A Full and Just ACCOUNT OF THE Present State OF The Ottoman Empire In all its Branches: WITH The Government, and Policy, Religion, Customs, and Way of Living of the
Turks,
in General. FAITHFULLY RELATED From a Serious OBSERVATION, taken in many Years TRAVELS thro' those Countries.
By
AARON HILL,
Gent.
Coelum, non Animum mutant, qui trans mare Currunt.
Hor. Epist. 11. L. 1.
LONDON,
Printed for the Author, and are to be Sold, by
John Mayo,
Stationer and Printer, at the Printing-Press in
Fleet-Street, Anno Domini,
1709.
ANNE R.
WHEREAS our
Trusty
and
Welbeloved AARON HILL,
Gent. has Humbly Represented unto us, that he has, with great Care, Labour, and Expence, Compil'd and Prepar'd for the Press, a Book, Entituled,
The Present State of AETHIOPIA, EGYPT, the Three ARABIA's, PALESTINE, and the Whole OTTOMAN EMPIRE,
and has therefore Humbly besought us, to Grant him our Royal Priviledge, and License, for the
Sole Printing
and
Publishing
thereof; for the Term of
Fourteen Years.
We, being willing to give all due Encouragement to Works of this Nature, tending to the
Improvement
of
Useful Knowledge,
are Graciously Pleas'd to Condescend to his Request: And we do therefore,
by these Presents,
Grant unto him,
the said AARON HILL,
his
Executors, Administrators,
and
Assigns, OUR ROYAL LICENCE,
for the
Sole
Printing, and Publishing,
the Present State of AETHIOPIA, EGYPT, the Three ARABIA's, PALESTINE, and the Whole OTTOMAN EMPIRE, aforesaid,
for the Term of
Fourteen Years from the Date hereof,
strictly
Forbidding
all our Subjects, within our Kingdoms and Dominions, to
Reprint the same,
either in the
like,
or in
any other
Volume or Volumes, whatsoever, or to
Import, Buy, Vend, Utter,
or
Distribute
any
Copies
thereof,
Reprinted beyond the Seas,
During the aforesaid Term, of
Fourteen Years,
without the
Consent,
or
Approbation,
of the
said AARON HILL,
his
Heirs, Executors,
and
Assigns,
under
his
or
their
Hands and Seals, first had and obtain'd, as they will answer the Contrary
at their Peril,
whereof the Commissioners, and
other Officers
of our
CUSTOMS,
the
Master, Wardens,
and
Company
of
STATIONERS,
are to take Notice, that the same may be Entred in the
Rigister
of the
said Company,
and that
DUE OBEDIENCE
be rendred thereunto.
Given at our Court at
St. James
's, the
Nineteenth Day of
February,
1708/9.
In the Seventh Year of Our Reign.
By Her Majesties Command, SƲ NDERLAND.
Mr . AARON HILL. Aetatis Suae 24 Ao Domi 1709
H. Hulsbergh Sculp.
NE SOLUM FORTI P
OPRIUM
THE DEDICATION, To The
QUEEN.
MADAM,
WERE it Possible for me to offer at your ROYAL FEET, a Tribute, so Important, as to MERIT your MAJESTY'S Acceptance, I had never paid my Debt of Duty, in so poor a Manner; But, since the Smile of HEAVEN, upon the WIDOWS MITE, Instructs us, that the WILL, not POWER, must Enrich the Offering; I am almost led to hope, YOUR MAJESTY will Stoop to the Reception of so Low a Present, when you shall be pleas'd to know, 'tis all, I have to give; For LIFE, and FORTUNE are so firmly Yours already, that I cannot hope to tast the Length of one, or Worth of t'other, but by holding BOTH in Your MAJESTY'S Disposal.
THE Sacred Power of PIOUS MAJESTY, Commands not only Love, and Loyalty, from Subjects, and Dependants, but (as the Attractive Virtue of the Wond'rous MAGNET draws the Sturdy IRON to its Sway,) may Challenge an Authority, to Rule the Salvage Minds of Independant Infidels. The Mighty Glories of your MAJESTY'S Successful Reign have bent more Kingdoms than You Govern, to an Envy of the
BRITONS,
Happy in Your Influences; And Experience Taught me, that while
BRITAINS NAME
is NOW the Praise, and Wonder of such Nations, as BEFORE scarce knew it, The Prodigious Honour, paid Her NAME, is only owing to the Virtues of Her MONARCH.
TO whom then, MIGHTY QUEEN, shou'd I Address my Self for a Protection of my Labours, but to the THRONE of MAJESTY, where CRITIC'S Malice, and the Sting of CENSURE cannot Reach me, and where HEAVEN has seem'd to Point our Marks of Duty, and Humility to lie, as by the Seat of MERCY, and the VICEROY of
OMNIPOTENCE.
BE therefore pleas'd, Great Ruler of the HEARTS, as well as PERSONS of Your People, to accept this humble Offering, which I lay, with Duty at Your GRACIOUS FEET; For, as the small Improvement, many Years continued Travels, thro' the Rougher Corners of the World, have made me Conscious of, may so be Crown'd with the Great Honour of YOUR NOTICE, all my Future Aims, and Utmost Applications shall be, how to make my Self attain one Step above the Character, which now I can with Honesty, and Faithfulness, lay hearty Claim to, of,
MADAM,
YOƲ R MAJESTY'S Most Dutiful, but least Deserving Subject, and Servant,
AARON HILL.
THE PREFACE.
IT was an admirable Observation of Sir
ROGER L'ESTRANGE,
That
a Book, that Fac'd the World without a PREFACE, shou'd be look'd upon, as much Unfinish'd, as a BEAU, who comes to Court without a PERRIWIG;
For it is not only grown a kind of
Law,
by long continu'd
Custom,
but is even become a
Necessary
Labour for the
Vindication
of a Man, who
dares
assume the Name of
Author,
from the
not alone Sharp Criticisms,
but
Reflections,
and
Scurrilities,
he will be sure to meet with.
WE Live, it seems, in a
Fault-finding Age,
and 'tis almost become a
Crime,
or
Argument of Softness,
(a New-fashion'd Word for
Folly
) in a
Gentleman,
to Read a
Book,
with any
other Aim,
than to
Condemn,
or
Censure
what he Ʋ nderstands not.
I'M sure, I have just Reason to affirm a
Truth,
I have been taught by the
Ingratitude,
(I wou'd not willingly make use of a more Sharp
Expression
) of some
Country-Men
of
mine,
who, by the
Baseness
of their
Tempers,
and
Malicious Aims
of
Disappointed Envy,
took, I hope, more Pains than Ʋ sual, to Convince me, that my
Native BRITAIN,
cou'd produce as
Barbarous,
and
Sordid Wretches,
as I ever met with in my Conversation with the
Infidels.
THE
Reasons,
which induc'd me to Address the World, with an Account of what I had observ'd, in
Travelling
so many Years together, were not
Vanity, Ambition, Mercenary Hopes,
or any of the
Common Motives,
which urge Great Numbers on to Write,
and build them up
to the
Fond Name
of
Author: Heaven
indu'd me with a
Soul,
too Honest to become a
Prostitute
to the
Poor Dross
of
Interest;
Nor were my
Circumstances
such, as might
reduce
me to a
Want
of those
Advantages,
which have
too often
made a
Good Man, Infamous.
HENCE,
Perhaps,
I found so many
Enemies,
for we are
now
Ʋ nhappily Divided into such Disorder'd
Factions, Open Discords,
and Ʋ naccountable
By-Interests,
that
Honesty it Self
is measur'd by
Opinion,
and the
Scale
of
Merit
is
Out-ballanc'd
by
Partiality;
so that, when a Man is recommended to the World,
as worth Regard,
The
first Examination,
made about him is,
Who sides he with?
And a Report is given of his
Capacity,
or
Principles,
according to the
Party,
he may Chance to
Vote
for.
POSSIBLY, I have been represented, as a
Zealous Stickler
for some
Party,
or
perhaps,
been thought to
Side
with
None,
as not too
fond
of
Either;
which of these have made me
Enemies,
I can't determine, or if I have
Enemies at all,
since it
may be,
'tis the
Fashion
to Discourage VVriters, for endeavouring to take more
Useful Pains
than
other People. Be it one, or t'other,
I can only say, I shou'd (if any) be exempt from
Prejudice
on that Account, since I have been so little
Resident
in
England,
that I never yet found time to
think
on
Parties,
any further than to wish there were no
Ill-divided Ones,
so much as dream't of in the
Kingdom.
MY
Friends Perswasions,
when I came from
Travelling,
engag'd me to comply with their Desires, in
Publishing this Book,
which I more readily Assented to, because I knew, I cou'd say somewhat more, than had been
seen,
or
told
the
World
by
Former Travellers,
and I was naturally led to hope, my
Youth
might plead a
Pardon
for my
Errors,
since an
Author,
who attempts to
Write
at
Four and Twenty,
might (I thought) be readily Excus'd for
more Mistakes,
than will,
I hope,
in the
Succeeding Sheets,
disgust the
Reader.
BƲ T, there are a sort of
People,
who appear such
Zealous Devotees
to
Malice,
that no
Reasonable Plea
is Proof against 'em,
Innocence
it self is
spurn'd
by their
Presumption,
and they are so
over-fond
of
Warring
against
Common Sense, Humanity,
and
Goodness,
that, they generally
blind
their
Judgments
to
indulge
their
Vices,
and
Attack
the
Castle,
where 'tis
ablest
to
Repulse them.
THIS has been my
own Good-Luck,
and the
Ill-Fortune
of my
Censurers,
whose
Weak Objections,
spread abroad for
Ends,
I am about to mention, were so
Innoffensively Ridiculous,
as to
swell up
with
huge,
and
threat'ning Venom,
but
then burst like Toads,
with their
Self-dangerous Poyson.
Yet tho' they
hurt
not
me,
their
Guilt
and
Baseness
is not less, than if I had been made a
Sufferer
by their
Groundless Malice
: For as the
Poet
has it,
Who
hurts me not,
is not the
Righteous Man,
But
He,
who
will not
hurt me, when he
can.
THE Society of
Booksellers
have in a manner, quite
engross'd
the
Press,
and the
Unhappy Circumstances
of some
Authors,
having given them
Opportunities
to impose on their
Necessities,
by Purchasing for almost Nothing, their
Ingenious Labours,
and by making all the
Gain
their
own Sole Property,
Instructed them, like
Sting-less Drones,
to feed upon the
Honey
of
Industrious Bees;
they made Advantages of
such Occasions,
and
Encroach'd so far,
by
gradual Advances,
that they us
'd all Authors,
as they did their
Poor Ones,
and
assum'd
not only the
Prerogative
of
Purchasing,
for
Inconsiderable Sums,
the
Brightest Copies,
but pretended to be
Judges
of the
Work it Self;
when,
probably,
they knew not, what it
Treated of.
HENCE they were Encourag'd to Impose upon the
Town,
by Printing
Old Books,
with
New Titles,
Selling Others at a
Double Rate;
and
Authors,
knowing, they cou'd reap no
Profit
from the
Publication
of their
Writings,
left 'em wholly to the
Bookseller's Direction;
whence the
Press
was commonly
Corrected,
and the
Book
expos'd to
Publick View,
with as much
Nicety,
and
Learning,
as became a
Bookseller's Capacity.
BY having Printed some
Few Little Essays of my own, the Common way,
I went as far, as any
Line
cou'd reach, towards
Fathoming
the
Conscience
of a
Bookseller,
or
Two,
and
thence
became Acquainted with their
Customs,
well enough to care, as little as I cou'd, for Dealing with them; and, unwilling to have This
Book
come out, as
Uncorrect,
as it might probably have done, and see the
Town
impos'd on, by too
High a Price,
or let the
Book come out
too meanly Printed, or on
Common Paper,
I resolv'd to have it in my
Power,
to use the
Buyers,
as I wou'd be us'd
my Self;
and therefore, at my own Charge, undertook the
Printing it,
but was advis'd, (that I might run as little Hazard of a Loss, as Possible,) to do it by
Subscription.
BƲ T I was not
thus
deliver'd from the
Imposition
of the
Booksellers,
who pretended it
their Right
to have
Two Books Gratis
for
Six Subscriptions;
I refus'd to grant 'em this
Extravagant Demand,
and gave 'em often
Publick Notice
of my
Resolution,
whereupon, they made it their Endeavour to
decry
the
Book
with
Open Malice,
and discourage it as much as possible: But lest their
Curr-like Howlings
shou'd be
scorn'd, alone,
as
Insignificantly Noisy,
they procur'd some
Little Pensioners
of theirs to Act the
Mastiff,
and by
joining
in the
Consort, bark
the
Base
to their
poor Trebles.
THE
Justice
of the Thing was, what they least regarded, 'twas enough for them to say, 'twas
Bad.
Tho' being ask'd the
Cause,
they cou'd reply no more than, that
'Twas so, because it was so. Argument
was a
strange Plant,
to their
thin Gardens.
But it must be held, as an
Undoubted Maxim,
That it wou'd be an
Unpardonable Crime,
shou'd
they promote
an
Author's Undertaking,
who refuses to
promote
their
Lawless Interest.
SOME have had the
Simple Honesty
to bring their
Money
to the
Printer
in a
Rage,
and
Swear,
they never had
Subscrib'd,
but that their
Customers
oblig'd 'em to it; owning freely, that they did the
Book
the greatest
Injury,
they cou'd, because the
Author
had refus'd to give 'em
Two
in
Six
for Nothing.
WELL,
Sirs,
go on with your Endeavours, I am above the
Reach
of your
Detraction; Gain
I sought not, and for other Matters, let the
Book henceforward
speak,
in its own
Vindication, I am only griev'd for those
Unhappy Writing Gentlemen,
too much
Depress'd
by
Fortune,
and
thence Subject
to your
Tyranny.
I was grown so weary of the Mentioning the
Booksellers,
that I had resolv'd to say no more about 'em, when a certain
Humour
of a
Member
of that
Good Fraternity,
who has the Sign of the
Green Dragon
for Distinction, made me laugh at the
Remembrance,
and record him for an
admirable Bargain-Maker.
HE had, with much ado, my Promise,
by a Friends Entreaty,
to allow him
Eight,
as he desir'd, with a
Proviso,
he shou'd take 'em all
Unbound.
But tho' he was
Solicitous
for nothing more, before I granted it, he
humm'd
a while, with a
Wise Air of Contemplation,
when I sent him Word, he might
Subscribe so,
and reply'd, He thought, that
Nine
'twixt Man and Man, were very
Reasonable.
Had I granted those, he wou'd have
ask'd for Ten,
and so encreas'd, till I had found,
if possible,
the
Measure of his Conscience.
MY Book lay
Open,
at the
Printers,
as it pass'd the
Press,
for
free Perusal,
and the
Booksellers,
and their
Adherents,
had thereby, an Opportunity to
raise Objections,
with
Pretence
of having read the
Sheets,
but, as I never heard
one Censure yet, deserving Confutation,
or indeed, requiring more than
Common Sense,
to Overthrow it, so I thought it only fit to let 'em
Sink
without regard, to their
Original Obscurity.
But if there shall be found a
Gentleman,
who meets with any thing, He
justly
may
Object against,
Let him be pleas'd to hint it, in a
Letter
for me, Directed to the
Printer's
House; and then, to Satisfie the
World
and him, I shall not think my Time Ill-spent, to Print it, with as
large an Answer
as is
Necessary,
in the
Preface,
I shall
Publish,
with the
next Edition.
AND now, I leave the
Booksellers
to their
Advantages,
assuring them, I owe them no
Ill-Will,
and only say thus much, to Justifie my
Book
against their
Calumnies;
If
Profit
cou'd have brib'd my
Tongue,
or Hopes of their
Good Character
have stifled my
Affection to Plain-Dealing,
I had never been so
Open,
in my
Declarations
of their
Artifices; Justice
always
guides
my
Pen,
nor can
Rewards, Desire of Praise,
or
Fear of any Man's Ill-Word,
divert my
Course
of
Truth,
from its
Direct,
and
Uncorrupted Channel,
Contrary to the Assertion of the
Celebrated Juvenal.
Jvu. Sat.
10.
—Tanto major Famae sitisest, quam Ipsam,
Virtutis; Quis enim virtutem amplectitur
Praemia si tollas?
So much
more Pow'rful
is the
Thirst of Fame
Than the
Neglected Virtue's
Honest Aim;
For who
Courts Virtue,
or can
long
Obey,
When the
Rewards,
She gives, are
snatch'd away?
I shall only add, that, as 'tis
evidently True,
The Methods, I have taken, were as
Just
and
Honourable,
as was possible, The
Malice,
which inclin'd these People to oppose 'em, was a
Plain Effect
of something in their Principles, not altogether
reconcilable
to
Justice;
For where
Honesty
Encounters
Honesty,
a
Sympathetic Harmony
is found between 'em, and we have the
Words
of an
Experienc'd Greek,
to teach us, that,
One Good-Man
never
Hates another.
SOME
Snarlers
do, and many more
may
Cavil at the
Style,
I have made use of, and the
Weightiest Arguments,
they bring against it, are, that it appears
Affected,
and
Elaborate;
That 'tis Dress'd in a
Romantic Air,
and that in
short,
'tis so like
Poetry,
that it runs into
Blank Verse Measure,
and becomes a kind of
Prose-Poetic
Composition.
'TIS methinks,
ungratefully
receiv'd, if
Censur'd,
on so
Weak
a
Ground-Work;
For, I doubt not, but the
Learned
Reader will perceive no greater
Difference
in the
Style,
throughout the Book, than where 'tis
purposely design'd,
according to the
Various
Natures of the Subjects, Treated on; and a
Judicious Tast
will easily distinguish, that the
Language flows
more
negligently,
than it
Climbs Affectedly,
in all the Treatise.
BESIDES, allowing, I had taken Pains, by an
Elaborate Bent of Application,
to Compose a
Style,
which I might be Deceiv'd in thinking
Good,
'twou'd be but
Generous,
and becoming the
Humanity
of all, who read it, rather to excuse the
Real Errors,
than create
Imaginary Ones,
because the
Fault,
I had committed, cou'd proceed from Nothing, but an ardent Inclination, to endeavour more than
Ordinary,
the Satisfaction of the Reader.
AS for its being Dress'd in a
Romantic Air,
were that
Malicious Accusation
full as
Just,
as 'tis
Absurd,
I cannot see the Reasons, why it shou'd be look'd upon, as an
Objection.
Every Body Knows, the
Language
of
Romances
differs from
more Serious Writings,
only in the
Fine Descriptions, Florid Speeches, Artful Turns,
and
Winning Eloquence,
which are made use of, to
Adorn
and
Recommend
a
Feign'd Relation;
and by Covering the
Flaws,
occasion'd by its Want of
Truth,
excite as
Noble Thoughts,
and raise as
Emulative
an
Esteem
of
Honour,
in the
Reader's Soul,
as if 'twere
Real.
And if the abovenam'd
Ornaments
can Shine so Brightly, in a
False Account
of
Things,
and
Places,
surely when they are
Additionally Strengthen'd
by the
Truth,
as well as
Novelty,
of what they Treat of, vpon
Second Thoughts,
those
Selfconfounding Critics,
who have Censur'd me, on
this Account,
will find,
that, what they aim'd,
as an
Abuse,
has prov'd a
Compliment.
AND just as Weak an
Argument
is
that,
which blames my
Language,
as
Poetical;
For I wou'd only ask
those Gentlemen,
who
broke
their
Shins,
by
Stumbling
upon
that Objection,
What was the
Original Design
of
Poetry;
and,
if they know so much,
they'll Answer me,
'Twas Introduc'd
for
Pious Ends,
and
Practis'd first,
to
Win Mankind
from
Guilt
and
Follies,
by
the Sweet Insinuation
of
Harmonious Doctrine;
for the Force of
Numbers
bears a kind of
Unresisted Charm,
which, having first
bewitch'd the Senses, penetrates the Ear,
and
Warbles Smoothly
thro' the
Soul,
dissolving
Passion
in a
Flood
of
Pleasure.
WELL then, this
granted
me, must
consequently
speak it
undeniable, That Poetry
is
Fittest
to Command
Attention,
and it follows, that the nearer,
Prose
can
Imitate it,
so much
more
'twill
tempt the Soul,
to
listen to its Eloquence,
and if that be all the
Ill,
my
Style
is Guilty of, I may presume, the World will easily forgive me.
EPITHETS are certainly
the Life
of an
Expression,
and if using
them
a
little oft'ner,
and more
Artfully,
than commonly
we
do,
will
not alone
adorn
our Language with a
Smoother Cadence,
and
Compleater Harmony,
but add a
Sparkling
kind of
Vigour
to the
Style,
they're us'd in, why shou'd Men persist in an
Old Error,
rather than submit to take
Example,
from the
Practice
of
another.
I know not any
Book,
before my own, that has been Writ
this way,
and
consequently
cou
d not hope to
Introduce
a
Novelty,
without encount'ring
Ever-arm'd Ill-Nature;
Even were my
Style
as free from Faults, as I cou'd
Wish it,
'twou'd have
Enemies,
because 'tis
New,
and how can any
Lower Aim that way,
expect to Prosper
Unoppos'd,
when, even the
Glorious Reformations
of our
Church,
and
Government,
have many
Foes,
who dare
Reproach 'em.
AMONG the
Few,
who I heard, were Wise enough to think the
Arguments, fore-nam'd,
a Proof of their Capacities. There is it seems, a kind of
Talking Spark,
who holds an
Office
in the
Exchequer,
very fond of
Raillery;
He thinks, that he has
Wit
enough to make
Atonement
for his Want of
Memory,
or I shou'd take the Liberty to Blame him, for forgetting, he attempted
once
to make himself an
Author;
But the
Itch,
that
Juvenal
calls
Scribendi Cacoethes,
wanting Force to lift him higher, than the Character of
Horace's Promissor Hiatu,
he fell down, like
Icarus,
and Drown'd himself in
Infamy,
thence losing all
Right of Pretence
to
Censure Others,
by the
Miserable Insufficiency
of his
own
Labours.
SATYR is a kind of dangerous
Edg'd-Tool,
and, like a
Razor
in a
Monkey's Paw,
will
cut
the
Fingers
of a
Fool,
who trys to use it;
Wit,
like
Fame,
is very
Coy,
and
Hates
a
Ravisher,
She
Sports,
and
Wantons,
like the
Nimble Dolphin,
in her
Native Channel,
but, like
Herrings, Dies immediately,
and
Stinks, out
of her
own Element.
THERE are a sort of People,
to so Silly a Degree,
the
Enemies
of their own Character, that
Silence,
tho' the only
Skreen,
to hide their Want of
Common Sense,
is most a
Stranger
to their
Daily Practice;
These are to be
Pitied,
and it wou'd be
Happy,
since they are
Blind of Soul,
cou'd there be found a
Mental Occulist,
of Skill enough, to
Couch the Catataracts
of their
Obscur'd Capacities,
that when their
Eyes
of
Reason,
wou'd permit their
Judgment
to see
Clearly,
they might borrow a
Latin Dictionary,
and try to
Construe
the
Two Verses,
following.
Juv. Sat.
2.
—Felicia tempora, quae
Te
Moribus opponunt, habeat jam
Roma
pudorem!
THAT I might
not alone Inform,
but please my Reader, I have taken care in the
Succeeding Sheets,
to Introduce as many
Stories,
as I cou'd, with
different Aims,
for some are
Moral,
some
Diverting,
others
Melancholy,
and of all
Kinds some.
The only Fault, which can be found with this, is, that it is
Digressive
from the
Subject
of my Book:
'Tis true,
and so are all the
Moral,
and
Occasional Reflections,
scatter'd up and down, yet doubt I not, but, as the
Last
will be acceptable to
Honest People,
on account of the
Good Doctrine,
they contain, (and which I ever hope to bear in my Remembrance) so the
First
will find a
Welcome,
for the
Diversion,
they may give
Unprejudic'd Perusers.
AS
some
may like my Book the better,
others
will, I question not,
complain,
that my
Quotations
from the
Classic Authors
are too frequently Applied; to
this
I need reply no more, than that they
struck
my
Memory,
as I was Writing, and were
thence Transcrib'd,
as they occurr'd by Accident: Yet
this
I dare be pretty sure of, that there's none, will Censure me for
the Respect,
I bear
the Classics,
in so
often mentioning their Thoughts,
but such
Poor Wretches,
as for
want of Tast,
are made
Incapable
of
Prizing,
or, for
Want of Learning,
cannot
Understand them.
AS I have
little Reason
to believe my
Judgement,
any ways
Superlative,
I will
not say,
but I have Injur'd
them in the Translation;
Where
the Lines
wou'd bear a
Literal Version,
I have rend'red
the Expressions English, Word for Word,
but where I cou'd not come so near
the very Words, without destroying
all
the Harmony,
I
thought it better,
to make Ʋ se of
the Assistance
of a
Paraphrase,
yet still preserv'd
Entire, the Genuine Sense
of
the Original.
A
Literal Translation
commonly appears
Confin'd, Uneasy, Close,
and
Aukward,
like a
Streight-Lac'd Lady
in her
New Made Stays,
but when
the Version
has put on an
Easy Paraphrase,
and the
Fine Lady
is compleatly
Dress'd,
with
Ribbons, Manteau,
and her
Looser Ornaments,
tho' they are
still
the
same,
they were before, they brightly double
Former Graces,
and become
Adorn'd
with an
Attractive Majesty.
ONE
Sucking Critic,
after having turn'd the Book over and over, at the Printers, with a Design to Practise the
Discerning Art,
he had so lately taken on him, fix'd at last upon this Translation of the following Line,
Coelum, non Animum mutant, qui trans mare currunt,
Men, who o'er Seas, to
Distant Countries
roll,
Oft
Change
their
Climate,
but
Retain
their
Soul.
NOW
says he,
did ever any
Mortal
see so
Silly
a
Translation?
I am sure, this
Author
can be no
Great Scholar,
for
Coelum
here is
Latin
for
Heaven,
and you see, there's no such Word, as
Heaven,
in the
whole Two Verses.
O
Tempora! O Mores
! to how strange a Length Extends
Ill-Nature, Malice,
and
Hypochrisy
! Who knows, which way to please a
World,
that only
can be pleas'd
by their
own Actions! Vanity
is grown the
Epidemic Plague,
which robs us of our
Judgment,
and a
Daily Proof
of the
Opiniated Blindness
of
Mankind in General,
serves to show us the
Necessity
of
Learning,
that,
The Maxim, KNOW YOUR SELF,
is really grown
Useful
in
every
Place,
thought so in None.
PRETENDING to
Condemn
all Actions, but
our own,
is common
now,
from even the
Courtier
to the
Cottage,
and
Deceit
is Dress'd in such an
Air
of
Honesty,
they cannot often be distinguish'd from
Each Other; Ignorance,
Assisted by a
Grave Assurance,
passes currant for the
Depth
of
Learning; Censure
is Esteem'd a Proof of
Judgment,
and
Pretended Merit
Elbows from her
Throne
the
Real Virtue.
Were but
Seneca
now living, justly might he add
more Sharp Invectives
to the following
Exclamation.
Sen. Tra. Hip.
O vita fallax! abditos sensus geris,
Animisque pulchram turpibus faciem induis,
Pudor Impudentem celat, Audacem Quies,
Pietas Nefandum.
—O thou
Fallacious
Life!
What
Hidden Faculties
in thee we find!
With a
Fair Face
thou Cloak'st a
Sordid Mind;
A
Modest Air
Disguises
Impudence,
Bullies,
to
Peace
make
Counterfeit Pretence,
And
Pious Carriage
hides the
Sinful Wretch.
I hope, I need not
Fear,
that any Man will
Carp
at my attempting to
Translate at all,
the
Authors,
I have Quoted, since the Book will
probably
be read by many, who can only Ʋ nderstand the
English,
and the
Men of Letters,
reading the
Original,
may, if they please, pass over the
Translation.
THE
Stretch
of
Malice
is so very wide, that it has
Seiz'd,
among my
Censurers,
a
Pastor
of the
Church,
of which, tho' an
Unworthy,
I'm an
Honest Member,
and am therefore very
Sorry
that, to Justifie my Self from the
Aspersions
of his
Tongue,
I am oblig'd to do a thing, so much against my
Nature,
as expose the
Follies,
(I am loth to think 'em Worse) of one, who has the Honour to
Officiate
in the Cause of
Christ,
and
thence
shou'd rather Merit the
Profound Respect,
my Nature teaches me to bear the
Cloath, I hope,
he will not
long
be so
Unworthily Possess'd
of; Men, tho' never so
Religious,
are not wholly free from
Mortal Frailties,
He may,
possibly, Repent hereafter,
tho' I see,
as yet,
but little Likelyhood of such an Alteration.
I must own, I was surpriz'd,
beyond Expression,
when, (after having
urg'd him
to forbear some
False,
and
Scurrilous Reflections,
on a
Dr.
G--th.
Gentleman
of
Worth,
and
Learning
in a high Degree,) I saw him
Strike
his
Fist
upon the
Table,
and cry out in
Passion,
before many
Witnesses, Endeavour not to Justifie him, he's a V---n, R---e, and R---l, and I'll run him down, with all the Spite, and Malice, I am capable of uttering.
And, to do the
Lecturer Justice,
he's as Capable of Both, as any Man in
Christendom.
I had not wonder'd to have heard this Speech from some
Robust,
and
Brawny Grenadier;
But when Mr.
D--b--ns, a Parson,
utter'd it, from whom I look'd for
better Doctrine,
I was frighted at the
Emphasis,
he put on his
Expression,
and starting backwards with
uplifted Arms,
cou'd scarce forbear repeating,
Et Tu, Brute!
as the
Dying Caesar
did to his
Assassinate.
NAY thought I, if
you,
who from a
Pulpit,
every Week Instruct the World, can
thus
by your
Example,
contradict your
Precepts,
you may be as well, for ought I know, a
Breaker
of the Whole
Contexture
of
Religion,
which you Preach, and live a Life of
Wickedness
in
every kind,
as well as
this.
If so,
I must declare
with
Juvenal.
Juv. Sat.
2.
Ultra
Sauromatas
fugere hinc libet, &
Glacialem
Oceanum,
quoties aliquid de
Moribus
audent,
Qui
Curios
simulant, &
Bacchanalia
vivunt.
Beyond the
Tartars Realms
I wish to be,
Or ev'n more
Northward
than the
Green-land Sea,
As oft as
Wretches dare Good Council
give,
Who
look
like
Saints,
but more like
Atheists Live.
'TIS true, I have less Cause to wonder at the
Publick Defamations,
he is pleas'd to make, on my Account, because he told me to my
Face,
that I had better not have
Contradicted him,
for he had a
Considerable Acquaintance,
and wou'd do my Book more
Injury
than I imagin'd; and, I thank his
Conscience,
he has
try'd
to
keep his Word in this Particular.
I had not mention'd him,
in Reverence to his Gown,
but that the
Credit,
he obtains
thereby,
might easily incline all such, as know me not, to judge, he speaks as
Truly,
as he ought to do.
Juv. S.
14.
Fallit enim Vitium, specie Virtutis & umbra.
For
Vice,
when Dress'd like
Virtue,
oft Deceives.
A
Holy Aspect,
and the
Justly Venerable
Character of
Clergyman,
may easily delude
Unthinking Multitudes,
to
Groundless Censures
of Ʋ nguarded
Honesty.
They know him not, and are Deceiv'd, by his Pretending to be
free
from
Malice;
therefore, I ow'd this
Justice
to my own Vindication; for his
admirable Dissimulation,
and
Set Airs
of
Gravity
are, as
Persius
says,
Persius, Sat.
3.
Ad Populum phaleras; Ego te intus, & in cute novi.
Trappings
to please the
Mob;
But I've look'd in,
And
know
thy
Well-cloak'd Conscience
thro' thy
Skin.
I hasten from a Subject, so unpleasing, as
Complaint,
to the more
Generous Call
of Humble Gratitude, which tells me
loudly,
that I cannot mention the
Advantages,
I had of
other Travellers,
without
Rememb'ring,
and
Acknowledging
to whom I
ow'd
them, and declaring to my Reader, that whate'er I
know,
and far the
Worthiest Part
of what I saw, was due to the
Unmerited,
but
Boundless
Generosity of that
Glory
to his
Country, The Right Honourable the LORD PAGET,
many Years Residing at
Constantinople,
as
Ambassador Extraordinary,
and so Wisely
Managing
that
Slippery Post,
that he deserves
in all Respects,
the Lofty
Character,
he bears in
Turkey,
of,
The only Man, who ever cou'd Preserve the Favour of the
Turks,
and Interest of his Country, both together.
I went Abroad
so very Young,
that, after having Sail
d a
Voyage,
and made use of Accidental Opportunities to Visit
Egypt, Palestine,
and other
Eastern Parts,
I came to
Constantinople
time enough, to
owe
the
Best Improvements
of my
Education,
to the Generous Care of this
Wise Nobleman,
whose
Instructions
and
Example,
gave me
first
a Notion of the
World,
and under whose
Protection
I was afterwards so Happy, as to
see it to Advantage,
having had the
Honour
to attend him, from the
Turkish Court
to
England,
in a Journey over
Land,
thro' almost all the
Celebrated
Parts of
Christendom.
THE Great
Discretion,
Sure
Dispatch,
and admirable
Policy,
wherewith he manag'd the
Important
Business
of his
Embassy,
were such, as won him so
Uncommon
a Respect, from all the
Turkish Ministers of State,
that under the
Extensive Umbrage
of his
Interest,
any Man, who took upon him the
Protective
Name of
Englishman,
was sure to meet, in
every Part
of their
Dominions,
more
Civilities,
and
Toleration,
than the
Christian Travellers,
of any
other
Country whatsoever, cou'd pretend to
hope for.
HENCE a
Thousand
Marks of Favour were Conferr'd, at several Times, on many of
our Countrymen,
and
hence
I snatch'd the
Lucky
Opportunity of
Seeing,
with some other
English Travellers,
in the Year
One Thousand Seven Hundred and Two,
the Great
Seraglio
at
Constantinople,
so much
farther,
than had been
before
permitted; The
Grand Signior
being
then
at
Adrianople,
and his
Ladies
with him, at his
Palace
in that
City.
I have little now to add, but that I
wish
with all my Heart, the Reader cou'd be promis'd a sufficient Share of
Satisfaction,
in the Perusing the succeeding
Sheets,
to make
Atonement
for the
Tedious Time, the Book
has been expected.
Malice
is so very
Prevalent,
and
every Man
so naturally apt, to put the
Worst Construction
on
another's Actions, that
there are but
Few,
who wou'd omit so
fair
an
Opportunity
of
Justifying
a
Delay,
so
unavoidable,
from the
Examples
of the
Greatest Men,
who ever Publish'd Books
this way.
BƲ T, as I seek not the
Applause,
and very heartily despise the
Censures
of the
Snarling, Ignorant,
and
Ungenerous Vulgar,
I Address my
Plea
to such alone, as
Learning,
or a
Native Nobleness of Soul
has Qualify'd, for
Serious,
and
Impartial Judges,
and those (I dare presume to hope) will easily perceive, that if the
Book
has been a little
longer,
than it was
Propos'd,
in coming out; it was no Fault of
mine,
but owing to the
Common Slowness
of
Proceeding,
us'd in all
Books,
Printed by
Subscription.
HOWEVER, as the Great
Incouragement,
I met with, from the Numbers of
Subscribers
to this
First Impression,
leaves an Inconsiderable Quantity for
Sale,
I am already
Printing off
a Second Edition, with the utmost speed imaginable, and have taken care, to use such Means,
in hast'ning on the Press,
that if I set
another Time,
it shall be, when I find my Self
assur'd,
that I can keep it
Punctually.
AS I have heard no more
Objections,
that the very
Weak Ones,
I endeavour'd to
Confute,
in the
Beginning
of the
Preface,
I can
now
enlarge
no further,
in
Defence
of
Book,
or
Author,
but, since I have made so
fair
an
Offer,
of Obliging
all Objectors
with the utmost Satisfaction,
Truth
can give them, I wou'd willingly perswade my Self to hope, that none will be so
Groundlessly Ill-Natur'd,
as to
force
a
War
with one, who holds the
Peaceful Palm
before him, as a
Tutelary Mark,
for the Protection of his
Labours.
NOTHING sure is
Blacker,
than
Detraction; Hells Wide Store-House
yields no
Sin,
of a more
Damning Nature;
and methinks, no
Subject
of a
Christian Country,
shou'd indulge his
Malice,
by a
Blushless Declaration
of
Egregious Falshoods, with
Design to Stain a
Good-Man
's Character,
when the Speaking Well of,
nay,
the Using Well those
very
Men, who most
Abuse us, is by the
Divine Decree
of
Christ Himself,
Enjoyn'd us, as a
Duty,
and the very
Maxim
of a
Heathen
in the
following Verses,
serve to
Shame
the Daily Practices of many
Men, who
openly
Avow
a Zealous Love of
Conscience,
and
Religion.
'Tis a
Good Custom
to
Speak Well
of
all,
But
Cruel
to
Abuse,
ev'n such, as
really Fall.
HOWEVER, if 'tis possible, there shou'd be found a
sort
of
Men,
who out of
Blind Affection
to the
Dictates
of
Ill-Nature,
are resolv'd to
Damn,
what e'er they
Read,
and only
Read
for that
Base Purpose,
I shall look upon them, as
Unworthy,
not of the
Resentment
only, but the very
Notice
of an
Honest Man,
and e'en Content my Self to say with
Persius.
Pers. Sat.
3.
—Gigni
De nihilo nihil, in nihilum nil posse reverti.
A LIST OF THE SUBSCRIBERS NAMES.
A.
HER most Gracious
Majesty,
the
QƲ EEN.
John Ashlin,
in
Bedford-street.
John Affleik
Esq
Two Books.
Duke of
St. Albans,
Dutchess of
St. Albans.
Mr.
Edward Armourer,
Henry Ashurst,
Esq
Robert Auchmuty, Fleet-street.
George Atkins,
of
Islington.
Joseph Alleine, Coleman-street.
Reverend Mr.
Henry Austin,
of
Bromley.
Earl of
Abercorne.
Mr.
Richard Arnold.
Jonathan Aylworth,
Gent.
Mr.
John Acton.
Richard Allen.
Right Honourable, The Lord
Arran.
Mr.
Thomas Akers.
Richard Amson,
Gent.
Nathaniel Axtell,
Esq.
B.
JOhn Bruere, Fleet-street.
Earl of
Berkely.
Earl of
Berkshire.
Earl of
Bathe.
Sir
Samuel Barnardiston,
Bar.
Thomas Boteler,
Esq
Mrs.
Joan Bradshaw.
John Brewer,
Esq
Duke of
Buckingham.
George Burton,
Gent.
Mr.
Samuel Barkeley,
Apothecary.
Mr.
Timothy Bowes.
Mr.
James Bowles,
Seven Books.
Langham Booth,
Esq
Hugh Bethel,
Esq
Mr.
Bridgeman,
in the
Poultry.
Mr.
William Bryon, Cornhill.
Mr.
Sloman Bryon.
Thomas Baker,
Esq
Mr.
John Busfeild.
Charles Bishop, Boswel Court.
Sir St.
John Brodrick,
of
Surrey,
Kt.
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Minor.
Mr.
Edward Barker,
Apothecary.
Mr.
Charles Bowles, Southwark.
Mr.
Borderie,
Two Books.
Jeremiah Buckingham.
Mr.
Anthony Baron.
Richard Bytheway,
Esq
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Gent.
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of
Derbyshire,
Esq
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Mr.
Daniel Browne,
Seven Books.
Mr.
Bedford,
of
Castle-Yard.
Duke of
Beauford.
Mr.
George Bloodworth.
M—
Baines.
Charles Burd,
Gent.
George Bell,
Gent.
Mr.
Jonah Benjamen,
Gent.
Mr.
Francis Brown,
in
Crutched-Fryers,
Wine Cooper.
C.
Sir
John Crisp,
Bar.
Laird of
Craigens.
The Honourable
Colonel Cornwall.
Sir
Michael Cole,
Kt.
Henry Cornwel,
Esq
John Churchill,
Esq
Thomas Chambers,
Esq
John Carrance,
Esq
Mrs.
Sarah Church.
James Cavendish,
Esq
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Esq
The Right Honourable Lord,
Charlemont.
John Cren
-osstey,
Esq
Lady
Francis Clarges.
Robert Child,
Esq
Mr.
Cross,
of
Westminster.
Mr.
Cole.
John Cholmley,
Esq
Southwark.
William Coward,
M. D.
Mr.
Isaac Chauncy.
Richard Cox.
Sir
Alexander Cairnes,
Bar.
The Right Honourable, Lord
Capel.
Mr.
Joseph Cerda,
Merchant.
Michael Cartwright.
The Right Honourable, Earl of
Cholmondeley.
Mr.
John Cowsell.
Mr.
John Carr, Norfolk.
Patricius Chaworth,
Esq
Mr.
Thomas Curtis.
Captain
Sampson Coclough.
Andrew Cole,
Gent. Twelve Books.
William Carent,
Esq
Edmund Cradock,
Gent.
Mr.
Joseph Cooper.
The Right Honourable, The Lord
Conesby.
Mr.
John Clark.
Mr.
Richard Cooper,
of
Shrowsbury.
Mr.
John Coke.
Mr.
Richard Chiswell,
of
London,
Merchant.
D.
JAcob Davers,
Esq
William Daws,
M. D.
Dr.
Charles Davenant.
Edmund Dunch,
Esq
Earl of
Denbigh.
Sir
Thomas Dalyson,
Bar.
Mr.
William Durrad,
Mercer.
Mr.
William Dilton,
Fourteen Books.
Duke of
Devonshire.
Mrs.
Mary Dutton.
James Diskeen,
Gent.
Mr.
Drift.
Mr.
Joseph Dash.
Samuel Devischer.
Gent.
William Donning,
Esq
Mr.
Robert Donne.
The Right Honourable Lord
Day.
William Dickinson,
Gent.
His Grace the Duke of
Douglass.
The Right Honourable, The Lady
Donnegal.
Mr.
William Dandy,
of
Cliffords-Inn,
Gent.
E.
ARthur Everard,
Esq
Thomas Ellis,
Esq
Mrs.
Ann Eeles.
Richard Eston, Aldersgate-street.
The Right Honourable, Earl of
Essex.
Mr.
John Evans.
Mr.
John Essington.
Mr.
Nathaniel Estwick.
Mr.
Thomas Eedes.
Anthony Earbery,
Gent.
F.
LOrd
Viscount Fitzharding.
Mr.
Benjamin Fox.
William Feilder,
Gent.
The Right Honourable, Lord Viscount
Fermannagh.
Mr.
Henry Frith,
of
Long Acre.
Mr.
Finch,
of the
Minories.
The Right Honourable, Lord
Forbus.
William Fortescue,
Esq
Mr.
Stephen Fouchers.
Mr.
Lawrence Fashions.
G.
THE Right Honourable, Lord Marquis of
Granby.
Mr.
Thomas Grahme,
Apothecary.
Mr;
Isaac Guiger,
in
Mark-Lane.
Sir
James Gray,
Bart.
John Groves,
Esq
Mr.
Le-Grand.
Richard Graham,
Gent.
Mr.
John Grace.
Mr.
John Gay.
Captain
John Goodwyn.
William Gosselin,
Esq
Seven Books.
William Gosselin,
Esq
again Seven Books.
The Reverend Mr.
Devereux Goodinge,
of St.
Dunstans, VVest.
Mr.
Thomas Glegg.
The Right Honourable, Countess of
Grenarde.
Joseph Girdler,
Esq
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Gent.
Mr.
Charles Green, Newgate-street.
Mountague Garrard Drake,
Esq
Mr.
John Gough.
Sir
William Gordon.
Mr.
Roger Gathorn.
H.
MRS
Katherine Humphreys.
Sir
William Hustler.
The Right Honourable, Lord
Halifax.
Arthur Hill,
Esq
Mrs.
Elizabeth Hastings.
Jonathan Holloway,
Esq
Mr.
Thomas Harvey.
James Hays,
Esq
Collonel
James Harcourt.
Collonel
Henry Hawker.
Robert Howard,
Esq
Mr.
James Hurst.
Mrs.
Hammond.
Reverend Mr.
Nathaniel Hough.
Francis Hays,
Gent.
Mrs.
Mary Hutchins.
Mr.
James Holland,
Fourteen Books.
Mr.
Halton, Cateaton-street.
Mr.
Henry Hyches, Bedford-street.
Robert Herne,
Gent.
Mr.
Robert Harris.
Mr.
George Holmes.
Mr.
Helliers,
Merchant.
Sir
James How,
Bar.
Mr.
Thomas Himore.
The Honourable, Sir
Thomas Hanmore.
John Harris,
Esq
George Huxley,
Gent.
The Rev
rend Mr.
Charles Humphreys,
A. M. Rector of
VVest-VVickham,
in
Kent.
I.
THE Right Honourable, Lady
Jermyn.
Mr.
Arthur Jesserys.
Mr.
Isaac Jacobs,
Merchant.
William Jordan,
Esq
Thomas Jennison,
Esq
Mr.
Thomas Jones.
Mrs.
Grace Johnson.
Edward Jones,
Gent.
K.
THE Right Honourable, Earl of
Kilmarock.
The Reverend, Mr.
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Two Books.
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of St.
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Sophia Napier.
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O.
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The Right Honourable, Countess of
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Edmund Ogden.
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Duke of
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Dutchess of
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Mr.
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of
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Six Books.
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Robert Peirce,
Merchant, at
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John Percival.
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Seven Books.
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Mr.
George Roberts.
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Read,
Woollen Draper.
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Thomas Robinson, Dean-street.
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T.
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THE HEADS Of the Two and Fifty CHAPTERS Are as follow.
I. OF the vast Extent of the
Turkish
Empire.
Page
1.
II. Of the
Turkish
Policy.
P.
5.
III. Of the Civil Government of the
Turks. P.
9.
IV. Of their Government Military.
P.
18.
V. Of their Naval Force.
P.
29.
VI. Of the Tenets of their Faith, and how differing from the
Persians. P.
38.
VII. Of the Ceremonies of the
Turkish
Religion.
P.
46.
VIII. Of the several Sects, into which they are divided.
P.
58.
IX. Of the
Turkish
Studies, and how far Learning is encourag'd among them.
P.
65.
X. Of the
Turkish
Morals.
P.
76.
XI. Of their Trade, Foreign and Domestick.
P.
85.
XII. Of the
Turkish
Habits.
P.
92.
XIII. Of their Wives, Concubines, Ways of Courtship, and Forms of Marriage.
P.
96.
XIV. Of the
Turkish
Women in general.
P.
109.
XV. Of the
Turkish
Customs, and Ceremonies in Conversation.
P.
116.
XVI. Of the
Turkish
Funerals.
P.
124.
XVII. Of the Publick and Private Buildings in
Turkey. P.
129.
XVIII. Of the City of
Constantinople. P.
135.
XIX. Of the
Grand Signior
's Seraglio.
P.
147.
XX. Of his Revenues.
P.
170.
XXI. Of the
Greeks
in their Modern State.
P.
173.
XXII. Of the
Graecian
Religion.
P.
182.
XXIII. Of the
Armenians,
and their Religion.
P.
185.
XXIV. Of the
Copties. P.
190.
XXV. Of the
Zinganees,
or the Race of the
Gypsies. P.
194.
XXVI. Of
Sestos
and
Abidos,
the Castles commanding the
Hellespont,
now call'd
Dardanelli,
and of the Ruins of
Old Troy. P.
202.
XXVII
Of the Islands in the
Aegean Sea. P.
207.
XXVIII. Of
Alexandria
in
Egypt. P.
219.
XIX. Of
Aethiopia,
and the Source of the
Nile,
with the Cause, Manner and Continuance of its Annual Inundation.
P.
222.
XXX. Of the Government of
Egypt. P.
227.
XXXI. Of the Learning and Morals of the
Egyptians. P.
230.
XXXII. Of the Beasts, Birds, and Serpents of
Egypt. P.
233.
XXXIII. Of the Cities of
Grand-Cairo, Memphis,
and
Babylon. P.
237.
XXXIV. Of the Pyramids of
Egypt,
and several new Discoveries therein, never yet Publish'd.
P.
245.
XXXV. Of the Trade of
Egypt. P.
259.
XXXVI. Of the Revenues of
Egypt,
and to what Ʋ ses applied.
P.
262.
XXXVII. Of the
Egyptian
Mummies, found in the Ancient Sepulchres of their Dead.
P.
263.
XXXVIII. Of that Part of
Egypt,
formerly the Land of
Goshen,
and of the Passage of Caravans thro' the
Libyan
Desarts.
P.
272.
XXXIX. Of the present State of the
Holy-Land. P.
275.
XL. Of
Jerusalem,
the Sacred Antiquities therein contain'd, and the Entertainment of Strangers in the Christian Monastery on Mount
Calvary. P.
278.
XLI. Of the Cities of
Palestine,
as they now are.
P.
291.
XLII. Of the River
Jordan,
and the Lake of
Sodom
and
Gomorrah. P.
296.
XLIII. Of the present State of the Christian Religion in
Palestine. P.
299.
XLIV. Of
Arabia
the Stony.
P.
303.
XLV. Of
Arabia
the Desart.
P.
307.
XLVI. Of
Arabia
the Happy.
P.
312.
XLVII. Of the Red Sea.
P.
314.
XLVIII. Of the
Turks
Pilgrimage to
Mahomet
's Tomb, with their Ceremonies at
Mecca
and
Medina Telnaby. P.
317.
XLIX. Of the
Arabians,
their Government, and Way of Living.
P.
325.
L. Probable Conjectures concerning the Ten Tribes of
Israel,
which were carried away Captive, by
Shalmanezer,
King of
Assyria,
2
Kings
Chap. 17.
P.
328.
LI. Instructions to the Traveller, who would make a Safe and Profitable Journey into those Parts.
P.
332.
LII. The Conclusion.
P.
338.
The following
ERRATA,
which escap'd the Press, the Reader is desir'd to Correct with his Pen, and pardon accidental
Literal Faults,
from the same Occasion.
IN the two last
Lines
of the last Paragraph of Page 257, read, instead of
round with stately Chambers,
&c. round stately Chambers,
&c.
indented with,
&c.
In the
Preface,
Page 14. Line 2. for
Prentence,
read
Pretence.
In the Body of the Book, Page 3. Line 46. for
Balsora
read
Balsara.
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p. 36 l. 16, r.
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The Present STATE OF
AETHIOPIA,
&c.
CHAPTER I. Of the Vast Extent of the
Turkish
Empire.
The Cause of the
Turks
Success.
THE
Turks
arriv'd at their amazing Grandeur from so obscure an Origin, that the invaded World stood wondering at their Growing Fortunes, while they shou'd have endeavour'd to repulse, by a vigorous Opposition, the bold Incursions of their encroaching Numbers. And as at this Day they owe the quiet Possession of their former Acquisitions to the Supine Negligence, and Civil Discords of the Christian World; so the same Neglects, and dissonant Interests and Affections, first built their Glory on the Entire Subversion of our Jarring Ancestors. But 'twill be needless to insert here any more of their History than will be found necessary, for the more easy Comprehension of their present Condition.
The Origin of the
Turks.
WHETHER push'd on by Famine, or expell'd by the prevailing Power of contending Neighbours, is altogether uncertain, A Body of Adventurous
Scythians
forsook their Country, in the Year of
Christ
; 844, and, inur'd to Hardships by the daily Prospects of Familiar Dangers, pass'd o'er the
Caspian Mountains,
and wrested forcibly the Possession of
ARMENIA MAJOR
from its surpriz'd Inhabitants. From the Appellation of its New-come Masters, it receiv'd its present Name of
TƲ RCOMANIA,
who strengthen'd by the daily Accession of their Wand'ring Countrymen, grew strongly planted in their Conquer'd Habitation, and were, soon after, able to send 3000 Men, under the Command of
Tangrolipix
the Chief of the
Selzuccians,
a Family Eminent among them, to the Assistance of
Mahomet
the
Persian Sultan,
who by their prevailing Valour, gave a happy turn to his declining Fortune: But the
Babylonian Caliph
being Overthrown,
Tangrolipix
offering to withdraw his Forces, was detain'd unwillingly by the Arbitrary Power of his ungrateful
Ally:
This bred a warm Resentment in the
Turkish
Soldiers, who retiring to a Wood, increas'd their Numbers by a daily Reception of deserting
Persians
;
Their Advancement to the Empires of
Persia
and
Babylon.
till at last, they Overthrew the
Sultan
in a bloody Battle, and by the mutual Consent of both Armies,
Tangrolipix,
in place of the deceas'd
Mahomet,
was declar'd
Sultan
of
Persia
and
Babylon.
Stupendious Fortune favour'd the Attempts of his active Successors, till the Glorious Expedition of the United Christians redeem'd the Conquer'd
Syria
from their Usurp'd Dominion.
Their Ruin by the
Tartars.
Various was their future Fortune, sometimes Gaining, sometimes Losing, till the Empire of
Tangrolipix
was wholly Subverted by an unexpected Inundation of the Conquering
Tartars
;
They rise again.
To whom the Flying
Turks
abandon'd the Possession of their enlarg'd Dominions, and joining with their Country-Men of the
Selzuccian
Race in
Asia Minor,
they follow'd the Fortunes of the Successful
Aladine,
who Invading the neglected Corners of the
Graecian
Empire, then Warring with the
Latines,
Possess'd himself of
Cilicia
and the Neighbouring Countries, Erecting, at
Sebastia,
the Arbitrary Throne of a New-won Kingdom.
Are entirely ruin'd in all Parts.
BUT they enjoy'd not long a quiet Possession of their easy Conquests, for the
arring Sons of
Aladine
dismembred their Dominion by a mutual Opposition to each others Interest, till the fourth King from the Founder of that Monarchy, became a Tributary Vassal to the Victorious
Tartar,
who had now entirely broken their large Empire in the Greater
Asia,
as the Successful
Mamalukes
had drove their Country-Men out of
Egypt
: But the
Tartars
neglecting their numerous Acquisitions, the remaining
Turks
seeing no Power to prevent their Wills, divided with their Interests, the dismembred Country; And he that had Strength enough to take Possession, enjoy'd the Government of whatever Part his Inclination led him to make Choice of.
ERTOGRIEL,
the Son of
Solyman,
a Principal Member of the
Oguzian
Family, had, with an unexpected Supply, successfully Assisted
Sultan Aladine
in a doubtful Battle; and was Rewarded with the Possession of
Siguta,
a
Bithynian
Lordship, in which he settled his separated Family, whose unstable Residence had, till then, oblig'd them to wander thro' the various Mazes of an uncertain Fortune: And after a long and peaceable Possession, having gain'd the Affection of
Christians
and
Turks
by his mild Disposition, he dy'd in the Year of Christ, 1289, and left behind him three Sons,
Osman, Saragutin,
and
Iundas.
The Rise and Antiquity of the
Ottoman
Empire.
OSMAN
was Elected by the
Oguzians
to his Fathers Government, who taking the opportunity of resenting some Outrages committed by the Neighb'ring
Greeks,
Invaded their Dominions, Overthrew their Armies in several Pitch'd Battles, and having made himself Master of the City of
Nice,
was, after the Death of
Aladine,
Elected to the Dignity of
Sultan,
and reigning 27 Years, he wrested from the
Greeks, Cappadocia, Bithynia,
and most of the Fortify'd Towns which border'd on the
Euxine
Sea, till in the Year 1300, he chose
Neapolis
for his Regal Seat, and from thence we date the Original of the present
Turkish
Empire.
Then successive Conquests.
OSMAN
was Succeeded by his Son
Ʋ rchan,
whose successful Attempts on the
Graecian
Provinces, so much enlarg'd his Dominions, that he fix'd his Seat of Empire at the Great City of
Prusa
; which retain'd that Honour until
Mahomet
the First, after several Acquisitions in the
European Greece,
removed it to
Adrianople.
The Successors of this Prince continued their Invasions on the remaining Branches of the
Graecian
Empire, till by the unparallell'd Negligence of the State, then disagreeing with their Emperour, they lost their Ancient City
Constantinople,
to the prevailing Forces of a Second
Mahomet
; who by this additional Glory, was justly Honour'd with the Title of
Great
; the Loss of their
Metropolis
was fatally succeeded, by an entire Subversion of their Shatter'd
Empire.
Continuation of their History.
THE Successors of
Mahomet
by yearly Acquisitions enlarg'd their Territories in
Europe
and
Asia
; which at last not contenting them, the Victorious
Selym
extended his Dominion over
Syria
and
Egypt
; bringing the
Arabians
under his Authority, and raising the Foundation of a Larger Power, on the bloody Ruin of the Subverted
Mamalukes
; since when, the latter
Sultans
have added to their Dominions most of the Islands in the
Aegean
Sea;
Rhodes,
with those Noble Knights, who so vigorously Defended the Seat of their Order, submitted at last, to the Irresistible Power of the Successful
Solyman; Cyprus
was oblig'd to fall before the Conquering Armies of the Second
Selym
; and since then, so prodigiously have they spread their Conquests, that they now enjoy a free, and unmolested Possession of the Noblest Parts of
Asia, Europe,
and the Remoter
Africa,
on which Extensive Foundation, they have certainly built the most absolute Empire, and Arbitrary Monarchy, that has ever flourish'd since the Worlds Original.
Extent of the
Turkish
Empire.
FOR First, the
Western
Part of its
European
Dominion, is extended to the very Borders of the once-lost
Hungary,
stretching to the
Adriatick
by the
Ragusean
Confines, bounded on the
South
by the
Mediterranean
Sea, on the
East
with
Pontus, Propontis
and the
Aegean,
even to the
Scythian Chersonesus
;
Poland
and
Russia
scarce bound its
Northern
Limits. Within this vast Extent of Empire are contain'd, the fertil Territories of the fam'd
Romania, Servia, Rascia,
and
Bulgaria: Valachia
and
Moldavia
pay Tribute to its Power;
Albania, Epirus, Macedonia, Bosnia
and
Greece,
are now entirely
Turkish
; and the fruitful Islands of the
Aegean
Sea, with those of
Candy, Rhodes,
and
Cyprus,
acknowledge now no Lord but him.
Their Empire in
Asia.
HIS
Asiatick
Territories contain that vast Tract of Land between the
Euxine, Cilician,
and
Aegean
Seas;
viz. Bithynia, Pontus, Phrygia, Galatia, Lycia, Cappadocia, Pamphylia, Cilicia,
and the vast Extent of
Armenia Minor
; stretching
Northward
from
Colchis
to
Catai,
and
Eastward
to the inaccessible Mountains of the Hardy
Georgians. Armenia Major
is now mostly theirs;
Babylonia, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Coelosyria,
and
Palestine,
are altogether in the
Turks
Possession, as are the vast Dominions of the Three
Arabia's.
Their Dominions in
Africa.
IN
Africa
it stretches along the unmeasur'd Coasts of the
Mediterranean,
from the Red-Sea to the inmost Parts of the
Mauritanian
Country, including
Tripoli, Tunis, Fez, Algiers,
and
Morocco,
so vastly Large are the usurp'd Dominions of these encroaching Infidels: But that the Reader may more plainly comprehend the
Whole
by a Measure of some
Parts,
I have Calculated the following Account for his more particular Satisfaction.
PALƲ S Moeotis
entirely his, spreads full a Thousand Miles into the Land; The Circuit of the
Euxine
or Black-Sea contains at least Two Thousand Six Hundred Miles; Three Thousand Two Hundred Miles scarce compass
Egypt
; and as much of the
Mediterranean
Coast as is subject to the
Turk,
contains above Seven Thousand Miles in compass; From the
Caspian Derbent
to
Aden
on the Red-Sea is Three Thousand and odd Miles; and near Four Thousand Miles from
Tremessen
in
Barbary
to
Balsora
on the
Persian Gulf.
So that the amazing Conquests of the
Macedonian Alexander
are swallow'd at a Morsel, by the swifter Acquisitions of a Modern Empire; The stupendious Victories of the successful
Jews
outdone by these; The mighty Power of the
Egyptian
Monarchs intirely baffled by the
Turkish
Soldiers; The
Graecian
Empire, once so famous for its Military Atchievements, divided into Provinces by One far Greater;
Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Lacedaemonia,
and those numerous Governments, so fam'd for their abounding Vertues, are all involved in one Common Ruin, and the Glorious Actions of their Prodigious Hero's forgotten and unimitated, by the broken Spirits of their supine Posterity.
The Conveniencies of their
Metropolis.
NOR wants this vast Dominion any thing that is requisite for the strenuous Support of its exalted Splendour; its very Situation seems to speak it built upon the Loftiest Columns of
Ʋ niversal Monarchy
; for its equal Division between
Europe
and
Asia,
has plac'd it in the Center of the Surrounding World, whereby they are ever ready to enlarge their Conquests either way, and have fresh Supplies still near at hand, to reinforce their broken Troops in every Corner; while his Imperial City, the Ancient
Constantinople,
standing so Commodiously on the extreamest Limits of those joyning Regions, is officiously attended by Two Neighb'ring Seas, whose meeting Waters gliding by the Walls of the Magnificent
Seraglio,
bring Wealth and Honour to this Potent Lord, and lay the various Treasures of the Earth, at the Worshipp'd Feet of their Illustrious
Monarch.
The Titles of the
Turkish
Emperour.
NOTHING can in a more lively manner express the Sense they have of their extended Power, than that affected Vanity with which their haughty
Sultans
swell their Titles, as
"King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, Ruler of the
East
and
West,
and of all Parts of the World, Prince of the Holy and Chast City
Jerusalem.
Shining with the Brightness of God, Thrice happy Lord of the Refulgent
Mecca,
Tamer of Infidels, and Scourger of the Unbelieving Race of Christian Vassals; Lord of the White and Black Seas, The most Mighty and Invincible
Sultan,
who has Power from God to Rule all People with a Bridle, and to break open the Gates and Bars of all Cities and Strong Places, into whose Almighty Hands, are deliver'd all the Ends of the World, none excepted."
These and many such-like Titles, are proudly Challeng'd by the Imperious
Ottomans,
who, in former Times, have Blasphemously presum'd to take upon them the very Attributes of the Almighty: But of late they are become more Modest, which may proceed from the numerous Disappointments, that in the Modern Wars, have so frequently baffled their presumptuous Armies, and by curbing the Designs of their ambitious
Sultans,
taught 'em better how to know themselves and prize their Neighbours; yet, notwithstanding the Inglorious Reigns of several Modern Emperors, have added nothing to their Territories, they still continue in a full Possession of their former Acquisitions, and are not only able to Defend
their own,
but Conquer
other
Countries, shou'd the Warlike Spirit of some more Active
Sultan
once lead 'em out to
Action.
CHAP. II. Of the
Turkish
Policy.
THE Political Maxims of an Arbitrary Government, may not improperly be compar'd to the spreading Roots and twisting Fibres of some Tall Oak, whose elevated Heigth exposing it to double Danger, by the raging Force of Stormy Winds among its Branches, has no Security but the Rooted Depth, by which it is supported against the strongest Efforts of contending Tempests; and certainly a Government so vastly Large, so inexpressibly Rich, and so strangely different from all other, must be supported strongly by some uncommon Policy; without which Guard, the daring Ambition of aspiring Princes, and the formidable violences of intestine Discords, would like some surprizing Earthquake, break fiercely thro' the Bands of Duty, and by their factious Consequences involve the Empire in most inevitable Ruin.
THAT I may with greater ease Describe the solid Foundations, upon which the
Turks
have built their Safety, 'twill be necessary to divide their Maxims into Two Parts. The First, are those by which the
Sultan
supports securely his unrival'd Grandeur, and the sure Dominion of his extensive Empire. The Second, are such Notions as are taught his Subjects with the earliest Rudiments of their common Knowledge, and diffuse with ease a certain Awful Duty, or almost Idolatrous Veneration thro' the whole Country for the Person of their Emperour; and are the only causes of that mild Obedience and miserable Servitude, with which they own themselves his Slaves, and endeavour vigorously to exert an uncommon Industry, in hopes to gain some Mark of Favour from the inestimable Bounty of their Common Master.
The first Maxim of the
Turkish
Policy.
I shall begin with the
Sultan,
whose first Maxim of Policy is to Depopulate as much as may be the remoter Parts of his wide Empire, the more effectually to strengthen its Center.
The Reasons upon which this Maxim is founded.
The Reasons he gives to prove the Usefulness of this Maxim are these, First, That Countries far distant from his Eye, might with more ease and less danger be induc'd to some fatal Rebellion, were the Number of their Inhabitants but any way proportionable to the Conveniency of their Situation. Secondly, By the miserable and barren Condition of a dis-peopled Country, 'twould be found a matter of inconceivable difficulty, for an Invading Enemy to penetrate their Empire with a numerous Army; since their Troops without the chargeable Inconvenience of vast quantities of Provisions, would never be able to subsist in a Country, whose flying handful of Inhabitants, would immediately convey what little Stores their Poverty afforded them, to Woods and Mountains, and Places inaccessible to People unacquainted with the Passes of the Country: Another Reason is, the utter impossibility, which Discarded Favorites (by this Means) find to escape the Anger of their Offended
Sultan
; for knowing no Place capable of Assisting or Concealing them, unless they Retire to some
Christian
Country, they rather choose a voluntary Resignation of their Lives and Fortunes to the undisputed Will of their Great Master; and quietly submit their Necks to the Sword of the Executioner.
BUT considering on the other side, that the Strength and Glory of a Prince does chiefly consist in the Numbers of his People, he is ever careful not only to draw to the Center the Conquer'd Inhabitants of his disp
opled Frontiers; but by the subtle Bait of some inveigling Privileges, is constantly attracting innumerable Quantities of Tributary
Christians,
to Embrace the Doctrine of their Fallacious Religion, and by becoming Members of the
Mahometan
Faith, enjoy the Possession of some little Marks of Distinction, purposely deny'd to their more honest Fellows, who bravely prompted by the Dictates of their Vertue, can without concern despise those gaudy Trifles of a fansied Happiness, and dare prefer the heavy Chains of honest Slavery, to all the guilty Pleasures of an Apostates Liberty.
Second Maxim.
HIS Second Maxim is, That the only way to preserve a Domestick Quiet, is to employ the Heads and Hands of his Subjects in some Foreign War:
Its Reasons.
The numerous Advantages which accrue from this Maxim are so Conspicuous as scarce to need an Explanation; for by this means he is continually enlarging the Bounds of his Dominions, or at least improving the vast Numbers of his Soldiers, in an Instructive Practice of all the various and necessary Points of Military Discipline: By these means he preserves himself secure from the sudden Violence of Domestick Rebellion; for the search of Glory firing the Breasts of Officers and Soldiers, they unanimously bend their utmost Endeavours to encrease the Power of their extended Empire, which a lazy Peace might rather prompt them to Destroy: For the working Brains of Men inur'd to War and Danger, will abhor the Rust of idle Sloth, and stir up gradually an Ambitious Fire in the Breast of the Soldier, to lay a sudden hold on some inviting Opportunity, and raise himself to Power and Honour, upon the bloody Ruin of his surpriz'd Commander.
Third Maxim.
IN the Administration of his Justice he holds it a necessary Maxim, that a tedious Legality is far more dangerous than a swift Injustice:
Its Reasons.
His Reasons for this are, First, The Fear and Awe which so rigid a manner of Proceeding infuses strongly into the Hearts of his Subjects, making them ever ready to obey his most irrational Commands with an unexampled Willingness; and terrifying their Reflections with so deep a Sense of his Power, as to deter them from the smallest Inclination to a dangerous Disobedience; and Secondly, tho' some by so hasty a Severity may unjustly suffer, yet Numbers are by their Examples frightned from Villanous Actions, whose Natures and Necessities, would otherwise incline them, to a constant Practice of the blackest Vices.
Fourth Maxim.
ANOTHER Maxim teaches them, That Learning is of all things the most dangerous to an Arbitrary Monarchy.
Its Reasons.
For First, Was Knowledge encourag'd by the happy Advantages of a liberal Education, the Genius of their People would soon become much more refin'd, and consequently the gross Absurdities and fictitious Lessons of their
Alcoran,
be look'd upon with Indignation, when compar'd with the Brighter Doctrine of the Christian Religion. They would soon discover the fallacious Dreams and vain Delusions of their fansied Paradise, and throw off (with their Ignorance) the dull Stupidity of their slavish Ancestors, they would soon perceive the Felicity of other Nations in a Glorious Liberty, and casting off the Yoak they had so long submitted to, attempt unanimously some wondrous Revolution, and weary of a shameful Fate in their so long Subjection to a Tyrannical Government, redeem their Honour with their long lost Liberties, and Triumph in the Ruin of their Subverted
Sultan.
Another Reason for this Maxim is, a Notion commonly receiv'd in
Turky,
that the Use of Letters is altogether inconsistent with the rougher Genius of a Warlike Nation; and that Learning if encourag'd would lull their Faculties in a silent love of Study, till sinking in the soft indulgence of a Philosophical Solitude, they would neglect entirely the more noble Practice of those Martial Exercises, whose successful Application has bravely rais'd them to the glorious Empire, which now distinguishes them from the less Powerful World.
Fifth Maxim.
BUT above all these, there is One Maxim the constant Care and Security of the
Turkish Sultans,
and that is to be serv'd by such Men as they can Raise without Envy, and Destroy without Danger. This they put in Practice by admitting none to the Honour or Trust of great Preferments, but such as have been brought up under the strictest Discipline of a
Seraglio
Education: They are generally the Sons of
Christian
Parents, taken Captives by the wand'ring Incursions of the Roving
Tartar,
and sent by way of the
Black Sea
to
Constantinople
as to a Common Market: Out of great Numbers of these there are Yearly Chosen a certain Quantity for the
Grand Signior
's
Seraglio,
where at their first Admission they are carefully Instructed in the Rudiments of the
Turkish
Language and Religion. Thence proceeding gradually as qualified in Body or Mind, from the laborious Practices of the meanest Drudgeries, to the loftiest Studies of their more Polite Accomplishments, till their Knowledge and Experience encreasing with their Years, they are Preferr'd at last to some Place of
Honour
about the Person of their
Emperour,
and thence advanc'd as Occasion offers to the Government of some Principality, a Seat of Justice, or Command in the Army, whichsoever their Genius has chiefly seem'd to bend them to:
Its Reasons.
And by these Means being Educated from their Infancy with a servile Awe upon their Spirits, their Endeavours are entirely bent to please their
Sultan
; and starting from so severe a Discipline to the Seat of
Power,
without Friend or Parent to assist them in their Enterprizes, they have no possibility of attempting with the smallest likelihood of Success the least Design against the Interest of their
Sovereign
: But besides this, The
Grand Signior
has another Method no less Politick, to prevent them from making an ill use of the Authority he trusts them with; and that is the frequent Change of Officers, often calling them from one
Government
to take
Possession
of
another
in some far distant Part of the
Country
; by which means having no time to fix an Interest with the People that are under them, they are absolutely debarr'd from the smallest Hopes of Success in an Attempt against the
Person
or
Power
of their
Sultan,
who seldom continues them so long as Three Years in one Place; and as if in that time there was danger of a
Revolt,
takes care by other Methods to render it still more impracticable, for giving them no Money, when he prefers them to a
Government,
and themselves Possessing nothing but what they receive from his Bounty, they are oblig'd to borrow great Sums on Credit to furnish out their Equipage, for which the
Christian
Merchants exacting often
Cent per Cent
Interest; they have no other way to pay these Debts, than by a barbarous Oppression of the
Provinces
they are sent to, and knowing their time to be but short, they seldom fail by Arbitrary Methods to enrich themselves for ever after, by a Three Years Plunder of the poor Inhabitants; by which means they become odious to the People, who would be so far from assisting them against the
Sultan,
as readily to embrace the smallest Opportunity for revenging their Misfortunes in the Death or Ruin of their Tyrannick Governour; By which the
Grand Signior
's Power stands more unshaken than that of
Christian
Princes, who have too often suffer'd by the Ambitious Inclinations of Rebellious Subjects.
THESE are the most noted Maxims of the
Eastern
Policy, whereby the
Turkish
Emperours maintain an uncontroul'd Authority over their so vast Dominions: Others there are, which being taught the People as Essential Points of Duty and Religion, oblige them quietly to bend their Necks, and calmly stoop to the galling Yoak of an Ignoble Slavery.
Sixth Maxim.
AND First, Obedience to the
Sultan
's Will is taught them as a Duty, the neglect whereof, will draw down the Curses of God and
Mahomet
upon themselves and their Posterity: His Word must ever be a settled Law, and Infallibility a peculiar Perfection of his Nature: None dare believe he errs, and tho' his Actions appear altogether inconsistent with Reason or Humanity, they must rather question the perspicuity of their Senses, than presume to think he ever can be guilty: Nay, so widely has this crafty Lesson spread its Doctrine, that to die by the Hand or Mandate of their Emperour, is look'd upon by these deluded Wretches as a never failing Passport to the Gates of Paradise; and so Sacred a Veneration do they pay to the Person of this Idoliz'd
Sultan,
as if his People were destin'd as an inferior Species of Mortality, to serve the mighty End of his Creation: The better to support this awful Sense of Fear and Duty, the Expounders of their Law have fix'd a Notion in the Superstitious Breasts of the Common People, that they can never pay too deep a Veneration to the Person of their Emperour, since the good or evil Fate of the
Turkish
Empire depends entirely on the Preservation or Extinction of the
Ottoman
Family.
Seventh Maxim.
ANOTHER Maxim among the
Turks
declares, That Merit is the only valuable Nobility,
Its Reasons.
whereby the Meanest of their People exert their utmost Industry in the pursuit of Honour, as knowing they must owe their Fortune to their own Personal Worth, and not the Hereditary Possession of Lands and Tenements from the successful Labours of industrious Ancestors, for the
Grand Signior
is the common Heir to all Mens Estates, and distributing some small Part among the Children, leaves them to cut out their own way to Riches and Preferment, and throws in the remainder amongst the numerous Heaps of his own prodigious Treasure.
Eight Maxim.
ANOTHER Opinion not a little conducive to the
Turkish
Interest is, That those who die in Battle against a
Christian
Enemy are immediately Transported into Paradise, as a Reward for their Courage.
Its Reasons.
'Tis no great difficulty to guess the Effects of such a Notion on the thoughtless Crowd, who are thereby at all times willing to Invade a
Christian
Country, and hurried forward to a zealous Madness by so encouraging a Doctrine, fall rashly on, and prove too often fatal Instruments of Death and Vengeance.
Ninth Maxim.
THERE is another Maxim of their Policy, which seems to have been owing to the vast Successes of their Arms in the Infancy of their Empire, and that is, To look upon Prosperity as an infallible Sign of God's owning the Justice and Legality of their Endeavours:
Its Reasons.
By these Means they have encourag'd their Armies to a constant Assurance of repeated Successes, from the favourable Consequences of one single Victory, and drawn in prodigious Numbers of Voluntary Soldiers to the assistance of a Cause, which such propitious Omens had induc'd them to believe must necessarily entitle them to the Smiles of Providence.
Tenth Maxim.
THERE is a Law amongst the
Turks,
which I believe was introduc'd from an ancient Maxim of their Political Government, strictly prohibiting all Subjects to the
Grand Signior
from Travelling for Improvement of their Knowledge and Experience, into any Country not under his Authority, especially such Parts of the World as are enlightned by the Heavenly Rays of
Christian
Doctrine; and so very nicely is this Law observ'd amongst them, that he who is accus'd of having broken it without a positive Order or Permission from the Court, is often punish'd in an Exemplary manner, and his Goods and Chattels forfeited thereby, to whatsoever Use the
Sultan
shall assign them.
Its Reasons,
THE numerous Advantages arising to their Government from so strict a Prohibition of a Custom, so diverting to the curious Inquisitions of our
Europaean
Gentlemen, are so obvious to the Judgment of a Common Reader, that they hardly need a farther Explanation; since every Body must perceive, the chief Design of this so useful Maxim was to Cloak the Fallacies of their deceitful Doctrine, from the hoodwink'd Eyes of its Professors, whose clouded Apprehensions, fatally Illuminated by a
Christian
Conversation, might probably be brought to an entire Discovery of that inglorious Servitude in which they live, and tempt their Courage to assume new Fire, and redeem their Minds from an Erroneous Superstition, while they bravely chang'd the base Subjection of their Insulted Bodies for the generous Enjoyment of a Nobler Liberty: And how far the continuance of this subtle Maxim may be serviceable to their Interest, does beyond dispute appear in the good Effects it has hitherto produc'd; and the frequent Insurrections and intestine Jarrs that almost Yearly happen on such of their Frontiers, as by their nearness of Situation to the
Christian
Countries, have render'd their Inhabitants no ways Strangers to the difference of their Government.
MANY besides these are the Political Maxims of the
Turkish
Nation, but I shall content my self with having nam'd the Chief, and those on which they build the Pillars of their Constitution; and will proceed in the next Chapter to give as full an Account as I can of the peculiar Form and artful Management of their
Civil Government.
CHAP. III. Of the Civil Government of the
Turks.
TIS Perhaps the most difficult Undertaking a Man can put himself upon, to write of the numerous Intricacies of Foreign Governments, and particularly One like that of
Turkey
; the Native Haughtiness of whose Insulting People, and their coy Deportment to the Travelling Subjects of a
Christian
Country, are so many inaccessible Barriers to the Curiosity of their Observations: But 'tis a Task yet more difficult to endeavour a satisfactory Description of that Part of their Constitution which composes this Chapter, since the Offices of their Religion are so closely interwoven with those of their Law, that 'tis almost impossible to treat of either without involving both in a promiscuous Confusion.
HOWEVER that I may the more easily avoid the disagreeable Obscurity of so unnecessary a Conjunction, I shall gradually proceed to an Account of the Places of Trust and great Offices of their Empire, as they now differ from, or are dependant on, each other.
BY the foregoing Chapters, the prodigious Power and unlimited Authority of the
Turkish Sultan
has been fully taught the Reader: But tho' his Rule is Arbitrary, and his Sway Despotick and Tyrannical, he submits the Management of his Large Dominions to the depending Government of a deputed
Viceroy
; and indeed it has ever been the Custom of the
Eastern
Emperors to Constitute some favour'd Subject in a Degree of Honour next themselves, a Custom by many Authors condemn'd, as owing its Institution to the slothful Disposition of some Inglorious Monarch, wholly given up to Ease and Luxury;
The Policy of Constituting a
Vice-roy
a great Support of the Sultans Power.
but in my Opinion founded on the subtle Maxims of a deeper Policy; for by these means, the Emperours may not only, when they please, unbend their Minds from the fatiguing Cares of an intangled Government, but when the growing Anger of their injur'd Subjects provoke them to a Resentment of their oppressive Cruelties, they throw the odium of their own Injustice upon their Guiltless
Viceroy
; who skreening the Miscarriages of his Imprudent
Sultan
from the Revenge of a Rebellious Multitude, becomes himself the Object of their Hatred, and lays the Foundation of his Masters Safety, on the Peaceful Consequences of his own Destruction.
The manner of Creating a
Grand Vizier.
THIS Officer among the
Turks
is distinguish'd by the Title of
Vizier Azem,
or Councellour in Chief to the
Grand Signior,
from whom all Power is immediately deriv'd to him, and by whom he is Created without any other Ceremony than the delivery of a large Golden Seal, whereon is Engrav'd the Name and Age of the then Reigning
Sultan
; this Seal he always carries in his Bosom, and becomes thereby Invested with an Authority almost as Arbitrary and Unlimited as that of the Emperour himself.
The Antiquity of this Office.
AMƲ RATH
the Third was the Institutor of this Office, at a time when breaking into
Europe,
he conferr'd the Dignity of General and Chief Councellour on one
Lala Schabin
his Tutor, since which time his Successors have continued to appoint some favour'd Subject to the Dignity of
Vizier Azem,
and honour those Officers with the Name of Tutor as often as they hold Conversation with them.
His Business and Authority.
THE
Vizier Azem,
as in Title, so in Power, is the Head and Mouth of the
Turkish
Law; to him Appeals are brought from all their Courts of Judicature, and by him the former Sentences of Inferiour Judges are frequently disannull'd, and the Cause decided in favour of the Party who before had lost it. There lies no Appeal beyond him, unless to the Person of the
Grand Signior
; and that so very difficult, that 'tis very rarely put in Practice.
The manner of Appealing to the Grand Signior.
The manner of doing it is so odd and different from the
Europaean
Customs, that the Reader will be inclin'd to pardon the Digression if I describe the Ceremony as briefly as is possible: At certain Hours of the Day, when the Gates of the
Seraglio
are set open for the Admittance of great Numbers of Citizens and Others, whose Business with the Officers of that Place require their daily Attendance there, the Persons who would complain of any grievous Injury they have suffer'd, and which the Injustice or Connivance of the
Grand Vizier
has refus'd to redress, enter hastily the Outward Court, and putting Pots of Fire upon their Heads run swiftly forward, nor dare the greatest Officer presume to stop them, till they arrive in the Presence of the
Grand Signior,
and humbling themselves at his Feet, declare the weighty Wrongs they labour under, and implore the gracious Mark of his unquestion'd Justice in a kind Redress of their Oppressive Injuries.
THERE is a private
Divan
or Court of Justice held in the Palace of the
Vizier Azem
every Wednesday and Thursday; on the other Days (excepting Friday, which is the
Turkish
Sabbaoth) the
Divan
is kept in an open Chamber of the
Seraglio,
whither the
Vizier
is magnificently Attended by a great number of Pursuivants and Serjeants; at his Arrival he is saluted with the noisy Acclamations of the People, and guarded by a sort of Soldiers, maintain'd purposely for that Use, to his Place upon the Bench; where being Seated with the
Cadeelescheer
or Lord Chief Justice, and Six
Viziers
of the Ben
, who are Grave Men that have formerly born Offices in the Government, and are skill'd in the Knowledge of their Law, but not permitted to give their Opinions on any Point unless demanded by him. He listens to the Judgment of the Lord Chief Justice, who hears and determines all Causes, unless the
Vizier
shall disapprove his Sentence, and Reverse it as he thinks is most agreeable to the Justice of the Cause, or his own private Inclinations.
THUS much may serve as to the Judicative Power of the
Grand Vizier,
but is far from expressing the utmost Limits of his Authority, which extends its self so far beyond that of the other Great Officers of the Empire, that tho' he cannot by virtue of his own immediate Order take off their Heads, or recall them from their Governments, he has so great an Interest in the
Grand Signior,
that he can, without the smallest Difficulty obtain his Warrant for the Displacing or Beheading any Officer at Court or elsewhere, who has unfortunately disoblig'd him, or stands obnoxious to the danger of his Envy.
IN time of War he has the Command in Chief of the
Sultan
's Armys, and leads them where he pleases, without the least necessity of waiting for his Master's Order. He gives Audience to the Embassadors of Foreign Princes, Receives and Answers the Contents of their Memorials, and is in short the only Master of the Executive Power over the
Grand Signior
's whole Dominions.
The Splendour of his Court.
ANSWERABLE to the vast Authority of this great Officer is the pompous State in which he Lives; his Court consisting frequently of Five and Twenty Hundred Servants, including the Officers about him; when he appears Abroad he is distinguish'd not only by the Splendour of his Equipage, but the bearing on the fore part of his Turbant Two large Feathers, set on with a great Knot of Diamonds and other Jewels of inestimable Value, the peculiar Mark of his Degree, the
Bashaws
being permitted to wear but One, and the
Sultan
himself never appearing with more than Three: Three Horse-tails are carried before him on a lofty Staff, another distinguishing Mark of his Authority. Great Numbers of stately Horses adorn'd with Trappings of Gold and Silver set thick with Precious Stones are led before him; his Stirrops held by the obsequious Hands of his surrounding Slaves, and his Garment kiss'd with the most profound Respect by endless Crowds of prostrate Officers, whose servile Souls encline their Actions to the basest Practice of a vile Subjection to Men by Fortune plac'd above them, while they basely Triumph over the miserable Wretches that are under their Command, with all the haughty Marks of an insulting Arrogance.
His Revenues and Advantages.
PRODIGIOUS and beyond Belief are the amazing Profits arising from this Post to the Coffers of its Possessor: For tho' the Revenues of the
Grand Vizier,
or his immediate Salary from the Crown does scarce exceed Five Thousand Pounds
per annum,
'tis yet impossible to guess the vast Advantages it brings him; for besides the great Sums of Money he receives from the Numbers of his Petitioners, who, be their Business of what nature it will, dare never move it empty Handed, there are daily Rivolets of Plenty from all Parts of the Empire flowing to his Treasury: No Subject to the
Grand Signior
dares enter on a Place of Power, till by the moving Rhetorick of some considerable Present he has brib'd the Favour of the
Grand Vizier
; without which he is always sensible his Head will surely pay the Forfeit of his Avarice. There are certain times of the Year, when all the Governours of Provinces are oblig'd to send Presents to the
Sultan,
after the manner of our
New-Years-Gifts,
and tho' there is no Obligation which compels them at that time to remember the
Vizier,
a fatal Experience of the Consequences of such a Neglect has often convinc'd them, that, tis highly Dangerous to forget him; The Rulers of the Remotest Branches of the
Turkish
Empire are Oblig'd to Court his Favourable Representation of their services with the Perswasive Oratory of their Golden Messengers, and in short no Man who omits his Duty this way can reasonably hope a long Possession of his Honours or Preferments.
BY these means a
Vizier
of a Covetous Disposition, who loses no Advantage he may Reap from his Authority, has such Incredible Opportunities of Encreasing his Wealth, that many at the Death which generally Attends their short liv'd Splendor, have been found Possessors of such Immense Heaps of Treasure as have Equall'd if not exceeded that of the
Grand Signior
their Master; But those very Riches which still render this High Office desireable in the Emulative Breasts of the
Turkish
Candidates, are the very Poyson of its Pleasures, and to a Genius blest with a serious Contemplation on the Frailties of Humanity would open all the dangers of its Gawdy Glories and rather frighten him from their search than allure him to their Possession.
The Office of
Vizier,
a Dangerous Station.
FOR few there are who long enjoy the Slippery Honours of this wish'd Preferment; the
Sultan
's Policy forbids a long Permission of such unbounded Power, and urges him to frequent changes of such dangerous Officers, nor are there many, who survive the loss of this High Post, for having some time serv'd like a necessary Sponge to gather Riches for the
Sultan
's use, he Squeezes them at last into his own vast Treasure; and to free himself from all the fears of their Resentment, invents some Plausible pretence to take them off and put others in their Place, to grow up Gradually to the same Fate their Predecessors met with
IMMEDIATELY under the
Vizier
are these three Officers,
viz.
The
Muftee,
the
Ries-Effendie,
and the
Tefterdar Bashaw.
Of the first of these I shall take occasion to speak largely, in the Chapter relating to the
Turkish
Religion, as being
High Priest,
and consequently not properly to be Treated of under this Head, further than as he is concern'd in the Interpretation of their Civil Law, and of that in its due Place.
The Office of
Ries-Effendie:
The
Ries-Effendie,
is Secretary of State and in constant Attendance on the Person of the
Vizier,
by whose Orders he dispatches Innumerable quantities of Patents, Decrees, Commissions and other Instruments, over all Parts of the
Turkish
Empire:
Its Profits.
This Officer has Places of great Trust and Profit under him, and by the Multiplicity of his Business Collects such Sums of Money to his own Possession, as often Equal the Riches of the
Vizier
himself.
The
Tefterdar
;
THE
Tefterdar Bashaw,
is Lord Treasurer of the Publick Revenues; he Pays the Salaries of all great Officers Depending on the
Sultan
; by him the Souldiery is Weekly Paid, and all Publick Disbursements made.
His Profits and Danger.
This is an Office of great Honour and Advantage, but has the same Fate Entail'd on its Possessors with those abovenam'd, and exposes them not only to the Danger of their
Emperour
's Hatred, but often Sacrifices their Lives and Fortunes to the Fatal Malice and Inordinate Caprices of a Discontented People.
The
Muftee
:
I undertook to say as much of the
Muftee,
in this Place as concern'd his business in the Management of their Laws;
His Dignity.
He is an Officer of great Authority, Nominated to that Dignity by the
Sultan
's voice, who ought to choose a Man of Exemplary Piety, Untainted Virtues and Humility, and more Especially of undoubted knowledge in the explanation of their Law: His opinion in matters Civil and Criminal, as well as in Affairs relating to the State is given by Subscribing Yes or No, with the humble Addition of God knows better, to a Paper in which the Question is for that purpose Stated, and tho' he gives his Judgment in a Perswasive not Compulsive manner, his Sentence is notwithstanding wholly Decisive, and the Judges Verdict Regulated accordingly, without the tedious Trouble of a further Appeal, or any Dilatory Practice whatsoever, for the Religion of the
Turks,
having Plac'd in this Man a Perspicuity of Judgment almost equal to the Peremptory Doctrine of a Roman Infallibility, no Subject dares dispute the
Muftee
's Wisdom, nor will the Emperour himself contemn his Counsel, for he seldom undertakes a distant War, or any other Business of Weighty Moment, till the Approbation of this Religious Man has Sanctified the Action. When Matters of Difficulty are Debated before the
Sultan,
the
Muftee
is always Present at the Council, and his advice requir'd with the utmost Veneration;
The Odd manner of Punishing them.
but as his Honours are Superiour to most other Officers of the Empire, so is his Punishment (when his Demerits have requir'd it) in an Exemplary manner more Surprizing, for in a Castle at
Constantinople,
which the
Turks
distinguish by the Name of the Seven Towers, there is purposely expos'd a Brazen Mortar of uncommon Shape and Magnitude, into which the
Muftee
when convicted of High-Treason, or Unwarrantable Practices, is Publickly thrown Headlong and Pounded to Death with a Massy Iron Pestle.
The Office of
Cadeelescheer.
THE next Office below the
Muftee,
is that of
Cadeelescheer,
or their Lord Chief Justice,
His Power.
whose Authority tho' Originally confin'd to the Souldiery, extends its self at present to the Determination of all sorts of Law Suits whatsoever, with Submission to the Pleasure of such Superiour Powers, to whom there lies an Appeal from the Tenour of his Sentence, for the Military Body of the
Turkish
Nation enjoy this Privilege beyond the Civil, that tho' themselves are Subject to none besides their own Commanders, the Authority of their Officers extends Promiscuously over all sorts of People, insomuch that all Commission'd Officers of the
Turkish
Army are by Virtue of the Commission they possess, Entituled to the Office of Justices of the Peace over all parts of the Empire, a Policy not a little Advantagious to the
Grand Signior,
by the vast Encouragement it gives the Souldiers, who ever were and must be still the Pillars of his Government, this Office of
Cadeelescheer
is a step from which they often Mount to that of
Muftee,
nor can any Man be Legally Entituled to the one, who has not first Discharged with Universal Praise the Duty of the other.
The
Mollah.
THEY generally rise to the Preferment of
Cadeelescheer
from the Office of a
Mollah,
the Advantages of which Post are different according to the Places over which they Exercise their Power; some are Judges in Chief over whole Provinces and have under their Command the
Kaddees
or Judges of Stately Towns and Villages; others there are, whose Government is Confin'd to Poor and Inconsiderable Places, having under them the Tatter'd Judges of a few Distrest and Miserable Cottages.
The
Kaddee.
THE next Inferiour Officer is the
Kaddee
abovemention'd or the Lowest sort of Judges among the
Turks
; the Profits arising from this Post are more or less according to the Places under their Jurisdiction, but is Considerable as being the First Step towards obtaining the Dignity of
Muftee,
a Preferment Eagerly desir'd by the Politest of their People.
THUS much may have serv'd to give the Judicious Reader a Sufficient Idea of the Fountain of Civil Government now Exercis'd in the Court of
Turkey,
whence slow Innumerable Streams of Policy, to the Channels of remoter Governments, possess'd in their several Degrees by
Beylerbeys, Sangiack Beys, Bashaws, Beys
and
Aga's,
every one of which Offices I shall largely Treat of in their respective Places.
The division of their Empire.
THE Formidable Empire of these Successful Infidels is divided into Twenty Two Parts, each Division of so vast Extent, as exceeds the Magnitude of many of our
Europaean
Kingdoms, and govern'd by its
Beylerbey,
or Arch-Duke, for of all
Christian
Titles there is none which can more nearly express the nature of that Office; every one of these Arch-Dukedoms is divided into certain unequal Numbers of
Sangiacks
or Provinces, some containing Twenty, some not more than Seven, Ten, or Fifteen, according to which Numbers the Arch-Dukedoms are more or less Profitable to their Governours;
The Sangiack Bey.
over every Province there is plac'd a Ruler, distinguish'd by the Title of
Sangiack-Bey,
or Lord Provincial: These depend upon, and are subservient to, the several Arch-Dukes under whom they live.
The Bey.
INFERIOR to the Lords Provincial are the
Beys,
or Lords of the several Partitions into which the above-nam'd Provinces are divided;
The Aga.
These have under them another sort of Lords, distinguish'd by the Name of
Aga's,
or Captains of a certain Number of Towns or Villages and their Dependencies, all which Officers have their several Courts of Justice, peculiar to the different Nature of the Governments they hold, and yet are link'd together in the joint Promotion of one Common Interest, and a firm Obedience to the Sacred Will of their Great Lord the
Sultan.
The Bashaw.
BESIDES these Arch-Dukedoms severally Subject to their respective
Beylerbeys,
there are certain Parts of the Empire independant on those Divisions, and altogether Subject to the Government of
Bashaws,
a Title almost equal to that of Prince, and generally born by such Men as having gradually Ascended from the meanest Offices, have inur'd their Minds and Bodies to the roughest Changes that can befall Mortality, and having prov'd their Knowledge by a successful Disintangling the occurring Intricacies of State and War, distinguishably Shine by the conspicuity of their Merits, and Succeed alternately to the Highest Offices of their Unshaken Empire.
BUT that I may explain more fully the unimagin'd Grandeur of the
Turkish
Emperors, I will particularize the several Governments of all the
Beylerbeys,
and the Number of those extensive Provinces over which they preside; that by considering the numerous Opportunities the
Grand Signior
is Master of, whereby to Reward the Fidelity of his Subjects, the Reader may no longer wonder at the Support of his Authority.
The 22 Arch-Dukedoms of the
Turkish
Empire.
THE Twenty Two Arch-Dukedoms before mention'd are distinguish'd among the
Turks
by the following Names,
Anatolia, Caramania, Diarbekir, Scham, Siwas, Esrum, Pascha, Childir, Cheruzul, Halep, Marash, Kibros, Tripoly, Terbozan, Kars, Musul, Rika, Rumeeli, Kupudan, Bosna, Grand-Cairo
and
Babylon
; of which the Governours of the Two Last receive their Salaries from the Treasury of the
Sultan
:
The Salaries of the Bashaws of
Cairo
and
Babylon.
The First, which is the Highest Government in the
Grand Signior
's Dominions, has a Yearly Revenue of Three Hundred Thousand Pounds; the Salary of the Last exceeds not Six Thousand Pounds
per annum
; but the numerous Advantages which accrue from his Perquisites afford him daily Opportunities of amassing vast heaps of Riches.
THE remaining Twenty have a certain Yearly Income, appointed them out of the Annual Revenues due from their Provinces to the Coffers of the
Sultan,
which tho' inconsiderable in it self, is constantly multiplied into Fifteen or Twenty times its quantity, by the griping Arts and avaritious Practices whereby these Arbitrary Governours oppress their People. The fixed Allowances which they may justly Claim are these which follow.
The respective Salaries of the Arch-Dukes of
Turkey.
 
 
 
l.
The
Beylerbey
of
Anatolia
has a Yearly Salary of
3000
 
Caramania
 
2500
 
Diarbekir
 
4000
 
Scham
 
3000
 
Siwas
 
2931
 
Esrum
 
4050
 
Pascha
 
4010
 
Childir
 
2890
 
Cheruzul
 
3000
 
Halep
 
2730
 
Marash
 
2000
 
Kibros
 
1500
 
Tripoly
 
2400
 
Terbozan
 
2320
 
Kars
 
2500
 
Musul
 
1900
 
Rika
 
1800
 
Rumeeli
 
3654
 
Kupudan
 
2192
 
Bosna
 
1608.
THESE are the certain Salaries settled by the
Grand Signior
on the several
Beylerbeys
above-mention'd, but as I hinted before, are seldom the twentieth Part of the Profits into which they improve their Employments.
THE Provinces contain'd in these Twenty Two Arch-Dukedoms are at least Two Hundred and Sixty Four, every one of which, as I said before, has a Lord Provincial over it, whose Profits may be computed about half as much as those of the
Beylerbeys
their Superiour Governours: The
Beys
and
Aga
's possessing smaller Salaries in a just Proportion to the Inferiority of their Offices: The
Bashaws
are all entitled to Revenues agreeable to their Power, and both the one and the other are alike unbounded.
BY the prodigious Sums of Money amass'd this way, which any Curious Reader may nearly compute by the Account above-mention'd, and which, in comparison with the
Sultan
's Revenues, are as so many small Canals to the unfathom'd Ocean; you may guess at the surprizing Grandeur and inexhausted Riches of the
Ottoman
Emperours, which shall be particularly Treated of in a more proper Place; I shall now proceed to inform the Reader in what manner the
Turks
Administer their Justice, and how the Forms of Law are practis'd by that People.
A Maxim of
Tacitus.
'TWAS the Opinion of
Tacitus
that those Governments have most Laws who have least Policy, and the strenuous Support which the
Turkish
Empire receives from few but necessary Maxims, does in a great measure justifie the Truth of his Assertion; for they have no confounding Volumes of one Lawyers Observations upon the Remarks of another, no
COKE
upon
Littleton,
to explain the different Interpretations of a Thing, that is, or ought to be the same: The Reports of such a Judge, or such a Lord Chancellour, have here no Power to guide the Sentence of a Court of Justice, by the prevailing Virtue of some forgotten Precedent:
The speedy dispatch of
Turkish
Justice.
Their Laws are few, but always put in Execution with the utmost Severity; and tho' the Sentence
Pro
or
Con
depends entirely upon the undisputed Will of an Arbitrary Judge, whereby the Subject is depriv'd of that indulgent Liberty we tast in
Britain,
and sometimes Sacrific'd to the mercenary Interest of a brib'd Decider, he has yet this Happiness superiour to us, that he always loses a Cause before the melancholy Consequences of a tedious Controversy has disabled him to support that Loss, and depriving him of all possible means of a future Subsistance, unfortunately sink both the Cause and the Client in promiscuous Ruin, by one single Act of an unexpected Injustice.
THE Truth of this will evidently appear by the speedy Dispatch of their decisive Sentence, having no Form of Law but this which follows.
Their Deeds and Instruments.
Whatever Land, Moneys, Goods, or any of the common Benefits of Life are bought by, or given to a Subject of the
Grand Signior
's Dominions, or any other Inhabitant of that Empire, must be confirm'd to his Possession by virtue of a Seal'd Instrument call'd an
Hodget,
which being Sign'd by the
Kaddee
or Judge of the Place they live in, does certainly entitle them to as firm a Property as all the Deeds of Gift, Releases and other endless heaps of Parchment now in use amongst us; such an Instrument being once produc'd admits of no evasive Quirk to weaken its Authority; no Word misplac'd, or Name mistaken by the adding or omitting some single Letter can baffle the Legality of a Subjects Endeavours by the Shock of a Nonsuit, but where the Justice of a Cause is undeniably conspicuous they very rarely suffer by a partial Sentence; tho' where the Case is doubtful or obscure, the native Avarice of a
Turkish
Judge will generally incline him to a favourable Opinion of that Side from whence most Money challenges his Gratitude;
Bribery common among them.
nor is the Curse of Bribery esteem'd so black a Crime in this Country as in the
Western
World, most Men practising it in a publick and audacious Manner, wheresoever their occurring Interests make it Usefull.
Womens Oaths not taken.
WOMENS Oaths are never taken but against a
Christian,
nor a
Christians
against a
Turk.
Among themselves the concurring Evidences of a plurality of Witnesses decide a Controversy. Their Punishments are either Bodily or Pecuniary; the first are rarely suffer'd when not deserv'd, but the latter sometimes inflicted unjustly by the malicious Prosecution of revengeful People, or the partial Sentence of some poor and avaritious Magistrate.
The Office of a Saubashaw:
THERE is no City which has not its
Saubashaw
or Head Constable over it, whose proper Business it is, to inspect as secretly and as narrowly as possible the Behaviour of the Inhabitants, having his inferiour Officers in every Corner to detect the Misdemeanours of offending People, and seizing their Persons, deliver them over to such Punishments as upon Conviction of their Guilt shall be judg'd agreeable to the nature of their Offences.
THE Corporeal Punishments in use among the
Turks
are different, according to the several Crimes for which they are impos'd; the most Common, and that which is inflicted on Slaves, Servants, and the Practicers of
Petty-larcenys,
is the Bastinado, or beating them on the Soles of the Feet. The method of putting this in Execution is as follows.
Their manner of Excecuting the Punishment call'd Bastinado.
FIVE or more Officers seizing the Offender by the Arms, conduct him roughly to some smooth piece of Ground or Grass-plat, where throwing him upon his Back, the heaviest among them sitting down upon his Breast, prevents him from springing upwards to avoid the Blows, when two others by the help of a large Stick like the handle of a Broom, bor'd thro' at both ends, to receive a Rope there fastned by two Knotts, and hanging down in a bent Form like that of a Bow, lift his Legs from the Ground, and rowling the Stick downwards as far as the Rope permits them, prevent them from moving either one way or the other; this done another with a stiff Hazel Wand gives him as many Strokes upon the naked Soles of his Feet as he was order'd to undergo, which are sometimes several Hundred, and have often prov'd Mortal to the guilty Party.
A Comical Story of an
English
Merchant.
I cannot forbear the Crime of a small Digression, to divert my Reader with the Comical Relation of a certain Passage, which once in this Country afforded me the pleasure of a very agreeable Amusement: There was an
English
Merchant who had for many Years been troubled with the
Gout,
in a very violent and uncommon Degree, nor could the daily Application of the richest Medicines procure him Ease, much less the Cure he sought in vain for, insomuch that being in a manner transported by the sharpness of his Pain, he became so very peevish that he could neither talk, walk, or sit still in Comfort: The pressure of this Gentleman's extraordinary Affairs requiring his presence at
Adrianople,
he undertook the Journey with a great deal of uneasiness, and met at the Entrance of a Town call'd
Baba,
a considerable Party of
Turkish
Soldiers, who were marching towards
Constantinople
; the Officer, as is common in those Parts, took the liberty as he pass'd, to express himself a little disrespectfully in contempt of the
Christians
in the Merchant's Company; and he, unqualified at that time by the peevish Effects of his Distemper, to bear it patiently, made an ill Use of his Skill in the
Turkish
Language, and return'd the Salutation as roughly as it was sent him: The Inhabitants of that Country are of all others least able to bear Reflections on their Government or Religion; and the Officer of these Men, forgetting that himself had been the Aggressor, resented the Affront so very highly, that he order'd the Merchant to be taken from his Horse, and undergo the Punishment of One Hundred and Fifty Bastinadoes in the manner above written: Vain was Resistance against a Number so much Superiour, and Complaints were altogether useless in a Country where the speedy Execution of an Arbitrary Order is the highest Qualification they believe themselves capable of: In short, the poor Merchant submitted aukwardly to the unwelcome Novelty, and was so sorely beaten on the Soles of his Feet, that for many Days he was oblig'd to continue in a House at
Baba,
nor was he able to stand upright for a long time after; but the Jest of this Story comes in the Conclusion, for the Bastinadoes it seems having frightned away his Gout, his Distemper went off with his Bruises, nor was he ever troubled with the return of one single Fit from that time forward: The unexpected Consequence of this lucky Beating, oblig'd the Merchant at his return to
Constantinople
to seek industriously after the Author of his Cure, that he might thank him for the Favour, but not being able to find him out, he contented himself with a grateful remembrance of the weighty Obligation, and to this Day (if he be still alive) as constantly Drinks to the Health of his
Turkish
Doctor as he sits down to his Table.
BUT to return to the Subject in hand, they have several Punishments peculiar to the Military and other Orders, which shall be describ'd hereafter in their proper Place: One now in common Use amongst them is Impaling Alive; that is, thrusting in a sharp Pole at their Fundaments,
Their manner of Impaling Alive.
and Forcing it out at the Upper Parts of their Body, and so Fastning the Pole upright in the Ground they leave them in some High way as Miserable Examples to Deterr others from the like Practices.
Other Punishments in use there.
STRANGLING in a very Expeditious manner is the Death whereby they distinguish Suffering Noblemen. Hanging they seldom use; Breaking on the Wheel very Rarely; but the most common way of Execution is, Beheading the Condemn'd Person with a Broad
Scymetar,
while he Kneels upon a large Heap of Sand to that end provided. Other kinds of Punishments there are in
Turkey,
but such as being very rarely put in Practice, are altogether needless to be here mention'd and for that reason purposely omitted.
CHAP. IV. Of the Government Military.
IF the general Experience of the knowing World allows it as a necessary Maxim, that every Effect of Nature and Morality must be Supported by those very Causes to which they owe their First Production, it will follow Undeniably that a Government not Gradually Rais'd from the continued Improvements of some unresisted Colony, but founded Violently upon the Bloody Ruin of a Conquer'd People, must Slacken by Degrees that Nervous Strengh by which it Flourish'd, when the long neglects of Idle Peace Corrupt its Natives with the Love of Pleasure, and draw them by Degrees to Hate the Practice of those Successful Arms, by whose Unequall'd Force their Braver Ancestors had Cut a Passage to Meridian Glory.
The Effects of Peace of dangerous consequence to Warlike Governments.
'TIS this alone to which the
Persian, Graecian, Roman,
and every other Glorious
Monarchy,
have ow'd their Downfal; and 'tis the same Indulgence of a Slothful ease has Rusted all the Powerful Springs of
Turkish
Discipline, and chear'd Exceedingly the Drooping Spirits of the
Eastern Christians,
with Reviving hopes to see the Happy Restoration of their Religion, and their Liberty in the Entire Subversion of their Usurping Tyrant, for that perswasive Poverty which once Inclin'd the
Turkish
Souldiers to a Scorn of dangers, has now no more the Power to Urge a Brave Defiance of the Shocks of War, since they are all Possessors of a Rowling Plenty, the want of which provok'd 'em Chiefly to their Ancient Actions.
A great decay in their Military Discipline.
BUT tho' the present Managment of their Military Discipline falls greatly short of what in former Ages spoke them Matchless, they are not yet so sensibly Decayed, as to become an easy Conquest, were the United Arms of Warlike Christendom now bent against them; for tho' their Souldiers are not now Inur'd to War and Hardship, nor by the Frequent Victorys they were us'd to gain, familiar with the Face of Ruin and continual Contest, they are not less in Number than they were, nor all so Ignorant as their Majority. The
Turkish
Policy permits no loss of Power by the loss of Souldiers, and is perhaps the only Government that e'er grew Stonger by the Death of Subjects; for having Numbers ready upon all Occasions to Supply the Room of such as Die, their Places are Improv'd to double Worth by a surprizing Management peculiar to the
Turks,
which shall be told the Reader in its proper Place. They have no occasion on declaring War, or losing Battles, to dispatch their Officers for fresh
Recruits
about the Country, and supply with raw unpollish'd
Rusticks,
the Places of well disciplin'd and skilful Soldiers; They have formidable standing Armies, in every Corner of their Empire, which from time to time supply the Vacancies of their
contending
Bodies, which like the boundless Ocean tho' discharging endless Depths of Water appears no less in
Ebb
than
Flow,
but stands the same in every Season, never subject to perceptible
Diminution.
IN describing the present Establishment of the
Ottoman
Forces, I will begin with that Order of Foot Soldiers commonly known by the Name of
Janisaries
; for the peculiar and remarkable Privileges whereby they are distinguish'd from the ordinary Militia, may justly intitle them to the Honour of a Preference.
The derivation and Original of the Word
Janisary.
Janisary
is nothing but a Corruption of the Word
Yani-Cherr,
which in the
Turkish
Language, signifies a
New-Order
; they took their Original from the Death of one
Hodgy Bectash,
an Old Religious Man of an
exemplary
Life and Conversation, in the Reign of
Sultan Amurath,
the third King of the
Turks
: This Man had long endeavour'd to dissuade
that
Prince from dangerously exposing his Person, by too near a Familiarity with the Subjects of
Servia,
often Prophesying the sudden Death which afterwards befel the
Sultan
upon the Overthrow of
Lazarus
the Despot of that Country, when walking out to view the Heaps of Slain, one
Miles Corbelitza,
a
Christian
Soldier, rising heavily from a Mount of Carkasses, made shift to stagger in the Pangs of Death, and by expressive Motions of his Head and Hands desir'd admittance to the Person of the Emperour, who thinking he design'd to beg his Life permitted him to such a near Approach, that the undaunted
Servian,
falling on his Knees as if he would have sued for Mercy, snatch'd out a Dagger from his
bleeding
Bosome, and striking it with violence to the
Sultan
's Heart, reveng'd successfully his Countries Wrongs, and liv'd and dy'd like
Israel
's
Sampson
a double Scourge to an Ambitious Enemy.
THE Death of
Bectash
immediately succeeded that of
Amurath,
for having often prophesy'd the Blow and not preventing it, tho' near the
Sultan
's Person, he was cut in pieces by the furious Guards, as a
Party
in the Treason; but foreseeing easily, what Fate would soon befall him, he rent off a long Sleeve, which he wore continually on his Right Arm, and putting it upon the Head of one of the Soldiers, cried out prophetically in the
Turkish
Language,
Life from my Death shall like a Phoenix spring,
To Guard from Dangers your Succeeding King.
THIS said, he Fell, a bloody Victim to the Soldiers Anger, but had his
Prophecy
compleatly verifi'd in the First Year of the next
Sultan
's Reign, who reflecting seriously on the Fate of
Bectash,
resolved to take some Method of
perpetuating
his Memory, and Instituted a New Order of the Militia, by the Name of
Janisaries,
who to this Day in Imitation of the Sleeve which
Bectash
put upon the Soldiers Head, are all obliged to wear a Headpiece fac'd with pollish'd Steel, to which is fastned a large piece of
Buff,
that falling in a moderate Breadth from the Crown of their Head spreads gradually wider to the midle of their Backs.
The ancient Care to supply the Empire with
Janizaries.
THE Institution of this famous and formidable Militia, was Founded Originally on the surest Pillars of a deep but barbarous Policy, for Officers were continually dispatch'd to make triennial Seisures of the
Christian
Children, Inhabiting the Countries unhappily fallen under the galling Yoke of
Turkish
Slavery: These miserable Wretches thus violently ravish'd from their sorrowful Parents, were distributed in Parties over all the Empire, till they reach'd the Age of Sixteen Years, at which time, compleatly versed in the Knowledge of the
Turkish
Language and Religion, they were severally disposed of, in the many
Seraglio's
belonging to the
Grand Signior,
where for the space of Five or Seven Years, they were inur'd to Hardships by the laborious Practice of continual Drudgeries, such as cleaving Wood, bearing Burthens, working in Gardens, and every other toilsome Exercise; till having learn'd the Art of Patience, and submissive Resignation to the Will of their Superiors, they were instructed diligently in the Art of War; and as the Death of other
Janizaries
afforded Vacancy, succeeded gradually to their Posts and Privileges, where Practising with an emulative Courage, the Dictates of their Education, they give a fatal Proof how much the present Ties of Life exceed the Bands of weaker Nature; for not retaining the minutest Notion of their Parents or their Country, they bend entirely the Endeavours of their Arms for the wish'd Promotion of their
Sultan
's Interest; and have in former Ages, by the Excellence of their Discipline and Greatness of their Courage, been Chief Supporters of the
Turkish
Glory; and by the Just Rewards their Valour won, distinguish'd
Honourably
as the Flower of that Empire.
The present neglect of that Order occasion'd by their former Insolence.
BUT far below the ancient Spirit of this Martial Order is the grovelling Genius of the Modern
Janizaries,
who tasting largely of the Sweets of Power in the black Successes of their bold Resentments, grew madly Insolent, and so familiar with Rebellion, that having dy'd their Weapons in the guiltless Blood of many
Sultans,
they became so terrible to succeeding Emperors, that they have long endeavour'd by the subtle Force of undiscover'd Policies, to Raise some Milder Order on the Ruin of the Former; least like unhappy
Rome
's
Pretorian Cohorts,
the rough Effects of their audacious Violence should one Day Ruin that declining Empire, whose Defence alone was the true Design of their Original Institution.
Their Number and Privileges.
THEIR Number was at first confin'd to Seven Thousand, but is now improv'd to more than Forty Thousand
lawfully
Enroll'd; besides vast Numbers who, by the winning Virtue of an annual Present, to the Officers of this Order, become Possessors of those innumerable Privileges, which exempt the
Janizaries
from Taxes, Prosecutions, or any other Ties of Justice, so that being own'd on all Occasions by the Muster Masters of that Militia, they stand secure above the Law, and practice Villanies by the favourable Connivance of an uncontroul'd Authority.
Their Way of Living.
THERE are now One Hundred Sixty Two Chambers or large Buildings call'd
Odaes
at
Constantinople,
for the Lodging of the
Janizaries,
but none in any other Part of the Empire, because the
Sultan
's having ever look'd upon this Order, as the Safety and Support of their Authority, took care to have them always near their Persons, a Design well laid, but fatal in its Consequences. Over every Chamber is an Officer appointed, under the Title of
Oda Basham,
or
Inspecter
of the Chamber. The Creation of a
Janizary
is a peculiar Prerogative of this advantageous Office, and the manner wherein it is perform'd deserves Remark.
The manner of their Creation.
WHEN the Persons to be Chosen have gradually proceeded thro' the tedious Counse of their probationary Labours, they are Summon'd
in their Places,
to a Personal Appearance before the Muster Master of that Order, who having Registred their Names in Rolls of Parchment, presents them Ceremoniously to the Inspecter of that Chamber into which they are to be admitted, who making them pass
by
according to their Seniority, the
Younger
holding up the
Elder
's Garment, strikes every Man a Blow upon the Ear, to remind him of the Duty and Subjection he then takes upon him, and without the trouble of any additional Formality declares them
Janizaries.
Their Pay.
THEY receive their Pay proportionable to their Merit, beginning with little more than a Penny a Day, and encreasing their Allowances upon every worthy Action, till they reach the Salary of Seven Shillings
per
Week, which is the utmost Pay a
Janizary
can pretend to, till the
Seniority
of their Years, or
peculiarity
of their Actions, advances them to the Offices peculiar to their Order, and makes their Riches equal to their Authority: But by the way, the Reader must observe this Pay is only an
additional
Encouragement to excite their
Valour,
for they have not only
daily
Meals provided in their Chambers, with all the other Necessaries of Life, but receive an annual Present of a Suit of Cloaths from the Bounty of their Emperour, which is generally made of very good and serviceable
Green
or
Violet
colour'd Cloth, the Form whereof may fully be perceived, by turning to the Cut relating to the
Grecian
Wedding, described at large in the One and Twentieth Chapter of this Book.
The Power and Interest of their General.
THERE is an Officer appointed over this Militia, distinguish'd by the Title of
Yani-Cherr Aga,
or General of the
Janizaries,
whose suspected Power alarms the Court with such preventive Jealousies, that the
Sultan
takes a constant Care to give that Charge to one intirely in his Interest: A Policy whose Effects have often sav'd the Modern Emperours from the threatned Violences of their fierce Rebellions: The boundless Power of this Arbitrary Officer extends it self to the decision of every intervening Accident, in favour
of,
or judgment
against
them: The common Punishments of their less hainous Crimes are generally ordered by their Inferiour Officers, and executed by the
Cooks
of their respective Chambers;
The way of Executing a
Janizary.
but if any of that Order is detected in a Guilt deserving Death, he is condemned immediately by the Sentence of his General, and thrown at Midnight with the greatest Secrecy imaginable with Weights about his Neck into the middle of the Sea.
Their Arms abroad and at home.
THEIR Arms in War are Scymetars and Musquets wherewith they Fight on Foot, surrounding always the Person of their Emperour, or in his Absence the
Vizier
or
General,
they seldom Fight in other Order, than the Figure which of old compos'd the
Macedonian Phalanx.
When at Home they are appointed a the Guards of Honour to the
Christiam
Embassadors, to keep perpetual Watch in all the Gates and Avenues of their Imperial
City
; to Accompany and Protect, such Strangers as are Curious to behold the Rarities of the Country, from the barbarous Insolencies of the rude Inhabitants; which they will do with all imaginable Courtesy and Fidelity, for the small Reward of half a Crown a Day, and sometimes les
. They bear no other Arms at Home than a small Dagger call'd
Hanjarr,
which with a large smooth Cane, not much unlike the largest Staffs belonging to our Constables, are known so commonly, and so extreamly fear'd by all who meet them, that no Man dares presume to offer the least Affront to any
Christian
guarded by a
Janizary,
least his Blood should pay the Forfeit of his Insolence.
A Story of a
Janizary
at
Constantinople.
I remember with concern that at my first Arrival in that Country, while I was a perfect Stranger to their Nature and their Language, I was prompted by the Curiosity of my Temper, to walk about the Streets of
Constantinople,
and make my Observations on the Place and its Inhabitants, under the undoubted Convoy of a faithful
Janizary
; we were passing on a Causway in a Publick Street, when the Misfortune of a Rude and Ignorant Potter, led him on to stop our Way, by the means of an Ass that he had loaden with brittle Ware to Sell his Customers about the City: The
Janizary
had already passed the Door of a large Shop, from whence the poor Fellow drove his Ass upon the Causway, and prevented me from following my Convoy; there was a fair Descent not much beyond him, whereby he might have gone down to the middle of the Street, had he turn'd his Asses Head the other way, but whether mov'd by a Religious Zeal which naturally teaches them to hate a
Christian,
or by the Native Haughtiness of his unpollish'd Temper, he press'd his Ass with fury forward, and the Passage wanting breadth to give him room, oblig'd me roughly to the inconvenient trouble of an unwilling Squeeze to give him all the way I could, but finding the unwelcome pressure of the Asses Panniers a little incomodious, I was forc'd to lay my Hands upon the Creature's Side, and pushing forward somewhat violently and unexpectedly together, both the Potter and his Panniers fell headlong from the Causway, which was almost Five Foot high, into the middle of the Street, almost half a Foot deep in Mud and Water: The Fellow somewhat hurt by the roughness of his Fall, and very much enraged at the Destruction of his Glasses, drew out a long Knife, which he wore within his Girdle, and running to the Causway endeavour'd furiously to reach my Legs with a revengeful Wound: The
Janizary,
who had heard the Fall, and was come back to my Assistance, leap'd swiftly down, and drawing his
Hanjarr
in hasty Passion, struck it to the Hilt in the poor Fellows Shoulder, who falling on his Knees amidst the Dirt, cry'd out with lifted Arms,
O
God,
and
Mahomet
his only Prophet, in what have I Offended to be made the Ʋ ictim of a Cursed Infidel.
Nay to so unreasonable a Degree was he transported by his Passion, that finding no Redress, he threw the Mud upon his Face, and rowled himself about in Blood and Water, while the
Janizary
march'd forward unconcern'd and stately, leading me untouch'd, thro' Crowds of People, who tho' their Eyes declar'd their Anger, were oblig'd to hide their Thoughts in the deceitful Postures of a mild Neutrality.
A dangerous Privilege of the Militia.
AMONG the numerous Privileges peculiar to the
Janizaries,
there is one a little inconsistent with the cautious Policy of the
Turkish
Government, that is a Permission of increasing their Common Treasury, by the successive Additions of what Sums of Money their
Aga
's or Generals die possessed of, and the Grant of very considerable Profits, arising from the Tenure of several large Tracts of Land in
Anatolia.
How dangerous it is to Assign such Power and Riches, to a Standing Army ever Quarter'd in the
Metropolis
of their Empire, the
Turkish Sultans
have experienc'd dearly, by the frequent Effects of that audacious Insolence, which having long been nourished by the dictates of their Plenty, has often Flesh'd the Lawless
Janzaries
in the Murder of their Sovereigns: Nor do they only study their
Revenge
in the Success of their Rebellion, since 'tis the never failing Interest of this Order, to out-live the Reigns of many
Sultans
;
Their Abuses of an Interregnum.
for besides the sure Addition of a daily Penny to their former Pay, they gain an uncontroul'd Authority, to Rob and Plunder during the space of a small Interregnum, violently Possessing as a lawful Prize whatever Goods they lay their Hands on; and committing boldly black Outrages with the plausible Pretence of Grieving out of measure for the mournful Death of their Indulgent Master.
THE melancholy Consequences of this Abuse of Power, have as is before declar'd, induc'd the Government to study Means of ruining this Order, which not being able to accomplish by the dint of Force, they have invented many subtil Wiles to Weaken Gradually the Foundations of their Power; for whereas the Matchless Discipline of Ancient
Janizaries
gave bright Examples to Inferiour Orders, they are now admitted frequently without the Gradual Labours of Probationary Servitude. Marriage once deny'd 'em with the Strictest Prohibition, is not only Suffer'd but Encourag'd by their Officers; Trades are follow'd, and the Weekly Musters Slighted by Permission, insomuch that their Unfurnish'd Chambers, once the Nurseries of Successful Valour, can furnish few at Wars great Summons, who do not Artfully decline the Service, by the prevailing Pleas of Wife and Family, or some mean Shift, whose common Practice has already Weaken'd and will in time Entirely Ruin the declining Columns of that Dwindling Order.
The
Turkish Spahee
's.
NEXT to the
Janizaries,
I proceed to speak of that Order of the
Turkish Horse,
commonly distinguish'd by the Name of
Spahee's
and divided into two Bodys,
viz.
the
Europaean,
and the
Asiatick.
These
Light-Horse Men,
were in Ancient times the
Noblest
Cavalry the World could boast of,
Rich
and
Formidable
by the Plenty they were Masters of, never coming into the Field without the Stately Splendour of a Numerous and Magnificent Attendance, and Shining Brightly over all the rest of their
Militia
by the vast advantages they made of their Acquaintance
with,
or Interest
in,
the Greatest Officers of the Empire,
The Reasons of their late Decay.
but Poisoning their Loyalty with the encrease of their Authority, they Sacrifis'd their Honour to the Dictates of Ambition, and Insolently Practic'd a continued Lesson of Mutiny and Rebellion, 'till the common Fate of Falling Treachery Involv'd their Order in a general Ruin, and from the Towring
Pyramids
of their Unrival'd Grandeur, reduc'd them Gradually to a common Level with the Inferior Orders of the
Turks Militia.
Their Pay and Opportunities of Encreasing it.
AT present the Number of Spahees exceeds not Five and Thirty Thousand, who Receive a Quarterly Payment in the Presence of the
Vizier Azem,
a Custom Introduc'd by the Famous
Kupriuli,
to prevent the Black effects of those Intestine Discords,
common
Formerly, from their Pay Day Quarrels; The lowest Salary of a
Turkish Spahee
is at the Rate of one Shilling a Day, to which they become Intituled to upon their first Promotion to that Office, and encrease their Pay by Gradual Steps, such as the Favour of their Officers, the Addition of 2 Pence or 3 Pence a Day for the Head of every Enemy they bring their General, as much for the Information of a
Spahee's
Death out of the Pay of the Deceas'd, a Custom Politickly Instituted to prevent the Fashionable Cheats Impos'd on Christian Princes by their Military Officers. Besides which casual Opportunities of Encreasing their Allowances, they Receive the Additional Reward of 4 Pence a Day upon the Accession of every New
Sultan
to the Throne of his Predecessors, so that by the Favourable turns of Merit or good Fortune they go on Encreasing by Successive Additions, till they attain at last their
Ne plus Ʋ ltra,
and sit down contentedly in the full Possession of Eight Shillings and Four-Pence
per
Day.
Their Arms in War.
THE Common Arms in use amongst these Horse-Men are numerous and convenient, and so strangely differing from one another, that 'tis a Sight Compleatly curious to observe a Disciplin'd
Spahee,
as fully Arm'd as War requires him. For first a Glittering Helmet rather Graces than Defends their Heads, a Back and Breast Piece Guard their Bodies, and on their Shoulders Hangs a Bow with a Capacious Quiver of their Eastern Arrows, their Girdles often hold 4 Horse-Mens Pistols, a long Light Musket Slung like ours, hangs Neatly at their Sides, and on their proper Thigh, is Fast'ned a Large Weighty Scymetar, werewith when Broken in upon Disorder'd Enemies they do Prodigious Execution, and Riding short in strong and spacious Stirrops, lift themselves with ease beyond their Saddle, and extend a Blow with double Fury: Besides these Arms, they bear upon the left side of their Horses beneath the Girt, another strong and broader Back-Sword; which with an Iron headed Mace, for that purpose fasten'd on the contrary side, they use promiscuously as they see Occasion.
Their Discipline rather desperate than regular.
THEIR Discipline is mean and insignificant, for they never Form their Bodies according to the politer Practice of the
Christian
Nations, into Regiments or Companies, Rank, File, or any other Order, but uniting strongly into one gross Multitude, observe attentively the Nod of their Commanders, and repeating loudly Exclamations upon God, under the Expressions
Allah, Allah,
fall rashly on with speed and vigour; and if repuls'd in their two first Endeavours, to break the Order of their Enemies, repeat with desperate Rashness their dangerous Attempt, and if repell'd that fatal time, forget their Courage, and disperse confusedly in all the hurry of a shameful Flight.
Their Punishments.
IN War, the Charge of those Rich Waggons, which contain the Money for the Payment of the Troops, is constantly committed to the Custody of the
Spahees
; whose place it is to stand on Horseback as Centinels of Honour with a
Janizary
on Foot, at the end of every Rope which supports the stately Pavilion of their
Sultan,
or in his Absence the
Vizier
his General. When their Crimes deserve the Punishment of Death, they suffer privately like the
Janizaries,
but when Demerits of a lower Nature, call for Punishments of smaller Rigour, they are bastinadoed on their Feet as is before describ'd, while offending
Janizaries
feel the Cudgel on their fleshy Buttocks, that the one may Ride and t'other Walk without uneasiness; by which means neither is prevented from the Service of his
Sultan.
SO much shall serve to have spoken of the two extraordinary Orders of the
Turkish
Militia, who receive immediate Salaries from the Treasures of the
Sultan.
I shall now proceed to Calculate as nearly as is possible the prodigious Numbers of their Cavalry, whose formidable Bodies have so often struck a panick Fear thro' the despairing Armies of contending Governments.
Zaims
and
Timariot
,
what
hey are.
THE main Support and sinewy Foundation of their Military Power, are the Orders distinguish'd in their Language by the Names of
Zaim
and
Timariot
; the First of which in Rank and Title is no ways Inferiour to an Earl in
Christendom,
the last may justly be compar'd with our
Europaean
Barons, and both not much unlike those Persons, who in
England
possess'd Estates in
Capite,
or the ancient Tenure of Knight's Service.
Their Use and Duty.
IT ever was, and still continues a Custom amongst the
Turks,
immediately after having Conquer'd the Dominions of an Enemy, to parcel out the Lands into certain large Divisions; and bestow them instantly upon such of their Officers as had successfully distinguish'd themselves in the Reduction of that Country: These Men in return for the Possession of their Lands, are besides the necessary Duties of a Rustical Improvement, oblig'd continually to maintain a settled Number of Men and Horses compleatly Arm'd, and ready at a Minutes warning for the Call of War; to which they go themselves attended by their several Numbers when the
Grand Signior
or
Vizier
appear in Person in the Field; but generally go or stay, according to the Dictates of their various Inclinations, when the Armies are Commanded by some Inferior General.
The Charge incumbent on a
Zaim.
OF these the
Zaims,
as noblest in their Quality are richest in their Possessions, and consequently Tax'd with a proportionable Weight of Care and Charges. The lowest Charge incumbent on a
Zaim,
is Four compleat and qualified Horsemen, and the highest Nineteen. The highest of a
Timariot
is Four, and the smallest One: But many of these Men, ambitious of Preferment, and desirous to be taken notice of, for over-acting their Parts of Loyalty and Obedience, will often double, sometimes treble their Proportion of the Soldiers.
THAT the Reader may be able to compute the Number of the
Ottoman
Forces, I will proceed to make a reasonable Calculation of these Horsemen, from the several Farms belonging to the Two and Twenty Provinces heretofore mention'd.
In the Province of
Anatolia
are rekon'd
629
Zaims,
and
8570
Timariots.
 
