galenus , a physician of amsterdam , a very eloquent , learned , and well-experienc'd man and one who is charged to be an absolute socinian . the socinians deny the divinity of jesus christ , the existence of the holy ghost , origina sin , the satisfaction of jesus christ , the resurrection of the reprobate , and the reassumption of the same bodies which the faithful had , during their abode in this world. their publi●k ass●mbli●s are forbidden , but they lurk under the names of arminians and anabaptists . they have also their secret assemblies , in which they are very fervent in prayer to god , with groaning and weeping . they make it their comp●a●nt , that they are odious to , and abominated by most christians , upon the score of the doctrine which they profess . they affirm , th●t they have not interest in the maintaining of it , save only the p●rsuasion they have of its truth , and the zeal of appropriating to its only individual , and sovereign god , the father of our lord jesus christ , the glory of his divinity . they are further of opinion , that having been confirm'd in their faith by the reading of the word of god , and by the books which have been written against them , they make it their earnest and humble suit to that great god , that , if they are in any error , he would discover it to them , that they may renounce it , and give his truth the glory . their conversation is holy and without reproach , as far as men can judg by what they see ; and that conversation is absolutely modell'd according to the precepts of jesus christ ; and it externally appears , that since they are not much concern'd for the things of this world , their care is the greater , to perform the works of devotion and charity , and to promote the salvation of their souls . they wholly employ themselves in the reading of the word of god , in which they are so well vers'd , that most of them seem to have it by heart . in the assemblies they make for their exercises of piety , all that are present have the liberty of speaking . one amongst them begins to read a chapter of the scripture ; and when he has read several verses of it , till he has come to a full paragraph , he who reads , and they who hear , do respectively give their sentiments , concerning the sence of the words , which have been read to them . but what is most surprizing , is , that though the greatest part of them be illiterate , and men of no study at all , as being merchants , or tradesmen , yet they all seem to have a particular talent , for the understanding , and exposition of the holy scripture . nay it is reported , that the learned amongst them , who have written commentaries , or annotations , upon the holy scripture , have every where done very well , save only in those places , where their own prejudgments have engag'd them to accommodate the scripture to their own erroneous sence . so that it may be said of them , as i think i have heard it heretofore said , of origen , vbi benè , nemo meliùs , ubi malè , nemo pejùs ; where he had done well , no man could have done better ; and where he had done ill , no man could do worse . having given you this summary account of the socinians , my next work is to give you that of the arrians . those last are very numerous in this country , and many amongst the socinians have embrac'd their opinions . you know what were the sentiments of the arrians , concerning the birth of jesus christ . they believ'd , that the word , the intellect , and the word of god , had had been created before all the creatures ; that god had made use of it , in the old testament , as of an interpreter of a mediator , when he had something to declare , to the patriaerchs and prophets . that that word , had , by a voluntary annihilation , animated the body of jesus christ , as the spirit of man animates his body , the word having taken flesh only , without soul , and without spirit . nay they were also of a persuasion , that all the souls of other men were spirits , subsisting before the bodies , and that they assum'd not the name of souls , till such time as they actually animated their bodies . christopher sandius , a gentleman of poland , son to a councellor of the elector of brandeburgh , was the restaurator of the arrian sect in this country . his habitation , for some years past , has been at amsterdam . among other works , he has written two books which i have seen , whereof one is entituled , the paradoxall interpretations of the four evangelists . the other is , an ecclesiastical history , in which he proves , or pretends to prove ; that all the doctors , commonly called the fathers of the church , who flourish'd from the time of the apostles , to that of arrius , had the same sentiments as he had , concerning the mystery of the trinity . the borrellists had their name from one borrell , the ringleader of their sect , a man very learned , especially in the hebrew , greek , and latine tongues . he was brother to monsieur borrell , ambassador from the states-general , to his most christian majesty . these borrelists do , for the most part , maintain the opinions of the mennonites , though they come not to their assemblies . they have made choice of a most austere kind of life , spending a considerable part of their estates , in alms-giving , and a careful discharge of all the duties incumbent upon a christian . they have an aversion for all churches , as also for the use of the sacrament , publick prayers , and all other external functions of god's service . they maintain , that all the churches which are in the world , and have been ever since the death of the apostles , and their first subsequent successors , have degenerated from the pure doctrine which they had preach'd to the world ; for this reason , that they have suffered the infallible word of god , contain'd in the old and new testament , to be expounded and corrupted , by doctors , who are not infallible , and would have their own confessions , their catechisms , and their liturgies , and their sermons , which are the works of m●n , to pass for what they really are not , to wit , for the pure word of god. they hold also , that men are not to read any thing but the word of god alone , without any additional explication of men . another persuasion they have , is , that if there should be any assembly , wherein men would content themselves with the bare reading of the word of god ( however the persons who might be desirous to be receiv'd into it , may demean themselves ) provided they acknowledg the holy scripture to be the word of god , they ought to be receiv'd into its communion . the enthusiasts , or quakers , who affirm , that what they say , or do , is by divine inspiration , maintain , that the holy scripture ought to be explicated , according to the light of that divine inspiration , without which it is but a dead letter , written to children , and not to perfect and spiritual men ; and that it is not the true , only , and perfect word of god , or the compleat and necessary rule of faith. they maintain , that their own private spirit is the true , internal , and spiritual word of god , the rule and the judg of the scriptures : that men ought to hearken to , and follow that spirit , and not the words of the scripture . that a man has , within himself , and in his own spirit , an infallible teacher , who , if he hearkens to him , will inform him of all he is to believe , or do , in orer to his salvation . that they who hearken to that spirit are united to god , and that such union makes them gods. when they are in their assemblies , they continue a long time in a sitting posture , without speaking , and many times without so much as stirring , for the space of one or two hours ; and there is nothing heard of them , unless it be some sighs and groans , till such time as some one among them , feeling the agitation and stirring of the spirit , rises up , and speaks the things which the spirit commands him to speak . nay many times , the women are sensible of those motions of the spirit , which occasion their speaking , or holding forth , in the congregation of their brethren . in their ordinary discourses , they speak of their ecstasies , and revelations , and will be always sure , to add very severe censures of all other christians . they very vehemently declaim against vices , and with great earnestness press the mortification of the flesh . they challenge all those who are in the assembly , and conjure them to speak , if there be any one that has ought to object against what the spirit has inspir'd them to deliver . and this occasions the frequent disputes and quarrels , which happen amongst them . nay it comes to pass sometimes , that after they have for a good while expected the coming , and inspiration of the spirit , not any one amongst them being sensible of its heat and motion in himself , they depart from the place where they were assembled , without any one's having held forth . as to the libertines , they seem to have each of them his particular sentiment to himself . but most of them are of this persuasion , that there is only one spirit of god , which is universally diffus'd , and lives in all creatures . that the substance and immortality of our souls , is not any thing but that spirit of god. that god himself is not any thing but that spirit . that mens souls die with their bodies . that sin is not any thing . that it is but a simple opinion , which immediately vanishes , provided there be no account made of it . that paradise is but an illusion , a pleasant chimera , which the divines have invented , to engage men , to embrace that which they call virtue . that hell also is but a vain fancy , which the same divines have fram'd , to divert men from that which they call sin ; that is to say , to hinder them from being happy in doing what they please . they affirm , in fine , that religion is only an invention of politicians , to keep the people , by the fear of a divinity , in a subjection to their laws , in order to the better regulation and government of the commonwealth . in short , there are in this country a vast number of persons , as i know there were heretofore in england , who go under the denomination of seekers . it is the acknowledgment of these people , that there is one true religion , which jesus christ has brought us from heaven , and which he has reveal'd to us in his word ; but they maintain withal , that that true religion of jesus christ , which we ought to profess , in order to the attainment of salvation , is not any one of those religions , which are establish'd amongst christians . they have some particular exception to make against every one of those religions , and they condemn them all in general . in a word , they have not pitch'd upon any one determinate religion , as being still concern'd upon the seeking account . they read and meditate the holy scriptures with great attention . they pray to god with a fervent zeal , that he would illuminate them in the knowledg of that religion , which they ought to embrace , in order to the serving of him according to his will , and for the acquest of that everlasting felicity , which he has promis'd his children . i should not think , that i have given you an account of all the religions and persuasions of this country , if i should omit the saying of a word , or two , of an illustrious and learned man , who , as i have be●n assur'd , has a great number of followers , and those , such as keep closely to his sentiments . he is a man , by birth a jew , whose name is spinosa , one that has not abjur'd the religion of the jews ▪ nor embrac'd the christian religion : so that he continues still a most wicked jew , and has not the least tincture of christianity . some years since he put forth a book , entituled , tractatus theologo-politicus , wherein his principal design is , to destroy all religions , and particularly the jewish and the christian , and to introduce atheisme , libertinisme , and the free toleration of all religions . he maintains , that they were all invented , for the advantage and conveniences , which the publick receives thereby , to the end that all persons subject to government may live honestly , and obey their magistrates , and that they may addict themselves to virtue , not out of the hope or expectation of any reward after death , but for the intrinsick excellency of virtue in it self , and for the advantages which accrue to those who follow it , in this life . he do●s not , in that book , make an open discovery of the opinion which he has of the divinity , but he does however so far insinuate it , as that we may guess at his meaning , whereas in his discourses , he boldly affirms , that god is not a being endow'd with intelligence , infinitely-perfect , and blissful , as we imagine him to be ; but that he is not any thing else , but that virtue of nature , which is diffus'd into all the creatures . this spinosa is now living in this country . his residence was , for some time , at the hague , where he was visited by the virtuosi , and all others who pretended to more then ordinary curiosity ; nay by some young ladies of quality , who pride themselves in being more ingenious ▪ then is requisite for their sex. his followers are somewhat cautious in discovering themselves , because his book , before-mention'd , does absolutely subvert the very foundations of all religions , and has been condemn'd by a publick edict of the states-general , and a prohibition put upon the sale of it ; and yet it is publickly sold. amongst all the divines , of whom there is a great number in this country , there has not stood up any one , that has presum'd to write against the opinions which this author advances in the afore-said treatise . and i am the more surpriz'd thereat , for this reason , that the author , making a discovery of his great knowledg of the hebrew tongue , as also of all the ceremonies of the jewish religion , of all the customs of the jews , and of the heathenish philosophy ; the divines of the reformation cannot say , but that the book does well deserve , that they should take the pains to refute it . for if they still continue silent , men cannot forbear affirming , that either they are defective in point of charity , in suffering so pernicious a book to be scatter'd up and down without any answer thereto , or that they approve the sentiments of that author ; or that they have not the courage and abilities to oppose them . and thus , reverend sir , have i given you an acccount of the different sects of christians which are in this country , and which have all , in a manner , the freedom of exercising the religions which they profess . i leave you to make thereupon what reflections you shall think fit . it will be no hard matter for me , to deduce , from this diversity of sects , such convincing reasons , as shall prove what i have before advanced , to wit , that the states-general are not of our reformed religion . in the first place , it cannot be affirmed , that this state is of the reformed religion , upon the score of the number of those who make profession of it . for , though it cannot be precisely known , what number there are of persons professing the calvinistical way of reformation , which is commonly called the reformed religion , in these provinces , yet this is still out of all question , that the number of those who are not of it , is incomparably greater than that of those who do profess it . having thereupon consulted some of the inhabitants , they have assur'd me , that there may be a tripartite division made of the people of these provinces , and that the three parts may be something towards an equality . the one is of the reformed religion ; another , of the roman-catholicks ; and the third , of the sectaries . i should never have thought , that the number of the roman-catholicks had been so great . it is certain , that a considerable part of the inhabitants of great cities , and the greatest part of those of the campaigne , and of the boors of that country , are roman-catholicks ; and there are assuredly at least as many of those of the reformed religion . and if we put together all the sectaries , they also , doubtless , make up a third part of the inhabitants of these provinces . if therefore the domination , and the denomination , ought to be deduc'd from the greatest part , those of the reformed religion being , at most , but a third part of the people of this country , cannot give the whole state the denomination of being of the reformed religion . it cannot therefore be such , upon any other account than this , that our reformed religion has been establish'd , and the others forbidden , by the publick edict before-mentioned . it might indeed be granted , that it deserv'd that name , if that ordinance had been put in execution ; but that having not been executed , the name cannot be justly given it . but that being a matter requiring much discussion , i shall wave it at this time , and make it the subject of my next to you ; and so i shall make no addition to this , save only that of assuring you of my being , reverend sir , your most humble , &c. vtrecht , may 7 th . 1673. the fourth letter . reverend sir , you have observ'd in my first letter , that the states-generall have always given liberty of conscience to all sorts of persons , and allow'd the publick exercise , in a manner , of all religions . you thereby find , that they never executed the ordinance which they made in the year 1583. to wit , that no any religion should be thenceforwards receiv'd , nor the exercise of any other be permitted , then that which was publickly taught in the seven provinces , and which is the reformed religion . it will be no hard matter for me to prove to you thereby , that what external profession soever the vnited provinces have hitherto made of the reformed religion , if we search the business to the bottom , it will appear , that they neither are , nor ever were of it . while the free exercise of all religions was permitted by all the publick decrees , you will certainly acknowledg , that then the states were not yet of our reformed way of religion . for if you make this conclusion , that these provinces were at that time of our religion , because there was a publick profession of our religion made in them , i shall , with the same reason , make this , that they were catholicks , lutherans , and anabaptists , because , at that time , there was a publick profession made in them of all those religions . let us therefore examine , what ordinances these provinces made afterwards , which might give them the name , which they are so desirous to have , of our reformed religion . i have told you heretofore , that it was in the year 1572. that our reformed way of religion , such as it was taught at geneva , in your cantons , and in the palatinate of the rhine , was receiv'd in these provinces , for the only publick religion . but the very ordinance , which establish'd our religion to be the publick religion , did also openly confirm the liberty of conscience of all sorts of religions , with an express prohibition , for the disturbing or molesting of any person whatsoever upon that account . the difference there upon this score , between the states-general , and all the other estates of our reformed religion , was so great , that i cannot imagine you should think the one and the others to be of the same religion . the vnited provinces had ordain'd it by a publick decree , that the free exercise of all rel●gions should be permitted . the elector palatine , the city of geneva , and your cantons did not , in any part of their territories , permit the exercise of any religion , ever so little different from ours . i question not but that you know , the elector-palatine did , at the beginning , follow the confession of auxbourg , which was received in all his dominions ; and that , since that time , having embrac'd our reformed way of religion , and having est●blish'd it in his country , he order'd all the lutherans , who would not make profession thereof , to depart out of it . it is doubtless , no small trouble to the elector of brandenbourg , to see that most of his subj●cts are lutherans , that there are many of them catholicks , and but very few of the calvinistical reformed way of religion . but , as you know , it is not above sixty years since that electoral house began to make profession of our reformed religion , yet so , that he could not oblige his subjects , either his embrace the same , or to quit that which they had profess'd for a long time before . john sigismond , who died in the year 1619. and was grandfather to the elector now reigning , was the first renouncer of the lutherane religion , which he and some of the ancestors had till then prof●ss'd , and first the profession of our reformed way . he publish'd a confession of faith , in the year 1614. in the preface of it , he saies , that it was about eighty years , since joakim , he second , had renounced the ceremonies of the roman church ; but that having retain'd a doctr●ne upon the point of the eucharist , which was not conformable to the truth , and some other things in the temples , which were not allowable , he had apply'd , himself to the correcting of all abuses , in order to a full and perfect reformation . and yet the greatest part of his subjects , having , near fourscore years before , embrac'd the lutherane religion , he was so far from obliging them to quit it , and to embrace the profession of ours , that , in many parts of his territories , nay even at berlin it self , which is the principal city of his residence , he has not the liberty of having the particular exercise of our rel●gion , for any but himself and those of his houshold . no doubt but he wishes that he could follow the example of other estates , who do profess it , in not permitting the exercise of any o●her in all his dominions . there is not any necessity of my telling you , that there never was , either at geneva , or in your cantons , any permission , i do not say of the exercise of our religion , but even of habitation , for those whose profess a religion different from ours . that being so , i assure my self , of your being persuaded , that one and the same religion cannot inspire those who profess it , with sentiments that are contradictory , and with an absolutely opposite conduct and deportment . there may be some in the world , who would say , that interest of state obliged the palatinate , the city of geneva , and your cantons , to proceed one way , and that the same interest of state obliges the vnited prvinces to take a quite different course , in the same case , and upon the same oceasion . but i do not imagine , that you approve that strange maxim of some politicians , who accommodate religion to the interest of state ; and i hope , you will acknowledge , that they , who do so , have not any at all . at the very time that our religion was establish'd by a publick decree , liberty of conscience was also solemnly confirm'd , by the union of vtrecht . nay it is expressly granted , that , as to matter of religion , every seignory or province , should make such regulation as it thought fit , according to its own customes . it is therefore manifest , that the united provinces cannot be said to be of the reformed religion , according to the calvinistical way , but only from that time , and by reason of the regulation which they made in the year 1583. but if , as i think i have evidently made it appear , the states have no other ground than that , from which they may have the demonination of being of the reformed religion , methinks i shall without much ado , make it further appear to you , that they have not any at all . if then the decree they made , by which it was expressly ordained , that there should not be the permission of any religion amongst them , but of ours only , does justly give them the name of a state of that reformed religion , the continual conduct which they have hitherto observ'd , in a constant practice of what is quite contrary to the ordinance , does , if i mistake not , deprive them of the name , which they pretended to , by its establishment . i do not think , sir , that you will undertake to maintain , that for a state to be of our reformed religion , it needs do no more , than make a decree , by which it declares a resolution to profess it , and not to permit in its territories the exercise of any other religion ; when , instead of a sincere accomplishment of what had been resolved by its decree , it is so far from performing of any thing of it , that it acts d●rectly to contrary thereto . i do not imagine you will pretend , that state to be of our religion , by virtue of a decree , which it makes , and never did put in execution . you will tell me , that the states-general are of our religion , because they affirm it , and make a publick profession thereof . and i , on the other side , maintain , that that is not sufficient , for their assuming a name which they do not deserve , since they destroy the external profession they make of it , by a practice quite opposite , and very odious to all those of the religion . if they permitted in their country but one or two religions , whose sentiments were not much different from ours , and that in some of the less principal , and lesser important points , there would be no great cause for men to wonder at it . it might be urged , that prudence and charity oblig'd them , to have some complyance for christians , who , as to the principal part , retain the ground-work of faith , though they have not received such illuminations from god , as might create a belief of all our mysteries . but is there any thing in the world so surprizing , as our finding , that the states give an unlimited liberty to all sorts of religions , insomuch , that in the very province of holland ▪ , there are more discover'd and acknowledg'd sects , than there are in all the other parts of europe , and that there is not any master-heretick , who has a mind to frame a n●w sect , but is there kindly received , to teach and propagate his religion , and to make a publick profession thereof ? some years since , john labadie , the apostate , having been depos'd and excommunicated by the walloon-churches of this country , addressed himself to the heer van beuninghen , desiring to be taken into his protection , van beuninghen makes him this answer , that as long as he was willing to continue in the communion of the walloon-churches , he was oblig'd to submit to their ordinances and discipline ; but that if he would frame a new sect , he should participate of the protection which the states granted to all sorts of religions . i do not question but you know the said person , and are , doubtless , able to judge , that it was not out of any scruple of conscience , that he thought it not convenient , to establish his sect in this countrey . he had amongst his devotes , the illustrious gentlewoman , mrs. mary de schurmans , and other young ladies , of more than ordinary quality ; but being in some fear , that their relations might get them out of his society , which began to be cry'd down , and to appear very scandalous ; he thought it his better way , to settle himself elsewhere , with his sanctified company of both sexes , whom he took along with him . had he thought it convenient , to make his abode in this country , he would have augmented the number of sects , which have their establishment here , and made some additions to the religions , which have a publick liberty in these parts . but though this liberty of conscience , is of so great a latitude as i have told you , yet i am in some suspense , whether you know it to be so comprehensive , as to extend to the countenancing and protecting of those hereticks , whom you would sentence to death , if they were amongst you . this i am satified you know , that , above a hundred years ago , your canton , and the republick of geneva , condemned michael servetus , and scipio gentilis , to be bu●nt alive , for the erroneous opinions they held , concerning the trinity . the principal errours , upon which they were indicted , are much the same , or , at least , are not more dangerous , than those which the socinians maintain , upon the same mystery of christian religion . do you not then wonder at the extraordinary difference there is , between the conduct observ'd by your canton , and the republick of geneva , towards those two ancient hereticks , and that which the states observe , in reference to the socinians , who propagate the same heresies , or others that are equally pernicious ? geneva , and your canton could not endure the one , servetus , and the other , gentilis ; and pass'd their judgment , that they both deserv'd death . the states-general do , without any scruple , suffer a great number of socinians , most of whom are born and brought up amongst them , and never had the least thought of doing them any harm , upon the score of their religion . your canton , and the city of geneva would have thought themselves guilty of a great crime against god , if they had not , by death , taken off these two hereticks , who h●ld such strange errours , against the divinity of jesus christ . but the states-general would think they had committed a great sin against god , if they should put any of the socinians to death , whatever their errours may be . your cantons , and the city of geneva , thought themselves ob●ig'd in conscience , out of their zeal for the glory of god , and christian religion , to take all the courses imaginable , for the smothering of those heresies , which are so destructive to our principal mysteries . the states-general have , on the contrary , done all that lay in their power , to countenance and to improve them . not many years ago , the books of the socinians were very scarce . amongst those which had come forth into the world , as they had been printed in very remote places , and but very few copies had been taken off , so were there not any to be had , but at very dear rates ; nay most of them were not to be had at all . the states-general have out of their special favour and indulgence , and out of an unparallel'd tenderness of conscience , found out a remedy for that inconvenience . to satisfy the socinians , and those who were desirous to become their proselytes , they have permitted the works of four of their principal doctors to be printed , at amsterdam ; to wit , those of socinus , crellius , slichtingius , and wolfogenius . at this very time , there is publickly sold at amsterdam , that library of the socinians , in eight volumes , in folio , which costs but a hundred guilders . not many years since , two hundred pistols would not have purchased one part of those works , which at present may be had altogether for less than ten . true it is , that not long since , there was burnt at amsterdam , a certain book of the socinians ; but it was done , no doubt , upon the very intreaty of william bleau , for whom it had been printed . not many dayes after that publick execution , he publickly expos'd the very same book to sale , and the more to recommend the sale of it , and to enhaunce the price of it , he had got an advertisement put into the title-page , that it was the very same book , which had been , by order of the states , condemn'd to be publickly burnt , by the hand of the common executioner . i question not , but you have had the relation , or haply you your self remember it very well , how that not much above forty years ago , the magistrate of geneva caused nicholas anthony a minister at divonne , in the balliage of gex , to be burnt alive , upon a discovery made , of his being a jew . the twelve articles , which he signed , and upon which an indictment was drawn up against him , make it evidently app●ar , that he did not beli●ve any one of our mysteries of the incarnation , and death of jesus christ , for the salvation of men , and that he expected the coming of jesus christ , as the jews do expect him , for their deliverance , and the establishment of a temporal kingdom upon earth . no doubt but you know , that the jews are very numerous in this country ; that they have an absolute liberty , and their synagogue , in which they make their assemblies for the service of god , and that there never was the least thought of driving them hence , or putting any one of them to death . you know also , better than i do my self , what you did at berne , in reference to some mennonites , who were found in your territories . they gave them the dreadful name of anabaptists , purposely to render them odious , and abominable to all your people . you cast them into prison , and you there kept them a long time , out of the zeal you had for your own religion , and the aversion you had to theirs ; nay , for a certain time , you would not set them at liberty , in order to their departure , with what they had , into some other parts . but at last , you granted them that favour , and it is not unlikely , that you did it upon the intreaty of the magistrate of roterdam , who writ to you a very pressing letter on their behalf . some years before , the canton of schasfhouse , had also banish'd out of their t●rritories , certain ▪ mennonites , and thought they had done them a kindness , in permitting them to take along with them what effects they had , into some other parts . nay , i have been also assured , that not many years since , a certain number of mennonites being , to their misfortune , found in the canton of zeurich , they were taken into custody , and had indictments drawn up against them , on these two capital crimes . there were at that time some comapnies raising , upon some extraordinary occasion which the magistrates had , for the safety of the country . the mennonites would have excused themselves , from being listed in those companies , alledging , that they did not believe a christian could , with a good conscience , bear arms , upon any occasion whatsoever . they preferr'd however , voluntarily to lay down what money should be required of them , for the payment of such person , as might be put in to serve in their stead . they would moreover engage them to oblige themselves by oath , to be faithfull to the state , and to obey their magistrates . they acknowledged , that they were in conscience , oblig'd to that duty , and that they should be very careful in the discharging of it ; they promis'd to do so , and declar'd , that they conceiv'd themselves as deeply engag'd , by their bare word , as if they had confirm'd it with a solemn oath ; but that they could not be induc'd to take any , for this reason , that they believed , that jesus christ had commanded such as profess'd christianity , simply to say , yea , for the affirming of a thing ▪ and nay , for the denying of it , expressly forbidding them to swear , upon any occasion whatsoever . the magistrate of zurich , judging that those two errours were pernicious to the state , pass'd this order against the authors thereof , that within fiftee●●● dayes , they were to depart out of switzerland , and to remove th●●ce all their effects , and concerns , or abjure their doctrine , be ready to take their oaths , and to take up arms , if the magistrate commanded any such thing ; and if any one did not obey this order , that he should be taken , and banish'd , after he had receiv'd a severe chastisment by whipping ; if he were taken a second time , that he should be whipped again , and that after he had been burnt with an hot iron on the shoulder , he should be again sentenc'd to banishment ; but if he were taken the third time , he was to be brought to the magistrate as a rebel , and so to be put to death . but all the cities of this netherlandish country are full of these mennonites , who have their publick assemblies , and an absolute liberty of exercising their religion . nay , there is at amsterdam , that christopher sandius , of whom i have heretofore spoken to you , who makes an open and publick profession of being an arrian , and he has many disciples . if therefore you will seriously examine the thing , i think you will meet with but little encouragement , to maintain , that those governments , which follow so contrary a practice , one to the other , upon a matter of fact so important , reference to religion , can , in the mean time , be of the same religion . i do not imagine , that you will approve or what some affirm , upon this occasion , that in things which are indifferent , two states may demean themselves , the one , this way , and the other , that way , and be both in the mean time of the same religion . things indifferent , as to practicability , are , if i am not mistaken , such as may , or may not be done , or be done after one manner , or after another quite different manner , yet , all without offending god. but i am not easily to be persuaded , that the things we now speak of can be called indifferent . for i pray , tell me , was it not well done by your magistrate , and by that of geneva , when they burnt these two ancient hereticks , and this last jew ? if it was well done , it was not therefore a thing indifferent , and they could not have omitted the doing of it , without offending god. if they did well in their procedure , methinks you cannot deny but that the dutch do very ill , in tolerating and protecting the socinians , who , as to the main , hold the same errours , as those ancient hereticks ; unless you would haply affirm , that there are some things in reference to religion , which may be done after one way in switzerland , and at geneva , and after another way in the low-countries . for , i cannot comprehend , how one and the same religion , can incline some of those , who profess it , to do things directly contrary to those which the others do . moreover , i do not think , that you will be so confident , as to affirm , that it was a thing indifferent , for your magistrate , and for him of geneva , to put those two unforunate hereticks to death . you have too great a respect for your lords , and superiours , to charge them with the odium of so rigorous an execution , if they had not been thereto oblig'd by the precepts of their religion . if the magistrates of the low-countries are of the same religion , as yours , why does it not induce them , to follow the same practice , in reference to the same hereticks , or others , who are yet more dangerous ? in short , i would make this interrogatory to you , reverend sir , what s●nt●ment you have , of those magistrates , who are of opinion , that no man ought to be troubled , or molested upon the score of religion and , that all christians ought to be tolerated , whatever disagreeing sentiments they may have , upon that account ? if ●here were some of them amongst you , i do not beli●ve you would receive them into your communion ; at least , thus far i am assur'd , th●t , according to your own principles , you ought not to receive them . h●w then can you be of a persuasion , that the magistrates of the vnited netherlands are of the reformed religion , properly so called ; when as , if they were at geneva , or in cantons , you cannot admit them to communicate with you ? you know , that monsieur d' huissea● , pastor of the church of saumar , was some years since , depos'd , and excommunicated , by the synod of the province , for the book , which he had publ●sh'd , for the toleration and re-union of christians . though i have read it , yet cannot i call to mind , all the maxims , wh●ch he advances and maintains . mean time this i ●m assured of , that he does not advise a greater toleration of christians , than what the states-general do effectually grant . which is as much as to say , that the magistrates of these countries , have time out of mind , practis'd that which that minister has taught , by the book , which he writ some years since . if it be so , i cannot imagine the minister should be more in fault , than they are ; since he has offended only by his writings , and the magistrates are effectual offenders . they have been the doers of the mischief , and he has been but the teacher of it , and , possibly induc'd thereto , by their example . if you are of opinion , that the said minister was justly , and legally excommunicated ▪ you must certainly be guilty of a strange partiality , if you allow the name of your good brethren in jesus christ , to the magistrates of the low-countries , who ▪ ●or those hundred years past , have committed the evil f●r which that minister hath been excommunicated , though he had not done it , and but ▪ only approv'd the doing of it . if therefore , you cannot own them for brethren , nor admit them to the participation of the communion with you , according to the maxi●s of your own religion and discip●ines , can it enter into your bel●●f , that the external profession which they make of your religion , is sufficient to give him the denomination of being of it , as well as you . but if the magistrates did acquit themselves of the devoir , whereto the reformed religion does particularly oblige magistrates , i should make no difficulty to grant them the privilege of attributing to the state which they govern , the name of the religion which they profess . i believe , you will grant me , that the reformed magistrates , are , after the example of your cantons , oblig'd to obstruct the establishment , and publick exercise of false religions ; and the magistrates themselves of the low-countries cannot be ignorant , of what their own confession of faith , review'd , and approv'd by the synod of dort , prescribes to them , upon this occasion . the xxxvi . article , in which mention is made of magistrates , saies expressly , that it is their duty , to remove idolatry , and the false service of god , to endeavour the destruction of antichrist , and to advance the kingdom of jesus christ . i cannot imagine therefore , that you should endeavour to maintain , that the states-general do conscientiously acquit themselves of what they are olig'd to by their charge of magistracy , after what i have said to you , of the liberty , and indulgence they grant , to so many different sects , which , by their erroneous opinions , subvert the principal mystery of our own religion . if you consult your own sentiments , and those of your collegues , and of all your ministers , and if you follow the practice of all your own churches , you are oblig'd to exclude out of your communion all those magistrates , who give that liberty to all sorts of sects and persuasions . how then can you think , that those magistrates , whom the ordinances of your own churches permit not to communicate with you , can give the name of your religion , to the state which they govern ? nay there are some magistrates at amsterdam , and rotterdam ; two of the principal , and most wealthy cities of holland , who make a publick and open profession , of their being arminians . the sieur adrian patius , who is one of the magistracy of rotterdam , is also an arminian , and his religion hinders not his exercising the charge of ambassadour from the states-general , at the spanish court , where he at present is . i know not whether he be of those of the sect , who do absolutely follow the sentiments of the socinians . but if that person be a socinian , and , in his return from spain , should be in humour to take his way through your cantons ; i know not whether the worst that might happen to him , would be , a denyal of reception into your communion . upon the summing up therefore of all i have said to you , i am apt to think , that you cannot still have the same opinion of the states-general , and continue your calling them a holy and sanctify'd republick . could you represent to your self that strange party-colour'd , chequer-work of religion , which is to be seen in those countries , i should hardly believe , that you could persist any longer , in the good sentiments you have for this state. i am ready to acknowledg , that the protestants are oblig'd to it , for the liberty they have , to live there , without any fear , in the exercise of religion . but are not all sorts of hereticks equally oblig'd to it , for the liberty they have , to live there quietly , in the exercise of their religions ? if this state has been a sanctuary to those of the reformation , all hereticks have also found refuge there , as well as the others . in the general diet held in poland , in the year 1658. it was order'd , by a publick decree , that all the socinians ( who were very numerous in that country , and had their principal seat there ) should be sent away thence , and that , after some time allow'd them for the disposal of their estates , they were to be for ever banish'd thence . the states-general did charitably receive all those amongst them , who took refuge in this country ; and it is particularly since that time , that they have notoriously increas'd , and multiply'd . if this state be the school of the reformed party , it is in like manner the school , the damme , and the nursery of all hereticks . nay , i am in some suspense , whether it may not be justly maintain'd , that christian religion has receiv'd more detriment , than advantage , by the establishment of this state ? and possibly , for the same interest of christian religion , there will be a greater obligation to wish its ruine , then its wellfare . it will be a very hard matter , to persuade you to this , since you are of opinion , that the republick of the vnited provinces is a most-christian state , and one of the most reform'd , even amongst christians . i know not whether you will alwayes persist in this sentiment ; but though you do , i shall not forbear remaining , reverend sir , your most , &c. vtrecht , may 13 th . 1673 the fifth letter . reverend sir , if i am not mistaken , i have , by irrefragable reasons proved , that the states-general cannot be said to be of the reformed religion . but you will say , if they are not of our religion , what religion may they be said to be of ? i must confess they are of the reformed religion , if , to be so , there needs no more , than an external profession of it , no more , than to have ordain'd , by a publick decree , that our religion should be the religion of state , and that all those , w●o would have any concern in the government , should make publick profession thereof , and that there should be publick schools for the teaching of it . if these things make a sufficient title to the reformed religion , this state is doubtless of that relig●on . but if , as i think , i have made it sufficiently appear , this state follows a practice quite contrary to all governments of that religion ; and does , by its conduct , and its own confession of faith , and the publict decree , whereby it establish'd our religion to be the reli●ion of state , destroy that very religion ; let what will be said , i maintain , that this state is not of our religion , but only as to the denomination , and not in effect . if you are pleas'd to remember , reverend sir , what i have hitherto told you all-along , you will find it manifest , that as liberty of conscience was established by the first ordinances which they made in this country ; so it may be said , with reason , that this state consonantly to its own principles , is , and ought to be , of all religions . and if it be of all religions , it may well be said , that it has not any particular religion , nor indeed that it has not any at all . true it is , that there is one of them , which is very common to most of the inhabitants of the country , to wit , that of a●arice , which the scripture calls idolatry . mammon has a vast nu●ber of votaries , in these parts , and , there is no question to be made , of his being better ▪ serv'd here , than the true god is by most christians . if we consider the whole course of life , amongst the dutch , as also the earnestness , and application , wherewith they are addicted to commerce , we cannot forbear acknowledging , that the only design they seem to have , is to grow rich , and heap up money . there comes into my mind , upon this occasion , what i read in an italian relation , of a certain voyage of the dutch ; that being come into the cities of japan , out of which there had been an expulsion of all the christians , and the inhabitants of the country having ask'd them , whether ▪ they were christians ; they confidently answer'd , siamo holandesi , non siamo christiani . we are hollanders , we are not christians . and indeed their deportment since , as well in the indies , as in some other remoto places , makes it evidently appear , that they are extreamly concern'd for the advancement of their commerce , and not any thing at all , for that of religion . all other sorts of christians , as well roman-catholicks , as protestants ( the dutch only excepted , if they may be admitted among the latter ) make the colonies they have , in those remote parts of the world , promotive to the advancement of christian religion , by causing it to be preached to the infidels . this we see practic'd by the catholicks , with so great zeal , by the great number of missionaries , whom they send into the east and west-indies , and into the turkish empire , to preach the gospel , and to convert those people , to the faith of jesus christ . nay this is also done by the english , who send ministers of the gospel , into all parts where they have colonies , and order all the directors of their companies , not to spare any thing , for the advancement of christian religion , and the conversion of infidels . and so indeed , as well the catholicks as the protestants , make use of commerce , as of a means , to adv●nce the religion of jesus christ , and to bring those idolatrous people to his faith. but the dutch , on the contrary , out of a detestable impiety , are absolutely neglectful of all the interests of religion , in the indies , in the levant , and other places , where they have great colonies , that they may do nothing prejudicial to the interests of their commerce . they give express and peremptory orders to the directors of their companies , and the commanders of great places , to hinder the unbelieving inhabitants of those parts , from coming to the knowledg of the mysteries of christian religion , and being converted to the faith of jesus christ . it is their persuasion , that if some amongst those people , were once become christians , they might , by the conversation they should have with other christians , come to the knowledg of that grand mystery of commerce , and deprive them of some part of their trade . they would rather see all those people perish eternally in their igno●●●ce , than to see their eyes open'd , by the illuminations of heaven , and that they should share with them in the advantages of their commerce . is it not a horrid thing , that the consideration of a temporal interest and concern , should stifle all sentiments of piety , charity , and the zeal they ought to have , for the advancement of christian religion , in a sort of people , who would pass for christians , nay , pretend to be of that division of christians who assume the title of reformed ? we need only take an observation of their conduct , in those countries , to make a discovery , that they take not the least care in the world for the settlement of religion there , and that the only concern they have to mind there , is to see their commerce in a stourishing condition . you will be fully satisfi'd of the truth of what i tell you , when you shall have understood some of the remarkable actions , which the dutch have done in the cities of japan , and in some other cities of the east-indies . there were in the territories of the emperor of japan , many portugueze-merchants , and a very great number of persons born in the country , who were christians , and had been converted by the jesuits , and other catholick-emissaries . the dutch , who do all they can , to be alone in those remote places , and to get all other european natives out of them , that all the trade may be at their sole disposal , found a means to make all the roman-catholicks odious to the emperor , that so he might have an occasion to banish them out of his dominions . to that end , they inform'd him , that those catholicks had the pope for their head , to whom they render'd an implicite obedience , so far , as that he did dispense with , and discharge them of that subjection which they ought to their lawful sovereigns . consequently to this , they represented to that prince , that it was dangerous for him , to have in his country so great a number of subjects , who acknowledging elsewhere a sovereign power , superior to his , might , upon the reception of such a command from it , rebell against him . that prince , having , by this malicious information , conceived a very great distrust of all the christians in general , resolv'd upon an absolute extermination of them , and that not any one should ever be suffer'd to live in his territories . all the cruelties , which the ancient tyrants ever inflicted upon christians , are no great mattter , in comp●rison of wh●t that prince exercis●● upon the catholicks , who were found in his dominions . he put all to death with grievous , yet long-lasting torments ▪ nay there were many cut off who were not christians , upon a suspicion of their lying conceal'd amongst them , that so not one might escape his fury . after so bloody and cru●l an execution , he put f●●●h most severe ed●cts , by which he order'd , that there should never any christian b● permitted to enter into his territories . the dutch having crept in there , as i told you before , by a flat denial of their being christians , acknowledg'd afterwards , that they were indeed some of those people , to whom that name was given ; but that , for their parts , they minded only their trade , and never troubled themselves with any thoughts of their religion . they voluntarily made this profer , that they would never speak to the inhabitants of the country , either of god , or of jesus christ , or his religion , nor perform any ex●rcise of it themselves ; and that they would so live , as that it should not be known , that they ever were christians . the emperor of japan finding the dutch so well inclin'd , was of opinion , that he had no cause to be afraid of them , though they were chris\tians , since they promis'd to live at such a rate , as if , in effect , they were not such . he thereupon permitted them to live i● his territories , upon the conditions , which they had propos'd thems●lves . the dutch , who never executed any treaty , when it was more for their advantage to violate it , did very sincerely and religiously observe this with the emperor of japan , because it is destructive to the interests of religion , and highly beneficial to them upon the sc●re of trade . they have ever since liv'd , and still do live , in the dominions of that prince , without the performance of any function of god's service , without having the bible , or any other godly book , or treatise of piety , for the doing of their devotions in private . but i am withal to ●●ll you , reverend sir ▪ that what you read of these transactions of the dutch , in those remote parts of the world , you are not so to look upon , as if that so detestable an agreement made with the emperour , was the private determination of a certain number of dutch merchants , resident in those parts : but you are to consider what they did , as done by the express order of the directors of the company establish'd in that country , who have ratify'd it , and promoted the execution of it . all the dutch , who are return'd into this country since that treaty was made , having publish'd it , all that have any concern for vertue and christianity in these provinces have express'd themselves much astonish'd thereat . the ministry made some stirr about it , and there have been several acts made , in their synods , in order to the making of remonstrances and complaints thereof to the states-general . i cannot precisely tell , what resolution tha states-general have yet taken thereupon ; but i know , that they have not taken any , for the breaking off of so impious and so scandalous a treaty . their deportment , in this very case , may justly create a belief , that they are of the sentiment of that renegado jew , spinosa , of whom i have already given you an account , though he has not any thing of christianity . it is that author's design , in his treatise , called tractatus theologo-politicus , pag. 62. of the latine edition , to prove , that baptisme , the sacrament of the eucharist , prayers , and all the external functions of gods service , which are , and ever have been common to all christians , in case they were appointed by jesus christ , or his apostles , of which he saies that he is not assur'd , were appointed , as he maintains , but only as external signs of the universal church , and not as things any way conducive to beatitude , or having any sanctity in themselves , and that they who live in solitude are not oblig'd to the performance of them ; and that they who have their habitations in remote countries , where the exercise of the christian religion is prohibited , are oblig'd to abstain from those ceremonies , and may yet do well enough , in order to a happy life . to prove the proposition , which he advances , he alledges the example of what the dut●h do in japan . in which country , the christian religion being prohibited , he affirms that the dutch are oblig'd , by the command of the directors of the east-india company , to forbear performing the exercise thereof . from whence it may be deduc'd , that that action , of the dutch , in japan done , and maintain'd by a publick authority must needs be impious and detestable , since this author , who makes an open profession of atheisme , makes , use of it , as an irrefragable reason , to prove , that all the external services of the christian religion , are not at all contributory to , or advancive of satisfaction , and that men may be never the less happy , though they never mind them . but if , without any regard to the sentiment of that atheist , you consider that action in it self ▪ what could you imagine in the world of greater horror , than that some christians , who w●uld pass for such as are of the calvinistical way of reformation , could ever be induc'd , to make an express prohibition , and ●n absolute retrenchment of all exercise of religion , to their people , in a ●ountry , that they may there have a quiet exercise of their trade . and therefore i hope , reverend sir , that , however you may have an over passionate kindness for the dutch , yet you will not have the confidence , to deny their being guilty of the highest impiety , in sacrificing the interests of christian religion , to their commerce and trade , and making no conscience , or being any way concer●'d , to see so many persons live and die , without the exercise of any ▪ religion , as if they were without god , and without hope , only to make an unhappy profit by the loss of their souls . if you have had any account of the dreadful execution which was committed by the same dutch , in the island of amboyna , in the year 1622 : it is impossible , but you must acknowledg , that there is not any consideration of religion able to divert them from the exercising of all sorts of cruelties , when the dispute is about their interest , and profit . there were not twenty english-men in that place , and the dutch had there a very gr●a● colony , and a well fortifi'd castle , with a good garrison in it ▪ they accus'd the english of having a design to take that c●stle , though they had neither arms , nor forces . they are taken into custody , upon that pretended conspiracy ; they are interrogated , not one amongst them confesses any thing , and there could be no discoveries made of their being guilty of it . but it was for the interest of the dutch-company , that they should be so . that they might be ●ender'd such in appearance , they are put to the torture . all ●he several tortures of fire and water were us'd , to make them acknowledg , what the dutch would have them to say . after some resistance of such cruel torments , they were at last or'e-press'd by their violence , and confess'd whatever they desir'd them . but after they had recover'd themselves again , they disown'd all they had said in the midst of their torments ; nay when they were just at the point of execution , they call'd god to attest their innocence , and besought him to make it appear , after the death they were then going to suffer . he who was the commander of that place , and the unjust judg who had condemn'd them , were nothing mov'd at , though fully convin'd of the innocence of those prisoners . but there be●ng a necessity of their dying , for the interest of the dutch-company , nine of the pretended conspirators were executed , and some of them were set at liberty , who , returning into england , brought thither the news of that cruel massacre . now , sir , i would fain know , what you would say of so inhumane and so barbarous an action ? will you still allow those to be good reformed christians , who make no scruple to cut the throats of their brethren , professing the same religion as they do , for a little worldly goods , and for their own private interests ? this tragical story , is so well known all over the world , that there is not any dutch man dares deny it . nay an author of their own nation , one aitzema , in his book , entituled , the lyon-combatant , pag. 211 , 212 , 213 , 214 , 215. printed in the year 1661. gives a very large and particular description of it . and he makes out withal , how false , and unlikely the accusation brought in against the english , was , and confidently affirms , that it was fram'd , upon no other score , than that they might have a pretence to put them to death , seize into their own hands all the effects of the english company , and , by that detestable imposture , render themselves masters of all the trade of the moluccoes , amboyna , and banda . the same last-mention'd author , does , in the same book , page 113. relate another story of a greater cruelty , which the dutch exercis'd upon the english , in the island of banda . he says , that the dutch , in order to their becoming masters of that island , massacred above forty english-men , and that , after they had bound living persons to dead carkasses , they cast them into the sea , and afterwards possess'd themselves of what they had , which amounted to above five and twenty thousand pounds sterling . true it is , that they are somewhat to blame , who still reproach the dutch with those two actions , and particularly with that of amboyna , since they have made a considerable satisfaction for it , in the treaty which was concluded between them and the protectordome of england , in the year 1654. for , the parliament having enter'd into a war against them , which , amongst other p●etences , had that of the execution at amboyna , the dutch gave the english several millions of guilders , not simply to satisfie them for the damages , they had caus'd them to suffer , which could not have amounted to neer so great a sum , though they had taken away all the effects which they had in that island , and depriv'd them of the advantages they might have made by the commerce of thirty years ; but also by way of reparation , for the blood which they had unjustly spilt . and to blot out the remembrance of so barbarous an action . there would be a necessity of compiling a great volume ▪ if it were my design , to make a collection , of all the cruel actions , which the dutch have committed in the indies , and elsewhere , upon the pure interest of commerce . but i am apt to think , that you will gladly spare me that trouble , and will think , no doubt , that i have said enough , and haply too much , upon a sub●ect which is not divertive to you . if then , after a serious reflection upon what i have entertain'd you withal , you find no abatement of the affection , which you had for the dutch ▪ i must acknowledg , that your friendship does , in steadiness , and strength , exceed that of any other person in the world. and this gives some hopes , that you will continue that part of it , which you have promis'd me , as i assure you of my ever remaining , reverend sir , your , &c , the sixth letter . reverend sir , it is no small affliction to me , that i have given you an account of some things , concerning the dutch , which certainly must have rais'd in you some disgust against me . i am therefore , out of a pure fear of feeding or augmenting it , resolv'd to be very careful , in waving to tell you any ●hing henceforward , which may give you any perplexity in reference to them . nay , i am willing to make you satisfaction for all i have already said to you . i acknowledg therefore , to humour you ▪ that the dutch are as good christians , and as much of the true way of reformation , as you imagine them to be , that is to say , the best in the world. though it were so , yet i do not think you have any reason to cry out , arms , arms , as you do , to excite and encourage all that are of the reformed persuasion , in europe , to come in to their relief . you know we●l enough , that his most christian majesty is not engag'd in a war against them , upon the matter of religion but that the reason of his engaging in it , was , to chastize their ingratitutde , to mortifie their violence , and to teach them a new lesson , of paying him the respects they owe him , and to keep within the bounds of modesty , and reason . were it a war upon the score of religion , do you think , that the one or the other branch of the house of austria , that of germany , and that of spain , which are the natural enemies of our religion , and which ever have been the cruel persecutors of those who profess it , would have openly undertaken the defence of the dutch , in this cause , against the interests of the catholick religion , of which , they make it their oftentation , that they are the pro●●ctors , and especially the king of spain , whom , for that reason , the pope has honour'd with the title of catholick king. but to shew you again , how desirous i am to please you , i will acknowledg also , that this is a war of religion . let us see whether it will turn to our advantage , to raise an army , consisting only ▪ of men professing the true reformed religion , and to bring it into the serv●ce of the dutch. let us make a computation of all those who may be for us ; and of all those , who , in this case , might be against us . but i think , it were better , we never meddled with that troublesome discrimination , which would only convince us , of the weakness of our little flock , and discover the great number of enemies , whom we should have to do withal . i am satisfy'd , that a great number of good soldiers might be got out of your canton , and the other protestant cantons . but i humbly conceive , you will not be offended , if i tell you , that if jesus christ himself were upon earth , and had occasion for the assistance of your forces , you would not let him have any , unless he would be sure to see you well paid for them ; and that he should not prevail so far with ▪ you , as that , for his sake , you would abolish the proverb , which you have br●ught into vogue , point d●argent , point de suisse , mo money , no swisse ; or as the english saying has it , 't is money makes the mare to go . and that it thus ▪ happen'd , is well known , when the chimerical ambassador of the dutch had under-hand sollicited your cantons , and had afterwards been admitted into your assembly , conjuring and beseeching you , by the love you ought to have for your dear brethren , not to abandon them in their necessities , and to maintain their cause , which was , that of jesus christ . you know very well , that all he could get of you , in your diet , was , that you had resolved one should be assembled , for their sakes , that you would spare some few rep●sts , observe a fast , and pray for their preservation and prosperity . that if it were a warre upon the score of religion , whatever zeal you might have for ours , the catholick cantons , having no less ●or theirs , we should find more soldiers running out of the catholick cantons , to maintain the party of their religion , than there w●uld be protestants ready , to defend the interests of ours . and as to the quality of the soldiers of swisserland , if a computation may b● made of it , by the success of two wars , one wher●o● you had about 140 years ago ; and the other , about 18 y●●rs since , i am con●ident , you cannot deny , but that the catholick soldiers are much better , than all those of your protestant cantons . nay , the catholicks would have this advantage , that their pay would easily come out of the exchequers of kings and princes , if the dispute were about the defence of their religion . whereas yours , not finding any protestant-prince , who were able to bear the charge of them , should be forc'd to keep in your own country , and content themselves with the making of vows , for the preservation of our religion . nay , i do not think , that all the princes or states of the reformed religion , in europe , would be able , all together , and do their utmost , to keep up an army of ten thousand men , when the safety of our religion lay at stake . i do not speak of the lutherans , because the greatest part amongst them , have such an animosity against us , as loudly to affirm , that they would rather enter into the communion of the catholicks , than into ours . if again , on the other side , you consider , how many kings , sovereign princes , republicks , and states , there are in europe , who all profess the romish religion , you may all imagine , that as we are but a small handful , in comparison of them , so there is not any likelihood , that we should be able to resist them , if they were once engag'd in a war against us . nay , if it were an open and declar'd war , upon the account of religion , you would soon find the emperour and the king of spain deserting the party of the dutch , and siding with that of their own religion . the catholicks have yet another most considerable advantage , which would extreamly corroborat● their party against ours . they have the pope , whom they all acknowledg to be the visible head of the church upon earth , who reunites them all for their common interest , and would , with much more zeal , publish a croisado against us , then ever he did any against the turks . and indeed , he has reason to have a greater animosity against us , than against all the unbelieving people in the world. as he pretends to be the spiritual head of all christians , so he considers those who do not acknowledg him , as revolted subjects , and rebels to his empire ; whereas he looks on the turks and heathens , as strangers , who are out of his jurisdiction , and not within the extent of his superintendency . and as a king is more incens'd against his subjects who have revolted from the obedience they owe him , then against forreign enemies , who are not within the verge of his dominions ; so the pope suffers the jews in his territories ; and would never permit any of the reformed persuasion , to harbour in them . his pontifical dignity will not suffer him , ever to be reconcil'd to those , who directly shock the authority , which he pretends to have over all christians . you may see by this , the great danger , into which those of our religion would be reduc'd , if your zeal could enflame them so far , as to make a party , in favour of the dutch. nay , i leave it to your own judgment , whether it is any fault of yours , if your inconsiderate zeal has not excited the catholicks , to fall upon those of our reformed religion , in those places , where they lye expos'd to their mercy , and that they have not made it their business to exterminate them ? but if your zeal , without knowledg , be injurious to all those of the reformed religion in general , it is also very prejudicial to all your own protestant-cantons , and to your allies in particular ▪ assoon as ever you saw the first breaking out of this war. you your self , reverend sir , in the city of berne , and all your ministers , within the extent of your government , were continually cajoling the people by their seditious sermons , to make an insurrection against those of your magistrates , who had given their judgment , that there should be a regiment of men granted to the most christian king out of your canton . if men would have believ'd you , and all the ministers of your country-villages , it must have been accounted a very horrid crime in you , to suffer your soldiers to be employ'd in a war against your beloved brethren in jesus christ , the dutch. 't was this gave occasion to your magistrate , distracted by your pulpit-bawling and by the clamours of the multitude , whom you had inflam'd into an insurrection , to write unseasonable letters upon letters , to the officers of your regiment , fraught with terrible menaces , if they s●rv'd in this war against the vnited provinces . nay , you thought it not enough to put in a charge against your own canton , upon the account of its having granted forces to his most christian majesty , and his not preventing their being employ'd against the dutch , but you must also panegyrically celebrate the cantons of zurick , and schaffouse , for their refusal to give him any . i cannot comprehend any reason you should have to name schaffouse , which being a poor little canton , has but one half-company in the service , but a hands-breadth of ground within its jurisdiction , and can raise but two companies at the most . and you speak of it , as if that refusal of their forces had been very detrimental to the kings affairs , and much retarded the progress of his conquests . and yet it is certain , in the mean time , that all the best qualify'd persons in the councel of that canton had promis'd to grant the companies which the most christian king required of it . but one factious person amongst them occasion'd the breaking of that resolution , upon this score , that besides his being a man absolutely devoted to the dutch , ever since his reception of a present from them , when he sojourn'd in this country , he was out of hopes of getting the command of a company for one of his own relations , that he might make some advantage thereby . but , as to the canton of zurick , i must acknowledg it to be powerful , and that it might have rais'd several companies of good soldiers . i know also , that its councel consists of persons of very good worth , such as have wit , and honour , vigour , and constancy , if the thing had depended upon them ; and they knew their own interest much better , than to have deny'd his most christian majesty the forces he had required of them . but the mischief of it , as you know , is , that they are not the absolute masters . the sovereign authority lies in the hands of the councel of two hundred , consisting , for the most part , of much heat , and little prospect , of much obstinacy , and little reason . it is no wonder then , that , the ministers , having enflam'd that multitude with the zealous concern of religion , they could not be dispos'd , to grant forces to his most christian majesty , though he should have no design to employ them against the dutch. i must confess further , sir , that i am very much astonish'd , at your undertaking , to make a confident justification of those two cantons , for their having deny'd forces to the most christian king ; as also , that after you had blamed your own , for their having granted a regiment , you should undertake to vindicate all it did afterwards ; either to have it recall'd , or to prevent its being employ'd against the dutch. it will be no hard matter , for me , to make it appear to you , that this conduct of yours ▪ b●sides its being most unjust , may also be very prejudicial , even as to what relates to the interests of religion . you cannot forbear granting your selves to be absolutely unjust , if you deny the demeaning of your selves towards his most christian majesty , as you would have him demean himself towards you . for instance , if it should happen , that you were attack'd by the king of spain , or the emperour , by the duke of savoy , by the catholick-cantons , or by some other prince , of the same religion , you would desire , that his most christian majesty would assist you against them , by vertue of the alliance there is between you and him . if the king should deny you the forces you desired , and alledge , that he could not assist you , being of the reformed religion , against catholick princes , you would complain of it , and affirm , that the most christian king does not observe the al●iance he has made with you . how then do you not see , that the most christian king has just cause of complaining , that you are unwilling to supply him with forces , against the dutch , because they are of the reformed religion ? do you not further observe , that , by your indiscreet zeal , you deprive your selves of all the advantages , which you might expect from the alliance there is between you and the most christian king , by giving him just cause to deny you assistance , if you should come to desire it of him ? if the duke of savoy should enter into a war against you , upon the pretensions he has to the country of vaud , tell me , whether you would be so presumptuous as to desire assistance from the most christian king ? you would not have your forces to serve his most christian majesty against the dutch , b●cause they are of our reformed way of religion , though they are not your allies . by what right can you pretend , that the most christian king should give you forces , to serve you , who are not of his religion , against a catholic prince , who , besides his being in alliance with him , has also the honour of being nearly related to him ? besides , you make but an ill acknowl●dgment , of the favour which the most christian king , did you , not two years since , when he openly undertook your protection , against the bishop of basil , who was going to give you some disturbance . he had establish'd a catholick church , upon some part of your territories , as he pretended that he had a right to do . the pope , the emperour , and the king of spain , had openly taken his part , by reason of the concern of the catholick religion . the most christian king having been inform'd , that he had not any right to establish that church , upon your territories , sent a message to him , that if he did not restore things , to the condition they were in before , and forbear making any alteration , he would openly grant you assistance against him . you know , sir , that the said prelate , standing more in awe of the most christian king's indignation , than relying on the succours of the pope , the emperour , and the king of spain , thought in his best course , to renounce his pretensions , and to give over disturbing you . if the most christian king had done then , what you have done at the present , he would have been far enough from entertaining so much as a thought of protecting you , being of the reformed religion , against a bishop , especially in a cause , wherein the interest of the catholick religion was concern'd . you know also , that the emperour , and the king of spain , who have a particular alliance with the catholick cantons , are oblig'd to assist them , in case they should enter into a warre against you , or against the other protestant cantons . now it is manifest , that , upon such occasions , you cannot hope for any assistance , but from the most christian king. if therefore you would not have your forces to serve his most christian majesty , against the dutch , who are not your allies , meerly upon the score of their professing the same religion , as you do , i do not see , how you can desire the most christian king , to grant you forces , to serve you , who are of the reformed religion , against the catholick cantons , who are of his allies , as well as you . you know further , that the city of geneva is under the protection of france , ever since the time of henry the third , who granted it thereto against philibert-emanuel , duke of savoy . all the successors of that king have continu'd their protection to the same city , against the successors of that ancient duke , who are the troublesome neighbours , and in a manner the only enemies , whom that republick has any cause to fear . you see then , by this proceduce of henry the third , of france , and the kings who succeeded him , that though they were very zealous for their religion , yet they made no scruple , of giving their protection to a protestant-state , against a catholick prince . had your politicks been known in the world , those princes would not have become guilty , of what you think a great crime , that a king should defend a state , professing a religion different from his own , against a prince , who is of the same religion with him . if this maxim comes , once to establish'd , you may very well fear , that the most christian king , having his eves open'd by your illuminations , and following your example , may withdraw his protection from geneva , that so he may avoid the reproach , which may be made to him , of having succour'd a city of the hugu●not-persuasion , against a prince of his own religion . from this you may also take this further measure , that the implicite affection which you have for the dutch , does expose you , as also the protestant-cantons , and your allies , to an evident danger , of not receiving any more assistance from his most christian majesty , against a catholick prince , or state. if it should ever happen , that you were concern'd in such a war , the plausible pretence of zeal for religion , would prove very prejudicial to you , in depriving you of the assistance of the most christian king , who , certainly , is the greatest , or , to say better , the only support and refuge that you can have . your injustice therefore , and your ingratitude , are so much the greater , in as much as you cannot deny , but that france has many times openly given its protection to the protestants , in opposition to the catholicks . you know , that , for a long time , it assisted the dutch , against the king of spain , even before there was any open war between the two crowns . you know also , that france gave an overt protection to the protestant-princes of germany , against the emperour , who had already devested several of them of their dominions , and would , under the pretence of religion , become master of all germany . the late king , lewis xiii . made an alliance with the king of swed●n , against the house of austria , and got that prince to come out of the remoter parts of the north , to oppose the ambitious designs of that house , to raise up the oppressed princes , ●nd to defend the liberty of the empire . after the death of gustavus adolphus , france did again joyn its arms , with those of his successors , and the generals of that great king , in a continuance of its protection to the protestants , and for the re establishing of those princ●s in their territories , who had been dispossess'd of them . but , on the contrary , the house of austria had the greatest part of its allianc●s with the catholicks , against the protestants . 't was upon this , that the adherents of the emperour , and the king of spain , took occasion to publish libels against the most christian king , whom they accus'd of being a protector of hereticks , and fighting for them , against the interests of the catholick religion . and yet all those accusations which were put up against france , upon that score , obstructed not its persisting in the stipulations , it had made to its allies , and continuing its protection to the protestants , against the violence of the emperour , who endeavour'd to oppress them . nay , the king of france is in a manner the only catholick prince , who allows the protestants the exercise of their religion in his dominions ; whereas the king of spain would never tolerate , in his , the exercise of any other religion than the catholick . and the emperour has forc'd all the protestants out of his hereditary countries . and , both the emperour , and the king of spain , think it highly meritorious , in the sight of god , to be the irreconcileable enemies , and implacable persecutors of those whom they call hereticks . in the mean , reverend sir , it appears by your deportment , that , l●t the protestants be never so transcedently oblig'd to his most christian majesty , they should so little mind it , as that the only resentment they have , should have no other object , than the calamities , which the dutch endure by the war , wherein he is now engag'd against them . your compassion is so great for their misery , that you think you have a dispensation , to forget all the kindnesses , which the most christian king hath done to those of the reformed religion , and not so much as to reflect on those he may yet do you , in giving you assistance against your enemies . in a word , your bowels do so yearn for those poor brethren of yours , the dutch , that , provided their preservation be secur'd , you do not much concern your self , what may become of you , and all those of the reformed religion . you are so blindly infatuated , upon this subject , that , provided you demonstrate your good inclinations for the dutch , you seem to be indifferent , that you are thought a bad huguenot , and most wretched politician . the dutch , certainly , are the best politicians in the world , for things relating to religion , which they never made any other use of , then that of accommodating it to the interests of state. nay they have alwaies been so little concern'd , at the danger of those who profess'd the same reformed religion , that they made no scruple at all , of entring into a war for their destruction , upon the pure score of money . of which take this instance . i think you need not be inform'd , reverend sir , how that the dutch sent a certain number of ships , to the most christian king , for the reinforcing of his fleet , by which rochell was then block'd up . that was , indeed , a war , upon the pure score of religion , in which the most christian king was engag'd against his subjects , to get out of their hands the fortify'd places , which they were possess'd of , and would keep , to secure the observance of the edicts , and the exercise of their religion . all the whole party of the reformed-religion , in france , were afraid , that as soon as the king should have taken rochell , he would abrogate the edict of nantes , and absolutely take away the exercise of the calvinisticall religion all the other reformed princes , and states had the same apprehension , insomuch , that publick prayers were made in all parts for the preservation of rochell , as a city , on which depended the safety of all those of the reformed religion , in france . they had the same thoughts in the vnited provinces , and prayers were made to god , in all churches , that he would be graciously plea●d , to preserve rochell , as the impregnable fort of those of the reformed religion . and yet the dutch made no scruple of hiring out ships , for money , to the then most christian king , to promote the destruction of a city , which , according to the apprehensions of all the world , was certainly to have consequent thereto , that of our reformed religion , and of all those who profess'd it in the dominions of france . was there ever seen any example of so detestable an impiety . that a state , which makes a boast of being of the reformation , should have made no conscience , for money , of contributing to the ruine of a great people , who make profession of the same religion ; and that at the very time , when , for the compleating of the impiety , it order'd prayers to be made to god , in the churches , for their preservation ? this puts me in mind of the emperour , charles the fifth , who caus'd publick prayers to be made , all over spain , for the liberty of pope clement the second , whom he himself kept a prisoner at rome , in the castle of saint angelo . but there are yet some particular circumstances in this action of the dutch , which do very much aggravate the horrour , and perfidiousness of it . in the first place then , before the doing of any act of hostility against those of rochell , and before they had made any declaration of being enemies , they endeavour'd , by surprize , to become masters of the port. though what i say seems strange , and at some distance from credibility , yet is there not any thing in the world more true . an illustrious person amongst the dutch , and the author before by me cited , when i gave you an account of the affair of amboyna , i mean aitzema , in the book entituled the lyon combatant , pag. 241. sets down at large this history , of the design which the dutch had , to surprize rochell . take here in express terms what he saies of it . on the fourth of july , in the year 1625. hautyn , admirall of holland , appeared before rochell , with nineteen men of war. the inhabitants of rochell writ to him , as did also the count dela val , to let him know , what astonishment they were in , to see him in the posture of an enemy , as being not able to imagine , that either the states , or the prince of orange , would have entred into a war against the reformed religion . hantyn told those who had brought him the letters , that he could not return them any answer , still he had had some conference with those of the king's councel . the next day he sent them back to rochell , with two of his own people , and told them , that he knew not whether they were come by the order of all the inhabitants , or of some part of them only , and that he was going to send to them , to be assur'd of it ; and that in case they continu'd in their subjection to the king , they were not to fear any harm . in the mean time , those deputies having left him , in order to their going to rochell , he came up , with part of his fleet , very near the city , which gave occasion to two men of rochell , whom he had kept aboard , to tell him , that he did not deal fairly . monsieur de soubize , having perceiv'd , that he was advanc'd with a good number of ships , made him stand off , and one or two days after , he absolutely defeated him , burnt his vice-admiral , and four or five ships , and kill'd him five hundred men ; so that the whole fleet , being in great disorder , got away as far as nantes . and this was the unhappy success , which that perfidious man had , who , under pretence of friendship , would have surpriz'd the city , and so betray'd it to the king. after hauntyn had refitted his fleet , he joyns that of the most christian king , commanded by monsieur de montmorency , who would fight that of the rochellers , assoon as he came in sight of it . but news was brought him , that the dutch admiral would not be concern'd in the action ; for this reason , no doubt , that he was afraid to be beaten once moro . montmorency presses him , and conjures him , not to desert him in so important an occasion . he alledges for his excuse , as we find in gramond , hist , gall. pag. 635 , and 636. that without an express command from the states , he durst not employ their ships , to give a decisive battel to the protestants of france , who were of the same religion with his masters . mons . de montmorency , being extreamly troubled , that the dutch did , by their refusal to fight , defeat him of the fame , which he expected infallibly to acquire , by the victory , was forc'd , after a fruitless application of intreaties , and promises , to make use of an expedient , which ever prevails with the dutch. he , with good palpable money , corrputed their whole fleet , and engag'd the admiral , the commanders , and the soldiers , by oath , to fight against those of rochell . so the most christian king's fleet , being reinforc'd with that of the dutch , de montmorency gave an absolute defeat , to that of the rochellers , commanded by mons . de soubixe : so that the inhabitants of that city could not equip another , and from that very day lost the soveraignty of that sea , which they had kept for some time . whereupon , they having no fleet , and that of the most christian king having the absolute command of the sea , his land-army undertook that memorable work of the digue . the city finding it self depriv'd of all hopes of relief , surrender'd to the king , after the endurance of incredible inconveniences , by famine , during so long a siege . if the dutch had sent in this assistance to his most christian majesty , by vertue of any treaties of allyance , which they had had with him , there would not have been any thing to quarrel at in the said action . but is it not an infamous thing , that , after they had plainly alledg'd their not being empower'd to fight against those of the reformed religion , without an express command from the states , they should nevertheless be lur'd in , by money , to do a thing , which they knew to be contrary to their duty , and might have contributed to the ruine of all those who profess'd the reformed religion in france , if the most christian king had had any such design , as some imputed to him ? and by this , you may judge of the friendship which the dutch have for those of the reformed religion , since they make no scruple , to hire out themselves , and their ships , to be assistant in their extermination . if you can , without passion , examine all i have written to you , concerning the dutch , i am confident , you will not persist any longer , in the good opinion you have hitherto had of them . but i think you will hardly be induc'd to lose it , because you are extremely propossess'd in their favour . mean time , since i look upon you , as a very just and rational person , i hope you will not think it much , to aquaint me with the reasons , which you may have had , for your not being mov'd with those which you have reciev'd from me . shew me , that there is not any ground in all those , by which i have pretended to prove , that the vnited provinces are not of the reformed religion , according to the calvinisticall way of reformation . make it appear to me , that you have done well , in endeavouring to make an insurrection in your canton , about the regiment , which you had rais'd for his most christian majesty , and that all those of the reformed religion ought to unite together , for the relief of the dutch , in the present war , between them and the most christian king. if you can prove all these things to me , i assure you , i shall submit to your reasons . and i shall moreover give my thanks , for your deliverance of me , out of the errour , in which i have hitherto continu'd , and for the illuminations i shall receive from your documents . this i do sincerely promise you , as also , that , howe'ere it may happen , i shall ever be , reverend sir , your most humble , &c. vtrecht , may 19 th . 1673. finis . monsieur scarron's letters, to persons of the greatest eminency and quality rendred into english by john davies ... correspondence. english. selections scarron, monsieur, 1610-1660. 1677 approx. 174 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 81 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a62313) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 60941) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 227:17) monsieur scarron's letters, to persons of the greatest eminency and quality rendred into english by john davies ... correspondence. english. selections scarron, monsieur, 1610-1660. davies, john, 1625-1693. [15], 140, [4] p. : port. printed for george dawes ..., london : 1677. advertisement: p. [8]-[10] at beginning pagination and p. [1]-[4] at end. reproduction of original in british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng 2005-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-07 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-08 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-08 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion i am the man ! who made a prey , to griefe . doe in her very janres , find out releife . the cynic , and the stoic , could receive th' vnkindnesses of fortune , & not grieve , rejoyce and sport w th misery ! there 's none could ever yet , but comicall scarron ! monsieur scarron's letters , to persons of the greatest eminency and quality . rendred into english by john davies , of kidwelley . london : printed for george dawes , and are to be sold at his shop in chancery-lane , against lincoln's-inn-gate . 1677. to the worthily honoured , william hammond , esq amidst the great depravation of morality , wherewith the present age is chargeable , it is some comfort , that there is a certain improvement of gratitude , of which there are , at least , so many demonstrations , as we find dedicatories . you have many times very seasonably surpriz'd me with your kindnesses , and this is the first opportunity i have had , to make a publick acknowledgment thereof . in the primitive fervour of christian discipline , men were content to undergo publick penances , in order to the expiation of secret miscarriages . why therefore may not a private act of generosity lay an obligation upon the receiver , to make an open celebration thereof , if there be a concurrence and combination of circumstances to enforce it ? the former productions of this comical and burlesque author , of my publishing in english , that is to say , his novels , were address'd to the patronage of the worthily worshipful ▪ thomas stanley , esquire , and i am very apt to attribute the kind reception they met withal in the world to the sacredness of that dedication . the present collection of letters is the close of all that is to be expected of his in prose : and 't is my presumption , that , being recommended to the publick , under a name so neerly related to him , they will meet with a success answerable to that of the others . but whatever entertainment they may have , i make this advantage , of this publication , that i have made a manifesto of my respects , where i am so much engag'd to do it , and consequently , how much i am , honoured sir , your most humble , and much obliged servant , j. davies . advertisement to the reader . in the year 1670 , i publish'd the last novel i could meet withal of monsieur scarron's , under the title of the vnexpected choice , printed for mr. john martyn at the bell in st. paul's church-yard . in the address to the reader before that piece , i made him a promise of some other , of the same author's , which being then upon the stocks was in a very fair way to be launch'd within a short time . the work then intended , and indeed wherein some short progress had been made , is this present collection of his letters , which had it not been mislay'd , and so given over for lost , might have appear'd long ere this , possibly , to the great satisfaction of those who were not dissatisfy'd with his other productions . what success , and kind reception they have found , the frequent editions of them do sufficiently testifie . 't is presum'd , his letters may be as divertive to some as his novels , that is , to those who are judges of wit ; for an artist must needs be injur'd , if he be try'd by any , but his peers . there was also a design , of making some additionals to this little collection , out of other french authors , but , upon mature consideration , it is adjourn'd to the next edition of it , which the bookseller is in great hope to see , soon after this next long vacation . j. d : the contents . a letter from monsieur de balzac , to monsieur costar , concerning the works of monsieur scarron . page 1. letter i. to the queen of sweden . 7 letter ii. to the queen regent of france . 11 letter iii. to his highness the prince of conde . 12 letter iv. to the countess of brienne . 14 letter v. to the same countess . 16 letter vi. to monsieur sarrazin . 18 letter vii . to mademoiselle d'aubigné . 23 letter viii . to madam de savigney , the widow . 25 letter ix . to madam villarceaux . 28 letter x. to the marquess of villarceaux . 29 letter xi . to the queen of sweden . 32 letter xii . to _____ . 34 letter xiii . to _____ . 35 letter xiv . to _____ . 39 letter xv. to the lord bishop of mans. 41 letter xvi . to his eminency the cardinal de retz . 44 letter xvii . to the duke de retz . 45 letter xviii . to the count de vivonne 48 letter xix . to monsieur marigny 51 letter xx. to the same monsieur marigny 54 letter xxi . to the same 56 letter xxii . to the mareschal d'albret 59 letter xxiii . to the same 62 letter xxiv . to the same 69 letter xxv . to the same 71 letter xxvi . to _____ 73 letter xxvii . to monsieur the procurator-general , and surintendant of the finances 74 letter xxviii . to the same 76 letter xxix . to the same 77 letter xxx . to the same 81 letter xxxi . to the same 83 letter xxxii . to the same 84 letter xxxiii . to the same 87 letter xxxiv . to the same 88 letter xxxv . to the same 89 letter xxxvi . to the same 91 letter xxxvii . to the same 93 letter xxxviii . to the same 95 letter xxxix . to the same 100 letter xl. to monsieur pelisson 102 letter xli . to _____ 104 letter xlii . to _____ 105 letter xliii . to _____ 107 letter xliv . to _____ 108 letter xlv . to _____ 112 letter xlvi . to _____ 114 letter xlvii . to _____ 116 letter xlviii . to _____ 118 letter xlix . to _____ 119 letter l. to _____ 120 letter li. to _____ 122 letter lii . to _____ 123 letter liii . to _____ 125 letter liv. to _____ 127 letter lv. to _____ 129 letter lvi . to monsieur de segrais 130 letter lvii . to the duke d'elboeuf 133 letter lviii . to monsieur de villette 135 letter lix . to the count de vivonne 139 licensed , roger l'estrange . monsieur scarron's letters . a letter from monsieur de balzac , to monsieur costar , concerning the works of monsieur scarron . sir , the book you were pleas'd to send me from monsieur scarron is a present , which i am extreamly oblig'd to value . upon the first perusal , it prov'd an effectual remedy , and eas'd me of an oppression of the spleen , which might haply have put a period to my breathing , had it not been for that seasonable relief . i am in hopes , it may yet do some further cure , if i use it oftner . it is not impossible , but , by the help of it , i may be recover'd out of that philosophical melancholy , and indivertive seriousness , which i am too much subject to . nay , probably , i may thereby learn to put chancery-bills and legends into rime , and become jocund and cheerful by contagion . this certainly is the most admirable indispos'd person that ever was heard of ; there is something in him which transcends health it self , i mean that health which we may call stupid and material : for you know , that the arabians , speaking of alacrity , affirm it to be the flower and spirit of a lively and stirring health . since you are desirous to know what different reflections i have made on this indispos'd person , and expect i should digest my thoughts of him into a particular chapter ; i am , in the first place , to give you this character of him , that , of all the men i ever convers'd with , he must be guilty of either the greatest dissimulation , or the greatest constancy . i say , that he shall rise up in judgment against the delicacy and blandishments whereto humane nature is so much inclin'd , or that pain , and all its afflictive retinue treat him more gently than they do other men . i say , there is some probability , that the common executioner punishes the patient with some kind of lenity and remorse . when i see him laughing , as he does , in the midst of his torments , i must confess my self apt to be of an opinion , that his pain comes not up to that degree we commonly assign it , to be such , and amounts only to a certain titillation . in fine , i stick not to affirm , that the prometheus , the hercules , the philoctetes , mention'd in the fables , not to say any thing of job , the truth of whose story we doubt not of , say very great and remarkable things in the violence of their torments ; but they are far from speaking such as are pleasant , and divertive . i must acknowledge , that , in many places of antiquity , i have met with griefs , from which , such as endur'd them , acquir'd the reputation , some of constancy ; some of modesty ; some of prudence , nay , some of eloquence ; but of any remarkable for a perpetual intermixture of alacrity , this is the onely example : no , i could never meet there with any mention of a mind , soprincipled by the dictates of any sect , as that it could dance and be frolicksom , in a body , where the palsey had taken up its quarters . so observable a prodigy deserves to come under the consideration of philosophers , employed upon the quest of things requiring the greatest curiosity . 't were an omission in history to forget him ; and if i were in an humour to be an historian , as i am an historiographer , i should not account it the least miracle of our time , which hath produc'd so many such . it is not my design to detract ought from the reputation of the dead , with whom i must acknowledg my self to have had a friendship : but there are different degrees of reputation , and though the quality of an apostle , be a title of no small account in a christian family , yet is it to be confess'd , that the martyrdom of the son is somewhat that is more rare than the apostolical employment of the father . what think you , would be the sentiments of your seneca upon this occasion , that seneca , who heretofore took so great a pleasure in treating of such matters , and who so often hath sought the occasions of doing it ? will it not be found true , that that disdainful and insolent vertue , so much celebrated by him , which brags of its being at ease and undisturb'd in phalaris's bull , and could say , that it was pleasant being there , was but the simple figure of this vertue so accompany'd by meekness and humility , as that it knows how to put in practice the paradoxes of the other , and that without the least ostentation ? let us then conclude , to the honor of him , who calls himself the most humble , most obedient , most oblig'd , and most indispos'd servant and subject to a great queen , that there is either ecstasie and enthusiasm in his indisposition , and that the soul executes her functions apart , without being any way immers'd in matter ; or that there is an extraordinary constancy and vigour in it , and that the soul , in its struglings with the body , hath all the advantage , that a stronger person hath over a weaker . aut coeleste aliquid , costarde , astrisque propinquum , morbus hic est , superoq , trahit de lumine lucem , aut servant immota suum bona vera serenum , ●atque super proprias virtus illaesa ruinas . p●● tot saecla igitur , tandem , gens stoica , reg●● , cerne ●uum ! fasces tenero submittite vati , sublim● tragicique sophi , zenonia proles ; nec pudeat decreta humili postponere socco grandia , & ampullas verborum & nomen honesti magnificum , ac veras audire in carmine voces . scarro aeger , scarro , infando data praeda dolori , non fatum crudele , jovem non clamat iniquum ; iratis parcit superis , sortíque malignae , et patitur saevos invictâ mente dolores , jucundumque effert dira inter spicula vultum . nec simulatâ gerit personam indutus honestam , vel mistâ ridet , veluti mezentius , irâ , sed purùm , sine fraude & laxis ridet habenis . dic iterum , neque sat semel est dixisse triumphos , qui laeta , ingeniosa , aegro de pectore promit , qui ludit deum & enceladum , vastumque typhoea terrigenasque alios , festivo carmine fratres ; qui sedeat licet aeternùm , mirabile dictu , perpetuas agitat pindi per amoena choreas , proximus ille polo , fortunâque altior omni , scarro meus , mihi namque tuum , costarde dedisti , magnus erit rex ille sui , quem prisca coron● porticus , & rigidi vox imperiosa cleanth●● ni saeclo invideat nostro rigidusque clear●nes , priscaque dijs , divûmque patri se por●cus aequans . i know not whether the chequer-work of this chapter will please you ; but out of a fear the length of it may displease you , i close it , and remain , your , &c. de balzac . letter i. to the queen of sweden . madam , i presume to send your majesty some productions of mine , which possibly you have not seen . if you find any thing in them that may please you , the satisfaction i shall conceive thereat will be as great as i am capable of , who having once had the honour to see you , must now look on my self as reduc'd to that unhappy condition as ●ever to expect it again . to compleat the m●asure of my ill fortune , and the miseries of 〈◊〉 life , it seems there wanted only the afflic●●on of being at so great a distance from your ●●jesty , and at the same time to envy those 〈◊〉 are near you . i know not whether those fortunate persons are fully sensible of their happiness ; but , if they have not for your majesty somewhat that transcends admiration and respect , i shall make no difficulty to rank them amongst the most stupid of all undiscerning animals . for my part , were i in their place , and in a condition to run about the fields , i should soon act the part of a little rolando for your sake . true it is , i think i should not fell down , at one single stroak with a sword , as great trees as he in ariosto , and that i should not commit so much waste ; and yet my extravagances might occasion more divertisement than his , though they were not so much to be fear'd ; nay haply they would raise no less compassion . you see , madam , that i make sufficient advantages of the permission your majesty hath been pleased to give me , as an unregarded gallant , to make that courtship to the greatest queen that ever was , which that skipping-master did to a queen that never was . 't was prudently done of your majesty to give it me , since 〈◊〉 was resolv'd to have taken it my self , an in case you had deny'd it me , you would have found your self disobey'd by a perso●who would not do it in any thing else , ●●ough it cost him his life . but , devesting 〈◊〉 of your majesty , madam , you are an admirable person . in all places wherever you come , your eyes make you more subjects than a great kingdom had given you ; and if they do of themselves all we have seen done by them , without your taking the trouble of giving them any instructions , it must be acknowledg'd , that the world affords not any that are more beautiful and more attractive , but withal more dangerous . hence it comes , that , in all the persons who visit me , i observe a certain rivalship in the expressions they make of your empire over them ; but the particular miracle your majesty hath wrought is upon the ladies , who though naturally inclin'd to envy all others , conspire in an unanimous acknowledgment of your perfections . madam , i should dread being too free with your majesty , were i not assur'd , that you know better than any person in the world , how great a dose of icarus , and ixion goes into the composition of a poet , and that the history of those two temerarious attempters , though the close of it be not much to the advantage of those poor merchants of immortality , is that , of all the fables , which best pleases them , and is of most use to them . there is not any much applauded poet , but would prefer the reputation of being a modern ixion , before that of turning a stanza well , and an heroick confidence ( so they call their platonick and contemplative love ) before laurel , or money , or both . but , madam , possibly i play the wanton with the command your majesty hath laid on me to write to you , if i have not already done it . i am therefore to beg this favour , if your majesty be pleas'd to afford me the continuance of this honour , that i may know , to what degree of freedom my letters may aspire , that i may not presume so far on the priviledg you have given me , as to transgress the limits of that respect which is due to you , from persons infinitely transcending , madam , your majesties most humble , most obedient , and most respectful servant , scarron . letter ii. to the queen regent of france . madam , it was too noble an adventure , for the most unfortunate of all men , to be known to your majesty , and to be the particular object of your compassion and your charity . it is to be attributed , not so much to his fault , as his unhappiness , that he is so soon discarded after so favourable a hand of good fortune . he is out of favour with the greatest queen in the world , his benefactress ; whereof what can be the effect , but that he must submit to the tyranny of that affliction , which before , with the assistance of such a patroness , he was in some measure able to struggle with ? can nothing excite a pity in your majesty towards so disconsolate a wretch ; and , while you are liberal of peace to all the world , can you not shed a little of it into a breast , full of troubles and distractions , through the loss of your favour ? he is not so far besotted , as to beg any new one of your majesty ; but the sum of his humble suit is , that you will at length give a check to your indignation , that he may compleat the small remainder of his life , with the satisfaction of telling the world that he is , madam , your majesties most humble , most obedient , and most respectful servant . s. letter iii. to his highness the prince of conde . may it please your highness , does it not argue an excess of joy in me , to presume writing to your highness upon your happy return ? i must confess , it is so great , that it proves my torment , when , to check it into some moderation , i am guilty of any endeavour to suppress it . and when i permit the discoveries of it , men look on it as a prodigy , that an unhappy wretch who finds it work enough , to support his own particular misfortune , should be so highly concern'd in the publick felicity , as the most happy and most healthy ; and what adds to this general astonishment , is , that having not the honour of approaching your highness , and there being so vast a distance between a prince of conde , and the terminus of all indispos'd and bed-ridden people , his affection should be so violent towards him , as if he had the perpetual satisfaction of seeing and admiring him . this indeed is a thing meets with as much difficulty of credit , as your highnesses victories , and yet is no less certain . and if your highness could but be induc'd to believe it upon my own word , you would haply afford the ardency of my zeal a kind reception , and be the more convinc'd of my being , beyond any person in the world , your highnesses most humble , most obedient , and most passionate servant , s. letter iv. to the countess of brienne . madam , since you have had the curiosity to see me , as the queen of sweden had before you , it is but just , you should , as she did , give me leave to fall in love with you , and to give you the honour of a thing , which it may be is already past depending on your consent . if you imagine i ask any thing of you , which you ought not to grant me , and that i undertake more than i am able to perform , i am content to be reduc'd into the number only of your friends , and to conceal from you , what other more advantageous relation i might be capable of . for without your condescending to that , there will be no occasion of my waiting on you , which will be an extraordinary affliction to me ; for i was extreamly desirous to use the utmost of my endeavours and abilities to give you satisfaction . after such a discovery , as this is , of my intentions to you , i refer it to your own imagination , whether any thing in the world would tempt me to disappoint you . i shall therefore , with much sincerity , give you an account of the good and bad qualities of the person , whom you are to look on as your humble servant , as long as he lives . his body , indeed , as you might have observ'd , is very irregular , insomuch that he is thought a dangerous spectacle to women with child . as to the soul , he is so well content with his own , that he would not make an exchange with any in the world , but your self . when he loves , he does it with such violence , that he is sometimes asham'd of it ; and since you must know all , though he be very punctual in acquitting himself of the obligations and devoirs of friendship , yet in one particular he is defective , to wit , that of writing to his friends . but it is to be consider'd withal , that he speaks advantageously of them upon all occasions , expressing himself with a kind of fury , and sometimes is so importunate , as to weary out his auditors ; and when he is obliged to vindicate some person whom he loves , he can hardly be distinguished from a lion. if you like me upon these qualifications , i am , body and soul , at your service . in the mean time , expecting your resolution , in order to your acceptance or rejection of me , i am , nay will be , however you treat me , madam , your most transported , and most humble servant . s. letter v. to the same countess . madam , it is possible indeed , that you may have never permitted any one to make a discovery of love to you ; but that never any durst presume to do it , as it is not a thing dependent on you , so you must give me leave to doubt of it , at least , till you have layd your absolute commands upon me to believe it . were you a beauty of a lower rate , by one coy look you might betray your hate , to teach a daring lover greater caution , and smother his aspiring inclination . but you once seen , plac'd in the noblest sphear , who so reserv'd , as can from love forbear ? or who once having lov'd can be so tame , as to conceale so violent a flame ? so true it is , love , in a high degree , will soon trangress the rules of secrecy . let us therefore be sincere , madam , and acknowledge that we have not been so ingenious , as we should , one towards another , at our first correspondence by letters , and that , if it be impossible , any should ever presume to entertain you with a discourse of love , being so transcendently beautiful as you are , it is no less , on my side , that haveing so great a discerning faculty as i am master of , i should be tamely content with a reduction into the number of your friends , as i had told you . if the end of your letter approach sincerity , as much as the begining seems to be distant from it , the sentiments you promise to have for me will haply produce very dangerous effects about the court , and you will find there will be a certain emulation among some , to cripple themselves . but for my part part , i shall be the prince of them , since my work is already done , and therefore shall think my self oblig'd , answerably to my quality , to transcend all others in the impetuosity of my passion , since i have the preheminence , of being first admitted , madam , the humblest of your most humble , and most obedient servants , scarron . letter vi. to monsieur sarrazin . sir , i see you are not under any pressure of affairs in your kingdom of bourdeaux , since you have so much leisure as to write to me ; or that mademoiselle de viger sticks any thing close to your heart , when you amuse your self in giving me a particular relation of all the noble exploits , she is able to perform either in peace or war. if the description you have made of her be free from flattery , i must confess , i had rather have broken a leg , than ever have known her , nay though it were such , as that i might venture it at the dancing of a ball ; and i do advise you not to be too familiar with her , since you have not so much time to squander away . but is there , in earnest , any more in it , than that you , having little to do , yet desirous to be doing , have given me an ingenious draught of your own imaginations of beauty , and attributed them all to the person you were most conversant withal ? for you tell me so many things of her , that i should believe but little , were it not for this reflection , that you would not have written me so excellent and so long a letter , without some design . for , at paris , it was never believ'd till now , that there was any person at bourdeaux , whose attractions might raise a love in monsieur guyonet . but upon the reading of your letter , i am easily induc'd to a perswasion , that if ever mademoiselle de viger shall make all the advantages she can of her power , the number of those whom she shall make slaves , will equal that of those whom guyonet had made unhappy ; and she will be fully reveng'd on the poor unhappy men , for all the devastations which that dangerous guyennian hath committed upon those of her sex. but dear sir , consult your own conscience , and deal sincerely , is not that serenity and indisturbance of mind , which you magnifie above all things , somewhat concern'd in the case , when you make an open profession of having so violent inclinations for her ? for my part , were i still , as you say , qualis eram bonae sub regno cynarae . and were , as i now imagine you to be , on the banks of the garonne , where it kindly contributes to the production of so many flowers to strew your walks , it would cost me at the least two or three thousand disturbances , seven or eight hundred jealousies , some handfuls of the hair of my head , and a quart or two of warm tears ; for i have now lately receiv'd the gift of tears as well as you , and i dare compare with you for matter of weeping , though it be known , you have been as remarkable for it , as the prophet jeremy . but to return to mademoiselle de viger , 't is a misfortune to be lamented , that she should be wiser then solomon . there are indeed some men would be guilty of a great extravagance for her , as the queen of sheba was for him . for example , i my self , who am not so wise as the son of barsabe , as she told you , and yet think her a more amiable person than that queen of ethiopia , would take bourdeaux in my way , upon no other design , then that of seeing her , if i go next spring to barages , as i have some intentions to do . but my dog of a destiny will hurry me about a month hence towards the west-indies : or rather , i am afraid to be shov'd out of europe , into america , like a piece from one end of a sheffle-board to the other , by a sort of importunate and insupportable persons , a sort of excrescencies of paris , who call themselves , the leigers of wit and drollery . the question among them , is not , whether a man be well principled , well inclin'd , or of an obliging deportment , and good carriage ; but whether he be one of the leigers of wit and drollery . there are a certain number of persons who would attempt to give them a shove ; but they were told , the more ingenious among them make it their bragg , that they are approv'd by a great princess , whose perfections of mind equal the transcendency of her quality , and that they are so vain , as to bring her name in , to countenance the gingling productions of their wit. had it not been for this consideration , there would have been a party ready to have risen up against them . and this is all the account , i can give the most ingenious of my europaean friends , of my departure hence for america . i have in order thereto put a thousand crowns into the hands of a new company design'd for the indies , which goes to plant a colony within three degrees of the line , along the rivers of orillana and orinoca . farewel france ; farewel paris ; farewel tygresses disguis'd in the shape of angels ▪ farewel menagius's , sarrazins , and marignis . i renounce all future commerce with burlesque poetry , comical romances , and comedies ; i am now bound for a countrey where i shall not meet with any counterfeit saints , nor cut-purses of devotion , no inquisition , no winter to rack me to death , no defluxion to cripple me , nor warr to starve me ; but a perpetual freedom of converse , sincerity of acquaintance , and all the enjoyments of the golden age. and yet amidst all these , i dare assure you , nothing shall debauch me into an oblivion of my obligations to you ; and that when i write to you next from my palace in the west-indies , i shall close with an acknowledgment of my being , as much as ever , your most humble , &c. s. letter vii . to mademoiselle d'aubigné . mademoiselle , i am very much oblig'd to a certain thing called instinct ; for that would be always suggesting to me that the little lady , whom i saw coming into my chamber , about six months since , in a garment somewhat of the shortest , in respect of the mode now regnant , and who presently fell a crying , i know not upon what occasion , was no less ingenious , than her countenance gave her out . the letter you have written to mademoiselle de saint hermant , is so highly ingenious , that it argues a great decay of wit in me , not to have observ'd soon enough the accomplishment of it in you . to be sincere with you , i could never have imagin'd , that in the islands of america , or among the nuns of niort , any should be taught the rules of writing so excellently well ; and i am extreamly put to it , to find some colourable pretence , why you should make it your business to conceal ingenuity , when others are so over-forward to make all the discoveries they can of it . now therefore that you are known , you should make as little difficulty of writing to me , as you have done to mademoiselle de s. hermant . i shall use my utmost endeavours , to write a letter comparable to yours , and you will have the satisfaction to see , that , if i come short of you in point of wit , i will not of any other , in being mademoiselle , your most humble , &c. s. letter viii . to madam de sevigny , the widow . madam , your satisfaction has cost me abundance of misery ; for what recipes , and diet-drink , and physical directions have i been the butt of , only out of a compliance with the command you had laid on me , not to dye , till you had seen me ! and yet , madame , all this strictness , all my patient obedience to those who exercis'd their absolute power of life and death upon my body , hinders not my being still in a dying condition , out of an impatience to see you . had you taken an exact measure of your own forces and mine , this would not have happen'd . you ladies of prodigious merit imagine there is no more to be done , but to command . we indispos'd persons have not so much the disposal of our lives . be therefore satisfy'd to occasion their death who see you sooner then they would , without prolonging their lives , who see you not so long as you wish they should ; and blame none but your self , if i obey not the first command you ever laid upon me , since you have hasten'd my death , and that there is great likelihood , that , to please you , i should have been as willing to have liv'd a hundred years , as any other man. but is it not in your power to change the manner of my death ? i should not be a little oblig'd to you . all these deaths of impatience and love are not for my turn , much less suitable to my humour ; and if i have wept a hundred times for persons who have dy'd upon that account , though i knew them not , imagine what i shall do for my self , who ever made account to have a little of my own humour at my death . but it is impossible for a man to elude his destiny ; and so i am convinc'd , that , whether you be near me , or at a great distance from me , you are the occasion of my death . all the comfort i have , is , that , if i had seen you , the very thought of it would have added to the torment of my dissolution . they say you are a dangerous lady , and that they who look not on you with a certain circumspection , are presently taken sick , and carry'd away within a short time . i therefore submit to the death you have assign'd me , and i heartily forgive you . farewel madam , i die your most humble servant ; and i pray heaven , the divertisements you expect to find in britany , be not disturbed , by a remorse , of having been the executioner of a person , who had never offended you : — and then , but then , too late my cruel one will think , that , if i dy , ere i see her , i am not to be blam'd . the last verse should have rim'd to one of the other two ; but at the point of death , a man's thoughts are more taken up with dying well , than riming well . and so being ready to expire , i have only time to — recommend — my self — letter ix . to madam de villarceaux . madam , it was no hard matter for me to find by your letter , that i had written a very impertinent one to you : but it was not the first that ever i writ , when i and my wits were at some distance ; and i am not so highly conceited of my own prudence , as to presume it will be the last that i shall write while i live . the first time i ever come abroad , i will endeavour to crawl for your pardon : mean time , madam , you may assure mademoiselle meusnier , that though she hath said of me a hundred false things , which have brought me to the knowledg of many true ones concerning her , i am ready to put the maid-servant she complains of , into the hands of the magistrate , and , what you will hardly believe , that this wicked maid , whom she charges to have sold what she could justly call her own , is more forward to appear before the judges , than she her self . but , madam , i am somewhat afraid that i shall be taken at my word ; yet shall i not retract what i have said . she may present her petition when she pleases ; if the maid be guilty , i shall be the first to sollicite against her . for your self , madam , as you are good , and generous , you cannot forbear pitying a mother that has lost her daughter , or rather that was desirous to have lost her : and for her , if her neighbours speak truth , she could do no less then surprize you . and , for my part , madam , i shall give you no further trouble , but that of assuring you how infallibly i am , madam , your most humble , &c. s. letter x. to the marquess of villarceaux . my lord , for the discharge of my own tender conscience , i must needs tell you , that you know not what you do , when you make me a proffer of your friendship , and are so desirous , as you seem to be , of mine though it be habitual in you to do good actions , yet that of wishing well to a person so discarded to misfortune , as i am , requires a generosity , which you will find more dangerous in the exercise of it , than you imagine . i find little for you to hope from it , and much to fear , and therefore i advise you not to undertake it , how great soever my advantages be thereby . this heretofore cost armentieres his life ; and not long since , poor haucourt run the same fate ; not to mention to you divers others , whom i could name to you , not of your acquaintance , and whom death would not haply have snatcht away so soon hence , had they not been over-forward to express their love to me . must i yet give you more examples , to assure you that my misfortune is contagious ? let these few suffice . cardinal richelieu dy'd within a month after my being known to him , and that i was thought so happy as to please him . the prince of orange had no sooner discover'd his desires of making me some present , but he fell sick of the small pox , and dy'd . the president de mesme did not long out-live the visit he made me , in a chamber three stories high . in fine , my acquaintance , if it come to any degree of friendship , is so sure a losing cast to those who have it , and of so sudden a disastre , that it is beyond my apprehension , how the cardinal de retz hath got into that eminency , against wind , water , and weather , at a time when it was the general perswasion , that he had a certain esteem for me . after all these deterring examples , if your heart couragiously persist in its resolution , i am , body and soul , yours . i am not so deeply besotted as to refuse my good fortune , and the friendship of a person , whom i passionately love , as well upon the account of his merit , as my own natural inclination . yet can i not disburthen my self of a compassion for the hazard you run into ; for i once more tell you , that i am a mail , which open'd , you will find stuff'd only with misfortune ; and consequently how fatal may prove to you being , your most humble , &c. s. letter xi . to the queen of sweden . madam , to offer your majesty a comedy , and that of my composure , is to make you a present infinitely below your worth and quality : only ▪ i have this plea , that every one ought to be tax'd according to his abilities , for the payment of the tribute due to you , from all those who make it their concern to write in the present age . in that of augustus , men paid in verse and prose the same tribute to the patron of the virtuosi , the deceas'd mecenas , whom your majesty knows , better than i , by the general consent of all the poets , to have been a very gallant person . but how highly soever his name may have been celebrated in the world , all the advantage he now hath of your majesty , is only that of precedence ; and i would confidently venture all the little estate i have in the kingdom of parnassus , that your majesty would have defeated all his designs , and forc'd him to exasperation , as your father the great gustavus would have done his master augustus , had they been to dispute the empire of the universe . but , madam , if it be pardonable in a person so much the object of pity , upon the account of misery , as i am , to put questions to a great queen , as you are , i would know , whether it be not sometimes incommodious to your majesty to be so highly a heroine as you are ? extraordinary merit hath also its inconveniences , and all these dedicatories of books , which we poets would have to pass for incense , with those whom we pretend to heroify , are not always of the same value , nor have the same effect . there are some of those drugs cast forth but little perfume , though much smoak ; and i my self am in suspence , whether what i offer your majestie , will pass in your court for spanish balls , or common ones . the late prince of orange made use of them heretofore , and was never the worse for it : if your majestie think them worth your approval in any degree , be not sparing of them ; since all i have now left is only for her , whom all the world unanimously acknowledges to have surpass'd in merit all the princes of past ages , to eclipse all of the present , and to be an example to those of the future . and this is as true , as it is true , that i passionately am , madame , your majesties most , &c. s. letter xii . to _____ . my lord , i leave it to such as can , make greatest braggs of health , and are most concern'd in your affairs , to be more joyful than i am , at the recovery of your liberty . i thought once to have said , that your eminency could not have been more glad of it than i am ; but that had been an extravagant expression . for the different traverses of fortune make no disturbance in the calmness and serenity of your mind ; and if adversity find you always on your feet , prosperity does not force you to go ever the faster . in fine , you are now , my lord , got out of that obscure dungeon , where you were so inconveniently lodg'd ; and methinks ( not derogating from the respect i owe those in whose power it is to assign such lodgings ) they are not well read in the ceremonies of entertainment , since they bring you out with a much greater respect and complement , then they had conducted you into that enchanted palace . the applauses they receive for the latter will haply raise in them an inclination of receiving often the like : heaven grant it be so , and me the happiness to see your eminency at a place , where i may be heard , from my own chair to yours , assuring you , that i am more than ever , your eminencies most , &c. s letter xiii . to _____ madam , i hear of your falling ill of a tertian , if it come to a quartan ague , we shall have work enough for a whole winter ; for you are not to question , but it will be as much a torment to me , as it is to you . i pray let me know how many fits you have had already , and what account your physitians give of it , since you are like to see them first ; and certainly it is a very extraordinary accident , that you know some things of me , four or five days before i hear them my self . i must needs have a great confidence of my strength , rack'd with affliction as i am , when i concern my self in , and participate of yours . i know not whether it had not been more prudently done of me , to have been distrustful of you , the first time that ever i saw you . i should have done so , and judg'd of it by the event : but what likelihood was there , that a young maid should disturb the quiet impotency of an old batchelour , or ever fall under a suspition of having given me so great a temptation , as that i should regret my not being in a condition to revenge my self ? but away with flattery ; i know you are sick , but not , whether you are so carefully attended as you should be . this very disquiet adds much to the trouble and affliction it is to me , that i am forc'd to love , and at the same see that it is the greatest madness in the world to do so ? ever and anon an humour takes me to venture on a journey into poitou , through all the present extremity of weather , and many briars and thorns by the way , which if it can be effected in me otherwise than by witchcraft , i shall side with the modern scepticks and deists , and believe there never was any such thing . return then , in the name of god , return hither , and think it high time , when i am come to that degree of distraction , as to regret absent beauties . i should have understood my self better , and consider'd , that i endure pain and torment enough , to become an absolute crippple from head to foot , without being possess'd of that diabolical grief , called the impatience to see you . 't is one of the most cursed sort of evil spirits . do i not see how he torments poor monsieur _____ upon no other account , then that he sees not you , as often as he would , though he does it daily ? the letters he writes to us discover the despairing condition he is in , and i dare at this present lay a wager on his damnation , not upon the score of his being a heretick , but that of his loving you . yet methinks you should discover some moderation in your conquests and think of some cessation of your hostility : command , i say , your murth'ring eyes , to be less cruel then they were ; or i shall call you cockatrice , and not , as i was wont , my dear . but why should i bring in my self as one of the martyrs of your cruelty ? be not so fond as to imagine any such thing , but rather that you are happy not to have ought to do with me . you will haply laugh at my menaces : but know , scornful beauty , that there will be found some gallant men , to engage in a service wherein the publick is concern'd . tell me , my darling , have you renounc'd christianity , and embrac'd mahumetisme , that you seem to make the destruction of mankind your divertisement ? it must certainly be so ; and yet there is one humour remarkable in the more civiliz'd and religious part of the turks , which is , that they are much addicted to alms ; but you are far from it , and have not the least charity in the world even for those who love you . you are therefore of no value , though you are made up of an intermixture of good and bad things . you verifie the proverb beyond any one , that all is not gold that glisters ; and now it may be said , that all devils are not black . and yet ( see the prerogative of beauty ) i cannot forbear acknowledging my self , more than any other , madam , your most humble , and most obedient servant , s. letter xiv . to _____ my lord , i have understood from monsieur du pin , how kindly you have sollicited his majesty on my behalf , and what good offices you have endeavour'd to do me at court , where your influence being so great , no doubt what you attempt will prove accordingly successful . all i have to offer to your consideration in this particular , is that you may find the opposing of my cross fortune a harder task than at first sight you imagine ; since i cannot but fear it will give you the dissatisfaction of not compassing , once in your life , what your generosity had engag'd you to undertake . yet , howe're you come off , my obligations to you will be as transcendent , as they can possibly be in a person who has hardly the honour of being known to you , who never did you any service , who is incapable of doing any , and whom nevertheless you will needs take into your protection . should i not be highly sensible of these surprizing kindnesses , there were no colourable excuse to be made for me , but that the wretchedness of my condition had reduc'd me to a more than ordinary stupidity . on the contrary , i am a great admirer of such persons as you are , and i begin to be troubled , that the approaching period of my life , will prevent my full knowledg of yours , which i should study with as much satisfaction , as i have done all those of the most illustrious men. though i was never guilty of any natural inclination to be a great courtier , yet am i one of those persons in the world , to whom some of the greatest in the kingdome have many times made promises , and for the most part broken them . but that misfortune , attended by many others , shall not hinder by being content with my fortune , if you are satisfy'd how intirely i am , your most humble , &c. s. letter xv. to the lord bishop of mans. my lord , i am not dead , as the other eight canons are , whose prebendaries you have lately dispos'd of , and yet you have also given away mine . i should be much troubled , if they were no otherwise dead than i am ; not but that i have a sufficient charity for my neighbour ; but if they had not been dead , monsieur costard , and monsieur de l'eslée , who haply are yet my friends , would not have been arch-deacons and canons . i know not how i came to put in that word haply ; haply i had not us'd it , if i had consider'd what i was doing . if ever i have the honour to write to you again , i will send you the first draught of my letter , lest i put any thing into it offensive to my conscience . but to return to my prebendary , since you have dispos'd of it , you ought to give me another for it , though it were only to make me some requital , for the time i have lost , in relying on the promises of your deceas'd uncle , of happy memory , and little mindfulness of his word . you know well enough what you have to do ; but if i were in your condition , i should bestow a benefice on a person that were in mine . and indeed you have a sure expedient to procure a vacancy , without burthen to your conscience , or injury to good manners , as was done by a regular eunuch named mortier , abbot of marmoustier , and uncle to the abbot of euron . this master-monk took occasion to poison a score of priors at one dinner ; which accident occasion'd the publishing of a book , intituled , the method of procuring a vacancy of benefices , written by the reverend father in god &c. 't is a palpable sign that old age steals upon me , since i fall into the humour of telling little stories . but it is in the night time , and the clock has struck twelve , and the laverdins , who are great talkers , are no lovers of those who are so liberal of that talent as themselves ; and for my part , i am one of the greatest talkers of any within the compass of my acquaintance . it seems also , by this letter , that i am liberal enough in that of writing , and that i think the reckoning of my cenfession will not be much enflam'd , by this dallying with one of the higher degrees of reverence . yet there is one thing i must not at this time forbear minding you of , now that you are in the kingdom of your fathers . it is , that you are to remember , my friend menagius , with all his great worth , hath very little advantage from the revenues of the church , and that you ought to procure his participation thereof . i am by this minded also of an oblivion of my own in this letter , which is , that i have not scatter'd , my lord , in several places of it , a complement due to a prelate , as you are . but i shall not hereafter be chargeable with that omission , and if ever i write to you , i shall do it with all requisite ceremonies , assuring you in the mean time , that i am , my lord , your most humble and most obedient servant , and , what 's more , canon , scarron . letter xvi . to his eminency the cardinal de retz . my lord , you have made me rich in despight of fortune , by compassing your advancement to the cardinal's hat , with the defeating of all their projects , who envy'd you that grandeur . i have hazarded all my estate in wagers that you would attain that dignity ; it must therefore be mightily improv'd , if i have to do with persons of honour and tender of their engagements . 't is my humble suit to heaven , that yours may have the like augmentation , according to what disposal the divine providence shall think most convenient . nor is it likely to be tedious in giving this promotion of yours its full accomplishment , and that your new dignity will be compleated with all the additional dependencies consequent thereto , for the conviction of all the world , that the hand which made the cardinals of amboise and richelieu , had not yet shewn all it could have done . mean time , i only beg your assurance , that whether in france , the indies , or what climate soever my unhappy destiny disposes of me , i shall ever passionately be , your eminency's most humble , &c. s. letter xvii . to the duke de retz . my lord , it may be you conceive a great self-satisfaction , when you reflect on your generosity . dislodge that fond imagination ; it is the most incommodious quality an eminent person can be guilty of , when he is so imprudent as to spin out his divertisement , in the company of such a wretch as i am . we writers are a strange sort of people ; for where we are once oblig'd , we are importunate all the daies of our lives after . you bestow'd on me some days since the works of monsieur de voiture ; i am now to begg of you a thing of greater importance . i am acquainted with some lords , whose countenances would change at these last words of my letter ; but they are not so terrible , as to frighten or startle a duke de retz ; and i durst be sworn , he is as impatient to know what i desire of him , as i am assur'd of obtaining it . 't is this : a young gentleman , whose name i find in the catalogue of my choicest friends , and one who at the age of twenty years hath been concern'd in twenty engagements , as noble as that of the horatij and curiatij , and hath as great a reputation of prudence as gallantry , hath kill'd a vapouring braggadochio , by whom he was forc'd to a duel . he cannot procure his pardon any where but in paris , and he would fain be in safety there , meerly out of a repugnance he hath , to the severing of his head from the shoulders . i could prevail for his reception into the palace of a great prince ; but for his entertainment there , as to provision , i can promise nothing ; and i think starving a greater misfortune , than to be in fear of having ones throat cut by an officer appointed for that purpose . but if you afford him the sanctuary of your roof , he will be in a condition to defie both ; and you will have no small satisfaction , in taking into your protection a young gentleman so much deserving it . besides , you will have the greatest pleasure in the world , in seeing candles snuff'd with pistol-bullets , as often as you shall think fit to be a spectator of that divertisement : and i question not , but you will give me thanks , being as you are , the most generous of all dukes , for finding you out so noble an occasion to exercise your generosity ; and i for my part , promise to supply you with the like as often as i can , and that , as soon as you have granted me what i now desire , i shall importune you daily , to imploy your interest and that of your friends , to procure the pardon of mine . the burlesque muse will not be silent upon the obtaining of this favour , but will acquit her self well enough of an acknowledgment thereof ; though hitherto she hath been little put to it upon a subject of this nature . i beg your pardon a thousand times for the tediousness of my letter , and as often kiss your hands , remaining , my lord , your most humble , &c. s. letter xviii . to the count de vivonne . my lord , while you are taking your diversions in the country , and haply killing horses , in the pursuit of hares , we have wanted your good wishes at a wedding ; which hath united two warlike nations , between whom the height of the apennines made not so great a distance , as the difference of their humours . i needed not to have sent you this newes , since it is not to be imagin'd , but you know it already ; yet since there is a necessity of my writing to you , i thought it not improper to begin with that great piece of intelligence , meerly out of this reflection , that , if all other records fail , posterity may find the time of so remarkable an occurrence by the date of my letter to you . your next observation will be , that , notwithstanding this strange revolution , the city of paris is much at the same rate as when you left it ; that , for one rational person , there are a hundred thousand that are not such , nor ever will be ; and that this is as true of the women , as the men. there is another inconvenience consequent to the removal of the court ; which is , that they who smell of their dirty shops where ere they go , presume to take the wall of all they meet , and plead the prerogative of birth and breeding in the greatest city in the world. no quarter of it , but has a poet , good or bad ; nor house , where company hath access , but is pester'd with vain and superfluous talkers . of these , mine hath the precedence , and i must bear all , without any other remedy than that of bemoaning my self , to see the afflictions of my mind bear some proportion to the infirmities of my body . for my part , the decaies of my condition are daily more and more observable , and i feel my self tow'd to my end faster than i could wish . i have a thousand pricking pains , or rather a thousand legions of devils in my arms and legs , and yet in that condition , i cannot reproach my self with any remission in the love i bear you . i know not how far it may contribute to that of my pain ; but this i am certain of , that you owe me a great measure of esteem and friendship , and that , if you do me justice , i shall have this to bragg of , that , towards the period of my days , i have made so advantageous an acquaintance as yours . i might very well think this a fair acquest , for a person who cannot stirr from the place where he is set , and give a check to all further ambition ; but you have given me so excellent a character of monsieur manchini , that i shall never acquit you of the promise you have made me of the honour to be known to him . yet must it be with this precaution , that he be not a man of many complements ; for when i am forc'd to make any my self , or to receive them from others , i cannot forbear weeping , and am put out of countenance , to think what a loss they also are at , who will needs display their eloquence , when they have to do with the object of universal compassion . in a word , i have as great an aversion for complements , as most people have for serpents , and toads ; and to assure you it is so , i shall conclude my letter without making you any , and put a short period to a long letter , by telling you that i am , my lord , your most humble and most obedient servant , s. letter xix . to monsieur marigny . sir , i must acknowledg my self orepress'd by the weight of so great an honour as that of being so much in the remembrance of a prince ; and that though i am the most wretched , and the most froward person that ever was , yet there have been general observations made of my alacrity , since i have receiv'd your assurances , that his highness found some diversion in the reading of my letters . i must impute it to a strange hazard , that they should be thought pleasant at brussels , ; for he who writ them at paris is a person the most apt to be out of humour of any in the world . and who , with a mischief could be otherwise , plac'd in the same circumstances as i am ? true it is , that some express a certain esteem for me ; many take occasion to compassionate the hardness of my fortune ; but how few endeavour to alleviate it ? in the mean time gray hairs , affliction , discontent , poison all my divertisement ; past ills , the present , those to come , hasten my course to my long home . when i bethink my self , that i was once handsome enough to deserve the respects of the bois-roberts of my time ; when i reflect that i have been healthy enough till the twenty seventh year of my age , to have drunk after the rate of a german ; that i am still as sound within , as that i can drink of all liquors , and eat of all sorts of meat , with as much unreservedness and indifference , as the greatest epicureans ; when i bethink my self , that my apprehensions are not faint , pedantick , or impertinent ; that i am free from ambition and avarice , and that if heaven had continu'd me the use of those legs , which have perform'd their part well in a dance , and those hands which have been well skill'd in drawing , and playing on the lute ; and in fine a very streight body ; so that i might have liv'd a happy , though somewhat an obscure life ; i assure you , my dear friend , that if it had been lawful for me to have been my own executioner , i had long since wafted my self in a socratick draught into the other world. nay i am somewhat of a perswasion , that i must come to it in time . orewhelm'd with sadness , grief , and misery , far beyond all support of constancy , admitting not the hope of any rest , but what in a deep grave may be possest ; my restless thoughts continually dilate themselves on the disasters of my fate . but what avail imprudent exclamations ? 't is vain with heav'n to make expostulations . for if the pow'rs above do so decree , to punish my licentious poetry , that , from the fatal minute of my birth , i should be wretched , till i 'm turn'd to earth ; far be 't from me , their orders to oppose , but court their favour in submissive prose . this shall be the last sally of my poetick vein , it lay so heavy on my heart , that i could not be at ease , till i had disburthen'd my self of it . and to make you further reparation for the trouble i give you by the peevishness of this letter , i send you six stanza's which i have added to the baronade . the news spread abroad of the spanish paralytick , who is to challenge me upon the score of reputation , hath found those whom i have acquainted with it very good sport . there has not yet been 50000 livers bestow'd in spanish grammars , as you say , though the spanish tonge was never so corrupted as it hath lately been at paris . i am extreamly oblig'd to you for the pains you take to supply me with spanish comedies . i wish , &c. letter xx. to the same monsieur marigny . sir , never was two-legged or two-handed creature hurry'd into such a degree of exasperation as i am at this time , that , when you thought i might find his highness the prince some divertisement , my claw-like hand is grown so rebellious , that i cannot command it to write . for , as if all my other afflictions were not torment enough to me , i must make what shift i can to tell you , that for above a month now past , i have had a continual conflict with the gout , which like prometheus's vulture has fed upon me without the least remorse , or consideration of my other infirmities . and what do you imagine i can do amidst the racking twitches it gives me ? or how should i resent the malicious visit it makes me at this time , when the prince himself is expos'd to the jerks of the same inexorable disease ? all i can do , is to fancy to my self , that i come not behind job in miseries , though i may do it in patience . it makes me so inventive in the faculty of swearing , that i think , without ostentation , i could out-swear any man in france ; though at other times , i place that amongst the most superfluous transgressions , and i must acknowledg it to be so now , for any thing i am the better for it . certainly , if the greatness of the torment which occasions it , does not expiate the crime , as i can hear , so shall i in the next world be the most wretched of all mankind . for sometimes my furious transports are so like those of a damned soul , that if a commanded party of devils were coming for me , i think i should endeavour to meet them half-way . i doubt they are coming , for i begin to feel the first accesses of a dreadful fit , and therefore must take a short leave of you , and leave you to imagine the rest with &c. letter xxi . to the same . sir , your writing to me has given me the greatest satisfaction i could have expected . my generous friends are all the estate i have in this world ; and when you assure me that you are of that number , i cannot forbear assuring you again , that you give me a greater occasion of rejoycing , than i shall derive from the general peace , which is now so near its conclusion . the comparison will possibly , at first sight , seem weak to you , and i must acknowledg , that the affairs of europe might change face a hundred times , ere ever mine look any better . but i am over head and ears in desires , to see your prince once more in france , though it were only for this reason , that france is this year but poorly furnish'd with princes , and yet there are as many as ever there were , and the subsequent years will haply prove no better than this : and if i have my satisfaction in that , i shall have it also , in embracing my tall , my corpulent , and my fat monsieur _____ . for i question not , but strong beer has made some additionals to his former bulk . but is it possible , the great and heroick condé should know , that i am yet among the living ? my friend guenault told me so , and that he had seen lying upon his table the second part of my comical romance . it put me into such an humour , as i never was in twice before ; i was so transported with heroick thoughts of my self , and if my diseases had not fasten'd me to my chair , i would have stollen upon him to see how he would have been frighted at the monstrous appearance of the author . these heroes are an odd sort of people , and would be worth the whistling after , if they could but be brought to love the indigent part of mankind , as well as the others love them . as for yours , he seems to have heroify'd himself a hundred times over , since he has taken upon him the conduct of our invincible troops ; and it may be said of him , that if he were a great prophet in his country , where the scripture sayes that no man is , he prov'd much more such a one in a strange country . if he take the pains to read any thing of the five epistles , in verse , which you receive herewith , be pleas'd to let me know what he sayes of them . the melancholy invective comes piping hot out of my study , the others were the last years productions . 't is pity the person who is the subject of it had not been some more notorious rascal . but this is only a damn'd tax-gatherer , who owes me six hundred pistols , and would conscientiously chowse me of that small summe . you tell me of a lady that 's fallen in love with me , i intreat you to give her timely notice , that my diseases have rendred me of so irregular a figure , that women with child are forbidden access to me , for fear of monstrous births , and miscarriages . but for your part , i adjure you to be kind to your lazarillo di tormes . letter xxii . to the mareschall d'albret . my lord , you are not to be so much bemoan'd by others , as you imagine to your self , since that if your absence , or exile , or what else you pleas'd to call it , were not voluntary , you might easily find an occasion to quit the campagne : but it is to be fear'd , that some beautiful eyes at xaintonge have made a conquest over yours , and you have the ambition to have your military trophies interwoven with points de venize . your friends therefore here are much more to be bemoan'd than you are , and their complaints are more pressing . for my part , i am clearly dash'd out of all countenance . when you were pleas'd to honour me with your visits , i thought it the greatest happiness i could make by braggs of . the appearance of your coach at my little door rendred it venerable to all the inhabitants of the street i live in ; and i am told , that it procur'd me the envy of several great gates , whose owners think themselves better accommodated to entertain persons of your quality . nay , the standing of rincy's coach at the same place some time since , does still keep my neighbours in awe : but it is to be fear'd , that they will forget themselves again , if some courtiers make not a speedy return to paris , and , till yours happen , keep up our glory and repute , which , for want of such visitants , is much eclips'd . but though it should be so darkned , as that i might never recover ought of my former lustre , yet is it possible , that a man may be comforted with a little philosophy . but the case is quite otherwise , when a man is forc'd to be six months together without seeing the persons he loves . were it not for the kindness of your writing to me sometimes , i should soon make it known to all the world , by a generous act of despair , that my heroes are not such idols , as a fantastical humour , or time can destroy ; that madam scarron speaks against her conscience , or knowes not well the internal concerns of a man , with whom she spends the best part of her life , when she tells you , that my affection to you will not last above six months . that will be try'd by the effect . but now i speak of heroes , you tell me , that monsieur the surintendant , who is also one of my heroes , and which is more , my only benefactor , will take his way through pons . i question not but you will recommend to him the concerns of your humble servant , and the conclusion of his fatal affair . there never was a more favourable opportunity for the settlement of it ; julian colas the most insolent person that ever got his livelihood by the retayling of bread and wine , and one that would prefer the most despicable carman , or porter , before the greatest virtuoso in the kingdom , and the only person who obstructed the establishment of my affair , has taken his last draught in this mortal life . the unloaders are as desirous to see it establish'd , as i am my self . but monsieur the surintendant has told our friend pelisson , that it could not be compleated till after the return of the court. 't is possible , his late being there may have somewhat advanc'd it , and that the most wretched person , of all those to whom he has shewn any kindness , will soon be at some ease in his mind , and will find himself out of danger of dying , for want of employment for his jaws . madam scarron has been at st. mandé's . she is extreamly pleas'd with the civil entertainment she receiv'd from madam the surintendant's lady ; and i find her so smitten with her attractions , that there is some suspition there might be a little touch of impurity in the interview . but that danger must be the less , since she cannot wait upon her as often as she wishes , because , for want of a coach , she cannot go abroad , but when her friends are pleas'd to take her along with them . i am forc'd to write things to you that have no relation to your concerns , for want of something that has . when i meet with any more worthy your knowledg , you will hear further from my lord , your most submissive of all your adorers , s. letter xxiii . to the same . my lord , we must needs be extreamly exhausted of advertisements , when we cau only tell you , that bon-coeur , and charleval are still in normandy , and that madam de martel , and her daughter , return'd hither but yesterday . yet is there a necessity , that i should send you a large letter , and that i should give some assurance , at least by the endeavours i shall use to divert you , as far as one of my letters can do it , that it is not altogether my fault , if i do not stand you in some stead . you must therefore give me leave to catch at any thing that offers it self : and though the spectacles of the violent dissolutions which are seen at the greve , are not things that can be recommendably communicated to the knowledg of a person of your quality , yet shall i not stick , out of pure sterility of matter , to give you an account of what has happen'd there . there has been lately , for several dayes together , so much hanging , and breaking of persons on the wheel , that the common executioner himself is weary of his office , madam _____ who , next to monsieur _____ is not so much pleas'd at any sight , as that of publick executions , begins to be cloy'd with the divertisement , and will hardly be seen this good while in the greve again . the martyrs are all of the true parisian breed , most of them the sons of that kind of cooks , who sell only roast-meat , because they have no convenience for any other way of cookery . they were convicted of the robbing of coaches and sedans , and other crimes ordinarily committed in the night-time , and many of other denominations in the faculty of stealing , are in great danger of dying in the air. i am to tell you , by way of digression , that the cockneys of paris , my countrymen , are valiaut enough , more apt to steal , then beg , as being of a very patibulary inclination . but now i am fallen upon the subject of violent deaths , i cannot forbear giving you the relation of one , which was not so ignominious , as that of the foresaid criminals , yet was not less cruel . before i come into the story , you are to understand , by way of preadvertisement , that the next subsequent days after sundays , and festival days , there is a great scarcity of all provisions at charenton , and particularly of new bread above all things . 't was upon a munday , not long since , that the impetuous du rincy , the eloquent pelisson , the incomparable scudery , and the discreet madam bocquet , about half an hour past ten in the morning , sent a messenger express to the beautiful izar , who some days before had retir'd to charenton , for the air 's sake , to tell him , that they would dine with him that day , and that he should not give himself the trouble of getting any thing but a good potage and a dessert , for as to meat they would bring it along with them from the cooks . izar , and a certain advocate of the counsel , named du mas , whom he had taken for his country-companion , during that retreat , beset and bestir themselves for the more splendid reception of so great a party of illustrious persons , for we do not every day see four such together . to give a greater fortification to the potage , they put in three pullets , and a considerable quantity of green pease ; and while a certain person is sent away post to bagnolet , for raspices , they employ the most experienc'd pastry-cooks of charenton , in the making of tarts and cakes . the cloath is laid in the garden , and to take away the scent of the lavender , wherein the linnen had long lain , the table , cloth , and napkins , are all bestrew'd with such flowers newly gather'd as the garden afforded . about noon the quintescence of all that dare assume to themselves the title ingenious , or virtuoso , arrive at charenton . du rincy , as soon as he was got out of the coach , went directly into the kitchin , where he is little satisfy'd with the potage , much less with the diligences and sollicitude of izar and du mas , in all the preparations they had made , and speaks thereof with so great indignation , superciliousness , and authority , that du mas began thereupon to respect and to fear him . they who had a mind to wash their hands , did so ; and all sate down . du rincy slighting the country-soupe , would have broke one of the loaves ; but finding it hard and stale , he flings it at an apricock tree that stood near him , and renders it uncapable of bearing fruit any more , having bruis'd the greater branches of it . he goes to break a second loaf , which he finds of the same date of baking , and consequently as far from being new as the other , and with the same vigour and promptitude he flings it at another tree . in short , with six or seven loaves , which he found equally hard and stale , he lames so many fruit-trees , to the great discontent of the mistress of the house , who made extraordinary clamours at the desolation of her garden . du rincy , in the mean time , was not in the least concern'd at it , save only that he protested , no body should eat , till he had new bread brought him . they sent to all the bake-houses about the town , till at last they came to one , where they were taking the bread out of the oven , which was brought to du rincy , piping hot , and smoaking , so that the rest of the company went and gather'd up the loaves amongst the bruis'd branches , which were more eatable than the new bread , which burnt their lips. the brisk deportment of du rincy , both as to action and discourse , extreamly surpriz'd the advocate du mas , and the imperious aire of his countenance was no less dreadful to him . from that very time , he always had du rincy in his imagination . he never slept without turbulent dreams , and those dreams were never without du rincy . in fine , the very fright he took at the demeanour of du rincy put him into a feaver , and that feaver prov'd so violent , that it carry'd him off in less than fifteen days , and he dy'd in a raving and distracted condition , talking perpetually of du rincy . and this , my lord , is all the account of our concerns , that i can send you at the present . madam scarron sayes , that she cannot find any inclination in her self to write to you , till she meets with something that is divertive in your letters . that reflection makes me think , that if you are as much afflicted at pons , as you were at paris , my letter will be impertinent , and most unseasonable . but time , yet much more your own reason , will ere this have wrought their ordinary effect , upon an affliction that admits of no remedy . i send you my second epistle . the areopagus of good judges in this profession , will have it to be better than the former : but i am not of their opinion . i am still in expectation of the effects of monsieur the surintendant's fair promises . post-script . it were very unseasonable at this time to speak to you of a thing which i should wish that you had forgotten . yet can i not forbear telling you , that i , certainly , am , of all the world , the person who has been most concern'd at the misfortune that has happen'd to you ; and , upon that occasion i found , that i have for you all the sentiments which i ought to have , for the most generous person in france , and one to whom i am the most oblig'd . letter xxiv . to the same . my lord , after the pastey you were pleas'd to send me , i have also receiv'd your excellent cheeses . i am apt to imagine , that you have made it your design , to sustain us with the best things that can be made , in their kind . your liberality has been communicated to all my fellow-commoners , who are not the most inconsiderable persons in the world , upon the score of their good qualities . at the consumption of your present , we liberally drunk the health of our grand benefactor . as for the pastey , it was as good as ever came out of oven , and the cheeses were such as the best dairy in the world , and that order'd by the most experienc'd dairy-woman in the world , could have afforded . for my part , without any diminution of the commendations which your noble presents deserve , give me leave , to recreate my self upon the letter you were pleas'd to honour me with , and to tell you , that there is not any thing in that kind could have been more gallant , or more ingenious . among other passages , that , where you tell me , that you leave to those of transcendent wits the care of diverting mine , and that you make it your business , only to divert my gust . i leave it to the most expert in the chimistry of complements to write more smartly upon such a subject . by this may it be seen , my lord , that you have an insatiable ambition , and that not being content with the military glory you have acquir'd during the warr , you would also in the times of peace carry away from us poor pensioners of the pen , the trophies of literature . i wish i had somewhat of news to write to you . all the talk about paris is , that meneville's sickness is very dangerous , and that all the courtiers are like to return to paris , save only the mareschal de villeroy . assoon as i have any thing worth the writing to you , i shall make it appear , by that only small service which i am capable to render you , how much i am , my lord , your most humble , &c. s. letter xxv . to the same . my lord , i have no certain account of your reception of a letter of eight and twenty pages , which i writ to you by the last ordinary : however , you will excuse me , if this be so much the shorter . and because it is so , it comes to you attended by my epigrams against b _____ , and tells you withal , that i shall send the baronade by the next post . i now send you also a ballad , which may pass muster ; some verses of m. benserade's , being a continuation of those he made upon the peace ; and a sonnet of exultation , made by a young lass of nineteen years of age , whose name is _____ . 't is to be lamented that she is not as pretty , as i think her well inclin'd . i expect , with as much impatience as the jewes do the messias , the effects of m. the surintendant's promises . a man may languish , while he hopes : nay somtimes he may suffer ; and delayes in such affairs never come to any good , but are for the most part dangerous and prejudicial . but , it was never yet my fortune to obtain any thing of happiness , without the conquest of incredible obstructions . be pleas'd to pardon this melancholy reflection , in a wretched person who is ready to starve . threescore and sixteen days have i been in continual hostility with a hard frost . the duke of orleans is out of all hopes of recovery . yesterday morning , the duke of lorrain took post for blots . villarceau is still a prisoner in the bastile , though the mareschals of france , who conducted him thither , had put him in hopes , that he should only make a visit to the place , and come out again . this is all i have to say to you at the present . if there be any of my letters which have not been employ'd in the lighting of fire , or put to some other culinary use , i desire you would send them to me . i shall find some fragments therein , which may be ornamental to the collection i am now putting into the press . i am , your , &c. s letter xxvi . to _____ my lord , it belongs only to those of your house to make the highest demonstrations of kindness and generosity that can be made . monsieur the procurator general , your brother , has settled a pension upon me , without the least application , or so much as a previous desire on my side , for his so doing ; and you were pleas'd to give me a visit , without any person's solicitation on my behalf , to induce to a guilt of so great a consideration . what can i do less then acknowledge my self your humblest captive , upon a favour done me with so great a surprize ? i would make you a greater present then that of my self , were it in my power ; but you must be content with that , since i make it with so good a heart , that you must needs have a very hard one of your own , if you do not vouchsafe it a reception , and give me leave withal , while i am in this world , to let it know , that it is not without reason i assume the quality of my lord , your most humble , &c. scarron . letter xxvii . to monsieur procurator-general , and surintendant of the finances . my lord , it argues , at the first blush , a great indigence of civility , in a person so insignificant and superfluous in the world as i am , to importune you , who are perpetually imploy'd about the publick concerns , to do me a kindness . but i conceive my my self to be already in a fair way of receiving somewhat of that nature , and you have already given me so many assurances of the kindness you have for me , and the compassion , which the misfortunes under which i groan , have raised in you , that without using the mediation of those persons who are most dear to you , and are pleas'd to honour me with their good wishes ; i am sufficiently presumptuous , upon the interest i have in you my self , to beg a favour of you . it is one of those which you sometimes grant , as you will find by the petition you receive herewith , and which i desire you will be pleas'd to look upon a person with all the favour you can . it is for a relation of my wifes , remarkable for his constant fidelity to his majestie 's service , and one who is of an obstinate perswasion , that you have a respect for me . it will ly upon you , my lord , to let him know , that he is not mistaken ; and upon me , to make all france sensible , that you are not only the most experienc'd person of this age in state-affairs , but have also that more endearing quality , of being , of all men , the most generous , particularly to my lord , your most humble , &c. s. letter xxviii . to the same . my lord , i heard not till yesterday of the great loss that has happen'd to you ; and yet , considering the short time i have had to be afflicted thereat , i have acquitted my self as well as those who had the knowledg of it much more sooner than my self . i have great reason to charge monsieur de chaulne , with his negligence in not giving me a more timely advertisement thereof , that i might have had the advantage of being one of the first , to make a discovery , how much i am concern'd in whatever relates to you . this no doubt is a mischievous turn , which my implacable ill fortune has done me , alwaies endeavouring to render me deficient iu the duty i owe you , purposely to make me unworthy of the assistances i receive from you , which are such as i never receiv'd from any other . monsieur des marés , who yesterday honour'd me with a visit , will , if he please , assure you of the affliction it was to me , that i should be ignorant of what all the world knew . he put me into the confidence of writing an extemporary sonnet , which i made some difficulty to send you , out of a fear of renewing your grief . but , at last , i chose rather to run the hazard of doing a thing unseasonably , than that of seeming indifferent in an affliction , whereof you must needs be so sensible i am , my lord , your , &c. letter xxix . to the same . my lord , i was but too true a prophet , to my sorrow , when i heretofore writ to you , that my misfortune could not be overcome by any person of generosity and prevalence not equivalent to yours . it still stands out against you , though it be a considerable time since you first took it into task . some eight dayes since my lord chancellour was pleas'd to strike out my fatal affair , the proposals made by mons . doublet , conceiving haply , that it would be a new grievance upon the people . it was concerning those persons that should be impowr'd to oversee the unloading of carts ; and it would have been an easie matter , if some would have taken the pains to do it , to make it appear to him , that the function of unloaders or dischargers is so far from being a charge or grievance , that it is a publick convenience , and has establish'd it self , time out of mind ; that without it , a thousand carts and waggons would remain at the gates of the city without getting in , because it is not thought fit that the waggoners should be trusted with the money due for their entrance , and that the dischargers should pay , and be answerable for them , and conduct them to the houses of merchants and citizens , whose habitations the others are ignorant of , and discharge the commodities at their own perils ; that the mony which is given them , is not exacted , but voluntarily given , as a kind of largess , bestow'd only by those that are willing , without any obligation forcing them thereto ; and , in short , that it pass'd at the guild-hall of the city , assoon as the provost of merchants , who , before had oppos'd it , for want of throughly examining the affair , was fully satisfy'd , that there was a necessity of creating those functions into offices , and that they ought to be exercis'd , by persons who had settled habitations , and took their oaths before him , for the due execution of their charges , because people of all conditions employ'd themselves therein , even to souldiers of the foot-guards ; and that while those rascals were quarrelling at the gates , to get the custome one from the other , and went a league out of paris , to prevent one the other 's getting of it , the waggons remain'd at the gates , without either being discharg'd , or getting into the city , to the prejudice of waggoners , and the merchants . and now , my lord , i think you are as well instructed in the affair of the unloaders , as i am my self ; and i would to god , my lord chancellor had had the same account of it . i should have sufficiently satisfy'd him therein , if i had had but notice of what has happen'd , or rather , if i had not been afraid to have my name mention'd in that affair , contrary to my intention . my lord , i beg your pardon for the tediousness of the relatiion i am forc'd to make you , since you might have done well enough without it : but it is always observable , that when a miserable person has some affair wherein he is deeply concern'd , he derives a priviledg from that misery , to be talking of it . this is the last hope of my wife and my self ; and i must needs tell you , that i should hardly admit of any consolation , if i did not represent to my self , that i serve a master , whose promises are inviolable , and one who is able to do me right . yet can i not stave off the discontent , occasion'd by so sensible a disappointment . for , my lord , if you but imagine what will become of us , if this affair miscarries , you would not be much astonish'd at the despair of mons . vissins and my self , since there will be a great probability that our mouths may be sow'd up . by this , you may measure how long i shall be , my lord , your most humble , &c. s. letter xxx . to the same . my lord , i cannot imagine to my self a better way to requite monsieur pelisson for his kindness in speaking to you concerning my affair , and in giving me an account of the obliging answer you were pleas'd to make him , then in communicating to you the short complement he has written to me upon it . he therein so handsomely discovers the true sentiments he has for you , that i think , i do him a very kind office , by telling you so , without his knowing any thing of it ; and yet haply he would be glad that you knew it , provided it were done without his hazarding himself to tell you so . it is a difficult matter to speak of you , even though it were done to your self , without falling into your praises ; and it is as difficult to give you any without displeasing you , and yet much more difficult to forbear giving them . i should therefore wish , as to my own particular , that some body would do so much for me , as to tell you , that you are the most generous person in the world , and that all the favours you do me , go infinitely beyond the intreaties i make for them . but will not your lordship suspect the good office which i think to do my friend , may not have the tincture of some concern to my self ? and will you not be apt to imagine , that to shew you his letter , and give it the great commendations i do , is , in some sort , a dextrous way of making use of his reflections , that i might the better express my own , without running the hazard of doing any violence to your modesty ? i must acknowledg there is something of that in the wind ; but since it has not been in my power to conceal it from you , be pleas'd to imagine , by this ingenuous confession , the sincerity of my soul , and assure your self , that i am , above all others , my lord , your most humble , &c. s. letter xxxi . to the same . my lord , i am uncertain , whether you will be in a condition to read my letter . the last time i sent to enquire of your health , the account i receiv'd was , that you were no fully recover'd of an indisposition which had , for some time , confin'd you to your chamber . it will be no hard matter for you to imagine , what alarms that ill news must bring to a man , who at the present is oblig'd to you for all he has in the world , and who , without you , would be more wretched than he is , though his misfortunes be in a manner beyond all example : those who have honour'd me with their love , as you have done , may have been themselves fully satisfy'd , that my affection for them has been very great , and it is not to be thought , that i should now begin to be ungrateful , towards the most generous person of all those who ever had pity on me . i think every hour a thousand , till i get to paris , to take my oath of fidelity to you , which i have not yet done . mean time , i humbly beseech you to compleat the favour , whereof you have made a beginning in the business of the waggons , and to procure that justice be done to those , to whom that affair has been confirm'd . monsieur poncet will make a report of it on saturday next , if the councel sits . they who are prosecuted are fully convinc'd , that there are above four thousand livers due to the king ; and it is a concern that may extend much further , as you will find by the account which the bearer of this letter is able to give you of it . i am , my lord , your most humble , &c. s. letter xxxii . to the same . my lord , if there be not some great self-satisfaction in obliging people , i know not upon what grounds you should do me any kindness . i am not a person any way useful to you , and i dare not wish that i were , lest i should make a wish that might be disadvantageous to you . nor am i so fondly conceited of my self , as to hope that i can contribute much to your divertisement , since i cannot have the honour of coming near you , or making my self otherwise known to you , then as all others know me , to be , even in this life , not much inferiour in torments , to a damned soul , and sometimes by the making of books , that is ( by the permission of god almighty ) by being one of the greatest inconveniences that can happen to mankind . but though i should be master of some qualities that were more considerable , and though a particular acquaintance of many years standing should have brought me into some favour with you , and that i should cultivate that favour by a constant commerce of letters ; yet would all this amount to little , if the affairs of the publick ministery be so pressing upon you , as that you cannot afford them the reading . well , my lord , these reflections give me a great deal of trouble , as often as the remembrances of your liberality raise them in me ; and i am extreamly out of countenance , to think that i cannot preserve my self in your memory , otherwise then by the miserable productions of a mind , which , by reason of a body much more miserable , and a destiny yet more miserable than that ruin'd body , must not ever expect much tranquility . but , now i speak of those productions of the mind , am i to believe , that you lik'd my fable of hero and leander ? monsieur de chaulne would perswade me to believe it ; but possibly , it was only his kindness to flatter an indispos'd person . i humbly beg your lordships condescention so far , as to give me under your own hand an approbation of it , which i shall prefer before that of all the academists in the world , or that by your censure thereof , i may so much the better know my self . howere it happen , i am , my lord , your most humble , &c. s. letter xxxiii . to the same . my lord , the favour you were pleas'd to do me , in not slighting the comedy which i dedicated to you , was enough to induce me to be absolutely at your disposal , without any necessity of your having engag'd me further by a new obligation . i think it one way to give you my thankfulness for it , when i acknowledg , that i cannot sufficiently do it ; and that i more fully express my resentment by that confession , than by all the complements in the world. i am , my lord , your , &c. s. letter xxxiv . to the same . my lord , i am so far from deserving the kindness you have lately done me , that i should have been much surpriz'd thereat , if i had not already receiv'd other assurances of your liberality , or if i were the only person in the nation who knew not , that you are continually obliging all the world. all i desire at present is , to conjure you into a perswasion , that the resentments i have thereof , are the greatest i am capable of . but , my lord , if , on the one side , i am overjoy'd to see that all the affairs of state , the management whereof lies upon your shoulders , divert you not from thinking of mine ; so , on the other , it is no small affliction to me , that i can neither forbear speaking of your munificence , without ingratitude , nor publish it without raising a certain jealousie , that it is not so much out of inclination , as interest , that i have ever been , and ever shall be , my lord , your , &c. s. letter xxxv . to the same : my lord , we never saw any surintendant in france belov'd and esteem'd , as you are ; and the reason is , that we have not seen any so generous and obliging , as you are : but i doubt you pay dearly for it , and that cannot acquire so noble a reputation , without the enduring of great importunities . for my part , it would be a continual remorse to me , that i have been importunate through the whole course of my life , and that i am not in a way to reform , if i did not at the same time see the wealthiest persons , and those of the highest quality , beg favours of you with less reservedness and caution than i do , though they have not so much right to pretend to your kindnesses , as such an unfortunate man as i am , whom you have promis'd to give his mind some tranquility . that , my lord , is an enterprize worthy your great self , and that you may the sooner be satisfy'd that you have compleated it , i recommend to you my concerns in the affair of the debets . your lorship may be pleas'd to remember , that it was upon my entreaty you granted the confirmation of it . the persons , for whom i sollicited your furtherance of it , proffer'd me a small part in the affair ; but , when i consider that i am but slowly happy in all my undertakings , and that i could not imagine it should come to what it now is , i chose rather to content my self with the payment of six hundred pistols , which they have promis'd , by a writing to that purpose , out of the first mony that shall be receiv'd . i have now neither any concern in the affair , nor the mony , which had been promis'd me for the facilitation of it . if your lordship will but vouchsafe to speak one word to the projector who is to have the benefit of it , i shall have either the one , or the other , or both . i question not but you will grant me that favour , since i am , more than any other , my lord , your most humble , &c. s. letter xxxvi . to the same . my lord , i take the liberty to make a request to you with as much confidence , as if , after the courtship of many years standing , i had done you some service of great importance . but persons of your quality , that is , such , whose generosity is so transcendent as yours , are not only forward to oblige their servants , and their friends , but their favours are extended also to all those that stand in need thereof . they are the perpetual sanctuaries and protectors of the unfortunate , and the constant repairers of their breaches ; and for your own part , my lord , i think there passes not a day , but some distressed knight or lady comes to beg a boon of you . i intreat you therefore , as an unfortunate person , and one , who , of all the world has the greatest honour for you , to grant me one . 't is only , this , my lord , that you would use your perswasions to the provost of the merchants , to forbear opposing the establishment of certain offices relating to good government , of which offices i have acquir'd the propriety . 't is an affair which would contribute highly to the establishment of my concerns , and supply me with four or five thousand livers of annual rent . but my unhappy destiny , which does not let slip the least occasion of doing me an ill turn , has rais'd up a polypragmatical fellow , who without any engagement in the affair himself , has prepossess'd the provost , and made him averse to the design . i have employ'd , to sollicite him , monsieur the president de guenegaut , who had been so kind as to take along with him monsieur de franquetot , and my wife ; but his recommendation of the business has prov'd less prevalent then a bare factum . i expect a quite different effect from the letter , which i intreat you to write to him , and to send by some one of your own menial servants . it will be sufficient , if he does but know , that i have the honour of being known to you , to raise in him a thought of my being a person worth obliging . but if you will be farther pleas'd to tell him , that you look not on me with an indifferent eye , he will make my affair his own , since he will conceive it in some sort to be yours , and you will have this satisfaction thereby , that the most zealous of your servants will not be the poorest of that number , and consequently , that it may spare you much of the future addresses , which you must otherwise expect from , my lord , your most humble , &c. s. letter xxxvii . to the same . my lord , though , you are the most experienc'd person of all those that are now entrusted with the management of state-affairs , yet you must give me leave to tell you , that you did not throughly reflect on what you did , when you would needs make me believe , and that by the most obliging letter in the world , that i had some place in your affection . unfortunate persons , such as i am , are many times importunate , contrary to the bent of their own inclinations ; and generous persons , such as you are , have sometimes occasion to repent of their being too highly generous . after what you have already done for me , which was enough to make me your most humble , ...... most obedient ...... most observant ..... and most oblig'd creature , as long as i should continue in this wretched state of mortality , ( though the success should not prove answerable to my expectation ) i should not have had any ground to importune you any further , if the calamity of my condition did not in some sort give me that priviledge , or if i were not encourag'd thereto , by a consideration that your generosity is not tir'd out . but , my lord , that has promis'd so much , that i cannot harbour the least fear of my ever desiring too much of you ; besides that the affair , whereof i beg your facilitation on my behalf , is one of those that seldome deny'd in council . it is contributory to good government , it brings considerable summes in a short time into the exchequer ; and if it succeed , i shall have as great reason to celebrate the greatness of your benefits , as i do already that of your civility . but whatere may happen to me , i must be the most ungrateful person in the world , if , while i am , i am not , my lord , your most humble , &c. s. letter xxxviii . to the same . my lord , am i not guilty of too much freedom and familiarity , to beg a great kindness , of a great person , in a short note ? i know there is a vast distance between a grandee , a privy councellor , a minister of state , and poor paul scarron ; and yet , to make an ingenuous acknowledgment of my natural infirmity , i can as well forbear breathing , as being somewhat jocose and familiar with those persons , for whom i have a great affection , or continuing in a serious humour to the end of a letter , which i may have begun with my lord , or , may it please your lordship , in capitals . i would not therefore have you imagine , from what i have said , that i am thrifty or forgetful of the respect i owe you ; i shall ever render what is due to your character , answerably to my abilities , and i know how to make my addresses to you in the sublimest kind of writing , when occasion shall require it . but the very same man , who shall sometimes leave half a foot distance between my lord , and the beginning of the letter he is writing to you ; who shall drain the academy of complements to fill it with rodomontades and hyperboles ; and shall not omit the least of your qualities , least the superscription of it should not be sufficiently authentick , will , after all that ceremony , fly out , and entertain you with trifles , and a little dissuperciliate that serious countenance , which methinks you ought to have , when you give a conclusion to some great affair . in a word , he will endeavour to uncatonize you , if i may presume to use that expression ; but that must not be , when the important concerns of state are under deliberation ; that is , when you are procurator-general , surintendant of the finances , and minister of state , such a triumvirate of offices , as none ever exercis'd so well before . monsieur de chaulne will take a fitter opportunity , and will not suffer me to appear before you , till you have devested your self of those titles , and assume the place of monsieur fouquet , i mean the most excellent person in the world ; when you shine in your own proper lustre , without borrowing that of your charges and dignities ; when having quitted the consular robe , you are at st. mandés , or paris , in your withdrawing-room , clad according to the ordinary mode of private persons , and somewhat in the same equipage and humour , as scipio was in , when he gather'd shells on the sea-side with his friend loelius . could i have the happiness , my lord , to be admitted to you , at such a time , i should make no difficulty to entertain you with any thing that came first into my head , and be the frolickest person alive , as long as heaven were pleas'd to continue me in the humour . yet should not that be , till i had first begg'd your permission to be so , such as was given me by the late cardinal of lyons , and such as i took my self , without asking , with the cardinal de retz , when he lay by me upon my little yellow couch , and talk'd of things no way relating to the cabals of paris . i dare boldly own it , that , in those two eminences , i triumph'd over the stoicisme , and serious temperament , which attends the red cap. time was , when they would have it to be an article of my faith , that they had a love for me ; you may follow their example , and afford me a little of your affection , without either blushing or disparagement , and by the extraordinary care i took to deserve their caresses , imagine with what zeal i shall be inclin'd to love you . you have a kindness for me , upon this particular score , that i am a wretched person , and you have done me more in the space of fifteen dayes , than the greatest part of the peerage of france promis'd me , ever since the time i was condemn'd to the posture of perpetual sitting . of the last twenty years which i shuffled away of my weary life , there has not past one , but some great lord among those that come to see me at my chamber , as people went heretofore to see elephants , and estriches , or popp'd in thither to pass away the afternoon , when they had made bilk visits , or have nothing else to do ; there has not . i say , one year pass'd , but some one of those titulary grandees , and mountainous promisers of friendship and all the conveniences consequent thereto , hath shamefully broke his word with me , and has as often proffer'd either for my friends or my self , what i desir'd not of them . and yet monsieur the first president , whom i never had the honour to see in my life , sent me this last year a considerable present by the abbot of menagius , and that within a very short time after i had dedicated a book to him ; whereas you your self , who were ignorant of my being in the world , have honour'd me with your kindnesses , and that after a manner yet more obliging , than those very kindnesses . i think , my lord , that i am not engag'd to make a more particular discovery of what i desire of you , whatever command you have laid on me to do it : i ought to receive the favours you shall do me with all the resentment of gratitude that i am capable of ; but i have not any right to prescribe them to you , nor yet to demand any of you . your own generosity knowes well enough what it has to do . it is sufficient , for the quiet remainder of my life , that , from the place where you are , you have cast an eye upon me in that where i am ; and i question not , after the obliging note you were pleas'd to write to me , and which i shall dearly keep , but that i may shortly say , when i speak of you , — deus nobis haec otia fecit . mean time , to importune you no farther , i am , my lord , your most humble , &c. scarron . letter xxxix . to the same . my lord , i question not , but you may have heard , that i was as kindly entertain'd by the late queen of sweden , christina , as i could expect , when i was carried to the lowvre , to satisfie her curiosity . nor is it to be doubted , but that the relation she made in her own country , and the many others through which she has once travell'd , of that important visit , was extreamly divertive to all that heard it . a good sedan , and two lusty fellows to carry it , and a third , to convey my own great chair , out of which i have dictated more burlesquery , than any other author has done , might with as much ease bring me to your palace , that my curiosity may be once satisfy'd with the sight of in seeing that person , to whom , of all the world , i am the most engag'd . i should have already satisfy'd the impatience i am in to do it , if my health had not oblig'd me to take a little change of air , at a place , about a league from paris , where i hope to put a period to a comedy i have in hand . mean time , i beg your lordships remembrance of the promise you have made my wife , concerning the marquisate of her cousin de circe , and to be pleas'd , that monsieur patriau may make you a report of that affair . the favour we beg of you herein , is one of the greatest ; but , if i am not mistaken , i have already told you , that you could not do small ones . and i once more protest to you , that if i were not fully perswaded , that the lands , for which we beg your final conclusion , are as much our rightful freehold , as any man's can be in france , i should not have undertaken to speak to you of it , though all my wife's relations in poictou have importun'd me to do it . i shall forbear further abusing your patience , and remain , my lord , your most humble , &c. s. letter xl. to monsieur pelisson . sir , after all the good offices you do me with our noble patron , the surintendant , methinks you might well have taken the freedom to open the letters he writes to me , before they came to my hands ; and i have some reason to complain , that you had not the first reading of that which i receiv'd this day . it speaks so much of kindness intended to me , and that does so enflame my gratitude , and puts me to so great a loss , that , if he often write me the like , he , i say , whom i ought to love above all the world , i think i should come and run my self through with a stilletto at his feet , not knowing any thing else efficacious enough fully to express a resentment so real ●nd sincere as mine is . i send you the letter it self , that i may have your joynt-affirmation of its being the most obliging missive that ever was . when you have return'd it , i will have it put up amongst my greatest rarities , as a testimonial to all posterity of the kindness , which the most generous of all men is pleas'd to have for me . i desire to know , whether he were much diverted with my epigrams , against monsieur b _____ , among which there are two very pleasant ones . i am your , &c. s. letter xli . to _____ sir , it is in a manner impossible for a man to be so transcendently obliging as you are , and not be often importun'd . for my part , i am very sensible , that i importune you often ; but i have this apology to make for my self , that importunities are in some sort allowable in persons , remarkable for their calamities as i am ; and you would think it strange your self , if i should not make the best advantage i can of the honour of your acquaintance , and the kindnesses you have for me . two days since , my servant left at your house a breviat , concerning the affair i may have with monsieur le tardif , who doubtless would not deny you a thing of greater consequence , and whom i shall satisfie , when he pleases , upon what i have grounded my pretensions . it is my desire , sir , that you would speak a word with him concerning it , and give me leave to send some person to him , as if it were from your self to request of him , what you will find in the memorial which i now send you . 't is one of my friends of dreux who has made the discovery of it , and is con●●nt that i should make some advantage thereby , besides the satisfaction it will be to me , that i have endeavour'd to serve him . i am , sir , your most humble , &c. s. letter xlii . to _____ . sir , it has been extreamly to my prejudice that i am not so well known to you , as you are to me ; i presume you would make no question , but that i should have for yonr generosity all the sentiments it deserves , and for the obligations you have laid on me , all the acknowledgments i am able to make . i am this day advertis'd by monsieur le tardif , how earnestly you bestir your self to do me a kindness , and i have thereupon acquainted him , how far those obliging procedures of yours are free from all suspition of any benefit or interest to your self , since i am the most useless person in the world. sir , it is my suit to you , that you would continue them , and compleat a work , which could not have been undertaken by any man who had not a soul of the same mold with yours . if you will appoint a day for that purpose , i will give monsieur le tardif notice of it . i am somewhat in haste to acknowledg my self indebted to you for my tranquility , not so much out of a desire to see my self in a short time well establish'd , as that of having a greater inducement , to assume the quality of sir , your most humble , &c. s. letter xliii . to _____ . sir , it was my fortune this day to be quite out of mony , a thing not extraordinary to me . i thereupon sent my servant to monsieur de richemont , to entreat him to advance one quarters rent of my pension , eleven dayes before it became due . monsieur _____ happen'd to be there , a person i have not the honour to be acquainted withal , and i think it is not my fault . however , he took occasion to reproach me with it , as a great misdemeanour , and most unmercifully sent me word , that he knew me not ; that i was acquainted only with monsieur de lorme , and that i had never dedicated a book to him . what say you to the brutality of this gallant person ? but this is not the first affront i have receiv'd from him . i would gladly have a particular character of this unpolish'd lord , and know , how he stands in point of respect with a master so eminent for civility , as monsieur the surintendant . i am resolv'd to make my complaints to him against a man so cruel and tyrannical to poor people . but if ever you see any dedicatory of mine to monsieur _____ , set me down for the greatest rascal and scoundrel , not only of all the province of scarroneria , but also of all the voluntary rascals of fair france , the most fertile of all countries in persons of that qualification . i hope towards the end of the week to have my present ready for madam , the surintendant's lady . mean time i remain , sir , your humble servant , &c. s. letter xliv . to _____ . sir , i would fain write a letter which were worth the communicating to your noble patron , and such as might procure a second order to be given to monsieur bruant . but is there any possibility of writing good letters , when a man is quite moneyless ? i was never so much fallen out with prosperity as i am this day . in three lotteries it was my chance to meet with pure blanks , and the two silver bowls , which madam scarron has got , and which must not come into the common stock , have only given me occasion to envy her good luck , and to detest my own misfortune . add to this that the bois roberts , and the corneilles , to whom your dear patron has been manificent beyond all that ever were celebrated by the name of mecoenas , disturb my rest , as much as the triumphs of miltiades did that of another athenian . could i have gone and come , as another man , you had scap'd the importunity of above twenty of my letters , and i would have made my addresses to you in my own , i may say proper , but i must add withal , very irregular figure . but when poor scarron thinks to wait on that great minister of state , thy patron , who , with candid looks , deigns to peruse his worthless books ; nay when he thinks ( so fair 's the weather ) himself now got neer half-way thither ; for he by this time is ' ith'aire , truss'dup in his eternal chair , supported by two lusty fellows , who trudging make a noise like bellowes : by sudden torment he is crost , and all precedent labour 's lost . for two hours had been idly spent , to give his carcass ornament , that what before was execrable , might be 'mong grandees more passable ; but all the washing , rubbing , shaving , is spoil'd by swearing , cursing , raving ; for he must do , as he was wont , though heaven , aud hell , and all , lay on 't . which made some say , alas ! poor scarron hath expiring , now renounc'd the christian faith. now , in the bigotian dialect of the surcengled tribe , what i have told you in verse , is call'd being visited of the lord. nay , it has happen'd to me many times , that some good religious men have come purposely to congratulate the happiness i had that the all-merciful god was pleas'd to visit me , oftner then any other ; and seem'd to envy me a felicity , which i would have heartily resign'd to any of them , with all the advantages i had thereby , of promoting my future well-fare . for my part , i wish there were some less painful expedient then those visitations , for me to secure my salvation , and i find my self at a great distance from that high degree of perfect resignation to the lord's will. for i must seriously acknowledge , that i languish and pine after what you have put me in hopes to receive from monsieur bruant . i am willing to believe , as you write to me , that he would oblige me ; but i question whether he will do it much . i believe also that he finds it some trouble to raise money at the beginning of a campagne ; but there wants so small a sum for me to begin mine , and what i expect from him would contribute so little to the distraction he is in , that he might put a period to mine , without much augmenting his own . it is your concern to solicite him herein , were it only that you may be deliver'd from the persecution of my letters . to excite you the more , i am to tell you , that i was yesterday put into a great fright ; word was brought me , that monsieur meraut , master of the accompts , was desirous to see me . i was much troubled to think what might be the consequence of my landlord's visit . but his discourse was only concerning the reparations of his house , the innundation of the river seine ; and his last complement was , that , though unhappy in other things , i was a happy man in being so ingenious . i am , sir , your most humble , &c. letter xlv . to _____ . sir , i have a story to tell you , which , if i mistake not , will find you some diversion . some three dayes since , i was fallen very low in the purse , an accident which is very ordinary to me . i sent my servant to monsieur richemont , of whom i receive every quarter four hundred livers , a pension bestow'd on me by monsieur the surintendant . i desir'd him to do me the favour , to make me ten dayes advance of the quarter now current . there happen'd to be with him one monsieur _____ . a person i know not , and he reproach'd me with it , as a great fault , whereof i have yet but little thought to reform my self . this man meeting with my servant , entertain'd him with this discourse . i know not your master ; he knowes none but monsieur de lorme , and never either dedicated to , or presented me with any of his books ; tell him , that he shall not have his mony till the end of this month . you see , sir , how that poverty makes men despicable ; and though queens , and princes , and all the greatest persons of quality in the kingdom have had the curiosity to come and see me , honour me with their visits ; and dispense with my rendring of any to them , i find an unciviliz'd lord in monsieur _____ . and you see also , sir , that though you are esteem'd and belov'd of all the world , yet is there an envious brute , to whom your noble repute gives some disturbance . i shall forbear giving further occasion of grumbling , to the people of business , who wait in your antichamber , by amusing you any longer with the reading of a letter of no great importance . i am , sir , your most humble , &c. letter lxvi . to _____ . sir , i am much troubled to hear of the soarness of your eyes : but what addes to the trouble , is , that having a great likelihood of doing much mischief , they are the less bemoan'd by divers other persons . it concerns you to examine whether they have deserv'd what they endure , and so seek out , in your own virtue , for all the patience , you now stand in need of . for my part , it is the greatest of my afflictions , partly out of a consideration of my present interest , and partly out of that of my future expectation . for since it has been known , that you have honour'd me with your acquaintance , i find that i am more considerable among several persons . the other day , i only took occasion to speak of you , as i ought to do , before monsieur de scudery , and this day , i receiv'd from him the letter i now send you , by which you will see , that he hopes great things from you , if you but ever so little promote the request which monsieur menagius has made for him . no doubt but monsieur servient will tell you , that these briefs from rome are very troublesome , and i am so more then any one , in recommending two affairs to you , in the space of eight dayes . but when i solicite for other persons , i am as fierce as a lyon , but for my self , i am so bashful , that it is with the greatest repugnance in the world , i importune any man with my concerns . since my letter is grown so long , i must tell you further , that upon the first sight of monsieur servient , i conceiv'd he would be a person answerable to my inclination ; his merit has since rais'd in me a veneration for him ; and the kindness he has express'd , in enquiring whether i were alive , has made an absolute acquest of me to his service . this protestation of mine is as sincere , as that of my being , sir , your most humble , &c. s. letter xlvii . to _____ . sir , i send you the two letters which i read to you yesterday , because i observ'd , that you express'd a certain liking of them , with this promise , that i shall cause some others to be transcrib'd for you , as also some verses . but at the present , the greatest part of my employment is the writing of comedies , because my principal subsistance depends on it . 't is a wretched kind of labour , which is not of any great advantage , though a man bestowes much of his time in it , and gains him but little reputation , when he makes too great expedition . the others require a great repose and serenity of mind : and a man has but little of either of them , when he is as much discompos'd in his health , as in his affairs . and for my part , i must acknowledge , that i find a great diminution of that facetious humour , for which i am so remarkable , ever since i have been reduc'd to a necessity of making verses for my livelihood , as a person damn'd to a trade . i am extreamly at a loss , when i reflect , that if i express not my thankfulness to monsieur the procurator general , as highly as my resentment of his favours advises me to do , he may suspect , i have it not to the degree i ought ; and if i do thank him answerably to the desires i have to do so , he may imagine , that i have a mean and mercenary soul . i am sufficiently satisfy'd that he is so transcendently generous , as not to expect complements from those whom he obliges , and goes by this principle , that that is properly giving , when a man gives to an useless person , such as i am ; whereas to be liberal to one from whom he may receive some service , implies somewhat of commerce , rather then the bestowing of a kindness . in a word , sir , there is in this point a certain nicety which i ought to observe , and which i desire to be instructed by you , who have known him so well , and so long . i did not make account to have written to you so seriously ; but sometimes there rises a certain cloudiness in a man's mind , which cannot presently be dispell'd . i am , sir , your most humble , &c. s. letter xlviii . to _____ . sir , i make no question , but you have long since assign'd me a place among your friends ; how well i deserve it , will appear by the demonstration i now make of the desires i have to serve you , in giving you the knowledge of a son of madam mongerons , and withal the opportunity to oblige a lady of her merit , in the person of her son , a person highly meriting the friendship i expect you should have for him . you will thereby give some assurance of that which you have promis'd me ; and i expect great acknowledgments of the kindness i do you both , at the end of the campagne . of all the good qualities which the gentleman i recommend to you is maker of , i shall only mention one , which he himself would have conceal'd from you . 't is this , that he commands the lute better then any person of his quality , yet has not the time , he has spent in that exercise , diverted him from persecuting all the others , nor yet his studies , and travels into spain , germany , and italy . i might have said more of him , but i leave it to your own perspicacity , to find in him those accomplishments , whereof i shall give you a farther account the next winter . in the mean time , be jocund , o most passionate of all men , and least punctual in all things , unless it be in the friendship you have for , sir , your most humble , &c. s. letter xlix . to _____ . sir , i am in some degree useful to you , since i find you the means of obliging an excellent person ▪ concerning whom we had some discourse two dayes ago . 