Caramania
 
073
 
2165
 
 
Diarbekir
 
118
 
0873
 
 
Scham
 
128
 
0560
 
 
Siwas
 
108
 
3029
 
 
Ezrum
 
122
 
5548
 
 
Pascha
 
185
 
0826
 
 
Marasch
 
027
 
0512
 
 
Cyprus
 
040
 
1067
 
 
Tripoly
 
063
 
0570
 
 
Rika
 
060
 
0666
 
 
Terbozan
 
056
 
0398
 
 
Halep
 
117
 
1044
 
 
Childir
 
106
 
0959
 
 
Kupudan
 
124
 
1152
 
 
Rumeeli
 
075
 
8194
 
 
Bosna
 
063
 
1621
 
 
Kars
 
078
 
2111
 
 
Musul
 
058
 
1340
 
 
Kibros
 
094
 
2450
 
 
Babylon
 
180
 
7924
 
The Militia peculiar to
Grand Cairo.
GRAND CAIRO
is omitted here, as having a Militia peculiar to its self, to be treated of hereafter, consisting of Twenty Thousand Horse and Eighty Thousand Foot, kept constantly to be ready upon all Occasions; so that in the One and Twenty Arch-Dukedoms above-mention'd are contain'd at least, Three Thousand Five Hundred and Four
Zaims,
and Fifty One Thousand Five Hundred Seventy Nine
Timariots
; and the Charges incumbent on the First of these, being as I have said before from Four to Nineteen Men, we may reasonably conclude, that the Grandeur of One making full amends for the Deficiency of the Other, they come attended to the Field at the rate of Ten Followers to each Man, which added to their Masters, compleat the Number of Thirty Eight Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty Men.
A Calculation of the Number of the
Turkish
Horse.
THE lowest Quota of a
Turkish Timariot
as has been told already, being One Man and the highest Four; and indeed there remaining few of the Former, since the vast Improvements made of ancient Farms, we may with reason judge
Timariots
to bring, one with another, Three Men besides themselves to serve in War; which make in all, the Number of Two Hundred and Seven Thousand, Three Hundred and Eight Fighting Men; which added to the
Zaims, Spahees,
and
Egyptian
Soldiers aforemention'd, compleat their Cavalry and form a Standing Army consisting of at least, Three Hundred Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty Eight accomplish'd Horsemen.
NOR is this large Account of their Prodigious Numbers Swoln beyond the fix'd Reality of their Existence, I might rather have advanc'd my Calculation in a High Degree, from the Natural Dictates of Conspicuous Probability, but shall Content my self with having given my Reader an Account, Sincerely void of all Extravagancies, and those Fashionable Practices (whether
Justly
or
Ʋ njustly,
I shall not here dispute) so Unfortunately Imputed to the too Prolifick Fancy's of our Modern Travellers.
The Order of the
Tukish
Infantry call'd
Azapi.
PROPORTIONABLE to the Cavalry is the Unnumbred Infantry of the
Turkish
Nation, which consists of several Degrees in Honour or advantage, and all Maintain'd in War and Peace without the smallest Burthen on the
Sultan
's Treasury, the most Unvalued, Numerous, and Unpolish'd Souldiers of the
Turkish
Army, are the
Azapi,
an Order void of Form or Discipline, who in the Storming Towns, defending Trenches, or Attacking Armies are like useless Blocks of Timber Push'd upon their Ruin, that falling Dead by Thousands they may as it were make Blunt the Weapons of the Enemy, and with their Bodys fill a Ditch or form a Bulwark for the Passage or Defence of their more Valued Followers.
BESIDES these General Bodies of the
Turks
Militia, every Province has some Peculiar Order for its own Defence, nor do the Guards of
Viceroys
and
Provincials
form an Inconsiderable Part of their Unshaken Strength and Power; no
Bey, Bashaw,
or any distant Governour, believing himself secure without the Guard of certain Thousands of Souldiers Appropriated to his Service, who when the Common Danger, or their Masters Loyalty speaks 'em necessary, are sent to serve their Country, where any Seat of War requires their Presence.
THERE are, besides these mention'd Orders several other sorts of Souldiery, such as Gunners, Armourers, Baggage-Guarders,
&c.
of which in
Constantinople
only, may be Reckon'd constantly the Number of 12 or 14 Thousand, whereby the Reader may be able to guess, what Proportionable Swarms must be Distributed in all the Spreading Corners of that Spacious Empire.
The
Turks
Auxiliary Forces from
Valachia
and
Moldavia.
THE Subjects of
Moldavia
and
Valachia
are Oblig'd to send Auxiliary Forces to the Assistance of the
Turks,
whensoever their occasions Press 'em to Require it, the Settled
Quota
of each Country is about Eight Thousand Men, Commanded always by their Respective Princes, nor can the Weightiest Plea of Incapacited Poverty, Exempt 'em from that Duty.
The Duty of the
Tartar Han,
in respect to the
Grand-Signior
's Service.
BUT the Greatest aid, the
Turks
Receive from their depending Allies, is the fix'd Supply of Fifty Thousand Horse, a Tribute due to the Occasions of the
Sultan,
from the Petty
Tartar,
to be led by the Young
Han
his Son, or the Chief Minister of the Country, when the
Turkish
Army is Commanded by the Grand
Vizier,
or any other General, but when the
Emperour
Commands in Person, the
Tartar Han
or Prince himself must come and joyn him with a Furnish'd Army of an Hundred Thousand Men.
HAVING Dwelt so long upon those Numerous Orders whose Unnumber'd Multitudes Compose that Formidable Power whereunto in former Ages the Successfull
Turks
have ow'd their Fortune, it may not be Esteem'd Unnecessary to describe particularly that Accomplish'd Discipline so strictly Practis'd in the Longest Marches of their Numerous Army.
THO' the
Turkish
Management of their Body Military has been Rendred void of Form and Discipline by the Mistaken Representations of some too Hasty Travellers, yet a Person who observes with a Curious Impartiality, the Artfull methods of their Warlike Government, will soon percieve a Matchless Order Shine Conspicuously throughout their Camp, whose Good effects Produce continually such Happy Consequences, as will more than make a full Atonment for their known Deficiency in the Art of War,
The use of Wine denied Souldiers of the
Turkish
Army upon pain of Death.
FOR First, the use of Wine is there Deny'd 'em by so Strict a Prohibition, that the Smallest Quantity, when Discover'd, is a certain Sacrifice of that Mans Life who has it in Possession. Hereby those frequent Quarrels and Audacious Villanies so Fatal and Pernicious to the Christian Armies are Perpetually avoided, and the Noisy Clamours of Tumultuous War, Subservient Calmly to the Milder Influence of a Peacefull Quietude, no Rapes or Murders Plead for Justice to the Base Abettors of a Countenanc'd Disorder, no Hopes or Prospect of Unlawfull gain can Tempt the Officers of a
Turkish
Army, to the Loose Permission of Licentious Insolencies; all is Mild and Serene and Silent, and the Horrid Face of Gloomy War Disguis'd or Painted by the Brighter Marks of Form and Discipline.
TIS for this the Officers of any Marching Troops throughout the
Turks
Dominions, Dispatch continually from Place to Place, a certain Number of the Trustiest
Janizaries,
to Search the Towns through the which their Men must Pass, and Seal or Stave what
Buts
of Wine or other Spirituous Liquor they find therein, at Least 4 Days before their Camp Arrives.
A Curious sort of Torches us'd in
Turkey.
ANOTHER Custom Prevalent amongst the
Turkish
Armies is to March 'em constantly from Town to Town, and never suffer them in Peace or War to Lie so long in any Place, as to Contrive such Mischiefs as our Christian Souldiers by their Tempting Opportunities do too often Study, and find means to Execute; nay so Carefull are their Chiefs to prevent Disturbances, that they will rather Travel all Night long than give their Men the means of Plundering those Miserable Wretches on whom they Quarter; and indeed it is a Sight Extreamly Pleasant to behold 'em Marching thro' the Thickest Gloom of Winter Nights, with so Innumerable a Quantity of Bright Illuminations as almost Rival Day it self with their Extended Lustre; nor are these Lights like our small Torches, but Compos'd of Large and Massy Balls of Flax and Cotton, dip'd in Tarr or Turpentine, or oftner a sort of Oily, and Bituminous Wood, which certain
Arabs,
Purposely Attending on the
Turkish
Camp, and there Distinguish'd by the Name of
Massalageelar,
bear aloft in Iron Cages, carried on a Tall and Elevated Staff not much unlike those Ancient Lights Describ'd in Old and Valuable Tapesttry.
The form wherein the
Turkish
Generals Pitch their Camps.
AND now, since I have so often mentioned the
Turkish
Army, 'twill no ways favour of a Disgressive Prolixity, if I Describe at Large that Gracefull Order and
unthought
Magnificence wherewith they Pitch their Camps in every Place they come to. First then, the Large Pavilions of the
Sultan, Grand Vizier,
or any other General then Marching at their Head, are Pitch'd directly in the midst of some Extensive Plain, Surrounded at Submissive Distance by the Tents of his Lord Treasurer, Chief Steward, Secretary and the Master of the Ceremonies; these Five Pavilions Plac'd as I have said before, at a Respectfull Distance, Extend themselves upon a vast Spot of Ground, leaving in the Middle one fine open
Square,
in whose delineated Center stand a double Row of stately Pillars, which support a lofty Canopy, under which all Punishments when order'd by the General, are put in Execution: Here come the Officers of the Army, either led by Business or desire of Conversation, and walking up and down in several Companies, form agreeably a sort of
Promenade,
diverting, tho' irregular.
The
Turkish
Treasury, how Guarded in the Camp.
NOT far from hence are plac'd those valuable Chests which bear the Treasure for the Soldiers Payment, pil'd in gradual Order one upon the other, and rising in a Form directly circular: These Chests are guarded both within and without, by certain Chosen Horse-Men, who all Night long, keep strict and formidable Watch, with Spears and Fire-Arms.
THE Two abovemention'd Quarters are surrounded by the graceful Tents of the
Bashaws, Beys, Beylerbeys, Sangiacks,
and
Aga
's, whose stately Form and vast Magnificence can never be imagin'd, but by such whose ocular Demonstration have convinc'd 'em of their Grandeur; for tho' the
Turks
delight but little in the outward Ornament of Houses, nor aspire in the least to overdo each other in the
Europaean
Custom of Polite and Solid Architecture, yet do they far more exceed us in the rich Ornaments and Contrivances of their Pavilions, than we outshine their homely Hutts, and miserable Cottages, by the stupendious Fabricks of our finest Marble, and the most lasting Statelyness of our most celebrated Edifices.
The wonderful Conveniences of the
Turkish
Pavilions.
'TIS every way impossible to describe at large those tripple Walls, vast Rooms of State, innumerable Apartments, Kitchens, Butteries, Cellars, and convenient Offices, wherein those Tents abound which form the Courts of some considerable Officers in their Army; their Rooms are square, and full of Windows, neatly form'd to open always from the Windy Quarter; and in short, nothing either Useful or Ornamental is omitted to compleat them.
The Quarters of the
Zaims, Timariots,
&c.
BEHIND their Masters lie, in measur'd Order, a prodigious Number of the
Zaims, Timariots
and
Beylerbeys,
in Proportion to the
Sultan
's Army, who with their Horses, Camels, Mules and Carriages, appear a huge and formidable Body, of well-skill'd and disciplin'd Soldiers.
Quarters of the
Janizaries.
THe Chosen Glories of the
Turkish
Camp compose its Front, consisting chiefly of the bravest
Janizaries,
and such accomplish'd Voluntiers, as having fully qualified themselves by a long Experience for the Duty of an Office, expect impatiently some profitable Employment, by gradual Succession to the vacant Posts of such as fall, or by the long-wish'd Favour of some Great Commander. These encompass at an aweful Distance, the
Yani-Cherr-Aga,
or General of the
Janizaries,
whose Place and Power I have lately spoken of, in the foregoing Part of this Chapter.
The
Spahees
Quarter'd in the Rear.
THE Rear of their Army is generally compos'd of the Politest
Spahees,
who with many other Regular and Well-appointed Horsemen, of the most Esteem'd and Honourable Orders, maintain their Posts in case of need with wonderful Alacrity and Resolution, making Good the Retreat of their disorder'd Fellows, by bravely Sacrfising their Lives and Liberty, for the preferable Interest of their
Sultan
and his Country.
Station of the Baggage and heavy Artillery.
'TIS generally under the Guard of these above-nam'd Horsemen, that the Baggage, Camels, and heavy Artillery belonging to the Army are safely Convoy'd; and really when a Man who seriously reflects on what he sees, becomes a Witness of the numberless Attendants, Trains, and Carriages of the
Turkish
Armies, he cannot but with Wonder bless that God, who curbs in Mercy the Ambitious Arms of this prodigious Government, and has kindly plac'd a powerful Hook in the presumptuous Nostrils of their Great
Leviathan.
THUS have I at large describ'd the fatal Instruments of those depopulating Slaughters, whose raging Violence in former Ages, rais'd the Monarchs of a ravish'd Empire, to the loftiest Throne of undivided Power and arbitrary Tyranny, which the World supports; and still continue to maintain the Swords Prerogative, whereby without respect to Justice or Religion, the
Turkish Sultans
trample proudly on the softer Dictates of Nature and Morality; removing violently whatever Rubs obstruct their Will; and to whose Inhumane Practices nothing can be more applicable, than the Precepts of
Photinus,
express'd as follows in the Eighth Book of
Lucan.
Sceptrorum vis tota perit, si pendere justa
Incipit; evertitque arces respectus honesti.
Libertas Scelerum est,
&c.
Scepters lose Pow'r when Kings Religious grow,
And
valued
Honesty does Tow'rs o'erthrow;
Free Villany Supports an
enviod
Reign,
And
unsheath'd
Weapons,
unshock'd
Pow'r Maintain.
He who in Wicked Actions takes delight,
Is Safe no longer than they Crown his Sight.
The Pious Man in Courts shou'd never dwell,
Vertue
and Sov'reign Pow'r agree not well;
But he who meanly thinks such Sin a Shame,
Let him for ever fear, and miss the Road to Fame.
CHAP. V. Of their Naval Force.
The convenient Situation of
Constantinople,
in respect to Navigation.
LET us now proceed to search a little into those extraordinary Conveniencies for attaining the highest Perfection in the Art of Navigation, so peculiar to the Capital of the
Turkish
Empire, that it seems as if the Hand of Providence had fix'd at
Constantinople
the happy Seat of Universal Monarchy, and blest its Neighbourhood with all the mighty Helps that bounteous
Nature
can afford a Country, or the Hand of
Art
can possibly require, to extend Dominion over all the World, and spread Authority thro' distant Climates, vainly separated by the Watry Desarts of a Stormy Ocean.
NOT all the Kingdoms of the
Christian
World, shou'd they resolve to join their Forces, and partake promiscuously of one anothers Blessings, cou'd afford conjointly more Materials for Maritime Improvements, than grow commodiously within the beckon of the
Turks
Metropolis;
Timber whence brought them.
for round the Shores whose ragged Cliffs encompass the
Euxine
or
Black Sea,
stand endless Numbers of Tall Woods, whose stately Timber fell'd for Use, supply the City thro' the
Thracian Bosphorus,
with the finest Wood requir'd for Building.
Canvas, Hemp Tar, Pitch, Tallow and Bisket.
CANVAS for Sails, and Hemp for Rigging well what Ships they build, they have beyond all possible Necessity, from those Parts of
Egypt
which surround
Grand-Cairo. Valachia, Moldavia, Epirus
and
Albania,
supply them plentifully with Tallow, Pitch, and Tarr, the best in
Europe
; as for Bisket it abounds incredibly thro' every Corner of their vast Dominions.
The prodigious Magnitude of the Arsenal at
Constantinople.
THEIR Ports and Arsenals for building Ships are Numerous, and Convenient beyond Imagination; that at
Constantinople
is so vastly Large and full of Volta's or Docks for Building, as to be capable of Fitting out above One Hundred and Thirty Five Vessels at one and the same time; nor are the other Arsenals and Harbours of his Empire, less Convenient or Magnificently Splendid, in proportion to the several Magnitudes of the respective Towns or Places where they are;
Whence supplied with Gally Slaves.
and as for Gally-Slaves to tugg laboriously at the toilsom Oar, they neither
do
nor
can
want fresh Supplies, while the
Barbarian
Pirates or dreadful Ravages of the Inhumane
Tartars,
present or sell them yearly Thousands of such unhappy Wretches, as have fallen unwarily into their Hands, and so become the wretched Victims of their insatiate Avarice.
NOW may my Reader be induc'd to fansie from the Accounts abovemention'd, that the Relation I shall give him of the
Turkish
Fleets will be proportionable to their Conveniencies for encouraging above the
Christian
World, the useful Art of Navigation; but he will find his Error with a deep Surprize, when he perceives their Naval Force, not only unimprov'd by an industrious Application, to an equal Balance with the
Christian
Navies, but on the contrary, every way Inferior to the Maritime Improvements of those Poor Republicks, whose small Extent and insignificant Possessions, do scarce intitle them to the Name of Governments, when look'd upon in Competition with the far superior Power of
Confederated Christendom.
Why the
Turks
grew weak in Navigation.
YET is this great Misfortune rather owing to their
Ignorance
than
Idleness,
having frequently Attempted to Equip vast Navies, and with some Success Invaded Hostile Nations with their sometime Formidable Squadrons, but their want of Knowledge in the Arts of Building, Rigging, or the Management of Vessels, still occasion'd Yearly Losses to the
Sultan,
by their dreadful
Shipwracks
when they met with Tempests, or more dreadful
Overthrows
when driven by the Turns of Chance to stand the Shock of a more Skillful Enemy, in the destructive Trial of some decisive Battle.
Gallies now chiefly us'd.
'TIS for this alone they have of late dis-us'd their Large
Maa-humes
or Ships of War, and fallen wholly into building Gallies and Galleasses, so that trusting rather to the Oar, than their Strength or Courage, they preserve their Navies from those shocking Dangers which so often broke 'em, when they vainly thought themselves a Match by Sea as well as Land for
Christian
Enemies.
THERE are notwithstanding now at
Constantinople
so many Tall and Stately Ships of War, as might compose a Navy of Five or Six and Thirty Sail, from Twenty Four to One Hundred and Sixteen Guns; but these are never sent Abroad for Use but Oftentation.
The Form of
Turkish
Ships of War.
They are beyond imagination high and broad, their Sterns and Heads built high, one Deck above another, for Conveniency of Lodging Officers, but so unweildy by their Form, and so unfit for Stormy Weather by the Green unseason'd Timber which is us'd about 'em, that tho' they put to Sea, with Drums and Trumpets Sounding, endless Crowds of Sailors Shouting, and their Streamers Flying with a rich Magnificence, they soon return Unrigg'd and Shattered, less in
Number
as in
Splendour,
bearing shamefully the ragged Marks of Weakness and Disorder in their tatter'd Sails, and Planks just gaping to admit the Ocean.
THE
Turkish
Gallies, which as I said before, are what they most depend on, are jointly subject to the same Misfortunes with their Larger Vessels, and utterly unable to resist the Fury of a Winter Sea, wherefore being-fix'd in dry Docks belonging to the Arsenal, till the sharp extremity of that unfavour'd Season is a little over, there are Orders given to the
Sultan
's
Admiral,
distinguish'd by the Name of
Capitain-Bashaw,
to call 'em from their Stations, and with all imaginable Expedition put to Sea, and Cruise all Summer.
The manner of their raising Seamen.
PROCLAMATION is immediately hereupon, Issued carefully over all the
Turks
Dominions bordering on the Black and Midland Seas, that such as hold their Lands in Tenour of Sea Service, shall suddenly Repair with their respective Quotas to their several Posts on Board their Gallies, this is done with utmost speed, and generally brings together about Two Thirds of that great Number which their Fleet requires upon all Occasions.
The Pay of a
Turkish
Sailor.
TO fill the Vacancies which still require supply, they List immediately prodigious Numbers of a sort of Mariners,
there
distinguish'd by the Name of
Tchurmah,
who are kept as Slaves by People in the Towns which border on the Sea, and hir'd to serve the Summer out on board the Gallies, where for Six Months Drudgery at the laborious Oar, they receive a good Allowance of Provision for the Voyage, and about the Sum of Five and Twenty Pounds at their Return, which is the sole Right and Property of their respective Masters, who live an Idle and Inglorious Life, upon the toilsom Labours and unpitied Miseries of their Fellow Creatures.
IN case there still requires a fresh Recruit, they send a certain Number of their sturdiest Seamen, to rove from Place to Place, about the Provinces which border on their Capital, and there Impress the lustiest Clowns they find amongst them, till by this Addition they compleat the Number which the Service of the
Sultan
then demands.
An admirable Policy.
THESE last are call'd
Azaps
or Clowns, and as least Useful to the Necessities of their Emperour, are still least Burthensome to his Treasury, for tho' their Pay is equal to the rest, it Costs the Government not one sole Farthing, for out of every Five and Twenty Families they claim a Right to one
Azap,
and for his Maintenance that Summer, the other Four, and Twenty Houses are oblig'd to raise an equal Sum of Money to reward his Service.
BESIDES these several Orders of the
Turkish
Seamen, there remains another to be spoken of, which consists of those condemn'd Delinquents of the
Christian
Churches subject to their Tyranny, whose Crimes or evil Fate have chain'd their Bodies to the Oar of Slavery, whence Death alone has Power to free them; these, with such of the
Maltese, Venetian, Spanish,
or
Italian
Mariners, as have unfortunately been the Prize of War, are kept
Misery of
Galley-Slaves.
together void of Hope in endless Misery, never to enjoy their Ravish'd Liberty till the Pitying Sea demands their Bodies, Worn and Meagre by continual Labours, or the Happy turn of a Successfull Battle, shall with Joy give back again that Darling Blessing which it once took from 'em.
The Yearly Voyage of the
Turkish
Fleet of
Galleys.
THE
Turkish
Galleys thus Equip'd, set Sail for a large Port upon the
Hellespont
now call'd
Gallipolis.
Their Number ne'er exceeds one Hundred nor can the Mighty Power of the
Turkish Sultan
maintain a greater Fleet, tho' oft Attempted. Hence they Sail as
War
or
Business
leads their Admiral, from Isle to Isle round all the Tributary Islands of the
Archepilago,
to awe the Natives from Rebellion or Disorder; or Preserve their Shoars from the Repeated Insults of their
Christian
Enemies, till having spent the time Allotted for their Absence, they return again to the Port of
Constantinople,
and Discharging all their Hired Seamen, Place the Galleys in their former Stations, and retire to their Respective Habitations, till Approaching Spring Invites their Officers to Renew their Care, and Summon Back the Marriners to their Abandon'd Duty.
Beyes
of the
Archipalago.
BESIDES the Fleet Immediately depending on the
Sultan
's Admiral, there are a certain Number (under Twenty) of the Lords or Governours of the abovenam'd Islands, who by the Tenure of their several Governments are still Oblig'd to Joyn the Navy every Summer, with each a well appointed Galley under his Command, when every Prize they Chance to Take is the undoubted Right and Property of their
Sultan,
but when in Winter, they continue Cruizing, after the Return of their High Admiral and his Navy, whatever Prize their Fortune gives 'em, is their own by Law, and by themselves Possess'd as Lawfull Booty.
A great Oversight in their Governments.
THE Fatal cause of that Unsinew'd Weakness in the
Turkish
Nvay, may not be Improperly Assign'd to their Unskilfull Practice in the Art of Navigation, guiding with a sort of Listless Application, their Unpolish'd rules of Maritine Improvements, and so Confiding in the sure Perfection of the
Christian
knowledge in that usefull Science, that without the least Examination into the Pretensions of a Renegado, they Immediately advance him to the Post of Gunner, Sail-Maker, Carpenter or Boatswain, never doubting his Accomplishment in a Study which they look upon as natural to the Natives of a
Christian
Country.
I know not whether it proceeds from a mean Despair of being able to Exceed or Equal us in Sea Affairs, or is the Luxurious Effect of their Prodigious Plenty, and those Rich Dominions they Possess by Land, which Tempts their Inclinations to a Gross and Unmolested Enjoyment of their Unmeasur'd Wealth, and draws away their minds from that Industrious Application, they must long time use before they can Attain a full Perfection in that neglected Science. But Plain and Undeniable Demonstration, convinces us that they Affect not in the least becoming Formidable by a Powerful Navy, never Venturing into distant Oceans, and very Rarely out of sight of Land, Sailing always by Direction of certain False and Ill-design'd
Sea-Charts,
Mechanically Drawn without the Smallest knowledge of a Mathematical Proportion, and as a Cloak to Shroud the Shamefull Ignorance which Reigns among them, make Frequent use of an Inglorious Proverb,
A
Turkish
Proverb.
viz. That God hath given the
Land
to
their
Possession, and thought fit to leave the
Sea
to the Dominion of the Infidels.
IN former Ages the
Grand Signior
cou'd by Virtue of his great Authority at any time Oblige the
Algierines,
with those of
Tunis, Tripoly,
Morocco, Fez,
and other Parts of
Africa,
to come with Powerful Ships of War to his Assistance;
The
Pyrates
of
Barbary
Independant on the
Grand-Signior.
but the Princes of those Country's having lately much Encreas'd their
Power
as well as
Policy,
find constant Means by some Excuse to Quitt his Service, nor Approach his Empire, but in Order to Recruit their own, with Fresh Supplies of Men and Plunder, while they Frequently Attack such
Graecian
Islands as are under the Protection of the
Turkish Sultan,
and Artfully contrive to Play the Pirate by Lying off at Sea without the Reach of any Fort or Castle, that upon Complaint by those they Injure to the Officers of the
Grand Signior,
those Avaricious Ministers who
Ʋ nder-hand
receive their Shares of all the Booty, may have a fair Pretence for the Refusing to demand a Legal Satisfaction, as knowing it beyond their Power to Revenge the Injury.
HAVING lately spoken of the Miserable Fate wherein such Wretches find themselves Involv'd, as are by the Unhappy Chance of War become the Slaves of an Inhumane Enemy, it may not be Unwelcome to Relate a Story, of the Particulars whereof I was Inform'd by many People who were Witnesses to the Truth of most of its Uncommon Passages.
A strange Story of a
Turkish
Slave redeemed from Servitude.
SIGNIOR PIETRO CORNARO
a Young Accomplish'd Gentleman of an Ancient Family, and considerable Fortune in the City of
FERRARA
in
Italy,
was led not many Years ago, to Travel thro' the Various Provinces of his Celebrated Country, that by Improving his Experience he might Entirely Satisfie his Eager Curiosity, and Enrich his Mind with such Refin'd Notions, as wou'd distinguish his Perfections from the far less Qualifi'd and common Conversation of his Fellow Citizens.
HE came amongst other Places to
Leghorne,
and took up Lodgings at an Inn, in order to Observe the Rarities of that well Peopled City, and Hapning to be Plac'd in an Appartment that Op'ned to the Publick Street, wou'd often take a Morning Walk about his Room, and looking Frequently upon the Street, Divert himself Agreeably by a Curious Observation of whatever Pass'd before him.
A Privilege of Slaves in
Leghorne.
TIS a Custom of the Town abovemention'd, to Enlarge the
Turks
who serve 'em as their Slaves, and give them Liberty to Ply as Porters, or betake themselves to any other Toilsome Drudgery, Obliging them to Pay their Masters such a Daily Sum of Money as is Judg'd convenient, and Permitting them to keep the little Over-plus to serve Occasionally their own Necessities.
A Virtuous Curiosity.
DIRECTLY Opposite to
Signior Pietro
's Chamber was a Bench, on which he often saw a Melancholy
Turk
sit Thoughtfull and Dejected, Leaning Pensively his Head upon his Hand, and Dropping now and then a Silent Tear, which he Endeavour'd Secretly to Wipe away with a large Knott of Ropes the Wretched Badge of his Unfortunate Employment. The Frequent Repetition of this Mournfull Practice, tho' begun too Early for a Publick Observation, was perceiv'd with Wonder by the Compassionate
Italian,
who Earnestly desirous to become Acquainted with the reasons of his Sorrow, sent at last a Messenger to Fetch him, and having Carry'd him Directly to his own Appartment, Discours'd a while and Askt him several Questions in the
Italian
Language, wherein the
Turk
had then Attain'd Considerable Knowledge, and Receiving Answers
Modest
and
Particular,
Proceeded to demand the manner of his being Taken, and how long he had continued in that State of Slavery.
WITH wringing Hands and elevated Looks which seem'd to blame his Starrs for his unpity'd Misery, The poor, disconsolate
Mahometan
began his Tale, and water'd his Complaint with showers of Tears, whose falling Streams spoke piercing Proofs of his ungovernable Sorrow: I am, says he, an honest
Musse
man,
never Friend to
War
or
Rapine,
but became a Sacrifice to both, in an unlucky Visit to an Aged Father, then in Health, and Peace, at
Cyprus
; now perhaps laid Cold and Breathless in some gloomy Grave, and may have broke his Heart to hear my Misery.
THESE sad Complaints were follow'd mournfully by a sincere and full Account of every Accident which had concurr'd unfortunately to reduce him to this Slavery; he soon at large inform'd his kind Inquirer, that he had sorrowfully spent Four tedious Years in that Condition, which had left Three Wives, Two Sons now Men, and Nine small Children, drown'd in Grief for his unlucky Loss, and wholly destitute of any means whereby to know his present Habitation.
THE pitying Breast of
Signior Pietro,
fram'd for tender and compassionate Impressions, melted generously with Sympathetical Concern, to hear the wretched and forlorn Condition of this complaining Infidel, and asking him his Name, and other things he thought convenient, he gave him Money and dismiss'd him kindly, with a Word or two of Comfort.
A generous Compassion.
THE
Turk
return'd disconsolately back to the unwelcom Practice of his daily Labours, and the tender-natur'd
Signior Pietro,
seriously reflecting on his weighty Sorrow, and considering that the Will of Providence, or some unthought of Turn of fickle Chance, might one Day make the Case his own, and teach him by the bitter Proofs of sad Experience, how to pity others Miseries, by the insupportable Extremity of his own Misfortunes; he resolv'd to do a noble Act of
Christian
Charity, and making Interest with the Governour of the Town, found means to get the
Turk
Releas'd, for the Ransom of about One Hundred Forty Five Duccats.
NEVER could more welcome and surprizing News rejoyce the Heart of Humane Sufferer, than that which brought the happy
Turk
the News of his Delivery; with rapid Transports of ungovern'd Joy he fell upon his Knees, embrac'd the Feet of his ador'd Redeemer, and with numerous Vows of hearty Gratitude, entreated
Signior Pietro
to inform him how he might return
twice told
that friendly Sum, which had so generously purchas'd him his valued Liberty.
An honourable Liberality.
THE Good
Italian
wish'd him well, but told him he expected no Return, yet if his Soul was Noble and wou'd urge him to be Grateful, he only ask'd his solemn Promise that he wou'd at his Return, Redeem from Slavery some
Christian
Gentleman, whom he shou'd think did most deserve it, and send him back as soon as possible, to visit once again his Native Country; This last Agreement was in fine c
ncluded on, and the deliver'd
Turk,
supplied with Cloaths and all things necessary, embark'd on board an
English
Vessel bound for
Turkey,
and return'd successfully to his former Habitation.
THERE pass'd about Three Months beyond the Day of the
Mahometan
's Departure from
Leghorne,
when
Signior Pietro,
having been the greatest Part of that time in
Venice,
pleas'd extreamly with the City and its People, became enamour'd of a Lady Young and Beautiful, call'd
Maria Margarita Delfino,
who had for several Years resided in that Town, under the Roof and Care of a substantial Merchant, youngest Brother to her Father, who with her Sisters, and the major Part of her Relations, liv'd at
Malta
: Nothing cou'd disswade the Amorous
Italian
from a violent Expression of his growing Passion; he sollicited her Uncle with incessant Importunities, and at last engag'd him to permit him to Address her, upon this Condition, that he should accompany his Niece and him to
Malta,
there to gain her Father's Approbation of his Person and Condition. This he promis'd, and continued Four Months daily visiting the Object of his Affection, till he gain'd entirely her Consent to Marry him when she was Authoriz'd to do it by her Father's Order; and it seems their Sympathetic Ornaments of
Mind
and
Body,
pointed out the Match, and spoke 'em only Worthy of each others Value.
A strange Misfortune which befel a Lover and his Mistress.
THEY Embark'd upon a Vessel Bound for
Malta,
and belonging to that Island, which they were almost arriv'd in Sight of, when a
Turkish
Gally met and boarded them, making undistinguish'd Prize of all her Cargo, and transporting
Signior Pietro,
with his Mistress and her Uncle into threatned Slavery, landing them at
Smyrna,
together with the Valuable Prize in which they took them.
OH! Strange Uncertainty of Humane Life, blind, mad Event of fickle Fortune! How much in vain do thoughtless Mortals boast the Blessings of a Worldly Grandeur, when the sudden Turns of War, or Accident, destroy Tyrannically, in one poor Moment, the stateliest Pillars of that fansied Greatness upon which Foundation we so vainly Build our Hopes of Happiness!
A very odd and surprizing Turn of Fortune.
I forgot to tell you that the Three Companions in this miserable State, had chang'd their Cloaths, for course and rougher Habits, when they saw the Danger they were falling into, that being so disguis'd they might expect a Ransom from a smaller Charge than otherwise would serve 'em; so that being taken with the Common People they were like them,
in Chains,
conducted to the Publick Market, where the Slaves are
Bought
and
Sold
like Sheep or Oxen;
Signior Pietro
and the young Ladies Uncle were ty'd together, and plac'd with many more to wait the Purchase of the fairest Bidder; opposite to them the Poor, Unhappy Lady stood,
half dead
with Fear and Anguish, with a numerous Crowd of
Christian
Women, Young and Old, expecting every Moment to be Bought, and torn away from any hopes of seeing ever more her Lover and Relation.
A grating Trial of a Lover's Patience.
WHO cou'd now express the swelling Grief, conflicting Passions and tumultuous Agonies, wherewith these poor
desponding
Lovers view'd each other, yet not daring to discover their Concern, for fear their Love should double their Misfortunes; till at last a young and graceful
Turk
came up to the disconsolate
Maria,
and bargaining immediately with the Officer who kept her, paid the Money, and throwing on a Veil he brought on purpose, took her from the rest, and carry'd her away with an extraordinary Satisfaction.
MANY a Complaining Look did the despairing Lady give her Friends, who answer'd her with all the mournful Marks of silent Lamentation, and were now, (especially the Lover) so confounded with their Misery that they stood insensible like Marble Statues, looking stedfastly upon the Ground, and took no notice of the many Purchasers, who walk'd about from Place to Place to view the Persons of the wretched Captives.
WHILE they stood thus fix'd in Contemplation on the transitory Blessings of a Mortal Life, there came a
Turk
from Stall to Stall enquiring earnestly of every Officer, what Quality and Country their several Slaves laid claim to, and examining particularly the Slaves themselves to the same Effect, at last he came to
Signior Pietro,
who holding down his Head, the
Turk
stoop'd forward to look upon his Face, a Courtesy not often put in Practice by those barbarous People, who when a Slave refuses to hold up his Face will generally take them roughly by the Chin, as when a Jockey looks upon a Horses Mouth, and rudely force 'em to expose their Countenances.
A lucky Accident.
The
Turk
no sooner saw the Face, but starting back in great Surprize, he rais'd his Arms and Eyes towards Heaven, and half transported at the strange Discovery, cry'd out aloud,
I thank thee Holy Prophet thou hast guided well my lucky Footsteps.
The griev'd
Italian
looking up at this surprizing Exclamation, saw before his Eyes that very Man, whom in
Leghorn
he had so kindly freed from Slavery; no Pen can tell the Raptures he must needs conceive at this so happy Meeting, swift Embraces follow'd their Surprize, and when the Wonder of the
Turk
would give him leave to speak again, he thus address himself to
Signior Pietro.
A memorable Piece of gratitude.
I promis'd thee,
said he,
thou best of Christians, that I wou'd certainly redeem such Slave from Servitude as I shou'd judge did more than any else deserve that Blessing; and now, thank
Mahomet,
in thee, I have discover'd him
; with that he order'd him who guarded them to send some Person to receive his Ransom, and conduct him presently to his own House: The overjoy'd
Italian
heard with Pleasure the Design of his accomplish'd Gratitude, but told him,
if he would be doubly kind, he might Redeem his Friend who suffer'd with him, and they wou'd find some speedy Means to reimburse his utmost Charges
; the Proposition was embrac'd as soon as offer'd, and a Person being sent to take the Money, receiv'd immediately the Ransoms he demanded, and returning to the Market left the Gentlemen in the Care of their Redeemer.
Another strange Surprise.
THE
Turks
Two Sons, when told the Accident by which their Father met the Man to whom before he ow'd his Liberty, express'd sincere and grateful Joy, and bid them welcome with an inexpressible Civility, and after having heard the manner of their being Taken, and their sorrowful Complaint for loss of an unhappy Virgin, whom they lov'd so dearly; he who was the Eldest of the Two cry'd out with earnestness,
Now by the Religion of our Prophet and his People, my Father's House contains this Virgin
; and thereupon proceeded to inform them, he had bought that very Morning a young
Christian
Slave, to wait upon his Mother and his Father's other Wives, that she had giv'n the same Account as they had done of the particulars of her Captivity, that she was then above among the Women, and he wou'd for satisfaction fetch her down that very Moment.
'TIS easy to imagine the Disorder of their Breasts, possess'd alternately by
Hope
and
Fear
; which rag'd impetuously and rack'd their Minds, till Doubt gave way, and boundless Joy o'erspread their Souls to see the Person they so lately lost, conducted to their Arms by him to whom the Laws of
Turkey
gave her up as lawful Purchase.
THEY staid a Week with their kind Landlord, who wou'd not rest till he had likewise Ransom'd Two Men Servants, and a Maid who waited on the Lady; these together with as many of their Goods and Cloaths as he could purchase from the
Turk
who took them, he bestow'd again upon their lawful Owners; gave them a considerable Sum of Money and contriv'd to get them Passage on a Vessel of
Marseilles
then Bound for
Malta.
SIGNIOR PIETRO,
the young Lady, and her Uncle frequently Endeavour'd to Oblige this Honest
Turk
to take their Bills, or find some other method to secure his Money; but he Persisted in a Positive Refusal of their smallest Proffers, telling
Signior Pietro
the Debt was Paid before it was Contracted; and would often lay his Hand Devoutly on his Bosom, and with a Zealous Sigh repeat this Proverb.
A
Turkish
Proverb.
The God of Heaven has given us Plenty, that we may give from God where need requires it.
Moral reflections on the Instability of Fortune.
THIS Story, tho Digressive from the Subject of the Chapter, may perhaps, so far divert the Reader as to make a full Atonement for its Undesign'd Prolixity; since a Moral Observation may thereby be made, and Teach us happily so well to use our Charitable Opportunities, that we may reasonably Hope, if once our Fate shou'd Chance to be Inverted, duely to receive that Measure of Compassion, which our former Mercy Heap'd Abundantly on those who wanted it, always bearing in our Memories, that the Transitory Smiles of Worldly Fortune, tho' they make a Blessing
Great,
can never make it
Fix'd
or
Permanent
; that
KINGS
and
BEGGARS
are alike the Sport of Chance; and those who
Rule
to Day may
Serve
to Morrow, while the
Blanks
and
Prizes
of our Frail Mortality, Proclaim Alternately the
Good
or
Ill
of Humane Life uncertain as a
Lottery.
BUT to return to what I Undertook to speak of: Such as before Describ'd is now the Greatest Naval Power which the
Turkish Sultan
's Boast Possession of; and while the Reader may be led to Wonder at the Blindness of those Enemies to
Christendom,
he wou'd do well to Praise the Mercies of that God, who by his Undeserv'd and Boundless Providence vouchsafes to Curb the Wild desires of an Ambitious Government, by not Permitting them to know their Interest, and Improve those vast peculiar Opportunities, their Provinces afford them, to the Terrour or Destruction of his Church and People.
A Powerfull Navy the Glory of a Nation.
THE Numerous Advantages a Nation gains, defended Formidably by a Warlike Navy, are beyond dispute the Pillars of her State, and chief Promoters of her envied Glories; since a People strengthen'd by a Powr'full Fleet, not only reap Advantages from Foreign Traffick, and become thereby Immensely Rich at home, but are Enabled fully to extend their Conquests to the spacious Earths remotest Corners, and become free Denizons of all the Countries of the Habitable World.
The decay of Naval Force among the
Turks,
an Omen of their Downfall.
THAT therefore these Aspiring and Ambitious Infidels, instead of having gain'd a double knowledge of the useful Art of Navigation as their daily Conquests swell'd their Empire, have extreamly Slacken'd their once-warm Endeavours, and begin to slight Marine Improvements, may well be look'd upon as an undoubted Proof of their declining State and Sinking Grandeur, and many reasonable Causes joyn to Prompt a
Christian
's hope, that he may live to Triumph in the downfall of a Throne whose Black Foundation fix'd its Greatness on the Bloody Overthrow of Injur'd Princes, and the Undistinguish'd Slaughter of Invaded Nations.
NOR are the
Turks
insensible of their Weakness; they know they lie entirely open to the Insults of the
Muscovites,
who lately forc'd a Passage through the
Euxine Sea,
and sent a Ship of 70 Guns, which brought on Board the
Czar
's Embassador, and coming to an Anchor at the Point of the
Grand Signior's Seraglio,
saluted and surpriz'd the City with a whole Broadside, never was there seen a greater Consternation, which continued with uncommon Hurry and Destraction till 'twas Publickly Proclaim'd he came to bring their Emperour a Compliment from
Moscovy
; since that, they have repair'd some Castles on the Entrance of the
Bosphorus
and
Black Sea,
but never built one Vessel more, nor taken any requisite Precaution in order to withstand the growing Danger, which alarm'd their Fears from so undreaded and remote a Corner.
CHAP. VI. Of the Tenets of their Faith, and how differing from the
Persians.
The
Turkish Alcoran,
or Body of their Faith.
THREE Noted Books among the
Turks,
Direct their Faith and Dictate their Religion: The
ALCORAN,
or Body of their Law and Faith, was first Compil'd by the Impostor
Mahomet,
assisted by the Pen of
Sergius
a Monk; this Book is written in
Arabian
Verse, but
rough
and
inharmonious,
nor must be either read or written in another Language; 'tis like the
Gospel
amongst
Christians
Sacred and Incontrovertible, and approach'd Devoutly with a zealous Kiss, nor must be
touch'd
by
Christians,
or the
unwash'd
Hands of
Turks
themselves. The Titles under which it passes are agreeable to their Opinion of its Doctrine, such as Light of God, Sole Guide to Paradise, and Divine Director unto Heavenly Glories.
The Second Book of their Religion.
THE Second Book, which teaches their Religion, is the
Assonah,
or sure Traditional Decrees of their Enlighten'd Prophets,
Ebubeker, Omar, Haly
and
Ozmyn
:
The Third, by whom 'twas written.
The Third is call'd,
The Necessary Consequences of the Books of Life; or, True Interpretation of the Prophet's Pleasure
: Which last was written by the Ancient
Caliphs
of
Egypt
and
Babylon,
whose vast Authority the Power of the Sword and Change of Governments has centur'd in the
Muftee
of the Modern
Turkish
Empire.
The Five Articles requir'd to Constitute a True
Mahometan.
NOW tho' these Three above-nam'd Books, contain the total Sum of their fallacious Doctrine, yet are they inverted greatly by the various Explications and directly opposite Opinions of their Expounding Doctors: But notwithstanding their Divisions into numerous
Sects,
which Teach peculiar Doctrines to their several Adherents, there is a certain
Standard
of their Faith, containing Five Religious Articles, of Fundamental Piety and Indispensible Necessity; which are requir'd to Constitute a True
Mahometan,
and allow'd by all, sufficient Proofs to gain a
Man
of any Party or Opinion whatsoever, the valuable Character of a True Believer:
The First,
is frequent Cleansing with a Pot of Water all the outward Parts of their polluted Bodies:
The Second, is
to Pray Five times each Day they live:
The Third,
to keep one Month in Twelve a Strict and Holy Fast:
The Fourth,
to give according to their Wealth a large Proportion to the Poor Believers:
And the Fifth,
to Visit once at least before they Die, the Celebrated Tomb of their Impost'rous Prophet, or depute some Holy Person in their Stead, and Bear his Charges going and returning thro' the Num'rous Stages of that commanded Pilgrimage.
The main Profession of the
Turkish
Faith.
THE only Great and Noted Article of the
Turkish
Faith is centred fully in the following Profession,
Allah Ekbirr, Esaked hu enlah Ilah he Illallah ve esked hu enai Muhammed weesuul
: The meaning of which Words in our Language may be express'd as follows,
I verily believe there is but one God, and Mahomet is the Prophet of that God.
Other Rites and Ceremonies are only look'd upon as Tryals of Obedience, and never reckon'd necessary Rules to guide their Faith, or forfeit, tho' omitted, their assur'd Salvation.
Certain other Principles of their Religion.
AMONGST these last may be esteem'd the Duty of their Circumcising Children, their abstaining zealously from Blood and Swines-flesh, their observing
Friday
as an holy Sabaoth, their refusing Images or Pictures in their Churches, and a Number more of their Religious Customs.
A pleasant Notion of the
Turks,
concerning the Creation.
THO' they acknowledge God in all his Attributes, of
Great, Good, Just, Omniscient, Omnipresent,
and
Incomprehensible,
they deny with violence the Doctrine of the
Trinity
; and not distinguishing the Sacred Union of that Heavenly Mystery, are blindly led to think we Worship Three
distinct
and
separated
Godheads: They believe that God Created both the World and all Things in it, and relate a pleasant Story, how he form'd Man of various sorts of colour'd Clay, which having lain for many Thousand Years neglected in the Sun, he breath'd into him the Breath of Life, and being much delighted with his new Creation, made the Angels Kneel down and Worship him; But when the innate Pride of haughty
Satan
urg'd him to deny his God's Decree, by boldly daring to dispute his Will, the kindled Anger of the Great Almighty threw him headlong down to Hell, with all those Angels which appear'd his Friends; for which, they say, the
envious
Devils have since that, been
unrelenting
Enemies to Humane Happiness.
Their Opinion of our Saviour.
THO' they dissavow with Heat the Noblest Principles of
opposite
Christanity, they do not only speak respectfully of
Jesus Christ,
but own him as a Prophet far beyond the
Hebrew Moses,
and inferiour only to their worshipp'd
Mahomet,
whom he
preceeded
with
inferior
Share of Inspiration, as he
succeeded Moses
with a
greater
Portion.
They deny his Crucifixion.
They call him in their Books
The Breath of God,
but own not his
Divinity,
nor can be brought to credit his asserted
Crucifixion,
which they say was inconsistent with the Justice of a God, so Holy and Impartial; they can by no means think he wou'd permit a Prophet, whom he had endu'd with Vertue to resist all Sin, Cure worst Diseases, Raise the Dead, and do all other Miracles, to be made a Sacrifice to so Unworthy, Base, and Curst a People as the
Jews
then were, and die so Vile a Death, as
Christian
Doctrine says he suffer'd.
A strange Opinion of the
Turks
concerning
Judas.
THE better to defend this Error in their Faith, they have contriv'd a subtle Story, how, when Christ was led to die, Almighty God translated him invisibly to a Place in Heaven, and deceiv'd the Eyes of the deluded
Jews
by such prevailing and mistaking Blindness, that they seiz'd on
Judas
who betray'd him to their Hands, and taking him for the departed
Jesus,
nail'd him to the Cross, and Executed him instead of our Redeemer.
No
Jew
permitted to turn
Turk
till he becomes a
Christian.
THEY believe him to have been a Virgins Son, and that his Mother
Mary
Bore him at her Breasts; Conceiving not by Humane Help, but by the virtuous Odour of a certain
Rose
: They will not suffer him to be Blasphem'd, but own he will return to Judge the World some Years before its Dissolution. Nay, so great a Veneration do they pay his Memory, that they refuse to let a
Jew
turn
Turk,
till he has first espous'd the
Christian
Faith, and will from thence become a perfect
Mussulman.
THEY quite deny the Doctrine of
Eternal Punishment,
believing every Man attended constantly in
Life
and
Death
by Two contending Angels,
One
whereof is
White
and
Kind
; the
Other Black, Severe,
and
Cruel.
Such they say as die Religiously are transported soon to Joys in
Paradise,
while such as live a Careless, Loose, Debauch'd, and Sinful Life, shall long be tortur'd by their
Sooty
Angel, and receive a great and tedious Punishment for all past Wickedness, before their White and Friendly Angel can prevail to lift 'em from the Flames of Hell, and bear 'em pure and free from Stain, to tast the Bliss their Paradise affords them.
THE gross Absurdities of their politest Notions of a Future State, are such as will undoubtedly surprize the Reader with a wonder at their Ignorance, but are not, if consider'd rightly, void of Crafty and Designing Subtilties, since to the rude and barbarous Natures of those unpolish'd, gross, and sordid People, who were first deluded by the
Turkish
Superstition, nothing cou'd have been a fairer Mark to draw away their Minds, than those alluring Prospects of a Carnal Pleasure, which so entirely suited their extravagant Desires and unrefin'd Capacities.
The
Turks
odd Notion of a general Judgment.
THE Common Notion prevalent in
Turkey,
of a General Judgment and its necessary Consequences is ridiculously Founded on the following Particulars; They say, the winding of a frightful Horn shall shake the World to single Atoms, by the raging Force of unresisted Earthquakes, God alone shall Judge all Mortals,
Moses, Christ,
and
Mahomet,
appearing severally at the Head of their respective Followers, to intercede with the Almighty for the Pardon of their Sins:
The Line or Bridge of Justice.
That
Cain
shall lead the Numbers of the Damn'd, all loaden heavily with Satchels full of Crimes upon their burthen'd Shoulders, to pass upon a small and slippery Rope, thence call'd the Line of Justice, that the greatest Sinners shall be forc'd to tumble on the Right-side into prodigious Flames and scenes of Torment, there to be, till having expiated all their Guilt, they shall be taken suddenly to Seats in Paradise, while
Hell,
the
Devil
and his wicked
Angels,
shall become annihilated by the Power of Heaven.
THOSE whose Sins are less in Weight, and fewer in their Number, falling gently to the
Left
of this above-nam'd Line of Justice, shall be taken in a nearer way to endless Bliss, and undergo but very small and trifling Punishments, to purifie their Natures for the Tast of Happiness.
Reward of Vertue.
BUT as for those whose Pious Lives, and Exemplary Vertues have deserv'd on Earth no just Reproof, they shall be pois'd in Passage by their Guardian Angels, and attain successfully their Throne of Joy, without the trouble of the smallest Stay in either of those Places, not unjustly call'd the
Turkish
Purgatories.
The odd Chimera's of the
Turkish
Paradise.
PARADISE
is by the
Turks
conceiv'd a spacious Land, o'erspread engagingly with lofty Palaces, inviting Shades, soft murmuring Fountains, cooling Grotta's, verdant Bowers, and slow'ry Meadows, adorn'd magnificently with Trees of Gold and Rocks of Diamond; amidst whose soft alluring Charms, the never-fading Joys of Love must bless their Hours with constant Pleasure, giving each his lovely Mistress, rich in Beauty, and accomplish'd Sweetness both of Mind and Body, never subject to the Earthly Passions, or Deficiencies of Nature, Pure and Perfect in their Forms and Substance, daily gaining back their rob'd Virginities, to bestow again on those to whom before they lost 'em, ever blooming in the Flower of Youth and serv'd obsequiously by the attendant Duty of divinely Featur'd Boys, or Angels, and in short, Enjoying in their fansy'd Paradise, the very Heigth of those Extravagant desires, which are on Earth, the wild and vain Effects of an Insatiate, Wanton, and Luxurious Appetite.
Predestination,
Strictly held in
Turkey.
PREDESTINATION, in its Highest
Extended Pitch, is by the
Turks
most Zealously Mantain'd, nay, to such strange degrees of Height does this Opinion lift 'em, that they Scruple not to look on God as the Unquestion'd Author, both of
Good
and
Evil.
THEY all Unanimously Acquiesce in one Belief: That every Man Receives upon his Forehead, at his time of Birth, the Undisputed Mark of all his Future
Good
or
Ill,
that
there
is Written both the Time and Manner of his certain Death, nor can he Possibly by any means, avoid the Fate to which the Will of God has so Ordain'd him, and herein they seem Exactly to agree with those Expressions of the Famous
Seneca,
in his Tragedy of
Oedipus.
A Quotation from
Seneca,
Relating to
Predestination.
Fatis Agimur, Cedite Fatis,
Non solicitae possunt Curae
Mutare,
&c.
Guided by Fate, we must Subservient be,
Nor can our Care Subvert one fix'd Decree;
Whate'er our Mortal Race does Undergo,
Whate'er we think or Act, from Heav'n must Flow,
All Natures Springs move one
Appointed
Way,
And the
First
Hour Points out the
Latest
Day.
A very Strange and Humerous Custom of the
Turkish
People.
THEY hold the Name of God so Sacred and Inviolable, that they seldom speak of the divine Omnipotence, without a Reverend Stroaking down their Beards, and Faces; nay so Carefull are they to Preserve from Disrespect the Power of God, that when they find the Smallest Piece of Paper fallen in the Street, the Gravest Man among them will with Reverence stoop to take it up, and Thrust it Closely into some small Nook, or Crevice, in the Walls or Houses as they pass along: A Stranger wou'd be very much Surpriz'd to see the outward Cases of the
Turkish
Buildings Cram'd as full as Possible of little Rough and Rumpled Scrips of Brown and Writing Paper.
Their Reasons for it.
THE Reasons which they give Inquiring
Christians
for the Practice of this Odd and Trifling Ceremony are Diverting and Particular; for First, they Judge it an unseemly Action to permit the Feet of Men, or Beasts, or Highway Mud, which fills their Streets, to Touch, or Soil with their Polluted Filth a thing whereon the Name of God might Probably be Written.
THE other reason which Excites the Walking
Turks
to Narrow Searches for such bits of Paper, is a Notion they have got amongst them,
that before they come within the Walls of their delightfull
Paradise,
they must be all Oblig'd to Walk Bare-Footed o'er a large and Glowing Plain of Red-Hot Iron, without Permission to have any thing Beneath their Feet, but all those Former Bits of Paper, which they Sav'd on Earth, from being Trampled on by the Polluted Tread of
Men
or
Horses.
The
Turks
Ungratefull for their Womens Favours.
WOMEN are but rarely suffer'd to appear in
Mosques,
and then are plac'd
all over Veil'd,
behind a large and darken'd Lettice, for the
Turks
however fond of Female Conversation, and wholly given up to wanton Dalliances, and the warm Caresses of their Womens Persons, are so far from placing like our amorous
Christians,
Flames and Darts, Death, Wounds, and Lightning in a Ladies Eye, that they inhumanely deny their Dovelike Women, even so much as one poor Place in that enchanting Paradise, which we like more indulgent Lovers, make our Mistresses the sole Disposers of.
The
Turkish
Ladies are deny'd a Place in
Paradise.
THE fine Virginity-restoring Ladies I so lately spoke of, are not such as here on Earth the
Turks
Enjoy, but fine, new-form'd, and shining Creatures, purposely Created for the Place they dwell in; while the poor forgotten Objects of their Worldly Love remain without, in Places far less Bright and Glorious, nor are allow'd one distant View of those transporting Joys, in whose Possession their once-lov'd and stately Lords now live in Raptures.
AND now, to give you
British
Ladies an enlivening Tast of
Turkish
Arrogance to your deserving Sex, and let you see how little Cause you have to grieve, that we possess a just and mild Preheminence by Natures Laws, and those of
Matrimony,
I'll venture to Translate a famous Song, now much in Vogue among the celebrated
Beaux,
and
Belles
of
Turkey
: You'l pardon Ladies if it wants the Spirit of a Good Translation, since where the Subject does not please, the jaded Pen will very rarely reach Perfection. The Song shou'd seem to have been made by some successless Lover, on his meeting a Repulse from one he Courted for his Fourth and Favorite Consort.
I.
A very odd and comical
Turkish
Song.
Three Wives I boast, as black as Jet,
And Comely as the Pine,
'Mongst all the Three, I never met
A Baulk to one Design.
O
Mahomet,
O Prophet you who can,
Hear, and Revenge an Injur'd
Mussulman.
II.
A Short, and Fair, late won my Heart,
And her I wou'd have blest,
She shou'd have had of Love a Part
Superior to the Rest.
O
Mahomet,
O Prophet you who can,
Hear, and Revenge an Injur'd
Mussulman.
III.
But she deny'd the proffer'd Bliss,
And durst refuse to Wed,
But if she suffers not for this,
May I be Lost when Dead.
O
Mahomet,
O Prophet you who can,
Hear, and Revenge an Injur'd
Mussulman.
IV.
Before her Window long I stood,
Sung loudly to her Praise,
Deep gash'd my Arm till drown'd in Blood,
Yet unconcern'd she'd gaze.
O
Mahomet,
O Prophet you who can,
Hear, and Revenge an Injur'd
Mussulman.
V.
But tho' she proudly dares Rebel,
The time will come when I shall see,
The poor inferior Wretch in Hell,
Not Worthy once to look on me.
Then slight conceited Slave, if there you can,
The proffer'd Courtship of a
Mussulman.
The
Turks
forbid the Use of Wine.
THE Use of Wine is in the
Alcoran
forbid the
Turks
on pain of the severest Anger of their
God
and Prophet; yet they Publickly express their great Dislike of that Injunction, by the frequent drinking it in largest Quantities; in Men of Years and grave Appearance 'tis esteem'd a Crime beyond Excuse, to be inclin'd to common Drunkenness, and Men of High and
Envied Posts,
are careful how they show the smallest Inclination to the like Intemperance, lest they shou'd give a joyful Opportunity to their observing Enemies, to blame the Follies of their several Governments, as an impure Effect of lov'd Ebriety: But Men of Gay and Sprightly Tempers, Young, and unimploy'd in State Affairs, affect the Practice of continual Drinking;
Yet drink it to Extravagance.
nor is the Use of Wine by them conceiv'd as Sovereign by its
Virtues,
or
enlivening
Qualities, but by the downright Operation of a pow'rful
Quantity,
which skrews their Spirits to a strange Extravagance, and robs 'em wholly of their
delug'd
Reason, by the moist Effects of its
intoxicating
Nature.
THERE is a Custom I observ'd amongst the
Turks,
that they will often visit
Christian
Merchants, at their Country Houses, where, retir'd from fear of Publick Observation, they have convenient Time and Opportunity to Carouse at Pleasure, till becoming downright Drunk and Mad, they run immediately to mount their Horses, and tho' scarce able to continue on their Feet, when fix'd securely in their Saddles, begin to Spurr with restless Fury, riding up and down from Hill to Valley, in a constant Gallop, till they grow again sedately Sober, and return to take a formal Leave of him whose Wine they quass'd so freely of.
THERE goes a pleasant Story of the Cause why
Mahomet
prohibited the Use of Wine to all his Followers, which is related by the
Turks
themselves with these Particulars.
A Story how
Mahomet
came to forbid his Followers the Use of Wine.
THERE was a certain Shepherd in the Neighbourhood of
Meccha,
whose Possessions were so far Superior to the rest of his Fraternity, that he was Chosen as a Ruler of their whole Society, and exercis'd a sort of mild Authority, by the joint Permission of the Shepherds of that Country.
IT happen'd that this Man oppos'd with violence the Doctrine of the Impostor, then but newly vented in those very Parts wherein he liv'd, and all the Brotherhood depending upon him as on their Lord and Oracle, The crafty
Mahomet
perceiv'd it difficult without his Friendship to accomplish his Designs, and so resolv'd to court his Favour by the most respectful Marks of Honour and Civility.
ACCORDINGLY he came one Day to make a Visit to this pow'rful Shepherd, attended pompously by a magnificent and numerous Retinue; it hapned that a Daughter of this honest Mans was that Day Marry'd, and a splendid Entertainment made, to feast those many Guests who grac'd her Nuptials; when the Prophet enter'd, he saluted kindly all the Company with his most hearty Blessing, and sat him freely down among the rest, pretending great and wond'rous Satisfaction in their agreable and pleasant Conversation.
The first and best Effect of Wine.
THE merry Company a little Elevated with the Fumes of Wine, forgot their Hatred to the Doctrine which he taught; and pleas'd to see him so familiar and respectful, grew extreamly fond of the Impostor's Person, shaking him by the Hand, embracing him with fervour, and saluting him with Kisses on his Cheeks and Forhead.
BUT Business leading him a little farther, he began to take his leave, and was detain'd against his Will by the uncommon Kindness of the Shepherd and his Family, who wou'd by no means suffer him to go, till he engag'd himself by solemn Promise to return again as soon as he had ended what small Business he was then to go about. He went, and finish'd in an Hour or Two the utmost of his Task, and made all hast imaginable to be there again, imputing the Excess of their Civilities to the Virtue of the Wine they drank so plentifully, which he therefore bless'd, with oft repeated Orders to his numerous Disciples, that they shou'd thenceforth drink a double Quantity of that Celestial Liquor, whose Effects produc'd such peaceable Engagements, and had Power to change the sharpest Hatred into Love, and make a Friend of a profess'd and open Enemy.
The last and worst Effect thereof.
BUT when he came again among them, he perceiv'd a mighty Change in all their Humours; they were now become entirely Drunk, and turn'd the late Expressions of their Kindness, into rude, ungovern'd and tumultuous Violence; him whom so lately they address'd with Kisses, now they Curse and strive to Murder; Noise and Discord, Fighting and Distraction, were the only Scenes he had before him; and in short, with much ado escap'd alive, from their oppressive Injuries.
THE
New Effect
of this mistaken Liquor, urg'd the Prophet to a
New Decree,
as much against it, as the First had been in favour of it; for perceiving now it cou'd excite Disorder, and give birth to
Broils
as well as
Mirth,
he chang'd the Sentence he so lately gave, and made it an
Haraum
for ever after, or
Abomination
not to be encourag'd by the Children of his People.
The
Turks
and
Persians
much divided in Religious Matters.
THESE are the prevailing Tenets of the
Turkish
Faith, but differ widely from the
Persian
Doctrine; which last Nation, tho' the Followers of
Mahomet
and his Religion, do
notwithstanding that,
prefer before him
Hali
his Successor, and Usurper of his Empire, by the Claim of Marriage with the Prophet's Daughter, who in the end was overthrown and slain by
Ebubeker, Omar
and
Osmyn,
whose Opinions are at present follow'd, as believ'd Inspir'd like
Mahomet
himself, by all the
Turks
depending on the Government of the
Grand Signior
: But as for
Persia,
She adheres intirely to the Thoughts of
Hali,
and esteems him not Inferior even to their fam'd Impostor.
THESE dissenting Notions and encreasing Differences in Opinion, have at last so far extended their pernicious Influences, that from small and gradual Breaches, they are now burst out to open Hatred of each others Persons; complaining mutually that either Side has added
to
or taken
from
the Substance of their
Alcoran,
as has been most agreable to their respective Interests, and the promotion of their own Opinions.
NAY to such unbounded Madness does their Hate arise, that not contented to heap Loads of dreadful Curses on each others Heads, they set themselves in every Point directly opposite to one anothers Notions, the
Turks
remaining censur'd as
Schismatical,
by the adverse Exposition of the
Persian
Creed, and
Persia
Stigmatis'd for wilfull Heresy in more than
Seventy
Places of the
Turkish Alcoran.
A rude and barbarous Proof of disrespect.
THUS will the
Turks
revile that
Hali
whom the
Persians
own as their Infallible Director; and the
Persians
in return, to mock the Objects of the
Turkish
Worship, raise in
Sugar
at their Marriage Feasts, the Figures of the Three respected Friends of
Mahomet,
viz.
Ebubeker, Omar,
and the forenam'd
Osmyn,
when growing merry in their drunken Cups, the Bridegroom and his Fellows draw their Scymetars, and with a spightful Scoff, and noisy Mockery, first cut them down from top to bottom, and then proceed to melt the numerous Pieces as a means to sweeten their Sherbets and other Liquors.
'TIS from a natural Aversion, that the favourite Colour
Green,
which by the
Turks
is only worn about the Head and Noblest Parts, is by the
Persians
chosen to make their Breeches, Shoes, or Drawers, and employ'd continually in all the most indecent, disrespectful Uses which a Man can possibly invent to put it to.
Several differences between the
Turkish
and the
Persian
Tenets.
THE
Turks
esteem it necessary to resort in frequent Numbers to the Publick
Mosques,
to pray
conjointly
for the Grace of God, and Blessing of their Prophet; but the
Persians
hold it only needful to convene at Churches in a full Assembly, there to make an open Declaration of their fix'd Belief, without the Duty of a general Prayer to Heaven for Mercy.
THE
Persians
never Shave the Hair upon their Upper Lip, but cut and trim the Beard upon their Chin, according to the various Forms their several Fancies lead 'em to make Choice of; whereas the
Turks
preserve with care a very
long
and
spreading
Beard, esteeming the Deficiency of that
respected
Ornament, a shameful Mark of servile Slavery.
SWINES-FLESH, and the Use of Wine, deny'd the
Turks
with strictest Prohibition, are by the
Persians
practis'd with a fond Indulgence; nor do the
last
distinguish Meats by
Clean
and
Ʋ nclean,
but enjoy promiscuously the common Gifts of Nature's Liberality.
THE
Persians
when they wash their Feet before they Pray, do seldom more than stroke the outward Part with their Right Hand just dipp'd in Water, and hold it a superfluous Ceremony to rub hard as if they wash'd away the Dirt; which
last
the
Turks
believe a Duty of assur'd and
indispensible
Necessity.
A Number more of such-like opposite and contradictory Opinions, divide the Faith and Interests of these Powerful Neighbours, who invent a yearly Store of black
Invectives
to attack alternately each others Doctrine; amongst which Curses none are more surprizing, odd and comical, than these which follow;
The Curses common between the
Turks
and
Persians.
MAY your fatigu'd and hated Soul find no more Rest when damn'd to Purgatory, than a
Christian
's Hat enjoys on Earth.
By this I guess they meant to ridicule our
European
Custom of Saluting one-another with our Heads uncover'd.
May your transmuted Soul become in Hell an hackney Ass, for even the
Jews
themselves to ride about on
: These and many others, needless to insert, are fashionable Curses, and in frequent use among the Hot-brain'd
Zealots
of each Adverse Party.
THUS have I at large set down the most material Articles of
Turkish
Faith, which if the Reader looks upon as gross, absurd, and void of Reason, let him direct his Praise to that Great Being whose enlight'ning Rays of Mercy and Compassion, have inspir'd his Soul to Steer aright, and miss the stormy Seas of Pride and Ignorance.
YET this the
Turks
agree upon with us, that tho' they differ in their Notions of the Godhead, yet they own One Great, Supreme, and Sacred Being, to whose unlimited and mighty Power, the Earth, Mankind, and all Things else owe their Existence: And it is observable that tho' most Nations vary in their Opinions, yet they own conjointly One Superior Essence, as is observ'd ingeniously by
Lactantius
in the following Expressions:
All People under different Notions own One God.
OMNIƲ M Sententia quamvis sit incerta, ebdem tamen spectat, ut Providentiam unam esse consentiant: Sive enim Natura, sive Aether, sive Ratio, sive Mens, sive Fatalis Necessitas, sive Divina Lex, idem est quod a nobis dicitur DEƲ S.
THE Opinions of all Men tho' never so uncertain, tend directly to one common Center; and agree unanimously upon one conspicuous Providence: Which is, that be it Nature, Light, Reason, Understanding, destin'd Fate, or the Divine Decree, 'tis still the same with that which we distinguish by the Name of GOD.
CHAP. VII. Of the Ceremonies of the
Turkish
Religion.
The many Inconveniencies of
Turkish
Superstition.
A STRICT Adherence to the dangerous Tenets which Compose the foregoing Chapter, have expos'd the
Turks
to constant Troubles; that strange inhumane Tyranny and barbarous Violence with which their haughty Arms have crush'd the
Christians,
have oblig'd whole Nations to become their Enemies: The rash and inconsiderate Doctrine of
Predestinated
Fortune has expos'd their Lives, by an imprudent and unnecessary Scorn of Danger from the fatal Influences of contagious Pestilence; their false Belief of a Sublime Reward for Death in Battle, has excited Thousands of their bravest Soldiers to forget the Charms of Life and Liberty, and run directly on the Mouths of Cannons.
YET tho' they see these many Inconveniencies, and have
doubtless
some amongst them, who have now discover'd the fallacious Principles of their impure Religion, they persist with obstinacy, in the strictest Practice of its weakest Precepts; like those whom
Marius Victor
censures sharply in the following Verses.
Nil Hostes, nil dira Fames, nil denique Morbi
Egerunt, fuimus, qui nunc sumus; ijsque periclis
Tentati: Nihilo meliores reddimur unquam;
Sub vitijs nullo culparum fine manentes.
In vain dire
Hunger, Foes,
and
Sickness
strove,
The fix'd Intention of our Souls to move;
What
once
we
were
we strongly
still remain,
And the same Snares
once
felt,
now
fell again;
No length of Time can our stiff Natures bend,
We live 'midst Show'rs of
Vice,
and
Sin
that knows no End.
The danger of entering a
Turkish
Mosque.
THE Superstitious Ceremonies of the
Turkish
Nation are as Numberless as they appear Extravagant, nor is it easy to obtain Admittance where we may become Eye-witnesses of their devout Retirements, for so severely do they Guard their Publick Mosques from
Christian
Observation, that shou'd an heedless and unwary Stranger set his Foot within their Gates, at certain Seasons of extraordinary Devotion, he wou'd be seiz'd immediately by watchful Officers, and hurry'd headlong to a partial Magistrate, whose harsh Decree admits no Bail, nor any other Means of Liberty than becoming instantly a Member of their Faith, by publickly renouncing the Divinity of Christ, and owning
Mahomet
a Greater Prophet; which they must Attest by the commanded Seal of instant Circumcision, a severe and barb'rous Custom, but must surely be Submitted to, unless the Person so surpriz'd, will die a Martyr to the
Christian
Faith, and bravely spurn with just Contempt the proffer'd Doctrine of their vile Impostor.
AND now, since I have spoken of the Circumcision us'd amongst the
Turks,
it will not be improper to begin with
that,
in the description of their Ceremonies, and acquaint my Reader with the Form whereby they put that
Act
in Execution.
THEY are not, by the Precepts of their
Alcoran,
oblig'd to Circumcise their Children as a Point of Duty, but continue to observe that ancient Practice from the Custom of
Arabia,
long before the Time of
Mahomet,
and use it now, as an undoubted Mark, whereby they stamp the Faith of
Mussulman
on tender Infancy.
The manner of Circumcising Infants in
Turkey.
THE Act of Circumcision is perform'd by Surgeons, when the Child has reach'd the Age of Seven Years, and is suppos'd sufficiently Capacitated to profess his Inclination to become a
Mussulman
; at which time all his Friends, Relations, School-fellows,
&c.
are Invited to a Feast, and Entertain'd as splendidly as their various Qualities may be thought to Merit; then the Boy is brought amongst 'em, and demanded whether he approves of the intended Ceremony; his Assent is given by the lifting up his Finger, and himself extended on a Table, where the Surgeon strait performs his Office, and having thrown the Skin upon a Chasingdish of Coals, he baths the Wound in Salt and Water; after this, his Head is shav'd to one small Lock, whereas before he wore his Hair dishevel'd, and untouch'd by Razor; this done, they put him
on
a large white
Turbant,
and from that time forward he becomes a Member of the
Turkish
Faith.
Their Circumcision of a full grown Convert.
WHEN any
Christian
ripe in Years, becomes a
Turk,
and will Apostatize to base and sinful Superstition, he is led in Triumph on a stately Horse, thro' all the Great and Noted Streets, to some considerable Mosque or Temple, holding in his Hand an elevated Javelin, the Point whereof he frequently affixes to his perjur'd Breast; a silent Declaration of his Will to die for that Religion he has then embrac'd: The zealous
Turks
who pass along, bestow their various Presents on the shameful Wretch, with very large and bounteous Liberality; and being Circumcis'd in publick State, he is attended back with great Solemnity, receiving constantly some Means of Livelyhood, by Pension from the Court, or such Preferment in their
Sea
or
Land
Affairs, as his Profession whilst a
Christian
speaks him sit for.
Sacrifices what, and how made in
Turkey.
THEY have at Publick Times, like those of Circumcision, certain
Sacrifices,
yet not such as formerly were us'd as Duties of Religion, but are commonly the Flesh of
Sheep
or
Lambs,
the
Heart
cut out and burnt in Fire, while the Beast
divided,
is distributed with care among the
Poor
and
Indigent
about the Neighbourhood.
A strange, uncommon, fatal Accident, fell out about the Year 1702, when I resided with his Excellency the Right Honourable the Lord
Paget, then
Embassador Extraordinary at
Constantinople,
Mediator and Plenipotentiary at the Treaty of
Carlowitz,
whose truly Great and Noble Services have left behind him an Immortal Character, to the Interest and Honour of the
British
Nation, and the Admiration of the
Turkish
Empire.
A most unhappy Story of the total ruin of a
Turkish
Family.
THERE was a
Turk
who liv'd in the abovenam'd City, not extremly
Rich,
but
moderately
stor'd with
easy
Plenty; he had a Wife so tenderly belov'd and gratefully returning a reciprocal Affection, that he wou'd not use the freedom of his Country, in regard to tolerated and indulg'd
Polygamy,
but confin'd the Treasure of his honest Love, to the endearing Center of his first Wife's Bosom: He had
two
Children by his Favorite Consort, one was
then
Four Years of Age, the other lay a Speechless Infant in its easy Cradle, when his Fruitful Wife became deliver'd of a Burthen, which declar'd him Father of a Third and hopeful Son.
THE common Custom of a grateful Sacrifice on such Occasions, led him to prepare a splendid Feast, and summon all his near Relations to be Witnesses of his exceeding Joy for this new Blessing; they met together in an open Court, and after several usual Forms proceeded to the Place where many Sheep were kill'd to give the Poor. The Person who perform'd the Ceremony, cutting the Throat with a large Knife peculiar to that Office, and departing with the Company, to have the Sheep divided in another Place more fit for such an Action.
A strange Curiosity of a
Turkish
Infant.
THERE was a Window open'd from the Room where the Child-bed Woman with her New-born Infant, lay upon a
Saffrai
elsewhere spoken of, at the Lettice of this Window stood the Eldest Son, and saw with pleasure the Performance of the Ceremony: He was much diverted to behold the Blood of the expiring Sheep run trickling from their Throats, and taking notice that the Knife wherewith 'twas done, was left behind by Chance or Negligence, and that the People who attended him, were
some
gone down to see the Sacrifice, and those above intently busied by his Mothers Mattress; he endeavour'd slyly to escape Discovery, and stole away without so much as being any ways observ'd by those about him.
HE was no sooner out of Sight, but he descended by a Case of Marble Steps, directly to the Place where lay the Knife, yet
red
and
reaking
with the Blood of those poor Beasts, whose
bleating
Innocence it had so lately Sacrific'd.
HE took it up, and hiding it with all imaginable Cunning, underneath his Vest, return'd as slyly as he could, and enter'd the Appartment he so lately left, as unperceiv'd as he had just before departed from it.
A Murder innocently committed.
IN a low,
capacious
Cradle, near the Place where then the Mother lay, his Second Brother, not above a Twelvemonth Old, was Sleeping calmly, and secure from any fear, by
yet-unbroken
Rest, and native Innocence: To him the poor unhappy Boy immediately repair'd, and little thinking what he was about, began to practise on his tender Throat, the Method he observ'd the Man to use in Butchering the Sheep design'd for
Sacrifice
; The waking Child began to cry, as quickly sensible it felt some Pain, while still the Boy continued his Endeavours, drawing
up
and
down
like some small Saw, the fatal Knife, and laughing heartily, to see the Blood distain the Cloaths wherein his Brother lay; who strugling to the utmost of his little Strength, the other, to maintain the Sport which so delighted him, endeavour'd
hard
to keep him down, and leaning
forward
with too great a Weight, o'erturn'd the
Cradle
and the
Infant
in it.
A melancholy Consequence thereof.
THE Mother, whom the Cries of the assaulted Babe had just then led to look that way, beheld her Son come
tumbling
out, all stain'd with
Blood,
and wounded
horribly
; the strange surprize of such a
shocking
Prospect, drew her to forget her weak Condition, so that rising hastily, she stagger'd
inconsiderately
on the New-born Child, and treading on its Neck became its Murderer.
The Third Effect of an unlucky Accident.
THE guilty Son, perceiving by the
Shrieks
and
Postures
of his Mother, that he had someway or other done amiss, threw down the Knife, and running from her Presence to avoid the danger of a
dreaded
Punishment, fell down the high and slippery Marble Steps, and broke his Neck, by that
unhappy
Accident.
THE Mother follow'd to the fatal Place, and
Swooning
at the Sight, was carried back to the unlucky Chamber; but the
overstrain'd Attempt
she had so lately made, beyond the Strength of her
reduc'd
Condition, so disorder'd all her Body, that, unable
long
to bear the Burthens of her
Grief
and
Weakness,
she died herself some few Days after.
The miserable End of an unhappy Master of a
Turkish
Family.
THE wretched Master of this miserable Family surviv'd not long the melancholy Loss of so
endear'd
a Consort, and such
hopeful
Children, but became thenceforth abandon'd over to a mournful
Solitude
; nor could the
oft-repeated
Efforts of his dearest Friends procure him Comfort, so that wholly losing all the Tast of Mortal Pleasures, he began to languish
more
and
more,
and e'er one Year was fully past, quite broke his Heart with
weighty
Sorrow, and compleated
dismally
the last sad Scene of such a fatal and surprizing
Tragedy.
I have inform'd my Reader in the
foregoing
Chapter, that the five
notorious
and
essential
Points, requir'd by
Mahomet
from all his Followers, are
frequent Washings, Prayers, and Fasting
one whole Month,
the giving Alms
proportionable to their Substance, and
performing e'er they die, one Pilgrimage to
Mecca.
I shall
distinctly
treat of all these Duties in their several proper and respective Places; and as their Washing is a
previous
Ceremony to the other Four, it will be requisite I shou'd begin with an Account of that.
Two sorts of Washings, now in use among the
Turks.
IT is divided into Two distinct Formalities, the
Publick Washing
in their
Baths
or
Bagnio
's, and the
Private Washing,
in whatever Place their
Inclinations
or their
Business
find 'em.
The
Turks
descended from the Race of
Esau.
NOW tho' their Prophet has
expressly
order'd in the Lessons of his
Alcoran,
that every
Turk
shall often Wash, declaring
Cleanliness
a valuable Part of his
injoin'd
Religion, yet the Custom is of more
Antiquity
than
He,
by many Ages; for the
Turks
derive it from the Days of
Esau,
whose
Posterity
they boast themselves to be descended from, and therefore claim the Name of
Ishmaelites.
But tho' the ancient Institution of these Washings ow'd its being to the wholesome Practice of a cleanly People, and was never meant a
Sacred Ceremony,
yet the fix'd Decree of their ador'd
Impostor,
has inclin'd the
Turks
to such a strange Opinion of its efficacious Virtues, that they now believe the Water they make use of, not alone sufficient for the cleansing all the
outward
Parts of their polluted Bodies, but of Sov'reign Power to wash away their Sins, and free from Guilt the most
internal
Passages of their impurest Souls.
Private
Bagnio
's in Great Men's Houses.
WE may divide their
Bagnio
's into two Sorts; the First are such as
Rich
and
Noted
Persons build, in some convenient Part of their own Houses, where their
Wives, themselves,
and all their
Servants
Bathe
conveniently
in different Divisions, as often as their Duty, Inclination, or their leisure from Employment, urge 'em to it.
The Publick Baths, and reason why so cheaply accommodated in them.
THE Second sort of
Bagnio
's, are those Publick Places where for payment of a
Penny
or
Three-half-pence,
they are wash'd
Politely,
and supplied with
Linen,
or whatever else the
Bath
requires, by the diligent Attendance of
appropriated
Servants. The reason why they are so cheaply serv'd, is owing to the great Revenues left to
Bagnio
's by
deceas'd Mahometans,
who 'mongst the other Dictates of their
Morality,
hold it as a very
meritorious
Deed, to build a Publick
Bagnio, Hospital,
or other Place of Entertainment for
benighted
Travellers, and
endow
the same with an
extensive
Liberality.
Men deny'd Entrance, while the Women bathe.
THESE
Publick Baths
are very common in their largest Cities, and receive
at several Hours,
prodigious Numbers of either
Sex,
and every
Quality,
for whose
distinct
and
separate
Accommodation, they afford
divided
and
particular
Conveniencies. When Women Bathe, a large and
Ivory-headed Indian
Cane is plac'd against the Door that opens from the Street, and no Man dares on pain of
Death,
at such a time as that, claim Entrance.
THE Law of
Mahomet
obliges every
Turk
to bathe his Body when he has
Caress'd
a Woman, and the Ladies are oblig'd to do the same, so that every Morning when they rise, the first Employment of the Day is washing in the
Bagnio,
where they are not only cleans'd with Water, but
perfum'd,
and dried with
scented
Linen.
Hair,
how taken off without the Razor.
The Heads of
Men
are daily Shav'd, and
Men
and
Women
are alike injoin'd to leave no
Hair
on any other Part. In order to obey which firm Decree, the
meaner Sort
make use of a
compounded
Substance, made of
Earth
from certain Islands of the
Archipelago,
and neatly mix'd with
Lime
and Drugs of proper Virtues; this they beat to Powder, and applying it to any
Hair
they wou'd remove, it takes it off as clean as possible.
BUT as the frequent use of the
abovenam'd
Powder is of
dangerous
Consequence, if suffer'd to continue but a
moment
longer than the falling of the Hair;
Some use Pincers.
the more Polite and Fashionable Ladies, rather choose to use the help of Pincers, and
irradicate
it swiftly by a
twitching
violence;
Others shav'd by Waiting Maids.
yet this is only done by such as would distinguish all their Actions from the customary Practices of other People, for the
Generality
of
Turkish Ladies,
caring little for the Pain of using Pincers, and unwilling to descend to vulgar Methods, constantly appoint some favorite
Waiting-maid
to play the
Barber,
and perform that Office with a
sharp-edg'd Razor.
1
st.
Sort of private Washing, when practis'd.
THE other sort of
Washing
is divided likewise into two
distinct
Performances, the First is practis'd after having made the necessary
Evacuations
requir'd by Nature, and
to this
they use the three last Fingers of the Left Hand; on this account,
the Turks of Note
have Cocks of Water running into Marble Basons in their several
Privies
; and the meaner sort of Men among them never go to such-like Places, without an Earthen Pot of Water form'd commodiously with a narrow
Spout,
which serves their Use on all occasions.
Second sort, when practis'd.
THE
second
Sort of this
last
Washing, is in order to their
Prayers,
for which
sole
End, a numerous Quantity of
Brazen Cocks
supply large
Cisterns
plac'd in order, at the Entrance of their
Churches,
here they wash by way of Preparation, first their
Arms, Hands, Head, Neck, Teeth
and
Forehead,
thence proceed in
Summer Weather
to their
Naked Feet
; but if the time be
cold
and
rigid,
'tis enough to make
an Outward Motion,
and the
Will
is taken for the Duty of the Action.
The several Hours wherein the
Turks
are Oblig'd to Pray.
NEXT come their
Prayers,
and those, at
least, Five
times a Day; the
Over-Zealous
Bigots to their fals belief pray always
Seven
; but the common times Injoyn'd by
Mahomet
are, Just before
Sun-Rising,
Just at
Noon,
Betwixt
Noon-Day
and
Setting of the Sun,
Exactly at
Sun-Sett,
And last of all, Two Hours after.
Their Forms of Prayer, by whom Invented.
THEIR Forms of Prayer consist of Sentences Collected
here
and
there,
from several Chapters of the
Alcoran
; some
few
whereof were left by
Mahomet,
but
many more
Compil'd by his Successors,
Ebubeker, Omar, Osmyn,
and
Hali
; and most Men
now
of good Capacities, Compose their
Prayers
according to the Pressures of their several Occasions. They Praise
therein
the
Mercy, Bounty,
and
Divine Omnipotence,
of the Almighty Author of our Earthly beings, Petition
Heaven
for the constant Welfare of their
Sultan
and his
Empire,
and Conclude
Inhumanely,
with Numerous
Curses
on the
Christian
World.
THE Reader will be better able to perceive their manner, by the following Copy of a
Janizaries
form of Prayer, who was appointed by the
General
of that
Order,
to be
one
amongst a constant
Guard
which kept the Gate belonging to the
British
Embassadour at
Constantinople.
The Prayer of a
Turkish Janisary.
IN God's great Name, in God's great Name, and in the Holy Name of
Mahomet,
his
Mighty, Good,
and only Prophet, God is
Great,
my
God
is one, I shall be
Happy
and
Successful
while I trust in him, may my
Sword
be Broken, and my
Head
become the
Drinking Cup
of
Infidels,
when I forget his Glory, let my
Prince
live long and Flourish like the
Cypress,
let my
Order
be Ʋ nnumbred as the sands of the Sea shore, that we may well defend him, and let his Lands become as large and Ʋ nresisted as the Boundless
Ocean:
Let the Cursed Infidels be Damn'd for Ever, since they dare,
O Mahomet,
Oppose thy Precepts; let the Meanest Slave within the Territories of my Dread Sovereign put his Foot before 'tis Wash'd, upon the Neck of that Proud King amongst their People who once Blasphemes the Holy
Prophet,
let the Infidel I Guard be Safe, whil'st under my Protection, but let all others Perish Quickly, or Enlarge the Bounds of thy Religion, God is
Great, God
is
One,
and
Mahomet
his only
Prophet.
Their postures when they Pray.
WHEN they resolve to Pray in any
Mosque,
they leave their Slippers at the Entrance of the Place, when they Pray, they turn their Faces to the
East,
because their
Prophet
lies Entomb'd that way, then standing for some time
Ʋ pright,
and
Silent,
with their Arms a
Cross,
in serious Contemplation on the Duty they are Summon'd to, they
Elevate
their Eyes and Mutter to themselves some Pious Sentence, after which they sit down
Cross Leg'd
with their Hands before 'em, and repeating Slowly several short Ejaculations, at the
End
of
Each,
bend forward to the Earth, and Touch it with their Foreheads; some will Kiss the Ground in pure Acknowledgement of their Submissive Natures; this they do for several Minutes, looking
now and then
behind 'em, over
Either
Shoulder, for they think their
Prophet,
when he comes will suddenly appear behind some
Mussulman
devoutly Praying.
Their fix'd Attention in the Act of Prayer.
THEY Pray with Fervour and a fix'd, Attention, never turning like too many Inconsiderate
Christians
in our Noisy Churches, to behold what People pass behind them; all is
still,
and
softly
Sacred; no Man mutters Prayers of Course, and Gapes the while to see about him, how his Neighbours Cloaths are Fashion'd; no loud Indecent Whispers Interrupt Devotion, to inform some busie
Irreligious
Asker, who Addresses such a Lady, and how much such a Woman brought her Husband; no
Opening
Pews and
Shutting
them again, disturb the Congregation with their needless Clamour; no
Holy-Talking,
and
Conceited
Hypocrite outruns the
Parson
with her zealous Lips, while her lew'd
Eyes,
behind a Fan, are laughing heartily at some poor Jest her Ears have listen'd to; no turn'd-up Eye-lids seem to speak her Thoughts on Heaven, while a
Wry-mouth
or Scornful turn of her
affected
Nostrils, declare her Observation running o'er the
Faults,
or
ill Contrivance
of her Neighbours Pettycoat. A
Turkish Mosque
is free from Noise, and all within it so
sedately
bent on what they do, that 'tis a matter of sufficient Wonder, to behold so many met together in so deep a Stillness.
A pious Nicety.
And indeed, so very Sacred do the
Turks
esteem the Act of Prayer, that if the casual Sting of some small
Gnat,
the scratching of their Heads, or any other common Accident but chance to interrupt them, they
begin
again tho' almost
ended,
thinking such prevented
Prayers
of no
Effect,
or
Virtue
whatsoever, but
neglected
as unworthy the Great Ear of Heaven.
Preaching, how practis'd in
Turkey.
A
small
and
unadorn'd
erected Pillar, bears a Case, not much unlike a Pulpit, whence the Priests sometimes direct a
monitory
Sermon to the listning Congregation, consisting
generally
of
explanatory
Sentences on the Mysterious Chapters of their
honour'd
Alcoran, with proper
Applications
to the numerous
Audience
: The Book is held in rev'rence to its
Author,
almost even with the Reader's Eyes, and certain
grave,
religious Songs are
intermix'd
with their
Devotion
; which being ended, every Man begins to stroke his
Beard,
and uttering
short
and
private
Praises to his
God
and Prophet, takes his leave, and goes away with an extraordinary Satisfaction.
Beads, how us'd among the
Turks.
THEY use a sort of
Beads,
not much unlike the
Rosarys
of
Roman Catholicks,
but to an End extreamly different, for whereas the
latter
make those
Trifles
guides of Devotion, Men in
Turkey
only bear 'em in their Hands, and tell 'em over while they want some other Exercise; the Beads consisting generally of a scented Past, agreeably perfuming all who touch them. I mention these, because some heedless
Travellers
observing them in common Use among the
Turks,
mistook the Cause, and never searching into their Design, have confidently spread a
noted Falsehood,
on the
fix'd
Authority of their
afform'd Experience.
No business must excuse the
Turks
from Prayer.
SUCH
Turks
as at the common Hours of
Prayer,
are on the Road, or so employ'd as not to find Convenience to attend the
Mosques,
are still oblig'd to execute that
Duty
; nor are ever known to fail, whatever business they are then about, but pray
immediately
when the Hour
alarms
them in that very place they chance to stand on; insomuch, that when a
Janisary,
whom you hire to guard you up and down the City, hears the Notice which is giv'n 'em from their Steeples, he will turn about,
stand still,
and beckon with his Hand, to tell his
Charge
he must have Patience for a while, when taking out his
Handkerchief
he spreads it on the Ground, sits
crossleg'd
thereupon, and says his Prayers, tho' in the
open Market
; which having ended, he leaps briskly up,
Salutes
the Person whom he undertook to Convoy, and renews his Journey with the
mild Expression
of
Ghell Johnnum Ghell
; or, Come
Dear
follow me.
The Creation of a
Turkish Yemaum,
or Parish Priest.
THE
Turks
are summon'd at the Hours of Prayer by the repeated Acclamations of their
Yemaums,
or Parish Priests, a People Chosen to their Offices by the recommendatory Letters of their best Parishioners to the
Vizier Azem,
if near the
Metropolitan,
or
if in Places far Remote,
to the
Bashaw
of the respective Provinces where such
Vacancies
may chance to happen; by him they are Examin'd, (for the
Turks
admit of no such thing as Spiritual Authority) and if found qualified to read the
Alcoran,
and to have practis'd an
austere
and
rigid
Life, they are confirm'd by Virtue of a
Sigil,
in the sought Possession of a vacant Priesthood.
How the
Turks
are call'd to Prayers.
THESE call,
as I have said above,
the
Turks
to Prayers, by mounting to the Steeple Tops of their high Mosques, where straining to a vast Degree, the shrillness of their Voice, they oft repeat,
that
God
is one, and
Mahomet
his Prophet
; by constant Practice of this ancient Custom, some attain a great Perfection, and stopping with their Fingers both their Ears, will raise their Voices to so high a Pitch, that it amazes Strangers when they hear them crying.
Bells not allow'd in
Turkish
Churches.
BY this Contrivance they supply the want of Bells, not tolerated in the
Turkish
Churches;
The reason of their Prohibition.
the Cause whereof some Travellers ascribe to an unwillingness they have to follow any Custom of the
Christian
Countries, which (tho' they vow a disrespect to our
Religion
and our
Manners
) is not altogether, the prevailing Cause of their forbidding
Bells
throughout their Government. But as the
Turks
are more inclin'd to groundless Superstition than the
Christian
World, there is an ancient Prophecy, which having
long
foretold the Greatness of their Empire, in the Downfall of the
Greeks,
advises them to take a constant Care, least by the tinkling of a Bell the Walls of
Constantinople
shou'd be betray'd again, and the
undreamtof
Fall of that
Important
Place denote the Ruin of their whole Dominions. The Words of this
fear'd
Prophecy,
translated into English,
run as follows.
A
Turkish
Prophecy.
The time shall come, when Earthquakes shall confound,
With
unresisted
Shocks a fertil Ground;
When the wide Ocean shall be stain'd with Blood,
And Bulwarks float on the
portentous
Flood;
When Smoak and Fire shall joyn to form new Rods,
And Mortals ravish Thunder from the Gods.
Then, shall the Courage by mean Swains possest,
Lead the bold
East
to over-run the
West
;
The Pride of Conquest shall adorn the Field,
And the
Tall Cross
to the bright
Crescent
yield.
But e'er the
Growing Moon
her
Full
attains,
Her
waning
Face shall see her Sons in Chains;
In a black Hour a
fatal Bell
shall Ring,
Sure Mark
of
swift Success
to a
new mounting
King.
The meaning of the Prophecy.
THIS Prophecy they look upon as verify'd in the Destruction of the
Graecian
Empire about the time that
Gunpowder
and the Use of
Cannons
was invented; the
Swains,
who were to lead the
East
to overthrow the
West
were
successful Shepherds,
who laid the first Foundation of their
present Empire
; the
Cross
they look upon to signifie the Empire of the
Greeks,
alluding to the Banner of
Constantine the Great
; the
waning
of the Moon before her
Full,
they say, denotes the Ruin of the
Ottoman
Family, before they have obtain'd their Wish of Universal Monarchy; and their Interpretation of the
Bell
I have just now given you.
The Dress of the
Yemaums
how differing from the rest.
NOW tho' these Parish Priests are reckon'd, while they hold the Places they obtain, amongst the Number of the
Turkish
Clergy, yet are they no ways differently drest, so much as to distinguish them from
Laymen,
but in the folding up their Turbant, which they wear a little larger than the rest; they seldom
Preach,
or venture to expound
in Great Assemblies
the mysterious Points of their Religion, but content themselves with leading People into Mosques, and the Inferior Businesses before related; and if their Posts are taken from them, they remain no more as Members of the Priest-hood, but betake themselves
at pleasure,
to such different Employments amongst the
Laity,
as their several Educations may have qualified 'em for the Practice of.
The
Sohoigs
or Preachers of the
Turks.
THE Common Preachers in the
Turkish
Churches are the
Sohoigs,
a sort of Men Politely Bred, of Eminent Perfection both in Mind and Body, vers'd
Gentelely,
in a more than common knowledge of the
liberal Arts
and
Sciences,
and sedate Professors of the rules of Moderation; these are most respected by the
Turks
and
Christians,
and are really so Accomplish'd in external Carriage, and the
Ʋ nfeign'd
Practice of an Inward Piety, that 'tis not common to behold their Fellows even in the most
Refin'd
and
Polish'd
parts of
Well-bred
Christendom.
The
Muftee.
THE Head of their Religion is the
Muftee,
an Officer of the highest Dignity, as to the
respect,
which all Men show him, but not extreamly Powerfull, in that he is rather look'd upon as an
undoubted Oracle,
in Cases of Dispute in Justice or Divinity, than as Possessor of a large and Personal Authority.
How Created, his Salary and Perquisites.
He is Created by the
Sultan
's Choice, who puts him on a Rich and Splendid Vest of Sables, and confers upon him
as his Places
's
due,
the Yearly Salary of about two Thousand Pounds, which by the Sale of certain
Benefices in his Gift,
belonging to the
Royal Mosques
of
Constantinople,
and the frequent Presents he Receives from
Foreign Ministers
and those of
Turkey,
is Improv'd to 3 times as much again.
The
Emirs
or Kindred of
Mahomet,
how respected.
I may set down amongst the Orders of the
Turks Religious,
the
Emirs
or Branches of their Prophets Family. These are so highly Valued by all sorts of People, that 'tis present Death, to lift an Hand against their Persons. They are Independent on the common Government, and Subject to some
Grave
and
Ancient
Member of their own Fraternity: They Wear a sort of Turbant High and Stately, in Bulk not much Inferiour to a
British
Bushel: Its Colour is and must be
Green,
for that alone Distinguishes their Lineage; and is Worn, because it was the Colour of their Prophet's
Standard,
which a Member of their
Brotherhood
must always Carry to the War, when the
Grand Signior
does appear himself in Field.
The
Turkish
Funds for Maintenance of their Clergy.
IN order to maintain their Stately
Mosques,
and Endless Numbers of the Preists about 'em, above one Third of all the Lands within their Empire, are appointed for the Raising Sums of Money to defray the Charges of
Religious
Establishments, and such Prodigious Gifts are daily added to the
Settled Income
of the Lands Appropriated for the use of all their
Royal
and
Inferiour
Churches,
The Yearly Revenue of
Santa Sophia.
that the
fix'd Revenue
of that Famous
Mosque
distinguish'd by the Ancient Name of
Santa Sophia,
does Amount to near one Hundred Thousand Pounds
per
Annum.
Their
Preists
Subservient to the civil Magistrates.
THE Priests of
Turkey
are not,
as in Christendom,
subservient to the higher Power of Superiour Clergy, but every Man dependant wholly on the Civil Magistrates of his
respective Parish,
so that having no dispute upon the several Priviledges of
Spiritual
and
Temporal
Authority, they mingle mildly in a joint Obedience, the Clergy showing due respect to the
Ʋ nbridled Laity,
and the latter giving daily Proofs of a
Profound
and Decent Veneration to the Office of the former, which they show sufficiently in that
respectfull Style
wherewith they
commonly
Address them.
How the
Turks
Address their Clergy.
TO you the
Rich
and
Valued Mines
of
Eloquence
and
Wisdom,
bright Directors to the Paths of
God,
belov'd of
Heaven,
and Children of the Prophet, the Glories of Religion, and Illustrious Pillars of
Unbyass'd
Justice, may your Judgment be
Encreas'd,
and joys be
Doubled,
&c.
The
Turkish Ramazaan
or Yearly Fast of thirty days.
I now proceed to an Account of the beforenam'd
third Injunction
of their Prophet to the Followers of his Doctrine, and that is,
to observe a Fast one Month in twelve
: This Fast they call the
Ramazann,
and keep it by the different Courses of the Moon, always falling
sooner
out each Year than other change the Season with the Month they Fast in, and oblige 'em
once in Thirty Years
to Fast each Day of every season.
Their manner of observing it.
THEY keep this Fast by
strict, unbroken Abstinence
from the first appearance of the Morning Sun, till after
Sun-sett,
in which
Religious
time, 'tis Death to
Eat,
or
Drink,
or
Smoak Tobacco
; but when the Lights appear upon the Steeples of their
Mosques,
they lay aside Sobriety, and bringing out the Dainties
purposely reserv'd,
begin to revel in a loud Extravagance, turn
Fast
to
Feasting, Night
to
Day,
and Dallying with their Women,
Loose
and
Wanton
spend their their Hours in Mirth and Jollity, till some shrill Cock invites their Sleep, by loudly telling them the First appearance of unwelcome Morning.
Travellers, and the Sick, a little favour'd.
HOWEVER,
Travellers,
or
Persons Indispos'd,
may break the Fast of
Ramazann,
provided, when recover'd from their Sickness, or arriv'd in Safety at their Journies end, they Fast as many Days together as they then omitted doing it.
The strictness of the Duty.
SO strictly do they keep this
Celebrated
Fast, that
in their Noted Cities,
Officers are sent about from Place to Place, to make their Observations on the Peoples Actions; and it has been known, that some of their most active
Sultans
have rode
Incognito
about the Streets, attended at a distance by observant Executioners, who, at the smallest Beckon of their Masters Finger, were in constant readiness to
Strangle
or
Behead
whatever Persons he had found
in Actual Disobedience
to the rules of their Religion.
The Feast of
Bairamm,
and manner of its Celebration.
IMMEDIATELY subsequent to the
Ramazann,
is that
short Three Days Feast,
they call
Bairamm,
not much unlike our
Easter.
They have
two
of these each Year; the
First
is Introduc'd by the appearance of the first new Moon that closes up the
Fast,
and is Proclaim'd by the discharge of all the
Cannon
round the
Sultan
's Palace, and the
Airy
notes of
Sprightly Musick
sounding loud from every Corner; the
Second
is about Threescore and Ten Days further in the Year. This Feast is kept with universal Mirth, and all the Sports which
Turkish
Gravity permits the Practice of; and at this time they visit one another with a nice formality, observing, from the
Courtier
to the
meanest Peasant,
certain
Punctual
and
Establish'd
forms of Salutation, not inferiour to the polish'd
complaisance
of
Christian
Palaces.
Zacatt
or giving
Alms,
how order'd by their Doctrine.
AND now I come to treat of their
Zacatt,
or Fourth Injunction of their
Prophet,
which is nothing else but
giving Alms,
according to the Plenty
God
has blest 'em with. They are prescrib'd the several rules of this
commanded Charity,
in Books the ancient Doctors of their Law have left behind 'em. The
Standard
rule is to bestow
one Penny in an Hundred,
of their utmost substance on the Publick Funds, for
Building Hospitals,
maintaining
Poor
and
Aged
People, erecting
Hans,
or Inns upon the Road, where
Pilgrims
find
free-cost,
a Three-days Entertainment, or for any other publick good which shall be thought convenient;
The different Principles of the
Turks
discover'd in their Charity.
this is the lowest they shou'd give, but some are found, whose
sordid, base,
and
avaritious
Principles, incline them meanly to
deny
their
Wealth,
that they may save a
Poor
and
Inconsiderable
Portion, from the uses they shou'd give it to; and others have been known, who
generously
prizing
transient
Riches at their proper Worth, refuse to hide one
number'd
Penny, but,
on the Contrary,
bestow the
Fourth
or
Third
of all their substance on the
needy objects
of a
pity'd Poverty.
The Pilgrimage to
Meccha.
FIFTHLY
The Annual Pilgrimage to
Meccha, is enjoyn'd the
Turks,
who must from every Part of their wide Empire,
once at least before they
die,
perform that Journey, as a
Typical Expression
of their Passage from this World to that hereafter. Many Thousands
Yearly
undertake this
celebrated Pilgrimage
;
Referr'd to the 48th Chapter.
but as there is a large Account of all the
Ceremonies
of that
respected
Duty in another Part of this Book, I shall say no more in this Place, but will referr my Reader for his further Satisfaction, to the Eight and Fortieth Chapter, treating fully of some strange Particulars.
Friday
the
Turkish
Sabbaoth.
FRIDAY,
as I said before, is set apart by the
Mahometans
for their Day of Rest, or
Sabbaoth,
which they keep
religiously
till the Duties of the
Mosques
are fully ended;
Their Punishment for breaking it.
and if
in time of their Divine Service,
a
Turk
presumes to open Shop, they
nail his Ears
directly to his Counter, and expose him to the Scoffs of Publick Scorn, as one who merits not the Name of
Mussulman.
The
Derveeshes,
who they are.
THEY have a sort of Priests amongst 'em call'd
Derveeshes,
who on these Days, harrangue the People in the open
Mosques,
and turn themselves about in
frantick Postures
to the
noisy sound
of certain Instruments of Musick, till giddy by the frequent Rounds they make, they fall upon the Ground, and lying for a while
without the smallest Motion,
rise at last,
with elevated Eyes,
and
Arms extended,
telling with a
grave
and
artificial
Look, their gaping Audience, that while entranc'd as they beheld, they have been taken into Heaven, and convers'd with Angels in the Fields of Glory,
The Cheats they put upon the People in their
Mosques.
and so proceed, while shelter'd by the Cloak of
deep Hypocrisy,
to tell the People what their own Desires wou'd have perform'd, under the prevailing Notion, that they are all the while, pronouncing Sacredly the Will of Heaven.
The Temperance and Longaevity of the
Derveeshes.
THESE Priests are most
abstemious
in their Diet, and
austere
in Humour, rarely speaking but in
Mosques,
and never drinking Wine, or any other Liquor than the Fountain Water, whereby secure from those Distempers, which the ill Effects of
Gluttony
and
Drunkenness
make common to
luxurious
and
intemperate
Appetites, they
generally
live to a prodigious Age, and serve to prove by undeniable Experience, the inconsiderate Follies of such Rich Men, as hurry headlong to their Graves by lewd Extravagancies, and the constant Practice of a loose Debauchery; on which the following Verses in
Lucan
's
Pharsalià,
are a very eloquent and nice Reflection.
O prodiga rerum
Luxuries! nunquam parvo contenta paratu;
Et quaesitorum terrá pelagoque ciborum
Ambitiosa fames, & lautae gloria mensae,
Discite quam parvo liceat producere vitam:
Et quantum Natura petat. Non erigit aegros
Nobilis ignoto Diffusus Consule Bacchus,
Non Auro, myrrháque bibunt: Sed gurgite puro
Vita redit: Satis est Populis fluviusque, Ceresque.
Learn,
wastful Luxury,
whose
dainty
Care,
Can never be content with
low-priz'd
Fare;
And, thou
vain Hunger,
whose ambitious Tast,
Plows
Land
and
Sea
to furnish fine repast:
Vainglorious
Folly of a Splendid Board,
With
far-fetch'd
Cates, and Chosen Dishes stor'd;
Learn with
how little
Life may be preserv'd,
And how much
Nature
asks. Ill is he serv'd
Who strives, by
strong, old-Wine
his Health to raise,
Prest in some
ancient King
's forgotten Days,
The
hearty Poor,
the
wholesome
Country
Swain,
Drinks not in
Gold,
nor does for
Myrrh
complain:
Bread,
and the
murm'ring Current
of some
Mead,
Supply his
largest Wants,
nor does he
Dainties
need.
AND indeed it is a very common thing, to see in many of those Countries subject to the
Turks,
both Men and Women of
amazing Ages.
A very odd Discovery of a Man in
Bulgaria,
who had liv'd to be 162 Years old.
Once I travell'd through
Bulgaria
and
Valachia,
into
Germany
from
Adrianople,
with the Right Honourable the
Lord Paget,
then returning from his Ten Years Embassy in the
Turkish
Court; we pitch'd our Tents about a Furlong from a small and inconsiderable Village, through whose midst a
smooth
and
pleasant
River gently glided;
natural Curiosity
and the
coolness of the Day,
invited me to take a
melancholy
Walk along the
green
and
solitary
Banks of the delightful Current; where I was surpriz'd to find a very
old
and
graceful
Man lie stretch'd upon the Grass, and humming to himself the
merry remnant
of a
Turkish
Song.
I view'd attentively the
wrinkled
Visage of this ancient Man, who seem'd to have been
buried
and return'd to Earth, with all the Furrows of
destructive Time
engrav'd upon his Forehead: But while I wondred at the
briskness
of his Voice, he doubled my Amazement, by his leaping up with such agility of Body, as became the Strength of one in all the Vigour of accomplish'd Manhood;
A cringing Method of Salutation us'd in
Turkey.
he came towards me bowing with a servile Air, peculiar to the slavish Nature of that conquer'd Nation, and endeavour'd to Salute me
with a strange Humility
by the kissing of my Vest, a
cringing
Custom us'd in
Turkey,
and only proper for the sordid Practice of a
base, submissive,
and
inglorious
People.
I prevented his Design, and pleas'd to see the odd Appearance which he made, desir'd him to follow me to
yonder Camp,
and I wou'd treat him with a glass of Wine;
A strange Instance of Mirth in old Age.
he seem'd transported when he saw the Tents, and running on before me a considerable way, with aukward steps as if he aim'd at something like a Dance, he threw his Arms and Feet about him, at a merry rate, and with a very
brisk
and
laughing
Countenance, repeated in a sort of
tuneless
Ballad, several Verses to the following purpose.
Wine
makes
old
Men
young
again,
Ay marry and
Women
too;
Wine
cures
Sorrow,
takes off
Pain,
And former Joys can soon renew.
The odd Account he gave of himself
I brought him to the Camp, where having eat roast Beef and drank above a Quart of
strong red Wine,
we ask'd him
Where he liv'd, How old he was,
and many other such like Questions. He return'd
for
Answer, that he knew no more, than that he was about thirty Years of Age when the Village where he liv'd was burn'd to Ashes; that his Children's Children,
he thank'd God,
were dead, and he had nothing left upon his Care but his
old, brisk
and
honest
Person, and so began to
sing
and
dance
again as he had done before.
BY this time several of the Country People, who came out to look upon the
Tents,
where gather'd round him, and inform'd us, that his Family had liv'd above two hundred Years as
Farmers
in that Neighbourhood, that he had long out-liv'd the
period
of his Race,
extinct
near fourteen Years before, by the death of two of his Great Grandsons, Men full-grown, that he was now maintain'd by charitable Contributions of the Houses in the Village, and that he was by
punctual Calculation
from the burning of the Place, computed,
then arriv'd
at the surprizing Age of one hundred sixty and two Years.
Teeth three times chang'd.
HE cou'd eat the
toughest Meat
without the
smallest trouble,
leap about without a Staff, and having chang'd his Teeth three several times, the Set he had, were wholly sound, and white as Ivory. Nor was he
then,
in seeming danger of approaching Death, but may perhaps be now alive, as healthful and untouch'd by those Infirmities peculiar to Old Age, as when he was an Infant.
CHAP. VIII. Of the several Sects into which they are Divided.
Frequent Changes in Religion a certain Proof of humane Imperfection.
AMONGST the num'rous Imperfections which attend Mortality, there is none can better serve to prove the
Frailties
of our
human Nature,
than that
diffusive Levity
which does so often change the Notions of Mankind in matters of
Religion. To Day,
we strongly fix our Resolutions to defend the Creed we
now profess,
with Lives and Fortunes;
nay,
so warmly struggle to promote its Doctrine, that we scarce avoid the Guilt of
Persecution
to enlarge its Limits; yet,
to Morrow
shakes the Pillars of our Faith, and leads us headlong to a blind Extravagance, in joyning vigorously
with some new Sect,
to undermine clandestinely the mock'd Foundations of our forsaken Church, and on
Her
Ruins, raise the Columns of some
New Opinion
and prevailing Heresy.
Interest the common Cause of new Opinions.
AND if we guide our Judgment by a
contemplative
View of those great Turns to which the
Ancient
or the
Modern
Changes in Religion ow'd their
Introduction
; the pricks of Conscience will be rarely found the
real Causes
of those
numerous Innovations
; perswasive Interest is still the Motive that excites our Actions to our own Advantage; Man, is
naturally prone
to love himself, and will embrace such Tenets as do best agree with his
desir'd Conveniency,
or sooth most favorably the gross accomplishment of his
licentious Inclinations,
and when the
tempting Call
of such a Doctrine summons his
Adherence,
Nature urges him to quit a Faith
more rigid and severe,
and make himself a Member of such new Profession, as enlarges him to practise
free from Censure,
the unbounded Pleasures of a welcome Liberty.
Men are naturally led to quit the weakest Party.
THUS every Age produces
new
and
various Heresies,
nor can the meanest Doctrine want its Proselytes, if vented at a time when
Foreign Wars
or
Civil Discords
shake the Pillars of
that
Faith it must oppose; for Men of small and undiscerning Judgments, will be proud of owning
in its shining Grandeur,
a Religion they will quit with
scorn
and
indignation,
when too weak to grant its
persecuted
Sons a
claim'd
Protection. And as a
palliating
Excuse for their
abhorr'd Apostacy,
can only say, with
Ovid,
Tempora mutantur, & Nos mutamur in illis.
The
Times
are chang'd, and
we
are chang'd with
Time.
The means whereby
Mahometanism
gaind Success.
'TWAS by these means,
Mahometanism,
invading
Asia
at a time when
Wars
and
Tumults, Schisms
and
Heresy,
and all the Plagues of fatal Discord rent the Kingdoms of the
Christian World,
with dire Divisions, met a
Swift
and
strange Success,
perhaps beyond the very
hopes
or
wishes
of the Black Impostor.
The cause of the Variety of Sects among the
Turks.
BUT as all Men, let them change as much as possible their
Natures
and
Religion,
must
notwithstanding,
still retain
some Scatter'd Notions
of their former Customs, and perhaps a sort of
native Fondness
for their ancient Practices, so the Prodigious Body of the
Turkish
Church, promiscuously receiving
different Nations
to compose its Grandeur, is thereby Divided into full as many Sects and
different opinions,
as a mixt confusion of
Mahometanism
in its own Divisions, with the broken Remnants of so many Hundred several sorts of Worship, cou'd produce amongst them.
Above an Hundred different Opinions, now profess'd in
Turkey.
THERE are at present near an Hundred
noted Sects
among the
Turks,
who disagree in very wide Contrarieties of opinion, and many more, whose
unsupported Follies,
sinking Daily, by their want of Learning to defend their Tenets, are not worth
a Stranger's observation,
nor esteem'd enough considerable by the
Turks
themselves, to claim a Place in their Religious Lists.
TO treat
Distinctly
of the various Sects that now divide them, wou'd require more Room than can be spar'd from matters
more Material
and
Diverting,
and afford the Reader
small delight
and
less Improvement,
I will therefore mention but the Heads of some
prevailing Tenets,
and proceed to what will entertain
the Curious
with a
more uncommon,
and
agreeable Amusement.
A sort of
Turks
who own our Saviour for the Son of God.
AND first, in due respect to the
eternal
Glories and Immense compassion of
our blessed Saviour,
I must,
with zealous wishes for the great Improvement of a happy Prospect,
mention an opinion
long since form'd,
in several Parts of the
Grand Signior
's Country, and
of late
encreas'd to such a strength that
Thousands
of his Subjects openly avow it, in despite of danger.
The Tenets of the Sect above-mention'd.
THE
Professors
of the Doctrine Taught by this opinion, are
distinguish'd
by the Name of
Choop-Massiahee
or
Dreamers of Messiah
: These declare
that Christ was God, is now in Heaven, and shall come to Judgment, far superior to their Prophet, or his followers.
To prove the truth of this
oppos'd
Assertion, they produce the words of
Mahomet himself
by a
Quotation
from their
Alcoran,
where it is said,
thine Eyes
O Mahomet,
shall see thy Lord return in Glory
: They are generally Men of clear Capacities, and
exquisite Dexterity
in management of Business: and by the sacred notions they retain of the Divinity of
JESƲ S,
appear
not widely separated
from the Pale of his
Religion.
Some have gone so far in their
enlighten'd
preference of
CHRIST,
to
MAHOMET,
that they have fallen
Martyrs
to an
unripe Faith,
and
even in Death,
maintain'd their Principles.
The Barbarous and Inhumane Doctrine of the
Morgee.
ANOTHER Sect Intituled
Morgee,
hold with obstinacy that all the followers of true
Mahometanism,
must
necessarily
attain the most sublime and heightned joys of their transporting Paradise, tho'
while on Earth,
they liv'd in endless Wickedness, but on the contrary affirm, that any who deny
their Prophet,
tho' they have led a
Sober, Vertuous, truely Exemplary, and Ʋ nspotted Life,
will find it yet Impossible to be admitted into
Heaven,
or
indeed,
to save their Souls from tedious Scenes of Future Punishment.
The
Chawargee.
THE
Chawargee
maintain it an absurd and false Conclusion to assert that ever God bestow'd on Man the Gift of Prophecy, or thought it necessary to inspire
with boasted Knowledge
or
Infalibillity,
the blest Capacity of any chosen or distinguish'd Mortal;
They deny the Prophetical Inspiration of
Mahomet.
these allow no more to
Mahomet,
than that he was a Man, whom
Nature
had endow'd with great Accomplishments, and God afforded an
enlarg'd, peculiar,
and
uncommon
Portion of his
holy Spirit,
in regard to his
unequal'd Zeal
and unaffected Piety.
The
Sephatee.
THE
Sephatee,
affirm that God Possesses endless Attributes of
Power, Life, Wisdom, Truth
and
Justice,
but extend their Notions to such
wild extravagance,
as to conceive his
Senses
built upon the same
corporeal Organs
which compose the
Fabrick
of our humane Bodies; they think he
hears, smells, sees, feels, tastes,
and
understands
as we do here; differing from
Mortals
only
thus,
that whereas
our
Bodies are both
weak
and
finite, God
has fram'd
himself
a Being
strong
and
infinite
: This Notion they
defend, or strive to do it,
from those several Passages of
holy Scripture,
where the
figurative
Sense of the Expression, speaks of
God
's creating
Eve
from
Adam
's
Rib,
as by the virtue of a manual Operation,
his sitting on a Throne, repenting often what he had decreed,
as of the Actions of a
humane Body:
The grossness of their Apprehension.
They will not be disswaded from conceiving those
Expressions
in a
literal Sense,
and being
for the most part,
Men of
gross
and
vulgar
Apprehensions, ascend not to the height of
sacred Contemplation,
on the
mysterious
Attributes of the
All-Great Incomprehensible.
A Sect, among themselves, divided into one and Thirty different Opinions.
WONDERFULLY
various,
and strangely
contradictory
to their own Assertions, are the Notions form'd of the
Divine Omnipotence,
by the
Muhaw-Tazlee,
a Sect, divided into
one and thirty
several Interpretations of that
controverted
Tenet which divides them from the rest. And that is,
GOD is Holy and Eternal, by the Virtue of his Essence; yet refuse to own him eternal by his Eternity; knowing, by his Knowledge, or merciful by his Mercy.
Their surprizing Caution and fantastic Notion of
Almighty God,
proceeds from their aversion to the Doctrine of a
Trinity
; so that to avoid a
multiplication
of the Divine Power, they run themselves to
strange, abstruse
and
incoherent Dreams,
of something which they
wou'd conceive
but
cannot.
A Sect who wait the coming of another Prophet.
ANOTHER Sect, call'd,
Zeidee,
believe that long before the World shall end, a
Persian Prophet
shall be sent by
God
to
dis-annul
the Laws of
Mahomet,
and teach a
new
and
surer
way to Joys hereafter.
A Blasphemous Opinion.
JABHAIAH
are a sort of People who affirm,
that God created Man, the World, and all his Labours, by meer chance and accident
; denying his
Omniscience,
and believing that he improves
like Men,
by
Practice
and
Experience.
Two Sects directly opposite.
MAALƲ MGEE
and
Meizha-Chullha,
are
Sects
directly opposite to one another, the first affirming,
GOD is to be known on Earth, by the knowledge of our selves
; and the last, maintaining it
impossible either in the present World, or that to come, to know him otherwise than by a faint perception of his Rays of Glory.
A stoical and melancholy sort of People.
KAADE-ZADEELI, are a stoical and melancholy Sect, who practise strange and superstitious Ceremonies in praying for the Dead.
These Men profess a natural aversion to the sound of
Musick,
and neglect with
rigid
and
austere disdain,
the chearful use of
Mirth
and
Pleasure
; they sit whole Days and Nights
alone, still bending forwards
and repeating with a
doleful
and
desponding
Accent, the
respected
Name of the supreme Almighty.
Idolaters among the
Turks.
THERE is a certain Sect call'd
Sab-bin,
tending strongly to adore
Idolatrously,
the
Sun
and
Moon
; from the
conspicuous Influences
they are found to have on Things below.
A Sect among the
Turks,
who allow the Trinity.
ANOTHER sort of Men call'd
Escrakee,
allow the
Trinity,
as a Number springing from the
Ʋ nity of God.
This Sect are blest with a Platonic Contemplation on the great
Idea
of divine Omnipotence, and discerning plainly all the
gross
and
sordid
Falsehoods of the
Turkish Alcoran,
reject the Notions built upon its
Fabrick,
and support their Arguments upon the surer Principles of humane
Reason.
A sort of Men Professors of an exemplary Modesty.
THE
Hair-hetwee
diffide so much in natures Strength, and humane Understanding, that they think it
Sin
to contradict the
weakest Argument
prefer'd against them; affirming, that our
frail Capacities
can never represent a
true Idea,
of a Being so superior to us. These Men behave themselves with an
accomplish'd Modesty,
give no offence to
Man
or
Beast,
but when a
Question
is propos'd for their
desir'd Solution,
return this Answer,
Allah Belerr, ammah Ben Yoketer,
God knows all, but I am Ignorant.
A Sect who hold the Transmigration of Souls.
BUT more
diverting
and
extraordinary
will appear the
Munasahee
or
Pythagorical
Opinion, which maintains with violence, the old
Metempsychosis
or the
Transmigration of our humane Souls:
To this Assertion are inclin'd the ablest
Physicians
of the
Turkish Empire,
and it is a matter worth the Readers Patience, to reflect a little on the oddness of their Notions,
as to this particular.
THEY hold that when a Man departs this Life, his Soul shall enter
in that very Moment,
the
appointed Body
of some certain Beast, whose Nature did in
Life,
the most resemble the
prevailing Genius
of the late deceas'd; thus for example, the
undaunted Soul
of some
brave Warrior,
shall be sent to animate the
Lyon
; the
Coward's Soul,
shall dwell at rest within the
Hare
; the
Generous
shall possess the
Horses Body,
and the
Goat
contain the Soul of the
Lascivious.
The Camel much respected among the
Turks.
But
as a Blessing most desir'd,
and the sublimest
Happiness
they can attain
in Death,
the
pious, grave, religious
and
contented Man,
shall see his Soul inform the
Camel,
a
Beast
of every other most respected by the fond
Mahometans.
A very strange Opinion.
THUS
cas'd
and
fetter'd
shall the Souls of
Mortals
wander in the course of a
refining Pilgrimage,
for the full space of
three thousand and five hundred Years,
still growing
more and more
polite and glorious, till the longest Date of their
injoin'd Peregrination
once expir'd, they return again to some bright Part of
undiscover'd Earth,
where, free from those
unnumber'd
and
insulting
Imperfections, which attend Mortality
in its impure and unrefin'd Existence,
they shall enjoy the choicest of such
unimagin'd Blessings,
as will fit them
joyfully,
for that
more bright Reception
they expect to meet in the transporting Mansions of a
future Glory.
THERE is a Story which a very
grave
and
seemingly religious Turk
wou'd often tell me, with
repeated Vows,
and
serious Protestations
of the truth of his Assertion. He was a strict Adherer to the Doctrine of
Transmigration,
and gave the following account of a
surprizing Accident,
which had oblig'd him to embrace the Articles of that
till then despis'd Opinion.
A strange Relation, of a
Turk
's Conversion to the Doctrine abovemention'd.
I was,
said he,
about my one and twentieth Year of Age, a violent opposer of the Tenets of
Munasahee,
or such as hold the Pilgrimage of Souls, (
for so 'tis call'd among the
Turks) and often us'd to laugh at the Opinion of
an elder Brother,
who delighted much in running Races, and was wonderfully
swift of Foot
; on which account he often us'd to fansie that
after Death,
his Soul wou'd animate some
Horse
or
Antelope:
He dy'd, and left me very sorrowful, for he deserv'd my
love
by
frequent kindnesses,
and triumph'd in
a more than common share
of my sincere Affection. I often hunted in the neighb'ring Woods, and took a great delight in all the Practices of
Rural Pastime
; when on a certain Day,
with several of my Acquaintance,
riding out to seek some Sport, we rows'd a
Stagg
of stately Size, and spreading Antlers.
Strange Action of a Beast, directly contrary to his Nature.
THE
Beast
-no sooner saw the
Dogs
about him, and beheld the Company prepar'd for his Destruction, but instead of flying from
impending
Danger, he came running swiftly
towards my Horse,
as if he aim'd to overthrow me with his fury.
A very odd Passage.
SURPRIZ'D at the
advance
I saw him making, I prepar'd as well as possible, for
Self-defence,
and
poizing
in my hand
a pointed Javelin
I carried with me, was about directing it to wound his Breast, when
(O amazing Prodigy!
) I saw the Dogs begin to
tremble,
and
instead of tearing his unhappy Limbs,
lie down and fawn,
with lolling Tongues
upon the panting Animal; who with a timorous hast,
as sadly apprehensive of the threatning Weapon,
rear'd himself upright upon his hinder Feet, and
with his two fore Legs,
and the
expressive
motions of his
Head
and
Eyes,
made melancholy signs of some
important Secret,
which his want of Speech deny'd an
utterance.
A
Turk
discovers his Brother's Soul in the Body of a Stagg.
METHOUGHTS, the very moment when this
moving
posture of the
Stagg
was pleading for compassion, I perceiv'd
a sudden cold
strike thro' my Body, and imagin'd
I distinctly
heard a
murmuring Whisper
speak these Words, as
softly
and
serene,
as if some gentle breath of Wind had fann'd my Temples.
Pity, O unthinking Man, thy Brother's Soul, to whose appointed wand'rings, the intended Death of this poor Stagg, shall add twelve Years of tedious Pilgrimage.
ASTONISH'D at the strange, and unexpected Accident, I drop'd my
Javelin
from my trembling hand, and scarce preserv'd my self from sinking off my Horse, by the
industrious
Favours of my Friends Assistance: But while they were busy in endeavouring to recover me again, the
Stagg
was gone, nor did one
Dog
attempt to follow him.
AND now,
continued he,
you will not wonder that I hold the Doctrine you so much oppose for
certain Truth,
and
undeniable Reality,
my Brother's Soul
by this strange Accident
converted me; and may the Will of
God
direct some Chance to lead your Judgment,
first,
to see the light of
Mahomet, and then,
the certainty of this
sure Faith,
the
Tenet
of his Follower.
EXCUSE me,
Reader,
that I have so long detain'd you on so
whimsical
a Subject, nor believe you see
this Story here inserted
from a fond effect of my
Credulity
; I tell it to divert you with the
Turk
's Opinion, who had fram'd
hereon,
a fix'd belief of
Transmigration,
and imagin'd
by the whisper which he dream'd he heard,
that
such departed Souls
as dwelt within a
Beast
that hapned to be
kill'd,
or die
by accident
before its time, shall lose entirely all those Years they had remain'd inclos'd
before such accident,
and be oblig'd to
wander so much longer,
thro' the
various Stages
of their tedious Journey.
Monasteries among the
Turks,
by whom Ordain'd.
MONASTERIES, or a sort of
Cloisters
for religious
Turks
of several Orders, were
anciently
ordain'd
by Mahomet's Decree,
in imitation of the
Convents
famous
then,
for
exemplary Piety,
and
great Oeconomy,
by the religious Practices of
Solitude
and
Sanctity
among the
Christians.
Muveh lehvee
an Order of
Turkish
Monks.
OF these, are held in most esteem
Muveh-lehvee,
an Order,
silent, humble, modest,
and professing
Charity
; they wear the coursest Dress that can be possibly invented, and renounce the
World
with all its Glories, fasting
every Thursday
round the Year, besides the
Ramazann,
or
publick
Ceremony; and neglecting piously all
earthly Pleasures,
for the
preferable
Blessings of a
future Paradise.
These Monks, the most accomplish'd Spies of
Turkey.
ICONIƲ M
is the
favour'd
Residence of these religious Men,
there
dwells the
Chief,
or
Prior
of their
Order,
and from thence they go
like Roman Missionaries,
up and down thro'
China, Persia,
and the wide Dominions of the
Great Mogul,
striving to convert to
Turkish
Superstition, every Man they can
commodiously
fall in with; and by travelling
without the least suspicion
into foreign Countries, become the only
able Spies
of all the
Sultan
's vast Dominions.
Not much unlike the
Capuchines
of
Rome.
THERE is no Order
in the Romish Church,
which does so nearly suit the
Manners, Habit, Humour,
and
Deportment
of these
Turkish Fryars,
as the
Capuchines
; and
they
agree so
fully
and
exactly
in their several Customs, that, were it not for staining with the near Comparison, a
Christian
Character, these
Eastern
Priests, and
Monk-Mahometans,
might
not improperly,
be call'd the
Capuchines
of
Turkey.
Nim-tulahee.
ANOTHER Order of the
Turkish
Priests, they call
Nim-tulahee
; these have their Convents in the City of
Constantinople,
weigh their Bread by
Drachms
and
Scruples,
fast and pray
whole Days together,
and avoid the Company of all Mankind. They place no value on the Blessings of Mortality, making frequent use of this
grave Maxim
in their
common Conversation
;
Their pious Maxim.
Riches are the vainest Trifles we can possibly collect, since they so far possess our Thoughts, that we forget one fatal Hour may take us from them
; and
herein,
they seem to steer the
prudent
Course of a
sincere
Morality, believing the natural Frailty of our
humane
Bodies undeserving half the pains we take to pamper 'em, and disregarding with a wise Disdain, those
transitory Ornaments,
and
fading Satisfactions,
which must perish with the
Persons
of unthinking Mortals. And here they act agreable to the Notions of the
admirable Horace,
in the
seventh Ode of his fourth Book.
Hor. L.
4.
Ode
7.
Pulvis, & umbra sumus.
Quis scit, an adjiciant hodiernae crastina summae
Tempora Dii superi?
Cuncta manus avidas fugient haeredis, amico
Quae dederis animo,
Cum semel occideris, & de te splendida
Minos
Fecerit arbitria,
Non, Torquate, genus, non te facundia, non te
Restituet pietas.
What are the Bodies Men so vainly boast,
But
Dust,
and
Ashes,
and a
fleeting
Ghost?
Who knows, if Heav'n, whose Pow'r
to day
we praise,
Will add one short
to Morrow
to our Days?
Vainly, fond Mortal, does thy Soul employ
Her
greedy Faculties
in search of Joy;
For all those Blessings thou dost now prepare
Will fly the eager hopes of thy expecting Heir,
When the
impartial
Stroke of
certain
Death
Shall ravish all thy
Glories
with thy
Breath
;
When the Great Judge of Heav'ns
unbounded
State,
Has
sentenc'd thee
to some
eternal Fate,
Alas! my Friend, where's
then
thy noble Blood?
What will avail thee
there
thy
earthly Good?
Vainly, thy
Eloquence
will
there
implore,
Nor can thy
pious Life,
thy
finish'd Course
restore.
Edheemi,
a grave and solitary Order.
ANOTHER Order of the
Turks Religious,
call'd
Edheemi,
live in
Woods, Cells, hollow Trees,
and other lonely Places, converse
familiarly
with
Lyons, Tygers,
and the wildest Beasts which haunt the Forest, if we may believe the Members of their own
Fraternity:
They have some
Convents
in the
Eastern
Parts of the
Grand Turks
Dominions, but will rather choose to live
abroad,
and taste the
free, uninterrupted
Pleasures of a constant Solitude.
Santoons,
a loose, and frantic sort of People.
SANTOON
's, or Holy-Men, a sort of
frantic, idle
and
conceited Beggars,
going
almost Naked,
with their Bodies wounded deep in many Places, are esteem'd among the
Turks
as
Sacred,
and inspir'd by the
divine Illumination:
These commit the worst extravagancies, under the deceitful Cloak of
heavenly Raptures,
and are allow'd the use of
Wine,
and all
strong Liquors,
to enable them the better to converse with
GOD
and view his
Glories.
Fools and Mad-Men, valued much among the
Turks.
MADMEN and
Fools
are by
the Turks
esteem'd the Favorites of
Heaven:
They think 'em taken
from their Tenements of Clay,
to talk with
Angels,
in the upper Regions, and will therefore beg the blessing of an
Ideot,
when they meet him in the Streets, and bending forward,
kiss his Garment,
with the most
profound
and
humble
Veneration.
Schism, more prevalent in
Turkey,
than in
Christendom.
MANY other
Sects
and
Orders
are at present found
among the Turks,
some of which, assert Opinions in
diametrical
opposition to the
Tenets
of the others; and divide the Doctrine they profess from
Mahomet,
into such
intestine Jarrs,
and
publick Disagreements,
that the power of
Schism
in
Christian
Churches, falls far short of that, now found in every
Province
of the
Turkish
Empire.
The Opinions of some, diametrically opposite to those of others.
SOME profess
perpetual Chastity,
and fearing
Nature
will incline 'em to forget
the tenour of their Vow,
will make themselves
unable to commit such Sin,
by the
preventive
virtue of a
self-Castration
; others
Marry freely in their very Convents,
and enjoy, amidst the rigid Ceremonies of
religious Solitude,
the loosest pleasures, and
unbounded
freedom of allow'd Polygamy; some again
must never Marry,
but are made a full amends for that
restriction,
by the liberty they have to hold a
free
and
undisputed
Conversation, with as many
Concubines
as they find means to compass.
One common Article, in which they all agree.
THUS they vary widely from each others Practice, and only
join unanimously
in this One
common Article; That 'tis their duty to oppose with Violence, the Doctrine of
Christianity,
hate, kill, and persecute
without compassion,
all the Members of that
envied Faith,
till they have rooted from the Earth the Name of
Jesus,
and reduc'd the Nations of the conquer'd World, to worship singly One Great
God,
and
Mahomet
his Prophet.
BUT the
never-failing
Mercy of
our great Protector,
who prevented
hitherto
their curst Designs, has
graciously
been pleas'd to take away
all Cause of fear
from his
defended
Church, whose
firm Foundation
he has plac'd upon a
Rock,
nor shall the Gates of
Hell
prevail against it.
CHAP. IX. Of the
Turkish
Studies, and how far Learning is encourag'd among them.
Learning, discountenanc'd in
Turkey,
and the Reasons of it.
LEARNING,
as inconsistent with the nature of a Government, wholly founded on the Power of the Sword,
receives but small encouragement in any Part of the
Grand Signior
's Empire; and as I have said
before,
it is a
Maxim of his Policy,
to bend the Minds of all his Subjects to a constant Practice of the Art of War, imagining that, when a Man
relaxes
from the love of
Military Toils,
to the more
soft, bewitching Charms
of Books and Solitude, he grows
unfit for Martial Labours,
and becomes so deeply sunk in pleasing
Contemplations
on the Works of
Nature,
that he loses
by degrees,
that
active Vigour,
which shou'd bravely recommend
a daring Soldier
to the face of Danger.
Learning, agreeable to mild and gentle Governments.
ROME,
the
ancient,
and the
glorious
Mistress of the
kneeling World,
has taught the
Turks
by sure Experience, that
Learning,
and the moral dictates of attain'd
Philosophy,
agreeing
sympathetically
with the
noble, honest,
and
religious Forms
of milder
Governments,
preserve a peaceful and
unshock'd Tranquility
; for Men
thereby,
will see the Blessings they enjoy in Liberty, and know to prize their happy Freedom:
Dangerous, and fatal, to an arbitrary Monarchy.
But in
Governments Tyrannical
and
Arbitrary, Learning, like a Spurr to Horses of a fiery Nature,
only serves to make 'em
feel,
and
hate
their Servitude, exciting
warm,
and
dangerous
sparks of Courage in their Breasts, whose sure Effects produce an
eager,
and
undaunted
Inclination to expose their
valued Lives
and
Fortunes,
for redeeming
gloriously
the ravish'd Charms of
Liberty
and
Property.
Rome,
successful in her pristine Ignorance.
THUS, while the
weak
and
dubious
Fate of
infant Rome,
oblig'd her Sons to slight all Studies but the Art of War, she triumph'd
nobly
in a vast Success, and grew in
time,
to such a pitch of Pride, that she subdued the
Monarchs
of the
distant East,
and rais'd Her Emperours to all the
Pow'r,
that
arbitrary Rule
and
unresisted Tyranny
cou'd possibly afford them; for the constant Practice of a
Military Toil
made Dangers
natural
to all her People, who,
allur'd by hopes of fresh Success,
attempted freely any hazard, like the Men of whom, thus
Lucan
in his first Book,
—Quos ille timorum
Maximus, haud urget Lethi metus; inde ruendi
In ferrum mens prona viris.
Who, fearless,
ev'n of Death,
(fears
blackest
fright,)
Led on by Courage,
swiftly
rush to fight,
O'er
Groves
of
pointed Steel.
O'erturn'd, and ruin'd, by polite Improvements.
BUT when the
Roman Conquests
had possess'd the World, and gain'd the heighth of
universal Monarchy,
the call of War no more alarming their forgotten Valour, they betook themselves to study
Arts
and
Sciences,
and flourish'd for a while in all the Blessings of
meridian Glory
; but the dictates of their Learning
fatally encourag'd,
soon inspir'd their glowing Bosoms with a scorn of Slavery, and produc'd such
bloody
and
intestine Discords,
as o'erturn'd the
Grandeur
of their
spreading Empire,
and involv'd the
Government
in all the miseries of divided Ruin.
HOWEVER, as 'tis natural for the working Brains of Man to fix
attentively
on some peculiar and selected Object, how wide soever from the fashionable Practice of the Times they live in; so
some
are found
among the Turks,
whose native Curiosity inclines them to the search of what
small share of Knowledge
they can
possibly
attain from the perusal of those
few
and
trifling Books
they have among them.
The first advance of
Turkish
Learning.
AND tho' for reasons mention'd in the Chapter of the
Turkish
Policy, the Art of
Printing
is prohibited among those People, 'tis not likely they should reach so great Perfection in the Study of
Philosophy,
and other dubious Parts of Learning, as the more inlightn'd Scholars of the
Christian
World, yet are not
all
so meanly ignorant, as the
generality.
The Person, whose Ambition leads him to bestow upon some favourite Son a costly Education,
generous
and
particular,
must first begin like those in
Christendom,
and see them
taught
their A, B, C, or
Alphabetic
Knowledge of the
Turkish
Language.
The Knowledge of the Alphabet, as much as is requir'd, in any
Turkish
Minister of State.
NOR is the Knowledge of their
Orthographic
Learning look'd upon
as here with us,
like Childrens Study, and the first accomplishment of every mean Capacity: But,
on the contrary,
nothing further is requir'd from such as are elected to the greatest Places of the
Empire,
than to be qualified to read a Chapter in the
Alcoran,
and sign with their respective Names, the written Instruments dispatch'd about from Place to Place by their Authority.
Scribes, or publick Notaries, us'd much in
Turkey.
SCARCE
One
in
many Hundreds
of the
Sultan
's Subjects, tho' they read perhaps indifferently well, can write
his Name,
or form one single Letter of the
Alphabet,
so that when any Business offers, which they would acquaint a Friend with, who resides at any distance from the Towns they live in, they must address themselves to certain
Scribes,
or
Publick Notaries,
whose peculiar
Trade
it is to write the
Letters, Wills,
or other Paper Instruments of any such as will employ them.
Their Number in
Constantinople.
NO less than
Thirty Thousand
of these
Publick Scribes
at present dwell, in
full Employment,
in the City of
Constantinople,
and proportionable Numbers are distributed by order of the Court, to other Cities of the
Empire:
They are admitted
upon full Examination,
by the
Great Vizier,
or some inferior Officer deputed by him. They take an Oath to keep all Secrets, no ways tending to the
Sultan
's prejudice, but discover every little Hint that looks like Treason; hereby 'tis difficult
beyond Imagination,
to maintain a treacherous or illegal Correspondence.
Their several Businesses.
NOT only
Letters
and the little Instruments of
private Business
are dispatch'd
promiscuously
by the
Scribes
abovenam'd, but all the Copies of such
ancient Manuscripts,
or
modern Treatises,
as are in use among them, must be frequently transcrib'd by some of
these,
the Art of Printing not allow'd, as I before inform'd you.
The art of Writing fair, in great Perfection with the
Turks.
HOWEVER,
Omne malum habet in se bonum,
Every
Ill
contains some
Good
within its self. The
Scribes of Turkey
by perpetual Practice, are become such
Masters
in the Art of
Penmanship,
that they have
Pieces
common in their meanest Houses, which for justness of Design, equality of Character, and accomplish'd
Beauty, Grace,
and
Smoothness,
cannot be exceeded, or indeed
match'd
by the politest
Writing-Masters
known in
Europe.
The difficulty of sending Letters to any Part of the
Turkish
Empire.
SINCE I have had occasion here to speak of
Letters,
'twill not be digressive from the Subject of the Chapter to acquaint the Reader, that in order to prevent the ill Effects of treasonable Correspondences, they permit no settled
Posts
in any Part of
Turkey
; so that he who wou'd dispatch a Letter to a Friend, tho' hardly fifty Miles asunder, is oblig'd to hire
on purpose
some
Courier,
or proper Messenger, or must be forc'd to stay the motion of a
Caravan,
or the departure of a certain sort of
Message-bearers,
Natives of
Arabia,
who ramble
up and down
on foot to every Corner of the
Turkish Empire,
and will carry Letters for a large Reward to the remotest Borders of the
Turks
Dominions.
The danger of travelling alone very great in
Turkey.
THE Reader will conclude that
wanting Posts upon the Roads,
must render Travelling a vast
expence, fatigue,
and
hazard
; and really where a Man presumes to trust himself
alone,
or
undefended
by the Power of some respected Order, he exposes rashly, both his Fortune, and his Life, to the
repeated Insults
he is sure to meet with, from the barbarous Wretches he must pass by in his Journey.
How a Man must do to travel safely.
BUT the Man who knows the Custom of the Country, will be sure to hire a
Turkish
Janizary to accompany him; by whose Protection, he will not only be secure from Danger, but may
Eat
and
Drink, Sleep, Ride,
or what he pleases, free from Charge, upon the
oft-invaded Property
of the
poor, enslav'd,
and
miserable Inhabitants.
The second Step of
Turkish
Learning.
BUT to return to what I was about, no sooner has the Student gain'd a
full
and
finish'd
Knowledge of these earliest Rudiments, but he proceeds to change his
Theory
to
Practice,
and apply himself to study with the utmost care, and venerable industry, the
un-numbred Intricacies
of their
Alcoran
; for to be learn'd
in that,
is what they all desire with eager Emulation, as the Means whereby they gain the reputation of accomplish'd Scholars, and are throughly qualified for any
Post
of Honour, or Religion.
The great respect, the
Turks
show to such as are well vers'd in the Exposition of their
Alcoran.
THE Men who reach Perfection, or as great an Height as can be well attain'd, in this respected Study,
are on all hands
sought to, by the common People, as the
Oracles
of their Religion, and undoubted Solvers of the most abstruse and noted Difficulties; but
more than any other,
are esteem'd a sort of Men, who by a daily running over the several Chapters which compose their
Alcoran,
in time commit it to their Memories, and can repeat in order every Sentence of its valued Doctrine, so that bearing as it were the Body of their whole Religion, within themselves, they are esteem'd as Sacred as the Book it self, and every where distinguish'd by such shining Privileges, as declare how much the
Turks
(
O shame of Christendom,)
encourage more than we the Study of Religion.
The
Turkish
Language, rough and beholding to 3 other Dialects.
THE
Turkish
Language
rough
and
inharmonious,
is oblig'd to the
Arabian, Persian,
and
Chaldean
Tongues, for all the softness it at present boasts; which
notwithstanding,
is so very little, and so seldom understood by common People, that the
Turks
of late, difuse the Practice of that
borrow'd
sweetness,
once
the aim of all their Nation.
Italian,
the only Western Language studied by the
Turks.
OF all the noble Languages at present spoken by the Western World,
Italian
is the only Favourite among the
Turks,
and that being seldom understood, beyond the superficial Knowledge of a common Conversation; the
Latin, German, Spanish, French,
or
British Dialects,
are altogether strangers to their
Learning
or
Affections
; nor is the
Graecian
Tongue, that poor unhappy Sufferer with her ruin'd Sons, so much as
sought,
or any ways
esteem'd
by the illiterate Subverters of that
lamented
Nation.
BUT tho' the native harshness of their own unpolish'd Tongue, denys that smooth, enchanting
Eloquence,
those various
Tropes,
and graceful
Figures,
which shou'd form the
fine,
and
lofty Stile
requir'd in
Rhetorick
; the
Turks of Note,
or lovers of Improvement, are not void of other Means, whereby to reach a wish'd amusement, which the barren Study of their barbarous Language cannot give them.
The
Persian,
and
Arabian
Romances much in vogue among the
Turks.
THE Method then they take to raise their Souls to
emulative
heights of
Honour
and Ambition, is to study an accomplishment in all the artful Turns of
Persian
and
Arabian
Oratory; whereby they are inspir'd with lofty thoughts and brave desires of equalling those
great
and
noble Actions,
which they read with wonder in the generous Characters of
ancient Hero's,
celebrated
gloriously
in the fam'd
Romances,
and ingenious
Novels,
numerously scatter'd
up and down,
in both those Languages.
The common Subjects of the
Persian
Stories.
THESE
Novels
and
Romances
are compos'd by certain famous Writers, who possess a
Genius
fertilely productive of inimitable turns of
Wit
and
Fancy
; they consist,
for the most part,
of broken Remnants of the several
Histories
of worthy Men, set off to great advantage, by the fictitious Beauties of their strange Additions; nor do they want the taking
Graces,
and enchanting
Ornaments,
which shine so softly thro' the various Subjects of our
British, French,
and
Spanish
Novels.
How they are adorn'd.
THEY boast their
Knights
relieving Ladies in Distress, and Slavery, their
Tilting, Tournaments,
and amorous
Courtships,
their
enchanted Castles, Gyants, Monsters, Dwarfs
and
'Squires
; their
delightful Meadows, murm'ring Currents, shady Bowers,
and
Groves of Myrtle
; all which are
there
as
frequent
and
fantastical,
as in any
Clelia,
or
Cassandra
of them all.
One
Kederlee,
the same with them, as St.
George
among the
Christians.
AMONGST the many mighty Men of
Valour
and
Renown,
whose Acts of
Chivalry,
they record as
Miracles,
they relate prodigious and diverting Stories of a certain
Knight
call'd
Kederlee,
who by the Actions of his Life, appears no other than the fam'd St.
George,
that celebrated Dragon-killer of the
British Nation.
The 4 Beasts which the
Turks
have plac'd in Paradise.
And so highly do the
Turks
respect the Memory of this illustrious
Champion,
that, in regard of his unequall'd and surprizing Merits, they have given his
Horse
a Seat in
Paradise,
and plac'd him
there,
in state and
glory,
with the
Ass
whereon our
Saviour
rode, the
Dog
belonging to the
Seven Sleepers,
and the favourite
Camel
of their Prophet
Mahomet.
The
Turks
unskill'd in History.
AS for the delightful, and improving Knowledge of
History,
the
Turks
are wholly destitute of any means whereby to reach the smallest Skill in that engaging
Study
; for tho' they take a constant care to keep
exact
and punctual Records of the
Rise
and
Progress
of their own prodigious Empire, they are so ignorantly defective in the Study of
Chronology,
that by the strangely rude and barbarous dictates of receiv'd
Tradition,
they confound all
Ages, Reigns,
and
Persons,
in the mixt disorder of a wild irregularity.
A strange Opinion of the
Turks,
concorning
Solomon
and
Homer.
THUS they look on
Solomon
and
Homer
to have been two Brothers, who contended with each other for the Bays bestow'd upon the most deserving
Poet,
and believe that
Homer
having gain'd the universal
Plaudit
of the Judges of those times, was envied by his Brother
Solomon,
and being banish'd from the Court, was forc'd to roam about the World, and beg a livelyhood from charitable Contributions.
I know not how it comes to pass, but
Solomon
is now the only Prince who lives in their Traditions, and so great a Notion have they form'd of his extensive Power, and the splendour of his Government, that they have listed all the famous
Monarchs
of the ancient World, as Servants to his Grandeur.
Another of
Julius Caesar, Job,
and
Alexander
the Great.
THUS is the celebrated
Julius Caesar
thought by
all the Turks,
to have been
Admiral
of a prodigious Fleet of Ships, belonging to the abovenam'd
Solomon,
consisting of a Thousand and odd Hundred Sail. They say, that
Alexander the Great,
was the illustrious
General
of his victorious Armies; and that
Job, so famous for his exemplary Patience,
was the
Judge
of all Civil Causes of his large Dominions.
More vers'd in Poetry, and why enclin'd to study it.
SOMEWHAT more refin'd are their Capacities in the Art of
Poetry,
if that indifferent Skill they boast may claim the honour of so high a Character; for the ambitious
Sultans
of the
Turkish
Empire, hearing that the Works of ancient
Poets
are esteem'd in Christendom;
Ambition of the
Turkish
Sultans.
and having been inform'd
by Runagado
's, what immortal Characters have been confer'd on former
Princes,
by the Pens of such as writ harmoniously, became inspir'd with eager Wishes, that their own great Actions might be copy'd to advantage, by some
Eastern
Muse, and so transmitted
with a shining Glory,
to the praises of Posterity.
The
Turkish
Language too rough for Poetry.
THIS flatt'ring Notion of the
Turkish
Monarchs, caus'd an eager application of their Subjects Fancies to the favour'd study of Poetic Excellence, but the unpolish'd Cadence of their
guttural Language,
not allowing them sufficient Harmony, they make but dull, insipid Verses, unless they tune their Muses to the warbling Lyre of smooth
Arabia.
The Arguments they use in its defence.
HOWEVER, notwithstanding all the dis-advantages they meet in their attempt, they still continue to improve their Genius in the practice of this Study, using Arguments to prove the
use,
and great
necessity
of Poetic Learning, not much unlike the thoughts of
Horace
in the following Verses.
Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona
Multi, sed omnes illacrymabiles
Ʋ rgentur, ignotique longa
Nocte; carent quia vate sacro.
Men
brave,
and
valiant
liv'd before those Days,
Wherein fam'd
Agamemnon
gain'd his
Praise,
Yet does a dark
oblivion
shrowd their Fames,
And Nights black Mists efface their glorious Names;
Ʋ nknown,
and
unlamented,
dead they lie,
While Deeds of
later Hero
's never die;
Hence springs the Cause,
the first
no
Poets
praise,
The
last
out-live their Death, in
Bards immortal Lays.
The Study of Poetry, why oppos'd by certain rigid Sects.
STRONGLY notwithstanding, are these great Encouragers of
Poetry
oppos'd, by certain Sects of
grave, morose,
and
rigid
Principles, who raise Objections to the Study, from the many
false
and contradictory Assertions of the greatest Poets,
The Reasons which they give for their dislike of Poetry.
which besides the scandal they affirm it must infallibly create to their unstain'd and holy Doctrine, has another ill Effect, which is, so painting over all the Vices of a
Man
or
Nation,
and so Satyrically detracting from their envied Virtues, that Posterity will be oblig'd to read a mix'd Account of
Truth
and
Falsehood,
without the smallest possibility of distinguishing
with certainty,
between the
one
and the
other.
And herein they seem to blame such noted Fictions, as those for which
Ausonius
censures
Virgil,
in the following
Verses,
on the Statue of
Queen Dido
; as I remember in the 117th Epigram.
Auson. Epig.
117.
Illa ego sum
Dido
vultu, quam conspicis hospes,
Assimulata modis pulchraque mirificis.
Talis eram, sed non
Maro,
quam mihi finxit erat Mens,
Vita nec incestis laeta cupidinibus:
Namque nec
Aeneas
vidit me
Troius
unquam,
Nec Libyam advenit classibus Iliacis.
Sed furias fugiens, atque arma procacis Iarbae,
Servavi, fateor, morte pudicitiam;
Pectore transfixo castos quod pertulit enses;
Non furor, aut laeso crudus amore dolor,
Sic cecidisse juvat: Vixi sine vulnere famae,
Ʋ lta virum, positis moenibus oppetii.
Invida cur in me stimulasti musa MARONEM,
Fingeret ut nostrae damna pudicitiae?
Vos magis Historicis lectores credite de me
Quam qui furta
Deum
concubitusque canunt,
Falsidici vates: Temerant qui carmine verum,
Humanisque
Deos
assimulant vitiis.
The Epigram in
English.
I am that
Dido
's Image,
kind
and
fair,
Whose
Form
thou seest here carv'd with artful Air;
Such was my Body, but my
Soul
ne'er knew
The Crimes, which
Virgil
made my Story do;
Nor was my Life debauch'd by loose Desires,
Nor burnt my honour in
incestuous
Fires;
Never did fam'd
Aeneas
see my Face,
Nor land his
Trojan
Squadrons in this Place,
Flying the Rage of proud
Iarba
's Will,
To save my valued Fame I chose my self to kill;
Nor was it
Madness
made my Bosome bleed,
But chast and weighty
Grief,
that urg'd me to the Deed:
Thus did I fall,
unwounded
in my Fame,
My
Consort
's Wrongs reveng'd, and all my Shame,
And built a stately Town, to celebrate my Name.
But why
malicious Muse,
didst thou inspire,
Erroneous
Virgil
with a strange Desire,
To heap a feign'd Dishonour on my Name,
And sell my
Modesty
to raise his
Fame?
Learn all from me, credit
Historians
more
Than
those
who ne'er will give their Fables o'er;
But
daringly
expose to publick View,
The secret Acts of Love, which
Jove
is pleas'd to do;
Poets
are
Lyars,
and for love of Rhymes,
Will make the
Gods themselves
pertake of human Crimes.
The manner of making
Turkish
Verse.
THE
Turkish
Poetry consists of certain short and broken Measures, chain'd
most commonly
to double Rhymes, that so that
jingle of the Numbers
may atone
as much as possible,
for the unpleasant roughness of the Cadence; they confine their
Muses
for the most part, to
low
and
doggrel
Balads, or the whining Composition of some amorous Pastoral; yet some few are sound among them, of a very
brisk
and
sprightly Wit,
who will on
Weddings, Victories,
or other such occasions, exert their Faculties in forming something like a
Panegyrick, Epithalamium, Ode,
or witty
Anagram,
and having done their utmost, with design to please the
Patrons
they address, receive a Present equal to the
merit
of the Work, or rather given according to the
generous,
or
avaritious Temper
of the Person they have complimented.
Examples are the surest means of teaching any thing.
BUT
Examples
will be most diverting, and inform the Reader more exactly of their peculiar Tast of several sorts of Poetry; I
therefore
now proceed to come as near as I can trace their Language, to some
remarkable
and
celebrated
Turns of
Turkish Wit,
whereby the
Authors
gain'd a great and lasting Reputation.
A pleasant Story of a
Turk
who hir'd Poets to make Verses on his Wedding.
THERE was a noted
Turk,
who liv'd in
Constantinople,
and had lately gain'd the Parents Approbation of a certain Lady,
young,
and
beautiful
; they were married, and their
Nuptials
celebrated with a Splendour equal to their Fortunes, which were great and plentiful: The Sports, perform'd on such occasions, drew the Observation of all sorts of People, who were treated and caress'd with wonderful Civility; among the rest,
unwilling to omit the smallest point of lofty Liberality,
the joyful
Bridegroom
sent an Invitation to the most esteem'd, and brightest
Poets
of the City; assuring them they should receive an hearty welcome; and to tempt the trial of their utmost Skill, inform'd 'em, he design'd a good Reward for him, who made the finest Verses, in
congratulation
of his Marriage.
The Poets feasted by the Bridegroom.
THE summon'd
Bards
appear'd immediately, and having feasted plentifully on the Bridegroom's Entertainment, thought it proper to remember what they came for, and retiring severally to the private Arbours of their Patron's Garden, soon compos'd the
mercenary
Praises he expected from them, and returning to the Place where waited the impatient Company, repeated
every Man his own Performance,
each submitted,
each in hopes of preference,
to the decisive Judgment of a fair
Majority.
THE Consequences of this famous Battle of the
Turkish Muses,
having made some noise about the City, many Copies of their
aukward Panegyricks
were distributed about; and since I was oblig'd by an Acquaintance with an
Italian
Translation of them all, I wou'd not think the Pains too great,
for the diversion of my Reader,
to present him with their Verses in a
British
Dress; the first are these which follow.
The first Poets Verses.
I
Mustapha Bashaw
to you great
Ali,
Fav'rite of
Mahomet,
and pride of
Hali,
Address my Lines—
you
are a Man so clever,
That I cou'd wish you were to live for ever;
For then the beauteous Wife you now enjoy,
Wou'd bring you ev'ry Year a smiling Boy;
So wou'd the
World forever
happy be,
Beauty,
and
Youth, Wit, Wealth
and
Honour
see,
Your
Wife
and
Sons
wou'd prove the
former two,
And the
three last,
must ever shine in you.
I assure the Reader I have done the
Poet
Justice in his
Fancy
and
Expression,
which tho' a little brighter in the
end
than the
beginning,
may be excus'd, in that 'tis
more than tolerable
in a Country where the
Sun
of
Learning
shines so seldom. But here comes another somewhat merry and diverting.
The second Poets Verses.
O mighty
Ali
let me swear
That a most happy Man you are,
Your self is wondrous wise and witty,
And
God
has sent a Wife to sit ye;
But that I may discover best,
How much I really think you blest,
Oh Heav'ns! were I one Hour of Life,
To be in bed with your sweet Wife,
S'bud how shou'd I for Joys then strive,
And be the happiest Man alive!
THE Author of this
comical Conceit
was one
Morat,
a brisk and airy Spark, who wou'd not lose his Jest, where'er he found it; but his Muse however mist the
Prize,
and tho' the
Bridegroom
seem'd well pleas'd, and laugh'd for company, he was not master of a
Turkish
Nature, if he did not curse the
Poet
for his
odd, uncommon
way of praising him. A third succeeded him
more gravely,
with the Lines which follow.
I.
The third Poets Panegyrick on the Bridegroom.
God made two
Sparks
of heav'nly Fire,
More
bright
than others were,
Fram'd 'em to kindle
soft desire,
Both
Spotless, Chast
and
Fair.
II.
Go down says He, to
Earth,
and
there,
Long wander up and down,
Till having found the
loveliest Pair,
Their Bliss by
Marriage
crown.
III.
They came and journey'd long in vain,
Untill they found the Two,
Then
center'd here,
and
now
contain,
The
destin'd
Joys of you.
A comical Reward for Poetry.
SOME other Poets tried their Skill, but
all
fell short of
these,
and one
Zulduc,
the Author of the last, was judg'd deserving of the promis'd Prize, which was accordingly bestow'd upon him, by the
Bridegroom
's Order; the Present was a well-shap'd
Ass,
with
Saddle
and
Caparison
embroidred richly, and the
Bridle, Breast-piece,
and the other Harness, all emboss'd with polish'd Silver, of which Metal were the large and weighty
Stirrops,
made according to the
Turkish
Fashion.
THIS strange
ill-chosen
Present, soon alarm'd the Town with mirth and wonder, at the novelty of our triumphant
Poet
's odd Reward; and 'mongst the many others who reflected pleasantly upon the
Turks
unfashionable Gift, a certain humerous
Spanish Runnagado,
skill'd compleatly in the
Eastern
Languages, and still retaining sprightly
Reliques
of his Countries
Genius,
was a little sharp upon the Subject in the following
Satyr.
A Spanish Runnagado's Satyr, on the Bridegroom and his Present.
Complain not poor
Zulduc,
that thy Reward,
Seems not to speak a
generous
regard,
Thou dost
alas!
mistake thy Patron's Mind,
The
Gift
he made thee proves him
more than kind
;
For as a Lover, whom strong Passions move,
Yields up
himself
a Sacrifice to Love,
So
Ali
's Hand has giv'n to thee
dull Man,
Tho' not
himself,
as near it as he can;
For
Nature, Bridle, Saddle,
all combine,
To show how near the
Ass
and
late-noos'd Ali
join.
The Condition of Musick, among the
Turks.
PROCEED we now to
Musick
's Charms, as
like
to those of
Poetry
as possible, yet not so much encourag'd by the
Turkish
Nation, who are altogether Strangers to the melting Strains of Vocal Harmony, nor understand the charming use of those delightful Instruments, whose elevating sounds have unresisted Power to move the Souls of dying Men, and make the poor desponding Wretch forget his Sorrows, and erect
with Joy
his drooping Head, to hear the
soft,
and
tunefull
Call, that lulls his Cares, and hushes
for a while
his loud Misfortunes.
Their Notions thereof a sort of Paradox.
THE Notion of the
Turks
concerning
Musick,
will appear a
Paradox,
for they abhor the
brisk
and
airy
Tunes of
Christian
Composition, and alike despise the dulcid Notes and melancholy, soft, complaining Strokes of grave
Sonata
's;
The shape of a
Turkish
Ghittarr.
yet are they never easy
when alone,
unless they have a kind of course
Ghitarr,
or such a sort of Instrument, consisting commonly of several Wires, upon a long and slender wooden Body, with a round, capacious hollow head, the form whereof is represented in the
Cutt
relating to the
Graecian Wedding,
in the one and twentieth Chapter, above the Letter
I
on the right hand of the Figures.
Their manner of using it.
WITH this dull Instrument the solitary
Turks
divert themselves, in every Place, and every Company; they place it in the left hand, and turning its unweildy Belly to their Sides, with the unheeding Fingers of their other Hand, strike up and down
at random
all the Wires, and whine out horrid, and unpleasant Noises, to the
hum-drum
Echo's of their barbarous Instrument.
The strange esteem the
Turks
profess for the abovenam'd Instrument.
YET so bewitch'd are all the
Turks
to this ridiculous Amusement, that a Stranger must be plagu'd in every corner of their Streets and Houses, with repeated sounds of dolefull Airs, and noisy Voices void of harmony, nay to such extravagant Affection are they now arriv'd, for this prevailing Fashion, that the
Soldiers
go not to the War without their
Fiddles
; nor can any travel half a Day in
Turkish
Territories, but he shall see a grave
long-bearded Mussulman,
sit singly
cross-legg'd,
under some large
Oak,
or shady
Cypress,
pleasing his conceit with melancholy Ditties, to the
Strum-strum
Musick of his thrum'd Ghittarr, while his poor Horse is turn'd to graze about the Field, and seeks the pleasure of a more substantial Entertainment.
The shape and use of the
Turkish
Base-Viol.
ANOTHER Instrument in use among the
Turks
is a large wooden Trunk, not much unlike the fashion of the former, whereto one large, and
rozin'd
twisted Cats-gut is affix'd so straitly, that by scraping thereupon with a proportionable Bow, a certain hoarse, and hollow murmur strikes the Ear, like the unpleasant tuning of a bad
Base Viol.
The form of Timbrels, and how us'd in
Turkey.
ANOTHER very celebrated Piece of Musick, is the noise they make with jingling
Timbrels,
which are form'd exactly like a Sieve, the bottom made of
Buff,
extreamly strong and durable; small, long, and narrow holes about the sides, contain a certain number of round, thin, and polish'd Plates of Brass, bor'd thro' the
center,
and securely fastned with a liberty to play, upon a little Pin; this Timbrel they make yield a very jarring and discordant sound, by striking with their Fists, upon the middle of the Leather, which thereby affords a sort of drowsy Base, to the more
shrill
and sprightly trebble of the clattering Plates of Brass about it. Both these abovenam'd Instruments are likewise represented, in the
Cutt
aforesaid.
Wind Musick not in use among them.
WIND Musick is not much in vogue in any part of
Turkey
; a sort of Pipe, or aukward Flute they make of Reeds, is what they chiefly
now
delight in: But the
Hautboys, Trumpet,
and the favour'd Instruments of
Christian
Countries, even from the
amorous Flute,
down to the rustic Bagpipe, are entirely strangers to the
Turkish
Practice.
Drums and Kettle-drums in high esteem.
DRUMS they use in martial Expeditions, and delight extreamly in their warlike Thunder; Kettledrums they beat with skill and pleasure, but they understand no Tunes, nor boast the noble
Theory
of
Musick,
but play by rote on any Instrument, the
incoherent
dictates of a
wild, extravagant,
and artless fancy.
The
Turks
unskill'd in Logick.
THE
Turkish
Studies boast no Logick, nor does any Man among the most polite of all their People know its meaning; no tough
Syllogisms
puzzle their Discourses; no
Nego Minorem, Majorem,
or
Consequentiam,
confound their Students with asserted Contradictions;
The Reasons why they disapprove it.
all is
vulgar, plain,
and
ignorant,
nor do they wish to gain a clearer notion, of a dangerous
Science,
which they say opposes
always,
and
too often
overturns, the truth of
Argument,
and light of
Reason.
Their Ignorance in Metaphysicks.
THEY know no more of
Metaphysicks,
than a trifling Contest on the
Attributes
of
GOD,
and that maintain'd with such absurdity and weakness, that the artless Tenour of their jangling Disputations, cannot boast a regular proceeding, but is founded grosly on the obstinate profession of illiterate Contrarieties.
Physick not well understood in
Turkey.
PHYSICK is esteem'd a sacred Study, but their Ignorance therein exceeds belief; for tho' the ancient
Doctors
of
Arabia,
were the best
Physitians
of the times they liv'd in, and cou'd say with
Solomon,
they knew the
vegetable
nurseries of
Nature
; nay, cou'd tell their Virtues from the
Cedar
to the
Hyssop,
yet the modern
Arabs,
and the spacious Body of the
Turkish Empire,
are eclips'd by Clouds of such supine
Obscurity,
that they can boast no good
Physician
in their Nation, but respect a
Quack,
if bred in
Christendom,
as an undoubted Master of an useful Science, which their want of Learning, or neglect of Opportunities deny
themselves
the smallest knowledge of.
Navigation, how far known to
Turkish
Mariners.
NAVIGATION, as I said before, is little understood by
Turkish
Mariners. The Compass is
by them,
divided into Eight great Points, and the dependant Usefullness of that illustrious Art so much unknown, that they can only sail before the Wind, and while the nimble Ships of other Nations ply
with ease
their handy
Tacks
to
star-board
or to
lar-board
Quarter,
veer about, lie by,
and coming up within few Points of
every Wind,
sail on
secure,
in spight of
adverse
and
tempestuous Weather,
the baffled Efforts of the
Turkish Sailors
sailing their Desires, the unweildy Vessels of those ignorant People must be forc'd to creep for hospitable shelter, to the close protection of some neigh'bring Harbour, and expect with patience the desir'd return of proper Winds to prosecute their Voyages.
The State of their Geographic Learning.
GEOGRAPHY is so unknown among them, that they hardly find a possibility of reaching Skill enough to learn the situation of their own Dominions, and so very dark are their Capacities
that way,
that some
the most refin'd among them,
have desir'd me to inform them, whether
Britain
did not border on the Mouth of the
Mediterranean,
and the
King of France
's Territories spread their Frontiers to the
Western Indies.
Geometry, Astronomy, and Astrology how far known in
Turkey.
GEOMETRY they cannot boast the smallest Notion of, and are extreamly ignorant of
Astronomical
Observations; yet some are found in
Turkey,
who pretend to
Schemes
and
Figures
in
Astrology,
and calculate
Nativities
for superstitious People, when even those very Men who pass for
Conjurers,
and are esteem'd
as such
by the unthinking Populace, behold
with wonder
the surprizing Form, and advantageous Uses of our
Christian Globes, Celestial,
or
Terrestrial.
BUT let us now descend from lofty Studies, to the Rural Practices of Country Labours, and we shall perceive the common Ignorance as formidable
there,
as in their Schools of Education, and unpolish'd
Seminaries
of Religion and Philosophy.
The
Turks
unskill'd in Husbandry.
SO little are they skill'd in
Agriculture,
and the Art of
Gardening,
that where the Ground requires
manuring,
they are wholly ignorant of all Improvements, which the rustic Arts of
European Husbandmen
have taught the Practice of, and let it lie
neglected
and
untill'd
; not useful to themselves, nor advantageous to Posterity.
Their Lands extreamly fertil.
BUT Providence has
strangely
so ordain'd, that they possess such
fertil,
and
productive
Territories, as will yield the Blessings of a
double Harvest,
from the easy Labours of an
unfatigu'd
and pleasing Industry.
Greeks
commonly employ'd to till the Ground.
YET are the
native Turks
so giv'n to
Luxury,
that few among them care to take the smallest Pains in
rural
Practices, but
on the contrary,
they still employ the subject
Greeks
to do their Drudgery, and live supinely like the lazy
Drones,
upon the plunder'd
Honey
of the
Bees
about 'em.
The Reason why the
Turks
neglect improving Lands.
AND perhaps, this universal negligence in Country matters, may proceed from that inglorious and submissive Slavery wherein they live, and which depresses weightily their
unsupported Spirits,
by the sad reflections of their miserable Servitude to an
unbounded Monarch,
who possesses
at their Deaths,
the Product of their Labours, and becomes
sole Heir
to all their Lands, excluding
even the Children
of a frugal
Father
from the wish'd enjoyment of a
ravish'd Patrimony.
How a Country Life may be unpleasant.
FOR tho' the Charms and various Pleasures of a Country Life, may tempt the Inclinations of a thinking Man, to leave the hurries of a Town-destraction, and relax the Springs of wearied Life in gentle Solitude; yet is not any of these flattering Blessings to be
met,
or
hop'd for,
from a Rural Life encumbred with the plagues of noisy Discord, and severe effects of an insulted Slavery, where every Moment may produce some
strange
and unexpected Accident, and reduce the
Owner
of a rolling Plenty to the shame of Poverty or
Military Ravages,
upon the spiteful
Nod
of some
capricious Governour.
When, and how, a Country Life is truly happy.
THEN, O
sweet
and
gentle Solitude,
are thy Retirements truly happy, when we can enjoy,
secure from danger,
the inviting Pleasures of thy dulcid Mansions; when the softer Wishes of our peaceful Souls, may
free,
and
unconfin'd
become successful, and our
undisturb'd,
and blissful Hours roll smoothly on, within the limits of
Paternal Residence.
How truly just are the exalted Notions of the
Roman Horace
on the present Subject, when he says,
Hor.
Ode 2d.
Epod.
Beatus ille, qui procul negotiis,
Ʋ t prisca Gens Mortalium;
Paterna rura bobus exercet suis,
Solutus omni faenore.
Neque excitatur classico Miles truci,
Neque horret iratum Mare,
Forumque vitat, & superba civium
Potentiorum limina.
The Ode in
English.
Happy the Man, who
free from Care,
As Men in former Ages were,
From
Ʋ sury
retires;
And Plows with pure industrious Hand,
With his own Steers
his
Father
's Land,
The
Crown
of his Desires.
No storms of
War
his
Peace
can shake,
Ʋ nmov'd
he sees the
Billows
break
And mocks the
Oceans
frown,
He shuns
all
Courts where
Lawyers
are,
Disdains the
haughty
Grandeur there,
Contented with his own.
BY what has been
already
said, the
Reader
may conceive
with ease,
the utmost altitude of
Turkish
Learning; I shall
now
proceed
in the ensuing Chapter,
to inform him of the
Morals
of those mighty People.
CHAP. X. Of the
Turkish
Morals.
All Men by Nature, more or less are taught Morality.
THE Reader can expect no elevated Notions of refin'd Morality, from such as live on others Misery, and owe the Grandeur of their lofty Fortune to the bloody Ruin of invaded Nations, yet as
Natures
Dictates; and the common Lessons of a mild Humanity, excite Mankind to do the
Justice
they again expect, so have the
Turks, in the last Age,
been more refin'd than formerly they were, by frequent Converse with the
Christian Nations,
which their extended Conquests made their
Neighbours.
Some
British
Travellers have flatter'd the
Turks.
STRANGELY do the Characters which all our Travellers have given the
Turks,
mistake their Nature, some Ingenious Gentlemen
the Natives of Great Britain,
have thought fit to speak those People noble Masters of a spotless Vertue, and describe them sailing in a Sea of Glory, laden richly with the golden Notions of
Morality
and
Wisdom,
which distinguish'd anciently the Great Inhabitants of the Countries they have conquer'd.
Others have detracted from their real
Merits.
OTHERS,
less obliging,
but
alike mistaken,
byass'd by the Follies of a fond
Partiality,
allow them owners of
not one
commendable or vertuous Practice, but describe their Natures wholly sunk in dull Stupidity, and
universally
inclin'd to
Mischief
and
Iniquity.
A
Medium
most eligible, and the nearest Truth.
THESE
Extreams
are
both
to be rejected, and a modest
Medium
chosen to direct us, we shall
then
discover that the same
variety
of
Humour
and
Morality,
now reigns in
Turkey,
that is found in
Christendom,
and that the numerous
Mahometans
are
like our selves
divided into
Good
and
Bad,
according to the Lessons of their different Educations, or the contrary Impulses of a
vicious Soul,
or one inspir'd with a sublime and generous love of Vertue.
Their divided Notions of Morality.
NOT more divided is the
Turkish Faith,
than their infirm Morality;
some
holding
lawful, meritorious,
and
as duty,
that, which
other some
condemn as
odious, sinful,
and
illegal
; nay, to such degrees of violence do they proceed herein, that some believe it Sin to
pity Christians,
others hold it Charity to
relieve them
; some hate
Mirth,
and others
Sorrow
; some love one thing, some another; each opposing t'others Principle, with all the malice of discordant Obstinacy, as is describ'd by
Horace
in the eighteenth Epistle of his first Book.
Oderunt hilarem tristes, tristemque jocosi,
Sedatum celeres; agilem, gnavumque remissi.
The
Sad
the
Airy
hate, the
Brisk
the
Sad,
The
Swift
the
Slow despise,
the
Joyless
hate the
Glad.
BUT to let the
Curious
clearly understand in what Condition are maintain'd the
common Morals
of the
Turks
in general, I will transcribe a sort of
Catechism
taught their Children, who imbibing early what the Parents make 'em learn, continue
when grown up,
to justifie their Tenets. The Interrogatories are as follow.
A
Turkish
Catechism.
Q.
Tell me thy Name?
A.
My Name is
Mustapha.
Q.
How wert thou made?
A.
By One Great God,
alone,
and
indivisible, Almighty, Mercifull, Omniscient, Sempiternal,
full of Truth, and rich in Glory.
Q.
By what means dost thou hope to gain Salvation?
A.
By walking strictly in the Paths of Holiness, as measur'd out by God's Decree, and set before all true
Believers,
by the goodness and compassion of our Pastor
Mahomet,
(whose Name be Sacred) sent by God to teach Mankind, and
now
in
Heaven,
his mighty, true, and
only Prophet.
Q.
How dost thou expect to gain his Favour, or reward his Goodness?
A.
By promoting his Religion, and a Charitable Pity of my Fellow Creatures.
Q.
How must his Religion be promoted?
A.
By destroying with the
Sword
and
Fire,
all such as dare oppose his holy Doctrine, till the Infidels are rooted from the
Earth,
and all the
Ʋ niverse
submits to own his Glory.
Q.
How will you extend the
Charity
injoin'd you?
A.
By erecting
Hans,
or publick Inns for entertaining poor
benighted Pilgrims,
building
Bagnio's,
and endowing
Mosques
with large Revenues, if
the Lord of Paradise
is pleas'd to bless me with a plentifull Ability:
If not,
by giving freely
to the Poor
as much as I can spare, redeeming Slaves, and looking upon the
Beasts
which serve our Uses with a mild Compassion.
Q.
How are you to pity
Beasts,
or
Birds
which serve you?
A.
When an
Ox, Ass, Horse, Dog, Mule,
or
Camel,
has for many Years been truly serviceable; I must let him graze in peace about my Grounds, and live the rest of his
disabled
Life, entirely free from
Toil,
or
Drudgery,
as a Reward for all his former Labours.
Q.
What else are you requir'd to do to such poor Animals?
A.
I am oblig'd to load my Camels and all other Beasts of Burthen, favourably, and with pity; buy the
Birds
that pine in
Cages
for their absent Mates, and let them fly away to seek lost Liberty.
Q.
Who,
under Mahomet,
will you obey?
A.
My
Prince,
and Parents.
Q.
How must you serve your Prince?
A.
With Life and Fortune, for he is the
Lord
of all my Plenty, and may honour my Head by making it his Footstool, I am to
live
and
die
when
he
commands it, and depend on nothing but
his
sacred Pleasure.
Q.
How will you respect your Parents?
A.
With the unfeign'd Duty of a meek Humility; as becomes the Honour of those Persons, from whom,
next God,
I had my Being.
Q.
How will you deal with your Neighbours?
A.
Love those, who love me; hate those, who hate me; kill those, who strive to kill me; but never give back
Ill
for
Good,
nor
Good
for
Evil.
Q.
What is your highest Wish?
A.
On
Earth Success,
and
Paradise
hereafter.
Q.
Is your Wish sincere? If not, may Heaven refuse it.
A.
So be it to me.
THIS Catechism may convince the Reader, that howsoever differing their Notions are, in other Points, they all concur in one unanimous respect, wherewith they humbly own the Power of
God,
and worship his
Divinity,
of which the eldest Ages of
Antiquity,
acknowledge the assur'd Existence, and
Hesiod
seemingly inspir'd with more than
Heathenish
light of Reason, thus expresses.
A Quotation from
Hesiod,
concerning the Power of God.
High-thund'ring
Jove,
who in Heav'ns loftiest Throne,
Sits
uncontroul'd,
and rules the World
alone,
At pleasure,
lifts
to Empire
lowly Swains,
And hurls from
boasted Grandeur,
him who reigns.
With ease extirpates Lines of noblest Race,
And gives
undreamt
of Honours to the Base;
In short his Arm can make the Crooked Straight,
And draw out
all the Pride,
which swells the haughty
Great.
The bad Effect of a bad Opinion.
THEIR Notions of the
Duty,
which obliges them to propagate the Doctrine of their
Prophet,
leads their
Reason, Justice
and
Humanity
so much astray, that neither
Promise, Vow,
nor
solemn Oath,
can bind their
Conscience,
to omit an opportunity of adding any thing to former Acquisitions.
The
Turkish
Trade is manag'd by the
Jews.
BY this means,
Christians
find it dangerous to deal in
Turkey,
and gaining no security from sacred Oaths, nor
oft-repeated
Promises, refuse to credit such as they suspect, who
therefore,
not regarding publick Business, leave the management of all their
Trade
to crafty
Jews,
a People
wily,
and industrious in the art of Cheating handsomely, and who are numerously spread o'er every Corner of the
Turkish Empire; Constantinople, and its Neighbourhood,
containing many Thousands of those scatter'd People.
The crime of Lying seldom known among the
Turks.
LYING is a Crime not often known in
Turkey,
nor does any Man affirm for certain Truth, what is not
prov'd so,
by his own Experience; and
speaking generally,
when a
Turk
has stroak'd his Beard, and laid his Hand with gravity upon his Breast, sedately to assert some question'd Point, you may
securely
take his Word, nor is he ever known to falsifie his Promise.
Swearing practis'd and encourag'd.
OF all the
Turks
immoral Practices, the Vice of
Swearing
to a strange extravagance, is most in fashion; and so oddly
new,
and different from
ours,
are their invented
Oaths
and
Curses,
that it will not be a needless trouble, to inform the
Reader,
what uncommon Thoughts those People exercise on such occasions.
Strange and unexampl'd Curses us'd in
Turkey.
THUS for example, When they would express their anger to a
Man
or
Beast,
they do it commonly in the rash and inconsiderate manner following;
May the Graves black Angel fry your Soul; May you vomit up your Bowels, and your Heart Strings burst in sunder; May the Birds of Heav'n defile your Head, and your unwash'd Body damn your Soul to future Vengeance.
But more ridiculous, and impiously void of reason, is a Method they incourage by a constant Practice, cursing, with a strange and senseless fury, things
inanimate
and void of Understanding; if a
Man
affronts 'em,
Camel, Horse,
or any other Beast of burthen checks their Will, or any accidental stumble
o'er a Stone
provokes their Passion, they proceed,
without reflecting on the Object of their Rage,
to vent these Curses,
Annah sana Secteim Gaour, Annah sana Yonnina Sicheim.
That is, I ravish'd your Mother, you Infidel, and I will ravish her again as she lies in her Grave.
The common Oaths in use among the
Turks.
THEIR common Oaths are such as these,
By
Mahomet
's Great Office; By the Throne of God; By the Roof of Heaven; By the Sea and Land; By the Sultan's Soul, and the hairy Scalp of my Mother.
Gaming, how far encourag'd.
GAMING is so little prejudicial to the
Turkish Government,
that tho' the Natives much delight therein, as shall be shown hereafter, it was never known
among this People,
that Estates were ruin'd, and whole Families
impoverish'd
by the curs'd Effects of such a vicious Practice.
Drunkeness a prevailing Vice among them.
EBRIETY, I have before inform'd my Reader, is unlawful by their
Prophet
's Prohibition of the use of Wine, or other strong intoxicating Liquors, yet how far this weak and disregarded
Barrier
stops their progress in so lov'd a Vice, will be easily conceiv'd, when I assure him, that no Nation under Heaven is addicted more to frequent Drunkenness, than are the
Turks
in private Meetings.
Whoredom and Adultery but rarely practis'd.
WHOREDOM, and Adultery, too much encourag'd by the
Christian
's Practice, and alleviated commonly by the
palliating
Cloak of a pretended
Gallantry,
are seldom found among the
Turks
; the Punishments so great, and obviously known, and Difficulties of obtaining Female Correspondence so insuperably hazardous, deterr them from attempting such
illegal Love,
and the little value which they hold their Women at, the Slavery that poor unhappy Sex are there subjected to, and the unbounded Liberty their Laws afford 'em in promiscuous Use of
Wives
and
Concubines,
excite no search of such unvalued Pleasure.
The
Turks
are much inclin'd to Sodomy.
BUT now, O black and horrid Shame! I must with all the detestation of a
Christian
Zeal, descend to speak a shocking Truth, relating to the strange and curs'd Pollution of
inverted Nature,
that ancient hellish Crime, which ruin'd
Sodom,
and at present reigns
among the Turks,
with such libidinous extravagance, that they will publickly avow their countenanc'd delight in such a beastly and inhuman Practice.
THEY have their favourite
Pooshts,
or
Catamites,
as common as their Concubines, and ride attended to the Wars or distant Governments, by rich and splendid Numbers of these young
Male Prostitutes.
The means whereby the
Turks
grew fond of Sodomy.
'TIS more than probable, that the raging Fire of this
impetuous
Lust, began to flame from the original Confinement of the
Turkish Janizaries,
denied, like
Roman Priests
the liberty of Marriage; who, therefore not supporting the unwelcome Prohibition with expected resignation to the Will of their Commanders, broke out in loose and wanton searches after
unknown Pleasures
; and like Water, check'd in its incumber'd Chanel, soon doubled former force, and rapidly o'erflow'd the
delug'd
Banks, whose lofty Mounds had
formerly
confin'd them.
The Vice encourag'd by Impunity.
IMPUNITY for such unnatural and encroaching Guilt, emboldens their Presumption to so vast an height, that I remember with the greatest horror and amazement, an
unexampled
Impudence I was my self a witness of at
Adrianople.
A Story of a
Turk,
at
Adrianople.
SIR
Robert Sutton,
now Embassador from Her Present Majesty to the Court of
Constantinople,
being just arriv'd in the abovenam'd City, where his Predecessor had some time expected him; it was my Duty to Congratulate his Entrance on that Dignity, which I did in company with many
British Gentlemen
at that time there: The House in which Sr.
Robert
lodg'd, was seated pleasantly upon a noble River, which runs along the City, and an open
Kiosk
or airy
Summer House
look'd out upon the Water.
WE were standing here extreamly pleas'd with the delightful Prospect, when from the Plain upon the other side, we saw a
Turk
of middle Age and decent Habit, lead a Boy about Fourteen directly to the Bank which slop'd upon the River, where he thought himself securely shelter'd from the People of a Village not far distant.
An incredible Proof of
Turkish
Insolence.
DESCENDED to a Place convenient as he thought for the execution of his Purpose, he began,
to our surprize, and inexpressible confusion,
to prepare himself and his
consenting Catamite,
for acting a Design so hateful to our sight, and such a stranger to our Customs, that we scarce believ'd our Eyes, when they beheld this Object: We hallow'd loudly to the lustful Wretch, who turn'd his Head with seeming wonder to perceive us there, but still persisted in his first Attempt, till snatching up a
Fowling-piece,
which lay by chance upon a Table in the Summer House, I cock'd it, and presented it against his Body, as if I would have shot him dead immediately;
at this
he started, and adjusting the disorder of his loosned Dress, retir'd precipitately, with a thousand Curses on the House and Company, for having baulk'd so impious an Intention.
A noted Proof of God's abhorrence of the Crime.
THERE is in
Barbary
upon the Coasts of
Fez,
and in the Neighbourhood of that Imperial City, a most strange and dreadful Proof of
God
's Resentment of this growing Guilt, in his surprizing Judgment on a certain
Moor,
inflicted in the very moment of the beastly Action:
Why unbeliev'd.
'Tis
unbeliev'd,
at least
suspected,
tho' attested in the Works of
several Authors
; but that common fate of Travellers Assertions shall not make me backward in maintaining Truths I know;
The folly of believing Travellers more apt to lie than other People.
nor will
judicious Readers
question the Authority of any Man's Relation, for his having travell'd into other Countries; a
poor,
a
weak, malicious
Proof of
Envy,
and the mean effect of
Judgments Want,
or
scarcity of Honour:
For Men,
by Nature favourers of Truth
will still continue so, what ever Place or Climate they may chance to visit: For as
Horace
says,
Coelum, non animum mutant, qui trans mare currunt.
Men, who o'er Seas to distant Countries rowl,
Oft change
their Climate,
but retain
their Soul.
The particulars of the Story.
UPON a spacious wild unshadow'd Common in the way from
Fez
to
Arbacan,
a Village not far distant, you perceive at near six Furlongs from the common Road, the Figure of a
Turk
committing Sodomy upon the Body of an
Ass,
and coming nearer,
led by wonder,
or
prevailing Curiosity,
discover it to be an
Image
form'd in very hard and solid Stone, the
Hoofs, Hide, Hair, Teeth,
and
Colour
of the
Ass,
as various and distinct as when alive; The
Turbant
of the poor unhappy
Man
seems half unty'd and hanging
negligently
o'er his Shoulders;
A very wonderful Act of Providence.
even the
Eyebrows, Nose, Mouth, Lips,
and
every Feature
of his
Face
exactly form'd to speak him
living,
nay, the very
Rings
upon his Fingers, and the
Nails
of either Hand remain distinguishably obvious to the common View, alike converted into Stony Substance, varying in its Colours answerable to the different Parts of that amazing
Metamorphosis
it represents.
IT stands so strong and deeply rooted in surrounding Earth, that neither
Man
nor
Ass
can possibly be separated, nor the whole
conjunctive Monument
of Sin remov'd from its Foundation; which, they say, has very often been
in vain attempted.
A traditional Account they give of the above-nam'd Accident.
TRADITION teaches
them,
and they teach
Travellers,
that in some old forgotten Age, of which their ancient Records make no mention, the miserable Wretch thus strangely represented, frequently committed
Sodomy
upon the open Common, with
Asses, Mares,
and other Beasts, which graz'd
promiscuously
upon the publick Pasture; but that
at last
the weighty Justice of
Almighty God
o'ertook his Insolence, and chang'd him into Stone, whilst busy'd in his Wickedness, that so he might remain to future
Ages,
an
immortal Monument
of
Heavenly Vengeance.
No sort of Robbery much known in
Turkey.
HOUSE-BREAKING,
Pocket-picking,
and the meaner Practices of
Petty-Larceny
are altogether strangers to the Natives of this Country; who so much abhorr the Person of a
Thief,
that where a Man accus'd of any Robbery, escapes the hand of
Publick Justice,
he will
notwithstanding,
fall a Victim to the unresisted fury of the raging
Populace
; for
all the Turks
are so entirely free from fear of losing Goods or Chattels, by the breaking up their Dwellings, that the richest Ware-houses, which their City boasts of, oft lie whole Nights
unbarr'd,
and open
in their lowest Windows,
nor are these frequent Opportunities of Robbing any ways improv'd to eithers disadvantage.
A very comical Bargain customarily made among them.
BUT if they
over-reach
each other in their private Dealings, they do not only think it
lawful,
but a
commendable discretion
; and therefore 'tis a common Custom with the
Merchants
of this Country, when they hire a
Broker, Book-keeper,
or
other Servant,
to agree, that he shall claim no
Wages
; but, to make amends for that unprofitable disadvantage, they give them
free
and
uncontroul'd Authority,
to Cheat them every way they can in managing their Business;
but with this Proviso,
that they never must exceed the privileg'd Advantage of
ten per Cent
; all under that, which they can fairly gain by blinding
their respective Masters
in the settling their Accounts is properly their own, and
by their Masters Will,
confirm'd to their Possession.
THE
British Merchants
will be apt to censure these Proceedings as
ridiculous,
and tending to incourage
Knavery
; but he will soften his Opinion, when he thinks upon the
Reasons,
which they give for the permission of this Custom.
The Reasons why the
Turks
allow this Custom.
THE
Servant
knowing he has nothing to depend on, but the Profits he must gain by an industrious Application to the
art of Cheating,
puts himself upon a
wily Method
of o'er-reaching others in the Goods he buys
by order of his Master
; whom he strives
again to over-reach,
by reckoning them to his Accounts at
full
and
current Prizes:
The
Master
on the other hand well knowing, that unless he watches carefully his
Servant
's Managements, he will deceive him
ten per Cent.
And probably go far beyond those
tolerated Limits,
becomes observant of his own Affairs, and keeps his Profits in his own Possession.
Murder common in the
Turks
Dominions.
MURDER is so dangerously common in this Country, that there passes scarce a Day, wherein some Man or other is not kill'd: The
Turks
however, rarely butcher one another, but the hated
Christians
fall in every Corner wretched
Victims,
to the blinded Zeal of such Mad
Pilgrims
as return from
Meccha,
or the lawless Insolence of
unrestrain'd Levant
's, or those who Man their Ships of War;
On what account committed by 2 sorts of People.
the first of these, transported by the Dictates of delusive Doctrine, aim at
Heaven,
by the Death of every
Christian
they may chance to meet, till they are kill'd themselves by way of Vengeance; and the last delight in
Murder,
by the bloody Consequence of a licentious Education; so that you can hardly pass the Streets of
Turkey,
but you must be witness of an hundred Proofs of their inhumane Practices.
A Story of a Pilgrim who endeavour'd to kill the Author.
ONE Day I went on board a
British
Vessel in the Port of
Constantinople,
and returning to the Shore with several
Europaean
Gentlemen, all dress'd according to the
Christian Fashion
; we receiv'd a thousand barbarous Affronts as we were landing from the Boat, but being long inur'd to
Turkish
Insolence, we took no notice of their scurrilous Expressions, but endeavour'd to have pass'd 'em by, with an uncommon exercise of
Patience
and Humility, till we perceiv'd a certain tatter'd Wretch,
in Habit of
a Pilgrim,
leaping up and down, with
elevated Eyes, contracted Forehead,
and a Visage full of
Passion
and
Deformity,
he held a
Dagger
in his hand, and skip'd about with such conceited violence, as made me take his
zealous Transports,
for an Air of Madness, so that thinking him some simple
Antick,
I laugh'd aloud at his extravagant Diversion.
The barbarous Action of a zealous Madman.
HE saw me laugh and made directly towards me, with his brandish'd Weapon, which a
Greek Interpreter,
endeavouring to turn aside, receiv'd
unhappily to the Hilt
within his Bosom; I began
at this,
to change my humour, and endeavour to prevent the proffer'd Salutation of the
Pilgrim's Dagger,
stepping back, I drew my Sword, and kept him at a distance still retiring from his aggravated Fury, which being now encreas'd to double height by now and then a thrust upon his Wrist, he grew quite desperate, and finding that he cou'd not come within my Sword, step'd back a Foot or two to gather force, and threw the Dagger swiftly at my Breast, with all the Strength that
Zeal
and
Anger
cou'd supply his Arm with.
An odd way of reaching Heaven.
PROVIDENCE perverted its
design'd
Effect, and led me to avoid the danger of its Point, by sinking suddenly with Knees upon the Ground, but dreading the Event of his continued Villany, I made a strong and lucky Thrust, which pierc'd his Bosome through and through, and brought him stagg'ring to the Ground, to reach the
Paradise
he hop'd to gain, by such a bloody Method, and inhumane Species of mistaken Merit.
NOT one pretended to detain us from Escaping; but on the contrary, discontinued all their Insolences, to gather
numerously
round the Body, and repeat a
Prayer
for his departing Soul, desiring
Mahomet
to see the
Piety
of his Intention, and reward his Death with the assur'd Possession of expected Glory.
A strange and horrid Principle! alike destructive to the
Turks themselves,
and Strangers in their Country, who seldom let the Death of an
assaulted Friend
go unreveng'd; by which means all the Trading Towns of
Turkey,
constantly afford successive Scenes of Murder and Destraction.
THE wonderful Discovery of a barbarous Murder hap'ning in the time of my continuance in this Country, claims a Place in my Remarks for two great Reasons;
first,
the oddness of the thing it self, distinguishes the Accident in a surprizing Manner; and
secondly,
the
never-sleeping
Justice of
Almighty God,
appears conspicuously in the strange Conviction of so black a Villany.
A Story of the wonderful discovery of a Murder.
THE
Sackah,
or the Man who carry'd Water for the Use of our
Embassador
at
Constantinople,
us'd to fill his Leathern Vessels at a very
deep
and ancient
Well
not far beyond the Buildings of the City, where
one Morning,
he with great surprize beheld the lifeless Body of a Man
without his Head,
lie weltring in a stream of Blood;
disrob'd,
and mangled in a thousand Places, to disguise him from the Knowledge of such
Travellers
as might occasionally pass that way;
A cursed Policy.
the
virile
marks of Nature were entirely cut away, that so the Proofs of
Circumcision,
or
omission of that Ceremony,
might not speak him
Turk,
or
Christian.
CONCERN'D to view so sad a Spectacle, the melancholy
Sackah
soon return'd, and telling every Man he saw the Accident he met with, endless Crouds of curious People flock'd to see the headless Trunk of this unknown, and miserable Object; for a
Week
or
Two
it made a mighty noise about the Town, and great Enquiries were
for some time made,
in order to discover the inhuman Author of this strange Barbarity.
An undeniable Instance of God's Care and Justice.
BUT full three Months were now expir'd, and no news came of any Man so much as guess'd to be concern'd therein, so by degrees it was forgot and silenc'd, till
the hand of Heaven
thought fit to point out the
undreading Villain,
and deliver him to Justice, which he thought himself too wise to be detected by.
Hor.
Ode 2.
Lib.
3.
Raro antecedentem scelestum
Deseruit pede poena claudo.
Rarely does
Vengeance
quit the Villains Chace,
Tho' She pursues his Crimes, with a
slow, halting
Pace.
THERE was a public Shooting-Match
with Bows and Arrows,
appointed to be held upon that very spot of Ground, wherein the
Well
was dug, near which the Body had before been found; unnumber'd Multitudes were gather'd to behold the Skill of the
Competitors,
and being heated by variety of Exercise, drew Water from the
Well,
and cool'd themselves by drinking it.
The Murderers Name, and Quality.
A Crowd of Men were gather'd round the Brink, and gave a sudden Shout as if surpriz'd at some
undream't of Novelty
; from every corner of the Field the People ran to know the matter, and
among the rest,
one
Cara Musul Alimet,
a Scrivener of the City, press'd among the foremost, to demand Particulars.
HE was no sooner come, but looking o'er the Shoulders of a Man or two, who stood before him, he perceiv'd
to his confusion and astonishment,
that one who had design'd to draw up Water in the
Bucket,
had attracted to the
Brim
of the surrounded
Well,
a dead Man's Head, all
pale
and
ghastly,
hanging
by the Hair
upon the Iron of the
Bucket.
A most prodigious and amazing Accident.
HE had reason to appear amaz'd, and had begun to tremble when the
Head
fell suddenly from off the Pail, and tumbled swiftly o'er a sloping Ground, till it arriv'd directly underneath his Feet, and there lay still; its horrid Face, and dreadfull Visage turn'd quite upwards, seeming to accuse the silent Guilt of his confounded Murderer.
The Name and Quality of the Person murder'd.
THE trembling Wretch, half dead with fear, confess'd he had been
Author
of the famous Murder that had been
of late,
so much discours'd of, telling those about him, that the Name of him he kill'd, was
Gurat Oglani,
a Merchant of
Aleppo,
newly come from thence to sell some
Jewels
he had bought a Pennyworth of the
Eastern Caravan
; that he had been directed to his House, by Letters from a Friend, to
lodge
and
board,
while he continued in the City, and that cursed Avarice had tempted his desires to kill him
on a certain Evening,
near that
Well,
into which he threw the Head, and had so cut and mangled all the Body, that he knew 'twou'd be impossible it shou'd be
known,
or guess'd at.
A very curious and particular Observation.
CONFESSION was enough to gain a Sentence for the Villain's Death, who being
broken on a Wheel
directly in the Place, the Murder was committed in, acknowledg'd it to be
as near as he cou'd guess,
that very Spot whereto the
Head
had roll'd, and stop'd beneath his Feet, when first he own'd the
monstrous Action.
The
Turks
more prone to Vice than Vertue.
THUS much shall serve to have spoken of the
Turkish Morals,
who are generally more inclin'd to
Vice
than
Vertue
; and tho' there are some Men
sincerely Pious
sound among them, yet are the greatest Part of those, who pass for Men of
zealous,
and
religious
Principles, but
seemingly
affected with the love of Piety, and rather honest by the fear of
Punishment
for acting wickedly, than by the pungent Dictates of a
tender Conscience
; directly contrary to the Vertuous Man, whom
Horace
thus describes in the 16th Epistle of his first Book.
Hor.
Epist. 16.
Lib.
1.
Tu nihil admittes in te, formidine poenae;
Oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore.
Never let
fear of Punishment
incline,
Thy
backward
Will to act a good Design;
He who is
truly worthy
hates to
Sin,
'Cause
Guilt
must wait
without,
where
Vertue
dwells within.
I lead my
Reader now
to view their
Trade,
which with their
various
and
peculiar
Arts of Management therein, will be the only Subject of the following Chapter.
CHAP. XI. Of their Trade,
Foreign
and
Domestick.
The
Turks
not ignorant of the Advantages of Trade.
THE numerous Advantages of
Foreign Trade,
and vast Improvements which those Nations make, to whom, the Benefits of an extended Commerce open great and glorious Blessings, are so entirely known and envied by the
Turkish Court,
that they reflect, with grief, upon those Maxims of their Policy, whose rigid Dictates have confin'd their
Traffick
to the meaner Profits of
Domestick Correspondence.
THEY would willingly abate the rigour of their Laws, to tast the Sweets of so desir'd a Liberty, but fear the breaking one Decree should shock another;
Why not encourag'd by their
Government.
for 'twould be full as dangerous to a
Turkish Sultan
to permit a Traffick
Foreign
and
Domestick,
and thereby, let his People grow more Rich and Wise, as should some heedless Sailor in tempestuous Weather strike a Window thro the Sides of a deep loaden Vessel to admit the Light, and thereby let in dangerous Waves to sink the Ship in a tumultuous Ocean; however, their esteem for
Trade,
and inclinations to encourage it, as far as may consist with the Security of the
Sultan
and his
Power,
may be discover'd by the Efforts us'd to draw as many
Merchants
to the
Harbours
of their
Empire,
as may settle a continued Commerce with the
Turks,
from the respective Nations which they all belong to.
The glorious Titles of the
Turks Metropolis.
CONSTANTINOPLE
is
to this end
nam'd,
The Harbour of the Ʋ niverse; Throne of Splendour,
and
The Seat of Riches:
But the common Title, which both
Turks
and
Christians
give that City, is,
The Ottoman Port,
and by that Name alone we generally express it.
SINCE then their want of Skill in
Maritime Affairs,
and the discountenance of the
Supreme
and
Arbitrary Power,
forbid their sending Ships abroad, let us proceed to see what Foreign Nations condescend to sell the
Manufactures
of their Country in a
Turkish
Market.
The
British
Factory at
Constantinople.
AND
first,
the Trade
we
manage with these People is so great and advantageous, that the Right Worshipful the
Turkey
Company employ a worthy and a numerous
Factory
at
Constantinople,
consisting commonly of five or six and twenty Merchants, with their Servants and Dependants, for whose Protection and Encouragement, the
Kings
and
Queens
of
England,
The Antiquity of the
Turkey
Company.
since the Reign of
Queen Elizabeth,
have still maintain'd some
wise Embassadour
at the
Turkish Court,
whose prudent Managements, have all along preserv'd a sure Establishment of profitable Commerce, and defended both their
Persons, Character,
and
Factory,
from those affrontive Insolences, and audacious Impositions, which the haughty Carriage of the
Sultan's Ministers,
have often offer'd with success to other Nations.
The Factory at
Aleppo.
ANOTHER
British Factory
is settled at
Aleppo,
under the direction of a
Consul
of our Nation, but that City standing far from any Port but
Scanderoon,
or
Alexandrietta,
a little Town which borders on
Cilicia,
and lies in 39 Degrees of
Northern Latitude, that
is the Harbour whence the Goods are carried to and from
Aleppo,
by the Merchant Ships of
our
and other Nations.
The other at
Smyrna.
SMYRNA
has its
Factory
and
Consul,
and in some measure Rivals both the other in the richness of its
Traffick
; many other Places subject to the
Turk
have their
peculiar Consuls,
but are inconsiderable in respect of the aforenam'd Cities, and dependant on the Plenipotentiary Authority of the
Embassadour
residing at the
Port.
The
Goods
of
British
Manufacture, commonly exported into
Turkey.
THE Goods exported to these Wealthy Factors, on the Ships belonging to the
Turkey
Company, are chiefly
Cloath, Lead, Tin, Pewter, Linen, Coral,
and the finest
Iron,
all which Merchandices are esteem'd at profitable Rates, and turn to good Account if rightly manag'd.
Sugar how carry'd thither.
BRITISH
Vessels often sail to
Lisbon,
where they take in Cargo's of
Brazil,
strong Chested Sugars, which they carry on to
Smyrna, Scanderoon,
or
Constantinople,
and dispose of to a Profit sometimes reaching
Cent per Cent,
and always near it.
Gunpowder a profitable Commodity.
GUN-POWDER yields considerable Gain, and ever finds a speedy vent, the
Turks
not skill'd in making it so well, and eagerly ingrossing any Quantity the
Christians
will afford them.
Fire-arms how valued.
FIREARMS of all sorts, will be sure to meet a ready Purchase, and the Musquets of a
strong, true British Bore,
are so esteem'd in every Part of
Turkey,
that they stick at nothing reasonable in the Price, provided they are suffer'd to approve their Value by a
Shot
or
two
's Experience.
Pitch, Tar, and Rozin.
PITCH, Tarr,
and
Rozin,
are exported thither in considerable Quantities; for tho' the Conquests of the
Turks,
and Nations
Tributary
to their Government, afford far more than they can possibly consume, they
notwithstanding,
value that which comes from
Britain,
and will barter for it with a double Weight of what they have among them, which is often brought again to several Parts of
England,
and there dispos'd of at full the Price the first had cost 'em.
Clocks and Watches much esteem'd of.
ALL sorts of
Clocks
and
Watches
made in
Britain,
are in
Turkey
vendible Commodities, with many other valuable Merchandices frequently exported into the
Grand Signior
's Country, and affording very
large
and
easy
Profit.
Goods imported by the
Turkey
Merchants.
THE
British
Merchants in return for these, import vast quantities of
Grograms, Camlets, Tissues, Velvets,
and
raw Silk
in great abundance; fine
Rhubarb, Opium, Aloes, Balm of Gilead, Cassia, Coffee,
and a thousand other
Drugs
of noted Efficacy in
Medicinal
Operations.
FINE
Cochineal, Gum-Mastick, Terra Sigillata, Indico
and
Cotton
; rich
Sherbets, Cavear,
and
Carpets
of a noble Size, and wrought beyond Comparison;
Embroider'd Muslins, Silks,
and
Handkerchiefs,
or curious Workmanship in
Gold
on
Leather,
with a number more of such like
Manufactures,
profitably pleasant to
industrious Traders,
are imported with an unknown Gain, from several Harbours of the
Sultan's Empire.
Shagreen, how made, and whence imported.
ANOTHER sort of Merchandice imported thence, is
Leather
of all sorts,
prepar'd
and
unprepar'd,
besides which the Country yields great quantities of
Seals-Skins, Goats-Skins,
and the
Wild Ass's-Hide,
whereof they make the best
Shagreen
in use amongst us.
PISTACHES, Almonds, Dates,
dried
Quinces, Marmalade,
and
Fruits
of all sorts, are by Foreign Merchants, bought at very
low
and
reasonable Prices,
whence, transported to the several Ports of
Christian
Countries, they are sold to great advantage.
The
Hollanders
Conveniences, in trading with the
Turks.
NEXT to the
British Factory,
the
Hollanders
maintain the greatest Trade with
Turkey,
dealing for the same Commodities; but sending
Ships much larger
and at half the Charges, they (
for the most part
) make the best Returns, and speediest Voyages.
The ungenerous Policy of
France
in respect to
Turkey.
THE
French
as well as those last nam'd, maintain
Embassadours
at
Constantinople
; but with this difference, that the
first
design thereby no other Interest than their
Factories Prosperity,
whereas the
last
have other ends directly contrary; and by preserving a perpetual Amity between their
Monarch
and the
Sultan,
endeavour
still
at every favourable Opportunity, to stirr that People up to
War
against such Nations as are Enemies to
France
; by such
unchristian
Practices imagining to gain some sure Advantage, by the great Diversion which the
Turk
must make,
invading Christendom.
The
Jews
the only Brokers for the
Turkish
Merchants.
I have
before
inform'd my Reader, that the
Jews
are
Brokers
to the
Turkish Merchants,
and indeed on them lies all the management of publick Traffick; People fram'd
by Nature
with a
Conscience
and
Capacity,
alike endued to cheat the
Ʋ niverse
; they grow
by these means
soon extreamly Great and Wealthy, but the
Turkish Ministers
have learn'd a Lesson, how to squeeze a
Grape
when
ripe
and
juicy,
to the best advantage.
Domestic Trade, how carry'd on.
THE utmost of their
Foreign Trade
is
now
express'd, I
next
proceed to speak of their
Domestic Traffick,
which is partly carried on by Coasting Vessels sailing cautiously at little distance from the Shore, and partly by the
Caravans
or
Land Conveniencies,
which are constantly in motion, and export the
Manufactures
of
one Part
of their Dominions to another.
THEIR Navigation,
as I have before declar'd,
is mean and far inferior to the
Christian
's Skill, and
therefore
they are backward in the hazarding Commodities by Sea, unless in Trade with
Islands,
or a Country they may reach with ease and safety;
How far the
Turks
employ their Ships in Trade.
thus they send their Ships to load with Goods, from
Cyprus, Candy, Rhodes,
and all the Islands of the
Archipelago,
and sometimes venture with considerable Fleets to
Alexandria, Scanderoon,
and certain other Ports of
Barbary
and
Egypt.
The Trade of
Turkey
with the
Euxine
or
Black-Sea.
THE
Euxine,
or
Black-Sea,
has a peculiar Fleet of Ships appropriated to the Trade the
Turks
maintain, with all its Harbours, whence they deal for little else but
Timber,
and supplies of
Slaves
to serve their Uses, which are sold them
annually
by the salvage
Tartars,
who in their destructive Ravages, and deep Incursions into
Poland, Russia, Muscovy,
and other
bordering Christian Territories,
spare nor
Sex,
nor
Age,
nor
Quality,
but carry all in equal Fetters, to the
shame
and
torment
of perpetual Slavery.
THE
Caravans
of
Turkey,
are mistaken generally by the vulgar notions entertain'd among our common People, who, misled by their affinity of Name with certain
Carriages
in use amongst us, think 'em large unweildy
Waggons,
which contain a multitude of Passengers;
What a
Turkish
Caravan is.
whereas the true and genuine meaning of the
Turkish Etymology
is
Haraa-vahan,
that is to say,
a mix'd Conveniency,
and such are all the
Caravans
of
Turkey,
consisting of unequal Numbers of assembled
Merchants, Travellers,
and
Pilgrims,
from
Fifty
to an
Hundred, Thousand,
and so on to sometimes
Fifty, Sixty, Seventy,
or an
Hundred Thousand
Souls.
The Order they observe in all their Caravans.
OVER these promiscuous Multitudes presides a certain
Officer,
distinguish'd by the Name of
Caravan-Bashaw,
or
Captain of the Caravan
; he constitutes inferiour Officers, punishes Disorders, regulates Abuses, and preserving fix'd
tranquility
and
peace
throughout their Journey, guards 'em with a number of selected Soldiers, from the scatter'd Parties of
Arabian Horsemen,
who are all profess'd
Free-booters,
and will oft attack a Number ten times larger than their own, and carry off the Merchandice and
Camels
in the
Rear
in spite of all the opposition can be made against them.
The method Travellers must take in
Turkey.
TRAVELLERS agree with this
commanding Officer,
for such a sum of ready Money, to be serv'd with
Carriage
and
Provision
(if they please) for any Journey; and by means of these continual motions of the
Caravans
from every corner, they are constantly supplied with all the richest Products of their distant Manufactures, and the finest
Jewels, Porcelane,
and the rest of the
Commodities,
abounding in the most remote Divisions of
East-India, Persia, China,
or the
Aromatic
Confines of
Arabia Felix.
The
Turks
exact great Custom for imported Goods.
'TWAS
long
before the
Turks
had learn'd the benefit of making Foreign Goods pay
Custom
of Admission, but when once they tasted the Advantage it might bring them, they proceeded to exact such vast, unreasonable Sums, that
Christian Traders
find themselves oblig'd to raise the former Prices of their Goods, the better to enable them to bear the Imposition.
Mechanic Skill, divided into 2 extreams.
AS for the Skill this People boast in their
Mechanick Professions,
it is differently
great
or
small,
according to the Inclinations of the Natives in
general,
or
particular Genius
of the
Tradesmen
of that Country.
Some Handicrafts
fall vastly short of ours in
Britain; others
far excel the fam'd
Artificers
of even the most refin'd and celebrated Parts of
Christendom.
The
Turks
excellent at Embroidery.
THUS in the Art of
Sowing,
or
Embroid'ring
on Leather, with a party colour'd Silk, or golden Wire, they have reach'd so great a pitch of Excellence, that not the nicest
Needles
of our most industrious
Housewives
can
by any means
compare with their Perfection.
Extreamly ignorant in Clock-Work and Ingraving.
AGAIN, in
Clock-Work,
or the curious Arts of
Cutting
or
Engraving
Metals, they are skill'd so poorly, that they understand not
good
from
worthless Work,
but will
alike
encourage every ignorant and idle
Vagabond,
and the accomplish'd Master of the nicest Operation.
The
Turkish
art of damasking their Scymetars.
THE
Turks
have reach'd peculiar Excellence in
Damasking
their Scymetars, whereby they do not only
strengthen,
but
adorn
the Metal with a fine and
streaky
Substance, yielding a delicious Scent, and odoriferous Perfume, surprizingly agreable to such as draw their Weapons
unawares
and suddenly.
THERE is a Notion commonly receiv'd, but
false
and
groundless,
as is well observ'd by
Monsieur Tavernier,
in the two hundred and thirtieth Page of his
Persian Travels; viz.
That all such
Scymetars
are brought from
Damas,
or
Damascus,
and can no where else be made, when it is certain and notorious truth, that they are done as well in many other Parts of the
Grand Signior's Empire.
An Error in the Assertion of Monsieur
Tavernier.
BUT as 'tis difficult
almost beyond surmounting,
to avoid asserting some
erroneous Probability,
while we zealously endeavour to reform the false Opinions of the Men we speak to, so the Author lately mention'd, to correct one Error hath produc'd another, for to undeceive such People as imagin'd
Steel
was only
damask'd
at
Damascus,
he informs his Reader that
Golconda
does alone afford a
Metal
capable of that Impression; when it is not only practis'd in the Cities of
Aleppo, Smyrna, Cairo, Constantinople,
and an hundred other Parts of
Turkey
; but in many Provinces of
Christian Countries
; I
my self
once bought a Sword at
Hambourgh
of a
Cutler,
who for ten Pence more than his demanded Price, both
damask'd
and
perfum'd
it to so high a pitch that it retain'd the Scent for some Years after.
The manner of damasking.
THIS is done by heating
to a moderate degree,
the Metal you wou'd damask; and instead of cooling it
as usual,
by the dipping it in Water, twisting round it a
rough Canvas Towel,
purposely permitted
for an hour or two,
to lie and soak in
Milk
and
Fountain Water,
wherein has been dissolv'd a certain quantity of
Vitriol, Sal-Armoniac,
and some other such like Compositions.
The
Turks
exquisite at making Bows and Arrows.
BOWS and
Arrows
they have learn'd the Art to make with wonderful dexterity, and can in
Steel
or
Wood,
not only shape them to an exquisite Perfection, but contrive them
even for Ʋ se,
far better and more lasting than the celebrated
Archers
of the
Indian Countries
can pretend to equal.
CARPENTERS, Joyners, Masons, Smiths,
and other
Artisans
of
Turkey,
tho' they are extreamly skill'd in their respective Trades,
according to the Customs of the Nations they inhabit,
cannot boast that
admirable Genius
which at present shines in the conspicuous Improvements of our
Europaean Arts,
but labour hardly under the oppressive weights of Ignorance and Tyranny.
Painting ill understood in
Turkey.
PAINTING, is in
Turkey
little understood, because they look on representing any
human Image,
or a Being blest with Life, as gross Idolatry, and a black abomination in the sight of
God
; on which account they have maliciously defac'd un-number'd Pieces of
Antiquity,
by beating off the
Heads,
or picking out the
Eyes
of every
painted Figure,
or accomplish'd
Sculpture,
which they had the
undeserv'd good Fortune
to become the Masters of, in their successive
Conquests.
Their manner of Painting.
HOWEVER, some there are, who Paint in
Miniature,
and represent in
fine
and
lasting Water Colours,
great variety of
Fruits
and
Flowers,
and sometimes
Landskips,
but 'tis rarely known, that any can attain a tolerable Skill in the expressive Doctrine of a true Proportion.
AND yet they seem ambitious in the search of new Improvements, and wou'd gladly reach the
White
they aim at, while push'd forward to a vigorous desire of an encrease of Knowledge, by the placing as sublime a Value on the Excellence of Art, as is express'd by the
Greek Hipparchus,
in the following Verses.
Life boasts no Blessing more refin'd than
Art,
Nor can
kind Heav'n
to Man a loftier Bliss impart;
For when
the unexpected Turns of Fate,
Has shook
to Ruin
our
securest
State;
When dubious War shall all things else destroy,
That
stands
unshock'd
and
safe,
a
sure
and
lasting
Joy.
The Cause of
Turkish
Ignorance in Arts.
BUT what shall Man presume to say, when the
Almighty Justice
of an over-ruling
Providence,
permits a poor and miserable People, to continue groaning under the
resistless
Torments of a servile Bondage, to the arbitrary Sway of an
unbounded Monarchy,
whose barbarous Policy permits no light of
Learning,
to disperse the
Gloom
of an
encourag'd Ignorance.
BEFORE I end the Chapter I am
now
upon, I will propose a
useful
and an
easy
way of Gain, to any, who had rather
hazard
and
fatigue
their Persons by embracing such a Prospect as will give them more than hopes of great Advantages, than sit
contentedly
in idle
Shame
and
Poverty at Home,
indulging the deficiencies of blinded Reason, by a long neglect of active Industry.
A usefull Project for a skillfull Brewer.
LONDON
contains an unknown number of ingenious
Brewers,
who for want of Stock to carry on a creditable Trade, are forc'd to live in mean Conditions, Servants to the
wealthier
and more
thriving
Brothers of the same Profession: Let such as these consider well their present Circumstances, and learn by what I now proceed to treat of, how they may improve them.
BRANDY,
Wine,
and all strong Liquors known in
Turkey,
are unlawfull to their Use, by the aforesaid Prohibition of their
Prophet Mahomet,
yet are these People so inclin'd to drinking, that
for want of other pleasing Beverages
they will often venture publick Scandal, and severest Punishments, to satisfie the Call of their insatiate Appetites, by drinking
Wine
in such prodigious quantities, that I forbear to mention what
my Eyes
have often witness'd, lest it shou'd
with difficulty
gain belief.
NOW this excessive love of
Wine,
proceeds from nothing else but their
complain'd-of
Ignorance, in Brewing other Liquors,
The
Turks
extreamly fond of
English
Beer
for I frequently observ'd that when an
English
Ship had brought some Bottles of our Country
Beer
or
Ale
to
Turkey,
and presented 'em to such as afterwards wou'd compliment the noted
Turks
of their Acquaintance with a share in drinking them, they constantly express'd a wonderfull Esteem, and eager Inclination to obtain a Quantity, assuring us
repeatedly,
that cou'd they make such
Drink
themselves, they never shou'd be tempted to commit a Sin, by breaking thro' their
Prophet's Order
to forbear the Use of
Wine
and
Brandy.
NOTHING can be possibly more easily accomplish'd than the universal Wish of
Turks
and
Graecians
upon this occasion, wou'd some
English Brewer
skill'd in his Profession, make a Voyage into
Turkey,
purposely to use his best endeavours for the introducing common use of
Beer
or
Ale,
instead of Water.
FOR first, I have sufficiently explain'd my Reasons, to believe the Natives of that Country wou'd
with pleasure
drink it, and the Price by no means cou'd retard the Practice,
Malt, incredibly Cheap in
Turkey.
for so cheap is
Malt
throughout their
Empire,
that they feed their
poorest Horses
with the best of Barley, and with so much ease might he expect to thrive herein, that tho' he sold the Liquor he shou'd brew, at not so great a Price as a
Quart a Penny,
he must soon grow rich, by more than
Cent. per Cent.
clear Profit, in his Dealings.
BUT so far beyond this lowest computation, may he reckon his Advantage, that I can
experimentally
assure him, he might sell it (and be never thought too dear) at full the Price it bears in
London
; nor wou'd the
Turks
think
more
too much, or if they shou'd, the very
Factory
it self, excluding all the other
Christians
there residing, wou'd enrich him speedily, provided he took care to
manage well
the brewing
all his Liquors.
Some Objections answer'd.
IF any timorous Man objects the Inconvenience of so long a Voyage, his being altogether unacquainted with the
Country
and its
Language,
and his want of
Friends
to help on his Design, those difficulties soon will vanish when I tell him, he may bargain for his Passage on an
English Ship,
and be supplied with all Provisions
even to Constantinople,
for considerably less than
twenty Pounds,
that he will land within a few Stones throws of the
Embassadours House,
to whom the
Captain
must of course present him, if design'd to settle
there,
that he is bound to grant him his
Protection
and
Encouragement,
that he may have a
Druggerman,
or an
Interpreter
to wait upon him for a little Charge, and still conversing with his
Countrymen,
maintain a
Trade
almost as free and
uncontroul'd
as if in
England.
The probability of the Projects meeting with success.
I beg the
Reader
's pardon
now,
and shou'd
before
have beg'd his Patience, for this long digression, but have said thus much to tempt the Inclinations of some more sprightly Men than ordinary, to attempt a Project that can
no ways
hurt them, but can boast of more than single probability to advance their
Fortunes.
If it does the Good for which it is intended, I am fully satisfied, if none believe it worth their while to put in Practice, I shall still remain
alike contented.
Why the
Turks
are more deficient in the point of Trade than we.
I have said as much of both their
Foreign
and
Domestick Trade,
as either Subject will afford, and if you think it not proportionable to that
mighty Bulk,
and
far-extended
Power of their arbitrary Government, consider them as People altogether strangers to the peaceful Practices of
correspondent Justice,
a Nation built on
Ruin
and the
Sword,
and
in its rude Original
entirely void of
Honesty
and
Commerce.
If then this great unweildy Body has of late descended to the thoughts of
Traffick,
you must look upon it only as a
Branch
of their
prodigious Oak,
and consequently flourishing in far less
bright
and
emulative Splendour,
than our
Christian Arts of Trade and Navigation,
which are the strong and stately
Trunks
of our more thriving Trees of Profit, by whose celebrated Sap, and vegetative Juice, those spreading Limbs are still supplied, and richly nourish'd with a never-failing and consummate Plenty.
CHAP. XII. Of the
Turkish
Habits.
GOVERNMENTS so
absolute
and
tyrannical
as that of
Turkey,
give us little reason, by the Notions we conceive of their unpolish'd Constitution, to expect Examples of a
common Decency,
much less
exact Oeconomy,
from the untaught and rustical Deportment of their rough Inhabitants.
An exemplary Prudence of the
Turks
in point of dress.
YET to my great surprize, I found the
Turks
in many things,
I speak it with concern,
more prudent, or
at least
more orderly, than any part of
Christendom, particularly so
in that accomplish'd Regularity observ'd among them in respect to
Dress
; you may
with ease
distinguish there, the
Mistress
from her
Waiting Maid,
and know the
Quality
of any Man you meet by the peculiar Ornaments of his
restrain'd Appearance; there,
no
Footmen
huff along ridiculously vain, as if they wore their Master's
Honour
in the lining of his
Livery:
Those look great
among the Turks,
who really are so, and a modest Carriage, and sincere Humility adorn the
Persons
of the common People.
Men oblig'd to dress according to their Quality.
DRESSES are as Marks, whereby to know the Men you meet, tho' Strangers to your View, and pay the nice
Punctilio
's
of Respect,
which are requir'd
from every Quality
to those
above
and those
below
them; but the
Head,
as commonly esteem'd the noblest Part, is always chose to bear the Mark of an injoin'd Distinction, nor is it possible to speak
in any reasonable Compass,
of the strange Varieties among their Fashions, every
Rank
of Men, or different
Order,
being
more
or
less
distinguish'd from the other, by some
answerable
Turn of
Habit
and
Appearance
; I proceed to treat
distinctly
of as many as may prove diverting to the
Reader,
or deserving of his Notice.
The
Turks
observe the Custom of the Ancients in respect of Habit.
THE ancient Custom of the
Eastern
Nations, who delighted much in
long
and
open Habits,
is
to this Day
prevalent among the
Turks
; nor do they ever change the Fashion of their Dress, esteeming little such as are misled to frequent Alterations of the Cloaths they wear, and hating with a
fix'd
and
rancour'd Enmity,
the modish Shape of
Christian
Habits, asserting that by openly exposing
Legs
and
Thighs,
and wearing
Coats
so
short
and
close,
we do not only act
immodestly,
but by the Follies of a
fond, fantastic,
and
affected Levity,
(for which they willfully mistake our
Conge's
and genteel Deportment) entirely rob our selves of that
grave Majesty,
which shou'd distinguish
Man
from
other Creatures.
The
Mahometan
Lock.
THEY shave their Heads as soon as
Circumcis'd,
and still continue to renew that Practice through their riper Years, permitting only one small Lock to grow upon their Crowns to an uncommon length, which being daily
comb'd
and
scented
by the
Barber's Art,
is twisted with a neat and wonderfull dexterity, then fast'ned in a
Knot
and suffer'd to remain
unloos'd
beneath their Turbants.
The common Notion of it false and groundless.
RIDICULOUS and groundless is the common Notion,
that the
Turks
expect to be receiv'd by
Mahomet
from
Earth
to
Paradise,
their Prophet holding them by the above-nam'd Lock of Hair (thence call'd
Mahometan.)
An exemplary Piety of certain poor and miserable Christians.
THEY rather wear it as a
voluntary Mark
of their Profession of his Faith, as many
Christians,
now inhabiting the miserable Countries of
Bulgaria, Georgia, Servia,
and
Sclavonia,
invent an Art, to stain
by application of a certain Juice,
the tender Foreheads of their New-born Children with the Forms of
Crosses,
that when afterward,
grown up,
and subject to the arrogance of
Turkish Neighbours,
they must keep their Faith
in spite of Persecution,
or expose their Persons to the scorn of
Christians,
and be shun'd forever in their base
Apostacy.
The shape and substance of the
Turkish
Shirts.
THEIR Shirts are form'd alike, for Men and Women, open in the Sleeves, which some Men wear near half Yard broad; they make 'em of a sort of
Callico, Crape,
or
Muslin,
without either
Neck
or
Wrist-band
; never suff'ring any Linen to appear when they are dress'd; a pair of Drawers tie upon the Shirt, of the same Stuff, and reaching loosely to their very Ancles;
Shacksheers or Drawers.
over these they draw their
Britches,
call'd
Shacksheers in the Turkish Language,
made of
Scarlet,
or a
Violet colour'd Cloath
; and reaching like the former to the
Instep,
where, being gather'd at the bottom commonly three quarters round, they strongly sow 'em to a sort of Leathern
House-shooes,
soft and yellow, and contriv'd exactly to the shape of every Foot; these they call
M
sts,
which serve
within Doors
while they
sit
or
walk
on their embroidred Carpet;
Papooches, or their walking Slippers.
for they leave at entrance into any House their walking Slippers or
Papooches,
made with smooth and yellow
upper Leathers,
and the
Sole
extreamly thin, but so well beaten that it will resist the
Dirt
or
Water
in their Streets to admiration, they are made without the smallest Heel, instead of which they use a piece of
Iron
fram'd exactly like a
Horse-shooe
; they are shap'd like Womens Slippers with a sharp and picked
Toe,
and come not half way up the Instep, so that by the smoothness of the
outside
of the
inner,
and the
inside
of the
outer Shooes,
I often kick'd 'em off as I was walking in the Streets, nor can a Stranger keep 'em on his Feet till
use
has made 'em easy to his motion.
The Inconveniencies of wearing 'em.
ANOTHER Inconvenience which attends the wearing these above-nam'd Slippers, is the custom they have got of leaving 'em without,
like Womens Clogs,
at every Door they chance to enter, so that
often,
when I have been present at their stately
Visits, Feasts,
or
Publick Ceremonies,
coming out amidst a Crowd of People, I have sometimes found my Slippers chang'd, and others,
soil'd,
and not worth
wearing,
left me in their room, nay very often have been forc'd to walk thro' all the Dirt, with nothing on my Feet but
Mests,
which letting in the wet, were worse than if I had gone home barefooted;
Coaches
are not found in
Turkish Cities,
as esteem'd an idle Proof of an
Effeminate Indulgence.
The shape of
Turkish
Boots.
THEY ride on Horse-back with a great delight, and wear a sort of
Boots
unable long to keep out Water, they are shap'd at bottom like the
Shooe
's above describ'd, and made,
but weakly,
of the same
smooth Leather,
reaching to their Knees, and large enough to hold
with ease,
the numerous
Gathers
of their spacious Britches.
Their Wast-coats.
A Doublet made of thin strip'd
Silk,
or
Stuff,
convenient for a Summer wear, is form'd without the shortest Sleeves; and reaching to the
Hipp,
is folded,
one side o'er another,
and fastned on the left with
Loop
and
Button.
Another sort of Wast-coat.
OVER this they wear a
Dolamann,
or long loose Robe of
Callico
or
Muslin
in the heat of Summer, in the Winter made of
Silks
or
Stuffs,
embroider'd richly, or not at all, according to the Quality of those, who wear 'em. These reach, like Ladies
Night-gowns
to the Ground, of spacious breadth at bottom; the Sleeves are close and button at the
Wrist,
where they turn back with
Facings
of the same; they button also at the
Neck,
whence one side sloping o'er the other, they are fastned in the same
place
and
manner
with the under
Wastcoat
just now treated of.
The richness of their Girdles.
THEY bind these
Dolamanns
with Silk or Muslin Girdles, of a length sufficient to allow three rounds about the Body; after which, they tie an artificial double Knot before, and twist each over-plus within the Girdle to the
right
and
left
; the ends of these long Scarfs embroider'd purposely, or richly flower'd with Gold and Silver, finely intermix'd with
Persian Silks
of various Colours.
A sort of Winter Gown to wear in Houses.
AT home
in Summer
they have
nothing on besides,
still turning up the Corners of their
Dolamann
within their Girdles; but
in Winter,
most Men in their Houses, wear a sort of loose, and open
Gown,
which reaches to their Knees; some lin'd with
Silk,
and some with
Furrs,
some having open Sleeves, and some not any; all according to the different Inclinations of the Men who wear 'em.
A costly sort of Lining.
WHEN they go abroad, they let down constantly the Corners of their
Dolomann,
and put on
Blue,
or
Scarlet,
sometimes
Green,
long Robes which train upon the Ground, lin'd thro' with
Ermin, Squirrels-Furr,
good
Fox-Skins, Rats,
or
Sables,
some of which are very costly, and can scarce be bought for
fifteen hundred Dollars.
A noble sort of Robe, not much unlike the
Roman
Mantle.
SOME delight in wearing light and unlin'd Silken Robes, not much unlike the Dress wherein we often see the ancient
Hero
's painted loosely o'er their Armour, they are fastned with a
Silver, Gold,
or
Diamond Clasp
above the Breast, thence falling back with admirable Grace, and spreading with an hundred airy Folds,
wide, broad,
and
stately,
from their Manly Shoulders.
The fineness of their Daggers.
GLOVES they wear not, nor appear with
Scymetars
but when they Travel; all the Arms they bear about 'em, is the short
Hanjarr
or
Dagger,
which I mention'd in the Chapter of their Military Government, which being thrust within their
Sash,
on the left side thereof, does often shine with precious Stones, and other rich and splendid Marks of the
Authority
and
Grandeur
of the Man who wears it.
The Quality of
Turks,
distinguish'd by their
Turbants.
THEIR Heads, as I have said before, distinguishing their Quality, are differently dress'd by different degrees of People; yet they all affect the wearing
Turbants,
some of
Muslin,
some of
Silk,
and some of
Callico
; the various
Colours, Forms,
and
Magnitudes
whereof, contain the Marks of
Splendour
or
Subjection.
The
Muftee
wears one bigger than a
Bushel,
yet not heavy, nor any ways incommodious. The
Sultan
wears his somewhat less, and differently twisted; the
Grand-Vizier, Lord-Treasurer,
and other Officers, whether
Civil,
or
Military,
are each oblig'd to wear a
Turbant
answerable to their Quality.
Their several Colours.
THE fashionable Colour of these
Turbants
is a spotless
White
; tho' they are sometimes worn of
Black, Red, Yellow,
or of any other unmix'd Colour, (for a strip'd, or speckled
Turbant
is a Mark whereby they know a
Christian,
who must never wear one of a pure and single Colour.) Green is the peculiar Property of those
Emir's,
or Kindred of their Prophet, which I
long
since
spoke of, a
Turk
is Punish'd if he dares presume to Wear it on his Head unless Intit'led to it: But a
Christian
so offending, is without the smallest hopes of Pardon, instantly Condemn'd to a Renunciation of his Faith, or must assert it by the Trial of a Painfull
Martyrdom.
The Dress of common People.
THE Meaner sort of People go
Bare-Leg'd,
with Girdles twisted round their Middles, and a Dirty Towel wrapt about their Heads, or sometimes a small Scarlet
Skull-cap,
covering their Crown, and reaching to the tops of both their Ears, which is the only cover that the Servants Wear throughout all
Turkey,
who tho' somewhat better dress'd than are the other common People, yet in this Restriction are not much above them,
that is,
they must not Wear those loose Furr Gowns denoting Power, but be contented with a tight close-body'd Dress, which speaks their Servitude.
The Dress of
Turkish
Ladies at home.
THEIR Womens Dress
at Home
is just the same, in Britches, Slippers, Shirts and Wastcoats, with the Mens before describ'd, upon their Heads they Wear a sort of Past-board like a four-square Trencher, cover'd over with Embroid'red
Muslin
; to certain Silver points on whose extreamest Edges, their Perfum'd and Scented Hair is fastn'd, so that, twisted into several Locks, and Hanging with a sort of easy Freedom round their Heads, adorn'd with
Ribbands, Diamonds
and an hundred different sorts of Glitt'ring Stones, it gives a gracefull Look, and amiable Air to the appearance of the
Turkish Ladies.
TIS but very rarely that they go abroad, and then to no Place but the publick
Bagnio
's, or the
Funeral,
or
Marriage,
of some
near Relation
; but when they do they cover their above-nam'd Head-Dress with a
Linen Muffler,
which Meeting with another Piece of Black and Shining Silk that hides the upper Part of their Faces, nothing but their Eyes and Nose can possibly be seen.
THEY hide their Faces in Obedience to the Precepts of their Prophets Law, which tells 'em tis unlawfull to discover any of those Beauties God has given them, but to their
Husband,
or their
Father
;
Their Dress abroad.
they Wear abroad, a Gown of
Blue
or
Scarlet-Cloath,
which Buttons fast before, and Hangs with narrow Sleeves below their Fingers; as they Walk, they hold the Bottoms of their Gown in their
Left-Hand
as low as they can possibly Reach, and Swing their
Right
each step they take with a Surprising
Haughtiness
or rather
Gravity.
They Die their Nails with certain Drugs which yield a Colour like a
Reddish Yellow,
and delight Extreamly in the Richness of their Habits, tho' they very seldom gain an Opportunity of showing them.
THE
Female Slaves
and Servants of the
Turks
are Veil'd or Muffl'd while about their Business, but meanly Dress'd according to the Servitude of their Condition.
BUT what I have already spoken of the
Turkish Habits
shall the rather serve, in that the Reader may Discover with his Eye the several Dresses Represented in the
Cutt
hereto Annex'd, more fully and particularly, than can be comprehended in a Verbal and more dark Description.
The
Turks
in all their Customs opposite to us.
IN every Action of their Lives, the
Turks
oppose the
Europaean Customs; they
Wear long Cloaths,
we
Wear short ones;
we in Salutation of a Friend,
esteem it Rudeness not to Bow with Head uncover'd,
they
Receive that point of Breeding as the greatest and most base Affront that can be put upon them;
we
esteem a bending of the Body
gracefull
and
obliging,
they interpret it a mean acknowledgement of our
Inferiority
to him we speak to;
they
love
Sadness
and a grave Deportment,
we
love
Gayety
and briskness of Behaviour. Every thing in short is carryed on directly opposite to both our
Humours
and our
Customs
; whether one or t'other's Airs of Breeding are the most consistent with that Native Majesty which Man was form'd with, must be judg'd by
several Persons, several Ways,
and whether
they
or
we
are
right
or
wrong,
we both believe our own the worthiest Fashion. For as the fam'd
Athenian Solon
has it in his
Elegies.
The
Cowards
self is brave in his own Eyes,
And the most
homely
Wretch will his own
Features
prize.
CHAP. XIII. Of their Wives, Concubines, Ways of Courtship, and Forms of Marriage.
THE inimitable
Virgil
was undoubtedly inspir'd with
Love
and
Truth,
when he asserted this so oft experienc'd Maxim,
Omnia vincit Amor, & nos cedamus Amori.
Love conquers
all things,
to his Pow'r we yield,
And
proudly
lose the Day, when
Beauty
takes the Field.
The Power of Love.
THE roughest
Hero
's of the ancient World, amidst the dusty Scenes of
War
and
Ruin,
red with Blood of undistinguish'd Slaughter, and encompass'd round with
Care
and
Danger,
often slacken'd Nature's Springs, and sinking calmly from the love of Glory, let their
Laurels
wither on their Heads, and lost the Sense of
Honour
and
Renown,
entirely stupified in all their Faculties, and slumbring meanly in the
downy Scenes
of this
Lethargic Passion.
How much that Passion now prevails among the
Turks.
EVEN the adamantine Breasts of
Icy Scythia,
have admitted
Love
in all its fervour, and forgot entirely native roughness, by the softening Charms of Female Conversation; nay, to such excess does that bewitching Passion now prevail among the
Turks,
that as if they were not the
Posterity
of such
uneffeminate,
and
hardy Ancestors,
they frequently neglect the great Affairs of
State
and
Interest,
to dally
wantonly
with
favourite Women,
and enjoy the lov'd and rapid Transports which attend on their
Caresses.
HEREIN
however
they have got the start of
Europaean Lovers,
that whereas we languish
long,
and
unsuccessfully,
for some lov'd Ladies Favours, they enjoy the utmost of their Wishes, in a speedy
Consummation
of their forwardest Desires.
The Power of
Turkish
Husbands.
AGAIN, (tho' I'll not give my
Country Women
cause of Anger by affirming
that
as preferable an Advantage as the former) they boast a sort of unconfin'd Authority, which makes their
Wives
submissively Obedient; but since it ne'er allows that mutual Confidence, that
generous, free,
and
open familiarity,
so requisite to make a Marriage truly happy, I cannot praise their Policy in robbing Wives of that well tolerated Liberty, which serves to soften Matrimonial Bondage, and proves a sure and winning Mark of
Conjugal Good-nature.
An ancient Saying.
IT was the Saying of a very ancient
Graecian
Author,
.
Nature did not frame the Woman to command
: And
Philemon
a Poet, who flourish'd in the Reign of
Alexander the Great,
has left his Notions of the Matter in the following Lines,
A Wife, my Friend, who takes the wisest way,
Shou'd not
command
her Husband, but obey;
For where a Woman o'er her Consort Reigns,
The weight, that
gaul'd before,
now wounds with killing Pains.
AND so entirely do the
Turks
adhere to this Poetic Doctrine, that for fear their Wives shou'd
by degrees
encroach on their Prerogative, they rob them barbarously of those indifferent Liberties, without whose tast 'tis morally impossible for Man or Woman to be truly happy.
Submission and affection of the
Turkish
Wives.
THE good Effects of
Turkish Discipline
surpriz'd me much, when I perciev'd that notwithstanding their severe Behaviour towards their Wives, the
patient Turtles
were so far from less'ning their Affection
on Confinement,
that they rather doubled their respect, and
Spaniel-like
fawn'd humbly on their Injurers, with the assurance
Horace
had from
Lydia,
Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens.
With thee dear Soul, I cou'd for ever live,
My Life,
to die with thee,
I'd
freely
give.
The mistaken Notions of some of our
British
Ladies.
IT is a strange amazing
Labyrinth
of Female Wonders, to behold the contradictory Inclinations of that
unintelligible Sex
; while
those in Turkey
grow good-natur'd by a brutish Usage,
ours in Britain
sometimes think it
out of Fashion
to oblige an
easy Husband,
and instead of mending on the Kindness they receive, insult the more, and make their
Spouses
gentle Condescention, their undoubted Privilege of Nature;
these
speak in rougher Notes than those above, and plead like
Juvenal
's unreasonable Woman,
Sic volo, sic jubeo, stat pro ratione voluntas.
It shall be so, I will, 'tis my Command,
And
Resolution
shall for
Reason
stand.
ENCREASE
and Multiply,
is held a very good and necessary Maxim by the
Turkish Nation,
and indeed they lose no time nor opportunity of putting it in execution to the best advantage;
Wives, Slaves,
and
Concubines,
promiscuously granted them without controul, and every
Tenet
of their
Faith,
and
Practice
of their
Lives,
combining jointly to indulge their Wishes, in the gross Enjoyment of a sensual Appetite.
POLYGAMY was by
Mahomet
allow'd them, freely and unbounded, but the Dictates of their Policy oblig'd 'em to restrain that tolerated Liberty, and fix a certain
Limit
to that dangerous Privilege for the Reasons following.
The Reasons why the
Turks
restrain Polygamy.
WERE Men permitted to indulge their Senses in the various Pleasures of promiscuous Embraces, they wou'd Marry inconsiderately such a number of
Wives,
that on their Death, the
major part
of their Estates devolving to the
Sultan,
little wou'd be left to share amongst them, and the
helpless Ladies
consequently forc'd to
Want
and
Beggary.
ANOTHER Reason (and indeed the wisest of the two) is this, The numerous
Doubts, Fears, Envies, Jealousies,
and
Quarrels,
which alternately possess a Womans Mind, where
Rivals
are respected, wou'd by tolerating many Wives, become so
frequent, formidable,
and
ungovern'd,
that those
Fairy Pleasures,
which invite to
Matrimony,
vanishing away, wou'd leave behind 'em little else but
Noise
and
Discord, Troubles
and
Distraction.
How many Wives the
Turks
may Marry.
HOWEVER, they are yet permitted by the common Custom, to espouse four
lawful Wives
; and lest their wand'ring Inclinations shou'd induce 'em to believe they were denied a Pleasure
Heaven
design'd 'em, they are freely suffer'd to enjoy the Persons of as many
Concubines,
or
purchas'd Slaves,
as they may think agreable, nor are the Children so begot esteem'd in
Turkey
as in
Christian Countries,
spurious and illegitimate, but equally intit'led to their
Father
's Love, and Honour of his Quality, with others born in Wedlock.
WITH this Proviso, notwithstanding, are they
Freemen
and
Legitimate,
they must be manumitted in a publick Form by
Will
and
Testament,
before some
Judge
of Civil Administration,
Seal'd, Sign'd,
and
Given in,
by their own
Father
's Hand, with solemn Ceremony.
A very strange and barbarous Custom.
This neglected, leaves 'em Servants, to their Brother's
Will,
who may at pleasure use them as their Bondsmen.
O
happy Turks!
cries some disconsolate, and wretched
British
Husband, when he hears me tell him,
Turkish Matrimony
is not quite so true a
Gordian Knot,
but that 'tis frequently untied without much difficulty; yet perhaps, were some
Mahometan
his Spouses
Consort,
he wou'd find a Blessing which her present Owner either does not
know,
or
care
to value.
The
Turkish
Marriages not perform'd by Priests.
BUT e're we speak of their
Divorces,
'twill be proper to describe their Matrimonial Ceremonies, and in order thereunto, I must acquaint my Reader, that the Act of Marriage is perform'd by the appearance of the
Husband,
with the
Father, Ʋ ncle, Brother,
or some near
Relation
of the
Brides,
before a
Judge
; where in a publick manner, he avows his Inclinations and Affections to the Person of the Lady; tho' perhaps he never saw one Feature of her Face, but that's no matter,
Love
you know is painted
blind,
and
thence
blind Bargains are become a Fashion.
PROCEEDED this large Step on his intended Journey, he is
next
demanded by the
Judge
what offers he can make deserving her Acceptance: Settlements are made according to his Circumstances, or the fetter'd Privileges of
Turkish Subjects
; and the
Bridegroom
signing
there
an Instrument, whereby he owns her for his lawfull Wife, the
Match
is ent'red in a publick
Register,
and ever after they are
conjugally coupled.
How the Man employs the Night before.
NOW then let's venture to observe the Consequences of this previous Ceremony, after which the Man
(transported to be sure, and full of Raptures
) takes his own and half-gain'd Spouses
Male Relations
to his own Appartment, where he entertains them till within an Hour of Mid-night, with the fashionable Musick
Vocal
and
Instrumental, Coffee
and
Sherbet
; and if of brisk, and airy Constitutions, sometimes treats 'em with a glass of Wine, but very sparingly, for fear of Reprehension.
How 'tis employ'd by the Women.
BUT as for the poor Female Victim, who is trembling all this while, with dreadfull apprehensions of some near Surprize, she sits
unveil'd
on an embroid'red Cushion in the midst of a large Room, round which are plac'd her
She-Acquaintance, Friends,
and
Kinsfolks,
all invited by her Mother,
if she has one,
to inform her what she is about to do, and read alternately, repeated Lectures of the Duty of a
Wife,
and Power of her
Husband,
while the poor
half-frighted
Creature, stares about her with a blushing Ignorance,
amaz'd
and quite
confounded
with their
Monitory Lessons.
THUS they pass away the time till almost Midnight, when they take the
Bride
with one consent, and lead her to the
Bagnio,
if there is one in the House,
if not
a common
Bathing Tub
will serve the turn.
Here
every
Gossip
plucks a Feather, till having quite undress'd the
helpless Virgin,
they begin to
wash
and
rub
her soundly, smoothing o'er her Body, with a certain
scented
and
balsamick Oyntment,
the better to prepare her for approaching Pleasures; after this they put her on a Shift, and wrapping Night-Gown, thence conducting her to take her Rest till early the next Morning.
The Morning Ceremony.
AT the dawning of the Day they come again, to wake the Bride, who rising from the last Possession of her
Virgin Pillow,
is by them attended with officious Ceremony, dress'd in all her richest Robes, and soon made ready for the amorous Call of her expected Husband.
HE is not tedious
we'll suppose,
in dressing, but with all the Friends he entertain'd the Night before, sets forward from his House well mounted, and attended by a gallant Troop of Gentlemen on Horseback, Serenaded as they go, by several sorts of Musick, sounding with them thro' the Streets. They come at last where lives
the Bride,
whose Father summon'd by the noisy Instruments, commands his Door to be set wide open, and demands within it,
what they want,
and
why they visit him?
The manner of the Bridegroom's coming to demand his Wife.
THE Bridegroom answers, sitting on his Horse,
he comes to claim the lovely Jewel
God
has given him,
and names her with a loud and haughty Voice; and being further ask'd,
how well he can defend her,
he lays his Hand directly on his Scymetar, and draws it half way from the Scabbard, every Horseman in the Company proceeding to the same Expression of his Friendship to the Married Couple; hereupon the Father stepping from his Door, advances slowly some few Paces to salute the
Bridegroom,
who with all his Followers, dismounting nimbly, lays his Hand devoutly on his Breast, and utters this Expression,
True Happiness this Moment blesses me
; to which the
Father
answers heartily,
O may that Happiness be great, and lasting.
How the Bridegroom is receiv'd at his Father-in-laws House.
THE Bridegroom enters full of Joy, and with his Father, flies up Stairs as nimbly as he can; his Friends mean while, conducted in and entertain'd
below,
according to the
Turkish Fashion
; at the entrance of the Womens Chamber he is met by the expecting
Bride,
her Mother, and Relations,
she unvail'd,
and aiming all her Beauties to surprize his Fancy; ent'ring, he extends his Arms with wonder, and astonishment, and (
doubtless overwhelm'd with Rays of brightness,
) finds himself unable to sustain the Shock, and therefore turns him round with great Humility, in order to escape the danger of his Spouses Lightning.
How the Bride receives him.
BUT the tender natur'd Nymph, unwilling to confound at first Appearance, calls him back with gentle Phrases, and the mild Expression of
Gehl Giacquir bennum,
that is to say,
Return, my good Angel
; this encouragement removes all fear, and tempts him forward till his new-made
Consort
takes him by the Hand, and leads him to a Table, little higher than the Ground; she seats him cross-leg'd there upon a fine embroid'red Cushion, and sits down herself in the same Posture,
opposite
to him; all the Company
then
place themselves on Cushions, six Foot distant from the
ogling
Spouses, till they form a fine and spacious Circle round the Table.
His Entertainment.
SMILES and Glances, and the common Airs of meeting Lovers, pass the Time till there is brought upon the Board betwixt them, two small Dishes; one containing a fat
roasted Dove,
the other fill'd with certain
Cakes
not much unlike our Barly Sugar.
Emblematical Proceedings of the married People.
THE Dove is cut in four
distinct
Pieces, whereof the
Head
and
Neck
make
one,
the
Rump
the second, and the
Body
slit in two, composes both the other. The
Bridegroom first
presents his Lady with the
Rump,
and this Expression,
Tho' lowest, yet acceptable.
The
Bride
returns her Consorts Compliment, by giving him the
Head
with this submissive
Motto, Be thou my Head, and I thy Footstool.
THEN put they both their Hands
together
on the Table, taking
each
one half of the divided
Pidgeon; which
denotes, that they shou'd live
like harmless Turtles,
and that tho' the
Head
and
Tail
make some distinction, yet they ought to love and prize each other, as two diff'rent Parts of one sole Body.
THIS done, the
Bride
extends her Hand, and reaching from the other Plate a piece of the abovenam'd
Barley-Sugar,
directs her Fingers to her
Husband
's Mouth, and makes him swallow it;
he
does the same to her again, by this expression of their silent Will, declaring
mutually
that it shall be always
eithers
chief endeavour to oblige the other, by a constant practice of the sweetest Carriage, and most tender Actions which can prove
Affection.
A drinking Emblem.
THEY
next
proceed to call for Drink, which presently is brought 'em in a
China-Cup,
containing
fine perfum'd Sherbet
of costly Preparation.
First,
the
Husband
sips, and
then
the
Wife
; which having done, they jointly lay their Hands upon the Cup, and spill the Liquor on the Table, which is thereupon remov'd immediately. This
Emblem
signifies that they must always join with sympathetical
Concern,
or
Joy,
and
gain
or
lose
the Pleasures of this Life with equal satisfaction.
AFTER all these Ceremonies are perform'd, the
Bridegroom
takes his leave, and goes away to his own House, in order to prepare for the Nocturnal Entertainment of his charming
Wife,
who
in the close of Evening,
is attended to his Place of Habitation in the following manner.
In what manner the Bride is carried to her Husbands House.
THE
Bridegrooms
Brother, or the nearest of his Kindred, claims the Lady in her Husbands Name, who is deliver'd into his Possession Veil'd all over, mounted
like an Amazonian Heroine,
astride on Horseback, and Attended by a Stately number of her Female Friends, who Ride about her and Support a sort of
Indian Canopy,
which falling like a Tent below her Horses Breast, becomes a perfect
Cover,
and prevents her being seen by any of the People who will always Crowd the Streets on those occasions; round this shining Troop of Ladies Ride a greater number of the Male Acquaintance of both Parties, who serve alike to grace the
Cavalcade,
and Guard the Women from the Insolent Abuses of the common People.
How she is receiv'd there.
ARRIV'D at last, the Waiting
Bridegroom
standing in his Door, Receives his Consort
open Arm'd,
and leads her Instantly to some prepar'd
Appartment,
where their Numerous Men Relations, who Assisted in the Ceremony, enter
One by One,
according to their Quality, and having
each
bestow'd some Present answerable to his Circumstances, they withdraw
genteely,
with repeated wishes for a happy Bedding of the Amorous Pair, returning every Man to his particular Place of Habitation.
The Pastimes of the Women.
THE Women, to divert the Husband and his Bride, begin to Dance, at which Profession they are Skill'd but
Aukwardly,
performing always Singly; and Inventing
Strange,
and frequently
Lascivious
Postures, to adorn their Motion, and Excite an ardent Flame of
Expectation,
or, to call it by its right Name,
Lust,
in the
already-kindled
Fires which Warm the Breast of the Impatient Lovers.
The previous Ceremonies to the Bedding.
BUT now the
time,
which ever Rolls along with heavy Wheels on such occasions, Summons them to hasten the usual Preparations for the
Bridal Bed,
in order whereunto they lead the
Bride
with Songs and Musick, to the Chamber which contains the stately Scene of her expected Pleasures; here they Place her on a small Square Block all cover'd oer with
Silk
or
Velvet,
and retiring to the distant Corners of the Room, Invite the Husband to the Comical performance of a Merry Duty,
Fashionably Incumbent
on new Married People.
NO Pulling off the
Bridal Garters, Throwing the Stocking,
or other common Practices in use at
British Weddings
are observ'd among the
Turks,
but sure the Reader will allow the
Turkish Bridegroom
has a Task far more Diverting, Strange and Comical.
A Comical Injunction on the
Turkish
Bridegrooms.
FOR he is
First
oblig'd to be his Spouses
Valet,
and Undress her for his Bed; nor is this odd Injunction all is he oblig'd to, for the Young and Airy
Turkish Ladies
who delight in Dressing a new Married Friend, contrive such Strange and Artful
Knots
about the Silken strings which Tye her Drawers, that 'tis next to a downright Impossibility to find out gentle means to loosen them; yet the
Eager Bridegroom
is Injoyn'd to kneel and Fumble
with his Teeth,
till he can some way or other get them open, which, the Young and Vigorous Lovers, all Impatient of delay, with violent endeavours bite Asunder: none, in such a Case, must use the least Assistance either of their own or Spouses Fingers, so that were there
Men
as well as
Women
present at this Ceremony, they would doubtless find themselves far more Diverted than the Merryest Company that ever grac'd a
Christian Wedding.
IT would,
it is presum'd,
be altogether needless to Instruct the
Male
or
Female
Reader in the well known consequences of these Preparatory Pastimes, since the common knowledge of both
Turks
and
Christians
will direct their Fancy's to a full Discovery of these secret Practices, whic
eithers
Modesty
will constantly incline their Will to draw a Curtain over,
to leave them
undisturb'd
and
private.
AND now, since I am treating of the Lover's fond
Elyzium,
'twil
not be improper to observe, that those bewitching Joys are sometime
frustrated, and lessen'd very commonly, by the Jealousy or Malice of
som
other Wife,
transported with the fear of Scorn, at the appearance of a Riva
in her Lord's Affections.
Witchcraft very common among the
Turkish
Women.
IN
Turkey
nothing is more frequent than a deep and cursed Knowledge in the Practices of
Witchcraft, Sorcery,
and a sort of
jugling Villany,
whereby they render
impotent
and
ineffectual
the strongest Efforts of a vigorous Lover on his
Wedding Night
; and 'tis perhaps to this, the
Turkish Matrimony,
tho' indulg'd in
Polygamy,
owes the common and amazing
paucity
of Children.
NAY, so skill'd are many in this
damnable
Profession, that they insolently dare pretend to force Affection from Antipathy it self, to punish Infidelity in Affairs of Love, and give a Lady supernatural Charms to change her humble Servant's vow'd Inconstancy.
The Practice very ancient among the
Greeks.
NOR do we find such Practices of Modern Date, the
ancient Greece
was famous for this Study, which they had
Originally
with their worthier Knowledge from
that Source of Learning Egypt.
How skill'd the
Grecian Ladies
were in
Magic Incantations,
may be gather'd plainly from
Simaetha
's Words to her Maid
Thestylis,
in the second
Eidyll
of
Theocritus,
where she endeavours to bring back
Delphis,
who had abandon'd her Affections.
Part of the 2d Eidyll of
Theocritus.
Where are my Laurels,
Thestylis?
And where
The pow'rfull
Philtres
we must now prepare?
This sacred Cup with
purple Fleeces
bind,
That tho' my
fickle Lover
proves unkind,
I may some
Magic Incantations
use,
And force him to a Breast he would not chuse;
Since he
ungratefull
went, twelve Days are fled,
Nor knows he whether w'are alive or dead.
AND a little further in the following Words begins her Incantation.
With all the
Sacred Charms
of
Magic Art,
I'll now inchant the
lov'd Inconstant
's Heart;
But thou,
O Moon,
shed favourable Rays,
For, grateful, I to thee address my Lays;
To thee
O Goddess,
and to
Hecate,
The pow'rfull subterraneous Deity;
At whose Appearance Curs forget to bark,
And silent let thee
Stalk
thro' dreadful Dark;
Whilst
o'er the Graves
at Noon of Night you tread,
And press the
clotted Blood
of the
corrupted Dead.
Hail,
awfull
Hecate, hail
Goddess,
hail,
Grant me thy Aid—So shall my Charms prevail.
Go
Iynx,
go,
kind Spirit,
hast away;
And
drag
him to my House without the least delay.
Another sort of Sorcery.
THERE is another sort of Sorcery much us'd in
Turkey,
if it may be call'd so, since perhaps the Notion took its rise from nothing but the superstitious Fancies, and ridiculous Opinions of
Hypocondriacal
Persons; they call it
Magic of the Eye,
or the bewitching by an evil Look; now whether there are any real grounds for this Belief, I shall not venture to determine.
A Story of a Gentleman bewitch'd by an evil Eye.
But this I can assure my Reader, that I knew a Gentleman at
Constantinople,
who was naturally blest with an uncommon Share of Wit and Judgment, yet became a downright
Idiot
in the space of twenty four Hours, upon going by the Invitation of a
Greek
of his Acquaintance, to make one among the Guests at an
Armenian Wedding,
and it was believ'd in Town by every Man, who heard the Story, that the Evil Eye of
one there present
had depriv'd him of his Senses.
Another sort of Marriage us'd in
Turkey.
THERE is
among the Turks,
another sort of
Marriage,
generally us'd by Strangers, who reside but little time in any City; this is call'd
Hakabin,
and is a Bargain made before a
Judge,
whereby the Man is bound to take the Woman, and maintain her as his Wife, for
one, two, six,
or more Months, and when his Business calls him to another Place, he is oblig'd to give her such a
Sum of Money
as is mention'd in their first Agreement.
Concubinage, how tolerated.
CONCUBINAGE,
as I have said before,
is granted to the