't is monsieur r. one who is as much my friend , as i am desirous to be yours . i think that i have hereby made a sufficient discovery of his being a person of more then ordinary merit ; for it will not be for your honour to suspect , that i understand it not ; i , who had at the first sight so perfect a knowledge of your worth , and would have purchac'd your friendship at any rate you would have set upon it , if i had had wherewithal to pay for it . monsieur rosteau will tell you the rest . your most humble , &c. s. letter l. to _____ sir , my wife has given me an account of the obliging designes you have for us . these new demonstrations of your kindness have not added any thing to what i already knew of it . during the short time i had the honour to see you , i had an absolute perswasion , of what your precedent repute would have induc'd me to believe ; and i must make this protestation to you , that , though the hopes which your friendship and protection raise in me , should not be attended with that good success which in all probability will follow , yet should i impute it wholly to my own misfortune , and make never the less acknowledgments of your generosity . i have not the repute of an ungrateful person in the world , and i cannot give a greater assurance of it , then by representing to you , that though i am the most useless of all men , yet is there a great number of persons of quality and merit , who are my friends , or pretend to be so . but i must withal avow , that among those that seem to be most earnest & pressing to do me good , there is not any that proffers the doing of it , in so obliging a manner as you do . you bestow much less of your time on your self then you do on others , and i should put you to expend too much of it , if i should set down here all that my gratitude does inspire me withal . till i can make a publick declaration thereof , be pleas'd to content your self with the sincere protestation you now receive of my ever being , while i live , sir , your most humble , &c. s. letter li. to _____ most reverend father , i have receiv'd an advertisment from you , that father vavasseur had written a tract against the burlesque stile . he has done well . i find in my self some inclination to envy so noble a design ; and you will do me a pleasure to afford me the perusal of a work , for which the publick ought to think it self oblig'd to him . if i were to write against some inconvenience incident to mankind , it should be against the burlesque poesy : but you have an ill opinion of me , if you think that i bear him the least ill will. next to stinking breaths , and morose company , i know not any greater inconvenience , than the burlesque verses ; and since i am in some sort the cause of the great overflux which hath happen'd of that kind of poetry , i have no great occasion to quarrel at father vavasseur's falling upon me . they , who told you , that i was incens'd against him , know me not , and i should still have been ignorant of his having written against the insects of parnassus , if you had not inform'd me . the world is much oblig'd to him , for having set forth a work , which tends to the reformation of so great an abuse . you might well have given me a sight of it , were it only to make amends for the injury you have done me , in thinking me capable of so great an impatience . be pleas'd to let father vavasseur know , that i am his , and most reverend father , your most humble , &c. s. letter lii . to _____ madam , i must needs have a very advantageous conceit of madam d' aiguillon , for after i have seen her , heard her , and read the letter which you shew'd me of hers , i cannot abate any thing of what i have said of her . for godsake , madam , let me intreat you , to make it your serious business not to spoil my verses , by changing a word , without which they would be defective . her act of humility would make me commit one of injustice , and you may tell her from me , that it has already had its effect towards god. i assure her of it , with as much certainty , as many others might do , who think themselves better inform'd , than i am , of what passes in the celestial court. she is but the second of those ladies , whom i have canoniz'd before their death ; but she is that of the two , of whose virtue i am most assur'd : and i dare affirm , that though she should , during her life , leave a sum , to defray the charges of her canonization after her death , yet would it not be so much the effect of her presumption , as of her wisdom . i will tell you more of it , when i shall have the honour to see you . but though i am smitten with her merit , more than any other person ever was , yet shall i believe more of her , then i shall tell you of her ; i , who cannot speak meanly of what i esteem , and who am the most tender of the interests of persons that are like her , when they have gain'd me by their goodness . oh! that she had but some quarrels that were to be decided with pen in hand , you should see , how i would bestir my self in her service . i am , in the mean time , madam , your most humble , &c. s. letter liii . to _____ sir the former letters we receiv'd from you were so divertive , that we look'd on it as an argument of your , and monsieur _____ 's being not only in health , but also in a more than ordinary good humour : but there is so much discontent in the last , as gives us occasion to fear , that now you are not in either . true it is , that for your part , you have overcome your indisposition , nay i am apt to think that you are not troubled with any , since you understand raillery . but as to mons ▪ _____ i would advise him to breath a vein , and i promise him , not to endanger the enflaming of his blood hereafter , by the satyrical freedome of my discourse . my raillery is alwayes directed to my friends , because it is my presumption , that they are not displeas'd therewith ; and i shall not take it amiss , if they give me as good as i bring . i shall not therefore stick to tell you , that as pleasant as your friend _____ thinks me . i cannot pretend to be half so pleasant as he ; and that during the space of seven or eight months , that he has made his residence at paris , like a rinegrave , and carrying on amours by placets , factums , and letters of recommendation , he has given the world a greater diversion , than i shall do while i live , with all the burlesque and facetious humour that god has bestow'd on me . he has further this advantage over me , that it is with some violence to my self , that i am pleasant , whereas he is naturally such , and without so much as thinking of it . but least my letter may seem as undivertive to you , as what he writ in yours , upon the innocent raillery of his most humble servant ; i shall speak of something else . i send you a pourtraiture of madam bonneau , which i did upon the perswasion of madam scarron . some have thought it not unlike her , and written naturally enough . commendations do not divert much , and are but perpetual repetitions of the same thing . the baronade is finish'd ; i shall send it you , as soon as i have shewn it to monsieur the procurator-general . i am much troubled concerning monsieur the mareschal d' albret ; 't is the common report at paris , that he lies very sick , and some say , he is to be brought thither in a letter . the loss of so generous a friend would not be one of the least misfortunes , of the most unfortunate person in the world. sir , your most humble , &c. s. letter liv. to _____ madam , though the affair i have propos'd to you come to nothing , as to the success i expected from it , yet should i prefer it before the most advantageous one i could do , since it has procur'd me the reception of one of your letters . it was possibly your intention to write me only a missive full of civility ; but you have done much more , insomuch , that i must acknowledge , madam , that of the most unhappy of all men , you have given me so great a satisfaction of my own fortune , that i now think my self the object of envy , rather than compassion . in short , the effort which your kindness hath wrought in my mind , is my most important affair , and so takes up my thoughts , that i know not how i can speak to you of that which i have in the hands of monsieur de la nouë renart : but , since you enjoyn me to do it , and that it is more just i should comply with your desires , than follow the bent of my own inclination , i shall only tell you , madam , that if you do but satisfie m. de la nouë renart , of madam scarron's , and my being somewhat in your favour , it is impossible my affair should prove unsuccessful in his hands , though he should oppose me , as much as i find him dispos'd to serve you . in that expectation , or rather assurance , i remain , madam , your most humble , &c. s. letter lv. to _____ sir , i know not whether you are as much lost to your other friends , as you are to me . i have no more sight of you , then if you were already admitted into the celestial court , to which place you are making all the hast you can . and yet it was my opinion , that you were sufficiently accommodated , as to the concerns of this lower world , and methinks twelve thousand livers of an annual rent in spiritual promotions , and eight hundred thousand livers of temporal estate , might have been a great temptation , for your making a longer aboad amongst us poor mortals . but without any further raillery , why are you no longer visible ? is it that your fits of devotion continue still , and that you would break off all correspondence with so great a sinner as i am ? it were a pharisaical action in the highest degree , and you should rather think of promoting my salvation , as a thing of much difficulty , and not have forsaken me , till you had as much security as this world could give you , of my happiness in the other : for you will be much troubled , if we do not both receive the same blest invitation at the last day . mean time i am , sir , your most humble , &c. s. letter lvi . to monsieur de segrais . sir , her highness does me a great honour in but thinking that i am in the world , and it is no small one you do me , in believing me capable of drawing a pourtraiture well . but though i should be so fondly conceited of my self , as to be perswaded of my ability as to that point , and that my earnest inclination to please you , should give me that painting ; yet would the pourtraitures which her highness has made , quite discourage me from making any . they are , as far as i am able to judge of them , the noblest of all those that were ever yet made ; and the virtuoso's of the present age were to be bemoan'd , that a princess should transcend them in the glory of writing well , if it were not highly to their glory , to see her meddle with their profession . there is a greater difficulty in making a good pourtraiture , then is imagin'd . a man should have a perfect knowledge of what he is to draw ; and methinks that commonly people know not any well but themselves , and sometimes their intimate friends . can any person of excellent parts commend himself without much vanity ? or should one make a discovery of his imperfections to any but his confessor ? in like manner , can a man celebrate the accomplishments of friends , without importuning him ? or tell them some truths without hazard of incurring their displeasure ? nor are the inconveniencies occurrent in the commending of indifferent persons less considerable . for , as portraitures ought to be made of subjects that are well known , and that men are remarkable upon the score of their quality and merit ; so a man runs the risque of disobliging those persons to whom he owes respect and esteem , if he gives them not the commendations they deserve ; he must expect the character of an impertinent person , if he gives them those that are not truly applicable to them ; and how cautiously soever commendations may be given , it is my imagination , that there is not any thing more troublesome , to him that receives them , to him that gives them , and to those persons who hear them given . besides these general reasons , upon which i have taken a resolution not to make any pourtraitures , i have some particular ones , which i question not but you will approve . a wretched person , such as i am , who never goes out of his chamber , has no exact knowledge of things , but what is had by the relations of others . i doubt not but you will grant that to be a great defect in a painter , who ought to have his fancy fraught with a great number of idaea's , and apprehensions , which are not to be acquir'd otherwise then in the conversations of the greatest persons ; and i am sufficiently sensible , to my great regret , that in process of time , a man may grow dull and rusty , in his chamber , as much as if he were in the country . a man should have a smartness of wit and discernment equal to that of so excellent a princess , to make good pourtraitures , and be of a quality not inferiour to hers , ere he shall be able either to commend or dispraise , so as that there shall be no occasion to quarrel at it . i am , sir , your most humble , &c. letter lvii . to the duke d'elboeuf . my lord , i am not to be instructed what respect i owe so great a prince , and so great a benefactor as you are , and it shall be my care not to abuse it : but it would be withal impossible for me , to forbear exercising my jocose humour in a letter , though i begin it with my lord , and cannot avoid trembling for the first four lines . but at the present , you will be pleas'd to content your self with a million of humble thanks , which i now send you , for the honour of your remembrances of me , for all the excellent pasties , which you ever sent me , and particularly , for the last of them all , which is just now brought to the table . there are present at the opening of it , messieurs de vivonne , de mata , d elbene , de chastillon , not reckoning your humble servant , to whom you were pleas'd to send it . i question not but it will be a great satisfaction to you , to find that the goodness of the company is somewhat answerable to that of the pastey ; and it is but just , that the founder of so noble a treat , should have an account who are the confounders of it . you may be assur'd also , that we shall have more than one remembrance of your good health ; and those commemorations will be a perfect comfort to me , for the absence of madam scarron , whom madam de mont-chevreüil has carry'd away from me by main force . i have apprehension , that that debauch'd lady may occasion her being addicted henceforth to wine and women . but for your part , my lord , i shall presume to give one word of good counsel , as to the latter of those two enjoyments : which is , that you be not so liberal of your radical moisture among the provincial beauties of picardy , as not to reserve a little of it , for the coy dames of paris , who in the mean time languish for your return . of fall your most humble , most obedient , most respectful , and most obliged servants , i am the most zealous , scarron . letter lviii . to monsieur de villette . sir , since the last you receiv'd from me , you were pleas'd to write to madame scarron , and to monsieur de nossac . those two letters are admirable things , worthy to be learnt by heart , and in a word , such as may well deserve the title of opera . a person of excellent parts , whom you very well know , said , at the reading of them , that you must needs be in an exquisite temperament , both as to health , and affairs , when you could write so transcendently well . for my part , were i not throughly acquainted with your accomplishments in the several kinds of writing , i should say of those excellent works in prose , which you dayly post up to paris , what the same monsieur d'elbene sometime said very pleasantly , of some persons , who make it their study to be of the first magnitude in company , that is , to be most conspicuous for their drollery , and witty reparties ; that indeed there was much reputation to be acquir'd by a continual advancing of things remarkable and ingenious ; but that the toil of it much exceeded the pleasure ; and he had observ'd , that persons of such an humour were not long liv'd . i make it my earnest suit to that power which can do all things , that it would be pleas'd to continue to you that great fecundity of wit , and indefatigability of hand , which you have at present , and that , some fifty years hence , i may be refresh'd and satisfi'd with their happy productions . but be this said only en passant ; though fifty years will make no great hole in eternity . in the mean time , madam scarron is very unfortunate , that she has not a competent estate , and all the equipage and accommodations requisite , to take her progress , when so great a felicity is proffer'd her , as that of being wish'd at brouage , by so great a princess , as mademoiselle de manchini . tyber's rich present , the glory now of france . but i hope she will recover that so great a loss , when the court returns to paris , and that assoon as she shall have the honour to be known to that incomparable romane , she will allow her a place among those ; for whom she has some kindness . for my part , i would also offer her of my incense ; for you know , that we poets must have some divinity , on whom we may bestow it . but i am distrustful of the merit of my present , as much as i am perswaded , that she deserves , above any person in the world , all the hyperboles of the poets ; and you know that our ware is contemptible , when it is directed to any one , before it be desir'd . the fulness of your brouage causes a solitude here in paris . yet can i not perceive any such thing in one little house ; for the ambition of being admitted into our small society , grows warmer and warmer , both in the court and the city . not that we and our paris would at the present enter into any competition with your divinities of brouage ; but their true element is paris , or the court ; and when by their removal from brouage they shall leave you as naked as they found you , we can afford you no other quality , then that of provincialists , and wretched islanders . adieu ; my hand growes weary , and i can hardly tell you that i am , sir , your most humble , &c. s. letter lix . to the count de vivonne . sir , i have met with the first draught of the letter , which i had written to you . upon second thoughts it seems to me very impertinent ; but since you are so desirous to see it , i send it you as it is . you have done me a singular pleasure , in having me in your remembrance , and it is withall a great act of justice ; for you are so far oblig'd to a person who esteem you to the degree that i do , as sometimes to think that he is in the world : and i must intreat you to be assur'd , that your retirement at roissy is not a greater affliction to your self , than it is to me , who am apt to hope , that sometime or other you would give me a visit at my little chamber , if your residence were at paris . this is to be understood , when you were disappointed of all other meetings and assignations , and could not bestow your time elsewhere . the actions of our neighbours should be the subject of our discourse ; and many times we should recreate our selves by some little circumventing tricks , without which , i maintain , that all conversation must be lost in process of time . mean time , monsieur d'elbene and my self often remember you over a glass of frontiac ; wishing you were here to do us reason . monsieur de mata is in xaintonge ; i wish that he also were at paris ; his company would make your hours slide away somewhat the more merrily , whenever you had the kindness to visit , your most humble servant . s. finis . books printed for , and sold by george dawes at his shop over against lincolns-inn gate in chancery lane. the history of the world in five books ; the first intreating of the beginning and first ages of the same from the creation unto abraham . the second of the times from the birth of abraham , to the destruction of the temple of solomon . the third from the destruction of jerusalem , to the time of philip of macedon . the fourth from the reign of philip of macedon , to the establishing of that kingdome in the race of antigonas . the fifth from the setled rule of alexander's successors in the east , until the romans ( prevailing over all ) made conquest of macedon . written by sir walter raleigh knight , in folio . the second part of the institutes of the lawes of england , containing the exposition of magna charta ; and many ancient and other statutes . written by the lord chief justice coke . the 3d. edition , with an alphabetical table ; in folio . the third part of the institutes of the laws of england concerning high treason , and other pleas of the crown , and criminal causes . the fourth edition . written by the lord chief justice coke , in folio . the fourth part of the lawes of england concerning the jurisdiction of courts . written by the lord chief justice coke . the 4th edition , with an alphabetical table not heretofore printed , in folio . brief animadversions on , amendment of , and additional explanatory records to the fourth part of the institutes of the laws of england concerning the jurisdiction of courts , by william prynn esq ; in folio . a second book of judgments in real , personal , and mixt actions , and upon the statute , all or most of them affirmed upon writs of error ; collected out of the choice manuscripts of mr. brownloe , and mr. moyle , sometimes prothonotaries of the common pleas. as also of mr. smither , formerly secondary of the same court. perused , transcribed , corrected and tabled , with addition of some notes , by george townesend , esq ; second prothonotary of the common pleas. very use and necessary for all prothonotaries , secondaries , students , clerks of judgments , and all sorts of persons any way relating to the law ; in quarto , price bound 5 s. de jure maritimo et navali : or , a treatise of affairs maritime , and of commerce . in three books . modus intrandi placita generalia : the entring clerks introduction ; being a collection of such presidents of declarations and other pleadings with processe as well mesne as judicial , as are generally used in every dayes practice ; with notes and observations thereupon . composed for the benefit of the students of the common law of england ; as also of the attorneys entring clerks and solicitors of the courts of common pleas and kings bench , ' acquainting them with the rudiments of clerkship , and such general-pleadings and processe as are used at this day in the courts of record at westminster ; by william brown , gent. author of formulae bene placitandi ; in large octavo . price bound 5 s. jus imaginis apud anglos ; or , the law of england , relating to the nobility and gentry . faithfully collected , and methodically digested for common benefit , by john brydall of lincolns-inn , esque in large octavo . price bound 12 d. parsons law , or a view of advowsons ; wherein is contained the rights of patrons , ordinaries , and incumbents to advowsons of churches . collected by william hughes of grayes-inn esq ; the third edition reviewed and much enlarged by the author in his life-time ; in large octavo . an exact abridgment in english of the eleven books of reports of the learned sir edward cook knight , late lord chief justice of england , and composed by sir thomas ireland knight , and reader of the honourable society of greys-inn , in octavo . tryals per pais , or the law concerning ●uries by nisi prius . by s. e. of the inner temple esq ; in octavo . of the office of the clerk of the market of weights and measures , and of the laws of provision for man and beast , for bread , wine , beer , meal , &c. by william shepheard esq ; in octavo . there may be had all sorts of blank bonds , and blank sheriffs warrants . finis . apocalypsis, or, the revelation of certain notorious advancers of heresie wherein their visions and private revelations by dreams, are discovered to be most incredible blasphemies, and enthusiastical dotages : together with an account of their lives, actions and ends : whereunto are added the effigies of seventeen (who excelled the rest in rashness, impudence and lying) : done in copper plates / faithfully and impartially translated out of the latine by j.d. haestens, henrick van. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a57644 of text r16929 in the english short title catalog (wing r1945). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 189 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 53 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a57644 wing r1945 estc r16929 12062881 ocm 12062881 53313 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a57644) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 53313) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 577:5) apocalypsis, or, the revelation of certain notorious advancers of heresie wherein their visions and private revelations by dreams, are discovered to be most incredible blasphemies, and enthusiastical dotages : together with an account of their lives, actions and ends : whereunto are added the effigies of seventeen (who excelled the rest in rashness, impudence and lying) : done in copper plates / faithfully and impartially translated out of the latine by j.d. haestens, henrick van. davies, john, 1625-1693. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a57644 of text r16929 in the english short title catalog (wing r1945). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread [22], 78, [2] p. : ill., ports. printed for john saywell ..., london : 1658. "an alphabetical table ..." [i.e. index]: p. [1]-[2] at end. appeared also in: a view of all the religions in the world / alexander ross. london : [s.n.], 1658. first edition, london, 1655, translated by john davies from apocalypsis insignium aliquot haeresiarcharvm, lvgdvni-batavorvm : [s.n.], 1608, which was from a dutch original: growelen der vornemsten hooft-ketteren. leyden: h.l. van haestens, 1607. authorship attributed to hendrick lodevik van haestens. cf. d. clément, bibliothéque curieuse, t. 9. reproduction of original in huntington library. eng anabaptists. heresy. a57644 r16929 (wing r1945). civilwar no pansebeia: or, a view of all religions in the world: with the severall church-governments, from the creation, to these times. also, a discov ross, alexander 1658 31038 189 15 0 0 0 0 66 d the rate of 66 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2005-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-07 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-08 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-08 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion apocalypsis : or , the revelation of certain notorious advancers of heresie : wherein their visions and private revelations by dreams , are discovered to be most incredible blasphemies , and enthusiastical dotages : together with an account of their lives , actions , and ends . whereunto are added the effigies of seventeen ( who excelled the rest in rashness , impudence and lying , ) done in copper plates . faithfully and impartially translated out of the latine by j. d. the second edition . printed for john saywell , and are to be sold at his shop , at the sign of the grey-hound in little britain , and at the pile of bibles in the stocks fish-market , looking into lombard-street , over against the post-house , london , 1658. to the excellently learned , edward benlowes of brenthall in essex esquire , &c. worthy sir , i have here presumed to present you with a strange and bloody tragedy of hereticks and enthusiasts , written in latine by a most elegant pen , by one who hath concealed his name , as i conceive out of this reason , that , living near the times and places of this representation , it might have proved dangerous to him to have published it . here you have religion brought upon the stage in very strange disguises , nay they make her act parts the most cōtrary to her nature , imbruing her white & innocent hands in blood , & massacres . but as she hath met with wolves to destroy and tear in pieces , so hath she also met with shepheards to heal and protect , and among those the most laborious author of {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} an●ebeia hath not bin the least considerable . his severe and most indefatigable labours in most parts of learning , are consummated in this piece of religion , wherein like an experienced anatomist , he hath left no vein un-cut up . to fall into excessive commendations of him , were to commit a moral absurdity , by praising one whom the general trumpet of fame hath blaz'd abroad for so great an advancer of virtue and learning ; but to trouble you with them , were yet to be so much the more importunate , whose conversation with him was so great , that whatsoever i may say of him , i shall not acquaint you with so much as your self know . nor did the influence of your patronage raise and animate onely him , but there are so many other monuments of your great encouragements to learning , that it will be thought modesty in me not to mention all . but your excessive benefactorship to the library of s. johns colledge at cambridge ( whereof i have sometimes had the honour to be an unworthy member ) i cannot passe over , as a thing , which will stand upon the file of memory , as long as learning shall find professors or children . and that which increases the glory of your munisicence , is , that that library may boast that it is furnished with the works of its owne sonnes , which , being the greatest act of retribution and gratitude that may be , must be accordingly acknowledged by all that shall come after . but that which hath the most engaged and satisfied the english world , is , that your endeavours have displayed themselves in their clearest light , in that one thing that is necessary , that is to say , religion , not only by being a constant assertor of her purity here in england , but in that , after more then ulyssean travels throughout most parts of europe , you have returned to your former enjoyments of that chast penelope , when others either out of weaknesse or surprise , are ensnared and besotted with the tenets of other countries , whereby they are both ingrateful and injurious to their own , by preferring the prudence and policy of another before hers . religion certainly , if well improved , is the talent , that felicifies the improver , if not , coademnes him . it is that universal patrimony , which entitles us to be the sonnes of god , and by which we are adopted into the assured hope of eternall hapinesse . it is the loadctone wherewith when our souls are once touched , they are directed to the right pole of the eternally beatificall vision ; and without which , wee must infallibly expect to split against the rocks and shelves of perdition . it is the consummation of heavens indulgence to mankind , that which doth familiarize us , and makes good our interest in the great being and cause of all things . it is the perfection of nature , since that whatsoever wee know of the divinity by her comes onely by the assistance and mediation of our sences , but the other furnishes us with a more evident assurance , ( and that , in things , which can bee neither seen , heard nor conceived ) , by the more particular providence of grace and faith , whereby hee is pleased to how down the heavens , and descend unto a familiar conversation with our very spirits . but that which ought further to endear all men to religion , is , that she only next to god may pretend ubiquity , as being a thing written in such indelible characters in the hearts of all men , that even the most barbarous nations , and the greatest strangers to civility and policy have acknowledged some divine worship , though their pravity or want of instruction , may have blinded them from the true , but yet that eclipse of the true god hath not been total , insomuch , as they have still retained a sense and veneration of religion , so that to the best of their imaginations , they have created something like god to themselves . to make this yet more evident , we are to note , that most people , though they had not so clear apprehensions of the immortality of the soul , as we have ; yet were they not only perswaded of the impossibility of its annihilation , but have also acknowledged rewards and punishments to be expected after this life . to ascend yet a little higher ; the divinity and preheminence of religion is demonstrated , in that it exerciseth that empire and soveraignty over the mind of man , that no blandishments of the flesh , no temptations , no torments have been able to dispossesse it . it hath triumph'd in the midst of its persecutions ; and by her sufferings hath conquered her persecutors . her pleasing ravishments can stifle for a time all sence of humanity , elude flames , and racks , and so arm the delicacie and tenderness of virgin purity , as to overcome the hardiest tyrants . it is she that raises our soules to a holy boldnesse and intimacy in our addresses to heaven , being indeed rapt into the heavens of divine contemplation , by her extasies and illuminations . it was her inspiring communication , that elevated your pious soul , when you described the divine perfections of the incomparable theophila . these things can she do and greater , when there is but one grain of true faith ; but when she is defiled and adulterated with humane ceremonies and inventions , she is deformed , and looses all her grace and beauty . and among these hath she met with two most importunate pretenders , atheisme and superstition ; the one strips her stark naked , the other meritriciously prostitutes her in the disguises of humane inventions . and that she hath been thus evill entreated , in all places and times , this book gives but too great testimony , whether you look on the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} or this small appendix , treating for the most , of what happened in high and low germany . i would not draw any excuse for our own gyrations of religion here , from their madnesse ; but rather condemn them as things that would have out-vy'd the extravagance of the former . but to draw any argument against religion from either were impious ; for if we did , we must in consequence , deny all , both particular and universal providence of almighty god ; we must deny the scriptures , the heavenly legacy of eternal salvation ; wee must deny heaven , hell , eternity , nay take away the cement of all humane society , and expect to see the order and beauty of the universe hurried into darkness and confusion , since it ought not to out-last man , for whom it was created . nay ; but let us rather professe humanity , and make this use of the failings and extravagance of others in matters of religion ; to humble our selves to a relyance on that immense being , who hath thought fit to plant religion in the heart of man , to direct him in his voyage to eternall happinesse , wherein that every man might take the right way , is the earnest prayer of worthy sir , your most devoted , and most humble servant . jo . davies . these books printed for john saywell , are to be sold at the sign of the grey-hound in little britain , and at the pile of bibles in the stocks fish-market , looking into lombard-street , over against the post-house , london . that in●●●ming piece and catechistical foundation , entituled , viz. woll●bius , his abridgment of christian divinity ; englished , cleared , and enlarged , by alexander ross , author of that curious piece , entituled , viz. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , or a view of all religions and church-governments in the world , with a discovery of heresies , in all agos and places ; &c. whereunto this apocalypsis is usually adjoined . that practical piece , entituled , viz. the returning backslider , ( and the saints privilege &c. ) or a commentary on the whole 14 chap. of hosea , the third time reprinted , being one of the legitimate pieces of that truly pious author , dr. richard sibbs . for the use of pious families , there is lately reprinted , mr henry smith's sermons , with gods arrow against atheists , &c. to which are now added , the life of mr. henry smith , by tho. fuller , b. d. and alphabetical tables very advantagious to the reader ; which additions aforesaid , contain three sheets at the beginning of the book , and five sheets at the end of the book , viz. eight in all , and distinguisheth them from all other ●●rreptitious and imperfect copie . three select and profitable sermons , entituled , viz. i. pre●●● & lachryma . ii. the christians desire . iii. the example of humility , by william houghton . the way to the highest honor , presented in a sermon before the house of peers , feb. 24. 1646. by w. strong . that judicious piece , entituled , the practice of quietness : directing a a christian how to live quietly in this troublesome world . by the late reverend bishop webbe . the history of the world , the second part , being a continuation of the famous history of sir w●… r●●l●igh , kt. begining where he left , and continued to the year 1640. with a large chronologie of those times , by alexander ross once chaplain in ordinary to his late majesty king charls , the first . the true copie whereof ( by the authors appointment and approbation ) is distinguished by the grey hound in the front-●p●ece from any other however coloured by a p●●tended ( though abusive ) representation of the reverend authour in the title page , or the delusive vision of ●irds , &c. of the pretender thereto . an exact collection of the choicest secrets in physick and chyrurgery ( both chymick and galenick ) by leonard phi●ravant , knight , dr. edwards and and others . a new primer , entituled , mr. h●●l's primer ; mo●e easie and delightsome for the learner than any yet extant , having 24 several representations of persons , beasts , birds , &c. answering the several letters of the alphabet , in a copper plate , laying also the surest foundation for true spelling ; the defect whereof ( in the ordinary teaching ) is very much complained of . mr. ●●●l's rud●ments of latine grammar usually taught in all schools ; delivered in a very plain method for young beginners , containing 1. the common accidents , examined and explained , called his posing book . 2. the terminations and examples of declensions and conjugations . 3. propria quae maribus , qua genus , and as in prasenti , englished and explained , for the use of young grammarians , with a necessary index to each part , called his ●arsing book : by help whereof ( in want of an able schoolmaster ) gentlemen may teach their children themselves with much ease and delight also mr. h●●l's grammar in latine and english , the shortest , order●●est , and plainest both for master and scholar , of any yet exstant . at his shop also gentlemen , country-book sellers , and chapmen may bee furnished or provided with all sorts of english & latine books , and of other forraign languages as they please . the authours preface to the reader . the doctrine of the anabaptists , courteous reader , to give it thee in a single expression , is nothing but lying and deceit . thou haply thinkest them a sort of people divinely inspired , and prophets : thou art deceived . they are false prophets and false teachers , as being a contagion , than which hell it self hath not vomited up a more dangerous since the beginning of the world . for i do not think it can bee easily demonstrated , what other mischief could have reduced not onely the netherlands , but almost all germany , into so great calamity and devastation . when i more narrowly look into the heresie of these men , i confess i am puzzel'd to finde a name for the monster , but what its aims are , i may haply guess . its first part speaks a lyon , its last a dragon , the middle a pure chimaera . i call it a monster , and i may add the most monstrous that ever was , as having in it the ingredients of all formerly condemned sects . which when i consider , me thinks all the ancient hereticks , such as nicholas anteochenus , the gnosticks , the valentinians , noetians , sabellians , patropassions , parmenians , present themselves anew out of hell to me . so that i can make no other judgment of thomas muntzer , that authour and raiser of a most pernicious sect , then that he hath re-erected the standards of all former heresies . but that it may not be said , as in the proverb , that affrick alwayes furnishes us with novelties , he also with his desperate disciples , hath sacrilegiously attempted to advance some altogether new and unheard-of opinions , whereof who shall say that which is made is good , must be very extravagant . out of these , have they resolved and decreed , that children till they come to age , are onely catech●…ni , and ought not to be clad with the robe of holy baptisme . out of these , have they declared a community of all things . out of these , teach to dishonour and discard magistrates , who are the living ectypes of god , while in the mean time they themselves aspire to soveraignty , and would be accounted potentates , when they are indeed the wickedst among men ; dissemblers , cheats , hypocrites , novators , or advancers of novelties , and the subtle generation of the old viper novatu . which said novatus , if i display in the colours wherein the holy father and martyr cyprian sets him forth , discreet men shall be my judges , whether i have not hit the mark , and the same description most sitly suits the greatest part of the proselytes of muntzer . as concerning novatus ( sayes that ornament of his carthage , lib. 11. epist. 8. to cornelius then bishop of rome ) we needed not any relations to be sent to us of him , since that from us you were to expect a more particular account of novatus , a man that is a constant advancer of novelties , of an insatiable avarice , furious in his rapines , blown up with arrogancie and pride , even to astonishment ; a man not admitting any good understanding with the bishops : the end of his curiosity is to betray , of his flattery to surprise , his love is dogg'd by his infidelity , he is the fuell and fire-brand that heightens the combustions of sedition , and the hurrican and tempest which causes the shipwrack of faith , an opposer of tranquility , and an enemy to peace . these were his thoughts of novatus , which what wise man but will allow us to attribute to our novators ? certainly , if john that botcher of leiden , the ulcer and deformity of that gallant city , were to be drawne in his own colours , we need borrow them no where else . you therefore , orthodox doctors , reduce those erroneous and miserably seduced men , which yet are so , into the way of truth , deliver them , i beseech you out of this phrensy , and omit no opportunities which may help to recover them out of this imaginary disease to which they are so accustomed . this shal bee your reward , this is the prize you shall obtain . him that overcometh , will i make a pillar in the temple of my god , and i wil write upon him the name of my god , &c. revel. 3. 12. 1 thomas muntzer . his opinions , actions , and end . the contents . muntzers doctrine spreads , his aims high , his affirmations destructive ; he asserts anabaptisme , rests not there , but grows worse and worse in his opinions and practises ; his large promises to his party and the common people : he endeavoured to set up himself , pretending to restore the kingdom of christ ; being opposed by the landgrave , his delusive animation of his followers , their overthrow ; his escape ; he is found , but dissembles him self ; is taken , but yet obstinate ; the landgrave convinceth him by scripture , when being racked , he laugheth , afterward relenteth ; his last words ; is deservedly beheaded , and made an example . 2 john mathias . the contents . john mathias repairs to munster , his severe edicts , he becoms a malicious executioner of hubert trutiling , for contumelious expressions touching him , his own desperate end . 3. john buckhold , or john of leyden . the contents . john buckhold his character , his disputing and contention with the ecclesciasticks concerning paedobaptism ; he succeeds john mathias , he comforts the people with a pretended revelation ; he makes bernard knipperdoling of a consul , to become common executioner , buckhold feigneth himself dumb , he assumes the magistracy , he allows polygamy , he takes to himself three wives ; he is made king , and appoints officers under him ; his sumptuous apparel ; his titles were king of justice , king of the new jerusalem ; his throne , his coin and motto thereon ; the king , queen , and courtiers wait on the people at a feast : with other d●gressions . the king endeavours to raise commotions abroad , is haply prevented . he suspects his own safety ; his large promises to his captains , himself executes one of his wives , he feigns himself sick , and deludes the people with an expectation of deliverance ; in the time of famine , forgets community ; he is betrayed by his confident , is brought prisoner before the bishop , who checks him ; his jesting answer and proposal , he is put to a non-plus , is convinced of his offences ; his deserved and severe execution . 4. hermannus sutor . the contents . herman the cobler professeth himself a prophet , &c. he is noted for drunkenness ; the ceremonies he used in anabaptisme , eppo his host discovers him and his followers to be cheats ; hermans wicked blasphemies , and his inconstancy in his opinions , his mothers temerity ; his sect convinced , and fall off from him ; by one drewjis of his sect he is handled roughly ; herman is taken by charles lord of gelderland , &c. and is brought prisoner to groningen ; when questioned in his torments , he hardened himself , and died miserably . 5. theodorus sartor . the contents . theodor the botcher turns adamite , he affirms strange things , his blasphemy in forgiving of sins , he burns his cloaths , &c. and causeth his companions to do the like . he and his rabble go naked ihrough amsterdam , in the dead of night , denouncing their woes , &c. and terrifie the people . they are taken and imprisoned by the burghers , but continue shameless . may 5. 1535. they are put to death ; some of their last words . 6. david george . the contents . david george , the miracle of the anabaptists . at basil he pretends to have been banished his country for the gospels-sake ; with his specious pretences he gains the freedom of the city for him and his . his character . his riches . he with his sect enact three things . his son in law doubting his new religion , is by him questioned ; and upon his answer excommunicated . his wifes death . he had formerly voted himself immortal , yet aug. 2. 1556 he died , &c. his death troubled his disciples , his doctrine questioned by the magistates , eleven of the sectaries secured . eleven articles extracted out of the writings of david george , some of the imprisoned sectaries acknowledged david george to have been the cause of the tumults in the lower parts of germany , but disowned his doctrin . conditions whereupon the imprisoned are set at liberty : the senate vote the doctrine of d. g. impious , and declare him unworthy of christian burial , and that his body and books should be burned , which was accordingly effected . 7. michael servetus . the contents . servetus his converse with mahumetans and jewes . he disguiseth his monstrous opinions with the name of christian reformation . the place of his birth . at the 24. year of his age , he boasted himself the onely teacher and seer of the world , he inveighed against the deity of christ . oecalampadius confutes his blasphemies , and causeth him to be thrust out of the church of basil . servetus held but one person in the godhead to be worshipped , &c. he held the holy ghost to be nature . his horrid blasphemy . he would reconcile the turkish alcoran to christian religion . he declares himself prince of the anabaptists . at geneva calvin faithfully reproves servetus , but he continues obstinate . anno 1553. by the decrees of several senates , he was burned . 8. arrius . the contents . arrianisme its increase , anno 323. the general council at nice , anno 325. called as a remedy against it , but without success . the arrians misinterpret that place , joh. 10. 30. concerning the father and the son . they acknowledged one only god in a judaeical sence . they deny the trinity . arrius his wretched death , anno 336. 9. mahomet . the contents . mahomet characterised . he made a laughing-stock of the trinity . he agreed with carpocrates , and other hereticks . he renewed circumcision , and to indulge his disciples , he allowed them polygamy , &c. his iron tomb at mecca . 10. balthazar hubmor . the contents . hubmor a patron of anabaptisme . he damned usury . he brought in a worship to the virgin mary , &c. the senate of suring by a council reduced him . he renounced the heads of his former doctrine . himself or sect still active . he is taken and imprisoned at vienna in austria . he and his wife both burned . 11. john hut . the contents . john hut the prop and pillar of anabaptisme . his credulity in dreams and visions . he is accounted a true prophet by his proselytes . at merhern , his fraternity became as it were a monastery . 12. lodowick hetzer . the contents . lodowick hetzer a famous heretick . he gaint proselytes in austria and switzerland . anno 1527 , at a publick disputation oecolampadius puts hetzers emissaries to their shifts . hetzer denied christ to be coessentiall with the father . his farewel to his disciples . he is put to death for adultery . 13. melchior hofman . the contents . hofman a skinner , an anabaptist ; anno 1528 , seduced 300. men and women at embda in west-friesland . his followers accounted him a prophet . at strasburg , he challenged the ministers to dispute , which was agreed upon jan. 11. 1532. where being mildely dealt with , he is nevertheless obstinate . other prophets and prophetesses deluded him . he deiuded himself , and volunt arily pi●●ed himself to death . 14. melchior rinck . the contents . melchion rinck , an anabaptist . he is accounted a not able interpreter of dreams and visions . his disciple thomas scucker in a waking-dream cut off his brother leonards head ; pretending for his murder obedience to the decree of god . 15. adam pastor . the contents . adam pastor a derider of paedobaptisme . he revived the arrian heresie . his foolish interpretation of that place , gen. 217. so often confu●ed . 16. henry nicholas . the contents . henry nicholas , father of the family of love . he is against infant-baptisme . his divellish logick . the end of the contents . thomas muntzer . his opinions , actions , and end . hei mihi quot sacras iterans baptismatis undas muntzerus stygijs millin tinxit aquis ! the contents . muntzer's doctrine spreads , his aim 's high , his affirmations destructive ; hee asserts anabaptisme , rests not there , but grows worse and worse in his opinions and practises ; his large promises to his party and the common people : he endeavours to set up himself , pretending to restore the kingdome of christ ; being opposed by the landgrave , his delusive animation of his followers ; their overthrow ; his escape ; he is found , but dissembles himself ; is taken , but yet obstinate ; the landgrave convinceth him by scripture , when being racked , hee laugheth , afterward relenteth ; his last words ; is deservedly beheaded , and made an example . about the year of our redemption . m. d. xxi . and m. d. xxii . there rise up in saxony near the river sales , a most insolent sect of certain enthusiasts , among whom nicholas storkius was no ordinary person . these presumptuously boasting that their dreams , visions and revelations , were inspired into them from heaven , had s●ily scattered it among other seditious persons of the same kidney ; that the world was to be reformed by their means , which done , and the wicked utterly cut off from the face of the earth , it should be governed by justice it self . all that gave not up their names , and embraced their sect , they branded with the name of ungodly . one of this sodomitical lake sprung thomas muntzer , one that boasted that hee had had communication with god . this man's doctrine incredibly spred , as being in the first place levell'd at the holy doctors of the reformed religion ; and from thence discharged at the magistrates themselves ; for the christian flock being once deprived of these two constitutions of men , there were nothing to hinder the greedy wolves to break out into all rapine and oppression . and this is the reason why the wolves , that is to say , the false teachers , have ever most violently opposed the the ministry and the magistracy , in hopes , if possible , to draw these from the care and charge of their flocks , or at least to bring them into contempt with their sheep , which by that means should stray into their parties . this muntzer did both by his teachings and writings publickly affirm , that the preachers of that time that contributed their endeavours to the advancement of the gospel , were not sent by god , but were meer scribes , and impertinent interpreters of the scriptures ; that the scriptures and the written word , were not the pure word of god , but onely a bare testimony of the ●●e wo●d ; that the true reall word was something that were intrinsecall and heavenly , and immediately proceeding out of the mouth of god , and consequently to be learned intrinsecally , and not out of the scriptures , or by any humane suggestion . with the same breath he brought baptisme into contempt , most inconvincibly affirming that there was no warrant from god for paedobaptisme , or baptisme of children , and that they ought to be baptized after a spirituall and more excellent dispensation . he further endeavoured to teach that christs satisfaction for us was unnecessary , whatever honest and weak understanding men could urge to the contrary ; that matrimony in the unfaithfull and incontinent , was a pollution , meretricious and diabolical ; that god discovered his will by dreames ( whence it was that he was mightily infatuated with them ) holding that those were ( as it were ) communicated by the holy ghost . hereupon was he acknowledged by his followers for some heavenly and spirituall prophet , and it was believed that he was thus taught by the spirit of god , without any humane assistance . this doctrine did he disperse throughou● all germany by printed books and epistles , which the tinder-brain'd disciples of his seditious sect were soon fir'd with , read , approved , and propogated . the same man in the yeares m. d. xxiii . and m. d. xxiv . taught at a●sted which is a city in saxony , near thu●ingia ; and when not onely the ministers , but also the magistrates lay under the lash of his calumny , insomuch that his sermons were stuff'd with most seditious and bitter invectives against them , and pretending to groan for the return of lost liberty , and for the insufferable pressures of the people under tyranny , he complained of it as a great grievance , that their wealth and estates were the prey of the magistrate , and therefore would peswade them that a remedy was timely to be applied to these things . being for this doctrine dispatched out of alsted , he comes to norimberg , and thence without discontinuing his journey into basil , and thence into switzerand , from whence at length he came to cracovia , where at a certaine town called griess●n , he continued some weeks . in the mean time he was no lesse idle then ever , and that especially in the county of stuling , where hee sowed so much of his contagious seed among his factious disciples , as afterwards thrived into an extraordinary harvest . at the same time he publickly scattered abroad his doctrine of baptisme , and the word of god , in such sort as we have touched before . departing out of his countrey , and wandring up and down mulhusium in the countrey of during , he w●it letters to some of the most confident to his religion ; by whose countenance and assistance factious spirits were sometimes more and more exasperated against the magistrate . some small time before the counntrey people took up arms , he sent up and down certain briefes by messengers , wherein were divers things , and among the rest was represented the greatnesse of those warlike instrments which were cast at mulhusium upon occasion of this sedition , so to encourage and enflame the fiery followers of his faction . for having stayed two moneths at g●lessen , and that he thought he could not so much advance his designes if he returned into saxony because his affaires prospered not according to his desires in those places , he returns back to the people of during and mulhusium . but before hee was arrived thither , luther had by letters forew●…ed the reverend senate of mulhusium concerning him , that they should beware of him as of a destroying wolfe , and fitte● to bee s●unned then serpents , or whatever mankind beares any antipathy to , for that both at swickaw , and not long before at alsted , he was accounted a tree sufficiently evill and corrupt , which bore no other fruit but tumult and inevitable destruction ; and one , who , no more then his comerades , could ever bee brought to make any defence of their opinions , among which was , that they all were gods el●ct and that all the children of their religion were to be called the children of god ; and that all others were ungodly , and designed to damnation . and divers other things to the same purpose were contained in the foresaid letter , which was dated from ●●imaria , on sunday , being the day of the assumption of mary , in the year m. d. xxiv . muntzer in the mean time with words plausibly sweetned , drew away she minds of all he could to savour his party , and by promising mountains of gold to the common people , to the end they should cry him up with the general acclamations of being a true prophet , it came to passe that a very great concourse of the dregs of the people repaired to him from mulhusium and other places ; nay , by his subtilty and the authority he had gotten , he perverted the very magistrate of mulhusium , and made him a new abettor of his opinion . and this was the first original of the mischief ; and thence divers other hydra's of seditions like so many excrescencies took a sudden growth from this . for all men's goods became common , and he taught that no man had any propriety in what he enjoied . to which he added , that it was revealed to him from god , that the empire and principalitities of this world were to be extirpated , and that the sword of gideon was put into his hands to bee emploied against all tyrants , for the assertion of true liberty , and the restauration of the kingdome of christ : and at this time he gave orders for the preparing of certain warlike engines . while he was wholly taken up about these things , that is , in the following year md. xxv . the countrey people throughout swedland and f●anconia , and diverse other places , rise up against their magistrates , forced away a great part of the nobility , plundered towns and castles , to be short , made an absolute devastation by fire and sword . the landgrave henry being moved at these things raises a wa●r , and fought the countrey people , the first time near frankenhusium , the fourteenth day of may , which done , he prepared himself for a second fight to be fought the next day , which muntzer having intelligence of , said by way of animation to his followers , what are those cannon-bullets ? i will receive them in my gloves , and they shall not hurt me , whereby the countrey people being encouraged , were the next day beaten by the landgrave , five thousand slain , and three hundred taken , who had all their heads cut off , so that , while they were ambitious of liberty , they lost even the liberty of life it self . and herein was the ancient proverb verified , war● is most delightful to those that had never experienced it . the discreeter part of the countrey peop'e , having laid down their arms , put their hands to the golden plough , to hold which they had been designed , rather than to mannage lances and pole-axes . mantzer escapes to frankenhusium , and hid himself in a house neer the gate , where a certain nobleman had taken up his quarters . this mans servant going up into the upper roomes of the house to see how they were accommodated , findes one lying upon a bed , of whom hee enquired , whether he were of those who had escaped the fight , which he denied , averring that hee had lain some time sick of a fever : whereupon looking about , hee perceives a little bag lying carelesly neer the bed side ; he opens it and finds letters from albert count of mans field , wherein hee dehor●ed muntzer from his wicked purpose , and from promoting the tumult already raised . having read them , he asked him whether they were directed to him , who denying he threatens to kill him ; whereupon he cried quarter , and confessed himself to be muntzer . hee is taken , and brought before george duke of saxony and the landgrave , whereupon they having made him confesse that hee was the cause of the popular insurrection , and sedition ; he answered that hee had done but his duty , and that the magistrates who were opposers of his evangelical doct iac , were by such means to bee chastised . to which the landgrave made answer , and proved it by several testimouies of scripture , that all honour is to given to the magistrate ; and that all tumult raised in order to a mans particular revenge , was by god forbidden christians . here muntzer being convinced , held his peace . being laid upon the rack , while hee cried out aloud and wept , the duke of saxony spoke to him to this purpose ; now thou art punished , muntzer , consider with thy self by what unspeakable ways thou hast seduced and brought so many to destruction ! whereat muntzer broke out into a great laughter , saying , this is the judgment of the countrey people . but when being brought to his death , hee was thrust into close prison , 't is wonderfull how faint-hearted hee was , and stood extreamly troubled in mind , not being able to give any account of his faith , but as the duke of saxony pronounced before him , and which hee told him , hee was to make a confession of before god : being surrounded with souldiers , hee openly acknowledged his wickednesse , and withall addressed these words to the princes that were present ; shew mercy and compassion , yee princes , lest hereafter , you incur by my example the punishment i now suffer ; read and attentively consider the holy books of the kings . having said this , his head was struck off , and fastened to a stake , for a monument and example to others . john mathias . primus hic e batavis muntzeri dogma sequutus turbavit miris westphala regna modis . the contents . john mathias repairs to munster , his severe edi●●s , he becomes a malicious executioner of hubert trutiling , for contumelious expressions touching him ; his own desperate end . in the year of our lord god , m. d. xxxii . at munster ( which is the metropolis of westphalia ) a certain priest called bernardus rotmannus undertook to preach the gospel of christ ; which being done with great successe , certain messengers were sent to marpyrgum , a place in hassia , whose business was to bring along with them some men of learning and good conversation , who should bee helpfull in the propagation of the gospel . from marpyrgum were there some dispatched , who arriving at munster , reduced the principall heads of christian religion into thirty nine articles , which they proposed to the magistrate , being ready , ( as they pretended ) to make good and prove the said heads , by places of the holy scriptures ; which was effected . the religious , and ( as they are called ) the spiritual who were possessed of the chiefest church , could by no means digest this , so that departing the city , they caused much trouble to the citizens . upon this weighty businesse , the magistrates and citizens sate in long and prudent consultations . at length there was a certain agreement , upon these terms , viz. that all injuries committed in those tumults should be pardoned , and that the gospel should be freely preached in six parish churches , and that the church of our lord only should be absolutely reserved to them . these conditions were readily subscribed to by both sides , and thereupon all things laid asleep in peace . but this peace was not long undisturbed by the devill , ( that irreconcileable enemy of peace and virtue ) and therefore by doing at munster what hee had done at other places , that is , by raising up out of the jaws of hell , the seditious and pestiferous anabaptists , those importunate disturbers and turn-pikes of the gospel ; his design was not onely to discourage the good and godly , but withall , shamefully to destroy the gospel it self . for in the same year there rise up at harlem a baker called john mathias , a man utterly unlearned , yet crafty and boldly eloquent . this man being excessively lecherous , neglected and slighted his own wife , who being somewhat well stricken in years , was so much the lesse fit for the exercises of venus . being therefore over head and ears in love with a certain vi●age who was an alehouse-keepers daughter , he could not resolve of any way more advantageous to seduce , then by an angelical carriage , and a counterfeit sanctity . he made frequent visits to her , and entertaining her with his visions and revelations , he thereby drew her to his opinion , and conveighed her into a secret place in amsterdam , where he professed himself a doctor and a preacher , affirming that god had revealed certain secrets unto him , not yet revealed to others , and that he was enoch the second high priest of god . upon some he laid hands and sent them two by two as apostles and messengers of christ , dispatching to munster one gerard a bookseller , and john buckhold the botcher of leyden , others into other places . these emissary messengers of christ , or rather of satan , boyled over with their various opinions , held marriages of no account , and dreamed diverse other things . some taught by parables , and their own illusive dreams ; others acknowledged not him a brother who desiled his baptisme with sins ; others preferred the baptisme of john before that of christ ; others taught that all magistrates , and whoever were unsatisfied with their religion , ought to bee destroied root and branch ; some would acknowledge nothing but their own visions and prophecies ; others , that all the prophets and teachers that were departed this life , should shortly rise again , and should reign with christ upon earth a thousand years , and should receive a hundred fold for what ever they had left behind them . some of these men affirmed that they had communication with god , some with angels ; but the more discreet and wiser sort of men conceived that their conferences had been with the divel . here upon the great prophet john mathias ( upon whose account his most vain apostles already proclaimed a peace ) perceiving an occasion by this means of domineering in this world , consecrated in his stead his disciple james campensis , a sawyer , bishop at amsterdam . committing unto his charge the people , to be seduced with the same zeal , as he had begun . these things being thus fairly carried , he repaired to munster to his apostle and ambassadour john buckhold , whom hee made governour of the city , who presently published these severe edicts . that every man should bring his gold and silver , and whatever were of greater importance , into the common heap , and that no man should detain any thing at his house ; for the receiving of which things so collected a place was appointed . though the people were not a little astonished at the rigour and severity of the edict , yet did they submit thereto . moreover he forbad the reading of all books but the bible , all which that they ought to bee burnt , the divine authority had by him , its witnesse commanded . at this very time a certain tradesman , whose name was hubert trutiling , had scattered some contumelious expressions concerning this great prophet ; where at he being immeasurably incensed , even to the loss of all compassion , caused the foresaid trutiling to be brought into the market place , where he is accused and sentenced . whereupon he himself laying his violent hands upon this innocent man , lays him along upon the ground ; in that posture he runs him through with a spear ; but finding by the palpitation , that there was some remainder of life , he made him to be conveighed thence , and taking a musket from one that stood by , which was charged , killed him , intimating that hee was commanded by god , that is to say , his own , ( who was a murtherer from the beginning ) to do what he had done . this noble exploit performed , he took a long lance in his hand , and hastily ●an about the city , crying out that hee was commanded by god the father to put to flight the enemy , which at that time had closely besieged munster . having taken the said weapon , and running like a mad man upon the enemy , hee himself was run through by a souldier of misna . john buckhold , or , john of leyden . agres●●●ssque nefas magnum et memorabile , regem somniat , abje●ta forfiee sceptra gerens . the contents . john buckhold his character , his disputing and contention with the ecclesiasticks concerning paedobaptisme ; he succeeds john mathias , he comforts the people with a pretended revelation ; he makes bernard knipperdoling of a consul , to become common executioner . buckhold feigneth himself dumb , he assumes the magistracy , he allowes polygamy , he takes to himself three wives ; he is made king , and appoints officers under him ; his sumptuous apparell ; his titles were , king of justice , king of the new jerusalem ; his throne , his coin and motto thereon ; the king , queen , and courtiers waite on the people at a feast , with other digressions . the king endeavours to raise commotions abroad , is haply prevented . he suspects his own safety , his large promises to his captaines , himself executes one of his wives , he feignes himself sick , and deludes the people with an expectation of deliverance , in the time of famine , forgets community ; he is betrayed by his confident , is brought prisoner before the bishop , who checks him ; his jesting answer and proposall ; he is put to a non plus , is convinced of his offences ; his deserved and severe execution . john buckhold was a botcher of leyden , a crafty fellow , eloquent , very perfect in the scriptures ; subtle , confident , more changeable then proteus , a serious student of sedition , briefly , a most servent anabaptist . this man being sent by john mathias to munster was a perpetuall thorn in the sides of the ecclesiasticks , craftily sisting them about the businesse of paedobaptisme , in which employment he spent nine whole moneths , and most commonly making his party good with them , both as to disputation and litigious contention , while in the mean time he secretly spawn'd and scatter'd the doctrine of anabaptisme , as much as lay in his power . about that time a certain unknown preacher of the word of god , one hermanus stapreda of meurs came to munster , who supplying the place of rotmannus in preaching , seduced him , and leavened him with anabaptisme , and he also publickly anathematized pedobaptisme . this gave occasion of raising tumults among the people ; they who before were onely secretly instructed by john buckhold , discover themselves openly to the world , and lay aside all disguises of their intentions ; in most parts of the city , they have their frequent meetings ; in divers houses , but all in the night time , whereat the magnistrates being incensed , and offended , prohibited their conventicles , and some they banished ; but they weigh not this any thing , and being sent out at one gate , they came in at another , and lay concealed among those that were the favourers of their sect. hereupon the senate caused all the ecclesiasticks to assemble at the palace , to dispute the businesse of paedobaptisme . in this assembly , rotmannus stood tooth and naile for the anabaptists , but those of the reformation fully refuted their errors , as the publick acts concerning that businesse do abundantly testifie . at this very time the minsters of the church of argentoratum signed and set out an account of their faith in a printed book . hereupon the senate of munster by a publick edict banished the anabaptists , out of the city ; which edict , they , persisting in contention , opposed , being now arrived to that rashnesse and impudence , that they thrust a reformed preacher , one peter werthemius out of the church . yea , some of them rioting about the city , ) whereof the ringleader was henry rollius ) cryed out as they went , repent and be rebaptized , otherwise will the heavy wrath of god fall upon you ! these things hapned about the end of the year m. d. xxxiii . and the beginning of m. d. xxxiv . some honest-hearted and harmlesse men , partly out of an apprehension of divine wrath ( as they made them believe ) partly for fear of men , suffered themselves to be washed in the laver of anabaptisme . for , the anabaptists leaving their dennes , broke into the city without any controll , and with an unanimous violence assaulting the market place , they soon possessed themselves of the palace and the magazine , sentencing with loud conclamations and such as required a greater voice then that of stentor , that all were to be destroyed as so many heathens and reprobates , that did not embrace anabaptisme . in this tumult , a certain young man of burchstenford was killed . this gave occasion both to the papists , and to those of the reformation to provide for their safety . the chiefest patrons of the anabaptistical heresy were , bernard rotman , john buckhold , bernard knipperdoling , gerard knippenburch , bernard krachting , &c. these two parties having skirmished with as great eagernesse and animosity as greater armies exasperated one against another , for some days , there followed a truce , whereby it was agreed that every one should quietly enjoy , and persever in his own religion . however the surges of anabaptisme were not yet laid , till they had entered into a conspiracy to drive those of the reformation out of the city . the most eminent of the conclave writ to the anabaptists of the cities adjoining , viz. to these of dulmen , coesvelt , soyst warendorp , and osenburg , that leaving all things behind them , they should repair with all speed to munster , promising they should have ten-fold what ever they left . being enticed by these propositions , husbands and wives leaving all behind them , came in swarms to munster . a great number of the more religious inhabitants looking on that strange rabble as an insufferable grievance to their city , left it to the disposal of the anabaptists , who being by this means increased in number , became also more extravagant , degraded the senate , and chose another out of themselves , wherein were consuls , gerard knippenburg , and bernard knipperdoling , whose effiges is the ensuing . bernard knipperdoling . quo non fastus abit ? quid non rex impius audet ? carnificem fecit , qui modò consulerat . being now become lords and masters , they in the first place seized on maurice church , and burnt it , and the houses all about it , thence falling forcibly upon other holy places and monasteries , they carried away gold , silver , ornaments and utensils , and whatsoever else was of any consequence . upon the fourth day after those rapines , trudging up and down the streets and high-ways , they with a horrible howling , uttered , repent , repent ! to which is added , depart , depart , bee gone yee wicked , otherwise woe bee to you ! this done , they immediately went armed in multitudes , and with unspeakable barbarisme and cruelty , turned out their miserable fellow-citizens , as enemies to their religion , out of their houses and possessions , and thrust them out of the city without any consideration of age or sex , so that many women with child had this misfortune seconded with that of dangerous abortions . the anabaptists presently by what right they please , seize to themselves the possessions of the banished : so that the honest and godly party being cast out of the city , fell into the hands of the souldiers , who had block'd up the city and all the avenues , as among enemies , by whom some were taken , others unadvisedly killed ; at which entreaty the other honester part of citizens being discouraged , and seeing , that guilty and not guilty fared alike , would not stirre a loot out of the city ; which being closely besieged by the bishops army , all places were filled with blood , sighs , tears . now do the mad men of munster , and such as no hellebore can have any effect on , grow insufferably insolent , and above all , that great prophet john matthias , of whom wee have spoken before : but that sally of his out of the city , those of munster looked on as a great omen of their destruction , and thought that the unexpected death of that most holy man did signify , that some great calamity did hang over their heads . but john buckhold must bee his successor , a lid fit for the other pot ; who addressing himself to the people , comforted them , perswading them that they ought not to mourn for that unlooked for miscarriage of the prophet , for that it had long before been revealed to him , and withall , that hee should marry his widow . upon easter eve they fell upon all the churches and places of devotion about the city , and pulled down all the brasse works . some few days after , bernard knipperdoling prophesied that all the chiefest men ought to be disqualified and degraded , and that the poor and the humble were to be exalted . hee also declared , that it was the command of the divine oracle , that all churches should be demolished , which indeed was sufficiently performed . the very same day john buckhold putting into the hands of bernard knipperdo ling , the executioners sword , conferred on him withall his employment , and that according to gods command ; so that he who had discharged the office of a consul , was now to execute that most dishonourable employment of a common executioner . this most excellent condition he cheerfully accepted . by this time had the city been besieged some moneths by the bishops forces when resolving to storm it , they lost both gentlemen , commission officers & others , to the number of about four thousand , upon which they quitted all hope of taking it by force . some few dayes after whitsuntide , the city being notwithstanding the dis-excecution of that assault stil besieged , was wholly taken up to rest and imaginary dreams , wherein there were spent three whole days ; which done , the anabaptist being awaken , acted the part of zacharias , john baptist's father ; for , pretending to be dumb , he desired to have a table-book ; wherein he wrote down the names of twelve men , who should be as it were the twelve elders of israel , and should administer all thing , at munster , as if it were the new jerusalem , and this he affirmed that hee was commanded to do from heaven . by this broke●y d●d this crafty knave chalk out his way to that soveraign dignity whereof he was so ambitious . but in the mean time , consider by what a strang stich this excellently wicked botcher did utterly dis-repute that magistrate whom god had ordained , and by the assistance of most illusive dreames & his own excellency of playing the impostor , he possessed himself of that dignity . a while after our prophet advanced certain conclusions tending to the allowance of polygamy , whereat the ecclesiasticks made some opposition , but afterwards were content of fit still . so that , not long after the prophet at one bout took to him three wives , whereof the most eminent was the widdow of the deceased prophet jo. mathias , and whom he afterwards dignified with the title of queen . this example of kingship , some other knaves like himself did without any difficulty admit ; but divers of the more godly citizens , looking on this thing with the greatest indignation that might be , repairing to the market place laid hands on the prophet knipperdoling , which occasioning the people to take up armes , they set upon those citizens in the palace , and having taken them , they delivered the prophet and the ecclesiasticks out of their hands . nine and forty of the said citizens were after a most barbarous manner put to death . hereupon the prophet cried our , that all those who should do any violence to those enemies of god , should do god a very high piece of service , whence it came to pass , that some were torn in pieces with hooks ; and not a few killed by knipperdoling himself . upon the four and twentieth of june , which is the day of the nativity of john baptist , in the year one thousand five hundred thirty four , at munster or rather monster ; ( for so may that place bee called from the monstrous and portentous pullulation of anabaptists ) there sprung from hell another new prophet , one john tuysentschreuer , a goldsmith of wa rendorp . the people being generally summoned to the market place , this man acquainted them , that the most holy prophet john buckhold of leyden was to bee exalted to kingly dignity , and that hee should inherit the eternall seat of his father david , and should possesse it with farre greater majestie . having prophecied these things , buckhold kneeling down confirmed all , saying , that so much had been revealed to him from god the father ten days before ; though it was against his inclination to undertake the difficulties of government . the common people being astonished at this extravagant piece of villany , tore their hair as they went ; yet however some might smell out the cheat , fear was able to stifle all muttering . for , this beast fatten'd for destruction , having been very successeful in som encounters , had now assum'd what authority he pleased . behold , he that at leyden was but a botcher , is made king at munster ; john buckhold is invested with all the regalia of supreme authority . having hereupon immediately degraded the twelve counsellours of state , according to the wonted manner , he constitutes a viceroy , a controller of his houshold , four huissers or common criers , a noble man , a chancellour , cup bearers , carvers , and tasters , and master-builders , and disposed of all other officers as princes use to do . the kingly robes were some made of water'd stuffs , some made of silk , some of pure silk , some scarlet , some made more sumptuous with the gold of the ornaments which the sacriledge had furnished him with , so that it can hardly be expressed how artificially , how gallantly , how indeed emperor-like they were interwoven , being embroyder'd with gold , edg'd , scollop'd ; and dispos'd into divers colours , his spurs were gilt with gold , and he had two crownes of solid gold , and a golden scabbard . the king walking in these ornaments , two young men in a courtly and magnisicent habit , one of each side of him accompanied him , whereof one carried a naked sword , the handle whereof glister'd with gold and precious stones ; the other held up the holy bible , together with a golden crown shining with most excellent pearls . a certain jewel dazeling the beholders with the bright sparkling of a diamond , and whereat was hanged a golden apple ( to repesent as it were the world ) wounded through with two swords a cross , hang'd at his neck . his scepter was set forth with three golden incirculations . his nobles , who were eight and twenty in number , clad in green and ashie coloured garments , and having on white turbants , accompain'd him . the kings title was , the king of justice , the king of the new jerusalem . in the market place there was erected a throne for him of three steps high , which , when the king sate in it , was adorned with ornaments of more then attalick sumptuousnesse . some money he caused to be coin'd , whereon was this latin inscription , verbum caro factum quod habitat in nobis , that is , the word made flesh , which dwelleth in us . the city being all this while besieg'd , the prophets and the doctors published the book callid the restitutions , wherein they endeavoured to defend that monstrous ( i would say munstrous ) and seditious tumult , and all those almost infinite inconveniences that were consequent to it : but to prevent that poysonous hydra , a gospell antidote was prescrib'd . in the moneth of august , about s. bartholomew's day , john tuysentschreuer went sounding a trumpet through all the streets , thereby inviting all to the lords palace , where there being a sumptuous feast prepared , he magnificently entertained all that came . the king himself , the queen , and all the courtiers waited on them . at the last course he gave to every one a loaf of unleavened bread , saying , take ●at , and celebrate the lords death ; which done , the queen in like manner carried about the cup , by which ceremony , the supper of the lord , or rather that scean of pleasure , wantonness , and temerity , was certainly very frolickly celebrated . hunger being banished sa●e enough by this feast , the prophet tuysentschreuer goes up to preach , requiring of them obedience and complyance with the word of god , whereunto , ( with one head and as with one eye ) they unanimously consented . this obtained ; he acquaints them , that it was revealed from the heavenly father , that eight and twenty ecclesiasticks should depart out of this city , that should preach our doctrine throughout the world , whose names he recommended , and designed the way they were to take their journey , that is to say , six for osenburg , as many for warendorp , eight for soyst , ( for which quarter he himself was one ) and the rest for coesveld . these exercises performed , the king went to supper , and at the second watch of the night caused the fore-mentioned apostles to take their journey , giving unto each of them a peece of gold , with this charge , that neglecting their own safety , they should deposit it for a note and testimony of consequent condemnation wherever they bestowed it . they went their wayes , and never returned again , all having ( except one who escaped the gallows ) met with punishments corespondent to their sedition . for , being entred the fore-recommended cities , they in a direfull manner howl'd out their , kepent , repent , the axe is laid to the roat of the tree ; if you repent not and be rebaptised , woe be to you , ye are undone . but the severall senates of the said cities caused them to be apprehended , and brought before them to give an account of themselves ; who answered , that they were divine preachers of the gospel , called and sent by god , and that all those who would receive their doctrine must be baptized , and that all things were to be made common ; but to those that should neglect these things , they were to leave the golden coin of eternal damnation . nay further , that the gospel had not been preached as it should have been , since the times of christ and the apostles , but that there were two prophets , the progeny of truth it self , slipp'd down as it were from heaven , viz john of leyden , and david george born at delph in the low-countries , that there were many false prophets , that is to say , the pope of rome , and martin luther , of ●ittemburg , who was worse then the pope . being taken and cast into irons , they were asked , by what right or priviledge they had thrust out of the city so many godly people , together with their wives and children , not granting them any toleration for their religion , and had disinherited them of all they had ? to which they replied , that the time was now drawing nigh , wherein the meek and the humble should inherit the earth , and that they followed the example of the israelites , who with gods approbation ●ook away from the egyptians their fewels and ear-rings . moreover they hoasted that munster was well furnished with provisions , ammunition , and all things requisite to war , and that the king did daily expect great recruits out of holland , zealand and other places , by the means and assistance whereof , hee should bring the whole world under subjection ; and all wicked and refractory princes being subdued , should establish the peaceful reign of justice . about the same time another prophet fel down from heaven , one henry hilverse , a notable knave . this man acquainted the king that it was revealed to him from heaven , that god was pleased to bestow on him three most rich cities , amste●dam , daventry , & res●l , near lippa . upon this divine message , hee advises with his counsellours , whom he were best to send ●●ither to baptise them with his baptisme . in the first place he sends john campensis to amsterdam , to bee the chiefest man in that city , to whom he assigned for companion and co-apostle john matthias of mtellburg . these being sent into holland , issuing out of their holes , kept themselves among those of their own tribe , and infected most cities with the mortall infection of their doctrines . for at leyden about january in the year following , viz. one thousand five hundred thirty and five , very many by the perswasion of anabaptisme , and by the means of its contagious conventicles , were baptized into the baptisme of death . about the end of the year one thousand five hundred thirty and five , this kingly botcher sent into friezland a most subtle fellow , and one very well experienced in warlike affairs , whom he furnished with very great summs of money which had been raised out of the sacrileges , wherewith he should raise souldiers in zealand , and should raise the close siege which was then before the city . he being departed , managed his affairs very secretly with the assistance of those of his way , and at length , upon the last of march one thousand five hundred thirty and five , having gotten together some hundreds of souldiers he setupon the monastery , which also was called old munster , drove away the monks , and having plundered all , he there pitched his tents , out of hope thereby to strengthen his party by the accession of any that should come in . but george sckenck the then gouernor of friesland , having with as much expedition as could be got together certain expeditionary forces , besieges these tumultuary rioters , and gave an assault to the place , which though they avoided as much as might be by a gallant defence , yet had they their belly●ull of murther , blood , and dry blowes , so that they were all destroied , save threescore and two , who being brought to leoward were paid for their audacious folly with the wages of death . the ring-leader of this businesse , who was also the camp-m●ster , john geel escaping at this fight , flies to amsterdam , to prove the occasion of a greater slaughter . for many anabaptists being found in that place , whom john campensis had strangely fascinated , to engage them the more , they made promises to them of golden mountains , and talk'd highly of the magnificence and liberty of the anabaptists of munster , and cried up the new kingdome of justice upon earth ; for the report of the siege and defence of munster had smitten , and raised up the minds of a many ; in regard the city being closely besieged by a potent army , yet performed religious duties without any disturbance . hence came it to passe , that the liberty and liberality of the city was celebrated beyond all truth and belief , and there wanted not a many who desired to be embarqu'd in the same fortune . there was therefore at amsterdam a burgher called henry gotbelit , a strong man and warlikely given , who being bathed in the waters of anabaptisme , joyned his endeavours with those of john geel . for by divers pretences and crafty shifts ( which it is not worth our labour to repeat in this place ) they drew together six hundred anabaptists , with whose assistance their intention was to have possessed themselves of amsterdam , to enrich themselves , and to introduce the religion of those of munster . whereupon , upon the tenth day of may , the chiefest that were engaged in this conspiracy , having their rendezvous at the house of peter gael , broke out in the night time to the market place , wherin being more and more seconded by some of their own , they killed some of the watch , and some they kept prisoners . but the burghers making head , discharged some musquets at the anabaptists , who most unworthily , when their consuls were cruelly killed , entrusted their safety to their heels ; so that the others courages being heightened by this , they violently ran upon the deuterobaptists , and after a most bloody engagement put them to the worst , wherein john geel and gothe it were slain , james campensis was taken and put to death . now other tumults had already forced others from those places , the prevention whereof could not be possibly without the infinite inconveniences which fell upon the lionester sort . there wanted not also some clandestine vipers , who diguisedly waited for the restauration of the kingdome of israel ( as they called it ) whereof one being apprehended at leyden , and upon examination put to the question , confessed , that the king of the anabaptists , who was a hollander , sojourned then at utricht , and had not yet began his reign , but that according to the good hope they had conceived of him , and the confidence placed in him , they doubted not but he would undertake i● . having with what 's above , gotten out of this fellow , that some gold and silver vessels and other ornaments had by a most wicked surprise , been taken out of their churches by the means of their king , and who with his followers had attempted some most detestable villanies , it was dicover'd that there could no other be meant then david george . i crave thy pardon , courteous reader , if i acquaint thee , that it is not any thing the lesse for thy advantage , if , in the description of these rotten and contemptible rags and menstruous clouts of humanity , i have woven a longer web of discourse then thou didst expect . although john buckhold , and the other prophets had entertained the ignorant greedy vulgar with hopes of more then arabian wealth ; yet the citizens being daily more and more streightned by the siege , were accordingly brought into greater perplexities , and being brought low by the famine , which is the consummation of all misery , began , as it for the most part happens , upon the barking of the stomack , to snarle at one another , to grumble and complain , and to hold private consultations about the taking of their king , and by delivering him to the enemies , to better the terms of their composition . but the king , the stitcher and botcher of all deceit , being afraid of himself , chose out of all the people twelve men in whom he could place most confidence , and these he called his captains , assigning to them their severall guards and posts in the city , which they were to make good . this done , he promised the citizens that the close siege should be raised before easter , for he was confident that a certain emissary , whom he had sent into zeland , holland and friezland should return with such supplies , as by a furious and desperate assault made upon the besiegers should deliver the city : but hope it self was to him become hopelesse , nor could safety it self save him . to his captains as he called them , 't is incredible what wealth he promised , such as the fabulous riches of pactolus and the treasures of midas should not make good , with oceans of goods ( which happly must be paid them out of his dreams ) and that after the city were relieved , they should be dukes and governours of provinces , and particularly that john denker should be elector of saxony ? but behold , in the moneth of february , a sad face of things appeared , many being meerly starved to death , which occasioned , that one of his queens ( for he had gotten a many ) elza or elisabeth , who was distinguished by the name of the glove maker , had bin often heard to say , that the most cruel sword of famine came not from god , which though he had not heard himself , having caused her to be brought with his other wives into the market place , he struck of her head , kneeling in the midst of them , which done ; insulting ●…er her , he affirmed that she had carried her self as a common prostituted whore , and had been disobedient to him , while in the mean time her fellow queens sung this hymne , glory be to god on high , &c. easter day being now dawning : and no hope of deliverance shining on them , the common people with just reason were extreamly astonished ; nor , confide●ing how things were carried , could they have any longer patience . in this conjuncture of affairs , to elude the people , according to his wonted insinuations , he feigns himself to bee sick , and that after six daies , he would appear publickly in the market-place , but that as to the deliverance which they were to expect according to his intimation , it was to be understood after a spiritual manner , and so it should certainly come to passe for he affirmed for a most certain truth , that in a divine dream he saw himself riding on an asse , and bearing the unspeakable weight of fin , and that all that had followed him were freed from their sins . but indeed they may be fitly said to be like asses that rub one another ; or to the blinde leading about the blinde . it is a great affliction , it is a pennance to repeat the miseries and the wofull consequences of famine and want . there were a many who being impatient of so long hunger , revolted to the enemy , not so much out of hope of compassion , as to accelerate their own deaths ; not a few creeping upon all four , endeavored to get away ; for being weak and strengthlesse , they could hardly fasten their feet on the ground ; some falling down were content to give up the ghost in the place where they lay . there you might see a sad spectacle of foreheads and cheeks pale as ashes , temples fallen , eies sunk into hollownesse , sharp noses , ears shrivel'd , lips black and blew , throats slender as those of spiders ; to bee short , hippocratical faces , living carcases , and excellent shadows of men . they had sown certain kinds of seeds and pulses in the city which for a time served for high delicacies to the grumbling stomach ; but these being soon devoured by the hungry belly ; cats , dormice , and rats , which themselves were almost starv'd to anatomie , became ( doubtful ) entertainments . some were reduced to that inhumane necessity , that they fed on the flesh of the buried carcasses ; some drest the feet of sweaty woollen socks , some cut to pieces the parings of tanned leather , and mincing them with some other things , bak'd them and made them serve for bread . to this wee may add , that the most wickedly obstinate citizens were not yet convinced , that by crafty infinuations and specious suggestions they were brought into the noose , whom therefore he stil entertained with considerations of magnanimity , and the deliverance they were yet constantly to expect from god , but as for those who admitted any thoughts of running away , and endeavoured to avoyd their miseries , he peremptorily sends for , and like a publick robber taking away all that their industry had furnished them with , depart , says he , and be gone to the hereticks , and bid sarewel to this place . the king , though he had gotten at his house sufficient provision for two months , yet was he willing to imbrace all occasions wherby he might keep up the heart of the city which now continually barked for sustenance . to which end , behold a certain man named john longstrat , being a nobleman and privie counsellor to the king , and one of whom he was very confident , boasted that he would within fourteen days reliev this hunger-starv'd city , both with provisions and supplies of men , to the number of three hundred . by this pretence hee flyes to the enemy , and betrays the city to the bishop , for a certain summe of money with his life included . the eve of saint john was appointed for the execution of this design , about ten of the clock , at which time hee had obliged himself by oath to cause the gate called the crosse-gate to be opened . this commissary for provisions returning at length to the city , assured the king upon his saith and reputation , that the said recruits of provision and forces , should be ready within the time appointed . the day assigned being come , hee acquaints the guards that the promised forces , were to come in in the night ( which would bee starr-light enough ) that so they might receive them as friends . the gates are hereupon set open , and the enemies being admitted into the city as into another troy , upon the watch-word given , soon dispatch'd the guards and others that were neer . now could bee nothing heard for the cry of armes ; armes . the king and his courtiers being gotten into a body , drove back the enemie to the gates , which the citizens had by that time shut again : whereupon the rest of them that were without : were forced to set engines to force open the gates , which being once broken open , they flourished and set up their colours . the citizens stiffely resisted the first assault , and made a strong body in the market place , where the fight became very hot and bloody . the king himself , knipperdoling and krachting fell into the enemies hands ; but rotman seeing there was no possibility of safety , rushing where the enemy was thickest , was trod to pieces ; hee it seems placing all hopes of life in death . the anabaptists upon the taking of their king being quite cast down and discouraged , went and hid themselves in larders , kitchins , and other lurking holes . the city was most unmercifully plundered ; and to make a full search of it , there were ten days allotted . there was found by those of the kings guard at the royall palace as much provision as would maintain two hundred for two mouths . o goodman king , where is now the community of goods and provisions which your religion holds forth ? this sad fate did that city suffer in the year one thousand five hundred thirty and five . the third day after this sacking of the city , the king was carried to the castle of dulmen , three miles off . the bishop having caused the king to bee brought with all speed before him , said to him , o thou cast away of mankind , by what deplorable means hast thou corrupted and destroyed my people ! to which the king , with an undisturbed and proud deportment made answer thus ; o thou pope , have wee done thee any injury , by delivering into thy hands a most well-fortified and invincible city ? but if thou thinkest thy self any way injur'd or endammag'd by us , if thou wilt but hearken to our advice , thou shalt be easily enriched . the bishop hardly abstaining from laughing , desired him to discover that secret , to which hee replyed . cause an iron cage or basket to bee made , and cover it with leather , and carry me into all the parts of thy country to be seen for a shew , and if thou take but a penny of every one for the sight , assure thy self it will amount to more then all the charges of the war . the more eminent anabaptists wore about their necks a certain medall wherein was the effiges of their king , to which were added these ietters , d. w. f. whereby was signified , that the word was made flesh . but the king being carried up and down as a captive with his two associates , was shewn to divers captains and ecclesiasticks of the landgrave , which gave occasion of dispatation between them about some things , as of the kingdom of christ , and of magistracy , of justification , and of baptisme , of the lords supper , and of the incarnation of christ , as also of matrimony : in which disputation , they prevailed so far by the divine testimonies of holy writ , that they brought the king of the anabaptists , ( though not acknowledging the least satisfaction ) to a non-plus , who to obtain another disputation out of hopes of life ( as was said ) promised , that hee would reduce the anabap●ists which swarmed in holland , braband , england , and friezland ; and that he would do all honour to the magistrate . upon the twentieth of january one thousand five hund●ed thirty and six , he is brought with his companions to munster , where they were secured in severall prisons ; two days were spent in weeding and rooting up their errors . the king indeed confessed his offences , and cast himself wholly upon christ ; but his companions discover'd a vain obstinacy in the defence of their cause . the next day the king is brought to the place of execution , fasten'd to a stake , and is pulled piece-meal by two executioners , with pincers red hot out of the fire . the first pains he felt , hee suppressed , at the second hee implor'd gods mercy . for a whole hour was hee pull'd and delacerated with those instruments , and at length , to hasten somewhat his death , run ●hrough with a sword . his companions were dipped with the baptisme of the same punishment , which they suffered couragiously ; all whose carcasses put into iron baskets ; as anathema's of eternal example hang out of the tower ●f s. lambert . and this was the retiring room of the tragedy of munster . hermannus sutor , hic qui se christum , et qui se jactârat iesum , servasse haud potuit seque suisque fidem . the contents . herman the cobler professeth himself a prophet , &c. he is noted for drunkennesse ; the ceremonies hee used in anabaptisme , eppo his host discovers him and his followers to be cheats ; hermans wicked blasphemies , and his inconstancy in his opinions , his mothers temerity ; his sect convinced , and fall off from him ; by one drewjis of his sect he is handled roughly ; herman is taken by charles lord of golderland , &c. and is brought prisoner to groeninghen ; when questioned in his torments , he hardened himself ; and died miserably . that there were divers emissaries and ambassadours sent by the king of the anabaptists into holland , friezland , and other places to raise souldiers , you have understood out of the history of munster ; which souldiers having raised a tumult , caused the bishop to discamp from before munster ; and of this heard was there one nicholas alcmariensis , a worthy disciple of john mathias , who being dispatched into friezland for the foresaid negotiation , got together a promiscuous crue of anabaptists for● the relief of munster : but that it might appear how real and effectual he was in the businesse , they sent two of their fellow-soulders , antony cistarius , and a trades-man whose name was james , to munster . these two with some others having compassed their desires at a town called opt'zant , having shuffled together from all parts into a kind of a troop , made their rendezvous at the house of one eppo , about the twilight out of a pretence that they there should meet with some later intelligence , which they receiving from their ambassadors , out of very joy for those good tidings , absolutely broke forth into tumults . the bell-weather of these , was one herman [ an excellent vamper of all abomination ] a cobler of opt'zant , who professed himself a true prophet , and that he was the true messias , the redeemer and saviour of the world , nay , ( which causes horror to me in the relation ) that he was god the father . this fellow lay naked in his bed from the privy parts downward , and caused to be laid near him a hogs-head of strong beer , which he desired to drink in healths , which required no small draughts ; for he had gotten an excessive thirst , greater than that of any dog ; or that which the serpent dipsas causeth in those that are stung by it ; & all through his extraordinary bellowing and bawling . for , having for some dayes led a life like one of epicurus's herd ; that is to say , being drunk even to extravagance , hee with a stentors voice , and a horrid howling , among other things often repeated this ; kill , cu● the throats without any quarter , of all these monkes , all these popes , and all , especially our own magistrate ; repent , repent , for your deliverance is at hand , &c. in the mean time , hee , with the assistance of his fellow souldiers , denounced to certain proselytes of another religion , that peice was not to be rejected without incurring the dreadfull effects of the last judgment , which was now at hand , and these were such as both by sollicitations and promises , his main design was to inveigle into his deceit . moreover hee sent to redeem some of his followers out of a prison belonging to a certain nobleman called john of holten , with this charge , that they should kill with swords and pistols , whosoever should either by words or blows any way oppose them . when they returned with their delivered captives , they had dispatched a man ( it is thought hee was priest ) looking out at his door , with a musket , had he not turned his back and shut the door against them . the very same night , which was to bee the last , or wherein the world being to bee turned to deceitfull ashes , they expected it should by the means of this mediator and intercessor ( as was thought ) presently bee restored to liberty , there were a great many that embraced him where ever they could , with those complements which they should use to one , as without the earnest of whose baptisme , they were to expect the reward of disobedience , and eternall destruction to bee trrasured up for them . the sacrament of anabaptisme being according to these cerremonies celebrated , the fore-commended parent exhorted his children to prayer in these words , pray , pray , pray , pray , mouthing it out with an agitation of his lips , like that of our sto●ks ; which done , falling on their knees , they disgorged , a strang vicissitude of prayers and songs . the owner of that house , who was an inn-keeper , and withall lame , sate neer this great father , towards whom the father turning , said unto him , arise and walk . but eppo being still lame , and seeing that they were all deceived , and that by a sort of cheats wickedly stitch'd together , withdrew from them , and hid himself for fear in anothers man's house far from thence . these things being thus past , there rises up another , one cornelius * coemiteriensis ; who ran about after a most strange manner , and when the father [ of all execrable temerity ] lay sick in his bed , tormented with an imaginary , or at least such a disease as puzzelled the physicians to find any name for ; this man for an hour together uttered these and such expressions : o father , look upon thy people ; have mercie upon thy people : o let thy bowels , o father , be moved to compassion : &c. at which addresses the father being moved , he commanded a tankard of beer to be drawn out of the hogshead , which was now almost at the bottom , which he drinking to his son , drank till it came to the lees , which presenting to his son , hee said to him , drink up the holy ghost . the son like his father , and following his example , having taken it off , he flings out of bed , and falls upon those that stood by , and tossing the tankard from one hand to the other , ran up and down like a drunken man , and at length joined with the father [ who was sick of an imaginary extravagance , wherein he was much given to laugh ] in roaring out these word ; mortifie the flesh , mortifie the flesh ; the flesh is a divel , the flesh is a divel , mortifie the flesh ; &c. upon this there immediately starts up another , pursued ( as he thought ) by an extraordinary vision , and after their example , roared it out most furiously , which fellow ( as was reported ) was really advanced to some degrees ( if not the supreme ) of madnesse . a certain woman better than middle-aged , being frighted almost out of her wits , by the bawling and howling of this sonne , intreated that they would keep in the lunatick and possessed person , and that hee might be carried to bedlam . the common people being astonished at this impious , hellish crue ; were forced to pinne their faith upon their sleevs , as a truth confirmed by the lying of those prophetical mouthes . these ●elapses of fury and madnesse , having their intervalls of calmnesse and ●erenity , he admonished them , that all arms and weapons were to be laid aside , and that they should put off their guarded , edged and scolloped garments , and their wrought smocks and petticoats , nay that women ought to abstain wearing their neck-laces , and all things that were burdensome , intimating the manner wherein god that needs no arms , would fight their battels for them , and should discomfit all their enemies . the cowardly and inconstant vulgar being moved at the madnesse of this doctrine , disburthened their bodies of all manner of cloathing . a certain harmlesse man having cast away his knife , takes it up again , which his daughter looking asquint upon , rebuked her father ; to which he answered , be patient , be patient , daughter , we shall have emploiment hereafter for this to cut bread withall . o how was this girle once a childe , but how was the old man twice ! when the student of bedlam , the son , with his yelling , was exhorting the bewitched people to singing and praier , and to resist the divel , the father presently with his own son , in whom he was well pleased , taught them , that the time of praier being done , and that the time of war coming on , they must take up the instruments of war ; whereupon he gets up into a pulpit , and declared himself to the people who stood all about him , with a loud voice , that he was the sonne of god , and cried out that he was born a true mediatour unto them , &c. his mother being there present , they asked her whether she was the mother of the son of god ? to which between force ●nd fear , she at length answered , though innocently , that shee was . this gave occasion to many to bee diffident , and to waver in the faith received ; insomuch that a certain man discovering his dissatisfaction , and speaking ill of the sonne , the said sonne taking hold of him , flings him into a common shore , saying unto him , now art thou deservedly cast into hell : from whence the said man coming out all dirt , diverse others unanimously acknowledged that they were defiled and bespattered with the same filthiness and abomination . and hence rise up that impious report of the sonne of god , that hee was thrust out of doors , which that ambassadour antony , being returned from munster , having heard took it in mighty indignation , and by force breaking into the house , would have vindicated those holy expressions . the father and son , were much against it that any should come in ; yet hee , though the people flocking about him made some opposition , bitterly rebuking that blasphemous wretch , broke forth into these words , thou villanous and contagious burthen of the earth ; what madness , what extravagance hath bes●tted thee without fear of divine judgement , to assume to thy self the title of the son of god ? which spoken , swelling up with the leaven of wrath , he ca●●s himself upon the ground , whereupon the people ran violently upon him , knocking , beating , and kicking him like a foot-ball ; at last being well loaden with blows hee rises , and breaking through the presse of the people , he got away and escaped . in his way hee comes to a hole in the ice broken for the cattle to drinke , twenty foot over , which hee made a shift to get over , as is said , with the help of the devill ; for many that would have found him out , lost their labour . all being now convinced that they were abused , for fear of the most noble charles lord of gelderland , the viceroy of groningen ( called also king of gelderland ) who was sent to appease that tumult , got secretly away . but before they were all departed , one of them called drewjis ( whom they called doctor nucius ) out of pure spight , laying hold of the father , being sick in his bed , thundred to him in these words ; thou villain , thou fruit and groanings of the gallows , where , where is now your governing , and authority ? now the time of prayers is past , &c. having dragg'd him out of bed by head and shoulders , they with some assistance , bound him with cords ; and delivered him to the custody of the mistresse of the house to bee safely kept till night . in the mean time the valiant charles surrounds the house with his men , and besieged it , which the woman seeing , cut the co●ds . being loose , hee takes a trident fork wherewith assaulting them as with a sword , he put to flight forty men through other houses , whom he hastily pursuing , was unawares surprised by others , and brought to groningen . but behold the miracle ! to that very place , where this naked [ of all truth ] messias with his fork● scepter , and this shoomaker of cobler beyond his last , had with his trident put so many to flight , did the water-dreading anabaptists resort and ●ender unto god infinite thanks for the 〈◊〉 us privilages thereof . of this lewd messias , who was ●ow well acquainted with the fetters of groningen , it was asked in his torments , whether those routs ( of whom he was ring-leader ) were out of pretence of sanctity raised to rob the publick treasuries , ( as many thought ) which yet ( as some say ) was denied . for , he hardening himself against even the most cruel torments could be inflicted on him , still cried out ; destroy , destroy , destroy monks , fo●●s , kill all the magistrates , and particularly our own . in the midst of these bawlings being miserably worried ou● , he gave up the ghost . theodorus sartor . quis qu●●●o hic sartor nudus qui deperit ? ille quî rogo ●●ruentis nomine dignus ●●at ? the contents . theodor the botcher turns adamite , hee affirms strange things , his blasphemy i● forgiving of sins , he burns his cloaths , &c. and causeth his , companions to do the like . he and his rabble go naked through amsterdam in the dead of night , denouncing their woes , &c. and terrifie the people . they are taken and imprisoned by the burghers , but continue shamelesse . may 5. 1535. they are put to death ; some of their last words . in the year of our lord one thousand five hundred thirty and five , upon the third of februay at amsterdam , in a street called salar street , at the house of john si●●id a cloth worker , who at that time was gone into austria about some businesse , there met seven men anabaptists , and five women of the same perswasion , of which flock , the bell-weather was theodorus sartor , who rapt into a strange enthusiasme and extasie , stretching himself upon the ground stark-naked upon his back before his brethren and sisters , seemed to pray unto god with a certain religious dread and horrour . having ended his prayers , he affirmed that he had beheld god with his eyes in the excessive and ineffable riches of his glory , and that he had had communication with him , both in heaven and in hell , and that the day of his judgment was at hand . after which he said to one of his companions , thou art decreed to eternal damnation , and shalt be cast into the bottomless pit ; at which the other crying out , the lord god of mercy have compassion on me ; the prophet said to him , be of good chear , now art thou the sonne of god , thy sins are forgiven thee . upon the eleventh day of february , the foresaid year , the persons aforementioned , unknown to their husbands , repaired to the same aug●●●'s stable . this prophet , or seer , having entertained them with a sermon of three or four hours long , casts a helmet , a brest plate , a sword , and other armes , together with all his clothes into the fire , being thus stark naked , and his companions who yet had their cloaths , being uncovered , he peremptorily commanded them to do the like , as being such as must be as safe as himself . he further affirmed , that the children of god ought to look upon all things of this world with contempt and indignation . and since truth , which is most glorious in her nakednesse , will not admit the deformity of any earthly disguise whatsoever , he affirmed that they ought in all things to conform themselves to that example of truth and justice . a great many hearing these things having quite cashier'd all shame , offered up their shirts , smocks , and petricoats , and whatsoever favoured of earth , as a burnt-offering unto god . the mistresse of the house being awaken by the stink which these cloaths made in burning , and going up into the upper chambers , she findes this deplorable representation of immodesty and impudence ; but the power and influence of propheticall integrity brought the woman to that passe , that she was drawn in to wallow in the same mire of unshamefac'dnesse , whom therefore he advised to continue alwayes a constant adherer to the unblameable truth . going out of the house in this posture , about three of the clock , the other men and women marched barefoot after him , crying out with a horrid voyce , woe , woe , woe , the heavy wrath of god , the heavy wrath of god , &c. in this fanatick errour did this hypocondriack rabble run about the streets , making such a horrid noise , that all amsterdam seemed to shake and tremble at it , as if it had been assaulted by a publick enemy . the burghers not having the least hint of such a strange and unlook'd for accident , ( for this furious action happen'd in the dead of night ) took up arms ; and getting these people ( lost to all shame and modesty ) up to the palace , ●●apt them into prison . being so disposed of , they would owne no thoughts of shame or chastity , but would justifie their most white and naked truth . in the mean time the fire being smelt , they broke into the house where it was , and wondring at their casting off their cloathes into the fire , which had since reached the bed , they made a shift to quench it . but the other distracted and mad people , such as deserved to be sent to their kindred , the savages and heathens , inconvincibly persisted in their pestiferous opinion , and so upon the fifth of may the same year , they expiated their wicked impieties by their death . ones farewell saying , was , praise the lord incessantly ! anothers was , o god revenge thou these our sufferings ! others cried out , woe , woe , shut thine eyes ! david geore . hereti●● plures visi hic , cui visus ego , illi pluribus in visusque haeresiarcha fui . the contents . david george , the miracle of the anabaptists . at basill he pretends to have been banished his countrey for the gospels sake ; with his specious pretenses he gaines the freedome of the city for him and his . his character . his riches . he with his sect enact three things . his sonne in law , doubting his new riligion , is by him questioned ; and upon his answer excommunicated . his wifes death . he had formerly voted himself immortall , yet aug. 2. 1556. he died &c. his death troubled his disciples . his doctrine questioned by the magistrates , eleven of the sectaries secured . xi . articles extracted out of the writings of david george . some of the imprisoned sectaries acknowledged david george to have been the cause of the tumults in the lower parts of germany , but dis-owned his doctrine . conditions whereupon the imprisoned are set at liberty . the senate vote the doctrine of d. g. impious , and declare him unworthy of christian burial , and that his body and books should be burned , which was accordingly affected . david george , a man born at delph in holland , the miracle of the anabaptisticall religion , having lived in the lower provinces forty years , did in the year one thousand five hundred forty and four , with some of his kindred and companions , in the beginning of aprill , begin his journey for basill , in the state and condition of which place , he had before very diligently enquired . whereof having sufficiently informed himself , he pretended that he had been driven out of his countrey for the gospels sake , and that he had been hitherto tost both on the land and sea of the miseries of this world ; and therefore he humbly intreated , that now at length he might be received into some place of rest . some being by the representation of his misfortunes and his teares , melted into compassion towards him , he presum'd to intreat the magistrate , that in tendernesse to christ and his holy gospel , he might be made capable of the priviledges of the city , which if it were granted , he bid them be confident of gods most particular protection towards their city , and that for the preservation of it , he engaged for him and his , that they should be ready to lay down their lives . the magistrates being moved with these just remonstrances and desires received the viper as a citizen , gave him the right hand of welcome and fellowship , and made him and his free of the city . what should the magistrate do ? behold , he hath to do with a man of a grave countenance , free in his behaviour , having a very long beard and that yellowish , sky-coloured and sparkling eyes , milde and affable in the midst of his gravity , neat in his apparel ; finally one that seemed to have in him all the ingredients of honesty , modesty and truth ; to be short , one , if you examine his countenance , carriage , discourse , and the cause he is embarqu'd in , all things without him are within the limits of mediocrity and modesty ; if you look within him , he is nothing but deceit , fraud , and dissimulation ; in a word , an ingenuous anabaptist . having already felt the pulses of the senate and divers of the citizens , comming with his whole family to basill , he and his are entertained by a certain citizen . having nested a while in basill , he purchased certain houses in the city , as also a farm in the countrey and some other things thereto appertenant , married his children , and by his good offices procured to himself many friends . for , as long as he remained at basill , he so much studied religion , was so great an alms-giver , and gave himself so much to other exercises of devotion , that suspicion it self had not what to say against him . by these cunning insinuations ( this is beyond a young fox , and smells more of the lybian wilde beast ) many being surprised , came easily over to his party , so that he arrived to that esteem and reputation in matters of religion , he pleased himself . this perswasion thus craftily gotten , was heightened by his great wealth ( and his riches in jewels , whereof he brought some with him , some were daily brought from other places in the low-countries ) & was yet further encreased , by his sumptuous and rich plate and houshold-stuffe , which though they were gorgeous and majestical , yet were they not made to look beyond sobriety , cleanlinesse and mediocrity . these people sojourning thus in common houses , desiring as yet to suppresse the pernicious infection of their sect , very religiously enacted three things : first , that no man should profane or speak idly of the name of david george . secondly , that no man should rashly or unadvisedly divulge any thing concerning his country , or manner of life ; whence it was that some thought him to be a person of some quality ; some , that he was some very rich factor or merchant , whence it came that he was so excessively rich ; others had other imaginary opinions and conceits of him , for as much as they themselves being strangers , lived in a country where they could not be ascertained of any thing : thirdly , he was very cautious that none of the basileans should be carelesly admitted into his acquaintance , society or correspondence , imitating therein the policie of the ferrets and weesels , which ( as is reported ) never assault any bird of supremacy , in the places where they frequent . and thus did he by letters , writings and emissaries , plant and water the venemous seed of his sect through the lower provinces , yet kept the waies by which he wrought unsuspected and undiscovered . for , although he had lived two years among them , there was not so much as one man infected ; or had privately caught the itch of his religion . what transcendent mysteries are these ! this man , though he feared neither deceit nor treachery from strangers , yet the fire kindled out of the deceitful embers of his own houshold . for , behold ; one of his own retinue doubting of the certainty of the new religion , he caused him to be brought before him , and asked him whether he did not acknowledge him to be the true david sent from heaven upon earth , and to bee the horn , redeemer , and builder up of the tabernacle of israel ? to which the other answered roundly and peremptorily , that the restauration of the kingdome of israel and other things foretold by the prophets were fulfilled in christ , the true messias , and that consequently there was no other to be exspected . which he hearing , not without great astonishment , did with much commotion of mind and bitter menaces thrust him , though his son in law , out of doors , and [ which is heavie to think on ] excommunicated him . these things being thus managed , david's wife fell sick of a disease ( which afterwards visited him and many more ) that dispatch'd her into the other world . what a miracle is this ! he that declared himself to be greater than christ , and voted himself immortal ( upon the second of august , one thousand five hundred fifty and six ) did die the death , and was honourably buried according to the ceremonies of the parish church , and his funerals were celebrated in the sight of his sonnes and daughters , sonnes in law and daughters in law , servant-men and maides , and a great conflux of citizens . this sad calamity of his death extreamely troubled and tormented the minds of his diciples , as a thing that very much thwarted their hopes of his promised immortality , although he had foretold that he would rise again in three yeares , and would bring all those things to passe which he had promised while he was alive . upon the death of this man , a great many with resolute mindes made it their businesse not onely to bring his doctrine into suspicion , but into utter disesteem , unanimously resolving to embrace whatever was good , sound , and consonant to christian doctrine , and reject the rest as hereticall . in the mean time , the report beat up and downe , both among the people , and the more learned , that this man of ingenuity , and authour of private doctrines , this very david george , was a contagion and a destructive pestilence , a devoted incendiary of a most dangerous sect , that ( though most falsely ) hee was born a king , and that hee accounted himself the true messias . the magistrate being extreamely moved at these things , not deferring his zeale any longer when the glory of god and his sonne jesus christ was so much concerned , caused all those who were conceived to be infected with the pestilence of that religion to be brought to the palace , to whom hee rubbed over what things had been transacted some yeares before ; that is to say , acquainted them , how that they had been banished their countrey upon the account of the gospell , and upon their humble addresses received into the protection , and made capable of the privileges of the city , &c. but that it had appeared since , that they had fled for refuge to basill , not for the propagation of the gospel , but for that of the leaven of the sacrilegious david , though by all outward appearance , they had hitherto been accounted favourers and professors of the true religion in the first place therefore the senate being desirous to know the truth , required to have his true proper name ; for , some have thought ( as some authours deliver ) , that his name was john burges . secondly , whether hee had privately or publickly dispersed his religion , and what tenets hee held . to which some made answer unanimously , that they had left their countrey for the true religions sake , nor did they acknowledge themselves any other than the professors and practisers of the lawfull religion . that for his name , hee had not called himself by any other than his own proper name ; and for his doctrine , they had acknowledged none either privately or publickly , save what hee had privately sometimes suggested , which was not disconsonant to the publick . the magistrate perceiving this obstinacy of mind caused eleven of them , the better to discover the reall truth , to bee secured , and more narrowly looked to . in the mean time , the senate leaving no stone unmoved in this businesse , appointed some to bring forth into publick view some books and writings of david , which should give no small light in the businesse , and these the magistrate recommended to men of the greatest learning to bee read over and examined with the greatest care possible , that so whatsoever they should meet with repugnant to the truth , they should extract , and give him an account thereof . those who had this charge put upon them , presented the senate with this extract of articles out of his writings . 1. that all the doctrine delivered by moses , the prophets , or by jesus christ himself and his apostles , was not sufficient to salvation , but dress'd up and set forth for young men , and children , to keep them within decency and duty ; but that the doctrine of david george was perfect , entire , and most sufficient for the o●taining of salvation . 2. he affirmed that he was christ and the messias , the well-beloved son of the father in whom he was well pleased , not born of blood , nor of the flesh , nor of the lust of man , but of the holy ghost and the spirit of christ , who vanishing hence long since according to the flesh , and deposited hitherto in some place unknown to the saints ; was now at length reinsused from heaven into david george . 3. hee held that hee onely was to bee worshipped , as who should bring out the house of israel , and the true ( that is , the professors of his doctrine ) tribe of levi , and the tabernacle of the lord , not through miseries , sufferings , crosses , as the messias of the jews did , but with all meekness , love , and mercy in the spirit of christ granted unto him from the father which is in heaven . 4. hee approved himself to be invosted with the authority of saving , or condemning , binding , and loosing , and that at the last day he should judge the twelve tribes of israel . 5. hee further maintained , that jesus christ was sent from the father to take flesh upon him ; for this reason at least , that by his doctrine and the use of his sacraments , men , being as it were no better then children , and uncapable of receiving the true doctrine , might be kept within duty till the coming of david george , who should advance a doctrine that should bee most perfect and most effectuall , should smooth out mankind , and should consummate the knowledge of god and of his son , and what ever hath been said of him . 6. but hee further affirmed , that these things should not come to pass according to humane ceremonies , but after a spirituall dispensation , and after such a manner as had not 〈◊〉 ●eard of , which yet none should be able to discern or comprehend , but such as were worthy disciples of david george . 7. to make good and prove all th●se things , he wrested and mis-interpreted many places of the holy scripture , as if christ and the apostles , whom he commends , had intimated not themselves , nor any other ecclesiasticall times , save only the coming of david george . 8. and thence it was that hee argued thus : if the doctrine of christ and his apostles bee most true and most effectuall for the obtaining of salvation ; the church which they had by their doctrine built up and confirmed , ●ould not possibly have been broken to pieces , for ( as christ himself testisieth ) against the true church , the gates of hell shall not be able to prevaile : but that building of christ and his apostles is overturned and pulled down to the very foundation by antichrist , as may be evidently seen in the papacy , according to the testimony of the same christ ; it therefore necessarily followes , that the doctrine of the apostles is imperfect and interrupted : whence he concluded his own doctrine and saith to be the onely solid and sufficient doctrine . 9. moreover he maintained himself to be greater than john baptist , yea then all the saints that had gone before him , for that the least in the kingdome of god ( according to the suffrage of truth it self ) is greater than john . but he said david george was one whose kingdome was heavenly and most perfect ; whence he makes himself not only greater than john , but also sets himself above christ , since that he was born of fl●sh , and that himself was born of the spirit according to a heavenly manner . 10. he further allowed with christ , that all sinnes committed against god the father , and against the son may be forgiven , but those that are committed against the holy ghost , that is to say against david george , shall be forgiven neither in this world , nor in the world to come ; by which meanes it is apparant that he conceiv'd himself greater and higher than christ , admitting christs own testimony . 11. he declared polygamy to be free and lawfull for all , even for those that are regenerated by the spirit of david george . these hends [ without any brains ] did the magistrate deliver to be carried to some that were in the prison , to fish out what confession they would make , who besides these , being provoked and challenged by a number of questions , answered at last , that this ( davus ) i would say david george , was the same who had embroyled the lower parts of germany with so many tumults & sedition , but as that to that doctrine and the fore-recited articles , they unanimously affirmed that they had never heard nor read of any such things . neverthelesse they were to acknowledge the doctrine expressed in those articles , to be pestiferous , execrable , and derived not from heaven , but from hell , and that it was heretical , and to be banished with an eternal anathe●a ; and withall , as men miserably seduced , yet desiring for the time to come , to be reduced into the right way , they were , with good reason , to implore forgiveness . among those that were in close prison , there was one formerly of david's greatest confidents , who confessed , that indeed he had been infected with that religion , but that since by the illumination of the grace of god , he discovered and detested the errors springing from it , and avoided them as he would do a cockatrice . but there were others who were civilly acquainted with this man , who denied that they had known any such thing by him , and cried out against the fore-mentioned articles as impious and blasphemous . these passages , the judges appointed by the magistrate , gave him an account of , who perceiving that some that were in custody were not so extravagant , but that they had some remainders of discretion left , he sent to them some learned and able preachers of the word , who , having diligently weeded out the tares of their errors , should sow into their hearts the saving seed of true faith . those who were sent , ●i●ting them with all the humanity , mildnesse , meeknesse and charity possible , could scrue nothing out of them , more than what the judges who had been emploied before , had done . in the mean time a report was spread about the city , that it was not david george , not any eminent person of any other name that had been buried , but that a meer swine , calf , hee-goat ( haply an asse ) had been carried out and buried , and that the dead carkasse embalmed with the strongest spices , was worshipped and adored with great devotion and religion . but this was but a report , and was not true . those that were in custody abhorring that doctrine , as unheard of , and such as deserved to be anathematized , and desiring to renew their acquaintance with discretion and their sences , are delivered out of those habitations of iron which they had kept possession of for two months , upon these conditions , that none should make any purchases either within or near the city , without the knowledge and consent of the magistrate : that they shall not entertain any coming out of the lower provinces , though of their kindred , but at publick houses or inns. that the printed books and writings that were translated into the dutch language , shall be brought into the palace . that there should be nothing published that were disconsonant to christian doctrine . that children should be educated according to incorrupt manners . that they should not make such promiscuous marriages among themselvs as they did . that they should take no dutch into their families . that they should submit to amercements and pecuniary mulcts [ if any were inflicted on them ] as citizens ought to do . that upon a day assigned , they should in the parish church , in the presence of the whole congregation , make a publick abjuration of the said religion , and condemn and anathematize the whole sect of it . that they should hold no friendship or correspondence with any that shall persist in that religion . to these conditions did they promise to subscribe , with all the reverence and gratitude they could possibly expresse . these things being thus managed , the most renowned senate , returning afresh to the business of the arch heretick , passed these votes . viz. that the doctrine of david george , upon mature examination thereof , was found impious and derogatory to the divine majestie ; that the printed books , and whatsoever may have seen the light , should have the second light of the fire ; that he as the most infamous promoter of that execrable sect , and a most horrid blasphemer against god and christ , should not be accounted worthy christian burial . that he should be taken up out of his grave by the common hangman , and together with his books and all his writings , and his manuscripts should , according to the ecclefiastical canons , be burnt in a solemn place . according to the said judgment , the carkasse being digged up , was , with all his writings , whereof the greatest part was that ( truly ) miraculous book , together with his effigies brought by the hangman to the place of execution , where having opened the dire●ul coffin , he being found not much disfigured , nay so little , that hee was known by diverse ( hee being covered with a watered garment , having about him a most white sheet , a very clean pillow under his he●d , his yellowish beard rendring him yet graceful ; to be short , having a silk cap on , under which was a piece of red cloth , and adorned with a garland of rosemary ) was set up publickly to be seen , and in the third year after his death , was with his writings consecrated to vulcan , that is to say , burned . michael servetus . omnia quum portenta voces hominemque deumque infandi serves nominis opprobium ! the contents . servetus his converse with mahumetans and jewes . he disguiseth his monstrous opinions with the name of christian reformation . the place of his birth . at the 24 year of his age , he boasted himself the onely teacher and seer of the world . he in●eighed against the deity of christ . oecolampadius confutes his blasphemies , and causeth him to be thrust out of the church of basil . servetus held but one person in the godhead to be worshipped , &c. he held the holy ghost to be nature . his horrid blasphemy . he would reconcile the turkish alcoran to . christian religion . he declares himself prince of the anabaptists . at geneva , calvin faithfully reproves servetus , but he continues obstinate . anno 1553 , by the decrees of several senates , he was burned . michael servetus , like another simon magus , having conversed long among the mahumetans and the jewes , and being excellently well furnished with their imaginous opinions , begat both out of divinity ; and the general treasury of christian religion , a monstrous issue of opinions , with the coition of what he had received from the extravagant mahumelans , and thalmudists , upon which b●at this instrument of satan , must needs bestow the disguised name of christian reformation . from this cocks egge were bred these cockatrices , gonesus , gribaldus , blandratta , gentilis , alciatus , simanus , casanovius , menno , and diverse other anabaptistical vipers , who extreamly increased the restless waves of sects and opinions . we , recommending the rest to their proper place , hell , will take a more particular survey of one religion , and by the horridnesse of that guesse at the others . this servetus was a spaniard , born in the kingdom of arragon , most unworthy both of his name and nation . being wrapt into a most incredible enthusiasme , he boldly lays his unwash'd hands upon holy divinity ; and at the four and twentieth year of his age , boasted himself to be the onely teacher and seer of the world , making it his main design , and that by his impious and worthlesse writings , to inveigh against the deity of the son of god ; with which writings being sufficiently furnished , and withall enflamed with hopes of raising no ordinary tumults , hee bestirrs himself winde and tide for basil ; but occolampadius , an ecclesiastical doctor , learnedly ▪ before a full senate confuted the blasphemies of this man , and by the publick authority he had , caused him as a poisonous blasphemer to be thrust out of the church of basil . from thence he went to venice , where , in regard the venetians had been timely forewarned of him by the wise and learned melancthon , he made no harvest of his incredible blasphemies , nor indeed was he permitted seed-time for them . religion is no where safe ! but having consulted with the arch-hereticks his predecessors , and being bird-lim'd , he held that there was but one person in the god-head to be worshipped and acknowledged , which was revealed to mankind sometimes under one notion , sometimes under another , and that it was thus , that those notions of father , son , and holy ghost , were to be understood in the scriptures . nay , with the same line of his blasphemous mouth , he affirmed that our saviour jesus christ according to his humane nature , was not the sonne of god ; nor coeternall with the father . the holy ghost he granted to be nothing but that influence by which all things are moved , which is called nature . he most impiously ironicall , affirmed that to understand the word person , we must referre our selves to comedies . but the most horrid blasphemy of all , was , when by the suggestion of satan , he imagined , that the most glorious and ever to be worshipped and adored trinity ( who doth not tremble at it ? ) was most fitly compared to cerberus the porter of hell-gate . but he stayed not here ; no , he thought it should be accounted nothing but a diabolicall phantasme , the laughing-stock of satan , and the monsterous ●eryon , whom the poets by some strange mystery of philosophy feigned to have three bodies . o incredible , and unheard of subtilty of blasphemy ! the most glorious name of the most blessed trinity is grown so odious to this man , that he would personate ( being the greatest that ever was ) all the atheists that have quarrelled with that name . moreover he maintained , that taking but away the onely article of the trinity , the turkish alcoran might be easily reconciled to the christian religion ; and that by the joyning together of these two , a great impediment would be removed ; yea , that the pertinacious asserting of that article had enraged to madnesse whole countries and provinces . this abomination of god and men ▪ held that the prophet moses , that great servant of god , and faithfull ●…ard of the lords house , that prince and captain generall of the people of israel , one so much in favour with god that he was admitted to speak to him face to face , was to be accounted no other than an imposter . he accounted the patriarch abraham and his seed , too much given to revenge , and that he was most unjust and most malicious to his enemy . the most glorious church of israel , ( 't is the swine that loves the mire ) he esteemed no better than a hogge-sty ; and declared himself a sworn prince of the anabaptistical generation . but , keep o●● , and approach not , o all ye other heresies and hydra's of opinions of this one man , furies not capable of expiation ! being arrived at geneva , and being forbidden to spue out and spatter his pestiferous blasphemies , he continued in hostility against all sharp , but wholesome admonitions : which calvin , that famous minister of the church perceiving , being desirous to discharge the duty of a soul saving pastor , went friendly to servetus , in hopes to deliver him out of his most impious errors and horrible heresie , and so to redeem him out of the jawes of hell , and faithfully reproved him . but he being dazzled with the brightnesse of truth , and overcome , returned nothing to calvin ( so well deserving of him ) but an intolerable obstinacie , and inconvincible recapitulation of his blasphemies , whence it came to passe , that by the just and prudent decree of the senates of bernen , zuring , basil , and scasfuse , and by the righteous condemnation of the eternal god , in the moneth of december in the year one thousand five hundred fifty and three , ( or as sleidan hath it , in october ) he was ( how great is the obstinacy of blasphemy ! ) being at that time ecstarically hardened and intoxicated , consecrated to the avenging flames . arrius . divisit trini qui form●●●uminis ecce ! dividitur membris , visceribusque suis the contents . arrianisme its increase , an●● 323. the general council at nice , anno 325. called as a remedy against it , but without successe . the arrians mis-interpret that place , john 10. 30. concerning the father and the son . they acknowledged one onely god in a jud●icall sense . they deny the trinity arrius his wretched death , anno 336. about the year of the incarnation of the son of god , three hundred twenty and three , hell was deliver'd of a certain priest at alexandria named arrius , a man subtle beyond expression , the trumpet of eloquence , one that seemed to have been cut out for all honesty and elegance , who yet , with the poison of his herefie , and the 〈◊〉 cups of his distructive doctrine , did in the time of silvester bishop of rome , and the emperour constantine , draw in a manner all christendome to his opinion , and so corrupted some , even great nations in the east , that except a few bishops who stood to the true doctrine , none appeared against him . to remedy this disease , at nice in bithynia , in the year three hundred twenty and five , a generall councill was called ; but to no purpose ; for the contagious stocks of arrianisme were deeply rooted , so that they were become such ravening wolves among the flock of christ , that all that would not embrace their beliefe , were to expect banishment or death . these imagined that the sonne was not of an equall nature and coeternall with the father , but that he was onely agreeing and concurring with his father ; to confirm which , they alledged that place of john 10. 30. which sayes , i and the father are one ; and though they called the sonne a great god , yet they denied , that he was a living and true god , and co-essential with the father . they boasted that they were ready to answer all objections , and acknowledged one onely god , in a judaical sense . to that , i and the father are one , they were used to retort thus , doth the unity in this place denote co-essencie ? it most therefore follow , that it is as much , where the apostle sayes , 1 cor. 3. 8. he that planteth and he that watereth , are one . they accounted the word trinity a laughing-stock and a fiction ; that the sonne of god was a creature , and that the holy ghost , was both born of christ , and conceived and begotten of the virgin mary . all that were baptized in the name of the blessed trinity , they baptized again . they denied that christ was the sonne of god according to the spirit and the godhead ; they denied god his own son . while arrius was disburthening himself of the necessities of nature , his bowels came forth , and with them his life . and so he who was the successor of those arch-hereticks , artemon ( who lived about the year of our lord two hundred ) and paulus samosatenus ( who lived about two hundred forty one ) came to a miserable death , in the year three hundred thirty six . see athanasius , epiphanius , hilarius , hierom , augustine , ambrose , basill , theoderet , eusebius , socrates , nicephorus , sozomen , and other ecclesiasticall writers , who have treated of these things more at large . mamomet . adsum ingens mahometes ●go , lachrymabile mundi prodigium , omnigeni dux , et origo mali . the contents . mamomet characterized . he made a laughing-stock of the trinity . he agreed with carpocrates , and other hereticks . he renewed circumcision , and to indulge his disciples , he allowed them polygamy , &c. his iron tombe at mecca . in the year six hundred twenty two , honorius the fift being bishop of rome , and heraclius caesar emperour of the east , a transcendent arch-heretick called mahomet , exchanged hell for earth ; a prephet , by nation an arabian , but most deprav'd and corrupt . he had sometimes been a merchant extremely rich , and withall very subtle ; to be short , he was a serious professor of diabolical arts , a most ungodly instrument of satan , the viceroy of antichrist , or his sworne fore-runner . this man endeavoured to exoll his brother arrius , with such praises as are correspondent to his heaven . he also with sabellio renewed the laughing-stock of the trinity . he with arrius and eunomius , most fervently and contumeliously held that christ , was onely a man , and that he was onely called god , secundum dici , that is to say , according to a certain manner of speaking . he agrees with carpocrates who denied that christ was a god and a prophet . this is also he that shakes hands with cerdonus who utterly abjur'd the godhead of the sonne , or that he was co-substantial with father . he imagined with the manichees , that it was not christ , but some other that was sastened to the crosse . with the donatists , he contemned the purest sacraments of the church . with the most impure origen he affirmes that the devils shall be eternally saved according to an humane , yet an invisible manner . he with cerinthus placed eternal felicity in the lust of the flesh . circumcision , that was long since abolished and antiquated , he renewed . upon his dicisiples he bestowed the priviledges , of polygamy , concu●ines and divorce , as moses had done ; and with such dreames and an imaginary phrenly was the miserable wretch ever troubled . this man when he dyed was put into an iron tombe at mecca , which by the strength of l●adstones , being as it were in the middle and centre of an arched edifice , hangs up to the astonishment of the beholders , by which means the miraculous sanctity of this prophet is greatly celebrated . all the dominions of the creat turk , professe this mans saith , whom they acquiesce in as a miracle . balthazar hubmor . ille ego qui vndarum mysteriasacra negavi igne cremor●fato disce cavere meo . the contents . hubmor a patron of anabaptisme . he damned usury . hee brought in a worship to the virgin mary , &c. the senate of suring by a council reduced him . he renounced the heads of his former doctrine . himself or sect still active . hee is taken and imprisoned at vienna in austria . he and his wise both burned . doctor balthazar hubmor of friburg , a man excellently well learned , another roscius in his affairs , a clergy man at ingolstade , was the third eminent patron of anabaptisme , and a sworn promoter of that worthy sect. this man in his sermons at regenburgh , inveighed so bitterly and so implacably against the usury of the jewes , that he banished it even to eternal damnation ; he brought in a certain religious worship to be done to the virgin mary , and some superstitious vowes , and was the cause of great tumults and insurrections , and had built up his doctrine upon very firm and solid foundations , until the most wise senate of suring applied the universal medicine of a council to these things , and assigned a day to reduce and root out that sect , which was the seventeenth of january , in the year one thousand five hundred twenty five , wherein the senate being present , and 〈◊〉 great presence of people , the most learned zwin●lius , and other sonns of learning , opposed this our doctor , by whom , and the strength of truth , after most ●ot and serious debating on both sides , he ingenuously consessed himself to be overcome . the heads of the doctrine , which he before defended , and whereof he afterwards made his abrenunciation , were these : that 〈◊〉 detested the cheat , and humane invention of ana●aptisme ; he affirmed that the spirit both before the fall and after was uncorrupt and unblameable , and that it never dies in sin ; whence it should follow , that not it , but the flesh , is deprived of liberty ; he also acknowledged that the spirit overcomes and triumphs over the flesh . though his recantation was made , and divers rebaptized into their better sences , yet the torrents of this sect neither stood still , nor were dried up , but increased in switzerland into a deluge , which overturned almost all . this man escaping the endeavours of spies , and shunning the halter , was at length taken with the figtree leaf of divine vengeance , and cast into prison at vienna in austria . being afterwards put much to the question , it being the designe of vengeance , the reveuging fire soon turned him to ashes . his wife being also baptized into the same whirle-pool of baptisme ; they both , with minds hardened to their own perswasions , were not disengaged of their faith , but with the departure of their lives . john hut . huttus ab hubmoro excrescit ; cervice resectâ sic vnâ in geminum pullulat hydra caput . the contents . john hut the prop and pillar of anabaptism● . his credulity in dreams and visions . he is accounted a true prophet by his proselytes . at merhem , his fraternity became as is were a monastery . in the times of the fore-mentioned balthazar rise up john hut , a learned man , the prop and pillar of anabaptisme , an eminent despiser of paedobaptisme , which kinde of baptisme he accounted the execrable fiction of the schoolmen ; whence it came , that he perswaded men , that if they were not baptized by him and his , they must necessarily incurre great danger to their souls . to which he added , that , those who were honoured with the prerogative of his baptisme , should be the restored people of israel , and that the wicked canaanites should be destroied by their swords , and that god himselfe should reveal from heaven the times wherein these things should be fulfilled . to visions and horrible dreams , ( which he thought proceeded to him from god ) he gave great credit , and he affirmed that he saw the preparations of the last day , and the angel going to blow the trumpet , by an indisputable revelation from gold upon the account of which dreams , his disciples as credulous as their master , spent and destroied all they had , fearing the difficulties of the times , wherein they should spend them ; all which being scatter'd and consum'd before the day came , they suffer'd a punishment , and inconveniences befitting their folly , having the lash of poverty perpetually at their backs . however they , a generation on whom the greatest quantity of black hellebore would not be much effectual , did still adore this miraculous piece of madnesse as a true prophet , even to admiration ; of which men , some not worthy the face or name of mankind , do at this day in great numbers live at merhern in palaces and covents upon their accidental contributions , and where they get their livelihood with their hands , and apply themselvs to any handy-craft , whereof they are the masters and governours , who by the commodities gained by them increase the common stock : they have at home with them their cooks , their scullions , their errand-boies , and their butlers , who have a care and dispose all things as they do in monasteries and hospitah ; they study to maint●in mu●●al peace and concord , being all equall . these even to this day are commonly known by the name of the hutsian fraternity . lodowick hetzer . polluit ut mentem sectis deformibus error , corpore sic hetzer foedus adulter erat . the contents . lodowick hetzer a famous heretick . he gains proselites in austria and switzerland . anno 1527. at a publick disputation oecolampadius puts hetzers emissaries to their shifts . hetzer denied christ to be co-essentiall with the father . his farewell to his dis●iples . he is put to death for adultery . lodowick hetzer , famous for his heresie and learning , was first very intimately acquainted with nicholas stork , and then with thomas muntzer , yet he agreed not with these in some things , as in that opinion of theirs of the overturning and destroying of all the powers of this world , which opinion he looking on as * malicious and barbaro●s , forsook them , and joining with john denk , they by their mutual endeavours , sent some prophets into germany . but di●●enting also from him in some things , he propagated his own sect in austria , and made many pros●lites at bern in switzerland . which gave oc●a●ion that the reve●end senate appointed a publick disputation at soning , and caused letters of safe conduct to be sent to hetzer and his followers , for which bickering was set apart the first day of february , in the year one thousand five hundred twenty seven , where he appeared not himself , but his emissa●ies came , who were by the most learned ( but withall stinging , ) oecolampadius driven unto their shifts , and enforced to acknowledge conviction . hetzer was a considerable part , and the firebrand of the anabaptistical sect , but he stiffely denied christ to be co-essential with the father , which the verses made by him upon the carrying of the cross , do more than hint . ipse ego qui propriâ cuncta baec vi●tute creabam quaeris quot simus ? frustra , ego solus eram . hîc n●n tres numero , verùm sum solus , at i●●i ha●d numero t●es sunt , nam qui ego , solus eram . n●scio per , onam , solus sum ●ivus ego , & sons , qui me nescit , eum nescio , solus ero . i who at first did make all things alone , am vainly ask'd my number ; as being one . these three did not the work , but onely i that in these three made this great syzygie . i know no person , i 'm the onely main , and , though they know me not , will one remain . he was excellent at three tongues , he undertook to translate the book of ecclesiasticus out of the hebrew into high-du●ch . plauterus hath testified for him in writing , that he very honestly and unblameably bid farewell to his disciples , and with most devout praiers commended himself to god , even to the astonishment of the beholders . he having been kept long in close prison , was on the fourth day of february , in the year one thousand five hundred twenty nine , sentenced to die : and thinking himself unworthy of the city , was led w●thout the walls , where he was put to death , not for sedition or baptisme ( as plauterus saies ) but for adultery , which act he endeavored to defend by some arguments fetcht from the holy scriptures . melchior hofman . pellibus a teneris suetus , doctissime , nôsti ho●manni teneras excoriare greges . the contents . hofman a skinner , and anabaptist , anno 1528 , seduced 300 men and women at embda in west-friesland . his ●ollowers accou●ted ●im a prophet . at strasburg , he challenged the ministe●s t● dis●ute , which was agreed upon jan. 11. 1532. where ●e●ng mildely dealt with , he is neverthelesse obstinat● ▪ other prophets and prophetesses d●luded him . he deluded himself , and volu●tarily pined himself to death . in the year one thousand five hundred twenty eight , melchior ho●man a skinner of strasburg , a most eloquent and most cra●ty man , at embda in west friezland , ensnared 300. men and women into his doctrine , where he conjured up anabaptisme out of hell upon pain of damnation , whereupon being ●eturned to the lower provinces , who ever addressed themselves to him , he entertained them with water , baptizing all promiscuously . this man upon the prophecy of a certain decrepid old man went to strasburg , it having been foretold him , that he should be cast into prison , and remain there six moneths , at which time being set at liberty , he should , with his fellow-labourers , disperse the harvest of the gospel through all the world , he was by his followers acknowledg'd and honour'd as a great prophet . this was the great prop and pillar of the re●gn of mu●ster . having therefore made what hast he could pos●ible to st●asburg in order to the fulfi●ling of the phophecy , he there challenges the ministers of the word to dispute , which offerture the senate engaged with , upon the eleventh of january one thousand five hundred thirty and two ; at which time , the mists and clouds of errours and blindnesse , were quite dispersed by the sunne of the gospel . however , ho●man stiffely adhered to the foresaid prophecy , as also to his own dreams and visions ; nor would he acknowledge himself overcome ; but , their mildnesse having somewhat appeased him , he was thence dismissed , as one judged w●rthy of such a place where lepers are shut up , lest others be infected . but 't is incredible how joyfull he was at that newes , out of an excessive thanksgiving to god , putting o●● ▪ his shoes , and casting his hat into the ayre , and calling the living god to witnesse , that he would live upon bread and water , before he would discover and brand the authour of that opinion . in the mean time some prophets began to rise and keep a stirre , hinting , that he should be secured for that half year , and that afterwards he should go abroad with one hundred forty and four thousand prophets , who should , without any resistance . * reduce and bring the whole world under the subjection of their doctrine ? there was also a certain prophetesse who should prophecy , that , this hosman was elias , that cornelius polterman was eno●● , and that strasburg was the new jerusalem , and she had also dreamed , that she had been in a great spacious hall , wherein were many brethren and sisters sitting together , whereinto a certain young man in ●…ing apparel should enter , having in his hand a golden boul of rich nectar , which he going about should taste to every one ; to whom having drunk it to the dregs , there was none pretended to compare with him , but onely polterman . alas poor melchior ! he having nothing , yet made master of a strong tower , did after the example of esdras , signifie by letters that his baptisme should , be put off for two years longer , until africk should bring forth another monster , that should carry hay in its horns . there were many other dreams , and some nocturnal pollutions , which they attributed to heaven , and thought such as should have been written in cedar . but it was melchior's pleasure to think it a miserably happy kind of death , o die voluntarily , by pining and consuming away with hunger , thirst , and cold . melchior rinck . discipulos sic rincke doce● baptisma negare , sanguine carnifices et scelerure manus ! the contents . melchior rinck , an anabaptist . he is accounted 〈◊〉 notable interpreter of dreains and visions . his ●isciple thomas scucker , in a waking dream cut off his brother leonard's head ; pretending for his mi●rther obedience to the decree of god . melchior rinck , a most wonderfull enthufiast , was also a most extraordinary promoter of anabaptisme , and among his followers celebrated the festivals of it , he made it his businesse to extoll anabaptisme above all others , with those commendations ( which certainly it wanted not ) besides he was accounted no ordinary promoter and interpreter of dreames and visions , which it was thought , he could not perform without the speciall indulgence of god the father ; nay , he arrived to that esteem among the chiefest of his opinion , and became so absolutely possessed of their minds , that his followers interpreted whatever was scattered abroad concerning dreames and visions , to have proceeded from heavenly inspirations from god the father . accordingly in switzerland ( to omit other particulars ) at sangall , even at a full council , his disciple thomas scucker , being rapt into an enthusiasme , ( his father and mother then present , and his brother leonard , having by his command , cast himself at his knees before him ) cals for a sword , whereupon the parents and divers others running to know what was the cause and meaning of such an extravagant action , he bid them not to be troubled at all , for that there should happen nothing but what should be according to the will of god ; of this waking dream did they all unanimously expect the interpretation . the foresaid thomas [ guilty alas of too much credulity ] did , in the presence of all those sleeping-waking spectators cut off his own brothers head , and having forgotten the use of water , baptized him with his own blood . but what followed ? the magistrate having sudden notice of it , and the offence being fresh and horrid , the malefactor is dragg'd to prison by head and shoulders , where he , having long considered his action with himself , professed he had therein obeyed the decrees of the divine power . these things , did the unfortunate yeare one thousand five hundred twenty and seven see . here men may perceive , in a most wicked and unjustifiable action , the eminent tracts of an implacable fury and madnesse ; which god of his infinite goodnesse and mercy avert from these times . adam pastor . nomine qui pastor tu impostor moribus audis , qui â recto teneras tramite ducis oues . the contents . adam pastor a derider of paedobaptisme . he revived the arrian heresie . his foolish interpretation of that place , gen. 2. 17. so often confuted . adam pastor , a man born at a village in westphalia , was one of those , who with the middle finger pointed at paedobaptisme ; that is to say , looked upon it with indignation , as a thing ridiculous , being of the same opinion in that businesse , as menno and theodorus philip , but as to the incarnation of god , hee was of a quite contrary judgment . for menno held , that christ was something more worthy and more divine then the seed of a woman , but ( our ) adam stood upon it , that he was lesse worthy then that of god , so that he rowsed up the arrian heresie , which had lain so long asleep , as having been but too famous in the year three hundred twenty five . for in a certain book of his , whose title was , of god's mercie , he writ thus , the most divine word , which is the main considerable in our business , is written in the second of gen. v. 17. the day that yee shall eat of the fruit , ye shall die the death ; this is that word , which is made flesh . joh. 1. yea that god which is uncapable of suffering and impassible , is made passible , and he that was immortal , is made mortal ; for he was crucisied , and died for our advantage . to be brief , he held , that christ was not to be accounted any thing but the hand , the finger , or the voice of god . but although the opinion or religion of this ( third , but most unfaithful ) pastor adam wander out of the limits of divinity , and that it seem to be an ancient heresie , containing nothing in it but what is childish , trifling , and meer foppery , & hath been confuted & brought to nothing by the most religious preachers of the word of god , notwithstanding the barking of the viperous progeny of arrius and servetus ; yet he hath this in particular , that he would have us look narrowly to his explication of the second of genesis , which he so commends , where he foolishly and vainly endeavours to prove that the prohibition there , is the word made flesh . this monster did not onely beget this sect , but nursed it ; here are baites , allurements , and all the poisonable charmes imaginable that may cunningly seduce the best and most innocent of men . but alas ! where is the free and indulgent promise of god of the seed of the woman , which cuts the very throat of the divell , and tyes him in the strictest chains ? where are his often promises to abraham ? to isaac ? to israel and to his old people , confirmed by a league so solemnly made ? in thy seed all the earth shall be blessed . and thou shalt be a blessing unto me . this seed , witnesse the apostle , is none other than christ himself , whom god without question meant . the desperate contagion of this man's religion did servetus and his adherents professe , embrace , and celebrate . henry nicholas . vestra domus nicholae cadat , quae exrudore versoe futile fundamen religionis habet . the contents . henry nicholas , father of the family of love . he is against infant-baptisme . his divelish logick . there was also ore henry nicholas the father of the family of love , ( as he called himself ) and not the meanest man of all his gang , one who by many means endeavoured to cripple the baptisme of children , as is too known and apparent out of his writings , which at a third hand , he with all freedom , earnestnesse and kindnesse , endeavored to communicate to david george and the other of his fellow-labourers , and his new jerusalem friends . this man in a pamphlet of his , wherein he notably described himself , and which he dedicated to an intimate friend of his under the name of l. w. maintaining that the * minute of the last trumpet was coming , that should unfold all the books of unquiet consciences , hell , and eternal judgement , which should be found to have been onely things grounded upon meer lies , and as all wicked and high misdeeds were hateful and detestable to god , so also were glorious and plausible lies no lesse odious to him . the same man endeavoured to perswade people , that he was a partaker of god , and the humanity of his son . he further affirmed , that at the last day god should bring all men , nay the divels themselvs into perfect happinesse . all the things that were said of divels , of hell or angels , and eternal judgment , and the pains of damnation ; he said , were onely told by the scripture to cause fear of civil punishments , and to establish right policy . finis . the conclusion . these few things we have brought to light , were not invented by us , but were extorted out of their own disciples , with abundance of discourse , not without the presence of many men of godlinesse and excellent understanding , * they admitting not the universal rule of the scriptures . but alas ! take these away , where is faith ? fear of god ? eternal happinesse ? but let us believe them , let us believe them , and we shall bee saved . oh! that to heresies i could say an alphabetical table to the revelation of hereticks . a. apious act. 48. adam pastor , a derider of paedobaptisme , 7● . &c. anabaptists their leading principle , 3. usually they grow worse and worse , ibid. their bold attempt , 14. &c. where masters most insolent , 10. of a levelling principle , 21. they , as the divel , pretend scripture for their base actions , 2● they aime at universal monarchy , ibid. their de●ign upon amsterdam , 24. they aim at the advancement of themselves , but destruction of others , 64 they would inforce others to their opinions ; yet : pretend liberty of conscience as to themselves . 70. arrius , his character , and wretched death , 55. &c. arrianisine , its increase . 56. b. john buckhold , or john of leyden , his actions and end . 1● . &c. c. calvin's reproof of servetus , 54 godly and loyal citizen● hate usurpation . 18 conventicles usually the nurseries of tumults . 13 d. the divel an enemy of peace . 9 e. a bad example soon followed . 18 f. famine the consummation of all misery . 25 its character , &c. 26 g. david george , an anabaptist , his character doctrine , actions , and death . 40 , &c. h. heresie a catching , or mad disease . 33 hereticks , their usual prerence , 2. the end that they propose to themselves in opposing the ministry and magistracy , 2. they are restless . 3. their cruelty , 19. they are inconstant in their opinions , 34. they allow not of the scriptures . 78 hermannus sutor , or herman the cobler , his blasphemies , opinions and end . 30. &c. lodowick hetzer , a famous heretick , 65 , &c. his end , 67. melchior hosman an anabaptist , 68. pined himself to death . 69 balthazar hubmor an anabaptist , 60 , &c. he and his wife burned , 62 john hut an anabaptist , 63 , &c. i john of leyden , vide buckhold . an item to the hotspurs of our times , 66 k. bernard knipperdoling , 16 l. the learned to be consulted with , in detection of sectaries and hereticks , 45 loyaltie not alwaies successeful 19 luther's advice to the senate concerning muntzer , 4 m. magistrates seduced , most ominous 5 a pattern for good magistrates . 44 mabomet characterized , 58 &c. his iron tomb , 59 john mathias a baker at harlem , his actions and end , 8 , &c. moneys & preferments , the usual baits of sedition , 25 thomas muntzer , his opinions , actions , and end . 1. &c. n. henry nicholas father of the family of love , he is against infant-baptisme , his blasphemy , and divellish logick , 77 , &c. oecolampadius puts hetzer's emissaries to their shifts . 66 p. an ill president soon followed , ● pretenders to religion , prove usually the disturbers thereof 9 r. a good resolution , 44 , 48 melchior rinck , an anabaptist , 71 , &c. his disciple thomas scucker cut off his or others head , 72 s. sectaries like ●inder , are soon on fire , 3. their usual pretence to raise sedition , ibid. sedi●ion goes not alwaies unpunished , 21 michael servetus an anabaptist , his blasphemous opinions and end , 51 , &c. success in bad enterprises causes evil men to rejoice 31 t. theodorus sartor , or theodor the botcher , an adamite , his blasphemy , actions , and end , 37 , &c. john tuysentschreuer , an abettor of john buckhold , 19 , &c. his seditious sermon , 21 v. vice corrects sin , 3● . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a57644e-3340 anno 1521 , 1522. hereticks their usual pretence . muntzer a quick scholar in a bad school . his doctrine spreads , his aim 's high . the end that hereticks propou●d to themselves , in opposing the ministry and magistracy . his affirmations des●●ullive . anabaptists their leading principle . seldome rest there , but grow worse and worse . sectaries like tinder , are soon on fire . anno 1523. 1524. an usual pretence to raise sedition . hereticks restlesse . luther adviseth the senate to beware of muntzer , and his opinions . muntzers large promises to his party , and the common people . magistrates seduced , most ominous . muntzer endeavours to set up himself , pretending to restore the kingdom of christ . an ill president soon followed . the landgrave raiseth a war , and fighteth muntzer and his party . muntzers delusive animation of his followers . their overthrow . muntzers escap● . is found out but dissembles himself . muntzer taken , yet obstinate . the langrave convinceth him by scripture . muntzer when racked , laugheth , but afterward relenteth . his last words . is deservedly beheaded . notes for div a57644e-4740 anno 1532. pretenders to religion , prove usually the disturbers thereof . the devill an enemy of peace . john mathias a baker at harlem . his lechery notorious . at amsterdam he professeth himself a doctor , and a preacher . a murtherous opinion . john mathias repairs to munster . his severe edicts he becomes a malicious executioner of hubert trutiling , for not siding with him . his desperate end . notes for div a57644e-5490 john buckhold his character . his disputing and contention with the ecclesiasticks concerning paedobaptisme . conventicles usually the nurseries of tumults . anno 1533. &c. anabaptists their bold attempt . notes for div a57644e-6060 anabaptists where masters , most insolent . john buckhold successor of john mathias . he comforts the people with a pretended revelation . he makes knipperdoling common executioner . about 4000. men lost at the siege , of munster . buckhold seigneth himself dumb . he assumes the magistracy . he allowes polygamy . he takes to himself ●pee wives . a bad example soon followed . godly ond loyal citizens hate usurpation . loyalty not always succes●… hereticks ; their cruelty . anno 1534. john tuysentschreuer an upstart , and abettor of john buckhold . john buckhold com●…s his delusi ●prophecies he is made king . he appoints officers under him his sumptuous apparell . his titles were king of justice , king of the new jerusalem . his throne . his coin and motto thereon . the king , queen , and courtiers waite on the people at a feast . a mock sacrament . a seditious sermon . sedition goes not alwayes unpunished . anabaptists of a levelling principle . anabaptists as the devill , pretend scripture for their base actions . they ●●m atuniversal monarchy . anno 1535. kingly botcher indeavours to raise commotions abroad . he is happily prevented . anabaptists , their design upon amsterdam . they break out in the night time . they are worsted . famine the consummation of all misery . the king suspects his own safety : his large promises to his captains , both of moneys and preferments , the usual bai●● of sedition . he becomes executioner to one of his wives he feigns himself sick , and deludes the people with an expectation of deliverance . famine , it's character , and miseries . he forgets community . john longstrat his consident betrays him by stratagem . the city of munster unmercifully plundered . the king is brought prisoner before the bishop . who ( deservedly ) checks him . his jesting answer and proposal . king of the anabaptists put to a non-plus . anno 15●6 . he is convinced of his offences . his deserved , and severe execution . notes for div a57644e-8670 successe in bad enterprises . causes evill men to oejoyce . herman●he cobler prosessed himself a prophet , &c. he is noted for drunkennesse . his design to invoigle others . the ceremonies he used in anabaptisme . eppo his host , discovered him and his followers to be cheats . * supposed to be a digger of graves . hermans wicked blasphemy . heresie , a catching , or mad disease : hereticks inconstant in their opinions . herman blasphemes again . his mothers teme●i●y . the proverb verified . vice corrects sin . hermans party are convinced , and fal off from him . one drewjis of his party handles him roughly . charles lord of gelderland ; &c. with his men surrounds the house where herman is . herman is taken & brought prisoner to groningen : he is questioned in his torments . he is hardened . he dieth miserably . notes for div a57644e-9720 anno 1535. theodorus sartor an adamite . he affirmes strange things his blasphemy in forgiving of sins . he burns his cloathes , &c. a●d causeto his companions to do the like . he and his rabble go naked through amsterdam in the dead of night , denouncing their woes , &c. and terrifie the people . they are taken and imprisoned by the burghers , but continue shamelesse . may the fifth 1535. they are put to death some of their last words . notes for div a57644e-10080 david george the miracle of the anabapitsts anno 1544. at basill he pretends to have been banished his countrey for the gospels sake . with his specious pretences he gains the freedome of the city for him and his . his character . his riches he , with his sect , enact three things . his son in law doubting his new religion , is by him questioned , and upon his answer excommunicated . his wifes death . he had formerly voted himself immortal , yet aug. 2. 1556. he died , &c. his death troubled his disciples a good resolution . a pattern for good migistrates . the senates enquiry . eleven of the sectaries secured . in such cases the learned to be consulted with . articles extracted out of the writings of david george . some of the imprisoned sectaries acknowledged david george to have been the cause of the tumults in the lower parts of germany , but disowned his doctrine . an ingenuous confession and resolution . a pious act . a lying report raised . conditions whereupon the imprisoned are set at liberty . the votes of the renowned senate . the doctrine of d. g. declared impious . he is declared unworthy of christian buriall . and that his body and books should be burned . a fit punishment for perverse hereticks notes for div a57644e-11560 servetus his converse with mahumetans and jews . he disguiseth his monstrous opinions , with the name of christian reformation . the place of his birth . his arrogant boast . he inveighs against the deity of christ . oecolampadius confutes his blasphemies , & causeth him to ●…e thrust out of the church of basil . servetus held but one person in the god-head to be worshipped , &c. he held the holy ghost to be naure . his horrid blasphemy . he would reconcile the alcoran to christian religion . he declares himself prince of the anabaptists . at geneva , calvin reproves servetus . serve●●● his obstinacy . anno 1553. by the decree of several senates he was burned . notes for div a57644e-12470 arrianisme , its increase . anno 323. the general council at nice . anno 325. called as a remedy against arrianisme , but without success . the arrians misinterpret that place , joh. 10. 30 concerning the father and the sonne . they acknowledged one only god in a judaicall sense . they deny the trinity . arrius his wretched death , anno 336. notes for div a57644e-13010 anno 622. mahomet characterized . he made a laughing-stock of the trinity : he agreed with carpocrates , and other hereticks . he renewed circumcision , and to indulge his disciples , he allowed them polygamy , &c. his iron tomb at mecca notes for div a57644e-13450 hubmor patron of anabaptisme . he damned usury . he brought in a worship to the virgin mary , &c. the senate of suring by a council reduced him . he renounced the heads of his former doctrine . himself , or sect , still active . he is taken and imprisoned at vienna in austria . he and his wife both burned . notes for div a57644e-13820 john hut the prop and pillar of anabaptisme anabaptists aime at the advancement of themselves , but destruction of others . hut his credulity in dreams . and visions . hut accounted a true prophet by his proselytes . at merhern the hutfian fraternity became as it were a monastery . notes for div a57644e-14070 lodowick hetzer a famous heretick . * an item to the hot-spurs of our times . he●zer gains proselytes in austria , and switzerland . anno 1527 , at a publick disp●tation , oecolampadius puts hetzers emissaries to their shi●ts . hetzer denied christ to be co-essential with the father . his farewel to his disciples . he is put to death for adultery . notes for div a57644e-14790 anno 1528. hofman a skinner , and anabaptist , seduced 300. men and women at embda in west-friesland . a delusive prophecy . his followers accounted him a great prophet . at strasburg he challenged the ministers to dispute , which was agreed upon , jan. 11. 1532. being mildely dealt with , he is ●●verthelesse obstinate . other prophe● 〈◊〉 delude hi● . * yet it 's like , to back their prophecies , they pretended liberty of conscience . a prophetess deludes him . he deluded himself . he voluntarily pined himself to death . notes for div a57644e-15290 melchior rinck , an anabaptist . he is accounted a notable interpreter of dreams and visions . his disciple thomas scucker , in a waking dream cut off his brother leonards head . he pretends ( for his murther ) obedience to the decree of god . anno 1527. notes for div a57644e-15520 adam pastor a derider of paedobaptisme . he revived the arrian heresie . his foolish interpretation of that place , gen. 2 17. his opinion hath been sufficiently resuted . notes for div a57644e-15910 henry nicholas father of the family of love . he is against infant-baptism * as to that minute ( if he confine not god ) we may believe him . his blasphemy . doubtless he hugg'd himself in this opinion . his divellish logick . notes for div a57644e-16180 * hereticks allow not of the scriptures . instructions for history with a character of the most considerable historians, ancient and modern / out of the french, by j. davies of kidwelly. instructions pour l'histoire. english rapin, rené, 1621-1687. 1680 approx. 202 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 78 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a58058 wing r262 estc r22576 12490073 ocm 12490073 62341 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a58058) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 62341) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 290:1) instructions for history with a character of the most considerable historians, ancient and modern / out of the french, by j. davies of kidwelly. instructions pour l'histoire. english rapin, rené, 1621-1687. davies, john, 1625-1693. [14], 134 p. printed by a.g. and j.p. ..., london : 1680. first edition in english of rené rapin's instructions pour l'histoire. cf. bm. reproduction of original in british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng historiography -early works to 1800. 2005-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-08 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2005-08 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion instructions for history : with a character of the most considerable historians , ancient and modern . out of the french , by j. davies of kidwelly . london , printed by a. g. and j. p. dwelling near the grate in little britain . m.dc.lxxx . to the worthily honoured , sir george wharton , baronet . it is the unavoidable destiny of some to be highly oblig'd by those , to whom their good fortune has made them any thing particularly known . not that those favours are to be attributed to ought of more than ordinary merit on their side , by whom they were received ; but purely to that munificence and transcendency of generosity , which is so predominant in certain persons , that they cannot forbear endeavouring to render the conditions of those , whom they once take notice of , more comfortable then they found them . that these have been my very circumstances , i have had occasion heretofore to acknowledge to others ; and i am now to make the same acknowledgment to your self , from whom , in my most pressing exigencies , i have receiv'd such seasonable reliefs , as give me just cause to celebrate the liberalities of so great a benefactor . as to the small piece which this humble address ushers to your hands , i find it without any author's name prefix'd thereto . of which concealment of himself , as also of his design in the ensuing instructions , since he has given an account in a particular preface , i thought fit to give the english reader the satisfaction of that too , that they who shall henceforth concern themselves in the publishing of any thing by way of history , may take their measures from this little treatise , and before they go any further , compute the sacredness and extent of their undertaking . i have onely to add the retributory devotions of such as are highly sensible how highly they are oblig'd , and to pray for the continuation of a life and health , which has been so beneficial to several persons , and particularly to , honoured sir , your most humble , and much obliged servant , j. davies . the original author to the reader . i am not so well conceited of my self , or my work , as to set my name before it . for , besides that it is not a throughly-shap'd project of the manner how history should be written , and that the very project it self is the result of such a reading of historians , as may be thought superficial enough , the natural distrust i have of my self , puts me into a fear , that either impatience or precipitation has wrested out of my hands what could not have continued there much longer . but not to create a disgust in the publick , for the present i here make it , by undervaluing it so far , i shall think it no trouble to acknowledge , that this work is a kind of abridgment of what has been written upon this subject , by the greatest men of the first and last ages ; that it is an extract of what passed ( that was most rational ) in the apprehensions of dionysius halicarnassaeus ▪ in his answer to pompey , requiring his sentiment upon the greek historians , and his criticizing judgment upon their different characters ; that it is a copy of lucian's most judicious reflections , in that admirable treatise which he writ , of the manner how history ought to be written ; and that in short , the sentiments which i advance in this discourse , are not so much my own , as those of francesco patrici , in his dialogues , those of girolamo marucci , agostino mascardi , paolo beni , luis cabrera , and the other modern spanish and italian authors , who have treated of this matter . but as it is possible that i may have injur'd their conceptions , by intermixing my own therewith , i am to declare , that i do not think my reputation concern'd to persuade my readers that it may be otherwise . they are not laws which i impose , as having not either authority or jurisdiction to do any such thing ; but they are at most but simple advertisements , which every one may take as he pleases ; so far would i be thought from giving instructions to any one , by a title which will argue somewhat of vanity to those who are lovers of modesty , that i would have the world assur'd of my readiness to receive directions from all others . for if i have not wit enough to be as exact as so important a design requires i should be , i have judgment enough to be timorous and distrustful of my self . i am further to avoid the imputation of assuming to my self the honour of a counterfeit modesty in suppressing my name , to acknowledge that my concealing my self proceeds somewhat from vanity ; for i am too coy to make a discovery of my self , knowing as i do , that in an age so apprehensive and critical as ours is , a man must think it matter of humiliation to declare himself an author . nay the rigour is so great , that there is not any merit , howe're so well it may be established , that will exempt any one from it ; and it now seems to be a kind of presumption , for a man to commit himself openly to the judgement of the publick , which grows daily more and more delicate and humorous , and that in a juncture of time when censure favours no man. it is certain also , that there is so much wisdom , for a man not to pretend to any great talent of capacity , and that there is so much judicious caution in being modest , that i should in those passages wherein i advance any thing of my own , have mollified my expression with aristotle's ( peradventure ) or cicero's ( it seems ) so to be the less positive , and to give my sentiment with more reservedness ; if that had been suitable to the simplicity in which i use to express my self . for as soon as a man has acquir'd a mean degree of wisdom , he is very cautious of being peremptory and decisive , in an age so obstinate and opiniatrous as ours is . and therefore ill luck betide him who decides . be it noted further , that this discourse which i make upon history , is not at all of the character of that of lucian , who commends those that write well for no other reason , than that he may blame and censure those who write ill ; and under the approbation he gives good authors , conceals a smart satyr against the bad ones . that is not my humour , as having no pique against any one . i pretend onely to open their eyes , who have their sences attentive , to make them comprehend how that a man ought to tremble , when he concerns himself in the writing of history , wherein it is so hard a matter to come off well ; and that the particular judgment which dionysius halicarnassaeus passes upon thucydides , should startle all wise historians . in fine , to close up all with a word of the character of the work , after i had spoken of the workman : i declare , that sencefulness , with an exact observance of simplicity , is more conspicuous in these instructions , than any political subtilty ; which is the thing that the more inquisitive sort of people do most look for in history , in regard that politicks is the vainest of all the sciences ; and that senceful reflections are the most universal and most solid groundwork of the other . i do not pretend to offer all that might be said upon this matter ; and possibly i may some time or other say more of it , if the publick give a kind entertainment to the present labour . the heads . the design of the work 1 i. how history ought to be written 3 ii. what it is to write nobly 4 iii. what it is to write with a constant contexture of sound sence 7 iv. what it is to write purely 11 v. of the simplicity of writing 14 vi. the matter of history 19 vii . the form of history 24 viii . the design and end of history 28 ix . that truth is the onely means whereby history advances towards its end , and how it is found 31 x. the style proper to history 36 xi . whether the noble style , or the florid , be more proper for history 40 xii . narration 44 xiii . transitions 50 xiv . the circumstances of narration 53 xv. motives 58 xvi . figures 64 xvii . passions 67 xviii . descriptions 70 xix . harangues 73 xx. the characters of persons 78 xxi . reflections and sentences 83 xxii . digressions 88 xxiii . the eloquence proper to history 94 xxiv . other imbellishments that may be imploy'd in history 98 xxv . the sentiments which ought to be conspicuous and pr●dominant in history 102 xxvi . what genius the historian ought to be of 106 xxvii . the morality of the historian 113 xxviii . a judgment of historians 123 instructions for history . the design of the work. the gust of the present age seems at length to make some progress towards its perfection : and it seems also , that in all things we proceed in some measure according to the dictates of sound sence , that we esteem what is real and solid , and that we are not able any longer to endure what is either false or frivolous . this is the sentiment of all rational persons , which is the more substantial part of those who are concern'd in judging , though possibly it be the least . but there is not any thing makes a greater discovery of this discernment , than the disgust men have for romances , and whatever has any tendency thereto . insomuch that as this love of truth and sound sence is a disposition to the love of history ; so let us accordingly make our advantage of so favourable a conjuncture to serve the publick , answerably to its own inclination ; let us exercise our selves in what can make us accomplish'd in that art ; let us apprehend the excellency of it , and let us instruct our selves in what is requisite for our making a succesful advancement therein . for what genius is there not requisite for that purpose ? and what can be imagined more excellent than history , which knows how to do justice to virtue , by the eternization of vertuous actions ? and this in my judgment is that which may contribute , to the perfection whereof that kind of writing is capable , which now seems to assume a supremacy over all the others , if this love of sound sence , which aims at its own establishment , may endure , in opposition to the different gusts , which a fantastic humour or vanity endeavours to introduce from time to time , by counterfeit idea's of ingenuity . i. how history ought to be written . there is not any thing more difficult , than for a man precisely to affirm , which is the best way of writing history . every one ought to follow that which he finds most in use in the age wherein he writes , and most conformable to the gust and inclinations of the people to whom he writes . but is that enough to please posterity ? that is an humorous , severe , and incorruptible judge , who gives its approbation onely to true merit . let us therefore endeavour to find out the ways , whereby we may deserve its suffrage . when a men writes nobly , with a constant current of sound sence , purity , and simplicity of expression , he always pleases , what language soever he writes in . these are universal principles , which are suitable to the humours of all nations : for there are no other general rules in the world , than those of reason and sound sence . 't is by these that thucydides , xenophon , salust , caesar , titus livius , buchanan , mariana , and such others have always pleas'd , though they writ in times , and amongst nations of so different a genius ; insomuch that a man may be assured of pleasing when he writes as they have done . for what grandeur , what judgment , what politeness , but above all what a sincere simplicity is there not observable in the works of those great men ! ii. what it is to write nobly . a man must therefore beset himself to write nobly , when he makes it his business to write history . for when a man fancies himself speaking to all the world , and to all ages , he assumes a character which gives him authority to lift up his voice , because he speaks to kings , princes , and the grandees of all countries and all ages , and is become in some manner the master and instructor of all mankind . there is not any thing therefore more essential to history , than for a man to give his discourse a noble and lofty strain , to speak as he ought to do . so that the historian quits the mean and familiar language , that by the excellency of expression he may answer the excellency of the things which he has to say . he accustoms himself to make noble reflections on whatever comes into his mind , that by the choice of words he may make it his design to give weight to his thoughts , and vigour to his discourse , by a careful quest after whatever may heighten and ennoble it , in order to the bestowing a character of grandeur on all he says . the models in this kind of writing are thucydides amongst the greeks , and livy amongst the latines . they are the onely authors , who have been able to keep up that lofty style , with the same spirit and the same tone , without falling into the mean and vulgar way of expression ; upon which account they have had but few imitators . herodotus , out of an humour to keep too close to homer , would needs sometimes dwindle in those passages which required elevation ▪ as longinus has observ'd . tacitus , who many times is great onely upon the score of his being concise , is not a very good model to be propos'd to any ; for the grandeur of his style has not any thing that 's natural . and in the general it is requisite , that we distinguish between the counterfeit grandeur and the real . it is not in the affectation of far-fetch'd terms , nor in lofty expressions ; 't is not in an overflux of big words , nor yet in the sumptuousness of discourse , that we are to make that excellency of style to consist , which history requires : wherein ammianus marcellinus , lampridius , and most of the historians of the lower class , were deceived . it consists in a lofty expression , but modest , and in a discourse capable of keeping up the highest matters , and raising up the weakest . it consists , in fine , in that temperament of grandeur , which quintilian gives true eloquence . it is not sufficient for a man to be ingenious , but he must have a particular genius , to write after that manner , and to give a cer●ain elevation to what he says , by the choice of the terms , and by the grandeur of the sentiments . that talent is so rare , that if we dash out of the number of historians those who have not written thus , the list of the true ones will be very small . iii. what it is to write with a constant contexture of sound sence . to write with that contexture of sound sence , is to go directly to the main end , in what matter soever a man writes , without wandering or amusing himself by the way . it consists further in an exposal of things with a kind of prudence and reservedness , without abandoning himself either to the heat of his imagination , or the vivacity of his wit. it consists in the suppressing of what may be superfluous in the expression , such as are those adverbs and epithetes , which extenuate things in aggravating them ; in not leaving any thing that is insignificant , languishing , or fruitless ; in a generous retrenchment of what ought not to be said , how plausible soever it may be ; in attributing always less to what is splendid than to what is solid ; in not discovering any thing of fire or heat , where he needs express onely what is to be done seriously and in cold bloud ; in examining all his conceptions , and measuring all his words with that aequilibrium of sence , and that exquisiteness of judgment , which lets nothing slip but what is exact and judicious . it consists , in fine , in having the strength to resist the temptation , which a man naturally has to make ostentation of his wit ; as that impertinent historian does , who in the defeat of the parthians by the emperour severus , makes osroes escape , by getting into a cave planted about with laurels and myrtles , wherein he makes himself ridiculous , while he thinks to be divertive ; which is one of the most slippery places that an author could fall upon . and that senceful spirit , that character of wisdom , which history requires , is a kind of attention over ones self , which does not allow it self any exaggeration , and which takes continual precautions against those daring imaginations whereto he is subject , whose mind is too quick and volatile , or over fertile ; that he may set down great things in few words , as salust does , who holds great councils , gives battels , takes cities , conquers kingdoms , with a shortness of discourse , and a swiftness of expression , which is understood at half a word . tacitus has all the sence that is requisite , answerably to his close way of writing ; but he has not enough of it to be intelligible . a man is sometimes put into an impatience at the precipitations of that author , who loses much of his gracefulness , and falls into obscurity , meerly upon this score , that he will needs confine in too few words what ought to have a greater extent . the humour he has to be too concise puts me out of all humour , by reason of the little instruction he gives me , in things which he does not sufficiently unravel . polybius and appianus are sometimes too liberal of their discourse : and there is a kind of judicious taciturnity , which raises a better comprehension of the grandeut of the things which are spoken of , than all the words that are too weak to do it . 't is a master-talent to suppress what cannot well be said ; and it is the principal part of an historian , to distinguish between that which admits of extension and restriction , and so to give every thing its just measure , that there may be a strict observance of decorum . for livy , as diffus'd as he is , does not tire out the reader 's patience , because he is judicious where he seems to be most tedeous . but thucydides , keeping too closely to sound sence , does sometimes fall into a kind of harshness and drought , which a man would hardly pardon in him , were it not for the purity and excellency of his style . so hard a matter is it to write with a strict observance of sence , without losing somewhat of those beauties , which might be imployed if a man were not so prudent . but however let an author be still of this persuasion , that the greatest beauty of any production is always the sound sence of it : men are wearied with all else , but sound sence never tires them . it is by this constant current of sound sence that philip comines , notwithstanding the impure and unrefin'd language of his age , has merited the esteem and approbation of ours . but of all the modern historians there is not any one has writ with a greater observance of the senceful character , than mariana in his history of spain . it is a master-piece of the last ages , onely upon the score of that quality . there is observable through that whole work a wise precaution , which never allows him to expatiate too much in the most plausible passages , nor yet to betray any negligence in those that are not such : and that so judicious an evenness of hand , which is always the same in the inequality of the matters , treated of by that author , is but little known to the historians of these last times . but the talent of a senceful reflection on things is not sufficient , without that of purely expressing them . iv. what it is to write purely . an historian , who makes it his design to be read by posterity , ought to study the purity of writing . without that insinuating and inveigling quality , a history is likely to be but of a short continuance . 't is through this very want of purity of style , that so many greek and latin historians mentioned by photius and other collectors of libraries , have been lost in the general wreck of so many other works , and that of an almost infinite number , whereof vossius gives us an account , there are remaining onely such as have written rationally enough to deserve reading . a man therefore ought not to concern himself in the writing of history , if he be not a perfect master of his own language , and critical in the purity of it . for when a man has once propos'd to himself the instruction of others , his business is to express himself clearly , that he may be understood ; and when he once speaks well , he forces the audience of all people ; besides that , it is to be imagined he says nothing as he should do , when he speaks not well ; and this clearness of expression , which is the greatest divertisement of history , cannot be found but in a pure style . this purity consists principally in the propriety of the words , in the natural disposition and distribution of the phrases , and in the prudent and moderate use of figures . the style ought not to admit of any thing that is improper , far-fetch'd , harsh , mean , over-daring , or obscure . herodotus had this purity of style , and excells therein above all the greek authors , as caesar does above all the latines . mens minds grew rustly in the subsequent ages , wherein there was not any remarkable track of the purity of the ancients . but q. curtius , out of a desire to be too polite , has lost somewhat of that grand and majestick air , which is so becoming in salust and livy . certain it is , that he flourishes too much in certain passages ; as for instance , in that of the description of the river marsyas , at the entrance of the third book ; in that of the adventure of abdolominus , who of a gardiner became a king , in the fourth ; in that of the siege of tyre , and several others ; wherein there is observable an affectation of elegance not consistent with the gravity of history , which cannot admit of any thing that is affected . moreover , that purity of elocution , which is so necessary to history , ought to be kept up with an observance of great sence . for there 's nothing so flat or insipid , as elegance void of things , and such as says nothing . nay , it sometimes happens , that an over-studied purity of discourse in great subjects , abates somewhat of their grandeur , as it appears in the history of the indies by maffaeus , and in the wars of flanders by cardinal bentivoglio . both those authors made it too much their business to please by the politeness of their discourse ; not reflecting , that the most adorned beauties are not always those that are most taking , and that the most sumptuous ornaments disguize the wearers , as soon as they are excessive and disproportionate . v. of the simplicity of writing . there is also a further obligation incumbent upon an historian , to observe a simplicity of elocution , to avoid the air that is pompous and affected , both which are contrary to the grand character which history is to look after ; in regard that whatever is great ceases to be so , as soon as it is devested of that simplicity which it ought to have ; and what is joyntly simple and great doubles the grandeur of it , and becomes sublime . nor is there any thing that instructs better , or more cajoles the publick belief , than that simplicity of style , which was so much cultivated by the ancients , and is so little known to the moderns : whatever exaggerates has a counterfeit air ; and nature , which ought to be imitated in all things , expresses her self with as much simplicity as may be . but to make a full discovery of that simplicity , which is so necessary to , and consistent with , a grandeur of style , it is to be observed that there are three sorts of it , to wit , a simplicity in the words , such as that of caesar ; a simplicity in the sentiments , such as that of salust ; and a simplicity in the design , and in the distribution of the design , such as that of thucydides , so much celebrated by dionysius halicarnassaeus . those authors of the moderns , who have come nearest that character , are amongst the french , philip de comines ; guicciardine amongst the italians , buchanan amongst the scots , and mariana amongst the spaniards : most of the others endeavour not to keep themselves up by the purity , politeness , and the other ornaments of discourse , but onely when their abilities will not reach to the observance of that simplicity ; and they paraphrase the truth , when they have not the strength to deliver it naked . happy is that man who can arrive thereto when he is concerned to write ; ignorant persons may understand him , while the intelligent are charm'd with him . but there is not any thing of greater difficulty to attain , than that even and natural air , which contributes so much to the simplicity of style . there is an extraordinary genius requisite in him who would speak things simply , without falling into the mean and frigid style . for when he studies simplicity , there is not any thing he ought more to fear than meanness of expression . but wherein does this admirable simplicity consist , which is the sovereign perfection of a great work , and what is meant by writing simply ? in this , that a man should make use of the most proper and most ordinary words , but yet such as are full of great sence , as that prince does , on whom homer bestows a concise , pleasant , and significant eloquence , without any superfluity . it is for a man to think and speak pertinently what he has to think and say , without giving too great a vivacity to his expression , as strada does ; and without giving too much lustre to his conceptions , as grotius does . it consists in a mans having ordinary and natural sentiments , without making so many ratioecinations and reflections , as davila does , in his history of the troubles of france , for when a man is so much taken up with ratiocination , it is not nature , but art and study that speak ; and those so much studied discourses smell of the school and the declamation . it consists in not intermixing more ornament in the discourse than the modesty of truth can well bear withal . it consists in expressing that natural and simple air of xenophon's , which all imaginable affectation cannot come near . it consists , in fine , in being master of that miraculous gift of retrenching what is superfluous out of the discourse ; which phocion was so excellently possess'd withall , and of whom demosthenes , as great a student as he was of that simplicity , was wont to say , when he saw him ascending the theatre to refute him , see the iron instrument which is to cut off all the superfluity of my words . the better to establish this character , which besides a great stock of wisdom and sound sence , require● great exercise and much meditation , a man ought to avoid being conversant with those authors , whose imaginations are over fertile , and so to shun that profusion of frivolous conceptions and forc'd expressions , and that fustian way of writing into which men are apt to fall , when they are not exact pursuers of sound sence , and have not their minds well poised . for models in this way of writing a man is to propose to himself onely the ancients , and amongst them he is to make choice onely of the most eminent for the simplicity of their style . hermogenes proposes theocritus and anacreon for great models of that simplicity , of which their writings are a sufficient testimony . herodotus seems to longinus to be over-daring . dionysius halicarnassaeus charges thucydides , as simply as he writes , with inserting too many matters of fact in some of his narrations . xenophon and polybius are too full of moralizations , and many times break off the thread of the history by their reflections . diodorus siculus intermixes too much learning in his discourse . plutarch may pass for a great original of that simplicity which we look after , for he has observ'd it in all he has written . titus livius does not appear to me more admirable upon the score of all his other great qualities , than he does upon this . the current of his history is like the course of a great river , which glides away majestically ; whereas the history of tacitus may be compared to a rich and plentiful river , but subject to inundations : he is not sufficiently well poiz'd in what he thinks , and he is many times forc'd and harsh in what he says , merely because he is not simple . mariana is one of the most accomplish'd amongst the modern historians , because he is the most studious to express himself simply . for there is not any thing of this simplicity of style to be found in great subjects , but what is always attended with grandeur and excellency . those are the qualities from which proceeds that primitive ground●work of perfection which history requires , and which may be call'd ( as i may so say ) the first elements of that beauty which it ought to have , and which ought also to be more predominant in the fancy , and in the whole character of the historian , than in his style and discourse . take now the other lines which are to be added thereto for the completing of it , and which i briefly hint at , observing no other order than that wherein they present themselves to my mind . i begin with the matter and form , that is to say , with what is most essential to history . vi. the matter of history . the matter fit to exercise the art of an historian is of a vast extent , since it is to comprehend all the actions of men , relating to peace , war , counsels , negotiations , embassies , intrigues , and all the different adventures which are occurrent in humane life . cicero requires two qualities in the matter of history , that the things should be great , and that they should be worthy to be communicated to the publick . no man has better explicated the choice which an historian ought to make of his subject than dionysius halicarnassaeus has done , in the preface of his history , and in his judgment upon thucydides , where he prefers the choice which herodotus had made of his subject before that of thucydides , for the reasons he alleges for it . but as it happens many times , that what is false has the air of what is true , so there is a great perspicacity and discernment requisite to separate the true motives of important actions , from those which are onely colourable and pretentional , and prudently to make choice of the matter , which wholly derives its beauty and curiosity from the disciplination and distribution of the circumstances , and from the order whereto what is too indeterminate ought to be reduc'd , by restraining it within the natural extent of the limits which it ought to have . when it shall have been so reduc'd , let the historian become master of it , by a profound meditation of his subject , whereof he ought to have a perfect information and knowledge : and withall let him be sufficiently exact and religious , never to abuse the credulity of the publick , by entertaining it with his own conjectures instead of truths , or giving it certain things for doubtful ones . let him read as much as possibly lies in him , to the source of the instructions which he has been supplied withall , in order to his making a just discernment thereof . let him not advance any thing upon common reports , whose authors are always uncertain . let him not affirm things but upon very sure memorials , and very faithful relations . let him not be too slightly confident of the sincerity of those historians who were his predecessors , lest he be led out of the way by following ill guides . let him make a great distinction between relations which are partial , or suspected of prepossession , and those that are not such . let him always stand upon his guard against the partialities of those who furnish him with memorials , in regard that preoccupation never makes any but false histories . herodotus , whose history is so fabulous , according to the sentiment of cicero , had onely wretched memorials to work upon , as josephus pretends . thucydides , desirous to make his advantage of the others miscarriage , confin'd himself to the history of his own time , not trusting any other person , and writing onely what he had seen himself , or learned from creditable persons , and out of memorials which he got together with great cost , not onely on the athenians side , but also on that of the lacedaemonians , that he might have the informations of both parties . xenonophon , polybius , and procopius , took in a manner the same course . dion cassius acknowledges in his history , that he spent ten years in preparing the materials of it . petrarch affirms , that salust went into africa , to observe himself the situation of the places , whereof he was to give an account in his history of the war of jugurth , as being unwilling to trust any but his own eyes . for the most important matter of all is , for a man to be assur'd of the ground-work on which he writes . lucian makes him a frivolous historian of his time , who writ the war of armenia upon common reports , having not seen any person who had been in syria , where the battel was fought . and vopiscus could not be induc'd to write the history of the emperour aurelianus , but upon the assurance he received from junius tiberianus , minister of state , that he should be furnished with good memorials . nor is it sufficient for a man to be himself concerned in affairs , but he must also have a character of spirit fit to communicate them to others . polybius affirms , that calisthenes was a witness of the engagement between alexander and darius , in the narrow place of cilicia ; yet he does commit very great absurdities in the description of that important battel , merely out of his ignorance of military affairs , and the order which was observ'd in the engagements of that time . a man ought therefore above all things to be very well assur'd of his matter , which he never fails of if he have a good apprehension ; but he may be defective in point of assurance , if he have not the discernment requisite as to the matters of fact , which are advanc'd . how many false memorials are there produc'd , because the sources thereof are spoil'd by interessed persons ? and if there be not any thing more common than the materials design'd for history , for all may be good in order thereto : it may also be said , that there is not any thing more rare than that certainty or assurance whereby they ought to be attended , in order to their being proper for it , and which is hardly found , because there is a preoccupation of all sides . upon which account we ought to esteem that sentiment of boccalini , as to this point , when he advises a man not to write any more than what he has seen , and not to suffer any thing to be publish'd till after his death : by which means he is assur'd of what he says , and prepossession has no part therein . but let a man be careful above all things to pitch upon great subjects , such are as capable of keeping themselves up by their own stock and strength ; a lofty matter gives lustre and weight to the words ; and in low subjects art must play its part , and supply their weakness . vii . the form of history . the form which ought to be given to history is that which is most essential thereto : 't is this onely makes it great or little , and it is by this we discover the measure and extent of his genius who is the author of it . the person therefore who would write well must have a mind susceptible of great idea's , and capable of elevation ; to the end that making himself master of his subject , he may invest his matter into what form he pleases . 't is by this draught that livy gives his history a character of grandeur , which has not any thing like it in all the other historians , by imprinting upon all the subjects whereof he treats , the colours whereof they are capable , according to their own worth . 't is thus that he gives the last kings of rome all the arrogance which their absolute independence inspir'd them withall ; that he diversifies the spirit of the republick by the uncivilliz'd vertue of the first consuls , by the popular insurrections of the tribunes , by the austerity of the government of the decemvirs , by the luxury and deliciousness of the last consuls ; that he distinguishes every age and period of time , by the genius which had been most predominant therein , without confounding the different motions of that genius in the different circumstances of times , which have not any thing of resemblance ; and that he always keeps himself up at the same height , by the great representations he makes of the things whereof he treats . on the contrary , tacitus gives all his matters in a manner the same form ; all is done in him by political considerations ; the persons he speaks of have always their apprehensions disconsonant to those of other people . it is not their own character that makes them act , but that of the historian , who by the limits of a mind too much restrain'd within it self gives always one and the same figure to his expressions , and the same circumference to his conceptions ; there is a general resemblance and conformity in all . the political reflection is the motive and general decypherer and disentangler of all things . if augustus makes choice of a successor at his death , 't is onely that he might be the more regretted that he gives them a governour of the state more wicked than himself . if tiberius makes piso governour of syria , 't is done onely to set a spy over germanicus , who governed egypt , whose glory gave him some umbrage . if the flatteries of dolabella displease him , the reason is , because they are not smart and ingenious enough . of his sending sylla into exile the reason is , that he look'd upon his taciturnity as proceeding from dissimulation and reservedness . the modesty of that emperour is onely a smother'd ambition , his favours are onely so many snares , his moderation is onely a scornful fierceness , and his religion is onely a supercilious personation of it . 