Turks,
who always keep as many
Slaves
as they can purchase and maintain, to serve
by Day
the Uses of the House, and
all Night long
the Pleasures of their Master.
THERE is in
Constantinople,
a
Slave-Market twice
or
thrice
a Week, thither the People go, and see the miserable
Christian Captive-Virgins,
dress'd in all the tempting Ornaments, that can allure the Looks of
amorous Passengers
; they speak to those they are inclin'd to like, and having ask'd them any Questions they think fit to start, they feel their
Breasts, Hands, Cheeks,
and
Foreheads
;
A curious Search.
nay proceed, if curious in the nicety of Search, to have the young, and wretched Creatures taken privately to some convenient Place, where,
undisturb'd,
and
free
to use the utmost of their Will, they find out certain subtle Means of boasted Efficacy, to discover instantly by
Proofs,
and
Demonstration,
whether the
pretended Virgin
has
as yet
been rob'd of that so celebrated
Jewel,
she affirms her self Possessor of.
THE Slaves they buy, they carry home, and use as is
above-declar'd,
till growing weary of their
Persons
and
Embraces,
they have liberty again to sell them to some
Friend
or
Neighbour,
taking others to their changeable Affections; nor are
their Wives
at all disturb'd to see them use this tolerated
Freedom
;
The
Turkish
Wives may claim one Night in seven.
Custom's tyranny has made them humble, none complaining of her Husband's slight, provided he bestows
one
Night in
seven
in her
conjugal Caresses; that
the
Law
has given them as their
unquestion'd Property,
and will oblige the Man to own it as his Duty.
The
Turks
notion of Cuckoldom, more Reasonable than ours.
AN Honest and an Admirable Notion sways the Judgments of the
Turkish People
in the Point of
Cuckoldom,
for that, which
here with us
is strangely look'd upon as
the Husbands shame,
is
in their Country
plac'd more Wisely, and with
Justice,
on the
Lewd Adultress,
and her
Hornified
Relations; for where the Husband finds his Bed Dishonour'd and Polluted, he Applies himself
directly
to some
Judge
or
Governour,
and sitting forth
at large
the Cause of his Complaint, obtains relief by an Immediate Order of
Divorce,
and free's himself
at once
from
Wife
and
Scandal.
Why the
Turkish Sultan
's must not Marry.
THE
Turkish Sultan
's must not Marry, or it is become a Politic Omission to forbear so doing;
First,
in that 'twou'd cause
Alliances,
and distant
Kindred
to their
Royal Family,
a thing they always
Fear'd
and
Hated
; and
Secondly
because the
Greatest
and most Unexpected turns of
Fate,
shall never wound the
Princes Honour,
in obliging him to see a
Wife
become the
Victim
of Licentious Insolence, and he himself an helpless
Witness
of her shameful Usage.
The Original of the Custom.
BAJAZET
an
Ancient
but
Ʋ nhappy Emperour,
by dear Experience taught 'em this; for when the
brave Victorious Tam-her-lane the Great,
had won the Battle which reduc'd him to his Misery; his Wife
Dehespeena
whom he dearly Lov'd, and in whose Blessings
his
were
Centr'ed,
being taken
Prisoner,
was before the Face of her distracted Husband, Ravish'd by the
Conquerour.
The Unsupported sorrow, which the
Haughty Turk
conceiv'd hereat, shook all his
Patience
into
Madness,
and produc'd that Rough and
Melancholy Death
which put an End to all his Sufferings.
THE
Princes,
who succeded
Bajazet,
resolving
for the Future,
to avoid so black and piercing a Misfortune, made a Law that none shou'd Marry
ever after
on the Throne of
Turkey,
which has been observ'd with such Religious constancy, that two late
Emperours
have been depos'd and little urg'd against their Governments, but that they took the Liberty of
Marriage,
and thereby Infring'd the solemn Prohibition of their Wiser
Predecessors.
Four sorts of Divorces, us'd among them.
I spoke just now of their
Divorces,
and will here Describe Four several Methods now in use, whereby the
Turks with ease
Untye the strongest Cord which joyns their
Matrimony.
The First.
THE First is Registred before a
Judge,
as are
Indeed
the other Three, by this the
Man and Wife
are only separated,
either free,
and altogether Independant on the others Power;
here
the Husband is oblig'd to settle a sufficient
Maintenance,
and keep her separate as well as when they Liv'd
together.
The Second.
THE Second kind of separation, is a Wider breach of
conjugal Conjunction
; for they
then
are left entirely to their Liberty, and as by
joint consent
they may return again to one anothers Arms, so may they also Marry
at their Pleasure,
any other Person, who shall best agree with either of their Circumstances.
The Third Divorce in Case of Impotence.
THE Third Divorce now Practis'd by the
Turks,
is when a Woman is unfortunately Married to a Man unqualified for satisfaction of her Warm desires, by the
Natural
Misfortune of an
Impotent Frigidity
; in such a Case the
Man
refusing to discharge his
Wife,
is Summon'd
by her Friends
before a
Judge,
and forc'd to bring her with him to the same Appearance; when the Charge is Read against him she is ask'd if she will
then
affirm the Truth of all that Accusation, hereupon she Stoops, and taking off her Slipper, Spits upon the Sole, and Strikes it on her
Husband's Forehead
; Modesty requires no further Confirmation from a
Female Plantiff,
and the Sentence is immediately pronounc'd,
in favour of the Lady,
who is
thenceforth,
free to Marry as she pleases, and intitled
notwithstanding,
to a large
Allowance
from her
former Consort
's yearly Income.
NOR is it hard that
Women
shou'd be favour'd in a case so reasonable, when it is the only
Plea
they have for gaining a
Divorce,
while
on the contrary,
the Men possess a thousand great and boundless Privileges, and are at any time enabled to obtain Releases from their
Matrimonial Chain,
on every
mean
and
slight Occasion.
A very merry kind of Practice for the Punishment of Levity.
BUT the most diverting sort of a
Divorce,
that e'er was heard of, is the
Oochey Tahalac,
which having
once
disjoin'd a Pair, permits no second thoughts, or change of Inclination so as to be
reconcil'd again
; till, as a Punishment for his
ridiculous
and
fickle Humour,
the repenting Husband will contentedly stand by, and see his
Wife in open Day,
enjoy'd before his face, by some brisk Stranger, who is led by accident to pass the House, where they expect
impatiently
the first fair Comer.
A pleasant Passage hap'ning, some Years since, at
Constantinople,
will afford an
entertaining
and
compleat Idea
of this humorous Custom; it fell out as follows.
A pleasant Story of the Master of an
English
Vessel.
THE Master of an
English Merchant Ship,
who understood but little
Turkish,
scarce enough to buy an
Orange
as he walk'd the Streets, wou'd needs be vent'ring frequently
on Shoar,
sometimes
with Company
and sometimes
without,
well dress'd, with
Turbant, Dolamann,
and every other part of Habit
in the Turkish Fashion
; he was often caution'd of the Dangers he might fall into, but never list'ned to his Friends Advice, returning always safely to his Ship, without the least Affront, or meeting any who accosted him in the Country Language.
BUT rambling
on a certain Day,
about the City, he was beck'ned to by several
Turks
who stood
together
at the entrance of a House; surpriz'd at first, he wou'd have pass'd 'em slowly by, as if he took no notice of their Summons; but before he got five Yards beyond the Door, he felt himself
pull'd back
by one, who
smiling,
spoke a
long
and
speedy Sentence,
and returning towards the Door he came from, dragg'd him
as it were by force
to follow him.
THE Master understood not one small
Syllable
of what he said, but went as he was led, without so much as speaking all the way, till coming to the Door, the other Company began to laugh, and talk with eagerness as if they were informing him of something very pleasant, and diverting; he seem'd to listen with a wonderfull attention, and to cloak the matter, laugh'd for Company, but durst not speak for fear of a Discovery; he
then
began to curse his forwardness and
Turkish Habit,
and to wish himself
secure
on board his Ship, resolving to attempt no more such
single Wanderings.
A comical Surprize.
MEAN while the
Turks
had led him forward, and conducted him to a large Chamber, on the
elevated Floor
whereof there lay a
Bed,
with
Quilt
and
Mattress,
after the Fashion of the Country; upon the Bed sat
cross-leg'd
a genteel, young Lady, gay, and beautifull, with Face
unveil'd,
and sprightly Countenance, who blush'd at his appearance; on a
Cushion
not far distant sat a grave
Kaddee
or
Judge,
the Master of the House; and in a corner of the Room, stood
leaning,
and
disconsolate,
a well-made
Turk,
who
by the sequel,
prov'd to be the Husband of
the Lady on the Bed,
and standing
there,
to be
Spectator
of a Duty he wou'd rather have excus'd.
A very doubtfull State.
THE Company withdrew at the approach of the Master, leaving none behind but the
young Lady
and her
Husband,
smiling as they pass'd him by, and pulling to the Door to keep them private. 'Tis not difficult to guess the wonder, which amus'd his thoughts at such an
odd
and unexpected Accident; he star'd about him like a Man distracted, ignorant what he was to do, and fearing
every Moment
some Design, which he conceiv'd was form'd against him.
AT last, the
Husband
looking roughly towards him, spoke a few low Words, which
by the accent
seem'd uneasy, and with
a nod or two,
and
motion of his Hand,
made Signs, that he shou'd do the Duty he was call'd to without delay; the Lady
likewise,
beck'ned with her Finger, and repeated often these Words,
Gehl Adham Gehl,
that is,
Come Man come
; he understood
so much,
but no ways apprehending what they meant by those expressive Motions, instead of answering their repeated Invitations,
stood still,
and gaz'd about with mute
Astonishment.
THE Husband half amaz'd to see his Silence, and fix'd Posture, as also eager,
since he knew it must be done,
to have it over, came grimly up, and pushing him with anger
forward,
cried out aloud.
Geddi Brai, Boc Kahdin,
that is,
Go Fool, see the Lady:
But the frighted
Britain,
all surpriz'd at this new step, was so confounded with the turns of the
amazing Accident,
that scarce rememb'ring
who
or
where
he was, he forc'd himself with fury from the
Turk,
and in the
English Tongue
cried out,
Why in the Devil's Name d'ye push me thus? I know not what you wou'd be at, nor understand one Word you say to me.
An odd discovery.
THE shock'd
Mahometan
with all imaginable wonder started back, to hear him speak an unknown Language, and snatching off his
Turbant,
presently discover'd him a
Christian
by the manner of his being shav'd; and
pointing to his Head
cry'd loudly to his Wife,
Vollah Boo Adham Gaour. By the Lord this Man's an Infidel.
With that he drew his Dagger from his Girdle, and his
Wife
began in passion to rise up and fall upon the
Master,
when the
Turk
bethought him of a cunning Stratagem to save his Honour, and having given the
English Man
his
Turbant
back again, endeavour'd
partly by fair Words
and
partly by his Signs,
to make him understand, he shou'd go out as silently as he came in, and seem to smile, as if he had been pleas'd with his Adventure.
THE trembling Master, glad of any opportunity to get away from such a dangerous Scene of Wonders, made abundance of expressive motions with his
Head
and
Hands,
to thank him for his kindness, and was marching off, with counterfeited Smiles upon his Face, when all the Company still waiting in the outward Room, began to gather round him, and to ask him if he had been satisfied in his
good-fortune
; he answer'd as the
Husband
had made shift to teach him,
Hevett Sultanum
; that is,
Yes noble Sir.
A merry Action of a
Turkish
Lady.
But the expecting Wife, who had
it seems
been baulk'd of her Desire, and was unwilling tho' she lost the
Christian's Kindness,
to deprive her self of some more qualified Person's, follow'd to the Door, and cried out
Yoketer
that is,
, he lies,
as loud as she was able.
THIS alarm'd the
Judge,
and all the
rest,
and made the
Husband
hang his Head like one condemn'd to
Stocks,
or
Whipping Post
; in short they seiz'd upon the
poor discover'd
Master, and began to drag him back to do the Duty they expected from him, He,
unwilling to comply with their desires,
endeavour'd by continued Strugling, to break loose and get away, till in the
Scuffling,
he again let Fall his
Turbant,
and with much ado, escaping from their hold, ran swiftly thro' the Street, while all the
Boys
he pass'd by, seeing him disorder'd, and Bareheaded, and
besides,
A Fortunate escape.
Alarm'd by the repeated exclamations of the
Turks
he broke away from, who Cried out
an Infidel, an Infidel,
as loud as they were able, gather'd round him, and with
Dirt,
and
Stones,
pursued him thro' the City, till he came upon the Water side, and found among the rest some
Janizaries,
whom he knew, and, whose Authority protected him from further Injury.
I cannot say what Second
Spark
the Lady found to serve her turn, or how the Business was perform'd among them, but the
Masters
ill success in this last Ramble, prov'd more Efficacious to disswade him from such bold attempts in future Voyages, than all the
Good Advice,
and
Solid Doctrine,
which had been
before,
in vain, bestow'd upon his
rash
and
Inconsiderate Obstinacy.
I promis'd in the Title of this Chapter, to say a little of the
Turkish ways of Courtship,
and will now proceed to let the
Reader
know as much of their
Amours
and Gallantry as fell occasionally within the Compass of my Observation.
No coming into Womens Company, in
Turkey.
THERE is no such thing in
Turkey
as a Publick Meeting, and promiscuous Conversation of
Sexes,
at the
Park, Ring, Balls
or
Theatre,
or any other tolerated Scene of Honourable Liberty; all are
Grave, Reserv'd,
and
Solitary
; Women seldom stirr abroad,
before
or
after Marriage
; and as there is never found the Smallest Opportunity of
seeing
or
Conversing with
the
Ladies, Love
is consequently quite a Stranger to their Warmest Inclinations, till they have obtain'd an
object
whereupon to Build it; yet there Flames amongst the
Youth
of this Licentious Nation, such a Raging Passion of
Desire,
that they employ the Wishes of their
earliest Manhood,
how to get a
Wife
or
two
to pass their time with, and apply themselves
accordingly,
to those allow'd and fashionable means, whereby, tho' Blindfold, they may gain a
Mistriss.
Matches made by Friends.
THEIR common Custom
then,
in such like Cases, is to listen to their Friends Proposals; such a
Man
has such a
Daughter, Neice,
or
Sister,
so and so possess'd of
Beauty,
and
good Humour. Fortune
they expect none with a
Wife
in
Turkey
; for the Husband
there
must buy her Person with a settled Sum according to her
Value,
which they seldom hold at Mighty Rates; or the agreement made between the Parents of the willing Couple.
A Pig in a Poke.
THE
Fathers word
is sometimes taken for the
Daughters Merit,
and the
Bridegroom
signs the Articles of Marriage before he is admitted to a sight of his Beloved: But the
Brisk
and
Wiser
sort of
Gentlemen,
will seldom make so blind a Bargain, and refuse to listen to the smallest motion of a
Matrimonial Treaty,
till they are convinc'd by
Ocular Experience,
that the
Mistriss
offer'd them is really as deserving in her Person, as they speak her in her Character.
The
Turkish
Custom in case of Rivals.
IT sometimes happens that
two Rivals
Jarr about
one Lady,
and in such a Case the
Parents
of the
Virgin
will not Interpose their Counsel nor Authority, but by the following Method bring the
Lovers
to her sight, and let her choice decide the matter; they are
both
appointed at a certain time to meet beneath the Window of a Chamber of the House she lives in,
Lettic'd over
so that nothing can be seen within the Room, but those who stand within can easily perceive whatever passes in the Court before it: Here is plac'd the
Mistriss
of their hopes, who having,
by the Throwing down a piece of Silk,
inform'd 'em she is there, the Amorous Madmen strait begin to strip one Arm
above the Elbow,
drawing with the other hand their
Sharp-edg'd Dagger,
and exerting
each
his Brightest Faculties, in
Singing, Riding, Leaping,
Hurling the
Geritt
or
Javelin,
and an Hundred other Exercises, in which the Vanity of
either
has perswaded him to think he can excell the
other.
A dreadfull way of making Love.
BUT the most ridiculous and senceless Method of expressing their Affection, is their singing certain
amorous,
and
whining Songs,
compos'd on purpose for such mad occasions, between every line whereof they
cut
and
slash
their
naked Arms
with the abovenam'd Daggers, each endeavouring in this emulative Madness, to exceed the
other,
by the depth and number of the Wounds he gives himself. Some
Turks
I have observ'd, when
old,
and past the Follies which possess'd their
Youth,
to show their Arms all
gash
'd and
scar'd
from
Wrist
to
Elbow,
and express a great
Concern,
but greater
Wonder
at their past simplicity.
How the Lady makes her Choice.
THE
Marble Hearted Lady,
proof a while against these barbarous Demonstrations of their
Love,
at
last
makes choice of him whose
Air
and
Face
she best approves, and speaks her Mind by throwing down a
Ball
of twisted Silk, while he on whom her Mind is bent, is whining out her Praises; this produces frequently so great a fury in the disappointed Soul of him who loses her, that running furiously upon his happier
Rival,
they proceed at
Daggers length,
a second time to try their
Titles
to her partial Favours, and before they can be parted, oftentimes prevent the Bliss of
either,
by an interchangeable bestowing on each others Bosoms, such amazing Wounds, as bleed away their
Love
and
Life together.
THE oddness of the Stile invited me to render some of the above-nam'd Songs, into
English,
which are the most esteem'd, and run as follows.
An amorous
Turkish
Song.
Cou'd I,
dear Ray
of heav'nly Light,
Who
now
behind a Cloud dost shine,
Obtain the Blessing of thy Sight,
And tast thy Influence all Divine;
Thus wou'd I shed my warm
Hearts-blood,
As now I gash my
veiny
Arm,
Wou'dst thou but
like the Sun
think good,
To draw it
upwards
by some Charm.
Another follows as diverting as the former.
Another
Turkish
Song, on the same Subject.
Oh
lovely Charmer
pity me,
See how my
Bloood
does from me fly,
Yet, were I sure to conquer thee,
Witness it
Heav'n,
I'd gladly die;
But
oh!
I fear when I am
dead,
In
t'other World
we shall not meet,
If not, how
like a Fool
I'm sped,
For dying
blindly
at your Feet.
I have
at large
inform'd my
Reader
of their Matrimonial Ceremonies, and have nothing
further
left to tell him on that Subject, but that however loose the Inclinations of the
Turkish Ladies
may be rendred by Confinement, it is seldom known that any Wife defiles her Husband's Bed; perhaps 'tis owing to their want of opportunity, for I must own my self a
great
and
utter Enemy
to that restriction which the
Eastern Nations
lay upon their Women, and believe that, where a
mutual Freedom, Liberty,
and
Familiarity,
is
by Custom,
or
Ʋ nkindness
any ways deny'd a Married Couple, 'tis impossible to reach that elevated Happiness describ'd by
Horace,
in his thirteenth Ode.
Hor.
Ode 13. Lib. 1.
Felices ter, & amplius,
Quos irrupta tenet copula, nec malis
Divulsus querimoniis,
Suprema citius solvet amor die.
Happy,
thrice happy,
more than
blest,
Are the
unshaken Pair,
Whose
Tie
stands fix'd in
eithers
Breast,
Unbroke by
Grief
or
Care
;
Whose
grounded Love
by trifling
Jars,
Feels no
abrupt
Decay,
But keeps within true Duties
Barrs,
Firm to the
latest Day.
CHAP. XIV. Of the
Turkish
Women, in General.
IF by the Title of the Chapter, the Reader may be induc'd to expect a particular Account of the
exterior
Qualifications of the
Turkish Ladies
; he must imagine a difference in their
Persons
and
Complexions,
answerable to the Climate of a
hotter
or
colder
Country; whose
various Influences
must unquestionably produce as
various Effects
in the Persons of its Natives:
The
Turkish
Wives submissive and respectfull to their Husbands.
But as the unlimited Authority, which the
Turks
usurp as a right of Nature, over their submissive Wives, extends its force to the remotest Borders of their
unmeasur'd Empire.
The continued Practice of a
Conjugal Obedience,
has bent the nature of their haughtiest Women, to acknowledge readily an
inferiority of Sex,
and obey their Husbands with the strictest Duties of an unfeign'd Humility. This usefull Maxim which is for ever taught 'em, with the earliest Rudiments of their infant Knowledge, has,
among many other,
this one Effect, that by representing the
Women,
even in their own Imaginations,
subservient
to the Will of
Man,
it inspires them all with an ardent Zeal, in the daily Practice of those
alluring
Parts of Education, which may render their Persons most charming and agreable to the happy Object of their exalted Wishes.
The great Advantages thereof.
MANY,
besides this,
are the great Advantages the
Turks
receive from their Wives
Subjection
; for it entirely frees 'em from the
imperious
Behaviour of
insulting Yoke-Mates
; keeps 'em secure from the uneasy Discords of a
jealous Consort,
and gives their leisure Hours an entire Possession of the fullest Pleasures, to be found in
Matrimony
; while the common Plagues, and bitter Minutes of some
Europaean Marriages
are altogether strangers to the sweet Enjoyment of their
Consummate Happiness.
How Wives are kept in
Turkey.
'TIS a sense of awfull
Fear
and
Duty,
that obliges them contentedly to live
at Home,
without the smallest Power in Domestick matters, shut up
together
in a long Appartment, divided
like our Hospitals
for several Beds, where free from
Envy, Pride
or
Jealousy,
they
Eat, Drink,
and
Work together,
Guarded by the Watchful Observation of
Industrious Eunuchs,
and excluded from the Society of
Men,
above Ten Years Old, never Stirring from their Houses, nor making Visits to their Neighbours, but all entirely bent to please
by turns
the Wandring will of their Respected Husband.
THESE then are the
Chief Accomplishments
of their Womens Minds, which are Moulded by the
same Customs,
to the
same Nature,
in every Part of their Country: And tho' some Provinces have been esteem'd more Famous than others for the Beauty of their Women; the Following Account will serve as a Description of the
Turkish Ladies.
The Excellence of their Complexions.
THEIR
Complexions
are for the most Part, of a
Lovely Fair,
and without the help of
Art
so exquisitely
Smooth
and
Ruddy,
that 'tis beyond the Power of
Imagination
to Guess at their
Beauty,
which Extraordinary Perfection they owe to their so frequent use of
Bathing,
and Perpetual Confinement to their Houses, by which means they are never Ruffled by the
Changes
of the
Weather,
nor subject to the Sultry Influences of a
Scorching Sun,
but 'tis observable that they lose their Beauty much sooner than the Inhabitants of the
Northern World,
for the daily use of
Bagnio
's, tho' it smooths their Skin, and softens their Complexions, does
notwithstanding,
prejudice their Constitutions by the Warm effects of its
Sulphureous Quality.
A Discription of the Persons of the
Turkish
Ladies.
Their
Features
are Generally most agreeably
Regular,
of an exact and sweet Proportion, their
Eyes
of a Piercing
Black,
almost Transparently
Bright
and
Striking,
and the larger they are, the more Esteem'd, for so vast a Value do the
Turks
Profess for
Great Ey'd Ladies,
that the Enjoyment of such is by
Mahomet
promis'd them as one of the Sublimest Joys of their
Chimerical Paradise,
Arch'd Eye-Brows Judg'd a Beauty by the
Turks.
the
Arched Excellency
of their
Eye-brows,
is no small Addition to the Beauty of their Features, and so Nicely sensible they are of this Perfection, that where
Nature
has deny'd 'em so agreeable a Charm, they are never contented till by the
repeated
Applications of
Artificial Endeavours,
they raise their Brows to a lofty
Semicircle,
meeting over their Nose in a
Sharp
and
Gracefull Angle.
Their Shapes and Aires.
I can hardly speak of their
Shapes,
with so large
Encomiums
as I have done of their
Beauty,
since the Looseness of their
Dress,
denies them that
forc'd Slenderness of Wast,
so much admir'd by our
Europaean Ladies
; but tho' they boast not
that one Excellency,
Nature has adorn'd 'em with a
Thousand others,
which sufficiently supply its want, for their Bodies have somewhat of
an agreeable turn,
and their Motions carry a
Peculiar Grace
in an
Easy
and
unaffected
Freedom of behaviour, the Native Chams of an
Amorous Softness
appear unfeignedly in
every look,
while
every Step
bears somewhat of an Air not altogether free from a
Majestic Gravity,
and yet entirely Govern'd by an
Ʋ ncommon Easiness.
The
Turkish
Ladies are Lasciviously inclin'd.
I am sorry (after so
true,
yet
great
a Character of their
Persons
) to Descend to the Weakness of their
unguarded Vertue,
which lies so open and
Ʋ nfortifyed by Principle,
as to be Incapable of resisting the smallest Temptation of a Favourable Opportunity. This Vice of
Incontinency
is undoubtedly no
Hereditary
Misfortune deriv'd from their
Ancestors,
since most of the
Modern Turks,
especially those of
Europe,
are Descended from the
Greeks,
the old Inhabitants of that Subverted Country; a Nation so entirely free from
Lewdness
and
Immorality,
that they Instructed all the World in the
Sublimest
Vertues.
The reasons of their Lewdness.
The warm Desires which at present sway the looser Inclinations of the
Turkish Ladies,
are rather the effects of their unnatural Confinement, and the strict
Prohibition
they are under from the Society of
Mankind,
which raising their Imaginations to an opinion of a more elevated Bliss, than is really found in the Conversation of
our Sex,
enflames their
Wishes,
as it heightens their
Curiosity,
and renders the coldest Constitution of 'em all an easy Conquest to the first Addresses of an advent'rous Lover; and 'tis no wonder they have no more regard to their
Vertue
or their
Honour,
while the Duties of
Religion
are never taught 'em; but
on the contrary,
their Mind's possess'd, that as
God
has given them a Soul
inferiour to that of Man,
he exacts less Service from the
Female Sex,
whom he only created for the
Ʋ se
and
Satisfaction
of the
nobler Males.
BY these Notions, and the want of Liberty
before-mention'd,
they are all led to so vast an esteem of
Men,
that they scarce know a difference in their
Merits,
receiving
promiscuously
all such as
Chance
or
Assurance
throws in their way, and proceeding without the Ceremonies of a
formal Courtship
to a plenary Satisfaction of their lewd Desires;
The Lewdness of the
Turkish
Ladies, when they can convey some Stranger into their Appartments.
and so
lascivious
are their Inclinations, that if
by the ingenuity of their Contrivances
they can procure the Company of
some Stranger
in their Chamber, they claim
unanimously
an equal share of his
Caresses,
and proceed
by Lots
to the Enjoyment of his Person; nor can he be permitted to leave them, till having exerted his
utmost Vigour
in the Embraces of the
whole Company,
he becomes incapable of further Service, and is dispatch'd with the
Thanks
and
Presents
of the oblig'd Family.
I will desire my Reader's Patience while I entertain him with a fair Example of the
Levity
for which I thus accuse the
Turkish Ladies
; 'tis not now above eight Years since first it hap'ned to a fond
Mahometan,
who all possess'd with
Europaean
Dreams of
Love
and
Beauty,
wou'd neither
marry
Wife, nor take a
Concubine,
that was not Mistress of a tender Nature, and as he thought accomplish'd sweetly in those bright Perfections, which in spite of Fate, must make him happy;
The folly of our inconsiderate love of Beauty.
but oh! how vainly does deluded Man depend on
Beauty
as a means of Bliss, when every frail Misfortune of deficient Nature robs him of his Hope; it is a Blessing ever subject to a thousand
accidental
shocks of Ruin, and even in its longest, and
uninterrupted
course of Sun-shine, but the transient Shadow of a
momentary
Satisfaction, excellently defin'd by
Seneca
in his Tragedy of
Hippolytus.
Anceps, forma, bonum mortalibus,
Exigui donum breve temporis,
Ʋ t velox celeri pede laberis!
Oh Beauty,
doubtfull Good,
to human kind!
Thou
short-liv'd
Blessing,
transient
as the Wind;
How dost thou
slide
with
slipp'ry speed
away,
And how the baffled hopes of Mortal Life betray!
THE
Turk
of whom I am about to speak, was long an Enemy to ev'ry Thought, that led him to a
Scene of Matrimony
; but he was caught at last, and I have ever found, that those, who most inveigh'd against it have been soonest tempted to its
Yoke,
and often most gaul'd by it. It was a very witty Observation made by an old
Greek Poet,
in the following
Epigram.
The witty Observation of an ancient
Greek.
The Man is curs'd, who takes a
She,
As
Partner
of his Bed;
This
all Men
know as well as
me,
Yet, who forbears to
Wed?
A pleasant Story of the bold Adventure of an
English
Sailor.
THIS
Turkish Nobleman,
for smiling Fortune had enlarg'd his Circumstances to a great and lofty pitch of Splendour, kept a very large
Haramm,
or
Chamber of his Women,
he possess'd
I think,
of
Wives
and
Concubines
no less a Number than
a quarter of an Hundred,
and so fondly doated on their amorous Conversation, that he knew no Pleasure greater than the Enjoyment of their Company, wou'd pass whole Days in their
Apartment,
and chuse some one among them
every Night,
to carry to his
Bed,
and favour with the Duty of his kind Embraces.
HOWEVER, whether
Nature
had not qualified him for the
Womens Favourite,
or whether
every Lady
thought her turn too long in coming, is not known, but this is certain, that the whole Society of Beauties, were extreamly Melancholy, and wou'd pensively retire to a large Window, which look'd out upon a
Garden
on the backside of their Apartment, and by throwing up the
Lettice,
let in
Air,
which
fan'd
not
cool'd
the warmth of their Desires; their
Lord
it seems, was very covetous, and finding
Eunuch's
somewhat chargeable, maintain'd but one, and that an
old
and
lazy
Fellow, who wou'd always go to Bed before his
Ladies,
and by that means give them favourable Opportunities to open the above-nam'd Window and look out upon the
Garden,
or divert themselves with any Entertainment they thought fit to pass the Night in.
'TWAS late
one Evening
and the Family secure in their repose, when a brisk
English Sailor,
who had lost his Company, in coming,
not an Hour before,
from drinking at a little
Hovel,
where a
Greek
sold Wine, had rambled up and down from Street to Street, till he arriv'd in a small narrow Lane, one Wall whereof belong'd to the above-nam'd Garden;
A lucky Curiosity.
he was walking hastily along, not knowing whereabouts he was, when he was startled at the sudden noise of Womens Voices, and desirous to behold what sort of Creatures
Females
were in
Turkey,
he was led by
Wine
and
Curiosity together,
to ascend a sort of Wooden Scaffold, which he found there rais'd against the Wall, and had been built in order to repair some Breaches made by Time.
THE Art of his Profession had instructed him to climb, by which means he with ease got up so high, that hanging by his Hands and Feet, he overlook'd the ridge of the Wall, and cou'd perceive distinctly, by the favour of the
Moon-shine,
several Ladies almost in their Shifts, and sporting wantonly together in a Window, on the other side the Garden; he was wonderfully pleas'd to see a sight, he had been long a Stranger to, and not being able to express himself in
Turkish,
was resolv'd to show his Breeding in the
English Language,
and call'd out aloud,
A comical Salutation.
Ha! my dear Rogues, have I caught ye faith? Egad I wish I was among ye.
NOTHING cou'd have been a greater surprize to the discover'd
Ladies,
than to hear a
Voice,
at once appearing to be
a Man
's, and
Stranger
to their
Language
or
Acquaintance,
but 'twas encreas'd
if possible,
when they beheld a
Head, Chin high,
looking o'er the Wall with
short thick Hair,
and
Hat
of
English
Fashion;
A Surprize soon over.
the fright at first oblig'd 'em to a
Shriek,
and drove 'em from the Window for about five Minutes, but perceiving none had overheard them in the House, they gather'd Courage and return'd again, believing
Providence
had sent a
Man
to gratifie their Wishes.
THE
Sailor
had by this time got astride upon the Wall, and was beginning an
old Ballad
in that merry Posture, not remembring he had chang'd his
Wapping Residence,
for a short continuance in a
Turkish City
: But the
Ladies
gather'd in a
knot
about the
Window,
and by the
cautionary Motions
of their Fingers, hush'd him into silence, and began to beckon him with smiling Looks and all the tempting Invitations of an
amorous Deportment.
A very kind, familiar Invitation.
ENCOURAG'D by their unexpected,
kind Behaviour,
the advent'rous
Tarr
forsook his Station, and leaping from the
Wall
into the
Garden,
express'd his Satisfaction in their beautifull Appearances, by all the
aukward
Bows, and
apish Cringes
his Marine Accomplishments had made him Master of. He came at last, and stood directly under them, explaining by the Motions of his
Head
and
Eyes,
and other Signs, that he was sorry such an inaccessible Heighth prevented him from reaching them.
An obliging Condescention.
THEY talk'd a while by
Signs
and
Motions,
but perceiving they cou'd reap but little Pleasure from so remote a Conversation, the obliging
Ladies,
loth to lose so rare an Opportunity, began to make
successfull
use of those
inventive
Faculties, which
Nature
constantly bestows on Woman, in her amorous Exigencies; and while certain of the Company continued at the Window, smiling in a sort of wanton Dalliance, with the
raptur'd Sailor,
others ran and tied as many of their Sheets together as wou'd reach the Ground, which having done, they came again, and making fast the
hither end
to certain
Hooks within the Chamber,
threw the other down to him, and kindly beck'ned him to make a proper use of their inviting Favours.
A bold Adventure.
HE was not
backward
in performing their desires, but
never thinking of the Consequences which might happen,
made a shift to reach the Window by the help of their Contrivance; they receiv'd him joyfully, and had begun to stare upon the strangeness of his Habit, when he interrupted them by roughly kissing all the Company, imagining, that since he always us'd his
English Mistresses
in that familiar manner, it was the Fashion so to do in every
Foreign Place
he came to.
THE
Turkish Husbands
never kiss their
Women
but in
Bed,
and consequently this Behaviour of our merry
Britain
wonderfully diverted them, they laugh'd exceedingly and gather'd round him; every one ask'd some particular Question, but he cou'd not understand one Word they said, and finding more than he expected in the Chamber, look'd about him with a
great amazement,
but began at last, to catch them in his Arms, embracing them by turns, with so much
zeal
and
rapture,
that 'twas hard to tell which Party knew most pleasure;
he
in meeting such
engaging, beautifull,
and
willing Creatures,
or the
Ladies
in their accidental Satisfaction of admitting to their Arms, a
Lover
of so brisk and airy a
Deportment,
and a Man so full of
Mirth
and
Ʋ igour.
A very fair Proceeding of the
Turkish
Ladies.
THE Room wherein they lay, was
long
and
broad,
with
Beds
all laid in order along either side, and each desirous
first
to offer him a part of hers, they rais'd a sort of
War among
them, till it was resolv'd that all shou'd draw a Lot a piece, and stand to the decision.
THIS then
at last
they all agreed to, and with
Scissars
cut a Crimson
Ribband
into
five and twenty Pieces,
each a little longer than the former; these they made the
Sailor
hold, and drew their
Lots
in order; she, who had the
longest
was that
very Night
to have him for her
Bedfellow,
and so
proportionably
she, who had unfortunately drawn the
shortest Lot,
was doom'd to be the
farthest distant
from his
wish'd Embraces.
The Order they contriv'd to keep.
THUS had they form'd almost an
whole Months Task,
for the
poor Sailor,
who never us'd to think on time to come, and therefore went contentedly to Bed, with his fair
first-night Mistress.
We will not doubt the satisfaction, which he met with, but proceed to tell the
Reader
that
an hour before the break of Day,
that
Lady,
who was
next
to be his
Partner,
came and wak'd him from a pleasing Slumber, lest he shou'd unluckily by
over-sleeping his Security,
be found
as soon as Morning broke
by the
Eunuch,
who was always us'd to walk his Rounds about that time; and this was the concluded order they were all to take, for their assur'd Security.
I scarce believe our
amorous Tarpawlin,
when the cool reflection of his waking Senses, represented his condition, found himself so pleasant as the Night before; but he had gone too far to think of going back, till he had done the Duty they expected from him, and therefore
wisely
thought it best to seem transported with his
present, past,
and
future Happiness.
The Contrivance, which they made to hide him.
In short they led him to a very high and spacious
Pr
ss,
or rather
Wardrobe,
for it was the Place, wherein they us'd to hang their Cloaths; in this
Repository,
he was forc'd to
stand
or
lie
all Day, and had the Door
by chance
been op'ned, he had yet
perhaps,
continued undiscover'd,
hid
all over, by the Cloaths about him.
THE Master of the House wou'd often come, and pass some Hours every Day amongst his Women, so that all Day long the
Sailor
was confin'd to keep his Station, yet wanted little else but Liberty, for he had
Meat
and
Drink,
far more than he requir'd,
Their good natur'd manner of getting him Provisions.
which the
good humour'd Ladies,
order'd to be set aside, pretending they wou'd eat it at another time, and taking some convenient Opportunity, when all was safe, they carry'd it directly to their
pounded Amoroso.
All overturn'd by an unlucky Accident.
THEY pass'd about ten
Days
and
Nights
without the smallest
fear,
or danger of
Discovery,
when an unlucky Accident fell out, and ruin'd all; it hap'ned that the
Lady
to whose turn 'twas come
that Night
to claim the
Sailor
for her
Bedfellow,
was taken by the
Turk,
her
Lord
and
Master,
to the
unexpected
Favour of his own Enjoyment, so that she, whose
Lot
came
next
was
sooner than she thought of, Mistress
of her
long hop'd Happiness,
but when the next turn came, the Lady, who the Night before had lawfully possess'd her Husband's Bed, renew'd her Title to the
baulk'd
Enjoyment of the
Sailor's Person,
which
she,
who next expected it deny'd with fervour, urging that she, having lost her turn, shou'd stay till
last
of all, before she cou'd
in justice
lay a
second Claim
to what she aim'd at.
The Sailor's dangerous Discovery.
WORDS were multiplied to noisy Disputations, and
from thence
they fell to downright Blows about the matter, till the House
alarm'd by their Disturbance,
wak'd the
Eunuch,
who came running to the
Chamber
to demand the Cause of their so sudden Disagreement, and the first thing he took particular notice of, was the
poor Sailor,
who was got among the thickest of the
Fray,
to interpose the best of his Endeavours, for appeasing their tumultuous Violence.
His bold Attempt to get away.
THE
Eunuch
all amaz'd to see a
Man
so strangely dress'd
among the Ladies,
came and caught him
roughly
by the
Shoulder,
who surpriz'd as much to find himself discover'd, struck the
old
and
feeble Eunuch
such a Blow upon the Head, as beat him to the Ground, and running to the Window, never staid to look for
Sheots,
which
if he had he wou'd have miss'd,
but venturing his
Neck
to save his Liberty, leap'd nimbly down, and lighting on the soft and yielding Mould, receiv'd no hurt, but made a shift, to
clamber
up a
Gate
which open'd to the Lane; and after half an hours rambling up and down,
half dead with fear,
came out upon the
Port
where lay an
English Vessel, half Ʋ nladen,
close upon the
Key
; He got
On-board,
and overjoy'd at his escape, went
next Morning
to the Vessel he belong'd to, which departed two days after,
bound for Alexandria.
The Liberality of the
Turkish
Ladies.
HE brought off Ten or Twelve considerable
Diamonds,
of a greater Value than the Profits of a Hundred of his Voyages cou'd possibly amount to, every
Lady
gratefully bestowing
One,
the Night she Bedded him. Had he but staid to have gone through the Family he had grown Rich by their
Successive Bounties,
but he had cause to be contented with his Fortune
eitherway
: And what will serve to make this Accident the more diverting, is, that when the
Eunuch
rose and look'd about him, the Ingenious
Ladies
joyn'd to tell him an Amazing Story, how the Man he saw, came in and Frighted them, which Passing for a truth, they sav'd their
Reputations,
and perhaps their
Lives,
while it was commonly reported
round the City,
that the
Devil
or an
Infidel
had entred the
Haramm
of such a
Nobleman,
nor was it known which way he had
got in,
or how he cou'd find means to get away again.
A Story of the Unfortunate Intrigue of a
French
Embassadors Secretary.
LESS
Fortunate,
tho' equally
Adventurous
was the Comical
Amour
of a Young Gentleman,
Secretary
to the
French Embassadour
at
Constantinople,
about the Year 1700, who Attempting to have Brib'd an
Eunuch,
of a
Turkish Noblemans Haramm,
receiv'd Encouragement to hope Admission on a certain Night; when coming by Direction of the abovenam'd
Eunuch
to a certain
Woodpile
in the
Yard,
belonging to the House wherein they were, he Mounted on the
Loggs
and waited for a Summons.
HE had not long continued there, before a certain
Lady,
purposely
as 'twas reported afterwards,
admitted to a Chamber very near him, came and look'd about her at the Window, the
Amorous Monsieur
had no sooner fix'd his Eyes upon her,
A silent way of making Love.
but believing
that
to be the Future Object of his
Love,
he put in practice all the
Lears, Bows, Cringes
and
Grimaces,
he was capable of using.
BUT while thus employ'd upon the
Turkish Woodpile,
the Master of the House, who had been told the
Secret
by his faithful
Eunuch,
came Attended by a Number of his Servants, and Apprehended him amidst the Numerous Airs of his too distant Courtship.
The bad success of his Amour.
No excuse cou'd plead his Pardon, but he was immediately led out, and in
the very Gate,
set open purposely to gather Lookers on, receiv'd
two Hundred Bastinadoes
on the Soles of his Feet, and was turn'd out, to hop along the Streets and reach his Home, as well as his sore Bruises wou'd permit him.
The
Turks
sharp answer to the
French
Embassadors complaint.
COMPLAINTS were made by the
Embassador
his Master, but the
Turkish Court
return'd for answer, that
as all their dealings with the several Ministers of Foreign Princes, had been hitherto directed by the Customs of their Country, so they knew not well to grant a Satisfaction for an Accident which had not yet afforded them a Precedent
: Thereby Insinuating that the
Secretary
had so
greatly
and so
openly Affronted
the
Turk,
who
Bastinado'd
him, that 'twas an
Action,
whose
peculiar
Insolence was
past Example.
Loves blind effects excuseable in all Men.
LET
Love
excuse the
Amorous Frenchmans
rash attempt, or rather his Miscarriage; 'tis a
Flame
will Burn in every Country, and the
Smoak
it raises may excuse the Blindness of the
objects,
which it Seizes on; No Man can always run too fast for following
Indiscretion,
and you know, who tells us
Nemo omnibus horis Sapit, No Man is always free from Folly.
Well spoke that
Ancient Greek,
who asks this Question, in the very Case we now are Treating on.
Ah!
brainless
Youth, in vain you fly from
Love,
He's
wing'd,
and you
on foot
; who then must
swiftest
move?
The
Turkish
Ladie's want of Honour rather to be pitied than condemn'd.
CONSIDER
Readers,
when you see this strange Account of
the Fair Sex in Turkey,
'tis not
Nature,
but the Rules of
Education,
which inspire the most
accomplish'd Chastity
with purer Notions; and if the
rude
and
barbarous Ignorance,
wherein the
Turkish Women
are oblig'd to live, has sacrific'd their
Honour
to the
warmth
of their
Desires,
rather
pity,
than
condemn
their want of Vertue, and remember in compassion of their Frailties, that
Humanum est errare.
'Tis natural for all Mankind to go astray.
CHAP. XV. Of the
Turkish
Customs, and Ceremonies in Conversation.
IN describing the general Customs of the
Turkish Conversation,
'twill be the plainest Method to begin with their
Morning Exercises,
and trace them through the various Entertainments of a
busy Day
; for when you know what manner of Living is practis'd by the
richest
and
most active
of their People, you may easily guess at the less
stately
or
stirring
Life of the remainder.
The first Employment, whereto Great Men in
Turkey
put the Day.
EACH then obeys
for the most part,
the Summons of the
earliest Cock,
and rising from his
Mattress,
for
Feather-Beds
are never us'd in
Turkey,
his
Slaves
attend in an obsequious Reverence to wait his Motions to the
Bagnio,
which
Great Men
constantly build in their Houses,
others
must be contented with the Publick ones:
Here,
when throughly cleans'd, they rub him with Napkins till he is dry, and then attend him silently to that part of his House he pleases to be dress'd in; every Servant knows his Office, one puts on his
Shirt,
another his
Wastcoat,
the third his
Vest,
and another his
Turbant,
till he is at last compleatly ready.
Their Diversions when at Home.
IF he intends a
Visit,
he commands his Attendants to put themselves in order, and in the mean time sits
cross leg'd
on a
Cushion
in the corner of some
Saffrai, looking into his Gardens, smoaking Tobacco, drinking Coffee,
or perhaps
playing at Chess
with some
Favorite Eunuch,
which are the only
Domestick Diversions
in use amongst them.
Their manner of making Visits.
WHEN his
Horse
is ready, for they seldom visit
on foot,
he comes gravely down to the Gate of his House, thro' a double Row of his Attendants, who laying their Hands on their Bosoms bow slowly to the Ground, and kiss the corners of his
Vest,
which is the common Salutation of the
Turks
to their
Superiors
; his Horse is cover'd with a stately
Caparison
of
Cloath of Gold
or
Silver,
sometimes adorn'd with
Jewels,
which reaches from under the Saddle to his Heels; his Stirrops are of
Silver,
and so large as to contain his whole Foot; they are held,
while he mounts,
by
two
of his Servants, and when he moves, he is follow'd by a great number of them on Foot, walking
two by two
at equal distance;
How they receive each other at their Houses.
in this order he proceeds to the House of him he would visit (having before given him notice) where alighting at the bottom of the Stairs, he is conducted
thro' double rows of Servants
to the Presence of their
Master,
who meets him
nearer to,
or
farther from
his Room of State, according to the difference of their Quality, tho' to
Christians
they never stirr out of their Places, but receive them sitting; after the
mutual Compliments
of somewhat declining their Bodies with their Hand on their Bosom, they proceed thro' several Rooms to that, they are to sit in; the
Stranger,
as they walk, always taking
the left Hand,
preferr'd as the noblest Place in Conversation, because, whoever has it, is suppos'd to be Master of the others Seymetar, as
I think
I have in the foregoing part inform'd my Reader. When they are entred, they advance to that elevated part of the Floor, call'd the
Saffrai,
and place themselves
cross-leg'd
opposite to each other on Cushions richly cover'd, with their Hands upon their Laps
like our Women.
How they are Entertain'd in Visits.
NOW begins
Discourse,
which is hardly enter'd on, when several
Pages
richly dress'd bring in a Silk or Muslin Handkerchief finely embroider'd, and spread it on the
Strangers
Lap; then comes another with a
Salver,
containing several sorts of Sweet-Meats in little Spoons, like those we use for
Tea,
some of these he eats, and is immediately attended by a third with a
Dish of Coffee
; that drank, the Handkerchief is taken away, and they withdraw; but the
Visiter
has hardly renew'd his Discourse, when they return again with another Handkerchief, which being spread
as before, one
sprinkles Sweet-Water in his Face from a Silver Bottle, and
another
smoaking his
Beard
and the inside of his
Vest
with burnt Perfume from a golden Incense-Pan, they withdraw again; these two Ceremonies are usually perform'd at the
Page's Discretion
as to the time between them; but there remains a
third,
which they must wait their
Master
's call for, and that is the bringing in a large Dish of
Sherbet
of an excellent Flavour, which as soon as the
Stranger
has drank, he takes leave and goes away;
A very odd Custom.
for 'tis their Custom never to call for that Liquor, till they grow weary of their
Visiter's Company.
THEY seldom eat above one
Meal
a Day, and
that
a
Dinner
; they are rarely known to be
luxurious
in their Appetite, and
are yet extreamly covetous
of heaping
vast
and
numerous Sums
of Money from the
Offices
they hold; unskill'd in that incomparable Doctrine of
Horace
in the twelfth Epistle of his first Book.
Hor.
Epist. 12. Lib. 1.
—Tolle Querelas.
Pauper enim non est, cui rerum suppetit Ʋ sus;
Si ventri bene, si lateri est, pedibusque tuis, nil
Divitiae poterunt regales addere majus.
—Cease your Complaints:
'Tis not the
want of Riches
makes Men poor,
Nor can your
Wealth
a lasting Bliss procure;
If you have
Meat,
and
Drink,
and
Habit
too,
Oh! learn
Content,
what
more
can
Riches
do?
The
Turkish
Diet.
THEIR
Diet
is but course, and rarely varied, consisting generally of
boil'd Hens,
or
Mutton,
and a sort of
butter'd Rice,
of late much us'd in
Britain,
where 'tis call'd according to the
Turkish Name Pilowe
; their
Butter
is not made like ours, but
on the contrary,
is nothing else but
Sheeps Tail Fat
once melted down, and so preserv'd in certain Skins for common Uses.
Sheep with Tails so large, that they are forc'd to draw them after 'em on Carriages.
AND since I mention
Turkish Sheep,
it will not be digressive from the Subject I'm upon, to tell you that there are in many Provinces of
Persia,
and the
Grand Signior
's Country,
Sheep,
whose Tails are so prodigiously encumbred with an incredible load of
Fat,
that
twenty, thirty,
often
forty English Pounds
of Grease, are taken from the Tail of
one sole Sheep
; nay to such a
bulk
and
weight
they sometimes grow, that 'tis a very common
Scene
in many Parts of
Turkey,
to behold 'em dragging after them their
pond'rous Rumps,
on
two-wheel'd Carriages,
contriv'd on purpose.
Turkish
Pies.
ANOTHER sort of Diet us'd among the
Turks
are certain
Pies,
indifferently bak'd, and fill'd with Meats of various kinds, but so excessively, and
past all relish
mix'd with
Garlick,
that the strongest
Appetite
of
France it self,
cou'd scarce digest them.
Their manner of dressing Roast-Meat.
THEY seldom roast, and when they do, observe a very different manner from the
Europaean
Practice; all their
Fires
are made in
holes
cut
one
or
two
Foot deep in Earth, about the several Parts of all their Kitchins; an
Iron Engine,
shap'd not much unlike a
Gibbet,
holds a String, which, fast'ned to some part of any thing they roast, turns gradually round, and so prepares it for their easy Palates.
A very savory sort of Dish, in use among the
Turks.
ONE Dish they have in frequent use,
of relish not unsavory,
which may be nam'd a sort of
forc'd Meat
; it consists of many kinds of
Flesh,
all minc'd and chop'd together, with the
rind of Limons, Nutmegs, Pepper, Cloves,
and
Cinnamon,
all this they roll when season'd, into
Balls
of reasonable sizes, wrapping them about with doubled
Bay-leaves,
newly gather'd, and proceeding so to roast 'em with a gentle Fire: This
I think
they call
Kabobb,
and is
if my skill'd Country Cooks will take my Word,
a sort of palatable Preparation worth the imitating.
Their way of making Bread.
AS for
Bread
they use no other than a sort of
flat
and
dough-back'd
Cake they call
Ecmeck
; they make it of a course, and ill-ground
Flour,
rend'red moist by
Milk
and
Water
; after it is kneaded they proceed to press it out with heavy
rolling Pins,
and cutting Cakes in Trencher form, lay many on an
heated Hearth
by one another, throwing over them the
hot
and
burning Ashes,
till they judge 'em bak'd sufficiently, by which means they are very harsh and grating in the Teeth, as if some
Sand
had fallen upon them.
Their manner of Eating.
WHEN they eat, they use no
Plates, Knives, Forks,
or any thing but
Wooden Spoons,
not much unlike the fashion of our
Ladles,
these Cakes of Bread supply the place of Plates or Trenchers; upon them they lay their Meat, so throughly
boil'd
or
roasted,
that they tear with ease, what part they chuse, by the assistance of their Fingers, eating last of all the Plates themselves, as did
Aeneas
and his newly landed
Trojans,
thus describ'd by
Virgil
in his seventh
Aeneid.
Virg.
Aen. 7.
Consumptis heic forte aliis, ut vertere morsus
Exiguam in
Cererem
penuria adegit edendi,
Et violare manu malisque audacibus orbem
Fatalis crusti, patulis nec parcere quadris;
Heus etiam mensas consumimus, inquit Julus!
AN EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE, Which Represents the Manner of DINING, Among the
TURKS
of
QUALITY.
THE Place they Sit in, is a
Kiosk
or
Summer-House.
The Posture of the Servants, the Towel that goes Round, on all their Laps, the Man, who Reaches Water from the Fountain, the Carpet on the Floor, and every Figure in the Piece, is done as Naturally as is Possible.
Turks of Quality at dinner
To her Grace Mary Dutchess of Ormond &c. This Plate is most humbly Dedicated
S Bois
While having swiftly swallow'd all their Meat,
Nor finding further
Dainties
left to eat,
Insatiate
Hunger,
not yet fully fed,
Forc'd their keen Teeth to gnaw their
small-shar'd
Bread,
With eager
Jaws
and
Hands
to
bite
and
tear,
The poor Remains of their
portentous
Fare,
Nor ev'n the
very Plates themselves
to spare.
See, cry'd
Ascanius,
we no Morsel lose,
But make those
Trenchers
Meat, which we
for Meat
shou'd use.
Their Postures when they eat.
THEY sit at Meals
cross-legd,
about a
Table
scarce so much as half Foot high, made hollow, and the inside plated o'er with
Tin
or
Silver
; in their Laps there lies a long course
Towel,
very narrow, reaching round the whole Table, whose uncover'd Surface contains their several Dishes, still remov'd as soon as tasted, to make room for others, only diff'ring in the Colour of the
Soop
wherein their Meat is brought before 'em.
The Drink they use at Meals.
AS for Drink, they rarely use at Dinner any other than the Fountain Water, commonly at hand in all their
Dining Rooms,
and taken up in
Silver, Gold,
or
Earthen Cups
that moment it is call'd for, by the
Servants
who attend them. It is seldom known that all the Family sit down together to their Meat, one
Smoaks,
another
Sings,
a third perhaps is playing on his
Fiddle,
one is
Eating,
and a fifth employ'd at
Chess,
with some Companion of no greater Stomach than him self; but that their ways of
Eating,
and their
Postures
when about it, may be understood more fully, I have here annex'd a
Cut,
wherein the Reader may behold 'em plainly represented.
THEY commonly delight in sprightly Exercises after Dinner, as believing 'em
conducive
to their
Healths
and
Reputation
; many Sports they use, all which I shall describe in proper order, and will
first
proceed to treat about their Hurling the
Geritt,
the
favourite Exercise
of all these People.
Hurling the Dart, a common Exercise in
Turkey.
THIS Manly Sport is not unlike,
perhaps the same,
with that
ancient Roman
Custom of
darting Javelins
from their Hands, the
Vigour
wherewith they threw them, and the
Execution
they perform'd when thrown, may be conceiv'd by the Description of the Death of
Turnus
in
Virgil
's last
Aeneid.
Virg.
Aen.
ult
Cunctanti telum
Aeneas
fatale coruscat
Sortitus fortunam oculis, & corpore toto
Eminus intorquet. Murali concita nun quam
Tormento sic saxa fremunt, nec fulmine tanti
Dissultant crepitus. Volat atri turbinis instar
Exitium dirum hasta ferens, orasque recludit
Loricae, & Clypei extremos Septemplicis orbeis:
Per medium stridens transit femur: incidit ictus
Ingens ad terram duplicato poplite
Turnus.
Aeneas,
swift to use the
lucky Hour,
Grasp'd his
strong Spear
with a
collected
Pow'r,
And
lifting
all his Body to the throw,
Aim'd at his
Rival's Breast
a dreadful Blow;
Not from Stone Walls by
batt'ring Engines
broke,
With half such
horrid Roar
resounds the Stroke;
Not meeting
Thunder-Claps,
which rend the Sky,
With such
loud Shocks
roll on, and
striking,
backwards fly;
The
Jav'lin
flew, like a
black Whirlwind,
strong,
Bearing
grim Death
with
hissing
force along,
Till thro' the edge of his broad sev'n-fold Shield,
It pierc'd his
Coat of Mail
unus'd to yield,
Transfix'd his Thigh with a surprizing Wound,
And nail'd,
with folded Knee,
great
Turnus
to the Ground.
The
Turks
how skill'd therein.
NOR is the
Turkish
Skill inferior to the
Roman
in this celebrated Exercise, which is so common, and
thereby
so exquisitely known, that some are found among them,
who with one strong throw
at fifty five Yards distance, will with
blunt, unheaded Wooden Javelins,
break a Door of near
Inch thickness
into twenty Pieces.
NAY to such Perfection are the
Turks
arriv'd in this encourag'd Practice, that they never miss the smallest Mark they aim at; using the Diversion both on
Horseback
and on
Foot,
and catching with their Hands the Weapons of their Enemies, in certain
Skirmishes
by way of
Single Combat,
or a Party of an
Hundred, Twenty, Ten,
or
more
or
less,
against an equal Number.
The Beauty of their gracefull Forms of Exercising it.
'Tis a curious sight and worthy observation to behold their admirable
Horsemanship,
and dext'rous Management of these
Gerits,
at certain publick and appointed Trials, by the way of
Challenge,
where an
emulative fire
inspiring either side with hopes of Conquest, leads 'em on, to act as cautiously as if in earnest. 'Tis amazingly agreable to see these Men, amidst an hissing multitude of Darts, which fly continually from side to side, behave themselves with
free
and
unaffected
Carelessness, with ease defending every Part, and
turning, prancing, rearing,
and
curvetting
on their Warlike Horses, as if they were not two
distinct
and separated Bodies.
Their dexterity in several admirable Points.
THEY bear within the left side of their Horses Girt, a
certain Cane
of crooked top, not much unlike a
Crook,
or
Nut-hook,
with which they suddenly snatch up whatever
Javelin
lies upon the Ground, which
some
can do without such help, by bending from their Saddles in the swiftest Gallop;
others
there are found in
Turkey,
who will throw a Dart with all their Strength, a little rising as it flys, and watching eagerly the Course it takes, spurr violently on and catch it as it is inclin'd to fall,
some Yards before
it comes upon the Ground, and this they often will repeat for
twenty,
sometimes
thirty
Casts together.
AND now, since I occasionally spoke of
Turkish Horsemanship,
I will describe the manner of their riding, which, together with the gracefull
Shape,
couragious
Nature,
and the swiftness of their Horses, renders them the
surest
and
politest Horsemen
of the
Ʋ niverse.
The
Turkish
Saddles, and Caparisons.
THEIR Saddles are of deep and solid Make, of gentle rise behind, and bearing at the
Bow,
a sort of
high,
and
round Steel, Brass,
or
Silver headed Pummel,
very dangerous to Men unus'd to Riding: They tie their upper Girt quite round the Saddle, under which is fast'ned to three Buckles, a
Caparison,
which falling largely back, hangs almost to the Ground, and being made of
Silk,
or
Cloath
of various Colours, is embroider'd richly, with a
Gold,
or
Silver Wire,
and oftentimes set thick with precious Stones, of a surprizing
Lustre,
and inestimable Value; their
Bitts
are excellently made of polish'd Steel, so
sharp
and yet so
easy,
that when gently held, they cannot hurt a
soft-mouth'd Horse,
and yet upon occasion, will controul a
Lyon:
All the
Bridles
us'd by
Gentlemen,
are made about the breadth of one of our
Inches,
of a sort of fine and twisted Silk, of
Green, Blue, Scarlet, White,
or any other Colour.
Their way of riding.
BOTH their
Bridles
and their
Breast-plates
are adorn'd with massy Plates of
Brass,
or
Silver,
gilt genteely, and their
Stirrops
of a very large,
unweildy size,
with four sharp Corners, which supply the want of
Spurrs
upon their
Boots,
for those they never wear in
Turkey.
They are fast'ned strongly to the Saddle Frame, but hang so short, that they are forc'd to ride with
Knees quite bent
as when they sit;
Its advantage over ours.
but tho' this Posture may not seem so gracefull to the
Eye,
as ours in
Christendom,
'tis yet far more
secure,
and
usefull
; for by this means,
Turkish Horse-men
rising in their
Stirrops,
and elonging all their Bodies to each Stroke they give, both reach as far again as
we
can do, and strike with twice the strength of
Europaean Cavalry
; and 'tis in imitation of this
Eastern
Custom that the
Hussars
of our Army ride so short, and are esteem'd so usefull in
Pursuits
or
Parties.
Their use of Bows and Arrows.
ANOTHER Exercise much us'd among the
Turks,
is shooting for a
Prize
with
Bows
and
Arrows,
at which they are
expert
and
dext'rous
as I have said before; but practise this Diversion in a very dull and slothfull manner, always near the Mark, and shooting at a sort of plaister'd
Target,
while they fit in rows upon the shady Grass, and send their
Servants
for the
Arrows
as they use 'em.
Their Bows how made.
All their
Bows
are toughly made, of hard'ned
Horns
of
Buffelo
's, mix'd with
Steel
of admirable Workmanship, and finely
Gilt
and Painted with an airy Mixture of bright
Sylvan Colours.
The
Turkish
way of Wrestling.
WRESTLERS are esteem'd, and very common, but unskillfull in the dext'rous Art of
tripping
fairly; all their Method is to strip their Bodys naked to the Middle,
oyl their Joints,
and stooping forward very low, run aukwardly about each other; making
sudden, strange,
and
uncouth noises
to surprize or startle their
Antagonist,
and snatching with their Hands his
Leg
or
Thigh
so throw him upon his Back, without so much as ever making use of
their own Legs
about it.
Rope-dancers and Juglers.
ROPE-DANCERS, and a sort of
Juglers
are encourag'd to perform their several Tricks, to please
with mean Amusements
in the open Street such Persons as will stand, and gather round their Exercises, who contribute
something each,
to pay their Labours, when a Fellow brings about a certain wooden Dish, to every one of the
Spectators,
and desires their
Penny, Two-pence,
or whatever
more
or
less
they please to give him.
The Carriages in
Turkey.
THE Carriages in use in
Turkey,
are a sort of
long
and heavy Waggons, drawn by
Buffelo
's, a kind of Beast not much unlike an
Ox,
but
stronger far,
and
larger
by one half; their Horns are long, and spread to such considerable Breadth, that I have seen the
Tips,
or
utmost Points,
almost two Yards asunder.
Their unfamiliar way of Living.
I have told
before,
their manner of Saluting one another; as for
Visiting,
they seldom use it, and when Business leads 'em to each other's Houses, they are always entertain'd in outward Rooms; nor are their
Wives
permitted to appear, nor grow acquainted with their
Neighbour
's
Consorts.
Their manner of Sleeping in their Cloaths.
THEY sleep on
Quilts
extreamly hard,
and very often in their Cloaths,
by which continued Custom they are
some of them
so
lousy,
that you cannot pass a Street without observing three or four employ'd,
while sitting at their Door, or in their Shops,
in searching for, and killing those encroaching Vermin: Nor do they blush to be discover'd in so strange an Action, common
Practice
having made a Fashion of this
lazy Pastime.
They make Water like Women.
WHEN they have occasion to make Water, they withdraw from publick Observation, and
like Women,
couch themselves almost upon the Ground, least by an accidental
drop or two
upon their Cloaths, they shou'd become defil'd: They spit with scorn to see a
Christian
stand against a Wall, and sometimes strike him as they pass along, to signifie their hatred of his Action and Immodesty.
A Story how a Gentleman was circumcis'd for pissing against a
Turkish Mosque.
I very well remember that I landed once at
Candy,
with about four more, all
Englishmen,
and Strangers to the Customs of the Country; we were busy in observing
as we walk'd along,
the Buildings of the City, and afforded as
surprizing Objects
as we look'd upon, by being dress'd in
English Habits
; till
at last,
an inconsiderate and unluckly Member of our Company, who found himself inclin'd to
Ʋ rinate,
turn'd round with far more
Confidence
than
Wit
to do it, just against the Corner of a
Turkish Mosque.
THE People with a sudden hollow flew about us, and began to use us somewhat roughly, but a mild Deportment, and submissive Carriage, sav'd all harmless but the
frighted Criminal
; he
poor Man
was doom'd to suffer; certain insolent and
unrestrain'd Levants,
the Sailors of the Country, came about him with their
Knives
all drawn, and having a long time beaten him about the Head, oblig'd him to lie down upon his Back, and
never waiting for the usual Ceremonies,
Circumcis'd the
strugling
and complaining
Gentleman
with Butcher-like Incision.
THEY said abundance, but to little purpose, for we understood not then
one Syllable of Turkish,
yet suppos'd they were upbraiding the Offender, and advising him to err no more, lest he shou'd meet a
second sort of Circumcision,
far more
fatal
than the former; and indeed the suffering Person was beyond expression overjoy'd to find his Loss not half so great as he at first expected it.
Complaints are vain, where Remedies are never found
; so we were glad to march contentedly away, resolving for the future to avoid the danger, which our
Friend
had met with.
A comical Humour of the Gentleman, in relation to his Mistress.
SHAME and regret so much confounded him, that he endeavour'd
once
or
twice
to drown himself, upon receiving a
kind, amorous
Letter from a
Mistress
he had left in
England,
and wou'd often swear he never wou'd return because of his Misfortune; but it
seems,
some merry
Gentleman
of his Acquaintance writ a Letter to the
Lady,
and inform'd her of his
Resolution
and the
Accident,
which caus'd it; and upon her writing to her
Lover
that she knew the Business and was glad it was no worse; the poor dispirited
Gallant
took Courage once again, and ventur'd to go back. He
Married her
immediately on his return, and since he found
her
satisfy'd, has little reason to continue melancholy. I cou'd tell the Reader a more pleasant Story of another Gentleman, but he's unmarried, and might chance to lose his Mistress by the Bargain.
What the
Turks
hunt with Dogs.
HUNTING is an Exercise in which the
Turks
take great delight, sometimes
with Dogs
and sometimes
without
: With
Dogs
but far inferior to our
English Breed
they course the
Stagg, Fox, Hare,
and other swift defenseless Animals; but when they hunt the
Lyon, Leopard, Tyger, Boar,
or other Forest Beasts, they use the Dogs for nothing but to rouse the
Game,
and leave it to their Management.
How they hunt Wild Beasts in
Turkey.
THEY have both
Weekly, Monthly,
and
Yearly Hunting Matches,
when the Gentlemen about the Country gather in a great and formidable Body, at some noted Place of
Rendezvous,
each mounted bravely on some
Horse
that has been train'd to Warlike Discipline, and arm'd with a large
oval Target,
full of Spikes almost yard long, which hangs on their left Sides; upon their Shoulders certain
Quivers
full of the beforenam'd
Geritts
or
Steel pointed Javelins,
and in their Girdles stick a
pair or two
of small
skrew-barrel'd
Pistols; besides all these, a crooked
Backsword
arms their
Thigh:
When thus accout'red, they obey the Summons of the
Captain
's
Trumpets,
one distinguish'd by that Title being always over them.
The Form they ride in.
THE common form wherein they ride is that of an extended
Crescent,
or
Half-Moon,
whereby encompassing the corner of a Wood, they send in Dogs to rouse the Beasts about it, which the
cautious Currs
no sooner have perform'd, but they come barking back, and save themselves from danger by retiring underneath the Horses Heels: If 'tis a
Lyon
or a
Tyger
they disturb, those often have the Courage to run
roaring
forward and attack the Party.
WHEN the Beast is seen approaching, every Man prepares his
Target
for his own Defence, unknowing where he aims his Vengeance; while the furious Salvage makes directly at some singled Horseman, who opposing his sharp-pointed Shield, the leaping Beast is wounded deeply, and, while redoubling disappointed Efforts, clos'd upon by the surrounding Party, who discharge a shower of
Javelins
at his Body, till he falls and dies amidst a thousand Wounds.
When they shoot Wild Beasts with Pistols.
BUT, if,
as sometimes has been known,
the Man at whom the
Lyon
leaps, is ignorant at his Defence, and lets him seize his
Back
or
Shoulder
with a dreadfull Paw, the Company no more prefer
their Sport
to their
Companions Safety,
but ride in upon the
Beast,
and shoot him dead with
Pistol Bullets.
How they hunt the Boar.
THE
Boar
they often hunt
on foot,
with Spears of Steel, and having rows'd his bristled anger, wait his coming, with a
cautious Eye,
and leaping from his
Tusks
as he runs swiftly by them, take him
on the turn,
with strange agility, and strike him through the Heart with their abovenam'd
Boar Spears.
How Wild-Cats are hunted.
WILD-CATS, or Cats-of-
Mountains
there, afford an excellent Diversion; they frequent the
Woods,
and leap about from
Tree
to
Tree,
insomuch that all, who hunt them, are oblig'd to wear a sort of Head-piece; for 'tis very common to behold 'em jump upon the Shoulders of their
Hunters,
and endeavour
so
to Wound them, till they are prevented by the
Dart
or
Pistol-Shot
of some behind them.
The manner of a
Turkish
Coffee-House.
COFFEE-HOUSES are frequented by all sorts of People, for 'tis
there
they meet to talk of
News,
divert themselves with
Smoaking, telling Stories,
or hearing
Novels
read; yet are these
Coffee-Houses
different from
ours,
in that they only are a sort of Stalls, like
Tailors Shopboards,
open to the Street, and capable of holding
twelve
or
fourteen Men,
who meeting
there
sit
cross-leg'd
for an hour or two, to pass away the time, which lies upon their Hands, with several different kinds of innocent
Diversions.
Opium, how and by whom taken among the
Turks.
OPIUM has
in former times,
been taken as a Cordial by the generality of Men among the
Turks,
and certainly that Custom ow'd its Introduction to the
Prohibition
of the Use of
Wine
; yet,
now,
'tis much disus'd, and mostly practis'd by the
Lawyers, Scribes
and such, whose Heads are ever busied in Affairs of
great
and
high Importance
; these
by constant use,
become enabled to digest a Quantity, of force sufficient to destroy
three other Men.
Its chief Effect is
for a while
to elevate the Senses to a wond'rous Pitch of
Mirth
and
Gayety
; but in few hours, they must renew the means, or their
agreeable
and
brisk
Deportment, will be soon Transform'd to a surprizing
Dullness,
and
unguess'd Stupidity.
An excellent Custom to encourage Industry.
THERE is an admirable Custom, First
no doubt
design'd as an Encouragement to
Industry,
by so perswasive an
Example,
that the
Sultan
's must profess some certain
Trade,
or
Calling,
so to be the better able,
shou'd their Fate require it,
to get their
livings
by their own Hand-Labour. Thus, some are Taught the Art of
Turning Cups
and
Balls
in
Lignum Vitae
; others learn to dress up
Turbants
; some make
Bows,
and some
Embroider
; every one in short, who has the smallest prospect of Succession to the
Throne of Turkey,
being Taught some
useful
and
Ingenious Art,
to
Honour
and
Promote
Industrous Applications.
I have as fully Treated of their ways of living
in this Chapter,
as is needful or diverting to the
Reader,
who may see thereby, that tho' they boast no
Sun-shine
of illustrious
Learning,
nor the more
Polite
and
Ceremonious Customs
of the
Christian World,
they are not altogether void of
form
and
order,
in their
Publick
or their
Private Wheels of Government
: Proceed we
now
to trace them to their
Graves,
and see their Offices of
Mourning
and
respect
for such as having run the course of Nature, drop a sleep and make their
Exits.
CHAP. XVI. Of the
Turkish
Funerals.
Moral reflections on the consequences of superstition.
TO what a strange degree will
Superstition
lead astray the Minds of Mortals! and how wonderfully Blinded in a Cloud of
Ignorance,
and
Obstinacy,
must our Senses lie, when even the Brightest
Ray
of
Truth it self
wants force to dissipate our Errors?
YET
such a Darkness
Sways the Judgment of the
Turkish Nation,
nor can even the plainest demonstrations of their most
Ridiculous, Self-Contradictory,
and
Erroneous Principles,
convince them of their folly; they are hardned in their
Resolutions
to persist
Ʋ nthinkingly
in what they have so long
Maintain'd
; and the encreasing Weight of dangerous
Pride
has shut the Door against their
Reason.
The
Turks
unhappy in a grounded obstinacy.
THE follies of our Lives forsake us seldom, where we see them not, and the unhappy
Turks,
believing all their
Superstitious notions
Sacred truth,
Die
as they
Live,
and have as strange and unaccountable Opinions of a future State between their
Death,
and gaining
Paradise,
as of the
Pleasures,
which they Dream, will
there
present themselves: Tis pity that a
People
so prodigiously Successfull and so full of
Power,
shou'd be
Hood-wink'd
from the knowledge of a more
refin'd
and Heavenly Doctrine; how true is that Expression of the
Greek Theognis?
True
Wisdom
knows a more exalted Bliss,
Than
Boundless Pow'r
or
Mighty Empire
is.
FOR want of that the
Turks
mistake the Road to Truth, and Wander both in
Life
and
Death,
alike estrang'd from
reason
or the smallest share of
solid
Judgment.
The Ceremonies us'd by the
Turks
in Sickmens Chambers.
WHEN any of this People,
Weak
and
Aged
by the course of Nature, or
perhaps
invaded by the raging pains of a distemper'd Body, are suppos'd by their
Acquaintance
or
Relations
any ways in danger of approaching Death, they flock in Numbers to the
Sick Mans Chamber,
and endeavour to perswade him that he ought
contentedly
to meet his Fate, and Chearfully resign his Soul to him, who gave it; making him repeated Protestations of their great affection, and assurances that they had rather
Die
to keep him Company, than
Live
to lose his
valued Conversation
; they Sing incessantly in doleful strains, a kind of
Melancholy Songs,
whereby they think they Charm the Evil Angel, who attends to Kill him; the subject of these Songs is the profession of their
Love,
not much unlike,
but far less Tuneful than
the 17
th.
Ode of the second Book of
Horace,
where he thus Addresses his
Expression
to the indispos'd
Maecenas.
Hor.
Ode 17 lib. 2
d.
Cur me querelis exanimas tuis?
Nec diis amicum est, nec mihi, te prius
Obire,
Maecenas,
mearum
Grande decus columenque rerum.
Ah, te meae si partem animae rapit
Maturior vis, quid moror altera?
Oh! why,
Maecenas,
shou'd
you
thus
unkind,
With your
complaining Murmurs
rack my Mind?
Believe me, 'tis not kind to
Heav'n
nor
me,
That
you
shou'd First to
Death
a
Victim
be;
You,
the
great Ornament
of all my Fate,
And generous
Prop
of my depending State;
Ah! if too
Swift a Call
this Mournful Day,
Must
Snatch
my Souls dear
better half
away,
Why shou'd the
other part, Imperfect,
longer stay?
Their Ceremonies immediately on a Friends Death.
BUT when the Fleeting
Breath
of the departed Mortal has forsook his Body, and they find no further room for
hope,
they tear their
Cloaths,
and
for a while
abandon o'er their
reason
to the force of
Passion,
Weeping with a
long Immoderate Sorrow,
till
at last,
those
Kinsmen
farthest from his Blood, begin to Dry their Eyes, and strive to comfort
him,
whose nearness of Alliance to the Person of the
Deceas'd,
requires him to appear
Chief Mourner
at his
Obsequies
; they
First
Condole his loss and then proceed to such advice as the so late nam'd
Horace
gives his Brother Poet on the Death of
Quinctilius.
Hor.
Ode 2
d
lib. 1.
Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit:
Nulli flebilior, quam tibi,
Virgili,
Tu frustra Pius,
heu,
non ita creditum,
Poscis
Quinctilium
Deos.
He's
Dead,
and when he lost his precious Breath,
A Thousand
pious People
Mourn'd his
Death,
Yet none,
O Virgil,
does
like you
complain,
And ev'n
your self, alas!
lament in vain;
For not the utmost
Pity
you can show,
Will bring his
summon'd Ghost,
from the dark
Shades below.
THE melancholy Mourner must
a while
resist their strongest Arguments, but
by degrees
is brought to own with them, the Notions of the same abovenam'd Author.
Durum, sed levius fit patientiâ,
Quicquid corrigere est nefas.
'Tis hard, but
Patience
makes that Burthen
light,
'Gainst which 'tis
vain
to
strive
and
sin
to fight.
SO that when their
Tears
are dried away, and they have time for
Ceremony,
they proceed to do their
other Duties
in the following manner.
Their way of laying out dead Bodies.
THE
Men
by
Men
and
Women
by the help of
their own Sex,
are,
in the midst of some large Room,
laid out as
here in England,
on a
Carpet, Mat,
or something meaner, answerable to their Quality. A Crowd of
Friends
swarm round the Body, which is
naked
on the Ground, and having turn'd it nine times
round and round,
with Prayers, and Invocations for the Mercy of
Almighty God,
they
lather
it with
Soap
and
Water,
shaving it from
head
to
foot
with sharp edg'd Razors.
AFTER this they wash it clean with
Milk
and
Water
somewhat warm;
A very strange expression of respect.
then tie their
Beads
or other little
Toys
about his Limbs, which is a fashionable method of expressing their Affection: But the strangest Custom I have ever found among the Practices of any Nation, is a method they have got to wound their
Bosoms,
with a
Pin,
or
Bodkin,
and receive as much of
their own Blood
upon their Fingers end, as will enable them to write distinctly in a crimson Character, their
Names
and
Ages, on the Breast of the Deceas'd.
How they fold the Body.
THEN fold they up the Body in a
Linen Sheet,
which twists about a dozen times the compass of the
Corps,
but is left
open
at the
top
and
bottom
for a pleasant sort of reason, which I shall
hereafter
mention, and which
Superstition
has perswaded them to think
sufficient.
WHEN they bear 'em to the
Grave,
'tis
commonly
about the close of Day, and with a numerous Train of the
Acquaintance
and
Relations
of the
late Deceas'd
; the manner, you will see describ'd at large in the
Cut
that is annex'd hereto; but for the
Reader
's further satisfaction, I will set down all the order, which the
Turks
observe at the most celebrated
Funerals
of Men of high and noted Quality.
Their forms of marching to a Funeral.
FIRST march a Train of grave
Derveeshes,
or the
Priests
of whom I spoke in a
foregoing Chapter,
these bear a certain number of large
flaming Torches,
and with melancholy Looks, and
carefull, slow,
and
heavy Steps,
foretell the People what is coming after them.
NEXT follow other
Priests,
who by their
wringing Hands,
and
shaking Heads,
and other such
expressive
signs of Sorrow, seem as much concern'd as if the Parts they only
act
were
true
and
real.
AN EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE, Which Represents the Prospect of a
TURKISH FUNERAL.
A. A.
THE Grave, and People, gather'd round it.
B. B. B.
The Church-Yard.
C.
The Torch Bearers.
D. D. D.
The Priests, and hir'd Mourners.
E. E. E. E.
Four Fine Led Horses.
F. F.
The Trailers of the Ensigns.
G.
The Turbant, which lies at the Head of the Bier, and Marks the Quality of the Deceas'd.
H.
The Dead Body, upon the Bier.
I.
Two Priests, who follow the Corps.
K. K. K. K. K.
The Company, Invited to the Funeral.
L. L.
Two Christian Travellers, looking on.
M.
The Guide, who attends them.
To Sr Alexander Cairnes of
Monaghan
n the Kingdom of Ireland Baronet
his Representation of a Turkish Funeral is Respectfully Dedicated.
The
Turks
all mourn in White.
THEN come several Men, who bear along large
Ensigns
trailing far upon the Ground behind 'em; after them
four, six,
or
Ten led Horses,
at an equal distance, led by
Grooms on foot,
come slowly forward, cover'd
to the Heels
with fine
white Cloth,
(for that's the
Turkish Mourning
) treading with a
grave
and
heavy step,
as if they knew the Cause of their Appearance.
How the Body lies upon the Bier.
NOW comes the
Body,
carried on a
Bier
by four tall Men, half cover'd over with the
Mourning Cloath,
which falls about 'em from the
Bier
and hangs upon the Ground, the
Corps
is born
head foremost
through the City, wrap'd in
Linen,
with his Face uncover'd, and a
Turbant
at his Crown, whose
shape
or
magnitude
denotes his Quality; they never bury them in
Coffins,
so they lie all open to the publick View, bestrew'd with every
Flower,
which may happen
then
to flourish.
BEHIND the Corps immediately appear two venerable Priests, with
Turbants
of a
large
and
stately size,
who,
all the way they go,
with
elevated Eyes,
and
Arms extended,
sometimes striking furiously against their Breasts, call
vehemently
on the Name of
God,
pronouncing it a thousand times, with
awfull Sound
and melancholy Accent.
The Close of the Procession.
IN the rear of the
Procession
walk his Friends, in gracefull Order
two by two,
with Handkerchiefs, to wipe away the
Tears
they shed for
grief
or
fashion.
Women go not to the
Funerals
of Men, nor Men to those of Women, unless it be a number for their
Safety,
and performance of the Ceremonies requisite in
Burials.
Their Church yards, how, and where plac'd.
CHURCH-YARDS
among the Turks
are always plac'd without the
Town,
or in some
wild
and
vacant
Place within it; as for Ground they never mind to chuse it
level, Hills
and
Dales
are all alike, and for the space of
sometimes
full three Miles about, you see a sort of
Grove
or
Wood
(if the Expression be allow'd) of lofty Stones, for at the
head
and
foot
of
every Grave,
is plac'd a Marble, of the shape and bigness of a
common Man
: The only way they have to signalize the Memory of Noblemen,
I mean great Officers
among them, is to carve the tops of both the Stones they fasten at his Grave, to represent a
Turbant
of a
size
or
form,
which speaks his Quality; they strow the Ground with
odoriferous Flowers,
and often plant such little
Trees
and
Herbs
as are for ever
green
and
flourishing.
A charitable Custom of the
Turkish
Women.
Three times a Week the Women meet in all their
Coemitery
's, to condole the loss of
dead Relations,
with continued
howlings
for about two Hours, leaving, when they go away,
on every Grave, Meat, Drink,
and
Money,
as a charitable Offering to the numerous Poor, who afterwards come in, and taking what they find
there left,
do gratefully repeat a certain number of Petitions for
the Soul of the Deceas'd,
proportionable to the
Alms
bestow'd upon them.
Their Ceremonies at the Grave,
HITHER then they bring the Corps, and coming to the
Grave,
first lay it on the Earth and gather round it, every one repeating Prayers for his Delivery from the Punishment of
Purgatory,
for they hold (as I have said before) a middle State; this done, they bury him without a further Ceremony, and filling up the Grave with Earth, return again in order as they came.
A very strange Notion of an Examination in the Grave.
NOW says the
Turkish Doctrine,
they no sooner leave the Body in the Ground, but up start two
black, horrid Angels,
with their Hands of
Steel,
and Heads of
Fire
; these immediately rejoin the
Soul
and
Body,
and by force oblige the frighted Wretch to
sit upright,
while they with great sharp Knives of fiery Substance, cut the Body widely open, and examine nicely all his Heart, to see what sort of Life he led
while here on Earth
; if they perceive his
good Deeds
more in number than his
evil Actions,
they with humble
Congees
sneak away, and in their room, come
two bright Spirits
from the Realms of Bliss, who lay him gently down to rest again, and sitting, one to guard his
Head,
the other to protect his
Feet,
attend him so till the Great Day of
Ʋ niversal Judgment.
The Punishments they fancy Ill-Men undergo.
BUT if they find (as
ten
to
one
they do) that his
ill Actions
have surpass'd his
Good ones,
one
black Angel
with an
Hammer of a thousand Weight,
with fury strikes him on the Head and beats him eighteen Fathoms under Ground; by which time
being turn'd in passage like a Shuttlecock,
the
other Fiend
receives him at the bottom with another Blow as fatal as the former, and thereby sends him swiftly up again, so continuing to knock him
up and down,
'till
Mahomet
their Prince of Mercy, shall in gracious pity of his human Frailties, condescend to grant a short Reprieve, which being pass'd, the
bloody Executioners
strait fall to work again, as roughly as before; and this Opinion so prevails in their
Imaginations,
that they always,
in their prayers for Friends deceas'd,
implore the Mercy of
Almighty God,
to ease them from the Torture of the
two black Angels.
And it is for these two
Fiend
's conveniency, that,
as I said before,
the
Winding Sheet
is left unty'd at top and bottom.
NINE Days
successively
the dead Man's Friends assemble
at his Grave,
and pray together for the Welfare of his Soul; that time of mourning over, they erect a
Monument
of little cost, (
but not unless he was of a distinguish'd Quality
) upon the flats whereof appear, engrav'd in
Turkish Characters,
the several
Graces
and
accomplish'd Excellencies,
which adorn'd his
Person
with peculiar Merit while he liv'd and flourish'd.
A pleasant kind of Burial.
SOME are buried in their Gardens, and have
Tombs
built over them, adorn'd with
Jessamines,
and all the
odoriferous Plants,
which blooming
Spring
perfumes the World with, whose delightful Shades embracing with a sort of melancholy closeness, the half cover'd
Pillars
of
Thebaick Marble,
afford a
pleasing
and
surprizing Prospect,
through a
grated Opening
in the outward Wall; form'd purposely to let all Passengers behold the Monument.
The Mausolaeums of the
Turkish
Emperors.
THE
Sultans,
who have built large
Mosques
in
Constantinople,
and, who shall be spoken of in the Chapter relating to
that City,
have their
rich
and stately
Mausolaeums
near the
Temples,
where assemble daily numbers of poor Pilgrims, who receive a certain Alms to pray for the departed Soul, of him, whose
Liberality
they then are blest with; many Lamps are constantly kept burning, and a set of Priests maintain'd on purpose to inspect the Duties of the Place, which are both numerous and superstitious even beyond imagination.
Epitaphs of Modern use among the
Turks.
'TIS seldom known that any other
Epitaph
is plac'd upon a
Tomb,
than just a plain account of the
Condition, Name, Age, Sex
and
time of Burial
of the Person there interr'd, yet 'tis of
late
become a Custom with the
Richest
and
most Noble
of their People
here
and
there,
to order certain short and witty Verses, to be made upon the Vertues of the
Dead,
and either
carv'd
or writ in
Golden Letters
on the Marble Monument; I will
transcribe
and print in
English
one or two of different kinds; that you may better guess their manner of composing them. Here follows
one,
upon the Death of
Ishmael Bashaw,
the Governor of
Constantinople,
who was kill'd in Battle, at the great Defeat the
Turks
receiv'd in passing o'er the River
Raab
in
Hungary,
to fight the
German
and
Hungarian
Forces, under the Command of
General Montecuculi
on the 27th of
July, Anno Domini,
1664.
An Epitaph upon a
Turkish
General, kill'd in Battle by the
Germans.
Here, by his two
good Angels
guarded, lies,
Ishmael Bashaw,
in War the
German
's Prize,
They kill'd him
basely
e'er the
Stream
he pass'd,
He
won,
but
lost
again, because he
won too fast
:
O
Infidels
beware, he, who
perplext
Your Souls while in
this World,
will
damn 'em
in the
Next.
ANOTHER follows of a
merry Strain,
upon a certain
Orange Merchant,
who died in his
first Wives Arms,
upon his
Wedding Night
; in which they seem to shew a love of
Puns,
by jesting on his Profession.
An Epitaph upon a Man, who died in his Wives Arms, on his Wedding Night.
Alas, alas!
here free from
Cares
and
Strife,
Lies
one embrac'd to death
by his first Wife;
Had'st thou been sow'r, as
Persian Limons
are,
Thou had'st not met a
Fate
so
sharp,
so
rare
;
But as thou wa'st an
Orange
thou art dead,
For
Women
love such
Sweetness,
ev'n in Bed:
And
she,
who by thee chanc'd that
Night
to lie,
Tasted
thee, found thee
sweet,
and quickly
suck'd thee dry.
I cou'd insert some others, which I now have by me, but the two
above-written
will suffice to shew their
Genius,
and the
Turkish
tast of
Wit in Epitaphs.
CHAP. XVII. Of the Publick and Private Buildings of
Turkey.
The Reason why the
Turks
neglect great
Buildings.
AMONGST the various and innumerable Follies, which possess the
Turks,
they boast
one Prudence
and maintain it with an Argument, that is, 'Tis
indiscreet
and next to madness, to employ their Thoughts and constant Labours in the raising
lofty
and
stupendious Palaces,
whose solid Forms may probably outlive the very Memory of their
forgotten Founders.
Why shou'd we,
cry the
Turks, bestow our Cares and Riches on the vain Contrivance of magnificent and stately Structures, when we neither know if we shall live
to Morrow,
nor are sure to leave our sumptuous Habitations to an
Heir
's
Possession
of our
Race,
or our Religion;
Horace
wisely in his
second Book
and
eighteenth Ode
reproves this Folly.
Hor.
Ode 18. Lib. 2.
Tu secanda marmora
Locas sub ipsum funus: & sepulchri
Immemor, struis domos.
In
hewing Marble
all thy Hours
Unthinking Wretch, roll on,
When the swift Call of
Death
's keen Pow'rs,
Shall snatch thee
hence
anon.
In building
Palaces
of State,
You waste your
measur'd Breath,
Vainly affecting to look
Great,
Ʋ nmindfull
of your
Death.
The ancient Buildings of
Greece,
quite ruin'd, and forgotten.
NOR are there
now
remaining many of those
vast
and
unexampled
Buildings of
Antiquity,
whose stately Spires and venerable Piles in
former times,
were wont to crown the face of
Greece
with an amazing Majesty; almost all those ancient Marks of
Pride
and
Grandeur
are entirely ruin'd, and effac'd from even the nicest ken of curious Observation, and if any yet remain, they are so
mouldred
and
deform'd
by penetrating time and
Ages Injuries,
that they will hardly serve to any other end, than the presenting a
Memento
to the Frailties of
Mortality,
and
telling lookers on
with a prevailing
Silence,
and the
horrid Marks
of an experienc'd desolation, what
Ausonius
says, when he declares that
Mors etiam saxis, nominibusque venit.
How wide alas! does
Death
's
Dominion
fly,
When ev'n our
Names themselves,
and
Stones
must die!
The Publick Buildings more magnificent.
THE
Turks,
however negligent in the
magnificent
and
lasting Structure
of their Houses, spare
no Pains, no Art, nor Money
in their Publick Buildings; such as
Mosques,
or
Churches, Bagnio
's,
Hans,
and
Hospitals,
which with their common dwelling Houses, form the Subject of this
Chapter,
and shall
at large
be treated of in their respective Places.
The situation of their Mosques.
AND first their
Mosques,
as dedicated to the Service of the
Great Almighty,
tho' in an
erroneous
and
mistaken
way of Worship, claim our Observation. They are ever situated on some elevated Hill, or rising spot of Ground, thereby appearing more
majestically Great,
and Tow'ring; the common ones are seldom found so stately as our
Country Churches,
and may be more particularly conceiv'd, if the Reader will be pleas'd to look upon the Form; exactly represented in the Figure mark'd by the Letter
(O)
in the
Cut
of a
Graecian Wedding
in the one and twentieth Chapter.
BUT the
Royal Mosques,
or such as have
from Age to Age
been founded by the mighty
Turkish Emperors,
deserve a more particular and full Description, which take as follows;
The
Turks
unskill'd in the ancient Orders of Architecture.
first observing that the
Turks,
unskill'd in ancient Orders of
Iönick, Dorick,
or
Corinthian Buildings,
practice methods independent on the Customs of our
Europaean Architecture,
and proceed by measures altogether
new,
and owing to the Product of their own
Invention.
The description of a Royal
Turkish
Mosque.
THEY are built entirely of a
spotless White
and
shining Marble,
round in form, and rising to a large and stately
Cupola,
supported nobly by a
double,
sometimes
treble
row of Pillars of a different Order each from other, yet without a Name whereby I can express them in the
British Language
; their
Capitals
and
Bases
are not seldom form'd of
Brass,
and frequently the
Columns
ring'd about with a continued Piece of
twining Carv'd-Work
of that very Marble, which composes the
Pillar
; sometimes other Workmanship adorns them, not unlike that rais'd Work, which
Italian Architects
distinguish by the Name of
Basso relievo
; very often they are left quite plain, but admirably polish'd by an Art which gives them
lasting Lustre.
A sort of Turret, not unlike the Monument in
London.
THE
Capitals
of these high Pillars support not only the above-nam'd
Dome
or
Cupola,
but a broad Marble
Gallery,
which running round the whole Circumference, at several Doors admits an ent'rance from
four, six,
or
eight
tall
Turrets,
which surround the outside of the
Mosque,
and are erected of an equal
magnitude
from
top to bottom,
rising from the Ground, and reaching half as high again as to the
Center
of the
Cupola
; at equal distance from each other every
Turret
is adorn'd with
two, three,
sometimes
four
large
Tarrasses,
exactly like the
Gallery
upon the Monument on
Fish-street-Hill,
in
London
; whence
Priests
appointed for that Duty, call the People to assemble in the
Mosques
at their divided Hours of Prayer.
A glorious Appearance.
THE
Cupola
's, which often are surrounded with an hundred others, small and close together like
a bunch of Grapes,
are, with these small ones, richly
gilded,
as are frequently the
Spires
of the above-nam'd
Turrets,
so that the
Sun-beams
reflected
gloriously
from their all dazling Lustre, strike the Eyes of
gazing Strangers
with a sort of
new, surprizing
Pleasure.
Religious Washing Places.
ROUND the bottom of the outward Building are erected many
Cisterns,
curiously contriv'd with brazen
Cocks,
affording Water for the Ceremonious Washings of the zealous
Turks,
who hold it an unpardonable Crime, to enter any
Mosque
before their Bodies are prepar'd by
Washings,
as directed by the Precepts of their
Prophet Mahomet.
The fineness of the
Marble
sides and floors.
A stately
Portico
admits them to these
Mosques,
of wonderfull contrivance, and extensive
magnitude
; here all, who enter, leave their Slippers, and advance
bare-footed,
upon
Mats
or
Carpets,
which are spread at large, and cover neatly all the Floor, which with the sides, is flagg'd with admirable Squares of polish'd Marble, join'd so closely, that in many Places 'tis a difficult attempt to undertake a quick discovery of any Joynt.
Images esteem'd Idolatrous.
ALL Images, as I have said before, are so abhorr'd by the
Mahometans,
that they esteem it an Idolatrous Offence to have 'em in their Houses, so that
consequently
they are never found in
Mosques,
or Places consecrated to the Practice of Religion;
The use of
Niches,
in the
Turkish Mosques.
yet tho' Images are disallow'd, the compass of the
inner Wall
of all their
Mosques
is full of
Niches,
such as in the
Europaean Piles,
contain fine
Statues,
but are here appointed to another use; for being
large
and
deep
beyond the
Christian Form,
they fill the surface of those
spacious Hollows,
with the
oft-repeated
Names of
God
and
Mahomet,
in broad and shining
Golden Characters.
FROM the
great Gallery,
which I
just now
inform'd you was supported by the
Capitals
of those vast rows of
Pillars
which secure the
Building,
certain broad and stately Arches
sloping downwards
through the Body of the Church, between the
Columns
and the bottom of the
Cupola,
surprize a Stranger with a distant Prospect of the sides of the
Mosque
and all within it, terminating nobly in the
late-nam'd Niches,
rendred stately by the golden Names of
God
and
Mahomet.
WITHIN the Temples ever burn prodigious Numbers of
Glass Lamps,
which hang about ten Foot above the Ground, illuminating
Day and Night
the Body of the
Church
with a surprizing Brightness, and requiring such an
annual Charge
for the supply of
Oyl
and
Cotton,
that
Revenues
are appropriated to that single use; and such amazing Numbers still continue burning in their
Royal Mosques,
that I dare hardly hope belief when I inform my Reader that in the
Mosque
call'd
Sancta Sophia,
at
Constantinople,
An incredible Number of ever-burning Lamps.
no fewer
Lamps
are always lighted than
Thirty Thousand,
and some outward
Odd Ones.
A Description of the
Turkish
Bagnio's.
TO every
Mosque
belongs a
Bagnio,
which as, much frequented by the
Turish People,
is esteemed a Building of no small Importance; these are
often,
tho' not
always,
built of Marble,
Square
and
Spacious,
all divided into many and convenient Chambers,
Sweating Rooms
and
Cooling Baths,
which each makes use as he finds himself inclin'd; in every one of these Divisions
different Cocks of Brass
admit what quantity of Water
Hot
or
Cold
they think convenient; and since,
as I have said before,
the
Men
and
Women
knowing constantly the Hours of eithers Bathing, never offer at immodest Entrance, there is no Precaution taken to prevent an Insolence the Laws of
Turkey
Punish so severely. All the Doors are
therefore
carelessly left open, and the Modestest of all their Women,
Wives
or
Virgins,
Bath securely in unguarded Nakedness, as never apprehending they are liable to any kind of Danger.
A Merry Story of an
English
Cook, who caught some
Turkish
Ladies Naked in a Bagnio.
YET what withholds the Bold presumption of a
curious Ignorance?
'tis not many Years ago since an Assembled Company of
Naked Ladies,
were unexpectedly surpriz'd by an Adventurous
Tarpawlin,
Cook on Board an
English Merchant Ship,
then lying in the Harbour: He was Rambling up and down about the City, when coming by a
Turkish Bagnio,
built of Marble,
Round
and not extreamly
Large,
he took it for a
Cockpitt,
and perceiving Nobody deny'd him Entrance, was resolv'd to see a little Sport; so in he went, but had not pass'd two outward Rooms before he made a full discovery of his mistake, and
something else
which the poor
Frighted Ladies
Shreik'd their Anger at; but the Attendants of the
Bagnio
being
Naked
in performance of their Office, and the
Starting Britain
nimble Heel'd, and
Quick
to Apprehend his danger, He escap'd and ran directly to his Fellows whom he left upon the Waterside, and got
on board
without suspicion, so that he can truly boast he was
Eye-Witness
of a Curiosity unknown perhaps till then, to the most esteem'd and favourite Breast of any
Christian.
A Description of the
Turkish
Hans.
NEXT come their
Han
's a sort of Square Stone Buildings, for the Entertainment and Reception of
promiscuous Travellers,
some of these have
Lodgings
and Conveniencies of
Diet,
to deliver
Gratis
to whosoever asks it, which has been the gift of some
Deceas'd Rich Officer,
as are indeed most Buildings of this kind throughout all
Turkey.
OTHERS only give them Room for
Carriages
and
Cattle,
which are Rang'd
in Rows
along the Middle of the
Han,
whose Sides are all divided into large
Partitions,
each whereof contains a
Chimney,
where the Company who take it up, may dress their
Meat,
and Sleep on
Mats
if Weariness inclines them, for nothing else can possibly occasion even the least repose, in such a Wretched Place, with such Companions as are generally met withal, and in the midst of such
confus'd
and strange variety of endless
Noises.
The Inconveniency of
Turkish
Hospitals.
INFIRMARIES
or
Hospitals
are commonly
Stone Buildings
of a large
Quadrangular
design, not much unlike
our own,
but that the
Beds
lie open to each other, no
Apartments
being form'd to keep the
Sick
of one Distemper from
Diseases of another kind,
but inconsiderately exposing all to Publick View, and dangerous Conversation.
Description of their common Dwelling Houses.
NOW let us look upon their common Houses, and we shall perceive them
poor
and
mean,
ill-contriv'd, and never higher than one single
Story,
they are generally built (I mean the Frames) of
green, unseason'd Timber,
cas'd with
Mud,
or
unbak'd Bricks
half hard'ned in the
Sun,
which is the cause that, yielding to the
Weather,
they can seldom stand above ten Years, without expensive trouble in a general Repair; and another Inconvenience, which attends their way of Building, is, that by the
sudden Moistures,
and as
sudden Heats
these Bricks are subject to, a sort of
black
and
deadly Scorpions
breed so frequently in all their Walls, that I have had them
often
fall upon my Cloaths as I have
walk'd about
their finest Houses.
THE meanest of their Buildings rise a little in the
Roof,
and form a
low
and
arch-like Ridge,
defended from the Rain by
Slates
or
Tiles,
of odd contrivance, and have a sort of
Gallery
or
Balcony
built quite round them:
Description of their finest Houses.
The
better sort,
are sometimes rais'd to moderate heighth by an
unpolish'd
kind of Stone of greyish Colour; they open from the Street with
low
and
ill-made wooden Doors,
to spacious
Courts
or
Yards,
which lead 'em to an ill-contriv'd and timber
Stair-case, that
admits 'em to an Hall, where wait Attendants at a Door; which opens into the
more rich
and
private Chambers.
ROUND the above-nam'd Court-Yard are the several Offices, as
Stables, Kitchen, Cellar, Buttery,
and the other necessary Places in a Great Man's Family.
Pleasant Rooms.
THE best Apartments, tho' not stately, are beyond imagination
pleasant
and
agreable,
for some are floor'd with
Oak,
all cover'd over with fine
Mats,
or
Carpets,
painted on the Sides and
Cieling
with an hundred various Colours, richly intermix'd with
Gold
and
Silver,
and adorn'd with little Wands of
Deal,
cut long and in a semicircular form, the Flats whereof are glew'd on
cross ways
to the colour'd Roof, and form a sort of square confusion, or
agreable irregularity; one half
of all these Rooms is rais'd about a Foot above
the other,
call'd the
Saffrai,
which I have
before
occasionally mention'd; and is generally that side of any Room, which looking out upon the
Gardens,
adds a double beauty to the Place it self, which is alone
sufficiently agreable,
by being cover'd with the richest Carpets, and surrounded on the sides with fine
embroidred Velvet Cushions,
upon which they
sit
or
lean by Day,
to
eat drink, talk,
or entertain their Family;
How the
Turkish
Beds are made.
and where
at Night
their
Beds
are made, not soft with
Down,
but stuff'd with
Camel
's
Hair, Sheeps Wool,
or
Cotton.
OTHER Rooms are pav'd with fine and various colour'd Marble, having
Fountains
of a round, triangular, square, oval, or what other form their Fancy leads 'em to make choice of, in the midst of the Apartment;
A melancholy but delightfull Amusement.
and several others trickling gently from the hollow Wall, and falling with a sort of melancholy murmuring, upon thin Shells of
Brass,
contriv'd on purpose to resound the Notes of the complaining Waters, and compleat thereby the dulcid
Entertainment,
of a
charming, natural,
and yet
uncommon Harmony.
THE
Turks
delight extreamly in a
Country Life,
retiring often to some rural Seat, to please themselves in Solitude, to which end also, they have very
large
and
costly Gardens
to their City Houses, where tho' 'tis allow'd, they neither
know
nor
covet Christian
Arts of Planting
Flowers,
and marking out their Ground in
orderly Divisions
;
The
Turkish
Gardens form a sort of natural Paradise.
they yet contrive so charmingly to imitate
soft Natures Sweetness,
in their
Wildernesses, Groves,
and
shady Bowers,
that walking underneath the Covert of the meeting Boughs, and undistinguish'd Avenues, they seem possess'd of that
Elyzian Happiness,
describ'd as follows by
Tibullus.
Sed me, quod facilis tenero sum semper amori,
Ipsa Venus campos ducet Elysios.
Hic Choreae, cantusque vigent: passimque vagantes
Dulce sonant tenui gutture carmen aves.
Fert casiam non culta seges, totosque per agros
Floret odoratis terra benigna rosis.
Ad juvenum series teneris immista puellis
Ludit: & assiduè praelia miscet amor.
Since
gentle Love
with ease my Heart invades,
Venus
shall guide me to
Elyzian Shades
;
There, Songs
and
Dances
swell full tides of Joy,
And
Birds
from
Tree
to
Tree
their Wings employ,
Stretching
for dulcid Strains
their tunefull Throats,
And
chanting
Harmony in
warbling Notes.
Ʋ ncultivated Shrubs
yield
Cassia
there,
And
all the
kindly Soil does
fragrant Roses
bear.
There
lovely Nymphs
with
amorous Shepherds
toy,
Mix'd by
kind Love
in
Skirmishes of Joy.
IT may not be improper under the Head of
Turkish Building,
to introduce a Word or two concerning their
Skill
in the Art of
Fortification,
which, far inferior to the
Christian Practice,
you may take as follows.
The
Turkish
Art of Fortification.
THEY have no Opinion of the lofty
Bastions, Horn-works, Ravelins, Counterscarps, Tenaille
's, or
Out-works
of the
Christians
; but level all their
Modern Works
within a little of the Ditches, which surround 'em; which, tho' less chargeable, they hold as
efficacious
to oppose
Approaches
as the other Method: But their chief
security,
and whole
dependance,
is in undermining all their Works, which they do so dexterously, that by sinking one below another, they can
blow up Bull-warks
after they are taken,
three several times,
so often ruining the Efforts of their
Enemies.
The
Turks
the best Defenders of a Town, and why.
THE
Turks
of any Nation are the best in the defence of Towns Besieg'd, for
Priests,
or
Politicks,
have craftily infus'd a Notion in their Minds, that he, who being
garrison'd
in any
Fort
belonging to the
Sultan,
lives to see the
Infidels
possess it, shall not only lose his
Prophet
's
Favour,
but forever be excluded from the future Blessings of
expected Paradise.
The
Turkish
Prisons, few, and weak, and why.
I shou'd add a little of the
Turkish Prisons,
which the Reader may
perhaps,
expect of
Strength
and
Number,
in proportion to their
Cruelty,
and
Arbitrary Power,
which the
Sultan
exercises; but that very Cruelty is,
on the contrary,
the only reason why there are
in Turkey
very
few,
and those weak
Prisons
; for the
Justice
or
Injustice
of the Sentence, which condemns a Criminal of any kind, is so speedily inflicted, that there frequently are known but fourteen Hours between the
Crime
and
Execution
; so that any Place will hold
the Guilty,
since, for reasons mention'd in the Part foregoing, an
Escape from Justice
is esteem'd
impracticable.
CHAP. XVIII. Of the City of
Constantinople.
The Antiquity of
Constantinople.
THIS Great and Famous
Town,
the Subject of this Chapter, and an ancient Seat of Grandeur and Authority, was built about the time wherein the
Persian Empire
flourish'd o'er the
Eastern World,
her Founder's Name was
Byza,
whence she took her first denomination of
Byzantium,
and continued an
obscure
and inconsiderable City till the Reign of
Pausanias King of Sparta.
When, Conquer'd by the
Romans.
TO him it fell the Prize of War, he won it by Assault, and gloriously rebuilt, enlarg'd, and strengthen'd it; insomuch, that long enjoying peacefull Plenty, she continued
Mistress
of a fix'd Security, and after three Years vigorous Defence, became a dear and bloody
Victim,
to the conquering Army of
Severus
an ambitious
Roman Emperor.
How rendred Great and Glorious.
SHE chang'd her
Masters,
but continued notwithstanding, in the same Condition as to
Power
or
Character,
till the Choice of that illustrious
Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great,
distinguish'd her by bright and shining Honours from all other Cities, stripping
Rome
of all her Glories, to adorn this happy Favorite of his Fancy; and in short removing from the
Western World
the mighty Seat of universal Empire, to dignifie this
new Elected Eastern City
with that envied Title, and conferring on his rich and stately Residence, the celebrated Name of
Constantinople,
thereby expressing that he plac'd her Welfare, in an equal balance with his own Prosperity, and had elected that one Place of all the World, to be the proud and splendid
Scene
of his amazing
Grandeur.
TO draw Inhabitants from
Rome
to this new City, he decreed that Citizens and Freemen of the one, shou'd all
of course,
be free of t'other, robbing
Italy
of many Monuments of Conquest and Antiquity, and transplanting endless Numbers to
Constantinople,
How long it flourish'd.
which continued from the Year of
Christ,
331, to 1453, in all the Glories of unrival'd Plenty, and extended Power; under a successive Race of formidable Monarchs, who possess'd a large and uncontroul'd Dominion over distant Territories, and enroll'd the Glories of their Great
Metropolis,
in the Politest, nay the foremost Leaf of
Fame
's bright
Register.
But how uncertain and delusive are the Honours of Mortality! And all the shining Trains of
Pageantry,
which join to flatter us with promis'd
Fortune!
What Condition of our frail
Humanity
is
permanent
or
solid?
Or as
Juvenal
has it in his
tenth Satyr.
Juv.
Sat. 10.
—Quae praeclara & prospera tanti,
Ʋ t rebus laetis par sit mensura malorum?
Where can be found that
uncomplaining
State,
Or where the
Master
of so
blest
a Fate,
That they can
freely
and sincerely say,
Ours is a
griefless Joy,
and Bliss
without
Allay?
When
Constantinople
was taken by the
Turks.
AMBITION and the wild distractions of intestine Discords, shook
at last
to worse than nothing that
divided Empire,
and involv'd her Children in a bloody Ruin, by the conquering Arms of
Turkish Enemies,
who in the Year above-nam'd, won by storm that miserable City, which with
different Fortunes
has born
different Names
; and reign'd by turns the fam'd
Metropolis
and favour'd Residence of the ancient
Roman, Graecian,
and the present
Turkish Emperors,
who now have chang'd her Name from
Constantinople,
to
Stambole,
Her present
Turkish
Name.
the
Etymology
of which
Arabian Word
is by the
Turks
interpreted,
Fair Peace and Plenty.
Moral
Reflections on the instability of Fortune.
LEARN O Mortals
by the Fate of Empires,
not to swell imprudent Thoughts with Sails of Pride for any
frail
and
transitory
Gifts of fickle Fortune, when you plainly see how roughly she insults, and swiftly tyrannizes over boundless Monarchies, whose
unimagin'd Paleness
of
to days
declining State, so strongly gives the
lye
to the deceitfull
gloss
of glittering Yesterday. Well judg'd the
Greek
who thus defin'd her fickle Nature.
Fortune
makes wretched
humane
things her sport,
And triumphs from the
Hovel
to the
Court
;
Those, who but just before, she downward hurl'd,
She lifts again to shine above the World;
Whilst he, she
late
exalted to the Skies,
Is thrown to
Beds of Clay,
and on vile Dunghills lies.
The Beauties and Conveniencies of
Constantinople.
LET us then proceed to view this City in her modern Dress,
perhaps,
not less illustrious tho' more enslav'd, than when she shon the
Empress
of the gazing Universe; her Situation
as I have before observ'd,
has open'd all the Gates of Plenty and Command to her unbounded
Sway
and
Traffick,
and the unexampled Beauties of the Prospects she affords, are such as render her the Seat of Pleasure, and the Paradise of Nature.
Her form and situation.
THE Town is built of form
triangular,
and lies upon a
Cape
of Land, which gently rises with a smooth
acclivity,
to a considerable imminence of Ground. The
Eastern
side is water'd by the
Bosphorus,
or
Channel,
which divides the
Euxine
from the
Hellespontic Sea,
about seven Leagues in
length,
in breadth three quarters of an
English Mile.
A spacious
Haven
of unequal'd depth, security, and beauty lies upon its
Northern Line,
and to the
West,
'tis bounded by the Continent.
The circuit of the Town, and how fortified.
THE Compass of the Town is sixteen Miles, surrounded strongly by a
triple Wall,
with
Towers
and Ditches, the remaining labour of the ancient
Greeks,
whose
Arms
and
Names
are yet perceivable, carv'd
here
and
there,
upon the Stones:
Five Gates
of four and twenty open to the Land, and
nineteen
look upon the
Sea
or
Haven,
into which no Ship can come, which does not first pass almost closely by the Point of the
Great Turk
's
Seraglio,
which compleatly forms one
Angle
of the City; and the Buildings rising gradually on seven easy Hills,
each
crown'd with a magnificent and stately
Mosque,
whose Spires and Domes are richly gilded, and most strangely intermix'd with Groves of
Cypress
in the Gardens of their Houses, form a Scene so lovely and surprizing, that the ravish'd Traveller believes himself approaching to a Place no less agreeable, than was the fam'd
Elyzium
of the ancient Poets.
A wonderfull Disappointment.
BUT nothing can be possibly a greater Disappointment than I found at entrance; all those bright and golden Glories, which had tempted at a distance lost their Beauties in a nearer View;
The Ill-condition of the Town of
Constantinople.
and I, instead of an expected
Heaven,
was amaz'd to find a
Hell
of darkness; narrow Streets, with dirty Causeways on each broken side, and Windows hanging over, almost meeting in a dark conjunction; low mudd Cottages, and wide divisions, all o'er-grown with
Grass
or
Bushes,
and unpleasant Prospects of dead Walls and crooked Lanes, no Glass in any of their Windows, but instead thereof, old rotten
Lettices,
half stuff'd with
dirty Rags
of various Colours, and half cover'd over with a sort of thick, white, pasted Paper; every thing in short, but their great Buildings, such as
Mosques,
or
Bagnio's, Han's,
or
Palaces
of powerfull
Officers,
meanly representing to a Stranger's View, the roughest side of
shamefull Poverty,
seeming to upbraid the base Inhabitants with their dejected
Slavery,
in all the shocking Marks of miserable
Servitude.
HOWEVER, many stately Publick Edifices well deserve a full description, and in order thereunto, omitting purposely the Great
Seraglio,
the
South-West-Wall
whereof divides it from the City, because I shall discourse
apart
of that proud Palace of the
Turkish Tyrants,
in in the nineteenth Chapter. I proceed to speak of all things else in proper Order.
The Sultan visits
Sancta Sophia
every Friday.
AND first, among the many
Royal Mosques,
which crown the highest Places in
Constantinople,
none comes near the fam'd
Sophia,
standing not far distant from the
Sultan
's Palace, who resorts thereto
each Friday
in a publick State. By the description of this
one
the others Stateliness may easily be comprehended.
'TWOU'D be a needless labour to repeat the form, since what I mention'd in the foregoing Chapter, may sufficiently inform the Reader as to that particular; it shall suffice to say, that as no humane Imagination can conceive its wonderfull Magnificence, no mortal Pen can possibly describe it.
A description of that glorious Temple.
'Tis in short, a faultless and unequal'd
Edifice,
yet not the Work of
Turkish Architects,
for 'twas erected in the Reign of the Emperor
Justinian,
and remains unrival'd
Queen of Temples,
notwithstanding more than half her
beauteous
Ornaments have been maliciously defac'd by
Turkish Superstition.
How much it has been defac'd by
Turkish
Superstition.
FOR all that excellent
Mosaic Work,
which so amazingly adorn'd the
Floor
and
Sides
with shining Figures of a thousand various Forms and Colours, is
at present
either hid by Mats and Carpets, effac'd by Iron Instruments, or quite daub'd over with an
Inch-thick Plaster.
The Stone and Brazen
Statues
of the
Graecian
Emperors have lost their Heads, and are become disguis'd by the repeated Efforts of licentious Insolence. The deep and admirable
Cisterns,
which were form'd amidst the Vaults belonging to that Temple, and supplied with Water from stupendious
Aquaeducts,
now almost ruin'd by the mouldring rust of Time, and base Effects of Sloth and Ignorance.
Her further Encomiums.
YET is the
venerable Pile
in spite of Accident adorn'd with such a Sacred, Lofty, and
Majestic Aspect,
that her tow'ring Roof, bright gilded
Dome,
and artfull
Cupola's,
her
marble Pillars
and unnumbred Ornaments, combine to strike an awfull Reverence thro' the Breasts of Strangers, obliging them to own they see in
Her,
a sort of shining Glory, which our modern Buildings in their richest Splendour fail to equalize.
A Sweating Pillar.
AMONGST the numerous Rarities this
Church
affords, there is a large black Marble Pillar, plated from the
Basis
to the
Capital
with Sheets of Copper, which at certain Hours of every Day throughout the Year, emits a sort of vap'rous Moisture, and is therefore call'd the Sweating Column; whence this odd Effect shou'd probably arise I cannot guess, but 'tis the common Notion of both
Turks
and
Graecians,
that it was the Pillar whereunto the
Officers
of
Pilate
bound our
Saviour
when they scourg'd him, and
upon this only ground,
(perswaded to believe the Drops afford some secret
Blessing,
or prevailing
Vertue
;) you may see great numbers of promiscuous People wiping off the Moisture with their Cloaths or Foreheads, some expecting by its sovereign Power, to be protected from the least Misfortune.
A Door of
Noah
's Ark.
FOUR
Doors
it boasts, of stately heighth and curious Workmanship, the Wood whereof the largest is compos'd is said to be a part of
Noah's-Ark,
and therefore, (being purposely left open in some parts,
the rest all plated over.
) Multitudes of poor and superstitious People, come, and kneeling in the hallow'd
Portico,
imprint their Kisses on the holy Timber, with a sort of mad and zealous transport.
Description of the Hippodrom.
WITHIN the View of the above-nam'd Temple, stands the
Hippodrom,
a large round Spot of Ground like
Lincolns-Inn-Fields,
surrounded with the best and noblest Buildings of the City; about the middle of this spacious Circle, stands a very large and stately
Obelisk,
of rich
Thebaick Marble
; on one Pedestal whereof may be discover'd these remains of some
antique Inscription.
A
Theban
Obelisk.
DIFFIC — S — QƲ O — — DOMINIS PAR — JƲ SS — — EXTINCTIS PALM — — — O — — — — CEDƲ NT — — — — NNI T — — SIC VICTƲ S CECOD — — — EBƲ S. JƲ DIC — — — ATƲ S AD AƲ R — — —
IT is impossible
hereby
to guess at what the meaning was, so 'twou'd be vain presumption to attempt Interpreting those broken Sentences. Directly opposite upon another side of the same Pedestal remain these Characters.
ΚΙΟΝΑ ΤΕΤ — — Ρ — — ΛΕΧ — — — — ΜΟΥΝΟ — — Θ — — ΔΟSΙ — — — ΒΑSΙS — — — — ΕΠ — Κ — — — — ΔΕ — ΚΙΩΝ ΗΕΔΙΟCΕΝ — — — — — — — ΔΥΩ —
The Pillar of Snakes.
NOT far from this
Thebaick Obelisk,
there is a Pillar form'd of
Brass,
wreath'd upwards in the shape of three large
Serpents,
looking from the top to three distinct corners of the City, in the figure of a just, proportional
Triangle
; what the meaning of this ancient
Hieroglyphick
was, is now unknown; but this is certain, that the
Turks
have had some grounds to look upon it as an
ominous
remain of
Magic Skill
; since just two Months before the
Deposition
of their
Sultan Ibrahim,
one Head fell off as if it had been saw'd, which being fastned on again by some Ingenious Artist, kept its Place as firm as ever;
An ominous Observation
but about a Month before that great Rebellion some Years since, which ended in the
Sultan
's Death, and total ruin of his favorite
Officers, another Head
fell off, and was attended by as fatal Consequences as the former.
Another Obelisk, of several Stones.
ANOTHER
Obelisk
not far from thence, consisting of a wondrous number of large Stones, cemented artfully together, now entirely ruin'd, so as scarce to represent the form it bore, upon its
Basis
wears an ancient
Greek Inscription
so defac'd by Time, that 'tis a needless trouble to insert the broken Characters.
Constantine
's Pillar.
THE
Pillar,
commonly distinguish'd by the Name of
Constantine
's, stands tolerably whole, but little more than twelve Foot high, excluding
Capital
and
Basis
; this Distich may be read with difficulty, round the
top,
ΤΟ ΘΕΙΟΝ ΕΡΓΟΝ ΕΝΘΑΛΕ ΦΘΑΡΕΝ ΧΡΟΝΩ.
ΝΕΟΙ ΜΑΝΟΥΗΛ ΕΥΣΕΒΗΣ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΩΡ.
A deep and most prodigious Cistern.
BENEATH this celebrated
Hippodrom
there is a very deep and vaulted
Cistern,
of incredible Extent, and formerly supplied with Water by a subterraneous Passage, in such plenty, that when
Constantinople
was invested fatally by
Mahomet the Great,
it yielded daily a sufficient quantity for all the numerous Inhabitants; but whether
Avarice,
or their dependance on their Strength, has made the
Turks
neglect repairing it I cannot tell, 'tis now quite ruin'd, all the Walls being fallen in, and rend'ring the
Cistern
consequently unfit for any future use or service.
Whence it took the Name of
Hippodrom.
THIS Place was call'd the
Hippodrom,
from the
Greek Word
, which signifies a
Horse-Course,
and to that sole use it was of
old
appointed: The
Turks
at
present,
call it
Hatmahdan,
which is as much as
Riding Place
in
English.
'Tis here each
Friday,
that the most accomplish'd Horse-Men of the
Turkish Court
and
Army,
meet in Parties to encounter one another in the hurling the
Geritts,
which I so lately spoke of: They do it always with such wonderfull dexterity, that tho' their
Darts
are blunt, they imitate exactly even the roughest Shocks of
real War
; nor in their strange agility of Body, come below those youthfull
Hero's,
whom the tunefull
Virgil
celebrates as follows, in his fifth
Aeneid.
Virg.
Aen. 5.
Postquam omnem laeti consessum oculosque suorum
Lustravêre in Equis; signum clamore paratis
Epytides longè dedit, insonuitque flagello.
Olli discurrêre pares, atque Agmina terni
Diductis solvêre choris, rursusque vocati
Convertêre vias, infestaque tela tulêre.
Inde alios ineunt cursus aliosque recursus
Adversis spatiis, alternosque orbibus orbes
Impediunt, pugnaeque cient simulacra sub armis.
Et nunc terga fugae nudant; Nunc spicula vertunt
Infensi, factà pariter nunc pace feruntur.
Soon as
with pleasure,
they had view'd the Train,
And saw the gracefull
Horse-men
crown the Plain;
Epytides,
who distant from the rest,
A lofty Station purposely possest,
Observ'd them ready swiftly to disjoin,
Then smartly
crack'd
his
Whip,
and gave th' expected Sign.
At once, the
Troops
by gallant
Captains
led,
Around the
Plain
in spacious
Circles
spread,
Then
summon'd back,
in diff'rent Lines appear,
Each Warlike Hand adorn'd with a sharp-pointed Spear;
Now march in adverse Files the stately Train,
Now changing Forms, renew their Ranks again,
And circling
Rings
in
Rings,
curvett along the Plain.
Thus they extend their artfull
Wheelings
far,
And wage with friendly Arms, a
counterfeited War
;
Now they
by flight
their naked Backs expose,
Then turn with lifted
Spears,
upon
pursuing Foes
;
Till Peace proclaim'd, they lay their Arms aside,
And mingling
Ranks
and
Files,
in gracefull Order ride.
The Historical Pillar.
IN the Womens Market, which the
Turks
distinguish by the Name of
Auharat-Baasar,
stands a
Column
of prodigious height, and such a curious Workmanship, that being full even from the
Basis
to the
Capital
with
Hieroglyphic Figures
representing, in a twining manner, by
Towns, Castles, Ships
and
Horse-men, Battles,
and a thousand other strange Devices, all the Rise and Progress of the
Graecian Empire
from its original Successes; the Figures are contriv'd of such proportionable Magnitude, that both the highest and the lowest seem alike:
The Author enters it, and what he found there.
This Pillar,
like the Monument at London,
is not solid, but
within
to be ascended by a strong and winding Stair-case, where the curious
Enterer
finds not any thing that's worth his Observation, but the Names of Travellers of every Country, cut upon the Stones to tell succeeding Comers, who were there before them; I perceiv'd among them
all
but three, that I cou'd think were
English,
which were writ as follows upon different Places.
H. Blunt
—an
English-Man,
and lover of his Country.
William Dennis,
in the Year 1560 was here.
George Sandys, December
the 28th, 1610.
THIS last is doubtless that Ingenious Gentleman, who has so much oblig'd the World, with his polite and learned Observations on the
Eastern
Countries.
BUT now, methinks I feel
in writing it,
that weighty Grief, which seiz'd my Spirits, when I
saw
the poor remains of
ruin'd Majesty
; the great and glorious Palace of the mighty
Constantine,
where
Honour
breath'd as in her native Element, and all the Vertues, which adorn the Mind of Man conspir'd to render
good,
a Court, whose
Greatness,
and
Magnificence,
could possibly admit of no Addition; even this rich Court with all its ancient State and Grandeur, is so strangely chang'd amidst the unexampled Miseries of poor subverted
Greece,
that those tall Roofs, once shining brightly in a dress of Gold, are tumbled with the Columns, which supported them, and lie confus'd in heaps of Rubbish, scarce deserving even the Name of Ruins:
The Palace of
Constantine
the Great, now made a Stable for wild Beasts.
Those bright Apartments, which in former times, were wont to shine with ornamental
Balls,
and glorious Crowds of celebrated
Beauties,
are
at present
made a Den, or Stable, for the several sorts of
Wild
and
Forrest Beasts,
which serve the Pleasures of the haughty
Sultan.
HERE may the
Proud Man
read his Fate, and see in the Example of this fallen Empire (which by the haughty Reigns of her insulting Monarchs, grew
divided,
and was consequently weaken'd more and more, till all her Discords ended in her Downfall.) How admirable are the Notions of the great
Tragaedian
upon this Particular.
Sen.
Trag.
of
Troas.
Violenta nemo imperia continuit diu:
Moderata durant. Quoque fortuna altius
Evexit ac levavit humanas opes,
Hoc se magis supprimere felicem decet,
Variosque casus tremere, metuentem Deos
Nimium faventes.
No
Tyrant
's Government can long endure,
A
mod'rate Sway
is ever most secure;
The
higher
Fortune builds a Man's Estate,
And still the more she elevates his Fate,
So much the more does it become his Mind,
Humbly to own the
Gods,
beyond his Merits,
kind,
To fear the various Ills
poor Mortals
know,
And worship bounteous
Heaven,
whence all his
Blessings
flow.
ANTIQUITY I think, can boast no more remains, than what I have already nam'd, of all those glorious Monuments of
Art
and Splendour, which
in former times
adorn'd this City:
Modern Buildings,
as describ'd in the foregoing Chapter, are not wanting, but as none deserves particular remark,
The number of Mosques in
Constantinople.
I only will inform you, that the
Turks
compute the number of their
Mosques
at
Constantinople
to exceed Seven Thousand.
BUT the Reader must not here mistake my meaning, as confin'd to the wall'd Town alone; for they include the Cities following, joining all in one denomination, as we do that of
Westminster
with
London.
The City
Scutary.
THE old
Chrysopolis,
at present
Scutary,
a
Bythinian
City, standing
opposite
upon the other Shore of the abovenam'd
Bosphorus,
contains within her Bounds, a great
Seraglio
of the
Turkish Sultans,
and is large and wealthy, not much less than three Miles round.
The City
Pera.
PERA, Galata,
or
Cornu Byzantium anciently,
reaches with considerable breadth, from the opposite Shore of the
Haven,
much above an
English Mile,
with steep a scent, even to the very
summit
of the Hills, which overlook the City;
The use of a Seraglio there.
here is likewise a
Seraglio
of the
Sultans,
serving as a Prison to receive at each triennial View of the
Grand Signiors Women,
whole Shoals of
barren, sick,
or
antiquated Ladies.
ALL the Ministers of Foreign
Christian Princes
have their Dwelling Houses in some part of
Pera,
seldom suffer'd to reside within the Walls of
Constantinople
; the Buildings of this Town are somewhat larger, and more stately than the other, all the
Christian Factories
residing there,
The Christian Privileges there.
and favour'd with a sort of privileg'd Immunity among themselves, possessing a large Place, thence term'd the
Frank-Street,
or the Street of
French Men,
for the
Turks
in common Talk, call
every Christian
by that Name, who
there,
with pleasure, live promiscuously, enjoying
almost uncontroul'd,
an envied liberty, which very rarely, any
Turk
presumes to make Encroachments on, tho' some have often
insolence
enough to threaten it.
SOME other Suburbs, such as those without the Gate of
Adrianople,
where the
Turkish Sultans
at a certain
Tomb
of some old Prophet, are invested with their Power, spread themselves about and much enlarge the compass of the City, which if taken altogether,
A comparison of
London
with
Constantinople.
does indeed possess a a greater space of Ground than
London,
but, by reason of the
Gardens
join'd to every House, and many
vacant Places
of the Town, can
notwithstanding
boast scarce half her number of Inhabitants.
The Sultan common Landlord of most Houses.
THE Houses, or the greatest Part, of
Constantinople,
are the
Sultan
's Property, who lets 'em out at different Rents, according to their Value, and appoints Collectors to receive the Profits thence arising.
Besisteens, their use and description.
BESISTEENS
or large and
high-roof'd
Places, built of
Timber,
or sometimes of
Stone,
are publick Markets, not unlike our
Old Exchange,
where Goods of every kind, are bought and sold, each
Mystery
or
Trade
possessing a peculiar
Row
or
Walk:
Hither resort both
Turks
and
Christians,
who wou'd purchase any thing of worth, for
only here
they can procure it; all the Streets,
directly contrary to ours,
made dark and close in
Front,
no Shops appearing in them, worth the notice of a
Stranger
or
Inhabitant.
The form of
Turkish
Wherries.
THE Persons, who inhabit the opposite sides of the
Haven,
correspond at ease, by means of many thousand
Boats,
perpetually rowing up and down, call'd
Kaicks,
of
long
and
narrow
form, a little rising at each end and
widening
in the middle, not unlike an open'd
Bean-shell
: And now I mention their conveniencies of Rowing, I will venture to digress a little way, in order to divert you with a Story common in the Mouth of every
Waterman,
who rows you
by
a
Castle
founded on a
Rock,
that stands surrounded by the Water, at about two Furlongs distance from the Town of
Scutary.
The
Maiden
Tower.
THIS
Fort,
for such 'tis
now,
is call'd by the Inhabitants the
Maiden Tower,
it is strong and well defended by five and twenty
Cannons
of considerable Bore; the Sea between the Town and it, runs thirteen Fathom deep, yet is it plentifully stor'd with cool fresh Water, by a spacious subterraneous Passage, which admitting it from a
large Brook
not far from
Scutary,
it finds a Channel, and emits vast quantities from a prodigious
Well
within the
Tower,
running thence through hollows in the
Rock,
and mixing with the Waters, which surround the
Castle.
THE Story, which they tell, is somewhat odd, but may divert the Reader, or at least, will serve him as a
Moral Caution,
to beware how much he listens to the tempting Calls of
Loves extravagance
; whereof the knowing
Seneca
has left this Maxim.
Sen. Tra.
of
Hippol.
—Quisquis in primo obstitit
Repulitque amorem, tutus ac victor fuit.
Qui blandiendo dulce nutrivit malum,
Sero recusat ferre, quod subiit, jugum.
He, who can bravely
inborn Courage
prove,
And dares repulse the
first attacks
of
Love
;
With sure applause shall break his
fancy's
Chain,
And, crown'd with glorious Conquest,
safe
remain;
But he, who
flatters
his
mistaken
Will,
Inflaming Fire,
and nourishing the
Ill
;
Too late
shall weep, to see himself