't is an argument of the indignation of the gods , that sejanus becomes the emperour's favourite , and is advanc'd to the ministry of state. arruntius poisons himself upon a political account , to avoid falling into the hands of a master more brutish than tiberius . he finds wit even in the stupidity of the emperour claudius , and delicacy even in the debauches and brutalities of nero ; and he represents as a refin'd piece of prudence , the bestial humour which was observ'd in some people under the reign of that emperour . in fine , all the characters resemble one the other , nature has no part in any thing ; her sentiments are always forc'd therein , and the same genius reigns all over , by the impression of the genius of the historian , who is in a manner always the same person . mariana takes a larger career ; the romans , the carthaginians , the christians , the arabians , the moors , the mahumetans , make all different figures in his work . the spirit of the author is not diffus'd into the other spirits , otherwise than to distinguish them according to their character , making his way always by paths , as different as the different subjects whereof he treats , do require it . it may be also said , that amongst the moderns there is not any history greater upon the score of its form , than that of mariana . viii . the design and end of history . the main design of romance is onely to divert , and that of history to instruct . and this is properly their essential difference , the later having not any thing which it proposes to it self , but the instruction of the publick . for as it does not labour onely for the present , so its prospect ought not to be confin'd to the present time , which is transient , but to be directed to posterity , which continues always . what extravagance were it then , for a man to think of diverting onely the age he lives in , when he may benefit all ages ? these are the reasons which lucian uses , to oblige the historian , to mind onely what is beneficial , and to regulate the hearts and dispositions of men , by the instructions he gives them . it is a great mistake ( says he ) to pretend that history may be divided into two parts , the beneficial and the divertive ; for the historian ought to mind onely the benefit which may be gain'd from a sincere and true account of affairs ; and if he inserts any thing that is divertive , it must not be out of any design to corrupt the truth , but to embellish it , and to render it the more acceptable . and to justifie his sentiment , he alleges the extravagancies of the historians of his time , who made themselves ridiculous by following other principles . herodotus made it his business to please the age wherein he writ ; but his sincerity was so cried down in subsequent times , that he occasioned the fidelity of the greeks to be suspected in point of history , in the time of quintilian . photius mentions an historian named damascius , who could think of no other way to please , than by relating things incredible . and seneca complains , that in his time there were some historians , who had no other expedient to signalize themselves than by fabulous narrations : that was always the gust and humour of the meaner sort of people , who are pleas'd with fictions ; not that of persons of worth and abilities , who love onely the truth . in the subsequent ages the arabians intermix'd so many fables into their writings , that they spoil'd most of the historians of their times , by the humour then predominant , of intermixing surprizing adventures in all their fabulous productions . it was their perswasion , that in order to divertisement there was a necessity of telling incredible things . that fancy infected some of the modern greeks ; whence it comes , that the knowledge we have of those ages by the byzantine history , is not of the surest , because the authors thereof seem to be of a character not very exact . and when a man writes according to their memorials , he ought to be very well precaution'd against so false an idea , to merit belief ; inasmuch as the falshood spoils all , and makes onely a fable of the truth . nay the truest things ought not to be related , when they once appear incredible or extraordinary , if a man gives them not an air of truth , or at least a colour of probability . this is done by thucydides ; and though he found herodotus in so great esteem , as that some gave his books the names of the muses , he made it his business to speak onely the truth , without minding how he pleas'd . i had rather ( says he ) displease by speaking the truth , than divert by relating fables ; in regard that by displeasing i may possibly benefit , and i may haply prejudice by endeavouring to divert . let therefore this be granted , that there is not any thing so excellent in history , as what is real ; and that truth being the greatest divertisement of it , that very historian who would endeavour to divert , ought to advance onely what is true . ix . that truth is the onely means , whereby history advances towards its end ; and how it is found . truth being the onely means , whereby history may securely instruct , ought also to be the principal rule of it , that it may be the ground-work of the publick belief , as it ought to be . but where is it to be found ? is there any thing in the world that lies more conceal'd than truth ? for besides the clouds and mists whereby it is naturally surrounded , and sometimes rendred inaccessible , it is also begirt with all the disguizes , which mans heart is capable of . and if the ordinary ignorance of those who write , and are so short sighted as to the prospect they should have before them , be an obstacle to the knowledge of truth , their want of sincerity , or voluntary insincerity , is a much greater . for how many false judgments do men make by the false prospects which passion or interest gives them , and by the preoccupations which error or opinion are wont to inspire prepossessed minds withall ? in fine , truth being of a nature so unknown to men , either by reason of its own obscurity , or by the weakness of their abilities , or want of attention , there is not any thing more difficult , than to communicate it to the publick in its purity , and without any adulteration . and as it is continually corrupted and profan'd by the baseness of flatterers , most historians being ordinarily court-pensioners ; so a man ought to bid defiance to hope or fear , as soon as he has once concern'd himself in writing , that he may have the courage to be a constant deliverer of the truth . but if it suffices not that a man be willing to speak it , he must also be able to do it , by searching after it in the purity of its source , by seeking it in the most curious closets , and by consulting the instructions of those who have been concern'd in the affairs , so to unravel what is most mysterious in the most secret intrigues . the historian above all things must well study man in general , make a discovery of his disposition by the most fantastick and most unexpected passages , find out the greatest weaknesses of his heart , dive into his true sentiments , that he may not impose false ones upon him ; and judge of him by those natural and unforeseen motions which he is guilty of , when he least thinks of them . 't is by this means that he descries the real sentiments of the soul , the heart having not the time to recollect in order to its disguizing of it self : for it forces it self as soon as it comes to reflect , as tacitus offers it to our observation in agrippina , and octavia the sister of britannicus . for as soon as he was smitten with the poison which nero had ordered to be given him at the banquet , wherein he procured his death , octavia was troubled as well as agrippina ; there was a visible consternation in their countenances ; but whereas octavia was in hopes of being married to nero , and that agrippina his mother , a woman naturally ambitious , was desirous to reign , their political reflection reassur'd them ; and not to give any disgust to the emperour , who rid out of the way his rival to the empire , they smother their sentiments , silence their grief , and continue the repast with the same gayety of humour , as if nothing had happen'd , while the prince gave up his last gasp in the antichamber . now this must be look'd on as a great piece of contrivance in an author , who would give us an exact account of those whose history he relates . but this is a consideration not much heeded , and is the reason that we have so few histories . there is a character of spirit proper for the delivering of things as they are , which is not common ; it is one of the talents of thucydides , the most faithful and most sincere of all the historians : he has a gusto and liking for the truth , and a discernment to distinguish between that which is true and false , together with an accuracy of spirit , which has gain'd him the approbation and esteem of all nations . dionysius halicarnassaeus commends him above all things for his keeping close to the truth , alledging that he never spoke any thing against his conscience : wherein he has surpass'd herodotus , whose design it was onely to please . for strabo affirms , that he intermix'd fables into his history , out of a pure frolick to render it divertive . the historians of the lower class became so great flatterers , that their defect in point of fidelity diverted vopiscus from writing the history of his own time ; but the governour of the city , a favourite of the emperour 's , in a discourse he had with him as they walk'd abroad , took off that scruple by representing to him , that the most considerable historians had been deceiv'd in many things . * p●llio affirms , that the same thing has happen'd to caesar in his commentaries , because he took not the leisure to examine what he said . now if the greatest men are subject to these miscarriages , what will be the case of the ordinary sort of writers ? and if truth does not always make a discovery of it self in its purity to extraordinary genius's , how shall it expose it self to me●ner persons , who upon the very score of their quality cannot deliver any thing without changing the circumstances thereof , either by diminishing or augmenting the objects ? for there is not any thing of greater rarity than an exact character , and such as is fit to communicate things as they are : they are not said otherwise than as they are conceiv'd ; they are not conceiv'd , but answerably to the frame of the imagination : and of several persons who may have seen the same thing , there are not many times two that deliver it after the same manner , every one relating what he had seen according to the idea he has taken thereof , and suitably to the frame of his own apprehension . the talent therefore most requisite in an historian , is that exact and faithful inclination of declaring the truth , in all circumstances conducive to its making an impression in , and meriting the belief of the publick . but it is not yet sufficient to history , that it communicate what is true ; there is further requisite a certain manner of expression to speak it well , and that is called the style . let us now see which is the most convenient to history . x. the style proper to history . the style is the form of the discourse , and the manner after which a man writes : the most proper to every one is that which is most conformable to his genius , and he ought to follow it without any violence . so that a style having an intermixture of several styles is always vicious . this is a defect of strada in his history of flanders , who by the excellency of his imagination , and by his great reading , had fraught his mind with different characters . and that intermixture which is observable in his manner of writing , how pleasant soever it may be , abates somewhat of its perfection . mariana , a person of the same society , has more substance , and is more even in his style . but the most proper style for an historian is that which hath most the character of truth , and wherein that natural lustre of sincerity , which ordinarily attends truth , is more conspicuous : for what has that air is easily credited . the style of history ( says lucian ) ought to be clear and natural ; in as much as clearness is the rule of what it ought to speak , as truth is the rule of what it ought to think . the discourse of it ought to be free , though it seem to be restrain'd ; and it does not so much require numerousness , as a rotundity of style , that it may have that unconcernment which renders it natural . but in regard the historian ought to read the ancient authors , in order to the framing of a style according to his genius , we shall give him here what he shall find observable in that study , for his framing to himself a method proper to his design . the style of herodotus is gentle , evenly flowing and pleasant . that of thucydides is more noble , and implies more grandeur , but it is not so natural : nay , he has some harshnesses which render him obscure ; and he is less remarkable for numerousness and rotundity than herodotus . xenophon writes with an insinuating and milde air ; his discourse , which may be likened to a pure and clear water , has nothing comparable to it in antiquity , unless it be the style of caesar ; for there has not been any thing writ in the latine tongue of greater purity . the observation of a modern critick , who takes notice of a difference of style in the books of the civil wars , which he pretends are not written so purely as the war of the gauls , is a delicacy beyond my apprehension : i am not so subtilly observant as to find it so ; and i appeal to the sentiment of suetonius , who makes no distinction between them . i must acknowledge , that i am extremely taken with the elegance and simplicity of that author ; no person ever had the talent of writing more clearly . but the transcendency of livy's discourse puts me into an ecstacy ; it is near two thousand years that that historian has been heard with respect by all people , upon the score of that majestical tone wherewith he speaks , which has been the admiration of all ages . nor is my mind taken up with any thing so much as that admirable choice of words , always proportionate to his sentiments , and that expression of sentiment always conformable to the things whereof he speaks . in fine , he of all the authors has best pitch'd upon the style which cicero advises of history ; and he is that great model which buchanan , mariana , paulus aemilius , paulus jovius , and all those who have out-lasted their own ages , have propos'd to themselves , as to the manner wherein history ought to be written . tacitus is not so proper for that purpose ; for he , by reason of his startling and surprising sallies , may be compar'd to lightning , which does not so much lighten as dazle . paterculus and florus have made a kind of intermixture of the florid , delicate , and divertive air , with the meaner sort of writing . the authors of the history of augustus , as ammianus marcellinus , lampridius , spartianus , julius capitolinus , vopiscus , and the rest , have degenerated into the frigid and impure style , which has not any thing of that noble simplicity of the precedent ages . salust has somewhat of grandeur and sublimity in his way of writing ; in which respect quintilian compares him to thucydides . quintus curtius is conspicuous and florid . and upon these two ways , which are in a manner the two onely rational ones , that a man can make use of , he may examine which of the two is the most proper for history : and that question is the most important of any that can be made upon this subject . xi . whether the noble style , or the florid , be more proper for history . in a question of such consequence as this , which is not yet well decided , it will be sufficient to allege the reasons which may serve for the decision of it , when a man has not the authority to decide it himself . salust has a certain grandeur in his style ; but he has some harsh expressions , which render him dry in some places , because he had derived that unpolishedness from the original expressions of cato ; which gives a seriousness to his discourse , and that has the air of severity . on the contrary , there is not any thing more polite than quintus curtius ; it is a flower of admirable expression , which extremely pleases the virtuosi . but the business now in hand is to examine , whether the harsh style of salust , how harsh soe're it may be , is not more sound and more proper for history , it giving ( as indeed it does ) weight , vigour , and grandeur to the discourse . has it not even its beauties and excellencies ? is it not in that harshness of style , that we sometimes find those fierce and daring graces , which demetrius phalereus says that homer has so well express'd , in the adventure of polyphemus in the odissey , whereof he is the first author , as demetrius pretends in his treatise of elocution : that is to say , those graces which have nothing of softness or effeminacy , and which please without any affected and superfluous dress . the same author cites several examples of them taken out of xenophon , who has the art of making those things pleasant , which have not ought intrinsecally ●o recommend them . in this does properly consist that austere style , which hermogenes prefers before the soft style , when he says , that an absolutely simple narration has many times more force and vigour , than that which is adorn'd and florid ; inasmuch as the severe style may have grandeur , and the milde style cannot ascend above mediocrity : and for this reason does he place sound sence , how much soever it may admit of negligence , amongst the qualities of the noble and elevated style . this ( says he ) was the character of pericles , whom demosthenes propos'd to himself , in the acquest of that vigorous and vehement eloquence , wherein he has excell'd . hyperides ( says he elsewhere ) is chargeable with negligence , but yet he has grandeur : his style is rough , dry , and sceleton-like ; but it is noble and sublime . for that austerity of style , which was the true character of the greeks , is onely an exactness of sound sence , and an adjusted and correct reason , which ( without minding what glitters ) aims onely at what is solid ; it has nothing that 's counterfeit in its sentiments ; all its attention is wholly bent upon a sobriety of discourse , which has not any thing but what is senceful and simple . and this is also the style which plutarch attributes to demosthenes , and which dionysius halicarn●ssaeus does not distinguish from the grand and sublime . 't is in fine that vigour of expression , which gives the discourse an air of excellency and majesty , whereby it becomes great and solid . 't is thus that caesar has somewhat that's more noble in the simplicity of his discourse , than tacitus has in all the pomp of his words ; and there are some negligences in the ancient authors , which are equivalent to all the exactness and regularity of the moderns . not but that the florid style may be of use in those small histories , which cannot keep themselves up by their own intrinsecal worth . the princess of montpensier ought to be writ with all the elegance that art is capable of ; but the history of the war of paris and of our last troubles in france , ought to have a greater air of writing . in small subjects there is a delicacy requisite ; in great ones , vigour and dignity are required . let paterculus be polite and ornamental in the character he has taken ; but let livy be transcendent and serious ; in as much as ordinary beauties stand in need of ornament e're they can shew themselves , and the great ones , who have their attractions within themselves , need it not . not to urge that truth , which is the soul of history , is apt to fall under suspicion , when she is once too sumptuously adorn'd ; nor that negligence has more of the air of sincerity . and this is what 's particularly to be observ'd upon the account of style , after the general notions i have given thereof : but whereas it cannot be put in use otherwise than by narration , let us examine how that ought to be . xii . narration . history ( properly speaking ) being onely a recital of things past , and in the order they came to pass , ought to be a continued narration . so that there is not any thing more essential to it , than that a man know well how to relate ; but there is not also any thing more difficult . for what art is there not requisite to prevent the distraction of the reader , and to keep him in a continual posture of attention ? what prudence is there not requisite to mingle and scatter up and down those colours , which are fit to put things into a state of verisimilitude , and to intermix ever and anon those insinuations , those explications , those graces , that fire , that vivacity , which keep the narration from languishing ? what dexterity is there not requisit●●or a man to display his art and wit in what he says , and ye still to conceal it ; and by a great variety of expressions , figures , conceptions , to scatter ornaments up and down upon the passages that are capable thereof , yet without ever discovering them ? what discernment and recollection is there not requisite to know what ought to be said and what ought not to be said ; to speak , and to be silent ; not to stick any longer than is fit upon the places he is to pass through ; to expose things at large or minutely , according as necessity or decorum require ; to dilate , and abbreviate them ; to heighten by a happy expression the passages which are not happy of themselves ; and never to tire out the reader by an excessive uniformity ? in fine , what judgment is there not requisite accurately to distinguish between what suits well , and what does not ? for 't is upon this that the whole beauty of narration , and all the grace of history depends . but narration is complete , when it has not any thing that 's superfluous . thus you have in a word that whereto the perfection , which it is capable of , may be reduc'd . the precepts of cicero and quintilian say no more ; after whom i have not any thing to say . for when the superfluities are once retrenched , when those needless circumlocutions and those epithets , which are introduc'd merely for ostentation , and all those frivolous ornaments of discourse are suppress'd , every thing hastens to its period . vigour , smartness , dignity , all is kept up in it , and nothing languishes . as to this point thucydides surpasses herodotus , who is too diffusive in certain passages , wherein he gives too much scope to the excellency of his imagination . salust is an author of an exact and concise character ; he is principally recommendable upon the score of the swiftness and rapidity of his discourse ; 't is that which animate● it , and makes it so lively . the narration of caesar is admirable for its purity and eloquence , but it is not lively enough ; and it is defective as to that force and vigour which he quarrell'd at in terence . as for titus livius , he has an air of relating things which is very insinuating , by reason of the intermixture he makes of small things with great ones in his narration : in as much as an over-long continuation of great things spends the spirits , by reason of the attention they require , and small things give them some relaxation . 't is according to the same method that he diversifies his adventures , that he makes a vicissitude of mournful and pleasant things , that he disposes what is splendid and what is heavy , according to a wise and judicious temperament , to keep the reader in breath by that variety . for a narration grows flat , when it has not a diversity of accidents , adventures , figures , and expressions . nay , a man must give certain intervals to things , that so the reader may have time to breath , and not smother his matter , by an over-intermixture of occurrences one with another . this is a defect which dionysius halicarnassaeus reproaches thucydides withall , in a narration of the third book of his history , wherein he so intermingles the different interests of the athenians , lacedemonians , and the other nations of greece , that he somewhat confounds the several species , by a narration overcharg'd with matter . and this is a defect ordinary enough in fertile wits . though the order of the times be the most natural to narration , in regard it discloses things in the series wherein they happen ; yet is there however an order of reason in the distribution of occurrences , which ought to be the particular study of the historian . it is onely by this concealed order that he ingratiates himself with the reader , makes him take the same prospect of things as he had done himself ; that he instils into him his own sentiments , when he makes him see men acting naturally as they ought to act , and that he shews him their manners , their conceptions , their designs , their motives , their actions as they are in a kind of dependence one upon another , and in that natural order , wherein there is an exact correspondence . the historian , who knows how to manage this without confusion , is a great man. this is the way that is pleasing , and not those extraordinary emergencies , after which a man runs when he has no judgment . for there is not any thing more taking , than to see men act in that order : that alone well deliver'd keeps the mind attentive . as to which particular livy has been the most succesful , because he has best followed that order , by pursuing the course of his history with an intertexture of discourse , and an always equal and even concatenation of actions . longinus has not forborn to observe , that thucydides does sometimes discompose things that were well concerted , merely that he might surprize by his disorder , and so diversifie his narration : nay , he often relates things past in the present time , in shewing them as if they then actually passed ; which raises a greater expectancy and attention in the reader . tacitus has his frequent sallies , and does not make a consequential delivery of things . that great sence pent up in few words has not the extent it should have , to be proportionate to the apprehension of his readers , which is many times o'repressed therewith : and as he is not natural in what he relates , nor ever hardly humanizes himself , so he does not instruct as he ought to do . for instance ; when upon occasion of the papian law he explicates the origine of laws ; or when he elsewhere describes the privilege of places of refuge , he does not go to the source of the things ; he does not clear up any thing to the bottom , or he does it amiss ; as when he would explicate the religion of the jews , in the fifth book of his history . nay , his very style is no way fit for it , which is a great defect in an historian , whose principal function is to instru●● . but after all a narration is good , howe're it be made , when it pleases . xiii . transitions . the great art of narration , and one of its principal beauties , consists in transitions . and indeed those delicate and natural windings , those happy devolutions from one subject to another , which make the prosecution of the discourse engaging ; those insinuating attractions , which conduct the reader 's mind from object to object , and give him a spacious , yet divertive , prospect : in fine , all that admirable oeconomy of transition , is that which is most delicate and most sprightly in narration , which looks always as it were forc'd , never easie and natural , without that art. it is not enough for a man to understand speaking well , in order to the attaining of this ; but he must be eloquent , absolute master of his subject , and perfectly know the connexions and dependencies of it ; for the most proper transitions ought to be rather in the things themselves , than in the words . so that those excursions out of kingdoms into kingdoms , out of nations into nations , out of ages into ages , without any method or management , are great deviations and sallies , in a history any thing well regulated , wherein every thing ought to be disposed and adjusted , as we find in the structure of a great palace , the proportion and correspondency of whose parts make one of its greatest beauties . for history is as 't were a body , consisting of its several members by a natural connexion . as to which particular the history of the schism of england , by sand●r●s , is very defective amongst the moderns , as that of florus and paterculus amongst the ancients . there is not any thing more connected , or more gently flowing , than the the discourse of xenoph●n . livy has those qualifications in a greater measure ; his narration is an admirable concatenation , in regard his transitions are not so much in the words as the things . salust is not of so even a thread . tacitus is less even ; if he has any connexions , they are forc'd , and the thread of his discourse is much interrupted ; which startles the reader , who cannot follow that author but with loss of breath . the most difficult transitions are those which are in the most common things ; for a man must keep up himself with an expression that has not any thing mean in it , notwithstanding the meanness of the matter ; nay find out an expedient to connect things that have not any mutual dependence . 't is also in those places that a man ought to use his greatest art and wit. the reader 's mind is so delicate , that it is not always turn'd as an author pleases . and therefore those windings , which it is to be conducted from adventures to adventures , ought to be prepar'd by secret co●catenations . for in short , it is many times subject to a ridiculous coyness , and is in so fantastick an humour as renders it intractable . but what artifice is there not requisite to diversifie those transitions , between which there should never be any resemblance , that so he may always supply the reader with new idea's , by not placing the same objects before his eyes ? herein ought the industry of the historian to be much exercised ; for in this consists that gracefulness of narration , which alone can make it pleasant and attractive . xiv . the circumstances of narration . if a narration becomes pleasant upon the score of its transitions , it becomes probable upon that of its circumstances . for nothing renders a man more concern'd than a matter of fact well circumstanced , which being over-clouded and obscure , as it is in it self , is cleared up by particulars , and by that means becomes sensible , palpable , evident ; and there 's no way to make one apprehend the progress of great enterprizes and important affairs , but that of unveiling them by the different degrees of their circumstances . so that the art of exposing the truth in all its dependences , by decyphering what is particular therein , making one of the greatest beauties of history , the historian ought to study it with all the care imaginable . take then what there may be to be observed therein . the grand secret is , to know how to make a prudent and judicious choice of the circumstances , fit to give a greater idea of the thing , to imprint in them that colour which engages credulity , and by that minute dissection to render them capable of fastening on the mind . a collection of great and small circumstances methodically intermix'd one with another , is of that nature when they are well chosen . for the great circumstances raise admiration , and the small ones create diversion , provided they be well chosen , without being aggravated . but , though a matter of fact , which is not exactly particularized , does not make any impression ; yet is it requisite , that a man should avoid all those mean , frivolous , and minute particularities , which debase a subject ; for he becomes childish , and indeed ridiculous , who insists too much on small things . such was that impertinent historian mentioned by lucian , who makes a very particular description of the parthian king's vest , and of the roman emperour's buckler , whilest he is describing the engagement . others ( says he ) not minding essential things , spend their thoughts on what makes nothing to their purpose ; as he , who having said a word or two of the battel , which he was to give an account of , falls into a description of the most extravagant adventures of a moorish knight , that could be imagined . thus does procopius in his secret history , forget to circumstance what is important , and is very careful in circumstancing what is not so . a man ought therefore , in the relation of a matter of fact of consequence , to know how to set off to the best advantage the circumstances which are most proper to clear it up , and to heighten it , by distinguishing that which is essential from that which is not . the most complete model we have in history of a great action related in all the circumstances capable of giving it weight and grandeur , is hannibal's march into italy , described in the 21. book of livy's annals . it is in my judgment the most accomplish'd passage of his history ; and there are few things of that force in antiquity . never did greater design enter into a soul more extraordinary , and never was any thing executed with more confidence or more resolution . his business was to come out of africa , to pass through all spain , to climb over the pyrenaean mountains , to cross the river rhone , which is so large and so rapid near its falling into the sea , and whereof the shores on each side were planted with so many enemies ; to open a way through the alps , where none had ever passed before ; to march all along upon precipices , to dispute every foot of ground he was to go , with people posted every where in continual ambuscado's , amidst snow , ice , rain , torrents ; to defie tempests and thunder , to engage against the heavens , the earth , and all the elements ; to have at his heels an army of an hundred thousand men of different nations , but all dissatisfied with a captain , whose courage they could not imitate . there is a consternation in the hearts of the souldiery ; hannibal is the onely person undisturb'd ; the danger which surrounds him on all sides , raises a trouble in the hearts of the whole army , but he is not mov'd thereat . all is set down in a minute particularization of dreadful circumstances ; the image of the danger is expressed in every word of the historian ; and never was there any representation more complete in history , nor any touch'd with stronger colours , or more lively . nor is there any thing better circumstanc'd in tacitus , than the entertainment which the empress messalina made for silius , her gallant and favourite . 't was a kind of vintage in all the ceremonies , the season of autumn being favourable thereto ; joy , pleasure , effeminacy , lasciviousness , impudence , debauchery , all is describ'd with an exquisite delicacy and elegance , and all is particulariz'd succinctly , sencefully , and related in a smart and lively manner : and there is not any thing more judiciously plac'd , to render by so frolicksom a pourtraiture the death of messalina , which follows soon after , more tragical and more full of horrour . in fine , there are some happy circumstances which give a grace to whatever they are applied to ; they must be known ere they can be imploy'd . sometimes things become greater by their circumstances than they are in themselves . let us seek out those circumstances which are joyntly capable of pleasing and instructing , and so prevent the reader 's being wearied out . let us imitate d'avila , who so excites attention by the art he has of circumstancing what he says . and yet excessive particularizations tire the mind : let us therefore make a distinction between important and necessary circumstances , and those that are not such . let us consult lucian , and his discourse upon history ; he is a great master in it . but to make a narration complete , we are to joyn to the circumstances of the things which it says , the motives of the actions which it relates ; for the motives well couch'd down render a narration as curious , as the circumstances render it probable . xv. motives . to relate the actions of men without speaking of their motives , is not to be accounted writing of history . who does so , demeans himself as a gazetteer , who thinks it enough to deliver the events of things , without advancing to their source . as caesar , who simply gives an account of his marches and his encampings , without acquainting us with the motives thereof : all in his narration is too simple and too superficial ; and true it is , that he writes onely memoirs . it is therefore by this particularization of the motives which put men upon action , that history becomes it self curious , and that it keeps it self up , especially in important affairs . he therefore minds onely the superficiality of things , who relates how they pass'd without going to their principle . reason requires ( says cicero ) that as in great affairs the designs should precede the execution , so the historian should give an account not onely of the events , but also of the motives ; and that reporting what has been done , he should explicate how and by what means it was done . tacitus says somewhat much to the same purpose ; that the historian is concern'd not onely to relate the events of things , but also to discover the ground-work and principles thereof , and to give some account of the motives . 't is by this that an historian distinguishes himself , and becomes considerable ; and nothing is more divertive in a narration , than the decyphering of what is secret and of importance , in the designs and intentions of those whose actions it divulges : and as history has not any thing curious comparably to that , so are there not any historians of any fame , who have not endeavoured to signalize themselves upon that score . for nothing does more excite the curiosity of men , than when they have discover'd to them what is most conceal'd in the heart of man , that is to say , the secret springs and resorts , which make him act in the enterprizes , which are ordinary to him . it is therefore by this re-ascension to the cause that we discover the genius of those persons who are spoken of , that we find out the predominant humour which puts them into action , what things they are capable of , and that we light on the truth by diving into their intentions . but with how many falshoods are histories fraught upon this plausible pretence ? and into how many errors have fallen , and do daily fall , unjust , unfaithful , and interessed historians , who carried on with the career of their own conjectures , communicate their own visions to the publick , in explicating the designs of those whom they discourse of . as for example , that pericles occasioned the peloponnesian war , upon the score of his amours to the curtezan aspasia . that xerxes carried into greece that dreadful army , of which historians give us an account , onely out of a design to eat figs there . that anthony lost the empire , onely to avoid losing cleopatra . that francis the first of france had no motive to bring an army into italy , but the fair eyes of a milanese lady named claricia . there is not any thing more dangerous than this sort of people , who make it their business to search into mens hearts , to guess at their thoughts ; who say all they know , and all that comes into their minds , out of a fear of being defective in telling the truth . this is one of the great miscarriages of d'avila , whose reasonings are pertinent enough , but whose conjectures in the motives of the matters of fact which he alleges , have but little truth in them , if we refer our selves to the sentiments of ancient courtiers , who had a true account of things from their fathers . 't is therefore when all 's done , onely an action well disclos'd as to the motives , and a secret well div'd into , that gives a great idea of the ability of the historian ; that creates a judgment that he speaks as a person well inform'd , and is a great beauty in a history . but let an author , who is subject to guess at things , be always on his guard against his own prepossession ; let him not hearken to his affection , nor to his aversion , that so he may avoid artifice , and those colours which he is apt to give things , to turn them to that side for which he is prepossess'd ; let him not introduce supposititious falsities , to justifie his conjectures , and to bring things to the posture he would have them in ; let him not alleviate or aggravate any thing , as tacitus does , who spits his venom every where ; or as paterculus , who scatters flowers on all sides ; let him not make men have worse intentions than they have , as herodotus does , when he says that the persians were called into greece by the spartans , because they could not any longer resist the lacedemonians ▪ nor yet endure them , as plutarch reproaches him with it ; nor let him excuse unjust actions by good intentions , as that callias of syracuse did , who justifies all the actions of agathocles , because he was kind to him , as diodorus observes ; nor as paulus j●vius has done in respect of cosmo de medicis in these last ages . there are in all historians some miscarriages of this kind , because there are few among them who have their heads steddy enough to oppose their prepossession . but though the motives in great persons ought regularly to be more excellent , and indeed greater than the actions ; for the motives depend on them , whereas the events do not ; yet is there no great mistake ( the condition of grandees considered ) in putting into the scales of their counsels and deliberations , some grains of the vanity and weakness whereof they are capable . for it happens many times , that most men determine what they intend to do upon impertinent and ridiculous motives . there are infinite examples of it which i omit , to avoid being my self infinite upon this subject . it is principally requisite , that there be a discovery of the vanity , the malice , the ignorance , the extravagance of man's spirit , which are as it were the principles thereof , in order to a full discovery of his intentions , and e're we can ●ive into the weakness of them , which is the grand principle of his malice ; and a man must not be ignorant above all things , that the slothfulness of most grandees , in examining what is of greatest concern in affairs , and the impatience they are in to see the issue of them , is the wheel upon which is carried about what is most essential in their conduct . these are they who ought principally to be known , in regard that being ( as they are ) the grand actors upon the theatre of the world , all things are regulated according to the fantastick humour they are in ; but it is not to be affirmed , that a man's reason always hits upon the right , when haply he may have done it once by pure chance . there are some historians in this age who have lost their repute by the excessive itch they had to intermingle their own conjectures in all occurrences , and to communicate themselves to the publick , together with their histories . as herrera does , who says that the duke of parma did not what he could against the dutch , that he might according to policy keep them the longer upon the stage . there is not any thing more opposite to the spirit of the historian , who ought to be faithful and sincere , than those conjectures which are made at random without any ground ; and all those deductions grounded upon simple conjectures are either uncertain or frivolous . and this i conceiv'd observable upon the points of transitions , circumstances , and motives , wherein the principal artifice of narration consists . take now what is to be thought of its parts , which are the figures , the passions , the descriptions , the orations , the reflexions or sentences , the characters of persons , the digressions , and whatever may enter into the oeconomy of the discourse , whereof history ought to be compos'd . xvi . figures . history does not make use of figures , but onely to animate and enliven it self . the orator who designs to impose , does speak for the most part figuratively , the better to set the ressorts of his art on work : but the historian ought to demean himself otherwise . that very simplicity of expression which truth requires in history , is not compatible with those figurative airs , which would offend its candour and ingenuity . lucian , who is admirable upon all other accounts , is not so much upon any , as against those vain ornaments of eloquence , which do not become history . if you bring in too many of them , says he , you make it like hercules dress'd up in the ornaments of his mistress : which is the greatest extravagance imaginab●e . it is yet much less capable ( adds he ) of those glittering flourishes which some use in poesy , to cause those emotions which it excites in the heart , which stir the soul , and raise a disturbance in the mind by the agitation of the passions . history , which is simple and natural , and would not have me believe any such thing , ought to leave me the freedom of my heart , that i may pass a more solid judgment on what it tells me . floquence , which by its proper character is a delusive art , may attempt upon my liberty , by endeavouring to persuade me whether i will or no : but history , which confines it self within the limits of pure instruction , cannot with any decorum make use of figures upon any other score , than that of devesting the discourse of its natural frigidit● , and making it less wearisom . 't is onely thus that herodotus , thucydides , and xenophon keep the readers mind vigilant ; nor is it ever to impose upon the publick , that salust , livy , and mariana speak figuratively . tacitus is not so scrupulous ; he has the air of a man , who designs onely to dazle : the boldness of his metaphors , and of his other figures , renders his expression as if 't were serew'd up , and of difficult comprehension . caesar is in the other extreme ; it is a naked discourse , without figure , destitute of all ornament . not but that a figurative expression seasonably made , does sometimes please more than the proper words , in regard it creates images that are more lively and pleasant to the mind , and gives a vigour and generosity to the discourse ; and there is a wise and judicious confidence of style , which is allowable in those places , where there should be an excitation of the spirits . but it is requisite , that the figures to be well imployed should affect shamefac'dness and modesty , not assuming to themselves the liberty of those sallies of poesy , or the nobler sort of eloquence . let them not ( says lucian ) be too splendid nor too far fetch'd , unless it be in the description of a battel , or in an harangue , wherein the historian ( says he ) may unfurle the sails of his eloquence , yet without spreading them too far . xvii . passions . the passions are also one of the great beauties of narration , when they are seasonably intermingled , and judiciously treated therein . nor do they indeed require that heat which ought to attend them upon the theatre : they ought to appear in another air , for they are not represented by way of action , but onely related . an historian may give his discourse a dress of passion , but he ought not to be in any himself . thus does he study man with all possible disquisition , to discover in his heart the most secret motions which passion is capable of exciting therein , to the end he may express the trouble and discomposure of it . this partly and pathetically done , is a great divertisement in a narration . thucydides has treated that part better than herodotus , for he is more eloquent and more pathetical , according to the sentiment of dionysius halicarnassaeus ; though herodotus does sometimes betray a greater vivacity . hermogenes proposes an admirable model of a tender , affectionate narration , in the death of penthea , queen of susiana , which is related in the seventh book of xenophon's cyrus . 't is one of the most excellent passages of that author ; all is related therein with a great tenderness and insinuation . quintilian pretends , that of all the historians livy has most signallized himself , by those tender and delicate ways of expression , wherein he has treated of the gentlest motions of the soul ; the violent carrying away of the sabine virgins , those tendernesses which they made appear to disarm the romans their husbands , and the sabines who were their fathers ; the death of lucretia , and her body expos'd to the publick , to stir up the people to a revolt from the tarquins ; vetturia at the feet of her son cariolanus , who was come to besiege rome , to appease him ; virginia stabb'd with a dagger by her own father ; the consternation of rome after the battel at cannae ; and a thousand other passages of that kind , set down in his history with the most delicate airs , and the most pathetical expressions that can be imagin'd , are excellent examples of it . and it is in this historian that a man ought to study the air of treating the passions , as they ought to be treated in history ; for he animates himself onely in those places , where there is a necessity of heat and fervour . tacitus minds not the husbanding of his fire ; he is always animated ; nay the colours he makes use of are always too strong : and in regard he is many times too expressive in certain things , and does not make a natural representation , he moves not the reader . i say nothing of the other historians , most of whom understood not the passions , nor the manner they ought to be treated . 't is a singular kind of rhetorick , which requires a great sencefulness , and a very exact knowledge of moral philosophy . but if we would please , let us be sure to avoid those dry narrations , which do not excite any tenderness by those passionate airs which nature requires . xviii . descriptions . the affectation which most historians seem to have for descriptions , has somewhat decry'd the use of them amongst the judicious : nor is there any thing so childish as an over-gawdy description in a serious history . an author cannot be too circumspect in the use which ought to be made of them . the principle which ought to be therein observ'd is , that there 's no more requisite than what is necessary , to create a clearer apprehension of the things , the knowledge whereof is essential to that which a man writes . such is the description of the island of capreae in the fourth book of tacitus his annals ; for it specifies the reasons which tiberius had to retire thither , towards the end of his days , which makes it necessary : and being short , elegant , polite , as it is , having nothing superfluous , it may be said , that it is as it should be . the description of the place where jugurtha was defeated by metellus in salust , contributes to the better comprehension of the fight . we find there an account of the gallantry of the romans , as also of the experience of the king of numidia , by the advantage he had taken in posting himself in the upper grounds ; and the whole relation of the battel is better understood by that representation of the place , which the historian sets before our eys : as he does also the description of the place where hannibal attacqued minutius , in the 22. book of livy's annals , which is a passage very well couch'd . descriptions may also be allow'd in a great history to render the narration more divertive , provided they be to the purpose , and without that superfluity wherewith they are ordinarily attended in young historians : the affectation they have to make an ostentation of their abilities that way , occasioning sometimes their falling into childishness , which are to be pitied . nay , lucian quarrels at the over-tedeous description which thu●ydides makes of the plague of athens , in the second book of his history ; and it is possible he may have some reason for it ; for that author ( as wise as he is ) gives too minute a particularization of that distemper . but it is with much more ground that the same critick exclaims against the impertinent historian of his time , who took so great a pleasure in making great descriptions of mountains , cities , battels , which 〈…〉 all the snow and 〈…〉 north. nor indeed is there any thing so frigid , as a description too far-setch'd . the military machines of caesar are describ'd in his commentaries with too great a particularity of circumstances , in a subject so mechanick as that is . it would seem that great commander , whose reputation in the management of military affairs is well established , had a desire also of acquiring that of an excellent engineer ; wherein there appears too great an air of affectation , in a person so judicious as he was . the description of africk in salust's jugurth●ne war , is over-circumstanced ; there needed not so much to have been said , to set out the limits of the kingdoms of adherbal , and jugurtha , which was the business then in hand . what occasion was there of describing that whole countrey , and distinguishing the manners of the inhabitants , with so much particularity ? it is requisite therefore that descriptions should be necessary , exact , suc●inct , elegant , not sought for , and that they have not any thing that clashes , nor that there be discover'd a vain desire in the author of making a greater shew of his wit than of his subject ; that so they may be such as they ought to be , and such as those of livy , who is to be the model , which they are to propose to themselves , who would make them well . xix . harangues . i find the sentiments of our masters much differing as to this point . herodotus , thucydides , xenophon , salust , have principally signallized themselves by their harangues . thucydides has therein excelled the rest : the discourses which he makes the principal actors of his history deliver , as pericles , nicias , alcibiades , archidamus , and whole nations , whom he introduces speaking by their deputies , are admirable lectures for the orators of all ages ; and it is principally in that school that demosthenes had his institution . polybius is more reserved ; he does not make scipio speak so much , though he might justly have done it , as having always accompanied him in his wars . caesar is yet more reserv'd , for he does not in a manner make any of those harangues , pretending they derogate from the truth of history ; and making it his business onely to write plain memoirs , that so he might be the more simple in his discourse . dionysius halicarnassaeus brings in brutus making a great exhortation upon the death of lucretia , to animate the people to revenge : and the harangue he introduces valerius making upon the form of government , which was most convenient for the state , in the seventh book of his history , is of a great length . josephus , appianus , dion cassius , procopius , are great discoursers , as were also thucydides and xenophon , who had taken that idea of haranguing from homer . and indeed if we examine the ground of those discourses , especially of those which are made by chief commanders , to encourage their souldiers to fight , we shall find but little likelyhood in them . trogus with much reason reproaches salust and livy , with the immoderate excess of harangues in their histories . accordingly all those discourses made by grandees have an air of fiction : for upon what memoirs could they have been taken ? besides that , it is not likely a warriour should speak as an accomplish'd orator . so when pericles in thucydides commends those souldiers who had been defeated and killed by the boeotians , his harangue is supposititious ; as is also that which salust makes catiline speak to the conspirators , which in all probability was secret , and not much thought of before hand . and this is some part of beny's argument in his disapproval of that abuse . thucydides , who was a judicious author , grew sensible of it in his last books , wherein he harangues much less than in the precedent . but it is a lesson of nature ; for there is no account made thereof , if they who are concerned therein are not introduc'd to speak them ; for there is not any thing else does so much animate the narration , which is apt to become frigid by too even a thread of discourse . there is therefore a mean or temperament to be observed : a short discourse pertinently made in an history , by an author fit to make such a one , and such as may be conveniently applicable to the person and the subject then concerned , may have its peculiar beauty , being set in its proper place . but those formal harangues at the head of an army , when they are just ready to engage , and those tiresom and prolix deliberations , which are made upon the affairs whereof they speak , are now in a manner obsolete and out of use in well-digested histories ; and the wisest authors chuse rather to introduce the persons concern'd speaking indirectly , and saying the things in general , without engaging themselves to speak the very wo●●● , as livy has done at the beginning of his history , by the embassadors whom romulus sends to his neighbours . most of the harangues in salust are always admirable , and never pertinent nor to the purpose . for nothing can be more excellent than the discourse of marius ; it is a most solid piece of morality upon the subject of gallantry : all is rational in it , and antiquity has but few discourses of that vigour in order to the persuasion of vertue ; but that is not in its proper place . and the air wherewith he makes cato and caesar give their votes in the senate , is not ( as great as it is ) proportionate to the rest of the history . for the same reason the great discourse which dion cassius makes in the 56. book of his history , upon the commendation of marriage and celebacy , is not very pertinent . there is not any thing comparable to the harangue which tacitus brings in tiberius making in the senate , upon the reformation of luxury and riot , in the third book of his annals : never did historian make a prince speak with more dignity . the harangues of agrippa and mecaenas to augustus , the one advising him 〈◊〉 quit the empire , and the other to keep it , are admirable in dion cassius ; but they are so long , that they take up the whole 52. book . in a word , to put a period to this article , i am of cicero's opinion , who speaking of the discourses of thucydides , wisely says , i find them very excellent ; but i could not do as much my self if i would , nor would i do it if i could . and this is the best that can be said as to that point : for in fine , harangues are always subject to be tedeous . and 't is a pleasant humour of boccalini , who makes an ancient man to be condemn'd , by way of penance , to read one of guicciardine's harangues , because he had read a madrigal in the parnassus with his spectacles on . xx. the characters of persons . pourtraitures do very much imbellish an history , when they are well done : but the romances have spoil'd us upon that score ; for we make too many of them , and such as are not like any thing . we amuse our selves in representing at random the external accomplishments of the person , which is not the business to be done . of what concern is it to me , to know whether hannibal had a fair sett of teeth , provided his historian discover to me the grandeur of his genius , provided he give me the representation of a bold restless spirit , of a person of vast projects , of an undaunted courage , and all that animated by an uncontrollable ambition , but kept up by a robust constitution , as livy has describ'd him ? thus does salust create in me a great opinion of catiline , by the pourtraiture he makes of him at the entrance of his history . and when i see that resolute souldier raising armies in his closet , going to the senat in a silence , which denotes resolution , to affront the consul , slighting and scorning his invectives , putting rome into an alarm , making italy tremble ; in fine , daring that which no private person ever durst ; i am not surpriz'd , after the description which the historian has given me of him . i see a man of capacity and conduct , who stirs all without shewing himself , because he had laid his design well . pompey is at a great distance with the best forces of the common-wealth , engag'd in an important but obstinate war ; rome is full of disaffected persons ; the neighbouring provinces are full of malecontents ; there is an universal disorder in the commonwealth , by reason of the overflux of all vices predominant therein ; and all things seem favourable to catiline's design , in the conjuncture he takes for the execution of it . thus may a man guess at what will happen upon the war between adherbal and jugurth , after the description which salust gives of both their genius's : thus have i a perfect knowledge of scylla and marius , according to the idea he has given me of them ; and take a pleasure to see flowing down from a source , which that historian has discovered to me , the result of the great actions of jugurth , who gave so much trouble to the romans , after the representation he has made me of that chieftain's courage and conduct . 't was thus the ancients intermingled in their histories such pourtraitures of persons , whom they would give a particular character of , to distinguish them from others ; which is a thing of great ornament in a work , when 't is pertinently done . for when the historian has well establish'd a character by those essential and distinctive lines , all goes the better ; every thing is more easily apprehended in the narration . but it is a master-piece for a man to attain that resemblance , which consists onely in those singular and imperceptible touches , by which alone nature is express'd , and which are hardly found , otherwise than by a particular search into mens hearts , and a discovery of all the recesses thereof , to get a perfect knowledge of what lies conceal'd . but what vivacity of spirit , and what perspicacity is there not requisite to do that ? take here then what is to be observed therein : the pourtraiture or character ought to be real ; and so xenophon is defective in the pourtraiture he has made of cyrus , wherein he has given us a hero in idea . it ought to resemble the person represented ; in which case tacitus is not exact , who makes it his business rather to follow his own genius , than to imitate nature ; endeavouring rather to make beautiful pieces , than good draughts ; provided his representations please , as that of sejanus , in the fourth of his annals , he minds not how little they resemble , for he makes him more wicked than he was , if we may believe paterculus , who much commends him . there ought not to be any pourtraitures made but of the most important persons ; as to which particular salust is mistaken in the pourtraiture of sempronia , who comes but indirectly into catiline's conspiracy . but though a man ought not to amuse himself too much in describing the external qualifications of the person , yet may it be done upon certain occasions , when it is conducive to a better discovery of the genius of those who are spoken of . and indeed there are many ways of representing persons . livy speaking of lucretia , who was so beautiful in the eye of her husband , giving no description of her countenances gives an account onely of her vertue , and in two words sets down the greatest idea which could be given a vertuous woman . taictus describes tiberius onely by his actions ; and 't is by those that he makes a discovery of him . lampridius gives us a description of the fantastick humour of the emperour he 〈◊〉 , when he tells us , that , after he had glutted his parasites with good cheer , he caus'd them to be smother'd in great heaps of flowers . procopius describes the empress theodor● by her venereal debauches . the historian of wences●●us thinks it enough to pitch upon one debauch'd act to give a pourtraitive of that emperour : he order'd ( says he ) his cook to be spitted and rousted , because he had not roasted a pig , which he intended to eat of , to his mind . but the hest way of describing is that of discovering the secret motions and inclinations of the heart , from which we may derive a better knowledge of the person ; 't is thence alone we ought to assume that air which distinguishes ; to give a man a character ▪ built upon the ground work whence it is taken . all the rest ought to be but of little account in a serious history , which cannot admit of any thing but what is judicious . nor do i like those copied pourtraitures ; made up of an intermixture of several pieces , such as 〈◊〉 has , which he has taken out of tacitus ; nor such as that of walste●n in 〈◊〉 , which is compos'd of most of the excellent pourtrat●● of antiquity . a man ought not to amuse himself in taking of copies when he draws by the life , and thinks to make an original . in fine , history is the most faithful representation of the persons of whom it speaks ; for nothing makes a greater discovery of their character , than the consequences of their actions . xxi . reflections and sentences . this article will much exercise our discussive faculty , as being that which makes the whole delicacy of history , when it is treated with that tenderness which that subject requires . but what deviations and mistakes are there not to be avoided , in a track wherein a man cannot walk too simply ? xenoph●n , polybius , and tacitus are very liberal in point of reflections . thucydides , salust , and caesar are more reserv'd . what side should we take 〈◊〉 so great examples , upon so different a ●onduct , and in a matter so important ? certain it is , that what beauty soever history may expect from these sorts of ornaments , there is not any thing relating thereto , that ought to be better or more cautiously manag'd . for in a word , to morali●e upon all things , and without 〈…〉 to put the adventures which present themselves , great and little into curious and political reflections , implies a quitting of the character of an historian , who ought simply to relate what he has to say , without shuffling into the relation what comes into his own head. nor is there any thing more capable of altering the truth , or at least of entangling it , than those subtile conceptions which an author thrusts in of his own , and which the reader has not the ingenuity to unravel , from that part which is purely historical . it is therefore wisdom in an author , not to be ridiculously over-conceited of his own sence , that so he may act the part of a philosopher indifferently , upon whatever presents it self to him , as ▪ ammianus . marcellinus , who plays the philosopher too much , out of a mis-understood affectation to appear learned . livy keeps on his way , without stopping at any thing ; he says what he knows upon the things he speaks of , and he leaves the reader to make reflections himself , and does not prepossess him with his own ; and when he does so , 't is in few words , but noble and great ones : as for instance , what he says of the crime and punishment of appius , who had forcibly carried away virginia . it is a great talent in an author , to know how to find work for those who read him , by giving them matter , that they may deduce consequences from it , and take those prospects to the things he relates , which they shall think fit . for every reader would have the freedom of think what he pleases upon what is presented to him , and not be prepossessed ; and the use of that freedom is one of the greatest divertisements he takes in his reading . let us therefore retrench those profound and abstracted reflections , if our design be to please ; let us not subtilize so much in what we write , but let us endeavour to be simple and natural . let us speak the truth without commenting upon it , if we have the steddiness and strength of ingenuity to do it . let us above all things avoid those usual moralizations upon fortune and her inconstancy , whereof some books are so full . let us not involve our selves in those over-sententious sayings , which aim onely at splendour and decoration . let us renounce those clinchings , and all those delusive sentiments , which some authors of mean parts exercise upon words . but if we make an intermixture of reflections in our discourse ; let them be naturally deducible from the ground of the subject ▪ let them not be too subtile or over-studied ; let them have less splendour than solidity ; let them come nearer the ratiocination of a wise politician , than the affectation of a declamator ; let them not be either too frequent , and without an apparent connection , but enchac'd , or inter woven in some manner in the body of the work. in fine , let them not have that forc'd air of reflections , which creates an ill opinion of him who makes them . as to this particular tacitus , machi●vel , p●●lus j●vi●● , d'avila , and most of the italians and sp●●iards , are excessive . besides , let not any one amuse himself in making those curious reflections , whether upon a political or morel account , unless he have a perfect knowledge of the person he speaks of , as also of the illusions of his mind , and the weaknesses of his heart ; for it is by that knowledge that good historians are distinguished from mean ones , as plutarch in his lives . salust , as great a● endeavourer of simplicity as he is , amuses himself too much in declaring against the corruptions and immorality of his time ; he is always incens'd against his countrey , and always disgusted with the government ; he creates too bad an opinion of the common-wealth , by his invectives and reflections upon the luxury of rome . and indeed , though ●●ere be not any thing of falshood in what he says , yet he devi●ces from the spirit which first ●nimated him . nor would d'avila be so much a declamator , if he did not sometimes forget that he is onely an historian . it is also requisite that a man should be deeply skill'd in morality , e're he can make pertinent and seasonable reflections ; for true morality is the ground-work of good policy . and so it may be said , that tacitus his politicks are many times false , because his morality is not true ; wherein he attributes too great a corruption to men , or he has not sufficiently that talent of implicity he ought to have : there is not ordinarily any thing natural in his reflections , because there is not any thing innocent ; he envenoms all , and gives all things the worst gloss that may be . by those ways has he corrupted the minds of many persons , who imitate him in this particular , not being able to do it in others . and this is what i conceive observable as to the use of reflections upon the score of history . a sententious saving may be seasonably put into the mouth of a person , whose character qualifies him for the speaking of sentences . in my judgment mariana and strada have not been sufficiently careful in this particular . nor is there any kindness to be had for that over-serious sort of writers , who will not be put out of their track ; and who to give an air of greater importance to what they say , multiply sentences upon sentences , reflections upon reflections , and by a ridiculous gravity play the cato's upon trifles . an excessive humour of subtilizing in these over-sought conjectures , is apt to degenerate into a delusive delicacy of writing ; and reflections are not good but when they have least the air of reflection . xxii . digressions . digressions have also their peculiar grace , when they are made where they ought to be , and not chargable with any indetermination or want of connection , inasmuch as they give the narration that variety which is requisite to render it divertive ; but there ought to be a prudent distribution and inter-mixture of them . a man is apt to be misled when he leaves his subject ; for wanting the requisite recollection , he is apt to take the wrong course ; and for a man to quit the matter he had propos'd to himself , without any precaution , and so to go and seek out adventures , onely to give his reader a more spacious prospect , does not so well stand with the character of an historian , as it does with that of an adventurer , who minds every thing , purposely to thrust into his narrative whatever comes in his way ; he takes cities , gives battels , and makes adventures every where ; as herodotus does , who is continually starting out of his matter by over-frequent digressions , and those many times forc'd , though he had taken homer for his patern , who is a great master in it ; for though he often takes a high soaring flight , yet he pursues his course directly enough to his mark , without deviating by introducing things that are incongruous . thucydides is more regular than herodotus ; he keeps close to his subject , without starting out of it . the conspiracy of harmodius and aristogiton , in the sixth book , is one of those digressions wherein he has most excell'd . xenophon endeavours to imitate him ; if he sometimes miscarries , as he does in the fifth book of the history of cyrus , in the adventure of panthea , yet that adventure has a natural connection with the body of his history ; panthea having been taken by cyrus in the defeat of the assyrians , and king abradaras her husband having engag'd himself in the party of cyrus , and been made one of the generals of his army . true it is , that i would not be answerable for the other digressions of that author , which have not that absolute connection to the subject they ought to have in his other works . polybius has frequent digressions upon the point of politicks , the science of military affairs , and the laws of history , which seem not very necessary . salust is sometimes chargeable with the same fault ; upon which score a modern critick blames them both . photius does very much commend the digression which dionysius halicarnassaeus makes in his seventh book , in describing the consequences of aristomedus his tyranny . the question about the phoenix handled in the sixth book of tacitus his annals , upon occasion of the news which was brought to rome of a phoenix that appear'd in egypt , in the reign of tiberius , is within the rules of a just digression . the question is search'd into by the different opinions of naturalists upon the bird ; its qualities , its figure , all is there describ'd in few words . a flourish of that nature well plac'd is of great ornament in a narration , and it excites the curiosity of the reader , and keeps his mind vigilant and attentive . nor is there any thing gives the history of mariana that air of grandeur which it has , so much as the art which that author has of introducing into it , by the means of digression , whatever passes in the world that 's considerable , whatever is admirable in fabulous times , and whatever is remarkable in greece , sicily , and the roman empire . there you have a very particular account of the republick of carthage , which it will be hard to find better couch'd any where else : as also of the sieges of saguntus and numantia , of hannibal's passage into italy , the series of the emperours , the first setting up of christianity , the preaching of the gospel , the conquests of the arabians , and several other imbellishments which are of the sublime character . 't is a genius ever minding transcendent matters , which yet have a constant dependence by something to the history of spain . no historian ever honour'd his countrey by any work so much as he has done , for he makes whatever was transacted of any great account in the world contributory to the honour of his own countrey . but as there are few authors who have that vigour of genius , as to follow the thread of a history with the same breath , and to keep themselves close to the same subject , without starting from it ; so are there but few historians , who do not sometimes forget themselves by being overseen in their digressions . i shall not trouble myself to observe them , they are obvious : for nothing is more rare than that exactness of senceful connection , which knows how to keep close to its subject . this i shall onely affirm , that livy has not more carefully avoided any thing , than those deviations which diverted him from his matter in hand , as he declares himself ; in regard that nothing does so much betray a want of judgment . but we might find even at this day in some of our historians , that ridiculous humour which l●cian censur'd ●n those , who in his time writing the wars of the parthians , shuffled into their narrations the fondest and the most extravagant imaginations in the world , onely to make them the more divertive , making their excursions out of country into country , out of ages into ages , out of adventures into adventures , without any discernment . it ought therefore to be laid down as a certain rule , and such as is not to be dispenc'd withall ; that digressions ought always to have a connection by something to the principal subject that is treated of ; as it has always been observed by that judicious historian we mentioned before : and it must be strictly examined , whether there be not at the bottom some natural incompatibility between them and it ; otherwise they are no way proper thereto , for nothing is more essential to digression , than the rapport which it ought to have to the subject , and the great mystery is , that a man precisely know how far it ought to be extended , for it has its natural boundaries , which must not be exceeded . and what makes this measure the more difficult is this , that the extent which must be given it ought not to be always the same ; for it ought to be great or little , proportionably to the greater or lesser connection it has to the principal part of the history ; and this very discernment is the rock upon which most historians are ●ast . for there are not any , who in the digressions wherein they engage themselves , do not exceed the limits they should have observ'd , by reason of the difficulty there is in the exact and regulated observance thereof . and in this particular we may be somewhat censorious upon mariana , who in the beginning of his history has taken great compasses and windings , in order to the carrying on of his main design : as to this he stands in some need of apology , and i cannot undertake his vindication . the onely model to be propos'd as to this point is livy , who makes no deviation out of the roman history , so much as to deliver his sentiment upon the success of alexander's arms , in case he should have come into italy , without taking great precautions , and without preengaging mens minds by very elaborate excuses . the discourse he makes upon that consideration is very curious , and very pertinently apply'd . xxiii . the eloquence proper to history . history ought to be eloquent , that so i● may not be wearisom , and in this ought its art principally to consist ; and this is its or inary effect . but there is also an extraordinary one known to very few persons , to wit , that of not speaking ought that is true , but what has withall the air of truth , that it may merit credibility , in the things that are more difficultly credible . the eloquence which knows how to give things the right prospect they ought to have , is particularly applicable in this case ; and the accurate distribution of matters in that admirable order and compagination , which gives them ve●●similitude , is its principal work . the historian has his matter given him by the memoirs wherewith he is supply'd , but the distribution of it is his peculiar province ; and to manage that as it ought to be , he should not so much reflect on what he says , as on the manner how he says it ; for in this as well as in the other parts of eloquence , the manner is all in all . and this is properly the use which the historian ought to make of eloquence , which alone disposes every thing into its proper place , that it may there have its effect . this is the great artifice of thucydides , who ( as cicero affirms ) surpass'd all the other historians by his eloquence . quintilian does not speak of that of livy , but with admiration . and it is indeed by that admirable quality that those two great men have so highly distinguished themselves from the common rank of other historians : for it is eloquence that gives a man the talent of expressing himself . he who most clearly expresses himself is most persuasive , and it is onely persuasion that imprints on things that tincture of truth , which they have not but by deriving it from the air that is given them , and from the position and prospect wherein they are plac'd . accordingly there cannot be any thing more eloquent than the description which salust makes of the state rome was in , when catiline design'd to become the master of it . and when that admirable author represents the common-wealth corrupted by luxury and avarice , weakned by the weight of its own grandeur , you have the expressions of the most exquisite eloquence that is to be found in history . it is in those draughts and representations that art ought to shew it self , when a man is master of it : and the historians of the first rank are full of them . 't is this sort of eloquence that ought to be interwoven with history , that it may be animated by its fire and spirit ; for without that every thing languishes . and those different dresses which ought to be given to the narration , to render it delightful ; all that artifice of transitions , those so delicate and so passionate sallies , which smite the reader 's tenderest part ; that intertexture and compagination of the most memorable matters of fact , that regular distribution of circumstances , and all those conspicuous passages which excite admiration , are onely the effects of that singular sort of eloquence which is proper to history , and ought sometimes to take a soaring flight when occasion requires . but it must be the discerning perspicacity of the historian , that shall distinguish those passages . there reigned amongst the greeks , and indeed amongst the romans , a kind of eloquence in the harangues of the persons whom they introduc'd speaking , which proceeded from pure ostentation , and made a greater shew of the historians ingenuity than of the truth of the history , and wherein they made it not so much their business to instruct , as to dazle and amuse the reader . that eloquence is grown obsolete amongst those of the moderns , who are of soundest judgment , because it had a certain air of affectation , and that such as are able to discern do fancy onely what is natural . the prefaces of salust , which are large discourses well-couch'd , instructive , and very eloquent , seem to me to be of that kind , as being a sort of common-places that have no rapport to the history . possibly that author had some pieces in store , which he made use of as occasion required ; as cicero did , according to his own acknowledgment ; i have ( says he ) a volum of prefaces always ready for the occasions i may have of them . i should never have suspected cicero guilty of that foresight , had he not bragg'd of it himself . it might do well in an orator , who many times speaks in publick , and has not always the leisure to prepare himself : but it is not to be allow'd in a history , where a man is master of himself and his time . for in short , all those discourses how plausible soever they may be of themselves , are no longer such when they are out of their proper place , and as soon as they make any discovery of affectation . and thus much as to the eloquence of history . xxiv . other imbellishments which may be imploy'd in history . there may be yet other beauties and embellishments fit to be us'd in the structure of history , in order to the making of it more cheerful and sprightly , either when it is apt to languish , or when it is carried on with too even a thread , by long-winded relations , which are not sufficiently diversified . but of such embellishments , those which make the greatest shew do not always produce the greatest effect . there is always somewhat that 's counterfeit in what is most glittering . a mind which is limited takes no pleasure in too much lustre ; and that consideration ought to oblige an accomplish'd man so to husband those embellishments , as not to be prodigal of them , and to proportion himself to the capacity of man , whom excessive light dazles ; besides that , when these beauties are too frequent , they rather astonish than delight . there are some , which being not so obvious , give a greater satisfaction to the more delicate sort of readers , by whom they are observ'd , though they are not so by the ordinary . men still discover new graces in them , which keep them up , and are of longer continuance than what makes a sudden impression , by its being too much expos'd to apprehension . these sorts of beauties do sometimes consist in certain sudden turns of eloquence or wit , which have somewhat that 's surprizing in them , and produce an unexpected effect in the passages wherein they are plac'd . of which take these examples . porsenna king of clusium besieges rome ; caius m●tius being much troubled at the danger his countrey was in , by reason of so pressing a siege , goes over into porsenna's camp , and kills his secretary who stood by him , thinking he had kill'd the king himself . the murtherer is seiz'd , and a fire is prepar'd to make him discover his accomplices . upon which the undaunted young man held his hand in cold bloud over the live coals , till it was quite burnt off , without any shrinking , and said to the king , see now how de●picable life is to those , who lo●k at great fame . this sentence spoken with an undaunted spirit , changes the face of things : the murtherer , who was before odious and detestable , raises amazement in the minds of the spectators . they look on him with a kind of respect , and he is sent back with an elogy , whom they were but just before ready to take off by exquisite torments . 't is but a word that makes that change ; and that word thus plac'd is of great ornament in a narration , and has a marvellous effect . upon the taking of tarentum by fabius , hannibal , though wholly defeated , had this excellent saying , which still argued a victorious mind , when in commending the enemy , he took occasion to commend himself also , the romans ( says he ) have also their hannibal . a bold demeanour in a person discomfited . and these touches are frequent in that historian . nor is there any thing that raises a greater idea of those who are made to speak thus , when they speak well , nor yet of him who does make them speak , when he does it pertinently . take yet another instauce of it out of tacitus , in that famous treat which messalina made for her gallant , in the very height of the enjoyment , and the debauches of that entertainment , they sent up to the top of a tree a simple person named valens , and one ask'd him what he saw , a tempest ( said he ) rising in the air , and seeming to come from ostia . that very word spoken by an inconsiderate person , begat such a pensiveness and perplexity in their minds , as occasion'd a general disturbance , though it had been said without any design . for it prov'd a prognostick of the emperour's return , who arriv'd shortly after , and wearied out with the infamous deportments of the empress , order'd her to be stabb'd . these touches having somewhat in them tending to prodigy , are ornamental in history , as being by their smartness and pi●quancy apt to keep the mind in a continual posture of vigilance . there are a thousand others , which the historian may make use of , in order to the giving of his work the greater sprightliness , which i do not pretend to give a particular account of . 't is enough that i have hinted at what may give another face to affairs , raise other conjectures , and occasion other idea's and sentiments . in short , all those delicate touches , and such as are capable of making a kind of revolution in the mind of the reader , and so to put it into motion and exercise , being always real embellishments , are always apposite and to the purpose . what is of greatest importance is , that they be plac'd after such a manner , as that they seem to be enchac'd in the narration , there to have their design'd effect ; that is to say , that they be conducive to give the subject matter a certain alacrity , when of it self it becomes dry and unpleasant . xxv . the sentiments which ought to be conspicuous and predominant in history . there are some sentiments which are fit for the theatre , and are not so for history ; in regard that poesy speaks things as they ought to be , and history as they are . accordingly those historians who give their hero's such exquisite sentiments , are not always the most judicious ; and whatever is not grounded upon sound sence , how plausible soever it may otherwise be , is not always the best . so that quintus curtius is not altogether in the right , when he represents alexander as a person so admirable . he never makes him take the most prudent course that might be taken , but the most heroick and the most hazardous . he looks upon danger as what has something of charm in it ; and he does not so much love conquests , as the glory of conquering . he may surprize darius by attacquing him in the night-time , and by that means conceal his own weakness , the enemy's army being twice the number of his . but that great man , whose thoughts are less bent upon conquering , than upon having his valour admir'd , engages the king of persia in the day-time , resolv'd rather to perish gloriously , than to overcome by surprizes . darius after his defeat proffers to divide asia with him , and proposes to him an intermarriage with his daughter ; but alexander would rather make his way to fame through danger , than to gain preheminence with tranquillity . he hearkens not to those proposals , and would not have any thing but what is extraordinary . 't is true , his historian does him much honour , but in that great acquest of glory is there not some defect in point of verisimilitude ? does he not make his hero more daring than prudent , and represent him rather as an hazardous adventurer , than a person of great ambition ? no doubt he thought that the more plausible way , but he has thereby given us occasion to doubt whether it be 〈◊〉 romance or a history he hath left us ; so far has he overshot himself as to that point . of so great concern is it , that an author keep ▪ close in all things to reason , which ought to regulate his sentiments , and follow rather the nature of the things , than the charming idea's of his own imagination . let not history therefore by any means countenance those ridiculous projects for the acquest of an imaginary same , which occasion unsettled minds to commit so many miscarriages , inasmuch as most of them go but blindly in the pursuit of true honour , because they know not what it is . let it not inspire a solid man with the sentiments of a palladin or knight errant , nor attribute the vertues of a romantick hero to a true courter of honour . great persons are apt to frame to themselves idea's of reputation according to their own fancies , and answerably to the bent of their own vanity . but the publick interest ought to be more dear to him who governs , than his own fame ; and the true honour of a great prince is , that he be lov'd rather than fear'd . these are the sentiments which ought to be most predominant in history , that so it may be a lecture of clemency to princes , and a rule of reason and sound instruction to all people . let not the historian therefore be mistaken , let him in the first place be able to distinguish between true and counterfeit honour in the maxims of life , that so he may not commend any thing but what is commendable . let him undeceive people of their errors , without becoming himself a slave to popular sentiments . let him not suffer them to judge of things by their events , without reascending to the sources , that he may acquaint them with the principles thereof . let him be careful to do justice to true and false merit , that so he may not impose any thing upon posterity , which is apt to credit what is said without examining it , and to keep to the literal sence of what it meets withall . let him never make a discovery of great emergencies , without some advertisement of their causes , and without laying open the secret contrivances and ressorts by which they were compass'd . that many times is something very inconsiderable ; but men take a pleasure to see great effects arising from small principles , as dionysius halicarnass●u● informs us in the fifth book of his history , upon occasion of the revolution of the regal government at rome , caus'd by the insolence of young tarquin , and the haughty deportment of his father . and this is the spirit which ought to be predominant in history , and these the maxims which the historian ought to observe . we come now to see what kind of genius he ought to have . xxvi . what genius the historian ought to be of . it is not to be imagin'd , that any thing considerable can be written in history without a genius ▪ this is that which does all in all in this art , as well as in the others : and it is onely by this that some historians may be distinguish'd from others . a mean genius shall make but a small matter of a great subject ; and he who has a great genius shall make great things of a small subject . he therefore who would write history well , ought to have an universal and comprehensive spirit , and such as is capable of great idea's , that he frame to himself a great draught and design of what he intends to do . history ( says cicero ) is a work of great importance , and not to be attempted but by a person above the common rate of men . and when lucian , who was one of the greatest wits of his age , which produc'd so many celebrated men , acknowledges that his genius was too weak for history , and not able to reach that perfection which it requires , he puts me into some astonishment , and raises in me a very great idea of the difficulty there is for a man to acquit himself well of that charge . for if that author , who has not written any thing but what is admirable , and who gives rules for the writing of history , so senceful and instructive , ingeniously confesses , that he is not himself capable of supporting the weight of so great an undertaking , what are we to think of those persons who become historians on a sudden , without ever having any knowledge of what is essential to history ? as it happen'd ( says he ) in that war of armenia , mention'd by him , which begat so many authors , who out of a pure it●h of writing would needs be dabbling upon that subject . that will not do the work , says he ; for there is nothing more difficult than for a man to labour for eternity , as thucydides has done . for what vigour of mind is there not requisite to deliver the truth , without paraphrasing upon it , as they do , who have not their souls great enough to observe the rules of a candid simplicity , and to relate things as they are ? what unbyass'd constancy is there not requisite to unmask the vice , which is naturally conceal'd in the artifices of dissimulation ? what penetration and perspicacity is there not necessary to discover the recesses of their genius , of whom a man is to speak without amusing himself about the external consideration of their persons , which does hardly ever signifie any thing ? but when his work is to make a distinction between whole nations and ages , by what is essential in their character , what steddiness of apprehension is there not requisite ? as for instance , in a relation of the civil wars of rome , not to confound the spirit and humour of the commonwealth , with that of monarchy , the independence of the one with the dependence of the other ; not to attribute in a history of france the manners of the age of lewis xiv , which is no way superstitious , to the age of lewis xi , whose character was superstition it self ; not to make charlemaign such a one as henry iii , and to denote the times and persons by what is particularly remarkable in their difference . what principles of equity should not a man have for the exact administration of justice to vice and vertue , for the distinguishing of true and apparent merit , and for a man's accustoming himself not to look on the actions , without reflecting on the persons ? what judgment is there not needful for a man to pitch upon the right side in all things , to display things in their best sence , to be always tending to what is most solid ; so to interpose his own sentiment upon the matters of which he discourses , as not to force the reader by prejudgments ; not to descant upon the passages that seem delicate , but with that delicacy of reflection , which cannot be the effect of any thing but an exquisite sence ; not to charge his discourse with too much matter , such as many smother the smartness of it , without allowing therein some place for what reflection he might make himself , or giving his reader a convenience to make any ; to be able to find out the real knot there may be in every affair , without any danger of mistaking , and so to clear the difficulty ; not to make a recital of great events upon frivolous motives ; not to conceal false conceptions of things under a pompous expression ; to avoid what seems to have too strong a scent of study , and whatever has a forc'd air ; and to follow in all things that beam of light and intelligence , which gives an idea of the discernment of the historian , by raising a good opinion of his capacity and endowments ? so that the part most necessary to history is judgment● the orator may break forth into sallies of eloquence , such as are lively and slorid , and ●un the hazard of taking those boldnesses , which may prove succesful in a great concourse of people , who are not taken with any thing so much as confidence . the poet may expatiate out of his subject , and not have his wits always about him : but the historian , who speaks in cold bloud , ought ever to be master of himself , have the command of his thoughts , and not speak any thing but what is judicious . in short , there is not any thing requires so great a stock of sencefulness , so much reason , so great wit , so much judgment , and so many other qualities , as history , if written as it ought to be ; and yet when all is done , a fortunate disposition enrich'd with all these accomplishments , must have one additional perfection , to wit , that of a particular conversation of the greatest persons . 't was by the familiar acquaintance which polybius had with scipio and laelius , that he became so excellent an historian . we have in thucydides and livy the accomplish'd models which history requries ; antiquity has not any thing of greater perfection in that kind ; and there is hardly any thing to be wished for in either of them , unless it be that thucydides is yet more sincere than livy , and livy more natural than thucydides●tacitus is admirable in his way ; lapsuis prefers him before all the rest , but all are not of his sentiment . it may be said in the general , that he is an historian of a particular method by himself , who has great beauties , together with great defects ; but his defects are somewhat shadowed under a grandeur of genius , which is conspicuous in whatever he says ; as also under somewhat of the sublime character , which exalts him above many authors , who are more exact and more natural than he is . he has his adherents and his admirers . 't is true , he pleases those who are talented with the imaginative part ; but as to those who are more for judgment , and such as affec● sencefulness rather than embellishment or eloquence , they are not so well satisfied with him . amongst the moderns i find mariana , d'avila , and fra. paolo , of an admirable genius for history . mariana has the talent of reflecting and expressing excellently well what he thinks and has to say , and of giving a character of grandeur to what is transacted in his mind . d'avila does circumstance things well , reasons appositely enough upon the subjects he treats of , and gives his discourse that evenness of thread and intertexture , from which it derives that insinuating air , which is observable in him above the rest . fra. paolo , in his history of the council of trent , gives what colour and prospect he pleases to what he says ; never had any man that art in a more eminent degree than he has . he also makes a discovery of a vast capacity , in the talent he has of making profound researches into the points of doctrine whereof he treats , in order to give his reader an exact account of them . never did author write with more artifice , or greater smartness of wit , nor yet with less reason and truth . he is a passionate author , who imploys his art in concealing his passion . he would be pleasant and drollish upon all occasions , that he might not be thought angry and out of humour ; but he falls by that means into another default . he is too much given to raillery in a subject so serious as that which he treats of ; for passion spreads it self through all he says . and so that historian , with all his great genius , is the most vicious character that may be seen in the way of writing history , wherein there is not any thing less pardonable than animosity . when an historian has once the repute of being prepossess'd with some passion , he is no longer believ'd . and this reflection gives us occasion to examine the morality which is requisite in him who makes it his business to write . xxvii . the morality of the historian . whereas every one frames to himself a morality according to his genius , there is a discovery made of the spirit and humor of an historian by his principles . this must in the first place be laid down as granted , that there are few of them so generously minded , as to be free from all hope or fear , and unconcernedly prefer truth before their interest , which later is the most universal source of all the false judgments which men make of the things whereof they take upon them to speak . this therefore ought to be the first thing that is taken into consideration , when a man makes it his profession to instruct the publick ; and it is the first maxim that an historian ought to propose to himself . this being well established , his thoughts must be bent upon the gaining of credibility in mens minds , and to give an air of truth to whatever he says . and to this principally ought all his morality to be levell'd , and that the historian will never do but by a solid establishment of his reputation : and it is not by protestations of being sincere that he shall give proofs of his sincerity ; but it is done by making a discovery in all his words of the steddiness of his heart , and the unbyassable integrity of his sentiments . accordingly nothing ought to fall from him , but what bears the character of reason and equity . the love he ought to have for truth should be the rule and standard of all his expressions , and all his idea's . let him always speak as a just and vertuous man , and never let any thing slip from him which may be injurious to modesty and integrity . let him be severe and inflexible in the sentiments which the most exact consideration of honour can inspire him withall ; and let there never appear any thing in his words which may occasion any distrust of his candour and ingenuous deportment . let it be believ'd that he speaks what is true as soon as he speaks it ; that persuasion being grounded on the assurance men have that he is uncapable of imposing . he can never do amiss who has laid such good principles as these . 't is by such an unblemish'd morality that thucydides establish'd the reputation of his sincerity in all subsequent ages , and that he has gain'd the belief of all people . 't is by a love to religion , and a respect for the gods , which is conspi●uous in the works of xenophon , that whatever he says is credited ; men being easily persuasible , that a man who has the love of piety so deeply engraven in his heart , cannot utter a falshood . polybius is more a libertine ; he treats as fabulous things the sentiments which the people had of the gods and of hell , pretending quite to discredit them . and it is also by an unblameable morality that lavy is more persuasive , than by his great accomplishments ; nay through all the intrigues , interests , passions , and other irregular proceedings of the men whom he decyphers , he lets you see a certain thread of probity , which discovers him to be yet a more honest man than a good historian . in the darkest recesses of their hearts whom he describes , you may behold the clearness of his own ; and amidst the false lights which he discovers in their conduct , he always takes a true prospect of things himself : he makes sound judgments of every thing , for his soul is as steddy as his mind is well balanc'd . tacitus is a man of a quite different character : he is a great wrester of things to what sense he pleases himself , and one that shrouds a malicious heart under a very excellent wit. he is always mistaken upon the point of true merit , because he is not acquainted with any but what proceeds from subtilty ; and it is rather some political reflection than the pure truth that makes him speak . besides the ill thoughts he has of his neighbour , whenever he has any occasion to speak of the gods , he makes not any discovery of piety or religion , as may be seen in the discourses he has upon destiny against . providence , in the sixth of his annals ; and he imputes all things to the stars and to chance , upon the occasion of thrasullus , who being astrologer to tiberius , was become his confident at capreae . so difficult a matter it is for a man who is not vertuous to make a good historian ; for the principles of the one are not compatible with those of the other . when therefore an author takes pen in hand , he immediately puts on the character of a publick person ; and he again degrades himself from that honour , as soon as he assumes the sentiments of a private man , to mind himself , and to revenge his own quarrels . this was the case of procopius , who being exasperated against the emperour justinian and the empress theodora , hearkens to his passion , and corrupts the truth . or else he is apt to follow his own preoccupation , as eusebius and theodoret did , who made use of their histories to establish their own errors , or to flatter those whom they would please , as buchanan did , who in his history of scotland took occasion to blast the reputation of queen mary stuart , purposely to gratifie queen elizabeth of england . and as fra. paolo did , who makes his history of the council of trent a satyr against the roman church and religion , in whose conduct he makes a great discovery of little cheats and frauds , only to revenge himself upon the pope , who did not advance him to the dignity of a cardinal , after he had put him in some hopes of it . paulus jovius was a man who did things pursuantly to his interest , a pensioner of charles the fifth , unjust , malicious , and a great flatterer . the pourtraitures he has made of the most considerable persons of his history , are so many pieces detach'd from it , which he dress'd up into lives of illustrious men , out of the pure design of getting money ; and they are writ answerably to the rewards he received for them . guicciardine betrays the passion he has against all france . sandoval makes charles the fifth pass for a most catholick prince , while in the mean time he foments heresie in germany , onely because pope paul the third had disgusted him . cabrera celebrates philip the second of spain for his piety , though he favour'd queen elizabeth against the pretensions of mary stuart , whom he hindered from being queen , because she had a kindness for the french , and by that means obstructed the settlement of the catholick religion in england . herrera is a superficial writer , and partial in the concerns of his own nation . in short , there are hardly any historians , who have not their inclinations and aversions ; they think it a bard task to devest themselves of their sentiments , and they make elogies or satyrs according to the dispositions of their own hearts . but there are few authors of such a character as thucydides was of , who out of an unbyass'd sincerity commends pericles in whatever he did that was commendable , though he had been ill-treated by him ; and always does justice to the athenians , who had banish'd him into thrace , where he dy'd . he was a man without any passion , who propos'd to himself onely what judgment posterity should make of his work , and was resolutely bent to stick to the truth ; wherein he has shewn him a better-principled man than any of the others , for his fidelity and probity is remarkable through all his work. titus livius is more favourable to pompey than to caesar , dion more favourable to caesar than to pompey . an●●i 〈◊〉 marcellinus is a perpetual adorer of julian the apostate , and a great declamator against valentinian his successor , because he was a christian . eusebius never shews constantine but with the best side outward ; zosimus shews him onely with the worst . p●ocopius ●●oliz'd belizarius ; eginart had the same veneration for charlemaigne , sandoval for charles the fifth , strada for alexander earnese . in s●●e , every historian makes himself a● 〈◊〉 according to his own fancy , whom he looks on 〈◊〉 his creature ; and to make him the more beautiful he endeavours to make him the more admirable . and this is it that raises a suspicion of most histories , because all historians have their passions ; and there are few of them sincere , because there are few but follow the bent of some interest . on the other side , they who are not sway'd by interest , are apt to be blinded with the desire of pleasing , and the care they have of their reputation , inclines them to other extremities . josephus in the history of the jews , suppresses true miracles to humour the pagans , who would not have believ'd them ; and supposes things less true , because he thought them such as were suitable to their gust and capacity . this is the way to destroy , and not to establish ; things ought to be related as they are , since it is so much the worse for the incredulous ; for nothing more misbecomes a man , who makes it his profession to give the publick an account of truth , than thus to profane it . in short , let there not any thing of servility or meanness appear in the sentiments or inclinations of the historian ; for nothing creates a worse opinion of his fidelity . but though i do not approve the flatterers of great men , such as eusebius was , who will not have us see any thing but what is commendable in constantine , who in the mean time had great defects ; yet is it my judgment , that they ought to be indulg'd in certain things . for though a man ought to say nothing but what is true , yet all truths are not to be spoken . quintus curtius might have forborn the infamies he spoke of alexander ; there are some heads so privileg'd that they require respect ; let us therefore treat them honourably , and not be chargeable with any insolence towards them . we may relate the vices of their persons , but let us not say any thing that may scandalize their dignity , or abate ought that is due to their grandeur . tacitus says so many dirty things of tiberius , that boccalini cannot endure him for it . what lampridius relates of the emperours heliogabalus and caracalla , has made his history despicable ; and platina discovers but little judgment in his way of treating the popes . all will not be of my opinion , but the wise will ; and it is my persuasion , that how meritorious soever it may be for a man to be sincere , he would be ridiculous if he were so in all things . but it is to be consider'd withall , that praises are never well made , because they are not made with the delicacy that is requisite ; that commendations are made upon indifferent passages , and not upon those of which men were more likely to be sensible and mov'd thereat ; that the publick is always in an ill humour against commendations , which it hardly ever applauds . the securest way of commendation is , onely to make a sincere recital of commendable actions . all know the adventure of aristobulus one of alexander's commanders , who read to him the history of the battel which that prince had gain'd over porus. alexander , who was sailing on the river hydaspes , highly disgusted at the ●latteries of that historian , snatch'd the history from him and flung it into the river , adding that he should be serv'd so too , for being so impudent as to commend so ill , attributing to him imaginary exploits , as if there had not been real ones enough . this is a rough draught of the morality which i should wish in an historian ; or at least these should be my principles , if i had any design to concern my self in the composing of a history , and thought my self of a genius vigorous enough for it . in short , i would be modest after such a manner , as that there should always be an appearance of candour and moderation , never any vanity in my sentiments . upon which consideration i can hardly bear with the extravagance of that historian mentioned by photius , who preparing himself to write the history of alexander promises , that his style shall not be inferiour to the transcendent actions of his hero. but after all , a man's edge to writing is soon taken off , when he has seen the judgment which dionysius halicarnassaeus passeth upon thucydides , if he be any way stock'd with a senceful apprehension of things : for there is no author , though ever so judicious , but may dread the censures of that critick . and these are the sentiments which i have gather'd by the reading of historians . i am not so vain as to pretend , that i lay them down for maxims ; they are onely conceptions , possibly not well digested , which may become good by the good use which may be made of them . in the next place you have the sentiments which may be had upon the most considerable historians . xxviii . a judgment of historians . herodotus is the first that gave a rational form to history , and it is his elogy that he chalk'd out the way to others . his style * is pure and elegant . † athenaeus celebrates him for the charms of his discourse . his subject is of a vast extent , for it comprehends nations , kingdoms , empires , the affairs of europe and asia . he is not very exact in what he says , because he grasps at too much matter ; but i find him of a more than ordinary sincerity , inasmuch as he treats the greeks and the barbarians , those of his own countrey and foreiners , without any discovery of partiality . i find also that plutarch treats him with too much rigour , when he would have him accounted a person of an evil intention in most of his conjectures ; but that he is not favourable to him proceeds from pure animosity , and merely because he had ill treated his countrey boe●tia in his history . thucydides is exact in his manner of writing , faithful in the things he relates , sincere , unsway'd by interest . he has grandeur , excellency , and majesty in his style . he is always austere , but of an austerity which has nothing but what is great ; and his subject is indeed not so large , and more limited than that of herodotus . 't is merely out of a spirit of partiality , that dionysius haelicarnassaeus prefers herodotus before thucydides , because the former was of halicarnassus : but for my part , i find him the most accomplish'd of all the gre●k historians . xenophon is pure in his language , natural and pleasant in his composition . he has a freedom and facility of spirit , a mind fertile and full of many learned discoveries ; his imagination is clear , and his periods are of a just intertexture . the decorum of morality is not always exactly observ'd in his history , wherein he makes ignorant persons and barbarians speak like philosophers . cicero tells us , that scipio could not give over reading him , when he had once got him into his hands . longinus gives him a character of spirit , by which he makes him a fortunate reflecter on things . he is , all consider'd , a very accomplish'd historian ; and 't was by the reading of his history that scipio and lucullus became such great chieftains . polybius is an excellent discourser ; he has a fair stock of good and noble things , but that stock is not so well husbanded as that of the others before mentioned . he is however esteemable by the idea which brutus had of him , who in the greatest perplexity of his affairs pass'd away whole nights in the reading and study of him . his design was not so much to write a history , as an instruction for the good government of a state , as he declares himself at the end of his first book : and so he recedes somewhat from the character of an historian ; which obliges him at the beginning of the ninth book to make a kind of apology for his way of writing history . his style is chargeable with somewhat of negligence . dionysius halicarnassaus in his book of roman antiquities , discovers a great sence fulness of expression , much science and ratiocination , which is not common . he is exact , diligent , judicious , of greater veracity than livy , and very ponderous . diodorus siculus is a great character , but one that comprehends too much matter , being consider'd as a compilator out of philistus , timaeus , calisthenes , theopompus , and others . philo and josephus have some touches of a very extraordinary eloquence . they are two jews , who were over-desirous to please and humour the pagans , by servilely accommodating themselves to their gust and sentiments . arrian is but a copyer of xenophon , and an affected imitator of his ways . he has made seven books of the conquests of alexander , as xenophon had done of the conquests of cyrus . appian sponges upon all the greeks ; and out of that intermixture he has fram'd to himself a style which does not resemble any of the others . scaliger calls him , the thievish drone of other historians . he has taken out of plutarch what was excellent in him ; but after all , he is a great magazine or stock of matters . dion cassius has lost credit with many , by the extraordinary things which he relates , without any discerning precaution ; for he is so far from keeping close to the truth , that he is at a distance from the likelyhood of it , as in that passage of the sixty sixth book of his history , where he affirms , that vespas●● healed a blind man by spitting upon his eyes . procopius is exact in what he advances , because he accompanied b●lizarius in his wars , and was a witness of his noble actions ; but he is somewhat too dry in his history of persia , which has the air rather of a journal than of a history . he satisfied his passion in the writing of his secret history , but he hearkned to his moderation in suppressing it ; for after his death some took occasion to publish what he had carefully conceal'd during his life , wherein he is not wholly in excusable . most of those who have written the byzantine history , have either copied one out of another , as agathias , cedrenus , joannes cu●opalates , or are not very exact ; and they have nothing that approaches the dignity , the excellency , the discernment , and the fidelity of the ancient greek● . amongst the latines salust is conspicuous for the grandeur of his air , the steddiness of his thoughts , and his admirable sence . no man has better express'd the senceful , accurate , and austere style of thucydides . he is sometimes harsh in his expressions , but yet he is not faint or flat . his conciseness takes off somewhat of his perspicuity . he has nothing that is counterfeit in his procedure , and he gives weight to whatever he says . his sentiments are always excellent , though his morality was not good ; for he perpetually rails against vice , and always speaks well of vertue . i find him ever dissatisfied with his countrey , and one that is apt to think ill of his neighbour : all else consider'd he is a very great person . julius caesar had the noblest talent of expressing himself of any man. the pedants have reason to admire him , for the inimitable purity of his style ; but i admire him much more for the exact comprehensiveness of his sence , for no man ever writ more prudently . he is the onely author amongst them all who does not speak any impertinencies . he speaks of himself but as of an indifferent person , and there is nothing but what is suitable to the wise he has taken upon himself . 't is true , he is not absolutely an historian ; but it is true withall , that he is a great model for the writing of history . 't is a great repute to that admirable author , that henry iv , and lewis xiv of 〈◊〉 implove● themselves in the ●ranslation of his history of the gaulish war. livy is the most accomplish'd of all , for he has a●l the great parts and perfe●●ions of an historian ; the imagination excellent , the expression noble , the sence exact , the eloquence admirable . his mind will not admit of any but great idea's , he fills the imagination of his reader by what he says : 't is by that he makes his way to the heart , and moves the very soul. and he is the greatest genius for history , and one of the greatest masters of eloquence that ever was . i do not comprehend what asinius pollio means , when he attributes to him a provincial air , and such as hath a little smack of lombardy . his great talent lies in making what he says to be felt , by making those who ●ead him to participate of his own sentiments , by inspiring them with his fears and hopes , and by communicating to them all his passions , by the art he has to put all the most secret re●●or●● of mens hearts into motion . tacitus describes things after a way different from all others , but he confines himself too much to great affairs , that he may avoid condefcending to small ones , which yet ought not to be neglected . he thinks well , but he is not always happy in expressing himself clearly . he plays too much the philosopher . his decisions of things are high and daring ; had he the destinies of men in his hands , he would not speak otherwise ; and he always moralizes on the extravagances of others , sparing none , and speaking ill of all mankind . how many minds has he spoil'd by the fancy of studying politicks , which he inspires into so many people , and which is the vainest study of all ? 't is upon this rock that so many spaniards , as antonio perez ; and so many italians , as ma●hiavel and ammirato have split themselves . 't is onely by the lustre of his style that this last so much pleases the higher sort of wits , and so little those that affect what is natural ; for by the subtilty of his ratiocinations and reflections he tires them . he is so obscure in his expressions , that a man must be well exercised in his style , ere he shall be able to unravel his thoughts . his way of criticizing is delicate of it self , but it becomes rustical by the desire he has to criticize upon every thing . his perpetual assuming of great sentiments must introduce somewhat that is sublime ; 't is by this onely that he imposes , and 't is not so much to please and to instruct that he writes , as to raise admiration . there is in him some . what that is great and extraordinary , which excuses most of his de●ects . but there are so many things to be said upon this author , as well to his advantage as disadvantage , that there would be no end of them . 't is a kind of humour that is of no use but onely for ostentation ; and it contributes but little to the ordinary conversation of men . quintus curtius is commendable for his sincerity ; he tells the good and ill of alexander , without suffering himself to be preoccupated by the merit of his hero. if there be any exception to be made against his history , 't is onely that of its being too polite ; but yet he has excell'd in this particular , that he describes mens manners with a delightful and natural air. this character of perfection , which is remarkable in these great men , was not to be found in the subsequent ages . justin , who becomes a compiler , out of a desire to raise himself to an historian , gives but a transient account of matters . he knows much ; he delivers things sencefully enough , and he has amass'd many occurrences , which without him might have been lost . most of the authors of the history of augustus have confin'd themselves to the writing of lives , as plutarc● an● herodian did amongst the gre●ks , and suetonius and cor●elius nepos amongst the la●●●e , and by that means have degenerated from the character of historians . who came after them were but simple chronicle●s , copiers , abbreviators , and compilers , who had no reputation but what they deriv'd from the gross knowledge they gave of their age , wherein the star of history was not ●orunate , as having nothing that 's delicate or in●eed rational . nor was there much sincerity found amongst the modern greeks , who must needs introduce visions and extraordinary adventures to satisfie their genius . the love of learning , which has reflourish'd in the last ages , hath raised up , together with the revival of senceful writing , a flight of historians , who by the study of the ancients , whom they took for their models , made a greater noise than their predecessors . amongst those who have most signalized themselves may come in com●es , and what is singular in him is , that he writes sencefully and is sincere . paulus amilius speaks purely , but he is superficial . paulus jovius follows onely his own passion and his interest . machiavel is exact enough in his history of florence ; in the rest his wit has the predominancy over his judgment . he does not absolutely do justice to cas●ruccio castrucci , whom he treats as an enemy to his countrey . mariana in his history of spain has not been surpass'd by any modern author , either as to the grandeur of his design , or the excellency of the style . buchanan is too servile an imitator of livy ; whatere is good in him he has filch'd from the ancients . he writes sencefully , but has no great elevation in his sentiments . his long citations of the third book do not generally please , no more than do the particularities he brings in , in the second book of the notion of the country whereof he speaks . the germans have vast projects upon their history ; but nothing reduc'd within the natural order , which an exact design would require . we find is most of the spaniards a spirit of partiality for their countrey , which renders them very suspicious . the italians are well furnish'd with particular histories of the different states whereof italy consists ; but they have no complete body of history . there begin now to appear amongst us some rays of hope , that some accomplish'd historian will rise up , by the approbation which the publick gives those who write at this time . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a58058-e1170 pulchrum imprimis videtur , non pati occidere , quibus aeternitas debeatur . plin. l. 5. epist . — genus hoc scribendi incitatum atque elatum esse debere , quis ignorat ? cic. ad fam . epist . 7. l. 6. addidit historiae majorem sonum ▪ vocis antipater , caeteri non ●xornatores rerum , sed tantummodo narratores fuerunt . cic. de orat. l. 2. magna , non nimia ; sublimis , non abrupta ; fortis , non temeraria ; severa , non tristis ; gravis , non tarda ; laet● , non luxuriosa ; plena , non tumida . fab. l. 12. c. 10. delectus verborum habendus , & pondera singulorum examinanda . fab. l. 10. c. 3. lucian . de conscrib . hist . historico sermoni decus conciliet perspicuitas proprietásque verborum . ben. de hist . l. 1. quid tam necessarium quàm rect ▪ locutio ? fab. l. 1. curae magna sentiendi & loquendi , sed dissimulatio curae praecipua . l. 9. c. 4. nihil est in historia pura & illustri brevitate dulcius . cic. ad brut. in sententia nihil absurdum aut alienum , aut subinsulsum ; in verbis nihil inquinaetum , abjectum , non aptum , durum , longè petitum . cic. de opt . gen . orat. non debet quisquam , ubi maxima rerum momentae versantur , solicitus esse de verbis . fab. l. 8. c. 3. vt monilibus & margaritis , quae sunt ornaementa foeminarum , deformantur viri ; nec habitus triumphalis , quo nihil augustius , foeminas decet . fab. l. 11. c. 1. ornatus omnis , non tam suâ , quàns rei cui adhibetur , condition● constat . ibid. si oratio perderet gratiam simplicis & inaffectati coloris , perderet & fidem . fab. l. 9. c. 4. in judicio de thucyd. homerus brevem quidem , cum animi jucunditate propriam , carentem superfluis , eloquentiam menelao dedit , quae sunt virtutes generis primi . fab. l. 12. c. 10. exponere simpliciter & sine ulla exorn●atione . cic. de invent. l. 2 nor. dicere ornatiùs quàm simplex ratio veritatis ferat . cic. de orat. l. 1. xenophon●is illam jucunditatem inaffectatam , quam nullae affectat●● consequi possit , ut ipsae sermonem gratia finicissè videantur . fa● . l. 10. c. 1. plutarch . herm. de idaeis l. 2. in rebus magnis memoriâque dignis historiam versari . cic. de orat. l. 2. historiam assuetam discurrere per negotiorum celsitudines , non humilium minutias indagare causarum . — ammian . marcell . l. 26. equidem non affirmare sustineo , de quibus dubito , nec subducere quae accepi . curt. l. 9 apud herodotum sunt innumerabiles fabulae . de leg. l. 1. marcellin . in vita thucyd . salustius maria transgressus dicitur , ut oculis suis crederet de conditionibus locorum . petrar . in praefat. hist . hist . l. 12. raggua di parnas . tiberium ascitum , quod ejus arrogantiam introspexerit , & comparatione deterrimâ sibi gloriam quaesivisse . tac. ann. l. 1. dolabella in absurdam adulationem progressus . tac. ann. l. 3. suspectabat sullam , socors ejus ingenium callidúmque simulatorem interpretando . ann. l. 13. temporibus neronis sapientia pro inertia fuit . id. alias in historia leges observandas , alias in poemate ; illa ad veritatem quaeque , in hoc ad delectationem referri pleraque . cic. de leg. 1. graecis historiis plerunque poeticae similis est licentia . fab. l. 2. c. 4. — & quicquid graecia mendax peccat in historia — juv. sat. 10. quidam incredibilium relatu commendationem parant , & lectorem aliud acturum , si per quotidiana duceretur , miraculo excitant , & op●● suum fieri popul are non putant , nisi mendacio asperserint . senec. qu. natur. l. 7. lucian . de hist . conscrib . vtilitatem juvandi praetulerunt gratiae placendi . plin. praef . hist . nat . de thucyd. & aliis hist . agrippina pavor & consternatio mentis emicu●t , quamvis vultu premeretur . octavia , quamvis rudibus annis , dolorem , charitatem , affectus omnes abscondere didicerat . ita post breve silentium repetita convivi● 〈◊〉 . tac. ann . l. 13. rerum gestarum pronunciator sincerus thucydidides . cic. de clar . orat . in judicio de thucyd . scribe secur●● , dicas quod velis , babiturus mendaciorum comites quos historicae eloquenti●e miramur autores . vopisc . praef . hist . * apud flori● . s● . neminem scriptorum , quantum ad historiam pertinet , non aliquid esse mentitum . vopisc . ib. verum ipsum in scribent is sincerita●e candoreque elucet . melch. can. in loc . theol. l. 11. c. 6. de conscrib . hist . quanquam vincta sit , soluta videri debet oratio . fab. l. 9. c. 4. historia non tam finitos numeros , quàm orbem contextúmque desiderat . ibid. in herodoto omnia leniter fluunt ; tum ipsa dialectus habet jucunditatem . ibid. thucydides praefractior , ita nec rotundus , in eo orbem orationis desidero . cic. in bruto . obscurus est , quia pressus . ibid. tribus libris de bello civili caesari falsò asscriptis nihil durius , nec candori caesariano minus conveniens . florus sabin . in calum . ling. lat. genus orationis fusum , & cum lenitate quadam aequabili pros●uens , sine judiciali asperit●●e , & sententiarum forinsium deu●eis prosequendum . cic. de orat . l. 2. salustius rerum romanarum ●lorentissimus autor . tac. hist . l. 3. salustio vigente amputatae sententiae , & obscura brevitas , fu●re pro cultu . sen. l. 11. 〈◊〉 . 114. verba excerpsit salustius ex originibus catonis . suet. in aug. salustius scriptor seriae & severae orationis . a. gel. l. 17. c. 18. ib. l. 9. de id●is ▪ l. 1. c. 5. & l. 2. de invent . austerus graecâ consuetudine . cornel. front. de different . vocum . artis severae si quis amat effectus , mentémque magnis applicat , priùs more f●●gali●●tis lege polleat exactâ . petr. si juvenes verba atroci stylo effoderent , jam illa grandis oratio haberet majestatis su● pondus . ibid. histori ca locutio , ubi munditiem retinuerit , majora ornamenta non requirat ; simplex , pura , naturalis ●it , nec atticam sic●itatem referre possit . beni , 〈◊〉 hist . l. 1. historia narratio rei gestae , per quam ea quae facta sunt dignoscuntur . isidor . l. 1. orig. expositio praeteritorum temporum . fab. l. 4. c. ● . custodia fidelis rerum gestarum . tit. liv. l. 6. dare orationi varios vultus ; gaudent enim res varietate . fab. l. 9. c. 2. circumcisa expositio rei quae supervacuis caret . fab. l. 4. c. 1. densus , brevis , semper instans sibi concitatis affectibus thucydides . fab. l. 10. c. 1. thucydides verbis aptus & pressus . cic. de orat. l. 2. immortalem illam salustii velocitatem consecutus livius . fab. l. 10. c. 1. ●lla salustiana bre●itas , quâ nihil apud aures eruditas per●ectius esse potest , captanda . ibid. livius in narrando mirae ●uc●nditatis ▪ clarissiimique candoris , ita ducuntur omnia , tum rebus 〈◊〉 personis accommodat● . ibid. thucydides creber rerum frequentiâ . cic. de orat. l. 2. tract . de judic . thucyd. rerum ratio ordinem temporum desiderat . cic. de orat. l. 2. in rebus magnis memoriâque dignis , consilia primùm , deinde acta , postea eventus expectantur ▪ ibid. cap. 18. xenophontis fluens , & sine salebris oratio . cic. in cons●r . hist . annal. l. 11. rerum ratio vult , ut quoniam in rebus magnis consilia primùm , deinde acta , postea eventus expectantur , in rebus gestis declarari , non solùm quid actum aut dictum si● , sed quomodo ; & cùm de eventu dicatur , ut causae explicentur omnes , &c. de orat. l. 2. haud facile animus verum provides , ubi officiunt odium , amicitia , ira , atque misericordia . caesar . apud salust . in catil . in herod . excerpt . const . ex diodoro . luc. de cons●ri● . ●ist . caesar scripsit commentarios qui nudi sunt , absque omni ornatu orationis . cic. in brut. epist . ad pomp. & de virt . serm. affectus eos praecipue qui dulciores sunt , nemo historicorum livio m●gìs commendavit . fab. l. 10. c. 1. sal. in bel . jugurth . de hist . conscrib . in sermonibus effingendis herodotus , thucydides , xenophon , salustius , 〈◊〉 vadentur : ea causa est cur caesar commentarios scripsit , ut id omitteret , in quo alii laborârunt . bisciol . l. 7. hor. subcaes . trogas repre●endit in livio & salustio , quòd conciones & orationes operi suo inserendo , historiae modum excesserint . justin . l. 38. livius , thucydides , interserunt conciones , quae nunquam ab iis , quibus sunt attributae , cogni●e fuerunt . scal. poet. l. 1. ben. l. 2. de hist . de thucydide orationes , quas interposuit , laudare soleo ; sed imitari neque possim si ve●im , neque velim ss possim . cic. de clar . orat. explicentur hominum ipsorum non solùm res gest●● , sed vita ac natura . cic. l. 2. de orat. lib. 21. lucretiam no●te serâ non in convivio luxúque , sed dedi●am lanae inter ancillas sedentem inveniunt . annal. l. 1. oppress●● in ●●lclin●is par●sitos suos violis & floribus , sic ut animam ●l●qui effaveri●t . lampr. in heliog . deos esse non negligere humana ; superbi● & crudelitati , 〈…〉 . annal. l. 3. curandum nè sententiae emineant extra corpus oration●● expresse . petr. polybius & salustius ita peccârunt , ut nullam unquam veniam impetrârint , dum digrediuntur , &c. ex sebast . mac. nihil minùs quasitum à principio huj●● operis , quàm ut plus justo ab rerum ordine decli●arem , varietatibúsque distinguer●o opera , legentibus veluti diverticula qua●rerem . lib. 9. annal . luc. de conscrib . hist . vt qua●rere libea● qui eventus romanis rebus , si cum alexandro fore● bellatum , futurus fuerit . annal. l. 9. thucydides omnes dicendi ar●ificio vincit . cic. de orat. l. 2. tito livio mirae facundiae viro . fab. l. 8. c. 1. livium suprà quam dici potest eloquentem . fab. l. 10. c. 1. livius eloquentiae & fidei praeclarus imprimis . tacit . annal. l. 4. salustius in bello jugurthino & catilinario , nihil ad historiam pertinentibus principiis usus est . fab. l. 10. c. 8. habeo volumen prooemiorum ; ex eo eligere soleo , cum aliquod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 institu● . ad attic. l. 16. ep . 6. sen●●●s quam vile corpus s●●●is qui magn●m gloriam v●dent . 〈◊〉 . liv. ann. l. ● . 〈◊〉 romani suum habent anni●alem . annal . l. 27. arduum videtur res g●stas scribere , quòd facta dictis exaequenda sunt . salust . prooem . bell. ca●i●in . magnum quid historiam rectè scribere , & summi oratoris proprium . de orat. l. 2. nequa suspicio grat●● sit , ●equa simultat● . cic. de orat. marcellin . 〈…〉 . josephus non tam stud●bat vera scribere , quàm credibi●i● : 〈◊〉 c●usa fuit , cur praeterierit miracula , quòd apud infideles 〈…〉 ●rant habitura ; & narravit fabul●s , quas pu●●vit iis magis probabiles futuras . leo cast . disp . de transl . sacr . leg . c. 36. lucian . de conscrib . hist . * dul●●● , candid●● . ●usus herodotus . fab. l. 10. c. 1. † lib. 3. in herodoto . laudatur ab omnibus act rerum explicator sinceras & gravis — hujus nemo neque verborum neque sententiarum gravitatem imitatur . cic. de opt . orat . alienorum laborum fucus . animad . ad euseb . subtilissimus brevitatis artifex salustius , proprietatum in verbis re●inentissimus . gellius . salustius homo nequam , sed gravissimus alienae luxuri●e objurgator . lact. de falsa relig . l. 2. in t●o livio putat inesse pollio quandam patavi●ita●em . f●b . l. 8. c. 1. evenit nonnunquam ut aliquid grande ●uvenlat , qui semper quari● quod nimium est . fab. ● . ● . c. 13. the life, and philosophy, of epictetus with the embleme of humane life, by cebes / rendred into english, by john davies of kidwelly. vie d'epictète et sa philosophe. english boileau, gilles, 1631-1669. 1670 approx. 205 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 121 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a38503 wing e3152 estc r873 11780237 ocm 11780237 49014 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a38503) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 49014) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 491:21) the life, and philosophy, of epictetus with the embleme of humane life, by cebes / rendred into english, by john davies of kidwelly. vie d'epictète et sa philosophe. english boileau, gilles, 1631-1669. davies, john, 1625-1693. epictetus. selections. english. [14], 170, [6] p. : ill. printed by t.r. for john martyn ..., london : 1670. "the tablet of cebes, or, the embleme of humane life" has special t.p. pages 14-16 are tightly bound with some loss of text in filmed copy. beginning-page 27 photographed from bodleian library copy and inserted at end. translation of la vie dépictète et sa philosophe. first edition of this translation; based on the 3rd edition of the french version by gilles boileau, published in 1667. cf. pref. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng epictetus. 2005-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-07 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-08 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-08 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the life , and philosophy , of epictetvs . with the embleme of humane life , by cebes . rendred into english , by john davies of kidwelly . london , printed by t. r. for john martyn , and are to be sold at the sign of the bell without temple bar , 1670. to the right honourable , philip howard of norfolk , lord almoner to her most sacred majesty of great brittain , &c. to prove the productions of the ancients extraordinary and transcendent in their kinds , it would be hard for me to bring a greater testimony , then the present i heer make your lordship of these two small , yet master-pieces of morality . the veneration and esteem wherewith they have been entertain'd through so many ages sufficiently argue , that time , with all its envy , hath not been able to make any diminution of their original excellency . for , who can reflect on epictetus , wihtout a certain astonishment at his exemplary constancy ? who can think on the strictness of his precepts , without framing to himself an idaea of that noble insensibility , which the stoicks requir'd in their virtuoso ? who can view him so indifferent and unconcern'd in the greatest emergencies , and not be convinc'd , that there may be an undistracted pursuit of vertue through all the disgraces and inconveniences of humane life ? who , in fine , shall consider him laying down humility for the ground-work of his morals , and not be surpriz'd at the strange illumination of a heathen philosopher ? these , my lord , were the characters which endear'd epictetus to all the lovers of vertuous action , and rais'd him out of the miseries of servitude into a familiarity with emperours . from which considerations i must acknowledge my self encourag'd to recommend him , in his present dress , to your patronage , presuming that , with these qualifications , he must be kindly receiv'd by a person , who hath prefer'd the splendor arising from christian austerities and mortifications before all the advantages of nature or fortune ; and with him the sincerity and submission wherewith i am , my lord , your most humbly devoted servant j. davies . the preface . to make some estimate of the value which hath been from time to time set on the dictates of epictetus , we may content our selves with this remark , that so many learned hands have been employ'd either in the rendring of them into other languages , or the explication of them in his own . in the latine , there are many versions , of all which it is not our design here to give any particular account . in english , i cannot find that it hath appear'd above once before , done as close as could be to the original , and as well as the english could bear it : which edition came out about the year 1610. entituled , the manual of epictetus . in the french tongue , several eminent persons spent their pains about it , among whom monfieur boileau is the last , and consequently the most exact , in regard he had consulted all that had gone before him on this subject . his labours herein prov'd so acceptable , that in few years his work came to a third impression , which appearing abroad in the year 1667. is the original of this translation . it seems , in the precedent editions mons . boileau had intituled it the enchiridion of epictetus ; but in the last , out of complyance with the advice of some friends , and a reflection that some words , as they are not so easily pronounc'd , so are they not so easily naturaliz'd as others , he put out that title , and call'd it , the philosophy of epictetus . monsieur du vair , who some years since translated this tract , was pleas'd to call it also the manual of epictetus . but our author declin'd that name too , partly out of a consideration that the word manual seems to be particularly consecrateed to works of devotion and piety , and partly , that enchiridion is a greek term , which , in this place , properly signifies a ponyard . the reason alledged by simplicius , why arrian gave it that title , is this ; that , as ponyards are light armes , which we commonly carry about us , to be us'd when we are surpriz'd by our enemies : so should we always have this little book before our eyes , that we may the better oppose the assaults of our passions , a kind of domestick enemies , whereof we should be alwaies distrustfull . had our author been satisfy'd with this fancy of simplicius , he would still have entituled his book , the ponyard of epictetus ; but somewhat improperly , inasmuch as besides that it might have frighted some readers , it sounded not well to attribute either defensive or offensive armes to epictetus , a philosopher so signall for his constancy and patience . vpon which reflections he thought best to call it simply the philosophy of epictetus . mons . boileau affirms further of himself , that , for the better understanding of the original author , he got all the helps he could out of the discourses of arrian and the greek commentary of simplicius , an excellent work , comprehending the whole morality of the stoicks . he saies also , that , among the many latine versions , he kept most closely to those of politian and wolfius , as the most exactly done ; not forgetting the late labour of salmasius upon this piece , in a large commentary upon that of simplicius . but what our authour most esteems in this work of his , is the life of epictetus , which had not been written in any language before , and consequently must require the greater pains , since it was to be collected out of so many several authors . had he pleas'd he might have made it larger ; but some things have been omitted , that it might be the more proportion'd to this abbridgment . at the end of the philosophy follows cebes's tablet , that is , an embleme , or representation of humane life , before which there is a preface giving an account of it . these two pieces have been for the most joyned together , partly upon a consideration of the allyance of the subject , and partly upon that of their antiquity . j. d. the life of epictetus . epictetus was born neer the end of nero's empire , at hierapolis , a city of phrygia . of his birth there is no certaine account , for his father and mother are equally unknown , all the certainty we have of him is , that he was a b slave of one , named epaphroditus , a libertine , and one of the captains of nero's life-guard , a person recommendable upon no other score , save that of being master to so illustrious a slave . arrian relates of this epaphroditus two actions , among others , worthy certainly the genius of the person , and which i the rather take notice of here , because , i conceive , they perfectly expresse his character . one day , this man , sold to another officer of nero's , one of his slaves , named felicion , by profession a shoo-maker , as accounting him no expert workman . that slave coming afterwards , by that means , to be the emperour's shoo-maker , and epaphroditus hearing of it , treated him with extraordinary civilities and respects , and at length made him his greatest friend and confident . c another time , a certain man casting himself at his feet , extreamly deploring the crossnesse of his fortune , and complaining , that , of all his estate , he had but a hundred and fifty thousand crowns left , epaphroditus made answer , in troth , friend , i much wonder , that you have had the patience to forbear speaking of it so long . which he sayd , not by way of ralliery , but very seriously , and out of a real admiration . it was under the verge of this imperious master that d epictetus pass'd away the first years of life . about what time , or how he obtained his liberty , is not known ; onely this we find , that under the reign of domitian , there being a publick edict , for the departure of all the philosophers out of rome and italy , epictetus was oblig'd , among others , to retire to nicopolis , a city of epirus , now called preveza . this is a clear argument , that he had then obtain'd liberty , since he was forc'd , as a philosopher , leave rome . nor indeed is it to be imagin'd , that a person of his merit , belov'd and esteem'd by the emperours of his time , should continue in slavery . it is generally beleeved , that after his exile , he never return'd to rome , and that his constant aboad was at nicopolis , † for arrian affirms in severall places , that the discourses he collected of his , were held by him at nicopolis . but i question the truth of this conjecture , notwithstanding the authority of f salmasius . for g spartian writes , among other things , that the emperour hadrian entertain'd this philosopher with much familiarity . now how that could be , i cannot imagine , if epictetus continued still at nicopolis . but whether epictetus liv'd in that city or not , is of no great concern to his life . nor do i know whether he were ever married ; but as i affirm it not , so do i neither deny it . for h arrian obferves that epictetus blam'd the epicureans for their speaking against marriage . but that he was not married , seems deducible hence , that though he did not account marriage imcompatible with vertue , yet he thought it a great obstacle to the attainment of perfection . but whether he were married or not , it is very likely he had no children , or at least no daughters . for besides that his having any is not mentioned in any author ; k lucian relates , that one day epictetus perswading demonax to take a wife , demonax jeeringly made answer , well , i am content to do it , conditionally you give me one of your daughters . moreover , 1 spartian affirms , that hadrian exercis'd great liberalities and respects towards the poets , orators , philosophers , mathematicians , and all professors of science . but whatever spartian relates of that prince , of whom it may be sayd , that never any man took such pleasure in abusing and scoffing at those very persons , as he did ; certain it is , that epictetus was always very poor , and that neither the sayd emperour , nor his successors , who so highly esteemed him , did advance him much , if at all , in matter of wealth ; and possibly this might proceed from his great contempt thereof . for it is granted , he lived at rome in a little house , which had not so much as a door . m all the attendants he had was an old servant maid , and all his houshould-stuff , an earthen lamp , by the light whereof he brought forth those noble and divine reflections ; of which we have at this day the remainders in the books of arrian . whence it may be guessed how poor he was . but to return to his sentiments and morality ; modesty was his darling and most familiar vertue . hence came it , that he affirmed , there was no necessity of adorning houses with tapestry and pictures ; but that they were to be furnished with modesty and temperance ; for those were the ornaments that last alwaies , and never grow old , or are out of fashion . he had so far renounc'd ambition and ostentation , that if ever philosopher did things out of humility , it may be said that he was the person . for as there was not any man , in his time , that did so many good actions as he ; so was there not any that ever made it so much his business to conceal them , and to have it believ'd that he had not done them . whence it came , that amongst the instructions he gave his disciples , these were the chiefest : if you are so happy as to have learnt to satisfie your body with little , make no ostentation of it . if you have brought your self to a custom of drinking only water , forbear bragging of it . if you have a desire to enter upon some painful exercise , do it privately . whatever may come of it , do nothing out of a design to be observ'd , or admir'd by the people . all these affectations are vain , and unbecoming a philosopher . and indeed epictetus was at so great a distance from vanity , that though he were the ablest of any of his time , to write , yet was he never inclin'd to do it ; though that be an humour which hath been predominant over the noblest souls . for if his disciple arrian had not reduc'd to writing , what he had heard him deliver by word of mouth , epictetus would haply have been a name unknown in the world . he was of opinion also , that a true philosopher ought to do , and not to speak . he accordingly affirm'd , that most of those , who took upon them to be philosophers , were only such as to the denomination ; but not such in effect . one day , a certain person being displeas'd at some others pittying of him ; friend , said epictetus to him , you are much to blame for being so angry . for upon this very account that you are offended at your being bemoan'd , you are deservedly pittied . another time , observing a man who was engag'd in a most infamous debauch , and careless of all honour and reputation , falling into discourse of study and philosophy , he cryed out ; o extravagant man ! what dost thou mean to do ? hast thou consider'd whether thy vessel be pure and clean , before thou pourest any thing into it ? for otherwise , whatever thou hast put into it , will be corrupted and turned into vrine or vineger , or something worse . a. gellius , who relates this passage , conceives there could not be any thing more judiciously , or more truly spoken ; as if he would insinuate , that when philosophy , and the other sciences fall into a sordid soul , defil'd with vice ; they are , as it were , in a foul and unclean vessel , where they are tainted , and beget nothing but corruption . but epictetus had a quality , which i esteem the more , in that it is a rare one , even in a philosopher . he was an extraordinary lover of neatness ; and would say sometimes , that he would rather see one of his disciples with his hair well comb'd , and in good order , than tangled and nasty . but though he were so great a lover of neatness , yet was it not ever the more observable in his own person . he was infirm of body , and lame , by reason of a defluxion fallen down into his leg . he does ingeniously acknowledge as much in an epigram he made of himself , which might be thus rendred ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . born , indispos'd of body , and a slave ; kindness , from fortune , i could never find ; but this advantage from the gods i have , their unexhausted treasures fill my mind . planudes , in his collection of greek epigrams , falsly attributes this to leonidas , as vincentius obsopaeus hath well observ'd : and after him , salmasius , who also pretends that this epigram is not epictetus's , and that it was added to a. gellius by some not-deeply-learnt person . all the reason he gives of it , is , that it is not found in an ancient manuscript of aulus gellius's : i am apt to believe it might be so . but if this conjecture be true ; it must be also granted , that the same not-deeply-learned person had got it added to macrobius , who cites it , as epictetus's , in the first book of his saturnalia , and brings in the same words of aulus gellius . but indeed the reason , arguing this epigram not to be epictetus's , is this , that it cannot easily be presum'd , a philosopher , so remarkable for his modesty and humility , as he was , should speak so advantageously of his own worth . howere it might be , this is most certain , that fortune had not the least kindness for epictetus ; yet did not her persecutions ever oblige him to make his addresses ever the more to great persons . they are very much to blame , said he sometimes , to pride themselves in the conceit that so many court them with their respects and services . do they imagine , that it is for their own sakes all these submissions are made ? everyone , as to that particular minds his own concern , which taken away they are soon slighted . they are justly serv'd , as asses are : if they be rubb'd or curry'd , it is in order to some service to be got out of them . so we reverence those men , as men do the feaver at rome . if altars be erected to her , it is out of a fear of the hurt she may do . but what so great mischief , continu'd he , are we afraid of at their hands ? the worst they can do is to send us into another world. what matters it ? must we not alwaies expect death ? are not all the waies of death equal ? and is not that , through which a tyrant sends us , many times the shortest and the easiest ? in a word , no tyrant was ever so cruel as to be above six months in torturing a man to death , whereas a feaver is sometimes above a year ere it dispatches him . when he met with any of those persons , who are of opinion they transcend others , because they are in favour with the prince , or can derive their pedigree from a long series of ancestors ; he treated them after a very pleasant manner . you imagine , said he to them , because your grand-father was consul , your father a senator , and you are caesar's favourite , that you are more at liberty , and of better quality than another . know that you are more a slave , than the meanest slave among the popular , and that the condition of such a one is better than yours . for if he be ill-treated sometimes by an imperious master , you are continually domineer'd over and tormented by ambition , or some other passion . the only advantage you have over him is , that he is but a slave in some course-cloath , and you are one in a scarlet-coat . besides , if he does not his duty , he must expect the lash or some such punishment ; whereas , if you do not yours , you are somewhat more honourably dealt withal ; for your head is struck off , as beseems a favourite of caesar's . thus were persons of quality treated by epictetus : so that his extream poverty , aud the meanness of his extraction , could not check him out of the humour of making sport at their wealth , and imaginary grandeurs : his vertue had exalted him above all those things , and though fortune alwaies wreak'd her malice upon him , yet would he never repine , but pass'd away his life in perpetual content . but if he might justly complain of the niggardlyness of fortune towards him , as to corporeal accommodations ; he was on the other side to acknowledge the profuseness of heaven towards him , as to the advantages of his mind . it seem'd the former had not declar'd her self his enemy ; but that his triumph over her might be the more glorious . nay , i dare affirm , that bondage , and the infirmity of his body were the necessary retinue of his vertue , that it might appear with greater lustre to posterity . for , without flattery , never did any person force up constancy to so noble a height . while he was yet a slave to epaphroditus , that humerous brute would needs one time , make it his sport to wrinch his leg. epictetus , perceiving that he took a certain pleasure in so doing , and that he renew'd the exercise with greater strength , said to him smiling , and without seeming any way mov'd thereat ; if you continue this sport , you will certainly break my leg : accordingly , that having happen'd , as he had foretold it ; all he said to him was , well , did i not tell you that you would break my leg ? was there ever constancy equal to this ? was it not , as i may say , an out-braving of fortune's extravagance , and the infirmity of our nature . celsus transported with an enthusiasme of philosophy , makes this patience of his transcend whatever might pretend to that name , so far as to be guilty of an abhominable impiety , by heightning the patience of epictetus above that of our saviour jesus christ. if the malice of time had not depriv'd us of the book . which arrian writ of his life and death , i am confident , we should have found many other as great examples of his patience . nor is it to be doubted , but that a man , who so suffer'd his leg to be broken , had before made discoveries of his constancy upon several other occasions . and indeed this vertue was so attendant on him , that it forsook him not even in the most considerable actions of his life . thence it came that he said , if your oyle be spilt , or your wine stollen out of your cellar ; you are to make this reflection in your self , that by such casualties is constancy purchas'd . but if he maintain'd these maximes with much earnestness , he observ'd them with no less rigour . for one day this philosopher having bought an iron-lamp , which he thought a very precious piece of houshold-stuff ; as he was in a deep meditation in the chimney-corner , a thief came into his room , and stole away his lamp , without his perceiving of him . so that a while after , epictetus looking about , and missing his lamp , fell a smiling , and without any disturbance , said , i shall deceive this thief to morrow , for if he come for another lamp , it shall be but an earthen one . true it is , we cannot affirm this action was of equal gallantry with the former ; yet , in my judgment , it is no less remarkable . there is not ought wherein the genius of persons is so discoverable , as in their trivial things inasmuch as the soul appears therein as it were ▪ stript of the disguise of all sorts of passions : whereas in grea● matters she is in a manner alwaies disguis'd ; interest , or ambition causing her , most commonly , to act contrary to the natural bent of her inclination . but to return to our philosopher ; it may be truly said , that never man knew better how to suffer , than he did . it was a science he had learnt even from his tendrest age , and wherein he improv'd himself to the last moment of his life . he needed not companions in his misfortunes , that he might derive consolation from their joynt-suffering . he never sought any but in himself ; and if his mind were sensible of any grief , it was only of the grief of others . he thought it the greatest mark of the malignancy of a corrupt nature , to imagine evil less burthensom , when several other persons participate of it with us : as if our sufferings were heightned , or remitted , proportionably to the augmentation or diminution of theirs . according to this principle was it , that he affirmed those persons were ridiculous , who complain'd , that none were unjustly dealt with but themselves . how , said he , if you are sentenc'd to have your head struck off , would you have all other men condemn'd to the same punishment ; and can you find no consolation , but in the destruction of mankind ? thence it came that epictetus so highly celebrated the constancy , and great courage of lateranus . for nero having condemn'd him to have his head struck off , and the execution●● having but slightly wounded him at th● first blow , he had the heart to lift up his head , and to stretch forth his neck the second time . nay , a little before his death , epaphroditus making some interrogatives to him about the conspiracy he was charg'd withal , he undauntedly made this answer ; if i had any thing else to say , i would tell it thy master , and not thee . as epictetus was the most resolute , and the most constant of all men ; so were the judgments he made of resolution , and constancy , better and more sound , than those of any other . for though he were most intimately acquainted with these two vertues , as being his first and most ancient inclinations , yet could he not endure them , if they had the least blemish , that rendred them insupportable . a● he would not have a man to be heartless and cowardly , so would he neither have him to be temerarious . when a man might go through a plain , or some easy passage , he would not have advis'd him , to take his way through steepy and rough places . he was not of the humour of that philosopher , who would rather have a cart pass over his body , then turn out of his way to avoid it . epictetus behav'd himself otherwise ; for when epaphroditus made it his sport to break his legg , he generously endur'd it ; but if epaphroditus had had the good nature , to have forborn that diversion , he had very much oblig'd him . he thought it as great a vanity and shame , for a man to run himself into danger , where there was no necessity for the doing of it , as there was honour and virtue , to embrace it , when his duty oblig'd him thereto . but when reason requir'd a man's exposing of himself to danger , he would then have him think of no delay , but look on all inconveniencies and difficulties as so many trials of our virtue , and occasions , contributing to our glory . had hercules , said he , ever been hercules , if that lyon , that hydra , that wilde boar , and all those monsters , whereof he disburthen'd the earth , had not exercis'd his courage ? how is it to be imagin'd , he should come to the height he attain'd , if his virtue had not met with employment ? what advantage could we have made of all his strength , all his patience , and all his courage , had he not embrac'd the occasions of making discoveries thereof ? not that it is to be inferr'd hence , that he would have a man wish to see whole provinces pester'd with lyons and hydraes , that he might thereby signalize his valour : but he only maintain'd , that the casuall meeting with these monsters had made a fortunate discovery , what kind of person hercules was . epictetus said further , that helvidius had been admirably well convinc'd of this truth ; that he had perfectly studied these maximes , and that never any man had been more indivertible from his sentiments , then he . when he once thought it his devoir , and conceiv'd himself oblig'd in conscience to do something , though the emperour , the senate , and the people should have conspir'd together , and contributed their joynt endeavours , to obstruct what he was resolv'd to do ; yet was not all that combination of emperour , senate , and people able to tempt him to the least act of meanness . it happen'd one day , that vespasian was desirous to get something pass'd in the senate . he , well acquainted with the humour of helvidius , and knowing he would be sure to oppose it , forbad him to come that day into the senate . helvidius having receiv'd that message made the emperour this return , that it was in his power to deprive him of his charge ; but that while he continu'd a senator , he could not exempt himself from doing his duty , and coming to the senate . be it so , reply'd vespasian ; i am content you should come thither , conditionally you say nothing . if i am not press'd to give my vote , answers helvidius , i promise you to be silent . but there is a necessity of my requiring your advice , saies the emperour . there is in like manner , replies helvidius , a necessity , that i should answer you , and that i should speak what i conceive just and reasonable . if you do so , and that it oppose what i would have done , added vespasian , i shall put you to death . when did i ever tell you , replies helvidius , that i was immortall ? you will execute your charge , and i will endeavour to do the like by mine . it may be your part to sentence me to banishment , and it is mine chearfully to submit thereto . it is your part to order my death , and mine , resolutely and undauntedly to receive it . i make the less difficulty to fall into these little digressions , because i observe that plutarch is no enemy to the like , and that they are not the meanest ornaments of the lives which he hath written . epictetus was also a great admirer of the constancy express'd by agrippinus . for , some one telling him , that an information , which concern'd his life was put in against him in the senate , he made answer , i am glad of it ; but what time of the day is it ? being told , it was about five in the after-noon , come , repli'd he , let us go to the bath , it is time to part . being return'd home a little while after , news was brought him , that the information was found against him . well , said he , what am i sentenc'd to ? to death ? no , repli'd he who brought him the tydings , you are only condemn'd to banishment . very well , repli'd agrippinus , let us sup to night at aricia . epictetus had further a particular veneration for pyrrho , the sceptick , upon this account , that he put no difference between life and death . he esteem'd above all the reply he made to a certain person , who thought to make some sport with him . for that man saying to him , why dost thou not therefore dye , pyrrho , since it is indifferent to thee , whether thou livest or diest ? that is the very reason of it , repli'd he . in a word , epictetus would have all philosophy to consist in constancy and continence . whence he had allwaies these words in his mouth , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , bear and forbear , but the grace and energy of the saying is much greater in the greek , than in any modern languages . thence it came , that he was so much taken with the procedure of lycurgus towards a lacedemonian , who had struck out one of his eyes . for the people having deliver'd up the person to be punish'd ; lycurgus , instead of revenging himself upon him , instructed him in virtue . wherein when he had made a considerable proficiency , he order'd him to be brought upon the theatre , to the great astonishment of the people , who thought him dead long before ; and said to them , this man , whom you deliver'd up to me as a wicked and perfidious person , i now return you vertuous and just . the more we look on epictetus , as an unbyass'd esteemer of mens actions ; the more glorious is it to the memory of these great persons , to have had such an approbator as he was . he , all his life , made profession of the stoick philosophy ; that is , the severest and most austere of all antiquity . never was there any person who knew better how to reduce to practice the maximes and precepts of that sect. for though he may be numbred among the last that apply'd themselves thereto , yet was he one of the greatest ornaments of it . in his discourses and actions , he imitated socrates , zeno , and diogenes . when he undertook any work , he first consider'd , what they would have done , upon the like occasion . when he reprov'd , or instructed any one , he alwaies entertain'd him with some example of those philosophers . in fine , he look'd on them as persons infinitely transcending all others . but , above all , he had a particular esteem for socrates , and had fram'd himself to a stile like his . in his discourses , he us'd comparisons so familiar , and so pertinent , that he insensibly won all to his opinion . he was so persuasive , that he forc'd even such as disputed against him , to be witnesses of the truth he spoke . he was no affector of polite or elegant expressions ; but if his discourse were intelligible , and full of good sence , after the example of that of socrates , he was satisfy'd . in a word , he had propos'd that philosopher to himself , as the model , and rule of all his actions . though he much esteem'd pyrrho himself , yet had he so strange a contempt for the pyrrhonians , that he could not endure them . a certain pyrrhonian one day taking a great deal of pains to prove , that the senses alwaies deceiv'd men , he said to him , who of your sect intending to go to the stoves , mistook his way , and went to the mill ? it was also an ordinary saying with him , were i a servant to some of these pyrrhonians , i should take a pleasure in tormenting them . when they said to me , epictetus , poure some oyl into the bath , i would cast some brine on their heads . when they call'd for water-gruell , i would bring them vineger . and if they complain'd of that usage , i would tell them their senses were deceiv'd , and would perswade them that vineger and water-gruell was the same thing , or i would make them renounce their own sentiments . he declar'd himself a perpetuall enemy of opinion and fortune , by whom yet others thought the world govern'd . the greatest part , said he , of those things which we admire are but pure fantasticall humours . for instance , the iliad , which is so much talk'd of , is it not a pure humour ? an humour came into paris's head , to carry away helene ; she was in a humour to follow him , and menelaus must needs be in an humour to be angry at it . and this speaking properly , is the main design of the iliad . but if menelaus had behav'd himself like a prudent man , and had imagin'd , that he was no small gainer , by the loss of such a wife , what had become of the iliad ? would not it , and the odysses , have been clearly lost . as to fortune , epictetus compar'd her to a lady of quality , who prostitutes her self to servants , and the meanest among such . he said that the life , which had any dependence on fortune , was like a torrent after a violent shower , muddy , foule , hard to be got over , impetuous , and of short continuance . he maintain'd , on the contrary , that a minde addicted to vertue was like an unexhausted ever-flowing spring , whose waters were clear , sweet and pleasant to drink , in a word , not chargeable with any manner of corruption . in like manner , it was his highest care to heighten himself up more and more towards perfection in the study of vertue . he had renounc'd all other pleasures , that he might the more intentively prosecute those of the mind . when he was at any great feast , he minded not so much the satisfaction of his body , as that of his mind . for it was his persuasion , that what was bestow'd on the body perish'd , and was never recover'd again ; whereas what was bestow'd on the mind continu'd and was never lost : for this reason did he prefer the tranquillity and indisturbance of the soul , before all other things imaginable . and he held it for a maxime , that as a man would be loath to be cast away in a ship , though it were ever so beautiful , and loaden with treasures and wealth : so how rich and sumptuous soever a house may be , a man should never be so carefull in the preserving of it , as to be crush'd by the burthen of excessive cares and disquiets . this was also another saying of his . if persia had been the place of your nativity , it is certain you would have had no inclination to live in greece ; you would only have wish'd to live happily in your own country . when therefore a man is born in poverty , to what end shonld he have the ambition to be rich ? why does he not rather frame himself to a contentedness in that condition , and endeavour to live happily therein ? as it were better for a man never to lye in any but a narrow bed , and to have his health ; then to be sumptuously lodg'd , and to be sick : so ought it to be a mans wish rather to preserve an indisturb'd tranquillity and composure of mind , in a mean condition , then be tormented with grief and vexation , amidst a greater liberality of fortune . we must not imagine , that our unhappiness proceeds from poverty , but from ambition . nor are we deliver'd from fear , by wealth , but only by reason . whence it comes , that he who makes provision of reason is content in himself , and charges not his grievances on poverty . these were the reflections of epictetus on those things whereof men make so great account . he could not endure those persons , who sought pretences to conceal , or justifie themselves in their miscarriages . he said they imitated the roman curtezans ; who to cover their shame and to justifie their lewdness , made their advantage of plato's books of common-wealth ; inasmuch as that philosopher would have women to be common : not piercing into the sense , but lewdly interpreting the words of that great man. for he does not hold that a woman married to one man should afterwards prostitute her self to all others ; but he would abrogate that kind of marriage between one man and one woman , to introduce another . for this reason epictetus never bethought himself of any excuse , when he was once sensible that he had done amiss : on the contrary , he was never better pleas'd , than when his miscarriages were discover'd to him . one day , rufus bitterly reproving him , that he had not observ'd an omission in a syllogisme , he made answer . i have not committed so great a crime , as if i had set the capitol on fire . how , wretch , replies rufus , dost thou think there is no other crime , than that of firing the capitol ? epictetus was so far from being displeas'd at so sharp a retort , that he gave rufus thanks , and afterwards told the story to all the world. another time a certain person , who had been very wealthy , but then was fallen into extream poverty , came and intreated him to write on his behalf to the people . epictetus , glad to do him any service , writ him a most obliging letter , wherein he represented and bemoan'd his misfortune , in such terms , as might have excited compassion in persons the least inclin'd to any . but when the other had read it , instead of giving him thanks , he return'd it him again , alledging , that his addresses to him were out of hopes of receiving some assistance from him , and not of being bemoan'd , which he needed not . that scornfulness so pleas'd epictetus , that he thought himself more oblig'd to him for that answer , than if what worthy person had entertain'd him kindness , with the most insinuating complements . but above all things , epictetus was extreamly nice in point of friendship , and there needs be no more said , than that he was a stoick , to give some security , that he was sincere and disinteress'd . he would not have a man think of consulting the oracle , when he was concern'd in the vindication of a friend . he was perswaded , that it ought to be attempted even with the hazard of a mans life . as he was maintaining one day , that only a wise man was capable of friendship ; one made him this reply , that though he were no wise man , yet he tenderly lov'd his own son. 't is your imagination , answers epictetus . did you ever observe little whelps playing together ? it might be infer'd , from their sporting , that they had an extream kindness one for the other . and yet cast but a piece of meat betwixt them , and you will finde whether they effectually love one another . the case is parallel with that of you and your son. cast but a piece of land between you and him , and you will discover whether , to gain that , he will not wish your death ; and whether within a while after you will not have a mortall aversion against him . eteocles and polynices , were they not brothers , the children of the same father and mother ? had they not had their education together ? had they not made a thousand protestations of inviolable friendship ? and yet when the kingdom fell between them , which is the fatall morsell , did they remember , or reflect on their promises ? was not the friendship between them clearly forgotten ? did there not happen dreadfull wars between them , and were they not desirous to kill one the other ? did not paris live under the same roof with menelaus ? did they not lodge in the same bed ? were they not continually together ? and yet , did not the imaginary beauty of a wretched woman make an irreconcileable distance between them , and engage them in the most bloody and most cruel war that ever was heard of ? when it would be discover'd , continu'd he , whether two men are truly friends ; there is no necessity of enquiring whether they be related one to the other , or have had a joynt education . these are uncertain marks , and such as commonly do but trapan us . we are only to inform our selves of their opinions , and their manners ; and if we finde they are truly vertuous , and well-principled , we may pass an assured judgement of them that they are perfect in point of friendship . one day , a person of quality making him a visit , he very civilly entertain'd him , and discours'd with him a great while . but after they had talk'd of divers things , epictetus ask'd him whether he were married ? i am so , said the other to my great sorrow . what cause have you to be so much troubled , repli'd epictetus , for methinks people marry only in order to a more happy life ? i am so miserable , replies the other , that i have not a quiet houre . i so tenderly love my children , that i am in a perpetual apprehension , that some accident may befall them . and upon the least thing being amiss with them , i am like a distracted person , tearing the hair of my head , and deploring the wretchedness of my condition . not long since , continu'd he , news being brought me , that my little daughter was not well , i was so smitten thereat , that i had not the courage to see her , till i was assur'd , that she had recover'd that fit , and was grown better . certainly replies epictetus , you are a person of a very humorous friendship ; i could wish my enemies had the same affection for me , as you have for your children , and that they would love me so well , as not to see me while i live . you do as a certain gallant sometime did , who , being entred the lists , was struck with such a fear , that he cast his cloak over his eyes , while his horse galloped , and having afterwards casually got the prize , they were forc'd to apply sponges to him , to recover him out of the swound he was fallen into . when some said to epictetus , that if he still liv'd in poverty , he would never be in a capacity to serve his friends . how are you mistaken ! reply'd he , do you think that the assisting of friends consists in the lending of money ? no , no. true it is that a man ought to do what lies in his power , to get wealth , that he may therewith relieve them , in their necessities ; but if you can direct me how it may be gotten , in the age we live in , with the preservation of v'ertuous life and integrity , i promise you my utmost endeavours to do it . and if you also expect it from me , that i should hazard the loss of those goods i can call my own , in order to the acquisition of others which are not true goods , consider whether you are not very unjust , and whether you ought not to prefer a faithfull friend before money ? this certainly was an answer beseeming a true philosopher . but what 's particularly observable in epictetus , is , that , of all the ancient philosophers , he had the best opinions concerning the deity , and the greatest insight into our mysteries . his sentiments are so conformable to christianity , that st. augustine , as great an enemy as he was to the ancient philosophers , speaks very advantageously of this man ; nay so far , as to honour him with the denomination of most wise . and no doubt st. augustine had great reason to give him that character , since epictetus was clearly perswaded , of the immortality of the soul , a great admirer of providence , a mortall enemy to impiety and atheisme , acknowledg'd but one divinity , and made modesty , not to say , humility , the ground of his morals , as we have already observ'd . but what i more highly esteem in him , is , that having been nurs'd up in the principles of the stoick philosophy , he suck'd nothing of its bitter . ness , and that he had wean'd his mind from most of its errours and false maximes . in a word , he had no tincture of those insolent opinions , and ridiculous qualifications , which the stoicks requir'd in their virtuoso , or wise man. a man who had reduc'd all his philosophy to practice , and one , who , by the acknowledgment of all subsequent ages since his time , was the most knowing and the most humble of all the philosophers , such a man , i say , must needs be far from any imagination of his being above god. so that if epictetus was a stoick , he was a much more reform'd stoick , than any of the rest . he had not so great a devotion for the school of zeno , or was so sworn to the observance of his morality , as that he would not sometimes transgress the rules of it . on the contrary he gloried in opposing them , when he thought them not consistent with good manners and prudence . and certainly , if st. jerome made it no difficulty to place a philosopher of the same sect in the catalogue of the saints , what may we think of epictetus ? for , not to urge that he alwaies spoke very clearly of the immortality of the soul , and that seneca never fully express'd his sentiment as to that point , he hath this further advantage over him , that he never approved that pernicious and tragical maxime of stoicks cloister , so receiv'd and so inveterate , that it was lawfull for a man to be his own murtherer : wheras seneca alledges it , and maintains it in several places . which is a consideration so much the more pressing , by as much as there is nothing so opposite to the doctrine of the gospell . i know wolfius is not of this opinion , and pretends that epictetus was fallen into that errour , as well as the rest of the stoicks . but i know also , that it is very likely , wolfius is mistaken , as to that particular . for the only text on which he grounds that conjecture , is this that epictetus affirms , in arrian , that when a man is weary of acting his part , he is to remember , that the door is open . but when he saies , the door is open , he means not by those words , that a man may be his own murtherer . his meaning is plainly this , that when we are weary of life , and the condition we are in , it concerns us to remember , that our term is almost expired , that within a short time we shall be delivered from that disquiet , and that infallibly we shall dye . this was the reflection of epictetus , and , to be assured of it , we need only observe , how clearly he expresses himself to the same purpose , in another passage , where he derides those , who are much troubled for the morrow . thus then he speaks to them . if you have any thing to eat to morrow , you will eat , if you have nought , you will forbear eating : the worst that can befall you , is to go into the other world , the door is allwaies open for you . this passage is as much to the point in debate , as the other ; and yet no understanding person will maintain that epictetus his meaning in this place , is , that it is lawfull for a man to be his own executioner , for , two or three lines before , he holds , that , when we are persecuted by tyrants , we must have patience , and wait gods leasure , to deliver us from their persecution . it is just , adds he , that we continue in the rank wherein god hath placed us . we must leave it to him to remove us out of it , when it shall please him . the time of our aboad will not be long . when a man hath once taken this resolution , there is no tyrant but we may defy . this is the constant opinion of epictetus , which is clearly opposite to that , which wolfius would impose upon him . but to return to his life . these were his true sentiments ; that admirable modesty , that profound wisedom ; and , above all , that inflexible integrity so remarkable in him , were the recommendations which gain'd him the esteem and friendship of the greatest persons of his time . there was an intimate friendship between him and favorinus , and herod the sophist , two men very illustrious among the ancients , and whose lives are written by philostratus . spartian , as i have already observe'd , numbers him among the most familiar friends of the emperour hadrtan . themistius , in his oration to the emperour sovinian , affirmes , that he received great honours from the two antoninus's . and indeed , marcus aurelius speaks very advantageously of him , in several places ; so far as to parallel him with the zeno's , socrates's , and crysippus's . in fine , he was in so great reputation , that lucian satyrizes on an ignorant person , who had given three thousand drachmes for epictetus's earthen lampe , out of a conceit he should become as eminent for learning as he was , by the light of his lampe . his words were so efficacious , and men had such a respect and veneration for what ever came from him , that none oppos'd it . one day herod , the sophist , met with a young man who profess'd the stoick , philosopy , but had such an humour of talking and magnifying himself , as if all the greeks and latines had been ignorant persons in comparison of him . the sophist having patiently given attention to all he thought fit to say , sent for the second book of epictetus's discourses , collected by arrian , whereof he caus'd a chapter to be read , treating of great talkers , and presumptious persons , the young man was so startled , and out of countenance at it , that he had not a word to say for himselfe . from this instance it may be conjectur'd , what esteeme epictetus must be in . of all his diciples , we know not of any considerable person but arrian ; and yet the making of this one diciple is a sufficient argument of the greatness of the master . this is the arrian , who was afterwards master to antoninus pius , and had the title given him of young xenophon , upon this account , that in imitation of that philosopher , he had reduc'd to writing all he had heard his master say , during his life , and dispos'd it into a volume , which he entituled , the discourses of epictetus , or his dissertations , whereof there are yet remaining four books . he afterwards made a little treatise , which he called enchiridion , which is an abridgment of all the moral philosophy of epictetus , which is yet extant , and indisputabl'y one of the most excellent pieces of antiquity . but what i am extreamly astonish'd at ; is , that a person so highly learned as lipsius , whose illuminated judgment sound its way into the greatest obscurities of the stoick . philosophy , and who made it his principal study , should imagine that epictetus was the author of that enchiridion , and how he mist observing , that simplicius expressly affirms at the very beginning of his book , that the enchiridion was compos'd by arrian , and that it was an extract of the noblest and most considerable maximes of epictetus's philosophy . the translator of arrians discourses into french , so well known by the philarchus of monsieur de balzac , is guilty of the same errour . arrian had also written another very large book , of the life and death of epictetus , which is clearly lost . marcus aurclius speaks of another book , intituled , the commentaries of epictetus , which he had very exactly read over . but , in all probability , these commentaries are no other than the discourses of epictetus , whereof i have already spoken . for arrian , in the preface he made before thosse discourses , calls them also the commentarie● , of epictetus . i conceive the equivocation proceeded from the two publications made of that book , during the life of arrian , who possbly gave it different titles . i am also of opinion , that those discourses were much larger than we now find them , and , it may be , that , instead of four , there were five or six books of them . this is so far certain , that gellius cites a passage of the fifth book of arrian's discourses . and stobaeus relates several passages of the same author , now not extant elsewhere . it is possible also , that arrian left out several things at the second publication which was made of his book , and reduc'd the six books he had made , to four . however it be , i cannot allow what is affirm'd by suidas , that epictetus writ much . for if we ever so little consult what hath been written by arrian , or reflect on the maximes maintain'd by him , we shall hardly be induc'd to any imagination of it . there are also certain answers , which some pretend that he made to the emperour hadrian . but there needs only the reading of them to discover their being supposititious , and that they are falsely attributed to him . wolsius put us sometime in hopes , that we should see epictetus's letters , which were , as he was told , in the library of florence . but it is very likely , that he , who told him that news , was not well informed of the truth , and that we may long expect the publishing of them . of what disease epictetus died , or at what time , is not well known . true it is , that suidas affirmes he died under the reign of marcus aurelius . but i much question the truth of it . salmasius , who hath been very large as to this particular , brings several reasons to make it appear that suidas was mistaken . the first is , that the same suidas affirms , that epictetus was a slave to epaphroditus , who was captain of the life-guard to nero. now , from the death of nero to marcus aurelius's advancement to the empire , there are near ninety four years . nay before epictetus was in a condition to do epaphroditus any service , and to come from hierapolis to rome , he must be of some age. so that according to this computation he must have lived near a hundred and twenty years : which is not easily believ'd . and yet there may be somewhat in the conjecture , though not enough to make it convictive , for it is possible , as lipsius hath well observ'd , that he did not serve epaphroditus , till after the death of nero. yet lipsius may be answer'd , by alledging that epaphroditus is here stiled captain of nero's life guard ; which argues that nero was then living . salmasius's second reason is , that marcus aurelius numbers not . epictetus among those whom he had heard . he only affirms , that he had seen his commentaries , by the means of junius rusticus , who sent him them . this reason seems to me much weaker than the former . for , besides that epictetus might at that time be retir'd to nicopolis , he died haply at the beginning of marcus aurelius's reign . and suidas affirms only , that he came to the time of that emperour . and so though epictetus had lived till the beginning of his reign , it is possible that emperour might not see the commentaries of epictetus , till after his death . the third reason alledged by salmasius seems to me to be of no validity at all . he saies , that epictetus's lamp was sold in lucian's time , and thence he infers , that epictetus was then dead . but this does not prove any thing . for there are very high probabilities , if not certainty , that lucian died not till after marcus aurclius . and so , that lamp might have been sold in lucian's time , though epictetus liv'd to the time of that emperour . nay it is possible it was sold in the life-time of epictetus ; and in that case , there would be no difficulty . the fourth reason is , that a. gellius , who writ in the time of antoninus pius , or at the beginning of marcus aurelias's reign , affirmes of epictetus thus , the memory of epictetus the philosopher is yet fresh . the passage is not faithfully set down by salmasius . for it is precisely said in aulus gellius , that epictetus also was a slave , is of fresh memory . that is , it was of fresh memory that epictetus had been a slave , and not simply that he had been . to conclude , the last reason brought by salmasius , is , that aulus gellius speaks in another place , in these terms , i have heard favorinus say that epictetus said &c. so that , since favorinus died under the emperour hadrian , salmasius , infers , that epictetus could not have liv'd up to the time of marcus aurelius . this reason is not convictive , because favorinus might inform aulus gellius , of what , epictetus said , though epictetus were not dead . yet must we allow it some ground . for aulus gellius , who writ in the time of antoninus pius , the predecessor of marcus aurelius , when he speaks of epictetus , expresses himself in these terms . epictetus said . that venerable old man said , i have been inform'd by such a one , that epictetus said . which clearly argues that he was not then living . and what makes me the more inclinable to this opinion , is , that it is probable , that arrian had not made any collection of the discourses of epictetus , till after the death of that philosopher . and if so , it is impossible that what is affirmed by suidas should be true , and that epictetus liv'd up to the time of marcus aurelius . for in the time of aulus gellius ; who , as hath been observed , writ under antoninus pius , these discourses were already published , and generally known . true it is , that arrian might have made that book in the life-time of epictetus , but there is little probability , and it will not easily be presum'd , that the discourses , and memorable things of a person yet living should be published . there is yet another very considerable difficulty , which hath not been observed by any one . this is ; that , from nero's death , to the edict set forth by domitian , touching the banishment of the philosophers , there is very little above twenty years . for that edict was published in the eighth year of his reign , as is affirmed by eusebius . now if the conjecture of lipsius be true , and that epictetus did not serve epophroditus , till after neros death , it would follow , that at the time of that edict , epictetus could not be above eighteen or nineteen years of age. which cannot be granted , for then he had obtained his liberty , and was even at that very time in great reputation ; inasmuch as it is affirmed by aulus gellius ; that , upon the qualification of a philolsopher , he was forced to retire to nicopolis . it must needs be allowed then , that he was at that time about thirty years of age. but if he were of that age , at the time of that edict , it must necessarily follow , that he lived near a hundred and eight or nine years , to come up to the time of marcus aurelius . which is not probable ; since lucian , who lived in that very time makes no mention of epictetus , in his dialogue of long-livers . true it is , that eusebius speaks also of a second edict against the philosophers , which was not published till the fifteenth year of domitian's reign . but , not to take notice , that he is the only person of all the chronologers and historians , who makes any mention of this second edict , scaliger precisely observes , that the edict , whereof aulus gellius speaks , ( which is the same we now discourse of ) was the first which was publish'd in the eight year of domitians reign . this reason seems to me so strong , that i should make no difficulty to affirm , that suidas was mistaken , if i had not met with a passage of themistius , where he precisely saies , that the two antoninus's rendred great honours to epictetus . yet might it be answer'd , that what is said is by an orator , who observed not that strictness , which was requisite in a faithfull historian . or haply that marcus aurelius was a great honourer of epictetus , in the time of hadrian , and antoninus pius , and before he came to be emperour . or rather , that he did him those honours after his death . as indeed we see , by the books he hath left us , that he had a particular veneration for his memory . in fine , this is not without some difficulty , and i should be loath to be absolutely decisive in the point . i therefore think it sufficient , that i have simply laid down the doubts of both sides . and yet , after a mature examination of these things , if i may presume to give my judgment , i am the rather inclin'd to comply with what is affirm'd by salmasius , that epictetus reach'd not the reign of marcus aurelius . for besides that suidas is an author who hath not alwaies light on the truth , it was a most undeniable mistake in him , when he affirm'd that epicletus had written much . so that it is possible he may also be mistaken in his computation of the time . howere it be , yet this is certain , that epictetus was regretted by all the illustrious persons in his time , and that his memory will be precious to posterity . and this all i could meet with of his life , which hitherto hath not been written in any language , since that life of epictetus , done by arrian , hath been lost . a chronological table , to find out the time of epictetus's death . years from the foundation of rome . years from nero.   807 1   808 2 nero. 809 3   810 4   811 5   812 6   813 7   814 8   815 9   816 10   817 11   818 12 epaphroditus . 819 13 epictetus . 820 14 galba . 821 15 otho . vitellius . 822 16   823 17 vespasian . 824 18   825 19   826 20   827 21   828 22   829 23   830 24   831 25 titus vesp . 832 26   833 27   834 28 domitian . 835 29   836 30   837 31   838 32   839 33   840 34 edict for the banishment of the philosophers . 841 35   842 36   843 37   844 38   845 39   846 40   847 41 nerva . 848 42   849 43   850 44 trajan . 851 45   852 46   853 47   854 48   855 49   856 50   857 51   858 52   859 53   860 54   861 55   862 56   863 57   864 58   865 59   866 60   867 61   868 62   869 63   870 64 hadrian . 871 65   872 66   873 67   874 68   875 69   876 70   877 71   878 72   879 73   880 74   881 75   882 76   883 77   884 78   885 79   886 80   887 81 favorinus's death . 888 82   889 83 antoninus pius . 890 84   891 85   892 86   893 87   894 88   895 89   896 90   897 91   898 92   899 93   900 94   901 95   902 96 epictetus's death . 903 97   904 98   905 99   906 100   907 101   908 102   909 103 aulus gellius . 910 104   911 105   912 106   913 107 marcus aurelius . 914 108   915 109   916 110   917 111   918 112   919 113   920 114   921 115   922 116   923 117   924 118   925 119   926 120   927 121   928 122   929 123   930 124   931 125   932 126 commodus . 933 127 lucian's death . the philosophy of epictetus . honesta res est laeta panpertas . senec. ep. 2. the philosophy of epictetus . there are some things which have their dependance on us . as opinion , inclination , desire , aversion ; in a word , all our operations . there are others also which have no dependence on us . as the body , wealth , reputation , soveraignty , and whatever comes not within the sphear of our action . that which hath its dependance on us , is , of its own nature , free , and cannot be obstructed , nor forbidden by any one . on the contrary , that which hath not its dependence on us , is weak , servile , easily obstructed , and subject to another . remember then , that if you take to be free , that which , of its own natures is servile ; and if you consider what is subject to another , as a thing proper to your self ; remember , i say , that you will meet with great obstructions , and that you will be disturbed in all your designes , that you will be expos'd to a thousand disquiets , and in fine , that you will charge your misfortunes upon the gods and men. but , on the contrary , if you are perswaded that that only belongs to you which really does so , and can consider , as alienated from you , that which in effect is so , assure your self , that nothing will be able to divert you from what you have proposed to your self , that you will not attempt any thing with a kind of violence to your self , that you will not blame or accuse any one , that no body will give you any check , that you will have no enemies ; and in fine , that you will never be subject to the least regret . if you are desirous of goods so great as these are , know , it is not sufficient , for the attaining of them , that they be in some measure desired ; but it is also requisite , that you be readily dispos'd to a renunciation of certain thing , and , for a time , to a deprivation of some others . for , if not sati●fy'd with that whereof you are possess'd , you are ambitious of advancement into charges , or the acquisition of wealth , remember , you will absolutely lose the assured means , whereby liberty and felicity are acquirable , and that haply , after all , you will be defeated of what you courted with so much earnestness . when you meet with any displeasing occurrence , accustom your self to this reflection , that it is not such as it seems to be , and that it is only a pure imagination . when you shall have made that reflection , examine what it may be , and make your advantage of the rules you have for that purpose . consider whether it be any of those things which have their dependence on you . for otherwise if it have not any , be immediately satisfy'd , that it concerns you not . know , that the end of desire is the obtaining of what is desired , and that the end of aversion is , that one fall not into that which he would eschew . and as he is unfortunate who is frustrated of what he wishes ; so he is miserable who falls into that which he would most a void . if therefore you have an aversion only for what hath its dependence on you , as for false opinions , be assur'd , that you will never fall into that which you hate . but if you have an aversion for that which depends not on you , as for diseases , death , or poverty , question not but you will become miserable ; since it is not in your power to avoid them , and that you will infallibly fall into them . if you are desirous to be happy , never have any repugnance for that which hath not its dependence on you , but direct all your aversion against that which is obstructive to the nature of the things dependent on your liberty . moreover , make no sudden wishes of any thing with too much earnestness ; for if you desire things not dependent on your self , it is impossible but you must be frustrated thereof ; and if you desire those which have their dependance on your self , know , that you are not sufficiently taught what is necessary for the desiring of them out of a vertuous regard . if therefore you would do well , approach them so as that you be able to withdraw your self from them , when you shall think fit . but let all this be done with discretion and reservedness . the true expedient to avoid being ever troubled , is , to consider all the things that are for our pleasure , or for our advantage , or such as for which we have any affection , as they are in themselves . we must begin to examine even to the least important . for example , when you remove an earthen vessel , bethink your self that it is an earthen vessel , which you do remove , and that it may be easily broken . for having made this reflection , if it chances to break , you will not be troubled at it . in like manner , if you love your son , or your wife , reflect that the person you love is of humane race ; for by that means , if they come to dye , you will not be surpriz'd at it . before you undertake any work , examine of what kind it is . if you have resolved to go into a bath , before you set forth , represent to your self all the insolences that are committed in those places . they there cast water at one ; they force him out of his place ; he is subject to affronts ; he may lose his cloaths . make no question but you would more safely execute what you undertake , if you say to your self ; i will go into the bath , but i will also keep to the course of life , which i have propos'd to my self . observe this maxime in all your enterprises . for by that means , if any obstruction or disgrace happens to you , as you bath your self , it will be without disturbance to you , and you will presently say , i came not hither only to bath my self , but i came also with a resolution not to do any thing contrary to my setled course of life , which i should not observe , if i endured the impertinences committed hear with any kind of regret or dissatisfaction . the disturbances which men are in proceed not from the things themselves ; but only from the opinions they conceive of them . for example , to speak rightly of it , death is not any evil ; since that if it were such it would have appear'd dreadful and unpleasing to socrates , as well as to other men . no no , it is only the opinion men have of death which renders it dreadful . when therefore we are any way disturb'd , or troubled , we have none to quarrel at , but our selves and our opinions . it is a great discovery of ignorance and a brutish disposition to be reproaching others with their miseries . he begins to enter into the way of wisdome , who charges only himself with his own misfortune . but he is come to the perfection of wisdom , who neither chargeth himself nor others . never make any ostentation of the excellency which is in another . if a horse could say , that he is a beautifull creature , it were supportable in his mouth . but when you make it your brag that you have an excellent well-shap'd horse can you tell what you do ? you boast of what belongs not to you . what is there then that is yours ? the use of what falls under your sight . and hence it comes , that if you look on things conformably to their nature , and make such judgments of them as you ought , then shall it be lawfull for you to make your brags thereof ; inasmuch as your exultation is for a good , whereof you are effectually possess'd . if you go to sea , and the ship come to land at some place , you are at liberty to go out of it , to take in fresh water ; nay if you have a mind to gather of the shells you meet with in your way , no body will hinder you . but it is still expected that your thoughts should be upon the ship , and that you should be attentive to the masters call ; for you must be ready to leave all , least upon your neglect , he might order you to be cast into the vessel with your hands and feet bound like a beast . the same is to be said in the case of humane life . if god is pleas'd to give you a wife , or children , it is permitted you to take them , and to have your enjoyments of them . but if it happen that god calls you , you must leave them without any further thoughts of them , and make hast to the vessel . and if you are already well advanc'd in age , have a care you be not at any great distance from it , out of a fear you be not ready , when you shall be called . never desire that things should happen as you would have them ; but endeavour to make your wishes compliant with the emergencies . by this means , what ever comes to pass will be conformable to your wishes . sickness is an impediment to the body , but not so to the will. for example , when a man is lame , it is an obstruction to his feet in going ; but that hinders not his will to do what it is inclin'd to , if it does not undertake any thing but what it is able to compass . make the same consideration of all the things that happen , and you will find , that it is not you that are incommodated by them , and that it is alwaies some other . in whatever shall happen to you , be mindfull to consider , what means you have to secure your self against it . if , for example you see a beautiful youth , or a fair virgin , bethink your self , that you have temperance , which is a powerful preservative against beauty . if you are oblig'd to undertake something not to be overcome without much labour and hardship , have your recourse to patience . if you have receiv'd any injury , arm your self with constancy . for if you accustom your self alwaies to act after this manner , occurrent objects will have no prevalence over you . never say that you have lost any thing , but let it be your constant saying , that you have restor'd it . when your son or your wife dye , say not that you have lost them , but say rather that you have restor'd them to him who had bestow'd them on you . but when some part of your inheritance is taken away from you , must it be said in like manner , that you have restor'd it ? you think haply that you ought not to use that kind of expression , because he is some wicked person who hath depriv'd you of it ? as if it concern'd you , by whose means your land returnes to him who had given it you . as long therefore as you shall have it at your own disposal , look on it as if it were anothers , and part with it , as little troubled , as travellors are when they leave the innes where they had lodg'd . if you are desirous to make any advancement in the study of vertue , wean your mind from those sorts of imaginations . if i be not carefull of my affairs , i shall not have where with all to subsist . if i chastize not my son , he will prove undutifull . learn that it is better to dye of hunger , and preserve a greatness of courage , and tranquillity of mind to the last gaspe , than to live in abundance , with a soul full of disturbance and torment . learn , i say , that you ought rather to suffer your son to become undutifull and wicked , than to become your self unhappy . in a word you must prefer the serenity of your own mind before all concerns . but to attain that , it is precedently requisite , that you make trial of your self even to things that are most inconsiderable . for example , if your oyl be spilt , or your wine stollen out of your cellar , make this reflection and say in your self ; at this rate must a man purchase tranquillity and constancy . and indeed nothing is got without some pains , and it is necessary , that what we have should cost us something . do the like when you call your servant . imagine , that he is not ready , and that if he were , he will not haply do any thing of what you desire of him . howere it be , have a care that he has not the power to put you into any indignation , and to cause any disturbance in your mind , when he hath an humour to do it . never be troubled that you should pass for an extravagant person in the apprehensions of the multitude , only upon their observance of your contempt of external things . nor be ever desirous of being accounted a man of excellent endowments . if it unexpectedly happen , that people make any account of you , then most mistrust your self ; in as much as it is extreamly hard to be attentive to what is external , and to stick close to a resolution correspondent to nature , and the course of life which you have propos'd to your self ; and it must needs come to pass , that following the one you will be forc'd to relinquish the other . if you desire that your wife , your children , and your friends should live alwaies , you are at a loss of judgment ; for it is as much as to wish that what hath not any dependance on you , should be absolutely dependent on you , and that what is anothers should belong to you . in like manner , if you expect that your son should commit no misdemeanour , you are no less ridiculous . for it is as much as to wish , that vice should not be vice. if therefore you would never be frustrated of your desires , desire only those things which are dependent on your self . he is truly master of all things , in whose power it is to retain such as he will , and to reject such as are displeasing to him . whoever then hath a design to be free after this manner , must accustom himself not to have any desire , nor any aversion for such things as are dependent on another : for if he act otherwise , he will certainly fall into servitude . remember that your demeanour in life must be such , as if you were at a great feast . if any dish be presented to you , you may decently help your self what you think fit of it . if it be design'd only to pass by you , far be it from you to stop it , and to put your hand rashly into it . expect patiently till it return to you again . thus ought you to behave your self towards your children , towards your wife , towards the magistrates , towards riches , and towards all other things of that nature . for by this means , you will become worthy to be entertain'd at the table of the gods. but if you are so generous as to refuse even that which is presented to you , you will not only deserve admission to the table of the gods , but you will be worthy also to participate of their power . and it was for this kind of demeanour that diogenes and heraclitus were reputed divine men , as indeed they were . when you shall observe any one sighing , either upon a remembrance that his son is gone abroad to travel , or that he hath lost what he was possest of , be not surpriz'd at the object and imagine not the person to be really unhappy , for the loss of things not within his disposal . but make this distinction within your self , and presently say ; it is not that accident which afflicts the man ; for there are others concern'd in the like that are not any way disturb'd thereat ; it is the opinion which he hath conceiv'd thereof that torments him . then use your utmost endeavours to undeceive him , and to recover him out of evil opinion . nay , if you think it convenient , you may pretend sadness , and a certain fellow-feeling of his affliction . but have a care that grief do not effectually seize your heart , while you think only to personate it . remember your self , that you are to act here the part which the master of the revels hath been pleas'd to assign you . if your part be short , be short in the acting of it ; if it be long , be content to go through with it . if he have appointed you to do that of a poor man , endeavour to acquit your self in the action as well and as naturally as you can . if fine , if he have impos'd upon you that of a prince , or a lame person , or a tradesman , it is your concern , to act according to what is assign'd you , and hath been directed by another . if it chance that you hear a crow croaking , be not the least troubled at it . but let this be your immediate reflection , i am not the person threatned by that crow ; it may haply be my body , or the little estate i am possess'd of , or my reputation , or my children , or my wife , for as to my own part , there is not any thing but presages happiness to me ; in regard that , of whatever shall happen , it depends only on my self to make all the advantage i can . you may be invincible , if you undertake not any engagement , but such as you are assur'd of the success thereof , and where the obtaining of the victory depends only on your self . if you observe any one advanc'd to dignities , or in favour and credit , be not surpriz'd at the outward appearance of it , and say not , that he is therefore happy . for since the true tranquillity of the mind consists in our wishes only of what depends on our selves , the lustre of grandeurs ought not to raise any envy or jealousy in us . nor should you entertain any ambition of being a senator , a consul , or an emperour , the only business you are to mind , is freedom . that ought to be the ultimate end of all your pretensions . now to attain that , there is but one way , which is , to slight whatever depends not on us . remember also it is not either he who injuries you , nor yet he who smites you that offends you , but it is the opinion you have conceiv'd thereof . when therefore any one shall occasion your being angry , know , that not he , but your own opinion hath incens'd you . accordingly you ought to be very carefull that you be not transported by your passion ; for if you delay it for ever so little a while , you will the more easily overcome it . let death , banishment , and all those other things , which the greatest part of men put into the number of evils , be your daily meditation ; but let your thoughts be particularly fixt on death . for by this means you will never have any mean and servile consideraton , nor ever wish any thing with passion . if you have a design to perfect your self in the study of philosophy , prepare your self , before you undertake any thing , to endure the derision of all the world. it will be said to you , how are you become a philosopher of a sudden ? whence came you by that severe aspect ? laugh at all that , conditionally that what is said be not true , and that you have not that gravity , wherewith you are reproached . do you only demean your self so towards what seems best to you , that nothing be able to divert you from it , and continue constant thereto , as if god had appointed you to do so . if you persist in the same resolution , and prove constant in the same estate , you will become the object of their admiration who before derided you . if on the contrary you flag , and if once you give way to any change of resolution , all you have done will only occasion others to repeat their derisions of you . suffer not your mind to be distracted with imaginations of this kind , that you will not be consider'd , and that you will not be respected , and honoured . for if it were an evil not to receive honour , the consequence would be , that it were in the power of another to make us unhappy . which cannot be , in regard that the same reason which exempts us from being involv'd in vice , by the act of another , exempts us also from being involv'd in evil , by the act of another . is it a thing at our disposal to be advanc'd to soveraign dignities , or , to be invited to great feasts , or in fine , to be possess'd of all the other goods not dependent on us ? no , it is clearly out of our reach . how then can you say , that you shall live in disesteem and ignominy , if you have not the enjoyment of these kinds of things ? how , i say , can you complain , that you shall not be respected , when you are to confine all your desires , and all your pretensions , within your self , and what depends on you , where you are allow'd to exalt your self as much as you please ? you will haply reply , if i live so , i shall never be in a condition to serve my friends . ah! how are you mistaken ! how do you imagine that this proposition is to be understood , a man is oblig'd to assist his friends ? t is not thereby meant , that he is to supply them with mony , or to make them citizens of rome , since that is not in our power , and that it is impossible for one to bestow that on another which he hath not himself . i foresee the answer you will make me , to wit , that a man is to use all industry to raise himself to wealth and credit , that he may be able to relieve his friends in their necessities . but if you can shew me a way whereby they may be attain'd without hazarding the loss of vertuous inclination , sincerity , and generosity , i promise you that i will attempt alwaies to do it . if then you expect from me that i should hazard the loss of my own goods , to endeavour the acquisition of others for you , which are not true goods , consider whether you are not unjust and unreasonable . reflect then , whether you ought not to make greater account of a sincere , vertuous , and faithfull friend than of mony ? do therefore all that lies in your power to preserve these qualities in me , and never press me to do any thing which may reduce me into a capacity of loosing them . you may yet possibly make this further reply , that by this means you will not be able to serve your country . but what do you mean by those words ? 't is true , you will not be able to adorn it with triumphal arches or publick baths . they are not smiths who furnish the city with shoes , nor hath it arms from shoemakers . 