undone,
Gaul'd
by the weighty
Yoke,
he
could,
but
would not
shun.
A Story of unfortunate and melancholy Love.
THERE liv'd (
say Turkish Chronicles
) at
Scutary,
then
Chrysopolis,
a very rich and noble
Earl,
extreamly favour'd by the
Graecian Emperor,
with whom he often us'd to ride abroad on Hunting, and continue absent sometimes twelve or fourteen Days together.
THE
Countess,
an exceeding good and pious natur'd Lady, being dead, and leaving
one sole Daughter
of the greatest
Beauty, Wit,
and other
Excellencies,
which adorn a female
Mind
and
Person,
she was us'd to mourn her Father's absence in a solitary Sorrow, still forsaking Company and Pleasure, to retire alone to sigh or read, amidst the
shady Groves
and
pleasant Meadows,
which afforded sweet Retirements, not far distant from her Father's Palace.
A Father's fatal foudness.
HER celebrated
Beauties
had alarm'd the Youth of
Court
and
Country:
Every
Father
wish'd his
Son
this
Maids
Possessor, and the
Sons
of every
Parent
mad with Passion, lost their sense of other Pleasures, and enchanted by her Graces, flock'd in numbers to sollicite her Affection; but the
aged Earl,
entirely doating on his Daughters Conversation, never list'ned to their largest Offers, bent,
if possible,
to keep her
single,
that he might, as long as he shou'd live, enjoy her Company.
An unexpected Meeting.
FORTUNE, on a certain time,
the Father being absent,
led a young and amorous Gentleman, to take a pensive walk along the Bank of a delightfull Current, near the bottom of a Wood belonging to this
Earl,
and not six hundred Paces from the House, whence just before his lovely Daughter had walk'd out, and was by him surpriz'd while leaning pensively beneath the shelter of a
spacious Oak,
and reading softly with a fix'd attention.
NEVER was Joy more unexpected and transporting than that, which seiz'd the starting Youth at this surprizing Accident; for he had long been one of those, who languish'd for her Favour, but
till now,
had never gain'd the smallest Opportunity to let her know how much he lov'd her, having
been, among the rest,
denied admission by her Father's obstinacy.
A sudden Conquest of a Lady's Heart.
LOVE
I think,
is seldom wanting upon such occasions, to inspire his Subjects with
rhetorical Assurance,
so that prompted by the Dictates of prevailing Passion, he address'd the Lady with a
Modesty so gracefull,
yet
becoming Resolution,
that she had no sooner cast her Eyes upon his Person, but a
sudden Inclination,
and
as sudden Fright
together, seiz'd the tender Regions of her
Virgin Bosom.
VARIOUS Arguments with mutual Satisfaction pass'd away the time in
sympathetic
Pleasures, and such powerfull Charms did each discover in the others Person, that
from that time forward,
they agreed to meet in the adjoining Grove, at the same Hour every Evening, not having opportunity elsewhere to do it, lest the Ladies Father shou'd discover their Intrigue, and hinder them from prosecuting their resolv'd affection.
I need not tell the
English Ladies,
that the Rules of
Vertue,
and her
Female Modesty
oblig'd the Daughter of the absent
Earl,
to seem more backward than her eager Lover in the amorous Settlement of their intended Meetings; but where
Occasions
are so seldom found, it is a needless nicety to stand too long on ling'ring Ceremonies;
A kind and gentle condescention.
so
in short,
upon assurance of her Lovers honourable meaning, and indeed her Quality had plac'd her far above distrusting his Pretensions; she permitted him to hope he might at last be happy in her wish'd Possession, and for many Weeks met
undiscover'd
in the secret Grove, and tasted all those innocent Delights, which
Lovers
may enjoy, without the smallest
tincture
of a guilty Conversation.
BUT oh
.
How soon decay the brightest Scenes of splendid Fortune!
'Twas not long this amorous Couple held their Bliss unbroken and serene; for the
Earl long since return'd,
had oft observ'd his
Daughter
absent in the Evenings, and wou'd frequently reflect with not a little wonder, that she always chose one certain Hour to leave the House, and still refus'd whatever Company propos'd attending her;
A fatal Jealousy.
his natural
Jealousy
requir'd no
fuel
to encrease its Fire, but supply'd with this, burnt out in double fury, so that he resolv'd to watch which way his Daughter took, and make it his endeavour to discover what he doubted.
ACCORDINGLY
one Evening,
purposely disguis'd in habit like a
Shepherd
he continued in a Meadow near his House, and saw the poor, unthinking Lady hasten from a private Door, and cross the Fields directly to the entrance of the
Grove
just mention'd.
An unfortunate Mistake.
LITTLE did she dream her
Father
was so near, and not mistrusting him, who at distance she mistook to be the Person he appear'd, went boldly forward to the Place appointed, where she met the
Object of her Love,
and sitting down upon a Bank as usual, tenderly reclin'd her Head upon his Bosom, and began to say a thousand soft, endearing things, believing they were
then
as private as
before,
till, in a manner stupified with eager Passion, both neglected every Object but each others Person, not perceiving the suspecting Father, who had gone a little round, below the brow of an impending Hill, and now
stalk'd
forward undiscover'd, till he came so near, behind the
Lovers,
busied in their Courtship, that he overheard with ease, each little Word, which pass'd between them.
A dangerous Discovery.
KISSES, and a thousand other amorous Actions prompted the
unfortunately raptur'd
Couple to repeat with loud and solemn Protestations, old assurances of
Love
and
Marriage,
insomuch that the surpriz'd and angry
Earl
transported by his rage to hear his Daughter give away
her self
to one, to whom he had before denied her, and for certain family Disputes, extreamly hated, drew a
Sword,
which he had privately convey'd within his Dress, and running violently at the
starting Nobleman,
who drew in his defence, was kill'd upon the spot before the Lady almost dead with fear, recover'd from the fright, his Sword had put her in.
A cause for sudden and tempestuous Sorrow.
BUT none can surely guess the storms of Grief and Wonder, which o'erwhelm'd her Breast with a tempestuous Hurricane, to hear the
Shepherd
's dying Voice so plainly speak her Fathers Accent; in short, upon approach she knew him notwithstanding his disguise, and while the
Lover,
half distracted at the fatal Accident, prepar'd to speak his wonder and her comfort, ran with violence about the Fields, forgetting Love and all its Consequences but this last unhappy one, which she proclaim'd aloud to every Servant of her
Father
's House, whereto she slew with
shrieks
and
horror.
THE Servants ran, and seiz'd the Nobleman, who stood confounded, like a speechless
Statue,
looking eagerly upon the Body of the
murder'd Earl,
nor aiming to defend himself from being taken:
A cruel Sentence to divide two Lovers.
News was carried to the
Emperor
of every circumstance of the unlucky Action, who considering wisely all particulars, gave the Gentleman a present
Pardon,
but resolving to prevent them from conversing with each other ever after, order'd the young Lady, with two
Aunts
and all the Family, to be confin'd in the
before-nam'd Tower,
then call'd
Stony Island,
giving strict command to all, who guarded it, that they shou'd never suffer her to get away, nor give admission unto any Person, such excepted as were authoriz'd to claim it by his
Royal Passport.
A while the
Lady
mourn'd so deeply for her Father's Death; and the desponding
Lover
for the Action he had done, that neither thought upon the hardship of their cruel separation; but when fleeting Time presented to their Minds the sharpness of their Fate in that severe Decree, they both forsook all hopes of Comfort;
she, in Prison,
grew quite weary of and hated Life, and
he, at large,
became abandon'd to encroaching Sorrows,
melancholy, silent,
and a Prisoner to his Grief, amidst the Tracts of
disregarded Liberty.
A melancholy way of Life.
TWELVE tedious Months were now roll'd over, and the discontented Lover still continued every Day to visit the remembred Scene of
former Bliss,
and
present Misery
; he wou'd often walk disconsolately up and down along the Bank of that delightfull River, which was us'd to murmur out a melancholy harmony to sooth their Minds, oppress'd by fear of ill Success in their commenc'd Affection; and reflecting on the various Words and Actions, which had pass'd between them, wou'd
now and then,
let fall a mournfull Tear, to think on their Misfortunes.
AT last, despairing ever more to see his
dear, contracted Mistress,
he began to wish a
period
to his Life, which only serv'd to lengthen out his Misery, and as he walk'd
one Day,
perceiv'd a Rock, wherein he had heard talk of some dark Cave, so
dismally forbidding,
that no Man had ever yet been found, who durst attempt to enter it: Disdain of danger from a weariness of living, urg'd him on to seek the Place with resolution to go in, regardless of the Consequence.
A bold and hazardous attempt.
HE found
at last,
the gloomy Entrance of the horrid Place, which open'd downwards with a very steep, and dangerous
slope,
and never waiting for a second thought, went boldly in, and crept along the rugged sides; a narrow Channel from the neighb'ring River, running thro' a Passage 'twixt the Rocks, directly in the middle, for about an hundred Yards; he made a shift to crawl along with wond'rous difficulty, down a very deep and slippery Descent, but
there
perceiv'd the Water, which till then, had ran confin'd to proper bounds, encreas'd in breadth to such a vast degree, that there was left no more dry Ground to stand upon;
A strange example of the Power of Despair.
however, as desiring Death, he was resolv'd to tempt it, and continued his advances thro' the Water, sometimes scarce above his
Knees,
then almost to his Neck, here running ten or twenty Yards indifferently smooth, then falling many Foot, and roaring round his head like some
Egyptian Cataract
; sometimes he fell, half drown'd with the impetuous fury of the Torrent, sometimes walk'd thro' the rushing Streams, which almost tripp'd him from his Feet, with their amazing swiftness.
A strange Curiosity.
STILL he crept as near as possible to some one side, and held upon the edges of the
Rocks
he met with, till reflecting on the strangeness of the Place he walk'd in, and how much it was impossible to reascend those wat'ry Passages he had already pass'd, he was resolv'd to live as long as he was able, and observe by
Touch
and
Ear,
what further wonders the Descent might lead him to, for 'twas so void of the least
glimpse
of comfortable Light, that he had then no use of
Eyes,
for none cou'd pierce one Inch of the surrounding Darkness.
HE came
at last
so far, that he perceiv'd a sensible decrease in breadth, for he cou'd stretch his Arms with ease, and touch both sides; but
on the contrary,
the depth encreas'd exceedingly, and by the Waters doubled
roaring,
and beating back as from some Wall, he found the
Cavity
no further capable of giving room to a continued Progress;
A wonderfull subterraneous Passage.
yet considering there must be some passage of emission, and little caring whither it might lead, he dip'd his
Head
and
Body
under Water, and with much ado, shot swiftly with the Eddy, thro' a very short and narrow Neck, and found himself immediatly inlarg'd, but cover'd over with a flood of Waters, which he took to be the Sea, when finding Breath grow short upon him, he made use of strong and artfull Strokes, which he had learn'd by swiming while a Boy, by these means, thinking he shou'd soon be freed, and gain the Surface, or expire amidst the Waves, both which Events he form'd a swift
Idea
of, expecting
either
with a like indifference.
A strange Escape.
BUT he was much surpriz'd, when long before he guess'd it, he perceiv'd his head above the Water, and as soon as he could see, beheld himself within a sort of
Well
or
Cistern
almost level with the brim: He swam a while about from side to side, at last observ'd a
Channel,
into which the Cistern disengag'd her rising Waters; there he soon got out, extreamly weak'ned by his
subterraneous Journey,
and the first
fair Object
he discover'd when he look'd about him, was his former Mistress walking in a Garden, with a very sorrowfull and pensive Countenance.
The happy meeting of two real Lovers.
THE unexpected shock was much alike to both the Lovers, but the
Lady
frighted at the odd appearance of a dropping Man, who look'd like some Inhabitant of an inferior World, began at first to
shriek
and
fly,
but when he faintly call'd her by her Name, she knew the Voice, mistook him for a
Ghost,
and fainted to the Earth, unable to support the weight of so surprizing a discovery.
BUT to conclude, the
Guards
came in upon the
Ladies shrieking,
and immediately laid hold on their advent'rous Visitor; but when the Emperor was told the Story, he commanded both the
Lover
and his
Mistress
to be brought before him, and considering the particulars of this amazing Accident, immediately revers'd his former Sentence, had them Married in his Royal Presence, grac'd them
ever after
with peculiar Favours,
The Etymology of the
Maiden Tower.
and in memory thereof, commanded that the Castle shou'd be call'd the
MAIDEN TOWER,
which
commemorative
Name it bears at present.
EXCUSE me, Reader, for the length of my digression, 'tis a Story confidently told amongst the
Turks,
but
Faith
is every Man's undoubted Property; believe it, or believe it not, I only
quote,
and not
assert
it, as I heard it told me for the strange Original of their
old Castle's Etymology.
The seven Towers, a strong Castle
THE
Seven Towers,
an ancient Castle, by the
Roman Emperors
call'd
Janicula,
is now a
Magazine,
or sometimes,
Prison
for the noblest
Criminals
; it is a very spacious Building, and was strong beyond a common Fort, before the murdering use of
Cannons
was invented; the
Sultan
constantly maintains therein a numerous
Garrison:
Its situation is upon the
South-east
side of
Constantinople.
The Aquaeduct of
Valentinian,
34 Miles long.
BUT while I treat of this illustrious City, 'twou'd be an Error no ways pardonable, shou'd I fall to mention the prodigious
Aquaduct
of
Valentinian,
which, for sour and thirty
English Miles,
brings Water upon Channels built on Arches, over spacious Valleys, from the top of one
tall Mountain
to another, till,
nigh the City,
it pours down from a
stupendious height,
and fills a Cistern, like a Lake, of fine white Marble, which contains above
two hundred
stately Pillars of the same, and having been repair'd by several
Turkish Emperors,
does by
Pipes
and
Conduits,
now supply
Constantinople,
with the finest Water in the Universe.
AN EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE, Which Represents, A
Prospect
of the Great
SERAGLIO
of the
TURKISH SULTAN
at
CONSTANTINOPLE.
A
THE Highlands of
Asia.
B.
The Point of the Seraglio.
C.
The Womens Apartment, in the Seraglio.
D.
The
Grand Signior
's own Quarter.
E.
A Summer-House, where the
Grand Signior
often sits, to look out upon the Haven, and Divert himself with his Ladies.
F.
The Royal Mosque of the Seraglio.
G.
The Ancient
Graecian
Temple,
Sancta Sophia.
H. H. H.
The Haven of
Constantinople.
Prospect of the GRAND SIGNIORS SERAGLIO
To the Right Honble William, Lord Paget, Baron of Beaudesert, &c. late Ambassador Extraordinary, Mediator & Plenipotentiary from ye Court of Great Brittain, to the Ottoman Port, this Plate as an Acknowledgement of the Authors weighty obligations, is most humbly dedicated.
H. Hulsbergh facit
CHAP. XIX. Of the
Grand Signior
's Seraglio, and particularly the Apartment of his Women.
The Introduction.
I Told the Reader
in the Preface of my Book,
by what uncommon means I was so happy as to gain admission to a
Palace,
which for many Ages has been kept a secret to the searching Knowledge of our
Europaean Travellers,
and shall
now
proceed to entertain him with a wonderfull, but pleasant and sincere account of new Discoveries, which
like the Golden Indian World,
lay long unenter'd (as appearing barr'd against our View with unsurmountable Impediments,) but gain'd at last, will spread throughout our
Western Regions,
such surprizing Plenty of her valuable Product, as may more than recompence the patient stay of your expecting Curiosities.
I love not
flattery
from any hand, much less wou'd sooth my own Performances, with elevated hopes of a success beyond their Merits;
Complaint against the malice of the fashionable Criticks.
but of this the World will give me leave to be assur'd, that as I write the Beauties of an
earthly Paradise,
and
unimagin'd
Scenes of
amorous Royalty, till now
unknown, not only to my
Countrymen,
but every part of distant
Christendom,
I have at least deserv'd the thanks of an impartial Reader, and may be allow'd to blame the
undistinguishing Ill-nature
of such
steely Criticks,
as instead of owning an agreeable surprize, in meeting Subjects
new
and
entertaining,
strive ungenerously to condemn a Labour meerly out of ignorance or
incredulity,
because they find it something odd, and full of Novelty.
HOWEVER, all that base
Ingratitude,
which meanly may endeavour to obscure the Worth of what I write, shall never boast that
private fear
of barking Malice cou'd prevent my Pen from boldly aiming at a
publick Satisfaction:
What the Reader may expect in this Chapter.
I will not therefore only entertain the World with an
agreable Amusement,
but proceed by regular degrees to give the Reader an entire
Idea
of the fam'd
Seraglio
of the
Turkish Sultan,
not omitting any odd and pleasant Observation, but neglecting
purposely
the trifling repetitions of those things,
preceding Authors
were enabled to inform you of; and chiefly bending my design'd description, to those glittering Piles of stately Buildings,
Groves of Pine,
and
Bowers of Cypress, Paths of Love,
and
Labyrinths of Pleasure,
which combine their Graces to adorn the Seat of
one Great Lord,
and render perfect the delightfull Mansions, where the amorous
Sultan
toys away his Minutes in the wanton Raptures of his
Ladies Conversation.
The lovely situation of the
Grand Signiors
's
Seraglio.
FIRST
then,
if ever
Heaven
decreed a part of this divided World shou'd shine conspicuously above the rest, and seem to beckon
Ʋ niversal Monarchy
to fix its Throne on her delicious Surface, 'tis the very Ground, whereon now flourishes the glorious
Palace
of the proud
Mahometan
; for from that eminence of Ground, on which the
Temple Sancta Sophia
has its Situation, runs a narrow neck of Land, descending
gradually,
and on either side politely sloping downward, till it forms at last a charming Angle on the
North-East
Point of
Constantinople.
The Form thereof.
THE Form of the
Seraglio,
which is built hereon, appears a sort of
long triangle,
one whole side whereof is bounded by the neighb'ring Buildings of the City, both the other shelving downwards to
the Sea,
which washes 'em, and with their utmost Angle pointing out
amidst the Waves,
directly opposite to the surprizing heighth, and rough appearances of certain wild and distant
Asian Promontories; Thrace,
with all the Beauties of her
Europaean Landskips
forms a
prospect
full of Pleasures on the other side; not one small
Ship
can anchor in the
Haven,
but must pass the Point of the
Seraglio
first, whose noble Situation leads the
Eye
to gaze
astonish'd,
at such strange variety, that all the ravish'd Sweets of
Art
and
Nature
here seem join'd, as if they had agreed to mix their richest Excellencies, and compleat a modern
rival Paradise
to that of
Eden.
Its strength and Circuit.
IT is above
three English Miles
in measur'd Circuit, quite surrounded by a
lofty Wall,
defended strongly by a sort of
Quey,
of five yards breadth which runs all round it, where are planted numerous Pieces of prodigious
Cannon,
of an
unexampled size
and
monstrous bore
; One very deep and spacious
Ditch
encompasses the Wall, which is moreover strengthen'd by capacious
Ramparts,
and a square
Watch-Tower,
at every hundred or two hundred Paces end; in these stand
Day and Night,
selected numbers of the finest Soldiers in the
Sultan
's
Guard,
who see that none presume to venture near the Walls of his
forbidden Palace
;
The beauty of its Prospect at a distance.
all the inside is adorn'd with
Spires
and stately
Balls,
gilt round with
Gold,
and shining
from afar
with a majestic Lustre, which sublime appearance, gently
soften'd
by the mix'd discovery of extended
Groves
of lofty
Cypress Trees,
there planted in a sweet and natural Irregularity, and somewhat shadowing in many Places, the refulgent brightness of the
Spires
and
Cupola
's, afford a Prospect to the distant view so full of Beauty, and unknown variety, that Words want Power to celebrate the Object; therefore see the
Cut annex'd
for further Satisfaction.
BUT having given this short description of the
Form, Extent,
and
Outward Beauties
of the
Sultan's Palace,
I will
now
proceed to lead my Reader with a gradual Curiosity, through every
inmost
Part of its discover'd Glories; yet as the unnumber'd differences, which alternately occur to claim our observation, may confound the Prospect, if I represent them jointly, 'twill be much the safest way to separate the Building into five Degrees, and treat distinctly of them all, that so we may preserve an usefull
regularity.
The first great Court.
FIRST
then,
I will describe the
Outward Court,
and all the
Offices
and
Orders
of the
Buildings,
which surround and form it, into which all
Travellers,
who please, have free access, and uncontroul'd admission.
The second Court.
SECONDLY I will proceed to do the like, by a
more spacious Square
within the former, and compos'd of far more
rich
and
lofty Architecture,
into which, as to the first,
all Strangers
are admitted.
The third, where all
Ambassadors
receive their Audience.
THIRDLY I intend to open to your View another Court within them both, and far superior in its Order and Magnificence; for in the rich
Apartments,
which surround this Square, the haughty
Sultans
give their Audiences to every
Minister of Foreign Nations,
at their first arrival in the
Turkish Court.
The Royal Lodgings.
NEXT I lose sight of former Writers, and visit with a Wonder equal to the Object, the prodigious Statelyness, and tow'ring Splendor of the
ROYAL LODGINGS,
so surprizingly transporting me with endless Scenes of
artfull Pleasure, Pride
and
Grandeur,
that for want of
Models
to express their form by, which is quite unknown, nay even
undreamt of
in the
Christian World,
I have been forc'd to draw in the course of this Chapter another
Plan,
of the amazing inside of that stupendious
Fabrick,
which will give the Eye a true
Idea
of its wonderfull Contrivances.
The Discovery of the Womens Lodgings, thought by most to be impossible.
BUT now appears a
SECRET
worth the hearing, the Discovery whereof I often (since 'twas made) stood by and heard the greatest
Travellers
of several Nations, join in one old
fashionable Story,
and affirm to be no less than a downright
Impossibility:
Yet I will not only trace the
Sultan
to his amorous Pastimes with the
Virgins
of his
Pleasure,
but admit the Reader to the close Apartments of the fair
SERAGLIO LADIES,
nay and into the retir'd Magnificence of their
Bedchambers,
but shew him all the various Scenes of Love and Courtship, which are practis'd daily by
their Lord
and
them,
even to the Consummation of their utmost Wishes; and if the
British Ladies
are desirous of a further Information, still advance a step or two beyond it.
AS I told you
in my Preface,
that the absence of the
Sultan
and his
train of Ladies,
then attending him at
Adrianople,
gave a liberty beyond the Wishes of our
keenest Curiosity,
as a Compliment bestow'd for Reasons there explain'd,
A double Curiosity.
so I was willing to improve the opportunity as for as possible, and while I pleas'd my
Eyes
with the delightfull Prospect of
engaging Novelties,
I satisfied my
Ear
with list'ning eagerly to the accounts our
Guides
thought fit to give us, of the proper use of every Place, and entertaining Stories of the
Sultan
's
Customs.
Description of the great Gate of the
Seraglio.
FIRST then, The Great
Seraglio
opens to the
Sea
on either side, with several low and private Gates, but such as never are made use of but when the
Emperor himself
is pleas'd to order it; the only common Entrance faces the before-nam'd Temple,
Sancta Sophia,
and admits you through a vast and spacious
Portal of white Marble, arch'd
and strengthen'd in the ancient way of Building; round the edges of the
Arch on either side
appear, cut deeply in the Stone, (the hollow of the Letters, richly fill'd with lovely mixtures of
Gold, Green, Red, Blue,
and every
other Colour,
) some few
Arabian Sentences,
almost defac'd by
mould'ring time,
but such as
Turkish Scholars
told us signified as follows.
Inscriptions on the Portal.
GLORY TO THE GOD Of MAHOMET, AND MAHOMET HIS PROPHET.
HONOƲ R, POWER, TRƲ TH AND JƲ STICE, TRAMPLING ON THE NECK OF SIN AND GRANDEƲ R, HERE ERECT THE SEAT OF NEVER DYING EMPIRE.
A Chappel built by
Constantine the Great.
YOU are no sooner entred thro' this lofty Gate, than you perceive a
Court,
the Square whereof contains almost three hundred Yards, and is surrounded by a sort of
Cloyster,
which I will describe immediately. A distant Prospect thro' the Gate at 'tother end, presents you with a
long
and
lovely Scene
of
Cypress Trees
and
Fountains,
charmingly adorning all the second Court. About twelve Yards upon the
left
of your
first entrance,
stands the round and broken Wall of an old
Chappel,
built by
Constantine,
and by him dedicated to the
Virgin Mary.
It has been curious for its Building and Contrivance, but has yielded
now
to the voracious
Rust
of Time and Ruin, whose prevailing force is well describ'd as follows, by an old
Greek Poet.
What does not
Time,
and length of Days o'erthrow?
From
Times
black current, endless Mischiefs flow;
By
Time
the
Forms
and
Names
of Things are chang'd,
And
Nature's mighty Self,
from her own Face estrang'd.
The Trophies of the
Greeks
hung up within it.
THE unintelligible Reliques of an old Inscription, speak the
Chappel Christian Workmanship
; and all about its broken Walls, are hung as
Trophies
of their
curs'd
Success, the
Spears, Swords, Breast-plates, Shields,
and other Armour, of those generous
Greeks,
who bravely scorning to outlive the downfall of their sinking Country, chose to die the
Martyrs
of its Liberty, and tho' they fell above three hundred Years ago, live nobly in the Praises of succeeding Ages, who behold their Spoils here hung together, strangely representing in a ghastly manner, Men in Armour, with their
Arms
and
Legs
bound cross each other, which the
Turks
have done by way of
Triumph
to commemorate their Fortune. This may seem a barbarous Action, and the base Effect of their vain-glorious Principles; but ancient Practices of the inhumane Custom, will excuse the
Turks,
when
Homer
in his
Iliads
often gives us plain Examples of the like Proceedings; and
Aeneas
is by
Virgil
represented glorying in the Overthrow of dead
Mezentius,
and dressing up an
Oak
with his insulted
Trophies.
Virg.
Aen. Lib. 11.
Ingentem quercum dicisis undique ramis
Constituit tumulo, fulgentiaque induit arma,
Mezentî
ducis exuvias; tibi magne tropaeum
Bellipotens, aptat roranteis sanguine cristas,
Telaque trunca viri, & bis sex thoraca petitum,
Perfossumque locis: Clypeumque ex aere sinistrae
Subligat, atque ensem collo suspendit eburnum.
Upon a
rising spot
of neighb'ring Ground,
He plac'd a
sturdy Oak,
lop'd closely round;
And with
refulgent Armour
deck'd it o'er,
The Spoils, which
King Mezentius
lately wore,
To thee Great
God of War
a
Trophy
due,
Worthy the
Conquest,
and the
Triumph too
;
High o'er the rest his
waving Plume
he ty'd,
Yet reaking with the
Blood
wherein 'twas
dy'd
;
To these were bound the
Spears,
which in the Field,
Had pierc'd or broken on the
Trojan's Shield
;
His shining
Breast-plate
grac'd the
Trophies
too,
Hack'd deep,
and pierc'd in
twice six
places
through
;
On his left side his
brazen Target
hung,
And from the
Neck
his
Sword,
all
sheath'd in Iv'ry, swung.
The Quarters and Employments of the
Ajam-Olans.
THE rowe of Buildings, which
upon the left side
bounds this outward Court, is
low
and
mean,
containing Lodgings for some thousands of those Men call'd
Ajam-Olans,
or a kind of People bought as Slaves, from every Country where the
Turks
maintain a
Correspondence,
and educated from their
Youth,
or sometimes,
Infancy,
in all the rough and servile Practices of a laborious Discipline, till being qualified with strength of
Mind
and
Body,
they are order'd
severally
by the
Overseers appointment,
to the various Offices of the
Seraglio.
The Woodyard of the
Great Seraglio.
WITHIN the Court, and still descending nearer to the
Sea
upon the
Europaean side,
there is a plain and spacious Square, wherein are pil'd in most prodigious and unnumbred heaps, the
Logs of Wood,
and various kinds of
Faggots
us'd in the
Seraglio,
which amount
each Year
to such vast quantities that fifty thousand
Waggon-loads
are constantly brought in, each
Waggon
drawn, and
that not easily,
by two strong
Buffelo's.
Pleasant Places.
FROM this large
Wood-Yard
to the Wall, which bounds the
Palace
on the
Haven-side,
are finely planted stately
Cypress Trees, cool Groves,
and
solitary Wildernesses,
which indeed run round the
whole Seraglio
in the space between the
Buildings
and the
Wall about it,
but, as I design to speak particularly of the
Garden Part,
I shall defer describing this Division, till its proper place requires my doing it.
The Hospital of the
Seraglio.
DIRECTLY parallel to the Apartment of the late-nam'd
Ajam-Olans,
runs another higher and more gracefull
Row of Buildings,
bounded on
the other side
the Court aforesaid; this is the
Hospital
for the
Seraglio Sick,
divided into
Chambers
and convenient
Lodging Rooms
for People indispos'd, according to the Quality of such as want them.
Two prime Physitians
and as many
Surgeons,
are appointed by the
Sultan
to inspect the Management of the distemper'd Persons, who are carefully attended by great Numbers of
White Eunuchs,
two of which stand constantly to guard the Entrance.
The Lodgings of the
Helvagees,
and their Employment.
NOT far distant, but
behind
the
Hospital,
are built the Lodging-Rooms, appointed for the Habitation of the
Helvagees,
a sort of
Boys,
who wear a Dress peculiar to their Office, and are kept to carry Messages from Place to Place,
within the Palace
; or,
upon occasion,
may be sent about the
Town,
to bring in any thing the Servants want; for no Man, who possesses no Employment in the
Great Seraglio,
ever dares, on pain of Death, attempt an entrance. The number of these Errand Boys, is generally reckon'd to amount to near
seven Thousand.
A fine rall'd List, or Green for Exercise.
ABOUT two hundred Yards below the Lodgings of the
Helvagees,
there lies a
Green,
of spacious breadth, and rail'd about to keep out such, as have not by their Posts, the liberty to enter:
Here
the
Sultan
often comes to see the Exercises of the
Manag'd Horse,
and
hurling the Geritt,
before describ'd, and often orders equal numbers of his
Negro Pages,
to maintain the
Lists
against the Challenge of selected
White-Ones,
giving frequently Rewards of valuable Price, to those, who conquer.
Other pleasant Places.
SHELVING downwards towards the
Sea
on this side also, lie vast tracts of Ground, containing various Scenes of Rural fragrancy, tall
Groves of Cypress,
sweetly intermix'd with
rising Banks, declining Greens, delightfull Labyrinths,
and
murmuring Fountains.
The Gate, and number of the Men, who guard the entrance of the second Court.
THE second Court is enter'd through the former, by a lofty Gate, adorn'd with
Trophies
like the ancient Chapel, just now mention'd, guarded constantly by fifty
Janizaries,
arm'd with
Musquets,
who oblige all Horsemen,
Officers or others
to alight and walk, if they design to gain a farther entrance, for 'tis held the Duty of the
Sultan's Subjects, high and low,
to put off all the Marks of Pride and Grandeur, and proceed as humbly to approach his Presence, as they ought to do when they address the Object of their daily
Worship.
Description of the second Court of the
Seraglio.
THIS Court is far more large and stately than the former, near four hundred Yards the square, and curiously adorn'd with ever-spouting Fountains, round whose brims fine
Cypress Trees
are neatly planted, forming various and delightfull Figures of a different Magnitude; all surrounded with a lofty
Cloyster, Gallery
or
Piazza,
artfully supported by amazing numbers of white Marble Pillars, with their
Capitals
and
Bases
of the finest sort of
polish'd Marble,
and
of that
consists the spacious Pavements, which in several places, cross the Court, and lead you plea antly to different Apartments, which appear at some considerable distance, thro' the Columns of this noble Gallery.
ABOVE the Pillars of the great
Piazza,
and supported by them, are the Lodging Rooms of several Officers of no mean Authority in the
Seraglio
;
The Stables of the
Grand Signior's Seraglio.
and on the left hand, at about a hundred Paces distance from it, are the private Stables, which contain about
five, six,
or
seven and twenty Horses,
for the favourite Exercises of the
Sultan's Pleasure
; above these Stables are the Rooms wherein are kept the
Bridles, Saddles, rich Caparisons,
and other Furniture for his
Led-Horses,
most of which are so adorn'd with
precious Stones,
and
rich Embroidery,
that they amount in price to a prodigious and incredible Sum of Money. As for the
Great Stables,
they are plac'd behind the private ones, and keep vast numbers of the
swiftest
and
best-manag'd Horses,
of their own and other Countries.
The
Divan,
or Justice-Hall.
DIRECTLY in a line with the
above-nam'd private Stables,
but a little nearer to the third Court's entrance, stands a round and open Place they call
Divan,
a sort of
Hall
or Council Chamber, where the
Grand-Vizier
and
Lord's-Chief-Justices,
with other
Ministers exhibit
Justice on appointed Days, to all the People in a publick manner.
THE Place is low, and open to the view of all the People; the Roof supported by large Wooden Pillars, and all
leaded
over in a curious manner.
Wainscot gilt
is all the Ornament the
inside
boasts of: On the
Floor
is spread a Carpet, where, on Benches plac'd on purpose, sit the Judges of occurring Causes:
An excellent Policy in the Administration of the
Turkish
Justice.
From the
Roof
of this
Divan,
there runs along on the left side, a little
Gallery,
which leads by certain private ways, to the
Grand Signior
's Lodgings, who by that means, often comes, and, hid behind a
Velvet Curtain,
overhears the Trials, which are passing in the Court, and if he sees unjust Proceedings, frequently reverses, or makes void the
Sentence,
as he finds occasion, punishing the
partial
or
unjust Decider
; so that, aw'd by doubt, and never knowing when he
is
or
is not
there, they are oblig'd to act with constant
Caution,
and against the grain, impartially determine every
Law-Suit.
ON every
Council-Day,
the
Turkish Janizaries
are drawn up, and headed, every Company by their respective
Officers,
upon the Pavement underneath the Marble Gallery, which I before inform'd you runs quite round the Buildings of this second Court;
A piece of
Turkish
Ostentation.
and there it is that they receive their Pay, upon such Days as the
Ambassadors
of
Christian Princes
are admitted to the Audience of the
Sultan
or his
Ministers,
that so they may vain-gloriously appear possessors of a rolling Plenty, by disbursing in the Payment of that one
Militia
for a few days Service, such prodigious heaps of Money.
Another Hall.
BEYOND this Great
Divan
or
Hall of Justice,
stands another Building, not unlike it, but of far less magnitude, here they seat such
Christian Ministers of State,
or
Merchants,
as may have occasion to apply themselves for
Justice,
to the
Turkish Government.
The Quarters of the
Baltagees.
THE space dividing these two
Halls,
admits you to a Gate, that opens to the
left,
and leads you into a fine spacious Square, the Quarters of the
Baltagees,
or
Hatchet Men,
whose business 'tis to cleave and carry Wood for every Part of the
Grand Signior's Seraglio.
The Building boasts no Ornament, but is divided
humbly
into many Chambers, fit for the Reception of the
Slaves
for whom they are provided.
THE Garden Wall prevents you from a further
Inquisition
on the left of this large second Court;
The Kitchens of the
Seraglio.
so let us visit the right side, and we shall find the vacant space behind the Gallery, politely terminated by a stately row of fine
stone Kitchens, seven in number,
each whereof is manag'd by
peculiar Cooks
and other Servants, who are severally busied in providing Meat for
different Tables,
from the
Sultan's own
to those of his superior Officers, and from them to others of less Rank, and meaner Quality.
The Confectionaries.
ABOVE these
Kitchens
are an equal number of Preserving Rooms, to which belong four hundred choice
Confectioners,
perpetually employ'd in making
Sweet-meats,
such as
Conserves, Preserves, Jellies, Fruits
of all sorts,
dried,
or
candied,
sometimes
liquid Syrups
in abundance, and great quantities of
Marmalade.
BESIDES these
Sweet-meats,
'tis the business of the
Confectioners
to make
Sherbets
and
Limonades,
of rich and costly Composition, for the use of the
Grand Signior's self,
and such of his Great Officers, as will think fit to pay such Prices, as from time to time are put upon these Rarities by those, who make the Profits,
The Perquisites of the Confectioners.
flowing from their
Perquisites
this way the most considerable Income of their whole Employment.
BELOW the
Kitchens,
and the seven
Confectionaries,
which are plac'd above them, at about some twelve or fourteen Paces distance, nearer to the
Gardens
ending the declension,
An admirable
Aquaeduct.
stands the great and admirable
Aquaeduct,
extending both above and underneath the Ground, in very strong and stately
Arches, Vaults
and
Cisterns,
well supplied with
Pipes of Lead,
and
brazen Cocks
of an uncommon magnitude, and constantly attended by an Officer, whose
Title
speaks him Master of the Water-Works, under whose command two hundred Work-men are continually in waiting.
THE
Kitchens, Butteries, Lodging-Rooms,
and all the various Quarters of the
Great Seraglio,
are not only serv'd with Water from this noble
Aquaeduct
for common uses;
Strange and pleasant Fancies.
but the numerous
Fountains, murmuring Currents, artificial Lakes,
and small
meandring Streams,
which dance along with tunefull Cadence, o'er a thousand artfull
Falls
and
pebbled Precipices,
cover'd over with surrounding Boughs, or Grass of lovely green and length incredible, are all supplied with never-failing
Sluices,
from the wonderfull Contrivances of that stupendious Structure.
Description of the third Court of the
Seraglio.
WE enter now the
third Division,
or that Part of the
Seraglio,
where the
Sultan
constantly receives the several
Ambassadors
of
Christian Princes
; and you may observe that all the proud and haughty Carriage, which in ancient times, distinguish'd
Eastern Monarchs,
reigns conspicuously,
improv'd
far, rather than
diminish'd,
in the
Turkish Emperors
; who do not only with a sort of slight indifference, refuse admission to a
second Audience,
even so much as to take leave at their Departure, but behave themselves that single time, when they permit an
Interview,
with such disdainfull Arrogance and silent
Grandeur,
that it will amaze the Reader to reflect upon their proud Deportment: Alas! how vainly do they swell their thoughts above
Mortality
; the common fate of Death at last o'ertakes them, but with this black difference, that while the humble
Prince
still falls lamented, they are generally made the bloody Victims to their
Subject's hatred,
and deserv'd resentment; so that falling short in their too elevated race of Power, we may apply the Words of
Juvenal
to their unpitied Destiny.
Juven.
Sat. 10.
Ad generum Cereris sine caede & vulnere pauci
Descendunt Reges, & sicca morte Tyranni.
Few
Monarchs
die without some bloody Blow,
Or visit
free from wound,
the Shades below.
And
Tyrants,
who
on Earth
dare
Heav'n defie,
Are very rarely found in
Beds of Peace
to die.
How foreign
Ambassadors
enter the
Seraglio.
A publick notice being given to
Ambassadors,
when 'tis the
Sultan
's pleasure to admit them to his
Audience,
they contrive to make as splendid an Appearance as their Quality allows, or Honour of their Country may require them to furnish; gallantly attended by their Retinue on
Horse-back,
they proceed in order to the
Great Seraglio,
where alighting, as is usual, at the entrance of the second Court, they are conducted to the third by certain Officers of mean Degree, who
there
deliver the
Ambassador
to the
Capigee Bashaw,
or
Lord Comptroler,
one, who serves
upon occasion,
for
a Master of the Ceremonies.
'TIS
here
they stay by the appointment of their Guides, till certain
Pages of the Wardrobe
come among them, bearing each upon his Arm a sort of Vest, or upper Garment, roughly wove with
Silver, Gold,
and
yellow Silk
not neatly intermix'd, of length sufficient to hang down and trail upon the Ground.
Their way of doing Honour to Ambassadors and their Retinue.
THEY first address themselves to the
Ambassador,
and having cover'd all his other Habit with this ill-contriv'd addition, next proceed as order'd to bestow a certain number on his Followers, observing his direction as to their disposal; thus adorn'd, the Minister himself, and such of his Attendants as before receiv'd the Honour of a
Vest,
are beckon'd to advance, while those of meaner Rank are entertain'd by Men appointed for that Service, under the
Piazza
or
long Gallery,
by which, as I before inform'd you, all the second Court is gracefully surrounded.
The ancient Custom of giving Changes of Raiment, observ'd among the
Turks.
THIS
giving Vests
has been a very ancient
Eastern Ceremony,
and was practis'd formerly, as now it is
among the Turks,
to give a Proof of the Respect they bore the Person they so honour'd. All
Ambassadors,
residing in the
Turkish Court,
may judge of the Esteem the
Sultan
bears the
Prince
they represent, by the receiving more or fewer than is usual of these formal Garments; and it is by long continued Custom, now become a sort of due, for the respective Ministers of different Nations to expect at least as many, as some former Precedent may possibly induce them to lay claim to;
A nicety about it.
and if they find the Officers of the
Seraglio
obstinately bent to give them fewer, than were bestow'd upon a
Predecessor,
they will often-times persist so strongly in the claim they lay to better Usage, as to turn again, and leave the
Palace,
still refusing to obey their Summons to an Audience of the
Sultan,
till the
Turks
consent to let them have it on the terms they sue for. Giving Vests among the
Ancients
may be prov'd in many Places, by the indisputable Authority of
Holy Writ,
particularly in the five and thirtieth Chapter of the Book of
Genesis,
and the two and twentieth Verse, where
Joseph
sending back his Bretheren out of
Egypt,
it is said,
To all of them he gave each Man Changes of Raiment: But to Benjamin he gave three hundred Pieces of Silver, and five Changes of Raiment.
UPON a warning given, that the
Sultan
is arriv'd and waits his coming, the
Ambassador
proceeds, conducted by the
Lord Comptroller,
and attended by such Persons of his own Retinue, as are cloath'd in the abovenam'd Garments: Upon the entrance of the Court, which,
much unlike the
former two,
The third Court not so regular as the former.
is built irregular, with many different Apartments independent each on other, you perceive, directly opposite, a
lofty round
and
open Hall,
the
Roof
whereof is neatly arch'd, and well supported by a double row of
Marble Pillars.
The Gate guarded by Eunuchs.
THE Gate of this third Court is kept by
Eunuchs,
as too near the
Sultan's Lodgings
to be approach'd by common Soldiers. All the Ground between the
Portal
and the
Hall of Audience,
is enrich'd with Carpets of the costliest Workmanship, on which the Strangers walk, till they arrive at a fine
Marble Stair-Case,
which ascends to the above-nam'd
Hall
; on either side whereof there issues
from the Wall,
thro' various artificial Passages unnumbred Streams of Water, falling with a different sound, according to the bigness of their Channels, upon sloping
Shells
of polish'd
Brass,
and
thence
descending to a spacious
Cistern,
flagg'd and floor'd with exquisite
Mosaic Work
of various Colours, which (easily perceiv'd thro' the
transparency
of the included Water) wonderfully pleases the observing Eye with a surprizing and uncommon Scene of Beauties.
Description of the Hall of Audience.
THE Stairs are cover'd with the richest Silks, on which the introduc'd
Ambassadors
must tread in their ascent to the extensive Floor, which, tho' politely pav'd with curious squares of various-colour'd Marble, is all over cover'd with a
Golden Carpet,
if it may be call'd so, every thread whereof is little less than the
genteelest
sort of Straws, which form our
Mats
in
Britain.
ABOUT the middle of this spacious Hall, there plays a
Fountain
in a very odd and curious manner, from the
Cieling
to the
Cistern,
not unlike a
Shower of Rain,
The Throne of the
Grand Signior.
and opposite to the Ascent there stands the
Throne,
of no great
heighth,
but splendidly adorn'd with an extensive
Canopy,
broad
Back-piece,
and thick pleated
Bases,
all of black and costly
Velvet,
high
embroider'd
over with a glorious mixture of both
Gold
and
Silver Wyre,
in the squares whereof are sew'd
Turquoises, Diamonds, Pearls
and
Rubys,
so contriv'd, that they not only look
Magnificent,
but form a sort of easy Figure so politely pleasing, that
against the Will
it captivates attention.
UPON this
Throne
sits cross-legg'd the disdainfull
Sultan,
looking round him with a sort of haughty Frown, to view the base and servile Postures of the Slaves about him.
How he is attended on it.
AND
first,
the
Grand Vizier
stands humbly on his right Hand, very near him; and at more submissive distance, almost opposite, appear the greatest
Officers
of his
Seraglio,
rang'd according to their several Dignities, holding each his Hands across upon his humble Bosom, not presuming once to elevate those servile Eyes, which are not worthy so sublime an Honour, as to gaze upon the Person of their mighty
Emperor,
thus formidably Shining in his
Royal Lustre.
The first approach of the
Ambassador.
NO sooner the
Ambassador
appears within the Hall, than there advance
two Officers,
who taking hold of both his Arms, attend him as he walks, and still as he approaches nearer to the Person of the
Sultan,
as it were by force, incline his Body so much nearer to the Ground, in three low Bows. The
Sultan
condescends perhaps to look him in the Face, and now and then bestows a gentle Nod, while the
Ambassador
is seated just before him, on an easy Stool all cover'd over with a rich
Brocado.
The manner of his Audience.
WHILE the
Credentials
are produc'd and Reading by the
Druggaman, in English the Interpreter,
the Presents brought, and constantly expected from all Foreign Ministers upon their Audience of the
Sultan,
are expos'd to view; and those of the
Embassadors
selected Train, who have been first distinguish'd as before, advancing with their Foreheads to the Ground, have leave to kiss the
Hem
of the
Grand Signior's Vest,
which having done, they silently retire, and stand at some considerable space behind the Stool of the
Ambassador.
NO sooner has the
Sultan
heard the
Druggaman
read loudly the
Credentials,
but he presents them to the
Grand Vizier,
who purposely stands near him, and the Audience being over, the
Ambassador
takes leave, but is not suffer'd once to turn his Back upon the
Sultans
Person,
How he must retire.
and in order to prevent it, he is led out
Backwards
by the Officers, who before Conducted him; from this time forward he must make his Application to the
Grand Vizier,
and other Ministers about the Court, for the
Grand Signior,
tho' the Head of all their Business, is himself above its Practice; leaving all the Cares and Hurries of a
Throne
to his deputed Instruments of State and Power.
The Chambers of the Pages or Icholans.
ALONG the left side of the Court, there run Three Rows of Building, Parallel to one another, call'd the
Oda
's of the
Icholans,
or Apartments of the
Pages,
who ascending gradually from the Meanest Offices among the
Ajamolan
's, are at last admitted to the lowest Chamber of the
Pages,
where for full Six Years they are Inur'd to all the Practices of menial Drudgery, such as
Baking, Washing Linnen, Brushing Cloaths,
and such like Labours.
IN the Second Chamber they continue commonly about Three Years, employ'd in Exercises more Conducive to the Minds Improvement; thence proceeding to the Third, and after Two or Three Years service there, are call'd according to their several standings, to the
Hazoda,
or Apartment for the
Pages of the Presence,
to supply the Vacancies there made from time to time, by the Preferment of the Oldest to the Greatest Places of the Empire.
THERE is an
Officer
appointed over every Chamber, to inspect the Management of these
Icholan
's, commonly Amounting to almost a Thousand Men; to him they are
Subservient
in so high a manner, that no Imagination can conceive the
Strictness,
under which they live;
Their restraint in the
Seraglio.
their Beds are Spread in order on each side of the Extended Building, and themselves so rigidly deny'd a common Liberty, that they are never suffer'd to converse with any other
Quarter
of the
Great Seraglio.
The Baths of the
Seraglio.
DIRECTLY opposite to these Apartments are Five Rows of
Baths,
of different Forms and Structure, as design'd for the convenience of the
High
and
Low,
and every Person in the
Sultans Palace
; one Row among them is the
Sultan's own,
divided finely into Numerous Chambers, Pav'd with Marble of an Hundred Colours, and Adorn'd with
Roofs
and
Walls
of
Chrystal,
and a Thousand other strange contrivances to render them beyond example Pleasant and Convenient.
A Barbarous Custom of the
Turkish
Emperors.
AMONG the Buildings of this Court, there stands a low Roofed Hall of no mean length, appointed for the Lodging of the
Dwarfs, Dumb, Deaf, Crook-Back'd
and other Blots of Nature, many of each sort continually maintain'd for the Diversion of the
Sultan,
who delights in Sporting with those Wretches Miseries.
The Quarters of the White
Eunuchs.
THE large Apartments of the Powerfull
White Eunuchs,
much in Vogue in
Eastern Countries,
and employ'd in the most profitable Posts of the
Seraglio,
to inspect the Management of all the Servants, terminate
AN EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE, Which Represents The
INWARD PLAN
of the
GRAND SIGNIORS
SERAGLIO.
1 THE
Sea,
and
Haven
of
Constantinople.
2 The Gate of the
Seraglio.
3 Watch Towers, where Soldiers stand to Guard it.
4 The Way, between the outward and inward Wall of the
Seraglio,
thro' which the Soldiers pass, to relieve the Guard of the Watch Towers.
5 The Great Gardens of the
Seraglio.
6 The First Court Yard.
7 The Ruins of an Old Chappel, that was Built by
Constantine the Great.
8 The Quarters of the
Ajam Olans.
9 The Great Wood-yard.
10 The Hospital.
11 The Quarters of the
Helvagees.
12 The Green, where twice or thrice a Week, they Excercise themselves at Hurling the
Javelin.
13 The Entrance of the Second Court.
14 The Square Piazza, with fine Lodging Rooms above it.
15 Quarters of the
Baltagees.
16 Private Stables.
17 The Divan, or Justice-Hall.
18 The Kitchens of the
Seraglio.
19 The
Aquaeduct,
and Court about it.
20 The Entrance of the Third Court.
21 The Pages Chambers.
22 The Baths of the
Seraglio.
23 The Hall of Audience.
24 The Mutes Apartment.
25 The Dwarfs Apartment.
26 The Royal
Mosque.
27 The Quarters of the White
Eunuchs.
28 A Stately Piazza.
29 The Semicircular Piazza's of the Treasury.
30 The Four Treasury Chambers.
31 The Grotto's of the
Seraglio.
32 Two Antient
Graecian
Obelisks.
33 The Quarters of the Pages of the Presence.
34 The Quarters of the Great Officers of the
Seraglio.
35 The Royal Lodgings.
36 A Triumphal Arch.
37 A River, which divides the Womens Quarter from the other Part of the
Seraglio.
38 Another Triumphal Arch.
39 The Winding Gallery.
40 The Ladies Apartment.
41 The Apartment of the Black
Eunuchs.
42 The Ladies Garden.
43 A Fine Quick-Set Hedge, which Terminates the Ladies Garden.
44 Two Stair-Cases, leading from the two Apartments, thro' several Avenues, and Shady Passages, into the Wilderness, which being adorn'd with Greens and Arbours, Rivulets and Fountains, reaches as you see, to the very Point of the
Seraglio.
To the Right Honble Charlot Countess of
Warwick
this Plate is Most Humbly Dedicated
the Court on either side, and reach within twelve paces of the Garden Walls; their form is in the shape of large
Half-Moons,
embracing, as it were, the other Buildings with their horns or corners.
The Mosque of the
Seraglio.
ABOVE the Hall of Audience, and between the
North-East
ends of the two great
Half-Moons,
which form the
Eunuch's Lodgings,
stands a
Mosque,
whose
Spires
and
Cupola
's are richly gilded, and the Pile surrounded by a lovely
Grove
of lofty
Cypress Trees
; 'Tis here the
Sultan
and his
Ladies
daily come to their Devotion, yet unseen by any of those numerous Crowds of People, who assemble in the Body of the Church, in that they are divided from the
rest
by a Partition lettess'd over with an admirable Ingenuity; but their Devotion is no sooner ended, than they all return the way they came, and pass thro' private
Galleries, unseen by any,
to their own Apartments.
Pillars brought from
Troy.
DIRECTLY from the Mosque abovenam'd runs an
open Gallery,
near thirty paces long, and thirteen broad, its Roof supported by great numbers of fine Marble Pillars, six whereof the
Turks
report to have been brought from
Troy
to
Constantinople,
when 'twas yet
Byzantium
; they are all of different colour each from other, one is
blue,
another
green,
and therefore held as sacred by the
Turks,
and every one so naturally bright, that they are falsly said by common Fame, to be
transparent.
Curious Reliques of Antiquity.
THE high rais'd
Fret-work
of the Floor, is wonderfully fine and stately, all compos'd
Mosaicly
of great and little Marble Squares, of all imaginable Colours, richly representing some
Historical
and
Kingly
Figures, which the superstitious
Turks
have now defac'd by picking out their Eyes, and quite deforming all their Heads; however the remaining beauty of this noble Gallery sufficiently demonstrates, that it was the Workmanship of
Christian Architects,
to grace some part of that illustrious Palace, while it flourish'd gloriously in the peacefull Residence of
Graecian Emperors.
Description of the
Grand Signior
's Treasury.
A very large and noble
Portico,
or large
Piazza,
terminates this
Gallery,
on either side extending to an equal distance, and compleatly forming a large
Semicircle,
at each end whereof there open two large Doors, each Door admits you to some one of four vast Chambers, which contain the
Treasure
of the
Turkish Sultans.
EVERY Chamber is alike for form and bigness, making four
Half-Moons,
or
Semicircles,
two on either side, at equal distance each from other, with their horns or points directly contrary to those of the
Piazza
just now mention'd, and betwixt one Building and another, all the spaces being planted with the finest
Trees,
and odoriferous
Flowers
in various artfull Figures, form a sort of charming Prospect, not to be imagin'd by the most capacious Apprehension.
SIX Seals on either Door, and three large Chains secure the Entrance, never open'd but upon express Command from the
Grand Signior
to the
Hasnadar Bashaw,
or
Lord High Treasurer
; each Room is full of
Cupboards, Coffers, Iron-Chests,
and
Shelves
extreamly large, all fill'd with
Riches
of a different kind, and shining brightly with collected heaps of most inestimable
Wealth,
and
curious Rarities,
which have from time to time been freely
given, bought,
or
taken
from the distant Corners of the spacious Universe.
The Royal Lodgings.
DIRECTLY opposite to the
Piazza,
which contains the Doors, that open to this Treasure, stand the
Royal Lodgings,
which you enter by another great
Piazza,
not unlike the former, but with its Points so well dispos'd, and so exactly opposite, that
both Piazza
's make a Space of
Circular design,
and
large extent,
the midst whereof contains a
Fountain,
spouting from its sides large Streams of Water, which Descending in a Body on the
Center
of the
Cistern,
form a Figure Pleasantly uncommon.
Two Ancient Obelisks.
AMIDST the space, between the
Horns
of the
Piazza
's, stand two
Obelisks
of lofty Heighth, and wonderfull contrivance, but neglected by the
Turks,
no Lovers of the Venerable
Reliques
of
Antiquity,
are now o'ergrown with
Bushes,
and Surrounding Multitudes of
Brambles.
The Wings adjoyning to the Royal Lodgings.
TWO Wings are added to the
Center,
either enter'd by a Door, which opens at each point of the
Piazza,
and extending their
Apartments
in two large
Half-Moons
directly opposite to those, which form the
Treasury,
but standing with their Horns the other way, and pointing to the
Gardens,
like the
Sultans Lodgings.
ALL the space between these
Wings,
and the abovenam'd
Treasury,
is fill'd with Fountains,
Cypress Trees,
and curious Flower Gardens,
Melancholy Grotto's.
and the Vacancy on either side, politely terminated by a
Semicircular Grotto,
Built of Shells, set here and there upon a rough hard substance, exactly representing
Natural Rock,
betwixt whose Hollows, artificial Groves of fine Impending Coral seem to sprout, and thro' their dropping Branches
Murmuringly
discharge, small Streams of Water, gently Trickling down the Rock in many Places.
The
Hazoda
or Apartment of the Pages of the Presence.
THE
Right
of these two
Wings,
the
Turks
distinguish by the Name of the
Hazoda,
where the Forty
Pages of the Presence
have their Lodging, under the Inspection of an Officer of high degree; here they first begin to tast the sweets of Liberty, and are permitted to converse with whom they please, a Privilege for many Years before deny'd them.
Apartments of the Great
Seraglio
Officers.
THE
Left Wing
is divided into many fine and large Apartments, where are Lodg'd the
Selictar-Aga,
or
Royal Sword Bearer, Hichokadar-Bashaw,
or
Bearer of the Cloak,
and many other of the Greatest Officers of the
Seraglio,
such as always have Admission to the Presence of the
Sultan.
THE
Sultans Quarter
Boasts no more than Three Great Rooms, but those so Splendid, and
beyond Imagination
Stately and convenient, that one, who never saw them, cannot comprehend the Twentieth Part of their Amazing Excellences.
Description of the
Sultans
Glorious Chambers.
THE Roofs are Arch'd, and all set thick with Glittering Spires and Balls of
Chrystal,
rim'd about with
Gold
and
Azure,
whence in many Places hang great
Golden Globes,
adorn'd with
Diamonds
of surprizing
Lustre,
all the sides are Richly Flagg'd in separate
Pannels
with
White, Black, Grey, Blue, Green,
and other colour'd
Marble,
'twixt every one of which runs
one
of
Gold
or
Silver,
reaching like the rest from top to bottom; all the Floor is
Veiny Marble,
cover'd over with the finest and most costly
Cloath of Gold,
that can be purchas'd, neatly interwove with Twenty other different colours; close against the Wall, all round each Chamber lie large Cushions, of a
black, green, blue,
or
crimson Velvet,
embroidred in the richest manner, with the finest Pearls, some
long,
some
round,
and some of every form and magnitude; in short, no part of all those Chambers but possesses
Ornaments,
the most
accomplish'd Grandeur
of the stateliest Palaces of
Europe
cannot
equalize.
A wonderfull River, flowing two ways.
BEHIND the Royal Lodgings at about two hundred Paces distance runs a River, brought by Art from the adjoining Sea, thro' subterraneous Passages, to rise exactly in the middle of the highest Ground of the
Seraglio,
where it forms a sort of Lake, and thro' an artificial Channel, runs along with mighty swiftness down the Hill on either side, quite cross the Palace, passing thro' the Garden Walls on either side, by a large Iron Grate, and so descending to the Sea two different ways, from which 'tis constantly supply'd, as fast as it emits the rising Waters.
The impossibility of approaching the Womens Quarter.
IT is this River, that divides the
Great Seraglio
from the Quarters of the Ladies, hindring all Communication 'twixt the two Divisions, by the means of its impetuous Current, nor dares any Man, how bold soever, once presume to straggle from his Station, towards the
Verge
of this forbidden Ground, since cou'd he pass the numerous
Guards
of
Eunuchs,
which impede his Progress, tho' that
barr
alone is
unsurmountable,
he must undoubtedly be seen, by the
Grand Signior
or his
Officers,
and present
Ruin
follow his Discovery.
Lovely Gardens.
FROM the Buildings, which contain the Lodgings of the
Sultan,
and the
semicircular Wings
thereto adjoining, runs a spacious and delightfull
Flower-garden,
curiously adorn'd with every kind of odoriferous Plant, and shady Tree, which can afford a Smell or Prospect any ways
agreable
; numerous
Fountains,
each of different form, illustrate the Appearance, and the
Gardens
reaching from one Wall to the other, terminate their
breadth
upon the Bank of the abovenam'd River, all along whose edge there runs a row of Breast-high
Iron Rails,
as on the other side appears a line of gilded Banisters.
THERE runs a little Marble Pavement from the
Sultan's Postern,
through a very stately Wooden Arch, adorn'd with Trees and twining Jessamins, which twist about it in the middle of the Garden, not unlike the fam'd
Triumphal Arches
of the ancient
Romans.
THIS Pavement is divided at about an hundred paces from the River, into two distinct and
semicircular Galleries
with Banisters on either side, about three Foot in heighth, adorn'd with
Spires
and
Balls
of
Gold,
Two Draw-bridges, which lead you to the Ladies Apartment.
which lead to two great
Draw-bridges,
each guarded by a Party of
White Eunuchs
on the hither side, and crossing the swift Current on each side of the beforenam'd
Source
of Waters, at the other Foot of either Bridge there waits a constant Guard of
Black,
or
Negro Eunuchs,
and two other
Galleries,
exactly correspondent to the former, lead two ways to such another Pavement, running also thro' an
Arch
adorn'd and built exactly like the other.
Of the Apartments of the Women.
AND now we are arriv'd upon a Ground, where any
Man,
except the
Sultan,
is like
Juvenal
's
Rara avis in terris,
even as great a rarity as
his black Swan,
or any other Wonder; nothing here is seen but
Beauty,
strangely intermix'd with rough
Deformity,
each small
Avenue
leading to the
Women,
who inhabit this Division,
Black or Negro Eunuchs.
being watch'd continually by
Crowds
of
Blackamores,
not only rob'd of all the strong and
virile
Marks of
lusty Manhood
by a smooth
Castration
or
Decision rather,
but elected from the most deform'd and evil countenanc'd of that untempting
Race,
as if the curs'd insatiate
Jealousy
of the
lascivious Sultans,
cou'd not think the incapacitating them from amorous Practices with their distrusted Women, were sufficient to secure them, but they must inhumanely contrive a way to keep the Ladies Inclinations
Chast,
by the prevailing Virtue of a strong
Antipathy.
Moral Reflections.
HOW wide alas! does this luxurious
Prince
mistake the real road to
Greatness,
who instead of awing his audacious Subjects by a warlike Disposition, and the even Balance of impartial Justice, leaves his Empire to subservient Managements, and meanly gives himself entirely over to the constant Practice of
voluptuous
Living; neither knowing nor desiring other
Grandeur
than the plenary indulgment of his carnal Appetite, not considering that, as
Seneca
says in his
Tragedy
of
Thyestes,
Sen.
Tra. of
Thyestes.
Regem non faciunt opes,
Non vestis
Tyriae
color,
Non frontis nota Regiae,
Non auro nitidae trabes.
Rex est, qui posuit metus,
Et diri mala pectoris;
Quem non ambitio impotens,
Et nunquam stabilis favor
Vulgi praecipitis movet.
THE
transient Honours,
which frail
Riches
bring,
Are not those
Royal Proofs,
that mark a
King,
Not
Tyrian Purple
o'er his Garments spread,
Nor
regal Diadems
around his Head,
Not gracefull
Robes,
which shine in every fold
With a polite
embroidery
of
Gold
;
He only is a
King,
who, not opprest
By those black
Fears
and
Ills,
which storm his Breast,
Bravely stands firm, his
Justice
to maintain,
And hears
Ambition
tempt his Pow'r in vain;
Who stands th' establish'd Pillar of his State,
Always alike, still Good, and ever Great.
Moral Reflections.
CONTENT will make the meanest
Object
of uncover'd
Poverty
a happier Man, than commonly the
Sultan
is in all these elevated
Scenes
of Pomp and Glory. The tow'ring heighth, whereon he stands, does seldom fail to make him
giddy
; then he falls below the bliss of those, who can in Rags reflect on
Grandeur
in the following Notions of that admirable
Author.
Rex est, qui metuit nihil,
Rex est, quique cupit nihil,
Hoc Regnum sibi quisque dat.
That Man's a
Monarch,
who can fear no fate;
So's he, who never covets to be Great,
And that, which makes such sort of
Kingdoms
best,
Is, that
all Men
at will may be thereof possest.
Moral Reflections.
NO Man, who seriously reflects upon the bloody ends, which commonly attend the
Turkish Emperors,
and overtake their Pride amidst the
Sunshine
they are fondly basking in, wou'd wish to change degrees with their
uncertain Majesty
; and surely Death must fall with double weight on such, as Power and Haughtiness of Soul have lifted up beyond the apprehension of its ever reaching them; for, to make use again of
Seneca
's Expressions.
Illi mors gravis incubat,
Qui notus nimis omnibus,
Ignotus moritur sibi.
Death on that Man must heavy fall,
Who,
by his Grandeur,
shown,
Known
and
respected
too by
all,
Dies
to himself unknown.
A winding Gallery.
BUT to return again to what I was about, the Pavement on the other side the
second Arch
admits you to the entrance of a stately Gallery, perhaps the finest, that was ever heard of, for it reaches from one Garden Wall to the other,
winding
in and out exactly as we paint a folding Serpent, all the turnings at an equal distance from each other, and so often made, that those, who walk upon it lose the sight of one another every ten or fourteen Paces.
Fine Marble Pillars.
TIS supported nobly by two rows of Pillars, of a red and white large veiny Marble; all the
Bases
and the
Capitals
are
black
; and the inverting Floor, on which they stand, consists of spacious Marble Squares, politely intermix'd one half of
red,
the other of a lovely
greenish Colour.
YOU ascend the top of the abovenam'd Gallery by a broad Marble Stair-case, with three stately
Landing-places,
rail'd on either side with
Iron gilt,
and headed with large
Balls
and Spires of
Gold:
A golden Floor.
You enter with a strange surprize, to see the bottom floor'd to all appearance with thick Plates of
burnish'd Gold,
which is indeed no more than
Copper gilt,
but every Year or two renew'd or polish'd, so that it reflects a dazling Lustre and amazing Majesty: On either side is built a kind of Wall breast high, whose inside
like the Floor
is plated over with the
Copper gilt,
and all along upon its
top
on either side, at five Foot distance from each other, stand vast numbers of fine golden
Pyramids,
each
Pyramid
adorn'd upon its utmost Point with one large
Globe of Gold,
by four whereof the bottom is supported.
THE Reader
I presume,
will be inclin'd to think this Place, as I have now describ'd it so magnificent and beautifull, that it can scarce admit of an additional extravagance; he will be consequently much surpriz'd,
A lovely walking Place.
when I inform him, that on either side within the Wall are very deep and artificial
hollows,
fill'd with
Soil
of a
productive
nature, where are planted
Wood-bines,
commonly call'd
Hony-suckles, Jessamins, low Flowers,
and
Tuberoses,
which supported by a stronger and more spreading kind of lasting
Greens,
so sweetly intermix with one another, meeting at the top, and growing thick upon a frame of rich gilt
Box Wood,
that you walk as in a dream, thro' all the odoriferous extasies of
Natures Blessings.
The Lodgings of the
Negro Eunuchs.
THE
Gallery
is terminated on the left by a large Door, which opens sideways into the Apartment of the
Negro Eunuchs,
or
Black-Guard
of the secluded Ladies; which extends it self strait forward, towards the
Point
of the
Seraglio
about two hundred Yards in
length,
and
breadth proportionable
; it consists of only one large Hall supported by large Vaults, wherein are all the
Cellars, Landries,
and Conveniencies, requir'd for the service of the Ladies.
THE Room is equally divided into spaces for the
Eunuch's Lodging-Places,
and its high Arch'd Roof supported by an Hundred Marble Pillars, Fifty on a side; about the Middle opens a low Wooden Door, and lets you out upon a Gallery, which fronts the Gardens; here they
Eat, Drink
and Divert themselves, when out of Waiting, casting still an Eye of Observation on the Womens Actions.
The Lodgings of the
Sultan's
Mistresses.
DIRECTLY opposite, and enter'd in the same manner, lie the Lodgings of the
Sultans Mistresses,
consisting also of one Room and Gallery with Offices below it, the Length, Breadth, Heighth, and whole Proportion just the same with the Apartment of the
Eunuchs.
The Furniture of their Apartment.
BUT as for all the Ornamental part, the Roof, Sides, Floor, and Pillars of the
Ladies Chamber
are exactly like the
Sultans own Division
; or if any difference appears, it is because the Womens Quarter Shines more Brightly, if it's possible, with
Gold
and
Chrystal
; and whereas the Rooms of the
Grand Signior,
as you read before, are Pannel'd from the
Cieling
to the
Floor,
with Gold and Silver every Yard or two between the Marble,
here,
instead thereof, they sert the finest
Looking-Glass,
which so surprizingly adorns the place, that viewing as you walk along, a strange confus'd irregularity of prospect, in promiscuous mixtures of the various colour'd Marble Flags, the Cushions, Carpets, and the Numerous Pillars, which support the Building, you are agreable amaz'd at so uncommon an appearance.
Their Beds and way of Sleeping.
THEIR
Beds
are only
Quilts
or
Carpets
five times doubled, over which is laid a
Sattin Coverlet,
which being turn'd aside, they enter in their
Shifts
and
Mustin Drawers,
and contentedly repose themselves till Break of Day, beyond which hour they seldom are permitted to indulge themselves in slumber.
How their Beds are Plac'd.
FOUR Rows of
Beds
there are, from one end of the Chamber to the other, and the Number of the Ladies, sometimes more, and sometimes less, may commonly be reckon'd at about
Five Hundred.
Two Rows of Beds are Plac'd against the Wall on either side, and
two
between the
Columns,
which support the Chamber.
The Governante's of the
Seraglio
how chosen.
BETWEEN each
Fourth
and
Fifth
of all the Beds their lies a kind of
Matron,
if it may be proper so to call an
Aged Virgin,
for they are always chosen out of those more Antiquated Ladies, whose hard luck has burthen'd them with the
Ʋ nsummon'd
Load of
Stale Virginity,
and consequently made them fit for a Succession to the Vacancies of such a Post, as by requiring a Malicious care to hinder
Wantonesses
they are Past the Tast of, speaks 'em enviously and extreamly Qualified for its Possession.
How the Ladies live in the
Seraglio.
IT is the proper Business of these Ill-natur'd
Governante's,
to inspect the Actions and Behaviour of the Young
Recluses,
by day to keep 'em Strictly to their Work, which, for the most Part, is
Embroidery
in various colours, intermix'd with Gold and Silver, upon
Silk
or
Muslin
; at other times to see they miss not those Genteeler parts of Education, such as
Singing, Dancing
and the like, according to the
Turkish Mode,
all which is Taught 'em Daily by
Black Eunuchs
purposely oblig'd to Practice such Accomplishments, as 'twill be Requisite to Teach the Ladies.
A strictness to prevent Immodest Actions.
THERE Burn
all Night,
not far from each Beds Foot, a sort of fine
Wax Tapers,
and the only reason for it, is, that
by their Light,
the
Governante
may be able to Discover all immodest or indecent Pastimes, which the Wanton Inclinations of the Youthfull
Ladies,
kept from the Society or Sight of
Man,
might prompt 'em to the Practice of, did
Opportunity
and
Darkness
favour their
Endeavours
: I cou'd give my Reader some Amazing Instances in that particular, but since it may offend the
Modesty
of my more
Chast
and
Vertuous Country-Women,
'twill be more Obliging if I spare their Blushes by
Omitting
the Relation.
The Ladies Gallery.
THE
Gallery
adjoyning to the
Ladies Lodgings,
tho exactly correspondent, and alike in Form and Bigness to its
Opposite,
belonging to the
Negro Eunuchs,
shines beyond it in a High Degree, by reason of the Rich
Embroider'd Cushions,
Cloth of Gold, and
Silken
Furniture, wherewith the
Floor,
and
Saffrai
are both cover'd; looking out upon a Garden, filling all the space between the Buildings, and extending its
Avenues, Flower-Plots, Fountains,
and
Cool Grotto's,
from the
Winding Gallery
to the bottom of the
Lodgings,
A Stately Quick-sett-Hedge.
where it is terminated by a
Quick-sett-Hedge,
of a Surprizing Heigth and Thickness, forming a
Half-Moon,
the Horns whereof Embrace the
Inner Angles
of the two
Apartments,
open in the Middle by a smooth and Artificial
Gap,
which represents a large
Arch'd Gate-way,
leading to the Entrance of a
Shady Grove,
the Spreading Branches of whose Various Trees meet over Head and form a Hundred
Lovely Bowers,
and cool retirements, which I shall
hereafter
largely Treat of.
Lovely Gardens.
FROM the Galleries, which Front the two Apartments, you descend from either end by a large Marble Stair-Case, turning from the
Quick-sett Hedge,
and Winding till they look towards the side Walls of the
Seraglio
: These admit you to the Entrances of many Shady Paths and gracefull Avenues of
Myrtle, Cypress, Orange Trees
and
Jessamins,
which Wind delightfully from Place to Place,
sometimes
admitting you to Subterraneous
Grotto
's, all supported and adorn'd by Marble Pillars, from whose sides there Issues Water, that by falling down from different Heights on
Shells of Brass,
of different Thickness, makes a sort of gentle
Musick,
sweetly full of Melancholy Harmony.
Fine Greens for the Diversion of the
Sultans
Mistersses.
SOMETIMES these Walks or rather
Labyrinths,
lead you out upon fine
Greens,
Round, Square, Oblong, and of all forms imaginable, Moated round by well-stock'd
Fish-Ponds,
in the Middle of these Greens, there generally stands a
Tent,
each Rope whereof is Guarded by an
Eunuch
: Here such Ladies, as are graver than the Rest, sit Cross Legg'd and observe the Pastimes of their fellow
Beauties,
some of which run Wildly up and down the Field, and form a kind of Sport not much unlike our
English
Country Game of
Threading the Scottish Needle,
others Dance upon another part of the same
Green, here
some are Walking and conversing Merrily,
there
three or four are Lolling in the Shade, Stretching and Rolling up and down in Wanton Postures, and every now and then you may perceive some serious solitary
Virgin,
Angling in the
Fishpond,
and unmindfull of all Pastimes but her own sedate and innocent Diversion,
Lascivious Customs of the Ladies in the
Seraglio.
IT is not seldom that the
Sultan
does in Person grace their Exercises, and then they all contrive with eager Emulation, who shall most engage his fancy by the Artifice of her Behaviour; now
Modesty
takes leave of these Licentious
Ladies,
and the Warmer Arguments of loose desire incline them to the Practice of the most
Lascivious Dances, Postures,
and
Performances,
which serve to raise a Lustfull Fire, and may excite the
Passion
of the Amorous
Sultan
to a Cooling satisfaction of his Heated Wishes, in a full Possession of her happy charms, who more than any other moves his Inclinations.
SUCH
Gardens, Groves,
and fine
Plantations
of
Delicious Fruit Trees,
as I have above describ'd, fill all the large remaining space within the Inner Wall of the
Seraglio,
which confines the
Womens Quarter,
The great Gardens of the
Seraglio.
and divides the whole from those vast tracts of
Garden Ground,
which quite surround the
Palace,
and consist of Fruits of every kind,
Herbs, Cucumbers,
and every individual thing, which is requir'd even from the
Kitchin
to the
Dining Room.
These larger Gardens are manur'd by Men, of common Knowledge in Affairs of
Husbandry
; but those belonging to the
Ladies Quarter,
are not enter'd but by certain of the
Negro Eunuchs,
purposely instructed in the art of
Gardening,
that they may be qualified to serve in that Employment.
Another Wall.
ANOTHER Wall divides the
largest Gardens
from the
outward Wall
of the
Seraglio,
leaving only space sufficient for the passing and repassing of those
Troops of Soldiers,
who from time to time relieve the
Guards,
perpetually employ'd to keep the
Towers,
which,
as I said before,
defend the
Palace.
I know the natural Curiosity of my expecting
Female Readers
will induce them to condemn my want of
Complaisance,
if, after having led them gradually thro' every corner of the
Sultan
's Palace, I shou'd hurry 'em away without permitting them, to look a little into his
Amours,
the hopes
perhaps,
of which amusement was the only cause, that brought 'em thither.
TO this I answer, That I will immediately comply with their Desires; but must by way of Prologue, urge 'em all to lay aside those vulgar Errors and
Romantick Notions,
former
Authors,
or perhaps, their
travelling Lovers
have possess'd their Minds with.
Common Fame a common Lyar.
COMMON Fame is both a
Lyar,
and a
Magnifier
of the falsities of all Mankind; where Truth is doubtful, or the Fact obscure, she strait contrives to fill
deficiencies
with a productive train of illegitimate Assertions;
A mistaken Notion of the
Grand Signior
's Courtship.
nor ever cou'd a Subject more entirely prove the certainty of this Opinion, than the Great
Seraglio
of the
Turkish Sultan,
and the ceremonious Practices of his uncommon ways of Courtship, such as
walking thro' them with a Knott of Handkerchiefs fasten'd to his Girdle, one of which he drops at every Ladies Foot, he has a mind to make his Bed-fellow
; yet this erroneous Story had the fortune to obtain so good a Credit, that the Learned and Judicious Sir
Paul Ricaut,
has not blush'd to tell us in his
Maxims of the Turkish Polity,
that such as is above describ'd, was universally allow'd to be the
Pattern of the Sultan
's
Courtship.
Love Affairs shou'd be kept secret.
AFFAIRS of Love,
the Ladies tell me,
shou'd be kept as secret as Affairs of State, and certainly
if so,
'tis doubly criminal, when we betray the close Amours of
Royal Monarchs
; yet
for once
I'll venture to transgress those rules of Privacy, and give as punctual an Account, as I am able, of the
Scenes of Love,
occasionally practis'd 'twixt the
Sultan
and his
Mistresses.
If any of my
Countrywomen
shou'd be so delighted with the Pleasures I describe, as to abandon
England
for the
Turks Seraglio,
the Nation will forgive me for the loss they suffer, by considering the Accident as such a wonderful surprize, that not the sharpest
Mortal guess
cou'd ever have expected it.
The notice given by the Sultan, when he intends a Visit to his Ladies.
FIRST then the
Sultan
almost daily visits the Apartment of his Ladies, and gives notice half an hour or more before he comes, by looking out from his
back Windows
to the
Drawbridge,
guarded by the
Negro Eunuchs,
and informing them of his intention by the Words
Helvett, Gelerrum,
that is,
Make ready, I am coming.
How he is receiv'd, and what he does among them.
THIS notice is enough, and all the
inner Palace
rings immediately with the repeated sounds of this
Alarum,
all the
Ladies
dress themselves with hast, Wash, Shift, Perfume and Polish their Appearances for the Reception of their
Master,
who upon his Entrance, is saluted by the whole Assembly on their
Knees,
he sits, drinks
Coffee, Tea,
and toys away an hour or two in
kissing
and
embracing
them with equal familiarity, and then conducts them to the
Greens,
or
Bowers
within the
Gardens,
where he takes delight to see their Emulation in the several Arts of pleasing, which I just now told you they employ their time in.
How the Sultan chuses a Mistress.
THIS is, however, but the method of his publick Conversation with the numbers of his Ladies, amongst whom the Charms of
one
will often shine superior to the
others; Her,
on some such Day of publick Sport, appointed purposely, he beckons from the rest, and leads her to some
Bower,
to talk a while in private, and prepare her Expectation for the Honour he allots her to.
How he Courts her.
THE
Eunuchs,
who attend, acquainted with the Reasons of their
Emperor
's withdrawing, summon the repining Remnant of the disappointed
Virgins
back to their Apartment; while the
new-elected
Mistress of the
Sultan
's
Love,
receives perhaps, the sweet advances of a
Kiss or two,
in token of the value she has heard her Lord declare he bears her; after which she is deliver'd by the Hand of the
Grand Signior
to the charge of those
Black Eunuchs
then in Waiting.
The Respect the other Ladies are oblig'd to show her.
BY them she is saluted with a low Respect, becoming the Address of such as compliment the Partner of the
Sultan
's Bed; and quite surrounded by her black Retinue, walks in State along the Chamber she so lately was confin'd to; all the other Ladies as she passes by, rise up, and falling on their
Knees
to kiss her
Vest,
congratulate the Blessing she must soon become Possessor of.
Their Pride upon advancement.
TRANSPORTED by Success, beyond her self, and giddy by the height of her Advancement to such Fortune, Reason, which
before
perhaps, had little place within her Mind,
now
quite forsakes the elevated Creature, who forgetting that her happiness depends upon the humour of a fickle Monarch, and must
stand
or
fall
as he is
pleas'd
or
displeas'd
with her first Embraces, looks about her with a scornful Air of
Pride
and
Grandeur,
and believes herself as much above them in her Merit, as she
then
appears by the respect they pay her; hence spring a thousand Jealousies, malicious Wishes, Envies and Uneasinesses, which are the neverfailing Consequences of Domestic Preference among the Ladies, and undoubtedly gave cause to that old
Graecian Poet,
(who by the way 'tis ten to one was Married) to cry out
The Envy of the Women make Mens Houses downright Bedlams.
Preparatory Ceremonies.
THE Publick Wardrobe of the Ladies Lodgings is oblig'd to furnish rich variety of
Cloths
and
Jewels
upon such occasions, and with these, she is conducted by the grave
Matrona
's I before discours'd of, to the
Bagnio
's of the
Sultan,
where she is not only strip'd, and wash'd from Head to Foot, but
scented
with Perfumes to add new Charms to those of Nature, that she may appear at Night, deserving that Affection, which her Royal Lover has vouchsaf'd to crown her with.
A pleasant Custom.
BESIDES the Preparation of the
Bagnio,
previous to her Bedding the
Grand Signior,
she is offer'd
Wine
to drink without controul, that so, she may possess
at Night
an artificial Vigour, more engaging than the modest Bashfullness of her untried and native Innocence.
THUS may the
Reader
see, how wantonly the
Monarchs
of the
Turkish Empire
study means to swell their Pleasures to the utmost pitch of
Tast
and
Luxury,
whereby they madly hasten on their Ends, forgetfull of that
true,
but much unheeded
Graecian Maxim.
An admirable
Graecian
Maxim.
Three things there are, that shorten
Mortal
's Breath,
And hurry us
compendiously
to Death,
Bathing,
and
drinking Wine
to great
Excess,
And love of
Female Joys
to lustful Wantonness.
How the Lady is conducted to the
Sultan
's Chamber.
WHEN Night is come, and the
Grand Signior,
full of Expectation, laid in Bed, the
Eunuchs
of his Chamber notifie his Pleasure to the
Waiting
Lady, who is thereupon immediately attended by the
other Virgins, Matrons,
and
Black Eunuchs,
to the
Sultan
's Chamber, all the Instruments of
Turkish Musick
sounding round her, and a hundred large
Wax Tapers
lighting her along; they leave her at the Door, and wishing her a Satisfaction equal to her Honour, separate, and all return to their respective Places.
How receiv'd there.
MEAN while the trembling
Virgin
knocks, and is admitted by the
Kisler Aga,
or
Great Master of the Negro Eunuchs,
who attends her coming, to instruct her in some necessary Duties, she must offer at Performing; after which he modestly withdraws and leaves her in the Chamber.
Her first Address to the
Grand Signior.
THE
Sultan
all this while expects her in the Bed, to which she is directed, by two large white Tapers, burning in the Room; I shou'd have told you, that she enters, only cover'd with a
Wrapping Night-gown,
and advancing to the Feet of the
Grand Signior
's
Bed,
falls down upon her Knees, and in an humble manner asks this Question.
A Slave to your Commands,
Great Monarch,
waits your beckon, may, or may she not be now admitted?
YOU may be sure the
Sultan
answers
Yes,
and if impatient to possess her Beauties, takes her in as soon and kindly as your self
young Reader
wou'd your Mistress:
Their pleasant method of creeping in at the Beds-feet.
But alas poor Women! common Custom
generally
forces them to a more humble Entrance, for, in token of Submission,
dropping off their Night-gown,
they must gently raise the
Bed Cloaths
at the Feet, and so creep gradually up to those Embraces, which an
Englishman
wou'd be so civil to believe deserving of a kinder Welcome; and an
Englishwoman,
if I know them rightly, think too worthy to bestow in such a
mortifying
and submissive manner.
Their Salutation in the Morning.
'TIS possible however, that an
after-game
of Love and Kindness may make full amends for the indifference of her first Reception, that we will not doubt of, but proceed to tell you, that when
Morning
breaks, they are awaken'd by the sound of
Musick,
and the shriller Voices of some tunefull
Eunuchs,
singing certain Songs compos'd on purpose, not unlike the
Epithalamiums
of the Ancient; all these Songs are handed up and down the City, when the Story of some new Intrigue inclines the People to converse upon that Subject; I had several presented me, and one among the rest I have
Translated,
to divert the Reader.
A
Turkish
Epithalamium
Blessings Crown the
Royal Pair,
Mighty
Sultan,
happy
Fair,
Endless
Pleasures
bless your Bed,
Angels Wings
around you spread,
Godlike Offspring
grace your
Joys,
Heav'nly
Daughters,
lovely
Boys,
All that
eithers
Wish can crave,
That
let
both together
have,
Long continue all your
Pleasure,
Let your
Bliss
be out of measure.
Blessings crown the
Royal Pair,
Mighty Sultan, happy Fair.
The Present, he makes her in the Morning.
ALARM'D by the repeated Harmony of these
congratulary Songs,
the
New-made Woman
rises from the Bosom of her amorous Partner, who bestows at parting, (with a gratefull Kiss) some
precious Jewel
of inestimable Value; as soon as she is cover'd by the Wrapper, she threw off the Night before, the
Sultan
pulls a
Silken String,
and presently come in the
Ladies
and their
Matrons
to attend her in another Chamber, while she dresses richly in the Cloaths I lately told you were demanded from the
Wardrobe,
having first been bath'd, and well perfum'd all over in the private
Bagnio.
The Honour of a Favorite.
IF she has been so happy as to please the
Sultan
in a more than common manner, she continues
Queen
of his Apartment and Affection, serv'd all Day upon the
Knee,
by his
Superior Officers,
and sharing every Night the Bed of her
Great Master,
and it has been sometimes known, that
One
has kept Possession of his Heart for many Years together, insomuch that all the other Ladies have been slighted, or forgotten, while their
Monarch
's Thoughts were wholly bent to find new Pleasures for the Object of his Passion.
How the
Sultan
and she pass their time.
WHEN any
Lady
is so fortunate as this, the daily Custom of the
Sultan
is to lead her up and down, from Walk to Walk, and
Bower
to
Bower
about the Garden, Courting her as
amorously
and as full of softness, as a
Christian Lover
wou'd a
Mistress
he address'd for
Marriage
; all the while they walk, the
Gardens
must be private, not so much as a
Black Eunuch
is permitted to remain, to overhear or see the fond
Amours
of the delighted
Sultan.
Other Diversions.
SOMETIMES they walk or sit in
Grottoes,
sometimes in the coolest part of some sweet Grove, where fine
Cascades
and other
Water Works
seem to join Harmony with warbling Birds about their Heads, as if they strove to drown from any others Ear, the whisp'ring softness of their Voices; sometimes they mount a sort of winding Stairs, that lead up to a little Pleasure House, contriv'd within the Branches of an
Oak
or
Walnut Tree,
and cover'd over with
Embroid'red Velvet Cushions,
where they
sit, stand, lie
and dally wantonly, (unseen by any thing but
Heaven
) in a mutual Transport.
A strange Contrivance for a Seat of Pleasure.
AMONGST the numerous Contrivances those Gardens boast, one seems to have been copied from an
Indian Model
; for in certain thickest parts of the close Groves, is left a
Square
about four Yards in bigness; at every corner of this
Square
is planted a large
Tree,
whose Branches, growing very high, and spreading far beyond the rest, meet
overhead,
and form a
Canopy,
that shades all
underneath
from the most piercing Sun-shine: To the smallest of these
Trees
low Branches, consequently such as any
weight
will move most easily, are fastned strongly the four Corners of a doubled
Canvass,
cover'd over with the richest
Velvet,
which is pull'd so tight that it appears as
even
as a Table, yet when any thing of reasonable Burthen comes upon it, all the Branches giving way like
Springs,
it feels a very
odd
and
pleasant
kind of Motion.
A charming Summer-House.
A little Wooden
Stair-Case,
Winding round each corner Tree, admits the
Sultan
and his valued
Mistress
to this
Velvet-Cover'd Canvas,
where they sometimes roll about, and rocking up and down, so toy away their Hours in
Amorous Pastime,
sometimes sitting Cross-legg'd Play at
Chess,
or Talk away their Minutes, in a Pleasing Conversation, while their Ravish'd Senses are Enchanted in a manner, by the Twining
Honey-Suckles, Jessamins,
and other
Odoriferous, Plants,
and
Flowers,
which growing out of certain
Pots of Earth,
Ingeniously made fast to the
Top-Branches
of the Trees, Hang sweetly down between the
Boughs,
and form a Lovely
Scent
and
Prospect,
not to be Imagin'd but by Persons present; this Place so rich in Pleasure, tempts the Passions of the
Toying Couple
to such Ardent Wishes, that the Shady
Canopy,
which covers them so well, is often
Conscious
of their
Wanton Pastime.
How the other Ladies are dispos'd off, after Beding the
Grand Signior.
BESIDES these
Inward Scenes
of the
Grand Signiors Dalliances,
there stands a
Lettic'd Kiosk
or
Summer-House,
adorn'd with
Cloth of Gold
and
Velvet Cushions,
whence, while they are Drinking
Coffee, Tea,
or
Chocolate,
they have an open prospect of the
Asian Mountains,
all the
Haven,
and the
Town
upon the other side, with the
Kaickgees
or
Boat Men
Rowing up and down, and the said Summer-House being Built upon the outward Wall of the
Seraglio,
all the
Gallies, Ships of War,
and
Trading Vessels,
Foreign, or
their own,
must necessarily pass almost within
Pistol Shot
of their
Commodious Situation.
THESE are the favours constantly bestow'd upon those happy Ladies, who obtain a
Monarch
's Heart
in lieu
of their
Virginities:
But the less successfull Women, after they have
one Night
tasted the Embraces of a Man, are carried from the Chamber, where they live
when Maids,
and lock'd in a
Seraglio
call'd
Kadin Serai,
or
Ladies Palace,
here they live a Solitary Life, confin'd within the Walls of an old Building, Waited on by
Eunuchs,
and can never hope for liberty, unless they chance to prove with Child, if so, they are brought back to an Apartment near the
Sultans,
and deliver'd in his presence, ever after living there, with liberty to wear a Crown of different shape and value, according to her Quality, which is defin'd by being First or Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, or Twentieth
Hasakee
or
Concubine.
A Barbarous Policy.
AS for the Sons they are deliver'd of, the Barbarous Policy of their Jealous Government, immediately Imprisons them as soon as Born, in a Dark Underground Apartment, where they are Instructed in their Language and Religion, all their necessaries handed down thro' Holes bor'd thro' the
Cieling,
being never suffer'd even to see the Sun, till on the Death of him who Reign'd, the Eldest Brother is Elected from his Dungeon to the
Throne
of that
Great Empire
; who of old, as soon as he was Father of a Son or two himself, was us'd to order all his Brothers to be Strangled in the Prison, but of late they have disus'd this Black Inhumane Custom.
THE New-Elected
Emperor
enjoys at pleasure any of those Women, who were brought to the
Seraglio
for the Pleasure of his
Predecessor,
only the
Sultana's
or such Ladies as he had enjoy'd, are Instantly remov'd to the
Kadin Serai
I lately spoke of; all the rest remaining pure, undoubted
Virgins,
he possesses as he pleases:
The care they use in getting Virgin.
Here the Reader may take Notice, that no Women are admitted into the
Seraglio
after Eight Years Old, That so the
Sultan
may not be deceiv'd as to her being Innocent from even a thought of Man; nor then, unless their Beauties promise by the Fineness of their Bloom, to ripen by degrees to full Perfection.
IT now and then so happens that a full grown Woman, who is made the Prize of War, is sent to the
Seraglio
by some Great
Bashaw,
but then such a Lady must be Mistress of those Charms, which seem to mark her, as a Treasure only fit for the
Grand Signior
's keeping.
How the
Sultan
's Daughters are dispos'd of.
THE
Sultan's Daughters
at five, six, or seven Years of Age, are married to
Bashaws
of high Command, who in acknowledgment of the great Honour he conferrs upon them, are oblig'd
each New-Years-Day,
to send a Present to their Royal Father-in-law, of such considerable Value, that it drains their Coffers faster than they find fair means to fill 'em, so that by this little Artifice, the
Sultan
finds continual means to turn the Danger of a Subjects Riches to his own Advantage.
How the Women of the Seraglio plague the
Sultan.
NOW will the Reader be inclin'd to think that
he,
who
swims
in such a
Sea of Pleasure,
cannot be invaded by the Stings of Discontent, yet, as a Proof that every
Mortal
must be subject to the Imperfections, which attend
Mortality,
a thousand little Anxietys torment and vex him, and the Quarrels of his Women so distract his Temper, that he often will be absent a considerable time, in
Hunting
or some other Pastime, on purpose to avoid the trouble of becoming
Arbitrator
of their frequent Disputations.
No State of Mortal Life entirely happy.
THUS can no Condition of our Life be fully happy,
Celibacy
has its Inconveniencies, and so has
Matrimony
; we oft
change sides
like Men in
Fevers,
yet can never reach the ease we aim at; there are some admirable Notions hereupon in a
Greek Poem,
which is already rendred
English
by so great a Hand, that I will give 'em you Translated as I found 'em.
Domestic
Cares
afflict the
Husband
's Bed,
Or
Pains,
his Head.
Those, who live
Single,
take it for a
Curse,
Or do things worse.
Some
wou'd have
Children,
those, who have them, moan,
Or wish them gone.
What is it then, to have, or have no
Wife,
But
single Thraldom,
or a
double Strife?
TO wind up my Discourse of the
Seraglio,
I will only add, that in respect to the
Grand Signior, Mutes
are there in great esteem, and such an aweful Silence always kept, that they have learn'd a Language on their Fingers, which is not only practis'd by the
Mutes,
but all the Officers in the
Seraglio,
who can readily
by Signs,
express themselves as fully as they can by Speaking:
Why Mutes are made the Executioners of
Turkey.
Another thing the
Reader
may take notice of, is that the
Mutes
are kept as
Executioners,
and sent to Strangle such great Men, as the
Grand Signior
Signs a Warrant for the Death of: I know not why they, more than others, are appointed to that Duty, unless it is because, by being
Deaf
and
Dumb,
they are not qualified to hear and pity those they Execute.
CHAP. XX. Of the Revenues of the
Turkish Sultan.
THE Reader must not here expect particular Accounts of those prodigious Sums of Money, wherewith the
Emperors
of
Turkey
still find means to fill their Coffers;
Private Treasures, how amass'd in
Turkey.
I can only tell him, that besides the Publick
Treasury
I lately spoke of, there is kept in the
Seraglio
private
Banks
of Money in strong leather Baggs, the Sum, which each contains, inscrib'd upon a
Label
fast'ned to it; These have been amass'd by former
Sultans,
and are all distinguish'd from each other by the several Names of the collecting
Monarchs
deeply cut upon the Covers of large
Iron Chests,
which hold the leather Baggs abovenam'd.
To what Use reserv'd.
THESE Private Treasures, tho' containing mighty Sums of Money, which instead of lying dead might be increas'd each Year by different Improvements, are esteem'd so Sacred by the superstitious
Turks,
that they believe it nothing less than hainous Guilt or
Sacrilege
it self, to make the smallest use thereof, till it may do their Country and Religion signal Service at a time, if such a time ever happen, when the
Christian Nations
join against them and invade their Territories; a thing I fear, too much unlikely, but in which the
Turks
are apprehensive of a Universal Danger.
The yearly Revenue of the
Grand Signior.
AS for the
Revenues
of the
Turkish Sultan,
such I mean as are his fix'd Propriety, and the undoubted Right of his
Imperial Dignity,
they are at present reckon'd at about
eight Millions
and
three hundred thousand Pounds Sterling,
yearly Income; a Sum becoming the Possession of a
Prince
so absolute as the
Grand Signior.
The manner of Collecting it.
THE manner of Collecting this prodigious Sum, is by Assessing every Subject of his
Empire,
at an inconsiderable Yearly Tax, which he must pay as an Acknowledgment of his Dependance on, and Duty to the
Sultan
; and it is an admirable Method, they have got, of raising all this Money without any charge or trouble to the
Emperor.
THE Petty Governors of every little
District,
are oblig'd to gather the respective
Quota
's of the
Villagers
about them, and set out with Guards sufficient to defend the Money towards the next great
Town
to their dependant Residences; here they must deliver it to the Possession of the
Aga,
or the
Governour
of the Place, demanding his Discharge for their Acquittance of a Duty so incumbent on their Offices.
How carry'd to the Capital.
THE
Aga's
adding to this Sum their own Collections, guard 'em in like manner to the
Sangiacks,
or the
Lords Provincial
; they, with the addition of their own deliver it to the Superior
Beylerbeys,
or Great
Arch-Dukes
of
Turkey,
and these last continue all in their Possession, till demanded by the
Guards,
who undertake to carry it in Waggons safely to
Constantinople.
THE Quarterly
Collections
never are behind hand, for on pain of Ruin no Man dares refuse immediate Payment on the Day appointed, so that
ten Days
after every
Quarter,
the
remotest Provinces
begin to send away their Money towards the
City
I so lately nam'd. In
every Province,
the
Timariots, Zaims,
and other
standing Soldiery,
are summon'd to appear and form a general Muster;
How guarded on the Road.
whence, with their
Commanders
at their
Head,
they all advance, and guard the Waggons to the Residence of the
Sangiack
of the adjoining Province.
HE with all his Soldiers, joining his additional Collections to the former, there receives the Custody of all together, and advances in like manner till he reaches his next Neighbour, who relieves him with another Party; and in this settled Order they proceed, still swelling their Collections, till the last delivers all the
Revenues
of one Quarter, to the
Lord High Treasurer
at
Constantinople.
IT is observable, that as the Provinces, which lie the nearest to their great
Metropolis,
must undertake the
Convoy
of far greater Sums than the
remoter Places,
so the number of their
Soldiers
is proportionably greater, as they are by far more populous, for reasons mention'd in the Chapter, treating of the
Maxims
of their
Policy.
An admirable Policy.
NOW, tho' the
Sultan's Treasure
is thus brought him by the universal Labour of his Subjects; he is as I have said entirely free from any kind of Charge; this Duty being fix'd upon his
Governors of Provinces,
as one of those incumbent on their Places, and consequently to be manag'd only by those Officers.
Another way the Sultan has of raising Money.
BUT many are the means, whereby the
Sultan
daily adds prodigious Sums to his Revenues, such as,
for Example,
The obliging all the Great
Bashaws
and
Governours
of his Dominions every
New-Years-Day
to send him Presents, commonly in ready Money, which amounts to an incredible
Amassment.
Another, which he often uses.
ANOTHER way he has, when his Occasions press him to Collect extraordinary Sums, by sending Orders to the
Lords Provincial
of his
Empire,
immediately to raise as much as he requires, which they must do without reply, by Means as absolute as the Command of their
Great Master
; oftentimes the
Sultan
takes occasion to demand such Sums from certain
Provinces,
as 'tis impossible they can supply him with; but sending in compliance with his Will as much as they can spare, excuse themselves, as
incapacited for a further Contribution.
A barbarous Avarice.
HERE the
Grand Signior
gains his end, and finds a thousand fair Pretences for the Execution of the
Governors
of all such
Provinces
; he either sends 'em Word that they have quite Impoverish'd their Governments, by tyrannous Oppression of their
People
to enrich
themselves,
or that their Lives must pay the forfeit of their Disobedience, having fail'd to execute his Royal Orders, which obliges him to think them either
Traitors
to his
Power,
or unable to discharge the
Trust
he had conferr'd upon them.
EITHER of these Reasons or indeed a Weaker,
often none at all,
suffice to ruin those, whose
Riches
speak 'em fit for Execution, which is done as I have said before, by
Strangling,
Why the
Turks
use Strangling.
for it is esteem'd a Crime of an unpardonable nature, to spill the Blood of any
Mussulman:
The Treasure of such Governors is instantly declar'd Confiscated to the
Grand Signior,
and accordingly deliver'd into his capacious Coffers.
The
Turks
very Covetous.
THUS does Possession of a splendid Wealth endanger those, who own it, yet it is observable that
Turks
of every Nation are the most inclin'd to aim at growing Rich, more zealously pursuing
Gain,
by how much faster it rolls in upon them; and this in every Age has been a Vice as
epidemic
as
unreasonable.
The
Poor
are commonly the most contented with their Fortune, and
Juvenal
has left it as a Maxim, that,
Juv.
Sat. 14.
Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crescit,
Et minus hanc optat, qui non habet.
The love of Money
does
with Money
grow,
Those wish it
least,
who
least
its Comforts know.
THE Customs upon Goods
Imported
and
Exported,
are another means of bringing in considerable Sums of Money to the Coffers of the
Sultan,
and
occasional Taxes
of an hundred kinds impos'd on
Christians
and the
Turks themselves,
of which it was impossible to get a just Account, amount each Year to such amazing Heaps of Wealth, that the
Grand Signior
cannot tell the bottom of his Income.
BUT as the violent Extortion of
Superiors
tempts the rest to imitate their Methods in a private Dealing, every Man applies himself to study means of growing Rich, as finding a necessity of being so, if they wou'd make a Figure worth regarding.
Juv.
Sat. 14.
Ʋ nde habeas quaerit nemo, sed oportet habere.
No Man will ask, which way you
Wealthy
grow,
Yet, wou'd you gain
Respect,
you must be so.
THO' all the Nations of the World have ever disregarded
ragged Merit,
none despise it like the
Turkish People
; For their
Nobility
becoming so but by the
Riches
they are Masters of, the
Poor
are look'd upon with strange Contempt, and their
successless Labours
slander'd with the Stain of
want of Industry
; and the Curse of
Poverty
were in any Country an insupportable
Misfortune,
tho' it had but that one Mark of Inconvenience, nam'd by
Juvenal.
Juv.
Sat. 3.
Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in se,
Quam quod ridiculos homines facit.
Unhappy
Poverty,
that heavy Curse,
In its
oppressive
Weight has nothing worse,
Than that such Men, as griping
Want
endure,
Appear
ridiculous
by being
Poor.
PROCEED we now to view the present State of the poor
Modern Greeks,
and see how much we find among them of the ancient Spirit of their
Glorious Ancestors.
CHAP. XXI. Of the
Greeks
in their Modern State.
The Learning and Power of the Ancient
Greeks.
THE spacious
Earth
affords no Scene, which plainlier Represents to a Contemplative Genius the frail Foundation of all
Human Gandeur,
than the present Condition of Subverted
Greece,
that Ancient
Theatre
of
Power
and
Learning,
and
Nursery
of the most Illustrious
Propagators
of
Wisdom
and
Morality.
He, who looks back on former Ages, and Traces that unhappy Nation to its Meridian Splendour, will be strangely struck with an uncommon Wonder at the Degenerate Principles of their Unman'd Posterity. The Vicissitudes of
Fortune
will amaze his Thoughts, when he Reflects Sedately on the Glorious State of
Power
and
Knowledge,
in which they Flourish'd under the Instructive Discipline of their
Jonick, Socratick, Cyrenaick, Platonick, Academick, Peripatetick, Stoick,
and
Pythagorean Philosophers,
whose
Wise
and
Vertuous
Dictates inspir'd their Minds with an elevated Sense of
Piety
and
Honour
; in the Practice of which, (as they exceeded and instructed most other Nations) they endeavour'd to out-vie each other: All contending with an
Emulative Zeal,
for a wish'd Superiority of
Speculative Learning,
till, by the long continu'd Blessing of such Aspiring Inclinations, they raised the Fame of their Illustrious Governments above the rest of the Submissive World, and Built themselves a
Glory,
whose encreasing Brightness cou'd receive no Shadow from the affected Ignorance of contending Nations.
The Degeneracy of the Moderns.
BUT strangely different is the present Genius of that Metamorphos'd People, who have so Widely Deviated from the Footsteps of their Ancestors, that, to describe them rightly, in their Modern State of
Slavery,
we must place 'em in a Diametrical Opposition to
Honour, Worth
and
Industry.
Their very
Nature
seems to have been chang'd with their
Condition,
as if their
Principles
had sunk with their
Nobility,
Mahomet's
Massacre.
whom
Mahomet
the Great (on his Taking
Constantinople
) endeavour'd to Extirpate by a general
Massacre,
imagining Politickly, that a Revolt of the Nation would be Dangerously, and Unsuccessfully attempted, when they should want a Head to guide the rough Resentments of an Undisciplin'd Multitude.
An Emperor Trodden to Death.
Their last Emperour was Trodden to Death in one of the City Gates, and the greatest part of his Family most Barbarously Butcher'd by the Inhumane
Conquerors.
Those few, who with their Wives and Children escap'd the Tyrants Rage, retir'd to Woods, and Places far remote from the
Imperial City
; where in Disguises proper to conceal their Quality, they wander'd up and down in all the Wants and Hardships of a Miserable
Poverty,
till, by the Course of Time, their mean Condition reduc'd the Nature of their untaught Posterity to so low an Ebb, that their so lofty Extract, (which some remaining Members of that Family now vainly boast of) serves but as an Arrow to Stab their Thoughts with the shamefull Idea of their present Miseries. Nothing can more deeply Dictate the strange Degrees and Turns of Fate a Man is subject to, than the Rigid Fortune of this Illustrious Family, whose remaining Branches, scatter'd here and there, and only known by the Name of
P
eologus
are so strangely fallen, as to Live, for the most part, by a Laborious Practice of the most Mechanical Employments. I was never more sensibly Afflicted at the Misfortunes of another, than when I saw at
Constantinople,
in the House of Mr.
Williams,
an
English
Merchant, now at
Aleppo,
one
Constantine Paleologus,
at that time a
Groom
of his Stables.
His Posterity reduc'd to extream Poverty.
This Man demonstrated by undeniable Proofs, that he was Lineally Descended from the Emperors of
Greece
; but was most sordidly Illiterate, and Inexpressibly Ignorant in any thing beyond the Dressing of his
Horses
; yet he had a peculiar Majesty in his Person, and somewhat uncommon distinguish'd his Extract from the Vulgar Dictates of his meaner Education; an Awful Gravity adorn'd his
Countenance,
and his silent Postures had somewhat Naturally Noble. But it grieved me to see him, after having readily repeated the Numerous Misfortunes of his Wandring Family, and Proudly boasted of
Hereditary Nobility,
Run unconcernedly by his
Horses
Side, Trotting without Thought, thro' the Dirty Streets, with his harden'd Hand upon his Master's
Stirrop.
THE same Fate, which attended the
Blood-Royal,
involv'd the Numerous Branches of the
Grecian
Nobility, so that scarce a Gentleman now remains, who can Trace his Extract to the Third Generation. All are become alike Unhappy, and alike contented; and tho' the greatest part of the Inhabitants of
Bulgaria, Romania,
and several other parts of
Turkey,
are still
Greeks
:
The Effects of Slavery.
They Possess no
Land,
enjoy no
Liberty,
nor study any manner of
Learning
; but, with an unaccountable Indifference, submit themselves to the Pleasure of the
Turks,
paying them the greatest Part of that Miserable Maintenance, their Labour gets 'em; nor dare they think of shaking off the
Turkish
Yoke, by a general
Insurrection,
tho' the fairest Opportunity should Court 'em to endeavour it; chusing rather to Live Oppress'd by
Tyranny,
than by an Active
Valour
undergo the Fatigues of a
Vigorous War,
to regain the Possession of forgotten
Liberty
; and the better to excuse the palpable grossness of their Ignoble Genius, they have coin'd a Maxim, now currant amongst 'em,
A Greek Maxim.
That they are Wisest, who chuse to Know least, where Knowledge of Things past would only encrease the Weight of present Misery.
BESIDES the
European Greeks, Asia Major,
and part of
Africa,
is Inhabited by great Numbers of these People:
Their Gluttony.
But tho' Resident in different Countries, they are all led by the same Genius to the Practice of little else but
Gluttony
and
Ebriety,
(which last Vice they were ever famous for) spending their time in
Dancing, Singing,
and when they Merchandize, in
Cheating
to such a Degree, that
the Faith of a Greek
is now become a Jear, Proverbially thrown at a Man of Dishonest Principles. Some are Masters of small Vessels, which carry Passengers and Goods from Port to Port, in Coasting Voyages: Those in
Europe
are employed by the
Turks
to Till the Ground, themselves but little Skilled in Husbandry. They are allowed to Plant
Vineyards
for their own use, and that Labour they seldom spare, retaining so much their Ancient Vice of immoderate Drinking, that the Man is reputed a Churl, who suffers his Friend to depart Sober from an Entertainment; they Drink in Earthen Cups, replenishing them as fast as emptied, each Man for his Neighbour, and sending 'em round without intermission, till, their Brains Intoxicated with the Fumes of the Wine, they begin, without Order, to
Dance, Kiss,
and
Sing,
Embracing one another with such Antick Gestures, and a Noise so disagreeable, that tis very surprizing to a Stranger, who is present at their Meetings.
Mens Habit.
THEY differ in their Habit according to their Professions, ever imitating the
Turks,
as nearly as they dare, which they are allow'd to do in all things but
Yellow Shooes, Green Vests,
or a
Turbant
of one Colour; instead whereof most
Greeks
use Furr'd Caps, of what Form or Colour they please: Their Ancient Habits are now quite out of Date, and they differ so much from them, that whereas they formerly delighted much in long and spreading Hair, in regard of which
Homer
often calls 'em
,
The long Hair'd Greeks
; they now Shave all their Heads, and account it ridiculous in the
Franks
not to follow their Example.
Womens Habit.
The Women, as the
Turks,
wear long Vests, Muslin Shifts, and Drawers of Cambrick reaching to their Feet; their Girdles are of twisted Silk neatly Wove, and Embos'd with Gold, Silver, or Silver Gilt, set thick with
Saphirs, Em'ralds, Rubies,
or
Diamonds
; and those, whose Circumstances will not afford 'em to follow this Fashion, procure Sophisticate Stones, and Counterfeited Metal to imitate it as nearly as possible.
Description of the
Graecian
Women.
THEIR Women are,
for the most part,
exquisitely shap'd, generally of a
brown Complexion,
excellently featur'd, and their
Disposition
of all People the most amorous; which Inclination of theirs is so well known to their Husbands, that they take all imaginable care to preserve them for their own Embraces, who esteem it no great Crime to receive anothers, as often as
Opportunity
favours their
industrious Endeavours:
Nature does so early teach 'em the advantages of
Beauty,
that they use all possible means not only to preserve their
Stock
but to encrease it, by the
counterfeit
addition of a
sophisticate Complexion
; And so much do they esteem the Art of
Painting,
that they
stain
the very
Nails
of their
Toes
and
Fingers,
with a certain lively kind of
red.
Soon decay'd
IT is to this
perhaps,
they owe the numerous furrows of a wrinkled
Forhead,
before they have attain'd the Age of
Forty Five,
at which time,
(contemn'd by their Relations,)
they are employ'd in all the Business of the House, and the most
menial
Offices of a
common Servant.
A kissing Custom.
KISSING
any but their
Husbands,
is esteem'd a Crime unpardonable; unless, between the
Resurrection,
and
Ascension
of
our Saviour,
at which time both Men and Women kiss promiscuously all they meet; The
Man
first kissing the
Woman
on her
left Cheek,
tells her in a Voice as
grave
as the occasion,
God is Risen,
when
she
upon his
right Cheek
yielding back the Compliment, makes answer zealously,
His Blessing be upon us.
THEIR Houses are for the most part indifferently furnish'd, not using
Feather-beds,
but like the
Turks
content to sleep on
Mattresses:
Their Language different from the ancient
Greek.
Their
Language
is a
much corrupted Dialect,
and differs so extreamly from the
ancient Greek,
now only known to
Scholars,
that they hardly make a shift to understand one Word in ten, when
Strangers
speak it.
Their four Patriarchs.
NOW tho' the
Greeks
in all things but
Religion
are subservient to the Laws of
Turkey,
they have yet
four Patriarchs
of their own, who exercise a kind of mix'd Authority over them in
Temporal,
as well as
Spiritual
Affairs; They are those of
Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem,
and
Antioch,
or rather
Damascus
; These
four
have their several
Districts
of Government. He of
Constantinople
has by much, the largest Share; extending his
Jurisdiction
over all the
Greeks
in the
Europaean Turkey,
most part of
Asia Minor, Colchis,
and the
Northern Coast
of the
Black Sea
; those in
Egypt
and
Arabia,
are under the
Patriarch
of
Alexandria
; he of
Jerusalem
has Authority over those in
Palestine,
and all the Parts
adjacent
; and the
Greeks
of
Asia Major
and
Armenia Minor
are subservient to the
Jurisdiction
of the
Patriarch
of
Damascus.
How Elected.
THE
Patriarchs
are all Elected by a
Synod
of
Bishops,
under whom in most of the abovenam'd Places, the
Greeks
are tolerated in a free, and unmolested Exercise of their
Religion,
in
Churches
and in
Monasteries,
which notwithstanding, they are not suffer'd to Rebuild, when Ruin'd, without vast
Presents
to the
Ministers
of
State
; By which means all the Places of their publick Worship decreasing daily, they become if possible, each Year more ignorant than the
foregoing:
This, together with the tempting Opportunities of
turning Turks,
made more desirable by the oppressive
Tyranny,
with which their crafty Masters crush their Spirits, draws
Multitudes
away to a Profession of the
Turkish Faith,
chusing rather the transitory Enjoyment of a few small
Privileges
here on
Earth,
than the lasting
Crown of Glory
in a promis'd
Heaven
hereafter.
What Age their Women Marry at.
THE Women
Marry
very Young, and yet are apt to fansie, if they tarry for a Husband till
twelve
or
fourteen
Years of Age, Good-luck has quite forsaken them. The Bargain being made between the
Parents,
or
Relations,
for till then,
Love,
and
Good-liking
must be kept at distance: A Door is open'd, and the
Lover
admitted to his
Mistresses Conversation,
who is
generally
of too kind a Temper to put him to the trouble of a
tedious Siege,
and to avoid that Incivility, yields frequently upon the first Attack, perhaps because inclinable by
Nature,
to profess the same Opinion with an ancient
Countryman
of hers, who gives us this advice.
Whate'er you do,
do soon,
for if
done late,
You
rob
the
Favour
of near
half
its weight.
Description of their Weddings.
THE
Wedding-Day
appointed, certain Men are invited, after the manner of our
Bride-Men,
who are generally
Rivals,
or such at least, as the suspicious
Bridegroom
thinks he has more cause than ordinary to be jealous of. These must
each Man
present a
Ring,
which by the
Priest
is
interchangeably
remov'd from the
Bride
's to the
Bridegroom
's Finger; after which it is esteem'd a Crime, almost of an
Incestuous
Nature, for these
Bridemen
to commit
Adultery
with the Wife, to whom they gave such a
Ring,
by way of
Renunciation
from thence forward of all
Right
or
Pretension whatsoever
to her
Love
or
Person.
An ancient Custom.
THESE lead the
Bridegroom
thro' the Streets, as finely Dress'd as his
Circumstances
will permit; upon his Head he wears a
flow'ry Garland,
which putting me in mind of
ancient
Ways of crowning
Oxen,
when they lead 'em to the Altar, oblig'd me to reflect upon the
horny
Fate, which few
Greek Wives
fail of giving them, and made me pity the dull
Victim,
moving on with-the smallest apprehension of his Danger, for a
Sacrifice
to
Matrimony.
HE is surrounded by a Company of his
Relations
and
Acquaintance,
attended by a noisy number of
Boys,
and
Fellows
with
Ghittars, Pipes, Drums, Timbrels,
and other
Musick,
dancing antickly about the Company, with grinning Faces and strange
apish
Gestures: As they pass along, there follow Men with Bottles and Glasses, running up and down, from one place to another, and off'ring
Wine
to every Man to drink as they are walking thro' the Streets. Thus they resolve to lose no time, where
Wine
or
Mirth
invites their Application, still retaining, spite of all their Losses, that
vivacity of Temper
in their Cups, which formerly gave birth to an
Old Proverb,
which describing gayety of Humour, does it by these Words,
The Original of an old Proverb.
As merry as a Greek.
AN EXPLANATION OF THE CUT, Annex'd, which Represents a
GRAECIAN WEDDING.
A. A.
THE Two
Janizaries,
who attend, as a Guard, to defend them from the Insults of the
Turks,
one in the Front, and another in the Rear of the Procession.
B.
The Priest.
C.
The Bride.
D.
The Bridegroom.
E.
The Mother, or nearest Female Relation of the Bride.
F. F.
The Two Bridemen.
G. G. G.
The Company, Invited to the Wedding.
H.
A Boy carrying a Torch before the Company.
I. I. I.
The Musicians, attending the Company.
K. K. K.
Persons, hir'd to Sing, and Dance Antickly before the Company.
L.
A Person employ'd to fill Wine to the Company.
M.
A Man, who carries a Basket of Fruit for their Entertainment, as they Walk.
N. N. Turks
Observing the Procession.
O.
A
Turkish
Mosque, or Church.
P.
A
Turkish
House, as commonly Built.
A GRECIAN WEDDING
o the Highly Honrd Sr William Wentworth
f Bretton Hall in Yorkshire Baronet.
Kirkall sculp
AFTER the Men, the Women come, in a
Knott
by themselves, and in the midst, the
Bride,
all cover'd with a
Veil of Lawn
; which reaches to her Heels, made like a Sack, without the smallest peeping Place for her imprison'd Eyes, ty'd pretty close about the Neck, and falling widely from the Head, o'er the sides of a
square
piece of
Pastboard
like a
Trencher,
over which is hung a
Garland
of the sweetest Flowers.
IN this Order they advance, guarded
before
and
behind
by
Janizaries,
for fear of
Insults
from the
Turkish Rabble.
At the
Church,
the
Priest
is sure to meet them, and ent'ring
there,
A method to prevent Enchantments.
the
Bridegroom
leaves his
Dagger
sticking in the Door, for fear of
Incantations
or
Enchantments,
often practis'd in this Country, by which means, they pretend to render the most vigorous
Bridegroom
altogether
Impotent
upon his
Wedding Night.
HOWEVER, arm'd against so unlucky a Disappointment, they go
into Church,
and by the
Priest
are
join'd,
with several Prayers for the successful Issue of their Marriage; after which, they change their
Garlands,
and retire to their Houses, where the remainder of the Day being spent in
loud Carousing
and making merry, the
New-married Couple
are put to Bed,
A way to prove Virginity.
and the next Morning
early,
the
Mother,
or nearest
Female Relation
of the
Bride,
coming into their Chamber, takes possession of the
Wedding Sheets,
to be preserv'd as a perpetual Proof of her Dear
Daughter
's sure
Virginity.
I'LL tell you a pleasant Story, and leave your-self to guess, how admirably
Nature
has endued the
nimble-minded Graecian Ladies,
with the finest qualifications in the World, for
Cuckolding
their Husbands.
A pleasant Story of a Graecian Lady.
THERE is a little Village, call'd
Belgrade,
about fifteen Miles from
Constantinople,
wonderfully pleasant for its
airy Situation
; here a
Greek,
who was grown rich by
Merchandizing,
kept a very pretty
Country House,
and in it a young Wife, extreamly handsome, but, as somewhat brisker than he wish'd her, she alarm'd his Jealousy to watch her strictly, nor wou'd he often let her walk alone in the adjoining Groves and Meadows.
HOWEVER, I was
one Day
going by a Wood-side, at the bottom of a
Hill
to Angle in a
River,
that ran by it, and perceiv'd upon the
Bank
a charming youthful Lady busy at her Needle, with a
Pot of Water
standing by her, I immediately imagin'd right, and guess'd her the
fine Wife
of the
rich Greek
abovenam'd; I must own I was surpriz'd to find her, so, beyond my expectation, gay and beautiful; I saw she was alone, and ventur'd to address her in
Italian,
she return'd my Salutation in that Language, and permitted me to sit down by her, and converse with all the Liberties of
decent Familiarity.
Her familiar Temper.
SHE presently began to make Complaint of the Restriction she was under, by her Husbands Jealousie, and the Restraint, which Women in that Country were oblig'd to undergoe, and really thence proceeded to make such kind advances, and so prettily encourage me to hope her favour, e'er I ask'd it, that I only wanted
vanity,
to think I might have met success in any kind of offer,
Youth,
or
Inclination
might have tempted me to make her.
A wonderful Presence of Mind.
BUT on a sudden, in the Height of her Discourse and
Gayety,
we heard a Voice among the Trees upon the other side of the River, Immediately she knew it was
her Husband,
and expecting every moment, when he wou'd appear in sight, was sure he must Discover me to have been talking with her, so the very minute, that he call'd her, she fell sideways on the Ground, extended both her Arms with natural negligence, let drop the
Silk
she was at Work upon, and seem'd as much Asleep, as if she really had been so.
TWAS no hard Task to guess the meaning of this
Counterfeited Slumber,
so that, willing to prevent all cause of Jealousy, instead of striving to get out of Sight, I started up, and bending forward, look'd upon her Face, as if surpriz'd to find a
Woman
in that Place and Posture.
I had hardly time to regulate my
Air of Wonder,
when the
Greek
appear'd upon the Bank directly opposite; he
Started,
when he saw the Posture of his
Wife,
and me so near her. I pretended an
Amazement
equal to his own, at his appearance, and was just about to ask him, if he knew that
Lady,
when he Interrupted my design by
Hallowing,
as loud as he cou'd possibly, to wake his
Consort.
SHE,
Poor Creature,
was so fast asleep, that all his
Noises
were in vain, she Slumbred on, till I, as willing to give all the Countenance Imaginable to her
Politic Contrivance,
took her by the
Arm
and shook her pretty roughly;
An admirable Counterfeit.
at this she Rous'd, and having rubb'd her Eyes with admirable Cunning, look'd about her, and was,
doubtless,
much surpriz'd to see me there, it having been so long, since we Discours'd together.
HOWEVER, I was pleas'd to see, how excellently she contriv'd to humour wonder, mix'd with an
alloy
of Modesty, both which I fear, and ten to one, you'll think so by the Sequel, were alike Strangers to her
Nature
; she started up upon her Feet, and fix'd her Eyes upon me with an Artful
Wildness,
running Backwards, as I offer'd to approach her, with a
Shriek
or two enough to Frighten all the
Tygers
in the
Wilderness.
THE more to take all cause of Apprehension from the
Staring Husband,
I advanc'd, as she retir'd, still bowing, and assuring her I meant no harm, desiring her to Apprehend no danger from my presence, who was drawn by Accident to Walk that way, and by her
Charms
detain'd to gaze upon her
Person
; all this while the
Subtle Female Devil
kept a
Side-long-glance
upon her Husbands Countenance, who seem'd diverted at the Fright, my
Compliments
had put her in; she saw him smile, and was resolv'd to keep up the
Conceit,
wherefore, while I still continued
Bowing
and Addrest her with a Thousand
Congees,
she
Inhumanely
stoop'd down, and snatching up the
Earthen Pot,
which stood upon the Ground, threw full three
Pints of Water
in my
Face
and
Bosom.
An unexpected return of Civility.
A Reasonable Woman,
one wou'd think,
had been contented with this first Attack, but she, it seems, was of another mind, for while I stoop'd to shake the Water from my
Eyes
and
Linnen,
she fell upon me
like a Lioness,
Tore of my
Perriwig,
and laid about her at so Merciless a Rate, that I began to think the Safest way wou'd be to
Fly,
where
Fighting
was esteem'd
Dishonourable.
ACCORDINGLY I turn'd about in order to escape, but my
she Adversary
caught me by the
Collar
on the Back-part of my
Neck,
and push'd me on as fast as I well car'd to run, still
Thumping
me upon the
Back,
and calling
Names
as loud as possible, till being got at some considerable distance from her
Husband,
who was all this while half Dead with Laughing,
A Pleasant way of Assignation.
she depress'd her Voice, and in the
Softest Accents
she cou'd utter, cry'd,
Fail not to meet me here to Morrow,
and as soon as she had spoke these Words, she push'd me forward, and ran back again as fast as she was
Able.
THE turn of this
last
part of the
Intrigue
surpris'd me ten times more than all the rest; However, I ran back to fetch my Periwig, while she was crossing a
small Bridge
a little higher to get over to her
Husband,
who as soon as his long fit of Mirth allow'd an
Interval,
cry'd out to me,
Excuse her Sir, the
Graecian
Wives are never us'd to Strangers Company, and only love their Husbands Conversation.
A mistaken Husband.
As soon as he had made this Speech, he fell a
laughing
more than ever, and it was with much ado, I cou'd forbear to follow his Example, when I saw the
Fool
begin to
kiss his loving Wife,
and hug her in his Arms, till they got out of sight in their way
homeward.
I must confess I sped so
Ill
at first, that I had little cause to think my
watry Entertainment
was an
Omen
of
Success
in the Conclusion;
Water
will at any time extinguish
Fires,
that have but just
begun
to
blaze,
and she had cool'd my
Flames
a little too soon to tempt 'em to a second kindling, so that I forbore for many reasons going next Day to the aforesaid Place of
Assignation.
A second Meeting.
BUT 'twas about a
Fortnight
after, when, as I was walking up a Lane, which ran along the backside of her
Husband's House,
she saw, and beckon'd me to a small
Summer House,
in which she sat at Work, as formerly;
Good-Manners
led me to embraee the
Invitation,
where the first Demand was,
Why I did not come the Day appointed?
I excus'd it as I cou'd, and she proceeded with a number of Assurances to tell me,
how concern'd she was that she had been oblig'd, against her Will, to use me so uncivilly,
and in short, proceeded to such kind Expressions, that
I every moment
look'd to have another
Invitation
to the Rivers side.
A surprize as bad as the former.
BUT in the midst of her Discourse, instead of answering my Expectation, by renewing her kind Summons, she
on a sudden
rais'd her Voice to double heighth, began to spit upon me, and abuse me to a wonderful degree;
however,
I had hardly time to be surpriz'd, before I guess'd the reason of her Change, by seeing her turn round, and call as loud as she cou'd speak,
Dear, Dear, come hither Dear, and shoot this Stranger thro' the Head, I cannot live in quiet for him:
The moment after came the Husband, peeping over his Wives Shoulder, looking after me, who never staid to justifie my self against the
Accusation,
but made the utmost hast to get away, least he shou'd take an Opportunity to do, as his
Good-natur'd Lady
had commanded him.
I staid at
Belgrade
some Weeks longer, but took care to go no more that way, and by the strange Discovery I made
hereby
of Womens Temper, I resolv'd to bear in my Memory two
Maxims
of this Country, which are, if I mistake not, left as follows.
Two
Graecian
Maxims.
The first is,
A
Woman
knows nothing, but what she has a mind to.
And the other,
You that are about
Marrying,
look upon your
Neighbours.
The
Graecian
Funerals.
THEY differ little in their
Modern
from their
Ancient Funerals,
the
Parent, Wife,
or nearest of the
Kindred
catches the departing Breath, by joining Mouths with those, who
die
; when
dead,
they wash their Bodies with the richest
Oils,
and then, instead of putting on a
Winding Sheet,
adorn 'em in the
finest Cloaths,
they wore
while living.
Mercenary Mourners.
THEN they lay them on an open
Bier
upon a
Quilt,
or
Mattress,
twisted round with
Garlands
of a hundred various kinds of Flowers, and conduct 'em to the Place appointed for their
Burial,
follow'd by the weeping Friends of the Deceas'd, who are preceeded by a certain Number of
bir'd Mourners,
commonly of
Jewish Women,
who by constant Practice of their
Hypocritical
Concern, become such Mistresses of
Tears
and
Groanings,
that by
howling,
as they go along, with
tearing off their Hair, beating their Breasts,
and lamentably weeping in a counterfeited Sorrow, they extract a real Flood of
Tears,
from many tender-hearted People, altogether unconcern'd in the occasion of their
Lamentations
; so that they appear exact observers of the following Advice of that admirable
Tragedian Seneca.
Sen.
Tra. Agam.
Lacrymas, Lacrymis miscere juvat.
The mixing
Tears
with
Tears
affords a melancholy sort of Comfort.
THEY lay the
Body
in the
Grave
without a
Coffin,
cutting
first
his Cloaths to pieces with their
Penknives,
lest the
Corps
shou'd be
dug up
by needy People for the sake thereof; they throw great Boughs of
Cypress
on the
Grave,
and hang it, as we do
Atcheivements,
over the Door of the Deceas'd Person's House.
An ancient Custom.
THE
Women
generally cut a Lock of
Hair
and tie it to the Body of their
dead Relation
; why they use so odd a Custom none cou'd tell me, but 'tis certain they receiv'd it from the Practice of their
Ancestors,
for, that 'twas us'd among the
ancient Greeks,
appears in many
Writers,
but particularly in the three and twentieth
Iliad
of
Homer,
where he speaks as follows of
Achilles,
celebrating the
Funeral
of
Patroclus.
Hom. Iliad.
23.
—
Standing
apart
the
Pile,
where lay the Dead,
He cuts the
yellow Tresses
from his Head.
Tresses,
he
long e'er that
to
Sperchius
vow'd,
And, turning to his Friend, thus spoke aloud,
Since I must
never,
after all my Toil,
Return to visit my dear
Native Soil
;
On lov'd
Patroclus
I these
Locks
bestow,
That he may bear 'em to my
Friends below.
This said, His comely
Hair
he neatly spread,
And laid it in the Hand of his
Companion, Dead.
Another ancient
Graecian
Custom.
BESIDES their Hair, they often bury in the
Graves
of their
Relations
things of rich and costly Value, such as
Bracelets, Rings, Girdles
and the like; this also is an ancient Custom, for the
Greeks
of Note were burnt of old, and had their
Funeral Piles
enrich'd with precious
Jewels, Gums, Sheep, Horses, Cloaths,
and every thing of worth, to serve their Uses in the other World: The
Ceremony
may be well conceiv'd by a description you may find in
Statius
of the solemn Funeral of
Archemorus.
Stat. Lib.
6.
—Non unquam opulentior illo
Ante cinis; crepitant gemmae atque immaue liquescit
Argentum, & pictis exudat vestibus aurum.
Nec non Assyriis pinguescunt robora succis,
Pallentique croco strident ardentia mella,
Spumantesque mero paterae verguntur, & atri
Sanguinis & rapti gratissima cymbia lactis.
Tunc septem numero turmas (centenus ubique
Surgit eques) versis ducunt insignibus ipsi
Grajugenae Reges, lustrantque ex more sinistro
Orbe rogum, & stantes inclinant pulvere flammas,
Ter curvos egêre sinus, illisaque telis
Tela sonant, quater horrendum pepulêre fragorem
Arma, quater mollem famularum brachia planctum;
Semianimes alter pecudes, spirantia & ignis
Accipit armenta.
Never till then, such
Wealth
did
Ashes
know,
Torrents of melted
Gold
and
Silver
flow;
The
crackling Diamonds
snap amidst the Fire,
And
Robes
consume in Flames, that shine with golden Wyre;
Oaks
rich in
Syrian Gums,
thrown on, blaze high,
Honey
and
Saffron hiss
against the Sky;
O'er-flowing
Bowls
of
Wine
are next thrown in,
Black Blood
and mingled
Milk
to boil begin;
Next
Sev'n
brave Bands of
Warriors
crown the Plain,
(An hundred gallant Soldiers form'd each Train,)
The
Graecian Monarchs
all these Squadrons led,
And shone
conspicuous
at their Warlike Head,
These, Marching to the
left,
the
Pile
surround,
With Clouds of
choaking Dust
the Fire confound,
And
trail
their
mournful Ensigns
on the Ground.
Thrice round the
Pile
they clash their dreadful Swords,
Four times their
batter'd Arms
a horrid sound affords,
Four times
the
Slaves
their naked
Bosoms
beat,
As oft
to
Heav'n,
their doleful
Cries
repeat,
While num'rous
Flocks,
and
Beasts half Slain
expire,
Amidst the
rising Flames
of a
less noble Fire.
BY what has now been said, the Reader will perceive the
Greeks
extreamly fallen from their
ancient Glory
; and indeed they have not only lost their
Wisdom,
but their very Industry, deserving nothing less than the
Encomium, Juvenal
thought fit to give them upon that account.
Juv. Sat.
3.
Ingenium velox, audacia perdita, sermo
Promptus, & Isaeo torrentior: ede quid illum
Esse putes, quemvis hominem secum attulit ad nos;
Grammaticus, Rhetor, Geometres, Pictor, Aliptes,
Augur, Schoenobates, Medicus, Magus; omnia novit
Graeculus efuriens; in coelum jusseris, ibit.
Quick
in his Apprehension,
Bold
in Speech,
Such
Eloquence Isaeus
cou'd not reach;
Say what you'd have him be, and he's the
Man,
All
Trades
he brings us, and
all Things
he can.
D'ye want
Grammarians?
That's his boasted
Skill,
A
Rhetorician?
There you have him still.
Wou'd you a
Painter
be? He'll teach you when you will.
Wou'd you be taught the
Geometric Art?
'Tis still the same to him, he'll play that Part.
Wou'd you in
short, Southsay'r,
or
Conj'rer be:
There's none so Skill'd
in both those Arts, as he.
Wou'd you turn
Doctor?
He'll not fail your hopes;
Or else he'll teach you
Dancing on the Ropes.
In fine, the needy
Greek
does all things know,
Bid him ride Post to
Heav'n,
and strait to
Heav'n
he'll go.
CHAP. XXII. Of the
Graecian
Religion.
The Merit of the ancient
Grecian
Church.
THE
Graecian Church
in former Ages has been famous for Converting many Nations to the Doctrine of
Christianity,
but is as much decay'd at present as their
Temporal Affairs,
a barbarous
Ignorance
possessing
Ʋ niversally
their Notions of
Religion.
WIDELY do they differ, as to point of
Faith,
from
Roman Principles,
and tho' they often have profess'd a perfect Reconciliation to the
Tenets
of that
Church,
and frequently agree'd on certain Articles of
Ʋ nion,
it was only at such times as being pinch'd by
Poverty
or other Inconveniencies, they hop'd
Redress
from flattering the
Papal Clergy
into a Belief, that they were willing to embrace the
Romish Doctrine.
The Ignorance of the Modern.
I have before inform'd you they are subject to the Power of four
Patriarchs,
those in former times were Men of
Learning,
and
undoubted Piety,
chosen to their Offices for their
Integrity of Life,
and exemplary
Gravity in Conversation
; now the highest
Briber
carries it, and the declining Dignity is strangely sunk from ancient Worth to
Ignorance
and
Poverty.
Two sorts of
Graecian
Priests.
HOWEVER, under these superior Members of the
Modern Graecian Church,
are found two kind of
Priests,
the
first
a sort of
Monks,
despisers of the World, and all its Vanities, who taking leave of
Temporal Affairs,
immure themselves for Life within the
Walls
of certain strong and ancient
Monasteries,
which are spread in Numbers over all their Country: And the
second
are those common
Parish Priests,
ordain'd by the abovenam'd
Patriarchs
to teach the People the Great Duties of
Religion,
a
Task
for which they are but ill provided, while depress'd by such a weight of
Slavery
and
Ignorance.
The Monks call'd
Coloiero's.
THE
First,
the
Greeks
distinguish by the Name of
Coloiero's,
or
Monastic's,
and among the many Places, which contain the Brothers of their Order,
Mount Athos
is the Chief; for on that Hill alone, stand
four and twenty
spacious
Convents,
constantly maintaining near
seven thousand Monks,
who live retir'd, by Oath oblig'd to a perpetual
Celibacy,
and a
Life
entirely separated from the
Layety
of their
Religion.
The
Coloiero's
way of living
THEY wear a kind of long
black Gowns
and
Hoods,
of a course hairy Substance, letting grow their
Locks
to inconvenient length, in contradiction to the
Shaving Custom
of the
Roman Clergy
; They live by their own Labours on what poor Provision they can get by
Tillage, Spinning,
and Improving every way the
Product
of the Country round 'em; They are
grave, austere,
and modest of Behaviour, and by the Poor
unknowing Greeks,
set out to Strangers with a thousand high
Encomiums
on their
Learning
and
Capacities,
but fall so, short of expectation
when convers'd with by a Traveller,
and are so much
involv'd
in the Stupidity of their subverted Countrymen, that all I learn'd by making them a Visit, was the truth of an Expression, of the admirable
Juvenal,
who tells us,
Fronti nulla fides,
There is no knowing a Man's
Soul
by his Countenance: And another honest
Spanish Proverb,
that declares,
A Spanish Proverb.
No es tan bravo el Leon come le pintan,
that is, The Lyon is not half so fierce as they paint him.
The Parish Priests, describ'd.
THE other
Priests
of
Greece,
if possible, are still more ignorant than they, and scatt'red numerously up and down the Country, not being very much respected by the common People, nor in
Dress
or
Manners
very different from them; 'tis a wonder, if a Man considers the
oppressive Burthen
of that
Slavery,
which crushes 'em, how they have preserv'd the very
Faith
of
Christians,
which they do not only rigidly profess, but to support its Doctrine, still retain the following Principles.
Their opposition to the Romish Church.
IN opposition to the
Romish Church,
which they esteem
Schismatical,
and laugh at the Assertion of the
Papal
Title to the Blessing of
Infallibility,
they hold, that the
Holy Ghost proceeds from God the Father
only.
Their Notion of the Eucharist.
THEY Administer the
Eucharist
in both kinds, but as if the very Practice of
Religion
shou'd submit to the
Intemperance
of a licentious People, they esteem the
Wine,
not any way
available,
unless they drink it in considerable quantities, a sign
say they,
that what we do, we do with satisfaction, and a
heartiness,
that proves we bear respect to the
injunction
; while the
moderate sipping
of your
Western Churches
seems to speak a kind of force upon your
Inclinations.
Leaven'd Bread.
THEY
leaven
all the Bread they use in Administration of the
Sacrament,
esteeming such, as is not so prepar'd, unworthy the Great Use they are to put it to.
Graecian
Paintings.
THEY admit of
Paintings
on the
outward Walls,
and
inward Ornaments
of all their
Churches,
drawing frequently the
Virgin,
which you may observe, the
Eastern Nations
always represent a
Blackamoore,
the Figure of
Almighty God,
like an
old Man
with a
white Beard,
the
Holy Ghost,
and many of the twelve
Apostles,
with the
later Fathers
of the
Church,
as near as they can place 'em to the
Altar.
The Picture of St.
George.
AMONGST the Paintings of the
Greeks, Armenians,
and some other
Eastern Christians,
nothing is so common as the Representation of
St. George on Horseback,
fighting with a
Dragon,
as in the
Pictures
on our
Sign-Posts
in
Great Britain
; why they have this Figure in such
Vogue
among them, I cou'd never meet a
Priest
of sence enough to tell me, but am apt to think that
Basilius,
and some other ancient Writers are of Opinion, that much celebrated Piece is nothing but an
emblematical Design.
An Emblematical Representation.
St. George,
as painted like a well arm'd Warriour, representing
a good Christian,
strongly oppos'd by a
Great Dragon,
that is the
Devil,
who is vanquish'd by him, and thereby the
Kings Daughter,
that is the
Church of Christ,
preserv'd from being devour'd by her dreadful Adversary; and this Opinion is the more
authentic,
because in every other Place but
England,
we shall seldom see the
Picture
of St. George,
but in some ancient Church, or Monastery, and in either of those places seldom miss it.
The Ignorance of Modern
Greeks
in Painting.
NOW, tho' they seem to value Painting, they have nothing of the
Genius
of their fam'd
Apelles
left among them; what they do is very flat, and scarce deserves a better Name than that of daubing; and it is observable, that, notwithstanding their respect for Pictures, they abhorr all sorts of
Sculpture,
with a strange antipathy, refusing to admit them in their Churches, or even Dwelling Houses, out of a ridiculous Opinion, that the very looking on such
Pieces
savours of
Idolatry.
Ever burning Lamps.
VAST quantities of Oyl they daily wast, by burning it in Lamps, in all their Churches, never suffering them to extinguish, as believing it a sort of Duty well receiv'd by God, and shewing their respect to the Receptacle of his Divinity.
Their Notions of the State of the Soul after Death.
THEY all agree in the necessity of using
Extream Ʋ nction,
which they practice, as inducted by St.
James
; they rigorously dissent from the Opinion of the
Roman Catholicks,
in relation to the
Existence
of a Purgatory; maintaining, most of them at least,
that the departed Souls of Mortal Men are sensible of neither Joy nor Torment till the Day of Judgement.
The
Graecian
Holy Days.
THE Year they reckon in the
Roman way,
but mark above an hundred
Holy-Days,
to be observ'd on pain of
Excommunication
; this I take to be an undeniable Example of their hatred to Activity, and Inclinations to the Practice of an idle and luxurious Life, forgetting Misery, while drown'd in Sloth, and wallowing supinely in the Down of Idleness, amidst those torturing Proofs of Slavery, which ought to sting a generous Mind with Sense of his Misfortunes.
Their Fasts and Feasts.
THEY Fast on
Wednesdays, Fridays,
and all
Holy Eves,
but Feast on
Saturday,
because
say they,
it was the ancient
Sabaoth,
but I rather am inclin'd to think, because they are unwilling to omit the least pretence, whereby they may indulge a craving Appetite.
How far they tolerate Matrimony.
THE Clergy are allow'd to Marry once, but
Bigamy
is look'd upon too wanton a desire to be permitted them, and
Trigamy
is so abhorr'd by all the
Greeks,
that it is never known among them, but forbidden with the strictest Prohibition even to the Laity themselves.
Their Lents.
THEY keep four
Lents
within the Year, so strictly, that in either 'tis esteem'd a damnable Transgression, and a Sin beyond excuse, to eat the smallest Piece of Flesh, or Fish, wherein there is a drop of Blood contain'd; yet one Exception may be made to this strict Rule, because the
Lent
preceeding
Easter,
is not held so rigid as the other, wherefore all the Laity are then allow'd to eat what kind of Fish their Fancy leads 'em to, or Circumstances can afford 'em.
Their Liturgies, and universal Ignorance, and Stupidity
THEY read the Liturgy of St.
Chrysostome,
unless upon their Festivals, and then their Priests attir'd
Pontifically,
read St.
Basil
's, but with little Signs of Decency or Devotion; and indeed so miserably are they led away by love of Idleness, and long Captivity, that they possess in any kind, but few of those Perfections, which, in former times, distinguish'd their Politer Countrymen, retaining nothing but their
Name,
their very Language being, as I said before, entirely lost among them; and that ruin'd Nation sunk so low, that from the dread and admiration of the distant World, they are become at present the contempt and pity of the vilest Wretches of the whole Creation; such is the uncertainty of
humane Blessings,
and the certain
Frailty
of our weak Mortality.
CHAP. XXIII. Of the
Armenians
and their Religion.
What the
Armenians
are.
THAT
Christian Church,
which calls its self
Armenian,
is in Magnitude far more Considerable than the
Graecian,
and consists of the displac'd Inhabitants of those large Tracts of Land, which bore the Name, that now distinguishes her People, who have Widely spread themselves in many Countries, and are numerously Scatter'd up and down the Countries subject to the
Great Mogul, Grand Signior
and the
King of Persia.
Their patriarchal Seat.
AT
Tyberis,
a large City in the Territories of the last, they live in very great respect among the
Natives,
and are very Wealthy by the means of Traffick. Here their
Patriarch
has his Seat, and here the Richest and most Noble of their People fix their Dwellings.
Great Numbers subject to the
Turkish Sultan.
BUT the occasion of my speaking of 'em here is, that there are Vast Numbers, like the
Greeks,
remaining subject to the Government of the
Grand Signior,
who possesses the Dominion of their Ancient Monarchs, by the unresisted force of an Illegal Usurpation, from the Right of
Conquest,
Handed down from Prince to Prince, for Ages long since past, so that they now retain no notion of their former liberty, but live dependant on the Pow'r of a Despotick Tyrant.
Their Privileges.
IN this however, they have better Fortune than their Fellow-Slaves, the
Greeks,
that they are free from that unnatural Duty of delivering their Children, to be sent upon Triennial Seizures to
Constantinople,
and enjoy a Hundred Privileges more,
Why given them.
because a certain Countryman of theirs, a Flatterer of
Mahomets,
and one, who us'd to Prophesie his Future Greatness, gain'd a Promise from him, that he wou'd injoin his Followers, if ever they shou'd see occasion to Invade
Armenia,
and the will of
God
shou'd give it to their Power, that they wou'd distinguish the Inhabitants from other Conquer'd People, by such large Immunities, as shou'd alleviate the Burthen of their
Losses.
Their Character.
THEY are very Ignorant, but very Honest, Industrious in their Natures, Slow to Anger, and extreamly willing to forgive an Injury; Abstemious in their Diet, little Drinkers, and inclin'd to Melancholy and Sedate Retirements; Devout, and Superstitious in a High degree; Patient in Affliction, nor too soon Buoy'd up beyond themselves, by the Successful turns of Chance, or their Endeavours.
The Enmity between the
Greeks
and them.
IN former Ages they were subject to the
Graecian Patriarch
of
Constantinople,
but about the time of the Eutychian Heresy, Revolted from his Jurisdiction, and had met with such unbecoming Usage, from the Proud Deportment of the
Greeks
in those
Old Times,
that ever since, they have Abhorr'd their Memory, and now profess so rancour'd an Aversion to the People of that Name, that if by Chance (for it but rarely happens) any
Greek
becomes a Convert to the Faith of the
Armenians,
they refuse admiting him a Member of their Church, till they have Rebaptiz'd him after their own Method.
The number, and piety of their Bishops.
THERE are above three hundred Bishops of that Nation, scatter'd strangely up and down, with poor Allowances for the support of their Degree; which notwithstanding is sufficiently atton'd for, by the Veneration paid 'em from the common People, and the humble dictates of their own Morality, which teaches them contentedly to spend their
Lives
in peaceful Poverty, and raise their Wishes to a
Future Prospect,
far surpassing the chimerical Advantages, accruing from the gross and earthly Blessings, which attend the aim of
Prosperous Ambition.
THE Tenets of their Faith are gather'd from the several Opinions of the
Eastern Churches,
strangely shuffled into an obscure Collection; hardly one in fifty can inform a Stranger in the Principles and Grounds of the Religion he professes: But the Foundation of their
Faith
is altogether built upon the following Articles.
Their Notion of one Nature in Christ.
THEY will allow in Christ one Nature only; but yet maintain this Notion with a difference from
Eutyches,
and the other Introducers of that Heresy; for whereas they taught the Nature of our Saviour to be one, by a commixture of Divine and Human, the
Armenians
hold the
Ʋ nion
of those Natures to be made by an entire Conjunction, as the
Soul
of Man is join'd to his
corporeal Substance.
Some other Tenets.
THEY Administer the
Sacrament
in both kinds, but ardently deny all notion of the real Presence in it: They hold a Purgatory, but reject all praying for the Dead; they disallow of the Supremacy of the
Roman Church,
and joyn with that of
Greece
in their Assertion, that the
Holy Ghost
proceeds but from the Father only, and that the
Souls
of the Departed, Good or Bad, must never feel the smallest share of
Joy
or
Torment,
till the dreadful Day of Universal
Judgment.
The abstemiousness of their Priests.
THEIR Clergy, like the
Greeks,
are once, and only once, allow'd to Marry; and so very rigid and austerely Exemplary are their Lives, that they abstain from Flesh of any kind, nor can by any means be brought to
eat it
oftner than five times a Year; nor wou'd they then, but in compliance with the humour of the common People, who, as Superstitious in a high degree, might be perswaded to imagine it a Sin to feed on Flesh, shou'd they observe their Priests refuse to do it.
Their frequent Fasting.
THEY place the greatest Merit in the World, in duly keeping
Lent,
which they observe with wonderful Devotion and Austerity; and indeed, the vulgar Sort, as knowing little else of their Religion, take such care to be beforehand in this Point, that I have frequently observ'd them fast Day after Day without complaining; and it may be said, within the bounds of Truth, that they fast three Days out of every seven.
They Fast on
Christmass Day.
AMONG the many other Days, whereon the Stamp of Custom has injoyn'd their Fasting, 'tis observable they always do it upon
Christmass-Day
with double Strictness; what their reason is they cou'd not tell me; use has made it now a
Law,
and they esteem it as their Duty to obey and keep it.
Their methods of Assembling to Devotion.
AS for Churches, they have very few, and those they have, are so decay'd by Time, or Accident, that they are hardly fit to hold an Audience; wherefore they assemble to their publick Prayers, and other Ceremonies, in low, private Chambers, where they may be free from Noise, and undisturb'd in the calm Exercise of their Religion. They are seldom fond of Painting, but are so entirely of the
Greeks
Opinion, as to
Sculptures,
that they cannot bear to see 'em in their Houses.
The
Turkish
Policy to destroy their Churches.
IT is observable, that tho' the
Turks
in many things give greater Toleration to the
Armenians
than their other Subjects, yet they use the same inhuman art to ruin their Religion, never giving them Permission to re-build a Church, when once decay'd; unless they are brib'd to it at so high a Rate, that 'tis a very rare attempt to ask a Licence for that purpose from the
Turkish Officers,
who always learn one Art, that is, to make the
most,
if not the best of their Preferments.
Their Postures of Prayer.
THEIR postures, when at Prayers, is like the
Turks,
cross-legg'd; those past, they elevate their Bodies to a straiter Pitch, and with the greatest Silence listen to their Priest, who reads from the
Chaldean Tongue
such Chapters, as he thinks convenient, still expounding, as he goes along, the Mystery of what he reads.
Their Forms of Publick Devotion.
THIS Service over, they again repeat their Prayers, in the same Posture as before, the Priest excepted, who then always turns his Face directly to the
Altar,
and with lifted Hands and Eyes invokes a Blessing on his zealous
Auditory
: Prayers once over, every Man, as he goes round the Room in order to depart, kneels down before the Priest, or Bishop, if there is one present, and while he kisses his left Hand, is strok'd upon the
Head,
and
Bless'd
devoutly by the other.
IT is at these
Assemblies,
that the Priest or Bishop nominates the Feasts or Fasts, which are to be observ'd the Week ensuing, after which no plea of Business, or extraordinary Occasions can prevail to get a Dispensation, or acquit them from the Duty; and in order to prevent all expectation of succeeding in Petitions of that nature, they have form'd a Sentence, which by common use is grown a Proverb, and is generally painted in the Letters of their Language, on the Walls or Cielings of their Places of Devotion, and the Houses, where they dwell: The Words are these,
An
Armenian
Proverb.
As the Almighty God is infinitely greater than the World and all therein, by so much ought our earthly Business to give way to his great Worship.
I told my Reader in the beginning of the Chapter, that the People of this Nation are extreamly Poor, and yet entirely Honest; an extraordinary Character, yet what they very well deserve, as what I am about to tell you is a fair
Example.
A Story of a young
Armenian,
land his Honesty.
THERE was at the abovenam'd City of
Tyberis,
a young Man not thirty Years of Age, the only Son of an
Armenian
Merchant, who was yet so poor, as hardly to be capable of living in a tolerable Credit: This young Man was much in
Love
with the fair Daughter of a Countryman of his, who gratefully return'd his Passion with an equal value; But both these Families were Poor and Honest, therefore cou'd not see the smallest possibility of doing well, shou'd they by Marriage suffer the fond Couple to encrease a Charge, they found it very difficult to bear without addition.
A bad Condition.
THE hardship of their Fortune, and sincerity of their Affection half distracted them, when they reflected, that the Barrier, which prevented their so much desir'd Bliss, was never likely to be taken off, and found that every Day, as
Love
encreas'd, their
Poverty
grew greater.
THE Poor young Man, industriously inclin'd, had try'd all ways of bettering his Circumstances, but had much ado by all his Labour to support a Livelyhood, and was become so melancholy by the misery of his Condition, oppress'd at once by
Love
and
Indigence,
that he cou'd find no Comfort, but in the Conversation of his
Mistress,
and
that
a sort of
anxious
Joy,
An anxious Pleasure.
because, as often as it represented to his Thoughts the
Blessings,
he shou'd gain by her
Possession,
it
recoil'd
upon his Memory, that 'twas almost impossible to obtain so great a happiness.
HE often walk'd disconsolately out of Town, and wandred up and down, unmindful of his Steps, indulging
Solitude
as a lov'd means of Contemplation;
one Evening
very late the
Moon
shone bright, and led him on in a smooth
Walk,
that ran along the
great high Road,
till he was met by a
grave Man
in habit of a
Pilgrim,
who saluted him and beg'd he wou'd support him to the Town, or he shou'd faint before he reach'd it; the young
Armenian
looking earnestly upon his Face, perceiv'd his Colour gone, and all the Marks of sudden Illness plain to be discover'd.
HE ask'd the
Pilgrim,
whither he was bound, who told him, to
Constantinople,
and again demanding, if he had any
Friends
within the City of
Tyberis,
was inform'd, that he was quite a Stranger, and design'd to take his Lodging in some
publick Han,
or open place of Entertainment, such as is elsewhere describ'd, for
Inns
and
Houses
of
Accommodation,
are not met with in the
Eastern
Countrys.
A compassionate Action.
THE good
Armenian
presently consider'd, that the Usage he wou'd meet with in a
publick Han,
cou'd no ways be agreable to his weak Condition, and invited him to lie a
Night
or two at his Father's House, by giving him a frank assurance of a hearty Welcome; this kind offer was immediately embrac'd with many thanks by the
Sick Pilgrim,
so he return'd again, and led his
Guest
back with him, using him with great Civility, and Entertaining him in every kind, as well as the
Condition
of the one requir'd, or the others
Purse
cou'd possibly
afford him.
An Artifice, to prevent Discovery.
FIVE Days the
Pilgrim
kept his Bed, and in that time wou'd often talk with the
Armenian
and his
Father,
still concealing who he was, and taking, every now and then, an occasion to complain of his
Misfortunes
and his
Poverty,
till on the fifth Day in the Evening he desir'd the Company of the
Young Man alone,
who came accordingly, and as he us'd to do, began to comfort the
Sick Man
with hopes of quick Recovery.
AT last the
Pilgrim,
interrupting his Discourse, began to
weep,
and taking him by the Hand, inform'd him that he found himself so weak, that he had now no longer
hopes
of
Life,
but begg'd him, as he wish'd for Happiness hereafter, to comply with the Request he was about to make him.
The Speech of a dying Pilgrim.
I am,
says he,
a
Merchant,
who have traded many Years in
Jewels,
which by travelling on
foot,
and in the Habit of a
Pilgrim,
I have always carry'd safe, when others have been robb'd of all they had; Almighty God has pleas'd to bless me with considerable
Substance,
most of which is now about me, in rich
Diamonds,
neatly fastned in some corners of my Cloaths; I have no
Wife
or
Child,
but one
poor Mother
at
Constantinople,
long maintain'd by my good Fortune; her I make my
Heiress,
she knows best what poor Relations at her Death to leave it to: Now I design to write a Letter, and for fear she loses all, if sent her by the
Caravan,
for
God Almighty's Sake,
do you in Person take the Charge of what I give you; see her, and inform her how I
dy'd,
and where you
bury
me: The
Charges
you have been so generously at, and what my
private Funeral
may cost you, this
small Purse
contains a Sum of Gold sufficient to repay you; but to bear the
Charges
of your Journey to my
Mother,
and in some degree reward your Goodness, I will give you two
good Diamonds
for your self, and then deliver all the rest to your safe Custody.
A great Surprise.
HE ended there, and from a
Pocket
in the
bosom
of his
Vest,
that then lay by him, took a Purse in which were
Eighteen Gold Chequins
of
Turkey,
value
each ten Shillings,
and deliver'd it to the
Armenian,
who was more surpriz'd to see him
rip
the
corners
of his
Cloaths,
and take out
two
and
twenty
noble
Diamonds,
which had been the Business of the
Journey
he fell short in,
Two
according to his promise he presented him withal, each worth about an
hundred English Pounds,
the
other Twenty, most
of equal value, he committed to his Charge; took
Pen
and
Ink,
and
writ
a Line or two, directed to his
Mother,
and the next Day died, as he before imagin'd.
A wonderful Example of Honesty.
HERE was a Temptation, few, I fear, in the
Armenian
's Circumstances, wou'd so nobly have resisted; he conceal'd the
Jewels,
least his
Father
or his
Mistress
shou'd have tempted him to keep them; own'd the Money, buried the
dead Pilgrim,
who, I shou'd have told you, was himself an
Armenian
; writ a Letter, and enclos'd
one Diamond
in it, to assist his
Father,
and withal inform'd him of the whole Concern, he left this Letter on his
Chamber Table,
sold the
second Jewel
for his own Expences, and departed early
one Morning,
with the
Pilgrims Weeds,
belonging to the late deceas'd, first having sow'd all up, as they had been, before the Owner had unrip'd 'em for his Satisfaction.
IN short, he brought the
Jewels
safe to
Constantinople,
gave 'em with the
Letter
to the Woman they were sent to, wou'd not take the least Reward, confessing he was paid beforehand, and prepar'd for his
Return
to
Persia,
after a short Stay of
thirteen Days
with the Mother of his
deceas'd Countryman.
A generous Action, of a
Persian
Envoy.
BUT
Vertue
seldom fails Reward, the
Story
was immediately spread round the City, and among the rest, a
Persian Envoy, then
about returning to his Country, hearing the report, resolv'd to see such Worth encourag'd; sent for the young Man, inform'd himself of his Condition, took him back to
Persia
in his Train, and there presented him before the
King,
as an
Example
of surprizing Honesty, and an
Object
highly worthy of his
Royal Favour.
A Reward of Vertue.
THE
King
commanded a great Sum of Money to be given him, and learning that he was brought up a
Merchant,
order'd him to be the Man, with whom the
Court
shou'd for the future deal, for all their Necessaries in his way of
Traffick
; and accordingly, he soon grew rich by that Advantage and the many, which attended the great
Character
it gave him; so that he not only
Married
his
old Mistress,
but in a few Years rais'd his
Family,
to be the most considerable of all his Country; a happiness he very well deserv'd, for such a rare
Example
of an inborn
Honesty,
and generosity of
Nature,
commonly inherent to the People of that Nation.
CHAP. XXIV. Of the
Copties.
The Original of the
Copties.
TWAS in the
Infancy
of
Christian Doctrine,
that the old Inhabitants of many parts of
Egypt,
chiefly such, as border'd upon
Aethiopia,
were Converted to the Faith of
Christ,
by the successful Preaching of the Noble
Eunuch,
who had been inspir'd by
Philip
with the purest Notions of
Religion
and Morality: Those early Converts, who embrac'd the
Gospel there,
transmitted it industriously to the Practice of
Posterity,
and Multitudes of the
Egyptians
constantly profess'd the Doctrine of
Christianity,
thro' all the
Ages
of inhuman
Persecution
; and the
Modern Offspring
of those Ancient People are the
Sect
nam'd
Copties,
whom this Chapter treats of.
The Causes of their Ignorance.
BUT, as
humane Nature
is
alone
too weak a
Prop
for
Faith,
and the mysterious Knowledge of
Religion,
so, the want of
Spiritual Directors
thro the
Labyrinth
of Darkness, which attended the disorders of successive
Persecutions,
has involv'd them in a
Gulph
of
zealous Ignorance,
and taught 'em an
unnatural
and
incoherent
mixture of the Superstitious Practices of
Pagan
Ceremonies, with the heavenly Rites of their profess'd
Christianity.
Circumcision us'd among them, and why.
'TIS this Misfortune has confounded their religious Observation of the
Sacrament of Baptism,
with the Heathenish Custom of an early
Circumcision,
which they still observe, but rather out of Veneration to the Practice of their
Ancestors,
than any Notion of its
Efficacy
in religious Matters: That it was an
ancient Custom,
we are undeniably convinc'd from the Assertion of so old a
Pen
as that of
Herodotus,
who declares it to have been observ'd among that People, long before the
Age
he liv'd in, they
Circumcise
their
Children
at
eight
Days old, but
Baptise
them not till on the
fortieth.
Tainted with the
Jacobin
Herely.
THEY were originally tainted with the
Jacobin Heresy,
and rigidly maintain'd the Doctrine of
one sole Nature in our Saviour,
long before
Jacobus
preach'd up that Opinion in the
Eastern
Parts of
Syria
; they are so very cautious, least by chance they shou'd expose his
Person
to the Proof of a
Division,
that, tho' they own him
God
and
Man,
and
perfect
in both
Essences,
they will not venture to distinguish one from t'other.
How agreeing with, or dissenting from the Church of
Rome.
THEY administer the
Sacrament
in both kinds, especially to
Infants just Baptiz'd:
They stigmatize the
Church of Rome
with
Heresy,
yet by the too prevailing vigilance of
Missionaries
sent from many Parts of
Italy,
great numbers of them frequently embrace the
Romish Doctrine
; they value not the Resolutions of those
General Councils,
held since that of
Ephesus,
and with an universal detestation of the Notions of a
Purgatory, Praying for the Souls of the Deceas'd,
and
Extreme Ʋ nction,
dissent from those three favorite
Points
of
Roman Doctrine.
THEY have a
Patriarch
over them, who takes his Title from the Town of
Alexandria,
but commonly resides at
Grand Cairo,
or sometimes at a large City call'd
Saieta,
An ancient City.
six days Journey higher, on the
River Nilus
; all Inhabited by unmix'd numbers of the
Copties
; here 'tis said, our
Saviour
and the
Virgin Mary
liv'd, when flying from the Rage of
Herod,
they sojourn'd in the Land of
Egypt,
till the Death of that oppressive Tyrant.
Here
likewise may be seen the Ruins of a noble Structure,
stately
in the very
Dust
it lies in, which the
Copties
tell us, was, in former times, a
Chapel
built by the religious
Helena,
Mother to
Constantine the Great,
and Consecrated to the
Virgin,
in commemoration of her Residence in that
ancient City.
The
Copties
keep
Lent
strictly.
THEY are almost as strict observers of
Lent,
as the
Armenians,
never eating Flesh therein, but in the Night, unless on
Saturdays,
and
Sundays
; but upon those Days they hold it as a Sin to Fast.
A painful form of Worship.
PECULIARLY Devout, and painfully Religious is their rigid form of Worship, for on
Saturday at Midnight
they are summon'd to their
Churches,
where they neither
sit, stand, kneel,
or use the common Postures of a Man, but till the
Sunday Noon,
support themselves, by leaning on a kind of
Crutches.
Boys admitted into Orders.
THE
Priest officiating
is cover'd with a
Veil
of fine white Linen, and assisted by
three little Boys,
attir'd not much unlike himself, on whom, as on great numbers of young Children, they conferr the
minor Orders
of their
Priesthood
; assuming their
Authority
for such a Practice, from a weak Interpretation of that part of the
Gospel,
where
our Saviour
uses the Expression,
Suffer little Children to come unto me, and prevent them not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Their publick Prayers.
THEY frequently exalt their Voices, and accompany the
Priest
in strange and unintelligible Noises, using
some
the ancient
genuine Egyptian Language,
now almost forgotten,
some
the
Moorish Dialect,
and
some
the
Turkish
; oftentimes the
Priest,
not much unlike the
Romish elevation of the Host,
lifts up, above his Head, a
Cloth
of
Crimson Colour,
under which is plac'd the
Consecrated Sacrament.
Other Customs in useamong them.
THEY Sing the
Psalms
of
David
through at every Meeting, sometimes a Chapter of the
Old,
but oftner of the
New, and more respected Testament,
as Pen'd by
Nicomedes
; they pay no Reverence to the
Pictures
of
our Saviour,
and the
Virgin Mary,
nor permit them to be plac'd about the
Altar,
tho' they
commonly
are met with in the other
Corners
of their
Churches.
Reliques of Martyrs.
AT the Entrance of their Churches, which can seldom boast
Magnificence,
or
Ornament,
you see on either side,
square Chests,
pil'd one above another, and in these they keep the
Ashes, Bones,
or
other Reliques
of those, who having been deluded by the strong Insinuations of the
Turks
to turn
Mahometans,
have afterwards repented their
Apostacy,
and openly professing a
Return
to the
Religion
they before abandon'd, have been
put to Death
upon it, and defended their
unshock'd,
and
persecuted Recantation
by the painful
Tryal
of a glorious
Martyrdom.
Men and Women kept apart.
THE
Women,
like the
Turks,
are separated, in their
Churches,
from the Conversation of the
Men,
and plac'd in
Galleries
all
lettic'd over,
to prevent
Inspection:
They kiss their Hands at coming in, and lay the
Right
upon the
Left,
proceeding with a
Gravity
becoming their
Devotion.
Their Habits and Subjection.
THEIR Habits differ from the
common Greeks
in nothing but a kind of
Skull-Cap,
of a close and humble Shape, which all the
Copties
wear upon their Head: They live in great Subjection to the
Turks,
pay
double Taxes,
and are hourly liable to the oppressive Violences of unbounded
Tyranny,
and
swift Injustice.
Sciences decay'd among them.
THEIR
Ignorance
is
great,
and
universal,
and their
Morals
consequently
weak,
and poorly guarded:
Sciences
are almost lost, at least decay'd extreamly in the
Practice
of their
Students.
HOWEVER, whether it proceeds from
real Inclination,
or a Notion that the Character of
Conjurer,
wou'd better suit
them,
than another People, by the Stories, which the
Scriptures,
and
Tradition
tell the World, of the prodigious Operation of those fam'd
Magicians,
among their Ancestors, who strove so wonderfully to excel the Power of
God
in
Moses
; I say, I know not, which of these excites their
Study,
Great Lovers of Magick.
but 'tis very certain that they all incline to practice
Magick,
or at least such
juggling Arts,
as
with the Vulgar
may intitle them to that denomination.
Admirable Jugglers.
THEY confidently boast a Power, by the assistance of
Familiar Spirits,
to inform Inquirers any thing they ask, particularly in Affairs of
Love,
and 'tis indeed a very pleasant Entertainment, to behold how some of the
Politest
of these
Jugglers
will impose on simple Crowds of
Listners
by the outward Artifices of a
learn'd Appearance,
while by subtle means they learn the Business of the
Querist
from
himself,
or
Company,
and then
amaze
him with a Declaration of no more, than what he just before has told him.
'TIS pleasant to behold 'em,
burning Leaves, describing Circles, melting Wax,
and using all the
outward Gestures,
which we read of in the Works of
ancient Poets,
to have been observ'd by
Sorcerers,
or others in their
Magic Incantations,
such as that of
Simaetha
in the
second Eidyl
of
Theocritus.
Theoc. Eidyl.
2d.
&c.
&c.
Go
Ïynx, on the wings of Passion move,
And to my Presence
drag
my
tardy Love.
Delphis
torments me, but I'll take
my
turn,
And for my
Delphi's
sake this
Laurel
burn;
And as the
Laurel crackles
in the Fire,
Destroy'd by
Flames,
which burn it, and expire,
Till not the
very Ashes
shall appear,
So let strong
Flames
consume my
Perjur'd Dear.
Go
Ïynx, on the Wings of Passion move,
And to my Presence drag my
tardy Love.
As I now melt this
Wax,
help'd from above,
Just so
let
Myndian Delphis
melt with
Love,
And as I
whirl
my
brazen Wand
around,
Let him before my
Gate
in
Circles
trace the Ground.
Go,
Ïynx,
on
the Wings of Passion move,
And to my Presence
drag
my
tardy Love.
No wonder that their Morals are not excellent.
BUT certainly it cannot well be look'd upon a
Wonder,
that
Morality
shou'd boast no fix'd Impression on the Minds of Men, inur'd to
Artifice
and
Treacherous Practices
by the perpetual Dangers they have been expos'd to, by the
Wars
and
Persecutions, Changes
and
Subversions,
which have constantly attended their unhappy Country, thro' a
Course of Revolutions
for so many Ages, when we find that
even our selves,
divided as we are from all the World, protected from the Miseries of
War
and
Rapine,
and indulg'd by
Heaven
in all the Blessings of
Productive Nature,
have no great Cause to think our
Morals, generally speaking,
better than our Neighbours.
A strange and lab'ring Sect, among the
Copties.
AMONG the many Orders of
Religion,
now profess'd by these
Copties,
there is
one
very
odd,
and
new Opinion
prevalent among them; a
certain Sect,
who, Contemplating seriously, and with incessant Application, on the numerous Frailties of
Humanity,
engage themselves
by Oath
in the most solemn manner, every Year they live to take upon them some new
Mystery,
or way of Living: till they find
(if possible)
some State of Life,
entirely happy:
These by turns, are
Soldiers, Merchants, Husbandmen,
and every thing their Substance can create them; and the Good they do by this uncommon Practice of
profess'd Variety,
appears conspicuously in the repeated Declarations, which they daily make in Publick Places, telling those, who gather round them, that
Experience
has convinc'd them
True Felicity
attends not such and such a Life, for such and such occurring Reasons, weighing all the
Good
with all the
Bad
of every Man's Condition, and discovering how much the weighty
Evils overpoize the Balance.
Their never ending Labours.
THUS are the Lives of these unwearied Wretches spent in searches of
Content,
a
Fairy Blessing,
talk'd of like the
Phoenix,
but unknown like that, and never to be gain'd on this side
Heaven
; yet they toil incessantly, and drudge away their Moments, in a kind of
Interrogatory Contemplation,
like the learn'd
Ausonius,
who thus expresses the convincing Proofs of
Mortal Imperfection.
Auson.
Eidyl. 15th.
Quod vitae sectabor iter? Si plena tumultu
Sunt fora, si curis domus anxia, si peregrinos
Cura domûs sequitur, Mercantem si nova semper
Damna manent, cessare vetat si turpis Egestas;
Si vexat labor Agricolam, mare naufragus horror
Infamat, poenaeque graves in coelibe vitâ,
Et gravior cautis Custodia vana maritis;
Sanguineum si martis opus, si turpia lucra
Foenoris, & velox inopes usura trucidat?
Afflictat Fortuna viros, per Bella, per Aequor,
Iras, insidiasque, catenatosque labores,
Mutandos semper Gravioribus.
What Course of Life shall my
Wild Wishes
share?
If
Publick Posts
are full of
Noise
and
Care
;
If
anxious Tortures
break our Rest
at home,
And
equal Troubles
follow those, who
roam
;
If
still
new Losses damn the
Merchant's
Pain,
Or
Poverty
excites his toil for Gain;
If constant Labour
macerates
the
Swain,
And dreadful
Shipwrecks
fright us from the
Main
;
If weighty Sorrows press a
Single Life,
And the
vain Cautions
of an
hourly Strife,
Teach not the
Husband
to secure his Wife;
If
War
is
bloody,
if
Extortion base,
And
griping Ʋ sury
destroys the
Poor Man's Race?
Fortune,
by many means, afflicts Mankind,
By
War,
by angry
Seas
and
Winds
combin'd;
By Storms of
Passion,
and destructive
Snares,
Un-numb'red
Labours,
and
entangled Cares
;
And, tho' we think our
Present State
a
Curse,
We seldom
change it,
but we make it
worse.
The humour of the
Copties.
THE
Generality
of these
Copties
are
curiously
inclin'd to hear the Customs of remote Dominions, and are overjoy'd to get a
Gentleman
of
Learning,
who is travelling thro' their Country, into their Acquaintance; They receive and entertain him with a deep respect, and waiting patiently, till he has ask'd as many
Questions
as he pleases of their
way of Living,
put great numbers of inquisitive Demands on
him,
and listen with a close and wonderful
Delight,
to hear the
Stories,
which a
Stranger
tells them, either of
his own
or
other Countries.
NOR is it any ways
improbable,
that
this
shou'd be the reason, which induces such vast numbers to profess the Business of a
Guide,
attending
Travellers
from Place to Place, as often as the
Arabs
will permit them;
An Arbitrary Practice of the
Arabs.
but these
last
are
Lords
of
them
and their
Pretentions,
and are well acquainted with the
Profits
thence arising, wherefore they will
rarely
give the
Copties
liberty to serve as
Guides
to
Christian Travellers,
but undertake the Task
themselves,
and
thence
extort considerable Sums of Money, in proportion to their
Carriage, Avarice,
or
Honesty.
CHAP. XXV. Of the
Zinganees,
or the Race of the
Gypsies.
NOW, Reader, have I brought you to a sort of People, who for every kind of Villany, and unexampled Practices of Guilt in its most elevated Insolence, may justly boast themselves without a Rival;
Impunity
encourages them all to
Sin,
and
independent Arrogance
protects them in it; They are shun'd by all degrees of Men, and all Men equally by
them
detested; They are
Nature's Outcast,
and the black
Infesters
of Humanity and common Goodness, and of all the World may best lay claim to the Profession of a
Maxim,
which the
Roman Satyrist
expresses thus,
Juv. Sat.
1.
Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris, & Carcere dignum,
Si vis esse aliquis; probitas laudatur & alget.
Wou'd you be
Great,
and
dreaded
by Mankind,
Dare to do
Mischief
never yet design'd,
Contrive some
Ill,
that may the Rope deserve,
Then shall you thrive; if
Good,
be
prais'd
and
Starve.
YOU shall rarely apprehend a
Zinganee,
or execute him for a
Crime,
but he will readily confess vast numbers more than e'er he was detected in, their
only aim
is
Wickedness,
and
that
they grow inimitable
Proficients
in; They seldom differ one from t'other, or if
some
have accidentally been more successful than
the rest
in bringing
Mischiefs
to
perfection,
'tis because their Opportunities have been more favourable, and proceeds not from a weaker Inclination to the Practice of Iniquity: Their Guilt is
thus
the same, and therefore, I may well excuse the universal Wishes of the
honester Inhabitants
of the
Eastern Countries,
who profess an open and deserv'd Abhorrence of the
Wretches
and their Customs, desiring nothing more than their very Race might
wholly
be
extirpated.
Juv. Sat.
13.
Nam scelus intra se tacitum, qui cogitat ullum,
Facti crimen habet, cedo, si conat a peregit.
For he, who has his
Will
to
Evil
brought,
And
secretly
dares form a
Wicked Thought,
Commits the
Crime,
that his Consent has won,
Or
Sins
as much, as if
'twere really done.
BUT, e'er I paint the
Morals,
and
inhuman Nature
of these People, 'twill be proper to inform my Reader,
who they are,
and having trac'd 'em to their black
Original,
I will proceed to the Relation of their
Present State,
and lay 'em open in the scatt'red Baseness of their Modern Circumstances.
The History, and Original of the
Zinganees.
'TWAS in the Reign of
Sultan Selym,
the successful
Turkish Emperour,
who overthrew the Government of the
Circassian Mamalukes,
and added
Egypt
to his own Dominions, that the few remaining
Soldiers
of that Name, who had escap'd the Slaughter, and retir'd in little Numbers to the
Borders
of the
Desart,
were encourag'd by a
certain daring Slave,
nam'd
Zinganeus,
to assemble in one Body, and make use of those
offensive Arms
their hasty Flight had left them, to their best advantage; they consented to the motion, and upon examination found themselves a formidable Body, able to defend their Ground by reason of the difficulty of access, against the Power of all Invaders.
A Salvage kind of Life.
THUS they liv'd some time, made Nightly Inrodes to the fertil Pastures on the Banks of
Nilus, plunder'd Towns, destroy'd Inhabitants, drove off their Cattle,
and committed all Outrages, void of fear, and free from Punishment, not only keeping so secure a Guard, that they defended their Possessions, but admitting daily Numbers of their
old Companions,
who deserted to their Party in considerable Bodies, as often as they found convenient Opportunities.
THE
Turks,
who dreaded what might be the Consequences of this threatning growth of Power, sent Great Commanders with some regular Forces to
reduce
them to Obedience; who fell short in their Designs, and were sent back
half ruin'd,
to assure their Officers, they were to cope with greater Strength than they imagin'd.
IN short, the
Turks
perceiv'd so great a Difficulty in the Method they must take to bring 'em to Subjection, that they rather chose to offer Terms of Friendship, and Accommodation, which the
Mamalukes
as readily accepted of, as growing weary of the
Dangerous Alarums
they were Hourly Subject to, so that a Peace was soon concluded,
Articles of Accommodation.
and the Articles thereof Obliging the
Circassians
to lay down their Arms, permitted them to exercise what other way of Living, their desires wou'd lead 'em to make choice of.
BUT
Civil Discipline
agreeing rarely with the
Military Genius
of licentious Multitudes, they grew unruly, and became so prejudicial to the common Interest, that the offended
Turks
at last grew weary of forgiving, and Enacted a degree, that every
ZINGANEE, for they were so distinguish'd, from the Name of their Ringleader,
shou'd in Fourteen Days depart the Kingdom:
They are Banish'd
Egypt.
This was so severely put in Execution, that in less than two Months space, not one remain'd, who
Publickly
durst own himself of
that Denomination,
for it was made Lawfull for what Man soever met them, when their Date expired, to
Take, Kill, Enstave,
or
Ʋ se
them as he thought convenient.
NO Man from that time forward e'er knew certainly, what became of
Zinganeus
their Commander, tho 'tis commonly believ'd he staid in
Egypt,
where at present
his Posterity
and that of
his Companions,
openly dare own themselves. A certain Prophecy is spread about, relating to some future hopes, Predominant on the Opinion of the
Zinganees,
tho
few
among the
Turks,
regard or Value it. The
Prophecy
as 'tis Express'd in the
Egyptian Language,
varies nothing from the following purpose.
A
Gypsie
Prophecy.
Years
over
Years
shall Roll;
Ages
o'er
Ages
Slide,
Before the
Worlds Controul,
Shall check the
Crescents Pride.
Banish'd
from Place to Place,
Wide as the
Oceans Roar,
The Mighty
Gypsie Race,
Shall Visit ev'ry Shore.
But when the
Hundredth Year,
Shall three times
Doubled be,
Then shall
an End
Appear,
To all their
Slavery.
Then shall the
Warlike Pow'rs,
From
distant Climes
return,
Egypt
again be
Ours,
And
Turkish Turrets
Burn.
A Vain and Groundless hope.
THIS
Prophecy
has won so far upon the Miserable
Romnant
of the
Zinganees
in
Egypt,
that they all expect as certainly to see the
Restoration
of their
Empire
in the Downfall of the
Turks,
as the most
Rigid Jews
believe and wait for the return of their
Messias
: But how wide from
Probability
their notion lies, let
any Man
decide, who will reflect on the Prodigious difference between the
Turks
and
Them,
in
Number
and
Authority.
The Wandring Lives of the Banish'd
Gypsies.
THOSE
Zinganees,
who had not Courage to continue in their Country in contempt of the decree, exhibited against them, spread themselves in
Banishment
thro' every corner of the World, and finding it a necessary prudence to consider on some means of
Livelyhood
they took upon them the Denomination of
Foretellers
of the Accidents attending every Persons Life, Pretending to a natural Gift of
Prophecy,
and finding it an easy matter to Impose upon the World by such Pretentions, the (rather, because many
Families
among them, had by
Art
or
Nature,
really reach'd a Wonderful Ability in such like
Practices
) they Flourish'd for a while, and grew considerably Rich in many Countries.
Their First Arrival in
England.
AMONG the rest, great Numbers Flock'd to
England,
Travell'd up and down from Place to Place, with Children at their Backs, beg'd leave to he in
Barns,
told
Fortunes
for their Livelyhood, and when they could not fairly get
Provisions,
Stole 'em with an admirable Cunning; till the many Mischiefs which attended the Permission of these
Stroling Hypocrites,
occasion'd
several Acts
to pass, in order to extirpate their Fraternity.
THE Laws which were from time to time Enacted to that end, had such effect, that they were soon Transported hence in such surprizing Numbers, that the few mean Wretches, now pretending to the Character of
Gypsies,
are not really so, but such, whose Miserable Circumstances have reduc'd 'em to a sordid
Imitation
of the Vices and Pretences of those Banish'd Persons,
The Original of the Word Gypsie.
to whom Originally, our
Forefathers
gave the Name of
Gyptians
or
Egyptians
to denote the Country they belong'd to, but the word has been corrupted by the course of Time to the Present Vulgar Pronunciation,
GYPSIES.
BUT tho' the Prudence of our
cautious Ancestors,
found means to rid this Nation of such Troublesome Inhabitants, few other Countries took that care to free themselves from their Encumb'ring Multiplication,
Turkey
very full of
Gypsies.
every part of
Turkey
is (especially) so Pester'd with 'em, that you seldom Travel Four and Twenty Hours without Encountring them.
Their Way of Living.
THEY are Divided into
Tribes,
Acknowledge no dependance
on,
or Duty
to
the Power of any
Government
whatever; they have no
Laws
among themselves, but mingle
Lustfully
together in the most
Incestuous
manner, never
Marrying,
but using all
in common, Women, Goods,
and all they Boast of.
THEY Wander up and down, with
Asses,
Loaden with their
Tents,
and other dirty Necessaries, always Pitching their Black Camp as near some
Town of Note
as possible,
Excellent Smiths.
and Working commonly as
Smiths,
particularly famous for the making
Hatchets
of an
Edge
so excellently temper'd, that no
Nail
can turn it; they are Hir'd sometimes for every kind of
Drudgery,
but frequently refuse to Work, and never tarry longer in a Place, than till they have obtain'd as much, as
Stealing
or their
Labour
can induce 'em to the hopes of.
THUS in time, they Visit
every
Part of every
Country,
hated by Mankind and
Preying
on the Losses of their
Fellow Creatures,
void of Principle and consequently of
Humanity
: If any of them Die, they make a
Hole
within his
Tent,
and Bury him about a Foot below the Surface, never using
Coffin, Shrowd
or
Decent Ceremony
; Scoffing Publickly at
every Law
and all
Religions
;
Their Atheistical Principles.
openly declaring, they believe no
GOD,
but impiously use no other Argument, than that of Insolent and Ignorant
Obstinacy,
telling
Christians,
who rebuke their Wickedness, that they have Daily reason to distrust the Notions of a
Godhead,
since if there
were
a
Power
so
Mighty
and
Omniscient
as
God
is represented, he wou'd never hear himself
Blasphem'd,
and
Ridicul'd
at such a Rate, as he is Hourly by their common Practice, without some speedy Judgment on their Guilt. This
Simple Notion
made me think upon an Ancient
Precedent,
deliver'd to Posterity by
Martial
in his Book of
Epigrams.
Mart.
Epig.
Nullos esse Deos, inane Coelum
Affirmat
Selius,
probatque, quod se
Factum, dum negat hoc, videt Beatum.
Selius
affirms, there is no
God
in
Heav'n,
And the
sole Cause,
for
that
Opinion giv'n,
Is, that while
thus
he dares a
God
deny,
He
Prospers daily,
and no
Plague
draws nigh.
Their Customs, and Humour.
THEY commonly go
naked,
or at least, the
major Part
affect not Dressing.
Nature
stains them of a
tawny Hue,
and the
unresisted
Influence of a continual
Sun
encreases their Deformity; they never
wash
their
Hands
or
Faces,
but permit their
Hair
and
Nails
to grow to most amazing lengths: They will not suffer
Travellers
to pass without accosting them, extracting Money by repeated Declarations of the
Good
or
Evil Fortune,
which is likely to attend them: But what most amaz'd me, is, that they assume the Impudence of giving good Advice, exhorting them to
Piety,
and all the
Graces
of
Humanity,
concluding commonly their
Hypocritic Lectures
with these Words,
Be Dutiful to
God,
your
Parents
and your
Prince,
and let the Blessings of them all be showr'd upon you.
WHEN I perceiv'd that
such as these
cou'd give
Advice,
who are the
open Enemies
of common Goodness, I reflected with a wonderful surprize upon the Truth of an old
Maxim,
I remember to have
read
in some
Greek Author.
A
Graecian
Maxim.
How readily do all our
Natures
tend
To give
Advice
with
Prudence
to a Friend!
But
if we Err our selves,
we know it not;
At least our
Self-affection
cloaks the Blot.
A Story of the Impudence of a certain
Zinganee.
THE
Native Insolence
of these licentious Wretches may be guess'd at by a
Story
I will tell you. At a little
Country Town
in
Turkey,
where great Numbers of the
Zinganees
had pitch'd their
Tents,
a
Friend
of mine, who kept a Summer House, retir'd to pass a Month or two; and having been inform'd how Skillful they were fam'd to be in making
Hatchets
of an admirable temper, had the Curiosity to purchase one, at the dear rate of
three and twenty Shillings
in the Money of that Country.
HE
try'd
his
Hatchet,
which was neatly made, and had a fine
turn'd Helve,
and
Leather Case
to keep the Head from wet, and found it so exceeding Good, that he commended it extreamly to the Man, who made it, and profess'd he wou'd not lose it for its
double Value.
A Cheating Temper.
NOTHING cou'd have been more
welcom News,
or
fairer Invitation
to the
Zinganee
than this, he presently resolv'd to find some opportunity of stealing back the
Hatchet,
that he might oblige the
Gentleman
to buy another, or reward him well for the pretence of having found the
old one.
IN short, he
watch'd
a day or two, and having made his observation of the Place 'twas laid in, soon found means to get it, and was met one Morning by the Owner, as he hasten'd from the Chamber with the mark of
Theft
about him; The
Gentleman,
surpriz'd to see a
Zinganee
in his
Apartment,
took him by the Arm as he was passing by, and ask'd him somewhat roughly, what his Business was, and whither he was carrying his Hatchet; The
Gypsy, an experienc'd Artist,
answer'd nothing, but with elevated Eyes, and shaking Head, endeavour'd silently to get away;
A wonderful Assurance.
but when the
Gentleman
encreas'd his anger, and began to call his Servants to secure him, with a bold, undaunted Look, and Tongue as nimble as his Fingers, he began to talk away his Guilt, in Speeches to the following purpose.
The Speech of a Gypsy.
FOOL that you are; but
Christians
will be blind, and who can help it? Now I know you think that I came hither with design to
steal your Hatchet
; O poor Frailty of your common Understanding! I have Skill,
honest Infidel,
and by that Skill knew certainly, that if this
Hatchet
was not taken from you, this Morning at
Eleven a Clock,
and just three Minutes after, you wou'd have been inclin'd to try its Metal on you Log of Wood, and so had surely cut your
Right Leg
half asunder. I have Skill, and valued you, and so prevented it by seizing on the evil Instrument. See here, I will not be dismay'd, I prize your
Good
above your
Friendship,
and will,
notwithstanding this,
prevent your Danger.
HE had no sooner spoke these Words, but
off he ran,
as fast as he was able, nor was overtaken, tho' the
Servants
follow'd him, till he had reach'd a
Well
of an
unfathomable Depth,
and there he stopp'd, but first threw in the
Hatchet,
which he knew cou'd never be recover'd from so deep a Bottom.
The Success of a Cheat.
THE Gentleman, who guess'd the
Zinganee
's Design, cou'd scarce refrain from laughing at the
Air
with which he carry'd off his
Impudence
; 'twas dangerous to beat him, tho' he wish'd he cou'd have ventur'd it; in
short,
the
Gypsy
won his point, and still maintaining that his value for the Person of the Gentleman had made him throw away the former
Hatchet,
got the making of another like it.
I should have told you, that they always chuse some
even spot of Ground
to pitch their Tents, where the Men and Women
Sing
and
Dance,
in aukward
Gestures
all Day long,
run, hop,
and toy away their Hours in various kinds of active Entertainments.
Another Story of the Gypsies.
I Lay, in Company with several other
English Gentlemen,
at a large Town in
Thrace,
now call'd
Romania,
I think the Place was nam'd
Burgoss
; upon a spacious Plain, without the City, stood the Tents of several Tribes of wand'ring
Gypsies,
who were us'd to entertain themselves in Dancing till near Midnight, and express'd their Satisfaction in each others Conversation by the number of their
Exercises.
WE walk'd out one Day to take the Air upon the
Plain
I speak of, and were very much surpriz'd to see a Company of
Naked People
of
both Sexes,
join'd promiscuously in a kind of
Antic Dance,
and leaping up and down, with uncouth Noises, and indecent Postures, which declar'd them Strangers to the smallest Grain of common
Modesty.
WE came as near 'em as we cou'd, and were immediatly surrounded by their Numbers, every Person striving to
foretell our Fortunes,
by inspection of our Hands, which we prevented them from doing, by an obstinate refusal to admit them near us.
An
English
Modesty.
ONE Young Gentleman among us, of a very
modest,
or indeed a
bashful Nature,
was half frighted to behold himself encompass'd by a Band of
Naked
Women,
and instead of striving to defend himself from their Endeavours, kept one Hand before his Eyes and all on fire with
Blushes,
turn'd his Head aside, and beg'd us to depart from that
Society of Devils.
A very dexterous and pleasant Cheat.
THE
Zinganees
immediately perceiv'd the Opportunity he gave them, and with all imaginable expedition,
joining Hands,
danc'd round him in a Ring, and pulling him about from Place to Place, laugh'd, sung, and kiss'd him with a strange Extravagance, while several others came about us with a thousand artful
Postures
and
Discourses,
to prevent us from observing what they did with our Companion, who was so amaz'd to find himself
touch'd, kiss'd,
and pull'd about by such a
Naked
Multitude of
Females,
that he knew not what they were about, till they had thrown him down, and rolling him along among themselves, found means to
pick his Pockets,
of his
Gold
and
Silver, two good Rings,
and a
fine Watch
of
English Workmanship.
The Impunity of
Zinganees
in
Turkey.
WE were so much diverted with the
Accident,
that we cou'd hardly frame our Tempers for a necessary Quarrel, which was all in vain, for they had done their Business, and went on with their Diversion, never minding our repeated Exclamations that they wou'd restore the Gentleman the Prize so lately taken; we complain'd to the
Chief Magistrate
upon re-ent'ring the
City,
but found no Redress, all Men declining to concern themselves with People, over whom they boasted small Authority, and from whose Punishment, they cou'd not hope
Retaliation
of an Injury receiv'd, but wou'd be sure to suffer by a swift
Revenge,
and never failing
Malice
; so extreamly burthensom and dangerous are the
Gypsies
in the
Eastern World,
beyond those here in
England,
or indeed in any other Part of
Western Christendom.
BUT, notwithstanding the abovenam'd Character of the
Zinganees in general
may incline the Reader to believe the Stories he has heard of
Gypsies,
and their wonderful Performances are all
Chimaeras,
and the wild Production of distemper'd Fancy,
Some Gypsies better than the rest.
there are really some among them, in whose
Families
the Spirit of
Foreknowledge seems
to live, beyond Examples common in our Country.
THERE is nothing a more certain Truth, than that the
Masters
of some
Merchant Ships
have been advis'd to wait a happy Hour, least on such, and such a Coast, they shou'd be
Shipwreck'd,
which advice, when slighted, has appear'd of more
solidity,
than they imagin'd, by the fatal Loss of both the
Vessel
and the
Lives
of all her
Mariners.
Strange Stories, told of some of them.
NOT only these, but many other such like Accidents, and some
more strange
have happen'd
frequently
in many Parts of
Egypt,
and the other Countries, where these
Gypsies
live; I could relate surprizing things, which have been told me with a
good Authority,
but I forbear imposing Facts upon my
Reader's Faith,
which, notwithstanding the concurring Evidences of undoubted Witnesses, and sometimes
ocular Demonstration,
really seem to shock
my own.
ONE
Story
I will here,
however,
tell you, and so leave you to your Liberty,
believe
or
not believe,
that some of those call'd
Zinganees
inherit naturally the
Prophetic
Blessing of
foreknowing
Things to come, which they pretend to; I can only say, they give such
staggering Demonstrations
of a Power beyond a
common Guess,
that tho' I was unwilling to give credit to their Attestations, I perceiv'd them built upon too sure a Ground, to give me any opportunity of contradicting them.
A Story of an Accident, which befel the Author in his Travels.
I Travell'd once, with a considerable Number of my Countrymen, and other People, thro this Country, and was musing
Pensively
behind my Company
on Horseback
in an easy Pace, when from a kind of
Bushy Covert
on one side the Road, there Started out a Man, of
Venerable Age, Long Beard,
and
Decent Habit
; In his Shrivel'd Hand he held a Staff, and a
Convulsive Palsie
shook his Head with an Incessant Motion.
HE came forward Slowly, Beckning me to stay, as if he had some Business of Importance to Communicate; I stop'd my
Horse,
whose
Main
he
Strok'd
with his
Right Hand,
when he came to me, and Seizing on my
Boot Top
with his
Left,
let fall his Staff, and look'd so earnestly upon my Face, that I was Struck with a Surprize at the uncommon method of his Salutation.
I ask'd him, if he
knew me,
or had any thing to tell me, that he look'd upon me with such
Eagerness
; He
Skook his Head
with double force, and after having us'd some Wonderfull Expressions, which for certain Reasons I forbear to mention here, he told me that a dangerous Cloud hung o'er my Head, and Threaten'd me with Sudden Death;
An unwelcome Salutation.
Perhaps,
Young Man,
says he, you have not half an Hour of Life to come, but
Heaven,
(which only can) avert the
Omen!
YOU must needs Imagine I was somewhat Startled at this declaration, which the Old Man had no sooner made, than he departed, Looking Back almost at every step he took, and lifting up his Eyes in seeming Sign of some concern, which look'd like Pity.
A Wonderful Adventure.
AT last, I fansy'd him a kind of Madman, and converted Contemplation to a fit of Mirth, so Gallop'd, on as fast as I cou'd Ride, to overtake my Company, and entertain 'em with the Story of my odd Adventure; But I had not Rode four Hundred Paces, when from a Cross Road, leading thro' a kind of Wood, on either side, appear'd some Horse-men Arm'd with
Javelins,
who with elevated Weapons stop'd my Passage, and made signs that I should presently alight, or they would throw them at me.
HERE the Sudden turn of a Reflection on the Probability of that short Space of Life, alloted me by the Old Man, more deeply terrify'd me than the presence of my Enemies;
A Surprizing turn of Fortune.
I made a Shift, unknowing in a manner what I did, to lay my Hand upon a
Pistol,
and had just presented it when all the Horse-men Gallop'd off together, with a Motion equally Surprizing for its Swiftness and Occasion.
THAT very Moment struck my Ears with the loud Sound of a large
Brazen Trumpet,
which a Member of our Company had carry'd with him, and the Noise of Horses-Feer, as if they Gallop'd;
A timely succour.
Presently appear'd the Major part of my Companions, who had miss'd me, and came Back by the Advice of an Old Guide among them, who Inform'd 'em 'twas a Dangerous thing to Straggle from ones Company, in such a part of such a Country.
Reflections on the Accident.
NOW, tho this strange Deliverance might possibly have been unknown to the Old Man, who met me, and the Notice, which he gave me of it, the Effect of Chance, or a Strange whim Inspir'd by
Providence,
'tis surely far more Reasonable to suppose him Master of a more than common share of Knowledge; or at least, if this Relation does not Tempt the Reader to the same Opinion, yet some Private Circumstances, which attended it, gave me such convincing Proofs of his
just Title
to a
Supernatural Wisdom,
that I cannot help declaring, I must still believe him Bless'd with a
Prophetic Inspiration.
CHAP. XXVI. Of
Sestos,
and
Abydos,
the Castles Commanding the
Hellespont,
now call'd
Dardanelli
; and of the Ruins of
Old Troy.
Sestos
and
Abydos.
AND now we are about to Travel into
Egypt
by the way of
Constantinople,
we must first sail down the
Hellespont,
whose Entrance from the
Archipelago
is defended strongly by four
Castles
of considerable Force: The
outward two
whereof are
Sestos
and
Abydos,
celebrated by the Pens of ancient Poets, for the famous Loves of
Hero
and
Leander.
METHINKS I found a certain secret Pleasure in the
very looking
on a Place of such
Antiquity
; and while I sail'd along the
River,
the complaining Murmurs of the rolling Waters seem'd to mourn
Leander's Drowning,
and I cou'd not look upon the venerable
Turrets
of those
aged Buildings,
but they brought to my Reflection the
Idea
of those dulcid Strains, wherein
Musaus warbles
out the Circumstances of the
melancholy Story.
Musaeus de Her. & Leand.
In
ancient Days,
upon the famous Shore,
Where
Hellaspontic
Waves
incessant
roar,
Close to the Sea,
on either side the Flood,
Here Sestos, there
the
near Abydos
stood;
Here,
his strong Bow the wanton
Cupid
bent,
And
one
swift Arrow to
both Cities
sent,
The
Youth
vow'd
Love,
the
Virgin
own'd the
same,
Both
felt
one Passion,
and profess'd
one Flame.
Leander
was the
Lover
's Name, and
She
Was
Hero
call'd, as
Fair
as
Maid
cou'd be,
She
dwelt in
Sestos,
in
Abydos He,
Both
blest
alike,
in Beauty, and in Love,
Like
two fair Stars, Both
in their
Circles
move;
But
you, kind Listner,
if by chance you roam,
And for those
distant Climates,
leave your
Home,
If in your
Wandrings
you by chance come
there,
And, led by
Choice
or
Business,
curious are,
Inquire of some
old Liver,
grave and good,
Where
once
a
certain ancient Turret
stood,
Whereon the
Sestian Hero
chose to stand,
And held a
Lantern
in her tender Hand,
To teach her
better-half,
which way to move,
And
act the Pilot
to
Leander
's
Love
;
Look
next,
upon those
Seas,
which hourly roar,
And wash the
Sands
of
old Abydo's
Shore,
Weeping,
as o'er the
Guilty Scene
they fly,
That
Constant Lover
's
Loss,
whom
there
they forc'd to
Die.
A caution of the
Turks.
AND indeed, a
Traveller
has here a spacious Opportunity to follow the Advice of this
old Poet,
for he is detain'd
three Days,
by a fix'd Custom of the Country, and must then submit to be examin'd,
whither Bound, what Countryman,
and wait the searching of the Ship by
Officers,
deputed from the
Castles,
e'er he may have liberty to
Sail
beyond the Reach of their
Artillery.
Its causes.
THIS Caution is occasion'd by the necessary
Policy
of their sharp Government, whose
ever wary
Eye forbids the
clearing Foreign Ships,
till after such a stay within the Entrance of the
Hellespont,
least they shou'd have Commited any Breach of
Articles,
before they left the
City.
Reflections on the Modern Ignorance of this Country.
BUT Oh! how much in vain
Musaeus
bids us ask the People of these
Ancient Towns,
for Places, which they are not only Strangers to the
Knowledge,
but to the
Names
of; Ignorance and Insolence have Clouded
Learning
in the very Inclinations of the
Modern Masters
of this Country; endless
Revolutions
in the very
Face
of
Furrow'd Nature
have Erac'd the Characters of
Former Wisdom,
and destroy'd in an
Obscure
and
deep Oblivion
those Lamented
Monuments
of High
Antiquity.
The
Dardanells,
and why so call'd.
THE Present Owners call these Castles
Dardanelli,
and 'tis a more than Probable Opinion, that their
Etymology
derives its Birth from their Vicinity in Situation to the
Trojan Shore
; their strength is little, if compar'd with the more Artful forms of regular and modern
Fortifications,
and are Incapacitated to defend themselves against the Power of
Seiges,
carried on by Land Entrenchments; all their use arises from the large and Monstrous Bore of many
Cannons,
Planted on a Level with the Surface of the
Water,
and discharging
Bullets
made of
Stone,
of such prodigious size, that tho it has been known, that Ships have pass'd in safety by the favourable Opportunity of a great
Gale,
and
Swelling Waters,
'tis a
Rash
and
Dangerous
attempt, and ten to one but all, who hazard it, are Sunk in the Performance.
Reflections on the Present State of
Troy.
WE Sail from hence and presently gain sight of
TROY,
at least the Shore, whereon
TROY
stood, that Towering City, whose Imperial Turrets Brav'd the Fury of Confederate Nations, and repuls'd so many Bloody times the Powerfull Armies of the
Graecian Hero
's, under whose Renown'd and long defended Walls, the Flowing Blood of
Hostile Nations
Bath'd a Soil, which Nourish'd Laurels of Immortal Memory; whose unbounded Sway and unexhausted Plenty drew the Wonder of an Emulative World, as her Brave fall, and celebrated Ruin mov'd the Pens of the Sublimest
Poets
in the
Ʋ niverse
to Eternize her Glory; This Illustrious Scene of Wonders, This amazing Field of Action now lies Silent, Buried, and o'erwhelm'd in the too Melancholy fate of
TROJA FƲ IT, TROY WAS.
NOTHING is remaining worthy of the Monument of so renown'd a City; the relentless Teeth of Iron Time have Gnaw'd away her Beauties, and the Miserable Remnant of her Ancient Grandeur is confin'd to such a Poor and little Measure,
The Mistake of many Travellers.
that those hasty Travellers, who think it a sufficient Satisfaction to have seen a Place at distance, have inform'd the World, that all is now converted into Pasture Ground, or that in short, a just
Idea
of the present State of, that subverted City may be comprehended fully, by the Tuneful
Chorus
of
a good old English Ballad,
which, as I remember, tells us;
Wast lie those Walls, which were so good,
And Grass now grows, where Troy Town stood.
HOWEVER, as I was too curious in my Inclinations to rest content with the Reports of other Men, in Places, where I cou'd inform my self by ocular experience, I resolv'd to go on Shore, and was the more desirous to become a Witness of the Miserable Blot, which had defac'd so fair a Copy,
The Grounds of that Mistake.
because I very well remembred to have met a
Jew
in
Portugal,
who had assur'd me there was more to be Discover'd on the Shore of
Troy,
than commonly was credited, but the dangerous Barbarity of the Inhabitants was such, as rendred it a hazardous attempt, and consequently frighted many People from Landing in that Country.
THE Captain of the Ship, wherein I Sail'd, oblig'd me with his Boat, while adverse Winds detain'd us on the Coast, and one
Francisco Condaliso,
an
Italian Priest,
who had been long a
Missionary
in the
Eastern Countries,
and at present, if alive, resides at
Padua,
consented to Accompany me;
The Author Lands at
Troy.
we Landed in a very Fair and spacious Harbour, probably the same, which formerly receiv'd the Boats of
Greece,
returning
to and fro
with
Soldiers
and
Provisions.
WE Walk'd about three Miles up thro' the Country, on a Ground still rising from the
Sea
with small Acclivity, but overgrown with Brakes and Brambles, as, indeed, is every part, which Borders on the
Sea,
for many Miles along that Land, so that the First Remark I made in this my
Trojan
Expedition, was that my
old Country-man
the
Ballad-maker,
was mistaken in his
Calculation.
An account of what he Discover'd there.
WE look'd about, as eagerly as possible, but look'd in vain, and had begun to doubt or even despair of finding any Marks or Ruins of Antiquity, when
Francisco
struck his Foot with Accidental Violence against a Stone, and casting down his Eyes imagin'd he Discover'd something like a
Piece of Building,
scarce an
Inch
above the Ground, all over grown with
Moss,
and in a manner cover'd by the
Gross
about it;
A Piece of the Old Walls of
Troy.
UPON a closer view, and digging up the Obstacles, which interpos'd themselves, we plainly found, it was a part of some
Old Wall,
and with our
Scymetars
removing all the Brambles, and low Bushes near it, we Discover'd it to be near Thirteen Foot in Breadth, but Narrower and Higher in some Places, than it was in others.
TRACING it with more than common difficulty, thro' a little Knot of Bushes, we had soon lost sight of it, and dug in vain, as deep as we cou'd thrust our Swords, to find if it continued farther on; However, having met so fair encouragement, we chearfully proceeded near a
Quarter of a Mile,
and there Discover'd at considerable distance, something like a
Rugged Wall,
or broken
Ruin
of an
Ancient Building.
COMING near it, we perceiv'd it was the same continued Piece of Building, we had lately lost, and on a close Examination found it of a black and solid Stone, appearing join'd by Mortar, which the length of time had notwithstanding, hard'ned into Substance, of an equal firmness with the Stone it self.
A description of it.
THE Sizes of the Stones were very different, but rather small, than of extraordinary Magnitude, for few exceeded half a Foot in their Diameter. The length of this old Piece of Wall was sixteen Yards, the heighth at most exceeded not four Foot, but was in many Places broken, and in some, scarce half a Foot above the Ground.
'TWAS strangely overgrown with little Shrubs, and divers Plants appear'd between the Joinings of the Stone, which wore a melancholy
Sylvan
Dress of Most and Houseleek:
Over-grown with Laurel.
But the most engaging Part of the whole Prospect was a seeming Grove of spreading
Laurel-Trees,
which flourish'd on the top, and hanging down on either side, protecting, as it were, the Building from the Injuries of Weather; methoughts I never saw those kind of
Trees
so justly Planted, and I cou'd not help rememb'ring, that they look'd as naturally plac'd on these
Old Ruins,
as upon the
Celebrated Tomb
of the
harmonious Virgil,
in the Neighbourhood of
Naples.
A new Discovery.
ABOUE an Hour we
feasted Curiosity,
with a repeated Observation of the pleasing Object, and had tarry'd longer in the
same Employment,
but were call'd away by the discovery of certain other
Ruins
at a little distance from us, which we found to be no more than a
Continuance
of the
Wall,
we had before been looking on.
Three Monuments, or Tomb-Stones.
BUT, while we eagerly examin'd every Part, we both took notice of a great disorder'd heap of
Stones,
near which there stood three things like
Tomb-Stones,
and upon approach we found 'em to be really such, at least design'd to represent them; they were two Yards long, and four Foot broad, of common Stone rais'd near two Foot in heighth, and cover'd with three fine flat Marbles, which by the
Inscriptions
on 'em, seem'd to have been done in
Christendom,
to gratifie the Humour of some curious Person, willing to amuse
Posterity,
when they shou'd find such
Tombs
in such a Place, and never know which way they came to be there.
BY the Workmanship and the decay'd Condition of the Monuments, we judg'd 'em not the Children of the present Age, if possibly the last was old enough to Father them; with much ado, upon the first we came to, we cou'd read the following
Epitaph,
which I presently remembred to have met with in
Ausonius,
on the Death of
Hector.
An Epitaph found upon the Tomb of
Hector.
Hectoris
hic Tumulus, cum quo
sua Troja
sepulta est,
Conduntur
pariter, qui
periêre
simul.
This is brave
Hector
's Tomb,
With whom his
Troy
found
Grave,
One Fate
did
Both
consume,
Both
one
Sepulchre
have.
The Tomb of King
Priamus.
A little farther stood the second
Tomb,
which was
it seems,
design'd to represent the Monument of
Priamus,
the
Epitaph,
which like the first and third is borrow'd from
Ausonius,
seems to speak a Royal Mourner, and Paternal Sorrow.
Qui Tumulum
Priami
quaerit, legat
Hectoris
ante,
Ille meus, nato quem prius ipse dedi.
Hectoris
&
Patris
simul est commune Sepulchrum,
Amborum quoniam juncta ruina fuit.
His Epitaph.
He, who inquires for
Priam
's Grave,
Shou'd first on
Hector
's look,
That's mine, the Tomb to him I gave,
For my own Use I took.
One common Sepulchre must hold,
The Father and the Son,
Because at once to Ruin sold,
They jointly were undone.
The Tomb of
Hecuba.
THE third, a little shorter than the former two, contains an
Epitaph
upon afflicted Majesty, in the known Name of
Hecuba,
the wretched
Wife
and
Mother
of the late-nam'd
Priamus
and
Hector.
Quae Regina fui: quae claro nata Dymante;
Quae
Priami
Conjux:
Hectora
quae genui:
Hic
Hecuba
injectis perii superobruta saxis:
Sed rabie linguae me tamen ulta prius.
Fidite ne Regnis, & Prole, & stirpe Parentum,
Quicunque hoc nostrum
legitis.
Her Epitaph.
I, who was Queen, who was the Daughter too
Of
Dymas,
whose bright Glories all Men knew;
I, who was
Priam
's Wife, who first gave Birth
To
Hector,
whose Great Actions shook the Earth;
I,
Hecuba,
fell here, o'erwhelm'd with
Stones,
But Curses, e'er I fell, reveng'd my batter'd Bones;
Who e'er you are, who shall hereafter see
This
Dogs Sepulchre,
which now serves for me,
Learn to depend on neither Sons, Race, State,
Or any other slipp'ry Gifts of Fate,
For what am I, now Dead? Tho' Living, more than Great?
THESE are the
most,
and I may say, the
only
Things worth Observation there, tho' they deserv'd the Notice of a Traveller, and I am therefore much surpriz'd that
none
have mention'd them, at least no Countryman of mine; I have been told, how true I know not, that a
French Book,
publish'd very many Years ago, and call'd,
L' Historie d' Asia,
A rare
French
Book.
mentions these particulars; The Book I never met with, but am apt to think, that, since they only have the Notion, it was one of their own Countrymen, who found the
ruinated Wall
and added the three
Tombs,
I have so lately spoke of.
YET 'tis a certainty beyond dispute, that
Englishmen
have landed
there
; at least one Countryman of ours, has left behind him a convincing Argument of his Arrival in those Parts, for underneath the Marble Flat, which covers
Hector
's Tomb, we found these Lines, upon the side of a smooth Stone, they seem'd to have been carv'd with difficulty by a Knife, and spoke their Author a Salt Water Poet.
A piece of Poetry, made at
Troy
by an
English
Sailor, in the Year 1631.
I do suppose that here stood
Troy,
My Name it is
William
a jolly Boy,
My other Name it is
Hudson,
and so,
God Bless the
Sailors,
where ever they do go.
I was here in the Year of our Lord 1631, and was
Bound to
Old England,
God Bless her.
WE staid
some Hours
with a wonderful delight, and gaz'd about the Country with a satisfaction equal to our Curiosity, but finding nothing more to entertain our Observation, we began to think of getting back, and so return'd the way we came; we were not well on board before the Wind came fair, and we set Sail immediately.
The Island of
Tenedos.
WE pass'd by
Tenedos,
an Island celebrated for having hid the
Graecian
Navy from the
Trojan
View, while they, believing the Besiegers gone, took in the Horse, which enter'd
big with their Destruction.
The Place is now not worth a Strangers notice, but upon account of the above-nam'd Story. Few Inhabitants are found upon it, and those few the worst and meanest of the Countries thereabouts, so strangely subject is the Fate of Nations to the common Changes, and Uncertainties of frail Mortality.
CHAP. XXVII. Of the Islands in the
Aegean
Sea.
The Islands of
the Archipelago,
famous anciently.
THE many Great and Little Islands, which compose the
Archipelago,
have been (at least most of them) so extreamly famous for peculiar Attributes, appropriated to 'em in the memorable Works of ancient
Poets,
that I cannot pass 'em by, without a transient View of such, as most deserve our mention; some there are so very small, as never yet to have been honour'd with a Name, and many of the largest, being sometimes seen and sometimes not, in Sailing from
Constantinople
to the Coast of
Egypt,
I will only speak of such, as Mariners (oblig'd sometimes to shift their Course by adverse Weather) may by
Choice
or
Force
go nigh to touch at.
The Names of the most considerable.
AND those are
Lemnos, Chios, Metelyn
and
Samos, Icaria, Patmos, Zea, Rhodes
and
Coos
; sometimes a Ship is driven more
Westerly,
and Sails by
Delos,
pretty near the Continent, sees
Thebes,
and
Delphos, Athens, Corinth,
and the famous
Creto,
now
Candy
; every one of these above-nam'd Places I will therefore treat of, that the Reader may conceive a just Idea of the wondrous difference between their
Modern
and their
Ancient Circumstances.
How it came to be call'd the
Aegean
Sea.
BUT e'er I come to the particular Description of these several Places, 'twill not be a miss to speak a Word or two in Explanation of the Sea in general, call'd
Aegean
from
Aegeus,
Father to the famous
Theseus,
who leap'd headlong thereinto, believing that the Ship, which brought his Son from Fighting with the
Monster Minotaurus,
was return'd with the account of his Miscarriage; the abovenam'd
Theseus
having fail'd in his Promise of converting his black Sails into white, if he came back Victorious.
Its Extent
IT is a Part or Arm, and that the largest, of the
Mediterranean
; it reaches to the Entrance of the very
Hellespont,
dividing
Greece
from
Asia Minor
; 'tis a dangerous Place to
Sail in,
but especially by Night, the
Islands
lying so extreamly close, that oftentimes a Ship is driven forcibly upon a Rocky Shore in open Day by Stress of Weather.
Lemnos
and its Product,
Terra Sigillata.
NOW let us visit
Lemnos,
a considerable
Island,
not so much for its extent of magnitude as the unthought Advantages, accruing to the
Turks,
it's present Masters, from the yearly Exportation of a valuable Earth, call'd
Terra Sigillata,
from the small Impression of a Seal, which marks the Balls, wherein 'tis sold, with
Turkish
Characters, and so prevents the danger of an Imposition on the Merchant.
IT was in ancient Times esteem'd of weighty Virtue in Medicinal Performances, and gather'd Yearly by the Priests of
Venus
with a thousand Ceremonies, and often mingled with the Blood of Goats, in order to be offer'd as a Sacrifice to that imaginary Goddess.
LEMNOS
was formerly of no small Note, for being taken notice of by
Homer,
as the Place, whereon the
Limping Vulcan
fell, when
Jupiter
thought fit to kick him out of Heaven.
Hom. Iliad.
1.
When once I dar'd oppose my Brother
Jove,
And Warr'd against him in the Realms above,
He snatch'd me by the
Foot,
then rais'd me high,
And hurl'd me headlong from the
Starry Sky
;
Downward all Day I tumbled, and begun
To draw near Earth at setting of the
Sun,
On
Lemnos
then I fell.
Chios,
and its Etymology.
NEXT,
Chios
claims our Observation, anciently receiving that Denomination from the
Greek
Word
, signifying
Snow,
because her Mountains frequently are cover'd with it, now her Name is chang'd to
Zio,
or, as some pronounce it,
Sio.
'Tis near an hundred thirty odd Miles in compass, lengthning from the
Southward
to the
Northern Point,
and subject to the
Turks,
who notwithstanding, suffer many
Greeks
to live among them, with far greater
Privileges
than they give to any of their
Countrymen
in other Places.
A description of the City, and Inhabitants.
THE Town of
Sio
is considerably large, and made convenient by a spacious Haven; the City is defended by a Castle of no little Strength, upon a Hill exceeding steep: The Buildings of the Town are very Neat, especially the Publick Ones, and the Inhabitants, I mean the
Greeks,
so very merry in their easy Slavery, that all night long a Stranger is diverted with their Songs and Dances, and their Instruments of Musick sounding briskly thro' the Streets: The Women, as esteem'd of old, are yet the Mistresses of admirable Beauties, fram'd by Nature for an amorous Conversation, and possessing sweetly the politest Marks, of gentle Affability: They frequently appoint a kind of
Balls,
and
Merry-makings,
which are given alternately from House to House, and spend their Days in all the
Gayety
of Wealth and Liberty.
The Manufactures of the Island.
THE Product of the Island is the finest Corn and Oyl, some Silks, and Cotton, and the best Sherbets, which can be made, by reason of the Excellence of a rich kind of
Honey,
found in
Mastick Trees:
I call them so, because the Gum of that Name is in great abundance brought from thence, and is a Distillation from the
Rind,
which being cut in
August,
still continues to emit great Quantities thereof, till the beginning of
October
following.
An old Tradition.
They have an
Old Traditional Account
that, when
Saint Theodore
was led to
Martyrdom,
he wept extreamly for the Blindness of the World, and every Place, which then was moisten'd by a
Tear
of his, now bears the Tree affording
Mastick
; tho' the
Tour,
he took, must have been very large, for all the
South Part
of the
Island
bears them in great abundance.
ARVIS
or
Amista,
a large Mountain, in the middle of the Country, still abounds in that rich
Wine,
so Celebrated formerly by
Virgil
in his
Eclogues,
then call'd
Arvisian,
now,
Il vino Amistano,
an
Italian Appellation.
Virg.
Ecl. 5.
Et multo in primis hilarans convivia Baccho,
Ante focum, si frigus erit; si messis, in umbrâ;
Vina Novum fundam calathis
Arvisia
Nectar.
When elevated with a lofty Joy,
Our Hours in
Bacchu's
Pleasures we employ;
If Cold,
by the kind Warmth of some bright Fire,
Or,
if 'tis Hot,
to shady Bow'rs retire;
Then with
gay Mirth
will we recruit our Souls,
And with
Arvisian Nectar
crown the
Bowls.
AND indeed the present Owners of the
Wine
agree with
Virgil
in the same Opinion.
Chios
challenges the Birth of
Homer.
AMONG the many Things for which the
Island Chios
is remarkable, she claims the Honour due to
Homer's Birth Place,
challenging a right to that Pretention from a thousand several Circumstances, and showing Travellers an ancient Monument, which they would fain perswade us to believe, was
Homer's Tomb
; they either are mistaken in their Claim, or the old
Distich
on that Subject, shou'd have mention'd
Chios
in the room of
Iös,
and have made the Verses run as follow.
The seven contending Cities for him.
IT wou'd be easy to Translate the Lines verbatim, and inform the unlearn'd Reader, that the
Towns,
contending for his Birth, were
Smyrna, Iös, Rhodes, Salamin, Athens, Argos,
and
Colophon
; but I have met with an admirable Thought in some
late English Poets Writings,
tho' I cannot say directly, who he was, and rather chuse to quote his Words, since they not only touch upon the present Subject, but will represent a very true and lively Image of the little Honour, Writers get, till past enjoying it.
Seven
Wealthy Towns contend for
Homer, Dead,
Thro' which, the
Living Homer
beg'd his Bread.
Mitylen,
or
Lesbos,
both those Names how given.
LESBOS
or
Mitylen,
another Island, next appears considerable in her Magnitude, near two hundred Miles in Circuit, not far distant from the
Phrygian Continent,
a very healthful Country, of a temperate Air, and Soil Productive of the finest Corn in
Christendom.
The Island takes its Name of
Lesbos
from the Adventurer
Lesbus,
Son of old
Sapithus,
who was sent by the directions of the
Oracle. Mitylen,
from
Mitylene
the Sister to
Methymna,
Daughter of
Macarius,
and the Wife of the above-nam'd
Lesbus.
The Town of
Mitylen.
THE City
Mitylen
upon a small
Peninsula,
the Capital of all the Island, likewise claims from hence her Etymology. Her Buildings are magnificently fine and beautiful, her Situation high and stately, and the brisk Inhabitants of this delightful Country, gay, and honest in their Poverty, like those of
Chios,
and like them now subject to the
Turkish
Government, which here maintains a constant Fleet of well appointed Gallies, to secure the Islands thereabouts belonging to the
Sultan,
from the daring Squadrons of the bold
Maltese,
or
Florentine
Adventurers.
The Vertue of the
Lesbian
Wines.
THE Wine of
Lesbos
is at present look'd upon exceeding good, and boasting one convenient Property beyond most other sorts, for let a Man Debauch as much as possible with an Excess thereof, it never hurts him, nor is troubled with those heady
Qualities,
which
Graecian Wines
are generally subject to.
IF you'll allow the Tast of
Horace
to have been polite, and he methinks shou'd know its Relish, who so admirably well describes its
Vertues,
you may see his Thoughts upon the matter.
Hor. L.
1.
Ode
17.
Hic innocentis pocula Lesbii
Duces sub umbra; Nec Semeleius
Cum marte confundet Thyoneus
Praelia.
Here, under some thick Shade,
By meeting Branches made,
Shall you, while no Sun Beams upon you shine,
Drink Cups of harmless
Lesbian
Wine;
Nor shall
Thyonian Bacchus
tempt your Rage,
To rise to Disoord, or with
Mars
engage.
Spirits, or frightful Apparitions on the Coasts.
THEY have a Notion, that in some few Harbours of this Island, frightful
Apparitions
flutter dreadfully about a Ship all Night, that dismal Shrieks are often heard, and I have been inform'd by many, that they cou'd not Sleep without the trouble of the most tremenduous and amazing Dreams imaginable: This last Assertion is a certain Truth, but I am rather apt to think the matter an effect of the unwholsome Vapours rising from the Sea, or Lakes about it near those Harbours.
The Island
Samos.
AND now we come to
Samos,
not considerable in its self, but on Account of a Commodity
thence
brought in very large and frequent Quantities.
A Dangerous Tempest forc'd
our Ship
to seek a
Shelter
in a certain
Creek
upon the
Southward
of this
Island,
where we Anchor'd pretty safely, and were drawn by the delightful Prospect of the
Shore
to
Land
upon it,
about Six in Company.
A pleasant Accident.
WE left the Boat, which brought us from the Ship, within a little
Nook
or
Bay,
nigh
Land, lock'd
by the
High
and
Rocky Ground
about it, and were Walking on the Shore in order to ascend the Country, when we Spy'd upon the
Water-side
a thing, which at a distance look'd not much unlike a
Washing-Tub.
WE Walk'd directly to it, and perceiv'd it was a
Vessel
of a very small and Incapacious Hollow, full of
Oyl,
in which were Swimming up and down near Twenty little
Engines,
which upon Examination, we discover'd to be
Sponges,
each containing upon either side, a little piece of
Cork,
which being fastned to the middle, kept the
Sponge
it self afloat, and only suffer'd half to move in, or imbibe the
Oyl
within the
Vessel.
WE were Busied a considerable time in looking on these things, and wondring what shou'd be their use in so remote a Place, from any
Town,
as that appear'd, whereon we found 'em, but at last resolv'd to sit us down upon the
Sand,
and wait the coming of an owner to the
Vessel,
for we thought it Probable there was one, and believ'd he cou'd not long be absent.
BUT, while we Talk'd to one another of the Wondrous Smoothness of the Waters in the
Bay,
while those without were Ruffled by the Storm, and cast our Eyes upon their stillness,
A Strange surprize.
we were all surpriz'd to see a thing not much unlike a
Basket,
pop with force above the
Surface,
and continue Moving up and down a little Space; then up there started something like a Man, who shook his Head, rub'd clear his Eyes, and Swam directly inwards to the Place we sate on, pushing in the
Basket
just before him.
THIS Second Figure really startled us beyond the First, and brought to our remembrance an
Idea
of the
Sea God Neptune,
for we hardly cou'd believe him
Mortal,
who had risen from the Water, by whose side we had been sitting nigh ten Minutes.
THE Man, for such he prov'd to be, no sooner saw us, but he seem'd a little Shy of Landing, till we beckon'd him, and call'd as kindly as we could, and so perswaded him to come ashore, and bring the
Basket
with him. He had left his Cloathes, and other things behind the
Rock
not ten Yards from us, and immediately ran thither for them;
A Diving
Basket.
in the mean time we approach'd his
Basket,
found it quite bound round with
Cork,
and cover'd with a
Canvass,
in the midst whereof appear'd a Slit, thro which we put our hands, and drew out
Sponges
of a surprizing Bigness.
THE Man return'd as soon as dress'd, and finding us more civil than he had expected, told us in a kind of
Lingua Franca,
that those
Sponges
grew on
Rocks,
Ten, Fifteen, sometimes Twenty Fathom deep; that there were many Hundred
Divers
in the
Island,
some of whom had left him just before, who got their
Livelyhoods
like him, by gathering
Sponges.
A curious Diving project.
THEN he shew'd us how they were enabled to perform it, in the following manner. Half the
Sponge,
as I have said, is soak'd in
Oyl,
the other half is dip'd before in certain
Stiptic Waters,
to prevent the
Oyl
from Penetrating farther than it ought to go, when so prepar'd, they take the
Sponge,
and thrusting it within their Mouths, the
Oyl'd
part outward (but of that, almost an Inch within the Lips) they press their Teeth a little hard upon it, and by that means force the
Oyly Sponge
to close the Entrance of their Mouths against the
Water.
How the Sponges are gather'd.
THUS they
Dive,
and with a little difficulty in a
Streighten'd Suction
make a Shift to tarry under
Water
a considerable time. They sink the
Baskets
by the help of
Stones,
which they contrive to fasten at the
Bottom,
and with
Instruments,
they carry down on purpose, cut the
Sponges
from the sides of
Rocks,
till having fill'd the
Baskets,
they take off the Weights, and then they rise with ease, by reason of the
Cork
about them.
How long they tarry under Water.
BY constant Practice many of these
Divers
are arriv'd at such Perfection in the Art, that they can tarry under Water till the Oyl corrupts, which it will always do in less than two hours time. There is a Law among the
Divers
of this Island, that no Man shall be allow'd to Marry, till he can demonstrate by a Tryal, he is qualify'd to Dive for one continued quarter of an Hour: The Novelty engag'd us all to make experiment, and I, who more than most Men, was averse to
Diving,
did without great difficulty keep my Head two Minutes under Water: But the Secret of the
Stiptic Preparation
he refus'd to teach us, tho' we wou'd have gladly brib'd him to it.
SAMOS
boasts no other Trade than this of
Sponges,
which is yet so profitable, that they Yearly send away vast Ship Loads of them, and grow Rich thereby, beyond the Emulation of their less Industrious, or less Skillful Neighbours.
Why
Juno
is said to have been born at
Samos.
THE constant clearness of the Air in
Samos,
gave occasion to the
Poets
of Antiquity to feign that
Juno,
taken allegorically for that Element, was Born upon this Island, and the excellent
Pythagoras
adorn'd the Country with the Honour due to the respected
Birth-place
of so Great a Man: They also still pretend to shew the
Rock,
whence
Aesop
was thrown headlong, and a
Cave,
where in the Reign of
Numa Pompilius, Heriphile
a Sibyl prophesy'd of Christ.
Description of the Island
Icaria.
ICARIA
now
Niceria,
is a small and inconsiderable Island. Creeks it has, but no commodious Haven, bearing Corn in great abundance, but possessing very few Inhabitants; and famous for the
Fornoli,
a ridge of sharp and dangerous Rocks, much fear'd by Sailors in a Foggy Night: It's ancient Name, the Poets feign'd to have been given it, together with the Sea it lies in, from the fictious Fall of
Icarus,
attempting to have flown with artificial Wings, of which thus
Ovid
in his
Metamorphoses.
Ovid. Met.
8.
Oraque caeruleâ patrium clamantia nomen
Excipiuntur aquâ; quae nomen traxit ab illo.
He fell, and on his Father call'd in vain,
For as he sunk in the relentless Main,
Sky-colour'd Waters stop'd his eager Breath,
And took the Name they bear, from his untimely Death.
AND in another Place.
Icarus Icariis nomina fecit Aquis.
Th'
Icarian Sea
from
Icarus
took Name.
THAT the Island took its Name from the same Accident, appears from
Daedalus
's burying his Son upon it, thus describ'd by the same Poet, in the Book abovenam'd.
Devovitque suas artes, corpusque Sepulcro
Condidit; & tellus à nomine dicta sepulti.
He curs'd those Arts, which drew his Ruin on,
And built a Tomb upon his breathless Son,
From whose unhappy Fate, well known to Fame,
The Ground, wherein he lay receiv'd its Name.
Description of the Island
Patmos.
PATMOS
is an Island, very small and full of Rocks, extreamly Barren, not affording even the common Necessaries for support of human Life, which therefore the Inhabitants supply themselves withall from other Islands of the
Archipelago.
The Land is Mountainous, and has no more than one small City, which Equips a Fleet of Trading Vessels to Import Conveniencies from Foreign Parts; the ancient Name is chang'd at present to
Palmosa.
THIS Place is famous for the Character it has of being the Seat, St.
John
made Choice of, while he Pen'd his
Revelations
;
A Monastery on a Hill.
and upon a Mountain in the
Northern
Parts, there stands a Monastery of the
Graecian Coloiero's,
who profess that Saint their Patron, and pretend to shew some Reliques to inquiring Travellers.
THE Notice, which I had hereof, oblig'd me to the hopes of seeing
Patmos,
and a Tempest was so favourable to my Wishes, that we anchor'd in a Haven not far distant from the Monastery; and the Opportunity inviting me a Shore, I landed with design to Walk and Visit it.
THE
Northern
side of
Patmos
is but very thinly Peopled, and as I was destitute thereby, of any means to get a
Guide,
so, either want of Curiosity, or Indisposition by the roughness of the Storm, disswaded those on board our Vessel from consenting to go with me.
The Author lands at
Patmos.
HOWEVER, since the Road appear'd but short, and seemingly conspicuous, I resolv'd to undertake the Visit single, so I landed with a pair of Pistols and a Scymetar, and cross'd a little kind of Plain, which brought me to the bottom of a Hill, on which the Monastery had its Situation.
THE Hill was overgrown with a large Wood, thro' which appear'd no other Passage than a small Foot Path, and that not beaten, but a very unfrequented way, which led me thro' an hundred several turnings to Ascents extreamly steep, and intricate as Labyrinths.
Loses his way in a Wood.
I came at last, where I perceiv'd the Wood grow thinner, and cou'd see a pretty way before me; there I stop'd, and looking up, discover'd on the Brow of an impending Precipice a little Hut, or Cave, which seem'd the Habitation of some melancholy
Hermit,
or unhappy Lover, like the Swains of ancient Times, who, being baffled in their Hopes, forsook the World for some forlorn and solitary Wilderness, to spend the remnant of their silent Days in Grief for their Misfortunes.
Discovers a Cave.
SURPRIZ'D at first, by the Romantic Air of this low Cave, I stood a while, to think if it were safe to venture forward, since it was a probable belief, that some wild Beast had chose that Den for the rough Scene of his Retirement; but that groundless Apprehension vanish'd instantly, for while I yet continued in suspense, methoughts I cou'd discover plainly something like a Door, that stood a jarr, and consequently rendred it a Place improper for a Salvage Mansion.
I advanc'd with equal Doubt and Curiosity, till, having gain'd the summit of the Precipice, I found it was a Cell, the Door of which stood half way open, and contain'd upon its smooth outside, a piece of course, and half-lost Painting, with the following
Latin
Sentence in a homely Character.
With an Inscription on the Door.
Hic, & in Coelo Quies.
Here,
and in
Heaven
is
Rest.
THE softness of this first Discovery invited me to make a Step beyond it, so that with a gentle Force I push'd the Door quite open, and was all amaz'd, when I perceiv'd the inside of the Cell as still as Possible; no Ornament appear'd to set it off, but just against the Entrance burnt a Lamp, on either side a little Altar, and the weak and broken Light, which they afforded, faintly striking thro' the dullness of the Place,
Finds a Man in a black Coffin.
discover'd in the midst, a large black Coffin, fill'd with something not to be distinguish'd, but as black, and dismal in its first appearance, as the Coffin it was laid in.
NOTHING (I then thought) cou'd add to my surprize, which yet was doubled, when there rose, with a deliberate Silence from within the Coffin, something like a Man, or rather Spirit, who no sooner sate upright, than looking on me with a frightful Aspect, he pronounc'd these Words in a low Voice,
Who invites him into the Place.
Che sei, se un Christiano, ben-venuto.
Who are you? If a
Christian,
you are welcome.
BY the Language of his Salutation I perceiv'd him an
Italian,
and the trembling of his Limbs perswaded me to think, that the appearance of my Scymetar and Pistols had as much surpriz'd him, as he had me. I therefore took immediate care to undeceive him in the apprehension he had fram'd, that I was some arm'd Robber, and inform'd him that I was a
Briton,
Travelling the World, and thrown by Chance upon that Island, where I landed with design to Visit the
Greek
Monastery.
THE old Man seem'd transported with the News, made shift to rise, and led me to a Seat, hewn roughly from the Rock within the Cell; he laid his Hands upon my Head, pronounc'd a grave and honest Blessing, and proceeded modestly to take the liberty of asking some few Questions, which I willingly oblig'd him with as ready Answers to.
Which proves to be a Hermits Cell.
HE then abandon'd all the Coyness of his first deportment, and inform'd me, he had liv'd a Hermit's Life in that poor Cell nigh two and thirty Years together, that he frequently was visited by the Fryars of the Monastery not far distant, that they sometimes brought him Meat and Wine, which he consented
now and then
to take for the support of Nature, tho' he rather chose to live on Roots and clear Spring Water; that he always Slept in that black Coffin, never to be absent from a strong
Memento
of his frail Mortality; that he was born (I think) at
Zant,
and nam'd
Antonio, Giacomo Malaviso.
A Chappel in the Wood.
I purposely omit some Hours Discourse, I had with this old Hermit, because digressive from the Cause for which I mention him, and only will inform my Reader, that he wou'd accompany me to a small Chappel in the Wood, at no great distance from his Cell, built over the Stone Cave. wherein St.
John
is said to have resided, while he Writ his famous Book of
Revelations.
HE left me there, first recommending me to the Civilities of certain Priests, who kept the Chappel: They receiv'd and treated me with wonderful Respect, and having talk'd away an Hour in Questioning each other, as we thought convenient, they proceeded to unlock a private Door, which open'd from a corner of the Chappel to a very dark and narrow Passage.
The Cave, wherein St.
John
is said to have Writt his Revelations.
WE Descended some few steps, and having Walk'd about six paces farther, came upon a sudden to a very large and lightsome Cave, the Light was introduc'd by very Artificial Hollows, from the Surface through the Rock, and in the midst of one of the Four Squares, which form'd the Cell, was cut a Seat, exactly like the
Niches
made for Statues in
Cathedral Churches.
JUST before this
Niche,
there stands a solid Rocky Table, of about a yard Square, and here they wou'd perswade us to beleive, the
Saint
was seated at his daily Studies.
Reliques in the Cave.
To confirm me in belief of this Opinion, they made long Harangues of those Authentic proofs, which justified Tradition, and desir'd that I would take particular and serious Notice of a kind of round Impression on the
Area,
or
Superficies
of the Table, which they say was caus'd by the Perpetual standing of the Brazen Vessel, which contain'd his Ink, and on the Floor, they show'd me several little Marks like Spots of
Black,
which they assur'd me, were the Drops, occasion'd by the Shaking of the Pen, wherewith the
Saint
was us'd to Write the Dictates of his holy Inspiration.
The Monastery of
St. John.
WITH these obliging Priests I visited the
Monastery,
and was there receiv'd as civilly as I coud possibly have found an Entertainment in the House of an Acquaintance or Relation, every thing was Neat, and Plentiful without Extravagance, becoming the Decorum of Religious Livers, yet not void of Relish, Form, or Delicacy.
A Miracle of
St. John
's Hand.
AMONG the many Reliques they delight to boast of, and communicate to Travellers, they shew'd me a large bony Hand, which seem'd to be a Mans, Cut off not far above the Wrist; the Bones were dry, and full of little Holes, as if Worm-eaten, yet there seem'd to sprout at all the Fingers Ends a little sign of something, which the
Fryars
told us were the Nails of the late-nam'd
St. John.
HOW they came by
St. John
's Right Hand, they cou'd not tell me, but attested that on every Second Sunday of the Month, the Nails were Cut, as close as possible, and that they always grew again. They brought me a large Silver Box, wherein the
Parings
of these Nails were safely kept, as sacred Reliques, never to be us'd,
The Virtue of his Nails.
but when some Father of their order was extreamly Sick, and then, they said, a few of those, thrown piously upon a Fire, and the Smoke thereof ascending at his Nostrils, are a very quick, and never-failing Remedy, provided the Sick Man's appointed Hour of Death prevents not his Recovery.
Description of the Island
Zea.
FROM
Patmos
let us look on
Zea,
a small Island of about Twelve Miles in Compass, Hilly and extreamly full of Woods, productive of a large and fat'ning Acorn, of such noted goodness, and of such abundance in this Island, that the few Inhabitants upon it, who are generally
Greeks,
(but subject to the
Turks Authority
) enrich themselves considerably by exporting Yearly, great Shiploads to other Islands, and some Places on the Continent.
Asses excellent at Climbing.
BUT what is most worth Notice here, is the prodigious Usefullness of certain
Asses,
which the Natives Saddle, and upon their Backs (so well do those poor Creatures Climb) can Travel over Rocks and Craggy Precipices, so extremely Steep and Rugged, that a Man on Foot wou'd find himself put to it, to ascend without Assistance.
THE Island boasts one little Town, but that entirely void of stately Buildings, or indeed the Poorest Ornaments of common decency, for not a Door in all the Place is Four Foot High, but People almost Creep, who are oblig'd to enter them; and this they do, because the
Turks,
who often come to buy or plunder Asses in this Island, wou'd if possible, make Stables of their very Houses.
A description of the Island
Rhodes.
RHODES
is an Island famous now, as it has ever been, for all the Blessings, liberal Nature can bestow upon a Country; in ancient Times her valiant People were the Envy, but withall the Wonder of their Neighbours, Skill'd in every
Science, Grace,
and
Vertue
; the temperate Air, convenient Harbours, fertil Pastures, and unnumber'd Benefits, she justly boasted of, were admirable and peculiar, and the Sun so constantly was known to shine upon this Country, that
Clara Rhodia, Rhodes the Bright,
distinguish'd her among the Ancients, for that glorious Blessing.
Famous for two Things.
TWO things of old, she was particularly famous for,
The first Discovery and Planting of the Vine,
and that
stupendious Fabrick
the
Colossus,
striding on the Sea, from Rock to Rock, that Ships might Sail with ease between the Legs, and when thrown down, the very Brass, whereof 'twas form'd, was found enough to load almost a thousand
Camels.
ABOUT the Year of Christ 1308,
Emanuel, Emperor of Greece,
bestow'd this Island on the
Noble Knights of St. John de Acre,
just then beaten from their last
Asylum
in the
Holy-Land
;
When Conquer'd by the
Turks.
in their Possession it remain'd till the Year 1552, when
Sultan Solyman,
the
Turkish Emperor,
became its Master at a bloody Price, and the surviving Remnant of its
brave Defenders
were by Treaty suffer'd to remove to
Malta.
IN the Possession of the
Turks
it still remains, well Fortify'd, and strictly Guarded, and has often, since its Loss, prov'd fatal to the
Christians
intercepted
Navigation,
justly punishing their base neglect in the implor'd dispatch of timely Succours, censur'd sharply in the following Lines by
Scaliger.
A Reproof of
Scaliger,
to the
Christians
Negligence.
Clara Rhodos, sed clara olim; nunc horrida nimbis;
Obnubuit nitidum dira procella caput.
Ah dolor! ah mors! ah aliquid morte, atque dolore
Durius, aut etiam tertius esse potest:
Stertitis? & ferus amenti lupus optima carpit?
O jam sit jam aliquis
velle perire
pudor.
Bright
Rhodes,
but bright
of old,
dark-clouded
now,
A dreadful
Tempest
shades thy shining Brow;
Oh
Grief!
oh
Death!
oh! something worse than
Both!
Or than that worst ev'n worse, oh shameful
Sloth!
Sloth!
that with
Slumber
did your Eyes betray,
While the
fierce Wolf
snatch'd your best
Prize
away;
O, this base Shame, if any, sure will stain,
Not only to be ty'd, but ev'n invite your
Chain!
Description of
Coos.
COOS
or
Longo,
is a little Island, plain and pleasant in its Situation, jointly Peopled by the
Turks
and
Graecians,
full of admirable Springs and Rivolets, abounding greatly with a noble
Wine,
fine
Cypress Trees
and
Turpentine,
with many rich and usefull
Druggs,
exported thence to almost every part of
Christendom.
But what this Island is most famous for, is, that it was the
Birth-place
of the great
Hippocrates,
that Sacred
Demy-God
of
Physick,
and Improver of a
Science
so extreamly Usefull to
Mankind in general.
Description of
Delos.
DELOS,
now call'd
Diles,
is an Island, all encompass'd by a Ring of Rocks and lies conveniently, directly in the Passage between
Greece
and
Asia
: 'Twas famous anciently for the Great
Oracle
and
Temple
of
Apollo,
and receiv'd its Name of
From
, signifying Clear.
Delos
from the clear and pertinent
Responses, Querists
met with to their
Questions
of all kinds whatsoever; hence
Apollo
oftentimes was Worship'd by the Name of
Delius.
The Ruins of
Apollo
's Temple.
THE Island now is
Ʋ ninhabited,
but well deserves a Strangers View, for there remain the
Ruins
of
Apollo's Temple,
still Majestical, and full of Grandeur, many stately Marble Pillars lie neglected in the Heaps of Rubbish, and a very precious kind of Stone is sometimes brought away, to many Parts of
Italy.
UPON the Death of
Christ,
the
Oracles
grew silent, and from thenceforth
Delos
lost her Honour, and has never been frequented since that time. We read in
Plutarch
a remarkable Relation of an Accident, which happen'd to the Knowledge of one
Epitherses,
who was formerly his
Tutor,
in the Reign of
Tiberius Emperor of Rome,
the Story is as follows.
A Story from
Plutarch.
BETWEEN
Corcyra
and
Leucadia,
lay the
Paxe,
two small Islands' where this
Epitherses,
Sailing for the Coast of
Italy,
was suddenly becalm'd; and while the
Passengers,
uneasy at the slowness of their Voyage, walk'd upon the
Deck,
a
frightful, shrill,
and
mournful Voice
alarm'd 'em from the Shore, distinctly calling
Thamus, Thamus, Thamus.
A Voice from an unknown Shore.
THAMƲ S
was a
Pylot,
then upon the Poop, one born in
Egypt,
who was silent with amazement till the
Call
was thrice aloud repeated; then he answer'd faintly, and demanded, why he summon'd him? The
Voice
reply'd, As soon as thou art come to the
Palodes,
let it be Proclaim'd aloud, that
Pan,
Great
Pan
is Dead.
A sudden Horror seiz'd the Company, to hear this strange and unexpected Salutation; presently the Wind came fair, and as the Ship drew near the Place abovenam'd,
Thamus,
as he was desir'd, stood high upon the Poop, and with an elevated Voice, cry'd,
Pan is Dead,
when in a Moment, all the Air was torn with Groanings, and a mix'd Confusion of
complaining Accents,
so extreamly dismal, that it cannot be imagin'd.
CAESAR,
hearing this
Report,
commanded
Thamus
to be brought before him, who attested it with the concurring Evidences of the
Sailors
then on board.
The Cessation of Oracles.
Great
Pan
was
Christ,
the Universal
Shepherd,
and his Death had bound the
Devil's Power,
no longer suff'ring his delusive
Oracles
to impose upon Mankind; they therefore upon hearing this unwelcome News, bewail'd their Miseries with the abovenam'd Lamentations.
SOMETIMES it happens, that you Sail along the
Continent,
and see the ancient, venerable
Thebes,
renown'd of old, for admirable Vertues, Skill'd politely in all Arts and Sciences, Mistress of the Rules of War and Policy; a Government, made famous by the wonderfull Successes of a Race of
Heroes,
but particularly Glorious in the never dying Memory of Brave
Epaminondas,
who was yet ungratefully Rewarded for his Matchless Actions, and neglected rather than encourag'd by the Factions of his Country; a very ancient Vice, and still, I fear, too fashionable in the Modern World. I wish it were not in my Power to quote Examples.
Thebes
as She now is.
THEBES
is now entirely subject to the
Turkish Government,
and groans beneath a weighty Burthen of
Oppressive Tyranny
; some stately
Ruins
of
Antiquity
may still be seen, and feast the Eye with wonderful Delight, while with a melancholy
Contemplation
of the short continuance of vain
Magnificence
they entertain the
Ʋ nderstanding.
Delphos,
as at present.
DELPHOS,
memorably noted for a thousand Causes, humbly rears her
miserable Head,
as if, rememb'ring former Splendour, she reflected mournfully upon her present
Fall,
and blush'd to be discover'd in her
chang'd Condition:
The
Mountain of Parnassus
now no more pretends to boast the
Muses Residence,
the lofty
Songs
of ancient
Poets
are forgotten on the now-neglected Streams of
Helicon,
and the delightfull
Harmonies
once celebrated there, are now converted into
Howlings
of strange Salvage Beasts, and
Brayings
of
Wild Asses.
Athens,
describ'd.
ATHENS
still may call her self a
City,
but can only do it as the
Skeleton
of some
Dead Man
continues long to represent the Shape of
human Body
; for her ancient
Temples
are defac'd and buryed, even beyond the Knowledge of the
very Ground
they stood upon; her exemplary Forms of
Government,
and
Order,
ruin'd, and demolish'd by the arrogance of
Infidels,
more arbitrary and unjust, than all the Tyrants she oppos'd in former Ages: No longer now do the judicious Laws of the incomparable
Solon
sway her Natives; Bribery prevails, and
Justice
yields her Balance to the
Rapine
of an
uncontroul'd
and
barbarous
Authority.
BUT, notwithstanding the Destruction of her valuable
Liberty,
she still retains her ancient
Plenty,
constantly affording all the
Delicacies,
require to be obtain'd by even such, as wou'd encourage
Pride
and pamper
Luxury.
Corinth,
and her Product.
CORINTH,
situated on that narrow
Neck of Land,
which joins
Moreae
to the
undivided Continent,
is only famous for her
Mines of Brass,
in great esteem among the
Romans,
and affording still the finest
Metal
in the
World,
but that in small, and inconsiderable Quantities.
Description of
Crete,
or
Candy.
CRETE,
or
Candy,
as at present call'd, was taken by the
Turks
from the Possession of the brave
Venetians,
who defended it some Years against a
constant Siege,
and made the Place a
bloody Purchase
to the
Turkish Army:
It is an Island, very
large,
its
Capital
containing stately Houses, and defended by a
regular
and
modern Work,
of admirable
Strength
and
Artifice.
Provisions
here
are very Plentiful, and the
Inhabitants
exceeding Numerous; many
Harbours
of commodious form, and a capacious magnitude, invite the
Traffick
of the
Foreign Merchant
; and it is observable, that
Crete
is blest with a surprizing Property, which some have thought
peculiar
to the
Soil of Ireland,
for nothing
poysonous
is
bred therein,
nor can the
Reptiles
of another Country long survive their
Importation
thither.
Very subject to
Thunder.
'TWAS in this Island,
Jupiter
was born, and thinking, when I saw the Place, upon the fiction of the
Poets,
I observ'd with Pleasure, that the Judgment of the
Ancients
still mov'd regularly, for nothing cou'd have been more natural than representing
Jove
a
Native
of
this Island,
since there hardly passes
one whole Day
throughout the
Year,
wherein it does not
Thunder
with a mighty
Violence.
CHAP. XXVIII. Of
Alexandria
in
Egypt.
The Origin of
Alexandria.
NOW have I brought you into
Egypt
at the common
Landing Place,
the ancient
Alexandria,
so call'd from the successful
Macedonian,
who, desirous to perpetuate his Memory there, resolv'd to build a City, which he did, upon, or near the Place where now the
Modern Alexandria
has its Situation.
Its ancient State.
HE Peopled it with
Greeks,
and so amazingly adorn'd the
Streets
and
Houses
with the richest Gifts of Art and Nature, that 'twas long the celebrated
Paradise
of all the
East:
The Houses were supported upon
Marble Pillars,
and as much of them were hid below-ground as appear'd above. Unnumbred
Statues
of the nicest Workmanship adorn'd the Place, and every stately
Ornament
was purchas'd to compleat its Excellence.
How different from the Present.
BUT oh! How different from this does she appear at present? The Houses, which remain are low, all meanly built, and thinly Peopled, those excepted, which are situated on the Haven: The form is almost square, encompass'd round by double Walls, with many Turrets in the ancient way: These Walls are commonly believ'd the same, which
Ptolemy,
so many Ages since, commanded to be built for the Security of the then-valuable City.
Its Situation.
TIS seated in a very Barren Desart Country, and has no Allurement (Trade excepted) to invite Inhabitants.
The Castle of
Alexandria.
Upon the Entrance of the Haven, formerly the Island
Pharus,
now converted into Continent (so great a Change does
Time
produce in all weak sublunary Beings) stands a Castle, ill supplied with Water, or Conveniencies for long Defence: The Ordnance of the Walls salute all Ships upon their coming to an Anchor; for the Port of
Alexandria
is free for Traders, of all Nations whatsoever.
THIS
Pharus,
which is now a part of the Main Continent, was not only divided from it, in Times past, but, if we may believe the Affirmation of old
Homer,
was an Island situated at considerable distance.
Hom.
Odys.
L.
4.
'Midst stormy Seas there does an Island stand,
Which Men call
Pharus,
before
Egypt's Land
;
So far disjoin'd, that when the brisk Winds play
On a Ships Poop, the speedy Vessel may,
With swelling Sails, get thither in a Day.
THE Face of Nature has been strangely alter'd since the Days of
Homer,
and the only Reason Men can give for this Effect is, that it has been caus'd by gradual discharges of the Sand, brought down by
Nilus
in his Annual Overflows, and so thrown up in heaps between the Island and the Continent, till in the course of time, the Sea was banish'd, and the whole became firm Land as it remains at present.
The Ancient
Pharus,
or
Egyptian Light-House.
ONCE, the
Pharus
had a Bridge built from it, to the Shore of
Egypt,
and upon a very steep and rugged Promontory of the Island, stood the
Tower,
on which the Mighty
Philadelphus
Built his
Light-house,
which obtain'd the Honour to be Rank'd among the
Worlds Seven Wonders
; it took its Name of
Pharos
from the Place it stood in, and has given that old Denomination to all those Buildings, which are rais'd to hang out Lights for the Direction of such Ships, as else would Labour in a dangerous Darkness.
The Lake of
Maroeotis.
THERE is a Place, now call'd
Buc-hat-ra,
anciently the Lake of
Maroeotis,
Famous for its Depth and even incredible Extent, which took in Water at the Yearly Overflow, and by the means of Sluyces of amazing Fabrick, kept it in the whole Year round, supplying numerous Canals of Artificial Length, and Breadth beyond belief, on which the old
Egyptians
Mad with Luxury, continually delighted to Sail up and down, in Stately Barges, Gilt and Painted, full of amorous Men and Women, Brisk in Wantonness, and Sounding Musick as their Oars divided the complaining Waters, Singing, and enjoying all the loose and airy Pleasures of a
Juvenile Extravagance.
BUT those Canals are now, at least the greatest part, Dried up and lost, by ever-rolling heaps of Sand;
A Gloomy Labyrinth.
the Lake however, still remains, but quite depriv'd of all appearances of that stupendious Building, which consisted of an intricate and Artfull Labyrinth, that led by many Thousand Windings, Dark and Dismal, to the
Seven and Thirty Glorious Palaces,
appointed for the Meeting of the
Seven and Thirty
Jurisdictive Powers of that formidable Country, and at the End whereof we Read, that there stood once a Stately Square, and wonderfully vast, Fine
Marble Pyramid,
suppos'd to be the
Sepulchre
of
King Ismandes,
the Original Contriver of the Lake and Labyrinth, at least the Founder of the
Pyramid.
THERE is not any thing in
Alexandria
worth the mentioning, but some few venerable Reliques of Antiquity, which still proclaim with silent Eloquence, the once-aspiring and unrival'd Stateliness, which Crown'd this City with a Dazling Majesty.
The Tomb of
Alexander
the Great.
AND, First, they show the Tomb of that brave Monarch
Alexander the Great,
whose Body, taken from
Perdiccas
by Ambitious
Ptolemy,
was brought by him to
Egypt,
where, when he was kill'd by Soldiers in a Desart,
Alexander
's Body was by them convey'd to
Alexandria,
and lies entomb'd in a mean Chappel, visited, but rarely, by some Curious Travellers, and held in great esteem by the
Mahometans
themselves, who pay a two-fold veneration to his Memory, as a Mighty Warrior, and a Holy Prophet, for Tradition tells them, he was
both,
while Living.
Joseph
's Granaries.
ANOTHER Rarity, they shew most Strangers, is a very Lofty Pile of Buildings, all compos'd of solid Stone, but ruin'd much by natural decay, containing many large Apartments, strangely wild, and void of Regularity, some would perswade us to believe, that these were
Joseph
's
Granaries,
or Places, which he order'd to be Built within the Seven Years of Plenty, to preserve the Magazines of Corn, against the following Years of Famine, in those parts.
Cleopatra
's Palace.
UPON the rising of a Hill, which overlooks the Haven, stand the Ruins of a spacious and aspiring Structure, probably the Palace of the famous
Cleopatra,
whereof remain some Pillars yet entire, and some few Arches of polite Contrivance: They pretend to shew the Ruins of a private
Gallery,
thro' which that Queen receiv'd
Mark Anthony,
on his Return from the Defeat at
Actium.
Pharaoh
's Needle.
UPON the Place, where
Alexander
's Palace stood of old, remain two
Hieroglyphic Obelisks
of
Theban Marble,
one quite fallen, t'other standing, of considerable height, and vulgarly distinguish'd by the Name of
Pharaoh's Needle.
UPON a little spot of rising Ground, without the City Walls, and on the
South-West side,
there stands a
Column
of a Substance much like
Porphyry,
in height near seventy Foot, and five and twenty in circumference; it stands upon a
Cube
or
Pedestal,
far less in compass than the bottom of the
Pillar.
THE Conquering
Caesar
here erected this fine
Column
as a memorable
Trophy
of his
Victory
over
Pompey,
and left it to
Posterity,
as an ambitious
Monument
of his successfull
Conduct:
But to let Men see how vain are their Endeavours when oppos'd by
Heaven,
he lost his aim, and has instead of
Triumphing
o'er routed
Pompey,
given the
Vanquish'd
all the Honour, he
himself
aspir'd to gain from
future Ages
by the
Credit
of this
Victory
;
Pompey
's Pillar.
for now the
Christians
know the
Column
by no other Name than
Pompey's Pillar,
so that many thousands hear
him
nam'd, who never read, or dreamt of such a Man as
Caesar.
The Martyrdom of St.
Mark,
at
Alexandria.
TRAJAN
was Emperor of
Rome,
when they condemn'd St.
Mark
to suffer
Martyrdom
in
Alexandria,
where accordingly, they
burnt,
and
bury'd him
; his
Bones
were afterwards remov'd to
Venice
by the
Natives
of this
City,
who profess
that Saint
as
Patron
of their Country. There stands a
Chappel
now upon the Place, where once he lay Entomb'd, and near that
Chappel
is a House, in which resides the
Graecian Patriarch
of
Alexandria.
Ceremonies there to be observ'd by Strangers.
THUS much of
Alexandria,
scarce worth mentioning, but as it is the Place, all Travellers must land at, and pay
Custom
for the Goods, they bring; proceeding thence for
Cairo
or
Rosetta,
by the Virtue of a
Teskaree,
or
Passport
from the
Governor.
THE
Christian
Nations, such I mean as Trade, do here maintain their
Consuls
or
Subordinate Officers,
to manage the respective Int'rests of their
Countrys
;
The mix'd Inhabitants of
Alexandria.
and the few Inhabitants, residing
there,
are gather'd from all Nations
under Heaven, Jews, Indians, Copties, Turks
and
Graecians, Moors, Armenians, French, Italians, Zinganees,
and now and then an
Englishman:
There was, I think, an honest Gentleman or two, my
Countrymen,
when I was there, employ'd in managing the Business of our
Traffick,
but I staid not there so long as to become acquainted with their
Characters,
which I the less desir'd, because in Company with some
Italian
Gentlemen of an agreable and airy Disposition, who accompany'd me throughout the Country.
ONE thing I must observe, that, as they are a
mixture
of all Nations, so they commonly are found the
worst
of
each
; and I may very well apply a Word or two of
Juvenal
's to the Inhabitants of
Alexandria,
the rather too because it suits the Country as adaptly as the People.
Juv.
Sat. 13
Rari quippe boni, Numero vix sunt totidem, quot,
Thebarum Portae, vel divitis ostia Nili.
—
Vertue
is here so
Rare,
That
Men
exceed not, if you miss the
Vile,
The
Gates
of
Thebes,
or
Mouths
of
Fruitfull Nile.
CHAP. XXIX. Of
Aethiopia,
and the Source of the
Nile,
with the Cause, Manner, and Continuance, of its
Annual Inundation.
BEFORE I enter on the Subject of the Chapter, promis'd by the Heads abovemention'd, 'twill possibly, be needfull, I should say a Word or two, to undeceive such Gentlemen, as by the General Title, I have given my Book, may be induc'd to think, I meant to Write a full Description of the Present State of
Aethiopia
in regard to its Extent, Inhabitants, and Forms of Government, which, tho' perhaps my Opportunities enabled me to do more fully than most former Writers, yet it would require a length too tedious and digressive from my purpose to enlarge upon that Subject.
How far the Author Treats of
Aethiopia.
I only mean to speak so far of
Aethiopia,
as the Country interferes with my Discourse upon the
Source
and
Channel
of the
River Nilus,
as I have had occasion elsewhere in this Book, to mention the Religion of the
Persians,
Customs of the
Tartars,
and some other points relating to such Countries, as were widely distant from my purpose, and were therefore Treated of no farther than they had dependance
on,
or Interest
in
the
Turkish Empire.
A Discourse of
Aethiopia.
HOWEVER, that vast Tract of Land, distinguish'd
amongst Christians
by the Name of
Aethiopia,
is not as is commonly beleiv'd, commanded by the Arbitrary Nod of
one Great Monarch,
whom we vulgarly call
Presler John,
but by corruption of the Genuine Word, which is no more than
Prissir-Jan,
which in the Language of the Country, signifies
Renown'd
or
Mighty Emperor.
The Government of
Aethiopia.
TIS true, he is Possessor of the
Greatest share
of
Honour
and