't is well that every one act according to his profession ? what do you imagine that you contribute nothing of advantage to your country , when you supply it with an inhabitant , who is a person of worth and integrity ? know , that you could not have done it a greater service . no more then henceforth of that discourse . say not that you are of no account in your city . it matters not what rank you are in , provided you mind the improvement of honour and fidelity in it . do you imagine you will be advantageous to your country , if you quit the purfuit of vertues ? imagine to your self what benefit it can receive from you , when you shall become impudent and perfidious . take it not ill , to see any one plac'd at table above you , or saluted before you , or to find people inclin'd to follow his advice , rather than yours : for if the things are good , you ought to be glad they happen to him ; if on the contrary they are bad , you should not have any regret at their not befalling your self . besides , remember , that since you prosess not to do ought for the attainment of external things , it is no miracle if they happen not to you , and that others persons , who have us'd their utmost endeavours to attain them , are prefer'd before you . nor indeed is it just , that he who stirs not out of his house should be of equall credit with him who spends most of his time in visits , and is perpetually at the gates of grandees . it is not , i say , reasonable , that he who cannot he induc'd to commend any one , should be equally consider'd with him , who bestows excessive praises on the most inconsiderable actions . he certainly must be an unjust , and withall an insatiable person , who desires to have these sorts of goods for nothing , and without buying them , at the price they cost . be it suppos'd , for example , that lettices are to be sold , and that they are worth a half-peny , if any one gives that rate , he may have them . but if you will not give any thing for them , you shall go without them . shall this render your condition worse than that of the other ? by no means ; for if he hath the lettices , you have your mony. the case is the same as to those we speak of . if you are not invited to a feast , it argues you have not paid your club. the founder of the feast sells it for flatteries , for compliance , and for submissions . if you are desirous to be admitted thereto , resolve to purchase it at the price set upon it . for to pretend to these things , without doing what is necessary for the obtaing of them , argues covetuousness and want of judgement . do you imagine also , that , if you lose that supper , you have nothing in requital ? assure your self you have somewhat that is much more excellent . you have not prais'd him whom you had no mind to praise . you have not born with his insolence , wherewith he treats such as come to his table , this is the advantage you have made . we may understand what nature desires by the sentiment we have of the things which concern us not . when our neighbours servant break a glass , we presently say , it is an ordinary accident . you should demean your self so , when your own is broken , and be as cold and indifferent , as you were when your neighbours was broken . apply this also to greater matters . when your neighbours wife or child dies , no body saies there is any thing in it but what is natural . but when that accident happens to our selves , we break forth into lamentations and clamours ; ah! how unhappy am i , ah! what a wretched person am i ? and yet we should remember our selves , that we ought to be such upon this emergency as we are when the same thing happens to another . the nature of evil is , in the world , as a mark , which is set there to direct us into the right way , and not to put us out of it . if any one should deliver up your body to the first person he met , that he might do what he pleas'd with it , i am confident you would not take it well , and that you would be displeas'd thereat . and in the mean time you are not asham'd to expose your soul to the fantastick humour of all the world. for as soon as any reviling word is said to you , you are troubled , and transported with grief and indignation . do not therefore undertake any thing , without considering beforehand what ought to precede , and what must be the consequence of such an enterprise ; for if you act otherwise , it will come to pass , that haply your design will prove fortunate at the beginning , and that you will take a pleasure therein . but be assured , that you will afterwards be asham'd of it , and that , sooner or later , you will have occasion to repent you of it . no doubt it would be a great satisfaction to you to gain the victory at the olympick games . i assure you , it should be as much my desire as yours . for when all 's done , we must acknowledge that it is a very gallant thing . but if you have that design , it is requisite , that you consider what is precedent , and what is consequent to such an enterprise . when you shall have made that reflection , take notice of what you ought to observe . accustom your self to keep within your own rank ; not to eat , but upon necessity ; to abstain from all sorts of delicate , and picquant sawces ; never to drink out of humor or wantonness ; nay , to forbear the drinking of wine , if you are not commanded to do it ; to do your exercise at the appointed hours , in hot weather , in cold weather , not suffering any thing to divert you from it . in fine , you must resign up your self to the master of the exercises , as to a physitian . and then you may enter the lists . but you must also direct your apprehensions to all the things which may happen , one while , of hurting your hands , and your feet , and another of having your mouth full of dust , sometimes of being well cudgel'd , and after all this struggling , you also run the hazard of getting the worst . now if nothing of all this startle you , and that you still persist in your former design , then you may venture into the ring . for if you demean your self otherwise , it will happen to you , as to those little children , who now take up them to be wrastlers , then pipers , then fencers , then trumpetters , and then actors of tragedies , undertaking all sorts of professions , though they are incapable of exercising any . so you will be a wrastler , a gladiator , an orator , a philosopher , and of all this nothing . you will imitate , like an ape , whatever you see done by others , and you will slightly quit one thing , to embrace another . would you know the cause of it ? 't is this , that you undertake all without recollection , and that you are inconsiderately inclin'd thereto , and that you comply only with the sudden sallies of your own fantastick humour . you behave your self like those who have an itching inclination to be philosophers , when they hear some one say , ah , how excellently was that said socrates ! who could raise an argument to that height , and press it with so much vigour as he ! o man , be who you will , if you are desirous to compass your designs , consider beforehand what you would do , and see , whether that which you undertake be conformable to your nature or not . if you are desirous to venture at the exercises , as wrastling or the like , consider whether your arms are strong enough , and whether your limbs and reins are fit , and well-set for it ; in regard that this man is naturally design'd to one thing , and that , to another . when you shall have taken a resolution to become a philosopher , if you think to eat , and drink , and act the delicate person , as you did before , you will be extreamly mistaken . you must resolve to be vigilant , to be industrious , to forsake your friends , to be slighted , sometimes by a servant , to see all others more honoured , and in greater credit than you with eminent persons , magistrates , judges , and in any affair whatsoever . reflect then on all these difficulties , and consider whether you had not rather enjoy tranquillity of mind , freedom , and constancy . for if you make not this reflection , i must mind you of having a care , that you follow not the example of those little children i spoke of before , and be one while a philosopher , soon after a receiver of the publick taxes , then an orator , and in fine a lieutenant to caesar . believe me , all these employments will not fadge well together . it is requisite you take it into your consideration , that you are but one man , and that it is necessary , you should be absolutely good , or absolutely bad . for , in a word , you must either only prosecute the cultivation of your mind and reason , or apply your self to the pursuit of external things , and absolutely addict your self thereto . for it is impossible for a man to do both together . that is to say , it is necessary that you either keep within the sphear of a philosopher , or come into the common class of the meaner sort of people . all the devoirs and respects we render ought to be suitable to the quality of the persons who receive them . if it be a father , our devoir obliges us to have a care of him , and to comply with him in all things . if he reviles you , if he smite you , all must be supported with patience . but , will you haply say , my father is a wicked man ? what matters it ? that excuse is not allowable . when nature gave you a father , she was not engag'd to give you a good one . in like manner , when your brother injures you , be not over intentive to what he does to you , but consider the obligations of your own duty , and how you are to demean your self towards him , that so you may do nothing but what is conformable to nature . thus will it come to pass , that no man will have the power to offend you , if you will it not , and if any do you an injury , it proceeds only from this , that you imagine it done to you . make the same judgment of all the rest . you will come to understand what are the devoirs of a neighbour , of a citizen , of a military general , and of all others , if you accustom your self to consider what they are . know , that the principal point of religion consists in having right sentiments of the gods. as for instance , to believe they really are , that they govern the world , with goodness and justice , that they are to be obey'd , that men ought to acquiess in what they do , and indisputably follow their orders , as proceeding from a most excellent and most accomplish'd intelligence . for , thus principled , you will never charge them with ought , and you will not complain that they have deserted you . but this is not a thing to be attempted , if you do not slight whatever is not dependent on you , and if you do not place all good and all evil , in that which absolutely depends on you . for if you imagine , that any other thing is good or evil , it must needs come to pass , that you will be often frustrated of what you wish , that you will fall into what you endeavour to shun , and that you will blame and have an aversion for those , who have caus'd you that misfortune . accordingly , as it is natural for all animals to shun what is hurtful to them , and to have an aversion for all such as are able to do them any mischief ; so have they the same propension , to embrace what is beneficial to them , and to cherish all those who can do them any good . so that it is impossible , that a person who believes he hath receiv'd any damage , should admit of a joynt-exultation with the other , who hath done it him , nor that the displeasure he hath receiv'd should give him any joy . thence it comes that the son sometimes reviles his father , because he gives him not that which hath the denomination of good amongst men. and this also was the occasion of the war between etcocles and polynices ; because their imagination was fixt on this , that soveraignity was a good. thence it comes also , that the husband-man , the pilot , the merchant , and those who loose their wives , or their children , speak injuriously of the gods. odinarily piety and profit meet together . from that reason does it proceed , that he who is careful not to wish and shun any thing , but what he ought to shun , or wish , makes it his study at the same time to be a pious and a just man. besides every man is oblig'd to make his oblations and sacrifices according to the custom of the country where he lives , with much modesty , avoiding avarice and prodigality , and doing it also with all the purity , and all the diligence requisite thereto . when you go to a foreteller of things to come , no doubt , but you are ignorant of what is to happen . for it is , to be inform'd by him , that you consult him . but , to know whether that which shall happen will be good or bad , you have no need of the foreteller , because you know it already , if you are a philosopher . for if it be not somethìng dependent on your self , as it must necessarily be , since you are not ignorant of the success of it , you may confidently affirm , that it is neither good nor bad . when therefore you go to consult the fortune-teller , be not prepossess'd with either desire or aversion ; otherwise you will never approach him without trembling . hold it for a maxime , that every event is indifferent , that it can never give any obstruction to what you had purposed to do , and , whatever it may be , that it is always in your power to apply it to a good use . approach the gods therefore with a resolute and assured mind , and look on them as such as are able to give you good counsels . when they have return'd you any answer , follow it exactly . consider who they are whom you have consulted , and that you cannot forbear obeying them without a contempt of their power and incurring their displeasure . the things , about which we are to consult the oracle , are those , as socrates affirm'd , the whole consideration whereof is attributed purely to hazard , and which cannot be foreseen , either by reason , or any other art whatsoever . so that when the question is concerning the defence of your country , or of your friend , there is no necessity of going to the south-sayer ; inasmuch as if the south-sayer tell you , that the entrails of the victime presage ill success , it is an infallible sign , either that you will dye , or that you will be crippled , or that you will be banish'd , which might haply divert you from the design you were engag'd in . in the mean time reason advises , that you should relieve your friend and country , even with the hazard of your life . make your applications then to a greater oracle . go to the pythian priest , who drove out of the temple a man , who sometime before had wav'd relieving one of his friends , then ready to be murther'd . it is requisite that you prescribe to your self a certain course of life , and a law , to be inviolably observ'd by you , wherever you may be ; whether your conversation be amongst men , or that you are privately retir'd from all company . keep silence , as much as you can . never speak any thing but what is absolutely necessary , and to do that , spend as few words as you can . when any occasion of speaking shall present it self , amuse not your self in discoursing either of the gladiators , or the circean exercises , or of the olympick games , or of eating , or of drinking , or of any of all those impertinencies , which are the subjects of most peoples discourses . but above all things , be careful , in your conversation , to avoid both praise and dispraise , and making comparisons between any . when you are amongst your friends , if their communication be of any thing which is not decent , use all the endeavours you can to bring them to a change of discourse ; and if you are amongst persons unacquainted with you , speak not a word . as to laughter , let not yours be either too long , or too frequent , or too lould . never swear , if you can possibly avoid it , and if you are forc'd thereto ; do beforehand all that lies in your power , to be dispens'd from it . avoid the great treatments of the people . if you are accidentally engag'd to be at any of them , make immediately a reflection on your self , and be vigilant and circumspect over your actions , least you insensibly participate of the demeanour of the people . for you are to know , that it is impossible , when your companion is defiled , but that you must be defiled also , if you rub against him , though you were pure and clean before . of all accommodations relating to the body , as meat , drink , cloathing , houses , servants , take only so much as necessity requires , and the mind stand ; in need of , in order to its well-being , and reject whatever contributes to luxury and delicacy . endeavour all you can to abstain from the pleasure of women till you are married . and when you have got one , use her honourably , and as the law prescribes . but though you come into that course of life , think not you have any cause to make any ostentation of it , and to reprehend those who live otherwise . if it be told you , that some body hath spoken evil of you , amuse not your self to refute what he hath said ; only make answer , that he knows not all your vices , and that he would have said much more , if he had been acquainted therewith . there is no necessity of frequenting theaters . but when occasion requires your going thither , let your demeanour there be such , as may discover you have no design to please any but your self : that is , that you wish things may be done as they are , and that he should gain the victory who really deserves it . for by that means all will fall out as you would have it , and you will not be mov'd at any occurrence . above all things , refrain from the clamours , satisfactions , and surprises of the people . when you are come away thence , amuse not your self in discoursing of what had pass'd there . of that there is no advantage , nor does it any way contribute to your improvement . if you do otherwise , you will make it appear that you were an admirer of the show , and that you are fallen into the same passions , which are observable in the meaner sort of people . frequent not the lectures of poets and orators . when your presence is desired at any of them , do all you can , to be exempted . but when you are there , be sure to demean your self with a decent gravity . let there be a certain stayedness and constancy in your actions . and above all , be it your care , to avoid being importunate or troublesome to any one . when you shall have ought to do with a person of quality , bethink your self , before you undertaken any thing , what socrates or zeno would have done , upon the like occasion . if you observe that rule , question not but what you shall do will be rational . when you are to go to speak with some great lord , imagine to your self , that you will not meet with him at home , or that he will not be spoken withall , or that the doors will not be open'd to you , or that he will slight you . but if , notwithstanding all this , there be a necessity of your going to him , it is consequently requisite , that your patiently endure whatever will happen , that you murmure not in your selfe , and , in fine , that you say not , this man hath the carriage of a great lord. this is a popular kind of expression , and fit only for persons minding only external things . when you are in company , let not your discourse run upon your own commendable actions , nor the hazards you have been engaged in you are not to imagine , that others should take a pleasure , in hearing you talk , equal to the satisfaction you conceive in speaking to them . never make it your business to find others occasion of laughter . for besides that it is the right way of falling into popular behaviour , it abates much of the esteeme and respect which might otherwise be had for you . it is dangerous discoursing of things that are not decent . when therefore any thing of that kind is advanced in your presence , you ought , if you think it convenient and have the opportunity , to reprove the raiser of such a discourse , or at least assure him by your silence or the blushing of your countenance , that you take no pleasure in any communication of that nature . if you conceive the idaea of some pleasure , it is expected you should , upon that emergency , retaine the same moderation which you express in other things . let it be your first care , that you be not carried away with that idaea . examine it in your self , and take the leisure to make your reflections on it . then consider the difference there is between the time , during which you have the satisfaction of that pleasure , and that wherein , after you satisfaction therein , you will repent you of it , and find fault with your self for so doing . oppose also thereto , the satisfaction it will be to you , if you abstain from it . but though you might enjoy these sorts of pleasure without any selfereproach , yet should you not absolutely resigne your self thereto , nor suffer your self to be overcome by the caresses , the charms , and insinuations , which are the ordinary attendants of voluptuousness . bethink your self that the internal joy which you will receive upon the gaining of such a victory , is some what that is much more excellent than any thing of that kind . when you are once fully resolved to do any thing , fear not to be seen in it , even though the people were ready to make the worst constructions of it . for if what you do be a good , you are to defie all apprehensions , since you cannot be reprov'd without injustice . but , on the contrary , if it be an evil , you ought not onely to avoyd begin seen , but you are also obliged to desist from your enrerprise . as these words , it is day , it is nigh● , are most certain and true , if you divide them by the disjunctive particle * or ; and are absolutely false , if you knit them together with the conjunctive particle † and : so when you are at a feast , and that you take a pleasure in the best messes that are brought to the table , if you particularly regard your body , you do somewhat that is most excellent for your body . if you also consider the community and equality , which ought to be observed amongst the guests , you do a very undecent action . when therefore any one invites you to dinner , you ought not onely to regard your appetite , and what you love best , but you are further obliged , to express a certain deference and respect towards the preson by whom you are treated . if you undertake any employment which is above your abilities , besides the hazard of your coming off with discredit , it will occasion your negligence of some other , whereof you might have acquitted you selfe perfectly well . when you walk , you are careful enough to avoyd treading on the which may happen to be in your way . so ought you , in life , to be no lesse cautious , that the superiour part of your soul be not injur'd by any bruitish passions , or false opinions . for you will with much greater facility compass your designs , if you observe this maxime in whatever you undertake . the body ought to be the standard of wealth , as the foot is the measure of the shooe. observe this rule well , and you will never be at any great distance from mediocrity , nor the limits prescrib'd thereby . if you neglect it , you will unquestionably tumble down the precipice . for as , when you have once had the curiosity of getting shoos after the newest fashion , and such as exceed the measure of your feet , you will afterwards be of an humour to have them gilt , and then to have them of purple , or embroider'd , with much cost and workmanship : so in the business of wealth , when you have once exceeded the limits of mediocrity , there is then no stinting of you , but you are insensibly transported into all manner of luxury and excess . as soon as young mayds are arrived to the age of fourteen years , men begin to call them their mistresses . this raising an apprehension in them , that nature hath disposed them into the world for them , and that it must be their endeavour to humour them , they thereupon make it their maine business to dress and trick up themselves and place all their expectations in their ornaments . it is therefore requisite they should be brought to apprehend , that these honours and civilities are rendred them , onely upon the account of their modesty , discretion , and respectful carriage . to be over much addicted to corporeal things is ever the argument of a mean soul. as for instance , to be assiduous in exercises , to drink and eat much , to be excessively addicted to women , and to spend too much time in the other functions of the body . all this is to be done as it were in haste , and without any great attention ; all our earnest cares were are to reserve for the mind . when any one injures you by word or deed , remember , that he would not have done so , if he had not had an imagination that he ought to have done it . do you think he could quit his own sentiment to follow yours ? if he does not make a sound judgment of things , and be accordingly mistaken , he suffers the trouble and prejudice arising thereby . when a man judges that a true thing is false , because it is obscure and immers'd in darkness , this judgment injures not the truth . he who makes such a judgment injures none but himself . if you follow this maxime , when any one shall revile you , you will patiently endure it ; for you will always say in your selfe , this man thinks that what he does it well done . every thing hath two faces , whereof one is supportable , the other in supportable . for example , when your brother injures , look not on him as he is injurious to you . for what he does , if it be so taken , cannot be indured . consider him rather as he is your brother , with whom you have had a joynt-education . and so you will take it after another manner , which may render his action supportable . these kinds of propositions are not consequent one to the other ; i am wealthier that you are , therefore , i am the honester man. i am more eloquent than you are , therefore i am the more virtuous man. but these arguments are good : i am wealthier than you are , therefore my wealth is more considerable than yours . i am more eloquent than you are , therefore my way of speaking is more excellent than yours . so that this should give you very little trouble , since eloquence and wealth ought not to be the object of your care . if you meet with any one in the bath , who hath soon done washing himselfe , say not that he washes not himselfe well , but say that he makes much hast to wash himselfe . in like manner , if any one drink much , say not that he does ill in drinking at that rate , but say simply , that he drinks much . for , how came you to understand that he did ill , that you should pass such a judgment of him ? if you are thus reserv'd in your sentiments you shall penetrate into the thoughts of another , and your thoughts shall be conformable to those of others . what place or company soever you are in , never say that you are a philosopher , and amuse not your selfe in declaring before ignorant persons what maximes you follow . do you only performe what they enjoyne you . when a man is at a feast , it is not seasonable to talk of the manner of eating decently . he must eat decently without speaking of it . socrates was a person , who was never guilty of any ostentation . nor ever was there any person that supported it from others with so much constancy . when some out of meer contempt of him and his doctrine , came and intreated him to conduct them to some other philosophers , and to give them his recommendation to them ; so far was he from giving them any repulse , that , with much civility , he went along with them to those other philosophers . so little was he troubled , that the doctrine of others should be prefer'd before his own . if it happen then that any one speak of some axiome of philosophy before ignorant persons , be you silent as long as you can , in regard it is somewhat to he fear'd , that you may cast up what you have not yet well digested . if any one reproach you with ignorance , and you are not any way mov'd at it , know that you have already attain'd some part of what your precepts enjoyn you . sheep do not vomit up the food or grass they have eaten , but , in requital , are thereby fatted up , and supply their owners with milk and wooll . in like manner ought not you to amuse your self in entertaining ignorant persons with your precepts , because it is a sign you have not well digested them . they are rather to be instructed by your actions . if you have learnt to satisfie your body with little , forbear making any ostentation of it . if you have brought your selfe to a custome of drinking onely water , think not that you are to boast of it . and if you would sometimes exercise your selfe in a thing requiring much pains and labour , do it privately , and be not desirous that others should see you , in imitation of those , who being persecuted by persons of authority , run and imbrace statues , to get the people together , and in that posture cry out , that they have suffered violence . whoever seeks glory by such means seeks onely the outside of it , and looses the fruit both of patience and frugality ; inasmuch as he places the end of these excellent vertues in the opinion of the multitude . certainly , all affectation in this particular is frivolous and of no advantage . if you would accustome your selfe to patience , take fair water into your mouth , when you are extreamly thirsty , and having spurted it out immediately , without swallowing so much as one drop , tell not any body of it . it argues a meanness of spirit and ignorance in any man , never to expect good or evill from himself ; but to expect is always from some thing not dependent on him . on the contrary , it is the characteristick of a philosopher , not to expect his good or evil , but from himself . the signs whereby it may be known whether a man makes any proficiency in study and vertue , are these , not to reprove , not to commend , not to blame , and not to accuse any one , not to boast of what he is , or what he knows ; to be his owne accuser , when he is hindred or forbidden to do something , to laugh in his sleeve at those persons who commend him ; not to be angry when any find fault with him ; but to imitate those , who having not perfectly recover'd their health , walk gently for fear of stirring the humours ; to have an absolute power over his desires ; not to have any aversion but for what is repugnant to the nature of those things which depend on him ; not to wish any thing passionately ; not to be concern'd whether he be accounted an ignorant or a knowing person ; in fine , to be distrustful of himselfe , as of a domestick enemy , whose ambushes he is always afraid of . when any one makes it his brag , that he can explicate the books of chrysippus , let this be your reflection , that it chrysippus had not written obscurely , this other person had had nothing to brag of . yet is not this that which i seek after , my designe is to study nature , and to follow her. when i am told then , that chrysippus is her interpreter , my recourse is to him , and if i understand him not , i seek out some other body that can explicate him to me . hitherto have i not done anything that is excellent or commendable . for , when i shall have met with any one that is able to explicate that philosopher to me ; yet the main thing is yet unpress'd , which is , the putting of his precepts into practice . if i make no further progress than to admire the explication of chrysippus , all amounts only to this , that where i was a philosopher before , i am now become a grammarian . all the difference is , that instead of homer , i explicate chrysippus . and thence it must come , that i am much more asham'd i cannot do actions suitable to his precepts , then i am at my not understanding of him . observe what we have deliver'd as inviolable lawes , which you cannot not trangress without impiety and trouble not your selfe , concerning all that might have been said ; since that depends not on you . how long will you defferre applying your self to such excellent things , and putting in practice such important instructions ? when will you give over violating the lawes of right reason ? you have heard the precepts which you ought to embrace , and i am inclin'd to believe , that you have already embraced them ; but give others some assurance of it . what other master do you yet expect , till whose coming you deferre your reformation ? bethink your selfe , that your youth is past , and that you are come to the age of a man. if you neglect these precepts , and if you make them not your directories of your manners , you will put it off from day to day , and from time to time make additional and reiterated resolutions , and so your life will slide away so insensibly as that it will not be perceivable , whether you have made any progress in the study of vertue or not . in fine , your life and your death will not be distinguishable from that of the meanest person among the populace . now therefore , without any further delay , embrace the life of a man aiming at proficiency and perfection . look upon whatever seems best to you , as an intrangressible law. if any thing laborious , if any thing delightful , if any thing glorious , if any thing disgraseful presents it selfe , remember it is time to enter the lists in order to an engagement , that the olimpick exercises are come , and that there is no thinking of any retreat . bethink your selfe , that your establishment is concern'd in either the loosing or gaining of the victory . by this meanes was it that socrates came to that point of wisdome which was justly attributed to him , by presenting himself to all occasions , and not harkning to any advice but that of reason . for your part then who are not yet a socrates , you ought to live as a man desirous of becoming as wise as socrates . the chiefest and most necessary part of philosophy is that which treats of the use of the precepts , for example , not to lye . the second , that which treats of demonstration ; for example , of the reason why men ought not to lye . and the third is that which confirmes and examines the two other parts ; for example , it shews , why such a thing is demonstration . it teaches also , what demonstration . is , what , consequence , dispute , verity , falsity , and all the rest . the third part is necessary for the second , and the second is so for the first . but the first , as i have already said , is the most necessary of all , and therefore that is the part whereunto a man is particularly to apply himselfe . and yet our course is quite otherwise . we only stick to the third part , we spend all our study and time therein , and we absolutely neglect the first . thence it comes that we fall short , when we are to prove by sound demonstrations , that men ought not to lie ; and yet we cannot forbeare lying dayly and hourely . at the beginning of all your enterprises have these words always in your mouth ? guid me , great love , to th' period of my eatè ; that cursed crue i will not imitate , whose vanity and insolence defy thy sacred lawes and shy authority . but their seluc'd presumtion fruitless growes , thy soveraign power nothing can oppose : a sudden check of dest'ny undermines the impious man , and all his lewd designes . you will sometimes also have occasion to say these words . who can , with what 's not to be shun'd comply , surveies the secrets of the deity . but , above all , be mindful of these excellent and admirable words , spoken by socrates to his friend crito , during his imprisonment . if the great gods , dear friend , have minuted the dreadful tempest which hangs ore my head , if , of my death , the dire decree be l' gn'd , i acquiesce , with a submissive mind . i , of my life , would not prolong the date , beyond the stinted limits of my fate : of my few dayes , my enemies dispose , 't is in their power their hasty course to close : to that my body , mortal , needs must bend , but still my mind their malice does transcend : and though i , to their rage , a victim fall , my faith and virtue know no euneral . finis . the tablet of cebes or , the embleme of humane life . juv. sat. i. quicquid agunt homines , votum , timor , ira , voluptas , gaudia , discursus , nostri est farrago libelli . advertisement . to this little abbridgment of the philosophy of epictetus , i have added the tablet , or embleme of humane life , attributed to cebes , in regard they are two master-pieces of antiquity , which custome hath rendred in a manner inseparable . this latter is an excellent draught of humane life , done by one of the most expert masters that ever were . this philosopher liv'd four hundred and sixty years , or thereabouts before the birth of our saviour . he was born at thebes , in beotia , and the disciple of socrates . diogenes laertius affirms , that he writ three dialogues , two whereof are lost . so that we have remaining but only this , which he entituled the tablet or representation of humane life . yet are there some criticks , as wolfius , who affirm it is not his , because there is mention made in it of plato , who liv'd at the same time . but this conjecture is groundless , inasmuch as it would follow by the same reason , that plato must not have made the dialogue of the immortality of the soul , since mention is made there of cebes . howere it be , thus far we are certain , that this is a most excellent and most ancient piece . for tertullian observes , that tertullian the lawyer his kinsman , publish'd an explication of it . the general reputation it hath continu'd in , for the space of twenty ages , that it hath been in the world , hath been so extraordinary , that it hath been translated into most languages . it hath been my fortune to have met with fifteen different versions in the latine tongue . velsius , odaxius , wolfius and caselius , have taken most pains about this work , but particularly velsius . for he hath writ a large commentary upon this tablet , containing in a manner all the moral philosophy of the platonists . mascardi rendred it into the italian , and salmasius hath some time since given us an ancient arabian paraphrase of it , and a latine version of john elichman , one of the most knowing persons of his age in the oriental tongues . but the author of that paraphrase hath committed a strange fault , and such as i think considerable enough not to be omitted here . he imagin'd , that the ancient man , who makes an explication of this tablet or representation , was called hercules ; upon no other ground , than that cebes , cries out in some places , o hercules ; which is only an exclamation ordinary amongst the greeks and latines , when they were surpriz'd at any thing . nothing more common in our books . for the better direction of the reader , and greater ease of his memory , there is at the end of this little book , a piece of sculpture , exhibiting the embleme it self , and a short explication , by way of figures , in the cut , answerable to others in the leaf next adjoyning thereto , that the description of it might be the more familiar . the explication of the table . 1 the gate of the inclosure of humane life . 2 genius . 3 imposture . 4 opinions , appetites and pleasures . 5 fortune . 6 the inconsiderate . 7 incontinence , luxury , rapine , and flattery . 8 laboriousness . 9 sadness . 10 misery . 11 mourning . 12 rage . 13 the house of misfortune . 14 repentance . 15 true opinion . 16 false opinion . 17 false doctrine . 18 poets , orators , geometritians , &c. 19 incontinence , luxury , and opinion . 20 the way to true doctrine . 21 continence and patience . 22 true doctrine . 23 truth and persuasion . 24 science and the vertues . 25 felicity . 26 the first pleasure of the wise man. 27 the cowardly , who have lost courage cebes's tablet , or , the embleme of humane life . as we were walking in the temple of saturn , and viewing the several presents which had been offer'd there , among other things , we took particular notice , at the entrance of it , of a certain draught , or picture , very remarkable , as well for the manner of it , as the subject . we could not imagine what it might be , nor of what antiquity . for though what was represented therein had in some measure the resemblance of a city , or a camp , yet was it not indeed either of the two . it was a great enclosure , within which there were two other enclosures , whereof one was larger than the other . near the gate leading into the first , there were several persons drawn , and within it might be observ'd an assembly of women . but at the entrance might be seen an ancient man standing , drawn in the posture of one , who seem'd to have some directions to give those who entred into the enclosure . after we had a long time taken a prospect of that emblematical representation , and were at a loss , what to think of it , there happen'd to be standing by us a very ancient man , whose curiosity had engag'd him upon the survey of that piece , as ours had us . this good man had well observ'd all our actions , and thereupon address'd himself to us in this discourse . it is no wonder , my friends , if you find it so hard a matter to guess at the explication of that picture . there are few persons , even of this country , who know the meaning of it . this present was not made by any of the inhabitants of this city a stranger , came heretofore into this country , a person no less recommendable for the excellency of his apprehension , than for his deep wisdome . that man , in all his words and in all his actions imitated the course of life of pythagoras and parmenides . he it was who dedicated this temple , and that emblematical picture to saturn . i ask'd him , whether he had any acquaintance with that person . yea , said he , i have been an admirer of him a long time . for though he were but a young man , yet could he discourse of all things very pertinently . i have heard him oftentimes discoursing upon the subject of this picture . i intreat you , as you love the immortal gods , cry'd i , to give us an explication of it , if your convenience will permit it . you will infinitely oblige us , for we are extreamly desirous to know what it signifies . with all my heart said he . but it is necessary , that i give you an advertisement before-hand , of the danger whereto you expose your selves . for if , when i shall have related these things to you , you perfectly comprehend them , you will become wise and happy ; if not , you will be ignorant and stupid , and you will lead a wicked and a wretched life . this embleme hath some correspondence with that which was proposed by * sphinx ; whoever could not explicate what she said was by her put to death : on the contrary , she sav'd his life , who found out the explication of it . the same thing is to be affirm'd of this picture . for extravagance is like a sphinx among men , obscurely proposing what is good , bad , and indifferent . if any one be not able to discern them , she kills him not immediately at a blow , as the sphinx did ; but she treats him with greater cruelty . for she puts him to death by degrees , as those who are put upon the rack . in like manner , if any one attains the knowledg of these things , besides his clearing himself from that misfortune , extravagance vanishes , and he is perfectly happy all the rest of his days . i conjure you therefore , said he , by the love you bear your selves , to give your greatest attention to what i am going to relate to you . just gods ! cry'd i , what impatience have you rais'd in us , to be inform'd of these things , if they are such as you represent them ! make no question of it , replies he . i intreat you then , said i to him , to deliver us out of this impatience , and to be assur'd , that we too much fear the danger wherewith you threaten us , and that we have also too high an esteem for so noble a reward , to suffer the least of your words to escape our attention . having thereupon taken a little walking-stick in his hand , and directing it to the embleme , do you see , said he , that large enclosure ? yes , we do see it , said we. it is necessary , said he , that you first know , that that place is called life , and that the persons whom you see standing there neer the gate , are such as are to enter into it . as to the old man , whom you see rais'd above all the others , holding a paper in one hand , and making a sign with the other , he is called genius . he gives directions to those who enter , what they ought to do , when they shall come into life , and shews them the way they are to take , in order to their happy being therein . i pray tell me , said i , where is that way , and what is to be done to come into it . do you not perceive , said he , that , towards the gate , through which all those persons pass , there is a throne , on which there sits a woman , who is painted and seems to have many attractions to perswade ? what you say is true , said i ; she hath also a cup in her hand . how do you call her ? she is called imposture , reply'd he , because she generally deceives all men. what is her employment ? it is , reply'd he , to present all those who enter into life with a certain drink , whereby she inebriates them with errour and ignorance . what happens afterwards ? as soon as they have taken of that drink , they enter into life , said he . can none be exempted from taking of it ? none . only some drink more of it , others , less . do you not see further , that , within the gate , added the old man , there are certain women , who seem to be highly engag'd in a mad debauch ? if you observe them well , you will find they are in postures much different one from another . those are opinions , concupiscences , and voluptuousness . now when those persons of whom i have spoken , come to enter into life , those women are transported with joy , they embrace them with the greatest kindness imaginable , and prevail so far as to draw them to them . and whether do they conduct them ? they conduct some to the port of safety , and others , to precipices . which fate attends them , because they were poison'd by imposture . that is a very strange drink that you tell us of , reply'd i. that is not all , added he . for though they promise all , that they will conduct them to happy life , and furnish them with the means of attaining it , yet many suffer themselves to be missed out of the right way , and inconsiderately run of all sides , by reason of the errour and ignorance , they have taken , at their entrance into life , inform me , i pray , who is that woman exalted upon a ball ? she seems to be blind , and distracted . you are in the right , reply'd he . her name is fortune , she is not only blind , but she is also deaf , and mad . she runs up and down , takes away from one , gives to another , and it will not be long after she hath bestow'd something on this man , ere she gets it away again , and disposes it into other hands . whatever she does discovers her temerity and inconstancy . accordingly , her humour is extreamly well represented to us by the posture she is in . for if she be plac'd upon a ball , it is to shew , that there is not any assurance in the presents she makes us , and that there needs but a small matter to ruine him , who puts any confidence in her . those whom you see standing by her , and endeavouring to catch what she casts away , are called the inconsiderate . why , said i , are they so different one from another ? some of them , seem to be transported with gladness , and others , to be in a dreadful despair ? those , said he , whom you see so jocund , are the persons , who have received some favour from fortune , and thence it comes , that they honour her with the name of good fortune . those , on the contrary , who are so dejected , and stretch out their arms , represent the persons from whom she hath taken away what she had given them , and accordingly they call her ill fortune . what presents , reply'd i , can she make them , that they should be so jocund , after the receipt thereof , and what can she take away from the others , that should put them into so great a consternation ? it is that , reply'd he , which we ordinarily imagine to be the true goods , as wealth , reputation , nobility , children , soveraignty , kingdoms , and all the other things of that nature . but we shall have occasion to speak of them elsewhere . let us now go on with the explication of our picture . do you not observe , that when some have past that gate , there is above it another enclosure beyond which there are certain women , who may be noted by their dresses to be of ill demeanour ? i observe them very well , reply'd i. those , said he , are named incontinence , luxury , rapine , and flattery . they are there set , as it were sentinels , to take notice of those who have received any favour from fortune , and when they can meet with any one , they are extreamly glad . they embrace him , and treat him with great kindness ; they promise him a pleasant life , and exempted from all kind of trouble and crosses . in fine , if they can persuade him , and if he once resigns himself up to pleasures , that life is indeed delightfull to him for a time ; but it will not be long after he hath tasted of its enjoyments , ere he will be of a contrary opinion , and find nothing but bitterness in it , and when he begins to come to himself , he is too late convinc'd , that he hath not enjoy'd any true pleasure , that he hath ruin'd himself , and that people laugh at him . for when he hath squander'd away all that fortune had bestow'd on him , he becomes a slave to those strumpets , and is reduc'd to a necessity of undertaking all sorts of wicked actions , even to those that are most prejudicial to himself , and such as hurry him to the precipice of destruction . as for example , to steal , to commit sacriledge by the robbing of temples , to betray his best friends , in a word , to commit all sorts of crimes and unrighteous acts. in fine , when he is come to the height of his wickedness , he is deliver'd up into the hands of punishment . who is that woman you speak of ? do you not perceive behind there , a little door , and a narrow and very obscure dungeon , at which may be seen the glimpse of certain women that are nasty , and cover'd only with dirty rags and tatters ? yea , reply'd i , i do see them very well . she who hath a whip in her hand , saies the old man , is called punishment . she who hath her head bending down towards her knees , is sadness . and the other , that tares her hair , is called misery . and for the deformed and dreadful-look'd-man , who stands neer those women , and who is lean and stark-naked , he is called mourning . that other woman , who is behind him , is his sister , named rage , or despaire . to these horrid monsters is this miserable man first deliver'd , that he may lead a life with them , in punishments and torments . a while after , he is dragg'd into another house , which is no less terrible than the former . it is that of misfortune . there must he spend the remainder of his days , in perpetual calamities . what becomes of him at last , said i ? if it happen , reply'd he , that he makes his applications to repentance , she recovers him out of that unhappy condition , she works a change in his opinion and will , and re-excites in him a desire of applying himself to true doctrine ; though opinion may afterwards conduct him sometimes to false doctrine . so that if he follow the opinion which guides him to true doctrine , she cleanses him of his former errors , and he becomes happy for the remainder of his days . but if on the contrary he be still seduc'd by false doctrine , he will run the hazard of a relapse into his former sentiments , and return into the same condition , wherein he was before . but who is that false doctrine you speak of , said i ? do you not perceive that other enclosure said he ? i do , said i. on the outside of it , said he , towards the gate there stands a woman advantageously dress'd , yet seems to betray something of modesty . she it is whom the greatest part of men , and particularly those who are excellent for their internal endowments , call doctrine , though she never was such , and that that name is falsely attributed to her . and yet those who are desirous to be happy , and come to true doctrine , do first take their way to her . not but that there is another way , but that this is the more ordinary . as to the men , whom you see walking in that enclosure , they are the followers of that false doctrine , who are seduced and deceived with an imagination of her being the true doctrine . they are known by the names of poets , orators , logicians , musicians , arithmeticians , geometricians , astrologers , epicureans , peripateticks , criticks , and all the others , of that qualification . who are those women , who seem to run to and fro , and with whom you said a while since that incontinence was ? how come they within that second enclosure ? you are not mistaken , reply'd he ; they are indeed the very same . they sometimes advance so farr . but they come not thither so oft as they do within the first enclosure . nay sometimes opinions get in there . for those whom you see there have still within them some remainders of the drink which imposture had presented them withall . they are still attended by ignorance and extravagance , and they will never quit those inconsiderate opinions , and will not be disengag'd from those other vicious inclinations , till such time as having forsaken that false doctrine , they enter into the way of true science , to take an antidote , for the disburthening themselves of all their evil opinions , and the dispelling of their ignorance , and the other vices wherewith they are infected . for as long as they shall continue in false opinion , they will never be able to recover their liberty , nor oppose the least evil , by the means of those sorts of sciences . i pray tell me , where is the way which conducts men to true doctrine . do you perceive , said he , at the top of the mount , a certain place , which is desert , and not inhabited . very well answer'd i. you see also , continu'd he , a little gate , before which there is a way , wherein there are few persons to be met , because it seems to be inaccessible , by reason of its cragginess and difficulty of ascent ? i see all that , said i ; you are much in the right . when you say that way is very hardly passable . if you look very narrowly , a litle beyond it , there is an extraordinay high hill , whereof the way is very narrow , and come pass'd of all sides with precipices ? very true . you are to know , that that is the way which conducts to true doctrine , and is , as you may observe , very hard to be discover'd . but do you consider also , that , upon that hill , there is a great and high rock , very steepy all about , on which there are two women , strong and robust , which stretch out their arms to all ? i see them very well , how are they called ? one is called continence ; the other , patience . they are sisters . the reason of their stretching forth their hands so willingly to such persons as present themselves , is to exhort those who are in their way to take heart , and not to put a check to their progress , out of any discouragement ; and it is also to advertise them , that they have not long to suffer , ere they come into the right way . i would fain know , when with much difficulty they have got to that rock , how they will be able to ascend any higher ; for i can perceive no path , nor tract in which they may go ? those two women , reply'd he , come down from the top of the rock towards them , and draw them up , where they give them the convenience to rest themselves , and take their breath . then they give them courage and new strength , and promise them that they will be their guides to bring them to true doctrine . in fine they shew them , that the way to her is pleasant , easy , and free from all misfortune . but , added he , do you perceive , near that little copse of wood , a place , which is no less divertive , as well by reason of the great lightsomeness of it , as for that it represents a delightful meadow ? you see also in the middle , another enclosure , and another gate ? it is very right , reply'd i. that place is called the seat and mansion of the blessed . it is there the vertues and felicity have established their throne . o how pleasant does that place seem to be ! cry'd i. do you not farther observe , said he , that towards the gate , there is a woman very modestly clad , of a grave look , and who yet is extreamly beautiful , though she be well advanc'd in years ? she is not made standing on a ball , as fortune is ; on the contrary , she sitss down upon a square stone , which is firm and immoveable . on both sides of her are two women , who in likelyhood are her daughters . what you say is true . she in the midst , reply'd he , is true doctrine , and the two others are named truth and persuasion . she is seated on a square stone , to shew travellers , that the way which leads to her is firm , and secure , and to raise in those , who receive any presents from her hands , an apprehension that her gifts are as certain as those of fortune are unconstant , and that they shall never be disturbed in the enjoyment of their goods . what is she able to give ? assurance and quiet in their possessions reply'd he . but what is the excellency of those presents ? they have the virtue of assuring men , that there shall not happen to them the least dissatisfaction in life . o ye just gods ! what attractive gifts are these ? but how comes it , said i , that true doctrine is set without the enclosure ? it is to cure those who come to her , and to administer to them a certain medicine , to the end that , being purged , she may conduct them to the vertues . how can that be done reply'd i ? i do not comprehend what you say . you will comprehend it within a short time , reply'd he . the case here is the same as with a man cast down by a great sickness , whom they are conducting to a physician . first of all the physitian makes use of purgatives , whereby all the ill humours he hath in the body may be dislog'd ; then he restores him by degrees to his strength , and in fine recovers him to his former health . but if the sick person will not obey him , no wonder if he relapse into the violence of his disease . 't is enough , answer'd i , what your meaning is , i now fully understand . in like manner , continu'd he ; if any one put himself into the hands of true doctrine ; she treats him , and gives him of a drink , whereby she communicates her vertue to him , that , being purged , and having disburthen'd himself of all that was evil , as for instance , the ignorance and errour he had taken of imposture , and all other vices , wherewith he had been fill'd in the first enclosure , as arrogance , avarice , wrath , covetuousness , and incontinence , she may bring him to science , and the other vertues . who are those women , said i ? what , said he , do you not see , reply'd he , that within that gate , there is a company of fair ladies , very plainly cloath'd , and yet have all the attractions and all the modesty could be wish'd in them ? i see them very well , reply'd i ; but i pray tell me their names . the chiefest of them is science ; her other sisters are fortitude , justice , integrity , temperance , modesty , liberality , continence , and meekness , beautiful ladies indeed ! cry'd i. what hopes ought we not now to conceive ? you may hope any thing , added he , if , perfectly comprehending what i have said , you confirm it by your practise . we shall endeavour it to the utmost of our power , reply'd i. which if you do , answer'd he , you will be assuredly happy . but when they have taken this man into their protection , what becomes of him ? whither do they dispose of him ? they conduct him to their mother , who is named felicity . do you observe the way leading up to the mountain , which is as it were a cittadel in the midst of the other enclosures ? do you also take notice , that at the entrance of it there is a very beautiful woman , seated on a throne , very neatly clad , yet without affectation , and crown'd with flowers ? i see her . know then that she represents felicity , reply'd he ? now when any one comes up to the place of her aboad , she and all the other vertues crown him , as they do those who have gain'd great victories . what battailes hath he gain'd for that , said i ? very great ones , reply'd he . he hath surmounted , and quell'd the dreadful monsters , which did him a thousand mischiefs , and brought him into slavery . but those noble victories have made him master of himself , and those very monsters , whom he obey'd before , are now become his slaves . what monsters , are those ? first , errour and ignorance . what do you not think that they are monsters ? i do , reply'd i , and very dreadful ones . next , reply'd he , there are grief , sadness , avarice , incontinence , and all the other vices of that kind . then hath he an absolute power over them , and does not obey them , as he did before . o illustrious actions ! o remarkable victory ! but , i pray , tell me , what vertue hath that crown wherewith he is adorn'd ? o my dear friend , replies the old man , how powerful is that crown ? he who is once adorn'd therewith becomes perfectly happy , and grounds not his hopes upon the happiness of another . they are setled in himself . o the noble way of conquering , cry'd i ! but when he is crown'd , what does he ? or whether goes he ? the vertues bring him back to the place whence he came , and make him see , how unhappy and miserable they are who continue in it , what miscarriages they fall into in life , how far they are out of the way to felicity , and how they are led away captives by their enemies ; some , by incontinence ; others , by avarice ; others ; by vanity ; and by all the other vices , wherein they are so entangled , that it is impossible for them to get out of them . so that , for the remainder of their days , they are in perpetual distractions , not able to find out the way , which conducts them to true doctrine ; because they have forgot the percepts and directions , which the genius had given them , at their first entrance into life . what you say seems to me to be very true , but i have yet one difficulty to propose . why do the vertues shew him the place whence he came ? it is , reply'd he , because he had no certain and real knowledg of what passes there ; and that , by reason of the errour and ignorance , which he had been presented with , by imposture ; he was mistaken in the discerning of good and evil. whence it came to pass , that he led an unhappy life , and like that of those who had continu'd in it . but having acquired the true science of things , he hath this happiness , and this advantage , that he may , at his own ease , consider the miseries of others , without the least apprehension of being expos'd thereto himself . when he hath excercis'd his contemplation upon all that , what becomes of him ? he goes up and down , which way he pleases . there is no place , where he is not in safety , as much as if he were in the * corycian cave . for whither soever he goes , he is assur'd , that he shall always live irreproachably , that all people will entertain him , and that with such pleasure and satisfaction , as a sick person does his physician . how , said i , is he no longer afraid of those women whom you call monsters , since he is excepted from all those evils , which men are subject to through their means ? he absolutely defies them , reply'd he . he shall be no longer tormented , either by grief , or vexation , or incontinence , or avarice , or indigence , or any other monster ; because he hath an absolute power over them , nay hath a certain soverainty over the evils , whereby he was persecuted before . and as those who have been once stung by a viper , ordinarily carry about them a preservative , to secure themselves against the venome of all other serpents ; so is it not in the power of any thing to hurt him any more ; because he always hath the remedy about him . what you say is admirable , but ; i pray , inform me , who they are , whom i perceive coming down from the hill ; some are crown'd , and betray their joy in their very countenances ; others , on the contrary , have their heads and hips all bruis'd , and are detain'd prisoners by those women ? they who are crown'd , reply'd he , are such as have been preserv'd by true doctrine , therefore do they discover their alacrity , and joy . as for the others , who have no crowns ; some of them having been rejected by true doctrine return from her , miserable and unhappy ; and the others having spent all their courage , after they had got up as far as patience , take their way back again , and inconsiderately wander up and down through desolate places . the women , who follow them , are affliction , despair , ignominy , and ignorance . if it be as you say , there are no evils whereby they are not persecuted . that is also true , reply'd he ; but there is yet more in it : when they are come back within the first enclosure , towards voluptuousness and incontinence , they do not accuse themselves of having done amiss , nay , on the contrary , they raile at true doctrine , they look on all that follow her , as unfortunate and miserable persons , who are got out of the way which ought to be follow'd , and who have lost the goods , whereof they imagin'd themselves possess'd . what may those goods be ? said i. to tell you in a word , reply'd he , it is debauchedness and incontinence . for they place the chief good , in eating and drinking , as beasts , do . i pray , tell me , how you call those women , who are so chearful and so jocund in their return ? they are opinions , who , having conducted , to true doctrine , those who are now among the vertues , are returning back to bring others thither , and to give others an assurance , that such as they have conducted thither are perfectly happy . do they go quite to the vertues , said i ? no , for opinion is not permitted to come up to science they do not conduct any further than to true doctrine , and as soon as they have recommended any one into her hands , they immediately return , to find out others . wherein they may be compar'd to those vessels , which are fill'd with other merchandizes , as soon as they are unloaden of what they had before . it must be confess'd , that you make what you say very comprehensible , said he ; but you have not yet explicated to me what directions the genius gives those who enter into life . only this ; said he , that they be courageous . do you therefore , my friends , take courage . for i will give you satisfaction even to the least particulars , so that nothing shall escape your knowledg . certainly , said i , we are extreamly oblig'd to you . whereupon directing his hand again towards the picture . do you see , said he , that woman who is blind , and who stands upon the ball , whom erewhile we called fortune ? we see her very well . the genius , reply'd he , gives them this advertisement , that no credit is to be given to what she saies , and absolutely charges them , not to consider what proceeds from her , as any thing certain and stable ; since that , in fine , nothing hinders her depriving us of what she gives us , to dispose it into other hands , since it is one of her ordinary pranks . for that reason is it also , that he advises them , not to be overcome by her presents , not to betray any extraordinary joy , when they happen to us , and , in like manner , not to be dejected , when they are taken away from us ; not to afford them our praise , or dispraise , and to have this conceit of her , that she does not any thing by the dictate of reason ; but always inconsiderately , and by chance . thence he also advises us not to admire any thing she does , and not to imitate those deceitful bankiers , who having received other mens mony , are as glad , as if it were their own , and are angry when it is called for in from them , as if some great injury were done them : not remembring that it was put into their hands , only for the creditors convenience to take it in , when he pleas'd . thus doth the genius direct us to look on the favours of fortune , and to be always mindful , that it is her custom , to take away again whatever she gives , to restore sometimes more than she had ever bestow'd , and to carry away ; after all that , not only what she had lately given , but all a man was posses'd of before . hence is it , that he advises them , to accept of the goods she gives , and immediately to make their recourse to true doctrine , who will absolutely secure the possession thereof , if they can be but preserv'd , till they have come up quite to her . for this doctrine is nothing else but the true science of such things as are beneficial , and the assured and clear possession thereof . hence is it , that he minds them of making their applications as soon as they can to her . and if it happen , that they meet with incontinence or voluptuousness , he councils them to get out of their company with the soonest , and not to credit what they say , till they come to false doctrine . for he enjoyns them to continue there a while , and to take of her what she pleases , as it were by the way , and without making any halt , that they may hasten thence towards true doctrine . and these are the instructions which the genius gives ; if any one slights them , or comprehends them not as he ought to do , he becomes a wicked person , and perishes miserably . this is the riddle , my friends , which you see represented in that embleme . if now you are desirous to put any question to me , for the better understanding of every thing in particular , i am as willing to give you all the satisfaction i can , and not to conceal any thing from you . you say very well , reply'd i ; but if you are so pleas'd , tell us , what the genius enjoynes them to receive from false doctrine ? those things , reply'd he , which seem necessary to life , as learning , and other things relating to study , which plato affirmed had certain curbs to prevent young people from being inclin'd otherwise . not that they are absolutely necessary in order to an arrival to true doctrine ; for we are not meliorated thereby . without them , we may come to the perfection of vertue , but they facilitate our acquest of it , and are not without some advantage . we may , indeed , acquire the knowledg of what is unknown to us , by the means of an interpreter , explicating to us what we understand not : yet is it better to be acquainted with the language , and not to stand in need of an interpreter . so , without these sciences , nothing obstructs our attaining of vertue . 't is true , they are ornaments , and excellent directories , whereby we are illuminated in the pursuit of it ; but it follows not , that they , who are endued therewith , are in a better condition , or have a greater bent to goodness , since they are deceiv'd , as well as others , in the knowledg of good and evil , and , many times , defiled with all manner of vices and misdemeanours . no , no , continu'd he ; nothing hinders , but that he ; who is come to learning by study , and hath attain'd all the sciences , may be as much inclin'd to debauchery , avarice , incontinence , injustice , unfaithfulness , and extravagance , as another . this we are convinc'd of , by daily experience . why then should they assume any advantage to themselves above others , in order to their melioration , upon the account of those sciences ? i think we have already sufficiently shewn , by what we have said , that there is no likelyhood of any such thing . it may be , those persons imagine they are in a better condition than others , because they are within the second enclosure , and consequently at a less distance from true doctrine . but what advantage is it to them , that they are not at so great a distance from her , as the others , since we sometimes find those persons , who were with incontinence , come up , from the first enclosure , to the third , and ascend even to true doctrine , leaving those learned men behind them . how then can it be imagin'd , that they should have any prerogative , since that , many times , with all their sciences , they are longer than the others , ere they take into the right way , and discover more difficulty in learning what they ought to know , in order to their arrival thereto . for they , who are in the second enclosure , though there were nothing else to be objected against them , profess a knowledg of what they know not : and while they continue in that sentiment , it is impossible they should ever come to true doctrine . i believe , you also perceive , that the opinions come from the first enclosure towards them . thence comes it , that they are no better than the others , if repentance do not accompany them , and if they admit not a persuasion of their not having true science , but that they are still seduced by false doctrine . for while they remain in that condition , it is impossible they should ever become happy . therefore , my friends , you are seriously to endeavour the practise of these instructions , and to reflect on them , till you have converted them into a habit . let them be the subject of your most earnest meditation , assuring your selves , that your thoughts cannot be too much fixt upon them , all the rest is , in comparison , nothing considerable , nay it is rather to be look'd on as of no advantage , and superfluous . be mindful then to do what i tell you ; for otherwise , all you have already understood will not be any way beneficial to you . we shall not be negligent in the doing of it , said i to him : yet give us this further explication , why you put not into the number of goods , those things which men receive from fortune , as life , health , wealth , reputation , children , victory , and all other concerns of that kind ? tell us also , why you put not into the number of evils , those things which are contrary thereto ? to be free with you , all you have told us , as to that particular , seems to us a paradox . i beseech you , take the pains to tell us what you think of it . with all my heart , reply'd the old man. do you think , said he , that life is a good , in him , that does not live well ? no , reply'd i ; on the contrary , i hold it to be an evil for him . but as life seems to me to be an evil , in those who live ill ; so do i imagine it to be a good , in those who live well . that cannot be , reply'd he , for it is impossible , that the same thing should be both good and bad , inasmuch as it would be , by that means , beneficial and hurtful , the object of desire and aversion , at the same time ; which is a contradiction . but let us say more , let us acknowledg , that there is a great difference between living , and living ill . the wicked life is always an evil , and life , indefinitely speaking , cannot be such . is not that your meaning ? it is so , reply'd i. the consequence then will be , reply'd he , that life is never an evil , since that , if it were such , it would follow , that there must be somewhat of evil in those who live well , since they would have life , which were an evil ; a position not maintainable . as therefore life is common to both good and bad , it must be necessarily inferr'd , that , of it self , it is neither good nor bad . it may be compar'd to causticks and incisions , which may be beneficial to the indispos'd , and hurtful to those who are in health . but that you may the better comprehend this truth , consider in your self , whether you would not prefer a noble and a generous death , before a wicked , and an infamous life ? i am confident you would not make any pause at it , and that you would embrace death . no question of it , reply'd i. then by consequence , said he , death is no evil , since it is sometimes more advantageous to dye than to live . the same thing is to be said concerning sickness and health . there are certain times , and certain occurrences , wherein health would be prejudicial to us . and to make it appear that it is so , let us make the same consideration of wealth . do we not daily see , that some very rich men live a lewd and miserable life ? no , no , continu'd he , wealth contributes nothing to happy life ; but , on the contrary , the wealthiest , for the most part , are the most unhappy . let us then conclude , that it is not wealth , but true doctrine that begets an inclination to goodness . and thence it justly follows , that riches are not to be numbred among goods , inasmuch as they do not make men better , or more happy . so that , as they are hurtful to those who cannot tell how to use them , so can they not be accounted goods , since it is sometimes advantageous to be without them . if therefore there be any one that knows how to make good use of them , he shall live happy ; if not , he shall be miserable . in fine , to sum up all in a word , that which creates disorder and confusion in the minds of men , is , the opinion they have , of these kinds of things . some shun them , as the source of all evils , and others seek after them , as true goods , imagining that by their means only they may become happy . nay they are so fixt in this persuasion , that to attain these , they make no difficulty of committing the greatest enormities , and most detestable actions . which happens to them , because they know not the nature of true good. * they know not , that , from evil , there never proceeds any good . they consider not that most men have acquired their wealth and possessions , by the means of their crimes , as by perfidiousness , robberies , murthers , rapine , and other enormous actions . if therefore it be true , that no good proceeds from evil , and yet that riches are many times the production of crimes , it inevitably follows , that riches cannot be called goods . again , good and evil are incompatible ; and as it is impossible to acquire wisdome and justice by bad actions , so will it not ever be granted , that extravagance and injustice can proceed from any good cause . since therefore it is true , that nothing hinders but that riches , glory , victory , and other things of that kind , may happen to us by lawful ways , let us make this conclusion , that , of themselves , they are neither good nor evil , and that , properly speaking , not any thing but wisdome , is a good , and nothing but folly that is evil. a table of what things are most remarkable in this treatise . a grippinus . pag. 20. ambition the cause of all misfortunes . p. 27. arrian . p. 2 , 3 , 4 , &c. reduc'd epictetus ' s philosophy to writing . p. 7. is master to antoninus pins . 40. aversion . p. 62. st. augustines character of epictetus . p. 34. aulus gellius . p. 3 ▪ 7 , 8 , 9. 38 , 39 , 46. arabick paraphrase of cebes ' s tablet . p. 124. cebes ' s tablet , a representation of humane life . p. 122. caselius . p. 123. celsus . p. 13. duty of children . p. 90. commentaries of epictetus . p. 41. constancy . p. 69. 71. demonax . p. 4. desire . p. 62. diogenes . p. 74. diog. laertius . p. 17. 110. dion chrysostome . p. 3. edict against the philosophers . p. 3. 43. elichman . p. 126. epaphroditus captain of nero ' s life-guard . p. 1. breaks epictetus ' s leg. p. 17. epictetus born at hierapolis . p. 1. a slave to epaphroditus . p. 2. obtains his liberty . p. 4. was not married . ibid. always poor . p. 5. his modesty . ibid. humility . p. 6. wrote nothing . ibid. is a lover of neatness . 8. a cripple . 9. his contempt of great persons . 11. his admirable constancy . 13. is a stoick . p. 22. an imitator of socrates , zeno , and diogenes . 23. an enemy to the pyrrhonians . 24. is nice in point of friendship . p. 29. his sentiments concerning the deity , and the immortality of the soul. 34 , 35. wherein he dissented from the stoicks . his friendship with favorinus and herod the sophist . 38. of his death . p. 43. epictetus ' s life and death written by arrian . p. 41. epictetus ' s stile like that of socrates . p. 23. epicureans blamed . p. 4. epictetus ' s lamp. p. 38. errour . p. 135. eteocles and polynices . p. 30. eusebius . p. 3. 47 , 48. favourites . p. 11. friendship wherein it consists . p. 31. genebrard . p. 40. genius . p. 134. hadrian . p. 4. helene . p. 25. helvidius commended by epictetus . p. 18 , 19. hercules . p. 18. hierapolis . p. 1. humility . p. 6. st. jerome . p. 35. of the iliad . p. 25. ignorance . p. 135. imposture . p. 135 , 153. lateranus commended by epictetus . p. 16. laughter . p. 101. leonidas . p. 9. life compar'd to a banquet . p. 73. life compar'd to a walk . p. 104. lipsius . p. 40. lucian . 4. 38. lycurgus . p. 22. macrobius . p. 9. marcus aurelius . p. 38. 41. marks of a wise man. p. 111. marriage not consistent with the state of perfection . p. 4. mascardi . p. 124. menelaus . p. 25 , 31. of opinion and fortune . p. 24. opinions the cause of our misfortunes . p. 64 , 74. origen . p. 12. ostentation . p. 66. paris . 25 , 31. patience . p. 69. philarchus . p. 41. planudes . p. 9. plato . p. 27. plutarch . p. 20. pomponius mela. p. 154. politian . p. 61. prayer . p. 117. pyrrho . p. 21. religion . p. 91 , &c. remedies against all accidents . p. 68. reservedness in judging others . 108. resolution . p. 102. rufus . p. 28. salmasius . p. 43 , &c. 126. self-distrust . p. 71. seneca . p. 36. sickness . p. 68. silence . p. 96. simplicius . 13 , 40 , 64 , 110. the saying of socrates to crica . p. 117. south-sayers . p. 93. spartian . p. 34 , 40. sphinx . p. 132. stobaeus . p. 42. suetonius . p. 3. suidas . p. 42. temperance . p. 68. tertullian . p. 123. themistius . p. 38. theatres . p. 98. things dependent or not dependent on us . p. 59 , 60. vertue p. 70. exhortation thereto . p. 114. vespasian . p. 19. vincentius obsopaeus . p. 9. vulgar apprehensions . p. 78. wolsius . p. 36 , 42 , 61 , 122. errata . page 11. line 12. r. populace . p. 39. l. 21. r. presumptuous . p. 50. l. 3. r. this is . p. 65. l. 11. heer . p. 80. l. 14. r. all ways . p. 87. l. 13. r. upon them . p. 97. l. 3. r. loud . p. 104. l. 12. r. nails which . p. 107. l. 12. r. injures you . p. 143. l. 5. r. com p. 144. l. 7 : r. track . p 158. l. 2. r. said 1. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a38503-e940 suid. in epist. b arrian . diss . l. 1. c. 9. c arrian . diss . l. 1. c. 26. d aul. gel. noct. att. l. 12. c. 11. suet. in domit. philost . l. 7. dion . chrysost . de exil . euseb . in chron. † l. 2. c. 6. f in not , ad epist. & sim. p. 4. g in vit. hadr. p. 8. h l. 3. c. 7. arr. diss . l. 3. c. 22. k in dem. 1 in vit. hadr. m vincent . obsop . l. 3. anth. a● epig. epictet . strob. ser. 38. enchir. epict . aul. gell. noct. att. l. 17. c. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . arr. diss . l. 4. c. 5. a. gell. noct. att. l. 17. c. 19. arr. l. 4. dissert . c. 12. a gell. noct. att. l. 2. c. 18. in antholog . lib. γ. cap. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . c. 11. arr. diss . l. 1. c. 19. arr. diss . l 2 c. 6. arr. diss . l. 4. c. 1. origen . l. 7. cont . cels . celsus affirm'd the patience of epictetus , to be greater then that of jesus christ . simpl. in ench. epict . init . arr. diss . l. 2. c. 6. arr dis . l. 1. c. 2. diog. laert . in vita pyrrh . arr. diss . l. 1. c. 2. arr l. r. c. 2. a town about two leagues from rome . arr. diss . l 2. c. 20. stob. ser. 1. stob. ser. 38. arr. diss . l. 1. 6. 7. enchir. epict . arr. diss . l. 2. c. 22. arr. diss . l. 1. c. 11. enchir. epict . arr. diss . l. 1. c. 9. l. 2. c. 14. the stoicks exalted their wise man above god. arr. diss . l. 1. c. 9. annot. in diss . arrian . l. 1. c. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . arr. l. 1. c. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. a. cell . l. 17. c. 10 part l. 1. c. 8. in vit. hadr. them. o. rat . 12. mar. anton . l. 17. sect. 16. l. 11. s. 28. &c. ad iudoct . a. gell. noct. att. l. 1. c. 2. genebr . l. 3 chron. simpl. in pro●●m . enchir. lips . in 〈◊〉 . ad sancto . phil. l. c 19. epicteti scripta pa●●●a extaut enchiridion ●●●●gregium , &c. in prooem , enchir. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . see his preface on the discourses of epictetus . mar. ant. de is qua ad se . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . arrian in pras . ad gell. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. suid. in . epict. altercat . hadr. & epict. in praef . ad atlercat . hadr. suid. in epict. salm. in not. ad epic. & simpl . lips . in manud . ad st. phil. l. 1. c. 19. suid. in epict. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ant. de his quae ad se . a. gell. l. 11. c. 19. ita salmas . resulit locum gellii in not. ad simpl de epict. autem philosopho recention est memoria . itae gell. de epict autem philosopho , quod is quoq servus fuerit , recentior est memoria . fuseb . in chron. them. in orat. ad jovin . notes for div a38503-e12740 sect. 1. sect. 2. sect. 3. sect. 4. with politan and wolfius i put 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of the text in this passage . sect. 5. sect. 6. sect. 7. sect. 8. i hear follow simplicius , who instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 puts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . sect. 9. sect. 10. sect. 11. sect. 12. a sentiment somewhat hard . sect. 13. sect. 15. sect. 16. sect. 17. sect. 18. sect. 19. sect. 20. sect. 21. sect. 22. sect. 23. sect. 24. sect. 25. sect. 26. sect. 27. sect. 28. sect. 29. sect. 30. sect. 31. sect. 32. sect. 33. sect. 34. sect. 35. sect. 36. sect. 37. sect. 38. sect. 39. sect. 40. sect. 41. sect. 42. sect. 43. sect. 44. sect. 45. sect. 46. sect. 47. sect. 48. sect. 49. sect. 50. sect. 51. sect. 52. sect. 53. sect. 54. sect. 55. sect. 56. sect. 57. sect. 58. * as , it is day , or it is night . † it is day , and it is night . this place is a rock , from which i have got off as well as i could . i must confess , this comparison is some what strange ; but it is to be lmputed to epictetus . sect. 59. sect. 60. sect. 61. sect. 62. sect. 63. sect. 64. sect. 65. sect. 66. sect. 67. sect. 68. sect. 69. i here follow the sense of simplicius , yet doubt whether it be that of epictetus . i think epictetus would only say , that a man should not amuse himselfe to go and imbrace statues in the midst of w●nter , to be admired by the people , as diogenis the cynick did , as laertius affirms . sect. 70. sect. 71. sect. 72. sect. 73. sect. 74. sect. 75. sect. 76. sect. 77. sect. 78. anitus and melitus . notes for div a38503-e15240 * a sorceriss who had the face of a young maid , and in the rest of her body resembled a lyon. * the entrance of it was so difficult that it seem'd habitable only by the gods. see pomp. mela de sit . orb. * this i take out of the latius version of odaxius . historical relations, or, a discovery of the true causes why ireland was never intirely subdu'd nor brought under obedience of the crown of england until the beginning of the reign of king james of happy memory / by ... john davis ... davies, john, 1625-1693. 1666 approx. 309 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 135 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a37237 wing d402 estc r14019 11914920 ocm 11914920 50943 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a37237) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 50943) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 813:12) historical relations, or, a discovery of the true causes why ireland was never intirely subdu'd nor brought under obedience of the crown of england until the beginning of the reign of king james of happy memory / by ... john davis ... davies, john, 1625-1693. the third edition corrected and amended. [4], 225 p. printed for samuel dancer ..., dublin : 1666. reproduction of original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng ireland -history -17th century. 2005-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-01 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-01 ali jakobson sampled and proofread 2007-01 ali jakobson text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion historical relations : or , a discovery of the true causes why ireland was never intirely subdu'd nor brought under obedience of the crown of england . until the beginning of the reign of king james of happy memory . by sir john davis knight . his majesties attorney general of ireland . the third edition corrected and amended . dublin , printed for samuel dancer , bookseller in castlestreet . 1666. the printer to the reader . the former edition of this book being rarely now to be got , and much sought after by many , for the worth thereof , i procured from the honourable sir james ware , one of the former printed books , according to which i now publish this second edition . the author of the work , was sir john davis , a learned man , and an excellent orator , who for his great abilities , was by king james first made his solicitor , and afterwards his attorney-general in this kingdom of ireland : which place he discharged for divers years , and having access to the records , from them , for the most part , as from the purest fountains , he gathered these his observations . a discovery of the true causes why ireland was never entirely subdued , and brought under obedience of the crown of england , until the beginning of his majesties happy reign . during the time of my service in ireland ( which began in the first year of his majesties reign ) i have visited also the provinces of that kingdom , in sundry journeys and circuits . wherein i have observed the good temperature of the ayre ; the fruitfulness of the soyl ; the pleasant and commodious seats for habitation ; the safe and large ports and havens lying open for traffick , into all the west parts of the world ; the long inlets of many navigable rivers , and so many great lakes , and fresh ponds within the land ; ( as the like are not to be seen in any part of europe ) the rich fishings , and wilde fowl of all kinds ; and lastly , the bodies and mindes of the people , endued with extraordinary abilities of nature . the observation whereof , hath bred in me some curiosity , to consider , what were the true causes , why this kingdom , whereof our kings of england have borne the title of soveraign lords , for the space of four hundred and odde years ( a period of time wherein divers great monarchies have risen from barbarism to civility , and fallen again to ruine ) was not in al that space of time , thoroughly subdued and reduced to obedience of the crown of england , although there hath been almost a continual war between the english and the irish ; and why the manners of the meer irish are so little altered since the days of king henry the second , as appeareth by the description made by giraldus cambrensis , ( who lived and wrote in that time ) albeit , there have been since that time , so many english colonies planted in ireland , as that , if the people were numbered at this day by the poll , such as are descended of english race , would be found more in number than the ancient natives . and truly , upon consideration of the conduct and passage of affairs in former times , i find , that the state of england ought to be cleared of an imputation , which a vulgar errour hath cast upon it , in one point ; namely , that ireland long since might have been subdued and reduced to civility , if some statesmen in policy , had not thought it more fit to continue that realm in barbarism . doubtless , this vulgar opinion ( or report ) hath no true ground , but did first arise either out of ignorance , or out of malice . for it will appear by that which shall hereafter be laid down in this discourse , that ever since our nation had any footing in this land , the state of england did earnestly desire , and i did accordingly endeavour from time to time , to perfect the conquest of this kingdom , but that in every age there were found such impediments and defects in both realms , as caused almost an impossibility , that things should have been otherwise than they were . the defects which hindred the perfection of the conquest of ireland , were of two kindes , and consisted , first , in the faint prosecution of the war , and next , in the looseness of the civil government . for , the husbandman must first break the land , before it be made capable of good seed : and when it is thoroughly broken and manured , if we do not forthwith cast good seed into it , it will grow wilde again , and bear nothing but weeds . so a barbarous country must be first broken by a war , before it will be capable of good government ; and when it is fully subdued and conquered , if it be not well planted and governed after the conquest , it will eft soons return to the former barbarism . touching the carriage of the martial affairs , from the seventeenth year of king henry the second , when the first overture was made for the conquest of ireland ( i mean , the first after the norman conquest of england ) until the nine and thirtieth year of queen elizabeth , when that ) royal army was sent over to suppress tirones rebellion , which made in the end an universal and absolute conquest of all the irishrie : it is most certain , that the english forces sent hither , or raised here from time to time , were ever too weak to subdue and master so many warlike nations ( or septs ) of the irish , as did possess this island ; and besides their weakness , they were ill paid , and worse governed . and if at any time there came over an army of competent strength and power , it did rather terrifie , than break and subdue this people , being ever broken and dissolved by some one accident or other , before the perfection of the conquest . for , that i call a perfect conquest of a countrey , which doth reduce all the people thereof to the condition of subjects : and those i call subjects , which are governed by the ordinary laws and magistrates of the soveraign . for , though the prince doth bear the title of soveraign lord of an entire countrey , ( as our kings did of all ireland ) yet if there be two third parts of that countrey wherein he cannot punish treasons , murthers , or thefts , unless he send an army to do it ; if the jurisdiction of his ordinary courts of justice doth not extend into those parts to protect the people from wrong and oppression ; if he have no certain revenue , no escheates or forfeitures out of the same , i cannot justly say , that such a countrey is wholly conquered . first then , that we may judge and discern whether the english forces in ireland were at any time of sufficient strength , to make a full and final conquest of that land , let us see what extraordinary armies have been transmitted out of england thither , and what ordinary forces have been maintained there , and what service they have performed from time to time , since the seventeenth year of king henry the second . in that year , mac murugh lord of leinster , being oppressed by the lords of meath and connaught , and expelled out of his territory , moved king henry the second to invade ireland , and made an overture unto him for the obtaining of the soveraign lordship thereof . the king refused to undertake the war himself , to avoid the charge ( as king henry the seventh refused to undertake the discovery of the indies for the same cause ) but he gave license by his letters patents , that such of his subjects might pass over into ireland , as would at their own charge become adventurers in that enterprize . so as the first attempt to conquer this kingdom , was but an adventure of a few private gentlemen . fitz-stephen and fitz-gerald first brake the ice , with a party of three hundred ninety men . the earl strongbow followed them with twelve hundred more , whose good success upon the sea-coasts of leinster and mounster , drew over the king in person the next year after , cum quingentis militibus , as giraldus cambrensis reporteth , who was present in ireland at that time . which , if they were but five hundred souldiers , seemeth too small a train for so great a prince . but admit they were five hundred knights , yet because in those days every knight was not a commander of a regiment , or company , but most of them served as private men , ( sometimes a hundred knights under a spear ) as appeareth by the lists of the ancient armies , we cannot conjecture his army to have been so great , as might suffice to conquer all ireland , being divided into so many principalities , and having so many hydraes heads , as it had at that time . for albeit , tacitus in the life of agricola doth report , that agricola having subdued the greatest part of great brittain , did signifie to the senate of rome , that he thought ireland might also be conquered with one legion , and a few aids : i make no doubt , but that if he had attempted the conquest thereof with a far greater army , he would have found himself deceived in this conjecture . for , a barbarous country is not so easily conquered , as a civil , whereof caesar had experience in his wars against the gau●es , germanes , and britaines , who were subdued to the roman empire , with far greater difficulty , than the rich kingdoms of asia . and again , a country possessed with many petty lords and states , is not so soon brought under entirely , as an entire kingdom governed by one prince or monarch . and therefore , the late king of spain , could sooner win the kingdom of portugal , than reduce the states of the low-countries . but let us see the success of king henry the second , doubtless his expedition was such , as he might have said with caesar , veni , vidi , vici . for , upon his first arrival , his very presence without drawing his sword , prevailed so much , as all the petty-kings , or great lords within leinster , conaght , and mounster , submitted themselves unto him , promised to pay him tribute , and acknowledged him their chief and soveraign lord. besides , the better to assure this inconstant sea-nymph , who was so easily wonne , the pope would needs give her unto him with a ring , conjugio jungam stabili , propriamque dicabo . but as the conquest was but slight and superficial , so the popes donation , and the irish submissions , were but weak and fickle assurances . for as the pope had no more interest in this kingdom , than he which offered to christ all the kingdoms of the earth ; so the irish pretend , that by their law , a tanist might do no act that might bind his successor . but this was the best assurance he could get from so many strong nations of people , with so weak a power : and yet he was so well pleased with this title of the lordship of ireland , as he placed it in his royal stile , before the dutchies of normandy and aquitain . and so being advertised of some stirs raised by his unnatural sons in england , within five months after his first arrival , he departed out of ireland , without striking one blow , or building one castle , or planting one garrison among the irish , neither left he behind him one true subject more than those he found there at his coming over , which were only the english adventurers spoken of before , who had gained the port towns in leinster and mounster , and possessed some scopes of land thereunto adjoyning , partly by strongbow's alliance with the lord of leinster , and partly , by plain invasion and conquest . and this is that conquest of king henry the second , so much spoken of , by so many writers , which , though it were in no other manner than is before expressed , yet is the entire conquest of all ireland , attributed unto him . but the troth is , the conquest of ireland was made by peice and peice , by slow steps and degrees , and by several attempts , in several ages . there were sundry revolutions , as well of the english fortunes , as of the irish ; some-whiles one prevailing , some-whiles the other , and it was never brought to a full period , till his majesty that now is , came to the crown . as for king henry the second , he was far from obtaining that monarchy royal , and true soveraignty which his majesty ( who now reigneth ) hath over the irish . for the irish lords did only promise to become tributaries to king henry the second . and such as pay on●y tribute , though they be placed by bodin , in the first degree of subjection , are not properly subjects but soveraigns . for , though they be less and inferiour unto the prince to whom they pay tribute , yet they hold all other points of soveraignty ; and having paid their tribute , which they promised , to have their peace , they are quit of all other duties , as the same bodin writeth . and therefore , though king henry the second had the title of soveraign lord over the irish , yet did he not put those things in execution , which are the true marks and differences of soveraignty . for to give laws unto a people , to institute magistrates and officers over them , to punish and pardon malefactors , to have the sole authority of making war and peace , and the like , are the true marks of soveraignty ; which k. henry the second had not in the irish countries , but the irish lords did still retain all these prerogatives to themselves . for they governed their people by the brehon law , they made their own magistrates and officers , they pardoned and punished all malefactors within their several countries , they made war and peace one with another , without controulment , and this they did , not only during the reign of king henry the second , but afterwards in all times , even until the reign of queen elizabeth : and it appeareth what manner of subjects these irish lords were , by the concord made between king henry the second , and roderick ô connor the irish king of conaght , in the year 1175. which is recorded by hoveden in this form : hic est finis & concordia , inter dominum regem angliae henricum , filium imperatricis , & rodoricum regem conactae , scilicet , quod rex angliae concessit praedict ' roderico ligeo homini suo , ut sit rex sub eo paratus ad servitium suum , ut homo suus , &c. and the commission , whereby king henry the second made william fitz-adelme his lieutenant of ireland , hath this direction ; archiepiscopis , episcopis , regibus , comitibus , baronibus , & omnibus fidelibus suis in hibernia , salutem . whereby it is manifest , that he gave those irish lords the title and stile of kings . king john likewise did grant divers charters to the king of conaght , which remain in the tower of london . and afterwards in the time of king henry the third , we find in the tower , a grant made to the king of thomond , in these words . rex regi tosmond salutem . concessimus vobis terram tosmond quam prius tenuistis , per firmam centum & triginta marcarum ; tenendum de nobis usque ad aetatem nostram . and in the pipe rolls remaining in bremighams tower , in the castle of dublin , upon sundry accompts of the seneshall of vlster ( when that earldom was in the kings hands , by reason of the minority of the earl ) the entry of all such charges as were made upon oneale , for rent-beeves , or for aids towards the maintainance of the kings wars , are in this form . oneal regulus 400. vaccas pro arreragio reddit ; oneal regulus , 100. ●i . de auxilio domini regis ad guerram suam in wasconia sustinendam . and in one roll the 36. of henry the third , oneal rex , 100 li. de auxilio domini regis ad guerram suam in wallia sustinendam . which seemed strange to me , that the kings civil officer should give him that stile upon record , unless he meant it in that sense as maximilian the emperor did , when speaking of his disobedient subjects ; the title ( said he ) of rex regum , doth more properly belong to me , than to any mortal prince , for all my subjects do live as kings , they obey me in nothing , but do what they list . and truly , in that sense these irish lords might not unfitly be termed kings . but to speak in proper terms , we must say with the latin poet , qui rex est , regnum maxime non habeat . but touching these irish kings , i will add this note out of an ancient manuscript , the black book of christ-church in dublin , isti reges non fuerunt ordinati solemnitate alicujus ordinis , nec unctionis sacramento , nec jure haereditario ; vel aliqua proprietatis successione , sed vi & armis quilibet regnum suum obtinuit : and therefore they had no just cause to complain , when a stronger king than themselves , became a king and lord over them . but let us return to our purpose , and see the proceeding of the martial affairs . king henry the second , being returned into england , gave the lordship of ireland unto the lord john his youngest son , sur-named before that time , sans terre . and the pope confirming that gift , sent him a crown of pea-cocks , feathers ( as pope clement the eighth , sent the feather of a phoenix ( as he called it ) to the traitor tirone . ( this young prince the kings son , being but twelve years of age , with a train of young noblemen and gentlemen , to the number of 300. but not with any main army , came over to take possession of his new patrimony , and being arrived at waterford , divers irish lords ( who had submitted themselves to his father ) came to perform the like duty to him . but that youthful company using them with scorn , because their demeanours were but rude and barbarous , they went away much discontented , and rraised a general rebellion against him . whereby it was made manifest , that the submission of the irish lords , and the donation of the pope , were but slender and weak assurances for a kingdom . hereupon this young lord was revoked , and sir john de courcy sent over , not with the kings army , but with a company of voluntaries , in number four hundred , or thereabout . with these he attempted the conquest of vlster , and in four or five encounters , did so beat the irishry of that province , as that he gained the maritime coasts thereof , from the boyne to the bann ; and thereupon , was made earl of vlster . so as now the english had gotten good footing in all the provinces of ireland . in the first three provinces of leinster , mounster , and conaght , part by the sword , and part by submission and alliance . and lastly , in vlster , by the invasion and victories of sir john de courcy . from this time forward , until the seventeenth year of king john ( which was a space of more than 30. years ) there was no army transmitted out of england , to finish the conquest . howbeit in the mean time , the english adventurers and colonies already planted in ireland , did win much ground upon the irish ; namely , the earl strongbow , having married the daughter of mac murrogh , in leinster ; the lacies in meth ; the geraldines , and other adventurers in mounster , the audleyes , gernons , clintons , russels , and other voluntaries of sir john de courcies retinue , in vlster ; and the bourkes ( planted by william fitz-adelme ) in conaght . yet were the english reputed but part-owners of ireland at this time , as appeareth by the commission of the popes legate in the time of king richard the first , whereby he had power to exercise his jurisdiction , in anglia , wallia , ac illis hiberniae partibus , in quibus johannes moretonii comes potestatem habet & dominium , as it is recorded by mat. paris . king john ; in the twelfth year of his reign , came over again into ireland : the stories of that time say , with a great army , but the certain numbers are not recorded : yet it is credible , in regard of the troubles wherewith this king was distressed in england , that this army was not of sufficient strength to make an entire conquest of ireland ; and if it had been of sufficient strength , yet did not the king stay a sufficient time to perform so great an action , for he came over in june , and returned in september , the same year . howbeit in that time , the irish lords for the most part , submitted themselves to him , as they had done before to his father : which was but a mear mockery and imposture . for his back was no sooner turned , but they returned to their former rebellion : and yet this was reputed a second conquest . and so this king giving order for the building of some castles upon the borders of the english colonies , left behind him the bishop of norwich , for the civil government of the land ; but he left no standing army to prosecute the conquest : only the english colonies which were already planted , were left to themselves to maintain what they had got , and to gain more if they could . the personal presence of these two great princes , king henry the second , and king john , though they performed no great thing with their armies , gave such countenance to the english colonies , which encreased daily by the coming over of new voluntaries and adventurers out of england , as that they enlarged their territories very much . howbeit after this time the kings of england , either because they presumed that the english colonies were strong enough to root out the irish by degrees , or else because they were diverted or disabled otherwise ( as shall be declared hereafter ) never sent over any royal army , or any numbers of men worthy to be called an army into ireland , untill the thirty sixth year of king edward the third , when lionel duke of clarence , the kings second son , having married the daughter and heir of vlster , was sent over with an extraordinary power in respect of the time ( for the wars betwixt england and france , were then in their heat ) as well to recover his earldom of vlster , which was then over-run and possest by the irish , as to reform the english colonies , which were become strangely degenerate throughout the whole kingdom . for though king henry the third , gave the whole land of ireland to edward the prince , his eldest son , and his heirs , ita quod non separetur a corona angliae . whereupon it was styled the land of the lord edward , the kings eldest son : and all the officers of the land , were called the officers of edward lord of ireland ; and though this edward were one of the most active princes that ever lived in england , yet did he not either in the life time of his father , or during his own raign , come over in person , or transmit any army into ireland , but on the other side , he drew sundry aids and supplies of men out of ireland , to serve him in his wars in scotland , wales , and gascoigne . and again , though king edward the second sent over piers gaveston with a great retinue , it was never intended he should perfect the conquest of ireland ; for the king could not want his company so long a time , as must have been spent in the finishing of so tedious a work . so then , in all that space of time , between the twelfth year of king john , and the 36. year of king edward the th●rd , containing 150. years , or thereabouts , although there were a continual bordering war between the english and the irish , there came no royal army out of england , to make an end of the war. but the chief governors of the realm , who were at first called custodes hiberniae ; and afterwards lords justices , and the english lords , who had gotten so great possessions and royalties , as that they presumed to make war and peace without direction from the state , did levy all their forces within the land . but those forces were weakly supplied , and ill governed , as i said before . weakly supplyed with men and mony ; and governed with the worst discipline that ever was seen among men of war. and no marvel , for it is an infallible rule , that an army ill paid , is ever unruly , and ill governed . the standing forces here , were seldom or never re-enforced out of england , and such as were either sent from thence , or raised here , did commonly do more hu●t and damage to the english subjects , than to the irish enemies , by their continual sess and extortion . which mischief did arise , by reason that little or no treasure was sent out of england , to pay the soldiers wages : only the kings revenue in ireland was spent , and wholly spent in the publick service ; and therefore , in all the ancient pipe-rols in the times of henry the third , edward the first , edward the second , and edward the third , between the receipts and allowances , there is this entrie ; in thesauro nihil . for the officers of the state and the army , spent a●l ▪ so , as there was no surplusage of treasure , and yet that all was not sufficient . for in default of the kings pay , as well the ordinary forces which stood continually , as the extraordinary , which were levied by the chief governor , upon journeys , and general hoastings , were for the most part laid upon the poor subject descended of english race ; howbeit this burthen was in some measure tolerable in the time of king henry the third , and king edward the first ; but in the time of king edward the second , maurice fitz-thomas of desmond , being chief commander of the army against the scots , began that wicked extortion of coigne and livery , and pay ; that is , he and his army took horse meat and mans meat , and money , at their pleasure , without any ticket , or other satisfaction . and this was after that time , the general fault of all the governors and commanders of the army in this land. onely the golden saying of sir thomas rookesby , who was justice in the thirtieth year of king edward the third , is recorded in all the annales of this kingdom , that he would eat in wodden dishes , but would pay for his meat gold and silver . besides , the english colonies being dispersed in every province of this kingdom , were enforced to keep continual guards upon the borders and marches round about them ; which guards , consisting of idle souldiers , were likewise imposed as a continual burthen upon the poor engglish freeholders , whom they oppressed and impoverished in the same manner . and because the great english lords and captains had power to impose this charge , when , and where they pleased , many of the poor freeholders , were glad to give unto those lords , a great part of their lands , to hold the rest free from that extortion : and many others , not being able to endure that intolerable oppression , did utterly quit their freeholds , and returned into england . by this mean , the english colonies grew poor and weak , though the english lords grew rich and mighty : for they placed irish tenants upon the lands relinquished by the english ; upon them they levied all irish exactions , with them they married , and fostered , and made gossips ; so as within one age , the english , both lords and freeholders , became degenerate and meer irish in their language , in their apparel , in their arms and manner of fight , and all other customes of life whatsoever . by this it appeareth , why the extortion of coigne and livery , is called in the old statutes of ireland , a damnable custom ; and the imposing and taking thereof , made high treason . and it is said in an ancient discourse , of the decay of ireland , that though it were first invented in hell , yet if it had been used and practised there , as it hath been in ireland , it had long since destroyed the very kingdom of belzebub . in this manner was the war of ireland carried , before the coming over of lionel duke of clarence . this young prince , being earl of vlster , and lord of conaght , in right of his wife ( who was daughter and heir of the lord william bourk , the last earl of vlster of that family , slain by treachery at knockefergus ) was made the kings lieutenant of ireland , and sent over with an army , in the six and thirtieth year of king edward the third . the roll and list of which army , doth remain of record in the kings remembrancers office in england ( in the press de rebus tangentibus hiberniam ) and doth not contain above fifteen hundred men by the poll ; which because it differs somewhat f●om the manner of this age , both in respect of the command , and the entertainment , i think it not impertinent to take a brief view thereof . the lord lionel was general , and under him raulf earl of stafford , james earl of ormond , sir john carew banneret , sir william winsor , and other knights were commanders . the entertainment of the general upon his first arrival , was but six shillings eight pence per diem , for himself ; for five knights , two shillings a piece , per diem ; for sixty four esquires , twelve pence a piece , per diem ; for 70 archers , six pence a piece , per diem . but being shortly after created duke of clarence , ( which honour was conferred upon him being here in ireland ) his entertainment was raised to thirteen shillings four pence per diem , for himself , and for eight knights , two shillings a piece per diem , with an encrease of the number of his archers , viz. three hundred and sixty archers on horseback , out of lancashire , at six pence a piece per diem ; and twenty three archers out of wales , at two pence a piece per diem . the earl of staffords entertainment , was for himself six shillings eight pence per diem ; for a banneret , four shillings per diem ; for seventeen kn●ghts , two shillings a piece per diem ; for seventy eight esquires , twelve pence a piece per diem ; for one hundred archers on horseback , six pence a piece per diem . besides , he had the command of four and twenty archers out staffordshire , fourty archers out of worcestershire , and six archers out of shropshire , at four pence a piece per diem . the entertainment of james earl of ormond , was for himself four shillings per diem ; for two knights , two shillings a piece per diem ; for seven and twenty esquires twelve pence a piece per diem ; for twenty hoblers armed ( the irish horsemen were so called , because they served on hobbies ) six pence a piece per diem , and for twenty hoblers not armed , four pence a piece per diem . the entertainment of sir john carew banneret , was for himself four shillings per diem ; for one knight , two shillings per diem ; for eight esquires , twelve pence a piece , per diem ; for ten archers on horseback , six pence a piece per diem . the entertainment of sir william winsore , was for himself two shillings per diem ; for two knights , two shillings a piece per diem ; for forty nine squires twelve pence a piece per diem ; for six archers on horseback , six pence a piece per diem . the like entertainment rateably , were allowed to divers knights and gentlemen upon that list , for themselves , and their several retinues , whereof some were greater , and some less , as they themselves could raise them among their tenents and followers . for in ancient times , the king himself did not levy his armies by his own immediate authority or commission , but the lords and captains did by indenture covenant with the king , to serve him in his wars with certain numbers of men , for certain wages and entertainments , which they raised in greater or less numbers , as they had favour or power with the people . this course hath been changed in latter times upon good reason of state : for the barons and chief gentlemen of the realm , having power to use the kings prerogative in that point , became too popular ; whereby they were enabled to raise forces even against the crown it self , which since the statutes made for levying and mustering of souldiers by the kings special commission , t●ey cannot so easily perform , if they should forget their duties . this lord lieutenant , with this small army , performed no great service ; and yet upon his coming over , all men who had land in ireland , were by proclamation remanded back out of england thither , and both the clergy and laity of this land , gave two years profits of all their lands and tythes , towards the maintenance of the war here : onely he suppressed some rebe●s in low leinster , and recovered the maritime parts of his earldome of vlster . but his best service did consist in the well-governing of his army , and in holding that famous parliament at kilkenny ; wherein the extortion of the souldier , and the degenerate manners of the english ( briefly spoken of before ) were discovered , and laws made to reform the same : which shall be declared more at large hereafter . the next lieutenant , transmitted with any forces out of england , was sir william winsore ; who in the 47 year of king edward the third , undertook the custody , not the conquest of this land ( for now the english made rather a defensive than an invasive war ) and withal , to defray the whole charge of the kingdom , for eleven thousand two hundred thirteen pounds , six shillings and eight pence , as appeareth by the indenture between him and the king , remaining of record in the tower of london . but it appeareth by that which froissard reporteth , that sir william winsore was so far from subduing the irish , as that himself reported , that he could never have access to understand and know their countries , albeit he had spent more time in the service of ireland , than any englishman then living . and here i may well take occasion , to shew the vanity of that which is reported in the story of walsingham , touching the revenue of the crown in ireland , in the time of king edward the third . for he setting forth the state of things there , in the time of king richard the second , writeth thus , cum rex angliae illusiris , edwardus tertius illic posuisset bancum suum atque judices , cum scaccario , percepit inde ad regalem fis●um annuatim triginta millia librarum ; modò propter absentiam ligeorum , & hostium potentiam , nihil inde venit : sed rex per annos singulos , de suo marsupio , terrae defensoribus solvit triginta millia marcarum , ad regni sui dedecus & fisci gravissimum detrimentum . if this writer had known , that the kings courts had been established in ireland , more than a hundred years before king edward the third was born , or had seen either the parliament rolls in england , or the records of the receipts and issues in ireland , he had not left this vain report to posterity . for both the benches and the exchequer were erected in the twelfth year of king john. and it is recorded in the parliament rolls of 21 of edward the third , remaining in the tower , that the commons of england made petition that it might be enquired , why the king received no benefit of his land of ireland , considering he possessed more there , than any of his ancestors had before him . now , if the king at that time , when there were no standing forces maintained there , had received thirty thousand pound yearly at his exchequer in ireland , he must needs have made profit by that land , considering that the whole charge of the kingdom in the 47 year of edward the third ( when the king did pay an army there ) did amount to no more than eleven thousand and two hundred pounds per annum , as appeareth by the contract of sir william winsore . besides , it is manifest by the pipe-rolls of that time , whereof many are yet preserved in breminghams tower ; and are of better credit than any monks story , that during the reign of king edward the third , the revenue of the crown of ireland , both certain and casual , did not rise unto ten thousand pound per annum , though the medium be taken of the best seven years that are to be found in that kings time . the like fable hath hollingshead touching the revenue of the earldom of vlster ; which ( saith he ) in the time of king richard the second was thirty thousand marks by the year ; whereas in truth , though the lordships of conaght and meath ( which were then parcel of the inheritance of the earl of vlster ) be added to the accompt , the revenue of that earldom came not to the third part of that he writeth . for the accompt of the profits of vlster yet remaining in breminghams tower , made by william fitz-warren , seneshal and farmour of the lands in vlster , seized into the kings hands after the death of walter de burgo , earl of vlster , from the fifth year of edward the third , until the eight year , do amount but to nine hundred and odde pounds , at what time the irishry had not made so great an invasion upon the earldome of vlster , as they had done in the time of king richard the second . as vain a thing it is , that i have seen written in an ancient manuscript , touching the customs of this realm in the time of king edward the third , that those duties in those days should yearly amount to ten thousand marks , which by mine own search and view of the records here , i can justly control . for upon the late reducing of this ancient inheritance of the crown , which had been detained in most of the port-towns of this realm , for the space of a hundred years and upwards , i took some pains ( according to the duty of my place ) to visit all the pipe-rolls , wherein the accompts of customs are contained , and found those duties answered in every port , for two hundred and fifty years together , but did not finde that at any time they did exceed a thousand pound per annum ; and no marvel , for the subsidy of pondage was not then known , and the greatest profit did arise by the cocquet of hides ; for wool , and wool-fels were ever of little value in this kingdom . but now again let us see how the martial affairs proceeded in ireland . sir william winsor continued his government till the latter end of the reign of king edward the third , keeping , but not enlarging , the english borders . in the beginning of the reign of king richard the second , the state of england began to think of the recovery of ireland : for then was the first statute made against absentes , commanding all such as had land in ireland , to return and reside thereupon , upon pain to forfeit two third parts of the profit thereof . again , this king , before himself intended to pass over , committed the government of this realm to such great lords successively , as he did most love and favour : first , to the earl of oxford , and chief minion , whom he created marquess of dublin , and duke of ireland : next to the duke of surry , his half brother : and lastly , to the lord mortimer , earl of march and vlster , his cosin and heir apparent . among the patent rolls in the tower , the ninth year of richard the second , we find five hundred men at arms at twelve pence a piece per diem , and a thousand archers at six pence a piece , per diem , appointed for the duke of ireland , super conquestu illius terrae per duos annos : for those are the words of that record ; but for the other two lieutenants , i do not find the certain numbers , whereof their armies did consist . but certain it is , that they were scarce able to defend the english borders , much less to reduce the whole island . for one of them ; namely , the earl of march , was himself slain upon the borders of meath ; for revenge of whose death , the king himself made his second voyage into ireland , in the last year of his reign . for his first voyage in the eighteenth year of his reign , ( which was indeed a voyage-royal ) was made upon another motive and occasion , which was this ; upon the vacancy of the empire , this king having married the king of bohemiahs daughter ( whereby he had great alliance in germany ) did by his ambassadors solicite the princes electors to choose him emperor : but another being elected , and his ambassadors returned , he would needs know of them the cause of his repulse in that competition : they told him plainly , that the princes of germany did not think him fit to command the empire , who was neither able to hold that which his ancestors had gained in france , nor to rule his insolent subjects in england , nor to master his rebellious people of ireland . this was enough to kindle in the heart of a young prince , a desire to perform some great enterprize . and therefore finding it no fit time to attempt france , he resolved to finish the conquest of ireland ; and to that end , he levied a mighty army , consisting of four thousand men at arms , and thirty thousand archers , which was a sufficient power to have reduced the whole island , if he had first broken the irish with a war , and after established the english laws among them , and not have been satisfied with their light submissions onely , wherewith , in all ages they have mockt and abused the state of england . but the irish lords knowing this to be a sure pollicy to dissolve the forces , which they were not able to resist ( for their ancestors had put the same trick and imposture upon king john , and king henry the second ) as soon as the king was arrived with his army , which he brought over under s. edwards banner ( whose name was had in great veneration amongst the irish ) they all made offer to submit themselves . whereupon the lord thomas mowbray , earl of nottingham , and marshal of england , was authorized by special commission , to receive the homages and oaths of fidelity , of all the irishry of leinster . and the king himself having received humble letters from oneal , ( wherein he stileth himself prince of the irishry in vlster , and yet acknowledgeth the king to be his soveraign lord , & perpetuus dominus hiberniae ) removed to droghedah , to accept the like submissions from the irish of vlster . the men of leinster , namely , mac murrogh , o byrne , o moore , o murrogh , o nolan , and the chief of the kinshelaghes , in an humble and solemn manner did their homages , and made their oaths of fidelity to the earl marshal , laying aside their girdles , their skeins and their caps , and falling down at his feet upon their knees . which when they had performed , the earl gave unto each of them , osculum pacis . besides they were bound by several indentures , upon great pains to be paid to the apostolick chamber , not only to continue loyal subjects , but that by a certain day prefixed , they and all their sword-men , should clearly relinquish and give up unto the king and his successors all their lands and possessions which they held in leinster , and ( taking with them only their moveable goods ) should serve him in his wars against his other rebels . in consideration whereof ; the king should give them pay and pensions during their lives , and bestow the inheritance of all such lands upon them , as they shou●d recover from the rebels , in any other part of the realm . and thereupon , a pension of eighty marks per annum , was granted to art ' mac murrogh , chief of the kavanaghes ; the enroulment whereof , i found in the white book of the exchequer here . and this was the effect of the service performed by the earl marshal , by vertue of his commission . the king in like manner received the submissions of the lords of vlster , namely ; o neal , o hanlon , mac donel , mac mahon , and others ; who with the like humility and ceremony , did homage and fealty to the kings own person ; the words of o neales homage , as they are recorded are not unfit , to be remembred : ego nelanus oneal senior tam pro meipso , quam pro filiis meis , & tota natione mea & parentelis meis , & pro omnibus subditis meis devenio ligeus homo vester , &c. and in the indenture between him and the king , he is not only bound to remain faithful to the crown of england , but to restore the bonaght of vlster , to the earl of vlster , as of right belonging to that earldom , and usurped among other things by the oneals . these indentures and submissions , with many other of the same kind , ( for there was not a chieftain or head of an irish sept , but submitted himself in one form or other ) the king himself caused to be inrolled and testified by a notary publick , and delivered the enrolments with his own hands to the bishop of salisbury , then lord treasurer of england , so as they have been preserved , and are now to be found in the office of the kings remembrance● there . with these humilities they satisfied the young king , and by their bowing and bending , avoided the present storm , and so brake that army , which was prepared to break them . for the king having accepted their submissions , received them in osculo pacis , feasted them , and given the honor of knighthood to divers of them , did break up and dissolve his army , and returned into england with much honor , and small profit , ( saith froissard . ) for though he had spent a huge mass of treasure in transporting his army , by the countenance whereof he drew on their submissions , yet did he not encrease his revenue thereby one sterling pound , nor enlarged the english borders the bredth of one acre of land ; neither did he extend the jurisdiction of his courts of justice one foot further than the english colonies , wherein it was used and exercised before . besides , he was no sooner returned into england , but those irish lords laid aside their masks of humility , and scorning the weak forces which the king had left behind him , began to infest the borders ; in defence whereof , the lord roger mortimer being then the kings lieutenant , and heir apparent to the crown of england , was slain , as i said before . whereupon the king being moved with a just appetite of revenge , came over again in person , in the 22. year of his reign , with as potent an army , as he had done before , with a full purpose to make a full conquest of ireland : he landed at waterford , and passing from thence to dublin , through the wast countries of the murroghes , kinshelaghes , cauanaghes , birnes , and tooles , his great army was much distressed for want of victuals and carriages , so as he performed no memorable thing in that journey ; only in the cavanaghes country , he cut and cleared the paces , and bestowed the honour of knighthood upon the lord henry , the duke of lancasters son , who was afterwards king henry the fifth , and so came to dublin , where entring into counsel how to proceed in the war , he received news out of england , of the arrival of the banished duke of lancaster at ravenspurgh , usurping the regal authority , and arresting and putting to death his principal officers . this advertisement suddainly brake off the kings purpose touching the prosecution of the war in ireland , and transported him into england , where shortly after he ended both his reign and his life . since whose time , until the 39. year of queen elizabeth , there was never any army sent ●ver of a competent strength or power to subdue the irish , but the war was made by the english colonies , only to defend their borders ; or if any forces were transmitted over , they were sent only to suppress the rebellions of such as were descended of english race , and not to enlarge our dominion over the irish . during the raign of king henry the fourth , the lord thomas of lancaster , the kings second son , was lieutenant of ireland , who for the first eight years of that kings reign , made the lord scroope , and others his deputies , who only defended the marches with forces levyed within the land. in the eighth year that prince came over in person with a smal retinue . so as wanting a sufficient power to attempt or perform any great service , he returned within seven moneths after into england . yet during his personal abode there , he was hurt in his own person within one mile of dublin , upon an incounter with the irish enemy . he took the submissions of o birne of the mountains , mac mahon , and o rely , by several indentures , wherein o birne doth covenant , that the king shall quietly enjoy the mannor of new-castle ; mac mahon accepteth a state in the ferny for life , rendering ten pound a year ; and o rely doth promise to perform such duties to the earl of march and vlster , as were contained in an indenture dated the 18. of richard the second . in the time of k. henry the fifth , there came no forces out of england . howbeit the lord furnival being the kings lieutenant , made a martial circuit , or journey , round about the marches and borders of the pale , and brought all the irish to the kings peace , beginning with the birnes , tooles , and cauanaghes on the south , and so passing to the moores , o connors , and o forals in the west ; and ending with the o relies , mac mahons , o neales , and o hanlons in the north. he had power to make them seek the kings peace , but not power to reduce them to the obedience of subjects : yet this was then held so great and worthy a service , as that the lords and chief gentlemen of the pale , made certificate thereof in french unto the king , being then in france : which i have seen recorded in the white booke , of the exchequer at dublin . howbeit his army was so ill paid and governed , as the english suffered more damage by the sess of his souldiers ( for now that monster ( coigne , and livery ) which the statute of kilkenny had for a time abolished , was risen again from hell ) than they gained profit or security , by abating the pride of their enemies for a time . during the minority of king henry the sixth , and for the space of seven or eight years after , the lieutenants and deputies made only a bordering war upon the irish , with small and scattered forces ; howbeit because there came no treasure out of england to pay the sou●dier , the poor english subject , did bear the burthen of the men of war in every place , and were thereby so weakned and impoverished , as the state of things in ireland , stood very desperately . whereupon , the cardinal of winchester ( who after the death of humfrey duke of glocester , did wholly sway the state of england ) being desirous to place the duke of somerset , in the regency of france , took occasion to remove richard duke of york from that government , and to send him into ireland , pretending that he was a most able and willing person , to perform service there , because he had a great inheritance of his own in ireland ; namely , the earldom of vlster , and the lordships of conaght and meth , by discent from lionel duke of clarence . we do not finde that this great lord came over with any numbers of waged souldiers , but it appeareth upon what good terms he took that government , by the covenants between the king and him , which are recorded and confirmed by act of parliament in ireland , and were to this effect . 1. that he should be the kings lieutenant of ireland , for ten years . 2. that to support the charge of that country , he should receive all the kings revenues there , both certain and casual , without accompt . 3. that he should be supplyed also with treasure out of england , in this manner ; he should have four thousand marks for the first year , whereof he should be imprested 2000. li. before hand ; and for the other nine years , he should receive 2000. li. per annum . 4. that he might let to ferm the kings lands , and place and dis-place all officers at his pleasure . 5. that he might levy and wage what numbers of men , he thought fit . 6. that he might make a deputy , and return at his pleasure . we cannot presume that this prince kept any great army on foot , as well because his means out of england were so mean , and those ill paid , as appeareth by his passionate letter written to the earl of salisbury his brother in law ; the copy whereof , is registred in the story of this time : as also because the whole land , except the english pale , and some part of the earldome of vlster , upon the sea-coasts , were possest by the irish . so as the revenue of the kingdom , which he was to receive , d●d amount to little . he kept the borders and marches of the pale with much adoe ; he held many parliaments , wherein sundry laws were made , for erecting of castles in louth , meath and kildare , to stop the incursions of the irishry . and because the souldiers for want of pay were sessed and laid upon the subjects against their wills ; upon the prayer and importunity of the commons , this extortion was declared to be high-treason . but to the end , that some means might be raised to nourish some forces for defence of the pale , by another act of parliament , every twenty pound land was charged with the furnishing and maintenance of one archer on horseback , besides , the native subjects of ireland seeing the kingdom utterly ruined , did pass in such numbers into england , as one law was made in england , to transmit them back again ; and another law made here to stop their passage in every port and creek . yet afterwards , the greatest parts of the nobility and gentry of meth , past over into england , and were slain with him at wakefield in yorkshire . lastly , the state of england was so farr from sending an army to subdue the irish at this time , as among the articles of grievances exhibited by the duke of yorke against king henry the sixth , this was one ; that divers lords about the king , had caused his highness to write letters unto some of his irish enemies ; whereby they were encouraged to attempt the conquest of the said land. which letters , the same irish enemies had sent unto the duke ; marvailing greatly , that such letters should be sent unto them , and speaking therein great shame of the realm of england . after this , when this great lord was returned into england , and making claim to the crown , began the war betwixt the two houses ; it cannot he conceived , but that the kingdom fell into a worse and weaker estate . when edward the fourth was setled in the kingdome of england , he made his brother george duke of clarence , lieutenant of ireland . this prince was born in the castle of dublin , during the government of his father the duke of york ; yet did he never pass over into this kingdom , to govern it in person , though he held the lieutenancy many years . but it is manifest , that king edward the fourth did not pay any army in ireland during his reign ; but the men of war did pay themselves by taking coigne and livery upon the country : which extortion grew so excesssive and intolerable , as the lord tiptoft being deputy to the duke of clarence , was enforced to execute the law upon the greatest earl in the kingdom ; namely , desmond ; who lost his head at droghedagh for this offence . howbeit , that the state might not seem utterly to neglect the defence of the pale , there was a fraternity of men at armes , called the brother-hood of st. george , erected by parliament , the 14. of edward the fourth , consisting of thirteen the most noble and worthy persons within the four shires . of the first foundation , were thomas earl of kildare , sir rowland eustace , lord of port-lester , and sir robert eustace for the county of kildare , robert lord of howth , the mayor of dublin , and sir robert dowdal , for the county of dublin ; the viscount of gormanston , edward plunket , senesha i of meth ; alexander plunket , and barnabe barnewale , for the county of meth , the mayor of droghedagh , sir lawrence taaffe , and richard bellewe , for the county of lowth . these and their successors , were to meet yearly upon st. georges day ; and to choose one of themselves to be captain of that brother-hood , for the next year to come . which captain , should have at his command , 120. archers on horseback , forty horsemen , and forty pages , to suppress out-laws and rebels . the wages of every archer , should be six pence , per diem ; and every horseman , five pence , per diem ; and four marks , per annum . and to pay these entertainments , and to maintain this new fraternity , there was granted unto them by the same act of parliament a subsidy of poundage , out of all marchandizes exported or imported thoroughout the realm ( hydes , and the goods of free-men of dublin and droghedah only excepted . ( these 200. men were all the standing forces that were then maintained in ireland . and as they were natives of the kingdom , so the kingdom it self did pay their wages without expecting any treasure out of england . but now the wars of lancaster and york being ended , and henry the seventh being in the actual and peaceable possession of the kingdom of england , let us see if this king did send over a competent army to make a perfect conquest of ireland . assuredly , if those two idols or counterfeits which were set up against him in the beginning of his reign , had not found footing and followers in this land , king henry the seventh had sent neither horse nor foot hither , but let the pale to the guard and defence of the fraternity of saint george , which stood till the tenth year of his reign . and therefore , upon the erection of the first idol , which was lambert the priests boy , he transmitted no forces , but sent over sir richard edgecomb , with commission to take an oath of allegiance of all the nobility , gentry , and citizens of this kingdom ; which service he performed fully , and made an exact return of his commission to the king. and immediately after that , the king sent for all the lords of parliament in this realm ; who repairing to his presence , were first in a kingly manner reproved by him ; for among other things he told them , that if their king were still absent from them , they would at length crown apes ; but at last entertained them , and dismissed them graciously . this course of clemency he held at first . but after , when perkin warbeck , who was set up , and fo●lowed chiefly by the giraldines in leinster , and citizens of cork in munster ; to suppress this counterfeit , the king sent over sir edward poynings , with an army ( as the histories call it ) which did not consist of a thousand men by the poll ; and yet it brought such terror with it , as all the adherents of perkin warbeck were scattered , and retired for succour into the irish countreys : to the marches whereof , he marched with his weak forces , but eft-soons returned , and held a parliament . wherein among many good laws , one act was made , that no subject should make any war or peace within the land , without the special licence of the kings lieutenant or deputy . a manifest argument , that at that time the bordering wars in this kingdom , were made altogether by voluntaries , upon their own head , without any pay or entertainment , and without any order or commission from the state. and though the lords and gentlemen of the pale , in the nineteenth of year of this kings reign , joyned the famous battel of knocktow in conaght ; wherein mac william with four thousand of the irish , and degenerate engglish were slain ; yet was not this journey made by warrant from the king , or upon his charge ( as it is expressed in the book of howth ) but onely upon a private quarrel of the earl of kildare : so loosly were the martial affairs of ireland carried , during the reign of king henry the seventh . in the time of king henry the eighth , the earl of surrey , lord admiral , was made lieutenant ; and though he were the greatest captain of the english nation then living ; yet brought he with him rather an honorable guard for his person , than a competent army to recover ireland . for he had in his retinue , two hundred tall yeomen of the kings guard : but because he wanted means to perform any great action , he made means to return the sooner : yet in the mean time he was not idle , but passed the short time he spent here , in holding a parliament , and divers journeys against the rebels of leinster ; insomuch as he was hurt in his own person , upon the borders of leix . after the revocation of this honourable personage , king henry the eighth , sent no forces into ireland , till the rebellion of the giraldines , which hapned in the seven and twentieth year of his reign . then sent he over sir william skevington , with five hundred men , onely to quench that fire , and not to enlarge the border , or to rectifie the government . this deputy dyed in the midst of the service , so as the lord leonard gray was sent to finish it : who arriving with a supply of two hundred men , or thereabouts , did so prosecute the rebels , as the lord garret their chieftain , and his five uncles , submitted themselves unto him , and were by him transmitted into england . but this service being ended , that active nobleman with his little army , and some aids of the pale , did oftentimes repel o neal , and o donel , attempting the invasion of the civil shires , and at last made that prosperous fight at belahoo , on the confines of meath ; the memory whereof , is yet famous , as that he defeated ( well-nigh ) all the power of the north ; and so quieted the border for many years . hitherto then it is manifest , that since the last transfretation of king richard the second , the crown of england never sent over , either numbers of men , or quantities of treasure , sufficient to defend the small territory of the pale , much less to reduce that which was lost , or to finish the conquest of the whole island . after this , sir anthony s. leger , was made chief governor , who performed great service in a civil course , as shall be expressed hereafter . but sir edward bellingham , who succeeded him , proceeded in a martial course against the irishry , and was the first deputy , from the time of king edward the third , till the reign of king edward the sixth , that extended the border beyond the limits of the english pale , by beating and breaking the moors and connors , and building the forts of leix and offaly . this service he performed with six hundred horse ; the monethly charge whereof , did arise to seven hundred and seventy pound . and four hundred foot , whose pay did amount to four hundred and forty six pound per mensem ; as appeareth upon the treasurers accompt , remaining in the office of the kings remembrancer in england . yet were not these countreys so fully recovered by this deputy , but that thomas earl of sussex did put the last hand to this work ; and rooting out these two rebellious septs , planted english colonies in their rooms , which in all the tumultuous times since , have kept their habitations , their loyalty , and religion . and now are we come to the time of queen elizabeth , who sent over more men , and spent more treasure to save and reduce the land of ireland , than all her progenitors since the conquest . during her reign , there arose three notorious and main rebellions , which drew several armies out of england . the first of shane o neal ; the second , of desmond ; the last of tyrone ; ( for the particular insurrections of the viscount baltinglass , and sir edmund butler ; the moors ; the cavanaghes ; the birnes , and the bourkes of conaght , were all suppressed by the standing forces here . ) to subdue shane o neal , in the height of his rebellion , in the year , 1566. captain randal transported a regiment of one thousand men into vlster , and planted a garrison at loughfo●le . before the coming of which supply ( viz. ) in the year 1565. the list of the standing army of horse and foot , eng●ish and irish , did not exceed the number of twelve hundred men , as appeareth by the treasurers accompt of ireland , now remaining in the exchequer of england . with these forces did sir henry sidney ( then lord deputy ) march into the farthest parts of tirone , and joyning with captain randal , did much distress ( but not fully defeat ) o neal , who was afterwards slain upon a meer accident by the scots , and not by the queens army . to prosecute the wars in munster , against desmond and his adherents , there were transmitted out of england at several times , three or four thousand men , which together , with the standing garrisons , and some other supplies raised here , made at one time , an army of six thousand and upwards : which with the vertue and valour of arthur lord gray , and others the commanders , did prove a sufficient power to extinguish that rebellion . but that being done , it was never intended that these forces should stand , till the rest of the kingdom were settled and reduced : onely , that army which was brought over by the earl of essex , lord lieutenant and governor general of this kingdom , in the nine and thirtieth year of queen elizabeth , to suppress the rebellion of tirone , which was spread universally over the whole realm ; that army , i say ( the command whereof , with the government of the realm , was shortly after transferred to the command of the lord montjoy , afterwards earl of devonshire , who with singular wisdom , valour , and industry , did prosecute and finish the war ) did consist of such good men of war , and of such numbers , being well-nigh twenty thousand by the poll , and was so royally supplied and paid , and continued in full strength so long a time , as that it brake and absolutely subdued all the lords and chieftains of the irishry , and degenerate or rebellious english . whereupon , the multitude , who ever loved to be followers of such as could master and defend them , admiring the power of the crown of england , being bray'd ( as it were ) in a morter , with the sword , famine , and pestilence altogether , submitted themselves to the english government , received the laws and magistrates , and most gladly embraced the kings pardon and peace in all parts of the realm , with demonstration of joy and comfort ; which made indeed , an entire , perfect , and final conquest of ireland . and though upon the finishing of the war , this great army was reduced to less numbers , yet hath his majestie in his wisdom , thought it fit , still to maintain such competent forces here , as the law may make her progress and circuit about the realm , under the protection of the sword ( as virgo , the figure of justice , is by leo in the zodiack ) until the people have perfectly learned the lesson of obedience , and the conquest be established in the hearts of all men . thus far have i endeavoured to make it manifest , that from the first adventure and attempt of the english ( to subdue and conquer ireland ) until the last war with tyrone , ( which as it was royally undertaken , so it was really prosecuted to the end ) there hath been four main defects in the carriage of the martial affairs here . first , the armies for the most part , were too weak for a conquest : secondly , when they were of a competent strength ( as in both the journeys of richard the second ) they were too soon broken up and dissolved : thirdly , they were ill paid : and fourthly , they were ill governed , which is always a consequent of ill payment . but why was not this great work performed , before the latter end of queen elizabeths reign , considering that many of the kings her progenitors , were as great captains as any in the world , and had elsewhere larger dominions and territories ? first , who can tell whether the divine wisdom , to abate the glory of those kings , did not reserve this work to be done by a queen , that it might rather appear to be his own immediate work ? and yet for her greater honor , made it the last of her great actions , as it were , to crown all the rest ? and to the end , that a secure peace might settle the conquest , and make it firm and perpetual to posterity ; caused it to be made in that fulness of time , when england and scotland became to be united under one imperial crown ; and when the monarchy of great britany was in league and amity with all the world. besides , the conquest at this time , doth perhaps fulfil that prophesie , wherein the four great prophets of ireland do concur , as it is recorded by giraldus cambrensis , to this effect , that after the first invasion of the english , they should spend many ages , in crebris conflictibus , longoque certamine & multis caedibus . and that , omnes fere anglici ab hibernia turbabuntur : nihilominus orientalia maritima semper obtinebunt ; sed vix paulo antè diem judicii ; plenam anglorum populo victoriam compromittunt ; insula hibernica de mari usque ad mare de toto subacta & incastellata . if s. patrick and the rest did not utter this prophesie ; certainly giraldus is a prophet , who hath reported it . to this , we may adde the prophesie of merlin , spoken of also by giraldus , sextus moenia hiberniae subvertet , & regiones in regnum redigentur . which is performed in the time of king james the sixth ; in that all the paces are cleared , and places of fastness laid open , which are the proper walls and castles of the irish , as they were of the british in the time of agricola ; and withall , the irish countreys being reduced into counties , make but one entire and undivided kingdom . but to leave these high and obscure causes , the plain and manifest truth is , that the kings of england in all ages , had been powerful enough to make an absolute conquest of ireland , if their whole power had been employed in that enterprize : but still there arose sundry occasions , which divided and diverted their power some other way . let us therefore take a brief view of the several impediments which arose in every kings time , since the first overture of the conquest , whereby they were so employed and busied , as they could not intend the final conquest of ireland . king henry the second , was no sooner returned out of ireland , but all his four sons conspired with his enemies , rose in arms , and moved war against him , both in france , and in england . this unnatural treason of his sons , did the king express in an emblem painted in his chamber at winchester , wherein was an eagle , with three eglets tiring ●n her breast ; and the fourth pecking at one of her eyes . and the troth is , these ungracious practises of his sons , did impeach his journey to the holy-land , which he had once vowed , vexed him all the days of his life , and brought his gray hairs with sorrow to the grave . besides , this king having given the lordship of ireland to john his youngest son ● his ingratitude afterwards made the king careless to settle him in the quiet and absolute possession of that kingdom . richard the first , which succeeded henry the second in the kingdom of england , had less reason to bend his power towards the conquest of this land , which was given in perpetuity to the lord john his brother . and therefore , went he in person to the holy war ; by which journey , and his captivity in austria , and the heavy ransome that he paid for his liberty , he was hindred , and utterly disabled to pursue any so great an action as the conquest of ireland ; and after his delivery and return , hardly was he able to maintain a frontier war in normandy , where by hard fortune he lost his life . king john his brother , had greatest reason to prosecute the war of ireland , because the lordship thereof was the portion of his inheritance , given unto him , when he was called john sans-terre . therefore , he made two journeys thither ; one , when he was earl of morton , and very young , about twelve years of age ; the other , when he was king , in the twelfth year of his reign . in the the first , his own youth , and his youthful company , roboams counsellors , made him hazard the loss of all that his father had won . but in the latter , he shewed a resolution to recover the entire kingdom , in taking the submissions of all the irishry , and settling the estates of the english , and giving order for the building of many castles and forts , whereof some remain until this day . but he came to the crown of england , by a defeasible title , so as he was never well settled in the hearts of the people , which drew him the sooner back out of ireland into england : where shortly after , he fell into such trouble and distress ; the clergy cursing him on the one side ; and the barons rebelling against him on the other , as he became so far unable to return to the conquest of ireland , as besides the forfeiture of the territories in france , he did in a manner lose both the kingdoms . for he surrendred both to the pope , and took them back again to hold in fee-farm ; which brought him into such hatred at home , and such contempt abroad , as all his life time after , he was possest rather with fear of loosing his head , than with hope of reducing the kingdom of ireland . during the infancy of henry the third , the barons were troubled in expelling the french , whom they had drawn in against king john. but this prince was no sooner come to his majority , but the barons raised a long and cruel war against him . into these troubled waters , the bishops of rome did cast their nets , and drew away all the wealth of the realm by their provisions , and infinite exactions , whereby the kingdom was so impoverished , as the king was scarce able to feed his own houshold and train , much less to nourish armies for the conquest of forraign kingdoms . and albeit he had given this land to the lord edward his eldest son , yet could not that worthy prince ever find means or opportunity to visit this kingdom in person . for , from the time he was able to bear armes , he served continually against the barons , by whom he was taken prisoner at the battel of lewes . and when that rebellion was appeased , he made a journey to the holy land , ( an employment which in those dayes diverted all christian princes from performing any great actions in europe ) from whence he was returned , when the crown of england descended upon him . this king edward the first , who was a prince adorned with all vertues , did in the managing of his affairs , shew himself a right good husband , who being owner of a lordship ill husbanded , doth first enclose and mannure his demeasnes near his principal house , before he doth improve his wasts afar off . therefore , he began first to establish the common-wealth of england , by making many excellent laws , and instituting the form of publick justice , which remaineth to this day . next , he fully subdued and reduced the dominion of wales ; then by his power and authority he setled the kingdom of scotland ; and lastly , he sent a royal army into cascoigne , to recover the dutchy of aquitain . these four great actions , did take up all the raign of this prince . and therefore , we find not in any record , that this king transmitted any forces into ireland ; but on the other side , we find it recorded both in the annals , and in the pipe-rolls of this kingdom , that three several armies were raised of the kings subjects in ireland , and transported one into scotland , another into wales ; and the third into cascoigne ; and that several aids were levyed here , for the setting forth of those armies . the son and successor of this excellent prince , was edward the second , who much against his will sent one small army into ireland ; not with a purpose to finish the conquest , but to guard the person of his minion , piers gaveston , who being banished out of england , was made lieutenant of ireland , that so his exile might seem more honourable . he was no sooner arrived here , but he made a journey into the mountains of dublin ; brake and subdued the rebels there ; built new-castle in the birnes country , and repaired castlekeuin ; and after passed up into mounster and thomond , performing every where great service , with much vertue and valour . but the king , who could not live without him , revokt him within less than a year . after which time the invasion of the scots , and rebellion of the barons , did not only disable this king to be a conqueror , but deprived him both of his kingdom and life . and when the scottish nation had over-run all this land under the conduct of edw. le bruce ( who stiled himself king of ireland ) england was not then able to send either men or mony to save this kingdom . only roger de mortimer then justice of ireland , arrived at youghall , cum 38. milit . saith friar clinn in his annals . but bremingham , verdon , stapleton , and some other private gentlemen , rose out with the commons of meth and vriel , and at fagher near dondalke , a fatal place to the enemies of the crown of england , overthrew a potent army of them . et sic ( saith the red book of the exchequer , wherein the victory was briefly recorded ) per manus communis populi , & dextram dei deliberatur populus dei a servitute machinata & praecogitata . in the time of king edward the third , the impediments of the conquest of ireland , are so notorious , as i shall not need to express them ; to wit , the war which the king had with the realms of scotland , and of france ; but especially the wars of france , which were almost continual for the space of forty years . and indeed , france was a fairer mark to shoot at , than ireland , and could better reward the conqueror . besides , it was an inheritance newly descended upon the king ; and therefore , he had great reason to bend all his power , and spend all his time and treasure in the recovery thereof . and this is the true cause why edward the third sent no army into ireland , till the 36. year of his reign , when the lord lionel brought over a regiment of 1500. men , as is before expressed : which that wise and warlick prince did not transmit as a competent power , to make a full conquest , but as an honorable retinue for his son ; and withall , to enable him to recover some part of his earldom of vlster , which was then over-run with the irish . but on the other part , though the english colonies were much degenerate in this kings time , and had lost a great part of their possessions , yet lying at the siege of callis , he sent for a supply of men out of ireland , which were transported under the conduct of the earl of kildare , and fulco de l● freyn , in the year 1347. and now are we come again to the time of king richard the second ; who for the first ten years of his reign , was a minor , and much disquieted with popular commotions ; and after that , was more troubled with the factions that arose between his minions , and the princes of the blood . but at last , he took a resolution to finish the conquest of this realm . and to that end he made two royal voyages hither . upon the first , he was deluded by the faigned submissions of the irish ; but upon the latter , when he was fully bent to prosecute the war with effect , he was diverted and drawn from hence by the return of the duke of lancaster , into england , and the general defection of the whole realm . as for henry the fourth , he being an intruder upon the crown of england , was hindered from all forraign actions , by sundry conspiracies and rebellions at home , moved by the house of northumberland in the north ; by the dukes of surrey and exceter in the south ; and by owen glendour in wales ; so as he spent his short raign in establishing and setling himself in the quiet possession of england , and had neither leisure nor opportunity to undertake the final conquest of ireland . much less could king henry the fifth perform that work : for in the second year of his reign , he transported an army into france , for the recovery of that kingdom , and drew over to the siege of harflew , the prior of kilmaineham , with 1500. irish . in which great action , this victorious prince , spent the rest of his life . and after his death , the two noble princes his brothers , the duke of bedford and glocester , who during the minority of king henry the sixth , had the government of the kingdoms of england and france , did employ all their counsels and endeavours to perfect the conquest of france , the greater part whereof being gained by henry the fifth , and retained by the duke of bedford , was again lost by king henry the sixth ; a manifest argument of his disability to finish the conquest of this land. but when the civil war between the two houses was kindled , the kings of england were so far from reducing all the irish under their obedience , as they drew out of ireland to strengthen their parties , all the nobility and gentry descended of english race , which gave opportunity to the irishry , to invade the lands of the english colonies , and did hazard the loss of the whole kingdom . for , though the duke of york did , while he lived in ireland , carry himself respectively towards all the nobility , to win the general love of all , bearing equal favour to the giraldines and the butlers ( as appeared at the christning of george duke of clarence , who was born in the castle of dublin , where he made both the earl of kildare , and the earl of ormonde his gossips : ) and having occasion divers times to pass into england ; he left the sword with kildare at one time , and with ormonde at another : and when he lost his life at wakefield , there were slain with him divers of both those families . yet afterwards , th●se two noble houses of ireland , did severally follow the two royal houses of england ; the giraldines adhering to the house of york , and the butlers to the house of lancaster . whereby it came to pass , that not only the principal gentlemen of both those sur-names , but all their friends and dependants did pass into england , leaving their lands and possessions to be over-run by the irish . these impediments , or rather impossibilities of finishing the conquest of ireland , did continue till the wars of lancaster and york were ended : which was about the twelfth year of king edward the fourth . thus hitherto the kings of england were hindred from finishing this conquest by great and apparent impediments : henry the second , by the rebellion of his sons : king john , henry the third , and edward the second , by the barons wars : edward the first by his wars in wales and scotland : edward the third , and henry the fifth , by the wars of france : richard the second , henry the fourth , henry the sixth , and edward the fourth , by domestick contention for the crown of england it self . but the fire of the civil war being utterly quenched , and king edward the fourth setled in the peaceable possession of the crown of england , what did then hinder that war●ick prince from reducing of ireland also ? first the whole realm of england was miserably wasted , depopulated and impoverished by the late civil dissentions ; yet as soon as it had recovered it self with a little peace and rest , this king raised an army and revived the title of france again : howbeit this army was no sooner transmitted and brought into the field , but the two kings also were brought to an interview . whereupon , partly by the fair and white promises of lewis the 11. and partly by the corruption of some of king edwards minions , the english forces were broken and dismissed , and king edward returned into england , where shortly after find●ng himself deluded and abused by the french , he dyed with melancholy , and vexation of spirit . i omit to speak of richard the usurper , who never got the quiet possession of england , but was cast out by henry the seventh within two years and a half , after his usurpation . and for king henry the seventh himself , though he made that happy union of the two houses , yet for more than half the space of his reign , there were walking spirits of the house of yorke , as well in ireland as in england , which he could not conjure down , without expence of some bloud and treasure . but in his later times , he did wholly study to improve the revenues of the crown in both kingdomes ; with an intent to provide means for some great action which he intended : which doubtless , if he had lived , would rather have proved a journey into france , than into ireland , because in the eyes of all men , it was a fairer enterprize . therefore king henry the eighth , in the beginning of his raign , made a voyage royal into france ; wherein he spent the greatest part of that treasure , which his father had frugally reserved ; perhaps for the like purpose . in the latter end of his reign , he made the like journey , being enricht with the revenues of the abby lands . but in the middle time between these two attempts , the great alteration which he made in the state ecclesiastical , caused him to stand upon his guard at home ; the pope having sollicited all the princes of christendom to revenge his quarrel in that behalf . and thus was king henry the eighth , detained and diverted from the absolute reducing of the kingdom of ireland . lastly , the infancy of king edward the sixth , and the coverture of qu. mary ( which are both non abilities in the law ) did in fact disable them to accomplish the conquest of ireland . so as now this great work did remain to be performed by queen elizabeth ; who though she were diverted by suppressing the open rebellion in the north ; by preventing divers secret conspiracies against her person ; by giving aids to the french , and states of the low-countries ; by maintaining a naval war with spain , for many years together : yet the sundry rebellions , joyned with forraign invasions upon this island , whereby it was in danger to be utterly lost , and to be possessed by the enemies of the crown of england , did quicken her majesties care for the preservation thereof ; and to that end , from time to time during her reign , she sent over such supplies of men and treasure , as did suppress the rebels , and repell the invaders . howbeit , before the transmitting of the last great army , the forces sent over by queen elizabeth , were not of sufficient power to break and subdue a●l the irishry , and to reduce and reform the whole kingdom ; but when the general defection came , which came not without a special providence for the final good of that kingdom ( though the second causes thereof , were the faint prosecution of the war against tyrone ; the practises of priests and jesuites , and the expectation of the aids from spain ) then the extream peril of loosing the kingdom ; the dishonour and danger that might thereby grow to the crown of england ; together with a just disdain conceived by that great minded queen , that so wicked and ungratefull a rebell should prevail against her , who had ever been victorious against all her enemies , did move , and almost enforce her to send over that mighty army : and did withall enflame the hearts of the subiects of england , chearfully to contribute towards the maintaining thereof , a million of sterling pounds at least : which was done with a purpose only to save , and not to gain a kingdom ; to keep and retain that soveraignty , which the crown of england had in ireland ( such as it was ) and not to recover a more absolute dominion . but , as it faileth out many times , that when a house is on fire , the owner to save it from burning , pulleth it down to the ground ; but that pulling down , doth give occasion of building it up again in a better form : so these last wars , which to save the kingdome did utterly break and destroy this people , produced a better effect than was at first expected . for , every rebellion , when it is supprest , doth make the subject weaker and the prince stronger . so , this general revolt , when it was overcome , did produce a general obedience and reformation of all the irishry , which ever before had been disobedient and unreformed ; and thereupon ensued the final and full conquest of ireland . and thus much may suffice to be spoken touching the defects in the martial affairs and the weak and faint prosecution of the war ; and of the several impediments or employments , which did hinder or divert every king of england successively , from reducing ireland to their absolute subjection . it now remaineth , that we shew the defects of the civil policy and government , which gave no less impediment to the perfection of this conquest . the first of that kind , doth consist in this , that the crown of england did not from the beginning give laws to the irishry ; whereas to give laws to a conquered people , is the principal mark and effect of a perfect conquest . for , albeit king henry the second , before his return out of ireland , held a council or parliament at lissemore ; vbi leges angliae ab omnibus sunt gratanter receptae , & juratoria cautione praestita confirmatae , as matth. paris writeth . and though king john in the twelfth year of his reign , did establish the english laws and customes here , and placed sheriffs and other ministers to rule and govern the people , according to the law of england : and to that end , ipse duxit secum viros discretos & legis peritos , quorum communi consilio scatuit & praecepit , leges anglicanas teneri in hibernia , &c. as we finde it recorded among the patent rolls in the tower , 11 hen. 3. m. 3. though likewise , king henry the third did grant and transmit the like charter of liberties to his subjects of ireland , as himself and his father had granted to the subjects of england , as appeareth by another record in the tower , 1 hen. 3. pat. m. 13. and afterwards , by a special writ , did command the lord justice of ireland , quod convocatis archiepiscopis , episcopis , comitibus , baronibus , &c. coram : eis legi faceret chartam regis johannis ; quam ipse legi fecit & jurari à magnatibus hiberniae , de legibus & constitutionibus angliae observandis , & quod leges illas teneant & observent , 12 hen. 3. claus . m. 8. and after that again , the same king by letters patents under the great seal of england , did confirm the establishment of the english laws made by king john , in this form , quia pro communi utilitate terrae hiberniae , ac unitate terrarum , de communi consilio provisum sit , quod omnes leges & consuetudines quae in regno angliae tenentur , in hiberniâ teneantur , & eadem terra ejusdem legibus subjaceat , ac per easdem regatur , sicut johannes rex , cum illic esset , statuit & firmiter mandavit ; ideo volumus quod omnia brevia de communi jure , quae currunt in anglia , similiter currant in hibernia , sub novo sigillo nostro , &c. teste meipso apud woodstock , &c. which confirmation is found among the patent rolls in the tower , anno 30. hen. 3. notwithstanding , it is evident by all the records of this kingdom , that onely the english colonies , and some fews septs of the irishry , which were enfranchised by special charters , were admitted to the benefit and protection of the laws of england ; and that the irish generally , were held and reputed aliens , or rather enemies to the crown of england ; insomuch , as they were not onely disabled to bring any actions , but they were so far out of the protection of the law , as it was often adjudg'd no felony to kill a meer irishman in the time of peace . that the meer irish were reputed aliens , appeareth by sundry records ; wherein judgement is demanded , if they shall be answered in actions brought by them : and likewise , by the charters of denization , which in all ages were purchased by them . in the common plea rolls of 28 edward the third ( which are yet preserved in breminghams tower ) this case is adjudged . simon neal brought an action of trespass against william newlagh for breaking his close in clandalkin , in the county of dublin ; the defendant doth plead , that the plaintiff is hibernicus , & non de quinque sanguinibus ; and demandeth judgement , if he shall be answered . the plaintiff replieth , quod ipse est de quinque sanguinibus ( viz , ) de les oneiles de vlton , qui per concessionem progenitorum domini regis ; libertatibus anglicis gaudere debent & utuntur , & proliberis hominibus reputantur . the defendant rejoyneth , that the plaintiff is not of the oneals of vlster , nec de quinque sanguinibus . and thereupon they are at issue . which being found for the plaintiff , he had judgement to recover his damages against the defendant . by this record it appeareth , that five principal bloods , or septs , of the irishry , were by special grace enfranchised and enabled to take benefit of the laws of england ; and that the nation of ô neals in vlster , was one of the five . and in the like case , 3 of edward the second , among the plea-rolls in breminghams tower : all the five septs or bloods , qui gaudeant lege anglicana quoad brevia portanda , are expressed , namely , oneil de vltonia ; o molaghlin de minia ; o connoghor de connacia ; o brin de thotmonia ; & mac murrogh de lagenia : and yet i find , that o neal himself long after , ( viz. ) in 20 edw. 4. upon his marriage with a daughter of the house of kildare ( to satisfie the friends of the lady ) was made denizen by a special act of parliament , 20 edw. 4. c. 8. again , in the 29 of edw , 1. before the justices in eire at droghedah , thomas le botteler brought an action of detinue against robert de almain , for certain goods . the defendant pleadeth , quod non tenetur ei inde respondere , eo quod est hibernicus , & non de libero sanguine . et praedictus thomas dicit , quod anglicus est , & hoc petit quod inquiratur per patriam , ideo fiat inde jurat . &c. jurat . dicunt super sacrament suum , quod praedict thomas anglicus est , ideo consideratum est quod recuperet , &c. these two records among many other , do sufficiently shew , that the irish were disabled to bring any actions at the common law. touching their denizations , they were common in every kings reign , since henry the second , and were never out of use , till his majestie that now is , came to the crown . among the pleas of the crown of 4. edw. 2. we finde a confirmation made by edward the first , of a charter of denization granted by henry the second , to certain oostmen , or easterlings , who were inhabitants of waterford long before henry the second attempted the conquest of ireland . edwardus dei gratia , &c. justitiario suo hiberniae salutem : quia per inspectionem chartae dom. hen. reg. filii imperatricis quondam dom. hiberniae proavi nostri nobis constat , quod ostmanni de waterford legem anglicorum in hibernia habere , & secundum ipsam legam judicari & deduci debènt : vobis mandamus quod gillicrist mac gilmurrii , willielmum & johannem mac gilmurrii & alios ostmannos de civitate & comitatu waterford , qui de predictis ostmannis praedict . dom. henr. proavi nostri originem duxerunt , legem anglicorum in partibus illis juxta tenorem chartae praedict . habere , & eos secundum ipsam legem ( quantum in nobis est , deduci faciatis ) donec aliud de consilio nostro inde duxerimus ordinand . in cujus rei , &c. teste meipso apud acton burnell . 15. octobris anno regni nostri undecimo . again , among the patent rolls of 1 edward the fourth , remaining in the chancery here , we finde a patent of denization granted the 13 of edward the first , in these words , edwardus dei gratia , rex angliae , dom. hiberniae , dux aquitaniae , &c. omnibus ballivis & fidelibus suis in hibernia , salutem : volentes christophero filio donaldi hibernico gratiam sacere specialem , concedimus pro nobis & haeredibus nostris , quod idem christopherus hanc habeat libertatem , ( viz. ) quod ipse de catero in hibernia utatur legibus anglicanis , & prohibemus ne quisquam contra hanc concessionem nostram dictum christopherum vexet in aliquo vel perturbet . in cujus rei testimonium , &c. teste meipso apud westm . 27. die junii , anno regni nostri , 13. in the same roll , we finde another charter of denization , granted in the first of edward the fourth , in a more larger and beneficial form . edw. dei gratia , &c. omnibus ballivis , &c. salutem . sciatis quod nos volentes willielmum o bolgir capellanum de hibernica natione existentem , favore prosequi gratioso , de gratia nostra speciali , &c. concessimus eidem willielmo , quod ipse liberi sit status , & liberae conditionis , & ab omni servitute hibernicâ liber & quietus , & quod ipse legibus anglicanis in omnibus & per omnia uti possit & gaudere , eodem modo , quo homines anglici infra dictam terram eas habent , & iis gaudent & utuntur , quodque ipse respondeat , & respondeatur , in quibuscumque curiis nostris : ac omnimod . terras , tenementa , redditus , & servitia perquirere possit sibi & haere dibus suis imperpetuum , &c. if i should collect out of the records , all the charters of this kind , i should make a volume thereof ; but these may suffice to shew , that the meer irish were not reputed free subjects ; nor admitted to the benefit of the laws of england , until they had purchased charters of denization . lastly , the meer irish were not onely accounted aliens , but enemies ; and altogether out of the protection of the law ; so as it was no capital offence to kill them ; and this is manifest by many records . at a gaol-delivery at waterford , before john wogan lord justice of ireland , the fourth of edward the second , we finde it recorded among the pleas of the crown of that year , quod robertus le wayleys rectatus de morte johannis filii juor mac gillemory felonice per ipsum interfecti , &c venit & bene cognovit quod praedictum johannem interfecit : dicit tamon quod peri● ejus interfectionem feloniam committere non potuit , quia dicit , quod praedictus johannes fuit purus hibernicus , & non de libero sanguine , &c. et cum dominus dicti johannis ( cujus hibernicus idem johannes suit ) die quo interfectus fuit , solutionem pro ipso johanne hibernico suo sic interfecto petere voluerit , ipse robertus paratus erat ad respondend ' de solutione praedict prout justitia suadebit . et super hoc venit quidam johannes le poer , & dicit pro domino rege , quod praedict . iohannes filius iuor mac gillemory , & antecessores sui de cognonime praedict . à tempore quo dominus henricus filius imperatricis , quondam dominus hiberniae , tritavus domini regis nunc , fuit in hibernia , legem anglicorum in hibernia usque ad hunc diem haberc , & secundum ipsam legem judicari & deduci debent . and so pleaded the charter of denization granted to the oostmen recited before ; all which appeareth at large in the said record : wherein we may note , that the killing of an irish man , was not punished by our law , as man-slaughter , which is fellony , and capital , ( for our law did neither protect his life , nor revenge his death ) but by a fine or pecuniary punishment , which is called an erick , according to the brehon , or irish law. again , at a gaol-delivery , before the same lord justice at limerick , in the roll of the same year , we finde , that willielmus filius rogeri rectatus de morre rogeri de canteton felonice per ipsum interfecti , venit & dicit , quod feloniam per interfectionem praedictam committere non potuit , quia dicit quod praedict . rogerus hibernic . est , & non de libero sanguine ; dicit etiam quod praedict . rogerus fuit de cognomine de ohederiscal & non de cognonime de cantetons , & de hoc ponit se super patriam , &c. et jurati dicunt super sacram. suum , quod praedictus rogerus hibernicus fuit & de cognonime de ohederiscal & pro hibernico habebatur tota vita sua : ideo praedict . willielmus quoad feloniam praedict . quietus . sed quia praedictus rogerus ottederiscal fuit hibernicus domini regis , praedict . willielmus recommittatur gaolae , quousque plegios invenerit de quinque marcis solvendis domino regi pro solutione praedicti hibernici . but on the other side , if the jury had found , that the party slain had been of english race and nation , it had been adjudged fellony ; as appeareth by a record of 29 of edward the first , in the crown-office here . coram waltero lenfant & sociis suis justitiariis itinerantibus apud drogheda in comitatu louth . johannes laurens indictat . de morte galfridi douedal venit & non dedicit mortem praedictam : sed dicit quod praedict . galfridus fuit hibernicus , & non de libero sanguine , & d● bono & malo ponit se super patriam , &c. et jurat . dicunt super sacram. suum quod praedict . galfridus anglicus fuit , & ideo praedict . johannes culpabilis e●● de morte galfridi praedict . ideo suspend catalla 13. s. unde hugo de clinton vic● com . respondet . hence it is , that in all the parliament rolls which are extant fro● the fortieth year of edward the third when the statutes of kilkenny were enacted , till the reign of king henry the eighth , we finde the degenerate and disobedient english , called rebels ; but the irish which were not in the kings peace , are called enemies . statute kilkenny . c. 1.10 . and 11.11 hen. 4. c. 24.10 hen. 6. c. 1.18.18 hen. 6. c. 4.5 edw. 4. c. 6.10 hen. 7. c. 17. all these statutes speak of english rebels , and irish enemies ; as if the irish had never been in condition of subjects , but always out of the protection of the law ; and were indeed in worse case than aliens of any forreign realm that was in amity with the crown of england . for , by divers heavy penal laws , the english were forbidden to marry , to foster , to make gossips with the irish ; or to have any trade or commerce in their markets or fairs ; nay , there was a law made no longer since , than the 28 year of henry the eighth , that the english should not marry with any person of irish blood , though he had gotten a charter of denization , unless he had done both homage and fealty to the king in the chancery , and were also bound by recognizance with sureties , to continue a loyal subject . whereby it is manifest , that such as had the government of ireland under the crown of england , did intend to make a perpetual separation and enmity between the english and the irish ; pretendng ( no doubt ) that the english should in the end root cut the irish ; which the english not being able to do , did cause a perpetual war between the nations : which continued four hundred and odde years , and would have lasted to the worlds end ; if in the end of queen elizabeths reign , the irishry had not been broken and conquered by the sword : and since the beginning of his majesties reign , had not been protected and governed by the law. but perhaps , the irishry in former times did wilfully refuse to be subject to the laws of england , and would not be partakers of the benefit thereof , though the crown of england did desire ; and therefore , they were reputed aliens , out-laws , and enemies . assuredly , the contrary doth appear , as well by the charters of denization purchased by the irish in all ages , as by a petition preferred by them to the king , anno 2 edward the third : desiring , that an act might pass in ireland , whereby all the irishry might be inabled to use and enjoy the laws of england , without purchasing of particular denizations : upon which petition , the king directed a special writ to the lord justice ; which is found amongst the close-rolls in the tower of london , in this form ; rex dilecto & fideli suo johanni darcile mepieu justic . suo hiberniae , salutem . ex parte quorundam hominum de hibernia nobis extitit supplicatum , ut per statutum inde faciendum concedere velimus , quod omnes hibernici qui voluerint , legibus utatur anglicanis : ita quod necesse non habeant super hoc chartas alienas à nobis impetrare : nos igitur certiorari volentes si sine alieno praejudicio praemissis annuere valeamus , vobis mandamus quod voluntatem magnatum terrae illius in proximo parliamento nostro ibidem tenendo super hoc cum diligentia perscrutari facias : & de eo quod inde inveneritis una cum consilio & advisamento nobis certificetis , &c. whereby i collect , that the great lords of ireland had informed the king , that the irishry might not be naturalized , without damage and prejudice either to themselves , or to the crown . but i am well assured , that the irishry did desire to be admitted to the benefit of the law , not onely in this petition exhibited to king edward the third ; but by all their submissions made to king richard the second , and to the lord thomas of lancaster before the wars of the two houses ; and afterwards to the lord leonard grey , and sir anthony saint-leger , when king henry the eighth began to reform this kingdom . in particular , the birns of the mountains , in the 34 of henry the eighth , desire that their countrey might be made shire-ground , and called the county of wicklow : and in the 23 of henry the eighth , o donnel doth covenant with sir william skeffington , quod si dominus rex velit reformare hiberniam , ( whereof it should seem he made some doubt ) that he and his people would gladly be governed by the laws of england . only that ungrateful traytor tirone , though he had no colour or shadow of title to that great lordship , but only by grant from the crown , and by the law of england ( for by the irish law he had been ranked with the meanest of his sept ) yet in one of his capitulations with the state , he required that no sheriff might have jurisdiction within tyrone ; and consequently that the laws of england might not be executed there : which request , was never before made by o neale , or any other lord of the irishry , when they submitted themselves : but contrariwise they were humble sutors to have the benefit and protection of the english laws . this then i note as a great defect in the civil policy of this kingdom , in that for the space of three hundred and fifty years at least after the conquest first attempted , the english laws were not communicated to the irish , nor the benefit and protection thereof allowed unto them , though they earnestly desired and sought the same . for , as long as they were out of the protection of the law ; so as every english-man might oppress , spoil , and kill them without controulment , how was it possible they should be other than out-laws and enemies to the crown of england ? if the king would not admit them to the condition of subjects , how could they learn to acknowledge and obey him as their soveraign ? when they might not converse or commerce with any civil men , nor enter into any town or city without peril of their lives ; whither should they flye but into the woods and mountains , and there live in a wilde and barbarous manner ? if the english magistrates would not rule them by the law , which doth punish treason , and murder , and theft with death ; but leave them to be ruled by their own lords and laws , why should they not embrace their own brehon law , which punisheth no offence , but with a fine or ericke ? if the irish be not permitted to purchase estates of free-holds or inheritance , which might descend to their children , according to the course of our common law , must they not continue their custom of tanistrie ? which makes all their possessions uncertain , and brings confusion , barbarism , and incivility ? in a word , if the english would neither in peace govern them by the law , nor could in war root them out by the sword ; must they not needs be pricks in their eyes , and thorns in their sides , till the worlds end ? and so the conquest never be brought to perfection . but on the other side ; if from the beginning , the laws of england had been established , and the brehon or irish law utterly abolished , as well in the irish countries , as the english colonies ; if there had been no difference made between the nations in point of justice and protection , but all had been governed by one equal , just , and honourable law , as dido speaketh in virgil ; tros , tyriusvè mihi nullo discrimine habetur . if upon the first submission made by the irish lords to king henry the second ; quem in regem & dominum receperunt , saith matth. paris ; or upon the second submission made to king john , when , plusquam viginti reguli maximo timore perterriti homagium ei & fidelitatem fecerunt , as the same author writeth ; or upon the third general submission made to king richard the second ; when they did not only do homage and fealty , but bound themselves by indentures and oaths ( as is before expressed ) to become and continue loyal subjects to the crown of england ; if any of these three kings , who came each of them twice in person into this kingdom , had upon these submissions of the irishry , received them all , both lords and tenants into their immediate protection , divided their several countries into counties ; made sheriffs , coroners , and wardens of the peace therein : sent justices itinerants half yearly into every part of the kingdom , as well to punish malefactors , as to hear and determine causes between party and party , according to the course of the laws of england ; taken surrenders of their lands and territories , and granted estates unto them , to hold by english tenures ; granted them markers , fairs , and other franchises , and erected corporate towns among them ; ( all which , hath been performed since his majesty came to the crown , ) assuredly the irish countries had long since been reformed and reduced to peace , plenty , and civility , which are the effects of laws and good government : they had builded houses , planted orchards and gardens , erected town-ships , and made provision for their posterities ; there had been a perfect union betwixt the nations , and consequently , a perfect conquest of ireland . for the conquest is never perfect , till the war be at an end ; and the war is not at an end till their be peace and unity ; and there can never be unity and concord in any one kingdom , but where there is but one king , one allegiance , and one law. true it is , that king john made twelve shires in leinster and mounster : namely , dublin , kildare , meth , vriel , catherlogh , kilkenny , wexford , waterford , corke , limerick , kerrie , and tipperary . yet these counties did stretch no farther than the lands of the english colonies did extend . in them only , were the english laws published and put in execution ; and in them only did the itinerant judges make their circuits and visitations of justice , and not in the countries possessed by the irishry , which contained two third parts of the kingdom at least . and therefore king edward the first , before the court of parliament was established in ireland , did transmit the statutes of england in this form : dominus rex mandavit breve suum in haec verba : edwardus dei gratia , rex angliae , dominus hiberniae , &c. cancellario suo hiberniae , salutem . quaedam statuta per nos de assensu praelatorum , comitum , baronum & communitat . regni nostri nuper apud lincolne , & quaedam alia statuta postmodum apud eborum facta , quae in dicta terra nostra hiberniae ad communem utilitatem populi nostri ejusdem terrae observari volumus , vobis mittimus sub sigillo nostro , mandantes quod statuta illa in dicta cancellaria nostra custodiri , ac in rotulis ejusdem cancellariae irrotulari , & ad singulas placeas nostras in terra nostra hiberniae , & singulos commitatus ejusdem terrae mitti faciatis ministris nostris placearum illarum , & vicecomitibus dictorum comitatum : mandantes , quod statuta illa coram ipsis publicari & ea in omnibus & singulis articulis suis observari firmiter faciatis . testè meipso apud nottingham , &c. by which writ , and by all the pipe-rolls of that time it is manifest , that the laws of england were published and put in execution only in the counties , which were then made and limited , and not in the irish countries , which were neglected and left wilde ; and have but of late years been divided in one and twenty counties more . again , true it is that by the statute of kilkenny , enacted in this kingdom , in the fortieth year of king edward the third , the brehon law was condemned and abolished , and the use and practice thereof made high-treason . but this law extended to the english only , and not to the irish : for the law is penned in this form : item , forasmuch as the diversity of government by divers laws in one land , doth make diversity of ligeance and debates between the people , it is accorded and established , that hereafter no english man have debate with another english man , but according to the course of the common law ; and that no english man be ruled in the definition of their debates , by the march-law , or the brehon law , which by reason ought not to be named a law , but an evil custom ; but that they be ruled as right is , by the common law of the land , as the lieges of our soveraign lord the king ; and if any do to the contrary and thereof be attainted , that he be taken and imprisoned and judged as a traytor : and that hereafter there be no diversity of ligeance between the english born in ireland , and the english born in england , but that all be called and reputed english , and the lieges of our soveraign lord the king , &c. this law , was made only to reform the degenerate english , but there was no care taken for the reformation of the meer irish ; no ordinance , no provision made for the abolishing of their barbarous customs and manners . insomuch as the law then made for apparel , and riding in saddles , after the english fashion , is penal only to english men , and not to the irish . but the roman state , which conquered so many nations both barbarous and civil ; and therefore knew by experience , the best and readiest way of making a perfect and absolute conquest , refused not to communicate their laws to the rude and barbarous people , whom they had conquered ; neither did they put them out of their protection , after they had once submitted themselves . but contrariwise , it is said of julius caesar : quâ , vicit , victos protegit , ille manu . and again , of another emperor : fecisti patriam diversis gentibus unam , profuit invitis te dominante capi ; dumque offers victis proprii consortia juris , vrbem fecisti , quod priùs orbis erat , and of rome it self ; haec est , in gremium vict os quae sola recepit , humanumque genus communi nomine fovit , matris , non dominae , ritu ; civesque vocavit , quos domuit , nexusque pio longinqua revinxit . therefore ( as tacitus writeth ) julius agricola the romane general in brittany , used this policy to make a perfect conquest of our ancestours , the ancient brittains ; they were ( saith he ) rude , and dispersed ; and therefore prone upon every occasion to make war , but to induce them by pleasure to quietness and rest , he exhorted them in private , and gave them helps in common , to build temples , houses , and places of publick resort . the noblemens sons , he took and instructed in the liberal sciences , &c. preferring the wits of the brittains , before the students of france ; as being now curious to attain the eloquence of the romane language , whereas they lately rejected that speech . after that , the roman attire grew to be in account , and the gown to be in use among them ; and so by little and little they proceeded to curiosity and delicacies in buildings and furniture of houshould ; in bathes , and exquisite banquets ; and so being come to the heighth of civility , they were thereby brought to an absolute subjection . likewise , our norman conqueror , though he oppressed the english nobility very sore , and gave away to his servitors , the lands and possessions of such , as did oppose his first invasion , though he caused all his acts of counsel to be published in french ; and some legal proceedings and pleadings to be framed and used in the same tongue , as a mark and badge of a conquest ; yet he governed all , both english and normans , by one and the same law ; which was the ancient common law of england , long before the conquest . neither did he deny any english man ( that submitted himself unto him : ) the benefit of that law though it were against a norman of the best rank , and in greatest favour ( as appeared in the notable controversie between warren the norman , and sherburne of sherburne castle in norfolke ; for the conqueror had given that castle to warren ; yet when the inheritors thereof , had alledged before the king , that he never boar armes against him ; that he was his subject , as well as the other , and that he did inherit and hold his lands , by the rules of that law , which the king had established among all his subjects ; the king gave judgment against warren , and commanded that sherborne should hold his land in peace . by this means , himself obtained a peaceable possession of the kingdom within few years ; whereas , if he had cast all the english out of his protection , and held them as aliens and enemies to the crown , the normans ( perhaps ) might have spent as much time in the conquest of england , as the english have spent in the conquest of ireland . the like prudent course hath been observed in reducing of wales ; which was performed partly by king edward the first , and altogether finished by king henry the eighth . for we find by the statute of rutland , made the 12. of edward the first , when the welshmen had submitted themselves , de alto & basso , to that king , he did not reject and cast them off , as out-lawes and enemies , but caused their laws and customs to be examined , which were in many points agreeable to the irish or brehon law. quibus diligenter auditis & plenius intellectis , quasdam illarum ( saith the king in that ordinance ) consilio procerum delevimus ; quasdam permissimus ; quasdam correximus ; ac etiam quasdam alias adjiciendas & faciend . decrevimus ; and so established a common-wealth among them , according to the form of the english government . after this , by reason of the sundry insurrections of the barons ; the wars in france ; and the dissention between the houses of yorke and lancaster , the state of england , neglected or omitted the execution of this statute of rutland ; so as a great part of wales grew wilde and barbarous again . and therefore king henry the eighth , by the statutes of 27. and 32. of his raign , did revive and recontinue that noble work begun by king edward the first ; and brought it indeed to full perfection ; for he united the dominion of wales , to the crown of england , and divided it into shires , and erected in every shire , one burrough , as in england ; and enabled them to send knights and burgesses to the parliament ; established a court of presidency , and orda●ned that justices of assise , and gaol-delivery , should make their half year circuits there , as in england ; made all the laws and statutes of england , in force there ; and among other welsh customs , abolished that of gavel-kinde : whereby the heirs-females were utterly excluded , and the bastards did inherit , as well as the legitimate , which is the very irish gavel-kinde . by means whereof ; that entire country in a short time was securely setled in peace and obedience , and hath attained to that civility of manners , and plenty of all things , as now we find it not inferiour , to the best parts of england . i will therefore knit up this point with these conclusions ; first , that the kings of england , which in former ages attempted the conquest of ireland , being ill advised and counselled by the great men here , did not upon the submissions of the irish , communicate their laws unto them , nor admit them to the state and condition of free-subjects : secondly , that for the space of 200. years at ●east , after the first arrival of henry the second in ireland , the irish would gladly have embraced the laws of england , and did earnestly desire the benefit and protection thereof ; which being denyed them , did of necessity cause a continual , bordering war between the english and the irish . and lastly , if according to the examples before recited , they had reduced as well the irish countries , as the english colonies , under one form of civil government ( as now they are , ) the meers and bounds of the marches and borders , had been long since worne out and forgotten , ( for it is not fit , as cambrensis writeth ) that a king of an island should have any marches or borders , ( but the four seas ) both nations had been incorporated and united ; ireland had been entirely conquered , planted , and improved ; and returned a rich revenue to the cr●wn of england . the next error in the civil pollicy which hindered the perfection of the conquest of ireland , did consist in the distribution of the lands and possessions which were won and conquered from the irish . for , the scopes of land which were granted to the first adventures , were too large ; and the liberties and royalties , which they obtained therein , were too great for subjects : though it stood with reason that they should be rewarded liberally out of the fruits of their own labours , since they did militare propriis stipendiis , and received no pay from the crown of england . notwithstanding there ensued divers inconveniences , that gave great impediment to the conquest . first , the earl strongbow was entituled to the whole kingdom of leinster ; partly by invasion , and partly by marriage ; albeit , he surrendred the same entirely to king henry the second his soveraign ; for that with his license he came over ; and with the ayd of his subjects , he had gained that great inheritance ; yet did the king regrant back again to him and his heirs all that province , reserving onely the city of dublin , and the cantreds next adjoyning , with the maritime towns , and principal forts and castles . next , the same king granted to robert fitz-stephen , and miles cogan , the whole kingdom of cork , from lismore to the sea. to phillip bruce , he gave the whole kingdom of limerick , with the donation of bishopwricks , and abbies ( except the city , and one cantred of land adjoyning . ) to sir hugh de lacy , all meath . to sir john de courcy , all vlster . to william burke fitz-adelm , the greatest part of conaght . in like manner , sir thomas de clare , obtained a grant of all thomond ; and otho de grandison of all tipperary ; and robert le poer , of the territory of waterford , ( the city it self , and the cantred of the oastmen only excepted . ) and thus was all ireland cantonized among ten persons of the english nation ; and though they had not gained the possession of one third part of the whole kingdom , yet in title they were owners and lords of all , so as nothing was left to be granted to the natives . and therefore we do not find in any record or story for the space of three hundred years , after these adventurers first arived in ireland , that any irish lord obtained a grant of his country from the crown , but onely the king of thomond , who had a grant but during king henry the third his minority : and rotherick o connor , king of conaght , to whom king henry the second , before this distribution made , did grant ( as is before declared . ) vt sit rex sub eo ; and moreover , vt teneat terram suam conactiae it a bene & in pace , sicut tenuit antequam dominus rex intravit hiberniam . and whose successor , in the 24 of henry the third , when the bourkes had made a strong plantation there , and had well-nigh expelled him out of his territory , he came over into england , ( as matth. paris writeth ) and made complaint to king henry the third of this invasion made by the bourkes upon his land , insisting upon the grants of king henry the second , and king john ; and affirming , that he had duely paid an yearly tribute of five thousand marks for his kingdom . whereupon , the king called unto him the lord maurice fitz-girald , who was then lord justice of ireland , and president in the court ; and commanded him that he should root out that unjust plantation , which hubert earl of kent had in the time of his greatness , planted in those parts ; and wrote withal to the great men of ireland to remove the bourks , and to establish the king of conaght in the quiet possession of his kingdom . howbeit , i do not read , that the king of englands commandment or direction in this behalf was ever put in execution . for , the troth is ; richard de burgo had obtained a grant of all conaght , after the death of the king of conaght , then living . for which he gave a thousand pound , as the record in the tower reciteth , the third of henry the third , claus . 