Authority,
having more than Thirty
Tributary Princes
under his Command, whose
Reigns
are
Limited,
and
Power Created
by his undisputed will and Sovereign Pleasure; but there are Monarchs, wholly as Tyrannical and Absolute as
He. Nine several Kings
possess vast Territories,
free,
and
independant
on each others Government; and all these
Princes
so extreamly Jealous of their Neighbouring Equals, and so carefull to preserve their own
Prerogative,
that they permit no
Traffick
'twixt their Subjects, cautiously preventing with the strictest Prohibition, all Communication whatsoever, and condemning to
immediate Death
all Subjects of a
Foreign Prince,
they find amongst them.
How divided in their Interests,
AND as the
Int'rests
of these Princes are so widely separated, so are their
Professions of Religion
and
Morality:
Those under the Dominion of the late nam'd
Prissir Jan
are
Christians,
or at least usurp that Title; I say
usurp,
because unfortifi'd by
Truth
or
Learning,
they have grossly mingled sordid Remnants of their
old Idolatry
with the diviner Practices of
Christian Duty.
THEY first receiv'd the
Faith of Christ
by the industrious Labours of the
Aethiopian Eunuch, Philip's Convert,
and retain a
Dusky
and
Traditional
Account of the uncertain Circumstances of that famous Action, whereby they are misled to strange Opinions, widely differing from each others Tenets, but
alike mistaken
in the universal End they blindly aim at.
And Religion.
SOME prefer our
Saviour
as the greatest Person of the
Trinity,
some esteem him
lowest of the Three,
some believe not in the
Trinity
at all, and many, ignorantly Zealous in their Folly, still prefer St.
Philip
's Merits to the worth of our
Redeemer.
Their Character.
THEY are a People (generally speaking) of a
Slothful Disposition, Obstinate
and
Rash,
extreamly swift to
Anger,
and of daring
Courage,
when provok'd by the temptation of a
strong Resentment
; they are
Jealous
to excess, and very
Avaritious, Temperate
in
Diet,
nor inclinable to
Drunkenness
; they are
Tall
of
Stature, Strong
in
Constitution,
and
Robust
in their
Proportion,
and as I said before, most resolute Defenders of their
valu'd Property.
Why difficult to Travel there.
IT is
perhaps,
to their unreasonable
Hatred
of all kind of
Strangers,
that the Civiliz'd Inhabitants of
Europe
owe their Ignorance of those
remote
and
dark'ned
Corners of the
distant World
; for as they are prohibited by Principle to
entertain,
or even preserve the Lives of curious Travellers, it has been hitherto impossible to make Discoveries by the Endeavours of Adventurous Men
alone,
or
amicable Parties
; and the mighty distance, they are at from
Christian Powers,
the spacious Countries, interposing their extensive Lands; the
Mountains, Lakes,
and
Desarts
inaccessible to all Approaches, were in every Age, and
still
continue formidable
Barriers
to the aim of
Curiosity
or efforts of
Ambition.
The Princes, who have been baffled in the Search of the head of
Nilus.
IT is this alone, that was enabled,
many Ages since,
to baffle the Attempts of Powerful Monarchs, Men, possess'd of every help, which
Power
and
Riches
could afford their Resolution: It is this alone, that could have foil'd the oft repeated Efforts of
Egyptian Philadelphus,
or the
Roman Nero
; it is this alone, that could have disappointed the resolv'd Attempts of Great
Cambyses,
Fam'd
Sesostris,
and the
Macedonian Alexander:
All these Princes have at several times, endeavour'd to no purpose, an entire Discovery of that
Mysterious Sourse of Waters so conceal'd by Nature,
that it seems to speak
our very Search unlawful
and
prohibited,
thus nicely touch'd by
Lucan.
Lucan.
10
Arcanum Naturae caput non prodidit ulli,
Nec licuit populis parvum te,
Nile,
videre
Amovit
que
sinus, & gentes maluit ortus
Mirari, quam nôsse tuos—.
Nature, O
Nile,
forbids to look on
thee,
Where thy
faint Streams
declare thy
Infancy
;
Thy rising
Fountains
she thought fit to shroud,
And wrap'd thy
mantled Bosom
in a Cloud,
Thence teaching
Nations
to admire thy Stream,
And chuse
Applause,
not
Knowledge
for their
Theam.
A Discovery of the Sourse of
Nile.
HOWEVER, if we may believe the confident Reports of such
Egyptians,
as Inhabit Countries bordering on
Aethiopia,
or indeed such
Aethiopians
themselves, as will or dare Converse with Strangers,
Nilus
rises in a great extent of
Marshy Grounds,
surrounded by prodigious
Mountains
of an almost inaccessible Ascent; the
Weeds
and
Rushes
so incumbering the uncertain Waters, that no
Boat
can pass from Hill to Hill, and 'tis a more than dangerous Attempt to venture any other way on so deceitful a Foundation; yet
'tis said,
that some have pass'd secure, and seen a
Rock
of a stupendious Magnitude, whence gush'd a Stream of roaring Waters with impetuous violence.
'TIS said these Marshes lie near twelve Degrees beyond the
Aequator,
and that the
Nile,
forsaking his entangled Bed, is found to wander in
maeandring Labyrinths
quite thro' prodigious
Desarts,
spacious
Kingdoms,
and remote
Dominions,
sometimes forming wond'rous
Lakes,
and seeming to forget the Order of a River, then recovering his spreading Waters, and continuing a Course for many Leagues together,
calm
and
gentle,
swelling as he passes on, to great increase, by the reception of
encount'ring Currents,
all imbib'd and carried on in his superior Channel; every now and then surrounding some delightful Piece of Ground and making
Islands,
pleasant in their Situation, and
agreeably Productive
of the gayest Sweets of aided Nature.
The Course of the River.
SOMETIMES, rolling headlong from a
Mountainous
and
Rugged Country,
to the
Vallies
under it, it forms those loud and dreadful
Cataracts,
so famous for the noise created by the Waters, violently rushing from the lofty
Precipices
and resisting
Rocks,
that many Authors of
Antiquity
have join'd in the Reports, that such Inhabitants, as liv'd too near those
horrid Water-Falls
were by degrees made Deaf with their continual roaring.
Where divided.
THUS this great and celebrated River prosecutes his Course thro' many
Nations,
till it enters
Egypt,
there grown deep, it smoothly runs within its Banks in one broad Stream, till near five Miles below
Grand Cairo
it becomes divided into two distinct and
Navigable Branches; that
towards the
East
discharging all its
Waters
from a Mouth at
Damiata,
situated on the
Mediterranean,
and the
Western Branch,
the
Old Canopus,
likewise falling into the above-nam'd
Sea,
not far below
Rosetta
in the Neighbourhood of
Alexandria.
Five of the Seven Mouths of
Nilus
now quite lost.
EXCEPTING many
Channels
cut by
Art,
for the Conveniency of letting
Waters
in upon the Country in the
Yearly Overflow,
there now remain but these two
Branches
out of the
so often mention'd Seven,
sometimes
Nine,
which
Pliny, Herodotus, Ptolemy, Diodorus Siculus,
and other ancient Writers tell the World of; they are now, if ever such have been,
choak'd up by Sand,
or other common Accidents which are not seldom, known to change the Course of Rivers in our
Europaean Parts
as well as
Egypt.
The Rise or Increase of
Nilus.
BUT
now
I come to treat of the Surprizing
Inundation,
which this
River
causes
Yearly
in the Land of
Egypt,
where it very seldom
Rains,
and when it does tis rather
Mist,
and never falls but in the
Winter Season
; about the
midst
of
June
the
Nile
Infallibly begins to rise, thence Swelling by degrees, till
August following,
and Mounting in that Space, the Height of two or three and Twenty
Cubits.
WHEN thus it has encreas'd to a convenient Height, the
Grand Bashaw
of
Cairo
solemnly attended by the best of all his People, comes upon the
Bank,
and having given with his own Hand, the
Warning Stroke,
they cut it thro' in many Places, where the
Water Rushes in
with an impetuous Current, overflowing all the Country upon either side the
River,
so continuing
many Days
;
Its Effects.
then Suddenly
Decreasing
and
Retiring
orderly within its
Banks,
leaves all the Land (before a Desart) cover'd Richly with a
Propagative Slime,
of such an admirable Virtue, that the
Corn,
upon Abatement of the Waters, Scatter'd
Carelessly
about the
Surface,
constantly produces
two good Crops,
and sometimes more, with equal plenty;
And Decrease.
not quite
Five Months
the Waters take in
Rise, Continuance,
and
Abatement,
for about the
First
or
Second
of
November,
all the Country,
lately Delug'd,
is entirely free'd from the invading Current, which is
then
return'd to its ordinary Bounds and so continues till the
Year
Succeeding.
TIS a Prospect, highly
Pleasant
for a Stranger to behold a Country
Suddenly o'erwhelm'd,
and
that
become a
Sea,
which just
before
appear'd a
Desart
; Men and Women briskly rowing up and down, still more rejoicing, the
more deep
they find the Waters;
Their Presages by the Rising of the River.
for from the
great
or
small encrease
of their
Presaging Nilus,
they foretell
with ease
the never-failing consequence of
Plenty
or a
Famine.
THE great advantages, accruing to this Country from the
Yearly overflow of Nilus,
being so extreamly plain and constant, the
Rejoicings,
which are made
on that occasion,
are accordingly extravagant, for when the Banks are Cut, as I just now inform'd you, all the
Noblemen
attend the
Great Bashaw
of
Cairo
to an
Ancient Castle,
Built upon an
Island
in the
Middle of the River,
where,
Three Days together,
they are Entertain'd and Feasted with the greatest Demonstrations of delight Imaginable.
The Publick Rejoicings, made in
Egypt
at the Overflow of
Nilus.
NOR are the Common People (equal Sharers in the Blessings of Encrease) less gratefull in acknowledging a Sense thereof, but join unanimously in a Course of Mirth for many joyfull Days together, forming Fireworks, Singing, Dancing, Feasting with their Women, and Employing all their time in one Incessant search of Pleasure, and the constant practice of
Ʋ ninterrupted Gayety.
NOW let us search a little into the Receiv'd Opinions of the
Learned World,
and see if we can apprehend the Cause of this effect, so wonderfully different from the Common Course of
gradual Nature.
Euripide's
Opinion of the Cause thereof.
AND First, we find
Euripides
and many others, of Opinion, it proceeded from
Prodigious Thaws of Snow, then Melted by the Sun upon the Aethiopian Mountains,
but, as we are certainly assured, the constant Heat of that too Sultry Climate cannot suffer
Snow
to rest, since even in
Egypt
it is never known, not even on those Mountains, which confine her Borders, so the Modern Judgment of Politer Naturalists has quite rejected that mistaken Notion.
The Opinion of
Thales Milesius.
THALES MILESIƲ S
affirms, that he believes the Inundation to proceed
from the continual Blowing of the Rough Etesian Winds,
which then begin to Bluster from the
Northern Quarter,
full upon the
Mouth of Nilus,
hindering it thereby to enter the
Mediterranean,
and violently
Driving back the Flood
upon the low and Sandy Ground of
Egypt.
The Opinion of
Diodorus Siculus.
BUT this is controverted by the Famous
Diodorus Siculus,
in his First Book, who, to disprove the Argument of
Thales,
Nominates some other Rivers, equally expos'd to the
Etesian Winds,
which yet are never liable to such like Inundations; he therefore in dislike of this Opinion, has prefer'd his own, that Rain or Snow, dis
olv'd from distant
Aethiopia,
is the only Cause of an Effect so Wonderfull.
The Opinion of
Herodotus.
DIRECTLY Opposite to these, is the Assertion of the Learned
Herodotus,
who imagines, that the
Sun,
exhaling moisture in a great abundance from the River
Nilus,
as he forms his Journey in the
Winter Tropick,
causes it to run in an unnatural narrowness, but, when advancing towards the
Northern Climates,
the Recovering River swells again with native Grandeur, then possessing all its Streams, and Flowing uncontroul'd, with full Authority, till the returning
Sun
again demands the Tribute of its Waters.
The most receiv'd, and probable Opinion.
AMONG all these, the most receiv'd and probable Opinion is, the First belief of
Diodorus Siculus, that the Encrease of the Waters is occasion'd by continual Rains, not Melting Snow, upon the Hills of Aethiopia
; and the Reasons, which are given in defence of this Assertion, are as follow.
Its Reasons.
FIRST,
for many Days before the Inundation happens, all the Skies are seen in
Egypt,
full of Black and Treatning Clouds, incessantly producing
rumbling Noises,
and by
Northern Tempests
driven fiercely towards the
Southern Parts,
where always follows
Rain
in great abundance, frequently near Threescore Days together.
ANOTHER reason for this last opinion is, the
Muddy thickness of the Waters, when they overflow the Country,
for, Rushing violently thro' so many Tracts of Fertil Land, they tear up great and hourly quantities of fatning soil, which, mixing thickly with the swelling streams, is left upon the scorch'd and barren Sands of
Egypt,
of a very deep and
slimy
substance.
MANY other reasons are by the Inhabitants produc'd, to prove the Justice and Solidity of this accepted Modern Notion; but as tedious Observations, and unnecessary Repetitions grow
Prolix
and
Heavy
on a Reader, I will say no more upon the Present Subject, than that all the
Naturalists,
reputed Famous in the
Eastern Countries,
agree among themselves in full belief of this Assertion.
The goodness of the Water of the
Nilus.
I must inform my Reader now, that as this River boasts peculiar properties in
Fractifying
Nations to so rich a Plenty, so its Blessings many other ways are equally particular; his Waters are observ'd to be for ever free from
Mists
or
Vapours, Sweet
to such an Admirable and uncommon relish, that tis difficult (if hoodwink'd) to distinguish it from
Milk.
How Clarified.
TIS Fam'd for many Operative Virtues in
Medicinal essays,
and has but
one known Fault,
which is a certain dusky thickness, clouding its appearance with a kind of dark unpleasant Colour, which they
Clarifie
however in an Hour or two, by casting into certain
Earthen Pots
(wherein the Water is contain'd) small quantities of
bitter Almonds
bruis'd on purpose;
Fish
by reason of the
just nam'd Muddiness
afford no delicate or pleasant tast, and therefore is by Strangers seldom Eaten, and neglected commonly by even the Natives of that Country.
THE breadth of
Nilus,
when within the Bounds of its own natural Course, is equal to the
Thames,
a Mile or two below the Bridge at
London,
and upon the Banks on either side are built small, poor, and inconsiderable
Villages,
inhabited promiscuously by
Turks
and
Arabs,
The danger of Sailing on the
Nile.
those last nam'd so insolently daring and extreamly dangerous to unsuspecting Travellers, who pass in little Boats upon the River from
Grand Cairo,
that they frequently attempt with Javelins in their Mouths, to swim at
dead of Night,
from some small Creek of the undreaded Shore, and coming on them unawares, kill, take or plunder them, as they may think convenient.
A necessary Caution.
HOWEVER, led of late, to think of their own safety by the many fatal
Accidents,
which have from time to time attended such, as rashly trusted to implor'd
Good-Fortune,
and were disappointed of her Favours, they have found a way to free the Passengers of their own Country or a Foreign one, from those presumptious Insolences of
Arabian Robbers
; for at present, none attempt a Voyage on the
Nile,
without providing usefull
Fire-Arms,
and very frequently a
Guardian Janizary,
by whose faithful Care, and honest Courage they may be Protected safely from those villanous Outrages, whose effects have
often
prov'd unhappy to the headstrong Resolutions of
unguarded Obstinacy
; so cautious ought a Traveller to be, who
ignorant of Danger
from an
ignorance of Custom,
may, unknowingly, involve himself and Company in the unfear'd Misfortune of some treacherous, swift and unexpected Ruin.
CHAP. XXX. Of the Government of
Egypt.
The History of
Egypt,
from the
Roman
Conquest.
IN Order to inform you of the present State of
Government
in
Egypt,
'twill be necessary to inquire no further back in ancient History, than the times in which the Great
Octavius,
Emperor of
Rome,
converted that extensive and subjected Kingdom, to the meaner Title of a
Roman Province,
which in that Condition, was enlightned by the glorious Rays of introduc'd
Christianity,
from the unwearied Labours of St.
Mark,
who suffer'd
Martyrdom,
as I have said before, at
Alexandria.
Conquer'd by the
Greeks.
THE
Graecian
Emperors, upon the fatal weakning of the
Western
Power by the Division of the
Roman
Government, became the
Lords
of
Egypt,
and her People, till oppressing them inhumanly by heavy Taxes and an arbitrary Tyranny, they forcibly Revolted from their Yoke of Slavery, and in order to expel the
Greeks
Authority, invited to their Aid the hardy
Saracens.
Saracens,
HOWEVER, these about the Year of
Christ
six hundred thirty five, were beaten from the Government, they gain'd in the expulsion of the
Greeks
by the successful Arms of
Omir, Kinsman
and
Successor
to the Power of the
Impostor Mahomet,
And
Mahometans.
who, satisfied with Tribute, left them free to the Profession of their own Religion; then fell they under the Dominion of the
Babylonian Caliphs.
AFTERWARDS, they chose a
Caliph
of their own, who was succeeded in a long uninterrupted Line of full three hundred Years, when
Almeric
the
Sixth,
King of
Jerusalem,
invaded and reduc'd them to a great extremity.
AMIDST this
exigency,
they entreated Succour from the
Syrians,
whose designing
Sultan
sent immediately a greater Aid than was demanded from him; but as soon as they had beat the
Christians
back to their Possessions,
Sarco,
General of the
Syrian
Forces, murder'd basely the
Egyptian Caliph,
and usurp'd the Kingdom to his own Dominion.
The Original of the
Circassian Mamalukes.
THE Mighty
Saladine
succeeded
Sarco,
and for the space of seventy six Years, the
Syrians
held Possession of this Kingdom, till ambitious
Melec-Salha'a,
jealous of the Courage or Integrity of his
Egyptian Vassals,
yearly bought prodigious numbers of
Circassian Slaves
from their Allies, the
Tartars,
and depending wholly on their Valour and Fidelity, arm'd thousands of them, till he had compleated his design'd and numerous Army.
BY the Assistance of these bold and hardy Men he grew successfull in the Wars, he made upon his Foes the
Christians,
till at last, the
Slaves
too well acquainted with the fatal Power, wherewith he trusted them,
ungratefully
Revolted from their just Obedience, murder'd
Melec-Salha'a,
and upon the bloody Ruins of his broken Power, erected a
New Form of Government
among themselves, inviting into
Egypt
all their Country-men, or purchasing in every Place, as many of them, as had formerly been taken.
THUS the Government of these
revolted Slaves
became in time extreamly Powerfull, dreadfull to their Enemies, and rich in their Possessions, still maintaining their Dominions strongly and with resolution very near three hundred Years; whereby they grew a famous People, and were known by the denomination of
Circassian Mamalukes,
Their Overthrow and Downfall.
till
Sultan Selym,
Emperor of the
Turks,
in the Success of long and bloody Wars, o'erthrew their Government, and so brought
Egypt
under his Subjection.
Egypt,
how govern'd by the
Turks.
IN the Possession of the
Turks
it still remains, and is at present govern'd by a kind of
Vice-Roy,
full Possessor of an arbitrary Power, given him as
Deputy,
or
Great Vicegerent
to the absolute
Grand Signior
; he takes his Title from the City of
Grand Cairo,
is the first
Bashaw
of all the
Turkish Empire,
continues seldom in his Government above three Years, and constantly resides in that Imperial
City.
DEPENDANT on the Power of this great
Bashaw
are the twelve
Beys,
or
Lords Provincial,
constantly elected from among the
Natives
of the Country, and Assistant, in the framing Laws and other matters, to the
Grand Bashaw,
who therefore looking on them as
Inspectors
of his Actions, and set over him as Spys, or Curbers of his
Inclinations,
does generally
hate
and
contradict
them; hence proceed intestine Jarrs, and frequent Tumults, not a little prejudicial to the Interest of the
Turkish Sultan.
The Militia of
Egypt.
IN order to support this Power, a
Standing Army
is Establish'd in the
Turkish
manner, which consists of twenty thousand Horse, and eighty thousand Foot, accomplish'd, hardy and experienc'd Soldiers, all dependant on respective
Zaims,
or their
Timariots
in the nature treated of at large, in the beginning of this Book.
Egypt
in its Modern Divisions.
THE
Modern Egypt
is divided into three Distinct and Spacious Provinces, that part, which lies between
Rosetta,
and the famous
Alexandria,
is distinguish'd by the Name of
Hersiah
; that part, which lies between Grand,
Cairo, Tunese,
and
Damiata,
is now call'd
Mar-hemha,
and the Land, which lies upon the south of
Cairo,
is in Turkish call'd
Saihid.
The Humour of the People.
THESE different Provinces produce Inhabitants, as different in their Natures; some are rougher than the rest, and more unciviliz'd in common Conversation; but it is a general observation, that the nearer to the Port of
Alexandria,
or the Sea about it, so much more polite is found the humour of these People.
Their Justice.
THE Military Power is in
Egypt,
as at
Constantinople,
mixt entirely with the Civil Administration, and the Laws of both exactly Copy'd from the
Turkish
Government, so that neither in Religion, Customs, Habit, or the forms of Justice, can be found the smallest difference from what I have explain'd in the foregoing Part, relating to the
Turkish
Policy; 'Tis
Money
only, Arbitrary, Eloquent, perswasive
Money
can prevail in
Egypt,
as it ever does in
Europaean Turky,
to decide a Contest.
Their Superstition.
THE many Graces, which in former times enrich'd the Minds of their Illustrious Ancestors, are all forgotten; but to show how prone Man's Nature is to Ill, they still retain their ancient Superstition, and tho' they do not practise the abolish'd Ceremonies of a rank Idolatry, they yet impute such power to every little Accident, or Work of
Nature,
that they tread as near as possible in the detested Footsteps of those old
Egyptians,
whom the
Roman
Satyrist has well derided in the following Verses.
Juv.
Sat. 15.
Quis nescit Volusi Bithynice, qualia demens
Aegyptus portenta colat? Crocodilon adorat
Pars haec, illa pavet saturam serpentibus Ibin.
Effigies sacri nitet aurea Cercopitheci,
Dimidio Magicae resonant, ubi Memnone chordae
Atque vetus Thebe centum jacet obruta portis.
Illic coeruleos, hic piscem fluminis, illic
Oppida tota canem venerantur, nemo Dianam:
Porrum & cepe nefas violare ac frangere Morsu.
O sanctas gentes, quibus haec nascuntur in hortis
Numina! lanatis animalibus abstinet omnis
Mensa, nefas illic foetum jugulare capellae.
Carnibus humanis vesci licet.
Who knows not, what fond Worship and vain Praise,
Mad
Egypt
to prodigious Monsters pays?
This
part the
Crocodile
a Godhead makes,
That
honours frightful
Ibis,
fed with Snakes.
There golden Images of
Monkeys
shine,
And sacred Worship crowns the apish Shrine,
Where Magick Spells make
half-left Memnon
sound,
And ancient
Thebes
now lies a ruin'd Ground,
Thebes,
which twice fifty Gates did once surround.
Here Sea-Fish, there the River Fish they own,
To
Dogs
whole Cities bow, but to
Diana
none.
A wondrous wickedness, indeed, to eat
A sacred
Leek,
or make an
Onion
Meat!
O blessed People! in whose Gardens grow
These
Gods,
to whom such wondrous helps you owe!
From woolly Animals each Board abstains,
To kill a
Kid
pollutes their Soul with Stains,
Yet none by Conscience led from humane Flesh refrains.
The Effects of Misery.
THE Miserable Poverty, whose ill Effects have crush'd the Spirits of the Warlike
Graecians,
and subverted Valour to contented Slavery, has work'd so deeply on the humble Minds of the depress'd
Egyptians,
that they daily more and more become Effeminate, neglecting meanly the once lov'd Practices of Martial-Discipline, and idly sinking in a stupifi'd forgetfulness of all the calls of Liberty or Honour.
Their Character.
THEY are very Lazy, Proud, and Insolent in Carriage, Dirty in their Dress, and stiff in their Behaviour, haters and despisers of all other Countries, scarce affording Love to one another, and so very nasty in their Tents, or Houses, that the very entrance is offensive to a Christian Stranger.
The
Egyptian
Moors.
THERE are, besides the Off-spring of the old
Egyptians,
certain tawny Natives of this Land, a Sun-burnt Mongrel kind of Race, descended from the
Arabs,
and in strength of Body, Humour, Shrilness of their Speech, and great Agility, not much unlike them; for Distinctionsake, these Men are call'd the
Moors
of
Egypt,
but are commonly more honestly inclin'd than are their numerous Co-partners in that wide Denomination.
Their Government, a Copy of the
Turkish.
THE Towns of
Egypt
are not many, and those few, they have but ill defended, rather trusting to the number of their People, than the strength of Walls, or tedious helps of Modern Fortification; each Town and Village has its Governor; and as I said before, the nature of their Government is so entirely
Turkish,
that I need no longer dwell upon the Subject of this Chapter, but will hasten in the next, to look a little into the condition of their Learning and Morality, and see if we can trace the Footsteps of their great
Forefathers,
in the Modern Applications of their lost Posterity.
CHAP. XXXI. Of the Learning and Morals of the
Egyptians.
Egypt
in her present Ignorance, a Proof of Humane Frailty.
THE Curious Searcher into
Humane Changes,
and the various Miseries attending
Life,
can never find a fairer Proof of
Sublunary
Frailty than he has before him, in a nice Reflection on the present State of the
Egyptian
Learning;
Egypt,
which of old possess'd unbounded Knowledge, and unlimited Dominion;
Egypt,
which out-towr'd not only the Felicity, but even the Imitation of admiring Neighbours;
Egypt,
from whose Source of Wisdom,
Greece
originally drew those Channels, from whose unexhausted Store she afterwards supplied the spacious Universe;
Egypt,
the neglected Mother of our
Arts
and
Sciences,
is now involv'd in stupid Ignorance, and boasts no more than that unpolish'd common Sense, we owe promiscuously to Liberal Nature.
THE black effects of
Time
and
Discord
have amazingly subverted ancient Splendor; and the glorious State of
Learning,
which in former Ages flourish'd in this Country, left her with the Blessings of that wealthy Peace, she once could boast of, Knowledge fell a Victim to the Sword, and the Destruction, which befell them, was so very
Ʋ niversal,
not alone to
Power,
but even the well establish'd Principles of
Literature
and
Morality,
that when I think upon the Ruin of the
Old Egyptians,
who surviv'd the loss of all worth living for, and then fell
lastly
solitary Victims to their Nations Enemies, it brings to my remembrance the Expressions,
Seneca
thought fit to use upon the Fate of
Priamus,
in his Tragedy of
Troas.
Sen. Trag. Troas.
—Felix Priamus!
Felix, quisquis bello morions
Omnia secum consumpta videt!
—O happy
Priamus!
And happy
all,
who, when in
War
they die,
In
one destructive Fate
see all things with them lie!
The Origin of the
Egyptian
Ignorance.
THE gloomy Cloud of unaspiring Sloth and dull Stupidity, which now possesses fallen
Egypt,
hence receiv'd its fatal
Origin,
and ever since has skreen'd the Sun of banish'd Learning from that miserable Country, nor has even the most retir'd and private State of Life escap'd the general Calamity, which spread its Influence with an uncontroul'd and Universal Ruin.
AND, indeed it is a vain and groundless hope, for an unthinking Man to flatter his Opinion, with the strange Belief of even a possibility to live contented in a sinking Government, or stand unshock'd, in the destruction of his Country, tho' the share, he boasted in the management thereof, was ne'er so small or inconsiderable, or even tho' the trifling Part, he acted in its Welfare, was so far from helping to support the State, that he appear'd the most unknown and useless Member of his Nation.
THE admirable
Solon,
an unequall'd
Former
of the wisest Laws, and consequently an undoubted
Judge
in Rules of Policy, has left us his Opinion on the matter, in the eloquent Expressions following,
Solon
's Opinion, of a Publick Ill.
When
Publick-Ills
do
Common-Wealths
impair,
Each
Private Subject
feels a
Publick Share,
No
barring Gates
can its effects
exclude,
O'er highest
Walls
it climbs and will intrude;
Still it
o'ertakes
you, if to
Shades
you fly,
And finds you, tho' in
latent Beds
you lie.
Sciences invented by the old
Egyptians.
THE old
Egyptians
first invented
Musick
and
Geometry,
with the usefull Knowledge of
Arithmetic
; they first inspected Heaven, and bravely trac'd the Sun and Starrs thro' their Diurnal Motions; they first divided Years by Months, and from a Knowledge of the various Aspects of
Caelestial Constellations,
grew
Diviners
of portended Consequences;
Philosophy,
and the transporting Flights of a
Poetic Harmony
were first known there.
Hieroglyphics, what they were.
MECHANIC ARTS,
tho' since improv'd, were numerously owing to the deep invention of
Egyptian fancy. Hieroglyphicks,
us'd instead of Characters, explain'd the meaning of the wisest thoughts by silent Images of various kinds, whereby they strangely represented Humane Nature in its different Passions, with a very still, but moving Eloquence.
BUT now the very Memory of these Perfections is itsself forgotten, by the Deviated Souls of the Possessors of this Country, in its
Modern State
of
Folly, Pride
and
Insolence,
and all, an Author is enabled to inform the World of the Condition of their
Learning
is, that they have really none among them;
No Learning in
Egypt
now.
tis a Wonder if, in many Villages of
Egypt
well inhabited, Ten Men are found, who boast capacity to
Read
or
Write
; my Reader will not therefore be Surpriz'd, when I assure him that, for any more refin'd and elevated kind of knowledge, they are altogether Strangers to the very notion of its usefullness.
NOR can I give their
Morals
a much fairer Character, than I have justly fix'd upon their
Learning. Morality
is commonly the good effect of Honest thoughts, produc'd by some Improvement of the Mind in serious Contemplation on the
Worth of Vertue,
and the only way to reach the Power of so bright a Contemplation is by aiming at as great a share of common
Knowledge
as we can with ease attain in humble Stations;
Why Morality is seldom found in
Egypt.
'tis not therefore probable or possible, that these
Egyptians,
void, by the Tyrannic and oppressive Constitution of their Government, of any means to reach such Practice, nor indeed desirous, by the bent of Inclination, to endeavour after it, should e're attain the happy end, it constantly produces.
I have in the
Preceeding Chapter,
spoke in general of their Obvious Principles, the less will therefore serve me here, since I can only use the same Expressions, or at least in other words declare the same Assertion, should I now enlarge upon the
Shallow Subject
;
The
Egyptians
very covetous.
I will therefore only add, that they are Avaritiously inclin'd almost beyond a Parallel, and, as desirous eagerly of growing Rich, will scruple nothing to obtain the Blessing; hence it will be an easy thing to guess how far from
Vertue, Honesty,
or
Justice
lies the Course, they Darkly steer in,
—Nam Dives qui fieri vult,
Et citò vult fieri, sed quae reverentia legum,
Quis metus, aut pudor est unquam Properantis avari?
For he, who has on
Riches
bent his Mind,
Would still to
Wealth
a Speedy Passage find,
But what respect to
Laws,
what
Fear
or
Shame,
Restrains the
Eager Wretch,
who does at
Avarice
aim.
I hasten from a Subject,
Melancholy
in its Truth, and thence Oppressive, and a
Clog
upon my fansie: But alas! we find no part of Earth, but has sometimes experienc'd Rugged Changes, and our own Examples may convince us daily, that the Scourge of Fortune Triumphs frequently in other Parts, as well as
Egypt.
CHAP. XXXII. Of the
Beasts, Birds
and
Serpents
of
Egypt.
AMONG the numerous Observations, Travellers may make in
Egypt
of a thousand things, peculiar to that Country, none deserves remark more justly than the Vertue, it can boast of, in producing
Creatures
as uncommon and particular, as are the many
Artificial Rarities,
they have in every Age been famous for.
The
Hippotamus,
or
Sea-Horse.
AND first, to mention none of those more common
Animals,
which may be found promiscuously in almost every Country, the
Hippotamus
or
Sea Horse,
of old more frequently observ'd about the River
Nilus,
than in later times; for
Pliny, Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus,
and many other Authors, have describ'd them in their Writings, some of which have authoriz'd their full Descriptions by their own Eye-witness.
Describ'd.
BUT at present, 'tis a Curiosity not often met with, to obtain an opportunity of seeing any of these
Creatures
; they have Heads of a prodigious size, their Jaws of very large extent, and full of Tusks in colour not unlike the whitest
Ivory,
but sharp as
Needles,
and their bite of very dangerous Consequence to wounded Passengers.
Their strength and fierceness.
IN Shape they differ not extreamly from a
Boar,
but are so much beyond him in proportion, that we seldom see an
Ox
of greater Magnitude: Their Colour is a dusky Brown, and all their Backs so arm'd with Scales of an impenetrable Substance, that the sharpest Weapons seldom wound them. They are commonly of such a fierce
vindictive
Nature, that they rarely fail to turn with violence upon a
Boat,
when any in it have attempted to insnare them, and have oftentimes been known to rear themselves stupendiously above the Water, and by overturning Vessels prey upon the Mariners, they thence grew Masters of.
The
River Bull.
THERE is another Beast, of an
Amphibious Nature,
commonly distinguish'd by the Name of
River Bull,
not much beyond a
Calf
in bigness, nor unlike him in Appearance, only so superior in the Strength of Body, that the spacious Nets, the Natives make of twisted Ropes, have often prov'd too weak to hold him; they have
Finns
upon their Feet, which spread at bottom to considerable breadth, and serve, as Guides, to their unweildy Motions, which, by plunging forward with an unresisted Violence, break fiercely thro' the strongest obstacles.
The
Crocodile.
THE Treacherous
Crocodile,
so call'd from a Traditional Account, that this deceitfull Animal commands his
Tears
at any Season, and by counterfeiting a complaining Human Voice, allures the Curiosity of Passers by, and then devours them, is very common on the Banks of
Nile,
and ever has been look'd upon peculiar to the Land of
Egypt.
The Shape, exactly like a
Lizard,
is so fully known in
Europe,
that 'tis needless here to say much of it.
Their Natures.
THEIR Nature is
Oviparous,
and when they lay their
Eggs,
they hide them in the Sand with such an admirable Cunning, that the overflowing of the River
Nilus,
never reaches them, tho' frequently it comes within a yard or two; and hence the Country People finding now and then their Artfull Nests, are taught how high the Inundation will advance the Waters in that increase; a
Turkeys Egg
is equal to the
Crocodiles,
if not Superior in its
Pristine Magnitude,
but afterwards they grow to such amazing length and size, that many have been found
eleven Yards long,
and in their Bulk proportionable.
THE common notion entertain'd in
Egypt
is, that every
Female Crocodile
can lay
one Hundred Eggs,
and that their Age has often reach'd the
Hundredth Year.
Their way of Catching Men.
THEIR
Tails
are very long and sharpning to the End, whereby they constantly Entwine and Seize their
Prey,
and tis a very dangerous thing for
Travellers,
who pass the
Nile
in
open Boats,
to Sleep with Heads inclin'd upon the side, for these observant Creatures gather frequently about the Vessel, watching cautiously some favourable Opportunity, which when they Spie, they
Swim up
close upon the Surface of the Water, and enfolding the unwary Person by a sudden
Throwing out their Tails,
have often so unhappily succeeded, as to draw him Headlong from the Vessel and devour him in the River.
How Taken.
THE Natives of the Country bait
Sharp Iron Hooks
of mighty Magnitude, and sometimes take them. They esteem their Flesh of Savory relish, and as such will seldom Scruple Eating it; But as this Creature is extreamly hurtfull on the Water, Playing on its Surface in a
Moon-light Night,
so he is no less Destructive
on the Land by Day,
for then he generally Wanders up and down in search of
Mischief,
Preying on whatever he can meet with.
How to be avoided.
THEY are Mighty
Swift
at Running in a line; but having only one continued joint along their Back, are tedious in a motion Circular or any ways Uneven, and thereby with ease avoided by a Man acquainted with the Country and their Nature; Oftentimes they lie a Foot or two
below the Surface
in the Places, whence the
Peasants,
living on the Banks of
Nilus,
fetch their Water, and have sometimes seiz'd a Man or Woman by the Arm, and drawn them in: But to prevent such dangers for the Future, the
Egyptians
generally take the Pains
at present,
to secure their Watering Places by a kind of Hedge, which they support with Stakes, and so protect themselves from these designing Animals, who have been long so hated by the prejudic'd Inhabitants, that they have us'd a Thousand Arts to compass their Destruction, and it is not common
now
to see a
Crocodile,
within the space of some Days Journey from the City of
Grand Cairo.
A Wonderful Observation of the
Crocodile
and little Bird.
IT is observable that there is found in
Egypt,
tho' but rarely known, a
little Bird
about the Bigness of a common
Quail,
its Colour of a
Lightish Grey,
the Bill extreamly sharp and small, and both the
Wings
containing Feathers, at the End whereof are certain
Prickles,
not unlike the
Bristles
of a
Hog; this Bird,
as often as she finds the
Crocodile
lie Basking in the Sun, and Slumbering, as he often does upon the Banks of
Nilus,
with his Mouth wide open, flies
directly in,
and fixing near his Teeth, erects her
Prickly Wings,
not much unlike a
Porcupine,
or
Hedge Hog,
so preventing him from closeing his great Mouth upon her, while she feeds herself by picking somewhat from his Teeth. The
Bird
was
formerly
more taken Notice of, than she has been of late, and commonly distinguish'd by the Name of
Trochileus.
Ichneumon, or the
River Rat.
BUT, while the
Crocodile,
diverted by a kind of tickling Pleasure, which the pecking Bill of the Bird
Trochileus
affords him, gapes considerably wider than he generally does, the
River Rat,
a little Beast about the bigness of a
Ferret,
clean in Shape, in colour Black, and of a Skin extreamly smooth, his Teeth long, sharp and very numerous, his Tail of an uncommon length, his Legs but short, and Ears of a peculiar roundness, of a Nature very bold and fierce beyond example; this small Beast I say, who bears a strong antipathy to the above-nam'd
Crocodile,
observing narrowly the tempting Opportunity, comes slily round, jumps thro' his Mouth, and with a wond'rous swiftness passing down his Throat, gnaws forcibly a Passage thro' his Belly, thence escaping with the triumph of a sure Destruction to his mortal Enemy.
Its fierceness, and great hatred to other Creatures.
THIS
River Rat
is sometimes call'd
Ichneumon,
which appears to have been anciently the Name, by which he was distinguish'd by the Curious and more Learn'd
Egyptians,
then inhabiting the Country, he is found in; they are of a mischievous Nature, killing all the
Pidgeons, Hens,
and
Poultry,
they can possibly find means to get at;
Cats
and
Dogs
they hate extreamly, and will
kill
as often as they
conquer
them, nor ever fail Assaulting them, as often as they find convenient Opportunity: But, as in
some things
they are hurtfull to the Interests of the People, so in
many others
they appear not only Usefull, but even Necessary for the good they do, by seeking constantly the
Eggs
of
Crocodiles,
and breaking them, when they discover where they lie; as also for their Universal Hatred to all kinds of
Serpents, Snakes,
or
Reptiles
whatsoever, whom they often fall upon, and kill with wonderfull dexterity.
Moral Reflections.
HOW wisely, and beyond the apprehension of our weak Capacities, has the
Supream Creator
of our Earthly Beings guided the Performances of his
Divine Omnipotence!
To what an height of Piety and necessary Contemplation on the Bounties and Omniscience of
Almighty God,
must that Man needs arrive, who seriously reflects upon the numerous Works of his
Creation,
yet amongst so many Millions of surprizing Differences, and directly opposite Existences in Nature, cannot find one needless
Insect,
but perceives them strangely mixt together, in the joint Advancement of one common Interest.
The
Chamaelions.
IN many
Orchards
near
Grand Cairo,
may be found great numbers of those Creatures call'd
Chamaelions,
falsely said to live upon the Air, which notwithstanding, is indeed their
principal
Subsistance, tho' they prey continually on Flies, and extend their Tongue with wonderfull celerity, which is in length not much inferior to his Body, naturally hollow in its top, whereby he may more easily attain his Ends, and serve himself in the Destruction of the late nam'd
Insects
with a little trouble.
Describ'd.
IN Shape and Size, they are not much unlike the
Lizard,
their Eyes and Head extreamly large, their Necks unjointed, and of consequence not mov'd, without the turning their whole Bodies; its native Colour is a greenish Yellow, with small Spots of white about the Belly: They are seen with difficulty tho' you pass at little distance from them, for they constantly assume the Colour of most Places, which they stand upon, and generally change their Hue, as often as they find occasion to remove their Station.
Their Antipathy to
Serpents.
THESE also bear an
innate Enmity
to every kind of
Serpent,
and it is remarkable that, when they have discover'd any Sleeping underneath a Tree, they never rest, till having climb'd the Branches, they direct a little shining drop of Moisture from their Mouths exactly on his Head, which by a certain natural Vertue it possesses, never fails to give immediate Death to the
unwary Serpent
so invaded.
The
Ostrich.
I must not here omit the
Ostrich,
tho' but very rarely found, unless in the
remoter
and
more Inland
parts
of Egypt.
It is a
Bird
of Mighty size, long Neck and Feet, with Head and every other part of Shape extreamly near the
Pictures,
which we draw to represent them.
How Hunted.
They have Wings of spacious size, yet Fly but heavily, so near the Ground, that tis an Entertainment very Pleasant, and
not seldom us'd,
for
Gentlemen
to
Hunt them
with a kind of
Spears
on Foot; for the
Resistance, Awkard motions
and
Ʋ nweildy Flight,
they make, afford their Hunters an agreeable Amusement.
An Eater of Iron.
BUT the most Remarkable, peculiar and surprizing Property, the
Ostrich
boasts of is, that he not only Eats, but even Digests the
hardest Iron,
Picking up with pleasure
broken Horse-Shooes, rusty Nails,
and many other things, especially, at certain Seasons of the Year, when they incline (I know not for what reason) to take more delight than usual in the Swallowing
that Metal
:
And Hater of Women Pregnant.
It is a thing worth Notice that, from certain hidden Dictates of directing Nature,
Ostriches
are led
to an abhorrence of a Woman big with Child,
and tis a certain truth, from a repeated Observation, that they are not only sensible, when such a Person is brought near them, but will make directly
towards her,
and with lifted Feet endeavour to oblige her to withdraw, or Patiently submit to their Unwelcome violence.
The
Salamander.
THE
Salamander,
Famous for resisting Fire, is in
Egypt
often found, but tis a false and groundless notion
that he lives in Flames,
but probably that old mistake First took its Rise from something, that appear'd like reason;
How resisting Fire.
for a
certain Cold
and
Mucous Substance,
full of
Moisture
is the only Flesh,
that Creature
boasts of, who, when put upon the Fire, can
emit
a certain quantity of
Black
and
Slimy Matter,
which extinguishes, for some short time, the Coals about him, but by that time he has once or twice repeated the Experiment, he becomes
Exhausted,
and is forc'd to yield his Body to the Irresistible Invasion of the Flames, he lies in.
The
Basalisk
or
Cockatrice.
THE Famous
Serpent,
call'd a
Basilisk,
or in our vulgar
English
Tongue distinguish'd better by the Name of
Cockatrice,
does still remain in many parts of inmost
Egypt,
but was falsely
by the Ancients
said to be possess'd of such a
Penetrative Venom,
that his
very look
gave present Death to every Man, he fix'd his Eyes upon, whose subtil Poyson
Lucan
thus describes among the many
Noxious Serpents, Cato
met with in his March with the
Brave Roman Army,
thro' the Sands of
Africa.
Lucan, lib.
9.
Sibila
que
effundens cunctas terrentia pestes,
Ante venena nocens, late sibi submovet omne
Vulgus, & in vacuâ regnat
Basiliscus
arená.
The
Basilisk,
whose Dreadfull
Hisses
fright
All
other Serpents
into distant flight,
Whose
Subtil Venom
humane life confounds,
Nor needs a
Touch,
but
Kills
before it
Wounds.
Drives
meaner Snakes
from his frequented Plains,
And on the
empty Sands
in frightfull horror Reigns.
Why said to Kill with a look.
BUT those, which now are call'd the
Basilisks
of
Egypt,
are not so extreamly dangerous, as the abovenam'd
Poet
chose to represent them; yet 'tis certain, that they bear a kind of natural malignity about them, which affects a Man, tho' at a considerable distance, with a strange uneasiness, but whether Seated in their Eyes, or caus'd by the
Effluviums
of their
Noxious
Bodies,
does not come within my purpose, and is therefore left to the Opinion of the Reader.
The
Asp
describ'd.
THE
Asp,
another hurtful
Serpent,
is in many Parts of
Egypt
dangerously known, a small black Creature
running swiftly,
and is generally found within the hollow Places of a Rock, or rotten Root of some decaying Tree: Their
Bite
is
Mortal,
and the Death, they give, attended frequently by
various Symptoms,
but overtaking all, he bites with
equal
swiftness,
some
Die Laughing,
others
Weeping,
many
Sleeping; but this last effect should seem to be the most peculiar to the
Asps
of old, since
Lucan
thus describes the Nature of that
Serpent.
Lucan.
Lib. 4.
Hic, quae prima caput movit de pulvere tabes,
Aspida
somniferam tumidâ cervice levavit.
Plenior huic sanguis, & crassi gutta veneni
Decidit: in nullâ plus est Serpente coactum.
Here the
Sleep-causing Asp
with swelling Head
Rose first, from
Poyson-mingled Atoms
bred,
Full of the thickest Blood,
Gorgon
o'er
Libya
spread;
Nor 'mongst the many
Snakes,
which
thence
did spring,
Can
one
be found, who boasts a more
invenom'd Sting.
A Story of a Gentleman, bit by an
Asp.
SOME Years ago an
English Gentleman,
residing at
Aleppo,
and in Company with many
Merchants,
belonging to the
Factory,
there Establish'd, went
a Hunting,
and amongst an heap of
Stones
upon the
Sand,
perceiv'd an
Asp
run swiftly to its Hole, which, fatally mistaking for a little
Squirrel,
he immediately alighted from his Horse, and thrusting in his
Arm,
as far as it would go, felt something sharper than he thought to meet withall, and drawing out his Hand upon a sudden, brought the
Asp
still
hanging by the Teeth
upon his middle
Finger:
The immediate
Exclamations
of the
Gentlemen in Company
oblig'd him presently to shake it off, but all in vain, the
Poyson
had affected him too deeply, and tho' with much ado they got him on his Horse, he strait grew
Mad, Laugh'd, Wept
and
Fainted
by successive turns, till they had brought him
Home
to his
Ʋ nhappy Family,
where
instantly
he
Died,
by the
unfortunate Event
of this
lamented Accident.
CHAP. XXXIII. Of the
Cities
of
Grand-Cairo, Memphis
and
Babylon.
THE venerable
Marks
of mighty
Age
declare the
Towns,
I am about to speak of,
Children of Antiquity
; nor did they only flourish, when the
World
was
Young,
but were from
Time to Time
the Glorious
Scenes,
whereon were represented the Prodigious
Sallies
of
Ambition,
starting suddenly to
Ʋ niversal Empire,
then as suddenly declining from its
Pinacle,
and yielding
Fortune,
for a transitory Spurt, to the
Possession
of some other rising Monarchy.
The Changes; which have hapned in
Grand Cairo, Memphis
and
Babylon.
'TWAS
hence,
that these renown'd and stately
Cities
have successively beheld the Haughty
Pharaohs,
and Luxurious
Ptolemies,
the
Roman Caesars,
and profuse Extravagance of the Unhappy
Cleopatra
; have beheld 'em swoln above Mortality, with elevated Pomp and splendid Royalty, and after all the Triumphs of a short-liv'd Grandeur, seen 'em sink the miserable Victims to some sudden, strange, and unexpected Ruin.
'TWAS here
of old,
that the Almighty Hand of
God
himself, perform'd such Miracles; 'twas here the hardned Heart of
Pharaoh
drew down Vengeance on his tortur'd Nation; 'twas here the
Israelites
were chain'd in long Captivity, and in returning hence, their
Great Redeemer
prov'd his Power by dividing Seas to let them pass, and guiding them alternately by
Clouds,
and
Fiery Pillars,
through the numerous Dangers of a tedious
Pilgrimage.
THIS
Train of Wonders,
and amazing
Scene
of
Human Changes
were in ancient Times transacted here;
The decay these 3 Cities.
and the above-nam'd Cities, which so many Ages have withstood the Shocks of Time or Accident, and gloriously out-liv'd the frequent Downfalls of un-numbred
Rulers,
now begin to sink
Themselves,
and prove by slow, tho' sure, Experience, that the strange Vicissitudes of Earthly Strength, involve alike the
Prince
and
Peasant, Town
and
Hovel
in a dark oblivion.
Cairo,
now the best.
CAIRO
is the only City of the
Three,
which now retains the smallest Mark of an un-ruin'd
Majesty,
and has its Situation, near four hundred Miles from
Alexandria,
upon the
Eastern side
of
Nilus,
not above twelve Furlongs distant from the River.
Bow-lac,
the Port to
Cairo.
THE Boats, which commonly bring Passengers to
Cairo,
land 'em at
Bow-lac,
a small
Port Town,
supported by the Trade, the River brings her, where a sort of
Tax,
or
Imposition
by the way of
Poll,
is laid on every
Christian Traveller,
who comes on Shore, amounting to about
a Crown a Head
; and here it is, that we are all oblig'd to hire a nimble kind of
Asses,
with their Owners, running by on Foot, to carry us to
Cairo,
A barbarous Baseness of the
Turks
at
Cairo.
where the Reader may take notice, that the barbarous Insolence, and blinded Zeal of the rude
Turks,
inhabiting the Place, oblige all
Christians,
who wou'd ride about the City, to be mounted on those Creatures, in a strange derision of our Blessed
Saviour
's Choice, who rode upon an
Ass,
when the transported Multitude saluted him, as he advanc'd, with the repeated Acclamation of
Hosanna to the Highest.
The Town and its Extent.
THE Town is built about the Foot of a large
Mountain,
call'd
Muc-haat,
extreamly Rocky, and extends its Buildings in a Semicircular Form above half round it; it is Wall'd but ill, and taking in the Suburbs, which are very large, is so prodigiously extensive, that the measur'd Compass has been found full sixty two
Italian
Miles.
Description of the Houses, and manner of their building Streets.
THE Streets are crooked, long and narrow; all the Houses (those excepted, which the
Turks
have built of later Years) of solid Stone, and many Stories high; their Roofs are Flat, and open in the top with artificial Neatness to let in the
Breezes,
which at certain Seasons of the Day, regale the Air with comfortable Coolness; the Streets are every Night lock'd up, at either End by well-defended Gates, at each whereof is kept a Guard of able
Watchmen,
so that all the Mischiefs of
Nocturnal Robberies
are here prevented by the visible Impossibility, that
Thieves
wou'd find to get away, if they shou'd chance to be discover'd.
The Gates of
Grand Cairo.
THE
High-Street
is of a considerable Breadth, extending from the Gate
Naufrei
to that, they call
Zueelia,
the First admitting you from the great Road, which leads to the
Red Sea,
the last directly fronting
Nilus,
and
Bow-lac,
the Ancient Town I lately spoke of. These two Gates confine the Length of this extensive City.
A Pleasant Lake.
ANOTHER Gate, distinguish'd by the Name of
Futulee,
which opens on the
Northern side,
directly leads you to a Spacious
Lake
call'd
Esbikee,
that in the overflow of
Nilus
is supplied with Water, and frequented, while it is so, by the Painted Barges of the Gentlemen of
Cairo,
shaded over with the Greenest Boughs, and Rowing up and down with Wine and Musick in delightfull Pastime; But when
Nilus
is decreas'd, and all the Water dried within the
Lake,
it changes its appearance to another Scene, and by affording
Corn
in plentifull Production, yields a Prospect equally agreeable.
Some other Gates.
BESIDES these Three Chief Gates, are many other, for conveniency of free Egress and Regress, thro' the City; but, as those are only Portals for a
Private use,
not
Publick Ostentation,
they deserve not the unnecessary Trouble of Remarks upon their
Number, Forms,
or
Situation.
Their way of Darkening the Streets.
THE
Sun
is here so greatly Incommodious, that to Skreen the City from its Power, they commonly place Rafters cross their Streets, and cover them with Mats, which by preventing the above-nam'd Inconveniency, is found to cause another nigh as bad, for by excluding the
Sun-Beams
from Shining on them, they are forc'd to Walk as in the Dark, in many Places, where the Narrowness of Streets, and Jetting form of all their Buildings, added to the Dullness, they are Cloak'd in, by the Matts and Rafters, join together in a close alliance to keep out the
Day,
and Cloud the Houses even at
Noon,
with the unpleasant Veil of counterfeited
Mid-night.
Wooden Locks and Keys.
ONE thing deserves Remark among the many others, which a Stranger may observe in
Cairo,
that is, they have so excellent an Art in Working upon Wood, that all the
Locks
and
Keys,
they use about their Houses, are of a hard kind of Tree, in Colour Blacker than the Box, and in its substance far more hard, and doubly durable.
THE Streets are all unpav'd and full of Sand, and many
Lakes
of half a Mile, or sometimes more, in Compass, scatter'd every here and there about the City, which with certain Wells of no small depth or Number, serve the People with the Water, fit to be employ'd in common uses, such as
Washing Houses, Cooling Streets,
or such like purposes;
Water brought on Camels Backs.
but as for what they Drink, 'tis brought on
Camels Backs
from
Nilus,
that abovenam'd being neither Clear, nor Sweet enough for that nice purpose.
A Noble
Market Place.
DIRECTLY in the
Center
of this Spacious City, stands a Building, not unlike the
Besesteen,
or
Vaulted Market-Place,
I spoke of, in the Chapter of
Constantinople,
and design'd exactly for the same occasion; Hither Flock vast Numbers of all kinds of People, who wou'd purchase any thing of value; for 'tis here they may be sure to meet with what they search for; and it is observable in
Cairo,
that they never mingle
Trades
together, but appoint the Men of each Profession, Rows of Shops by one another, every one whereof must Shut his Doors at Five a Clock in the Evening, the
Cooks
alone excepted, who by reason of their common usefullness (few Families in
Cairo
dressing their own Meat) are suffer'd to continue, open till whatever Hour, they think convenient.
Pleasant Gardens.
WITHIN the Walls of
Cairo
are vast Numbers of delightful Orchards, Gardens and the like, in which are ever growing most delicious Fruits of almost every kind, but Apples, which are here but very rarely met withall; their Oranges and Limons, Almonds, Dates, and many other sorts, do here arrive to such mature Perfection, that I never tasted them so richly pleasant in another Country.
Their Bagnios and Hospitals.
THEIR
Public Buildings
are both numerous and stately.
Bagnio's
in
Grand-Cairo
fall not short of those, I mention'd to be built at
Constantinople,
and the rich Endowments of not only
those,
but
Hans,
or
Hospitals,
for several Uses, are so very splendidly encreas'd in this
Egyptian City,
that they cannot be exceeded by the Buildings of their kind, in any part of the
Grand Signior
's Empire.
Mosques, an incredible Number.
THEIR
Mosques
are so magnificent in Structure, and prodigious in the Number commonly reported, that 'twou'd perhaps be thought a Falsehood, shou'd I tell my Reader, what my Guides told me, that they surpass in costliness of Building all the
Royal Mosques
of
Constantinople,
and are so extreamly Numerous, that they are reckon'd almost Twenty Thousand.
BOTH these Opinions I believe untrue, tho' I perceiv'd, that in the first they have not stretch'd Veracity to any great degree; but in the second, I presume they have made full amends; tho' all, a
Traveller
can do, is, only to pursue the dictates of a reasonable Probability, when he directs his Judgment on that Point, since they are really so stupendious in their Number, that 'tis morally Impossible, for any single Man to know exactly.
The Great Men's Palaces.
THE Great Mens Palaces are very Stately, and have large Court-Yards before 'em, opening to the Street with Wooden Gates of an uncommon Magnitude. They have a very Insolent and Idle Custom here, to pull a
Christian
from his
Ass,
as he rides by the House of any
Turkish
Officer of Note, and make him walk, till he is pass'd the Wall, in token of Submission and a mute acknowledgment of Inferiority.
Cairo,
very Populous.
THIS famous City is so very
Populous,
tho' of so vast a Magnitude, that as we rode along the Streets, about the
Center,
we were so extreamly
Crowded,
that our
Guide,
who went before with a
long Pole,
and clear'd the way by crying out,
Bda-ha-rack Adam-lerr, Bda-ha-rack,
that is,
Make room good People, pray make room,
had much ado to open us a Passage.
The Castle of
Grand Cairo.
UPON a very steep and lofty Precipice, upon the
Southern
side of
Cairo,
stands the Castle, where resides the
Grand Bashaw,
in pompous State becoming his Degree, attended by a chosen Guard of
Turkish Janizaries:
Here on the three first Days of every Week they hold
Divan,
at which the
Grand Bashaw
is always Present, and
Administers their Justice,
as they
Practice their Religion,
both in Imitation of the settled
Forms,
and ceremonious
Customs
of the
Turkish Government,
Establish'd, as before describ'd, at their
Metropolis Constantinople.
Its Ascent, And Prospect.
THIS Castle is to be ascended but by one Way only, which is hewn with admirable
Art
and
Labour,
from the
solid Rock,
and twining round, permits a Horseman easily to mount its
Summit:
'Tis of vast Extent, divided,
in the ancient manner,
into
Courts
and
Squares,
which seem to have been formerly design'd for
Warlike Exercises.
And Prospect.
HENCE the City may with ease be over-look'd, from any of the Walls, which are all built of Massy Stone upon the
Rock
it self, and entred by a Port, amazingly secur'd with Iron Gates, and leading to the Castle by strange, intricate, and winding Passages.
Fine Reliques of Antiquity.
OF Old, the Mighty
Sultans
of the Brave
Egyptian Mamalukes
resided here, in all the Grandeur, Empire cou'd afford 'em, and tho'
Sultan Selym,
the Victorious
Turk,
defac'd its Ornaments in many Places, yet there still remain such tow'ring Piles, and Marble Columns of so strange a Bulk, and Workmanship so excellent, that they to this Day, show a thousand Proofs of
Regal Majesty,
and that prodigious Stateliness, wherewith it flourish'd in its old Magnificence.
An Hieroglyphic Obelisk.
DIRECTLY in the midst of a large Court, upon the backside of this Castle, stands an ancient
Hieroglyphic Obelisk,
near nineteen Foot in height, whereon are represented such distinguishable Figures, as do plainly prove it to have been plac'd there by the
Ptolemies,
in Commemoration of the Victories, they had obtain'd in War, and the surprizing Grandeur, in whose Bliss they flourish'd.
Several Ruins, near
Grand Cairo.
THERE are not many
Reliques
of
Antiquity
at present, to be seen in
Cairo:
Besides this Castle, there remain the Ruins of some famous Palaces, but so disguis'd by their Decay, that Travellers can only Guess at what they were, when many
Ages
since, they proudly flourish'd.
The Place, where
Moses
was found by
Pharaoh
's Daughter.
THEY shew such Strangers,
notwithstanding,
as are curious in their Searches, many Things worth Observation, and among the rest, a certain
Bank
upon the side of
Nilus,
where they say, of old,
King Pharaoh's Daughter
found young
Moses
on a Bed of
Rushes.
The Etymoligy of the Word
Cairo.
THE
Etymology
of
Cairo
is from the
Arabian,
in which Language
El Cai-airo
signifies
a Forcer
; as to the Original
Foundation, Founder,
and
Historical Account
of this extensive City,
Scaliger,
and
Leo Africanus,
with a hundred other Authors, have so fully treated on those Subjects, that I cannot judge it necessary to enlarge on such notorious Circumstances.
IT only then remains, that I shou'd mention the
Condition
of the People, now Inhabiting
Grand Cairo,
whom we found in
rolling Plenty,
and the blest
Possession
of the richest Smiles of
Providential Nature
; Trading greatly, and encreasing
Wealth
with wonderful Dexterity;
The Plenty of that City.
nor can
Provisions
of all kinds be any where, more reasonably Sold than in the well-stor'd
Markets
of this spacious City.
A way of hatching Eggs in Ovens.
AMONG a thousand other Customs, in some kind
Peculiar
to the People of
Grand Cairo,
they have got a way of
hatching Eggs,
by
Artificial Heat,
which they perform by building certain
Rows of Ovens,
of considerable depth, which they contrive on either side a Room, one Row above another; within these
Ovens
they take care to lay a kind of
course, rough Hemp,
on which they spread a
Mat,
and cover it with
Camel's Dung,
or
that of Pidgeons,
to considerable thickness, so that by preserving
artful Heats,
by
constant Fires
within the
Stoves,
built under the above-nam'd
Ovens,
they continue from the Month of
June
to the
declining of December,
to produce vast quantities of
Chickens,
from innumerable thousands of these
Eggs,
which, notwithstanding, are observ'd to fall far short of
Nature
's un-assisted
Efficacy.
The Inhabitants of
Cairo,
famous for Instructing Beasts.
I cou'd not help observing here, that the Inhabitants of
Cairo
seem Possessors of a
quicker Genius
than our
Western People,
in the Arts of teaching wonderful Performances to
Asses, Goats, Dogs, Horses, Mules,
or any other Creatures void of Reason.
A Story of a Goat.
I have been shown a Man, who kept a
Goat,
so dex'trous in the poizing his
Instructed Body,
that he cou'd not only stand upright upon a little Staff, ten Inches long, but climb'd with ease from one, to stand upon another, and proceeded without falling, from that second to a third, fourth, fifth, or more, till he, who own'd him, was no longer capable of adding to the height, by one
Staff
more.
A pleasant Story of a Fidler and his Ass.
A merry kind of Fellow, of a
Moorish Extract,
us'd to walk about the City with a sort of
Fiddle,
and divert the
Passers by,
with the repeated Airs of one dull Tune; and in return for this, 'tis true, he did not beg Reward, yet by a subtle
Stratagem
came off so well, that he succeeded generally better than a
Down-right Beggar
cou'd have reasonably hop'd for.
THE
Ingenious Fellow
kept an
Ass,
that always follow'd him from Street to Street, without the trouble of his leading him along, he carried on his back a little Budget, which contain'd
Provisions,
and the necessary Utensils, his Master wanted in his daily Journeys.
An Ass of good address.
EVERY Man, the
Fidler
met, he bow'd his Body to, by way of Information, that he hop'd for the Receipt of a small piece of Money, from his grateful Liberality; and still, as often as the
Fidler
bow'd, the
Ass
bow'd too, as he had been instructed, in so strange a manner, and an
Air
so truly like himself, that all, who pass'd the Streets, were mov'd to Laughter, and not seldom,
Gentlemen
have given the
Man
a Present for the Pleasure, they receiv'd from the surprizing Prospect of his
Asse
's Novelty, who constantly, with such another
Cringe,
return'd the Compliment.
A cunning Practice.
BUT, if it chanc'd, that any Man pass'd by regardless of the
Fidler
's Musick, or Request, nor thought it worth his while to pay him for his Harmony; The
Ass,
who cunningly came on behind, at a considerable distance, and observ'd all Passages, but yet pretended not to mind 'em, watch'd their coming, and took care to snap a Piece, from off the
Britches
of the unsuspecting Person; or, if he went by at too great distance, on the other side the way, he frequently turn'd back, and bit out his Revenge, as soon as he had overtaken him: This pleasant Humour of the
Fidler
and his
Ass
became at last so very noted, that Both the
Master's Profit,
and the great
Respect,
they shew'd the
Beast,
grew daily more and more, for really 'twas a dangerous Accident to meet 'em in the Street, for such, as hap'ned to be unprovided of a Charm to soften his Resentment.
ANOTHER Trick, they have of Getting Money, is by training Camels up to dance about the Streets, upon the Sounding of a Drum, or any other Instrument of Musick. This they do with admiraabe quickness in the manner following.
Their way of teaching Camels to Dance.
THEY make a large square hollow Place on some Stone Pavement, not unlike a Bath, of such a depth, that nothing, let down thither, can get out again but with the same Assistance, he was first put in by. Under this pav'd Floor, consisting purposely of well experienc'd Fire-Stone, is built a Furnace, into which they put a necessary quantity of Wood, and heating it to what degree they please, the Stones grow hot like some mild Oven.
THEN they put the poor meek
Camel
into this square hollow, heated as it is, and standing round the edges of the Place, begin to sound their Drums, or other Instruments, continuing so to do, while the
Ʋ n-hoof'd
and
Tender-Footed Camel,
all impatient of the
Heat,
first draws up one
Leg,
then another, changing swifter, as the Heat encreasing, burns his Feet with greater Anguish, till at last, he rears himself an end, and capers nimbly on his
hinder Feet,
as if he strove to imitate a
Dancer.
A lazy kind of Living, on the Labours of a Beast.
THUS they use him, till by frequent
Practice,
the unwellcome
smart
has made impression on the
Creature's Memory
; at which time, they begin to lead him up and down the City; where at certain Corners of the Noted Streets, they suddenly strike up the Tunes, they us'd to play, which the poor Beast no sooner hears, but dreading the Hot-Stones, he formerly was wont to feel, when he had heard such
Musick,
he begins to
Dance,
and
Skip
about with strange Agility, which soon becomes not only easy, but even natural to his Performance, and is daily practis'd by him, to divert the
Common People,
who assemble in great Crowds to see the Sport, and pay the Owner a small Sum by
voluntary Contribution.
The ancient
Memphis.
THE ancient
Memphis,
which has been by many Authors falsly thought the City, now
Grand Cairo,
was of old, the Residence of
Egypts Monarchs,
flourishing in all the
Grandeur,
Wealth and Royalty cou'd Crown her Sons with; here they kept their
Apis,
and had once a stately
Temple,
Sacred to his Worship; here also stood the Glorious
Temple
of the
Goddess Venus,
and a thousand Noble
Monuments
of
Power,
and
Antiquity,
all buried now, and only showing their defac'd and broken Reliques, Great in Ruin, and
amazingly Majestic
in those Heaps of Dust, wherein now lie confus'dly mingled,
Marble Pillars, Stately Towrs,
and
Batter'd Statues
of prodigious Workmanship.
Why so call'd.
THIS
ancient City
took the Name of
Memphis,
from the Daughter of
King Ogdo,
whom the
Poets
feign to have been
Ravish'd
by
Egyptian Nilus,
in the Form of a large
Bull.
Its Situation.
It stood about five Miles to the
South-East
of the so celebrated
Pyramids of Egypt,
and not above two Miles
full West
of
Nilus,
distant from
Grand Cairo,
sixteen Miles or somewhat over.
Babylon
of
Egypt
why so nam'd.
NOT distant far from the
South-side
of
Cairo,
lie the
ruinated Ruins
of
Egyptian Babylon,
which took that ancient Name from certain
Babylonian Colonies,
who, here assembling, join'd their Parties in one Body, and sollicited a Licence from the
King of Egypt,
to lay out a considerable Sum of Money in the Purchase of a Spot of Ground, whereon to build a Place of Habitation.
THEY obtain'd a Grant from the
then Reigning Ptolemy,
for the Possession of the Land, on which they built the Town, I lately call'd, according to its
Old Denomination, Babylon,
which now has chang'd its Name to that of
Misul-Hetic,
and is known to all the People of this Country by the
last nam'd Appellation,
which I think may claim
Arabian Etymology.
The Ruins of a stately Cistern.
AMONG the numerous
Ruins,
whose confus'd Appearances amuse a Traveller, there is at
Babylon,
the broken remnant of a spacious
Cistern,
formerly a mighty and stupendious Labour, and receiving Water from the River
Nilus,
to supply the
Castle
lately mention'd, thro' a very strong and artful
Aquaeduct,
supported on some hundreds of the loftiest
Arches,
Stone cou'd
build,
or Resolution
finish
; nor has
Time
prevail'd so much as yet, but that it is repair'd to a Condition, which enables it to serve a little for the
ancient Ʋ ses,
to whose necessary Practice its well-meaning
Founders
first design'd it.
The Magazines, which
Joseph
built in
Egypt.
NOT far from hence, stand certain
vast unweildy Structures,
of Prodigious Height, and antique Figure, all supported by a Number of
huge Buttresses,
and seeming to remain in that strange form, they bear, to tell the
Modern World,
how their
Deceas'd Forefathers
built before 'em; we were told by the
Egyptians,
that these venerable Piles, were those
Seven Granaries,
or
Publick Magazines,
which
Joseph
built at the Command of
Pharaoh,
to preserve the Product of the
Seven Years Plenty,
which preceeded as long time of dreadfull
Famine.
Repairs have fitted one or two for the same use at present, but the rest are so expos'd to the Inclemencies of Weather, that they cannot be employ'd in such a Service.
The Wonderfull Extent, and Prospect of
Egyptian
Ruins.
THERE is not in the World, a more uncommon, Mortifying Scene, than
Egypt
represents to every Stranger, for above the space of Eighteen Miles, on either side the
River Nilus,
in this part of that depopulated Country; where you cannot Sail a
Hundred Fathoms.
but you must discover, if you look about you, the afflicting Marks of Misery and Desolation, ancient
Turrets
have disrob'd their Tops of that aspiring
Grandeur,
which their Youth once boasted of, and
Hoary Age
has Whiten'd the Remainder of their
Craggy Reliques
with a
Melancholy Aspect,
Heaps of Dirt have Buried Palaces, and every here and there appears the
Half-Sunk Capital,
or
Basis
of some Noble Pillar, those Prodigious Master-pieces of elaborate Art, which once supported the resplendent Roofs of Glitt'ring
Courts,
and
Palaces
of
Princes,
now lie low in rough Obscurity, nor are so much as seen by Passengers, while Cover'd with the
Grass,
which Flourishing in the Destruction of such Stately Pieces, seems to spread with a Malicious Pride, and Triumph in their Downfall.
Moral Reflections on the Worlds uncertainty.
OH! Blind, Willfull, Vain, Mistaken
Man!
Unthinking, Weak, and Shadow-like
Mortality!
Why do we still grasp eagerly at Riches? Why esteem the Transitory Blessings of a Wealthy Splendor? Why delight in Worldly Grandeur, or the Noisy Pomp of
Momentary Majesty,
when not the Stony Scenes of ancient Pride, and countenanc'd Vain-Glory, can preserve the Memory of their forgotten Founders, but the Stongest and most Stately Cities of the
Ʋ niverse
submit their
Marble
to the
Teeth of Time,
and prove in
Ruins,
the undoubted Truth of
Ovid
's elegant Reflections on the Worlds uncertainty.
Ovid Met. L.
15.
—Sic tempore verti
Cernimus, atque illas assumere robora Gentes,
Concidere Has. Sic magna fuit censuque Virisque,
Perque decem poluit tanlum dare sanguinis annos,
Nunc humilis veteres tantummodo
Troja
ruinas,
Et pro Divitiis tumulos ostendit avorum.
Clara fuit
Sparte:
magnae viguêre
Mycenae:
Nec non
Cecropiae;
nec non
Amphionis
arces.
Vile solum
Sparte
est; altae cecidêre
Mycenae;
Oedipodioniae
quid sunt nisi fabula
Thebae?
Quid
Pandioniae
restant nisi Nomen
Athenae?
Thus,
in the Course of Time,
strange
Turns
we see,
Some Nations
Rais'd,
whilst others
Ruin'd
be,
Ev'n
Troy
—a Town
of old,
so
Rich,
so
Great,
That Spilt such
Seas of Blood
in Ten long Years Debate,
Now lowly Prostrate,
Ruins only
knows,
And her
Sons Tombs,
instead of
Riches,
shows;
Sparta
was Great, so was
Mycena
too,
Athens
and
Thebes
un-number'd Splendors knew,
Yet is this
Sparta now
a
Dunghill
grown,
And proud
Mycena
's Tow'rs are
overthrown
;
What but a
Fable
does of
Thebes
remain,
Where
Royal Oedipus
once held his Reign?
Or where Survives the Great
Pandion
's Fame,
But in lost
Athens,
now an empty Name?
NOW let us hasten from the
Ruins
of these fallen
Cities,
to some more lasting Structures, which in spite of
Time,
have proudly stood
from Age to Age,
and baffled strangely all the Shocks of
Age
or
Accident.
CHAP. XXXIV. Of the
Pyramids
of
Egypt,
and of several New Discoveries therein, which were never yet Publish'd.
The Pyramids of
Egypt.
UPON the
Western
Side of the aforesaid
Memphis,
near the Borders of the
Lybian Desart,
stand those vast and tow'ring
Pyramids,
which have so long amus'd the World, with strange Reflections on the strong
Ambition,
and vain glorious
Aim
of their aspiring
Founders:
But before I enter on a full Description of their
Building, Number, Form
and
Situation,
'twill not be amiss to tell my Reader, that I look upon it, as a needless trouble, to repeat the many various Notions and receiv'd Opinions of the
ancient World,
concerning the
Original Design
of such
Stupendious Fabricks.
What design'd for, by their Founders.
FOR it is now an uncontested and apparent Truth, that they were first design'd, as lasting
Sepulchres,
wherein such
Monarchs,
as might claim Interment in those lofty
Mausolaeums,
were induc'd to hope, they might outlive their
Dissolutions,
and continue known to
after Ages,
by the striking Grandeur of their barbarous Monuments.
TO this Opinion, not to mention
Pliny, Strabo, Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus,
and many other
ancient Writers, Lucan
seems to be a strict Adherer, especially in his
eighth Book,
where he exclaims against the base Injustice of
King Ptolemy,
upon the account of
Pompey
's Murder in the following Verses.
Lucan. l.
8.
Ʋ ltima Lageae stirpis peritura
que
Proles,
Degener, incestae sceptris cessure sororis,
Cum tibi sacrato Macedon servetur in antro,
Et regum cineres extructo monte quiescant,
Cum Ptolemaeorum manes seriem
que
pudendam
Pyramides claudant, indina
que
Mausolea;
Littora
Pompejum
feriunt, truncus
que
vadosis
Huc illuc jactatur aquis.
Degenerate
Last
of
Lagu's
Failing Race,
To an
Incestuous Sister
yielding Place;
Must
Pompey's Headless Body,
Sea-wash'd o'er,
Be dash'd by
swelling Surges
on the Shoar?
Whilst
you
the
Macedonian
's Ashes keep,
And
Royal Relicks
in tall Buildings sleep,
While the base
Ptolemy
's Ignobler Race,
Vast
Pyramids
Entomb, and
Mausolaeums
grace.
AND thus in many other Places the above-nam'd Author, takes occasion to repeat his Notions of the Use, to which the Ancients put the
Pyramids.
One of the Worlds seven Wonders.
'TIS
certain,
and has been allow'd in every
Age,
to whom these
mighty Piles
were known, that they deserv'd the Character, they ever bore, of one of those Stupendious
Prodigies,
which justly merited the Title of the
Worlds Seven Wonders:
Their amazing height, an
Old Greek Writer
nicely touches on, as follows,
An old
Greek
Writer on the Pyramids.
In
faithless Stories
an Account is giv'n,
That, when
Titanian
Arms assaulted
Heav'n,
Pelion
and
Ossa
from the Earth they drew,
And at the Skys those
Rocky
Mountains threw.
But those tall
Pyramids,
near
Nilus
found,
O'erlooking with
proud Heads
the distant Ground,
Guide to the
Realms above
by sure degrees,
And kiss the
golden Stars,
which form the
Pleiades.
The number of the Pyramids.
THE
Pyramids
extend themselves for many Miles, along the
Desart,
and are near Fourscore in Number, most of which are small, and inconsiderable in respect of
Three,
which stand within a little space of one another, and are built upon a certain
Hill of Sand,
which covers
Rocks
of a stupendious depth and wond'rous magnitude.
The height and bulk of the Great Pyramid.
THE
Altitude
in perpendicular, of the most large and stately
Pyramid,
is near five hundred
English Feet,
but if we take the
Height,
as it inclines ascending towards the Point, we find it equal to the
Latitude
of its prodigious
Basis,
every way seven hundred Foot, by moderate Computation.
The second and a third.
THE second
Pyramid
is equal to the first in
Height,
and not above a Bow Shot distant from it; but the
third
appearing scarce half finish'd, leaves no room to make Comparisons, and only gives us Cause to think, by the Proportion, it
at present
bears, that, had it been compleated, as the others are, it had been
higher far,
and more polite than either of the former.
The Stones of which the first is built.
THE first Great
Pyramid
is built of vast and solid Stones, which some pretend were brought from
Quarries
in the Mountains of
Arabia
; but the gross Absurdity of that Opinion, is extreamly evident from many Demonstrations, but by none more fully dis-anull'd than the
remaining Pieces of Sawn Stone,
which lying up and down upon the
Sand
about the
Pyramid,
sufficiently convince a thinking Man, that they were dug no farther off, than from the solid
Rocks
not many Foot below the Surface of the Desart.
SOME Stones, and those not seldom met with, near the top of this amazing
Structure,
are no less than five and twenty, often thirty Foot in length, and depth proportionable: It is a wonderful but very pleasant and engaging Prospect, to observe the
Art
and strange
Oeconomy,
whereby this mighty
Pyramid,
was built so loftily.
To be ascended on the out-side.
You may ascend it gradually on the
external Sides,
or
Steps,
which lead you safely to the
Summit
of the
Building.
The Architecture of the Pyramids.
ABOUT the bottom of the
Pyramid,
there runs a strong
degree
of Stone, near five Foot high and four in breadth, upon the
inner Edges
of which round Degree is plac'd another, somewhat smaller, upon that a third, yet smaller than the second, on that third a fourth, still leaning
inwards
more and more, as it advances in its
Altitude,
and growing less and less, till at the top thereof, it forms a
Square,
consisting of
three several Stones,
close knit together, in the compass of about fifteen or sixteen Foot of
English Measure.
The Form thereof, and number of the Steps.
THUS are the four Sides, for I shou'd have inform'd you, that the
Pyramid
is
Quadrilateral,
encompass'd by above two hundred of these vast
Degrees
or
Steps,
of different Height and Magnitude, which appear like long and narrow
Walking Places,
but are now so much decay'd by
Time
and
Weather,
that it is a dangerous Trial to attempt ascending, but in certain Places, where the
Stones
continue firm, unbroken, and of promising Appearance.
The Founder of the greatest Pyramid.
THIS
Pyramid
is said to have been built by
Cheops, King of Egypt,
who by that Amusement, kept his Subjects from the dangerous
Rust
of a
Rebellious Idleness,
and erected for himself a
Mausolaeum
so prodigious, that it has already stood almost four thousand Years, and may, according to the Dictates of undoubted probability, continue near as long again, before 'tis ruin'd.
How long in Building.
SO vast was the
Command,
and great the
Labour,
requisite to carry on so strange an Undertaking, that for the space of twenty Years, there were employ'd about the building it, above three hundred, threescore thousand constant Workmen.
The second Pyramid.
THE Stones, whereof the second
Pyramid
is built, are
white,
and
shining,
not to be ascended on the
out-side,
which is very smooth, and has its sides extreamly equal.
By whom built.
This
Pyramid,
as
Herodotus
and some other Writers tell us, was Originally built by
Cephron,
Brother to
King Cheops
the Great
Founder
of the former.
The third Pyramid.
THE third,
unfinish'd Pyramid,
is built of a fine, hard, bright, white and clearer kind of
Stone
than either of the rest, which some,
tho' groundlessly,
affirm to have been brought, from the remotest Mountains of the sultry
Aethiopia.
'TIS more than probable, this Fable sprang from those
Old Writers
Observations of a mighty quantity of
Theban Marble,
not unlike the Product of an
Aethiopian Quarry,
which now lies in heaps, not far from this third
Pyramid,
and with which Stone, perhaps, they anciently design'd to cover it, but were prevented by some Cause, which
God
alone is capable of telling us.
The several Persons, said to be its Founders.
THERE go almost an Hundred different Stories, of the Founding of this
Pyramid,
some say, 'twas built by
Macerinus
Son to
Cheops King of Egypt
; some say by
Dorica
a
Courtezan
or
Harlot
; some again make mention of another famous
Strumpet, Aesop
's
Fellow Slave,
call'd
Rhodope,
who, when grown Rich by frequent
Prostitution,
built this
Pile
to eternize her Memory.
A Pleasant Story of the Building a
Pyramid.
ANOTHER Story gives a strange Romantic Air to the Original hereof, and tells us how the late-nam'd
Rhodope,
Inhabiting the City of
Naucretis,
went one Day to
Wash
and
Bath
herself in a delightfull
Fountain,
in the Middle of her Garden, and that leaving all her
Cloathes
upon the Verdant
Brink,
a sharp-Ey'd
Eagle
seiz'd upon her
Shooe
and bearing it aloft, Flew out of Sight, nor staid a Moment, till he came to
Memphis,
where he drop'd it in the Lap of
Amasis,
then
King of Egypt,
who surpriz'd at the Extraordinary event, and pleas'd extreamly with the shape and Beauty of the
Lady
's
Shooe,
gave Orders instantly, that strict enquiry shou'd be made about his
Kingdom,
for the Owner of it, who at last, was found, and being brought to
Memphis,
was immediately declar'd the
Wife
of
Amasis,
with whom she Reign'd for many Years, as
Queen of Egypt,
and upon her Death, receiv'd a Stately Mark of his Affection to her Person, in the Orders, which he gave for the erecting over her so fine a
Monument.
The Remoter
Pyramids.
THERE are but very few of the Remoter
Pyramids,
whose forms or magnitude deserve the Trouble of a Strangers Observation, yet have all been closely shut
from Age to Age,
whereby the wisest Writers of
Antiquity
itsself, have been enabled to report no more, than what they
guess'd at Randam,
or receiv'd
Traditionally
from the vulgar notions.
Shut close in all Ages.
I know not why the Entrances of all the
Pyramids,
(the great one only still excepted) were originally clos'd against the view of an Adventurous Curiosity, nor by what strange means they have so many Ages 'scap'd Discovery, from the Ingenious
Scrutinies,
and nice
Inspections
of our later
Ancestors,
or the Refin'd and more Polite Inhabitants of
Egypt,
when converted to the
Doctrine
of the
Christian Faith.
The Superstition of the People, the cause thereof.
BUT 'twill be nothing difficult to guess the Reason of their being still kept close, from the Establishment of
Turkish
Government, in that subverted Country; for as the ancient Nature of the
true Egyptians,
was defil'd extreamly with the
Mud
of
Superstition,
and exceeding prone to look on
Omens,
and all
Insignificant
and
Idle
Observations, as the sure
Proclaimers
of
Portentous Prodigies,
that senseless
Vice
or
Humour
has encreas'd
of late,
to
double Folly,
by the Curs'd
Commixture
of their own
erroneous Principles,
and the
Delusive Superstitious Tenets
of the fond
Mahometans.
The Madness of Bigotted Zeal.
THIS Ill-contriv'd
Conjunction
of Ignoble Follies, kept back Inclination to the search of Knowledge, and to such
amazing Height
did their
Resentment
fly, when any Man, of whatsoever
Quality
he was, presum'd to offer at an Entrance of the
Pyramids,
that the desires, which some
Bashaws
of
Cairo
have thought fit to mention upon that account, have caus'd such
Mutinies
in the distracted Nation, as the
Sword of Justice
was too weak to
Pacifie.
NOR will it be unpleasant to the Reader to inform himself of the
Validity
of their
Traditions,
by reflecting
seriously
upon the following notion, which
till very lately,
was esteem'd as
Orthodox.
A pleasant Notion of the
Egyptians,
relating to
Moses,
and the Magicians.
THEY told such
Travellers,
as ask'd them, why the Entrances of every
Pyramid
but one, were clos'd so strongly, That the
Sorcerer Moses,
for it seems, they so distinguish'd
that Illustrious Prophet,
having wasted
Egypt
by
Ten Grievous Plagues,
their Great
Magicians
vainly strove to check the Mischiefs, he design'd and
did
them.
The Ten Plagues of
Egypt,
imprison'd in the Pyramids.
BUT at last, when tedious Practices of vain Experiments convinc'd them plainly of their want of Power, to stand unshock'd against the
Miracles,
the
Hebrew
shew'd them, they resolv'd to try another way; and finding it impossible to hurt the Person of the
hated Moses,
they invented strange and admirable
Talismans,
whereon, by fixing certain
Hieroglyphic Characters,
and shutting them securely up within the
Pyramids,
they instantly found means to free themselves from all those
Plagues,
superior Power had brought upon them.
AND hence, the Superstitious Natives of this Country, believing, those vast Piles, lock'd in their Miseries, prohibited the opening any of the
Pyramids,
least on admission of
excluded Air,
the Charms upon the
Talismans
shou'd lose their Power, and all the
Plagues
rush out again, and overwhelm the Nation with impetuous Violence.
A resolute Bashaw of
Cairo.
HOWEVER, notwithstanding the Antiquity and Strength of this
Egyptian Superstition,
some Years since, when I was happily at
Cairo,
there arriv'd a new
Bashaw
from
Constantinople,
a Man of an uncommon Share of Courage and Ambition, eagerly desirous of encreasing
Knowledge,
and with pleasure snatching every Opportunity, which offer'd a Temptation to his swelling
Curiosity.
THIS Man, who knew full well the Power, he was Master of, and scorn'd to fear the
Insults
of a poor unthinking
Mob,
which he was sent to Govern, fram'd a bold and sudden Resolution to inform himself immediately, by the convincing Proofs of
Ocular
Demonstration, of the various Wonders and surprizing Strokes of Art, which he had often heard discours'd of, on occasionally mentioning the
Pyramids
of
Egypt.
A Journey to the Pyramids.
NO sooner was his Resolution spread abroad, than he perceiv'd a thousand Marks of
Discontent
and
Anger
in the Common People; but despising those effects of
Ignorance
and
Folly,
he prepar'd convenient Instruments of every kind, and ordering a necessary number of his Servants to attend his Person, took a Journey to these famous
Pyramids,
in order to observe the nature of their Buildings, and procure himself a great and lasting Satisfaction, in the wish'd for Pleasure of some new
Discoveries.
NOR fell he short in his expected ends of going thither, and as the Discoveries, he made, were such, as never yet were told the World, it will not be unwelcome, since my self and five more
Christian Travellers
were suffer'd to accompany him, if I here particularize the
gradual
advances, which, with curious notice of the most
minute,
or
great
remark,
then
led us leisurely thro' every part of that stupendious Fabrick.
The Entrance of the greatest Pyramid.
ARRIVING at the Place, where stands the great and first nam'd
Pyramid,
we all ascended a steep Hill of Sand, near forty Foot in height, upon the
Northern
side thereof, which brought us to the Entrance, a
Dark Hole,
not four Foot broad, nor in its height exceeding such a Measure, so that it appear'd design'd for the reception of a Stone to close that Mouth, and so prevent
the Times to come,
from aiming at the Knowledge of those
silent Mansions
of imperious Death, whose undisturb'd and darksom Hollows kept the Bodies of departed Majesty.
A noisome narrow Passage.
WE enter'd after certain
Guides,
who undertook our Conduct thro' this dismal Passage, and descended, as upon the steepness of some narrow Hill, almost one hundred Foot before we reach'd the bottom, and were all that while oblig'd to
stoop,
or rather
crawl
along with
Torches
in our Hands,
annoy'd
extreamly by the suffocating heat and closeness of the Place, but more by certain black and dreadful
Batts,
a kind of Bird, whose Shape is frightful, and her Wings like Leather, flying
up
and
down,
and oftentimes with dangerous Violence repuls'd, by striking on the Heads or Faces of such
Travellers,
as entering
there,
must necessarily encounter them.
An open space.
THE
bottom
of this
close
and
gloomy
way admits us to a Place, considerably broad, and of an height, which frees us from the great uneasiness of stooping for a Passage; all the Stones about this space are broken and irregular, but yet appear to have been render'd so by force, because not answerable in Proportion, or Politeness to the universal Harmony, which crowns the other Building.
The first Gallery of the Pyramid.
FROM
hence
we were oblig'd to clamber up an huge and massy kind of Stone, near ten Foot high, which brought us to the entrance of the lowest
Gallery,
whose Pavement, of a polish'd white and shining Marble, gently rises with a smooth
acclivity
; the breadth thereof was near five Foot, the height a little more, the Sides and Roof were flagg'd with Stones, of an unpolish'd, rough, and softer Substance than the Marble of the Pavement; the height of this first Gallery, exceeded, rather than fell short of six score Foot of
English
Measure.
THIS
Gallery
was terminated by a very thick and solid Wall, thro' which a
Hole,
about the bigness of the first, by which we entred to the
Pyramid,
admitted us directly to another
Gallery,
of very fine and stately
Workmanship,
but
in its length
inferior to the former;
A very dreadful horrid Well.
hence we entred on an open space, which led us to the Brink of a most dreadful
Well,
a strange Descent of such
forbidding horror
in its black appearance, that the very apprehensions of its
Depth
and
Danger,
has for many Ages frightned the desire of Curious Men, from
even aiming
at a further Satisfaction, than by passing hastily along its edges, to attain the entrance of another Passage, leading to Apartments, which I shall describe
hereafter:
Here we stop'd, and by direction from the
Grand Bashaw,
who was
himself
amongst us with a lighted Torch, surrounded the Descent, whose Mouth was near three Yards in its
Diameter.
The Bottom how discovered.
THE Light, occasion'd by so many Torches, was by far too weak to penetrate the thickness of this gloomy Place, so that finding it impossible by
their
Assistance, to perceive the
bottom
of the
Well,
we stood by, we contriv'd to cast in certain Balls of
Oakam,
dipt in
Pitch
or other fit
bituminous
Ingredients, to prepare them for the
blazing Offices,
they might be put to.
THESE Balls, once set on fire and thrown down, discover'd, at the bottom of the Pit, a strange disorder'd heap of
Sand
and
Rubbish
; it was near ten Yards in
depth,
and had no Stairs, whereby Descent had formerly been made, but certain Hollows, cut like
Pidgeon-Holes,
quite round the inside of the Well, directed those, who would think fit to venture down, to use promiscuously their Hands and Feet, and so enable them to satisfy their Curiosity, without great danger to their Persons.
How clear'd from Rubbish.
REVOLVING Ages of continued Time had Rob'd this
Well
of a considerable
Depth,
by filling up great part with Sand and Stones, by Accident thrown thither, but this weak Obstacle the Resolute
Bashaw
found present means to render void, by making several of his Men descend and Dig away, whate'er they met with (Stone excepted) which by some above, was instantly drawn up in little Baskets, and by those means a free Passage open'd to the solid Bottom of this
Rocky Hollow.
A new Discovery at the Bottom of a Well.
THERE the
Well
grows vastly larger, and in
Circular extent
is dug on every side much deeper, in the same degree
(to use an ordinary Comparison)
as is the Body of a common Bottle to the Neck thereof; this great Additional extent of space is Grac'd, far rather than supported, by a Stately Circle of fine Pillars of
Thebaic Marble,
or at least a Stone, not much unlike it: And in the Center of the Circle, which those Pillars form, there stands an ancient
Monument,
the
Tomb
perhaps of that great
Architect,
who built the
Pyramid.
A Tomb found there.
THE
Tomb
exceeds not much six
Foot
in
Length
; its
Breadth
is hardly four, appearing hewn from the
Main Rock,
but cover'd with a flat of Polish'd Marble, on the top whereof, as on the sides of the whole
Tomb,
were strangely carv'd a Thousand
Hieroglyphic Images
and
odd Devices.
A Wooden Coffin in it.
WE found it no great labour to remove the
Stone,
which cover'd the
Sepulchre,
and were much amaz'd, when, contrary to expectation, we beheld therein a
Wooden Coffin,
or at least appearing to be
Wood
by
Touch
and
Figure.
UPON the
Coffin Lid
were represented, in a kind of
Inlaid gilt Work,
the distinct and several Figures following.
Hieroglyphics
on the Coffin Lid.
AN
Eagle
first appear'd upon a sort of Throne, supported by four Wing'd Faces, not unlike the notions, we conceive of
Cherubims
; but by their swelling Cheeks and blustering Breath, sent forth four different ways, I rather guess they were at first, design'd to represent the four great Winds of
Heaven.
THE
Eagle
with severe and sullen aspect lookt directly at a Man, who held in his
Right
Hand
a pair of Compasses,
and had his
Left
extended in a form, which represented him demanding Mercy, while half sinking in an opening Gulph, which loosening likewise the Foundations of a
Towring Pyramid,
which stood before him;
that also
seem'd just Tumbling after him, kick'd downward by the Foot of an old Man, whose
Right
Hand held a
Scyth,
while with his
Left
he drew along a
Cloud,
which he appear'd designing to throw over both the
Man
and
Pyramid,
thereby to cover their appearance in a thick obscurity.
The meaning of them.
NOW among the many
Hieroglyphic Images,
whereby the
Old Egyptians
represented
GOD,
they often chose the
Eagle
in regard to the
sharp Sightedness,
that Bird is fam'd for, as an Emblem to express his Attribute of sure
Omniscience,
as the four Winds
there
plac'd, were meant to represent the vast extent of his unbounded Power, over every Corner of the World, the Winds can blow upon.
THE
Eagle
's looking so severely on the falling Man, may probably denote
God's
anger at the
Pride
and
Vanity,
wherewith he had indulg'd his Merits, on the Building that huge Fabrick, which appear'd before him;
The Authors Opinion, whose the Tomb was.
for I take this sinking Man to have been done, for the Great
Architect
of the
Egyptian Pyramids.
THE tumbling of the
Pyramid
I guess to signify, that tho' the Builder perish'd first, yet even the strongest Master Pieces of his artful Labour must succeed him in a sure, tho' slower Downfall; and to shew that nothing, tho' of never so stupendious Strength and Grandeur, can resist the Shocks of powerful Time.
Old Time himself
there represented, spurning down the Building, spreads a Cloud of Darkness over it, to prove that he is not alone enabled to destroy the pompous Pageantries of Human Ostentation, but to bury
even the Memory
of their o'erthrown Existence in a black Obscurity.
SO that, if I may be allow'd to have guess'd right, in the
Interpretation
of these
Hieroglyphic Figures,
they'll be found to signify as much, as if in
Common Characters,
we should set down the following Sentences.
The Hieroglyphic Word for Sense Translated.
Almighty God, whose undisputed Power extends it self to
East, North, West
and
South,
and every Corner of the spacious Ʋ niverse, Sees and despises Human Insolence, for while Men vainly think to Raise themselves beyond Mortality, by some proud Ʋ ndertaking, they are overthrown by time, and buried with their Labours, in a dusky Cloud of ever dark Oblivion.
FROM these
perswasive Circumstances,
I profess my self induc'd to think this Monument contain'd the Body, as I said before, of him, who built this
wond'rous Pyramid
:
The Coffin broke open.
But perhaps the Reader will be more inclinable to that Opinion, when I tell him that the
Coffin,
by Command of the
Bashaw,
was with great difficulty forcibly
broke open
by the Blows of
Pick-Axes,
and that we found therein the undiminish'd Body of a perfect Man,
Embalm'd,
and wrap'd about with many thousand folds of
Aromatic Searcloth,
like the
Mummies,
which I shall at large describe in the seven and thirtieth Chapter.
A Mummy found in it, with Hieroglyphics on his Breast.
THOSE Folds, wherewith his Breast was cover'd, seem'd to have been
varnish'd over
with a lasting kind of
glewy Liquor,
upon which were represented all the various sorts of Instruments, us'd of old by the Professors of encourag'd
Architecture.
WHEN we had seen as much as we coul'd possibly discover, in the
Tomb,
the Body was again enclos'd, as it had been before; and the
abovenam'd Marble Cover
plac'd again upon the Sepulchre;
A further search of new Discoveries.
from whence we went about the
Circle,
in the midst of which we found the
Monument,
to try, if we could find no Passage, that might lead us on to new Discoveries of something, which we
then
began to form strong hopes of meeting with.
Moral Reflections.
METHOUGHTS the strange disorder'd heaps of
Dust
and
broken Stones,
o'er which we walk'd, and the uncertainty we had, of knowing, when those massy Piles were built, and to what
Founder
they have ow'd their
Origin,
then struck me deeply with a melancholy Thought, and often brought to my remembrance the Reflections of an
Old Greek Poet,
on the arbitrary Power, which
Time
's Prerogative entitles him to exercise o'er
frail Mortality.
The length of Time shocks Monuments of Stone,
Even
I'm it self
must
Time
's Dominion own;
All Things on Earth his Powerful Rule obey,
And fall before his Arm, in one appointed way.
A Stone Door.
WE walk'd
sometime
about the Place, and with our
Torches
narrowly inspected every thing, we pass'd by, till
at last
we spy'd
a Door of Stone,
so closely shut, and joyning with the Wall, that 'twas not easily distinguish'd from it;
here,
believing we should meet with somewhat, worth our Observation, several Men were order'd to come forward, and employ their
Pick-Axes
and
other Instruments
in forcing open this discover'd Place, which seem'd to offer us no other hopes of gaining Entrance.
Broke open.
'TWAS not without much difficulty, that the
Arts,
they us'd, at last prevail'd; the Door flew open with a mighty violence, and caus'd a sort of
frightful Sound,
as sudden as a
Thunder Clap
; but what was most remarkable, was, that the
Hinges,
upon which it turn'd, were all of
Stone,
the Joynts contriv'd with an amazing Ingenuity, to knit together
close
and
admirably,
held by
certain strong and clumsy Iron Pins,
whereby they were for ever hinder'd from all possibility of
accidental loosning.
Dangerous Vapours.
I know not, how so dry a place, as this, contain'd such damp and noxious
Vapours,
as at the surprizing opening of the
Door above-nam'd,
presently extinguish'd
several Torches,
and struck
dead,
for some considerable time,
two sturdy Labourers,
who were foremost of the Company.
FOREWARN'D by the Example of these Men, we
cautiously
proceeded to inspect the entrance of a
dismal Cavity,
and that we might the better see the nature of the Place, cast in before us many of the
Balls,
I lately spoke of, which, by flaming greatly, did not only clear the Prospect of that
gloomy Passage,
but diffus'd an efficacious kind of
Warmth,
How dissipated.
which, dissipating soon the hurtful Vapours, or unwholesome Closeness of the Place, encourag'd us to enter with our
lighted Torches.
The Discovery of many subterraneous Chambers.
WE advanc'd with equal
Pleasure
and
Amazement
thro' a very lofty, broad, arch'd way, on either side whereof were hewn
Elaborately
from the solid Rock, great numbers of square Chambers, every one of which had
small low Benches,
carv'd quite round it; and in some, appear'd large
Niches
of an exquisite Contrivance, but
convincing,
or at least
inducing
us to think, they were design'd for
other Ʋ ses,
by their not retaining any Marks of having
ever
held the Burden of a
Statue.
Hieroglyphic Figures.
UPON the Sides, Floor, Roof, and the above-nam'd Benches, we discover'd plainly
certain ancient Hieroglyphics,
most of which were
unintelligible,
or at least extreamly
difficult
to all our Apprehensions.
SOME
however,
I took pains to think upon, and flatter'd my Belief with the Opinion, that I could Interpret their
Significations,
and among the rest it may not be unpleasant, should I mention
One,
for the
Diversion
of the Reader.
First Figure.
NEAR half a Foot above the Bench, the
Hieroglyphic
took beginning in the figure of an
Infant,
sleeping in a Cradle on the lowermost Stair of
Ten,
which reaching to the Roof upon the uppermost supported an
Old Man,
extreamly feble in his Aspect, bending with the Weight of
Age
and
Misery,
and seeming ready to
fall down
and
die
immediately.
Second Figure.
A Man, who seem'd to be of
Middle Age,
was represented on the sixth or seventh Step, his
left Hand
full of certain
Chains,
in number equal to the Stairs, he had ascended; to the respective
ends
of each long Chain, were fastned many things like
Globes,
of different sizes; his
right Hand
seem'd with eagerness employ'd, in grasping many other Chains, as he ascended further.
These Figures, what design'd to represent.
THE Stairs, which, as I said before, were
Ten
in number, were intended (as I guess'd) to represent the
Ten Great Stages
of our human Life, which very rarely goes beyond
one hundred Years:
The Child
there
sleeping in a Cradle on the lowest Stair, I take to signify the ten first Years of
helpless Infancy:
The
Weak Old Man
was
Lifes great Period,
and the utmost Age of
frail Mortality.
THE Man of
Middle Age,
upon the sixth or seventh Stair, was
nothing,
but an
Emblem
of our Mortal Life, 'twixt
Theescore Years
and
Seventy
: The Chains with
Globes
of different sizes, fastned to one end, which he endeavour'd eagerly to grasp, as he ascended, signifi'd no more than that a Man, who Travels toward
Old Age,
should make good use of
every Moment,
in collecting
Knowledge,
and retaining it with resolution;
How the old
Egyptians
in Hieroglyphics, represented Wisdom.
for the
Old Egyptians
represented
Wisdom
by the
Hieroglyphic Figure
of a
Globe
or
Circle,
to denote that it was boundless, and the different Magnitudes of all those Balls express'd the great variety of
Worth
in
Arts
and
Sciences.
THE Application therefore of this
Hieroglyphical Contrivance,
seems
conspicuous
to my
probably mistaken Judgement,
which, by putting the abovenam'd Thoughts together, fram'd immediately the following Interpretation of the
dubious Emblem.
The Interpretation of the Hieroglyphic.
He, who will hope to reach a good Old Age, and bear the Weaknesses and great Infirmities, 'tis always subject to, must never fail in every Stage of Life, he passes thro', to gather
Wisdom
and improve his Mind with
Learning
and
Morality.
Moral Reflections.
AND excellently Good is the Advice, this admirable
Hieroglyphic
gives Mankind; how heavily and full of sorrow sits
Old Age,
on that unhappy Wretch, who in the fruitless Journey of his
growing Life,
has still omitted all his Opportunities of laying up the
Treasure,
of a serious
Contemplation,
or
improv'd Capacity,
whereby to soften the unpleasant
harshness
of the Burthen,
Time mispent
has laid upon his Shoulders.
BUT the
Wiser Man,
who never knew to live in vain, but daily gathers an
encreasing Stock
of
Learning
and
Discretion,
to
enrich
the dry and barren
Soil, Old Age
must bring him to, will never feel the Stings of
Ignorance
and discontented
Solitude
; but, when he finds himself decay'd in
Strength of Body,
can reflect with
Solon
on the
Vertues
of his
Mind,
and banish
Grief
in the transporting Repetition of the following Sentence.
A Saying of
Solon.
'Tis true, I grow
more Old,
but if I do,
As I wax
Older,
I wax
Wiser
too.
THE Reader must not blame me for presuming to
Interpret
the abovenam'd
Hieroglyphics,
since the wonderful variety of
Fancy,
they afford a Subject for, gives
scope
enough to every Man's Opinion, and the
dubious
Meaning, cloak'd in their Disguise, may very easily
mislead
our
Judgment.
A Passage stop'd with Rubbish.
AFTER we had pass'd with
gradual
Advances, from one Chamber to another, we arriv'd
at last,
at what repuls'd our eager Curiosity, tho'
probably
it was not
anciently
the uttermost Extent of those strange
subterraneous Hollows
; there we found the Passage quite
choak'd up
with
Stones
and
Rubbish,
nor cou'd force an
entrance
any farther, tho' we zealously endeavour'd by
an universal Labour
to remove the Obstacle.
Several Opinions on the use, the Caverns were design'd for.
GOD only knows, how these vast heaps of
Dirt
and
Ruins
came Originally
there,
and what remains
unseen
behind them; possibly there may be found in
future Times,
some wonderful Conveyances for
Water,
as the common Notion seems inclin'd to credit, or
perhaps
these Chambers were design'd of old for
Tombs
; or
probably
they were the
Habitations
of a kind of
ancient Priests,
who liv'd the Life of a
secluded Votary,
or
melancholy Hermit,
in or near the doleful
Monument
of some Great
Prince,
or Man of
Honour,
and had all the
Necessaries
of their
Life
provided
daily
by the
Legacies
of the
Deceas'd.
The Author's own Opinion.
INDEED I am the most inclinable to a
Belief
of this last
Guess,
for many Reasons;
two especially,
the first, because the numerous
Hieroglyphics,
carv'd upon the Rocks, have been such, as seem to 'em fansy'd for the
Contemplation
of
Religious Persons,
and because, had all those Places been design'd for the conveying
Water
from the
River Nilus, Hieroglyphic
had been certainly a very
odd,
and
needless Ornament.
Its Reasons.
AND
secondly,
because
without the Pyramids
in many Places, still remain the
rows of Caves, hewn
deeply in the Rocks, where
formerly
the
superstitious Priests
of
Egypt
us'd to dwell, employ'd in several different Services in the
Romantic
Offices of their
Religion.
WHATE'ER they be, we found the utmost of our
Labour
vainly spent in hopes of gaining further
Knowledge,
so return'd again the way, we had descended, till we came to the beforenam'd
rugged Place,
which brought us to the
brink
of the
deep Well,
I have been speaking of.
A Passage leading to a Square, within the Pyramid.
ASCENDED from the
Well,
we went directly forward, and exactly in a Line with the before-nam'd
second Gallery,
we entred a small
Neck
or
Passage,
scarce five Yards in length, and very narrow; this admitted us to a large
Square,
a little
finer
than the
former,
but in
Magnitude
not far exceeding it; the
Stones
whereof 'tis built, are so extreamly large, and yet so wonderfully closely Jointed, that the nicest Eye can scarce distinguish, where abouts they join together; and it is the
mighty Size
of those prodigious Stones, and the Politeness of their
Workmanship,
that yields such cause for Travellers
Amazement,
when they see the
Fabrick
of those towring
Pyramids.
The dimensions of the Square.
WE found this Square no less than near an hundred Foot, and thence proceeded to a
vaulted Chamber,
sixteen Foot in height, near twenty long, and eighteen broad or thereabouts; the
Stones,
which flagg the angled Roof of this large Chamber, are of
admirable smoothness
and
surprizing magnitude
; but all the
Walls
are plaister'd over with a
Limy Substance,
wonderfully
firm,
and not inferior even to Stone it self, for its appearance or duration.
A Niche in the Wall.
JUST
equidistant
from the
Eastern Angles
of this Room, and on that side thereof, we found a kind of hollow
Niche,
which seem'd
at first
to have been made to hold some
Statue,
as an
Ornament
or
Idol,
but upon a
nice Inspection,
we imagin'd, it was possible, there might be something of a Passage into other
undiscover'd Chambers
of the
Pyramid,
whereupon the Men had Orders to endeavour
by their Instruments,
to find it out.
A new Descent discover'd.
BY Thrusting in their
Iron Betties,
where they thought the
Joints
a little of the
Widest,
they found means to force out a
large Stone,
which stop'd a
Hole,
near
three Foot Square,
and open'd to the view of all the Company a
narrow shelving Passage,
leading downwards with a
dismal Gloominess.
And Enter'd.
WE Entred, and Descended, strangely struck with
Grave-like Smells,
and
dusty odours,
there was cut a Passage down, by certain Stairs, whose Winding Turns, and
Labyrinth of changes
led us on with wonderfull surprize, and eager curiosity, till we imagin'd, we had gone almost the Height of all the
Pyramid
below its Bottom. All the way was
Hewn
laboriously from the
Rock
it self, and commonly so very low and narrow, that but one cou'd possibly go down
full-breasted,
and
that one
was forc'd to stoop with incommodious Forwardness.
A Vaulted Passage, under Ground.
THE Bottom of these
Stairs
at last, admitted us to a low
Vaulted Passage,
strait but narrow, which continu'd in one form, for a considerable way together, letting in a
Glimmering Light,
which look'd like
Day,
thro certain little Holes, of almost undistinguishable size and Workmanship.
A strange Ascent.
IN all the Horrour and Amazement possible, from the surprizing oddness of the Place, we Walk'd in, we proceeded, till we found the straitness of the Passage terminated by another
Winding Stair-Case,
leading
upwards,
in as strange a manner as the other
downwards.
The Passage Clos'd.
WE Ascended here, and found no difference in Form or Magnitude, between this Passage and the former, till we perceiv'd it clos'd by certain
Massy
Stones above our Heads, and several other, on each side the
Stair-Case.
HERE we stop'd, and for a while amus'd our selves with strange
Reflections
on the Nature of the Place, and
Thoughts,
which way we might get out, without returning the same Road, we came; some Passage out, we were assur'd, there was, else cou'd not comprehend the use of all those steps, by which we had ascended.
A Moveable Stone Discover'd.
AT last, some Men, belonging to the
Great Bashaw,
and famous Masters of the Art of
Architecture,
as in Fashion in the
Eastern Countries,
looking earnestly about the Place, perceiv'd one
Stone,
much smaller than the rest, and by the Application of their
Irons,
after many
fruitless efforts,
found it stir, and by
repeated Labours,
so prevail'd at last, that they quite lifted it from out the Place, it stood in, and by forcible addition of a doubled strength, quite thrust it from the Hole, it stop'd.
A Storm of Sand.
BUT we had little reason to be pleas'd with this success, for in the very Moment, that the Stone was lifted out, there Showr'd down on us such
Impetuous Tides
of
Rolling Sand,
that in the space of
half a Minute,
we were almost
Buried Quick,
and
wholly overwhelm'd
with its amazing violence.
NO sooner was this
Sandy Storm,
and our surprize thereat abated, but we open'd all our
Eyes
; and found our selves
half Swallow'd
by it, yet those Men, who stood the nearest to the
Hole,
perceiv'd it wider at the Top than Bottom, and the Stone, which fill'd it, being likewise so, had serv'd to stop it up effectually, and till then, prevented all that Sand, which lay upon it from a possibility of Entrance.
The Author and his Company rise, without the
Pyramid.
ON either side the
Hole,
and
Rock below it,
there were cut
Square Nooks,
wherein by thrusting Hands and Feet, a Man, without great difficulty, might ascend, and by those means we all got up, in order as we stood, and were beyond belief surpriz'd, not only to
behold
an open
Sky,
which plainly shew'd us, that we were without the
Pyramid,
but to
perceive
our selves within a Spacious
Hollow
on the lofty Head of that great
Rock,
which
Pliny,
and the other Writers of Antiquity, distinguish by the Name of
Sphynx.
Plinys
Opinion of the
Sphynx.
THE Author, just abovenam'd, wou'd perswade us to believe, that 'twas the
Sepulchre
of
Amasis King of Egypt,
and of his Opinion are most Modern Writers, who have had occasion in their Books to mention it.
The Authors Dissent from it.
FOR my part I must own, my Inclination leads me to dissent from the belief, that it was ever meant for that Employment, I am rather Tempted to imagine, it was anciently an Idol, from the hollow of whose Head, the Priests deceiv'd the Common People, as they thought convenient.
And the Causes thereof.
AND, indeed, to what end else, were those strange
Subterraneous Passages
contriv'd, which lead from the
Great Pyramid,
and
Caves adjoining,
formerly the Habitations of a
Superstitious Priesthood?
Why, (but for this cause) shou'd they have Carv'd the
Rock,
'tis made of, like an
Aethiopian Virgin?
or why else have made the Head so hollow, and the Passages thereto so very Secret?
Why call'd a
Sphynx.
'TWAS call'd a
Sphynx,
because from the Breasts upwards, it was said to represent a
Virgin,
and a
Lyon
from the Bosom downwards; If there ever was the
Lyons
shape belonging to it, Hills of Sand have cover'd its Appearance, for there now remains no more above the Surface, than the Head and Neck, and something of Foundation, which those Men, who please, may take for Shoulders.
Its Situation, and Dimensions.
IT stands on the
East
side of the great
Pyramid,
but very little distant from it, its Height exceeds not
Seventy Foot,
and is defac'd extreamly by the violence of those
Bigotted Turks,
who hating Images, believe it meritorious, to abolish the Remembrance of their very Being.
How decay'd by time.
THE
Arabs
call it
Abul-hol-hon,
and express a Satisfaction in the hopes, they have conceiv'd, that it will shortly fall, by reason of the Weakness of the Neck, decay'd extreamly by the Shocks of Time, and frequent
Tempests
from the
Neighb'ring Desarts,
whence the
Winds,
from time to time, blow storms of
Sand,
and thence came that, which so unwellcomely invaded us, when first we forc'd the Passage open.
They return to the
Pyramid.
WE plac'd the Stone, as we had found it, by the strength of certain Men, whom the
Bashaw
oblig'd to stay above on purpose, and re-enter (by the common way) the
Pyramid
we were returning to; we fastned in the
Stone,
belonging to the
Niche,
and going back to the abovenam'd
Well,
began to climb another Passage, not far from it.
A Gracefull Gallery.
THIS brought us to a Gracefull
Gallery,
of six and twenty Foot in height, still rising with a very smooth, but somewhat steep, and difficult Acclivity. This
Gallery
is almost Seven Foot broad, and Bench'd with solid Seats of Stone, near two Foot high, on either side, and Flagg'd with Stone, politely join'd, and of a Magnitude, almost surpassing Credit. 'Tis in Length
one Hundred, Fifty and odd Feet,
and leads, where it Terminates, to two Large round
Stately Chambers, opening into one another, and indented Square and certain Nooks, which seem to have been form'd for sitting Places.
A Chamber with a Tomb in it
HENCE a
square
and
Marble Passage,
brought us to the Entrance of the middle Room, the loftiest, most amazing, and prodigious
Building
of the
Pyramid,
the
Chamber,
which contains the
Tomb
of him, who built it, thought, as I have said before, to be
King Cheops,
an
Egyptian Monarch.
The amazing dimensions of the Chamber.
THE length of this vast Room, is five and thirty
English Feet,
the breadth a little more than seventeen, the height within an Inch or two of twenty, and the Sides, Roof, Floor and every Part thereof, flagg'd richly with fine glittering Tables, of
Thebaick Marble,
so prodigiously extensive, that the Place is roof'd by
nine great Squares thereof,
and all the Sides are flagg'd by six vast rows of equal Magnitude, and Beauty inexpressibly surprizing.
Description of the Tomb.
A little distant from the
Western Side
of this great Chamber, stands the
Monument,
I just now mention'd, 'tis about seven Foot in length, three deep, and thereabouts in breadth; 'tis empty and uncover'd, and consists of one entire
Piece
of admirable
Porphyry,
which being struck by any
Swordhilt, Stone,
or other
solid
Body, yields a
sound,
not much inferior to the
Tone
of some
great Bell
in Christian Churches.
A further Passage.
FROM hence, a Passage leads you steeply to some
other Chumbers,
none deserving a particular Description; and continuing to ascend, as far as possible, we search'd in vain for more
Discoveries,
and at last descended by the way, we came.
How the Top is to be ascended.
THE
Top
must be ascended from
without,
and is not, what it seems to be (by reason of the distance) from below, a
Point
; but an exact and perfect
Square,
of fourteen Foot, which space three single Stones contain, join'd artfully together, and all over cover'd with the Names of
Travellers,
of every Nation, there cut deep, and left to tell succeeding Comers, they were there before 'em.
Other Pyramids enter'd.
MANY of the other
Pyramids,
besides the two adjoining this, we enter'd, finding
Tombs
in every one, and several things, worth speaking of, but shou'd I name them all, it wou'd require a greater
Space,
than I can
here
allow my self, and having therefore largely treated of the most remarkable Discoveries, we made, let it suffice to tell the Reader, that I have some Thoughts of publishing a
Treatise,
of these famous
Pyramids,
unmix'd with any other Observations, when the
World's Good-nature
speaks it self
deserving,
or my own
spare Time
appears permitting it.
The uncertainty of their Number.
THE Number of the
Pyramids
was ever, as uncertain, as their
Founders
and
Antiquity,
nor are they all of the same Magnitude, some being far inferior to the
smallest
of the
Three
so celebrated; yet perhaps, were those away, the
meanest
of the
little ones
wou'd well deserve the Name of
Wonders.
Extent of their Situation.
THEY extend themselves in great unequal Distances, for near the space of twenty Miles, and may be seen
at large
from the
square Flat
upon the highest
Pyramid
; but whether it proceeds from any difficulty, owing to their
strange Position,
or is caus'd by the
unwary Negligence
of those, who strive to count 'em, I am
yet
uncertain, but it has been found, as much impossible to do it
justly,
as to tell the
Monuments
of
Stonehenge,
upon
Salisbury Plain
: a Task, most
English Writers
have reported
difficult.
How many little Pyramids the Author told, from the top of the great one.
I look'd as nicely, as I cou'd direct my
Eyes,
from the
abovenam'd Place,
and cou'd distinctly tell no more than five and twenty:
Other Authors
have reported them an hundred; many
Modern Writers
say, there are but eighteen, or at most, but twenty.
A probable Cause, of the different Accounts on this Subject.
WHENCE these
different Accounts
shou'd rise, I cannot guess, unless a kind of
Foggy Weather,
often known in
Egypt,
might obscure the Prospect, at such times as those, who
lessen
the just Number of the
Pyramids,
have chanc'd to take their Observations.
A Question, how the Stones were rais'd.
IT is a Question,
not a little curious,
how the
Ancients
cou'd contrive to carry
Stones,
of such amazing
Bulk,
to such an
Altitude,
whereby the
Fabrick
was erected; and to this I answer, that I have collected all the Notions
worth Remark,
To be answer'd in another Treatise.
which, with the
Draughts
of several
fine Machines,
and
admirable Engines,
I design to Publish, when I find
this Book
so well receiv'd, that
Gratitude,
not
Recompense
may urge me to the setting forth the
Treatise,
I so lately spoke of.
Why the Author is not fuller on this Subject.
I hope, the Reader will not think me
blameable,
in that I have not dwelt much longer on the Subject, since it was so
copious
to afford me
Matter
; those, who may imagine me
too short,
must certainly forget, how many Things I am to treat of,
equally
deserving Notice, and how much I shou'd
out-swell
the
Volume,
I propos'd, shou'd I
enlarge
to a
Prolixity
on every Subject, which afforded
Room enough
to bear that way of Writing.
CHAP. XXXV. Of the Trade of
Egypt.
The Introduction.
A Conquer'd Nation must be Subject, among other Shocks of
inauspicious Fate,
to deviate from her
Genius,
as she dwindles from her
Power,
and the same destructive Hand, whose unresisted Violence has crush'd the
Liberty
of a subverted Country, may
undoubtedly
be said to triumph o'er the
Minds
of her unhappy
Natives,
when it has depress'd their
Courage,
and enslav'd their
Persons.
Egypt
brought to
Turkish
Customs.
AS therefore
Egypt,
wholly Subject to the Lawless Tyranny of an insulting Monarch, knows no wish'd partiality of
Freedom,
nor is suffer'd to possess
peculiar Tolerations,
it must consequently follow, that her fix'd Dependance on the
Turkish Government,
must strongly bend her
Biass'd People
in their Modern Slavery, to an encourag'd Practice of those very
Customs, Forms,
and
Ceremonies,
which are Publickly profess'd by their Imperious Masters.
Why the
Egyptians
love not Traffick.
HENCE the Reader, having
long since
been inform'd of the prevailing
Genius,
which has still inclin'd the
Warlike Turks
to never resting search of Conquests, will be apt to guess, that their
Egyptian Subjects,
aping eagerly their strange Example, cannot be
inclin'd,
or
qualify'd
indeed, for the encouragement of any thing, so different from the perpetual Hurries of
fatiguing War,
or
Martial Studies,
as the softer Practice of a Trading Life, and the less dangerous
Rudiments
of Peaceful Traffick.
Extreamly fond of War.
AMBITIOUS Aims and swelling Hopes, which take their
Beings
from a love of War, have chang'd this Nation, from her ancient Searches after
Arts
and
Sciences,
to an imperious disregard of every Vertue, not exerted in a
Martial manner
; Arms alone are the encourag'd
White,
they universally direct their tow'ring
Shafts
at, and a different Cause has now produc'd
among them all
the same effect, which animated gloriously the
ancient World
to scorn of
Danger,
and the Practices of War, which how esteem'd, may plainly be discover'd, in the numerous Writings of those
early Ages,
handed down to late Posterity, with a deserv'd Applause and universal Admiration, particularly in the following Verses of
Tyrtaeus,
a
Greek Poet,
flourishing about the
thirty fifth Olympiad.
Tyrtaeus
a
Greek
Poet, in the 35th Olympiad.
The Quotation English'd.
I scarce can think, a Man deserves a
Name,
Or can
Regard
from Fellow Creatures claim,
Not, tho' in
Wrestling
he is grown Compleat,
And Skill'd in all the
Virtues
of the
Feet
;
Not, tho' he boasts a
Cyclops
Strength and Grace,
Or can outrun the
Northern Winds
of
Thrace
;
Tho, in his
Form
he
Tithon's self
excells,
And midst such endless Heaps of
Riches
dwells,
As not King
Cynara
's, or
Mida
's Fate
Gave, in Possession of their
wealthiest
State;
Not, tho' he had more
Pow'rful Kingdoms
won,
Than e'er bless'd
Pelops, Tantalus
's Son;
Not, tho' more
Music
on his
Accents
hung,
Than ever grac'd the
sweet Adrastu
's Tongue;
Not, tho' he was with
ev'ry Talent
bless'd,
And all
Heav'ns Gifts,
but
that of War
possess'd;
Nor can
He
truly boast a
Martial Soul,
Who cannot bravely stand, where
Seas of Slaughter
roll;
Who does not nobly scorn
repeated Blows,
And dares not
wish
to
Fight,
surrounded by his
Foes
;
This
is
true Valour,
and
this Grace
possess'd,
Of all
Rewards,
we aim at, is the
best
;
He
's well adorn'd, who has
such Actions
done,
And
that Youth
richliest Drest, who his own
Trophies
won;
Hence
Common Good
to
ev'ry City
slows,
And
ev'ry Subject
some advantage knows;
He, who,
amidst the Battle,
grasps at Fame,
Forgets base
Fear
and a
retreating Shame
;
Who hazards
Life
on a
contested
Plain,
And
bends his Soul
to a
content
in
Pain
;
Who tempts his
Right Hand Man
to lose his Breath,
And yield, without
one groan,
to an
approaching Death
;
This
is the Man, whose
Praise
shall echo far,
And speak him
bravely fit
for the great Toils of
War.
YET is not
Egypt
wholly destitute of such
Commodities,
as,
Egypt
not quite destiture of Trade.
notwithstanding all these disadvantages, entice the
Merchant,
to advent'rous search of profitable
Traffick
: which their
Sea-Port Town
of
Alexandria
is, in its Situation, so extreamly fit for;
The Manufactures of
Egypt.
Thither once a Year repair the Gallies of the
Turkish Sultan,
loading first with
Wood
from the
Black-Sea
(a scarce Commodity in
Egypt
) and returning back, with many rich and costly
Manufactures
of
Grand Cairo,
and the Country round it, such as
Drugs
of excellent and noted Virtues in
Medicinal Operations, fine Perfumes,
the
Skins of Beasts,
peculiar to this Place, vast quantities of
Dates,
much larger, and of better tast than any other,
Sugar Canes
in great abundance, and a stately kind of
Carpets,
made at
Cairo,
in appearance richer, and by far more durable, than those, they make in any other Part of the
Grand Signior
's Empire.
What
English
Ships import from
Egypt.
BESIDES these Merchandizes, which our
English Ships
have constant Trade with
Egypt
for, we often are supplied at easy Rates, with many of the rich and valuable Silks, and other Products of the
Indian Countries,
brought to
Cairo
by the
Monthly Caravans,
and thence exported, at convenient Opportunities, to every distant Part of
Trading Christendom.
What they export to it.
BY way of Barter for the Merchandizes, we receive from thence, we load our Ships with nothing more than these Commodities (the Product of
our own
and
Foreign Manufactures
) which I have largely mention'd in the Chapter, treating of the
Trade,
at present carried on, between our
Countrymen,
and those of
Turkey.
How the
French, Dutch,
and
Venetians
trade with
Egypt.
THE
French
and
Dutch
both carry on a Trade with
Egypt,
but inferior much to
that,
we manage in the
Port of Alexandria
; but the
Venetians
deal for a peculiar kind of
Ashes,
made of
Lime,
calcin'd with the broad Leaves of
certain
low and spreading
Herbs,
which grow on the
else Barren Desarts
of this Country; of which, when they have us'd some Arts at home, in the refining and new moulding it, they make the famous
Chrystal,
and so celebrated
Glasses,
which are much esteem'd, and numerously sent about to every Part of
Europe.
BEFORE I close this Chapter, 'twill not be
digressive
from the Subject, I am treating on, to tell the
Etymology,
from whence we give the Name to
Paper.
Whence our Writing Paper took its Name.
THERE is a very common
Herb,
which grows in the
Egyptian Marshes,
call'd of old
Papyrus Nilotica,
from the Appellation of the River; 'tis a kind of
stringly Leaf,
of
Filamental Substance,
which the
Ancients
us'd to strip in
Flakes,
of which 'tis almost naturally compos'd, then spreading them upon a Board, they moisten'd them with certain Waters of a
stiptic Composition,
and by pressing them with
weighty Instruments,
so well enabled them to bear the Writing on, that they were us'd by all Men for that purpose, and compos'd most part of those unnumber'd Volumes in the
Library
of
Philadelphus.
Why the Author is so short upon this subject.
'TIS needless to enlarge on the particulars of the abovenam'd Manufactures, hence exported, since they are not only
long since
extant in the lists of many Writers, but are now become Familiar to the Trading part of
England,
who alone are those, to whom a full Account thereof might
even formerly
have been imagin'd
welcome.
CHAP. XXXVI. Of the
Revenues
of
Egypt,
and to what Ʋ ses they are Applied.
AS the unbounded Power of the
Turkish Sultan
Authorizes his Pretensions, to an undisputed sway in the
Egyptian Government,
so does it thence entitle him, to the Possession of a certain Annual income or
Revenue,
The Revenue how gather'd in
Egypt.
which is Rais'd, Collected, and in all kinds Manag'd (as I have before Related, in the other Parts of his Dominions) till deposited at
Cairo
in the Hands of the
Bashaw,
then Governing, as
Viceroy,
for the
Turkish Empire.
How Employed.
THENCE, Guarded by proportion'd Bodies of the Standing Forces, kept in
Egypt,
it is
severally
employ'd to certain setled uses, and from
Hand to Hand
deliver'd carefully, in order to be us'd for the respective purposes, to which it was decreed, since first the Arms of the
Victorious Selym
made him Master of this Fertile Country.
A Calculation of the whole Revenue.
THE whole
Revenue,
as it has been Calculated justly by some late Inquirers, into the Condition of the
Turkish
Treasures, is no more than
Eighteen Hundred Thousand Gold Chequins,
that is
Nine Hundred Thousand English Pounds a Year,
and such a Sum is Annually rais'd, and distributed with great exactness, in the just proportions of the Three Divisions following.
The First Third, how dispos'd of.
THREE Hundred Thousand Pounds a Year
are set apart, for the Possession of the
Turkish Sultan,
and deliver'd to the Care of certain chosen
Regiments of Horse,
whose Duty 'tis, to Guard it safely to
Constantinople,
and receiving a Discharge from the
Lord Tefterdar
or
Treasurer,
return, when they have left it in his Custody, to be employ'd according to the Will and Pleasure of his Master, the
Grand Signior
; sometimes it happens, that the
Turkish Fleet,
with formidable strength, is ready to depart from
Egypt,
at the time, wherein the Guards set forward with the Money, and in that Case, 'tis Embark'd on Board the Admiral, who saves the Soldiers their expected Trouble, and acquits them from their Charge at
Alexandria,
tho' this but rarely happens, and is found a very dangerous way, because the
Treasure
undefended by a Mighty Naval Force, would probably become a Prey, to the Industrious valour of the
Christian Squadrons,
ever Cruising on the Coasts of
Turkey.
The second third, how dispos'd of.
THREE Hundred Thousand Pounds a Year are next appropriated, to defray the Charges of the numerous Offices, dependent on the
Great Bashaw,
and other necessary Uses in relation to the
Posts,
incumbent on such Men, as are
deputed by,
and
thence subservient to
the Great, Supream, and Arbitrary Monarch of the
Conquer'd Egypt.
The last third, how apply'd.
THE Third Three Hundred Thousand Pounds a Year are still employ'd, in bearing the
Expences
of the many thousand zealous Pilgrims, who resort each Year with a
Bigotted Faith,
to the great
Rendezvous
at
Cairo,
whence they all set out with wonderful Devotion, and a superstitious Ignorance, in order to compleat the necessary
Pilgrimage to Mecca,
their False
Prophet
's Birth Place.
THESE three above-nam'd Uses are the only ones, to which the
Turks
apply the Sums, they gain from the
Egyptian Tribute,
nor is it lawful by the fix'd Decrees of the
Grand Signior
's Empire, that the Sums thence rising, should be any ways perverted to what Use soever, devious from the ends, to which they are appointed.
Why the Revenue is so small.
'TIS true, nine hundred thousand Pounds a Year are no great Income, from the Conquest of a Country, so exceeding famous for her known Fertility; that, when the
Romans
conquer'd her of old, she gain'd the Name of
Granary
to that successful Empire. But as
Wealth
decreases by a long continued Series of
destractive War,
'tis no great wonder, if we
now
find
Egypt
far from the Capacity, of yielding such amazing heaps of
Spoil
and
Plenty,
as in ancient Ages bless'd the Plunder of