2. and besides , our great english lords could not endure that any kings should reign in ireland , but themselves ; nay , they could hardly endure that the crown of england it self , should have any jurisdiction or power over them . for many of these lords , to whom our kings had granted these petty kingdoms , did by vertue and colour of these grants , claim and exercise jura regalia within their territories ; insomuch , as there were no less than eight counties palatines in ireland at one time . for william marshal , earl of pembroke , who married the daughter and heir of strongbow , being lord of all leinster , had royal jurisdiction thoroughout all that province . this great lord had five sons , and five daughters ; every of his sons enjoyed that seigniory successively , and yet all dyed without issue . then this great lordship was broken and divided , and partition made between the five daughters , who were married into the noblest houses of england . the county of catherlough was allotted to the eldest ; wexford to the sec●nd ; kilkenny to the third ; kildare to the fourth ; the greatest part of leix , now called the queens county , to the fifth : in every of these portions , the ceparceners severally exercised the same jurisdiction royal , which the earl marshal and his sons had used in the whole province . whereby it came to pass , that there were five county palatines erected in leinster . then had the lord of meath the same royal liberty in all that territory ; the earl of vlster in all that province ; and the lord of desmond and kerry within that county . all these appear upon record , and were all as ancient as the time of king john ; onely the liberty of tipperary , which is the onely liberty that remaineth at this day , was granted to james butler the first earl of ormond , in the third year of king edward the third . these absolute palatines made barons and knights , did exercise high justice in all points within their territories , erected courts for criminal and civil causes , and for their own revenues ; in the same form , as the kings courts were established at dublin ; made their own judges , seneshals , sheriffs , coroners , and escheators ; so as the kings writ did not run in these counties ( which took up more than two parts of the english colonies ) but onely in the church lands lying within the same , which were called the cross , wherein the king made a sheriff : and so , in each of these counties palatines , there were two sheriffs ; one , of the liberty ; and another of the cross : as in meath we find a sheriff of the liberty , and a sheriff of the cross : and so in vlster , and so in wexford : and so at this day , the earl of ormond maketh a sheriff of the liberty , and the king a sheriff of the cross of tipperary . hereby it is manifest , how much the kings jurisdiction was restrained , and the power of these lords enlarged by these high priviledges . and it doth further appear , by one article among others , preferred to king edward the third , touching the reformation of the state of ireland , which we find in the tower , in these words , item les francheses grantes in ireland , que sont roialles , telles come duresme & cestre , vous oustont cybien de les profits , come de graunde partie de obeisance des persons enfrancheses ; & en quescum frenchese est chancellerie , chequer & conusans de pleas , cybien de la coronne , come autres communes , & grantont auxi charters de pardon ; & sont sovent per ley et reasonable cause seisses en vostre main , a grand profit de vous ; & leigerment restitues per maundement hors de englettere , a damage , &c. unto which article , the king made answer , le roy voet que les franchese que sont et serront per juste cause prises en sa main , ne soent my restitues , auant que le roy soit certifie de la cause de la prise de acelles , 26 ed. 3. claus . m. 1. again , these great undertakers , were not tied to any form of plantation , but all was left to their discretion and pleasure . and although they builded castles , and made free-holders , yet were there no tenures or services reserved to the crown ; but the lords drew all the respect and dependancy of the common people , unto themselves . now let us see what inconveniences did arise by these large and ample grants of lands and liberties , to the first adventurers in the conquest . assuredly by these grants of whole provinces , and petty kingdoms , those few english lords pretended to be proprietors of all the land , so as there was no possibility left of settling the natives in their possessions , and by consequence the conquest became impossible , without the utter extirpation of all the irish ; which these english lords were not able to do , nor perhaps willing , if they had been able . notwithstanding , because they did still hope to become lords of those lands which were possessed by the irish , whereunto they pretended title by their large grants ; and because they did fear , that if the irish were received into the kings protection , and made liege-men and free-subjects , the state of england would establish them in their possessions by grants from the crown ; reduce their countreys into counties , ennoble some of them ; and enfranchise all , and make them amesueable to the law , which would have abridged and cut off a great part of that greatness which they had promised unto themselves : they perswaded the king of england , that it was unfit to communicate the laws of england unto them ; that it was the best policy to hold them as aliens and enemies , and to prosecute them with a continual war. hereby they obtained another royal prerogative and power : which was , to make war and peace at their pleasure , in every part of the kingdom . which gave them an absolute command over the bodies , lands , and goods of the english subjects here . and besides , the irish inhabiting the lands fully conquered and reduced , being in condition of slaves and villains , did render a greater profit and revenue , than if they had been made the kings free-subjects . and for these two causes last expressed , they were not willing to root out all the irishry . we may not therefore marvel , that when king edward the third , upon the petition of the irish ( as is before remembred ) was desirous to be certified , de voluntate magnatum suorum in proximo parliamento in hibernia tenend . si sine alieno praejudicio concedere possit , quod per statut . inde fact . hibernici utantur legibus anglicanis , sive chartis regiis inde impetrandis , that there was never any statute made to that effect . for the troth is , that those great english lords did to the uttermost of their power , cross and withstand the enfranchisement of the irish , for the causes before expressed ; wherein i must still clear and acquit the crown and state of england , of negligence or ill policy , and lay the fault upon the pride , covetousness , and ill counsel of the english planted here , which in all former ages have been the chief impediments of the final conquest of ireland . again , those large scopes of land , and great liberties , with the absolute power to make war and peace , did raise the english lords to that height of pride and ambition , as that they could not endure one another , but grew to a mortal war and dissention among themselves : as appeareth by all the records and stories of this kingdom . first , in the year , 1204. the lacies of meath , made war upon sir john courcy ; who having taken him by treachery , sent him prisoner into england . in the year , 1210. king john coming over in person , expelled the lacies out of the kingdom , for their tyrannie and oppression of the english : howbeit , upon payment of great fines ▪ they were afterward restored . in the year , 1228. that family being risen to a greater heighth ( for hugh de lacy the younger , was created earl of vlster , after the death of courcy without issue ) there arose dissention and war between that house , and william marshal lord of leinster ; whereby all meath was destroyed and laid waste . in the year , 1264. sir walter bourke having married the daughter and heir of lacy , whereby he was earl of vlster in right of his wife , had mortal debate with maurice fitz-morice the geraldine , for certain lands in conaght . so as all ireland was full of wars between the bourkes and the geraldines ( say our annals . ) wherein maurice fitz-morice grew so insolent , as that upon a meeting at thistledermot , he took the lord justice himself , sir richard capel , prisoner , with divers lords of munster being then in his company . in the year , 1288. richard bourke , earl of vlster , ( commonly called the red earl ) pretending title to the lordship of meath , made war upon sir theobald de verdun , and besieged him in the castle of athlone . again , in the year , 1292. john fitz-thomas the geraldine , having by contention with the lord vesci , gotten a goodly inheritance in kildare , grew to that heighth of imagination ( saith the story ) as he fell into difference with divers great noblemen ; and among many others , with richard the red earl , whom he took prisoner , and detained him in castle-ley ; and by that dissention , the english on the one side , and the irish on the other , did waste and destroy all the countrey . after , in the year , 1311. the same red earl ( coming to besiege bonratty in thomond , which was then held by sir richard de clare as his inheritance ) was again taken prisoner ; and all his army ( consisting for the most part of english ) overthrown and cut in pieces , by sir richard de clare . and after this again , in the year , 1327. most of the great houses were banded one against another , ( viz. ) the giraldines , butlers , and breminghams , on the one side , and the bourks and poers on the other . the ground of the quarrel being none other , but that the lord arnold poer , had called the earl of kildare rimer : but this quarrel was prosecuted with such malice and violence , as the counties of waterford and kilkenny were destroyed with fire and sword , till a parliament was called of purpose , to quiet this dissention . shortly after , the lord john bremingham , who was not long before made earl of louth , for that noble service which he performed upon the scots , between ●undalk and the faher , was so extremely envied by the gernons , verdons , and others of the ancient colony , planted in the county of louth , as that in the year , 1329. they did most wickedly betray and murther that earl , with divers principal gentlemen of his name and family ; using the same speech that the rebellious jews are said to use in the gospel : nolumus hunc regnare super nos . after this , the geraldines and the butlers being become the most potent families in the kingdom ( for the great lordship of leinster was divided among coparceners , whose heirs for the most part lived in england ; and the earldom of vlster , with the lordship of meath , by the match of lionel duke of clarence , at last discended upon the crowne ) had almost a continuall warre one with another . in the time of king henry the sixt ( saith baron finglas in his discourse of the decay of ireland , ) in a sight betweene the earles of ormond and desmond , almost all the townes-men of kilkenny were slaine . and as they followed contrary parties during the warres of yorke and lancaster , so after that civil dissention ended in england , these houses in ireland continued their opposition and feud still , even till the time of k. henry the eight ; when by the marriage of margaret fitz-girald to the earl of ossory , the houses of kildare and ormond were reconciled , and have continued in amity ever since . thus these great estates and royalties granted to the english lords in ireland , begate pride ; and pride , begat contention among themselves , which brought forth divers mischiefs , that did not onely disable the english to finish the conquest of all ireland , but did endanger the loss of what was already gained ; and of conquerors , made them slaves to that nation which they did intend to conquer . for , whensoever one english lord had vanquished another , the irish waited and took the opportunity , and fell upon that countrey which had received the blow ; and so daily recovered some part of the lands , which were possessed by the english colonies . besides , the english lords to strengthen their parties , did ally themselves with the irish , and drew them in , to dwell among them , gave their children to be fostered by them ; and having no other means to pay or reward them , suffered them to take coigne and livery upon the english free-holders ; which oppression was so intollerable , as that the better sort were enforced to quit their free-holds and flye into england ; and never returned , though many laws were made in both realms , to remand them back again : and the rest which remained , became degenerate and meer irish , as is before declared . and the english lords finding the irish exactions to be more profitable than the english rents and services ; and loving the irish tyranny , which was tyed to no rules of law or honour , better than a just and lawful seigniory , did reject and cast off the english law and government , received the irish laws and customs , took irish surnames , as mac william , mac pheris , mac yoris , refused to come to the parliaments which were summoned by the king of englands authority , and scorned to obey those english knights which were sent to command and govern this kingdom ; namely , sir richard capel , sir john morris , sir john darcy , and sir raphe vfford . and when sir anthony lucy , a man of great authority in the time of king edward the third , was sent over to reform the notorious abuses of this kingdom , the king doubting that he should not be obeyed , directed a special writ or mandate to the earl of vlster , and the rest of the nobility to assist him . and afterwards , the same king ( upon good advise and counsel ) resumed those excessive grants of lands and liberties in ireland , by a special ordinance made in england , which remaineth of record in the tower , in this form : quia plures excessivoe donationes terrarum & libertatum in hibernia ad subdolam machinationem petentium factae sunt , &c. rex delusorias hujusmodi machinationes volens elidere , de consilio peritorum sibi assistentium , omnes donationes terrarum & libertatum praedict . duxit revocandas , quousque de meritis donatoriorum & causis ac qualitatibus donationum melius fuerit informat . & ideo mandatum est justiciario hiberniae quod seisiri faciat , &c. howbeit , there followed upon this resumption , such a division and faction between the english of birth , and the english of blood and race , as they summoned and held several parliaments apart one from the other . whereupon , there had risen a general war betwixt them , to the utter extinguishing of the english name and nation in ireland , if the earl of desmond , who was head of the faction against the english of birth , had not been sent into england , and detained there for a time : yet afterwards , these liberties being restored by direction out of england , the 26. of edward the third complaint was made to the king of the easie restitution ; whereunto the king made answer , as is before expressed : so as we may conclude this point with that which we find in the a●nals , published by master camden : h●bernici debellati & consumpti fuissent nisi seditio anglicorum impedivisse● whereunto i may add this note , that though some are of opinion , that grants of extraordinary honours and liberties made by a king to his subjects , do no more diminish his greatness , than when one torch lightet● another ; for it hath no less light , that it had before , quis vetat apposito lumen de lumine sumi ? yet many time● inconveniences do arise thereupon and those princes have held up their soveraignty best , which have been sparing in those grants . and truly as these grants of little kingdoms , and great royalties , to a few private persons , did produce the mischiefs spoken of before : so the true cause of the making of these grants , did proceed from this ; that the kings of england being otherwise employed and diverted , did not make the conquest of ireland , their own work , and undertake it not royally at their own charge ; but as it was first begun by particular adventurers , so they left the prosecution thereof , to them , and other voluntaries , who came to seek their fortunes in ireland ; wherein if they could prevail , they thought that in reason and honour they could do no less , than make them proprietors of such scopes of land as they could conquer , people , and plant at their own charge , reserving only the soveraign lordship to the crown of england . but if the lyon had gone to hunt himself , the shares of the inferiour beasts had not been so great : if the invasion had been made by an army transmitted , furnished , and supplyed only at the kings charges , and wholly paid with the kings treasure , as the armies of queen elizabeth , and king james have been ; as the conquest had been sooner atchieved , so the serviters had been contented with lesser proportions . for , when scipio , pompey , caesar , and other generals of the roman armies , as subjects and servants of that state , and with the publick charge had conquered many kingdoms and commonweals , we find them rewarded with honourable offices and triumphes at their return ; and not made lords and proprietors of whole provinces and kingdoms , which they had subdued , to the empire of rome . likewise when the duke of normandy had conquered england , which he made his own work , and performed it in his own person , he distributed sundry lordships and mannors unto his followers , but gave not away whole shires and countreys in demeasne to any of his servitors , whom he most desired to advance . only , he made hugh lupus county palatine of chester , and gave that earldom to him and his heirs , to hold the same , ita liberè ad gladium , sicut rex tenebat angliam ad coronam . whereby that earldom indeed had a royal jurisdiction and seigniory , though the lands of that county in demeasne , were possessed for the most part by the ancient inheritors . again , from the time of the norman conquest , till the raign of king edward the first , many of our english lords , made war upon the welshmen at their own charge ; the lands which they gained they held to their own use , were called lords marchers , and had royal liberties within their lordships . howbeit , these particular adventurers , could never make a perfect conquest of wales . but when king edward the first , came in person with his army thither , kept his residence and court there ; made the reducing of wales , an enterprize of his own ; he finished that work in a year or two , whereof the lords marchers had not performed a third part , with their continual bordering war , for two hundred years before . and withall we may observe , that though this king had now the dominion of wales in jure proprietatis , as the statute of rutland affirmeth ; which before was subject unto him , but in jure feodali : and though he had lost divers principal knights and noblemen in that war , yet did he not reward his servitors with whole countries or counties , but with particular mannors and lordships : as to henry lacy earl of lincolne , he gave the lordship of denbigh ; and to reignold gray , the lordship of ruthen , and so to others . and if the like course had been used in the winning and distributing the lands of ireland , that island had been fully conquered before the continent of wales had been reduced . but the troth is , when private men attempt the conquest of countries at their own charge , commonly their enterprizes do perish without success : as when , in the time of queen elizabeth , sir thomas smith , undertook to recover the ardes : and chatterton , to reconquer then fues and orier . the one lost his son ; and the other , himself ; and both their adventures came to nothing . and as for the crown of england , it hath had the like fortune in the conquest of this land , as some purchasers have ; who desire to buy land at too easie a rate : they finde those cheap purchases so full of trouble , as they spend twice as much as the land is worth , before they get the quiet possession thereof . and as the best pollicy was not observed in the distribution of the conquered lands ; so as i conceive , that the first adventurers , intending to make a full conquest of the irish , were deceived in the choise of the fittest places for their plantation . for they sate down , and erected their castles and habitations in the plains and open countries ; where they found most fruitful and profitable lands , and turned the irish into the woods and mountains : which , as they were proper places for out-laws and thieves , so were they their natural castles and fortifications ; thither they drave their preys and stealths : there they lurkt , and lay in wait to do mischief . these fast places they kept unknown , by making the wayes and entries thereunto impassible ; there they kept their creaghts or heardes of cattle , living by the milke of the cow , without husbandry or tillage ; there they encreased and multiplied unto infinite numbers by promiscuous generation among themselves ; there they made their assemblies and conspiracies without discovery : but they discovered the weakness of the english dwelling in the open plains ; and thereupon made their sallies and retreats with great advantage . whereas , on the other side , if the english had builded their castles and towns in those places of fastness , and had driven the irish into the plains and open countries , where they might have had an eye and observation upon them , the irish had been easily kept in order , and in short time reclaimed from their wildeness ; there they would have used tillage , dwelt together in town-ships , and learned mechanical arts and sciences . the woods had been wasted with the english habitations , as they are about the forts of mariborough and philipston , which were built in the fastest places in leinster , and the wayes and passages throughout ireland , would have been as clear and open , as they are in england at this day . again , if king henry the second , who is said to be the king that conquered this land , had made forrests in ireland , as he did enlarge the forrests in england ( for it appeareth by charta de foresta , that he afforrested many woods and wasts , to the grievance of the subject , which by that law were disaforrested , ) or if those english lords , amongst whom the whole kingdom was divided , had been good hunters , and had reduced the mountains , boggs , and woods within the limits of forrests , chases , and parks ; assuredly , the very forrest law , and the law de malefactoribus in parcis , would in time have driven them into the plains and countries inhabited and manured , and have made them yield up their fast places to those wilde beasts , which were indeed less hurtful and wilde than they . but it seemeth strange to me , that in all the records of this kingdom , i seldom find any mention made of a forrest ; and never of any parke or free-warren ; considering the great plenty both of vert and venison within this land ; and that the chief of the nobility and gentry are descended of english race ; and yet at this day , there is but one parke stored with deer in all this kingdom : which is a parke of the earl of ormonds , neer kilkenny . it is then manifest , by that which is before expressed ; that the not communicating of the english laws to the irish ; the over large grants of lands and liberties to the english ; the plantation made by the english in the plains and open countries , leaving the woods and mountains to the irish , were great defects in the civil pollicy , and hindered the perfection of the conquest very much . howbeit , notwithstanding these defects and errours , the english colonies stood and maintained themselves in a reasonable good estate , as long as they retained their own ancient laws and customs , according to that of ennius : moribus antiquis res stat . romana virisque . but when the civil government grew so weak and so loose , as that the english lords would not suffer the english laws to be put in execution within their territories and seigniories , but in place thereof , both they and their people , embraced the irish customs : then the estate of things , like a game at irish , was so turned about , as the english , which hoped to make a perfect conquest of the irish , were by them perfectly and absolutely conquered ; because victi victoribus leges dedere . a just punishment to our nation , that would not give laws to the irish , when they might : and therefore now the irish gave laws to them . therefore , this defect and failing of the english justice , in the english colonies ; and the inducing of the irish customs in lieu thereof , was the main impediment that did arrest and stop the course of the conquest ; and was the only mean that enabled the irishry to recover their strength again . for , if we consider the nature of the irish customs , we shall find that the people , which doth use them , must of necessity be rebels to all good government , destroy the commonwealth wherein they live , and bring barbarisme and desolation upon the richest and most fruitfull land of the world. for , whereas by the just and honourable law of england , and by the laws of all other well-governed kingdoms and commonweals , murder , man-slaughter , rape , robbery , and theft , are punished with death ; by the irish custom , or brehon law , the highest of these offences was punished only by fine , which they called an ericke . therefore , when sir william fitz-williams , ( being lord deputy , ) told maguyre , that he was to send a sheriff into fermannagh , being lately before made a county ; your sheriff ( sa●d maguyre ) shall be welcome to me , but let me know his ericke , or the price of his head afore hand ; that if my people cut it off , i may cut the ericke upon the countrey . as for oppression , exto●tion , and other trespasses , the weaker had never any remedy against the stronger : whereby it came to pass , that no man could enjoy his life , his wife , his lands or goods in safety , if a mightier man than himself had an appetite to take the same from him . wherein they were little better than cannibal , who do hunt one another ; and he that hath most strength and swiftness , doth eat and devour all his fellowes . again , in england , and all well ordered common-wea●s , men have certain estates in their lands and possessions , and their inheritances descend from father to son , wh●ch doth give them encouragement to build , and to plant , and to improve their lands , and to make them better for their posterities . but by the irish custom of tanistry , the chieftanes of every country , and the chief of every sept , had no longer estate than for life in their cheefe●ies , the inheritance whereof , did ●est in no man. and these cheeferies , though they had some portions of lands allotted unto them , did consist chiefly in cuttings and cosheries , and other irish exactions , whereby they did spoile and impoverish the people at their pleasure . and when their chieftanes were dead , their sons or next heirs did not succeed them , but their tanistes , who were elective , and purchased their elections by strong hand ; and by the irish custom of gavel-kinde , the inferiour tennanties were partible amongst all the males of the sept , both bastards and legitimate : and after partition made , if any one of the sept had dyed , his portion was not divided among his sons , but the chief of the sept , made a new partition of all the lands belonging to that sept , and gave every one his part according to his antiquity . these two irish customs made all their possessions uncertain , being shuffled , and changed , and removed so often from one to another , by new elections and partitions ; which uncertainty of estates , hath been the true cause of such desolation and barbarism in this land , as the like was never seen in any countrey , that professed the name of christ . for though the irishry be a nation of great antiquity , and wanted neither wit nor valour ; and though they had received the christian faith , above 1200 years since ; and were lovers of musick , poetry , and all kinde of learning ; and possessed a land abounding with all things necessary for the civil life of man ; yet ( which is strange to be related ) they did never build any houses of brick or stone ( some few poor religious houses excepted ) before the reign of king henry the second , though they were lords of this island for many hundred years before , and since the conquest attempted by the english : albeit , when they saw us build castles upon their borders , they have onely in imitation of us , erected some few piles for the captains of the countrey : yet i dare boldly say , that never any particular person , either before or since , did build any stone or brick house for his private habitation ; but such as have lately obtained estates , according to the course of the law of england . neither did any of them in all this time , plant any ga●dens or orchards , inclose or improve their lands , live together in sett●ed vi●lages or towns , nor made any provision for posterity ; which be●ng against all common sense and reason , must needs be imputed to those unreasonable customs , which made their estates so uncertain and transitory in their possessions . for , who would plant or improve , or build upon that land , which a stranger , whom he knew not , shou●d possess after his death ? for that ( as salomon noteth ) is one of the strangest vanities under the sun. and th●s is the true reason why vlster , and all the ir●sh countreys are found so waste and desolate at this day ; and so would they continue till the worlds end , if these customs were not abolished by the law of england . again , that irish custom of gavil-kinde , did breed another mischief ; for thereby , every man , being born to land , as well bastard , as legitimate , they all held themselves to be gentlemen . and though their portions were never so small , and themselves never so poor ( for gavel-kinde must needs in the and make a poor gentility ) yet did they scorn to descend to h●sbandry or merchandize , or to learn any mechanical art or science . and this is the true cause why there were never any corporate towns erected in the irish countries . as for the maritime cities and towns , most certain it is , that they were built and peopled by the oostmen or easterlings : for the natives of ireland never performed so good a work , as to build a city . besides , these poor gentlemen were so affected unto their small portions of land , as they rather chose to live at home by theft , extortion , and coshering , than to seek any better fortunes abroad : which encreased their septs or sirnames into such numbers , as the●e are not to be found in any kingdom of europe , so many gentlemen of one blood , family , and sirname , as there are of the oneals in vlster ; of the bourks , in conaght ; of the geraldine● and butlers , in munster and leinster . and the like may be said of the inferior bloods and families ; whereby it came to pass in times of trouble and dissention , that they made great parties and factions , adhering one to another , with much constancy ; because they were tied together , vinculo sanguinis ; whereas rebels and malefactors , which are tied to their leaders by no band , either of duty or blood , do more easily break and fall off one from another . and besides , their co-habitation in one countrey or territory , gave them opportunity suddenly to assemble , and conspire , and rise in multitudes against the crown . and even now , in the time of peace , we finde this inconvenience , that there can hardly be an indifferent trial had between the king and the subject , or between party and party , by reason of this general kindred and consanguinity . but the most wicked and michievous custom of all others , was that of coigne and livery , often before mentioned ; which consisted in taking of mans-meat , horse-meat , and money , of all the inhabitants of the countrey , at the will and pleasure of the souldier , who as the phrase of scripture is , did eat up the people as it were bread ; for that he had no other entertainment . this extortion was originally irish , for they used to lay bonaght upon their people , and never gave their souldier any other pay . but when the english had learned it , they used it with more insolency , and made it more intollerable ; for this oppression was not temporary , or limited either to place or time ; but because there was every where a continual war , either offensive , or defensive ; and every lord of a countrey , and every marcher made war and peace at his pleasure , it became universal and perpetual ; and was indeed the most heavy oppression , that ever was used in any christian , or heathen kingdom . and thefore vox oppressorum , this crying sin , did draw down as great , or greater plagues upon ireland , than the oppression of the israelites did draw upon the land of egypt . for the plagues of egypt , though they were grievous , were but of a short continuance . but the plagues of ireland , lasted four hundred years together . this extortion of coigne and livery , did produce two notorious effects . first , it made the land waste ; next , it made the people idle . for , when the husbandman had laboured all the year , the souldier in one night , did consume the fruits of all his labour , longique perit labor irritu● anni . had he reason then to manure the land for the next year ? or rather might he not complain as the shepherd in virgil : impius haec tam culta novalia miles habebit ? barbarus has segetes ? en quo discordia cives perduxit miseros ? en queis consevimus agros ? and hereupon of necessity came depopulation , banishment , and extirpation of the better sort of subjects : and such as remained , became idle , and looke●s on , expecting the event of those miseries and ev●l times : so as this extream extortion and oppression , hath been the true cause of the idleness of this irish nation ; and that rather the vulgar sort have chosen to be beggars in forreign countreys , than to manure their own fruitful land at home . lastly , this oppression did of force and necessity make the irish a crafty people : for such as are oppressed and live in slavery , are ever put to their shifts ; ingenium mala saepe movent ; and therefore , in the o●d comedies of plantus and terence , the bondslave doth always act the cunning and crafty part . besides , all the common people have a whining tune or accent in their speech , as if they did still smart or suffer some oppression . and this idleness , together with fear of imminent mischiefs , which did continually hang over their heads , have been the cause , that the irish were ever the most inquisitive people after news , of any nation in the world. as s. paul himself made observation upon the people of athens ; that they were an idle people , and did nothing but learn and tell news . and because these news-carriers , did by their false intelligence , many times raise troubles and rebellions in this realm , the statute of kilkenny , doth punish news-tellers ) by the name of skelaghes ) with fine and ransome . this extortion of coigne and livery , was taken for the maintenance of their men of war ; but their irish exactions extorted by the chieftains and tanists , by colour of their barbarous seignory , were almost as grievous a burthen as the other ; namely cosherings , which were visitations and progresses made by the lord and his followers , among his tenants : wherein he did eat them ( as the english proverb is ) out of house and home . sessings of the kern , of his family , called kernety , of his horses and horse-boys ; of his dogs and dog-boys , and the like : and lastly , cuttings , tallages , or spendings , high or low , at his pleasure ; all which , made the lord an absolute tyrant , and the tennant a very slave and villain ; and in one respect more miserable than bond-slaves . for commonly the bondslave is fed by his lord , but here the lord was fed by his bondslave . lastly , there were two other customs proper and peculiar to the irishry , which being the cause of many strong combinations and factions , do tend to the utter ruine of a commonwealth : the one , was fostering ; the other , gossipred ; both which have ever been of greater estimation among this people , than with any other nation in the christian world. for fostering , i did never hear or read , that it was in that use or reputation in any other countrey , barbarous or civil , as it hath been , and yet is , in ireland : where they put away all their children to fosterers : the potent and rich men sellings ; the meaneri sort buying , the alterage of their children ; and the reason is , because in the opinion of this people , fostering hath always been a stronger alliance than blood ; and the foster-children do love , and are beloved of their foster-fathers , and their sept , more than of their own natural parents and kindred ; and do participate of their means more frankly , and do adhere unto them in all fortunes , with more affection and constancy . and though tully in his book of friendship doth observe , that children of princes being sometimes in cases of necessity , for saving of their lives delivered to shepherds to be nourished and bred up , when they have been restored to their great fortunes , have still retained their love and affection to their fosterers , whom for many years they took to be their parents : yet this was a rare case , and few examples are to be found thereof . but such a general custom in a kingdom , in giving and taking children to foster , making such a firm alliance as it doth in ireland , was never seen or heard of , in any other countrey of the world besides . the like may be said of gossipred , or compaternity , which though by the canon law , it be a spiritual affinity , and a juror that was goship to either of the parties , might in former times have been challenged , as not indifferent by our law , yet there was no nation under the sun , that ever made so religious account thereof , as the irish . now these two customs , which of themselves are indifferent in other kingdoms , became exceeding evil and full of mischief in this realm , by reason of the inconveniences which followed thereupon . for , they made ( as i said before ) strong parties and factions , whereby the great men were enabled to oppress their inferiors ▪ and to oppose their equals : and their followers were born out and countenanced in all their lewd and wicked actions : for fosterers and gossips by the common custom of ireland ; were to maintain one another in all causes lawful , and unlawful ; which as it is a combination and confederacy punishable in all well-govern commonweals , so was it not one of the least causes of the common misery of this kingdom . i omit their common repudiation of their wives ; their promiscuous generation of children ; their neglect of lawful matrimony ; their uncleanness in apparel , diet , and lodging ; and their contempt and scorn of all things necessary for the civil life of man. these were the irish customs , which the english colonies did embrace and use , after they had rejected the civil and honorable laws and customs of england , whereby they became degenerate and metamorphosed like nebuchadnezzar : who although he had the face of a man , had the heart of a beast ; or like those who had drunk of circes cup , and were turned into very beasts ; and yet took such pleasure in their beastly manner of life , as they would not return to their shape of men again : insomuch , as within less time than the age of a man , they had no marks or differences left amongst them of that noble nation , from which they were descended . for , as they did not onely forget the english language , and scorn the use thereof , but grew to be ashamed of their very english names , though they were noble and of great antiquity ; and took irish sirnames and nick-names . namely , the two most potent families of the bourks in conaght ( after the house of the red earl failed of heirs males ) called their chiefs , mac william fighter , and mac william oughter . in the same province , bremingham , baron of athenrie , called himself mac yoris . dexecester or de'exon , was called mac jordan . mangle , or de angulo , took the name of mac costelo . of the inferior families of the bourkes , one was called mac hubbard , another mac david . in munster , of the great families of the geraldines planted there ; one was called mac morice , chief of the house of lixnaw ; and another , mac gibbon , who was also called the white knight . the chief of the baron of dunboynes house , who is a branch of the house of ormond , took the sirnames of mac pheris . condon of the county of waterford , was called mac maioge and the arch-deacon of the county of kilkenny , mac odo . and this they did in contempt and hatred of the english name and nation ; whereof these degenerate families became more mortal enemies , than the meer irish . and whereas the state and government being grown weak by their defection , did to reduce them to obedience , grant them many protections and pardons ( the cheapness whereof , in all ages , hath brought great dishonor and damage to this commonweal ) they grew so ungrateful and unnatural , as in the end they scorned that g●ace and favour , because the acceptance thereof , did argue them to be s●bjects , and they desired rather to be accounted enemies , than rebels to the crown of england . hereupon was that old verse made , which i finde written in the white book of the exchequer , in a hand as ancient as the time of king edward the third . by granting charters of peas , to false english withouten les , this land shall be mich undoo . but gossipred , and alterage , and leesing of our languge , have mickely holp theretoo . and therefore , in a close roll in the tower , bearing this title , articuli in hibernia observandi : we finde these two articles among others . 1. justiciarius hiberniae non concedat perdonationes de morte hominis , nec de roberiis , seu incendiis , & quod de caetero certificet dominum regem de nominibus petentium . 2. item , quod nec justiciarius nec aliquis magnas hiberniae concedat protectiones alicui contra pacem regis existent . &c. but now it is fit to look back and consider when the old english colonies became so degenerate ; and in what age they fell away into that irish barbarism , rejecting the english laws and customes . assuredly , by comparing the ancient annales of ireland , with the records remaining here , and in the tower of london , i do finde that this general defection , fell out in the latter end of the reign of king edward the second , and in the beginning of the reign of king edward the third . and all this great innovation , grew within the space of thirty years : within the compass of which time , there fell out divers mischievous accidents , whereby the whole kingdom was in a manner lost . for first , edward de bruce invaded ireland with the scottish army , and prevailed so far , as that he possessed the maritime parts of vlster , marched up to the walls of dublin , spoiled the english pale , passed thorough leinster and munster , as far as limerick , and was master of the field in every part of the kingdom . this hapned in the tenth year of king edward the second , at what time the crown of england was weaker , and suffered more dishonour in both kingdoms , than it did at any time since the norman conquest . then did the state of england send over john de hotham to be treasurer here , with commission to call the great lords of ireland together ; and to take of them an oath of association , that they should loyally joyn together in life and death to preserve the right of the king of england , and to expel the common enemy . but this treasurer brought neither men , nor mony , to perform this service . at that time , though richard bourk earl of vlster ( commonly called the red earl ) were of greater power than any other subject in ireland , yet was he so far stricken in years , as that he was unable to manage the martial affairs , as he had done during all the raign of king edward the first : having been general of the irish forces , not only in this kingdom , but in the wars of scotland , wales , and gascoign . and therefore , maurice fitz-thomas of desmond , being then the most active noble man in this realm , took upon him the chief command in this war : for the support whereof , the revenue of this land was farr too short , and yet no supply of treasure was sent out of england . then was there no means to maintain the army , but by sessing the soldiers upon the subject , as the irish were wont to impose their bonaught . whereupon , grew that wicked extortion of coigne and livery spoken of before , which in short time banished the greatest part of the free-holders out of the county of kerry , limerirk , corke , and waterford ; into whose possessions , desmond and his kinsemen , allies , and followers , which were then more irish than english , did enter and appropriate these lands unto themselves , desmond himself taking what scopes he best liked for his demeasnes in every countrey , and reserving an irish seigniory out of the rest . and here , that i may verifie and maintain by matter of record , that which is before delivered touching the nature of this wicked extortion , called coigne and livery ; and the manifold mischiefs it did produce , i think it fit and pertinent to insert the preamble of the statute of 10. of henry seventh , c. 4. not printed , but recorded in parliament rols of dublin , in these words : at the request and supplication of the commons of this land of ireland , that where of long time there hath been used and exacted by the lords and gentlemen of this land , many and divers damnable customs and usages , which been called coigne and livery , and pay ; that is , horse meat and mans meat , for the finding of their horsemen and foot-men ; and over that , 4. d. or 6. d. daily to every of them to be had and paid of the poor earth tillers , and tenants , inhabitants of the said land , without any thing doing or paying therefore . besides , many murders , robberies rapes , and other manifold extortions and oppressions by the said horsemen and footmen , daily and nightly committed and done ; which been the principal causes of the desolation and destruction of the said land , and hath brought the same into ruine and decay , so as the most part of the english free-holders and tenants of this land been departed out thereof , some into the realm of england , and other some to other strange lands ; whereupon the foresaid lords and gentlemen of this land , have intruded into the said free-holders and tenants inheritances ; and the same keepeth and occupieth as their own inheritances ; and setten under them in the same land the kings irish enemies , to the diminishing of holy churches rites , the disherison of the king , and his obedient subjects , and the utter ruine and desolation of the land. for reformation whereof , be it enacted , that the king shall receive a subsidy of 26. s. 8. d. out of every 120. acres of arable land manured , &c. but to return to thomas fitz-maurice of desmond ; by this extortion of coigne and livery , he suddainly grew from a mean , to a mighty estate ; insomuch as the baron finglas in his discourse of the decay of ireland , affirmeth ; that his ancient inheritance being not one thousand marks yearly , he became able to dispend every way , ten thousand pounds , per annum . these possessions being thus unlawfully gotten , could not be maintained by the just and honourable law of england , which would have restored the true owners to their land again . and therefore , this great man found no means to continue and uphold his ill-purchased greatness , but by rejecting the english law and government , and assuming in lieu thereof , the barbarous customs of the irish . and hereupon , followed the defection of those four shires , containing the greatest part of munster , from the obedience of the law. in like manner ( saith baron finglas ) the lord of tipperary ( perceiving how well the house of desmond had thrived by coigne and livery , and other irish exactions ) began to hold the like course in the counties of tipperary and kilkenny ; whereby he got great scopes of land , especially in ormond ; and raised many irish exactions upon the english free-holders there ; which made him so potent and absolute among them , as at that time they knew no other law , than the will of their lord. besides , finding , that the earl of desmond excluded the ordinary ministers of justice , under colour of a royal liberty , which he claimed in the counties of kerry , corke , and waterford , by a grant of king edward the first , ( as appeareth in a quo warranto , brought against him , anno 12. edw. 1. ) the record whereof , remaineth in breminghams tower , among the common plea-rolls there . this lord also , in the third of edward the third , obtained a grant of the like liberty in the county of tipperary , whereby he got the law into his own hands , and shut out the common law and justice of the realm . and thus we see that all munster fell away from the english law and government , in the end of king edward the second , his raign ; and in the beginning of the raign of king edward the third . again , about the same time , ( viz. ) in the 20. year of king edward the second , when the state of england was well-ny ruined by the rebellion of the barons , and the government of ireland utterly neglected , there arose in leinster , one of the cavanaghes , named donald mac art , who named himself mac murrogh , king of leinster , and possessed himself of the county of catherlogh , and of the greatest part of the county of wexford . and shortly after lisagh o moore , called himself o moore , took eight castles in one evening , destroyed duamase the principal house of the l. mortimer in leix , recovered that whole country , de servo dominus , de subjecto princeps effectus , saith friar clynn in his annalls . besides the earl of kildare , imitating his cosin of desmond , did not omit to make the like use of coigne and livery in kildare , and the west part of meath , which brought the like barbarisme into those parts . and thus a great part of leinster was lost , and fell away from the obedience of the crown , near about the time before expressed . again , in the seventh year of king edward the third , the lord william bourke , earl of vlster , and lord of conaght , was treacherously murdered by his own squires at knockfergus , leaving behinde him , vnicam & unius anni filiam ( saith friar clinne . ) immediately upon the murder committed , the countess with her young daughter fled into england ; so as the government of that country , was wholly neglected , until , that young lady being married to lionel duke of clarence , that prince came over with an army , to recover his wives inheritance , and so reform this kingdom , anno 36. of edward the third . but in the mean time , what became of that great inheritance both in vlster and conaght ? assuredly , in vlster , the sept of hugh bog o neal , then possessing glaucoukeyn and killeightra in tyrone , took the opportunity ; and passing over the banne , did first expel the english out of the barony of tuscard , which is now called the rout ; and likewise , out of the glynnes and other lands up as far as knockfergus , which countrey or extent of land , is at this day called , the lower clan hugh-boy . and shortly after that , they came up into the great ardes ; which the latin writers call , altitudines vltoniae , and was then the inheritance of the savages ; by whom , they were valiantly resisted for divers years : but at last : for want of castles and fortifications ( for the saying of henry savage mentioned in every story , is very memorable ; that a castle of bones , was better than a castle of stones . ) the english were over-run by the multitude of the irishry : so as about the thirtieth of king edward the third , some few years before the arrival of the duke of clarence , the savages were utterly driven out of the great ardes , into a little nook of land near the river of strangford ; where they now possess a little territory , called the little ardes ; and their greater patrimony took the name of the upper clan hugh-boy , from the sept of hugh boy o neale , who became invaders thereof . for conaght , some younger branches of the family of the bourkes , being planted there by the red earl and his ancestors , seeing their chief to be cut off , and dead without heir-male , and no man left to govern or protect that province , intruded presently into all the earls lands , which ought to have been seized into the kings hands , by reason of the minority of the heir . and within a short space , two of the most potent among them , divided that great seigniory betwixt them the one taking the name of mac william oughtier ; and the other of mac william fighter ; as if the lord william bourke the last earl of vlster , had left two sons of one name behind him to inherit that lordship in course of gavel-kind . but they well knew , that they were but intruders upon the kings possession during the minority of the heir ; they knew those lands were the rightfull inheritance of that young lady ; and consequently , that the law of england would speedily evict them out of their possession ; and therefore , they held it the best pollicy to cast off the yoak of english law , and to become meer irish : and according to their example , drew all the rest of the english in that province , to do the like ; so as from thenceforth they suffered their possessions to run in course of tanistry and gavel-kinde . they changed their names , language , and apparel , and all their civil manners and customs of living . lastly , about the 25. year of king edward the third , sir richard de clare was slain in thomond , and all the english colonies there utterly supplanted . thus in that space of time , which was between the tenth year of king edward the second , and the 30. year of king edward the third , ( i speak within compass ) by the concurrence of the mischiefs before recited , all the old english colonies in munster , conaght , and vlster ; and more than a third part of leinster , became degenerate , and fell away from the crown of england ; so as only the four shires of the english pale , remained under the obedience of the law ; and yet the borders and marches thereof , were grown unruly , and out of order too , being subject to black-rents and tribute of the irish ; which was a greater defection , than when ten of twelve tribes departed , and fell away from kings of juda. but was not the state of england sensible of this loss and dishonour ? did they not endeavour to recover the land that was lost , and to reduce the subjects to their obedience ? truly king edward the second , by the incursions of the scottish nation , and by the insurrection of his barons , who raised his wife and his son against him , and in the end deposed him , was diverted and utterly disabled to reform the disorders of ireland . but as soon as the crown of england was transferred to king edward the third , though he were yet in his minority , the state there began to look into the desperate estate of things here . and finding such a general defection , letters were sent from the king , to the great men and prelates , requiring them particularly to swear feal●y to the crown of england . shortly after , sir anthony lucy , a person of great authority in england in those dayes , was sent over to work a reformation in this kingdom , by a severe course ; and to that end , the king wrote expresly to the earl of vlster , and others of the nobility to assist him , as is before remembred ; presently upon his arrival , he arrested maurice fitz-thomas earl of desmond ; and sir william bremingham , and committed them prisoners to the castle of dublin : where sir william bremingham was executed for treason , though the earl of desmond were left to mainprize , upon condition , he should appear before the king by a certain day , and in the mean time to continue loyal . after this , the king being advertised , that the over-large grants of lands and liberties , made to the lords of english blood in ireland , made them so insolent , as they scorned to obey the law , and the magistrate , did absolutely resume all such grants , as is before declared . but the earl of desmond above all men , found himself grieved with this resumption , or repeal of liberties ; and declared his dislike and discontentment : insomuch , as he did not only refuse to come to a parliament at dublin , summoned by sir william morris , deputy to the lord john darcy the kings lieutenant : but ( as we have said before ) he raised such dissention between the english of blood , and the english of birth , as the like was never seen , from the time of the first planting of our nation in ireland . and in this factious and seditious humour , he drew the earl of kildare , and the rest of the nobility , with the citizens and burgesses of the principal towns , to hold a several parliament by themselves , at kilkenny ; where they framed certain articles against the deputy , and transmitted the same into england to the king. hereupon , sir raphe vfford , who had lately before married the countess of vlster ; a man of courage and severity , was made lord justice : who forthwith calling a parliament , sent a special commandment to the earl of desmond , to appear in that great councel ; but the earl wilfully refused to come . whereupon , the lord justice raised the kings standard , and marching with an army into munster , seized into the kings hands , all the possessions of the earl , took and executed his principal followers , sir eustace le poer , sir william graunt , and sir john cotterell ; enforced the earl himself to fly and lurk , till 26. noblemen and knights , became mainpernors for his appearance at a certain day prefixed : but he making default the second time , the uttermost advantage was taken against his sureties . besides at the same time , this lord justice caused the earl of kildare to be arrested and committed to the castle of dublin , indited and imprisoned many other disobedient subjects , called in and cancelled such charters asw ere lately before resumed ; and proceeded every way so roundly and severely , as the nobility , which were wont , to suffer no controulment , did much distaste him ; and the commons , who in this land have ever been more devoted to their immediate lords here , whom they saw every day , than unto their soveraign lord and king , whom they never saw ; spake ill of this governor , as of a rigorous and cruel man , though in troth he were a singular good justicer ; and , if he had not dyed in the second year of his government , was the likeliest person of that age , to have reformed and reduced the degenerate english colonies , to their natural obedience of the crown of england . thus much then then we may observe by the way , that maurice fitz-thomas , the first earl of desmond , was the first english lord that imposed coign and livery upon the kings subjects ; and the first that raised his estate to immoderate greatness , by that wicked extortion and oppression ; that he was the first that rejected the english laws and government , and drew others by his example to do the like ; that he was the first peer of ireland that refused to come to the parliament summoned by the kings authority ; that he was the first that made a division and distinction between the english of blood , and the english of birth . and as this earl was the onely author , and first actor of these mischiefs , which gave the greatest impediment to the full conquest of ireland ; so it is to be noted , that albeit others of his rank afterwards offended in the same kinde ; whereby their houses were many times in danger of ruine , yet was there not ever any noble house of english race in ireland , utterly destroyed and finally rooted out by the hand of justice , but the house of desmond onely ; nor any peer of this realm ever put to death ( though divers have been attainted ) but tho : fitz-james the earl of desmond onely , and onely for those wicked customs brought in by the first earl , and practised by his posterity , though by several laws they were made high-treason . and therefore , though in the 7 of edward the 4. during the government of the lord tiptoft , earl of worcester , both the earls of desmond and kildare were attainted by parliament at droghedah , for alliance and fostering with the irish ; and for taking coigne and livery of the kings subjects , yet was desmond onely put to death ; for the earl of kildare received his pardon . and albeit the son of this earl of desmond , who lost his head at droghedah , were restored to the earldom ; yet could not the kings grace regenerate obedience in that degenerate house , but it grew rather more wilde and barbarous than before . for from thenceforth they reclaimed a strange priviledge , that the earls of desmond should never come to any parliament or grand council , or within any walled town , but at their will and pleasure . which pretended priviledge , james earl of desmond , the father of girald the last earl , renounced and surrendred by his deed , in the chancery of ireland , in the 32 of henry the eighth . at what time , among the meer irishry , he submitted himself to sir anthony saint-leger , then lord deputy ; took an oath of allegiace , covenanted that he would suffer the law of england to be executed in his countrey ; and assist the kings judges in their circuits : and if any subsidies should be granted by parliament , he would permit the same to be levied upon his tenents and followers . which covenants , are as strange as the priviledge it self , spoken of before . but that which i conceive most worthy of observation , upon the fortunes of the house of desmond , is this ; that as maurice fitz-thomas , the first earl , did first raise the greatness of that house , by irish exactions and oppressions ; so girald the last earl , did at last ruine and reduce it to nothing , by using the like extortions . for certain it is , that the first occasion of his rebellion , grew from hence , that when he attempted to charge the decies in the county of waterford , with coigne and livery , black rents and coshe●ies , after the irish manner , he was resisted by the earl of ormond , and upon an encounter , overthrown and taken prisoner ; which made his heart so unquiet , as it easily conceived treason against the crown , and brought forth actual and open rebellion , wherein he perished himself , and made a final extinguishment of his house and honor . oppression and extortion did maintain the greatness : and oppression and extortion , did extinguish the greatness of that house . which may well be exprest , by the old emblem of a torch turned downwards , with this word , quod me alit , extinguit . now let us return to the course of reformation , held and pursued here , after the death of sir raphe vfford , which hapned in the twentieth year of king edward 3. after which time , a●be●t all the power and council of england was converted towards the conquest of france , yet was not the work of reformation altogether discontinued . for , in the 25 year of king edward the third , sir thomas rookeby , another worthy governor ( whom i have once before named ) held a parliament at kilkenny , wherein many excellent laws were propounded and enacted for the reducing of the english colonies to their obedience ; which laws we finde enrolled in the remembrancers office here ; and differ not much in substance , from those other statutes of kilkenny , which not long after ( during the government of lionel duke of clarence ) were not onely enacted , but put in execution . this noble prince having married the daughter and heir of vlster ; and being likewise a coparcener of the county of kilkenny , in the 36 year of king edward the third , came over the kings lieutenant , attended with a good retinue of martial men , as is before remembred , and a grave and honorable council , as well for peace , as for war. but because this army was not of a competent strength to break and subdue all the irishry , although he quieted the borders of the english pale , and held all ireland in awe with his name and presence . the principal service that he intended , was to reform the degenerate english colonies , and to reduce them to obedience of the english law , and magistrate . to that end , in the fortieth year of king edward the third , he held that famous parliament at kilkenny ; wherein many notable laws were enacted , which do shew and lay open ( for the law doth best discover enormities ) how much the english colonies were corrupted at that time , and do infallibly prove that which is laid down before ; that they were wholly degenerate , and faln away from their obedience . for first , it appeareth by the preamble of these laws , that the english of this realm , before the coming over of lionel duke of clarence , were at that time become meer irish in their language , names , apparel , and all their manner of living , and had rejected the english laws , and submitted themselves to the irish , with whom they had many marriages and alliances , which tended to the utter ruine and destruction of the commom-wealth . therefore alliance by marriage , nurture of infants , and gossipred with the irish , are by this statute made high-treason . again , if any man of english race , should use any irish name , irish language , or irish apparel , or any other guise or fashion of the irish ; if he had lands or tenements , the same should be seized , till he had given security to the chancery , to conform himself in all points to the english manner of living . and if he had no lands , his body was to be taken and imprisoned , till he found sureties , as aforesaid . again , it was established and commanded , that the english in all their controversies , should be ruled and governed by the common law of england : and if any did submit himself to the brehon law , or march law , he should be adjudged a traytor . again , because the english at that time , made war and peace with the bordering enemy at their pleasure ; they were expresly prohibited to levy war upon the irish , without special warrant and direction from the state. again , it was made paenal to the english , to permit the irish to creaght or graze upon their lands : to present them to ecclesiastical benefices ; to receive them into any monasteries , or religious houses , or to entertain any of their minstrels , rimers , or news-tellers : to impose or sess any horse or foot upon the english subjects against their wills , was made felony . and because the great liberties or franchises spoken of before , were become sanctuaries for all malefactors , express power was given to the kings sheriffs , to enter into all franchises , and there to apprehend all felons and traytors . and lastly , because the great lords , when they levied forces for the publike service , did lay unequal burthens upon the gentlemen and freeholders , it was ordained , that four wardens of the peace in every county , should set down and appoint what men and armor every man should bear , according to his freehold , or other ability of esate . these , and other laws , tending to a general reformation , were enacted in that parliament . and the execution of these laws , together with the presence of the kings son , made a notable alteration in the state and manners of this people , within the space of seven years , which was the term of this princes lieutenancy . for all the discourses that i have seen of the decay of ireland , do agree in this , that the presence of the lord lionel , and these statutes of kilkenny , did restore the english government , in the degenerate colonies , for divers years . and the statute of the tenth of henry the seventh , which reviveth and confirmeth the statutes of kilkenny , doth confirm as much . for it declareth , that as long as these laws were put in ●ure and execution , this land continued in prosperity and honor : and since they were not executed , the subjects rebelled and digressed from their allegeance , and the land fell to ruine and desolation . and withal , we finde the effect of these laws in the pipe-rolls , and plea-ro●ls of this kingdom : for , from the 36 of edw. 3. when this prince entred into his government , till the beginning of richard the second his reign , we finde the revenue of the crown both certain and casual in vlster , munster , and conaght , accounted for ; and that the kings writ did run ▪ and the common law was executed in every of these provinces . i joyn with these laws , the personal presence of the kings son , as a concurrent cause of this reformation : because the people of this land , both english and irish , out of a natural pride , did ever love and desire to be governed by great persons . and therefore , i may here justly take occasion to note , that first the absence of the kings of england ; and next , the absence of those great lords , who were inheritors of those mighty seigniories of leinster , vlster , conaght● , and meath , have been main causes why this kingdom was not reduced in so many ages . touching the absence of our kings , three of them onely since the norman conquest , have made royal journeys into this land ; namely , king henry the second , king john , and king richard the second . and yet they no sooner arrived here , but that all the irishry ( as if they had been but one man ) submitted themselves ; took oathes of fidelity , and gave pledges and hostages to continue loyal . and , if any of those kings had continued here in person a competent time , till they had settled both english and irish in their several possessions , and had set the law in a due course throughout the kingdom ; these times wherein we live , had not gained the honor of the final conquest and reducing of ireland . for the king ( saith salomon ) dissipat omne malum intuitu suo . but when moses was absent in the mount , the people committed idolatry : and when there was no king in israel , every man did what seemed best in his own eyes . and therefore , when alexander had conquered the east part of the world , and demanded of one what was the fitest place for the seat of his empire , he brought and laid a dry hide before him , and desired him to set his foot on the one side thereof ; which being done , all the other parts of the hide did rise up : but when he did set his foot in the middle of the hide , all the other parts lay flat and even : which was a lively demonstration , that if a prince keep his residence in the border of his dominions , the remote parts will easily rise and rebel against him : but if he make the centre thereof his seat , he shall easily keep them in peace and obedience . touching the absence of the great lords : all writers do impute the decay and loss of leinster , to the absence of these english lords , who married the five daughters of william marshal earl of pembroke , ( to whom that great seigniory descended ) when his five sons , who inherited the same successively ; and during their times , held the same in peace and obedidence to the law of england , were all dead without issue : which hapned about the fortieth year of king henry the third : for the eldest being married to hugh bigot earl of norfolk , who in right of his wife , had the marshalship of england ; the second , to warren de mountchensey , whose sole daughter and heir was match to william de valentia half brother to king henry the third , who by that match , was made earl of pembroke ; the third , to gilbert de clare , earl of gloucester ; the fourth , to william ferrers , earl of darby ; the fifth , to william de bruce , lord of brecknock : these great lords , having greater inheritances in their own right in england , than they had in ireland in right of their wives ( and yet each of the coparceners , had an entire county allotted for her purparty , as is before declared ) could not be drawn to make their personal residence in this kingdom ; but managed their estates here , by their seneschals and servants . and to defend their territories against the bordering irish ; they entertained some of the natives , who pretended a perpetual title to those great lordships . for the irish after a thousand conquests and attainders by our law , would in those days pretend title still , because by the irish law no man could forfeit his land. these natives taking the opportunity in weak and desperate times , usurped those seigniories ; and so donald mac art cavanagh , being entertained by the earl of nolfork , made himself lord of the county of catherlough : and lisagh o moor , being trusted by the lord mortimer , who married the daughter and heir of the lord bruce , made himself lord of the lands in leix , in the latter end of king edward the seconds reign , as is before declared . again , the decay and loss of vlster and connaught , is attributed to this ; that the lord william bourk , the last earl of that name , died without issue male ; whose ancestors , namely , the red earl , and sir hugh de lacy , before him , being personally resident , held up their greatness there ; and kept the english in peace , and the irish in awe : but when those provinces descended upon an heir female , and an infant , the irish over-ran vlster , and the younger branches of the bourkes , usurped connaught . and therefore , the ordinance made in england , the third of richard the second , against such as were absent from their lands in ireland ; and gave two third parts of the profits thereof unto the king , until they returned , or placed a sufficient number of men to defend the same , was grounded upon good reason of state : which ordinance was put in execution for many years after , as appeareth by sundry seizures made thereupon , in the time of k. richard the second , henry the fourth , henry the fifth , & henry the sixth , whereof there remain records in the remembrancers office here . among the rest , the duke of norfolk himself was not spared , but was impleaded upon this ordinance , for two parts of the profits of dorburies island , and other lands in the county of wexford , in the time of king henry the sixth . and afterwards , upon the same reason of state , all the lands of the house of norfolk , of the earl of shrewsbury , the lord barkley and others , who having lands in ireland , kept their continual residence in england ) were entirely resumed by the act of absentees , made in the 28 year of king henry the eigth . but now again , let us look back and see , how long the effect of that reformation did continue , which was begun by lionel duke of clarence , in the fortieth year of king edward the third , and what courses have been held , to reduce and reform this people by other lieutenants and governors since that time . the english colonies being in some good measure reformed by the statutes of kilkenny , did not utterly fall away into barbarism again , till the wars of the two houses had almost destroyed both these kingdoms ; for in that miserable time , the irish found opportunity , without opposition , to banish the english law and government , out of all the provinces , and to confine it onely to the english pale : howbeit , in the mean time , between the government of the duke of clarence , and the beginning of those civil wars of york and lancaster , we find that the state of england did sundry times resolve to proceed in this work of reformation . for first , king richard 2. sent over sir nicholas dagworth , to survey the possessions of the crown ; and to call to accompt the officers of the revenue ; next to ( draw his english subjects to manure and defend their lands in ireland ) he made that ordinance against absentees , spoken of before . again , he shewed an excellent example of justice , upon sir philip courtney , being his lieutenant of that kingdom , when he caused him to be arrested by special commissioners , upon complaint made of sundry grievous oppressions and wrongs , which during his government , he had done unto that people . after this , the parliament of england did resolve , that thomas duke of glocester the kings uncle , should be imployed in the reformation and reducing of that kingdom : the fame whereof , was no sooner bruted in ireland , but all the irishry were ready to submit themselves before his coming : so much the very name of a great personage , specially of a prince of the blood , did ever prevail with this people . but the king and his minions , who were ever jealous of this duke of glocester , would not suffer him to have the honour of that service . but the king himself thought it a work worthy of his own presence and pains : and thereupon , himself in person , made those two royal journeys mentioned before : at what time , he received the submissions of all the irish lords and captains , who bound themselves both by indenture and oath to become and continue his loyal subjects . and withall , laid a particular project , for a civil plantation of the mountains and maritime counties , between dublin and wexford ; by removing all the irish septs from thence , as appeareth by the covenants between the earl marshal of england , and those irish septs : which are before remembred , and are yet preserved , and remain of record in the kings remembrancers office at westminster . lastly , this king being present in ireland , took special care to supply and furnish the courts of justice with able and sufficient judges ; and to that end , he made that grave and learned judge , sir william hankeford , chief justice of the kings bench here ( who afterwards for his service in this realm , was made chief justice of the kings bench in england , by king henry 4. ) and did withall , associate unto him , william sturmy , a well learned man in the law ; who likewise came out of england with the king , that the legal proceedings , which were out of order too ( as all other things in that realm were ) might be amended , and made formal , according to the course and presidents of england . but all the good purposes and projects of this king , were interrupted and utterly defeated , by his suddain departure out of ireland , and unhappy deposition from the crown of england . howbeit , king henry the fourth , intending likewise to prosecute this noble work in the third year of his raign , made the lord thomas of lancaster , his second son , lieutenant of ireland : who came over in person , and accepted again the submissions of divers irish lords and captains , as is before remembred ; and held also a parliament , wherein he gave new life to the statutes of kilkenny , and made other good laws tending to the reformation of the kingdom . but the troubles raised against the king his father in england , drew him home again so soon , as that seed of reformation , took no root at all , neither had his service in that kind , any good effect or success . after this , the state of england had no leisure to think of a general reformation in this realm , till the civil dissentions of england were appeased , and the peace of that kingdom setled , by king henry the seventh . for , albeit , in the time of king henry 6. richard duke of york a prince of the blood ; of great wisdom and valour , and heir to a third part of kingdom at least , being earl of vlster , and lord of conaght and meath , was sent the kings lieutenanr into ireland , to recover and reform that realm where he was resident in person for the greatest part of ten years , yet the troth is , he aimed at another mark , which was the crown of england . and therefore , he thought it no pollicy to distast either the english or irish , by a course of reformation , but sought by all means to please them , and by popular courses to steal away their hearts , to the end , he might strengthen his party , when he should set on foot his title ( as is before declared . ) which pollicy of his took such effect , as that he drew over with him into england , the flower of all the english colonies , especially of vlster and meath , whereof many noblemen and gentlemen were slain with him at wakefield ( as is likewise before remembred . ) and after his death , when the wars between the houses were in their heat , almost all the good english blood , which was left in ireland , was spent in those civil dissentions : so as the irish became victorious over all , without blood or sweat . only , that little canton of land , called the english pale , containing four small shires , did maintain a bordering was with the irish , and retain the forme of english government . but out of that little precinct , there were no lords , knights , or burgesses , summoned to the parliament , neither did the kings writ run in any other part of the kingdom : and yet upon the marches and borders , which at that time were grown so large , as they took up half dublin , half meath , and a third part of kildare and lowth ; there was no law in use , but the march-law , which in the statutes of kilkenny , is said to be no law , but a leud custom . so as upon the end of these civil wars in england , the english law and government was well nigh banisht out of ireland , so as no foot-step or print was left , of any former reformation . then did king henry 7. send over sir edward poynings to be his deputy , a right worthy servitor both in war and peace . the principal end of his employment , was to expel perkin warbecke out of this kingdom ; but that service being performed , that worthy deputy finding nothing but a common misery , took the best course he possibly could , to establish a common-wealth in ireland : and to that end , he held a parliament no less famous , than that of kilkenny ; and more available for the reformation of the whole kingdom . for whereas all wise men did ever concur in opinion , that the readiest way to reform ireland , is to settle a form of civil government there , conformable to that of england : to bring this to pass , sir edward poynings did pass an act , whereby all the statutes made in england before that time , were enacted , established , and made of force in ireland . neither did he only respect the time past , but provided also for the time to come . for he caused another law to be made , that no act should be propounded in any parliament of ireland , but such as should be first transmitted into england , and approved by the king and council there , as good and expedient for that land , and so returned back again , under the great seal of england . this act , though it seem prima facie to restrain the liberty of the subjects of ireland ; yet was it made at the prayer of the commons , upon just and important cause . for the governors of that realm , specially such as were of that country birth , had laid many oppressions upon the commons : and amongst the rest , they had imposed laws upon them , nor tending to the general good , but to serve private turns , and to strengthen their particular factions . this moved them to refer all laws that were to be passed in ireland , to be considered , corrected and allowed , first by the state of england , which had alwayes been tender and carefull of the good of this people , and had long since made them a civil , rich , and happy nation , if their own lords and governors there , had not sent bad intelligence into england . besides this , he took special order , that the summons of parliament should go into all the shires of ireland ; and not to the four shires onely ; and for that cause specially , he caused all the acts of a parliament , lately before holden by the viscount of gormanston to be repealed and made void . moreover , that the parliaments of ireland , might want no decent or honorable form that was used in england , he caused a particular act to pass , that the lords of ireland should appear in the like parliament robes , as the english lords are wont to wear in the parliaments of england . having thus established all the statutes of england in ireland , and set in order the great council of that realm , he did not omit to pass other laws , as well for the encrease of the kings revenue , as the preservation of the publick peace . to advance the profits of the crown ; first he obtained a subsidy of 26 shillings eight pence out of every six score acres manured , payable yearly for five years . next , he resumed all the crownland which had been aliened ( for the most part ) by richard duke of york : and lastly , he procured a subsidy of pondage , out of all merchandizes imported and exported , to be granted to the crown in perpetuity . to preserve the publick peace , he revived the statutes of kilkenny . he made wilful murther high-treason ; he caused the marchers to book their men for whom they should answer ; and restrained the making war or peace , without special commission from the state. these laws , and others as important as these , for the making of a common-wealth in ireland , were made in the government of sir edward poynings . but these laws did not spread their vertue beyond the english pale , though they were made generally for the whole kingdom . for the provinces without the pale , which during the war of york and lancaster , had wholly cast off the the english government , were not apt to receive this seed of reformation , because they were not first broken and mastered again with the sword . besides , the irish countreys , which contained two third parts of the kingdom , were not reduced to shire-ground , so as in them the laws of england could not possibly be put in execution . therefore these good laws and provisions made by sir edward poynings , were like good lessons set for a lute , that is broken and out of tune ; of which lessons , little use can be made , till the lute be made fit to be plaid upon . and that the execution of all these laws , had no greater latitude than the pale , is manifest by the statute of the thirteenth of henry the eighth , cap. 3. which reciteth , that at that time , the kings laws were obeyed and executed in the four shires onely ; and yet then was the earl of surrey lieutenant of ireland , a governor much feared of the kings enemies , and exceedingly honored and beloved of the kings subjects . and the instructions given by the state of ireland , to john allen master of the rolls , employed into england neer about the same time , do declare as much ; wherein among other things , he is required to advertise the king , that his land of ireland was so much decayed , as that the kings laws were not obeyed twenty miles in compass : whereupon , grew that by-word used by the irish , ( viz. ) that they dwelt by-west the law , which dwelt beyond the river of the barrow , which is within thirty miles of dublin . the same is testified by baron finglas , in his discourse of the decay of ireland , which he wrote about the twentieth year of king henry the eighth . and thus we see the effect of the reformation which was intended by sir edward poynings . the next attempt of reformation , was made in 28 year of king henry the eighth , by the lord leonard gray , who was created viscount of grane in this kingdom , and held a parliament , wherein many excellent laws were made . but to prepare the mindes of the people to obey these laws , he began first with a martial course : for being sent over to suppress the rebellion of the giraldines , ( which he performed in few moneths ) he afterwards made a victorious circuit round about the kingdom ; beginning in offaly , against o connor , who had aided the giraldines in their rebellion ; and from thence passing along through all the irish countreys in leinster , and so into munster , where he took pledges of the degenerate earl of desmond , and thence into conaght , and thence into vlster ; and then concluded this warlike progress with the battel of belahoo , in the borders of meath , as is before remembred . the principal septs of the irishry being all terrified , and most of them broken in this journey , many of their chief lords upon this deputies return came to dublin , and made their submissions to the crown of england ; namely , the o neals , and o relies of vlster , mac murrogh , o birn , and o carrol of leinster , and the bourks of conaght . this preparation being made , he first propounded and passed in parliament these laws , which made the great alteration in the state ecclesiastical ; namely , the act which declared king henry the eighth to be supreme head of the church of ireland . the act prohibiting appeals to the church of rome : the act for first-fruits , and twentieth part to be paid to the king : the act for faculties and dispensations : and lastly , the act that did utterly abolish the usurped authority of the pope . next , for the encrease of the kings revenue ; by one act , he suppressed sundry abbies and religious houses ; and by another act , resumed the lands of the absentees , ( as is before remembred . ) and for the civil government , a special statute was made , to abolish the black-rents and tributes , exacted by the irish , upon the english colonies ; and another law enacted , that the english apparel , language , and manner of living , should be used by all such , as would acknowledge themselves the kings subjects . this parliament being ended , the lord leonard gray , w●s suddenly revokt , and put to death in england , so as he lived not to finish the work of reformation , wh●ch he had begun : which notwithstanding was we●l pursued by his successor , sir anthony saint leger ; unto whom , all the lords and chieftains of the irishry , and of the degenerate english throughout the kingdom , made their several submissions by indenture ( which was the fourth general submission of the irish , made since the first attempt of the conquest of ireland ) whereof the first was made to king henry the second ; the second to king john ; the third to k. richard the second , and his last to sir anthony saint leger , in 33 h. 8. in these indentures of submission , all the irish lords do acknowledge king henry the eighth to be their soveraign lord and king , and desire to be accepted of him as subjects . they confess the kings supremacy in all causes and do utterly renounce the popes jurisdiction , which i conceive to be worth the noting , because , when the irish had once resolved to obey the king , they made no scruple to renounce the pope . and this was not onely done by the meer irish , but the chief of the degenerate english families did perform the same : as desmond , barry , and roche , in munster ; and the bourks , which b●re the title of mac william , in conaght . these submissions being thus taken , the lord deputy and council for the present government of those irish countreys , made certain ordinances of state , not agreeable altogether with the rules of the law of england ; the reason whereof , is exprest in the preamble of those ordinances ; quia nondum sic sapiunt leges & jura , ut secundum ea jam immediate vivere & regi possint : the chief points or articles of which orders registred in the council book are these : that king henry the eighth , should be accepted , reputed , and named king of ireland , by all the inhabitants of the kingdom ; that all archbishops and bishops should be permitted to exercise their jurisdiction in every diocess throughout the land : that tythes should be duely set out , and paid : that children should not be admitted to benefices ; that for every man-s●aughter , and theft above fourteen pence , committed in the irish countrys , the offendor should pay a fine of forty pound , twenty pound to the king , and twenty pound to the captain of the countrey ; and for every theft under fourteen pence , a fine of five marks should be paid , forty six shilling eight pence to the captain , & twenty shillings to the tanister : that horsemen & kearn should not be imposed upon the common people , to be fed & maintained by them : that the master should answer for his servants , and the father for his children . that cuttings should not be made by the lord upon his tenants , to maintain war with his neighbours , but onely to bear his necessary expences , &c. these ordinances of state being made and published , there were nominated and appointed in every province , certain orderers or arbitrators , who instead of these irish brehons , should hear and determine all their controversies . in conaght , the archbishop of tuam , the bishop of clonfert , captain wakeley , & captain ovington . in munster , the bishop of waterford , the bishop of cork and ross , the mayor of cork , and mayor of youghal . in vlster , the archbishop of ardmagh , and the lord of lowth . and if any difference did arise which they could not end , either for the difficulty of the cause , or for the obstinacy of the parties , they were to certifie the lord deputy & council , who would decide the matter by their authority . hereupon , the irish captains of lesser territories , which had ever been oppressed by the greater and mightier ; some , with risings out , others , with bonaght , and others , with cuttings , and spendings at pleasure , did appeal for justice to the lord deputy ; who upon hearing their complaints , did always order , that they should all immediately depend upon the king ; and that the weaker should have no dependancy upon the stronger . lastly , he prevailed so much with the greatest of them ; namely , o neal , o brien , and mac william , as that they willingly did pass into england , and presented themselves to the king , who thereupon was pleased to advance them to the degree and honor of earls , and to grant unto them their several countreys , by letters-patents . besides , that they might learn obedience and civility of manners , by often repairing unto the state , the king upon the motion of the same deputy , gave each of them a house and lands neer dublin , for the entertainment of their several trains . this course , did this governor take to reform the irishry ; but withal , he did not omit to advance both the honor and profit of the king. for in the parliament which he held the 33 of hen. the eighth , he caused an act to pass , which gave unto k. henry the eighth , his heirs and successors , the name , stile , and title of king of ireland ; whereas before that time , the kings of england were stiled but lords of ireland : albeit indeed , they were absolute monarchs thereof , and had in right all royal and imperial jurisdiction and power there , as they had in the realm of england . and yet because in the vulgar conceit the name of king , is higher than the name of lord ; assuredly , the assuming of this title , hath not a little raised the soveraignty of the king of england in the mindes of this people : lastly , this deputy brought a great augmentation to the kings revenue , by dissolving of all the monasteries and religious houses in ireland , which was done in the same parliament : and afterward , by procuring min and cavendish , two skilful auditors , to be sent over out of england . who took an exact survey of all the possessions of the crown , and brought many things into charge , which had been concealed and substracted for many years before . and thus far did sir anthony saint leger proceed in the course of reformation ; which though it were a good beginning , yet was it far from reducing ireland to the perfect obedience of the crown of england . for all this while , the provinces of conaght and vlster , and a good part of leinster , were not reduced to shire-ground . and though munster were anciently divided into counties , the people were so degenerate , as no justice of assize durst execute his commission amongst them . none of the irish lords or tenants were setled in their possessions , by any grant or confirmation from the crown , except the three great earls before named ; who notwithstanding , did govern their tenants and followers , by the irish or brehon law ; so as no treason , murther , rape , or theft , committed in those countries , was inquired of , or punisht by the law of england ; and consequently , no escheat , forfeiture , or fine ; no revenue ( certain or casual ) did accrew to the crown out of those provinces . the next worthy governor that endeavoured to advance this reformation , was thomas earl of sussex ; who having throughly broken and subdued the two most rebellious and powerful irish septs in leinster ; namely , the moores and o connors , possessing the territories of leix and offaly , did by act of parliament , 3. and 4. phil. and mariae , reduce those countries into two several counties ; naming the one , the kings , and the other , the queens county ; which were the first two counties that had been made in this kingdom , since the twelfth year of king john ; at what time the territories then possessed by the english colonies , were reduced into twelve shires , as is before expressed . this noble earl , having thus extended the jurisdiction of the english law into two counties more , was not satisfied with that addition , but took a resolution to divide all the rest of the irish countries un-reduced , into several shires ; and to that end , he caused an act to pass in the same parliament , authorising the lord chancellor , from time to time , to award commissions to such persons , as the lord deputy should nominate and appoint , to view and perambulate those irish territories ; and thereupon , to divide and limit the same into such and so many several counties as they should think meet ; which being certified to the lord deputy , and approved by him , should be returned and enrolled in the chancery , and from thenceforth be of like force and effect , as if it were done by act of parliament . thus did the earl of sussex lay open a passage for the civil government into the unreformed parts of this kingdom , but himself proceeded no further than is before delared . howbeit afterwards , during the raign of queen elizabeth , sir henry sidney , ( who hath left behind him many monuments of a good governour in this land ) did not only pursue that course which the earl of sussex began , in reducing the irish countries into shires , and placing therein sheriffs , and other ministers of the law ; ( for first he made the annaly a territory in leinster , possessed by the sept of offerralles , one entire shire by it self , and called it the county of longford ; and after that he divided the whole province of conaght into six counties more ; namely , clare ( which containeth all thomond ) gallaway , sligo , mayo , roscomon , and leytrim : ) but he also had caused divers good laws to be made , and performed sundry other services , tending greatly to the reformation of this kingdom . for first , to diminish the greatness of the irish lords , and to take from them the dependancy of the common people , in the parliament which he held 11. eliz. he did abolish their pretended and usurped captain-ships , and all exactions , and extortions incident thereunto . next , to settle their seigniories and possessions in a course of inheritance , according to the course of the common law , he caused an act to pass , whereby the lord deputy was authorised to accept their surrenders , and to regrant estates unto them , to hold of the crown by english tenures and services . again , because the inferiour sort were loose and poor , and not amesuable to the law ; he provided by another act , that five of the best and eldest persons of every sept , should bring in all the idle persons of their surname , to be justified by the law . moreover , to give a civil education to the youth of this land in the time to come , provision was made by another law , that there should be one free schoole , at least , erected in every diocess of the kingdom . and lastly , to inure and acquaint the people of munster and conaght , with the english government again ( which had not been in use among them , for the space of 200. years before : ) he instituted two presidency courts in those two provinces , placing sir edward fitton in conaght , and sir john perrot in munster . to augment the kings revenue in the same parliament , upon the attainder of shane o neale , he resumed and vested in the crown , more than half the provinne of vlster : he raised the customs upon the principal commodities of the kingdom : he reformed the abuses of the exchequer , by many good orders and instructions sent out of england ; and lastly , he established the composition of the pale , in lieu of purveyance and sess of souldiers . these were good proceedings in the work of reformation , but there were many defects and omissions withall ; for though he reduced all conaght into counties , he never sent any justices of assize to visit that province , but placed commissioners there , who governed it only in a course of discretion ; part martial , and part civil . again , in the law that doth abolish the irish captain-ships , he gave way for the reviving thereof again , by excepting such , as should be granted by letters patents from the crown ; which exception did indeed take away the force of that law . for no governor during queen elizabeths reign , did refuse to grant any of those captain-ships , to any pretended irish lord , who would desire , and with his thankfulness deserve the same . and again , though the greatest part of vlster were vested by act of parliament , in the actual and real possession of the crown ; yet was there never any seisure made thereof , nor any part thereof brought into charge , but the irish were permitted to take all the profits , without rendering any duty or acknowledgement for the same ; and though the name of o neale were damned by that act , and the assuming thereof made high-treason ; yet after that , was tirlagh leynnagh suffered to bear that title , and to intrude upon the possessions of the crown , and yet was often entertained by the state with favour . neither were these lands resumed , by the act of ii of elizabeth neglected only ( for the abbyes and religious houses in tyrone , tirconnell , and fermanagh , though they were dissolved in the 33. of henry 8. were never surveyed nor reduced into charge , but were continualy possest by the religious persons ) untill his majesty that now is , came to the crown : and that which is more strange , the donations of bishopricks , being a flower of the crown ( which the kings of england did ever retain in all their dominions , when the popes usurped authority was at the highest . ) there were three bishopricks in vlster ; namely , derry , rapho , and clogher , which neither queen elizabeth , nor any of her progenitors did ever bestow , though they were the undoubted patrons thereof . so as king james was the first king of england that did ever supply these sees with bishops , which is an argument either of great negligence , or of great weakness in the state and governors of those times . and thus far proceeded sir henry sidney . after him , sir john perrot , who held the last parliament in this kingdom , did advance the reformation in three principal points . first , in establishing the great composition of conaght , in which service the wisdom and industry of sir richard bingham did concur with him : next , in reducing the unreformed parts of vlster into seven shires ; namely , adrmagh , monahan tirone , colerain , donagall , fermannagh , and cavan ; though in his time the law was never executed in these new counties by any sheriffs or justices of assize , but the people left to be ruled still by their own barbarous lords and laws : and lastly , by vesting in the crown , the lands of desmond and his adherents in munster , and planting the same with english , though that plantation were imperfect in many points . after sir john perrot , sir william fitz-williams did good service in two other points . first , in raising a composition in munster ; and then , in setling the possessions both of the lords and tenants in monahan , which was one of the last acts of state , tending to the reformation of the civil government that was performed in the raign of queen elizabeth . thus we see , by what degrees , and what pollicy and success the governors of this land from time to time , since the beginning of the raign of king edward the third , have endeavoured to reform and reduce this people to the perfect obedience of the crown of england ; and we finde , that before the civil wars of yorke and lancaster , they did chiefly endeavour to bring back the degenerate english colonies to their duty and allegiance , not respecting the meer irish , whom they reputed as aliens or enemies of the crown . but after king henry 7. had united the roses , they laboured to reduce both english and irish together ▪ which work , to what pass and perfection it was brought in the latter end of qu. elizabeths raign , hath been before declared . whereof sometimes when i do consider , i do in mine own conceit compare these later governors , who went about to reform the civil affairs in ireland , unto some of the kings of israel , of whom it is said ; that they were good kings , but they did not cut down the groves and high places , but suffered the people still to burn incense , and commit idolatry in them : so sir anthony saint-leger , the earl of sussex , sir henry sidney , and sir john perrot , were good governors , but they did not abolish the irish customs , nor execute the law in the irish countries , but suffered the people to worship their barbarous lords , and to remain utterly ignorant of their duties to god and the king. and now i am come to the happy reign of my most gracious lord and master k. james ; in whose time , as there hath been a concurrence of many great felicities : so this among others may be numbred in the first rank ; that all the defects in the ●overnment of ireland spoken of before , have been fully supplyed in the first nine years of his raign . in which time , there hath been more done in the work and reformation of this kingdom ; than in the 440. years which are past since the conquest was first attempted . howbeit , i have no purpose in this discourse , to set forth at large all the proceedings of the state here in reforming of this kingdom , since his majesty came to the crown , for the parts and passages thereof are so many , as to express them fully , would require a several treatise . besides , i for my part , since i have not flattered the former times , but have plainly laid open the negligence and errors of every age that is past , would not willingly seem to flatter the present , by amplifying the diligence and true judgment of those servitors , that have laboured in this vineyard since the beginning of his majesties happy raign . i shall therefore summarily , without any amplification at all , shew in what manner , and by what degrees , all the defects , which i have noted before in the government of this kingdom , have been supplyed since his majesties happy raign began ; and so conclude these observations concerning the state of ireland . first then , touching the martial affairs , i shall need to say little , in regard that the war which finished the conquest of ireland , was ended almost in the instant , when the crown descended upon his majesty ; and so there remained no occasion to amend the former errors committed in the prosecution of the war. howbeit , sit hence his majesty hath still maintained an army here , as well for a seminary of martial men ; as to give strength and countenance to the civil magistrate ; i may justly observe , that this army hath not been fed with coign and livery , or sess ( with which extortions the souldier hath been nourished in the times of former princes ) but hath been as justly and royally paid , as ever prince in the world did pay his men of war. besides , when there did arise an occasion of employment for this army against the rebel odoghertie ; neither did his majestie delay the re-inforcing thereof , but instantly sent supplies out of england and scotland ; neither did the martial men dally or prosecute the service faintly , but did forthwith quench that fire , whereby themselves would have been the warmer , the longer it had continued , as well by the encrease of their entertainment , as by booties and spoil of the countrey . and thus much i thought fit to note , touching the amendment of the errours in the martial affairs . secondly , for the supply of the defects in the civil government , these courses have been pursued since his majesties prosperous reign began . first , albeit upon the end of the war , whereby tyrones universal rebellion was supprest , the mindes of the people were broken and prepared to obedience of the law ; yet the state upon good reason , did conceive , that the publick peace could not be settled , till the hearts of the people were also quieted , by securing them from the danger of the law , which the most part of them had incurred one way or other , in that great and general confusion . therefore , first by a general act of state , called the act of oblivion , published by proclamation under the great-seal ; all offences against the crown , and all particular trespasses between subject and subject , done at any time before his majesties reign , were ( to all such as would come in to the justices of assize by a certain day , and claim the benefit of this act ) pardoned , remitted , and utterly extinguished , never to be revived or called in question . and by the same proclamation , all the irishry ( who for the most part , in former times , were left under the tyrannie of their lords and chieftains , and had no defence or justice from the crown ) were received into his majesties immediate protection . this bred such comfort and security in the hearts of all men as there upon ensued , the calmest , and most universal peace , that ever was seen in ireland . the publick peace being thus established , the state proceeded next to establish the publick justice in every part of the realm . and to that end , sir george cary ( who was a prudent governor , and a just , and made a fair entry into the right way of reforming this kingdom ) did in the first year of his majesties reign , make the first sheriffs that ever were made in tyrone and tirconnel ; and shortly after , sent sir edmund pelham chief baron , and my self thither , the first justices of assize that ever sat in those countreys : and in that circuit , we visited all the shires of that provinces besides ; which visitation , though it were somewhat distasteful to the irish lords , was sweet and most welcome to the common people ; who , albeit they were rude and barbarous , yet they quickly apprehended the difference between the tyrannie and oppression under which they lived before , and the just government and protection which we promised unto them for the time to come . the law having made her progress into vlster with so good success , sir arthur chichester ( who with singular industry , wisdom , and courage , hath now for the space of seven years and more , prosecuted the great work of reformation , and brought it well-neer to an absolute perfection ) did in the first year of his government , establish two other new circuits for justices of assize ; the one in conaght , and the other in munster . i call them new circuits , for that , although it be manifest by many records , that justices itinerant have in former times been sent into all the shires of munster , and some part of conaght ; yet certain it is , that in two hundred years before ( i speak much within compass ) no such commission had been executed in either of these two provinces . but now , the whole realm being divided into shires , and every bordering territory , whereof any doubt was made in what county the same should lie , being added or reduced to a county certain ( among the rest , the mountains and glyns on the south side of dublin , were lately made a shire by it self , and called the county of wicklow ; whereby the inhabitants , which were wont to be thorns in the side of the pale , are become civil and quiet neighbours thereof , ) the streams of the publick justice were derived into every part of the kingdom ; and the benefit and protection of the law of england communicated to all , as well irish as english , without distinction or respect of persons ; by reason whereof , the work of deriving the publick justice , grew so great , as that there was magna messis , sed operarii pauci . and therefore , the number of the judges in every bench was increased , which do now every half year ( like good planets in their several sphaeres or circles ) carry the ●ight and influence of justice , round about the kingdom ; whereas the circuits in former times , went but round about the pale , like the circuit of the cinosura about the pole. quae cursu interiore brevi convertitur orbe . upon these visitations of justice , whereby the iust and honourable law of england was imparted and communicated to all the irishry , there followed these excellent good effects : first , the common people were taught by the justices of assize , that they were free subjects to the kings of england , and not slaves and vassals to their pretended lords : that the cuttings , cosheries , sessings , and other extortions of their lords , were unlawful , and that they should not any more submit themselves thereunto , since they were now under the protection of so just and mighty a prince , as both would and could protect them from all wrongs and oppressions : they gave a willing ear unto these lessons ; and thereupon , the greatness and power of those irish lords over the people , suddenly fell and vanished , when their oppressions and extortions were taken away , which did maintain their greatness : insomuch , as divers of them , who formerly made themselves owners of all ( by force ; ) were now by the law reduced to this point ; that wanting means to defray their ordinary charges , they resorted ordinarily to the lord deputy , and made petition , that by license and warrant of the state , they might take some aid and contribution from their people ; as well to discharge their former debts , as for competent maintenance in time to come : but some of them being impatient of this diminution , fled out of the realm to forreign countreys . whereupon , we may well observe , that , as extortion did banish the old english free-holder , who could not live but under the law ; so the law did banish the irish lord , who could not live but by extortion . again , these circuits of justice ( did ( upon the end of the war ) more terrifie the loose and idle persons , than the execution of the martial law , though it were more quick and sudden : and in a short time after , did so clear the the kingdom of thieves , and other capital offendors , as i dare affirm , that for the space of five years last past , there have not been found so many malefactors worthy of death in all the six circuits of this realm ( which is now divided into thirty two shires at large ) as in one circuit of six shires ; namely , the western circuit in england ; for the truth is , that in time of peace , the irish are more fearful to offend the law , than the english , or any other nation whatsoever . again , whereas the greatest advantage that the irish had of us in all their rebellions , was , our ignorance of their countreys , their persons , and their actions : since the law and her ministers have had a passage among them , all their places of fastness have been discovered and laid open ; all their paces cleared ; and notice taken of every person that is able to do either good or hurt . it is known , not onely how they live , and what they do , but it is foreseen what they purpose or intend to do : insomuch , as tyrone hath been heard to complain , that he had so many eyes watching over him , as he could not drink a full carouse of sack , but the state was advertized thereof , within few hours after . and therefore , those allowances which i finde in the ancient pipe rolls , pro guidagio , & spiagio , may be well spared at this day . for the under-sheriffs and bailiffs errant are better guides and spies in the time of peace , than any were found in the time of war. moreover , these civil assemblies at assizes and sessions , have reclaimed the irish from their wildness , caused them to cut off their glibs and long hair ; to convert their mantles into cloaks ; to conform themselves to the manner of england in all their behaviour and outward forms . and because they finde a great inconvenience in moving their suits by an interpreter ; they do for the most part send their children to schools , especially to learn the english language : so as we may conceive and hope , that the next generation , will in tongue and heart , and every way else , become english ; so as there will be no difference or distinction , but the irish sea betwixt us . and thus we see a good conversion , and the irish game turned again . for heretofore , the neglect of the law , made the english degenerate , and become irish ; and now , on the other side , the execution of the law , doth make the irish grow civil , and become english . lastly , these general sessions now , do teach the people more obedience , and keep them more in awe , than did the general hostings in former times . these progresses of the law , renew and confirm the conquest of ireland every half year , and supply the defect of the kings absence in every part of the realm ; in that every judge sitting in the seat of justice , doth represent the person of the king himself . these effects , hath the establishment of the publick peace and justice produced , since his majesties happy reign began . howbeit , it was impossible to make a common-weal in ireland , without performing another service ; which was , the setling of all the estates and possessions , as well of irish , as english , thoroughout the kingdom . for , although that in the twelfth year of queen elizabeth , a special law , was made , which did enable the lord deputy to take surrenders , and regrant estates unto the irishry ( upon signification of her majesties pleasure in that behalf ; ) yet were there but few of the irish lords that made offer to surrender during her reign ; and they which made surrenders of entire countreys , obtained grants of the whole again to themselves onely , and to no other , and all in demesn . in passing of which grants , there was no care taken of the inferiour septs of people , inhabiting and possessing these countreys under them , but they held their several portions in course of tanistry and gavelkinde , and yielded the same irish duties or exactions , as they did before : so that upon every such surrender and grant , there was but one free-holder made in a whole countrey , which was the lord himself ; all the rest were but tenants at will , or rather tenants in villenage , and were neither fit to be sworn in juries , nor to perform any publick service : and by reason of the uncertainty of their estates did utterly neglect to build , or to plant , or to improve the land. and therefore , although the lord were become the kings tenant , his countrey was no whit reformed thereby , but remained in the former barbarism and desolation . again , in the same queens time , there were many irish lords , which did not surrender , yet obtained letters-patents of the captain-ships of their countreys , and of all lands and duties belonging to those captainships : for the statute which doth condemn and abolish these captain-ries , usurped by the irish , doth give power to the lord deputy to grant the same by letters patents . howbeit , these irish captains , and likewise the english , which were made seneschalles of the irish countries , did by colour of these grants , and under pretence of government , claim an irish seigniory , and exercise plain tyranny over the common people . and this was the fruit that did arise of the letters patents , granted of the irish countries in the time of queen elizabeth , where before they did extort and oppress the people , only by colour of a lewd and barbarous custom ; they did afterwards use the same extortions and oppressions by warrant , under the great seal of the realm . but now , since his majesty came to the crown , two special commissions have been sent out of england , for the setling and quieting of all the possessions in ireland ; the one , for accepting surrenders of the irish and degenerate english , and for regranting estates unto them , according to the course of the common law ; the other , for strengthening of defective titles . in the execution of which commissions , there hath ever been had a special care , to settle and secure the under-tenants ; to the end , there might be a repose and establishment of every subjects estate ; lord and tenant , free-holder and farmer , thoroughout the kingdom . upon surrenders , this course hath been held from the beginning ; when an irish lord doth offer to surrender his country , his surrender is not immediately accepted , but a commission is first awarded , to enquire of three speciall points . first , of the quantity and limits of the land whereof he is reputed owner . next , how much himself doth hold in demeasne , and how much is possest by his tenants and followers . and thirdly , what customs , duties , and services , he doth yearly receive out of those lands . this inquisition being made and returned , the lands which are found to be the lords proper possessions in demeasne , are drawn into a particular ; and his irish duties ; as cosherings , sessings , rents of butter and oatmeal , and the like ; are reasonably valued and reduced into certain sums of mony , to be paid yearly in lieu thereof . this being done , the surrender is accepted ; and thereupon a grant passed , not of the whole country , as was used in former times , but of those lands only , which are found in the lords possession , and of those certain sums of mony , as rents issuing out of the rest . but the lands which are found to be possest by the tenants , are left unto them , respectively charged with these certain rents only , in lieu of all uncertain irish exactions . in like manner , upon all grants , which have past by vertue of the commission , for defective titles , the commissioners have taken special caution , for preservation of the estates of all particular tenants . and as for grants of captain-ships or seneschal-ships , in the irish countries ; albeit , this deputy had as much power and authority to grant the same , as any other governors had before him ; and might have raised as much profit by bestowing the same , if he had respected his private , more than the publick good ; yet hath he been so far from passing any such in all his time , as he hath endeavoured to resume all the grants of that kind , that have been made by his predecessors ; to the end , the inferiour subjects of the realm , should make their only and immediate dependency upon the crown . and thus we see , how the greatest part of the possessions , ( as well of the irish as of the english ) in leinster , conaght , and munster , are setled and secured since his majesty came to the crown : whereby the hearts of the people are also setled , not only to live in peace , but raised and encouraged to build , to p●ant , to give better education to their children , and to improve the commodities of their lands ; whereby the yearly value thereof , is already encreased , double of that it was within these few years , and is like daily to rise higher , till it amount to the price of our land in england . lastly , the possessions of the irishry in the province of vlster , though it were the most rude and unreformed part of ireland , and the seat and nest of the last great rebellion , are now better disposed and established , than any the lands in the other provinces , which have been past and setled upon surrenders . for , as the occasion of the disposing of those lands , did not happen without the special providence and finger of god , which did cast out those wicked and ungrateful traitors , who were the only enemies of the reformation of ireland : so the distribution and plantation thereof , hath been projected and prosecuted , by the special direction and care of the king himself ; wherein his majesty hath corrected the errors before spoken of , committed by king henry 2. and k. john , in distributing and planting the first conquered lands . for , although there were six whole shires to be disposed , his majesty gave not an entire country , or county , to any particular person ; much less did he grant jura regalia , or any extraordinary liberties . for the best brittish undertaker , had but a proportion of 3000. acres for himself , with power to create a mannor , and hold a court baron : albeit , many of these undertakers , were of as great birth and quality , as the best adventurers in the first conquest . again , his majesty did not utterly exclude the natives out of this plantation , with a purpose to root them ou● , as the irish were excluded out of the first english colonies ; but made mixt plantation of brittish and irish , that they might grow up together in one nation : only , the irish were in some places transplanted from the woods and mountains , into the plains and open countries , that being removed ( like wild fruit-trees ) they might grow the milder , and bear the better and sweeter fruit . and this truly , is the master-piece , and most excellent part of the work of reformation , and is worthy indeed of his majesties royal pains . for when this plantation hath taken root , and been fixt and setled but a few years , with the favour and blessing of god ( for the son of god himself hath said in the gospel , omnis plantatio , quam non plantavit pater meus , eradicabitur ) it will secure the peace of ireland , assure it to the crown of england for ever ; and finally , make it a civil , and a rich , a mighty , and a flourishing kingdom . i omit to speak of the increase of the revenue of the crown , both certain and casual , which is raised to a double proportion ( at lest ) above that it was , by deriving the publick justice into all parts of the realm ; by setling all the possessions , of both of the irish and english , by re-establishing the compositions ; by restoring and resuming the customs ; by reviving the tenures in capite , and knights-service ; and reducing many other things into charge , which by the confusion and negligence of former times , became concealed and subtracted from the crown . i forbear likewise to speak of the due and ready bringing in of the revenue , which is brought to pass by the well ordering of the court of exchequer , and the authority and pains of the commissioners for accompts . i might also add hereunto , the encouragement that hath been given to the maritime towns and citties , as well to increase their trade of merchandize , as to cherish mechanical arts and sciences ; in that all their charters have been renewed , and their liberties more inlarged by his majesty , than by any of his progenitors since the conquest . as likewise , the care and course that hath been taken , to make civil commerce and entercourse between the subjects ; newly reformed and brought under obedience , by granting markets and fairs to be holden in their countries , and by erecting of corporate towns among them . briefly , the clock of the civil government , is now well set , and all the wheels thereof do move in order ; the strings of this irish harp , which the civil magistrate doth finger , are all in tune ( for i omit to speak of the state ecclesiastical ) and make a good harmony in this common-weal : so as we may well conceive a hope , that ireland ( which heretofore might properly be called the land of ire , because the irascible power was predominant there , for the space of 400. years together ) will from henceforth prove a land of peace and concord . and though heretofore it hath been like the lean cow of egypt , in pharaohs dream , devouring the fat of england , and yet remaining as lean as it was before , it will hereafter be as fruitfull as the land of canaan ; the description whereof , in the 8. of deutronomy , doth in every part agree with ireland ; being terra rivorum , aquarumque & fontium ; in cujus campis , & montibus , erumpunt fluviorum abyssi ; terra frumenti , & hordei ; terra lactis , & mellis ; ubi absque ulla penuria comedes panem tuum , & rerum abundantia perfrueris . and thus i have discovered and expressed the defects and errors , as well in the managing of the martial affairs , as of the civil ; which in former ages gave impediment to the reducing of all ireland , to the obedience and subjection of the crown of england . i have likewise observed , what courses have been taken ; to reform the defects and errors in government , and to reduce the people of this land to obedience , since the beginning of the raign of king edward 3. till the latter end of the raign of queen elizabeth . and lastly , i have declared and set forth , how all the said errors have been corrected , and the defects supplyed under the prosperous government of his majesty ; so as i may positively conclude in the same words , which i have used in the title of this discourse ; that untill the beginning of his majesties raign , ireland was never entirely subdued , and brought under the obedience of the crown of england . but since the crown of of this kingdom , with the undoubted right and title thereof , descended upon his majesty ; the whole island from sea to sea , hath been brought into his highness peaceable possession ; and all the inhabitants , in every corner thereof , have been absolutely reduced under his immediate subjection . in which condition of subjects , they will gladly continue , without defection or adhaering to any other lord or king , as long as they may be protected , and justly governed , without oppression on the one side , or impunity on the other . for , there is no nation of people under the sun , that doth love equal and indifferent justice , better than the irish ; or will rest better satisfied with the execution thereof , although it be against themselves ; so as they may have the protection and benefit of the law , when upon just cause they do desire it . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a37237-e230 two main impediments of the conquest . the faint prosecution of the war. what is a perfect conquest how the war hath been prosecuted since the 17 year of henry the second . in the time of henry the second . giraldus cambrensis . the first attempt but an adventure of private gentlemen . with what forces the king himself come over . archiu . remem . regis . apud west what manner of conquest k. henry the second made of ireland . bodin de repub. the true marks of soveraignty . hoveden in henrico secundo fol. 312. 6 johannis claus . membrana . 18.17 . johannis chart. m. 3. 6. hen. 3. chart . m. 2. archiu . in castro dublin . ●2 . hen. 3. co●po●●● will de la zouch 36. h●n . 3. ●om●●tus huberti de rouly . how the war● was prosecuted in the time of king john. giraldus cambrensis . giraldus cambrensis . geraldus cambrensis . matth. pacis in richardo primo ●● 15 19. matth. paris . this charter yet remaineth perfect , with an entire seal in the treasury at westminster ▪ archiu . in castro dublin & archiu turr. 52● hen. 3 patent . m. 9. how the martial affairs were carried from the 12 ▪ year of king john , to the 36. year of king edward the third . archiu . in castro dublin . stat. 10. h. 7. c. 4. rot . parliam . in castro dublin . annales hiberniae in camden . baron finglas . manus . stat. 10. h 7. cap. 4. rot. parli . in castro dublin . stat. 11. h. 4. c. 6. baron finglas . m. s. the army transmitted with lionel duke of clarence , the 36 of edw. 3. archiu . remem . regis apud westm . the manner of levying souldiers informer ages . what service lionel duke of clarence performed . archiu . tur. 36. edw. 3 claus . m. 21. in dorso . & m. 30. ●●r will. winsor . lieutenant , 47 ed. 3. his forces & service . 47 ed : 3. claus . m. 1. stow in rich 2. the state of the revenue of ireland , in the time of edw. 3. walsingham in rich. 2. archiu turr. 11 h. 3. patent m. 3. 21 ed. 3. m. 41. 47 ed. 3. claus . pers . 2. m. 24. & 26. archiu . in castro dublin . hollingshead in r. 2. archiu . in castro dublin . 5 edw 3. how the war proceeded in the time of king richard the second . 3 rich. 2. archiu . tur rot. parl. 42. pat. 2. pars . 9. rich. 2. m. 24. walsingham in rich. 2. annales , tho. otterbourne manuscript . stow in rich. 2● archiu . in officio rememorat . regis apud westmon . hollingshead in richard the 2. henry 4. the lord thomas of lancaster his service . archiu . rememorat . regis apud westm . henry 5. the lord furnival his service . alb. libr. scacc. dublin . henry 6. richard duke of york his service . archiu . in castro dublin . hollingshead in henry the sixth . rot. parl. in castro dublin . archiu . tur. 17. hen. 6. clausam . 20. manuscript of baron finglas . hollingshead in hen. 6. edw. 4. how the war was maintained in the time of king edw. 4. hollingshead in edw. 4. book of howth m●rus . the fraternity of saint george in ireland . 14. of edw. 4. rot. parl. dublin . henry 7. how the war was prosecuted in time of k hen. 7. ar●●●● . remem . regis apud west . the book of howth manus . holinshead in hen. 7. sir ed : poynings service . rot. parl. in castro dublin . the book of howth the battle of knocktow . henry 8. how the war was carried , during the reign of king henry the eight . the earl of surries service . the lord leonard grayes service . the fight at belahoo . book of howth . manus ▪ sir anthony st. leger . sir edw. b●llingham , in the time of king edw. 6. archiu . remem . regis apud west ' tho : earl of sussex in the time of queen mary . queen elizabeth . how the war was prosecuted in the time of qu elizabeth . shane o neales rebellion . archiu . remem . regis apud westm . desmonds rebellion . tyrones rebellion . four main defects in the prosecution of the war. why none of the kings of england , before qu. elizabeth , did finish the conquest of ireland . giraldus cambrensis . how the several kings of england were diverted from the conquest of ireland . king henry 2. the book of howth manus . rich. 1. k. john. henry 3. edw. 1. archiu . in castro dublin . annales hiberniae in camden . edw. 2. annales hiberniae in camden . archiu . in castro dublin . manuscript of friar clinn . rubr. libr. scac. dublin : edw. 3. annales hiberniae in cam den . rich. 2. henry 4. henry 5. annales hiberniae in camden . henry 6. hollingshead in hen. 6. manuscript of baron finglas . edw. 4. rich. 3. henry 7. henry 8. king edward 6. and qu. mary . qu. elizabeth . 2. the defects in the civil policy & government . 1. the laws of england were not given to the meer irish . matth. paris hist . major , fol. 121. matth. paris histor . major . 220 b. 11 hen. 3. pat . m. 3. 30 h. 3. pat . m. 20 the meer irish not admitted to have the benefit of the laws of england . the meer irish reputed aliens . archiu . in castro dublin . archiu . in castro dublin . archiu . in castro dublin . archiu . in castro dublin . archiu . in castro dublin . archiu . in castro dublin . that the meer irish were reputed enemies to the crown . archiu . in castro dublin . archiu . in castro dublin . archiu . in castro dublin . archiu . in castro dublin . stat. de kilkenny c 2. & 3.10 hen. 6. c. 1.28 hen. 8 c. 13. the irish did desire to be admitted to the benefit and protection of the english laws , but could not obtain it . 2. ed. 3. claus . 17. the council book of ireland , 34 hen 8 what mischief did grow by not communicating the english laws to the irish . what good would have ensued , if the meer irish had been governed by the english laws . three general submissiof the irish . the english laws were executed only in the english colonies . archiu . in castro dublin . statut. de kilkenny . c. 4. the romans did communicate their laws to the nations , which they conquerred . tacitus in vita agricolae . william the conqueror governed both the normans and the english under one law. camden in norfolke . k. edw. 1. did communicate the english laws to the welshmen . giraldus cambrensis . l. 2. de hibernia expugnata . 2. the lands conquered from the ir●sh were not well distributed . the proportions of land granted to the first adventurers were too large● giraldus cambrensis , l. 2. de l●●bernia expugnata . in arch. tur. 5 ed. 3. escheat numero 104. 2 johan . chart. m. 15. & m. 38. 6 johan chart. m. 1. 7 johan . chart. m. 12. & n. 109. 6 edw. 1. chart. m. 19.18 ed. 1. m. 29. girald . cambr. l. 2. de hibernia expug . all ireland distributed to ten persons of the english nation . 6 h. 3. chart. m. 2. hovend . in h. 2. fol. 302. archiu . tur . 17 johan . chart. m. 3. 6 johan . claus . m. 18. matth. paris in henry the third 3 hen. 3. the liberties granted to the first adventurers were too great . eight counties palatines in ireland at one time . annales hiberniae in camden . in arch●u● . 1● e●w 3. 〈…〉 . five counties palatines in leinster . archiu . in castro dublin . archiu . tur. pat . 3. e. 3. m. 28. archiu . in castro dublin . the inconveniences which grew by the large grants of lands & liberties . the english lords in ireland made war & peace at their pleasure . the war and dissention of the english lords one with another . annales hiberniae in camd. annal hiber in ca● annales johan . clyn. manusc . baron finglas manusc stat. 10 h. 7. c. 4. rot. parl. in castro dublin . baron finglas , manuscript . archiu . tur. 5. ed. 3. claus . m. 4. archiu . tur . 15. ed. 3. claus . m. 4. annales hiberniae in camden . the first adventurers obtained these liberal grants , because the kings of england d●d not prosecute the war at their own charge . how the state of rome rewarded their men of war. william the conqueror . camden in chester . wales distributed to the l. marchers . the english lords did not reduce the woods and wasts in forrests and parks chart. de forest . c. 2. & . 3. the english colonies rejected the english laws and customs , and embraced the irish . the nature of irish customs . the irish laws and customs , differing from the laws and customs of all civil nations . the irish law in criminal causes . the irish custom of tanistry . the irish custome of gavel-kind . the mischiefs that arise , by these two customs . the wicked customs of coigne and livery . the mischiefs that did arise by coigne and livery . the cause of idleness in the irish . why the irish are beggars in forreign countrys why the irish are reputed a crafty people . why the irish are inquisitive after news . cosherings . sessings . cuttings . gossipred how the english colonies beca●●e degenerate . alb. libr. scacc. dubl . 5 ed. 3. m. 25. when & how the english colonies became degenerate . the scots overrun ireland . annales hiberniae in camden ▪ desmond chief commander in the war against the scots . when and how the extortion of coign and livery began among the english . the rising mac murrogh and o m●re in leinster . annales hiberniae in camden . annales johan . clynne . manus . the defect and loss of a great part of leinster . the earl of vlster murdered . annales johan , clynne , manus . the earldom of vlster recovered by the irish . abridgement of salus populi mascript . baron finglas , manus . annales hiberniae in camden . the defection of conaght . baron finglas , manus . annales hiberniae in camden . what courses have been taken to reform this kingdom , since the english colonies became degenerate . edw. 2. k. edw. the third did first endeavour a reformation . archiu . tur. 2. e. 3● clau . pers . 1. m. 16. sir anthony lucy . annales hiberni● in camden . resumption of liberties . annales hiberniae in camden . sir raphe vfford . annales jo●an . manus . clynn . annale hibern● in ca●de● . maurice fitz-thomas the first earl of desmond , the author of the great oppressions and dissentions which destroyed the english colonies . the fortune of the house of desmond . the council-book of ireland ▪ 32 h. 8. the course reformation pursued by lio● duke clare● archiu . in castro dublin . statutes of kilkenny . c. 2. c. 3. c. 4. c. 10. c 12. c. 13. c. 15. c. 17. c. 22. c. 24. the statutes of kilkenny did much , reform th● degenerate english ▪ stat. 10 h. c. 8. the presence of the kings son , did much advance the reformation . absence of our kings & great english lords , a chief cause why the kingdom was not reduced . abse●● of o●● king the absence of the great english lords . baron . finglas , manusc . baron finglas , manusc . arch tur ● parli● n. 42. arch in o● rem● dubl● act of absentees , 28 h. 8. the reformation intended by k. ric● 2. archi● tur. 3 rich. claus . 3. ri● 2. rot● parl● 11.42 9 ri● 2. cl . walsiham ● rich 349. plac. coram . reg● in hibernia . hillar . 18. rich● 2. the reformat●on int●●ded by hen. ● the course of reformation held by sir edward poynings , in the time of k. hen 7. poynings act. the co●● boo● irel● 16 ● the reformation intended by the l. leonard gray , 28 h. 8. annal●● hiber●● manu● the coun●● book● 〈◊〉 irela●● 2● ●● the c●urs● refor●●tion ●sued sir a●thony s. l● four nera● subm●ons the i● the cou● boo● irel● 32 , 3● 34 ● the and gen● ea● ren● the the council book of ireland , 33 h. 8. the course of reformation prosecuted by tho. earl of sussex , in the time of queen mary . li●x and offaly made two counti●s , 3. & 4. phil. & mariae . the course of reformation followed by sir henry sidney , in the time of queen elizabeth . 〈◊〉 re●●●mati●● ad●●●ced 〈◊〉 sir ●ohn ●errot . the service of william fitz-williams , tending to reformation . how the defects and errors in the government of irel. have been supplied and amended since the beginning of his majesties reign . errors ●n the carriage of the martial affairs amended . how the defects in the civil government have bin supplied . ● . by establishing the publick peace . 2 by establishing the publick justice in every part of the kingdom . the good effects which followed the execution of the law throughout the kingdom 3. the setling of the states and possessions of the irishry , as well as of the english . how the commissions for surrenders , and defective titles have been p● in execution . no gran● of irish captain-ships , o● s●nescha●ships , since ●i● majestie reign . the plantation on of vlster . the egyptian history, treating of the pyramids, the inundation of the nile, and other prodigies of egypt, according to the opinions and traditions of the arabians written originally in the arabian tongue by murtadi, the son of gaphiphus, rendered into french by monsieur vattier ... and thence faithfully done into english by j. davies ... murtaḍā ibn al-ʻafīf, 1154 or 5-1237. 1672 approx. 405 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 172 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a51638 wing m3128 estc r23142 12493199 ocm 12493199 62433 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a51638) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 62433) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 769:23) the egyptian history, treating of the pyramids, the inundation of the nile, and other prodigies of egypt, according to the opinions and traditions of the arabians written originally in the arabian tongue by murtadi, the son of gaphiphus, rendered into french by monsieur vattier ... and thence faithfully done into english by j. davies ... murtaḍā ibn al-ʻafīf, 1154 or 5-1237. vattier, pierre, 1623-1667. davies, john, 1625-1693. [62], 266, [14] p. printed by r.b. for thomas basset ..., london : 1672. advertisement: p. [1]-[14] at end. imprint from colophon: london : r. battersby for thomas bassett ..., 1672. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng egypt -history -to 640 a.d. 2005-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-07 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2005-07 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the egyptian history , treating of the pyramids , the inundation of the nile , and other prodigies of egypt , according to the opinions and traditions of the arabians . written originally in the arabian tongue by murtadi the son of gaphiphus . rendered into french by monsieur vattier , arabick professor to the king of france . and thence faithfully done into english by j. davies of kidwelly . london , printed by r. b. for thomas basset , at the george , near cliffords-inn in fleet-street . 1672. to my honoured uncle , mr. john griffith of llangwendraeth in the county of carmarthen . dear uncle , when i was upon the translation of this piece , i often entertained you with several stories of it , and you thought them not unpleasant . you now have them all together ; and what must needs add to your satisfaction and diversion , you will find a strange account ( according to the arabians ) of a countrey , which affords matter of admiration to those who travel thither even in our days . you know how often i have bemoan'd your loss of divers excellent manuscripts , prophecies , poetry , and other subjects , relating to our own countrey ; for certainly nothing so pleasant as to survey the genius and humours of our earliest predecessors . but since it is vain to call time to an account for all the excellent things it hath devoured , and to fasten on its envy what is justly attributed to humane negligence , give me leave to recommend this prodigious treatise ( which hath had the fortune to escape its teeth ) to your perusal ; and when i consider , with what complacency you quote and reflect on the actions and apophthegmes of those who have inhabited the world many centuries of years before us , i cannot doubt but you will approve the publick acknowledgment i make , by the present address , of my being , honour'd uncle , your most affectionate nephew , and humble servant , j. davies . a table of the most remarkable things in the ensuing history of egypt . the priests of egypt . page 4 the cater . 5 the magick of the egyptian priests . 7 gancam king and priest commands spirits to build him a palace . 8 the priestess borsa , and her acts. 10 , &c. the brazen tree . 14 the maritime pyramid . 16 divers kings of egypt . 17 , &c. the city of the black eagle . 21 the pyramids built by aclimon . 24 , 25 saurid's mirrour . 26 pyramids built before the deluge . 29 the brothers annals . 30 the three pyramids . 34 the guards of the pyramids . 39 stories of the pyramids , i , ii , iii , iv , v. 42 , &c. predictions made to king saurid . 51 nebuchodonozor . 53 the spirits of the pyramids . 54 history of the deluge . 59 king darmasel . 64 the ark. 71 the deluge . 73 different opinions of the deluge . 76 the history of noah , according to an ancient book found by the author . 77 noah's wife . 82 the time from adam to the deluge . 86 the elephant and lion in the ark. 87 what part the devil hath in the vine . 89 the scorpion and the serpent . 91 kings of egypt before the deluge . 92 , &c. moncatam's chemistry . 101 the pharaos of alexandria . 102 noah's prayer for masar . 104 masar's tomb. 106 kings of egypt after the deluge . 108 the history of abraham and totis king of egypt . 109 charoba , totis's daughter . 112 abraham's prayer for charoba . 114 charoba poisoning her father reigns after him . 117 the history of gebirus and charoba . 119 the nymph marina . 123 painters in the bottom of the sea. 126 the seven tombs . 128 charoba's nurse defeats gebirus and his army . 131 charoba's death . 135 dalica queen of egypt . 136 kings of egypt after her . 137 words of mahumet advantageous to egypt . 139 augmentation of the nile . 142 a virgin sacrific'd to that end . 443 pharao . 146 sources of the nile . 150 causes of its overflowing . 151 qualities of egypt . 158 the history of the egyptian slave . 159 other qualities of egypt . 163 gamra and zephta . 173 omar . 174 the land of alphiom . 177 the mamunus . 178 the rajan , joseph's pharao . 181 the acts of joseph in egypt . 185 a second story of alphiom . ibid. the nilemeter . 188 a third story of alphiom . 190 a fourth story of it . 194 joseph's prison . 195 the place of jacob's camel. 198 zelicha , joseph's mistress . 199 caphor's prayer . 200 joseph's prayer . 202 the pyramids . 206 macherir the blind man. 207 mussulman daemons . 211 the pyramids . 212 quisias the son of caltham . 214 the front of a mosquey . 220 the augmentations of the mosquey of masre . 226 history read in the mosquey . 229 the green tables of the mosquey of masre . 230 pharao's castle . 234 caron the wealthy , who is corah . 236 moses's chemistry . 239 omars letter to gamrou . 245 gamrou's answer to omar . 246 a statue of mahumet at masre . 254 another statue of mahumet . 256 mary of egypt . 258 the last words of mahumet . 259 other words of mahumet . 261 the words of a sage of egypt . 262 the prophets and devout persons liv'd by their labour . 263 the cries of a devote at the mosquey gate of masre : 265 the french author's preface rendred into english , giving an account of the design of this treatise , and its publishing . egypt is a province so pregnant in prodigies , that , from the earliest times , those , whose curiosity excited them to the knowledge of excellent things , have made it one of the principal objects of their considerations . pliny names thirteen famous authors , who had written before him of the pyramids , which are one of the things admir'd therein ; and herodotus desirous to say something of that countrey in general , before he came to the particular narration of the expedition which cambyses king of persia had made into it , and whereto the design of his history led him , spent in that digression all his euterpe , that is to say , one of the nine books , wherein it was his intention to comprehend whatever had been remarkable in the world to this time . all the authors who have since written in greek or latine , or any other language known in europe , have not omitted treating of the same subjects , according to the occasions they have had to do it , as being likely to prove the noblest ornaments of their works . as concerning the arabians , though the treatise whereof i here publish the translation be short enough , yet have they discoursed very amply of it in several books : and it is not long since i saw in the lord chancellors library two manuscripts in folio of great bulk , and close written , which treat only of the rarities and singularities of egypt ; at least , if the titles , which have been put thereto , by such as have examined them , be true ; for i have not yet had the opportunity to consider them at leisure . and therefore i shall not give any punctual account of them , calling to mind that at the beginning of this very manuscript , out of which i have made this translation , some italian had written these words as it were for its title , de negromanzia , e dell ' origine de ●i negromanti ; which had obliged me at first to slight it , and diverted me from looking more narrowly into it , if the beauty of the original , and the gold glittering in the two first pages , after the manner of other books cu●iously written in the east , had not engaged my longer consideration of them , whereby i was satisfied , that the italian inscription was not answerable to the arabian art , and could not forbear crying out , o soeculum infelix● ! as erasmus did upon a like occasion , having found , as he saith , commentaries on mimus publianus ; qui neque coelum ; neque ●er●●m attingerent , & tamen accuratissime depictos , ceu rem sacram . this impertinent title had no doubt been given our manuscript by a person who had casually cast his eye on some passages , where it mentions the enchanters of egypt ; and the same injury might haply have be done , by a like precipitation , to the sacred books of genesis and exodus , wherein there is also mention made of those magicians , and the wonderful effects of their magick , which they had the impudence to compare with the divine miracles of moses and aaron . these enchanters then are part of the subject of this book , but not all , as being one of the things , which many ages since had raised admiration in those who considered egypt , but not the onely one , nor the principal in a country , where the earth , the waters , and the air out-vy one the other , in affording extraordinary subjects of meditation to philosophers upon natural things , and whose inhabitants have signalized themselves by their prodigious structures , and by the invention even of philosophy it self . the land of egypt is it self a stranger in the place of its situation , if we credit the conjectures of it of philosophers , who have attentively viewed and considered it ; it came thither from a countrey so remote , that the industry of men could never settle any commerce for the importation of fruits from those places , whence nature conveys them the very soil whereby they are produced . the air there is in a perpetual serenity , never disturbed at any season of the year with snow , hail , rain , lightning , or thunder . the waters there rise to a prodigious height during the greatest heats of summer , when they are elsewhere lowest , or dryed up ; and in winter , when they are every where either frozen up , or over-flown , they there g●id gently below their ordinary course . the surface of the earth is spread with a pleasant verdure , with so sweet a temperature of the air , that the fairest springs of other countries come not near it . in the moneth of march , the harvest ready to be cut down , guilds the pregnant fields , which are devested thereof before the moneth of april . and in the moneths of july and august the same fields are changed into so many seas , and the cities and villages into so many islands , by a fortunate inundation , which spares the inhabitants the trouble of tilling and manuring them , as must of necessity be done elsewhere ; for the egyptians have no more to do but to sow the seeds therein , when the waters are fallen away , and slightly to stir the slime which is spread thereon , that they may be covered , which they did heretofore , as herodotus relates by driving herds of swine after the sowers . thus do they get the fruits of the most fertile piece of earth in the universe , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to use the terms of the same author , most easily , and without any trouble ; after they have gathered the productions of the waters , by a yet more easie fishing , or rather as aelian expresses it , by an harvest of fish , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which lie scattered on the slime in the midst of the fields . these natural prodigies have alwaies engaged the greatest wits in an enquiry into their causes , which are reducible onely to two heads . for the serenity of the air proceeds no doubt from the nature of the adjacent and neighbouring countries and waters , which are not apt to send thither any vapours , which might be condensed into rain , hail , or snow ; nor yet any mineral exhalations , which might cause thunder and lightning : and the other miracles , which are seen by the raies of that delightful sun , are the effects of that admirable river , which keeps the inhabitants of that countrey in such quiet , after it hath brought them the soil which is to sustain and nourish them . for the better understanding of this , it is to be observed that aegypt is only a plain , or rather a spacious valley , reaching in length from south to north from the tropick of cancer , or a little beyond it , to the mediterranean sea , for the space of about two hundred and thirty leagues ; and in breadth , from east to west , between two mountains , which are its limits , one towards arabia , and the other towards africk , but not alwaies at an equal distance one from the other . for at the northern extremity , along the shore of the mediterranean sea , that distance is about six score leagues ; above the places where heliopolis heretofore stood , and where now cairo is , about fifty leagues distant from the sea , it diminishes so for the space of about seventy leagues , that the two mountains are not above six or seven leagues distant one from the other . above that space they dilate again , and the countrey grows wider , even to its meridional extremitie , which makes the upper aegypt , otherwise called thebais . thus is aegypt naturally divided into three parts , which may be called upper , the lower , and the middle . in the middle , which is much narrower then the others , and which our author calls gize , as much as to say the passage was the city of memphis , near the western mountain , on which not far thence there are several pyramids , and those of the most sumptuous . in the upper aegypt was heretofore the famous city thebes , which had a hundred gates , and was afterwards called diospolis ; and syene seated directly under the tropick of cancer ; so that the day of the summer solstice the sun at noon shined to the bottoms of wells , and streight and perpendicular pillars made not any shade ; and elephantina , beyond which presently began ethiopia ; and copta , whence there was a way to the red sea , the shortest and easiest of any along that coast , by which there were brought on camels abundance of indian commodities , which were afterwards embarqu'd on the nile ; and the little cataract , where strabo saies the mariners fell down from the top to the bottom with their boats , in the presence of the governour of aegypt , to make him sport ; and the lake of maeris , with two pyramids in the midst of it , each six hundred foot in height , three hundred under water , and three hundred above ; and the labyrinth yet more prodigious then the pyramids . in the lower aegypt are the mouths of the nile , whereof the two most distant one from the other make the delta , which is a triangular island , the basis whereof is the shore of the mediterranean sea , and the two sides the two arms of the nile , which come to those mouths . cairo is above the delta , towards arabia , near the place where heretofore heliopolis stood . the arabians now call it masre , a name common to all aegypt , and which we have several times rendred the ancient metropolis of aegypt , in the mahumetan history . alexandria is on the sea-side near the western mouth . the nile flows in one single chanel through the midst of the plain , from eliphantina to the point of the delta , which is about fifty leagues from the sea ; there it is divided into two , afterwards into several branches , before it falls into it . their conjecture , who held aegypt to be a new land , and come from some remote part , was that heretofore the space between the two mountains from elephantina , or a little below it , to alexandria had been a gulph of the sea , like , and in a manner parallel in its situation to that which is called the red sea , and entred into the countries from the north towards the south , as the red sea enters into them from south to north ; and that in processe of time the abundance of slime , which the nile brings down when it is overflown , had filled that space , and framed therein the land which is now seen there , and which had no resemblance to those of arabia and africk , which are adjoyning thereto ; whence they imagined it a stranger , and come from far . herodotus was of opinion , that that collection of slime might have been made in less then twenty thousand years ; taking haply his conjecture according to the increase of it from homer's time to his own . for homer affirms , that the island of pharos was in his time at a far greater distance from the continent then it hath been since , as pliny hath observed ; inferring consequently thence , that aegypt was augmented and advanced nearer the sea. what i think miraculous in this , is , that the inhabitants of a countrey which in appearance began not till a long time after the rest , should count the years of their antiquities in a far greater number then other nations their neighbours , and should make in their countrey sumptuous structures , which yet could not preserve the memorie of their authors to a time , when other nations were but in a manner beginning to entertain thoughts of doing somewhat of that kind , though they have lasted a long time after the ruine of those which were made much later . and yet all this methinks depends on the same cause , which is the excellency of the soil of that province , and the facility of cultivating it ; in as much as having always been able to maintain a far greater number of men then were requisite about the culture of it , the princes , who were possessed thereof , were obliged to find out other employments for the greatest part of their subjects ; and this occasioned the early invention of philosophy by those who were inclined to meditate on the wonderful things of nature , and to spend the rest allowed their bodies in employing the intellectual faculties of their souls in those noble labours . aristotle speaks thus of it , when he says that they studyed philosophy in aegypt sooner then any where else , because there they soonest permitted the priests to live in a commendable exemption from labour ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . as for others , who could only work with their hands , in regard the mild temperature of the air dispenced with their employing themselves in many professions necessary elsewhere , to secure mens bodies from its injuries , it was requisite they should be employed in such works as might declare the powerfulness and magnificence of their kings . whence i conceive pliny justly blameable for the character he gives these miracles of the world , when he says they are regum pecuniae stulta ostentatio ; and that after he had said that those who had written of them before him differed about the names of the kings who built them , he should add these words , justissimo casu obliteratis tantae vanitatis authoribus . for if all the works which contribute nothing to the supply of the necessities of humane life are follies . pliny himself is in hazard to be esteemed to have done many ; and this conceit of his is in my judgement much different from that of pythagoras , who ( as cicero relates ) affirms , that among the several sorts of persons who met ordinarily at the great general assembly of all greece , those who came not thither upon any business , nor out of design to get any thing , but only to see what passed , were the honester people ; genus vel maxime ingenuum : whom he therefore compared to the philosophers . these great princes therefore are methinks rather to be bemoaned , that their names were already forgotten above fifteen hundred years since , after they had made for the eternization thereof the works which are to this day seen and admired , rather then they are to be blamed for having done such noble things . and this oblivion also no doubt proceeds from the excellency of their countrey , which having been envyed by all foreiners who have known it , hath always been one of the first preys of the conquerours , and by that means so often changed masters , that it is no wonder the memorie of the most ancient should be lost ; whereas the princes , who once settled themselves therein , were well satisfied with that possession , and thought not of disturbing their neighbours . true it is , that strabo affirms , that in thebais above diospolis , and memnon's temple , he saw on the magnificent tombs of forty kings , obelisks , on which there were writings graven , which mentioned great conquests made by those kings , as far as scythia , bactriana , and the indies . herodotus affirms the same of ses●stris ; but it may be doubted whether these great conquerours were natural egyptians or strangers , who among other countries had subdued aegypt ; for alexander the great was no aegyptian , though he had his tomb at alexandria , and had been the founder of that great city . however it were yet this is certain , that the inclination of the kings of aegypt for great structures is very ancient , since the pharao's who reigned in the times of joseph and moses , and who probably are comprehended by herodotus under the single name of pheron , had it , as may be seen by the complaints of the israelites against them , when they made them work hard in the making of brick , and paid them ill . that pheron of herodotus was such a person as the pharao's are represented to us ; for he was no conquerour , but an insolent and impious prince , and the pharao's were such as the arabian expression at this day affirms it , who say , to play the pharao ; that is , to demean himself insolently and tyrannically : whence haply comes the french word , faire le fanfaron . as to the antiquity of the sciences in aegypt there is no doubt to be made of it , since plato and eudoxus learn'd astronomy there in a school , where they studied thirteen years , and which was shewed at heliopolis as a rarity in strabo's time , who affirms he saw it there ; and adds , that the grecians never knew exactly of how many days , hours , and minutes the year consisted , till they had read thereupon the books of the priests of aegypt , which to that end were translated out of the aegyptian tongue into the greek ; which argues ( by the way ) that even at that time there were greek versions made of books writ in other languages , contrary to the opinion which some learned men seem to have lately taken up . that ancient language of the aegyptians was written from the right hand to the left , after the manner of the oriental tongues , as herodotus hath observed : wherefore the coptick writing now used from the left to the right seems rather to have come from the greek , then the greek from it , whatever j. kircher tells us of it , in his prodromus copticus . as to the ancient religion of the aegyptians , though the book we here translate in several places mentions their idols , strabo affirms , that in his time there was not any figure in their temples , at least any representing a man's body , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : whence it might be suspected that our author took the images of christian churches for idols , since it may be particularly observed , that he seems in some places to put the crosses into the same rank ; which be it said without derogation from the approved worship due to both . the same strabo , ( and before him herodotus ) would make us believe that circumcision , and what they call excision , which is the circumcision of women , were ever used in aegypt , and that the other nations who observed it , as the colchi , the ethiopians , the phoenicians , the syrians , nay the jews themselves took it from them ; which is not without some ground ; for circumcision was not enjoyned abraham till after his travelling into aegypt . strabo observes it as a singularity , that the aegyptians brought up all the children that were born to them , which was not done by the greeks , who exposed some , nay sometimes killed some of them , as we have it from terence in his heautontimorumenos . this commendable and indulgent custom , no doubt proceeded also from the goodness and fertility of their countrey , which was such , that the children were no great charge to their parents , and which endowed its inhabitants with greater mildnesse of disposition , and tendernesse towards such as were so nearly related to them , then the greeks had upon the like occasions . the same authors relate divers other remarkable things of the ancient religion of aegypt , and the manners of its inhabitants ; all which have met with several changes by the conquests which have been made of that province at several times , since that at the very first , which is come to our knowledge , to wit , that of the persians , 't is questionlesse the ceremonies of their superstitions were very much altered by the persecution of cambyses , which came to that height as to kill oxe apis , which passed for a god at memphis , as some other creatures did elsewhere ; though all those which were reverenced by the aegyptians in several places , were not adored in the quality of gods , but many of them only in the quality of sacred animals , whom it was not lawful to injure . and it is very probable , according to cicero's conjecture , that at first they were all accounted only such , in asmuch as those who then governed the people thought fit for some reasons to preserve such beasts as much as might be , as being advantageous for something ; and that in processe of time the superstition and ignorance of those who comprehended not the true cause why they were spared , came to imagine something divine in them ; which in my judgment proceeded from the demeanour of the priests towards other men , whom they blinded what they could , especially seeing the priesthood belonged to certain families , and was not communicable to all , no more then the other principal functions of the commonwealth , as arms , arts , and agriculture ; for that made every one absolutely ignorant of those things which belong'd not to him , and whereto he never had any right to aspire ; and occasioned their being many times exercised by such as had not any natural disposition thereto , and consequently were not much capable thereof . this mysterious carriage of the egyptian priests extended not onely to things concerning religion , but even to such as were indifferent , which they communicated not without much trouble . for strabo affirms , that the 13 years , during which plato and eudoxus continued at heliopolis , were not simply spent by them in learning astronomie , but in courting the favour and friendship of the priests , that they might be thereby induced to teach them something of what they knew in that science . if they were so shie in communicating to others what they had observed in the heavens , and which any others might have seen as well as they ; it may well be imagined they much more carefully concealed the historie of their countrie : so that it is not to be admired there is so little come to our knowledge of what passed there before the conquest made by the persians . nay , if the ethiopions had commanded there before , and that for a long tract of time , as herodotus mentions , it is likely that even then the sources of the nile were not unknown , nor the causes of its inundation . and who knows whether in the time of herodotus the priests knew not more of those things then they would communicate to him ? for if they had relations of a voyage of 4 moneths , that is , above 1200 leagues , continually ascending , partly upon the nile , partly on the sides of it beyond the tropick of cancer , those who had made it must have passed all the torrid zone , and found the source and origine of the nile . but they said , that in those countries the nile flowed from west to east , and not from south to north , as it did in aegypt ; which is not consonant to the reason given by herodotus himself of the overflux of that river ; nor the modern geographies , according to which the sources of the nile are far beyond the equinoctial line . this then passing for certain , with a length of the course of the nile equal to that attributed thereto by herodotus , methinks there might be a reason found out of its overflowing in aegypt more probable then those which many have hitherto given thereof . for what makes the overflux miraculous is , that it happens , as we have already said during the great heats of summer , when all other rivers are at the lowest or dryed up : which occasioned a perswasion , that it proceeds from a cause different from that of others , which manifestly depend on the rains which fall , and the snow which ordinarily melts in great abundance towards the end of winter , at which time the nile is at the lowest . some therefore have been of opinion , as herodotus relates , that the nile overflows in summer , because then there come into aegypt continually certain winds called the etesian from the northern coast , which obstruct its course , and so croud up its waters , depriving them of the freedom of falling into the sea , as they ordinarily do , as the reflux of the ocean daily does the rivers which fall into it . others attributed the cause of it to the ocean , out of which they affirmed the nile to take its origine ; but they explicated not after what manner this was done . others affirmed , that this overflux proceeded from the snow , which they pretended was dissolved in summer upon the sides of the nile . herodotus refutes all these conjectures , and then gives his own opinion , which is , that the nile coming from some very remote parts of the south , that is , from a countrey from which the sun is far distant in summer , when it is very near aegypt its course , which at its coming out of the source is always equally big , comes then quite to aegypt without losing any thing of its fulnesse , in regard the sun consumes nothing or very little of it : whereas in winter it decreases much by the way , for the contrary reason ; which is that the sun being then directly upon its waters devours a great part thereof . strabo , who thought not this reason of herodotus more probable then the others , recurs to that which he says had been observed by homer , when he called aegypt ( that is to say the nile in homerical terms ) a river falling from heaven , — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . he would therefore have the overflux of the nile proceed from the summer-rains , which ( saith he ) are frequent in ethiopia , according to their relation who have sailed on the red sea as far as the countrey which produces cinnamon , as also of those who have been at the hunting of elephants . the relation of the monk cosmas , inserted by the most learned and ingeniously curious person monsieur thevenot in the first part of his collections , says methinks the same thing . but , besides that the sources of the nile are at a far greater distance then is supposed by that reason alledged also by our author in its proper place , there is no great likelihood that the rains should be so frequent in summer in a countrey next adjoyning to aegypt , where it never rains , and more southerly then it . whence it comes that at this time the ablest philosophers endeavours to find out some other cause of so considerable an effect , and monsieur de la chambre among others by an extraordinary sagacity hath found out one , for it in the bowels of the land of aegypt , whose nitrous qualities stirred by the heats of summer are in his judgement capable of causing the waters of that river to rise up to so great an overflux , as we see by experience that it does . this opinion , when we shall have comprehended the subtile discourses , and considered the excellent remarks whereby that great great person confirms it , will doubtless be found the most likely to be true . monsieur chapelain , to whom most of the virtuosi do now give an account , not onely of their works , but also of their designs , out of the confidence they have of his excellent judgment and sincere advice , told me not long since , that the most learned and most eloquent monsieur vossius hath a treatise ready on the same subject , wherein we are like to meet with many things yet unknown to us . to make it appear then that i have also made some reflections on this miracle , i shall here set down the reason i have imagined to my self for it , which does not contradict homer , though it agrees not with strabo ; for it will haply suffice those who may not have the leisure to examine such as are more subtile . i observe then in the first place , that to my thinking it is affirmed by macinus , that the risings of the nile are framed above aegypt . for towards the end of his forty eighth chaliph , he says that the nile being very low in the time of michael patriarch of alexandria , that prelate was sent by the mustanser , choliph of aegypt , to the king of the abyssines , who upon his intreaty having cleared the passage of the water , it rose in aegypt three cubits in one night , and came to its height . i suppose next the two propositions by me already alledged , that the sources of the nile are far beyond the equinoctial line ; and , that its course thence into aegypt is in length above twelve hundred leagues , that is fourteen of fifteen hundred : i suppose further , that at the sources of the nile , as in many other places , the waters are higher in winter then in summer , according to what is affirmed by f. maffaeus in his first book of the history of the indies , where he has this passage ; processit ad ostium ingentis fluvii , qui exipsis nili fontibus originem trahens , zaires ab incolis dicitur ; actanta aquarum vi , praesertim hyeme , sese in oceanum infert , ut prodatur in octaginta millia passuum ab eo vinci mare . i suppose moreover , that the waters of the nile , when they are high , advance within the chanel wherein they flow at about the rate of four leagues a day , according to what observation i have made upon the like occasion . for those who have seen the nile overflown in aegypt have assur'd me , that its course is about the same rate of swiftnesse as that of the seine when it is in the same condition at paris . now the waters of the seine , and the rivers falling into it , according to my computation , when they are risen , make about the same measure of way every day . for at montereul in normandy , where i writ this , we have a small river which is of that number , and into which there come waters , when it is high , from about four leagues distance , though its ordinary current comes but from the spring of ternant , distant from it but a league and a half . when this little river rises of a sudden by a storm , as it happens often , and that sometimes even in summer the waters are up but one day at montereul ; which argues that those which come last are a day in running the four leagues whence they come . there passes by cernieres , which is but half a league from the same place , another small river , into which there come waters from a distance double to the other ; whence it comes that they are up two days , whereas they are but one at montereul . in the last inundation of the seine , which was great and sudden enough at the end of winter in the year 1665 , by reason of the abundance of snow which was dissolved in a short time , i observed , being then at paris , that the waters began to rise the 18th . day of february , and continued till the end of that moneth ; after which they notably decreased till the 10th . of march ; which discovers that the last-arrived were twenty days coming from the places where the snow was dissolved . those places i conceive to be about fourscore leagues from paris , and consequently those waters had advanced about four leagues a day . all this supposed , i say for example , that the waters which cause the overflowing of the nile this day being the first of august in aegypt , were got together in the places where its course began about a year before , whether occasioned by rain or snow melted . wherein there is nothing miraculous or extraordinary . for at that time it was summer in aegypt , as it is this day ; and consequently at the same time it was winter in those places , where the current of the nile begins ; since the sources of it are at a great distance beyond the equinoctial line , where the seasons are directly contrary to those which are on this side it . the waters therefore were then about those sources higher then at any other season : but having fourteen or fifteen hundred leagues to advance ere they got to aegypt , after the rate of about four leagues a day , they were about a year by the way ; and consequently there could not be an overflux of the nile in that province sooner then now . and if it be true that the ganges overflows also in summer , as pliny and modern relations seem to affirm , and that consequently it is now in the same condition in the indies as the nile is in aegypt , the cause may haply be the same . for its course being but half the length of that of the nile , there needs but six moneths for the waters to get from the sources to their mouths , it being supposed those of the nile take up a whole year . now it was winter six moneths before at the sources of the ganges , which are on this side the equinoctial line ; as it was a year ago at the sources of the nile , which are beyond it . the same is to be said of the river menam . as to the long continuance of the overflux of the nile , which is a hundred days according to herodotus , or rather six moneths according to the same author in another passage , where he says that in his time the water flowed out of the nile into the lake myris or moeris during the space of six moneths , and returned out of the same lake into the nile at the same place whereat it had entred into it , during the other six moneths of the year ; this continuance ( i say ) hath no other cause according to this position , but that which prolongs the inundations of other rivers . for it proceeds partly from the length of time that the snow is dissolving , or the waters falling , and partly from the different distance of the place from which they come into the chanel of the nile after the dissolving or falling . for thence it comes , that some get a long time after others from the place of their rendezvous , and consequently they come in like manner into aegypt . we see also in all other rivers something like the overflowings of the nile . for many times the seine for example is high and overflows at paris , when no rain has fallen thereabouts , nor any snow dissolved ; and it is ordinarily some days after the rain is past , or the snow dissolved , when the weather is fair and clear , that its overflux is in its greatest force and height . moreover , that the waters which cause the augmentations of the nile , and its inundations in aegypt , come from the torrents , the sl●me which they bring along with them , and which hath made some conjecture , that it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seem to testifie it . for the waters which come from running springs by ordinary chanels are not muddy . it may also methinks be inferred from the same slime , that those torrents force their way through cultivated and manured lands ; for the waters which fall from the sky upon desert and untilled places are pure and clear in their descent thence . if this be true , with the conjectures we have mentioned before , it must follow that the meridional parts of africk were inhabited and cultivated before aegypt was in the world ; and that being granted , if the nitre of aegypt be of the nature of our saltpeter , which is framed of old manure amass'd , and fermented a long time together , it might seem to be rather an effect then a cause of the overflowing of the nile . but haply we have said too much of the nile and aegypt in a preface , which was to serve only for an introduction to what is said thereof by our author , of whom the reader might expect we should give some account , though we have nothing to say of him , but only what may be conjectured by the reading of his book ; according to which he was ( as i conceive ) of cairo , that is to say , of masre ; for thus is that famous city called to this day by its inhabitants , as we have already observed : and the name of cairo , under which it is known in europe , came to it from that which the mugazzoldinil , after he had conquered aegypt , caused to be built near it for the quartering of his militia ; and , which he called cahire or cah●re , that is to say , the victorious or conqueress , either for the reason given thereof by macinus in the year 362 , or in regard that being the habitation of the soldiery , it subdued in effect , and caused its commands to be obeyed , not only by the neighbouring city , but also by the whole empire of the phatimite chaliphs , as the camp near rome in the time of the roman emperors , commanded both the city and the empire , and many times the emperour himself . our author then , as far as i can conjecture , was of the same countrey with macinus , and lived about the same time , that is above four hundred years since . for methinks he speaks of the sultan the macolcamel , the son of abubeker , the son of job , as of a prince reigning in his time ; and he mentions not any other that reigned since , though he speaks of divers who had reigned before . the esteem which the arabians have at this day for his work sufficiently appears in my judgment by the beauty of the copy , out of which we have made this translation , and which was communicated to us by the late cardinal mazarine's library-keeper , by the favour of monsieur colbert , who amidst his infinite cares for what concerns the glory of his majesty , and the happiness of his subjects , is some times pleased to think on our arabian muses , and forgets not our labours in the distribution of the favours which he obtains from his majesty , for those who seriously apply themselves to the noblest kind of learning . the manuscript of the onirocrit mussulman , whereof we have lately published the translation , was put into our hands by monsieur de montmor , principal master of requests , a person as eminent for his great wit and rare learning , as his quality . i am glad to make this discovery , for their satisfaction who were desirous to know whence i had it , and that it might be an acknowledgement of the kindnesses i have received from that person upon that and divers other occasions . but to return to our aegypt : were there nothing butthe history , or rather the fable , of gebirus and charoba , and the nymph marina , which is about the middle of this work , i should not repent me of the translation of it ; for i little imagined to find in a mussulman . author any thing so much allyed to the witty fables of the ancient greek and latine poets , as that narration is , which made me reflect at the translation of it on the midst of the fourth book of the odysses , and the end of the fourth book of the georgicks . i have made the title to my translation according to the proposal of the author , for it is not in the arabian manuscript . nor is the name of the author in the first page of it , but i meet it in some other places , as the reader may observe . the pyramids several times mentioned in it are expressed in the arabian tongue by two names , to wit birba , which i have used in several places ; and haram . the word birba , and in the plural barabi , is haply a corruption of pyramis . whether it be so or not , our author calls so either the pyramids in general , or only the least of them exclusively from the greatest , to which he particularly gives the other name , which is haram , and in the arabian signifies an old structure . monsieur the venot hath given us in the first part of his collections a most exact description of those great pyramids made by an english-man , who hath seen them in our time , and considered them at leisure ; according to which those structures consist of a certain number of square foundations or platforms set one upon another , all equal in thicknesse , but the upper plat-form perpetually somewhat less in length and breadth then that which is under it , and set just up on the midst of it ; the differences of length and breadth being every where equal between them , as also the depth or thicknesse : so that the whole pyramid is only a square blunt point , the four sides whereof are stairs , and the upper extremity is the least in length and breadth of all the platforms whereof it confists . which argues in my judgement , that heretofore there were some colosses or obelisks placed on them , as it were on their pedestals , according to what herodotus expresly affirms of the two built in the midst of the lake moeris . the height of every pyramid is equal to the side of its basis , according to the same herodotus , who assigns that of cheops eight hundred foot in length , as many in breadth , and as many in height , so that it is as 't were in the form of a cube , and covers with its basis near seven acres of ground , according to our measure of normandy , that is to say , above thirteen furlongs ; being all built of free-stone , the least piece whereof was thirteen foot . as to the city of the black eagle , whereof our author promises to speak , i know not which it is , if it be not that outiratis , in the description of of which he makes mention of the figure of a black eagle set up on one of its gates . if the name of the city of gainosamses , that is to say , the eye or fountain of the sun , be not understood of the fountain of ammon , or of the lake called the fountain of the sun , fons so is , it seems to expresse that of heliopolis , whose situation is answerable to that of masre , and not to that of memphis . masre was also called fustata in the time of gamrou , the son of gasus , for the reason given thereof by macinus in the year twenty . the danae seems to be the labyrinth . alphiom is one of those islands in the continent , which strabo calls anases , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and which are cultivated places , but surrounded on all sides by great deserts . there are many of these anases in africk , and three particularly in aegypt , in one whereof was heretofore the oracle of jupiter ammon . the prodigies of egypt according to the arabians . in the name of god , gracious and merciful , i have learn'd a good word ( says the author of this book , to whom god be merciful ) of our master the prelate , the guardian , abutachar achamed the son of mahumet , the son of achamed , the son of abrahim , the son of solpha the solphian , the ispahanian , god grant him mercy ; who affirm'd that he had it from the mouth of the apostle of god himself , whose memory be blessed , by tradition from many great persons whom he named , as having received it * one from another ; every man who hath a design , and begins not the prosecution of it with the praise of god , is either dumb , or incapable of compassing his enterprize . let us therefore praise the great , eternal , immortal , and most wise god , who hath created all things by hill omnipotence , to be an experiment and demonstration of his supreme authority , to express his unity , and conduct them to the knowledge of himself . there is not any thing like him ; he understands all things , he sees all things . i would acknowledge that there is no other god then that great god alone , who has no companion , in the same manner as they acknowledge who serve their lord sincerely , not imagining any thing equal to him . i shall also acknowledge that mahumet is servant and apostle , sent by him at a time when the world wanted some to be sent , and such masters as should teach it the rules of religion , according to the footsteps of the apostles , to persuade nations . god favour him with his benedictions as also those of his house , who are holy and pure , and generally all those of his party . as to this book , i have set down in it the excellencies of the city of alexandria , its prodigies and advantages . i make mention in it of the city of the black eagle , the cause of its building , and whatever there is miraculoas in it . i declare in it the excellencies of egypt , and her coptites , and her nile , and the aliments she produces , as well by land as by sea ; and of her fruits , and the use made of them in every moneth of the year ; and of the extent thereof . i pray god that he would graciously enable me to relate what miraculous things her sages , and kings , and her pharaoh's , and her magicians , and her priests , have wrought ; and what talismans , and what rare and extraordinary things they have set up : to treat of their habitations , how they lived in them ; and of their wealth , how they acquired it , and secured it in their pyramids built over it , and how they died , and left it behind them . to the end that they who are desirous to be instructed by examples , may meet with some in their tracks ; and that such as teach others may find advertisements to give them , since this is it which is recommended to us by god , when he speaks thus in his book ; have they not sojourn'd upon earth , and seen the end of those who were before them , more powerful then they , who tilled the ground , and cultivated it more then they , and who have seen their apostles come to them with evident signs ? and in several other the like passages of the alcoran . it is affirmed that the most learned priests , who excell'd in the noblest knowledge of divination , and were most illuminated in that art , were the priests and sages of egypt . the wise men of greece are of that opinion , and affirm on their behalf , that in their divinations they were inclin'd to astrology , that they invented the occult sciences , and knew hidden secrets , that they made famous talismans , and noble laws ; that they were the authors of speaking works and moving figures ; that they raised high structures , and grav'd their sciences on the hardest stones , which were then soft , like earth water'd , or paste ; that they particularly excell'd in the structure of pyramids exactly built , on which they made exquisite talismans , by means whereof they kept their enemies from entering into their cities and provinces , by that means giving a clear demonstration of the prodigies of their science , and discovering the effects of their wisdom . egypt was then ( they say ) divided into fourscore and five provinces , whereof there were forty five in the lower part , and forty in the upper . and in every province there was a governour taken from among the princes of the priests , who are they of whom god speaks in the history of pharaoh , when he says , send heralds through the cities , to bring unto thee all the learned magicians : he means those governours . they say that the cities of the princes of the magicians were built by busiris . the priest who served the stars was seven years in that imployment ; and when he was come to that degree , they called him cater , as much as to say , master of the influences ; and then he sate in the same seat with the king , and the king led his beasts to the watering-place , and brought them back ; that is , did all his business according to his counsel . when he saw him coming , he rose up to receive him , went to meet him , and made him sit down . then the priests approched , and with them the masters of the arts , who stood beneath the cater . every priest served one particular star , and was not permitted to serve any other ; and he was called the servant of such a star , as the arabians served every one his own god , and were called gabdosamse , gabdiagoth , gabdolgasi ; that is , servant of samse , or the sun , servant of jagoth , servant of gasi . the cater said to the priest , where is now the star which thou servest ? the priest replied , it is in such a sign , such a degree , such a minute . then he put the same question to another ; and when all had answered , and that he knew the position of all the stars , he addressed himself to the king , and said thus to him ; it is requisite that you do such a thing to day , that you send an army to such a place , that you clothe your self after such a manner , that you speak at such a time ; and so of all he thought fit to be done in all the kings affairs , and in all the government of the kingdom . the king writ down all the cater said , and whatever he disapprov'd . then he turn'd to the artists , and said thus to them ; grave thou such a figure on such a stone ; and , plant thou such a tree ; and to another , make thou a geometrical draught of such a work : and so to all from the first to the last . immediately they all went every one to his shop , and beset themselves to do the works enjoyned them , exactly following the design propos'd to them by the cater . they set down that day in a register the works performed therein ; and the register was folded up , and kept in the kings treasury . their affairs were dispatch'd according to this order : then the king ( when he had any affair ) assembled the priests without the city memphis , and the people met together in the streets of the said city . then they made their entrance one after another in order , the drum beating before them to bring the people together ; and every one made some miraculous discovery of his magick and wisdom . one had , to their thinking who look'd on him , his face surrounded with a light like that of the sun , so that none could look earnestly upon him . another seem'd clad with a robe beset with precious stones of divers colours , green , red or yellow , or wrought with gold . another came mounted on a lion , compass'd with serpents like girdles . another came in cover'd with a canopy or pavilion of light . another appear'd surrounded with fire , turning about him so as that no body durst come near him . another was seen with dreadful birds perching about his head , and shaking their wings like black eagles and vultures . another made appear before him in the air dreadful and terrible persons , and winged serpents . in fine , every one did what was taught him by the star he served ; yet all was but apparition and illusion without any reality : insomuch that when they came up to the king they spake thus to him ; you imagin'd that it was so or so , but the truth is that it was such or such a thing . there was heretofore in ancient masre ( which is emsos ) a king-priest named gancam , of the race of gariac the son of aram , of whom the ancient egyptians tell several stories , part whereof are beyond all likelihood . he liv'd before the deluge , which he by his science foresaw ; whereupon he commanded the doemons who accompanied him to build him a palace beyond the equinoctial line , which the ruines of this universe could not reach . they built the castle seated on the descent of the mountain of the moon , which is the castle of brass , where are the brazen statues , in number lxxxv ; out of the throats whereof issues the water of the nile , which falls into a fen full of gravel , whence the water of the nile flows into egypt and other climats , distributed and proportionably compass'd ; for were it not for that it would spread over the greatest part of the earth . the spirits having built him that castle , he had the curiosity to see it , and make his abode therein . to that end he sate in a pavilion made purposely with much artifice , and the spirits carried him on their shoulders to the castle ; where having consider'd the excellency of the structure , and beauty of its walls , with the sculptures and the paintings that were about it , and the figures of the celestial bodies , and divers other wonderful things ; for in the greatest obscurity of the night people saw clearly without torches . there were tables set and spread with all sorts of meat , yet none perceiv'd to set them there ; so all sorts of drinks in vessels of marble , gold , and silver , which he made use of ; yet were they not increased or diminished . in the middest of the castle there was a cistern of water congeal'd into ice , whereof the motion might be perceived through that part which was frozen ; as one sees through a glass what is contained in it . having considered all this , he was astonished thereat , and immediately returned into egypt ; where he left for his lieutenant and successour his son gariac , recommending his subjects to him , and the government of the kingdom ; and then he return'd to the castle , and continued there till he died . he is thought to be author of the books of the coptites , out of which they take their stories , and all that is to happen till the end of the world. in these books of the coptites there is mention made among other princes of the priestess borsa , who administered justice to the people sitting in a throne of fire ; so that when any one came for justice , if his cause were just , and he spoke the truth , the fire returned to her ; if on the contrary he were a lyar and deceiver , and came near the fire , he was presently burnt thereby . this princess appear'd to men in divers forms as she pleased her self . she afterwards caused a castle to be built on the side of the roman sea , to which she retir'd , and kept out of the sight of men . in the walls of this castle she caused to be put pipes of brass , the ends whereof came out and were hollow , having each written on them a representation of the several differences which ordinarily happen between men , and upon which they were went to desire justice of her . when therefore any one was at difference with another , he came along with his adversary to the pipe on which was written the species of their difference , and spoke to it concerning his business very low , alledging all he could , then putting his ear thereto he receiv'd an answer , which would be fully to all he desired . this custom continued constantly among them , till nabuchodonozor over-ran egypt . this princess caused also to be made a ram of a hard red stone , and to be placed on a pedestal of the same . then she caused to be put on the pedestal an iron pivot , and the upper stone to be pierced , on which was placed the figure of the ram , so that the pivot appeared above ; and she caused to be set on the top of the pivot a brazen boat , the fore part whereof was made like the head of a cock , and the hinderpart like the tail of the same bird. this mill-stone as it were turned with the ram by regular and just motions . she caused this to be set on the descent of the mountain , on which was afterwards built the great mosquey of the son of toulon , to whom god shew mercy whence it is still called the mountain of the ram , and it will ever be called so . when therefore any enemy came to assault egypt this ram turned as the mill-stone , and stopp'd towards that side that the enemy was coming , and at the same time that cock crew . she also caused to be built in the midst of the city a house of adamant , wherein she put the figures of all the kings of the earth which surround egppt. she caused the gates of that house to be fortified , and set guards at them , which were relieved in their turns , yet did not any but they enter into it or come near it . when therefore the ram stopped of any side , and that they were assured that the king of that countrey was in the field , they opened the gate of that house , and went to look for the figure of that king , which immediately fell a shaking ; whence they inferred that he had a design to attaque egypt . then those guards took the halberds they had with them , and swords made by magick , and kept in that house , and fell a pricking that figure with those halberds , and to cut it with those swords , and thereupon the army of that king which came to spoil the land of egypt fell into such disorder , that the souldiers killed one another , so that not one remained , and the king was forced to return without doing any thing . for that reason did the kings respect and fear the land of egpyt , for not any did attempt the attaquing of it , but he came off with loss and disorder . thus they were governed till the king of the greeks , nabuchodonozor , ingaged in a war against egypt for the reasons which we shall mention hereafter , if almighty god give us the grace to do it . dissention arose among his souldiery , so that they all destroy'd one another ; and he was forc'd to return from egypt without doing any thing . he afterwards continued many years using all manner of artifices , and making great expences , till he put a stop to those motions ; after which he returned into the land of egypt , destroy'd the inhabitants of it , and so ruined it , that the marks of it will continue to the end of the world . gariac the son of king gancam made himself also a priest after his father , and did many wonderful things : and among others he made a brazen tree , which had branches of iron , with sharp hooks at the ends of them ; which tree when any unjust or lying person approached , those hooks immediately flew at him , and fastened on his body , and could not by any means be gotten thence , till such time as he said the truth of his own accord , confess'd his injustice , and ceas'd injuring his adversary . he also made an idol of an hard black stone , which he named gabdopharouis , that is , servant of saturn . men came to declare their differences to that idol , and demand justice of it ; whereupon he who was in the wrong was staid in the place where he was , and could not get thence till he had done justice of himself ; which if he did not , he would die in the place . when any one had some business or affair of great importance , he went to the idol , and burnt about it certain perfumes which they knew , then he lifted up his eyes to the stars and named king gariac , intreating and crying out , and immediately the doemons did the business for him . sometimes gariac was carried in the air by great birds , and pass'd before his subjects , who saw him with their eyes . when he was incens'd against any nation which gave him any trouble in his kingdom , he secretly sent among them some people , who cast into the water they drank certain things , which made it as bitter as the water of the salt sea , so that they could not taste of it . sometimes by his magick he gave the beasts of the earth power over them , as lions and reptiles , which tore them to pieces . philemon also was one of the most considerable priests of egypt , whose story we shall relate in its proper place with that of noah , if almighty god give us the grace to do it . among the priests of egypt there was also the priest saiouph , who was he to whom they kindled the dreadful fire , which he came near and spoke over it ; then there came forth a great and terrible figure , which acquainted them with whatever was necessary for them . this priest saiouph liv'd till the time of king pharaa● , in whose reign the deluge happened . he made his aboad in the maritime pyramid , which pyramid was a temple of the stars , where there was a figure of the sun , and one of the moon , both which spoke . the foremost or meridional pyramid was the sepulchre of the bodies of the kings , to which saurid was translated . there were within it several other admirable things , statues , and books , and among others the laughing statue , which was made of a green precious stone . they had dispos'd all these things within that place for fear of the inundation and spoil . as to the priests who were in egypt after the deluge , there were a great number of them . the first who then follow'd that profession was the son of philemon , who was imbarqu'd in the ship with his father and sister , whom noah married to bansar the son of cham , which happened thus : king pharaan sent the priest philemon to the prophet of god noah , to dispute with him about the worship of the idols ; but philemon by the grace and conduct of god believed in noah , and confirm'd his mission . he afterwards imbarqued with him in the ship , he and his children , and seven of his disciples , and after that gave his daughter in marriage to bansar the son of cham , the son of noah . after they were come out of the ship philemon carried bansar his son in law into egypt , where his daughter had by the said bansar her husband a son , whom he named masar , who was since king of egypt , and caused it to be call'd masre from his own name , always worshipping one onely god , according to the religion of noah . the name of priest was not then a reproach among them ; for the priest was then look'd upon as a judge , who does not oppose the laws prescribed unto him . the first who made an absolute profession of priesthood in egypt , who brought religion into esteem , and applyed himself to the worship of the stars , was bardesir the son of cophtarim , the son of masar , the son of bansar , the son of cham , for he was king after his father ; and it is reported that he made the great laws , build the pyramids , and set up for idols the figures of the stars . the coptites affirm that the stars spoke to him , and many miracles are attrited to him . among other things it is said , he kept himself out of the sight of men for several years of his raign , appearing only from time to time , that is to say once a year , when the sun entred into aries . then people came in to him , and he spoke to them , but they saw him not ; afterwards he absented himself from them till the like time again , and then he gave them commands and prohibitions , yet so as that they saw him not with their eyes . after a long time thus passed , he ordered to be built a tower of silver gilt , and to be embellished with several ornanaments ; then he began to sit on it in a most magnificent and magestical form , and to speak to them . after that he went and sate before them in the clouds in a humane form ; then he absented himself from them , save only when he discovered to them his figure in the temple of the sun when the sun entred in aries , and ordered them to take for their king garim the son of cophtarim , acquainting them that he would not return any more to them ; wherein they obeyed him . as to the priestess bedoura , she was a strong woman , and as they say the sister of bardesir , and that he gave her his art of priesthood and divination , whereupon she made most of the talismans in the pyramids . she also made the speaking idols in memphis . the priesthood continued in her family and posterity , who received it successively one of another , and enjoyed its advantages . the egyptians affirm that in her time the wild beasts and the birds hindered them from drinking the water of the nile , so that most of them dyed of thirst , and that she sent against these animals an angel , who made so great a cry amongst them , that the earth shook , and the mountains were cleft . it is said , that by her magick she fled in the air , and that the angels smote her with their wings . as for savan the asmounian , who they say was the ancient hermes ; he it was that built the house of the statues , by which the measures of the nile are know , and built to the sun a temple in the province named basta ; and also ordered the building of asmounia ; and in the like manner that of the city of basre in egypt , which was twelve miles in length , above which he caused a castle to be made . he also built danae , where he established the schools and the recreations , 't is also said that he built the pyramids of behansa , where the women were in favour of his daughter , and that he there erected pillars , on which he raised a tower of fine glass , which might be seen from the city of gainosamse . he also built on the descent of the eastern mountain in egypt a city which he named outiratis , that is in the coptick language , the king's favourite , and put into it abundance of miraculous things . among others he ordered four pyramids to be made on the four sides of each gate , and caused to be set on the eastern gate a tower in the form of a turret or steeple , on which there was the figure of a black eagle ; and on the western gate another tower like the former , with the figure of a bull ; on the maritime gate the like tower , with the figure of a lyon ; and on the outer or southern gate another such tower , with the figure of a dog. he sent into these figures spirits that spoke ; so that when any stranger came into that city , at what gate soever he entred , the figure upon it made a noise , and the inhabitants knew thereby that a stranger was come into their city , and immediately they seiz'd on him where-ever he were . he planted there also a tree which shaded the whole city , and bore all sorts of fruits . he also raised in the midst of the city a high watch-tower , the heighth whereof was fourscore cubits , according to the measure of that time ; and on the top of it a little turret , which every day assum'd a different colour till the seventh day , after which it re-assumed its first colour , wherewith it filled the whole city . about this watch-tower he disposed a great quantity of water , wherein there was bred abundance of fish . all about the city he set talismans , which diverted all inconveniencies from the inhabitants ; and he called it the city of the jovians , that is , enchanters . there was in it for him a great tower for the exercise of the sciences of magick , wherein he caused assemblies to be made . it was seated on a mountain opposite to the city . god smote the inhabitants of it with the pestilence , so that they all died , and so ruin'd it , that there is not any track of it to be seen . as to the time when the pyramids were first built in egypt , historians relate , that there was a king named saurid , the son of sahaloc , three hundred years before the deluge , who dreamt one night that he saw the earth overturned with its inhabitants , the men cast down on their faces , the stars falling out of the heavens , and striking one against the other , and making horrid and dreadful cries as they fell . he thereupon awoke much troubled , and related not his dream to any body , and was satisfied in himself that some great accident would happen in the world. a year after he dreamt again that he saw the fixed stars come down to the earth in the form of white birds , which carried men away , and cast them between two great mountains , which almost joyned together , and covered them ; and then the bright shining stars became dark and were eclips'd : he thereupon awaked extremely astonished , and entered into the temple of the sun , and beset himself to bathe his cheeks and to weep . next morning he ordered all the princes of the priests and magicians of all the provinces of egypt to meet together , which they did , to the number of a hundred and thirty priests and southsayers , with whom he went aside and related to them his dream , which they found very important and of very great consequence , and the interpetation they gave of it was that some great accident would happen in the world. among others the priest aclimon who was the greatest of all , and resided always in the kings court , said thus to him : sir , your dream is admirable , and i my self saw another about a year since , which frightned me very much , and which i have not revealed to any one . tell me what it was , said the king. i dreamt , said the priest , that i was with your majesty on the top of the mountain of fire , which is in the midst of emsos , and that i saw the heaven sunk down below its ordinary situation , so that it was near the crowns of our heads , covering and surrounding us , like a great basin turn'd upside down ; that the stars were intermingled amongst men in diverse figures , that the people implored your majesties succour , and ran to you in multitudes as to their refuge ; that you lifted up your hands above your head , and endeavoured to thrust back the heaven , and to keep it from coming down so low ; and that i seeing what your majesty did , did also the same . while we were in that posture extreamly affrighted , methought we saw a certain part of heaven opening , and a bright light coming out of it ; that afterwards the sun rose over us out of the same place , and we began to implore his assistance , whereupon he said thus to us , the heaven will return to its ordinary situation , when i shall have performed three hundred courses . i thereupon awaked extreamly affrighted . the priest having thus spoken , the king commanded them to take the heights of the stars , and to consider what accident they portended . whereupon they declared that they promised first the deluge , and after that fire . then he commanded that pyramids should be built , that they might remove and secure in them what was of most esteem in their treasuries , with the bodies of their kings and their wealth , and the aromatick roots which served them ; and that they should write their wisdom upon them , that the violence of the water might not destroy it : wherein they presently set themselves at work . the egyptians relate in their annals , that saurid is he who himself caused the pyramids to be built ; and that inasmuch as after the death of his father he follow'd his steps , causing the provinces to be inhabited and cultivated , and governing them well , administring justice to the people , even to his own prejudice and that of his domesticks , causing temples to be built , and statues , and talismans to be erected , so that the people had a great love for him . in the upper-egypt he built three cities , and did so many wonders therein , that it is not possible to relate them . he first regulated the tribute in egypt , and enjoined works on artists according to their power . he also was the first who ordered pensions out of hi treasuries for maimed and sick people . he caused to be made a mirrour of all sorts of minerals , wherein they saw all the climats , where there was abundance of provisions or sterility , and what new accident happen'd in any of the coasts of egypt . this mirrour was upon a high turret of brass in the midst of ancient masre , which is emsos . he also first ordered registers to be made , wherein was set down every day's receipts and expences , and the augmentation or diminution thereof , and kept them in the royal treasuries ; then when a moneth was pass'd he caused all to be reduced into one total sum , which he also had kept in the royal treasuries , sealed with the royal seal ; causing moreover to be graved on stone what was to be graved thereon . he made very liberal gratifications to the masters of arts , and those who deserved something should be given them . he also set up in the midst of the city the figure of a woman sitting , made of green stone , with a little child in her lap sucking . all women who were troubled with any disease came to that idol , and set their hands on the breasts of it , and presently they were cur'd of their indisposition . when a woman was in very hard labour , as soon as she set her hand on the little childs head , she was immediately brought to bed with ease . if an unchaste woman set her hand on the same childs head , all her members shook so that she was not able to speak . he made also several other works , which were destroyed by the deluge . yet the coptites affirm , that they were found again after the deluge , and used and adored as idols , that their figures are represented in all the pyramids of egypt , and their diverse names ; that those who taught them were disciples of the priest aclimon , who also shewed them all the other works in egypt . we shall speak of them in their proper place with the assistance of almighty god. saurid did also other prodigious things in his time , and among others he made an idol named becres , consisting of a mixture of divers medicinal drugs , which had a marvellous vertue in securing mens bodies from all sorts of diseases and inconveniences . by means hereof they knew who should escape and who should die of their sickness , by certain signs which appeared in the idol ; so that they gave over using remedies to some , and endeavoured the curing of others . they washed the members of that idol , and gave the washings thereof to the sick to drink , who were thereupon immediately eased of their pain . 't was he also built the two great pyramids so famous in all nations . for a great part of the sages affirm they were built by sedad the son of gad , and that he was interred in one of the two ; but the ancients of the coptites and their sages deny the gadites ever entred into the land of egypt . they deny also the same thing of the amalekites , and say that egypt was always inaccessible to them , by reason of its enchanters and their artifices and stratagems . the learned relate in the lives and histories , that the pyramids were built three hundred years before the deluge . so speaks of them armelius , author of the book of illustrious men. abumasar the astrologer , in his book of thousans , says that the reason of building the pyramids was the dream which saurid the son of sahaloc saw . he confirms it in his book of miraculous dreams , where he adds that he sent for the priests and southsayers of his time , and the astrologers , and related to them what he had seen of the descent of the moon upon earth in the form of a woman ; of the overturning of the earth with its inhabitants , and of the total eclipse of the sun ; and the dream he had after that : and that the priests declared to him the coming of the deluge , whereof mention is made in the book of the annals , which the egyptians attribute to two brothers coptites , saying that those two brothers interpreted an ancient book , which had been found in some one of their sepulchres on the breast of a man. they say these two brothers were the children of a certain man of the race of the ancient egyptians , to wit , those who escaped the deluge , and were embarqued with the prophet of god noah . we shall with the help of god say somewhat hereafter of the history of these two brothers . it was found therefore in the book they translated , that saurid the son of sahaloc , king of egypt , after he had seen his dreams and related them to the priests , and that aclimon had also related his to him , commanded the priests to see what remarkable events the influences of the stars portended to the world ; and that the priests having exactly erected a celestial figure for the hour of his question , found that it signified a great mischief which was to descend from heaven , and issue out of the earth , which they declared unto him ; whereupon he caused pyramids and great structures to be built , to serve for refuges to him and his domesticks , and sepulchres for the conservation of their bodies ; as also that they might engrave and mark on their roofs , their walls , and their pillars , all the obscure and difficult sciences , whereof the egyptians made profession , learning them and treasuring them up as illustrious inheritances from those who were grown famous in all nations : and that they should also represent on them the figures of the stars in their signs , with their effects and significations , and the secrets of nature , and the productions of arts , and the great laws , and the beneficial drugs , and the talismans , and medicine , and geometry , and all the other things that might be advantageous to men , as well for the publick as for private persons , clearly and intelligibly to those who were acquainted with their books , their language , and their writings . king saurid knew certainly that the calamity was to be general to all countries in the world , or come very near it . then he said to them , when shall this great evil happen wherewith we are threatned ? whereto they replyed thus : when the heart of the lion shall come to the first minute of cancer's head , and the plantes shall be in their houses , in those places of the sphere , the sun and moon in the first minute of aries ; pharouis , who is saturn , in the first degree ; raouis , which is jupiter in pisces at 27 degrees 3 minutes ; mars in libra , and venus in leo at 5 degrees and some minutes . then he said to them , see whether after this great evil there will happen any other accident in egypt . they consider'd and saw that the stars portended another great misfortune , which was to descend from heaven , contrary to the former , that is , a fire that should consume the universe . whereupon he said to them ; when is that to happen ? they reply'd , we have made our observation , and found that it is to happe , when the heart of the lion shall be at the end of the fifteenth degree of leo , and that the sun shall be with him in one minute joyning that of saturn ; jupiter is direct in the lion , and with him mars , changing the minute ; and the moon in aquarius near the dragons tail , at twelve parts . there will be at that time an eclipse of the greatest congruence , venus shall be at the greatest distance from the sun , and mercury the like . then saurid said unto them , is there yet any other great accident that you can fore-see besides those two remarkable evils ? they look'd and found that when the heart of the lion shall have compleated two thirds of his circle , there would not remain any animal moving on the earth , which should not be destroy'd ; and that when he should compleat his revolution , the knots of the sphere would be dissolved . the king was very much astonished at that , and commanded the great pillars to be cut down , and that the great pavement should be melted : he caused tin to be brought out of the western parts , then he made them take black stones , which he caused to be laid for the foundations of the pyramids about syene . they were brought from the nile upon engines , and they had certain particular impressions and marks , and upon them painted billets , which the sages had set there : so that when they had smitten the stone , it advanc'd of it self the space of a flight-shot . these stones were set in the foundations of the pyramids , to wit , of the first , which is the eastern , and of the western , and of the coloured . they put in the midst of every piece an iron bar like a pivot standing up , then they set on that another piece after they had made a hole through the middle of it , that the iron pivot might enter into it , and fasten it to that which was under ; after which they melted lead , and it was poured all about the piece , after they had adjusted the writing which was above . he caused gates to be made under ground , at four cubits depth , according to their measure ; which gates had sallies into vaulted casemates built of stone , and fortify'd with much artifice , and whereof the situation was conceal'd , every vault being fifty cubits in length . the gate of the eastern pyramid was on the south-side a hundred cubits distant from the midst of the western wall on the western side . they measur d also from the western wall , that is , from the midst of it a hundred cubits , and they digg'd till they got down to the door of the vaulted casemate , through which they entred into it . as to the colour'd pyramid , made of stones of two colours , the gate of it was on the maritime or north-side , and they measur'd also from the midst of the maritime wall a hundred cubits , which made five hundred , according to the mussulman measure . he built it perpendicularly into the ground , to the depth of forty cubits , then he raised it as much , though what is above ground of the pyramids do not exceed the third part , so that this last is the highest , built after the manner of the raised floors and high rooms of our present time . they built them in the time of their good fortune , while all their worldly concerns came according to their wishes . king saurid having compleated the structure , cover'd them with silks of several colours from the top to the bottom , and caused a great feast to be celebrated for them , whereto all the inhabitants of the kingdom came , not so much as one being wanting from all the coasts of egypt . then he commanded them to make thirty gernes or great vessels of colour'd stone , which they excellently cast . he also ordered covers to be made of the same . every vessel held a hundred mules load . he caused them to be set in the lowest story of the eastern pyramid , and had brought thither precious stones and jacinths , till the floor was full thereof . he caused the vessels to be cover'd with their covers , and lead to be melted thereon ; then he caused pieces of gold and silver to be scatter'd , as much as might divert their sight who should look on them . then he caused to be brought thither all he could of his treasures , and the most precious of his wealth , jewels , plate , precious stones , cast and coloured pearls , vessels of emerald , vessels of gold and silver , statues excellently wrought , artificial waters , talismans , precious iron that would twine about like cloath , philosophical laws , the nurses of wisdom , divers sorts of medicinal drugs , exquisite tables of brass , on which divers sciences were written ; as also poisons and mortal drinks , which kings have ready by them , and wholesome preservatives and antidotes ; and several other things , which it is impossible to describe . but all this could not secure them from the evils wherewith god afflicted them for their infidelity . in the mean time they imagin'd that their fortresses would defend them against god ; but god came to them on the side they were not aware of , and destroyed their great flocks by the deluge and other misfortunes : praise be to him , he is the only and the almighty god. all is perishable save onely his majesty ; to him belongs wisdom , and to him you will return . after that , says the author , king saurid caused to be brought into the second pyramid the idols of the stars , and the tabernacles of the celestial bodies , and what statues and perfumes his ancestors had caused to be made , by means whereof men had access to him , and their books , and what annals and histories they had caused to be made for themselves of what had pass'd in their time , and of the predictions of what was to happen after them , to the kings who should govern egypt to the last times , and the state of the fixed stars , and what was to happen by their repose and motions from time to time . then he caused to be put into the third pyramid the bodies of the kings and priests in gernes , or great vessels of hard black stone ; and by every priest his book , and the miracles of his art and life . he also caused to be set along the walls of the pyramids idols , which held in their hands all the arts according to their ranks and measures , the description of each art , and the manner of exercising it , and what was necessary for that , and in like manner the caters : for the priests were distinguish'd into seven orders ; the first whereof was that of the caters , who were they that served all the seven planets , every planet seven years . with the cater was the universal doctor . the second order was theirs who serv'd six planets , and immediately followed after the first degree . after that they named that which served five of them , and under , the following and inferiour . then he caused also to be brought into the third pyramid the bodies of the masters of the laws , with those of the priests , and the wealth of the houses of the stars and their ornaments , which they had had by offerings , and the goods of the priests . after that he appointed one of them for a guard to each pyramid . the guard therefore of the eastern pyramid was an idol of jamanick shell , black and white , which had both eyes open , and sate on a throne , having near it as it were a halberd , on which if any one cast his eye , he heard on that side a dreadful noise , which made his heart faint , and he who heard that noise dyed . there was a spirit appointed to serve that guard , which spirit never went from before it . the guard of the western pyramid was an idol of hard red stone , having in like manner in his hand somewhat like a halberd , and on his head a wreathed serpent , which flew at those who came near him , clung about their necks and kill'd them . there was appointed to serve him an ugly deformed spirit , which parted not from him . for guard to the third pyramid he had plac'd a small idol of baby stone , on a basis of the same ; which idol drew to it those who look'd on it , and stuck to them till it had destroy'd them , or made them distracted . there was also a spirit appointed to serve it , which parted not from it . saurid having finish'd the building of the pyramids , and compassed them with the bodies of spiritual substances , he offer'd sacrifices to them , and presented them with the offerings chosen for them . the spirits appointed for the service of each star knew the ascendant of the stars they served , and they serv'd them according to their rank one after another . he distributed and appointed the names under which should be divided the works that should be presented to them . the coptites affirm , that king saurid's name was written upon the first pyramid , with the time spent in the building of it . some say he had it built in six moneths , and that he defied those that came after him to demolish it in 600 years ; though it be certain it is more easie to pull down then to build . he said also speaking to them themselves , i have cover'd them with silk , do you cover them if you can with linen cloth . but those who have reigned after him at several times , have seen that they were nothing in comparison of him , and that they could not cover them so much as with mat , and with much ado should they have cover'd them with any thing else . as to the miraculous stories related of the pyramids , the author of that book ( god shew him mercy ) says , that in the annals contained in the books of the egyptians , and their miracles , there is such plenty of admirable histories , that it is impossible to relate them all : i shall onely ( adds he ) relate some of them , and among others this ; the commander of the faithful , the mamunus , god shew him mercy , being come into the land of egypt , and having seen ●he pyramids , had a desire to demolish them , or at least some one of them , to se what was within it . whereupon it was thus said to him ; you desire a thing which it is not possible for you to have . if you attempt it and fail , it will be a dishonour to the commander of the faithful whereto he replied , i cannot for bear but i must discover something . he therefore put them to work at the breach , which was already begun , and made great expences therein . for they kindled fire on the stone , then they cast vinegar on it , and afterwards batter'd the place with engines . the breadth of the wall was 20 cubits , according to the geometrical measure . being come to the upper story of the pyramid , they found behind the breach a green basin , wherein there were pieces of gold weighing each of them an ounce , according to our ordinary weights ; and of those pieces there was just 1000. the demolishers wonder'd at it , and brought the gold to the mamunus , not knowing what it meant . the mamunus was also astonished at it , admiring the excellent workmanship and good alloy of the gold. then he said to them , compute what expence you have made in the breach . they computed , and found that the expence equall'd the value of the gold which they had found , so as that there was not a farthing more or less . the mamunus was yet more astonish'd at that , and said to those who kept his accompts ; consider the foresight of this nation , and the greatness of their science . their sages had told them that there would arise some one that should in some place open one of these pyramids : they examined that , and computed what expence he should make who attempted that work , and set the summe at the place ; that he who got thither , finding his account , and seeing he had not gain'd any thing , should not begin any such work again . they say the basin was made of a green emerald , and that the mamunus had it carried to gueraca , where it was one of the noblest pieces of his treasury . another history relates , that after the pyramid was open'd people went in out of curiosity for some years , many entering into it , and some returning thence without any inconvenience , others perishing in it . one day it happened that a company of young men ( above 20 in number ) swore that they would go into it , provided nothing hindered them , and to force their way to the end of it . they therefore took along with them meat and drink for two moneths : they also took plates of iron and bars , wax-candles and lanterns , match and oyl , hatchets , hooks , and other sharp instruments , and enter'd into the pyramid : most of them got down from the first descent and the second , and pass'd along the ground of the pyramid , where they saw bats as big as black eagles , which began to beat their faces with much violence . but they generously endur'd that inconvenience , and advanc'd still till they came to a narrow passage , through which came an impetuous wind , and extra ordinary cold ; yet so as they could not perceive whence it came , nor whither it went. they advanc'd to get into the narrow place , and then their candles began to go out , which obliged them to put them into their lanterns . then they entered , but the place seemed to be joyn'd and close before them : whereupon one of them said to the rest , tie me by the wast with a cord , and i will venture to advance , conditionally that if any accident happen to me , you immediately draw me back . at the entrance of the narrow place there were great empty vessels made like coffins , with their lids by them ; whence they inferr'd , that those who set them there had prepar'd them for their death ; and that to get to their treasures and wealth there was a necessity of passing through that narrow place . they bound their companion with cords , that he might venture to get through that passage ; but immediately the passage clos'd upon him , and they heard the noise of the crushing of his bones : they drew the cords to them , but they could not get him back . then there came to them a dreadful voice out of that cave , which startled and blinded them so that they fell down , having neither motion nor sense . they came to themselves awhile after , and endeavoured to get out , being much at a loss what to do . at last after much trouble they returned , save onely some of them who fell under the descent . being come out into the plain they sate down together , all astonished at what they had seen , and reflecting on what had happened to them ; whereupon the earth cleft before them , and cast up their dead companion , who was at first immovable , but two hours after began to move , and spoke to them in a language they understood not , for it was not the arabian . but some time after one of the inhabitants of the upper egypt interpreted it to them , and told them his meaning was this ; this is the reward of those who endeavour to seise what belongs to another . after these words their companion seemed dead as before , whereupon they buried him in that place . some of them died also in the pyramid . since that , he who commanded in those parts , having heard of their adventure , they were brought to him , and they related all this to him , which he much wondered at . another history relates , that some entered into the pyramid , and came to the lowest part of it , where they turned round about . there appeared to them a hollow place , wherein there was a beaten path , in which they began to go . and then they found a basin , out of which distill'd fresh water , which fell into several pits which were under the basin , so as they knew not whence it came , nor whether it went. after that they found a square hall , the walls whereof were of strange stones of several colours . one of the company took a little stone and put into his mouth , and immediately his ears were deafened . afterwards they came to a place made like a cistern full of coined gold , like a large sort of cakes that are made ; for every piece was of the weight of 1000 drams . they took some of them , but could not get out of the place till they had returned them into the place whence they had taken them . they afterwards found another place with a great bench , such as is ordinarily before houses for people to sit on ; and on the bench a figure of green stone , representing a tall ancient man sitting , having a large garment about him , and little statues before him , as if they were children whom he taught : they took some of those figures , but could not get out of the place till they had left them behind them . they passed on along the same way , and heard a dreadful noise and great hurly-burly , which they durst not approach . then having advanced further , they found a square place , as if it were for some great assembly , where there were many statues , and among others the figure of a cock made of red gold : that figure was dreadful , enamelled with jacinths , whereof there were two great ones in both eyes , which shined like two great torches : they went near it , and immediately it crew terribly , and began to beat its two wings , and thereupon they heard several voices which came to them on all sides . they kept on their way , and found afterwards an idol of white stone , with the figure of a woman standing on her head , and two lions of wh●te stone lying on each side of her , which seem'd to roar and endeavour to bite . they recommended themselves to god and went on , and kept on their way till they saw a light ; after which going out at an open place , they perceiv'd they were in a great sandy desert . at the passage out of that open place there were two statues of black stone , having half pikes in their hands . they were extremely astonish'd , whereupon they began to return towards the east , till they came near the pyramids on the out side . this happen'd in the time of jezid , the son of gabdolmelic , the son of gabdol , governour of egypt , who having heard of it sent some persons with those before spoken of to observe the open place of the pyramid . they sought it several days , but could never find it again , whereupon they were accounted fools . but they shew'd him the head of a ring which one of them had taken in the assembly-place , which they had found in the pyramid ; which obliged him to believe what they said . that head was valued at a great summe of money . it is further related , that other persons in the time of the commander achemed , the son of toulon ( god shew him mercy ) entered in like manner into the pyramid , and found there a cruse of red glass , which they brought away . as they came out they lost one of their men , which oblig'd them to go in again to look for him . they found him stark naked laughing continually , and saying to them , trouble not your selves to look for me . after which he got away from them , and return'd into the pyramid . whence they inferr'd that the spirits had distracted him , whereupon they went out and left him there . upon which they were accused before the judge , who condemn'd them to exemplary punishment , and took away from them the cruse , which had in it four pound of glass . a certain person said thereupon , that that cruse had not been set in that place for nothing . which occasioned the filling of it with water , and then being weighed again , it weighed as much as when it was empty , and no more . they afterwards took off some of that water several times , but the vessel came still to the same weight . whence they conjectured that it was one of the wine-vessels whereof the ancients had made use , and had been made to that purpose by their sages , and placed there . for the use of wine was permitted among them . this was a strange miracle . they relate further several stories of this kind , and among others that some entered into the pyramid with a child to abuse it ; and that having committed that sin , there came out against them a black young man , with a cudgel in his hand , who beat them furiously , so that they fled leaving there their meat and their cloaths . the same thing happen'd to others in the pyramid of achemima . there entered also into the pyramid of achemima a man and a woman to commit adultery therein ; but they were immediately cast along on the ground , and dyed in a phrensie . when the priests ( says the author ) had told king saurid of the great conflagration , which was to happen by fire , and that that fire should come out of the sign leo ; he caused to be made in the pyramids certain windings , which abutted upon narrow vaults , which drew the winds into the pyramids with a dreadful noise . he also caused chanels to be made therein , by which the water of the nile came in at the same place , then it retreated of it self , and return'd into the nile by another passage , after the manner of the cisterns which are made for the reception of rain-water . he also caused certain chanels to be made therein , which reach'd to certain places of the land of the west , and to certain places of the land of upper egypt . he fill'd those subterraneous places with prodigious things , statues , speaking idols , and talismans . some coptites affirm , that after the coming of the deluge , and the conflagration had been predicted to him , he said to the astrologers ; shall our countrey suffer some part of these misfortunes ? it shall ( reply'd they ) be afflicted with a desolation which shall continue so many years , that the dragons and vipers shall be so exceedingly multiplied therein , that none shall dare to pass through it . and whence shall this desolation come ? said saurid . from the king of a remote countrey , said they , who shall destroy its inhabitants , and so ruine it , that the marks thereof shall remain eternally , clearly carrying away all its wealth . but after that it shall be repeopled by his son , born of one of his bond-women . this king was nahuchodonozor , who destroy'd egypt , and whose son balsas ( born of a captive coptess ) repeopled it , and built there the castle and the church mugalleca , or suspended . what shall happen after that ? said saurid to the priests . there will come into egypt , replyed they , a nation of ugly and deformed people , from the coast of the nile , that is , from the countrey whence it comes , which nation shall possesse it self of the greatest part thereof . after that , said he again , what shall happen ? it s nile shall fail it , reply'd they , and its inhabitants shall forsake it . then it shall be possessed first by a barbarous nation , whose language shall be unknown , and which shall come from the eastern coast ; afterwards by another coming from the western coast , which shall be the last . he commanded all this to be writ down , and that it should be graved on the pyramids and obelisks . one of the things which confirm this discourse by their consonancy is , that abucabil , the mogapherian , the pacifier , related this to achamed , the son of toulon , ( god shew him mercy ) when he entered into egypt . with the help of god we shall speak of him hereafter . as to the spirits which are met in the pyramids , and the like structures , and the forms under which they appear , the author ( to whom god shew mercy ) speaks of them briefly thus in a chapter he hath expresly made of them : they relate , saith he , several things of the pyramids , which would be long to declare ; but as to the spirits which reign over them , and such other structures , named birba's , they say that the spirit of the meridional pyramid never appears out of it , but in the form of a naked woman , who has not even her privy parts covered , beautiful as to all other parts , and whereof the behaviour is such , as when she would provoke any one to love and make him distracted , she laughs on him , and presently he approches her , and she draws him to her , and besots him with love , so that he immediately grows mad , and wanders like a vagabond up and down the countrey . divers persons have seen her walking about the pyramid about noon , and about sun-set . one day she distracted one of the people of the chacambermille , who was afterwards seen running stark naked through the streets without fear or wit. the spirit of the second pyramid , which is the colour'd , is an ancient nubian , having a basket on his head , and in his hands a censer like those used in churches , wherewith he incenses about it at all the obelisks . as to the birba of achemima , its spirit is a young man , beardless and naked , sufficiently known among the inhabitants of the place . the spirit of the birba of semir is a black swarthy old man , of high stature , and having a short beard . the spirit of the birba of of phacat appears in the form of a black young woman , having in her arm a little black infant deformed , shewing his dogs teeth , and having his eyes all white . the spirit of the birba of ridousa appears in the form of a man , having the head of a lion with two long horns . the spirit of the birba of busira appears in the form of an old white monk carrying a book . the spirit of the birba of gaphi appears in the form of a shepherd , clad in a black robe , with a staff in his hand . as to the pyramids of dehasoura , their spirits are seen in the form of two black old men. the spirit of the birba of samnos appears in the form of a monk , who comes out of the sea , and views himself in it as in a looking-glass . all these spirits are manifestly seen by such as come near them , and the places of their retirement , and frequent there abouts along time . there are for all of them certain particular offerings , by means whereof it is possible the treasures of the birbas and the pyramids may appear , and that there may be a friendship and familiarity between men and spirits , according to what the sages have establish'd . saurid the son of sahaloc , says the author , continued king of egypt a hundred and seven years . his astrologers told him the time he should die , whereupon he made his last will to his son hargib , told him whatever was necessary for him , and ordered him to have him carried into the pyramid , and to have him disposed into the tomb which he himself had caused to be made , that he should cover the bottom of it with camphire and santal-wood , and that he should enbalm his body with the drugs which prevent corruption , and that he should leave by him the richest of his armour , and the most precious of his housholdstuff . his son performed all this after his death , and then hargib reigned after his father in the land of egppt , and follow'd his footsteps , being careful as he had been to administer justice to the people , to have the countrey cultivated and inhabited , and to procure the wellfare of his subjects , which obliged them to have a great affection for him . he afterwards caused to be built the first of the pyramids of dehasoura , and to be brought thither abundance of wealth , and precious stones of great value . hargib was particularly addicted to chemistry , to get metals out of the mines , and to gather money ; he afterwards enterred every year a great quantity thereof ▪ and minded not the putting of statue and speaking idols into his pyramid he a long time continued that exercise , during which he had a daughter , who being grown up suffer'd herself to be debauched by one of hi● people , which obliged him to sent her away into the west , where he had a city built for her in the countrey of barca . this city being built they gave it the name of that princess , which was as they say ▪ domeria . for he caused a pilory t● be built in the midst of the city , and her name to be grav'd on it : then he sent to live there with her all the old women of his house . he continued king ninety nine years , then dyed : and was interred in the pyramids . his son menaos reigned after him in egypt , and was a proud and hauty prince , who spilt much blood , ill treated his subjects , ravished many women , and squandered away a great part of the treasures of his ancestors . for he built palaces of gold and silver , into which he brought chanels of the nile , the bottom whereof he caused to be covered with jacinths and other precious stones instead of sand. he tormented men , and took away their goods and cattel by force . this got him the hatred of the people , and at last the beast he rid on threw him and broke his neck ; ( gods curse go with him . ) so god delivered the egyptians of him . as to the history of the deluge , and the adventures of noah , to whom god grant peace and mercy , take in few words what is said thereof . they relate that adam , ( gods peace be with him ) after god had descended from paradice , and been merciful to him after his sin , was by god himself appointed king of the earth , and mankind descended of his race . he was the first that prayed to god , fasted , and knew how to read and write . he was beardless and hairless , comely and well made . there was afterwards sent him one and twenty pages of writings ; then he dyed aged nine hundred and fifty years . his li 〈…〉 should have been a thousand years but he bestowed fifty of them on hi● son david . his successor and l 〈…〉 gatee was his son seth , to whom a 〈…〉 to whose children continued the prophecy , with the true religion and the superintendency of divine laws god afterwards sent seth twenty nine sheets . he liv'd on the mountain and cabel built in the bottom of the valley . seth lived nine hundred and twelve years , and had for successor his son enos , who lived nine hundred and fifty years , and appointed for hi● successor after his death his son cainan , in whose favour he made his last will , and afterwards distributed the earth among the sons of his sons . cainan died aged nine hundred and twenty years , and made his last testament in favour of his son mahalel . in his time the square temple was built . he died aged nine hundred seventy five years , and appointed for successor his son jared , whom he taught all the sciences , and told all that was to happen in the world. he considered the stars , and read the book of the secrets of the kingdom , which was sent from heaven to adam : then he had to his son enoch , who is edrisus , gods peace be with him . there was then king in the world mechavel the son of cabel . the devil ( gods curse with him ) went to him , seduced him by his deceits , and made him fall into errour ; then he told him that there was born to jared the son of mahalel a son who should be an enemy to theie gods , and come to great reputation . whereto jared answered , canst not thou destroy him ? i 'le endeavour to do it , said the devil . whereupon god gave edrisus ( gods peace be with him ) angels to guard him from the devil , and from his progeny and artifices . when he was grown up to adolescency , his father made him guardian of the temple , and taught him the sheets of seth and adam , gods peace be with them . he was very diligent in the reading and studying of them , and in observing the precepts thereof . being come to forty years of age , god gave him the gift of prophecy , and sent him from heaven thirty sheets . his father made him his successor by will , gave him the sciences he was possess'd of , and sent him to king darael , whom he taught writing and astrology . for he is the first who writ in the syriac after seth , and who described the state of the stars . the nations of writing affirm he was the first who made slaves and servants , and establish'd weights and measures . he led captive the children of cabel ; he was skilled in medicine and the astronomical tables , according to a supputation different from the indian . god shewed him after he had prayed for it the sublime figures . spirits spoke to him ; he knew the names of the ascent and descent , and ascended and descended , and turned the sphere , and knew the significations of the stars , and all that was to happen , and graved all sciences upon stones and upon bricks . he had a long adventure with the angel of death , which it would be too long for us to relate . to speak briefly of him , he died , and god raised him up again ; he saw hell , and entered into paradice , where he still is , being not come out of it . they relate ( says the author , gods mercy on him ) that king mechavel sent to desire jared to send edrisus to him , for he desired to see him . but he would by no means do it , whereupon mechavel sent an army against him , which yet could not come at him , in regard his uncles , and all the progeny of seth , secured him against it ; for after seth there was no other prophet but edrisus . jared died , aged 750 years . edrisus was called edrisus ( that is , reader ) because he had much read and studied the sheets . he was raised up into paradise at the complete age of 300 years ; god grant him peace and mercy . he was also called hermes , which is the name of mercury . he taught sabi to write , and after edrisus all who could write were called sabi . he it was who foretold the coming of the deluge , and the destruction of the world by water , which was to come over the earth . edrisus ( before he was raised up ) had made his will in favour of his son matusalech , and had put the sheets into his hands . he had also recommended sabi to assist him . sabi was a man taught by edrisus , and one who had made a great progress in the sciences . they say edrisus was the first who ordered the waging of war for the faith ; and that he did it himself against the sons of cabel . matusalech lived 932 years , after which the testament passed to malec his son , who took possession of the sheets , and joyned the sciences together . he confederated with the children of his father , and assembled them together , and hindred their holding any correspondence with the children of cabel . 't was he who saw as it were a fire issuing out of his mouth , and burning the world ; after which he had to his son the prophet noah , gods peace and mercy be with him ; darmasel ( the son of mechavel , the son of enoch , the son of gabod , the son of cabel , the son of adam , gods peace be with him ) then reigning . this darmasel had lifted up himself , and was grown great , and had subdued kings , which had happened because the devil ( whom god curse ) had called him to the worship of the stars , and to the religion of the sabaeans ; insomuch that he had made idols , and had built temples to them , wherein he served them . they say no man got out of the bowels of the earth so many precious stones , pearls , and other minerals , as this king did . he was very severe to the prophet of god noah , and endeavoured much to do him harm ; but god prevented him , and preserved the prophet . darmasel had lived 300 years when god sent noah , who was then 150 years of age . he lived in his nation according to what god had revealed to him 1000 years wanting 50 ; then he lived after the deluge 200 years . he was the first prophet that came after edrisus , to whom god grant peace . his law was to profess the unity of god , to pray , to pay the sacred tribute , to observe abstinence , and to fight in the way of god against the children of cabel . after that he called his nation to god , and made them fear his chastisements . but they began presently to ill-treat him . yet was it long ere they discovered his enterprise to king darmasel , during which noah was continually in the houses of their idols and in their temples . and when he said unto them , my friends , say there is no other god then the true god , and that i am his servant and apostle . h tey put their fingers into their ears , and their heads into their mantles , so displeasing was the discourse to them . then when he came to say , there is no other god then the true god , the idols fell down with their faces to the ground ; and then the people fell upon him and beat him till he fell down . after that king darmasel heard of his carriage , and ordered him to be brought into his presence , accompanied by his own people , who held a ponyard to his throat , and to whom the king spoke thus : is this he who you say speaks reproachfully of the gods , and would destroy religion ? yea , replyed they . then he said to noah ; o noah , what do they here tell me of thee , that thou opposest my religion , and what thy fathers children believe ? what magick is this whereby thou hast made the idols tumble out of their places ? who taught thee this doctrine ? great king , replyed noah , were they gods as you imagine , my discourses could not hurt them , and they would not have fallen out of their places . for my part , i am the servant of god and his apostle . honour the true god , and imagine nothing equal to him , for he sees you . thereupon darmasel put noah into prison till the feast of the idols came , to the end he should offer sacrifice to them . he also caused the idols to be returned into their places on their thrones , and made oblations to them . then when the time of the idol-feast drew near , he commanded a herald to assemble all the the peóple , that they might see what he did to noah . then noah implored the assistance of god against him , and he was immediately troubled with a great head-ach and a phrensie , which continu'd a week , after which he died . he was put into a golden coffin , wherewith a procession was made in the temple of the idols , his subjects weeping about him , and cursing and railing at noah . then they carried him ( i mean the king ) into the pyramids , and disposed him into a tomb which had been prepared for him . he had appointed his son to be king after him . he brought noah out of prison , esteeming him a distracted person , and forbid under great penalties , his relapsing into the faults wherewith he was charged . noah , gods mercy to him , expected till the day of one of their great festivals , on which they assembled themselves to serve their idols . he then came to them and said thus , say there is no other god then the true god , and that i am his servant and apostle . with those words the idols fell down of all sides , and the people fell upon noah , cruelly beating him , making several wounds in his head , and dragging him along the ground with his face downwards . then the heavens and the earth , the mountains and the seas cryed vengeance to god , saying , o lord , do you not see the cruel treatment made to your prophet noah ? the almighty and all-good god made them sensible that that cruelty was exercised on himself , that he would punish those rebels , and do right to noah . they afterwards carried noah before the king , who spoke thus to him , have not i already pardoned thee , and opened my fathers prisons , conditionally thou shouldst not return to thy faults ? i am ( replied . noah ) a servant , who does what he is commanded . who hath given thee that command ? said the king. my god , replyed noah . who is that god ? said the king. the lord of the heavens and the earth , said noah , the lord of all creatures . and what hath he commanded thee ? said the king. he hath commanded me ( replyed noah ) to call you to his service , and he commands you and your subjects to forsake the worship of idols , and to follow the ordinances of prayer , payment of the sacred tribute , and the observance of fasting . and if we do it not , said the king , what will be the issue ? if he please ( replied noah ) he will immediately destroy you ; and if he please he will give you time to reflect on your ways till a certain term . let thy god alone ( said the king ) and what he desires of us , and do thou thy self give over importuning us . how can i give over ( replied noah ) when i am a servant who does what is commanded him , and cannot disobey his all-good and almighty master ? then the king ( says the author ) caused noah to be imprisoned , to make an oblation of him to the idols , as his father had done before . presently after , saudib who was a powerful lord and a priest , rebelled against the king , and attempted to deprive him of his crown . the wars which the king was engaged in against him diverted him from thinking on the business of the prophet of god noah , and obliged him to put him out of prison , till he had the leisure to have him brought before him . he afterwards agreed with saudib , by granting him a portion of the upper part of egypt , and return'd to his royal palace . the devil ( gods curse on him ) soon began to sollicit him to put the prophet of god noah to death , but almighty god diverted him , so that the affaires of noah were in different postures . the son of darmasel sent thereupon to all the kings of the earth , desiring them to send him all the priests and doctors , that they might dispute against noah . they came to him from all parts , and disputed against the prophet ; but he baffled them all . among others came to him the egyptian priest philemon , of whom we have already spoken , god shew him mercy . he disputed against him , and philemon acknowledged the unity of god , who directed him so that he became faithful , and embarqued with noah in the ship. after that god revealed his will to noah in these terms : make the ark , and the rest of the verse . how shall i make it ? said noah . then gabriel came to him , and shew'd him the model of it , ordering him to give him the figure of a gondola of glass . he was ten years a building of it , and he made it of the indian plane tree , a hundred cubits in length , according to the measure of his time , and fifty cubits in height , and divided it into three stories . the people of his countrey in the mean time pass'd by him , and laughed and scoffed at what he did . some brought to him their little children , and charged them to beware of him . and sometimes the children seeing him , endeavoured to hurt and disturb him . when noah had compleated the ship , he made the entrance on the side , and it continued lying on the ground seven moneths , till they had offered up to their idols three companies of those who had believed noah . then was the decree of their chastisement confirmed , and god commanded noah to put into the ship two pairs of every species . whence shall i be able to get all that ? said noah . immediately god commanded the four winds to bring together about him all he had ordered to be put into the ark ; which they did . he took in at the first door the wild and tame beasts , the reptiles and the birds ; at the second ( which was that of the middle ) he took in meat and drink , and the body of adam , which was in a shrine . then he entered himself at the highest door with his children , and those who had believed in him . relations agree not about the number of the faithful who entered into the ark ; most affirm they were forty men , and forty women . when noah and his companions were got into the ship , the news of it came to the king , who began to laugh at it , saying , where is the water on which that vessel is to sail ? they knew well enough that the deluge was to come , but had no notice of the time of its coming , that the will of god might be fulfilled upon them . upon that mechavel the son of darmasel got on horseback , with a party of his people , and went first to the temple of his idols , where he stayed a while , then went towards the place where the ship was , with an intention to fire it . being come near it he call'd noah with a loud voice , and noah having answered him , where ( said he ) is the water which is to bear thee in this ship ? it will be immediately with you replied noah , before you go out of this place . come down ( o noah ) said the king , and also those who are with thee . o unhappy man ! said noah , turn to god , for behold his chastisements are ready to fall upon you . these words incensed the king , so that he commanded fire to be cast into the ship , upon him and upon his companions . but immediately there comes a messenger in great haste , telling him for news that a woman heating the oven to bake her bread , water rush'd out of it as out of a great torrent . unfortunate man ! replied the king ; how could water come out of a hot oven ? unfortunate king ! replied noah ; 't is one of the signs of my lords wrath , which is descending on you and yours , according to what he hath revealed to me to threaten you withall . another sign of the same thing is , that the earth is going to shake and to stagger , that the water is going to overflow it on all sides , and that it is going to spring up under the horse's feet on which you are mounted , even in the place where you now are . immediately the king was obliged to put back his horse from the place where he was , seeing the water springing up under his feet by the permission of god. as soon as he was got to another place , behold his messengers returning to him , tell him that the water was very much risen and augmented , which forc'd him to a sudden departure , to return with all speed to his castle , that he might take his servants and his children , and dispose them into the fortresses which he had prepared on the tops of the mountains , and where he had put in provisions as much as he imagin'd would be necessary . but presently the earth began to open , and the feet of the horses to enter into it , so that they could not get them out , which obliged them to get off , and to leave them there . in like manner the doors of heaven were opened and let fall a great rain , as if water had been poured out of great earthen pots , so that the waters overtook them ere they could recover the mountains , and hindered their getting up to them . they justled and thrust one another , and knew not which side to turn by reason of the violence of the thunder and lightning , and the greatness of the evil which was come upon them . the women carried their children at their backs , then when the water was come up to their mouths they cast them under their feet , and endeavoured to save themselves . had god been disposed to have compassion on the unbelievers , he would have been merciful to the mother and the child . one of noah's sons was with the king , the son of darmasel , when he came to fire the ship. his father cried out to him , o my dear son , embarque thy self with us . i will retire ( said he ) into a mountain , which shall secure me from the water . noah answered him according to what god had taught him , i 〈…〉 onely the mercy of god which c 〈…〉 this day preserve any body from 〈◊〉 chastisements . he was destined misery and destruction , and he w 〈…〉 one of those who were drowned . t 〈…〉 water rose above the earth 40 c 〈…〉 bits , and above the mountains 〈◊〉 cubits . all that was upon the 〈◊〉 face of the earth perished , the math 〈…〉 and signs therefore were defaced ; 〈◊〉 the permission of god there remain 〈…〉 only the ark and those within 〈◊〉 those who adore the stars affi 〈…〉 nevertheless that there rema 〈…〉 ed some places upon the ea 〈…〉 which the waters of the delu 〈…〉 reached not : but the mussulmans de 〈…〉 it . the persians ( whom god curs 〈…〉 say , the history of the deluge is n 〈…〉 true , and make no mention of th 〈…〉 prophecy of noah , in regard they a 〈…〉 magi by religion , and adore the fir 〈…〉 the indians affirm in like manner that there happened nothing of it i 〈…〉 their countrey , and so also the inhabitants of the maritime countries and of most of the indian islands they say the ark continued on the water six moneths , that it sail'd by all the countries of the earth , in the east , and in the west , and that one week it compass'd about the place of the square temple . they had with them a large sea-pearl put on a thread , by means whereof they in the ship distinguished between day and night , and the hours of prayer . they had also their cock which crew , to call up the people to divine service . it is written in the law of moses , that god swore by himself that he would not punish any nation by the deluge after the nation of noah . i found ( says the author of this book , murtadi the son of gaphiphus , on whom god have mercy ) in a book ( the greatest part whereof was torn out ) the history of noah , with considerable additions and augmentations , which i will fully set down here , to the end this book may want no advantage which may raise its value with those who shall read it , or hear it read , with the direction and assistance of god. these augmentations then relate , that the patriarch , the father of noah , ( gods peace be with him ) dreamt that he saw issuing out of his mouth a fire , which burnt the whole terrestrial world. he thereupon awaked much astonished . some days after he dreamt again , that he was upon a tree in the midst of a great sea without shores , which also astonish'd him very much . after that there being born to him a son , the prophet of god noah , the good tidings of it spread over the whole earth ; and the priest galoumas related it immediately to mechavel the son of darmasel , assuring him further that the terrestrial world should perish in his time , that is , in the time of noah , whose life was to be very long . the priests knew also by their sciences , that there would happen a deluge , which should drown the earth and its inhabitants ; but they always hoped to secure themselves from what should happen with king darmasel . the king therefore commanded that there should be strong castles built on the tops of the mountains , that they might retire thither and be safe as they imagined . they built seven castles of that kind , according to the number of their idols , whereof they gave them the names , and graved thereon their sciences . after that noah being grown up , ( god grant him peace and mercy ) god sent him to them for an apostle , and there happen'd to him what god himself relates in his book . noah was of delicate complexion , his head was somewhat long , his arms very large , as also his leggs , his thighs very fleshy , his beard long and broad : he was large and thick . he was the first prophet that came after edrisus , and he is numbered among the famous envoys for their constancy and resolution . he liv'd 1250 years . the philosophers will not have him live so long , as differing among themselves about long lives . his law prescribed the profession of the unity of god , and the sacred combat against those who opposed the establishment of his religion , commanding the good and forbidding the evil , ordered the following of things permitted , and the avoiding of things forbidden , and the observance of purity and cleanliness . almighty god had commanded him to induce his nation to the proefession of his unity , to mind them of the good things they had received of him , and to raise in them a fear of his indignation . the history relates , that noah was born in the reign of mechavel , the son of darmasel , and that being two hundred years of age mechavel died , and had for successor his son darmasel , who was much addicted to the worship of the idols , exalting them as much as lay in his power , and commanding the people to serve them well . in the mean time noah began to preach the religion of almighty god , going through the market-places , the assemblies , the temples , the inns , and calling the people to god. they kept his preaching secret , and discovered nothing of it to king darmasel , till such time as his enterprize having been observed , men bewared of him , and the king heard of him . they say that mechavel ( god curse him ) imprisoned noah 3 years before he died ; and that after his death his son darmasel ( who was his successor ) brought noah out of prison , and commanded him to forbear corrupting religion , and exclaming against the gods. there was among them for their seven great idols a feast which they celebrated every year , during which they assembled to offer sacrifices , and make processions about the idols . the time of that feast being come , which is also the feast of jagoth , the people came together from all parts , and then noah came to that assembly , and having pass'd through the midst of the people , and cry'd with a loud voice ; o friends , say as i do ; there is no other god then the great god. the people put their fingers into their ears , and their heads into their garments , but the idols fell at noah's cry ; which obliged the men to fall upon him , and to beat him cruelly , giving him several wounds in the head , then dragging him along the ground , with his face towards the kings palace , into which they made him enter , and brought him before him . have not i done thee a favour ( said the king ) in taking thee out of prison , though thou hast spoken against our religion , rail'd at our gods , and forsaken the footsteps of thy fathers and grand-fathers ? mean time thou comest again to exercise thy magick against the gods , so as thou hast made them to fall from their thrones , torn from their stations , and the places of their honour and their glory . what hath forc'd thee to this extremity ? if these idols ( replied noah ) were gods as you imagine , they would not have fallen at my voice . fear god , unhappy prince ; turn to him , and believe nothing equal to him ; for he sees you . who is he ( said the king ) who has made thee so confident as to speak to me in these terms ? i will sacrifice thy bloud to the idols . he thereupon commanded him to be kept in prison till the day of the feast of jagoth , that he might be sacrificed to him ; and that the idols might at the same time be exalted to their thrones . but he saw afterwards a dream which startled him , and obliged him to order noah to be put out of prison , giving out among the people that he was distracted . noah being afterwards 500 years of age , had his son sem , and after him cham , and after him jam , then japhet . their mother was named nouba●he , the daughter of enos , the son of enoch . noah was afterwards a long time preaching to hi● nation , yet could convert to the profession of the unity of god but a small company of the meaner sort of people ; wherefore they made this reproach to him , according to what god himself said to him , thou hast been followed by the dr●gs of the people . noah was a carpenter , and those who believed in him were of his own profession . he spent afterwards three ages in preaching always to the people the religion of almighty god , without other effect save that they grew the more impious and insolent . nay , they kill'd some of those who believed in him , and rifled their honses ; and then god revealed to him , that of his nation there would be no other believers save onely those who had already embraced the faith. noah despairing of their conversion began to pray to god against them , and to say , o my lord , suffer not upon earth any habitation of the unbelievers . then almighty god commanded him to build the ship ; then he smote them with sterility , as well to the fruits of the earth , as the procreation of children , making their women unable to bring forth , and in like manner the females of their cattel incapable of generation , and withdrawing his benedictions from their orchards and agriculture . they invoked their idols , but it did bestead them nothing with god. then noah began to build the ship , and spent three years in cutting down indian plane-trees and polishing them , in making nails and pins , and providing whatever was necessary ; then he set it together in the moneth of regebe . those of his nation would needs pass by him as he was at work , laughing and making sport at him . after he had finished it , god commanded him to put into it two pairs of every species . those who embarqued with him of the sons of adam and his own were sem , cham , and japhet , and the others who belonged to him and were of his family . the angels brought to him adams shrine , which was in the countrey of tehama , which is the septentrional territory of meca . there was also with him in the ark the egyptian priest philemon , with his family and his daughters . the rest were of the children of his father , and of his grandfather edrisus . after the chastisement was completed by the destruction of the inhabitants of the earth , that the heaven had given a check to the rains , that the earth by the permission of her lord had drunk up the waters , and that the ark rested on mount g●edis , they went out and built a city , which they called the match of fourscore , and which is at this day famous in its place , under the name of themanine , which signifies fourscore . they say that the several nations , though they were not ignorant of the deluge , and that they knew well enough it was to come , yet could not learn of their priests precisely the time of its coming ; because it was the will of the almighty and all-good god to punish them . the mountains cast stones at them , and they knew not which way to turn to avoid the falling of the rain and the stones . they say also that the water which fell was hot and corrupted , as if i had come out of a boiling pool of sand. some affirm , that the ship continued on the water a hundred and fifty days ; others , that it continued 11 moneths ; god knows how it was . some affirm also that the deluge happen'd in the moneth of regebe , and that the ark nested on mount geudis the tenth day of the moneth of mucharram . there were between the descent of adam and the deluge two thousand one hundred fifty six years . when god would restore the earth to a good condition , he sent a wind upon the water which dry'd it , and put a stop to the springs . the ordinary light return'd to the world , and the sun and the moon , and the night , and the day . forty days after god commanded noah to open the ark. he opened it , and let out the raven to see how low the water was . the raven went out , and stayed to feed on the carrions of the dead , and returned no more . whereupon noah made imprecations against her , that she might always be a stranger , and never a domestick bird , and that it should feed on carrions . then he let out the dove after her . she soon return'd with her feet dy'd with the slime of the earth , which was grown hot . wherefore noah prayed god to preserve her swiftness to her , and that she might be a domestick bird , and belov'd of men. he pray'd him also to give her patience to endure the loss of her young ones , and gave her his benediction ; her feet have been red from that very time . he let her go seven days after , and she return'd bringing an olive-leaf in her beak ; and told him for news , that there was not remaining on the surface of the earth any tree but the olive-tree . they say , the earth was dry the 27th . day of the 11th . moneth of the year . after that god revealed to noah , that he should let out the beasts and the reptiles out of the ark. noah cry'd out so violently at it , that he fell into a feaver . they say , those who were in the ark were incommodated with the dung of the creatures , which oblig'd noah to give a cuff o'th'ear to the elephant , by vertue of which cuff the elephant sneez'd and cast out a hog , which took away that ordure . they say also that the rats troubling them , noah gave a box o'th'ear to the lion , who sneez'd out a cat , which devour'd the rats . others say these stories were invented for pleasure sake , and that they are not of faith , as having no grounds . noah came afterwards out of the ark with his four sons , sem , cham , japhet , and jacheton , which is he whom god gave him in the ship. then god said thus to them ; multiply , fill the earth , and cultivate it ; i give you my benediction , and take my curse from the earth , permitting it to bring forth its good things , its fruits and productions . then he added speaking to them ; eat that which is permitted and good , and shun what is impure , as beasts sacrific'd to idols , or naturally dead , and swine's flesh , and whatever hath been sacrific'd to any other then god. kill no man , for god forbids the doing of it , unless it be by the way of justice . it is written in the law of moses , that after they were come out of the ark and settled in the earth , god spake thus to them ; multiply and fill the earth , let the beasts of it fear and respect you , and all the fowls in the air , and all the fish in the sea. in the great alcoran it is spoken of this in these terms ; then it was said to him , o noah , descend out of the ark in peace on our part , and the rest of the verse . then noah ordered them to built every one a habitation , whereupon they built fourscore of them in the city , which is to this day called the city of themanine , that is , fourscore . they afterwards fell a sowing and planting of trees . they had ready for that end the seeds , the corn , and the fruit , which had been put up in the ship ; there was onely the vine , that is the tree which bears grapes , which noah wanted and could not find . whereupon gabriel told him that the devil had stoln it away , as having some part in it . noah thereupon sent for him , and when he was present he said to him ; o cursed spirit , why hast thou done this ? because i have part in it , said the devil . divide it then between you , said gabriel . i am content said noah ; i resign him the fourth part of it . 't is not enough for him , said gabriel . well , said noah , i will take one half , let him take the other . it is not yet enough , said gabriel ; but he must have two thirds of it , and thou one . when therefore the juice of it shall have boyl'd over the fire , till two thirds thereof be consum'd , thou shalt be allow'd the use of the rest ; and in like manner the grape as well new as dry , and the viniger . as to the surplusage which may inebriate , it is forbidden thee and thy posterity ; thou art not to expect any part thereof from the devil , nor to commence any action against him for it . then the devil ( god hinder him from doing harm ) said thus to noah , ( gods peace be with him ; ) i am oblig'd to you for the great kindness you have done me , and for which i shall not be ungrateful . o noah , beware of envy , intemperance , avarice , and impatience . for envy enclin'd me to make god incensed against me , and was the cause of my banishment out of paradice . intemperance made your father adam transgress the commandment of his lord , and eat the fruit of the tree . avarice made cabel kill his brother abel : and impatience brought you to make imprecations against your nation , which caused god to bring destruction on all , and hath given a relaxation of the pains i took to deceive them . then noah caused the shrine wherein adams body was , to be brought into the cave of old age at meca , and left it there . the history relates , that when noah took the scorpion and the serpent into the ship with him , he pray'd his almighty and all-good lord , to take away their venom from them , which was granted . when therefore he put them out of it they spoke thus to him : o prophet of god , pray your lord for us , that he would restore us our venom , and that we may make our advantage thereof against our enemies , and by means thereof defend our selves against those who would injure us . we promise you in requital , and in the name of god we grant , that whoever shall every day and every night pronounce these words , god grant peace to noah for ever , we will not come near him , and will do him no hurt . noah pray'd to his lord , and he order'd the making of that agreement , and that security to be taken of them : and after he had done it god restored to them their venom , according to what he had ordain'd by his providence , since no man can destroy what he h 〈…〉 ordain'd , nor defer the execution 〈◊〉 his judgments . they say moreover that when the chastisement was taken from the inhabitants of t 〈…〉 earth , and that fair weather ha● succeeded the clouds , noah look'd 〈◊〉 on high , and that having observ 〈…〉 the rain-bow , he said thus ; wh 〈…〉 means this , o lord ? and that g 〈…〉 answer'd him , this is an assurance 〈◊〉 the inhabitants of the earth , th 〈…〉 there shall be no more deluge . the kings of egypt who reig 〈…〉 before the deluge , ( says the author ) and were coptites , are craos the gyant , and his son tegares , and his son mesra 〈…〉 and his son gancam , and his son gari 〈…〉 and his son louchanam , and his 〈◊〉 chasalim , and his son harsal , and his son jadousac , and his son semrod , and his son josedon , and his son sariac , and his son sahaloc , and his son saurid who built the pyramids , and his son hargib , and his son menaos , and his son ecros . after that the successio 〈…〉 from father to son was interrupted which oblig'd the egyptians to tak 〈…〉 for their king a certain man of the royal house named ermelinos ; and after him pharaan , who was the first who reigned insolently and tyrannically , and who gave the name to the pharaohs . he was also the last of the kings of egypt before the deluge . the first of the kings of egypt after the deluge was masar , the son of mesraim , ( who is bansar ) the son of gham , the son of noah , to whom god grant peace and mercy . this masar was son to the daughter of the priest philemon , who believed in noah . for they say that pharaan ( the last of the kings of egypt before the delugu ) grew proud upon the earth , and treated his people insolently and tyrannically , taking away their goods , and committing injustices , such as none had done before or after him ; and shedding mens bloud by his continual murthers . nay , kings themselves were afraid of him , and respected him . he it was who writ to darmasel the son of mechavel king of babylon , and advised him to put noah to death . darmasel had already written to the inhabitants of gueraca , and of all the other provinces , to know of them whether there were any other gods besides the idols ; and had related to them the history of noah , and the religion which he preached , and how he incited them to the worship of one onely god , different from those whom they adored . every one of them had rejected this , and had advised him to put noah to death . but after god had commanded noah to build the ark , pharaan king of egypt writ to darmasel , exhorting him to fire it ; which darmasel thought to do , but at the same time the prince of the priests of egypt ( philemon ) gave him other advice ; and writ to him that he counselled him to leave it as it was , in regard that if what that man said was true , that is , what noah said , the king should embarque with those of his house , and then put noah to death that he might be no more troubled with him . the learned of egypt knew well that the deluge was to come , but knew not how great it was to be , nor how long it was to continue on the surface of the earth . the priest philemon dreamt as he slept , that he saw emsos ( which is the city of masre ) overturned upon its inhabitants , and the idols falling with their noses to the ground ; and that there descended from heaven men armed with sharp-pointed instruments of iron , wherewith they beat the people ; and that he seemed to approach one of them , and spoke to him thus ; why treat you the men after that manner ? because ( replied he ) they are ungrateful and irrespective towards their god , who hath created them , and gives them subsistence . is there no means for them to be saved ? said philemon . yes , replied the other : those who would be saved are onely to apply themselves to him who hath built the ark. philemon awaked thereupon very much astonished . he had a wife and two children , a son and a daughter , and seven of his disciples . he therefore settled his affairs , with an intention to go to noah , gods peace be with him . then afterwards he saw another dream ; he seem'd to be in a green medow , where there were white birds which smell'd of musk ; and as he stood still to take a view of them , and to admire their beauty , one of them began to speak , saying to the rest ; let us go , let us deliver the believers . whereupon philemon said to him , who are those believers ? they are ( replied the bird ) the men of the ark. he thereupon awaked very much astonished and affrighted , and related that to those of his house and his disciples . then he went and spoke to the king in these terms ; i have seen a dream , according to which if it please your majesty to send me to darmasel king of babylon , i shall know what that man is who hath built a ship in a dry countrey . i will discourse with him , and dispute against him about this new religion which he preacheth , and would introduce , and will inform my self of the truth of his pretensions ; and i hope at length to turn him out of the way which he would have others to follow . the king approved the design , and ordered him to depart . philemon then left egypt , with his family and his disciples , and travelled till he came to babylon , and discoursed with noah , gods peace be with him , so as that he found what he said to be true , and believed in him , and followed his religion . when god will put a man into the right way ( said noah ) no man can put him out of it . philemon continued with noah ever after , and ceased not to serve him and his children , and his family , and his disciples , till they imbarqued with him in the ark. mean time pharaan ( god curse him ) continued his divertisements , and remained in his errour , unworthily treating the people of egpyt , and afflicting them by his injustices and murthers , which caused many tumults and spoils in the countrey , and dearth of provisions , men oppressing one another , and no body reproving vice . the temples and the birbas were lock'd up , and their doors full of dirt . the deluge came upon them , and the rain overwhelm'd them on sunday the 24th . day of the moneth , pharaan being then drunk ; so that he came not to himself till the water began to fasten on him . he started up of a sudden , and ran away as fast as he could ; but his feet sunk into the ground , and he fell on his face , and fell a roaring like a bull , till the unbeliever perish'd , he and all his nation . those who retired into some cave or other secret place perished there also . the water cover'd the pyramids to the end of the quadrature . the marks of it are manifest to this day . after the deluge the first who reign'd in egypt was masar , the son of bansar , the son of cham , the son of noah . the mussulmans who follow the traditions affirm , that this masar was the first king of egypt after the deluge , and that he became so , having been before designed for it by his grandfather noah , which happen'd upon this , that philemon intreated noah to have a particular affection for him , and for his family and his children , and spoke to him thus : o prophet of god , i am come to you out of desire i had to believe in god , and to follow your precepts ; i have to that end forsaken my countrey , and the place of my birth , give me some prerogative and preheminence , which may cause me to be spoken of after i am . what do you desire in order to that ? said noah . i desire ( said philemon ) that you would joyn my family to yours , and that you would take this my daughter to be wife to one of your sons . noah took her and married her to mesraim , the son of cham , to whom she bore a son , whom his grandfather philemon named masar . when noah would afterwards divide the earth amongst his children , philemon spoke to him in these terms ; o prophet of god , send along with me this my son , ( meaning masar ) and permit me to bring him into my own countrey , to shew him the treasures of it , and to teach him the sciences and remarkable things thereof . noah sent him along with him , accompanied by some of his own house . he was a delicate young man , and they travelled during the great heat of the sun , so that when they came near the land of egypt , masar made a kind of arbour of the boughs of trees , at the place now called garisa , that is to say , the arbour , and covered it with the grass he found on the ground . near that place he afterwards built a city , which he called darsan , that is to say , the door of the garden , about which they planted trees , and sow'd the grounds , and made sweet smelling orchards . between darsan and the sea-side there were tilled fields and gardens , and well cultivated grounds . masar's people were mighty robust and valiant . they cut stones , and raised remarkable buildings , and liv'd very much at ease for a long time . masar married a woman of the race of the priests , of whom he had a son named coptim , and he was the father of all the coptites . afterwards at ninety years of age he married another woman , and had by her sons , coptarim and asmomus , and abribus , who grew up and peopled the land , and were prosperous therein . their cities were called from their names , and will be so call'd till the day of judgment . they say the number of those who accompanied masar was thirty men , and that they built a great city , which they called maca ; for maca signifies thirty ; and that it is the city of memphis . philemon afterwards discovered to them the treasures of egypt , made them understand the writing of the birbas , opened the pyramids for them , and taught them the talismans of their gates , and the ways to be obey'd by the spirits appointed over them . he shew'd them the mines of gold and silver , and topazes , and turqueses , and esnadosammes . he taught them the art of handling white and black marble and jasper , whereof they made their vessels and instruments , and the pillars of their habitations . he writ down for them the operations of the art , which he attributed to a man of his house named moncatam , who practised chemistry upon mount mactam . they say the origin of the art of working marble ( as well white as black ) came from chemistry ; in as much as the waters and essences , which they distill and circulate by their artifices , passing through the earthen vessels , he compos'd for them the white stone in sand and glass , and made the hard red stone for them of a soft stone and red arsnick , or sandarack and pitch : he kindled a fire thereon , and ordered them by his wisdom . he made mills for them in the ground , and caused these materials to be put into them ; then the stones came out figured after what manner they desired in all sorts of vessels . nay , they say that the stones were soft with them from the break of day till the afternoon ; and that they made what they would of them . philemon taught them also to make talismans ; for there came out against them out of the sea certain creatures which threw down their buildings , whereupon they made talismans against those creatures , and they never came afterwards . they built several cities upon the roman sea , and among others that of racoda , at the place where now alexandria stands . they made in the midst of that city a little turret upon pillars of copper guilt , and set upon it a mirrour consisting of a mixture of divers materials , in length and breadth five spans , and the turret of the height of 100 cubits according to their measure . when therefore any enemy came against them , they made certain operations on the mirrour , then they made the rays of it fall on the enemy , so that they burnt him . this turret and the mirrour remained there till the sea reach'd and destroyed them . the pharos also of alexandria had not been made but for a mirrour that was upon it , and discovered those who came against them from the roman countrey . one of the roman emperours prevailed so far by his artifices and great expences , that he destroyed it . it was of white marble well design'd , and well wrought . they relate ( says the author , to whom god be merciful ) that god promised noah ( gods peace be with him ) to hearken to him in a prayer he should make for his son , and that he deferred that prayer till the next morning ; at which time very early in the morning he was to call his son , and him of his sons who should readily answer him god would bless when he had prayed for him ; and he who answered not should not have that benediction . the readiest to answer was sem , wherefore he prayed god for him and his posterity : and the most backward to answer were cham and japhet , wherefore he prayed god against them . masar the son of bansar , the son of cham , was an useful and serviceable young man ; for which reason noah cherished him , and he was always with him , never leaving him . having therefore heard the prayer which noah had made against his grandfather and his children , and the children of his children , he fell a weeping , and turned to noah , and said thus to him ; o great grandfather , i have heard the imprecations you have made against my grandfather cham , and against his children ; and yet for my part i have been always obedient to you , and ready to serve you : pray therefore unto god for me . these words pleased noah , and immediately he put his hand on his head , saying ; o great god , behold here one of my sons , who answered me when i have called him ; bless him , him and his posterity , and divert from them weakness , and grief , and affliction ; and give them generosity and valour , and drive away far from them trouble , care , and displeasure . arm the middle of their bodies with girdles of steel ; never let them be disabled to perform the sacred voyage ; give them for their habitation a land whereof the air is pleasant , the waters sweet , and the pastures green ; which may be the mother of nations , and the relief of men ; which may allure to it all sorts of persons , citizens and countrey-people , out of all the plains and out of all the mountains , both far and near ; a land that hath a river transcending all rivers , whereof the history may be the most admirable of histories ; from which the abysses of the sea are derived , which divides the desarts of countries with its pregnant surges and swollen waves , from the remainder of countries to the metropolis of all other places ; the chosen city , the countrey of fair ways , through which the noble nile flows with its excellent waters , on which the eye of the almighty watches night and day , supplied with springs and fair waters ; the favourite of heaven in all its parts , adorned with a river coming from paradise , replenished with the favours of the gratificator , and the mercies of the merciful ; where plants sprout forth and thrive exceedingly , where there is abundance of all sorts of good things , and an a●fluence of all benedictions . after that noah prayed his lord to subject the land to masar and his children , to sortifie them over it , and to make it submissive to them , to assist them to cultivate it , and to relieve the prophets among them . noah ( gods peace be with him ) was heard in all this . when masar ( says the author ) was near death , he made his will in favour of his son coptim . he had before divided the land among his children , and had given coptarim all the countrey which reaches from copta to syene ; to asmoumus , what is from asmon to memphis ; and to abribus , all the flat countrey from about saram and the fennes , as far as beyond barca ; so that he was lord also of afric and the africans . he recommended it to every one of his children to build himself a city in his country ; and enjoyn'd them all together ( at the hour of his death ) to make him a cave in the earth , to pave it with white emeralds , to dispose his body into it ; and to bury with him whatever there was in his treasuries of gold , silver , and precions stones ; and to write thereupon such names as might divert any from approaching it . they made a cave 150 cubits in length , and in the midst a place of assembly wainscoated with plates of gold and silver , having 4 doors , and over every door a statue of gold , wearing a crown beset with precious stones , and seated on a throne of gold , the feet whereof were of topaze . they graved on the breast of each statue great names , able to divert any from approaching them , and disposed the body of masar into a tomb of marble covered with plates of gold , and writ upon it , masar , the son of bansar , the son of cham , the son of noah , died aged seven hundred years from the days of the deluge . he died without ever having adored any idol , not broken with old age , nor troubled with sickness , not having felt any evil or pain , nor afflicted with any sadness , care , or displeasure . they fortified him also with the great names of god , which never permit such as are fortified therewith to fall into contempt , or be oppressed . they swore moreover the greatest of all oaths , that none should come near him , unless he were a king who had 7 of his sons kings ; and not any of them a servant , or slave , or poor , or necessitous , who followed the religion of the king the just judge , that is to say , the true god , and believed the prophet of the merciful , sent with the alcoran to bring the world to the faith in the last times . they also placed near him a thousand pieces of topaze made round about him , and a thousand statues of precious stones of great value , and gernes or great vessels , containing the sciences of the divine art , and the secret drugs , and the admirable talismans , and ingots of gold in great heaps , like sand or stones . they cover'd that cave with great stones and sand spread thereon , between two mountains opposite one to the other . the first king of egypt who reigned after the deluge was masar , the son of bansar , the son of cham ; after him reign'd his son coptim , then his son coptarim , then his son budesir , then his son gadim , then his son sedathe , then his son mancaos , then his son casaos , then his son marbis , then his son asmar , then his son citin , then his son elsabas , then his son sa , then his son malil , then his son hadares , then his son cheribas , then his son calcan , then his son totis , who is he whom the arabians call the just . for this is the pharao of egypt , who had conversation with the beloved of god abraham , ( gods peace be with him ) as also with mahumet , and mercy , and who by force would have taken away from him his wife sara , which happen'd thus : the beloved of god , ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) after god had destroy'd the cursed nimrod his enemy , took his journey out of the land of gueraca , and came to egypt , accompany'd by his wife sara , ( gods peace be with her ) and left lot behind him in syria . sara was one of the most beautiful women in the world ; they say joseph ( gods peace be with him ) inherited her beauty . abraham therefore ( says the author ) being come he and his wife into egypt , the guards who were at the city-gate having seen sara admired her beauty , and went presently to give notice of it to king totis , and said to him ; there came into the city a man of the eastern countrey , accompany'd by a woman the most beautiful and most handsom that can be seen . immediately totis sent for abraham , and said to him , whence are you ? of gueraca , reply'd abraham . the king enquired further of him concerning his business , and he gave him an account thereof . then he said to him , what relation hath that woman to you ? she is my sister , said abraham . then the king said to his visier , bid him bring her to me , that i may see her . that displeased abraham very much , but it was not possible for him to disobey ; yet he knew that god would not permit any dishonour to happen in his family ; he therefore said to sara , go your ways to the king , but without fear or troubling your self , for you are under his tuition who hath created you , who will divert from you whatever you may be afraid of , and will assist both you and me with his favours . but what would the king with me ( said sara ) more then with you ? i hope ( said abraham ) it will be nothing but what is good , with the help of the almighty . they therefore conducted sara to totis's pa-palace , accompany'd by abraham . the king having seen her was surpriz'd with her beauty and behaviour , and said to abraham , what is this woman to you ? she is my sister , reply'd abraham . he meant his sister in god , according to the religion which he professed . whereupon abraham's heart felt the ordinary sentiments of a jealous man ; he wished he had never come into egypt . then he began to say , o god , suffer not the family of abraham to be dishonoured . at which words the veils and the curtains were drawn before him , so that he saw sara speaking to the king. the king put forth his hand to touch her , but she presently said to him , if you put your hand on me you are undone . accordingly even before the kings hand was quite come to sara , and had touched her , that hand shrunk up , all the kings members shook , and death presented it self on all sides . he continued immoveable , not able to stir , and spoke thus ; o woman , deliver me from the evil that is fallen upon me , and go whither you will. i will do it ( said she ) conditionally you do not renew your attempt against me . i promise it , reply'd the king. whereupon she prayed god for him , and god delivered him from the evil which had happen'd to him . he recovered his health , and said , certainly he is a great lord whom you adore ; that is manifest . then he enquir'd of her who abraham was , and of what religion . he is the darling of god ; ( reply'd she ) his religion is the profession of the unity of the almighty , and he is my husband . he told me ( reply'd the king ) that you were his sister . he told you truth ( said sara ) for i am his sister in god , and so all who make profession of our religion are our brethren in god. yours is a noble religion , reply'd the king. he afterwards sent sara to his daughter charoba . that young virgin was ingenious , handsom , and well-inclined , as much as could be wished ; and therefore she made great account of sara , took her into her affection , honoured her much , and gave her a very kind reception ; nay , she sent her precious stones of great value , and money , and rich garments . sara brought all to abraham ; but he told her she should restore them , and that they needed them not . sara therefore returned all to charoba , who was much astonish'd at it , and acquainted her father with it ; who thereupon doubled the admiration which he had for the beloved of god , seeing him refuse things which any other would have eagerly sought , having any means to obtain them . he therefore esteemed and honoured him much , and said to his daughter , these are persons of good repute , who come out of a house full of purity and sincerity , and great prudence , and are not covetous of perishable goods . charoba , do whatever you can imagine best to honour them . charoba afterwards bestowed on sara agar , who is the mother of our father ismael , gods peace be with him . as she gave ●er her , she said to her hacagare , that is to say , behold thy recompence : for which reason sara call'd her agar . she was a coptess by nation , and one of the handsomest young maids of her time , gods peace be with her . after that the beloved of god being resolved to return out of egypt into syria , charoba provided for them several baskets of conserves , and other excellent things to eat , saying ; this is onely for your better provision by the way , and not to enrich you . sara told abraham of it , who said , that as to that he would accept of it , and that there was no hurt in receiving it of the princess . charoba caused it to be loaden on mules , and afterwards caused them to mount thereon , sending along with them some of her people to conduct them , and to wait on them , till they were got out of the land of egypt . having travelled a good part of their journey , abraham said to sara , give us to eat somewhat of that which the princess of egypt gave to you . sara set the baskets before him , and he did eat thereof , he and those of his company : but when they came to the last basket , they found it full of several sorts of jewels , and precious stones , and garments . whereupon the beloved of god said to sara , the princess of egypt hath deceived us , and hath carried her business so as that we have brought away of her goods . great god , give her subtilty against those who will do her hurt , and strive with her for her land ; bless her in her countrey , and in her river ; make that countrey a place of safety and prosperity . when the beloved of god ( said the author ) was come into syria , he spent those presents in pious works , lodging pilgrims , and making the well which he ordered to be common . he also bought flocks , which he design'd for travellers , for the poor and necessitous , for passengers , for the lame . god gave them his benediction , and caused them to multiply . sara put up a little thereof for two children which she had . totis king of egypt lived after that till such time as agar sent to him out of the countrey of meca , to acquaint him that she was in a barren land , that she had a famous and renowned son , and that there were about her a great number of arabians , whom the barrenness of the countrey had quite chang'd , and that she intreated him to relieve her with some provisions . to that end totis caused a chanel to be made in the eastern part of egypt , at the foot of the mountain , and brought into it the water of the nile , so that it might carry vessels into the salt sea , which is the chanel of the red sea. by that way he caused wheat to be sent to agar , as also all sorts of corn , and presents . they went by water as far as gedde , and thence they were carried to meca on the backs of beasts . by these means god long preserved alive the inhabitants of meca , which obliged them to call that king the just , as having performed the promise he had made them , and given great testimonies of the affection he had for them . they say also that agar , after her delivery of ismael , ( gods peace be with him ) sent to charoba to acquaint her with the news of her lying-in ; whereat she was very glad , and sent her abundance of jewels , and gold , and egyptian linen to dress her son withall . out of one part of these presents she established a porter in the square temple . nay , they say that all the ornaments of the square temple , which were put into it at that time came from egypt , presents from totis and his daughter charoba . the history relates , that totis desired the well-beloved of god to desire of god his benediction for his countrey . abraham therefore prayed god for the inhabitants of egypt , and gave his benediction to its nile , and assured totis that his posterity should reign there , and be masters thereof to the last times age after age . they relate that totis was the first called pharao in egypt , because he was cruel and bloudy , and put many people to death , even of his nearest relations , and those of his own house , and that out of the envy he bore them , fearing the crown should be taken away from his daughter after his death , for he had no other children . she was of a milde and good disposition , and a great wit. she always endeavoured to prevent the shedding of bloud , but could not prevail : wheresore she was at last afraid they would take away the crown from him , seeing him extremely hated by all people , which made her resolve to dispatch him by poison , after he had reigned 70 years . totis being dead , the people could not agree upon whom they were to make king in his stead . some said they should take in some of the progeny of abribus , because they had anciently reigned : but one of the visiers began to speak thus ; my friends , charoba is a woman of understanding : besides , she has delivered you from this tyrant , out of the extraordinary kindness she had for you . moreover , the good man that came from syria and his wife also have given her their benedictions . if you give the crown to any other , you will repent you of it . the people inclined to this advice , and thought that counsel good . most of the grandees of egypt followed it ; so that charoba did her work , and that visier made her queen . after that she sate in the royal throne , made great liberalities , and promised much happiness to the people . she honoured the souldiery , gave them great gifts , and doubled their pay. she in like manner honoured the priests and the sages , and the chiefest among the people ; made great account of the magicians , and heightned their rank , and caused the temples to be rebuilt and enlarged . she was afterwards many years queen of egypt by the benediction of abraham , ( gods peace be with him ) and not attaqued by any enemy who was not presently overcome and subdued by her with the assistance of god. gebirus the metapheguian came to give her a visit : he encamped in the land of balca , and had a brother named gebrim , taking his name from him : they were two giants of the remnant of the gadites . when gebirus sate down on the ground upon the sand , those who were in the midst of the sea saw him . he had a kive 30 cubits about , which being filled full of meat for him he eat up all ; then they filled it with wine , and he drank it off . he happened to have the plague in his body , which put him to great pain , increasing every day ; whereupon his physicians advised him to send some of his people about the countrey to find out for him a soil , whereof the air and waters were agreeable to his temperament . these gave him an account of the countrey of egypt , which obliged him to come thither , after he had drawn up his forces together , and distributed money and arms among them . he brought along with him 4000 gadites , every one of whom carried a stone of the breadth of the nile of egypt . he travelled so long till he got near the land of egypt , and approched it at that part where the queen was willing he should , for he did not contradict her in any thing , his design being to get her to marry him ; and by that means make him king of egypt : or ( if she denied him ) to dam up with the stones the course of the nile , and turn it into another countrey , and so make the egyptians die of hunger and thirst . charoba sent to him a servant-maid she had , one who managed her affairs , a very subtile wench , a great enchantress , and a cheat : she saw with him huge bo 〈…〉 s , which there was no means to overcome by fighting ; wherefore she advised her mistress not to engage into a war against him : i shall endeavour rather ( said she ) to defeat him by some stratagem , and to carry the business so as that he may neither hurt you nor your subjects . after that she took along with her what was most pleasant in egypt , conserves , 〈◊〉 garments , sweet scents , arms , gold and silver ; and with all this desired permission to visit gebirus , which was soon granted her . she presented to him all these rarities , which he willingly received : then she told him that the queen of egypt was in love with him , and desirous to marry him , and far from refusing so advantageous a match . this news made him jocund , and put him into a good humour . he return'd her this answer ; promise the queen from me for a marriage-gift what you please your self . the queen ( reply'd she ) needs not any thing of yours , since your affairs will hence forth be common ; but she desires of you instead of a marriage-present , that you cause a city to be built in her land , on the side of the roman sea , that it may be an honorable mark to her to the end of the world ; and that it may be a discovery of your power ; and that you employ in the building of it these stones and these pillars which you have brought with you to dam up the chanel of the nile . he granted her request , and entered into the land of egypt with his forces , and founded the city on the west-side , at the place where now alexandria is ; to that end encamping himself and his army on the roman sea-side . charoba sent him several sorts of presents and refreshments . alexandria was then ruin'd , ever since the gadites went out of egypt : for it had been founded by sedad , the son of gad , who had a design to bring thither whatever was most precious in all the quarters of the earth , for he was the monarch of the world east and west . but the destroyer of castles prevented him , i mean death , which none can divert or avoid ; yet were there some tracks of it as some affim . gebirus caused to be brought thither the stones , and the pillars , and assembled the artists and the engineers . charoba sent him also a thousand handy-craftsmen . he spent a long time in building , so that his money was exhausted , and his people could do no more . for when they had built and made some advancement , as soon as the evening was come , while they took their rest in the night , they were astonish'd in the morning , that they could find no sign of what they had done . for there came out of the sea certain people who took away all into the salt waters . gebirus was extreamly troubled and afflicted thereat . charoba sent him a thousand goats or sheep , which were milk'd for the kings kitchin. they were kept by a shepherd belonging to gebirus , of whom he had received that charge . this shepherd led them out to graze , accompany'd by a great many other shepherds , upon the sea side . one day this shepherd ( having put the beasts into the custody of the other shepherds , who obeyed him ) being a beautiful person , and of a good aspect and stature , saw a fair young lady issuing out of the sea , which came towards him , and being come very near him saluted him ; he return'd the salutation , and she began to speak to him with all imaginable courtesie and civility , and said to him ; young man , would you wrestle with me for something which i should lay against you ? what would you lay ? reply'd the shepherd . if you give me a fall ( says the young lady ) i will be yours , and you shall dispose of me as you please ; and if i give you a fall , i will have a beast out of your flock . content , said the shepherd ; and thereupon he went towards her , and she came towards him . he began to wrestle with her , but she immediately flung him , and took a beast out of the flock , which she carried away with her into the sea. she came afterwards every evening , and did the like , so that the shepherd was over head and ears in love with her . the flock diminish'd , and the shepherd himself pin'd away . one day king gebirus passing by the shepherd , found him sitting near his flock very pensive , which obliged him to come nearer him , and to speak thus to him : what misfortune hath befell thee ? why do i find thee so fallen away ? thy flock is so too , it diminishes and grows worse and worse every day , and gives less milk then ordinarily it used to do . thereupon the shepherd told him the story of the young lady . he was astonished at it , and said to him ; at what time does this lady come thus to see thee ? in the evening ( reply'd the shepherd ) when the sun is ready to set . upon that gebirus lighted off his beast , and said to the shepherd ; take off thy garment and strip thy self . the shepherd obey'd , and the king put on the shepherds garment , cloathed himself like him , and sate in his place . a while after behold the young lady , who was already come out of the sea , comes to salute him . he returned the salute , and she said to him ; wilt thou wrestle any more on the same terms we have done already ? with all my heart , said the king. immediately she came near him , and endeavoured to cast him down ; but gebirus gave her a fall presently , and violently crush'd her . whereupon she said to him , you are not my ordinary match . no , said the king. since i cannot avoid being taken ( said she ) put me into the hands of my former match ; for he has treated me courteously , and i have tormented his heart many times : mean time he hath captivated me as i have captivated him . in requital i will teach you the way to complete this building , as you desire . after therefore he had put her into the hands of the shepherd , he desired her to tell him whence came that which happened every day to his building ; and if there were any means to make it continue in that condition whereto they brought it . there are , reply'd she ; but know , great prince , that the land of egypt is a land of enchanters , and that the sea there is full of spirits and demons , which assist them to carry on their affairs , and that they are those who take away your buildings . but what means is there to prevent it ? said the king. to do that ( said she ) you shall make great vessels of transparent glass , with covers thereto , which may keep the waters from entering in ; and you shall put into them men well-skill'd in painting , and with them meat and drink for a week , and cloaths , and pencils , and whatever is necessary for painting . then you shall stop the vessels well , after you have fastened them at the top with strong cords , and ty'd them to the ships , and then you shall let them go into the sea like anchors , and you shall put at the top of the cords little bells , which the painters shall ring ; and then i will tell you what it is requisite that you should do . gebirus did all she had ordered him ; he caused the vessels to be made , and brought the painters before her , who heard all she said to him ; then he promised them great wealth and honours , and they promised him to do his business . they therefore put these vessels to the bottom of the sea , after they had stopped them well above , and fastened them with cord , and left them there a week : after which the painters rung the bells , and presently they were taken out of the water , and they opened the vessels , out of which they took along with them the draughts they had made . the king presented them afterwards to the young lady marina , and she said to them ; make now statues of copper , and tin , and stone , and earth , and wood , resembling your draughts , and set them on the sea-side , before the buildings you shall make : for then the beasts of the sea , when they shall come out to demolish your buildings as they are wont , seeing those figures , will imagine that they are companies of demons like themselves , come to fight with them , and they will presently return to the place whence they came . the painters and gravers did so , and by that means gebirus completed his structure as he desired . after that he spoke thus to the nymph , behold all the money we had hath been expended in the building of this city ; know you not where there is some treasure in this land ? for the city is not yet finished , and we have no more money . there is ( reply'd the nymph ) in this ruin'd city ( she meant alexandria ) on the one side of your building an empty round place , and about that place there are seven pillars , with a brazen statue standing on the top of each of them ; sacrifice to every one of those statues a fat bull , and cause the pillar under it to be rubb'd with the blood of the bull , then perfume it with the hair of his tail , and with somewhat you shall cause to be shaved from his horns and his hoofs , and speak thus to it : behold the offering i make to thee , let me therefore have what is about thee . having done and said this , measure from every pillar , on that side that the statue upon it shall have its face turned , the space of a hundred cubits , then cause people to dig there . you shall do all this when the moon is at full , and saturn direct . after you have digg'd fifty cubits , you will find a great floor ; cause it to be rubb'd with the gall of the bull , then taken away ; for thence you will descend into a cave 50 cubits in length , at the end whereof you will find a store-house made of stone , and made fast with a lock , the key whereof shall be under the threshold of the door ; take it and rub the door with what shall be left of the bulls gall , and perfume it with the shavings of the horns and hoofs of the same animal , and the hair of his tail ; for then it shall open . you shall afterwards expect till the winds that shall be within get out ; when they shall be calmed , enter ; for you will meet with an idol of brass , having about its neck a plate of the same metal , on which you will find written whatever is in the store-houses , of silver , precious stones , statues , and other wonders . take thereof what you please , but make no stay before a dead person whom you shall find there , and let not what there is upon him of jewels and precious stones give you occasion of envy . do afterwards as much to every pillar and its statue , you will find there again as much wealth in a like store-house ; for they are the tombs of seven kings buried with their treasures . gebirus having heard this discourse of the nymph was extremely satisfy'd . he punctually did all she had said to him , and found great wealth , which cannot be described , and abundance of rare and admirable things . by this means he completed the building of the city , which coming to the knowledge of charoba , she was very much displeased thereat , and fell into a great disturbance . for her intention was only to weary out the king , and to reduce him to an impossibility . they say that among other miracles which gebirus found there , there was a little golden cabinet , seal'd up with an unknown seal ; and that having open'd it , he found in it a box made of red precious stones , and full of a green powder , in the form of a collyrium , ( or eye-medicine ) the mouth of which box was in like manner stopped with a green emerald , and that upon the cabinet there was written ; he who shall use this collyry shall grow young again , his hair shall grow black again , and his sight shall be clear'd , that he shall be able to see all sorts of spirits . he there found also the figure of an ic●neumon ( or egyptian rat ) made of gold , which being exposed to the air the sky was overcast , and immediately there came rain . he there found moreover a seat of marble , on which there was the figure of a raven , made of a black stone , which being questioned spoke , and answered to what was asked of it . they say that in each of those store-houses there were ten miraculous things , which it would be long to declare one after another ; wherefore we shall content our selves with what we have briefly said thereof . after gebirus ( saith the author ) had acquitted himself of the building of the city , he sent the tidings of it to charoba , and invited her to come and see it . it was her nurse who brought her the news , and withall said to her , fear not , nor give your self any trouble concerning him . then presently she carried to gebirus a piece of tapistry of great value , and said to him ; put this on the seat in which you shall sit , and afterwards divide your people into three parties , and send them to me that i may give them a treatment such as they deserve . when the first party shall be about a third part of the way , you shall send away the second , then afterwards the third , to the end they may be near us dispersed in the countrey for our safety . he did so , and in the mean time she continued sending to him precious houshold-stuff , till such time as she knew that they were upon their way , and that he had sent to her the third part of his army . then she caused to be set for them tables , replenish'd with poisoned meats and drinks , and when they were come to the tables , her servants men and maids made them stay and sit down to eat , standing all about them with umbrellos or fans ; so that they all died from the first to the last . they afterwards quitted that post , and passed to the other , where the second party met them , whom they treated after the same manner . then they removed to the third , and serv'd them as they had done the others , so that all died . after that she sent word to the king , that she had left his army in her own city , and in her castle and thereabouts , for the safety of her women ; and that she would be served by his attendants , who should be about him ready to obey him . accordingly she went to his palace , accompanied by her nurse and some of her meaner women , who were with her , and carried perfumes in porcelain dishes . he rose up and went to meet her , and immediately her nurse put about him a sumptuous robe , but poisoned , which she had prepared for that purpose ; and blew a fume into his face , which in a manner deprived him of his senses ; then she sprinkled him with a water which she had , which loosened all his members , and dislocated all his joyn 〈…〉 ▪ so that he fell to the ground in a swound . then she opened his veins , and emptied them of all his bloud , saying , the bloud of kings is an excellent remedy . her nurse came up to him , and said to him ; is the king well to night ? mischief on your coming hither , ( replied he ; ) may you be treated accordingly . do you stand in need of any thing ( replied she ) before you taste death . i do , said he ; i would intreat thee to cause these words to be engraved upon one of the pillars of the castle : i gebirus the son of gevirus the mutaphequian , who have caused marble to be polished , and the hard red stone and the green to be wrought ; who have been possessed of gold and precious stones ; who have built palaces , and raised armies ; who have cut through mountains , who have stopped rivers with my arm : with all this my power , and my might , and my prowess , and my valour , i have been circumvented by the artifices of a woman , weak , impotent , and of no worth ; who hath deprived me of my understanding , and taken my life , and discomfited my armies . whoever therefore is desirous to prosper , though there be no prosperity in this world , let him have a care of the wilely subtilties of women . this is the advice i give those who shall come after me . i have no more to say . charoba thereupon commanded his head to be cut off , and that it should be set upon the gate of the city of memphis ; which was put in executtion by her people . after that she caused the tower of alexandria to be built , and to be graved thereon her own name , and that of gebirus , and what she had done to him , and the time when the city had been built . her fame came to the ears of kings , who respected and esteemed her , and made submissions and proffers of obedience to her . she did since that many miraculous things in egypt : among others she caused castles and bridges to be made upon the frontiers , and put garrisons of souldiers therein , to be a guard , and to repell enemies on which side soever they came to plunder them . they say that gebirus made this discourse to her at the point of death ; o charoba , triumph not at my death , for there will happen to thee a day like this , and yet much longer : such is the custom of fortune . she troubled not her self at what he said , but she had not lived above a year after him , when having imbarqu'd upon the nile in a small vessel which she had , to take the air by moon-light , on one side of the pyramids ; and being afterwards gone ashore to ease nature , attended by her men and women-servants who were about her : whilest she was in the height of her mirth and jollity she trod on a serpent , which stung her in the heel , and made her immediately lose her sight . wo is me ! cried she . it will prove nothing ( madam ) replied her attendants . you are deceived , said she ; the day which gebirus threatened me withall is come . accordingly she died he next morning . the egyptians made king in her stead her cousin-german dalic ; or rather ( as others affirm ) they made queen her cousin dalica : for she had continued a virgin , and was never married . dalica was endowed with a great understanding , prudence , and conduct ; and wanted not beauty . she caused the body of charoba to be embalmed in camphire , and brought into the city which she had built on the west side . for charoba had caused to be prepared for her there a tomb , embellished with all sorts of ornaments ; and had appointed for inhabitants of the city a great number of priests , and artizans , and doctors , and military persons . that city continued in a flourishing condition and populous , till it was ruined by nabuchodonosor upon the conquest of egypt . dalica reigned 70 years , and then died . king ablin reigned after her , and after him the valide , son of domegus the amalekite ; and after him his son the rajan , son of the valide , who was the pharao of joseph ; and after him his son magadan , and after him his son axames , and after him his son lates , and after him tolma the coptite , otherwise called the valide , son of masgab , who was the pharao of moses , and who governed unjustly and tyrannically , attributing to himself what belonged not to him ; wherefore moses destroyed him , after he had given him the space of 400 years to be converted , and drowned him and all his people , and all the egyptians who had followed him , in the red sea , by the virtue of his rod , according to the decree of the malediction of god , as we shall relate hereafter if god give us leave . some would have the pharao of joseph to be the same with that of moses , grounding their conjecture on what almighty god said of him ; a believer of the house of pharao said thus , joseph is already come to you heretofore ; and the rest of the verse . god knows how it is . an abridgment of the second part of the book of the prodigies of egypt . the reverend prelate the doctor murtadi , the son of gaphiphus , the son of chatem , the son of molsem , the macdesian ; the sapheguian , gods mercy upon him , saith , ( citing his author ) that the apostle of god ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) said what follows : when i was raised to heaven i saw two rivers , and i asked gabriel which they were . he answered me thus ; they are the nile and euphrates . the son of guebasus says , that the same apostle of god ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) spoke thus : the all-mighty and all-good god hath caused to descend from paradise upon the earth five rivers ; sichone , which is the river of the indies ; gichone , which is the river of balca ; the tigris and euphrates , which are the two rivers of gueraca ; and the nile , which is the river of egypt . he made them descend from one of the springs of paradise , seated at the lowest of its stories upon the wings of gabriel , ( gods peace be with him ) and hath committed them to the custody of the mountains , causing them to flow upon the earth , and making them useful for men , for divers conveniencies of their lives . and that is it which the almighty saith ; and we have made the waters of heaven to descend after a certain measure , and have appointed them their habitation upon earth ; and we ; and the rest of the verse . when the time of the going forth of gog and magog was come , almighty god sent gabriel , ( gods peace be with him ) who took up by his order from above the earth the alcoran , and science , and the black stone , and the support , which is the place of abraham , ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) and the shrine of moses , ( gods peace be with him ) with what was within it , and these five rivers mentioned before . all this was taken up into heaven . and that is it which the almighty saith , and it is in our power to carry it away : and when i have taken up these things from the earth , the inhabitants of it were the choice part of religion and of the world. and citing his authors he speaks thus : i have heard abulamamus the bahelian , and gabdollus the son of basar the mazenian , who said ; the apostle of god ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) one day called his companions together , and said to them ; the all-mighty and all-good god shall enable you to conquer egypt after me . make your advantage of the fruits it brings forth : for he who wants money wants not honesty for that . egypt is the mother-nurse ; it supplies wherewithall to live plentifully . other countries want her , but she does not stand in need of any other countrey . he said to them also ; i have received it from gabriel , that god hath sent four rivers out of paradise ; the first of wine , the second of milk , the third of water , and the fourth of honey . then the all-mighty and all-good god said ; i have made my particular standard of the lord of rivers , which is the nile , in the book of god , and it is a river flowing out of paradise . megavius ask'd cabay and said to him , i ask thee in the name of the great god , giver of all good things , doest thou find in the book of the all-mighty and all-good god , that god declares his will to this nile twice a year ? i do , replied he : god tells her when he would have her flow , and saith to her , the all-mighty and all-good god commands thee to flow , and she flows as far as god orders her : and after that god discovers his will to her , and saith to her , o nile , the all-mighty and all-good god commands thee to return to thy former condition , and to praise him . jezidus the son of chebibus speaks thus of it ; when moses called upon god against pharao and his servants , god hindered the nile to encrease as much as it would have done . then they had recourse to moses , and desired him to pray to god for them , which he did , hoping they would believe in god. this happened during the time they adored the cross . the next morning god had augmented the nile for them 16 full cubits . quisus the son of chagegus affirms , that somebody related it to him , that gamrou the son of gazus , after he had conquered egypt , having entered into it in the moneth of baune , which is one of the barbarous moneths , the inhabitants of the countrey came to him and said , lord commander , our nile which you here see governs its course according to a law which it inviolably observes . what law is that ? says gamrou . when the 12th . of this present moneth is come ( said they ) we take a young maid , a virgin , from her father and mother , after we have satisfied them both , and made them condescend to what we would do according to the custom , we dress and adorn her with jewels and sumptuous clothes , then we bring her in the night time , and cast her into the nile , and immediately it increases , and spreads , and raises its course . this cannot be continued ( said gamrou ) according to the mussulman law ; for the mussulman law destroyes the profane customs that have been in vogue before her . so the moneth banne , and the moneth abibe , and the moneth mesri , pass'd away , and the nile encreased not its course , neither more nor less , so that the inhabitants of egypt were upon thoughts of leaving the countrey . gamrou seeing that , writ of it to the commander of the faithful omar , ( gods peace be with him ) acquainted him with what the egyptians had said to him , and desired to know his resolution thereupon . omar made him answer in these terms : after that , o gamrou , you have done what you ought to have done upon that occasion , for the mussulman law abolishes the evil customs that have preceded it . but i have inclosed a note within the fold of this present letter , when you have read it , take that note and cast it into the nile , and god will do what he shall think fit . gamrou having receiv'd the letter , took the note out of it , on which he found these words written : in the name of god , gracious and merciful ; god bless mahumet and his family ; from gabdol omar , the son of chettabus , commander of the faithful , to the nile of egypt . after that , if thou hast flow'd hitherto onely by thy own virtue , flow no more ; but if it hath been the only and almighty god that hath caused thee to flow , we pray the only great and all-mighty god to make thee flow again . gods peace and mercy be with mahumet the idiot-prophet , and his family . gamrou took the note , and came to the nile one day before they celebrated the feast of the cross , the egyptians and others being ready to leave the countrey ; for they could not carry on their affairs , nor subsist therein , but by the annual overflowing of the nile : but the next morning they found that god had caused the waters to rise sixteen cubits in one night . so god delivered the mussulmans out of that affliction ; praise and thanksgiving be to him for it . gabdol the son of gamrou , the son of gasus , ( gods peace be with them both ) speaks thus of the nile ; the nile of egypt is the lord of rivers ; god obliges all the rivers from the the east to the west to wait on it at the time of its overflowing ; he turns them all into its chanel , and increases its course with their waters . when god would have the nile of egypt to overflow , for the convenience of the inhabitants , the other rivers lend it their waters , and god causes new springs to rise out of the earth . when its course is risen to the height that god would , he orders the waters to return to their sources . god all-mighty speaks thus of it ; and we have made them to issue out of the gardens and the fountains , and out of the manured lands , and out of the precious places . the gardens ( saith he ) were the two sides of the nile , from its beginning to its end , upon both the banks , between syene and rasid . egypt had then sixteen cubits of water , accounting from the lowest part of the flat countrey . they empty'd and filled the chanels and rivulets of it every year . what was yet more noble were the places appointed for orations , which were a thousand in number , upon which they called upon god for pharao , and they pray'd him to grant him a long life , and to make him liberal , and of easie access . aburaham the semaguian , in his comment upon these words of pharao , is not the kingdom of egypt mine ? and the rest of the verse , peaks thus : there was then no greater king upon earth then the king of egypt ; for all the other kings stood in need of egypt . all the currents were made with the hands of men , and the aqueducts , and the fountains , and the bridges , all according to measure and geometrical proportion . they drew them out of the nile , and brought them into all their houses , and into all their castles , and made them flow under the places of their habitations , detaining them when they pleased , and dismissing them in like manner . mechacol , the son of tabicus , speaks of it in these terms ; i have read a hundred books upon the law of moses , and have found in one of them , that there are seven climats in the world , which pray to god every year weeping and crying , and say ; o lord , send plenty into egypt , and make its nile flow . for when egypt is water'd we have meat and drink enough . withall there is on our surface of wild beasts , and reptiles , and tame and rational creatures . gabdol the son of gamrou said ; by the true god , i know not any year , wherein the inhabitants of egypt went out of their countrey , to seek a subsistence elsewhere . we shall never go out of it , says one of them , if some enemy do not force us thereto . not so ( reply'd he ) but your nile shall be swallowed under ground , so that there shall not be a drop of it left . it shall be full of sand-banks , and the wild beasts of the earth shall devour its fishes . jezidus the son of chebibus speaks thus of it ; the nile of egypt in the time of pharao and the precedent kings had people appointed to make its chanels , to repair its bridges and banks , and to clear its rivulets and trenches of oziers , ordures , paper-plants , and what ever might obstruct the course of the water , when there was occasion , to the number of six score thousand work-men , always ready to work winter and summer , receiving their pay monethly out of the publick treasury , as the soldiery , as well by sea as land , receiv'd theirs out of the kings money . the son of lahigus saith , that he heard it of one of alexandria , that the nile one day discover'd a rock , on which there was somewhat written in the roman language , which was read , and signify'd as followeth : i do what is good , and he seems to forget it , but when i do what is evil , he remembers it well . he who is such will not be long ere he meet with a long repose . an abbridgement of what is said of pharao , and how god destroy'd him by the decree of his divine will. gali the son of abutalchus speaks thus of him . pharao king of egpyt was a dwarf , or little man , but seven spans in height . others say he was three cubits high , and that his beard was two cubits long , so that when he sate , he drew one cubit of it on the ground before him . he twisted up his mustachoes , and put them above his two ears . when the water of the nile was turned into blood in the time of moses , pharao drunk the juice of orange-leaves , with fine sugar put into it . some affirm he was of low stature , mark'd with white spots , and that he trod on his beard , it was so long . abubeker the truth-teller ( gods peace be with him ) said that pharao had lost all his teeth . others affirm he was of the race of the amalekites . others say he had a large fleshy face . others say they call'd him abumarus , that is , married . others say he was a weaver of ciprus , an inhabitant of ispahan , and that haman was his associate ; that both of them became poor , and lost all they had , so that necessity having forc'd them to quit the countrey and run away , they came together into egypt , and prevail'd so much by their sleights and artifices , that they became masters of it , and that there happened to them what god revealed to mahumet , ( gods peace and merey be with him ) as it is related by the son of gubasus . others say that pharao was a coptite , of a city named damra , the most western of any in egypt , and that his name was dolmes . mahumet the son of gali , the son of gabdol the teminian , says thus : a barbarian egyptian of the inhabitants of copta , skill'd , in the history of egypt , and what concerns the nature and properties of the countrey , told me that he found it written in one of their ancient books , that the nile of egypt hath its rising out of a lake in the most remote countries of the west , on both sides whereof the kings of the moores have their habitarions ; and that by the lake there is a great mountain , always covered with snow winter and summer , out of which there falls down water , besides many springs that are in the lake , and which do also supply some ; and that it is thence the water of the nile comes ; which is afterwards augmented by rains , which augmentation happens , in regard the rains fall in summer in the countrey of the moors , whence it comes that the nile overflowes in summer , and not in winter in egypt ; that in all the former climat , and in part of the second , the rains fall in the summer , and in like manner in india , and in sinda , and in the other countries , which are in the same latitude , as well in the east , as in the west . jezidus the son of chebibus saith , that moses the son of nasirus speaks thus : o egyptians , you know not what i would say , neither you nor any other inhabitanr of egypt . i have heard that one day the nile became very low , in the time of pharao , which oblig'd the inhabitants of his kingdom to come to him and say ; cause the nile to flow according to its ordinary course , for behold our cattel die , and such as are big bring forth before their time . i am too much incens'd against you ( replied pharao ) to be so easily appeas'd , and to restore you so soon the course of the nile . they departed , and after a moneth returned to him again , and said ; the cattel perish , the trees dry up , all is spoiled and destroy'd : cause the nile to flow for us . i am not yet reconciled with you , said he . if you make not the nile flow as it is wont ( replied they ) we will make another god besides you . this reply troubled him , but it was not in his power to do what they desired . his visier haman was he who knew his secrets , who disposed of all his affairs , who heard his complaints and eased him of his grief . he had slights and subtile insinuations , which neither pharao nor any other man could imitate . one day pharao spoke to him , onely they two together , and acquainted him with the discourse had passed between him and the egyptians , confessing to him that he could not do what they desired , and that that business of the nile was beyond his strength . i cannot ( said he ) take any course in this case , nor find any means to satisfie them . what do you advise me therein ? is that all that troubles you ? says haman . and what would you have me do in it ? replied the king. great king ( replied haman ) they have not bethought themselves of asking you a thing , which would have been much more impossible then this , and might have given them greater occasion to proclame your weakness in all places . what is that ? replied the king. if any one of them ( said haman ) had bethought him of requiring you to raise up his father or brother after their death , that would have been more difficult to you then the affair of the nile . speak not of such things , says pharao ; for walls have ears . but what advice do you give me in the affair of the nile ? light off your mule , said haman ; and restore to every one what belongs to him , and the nile will resume its course . you know ( replied the king ) that hitherto i have not wronged any one , nor deprived my subjects of any thing belonged to them , that i should restore it again : and as for my white mule , i promise you never to get on her back any more . he had a white mule , which in swiftness no other beast in egypt could go before , or indeed come near . the mule i mean ( said haman ) is not the animal so called , but arrogance and pride . humble your self before the god of moses and aaron , acknowledge in your self what you ought ; give him thanks for his favours , and confess his omnipotence and unity : for you know well that he is the creator and preserver , and that you are one of his servants , who can neither do him harm nor service . pray him that he would cause the nile to flow for his servants , for he is merciful and meek ; he is not hasty , and fears not that he hath not done a thing soon enough . i will do it with all my heart , said the king. you have at last found out a way to deliver me out of my trouble . make an end ( o haman ) as you have begun . i shall not fail , said haman . the egyptians came afterwards to him the third time , and said the same thing they had said to him the two former times . his answer was this : repent you that you have disobeyed me . we do repent us of it , replied they . go your ways ( said the king ) to the end of the upper egypt , clad and dressed the best you can . they did so , and there remained in egypt but such as were not able to go out of it . pharao went up to them on his mule ; then he turned a little aside from them , alighted off his mule , prostrated himself on the ground , and made his prayers to god in these terms : great god , you know that i acknowledge there is none but you alone who can re-establish this nile in its course , and that i am obliged to this people in a thing which is not within the compass of my power , and that i cannot keep my promise with them . cause it therefore to flow for them as it was wont , and make me not infamous among them : for you are full of le●ity and goodness ; you are not hasty , nor impatient , and fear not that you have not done a thing soon enough . immediately the nile ( saith he ) swelled , and flowed after a more excellent manner then it had ever done before , or hath done since . then pharao came up to them and said ; return to your homes , for i have restored the nile for you into its course . they thereupon prostrated themselves all before him , and adored him , and then returned to their habitations , speaking continually of their king , and incessantly resounding his praises . he returned himself to his castle , but gabriel went to meet him by the way in the shape of a shepherd , laid hold on the bridle of his mule , and said to him ; great king , do me justice against my servant . what has thy servant done to thee ? said pharao . i have a servant ( replied gabriel ) to whom i have been liberal of my kindnesses and favours , and yet he persecutes me , and those whom i love , and obliges those whom i hate : he is rebellious and disobedient to my commands , ungrateful , and not acknowledging the good i have done him , even so far as to say , he knows not who i am . a very wicked servant , said pharao . if you bring him to me , i will have him drown'd in the red sea , and shall not content my self for his punishment with the water of the nile , which is sweet and pleasant . great king ( replied gabriel ) let me have a decree written to this purpose , that whereever i shall find him i may punish him according thereunto . pharao caused paper and ink to be brought , and caused to be written thereon the condemnation of a servant rebellious to his master , who loves his enemies , and persecutes his friends ; who disobeys and ill-treats him , who is ungrateful , and acknowledges not the kindnesses he hath received of him , making as if he knew him not , saying he knows not who he is ; and order'd that he should be drown'd in the red sea. great king ( said gabriel ) be pleased to sign this decree . pharao sign'd , and seal'd it with his own seal , and put it into his hands . gabriel took it , and kept it as long as god commanded him . when the day of submersion was come , pharao being just upon the point of drowning , god having delivered moses and his people from the waves , and having opened them a passage through the sea , gabriel came to pharao with that decree . what is this ? says pharao . open it ( says gabriel ) and read what it contains . pharao opened it , and read it , and remembered it . you are ( said gabriel to him ) the servant whom this decree mentions , and see here what you have decreed against your self . god is merciful and meek ; he is not hasty , and is not afraid not to do a thing soon enough : let him be praised and exalted , to the regret of those who attribute his divinity to others . as to the qualities attributed to the land of egypt they say ; it is the relief of men , and the nursery of nations : that those who live in it , love it ; and that those who have left it , are troubled , and bemoan themselves to return into it : that its inhabitants are subtile , and intelligent , and crafty , and deceitful ; that they lie to such as live at a great distance from them , persecute such as are near , and are envious at the prosperity of others . some one of them in one of the ancient books saith , that in egypt is the streight of mountains , and the separation described , and the reiterated sea , and accustomed good : that it is the place of the destruction of the white and flaxen-hair'd people , when they shall commit great devastations , and set up the crosses , and make war against the merciful , and persecute the observers of the alcoran , and the nation of the children of mercy , when they shall come against it in the last times ; and that every one of them shall receive the reward of his actions , and not one of them return into his countrey . one of the ancients of egypt made me a relation of his father , ( god shew him mercy ; ) that in a voyage he had made he had been taken by french pirats in one of the islands of the sea , and sold by them to an armourer , who made arms for the king of that island , with whom he had no rest night nor day , being continually imployed in blowing , beating on the anvil , and carrying things of iron , wherewith his master loaded him beyond his strength . he continued there a long time , so that he became old and weak . then ( said he ) as i slept one night , wearied with hard working , and overwhelmed with grief , after i had said the last prayer appointed for the evening , and implored the assistance of god , and put all the hope of my deliverance in him , i dreamt that i saw a man coming to me , who said , friend , rejoyce at the good news i bring thee : thou shalt ere long be delivered out of thy afflictions . be not troubled at the hardship thou art in , and the work thou doest : for the arms thou makest , and those who shall bear them shall with gods help be the prey of thy brethren the mussulmans . the romans have a design to engage in a war against the mussulman countries ; they will carry thee along with them whither they go , and god will deliver thee out of their hands . i awaked thereupon very joyful , and gave thanks to god with great confidence . the labour and affliction became more light and supportable to me then before ; for i was satisfied it was a true vision from god. the first night after , the same person who ha already called me presented himself again before me in my dream , and said to me ; pray to god in these terms : o great god , who hast compassion on sinners , and keep st those who have stumbl d from falling qui●e down , be merciful to thy servant , who hath highly offended thee , and to all the muss●lmans in general . for all-mighty god will deliver thee and bring thee out of the trouble wherein thou art . i immediately did so , ( said he ) and the next year being come , the french ( god prevent their evil designs ) prepared for the war against the mussulman countries , putting their horses and arms , and all their baggage in great vessels , and taking the sea. they caused me also to embarque among the other captives , whom they took along with them for their service , and to execute their commands . we were a moneth at sea , and made little progress , the wind being not favourable . that moneth past , there came a wind which pleased them , and by means whereof they thought to compleat their voyage ; whereupon they weighed anchor , and took their course towards the coast of egypt . we advanced with that wind seven days and seven nights , till they came in sight of the land of egypt . they were very jocund among themselves , exalting their crosses , ringing their bells , and setting their gospel in sight . they thus pass'd away some part of the night well satisfy'd in a certain road of the sea : but about midnight god sent a violent wind upon them , with a black dust , and thunder and lightning , the air was darkned , and the sky grew black , and the sea was so rough that the waves rose up like high mountains . finding themselves ready to perish , and to see their vessels split to pieces , they resolved to get out of that road , fearing their ships should fall foul one upon another in the sea , and saying ; let us rather make for any coast whereto the sea shall cast us , though it were into the most remote parts of the world , and let us not stay here . they therefore weighed anchor , and hoised the sails , and began to go as the wind drove them ; so that there remained not one with another . the ship wherein i was was forced by the wind upon the coast of alexandria , so that we ran aground on the right side of the city near the pha●os . immediately the mussulman vessels came to us , and seized our ship and all that was in it , and made a great booty of gold and silver , arms and baggage . for my part i was delivered by the mercy of god , with five other slaves who were with me in the ship. i returned to my countrey , and related my dream to the mussulmans , who rejoyced thereat , and thanked god for the kindness he had shewn me : may he be praised for ever , at the beginning and at the end of all things ; he who is the first and the last . this is one of the most miraculous kindnesses and favours which god hath done to the inhabitants of egypt , which god preserve . some make another description of egypt , saying that it is a land wherein there are for famous places q●irata , and ecbata , and damiette , and igora , and rebata , whose river is clear , and its waters sweet , where diseases are dispell'd , and hope crown'd with effect ; where the vicissitude of things passes without confusion , and without disturbance . those who come thither with an intention to do ill , return thence without accomplishing their design ; those who contrive the destruction of it , meet with their own ; those who have their habitations therein are in safety , and make their advantage ; and those who leave it , repent them of it . it was said one day to an excellent person , what say you of egypt ? what ( reply'd he ) would you have me say of that province ? those who leave it repent them that they ever did it . it quels kings and destroys them , and supports the poor . all those who have an affection for it , find there how to employ themselves about what they like best , according to their power . an extract of the annals of the geranian . an ancient egyptian of the chiefest of the countrey relates , as having taken it out of abuquilus the mogapherian , the pacifier , whom gabdol the son of nasilus had taught ; that noah ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) after he had divided the earth among his children , had a numerous posterity , by whom he caused it to be inhabited and cultivated . the kingdom of egypt fell to masar , the son of bansar , the son of cham , the son of noah , who had many children , and by them a great progeny . noah had prayed god for masar , or mesraim , that he would give him his benediction in his land , and to his children after him ; whence it came that the land was fertile and abundant to them ; it s nile overflow'd , all its quarters fructify'd , its cattel were multiply'd , its mines had been discovered . the trees bore dates as big as pillars : the grains of wheat were as big as hens eggs , soft as butter , and sweet as hony. there were some among them who particularly apply'd themselves to the mines of topazes , which are adjoyning to the countries of syene , at the upper part of high egypt , opposite to the provinces of the nubians , whom mesrai● the son of bansar had appointed for his lieutenants upon the frontiers of of egypt , saying unto them ; be my lieutenants over the frontiers of this land , whence they were called nubians , that is to say lieutenants . one man took out of the mines such a piece ▪ of tapaze as that he might make a table of it , with dishes and trenchers to set upon it . all their vessels were marble , and gold , and silver , and topaze . the nile cast on its shores certain leaves which came from paradise , so odoriferous that they needed not other perfumes . there were on both sides of the nile gardens , from syene quite to the extremities of the land of egypt , so that a man walking along the banks of the nile had a perpetual coolness and shade , and had not his head any way incommodated by the heat of the sun. the first city which mesraim founded in the land of egypt was memphis . there was not then in egypt any thing that incommodated the inhabitants of the kind of serpents , or other venemous beasts . they lived along time without being impaired by old age , sickness , or infirmity , and without having any having any hatred or envy one against another , till they alter'd the religion of their ancestor noah , ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) and changed his law. then the devil ( gods enemy ) got dominion over them by his craft and circumventions , distracted their affairs , and sowed discord and enmity amongst them . he made them delight in the worship of idols , so that they adored them during the space of five hundred years ; whence it came that their fruits diminish'd , their cattel perished , and their mines became barren . there came out against them mischievous creatures out of the earth , and out of the sea ; the shade forsook them , the benedictions were taken away from them , and exemplary punishments fell upon them . certainly god changes not the state of a nation , untill it be changed of it self ; and the rest of the verse . thus their affairs went worse and worse , till the king of the amalekites came out of syria to war against them . the king of egypt then was cophtarim , the son of cophtim , the son of masar , the son of bansar . the king of the amelekites was named gainon , from whom baitgainon in the land of syria derives its ●ame . he was insolent and impious , and very corpulent . he had to his uncles among the amalekites gebirus the mutaphequian , and his brother gebrin . this king then came with his forces , consisting of a thousand amalekite lords , and six hundred thousand soldiers . they entred into the land of egypt , and encamped upon its frontiers on the side of the great banks . gainon warred against the inhabitants of egypt for the space of a moneth ; after which he defeated them , and took possession of the countrey , cophtari● and his forces having forsaken it , and got into the desarts of the west . the amalekite continued in egypt without injuring any person ; for he said to the the egyptians , you are the inhabitants of the countrey , his subjects who is possessed of it , and his servants who is conquerour . he afterwards gave them security as to his part , and appointed over them for governour his brother named gamrou , on whom he bestow'd for visier a coptite named zephton , who was then of the principal inhabitants of egypt , being there possess'd of a great estate ; and having many friends and others inclin'd to his party . his skin was black , and he resembled the children of cham. gamrou founded a city upon the nile's side , which he named gamra ; and ordered his visier zephton to build such another opposite to it . the visier obeyed him , and named the city he built zephta , each of them deriving its name from the founder . they caused them both to be built , and whitened with great care ; and vault to be made therein under ground , and aqueducts coming out of the nile , and compassing the publick places . they also caused walls and trenches to be made about their cities , enrich'd them with villages and farms , ordering justice and equity to be strictly observ'd in the land of egypt . they took but the tenth part of the profits of the dairies and farms . in the mean time gainon got provisions together , and fitted his army to pursue cophtarim and his people , who were fled towards the west . they pursued them so closely , that they forced them to enter into afri● , and to take refuge on a mountain called the mount of sosa , where cophtarim and his people fortify'd themselves . there was on the descent of the mountain a castle built by one of the children of cham , very high and inaccessible . they held out stifly in that castle , and got into it their goods . there was on one side of the castle a spring of fresh water , which occasioned them to put their cattel and horses that way . gainon the amalekite came and encamped about the castle , and besieged it . that siege lasted two years ; for they play'd upon him with stones and arrows , and he could do them no hurt ; whereupon he caused trenches to be made about them , and pressed not upon them , having resolved to take them by a long siege . he therefore caused houses and huts to be made in the plain ; his visier gamrou relieving him with money and provisions , which he sent out of egypt . they grew at length so confident , that they began to neglect the business of cophtarim and his people ; so that at last in a winter night , the weather being cold , they entered into their tents , and fell a drinking , having no guard abroad , because they had no distrust . cophtarim had spies among them , who presently gave him notice of that opportunity , and told him the enemies were all drunk , and immoveable as dead men ; and if he let pass that night without taking advantage of the posture they were in , he should never escape out of their hands . upon this intelligence cophtarim came out of the castle , accompany'd by his infantry onely without horse . his people being set upon the enterprise , he divided them into four battallions , and ordered them at the same time to set upon the four quarters of gainon's camp. they gave a great shout , and fell a cutting them to pieces , not one of them making any resistance . the slaughter continued all night till the next morning : those who escaped fled , some one way , some another , not knowing which way to go , and afterwards dyed of hunger and thirst . cophtarim's men took all their baggage , their cattel , their horses , and their money , and took king gainon prisoner , with the chiefest lords of his court. king gainon recovered not himself out of his debauch till they had bound him with chains of iron weighing fifty pound . they set him on a camel , and immediately took their way towards egypt , joyful and well satisfy'd . this news coming to gamrou gainon's lieutenant , he secretly packed up for his departure out of egypt , with those that were about him . his visier zephton followed him with his baggage and equipage , and his family , and those of his party . they got both of them into syria . cophtarim and his forces returned in good order , with colours flying , marching night and day , not making any stop upon any occasion whatsoever , till he got into his countrey , and had put on his arms , and was advantageously dressed , and his soldiers in like manner ; causing to march before him gainon bound and chained , and the camels loaden with the heads of his favourites who had been killed , and their cattel , and their horses . the egyptians went to meet him , joyful and glad of his coming , after they had beautified and adorned the city for his reception . cophtarim came and lodged in his royal palace with great joy , and caused it to be publickly proclaim'd that his intention was to have justice and equity , and good manners to flourish . he ordered also that gamra and zephta , the cities built by gamrou and zephton , should be demolished ; as well out of the horrour he had for their names , as to give a good presage of their punishment , saying , he would not leave in egypt any track of the amalekites . wherefore the coptites have it among their proverbs , gainon was blind , and zephton covered with infamy . when any one digs the ground , and finds it so hard that he cannot get forward , they say of him , he hath met with zephton ' s good fortune . mean time , the chiefest among them put cophtarim's action among the stratagem of the coptites , inasmuch as his flight ( say they ) was a mischievous subtilty against gainon , and not an effect of the fright he had put him into ; for they will ever be sly and subtile . the tracks of the two cities gamra and zephta continued a long time in the same condition : they were afterwards both rebuilt by one of the kings , thendestroy'd again by nabuchodonosor , when he entered into egypt , and wasted it . then when those who were remaining of the inhabitants of egypt return'd thither with belsa the son of the coptess , when he entered into egypt after his death , that is , after the death of his father nabuchodonosor , they advised him after he had build the castle of cira , and the church of mugalleca , and the others , to built also upon the ground of the city of gamrou , and that which was opposite thereto upon the nile , but he would not . yet they say concerning these two cities , that a long time after there were two villages built upon their ruines , which were called by their names , and that those names have continued to them . god knows how it is , how ere it be kept secret from men . they relate that when the commander of the faithful , omar the son of chettabus ( gods peace be with him ) came into syria , to receive the keys of jerusalem , according to what abugabidas had writen to him of it , in regard the patricians of the romans , who were then in syria , had intreated him to do it : when he was come near them he made a halt at a village not far from jerusalem , and continu'd there some time , during which the governour of the city sent a spy to him , saying ; go thy ways , and observe the king of the arabians , who comes hither to take possession of our lands , and the patrimony of caesar , and return quickly to tell me how he looks ; and describe him so to me , that i may know him , as well as if i had seen him my self . the spy came away , and made a shift to get just over against omar , and view'd him as he sate on a she-camel he had , clad in a wollen garment , mended with a piece of sheep-skin , made as it were into a thread on that side towards the sun , which had already burnt and blacken'd his face , with a bag hanging behind him , into which having put his hand , he pulled out pretty big pieces of barley-bread ; and with his fingers struck off the husks , saying , in the name of god ; then he did eat till he was satisfied , and afterwards took a bottle of leather , which he carry'd with him full of water , and quench'd his thirst , saying after that , praise be to god. the spy brought this news to the patrician who sent him , and describ'd in what posture he had seen him ; whereupon the patrician continued along time without saying any thing , and then he spoke thus to such as were about him : grant these people all they desire , for otherwise there is no way to be rid of them without fighting with them , and they have the favour of heaven . their law and their prophet enjoins them humility , and modesty , and compliance ; and these qualities lead to advancement and dominion . this description proceeds from that little party which appears above all the inhabitants of the earth . their law shall abolish all the laws . my father predicted this to me , having learnt it of his father , who had received it from his grand-father . they shall take the kingdom of egypt by force . there shall be in that province mosqueys and temples , wherein they shall make their prayers , the noise whereof shall be heard , like the humming of bees . their empire shall extend to the eastern parts of the world , and to the western , and even to the end of the world. afterwards the patrician sent to omar ( gods peace be with him ) to get his protection for himself , and those of his house , and to agree w●th him upon such conditions as he should desire , and be satisfy'd withall . the solphian ( god shew him mercy ) citing for author the chasan , son of ismael the sarrabian , in the b●ok of the histories of egypt , which he hath composed , speaks in these terms ; i have heard that the land of alphiom and its appurtenances were heretofore governed by the prophet of god joseph , ( gods peace be with him ) according to the revelation which he had had of it , and the command given him by all-mighty god , and divided into three hundred and sixty towns or villages , as many as there are days in the year , and that with a design , which he brought to effect . for when the nile fail'd any year , and that god heard not the prayers made for the augmentation of its course , every one of those villages supply'd egypt with a days sustenance . there is no countrey in the world that has been reduced and cultivated by divine revelation but this . there is not upon earth a less and yet a more fertile province , nor one that abounds in all sorts of good things , or is better furnished with rivers . for if we compare the rivers of alphiom with those of bosra and damas , we shall find the former have the advantage . many persons excellent for their wit and knowledge would have given us the number of its chanels , and its free and common places ; but they could not number them . others have not medled with the chanels , and have only set down the common places of that countrey , which are not in the possession of any person mussulman , or alien , and whereof the mighty and the weak make equal advantage , and they have found about seventy sorts . 't is related of the man 〈…〉 us ( god shew him mercy ) that when he came to egypt he sent for several of the chiefest inhabitants of the countrey , and among others two learned men , one surnamed abulseriphus , and the other saguidus , the son of gaphirus , of whom he enquired concerning the advantages of egypt , and what things made it recommendable . suguidus the son of gaphirus made him a large discourse , after which he said to abulseriphus ; do you also tell us what you know of the excellencies of your countrey . abulseriphus praised god , and gave him thanks , and prayed for the prophet ( gods peace and mercy be with him , ) after which , lord commander of the faithful ( said he ) joseph the teller of truth , ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) after god had put the affairs of this our province into his hands , and given him a supremacy in it , obliged the inhabitants to serve him in the western parts , in a land now called alphiom , where he caused three hundred and sixty great farms to be cultivated , as many as there are days in the year ; so that the village of each farm furnished the inhabitants of egypt with a days fustenance . joseph did this by revelation , which he had had from his lord. had he made as many on the east side , we should have had more then we needed , all the provisions which might have been brought from the eastside . for we have one day in the west . it may be my lord ( said the mamunus ) the sun rises in the west . before that ( said abulseriphas ) the barbarians will come . who told you that ? said the mamunus . i found it ( said abulseriphus ) in the book of the prophet daniel , gods peace be with him . is it necessary ( said the mamumus , that the barbarians come ? it is , ( said abulseriphus ; ) insomuch that they shall come to the land , that is , to the countrey of emesse , and then there will be no other sanctuary but jerusalem , and they shall have no other sustenance but lupins . he afterwards entertained him with long discourses , which to avoid tedeousness we shall abridge . then he said to him ; lord commander of the faithful , if our countrey had no other advantage then what god says of it in the history of his prophet joseph ( gods peace be with him ) when he speaks thus to the king , give me the oversight of the store-houses of the land , it were enough . hasam the son of isaac , says that joseph ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) when he was master of egypt , and highly favoured by the rajan his pharao , after he had passed a hundred years of age , was envyed by the kings favourites and the grandees of his court , by reason of the great power he had , and the kings great affection towards him , and that they one day spoke thus to him ; great king , ioseph is now grown very ancient , his knowledge is diminished , his beauty is decay'd , his judgment is impaired , and his wisdom is departed from him . pharao liked not their remonstrances , and was so far from approving their discourses , that he gave them harsh language , so that for a good while after they durst not say any thing to him concerning ioseph : but two years after they renew'd their formes envious discourses , whereupon the king said to them ; tell me wherein you would have me make a tryal of his abilities . alphiom was then called geouna , that is to say , the fenne , and served for a common sewer to the upper egypt , and a passage for the water . they therefore agreed together about what they should propose to the king for the tryal of ioseph , ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) and spoke thus to pharao ; command ioseph to turn the water of geouna , and force it thence , that you may have a new province , and a new revenue . the king thereupon sent for ioseph , and said to him ; you know how dear such a daughter of mine is to me , and you see it is time i should assign her some place where she may be mistress , and whereof the revenues may be sufficient to maintain her : and i do not find any lands besides my own which i can give her , unless it be geouna : for that land is neither too near , nor at too great a distance , and there is no coming into it of any side , unless it be through desart and dangerous places : the case will be the same with her , none can come near her on any side , but through desart and dangerous places . another besides hasam says , that alphiom is in the midst of egypt , as egypt is in the midst of other countries , in regard one cannot get into egypt on any side , but through places that are desart and full of danger . that is true , great king ( said ioseph ) according to hasam : when does it please you to have it so ? for it will be with the assistance of all-mighty god. the sooner the better ioseph , said the king. god inspired ioseph what he had to do , and ordered him to cause three chanels to be made ; one chanel coming out of high egypt , from such a place to such a place ; an eastern chanel , from such a place to such a place ; and a western chanel . ioseph got men together to carry on this work , and caused the chanel of manhi to be digg'd , from the upper part of asmounine to lahon , which he caused also to be digged afterwards . then he caused the chanel of alphiom to be digged , and the eastern chanel , with another chanel near it , named benhamet , from the villages of alphiom , which is the western chanel , and draws from the desart of benhamet towards the west . by this means there remained no water in geouna . that done , he got labourers to cut down all the reeds and tamarisk that was in it , and carry it away , and then the nile began to flow into it , and geouna became pure and clean ground . the water of the nile rose , and entered at the beginning of the manhi , and flowed therein till it came to lahon , whence it turned towards alphiom , and entered into its chanel , so that it was watered thereby , and made a champain countrey overflown by the nile . the king ( the rajan ) came to see it , with the favourites who had given him that advice . after they had considered it , they were all astonished at the wisdom and extraordinary invention of ioseph , and began to say ; we know not whether we should more admire to see geouna cleared of the water , and rid of the reeds , and paper-plants , and tamarisks , and willows , whereof it was ful , or to see it o'reflown by the nile after the levelling of the ground . then the king said to ioseph , how long were you ioseph in reducing this land to the condition i now see it in ? seventy days , said ioseph . pharao turned to his favourites , and said to them ; it is not likely any one could have done it in a thousand days . this occasioned the calling of that land alphiom , that is to say , a thousand days ; and that very year it was sowen , and ordered as the rest of egypt . jesidus the son of chebibus says , that god made joseph ( gods peace be with him ) master of egypt at 30 years of age ; and that after he had governed il 40 years the egyptians said among themselves , joseph is old , and hath not now the prudence he had heretofore : and that thereupon they devested him of the power which they had given him over them , and said to him ; make your choice of some barren and useless ground , which we may give you to cultivate and people ; for by that means we shall make trial of your prudence and judgment : and then if we find in your management thereof any thing to persuade us that your understanding is yet in a tendency to advancement , we will re-establish you in your government . ioseph considered the desart places of the appurtenances of egypt , and chose the place now called alphiom , which was presently given him . he brought thither from the nile the chanel of the manhi , so that he made the water of the nile flow all over the land of alphiom , and finished all their digging work in a years time . we hear also that he did it by inspiration from his lord , and that he imployed therein a great number of workmen and labourers . the egyptians considered that work , and saw that in all egypt there was not any like or equal to the dead land which ioseph had raised up again : whence it was concluded , that there was not a more excellent judgment , nor safer advice , nor better conduct , then that of ioseph ; and they thought themselves obliged to commit the affairs of egypt into his hands . he governed them 130 years , that is , to his death , ( gods peace and mercy be with him . ) others affirm that he died at 130 years of age : god knows better then we do how it is . some relate , as having it from hasam the son of isaac , that ioseph after his his re-establishment in the government of egypt was well beloved by the kings favourites , and that they made their excuses to him . after which he spoke thus to the rajan ; you have not yet seen , neither you nor your favourites , all my wisdom and conduct can perform . and what can you do more ? replied they . i will put into alphiom ( said he ) a family of every city in egypt , that they may there build a village for themselves ; so that there shall be in alphiom as many villages as there shall be cities in egypt . when they have quite built their villages , i will bring into every village as much water as shall be requisite , proportionably to the land i shall have assigned it , so as there shall be neither too much nor too little . i will also have an aqueduct come to every village , for the time that water cannot come there but under ground ; and i will make it more deep for those who are seated high , and less deep for such as shall be low , according to the times and hours of the day and night . i will do all this for them by measure , so that every one shall have neither more nor less than is requisite . pharao answered him thereupon ; this is of the kingdom of heaven , ioseph . it is so , said ioseph . after that ( says the author ) ioseph began the execution of that enterprise , causing the villages to be built , and assigning every one its limits . the first village built in alphiom was called betiana , and there pharao's daughter had her habitation . he afterwards caused the chanels to be digged , and the bridges to be built : and when he had done that , he began to allot the proportions of land and water , and there began geometry , which before that was unknown in the land of egypt : for they onely followed ioseph in that , and it was one of the things which had been taught him by his lord. they say also he was the first who measured the nile in egypt , and who established the nilometer in the city of memphis . after him the ancient cagalouca , who was queen of egypt , and built the wall of the ancient city , caused a nilometer to be made at alsena , where the cubits are small ; and another at achemima : gabdolgueziz the son of merouanes caused also one to be made at choluan in high egypt . zaid the son of asam , during the caliphat of the valide , the son of gabdolmelic , under the reign of the house of ommie , caused a nilometer to be made in the island which is opposite to masre , between its rivers ; and this is greater then the others . as to that which is now used , it was built by the mamunus , the son of harounes the law-observer ; almighty god shew mercy to both : for when he entered into the land of egypt , he found the christians negligent in measuring the water , when by the permission of god it encreased ; which obliged him to speak thus ; this is a miracle of god , wherein he hath put a mystery , secret and nuknown to any other besides himself ; therefore the care thereof belongs only to a chenifian mussulman , who has religion and faith. he afterwards advis'd with the lawyers of egypt , who counselled him to bestow that charge on the lawyer gabdol , the son of gabdolsalem the schoolmaster . others say he was called gait , and that his sirname was abulredad . he was a very ancient man , who read the memorable actions and sayings of the prophet in the great mosquey of masre , and who had been before a schoolmaster teaching children . the mamunus gave him the charge of governour of the nilometer , after it was fully built in the year ccxliv , and allotted him 7 crowns of gold monethly for his pension , which has ever since been continued to his successours . others say it was mutavacquel who caused it to be built . they say also that the coptites had heretofore a nilometer in the castle of cire . the romans also had one in the castle at babolsaguir . gabdorrachaman says after chaled , who had it from iachi the son of bequir ; i came ( said he ) to the nilometer of memphis just as the measurer entered into the fustata , to carry thither the good news of the augmentation of the nile . i have heard moreover ( said the author ) a third story upon the cultivation of the land of alphiom , from mahumet the son of gali , the son of gabdol , the son of sachar the teminian , who spoke of it in these terms , sincerely citing the author from whom he had it : i have heard ( said he ) of a man who was of the barbarians of egypt , and well versed in the affairs of his countrey , and its history , and its antiquities , living in a village named phacat , that he had found it in a book , that alphiom was heretofore a land full of briars and thorns , where nobody lived ; and that about that time the daughter of a roman emperour having misbehaved her self , and her offence having been notorious all over the roman empire , even in the most remote islands of the sea , her father resolved to put her out of all places under his jurisdiction , and to send her to sea. he put aboard with her her mother , her servants , and all her retinue , and whatever belonged to her , and caused them to get out into the main sea ; having beforehand ordered that favourite of his whom he had entrusted with this affair , that when they met with violent winds , he should dispose the ships to sail into a countrey out of which they should never return . this order was put in execution , and the sails were hoised in the midst of the sea , in the midst of a tempest which blew every way , so that it carried away the ships , and cast the princess with those that accompanied her streight into egypt , where she made up the nile till she came to the manhi , at a place where now lahon is . there she went ashore , and got on horseback with some of her people to take a view of the countrey , seeking a place where she might make her habitation , and set up her rest : for she had been told her fathers will , and knew it was his design she should have perished in the sea. after much riding she came to the place of alphiom , and saw it covered with briars , and trees , and pastures , and standing waters , and compass'd all about as it were with the sea ; after she had taken a full prospect of it , she returned to the ship , and said to her mother that she had found a place where they might settle themselves , and which they might cultivate for their subsistence ; that there was not such another in the world , and that she had made choice of it for her aboad and retirement . do what you please , said her mother to her . she therefore sent her retinue before on mules which they had with them in their ships ; then they took their way , and advanced as far as matartares , which is in the midst of the city of alphiom , remaining to this day . the water overflowed alphiom from the manhi when the nile was at the highest ; and when it was very low , the water ebbed from alphiom . when therefore she saw the water gone back from alphiom , she began to build cities , to cut down what trees were requisite , and to clear the ground of the reeds , the paper-plants , and the tamarisk which grew there . then she bethought her of a way to lay out the money she had brought with her , and sent some of her servants to the villages , and to the cities , to get people together ; so that there came to her a great number of poor people , and necessitous tradesmen , to whom she distributed wherewithall to subsist , and did them many favours , employing them in digging the chanel of the manhi as far as alphiem . they wrought it , and began the design thereof ; but they afterwards found they could not bring it to perfection , whereupon they gave it over . this is manifestly seen at this day by the tracks that are left of it . it is on the east side of the city of alphiom . they raised the bank of lahon , that it might retain as much water as they stood in need of . they relate moreover ( says the author ) a fourth story concerning the manner how the land of alphiom was peopled . pharao ( say these ) commanded joseph to reduce it , and proportionably to distribute the waters which flowed thence . joseph did it , and so settled all , that it might last to the end of times upon the surface of the earth . the lahon is at this day in that posture , save that abagon gabdolmelic the son of iezidus has added something thereto , on that side which is towards the wall of the sources . he also raised in the city of alphiom a little structure , which is of no use . the yearly revenue of alphiom was 365000 crowns of gold , without exaction , or injuring , or tyrannizing over any person . but since it hath been successively in the hands of several wicked governours , who have laid impositions according to their avarice , the benediction hath departed from alphiom , and the rest of the countrey : the best cultivated places are grown desolate , most of the passages and villages were ruined , and its revenues abated more and more . and yet if the princes would cast their eyes on this countrey , and cause it to be r●peopled , and provide for the observance of justice and equity therein , its revenues would return to what they were before . but god knows what is concealed from men. as to ioseph's prison in egypt , and the benediction which god gives upon the prayers made there , this is one of the stories related thereof . there was heretofore commander in egypt the achesidian , so called from the name of his master abulchasam gali the son of achesides , who gave him the management of the affairs of his government , even during his life for a long time ; so that after the death of abulchasam , caphor the achesidian continued sole governour of egypt , and was put into the government of that province by the prelate the mutigolell , of the house of guebasus , god shew him mercy , and generally all related to him ; which he enjoyed alone , and without any partner . caphor died afterwards , but saphilmelic the caid guehar , servant of the mugazzoldinill , entered into egypt even while he governed it , and obtained of him the reversion of it . they say this caphor ( god shew him mercy ) being one day very much troubled with a difficult and intricate business , went himself to the lawyer and doctor of egypt , who was then abubeker the son of chedad , and having saluted him said thus to him : i desire you to name me some place where prayers are infallibly heard , and shew me in what manner i should pray for an affair which hath happened to me , and hath already given me much disquiet . lord commander ( replied the doctor ) go your ways to ioseph's prison , and say your prayer over it with two inclinations : if you say it in the afternoon , it will be so much the better . after that read the chapter of ioseph with a loud voice , and in an entire alcoran , with your face turned towards meca , standing , and your hands lifted up , and ask of god what you desire . for this kind of prayer is experienced , ready to be heard and accepted : it is the prayer of necessity . i have known ancient egyptians make use of it frequently . caphor departed , and did what the old man advised him , and god did the business for him within a week . the ancient egyptians , as well the doctors , and they that profess the knowledge of the sayings and actions of the prophet , as before them , those of his company and retinue , have ever had recourse to that noble prison , and there they called upon almighty god for the accomplishment of their affairs , and their prayers were heard . moses , who spoke with god , and his brother aaron , ( gods peace be with them both ) even they have made their prayers there , and obtained divine benedictions : for it is the prison wherein their uncle joseph was detained ; since moses was the son of gamran , the son of iaheb , the son of levi , which levi was ioseph's brother . they say that moses , when he desired god to turn his indignation from the inhabitants of egypt , and to deliver them from the locusts and the frogs , and from the deluge , and from the bloud , made his prayer over ioseph's prison , as a place purposely set aside for the imploring of gods mercy ; to which the egyptians , when they are visited with sterility and dearth , or persecution , or are disquieted by reason of any affair , run presently , and make their prayer there , which is certainly heard . iacob ( gods peace be with him ) added thereto the place of his she-camel , where he made her kneel down that he might get off her back . since the mussulman religion hath been observed , there is a mosquey built in that place : it is under the bank of sand , upon which is the prison . for iacob ( desirous to see the place where his son had been prisoner ) rode thither on his she-camel , and alighted at the place which is now called ioseph's mosquey , and there prayed , and gave thanks to god for the favour he had done him , that he embraced his son , and saw him again : then he went up to the sand-mount , and so to the prison . jesus the son of mary ( gods peace be with them both ) did also visit that prison . when he and his mother were in egypt , they there said their prayer . many of those who accompanied the prophet entered into it ; that is to say , the fourscore who were in egypt at the time of the conquests , the first whereof was gamrou the son of gasus , then his son gabdol , and zebirus the son of gavam , and abuharirus , and abudar , and mecdad , and the rest , ( gods be with them all ; ) nay some of them left their prints upon the roof of the prison . this prison is the place where ioseph sate when he interpreted the dreams . on one side of the prison there is a vault , out of which gabriel came down to him . zelicha sate in that place ( before he was more closely restrained , and that they had laid extraordinary commands upon him , and turned his face from the vault ) that she might see him ever and anon from the upper part of her castle : for the prison served for a tower to the gate of the western house of gazizus , which was then within the place of pleasure . the king had two houses ; the eastern , called zelicha's gallery , where is the wall which remains to this day , opposite to the caves : and the western , where the prison was , and belonged to the place of pleasure . as to the prayer which the lawyer abubeker ( the son of chedad ) taught caphor , ( gods peace be with them both ; ) 't is this : great god , give thy benediction to mahumet and his family , grant peace to mahumet and to mahumet's family , shew mercy on mahumet and mahumets family , be propitious to mahumet and to the family of mahumet ; as thou hast given thy benediction and peace , and as thou hast been merciful , and as thou hast been propitious to abraham and the family of abraham . thou art praise-worthy , and glorious . great god! o thou who hast saved thy prophet ioseph , and hast delivered him out of the dungeon , and out of darkness , and hast made him to get happily out of prison , after the divel had raised dissention between him and his brethren ; who didst bring him to be embraced by his father after a long absence ; who hast taken away the afflictions of his father the prophet jacob , and hast had compassion on the abundance of his tears , and hast crowned his hope by causing him to see him after he had lost his sig●ht , and hast restored him to him , as it were by a miracle of his prophecy ; who hast heard his prayer , and done the business he desired of thee : make haste to dissipate my affliction , and to facilitate to me the departure of my disquiet , do my business for me ; facilitate my return to my own people , receive me into thy sanctuary , deliver me out of my misfortunes , and out of my afflictions , as thou hast deliver'd thy prophet ioseph out of his , after thou hadst afflicted him in this place , for the tryal of his patience ; for the raising him to a high rank near thee , and for the increase of his reward . o thou , who art he who dost compass the affairs of the faithful , who art the end of the desires of all that petition thee , and the butt of their demands , who require any thing of thee , and the hope of those who seek a refuge , and the sanctuary of those who are in fear ; who hearest the prayers of those who have need , and dost put a period to great afflictions ! bless mahomet thy apostle , and lord of men , and those of his holy family , and those of his chosen company , and his wives , who are the mothers of the faithful , and those who follow them in well-doing to the day of judgement . take me into thy custody , surround me with the curtains of thy throne , raise over me the forts of thy cittadels , spread over me the vail of thy protection , and turn not away thy eyes from me ; give me not over into the tuition of any other , free me from the evil devices of thy creatures , favour me with the abundance of thy graces , and with that of thy goods whereof the use is allowed , through thy mercy , o most merciful of all the merciful . god give his benedictions to our lord mahumet , and to those of his family , and to those of his company , and to his wives , and to those who follow them in well-doing to the day of judgment . praise be to god the lord of the world . megavius , the son of salichus relates , as having learnt it of abuharirus , god shew him mercy , that ioseph , gods peace be with him , when he was brought into aegypt , began to weep night and day , out of the grief it was to him , to be so far from his father and brethren ; and that one night which he consecrated to god , and which he spent in prayer , he implor'd the assistance of god , and without any noise spoke thus to his lord : o lord , thou hast brought me out of the country which i love best of any in the world , do me good in this where i now am , and assist me therein with thy favours ; cause me to be loving to the inhabitants of these provinces into which thou hast brought and conducted me , and in like manner cause them to love me : give me wherewithall to subsist therein happily and handsomely , and do me favour that i may not die till thou hast brought my brethren and me together with joy and satisfaction , and put us into a capacity of enjoying the happiness of this world , and that of the other . after that , ioseph fell asleep , and saw in his dream some body , who said to him : ioseph , god hath heard thy prayer ; he will raise in thee an affection to the country into which he hath brought thee , insomuch that there shall not be any other in the world , more pleasant to thee , as he hath alwaies made it amiable to those who have entred into it before thee ; and in like manner he will render it amiable to those who shall enter into it after thee , for no body shall be desirous to go out of it , after he is once come into it . he will in like manner cause thee to be lov'd by its inhabitants , and will make thee master and governour of it . he will also bring you together ; thee and thy father , and thy brethren in the midst of thy reign and government , and will give thee joy and satisfaction . take courage therefore upon this hope , and be jocund and chearful , and know , ioseph , that this province is the mother of nations , and the support of men , and that the treasures and wealth of the earth are in it . joseph awaked thereupon extreamly glad and satisfi'd , and from that time advanc'd by degrees to the condition which god had promis'd him , alwaies hoping the accomplishment of the promises which he had made him , till that god brought ●hem together , him and his father , and his brethren . ever since , aegypt hath been ever lov'd and desir'd ; no forreigner comes into it , but is glad to continue there , and departs thence , but he regrets it and desires to return into it again . after god had brought him to reign , and brought them together , him , and his father and his brethren , in the flower of his glory , power , and grandeur , he humbled himself before god , and abstain'd from the goods of the world , aspiring to those which are with god , and said , according to what god himself relates of him by the mouth of his prophet mahumet , gods peace and mercy be with him , in his glorious book : my lord , you have brought me to reign , and have given me the knowledge of interpreting obscure discourses ; o creator of the heavens and the earth . you are my protector in this world , and in the other give me the grace to die a mussulman , and bring me into the company of the vertuous . god granted him all that ; god bless him and his holy fathers . abumuchammed the achemimian , the dyer , god have mercy on him , related to me at masre , what follows , sayes the author : i went often , said he , to the country of gize about some affairs i had there , and some debts i was to receive from certain labourers of those parts , so that i saw the pyramids at a distance ; but the trouble and disquiet i was in proceeding from my affairs , permitted me not to go to them , nor to come nearer them , to consider them at leisure , and to contemplate their structure , and the exquisite artifice of their fabrick . i was acquainted with , and much esteem'd , the prelate of the great mosquey of that country , so that one night i took up my lodging at his house , and discover'd to him my thoughts concerning the pyramids , telling him , that i had always been so taken up with my affairs , that i had not as yet gone so far to consider them , but that i had a great desire to see them , and to contemplate the structure thereof , and the excellency of the artifice employ'd therein . he thereupon spoke thus to me : brother , if these pyramids were in china , or at the extremities of the west , those who should hear talk of them , would have the curiosity to go thither to see them , and to consider the admirable structure thereof ; what therefore ought they to do who are here in the country where they are , and so near them ? my father told me , that he had seen magedolmelic macherir the blind man , who got the alcoran read to him at the gate of the western castle , gods mercy on him , in the time of the prelate must agalibemrillus , who had seen him ; i say , at these pyramids , attended by an ethiopian youth , who led him by the hand , and that the youth having brought him upon the pyramid which lies eastward , he felt the graving of it with his hand , and what was written upon it , and admir'd it , praising and giving thanks to god continually for the knowledge he had inspir'd his servants withall , and the excellency of their workmanship and geometry . my father saluted him , and spoke thus to him ; o lord , you put your self to much trouble , and take a great deal of pains to get up and down this pyramid . o brother , reply'd he , to travel up and down the country , and to consider the tracks of ancient nations , and past ages , is one of those things which are recomended to us , that those who want examples may thereby find some for their instruction , and that the sloathful and sleepy may therein meet with what may awake them out of their slumber , and oblige them to consider the kingdom of the heavens and the earth , and the miracles , and prodigious things which god hath placed therein . these pyramids are one of the most miraculous things of any in egypt , after the nile . for as to the nile , its flowings and ebbings depend on a wisedom known only to him who gives it its course , and obliges it to do its duty ; who commands it to encrease , and it obeys ; and who causes it to fall , after it hath acquitted it self of what people needed from it . what is there more admirable then these prodigies ? for my part , i am a poor man , who have lost my fight , and whose curiosity can reach only those miracles and rarities , which may be learnt by the ear . but who comes it , that those who see well , who have leasure , and live near these miracles , have not the curiosity to divert themselves in the contemplation thereof ? he thereupon took me by the hand , and recited these verses to me . pray unto him who hath liv'd upon the mount , to dictate unto thee the history of himself , and cause him not to weep , unless it be with my tears . i cannot see remote countries with my eyes , but it may be i shall see them by the means of my ears . whereupon he fell a weeping , so that he made me weep also , and said to me : o brother know that the sighs of the poor blind man will never end in this world , and that they will not cease , till he hath casted death , and that god hath promis'd him , that if he patiently endure the affliction of his blindness , and loss of his sight , and shall have taken it as coming from god , and chearfully accepted it , he will justifie him , and bring him into paradise . for the blind man is dead among the living . the law of god commands a man to salute him ; it is an act of faith , to eat with him ; it is an oblation to god , to sit down with him ; 't is a merit of reward to discourse with him ; 't is a thing of obligation to give him an almes ; he who takes him by the hand in his necessity obtains the remission of his sins . then he said further to me : know that what oblig'd me to take the pains to come to this place , was somewhat told me by a certain scholar while we were together in the colledge . 't was of his father that he spoke to me , and he was of that country of gize . my father , said he , told me , that while he was a young man , he went and came many times night and day by these pyramids , his affairs obliging him thereto ; and that he and some other young men about his age went up on the top of them , and sometimes into them , without any other design then to divert themselves . one day among others , said this father to his son , according to what he added , about noon being mounted on a beast which i had , as i kept along my direct way , passing near these pyramids , i saw a company of cavaliers , mounted some on horses , and others on camels , and some people a foot marching along with them , as it were in a procession about the pyramids . whereupon thought i to to my self , who are those that make a procession about the pyramids now at noon ? is it not for some accident newly happen'd in the city ? i thereupon made towards them , so that i came pretty near them , and look'd upon them very earnestly . but i found , as i view'd them at a nearer distance , that they had neither the stature nor meen of ordinary men , and i made the same judgement of their horses and their camels . which oblig'd me to recommend my self to god , after which i saluted them , and they return'd my salutation , and spoke thus to me ; be of good courage , thou shalt have no harm . we are a company of mussulmans , of the number of the doemons , who believe in god and in his prophet . when the doemons return a mans salutation , he may believe himself safe enough as to them . when therefore thou shalt meet with creatures which thou thinkest not to be men , salute them , for if they salute thee again , they will be faithful , if they do not return thy salutation , they will not be faithful ; it will therefore concern thee to recommend thy self to god , that he may preserve thee from them ; for by that means it will not be in their power to hurt thee . after that i saw among them a demon whom they honoured much , and whom they acknowledg'd as it were for their protector and superiour , to whom one of them spoke thus . see you the beauty and the excellency , and the workmanship of that structure , and of that architecture , the solidity of those buildings , and the goodness of their situation ? this , reply'd he , is an effect of their wisdom , who inhabited the land before us , who were mightier then we , and fignaliz'd themselves , by more noble marks , then we can do , upon the earth . i had heard what the ancients said of these pyramids , and was desirous to see and consider them my self before my death , should we now at the time we live in , attempt the making of such works as these , we should not compass them , even though men joyn'd with us to carry on the work . nay , though we should content our selves with the building of but one pyramid , we should not be able to do it ; what pain therefore would it be to make as many as there are here ? after that they departed as it were in order to their return , and one of them bid me adieu , and spoke thus to me ; o man , endeavour to forbear walking abroad at noon ; rather sleep at mid-day , for the devils do not sleep at that time . now this is it that obliged me to come to these pyramids , which are such miracles of workmanship , that the doemons themselves cannot make the like . why shall i not feel them at least with my hand ? besides , here is a youth who represents things so well to me , that i comprehend them as if i saw them my self : i thank god who guides my imagination so well . we find in the book of the lives of great and illustrious persons , who have flourished in several times , that masre ( god preserve it ) was anciently called babelain , and that that name had been given it in regard that babel being heretofore the seat of the empire of gueraca and syria , when the kingdom of masre came to be great and famous in the world the coptites called it babelain , pretending by that name to raise the lustre of its state , and to exalt the glory and dignity of its empire : as if they would say , the ancient babel was but one babel , and that masre was babelain , that is to say , two babels . whence it came , that after the romans got to be masters of syria , they said the land of egypt is babylon , and made great account of that province by reason of the conveniences they had thence by sea and by land ; so that that name continued to it . then upon its being taken by the mussulmans under the reign of omar , ( gods peace be with him ) by the conduct of gamrou the son of gasus , ( gods mercy on him ) an arabian poet made verses , wherein he acknowledged the favour god had done them in that conquest , and the abundance and variety of good things and wealth which they had acquired by that victory . the subject of those verses was , that quisias the son of caltham , one of the children of som , ( gods mercy on him ) came from syria to masre with gamron the son of gasus , and entered into it with 100 men of his nation , bringing their equipage on horses ; which men he commanded , having belonging to him 50 servants and 30 horses . gamrou and the mussulmans being afterwards resolved to besiege the castle , quisias chose a place where he and his men might continue , and caused his tent to be pitched there , according to the relation of abugamrou mahumet the son of joseph , and aboad there during the whole siege of the castle , till god brought it into their power . after that quisias was with gamrou at alexandria , leaving his people and his baggage in that place ; and after alexandria had also been taken by the mussulmans as gamrou was returning to masre , having imposed on the alexandrians the tribute they were to pay , and signed the articles of their accommodation : quisias returned also to his quarters at masre , and lodg'd there still . the mussulmans marked lodgings for themselves , and gamrou caused his own to be marked opposite to that heap of sand where quisias had taken up his post . then the mussulmans had a council about the building of a mosquey , where they might meet together , and writ concerning it to the commander of the faithful , omar , ( gods peace be with him ) who returned this answer ; i have received the news of the resolution which you have taken up all together for the building of a mosquey , where you may celebrate the friday , and make your assemblies . it is no doubt athing necessary for you , and you follow in that the example of your prophet , gods peace and mercy be upon him . for the first mark whereby he began to signalize the mussulman religion and the first foundation upon which he would settle it , was the building of his own mosquey in the place of his retreat . assemble therefore hereupon your commanders , and take counsel of your ancients , who are companions of the apostle of god , gods peace and mercy be with them , for the benediction , of god is in the ancients . what they shall resolve on with a general consent , approve it , ogamron , and oppose it not . for the assembly of the council brings the mercy of god , who protects that nation , out of the kindness he hath for his prophet , gods peace and mercy be with him . through the grace and mercy of god , they will never agree about a thing wherein there is any errour . god keep you in union , and prosper your affairs , and settle you in the possession of your conquests , and assist both you and me with his graces , and bless mahumet and his family . the mussulmans having seen omar's answer , gods peace and mercy be with him , held a council concerning the building of the mosquey , and found it might be conveniently built on the place where quisias the son of colthom was lodg'd . gamrou sent for him , and ask'd his advice , saying ; o abugabdorrachaman , i will take up a lodging for you instead of this , where you please to have it . whereupon quisias spoke thus : i have already told you , o ye mussulmans , who are hear assembled , that this habitation pleases me well , and that it is mine , but i bestow it with all my heart on god and the mussulmans . he therefore quitted that place , and lodg'd with those of his nation , who were the children of som , and took up his quarters among them . whereupon abucainan the son of magamar , the son of rabagui , the nachesian , in memory of those adventurers , and to honour these victories , made the ensuing verses : and we had the good fortune to conquer babylon , where we have pitch'd upon booty in abundance for omar and for god. the good man quisias , the son of calthom , quitted and delivered up his habitation and the lodging which belonged to him upon the divine intreaty . all those who shall do their devotions in our structure , will know with the inhabitants of masre what i say , and will publish it . abumansor the balavian , gods mercy on him , made these verses upon the same subject , wherein he speaks of gabdorrachaman , the son of quisias , the son of calthom , gods peace be with him ; and thy father quitted and deliver'd up his habitation to the people of prayer and adoration . lithus , the son of sagad , gods mercy on him , a lawyer of masre , speaks thus of the ancient great mosquey of that city ; our mosquey was only gardens and vineyards . abugamrou , the son of serragus , sayes this of it , which he had from saguidus , who had it from the ancients of his time ; the place , saith he , of our great mosquey of masre , was heretofore only gardens and groves of palmes , but the mussulmans got it , and caused a mosquey to be built there for their assemblies , ( gods peace be with them all . guemarus the son of zebirus ) the cryer , sayes his father spoke thus of it : i have heard , said he , our ancients , of whom some had been present at the conquest , who spoke thus : there were fourscore of the companions of the prophet of god , ( god's peace and mercy be with them ) present at the foundation of the mosquey of masre , zebirus the son of gavam , mecdad the son of asouad , guebad , the son of samet , abuldarda , phedal , gamron , gaqueb , and the rest , as well of the number of those who came for refuge , as of that of the protectors , ( gods peace be with them all . ) jezibus : the son of chebib , speaks thus of it . our mosquey was founded by four of the companions of the prophet , gods peace and mercy be with them , abudar , abunasre , mahumet the son of gerou the zebirian , and manbehe the son of derar . gabidol the son of gegafur speaks thus of it in these terms : our temple was raised by guebad , the son of samet , and by raphecus , the son of malichus , who were two captains of the protectors , gods mercy on them . abudaoud saith , that gamrou , the son of gasus , sent rabigas the son of sergil , and the son of galcamas the carsian , the guedavian , to determine on which side should be the front of the mosquey , and that he spoke thus to them . go you and stand on the top of the mountain , when the sun is ready to set , and when there shall be one half of it under the horizon , do you turn so as that it may be on your eye-brows , and take with all the exactness you can , the true side on which the temple ought to be turned . i pray god to assist you in the doing of it . they did what he had commanded them . i have heard , says lithus , ( gods mercy on him ) that gamrou the son of gasus went up to the mountains , and exactly observed the time , and the shade of the sun setting , till the side on which the front of the temple should be turn'd was agreed upon . guemarus related to me , that he had heard his father say , that gamrou the son of gasus said to his companions , turn the front of the mosquey towards the east , that it may be right opposite to meca . it was turned ( said he ) very much towards the east ; but after that corras the son of coris made it incline a little toward the south . i have heard ( saith masgab ) the son of abuchebib , who spoke thus upon these words of the all-mighty and all-good god , we shall see on which side thou wilt turn thy face towards the heaven , and we shall appoint thee a situation which thou shalt be pleased withall . this situation ( saith jezidus ) which the apostle of god ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) observed in his prayers , and which all-mighty god commanded him to comply withall , consisted in having the face turned towards the chanel ; and it is the situation of the egyptians , and of the inhabitants of the western parts . i have heard the same abuchebib , added masgab , read that passage after another manner , putting the first person instead of the second , thus ; and we will appoint thee a situation , which we shall be pleased withall . one of the protectors saith , that gabriel came to the apostle of god ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) and said unto him ; dispose the situation of thy mosquey so as thou maist have thy face turned towards the square temple . then he made his draughts upon all the mountains which were between him and the square temple , and so he drew the plat-form of his mosquey , having his face turned towards the square temple , which happen'd to be the chanel side . malicus affirms that the front of the mosquey of the prophet of god ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) is situated opposite to the chanel . several authors relate , that in the mosquey of gamrou , the son of gasus , there was no vaulted upper-room , nor in that built by muslemas , nor in that built by gabdolgueziz , the son of merouan ; and that the first who made an upper-arched room was corras , the son of masquin . they say the son of serich speaks thus of it : in the great mosquey , which gamrou the son of gasus built ; there was no arch , that is , no arched upper-room . saguidus the son of serich speaks also of it in these terms ; abusaguid related this to me . the chemirian , who is the most aged of those whom i have met , said to them : i have found this mosquey where you assemble your selves , and which was built by gamrou , the son of gasus , fifty cubits in length , and thirty in breadth . gamer the son of omar , the son of chebib , the crier , speaks thus of it ; gamrou the son of gasus spoke to us , and made a street which compassed the mosquey on all sides ; then he made two gates opposite to the house of gamrou , the son of gasus , and two gates on the east side , and two gates on the west side , so that when the people went out of the little street of the lampe , they found the east-corner of the mosquey opposite to the west-corner of the house of gamrou , the son of gasus ; and that before they had taken out of gamrou's house , what was since taken out . the length of the mosquey , from the front to the opposite end was equal to the length of gamrou's house . the roof on the outside was very flat . in summer the people sate all about in the spacious place which was at the entrance . abusalich speaks thus of it ; lithus said to me one day , can you tell what distance there was between the mosquey built by gamrou , and his house ? no , said i. our ancients told me ( reply'd he ) that there were seven cubits , and that before they took out of gamrou's house , what was since taken , and made part of the mosquey . this shews that the eastern gate was opposite to the great house of gamrou . the son of lahig relates it to us as a thing he had learnt of the son of habir , that abutemim , the chisanian , had said to him , that he had heard gamrou the son of gasus speaking in these terms : one of the companions of the apostle of god ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) told me he had heard the prophet , ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) speak thus ; the all-mighty and all-good god commands you one prayer besides the ordinary ones ; say it in the intervall there is from the evening prayer to the break of day . abunasre the gopharian related it , and abutemim speaks of it thus ; as we sate down together , abudar and i , abudar took me by the hand , and we went together to abunasre , whom we met at the gate , which is on the side of gamrou's house , where abudar spoke to him thus ; o abunasre , have you heard the apostle of god ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) speak in these terms ? god hath yet enjoined you a prayer ; say it in the intervall between the evening and betimes in the morning . he repeated this to him three times , and he always answered , yea. jachi the son of salich , relates what follows , as having it from gadras , who had it from his father , and he from gamer the son of omar . muslemas ( said he ) caused to be made in the great mosquey , four chappels at the four corners of it ; for he first put them there , and they were not there before . he also was the first who spread it with mat , for before that it was only strew'd with gravel . after him gabdolgueziz , the son of merouam , the son of chacam , caused somewhat to be done therein , according to the relation of gamer , the son of omar , the son of chebib , the raguinian , who affirms that gabdolgueziz , the son of merouan quite de-demolish'd the great mosquey , and that he augmented it on the west-side , so that he left between it and the house of sand , and the house of gerou's son , and the others , but a small street , which is now called the pav'd street , and brought into it the spacious place , which was on the north-side ; but on the east-side he had no place to enlarge it . this was done in the year 79. as to the augmentations made in the great ancient mosquey , after the building of it , by gamrou the son of gasus , it is to be observed , that gamrou did this work after his return from alexandria , to the place of his tent , and that he had taken masre in the moneth mucharram , in the twentieth year after the prophet's retreat , whom god favour with his most excellent benedictions . abusaguid the chemirian speaks of it also ; i have found that that mosquey , where you assemble your selves , was built by gamrou , fifty cubits in length , and thirty in breadth . after him muslemas the son of muchalled made some enlargements in it , under the reign of megavius , the son of the abusophian , in the year 35. then afterwards gabdolgueziz , the son of merouan , in the year 79. and after him corras , the son of serich , upon the account of the valide the son of gabdolmelic . this last would needs demolish what gabdolgueziz had built , and afterwards completed his building . he gave the ovesight of these works to jachi the son of chandelas , and above him to gamer the son of levi. he quite demolished the mosquey , so that the people met on friday in another place , till the building was finished . he put up the seat for orations in the great mosquey , in the year 94. they say there is not in the world any one handsomer and nobler then this , after the seat of the prophet of god , gods peace and mercy be with him . after that , there were enlargements made by salich , the son of gali , the son of gabdol , the son of guebas , upon the account of the commander of the faithful abulguebas , who added behind the mosquey four pillars . there were also some made by gabdol , the son of tahar , the son of ghasan , the overseer , under the commander of the faithful . gabdol sais this of it , as having it from his father . abutahar came from alexandria , and entered into fustata , which is masre , where he constituted judge guise , the son of the moncader , and added to the mosquey part of the house of gamrou the son of gasus . the son of remath added thereto the house of gabidol , the son of chareth , the son of gerou , and the house of gagelan , the freed servant of omar , the son of chettab , ( gods peace be with him ) and the house of the phadal . the phadal , the son of tahar , went out of it accordingly on a tuesday , five days before the expiration of the moneth regebe , in the year 212. after him abubeker mahumet , the son of gabidol , the son of chareth , the son of masquin , enlarged it on the side of the spacious place , and to that end took the gate , and the mint-house , with what was adjoyning thereto , as far as the western wall of the mosquey , which so enlarged the spacious place , that the mosquey was square . he added thereto also a pillar , which is that on the south-side . he began to demolish and to build on thursday the fourth of the moneth of regebe , in the year 357. and dy'd before he had finish'd his design ; but his son gali , the son of mahumet , had his charge after his death , and completed the enlargements which he had begun ; so that the people did their devotions there after wednesday the 23. of the moneth ramadan , in the year 358. the phadal the son of guebas told me what follows ; i ask'd ( said he ) the architect , named gali , the chemirian , who had the charge of that structure ; and he told me that what was taken out of the mint-house towards the enlargement of the spacious place is nine cubits in length , according to the great measure . sophian the son of gabdol says , citing for author naphegus , the son of othman , that there was no history recited in the mosquey in the time of the apostle of god , ( gods peace and mercy be with him , nor in the time of abubeker , omar , othman , or gali , ( gods peace be with them all ) and that practise began not till under the reign of megavius the son of abusophian . the son of lahigus saith , citing for author abuche●i● , that gali ( gods peace be with him ) went to his devotion before day , making imprecations against some of his enemies ; and that it being related to megavius , he appointed a man to recite the history after the break of day , and after sun-set , and to pray god for him , and the inhabitants of syria ; and thence began ( saith he ) the recital of history . abugamrou hath related to us , citing for author meguirus , that the first who did his devotions in the morning was gali , and they say he did not that but out of a reflection that he had a war to prosecute . we will add here a copy of what is writen upon the green tables in the ancient great mosquey of masre . the writer was abulcasem moses , the son of guise , the son of moses , the son of mu●adi the writer , god. all-mighty be merciful to him . in the name of god gracious and merciful ; god hath declared that there is no other god but he ( till he says ) in justice . there is no other god but the true god alone , without associate . he gives life and death , and he can do all things . 't is he who hath sent his apostle with good conduct , and the true religion ; and the rest of the verse . the messias will not disdain ; and the rest of the verse . great god , give thy benediction to mahumet thy servant and prophet , grant him peace ; make him the most honoured of thy creatures before thee , and the most cherish'd by thee , and and the most powerful in favour about thee , and the nearest in dignity to thee . great god , hear the prayers which mahumet makes to thee for his nation , and cause his people to descend into his fish-pool , without confusion and without affliction . gabdol the strong , commander of the faithful , hath caused this mosquey to be augmented and enlarged ; great god , give thy benediction to the commander of the faithful , thou and thy angels , encrease his reward , and make him one of thy greatest servants in happiness ; make him one of the companions of mahumet ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) in paradise ; assist him to govern well what he hath under his jurisdiction of thy servants , and of thy provinces , by making him thy lieutenant ; and cause his subjects to enjoy the happiness of good conduct in safety and assurance . he who had the oversight of the structure was corras the son of serich ; and the time wherein it was finished , is the moneth ramadan , in the ninety second year of the blessed retreat . i have heard abugamrou speak thus : the first who made arched upper-rooms was omar , the son of gabdolgueziz , ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) in the hundreth year ; and the mosqueys were made in that manner after him , having been before onely without any such room . the first of the prelates who caused the benediction and the glorification of the name of god to be pronounced by criers after him , was the prelate of chasina , whose son is now known under the name of the son of gali the prelate . before that , the prelates only pronounced that benediction to the people . i have heard him speak in these terms : these pillars of wood which are in the court , were erected the same year that the chanel was made . before that the veils were in the midst of the seeling of the great mosquey . 't is related that in the reign of the mamanus there were coffers in the great mosquey , wherein was put what remained of the portions of the poor and indigent , of what they gather'd who walked up and down the high-ways , of all the other collections which were made . these coffers or chests were opened on the friday , and they call'd with a loud voice such as would accept of those alms ; but it seldom happened that any came to receive them . then they call'd him who had gathered them , and he answered in these terms ; the charities are come into the coffers , they shall never return to me ; i leave them to the all-mighty and all-good god. the nilometer was built of the remainder of these almes ; there being not any would receive them in the time of the mamunus , gods mercy on him . one of the grandees of egypt ( god shew him mercy ) related to me , that heretofore in the lampe-street in masre , on the festival day , after the great feast of the moneth ramadan , they set kettles full of flesh , and baskets full of bread , and that they called with a loud voice such as had need thereof , as they call people to water on the high-ways ; and that it happened sometimes the greatest part remained there all night upon the place , so few would take of it . the remainder was carried to the prisoners , and they answered , we have enough to live upon , thanks be to god. the land of egypt was then the most plentiful of any in the world , the most populous , and the best cultivated , and where there was more convenience of habitation and subsistance . the masich relates in his annals , and others affirm also , that the egyptians , when they saw the nile at the highest , gave almes , released slaves , cloath'd orphans , relieved widows , and such as were destitute of succour , out of their thankfulness to god , for the kindness he did them in raising the course of the nile to its height . they relate that pharaoh , after he grew proud , and insolent , and impious , commanded a castle to be built on the descent of mount mactam ; and that his visier haman , according to this order , got workmen together from all parts of egypt ; so that there were a hundred and fifty thousand architects , with what trades-men , handy-craftsmen , and labourers were requisite . he caused brick and mortar to be made , timber to be felled , and nails to be made ; then they began their building , and raised it so high , that never any had done the like before ; for the masons were no longer able to stand on their feet to work . but the all-mighty and all-good god about sun-set sent gabriel ( gods peace be with him ) who smote the castle with his wing , and cleft it into three pieces , one whereof fell on pharaoh's army , where it kill'd a thousand men ; another fell into the sea , and appeared there like a high mountain ; and the third fell into the western land. there was not so much as one of the coptites who wrought within it saved , they all peperish'd . they relate that thereupon pharaoh was so proud , as to cast an arrow at heaven ; god willing to try him , returned his arrow to him all bloody ; whereupon he cry'd out , i have killed moses's god. god is infinitely above what impious men can do ; he does what he pleases with his servants . god therefore at that very time sent gabriel , who did to the castle as we have related . one of those who were impious , and proud , and arrogant in the land of egypt , was caron the cup-bearer ; he was an israelite , cousin-german to moses , ( gods peace be with him ) for caron was the son of jashar , the son of caheb , and moses was the son of gamran , the son of caheb . others say moses was caron's sisters son ; he was called caron the bright , by reason of the beauty of his face . he was the most diligent of the children of israel in the reading of moses's law , but he became a hypocrite , as the samerian was , and said ; since the prophecy belonged to moses , and the sacrifice , and the oblation , and the knowledge of the law to aaron , what remains there for me ? they relate that moses having brought the chil-of israel through the sea , gave caron a commission to interpret the law , and to collect the offerings , and made him one of the chiefs . the offerings belonged then to moses , but he bestowed them on his brother , whereat caron was troubled , and envy'd them both , and spoke thus to them ; behold now the command is come absolutly into your hands , and i have nothing to do with the affairs of the children of israel ; how long shall i suffer this ? it is god , reply'd moses , who thus disposes of things . i will not believe it , reply'd caron , if you do not confirm it to me by a miracle . then moses commanded the children of israel to come all to him , every one with his rod ; then he ty'd all those rods together , and cast them into the tent , where god ordinarily revealed his will to him . they kept a guard about the rods all night , and the next morning they found aaron's rod shaking with the wind , covered all over with green leaves . that rod was made of a branch of almond-trees . this is no more miraculous ( said caron ) then what the magicians daily perform . he became thence forward more impious then before , more wicked , more envious , and more malicious against moses and aaron , as god affirms in his book , when he saith , caron was of the people of moses , but he was unjust towards them . injustice here signifies a persecution without any cause , and a malicious and irrational dispute . others affirm that pharao appointed caron to govern the children of israel , and that he treated them injuriously and tyrannically . tyranny ( they say ) proceeds from greatness , that is , from the eminence and advantage which any one hath over others . the advantage he had over them was grounded on his great wealth , and the multitude of his children . he made ( say they ) his garments larger by a span then theirs ; his keys ( say they ) that is the keys of his store-houses , were carried by sixty mules ; evere store-house had its key , and every key was but a finger long ; they were of leather . some affirm , expounding that passage of the book of the all-mighty and all-good god , where it is said of him , i have not received it , but according to the knowledge which is within me ; that he was the best skilled of his time in the law of moses . on the contrary , others affirm he was skilled in chemistry ; saguid the son of musib says , that moses had the science of chemistry , and that he taught a third purt of it to josuah , the son of nun , a third to caleb , the son of jethnas , and a third to caron , but that caron served the other two so well , that he learnt the whole science from them both , and that afterwards he took lead and copper , and changed it into pure gold. others affirm that moses taught his sister chemistry , inasmuch as his devotion made him despise gold , and that his sister taught it caron , who was her husband . they relate that moses said , it was a provision for the life of this world , and that he had no need thereof , because it was a perishable thing , and far distant from the truth , which is all-mighty god , and that he quitted what was perishable , which his devotion permitted him not to desire , and satisfy'd himself with what was neer all-mighty god. they say that caron went abroad one day on a white mule he had , covered with a foot-cloth of purple , and a golden saddle , accompany'd by four thousand young men , and three hundred beautiful young maids , clad in silk , and set out with jewels and ornaments of great value , and divers colours ; so that he had marching on his right hand three hundred young men , and on his left three hundred young maids . others say he went abroad on horse-back attended by ninety thousand servants men and maids , who belonged to him , young men and young maids all marriageable . they relate that he gave very reproachful words to moses , and the children of israel , priding himself in his great wealth , moses taking much at his hands for kindred sake , and not willing to be incensed against him , till the ordinance for the payment of tiths came down . then moses made an agreement with caron , that of a thousand crowns of gold he should pay one , and of a thousand drachmes one . but his soul grew the more covetous , by reason of the great quantity of gold and silver which he had , after he had counted it , and found so much . he thereupon assembled the children of israel , and began to make speeches to them , and spoke to them in these terms ; moses has hitherto dealt with you as he pleased himself , and now he would take away your goods . you are our lord and master ( reply'd they ) command us to do what you think good . we must ( said he ) corrupt such a one , naming a woman of a lewd life , and induce her to calumniate moses , so as that he may be suspected to have had some dealings with her , that the children of israel may be put out of the good opinion they have of him , and have an aversion for him , and at last quite forsake him . they promised that debauch'd woman a 1000. crowne of gold ; others say a basin full of gold . then the day of one of their festivals being come , moses stood up to speak to them ; and after he had praised god , and given thanks , he spoke thus ; o ye children of israel , god commands you & me also , that if any one among us be a thief , we should put him away from us ; if any one commit fornication , and be not married , we should punish him with the whip , and if he be married , we should stone him . and if you your self have committed those crimes , o moses , said caron . yes , reply'd moses , though it were my self . certainly reply'd caron , the children of israel believe that you have sinned with such a woman , naming the debauched woman . moses having heard these words sent for the woman , and charged her by him who had divided the sea , and sent the law from heaven , to declare the truth . then god of his mercy , touched the womans heart , and she spoke thus : by the true god , those who say it speak an untruth ; but true it is , that caron and his people have promised me a reward if i testify'd that you had sinned with me , o great prophet , who have spoken to god. then moses fell down to the ground , and worshipped god weeping , and made this prayer to him ; o lord , if i am thy apostle , avenge me , for it is impossible for me to endure those who have not thy fear before their eyes . and god revealed his will to him , speaking thus : command the earth to do what thou desirest , and by my permission it shall obey thee . moses lift up his head , and said to the people ; o ye children of israel , god hath sent me to caron as he sent me to pharao ; let such of you as are of his party stand near him . they all withdrew from caron , save onely two men , who continued obstinate in their wrath , their imposture , and their malice . then moses spoke thus ; o earth take them . immediately the earth swallowed them three up to the waste . moses said again , o earth take them ; and the earth took them in up to the neck . then caron and his two companions began to entreat moses to be merciful to them ; but moses made no account of their prayers , for he was too much incensed . on the contrary he pronounced the third time the same words , o earth take them , and detain them in thy bowels till the day of judgment . then the earth swallow'd them up quite , and closed over their heads . then said god to moses : o moses , thou art very inhumane , my creatures implored thy mercy several times , and thou hast not had compassion on them . by my greatness , and by my glory , had they but once called upon me , they should have found me favourable , and ready to hear them . after that ( said the author ) those of the children of israel who were not wise , began to say ; moses has not made imprecations against caron , but to possess himself after his death of his tteasures , and his house . moses hearing of this was angry at it , and prayed to god that the house of caron and all his goods might be swallowed into the bottom of the earth . the all-mighty and all-good god testifies it himself , when he speaks thus ; and we have made him and his house to descend into the bowels of the earth ; he means caron : and no man can relieve him against god , and he was not of those who are relieved . they relate that the commander of the faithful , omar ( gods peace be with him ) writ a letter to gamrou , the son of gasus , who commanded in egypt , after he had conquered it , and had disposed of the affairs thereof , and had imposed the tribute on such as he had received by composition , as well the coptites , as the other inhabitants of it . behold the tenure of that letter : from gabdol omar , the son of chettab , to gamrou the son of gasus , god give you his peace , o gamrou , and his mercy , and his benedictions , and to all the mussulmans generally . after that , i give god thanks for the favours he hath done you ; there is no other god but he , and i pray him to bless mahumet and his family . i know , o gamrou , by by the relation which hath been made me thereof , that the province whereof you have the government , is pleasant and well fortify'd , well cultivated , and very populous ; that the pharaos and the amalekites have reigned there , that they have display'd therein the marks of their greatness , and of their pride , imagining they were eternal , and taking where they had not made any accompt . but now god hath established you in their habitations , and put into your power their wealth , their servants , and their children , and made you inheritor of their land ; praise , and blessing , and thanks be to him . to him belongs honour and glory . when you have received this my letter , write me the particular qualities of egypt , as well in respect of the land as the sea , and make me know it as if i had seen it my self . god preserve you . gamrou having received this letter , and seen what it contained , answered omar , ( gods peace be with him ) and writ to him in these terms : from gabdol gamrou , the son of gasus , the son of vail , the sa●amian , to the successor of the apostle of god , ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) omar the son of chettab , commander of the faithful , one of the chaliphs according to the right way , whose letter i have received and read , and understood his intention ; wherefore i will dispel from his spirit the cloud of uncertainty , by the truth of my discourse . from god comes strength and power , and all things return to him . know lord commander of the faithful , that the countrey of egypt is nothing but a blackish soil , and green plants between a dusty mountain and a reddish sand. between its mountain and its sand there are high-raised plains , and levelled eminences . it is surrounded by an ascent which supplies it with provisions , and is in compass from syene to the extremities of the land , and the side of the sea , a moneths riding for a man on horse-back . through the midst of the countrey there runs a river , blest in the morning , and favoured of heaven at night , which rises and falls according to the course of the sun and moon . it hath its time , wherein the springs and sources of the earth are opened to it , according to the command given them by its creator , who governs and dispenses its course , to supply the province with sustenance ; and it follows according to the order prescribed it , till such time as its waters being risen , and its waves rolling with noise , and its surges being come to their greatest elevation , the inhabitants of the countrey cannot pass from one village to another , but in little boats , and a man sees the little wherryes turning to and ●ro , as white and black camels in the imaginations of the people . then when it is come to this condition . behold it begins to return back , and to confine it self within its chanels , as it came out of it before , and rose up by little and little . and then the most forward , and the most slothful prepare themselves for labour , they are scattered up and down the fields in multitudes , the people of the law , whom god preserve , and the people of alliance , whom men protect ; they are seen stirring to and fro like ants , some weak , others strong , and wearying themselves out at the task imposed upon them ; for that is not obaained of them by their good will , but by force and constraint , by ill-treating and oppressing them . they are seen searching into the earth , and turning up so much of it as hath been overflown , and casting into it all sorts of grain , which they hope ( with the assistance of god ) will multiply therein . and it will not be long ere the earth puts off the black hew of its manure , and cloaths it self in green , and casts forth a pleasant scent ; while it produces stalks , and leaves , and ears , making a delightful show , and giving a good hope , the dew of heaven watering it from above , and the moisture giving nourishment to its productions from beneath . sometime there come certain clouds , with a little rain , sometimes there fall onely certain drops of water , and sometimes none at all . after that , lord commander of the faithful , the earth displayes her beauties , and makes a triumph of her favours , cheering up the inhabitants , and assuring them of a good harvest of her fruits , for the sustenance of them and their cattel , and to be transported elsewhere , and to make their beasts multiply . she appears now ( lord commander of the faithful ) like dusty ground , then presently it is a blewish sea , and as it were a white pearl , then like black dirt , then as green taffata , then as a piece of embrodery of divers colours , then like a fount of molten gold. then they harvest their corn , which being thrash'd out passes afterward diversly among men , some taking what belongs to them , and others what does not belong to them . this vicissitude returns every year , every thing in its season , according to the order and providence of the all-mighty ; may that great god be ever praised , blessed be he , the best of creatures . as to what is necessary for the carrying on of these works , and what should make the countrey populous , and well cultivated , maintain it in a good condition , and make it advance from good to better , according to what hath been told us by such as are acquainted therewith , as having had the government of it in their hands , we have made a particular observation of three things ; the first is , not to credit the malicious discourses of the meaner sort of people , against the chiefest of the countrey , because they are envious , and unthankful for the good which is done them . the second is , to lay out one third of the tribute raised therein towards the reparation of bridges , and causeys . and the third is , not to raise the tribute out of any species , till it be in its perfection . this is the description of egypt , lord commander of the faithful , whereby you may know it , as if you had seen it your self . god continue you in your good conduct , and make you happily manage your empire , and assist you to undergo the charge he hath imposed on you , and inspire you with an acknowledgment of the favours he hath done you . peace be with you ; may god be praised , and assist with his favours and benedictions our lord mahumet , and those of his house , and those of his party . the commander of the faithful omar ( gods mercy on him ) having read ( says the author ) gamrou's letter , spoke thus ; he hath made an exquisite description of the land of egypt and its appurtenances ; he hath design'd it so well , that it cannot be mistaken by such as are capable of knowing things . praised be god , o assembly of mussulmans , for the favours he hath done you , by bringing you into the possession of egypt , and other countries . he it is whose assistance we all ought to implore . they relate , that when the house of gamrou , the son of gasus , was demolish'd and made part of the great mosquey of masre , there was found in a corner a stone , on which these verses were written : slight not a favourable occasion , wherein thou maist stretch forth thy hand to do some good ; we live but to die , and death is deceitfull ; from one hour to another , there is a change of affairs . they relate also that while the same gamrou was governour of egypt certain coptites came , and made evil reports to him against certain persons , about affairs which he knew nothing of , thinking by that means to insinuate themselves into his favour , and be powerful about him ; but he reproved them of it saying ; o ye coptites , who are here assembled , know that when any one comes to give us evil reports of his brother , we shall advance his brother to higher dignity , and debase the detractor , for the detractor envies the prosperity of his neighbour , and endeavours to ruine him ; the cauldrons of his malice boil in his breast , so that it rises up into his tongue , and these wicked discourses are the smoke of that fire which sets them a boyling . he said also ( gods peace be with him ) he who makes ill reports to thee , calumniates thy self ; he who speaks ill to thee of another , speaks ill of thy self . he said sometimes to his captains , and those whom he employed about his affairs ; use me not as a dagger to stab people withall . shew your selves kind and obliging to all , for who would live in peace must practise it . be carefull to secure the high-ways , and protect travellers ; punish the wicked , that they may be kept in by fear , and that the marchant be in safety ; strive not with the weak for the things whereof they are possessed ; claim not the thing wherewith they sustain themselves ; eat not of their bread in their houses , that you may have no remorse of conscience . understand you not what is read to you out of the book of your lord , which was inspired into the heart of your prophet ? ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) he will not desire your goods of you , that you might not mutually desire them one of another , and that you be not covetous in your hearts , and that that may not make a discovery of your maliciousness . abunasre of the west ( gods mercy on him ) in the book of the histories of egypt , which god continue populous and well cultivated , says , that on the castle-gate at masre , in the time of the romans , before the mussulmans conquered egypt , there was near the great gate of the church of mugalleca , called the gate of grace , an idol of brass , in the form of a camel , with the figure of a man riding on him , having an arabian turbant on his head , and his bow over his shoulder , and shoes on his feet . the romans and the coptites , when any one injured or unjustly persecuted another , came to that statue , and standing before it , he who suffered the injury said to him who did it ; give me what belongs to me , otherwise i will make my complaint to that cavalier , who will oblige thee to do me right by fair means or by foul . by that cavalier they meant mahumet , ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) for it is written among them in the law of moses and the gospel , where the countenance and posture of mahumet is described ; he shall ride or the camel , and have shoes on ; he shall carry the arabian bow , and have a turbant on his head : gods peace and mercy be with him . when gamrou came to egypt to conquer it , he and the mussulmans ( gods peace be with them ) the romans perceiving they would certainly be subdued , and not doubting of the victory of the mussulmans , hid that statue under ground , that it might not serve the mussulmans for an argument against them in the dispute . i have heard ( says the son of lahigus ) that that statue had continued in that place several thousands of years , and that they knew not who had made it ; god knows how it stands . this story minds me of another , which is this ; the sultan the malcolcamel , mahumet the son of abubeker , the son of job ( gods mercy on him ) sent the son of sagad ambassador into one of the islands of andalouzia , the soveraign whereof ( as i think ) was the emperour . this ambassador returning , related to the sultan what strange things he had seen in the island . he told him among other things he had seen , opposite to a church belonging to the romans , a statue of stone in the form of an ass , with a man upon it , set on a square pedestal , so that the statue and the pedestal were all of a piece , of a black bright stone ; and all who entered into the church , or came out of it , did spit upon the statue , and railed at it , then turned away from it . i ask'd the king ( continued the sagadian as he related this story ) as i sate with him , what figure that was , and he told me that the romans thought it a statue of the prince of the mussulmans . whereupon ( added he ) i felt my self smitten with the zeal of the mussulman religion , which obliged me to speak thus to him ; certainly great king , this people is ill informed of that statue , and the opinion they have of it far from any likelihood of truth . why ? said the king. because ( said i ) he whom they imagine it represent , never rid but upon camels ; on the contrary , 't is the messias ( gods peace be with him ) who rode on an ass . the king thereupon sent for a company of priests and monks , and related my discours to them , and they doubted not but that i had reason , and spoke the truth , which made them presently consider what they should do with that figure . the result was , that ere next day was over , they prepared it a chappel , where they lodg'd it in the church , afterwards burning incense before it , and cloathing it with silk , and making a procession about it , and doing it great honours with much devotion . this was a business ( said they ) which was concealed from us . this figure had not been set up in this countrey , had it not been the figure of the messias ; for this is not the countrey of the mussulmans , and their prince never came thither . he who related this story , said to the sultan ; have i sinned in doing so ? no , by the true god , said the sultan , on the the contrary , you have done well , and deserved reward ; since what you did was out of the good zeal you had for the mussulman religion , and the service of the prophet , gods peace and mercy be with him . as to the statue , that is it which the christians adore , and wherein they put their hope . the sangian relates in his ancient annals , that one of the caliphs of this province caused tribute to be paid at great constantinople , and that geuhar general of the armies of mugazzoldinil built the city of cairo , which was called from the name of the chaliph , cairo of the mugazzoldinil , and founded the castles . they say he dilated his conquests as far as damas , before the mugazzoldinil entered into egypt . they relate , that in the seventh year of the prophet's retreat , god replenish him with his favours and benedictions , chatteb the son of abubalig came into egypt from the mucaux , bringing along with him mary the egyptian , and another young lady , which they said was her sister , and that the apostle of god ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) bestow'd her on chasan the son of thabet , who had by her his son gabdorrachaman . his mule was a great hedghog , and his ass a wild goat . the mucaux , who was then cesar's lieutenant in egypt , made him a present of all that . gabdolaglai the othmanidan relates what follows ; i said one day to the son of sagad , the egyptian lawyer , ( gods mercy on him ) tell us something , whereby we may know the excellency of the countrey of egypt . to that purpose ( said he ) 't were sufficient to tell what historirians relate of the son of masgud , and what the prophet ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) said to him of egypt before he died . we were together ( said the son of masgud ) in the house of our mother gaisa , ( gods peace be with he ▪ ) and the apostle of god ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) cast his eye on us , being pressed with pain , with tears in his eyes , and declared to us , that he should die within a short time , speaking to us in these terms ; you are welcome , god give you a good and a long life , god preserve you , god govern you , god unite you , god protect you , god make you prosper , god raise you to honour , god give you peace . i i recommend to you the fear of god , and i recommend you to the all-mighty and all-good god , and i pray him to have a care of you , after me . o apostle of god ( said we to him , when will your day be ? the time is very neer , ( said he ) behold i return to god , and to the garden of retirement , and the paradise above . who shall wash you ( said we ) o apostle of god ? the men of my house ( reply'd he ) according to the order of their nearness . in what shall we bury you , o apostle of god ? ( said we . ) in my garments , if you please , ( said he ) or in those of the happy arabia , or in the white ones of egypt . who shall make the prayer for you , o apostle of god ? ( said we weeping . ) trouble not your selves for that ; ( said he ) god be merciful to you , and reward you for the care you have of your prophet . when you have wash'd me , and laid me into a sheet , put me into my coffin , which is here by the side of my tomb , then depart from me for a while , till my good friend gabriel hath prayed for me , and after him michael , then esraphiel , then the angel of death , with many other angels , whom god bless ; after that return to me , and come near me one after another , and pray god heartily to grant me peace and mercy ; and forbear importuning me with cries , weeping , and lamentations . the first who shall make the prayer for me , shall be the men of my own house , then their wives , then you . continue in peace with those of my companions who are at a great distance from me ; and with those who have followed me in my religion , till the day of the resurrection . i make you witnesses of the benediction which i give all those who have embraced the mussulman religion . this is the testament which the prophet ( god grant him peace and mercy ) made before his death . it suffices for the glory of egypt , that he mention'd it at his death , and that he ordered they should bury him in the white garments of egypt . what greater glory can there be then that ! the incomparable old man , doctor of the sayings and actions of the prophet abugabdol mahumet , the son of negaman ( gods peace be with him ) relates , upon the credit of him from whom he heard it , that the apostle of god ( god grant him peace and mercy ) spoke one day in these terms ; the hand of god is upon egypt , the inhabitants of it are favoured with a particular protection from god , and with a happy prosperity . the ancient abugabdol explicating these words of the prophet , speaks thus ; that hand signifies power and divine assistance . guebad the son of mahumet , ( gods peace be with him ) speaks thus ; sitting one day in the great ancient mosquery of masre , which god preserve , i heard a citizen who related it as a thing which he had learnt from some great person , that it was on a time asked one of the sages of egypt , what is the most delightful thing that ever you saw ? fruit ( reply'd he ) when they appear clustered all about the trees and plants like clouds , which closely follow one another . what was the best thing you did ever eat ? what was presented to me ( said he ) in a quiet place , without trouble and disturbance , when i have been very hungry . what was the most pleasant drink you ever tasted ? the remainders ( said he ) of the overflowing of the nile of egypt in the spring time . what was the most delightful thing you ever heard ? the eloquent voice ( said he ) of a person reading the alcoran , and pronouncing it distinctly , without singing and without artifice . in what did you find your self most commodiously clad ? in linnen half worn out ( reply'd he ) in summer , and in any other cloath or stuffe in winter . do you find any thing better then that ? yes ( reply'd he ) health . it is related of one of lawyers of egypt ( god shew him mercy ) that he said ; i have heard a man who related in the tent of the commander of the faithful gamrou the son of gasus ( gods peace be with him ) or over against it , as a thing which he had from mecdad the son of magdaquerbe , the zebidian , that the prophet ( gods peace and mercy be with him ) spoke thus ; no man can eat any thing better in this world then what he eats by the labour of his hands . for the prophet of god david liv'd by the labour of his hands . 't is related of bara ( gods peace be with him ) that he said thus upon this occasion ; the prophets and devout persons , have always endeavoured to get their livelihood by lawful ways ; adam ( gods peace be with him ) was a labourer , seth a weaver , edrisus a taylor , noah a carpenter , cadar a mule-keeper , david an armourer , abraham a sower of seeds , others say a weaver of lawn , salich a marchant , moses and saguib , and mahumet , ( gods peace and mercy be with them ) were shepherds , locman a taylor , jesus the son of mary a pilgrim , abubeker , and omar , and othman , and gali , and gabdorrachaman , the son of guph , and talche , were merchants trading in cypres and lawnes , maimoune the son of meharam , and mahumet the son of sirin , were also lawn-merchants , zebir the son of gauam , and gamrou the son of gasus , and gamer the son of carir were silk-merchants , job the skinner sold goats-skins , sagad the son of abuvacas drove a trade in dyers woad , othman the son of mahumet the lachamian was a taylor , malich the son of dinar was a writer . neguim the deaf ( god grant him mercy ) related to my what follows ; there was ( said he ) in the caraph at masre a devout man , who stood every friday at the gate of the great old mosquey , of the same side with gamrou's house , after the prelate had concluded the prayer , and cry'd out with a loud voice ; there is no other god but the great god alone , without associate ; it is he who reings ; he ought to be praised ; life and death proceed from him ; he ever lives and never dies ; that which is good is in his hand ; to him all things return ; he is able to do all things . all those who heard him repeated what he said , till there remained but few persons in the mosquey ; then at last he said ; o assembly of the faithful , he who abstains from things forbidden , obtains remission of his sins ; he who is content with what god sends him , hath wealth enough ; he who eschews evil , is in safety . he ceased not to do this , till god call'd him , god grant him mercy . he lies buried in the cemitery of masre , which god protect against its enemies , and keep in his holy custody , amen . it is in god we hope , it is good to wait upon him ; god grant peace to our lord mahumet , and to those of his house , and those of his party , and fill him with his benedictions . behold the book finish'd by the grace of our glorious lord ; let him be praised , and exalted , and glorify'd . this copy ( which god bless ) was finished in writing , the 14th . day of the venerable moneth regebe , in the year 992. at tibe the noble , god bless her nobility , and replenish her with his favours . tibe is a city in arabia , according to the geuharian . the 14th . of regebe 992. corresponds to the 22. of july 1584. finis . a catalogue of books printed for thomas basset , and are to be sold at his shop at the george near cliffords inne in fleet-street . various histories and miscellaneous discourses , &c. 1. cosmography 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london : printed by r. battersby for thomas bassett , bookseller at the george near cliffords inne in fleetstreet . 1672. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a51638-e6680 the author's prayer . * the arabian hath 20. proper names , which for brevity's jake are omitted . the author's design . the priests of egypt . the cater . effects of of the magick of the egyptian priests . gancam king and priest . a castle built by spirit . sources of the nile . the priestess borsa . her pipes . her ram. house of adamant . nabuchodonozor . ga iac son of gancam . his braz●n tr●e . philemo● . saiouph . a maritrine pyramid . pharaan king of egypt . masar king of egypt . eardesir king and priest . the priestess bedoura . hermes . the danae . outiratis . the city of the black eagle . saurid the son of sahaloc . aclimon . pyramids . sauria's mirrour . the nurse idol . the idol becres . the two great pyramids . pyramids built before the deluge . armelius . abum . the annals of two brothers , coptites . the three pyramids . the colour'd pyramid . seven orders of priests . guards of the pyramids . stories of the pyramids . story i. story ii. story iii. story iv. story v. predictions made to king saurid . nabuchodonozor . the spirits of the pyramids . saurid's death . hargib saurid's son. addicted to chemistry . domeria . menaos . history of the deluge and noah . adam . seth. enos . cainan . mahalel . jared . edrisus . mechavel king. the name edrisus . hermes . matusalech . malec . noah . king darmasel . mechavel son of darmasel . saudib . philemon . the ark. mechavel would fire the ark. the deluge . different o inious of the deluge . history of noah , according to an ancient book found by the author . noah's wife . 〈◊〉 . 2156 years from adam to the deluge . the elephant sneezes out a swine , the lion a cat. the vine , and the part the devil hath in it . noah's shrine . the venom of the scorpion and the serpent . the kings of egypt before the deluge . pharaan . philemon . pharaan . masar king of egypt . garisa . coptim , father of the coptites . maca. moncatam's chemistry . mirrour of racoda . pharos of alexandria . noah's prayer for masar . masar's tomb. kings of egypt after the deluge . history of abraham and totis king of egypt . charoba tatis's da ghter . abraham's prayer for charoba . a chanel out of the nile into the red sea. totis called the just . totis a tyrant , the first of the pharaos . charoba poisons her father , and reigns after him . history of gebirus and charoba . alexandria . the nymph marina . painters in the bottom of the sea. the seven tombs . charoba's nurse defeats gebirus and his army . charoba's death . dalica queen of egypt . the kings of egypt after dalica . notes for div a51638-e18700 words of mahumet advantageous to egypt . augmentation of the nile . a young virgin sacrificed for that end . pharao . haman . sources of the nile . causes of ●s overflowing . the q●lities of eg●pt . the history of the ez●pti●● slave . qualities of egypt . the nubians . gamra and zep●ta . belsa son of the coptesse . omar . the 〈◊〉 〈…〉 mamunus . barbarians . the rajan joseph's pharao . geouna . strabo calls these kinds of lands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . manhi . lahon . the name of alphiom . joseph . alphiom ii. geomery . the nilometer . alphiom iii. alphiom iv. it s revenue . joseph's prison . the place of jacob's camel. zelicha joseph ' s mistress . caphor's prayer . joseph's prayer . gize . the pyramids . macherir the blind man. mussulman doemons . the piramids . babelain . babylon . quisias the son of caltham . the front of the mosquey . the augmentations of the mosquey of masre . reading of history in the mosquey . the green tables of the mosquey of masre . pharao's castle . caron the wealthy , who is corah . chemistry . omars letter to gamrou . gamrou's answer to omar . a statue of mahumet at masre . another statue of mahumet . cairo . mary of egypt . the last words of mahumet . other words of mahumet . the words of a sage of egypt . the prophets and devout persons liv'd by their labour . the cryes of a devote at the mosquey-gate of masre . the history of algiers and it's slavery with many remarkable particularities of africk / written by the sieur emanuel d'aranda, sometime a slave there ; english'd by john davies ... relation de la captivité du sieur emanuel d'aranda. english aranda, emanuel d', b. 1602. 1666 approx. 476 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 145 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2006-06 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a25743 wing a3595 estc r12929 12203450 ocm 12203450 56140 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a25743) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 56140) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 118:9) the history of algiers and it's slavery with many remarkable particularities of africk / written by the sieur emanuel d'aranda, sometime a slave there ; english'd by john davies ... relation de la captivité du sieur emanuel d'aranda. english aranda, emanuel d', b. 1602. davies, john, 1625-1693. [19], 270 p. printed for john starkey ..., london : 1666. translation of: relation de la captivité et liberté du sieur emanvel d'aranda. french ed. published in 1557. cf. nouv. biog. gen. reproduction of original in british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng slavery -algeria -algiers -personal narratives. algiers (algeria) -history. 2005-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-09 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-01 ali jakobson sampled and proofread 2006-01 ali jakobson text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion how the christian slaues are beaten at algiers . the history of algiers and it's slavery . with many remarkable particularities of africk . written by the sieur emanvel d' aranda , sometime a slave there . english'd by john davies of kidwelly . london , printed for john starkey , at the mitre in fleetstreet , within temple-bar . m.dc.lxvi . to the honorable sir philip howard . worthy sir , i happen'd to wait on your honour , when a relation was brought you , of the treatment , which some of our nation , taken by the dutch , in the last years engagements , receiv'd among them . vpon the hearing of that , and a reflection on what i had read in the ensuing treatise , i imagin'd to my self , what parallel might be made between the slavery at a●g●ers , and the restraint at amsterdam , and ▪ other places in the netherlands ▪ and , abstracting from the obligations of a christian perswasion on the one side , i weigh'd the actions of both , by the ballance of that generosity , which may be expected from an enemy . the result was , an inclination to believe , that down-right mahumetisme may rise up in judgement against the feign'd professions of christianity in a low-country people , exemplary for their persidiousness to their greatest benefactors the english . having thereupon fix'd my thoughts on the rendring of this piece of the slavery of algiers into english , i withall resolv'd to dedicate it to that person , whose easiness of access , even when the last years contagion was neer the height of it's rage ( a singular favour to a person of my station ) had given me the occasion of doing it . it hath pleas'd that invisible hand , which guides all humane actions , to answer the wishes i made at a great distance hence , to wit , that , at my return , i might find your honor ( as i have ) in perfect health . which indulgence of heaven fills me with hopes , that a life so miraculously preserv'd , will , for the future , be as miraculously continu'd . i flatter my self with a presumption of your pardon , for the roughness of this address , especially when i reflect on the many favours i have receiv'd from your honour since the happiness of my first being known to you . these i must confess have been so great , that they require , not only an acknowledgement , but also a publick profession of my being , worthy sir , your honours most humble , and much obliged servant j. davies . advertisement . concerning the author and the work. ' t is commonly said , that , by the pattern , a man may judge of the whole piece ; so , from the miseries endur'd by the person , from whom we have the ensuing relation , it may the more easily be inferr'd , what is suffer'd by forty thousand , reduc'd to the same wretched condition of captivity . what he writes therefore is not to be look'd on as a kind of romance , to please such as fondly imagine , that most of what is acted on the stages of remote countries is onely the issue of insinuating fiction ; but as a sincere and plain relation of that diversity of strange accidents and adventures , good or bad , which happen'd to himself or others , during the time of his slavery . whereof having given a particular account , from the beginning of his misfortunes , to his happy return into his native country , he afterwards comes to give an exact , but short one , of the antiquity of the city of algiers and its reduction under the power of the turks ; wherein may be seen many particular remarks relating to africk . at last , he closes up the work with fifty relations , which he names particular , as happening to divers persons , his fellow-captives , either during the time of his slavery , or not long before , or after it . from all which may be inferr'd the strange uncertainties , whereto humane affairs are subject ; and what advantages some make of their afflictions , and how irreformable others are in theirs . it was our authors fortune to be acquainted with his , while he was yet very young ; and it may well be imagin'd , that they have contributed much to his a●ter-advancement . of which we shall give the reader onely the satisfaction of the ensuing coppy of verses , printed before the french edition , which came forth the last year , and so ease him of all further advertisements at this time . j. d. nobili consultissimoque domino , d. emanueli d'aranda , i.v.l. regiae maj. cath. a consiliis , & in districtu brugensi , & territorio franconatensi , justitiae militaris praefecto , uti de vera libertate gratulatur , ita perpetuam felicitatem apprecatur otho sperlins , phil. & med. d. tu qui , magnorum nunquam non dignus avorum , barbaricas inter puppes , piratica monstra , cerbereosque canes , caelum jus , fasque perosos , triste jugum vultu didice isti ferre sereno , sortis aranda tu faber es , tu pictor aranda , exant latorum terraque marique laborum . has inter spinas , atque haec dumeta , vepresque haec tibi lecta rosa est , viridi dignissima cedro , publica doctorum quam nunc par pulpita spargis . macte animi fortis ! non haec sine numine divum contigerunt , nec erunt magni sine munere regis hesperii , tales sueti pensare labores . at vos , queis curae est , alieno audire periclo , quid labor , & quantum paupertas sobria possit ; discite vos quantum patientia possit inermis , discite quam nullo libertas vaeneat auro , discite inexperti , merces quam grata laborum . a table of the particular relations . a relation of the captivity and slavery of the sieur emanuel d' aranda page 1 a short account of the antiquity of the city of algiers p. 75 how the city of algiers came under the power of the turks p. 79 of the scituation , strength and government of the city of algiers p. 97 emanuel d' aranda's particular relations during the time of his slavery . relation 1. the history of a religious man , a spaniard , a slave at algiers p. 109 rel. 2. of the gallantry of a dutch captain , who with one ship engag'd against five turkish galleys and two bregantines , and worsted them . p. 115 rel. 3. the constancy and perseverance of a christian slave in her religion p. 120 rel. 4. ignorant persons imagine strange things p. 122 rel. 5. of five turkish-slaves who ma●e a strange escape by meeting a dunkirk-pyrate p. 125 rel. 6. a strange effect of an abhominable love p. 126 rel. 7. of two unfortunate slaves who were put into the masmora at tituan p. 127. rel. 8. of a portuguez gentleman taken and brought to algiers p. 130 rel. 9. a new slave ought to be distrustful of all people p. 135 rel. 10. of a new married couple taken by the turks and brought to algiers p. 138 rel. 11. of the ingratitude of a portuguez slave p. 140 rel. 12. the custom of bewailing the dead at algiers p. 142 rel. 13. of the inconsiderate zeal , and the prudent p. 144 rel. 14. two examples of liberality and gratitude p. 146 rel. 15. of the celebration of marriage at algiers p. 149 rel. 16. necessity is the mother of diligence and industry p. 152 rel. 17. of a religious-man of the order of the discalceate carmelites , a slave , and his patron alli pegelin p. 159 rel. 18. the use of poison is very common in africk p. 162 rel. 19. the turks keep their words p. 165 rel. 20. none so cautious but wine and women may betray p. 168 rel. 21. a way to cure the pox at algiers without the help of either doctor or surgeon p. 172 rel. 22. of a french-man who would have turn'd turk , but continu'd a christian in spight of his teeth p. 173 rel. 23. of the simplicity of a young jewess p. 174. rel. 24. of the prudent retirement of a pyrate p. 176 rel. 25. how god provides for such as intend well p. 178 rel. 26. a pleasant piece of simplicity of a dunkirker , a slave p. 180 rel. 27. the odd traverses of fortune that happen to slaves p. 182 rel. 28. a slave makes use of any thing for hi● livelihood p. 186 rel. 29. of the fidelity of a husband , and the unfaithfulness of his wife p. 188 rel. 30. a scuffle between the spanish and the portuguez slaves p. 192 rel. 31. a slave ought to be distrustful of the great kindness of his patron p. 193 rel. 32. of a religious man , a slave at algiers , who out of weakness renounc'd the christian religion , and afterwards repenting suffer'd martyrdom p. 196 rel. 33. of the design we had to render our selves master of the ship which brought us to tituan p. 200 rel. 34. curiosity is satisfied by time and patience p. 203 rel. 35. the innocent accus'd p. 207 rel. 36. fidelity , constancy , recompence and gratitude p. 209 rel. 37. a wrack in the haven p. 212 rel. 38. the adventures of philip de cherf of ulamertingue , knight of the order of saint james p. 213 rel. 39. what happen'd between my companion in slavery m. caloen , and his old patroness p. 227 rel. 40. revenge , malice and industry p. 234 rel. 41. the renegad●-engineer p. 238 rel. 42. the disappointment p. 242 rel. 43. of the impious dutifulness of an iseland-slave p. 247 rel. 44. the unfortunate adventurers p. 250 rel. 45. superstitious piety p. 254 rel. 46. avarice mask'd p. 257 rel. 47. the imaginary slavery p. 259 rel. 48. the execrable revenge p. 263 rel. 49. that the turks prefer mony before love p. 266 rel. 50. the counterfeit hypocrisie p. 268 there is newly printed the history of the c●aribby islands , viz. barbado's st. christopher , a●tego martinico , dominico , ba●●onthos , mevis , st. martin , &c. being twenty eight in number , in two books containing the natur●l and moral history of those country's , adorned with many sculptures of all divers rarieties in those islands , englished by john davies . in folio . also , another collection of philosophical conferences of the french v●rtuosi upon questions of all sorts for the improving of natural knowledge ; made in the assembly of the beaux esprits at paris , by the most ingenious persons of that nation . englished by g. havers and j. davies . in folio . medicina instaurata , or a brief account of the true grounds and principles of the art of physick , with the insufficiency of the vulgar way of preparing medicines , and the excellency of such as are made by chymical operation , with a light to the true preparation of animal and vegetable arcana's , with a discovery of the true subject of the philosophical mineral mercury , and some light to the preparation and ●se of the said mercury in the dissolution of minerals and metals for physical use , by edward bolnest med. lond. with an epistolary discourse on the whole by the author of medela medicinae . in octavo . all three to be sold by john starkey at the miter in fleet-street neer temple-bar . a relation of the captivity and liberty of the sieur , emanvel d' aranda . having continu'd a whole year in spain , in order to the design i had to see that kingdom , and learn the language , i made account to return into flanders ; but whereas , at my coming from england , i had landed at st. lucars , and had in that voyage very narrowly escap'd being taken by the turks , as will be seen in the ensuing relations , i conceiv'd it my safest course to return by st. sebastian's , to avoid going so far by sea , and especially the danger of the turks , who are perpetually roving up and down the coasts of andalusia and portugal , as also to see castilla la vicia , and biscay . i left madrid the first of august m.dc.xl . having for my companion a country-man , named renier salde●s . i came to st. sebastian's the 13th . following , where i met with monsieur john baptist calo●n , and the knight philip de cherf , and we resolv'd to embark in one of the two english ships which lay in the port , ready to set sail with the first fair wind . the same night it came to the point we wish'd it in , so that the next day , i went aboard with the three friends above-named , but within two hours after we were got to sea ; the weather grew calm , and the same night the wind prov'd contrary , so that we were forc'd to laveer , hoping it would in time prove more favourable to us . having spent four days in that manner , we found our selves at the altitude of rochel in france , where we met with a frigat of that city , a pyrat , which presently came up to us , and finding ours to be an english ship , the captain sent out the boat with four souldiers aboard us , to see our master's pass-port , who immediately shew'd it them , giving the souldiers a piece of money ; which done , the souldiers return'd to give their captain an account . whereupon the captain coming up on the stern of his frigat , cry'd out to our master , that he should look to himself , for there were five turkish pirates under sail at the mouth of the channel . but our master being a person of no great experience , presum'd that the english men of war ; which sometimes came out of that channel , would secure that coast against the turks , and slighted the danger , not considering how unable he was to oppose his enemies , and so went on his voyage , confident that it was impossible the turkish pyrates should come out so far , where the privatiers of dunkirk and the dutch were perpetually crusing . thus , ●he wind continuing still contrary , we had been aboard seven days since our departure from st. sebastian's , and were still on the coast of brittany in france . the same day about two in the afternoon , we discover'd at a great distance two ships , which we took to be merchant-men ; and soon after we could perceive but one , to wit , the lesser of them , making all the sail she could towards us , and as she came neerer and neerer , we found her to be a caravel . whereupon the master order'd the sails to be furl'd up , giving this reason , that it was not the custom of the english to run away at sea ; so that the ship which follow'd us bearing all the sail she could , was got within canon-shot , without putting up any colours , whence it might be easily judg'd that she was a pyrat . but our ignorant master , order'd the boat to be put out , to enquire what they were , thinking it had been some french or dunkirk pyrat . the turks , who were in the caravel , ( as i understood after i was taken ) seeing they were expected with the sails furl'd up , and that the boat was put out to sea , and in a word observing all that is wont to be done when a fight is intended , attributed that procedure to the want of experience in our master , and the desire he had to defend himself . the captain of the caravel in like manner caus'd his men to furl up their sails , being unwilling to come any neerer us . in the mean time , night came on , and the caravel continu'd still in sight , with a lantern at her stern , as a signal to her companions . this was the judgement of us passengers , but our master laugh'd at us . all we could obtain of him by fair words , was to put our ship into a posture of defence ; in which preparation we spent the night ; but , of four pieces that were aboard , there was onely one fit to be us'd . all these things past while both ships were in a manner at a stand , both having their sails furl'd up . in that posture the night pass'd away , and about 5. in the morning ( aug. 22 ) we discover'd two great ships making all the sail they could toward us . that oblig'd us to entreat our master to make away ; but he continued obstinate , every one gave his reasons , and the master , who had not any himself , would not hearken to any from others . about 10. in the morning the two ships got up to the caravel , but all without any colours . soon after they had got the wind of us , and were come up within musket-shot . there was upon the stern of the greater of the two ships a turk , who had a little flag or streamer about his arm , and there stood by him a christian slave , who cry'd out in the flemish tongue , str●pht v●or argiers , that is , deliver your selves up for algiers . whereupon he who held the streamer display'd it . it was green , wrought with half-moons . it is easie to conjecture how much we were pleased with that sight . we propos'd it to our master that he would treat , and proffer to give them thirty two thousand paracoons , conditionally they would land us on the next place of christendom ; for it sometimes happens that when the turks take a ship upon treaty , they keep their words , and set the prisoners ashore in some christian country assoon as they can . but our gallant master , instead of treating , onely ask'd whether he should have good quarter ? answer was made from the turkish ships , yes , yes , good quarter . whereupon without any more ado ; the master caus'd the flag at the stern to be taken down , and with three or four of the seamen got into the boat , and made towards the turkish ships , to deliver themselves up into the hands of their enemies . assoon as they were aboard there , the turks greedy of pillage , came presently in their boat , to the number of ten or twelve aboard our ship , under the conduct of a captain , who was an english-man , but a renagado . i being on the deck , he as'd me what country-man i was ? whereto i made answer , that i was a dunkirker , and by profession , a souldier . whereupon he reply'd in dutch , have patience brother , this is the chance of war , to day for you , and to morrow for me . i gave him what money i had about me ; and at the same time another , a turk , putting his hand in my pocket , took out my box , my handkercher , my beads , and my prayer-book ; which he return'd me again , with the handkercher , but the beads and the box he kept , by reason whereof he said i was a surgeon . having rifled those who were on the deck , and at the stern , they carried us aboard one of their ships , leaving in ours about a dozen turks , to conduct it ; and the wind being easterly , they turn'd towards the coast of spain , and within two dayes , we discover'd that cape of galicia , which is called cap del ●ort . i was all this while as it were in a dream , wherein a man sees strange apparitions , which cause fear , admiration , and curiosity , reflecting on the several languages ( for they spoke the turkish , the arabian , lingua franca , spanish , french , dutch and english ) the strange habits , the different armes , with the ridiculous ceremonies at their devotions , assuring you , that all this found me matter of speculation . but admiration , fear , curiosity , and melancholy finding me nothing to eat , and my stomach calling for it , i joyn'd with four christian slaves , who , though they were allow'd nothing but bisket , yet made pottage of rice or something else they had brought with them from ashoar . 't is to be noted , these slaves came in one of the algiers ships , for the turks make use of christian slaves for sea-men . the wind continu'd still favourable . the eleventh day after our taking , we got to the streight of gibraltar , at which passage the turks observe many superstitious ceremonies ; among others , one is , they cast into the sea a pot full of oyl , and believe that that pot goes to a mountain , called by seamen , la montague des signes . for the turks a●e● , that there lives there a glorious 〈◊〉 , or saint , who ( as they affirm and believe ) is nourish'd by that oyl so cast into the sea. they also put little candles lighted on the great guns , suffering them to burn during that passage , especially when they go through in the night . all these superstitions are perform'd with many prayers and ceremonies . the third day after our passage through that streight , we were got about sun-rising opposite to the city of algiers , whereupon the captain caus'd the great guns to be discharg'd , which noise brought all the curious persons about the city to the water-side . for my part , i was asleep among thirteen other christians , every one with a foot chain'd , and they had cast anchor ere we were got out of the irons . assoon as i had my feet at liberty , i got up on the deck , whence i saw the sea-side cover'd with alarbes . i ask'd the captain ( who was an affable person ) what those people were , for they had no other cloathing , then three or four ells of cloath wrapp'd about their bodies , without any taylor 's work about it ; he told me , these are the poorer sort , and the inhabitants of the villages of this country . here begins our tragedy . the owners of the ships which had taken us , having got us ashoar , conducted us to the market , where the christians are sold , to see if any one there knew us . thence we were brought to the palace of the bassa , or governor . some give him the title of king , but he is onely a vice-roy , inasmuch as he receives his part of the new slaves , to wit , of eight , one falls to him . he was set in the hall of audience , cross-legg'd , as taylors are here when they are at work , on a spacious seat , cover'd with a piece of blew tapistry . he had in his hand a plume of feathers like a fan. his garment was a long gown of red silk , and he had on his head a great turbant , neatly interwoven , but his leggs were bare . he was a person of a goodly presence . but before we were sent to him , he had already been inform'd that the knight philip de cherf was a noble cavalier , and so he took him for his eighth . after the bassa had taken his right , we were brought to the house of an honourable turk , who was one of the owners of the ships which had taken us . as we were going into the house , he ask'd us in italian , whether we had eaten any thing that day ; whereto we answering that we had not , he commanded one of his christian slaves , to bring us a basket of grapes , and some bread. the house was built after the italian way of building , the galleries were of white marble , both the pavement and the pillars , and the arches very well proportion'd , according to the rules of architecture . we were to lye in the night in those galleries , on the floor ; but i could have wish'd my self lodg'd in the stable , upon straw . for being not accustom'd to such accommodations , in the mornings we were stiff , and in a manner depriv'd of the use of our arms and leggs . we were not to go out of that house , till such time as we were ●old . we staid there seven days , expecting till some christian slaves , who were taken before us , were sold . in the mean time , that christian master-traytor , of whom i make mention in my ix . relation , came to visit and comfort us ; but we had notice before-hand that he was a rogue . the general alli pegelin , and some of the chiefest turks came to see us , in order to the buying of us . they ask'd us , whether we had wherewith to pay our ransome , and told us , that they would buy us , and find us good passage ? we unanimously answered that we had no mony , but that we were in hope that some good people in our country would endeavour to assist us with their alms. the slaves before-mentioned being sold the 12. of september , we were brought to the market . a certain old man with a staff in his hand took me by the arm , and led me several times about the market-place , and those who were desirous to buy me , ask'd me my country , name , and profession ; whereto i made answer , that i was born in the country of dunkirk , ( instead of saying flanders ) of the city of damm , and by profession a souldier . they took me by the hand , to see if it were hard and brawny by working , and they caus'd me to open my mouth , to see whether my teeth were able to overcome bisket in the gallies . then they caus'd us all to sit down , and the old man took the first in order , and led him three or four times about the market , crying , arrache , arrache , that is , who offers most ? the first being sold , he was set on the other side of the market , and another was serv'd after the same manner . while the first among us were under sale , i sate between my companions monsieur caloën , and renier saldens , who notwithstanding that tragical action , said , fetching a deep sigh , this is a solemn day at my village in flanders , if we were there , we would drink a glass of good wine , and be merry among our friends . i reply'd , me-thinks this a solemn day with us . which i had no sooner said , but the old man taking me by the arm caus'd me to march as he had done the others , crying , arrache , arrache . i heard several persons proffering mony , yet understood not what they said . i ask'd an old slave how much they proffered for me ? he told me , one offers 190. pattacoons , and another 200. and at last , the bargain was concluded at 200. pattacoons . he who bought me was a renegado , named sab●● gallan . but the bassa having a priviledge to take to himself any slave at the rate proffer'd for him in the market , we were once more carried before him , haing every one in his hat a note of the sum for which he was sold , whereupon the bassa took us three , to wit , m. caloën , saldens , and my self , telling us he had been credibly inform'd , that we were rich and persons of quality . but notwithstanding the quality he attributed to us , we were carry'd to the stables belonging to his palace , where we found two hundred and fifty other slaves for the supply of his own galley . we continu'd in the stables one and twenty days , where our daily allowance was two loaves of bread. it was now neer the end of september , about which time the gallies make their last course abroad . the slaves who were with us made what provisions they could in order to their going to sea. there was distributed by the bassa's order to every slave five ell● of course cloath , to make a shirt and a pair of drawers ▪ such as are wor● in the gallies . i receiv'd my propo●tion with the rest , and it came very seasonably , for i had but one pitiful ragged shirt , and that well stor'd with ve●mine . the day the slaves were to go aboard , there came into our stables five or six young lads ▪ apprentices to barbers , who began to shave their heads and beards , who were to row in the gallies . when they were all shaven and fitted , the captain of the galley and the bassa's steward came into the s●●ble , and having brought all the slaves of that place into a court or garden , they began to distribute the offices and places they were to have in ●owing . and when they had compleated their number , there were twenty new slaves over and above . which the captain observing said to the steward , as he pass'd by us , let us leave these wretched raskals ●ashoar , they are yet savages ; which expression we thought no injury at that time . the bassa's galley went out the same day , accompany'd by three other gallies . in the mean time , we continu'd in the stable with the sick slaves , and such as were incapable of service and superfluous . of the cloath i had receiv'd ; i made a shift to cut out a shirt , and to make it up , but the drawers i knew not how to begin . which a portuguez gentleman who was also a slave , observing ▪ said to me , friend , i perceive you are no taylor by your profession ; whereupon he gave three or four aspers ( a small piece of money in that country ) to another slave , who cu● out the drawers and made them up for me . the bassa coming afterwards to be inform'd that we were not persons of quality , nor rich , as it had been reported , to wit , we three , caloën , saldens , and my self , he caus'd us to be brought into the hall of audience , where there was present the general alli pegelin , who said to us , christians , i have bought you of the bassa , but at a very great rate . he sent us thence to his own house , where there were twenty women ●laves , christians , who waited on hi● wife . but they are not often seen ▪ in regard they come but very seldome out of their lodgings . there were also ten or twelve men-slaves who were employ'd about the house , and forty young boys between nine years of age and fifteen , whom they durst not trust to go out of the house , for fear of being debauch'd by the turks ; for alli pelegin himself , our patron , had the reputation of being a hater of that abhominable sin . and for those boys , he kept them onely out of ostentation , as great lords in christendome keep pages , lacqueys , and halbardiers . we were sent thence to the bath of our new master , which is the place appointed for the lodging and aboad of such slaves as are intended to serve in the galleys . this bath was a street of his house , of the quality and scituation whereof i shall give a short description . in the first place , it had a very narrow entrance , which led into a spacious vault , and that receiv'd its light , such as it was , through a certain grate that was above , but so little , that at mid-day , in some taverns of the said bath , there was a necessity of setting up lamps . the taverners , or keepers of those taverns are christian slaves of the same ●aths , and those who come thither to drink are pirats , and turkish souldiers , who spend their time therein drinking , and committing abhominations . above the bath there is a square place , about which there are galleries of two stories , and between those galleries there were also taverns , and a church for the christians , spacious enough to contain three hundred persons , who might there conveniently hear mass . the roof is flat , with a terrace , after the spanish mode ▪ we were there five hundred and fifty christian slaves , all belonging to our patron alli pelegin ; yet did he not allow any one of this great number ought towards his sustenance . the only comfort we had was , that we ●ad three hours every day allow'd us to shift for our livelihood ; so that every one was to make the best advantage he could of his industry , as the reader may see more at large in my xvi . relation , where i shall shew , that necessity is the mother of diligence . reserving therefore the said account to that particular relation , i shall here only declare what happen'd to me the first night after my disposal into that new lodging . i knew not where to take up my quarters , and being not acquainted with any one there , i went in the evening , with a coverlet , which i had receiv'd in the bassa's lodgings , up to the terrace of the bath . that place seem'd to me the most convenient to avoid being troublesome to any other ; for i was a perfect novice among them . being ready to go to my loging , a certain slave of the bath , a knight of malta , and his companion , a french-man , began to ask me what news there was in christendom . while i was telling them what i knew , i heard below in the quadrangle one of the guardians ( who are those that have the oversight of the christians , and what they do ) crying out aloud , that the next morning such a number of slaves , were to go to work at the break of day , and with that the guardian went his wayes , locking up the bath . assoon as the door was lock'd , i could see an old fox , a slave , an italian , bringing in a great burthen of woollen and linnen cloaths , shirts , brass-pots , and other pieces of houshold-stuff , who began to cry , arrache , arrache . i ask'd the knight what it meant ? his answer was this , whereas our patron does not allow his slaves any thing towards their subsistance , the greatest part of them live upon what they can steal , and every night the booty of the precedent day comes to be sold . the next morning , 〈◊〉 the sun was up , the guardian coming into the bath began to cry , s●rsa cani ▪ ● baso canalla , that is , get up you dogs , come down you scoundrels . ( this was the good morrow ) he presently conducted us towards that part of the suburbs which is called baboloet , where we found all the tools requisite for the making of ropes , and without asking whether we understood any thing of the trade , we were forc'd to work . my companion renier saldens and i were appointed to turn the wheel , which we did with all our strength , and all the diligence we could , because the guardian still cry'd out to us , forti , forti , and we thought it signify'd that we should turn as fast as we could . but it seems , in lingua franca ( which is the common language between the slaves and the turks ; as also among the slaves of several nations , it being a mixt language , consisting of italian , spanish , french , and portuguez , otherwise it were impossible for them to command their slaves , for in our bath , among five hundred and fifty slaves , there were two and twenty languages spoken ) the word forti signifies gently ; and therefore having not obtain'd what he would have by crying out upon us , he came with a good cudgel , and taught us what was the signification of the word forti . we follow'd that imployment five or six days , and whereas i was not accustom'd to any hard labor , especially such as that of rope-m●king , returning to the bath , i went and laid me down extreamly wearied on the top of the terrace . the two french cavaliers before-mention'd , seeing me so quarrel'd , partly out of compassion , partly out of kindness , ask'd me whether i would take part of this little chamber , where i might be a little warmer , for in the other place i lay in the open air. i heartily accepted of their proffer , and afterwards i lay in their chamber , or to say better , kennel . and there i erected me a bed made of cords upon four sticks , which served for pillars , much like a hamock . after we had made the ropes , we were taught another trade , but much more painful to those who were not accustom'd to hard labor , to wit , the pounding of wheat in a stone-mortar . that work was extreamly painful to me , yet with little advance , by reason of my want of strength , which the guardian observing , said to me , what a dog art thou ? give over that work , thou art yet too savage . when the wheat was pounded , it was put into bags , and by misfortune there fell a little of it on the ground , which the guardian taking notice of , said to me , pilla esse cani , that is , take up that you dog ; but i not understanding by his language what he meant by pilla , he gave me three or four bangs with a cudgel over the back , which caus'd the blood almost to gush out , for i had nothing about me but my shirt . the wheat being put into the bags , he gave every one a load to carry ▪ but i had hardly gone four or five steps so loaden , ere the bag , for want of strength , began to slide down from my head , so that the guardian was forc'd to be so kind as to help it up again , but in requital for his assistance , he gave me three or four blows over the face with his fist , so that the blood came out of my mouth and nose , which forc'd me , notwithstanding the impossibility , to go forward with my load . but as ill luck will have it , ere i had got some few pa●es further , the string which ty'd up my breeches broke , so that it fell down , together with the bag of wheat . finding my self reduc'd to that extremity , i made a shift to get up my breeches , and by the assistance of some good people that pass'd by , i got up the bag on my head again , and march'd on towards the house of alli pegelin our patron , where being come i fell down once more , being so weary , that i was hardly able to stir . but what remedy was there ? the greatest work of all was now but beginning , because we were to carry up those bags forty steps high into a granary , which it would have been absolutely impossible for me to do . but god of his goodness knowing the strength of men , it was his pleasure , that my companion renier saldens , who was much stronger then i , having emptied his bag , and coming down the stairs , found me at the bottom in a sad condition , to wit , groveling on the ground , all bloody , sweaty and dusty , and in a word , almost dead , and the guardian standing over me , and threatning to dispatch me . whereupon saldens being a daring and resolute person , said to the guardian , what do you not perceive that this slave is sick ? and with those words he took up my bag , and carried it up for me . it may be easily imagin'd how kindly i took that act of friendship and compassion . that days work being over , i return'd in a very sad plight to the bath , with renier saldens , who to comfort me carried me into one of the taverns within the bath : for saldens , when we were taken , had made a shift to hide five or six pieces of gold. he call'd for a pot of wine , and something was brought us to eat , which cost nothing , for , paying for the wine , all is satisfy'd , whether a meat or not . as we were eating and drinking , to recruit our spent forces , my other companion m. caloën came in . he had been all that day imploy'd in leading a mule loaden with bisket from our patron 's house to the water-side ; and whereas in algiers the streets are very narrow and dirty , and that the custome is , that when one leads a mule or camel loaden , he ever and anon cries belec , that is , take heed there ; it happen'd that our new mule-driver , not knowing the custom , overthrew a turk in the dirty streets . the turk getting up again , and being extreamly incens'd , drew his knife ( for the turks in the cities wear a kind of long knives , as people do swords in these parts ) but as good fortune would have it , there came in some turks , who spoke on the behalf of m. caloën , saying to the turk who fell down , what would you do , do you not see that this christian is yet a savage , and that he does not know the custome ? they call'd him a savage , because he was then in his christian habit , after the spanish mode ; and indeed that habit is inconvenient for a slave , in regard it is thence inferr'd that he is of no long standing there . we spent that evening in mutual relations of what adventures had happen'd to us the day before . and finding that we were to work every day , yet not have a piece of bread from the patron , and that we had not confidence and subtilty enough to steal , for that profession requires practise , especially in a place where there are so many thieves , and consequently people are the more distrustful , the knight de cherf , whom the bassa had sold to our patron , monsieur caloën , r. saldens , and i resolv'd to go to an italian merchant , named francisco capati , resident at algiers , and to receive of him 75. patacoons , conditionally that he should be paid a hundred at anwerp . the next day we put our resolution in execution , and the merchant was content we should have the money , on condition that we were all joyntly and severally bound for the whole sum . the next day we were to go to delve in the vineyard belonging to a country-house of our patron 's , which was a very hard work . as we were returning to the city , i fell into discourse with the guardian , and told him i was a sickly person , and not very strong , and that if he would thence forward put me to some easier work , i would give him in requital of his kindness , four ryals a month , which he granted , conditionally i would give him a months advance , which i gladly did . whereupon he said to me , hence-forwards you shall onely carry four great pots of water to the lodgings of the bassa-guardian , that is , the chiefest of the guardians . for , there being five hundred and fifty slaves of us belonging all to the s●me master , there were five or six guardians or overseers to look after us . i was extreamly well pleas'd with that new employment . the bassa-guardian's wife was a negro , but a very good-natur'd woman . sometimes she gave me a piece of bread , or a mess of pottage ; but that was onely when she was to bath her self , or when i carried the bread to the oven ; so that it was a kind of reward for my extraordinary services . i continu'd in this employment some days , to my great satisfaction . but in regard it is a hard matter for youth to fare well and enjoy leisure without danger of being debauch'd , it happen'd one day as i was carrying my ordinary pot , pouring it into the tinaga ( which is a great earthen pot or cestern , wherein the provision of water for the house is kept ) there entred into the house a turkish woman , attended by a christian slave , an english-woman , i ask'd her whether she would drink a glass of sack. i know not whether the guardian 's wife perceiv'd , or heard it , but the next day i was forc'd to turn over a new leaf , and from thence forwards i was oblig'd to work with the rest of the slaves , among whom my work was to serve the masons . i came by little and little to brook that kind of life . this was in the moneth of december , about which time the turkish pirates cruze up and down along the coasts of andalusia , knowing that the wines and fruits are then transported in english and hamborough vessels . it happen'd about this time that the turkish pirates had taken a frigot made at dunkirk , called the pearl , coming from malaga . i durst not go to the water-side , because i had been at malaga , and at dunkirk , for fear of being known by any one . the same night that the said prize was brought in , a slave of anwerp came to me , who knew me by my own name , as having been aboard our ship when we were taken , and he told me , that in that last prize , there was come a gentleman , who had ask'd him ▪ whether he knew not two flemish slaves , one call'd monsieur caloën , the other 〈…〉 . whereupon i desir'd him to give the other notice that he should not by any means ●●quire for them under those names , insomuch as those persons had chang'd their names , and were there known and call'd among the slaves , by those of 〈◊〉 v●●●ten ●erghe , and james van zeveren . i 〈◊〉 immediately ( not without fear of being known ) ●o communicate this news to my companions , to wit the knight 〈◊〉 cherf , monsieur caloën , and r. saldens , and we resolv'd to go and speak to our patron concerning our redemption , before we were discover'd . for our patron alli pegelin was still perswaded that the knight de cherf was some prince , and we the servants . but upon second thoughts , we conceiv'd it requisite , that , before we spoke to our patron , we inform'd our selves by this new slave , whether there were any course taken in spain for our redemption , and should enjoyn him 〈◊〉 to speak to any one concerning us or our qua●ity . some dayes after ▪ it happen'd that this new slave was sold to our patron , and brought to his house with the other young lads , for he was not above sixteen years of age , and very beautiful . i sent him word by m●●thias perez , that he should come the next day about nine in the morning to the terrace of the bath , under pretence of coming to hear mass ; for 〈…〉 said before , those young lads were not permitted to come out of the house . at the time appointed i met with that new slave upon the terrace , who seeing me said , monsi●ur , i am 〈…〉 to see you 〈…〉 condition . leona●● , reply'd i , ( for so was he called ) 〈…〉 you not to call me monsi●ur here , my name is james van z●veren . he thereupon gave me an account , ●ow tha● , in spain , among our friends , it was known what misfortune had happen'd unto us ▪ and that about fifteen days before some friends of mine ▪ flemings , a● malaga , had drunk 〈…〉 of their country-men who might be in the gallies off algiers . i charg'd him not to discover who we were ▪ promising him all the assistance that lay in my power ▪ but he knowing that i stood in need of relief my self , gave me three jewels , which he had made a 〈…〉 save ; such as are called in spanish 〈◊〉 , of the value ▪ in all , of about ten or twelve crowns , ordering me to sell or pawn them , as though fit , to help me in my misery . i engag'd them for ten crowns , which was as much as they were worth . that 〈◊〉 came very seasonably , for the seventy five 〈…〉 we had receiv'd from the italian merchant , were spent , and the merchant had had no letters that the bill of exchange was paid at an●●erp ▪ but this fresh supply heightned our courage very much ▪ and recruited our credit at the taverns of the bath , where there was good sack brought in from the las● 〈◊〉 which the turks had taken ; whence it came that our bath ●as every day full of drunken turks and christian slaves , who were ●enagadoes ; 〈◊〉 onely such were admitted as had money . so that it was 〈◊〉 a continual ●air in flanders . there were thousands of impertinences committed , caus'd by drunkenness . and whereas our patron had set 〈◊〉 those pirates who had taken the said two ships coming from malaga , loaden with wines , whereof i have spoken before , there were 〈◊〉 two slaves of 〈…〉 the unloading of those ships ▪ 〈◊〉 for their reward , they had christian taverners who bought the wine as much as came to a patacoon out of every pipe. for the turks can neither drink , nor sell wine ; and yet the drinking of it is tolerated , but not the selling of it . these thirty two slaves were c●ll'd persons ▪ and they were imploy'd in the most painful works . they were all of that quality in the gallies , which they call bogavands , that is the outermost men at an oar. that c●ue is called the caravan , the one half whereof were russians or muscovites , and the other spaniards or italians . they had been at work several days about the unloading of those two ships , and having gotten a considerable sum of mony , they return'd in the evening to the bath as drunk as so many tinke●● . the sixteen russes took occasion to pick a quarrel with the sixteen spaniards and italians , and without many words , they fell a fighting , so furiously , that the guardian● who is always at the door , hearing the noise , came immediately to decide the quarrel with a good cudgell , so that both parties were forc'd to retreat . it was late , and the guardian went to see whether all the slaves were within the bath , and at the same time gave order what was to be done the next day , as the custom was . that done , he went away , locking the door after him . i was walking by chance on the terrace of the bath , and assoon as the door was lock'd , those spaniards and italians , met together , in the place where they sold what was stollen , and one of them went to the little room of the russes or muscovites ▪ and saluted them with this speech ; dogs , hereticks , savages , enemies of god , the bath is now lock'd , and the guardian hath sent word , that if you have the courage to fight , you should come out of your hole , and we shall see who will have the better . he had hardly finish'd his speech ere the sixteen russes and muscovites appeared in the field , falling on immediately , and the spaniards and italians receiv'd an answer to their embassy in good bangs with cudgels , for they had no other arms then their fists ; but in an instant , as the saying hath it , — furor arma ministrat . some forms and tables that stood before the taverns , and some ladders which they also met withall , they converted into armes , swords , pikes and muskets , defending themselves generously . this engagement happening in the night-time , caus'd so terrible a noise and hurly-burly , that a man who had not seen them would have said they were two armies fighting in an open and spacious field . the advantage seem'd to be equal on both sides , and the number of the wounded and such as were laid on the spot was much at one , whom i thought dead . they continu'd in that posture till darkness began to get the upper hand , and yet neither party seem'd willing to quit the field . at last a priest of one of the religious orders , who liv'd in the bath , and was a person generally well-belov'd , came up to the place of the engagement with a wax candle in his hand , endeavouring all he could to appease and separate them , telling them they were all christians , notwithstanding the difference of religions , and if ever the patron came to know how they had demean'd themselves , they should not want good cudgelling . this remonstrance put a period to that engagement , whereupon the surgeons were immediately call'd up , for there were five or six in the bath , who belong'd to the patron , who presently fell a dressing the wounded . it was imagin'd all this would have pass'd without the patron 's knowledge ; but in regard the fight had lasted a good while , and the noise had been great , the patron having heard it from his lodgings , came immediately to the bath with cresset-lights and lanthorns attended by four or five guardians well furnish'd with cudgels and bulls-pizzles . he began to enquire what had pass'd , but those who had fought like lyons slunk away , and hid themselves like foxes . notwithstanding that , the patron , by his exact enquiry , made a shift to surprize one of the spanish party , and ordering him to be stripp'd stark naked , he caus'd him to be held by four slaves by the hands and feet , with his belly on the ground , and a hundred blows with a cudgel to be given him over the back and the buttocks ; which execution perform'd , our patron was appeas'd . the rest of the combatants hid themselves , fearing the like treatment . by this time we had been six months at algiers , a sufficient terme to have receiv'd answers from flanders . we went together , m. caloën , saldens , and i , to our patron 's lodgings , we kiss'd his robe , or the sleeve of his inner garment ( a turkish reverence ) and i told him that we had been so long at algiers , presuming that he was sufficiently inform'd of our poverty , and that we understood that he had agreed with some of his slaves about their redemption , conditionally that they should go in a ship which lay ready to set sail for legorn in italy , and that they continu'd there in prison till their ransomes were paid ( for the great duke of florence then permitted some such thing ) we ask'd him how much he would have from us . what are you willing to give , replyed he ? we expect your excellency should make your demand , answer'd i , for it may be you will set such a rate on us that there will be no likelihood of any agreement . after he had a little consider'd , he said , you shall pay two thousand patacoons at legorn , or fifteen hundred here . that 's absolutely impossible for me , said i , for i am a poor souldier , and therefore i had rather continue a slave at algiers , then dye in prison at legorn . the most i shall be able to give will be five hundred patacoons at legorn . whereto he made answer , you offer too little , i am now going out of the city for certain days ( which was true , for his horse stood ready for him ) we will talk further of it at my return . those words gave me much comfort , for i imagin'd our patron thought my proffer not much out of the way . with this answer we return'd to the bath . and our patron went away with the slaves of the caravan , to fell timber for the building of a new frigot , against the year following . in the mean time we were at work about a house our patron had a building in the upper part of the city ; for it is to be noted , that the city of algiers is built on the ascent of a high mountain , and the place where that house was built , was so steepy to get up to , that a mule could not go up it with any load . so that all the materials were to be carried up on mens backs , or in their arms . this was about the middle of february . the guardian conducted us to the work , as he was wont , but at our going from the bath , we ordered the knight de cherf to get some kind of pottage ready for us against our return . this knight was exempted from working , beca●se he was lame . while we were at work , two turks came to the bath , and ask'd for three dunkirk-slaves , named john-baptist caloën , emanuel d' aranda , and renier saldens ; but there was not any body knew those slaves . they shew'd an attestation in latine ; and the spanish slaves being commonly sea-men , said the attestation was in dutch , and the french slaves said it was in english . the two turks began to be angry , and said , call a papas , ( that is a priest ) or some gentlem●n , for in the country of dunkirk the papas and the gentlemen commonly speak that language , and not such raskally dogs as you a●e . thence the spanish and french slaves inferr'd that the attestation was writ in latine . then they call'd a slave of bra●●●●● , by a military name called francis the student , because he had studied at lovain . he writ letters for the slaves of dunkirk , as the reader may find more at large in the xvi . relation . he read the attestation , and though we had chang'd our names , yet by the marks of the time , and the ship wherein we were taken , he immediately concluded that we must be the three christian slaves whom the turks enquir'd for . whereupon he made them answer that he knew us very well , and that we were slaves in that very bath , but that we were then abroad at work . now monsieur caloën and renier saldens not fearing blows as much as i did , were got from their work , a●d had hid themselves in some corner of the bath , where they pass'd away the time at cards . this student found them out , and told them , that there were two turks below who came from du●kirk , and that they had letters for them . they both immediately ran down , where they found the two turks , who gave them a letter , which was from monsieur caloën's father . he was very joyful , and the turks also , because they had found us all at algiers ; for the contract which those turks had made with our friends requir'd , that they should deliver us , wherever we were in barbary . they thereupon conducted monsieur caloën and r. saldens to the house of the turk barber assan , father-in-law to mustapha ingles , who was in prison at bruges , with four others , to be exchang'd for us three . the mother and grand-mother of mustapha were extreamly glad to hear that he was alive , and that he might ere long return into his country . i knew nothing of all this , for i continu'd at work till the guardian gave every one permission to go and get something towards his subsistance . i had a good stomach , for it was afternoon , so that hoping to meet with some pottage of the knight's providing , as we had appointed , i run from my work streight to the bath , and as i was going in i met with the student , who said to me , james , i have good news for you , which is , that you are no longer a slave . for there are two turks come from dunkirk , and m. caloën and saldens are gone out along with them . this so good and so unexpected news over-joy'd me so that i had almost fallen into a swound , so far was i then from thinking of hunger . i went immediately to find out my two companions with the turks , whom i met with all four in the street . assoon as m. caloën perceiv'd me , he said to the turk , this is our third companion emanuel d' aranda . i ask'd the turks how my friends did ; they told me that my mother knew nothing of my misfortune , and that my brother was well . they came along with us to the bath , and spoke to the guardian not to put us to work any more ; in regard we were free . we spent the remainder of the day very merrily , drinking with our friends upon this good news ; but we minded not much the old saying ; joy may be within the house , and grief and sadness at the door . the next day we resolv'd to sp●ndias merrily as the night before . but about noon ; a jew came to the bath , by order from the wife of alli pegelin , ( ●he knowing it seems all that pass'd ) to tell us that the ●●ssa would speak with us . we were brought before him ; he commanded us to go into a little with●drawing ●oom of the palace , where were some young lads , who were christian slaves , and we continu'd there about two hours , not knowing why we were put in there , nor what the bassa would have had with us . at last we perceiv'd coming in to us the steward with a cudgel in his hand , saying very roughly ▪ you dogs , which of you writ into his country to be exchang'd for turks ? whereto we answer'd , that no body had written to the country ; but that what was done had been done by our friends , without our knowledge ▪ at which answer he was extreamly incens'd ▪ and he gave monsieur caloën and me some ●●ngs with the cudgel , saying ▪ i will come anon at night , and cut-off your noses and ears . whereto salde●s answer'd , patience , and for reply to that word , he receiv'd some bangs with the cudgel that he might not laugh at us ; which done , the steward said to us , you shall not escape ▪ so well as you imagine● ▪ you are not alli pegelin ' s slaves , but the bassa ' s ▪ you were onely lent to alli pegelin , and the bassa will not have turks for your ransome , 〈◊〉 money . this business was set on foot against us by the malice of alli p●gelin's wife in the absence of her husband . for there is a general law in all parts under the jurisdiction of the grand signor , that any turk , what condition soever he be of , provided 〈◊〉 be a souldier , may procure the liberty of any christian whatsoever , provided he pay the sum he 〈◊〉 , swearing by the grand seignor's head , that it is to deliver another turk out of slavery among the christians . but the bassa made an exception against that law , pretending that it was not to be understood of his slaves , because he represented the grand seignor , who was not subject to those laws . the next day , we writ a letter to mustapha's grand-mother , in spanish ( for she was a moor forc'd thence with the moors in the time of king philip the third ) by which letter we gave her to understand at large what hall pass'd in that new prison , and that she should remember , that her grand-child was in the power of our friends , and that the injuries were done us would be reveng'd upon him . this letter put the old woman into great trouble , insomuch that she came immediately to speak with the bassa's lady , earnestly desiring her , that she would not suffer us to be ill treated . the bassa's lady assur'd her we should not , and the old woman sent us notice thereof , that we might be no longer in fear , which she did also lea●● we should write into flanders , that the turks , who were in prison there , might receive the same treatment . alli pegelin was not yet return'd , and in the mean time , we were kept up in the bassa's palace ; so as that none from without were permitted to come to us , which yet was sometimes secretly done . our daily allowance was two little loaves ; but we had this happiness , that the bassa's caterer was a french-man , a renagado , who had been lacquey to monsieur chamois , that is , the knight of malta before-mentioned . and in regard the caterer knew that i was familiarly acquainted with that monsieur chamois , at alli pegelin's bath , and that we had lain for some moneths in the same room , he gave us something every day , as oyl , figgs , tobacco , or somewhat to eat . yet here it was that we endur'd the greatest misery of all our slavery ; for as i said before , we lay in a very little room ; with ten or twelve boys who were full of vermine , and though we spent most part of the day in lousing our selves , yet within an hour after , we were as well furnish'd as before . the bassa's steward walk'd always with a cudgel in his hand , because there was a necessity that some body should be beaten , though it were onely for his divertisement . all the satisfaction we had , was , that all the slaves the bassa had for his eight part came the first night to lye among us , before they were sent to the bassa's bath ; and being there were some taken every day , and consequently new slaves came in , by that means we came to know all that pass'd in christendom . having continu'd in this misery eighteen days , our patron alli pegelin return'd to the city . the two turks who were come to set us at liberty went immediately to salute him , and to acquaint him that there were seven turks to be exchang'd for us three christians , telling him that they would reimburse what we had cost him . pegelin made them this answer , i have bought my slaves to make some advantage by them , and not to exchange them for turks . whereto they reply'd , we are poor souldiers . besides you know our priviledge , conformably to the laws , we therefore intreat you to grant our request . alli pegelin hearkening to their reasons , said to them , i know very well what your priviledges , and what the laws are ; but one of you is a person of great wealth , and he ought to have no advantage of that priviledge , because he is no turk , but onely a moor , and born in algiers . and he who was born in the city of algiers , at the time aforesaid , cannot be a souldier . for you are to know , that the turks take the citizens of algiers for subjects , having subdu'd them by force of arms , because they would have revolted . upon that account is it that they are not admitted to be souldiers , and consequently they are incapable of making any advantage of the priviledge . but if you will follow my advice , you may have the three christians , and yet it shall not cost you much , and i shall nevertheless have satisfaction . this advice was lik'd by the two turks . whereupon alli pegelin found out this expedient , that these two turks on the behalf of their four companions prisoners in flanders , should go and agree with the mother and grand-mother of mustapha ingles ( who was the moor born at algiers , and could make no advantage of the priviledge ) that among them six they would buy two of the christian slaves , to wit , emanuel d' aranda , and renier saldens , and that the mother and grand-mother of mustapha should buy john baptist caloën . the two turks lik'd the proposal , and put it in execution . they went to mustapha's grand-mother , and told her they were all poor , yet had resolv'd among them six to buy the two christians , and that it was requisite she , being very rich , should oblige herself to buy the third , to wit , m. caloën . the old woman accepted the condition , and a contract was drawn to that purpose , according to the turkish way . they went to acquaint alli pegelin , that they were agreed , and ask'd him what he would have for d'aranda and saldens . they agreed at five hundred patacoons for both . mustapha's grand-mother went the same day to pegelin , and acquainted him with the misfortune of her grand-son who was in slavery among the christians , and that there was no way to recover his liberty , but by delivering a dunkirk-slave he had , whom she would pay well for . pegelin reply'd , if you would have a dunkirk-slave , to do you a kindness , i will bestow one on you . nay , reply'd she , i am content to pay for him , but it must be one , whose name is john baptist caloen . pegelin pretending a little astonishment , answer'd , how ! john caloën , he is a neer kinsman of the king of dunkirk's , and therefore he will cost you six thousand patacoons . the old woman hearing this answer was astonish'd , and without making any reply return'd to her house , sending us word , that alli pegelin demanded six thousand patacoons , that she had not so much money , and consequently that she saw no remedy for the recovery of our liberty , if we would not contribute to the making up of that sum . whereto we return'd answer , by the same messenger , that we would not contribute a peny , and that if she would not redeem us , she might let us perish , but remember withall that her grand-son would also dye in flanders , since he was in the power of our friends . while this affair was under accommodation , there slip'd away nine weeks and three days , during which time , we continu'd in the bassa's palace , in great misery , fear , and disquiet . at 〈◊〉 mustapha's mother agreed with alli pegelin for the redemption of monsieur caloën at fourteen hundred patacoons , conditionally that the said sum were paid before caloën went from algiers . upon this agreement we got out of the bassa's palace . vvhen i could walk the streets , i thought my self at liberty , after so much trouble , so much fear of being ill-treated , and so much misery . the first night monsieur caloën took up his lodging at mustapha's grand-mothers , and r. saldens and i went to the house of a turk , who had deliver'd us ▪ whose name was cataborn mustapha . his habitation was in a great house , where were many souldiers liv'd together , such as there are in some parts of flanders . it was a fair structure , having a quadrangle with four galleries , and four stories high . every souldier had a little room to himself kept very neatly by the boys , for every souldier almost had a little boy , or a christian or a renagado slave to wait on him . our new patron cataborn mustapha treated us very well , considering his ability , and made his excuses to us , that he was not the cause of our so long aboad in the bassa's palace . the next day r. saldens took his quarters at the house of a rich turk named mahomet celibi oiga , uncle to one of the five turks who were to be exchang'd for us . mustapha's mother and grand-mother were much troubled about the money they had paid for m. caloën , giving him very reproachful words , so to force him to pay one moiety of the fourteen hundred patacoons . on the other side we were earnest with the turks , to have our liberty , according to the agreement in flanders . in answer thereto they said ( and not without reason ) that it were to hazard the loss of their money and the return of their companions ; for the contract made in flanders with our friends was to this effect , that the turks were to send us with the soonest into some part of christendom , after they had found us . so that we were forc'd to make a new agreement with them , that one of us three should be set at liberty , who should be oblig'd to bring the five turks remaining in flanders to ceuta , ora● , in africk , cities belonging to the king of spain , and the two others should remain behind as hostages . this concluded , it was resolv'd i should go for flanders , and that i should be sent with some of the pyrat ships of algiers , who were to set me ashore on the coast of spain . but as my ill-fortune would have it , a barbarian king named bennali , a tributary to the kingdom of algiers revolted , and that civil war was the cause that the bassa , to defend the country , stood in need of the gallies , so that they could not that summer go out towards the coasts of spain , as they were wont . about the same time there was a ship of legorn homeward bound , ready to set ●ail , and our companion saldens , who was as desirous of his liberty , as i was of mine , prevail'd so with the turks , as also with m. caloën , that he was pitch'd upon to go for the low-countries , and so went aboard that ship of legorn . i was extreamly sad at his departure , considering with my self , that i was to stay behind ; but the great promises he made , that he would return assoon as he could , and bring along with him the five turks gave me some comfort . i continu'd still with my new patron cataborn mustapha . and though he were but a poor souldier , ye i liv'd well enough with him : for he would often say to me , emanuel , be not so melancholy , imagine that you were my patron , and i your slave . i did eat with him out of the same dish , sitting down with him , cross-legg'd , after the turkish way . he made me the best cheer he could , and often said to me , emanuel , have i not reason to make much of my self , for i have neither wife nor children , and when i dye , the bassa will be my heir , according to the custom of this country . i told him , true , you do prudently , and you have reason to live as much as may be at your ease . i could say no less because i did eat and drink with him . but these words did not please a renegado-boy who waited on him , kept his money , and wash'd his linnen ; in a word , that boy did the work of a woman in the family , and was perpetually grumbling , and saying , you make away with all you have , and there are yet so many days ere any more pay comes in ; you should be asham'd to be drunk every day , this is not the life of a right turk . but my patron liv'd nevertheless at the same rate . one day being drunk , as he was wont , he fell out with a bulcebas ( that is a captain of foot ) and among other injurious words , he call'd him a christian . the captain complain'd , and my patron was cast into prison , and at the first assembly of the duana , that is , the councel , my patron was condemn'd to receive a hundred blows with a cudgel on the buttocks , and besides that to go and serve in the field against king bennali for the space of six moneths . i was much troubled at the misfortune of my patron , who at parting said to me , you must henceforwards go and live at mahomet celibi oiga's house ; i hope in god you will be at liberty before my return . if i had any money , it should be divided between us . i made answer , patron , i am sufficiently sensible of your good inclinations and your poverty , i give you thanks for the kind entertainment i have receiv'd in your house . when you come into flanders , said he , present my service to your friends , particularly to your cousin at dunkirk , for he often made me drink strong beer . after the departure of my patron , i went to mahomet celibi oiga , and said to him , cataborn mustapha is gone to the army , and hath sent me to lodge at your house . whereto mohomet reply'd , you should with all my heart ; but i have no convenience for it in my house . this he said , because my companion saldens , while he lodg'd there , had spoken too familiarly to his wife , a clear argument that he was jealous of him . i earnestly intreated him , telling him , that i knew not whither to go . at last he condescended , and shew'd me a little room above the stable , which was at a little distance from the house . some days after my reception there , i was much astonish'd , that my patroness spoke ●o● to me . for she understood the spanish , and spoke also lingua franca , and the women of that country will take any occasion to fall into discourse with the christians . i dress'd my patron 's horse , and i went every day for water to ●upply the house , though i were not commanded to do either , and by degrees i got into the favour of my patroness . in the morning , i went along with my patron to the shambles , thence he sent me home with what meat he had bought . on the other side , my patroness sent me to buy fru●ts and herbs for the house . at length my patroness's mouth began to open , and she fell into discourse with me so often , that i was afraid it might breed m●ggots in my patron 's brains . one time among the rest she said to me , christian , god send you your liberty , pray tell me , are you poor in your own country ? i am a poor soldier , reply'd i , you may say what you please , said she , yet you are not like our gregorio . this gregorio was another slave of the house , a native of galicia in spain , and in his country a fisher-man ; but there he was a gardener , at a garden of ou● patron 's without the city . this slave had a body well made for hard labour , otherwise he had been well brought up , considering his quality . this good woman put many curious questions to me every day . she was of high statu●e , had a comely face , and inclining to fatness , wherein the beauty of a woman consists , according to the opinion of the africans . every morning after i had dress'd the horse , fetch'd water , been in the market and done some other things , i ask'd my patroness leave to go to mass at alli pegelin's bath , which she never deny'd me . mahomet celibi oiga was a graceful person as to his body , well brought up , and very temperate in his meat and drink , for he drunk only water . he was also very devout in his religion . he was curious in enquiring news of remote countries . he ask'd me how the spaniards and flemings liv'd , and whether the flemings were papists christians , meaning by that word catholicks , because the catholicks have a dependance on the pope . he understood somewhat of cosmography . he ask'd me why the king of spain , being so powerful as he is , could not with the forces of the kingdom of dunkirk , that is , with the provinces of the low-countries , subdue the flemings ; by flemings he went the hollanders . i told him that heretofore those countries had belong'd to the crown of spain , but that they were revolted . my companion caloën was at mustapha's grand-mothers , where he was unworthily treated . for in the house , he was confin'd to a chamber with fourscore pound weight of iron at his legge ; and sometimes he was sent to a country-house , three leagues out of the city , where he had not half as much victuals as he could have eaten . mustapha's friends , who had given so much money for m. caloën , beg●n to grumble that they heard no news from mustapha , and thence took occasion to say , that the king of france had taken the kingdom of dunkirk , and threatned to make him pay his ransom , in case they heard not from him within four months . and whereas sea-affairs are subject to many misfortunes , and that my companion saldens should have been on his way with the five turks , i was afraid all might not be well . but god , who looks on the afflicted , gave me comfort when i was most cast down ; for my patroness gave me all the kind words i could expect . i had been six months in that house when i receiv'd the first news from my companion saldens by a letter of his dated at ceuta , whereby he gave me an account of his being there with the five turks , and that we should make all the hast we could to the city of tituan , in the kingdom of fez , to make an exchange , according to the agreement made at algiers with the two turks . he writ to me also concerning the seven hundred p●tacoons which mustapha's friends expected from m. caloën , which rather then pay his father said he should perish in the gallies . but in the margin he had written in latine haec propter bene stare , which words we blotted out , and gave the letter to mustapha's mother , that she might get it read and interpreted by some flemish slaves , which she did . and whereas the letter onely made mention of the five turks , not specifying their names , the woman began to quarrel , saying her son was not at ceuta , and that m. caloën should deliver up her son , or she would have him burnt , if he paid not his ransom of six thousand patacoons . but the same day she receiv'd a letter from ceuta written by her son , wherewith she was appeas'd , and we very glad , hoping she would be fully satisfy'd . but as some trouble is many times the shadow of satisfaction , assoon as she had read over the letter , she order'd a hundred weight of iron to be fasten'd to m. caloën's leggs , alledging it was his fault that his father would not pay the seven hundred patacoons . but we continued courageous notwithstanding this unexpected traverse of fortune , till we heard of a ship bound for tituan , the place appointed for the exchange with the five turks , who were at ceuta . yet were we still in some fear , least , in case that ship should be gone without us , we might stay there four or five moneths longer , ere we met with such another opportunity . in this extremity we thought it our best course to take the advice of a renagado , a field-officer named saban gallan aga , a person much respected among both turks and christians , for his honesty , integrity , and prudence , as being a man full of moral virtues , as may be seen more at large in my xiv . relation . i went , and made this discourse to him ; the fame of your virtues as well among the turks as the christian slaves hath encourag'd me to come hither , to desire your advice in my misery . he ask'd me who i was ? i am emanuel d' aranda , said i , born in flanders , one of those three christians who are to be exchang'd for the five turks taken in the caravel of barbar assan , and in pursuance of a certain contract we made six months since , at algiers , one of our companions is gone for flanders , and now he is come back as far at ceuta , where he expects us with the five turks , and according to that contract we are to be deliver'd at tituan to compleat the exchange . but they do the contrary ; for after we have been at vast charges in sending our third companion , through italy and france , and now that he hath brought the five turks by the way of england into spain , and that they are at the present come to ceuta , as i told you before , instead of sending us thither , the grand-mother of mustapha ingles hath put my companion john baptist caloën into irons , and demands of him 700. patacoons . besides she would have the five turks brought to algiers , which is directly contrary to our contract . saban gallan repli'd , i will inform my self of your business , come to morrow about this time , and i will give you my answer and advice . the next day , at the hour appointed i went to him , and asked him whether he had been mindful of me . he answer'd , i have inform'd my self of your affair , and you are to know , that the mother and grand-mother of mustapha , do this only to see if they can get any money from j. b. caloen . take heed therefore that you do not promise any thing , and you are safe enough . you shall infallibly go with this ship which is now ready , and though mustapha 's grand-mother threatens you , yet will it come to nothing . for she durst not for all the world detain either you or m. caloën , in regard the two turks that are here , and the friends of the other turks would complain thereof to the bassa . i thank'd him for his advice , and gave him a bill under my hand , whereby i oblig'd my self to pay him 25. patacoons as soon as i were come to tituan , which i perform'd accordingly . i gave m. caloën an account of what i had done . he was put into a little cellar , with a chain at his legg , and hearing we should go along with the ship which lay ready in the port , as also that we should not pay any thing , he was much comforted . while i was speaking to m. caloën , the old woman came and ask'd him , whether he would give the 700 patacoons ; but m. caloën laugh'd at her . which made her imagine , that i had given him some advice , which made her angry with me . the next day she came to my patroness , and said to her , why do you not put your dunkirk slave into irons , that he may not come to give ill advice to his companion ? my patroness repli'd , why should i do so ? my dunkirker serves me faithfully , and therefore i have no reason to put him into irons . the same afternoon , going for some provender for the horse , my patron not being at home , my patroness had the leasure to tell me , what had pass'd between her and mustapha's grand-mother . the next day i went to visit m. caloën , and as i was telling him what mustapha's grand-mother had said to my patroness , the old woman came in and said to me , when i was last at your patron 's , i spoke to your patroness , who had it not been for me , had put a hundred weight of iron about your leggs . i thank'd her for her kindness ; telling her , i knew well enough what good offices she had done me there . that answer vex'd her , insomuch that soon after she sent a turk to my patron 's , to make a complaint to him , that i hindred my companion from giving the seven hundred patacoons , which she expected from him , and to desire him to put me into irons , or send me to her house , to be put into the same chain with my companion . which was accordingly done , without the knowledge of my patroness ; for i was taken in the streets , and carried to mustapha's grand-mother's , where they chain'd me with m. caloën , to a chain of a hundred pound weight , and conducted me to a little cellar ; where we know not what would be the issue of all this ; for we were afraid , that with beating they would force us to promise something . having been in that place three or four hours , a christian slave , named gregorio came to visit us , who being sent by my patroness , told me , that she was extreamly troubled , and knew nothing of what happen'd to me , and that if i wanted somewhat to eat , she would send it me , and that i should take heart , for no hurt should be done me ; that all this was done by mustapha's grand-mother , to get our mony . this message of gregorio comforted us much , and we sent him with a note to a tavern in alli pegelin's bath , where we had credit , for a pot of wine , and a dish of meat . now gregorio coming from my patroness , the old woman durst not deny him entrance to us . at night , the old woman came to see us with the keys of the cellar , and said to us , have a care , have a care what you do , this is the last night , to morrow the ship goes away for tituan , therefore if you love your liberty , give the seven hundred patacoons , otherwise you shall dye here like dogs . m. caloën reply'd , since my father will not give any thing , and that you have seen the letter , for my part , you know i have not ought to give , and therefore hang me up , if you think good , but remember that your mustapha is in the hands of my companion ; you know him , and that he is not one who will suffer such an injury to be done to his friends and companions . the wrinkled hag hearing this grew almost distracted , and so using her accustomed menaces , she went away locking the cellar-door after her . the next day , ( being st. andrew's ) she came to us before day , saying , the wind is east , and the ship will be gone this day , therefore resolve whether you will be set at liberty or not . we answer'd , if you have a mind to see your mustapha , send us away , if not , we will continue slaves . about noon , two or three christian slaves , who were to go in that ship , came to see us ( we had set them on work ) and to take their leave of us . they desir'd to speak with the old woman , and said to her , madam , we hear by our country-men these two ●laves , that your grand-son is at ceuta ; we are going away within this half-hour in the ship which is bound for tituan , and thence to ceuta , if you command us any service , we shall faithfully do it . the old woman hearing that the ship was ready to set sail , began to cry out , and make a stir as if she had been mad ; hammers , files , pincers , to take off the irons , that my mustapha may return , o christians , for god's sake , help us to take the irons off these two christians . they , who knew the ship could not go away to soon , made as if they understood her not , and said to us , farewell country-men , we shall acquaint your companion saldens what condition we left you in . and with that they went away . whereupon the ch 〈…〉 man slaves , who 〈…〉 at last she call'd 〈…〉 a great deal 〈…〉 chain . in the 〈…〉 insatiable 〈…〉 months 〈…〉 with the 〈…〉 in the 〈…〉 their 〈…〉 chai● 〈…〉 immediate 〈…〉 your 〈…〉 me 〈…〉 with 〈…〉 kne● there was time enough , 〈…〉 was 〈◊〉 at the mos●e●ey , ( that 〈…〉 ver i 〈◊〉 ended to make all 〈…〉 went 〈…〉 to our house● , to 〈…〉 for the 〈◊〉 she had of me . she 〈…〉 leggs out of the irons , and that 〈…〉 absolute liberty . 't was about the time ▪ th 〈…〉 sala is the prayer of the tu 〈…〉 quey door to expect my patron 〈…〉 together to speak with the 〈…〉 told us he should not go away 〈…〉 would 〈…〉 with the first 〈…〉 with my 〈◊〉 , pressing him all 〈…〉 provision for our voyage , for i 〈…〉 not have any thing aboard but old bis 〈…〉 ess gave me half a majorca-cheese , a 〈…〉 ne fifteen pounds of white bisket . m. caloē 〈…〉 also something of mustapha's mother . being ready to be gone , there arose another difficulty , to wit , that the turk who was to go along with us to tituan , and to have fifty patacoons for his pains , should be paid by us ; but after some contest , it was concluded , that we should pay the one half , and they the other . december the 8. the wind was fair for us , and we went aboard , whe●e we found some christian slaves bound for tituan , there to treat about their liberty with some merchants , jews and moors . being all aboard , a gun was discharg'd , as a signal for the farmers of the customes to come and search the ship , and especially to see whether the christians who were redeem'd had paid the duty ; for though the patron be satisfy'd , yet before a christian can be dismiss'd , he is to pay a certain proportion according to his ransom . having visited the ship they return'd to the city , whence they gave the signal that the ship might be gone , inasmuch as they cannot get into the city , untill the ship be at sea. and this is done , to prevent the stealing of slaves . the wind continu'd right for us , till we came to the unhappy place cabo de tenes , three leagues from algiers . i call it unhappy , because the emperor charles v. in the year 1541. oct. 17. lost there by tempest the best part of his gallies and ships , when the enterprize upon algiers fail'd . here the wind turn'd quite contrary to us , which oblig'd us to return to the place from whence we came , and the next day we got to algiers . i went to my patron mahomet's , where i staid till the wind turn'd , which was after some few days , and then we went aboard again . the wind was so good , that , in three days , we pass'd the islands of frumentera and yvica , and we were got in ●ight of the coast of valentia . but all to no purpose , for after eight dayes being at sea , we were glad to put in again at algiers , whether we got december 29. those of the city seeing the ship return'd thought she had finish'd her voyage , but they were mistaken . i was extreamly disorder'd , for we were sixteen christians who had been shut up eight days and as many nights in a room towards the prow , which was but nine foot in length and seven in breadth . and among those sixteen christians there were some sick , who were very troublesome to the others . and all consider'd , i wonder we were not all sick , for the tempest lasted eight days without any intermission . so that not one of us during all that time went out on the deck to clear himself of vermine or to wash , but continu'd in our little room like so many dogs in a kennel . assoon as they had cast anchor , i went ashore , and to my patron 's who was astonish'd to see me . i acquainted him what misery we had been in for the space of eight days . i was troubl'd that we could not advance our voyage ; but the refreshments ashore rais'd my spirits . besides , i was glad to see the solemnities us'd by the turks , when they celebrate their easter , which they call the easter of ramadan , for they have several easters . and though i had been at algiers the year before , yet had i not seen any of those solemnities , for at the time of easter i was shut up in the bassa's palace . this festival lasts eight days , and is celebrated with great pomp and much rejoycing ; there being every day without the city cavalcades , and certain recreations on horse-back , which in the spanish language are called juego de caguas . and the turks children are drawn in little triumphal chariots , and christian slaves serve for horses , and they know what is to be given them for their pains . some in those eight days make a shift to get fifteen or sixteen patacoons . the other christian slaves sold the children some toys or other , as they do at the k●rmesses in flanders . others had instruments for some childish plaies , and they also made a shift to get money out of the children , and every day there was wrestling , at which exercise some moors were very expert ; but the most considerable celebration of the easter consisted in drinking ( though it be directly contrary to the command of the alcoran ) wine and brandy , and making good cheer , which they must eat with a very good appetite . for they fast a whole month before their easter , whereto they are oblig'd onely in the day time . this lent , or to say better fast , is so rigorously observ'd , that if it were known any one had eaten a bit in the day time , they would pour melted lead into his mouth , according to their laws ; but in the night they are permitted to eat . and to give people notice that they may eat , drums are beaten all night up and down the streets . this easter is also advantageous to the christians , for as in these parts on new-years day they give new-yeers-gifts , or something to the men and maids , so the turks do the like at the easter of ramadan ; and the three or four first days , no slave is put to any work . having seen all these solemnities , the wind continu'd still contrary till the 14 of january 1642. and then we embark'd the third time . assoon as we were got out of the port , the wind turn'd . but in regard we had return'd twice , and that some turks had abus'd our master , saying he understood not his profession , he incens'd at that reproach swore that he would not return any more to algiers , till he had finish'd his voyage , nay that he would rather sink . the wind was absolutely contrary , so that we could onely laveer , hoping it would turn . the eighth day we got before oran , that is , about fourty leagues from algiers . the same night , the turks who were upon the guard in the ship discover'd at sea two other ships , which continually followed ours . our master and his people were afraid they might be christians . but the next day they perceiv'd they were two pirates of algiers ; one was the admiral , named amet arrais , born at dunkirk . our master ask'd them whether they had seen any christian ships , whereto having answer'd that they had not , we pursu'd our course . four days after we cast anchor before tremesen , where we unloaded some commodities . several merchants went ashore , and staid there , to wit , some jews and moors , who came along with us . tremesen was heretofore a powerful kingdom , and the king of algiers was a tributary thereto . but now tremesen is tributary to algiers , and the bassa of algiers hath at tremesen his caja , that is , his lieutenant . this kingdom lies at the utmost part of the grand seignor's territories ; for at that place begins the kingdom of morrocco and fez. the grand seignor is in confederacy with those kings ; but notwithstanding that confederacy , the kings of morrocco and fez are many times in war with those of algiers , without any violation of the confederacy , as those of algiers are also many times in war against those of tunis , yet so as that the grand seignor concerns not himself in what the bassa's do . and yet these two kingdoms are his . they do not think it making war , when they do not take places of importance . having continu'd three days at anchor before tremesen , the wind came east , and so was right for us . we prosecuted our voyage ; and whereas divers marchants , jews and moors , stay'd ashore at tremesen , we were almost as many christians in the ship , as there were moors and turks . 't is true there were three and twenty jews , besides the turks . now we slaves had engag'd our selves in a design at algiers , before we went aboard the third time , to render our selves masters of the ship , and to kill all the turks , if an opportunity presented it self , and to that end , having been twice aboard , we had observ'd all conveniences . we had also made some preparations in order to the compassing of what we intended . the first proposer of the design was a spaniard , who lay all night on the deck , with seven other christian slaves , and we sixteen lay below in the little room towards the prow ; as i said before . but though we were shut in , yet with the assistance of our companions who were upon the deck , we could secretly open the hatch , so as the turks should not perceive it . but the same night that we thought to put our enterprise in execution , the chief agent in it , who should have given the signal , either neglected it , or had not the courage to proceed . so the enterprise prov'd ineffectual , as may be seen more at large in my three and thirty relation . after that night we had no opportunity ; for the nearer we came to the coasts of spain , the more were the turks in fear of losing the ship , and the more careful in keeping their guards . feb. 9. 1642. we came to the altitude of malaga . the next day about seven , we perceiv'd two ships making all the sail they could towards us ; which much frightned our master and the turks , for we could not avoid coming within their shot . our mast was cleft , so that we could not make a full sail to get further into the sea. they came so near us , that we could see their dutch flaggs . our master commanded all the christians under deck . then he made ready the boat , that he might forsake the ship , and get away with the chiefest of the turks towards the coast of barbary , as i was afterwards told by the turk who was to look to monsieur caloën and my self . but these two ships being marchant-men , as we understood two days afterwards , had no mind to fight without any occasion . our master was glad to see them pass by without medling with him . the next day , about the same hour we met with a pirat of salley , who ask'd us whether we had any tidings of some christian ships , telling us that the two dutch ships we had seen the day before were marchant-men , that traded on the coast of barbary . the wind continu'd still fair , so that febr. 12. in the evening , we cast anchor in a bay within a league and a half of tituan . in that place there is a river falls into the sea , the mouth whereof serv'd heretofore for a port to the ships which came to load and 〈◊〉 l●ad commodities from tituan . but the marq●●ss of santa cruz's grand-father , being general of the spanish galleys , made that river useless , by sinking in it some old indian gallions , loaden with stones and earth . this was done to hinder the pyrats who extremely infested the ports and coasts of spain . being here at anchor , we thought we had escap'd all the dangers fortune might prepare for us , and we were in hopes that night to lodge ashore . but this was reckoning without our host . for the sea being extremely rough by reason of the east-wind , which forces the mediterranean into the ocean , our master would not suffer the boat to be put out for fear of some misfortune , that place being as it were between two seas , which caus'd a great alteration in the sea. we were therefore forc'd to cast two anchors more , and the worst of it was that we could not make out to sea , by reason the wind was so high , and that the bay is as it were a half-moon of land , and that the wind blowing from sea was very violent . add to this , that the storm increased still , insomuch that the next day it was absolutely impossible for us to disembark . the master and the turks were extremely at a loss ; and perceiving the tempest still increas'd , they knew not what to do , fearing the cables might break , and that the ship would run against a rock , and fall to pieces , without any hope of saving any one of all those who were aboard . the master being thus puzled , and expecting to be wrack'd , call'd up a christian slave , born at norway , named hans maurus , a man very expert in navigation . he ask'd whether he knew any remedy in that imminent danger . the slave repli'd , if you will take my advice , with the help of god , i yet see one way to save the lives of all that are here , but the ship will be broken to pieces . what is to be done to save our lives , says the master ? we must , repli'd he , make ready the bow-sprit sail , to the end it may be in a moment set before the vvind , and we must turn the ship that she may run upon the sands , ( shewing the place to which he would have her directed , about a musket-shot from us ) otherwise the wind will force us upon that rock , and will break the ship into a thousand pieces . this advice was approv'd , and the sail was prepar'd , as he had ordered . this was done about noon , the tempest still continuing . which the superstitious turks perceiving , they said their sala with the accustomed ceremonies , making vows to bestow alms as soon as they came ashore . but no miracle appearing , they resolv'd to offer a sacrifice to their prophet mahomet , which is the last refuge of the turks , when they are in danger at sea : and is done thus . they take alive sheep , ( for which reason they always have some aboard to be us'd upon such occasions ) and if there chance to be any one among them who hath been at meca , to visit the place where the body of their prophet is , he with many prayers and ridiculous ceremonies cuts the sheep alive into four quarters , and casts them over-board on the four sides of the ship. we christians recommended our selves to the divine goodness . hans maurus told us that the tempest would still inc●●●se till mid-night , and that then the cables would break . night came on , and the turk who was to see us safely lodg'd , shut us up as he was wont . we desir'd him , that in case the ship should run a-ground , he would let us out , that every one might shift for himself , and save his life if he could ; which he promis'd to do . accordingly at mid-night , the moon being just in the full , the cable of our great anchor broke , and the two others had lost their hold , in regard they had not above fifteen fathom of cable , and were dragg'd after the ship. we all that were in the prow prepar'd our selves for death ; but the turk kept his promise , and opening the hatch , said to us , christians , come all up , that we may all dye together . we could not come out otherwise than one after another , which caus'd a great confusion , for every one endeavour'd to get out first . as soon as i was got up on the deck , me-thought i saw a representation of the last judgement . for the turks were all at the stern crying out as loud as ever they could , and imploring the assistance of their prophet mahomet . about the main-mast there were 〈◊〉 jews , who address'd their prayers to abraham , 〈◊〉 , and moses ; and we christians , at least such as were catholicks , directed ours to our blessed saviour jesus christ , and his glorious mother . others , who were of the reform'd religion , and schismaticks , very heartily recommended themselves to god after their way . nay , i may say , the most wicked person among us seem'd then to be very devout . we continu'd in this perplexity and confusion a good space . and perceiving the two anchors staid 〈◊〉 the ship at all , but were dragg'd after it , order 〈◊〉 given that the cables should be cut . immediate●● the bow-sprit sail was nois'd up , and the ship turn'd with the prow towards the land with an incredible force and swiftness . hans maurus cried out in dutch , take heed of the mast , i fear me it will fall . but nothing fell , save only ten or twelve turks , who tumbled off the deck into the sea. but the wind forcing the sea with so much violence to the shore , those who fell into the water , were by its means immediately forc'd to the land. all this happen'd in less time than a man could have said a miserere , and the ship running a-ground burst , and most of those who were in it leap'd into the sea , fearing the ship might cleave asunder . for my part , perceiving that the ship leaned on one side towards the shore , that is , the side on which all leap'd into the sea , i was afraid it might fall by reason of its continual agitation , and so thought it not safe to stay any longer on the deck . and whereas the ship was built after the italian way , like the vessels called pollaces , which have little rooms jetting out , as the galleys have , i went into one of those , and thence leap'd into the sea , where it happen'd to be so shallow that i had ground , but could not continue long in the same place , by reason of the agitation of the sea ; 〈◊〉 ●hat i was forc'd to swim three or four fathom , an●●ith that i got quite to land. having given god hearty thanks for this deliverance , i went to look for m. caloën ; for though i saw him leap into the water , yet was i not certain that he got to land . he on the other-side was in the same perplexity for me . having at last met , i went to look for the turk who was our conductor ●rom algiers . i found him among a company of christian-slaves , turks , and jews , who stood as close as they could one to another , to get themselves a heat . for being wet , we were almost starv'd to death . those who had escap'd were numbred , and there were above twenty wanting ; but by degrees they came together to the main body , all but two , to wit , a young lad , a jew , who was drunk , and a turk , who was half-distracted . we were now out of all sea-danger , but not out of that of the barbarians , who were very numerous all along that coast . nay , if they had had any tidings of our misfortune , and that the ship would have run-a-ground , they would have been there in great numbers , to make a prey of all they could meet with , and to kill us without any mercy ; but our master immediately dispatch'd away two turks , who knew the way to tituan , about a league and a half thence , and they gave notice to the governor of our misfortune , and desir'd his assistance against the barbarians . we continu'd all this time in the cold ; but one of the turks , who took tobacco having a little tinder-box about him , we made a shift , with sticks , barrel-staves and such things as the sea had cast ash●●● , to make a fire . we pass'd away the night the best we could ; and at the break of day the barbarians stood at a distance to see whether there were any thing to be stollen ; but we being about 70. persons , they durst not come neer us . besides it was not long ere they came from tituan a party of horse to convey the goods we had sav'd to the city . the governor came also in person attended by twenty horsemen arm'd after the african mode , with long lances . the turk who was to conduct us hir'd a horse for himself and his baggage , that is , what he could make a shift to save . for the tempest beginning to abate about the break of day , what belong'd to the passengers was taken out of the ship ; and most of the goods were sav'd , but wet and spoil'd . when they went in the morning into the ship , to get out the goods , they found the turk alli , whom we gave over for drown'd . he was got into the cabin at the stern , where he had met with the master's bottle of brandy , and had made himself drunk , and so knew nothing of the past danger . m. caloën and i hir'd a horse for us both , and we got about noon to tituan . the jew who was with us got us a lodging , for our money , in the quarter where the jews inhabited . after we had been two days at tituan , there went thence a cafila ( that is , a great number of persons travelling together ) to centa , along with whom there went also two moors , persons of quality , who were going to ceuta , to remain there as hostages , that the fathers employ'd about the redemption of captives ( who were then come to ceuta ) might remove thence the more safely to tituan , to treat with the governor about the ransoming of certain christian slaves . we were glad of that opportunity to write to our companion saldens , who should be , as we thought , at ceuta with the five turks . for it happens sometimes that when there is any difference between the governors of those two places , there is no correspondence between them for two or three months together . with this cafila , we writ to ceuta , thinking saldens had been there because he had written thence to us , and two days after the cafila return'd with two fathers of the order of the blessed trinity . their arrival caus'd great rejoycing , as well among the christian slaves as the citizens ; for the former were in hopes of obtaining their liberty , the latter of receiving money . we went immediately to salute the fathers , who deliver'd us a letter written from ceuta , by a spanish gentleman named dom martin de pegnalosa . the letter was to this effect , your companion renier saldens , weary of staying here , is gone to gibraltar to recreate himself , but hath left me order to supply you with all things necessary ; and whereas i find by your letter , that you would have two hundred patacoons return'd to you , i give order to a moorish merchant named alli tigarino , to furnish you with the said sum , and the same merchant will be engag'd for you , that you may remain in the city , and not be oblig'd to go into the masmora , ( the masmora is a prison under ground ) and i will immediately write to renier saldens , that he may return hither , to compleat the exchange of the five turks , ( who thanks be to god are all well ) for you two . this news extreamly satisfy'd us ; but we had already forgotten , that there is no great distance between mirth and sorrow . the five turks walk'd the streets of ceuta upon the engagement of the two merchants , moors , whose ordinary residence was at ceuta . in the mean time , though our companion saldens was gone but to gibraltar , yet mustapha ingles imagining he was return'd into flanders , or gone to some part of spain far thence , writ a letter to tituan to the turk who kept us , that renier saldens had promis'd , at his being in flanders , to contribute seven hundred patacoons , towards the ransom which his relations had paid for m. caloën , and that he should put us into the masmora , till such time as we had promis'd to pay that sum . the contriver of this business was hibraim arrais , one of the five turks , who gave out at ceuta , that m. caloën and i had promis'd the seven hundred patacoons before our departure from algiers . the turk who kept us having receiv'd this letter communicated it to the correspondents of mustapha's friends , who thought it fit that we should be put into the masmora , as well to see whether they might get the seven hundred patacoons , as to shew their readiness to serve mustapha's friends . the turk came and gave us an account what had been resolv'd , telling us it was no fault of his . and thereupon he conducted us to the masmora . this masmora is a vault thirty foot under ground divided into three partitions . the greatest of the three is about twenty eight foot in length , and twenty four in breadth ; the two others are less . and there were commonly detain'd there an hundred and seventy christian slaves . this prison hath no other light than that of three gates which are above in the mid'st of the street , and at each of these grates there is a hook fasten'd to a line ; and when in the day time any christians pass by , they charitably bring water to the poor slaves ; or if they have money , they buy somewhat for them ; and the hook and line serve to let down what they would give them . the jaylor or keeper of this prison suffers not any body to come in without giving him something . there is no privy in it , but the prisoners and slaves use pots as they do in spain , and those pots are hung about the walls , and so serve both for tapistry and perfume . besides they are not to be empty'd till night , and then an officer opens one of the grates , and they are drawn up by the hook . and for every pot that is empty'd , there must be paid a bobe , that is about half a farthing , which methinks is a great cruelty , and yet all those who are put into that miserable prison , are forc'd to lye on the ground , unless they are permitted to hang up hammocks made of cords against the walls , as they do in ships . but there are so many people , and the place is so streight , that the poor slaves are forc'd to crow'd together , and lye like so many herrings . thence it comes that in the summer time especially , there is such abundance of vermine , and so much other nastiness , that it is as troublesome being there as rowing in the gallies . it was our fortune to be there in winter . but what troubled us most was , that in the night time , when all were laid in their places , some lewd boys , moors , to vex the poor christians , would cast in filth , stones , water , and other things through the grates . this happen'd some nights three or four times , and that alarm oblig'd all who lay neer the grates to rise ; for all lying on the ground , he who rose not presently was in danger of being trampled under-foot by his companions , the floor being all cover'd with bodies . m. caloën and i lay in a hole , so that we were not oblig'd to rise at that alarm . that favour was done us by a knight of st. james's , a spaniard , named dom geronimo de figuroa , born at corduba , and a slave , who was very kind to us . he told us that he took his diet in the masmora , with four other slaves , at ten ( simple ) ryals a month ; whereupon m. caloën and i desir'd to be admitted among them at the same rate , and i must confess we were well treated , as slaves , having as much meat as nature requir'd , and a cloath laid on our table . our host was a spaniard , who had been thirteen years in that prison , getting his livelihood by that way , and yet , among the one hundred and seventy slaves , there were but five , who could be treated at that rate . while we were in this misery , our companion saldens returns to ceuta , where he receiv'd one of my letters , wherein i gave him an account of all that pass'd , and that we were in the masmora , upon order from the five turks at ceuta to the turk who kept us , to put us there , till we promis'd to give the seven hundred patacoons , which he had promis'd in flanders , as the same turks affirmed . and to shew that m. caloën and i had promis'd nothing as to that sum , as they gave out at ceuta , i sent him also a letter written in the turkish language , by the turk who kept us , wherein he acknowledg'd , that we had promis'd him onely twenty five patacoons for himself , and to pay for our passage from algiers to tituan . the turk gave me the letter unseal'd , and i writ a post-script to saldens , that he should cause the five turks to be chain'd and put into the masmora at ceuta , which is a more inconvenient place then that of tituan , as being under an oven , which causes an insupportable heat . the fathers employ'd about the redemption of captives , whom i spoke of before , return'd to ceuta , without redeeming so much as one christian . the reason was , that they could not agree with the governor of tituan ; for the ordinary way of agreeing is , to pay a third part in money , and the other two thirds in commodities , whereof there are patterns shewn . the difference was , that the governor would not take the commodities at the rate set upon them by the fathers . besides he would have oblig'd the fathers in the first place to redeem thirty slaves belonging to himself , at the rate of two hundred duckets a piece . which the fathers would by no means condescend unto , in regard that all those slaves were either portuguez or french , and the fathers said , not without reason , as long as there are any spanish slaves , we cannot redeem those of other nations ; insomuch as the alms we bring were given in spain for the redemption of spaniards , and it is but reason that they should be preferr'd before others . hence it came that the fathers return'd without doing any thing . i gave my letter to a free christian who went along with the fathers to ceuta , desiring him to deliver it to saldens himself ; which he did , telling him , he had left us the day before in the masmora at tituan , whereat saldens was extreamly incens'd . he immediately order'd the five turks to be brought to the masmora at ceuta , and being at the entrance of it , he said to the captain hibraim arrais , who was one of the five , pilla basso , that is in lingua franca , lay him down on the ground , and let four hold his arms and leggs , that he may be cudgell'd over the back and buttocks : for saldens had a cudgel ready in his hand ; having learnt that kind of justice when he was with us at algiers . hibraim arrais began to put off his cloaths , weeping , and giving all the fair words he could , and the other four turks shook like an aspen leaf , fearing the same treatment . all that pass'd by ( for this was done in the streets ) made a halt to see the end of the tragedy . among other spectators , two turkish merchants , who chanc'd to be at ceuta about their commerce , passing by the place , said to saldens , what would you do with these slaves , are they not unfortunate enough to be slaves , but they must also be beaten ? salden being extreamly incens'd , made answer , i will cudgel two or three of these ungrateful traytors to death , i have suffered them to walk freely up and down the city , and yet not withstanding that kindness , they have caus'd my companions to be put into the masmora at tituan , ( though they had given good security ) where they are at this present in misery , and these dogs walk up and down the city where they please , and they have written a thousand lyes to tituan , to trapan us out of our money by their malicious inventions , contrary to all right . upon that the two merchants spoke to the five turks in their own language , and after their discourse was ended , they said to saldens , forbear beating these slaves , and we will put in security here that your companions shall come out of the masmora , and be brought hither with the first cafila . we will write to morrow for their delivery out of the masmora . saldens seem'd to be satisfy'd with what was propos'd , yet would fain have given them a beating . but upon the intreaties of some captain 's of the garrison , he was perswaded to go along with the two merchants to the governor , who then was the marquesse of miranda , and saldens and the two turkes alledged their reasons . after he had heard both parties , and brought them to an agreement , he write a letter to this effect to the governor of tituan . send me along with the first cafila two christians , named john baptist caloën , and emanuel d' aranda , and i promise you upon the word and faith of a christian and knight , that assoon as those christians shall come to the gate of ceuta , i will set at liberty the five turks , named mustapha ingles , hibraim arrais , alli tagarino , rhodes mustapha , and mustapha oiga . there liv'd at ceuta a jew , a man of great reputation for his wealth , who undertook to accommodate ( or rather over-reach both sides ) the difference between the fathers before-mentioned and the governor of tituan , whether he was to go the next day . the marquesse's letter was given to him , with order to deliver it to the governor of tituan himself , which he did the next day . in the evening , we were let out of the masmora , with permission to walk within and without the city , as we pleas'd our selves . we went immediately to our chamber in the jews quarter , which had been kept during our absence by the turk who had the over-sight of us . what happen'd in the masmora , during the time of our being confin'd there may be seen in the vii . and xiii . of the ensuing relations . we walk'd up and down with the turk who kept us , in expectation of the cafila from ceuta , having bought us each a white cloak , such as in the language of the country are called albornos , and a red cap , garments befitting christians who had newly recover'd their liberty . most of the christian slaves gave us letters to be sent to their friends and relations . the jew who mediated between the fathers for the redemption of captives , and the governour of tituan having compos'd the difference , ( or to say better over-reach both ) was to return the next day , which was the 23 of march , 1642. we took two hackney horses of a moor who was to go with the same cafila to ceuta : and got a couple of pullets made ready , and a large bottle of wine , to refresh our selves by the way . we left tituan , accompani'd by the knight philip de cherf , and some other christian slaves our friends to a place within a quarter of a league to the city , where all who went along with the cafila were to meet . we took leave of such as came along with us , who were much dejected that they were still to continue in that miserable state of slavery . we got that evening about two leagues , all along a champion country , which from that place to ceuta is neither cultivated nor inhabited , but absolutely desert , though the soil be fertile enough . we alighted in the open fields , and having unloaden the mules , three or four turks with their cutlasses cut down good store of wood , and made a fire . for the nights in that country , as well as in spain are very cold in march. all setled themselves about the fire , and eat what they brought with them . we intreated some of the chiefest turks to participate of our provisions , but they would have excus'd themselves , saying that the pullets had been kill'd by some christian , and that therefore they could not eat thereof . i was fain to swear that a turk had kill'd them ; which was true , for we had brought the pullets purposely to treat them by the way . had they been pyrates of algiers , they would not have been so scrupulous . having supp'd well , we lay down by the fire to sleep . the next day an hour before sun-rising we took our way towards ceuta , and from the place where we had quarter'd the night before to ceuta , we met not with any person , nor any sign that men had ever inhabited that way , save onely the ruines of a house . in our way , a turk , who was on horse-back , having a fire-lock kill'd a wild boar ; but in regard the turks are not permitted to eat thereof , m. caloën promis'd them two patacoons if they would bring him to the city for us ; which they did , cutting it him into quarters , and putting them on the mules . when the cafila comes within a league of ceuta , it must take a certain way that it may be discover'd by the sentinels of the city ; and the very coming that way signifies friends . when we were got within two musket-shots of the city , a moor said to m. caloën and me , christians , stay here , i have order to keep you here , till the five turks are come hither also . there was no reply to be made ; i gave my prayer-book to a jew , who was going to the city , to serve for a signal to saldens , that he might know we were there , expecting admission into the city . this was about nine in the morning , and we continu'd there till three in the afternoon , there being no person with us but the moor who guarded us , devoutly expecting the five turks . we could not imagine what might be the reason of their stay . but between three and four we saw the gate opened , and the draw-bridge let down ; and there came out some thirty horse-men arm'd with lances and bucklers of leather , which in spanish are called adargas , and one of the party better mounted than the rest , rode a good way into the country , as it were to make a discovery . then he put up his bonnet on the top of the lance , as a signal that there were no ambuscadoes . those of the party having seen that signal divided themselves into divers lesser parties , and planted themselves upon some of the avenues . the leader of that party wish'd us happiness with our liberty , and told us , that our companion was talking with the governor concerning our entrance into the city . while i was speaking with the captain , i saw coming out of the city a company of foot , about one hundred and fifty men in number , which company drew up into a little batallion , between the horse and the city . after that i saw coming out about a hundred slaves , turks , and moors , every one loaden with two heavy iron chains , with a great pot on his back , and they came between the body of foot and the city to fetch spring-water in their pots . and this was done twice or thrice a week with the same vigilance , as well out of a fear of being surpris'd by the barbarians , as of loosing their slaves . having observ'd all that pass'd , we wondred much that saldens staid so long . the reason was , that the governor of ceuta by his letter before-mentioned had promis'd the governour of tituan , to set the five turks at liberty as soon as we were come to the gates of ceuta , which he durst not do at that time , in regard it was publickly known at ceuta , that a ship was expected there from tangiers . and if those five turks had then been permitted to go for tituan , no doubt they would have given notice of it to the pyrats of that city , and so the ship might run the hazard of being taken . on the other side , we were in great hazard and danger , either to be forc'd to return to tituan , or remain without the city to be a prey to the barbarians , who many times come within reach of the canon of the city . but our companion saldens manag'd the business so well with the assistance of dom martin de pegnalosa , that the governor having sent for the five turks , said to them . 't is true , i have engag'd my word to the governor of tituan , that i would set you five at liberty assoon as the two christians should come to the gates of this city ; and now that they are come , i neither can nor dare set you at liberty according to my promise , because you know there is expected here a ship richly loaden from tangiers . but to shew you that i am a person tender of my word , the two christians shall return back again to tituan , or they shall remain without the city , till the said ship be come in . but if you are content that the two christians shall come into the city , i promise you upon the word of a knight , that assoon as this ship shall come in , i will permit you to depart , and in the mean time i declare you from this present free . the turkes accepted of this condition , confiding in the promises of the governor , yet thought they fit to draw up a little writing of it . whereupon about four in the afternoon saldens sent us word that he would come and meet us , but that he was first to speak to the governor . about half an hour after he came , accompany'd by dom martin de pegnalosa , who kindly assisted him in all his affairs . it is impossible to express the joy and satisfaction of his meeting with our companion after whom we had languish'd so long . after mutual embraces , all present wish'd us happiness with our liberty . vve made our entrance together into ceuta , more content then the roman emperors when they return'd in triumph to the city of rome . we went to kiss the governor's hand , presenting him with the head of the wild boar which had been kill'd by the way ; and as we came out of his palace , the five turks came to welcome us : they went along with us to our inn , where we treated them , and we mutually related to each other our past adventures . then was it that there pass'd among us three , the greatest satisfaction and enjoyments , that ever we had , or ever shall have in our lives . but , as i said several times before , an excessive mirth will soon meet with some check or other ; our companion saldens began to relate unto us , how that one of the five turks being in prison at bruges had embrac'd the christian religion . we fell into a consultation what we should do upon that conjuncture . for if we discover'd that he was become a christian , the governor could not permit him to depart . and whereas he had engag'd his word to the governor of tituan , that he would set them all at liberty , no doubt he would have sent us back thither . for he was a person understood himself very well , as to what he was oblig'd to , when he had pass'd his word to a mahometane governor ; and he laugh'd at those , who taught , that a man is not oblig'd to keep his word with people of another religion or sect. to suffer him to go , knowing he was a christian , went against our conscience . we advis'd with an old cavalier , who was better acquainted with the disposition of the turks , then he , who , out of zeal without prudence , had converted that turk . his advice was , that saldens should speak alone to the turk , and that his discourse should be to this purpose . alli ( so was his name ) you know that you embrac'd the christian religion in flanders , what is now your intention ? in case he reply , i am a christian , and i will continue in the christian apostolick and roman faith : then saldens shall say to him , go to the governor , and tell him that you are a christian , and that you will stay here ; and go and say the same thing to your four companions . then the governor , in the presence of his companions , will ask him , whether he will return into his country . if he answers , that he will not , and if he say that he is a christian , he shall stay , and the governor shall be discharg'd . saldens put this advice in execution , but alli made answer that he would return into his country . whereupon we engag'd our selves no further in the business . mach 24. 1642. was the day of our absolute liberty , whereupon one of my friends made these two chronograms , whereof one shews the day of my being taken by the turks , the other that of my redemption . chronicum captivitatis . mensis avgvsti die xxii . captvs . chronicum redemptionis . martii xxiiii . redvctvs fvit . the day after our arrival we went all three to the great church at ceuta , to do our devotions . this church is called , our lady's church of africk , and it is the metropolitane church . we kiss'd the bishop's hand , who was a devout old man , and all his train consisted of one negro-slave . he ask'd us whether we were christians ( he meant catholicks ) we answer'd that we were roman catholicks , and subjects of his majesty of spain . upon this answer the good bishop gave us his benediction . we staid at ceuta eight days , intending to go to gibraltar with a brigantine well arm'd ; for that passage is very dangerous . this brigantine had fifteen banks , and on every bank two souldiers to row , who had their arms lying ready by them . in four hours , we pass'd from africk to europe , not without great fear of being once more taken by the turks , for i knew those souldiers were as good sea-men , as the english master , when we were taken , shew'd himself a valiant souldier . we came to gibraltar , and stay'd there three days , and went to do our devotions at a chappel a quarter of a league without the city , and directly where the distance is least between africk and europe , called our lady's chappel of europe , a place much frequented by all those who have friends and relations in slavery . vve went from gibraltar on horse-back for cadiz , which is two days journey . m. caloën and i were in our white cloaks and red caps ; whence it came that in our way , and at all the villages where we alighted , all those who had any friends in slavery came to see us , to know whether we had any letters or news from them . being at cadiz , we got us cloaths made us after the christian mode , and thence we went to madrid , where we staid two months all three together . some days after , saldens went away with his old master , the marquess of solero , for the army of catalonia , and m. caloën and i came to st. sebastian's in biscay , and travell'd without any pass through all france , trusting to an attestation we had from the fathers employ'd about the redemption of captives , certifying that we came out of slavery . but where we had no occasion to shew the attestation , we pretended to be hollanders . being come to paris , we were inform'd that at dieppe , as also at callice , the governors very strictly examin'd strangers , especially such as would cross over into england . to avoid this examination we took shipping at rovën in a hamburgher , bound for scotland . being at sea , we told the master that we would gladly see england , and that if he would set us ashoar neer dover , we would give the boats-crue somewhat to drink . vve were accordingly landed within half a league of dover , whither we went afoot . and the next day we pass'd over with the packet-boat to dunkirk . thus , after divers traverses of fortune and strange adventures , i came to dunkirk , reflecting on the hardship , the dangers , the vain hopes , the happinesses , the misfortunes , and a thousand other accidents which i had run through , during the time of my unhappy travels , wherein i was much troubled in body , but much more afflicted in mind . i leave it to the reader , to imagine what satisfaction it was to me , to see the steeples and other structures of my dear country , where i had wish'd my self a thousand and a thousand times , representing to my self the delightful interview of my dear friends , and particularly my indulgent mother , from whom , my brothers and sisters , for important reasons , had till that time conceal'd my captivity , and other misfortunes , perswading her sometimes that i was sick , sometimes that other accidents , yet such as were probable , had happened to me . amidst these reflections , on the 20. day of august 1642. i came to the city of bruges , rendring most humble thanks to god , who had conducted me , through so many dangers by sea and land , to the gates of the city where i drew my first breath , and gave me the time and convenience to praise his glorious mother the virgin mary , whom all christians ought to invocate as the comforter of the afflicted . but for my part , i shall , for many reasons , acknowledge all the days of my life , that i am particularly oblig'd to honor her , to serve her , and to render her all possible thanks , as a christian ought to do to the common mother of all christians . and in the next place , according to the commandment of god , to honour my natural mother , whom i found in health with my brothers and sisters . the content and joy we had at our meeting , i omit as being beyond expression . but what i have said elsewhere , to wit , that mourning and sorrow are the neer attendants of joy and satisfaction , may be further seen here also ; for some few days after my return , my brother-in-law , and dear mother ended their days , to whom i wish eternal rest ; laying aside my pen , to acknowledge the pains the reader hath taken in perusing my adventures . a short account of the antiquity of the city of algiers . the city of algiers is scituated in a province of africk , anciently called mauritania caesariensis , on the side of the mediterranean sea. its elevation is at 37. degrees . it is not known who were the founders of this city , for what is conjecturable seems fabulous . but whta's most certain , is , that strabo , a creditable author , speaking of mauritania caesariensis , says , that on the mediterranean , there was a city called jol , which was rebuilt by juba , the father of ptolomy , who chang'd the name of jol into jol-caesaria ; affirming further , that the said city had a little island before the port , at the 37. degree of elevation . whence it may be inferr'd , that he speaks of algiers ; inasmuch as there is no city on the coast of africk at the 37. degree , which hath a little island before the port , but this . it is to be observ'd , that we speak here of young juba , son of king juba the first of that name , and nephew or grand-child to that great boncho king of mauritania . this juba , of whom i speak , was taken in the battel , wherein the forces of pompey , being retreated out of africk , were defeated by the caesarian party . and this young juba was carried to rome , fasten'd to the emperor 's triumphal chariot , according to the custom of the romans . being a young man , he was brought up at rome , and prov'd so successful in his studies , that the emperor augustus not onely gave him his liberty , but also married him to a daughter of mark anthony's and cleopatra , named silen● , queen of egypt , as suetonius affirms , lib. 1. and for dowry gave him his father's kingdom , to wit , all mauritania , which at that time , comprehended the kingdoms of morocco , tr●●ante , fez , tremesen , oran , tunis , algiers , ●●gy , as far as bona , which is a vast space of a very fertile and rich ground . thence is it that plutarch saies , that juba had a fortunate slavery ; and as suetonius affirmes , lib. 2. juba in acknowledgement of the kindness he had receiv'd , and to continue in the emperor's favour , gave that city the name of jo●-caesaria . whence it may easily be conjectur'd , that this city was in that time a place of great account , since juba made choice of it among all those of his kingdome , to eternise the name of that glorious prince augustus caesar , since he re-built it , and kept his court there , as pliny affirms , lib. 5. ch . 2. after juba's death , ptolomey , his son , succeeded him in his father's kingdome : but the emperour caligula caus'd him to be kill'd , and by that means , became master of all those kingdoms , dividing them into two provinces , calling the one mauritania tingitensis , from the name of the city tingis , now called tangiers , according to suetonius , lib. 2. making that city the metropolis of mauritania tingitensis ; and calling the other part mauritania caesariana , taking that name from jol-caesaria , inasmuch as that city was the metropolis of that great province . in that met the assembly which the romans called conventus provinciarum , and the roman governours kept their residence there . the emperour claudius , who succeeded caligula inrich'd that city with roman colonies , with the same freedome and priviledges as the citizens of rome then had . in the year of our lord 427. guntario and genserico kings of the vandalls and alans , having subdu'd spain , pass'd into africk , destroy'd and sack'd the two mauritania's , especially the two metropolitan cities . and in the year 697. the alarbes , or arabians , destroy'd in a manner all africk ; but notwithstanding that second destruction , that city was still inhabited , and that by reason of its excellent scituation . for the sea strikes against the walls of it , and a little island , distant from the city about a bow-shot , serves for a port to it . the fortifications in that time were very good , and the soil very fertil , by reason of a great many springs which water the gardens . whence it came , that this city never wanted citizens . the change of the name of jol-caesaria was caus'd by the alarbes , who conquer'd africk ; for they call'd it , as indeed they do at present , algezir , which signifies an island , inasmuch as there is a little island before the city , as if they meant by algezir , the city of the island . but in regard foreiners cannot well pronounce the word algezir , the italians and spaniards call it argil , the french alger , and the english commonly algiers . when the alarbes were absolute masters of africk , and had made a division of all the provinces , mauritania caesariensis fell to the king of tremesen , to whom those of algiers paid tribute a long time , till one albuferiz a very powerful king of tunis became master of the city of bugy , forcing even the king of tremesen to be his tributary . the king of bugy dying , divided his territories among his three children , and gave the youngest whose name was habdulhaziz , the city of bugy , making it as it were the metropolis of that new kingdom . this king habdulhaziz engag'd himself in a war against the king of tremesen ; those of algiers finding themselves incommodated by the war , and considering that the king of tremesen ( to whom they paid a great tribute ) had no care of them , nor fo●ces sufficient to defend them , were oblig'd to pay tribute to the king of bugy , and so they declar'd themselves enemies to the king of tremesen . this subjection lasted till the count pedro navarro in the year of our lord 1509. got for the king of spain the cities of oran and bugy . those of algiers fearing the same success as oran and bugy , thought it their best course to put themselves under the protection of the great prince of the alarbes , named selim eutemi , who had always liv'd in the campagnes about algiers . this selim came and made his residence in the city of algiers to defend it ; which he did for some years , till the turks , by tyranny , became masters of algiers , as shall be seen in the subsequent discourse . how the city of algiers came under the power of the turks . the ordinary exercise of the citizens of algiers , in that time , was to play the pyrats with their barks with oars ; and this exercise increas'd daily . in the year 1592. in which king ferdinand got the city of granada , great numbers of moors pass'd as well from granada , as from valentia and arragon , into africk , who had been brought up in spain ; so that knowing the ways , the language , and being vers'd in the business of war , all their work was , by perpetual incursions , to infest the coasts of spain , major●a , minorca , ivica , and the other islands . the city of oran being reduc'd in the year 1509. as we said before , king ferdinand sent a powerful fleet to destroy the city of algiers , with all pyrats belonging to it , and to clear the sea of that barbarous nation . those of algiers seeing that naval force ready to fall upon them , submitted to the king of spain , obliging themselves to pay him an annual tribute : and whereas the main design was to destroy the pyrats , the spaniards made a fort within the city ▪ kept by a capt●in and two hundred souldiers . this place was always well furnish'd with ammunitions , and provisions , and kept both pyrats and citizens in awe . as long as that great monarch liv'd , those of algiers paid their tribute , and patiently endur'd the inconvenience of that fort , not presuming so much as to mutter , till the death of that king , which happen'd in the year 1516. upon his death , they resolv'd to rid their hands of their neighbours the christians , as also of the fort , that they might pay no more tribute to the spaniards . in order to the execution of their design , they sent to aruch barberossa , who was then at higir , a place seated on the side of the mediterranean sea , distant from algiers , east-ward , an hundred and eighty italian miles , intreating him , as a valiant souldier ( for he was famous at that time for his victories ) to make all the haste he could to algiers , with his turks and galleys , to deliver them out of the hands of the christians , who much incommodated them by that fort , promising to recompence him nobly for his p●ins . barberossa having receiv'd this embassy , was very glad of i● , looking on it as a fit opportunity to make himself lord of algiers , and by degrees reduce under his power great territories in barbary . he pretended to be much troubled that the christians lay so heavy on those of algiers , and made answer , that he wish'd nothing so much , as that he were able to deliver them out of that misery , and that within a short time he would come and relieve them . the ambassadors glad of that promise return'd to algiers . in the interim barberossa looses no time . he sends away eighteen gallies , full of turks , ammunition and artillery , and himself with his turkish and moorish forces comes by land. selim eut●mi lord of algiers , and the chiefest citizens were glad to see the ready assistance which barberossa gave them ; they went and met him a days journey short of the city , imagining he was coming streight to algiers . but barberossa excus'd himself , saying , that some affairs of great importance oblig'd him to go first to sargil , sixty italian miles from algiers , on the sea-side , westward , promising to return in a short time , and to do what they desi●'d , if not more . accordingly he went with his forces by land towards sargil , giving order to his gallies , which were already at algiers , to go immediately towards sargil , where was car-azan , one of his captains , who had commanded some picaroons of his own squadron . but this car-azan , thinking it more advantageous and more honorable to command then to be commanded , had debauch'd some of barberossa's ships , and was got to sargil , inriching himself by his courses on the coast of spain , by the assistance of the moors , who liv'd there , most natives of granada and valentia , who retir'd thither when dom ferdinand conquer'd granada in the year 1492. car-azan astonish'd to find barberossa so neer , 〈…〉 to go and wait on him , and to restore him 〈◊〉 ships and turkish souldiers he had debauch'd from him , presuming barberossa would think it sufficient satisfaction . but barberossa not admitting any excuses , caus'd car-azan's head to be struck off in his presence , took all his ships , slaves and goods as a booty , and the turkish soldiers were listed among his own forces . this done , he forc'd the people to proclaim him their king and master ; and leaving a garrison of his most trusty soldiers in the place , he return'd with his forces towards algiers , and his fleet did the like . being come thither , all welcomed him , especially selim eutemi , who lodg'd him in his own palace , doing him all the honor , and entertaining him after the best manner he could . this crafty pyrat desirous to perswade them that he had no other design in coming thither then to deliver them out of their subjection to the christians , the next day after his arrival , drew a trench , and rais'd a battery against the fort of the christians in the island . the battery being rais'd , ere ever a gun was discharg'd , he sent a turk to the captain who commanded the fort to tell him , that if he would deliver it up , he should have shipping to carry him and his soldiers over into spain ▪ and in case they refus'd , they should be all cut to pieces . the captain 's answer to this summons was , that the proffer of ships and menaces of death signify'd nothing to him , those overtures being to be made onely to cowards . barberossa upon this answer , order'd that they should shoot continually , though the island was not above three hundred paces distant from the city ; yet was 〈…〉 great hurt done , in regard he had onely 〈…〉 field-pieces . having play'd on the fort twenty days and nights without intermission , to little purpose , the citizens of algiers began to mutiny , and to complain openly , th●t they had brought into the city so many turks , who committed insupportable violences , and insolently threatned the citizens . the prince selim eutemi was troubled to see himself so slighted by barberossa , as well in his own palace as publickly , and barberossa's thoughts were wholly taken up , how he should become absolute master of that city , and the territo●ies belonging to it . at last , he reresolv'd ( notwithstanding the kind treatment he receiv'd ) to kill his entertainer selim eutemi with his own hands , and by force of arms to get himself proclaim'd king by his soldiers , and in fine to make the citizens of algiers to acknowledge him for such . to compass this design without any popular tumult , one day about noon , as selim eutemi was going into the bath of his palace , to wash , before the saying of the sala , or mid-day prayer ( as the turks and moors , according to the alcoran , are wont to do ) barberossa , who was lodg'd in the same palace , entred secretly into the bath , attended by some of his people ; and finding the prince alone , naked , and without any arms , he strangled him , and retiring secretly out of the bath , left the body on the place . a quarter of an hour after , returning publickly to the bath , and seeming astonish'd to see the corps of his entertainer , he call'd his servants , and told them their master had dy'd in a swound . this was immediately divulg'd ; but the citizens having already had some experience of the cruel disposition of barberossa , imagining him to be the author of their lord's death , went every one to his own house , fearing some tumult or massacre . on the other side , the turks having already had notice of what had pass'd , appear'd armed in the streets , and with the assistance of some moors conducted barberossa on horse-back through the principal streets of the city , and proclaim'd him king of algiers , without any opposition . selim eutemi's son , fearing barberossa's tyranny , assisted by his menial servants , retir'd to oran , where he was receiv'd by the christians . the tyrant being thus proclaim'd king by his soldiers , summon'd the wealthiest citizens to appear before him , and promis'd them great priviledges , if they would acknowledge him absolute king. which they did , rather forc'd thereto , then otherwise . he immediately began to coin mony , to fortifie the alcazar ( one of the fortresse's of the city ) where he put good store of artillery , and garrizon'd it with a considerable number of turks . some days after , the turks , finding themselves absolute masters of algiers , began to ill-intreat the citizens , at first by injurious speeches , and afterwards by publick plundering , so that now they clearly perceiv'd it had been much better to be tributaries to the christians then subjects to the turks . the government of the new king was so heavy , that the citizens began secretly to entertain a correspondence with the governor of the island-fort , declaring that their intention was to massacre all the turks , and to renew the payment of their tribute to the king of spain . the captain promis'd them assistance . on the other side , the moors of the country of the deceas'd prince selim e●●●mi promis'd also assistance to the algerians , as well out of a desire to be reveng'd for the death of their lord , as to exempt themselves from the great tribute which that new tyrant barberossa forc'd them to pay . the disorders of this pyrate caus'd a confederacy between the algerians , the moors of mutiia ( the country of selim ) and the christians of the fort. the design was laid , to wit , that a great number of those moors should , on a day appointed , come into the city , with armes hid under their garments , under pretence of buying some commodities , and that they should fire twenty two galliots which lay a-ground on both sides of the city . and when the turks went out to quench the fire , the citizens should shut to the gates of the city , and then the christians of the fort , should come in little boats to the city , to assist the citizens . but the design was discover'd by the great vigilance of barberossa , who craftily dissembled what he knew of it . and thereupon , he doubled his guards , as well in the galliots as at the city-gates , so that the moors were so far from firing the galliots , that they had not the confidence to come neer them . on a certain day of their juma , ( that is the fryday , which is as it were the sunday of the turks ) this new king came as he was wont to the great moskey to say the sala ; and some of the wealthiest algerians being also come in , the doors were shut of a sudden upon them , and a great number of turks stood about the mosquey , so that the algerians were besieg'd , and made prisoners . then barberossa began to discover what he knew of their design , and commanded them to be bound hand and foot . that done , he caus'd the heads of twenty citizens to be immediately chopp'd off , as those whom he conceiv'd most guilty , and order'd the bodies and heads to be cast into the streets , where after they had remain'd a certain time for a spectacle , they were buried in a dung-hill . all this happen'd in the year 1517. and from that time to this present , the algerians have suffer'd the government of the turks , either by force or fair means , without any contradiction , and consequently they are subject to the turks . in the same year 1517. selim eutemi's son , ( who , as was said , retir'd to oran ) upon the intreaty of the marquess of comares , general of oran , with the assistance of the cardinal francisco ximenes , and all the councels of spain , obtain'd a naval army of ten thousand men , to drive barberossa and the turks out of algiers . for the councels of spain thought it not rational that that arch-pyrat barberossa should make algiers a refuge for the picaroons and pyrats , who infested the neighbouring kingdoms . this army under the conduct of a knight named dom francisco de la vexa , and selim's son , got neer the city of algiers , but it met with a misfortune , as there did afterwards to the emperor charles v. in the year 1541. for a great tempest surpriz'd them so , that some of the ships fell foul one upon another , and the rest run a-ground . so that the greatest part of that army was swallow'd in the sea , and the souldiers drown'd . those who had escap'd the dangers at sea , were either kill'd by the turks , or made slaves , and very few return'd into spain . this misfortune of the christians much heighten'd the courage of barberossa , and made him more dreadful then before ; for by that disaster , the forces of salim eutemi's son , the right heir of the kingdom of algiers were lost , he out of all hope of restauration , and the christian forces very much weakened . all these successes , on the other side , made barberossa so proud , so insolent , and so insupportable , that the alarbes , who liv'd in the flat country , under the jurisdiction of that kingdom , finding themselves so cruelly treated by the government of the turk , resolv'd to take for their protector the king of tunis ( a country distant from algiers , about thirty miles westward ) and sent ambassadors to treat with him about it . this king of tunis , whose name was hamidalabde , considering that barberossa grew daily more and more powerful , and fearing that troublesome neighbour , promis'd the alarbes assistance , conditionally they would engage in a joynt war against that pyrate ; and in case they might get him out of algiers , that the moors should bestow that kingdom on him and his successors . this condition was accepted by the moors . king hamidalabde got together ten thousand horse , as well his own subjects , as from his friends and allyes , and march'd with that army towards algiers , in june , in the year 1517. the alarbes , who liv'd under the jurisdiction of the kingdom of algiers , seeing that army , openly declar'd themselves enemies to the tyrant . whereupon the army increas'd daily in both horse and foot. barberossa having intelligence of what pass'd between hamidalabde and the alarbes prepar'd for war , not onely for the defensive , but also for the offensive . all his confidence was in the valour of his turkish arquebusiers , which his enemies wanted . he left the government of algiers to his brother cheredin , with a small garrison . and to secure the city , he took along with him twenty of the richest citizens . he began his march towards his enemies with a thousand arquebusiers , turks , and five hundred moors of granada and valentia . barberossa having march'd twelve leagues westward met with the enemy's army , and the first charge was very desperate . the turks and moors being well skill'd , with the excellent conduct of their chief commander gave their enemies a defeat . the king of tunis seeing the confusion , retreated faster then he came thither , and barberossa pursu'd his victory , following him as far as tunis , where the king durst not stay , for fear of being besieg'd . he went thence towards mount atlas , and barberossa without any resistance took the city of tunis , plundering all that unfortunate king had left in his palace , and the souldiers doing the like with the citizens houses . barberossa staid some days to refresh himself at tunis , and within a short time after was proclaim'd king of tunis by the citizens that were left behind . the fame of this victory spread over all africk ; and it happening at that time , that the moors of the kingdom of tremesen ( which is fifty leagues from tunis westward ) had some difference with their king , they sent word to barberossa , that if he would come thither with his turks , they would make him master of the city , and the whole kingdom . barberossa having heard this proposal , thought he should not let slip so fair an opportunity . he writ a letter to his brother at algiers , to send him immediately by sea ten little guns , with all things requisite for them ; which his brother did , sending him five galliots loaden with artillery , powder , and other ammunition . barberossa having receiv'd them , took a good quantity of provisions , which he put upon horses , and began his march towards tremesen . several nations of moors , through whose countries he pass'd submitted to him , and some follow'd him , in hopes of good booty . but aruch barberossa finding himself got so far into the country was afraid the king of tunis , who was driven out of his kingdom , might return with some moors to recover it , and prevent his retreat , or that the general of oran might come out with his forces , and hinder his return . all this hindred not his marching into the country , commanding his third brother isaac beniioub to keep the city of tunis , with two hundred musketters , turks , and some moors , he march'd four leagues beyond oran , where he met with abuziien king of tremesen , who knew nothing of the infidelity of his subjects ; but hearing of barberossa's advance , he thought it fitter to meet him in the field with his forces then to expect him , and suffer himself to be shut up in a city , as not being over-confident of the citizens of tremesen . his army consisted of six thousand horse , and three thousand foot. as soon as both armies were in sight , they were set in order for an engagement . the place was very fit , for it was in the spacious campagne about aganel . the fight began very furiously on both sides ; but barberossa soon had the advantage , by reason of the great number he had of small shot , and his small guns ; so that the king 's best troops were defeated , and himself forc'd to retreat to tremesen , where the citizens , his subjects , took him prisoner , and cut off his head , before barberossa got thither , to whom they sent the head by their deputies with the keys of the city , promising him , as they had done before , submission . two days after , he made his solemn entrance into tremesen , confiscating the goods of the deceas'd king , as well to pay his souldiers , as to make some fortifications about the city ; for he conceiv'd his neighbour-hood would not be well lik'd by those of oran , and to secure himself , he immediately entred into a confederacy with muley-hamet , king of fez , promising him assistance against the king of morocco , against whom muley-hamet was in open war , conditionally that muley-hamet would defend the kingdom of tremesen against their common enemies the christians . barberossa , to enjoy himself after his victories , resided the remainder of the year 1517. at tremesen , leaving for his lieutenant at algiers his second brother cheredin . but it was the pleasure of divine justice , at length , to give a check to these great successes , for barberossa's third brother isaac benijoub , who commanded the new conquests at tunis , and other places , through his extraordinary exactions and tyrannies , become so odious to the moors of the country , that they revolted , and kill'd him with all his turks , except forty , who , thinking to make an escape , were all cut to pieces . barberossa was extremely troubled at the death of his brother , but desert'd his revenge to a fitter opportunity . in september in the year 1517. came into spain , king charls , who afterwards was emperour , with a powerful naval army . the marquess of comares , advertis'd of his arrival , went in person to wait on him , and give him an account of what had pass'd in africk . and the pyrat barberossa growing daily more and more dreadful , he advis'd his majesty to quench that spreading fire . and to animate his majesty the more , he carried along with him abuchen-men , king of tremesen , who had taken refuge at oran , and got of his majesty ten thousand souldiers , to engage against barberossa and the turks . which the pyrat hearing of , sent for assistance to the king of fez , according to their mutual confederacy . but seeing that the relief came not with the expedition he expected , and that the marquess of comares was already got to oran , and marching with his forces towards him , he thought it his best course , not depending on the relief from fez , to come out of tremesen with fifteen hundred turks and andalusians , arquebusiers , and five thousand moorish horse . but considering that the said number of fifteen hundred arquebusiers were not able to oppose ten thousand christians , ( for he had no great confidence of his moorish horse ) he resolv'd to continue at tremesen , expecting from day to day the relief from the king of fez. but when the marquess was come in sight of tremesen , barberossa observ'd that the citizens began to flinch from him ; whereupon he took a third resolution , which was , to get away with his turks in the night time , without giving any notice thereof to the citizens , and to make all the haste he could towards algiers . this resolution was prosecuted ; but , at the first halt he made , the marquess having intelligence of it , so speedily pursu'd him with some fire-locks , that he overtook him about eight leagues from tremesen , at the passage of a river named huexda . barberossa finding himself pursu'd so closely , and his turks kill'd , made use of this stratagem , to gain time to cross the river . he caus'd to be strew'd along the high-way great quantities of money , plate , and other things of great value , thinking by that means to amuse the christians , while he got over the river . but that valiant marquess encourag'd his souldiers with so many urgent reasons , that they slighted all those rich baits , to take barberossa alive , who , as i said , was at the river-side , ready to cross it , when the christians furiously charg'd the retreating turks . which barberossa perceiving , fac'd his enemies , resolving to dye generously in fight . the fifteen hundred turks , and barberossa among them defended themselves like lions ; but in a short time they were all kill'd , and barberossa also . thus ended all the great designs of barberossa , who first brought the turks into barbary , and taught them the way to get wealth out of the western parts of the world , laying the foundations of what the turks are to this day possess'd of in barbary . the marquess of comares satisfi'd with this victory return'd to tremesen , with the head of the tyrant on a pike for a trophey , and without any opposition of the people , put the king abuchen-men in possession of his kingdome . fourteen days after this defeat , the king of fez abdeda came neer milta with twenty thousand moorish horse , to assist barberossa . but hearing of the defeat of his army , and his death , fearing the like misfortune , he return'd the same way he came ; and the marquess leaving the king of tremesen re-establish'd in his kingdome , return'd to oran . thus dy'd aruch barberossa , after he had continu'd fourteen years in barbary , committing incredible out-rages on the christians by sea , and doing the moors of barbary much greater mischiefs by land : for he was the first who reduc'd them into that condition , wherein they now are , of being subjects , and as it were half slaves to the turks . the news of barberossa's death was soon carried to his younger brother cheredin barberossa , who govern'd at algiers . it troubled him very much upon a double account , both out of a consideration of the loss of his brother , and a fear that the victorious marquess might come and besiege him in the city of algiers . whereupon he was neer resolving to leave the place , and to retire with twenty two galliots towards the levant . but some pyrats advis'd him to expect a while , to see which way the victorious christians would take their march . and finding that the marquess being return'd to oran , sent his men aboard in order to their transportion into spain , the turkish souldiers with the pyrats chose cheredin for their king , and captain-general of the kingdome of algiers . and indeed he was a person deserv'd to succeed his brother . being possess'd of that kingdom , the first thing he did , was to send a galley with some letters to the grand-seignor , acquainting him with his brother's death , and desiring his protection and assistance against the christians , promising either to pay tribute , or put the kingdom into his hands , together withall he was possess'd of in barbary . the grand seignor hearing this news , not onely return'd a favourable answer , but also sent him an assistance of two thousand turks , accepting of the proffer he made him , that the city of algiers with its territories should be put into his hands . all these transactions happen'd about the beginning of the year 1519. the reader may here see how and when the city of algiers came into the hands of the turks . i thought it not besides my purpose to bring in this short history , to undeceive those who imagin'd that aruch barberossa had made these acquests in barbary , as a general of the grand seignor's . for what he did was upon his own account , without any other title then that of a pyrat by sea , and a tyrant by land. in the year 1530. cheredin finding himself incommodated by reason of the fort which the christians kept in the island before the port , resolv'd to beat it down with cannon-shot , and afterwards to make a port from the city to the island , which very design aruch barberossa had in the year 1516. for by reason of that fort , the ships were oblig'd to secure themselves on one side of the city neer the gate called babazon , where they lay in great danger to be cast away upon the least tempest . cheredin barberossa began his enterprise upon the fort , with this stratagem . two young lads , moors , by his secret order , went and delivered themselves to those of the fort , saying they would embrace the christian religion . they were kindly entertain'd , and the captain , who commanded the fort , named martin de vargas , took them into the house , and caus'd them to be catechiz'd , that they might receive the holy sacrament of baptism . on easter-day , when the governor and all his souldiers were at church , these two youths went up to the top of a little tower , whence they gave the signal to those of the city by a flagg ; which being observ'd by a servant-maid of the governors , she immediately went and acquainted her master with the treachery , who came presently out of the church with all his souldiers , and fearing the enemies , he put these two youths in prison , and a while after caus'd them to be both hang'd up in an eminent place , whence those of the city might see the spectacle . cheredin had soon notice of it , and was extreamly incens'd thereat , as if it had been done in derision of the mahumetane religion . he sent a boat to the fort with a renagado , named alcade huali , to tell the governor that if he would deliver up the place , he and his people should have good conditions , otherwise they were to expect no mercy . the governor made answer , that he was astonish'd , that cheredin barberossa , a person so highly esteem'd for his experience in military affairs , did not consider that he had to do with spaniards , who value their honour above all things , and laugh at the menaces of their enemies ; that he was further to know , that he was of the house of vargas ; that he glory'd not so much in the nobility , as his endeavors to imitate the heroick vertues of his ancestors , and that therefore he would expect the utmost attempts of cheredin barberossa , and do all he could to shew himself faithful to his god and his prince . cheredin having receiv'd this answer , took some great guns out of a french galion , which chanc'd to lye before algiers , and some other pieces which had been cast there some months before for that purpose . may 6. 1530. he rais'd a battery , which plaid fifteen days and nights without any intermission , and the distance being but two hundred paces or thereabouts , the muskettiers also shot continually ; so that the sixteenth of may , the walls were almost broken down , and a great number of the besieg'd kill'd or wounded . cheredin took one thousand three hundred musketteers and archers , turks , in fourteen galliots , and being come to the fort , they landed without any obstacle . for the governor was wounded with fifty three of the soldiers , and the rest extreamly tyr'd out , as may be easily conjectur'd , having been sixteen days in continual alarmes . the captain martin de vargas yeelded up the place on certain conditions , and after three months imprisonment , he was without any reason , bastinado'd to death , in the presence of cheredin . thus dy'd that valiant captain , carrying along with him to heaven the crown of martyrdom , and leaving to his successors an example of valour and fidelity ; which vertues are so deeply rooted in that illustrious family , that there are to this day in the low-countries , knights , who are not onely heirs of that noble house , but also imitators of the vertues of their ancestors , and such as are look'd upon all over the world , as examples of valour and fidelity . after the massacre of this brave captain , he employ'd the christian slaves to make a moal from the city to the fortress , which was finish'd in two years . of the scituation , strength , and government of the city of algiers . the scituation of this famous den of pyrates is on the ascent of a mountain , which rises by degrees from the sea-side up into the country , representing to those who ●ail by it the several stories of a theatre , the variety of the structures , whereof a man hath as it were a full sight , makes the prospect the more delightful . insomuch that there is no house , but all the rest may be seen from it , which way soever a man turns his eye , when he is upon the terraces , wherewith they are covered . they have also all of them this convenience , that they have a prospect into the sea , as far as eye can see . it is in a manner square , and about three thousand paces in compass . the walls are of brick built after the antient way of fortification , with little square towers . the ditch about it is not above sixteen foot wide , and about the depth of a pike , dry , full of filth , and ill kept , having no fortifications without . the whole city is commanded by the hills which encompass it ; and the inhabitants can make no advantage of the walls , as to defence , in regard there is no champion behind them , but the want of room in the city hath forc'd them to build houses on the r●m●arts , which serves for one side of walls . the streets are very narrow , and are chain'd up in the night time , save onely the principal streets , which runs cross the city from the po●t of babaloet , between the grand mosquey and the bassa's palace , to the gate of babazon , which is not shut up . there are many mosqueys . the bassa's palace is a publike structure for those who are advanc'd to that charge , well built after the modern way of architecture . since the year 1650. part of the garrison is lodg'd in five great publick houses , built square , with a spacious court in the midst , which may serve for an armoury . they will contain each of them about six hundred soldiers , each whereof hath a room to himself , not paying any thing for it . but some of the best accommodated take lodgings in other great houses , well built , which they call fond●cas , and belong to private persons . the castle called alcazabar , is onely that part of the city which lies southward , divided by a wall , which begins at the rampart on the east-side , and reaches to that on the west . about three hundred paces from the city , there is , in the sea , a little island , which in the year 1530. was joyn'd to the city by a moale , made for the safety of ships and gallies , which about the beginning of the year 1662. was carryed away by a tempest with the loss of many vessels and gallies . there are also some inconsiderable fortresses without the city , whereof the chiefest is that built by asan bassa in the year 1545. about one thousand and seven hundred paces from the city , on a hill , at the same place , where the emperor charles v. had set up his tent in the year 1541. neer that place is the source of the spring which supplies the city with fresh water , which it does so plentifully , that they need no other besides that and the rain water , which is preserv'd in cesterns . it is convey'd by arches and pipes under ground , which fill the reservatories in divers places , as well in the upper as lower part of the city , even to the gate at the water-side , where all the branches fall into one great channel , which conveyes the rest of the water into the sea , and there the gallies and other vessels take in their provisions of water . at every reservatory or conduit there is a cock , with a dish standing by , for the convenience of those who would drink . those who come to these conduits for water , take it in their turns , save onely the jews , who are to give way to every slave who comes after them , and to be serv'd last of all . the water which falls to the ground is receiv'd into holes neer those conduits , and is convey'd into common-shores under ground , which carry away the filth of the privyes about the city , all whith fall into these shores , and meet together in one neer the three gates of the store-houses , where all falls into the sea. the hundred thousand souls which inhabit this city are divided into twelve thousand souldiers , turks , belonging to the ordinary garrizon , thirty or fourty thousand slaves , of all nations , and the rest citizens of algiers , moors , moriscoes , and jews , and some christian-merchants . the chief governour of all these is the bassa , who takes it not unkindly to be flatter'd with the title of sultan . he acknowledges a kind of subjection to the grand-seignor , in words , but makes little account of his orders , pass-ports , or the treaties he hath concluded with other soveraign princes , if he hath not agreed to them himself . the soldiery is more dreadful to him then the grand-seignor . accordingly his greatest work is to see them punctually pay'd at every new moon , for if he delay it three hours after it is due , he is in danger of being massacred , or at least imprison'd . this is done out of the tributes , which the alarbes , and some petty princes , moors , about algiers , pay him , as also out of the contributions of the people , and his proportion of the prizes . the bassa is also to be careful that he take no more then his due , for fear of incensing the soldiery , which prognosticates certain death to him , as it did in the year 1661. in the month of september to ramadan bassa , whose throat , with twenty eight persons of his councel , were cut by the soldiers , and their bodyes cast to the dogs in the streets , for having caus'd to be adjudg'd to himself a greater proportion of a prize of wheat , then was due to him . the rest of the councel being forc'd to the water-side , got into a fisher-boat , and put off from land , to avoid the fury of the mutinous soldiery , but they were taken by the malteses . after this exploit , the soldiers took out of prison another bassa whom they had imprison'd some years before , because they were not punctually paid , and re-advanc'd him to the government , exhorting him to do righteous things , which yet he forgot within three days after , thinking of nothing so much as to be reveng'd of an aga , who had prosecuted his former imprisonment ; and to execute his design , he promis'd ten thousand patacoons to two soldiers to kill his enemy ; which they undertook , and went with that resolution to the aga's , and desir'd to speak with him . the christian slave , who spoke to them , judging by their countenances , and the scimitars they had , contrary to the custome of soldiers , who wear onely long skeenes , when they walk about the city , that they were engag'd upon some lewd attempt , made answer that his patron was gone abroad , though he were not , and went presently and gave his master an account of all , who having discover'd the bassa's design , made his complaints to the souldiers , who mutiny'd , seiz'd his person , and shut him up between four walls without any covering , where he had onely room enough to sit down , with a hole to put him in some meat . the aga thank'd the soldiers for the speedy justice they had done , offering himself to be their bassa , with a promise to augment their pay by a double a month , which they accepted . the necessity of this punctual payment obliges the bassa to endeavour the getting of mony above all things , by hook or by crook , by breach of treaties , or a wrong interpretation thereof . this last reason was the cause that his majesty of great brittain in august 1661. sent his admiral the earl of sandwich with eighteen men of war to lye before algiers , to demand reparation , for that the pyrates had taken out of the vessels of his subjects some persons who were not english , with their merchandize , contrary to the peace made with england . the admiral came before the city august 22. 1661. sending ashore his lieutenant with credential letters , to make his complaints to the bassa and the duana ; but the admiral had no other satisfaction , then that he got the english consul out of the city , and batter'd some of the houses with his great shot . this bassa does many time deceive his confederates , and takes their merchandise , forcing the masters of ships , by cudgelling , to confess that the goods belong to other nations ; or if he forbea● that rigor , there is a stoppage set on the goods , and while they pretend to verifie the fact , all is sold , and under some ill pretence , the prize is declared good . and to say truth , it is very hard for the bassa to observe peace with any nation whatsoever , if he will be belov'd by his souldiers , in as much as his proportion out of the prizes is the greatest part of his revenue ; which it would not be , if he exactly observ'd peace with any other nations , which would have all the trading , were there a freedom of navigation , and consequently there would be but few prizes , and his revenue arising from his proportion thereof , would come to little or nothing . the twelve thousand soldiers , which make the ordinary forces of the bassa , are most of them renegadoes , dissolute persons , without religion or conscience , fugitives out of christendom and turkey for the enormity of their crimes . this place is a refuge to all such persons , nay , to such as have offended the grand seignor himself , as it happen'd in the year 1640. upon my arrival at algiers , when some shew'd me sigala , son of that famous admiral , a renegado of genua , of the same name , who had taken refuge in this city to avoid being strangled , as their custome is , upon this score , that in the year 1636. being commanded by the grand seignor to convey with a squadron of gallies , the ships which brought home the yearly tribute of egypt , and other wealth , that had joyned with them , he had left his gallies , and came ashoar to spend away his time among women , and in entertainments , insomuch that during his absence , the maltezes had an opportunity , to carry away that ship which had the tribute and the precious commodities in it . and this it was that had forc'd sigala to get away with his galley to algiers , where he liv'd by what he got by piracy , till the death of sultan amurat , soon after which he obtain'd his pardon of sultan hibraim , his brother and successor . the soldiers observe the bassa's orders , if they approve of them , and they oblige him to change them , if they like them not , and so they rather command the bassa , then are commanded by him . in the year 1642. a tributary king of algiers refus'd to pay his tribute , and came with an army into the field , whereupon the bassa isouf being unwilling to go out against him , would have been excus'd upon his indisposition . but his excuse was not receiv'd , there was a necessity of his going , if he would preserve his life and charge ; only the soldiers were so kind as to permit him to go as far as he could in a galley ; but imagining the bassa might take some occasion to leave them , they accompany'd him with another galley better furnish'd with both rowers and soldiers , with order , to force the bassa to land at the place appointed , which he quietly did . there are renegado's of all christian nations , and in my time , i found there above three thousand french. heretofore , the renegadoes could not serve for soldiers among the turks and janizaries , and the turks and janizaries could not go upon the account of piracy ? but mahomet bassa , to prevent the jealousies and quarrels happening thereby , reconcil'd the renegadoes with the turks , allowing , in the year 1568. to both the priviledge of being soldiers or pyrates , without any difference . the moors , the morisos , the algerians , the sons of turks born at algiers , renegado jews , are not admitted into the soldiery ; but the jews who would serve , e●ting swins flesh before they renounce , affirm , that by that means they are become christians , and then they renounce with the same solemnities as are observ'd by the christians . the pay of the souldiery is eight morisco doubles a month , every double is worth twelve patars , ( that is somewhat better then twelve pence sterling ) according to the number of the years they have been in service , the p●y is encreas'd , and they receive a double , a month , more then they had before . in like manner , if there be a son born to the grand-seignor by the sultaness , a double ; if any soldier hath kill'd his enemy in a skirmish , or hand to hand , and hath brought away his head , a double ; if they have had any remarkable engagement against the rebellious . alarbes , the bassa promises them an augmentation of a double in the month ; but all the monthly augmentations of doubles are not to exceed the number of fourty . the batchelor-soldiers have greater priviledges then those who are married ; the latter have no daily allowance of bread , the former have four loaves . the pay is to be exact and punctual , as i said before . 't is not out of any fear of the christians , that the bassa maintains so great a number of souldiers , but that he might be the more dreaded by those of algiers , the alarbes , and the petty princes , who pay him tribute , against whom they are sent , if they come not soon enough to prevent them . the soldiers keep little or no guard within the city , but a watch , which they call mesuart , walks round about it with twenty five persons . at the gates there are but two or three men . in the summer , algiers is in a manner distitute of a garrison , for some of the soldiers are dispers'd to tremesen , bugy , sargel , and other places under the jurisdiction of algiers . they often change the garrisons , and send that of one place to another . another part of the soldiery is sent away by bodies of five or six hundred , thirty or fourty leagues into the country , to quarter on the alarbes , and to receive the tribute ; and the greatest part is employ'd at sea in the galleys . i observ'd in the summer 1641. that the sixty five pyrates ships and the four gallies , which were then at sea , every one for what could be gotten , were most of them mann'd by soldiers of the garrison . the remainder , who are neither employ'd at sea , nor sent to the posts before-mentioned , live at ease , and divert themselves at their country-houses , two or three leagues out of the city . the citizens , and the originary inhabitants of the country are irreconcileable enemies of the garrison . there is but one councel , called the duana , which with the bassa resolves all matters of state , and what relate to the administration of justice . this councel meets commonly thrice a week , in a gallery of the bassa's palace . it consists of fourty persons . the bassa sits , as taylers do , cross-legg'd , on a table about two foot high , at a little distance from the wall , cover'd with a shaggy-carpet , and so long , that twelve of the chiefest may sit as the bassa does , six on the right hand , and as many on the left ; the rest of the councel stand at both ends of the table , cross the gallery , making , with the arch , a kind of circle . this bassa hath commonly a fan of feathers in his hand ; he pronounces sentence , and the plurality of voices carries it , but they have this particulary remarkable , that they begin to gather the voices , while some one is alledging new reasons for or against the business under deliberation . all causes , wherein the soldiers are concern'd are try'd before this councel ; but differences between citizens are determin'd before the caya , who is as it were the bassa's lieutenant . every man is to prosecute and plead his own cause in person , without the assistance , of any advocate , lawyer , or atturney . great robbes , murtherers , and other eminent criminals are put to death , if they be moors or jews ; but the souldiers are supported by their agas , who ever find excuses to get them off , unless the offence be against another souldier . an accusation prov'd by two witnesses , is sufficient in order to condemnation . he who hath the worst in any cause , receives a certain number of blows with a cudgel , besides what he is oblig'd to do by the sentence . if the accusation be found malicious , the accuser is to suffer a punishment suitable to the crime impos'd . the sin of abhomination is not punish'd among them . as to the grimaces of their religion , they are the same with those us'd in most parts of turkey . this is a short account of the state and government of algiers , where the miseries of slavery have consum'd the lives of six hundred thousand christians , since the year 1536. at which time cheredin barberossa brought it under his own power . 't is hard to imagine a reason , why its government being so ill administred , could endure so long , making that hole dreadful to all europe , since its scituation , strength , and fortresses are no way considerable . i must confess christian princes will ever have cause to remember the enterprise of that great monarch charles v. made on this city in the year 1541. with an unfortunate issue ; but i hope that will not divert their generous thoughts from promoting the advantages of christendom . there was a concurrence of many accidents in the attempt of that great emperor , which may be avoided , or are particular to that expedition : the season for the taking of algiers was autumne , at which time the mediterranean sea is no less rough then the other seas , by reason of storms and tempests , which hindred the coming in of provisions to that army , and occasion'd the loss of the baggage and artillery . the garrison was then return'd , some from sea , others from their expeditions against the alarbes and the tributaries . the dissention among the emperor's commanders contributed also somewhat thereto ; and yet notwithstanding all these traverses , asan bassa , a generous captain , a renegado , born in sardinia , brought up by cheredin barberossa , and all the people of algiers were in distress for fresh water , the source whereof had been diverted another way . nay , they never durst attribute their deliverance to their valour , but their opinion still is , that a marabout , or santon ( that is a saint ) who then liv'd neer the city , wrought a miracle , beating the sea with his staff , which caus'd that dreadful tempest . they have accordingly erected to the memory of this marabout a chappel without babaloët-gate , on the left hand , where he is interr'd , for which place the turks have a reverence , as some christians have for places of devotion , affirming , that if the christian army ever return thither , they will raise the greatest tempest that ever was , by casting into the sea the bones of that marabout . in this perswasion consists the force they have to defend themselves against the christians . i conceiv'd my self oblig'd to give this short account of the antiquity and scituation of algiers , to remedy the deficiencies of other chronologers , who confound the years , the names , and the nations , taking the turks for the moors . as concerning a more ample description of the city and its fortresses , the dispositions of the inhabitants , the pirates , merchants , tradesmen , their cloathing , the marabouts or santons , the ceremonies , the exercises of the women , their several easters , their vices and vertues , and what was done there in the last age , i thought them besides my design , and superfluous , as being common things related by diverse historians , who speak of the turks in general . and so i pass forwards to those things , with i accounted worth my reducing into particular relations , during the time of my slavery . emanvel d' aranda's particular relations , during the time of his slavery . the first relation . the history of a religious man , a spaniard , a slave at algiers . a spaniard , whom we shall here call domingo , having entred into one of the principal orders at sevill , in the year 1626. and compleated the year of his novice-ship , took the three accustomed vows , and some years after was advanc'd to priest-hood in the same order . but domingo grew weary of that kind of life , so that he left the cloister , and retir'd in his sacerdota habit into the kingdom of portugal , and plante● himself in a little village , where , after he had sojourn'd some time , he made a shift to get a smal● country living . that life after a while grew as tedious to him , as that of the religious order had been to him before ; so that he chang'd the habit of a pries● into that of a lay-person , and took up his residence at lisbon , the metropolis of portugal , where he married , and at the years end had a son. some time after his wife prov'd with child of a second ; whereupon domingo finding himself burthen'd with children , and having not wherewithall to maintain them , he listed himself a souldier , to be transported into ● country newly conquer'd by the portuguez , scituate on the river of the amazons , in the indies , where he was to have a certain proportion of land , and other allowances for himself , his wife , son , and what other children he should have in that country . upon these overtures , domingo embarks in the year 1639. and after they had been some hours at sea , his wife fell in labour , and was deliver'd of a second son , to whom the captain of the vessel ( whom i know ) was god-father . some days after , they came in sight of some turkish pyrats , and after a short engagement , the ship was taken , and brought to algiers , where the prisoners were sold . domingo , to avoid the miseries of slavery , goes to the jews , and tells them that he was a jew , intreating them to redeem him , his wife and children . the jews , who are commonly more subject to avarice then prodigality , began to examine him ; he immediately answer'd their questions in the hebrew tongue ; so that they believ'd what he said . in fine , they told him he should be redeem'd if he could tell them what tribe he was of , and in what register were written the names of his parents and other relations . he repli'd with a wonderful confidence , in the register of the synagogue of venice , where such a rabbi ( naming him ) will give an attestation of all i have said . the jews immediately writ to venice , where , having examin'd all the registers , there was nothing found concerning domingo . the jews of algiers having receiv'd that answer from those of venice , were very much astonish'd , and look'd upon him as an impostor . domingo being out of all hopes of obtaining his liberty by that means , bethought himself of another expedient . he made his applications to two of the fathers employ'd about the redemption of captives , who were come from valentia in spain , and manag'd his business so well , that they redeem'd his wife and two children , and carried them away with the other slaves , whose ransom they had paid . in the mean time domingo continu'd a slave at the house of a considerable officer of the army , named saban gallan aga. after the departure of his wife and children , he fell in love with an english-slave , a very handsome woman , in his patron 's house ; but the mistress was so watchful , that he could not have his desires of her . yet so great was the affection he had for her , that he found out a way to deceive both his mistress and the english-slave . he told the english-woman , that his wife was dead , and in case she would marry him , he would redeem her , and that there was an order come for him to receive three thousand duckets , which sum would suffice for the ransoming of both . the english-woman , whether she were in love with him or not , accepts the proffer . whereupon domingo , to compass his design , went to an old woman a moor , one very well known for her wealth and covetousness , and says to her , madam , the hope i have of receiving a good reward caus'd me to come hither , to give you notice of a commodity , by which you may gain at least two thousand ducats . the covetous woman immediately ask'd him what kind of commodity it was , promising him a great recompence . there is , said he , at my master's house an english woman slave , well descended , which my master knows nothing of ; and besides , there is a secret order come to the city for her redemption , though she should cost three thousand ducats . if you can keep your own counsel , you may buy her of my master for four or five hundred ducats . this proposal pleas'd the covetous old woman so well , that she went immediately to be further inform'd concerning the english-slave . she went to saban gallan's wife , and ask'd her , whether she would sell her english-slave ; whereto saban's wife making answer that she wanted not money , the old one repli'd , set what rate you please on her , i would fain have her . in fine , after a little hagling , they agreed at five hundred ducats . the english-slave was deliver'd to the old woman , who receiv'd her with great satisfaction . the poor english-woman finding her self sold and deliver'd , and the price paid , imagin'd that all was done with domingo's money , and thence fondly inferr'd , that she was already at liberty , and thinking her self happy , that she had ( as she thought ) me● with so good fortune ; but she was as far from it as ever . in the mean time domingo was perpetually solliciting her , calling god and heaven to witness , and swearing thousands of oaths , to assure her of the sincerity of his affection . he ●●joll'd her so long , that she condescended to do any thing he would have her , impatiently expecting to be transported thence for some part of christendom ▪ and the old woman on the other side being full of expectation of the three thousand ducats . domingo kept them a long time in blindness , so a● the one knew nothing of the other . at last the english-woman prov'd with child , and , when her time came , was deliver'd of two children at a birth , a good booty for the covetous old woman , instead of three thousand ducats . th●n were domingo's impostures discover'd , and what was worse , his master coming to hear of the business would have dispos'd him into the g●lleys , as an absolute rogue and an impostor , for he had promis'd his master a considerable ransom . domingo , to avoid the mischief threatned him by his master , found out a new expedient . he came to one of the b●ths , where the churches of the catholicks are , desiring to say mass , that he might live upon alms , as those priests who are slaves commonly do . the spaniards and portugu●z , who knew domingo and his wife , oppos'd it , saying he was a raskal , and married . i must acknowledge , said he , that i am married , but that marriage is null , because i am and was a religious man , and a priest before i married ; affirming , that , notwithstanding all that had pass'd , he was still a priest . those who had the over-sight of the church and altars , thought fit to write concerning this business to the bishop of ceuta , for algiers is comprehended within his diocess . the bishop having receiv'd that account of him , forbad domingo to celebrate , upon pain of excommunication . which being told domingo , he repli'd , i am a religious man , and under my provincial , subject to his command , and therefore the bishop hath no power over me . the difficulty was too great to be decided by the christian slaves . 't was sent to rome , and not long after there came to algiers a capucine , sent express from rome , an italian born , in a ship of marseilles , under pretence of redeeming some christians , having also some letters from the king of france concerning some private business . this honest father heard the reasons of domingo on the one side , and on the other , what the christians said of him , and he thereupon order'd that domingo could not say mass , but that he might frequent the churches , which the portuguez would not have permitted . i afterwards saw him singing in that church , as he still did at my departure thence . relation ii. of the gallantry of a dutch captain , who with one ship engag'd against five turkish galleys and two brigantines , and worsted them . in september 1641. the caja ( or lieutenant ) of the bassa of tripoli came to algiers with a galley set out with standards , flaggs , and streamers of silk , embroider'd with ottoman crescents , some trumpets , and other naval musick . the souldiers were all turks , cull'd men , or renegadoes , well clad , and better arm'd , according to their mode . the slaves , who row'd in the said galley were most of them russians and muscovites , who seem naturally to be design'd for labour . the caja's business at algiers was to buy two hundred and fifty slaves all spaniards or italians , whom the vice-roy of tripoli would send as a present to the grand-seignor at constantinople . this galley had lain some days before algiers , during which , alli pegelin , captain general of the galleys , was preparing four to make their last salley for that year . the caja , commanding this wedding galley , ( i call it so , because it was fitter for the waftage of a bride , than to engage with an enemy ) told pegelin he would go with him , and participate of his fortune , in hopes of some good booty . he goes away from algiers along with pegelin , and having been four days abroad , they met with an english ship of forty guns . pegelin , as general , propos'd it to the captains of the other gallies , that they should engage that ship , but the captains thought it not convenient , partly out of a fear of loosing the slaves that row'd , and partly out of a consideration of the uncertainty of victory . in the mean time , the english ship , while they were in consultation got away , so that , night coming on , the turks lost sight of her . having miss'd that booty , the five gallies with the two brigantines which accompany'd them began to c●use up and down , and coming neer majorca they met a small frigot , wherein were a councellor and his family outward-bound from barcelona . pegelin perceiving the booty was of little importance began to jeer the other captains , saying to them , you should have engag'd the english ship. the captains vex'd to find themselves laugh'd at , resolv'd to set upon the first ship they met with , whatever she were . this resolution pleas'd pegelin , and two days after they discover'd a dutch bottom of twenty eight guns , and forty men . the weather was very calm , so that the dutch-man could make no advantage of her sails . pegelin order'd the gallies to draw ●p within canon-shot of the ship , and perceiving she had dutch colours , he sent one of the brigantines with a renegado , a zelander , towards it , with a white flagg , who coming neer the dutch captain , he ask'd him what he would have , the captain general alli pegelin , reply'd the renegado , sent me to tell you , that if you will yeeld without fighting , he will set you and all your people on christian ground ; which he hath sworn by the grand seignor's head that he will do . therefore i advise you to accept of the proffer i make you from him , while it is time , otherwise i fear me you will repent it too late . the dutch-man weary to hear such proposals , very confidently reply'd , i know alli pegelin very well , ( for he had been a slave ) the ship belongs to those who were at the charge of setting it out , and the goods to the merchants , and therefore i cannot give what is not my own . but if he be desirous to have the ship , as he seems to be , let him come aboard , and he shall see whether we can satisfie him . the renegado immediately return'd with this answer . whereupon pegelin being extreamly impatient and incens'd to hear the bravadoes of the dutch-man , order'd his gallies to draw up in the form of a half-moon , and in that order to make towards the poop of the ship , and to discharge all together ▪ as it were by a c●oss-battery . their guns carried bullets of fourty eight pound weight , but ordinarily they shoot onely stones . his command was executed , but being ready to give fire , the dutch captain , a man of extraordinary experience in sea-affairs , by the advantage of a little wind which god sent him , without loosing time , turn'd his ship on the other side . by that motion he put the enemies into a confusion , and broke their design ; for the five gallies making all the sail they could , and strength of oars upon the ship , instead of continuing in the form of a half moon , at the poop of the ship , as they had resolv'd , they 〈◊〉 foul one upon the other , yet so as that pegelin's galley came up close to her , and seventy turks and renegadoes got into it , with their cutlasses in their hands , beginning to cut the ropes , and cast in granadoes to fire the ship. but the dutch captain , who had all his men within , discharg'd some pieces loaden with musket bullet from the poop and the prow , which made a great slaughter among the turks . in the mean time the galley which was come up close to the ship , durst not stay there any longer , in regard the ship being heavy loaden , the guns lay so low , that they were even with the edge of the galley . which pegelin observing ( for fear began to seize him ) immediately commanded the gallies to retreat . the turks who at the beginning of the engagement were got into the ship , were much astonish'd to see that the gallies had forsaken them , leaving them at the mercy of their enemies . they began to be discourag'd ; those who could swim cast themselves into the sea , the wounded , and those who could not swim , remain'd on the deck of the ship , as spectators of the engagement . the dutch captain commanded a broad-side to be given on that side where the guns were loaden with nails , musket-bullets , and pieces of iron which directed at the gallies , there were kill'd in less then a quarter of an hour above two hundred men , turks , renegadoes , and christian slaves . but what made the business the more deplorable , the gallies having receiv'd this treatment without seeing any enemies ( for the dutch-man , as i said fought within decks , and could not be seen ) drew off as fast as they could . the captain perceiving the gallies were got out of the reach of his guns , commanded the turks that were left behind in the ship to be kill'd . they finding it too hot staying on the deck , were got up into the shrowds ; but the dutch captain and his people coming on the deck shot at them as they hung in the shrowds and about the mast , as if they had been so many par●ats or monkeys . this was a recreation to the dutch ; but a sad tragedy for the five gallies , wherein there were two captains kill'd , and the caja of tripoli had lost an arm , and was wounded in the belly . these gallies which went out so gallantly some few days before , and seem'd to frighten all the mediterranean were perceiv'd at a great distance as they were returning to the port. there was a general curiosity to know what news they brought , and the water-side was immediately as full as it could throng with people , among whom i also chanc'd to be . as the gallies came neerer and neerer to the port , it was observ'd that there were two of them without flaggs , and it was conjectur'd they were two spanish gallies that had been taken ; but soon after they were of another opinion , when they saw they were turkish gallies , and that their being without flaggs , was because their captains were kill'd . all the rejoycing and great hopes were turn'd into mourning and sadness ; the gallies came in slowly , for want of rowers . all the wounded were immediately brought ashoar ▪ and among the rest the caja of tripoli , who had for his surgeon a christian slave , born at marseilles , one very expert in his profession ; but the wound in his belly was incurable , and past remedy . he promis'd his surgeon , if he cur'd him , his liberty , and a hundred patacoons ; but finding there was no likelihood of it , he caus'd his will to be made . by the first article , he order'd that all the slaves who had agreed with him about their ransom , should be set at liberty , at the several sums specifi'd in his will. secondly , that all his renegado slaves should be free ▪ and thirdly , that the christian slave his surgeon should be set at liberty after his death . some time after the caja died , his funeral was according to the turkish ceremonies , the dead body being carried with a covering of silk over it on one side of the church , and it was left there during the mid-day sala ( a prayer of theirs ) and afterwards it was carried to be buried . before it march'd the renegado-slaves , who had obtain'd their liberty . after it follow'd the christian surgeon , who had in his hand a cleft cane , with a letter in the cleft , which contain'd an attestation of his liberty obtain'd with the good-will of his deceas'd patron . he wept most bitterly ● which if he had not , the turks would have accounted him unworthy his liberty : but it is to be imagin'd , that , for his part , he wept for joy , and the generous dutch captain had reason to laugh heartily , that he had obtain'd so noble a victory with forty then , against five gallies and two brigantines . relation . iii. the constancy and perseverance of a christian slave in her religion . in the year 1641. a pyrate of algiers having a spanish bark in chase , those who were in it seeing no way to avoid the danger leapt into the sea , hoping they might get to 〈◊〉 by swimming . there remain'd in the bark 〈…〉 old man , a spaniard , about seventy years of 〈◊〉 , and a concubine of the master's . these two were brought before the bassa , according to the custom . the bassa's lady having seen the woman at some window , sent one of her eunuchs to tell him , that she would gladly have that woman . the bassa sent her along with the eunuch as a present to his l●dy ▪ who was very well pleas'd with her , and presently gave her some work to do . about five days after , the bassa's wife took notice that that christian slave was an excellent needle-woman , good at embroidery , and other things of that kind ▪ so that she was much in her mistresse's favour , who promis'd her mountains of gold , if she would renounce her faith , and embrace the turkish religion . but all her temptations prov'd ineffectual , for she said to her ; though i have forgot my self as a frail wom●n , yet is my confidence so great in the goodness of god , that i believe he will out of his infinite mercy pardon my sin● ; assuring you that all my hope is in my faith , which i will never forsake or renounce . the mistress hearing this answer was at a loss between astonishment and indignation ; so that she gave order that the poor slave should receive three hundred blows with a cudgel . and perceiving that she still continu'd firm and constant as a rock , they stripp'd her of all her cloaths , and gave her others after the turkish mode ; which she put on , but protested publickly in the presence of god , that she took them onely to cover her nakedness , and not upon any change of religion . this i thought worthy my observation , to shew the constancy and faith of that second magdalen . relation . iv. ignorant persons imagine strange things . during the time of my aboad at my patron 's mahomet celibi oiga , one night after my patrone was gone to bed , and the doors lock'd , my chamber being above the stable ( which was at a little distance from the house ) i was wont to go and talk away the time with four christian slaves of the neighbour-hood , three whereof were spaniards , and the fourth was a hamburgher , who knew not a word of the spanish language . it happen'd as we were smoaking a pipe of tobacco , the spaniards began , as it is ordinary with them , to talk of the goverment of the crown of spain , and their discourse held about three hours . the hamburgher , who said not a word ▪ but observ'd their gestures , and the motions of their hands , imagin'd we had talk'd of some attempt to make an escape about mid-night . i took leave of the spaniards , wishing them liberty , as it is the custom among the slaves ; but as i was going away , the hamburgher , without any further enquiry , cast himself at my feet , and began to sware in dutch , and to say , you shall not go without me , and whereever you hazard your lives , i will hazard mine ; i have often put my life in danger for a smaller matter . the three spaniards , who saw his exclamations , but understood not a word of what he said , imagin'd the hamburgher was grown distracted . i told him we had not talk'd of any such thing ; he answered , i have sufficiently discover'd your design , continuing firme in his opinion . whereupon i told the spaniards what he said , and how desirous he was of his liberty . we were all extreamly troubled to see what a pittiful posture the poor hamburgher was in , as being sick of the same disease . at last i told him the spaniards were very glad to see his resolution , and that in case they attempted any thing , they would take him for their companion . having comforted him with such promises , i went to my lodging , considering the strange impressions of those who comprehend not what they hear . during the time of my being in the mas●ora at tituan , some malefactors being in the city●prison had broke open a door , thinking by that means to make their escape . the governor ( or king as some call him ) by his officers took one of those who had got away , and without admitting any plea , o●der'd him two hundred bangs with a cudgel ▪ and so treated he was sent to the masmora with the christian slaves . he lay all along on the ground , seeming rather a spunge full of blood than a man. this happen'd on the first friday in lent , in the evening , at which time , according to the custom , every one kneel'd down , to the number of a hundred and seventy persons , with a religious dominican● ▪ who said the litanies , and all the slaves answer'd . that done , the lights were put out , and the religious man said the miserere , and all the slaves , being either spaniards or portuguez , began to discipline themselves very cruelly . which exercise having continu'd a certain time , the religious man gave the signal , that it was enough , whereupon the lamps were lighted again , and every one dispos'd himself to sleep . the next day , the magistrates of the city sent for the prisoner who had made his escape , to be examin'd . he began to tell the judges , that it concern'd them to be watchful , for that the christians who were in the masmora had made some attempt the night before to get away . they put out all the lamps , said he , and after a long silence , they all fell a breaking the wall with certain instruments . the story was presently carried to the governor , who sent four gentlemen , moors , of his retinue , to the masmora . they visited all the walls , and found not the least rupture ; which done , they search'd what things the christians had , but they met with no instrument , nor the least appearance of what had been laid to their charge . whereupon one of the gentlemen , who spoke spanish , said to a slave of his acquaintance , friend , tell 〈◊〉 , what noise was heard last night in the masmora , which went 〈◊〉 , tic , without a word spoken . the spaniard wondring at the question , reply'd , sir , you 〈◊〉 to know that yesterday was the first friday in lent , upon which account some disciplin'd themselves . the gentleman being a morisco , born in spain , understood the business , and fell a laughing , saying , our prisoner hath discover'd a notable piece of treason . by these instances it may be seen , how that ignorant persons are apt to imagine extravagant things . relation v. of five turkish-slaves who made a strange escape by meeting a dunkirk-pyrate . in the year 1640. a pyrate of dunkirk took another of algiers with about a hundred turks aboard him . m. caloën's friends and mine prevail'd so far with his most serene highness the prince cardinal , that he gave seven turkish-slaves to be exchang'd for us three christians . the turkes , who were in spain , were sent to row in the gallies , and every time that some ships were bound for spain , there were five or six turks sent along with them . which number being so inconsiderable , they were permitted to work with the other sea-men up and down the ship , there being no danger that five turks should make an escape from among a hundred and fifty men . in the year 1641. five of those turks were sent away in a ship of dunkirk , and one night , as the ship was passing through the streight of gibraltar , it ran foul upon a turkish galley . the dunkirkers thought the galley had been but a brigantine , and the turks took the other for a merchant-man , so that they immediately fir'd one upon another , with such a noise that thunder would not have been heard . but after a short engagement , those of the galley and those of the ship , considering there was no booty to be gotten , parted one from the other , and kept on their course . during the confusion of the fight , the five turks who were aboard the ship made a shift to get into the galley ; how they did it , i cannot comprehend , and should never have believ'd it , had i not been an eye-witness hereof . when the galley came home , the report was all over algiers , that five turks who had been slaves at dunkirk , had made their escape into that galley . i was extreamly troubled that the five turks who had escap'd were not those five whom my companion saldens had under his charge to be exchang'd for us . i went to the water-side , and by chance met with one of the five escap'd turks . i ask'd him whether he were one of those who were to be chang'd for us three dunkirkers . he answered , not , but that those five turks were in the custody of my companion saldens , and that he thought they would soon be in spain . those five turks made an excellent advantage of the engagement between the ship and the galley . relation vi. a strange effect of an abhominable love. while i liv'd in the fonduca with my patron catalorn mustapha , i saw a turk , by religion a cherebin , that is , a heretick in their judgement , coming to his lodging drunk and mad as a beast , occasion'd by his having eaten opium . he call'd his slave , who was an irish-man , and commanded him to bring a chasing-dish of coals , which the slave did . then he took a knife in his right hand , and leaning with his left hand on a pillar , with his arm naked , he commanded his slave upon pain of present death , to put a burning-coal on his left arm . the slave did so ; he afterwards bid him blow the coal , which he did , so that the coal burnt within the flesh . and yet the brutish turk endur'd that pain with a wonderful constancy . i was astonish'd to see him exercise such cruelty on himself , and ask'd the other turks and christian slaves who were present , why that turk would be his own executioner in that manner . they answer'd me , that that afternoon he had endeavour'd to satisfie his abhominable lust , and that being enrag'd at the miscarriadge of his enterprise , he burnt himself . he gave himself the chastisement he justly deserv'd , for the action he would have done well deserv'd the fire . relation vii . of two unfortunate slaves who were put into the masmora at tituan . while i was a prisoner in the masmora of tituan , two new slaves were brought in th●●ther . some desirous to know why , ask'd them whenc● they came , and after a little examination , i could hear them call'd dogs , rogues , lutherans , &c. i ask'd a spanish slave of my acquaintance why the spaniards abus'd those two wretches who were their country-men ; he told me they deserv'd to be cudgell'd to death , for the discredit they did their nation . the business stood thus . they had been soldiers at pe●on de veles , a fortress on the mediterranean , some leagues from tituan under the jurisdiction of the king of spain . now those that are in that place , the officers onely excepted , are for the most part malefactors condemn'd by their judges . and it happens many times that persons of eminent quality , who have committed some offence are condemn'd to serve there , and to find so many horse at their own charge . this place receives it provisions from spain ; and whereas it happens many times , either through the inconveniences of sending by sea , or the negligence of those who are to send , that the ships come not in at the time expected , they are always in want of something or other . these two souldiers growing desperate by reason of their poverty , and the little hope they had of ever returning into their country , ( for they were condemn'd to that exile during life ) thought it better to trust to the mercy of the moors their enemies , renounce the christian faith , and be slaves as long as they liv'd , then to suffer any longer in that fortress , out of which they made an escape , and deliver'd themselves up to their enemies ; saying , they would embrace the ma●ume●an religion , and continue slaves . but they ●●iss'd of their aime ; for the moors having them in ●heir power , would not suffer them to change their religion , because a christian slave is worth much more then a renegado ; for the former are employ'd to row in the gallies , and the latter are not . these two renegadoes-would-be were brought into the masmora , to be kept their till summer , and then to be sold to the gallies of algiers . i had much compassion for the two wretches , for most of the slaves in the masmora being spaniards , they were continually reproaching them , that they had come of their own accord into sl●very . now , as i said in the precedent discourse , we lay on the floor , as close as could be one to another , because the room was narrow , and no body would have these two raskals lye neer them ; and there being no house of office in the prison , every two or three had a pot , as they have in spain , and when these two wretches were necessitated to e●se themselves , they were extreamly put to it ; for to do any thing on the floor was not permitted , because it was our bed , and no body would lend them a pot , so that they were forc'd to begg that kindness , and endure all the reproaches imaginable into the bargain . once a day their master cast them a little bread at the grate without any thing else ; for that prison is under ground ; nay they were forc'd to begg the water they drunk of the other slaves . i cannot imagine any people could be more poo● , and in a more wretched condition then those two men were , nay it would have been impossible for them to endure it , had not god of his goodness augmented their forces , by setting it before their eyes , that every one ought patiently to suffer the just punishments he is pleas'd to inflict on them ▪ in like manner , being at algiers , ● venetian slave told me one day , how that having been heretofore a publick notary at venice , he had given a false attestation , to get a sum of mony ; and that that fraud being discover'd , he was condemn'd for certain years to the gallies , and was accordingly sent ; but that some months after , upon the presenting of a chain of gold to the captain of the galley he was set at liberty . 't was given out that he had made his escape . having thus avoided the miseries of a galley-life , he durst not well return to venice , in regard he was too well known there . he resolv'd to go and sojourn some time in the island of corsica ; but as he was in his way thither , he was taken by the turks , and sold at algiers to the general of the gallies alli pegelin . this slave , among other discourses that pass'd between us , one time said thus to me ; i thought to avoid the venetian gallies , to which i had been by a just sentence condemn'd for a few years , and i am fallen out of the frying-pan into the fire , that is , i am come to a place , whence i shall never get away while i live . oh how just are the judgements of god! i believe the two soldiers before-mentioned comforted themselves much after the same manner . these two relations may be advertisements to men , patiently to suffer the miseries and tribulations which come from the hand of god , without kicking against the pricks , for fear of exchanging their present misfortunes for greater . relation viii . of a portuguez gentleman taken and brought to algiers . dom francisco de mascarenhas , a portuguez gentleman , had in the year 1638. fought a duel in the city of lisbon , and having had the better he was afraid of falling into the hands of the magistrate . hoping therefore that time would accommodate the business , by the advice of his friends , he went along with the first ships bound for brasil , listing himself a soldier in the forces of the vice-roy , in the baja de todos los santos . he continu'd there till the year 1641. that is , till news came that his affairs at lisbon were accommodated . whereupon he took the first opportunity of shipping to return to portugal , having the company of diverse captains and other officers . but fortune ow'd them an ill turn , for the ship was taken by the pyrates of algiers . the new slaves were brought before the bassa , that he might take his proportion , which is the eighth . the bassa took dom francisco , and three others , who me-thought by their countenances should have been captains . these new slaves were brought to that room in the bassa's palace , where m. caloën and i were then under restraint . i saluted dom francisco , asking him whence he came , and what news he brought out of christendom . ere he could return me any answer , the bassa sent for dom francisco , who coming into the hall of audience , the bassa said to him , who are you ? dom francisco reply'd , i am dom francisco de mascarenas nephew to dom bernardo de mascarenas , who was heretofore general in brasil . whereupon the bassa , who was a crafty fox , the son of a renegado of genna , said to him , nobility and slavery will not do well together ; what will you give for your liberty , conditionally it be paid within eight or ten months , and in the mean time you shall take your pleasure , walk up and down the city , a●d not be put to any work ? dom francisco was very well pleas'd with that proposal , and said to the bassa , what does your highness require for my ransom ? four thousand ducats , replies the bassa . dom francisco kissing the bassa's garment ( a turkish complement ) said to him , i will pay them , and i call to witness of our agreement these gentlemen turks here present . that done , d. francisco return'd to the place where we were , and said to us , thanks be god , i am no longer a slave , for i have made my agreement with the bassa at four thousand ducats . whereupon i made him answer , sir , i am not so happy as to be acquainted with you ; but if you had had the patience to stay four or five days , you would have purchas'd your liberty for fifteen hundred , or at the worst at two thousand ducats . he reply'd , to what end should a man have mony ? to work like a dog , or to procure his liberty ? you are in the right , sir , said i , 't is likely you may be rich ; but the bassa will have as much of each of your companions ; for you have said that you were all souldiers of fortune . dom francisco staid two days among us , and then a portuguez merchant resident at algiers took him to his own house , upon security , and leaving withall at the bassa's a servant of his about thirteen years of age , who proffer'd the bassa three hundred ducats , but the bassa would have more . dom francisco's companions were conducted to the bath , the ordinary quarters of the slaves intended for the gallies . the young lad at last renounc'd the christian faith , having been debauch'd by a portuguez-renegado for the sum of forty aspers , notwithstanding dom francisco had promis'd to redeem him . the portuguez renegado , who had debauch'd the lad , brought him to the publick hall before the bassa , and said , this christian is desirous to renounce his religion . the bassa was not well pleas'd with that news ; for he preferr'd three hundred ducats before the doing of that good work to his prophet mahomet ; but there being some turks of quality present , he smother'd his sentiments , and the lad was made a turk with the ordinary solemnities . some days after , the business , upon which we were confin'd , was taken up ; so that we got out , and i often afterwards met and discours'd with dom francisco . some months after i was brought to tituan , where i went immediately to salute one of the fathers employ'd about the redemption of captives , who was newly come out of spain , and lodg'd at the french consul's . as i was going in , i met with dom francisco coming out of the house , and ask'd him what fortune had brought him thither . he told me , that , after my departure from algiers he had receiv'd the four thousand ducats , and paid the bassa . but having no convenience to return into portugal , without passing through spain ( which he was loath to do , as well by reason of the war , as for that he would avoid seeing the spaniards ) or going a great way about , and so being in danger to be taken once more by the turks , to avoid these hazards , he had agreed with a pyrate , to set him ashore on the coast of portugal . dom francisco embark'd , and his pyrate having a good wind within two days got to the altitude of penon de veles , where there were at that time some french ships , which began to chace the turkish pyrate . who perceiving that his sails must save him and not his guns , did all he could to avoid the danger , and all last finding no other expedient , he turn'd his ship towards the coast , and with all the sail she could bear ran her a-ground , not far from the place where we had made the like wrack , as i have said elsewhere . as he was relating his adventures to me , there pass'd by us a gentleman about twenty years of age ( as neer as i could guess ) in a civil garbe , according to the dutch mode . dom francisco and he looking very earnestly one upon the other , at last d. francisco said to him , are not you such a one ? the young man reply'd , i am so . what do you here then , says dom francisco , clad as you are ? my business here , said he , is to follow my profession , and exercise my religion . whereupon dom francisco said , with your favour , i pray what religion are you of ? i am a jew , replies he , and did not you , saies d. francisco , live about a year since , in the baja de todos los santos , and did you not there go to mass every day , and frequented the holy sacraments , as other catholicks did ? he acknowledg'd it , but said he was a jew , and that then he had counterfeited himself a christian . this discourse discovers the diverse events of things , and the odd accidents that happen in the world . relation ix . a new slave ought to be distrustful of all people . i would not affirm that a new slave should look on all that speak to him as traitors , no , that were too great a distrust , but that he is to consider they may be deceivers . it is therefore necessary he should dissemble a while , till he be sufficiently inform'd whether they be impostors , or may be trusted . during the time of my slavery at algiers , there was a very rich jew , named ciscas , who to find out what christian slaves could pay considerable ransomes , was wont to circumvent them in this manner . he had got a turk of his acquaintance to buy a christian slave upon his account , for the jews are not permitted to have any christian slaves ; and the turk gave out that the slave was his , and that he onely lent him to the jew to wait on him at his house . but the greatest service he did him was , that when there came any letters directed to the christian slaves , the superscriptions whereof were in dutch , or flemish , he read and interpreted them to his master ; and whereas all commerce in a manner in barbary , is manag'd by the jews , all the merchants letters fall into their hands . by this means , the said jew , found out the secret , by the interposition of some turks friends of his , to make the christians pay the utmost peny they could raise for their ransom . this treacherous slave would always be on the water-side when there were any prises from hamborough or the low-countries brought in ; and when the new slaves came ashore , he fell into discourse with them , saying , whence come you my friends and companions ; assure your selves i am extreamly troubled at your misfortune . however , pray be of good courage , and do me the kindness to accept of a glass of wine which i will bestow on you . the others would haply make answer , we have no mony , and if we had , we cannot get hence without leave . as for leave , reply'd he , let me alone to get it , i am sufficiently known ; and for mony , god be thanked , i have yet enough to entertain a friend or two . the turks who were agreed with his master , gave him leave to go and treat them some where . having carried them to a tavern , he made them drink plentifully , and when they began to be drunk , he thought it time to lay his snares , in order to the advancement of his affairs , telling them that he had assisted many slaves to get their liberty , and that he still had the same power to oblige others . the poor besotted fools having their hearts full of grief , their bellies of wine , and their heads warm , believ'd all the trapanning raskal said to them . whereupon finding them more and more tractable , he would say to them , are you able to give four or five hundred patacoons for your liberty ? some answer'd they were , nay , haply if need were , they could advance a thousand , for they had such and such friends , who would not suffer them to continue long in that miserable condition . others would say , we have yet a house or tenement of land , which should be sold rather then they would stay long in slavery , &c. when the dissembling villain had pump'd out all he could get , he paid the reckoning , and brought back the new slaves to the place , where they were to remain till they were sold . having lodg'd them there , he went to give the jew an account of what the christian slaves had said to him , and when they came to be sold in the market , some turk , who was in league with the jew , bought them , and then the traitor went again to them , saying , thanks be to god , you have got a good patron , he is a great friend of the jew 's with whom i live ; if you are desirous to make some agreement concerning your ransome , it is in my power to do you a kindness . these new slaves were very glad that they had met such a friend , as they thought him , but the jew had most reason to think him such , for he was grown so expert in circumventing , that many times , the jew with two or three thousand patacoons got a thousand and more , insomuch that he was thought to be worth a hundred thousand patacoons , and yet all the goods in his house were not worth fifty shillings . when this treacherous christian had compass'd some enterprise with success , he receiv'd a considerable recompence . but it was god's pleasure that his impostures should be discover'd , and he was so cry'd down among the slaves , that not one would treat with him ; and the new slaves were soon advertiz'd that they should beware that traitor . when we were brought in , he address'd himself to us , for upon our arrival he made his accustomed complements to us ; but we had receiv'd a character of him before hand , as i have said elsewhere . when a man is by misfortune fallen into slavery , if he be over-earnest in the prosecution of his liberty , the issue of it proves somewhat like that of ignorant swimmers , who being fallen into the water , out of a fear of being drown'd , strive so much with their armes , that they are presently tyr'd , and so their excessive diligence occasions their miscarriage . relation x. of a new-married couple taken by the turks and brought to algiers . in the year 1641. at nantz in britany there was a master of a ship , who stay'd there onely for a fair wind to set sail for canada . while he stay'd for the wind , he fell in love with a rich merchant's daughter , whose father perceiving that she as much affected him as he her , would by no means consent to their marriage , considering the first fair wind would carry him away , and with him the love he had for his daughter . but the master seeing on the other-side , that it would be a greater advantage to him , to marry his mistress , then he could expect from his going to sea as long as he liv'd , carry'd his business on so successfully , that they were secretly married , and before her friends had any notice of it , he was gone with his spouse towards canada , hoping that before his return all things would be accommodated , by the mediation of his f●iends . but fortune intended to dispose otherwise of them ; for ere he had been four and twenty hours at sea , he was taken by a pyrate of algiers . the amorous master minding more the caresses of his mistress , then the exercises of mars , deliver'd up his ship , without any resistance . some days after , the french gentlewoman with her husband , and the other slaves were brought to the market at algiers , where the christians are wont to be sold . the turks , moors , greeks , and spaniards , who were not wont to see the fashions of the french-woman , with their hair powder'd , and their heads neatly dress'd , look'd on her with much admiration . she said to some christians who discours'd with her , and comforted her , my onely fear is , that they will make me renounce my religion . it seems god was pleas'd with the fear of that woman ; for the french consul prevail'd so far with the bassa , that the selling of her was suspended , under pretence of some league with the french. but the true cause proceeded from the avarice of the bassa ( as will be seen anon ) who made no account of the peace ; but in regard the french-master had made no opposition , the consul alledg'd that the ship was no lawful prize . this in my judgement was an invention of the bassa's , who agreed well enough with the consul , to declare the ship free , and so to defraud the pyrate and the soldiers , and thereupon it was concluded , that the master and his wife should have their liberty , leaving the ship and its loading to be dispos'd of to the advantage of the bassa . while these things were in agitation , the gentlewoman was sent to the house of a turkish lady , where she was well entertain'd , save that she and her husband were not permitted to talk together alone . i knew not what was the issue of this business , for soon after i left algiers . relation xi . of the ingratitude of a portuguez slave . i knew at algiers a famous pyrat named the grand moro , by country a mosabi , which is a nation of poor alarbes , of little account , upon this score , that they love the kitchin much better than the camp. they commonly deal in tripes , and are very deformed in their countenances ; for they are neither blacks nor white , but look as if their faces were perpetually oyl'd . the grand moro came to algiers , being about twelve years of age , and growing weary of the tripe-trade , he struck in among the pyrats , in the quality of a boy belonging to one of the captains ; and by continual being abroad at sea , and in divers engagements , he came to be an able sea-man , and a good souldier , and so got into such repute , that they who put out the galleys made him captain of a small ship , afterwards of a greater of thirty guns , till at last he came to be captain of a galley . this same grand moro was a terrour to all the christian ships , which came into the mediterranean , and was by all the turks accounted a second , god mars . i believe that if the grand seignor had given him the absolute command of the sea , as sultan solyman gave it to the arch-pyrat barberossa in the last age , his . victories would have surpass'd those of all the ottoman generals . for he was a lyon in engagements , and a lamb in his victories , treating his subdu'd enemies with extraordinary mildness . among many other slaves which the grand moro had , there was one portuguez , who , when he was ashore waited on him in his chamber , and at sea as a secretary . this portuguez had serv'd his patron very faithfully for some years , both at sea and ashore . one day the grand moro was crusing with his ship neer the coast of portugal ; he call'd his slave , and said to him , you have serv'd me faithfully so many years , i now set you at liberty . whereupon he order'd the shallop to be made ready to set him ashore . while the ship was sailing towards the land , he went secretly to the stern of the ship , and opened his patron 's chest ( for he had the keys ) and took out some shirts , and for fear of being discover'd , put them about him under his cloaths : the shallop was let down , and the portuguez delivering up the keys of the chest , took his last leave of his patron . he was set ashore , the shallop return'd , and the ship kept on her course . some days after , the grand moro would change his linnen ; but he was disappointed , for it was carri'd away by that ungrateful slave . he fell into such a passion , that he said , i swear by the grand seignor's life , that if that ungrateful christian ever come into my hands again , he shall be chain'd to the oar as long as he lives . much about the same time there happen'd a very remarkable accident . the general alli pegelin having lost a diamond of great value , order'd his slaves to look every where for it , and among others , one of them , a spaniard , found it . he presented the diamond to pegelin , who gladly receiving it gave the slave for his reward half a patacoon , saying to him , here take this , brute beast without judgement , and buy a halter to hang thy self withall ; thou hadst gotten thy liberty , and thou couldst not keep it . pegelin was as ungrateful towards his spanish slave , as the portuguez had been towards the grand moro. relation xii . the custom of bewailing the dead at algiers . in one of my precedent relations , i made mention of the war made by a barbarian king , bennali , against the bassa of algiers . many turks and renegadoes were kill'd in that war. among others there was kill'd a bulcebas , that is , a captain of foot. this bulcebas was a renegado , and had been a slave of my patron mahomet celibi oiga's , and liv'd in the same street with mahomet celibi . upon the news of the death of this bulcebas , my patroness accompani'd by two women-negroes , her slaves , and with all the women in the neighbourhood , went into the widdow's house , and as soon as they were got in , they began to weep , lament , cry out , and torment themselves as people out of their wits , and one of her women was employ'd in continual striking with an iron bar upon a table , which made such a horrid noise , that a man would have said the street was full of distracted people . i knew well enough it was the manner of bewailing the dead in africk . but when my patroness came home , i made as if i knew not the reason of all those exclamations , and ask'd her why she had wept , and how her face came to be all scratch'd and bloody . she repli'd , it was the custom of the country , and that they so bewail'd the death of friends and relations . it does very well , as for your part , said i , who were acquainted with the deceas'd person , but why should your woman-slave here be scratch'd and bloody as you are , she , who had no acquaintance with him , for she is newly come to you , and is yet savage ? my patroness repli'd , she did as she saw others do , without any other reason . as to the word savage , it is to be observ'd , that the kingdom of algiers hath many little tributary kings belonging to it , and some of them , for want of money , pay their annual tribute in men. these men are either arabian prisoners , commonly called errant arabians ; or for want of prisoners they pay in their own subjects . these people , at algiers are called savages , because they have not the common language of the country , neither the arabian , nor the moorish . relation xiii . of the inconsiderate zeal , and the prudent . while i was in the masmora at tituan , a moorish pyrat came thither with an image of our lady's , carv'd in wood , which he had taken out of some christian ship , and proffer'd it to sell . all the spanish slaves got about him , and proffer'd a chequine of gold for it , that the image might not be expos'd to contempt , or receive any injury . the moor observing the zeal of the christians , told them they must give four times as much for it , or if they would not give it , he would burn the image . the devout spaniards were extreamly troubled at the threats of the moor , and were upon resolving to give what he demanded . and to make up the sum , most of the spaniards would contribute all they had ; for in the masmora , he who can spend a patacoon a moneth is not to be accounted poor . i look'd on what pass'd without saying a word ; at last i concern'd my self in the business , and said to the spaniards ; gentlemen , this image is not worth so much . they immediately answer'd , we do not buy the image for its value , but that it may not receive any injury . i told them , your zeal is to be commended ; but do you not consider , that if this moor should carry hence four chequines of gold for an image , which is not worth four ryalls , he will go and report it all ●ver the city , that the christians are idolaters . the zealous spaniards would hardly hear my reason , and i was in some danger of being accounted a lutheran among them . but i was reliev'd by a reverend father , a dominican , who was also a slave in the masmora , a man of a good life , and great learning . i acquainted him with what had pass'd between the spaniards and the moor. the good father , out of a zeal grounded on prudence went st●eight to the moor , and said to him , will you take a patacoon for that image ? if you are so pleas'd , you shall have it , if not , do what you will with the image , and get you gone hence , or the christian slaves will beat you out of doors . the moor seeing the religious man so resolute , said nothing of burning the image , and forbearing all further insolency , was glad to get a patacoon for it . if the spaniards had given four chequines for it , they had lost their money , the moor would have laugh'd at them , and the catholick religion would have been slighted and derided : but the prudent zeal of that religious man sav'd the money of those poor slaves , frightned the barbarous moor , and satisfi'd the mahumetans , that the honour which catholicks render to images consists not in the materials whereof they are made , as pagans , hereticks , and ignorant persons do imagine . relation xiv . two examples of liberality and gratitude . saban gallan aga , whom i have often mentioned , was a spaniard born , neer the frontiers of portugal , and the son of a common sea-man . he fell very young into slavery among the turks , who had perswaded him to renounce the christian faith , which it was easie for them to do with a child . this saban , for his noble demeanour towards all the world had the military name of gallan bestow'd on him . he was very rich , and he always employ'd himself in war both by sea and land , by which means he came to be aga , that is , a field-officer . saban passing one day through the market where the christians are sold , fell into discourse with some slave● , and by chance met with one of his country-men , whom he bought at a low rate , for he was a fisher-man , and so no great ransome could be expected from him . he brought the slave to his own house , and said to him ; i have paid a hundred and fifty patacoons for you , if you will promise me to pay the like sum in your country to such a one who is my kinsman , and poor , i will order you to be set ashore in your country by the first pyrat that shall go hence . the fisher-man was well pleas'd with the proposal , and promis'd to do what his patron desir'd . saban accordingly sent him away with the first ship bound into the ocean , and order'd him to be set ashore on the coast of portugal , which was done . the inhabitants of the village where he liv'd wonder'd to see him return'd so soon out of slavery . he acquainted them with his adventures , and all that had pass'd between him and saban gallan . he sold all he had , and , according to his promise , paid him who was to have the hundred and fifty patacoons , who having receiv'd the money , writ a letter of thanks to his kinsman saban gallan . afterwards , the honest man returning to his profession , to get his livelihood , 't was his misfortune to be taken again by the pyrats , and to be brought to algiers . he sent notice of his misfortune to saban , who bought him again , and having treated him some days in his house , and furnish'd him with what cloaths and linnen he stood in need of , said to him , since you have shewn your self an honest man , and perform'd your promise , you shall return once more to your country , and pay what you cost to the same person within such a time . the fisher-man repli'd , i am not able to do it , for i sold all i had in the world to pay my former ransom , and therefore i will rather continue a slave then promise what i cannot perform . saban hearing his reasons , said to him , pay it then at your own convenience ( the time before was six moneths ) within two years . the fisher-man accepted of that condition , and with the first opportunity , he was set ashore in his country . he went immediately to saban's kinsman , and promis'd to pay him the sum agreed upon within two years , and so return'd to his trade . but his boat and all things else requisite thereto being either sold to pay his former ransom , or lost , when he was taken the second time , he was forc'd to become a servant to other fisher-men , so that he could not get so much as when he was upon his own account ; but yet out of the little he got , he laid somewhat aside towards the payment of his ransom . the two years were pass'd , and he had paid but a third part of the sum he ought . to make good his p●omise , he bethought himself of an expedient , which was , to buy a hundred weight of tobacco , and went along with a portuguez ship bound for algiers , ( where tobacco was then very dear ) with the bassa's pass-port , to redeem certain slaves . being come to algiers , he went strait to saban's house , who was astonish'd to see him . the fisher-man said to him , patron , i have paid but the third part of what i ought you , as may be seen by this acquittance , and for the remainder , having no other way to satisfie , i have brought hither a hundred weight of tobacco , and if i can sell it with the advantage i am told it will yield , i will pay you ; if not , i will return to be your slave , rather than give your lordship , of whom i have receiv'd so great kindness , any occasion to think me ungrateful . saban heard the fisher-man's reasons , extremely wondring at his fidelity and gratitude ; and thereupon made him this answer : you are an honest man , faithful , and grateful , but over-harmless to live in this vvorld ; go sell your tobacco , and return into your country , and make the best advantage you can of both the money and your liberty . he allow'd him meat and drink at his house , till the same ship which brought him to algiers return'd homewards , leaving at algiers a perpetual memory of his fidelity and gratitude , and carrying along with him into portugal an eternal commendation of the liberality of saban gallan . relation xv. of the celebration of marriage at algiers . my companion m. caloën liv'd with an old woman , grand-mother to mustapha ingles , one of the five turks who were to be exchang'd for us . this mustapha had a brother , named amet ingles , about two and twenty years of age , but a very debauch'd person , an excessive lover of wine and wenches , insomuch that it was impossible he should live long at the rate he did . his mother and grand-mother prevail'd so far with him , that he promis'd to leave drinking and wenching , and live thence-forwards as an honest mahumetan , of good repute , and to assure them he would do so , he said to them , i am content to marry . that proposal extremely pleas'd both mother and grand-mother , who recommended to amet several young maids of his quality , and among others , one whom he fancied much , by reason of her great wealth . to compass this marriage , amet's grand-mother propos'd the business to the maid's friends , and amet emploi'd for a spy and ambassadress an old woman who carried silk stuffs to be sold at great houses . the old woman manag'd her business so well , that within a few days the young maid engag'd her word to her ; and she also gave amet such an account of the beauty , virtues , and fortunes of his mistress , that he was extreamly in love with her , upon the old woman's discourse ; and in fine , the friends on both sides approv'd the marriage . the wedding-day was appointed ; the future bridegroom sent his mistress a present of ribbons , and such toyes , and to make the present with the requisite solemnities , amet got together twenty slaves of his friends and relations , among whom i was one . we march'd one after another , every one with a dish cover'd , wherein the presents were . amet brought the slaves to his mistresse's door , where being come , he staid in the street , and the slaves went into the house , which was built after the italian way of architecture , with a quadrangle and galleries all about it . the future bride sate on a cushion of red velvet wrought all over with silver-lace , at the entrance of a low room . every one of the slaves set down his dish on a place prepar'd for the receiving of it , making a low reverence to the future bride . the other slaves had taught m. caloën and me these words , ey la a , ey la a , which we were to pronounce as loud as ere we could , after we had set all the dishes on the ground ; which was done . and presently after the slaves belonging to the house , both men and women , answer'd in the same musick . that done , we all made a low reverence , and went out of the house . amet staid fo● us at the door , and as i pass'd by him , he said to me in spanish , dunkirker , is she handsome ? very handsome , reply'd i , taking beauty according to the opinion of the africans ; for they think the women beautiful , when they are somewhat inclin'd to fatness . that news pleas'd amet well , for he had never seen his mistresse's face , in regard it is the custome of the country , that the women , when they go along the streets , should have two veils over their faces , one which covers the fore-head to the eyes , the other coming down over the nose . when they are at home , they are not so shy of the christian slaves ; for they say the christians are blind ; but if a mahometane should see their faces uncover'd , 't were a great sin ; and it is not permitted that a young man should speak with a maid who stands upon her honesty , in her father's or other relations houses . me-thinks this kind of demeanour seems very strange ; but it is requisite in that country , by reason of the lewd inclinations of the women . for notwithstanding all the caution of the men to keep their daughter's and wives at home , they find out a hundred inventions to get abroad , sometimes upon visits , sometimes to bath themselves , and sometimes under pretence of devotion ( an invention sufficiently known also in europe ) to go to such a marabout or santon ; and so they prostitute themselves , if they have any convenience , to all they meet , though they be common rogues , sodomites , and the meanest sort of people . relation xvi . necessity is the mother of diligence and industry . when i liv'd at alli pegelin's bath , we were five hundred and fifty christian slaves , who were to get our daily bread by our industry . 't is indeed a thing worthy admiration , to consider how every one made his advantage of his industry in that necessity . the most common exercise of that school was theft . there was in the bath an italian slave , whose military name was fontimama ; he presum'd so much on his art of stealing , that he would often invite some of his companions to dine with him at noon , on what he should get between that time and the hour appointed to set their jaw-bones a-grinding . one day about ten in the morning , he invited my companion r. saldens to dine with him , conditionally he would take a turn with him about the city . fontimama carry'd saldens among some jews , changers of money , whereof there are many at algiers , taking up their standings in the streets with a little table , where they change patacoons , and half-patacoons into aspers , making some small gain by that exchange . fontimama ask'd for aspers for a half-patacoon , shewing a piece which was good ; he help'd the jew to tell them , and after they had done he proffer'd the jew a counterfeit piece . the jew , who knew money well enough , would have his asp●rs again , which he could not so get , but that some stuck to the hands of that crafty thief . from him they went to another jew , and so to another , till at last he had done his work so well , that about noon fontimama return'd to the bath with a couple of pullets , and money enough to procure their skins full of wine . another time being in our patron 's galley on the coast of barbary , before a place called terrevecchia , fontimama with some other slaves were sent ashore to take in fresh water for the galley . the alarbes , inhabitants of the country , came presently about the slaves , asking them whether they had any iron to sell ( for it is very dear about that place ) and the slaves sometimes sold them nails and such pieces of old iron . fontimama's companions having sold all they had , the buyers told their neighbours that they had bought iron of the slaves of the galley . two alarbes hearing there was iron to be had pretty cheap , 〈◊〉 to the sea-side to buy some , and address'd themsel●●● 〈◊〉 fontimama , who told them he had some to sell , and thereupon sold them the anchor of the galley for five patacoons . he receiv'd the money , and said to them , friends , it is impossible for you two to carry so heavy a burthen , go and call some of your neighbours , and i will help you also . the innocent alarbes went to get the assistance of their neighbours ; in the mean time fontimama got into the galley , and put a plaister over one of his eyes . th● two merchants return'd , accompany'd by twenty alarbes , to carry away the anchor , and began to undo the cable ; for it was the greatest anchor of all , and then aboard the galley . alli pegelin , who was lay'd down to rest himself at the poop , saw those alarbes at the prow of his galley quarrelling with the turkish soldiers , who would not suffer them to carry away the anchor . one told pegelin the story , how that fontimama had sold the anchor . he gave order in the first place that that crue of alarbes should be sent packing out of the galley , which was immediately put in execution with good bulls-pizzles . the alarbes being sent away with good store of bangs instead of the anchor , pegelin ask'd fontimama , why he had sold the anchor of the galley being not his to dispose of . fontimama reply'd , that he thought the galley would go better being discharg'd of that weight . all the galley could not forbear laughing at that answer ; and fontimama kept the five patacoons . there was in the same bath a brabander , named fr●ncis de vos , but he was otherwise call'd the student . he did not belong to pegelin , but by order from his patron , and pegelin's permission , he liv'd in the bath , having an iron chain 〈◊〉 hundred weight at his leggs , that he might not stir thence ; which was done , to hasten the payment of his ransom . this man was a kind of secretary to the slaves of the low-countries , dunkirk , and hamborough , being always employ'd in writing of letters for them , without any other reward , save that he would accept of a dish of drink . and whereas he was , by reason of his letters always accompany'd by flemings and dutch-men , who came to him , and made him drink for his pains , when he had done , he made a shift to subsist by that means . for the taverner , at whose lodge he wrote , found him meat all that day , in requital of the advantage he made by selling his wine to those who employ'd him . there was also a french cavalier , who had been six years in slavery , yet had not receiv'd a peny out of his country . he was always well clad , for a slave ; did eat and drink of the best ; and many times invited his companions to dine with him . he had great acquaintances among the french-renegadoes , who lent him money at interest , he being oblig'd to repay it at a certain time : but to pay some , he took up mony of others upon the same termes . now all the renegadoes being soldiers , and always abroad in the wars by sea and land , it happen'd that some of his creditors died every year ; and they having no relations , wives , or children , the debt was paid at their deaths . and though there were some obligation in writing , it signify'd nothing , for the cavalier being a slave , the obligation was of no force . i knew a spaniard , whom i shall here call rodrigo , a person , who though far from being valiant , yet liv'd by the reputation of his sword , that is , a kind of a hector . these people in spanish are called vendevuidas . this rodrigo got his livelihood by composing differences between the slaves , bringing them to drink together after they were reconciled , and making good cheer among them . but it was his main business to set the spaniards together by the ears , and afterwards to mediate between them , and take his share of the drink at their argeement . rodrigo would be always haunting the taverns of the bath , where he thought the greatest drunkards resorted ; for commonly , when the reckoning came to be paid , there was some dispute between the drunken turks , and the christian taverner . rodrigo compos'd those differences with a spanish gravity , saying , gentlemen , it is sufficient , that a person of my rank and quality says it . and when the turks would not pay the taverner , rodrigo gave notice of it to the guardian , who presently lock'd up the bath ; and when the drunken turks drew their knives , rodrigo came behind them with a ladder , and getting the turks head between the rounds , laid him all along ( which he might do to part them , for a christian is not to strike a turk upon pain of death ) and then the guardian came in , and caus'd the turk to pay , or made him leave something in pawn . for such services as these was rodrigo much esteem'd among the taverners of the bath , having for his reward a good supper . there was a muscovite among us , about fourscore years of age , not able to do any thing of hard labour , as having been bruis'd . he made clean the necessary house of the bath , and every week went a begging of alms of the slaves for his pains . with what was given him he made a shift to subsist . there was also a young lad , a hamburgher , who at his being taken had lost an arm , and so could not do much for his livelihood , and yet the patron allow'd him nothing . but a country-man of his having given him half a patacoon , he bought with it a pair of nine●pins , and pidgeon-holes . he went out of the city , neer the gate , hir'd out his pins , and the holes to the children who were playing there , and so made a shift to live pretty well . the spaniards , who could keep taverns liv'd like princes among the slaves , and in a short time got as much as paid their ransom . for those who can get in a pipe of wine in september , which costs them sixteen patacoons , will , by retail , make forty or fifty of it . there were also among us six surgeons , who got much mony , for they were sent for by the citizens . but whereas some men are ordinarily lost by mony and good cheer , these came to their destruction by women and wine . there were some employ'd themselves in footing stockings , and others got their livelihood by some kind of games . but the profession most us'd was stealing . every night there was publikely sold what ever had been stollen the day before , as i have related more at large in the discourse of my captivity . the priests liv'd on the alms of the christian slaves . in fine , all of all nations made some shift to live , save onely the english , who it seems are not so shiftfull as others , and it seems also they have no great kindness one for another . the winter i was in the bath , i observ'd there died above twenty of them out of pure want . nor are they therefore much esteem'd by the turks ; for an english-man is sold at sixty or seventy patacoons , when a spaniard or italian is valued at one hundred and fifty , or two hundred . my meaning is , when the value is set according to the body , and not according to the ransom that may be gotten . there were other slaves 〈◊〉 frequented certain houses , where they daily carried water , and fetch'd away the dirt , and liv'd on the salary they had for their pains . but you are to know , that th●●e ways of getting ones livelihood were allow'd onely when the patron 's work was done . i was so satisfy'd with the consideration of what pass'd among the slaves of the b●th , that when i liv'd with mahomet celibi oiga , to divert my self , i went to discourse with the student , about whom there would always be some dunkirk-slaves , relating their adventures at sea ; the dutch , what pass'd in the east-indies , japan , and china ; the danes , and hamburghers , at the whale-fishing in green-land , what time of the year the sun appears in iseland , and when their six months●night is at an end . or if such conversation pleas'd not , i went among the spaniards , who govern'd the dominions of their king as they pleas'd , or talk'd of the delicaces of mexico , or the wealth of peru. or if i went among the french , we had news from new-france , canada , virginy ; for most of the slaves are people some way related to the sea. by this account of the slaves may be seen what a mistress necessity is , and that there can be no better university to teach men to shift for their livelihood , then one of the baths at algiers . relation xvii . of a religious-man of the order of the discalceate carmelites , a slave , and his patron alli pegelin . in the year 1641. there was at algiers a discalceate carmelite , in whose conversation it might be clearly seen , that a good life and prudence accompany'd his doctrine . this reverend man was known by the name of father angeli , by country a genouese . he had made his residence some years in persia , by order from his superior , as he often told me himself . intending to return to italy through turkey with a pass-port from the grand seignor , he and his companion , a portuguez , were taken by the pyrates . these two religious men being brought before the bassa , shew'd their pass-port , but to no purpose , for the bassa said to them , write to constantinople , and make your complaints of me , if you think good ; if you are unjustly dealt with , you must bear it patiently . being to be sold , pegelin bought them , and sent them to the bath with the other slaves . father angeli said mass every day , and perform'd all other ecclesiastical functions , and in a short time , i know not by what secret inclination people had for his vertues , he was belov'd of all , not onely catholicks , but also lutherans , calvinists , puritans , schismaticks , and nicolaitans ; for the bath was furnish'd with all these sorts of religions . when this good father came neer the places where any slaves were eating , they desir'd him to participate of what they had , even the russians and muscovites , who by a natural antipathy seem to be absolute strangers to kindness and civility . if there happen'd any difference among the slaves , what nation soever they were of , he perswaded them to a reconciliation : which endeavors of his brought down a blessing on all his other actions . if any slave were sick , father angeli took care to get some good thing made for him ; and if any slave who came to confession , made any discovery of his wants , father angeli gave him an alms , and he was never without mony , by the means of some devout slaves , who entrusted him with the distribution of their almes ; so that the vertues of this religious man gain'd him the reputation of a saint even among the turks . pegelin having heard of him , sent for him one day to his house . he went , and submissively ask'd what service he had to command him . pegelin said to him , papas ( so the turks call the priests ) i have heard , that you are a vertuous and learned man , and that you are able to satisfie any question is put to you ; you must now give me satisfaction in one thing i shall aske you . the good father angeli made answer , i am your excellency's slave , 't is my duty to obey . then pegelin said to him ; what will become of me ? pray tell me what you think at least . the father replyes , your excellency is captain general of the gallies , and i am but a poor religious man ; your excellency is my patron , and i am your slave ; me-thinks it were a breach of the respect i ●ow your excellency , for me to give my judgement . this complement pleas'd pegelin very much , for the turks expect submissions ; whereupon pegelin said to him , speak your mind freely , i shall not take it ill , commanding him once more to tell him what he thought of him . father angeli seeing himself so press'd , confidently reply'd , relying on your excellency's promise , i will tell you what i think of you ; i am of an absolute perswasion , that the devil will have you . pegelin ask'd him , why ? the religious man answer'd , in the first place you are a person of no religion , and all your thoughts are bent on the robbing and ruining of the christians . next , you never do any works of piety , much less any of mercy ; you live as if there were no just god , nay , you laugh at the alcoran , and whatever it commands the mahometanes to do ; you never go into the mosquey , nor ever read your assala . nay , he not onely neglected the reading of the assala , but , what is more , when he was at the bassa's palace , in the hall of audience , i was told , that when the moor made an out-cry ( which was the signal for praying , as among christians the ringing of a bell ) he cover'd his face with his handkercher , and i believe he did it that he might the better forbear laughing at their ceremonies . in fine , the father anatomiz'd his whole life , shewing clearly that pegelin had no other religion then an insatiable avarice , and never so much as thought of the salvation of his soul . the father having ended his discourse , pegelin said to him smiling , papas , when do you think the devil will have me ? father angeli reply'd , when you dye , that is , when your soul shall leave that miserable body . pegelin made answer , as to my death , it may yet be at a great distance , and therefore as long as i shall live , i will endeavour my enjoyments as much as i can , and when i am once dead , let the devil do what he will with me . with that he commanded the religious man to return to the bath . by this story it is apparent , that truth may be told to great persons , though transcendently impious , without any danger , when prudence hath made choice of a convenient time to do it . relation . xviii . the use of poison is very common in africk . the poisoning of people is a crime very common in africk . while i was at algiers the pyrates took a frigot which had been made at dunkirk . the building of it pleas'd all the captains of the galleys , insomuch that there was a certain emulation who should have her . but the bassa's proportion of the slaves being one of every eight , and of every ship the one half , the bassa's brother , who was captain of a pirateer , had the frigot . the grand moro , a famous captain , was so much troubled at it , that he said publickly he had been injur'd , the frigot had been deny'd at the rate he had proffer'd for it , and that the bassa's brother was good onely to divide the booty , after himself had taken the pains to get it . that discourse was related to the bassa's brother , who was much incens'd thereat , and bethought himself how he should be reveng'd . he could not send him a challenge , because it was not the custom , and besides , he was no match for such an enemy as the grand moro. he therefore dissembled his indignation , and some daies after , invited the grand moro with some other captains to dine with him , entertaining them after the best manner he could , the better to cloak his malicious design . dinner being ende● , and the grand moro come to his own house , he found himself very much indispos'd . whereupon calling a slave of his who was a surgeon , he said to him , you must immediately give me some remedy , for me-thinks i am poison'd . the surgeon , a man very expert in his profession , gave him presently a good draught of milk , and finding that the milk stay'd with him , he caus'd his head to be hung downwards , and at last the milk came ou● , bringing the poison along with it , and by that means the grand moro was cur'd , and the bassa's brother laugh'd at by the turks , for his ignorance in preparing the poison after the african way , which is , to make the composition so , as that it shall not do its effect till some time after it is administred . this slow operation of the poison causes many spaniards , and italians to renounce the christian faith. the reason is , that many turks are addicted to the abhominable sin , and the women are easily debauch'd by their slaves . whence it comes , that having continu'd in their lewdness sometime , the women say to them , if you will renounce your religion , i will marry you , and ▪ of a poor slave , make you master of this house and all i have . these promises are tempting , and most of the slaves , being ordinary sea-men , and poor in their own country , and consequently oblig'd to get their livelihood by hard labor , they are inveigled by these taking appearances of liberty and wealth , strengthned by the sollicitations of a handsome woman , and so prefer the temporal before eternal happiness . being thus agreed , the women give their husbands a slow poison , so that the husband dying some months after , the widdow marries the renegado slave . there is no great inquisition made into these crimes by the magistrate ; insomuch that there are many who boast of their excellence in that art. it comes into my mind , that i once over-heard two french renegadoes discoursing to this purpose . one of them said to the other , do you still visit your wench ? the other answer'd , i have seen her lately , but am weary of her , i have a dose in my chest to send her going into the other world . i also observ'd , while i was a slave at pegelin's , that our patron made a great feast at a country house of his , and for greater pomp , the meat was carried thither by two hundred and fifty slaves ( among whom i carried a dish of nuts ) who march'd all in a file , there being a certain distance between every twenty , and there was one who carried a basket cover'd with a piece of silk , wherein i suppose there was some kind of pastry . the guests were the most famous captaines , and the richest setters out of gallies . the bassa also was invited , with some of his principal favourites ; but twenty of his own slaves brought his meat and drink thither , for he would not trust pegelin ; yet was it not taken amiss . 't were better sometimes to eat with a poor alarbe , in africk , then to be invited to the entertainments of such great persons . relation xix . the turks keep their words . in one of my precedent relations i made it appear that pegelin had no other god nor religion then his interest . which i here hint again to heighten the reader 's astonishment , when he finds a person so destitute of religion , to be so religious an observer of his word . having been five months his slave , i went to speak with him concerning my ransome ; and to move him to compassion , i kiss'd the sleeve of his garment which hung down to the ground ( an african complement ) and said to him , may it please your excellency , i have been five months your slave ; i question not but your excellency is by this time sufficiently inform'd what i am , to wit , a poor soldier , and not a person of wealth and quality , as your excellency said you knew well enough when you bought me . ( for the turks are very liberal in giving titles to the new slaves , calling one a cavalier , another , a count's son , and saying the others are very rich , by that means to get a greater ransom out of them . ) pegelin made answer , i know not yet who you are , but if i agree with you about your ransom , though i should afterwards come to know that you are much richer then i took you to be , i shall keep my word , as i have done with several other persons , naming to me among others a merchant of genua , called marco antonio falconi . but as i have said elsewhere , the treaty concerning my ransom was put off for some days , and i return'd to the bath . the same night i enquir'd of some slaves of my acquaintance , whe●her our patron had kept his word with his slaves , when they had agreed with him , and what was the story of marco antonio falconi , of whom he had spoken to me . they told me that they had been eye-witnesses of it against their wills ; for they then row'd in the galley ; and they told me the whole story , to this effect . a genua-merchant , who had resided long at cadiz in spain , where he had carryed on a great trade , being grown very rich , and having but one child , a daughter , thought it time to give over trading , and return into his country . he set all things in order , and embark'd himself with his daughter , who was about nine years of age , in a brigantine . they always kept in sight of land , for fear of meeting with the turkish pyrates . being on the coast of valentia , pegelin , whose gallies were thereabouts , discovers the brigantine at a great distance , and gave order for the chasing of her . those of the brigantine , endeavour'd all they could with the help of sails and oars to get to land ; but the gallies , by reason of their abundance of rowers , being come within musket-shot of the brigantine , the genua merchant and the marriners cast themselves into the sea , and made a shift to swim a shore ; and the young girle was onely left in the brigantine . some turks by pegelin's order went into the brigantine , to bring it away . the merchant being got ashore , and seeing his daughter in the hands of the turks , went as far as he could into the sea , and holding up his handkercher , made a sign to the gallies to come and take him in . the turks were astonish'd to see such a thing , and pegelin himself , who sent out the boat for him . the voluntary-prisoner was brought before the general alli pegelin ; who , jeering him , ask'd , why , having so fortunately escap'd , he would of his own accord come into slavery , which makes the most confident to tremble . the merchant , perceiving that he who spoke to him was the general , began this speech in the italian language , which pegelin understood very well . your excellency is astonish'd to see me voluntarily render my self up a slave , a condition , which men , by a natural instinct , have all the reason in the world to fear . but the reason i shall give your excellency will take away that astonishment . i am a merchant of g●nua , i have traded some years in spain , and i thought to retire with this daughter , my onely childe into my country . your excellency hath made her your prisoner , and you have taken me with her ; for though it seem'd that i had escap'd , yet was i more a prisoner then she , by my fatherly affection . and therefore i thought fit to render my self to you , and if your excellency will set me at a ransom , i will pay it if i can , if not , the satisfaction of having done what i ought for my daughter , will make me the more easily support the difficulties and inconvencies of slavery . pegelin , having attentively harkened to his discourse , said to him , you shall pay for the ransome of your self and your daughter six thousand patacoons . the genoese immediately reply'd , i will do it . there was in the galley a genoese slave , who desir'd to speak with the general , which being told pegelin , he was admitted , and said to him , i know this prisoner very well , he is my country-man , i have heard that he pays your excellency six thousand patacoons , but he is able to pay four times as much . pegelin reply'd , parola de mi e parola de mi ; that is , my word i● my word . this shews , that turks and infidels keep their words , to the shame of christians , who many times take occasion to break theirs . relation . xx. none so cautious but wine and women may betray . a gentleman of one of the most illustrious families of portugal , whom we shall here call dom oenophilo , had been engag'd in many duels and differences . but every one being blind in his own passion , he must needs have committed many great miscarriages ; for notwithstanding his great quality , he had been twice sentenc'd to death at lisbon , and yet by the intercession of that powerful advocate mr. mony , which sometimes interprets the laws as he pleases ; and with the assistance of his friends , d. oenophilo was twice pardon'd . in the year 1637. he was further accus'd of some murther , and to avoid the rigor of the law , he embark'd in the nigh-time with his wife to go for the indies , the common sanctuary of the portuguez malefactors . having been some days at sea , the ship was taken by the turkish pyrats ; and dom oenophilo and his wife were sold to a moor named cagarino . this new slave agreed with his patron for the ransoming of himself and his wife , conditionally that he should remain as a hostage , and that his wife should return home at liberty to send over the ransom . his wife was sent away , and he devoutly expected the mony ; and being not oblig'd to work as the other slaves were , idleness found him somewhat to do ; for he fell in love with his patroness , and not daring at first to discover his affection , he sate down in hopes of a convenient time to do it . it happen'd that he made acquaintance with two knights of malta , who were french-men , and slaves . these observing in dom oenophilo a great judgement , noble education , and an extraordinary natural eloquence , it so far heightned their friendship , that the two knights invited dom oenophilo to drink a glass of wine , and press'd him to take a greater dose of it , then he was wont to do in portugal . having his head full of wine , and his mind of love , he return'd home , and began to court his patroness . his patron coming in , and surprising him at it fell upon the gallant , and gave him two or three good cuffes o th' ear . dom oenophilo , who was no more circumspect in his slavery then he had been when he was at liberty , return'd the blows in the same coin , together with the interest . his patron incens'd upon a double account , as well for the blows he had receiv'd , as for what had pass'd between him and his wife , being mad to be reveng'd for that double affront , ran streight to the bassa's palace , and made his complaints , requiring , that , according to the turkish laws ▪ he should be burnt alive ▪ order was given to the sauses ( who are the officers of justice ) to bring the criminal before the tribunal to answer for himself . dom oenophilo being brought before the bassa , he said to him ; you are accus'd for having beaten a turk , and which is worse , your patron , and according to the laws of this country , you are either to renounce the christian religion , or to be burnt alive . dom oenophilo deny'd the fact , alledging that he had onely defended himself from the blows , and he brought in a turk for a witness , who spoke on his behalf . but the bassa would not admit of his excuses , accounting the patron 's accusation a sufficient proof . he pronounc'd the sentence without any further solemnity , that oenophilo should take his choice , either to renounce , or be burnt alive . the unfortunate man finding himself so put to it , answer'd , as a good christian , and resolute knight , that he would not renounce . whereupon the sentence was pronounc'd , that dom oenophilo should be burnt alive . all things were prepar'd , and the sauses conducted the criminal to his punishment ; but the bassa commanded the execution to be suspended till further order . the bassa minding his own concerns above all things , found a way to make his advantage of that offence , and propos'd this reason to those of his councel , who had given their voices for the sentence . if this offender , said he to them , had kill'd another slave , his patron would have been oblig'd to make satisfaction for the dead slave , or to resign the delinquent to be dispos'd of to the advantage of the deceas'd slave's patron . this offender hath beaten a turk , which is a greater crime then to have kill'd a christian ; and upon the prosecution of his own patron , we have condemn'd him to death , by which condemnation , his patron hath lost the propriety he had in him , and it is devolv'd to me , as representing the person of the grand seignor . having therefore the power to pardon such as are condemn'd , i give that slave his life , and so it is consequent that he belongs to me . this reason was approv'd by all the agas , who are of his councel . dom oenophilo is declar'd the bassa's slave by the councel of the agas . and the patron having lost the propriety of his slave , and receiv'd blowes , got also the reputation of being cuckolded by him . dom oenophilo was sent among the slaves of the bassa , having at each legge a garter of a hundred weight of iron . when i came to algiers , he liv'd in the bassa's stables , where i was intimately acquainted with him , and found him a person full of moral vertues . and in that miserable slavery , by his prudence and noble demeanour , he knew so well how to oblige all people , that he was continually visited , and his country-men supply'd him with all things necessary . when i left algiers in the year 1642. i left him in the same condition , loaden with irons , and know not what became of him since . relation xxi . a way to cure the pox at algiers without the help of either doctor or surgeon . my patron alli pegelin had among his slaves one named john motoza , who was as deeply as man could be in that which some call the neapolitane , others the french disease , insomuch that he was thought incapable of doing any service whatsoever , as a slave . the spring was coming on , and the gallies were to go out . john motoza was commanded to go aboard , where his employment was to row . this command troubled him extreamly , for he was of opinion that a good sweating●tub would agree better with his body then the hard labor of a galley , a hardship not easily imaginable by those who have not had the tryal of it . he goes to his patron , and says to him , your excellency hath given command that i should go aboard the gallies , which labor i am absolutely unable to perform , as having not the use of either arms or leggs . what ailes you , says pegelin to him ? he confidently reply'd , i have got the pox. pegelin said to him smiling , go get you aboard the galley , it will contribute more to your health , then if you did sweat in spain , or endure the other tortures necessary for the cure of your disease . there was no appeal from what was positively said by pegelin . motoza goes aboard , is chain'd by the legge as the other slaves who were to row , and with the help of a bull 's pizzle made to work as the rest . his constant commons was old and dry bisket , his drink fair water . at the end of forty days ( i was eye-witness of it ) motoza was absolutely cur'd . the reason is , that through extraordinary pains taking he had sweated extreamly , and had withall fed on dry meat . if any are troubled with the pox , and loath to venture on those chargeable yet dangerous cures now practis'd , they may make use of the aforesaid remedy , which will prove so effectual , that after tryal made of it , they may give it their probatum est . relation xxii . of a french-man who would have turn'd turk , but continu'd a christian inspight of his teeth . a french-sla●e belonging to alli pegelin had row'd several voyages in the gallies ; but not able to brook that kind of life , he desir'd pegelin's permission to renounce the christian religion , and to embrace the turkish , which pegelin would not suffer him to do , because the renegadoes are worth much less then the christians ; for being once turn'd turks , they are not oblig'd to row as the christians are . this french-man was laugh'd at by his companions , and to avoid being abus'd , as also to force his patron to permit him to renounce , he address'd himself to some renegadoes , and got a turkish habit of them ; which having put on , and shav'd himself after the turkish mode , he gave himself the name of mustapha . being so accoutred he went to a garden of his patron 's without the city . those who kept the house knew him well enough , and thought he had renounc'd his religion , with the consent of his patron . when the crafty pegelin heard that the french-man was in his garden , he went thither , where being come he call'd for john , which was the name of the french-man . john came and appear'd before pegelin , answering resolutely , my name is mustapha and not john. pegelin seeing him in that equipage , call'd four slaves , who having laid him all along on the ground , cudgell'd him so long till at last he cry'd out ; my name is john , and not mustapha ; i am a christian , and not a turk , i will put on my christian habit . thus it may be said that pegelin cudgell'd a christian into his christianity , which he would have renounc'd . relation xxiii . of the simplicity of a young jewess . after i had got out of the masmora at tituan , m. caloën , a turk who had the oversight of us , and i took a chamber in that quarter of the city where the jews inhabit . our chamber was unfurnish'd ; for , according to our manner of life , we had no need of furniture ; and when we had a desire to buy any thing , the jews accommodated us for a small piece of money . it happen'd that a young jewess having brought us something , she took occasion to fall into discourse with me in the portuguez language , which i could make a shift to understand , and i answer'd her in french , which she understood well enough . she was about sixteen or eighteen years of age , as simple as one could have wish'd a woman . i ask'd her whether she were married : she answer'd , she was not . me-thinks , said i , it should be much more troublesome to you to live without a husband , then to abstain from the eating of swins-flesh , which is so rigorously forbidden by the law of moses . whereto she made answer , now that you talk of marriage , pray tell me , is it celebrated all one in your country , the kingdom of dunkirk , as it is here ? i said it was . i would fain know , said she , whether a man may have as many wives there , as he pleases himself ? i answer'd , no , marriage is there quite contrary to what is here ; for it is lawful for one woman to have seven husbands , and all those husbands are in subjection to the wife . she ask'd me , which of the seven lay with her . i reply'd , that they took their turns , but that he who gave the woman most satisfaction had her oftenest . this discourse pleas'd the young jewess so well , that she took her leave with a sigh , saying , god's blessing light on such a country . relation xxiv . of the prudent retirement of a pyrate . in the year 1639. there was at algiers a turkish soldier , who had been engag'd in many courses at sea as a private soldier , and with much thrift having got together the sum of two hundred patacoons , he thought himself rich enough to have the command of a little vessel . he bought such a one as his stock could purchace , that is an open one , without any deck , and set up a flagg as a signal for such as would venture to sea along with him , that they should come aboard . having got together sixteen soldiers , turks and renegadoes , they began to cruze up and down towards the coast of spain , between santaluz and cadiz . some merchants of cadiz had a design to send aboard an english ship , which lay in the port of santaluz , sixty barrs of silver . to avoid discovery ( for to send silver out of the country without the king's permission was a capital crime ) the merchants had agreed with a certain person , who gave in security for the delivery of the sixty barres of silver into the english ship. according to their contract , he came in the night time to the place where the silver was , accompany'd by eighteen adventurers , arm'd with swords , little bucklers , and four muskets , arms sufficent to defend themselves against the officers of justice . they put the silver into a small bark , to be carried aboard the english ship. the little picaroon before-mention'd , perceiving it , came neer them , which the spaniards seeing , expect him , with a resolution , in case they came up close to them , to leap in with their swords drawn into the turkish vessel , and to kill all the turks . the turks began to fire , and the spaniards making but a cold return with their muskets , the turkish captain , who understood the work he had in hand very well , presently inferr'd that the christians wanted fire-armes , and so order'd that his vessel should not come neerer , but fire continually at a distance ; which they did , and after an hours engagement , wherein there were four of the adventurers kill'd , and as many wounded , the rest rendred themselves up to the turks , who took the prisoners and the silver into their vessel , leaving the spanish bark with the four dead bodies to the mercy of the sea. three days after , the bark with the four dead bodies was cast ashore neer santaluz , where i then chanc'd to be . the turkish captain being return'd to algiers , he divided the booty according to the custom , or rather the order of the bassa , to wit , the one half to him , because he had set out the vessel at his own charge , and the other to be divided among the soldiers . now after the eighth part had been deducted for the bassa , and other charges , the captain 's part was thirty bars of silver valued at thirty thousand patacoons . this good fortune got the captain many friends , insomuch that he was proffer'd the command of the best ships belonging to algiers . but he as a prudent man made them this answer ; i have endanger'd my life many times ere i could get together the sum of two hundred patacoons , which was not enough to make an end of me , but i must run my self into further hazards . now that i have enough to maintain my self as long as i live , i will enjoy my pleasure ashore , and laugh at the dangers of the sea. he married the daughter of a rich tagarin , and liv'd very happily , according to his quality . relation xxv . how god provides for such as intend well . in the year 1641. being at alli pegelin's bath , we had , among other gardians ( who are they that oversee the slaves at work ) a spanish renegado , a native of castilla la vicia , named amet. it happen'd that we were to work abroad in the country , and amet had the oversight of thirty or forty christians , and when the christians were at a little distance , so as that they could not be seen by the other guardians , he suffer'd them to work at their own discretion ; and assoon as he perceiv'd any turk in sight , he cry'd out like one enrag'd ; work , you doggs , work , or i will cudgel your bones out of your skins . yet would he not touch any one , whispering to them ; do not wonder that i keep such a stir on you , and therefore you need not over-work your selves , i do it onely that the other guardians may not think i neglect my duty . it happen'd that summer , that our patron pegelin commanded amet aboard his own galley , to have a care of the christians , and twice a day to see the irons were fast about their leggs ; as also to distribute the bisket among the slaves , and do some other services about the galley . it chanc'd , that touching at the coast of valentia in spain , at a place not much peopled , they cast anchor , and a great number of the turks went ashore , to seek for booty , and not meeting with any neer the sea-side , they made a fire and dress'd meat ashore , as they are wont to do , when the soldiers of the galley refresh themselves . in the mean time pegelin gave order that fifty christian slaves should be set ashore , fasten'd together by fives , to fetch water in little runlets from a spring about a quarter of a league thence , and that , to guard them , there should be twenty-five musketters , and amet with a cudgel in his hand , to drive the slaves . as they began to march , pegelin cry'd out of his galley to him who commanded the musketteers ; have a care of the christians , and look also to amet that he run not away , for i have no confidence of him . with that order they went streight to the spring , and having fill'd their runlets were returning towards the galley . the musketteers follow'd them , with amet , who discoursing with the souldiers , got into the rear , and talking with him who brought it up , he said to him , pray stay a little , i have occasion to ease nature . the other reply'd , uncivil fellow , do your business alone , is it fit i should stay to see it done ? and so follow'd the company . amet in the mean time makes as if he would let down his breeches , and perceiving they were got about a musket-shot from him , he turn'd his back , and made such haste away , that he got to a little castle not far thence . the turks discharg'd some of their muskets , but he was out of their reach . the rest being return'd with the water to the galley , pegelin ask'd where amet was ? hearing that he had made his escape , he was very angry with the soldiers , who excus'd themselves , saying , that the castle was so neer that he had got into it . a young lad about fourteen years of age , a renegado also , born at marseilles , named mustapha ( whom i knew very well ) waited on pegelin in the galley , as a page , hearing their discourse concerning amet , not saying a word , went ashore with the soldiers , who were busie about the dressing of their meat , and talking with them , observ'd the way which led towards the castle . he return'd into the galley , went down into the place where his cloaths were , put on a clean shirt , and his best wastcoat , and went again out of the galley , no body minding him , and finding an opportunity , follow'd amet to the castle with the like success . relation xxvi . a pleasant piece of simplicity of a dunkirker , a slave . in the year 1641. there was among us a dunkirk slave , named john bellinck , brother to cornelius bellinck , master of a merchant-man which was taken by the turkish pyrates and brought to algiers . cornelius bellinck as a resolute dunkirker , lost his life in defending his ship , and his brother john was brought a slave to algiers . he fell to the bassa's share , who employ'd him as a marriner in his ships , for it was his profession . he had also made several courses in the gallies as a rower , and in the ships as an ordinary sea-man . it happen'd that having some business with a jew , named pharette , concerning a bill of exchange , the jew ask'd me whether i knew not a dunkirk-slave named john bellinck ? whereto replying that i did , the jew said to me . pray bring me where he is , i would fain speak with him , for i have order to redeem him , and send him home to his country . i was very glad to bring this good news to bellinck , and do that service to the jew , ( for i stood in need of his drug ) and so i brought the jew to the bassa's bath , where meeting with bellinck , i said to him , bellinck , i bring you good news , this jew hath order to pay your ransom , and send you home to your country . he was so surpriz'd at those words , that he cast himself at the feet of the jew , saying to him in dutch , ah good master jew , redeem me for the death and passion-sake of jesus christ . i could not forbear laughing at that complement , which the jew observing , ask'd me the reason of it . i told him in spanish what charmes bellinck us'd to obtain his favour . the jew also laugh'd at it , and said to me , tell him in your language , that what i intend to do for him shall be upon no other account then his own . relation xxvii . the odde traverses of fortune that happen to slaves . in the discourse of my unfortunate voyage , i related , how that sailing from s. sebastians in biscay towards england , our ship with its loading , and sixteen passengers were taken by the turkish pyrates . among these sixteen , there were two young men , biscayans , one named turineo , the other john , who came aboard us with a design to go to dunkirk , to their uncle dom turineo de fustamente , pagador of the naval armado of flanders . these two young men , by our common misfortune , fell into slavery among the turks . they had never been out of their country before , and that new course of life , amidst so many inconveniences and miseries , went extreamly against the hair with them . but there being many biscayans among pegelin's slaves , and they ( as i often observ'd ) very ready to assist their country-men , john and turineo receiv'd some relief of them , and so made a shift to rub out pretty well . they had not been there long ere i observ'd , that a renegado , a biscayan , under pretence of being their country-man , came every day to the bath , to discourse with the two young men . and whereas that place is dangerous for young persons brought up in a country , where the abhominable sin of sodomy is unknown , i was afraid the renegado's kindness proceeded from some design he had to debauch them , and so gave them notice that they should take heed of him . they thank'd me for my care of them , telling me , that the renegado gave them shirts , shoos , and some mony , and that he did it onely upon the account of charity towards them , as country-men , and that he never spoke to them of renouncing their religion , nor of any debauchedness , and that they were in hopes by the assistance they receiv'd from him , to drive on some little trade as many other slaves did . which i found afterwards that they did ; for with the mony they had of the renegado , they now and then bought a bottle of brandy , which they sold by retail , and within the space of three months , they made such gains , that they were partners with others in a tavern of the bath ; so that they liv'd very well for slaves . i left them driving on the same trade in january 1642. when i return'd for christendom . i brought a letter from them to their uncle , dom turineo de fustamente , whom i acquainted in what condition i had left his nephews , and shew'd him the easiest way for their redemption . about a year after dom turineo sent to me to bruges , the place of my residence , an officer of his named juan baptista terris , to tell me , that i should do him a great kindness , if i would come over to dunkirk , to enquire among some turkish prisoners taken by the pyrates , whether there were any fit to be exchang'd for his nephews . being come to dunkirk , i went , upon d. turineo's desire , to the prison , where i found about a hundred turkish slaves , kept in a cellar , and no better treated then the christians in barbary . having call'd for the arrais , that is the captain , i ask'd him whether there were any one among his people , who would undertake , to get over two christian slaves from algiers in exchange for some of them . and after i had examin'd that captain , and other turks whom i knew , and among others an english renegado , who had been a gunner in one of the pyrates who had taken us , and finding no likelihood of making an exchange , ( for they were all poor ) i was just come to the door to be gone , when one of them said to me , what , do you not know me ? i answer'd , no , friend , i do not . whereupon the other reply'd , when i saw you last , you were a poor slave , as you see me now . why , who are you , said i ? i am , said he , that biscayan renegado , who reliev'd your companions john and turineo , my country-men . i went to give dom turineo de fustamente an account of what had past ; but dinner being on the table , let us sit down , says dom turineo , and you may tell us at dinner , what you have done with the turks . i gave him a short account of all , not omitting the story of the biscayan renegado who was in prison . dom turineo being a person of great authority at dunkirk , g●ve order that the renegado should be brought in to the room where we din'd . the biscayan was brought in , and falling on his knees he took a pair of beads out of his pocket , and then said in the spanish language ; assoon as i was taken , i endeavour'd all i could to get a psalter , that i might pray to our blessed lady , to make it known to the christians , that though i have been a renegado , yet have they never been injur'd or ill-treated by me , but that i have always reliev'd them to the utmost of my power . my misfortune in renouncing my religion is to be attributed to the cruelty of my patron , and here is a man ( pointing to me ) who can testifie how i behav'd my self towards the christian slaves . the words of the renegado were so prevalant , that madam malquarto ( who was the mistress of the house , for dom turineo tabled with her ) rose up , and gave the renegado a shirt , and a good piece of mony . the next day d. turineo had him reconcil'd to the catholick church , by a jesuit , named father carion , and afterwards got him set at liberty . they bought him sea-man's cloaths and put him into the armado , and so he escap'd rowing all his life in the spanish gallies , as his other renegado-companions were forc'd to do . this happen'd in the year 1643. and three years after , walking on the burgh , at bruges with some friends , we saw coming out at the great gate two spanish captains , marching very fiercely with their canes in their hands , upon which we were saying among our selves , those gentlemen are not a little proud of their captain-ships . coming neerer us , i knew one of them to be the fore-mentioned john , to whom i said , pray sir , is not your name don john ? whereto he answering it was ; and were you not a slave at algiers ? and did you not know there a christian slave , named james zeveren , a dunkirker , ( which was my name in barbary ? ) then he quitted his gravity and embrac'd me . i intreated him to dine with me , but he being on a hasty march , we onely took a glass of wine together . i told him the story of the renegado , which he was glad to hear ; and he told me , how he had row'd in the gallies , and suffer'd much ; but that then his friends had procur'd him the command of a company , though he had not serv'd for it , and that he was in hopes of some better fortune . the next year he was kill'd in his majesty's service . relation xxviii . a slave makes use of any thing for his livelihood . being newly come to pegelin's bath , there were four hundred slaves commanded out to work at a country house of our patron 's two italian miles out of the city , and to levell a little hill . the order was given the night before , and at sun-rising next morning , the guardians conducted us to our work . as we went along , i fell into discourse with one who had been a slave a long time , a french-man . having an empty bag hanging over his shoulders , i ask'd him what he would do with it ? he made answer , you are yet but an apprentice in the profession of slavery , and i am a crafts-master in this kind of life , and i will shew you by evident reasons , that a slave going to work in the country , is to be furnish'd with three things , a bag , a piece of bread , and a spoon . as to the bread , said i , 't will do very well , for the guardian commands you to go which way he pleases , and if the bisket be distributed in your absence , you may have nothing to eat . and as to the spoon , it does well also , for yesterday , there was a distribution of barley-broath , and for want of a spoon , i was forc'd ●o make use of my hand , ( when we are at work out of the city , there is a small allowance of galley-bisket , and barley-broath ) but as to the bag , i cannot conceive what advantage can be made of it . he made me the same answer , time and experience will teach you , that a bag is a necessary thing for a slave . we came to the country house , and having wrought till within two hours of night , we return'd to the city in small companies of ten and twelve together , for the guardians see that the slaves when they go to work , hide not themselves , and get out of the way to avoid working . as we return'd to the city , a spaniard who was with us ( one much respected among the slaves , and who might well be a graduate in the university of thieves ) said , see , there 's a poor alarbe with a flock of sheep before him , it shall go hard but i will have one of them without mony . having done his work with the help of a cord , which being put about the sheep's neck kept it from bleating ; but how , said he , shall we get in at the gate without being examin'd ? the french-man , lends the spaniard his bagg , and said to me , do you now see , dunkirker , what use may be made of a bagg ? this passage taught me , that every one is to be believ'd in his own profession . relation xxix . of the fidelity of a husband , and the unfaithfulness of his wife . in the year 1638. the gallies of algiers landed some turks on christian land , who being conducted by a treacherous renegado , a native of the country , took many christians , who were afterwards sold at algiers . among these slaves , there was a man whom we will call joseph , with his wife , named vipra , both bought by mahomet celibi oiga ; joseph's work was to dress the horses and the mules , and vipra waited on mahomet's wife . in the year 1639. mahomet celibi said one night to joseph , to morrow morning at break of day , take the mule , and go to babazon-gate , and there you will find some christian slaves with horses and mules going two leagues hence for coals , go along with them , and bring a load . the next day , joseph goes to the gate , but finding no body there , he goes forwards , thinking the other slaves had been before . having gone about an hours riding , all along the sea-side , he sees a bark , goes as neer it as he could , to discover the men , and perceives they were christians ; whereupon he turns the mule loose , and runs to the bark . the marriners receiv'd him , and told him they came from majorca , with order to carry away some slaves of that country , and whereas the slaves came not , those of the bark were afraid they had not receiv'd the letter , whereby notice was sent them , and that themselves might be discover'd , in regard it was day . they proffer'd joseph a hundred patacoons , and promis'd to carry him along with them , if he would return to the city , and give notice to those slaves of majorca . but joseph would not leave a certainty for an uncertainty , and said , i am now confident of my liberty , whereas if i return to the city , it may be your design will be discover'd , and i shall be made more a slave then ever , and if it ever come to be known , that i have had any hand in the business , three hundred blows with a cudgel will hardly excuse me . joseph had hardly made an end of excusing himself , ere some turks pass'd by that way , who seeing that those of the bark were habited after the christian mode , ( wherein i conceive those undertakers had mistaken themselves , that they had not been habited like africans ) began to raise an alarm . those of the bark fearing they might be surpriz'd by some brigantine , made all the hast they could to sea , having joseph along with them . the bark soon got out of sight , and the alarm ceas'd . the christian slaves whom joseph thought to be before him , were but come thither when the alarm ceas'd , so that finding the mule , they said among themselves , this is mahomet celibi's mule , let us take her home with us ; his slave hath either been kill'd or taken by the alarbes . the mule was brought home , and joseph given over for a dead man by his patron , and lamented by his wife vipra . but in a short time , her sorrow ceas'd , for she fell in love with a renegado , named assan , who had been a slave of the same patron mahomet's . in the mean time , joseph got to majorca , and thence to his own country , where he related at lea●sure , what had happen'd to him , as well during th● time of his slavery , as at his deliverance , yet wit● extraordinary discoveries of the trouble he was in f●● the absence of his beloved vipra . joseph sold al● he had , and , with the relief of some good people , he got together the sum of five hundred patacoons . five months were now pass'd away since joseph was numbred among the dead ; at the end of which term mahomet oiga receiv'd a letter , to this effect . sir , by the great mercy of god , i recover'd my liberty the day you sent me for coals , by means of a bark of majorca . i cannot imagine you will charge me with any unfaithfulness for doing what i have done , for every man endeavors the retrival of his liberty . while i was your slave , you demanded of me five hundred patacoons for the ransom of my wife and my self , i send herewith order for the payment of the said sum , accounting my self still a slave , as long as my wife shall continue without her liberty . i have such a confidence of your kindness , that i presume this proffer will not be unacceptable to you . this letter was shewn to vipra , who was not well pleased at it , for the affection she bore the renegado assan had smother'd all the conjugal love she should have had for her husband ; so that she said publickly that she would not return into her country . that resolution of hers troubled the good man mahomet celibi , for he would rather have receiv'd the five hundred patacoons , and set vipra at liberty . but his wife told him , vipra is desirous to embrace the mahumetane religion , and will you for five hundred patacoons hinder a work so acceptable to our prophet ? besides , all the neighbourhood knows her design , and if you send her away , you will be look'd upon as a favourer of the christians . upon these representations of his wife , he thought fit to leave the business in suspence . about that time i came to be slave to the same patron mahomet , and having heard the story of vipra and her husband , i stood one day at the door with her , who said to me , why are you so melancholy ? i answer'd , because i am not so happy as you are . she ask'd me why ? i reply'd , because you may be set at liberty when you please , for i hear your husband hath sent five hundred patacoons for your ransom , and i wonder to find you so unwilling to return into your country , to your husband who is so kind , and so faithful to you , as also to exercise the catholick religion among your friends and relations . she roundly made answer , a turkish garment will become me as well as a spanish petticoat . and with those words she left me and went into the house ; whence it might easily be inferr'd , that the love she had for her gallant , was greater then what she had for her religion , country , husband , and relations . relation xxx . a scuffle between the spanish and portuguez slaves . in one of my former relations i made mention of a christian church at algiers , which is in the bath of the duana , and that some portuguez slaves had the keeping of the altar in it . aug. 15. 1641. being the feast of the assumption of our blessed lady , the altar was richly dress'd , and among other ornaments , there was upon the altar the armes of portugal , with these words , exaltat humiles , & deponit superbos . service being ended , and most of the christians gone out , two spanish slaves came into the church , either to pray , or out of curiosity , to see the ornaments , and coming up to the altar , one of them , who understood two or three words of latine begin to read what was written on the arms of portugal , and said to his companion , who ask'd him what it meant ; this signifies , god exalts the humble and pulls down the proud ; this is spoken in contempt of our the spanish nation , for that year the kingdom of portugal had revolted . whereupon , without any more ado , one of the spaniards tears the armes with the inscription , and cast the pieces all about the place . this was no sooner perceiv'd by a portuguez slave , but the spaniard had three or four good blows over the face ere he could get to the church-door . the spaniards defending themselves made a shift to get out of the church , through a certain part of the bath , and though the place was full of portuguezes , yet having made their way into the street , all that were thereabouts at first made a ring about the combatants . afterwards , those who were affected to the king of spain ▪ reliev'd the spaniards ; yet wanted there not great numbers of portuguezes , who came in to the assistance of their country-men ; so that in less then half an hours time they seem'd to be two armies of christian slaves engag'd , but having no other weapons , then their fists , some stones , and staves . the turks seeing this tumult of the slaves , enquir'd what the reason of it might be ; which having understood , they said to the slaves , you despicable crue of dogs and savages , in the first place get your liberty , and you may afterwards at leasure dispute the differences of your kings , in the field , and not here . whereupon , with ropes-ends , bulls-pizzles , and cudgels , they parted the combatants , and sent them every one to his quarters . relation xxxi . a slave ought to be distrustful of the great kindness of his patron . in the year 1641. the duke of braganza coming to be king of portugal , sent envoys to all the governors of islands and garrizons to draw them to his party , before the king of spain had taken order for the contrary . among other envoys , there was one a religious man , who ere he was got far from lisborn , was taken by the turkish pyrates , and brought to algiers . i happen'd to be at the water-side , and the good father coming ashore i saluted him in latine , telling him i was troubled at his misfortune , and that he was the first religious man of his order that i had seen in that country . he gravely answer'd without looking on me , pray god i may be the last . two days after , he was sold in the market with some other slaves . my master alli pegelin bought him at twelve thousand patacoons , and from the market-place , before he came to the bath , ( the ordinary quarters of the slaves ) he went to his new patron 's , to make him a proffer of his service . alli pegelin , who was extreamly subtle in discovering the humors and quality of his slaves , that he might make his advantage thereof when they came to treat about their ransome , entertain'd the religious man very kindly , and said to him , being bare-headed , be cover'd i pray , i see you are a considerable person , and will not be able to brook the miseries of the sea. 't is very true , replies the fryar , and the soldiers have taken away all i had . whereto pegelin made answer , those soldiers were ill-bred raskals , not to have a respect for persons of your worth , and if you want cloaths , or linnen , or mony , i will order you what shall be requisite . the religious man answer'd , that he stood in need of all those things . whereupon pegelin gave order to a jew who stood by , to deliver him so much cloath as would serve him , six shirts , and fifteen patacoons , and so sent the religious man to the bath where we were . that night the father came and walk'd upon the terrace of the bath ; some of us ask'd him what news from christendom , and what he thought of our common patron alli pegelin . he told us that our patron was a very courteous and reasonable man. he would needs have me to be cover'd , said he , and hath comforted me very much , and what is more , hath given me shirts , cloath , and mony . believe me , there are not many princes in christendom , who would shew so much kindness to a slave , and not know him . we made answer , assure your self , these kindnesses and respects will cost you very dear one time or other . but he laugh'd at us . he said mass every day in the church of our bath , and all the portuguez came to hear it , and that ended , they conducted the religious man to the door of the bath , he coming last of all ; and then with many baiso las manos , every one went his ways . this life was well enough for a slave ; but after he had continu'd there some years , pegelin demanding twelve thousand patacoons for his ransome , he was so astonish'd thereat , that he fell into a grief , and dy'd within a few days after . he was a very vertuous man , as i shall have occasion to shew in another relation . the excessive kindness of alli pegelin occasion'd his miscarriage . relation xxxii . of a religious man , a slave at algiers , who out of weakness renounc'd the christian religion , and afterwards repenting suffer'd martyrdom . father joseph , a dominican frier , having liv'd some years in the west-indies , and returning to his country ( valentia in spain ) was taken by the pyrates of algiers , where being sold , his patron told him , that if he would pay a good ransom , he would set him at liberty . father joseph , being a person of a cheerful humor , and a pleasing disposition , ( as shall be seen anon ) made answer that he would , conditionally that he should be kindly treated , fare well , ly on a matress , and not work ; upon which terms he would pay six thousand ducats for his ransom . the patron , thinking he had the 6000. ducats already in his chest , treated father joseph according to the agreement . having thus far'd well , and had all things requisite for the space of a year , the patron seeing there was no likelihood of receiving the ransom-mony , commanded another slave of his , a spaniard , to bestow a hundred blows with a cudgel ( an ordinary punishment in barbary ) on the soles of father joseph's feet . the poor man was fasten'd in an instrument fit for that purpose , which in the turkish language is call'd falaca . father joseph seeing the spaniard coming towards him , said to him , have a care christian , consider what you do ; you know that i am a priest , and if you touch me , you will be excommunicated . whereupon the honest spaniard said to his patron , i am a christian , and your slave , beat me as much as you please , i will not be excommunicated . the patron call'd out another of his slaves , a portuguez , who was glad to execute such a commission upon a spaniard , laughing at the excommunication . when father joseph had recover'd of those blows , and came abroad into the streets , some other slaves his friends taking occasion to bewail his misfortune , he would say to them laughing , is there any one among you who would not endure a hundred bangs with a cudgel , to fare well a whole year , and to deceive a dogg of a turk ? his patron despairing of his ransome , sold him very much to his loss ; for he was look'd upon as a cheat . his new patron sent him to quarter at the bath of the duana , where there is one of the four christian churches which are at algiers . most of the priests live at the baths where the christian churches are , and are maintain'd by the alms they receive from the slaves . and so paying their patron 's ordinarily three patacoons a month , they are exempted from working . in the year 1640. i found him in that bath of the duana ; but most of the slaves there being portuguezes , there always happen'd some difference between them and father joseph , who was a spaniard ; insomuch that his patron was forc'd to permit him to come and live at alli pegelin's bath , where i came to be intimately acquainted with him . every sunday , when i was exempted from working , i heard his sermons , which were full of learning and eloquence . he was a lover of good cheer , and had a great veneration for the patriarch noah , for his excellent invention of planting the vine . one day we took him to the tavern , where , for want of wine-glasses , we made use of a church-lamp , which was of glass , and father joseph thinking the wine so much the better out of that , took off three lamps of it , each containing a quart or better , and so loaden , went his way very much our friend . shortly after i was set at liberty , and father joseph continu'd there till the year 1645. so that seeing no likelihood of recovering his liberty , or haply drawn in by the licentious life allow'd by the alcoran , he forgot himself so far as to renounce the christian faith , turning a mahumetane , with extraordinary acclamations of the moors and turks , who set him on horse-back with a dart in his hand , and so conducted him through all the streets of the city , as it were in triumph . and abusing the christians , they said to them as he went along , behold your great papas , ( so the turks call the christian priests ) whom you esteem'd so highly . this accident extreamly troubled the christians , both catholicks and protestants . it happen'd through god's permission , that at that time there were at algiers two fathers , one a jesuit , the other a discalceate carmelite , a genoese named frater angeli , a man of exemplary vertue . these two fathers were extreamly troubled at the miscarriage of father joseph , as also for the scandal which the christians had receiv'd thereby , and resolv'd to remonstrate unto him , how highly he had scandaliz'd so many christian slaves , who had endur'd a thousand times more misery then he had , and yet persever'd with so much constancy and patience in the christian faith. by these and the like remonstrances , father joseph ( who was now called isouf ) was so stirr'd , that he promis'd the two fathers that he would forsake the pernicious mahumetane religion , and be reconcil'd to the holy church , and to that end he desir'd to make his confession , and to receive the blessed sacrament of the altar . which he did the same night very secretly , for if the turks had known that those two fathers had concern'd themselves in the conversion of a renegado , they would hardly have escap'd being burnt alive . the next day isouf appears in the streets , cloath'd as a christian , whereat the whole city was astonish'd . he was taken , and carried before the duana , that is , the tribunal . they ask'd him why he had chang'd the habit of his religion ? he resolutely answer'd that he was a christian , a priest , and of a religious order , and that he would dye a christian . and as to what had pass'd , that he had done it by the suggestion of the devil . upon this answer , the judges thought fit to order him to be cudgell'd on the soles of the feet , to drive those scruples out of his mind . that sentence was executed , but to no purpose , for he presever'd , and said he would dye a christian . they threatned him with death , and seeing at last , that all their menaces prevail'd nought upon him , they condemn'd him to be burnt alive with a gentle fire . the sauses ( the officers of justice ) let him out of the baboloet-gate , and got an anchor , and having set it with the teeth into the ground , ty'd father joseph to it . he made the best advantage he could of the short remainder of his life ; for he begg'd pardon of god , and the christians , who were present in great numbers , exhorting them to continue constant in the christian faith. in the mean time wood was brought , which was set at five foot distance all about him . being set on fire , the flame augmented the courage of that holy martyr , who louder and louder begg'd forgiveness of god for the scandal he had given to the christians , exhorting them to perseverance in the christian religion . at last , smother'd by the smoke , he fell down , leaving to all the christian slaves an example of a true religious man , and a most penitent christian . relation xxxiii . of the design we had to render our selves masters of the ship which brought us to tituan . in the discourse of my voyage , i mention'd how twenty four christians of us had resolv'd to master the turkish ship , wherein we had twice embark'd for tituan , and by reason of contrary winds were twice forc'd back to algiers . being at sea in the said ship , we had observ'd the master understood not his charge very well , and that the guard he set for the securing of us , was not sufficient , nor well dispos'd , and that the least part of the turks belonging to the ship were soldiers , and the greatest merchants , and these so curious about their armes , that all their muskets and cuttelasses were pack'd up in baggs of cloath , and well corded , that the air might not hurt them . we had also observ'd , that there was a box full of half-pikes in the pilot's cabin , at the stern , where the master and his mate lay . being ashore the second time , the chief actor in the enterprise propos'd to us one after another , how , at our next embarking , we might destroy those turks , become masters of the ship , and , with our liberty , get very great wealth ; for there were among us twenty four jews , most of them lapidaries ; which double hope much augmented our courage . the principal undertaker we shall here call bottemond . m. caloën and i needed not to have run our selves into any danger , as being already assur'd of our liberty , and engaging our selves in that business , we might be kill'd , or at least receive a hundred blows with a cord on the belly , if it had been discover'd ; yet to procure the liberty of the other slaves our friends , we promis'd to run the same hazard with them . going aboard the third time , the undertaker hid a dagger , two great turkish knives , and two pound of powder in a bag of bisket , which was carried to the prow , where the christians lay , for the bisket was for them . the wind having brought us in a few hours , a good distance from the coast of algiers , we began to consult , how , and when our enterprise should be put in execution , and every one gave his advice . the result was , that we who lay at the prow , should have the two knives and the dagger , and that we should make use of a cramp-iron , and twelve shovels , wherewith they took in and cast out the ballast . the other eight christian slaves lay on the deck , for day and night , they were to have a care of the sails ; for the turks have christian slaves for their sea-men ; those had for their arms each of them two great bullets of six pound weight , wherewith they undertook to kill the master and his mate , in their cabin , and to cast down the half-pikes before-mentioned . at the same time the twelve others were to kill three or four turks who kept a guard at the stern , and to enter into the room where the rest of the turks lay with their arms engag'd , as i said , and to dispatch them . and that the four turks who guarded at the stern might not observe when the sixteen christians who lay in the prow , came out , the eight christians who lay on the deck , came four or five nights one after another , to take tobacco before the hatch , under which we were , that at the hour of the enterprize they might be all together on the deck , without any notice taken by the guard . and in case the turks at the stern should make too great resistance , the order was , that we should retreat to the prow , where we were to leave four of our companions , who were gunners , and they should have turn'd two guns from the prow towards the poop , charging them with a little bag like a cartridge , full of small stones ; those two guns , which were ready , being enough to clear the stern of the turks , and send them into the other world . as for the jews , there was no fear of them , for they lay all below in the hold , whence they could not get out but one by one , so that one christian with an iron-bar was enough to secure them all . the day appointed was the last of january , an hour before day . we were at the prow all night , with hope , fear , and silence , expecting the signal , which was three knocks with the hand on the hatch , which we with the assistance of our companions above could make a shift to open . we had also an hour-glass , that when the time were come every one should be ready ; but there was no signal given , and after sun-rising , the hatch being opened by the master's order , the undertaker came into our room , and made this excuse , that the turks had kept too strong a watch that night ; but i think , he should rather have said , that his heart had fail'd him in the prosecution of his enterprise . relation xxxiv . curiosity is satisfy'd by time and patience . in the year 1639. being bound from england to st. lucars in spain , and having been thirteen days at sea , and not seen land , our master took the height of the sun with his astrolabe , and found that we were at the altitude of portugal , and that before night we should see two islands called las illas berlingas . coming accordingly neer the said islands , we perceiv'd two ships crusing up and down . our master , named vincent arris , a man of great experience in sea-affairs , imagin'd that the two ships were turkish pyrats , whereupon he commanded the guns to be unloaden , and , instead of bullets , to be charg'd with bars of irons , saying , that if those two ships had any design to engage us , they would come on in the night , and that being neer , the bars would do them more mischief then the bullets . night came on , and the two ships were out of sight . we passengers were afraid , we should be forc'd to engage in the night ; but the master said he was not of that opinion ; whereupon we took each of us a draught of sack , and with that went to bed . the master set the accustomed watch , but sailing with a forewind , the sentinel at the prow could not see before him . it happen'd that e're we had slept much above an hour , a boy who was with the watch on the prow perceiv'd two ships , and began to cry out alarm . those two ships were then got so neer , that no body durst stay on the deck , to put the long boat over-board ; for when the boat is on the deck , the ship cannot without inconvenience be so well defended , nor the enemy be kept from boarding . all the seamen , who were about sixty in number , were presently in a posture of fighting , every man in his station , and three at every gun. the master commanded all the port-holes to be shut , the lights to be kept close , and that all should be silent . he further order'd the gunners on one side of the ship , that when he stamp'd thrice with his foot , they should take it for a signal , to open the port-holes , put out the guns , and give fire . he had also order'd eight trumpetters to sound with the discharging of the guns . in the mean time , the two pyrates were got so neer , that there wanted onely their coming aboard our ship with their swords drawn . whereupon the master gave the signal , and his orders were so punctually observ'd , that in a moment , the port-holes were opened , and the guns fir'd . at the same time the trumpets began to sound , and silence was converted into noise , and the two ships being very neer us , we clearly heard the iron-bars shot out of our pieces , making their way through their ships , and the crys of those who were in them . after discharging , the guns were drawn in , and the trumpets continu'd the alarm . this dreadful din made in the ●ight-time , might well put the most confident among us into a little fright . the two ships having found , and what is more , felt , notwithstanding the silence , that we were not asleep , pass'd by without making any return . our master perceiving it , came on the deck , caus'd the boat to be put over-board , furl'd up the main-sail , and uncover'd the hatches . which last was indeed the most necessary ; for all the windows being shut , and the hatches of the deck cover'd , the smoak of the powder caus'd a thick obscurity . all things being put into a posture of defence , the master doubled the watches , and gave order that every one should be ready against the break of day . the next morning before sun-rising we discover'd the two ships which came straight towards ours . the master commanded all his people to come upon the deck , encouraging them in few words , shewing the colours of the two ships , which were turks , and telling them that the onely way to avoid slavery was to fight valiantly . that done , he order'd some prayers to be said , according to their way , and we passengers , who were catholicks , pray'd in ours . every man had two glasses of wine , and the main sail was furl'd up , as a signal , that we had no mind to run away . the targuet-fences were hung all about the ship , and the red flag set up at the stern . in this posture we expected about an hour ; but the two pyrates observing the bulk of our ship , so many people on the deck , and those resolv'd to fight , durst not come too neer us . which our master perceiving , order'd a gun to be discharg'd as it were to defie them , and finding they had no stomach to the business , we prosecuted our voyage . i was extreamly desirous to know what had pass'd in the two turkish ships after we had fir'd upon them , in regard the men in them had cry'd out extreamly ; and having seen the turkish flaggs i would have known from what port in barbary they came , and what number of men and guns they had , and the reason was , that being so neer our ships , and seeing none on the deck to defend it , they had not cast out the cramp-irons , and made some return to our shot . in the year 1641. while i liv'd with cataborn mustapha , ( as i have related elsewhere ) i often'd discoursed with some other christian slaves of several nations , who were also lodg'd in the same fonduca . one night they were talking of accidents at sea , and telling how that many times , through the conduct of the commander , a ship might escape great dangers , and that when there is any dissention between the captain , his officers , and soldiers , they never do any thing to purpose , especially in pyrates . whereupon a french-slave related how that some two years before being with a pyrate of algiers on the coast of portugal , one night , two pyrateers thought to set on an english ship , and that by reason of some difference that happen'd between the captain and his offiers , the english-man was not engag'd as they had intended . i told him that i was then aboard the english-ship , and desir'd him to tell me how it came to pass that being so neer us as they were , when we discharg'd our guns , they did not board us , and why they did not so much as fire a gun at us ? he made this answer , they thought they had not been perceiv'd , and it happening that the greater of the two ships , in which i was , ere there had been any noise heard , receiv'd of a sudden same iron-bars through her sides , and with that we heard so many trumpets , there was such an astonishment , fear , and confusion among them , that the officers and soldiers told the captain plainly , they would not fight but by day . and the next morning when the turks saw the bigness of your ship , and observ'd the courage of your commander , they had no maw to fight . i understood after a strange manner what i was so desirous to know ; and it had been better for me i had never known it that way i came to know it . relation . xxxv . the innocent accus'd . my companion m. caloën's old patroness had two grand-children , of a daughter , one named mustapha , one of the five turks often mention'd before , the other amet , who for the most part liv'd at a country-house three leagues from algiers . this grand-mother was a peevish old woman , who could not endure m. caloën in her house , and to rid her self handsomely of him , she sent him to her grand-son amet , to the country-house , and i liv'd with my patron mahomet celibi oiga . during m. caloën's absence , i had treated with a jew , who was to furnish us with seventy five patacoons , conditionally that the knight philip de cherf , m. caloën and i should give him a bill of exchange , as if we had receiv'd a hundred . the knight and i had sign'd the bill , but the jew would have m. caloën to sign also , and the ship it was to be sent with , was ready to set sail ; and besides , within two days after the easter of the jews was to be celebrated , during which feast they do not tell out any mony . to send the bill to m. caloën to be sign'd we thought it not fit ; for if it had been known that we had any credit , it would have prejudic'd us much , and retarded our liberty . to conceal my design , i went to the old patroness , and desir'd her to order her slave m. caloën to be in town the next day by noon , to write to his friends , for the ship was ready to set sail . she conceiving that letter might advance the liberty of her grand-son mustapha , who was in flanders , one of those who were to be exchang'd for us , sent one express to amet to bid him send away the slave the next day to the city . amet had also a french-slave at the same country-house , who look'd to the vines and tobacco he had planted there . now whereas the meaner sort of the inhabitants thereabouts is naturally addicted to thieving , they came in the night-time and stole the grapes and tobacco . to prevent those robberies , amet having an old rusty sword gave it to m. caloën to be made clean at algiers , and brought back again to the country-house , that the french-slave might have it to keep away the thieves . m. caloën brought the sword along with him to the city , and just as he was coming into algiers , there was a discovery made of an enterprise of some dutch-slaves , who had buried certain arms , a sail , and some oars , out of a design to seize a bark , and make their escape . the enterprise being discover'd , those who were taken , were condemn'd to have each of them two hundred blows with a cudgel . the execution of that sentence divulg'd the enterprise among the people , so that m. caloën's patroness hearing that the persons engag'd in it were dutch-slaves , who are accounted to be of the same country with the dunkirke●s , and that the enterprise was discover'd about the time of m. caloën's coming into the city , and that upon my intreaty , she maliciously inferr'd that we were of it . she went and accus'd us , and grounded her accusation on his coming with the sword ; whereupon , without hearing what we had to say for our selves , we had fourscore weight of iron fasten'd to our leggs . and if her grand-son mustapha had not been at the disposal of our friends in flanders , we had been serv'd the same sauce with the others , who were cudgell'd , notwithstanding our innocence . relation xxxvi . fidelity , constancy , recompence and gratitude . in the year 1640. the turkish pyrates took in a ship some dutch-men-slaves , among whom there was a captain who had a lacquey , whom we shall here call morin . the dutch-men , before they fell into the hands of the turks , used all the perswasions they could to induce morin not to tell who they were , promising that if he kept their councel in that particular , they would redeem him . the new slaves were brought to algiers and sold , and so master and servant were equal as to quality , respect , and riches . and whereas avarice is the soul of a turk , while they were at sea , the captain of the ship had order'd morin to receive fifty blows with a cudgel on the belly , to make him confess the name and quality of his master , and his companions . morin had made answer that he knew not the name of his master , not yet of the others , and that he never heard his master and his companions use any other appellation one towards the other , then that of sir. this constancy of the young lad pleas'd his master very much , as also the others who had been taken in the ship , among whom there was one , whom we shall here call tiberius , descended of wealthy friends , who said to morin , continue faithful and constant , and assoon as i shall recover my liberty , i will redeem thee . soon after , tiberius got his liberty , with one of his companions , and being return'd into his country , he acquainted his friends with the constancy and fidelity of morin ; which they considering declar'd tiberius's promise to redeem him , obligatory ; so that they gave order to some merchants of legorn for his redemption , and that he should be sent away with the first ships bound for england or holland . morin was redeem'd by the jews , and deliver'd into the hands of those merchants , who according to their order , would have sent him away , in a dutch-ship ; but morin absolutely refus'd to go , saying he would rather dye on christian land , then run the hazard of being made a slave again by the turks . whereupon the merchants put him into the company of some dutch-men ▪ who had been redeem'd at legorn , and intended to return home by land. morin being come into the low-countries met with one of tiberius's companions named carel , who had much promoted his redemption , and though it were in the street fell down and kiss'd his feet . carel was asham'd ( for the people began to flock about him ) to see those ceremonies , and bid him rise , and he would bring him to tiberius's house . assoon as he came in sight of tiberius , the faithful , the grateful , and harmeless youth took out of his pocket , six aspers , turkish money , and the steel of a tinder-box , and made him this complement , sir , you have redeem'd me , in requital whereof i give you all i have in the world , and shall pray for you as long as i live . this complement proceeded from so great sincerity , that all present , of whom i was one , were extreamly satisfy'd at the fidelity and gratitude of morin ; whereby tiberius conceiving himself oblig'd afresh , bestow'd cloaths and linnen on him , and put him into a condition fit to wait on some person of quality . relation xxxvii . a wrack in the haven . being at the bassa's palace , i was acquainted there with a spanish slave named john de silva , who had serv'd the king of spain some years as a soldier in the city of oran , in africk , five days journey from algiers , the citizens of which place speak the moorish language , in regard it was recover'd from the moors , in the time of king ferdinand , as also by reason of the great commerce there is to this day between it and the moors ▪ this de silva spoke the moorish-language perfectly well . having been a long time a slave at algiers , without any hope of redemption , he resolv'd to make an escape , encourag'd thereto by his perfect speaking of the language . to compass his design , he put on his patron 's cloaths , and so was in the turkish mode , got on horse-back with a lance in his hand , a turbant on his head , and a cimitar by his side . thus accoutred he began his journey very fortunately . having travell'd four days , he came to a village of mostaga , just at noon , and it being the custom of all the mosqueyes of barbary to give at noon the signal , to put the people in mind of praising god , with the ordinary prayer , called in their language sala , which is done with many gestures , and strange postures of the face , and several motions of the arms and hands , kneeling and looking towards the east and west . de silva , to take away all suspicion from the moors , alighted , and fell a making of gestures as they did , and pretended to be a mahumetane . but the moors soon observ'd that our cavalier was not perfect in his ceremonies , and not regarding that he spoke their language , and was in turkish habit , they stopp'd him , took away his cloaths , and finding he was no mahumetane , sent him bound , with a guard , to algiers , where he receiv'd three hundred blows with a cudgel , just when he thought to have enjoy'd his liberty . so that he may well be said to have been cast away in the very haven . relation xxxviii . the adventures of philip de cherf of ulamertingue , knight of the order of saint james . though the hardships and misfortunes which slaves are to endure , be common to all reduc'd to that miserable condition , yet some have a greater portion thereof then others . among the former may be numbred the knight de cherf , whom i have mention'd in the discourse of my captivity , as will be seen by the ensuing relation . after we fell into the hands of the turks , the pyrate-ships , which brought us to slavery , cast anchor before the city of algiers , discharging their guns to give notice of their arrival . the news of the rich prize was presently spread abroad , as well among the turks of the garrison , as the people ; and as it commonly happens , that news encreases by going from mouth to mouth , so it was reported , that , besides thirty thousand patacoons , which were found in the prizes , there was among the slaves a lord of great quality , meaning the fore-said knight . some said he was a general ; others , an ambassadour , and all imagin'd that the rest were his servants , which was no small happiness for us , and that the money which they gave out was found , belong'd to him . this news was partly forg'd by the pyrates themselves , as they are wont to invent new stratagems to enhance the price of slaves newly brought in , loading them with titles and wealth , to draw in the buyers to make greater proffers , in hopes of a better ransom . the bassa hearing this news took the knight for his proportion , which is of eight one , at his own choice , as i have said elsewhere . the knight was conducted to a stable of the bassa's , where he found other slaves , and among those some spanish captains and officers , whom he durst not frequent , nor so much as speak to in the day time , least there should be notice taken of his demeanour among those officers-slaves , with whom he would not be familiar , to take off the suspicion of his being a person of high quality , which had been augmented by the least conversation , accompany'd by mutual expressions of respect , the consequences of acquaintance . and to beat it out of the bassa's head , that he was neither general , nor ambassador , he kept seven or eight days all alone , and had nought to eat but a crust of dry bread ; which being observ'd by the bassa's cook , he order'd him the remainder of some rice , which is the ordinary food of the turks : nay , finding him so submissive and serviceable , he suffer'd him to creep into the kitchin , to help the skullions , in bringing in wood , coals , turning the spit , and the like offices , which he could not do , but onely with his right arm , having lost the use of the left by a musket-shot he had receiv'd in his catholick majesty's service in the year 1639. at the siege of salses . in requital of the good services which the knight did in the kitchin , the cook suffer'd him to eat with the skullions , who were moors , and took it ill that a christian should put his fingers into the same dish with them . no doubt the knight thought himself at an entertainment in hell with the pages of lucifer , whose livery and meen those boys had , being about fifteen or sixteen years of age , having their cloaths all black with grease and nastiness , and so suiting excellently well with their dark hue . and yet the knight endeavor'd all he could to put himself into the same posture , that he might be thought the fitter for that company and employment . three months pass'd away in that miserable course of life , whereof the knight made this advantage , that he made the bassa quit the opinion he had of his being a general or ambassador , and consequently the hope of getting much mony out of him ; which put him upon a resolution to sell his slave , as he did , to the general of the gallies alli pegelin . he acted his part well enough so far ; but the new master , who had observ'd what was reported concerning his slave , began to be very round with him , asking him in the language commonly spoken between the turks and the slaves , who he was , and of what country ? the knight being oblig'd to make answer , said he was a poor youth , born at ostend , the son of a mean irish-officer , giving himself out to be of that nation , as well because he had the looks of one of it , as for that the said nation is little known and not much esteem'd at algiers , those of it yeilding but ordinary ransomes . the knight was in hopes by this invention to come off the easier , when he came to treat about his ransom : but alli pegelin , who was a person not so easily over-reach'd , having heard his answer , said jeeringly to him , a man may indeed see by your looks that your father was a cobler ; you have acted your part very well in the bassa's kitchin , but i shall make my advantage of it . i know you are an ambassador , and one of the king of spain's generals , and what is more , that you are a knight . this last title he gave him , to make the matter worse then it was , inasmuch as the turks know , that the knights of the military orders in spain , have commanderies and pensions conditionally to wage war against the turks and moors . afterwards , the general sending away his slave , said to him , go , go , write home , that they may sell your lands , and send me patacoons , and you shall return to your country . this first proposal of his new master , was very unacceptable to the knight , as being again oblig'd to strive against a false and chimerical opinion , which was enough to defeat him of all hopes of ever breathing the air of his native soil . the general had a house at a little distance from his own , wherein , during the time of my being there , he lodg'd five hundred and fifty slaves , which place was called banno , or the bath , and it might well be taken for a representation of babylon , or an epitome of hell. the different nations , the confusion of languages , the miseries and inconveniences endur'd , and all the several kinds of crimes that are committed there , would force the lewdest person in the world to pass that judgement of it . to this place was our knight-slave brought , where he was receiv'd by m. caloën , saldens , and my self , having onely this to congratulate , that we were all together ; and whereas the knight was lame of one arm , and so was not oblig'd to go to work out of the bath , we made him our caterer , to provide our meat for us , and to dress it , which employment he continu'd in , to our great convenience , for the space of six months , at the end whereof , the general thinking he might have receiv'd an answer from his country , sent for him to come to some agreement about his ransom . the knight proffer'd five hundred patacoons , whereat the general being incens'd , as looking on the proffer extreamly below what he expected , order'd the knight to have a chain of sixty pound weight fasten'd to his legge , to induce him to come somewhat neer the sum of thirty thousand patacoons , at which he had set the knight's ransom . nine months together he had the chain at his legge , and for the space of fifteen days was forc'd to dragg it after him to some place neer the sea-side , to work , where he was to help some sawyers of marble , which the general had brought away with his gallies from the city of bona , anciently called hippona , seated on the mediterranean , and sufficiently known by this , that it had been the metropolis of africk in saint austin's time , where those stones had serv'd for the tombs of christians . the knight's work was to mingle the sand and water to be us'd in the sawing of the marble . while he was at his work , the general would come sometimes to see what he did , proffering to send him to legorn with a vessel then ready to set sail , if he would agree with him at thrity thousand patacoons , which he had demanded of him for his ransome . whereto the knight made answer that he had no mony . the general having made such proffers several times to him , without prevailing any thing with him , was so vex'd , that he said to him in lingua-franca , la cane ty far garziva , ty tener fantasia , à fè de dio my congar bueno por ti . that is , go you dog , you think your self cunning , and shew your self humour some , but by the faith of god i will take another course with you . the general alli pegelin was then accompany'd by some jews , who in all likelihood had a share in that slave , yet conceal'd their interest under the name of alli pegelin , as they are wont , that they may not offend against the prohibitions made them to buy christian slaves . this suspition was afterwards confirm'd , in that the knight was some time after sent for to the general 's house , at the request of those very jews , where pegelin , accompany'd by them and some captains of his gallies , ask'd him once more whether he would promise thirty thousand patacoons for his liberty ? to which demand the knight making answer that he had nothing to say , the general immediately reply'd , pila baso cane , porta falaca . which is commonly said , when they would punish any one , and signifies , ly down on the ground , you dog , and bring hither the falaca , which is a piece of wood about four or five foot in length , having a hole in the middle , through which by a small cord the feet are fasten'd to it . the patient lies down on his back , having the soles of his feet rais'd up towards the sky ; two men hold up both ends of the piece of wood , two others hold down his arms , to prevent all agitations of his body , and a fifth begins the exercise , laying on the foals of his feet as hard as he can , with a bulls-pizzle four or five foot long , round at the end by which he holds it , but widening by degrees towards the other end where it is neer half a foot in breadth . instead of a pizzle , the sometimes make use of a ropes-end . the falaca was presently brought , and the knight receiv'd two hundred blows in the posture you see represented in the figure . in the midst of that cruel punishment , the general commanded the executioner to hold his hand , and ask'd the knight , whether he had any desire to change his religion , and to embrace the mahumetane , which if he would , he promis'd to make him captain of a galley , to go out against the christians . whereto the knight reply'd , that he was not as yet resolv'd to do so , and that he would rather dye a christian , but that he would pay a thousand patacoons for his ransome . upon that answer , the general commanded the executioner to give him a hundred blows more ; which was done . this proposal of alli pegelin's , would make some believe that he was a person who endeavour'd the propogation of his religion ; but those who are acquainted with the avarice of the turks , will easily comprehend , that alli pegelin had no design to advance mahumetisme , but onely made his advantage of that pretence , to get more mony out of the soles of the knight's feet . those blows being given , the knight was taken off the instrument , with his feet all black by reason of the blows , and being threatned by the general that he should have as much more assoon as he were recover'd of that , or that he would send him to the grand seignor , to be employ'd in the seraglio , where he must first have been made an eunuch . the blows had not troubled him so much as those menaces did , after which the knight was carried by the slaves to his quarter in the bath , for it was impossible for him , i will not say to go , but so much as to touch the ground with his feet . his friends among the slaves endeavour'd all they could to give him ease ; some brought wine to wash his feet , another , who was a surgeon , opened the dead flesh , and dress'd him , but what was most remarkable was the charitable action of a discalceate carmelite frier , a slave , named father angeli , a genoese , who with his mouth suck'd the corrupt blood to get it out of his feet . he was six weeks in his recovery , at the end whereof , a jew coming to treat with him about his ransom , with many menaces told him , that alli pegelin had sworn by the grand seignor's head ( an inviolable oath ) that the knight should never have his liberty unless he gave fifteen hundred patacoons . he was perswaded to promise the said sum , and thereupon his chain was taken off , and he had the freedom to walk up and down the city , as they commonly do who have agreed with their patrones , till such time as they have a convenience to transport themselves . we had haply been treated after the same manner , had not alli pegelin been fully perswaded , that the said knight was some publick minister of the king of spain's , and that we were his servants , and so there was no great account made of us , which prov'd our happiness . all things being agreed upon , it was propos'd , that the knight should take shipping for legorn in italy , to be there kept in prison till the ransom were paid , which was to be made to some jews there , who held a correspondence with alli pegelin . but the knight excus'd himself , desiring that he might be sent over into spain , where he might take duplicates of the grants and rewards which his catholick majesty had made him , in regard the originals were cast over-board when we were taken . these excuses occasion'd the knight's not being deliver'd without payment of his ransom , which had been done , had he follow'd the patron 's resolution . for the vessel bound for legorn , assoon as it was got to sea , met with a tempest , which ran it a-ground on the coast of spain , where the ship was taken , and all the slaves had their liberty without paying any thing , by means of that happy tempest escaping imprisonment at legorn , where they were to have continu'd till the return of their ransoms . this is punctually observ'd there , but not by other christian princes , who holding not so strict a correspondence with those of algiers , set at liberty the slaves assoon as they come within their jurisdiction , not regarding whether they be redeem'd or not . according therefore to the resolution of returning by the way of spain , the knight de cherf , took shipping with us and the other christian slaves for tituan , whether we got , with the inconveniences before-related , and were all put into the masmora , ( a prison under ground ) expecting the mony of our ransom , save onely the knight , who inform'd of that custom , had caus'd it to be inserted into the agreement , that he should not be put in there , which was observ'd . in the discourse of my captivity , i gave an account of the three tempests we weather'd through , the design we had to kill the turks , and become masters of the ship , and how we got to tituan , after being wrack'd , and went thence to ceuta , leaving the knight behind us at tituan , expecting the return of his mony from legorn to cadiz , and thence to ceuta . during the time of this expectation the knight bethought himself of some means to get off without mony , visits the places about the city , and flatters himself with hopes of making an escape ; but whereas that could not be done without assistance , it was necessary he should have the help of those of ceuta . he seeks out and finds the means of making a correspondence by letters with a captain of the garrison of ceuta , ( a city in africk under the jurisdiction of the king of spain ) with whom he had been a slave at algiers . he carefully sent his letters by the casilas , ( which consist of merchants travelling every week from ceuta to tituan , and so back , with the permission , and pass-port of the two governors ) and agrees with that captain to make him a present of a thousand patacoons for the sea-men , who should come with a boat to a certain place within two thousand and six hundred paces of tituan , there to take in the knight and three of his companions , who had agreed with alli pegelin , upon the same termes as the said de cherf , and had afterwards been lodg'd together in a remote quarter of the city , expecting also the return of their mony . these were engag'd in the said design , and contributed towards the charge . the time appointed for the execution of the design was the 25. of july , in the year 1643. at midnight , and the knight prepar'd for each of them two or three pieces of canes , inclos'd one within the other like fishing-rods , to be taken asunder , and hid under their cloaths , so as that being set at length , and a knif fasten'd at the top , they might be taken for pikes . they got without any trouble about a quarter of a league out of tituan , and took up their quarters in a dry ditch fenc'd on both sides with reeds and thornes , expecting night for the compleating of their enterprise . having continu'd a while in the ditch , the knight thought it time for them to go towards the sea-side ; but one of the three companions , named hans maurus , a person accounted well experienc'd in sea-matters , ( as may be seen in the description of our wrack on the 11. of feburary 1642. ) maintain'd it was not late enough , adding that if they were oblig'd to stay , there would be some danger of being surpriz'd , and treated with the falaca , putting the knight in mind of his chastisement at algiers . this apprehension of beating occasion'd the mistake of hans maurus ; yet after a little stay , they went forwards , fitting their pieces of canes one upon another , with a knife at the top , making a kind of half-pike , to defend themselves against the alarbes , who live by robbing , and in the summer time ly abroad in the fields . as they went along , the knight took a cross out of his pocket , that of the order of saint james , which he had sav'd when he was made a slave , and presented it to be kiss'd by his companions , saying that he was in hopes jesus crucify'd would give them their liberty , and that they should have for their intercessor the apostle saint james , whose feast it then was . but hans maurus being a lutheran refus'd to do it . being come to the sea-side , they perceiv'd a boat hard by the shore , out of which some call'd , ho , ho , for tituan ; and it was the same which had been sent to receive them . hans maurus , notwithstanding all his experience and skill in sea-matters , was seiz'd by a panick fear , and said to his companions , ly down on the ground , they are fisher-men of tituan , we shall be secur'd and beaten . in the mean time the boat had cross'd two or three times by the place appointed , and reiterated the aforesaid cry , striking on a steel , the signal agreed upon between them , whereto those ashore were to answer with the like noise . but those in the boat seeing no body appear , and considering that it was within an hour of day , as also that the watch on the coast of tituan had perceiv'd them , and given the signal to the city by a fire , resolv'd to be gone . the going away of the boat , satisfy'd the knight and hans maurus , that those of ceuta had made the appointed signal , whereupon they began to strike with the steel , and to call upon them , but all to no purpose , and too late , so that perceiving their design was discover'd , they made their retreat without any noise towards tituan , getting into the city at several gates , where they understood that that night there had been an alarm in the city , and that a party of horse had been commanded out into the country , by reason of a fire which had been made by the watch on the sea-side . this body of horse consists of citizens , who , to enjoy some priviledges , and the title of imaginary soldiers , oblige themselves upon any alarm to ride out into the country , and engage any enemy they meet with . all this had pass'd , yet so as that those of tituan knew nothing of the occasion of it , nor did they much enquire after it , in regard the alarms are very frequent there , by reason they are so near neighbours to the city of ceuta . yet were the undertakers still in some fear of being discover'd , and could not forbear quarrelling at hans maurus , who had occasion'd the miscarriadge of their design , whereat he was so troubled , and became so melancholy , to think that , by his mistake , himself and his companions had miss'd so fair an opportunity of recovering their liberty , that he fell sick . yet did his companions assist him all they could , and concern'd themselves as much as might be in the recovery of his health ; but perceiving he grew every day worse and worse , and that whatsoever was administred to him did little good , they bethought themselves of endeavouring the welfare of his soul . to that end , the knight , who knew that hans maurus had led a morally good life , and that he feared god , made it his business to exhort him to renounce lutheranism , and to embrace the roman-catholick religion , discoursing with him concerning the difference of those perswasions , as he had done several times before . hans maurus being a person not much acquainted with letters , and the knight no great divine , he took occasion to remonstrate to him , that being born in norway he had follow'd the lutheran religion , without any enquiry into the romane-catholick ; that the former was a new , and the other the ancient way , surpassing the inventions of luther by fifteen ages , and that the latter had been follow'd by his ancestors , whom it would be impious for him to believe damn'd for that , and that they were rather wiser then he , that he had often said while he was in health , that he would do better , if he knew what were better , that it now concern'd him to think seriously of his conscience , and that to that end he would bring him a priest , who would tell him more , and that more effectually . this discourse made to him in the extremity of his sickness , wrought this effect on hans maurus , that he acknowledg'd to the knight that it was true he had been exhorted to follow the steps of his ancestors , but that he thought there was so little difference between both religions , that he conceiv'd he might safely enough persevere in his own ; but since he was now in treated by his friends , whom he knew to be real & sincere , to consider seriously of it , he desir'd that a priest might come to him , to give him satisfaction in some doubts . the knight immediately sent for a religious dominican , a spaniard , and a slave , who satisfy'd the doubts of hans maurus , and undeceiv'd him , so that he became a roman-catholick , made his confession , and communicated with great fervency , to the great satisfaction of the christian slaves who were present , and the second day after his conversion he dy'd . in this conversion may be seen the goodness of god , who gave maurus the grace to profess the catholick faith , in recompence of his moral vertues and good life , by a strange accident , whereby he was depriz'd of his experience and skill , on saint james's day , which made him loose his corporal liberty , to give him the incomparable liberty of enjoying the sight of god. eight days after maurus's death , the knight paid his ransom , and went to ceuta , and thence by the way of gibraltar to madrid , where having receiv'd rewards from his catholick majesty , he went thence to the low-countries , having suffer'd greater miseries then any of us , though we had been made slaves at the same time . and he who shall attentively consider all our knight did , will find , that humane prudence is subject to strange oversights , and miscarriages , and that god onely is the disposer and director of all human actions . relation xxxix . what happen'd between my companion in slavery m. caloen , and his old patroness . the condition of slaves implies in it self a necessity of their suffering of somewhat from the hands of their patrons , but , on the contrary m. caloën made his patroness endure many inconveniences . i have said elsewhere that an old moorish dame had bought him at fourteen hundred patacoons , to be exchang'd for her grand-son mustapha , who was in the power of caloën's friends . the payment of that sum troubled the old woman , as if it had been so many drops of blood got out of her dry'd carkass , never considering that it was for the redemption of one so neerly related to her . the coverous woman thought to ease her self of some part of the grief by finding out some invention to make m. caloën to pay seven hundred patacoons , besides the exchange of her grand-son ; and this busied her brains day and night . one while she resolv'd to use violence , but fearing her mustapha might receive the same treatment , she forbore it ; another , she imagin'd , that to represent to him how much he had cost her , would be a more likely way to compass her design , since that it was indeed done as much for m. caloën's liberty as for her mustapha's , so that it was but just he should pay his proportion ; but the fear of being laugh'd at , and making him more obstinate , after she should acquaint him with her intention , made her resolve rather to be silent . while she was troubled with this diversity of resolutions , an edict was publish'd , that all the christian slaves who went about the streets should have irons at their feet , instead of the ordinary manacles , or hand-fetters , and that upon this occasion , that the king of c●●ques , benali , was got into the field with an army , and that the bassa with the forces of algiers was gone 〈◊〉 to meet with him . upon this , the old woman caus'd to be fasten'd to m. caloën's legg a chain of fifty pound weight , imagining it might induce him to proffer some hundreds of patacoons ; but he suspecting her design , complain'd of the injury done him , in loading him with fourty pound weight more then the other slaves , threatning her mustapha should have the same treatment . however , he made a shift to go abroad every afternoon , and came home at night , so well freighted with the juice of the grape , that his patroness was afraid he would come to some mischief , and so she should loose all her fourteen hundred patacoons . to prevent that , she forbad him to go abroad , and least he might forget that prohibition , he was furnish'd with more chain then he was able to carry , so that he was forc'd to keep his chamber , sitting , or lying on a mattress . i went every day to see him , carrying along with me some dunkirkers and dutch-slaves , such as i could meet with , to keep him company , and they follow'd me , as the iron does the load-stone , in hopes of somewhat to eat and drink , out of the seventy five patacoons , which a certain jew had lent us . it may be easily imagin'd , that such good company having their tinder-boxes fix'd , could not forbear tobacco , and singing as sea-men are wont to do , so that the room was full of smoak , and the house of noise . the old patroness could not endure they should drink wine in her house , and that the christian-slaves should , forgetting the respect they ought her , make such a horrid noise . this demeanour of theirs made her stark mad , yet the more she scolded , the less they seem'd to take notice of any thing she said , or did , which enrag'd her so , that she fell a railing at m. caloën , in lingua franca , intermixt with some of the moorish language , or arabian , whereto he reply'd in dutch. she being desirous to know what he said , this i say , reply'd he , get thee gone , old witch , and speak the language of thy mother , and shew not thy self a beast in the moorish , which thou understandest not . we know thou wert driven out of spain , since which time thou hast learnt a few words of the moorish language , and now thou comest to plague us with thy canting . thou wouldst fain have studied witchcraft , but thou knowest as little of it as of the moorish language . what witchcraft didst thou see me do ? said she to him , foaming with rage . have i not seen thee use all the devillish ceremonies , and fooleries us'd by the moors of this country , to find out what was become of thy grand-son mustapha ? but all to no purpose , go thy ways ignorant and impudent old woman . during this dialogue , the rest of the company ply'd the business of the bottles , which being empty'd , they went to their several quarters . the next day after these debauches the old woman would make kind remonstrances to him , thinking by her sober lectures to bring him to some reformation ; but he grew worse and worse . one day she took occasion to tell him , with all the kind expressions she could invent , that he could not live after that rate without being guilty of insolence , and incivility towards her , inasmuch as he was a slave , and consequently ought her all manner of respect , as his patroness . it is but reasonable also , reply'd caloën , that you should acknowledge me to be the patron of your grand-son , and that he is my slave , and that as such , you should honor me , and respect me ; but i treat my slave better then you do his patron . insolence , said she to him , i will make you bow , and you shall pay me the one ●oyety of the fourteen hundred patacoons , or you shall burst ere you go hence . if i dye here , reply'd he , you● grand-son will rot in christian land , and your fourteen hundred patacoons will be utterly last . these replys , the continual drinking of wine in her house , the smoaking of tobacco , and the horrid noise of four drunken fellows , roaring and singing as loud as they could , was an insupportable torment to the old lady . she thought to have kept him within bounds , and disappointed his companions , by shutting him up in a cellar , which had no light but what came in at a little hole , about a foot square , from the court of her house , charging her servants that they should not suffer any to speak with him : i came to see him as i was wont to do , and the old woman seeing me just entring into the court , cry'd out from one of the upper windows , go your ways christian , your companion is not here . what a damn'd lying old witch is this ? replys m. caloën , who heard her , she hath shut me up here in this cellar , putting out his hand at the hole . i made as if i went away , but returning a while after without being observ'd by any , i brought him a little bottle of brandy , as he had desir'd to drive away melancholy thoughts , whereof he drank so much that he was grown in a manner distracted , which happen'd by reason of the sweetness of that liquor , which in those parts is made of figges . his dreadful out-cries , and the noise he made in endeavouring to break open the door , put the old woman into a fright , imagining that he was grown mad , or would have kill'd himself , for she never suspected that he had been so well drench'd as he was . upon these apprehensions he was remov'd to his own chamber , where the patroness coming to him the next day , told him that of all the slaves at algiers he was the lewdst , that he had deserv'd the gallies a hundred times , and that she was resolv'd to make him try how he could brook that kind of life ; but if he would promise her the reimbursement of the seven hundred patacoons , she would forbear ; that there was no reason she should pay fourteen hundred patacoons for him , since his friends had paid nothing for her grand-son mustapha , and that notwithstanding all this he gave his patroness all the trouble he could by his continual insolencies . it is then thy greediness to get the seven hundred patacoons , said he to her , that causes all my misery ? be not so fond , wretched woman , as to think i have opened thy cellar-door with a key of seven hundred patacoons , or that i will promise such a sum to avoid the gallies ; i will not give thee a farthing , and assure thy self , that whatever thou makest me endure , i will make thy grand-son mustapha endure the same , do thy worst , and in the mean time get thee hence . the old woman knew not how to demean her self towards her slave , for fear of loosing her fourteen hundred patacoons . she thought him not safe enough in the company of his camerades , and much less when he was alone ; so that she thought it her best course to send him into the country with her grand-son amet , mustapha's brother , to one of her country-houses , three leagues from algiers , sending along to wait on them a french slave named la roche , born at diepe . there they made much of themselves , and liv'd merrily with the help of a great earthen pot of wine which contain'd neer fifty gallons , and to compleat their enjoyments , amet sold his horse to get mony , and sent to algiers for a wench , whose throat he would afterwards have cut , had he not been diverted from his purpose by la roche , who out of honesty or gentility perswaded him to be more merciful towards the poor whore . but amet would have made no scruple to have dispatch'd her , for it is ordinary at algiers to find young maids dead in the streets every morning , who are all accounted naught , so as that there is no further enquiry made concerning them . the old woman hears of her grand-son and his companions house-keeping in the country , and orders them to return to the city , where m. caloën was loaden with a chain of five branches , that he might not stir abroad ; but that hinder'd him not ; for , putting up the chain in a little basket , and carrying it on his back , he went along with me to a christian tavern , without giving notice thereof to his patroness . he was soon found out by other slaves of his acquaintance , dunkirkers , spaniards , and french , who waited on him to participate of his liberality . i left my co●●anion in the tavern in a fair way to be mellow ere ●e got thence , and went about four in the afternoon to dress my patron 's horse . in the mean time the old woman was extreamly troubled that the pawn of her dear grand-son had given her the slip , and sends amet to all the christian baths to find out her dunkinker , on whose well-fare depended the liberty of her mustapha . amet goes from bath to bath , and at last finding him , he told him his grand-mother was extreamly troubled at his absence , your grand-mother , says caloën , is a simple old woman , whereat amet was so angry , that he gave him a box o' th' ear , which m. caloën not able to take at his hands , not minding time and place , gave him a kick with the foot that was free , in the groin , such as might have spoild him for ever . in that place , a man needs but strike a turk or moor , to be burnt alive ; and amet was so enrag'd , that he could do no less then threaten him with it . but he was threatned on the other side , that his brother should in like manner be burnt ; and so one knife kept the other in the sheaf . in fine , the old woman perceiving that neither artifice , nor kindness , nor cruelty advantag'd her any thing , was forc'd to suffer m. caloën to do what he pleas'd himself , not concerning her self about him , to the time of our departure thence . relation xl. revenge , malice , and industry . there are two ways whereby men compass their designs , to wit , that of the lyon , and that of the fox . a french gentleman , for want of the former , very industriously made use of the latter , as may be seen by the ensuing relation . the king of france is possess'd of a place in africk , named le bastion de france . that plantation was establish'd about fifty years since on the frontiers of the kingdom of algiers , forty leagues from the metropolis thereof , and not far from bona , for the fishing of coral . there are ordinarily in that place about four hundred french , who employ themselves in that exercise , and withall drive a certain trade in wheat and other provisions of barbary . that trade is of great importance to the merchants of marseilles , who , in exchange for the commodities of barbary , send those of france , which are transported thence to algiers , and other adjacent places . the better to carry on that commerce , the king of france hath erected at algiers , a chamber of justice , consisting of s●rintendent , a chansellour , a consul , and other necessary officers , who are commonly ruin'd merchants , and there make a shift to live , rather by their damnable industry , then the profits accruing by their employments . during the time of my slavery , there came thither one of marseilles , about thirty years of age , well cloath'd , and of a goodly presence , who was to be one of the chiefest ministers of that chamber . we shall here give him the name of cassidorus . there was also at the same time among the french slaves , who row'd in the gallies , a gentleman of provence , who shall here go under the name of pysander . notwithstanding the condition of a slave , whereto he was reduc'd yet upon the account of his birth , his carriage , and industry , he was much respected by all the renegadoes of his nation , who at that time exceeded the number of three thousand . a captain of a ship , a renegado , having taken a prize of importance , made a treatment for diverse pyrate-officers , owners of privateers , and those of the chamber of justice , inviting also thereto pysander , with whom he was intimately acquainted . it was pysander's chance to sit at table next to cassidorus ; whereat the latter was not well pleas'd , expressing his dissatisfaction in the sadness and melancholy of his countenance . after the treatment , the captain thought fit to enquire of cassidorus what was the reason of his being sad and out of humour , and whether he had given him any offence . onely this , replyed cassidorus , that you have express'd the little esteem you had for my person , by placing me at the table next to pysander , who is a slave , and hath ●ugg'd at the oars , never considering that i am one of the principal officers of the chamber . the captain made his excuses to him , saying , that , as to his being a slave , it was through misfortune , and yet that he was acknowledg'd by all to be a gentleman of great worth . cassidorus was not satisfy'd with that apology , which the captain observing , would have taken occasion to make him sensible of his resentment of it , had he not consider'd , that the insolent fellow was under the protection of the bassa , and consequently that it had been imprudence , to engage himself in a quarrel upon the account of a christian slave . yet could he not forbear acquainting pysander with that vanity of cassidorus , whereat the other being justly incens'd , that such a worthless person had slighted him after that manner , my misfortune , said he , hath not brought me so low , but i shall find out a way to be reveng'd of that impudent fellow . i have bethought my self of an invention , which shall prove a greater torment to him then haply would be the enduring of the strapado , half a dozen times together , a punishment i should be likely enough to give him , were i restor'd to my own . accordingly pysander , who was an ingenious and subtle person , watches all occasions to compass the design he had to be reveng'd , and discovers , that cassidorus secretly cajoll'd a turkish curtezan , upon whom he had neer spent the two hundred patacoons , which he had brought from marseilles , to carry on some small trade . pysander was patient till he had squander'd away all his mony , which once consum'd , it might be easily guess'd , that the kindness of his mistress would soon be at a period , and that his credit was such as should not easily recover it . upon this discovery pysander lays his design , addressing himself to a french renegado , a person extreamly addicted to women , and well pepper'd with the disease of his nation . he tells him of an extraordinary handsome woman , whom he would have courted , had she been a christian , and he had had mony to carry on his addresses to her . the vicious inclinations of that renegado , soon made his teeth to water to be acquainted with that unknown beauty , to whom he got access , by the good instructions of pysander , and a present of some patacoons , which made him look'd upon as a great favourite . the renegado continues his visits to the new mistress for the space of three weeks or a month , at the end whereof he leaves her , having spent his disease as well as his money upon her . this happen'd according to the expectation of pysander , who knowing that such venereal embraces are contagious , thinks it time to contrive a renewing of the correspondence between cassidorus and his old mistriss . to do that , he goes to a renegado of the same country with cassidorus , telling him that his friend cassidorus was in great want , and that it would be a singular favour to supply him with fifty patacoons , till he receiv'd a bill of exchange , which he daily expected , and that for his further security , he would be bound for the repayment of the said sum . the renegado not mistrusting any thing , believ'd pysander , and thereupon going to cassidorus told him that he understood his necessities , proffering him fifty patacoons , provided he would be oblig'd to return them with the first convenience , which upon that condition were receiv'd by cassidorus . in the mean time pysander sent notice of it to the wench , who sent a love-summons to cassidorus , and soon renewing their old acquaintance , she charm'd him so home , that he needed the exorcization of a good p●ysician . but being far from his own country , mony-less , and friendless , all the remedy he had , was to complain of a running pain through all his joynts , and indeed plainly to confess , that he had got the pox. at first he could onely rai● at the curtezan , and bid that take her a thousand times , whereof she had given him enough at once ▪ but his impatience was exasperated into rage and distraction , when pysander sent him word , that he was to thank him for what he had receiv'd from his turkish beauty , and that he had done it , in requital of his slighting a gentleman of his nation , upon no other account then that he was a slave . this revenge was subtlely contriv'd , but too harsh and malicious . relation xli . the renegado-engineer . libertinism makes some persons indifferent whether they serve god or the divel , provided they gain either advantage or esteem thereby . of this number was a certain engineer , a french-man , whom the states of the united provinces sent with their aids to the duke of braganza , declar'd king of portugal in the year 1641. this man being taken by the pyrates of algiers was discover'd by the captain to be a master-engineer , employ'd about fire-works , and particularly that he was excellent at the composition of that kind of wild-fire , which is so much us'd in engagements at sea. the captain conceiving that french-man would do him great service buys him in the market-place , where the prisoners are sold . the brags which this engineer made of his skill in firing of ships and burning sails and rackling , gain'd him the favour of his patron , who intending to sea , gives him mony to buy what things were necessary for his compositions , with promises of great rewards if he were as good as his word , and on the contrary , threats , if he deceiv'd him . the engineer prepares his inventions , and goes abroad with his patron , accompany'd by other pyrate-ships , and having cruz'd some days up and down the mediterranean , they discover'd two ships of malaga , sufficiently well arm'd , at which they discharg'd their guns , whereto the two ships answer'd in the same language . but making no advantage thereby , the captain order'd them to make up to the christian ships , and to fasten the grappling irons . they did so , but the turks being afraid to board , the french-engineer was call'd to make tryal of his skill . he made ready his fire-works , and having cast some on the poop of the christian ship , it prov'd so effectuall , that the christians were reduc'd to a necessity of either yeelding themselves , or burning alive . this victory was attributed to the dexterity of the engineer-slave , who conceiv'd such a pride thereat , that he complain'd he was not recompens'd according to his deserts . those who had been at the charge of putting out the pyrate-ships came to understand , that the engineer was discontented , and imagin'd that he would do greater miracles , if he were permitted to renounce his religion , and had his liberty given him . upon these presumptions they went to the captain , the engineer's patron , and promis'd to give him the value of his slave , on condition he would suffer him to renounce , as he was desirous to do . the captain was content to gratifie his masters , and the engineer embrac'd the turkish religion , out of no other motive then vain-glory and inconstancy , as not being forc'd to that apostacy by any harsh treatment , or despair of redemption . about two months after his first entrance into slavery , he put on the turkish habit , and would not so much as look on the christians , even those of his own nation . which a slave of his acquaintance observing , took the freedom to tell him , that he wonder'd to see him in that equipage . come , come , i know what you would be at , says the engineer to him , interrupting his discourse , you know me , i have serv'd the king of france my natural prince , the king of spain , the states of the united provinces , as long as they paid me well , i shall do the like here , and then i will go and seek my fortune elsewhere ; and with those words turns his back on his country-man . some days after , the captain , who had been his patron , went to sea again , with his engineer , and not meeting with any thing on the mediterranean , they pass'd the streight , and came into the ocean , where they gave chace to an english-ship , which they found sufficiently well provided to deal with them , and so they thought it their safest course to engage her at a distance . in the mean time , the captain consults with his officers and the engineer , how they might engage the enemy at a neerer distance , he propos'd to them that his invention would be the most likely means to take the prize . the vessel , said he , which we are to engage against is very high , both at the stern and the prow , and their guns are greater then ours , and consequently , there is some danger of being sunk , if we make any attempt to board her ; open force will not do the business , she must be carried by some subtle invention . i know an expedient how she may be taken , without the l●ss of a man ; the advantage we have of the wind drives the smoak of our guns towards the enemy , i will go into the boat , and being cover'd by the smoke , i will get close to the christian ship , and fasten my fire-works thereto , which when they have wrought their effect , the flame will give you notice how and when to approach . his advice was approv'd , and thereupon the engineer with his inventions was put into the boat , with two christian slaves , to whom the captain added four turks , and they fire the guns , as the engineer stood in need of being cover'd by the smoke . but the engineers thoughts ran upon something else , much different from what the captain imagin'd ; for being come somewhat neer the english ship , he perswaded the four turks , that he stood in need of the two christian slaves , to assist him , and so busied the turks in rowing , and went to the forepart of the boat behind their backs , making as if he prepar'd his fire-works . but instead of that , he draws out a turkish cu●elass , and kills the two turks that were next him , with two thrusts through the back , and passing over those was ready to fall on the other two when they began to perceive the sad accident that had befallen their companions , whereat they were so frightned that they begg'd their lives , which he granted them , as being the stronger party seconded by the two slaves , who had seiz'd the arms of those that were kill'd , commanding them to make up to the english ship , into which they were receiv'd upon the signal of his handketcher , leaving the boat with the two turks that were kill'd to the mercy of the waves , to satisfie the pyrate , that his engineer had deceiv'd him . whereupon making all the sail he could , he hasten'd to get out of their reach , whom he thought he had had within his own , repenting himself that he had repos'd too great confidence in a man , who had broken his faith to his god and his prince , and would have serv'd the divel himself for mony . relation xlii . the disappointment . in the year 1639. a young man about eighteen years of age born at ceuta in africk , named francisco mendez , having been a page to dom francisco de villegas , a spanish-knight , who liv'd at gibraltar , and was his godfather , was put into the king's service by his master in a company of recruits , for the reinforcing of the garrizon at naples , with particular recommendations to the captain . the recruits were put aboard a hamborough vessel , press'd for the transportation of them , for want of other , as it is ordinary in spain , when the kings service requires it . they set sail at cadiz , and went into the mediterranean through the streight of gibraltar , where being opposite to majorca , the wind turn'd contrary which occasion'd the captain and some others to go ashore , with a design to return to the ship , assoon as the wind should sit right for the prosecution of their voyage . in the mean time , the soldiers , who were forc'd to serve , and in number , exceeded the volunteers , perswaded the latter to mutiny , upon occasion that their officers enjoy'd themselves ashore , while they endur'd the hardships of the sea. they plotted together to render themselves masters of the ship , and to return for spain . the seamen , who were hamburghers , knowing nothing of their design were of a sudden secur'd in the hold , with a guard set upon them , and as if they had taken a considerable prize , they rifled all in the stern , choosing to govern the vessel two soldiers , who , having been in the indies , thought themselves the most expert among them , and consequently fit to undertake that employment . all went very well , while they had no adversary ; but having saild some hours , they discover'd a ship with green colours on the top-mast . there was not any so ignorant among them but knew it to be a pyrate of algiers , so that perceiving it made streight towards them , they put themselves into a posture of defence , disposing eighty men on the decks arm'd with muskets and half-pikes , and sending the rest under decks to manage the guns . the subtle pyrat gets the wind of them , and gives them a volley of sixteen guns , which kill'd two or three men , and somewhat prejudic'd the sails and tackling . the spaniards who were between decks answer'd him with twelve , but to no effect , for they knew not how to take their aim , and which was worse , having discharg'd , they knew not how to charge them again , and to fasten them , so that the carriadges and the guns roll'd-up and down with the motion of the ship. the two commanders were busie at the stern , whence they gave order what was to be done , but their people not understanding the sea-terms , did many times contrary to what was commanded . the pyrate seeing so many people on the deck , thought it not safe to board , but observing that the enemy made no further use of their guns , imagin'd it was for want of powder , and so hoping to get the better of them , he fir'd at them as fast as he could . then the fresh-water-men began to see that they had undertaken the government of the vessel , as phaeton did that of the suns chariot , and thereupon minding their safety , they resolv'd to deliver the seamen out of their irons , and to employ them about the guns , while they made good the deck , and so sent an ambassador , who made this speech to them ; gentlemen lutherans , the vessel is set upon by the turks , you have your liberty granted you , on condition that you assist us against the common enemy . he thought this news would have been acceptable to the prisoners , and that they would have been glad of that favour , but he was much astonish'd to hear them bluntly making answer , that they should make an end of what they had begun , and that they were resolv'd to be slaves to their enemies , to be reveng'd of the affront done them by those pretended friends , by whom they had been treated like beasts . the ambassador makes a report of his negotiation to his companions , who were at such a loss , that they knew not what to do or say . in the mean time the pyrate looses no time , and gives them a volley , the guns loaden with iron-bars , whereby the tackling was shatter'd , the sails torne , a mast broken , the deck cover'd with wounded and dead , the orders of the commanders ill-given , and on the other side less understood and executed , which c●us'd disorder and confusion amidst the dreadful outcries of the wounded , who could not be dress'd , in regard the surgeon was one of those who were in chaines ; so that the rest began to flagge and be out of courage . the pyrate perceiving what condition they were in cry'd out ame●na , which those poor desperadoes understood not , though they wish'd nothing so much as to yeeld , which yet the pyrate would have them to acknowledge by letting down the main-sail-yard upon the deck , and taking away the colours from the stern . the pyrate took their ignorance for contempt ; and drew neer to give them a double charge ; but perceiving they laid down their arms , and made signs with their handkerchers fasten'd to their hats , he sent the boat to them with fifteen turks in it , who getting on the deck , understood what posture the vessel was in , pillag'd it , and out of compassion sent for the turkish surgeon to dress the wounded , casting into the sea the dead and such as they though irrecoverable , and making the rest slaves . the spaniards were chain'd in the pyrates vessel , and the hamburghers continu'd where they were , with six turks to guard them . the pyrate return'd to algiers , where those slaves were sold , among whom was francisco mendez , who sent an account of his misfortune to his mother , a poor widdow living at ceuta , who , passing up and down spain to gather what almes she could , got together two hundred and fifty patacoons , and writ to her son , that his patron should send him to tituan , where she would pay his ransom . having receiv'd this news francisco was embark'd with us , transported with joy for the recovery of his liberty , which he despair'd of , by reason of the poverty of his mother , and the little likelihood there was to get mony otherwise . we came together to tituan , and were there put into the masmora , where i receiv'd letters from my companion saldens , dated at ceuta , at the bottom whereof he writ , that there was with me a christian slave , named francisco mendez , to whom he desir'd me to give a patacoon or two , if he stood in need thereof , that his old master d. francisco villegas , would give the fifty patacoons which were behind of his ransom , and that his mother was going from ceuta to gibraltar to receive them . these tidings transported francisco with joy , but it lasted not long ; for while we were talking concerning his liberty , we hear'd a voice calling at the grate above , for francisco mendez , who lifting up his eyes sees his mother , who had been made a slave that day , being taken in the brigantine , which ordinarily goes from ceuta to gibraltar , the portuguez soldiers having neglected their duty through drunkenness . that sad accident put both mother and son into a despair of ever recovering their liberty , the same day they expected to have embrac'd one the other out of slavery . relation xliii . of the impious dutifullness of an iseland-slave . though the inhabitants of iseland thought they had had no other enemies then poverty and ice , the one whereof lyes perpetually , the other , for eight months of the year very heavy upon them ; yet algier , through a detestable avarice , envy'd them , that which no other nation did , the onely happiness they had , liberty . at my departure from algiers , in the year 1642. a young man in turkish habit came to me , having heard that i was a dunkirk-slave , and intended to pass through madrid , and gave me a petition handsomely write in latine , desiring me to present it to the ambassador of denmark , then resident with the king of spain . i wondred much at that conjunction of circumstances , that a turk should desire something in latine , of a person of the danish nation , and could not imagine by the language wherein he spoke to me , which was lingua franca , that he was such as i afterwards understood him to be . it is in your power , says the young man to me , to do the greatest act of charity that ever one christian did to another . so proceeding in his discourse , he related to me all the accidents of his life , to assure me of the justice of his pretensions . it had happen'd some years since , said he , that an iseland renegado having been a long time abroad with the pyrate of this city , without taking any prize , propos'd to the captain , vex'd that nothing fell in his way , to make towards iseland , and landing there , to take iselanders , who suspected not that there were such barbarous people in the world . the proposal was lik'd by the captain , and the management of the enterprize was committed to that perfidious iselander . soon after , the turks came to a secure place known by the undertaker , neer that island , and sent fifty souldiers ashore , who brought away about eight hundred men , women , and children , and afterwards sold them in this city for slaves , the manner whereof you know . many dy'd by the change of air , others , out of a despair of being redeem'd , renounc'd their religion , and some few of them do still patiently endure the heavy yoak of slavery , hoping that christian iv. king of denmark , whose subjects they are , will have compassion on them , whereto they believe he will be mov'd upon the mediation of his ambassador at madrid . and as to what concerns me , wonder not that i concern my self so much in this business ; know that though you see me in turkish habit , i was born in iseland , and brought away thence with my mother , and those i told you off before . having continu'd two years a slave , my patron dies , and gives me my liberty , on condition i should renounce , which i did , to procure the liberty of my mother , who suffer'd extreamly , by being put to painful work , and unmercifully beaten . being free i entred into the bassa's pay , and went out to sea , and having got together about a hundred patacoons , i was in hopes to redeem my mother , of a moor , whose slave she was ; but the dog , having seen my proffer , treated her worse then before , to make me give two hundred patacoons , and i could not rest till i had made a shift for the other hundred patacoons , which an honest turk lent me , on condition he should have my mother for the security of his reimbursement . she is tolerably well treated where she is now , but if i should dye , she would be reduc'd to the same condition she was in before , and would never recover her liberty while she liv'd . this discourse having mov'd me to compassion , i gave the young man all the assurances i could of my readiness to serve him in the delivery of his petition . being afterwards come to madrid , i went to the ambassador of denmark the sieur hilarius ulefelt , a knight of noble extraction , to whom i gave an account of what was contain'd in the petition , which i had lost when we were cast away . he promis'd me to acquaint the king of denmark with the business . being afterwards return'd to flanders , the sieur bernard d' aranda , my brother , passing that way upon some affairs of the king of denmark , and of cornificio ulefelt , brother to the said ambassador , and grand-master of the kingdom , to whom he was related as a gentleman , assur'd me , that the king of denmark , upon the account given by his ambassador , had , by the way of legorn , order'd the redemption of those poor iselanders , and among others that mother , whose son had by an impious undutifulness hazarded the loss of his own soul , to procure the liberty of her body . relation xliv . the unfortunate adventurers . those who engage themselves in great enterprizes are esteem'd according to the good or bad success thereof ; if fortune prove favourable , they get the reputation of courageous and prudent ; if unkind , their misfortune is accounted a punishment of their temerity and extravagance . some , of pyrates and robbers , have come to be generals at sea , and powerful monarchs , and gain'd honour by those courses , which brought others to the gallies and the gibet . four younger brothers , french-men , shall confirm this assertion , not that i mean they were pyrates or robbers , but free-booters upon a double commission . their birth had not furnish'd them with any great conveniences , and therefore what was wanting that way was to be supply'd by their courage . in the year 1636. they resolv'd upon a way , which was to seek their fortunes at sea , getting together about fifteen thousand livers , wherewith they equipped a frigot of ten guns . two among them , who were knights of malta , got a commission from that order , against the common enemy of the christians ; the others , one from the king of france . the noise of this expedition , the preparations whereof were carried on at rochel , brought together fourscore younger brothers , who , with their officers , a good master , and thirty six seamen , were able and likely to attempt great matters . all things being ready , they hoise sail , designing to cruze up and down the spanish-sea between cadiz and saint lucars , and so set a man ashore there , habited like a spaniard , who understood the language of the country , to see what ships were bound thence , and to put up the colours of france , as the most likely to do their work thereabouts . the colours of france , as the most likely to do their work thereabouts . the colours of the order of malta was to serve against the crescent , and particularly against those of algiers and tunis , between which places and france there was a peace , though ill observ'd on both sides . the sixth day after their departure , they set a man ashore in the night time neer cadiz , who return'd the night following , bringing intelligence that a ship loaden with wine was ready to set sail . being come out , they gave it chace , and two days after having taken it , they rid themselves of the trouble of the prisoners , setting them all ashore . this prize of wine heighten'd the courage of our young blades , and rais'd them to a higher conceit of their valour . the third day after this good fortune , they discover'd two pyrates of algiers , to whom they gave chace under the colours of the order of malta . the pyrates relying on their own strength , and imagining that of our younger-brothers not to be extraordinary expect them with their sails furl'd up . in the mean time the adventurers consult about the attack , and resolv'd to board the greater of the two pyrates , and to abandon their own frigot , which could not have the advantage of the pyrate furnish'd with twenty four brass guns . order was given , according to the resolution taken ; but the pyrate , who was well skill'd in his profession , perceiv'd their design by the animosity of their approach , and seeing them come up neer enough to him , let down his sails , to avoid grappling . this unexpected disappointment , put the attempters into a little distraction , yet not so much , but that as they pass'd by they gave the enemy a volley with their ten guns , brought all of one side , receiving the like salute from the turk . they several times attempted to board , as being the onely way to gain the victory , but the pyrates avoided it , and so the great guns plaid on both sides , till by misfortune at last a bullet of six pound weight took the mast of the frigot , which made them furle up their sail , least the wind might break the mast , which had been cleft by that unhappy shot . they still courageously stood upon the defensive , and they had defeated the mahumetans , if the noise of their shot had not brought thither five other pyrates of algiers , which with the two already engag'd made a squadron of seven dispos'd into the form of a half-moon , by which that unhappy frigot was pepper'd of all sides . yet did not the courage of our younger-brothers fail them , for they gallantly made their party good for the space of nine hours , during which they fir'd six hundred shot with their ten guns . but as the number of the dogs occasion the death of the hare ; so at last the frigot shatter'd of all sides , above and below , the water began to come in at the bottom , unhappily depriving those gallant gentlemen of the means rather then of the earnestness they had to fight . the seven pyrates sent their boats to save those unfortunate persons , most of whom were forc'd to betake themselves to swimming , to avoid sinking with the vessel , and so yeelded themselves . they were divided among the seven pyrates , who having also receiv'd some prejudice return'd to algiers , where these new slaves had been sold at a low rate , upon this account , that they had the repute of being poor and discontented , if a perfidious christian , an officer belonging to the chamber of the french trade , to ingratiate himself with the bassa , and general pegelin , had not betray'd them , sharing secretly with them in the buying of the four principal adventurers , who were at the charge of the whole expedition , and maliciously advising , that they should be beaten , and threatned with the gallies , and that they should not be redeem'd on without the other ; which was done after seven years slavery and extraordinary hardship , at the end of the year 1642. for rhe sum of six thousand ducats , they having acquired no reputation by their generous resolution and courageous conduct , because the issue of their enterprise prov'd unfortunate . relation . xlv . superstitious piety . the ensuing relation may in some measure serve for an advertisement , to shew that heaven is not to be gain'd by fond wishes , and that those onely are to expect to be triumphant there , who have been couragiously militant here . general pegelin cruzing up and down the mediterranean in the year 1641. notice was given him that the gallies wanted fresh water , and being neer tremesen , he order'd them to touch at a place between that city and that of oran , where he knew there was a spring . he set ashore thereabouts a hundred slaves , chain'd five and five together , every one with a runlet on his back , convey'd by fifty musketteers , to fetch water from that spring , which was about a quarter of a league from the sea-side . in the mean time the general , took the air ashore , walking along the sea-side , whither the alarbes soon brought refreshments to sell , as they are wont to do . they were follow'd by a moorish gentleman , who living thereabouts came to kiss the general 's hands , making him a present of grapes , figs , lemons , poultry , and the like refreshments , which his servants brought along with him . the general thank'd him , and so they fell into discourse . the moor , who had never been out of his own village , nor convers'd with any but half-savage alarbes , nor studied but with some cherif or marabout , who had simply explicated the fooleries of the alcoran to him , was accordingly very simple , and wholly addicted to their religion , which made him complain to pegelin of his fortune , which had indeed sufficiently supply'd him with camels , sheep , oxen , and servants , but all hindred not his being unhappy in one thing , which concern'd him more then all the rest . the general was desirous to know what it might be ; this , reply'd the moor , that i am not so great a friend of our prophet mahomet's as you are . the general , who laugh'd in his sleeve at mahomet , and all his superstitions , dissembling the conceit he had of the moors perswasion , seriously ask'd him , why he was not so great a friend of the prophets ? because , reply'd the moor , you have sacrific'd with your cimitar so many christians , which is the most acceptable sacrifice that can be made to the prophet , and i have all my life kill'd nothing but wild b●ars , which is a service indeed , but no way comparable to yours . i should be extreamly oblig'd to your excellency , if you would do me the favour , as to suffer me to kill one of your christian slaves , whereof you have so great a number , and i should be happy in doing a thing so acceptable to the prophet . the general , who was of a divertive humor , granted his request , provided he went behind a little hill , which he shew'd him about a hundred p●ces thence , promising to send him a slave of what nation he pleas'd . the moor pitch'd upon a spaniard , that is the sacrifice , said he , which the prophet is most pleas'd withall , because those of that nation are his greatest enemies . with that he goes to the hill . the general immediately caus'd the chain to be taken off the espalier , who is the most skilful slave of any at the oar , and commonly the strongest ; for he begins the work of rowing , and gives the measure which is to be observ'd by all the rest . that slave was a spaniard , and could speak the arabian and moorish language , as having been a soldier at oran . the general gave him a sword , and a dagger , and acquainted him with the discourse that had pass'd between him and the moor , sending him to meet the other behind the hill , with express order , not to do him any hurt , but onely to frighten him . assoon as the moor perceiv'd the spanish-slave , thinking he came to have his throat cut , he kneel'd down , beginning to say the assala , which is their prayer , that his sacrifice might be the more acceptable to the prophet , but rising up he finds standing before him a sturdy fellow , arm'd , contrary to what he expected , which put him into a cold sweat , yet perceiving he was oblig'd to fight instead of sacrificing , he took courage and draws his cimitar , to secure himself against the sword and dagger of his adversary , who soon made a shift to disarm the moor , which done , he suffer'd him to steal away . he comes all in a fright to alli pegelin , making his complaint to him , that the christian , whom he had sent came arm'd . the general laughing at the simplicity of the fellow , said to him , thus it is that you are to please the prophet , if you will deserve his favour as i do ; for after this manner are christians to be sacrific'd , the prophet thinks it no service to kill a man who is not able to defend himself . mahomet was a generous and valiant man ; go and bid your cherif ( that is a turkish priest ) furnish you with a better explication of the alcoran . and so he shamefully dismiss'd the moor , laughing at his superstitious piety . relation xlvi . avarice mask'd . the turks veil their avarice towards the christians under the cloak of cruelty and religion ; but in regard these pretences cannot avail them against those of their own perswasion , they make the same advantage of their power . in the yeer 1640. there was but one or two priests at algiers , whereby the slaves of general pegelin suffer'd much inconvenience in their church at the bath . to remedy themselves they sent as an ambassador to alli pegelin the espalder , who is the sturdiest among the slaves , and upon that account the chiefest and most respected both aboard the gallies and in the bath , and who onely hath the priviledge to speak to the patron when he pleases , and to represent to him , what concerns the generality of the slaves . this espalder , named juan sanches ( the same who was sent out to the moor , as may be seen in the precedent relation ) went to the general , remonstrating to his excellency , that some weeks before , it had pleas'd him to put his catholick slaves in hope , that he would buy the first priest that should come to be sold . having understood that there was one newly brought in , they were humble suitors to his excellency , that he would be pleas'd now to do that favour to his most humble slaves . the general promis'd to do it , and accordingly he went to the market , where there was expos'd a priest of the order of saint dominick , a conventuel of malaga , licentiate in theology , named father bartholomeo de ledesma . the general took occasion to tell all he met , that his slaves were in such want of a priest , that they would not suffer him to be at rest till they had one . this he said purposely , that none might presume to out-bid him . the priest came to be expos'd to sale , and the officer cry'd arrache , arrache , that is , who gives most ? pegelin proffer'd four hundred patacoons for him , and another turk out-bid him by twenty patacoons , whereat the general was so incens'd , that he would have kill'd that turk , had he not got out of the way , and said , four hundred patacoons more , with this menace , is there yet any one so insolent as to proffer beyond me ? this startled all that were present , so much , that in all markets afterwards , none durst pro●fer more then he did , whereof he made no small advantage , buying in a manner at what rates he pleas'd . this priest perform'd his function among us , to the great satisfaction of all , for the space of fifteen months , at the end whereof , he went to pegelin , who demanded of him fifteen hundred patacoons for his ransom ; whereto the father replying , that his excellency had bought him in a frolick , and that he was not worth so much . you are in the right , says alli , i have made this advantage by the buying of you , that no turk dares over-bid me , but your person caus'd the frolick , you must either pay for it with interest , or perish here . the father could get no other answer , so that he was forc'd to importune his friends and relations to get together the fifteen hundred patacoons , which paid , he was set at liberty . relation xlvii . the imaginary slavery . it happens sometimes that some christians under the power of the turks are less slaves of their masters , then men are of their passions , and it may be affirm'd , that their slavery may be ranked among those things which the spanish satyrist quevedo calls imaginary . in the year 1641. the pyrates brought in certain persons taken in a brigantine bound for gen●a , and expos'd them to sale on the market at algiers . it was my chance to pass by as they were under sale , and i perceiv'd that among those new slaves there was one clad in red plush , wrought over with black flowers , rather torn then worn out , who was sold at four hundred patacoons . i imagin'd then that that habit had serv'd under the cassock of some clergy-man of quality . some days after , going to the bath of the duana , ( which is that of the city , where the slaves are employ'd upon some publick works ) i found that slave , who had exchang'd his plush-coat for the habit of a priest according to the mode of algiers , made after the fashion of a short coat , or cassock , reaching to the knees , of cloath , of the same colour as that worn by the capucins in some countries , especially in flanders , very carelessly cut out , and ill-fitted to the body , the party who wore it having not been trimm'd of a great while , out of shoes , in a word , very poorly accoutred , leaning against the church-door of the said bath . finding him in that posture , i made a low reverence to him , wishing him his liberty . these complements begat an acquaintance between us , and that some discourse , and that bred a familiarity , whereby i made this observation , that he avoided the conversation of both spaniards and italians , for fear of being discover'd , having to that purpose conceal'd his quality under the assum'd name of francisco talles . september 7. 1641. the slaves of the duana represented in the night-time , within the bath , a comedy in spanish , tolerably well written , upon the story of belizarius , to which i was invited by that good priest , going thither with permission to lye out of my patron 's house . coming to the bath , i found all the drinking●places full of slaves , drinking and smoaking , in expectation of the play. the priest brought me into a little room opposite to the stage , where he call'd for some wine and a collation . the great respect which the christian slave , who sold the wine , express'd towards the priest , rais'd in me the curiosity to ask him , how they came to be so intimately acquainted , since he was a slave of small standing . he whom you take to be the master , said he , is but the servant , the slave of majorca , whom you know , is the master of this drinking place and two others , wherein he keeps three christian slaves , to look to them , who give him an account every week of the wine and other things he sends in . i am here under him , and whatever he entrusts me with i give him an account of . he afterwards told me that the majorcan had been made a slave some years before , and had at the beginning suffer'd the miseries of his condition , but that having afterwards made a shift by his industry to get together the sum of a patacoon , he had so advantag'd himself thereby , that he was able to keep those three drinking-places , which brought him in great profit . this discourse satisfy'd me how it came to pass that that majorcan walk'd up and down , and was well clad . and finding that the priest was so intimately acquainted with the majorcan , i ask'd him what he had done with the horse i had seen him buy in the market not long before . he presented it to his patron , reply'd the priest . whereupon i desirous to be further satisfy'd why he did not ransom himself with that present , he told me , that he had some years since agreed with his patron at four hundred patacoons , which sum he had paid to thirty , which he purposely left unsatisfy'd , that he might go under the name of a slave , and enjoy the protection of his patrone , who was a person of great authority , with whom he liv'd in a good correspondence , by means of his presents . he also perswaded his patron to buy the new slaves of majorca or italy of his acquaintance , for whom he re-imburs'd him what they cost , and sent them back to their countries , not losing the interest of his mony , as it was but reason he should not . some days after , he did the same favour for that priest , who continu'd there some time a slave onely by name . these advantages made the majorcane the less desirous to return into his country , and the king of spain , coming to hear of these services , sent him a secret order to continue there in the same quality , to help the spanish slaves , and with his advice to assist the fathers employ'd about the redemption of captives , when they should come thither , with promises of an honourable reward ; which order he faithfully observ'd , till he dyed an imaginary slave , two years after my departure from algiers . relation xlviii . the execrable revenge . every vice is encourag'd either by profit or pleasure , and balances the sin by some apparent good , onely revenge is absolutely unhappy , inasmuch as it is some times forc'd to compass another's ruine with its own . while we were confin'd to the bassa's palace , as may be seen in the discourse of my captivity , i took notice of a renegado-youth , about twelve or thirteen years of age , clad in red silk , having a turbant very neatly interwoven ; i saw he had the priviledge to enter into the bassa's lodgings , and those of his wife , when he pleased , which is no small favour in that country . the eunuchs belonging to the bassa's wife respected him , and gave him the title of celibi , that is to say , lord. the marks he had about him of a renegado , and the gracefulness of his person rais'd in me a curiosity to enquire whence it came , that amet ( so he was called ) had that priviledge above all the other renegadoes of the house . i was acquainted with a french renegado , caterer to the bassa , who gave me an account of the youth , and his relation acquainted me with a strange effect of an extravagant passion . wonder not , said he to me , that amet celibi is in greater favour then any of the rest , his noble extraction deserves it . but imagine not his friends have been wanting in their endeavours to recover him , they did all they could to have him again , but all to no purpose . that young lad never was a slave , as all the other renegadoes were . and so proceeding in his discourse , he told me , that the lad was a spaniard born , of a house well known , and had been spirited away from his friends , and brought to algiers , the manner thus . the king of spain hath seated on the mediterranean , and the ocean , some places of the kingdoms of fez and morocco , which serve for a banishment to some , and sanctuary to others . for that prince being oblig'd to keep garrizons there , he is so favourable towards some delinquents as onely to condemn them to serve there , whereas other criminels are sent to the gallies . such as are grandees of spain , or of more then ordinary quality , to expiate their crimes , are banish'd into those places , with obligation to maintain on their own charge such a number of horse , according to the exigency of the case , and the ability of the person . to one of those fortresses were sent two brothers , of a considerable house in spain , who upon some occasion or other had some difference . the elder thinking himself injured in point of honor , insulted over his younger brother , who on the other side being not able to smother his resentments of the affront , fell to study how he might be reveng'd , but all his attempts were rendred ineffectual by the governour of the place , who was a very prudent gentleman . whereupon finding that he would not be permitted to fight his brother , and having resolv'd to prosecute his revenge , whatever it cost him , he bethought himself of a design which brought him to his own irrecoverable ruine . one day having observ'd that his brother 's onely son was gone out into the plain , which is before the city , to play , he gets on horse-back , and making as if he intended to take the air , he kindly calls his nephew to him , and takes him up before him , and so riding on gently , till he got out of sight , he put spurs to his horse , so that he soon got into the country of the turks , where having call'd for a guide , he came in a few days to algiers , desiring audience of the bassa , whom he told , that he was come to present his service to his excellency , with a design to renounce his religion , and that as assurance of his fidelity , he presented him with a lovely child , who was his nephew . the bassa accepted of the proffer , and order'd his eunuchs to cause him to renounce , and to bring him up in the mahumetane religion , giving him the name of amet. the younger brother also renounc'd the christian religion , and embrac'd the turkish , and came afterwards to a wretched end . after my return out of slavery , i related this strange adventure to a certain officer of our army , who told me , that he had been well acquainted with the brothers and the young lad , and was troubled , that their names and habitations were known . relation xlix . that the turks prefer mony before love. my patron alli pegelin returning from his courses in the year 1641. bethought himself of the loves there had pass'd between him , some two or three years before , and a grecian mistress , insomuch that he was desirous to give her a visit . he order'd some of his gallies to make towards bona , otherwise hippona , where he landed . the woman , having had notice of it , came to meet him , and presented him with a lovely childe about two years of age , whom she had born him . the general was so much taken with the childe , that for his sake , he married the mother , expressing an extraordinary affection towards her , and that the greater , in regard he had by that woman one to inherit his wealth , a happiness which he could not have by her whom he had left at algiers . in fine he would needs bring her along with him ; but assoon as his wife whom he left at home heard of their arrival , she conceiv'd such a jealousie against her husband and his second spouse , that not able to smother her passion , though she was above fifty years of age , she sent two turks of quality to him , to tell him from her , that he was very wellcome , and that she knew well enough he had not offended against the alcoran by marrying a second wife , but that she understood also the permission she had by the same law to dissolve their marriage , and to go from him , with above a hundred thousand ducats , which she had brought him in dower , ordering him , if he had a mind to keep her , immediately to dispose the grecian lady in marriage to some other , so to take away the cause of her passion . though alli pegelin was a man of great wealth , yet was he a little startled at the sudden and bold resolution of his wife , and had some thoughts to send back those pleasant ambassadors with as round an answer , but reflecting on the hundred thousand ducats , his avarice made him change his design , so that immediately , ere he came ashore , he bestow'd his second wife on one of the captains of his gallies , yet kept the childe , who was brought up by the former wife , and she had so great a kindness for him , that she gave him all her wealth , by which means he afterwards came to great charges and employments , though all his fathers estate had been confiscated for some rebellion wherein he was engag'd . that son of his liv'd in great repute without any check of fortune , till the year 1661. at which time his throat was cut by the rebellious souldiers , upon this account , that he had sided with ramadan bassa , as i have related in the description of algiers . relation l. the counterfeit hypocrisie . it is a hard thing to know the design of religious actions , some have a different tendency to god , others to some concernment of honor or advantage . and this intention lies so deep in the heart , that it is the hardest thing in the world to dive into it , before the effect come to light . in the year 1636. the pyrats of algiers , contrary to all right had surpriz'd a vessel of marseilles , not regarding the peace concluded between the king of france and the bassa of that city , and the particular safe-conduct of the same bassa . complaint is made at the duana , but not admitted , and under pretence that the commodities belong'd to other nations , they are secur'd , and the sea-men were sold under hand and put into the gallies . two of those french-men renounc'd their religion , and listed themselves among the souldiery , who are employ'd in the gallies against the christians . they made some voyages in a bark belonging to a moor , to bona , there putting off and buying certain commodities , by which trading they got about an hundred patacoons , wherewith they purchac'd a part in the bark , and so went as partners with the moor , both as to merchandize and the provisions . while they were at algiers , they went every day to the mosquey , to say their assala , which they did with great fervency . being in company with the renegadoes of their nation , they made a difficulty to drink wine , as they did . and being one day invited by a french gentleman , a slave , among others of his friends , both renegadoes and slaves , some porke being brought to the table for the christians , they rose up railing at him who had invited them , and saying it was done in contempt of their prophet mahomet , and that he had put an affront upon them , swearing they would call him to an account for it . they scatter'd every where the expressions of their indignation , reviling their renegado-companions , for having suffer'd the pork to be eaten in their presence , and charging them to be ill observers of the alcoran . this deportment , with their continual frequenting of the mosqueys , and their exact observance of all their superstitious fooleries , got them the reputation of being perfect turks . in the mean time they continu'd their trading to bona , and having got another sum of patacoons , they bought the whole bark of the moor , so that they were the sole masters of it ; and now it was that hypocrisie began to produce the designs , it had conceal'd in the souls of those renegado-soldiers . they made ready their bark for their accustomed voyage to bona , hiring four fisher-men , alarbes , to serve them as sea-men , weigh anchor , and within two hours came over against montefon , which is a mountain three leagues from algiers . one of our renegadoes pretended that they had forgotten to fill their barrell with fresh-water , and that it might be some inconvenience to them , if the wind should prove contrary : the alarbes proffer'd to go and fill the vessel , at a spring , which lies at the foot of the mountain , bringing the bark close to the shore , whereupon the ●●arbes went out to fill it . they were not above a hundred pace● from the bark , busie in filling the 〈◊〉 , when the two renegadoes discharg'd each of them a mu●ket , which serv'd for a sig●●● to ten christian slaves , who being thereabouts , got into the bark , as they had agreed among themselves . the discharging of the muskets made the alarbes imagine that they were commanded to return to the bark , by reason of some accident , and thereupon leaving their barrel , they came immediately to the sea-side . but they had reason to suspect something , when they saw the ship make to sea , and heard the renegadoes crying to them , that they bestow'd their liberty on 〈◊〉 , which they might have taken from them , that they might acquaint the turks and renegadoes with the success of their enterprize . the third day after 〈◊〉 were kindly receiv'd by the inhabitants of 〈◊〉 , who made one of those soldiers ●●lot of 〈…〉 . finis .