Victorious Legions.
How the Turks make up the deficiency.
HOWEVER, tho' the Sum, exacted thence by the
Grand Signior,
is a smaller Burden than they well might bear, yet are the
Turks
so dexterously skill'd, in managing Authority, to the Advantage of their
Purses,
and their Master's
Safety,
that the
vanquish'd Natives
are not only crush'd, beyond all hopes of growing rich, but kept below the very possibility of framing, with the smallest shadow of Success, a dangerous Rebellion.
CHAP. XXXVII. Of the
Egyptian Catacombs,
and the
Mummys,
which are found in the Ancient Sepulchres of their Dead.
BY the
foregoing
Descriptions of
Cairo, Memphis, Babylon,
and the Stupendious Workmanship of those prodigious
Pyramids,
whose
outward
Magnitude,
interior
Passages, and
subterraneous
Cavities, have so deserv'dly stil'd them the Worlds Chief
Wonder
; the Curious Reader may have form'd a Notion, no ways disagreable, of the
valuable
Antiquities, whose
still remaining
Splendours speak
amazingly,
the former Grandeur of the
Egyptian
Nation.
The Antiquity of some of the
Mummys.
I shall now proceed to give a strange, but true Account of those vast
Catacombs,
wherein the Old
Egyptians
were Embalm'd and Buried, and whose black, horrid Wombs do yet contain a formidable Proof, how long our Humane Bodies may preserve their Substance, when defended by the help of
Art,
from the destructive Power of a
Natural
Corruption: For in the dark Recesses of those Gloomy Caverns, to this Day remain unnumber'd Thousands of those very
People,
who liv'd and triumph'd o'er the Subject
Israelites,
before the Hand of
GOD
deliver'd that
ungrateful
Nation from their long Captivity.
'TIS a Curiosity, however
Dangerous,
extreamly
Satisfactory
for an Adventurous Traveller, to behold those
Lifeless
Bodies, which from Age to Age have been Interr'd in these surprizing
Monuments,
and bidding strong Defiance to the Course of
Nature,
remain untouch'd by piercing
Putrefaction,
and have for several Thousand Years, lain undisturb'd,
entire
and
sound
in every Part, nor will undoubtedly for many Ages yet to come, be any ways subject to the
smallest
Diminution.
The Extent of the
Catacombs.
THESE
Vaults
and dark
Sepulchres
of their Ancient
Dead,
extend themselves in greatest Numbers, from the Neighbourhood of
Memphis
to the distant Borders of the
Libyan Desart,
containing Thirty Miles in
length,
and
breadth
proportionable: Many have been broken up from time to time, and often enter'd by the daring Curiosity of
European.
Travellers; but many yet remain unopen'd; nor is it an Attempt, consistent with the Dictates of a
Self-preserving
Humour, to Visit frequently those
Dusky
Palaces of Death, known only by the sight of some large Stone,
unnatural
to the Place, which turn'd aside, discovers under it a narrow Descent, not much unlike the Mouth of such a Well, as we may often see in
British
Villages:
The manner of descending the Vaults.
The Passage down was form'd by gradual Steps, cut circularly thro' the Neck of this Descent; but Time, or
accidental
Ruin having now defac'd those
old
Conveniencies, some
Rope,
or other
neat
Contrivance is made use of, to let down those, who are desirous of
enlivening
their Contemplations, by such a
strange
and
melancholy
Prospect. The bottom of this steep Descent admits them instantly to one large Vault, which leads to many others, high, and dismal, built securely with a small square Stone, of Colour black and shining, not unreasonably suppos'd by some, those famous
Bricks
so Celebrated in the Scripture, for the Workmanship of the Poor Captiv'd
Israelites,
who labour'd hardly under the harsh Injunctions of an
Egyptian
Bondage.
THE greatest part of these dark Arches remain entirely whole, and stately, but in some few Places are defac'd and fallen, so as to render the Passage thro' them, almost
impracticably
difficult:
Some
are distinguish'd by small Pillars, oppositely plac'd in graceful Order.
Others
wholly unadorn'd and naked, leading like the Streets of
Christian
Cities one through another, and forming with a sort of
venerable
Majesty, a Gloomy
Labyrinth
of Death and Horrour:
The Order, in which the
Mummys
lie.
For on either side, lie rang'd in
measur'd
Order, at near Three Foot distance from each other, promiscuous Bodies of
Men, Women
and
Children
; some whereof (such likely as were Rich and Honourable) have flat Stones, a little elevated at the Head and Feet, plac'd neatly under them. Others lie meanlier in the Common Sand, but all
Embalm'd
; and wrap'd about with numerous folds of Searcloth-Linen, which, forcibly untwin'd from their defenceless Bodies, looks not much unlike the middle Rind of some decaying
Oak,
and leaves the Corps entirely Solid,
Whole
and
Perfect
in its full dimensions; of a
blackish
Red, or
dusky
Brown in Colour; its Substance
hard,
like Pitch or Rosin; their
Backs
and
Breasts
are often stain'd with
Hieroglyphick Cyphers,
and on their
Bosoms,
lie small
figur'd
Idols, made of
Artificial
Stone, Bak'd hard and durable, or sometimes folded Scroles of
rough
and
painted
Parchment, some of which Devices I shall, in the course of
this
Chapter, describe to the Judicious Reader, with my own Opinion of the
likeliest
Significations of their
diverting
Fancies, and
Hieroglyphical
Contrivances.
The Danger of too great a Curiosity.
THE Danger of Descending such of these
Repositories,
as are most Curious, is extreamly great, by the distance they are at, from the
Cities
aforemention'd, which exposes frequently the
unwary
Traveller, to the barbarous Violence of the Inhumane
Arabs,
who, watching secretly for a favourable Opportunity, will often close the Mouth of the
Sepulchre,
and by that means Starving the
unhappy
Strangers, return some few Days after, to divide the Plunder of those
Miscarried
Gentlemen.
A strange Accident which befel the Author in a Vault amongst the
Mummys.
AN Accident occurring
unexpectedly
to my own Experience, may perhaps, divert the
Reader,
in the Relation of what I can with Pleasure
now
reflect on, tho' it gave me little Satisfaction, when I was liable to its Danger: About 15 Miles
South-East
of
Memphis,
lie several Famous
Catacombs,
but (
as dangerously seen
) are commonly neglected;
however,
a strong Desire of seeing something, that for so many Ages had continu'd shut from Mortal View, excited my Curiosity to forget the
Hazard,
and procure, as Guide, a
Native
of that Country, to conduct me with three Fellow Travellers, to the Place abovemention'd. The Fellow was a little backward, alledging, in excuse of his
unwillingness,
that 'twas an Inconveniency, to lie a Night abroad upon the
Open Desart
; but assuring him, we wou'd rather Travel all Night long, he consented to go with us. We Rode on
Mules,
and Travell'd with a wonderful Delight thro' a
rough
and
sandy
Country, till we arriv'd at a Place, where Stones of
vast, uncommon
Sizes, pointed out the Passages to what we look'd for. We were pleas'd to see the Coast so clear, that not the smallest Tract of
Man
or
Beast
appear'd to give us cause of Jealousy. We alighted from our
Mules,
and tying them together, went towards the
largest
Stone, we saw amongst them, and turning it with much ado aside, were all surpriz'd to see securely fastned, and rowl'd up on the inside, a
Ladder
of
Ropes
; but imagining it might have been left there, by some, who had descended
formerly,
we spar'd the trouble of making use of a Conveniency, our
Guide
had with him, and having unfolded what we found
there
ready, went
backwards down,
with each Man a
Pistol
in one Hand, and a
lighted
Torch in the other: A strange
uncommon
Smell saluted our first Entrance, with an Odour, not to be imagin'd by such, as have not known it by Experience, and the
blazing
Torches, striking a faint glimmering Light thro' the thickness of the
Gloom,
discover'd, as we walk'd along on either side, the
discolour'd
Faces of the
Dead,
with a
strange
and
inexpressible
Horrour: We had scarce pass'd three Yards within the Vault, when the
foremost
of our Company, stumbling accidentally on something, that lay in his way, fell
headlong
over it; whereupon, holding down our Torches, we perceiv'd two Men in
Christian
Habits, extended cross each other, and appearing
newly
Dead, with all the
pale
and
frightful
Marks of a Convulsive Horrour, in their contracted
Joints
and
Faces:
Between the Feet of one there lay a
Pocket Book
and
Pencil,
which taking up and opening, we read with great Difficulty and more Concern the following Lines,
there
Written in
Italian,
but in a Character, that was hardly legible; for besides the Confusion of one Letter running into another, the Lines were
here and there
writ upon certain
others,
which seem'd to have been design'd, as
Memorandums
for several private Businesses.
Two Gentlemen found dead in a Vault.
LORENZO
and
FERDINANDO BONAVOGLIA,
Dear Unhappy Brothers, born at
Pisa,
a City of
Italy,
dy'd here by
Grief
and
Hunger,
barbarously shut in and lost for ever,
June
18
th,
1701. Good Christian, if thy dear Eyes shall read our Misery, Pray for our Souls; O
Jesus,
O
Mary,
Mother of God, hear and pity us.
IT should seem by the melancholy Contents of this small
Pocket Book,
that these unfortunate Gentlemen had been observ'd to enter, by some
Arabian
Murderers; and the
sequel
of this Relation will I think, incline the Reader to the same Opinion. By the Date of the
above-nam'd
Sentences we found, they had not long been there, for to the best of my Remembrance, 'twas on the
Twenty Second
of the same Month, that we came
thither.
AMAZ'D,
and half confounded at the miserable Objects, which we saw before us, we began to think upon the Danger, we were in; the Apprehension whereof encreas'd immediately to a
double
Magnitude, by the
ghastly
Looks and
trembling
Agonies, which shook the heartless
Guide
with fierce Convulsions:
As
we knew him
more
familiar than our selves with the Customs of his Country,
so
we guess'd our Danger more extraordinary by the Fright, we
saw
him in; and judging it a necessary Prudence, to make the best of Time and Opportunity,
we
retreated with the utmost hast to the Place,
we
came in at,
A dangerous Surprize
but to our great Surprize, perceiv'd the
Stone
plac'd over the
Mouth
of the Descent the very Moment,
we
came directly under it; with all the fright imaginable
we
began to seek the
Rope,
by which
we
had Descended, but 'twas taken up, and all the hopes of our Deliverance from that
dreadful Prison,
were entirely dash'd to nothing, by the unexpected turn of such a sad
Catastrophe
: 'Twas
here we
felt the fear of Death, in all its roughest
Attributes
; and the Guide,
who
shou'd have giv'n us Comfort in our deep Extremity, encreas'd the
weight
of our Concern, by piercing
Cries
and oft-repeated
Curses
on our rash Attempt, which had involv'd
our selves,
and
him
in one promiscuous Ruin; and would destroy in him, the chief Support and poor
Subsistence
of his unhappy
Wife
and
Family.
For my part, tho' expos'd in equal measure to the threatned Misery, I
was
so strongly mov'd by the Sighs, Groans, Tears, and
wringing
Hands of this complaining Wretch, that I forgot the Nature of the Place, I walk'd in, and forming
strange
unreasonable Hopes, that
we
might find some other Passage, urg'd the Company to ramble farther thro' those dismal
Cavities
; but considering the Horror,
which in such a Place,
the want of Light wou'd soon produce, and
willing
to keep back the evil Hour, as long as possible,
we
extinguish'd Four of our Five Torches, and with the sickly Light of the
remaining One,
walk'd on with heavy Hearts from
Vault
to
Vault,
quite thro' those dismal
Mansions
; till at a little distance from the
Guide,
who bore the Light before us,
we
perceiv'd with
more
than
common
Terrour, the
faint
Idea's of six Pale Faces, close against the Wall, that stood before us;
we started
at the Sight, and saw them move as if they stalk'd to come upon us
undiscover'd
; so that rightly guessing they design'd no good, with one consent
we fir'd our Pistols
; 'tis impossible to make the Reader sensible, of the prodigious loud Report and rumbling Noise this
one
Discharge created in the
Vault,
it roll'd above our Heads like some uncommon Clap of
Thunder,
and continued, still encreasing, a considerable time: Whether
Fear,
or some unlucky
Accident
produc'd the Cause, I cannot well determine, but the frighted
Guide
let fall his
Torch,
which presently extinguish'd, and running
backwards
with
impetuous
Fury, beat down a Gentleman of our Company, and tumbling on the Ground, lay still in a most
profound
and
breathless
Silence: When the
Report
was over,
we
expected every Moment to have
heard
or
felt
the Persons,
we
had seen before us; but all was strangely still, no
Tread
or
Voice
alarm'd our Fears nor could
we
guess, what Accident had rid us of our Danger; till thro' the Wall
before us, we
perceiv'd a sudden Ray of Light break briskly in; and coming to the Place, found
there
a Hole, dug thro' the Stone, or
Brick,
AN EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE, Which Represents The Strange Particulars of an Accident, that hap'ned to the
Author,
in The
Catacombs
of
Egypt.
A.
THE Entrance, by which we Descended to the
Catacomb,
with the
Mules,
tied together about it.
B.
The Stone, that Cover'd the Mouth of the Descent.
C.
The Guide.
D.
The Pocket Book.
E.
The Two
Italian
Gentlemen, found
Dead,
in the first Vault.
F.
One of the
English
Gentlemen, who fell, by Stumbling over them.
G. G. G. G. Mummies,
in several Allies of the
Catacomb.
H.
The Six
Arabs,
against the Wall.
I.
The Stone, that Cover'd the other Entrance of the
Catacomb.
K.
Two of the
Arabs,
making their Escape from the Vault.
L. L.
Others of them, Riding away hastily.
M. M.
Their Companions, carrying off our Mules.
N.
The
Turkish
Party of Horse, appearing at a Distance.
O. O. O.
The Pyramids of
Egypt.
P.
The
Aethiopian
Head, call'd
Sphinx
by
Pliny,
and other Writers.
To the Right Hon, ble Charles Earl of Peterborow and Monmouth ye Authors Honour'd Patron & Encourager of his Undertaking this Plate is Most humbly dedicated.
which open'd largely into another
Catacomb,
thro' which
we
saw the Passage, that had let in so much Light upon us, and heard an
unintelligible
Noise of Hallowing descend, as from the Mouth of that uncover'd
Cavity
; thro' which,
we
could perceive distinctly
Six
Tall Men, climb swiftly up, and seem'd confus'd, as if afraid of some
approaching
Danger:
The Author's strange Escape from the Vault.
The fear of dying in that
horrid
Place, had banish'd every other from our Thoughts, so that getting
eagerly
tho' the broken Wall,
we
ran immediately to the Entrance of the
Vault,
and hearing neither
Voice,
nor any
other
Sign of their continuing above,
we
ventur'd to ascend, as
they
had done; and certainly the Light of Heaven did never more
Enliven
Man, than it did our joyful Company, at such a strange Deliverance.
NO sooner were
we up,
but looking round,
we
could perceive Four
Arabs,
riding hastily towards the left side of the
Desart,
leading away our
Mules,
as lawful Booty, and follow'd, at some distance, by
Six others:
On the right of our unlucky Station,
we
perceiv'd a Troop of
Turkish Horse-Men,
whom
we
knew by their Appearance, to belong to the
Bashaw,
and to be part of those convenient Forces, kept on purpose to
Patrole
from Place to Place, and guard the Country, from the presumptuous Insults of these
Arabian
Villanies:
Till then,
I never met a
Turkish
Party with the smallest Satisfaction, but was now transported with a boundless Joy, at the
welcome
Prospect of their first
Appearance.
WE walk'd to meet them, and informing their
Commanding
Officer, of what had pass'd, he strait detach'd a Number of his Men to gallop after them, who were no sooner seen advancing by the
Wary Arabs,
but they set our
Captiv'd
Mules at Liberty, and soon outran the hopes of their
less-swift
Pursuers: However,
we
were very well contented to have sped so well, and fearing we might lose our Safety, by the dangerous Absence of our new-come Champions,
we
agreed to give the
Officer
the value of Five and Twenty Shillings
a piece,
upon Condition, he would see us safely to the
Neighbourhood of Cairo
; He accepted the
Proposal,
and invited us to descend again, while
he
with several of his Men, would keep us Company, and leave the rest
above
to watch for our Security: His offering to accompany us,
convinc'd
us of his
Honesty,
and missing the poor
Guide,
who had been left below,
They descend again.
we
ventur'd once again, to visit the
late
Scene of our Misfortune; being enter'd with
three Lights,
which the
Captain
order'd to be carried, such as I have
elsewhere
largely treated of, and which afford a Flame, much
brighter
and more
powerful
than our small Torches,
we
proceeded gradually
from Place to Place,,
and search'd in vain o'er all the Vaults for the
poor frighted Fellow,
we had left behind us, till
at last,
arriving at the farthest end of that first
Catacomb,
which
we
descended, we observ'd one
Mummy
higher than the rest, and drawing near, to view it more particularly,
we
could perceive it stir, at which surpriz'd, and calling for the
Lights,
to know its meaning, the first thing,
They find the Guide, hid under a Mummy.
we
saw, was the
poor Guide,
who, being crowded in between the
Wall
and the
Mummy,
was creeping under it, as far as he was able, and turn'd his Eyes upon the
Lights
and
Company,
with such a dismal Languish, that it threw us into a long and violent fit of Laughter. The Honest Man's Simplicity, had perswaded him that, if he lay close, he might pass for a
Mummy,
and having crawl'd
from Vault to Vault,
he chose that Place for his
Asylum
from those
Arabs,
for whom he
now
mistook the
Turkish Soldiers.
A joyful Transport.
HE heard us
laugh,
and looking earnestly about him, found with a surprizing Joy, that he had been
mistaken
in his Apprehensions, and the rapid Transports, thence oppressing his recover'd Spirits, made him
start
from his unnecessary Shelter, and embracing me, who then unluckily stood nearest him, express'd the Sense, he had of his
scarce credited Delivery,
with such Ungovernable signs of Satisfaction, in the Leaping
up and down,
that Treading frequently upon my Feet, I was oblig'd to shake him off with
Roughness,
unbecoming
the Soft
Airs of due Congratulation.
NOW had we time, without the
fear
of a succeeding Danger, to inspect, with all the
Zeal
of an unlimitted Curiosity, those gloomy Tracts of Death and Terrour, in whose dismal Paths we had
before
been so amazingly surpriz'd, by dangerous Interruption.
The Observations, they made in their Second Descent.
THE Observations
then,
which, favour'd by so fair an Opportunity, we made, were these; the Bodies of the
Mummies,
not exceeding
in their Stature
those of common Height
now Living,
are a certain confutation of that
old mistake,
which Teaches many to believe that, as the World Increases in her
Age,
Mankind decrease in
Strength
and
Magnitude.
THE many Thousand Folds, which
Swath'd
some Bodies
in the Catacomb,
were Wound about the
Corps,
with so much smoothness, and such admirable Art and Neatness of Contrivance, that the Nicest Hand
Modern Times
would fall so short of
equalling,
that they could never
Imitate
the Beauties of the Practice, should they
now
attempt it.
WE all took Notice, that the Heads of many
Mummies
were divided from their Bodies, and perceiv'd
that Part
the Weakest, and most prejudic'd by Time, even in those
Corps,
which seem'd intire, and no ways Rob'd of their Original Proportion.
THE Faces of such Bodies, as appear'd the Richest, by their
Ornaments
and
ways of Lying,
we observ'd all coverd over with a very
thin and Shining Aromatic Searcloath,
of such admirable form and such a Skilful Preparation, that it only serv'd to keep the Head more
lasting
and
entire
(which
else
was found a Part most subject to decay) without obscuring the Appearance of the Countenance, or altering
even the Minutest turn
of any
Feature.
The Painted Rolls.
THE
Rolls,
which lay on many of their Breasts, contain'd,
as I have said before,
a Thousand different kind of
Hieroglyhic Figures,
some done in
Gold,
some
Red,
some
Blew,
some
Green,
and others
Black, in short
of every
Form
and
Colour
; thence a Man may reasonably claim the Liberty to guess, he could distinguish many things, relating to the
Age, Death, Quality, Life, Vertues,
and
Profession
of the Person, to whose Breast they are Affix'd.
THUS
for Example,
on the Bosom of one
Mummy, whole
and
Fair
in every there, there lay a
Roll,
whereon in Lines of
Gold
and
Azure,
we distinguish'd plainly among many more the following
Figures.
An
Hieroglyphic
Image, in the
Catacombs.
UPON a very
High
and
Craggy Rock,
there stood a Throne, whereon in all the
State
of
Ancient Monarchs,
sat a Man in
Royal Robes,
and Wearing on his Head a
Regal Diadem
; his
Right Hand
highly Elevated, held a Sword with Threatning Fury, and his
Left
extended with a kind of a disdainful Air, appear'd to Mock the Fruitless Efforts of a Numerous Company of
Men in Arms,
who seem'd with eagerness to
grasp the Rocks,
and
vainly aim'd
with angry Looks, at
Reaching the Defended King,
who sat secure, and Triumph'd in their Disappointments.
AN EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE, VVhich Represents, Exactly an
Egyptian Hieroglyphic,
Found upon the Bosom of a
MƲ MMY,
in the
CATACOMBS.
A.
A King, upon his Throne, or an Emblem of a Prince, who Governs Justly.
B.
An Emblem of Designing, Underhanded Treachery.
C.
An Emblematical Description of the Great Stability of Justice, and Moderation.
D. D. D. D.
An Emblematical Representation of Ungovernable, Head-Strong Treason, and its Difficulties.
AN EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHIC
To the Right Honble Cary Countess of Peterborough &c This Plate is Most Humbly Dedicated
An Emblem of crafty Treason.
BƲ T on the other side the Rock,
behind the Monarch's Back, appear'd a brisk and fiery
Youth,
who, having mounted by the help of a
tall Ladder,
was just steping, from its
topmost Round
upon the
Rock it self,
with seeming resolution to attack and kill the
King,
with a long Spear, presented at him, was witheld from his Intent by means of a
large Chain,
descending from a
Cloud
above his Head, and twining suddenly about his Arms, while
he himself
was wounded in the Bosom by a Sword, directed by a Hand, which issued likewise from the
Cloud
abovenam'd.
NOW in my Imagination,
'tis a Task of no great difficulty,
to unfold the Mystery, contain'd in this intelligible
Hieroglyphic
; perhaps I am mistaken, but as probably am not; however, right, or wrong, I'll give the Reader my
Opinion,
let him judge, as he thinks proper.
The meaning of the Hieroglyphic.
THE
Monarch,
represented in his
Regal Ornaments
I take, to mean a
King,
who Rules with
State
and
Power:
The
Sword
denotes the Justice of his
Office:
The
disdainful Look
implies a scorn of
Treason,
and its
Practisers.
THE
Rock,
whereon he sits enthron'd, was doubtless meant, to signify his
Governments Solidity; its craggy Roughness
was design'd to show, what dangerous Precipices, we are led to by Ambition.
Emblem of Open Rebellion.
THE
Rash, arm'd Multitude,
who strive
in vain,
before the Face of the above-nam'd
Monarch,
to ascend and wound him, are as
Emblems
of of those daring and imprudent
Rebels,
who will openly presume to carry on their Hate to
just Authority,
and prosecute the Dictates of their Impious Wishes in the
Face
of
Majesty.
THEIR
numerous Repulses,
and the
fruitless Efforts
of their eager Application serve to
shew,
how much it is impossible, by open Practices of
Lawless Villany,
to
shock
the Throne of an
establish'd Government,
or succeed in the Endeavours of a
treacherous Inclination.
THE siery Youth, just mounting from a Ladder to the
summit
of the
Rock
behind the
King,
and holding up a
Spear,
as if with design to
kill
him, signifies in my Opinion, that more crafty kind of
Treason,
carried on by underhand Intrigues and subtle Secrecy, and powerfully assisted by
prevailing Parties.
Emblem of Heaven's Justice.
THE
descending Cloud,
from which appears the
Chain,
that binds him, and the
Hand,
which wounds his Bosome with a
Spear,
was meant by the
Egyptians of Antiquity
to represent
that Great,
but
unknown Power,
by whose sure, tho' secret means of Justice, they perceiv'd the sacred Persons of
Just Monarchs,
safely guarded from
designing Treachery,
and very rarely knew a
Villain
Die unpunish'd.
NOW, if the Ingenious Reader will but
put together
these Interpretations of the
Hieroglyphic Mystery,
he will soon perceive a
nice connexion
of its several Parts, which we may read, as follows.
The Hieroglyphic literally Interpreted.
That Prince's Throne, who governs justly, is so strongly seated on the Rock of Power, that he can look with scorn upon the vain Attempts of those Mad Rebells, who, invading his Prerogative with open Violence, encounter such prodigious and undreamt of Difficulties, that they fall in their Endeavours wretched Victims, to the disappointment of Ambition.
But that more
Crafty, Politic,
and
Private Traitor,
who ungenerously aims at a Success in his Rebellion, from the undiscover'd Practices of close Disloyalty, tho' he may prosper for a while in undetected Villanies, is, notwithstanding his great Cautions, watch'd in every Step, he makes, by the
unknown Omniscience
of some Heavenly Being, who, when his Plot seems ripe for Execution, chains his Will, o'erthrows his Treason, and amazingly converts his unsuspecting Malice to his own Destruction.
The particular Application of the Hieroglyphic.
THIS general Interpretation led me to conclude, the
Hieroglyphic
was design'd a Monitory Lecture, to disswade Mankind from Practices of
Treason,
by an artful Declaration of its fatal Consequences; and the
Application
in particular directed me to guess, the
Mummy,
on whose Body it was represented, had been formerly some Youth, made wretched by the
Knowledge,
if not Executed for the
Practice
of some
Treason
or Rebellion.
They reascend from the Catacomb.
WHEN we had made as many Observations, as we could, we reascended by the way we enter'd at, and were conducted safely to
Grand Cairo,
by the
faithful Captain
and his
Party,
on the
Terms
beforenam'd
INQUIRING, when we were return'd, if any News had reach'd the City, of the loss of
two Italian Gentlemen,
and hearing nothing of it, we imagin'd it our Duties to acquaint a Person of
that Country,
who resided there
in Public Business,
with the strange Particulars of the above-nam'd
Accident:
He presently inform'd us, that he knew too well the
Gentlemen,
we spoke of, that they had been recommended to him in their Travells
thither,
and had been forewarn'd, how
dangerous
it was to visit those
remote,
and
dismal Catacombs
; that they refus'd to listen to Perswasion, and had taken a
Guide,
and several
Servants
with them, none of which had
since
been heard of.
What became of the dead Bodies of the two
Italian
Gentlemen.
IN short, the
Gentleman,
with melancholy Marks of Thanks, rewarded our
Civility,
in giving him this sorrowful Intelligence; he hir'd the
Captain,
who had been our
Convoy,
to remove the Bodies of the
two unhappy Brothers
from the
Catacomb
to
Cairo,
whence he afterwards Embark'd them on a
Vessel,
which was bound for
Europe,
and which brought them soon (
God
knows a
shocking
and
unwelcome Cargo)
to their Country and Relations.
How they were betray'd.
IT seems their
Guide
(since
taken
and
Impal'd alive
for his abominable Villany) had held a Correspondence with the
Arabs,
and betray'd his
Charge,
by ent'ring with them to the
Catacomb,
and giving them the
Slip
at a convenient Opportunity thro' the other
Hole,
set open purposely; the
Servants,
who remain'd
above,
were siez'd on, and made Prisoners by the
Arabs,
who return'd to Plunder their
dead Masters
at a time, when they unhappily found
us,
an unexpected Booty in the Gin, they came to.
PROBABLY, the reason of their leaving the
Italian Gentlemen
unplunder'd, when they shut them in, was owing to the distant Prospect of some
Turkish Party,
frequently
Patroling,
as I said before, from Place to Place about those
Desarts.
AS our
Escape
was wonderful, so were our
Praises
and
Thanksgiving,
Great and Hearty; yet the Horror, whose
unnatural Shock,
when we sustain'd the Danger,
startled
Nature, is
by time
converted to a certain inexpressible Contentment in the sweet Remembrance, and Reflection on the oddness of the Accident, nor is it a new thing to change our Passions with the Change of Time, in such a manner,
Seneca
has left us his
Authority,
to prove it common in the following Words,
Sen. Trag. Herc.
—Quae fuit durum pati,
Meminisse dulce est.
Mens
Mem'ries
commonly
delighted
are,
To
think
on, what they
once
found hard to
bear.
The Catacombs, nearer
Cairo,
not worth describing.
I could enlarge extreamly on the
Subject
of the
Catacombs,
but think it altogether needless, since the finest of them all are those, which I have here so largely treated of, and which are very seldom visited by any
Travellers,
nor to my
Knowledge
have been ever yet describ'd, in any of their
Writings
; all the
Wells,
or little Places nearer
Cairo,
which contain the Bodies of
Egyptian Mummies,
are not only so inferior to these
Catacombs,
as scarce to merit mention, but have been already taken notice of so frequently by other
Travellers,
in almost every Book of this kind, extant in our
Language,
that 'tis neither worth
my Trouble
in repeating the Particulars, or an
Ingenious Readers
in perusing the Relation.
CHAP. XXXVIII. Of that Part of
Egypt,
formerly
the Land of Goshen,
and of the Passage of
Caravans, thro'
the
Libyan Desarts.
Delta,
why so call'd.
AMONGST the many
fertil
Tracts of Land, enriching
Egypt
with an annual Plenty, there is one, call'd
Delta
by the
Ancients,
in regard to the Resemblance, it was thought to bear the
Graecian
Letter of that Name.
Two Streams of
Nilus.
THE River
Nilus,
not above four Miles below
Grand Cairo,
is divided into two distinct and navigable
Streams,
one running
Eastward,
and the other towards the
West
; the first emits his Waters into the
Mediterranean,
not far distant from the
Old Pelusium,
now call'd
Damiata
; and the second loses his swift Channel in the same
Sea,
just below
Rosetta.
THESE two abovenam'd
Channels
form, by their triangular Course, a very rich and spacious
Island,
even the fattest Soil, and most delightful Part of Fruitful
Egypt,
and it is this Portion of the Country, which, as I have said before, was once distinguish'd by the Name of
Delta.
The Land of
Goshen.
THIS, Tho' many contradict the Notion, I imagine to have been in former Times, the
Land of Goshen,
and am much confirm'd in my Opinion, by the
Holy Scriptures
undeniable Authority. As,
for Example,
in the tenth Verse of the forty fifth Chapter of
Genesis,
where
Joseph
tells his
Father,
Gen.
chap. 45. v 10
And thou shalt dwell in the Land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy Children, and thy Childrens Children, and thy Flocks, and thy Herds, and all, that thou hast.
BY the Words
near unto me,
in this Verse, it's evidently
certain,
that we cannot guess with greater probability, than in believing
Delta
to have been the Place, since 'tis the nearest fruitful Spot of Ground to
Memphis,
(then the Residence of
Joseph,
) in the whole
Egyptian
Country.
Goshen
prov'd a fruitful Country.
AND, that the
Land of Goshen
was not only
near
the
Capital,
but
preferable
in a thousand other Blessings to the rest of
Egypt,
we may be assur'd by the Authority, I just now quoted, and some other Places.
IN the fourth, fifth, and sixth Verses of the seven and fortieth Chapter of
Genesis,
we find the Sons of
Jacob
pleading for, and
Pharaoh
granting them the
Land of Goshen
in the following Sentences.
Gen.
chap. 4 v. 4, 5, 6.
They said moreover unto Pharaoh, for to sojourn in the Land are we come; for thy Servants have no pasture for their Flocks, for the Famine is sore in the Land of Canaan: Now therefore we pray thee, let thy Sevants dwell in the Land of Goshen.
And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy Father and thy Brethren are come unto thee.
The Land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the Land make thy Father and Brethren to dwell, in the Land of Goshen let them dwell.
AGAIN, in the six and fortieth Chapter,
Pharaoh
speaks to
Joseph
in the following manner,
And take your Father, and your Houshold, and come unto me: And I will give you the good of the Land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the Land.
Also regard not your Stuff: For the good of all the Land of Egypt is yours.
Delta,
by the Author, thought to be the Land of
Goshen.
BY these abovenam'd Passages of
Holy Writ,
we may without absurdity conclude, that the triangular Tract of Land, call'd
Delta
by the Ancients, or at least some part thereof is cettainly the same, which formerly was dwelt in by the
Bondag'd Israelites,
and bore the Appellation of the
Land of Goshen.
The common Notion of it.
BUT many are of an Opinion, opposite to this, and judge the
Land of Goshen
to have been that part of
Egypt,
situate betwixt
Grand Cairo
and the
Libyan Desarts.
Why absurd.
Not to enter into a Dispute on that account, I only shall beg leave to make one
Observation,
and that is, A Country, so extreamly
Barren,
nor Productive of the smallest Mark of competent
Encrease,
much less of flowing
Plenty,
cannot reasonably be imagin'd reconcilable to the Idea's of
Fertility,
we take from the Accounts, the
Scriptures
give us of the
Land of Goshen.
PROCEED we now from
Egypt
to the
Holy-Land,
to which the common Passage from
Grand Cairo
lies, thro' Part of
Idumaea,
and the dangerous
Desarts
of
Arabia the Stony.
The way of Travelling in
Caravans.
CARAVANS, which I have elsewhere in this Book explain'd the meaning of, pass to and fro continually, and afford Conveniencies for
Christian
Travellers, who either ride upon a
Camel
or a
Dromedary,
not unlike it, but a little smaller. Certain
Bails
of
Merchandize
are bound on either side the Shoulders of the
Beast,
and in the hollow, thence occasion'd, there is plac'd a kind of
Quilt,
or
Cushion,
whereupon we are oblig'd to ride Cross-legg'd, defended from the
Sun
by a large
Canopy of Canvass,
purposely erected.
'TIS a very toilsome and fatiguing way of Travelling, by reason of the native height of
Trott,
peculiar to those Creatures; who without the smallest sign of discontent, will Travel four whole Days together, destitute of
Water,
but upon occasion, can so far exert this
Blessing
of their Nature, as to live without it, near a Fortnight.
The
Caravans
how order'd.
THE
Caravans,
which pass from
Palestine
to
Egypt,
commonly consist of six, seven, eight, nine hundred, or a thousand
Persons,
with their
Camels,
and
Conveniencies,
which we must all provide from the
Brass-Kettle,
to the
Frying-Pan,
if we wou'd Eat or Drink with
Christian Decency.
An admirable
Order
is observ'd among them, and continual
Watch
kept Night and Day, to guard the
Caravan
from the
Attacks
and
Robberies
of the
Wild Arabs,
who infest the
Desart,
and of whom I shall more fully treat, when I am come to the Description of their
Laws
and
Ways of Living.
Jews,
who go to die at
Jerusalem.
'TIS really a diverting Entertainment, for a sprightly
Fancy
to observe, what Multitudes of
superstitious Jews
swarm up and down in every
Caravan
; the
oldest, ugliest,
and most
decrepit
of all Mankind, who flock from every distant Corner of the
spacious Ʋ niverse,
to die as near
Jerusalem
as possible, and load
themselves
and
other Beasts of Burthen,
with the musty Bones, and tatter'd Reliques of their
Dead Relations.
Three Castles in the Desarts.
YOU traverse
desart Sands
and
miserable Countries,
for about a Ten-Days-Journey, then arrive at
Gaza
in the
Holy-Land,
first passing by three several
Castles,
strongly Garrison'd, who claim a certain
Sum,
by way of
Toll
from every
Passenger,
both for himself and Camels; nor is this the only
Trouble,
Travellers are subject to, for such is the prodigious Power and inhumane Nature of the
upstart Officers.
commanding in these Places, that they never fail
exacting,
with the utmost Insolence and Avarice, whatever Force makes easy to their Rapine:
The necessity of a Passport from the Bashaw of
Cairo.
So that every Stranger, who wou'd Travel
unoffended,
from
Grand Cairo
to
Jerusalem,
must purchase a
full Passport
from the
Great Bashaw,
residing at the
first
of those
two Towns,
by which he may be sure of a
Protection,
tho' he meets with no
Respect
; but if,
imprudently,
he ventures, undefended by the Virtue of
that necessary Safe-guard,
ten to one, the
Persecutions,
he must meet with,
damp
his
Curiosity,
and he returns, deep loaden with
Repentance
in the room of
Satisfaction.
CHAP. XXXIX. Of the Present State of the
Holy-Land.
Palestine
justly call'd Holy by the
Christians.
AT last the Reader is arriv'd in
Palestine,
the
Land,
which anciently was chosen by the Voice of
God
himself, for the Possession of a People, whom he long distinguish'd by an undeserv'd
Partiality
of Favour and Affection: A Country, justly call'd the
Holy Land
by Christian Piety, because our
Saviour
bless'd her Cities with his Residence and Conversation, and in this
selected Climate
paid the Debt of an assum'd
Humanity
in ignominious Death and bitter Agonies.
Not else deserving of the Title.
BUT far from
Holy
has it ever been, if we consider the Rebellious Principles, incorrigible, strange, and unexampled Wickedness of the unhappy
Jews,
her
Old Inhabitants:
A Nation disregarding
Laws,
impos'd by
God
himself, who in their very Sight vouchsaf'd to hold a Conversation with their more Religious Leader, the neglected
Moses.
The obstinacy of the
Jews.
A
Nation,
who in midst of the Possession of those show'ring Happinesses, consequent to the encreasing favour of their
Great Creator,
and deliver'd by amazing Proofs of his Affection; nay defended in their
greatest Perils
by a thousand Miracles, and oft repeated Marks of the
Almighty
's Mercy; I say a Nation, who possessing these, and many more peculiar
Blessings,
could, amidst their
Obligations,
slight their Duty, and neglecting Him, from whom they boasted all their Fortune, deviate from the
Rules,
he set before them, to the shameful Practices of
black Idolatry.
How greatly Punish'd.
BUT as the heinous Nature of these Peoples Sins, exceeded far the most enormous Crimes of other Nations, so does that surprizing
Punishment,
inflicted on them, full as much exceed the Misery, which even the most despis'd and wretched Outcasts of the spacious Universe are forc'd to suffer.
Strangers in their own Country.
ABHORR'D
in the Society, and banish'd from the Habitations of Mankind in general, they wander miserably up and down, possess no
Property,
and wish no
Excellence
in any
Art
but that of
Cheating,
scorn'd and persecuted, wheresoe'er they come, and
to so shocking a degree
the
Tennis-Balls
of Fortune, and unpity'd Exiles of the World, that they are no where greater Strangers, than in
Palestine
it self, of Old the Right of their subverted Ancestors, and making them, while they possess'd her, not alone the
Pride,
but
Terrour
of the Universe.
NOT any Country of the
Habitable World
is known, to have been subject to so many Changes, or has felt the ill Effects of such stupendious, bloody, and successive Revolutions, as if the
Just, All-Wise,
and Mighty Hand of
Heaven
inflicted never resting Torments on the Place, for having been the Scene of our
Redeemer's
Sufferings, by the insolent Decrees, and obstinate Stupidity of her Inhumane
Natives.
Palestine
in the
Turks
Possession.
AMONG the many Changes, she has felt, she groans
at present
under the severest Weight of galling Slavery, that ever she was subject to, entirely in Possession of the
Turks,
and Govern'd by
Bashaws, Sangiacks
and
other Officers
in all degrees
presiding,
and
exerting
their Authority, as in the other Countries, subject to the Government of the
Ʋ nlimited Grand Signior.
How Inhabited at present.
HER Old Inhabitants,
Eradicated wholly
by successive Shocks of
War
and
Poverty,
have left the Ancient Seats of their Possession, to be Peopled by a Mixture of the
Scum
and
Refuse
of most other
Eastern Nations,
such as
Greeks, Armenians, Moors, Egyptians
and the like; for
Turks,
there are but
very few
among them, nor would
those
continue there, but out of a design to
Plunder
and
exact, as much as possible,
from the Unhappy
Wretches,
subject to their
Tyranny.
The Soil itself Chang'd.
NOR is,
the once sublime, and Flourishing Condition
of her Ancient Government, the only thing, which time has chang'd to this Surprizing disadvantage,
even the Land itself,
as if a Curse from
Heaven
attended the detested Climate, has disrob'd her
Surface
of those amiable Beauties, and attracting Excellencies of Fertility and Prospect, which in former times, were wont to Crown, not only the
Vallies,
but the very
Hills
and
Rocks
themselves, with a Productive Gayety.
Reflections.
METHOUGHTS it griev'd me, when I trod the Paths, which, in forgotten Ages, have perhaps been trac'd by the repeated Foot-steps of the Ancient
Patriarchs,
and their Posterity. Methoughts I say, it griev'd me then to think, that Lands,
of Old,
possess'd by the Religious
Patrons
of
GODS Holy Doctrine,
should now be own'd by the Defiling outcasts of Humanity, by Swarms of
Infidels.
IT Shock'd me strangely, when I cast my Eye
from Hill to Hill,
about the Country, and beheld almost on every
Mountain,
the remaning Ruins of some
Chalky Fabrick,
Mourning, as it were, its Founders Downfall: It shock'd me, when I saw such rugged Reliques of o'erturn'd Antiquity; and yet by what my Guides inform'd me, was oblig'd in looking on them, to reflect,
there
once stood
Jericho
in all her Grandeur,
there Damascus
anciently erected her aspiring Head,
there
stood the Fam'd
Metropolis
of
Israel,
bright
Samaria,
and in former Ages,
yonder
despicable Heap of Ruins was the Proud
Jerusalem.
Moral Reflections.
OH! How can
Man
be led to Flatter his ambitious Passions, with the Groundless hopes of
Riches Permanence,
or an unshock'd Possession of the Smiles of Fortune, when that very Ground is grown a
Dunghill
for the
Filth
of
Nature,
which the promises of
Heaven,
and the
GOD
of
Abraham
confirm'd to his Posterity, with the repeated Character of
a Land, that Flow'd with Milk and Honey,
and the strong assurances
that it should dwell with
Him,
and with his Seed for ever.
Bread made of Roots.
I know not, whether it proceeds from the Defect of Nature, in some wondrous Alteration of the Soils Fertility, or Universal Negligence, or want of skill in those Inhabitants, who now possess it, to improve it, as they ought to do, but this is certain, that the Land is so extreamly Barren, or Deficient in producing
Corn,
that for the space of many
Miles
about
Jerusalem,
the People Eat no other
Bread,
than what is made of
Beans,
or certain
Roots,
of an
Ʋ nsavory Relish,
but they say, of
Mighty Vertue,
as to the
Effects,
they have on those, who Eat them.
IT is, indeed, a Dyet, only fit for those mean Slaves, whose abject
Souls
can stoop to Servitude with a regardless Easiness, and such alone would condescend to live among such Arbitrary Tyrants, as oppress all kinds of People by Extortion and Injustice, in this miserable Country.
Rapine encourag'd, in
Turkey.
'TIS true, the Practice of unbounded
Rapine
is
allow'd,
nay even
encourag'd
in the mildest Scenes of
Turkish
Government, but here in so particular a manner, that Honour, Power, and Riches can by no means be obtain'd, but by the help of such unjust and wicked Courses, as by universal Custom are become, not only
safe
but
fashionable:
The evil consequences of Example.
AND indeed, where not alone licentious Education
tolerates
an Evil, but an universal Approbation
justifies
its Practice, 'tis a Task, extreamly difficult for any Man to shun the common Course of
Vice,
he sees before him; an Evil Conversation and the ill Examples, set Mankind, deceive their Senses into an Opinion, that such Practices are
just,
as they see
common; Hence
Injustice is become so natural to the
Turkish
Government, and
hence,
we find, how useful it would be for all young Men, to study well the Precepts of
Theognis
in the following Verses.
The Advice of
Theognis.
Cyrnus,
I'll kindly teach those Rules to Thee,
Which
Good Men
taught my unsiedg'd Infancy.
Be
Wise,
nor
Pow'r,
nor
Wealth,
nor
Honour
gain
From Deeds, whose foul
Injustice
all will stain.
Be careful next
Ill Company
to shun,
But to a
Good Mans Converse
always run;
Eat, Drink
and
Sit
with him, and still take care,
To make your
Court
to such, as
Pow'rful
are,
From
Good Mens
Conversation
Good
will flow,
Whilst with the
Ill
you lose, what you already know.
PROCEED we now, to take a view of the remaining Tokens of Antiquity and Zeal, which yet adorn the Modern State of lost
Jerusalem.
CHAP. XL. Of
Jerusalem.
The Sacred
Antiquities
therein contain'd, and the Entertainment of Strangers in the
Christian Monastery
on
Mount-Calvary.
Old
Jerusalem
's Condition.
NOW, Reader, we are come to a description of the celebrated Queen of ancient Cities, whose aspiring Turrets rais'd her Pride beyond a
Rival,
whose peculiar Blessings spoke her long the Mistress of Command, and Glory of the Universe, whose impious Walls contain'd the Scene of our
Redeemers
Agonies, and shook with Earthquakes at his mighty
Crucifixion.
How different from the Modern.
BUT now, alas! She can no longer boast those Gayeties of Nature and combining Art, which swell'd her Excellence in former Ages, all those bright and tow'ring Marks of Splendour and Authority are sunk to nothing, Rocky Barrenness, now stares a Stranger wildly in the Face, where
once
he might have charm'd his Senses, with a glitt'ring Prospect of refin'd Magnificence, and craggy Precipices in the very midst of this depopulated Scene of Sorrow, seem to groan out in complaining Murmurs,
Mortal Glory cometh up, and is cut down like a Flower, and passeth away like a Shadow, and is no more seen.
Reflections on
Jerusalem.
OH! Poor, unhappy City,
Great even in the Memory
of what thou once wert thought deserving of; how fully hast thou seen accomplish'd the Prophetic Sentence of thy
Crucified Director
; Oh! how much better had it been for thy deluded Natives, to have listen'd gratefully to the repeated
Woes,
denounc'd against them; Then had thy splendid Temple stood unshock'd, and not expos'd to verifie a Sentence, which, had she deserv'd no Overthrow, had never been inflicted.
Math.
24. ch. v. 2.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, there shall not be left here one Stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
HOW evident alas! are all thy Miseries; how vainly dost thou groan in an unpitied Ruin; and how stupidly inactive must be that Man's Fancy, who, beholding thee surrounded by thy present
Curses,
does not mournfully reflect, how much in vain our Tender
Saviour
pitied thy Misfortunes, when he breath'd these piercing Proofs of Heavenly Compassion mildly over thee!
Math.
24. ch. v. 37, 38.
O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
thou, that killest the Prophets, and stonest them, which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gather'd thy Children together, even as a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her Wings,
and ye would not!
Behold, your House is left unto you desolate.
THE Shocking Weight of those
Oppressions,
thou art subject to, give lively proofs of the just cause, our
Blessed Saviour
had to say,
Weep not for me, but for your selves O ye Daughters of
Jerusalem.
New Jerusalem,
how Situated.
MODERN
Jerusalem
has Chang'd her Situation, from the very Ground, on which the old one stood; for when she Flourish'd in her Ancient Grandeur,
Mount Moriah,
and
Mount Sion,
stood directly in the Center of the City, and the
Mount
call'd
Calvary,
the
Place of Crucifixion,
was without the
Northern Gate,
at a considerable distance, but the
New Jerusalem
is built so much more towards the
North,
that
Sion
is without the Wall, upon the
South-side
of the
Modern City,
and
Mount Calvary
now stands almost directly in the
Middle.
The Castle of
Jerusalem.
UPON the Right Hand of the
Western Gate,
there stands an Old Decay'd
Castle,
inconsiderately
Garrison'd,
and Mounted with a useless Number of
Great Pieces of Artillery.
The Walls, and Gates, how Fortify'd.
THE Walls are Weak, and all the
Town
much stronger by her Natural Situation than the Art, wherewith she has of late been
Fortify'd
; the
Gates
are Guarded by a constant Number of
Foot Soldiers,
and defended by the largest of their
Cannon
; the Remaining
Houses,
(for I cannot say there is a
Street
now standing) are of very low and humble
Fabrick,
Built of
Mud,
and not exceeding one
Poor Story,
widely Straggling from each other, and without the smallest sign of
Order,
or an
aim
of
Regularity.
SOME broken Remnants of old Buildings, which the
Natives
tell us, were the
Palace of King David, Theatre of Herod,
and the like, serve only to remind a
Traveller,
that
once Jerusalem was,
what she
now is not:
No
Jews
suffer'd to Inhabit
Jerusalem.
No
Jews
are suffer'd to Inhabit here, the Town being wholly Peopled by
Zealous Christian Bigotts
of promiscuous Nations, and such
Turks,
as Dwelling there, in hopes to use an Arbitrary Power to the best advantage, are
Subservient
to the Government of a
Sangiack
or
Deputy Provincial.
SINCE then there is not any thing uncommon in the form of Government here practis'd, and abundance of our Modern Writers have describ'd the Place with
Geographic Nicety,
and as for the Historical Accounts thereof, they are already fully known, I'll purposely omit the Naming any thing, but what is shown most Travellers, as Reliques of Antiquity, which, I believe is, what an
English Reader
will receive most welcomely, at least 'tis, what I chiefly aim'd at, in this Treatise, and will consequently lead me into no Unnecessary Deviation from the Tenour of my Subject.
FIRST then, I will inform my Reader, what we see within
Jerusalem,
and round about it, not including the
Franciscan Monastery
on
Mount Calvary,
or near it. Secondly at large describe both that, the
Sepulchre of Christ,
the
Temple over it,
and every other thing, worth Notice, thereunto belonging.
The Father Guardian, why so call'd.
I should First inform you, that the
Chief
of the
Franciscan Monastery,
is Entitled to the Name of
Father Guardian,
from the Privilege, he has of granting his Protection to all
Christian Travellers,
whether
Protestants
or
Roman Catholicks,
who are constantly oblig'd, as long as they continue in the City, to take up with a
Monastick Entertainment
in the
Convent
; for a Stranger (not of the
Mahometan Perswasion)
is not suffer'd to reside in any of the
Turkish Houses,
or indeed in any other Corner of
Jerusalem.
THe Convent at
Jerusalem,
how maintain'd.
THE
Europaean Princes
of the
Romish Church
contribute largely, towards the Maintenance of these
Religious Fryars,
who expect Rewards, of far more worth, than is the Entertainment, which they give to Travellers, and least such Gentlemen, as Curiosity has led to see
Jerusalem,
should possibly be ignorant, of what is still expected from their Purses, they are ever careful by repeated Declaration of their Poverty and Want of
Christian Charity,
on all occasions to insinuate, how welcomely they would receive a generous Gratuity.
How the Fryars live there.
THUS live they easily in flowing Plenty, using all the pampering Gifts of
Liberal Nature,
with an unreserv'd and gratifying
Luxury,
which is so fully known to the designing
Turkish Governors,
that they are seldom found to miss the smallest Opportunity of
squeezing
their Possessions to the best Advantage.
A Ceremony, us'd to Strangers.
THESE Politic
Franciscans,
vers'd politely in the well dissembled Practice of a great Humility, receive all
Strangers
with a wonderful respect, the
Father Guardian
always condescending, by a long continued Custom, to
kneel down
and
Wash
their Feet, while others
Wipe
them, many of the
Order
standing round, devoutly Singing certain
Hymns,
appointed for that purpose.
How they are treated.
AFTER this, a certain Number of the
Fryars
are directed by their
Padre,
to accompany the Strangers
up and down, within
the City and
without,
and shew them every Place, worth observation, which they constantly perform with
admirable Artifice,
appearing wond'rous Civil, and exciting those, they guide, to think their
Curiosity
a
Meritorious Zeal,
in hopes thereby, that others may at their return to their respective Countries, be induc'd to undertake a Journey
thither,
and by that means swell the
Perquisites
of their Dependance to additional Abundance.
A Question always ask'd at
Jerusalem.
IT is a Question, always ask'd, if you design your
Visit
to those
Holy Places,
from a Motive of
Religious Zeal,
or
Common Curiosity
; If from the
first,
they pester you with
Beads,
and other superstitious
Tokens
of Devotion, which direct the strict Injunction of repeating two, four, six, eight, ten or twenty
Pater Nosters,
at such and such
more
Sacred, or
less
Holy Places; but if you
assure
them, that the
latter Motive
tempted you to Travel thither, they are complaisantly
passive
in the matter, and accompany you about from
Place to Place,
without observing your
Deportment
in them.
A Register kept in the Monastery.
THE
Fryars
of this
Monastery
keep a
Register,
wherein they enter both the Names and Country of such
Travellers,
as visit the renown'd
Jerusalem:
It is impossible to know exactly the just number of our Countrymen, who have been there, because the different Inclinations of some Men engage them to pretend themselves
Italians,
when they are really
Spaniards, French Men,
when they are
Britons,
and renounce their Countries for some ends, which they believe most prudent.
How many
English men
have been there, these hundred Years.
HOWEVER, we were suffer'd to look back upon the
Books,
which have been kept these hundred Years last past, and found there enter'd (to the best of my Remembrance) One Hundred and Ninety Eight, who,
since that time,
have in their Travels from the
English Shore,
had
Will
and
Opportunity
to see
Jerusalem.
THE Sacred
Reliques,
Ancient
Buildings,
or whatever else deserves
Remark,
are these, which follow, eagerly asserted by the
Priests
to be the same, whose
Reputation
they have taken on them.
Herod
's Palace.
THE glorious Palace of the haughty
Herod
speaks (in a
Decay,
not quite so bad, as
Ruin)
the unbounded
Pride
of its Imperious
Founder
: There still remain some Rooms entirely whole, particularly, that, wherein he us'd to sit,
Enthron'd
beneath a
Canopy,
and list'ned to the Business of his numerous
Addressers
; near which they show another
Square,
but low Roof'd Chamber, where our
Saviour Christ,
derided by the
Scoffs
of Impious
Villains,
was saluted on the
Knee
with the
Ironical
Address of
Hail King of the Jews.
SOME stately Arches prove the
Architecture
to have been
Magnificent
and
Lofty,
and the Place is now so well repair'd, that 'tis the Residence of the
Sangiack
or
Turkish Governor.
Solomon's
Temple.
THEY show a Building, which they call the
Temple of Solomon,
but are neither suffer'd to
go in themselves,
or
gain Admittance
for a
Christian Traveller,
not even tho'
Bribery,
an almost never failing Orator among the
Turks,
should plead for the Permission.
Pontius Pilate
's House.
THE House of
Pontius Pilate
still remains, and there they show the Place, where stood our
Saviour,
when they crown'd him with the
Thorns,
and bound him to a
Pillar,
which supported the Apartment: But, oh! shocking Thought! and strange Effect of
Times
vast
Changes!
that very Place, where
Christ
was Scourg'd by the Command of
Pilate,
is at present made a Shop, where an Old Man, of Seventy Years of Age, frys
Cakes in Oyl,
and sells them in the Street to
Common People.
The Pool of
Bethesda.
INCLINING to the
East-side
of the City, stands the Celebrated
Pool
of
Bethesda,
now almost dry'd up and fill'd with Rubbish, where the
Angel
formerly descended, and by troubling the
Waters,
made them
efficacious
in the Cure of
Great Diseases.
The melancholy Way.
WITH
melancholy Sighs
we walk'd along the
melancholy Way,
thro' which our
Saviour
pass'd, o'erloaden with the Burthen of his
Cross,
in order to the Tragedy of his stupendious
Crucifixion:
Here we pass by an old Ruinated Place, where liv'd the Pious
Veronica,
who beheld, when
Christ
went by, that he was fainting with his
Load,
and brought him out a Napkin, to wipe off the
Sweat
from his afflicted Face, which
Napkin
amongst other
Reliques,
is retain'd and shown to Strangers in the
Chappel
of the
Monastery.
The Houses of
Simon
and
Lazarus.
NEXT, stand almost
contiguous
to each other, two old heaps of
Building
; in the
first
whereof they say liv'd
Lazarus,
whom
Christ
restor'd to Life, when he had long been buried; and the
other
they report, to have been formerly the Habitation of that
Simon,
who, perceiving
Jesus
faint before his Door, took up the
Cross,
and bore it for him to the Place of
Execution.
The
Virgins Chappel.
HARD by there stands a
Chappel,
Dedicated to the
Virgin Mary,
where they say, she stood, to see her
Son
go by, in order to be
Crucifi'd,
and
Swoon'd,
when she beheld him.
St.
Peter
's Prison.
THE Prison, where St.
Peter
was confin'd, is still remaining, and employ'd at present by the
Turks
for the same Purpose: Here they show a
Hole,
cut deeply in the
Wall,
to which they would ridiculously force you to believe, the
Chain
was fastned, which was us'd in binding the Imprison'd
Saint
abovenam'd; and not far distant from this Place, they show a Remnant of the
Judgment Gate,
thro' which our
Saviour
was conducted to the Sentence of his
Condemnation.
The House of
Annas.
THEY show the House, wherein our
Saviour,
visiting one
Annas,
then its Owner, stumbling accidentally, and almost falling down a little
Precipice,
in order to support himself, laid hold on the
sharp Corner
of a
Wall,
the Stones whereof, to this Day bear a Mark, which represents the
Print
of his
four Fingers,
if we may depend on the Assurances, our
Fryars
gave us.
A miraculous Stone.
THE House of
Simon
the
Pharisee
contains a
Stone,
whereon appears the
Print
of a
Man's Foot,
the
Mark,
they told us, which our
Saviour
made, when standing on it, he forgave the
Sins
of
Mary Magdalene.
It seems the Sacred
Vertues
of this
Stone
are so extraordinary, that tho' the
Turks
have frequently attempted to remove it from its Place, it has not only strangely baffled all their Efforts, but when once, the
Governor himself,
a mighty Enemy to any, who profess'd
Christianity,
endeavour'd it with Obstinacy,
Flames of Fire
broke fiercely from the Floor, and scorch'd away his
Resolution.
The Room, where the
Virgin Mary
was born.
BENEATH the Hollow of a certain
Rock,
on which was built the House of
Joahim
and
Anna,
there is shown a small, low, square Apartment, where was born the
Virgin Mary,
as the
Fathers
told us.
St.
Mark,
and St.
James.
THEY show the
Ruins
of a little Chappel, situated, where St
Mark
once liv'd, and not far from it a small
Church,
first founded by the
Spaniards,
in Commemoration of St.
James,
and Dedicated to him, for
I think,
they say, it stands upon the
Ground,
on which he was
Beheaded.
THESE, as far as I remember, are the most remarkable of all the
Places,
we were shown
within
the City; I will now proceed to give you an Account of
others,
equally deserving Observation, which are found without the
Walls,
at several distances.
A Monastery in the Place, where Jesus met the two Disciples in the Road to
Emaus.
IN the Road to
Emaus, Westward
of
Jerusalem
near
Six Miles,
there stands a
Monastery
founded by the
Pious Empress Helena,
directly on the Place, where
Jesus
met his
two Disciples:
Not far from hence they show a
Valley,
where they say was fought the
famous Battle,
before which the
Sun
and
Moon
stood still, at the desire of
Joshua.
The Sepulchre of the Prophets.
AT five Miles distance from the
North-West-Gate,
are several
Hollow Caves,
cut deeply in the bottom of large
Rocky Mountains,
one whereof was formerly the
Sepulchre
of the Inspir'd and Celebrated
Jewish
Prophets.
The Burying Place of the Kings of
Judah.
ALMOST directly opposite to that, remains the
Burying Place
of the Renown'd and Formidable Kings of
Judah,
which is enter'd by a square Descent, of near five Foot each way.
A narrow Passage.
THIS leads us thro' a Passage, somewhat narrower, and still descending with no little difficulty, by reason of great heaps of Rubbish, driven by Time to choak the
Entrance:
The Passage, fifteen Foot in length, is terminated by a broad and lofty Level, Arch'd above, and Bench'd, tho' roughly, upon either side.
A wonderful Door.
THE end of this large Place, which I may term a
Gallery,
admits you to a very wide and graceful
Chamber,
which you must descend to from the
Gallery
by two or three
Stone-Steps,
of admirable
Workmanship
: This
Chamber
has a
Door
belonging to it, which we found quite open, of an exquisite Contrivance, made entirely of the
Rock it self,
with
Hinges
of the same, on which it moves, tho' of prodigious
Weight
and
Bulk,
with an
incredible facility.
ON either side the
Chamber,
into which you are admitted by the
three Stone Steps
abovenam'd, stand the
Monuments
of such, as formerly were buried there; the Number is considerable, and the Order, they are rang'd in, very regular.
Description of the
Tombs.
THE
Tombs
are form'd alike, and of a Magnitude, exactly equal. They are smaller, otherwise they differ little from the
Monument
of
Porphyry,
I mention'd in the Chapter of the
Pyramids
of
Egypt
; some retain their Covers still upon them, others have been open'd by the eager Curiosity of
Christian Travellers.
Characters, within them.
UPON the insides of them all, we found
Decypher'd
certain unintelligible
Characters,
which, could we have interpreted their meaning, might have probably inform'd us, who was buried in each Stony and Capacious
Hollow.
That they were the Kings of
Juda,
we have no great cause to disbelieve, but that among them were Interr'd King
David,
and his
Son,
the Mighty
Solomon,
(as the too credulous Inhabitants of
Palestine
are taught by their
Tradition)
appears too widely distant from the reach of Probability, to fix a Reputation on the groundless Notion.
The Corps, found in them.
HOWEVER it is certain, that, at breaking open any of these
Tombs,
we may be sure to find the Body of a Man,
Embalm'd,
and
Ʋ ncorrupted,
but extreamly different from the
Mummies,
found in the
Egyptian Catacombs,
for these are so incredibly diminish'd, both in Bulk and
Stature,
that they scarce retain the bare
Resemblance
of the
Shape,
they once were Masters of.
A melancholy Sight.
THE broken Pieces, and disjointed Bones, left carelesly about the bottom of some
Tombs,
afford a very odd and melancholy Prospect; and, in others, the remaining Firmness of the jointless Bodies, Light and Thin, like some dry'd Fish, which I have seen in
England,
gave our
Thoughts
a mournful Subject for the following
Contemplations.
Contemplations on it.
Is
this
alas! our boasted
Mortal State?
Is it for
this,
we covet to be
Great?
What
Happiness
from
envied Grandeur
springs,
When these
poor Reliques
once were mighty
Kings?
O Frail
Ʋ ncertainty
of Human
Power,
While
Graves
can
Majesty it self
devour!
While
Death
distinguishes nor
Sex,
nor
Birth,
And
Regal Graces
moulder into
Earth!
Alas! how
strange,
how
sad
a
Change
is here,
In what a
Dress
does
Royalty
appear!
O where is
now
the
Globe
of thy
Command?
Or where the
Scepter,
that adorn'd
this Hand?
Where's
now
the
Crown,
which
once
these
Temples
bound?
Or where those
trailing Robes,
which swept the
Ground?
Where are those
brawny Guards,
which aw'd thy
State?
And where those
cringing Crowds,
which
once
were proud to
wait?
Are those
thin Jaws
the
same,
which us'd to treat,
Thy
Pamper'd Palate
with such
Choice
of
Meat?
Can
narrow Limits,
such as
these,
contain
The
chang'd Extent
of thy
once
larger Reign?
Canst
Thou,
at whose
least Frown
a
Nation shook,
And dreaded
Lightning
from thy
stormy Look?
Canst
Thou
alas! be
passively Content,
To let
Intruders
search thy
Monument?
Thou,
who wert
once too Great
for
Vulgar Touch,
Can thy
Proud Majesty
be
chang'd so much?
That
Common Men,
unknown to
Kings
like you,
Thus
poize
you,
turn
you round, and
wonder
at the view.
Bethlehem,
how Situated.
WEST
from
Jerusalem
about six Miles, stands the Renown'd and Ancient
Bethlehem,
our
Redeemers
Birth-place; and upon the
Road,
which leads you to it, you are made to observe the following
Reliques
of
Antiquity,
by your Guides, the
Fryars,
who attend you thither.
Solomons Aquaeduct.
THE Ruins of a Great, and Noble
Aquaeduct,
which formerly brought Water to the Celebrated Temple of the Glorious
Solomon,
appear between two
Rocky Mountains,
every here and there, delightfully conspicuous, high above the Superficies of a Flow'ry Valley.
Bathsheba's Fountain.
THE Fountain, where
Bathsheba
Wash'd her self, when
David
spy'd her from a Neighbouring
Turret,
still continues extant, or at least a Spring, inheriting its Reputation by the Virtue of
Tradition
; and a little higher, on the
Summit
of the utmost Corner of
Mount Sion,
stand the Ruins of the
Tower,
whence she was discover'd by that
Powerfull Monarch.
Elias
's
Rock.
ANOTHER Rarity, they show most Travellers, is a large Rock, whereon they zealously affirm, the Prophet
Elias
us'd to Sleep; and to confirm the Story, they oblige us to take Notice of some Natural Hollows, which are found upon the
Rock,
Created, as they say, by the Miraculous Impression, that the
Prophets Body
made, in his repeated Slumbers.
Jacob's
House.
THE Ruins of a
Church,
or
Monastery,
point out the Ground, whereon in former Ages, stood the
House
of the
Old Patriarch Jacob
; and the
Tomb
of
Rachel
stands within Six
Furlongs
of this Place, not far from which the Town of
Rama,
where the
Voice was heard of
Rachel,
Weeping for her Children,
still continues a considerable
Village.
THESE, and many other Rarities of venerable Age and Sacred Virtue, if the
Priests
may be believ'd upon their
Verbum Sacerdotis,
give a Stranger frequent Opportunities of Gazing round him, in the Road, which lies between
Jerusalem
and
Bethlehem,
to which last, however, we are now arriv'd.
A Temple, Built by
Helena,
at
Bethlehem.
DIRECTLY in the Place, where stood the
Inn,
in one of whose
Mean Stables,
the neglected
Virgin Mary
was oblig'd to lie, when she so greatly Bless'd the
Sinfull World,
in our
Dear Saviour
Christ's
Nativity,
the
Pious Helena,
that Happy Mother of the
Glorious Constantine,
Erected, long time since, a Stately
Temple,
representing in its form, the Figure of a
Cross,
near which is Built a little
Monastery,
now possess'd by certain
Fryars
of
Franciscan Order,
and in all kinds of the same
Fraternity
with those, I mention'd in the
Convent
at
Jerusalem.
Three dismal Grotto's.
THEY give all Strangers
Torches
in their Hands, and lead them thro' a Narrow Dark, and Winding Passage to
three several Grotto's; one
a
Vault,
wherein they say the
Children,
Murder'd by the
barbarous decree
of
Herod,
were thrown
Headlong,
to be Buried; and within the
second,
stand the
Tombs
of good
St. Jerom,
and his
Scholar,
fam'd
Eusebius,
the
Confessor
; The
last Cave,
containing nothing but a
Monument,
erected o'er the
Grave
of the
Fair Convert Paula,
a great
Roman Lady,
of the Noblest
Extract,
who together with her
Son Eustochius,
was Interr'd at
Bethlehem,
were she Built
Four Monasteries
and endow'd them Richly, which are
now
entirely Ruin'd.
The Birth Place and Manger of
Christ.
WITHIN a little space of the abovenam'd
Grotto's,
you descend to a large
Chappel,
flagg'd with Marble, Gilt and Ornamented in the richest manner: Here they show the very
Spot
of Ground, whereon the
Virgin
was deliver'd of her
Son,
the
Holy Jesus,
with the
Manger,
into which she laid him, and the
Place,
where 'tis reported, that the
Wise Men
of the
East,
directed
thither
by a
Star,
knelt down and Worshipp'd, whilst they offer'd up their
Presents.
Jacob
's Meadow.
IT is at
Bethlehem,
that they show the
Field,
where
Jacob
sed his
Flock,
and where the
Angels,
visiting the
Shepherds,
ravish'd them with the transporting
News
of our
Great Saviours
bless'd
Nativity:
The Field to this Day bears the Name of
Jacob's Meadow.
Joseph
's House.
NOT a Mile without the
Town,
they show the
House,
where
Joseph
liv'd before he fled to
Egypt,
and the
Cave,
wherein he hid the
Virgin
and her
Son,
while he prepar'd Conveniences for his intended Journey.
Many other Places, worth Remark.
BESIDES the
Places,
which I have already mention'd, there are many others, equally deserving Observation; but as twou'd oblige me to an inexcusable Prolixity, should I so much as
name
them all, I will omit enlarging any farther, than to give you a Description of some certain things, which justly claim the Reader's Notice, who may rest assur'd, that not one memorable Place in
Scripture
has escap'd the Knowledge of the
zealous Romans,
and
Bigotted Christians
of some other
Churches,
who will boldly undertake to show you almost every thing, you possibly can ask for.
Acceldama,
or the Field of Blood.
SOƲ TH
of
Jerusalem,
and not far distant from the
Walls
thereof, is that curs'd Piece of Ground,
of Old Acceldama,
the
Field of Blood,
a Purchase, made by the reward of Villany, return'd again by the repenting
Judas:
This in former Times, the Scriptures tell us, was employ'd as a
Receptacle
for the Dead Bodies of all kind of Strangers.
A Burying Place for
Christians.
NOR has Time had Power to change the
Ʋ se,
to which it was ordain'd so long ago: 'Tis still the common
Burying Place
of all those
Christians,
undistinguish'd by the Name of
Franks,
that is, all such, as are the
Subjects,
or at least the
Tributary Slaves
of the
Grand Signior.
How Wall'd round.
THE Field is all enclos'd by a
Stone Wall,
of mighty thickness, Roof'd with Art so very closely, that there is no
Passage
to the
Soil
within it, but by certain
Holes,
considerably broad, which rise, like
Cupola
's, upon the top, and are from time to time, set open in a different Place, to let down such Dead Bodies, as have
right
to be Interr'd within that
Compass,
Corps, that rot in a days time.
where the Earth is certainly endued with such a
penetrative Virtue,
that in two Days time, the Soundest Body of a
Man,
or
Woman
will be eaten to a
Skeleton.
TO search the Causes, which may probably produce this odd Effect, is devious from my Subject; I will therefore only tell you, that the
Stench
is so offensive, that 'tis no agreable Amusement, to inspect that
horrid Mansion
of
Corruption,
yet we ventur'd to look down the
Hole,
which then stood open, and discover'd, as distinctly as the
Places Duskiness
cou'd possibly permit, the lately buried Bodies of some six or seven Persons;
A horrid Prospect.
four of which were so far
Skeletons,
that there appear'd the
shless Bones
in many Places, and the rest were coming on to such degree, that they appear'd
half rotten,
and afforded such a
strange
and
dismal Spectacle,
that we were frighted from the
Thoughts
of an
exact Remark
or
curious Observation.
Ship-loads of Earth.
THE
Roman Catholicks
have frequently Exported whole
Ship-loads
of this prodigious Soil, which has been long known publickly at
Rome
and
Paris
; and at
Pisa,
I my self have seen a
Church-Yard,
cover'd four Foot deep therewith, in which they us'd to
bury
Persons only of an
high Distinction.
Other Sepulchres.
BESIDES the
Sepulchres
abovenam'd, all the Rocks,
for a considerable distance round this Place,
are full of
Caves,
against the Mouth of every one of which is roll'd a
Stone
of ponderous Magnitude, according to the ancient
Custom,
mention'd in the
Holy Scriptures.
IT wou'd be endless to enumerate the many venerable Places, shown a
Traveller,
on every side, without
Jerusalem
; I'll only therefore say
in general,
that we
saw
them all, but took a more than
common Notice
of the following
Places.
Memorable Places.
THE
Valley
of
Jehosaphat,
the
Old Oak Roguel,
the
Pool
of
Siloa,
the
Sepulchre
of
Zachariah,
and the stately Pillar, which was built by
Absalom
with a design to
eternize
his Memory, before the
Period
of his
black Rebellion.
Other memorable Places.
WE likewise saw
Mount Olivet,
the famous
Gethsemane,
and the Garden, where our
Blessed Saviour
was betray'd by
Judas,
with the Place, whereon he Pray'd in his amazing
Agony
; the
Village Bethany,
the Place, where the Repenting
Judas
was Interr'd, and a
Remainder
of the Tree, whereon he
hang'd
himself;
Bethphage.
the Place, where once stood
Bethphage,
a considerable Village, whence our
Saviour,
on an
Asses Colt,
came riding to
Jerusalem.
LET these suffice to give the Reader an
Idea
of the Entertainment,
Christian Travellers
receive, who, led by
Curiosity,
or sometimes
Zeal,
engage the
Fryars
to direct their
Notice
to the most considerable Reliques of
esteem'd Antiquity.
Helena
's Temple.
Proceed we now to take a
View
of the beforenam'd
Temple,
founded on
Mount Calvary,
a very low, but craggy
Hill,
all cut and polish'd from its
ancient Form,
for the Conveniency of Building this Illustrious Temple, which was left by the Religious
Helena,
a
memorable Monument
of the
Respect,
she bore
profess'd Christianity.
Its Situation.
THE Temple is Magnificent, and covers not the
Hill
alone, but a considerable
Part
of the surrounding
Plain,
one side whereof was
that,
into whose unfrequented Wildnesses the
ancient Jews
were us'd to throw the stripp'd
Dead Bodies
of their
Executed Malefactors,
from which common Custom it receiv'd the
Name,
it bore of
Old,
when it was call'd the Valley of
Carcasses.
Its Description.
THE finest Buildings of the Temple
front
the
South,
the Roof thereof is Arch'd and stately, Ornamented in two Places by a couple of indifferently large, but somewhat ruinated
Cupola's,
the
one
to be ascended by a kind of
Stair-Case
on the outward side, the
other
open at the
Top,
and rising from the
Chappel,
which encompasses the
Sepulchre
of
Christ.
Two Tombs.
YOU pay a certain Sum of Money to the
Turkish Officers,
who grant a
Licence
for your
Entrance,
which you have no sooner made, than you perceive upon your
Right Hand,
an
Old Fashion'd Tomb,
and on your
Left
another, which enclose the
Bodies
of the
famous Godfrey
of
Bulloigne,
and
King Baldwin
his
Successor,
the two first
Christian Monarchs
of Redeem'd
Jerusalem.
UPON the Tomb of
Godfrey,
on the
Right Hand,
as I said before, is found the following
Latin Epitaph.
Godfrey
of
Bull
's Epitaph.
HIC JACET INCLYTUS GODEFRIDƲ S DE BƲ GLION,
QƲ I TOT AM IST AM TERRAM
AC QƲ ISIVIT CƲ LTƲ I CHRISTIANO,
CƲ JƲ S ANIMA REQƲ IESCAT IN PACE. AMEN.
HERE LIES THE FAMOUS GODFREY OF BULLOIGNE,
WHO CONQUER'D ALL THIS COUNTRY
TO THE CHRISTIAN WORSHIP,
O MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE! AMEN.
THE other Monument upon the
Left Hand
of the
Entrance
tells the
Traveller,
it is
King Baldwin
's by the following
Inscription.
King
Baldwin
's Epitaph.
REX BALDWINƲ S, JƲ DAS ALTER MACHABEƲ S,
SPES PATRIAE, VIGOR ECCLESIAE, VIRTƲ S Ʋ TRIƲ S
QUE
QƲ EM FORMIDABANT, CƲ I DONA TRIBƲ TA FEREBANT,
CEDAR, EGYPTI DAN, AC HOMICIDA DAMASCƲ S:
PROH DOLOR! IN MODICO CLAƲ DITƲ R HOCTƲ MƲ LO.
ANOTHER JUDAS MACHABEUS, FAM'D
FOR GLORIOUS ACTS, LIKE HIS, KING BALDWIN NAM'D,
HIS COUNTRY'S HOPE, AND CHURCHE'S CHAMPION TOO,
IN WHOM UNITED BOTH THEIR HONOUR KNEW,
WHOM CEDAR, THE EGYPTIAN DAN, NAY MORE,
DAMASCUS WITH HER HOMICIDIAN STORE,
WHOM ALL THESE FEAR'D, AND TO WHOSE POW'RFUL SWAY,
THEIR WILLING DUTIES CONSTANT TRIBUTE PAY,
ALAS! IN THIS SMALL TOMB IS SHUT FROM DAY.
The Rent in the Rock.
NOT far from those two Monuments you rise upon
Mount Calvary,
and
there
are shown the Cleaving of the Rock, which split asunder at our
Saviour
's
Crucifixion,
naturally rough and plainly proving,
Art
could have no hand in the
prodigious Rent,
wherein they tell us was discover'd
Adam's Head,
which had been buried there, unknown to
Mortals,
till the Death of
Jesus.
Christian
Chappels.
FARTHER in the Temple there are many
Chappels
or
Divisions,
constantly Inhabited by several
different Sects
of
Christians,
who imagining it is a very meritorious Act to spend their Lives within the
Temple
of the
Holy Sepulchre, embrace
Confinement, and
possess
Apartments, independent each on other, never stirring, but on great Occasions, from the
Altars
of their
Worship.
The Hole, wherein was plac'd the Cross of
Christ.
THE highest of these
Chappels, Chequer'd over
with a various colour'd Marble, which they will not let you
walk upon
with Shooes, is built upon the very
Spot
of Ground, on which our
Saviour
suffer'd on the
Cross
; the Hollow of the Rock, wherein the
Cross
was plac'd, remains unbroken, richly Plated with the
finest Silver gilt,
and piercing thro' the midst of a large
Remnant
of the
Cliff,
which was not cut away at the
Foundation
of the
Chappel,
but continues whole, near half a Yard above the
Superficies
of the
Marble Pavement.
The Ceremonies there perform'd by Pilgrims.
HERE it is, that
Christian Pilgrims
in a
zealous Extacy,
are seen to practise
Airs
and
Postures,
not much differing from down right Madness, rolling
up and down
with strange Extravagance, endeavouring to creep, as near the
Hole,
as possibly they can,
Embracing, Kissing,
and
half Deluging
with
Tears
the solid Stones, as if they knew them
not
to be
insensible,
and would extract a
Sympathetic Sorrow
from their
Rocky Hardness.
The two Thieves Crosses.
ON either side of the abovenam'd
Hole,
there stands a
Cross
directly in the Places, where the
Thieves,
who suffer'd with our
Saviour,
hung in
Crucifixion; Here,
as in the other
Chappels
of the
Temple,
they adorn the Sides, and Roof, with a considerable Stock of
ever burning Lamps,
the melancholy Air of which Appearance helps to strike a
Sacred Terrour
thro' the Breasts of
all,
who enter.
The Place, where
Christ
was nail'd upon the Cross.
ANOTHER Chappel, enter'd thro' the
former,
brings you to the Place, where
Christ
was
laid
upon the
Ground,
and
nail'd,
as usual, upon the
Cross
he Died on: On the
Floor,
which is compos'd of
many colour'd Marbles,
you perceive the Figure of the
Cross,
directly, as the
Priests
assur'd us, in the Place, whereon lay
that,
which
this
is but design'd to represent the
Form
of;
Here
again, the
Pilgrims
of
both Sexes
exercise their
Vigour,
in those zealous kind of Motions, I describ'd so lately.
Another Sacred Place.
WITHIN a little distance from these Places, you are shown a
Marble Stone,
which covers,
as they say,
that very
Spot
of Ground, whereon the
Virgin Mary
stood, when from the
Cross
our
Saviour
recommended
her
and his
belov'd Disciple
to a mutual Love
from that time forward.
The Sepulchre of
Christ,
how enclos'd.
YOU pass by many little
Chappels
thro' abundance of large Pillars, to the
Sepulchre
of
Christ,
enclos'd by a small
Temple,
upon which is built the open
Cupola,
I
lately
mention'd; the Wood
thereof
is
Cedar,
and the
Chappel
quite surrounded by a
Range
of Cornish'd Marble Pillars, standing close against the
Wall,
and
thence
affording something, that deserves the
Name
of
Ornament.
Description of the Sepulchre.
DIRECTLY in the midst appears the
Sepulchre
of our
Blessed Saviour,
hewn by
manual Labour
in the Rock it self, near two Yards long, and one in breadth: 'Twas
anciently
expos'd to Publick View, Unpolish'd and in native roughness; but is
now
politely cover'd with a
spacious Marble,
to preserve it from the zealous Robberies of such
Religious Pilgrims,
as, imputing a Miraculous Effect to the
Possession
of such
Holy Reliques,
often us'd to break away small Pieces of the
Rocky Sepulchre.
Plac'd in a narrow Space.
THE
Tomb,
not quite a
Yard
in
Height,
enclos'd in such a
narrow space,
as scarce affords
sufficient room
for four to
Kneel,
is
now
converted to an
Altar,
Ornamented
brightly
with a constant Number of
fine Lamps,
the dark Effects of whose
perpetual Smoak
have daub'd the Roof with an unsightly
Blackness.
The Stone, which the Angel roll'd away.
NEAR the Entrance, in the Middle of the
Floor,
there lies a
Stone,
near two Foot square, whereon
some
say, the
Angels
sat, when they declar'd that
Christ
was risen;
Others
wou'd perswade us to believe, 'twas
that,
which had been roll'd against the
Entrance
of the
Sepulchre,
according to the
Jewish Custom,
tho' they show'd us
in another Place,
a Stone, which has
with more success
assum'd
that Reputation.
The Pillar of Christ's Scourging.
NOT far from hence they show the
remnant
of a
broken Pillar,
which is said to be a
Part
of
that,
whereto they bound
our Saviour,
while they scourg'd him. 'Tis four foot long, and
vein'd
with
dusky Clouds,
but sprinkled on one side with certain
Spots
of
reddish Colour,
which they would perswade us to believe, were made by the most
precious Blood
of the
Revil'd
and
Tortur'd Jesus.
The Honour paid the Relique.
THIS Relique is enclos'd within an
Iron Grate,
thro' which it must be touch'd by
nothing,
but a certain
Stick,
the
Priests
provide you with, which being
thence
immediately convey'd to
Pilgrims Mouths,
is
stedfastly
believ'd of never failing
Power
to infuse a certain
balmy Virtue
to the
Soul
of
Him,
who
blesses
his
internal Faculties
by kissing eagerly the
holy Stick,
which has been honour'd with the Touch of such a Sacred
Relique.
Knights of the Sepulchre.
THERE was a Custom Instituted in the Year
One Thousand
and
Ninety Nine,
of Constituting
Gentlemen, Knights of the Sepulchre,
by kneeling on the Place, and taking
there
a certain Oath to be Eternal
Champions
of the
Church
of
Christ,
and lead a
Life
sincerely
Pious,
and continue
Members
of the
Roman Catholick Religion,
which, with certain other
Ceremonies,
such as
girding
on
a Sword,
and hanging a Gold
Cross
about his
Neck,
being perform'd by the
Father Guardian
of the
Franciscan Monastery
upon
Mount Calvary,
he rises,
Dignify'd
with that
Religious Quality.
By whom Instituted.
THE Sovereigns of this
once respected Order
were the
Kings of France,
who Instituted it Originally, but when the Avarice of the
Priests
inclin'd them to accept of any Man,
how mean soever,
who desir'd the Honour of this
Sacred Knighthood,
cou'd he but afford to bribe them highly, it became at last so very
Common,
that 'twas
disregarded
by degrees,
Now almost disus'd.
and now is very rarely
practis'd,
or so much as
sought for.
Christs Prison.
THEY show a little low and darksome
Grotto,
hewn, but roughly, in the Body of the Rock, wherein they say
our Saviour
was confin'd, betwixt the
Hour
of his
Sentence,
and
Moment
of his
Crucifixion.
The Place where they cast Lots for his Garments.
HERE likewise is the Place wherein the
Soldiers
cast their
Lotts,
according to the Custom,
then
in Practice with the
Jews,
for our condemn'd
Redeemer's
Garments. Not far from thence, the
bottom
of a tedious narrow
pair
of
Stairs,
cut also from the
Rock it self,
admits you to a kind of
Gallery,
supported by four
Marble Pillars
of a
greyish Colour,
which, for ever sweating, or emitting a perpetual Moisture by the native
Dampness
of the
subterraneous
Place, wherein they stand, are shown to
Strangers
for a Miracle,
Weeping Pillars.
and said to Weep with Sorrow for our
Saviour's Crucifixion.
The Place where they found the Cross.
UPON the
Southern side
of
Calvary,
eleven Stone Stairs admit you to a Vault, which
Helena
first founded on that Part of the
Valley
of
Carcasses,
wherein, among vast
heaps
of
Rubbish, Bones of Men,
and
Mossy Stones,
they found the
Cross
of Christ, and
those
of the
two Thieves,
who had been
Crucified
with him, after they had lain unthought of, and forgotten, full
three hundred Years,
or
somewhat upwards.
The Conclusion.
I think that, having said thus much, it wou'd be
needlessly Prolix,
to
tire
the Reader with additional Relations, little else deserving a
peculiar Observation,
gives me opportunity to swell the
Subject,
I have dwelt so long upon, and which, when I beheld the
numerous Scenes
of our
Redeemers
Sufferings, possess'd my Bosom with an
ardent Flame
of
Zeal
for that Religion, he so dearly fix'd amongst us by his
Death
and
Passion.
GRANT,
Indulgent God of my Desires,
that I may long retain a
fresh Idea
of those moving
Scenes,
which stirr'd the
Passions
of my
melting Nature
to a lively Sense of
Duty and Affection,
for that
Compassionate
and
Tender Saviour,
who descended from his
Father,
to assume the
Frailties
of a
Weak Humanity,
and Died for the
Offences
of an undeserving Race of
stubborn Sinners.
Nothing more, worth viewing.
NOTHING, after you have seen all this, can tempt your Stay in sad
Jerusalem,
you therefore take your leave of the
Franciscan Fryers,
who pretend an humble
Condescention
to all kinds of People; but have often given
demonstrative occasion
to the
Protestants,
who Travel thither, to mistrust the Truth of their
fair-fronted Compliments,
by the Miscarriage of some
Englishmen,
whole Companies of whom have
Died within one Week,
I fear by other Motives than the Complaisant Intention of accompanying one another, to
the other side Mortality.
CHAP. XLI. Of the
Cities
of
Palestine,
as they now are.
I NOW proceed, to let the Reader know, that
such
as is
Jerusalem,
just now describ'd,
such
also are the
other Cities
of this miserable Country;
Once
they flourish'd in a State of
Glory,
if not
equal,
yet not much
inferior
to their fam'd
Metropolis
; But
now like Her
subverted, and disrob'd of ancient Beauties, they exhibit to the
View
of every
Traveller,
a melancholy Cause of Contemplation on the Changes,
Mortal Excellence
is ever subject to, and the undoubted Truth of
Seneca
's asserted Maxim.
Sen. Tra. Troas.
Quicquid Sol Oriens, quicquid & Occidens
Novit; Coeruleis Oceanus fretis
Quicquid vel veniens, vel fugiens lavat,
Aetas Pegaseo corripiet gradu.
What e'er the
Rising,
or the
Setting Sun
Knows in the
daily
Course, his
Glories
run;
What e'er the
Ocean
with
Sky-Colour'd Waves,
Or in her
Ebbings,
or her
Flowings laves
;
Time
shall with
Pegasean Flight
devour.
I will not, in describing the Condition of the Cities of the
Holy Land,
observe the nicety of
Geographic Regularity,
but taking
first
the
Sea-Port
Towns in order, as they lie to the
South-East
of
Egypt,
thence come back
the other way,
and so include a full description of as much, as
now
remains worth
Notice,
in that Tract of Land, extending, as of Old, from
Dan
even to
Beersheba.
The Sea-Port Towns of
Palestine.
THE most remarkable of
such,
as were of Old, or still continue
Sea-Port
Towns, or near the Sea, are these, which follow;
Gaza,
which I elsewhere mention'd,
Ascalon,
and
Joppa, Acre, Tyrus,
and the Celebrated
Sidon.
The Inland Cities.
THE Inland Cities, anciently of most
Repute,
and now remaining most deserving of a Stranger's Observation, are no more than these, which follow: Old
Damascus, Caesarea, Nazareth, Samaria, Jericho,
and
Hebron,
and to sum up
all
the fam'd
Beersheba.
Gaza,
describ'd.
GAZA,
now call'd
Gazra,
was in ancient
Times
most Famous, for the wonderful Performances of
Sampson
's Strength; 'tis situated on a
Hill,
and stands amidst the fruitful Vallies of a pleasant
Country,
Inhabited promiscuously by
Turks
and
Christians,
'tis about a
Mile
in
Circuit,
all the Houses low, and meanly built of
muddy
Substance, yet many
Reliques,
both of Marble Pillars, and a polish'd kind of
Porphyry
Buildings, give fair Proofs of her
Magnificence
in former
Ages.
Ruins of the
Philistines
Temple.
THERE yet remain upon the
Hill,
the splendid
Ruins
of a Massy, Arch'd and Lofty Piece of
Architecture,
which is generally said to have been anciently the Place, where
Sampson,
standing blind betwixt the
Pillars,
to make Sport for the
Philistine Noblemen,
pull'd down the House with sudden force, and
with himself,
destroy'd
such mighty Numbers
of that Warlike People.
Sampson
's Foxes.
THEY show the Field, wherein the just nam'd
Sampson
ty'd the
Foxes Tail to Tail,
and burnt the
standing Corn
of the
Philistines
; and among the many Places, Famous in his Memory,
oblige
you to take notice of a very steep and craggy Hill, to which, when he had been disturb'd in
Gaza,
he ascended, with the
City Gates
upon his Brawny Shoulders.
An Old Castle.
THERE is a Castle now remaining, Founded by
King Baldwin, in the Year One Thousand, One Hundred and Forty Eight,
a very mean and despicable Fabrick, where the Great
Sangiack
of
Gazra
has his Residence, and Rules the
City
and the
Country
round it, with an uncontroul'd and arbitrary Tyranny.
Ascalon
describ'd.
ABOUT twelve Miles
South-East
of
Gazra,
close upon the Sea, is built the
City Ascalon, now
call'd
Schalon,
Inhabited by
Turks,
and guarded by a kind of
Fort,
wherein they keep a ragged Garrison. This Place deserves Remark, in that it was of Old the City, where was built the Celebrated
Temple
of the Great
Philistine Idol, Dagon,
part of whose decay'd Foundations they pretend upon Inquiry, to point out to Travellers. 'Tis
now
a kind of inconsiderable
Village,
worth regard for
nothing,
but the Garrison, the
Turks
maintain to guard their
Castle.
Joppa
describ'd.
JOPPA,
Famous in the
Scriptures
for a
Sea Port Town,
is ill accommodated with a dangerous
Haven,
open to the
fury
of the
Northern Tempests
; all her Buildings are of Mud, or an unpolish'd kind of Stone, of an-appearance, not agreeable. The Place is Peopled by promiscuous Numbers of the
Turks
and
Christians.
Certain Merchants have their Dwellings
here,
in order to Export such quantities of
Cotton,
as they can
procure
about the Country. Other
Merchandizes
they are seldom stock'd with. Annual Numbers of the
Christian Pilgrims,
Travelling to visit the
Sepulchre
of
Christ,
and other Sacred
Reliques
at
Jerusalem,
are landed
here,
and by their frequent Passages
maintain,
but not
enrich
the miserable Natives of this
Worthless City,
which is Famous for the
boasted height
of her
Antiquity,
reported to have been
first
built by
Japhet, Noah's Son,
or as some say,
before
the Deluge.
Acre
describ'd.
ACRE
is a
Sea Port Town,
directly equidistant from
Jerusalem
and
Tripolis
of
Syria
; 'tis built upon a Plain, its Form Triangular, two sides
whereof
the Sea
for ever
washes; Once it was a Place of Strength,
Impregnable,
and Fortified by all the Helps of
Art
and
Nature,
which the mighty
Ruins,
still remaining, like stupendious Mountains well
demonstrate.
How much Blood has been shed there.
SUCCESSIVE Seas of
Blood
were
shed
between the
Turks
and
Christians
in the
Holy War,
each side alternately
possessing,
and oblig'd to
quit
the
fatal City
; It is
now
entirely govern'd by a
Turkish Sangiack,
and Inhabited by Men of pretty good Condition, on account of the Conveniency, the
Sea
affords them, of a Trade with
Britain, Holland, France,
and every other Navigating Part of
Christendom.
Tyre
describ'd.
TYRƲ S,
the Fam'd
Metropolis
of
Old Phoenicia,
Celebrated
anciently
for
Wealth
and
Power,
and particularly Famous for her
Purple Dye,
which lives so frequently in many of the Works of
former Writers,
is
at present
Subject to the
Turkish Government,
and Peopled by a mixture of
Moors, Greeks,
and other kinds of
Christians
and
Mahometans
together. It is Situated close upon the Sea, to which she opens on her
Northern side,
with a delightful and commodious
Harbour.
Her ancient State.
ONCE she was not only gloriously
Magnificent
in all her
Buildings,
but surrounded by such Numbers of delicious Trees, and lovely Gardens, that she seem'd to form the very
Paradise
of
Nature,
and misled the Senses of her Proud
Inhabitants,
to all the Practices of
Villany
and
Arrogance,
which tempted them to live a
Life
of
Luxury,
and
wallow
in the
taste
of
Carnal Bliss,
unmindful of a Truth, the ruinated Aspect of her
Modern Figure,
sadly teaches
every Stranger,
who may chance to visit her,
Sen Trag. Thy.
Nulla sors longa est, dolor ac voluptas
Invicem cedunt, brevior voluptas.
Ima permutat brevis hora summis.
No Lot is lasting,
Grief
and
Pleasure
too
Alternately
each other still persue,
But
Pleasure's Reign
is shortest of the two.
One short Hours
Change
makes
Meanest
Things most
Great.
Sidon
describ'd.
SIDON
is of rather
more
than
less
Antiquity than
Tyre,
Built and Nam'd, as most agree, by
Sidon, Canaan's Eldest Son.
'Tis Situated in a very rich and healthful Country, not far distant from the
Cedar Mountains
of the Famous
Lebanon,
and upon the other side made Pleasant and Convenient by the Sea, which washes it.
The modern
Sidon.
THE Present
Sidon
stands on a Foundation, somewhat distant from the ancient
City,
and is very meanly Built and despicably Peopled, scarce worth mention, but upon account of some
Antiquities,
particularly an
Old Tomb,
which they affirm to be the
Sepulchre
of
Zebulon:
It stands among the ruinated
Buildings,
which appear to mark the Place, where the proud
Sidon
stood in former
Ages.
Its Manufactures.
MANY Merchants
here
reside, Exporting Yearly Quantities of
Cotton, Silk,
and other
Manufactures:
The Government of
Sidon.
The Town and Country round it, are entirely subject to the
Turkish Government,
but in a manner somewhat different from other Places, for their Great
Emir
or
Governour
possesses an Hereditary Power, and free Exercise of a
Religion,
between
Mahometanism
and
Christianity,
by Virtue of a
Patent,
granted them on their Submission to the
Turkish Yoke,
when they had long defended those Possessions, left them by the Famous
Godfrey
of
Bulloigne
King of
Jerusalem,
who brought them from their Native Country,
France,
to serve as
Christian
Soldiers in the
Holy Land,
where their Posterity have in the Course of Time, degenerated both from their
Religion
and their
Honour,
to the evil Principles and mean Subjection, they profess at present.
Description of
Damascus.
EASTWARD
of
Sidon,
two Days Journey stands,
Damascus,
Situated on a Plain, well Water'd, and Surrounded by a graceful Ring of fruitful Mountains, now the Seat of a
Bashaw,
and Peopled with the Wealthiest Inland Merchants of the
Turkish Empire.
All her Houses are indifferently built of Stone, or Brick unbak'd, and of a small duration. Numerous
Fountains, Fish Ponds, Orchards, Gardens, Avenues,
and
Grotto's
gracefully Adorn the Celebrated City, which of Old was Famous, and in great measure still continues so, for the Invention or Improvement of Ingenious
Arts,
and Useful
Sciences.
The Town
Caesarea.
CAESAREA,
once the Famous City
Dan,
is now extreamly chang'd to
Disadvantage,
by the Course of Time, and Overthrow of Governments. 'Tis notwithstanding, still a Town of great Importance, Famous for a Castle of so strong a Situation and Contrivance, that the
Turkish Sultans,
looking on it as a kind of
Berwick upon Tweed,
think fit to honour it with a perpetual mention in the Titles, they affix to every
Publick Proclamation,
in the following manner;
I, even I, the Mighty Sultan, amongst whose numerous Places of Defence, the Impregnable Castle of
Caesarea
is esteem'd the least, and in regard to whose vast Power, the
Macedonian Empire
was a very Trifle.
Nazareth,
in her present Condition.
NAZARETH,
the Birth Place of the
Blessed Virgin,
scarce deserves a mention upon any other Consideration. 'Tis Situated in a Valley, all the Hills about it Craggy, and Unfruitful; not above an hundred
Houses
form the
Village,
built at present on the old Foundation of the
Galilean Nazareth.
How Inhabited.
POOR are the People, who Inhabit here, a mix'd Conjunction of the
Turks
and
Christians,
yet the
last
by far the
fewest.
Nothing here deserves remark, but certain venerable
Ruins
on the Hills adjoining, and a kind of
Chappel,
which they say is built, upon that very Spot of Ground, whereon stood formerly the
Virgin Mary
's House, and Room of her
Nativity.
Samaria,
as at present.
SAMARIA,
lying almost in the Center of the
Holy Land,
continues
still
a Formidable City, Peopled only by
Mahometans,
and (but in that 'tis somewhat strong) deserving no Man's Observation, as to any thing, but some fine Ruins of
Antiquity,
which seem to have been formerly no less than
Kingly Palaces,
by their remaining Marks of
Faded Royalty.
The City
Jericho.
AMIDST a spacious Valley,
nine Miles
broad, upon the Ground, where once stood
Jericho,
we found a miserable little
Village,
near the
Wilderness,
wherein is Situated the prodigious Mountain,
Quarantania,
an
Italian
Etymology.
now
call'd
Quarantania,
because 'twas from the top thereof, the
Devil
tempted
Christ,
by shewing him the
Kingdoms
of the
Ʋ niverse,
and urging him without Success, to think on
Sin
for
Forty Days together.
JERICHO
was
once
a Place of
Fame,
and the surrounding Country tolerably Fertil;
now
the very
Face
of
Nature
is so strangely alter'd, that (the piercing Scarcity of all
Lifes Necessaries,
tempting the poor
Arabs,
who Inhabit the rough Mountains round it, to make
Prey
on all such Passengers, as they can overcome by downright Force, or subtle Ambuscadoes) 'tis become so dangerous an
Ʋ ndertaking
to attempt a Journey thither, and the Place it self so Barren and Unpleasant, that it gave occasion in the
Holy War
for the Original of an
Old Proverb,
The Original of the Proverb,
Wou'd you were at
Jericho.
when you wou'd revenge your self on any Man, who has affronted you, to say in
England, Wou'd you were at
Jericho.
Hebron
describ'd.
HEBRON,
which was once the Residence of
David,
till his Conquest of the
Jebusites
possess'd him of
Jerusalem,
stands not many Miles from
Gaza,
nor far distant from the Celebrated
Lake
of
Sodom
and
Gomorrah.
The Place is held in much esteem, and often Visited with wond'rous
Veneration,
by
Bigotted Jews,
who hold it as a meritorious Deed, to make a
Pilgrimage
on no account, but to perform a kind of Ceremonious
Mourning
o'er the
Tombs
of their
Old Patriarchs,
who here lie Buried.
A pleasant Place.
NOTHING certainly can yield a more delightful Prospect, than those lovely Vallies, fruitful Hills, large Plains, and flow'ry Meadows, which, combining the Perfections of their natural Beauty, seem to paint the
Land,
round
Hebron
with so odd a Gayety, that even the
dullest Eye
is sweetly ravish'd with an
Object,
so delightful.
Bersheba,
as at present.
BERSHEBA
opposite to
Gaza,
and the
Southern Boundary
of Old
Judea, now
distinguish'd by the Name of
Geheblin,
remains an inconsiderable Village, boasting neither Reliques of her own Antiquity, nor tasting the Advantages of other Cities, in her Traffick, Situation, or the Character, she bears, when put in Competition with the Places, I have treated of.
AND now I think, I have as briefly as is possible, describ'd, as largely as is necessary, all those Cities of the hapless
Holy Land,
which may deserve Remark, or bear regard enough in Modern Servitude, to claim a Place in the
Remembrance
of a Traveller.
I cannot help repeating the Concern, I had upon me, to behold this Country, once the Seat of
Justice
and
Religion,
groan in a Subjection to the Enemies of
Both.
'Tis true the
Jews,
her Old
Inhabitants,
had more deserv'd a Stranger's Pity, had they less invited their
Foretold Destruction,
for we may be allow'd to say with
Seneca,
Sen. Tra. Hip.
Quem Fata cogunt, ille cum veniâ est miser;
At siquis ultro se malis offert volens,
Se
que
ipse torquet, perdere est dignus bona
Queis nescit uti.
That
Man,
whose Troubles from
Fates Curses
flow,
Tho'
Miserable,
is with
Pity so
;
But
He,
who does,
unforc'd,
Self Torment chuse,
Deserves to
lose
a
Good,
he knows not how to use.
CHAP. XLII. Of the River
Jordan,
and the
Dead Sea,
or Lake of
Sodom
and
Gomorrah.
I bring my Reader
now
to a Description of a River, worth
Remark,
in that it is the
only noted one,
the
Holy Land
can boast of, and a
Memorable Monument
of the
Almighty Vengeance
on a Wicked People in the
Stagnate Sea
of heavy Waters, which
at present
covers those
once-lovely
Plains, on whose delightful Surface stood the Cities, which by Obstinate Adherence to the Blackest Vices, drew down Show'rs of
Fire
and
Brimstone,
on their
Ʋ nrepenting
and
Supine Inhabitants.
The Etymology of
Dan.
DAN,
of Old the
Southern Boundary
of
Palestine,
receiv'd its
Name
from a large
Fountain,
near to which the Town was Situated; And from a kind of
Lake
or
Well
of mighty
Depth
and
Magnitude,
some Miles above that Ancient City,
Flows
the celebrated River
Jordan,
running thence thro
Subterraneous
Passages to the aforenam'd
Fountain Dan,
emitting
there
(and at
another Fountain
somewhat
smaller,
very
near,
and
Anciently
distinguish'd by the
Name
of
Jor
)
The Etymology of
Jordan
those rising Streams, which gradually swell to a considerable Breadth, and Form by their continued Course, the River
Jordan.
Description of the River.
NEITHER the
Length,
the
Breadth,
or
Depth
of
Jordan
are Extraordinary, where
Broadest
not exceeding half a Quarter of an
English Mile,
and no ways Navigable for a
Bark
of
Burthen; Slow
in motion,
Smooth
and
Clear,
in all her
Channels
and from
North
to
South,
dividing many Pleasant Tracts of Land, for more than half the Length of
Palestine.
Its Course and Beauty.
THERE is not in the Universe a River of a more Delightful
Prospect,
or agreeable
Contrivance,
as to the
Meandring Forms,
and
Winding Labyrinths,
wherein it glides with an
Ʋ ncommon
Gentleness, along the midst of
Plains
and
Vallies,
sometimes thro' an open Country, then Inclos'd
on either side
by rising
Ridges
of fine Woody Hills, and
every where
adorn'd on both its
Banks,
with Shady Groves of
Poplar, Alder-Trees,
the
Mournful Willow,
and a Thousand other Lovely
Greens,
surprizingly Inchanting every Eye with
sudden Wonder,
at the Unassisted
Gayeties
of
Virgin Nature.
YET does the River sometimes change its proper Form, and Wander, till tis lost
a while
in certain
Lakes,
amongst whose Number
two
there are, which
Anciently,
were Famous for their
Magnitude
and
Depth,
and
still
continue highly worth a
Strangers Observation.
The Lake
Hoolee.
THE First is Situated in the
Ʋ pper Galilee,
and
now
call'd
Hoolee,
Spacious in the
Winter,
but in
Summer
almost Dry, and yeilding a Production of
such Quantities
of
Reeds,
that commonly
Wild Beasts
find Shelter
there,
and Dangerously lie in
Ambush
for the
Ʋ nsuspecting
Traveller.
The Sea of
Galilee.
THE other, formerly the
Lake
of
Tiberias,
or
Genezareth,
and sometimes call'd in
Holy-Writ,
the
Sea
of
Galilee,
is Fifteen Miles in
Length,
and Ten in
Breadth,
affording
Numerous Kinds
of
Fish,
of admirable Relish, and so Strangely Fatning all the
Soil,
which Borders on it, that it well deserves the
Name
of the most Fertil Part of all the
Holy Land.
Jordan,
how Swallow'd up.
THUS Glides the River
Jordan
with a natural Face of Pleasure, till 'tis Swallow'd up in the
Dead Sea,
to which it enters with a full discharge of all its
Waters,
but is seen no more
from that time forward,
nor the
Sea itself
observ'd to swell, by such a
Tributary Affluence
of
Encreasing Waters,
whence 'tis reasonably guess'd, that there must be some
Subterraneous Channels
to disgorge the Streams, receiv'd so Plentifully.
Etymology of the
Dead Sea
THIS Lake is call'd the
Dead Sea,
from the
Heavy Stagnate
Nature of the Water, it contains, which neither Currents, nor the Force of
Tempests
have the Power to stir from its amazing stillness, and it is observable, that, tho' the River
Jordan
runs into it, it continues a considerable space entirely
Clear,
and long unmixing with those
Thicker Waters.
Its Extent and Original.
THIS
Sea,
or
Lake
is Sixteen Miles in
Breadth,
and Seventy
Long, now
Drowning all that
Paradise
of
Pleasure,
that
Delightful Plain, once
call'd
Pentapolis,
amongst whose Five Aspiring Cities,
Sodom
and
Gomorrah
were the two most Wealthy, ever since their Fatal Burning by the
Fire
and
Brimstone
of
Vindictive Heaven,
entirely sunk beneath the Surface of this dismal
Lake,
which now o'erflows the Ancient Habitations of
Luxurious Wickedness,
and does at certain seasons of the Year (especially preceeding
Rainy Weather)
constantly emitt a kind of
Mist
or
Smoaky Cloud,
in Five distinct and distant Places, which the Superstitious People
thereabouts,
wou'd needs perswade us to believe,
point out
the several
Situations
of those Miserable
Cities.
Its Nature and Description.
THE
Salt
or
Brackishness,
peculiar to the Waters of this
Lake,
is so extreamly great, that Heavy
Bodies,
thrown upon the Surface, sink not down, without much difficulty, and it is reported, that the
Roman Emperor Vespasian
Commanded certain Sentenc'd
Malefactors
to be Bound, and thrown in
Head-long
for a Proof of the Experiment, which was confirm'd by their strange
Floating up and down,
incapable of sinking thro' the Surface of the Waters, whose
Sulphureous Quality
prevail'd so far upon their
Skin,
that it
Peel'd off
in every Part, as if they had been
Scalded,
and this last effect it
now
produces to so Piercing a degree, that it will
Flea
the
Fingers
of a
Man,
who Rashly goes about to
Wash his Hands,
in that Untempting Monument of Horror and Iniquity.
Why call'd
Asphaltites.
IT likewise bears the Name
Asphaltites,
from a Prodigious quantity of
Pitchy
or
Bituminous substance,
call'd
Asphaltum,
which is Bred
in time
upon the Surface of the
Lake,
and being cast
on shore
all round it,
gather'd
by the Country People, and
employ'd
in many uses; often Anciently exported into
Egypt,
for
Embalming
the
Dead Bodies
of the Vulgar, not capacitated to afford the Purchase of an
Aromatic Composition.
Why the
Lake
of
Sodom
and
Gomorrah.
AMONG the many Names, it is distinguish'd by, 'twas justly call'd
the Lake of Sodom and Gomorrah,
in Commemoration of the Dreadfull Punishment, inflicted by the
Hand of our Almighty God,
upon a Sinfull People,
once
Inhabiting the Cities, which had
there
their Situation.
A Vulgar Error concerning the
Dead Sea.
IT has been commonly reported, and confirm'd by the Assertion of some
Modern Travellers,
that all such
Birds,
as dare attempt the
Flying
over it, are suffocated with the Vapours, rising from the
Lake,
and fall down dead upon its
Surface
: This I can assure my Reader, is a most
egregious Falsehood,
for I have not only seen vast quantities of
Fowl
fly
up and down
about it, but descend
sometimes
in search of Meat, upon such
floating Reeds,
or other
swimming Heaps,
as lie upon the top thereof. Perhaps the Story took its Rise from the Repute, which
Poets
gave
Avernus,
and some other
Lakes
on that Account. Thus touch'd on by
Lucretius.
Luci.
Lib. 6.
—Nomen id ab re
Impositum est, quia sunt avibus contraria cunctis,
E regione, ea quod loca cum advenêre volantes,
Remigii oblitae pennarum vela remittunt;
Praecipitesq cadunt molli cervice profusâ.
—That
Name
is justly giv'n,
Because the
Killing Nature
of the
Place
Is
still Destructive
to the
Feather'd Race
;
Who, when they leave their
Tracts
of
milder Air,
And
hither
with
advent'rous Flight
repair,
Forgetting
how to
Fly,
they strangely
fail,
Thro' the
Infected Air
on
Wings
to
sail,
And with
extended Necks
fall
headlong
down.
One good Quality of the
Dead Sea.
I shall only add one Observation
more,
before I end this
Chapter,
and that is,
this Lake
among its many
Ill,
has one
Good
Quality; For by the
Briny
Nature of its
Waters,
and the
Soil
about it, it yields such mighty Quantities of
Salt,
as furnish all the
Holy Land
with unexhausted Plenty of that
necessary Product.
Lot
's Wife, and the Pillar of Salt.
YET one Addition
more, accosting
my Remembrance, must implore the Reader's Pardon, if I stay to mention it; It is, that 'mongst a Ridge of
Mountains,
not far distant from the
Lake,
I have been treating of, they show a Hill of an indifferent
Magnitude,
which is, or seems to be, a kind of Rocky
Salt,
unfit for
Ʋ se,
and
thence
unvalued upon any
other reason,
than the Reputation of being, what the
Scriptures
call
the Pillar of Salt,
into which
Lot's Wife
was Metamorphos'd, when her
Female Curiosity
inclin'd her to
look back
against the
Angel's Order,
and behold the Ruins of her
Flaming City.
CHAP. XLIII. Of the Present State of the
Christian Religion
in
Palestine.
A shocking Contemplation.
TWOU'D be perhaps impossible, in Travelling about the spacious
Ʋ niverse,
to find a
Scene,
more strangely shocking to a
Christian Zeal,
than what the
Holy Land
affords at
present:
For it cannot surely be a welcome
Contemplation
to a Man, who owns the
Faith
of
Christ,
to see that Place have
least
of his
Religion,
which had
most
of his
Good Wishes.
THE vilest
Soil,
the
Earth
possesses, yields
Encrease,
when it is Sow'd with
Liberality
; But this
ungrateful Clime,
this
miserable Country,
enrich'd by the
inestimable Blood
of
Christ himself,
is yet so far from an Improvement of her not alone
Prodigious,
but
Peculiar Blessings,
that the disencourag'd
Practice
of
Repuls'd Christianity
is disregarded more in
Palestine,
than even the most
Remote
and
Barbarous Corners
of the
Turkish
Territories.
The common
Christian
Inhabitants of
Palestine.
THE scatter'd
Christians,
who Inhabit with the
Turks,
in any of those Towns, I mention'd in the
former Chapter,
commonly are such, as are attracted by the
Summons
of a Profitable Way of
Living,
and forgetting every
Call
of their
Humanity,
but that of
Interest,
give their Minds
entirely up
to a continued Practice of such
advantageous Courses,
as, engaging totally the
Bent
of their
Desires,
prevent their
Souls
from the neglected
Execution
of those
Holy Duties,
which wou'd better
far
become their Application.
Many Sects, who live in the Temple of
Christ
's Sepulchre.
HOWEVER, there are many different
Sects
of
Christians
here, who led by Piety, and the prevailing Love of their
Religion
and its Practices, abandon all the gayest Follies of the gilded World, and spend their Days within
Jerusalem,
nay commonly within the very
Temple
of our
Saviour's Sepulchre,
with all the Marks of a sincere Repentance, and ingenious Resignation to the Smarts of
Poverty,
and unalluring Rules of an unseign'd
Austerity.
How Converse with Strangers.
SOME Hundreds of these zealous Families, perpetually reside within the Temple, so as never to Eat, Drink, or Sleep, in any other Place, nor find a possibility of Conversation with the People of the Town, at any other time, than when they bring
Provisions
thither, and by ringing
one,
of a great number of
small Bells,
by different Cords made fast within the several Apartments of the
Christians
there, give notice to the Persons, they desire to speak with, who immediately come out, to be acquainted with the reason of their
Summons.
BUT since it may not be an unacceptable Amusement for the Reader, to be made acquainted with the
different Tenets
of the
different Sects,
residing at
Jerusalem,
I will enumerate the several
Doctrines
of such
Christian Zealots,
as are comprehended in the following
Denominations.
The Names of
Christian
Sects, residing in
Jerusalem.
ARMENIANS, Coptees, Abyssens
and
Graecians, Jacobins, Nestorians Georgians,
and a kind of People, who have many Monasteries on
Mount Lebanon,
and are distinguish'd
amongst Christians,
by the Name of
Maronites.
The
Armenians.
THE
Faith
of the
Armenians,
who are, next the
Graecians,
here most numerous, has been already told you in the
three and twentieth Chapter
; largely treating of those Peoples Customs, and their
Tenets
of Religion.
The
Coptees
and
Graecians.
I likewise, have inform'd you, that the
Coptees
are the Remnant of the
Old Egyptians,
and at large describ'd their
Doctrine
and
Condition,
in the
four and twentieth Chapter of this Treatise,
nor can I enlarge, without a flat
Prolixity,
on what I have already said concerning
Greece,
and the
Religion
of her
Natives.
The Toleration given them.
LET it then suffice to say, that all the three abovenam'd
Sects,
administer in the respective Offices of their Religion, at
Jerusalem,
with as unbounded a
Permission,
and the same degrees of
Ceremony,
as they are allow'd to use, when in their several distant Countries.
THE rest I will proceed to treat of, as distinctly as I can, and first the
Abyssens,
more ancient than their
Fellows
in
Conversion
to the
Faith
and
Worship
of our
Saviour Christ,
require the Preference.
The
Abyssens.
THEY are no other than the
Aethiopian Race,
whose
Ancestors
embrac'd the
Christian Doctrine,
from the Preaching of their Queen
Candace
's
Eunuch, Philip's Convert,
much about the
Year of Christ,
Four Hundred and Seventy.
The Tenets of their Religion.
THEY
Circumcise
their Children, Authoriz'd, as they imagine, by our
Saviour's own Example,
and extend the Duty of that
manual Operation
to both
Sexes
equally.
THE
Man
at forty Days Old, and the
Woman
at threescore they constantly
Baptize,
repeating every Year that
Sacramental Ceremony,
on the
Twelfth Day of Christmas,
in Commemoration only of the Condescention of our
Lord,
who stoop'd that Day to be
Baptiz'd
in
Jordan
by St.
John the Baptist.
CONFESSION, Keeping
Lent,
and Praying for the
Dead,
are Points, wherein they join exactly with the
Roman Catholicks,
as they oppose them rigidly, in not admitting
Images
in
Churches,
or the
Ʋ se
of
Crucifixes,
and permitting
Priests
to
Marry freely.
A
Jewish
Inclination.
IN one odd
Point
they seem to favour the
Opinion
of the
Jews,
with whom they side in
Abstinence
from certain
Meats,
and keeping
Saturday
as
Holy,
as they do the
Christian Sahaoth.
I need not tell the
Learned Reader,
that the
Jacobins
are call'd so from the
Founder
of their
Heresy,
a
Syrian
of mean Parentage and Fortune, nam'd
Jacobus.
The Religion of the
Jacobius.
HIS Dictates taught his Followers, and their Posterity, to make the
Godhead
of our
Saviour
Passive, and Subservient to his
Manhood.
They believe the
Soul of Man Immortal,
but with this
Reserve,
that it continues
Slumb'ring
with tho
Body,
till the
Day of Judgment.
CONFESSION, Purgatory, and the Prayers of
Roman Catholicks
for the Deceas'd, they disregard, as needless Innovations. Their
Priests
may
Marry,
and Administer the
Sacrament
in both kinds, and unanimously join to disbelieve the Truth, and disobey the Orders of the
ancient Fathers,
and their
Synods,
for the most part.
The
Nestorians.
NESTORIƲ S
in the Reign of
Theodosius,
was Bishop of
Constantinople,
and a Native of the
Ʋ pper Germany
; he introduc'd an
Heresy,
which has prevail'd extreamly in the
East,
and gives the Denomination of
Nestorians
to its Professors.
IN the Administration of the
Eucharist,
this
Sect
deny the
Real Presence,
nor permit the
Virgin Mary
to be call'd,
The Mother of God.
They read the
Scriptures,
and pretend to practise a reserv'd
Humility,
but make a strange
Division
in our
Saviour Christ,
between his
Divine
and
Humane
Nature.
The
Georgians.
THE
Georgians,
call'd so from the
Country
of that Name, (in ancient Days,
Albania,
or
Iberia)
are in many Ceremonies and Opinions, Imitators of the
Greeks,
and most distinguish'd by the following
Principles,
to which they long have been most strict
Adherers.
THEY take a Liberty from their
Religion,
to indulge their Senses almost to the highest Pitch of
Incest,
by permitting
Marriages
within the
Rules
of
Christian Prohibition.
They are great Admirers of
loud Instruments
of
Musick,
in their Churches, and have seldom deviated from an
honesty of Mind,
which speaks 'em justly Qualified for the Respect and Care of
Europaean Governments,
who might with little Charge or Labour, bring them over from their
in-offensive Ignorance,
to a more lively and illuminated
Knowledge
of the
Christ,
they Worship.
The
Maronites.
THE
Maronites
took Name, from
Maro
an
Old Abbot,
who won 'em over from the
Jacobin Opinion
to a
new one
of
his own
; or, as some say, from a large
Village,
call'd
Marona,
situated near their famous
Monastery
on Mount
Lebanus
or
Lebanon.
THERE have been frequent Conferences set on Foot, between the
Roman Catholicks
and the abovenam'd
Maronites,
wherein the
former
have so well succeeded, that they are come wholly over to the
Church of Rome,
some few
Reserves
excepted,
two
of which are these: They hold it as a Superstitious
Ceremony,
to make use of
Extreme Ʋ nction, one
of the
Seven Romish Sacraments,
and look upon all
Prayers
for the Deceas'd, as helpless Offices of a mistaken
Zeal,
or ineffectual
Bigottry.
The Government, these Sects are subject to.
THESE then are all the noted
Christians,
now Inhabiting
Jerusalem,
or any other Part of
Palestine,
each several
Order
subject to the Government of their respective
Bishop, Abbot,
or
Elected Guardian,
but so much more subject to the
Turkish Power,
that they must miserably stand, depress'd by want of
Riches
or
Authority,
and see the
Ground,
which once the
Good,
the
Holy Jesus
honour'd with his
Habitation,
made the Property, and ruin'd by the Insolence of those audacious
Infidels,
who dare, upon the very Scene of his prodigious
Agonies,
Blaspheme his
Person,
and Deride his
Crucifixion.
The Conclusion of the Chapter.
IN this Condition,
Reader,
lies the
Holy-Land
at
present,
scarce enough esteem'd by the few
Turks,
who live therein, to make 'em guess their
Profits
worth their
Pains,
and yet in vain desir'd with longing Wishes, by many
Christian Princes,
who for want of a sufficient Power, by single Efforts, to expel the Conquerors, are forc'd to see that
Land
more wretched
now
than any other, which was
once
declar'd by
God himself,
the Happiest of the
Ʋ niverse.
CHAP. XLIV. Of
Arabia
the
Stony.
Arabia,
not all subject to the
Turk.
NOW, let us look a little into the Dominions of the
Three Arabia
's, many Parts whereof are subject to the
Turkish Sultan,
but far more,
are not,
yet do those Lawless and Imperious Monarchs claim the Honour of the
Government of all,
by adding to their
Titles
an
Illegal Claim,
to the
entire Possession
of the
wide Arabia.
SINCE therefore,
tho' not really his,
he calls them
so,
I will as briefly as is possible, to satisfie the Reader, give a just Description of the
Three Divisions
of this
Mighty Country,
and first attempt a thorough View of that
Arabia,
call'd
Petraea.
Arabia Petraea
why so call'd.
ARABIA PETRAEA,
or
Arabia the Stony,
either took its Name from
Petra,
now call'd
Rat-al-allah,
by the
Turks,
its Masters, the
Metropolis
of Old of all the Country; or, as some will have it, from the
Rocky Mountains,
which confine it, and the great
Stone Quarries,
at the bottom of the Sand, in every Part within it.
The Situation of the Stony
Arabia.
'TIS bounded on the
Northern side,
by
Syria,
on the
West
by
Egypt,
on the
East
it borders on the
Desarts of Arabia,
and the
Southern
Confines touch the
Northern
Shores of the
Red Sea,
and the delightful Frontiers of
Arabia Felix.
Description of the Soil.
THE Land is very
desolate,
and
barren
to a vast degree. The Ground lies wast, o'erwhelm'd a thousand times a Year, by fluctuating Waves of rolling Sand, if I may call them so, impetuously driven up and down, Hills chang'd to Valleys, and the Valleys suddenly transform'd to Mountains; nothing here can boast the certainty of one Half Hours Duration; all the Face of
Fickle Nature
varies in a moment, and you see no more the vanish'd Prospect, you have just been looking on.
Its Barrenness.
NO
Tree
here flourishes, but now and then a solitary Palm; the Ground unstable, can produce no more than two or three low kind of Herbs, the
Hyssop,
and another with a spreading
Leaf,
which wanting little depth for Root, grow here and there upon the Grass-less Surface of the Naked
Sand.
Great Want of Water.
BUT what is more than all the rest intolerable, is the melancholy
want of Water,
Travellers are subject to, who often are oblig'd to ride till almost Dead with
Thirst,
before they find a
Spring,
sufficient to emit a
Pint of Water
for the Service of a Multitude.
The Misery of the Inhabitants.
EXCEPTING the
Wild Arabs,
whom I shall distinctly treat of by and by, those miserable Wretches, who Inhabit this untempting Country, commonly are such, as being driven from their Native Places by a barbarous Oppression, chuse to change a forc'd, for a no less, but voluntary
Misery.
Reflections on the ill Effects of Poverty.
O pinching Poverty! That Men shou'd yield their
noblest Virtues
to be crush'd by thee! How strange are thy Effects! And to what
unaccountable Attempts
dost thou push on the Minds of such as feel thee! No Men had certainly ran headlong to these
Desarts,
to avoid the
Shame,
thy Power expos'd 'em to, unless thou art indeed as terrible as the
Old Poet
thus has represented thee.
Theognis,
upon Poverty.
Poverty, Cyrnus,
ames a
Good Man
more
Than
Fevers, Age,
and all, he felt before.
To
fly
the heavy Curse of
being Poor,
What
Ills,
O
Cyrnus,
shou'd not Men endure?
They rather ought to meet some
Briny Wave,
And 'midst
th'unfathom'd Ocean
find a
Grave
;
'Twere better far to
rush
against some
Rock,
And
dash their Brains out
with the bloody Shock;
For ev'ry Man by
Poverty
's deprest,
Nor can he
Speak,
or
Act,
or
Live at Rest
;
But
Tongue-tyed, Silence
binds his
knowing Breast.
Thence,
Cyrnus,
shou'd we strive by
Land
or
Sea,
From
Poor Mens Burthens
to live ever
free,
For 'tis far better, we shou'd
Death
endure,
Than bear the
Weight of Life,
if
Life
must still be
Poor.
Reflections on the vanity of Pride.
YET is it,
on the other Hand,
as wretched a Condition, to be
swell'd,
beyond the
Knowledge
of our Selves, and the
Remembrance
of our Frailties, by the transitory Preference, we gain above our
Fellow Mortals
by the shortliv'd
Honours, Wealth
bestows on our deluded
Wishes
; sudden Changes, and undreamt-of Storms, invading our Possessions, may reduce us swiftly, even below a Level, with the
meanest
of our
Menials,
and to punish our
Ambition,
Ship-wreck our
Good-Fortune.
A Story, of a Proud, Rich Man at
Hamburgh
I very well remember, once at
Hamburgh
to have seen a melancholy Instance of the strange
Vicissitudes
to which
Mortality
is hourly Subject: For as I was looking on the
Monuments,
which grac'd a
Church
of the abovenam'd
City,
I took notice of a certain
Tomb-Stone,
fix'd up sideways to the
Wall,
on which, besides a deal of
Sculpture,
there were deeply cut the strange Particulars of the
Relation
following, in the
German
Language.
FREDERIC LEOPOLD LAƲ SSERBƲ RG,
a Person of obscure Birth, and an Illiterate Education, grew so Rich by Great Mens Favour, and a thousand unexpected Blessings of an undeserv'd Good-Fortune, that he was advanc'd to the most envied
Dignities,
the
Magistracy
of the City cou'd bestow upon him, and encreas'd in
Wealth
and
Power
to so prodigious a degree, that no six
Gentlemen
in all that Country, cou'd outbalance his
Possessions.
A weakness of Nature.
PRIDE, the Consequence, and Common Tinger of
Triumphant Beggary,
quite turn'd his Senses; In this Height of
Exaltation
he forgot the means, by which he
rose,
and look'd upon the Blessings, he Possess'd, as Fram'd for his Enjoyment; Insolence and Vanity so Clouded his small share of understanding, that he us'd all People with such
Ʋ nbred Haughtiness,
that he became the Universal hate of
Town
and
Country.
Good advice unhappily Slighted.
PROVIDENCE endeavour'd to oblige him by a Warning, from the Mouth of a Free Speaker his Relation, who attempting to disswade him from the Odious Practice of so Scornfull a Deportment, urging that tho'
now
he was above the Malice of the World, a time might come, when he shou'd cease to be so, had this vain and senseless answer thrown upon him.—
Alas! Poor Fool, an Ass might sooner learn to Play upon the Bagpipes, than the Curse of Poverty be Taught a Way to make me Miserable.
A Midnight alarm.
ADVICE was ineffectual, and the Gentleman forbore repeating it, the Haughty
Lausserburg
went soon that Night to
Bed,
and
Wak'd
about the
Hour
of
Midnight
with a wonderfull Surprize, to hear the Noise of
Rustic Musick
in the
Street
(and as he thought before his
Windows)
with a Hundred Exclamations, such as
Lord deliver us, Protect us Heaven,
and the like, from all the Windows, opposite to his, whose Casements shutt and open'd with a strange Confusion.
A wonderfull Apparition.
TEMPTED by the Noises, he got out of Bed, and Running to his Chamber Window, threw it open, and the first Remark, he cast his Eyes on, was a kind of
Phantom,
representing the exact resemblance of an
Ass,
erected on his hinder Legs, and Dancing up and down to an uncommon Tune, of his own Playing on a perfect
Bagpipe,
while the Frighted Neighbours, all amaz'd
before,
were
now
far more surpriz'd, to see the
Apparition Vanish
in the very Moment, he look'd out at Window and beheld it.
THE Startled
Lausserburg,
in Agonies at this Appearance, presently Reflected on the Wicked answer, he had made his Friend, and from that Hour became so Melancholy, that he never relish'd former Pleasures, but neglected strangely all his Great Concerns, and sunk almost to a downright Stupidity.
A sudden Downfall.
AMAZING Accidents by Fire and Robbers, Law-suits and Neglect, in two Years time consum'd his Wealth to so incredible a Change, that being hated by the Townsmen, they refus'd to give him the relief, he wanted; so that he, who lately Judg'd himself too Great to know an Equal, or Converse with an Inferior, was by Providence, reduc'd to Beg his Bread, from Door to Door, and hope a Charity from even the meanest of those People, whom he had before Uncharitably dealt with;
A Miserable Condition.
nay so far
Ill-Fortune
Tortur'd him, that, not admitted under any Roof,
That very Friend,
who had forewarn'd him of the possibility of Falling, coming late one
Moon-light Night,
along the Street, in very Cold and Rainy Weather, saw him sitting huddled on a Heap of Dirt, half Naked, Sheltred from the Rain by nothing, but a kind of
Wicker'd Basket,
which being close at Bottom, but as open as a
Cage
in every other part, he had drawn over him, to keep his Head from the Severity of Weather.
The use of the Story.
THIS Story, carv'd at large upon the
Tombstone,
quickens Pity and Amazement at one time, and may be usefull, as a
Mirror
to present the World, with an exact Idea of the rise and fall of
Vanity,
and the Misfortunes, drawn by
Pride
upon the
Bubbles of Mortality.
Shells, and Shining Sand, upon the Desart.
BEFORE I close this Chapter, 'twill be proper to inform the Reader, that the Sandy Desarts of the
Stony,
and indeed the other two
Arabia's,
are cover'd thickly with a Thousand kinds of
Little Shells,
and
Nitrous Atoms,
which appear with Glistering Beauty, at a distance from you, which, with several other Proofs, are reasonable Grounds for a belief, that
once
these Plains,
now Desart Sands,
were a large Part of the
Main Ocean.
CHAP. XLV. Of
Arabia
the
Desart.
The Desarts of
Arabia.
THE mighty
Desarts
of the
Wast Arabia, South
of the
Foregoing,
are confin'd that way, by the
Arabia,
well call'd
Happy,
from the Aromatic Blessings of its Climate: But on every other side, run wildly on towards
Babylon
and
Media, Mesopotomia
and
Armenia,
in such endless Tracts of
Sand
and
Desolation,
that the undiscover'd Reach of their prodigious
Surface,
frightens Curiosity from Thoughts of searching, for the just Extent of such a dangerous Territory.
Different from the rest of the World.
HEAVEN has here laid Wast the Work of
Earth's Creation,
or contriv'd these
Blots
of
Nature,
like a
Mole
in a
fine Face,
to serve as
Foils,
and add an Ornamental
Lustre
to the Brighter Parts of the more
Temperate Ʋ niverse.
THE
Elements
themselves are here at War; The
Sun
inflames the
Sand,
and the Tempestuous
Sand
invades the
Air
with Waves of Fire, whose rolling Heaps like stormy Billows of impetuous
Heat,
hiss dreadfully against the Breath of those prodigious Tempests, which remove them hourly, and make a
Chaos
of the horrid
Desart.
Wild Beasts, and Serpents in the Desarts.
NOT a
Shrub
grows here, or any thing at all, which looks like
Nature
in her common Decency; the
Hiss
of every kind of Poys'nous
Serpent
aggravates the Terrour of a trembling Traveller, who, all inviron'd by the dangerous
Snakes
and salvage
Beasts,
which, scaring others, are themselves as often scar'd, by the unstable Motion of the trackless
Desarts,
is oblig'd to seem at
Sea,
upon the scorching
Continent,
and Travel
Day and Night
without the smallest
Guide,
but the Assistance of a
Compass.
The Virtue of Fire in the Desarts.
THE raging
Heat
of a perpetual
Sun
so burns the
Sands,
they Travel on, that they are scorch'd, as if they walk'd thro' half-extinguish'd heaps of
Ashes,
yet are they still oblig'd to carry
Fire,
and fix it round the Places, where they rest, to fright away the Monst'rous Creatures, who wou'd else assault 'em.
The Skill of the
Arabians.
THOSE
Arabians,
who are Knowing in the Nature of the horrid
Climate,
guess, by certain Motions of the Clouds, the coming of a Storm of
Wind
from any Quarter, and the distance, it is at, and consequently suit their Travels thro' the
Desarts,
to their Best Conveniency.
The Misery of Christians, Travelling without a Guide in the Desarts of
Arabia.
BUT
Christian Strangers,
wholly Ignorant of all those
Signs,
nor daring to confide so far in the suspected
Arabs,
as to take 'em for their
Guides,
are sometimes miserably overtaken by the danger of a
Storm,
which agitates the Ground, they travel on, with all the violence of the severest
Earth-quake,
lifting Men and Camels from the
Desart,
or at least so fills the
Air
with Clouds of Sand, driv'n up and down by unresisted
Whirlwinds,
that the Wretched
Traveller,
quite blinded with their Fury, stands,
unknowing what to do,
while the
Dried Dead Bodies
of Men and Women, who have perish'd
Ages since,
in passing over, are with a surprizing Horror blown upon them, whisk'd like Paper thro' the Air, all Dreadful and Deform'd, with those suspended
Carkasses,
and Flocks of
Serpents
hurried violently thro' the Winds, with the uplifted
Tracks
of glowing
Sand,
they lately crept in.
WHO knows, but many of those dead Mens
Bodies,
which are blown so frightfully about the
Desart,
are the same, who perish'd, when the
Roman Legions,
under
Warlike Cato,
bravely pass'd this
Sultry Climate
in the Search of Glory, and on whose account the
Poet Lucan
thus describes the Nature of these
Desarts.
Luc.
L. 10.
Sic Orbem torquente Noto, Romana juventus
Procubuit, metuens
que
rapi, constrinxit amictus,
Inseruit
que
manus terrae; nec pondere solo,
Sed nixu jacuit, vix sic immobilis Austro,
Qui super ingentes cumulos involuit arenae,
At
que
operit tellure viros, vix tollere miles
Membra valet, multo congestu pulveris haerens;
Alligat & stantes affusae magnus arenae
Agger, & immoti terrâ surgente tenentur.
Saxa tulit penitus discussis proruta muris,
Effudit
que
procul mirandâ sorte malorum:
Qui nullas vidêre domos, vidêre ruinas,
Jam
que
iter omne latet, nec sunt discrimina terrae
Ʋ lla, nisi aetheriae medio velut aequore flammae.
Sideribus novêre vias;
While thus (disturbing Earth) the
South Wind
blew,
The
Romans
on the Ground their
Bodies
threw,
And fearing swiftly to be
blown away,
Bound fast their
Cloaths,
and graspt the
Soil,
whereon they lay;
Nor does their
Weight
alone secure them there,
A Clinging Strength they make the
Surface
bear;
Scarce can they
thus
the
Southern
Storm withstand,
Which o'er their Prostrate Heads, rolls mighty Hills of
Sand
;
Buried therein,
the Soldiers scarce can lift
Their
Limbs,
the
Monumental
Dust to shift.
Those, who dare
stand upright, unmov'd
remain,
Kept
strait
by heaps of Sand, which
over-whelm
the Plain,
Prodigious Stones, rent from some
broken Wall,
Fly in the
Tempest,
which supports them all,
And in some
distant Clime,
with wonder lets them
fall.
They
Ruins
see, who can no
Houses
spy;
No beaten
Path
salutes the longing
Eye,
No different
Roads
in this
sad Place
appear,
Like
Mariners,
by
Stars,
their doubtful
Course
they Steer.
The wretched Condition of Travellers, who are lost in the Deserts.
HORROR and Confusion overtake the
Traveller,
who, by a thousand little
Accidents,
is hourly liable to lose his
Company.
Imagine, Reader, what a miserable State you wou'd believe your self reduc'd to, were you left alone, amidst the wild, and unfrequented
Sands
of these unmeasur'd
Desarts; Nothing
near you, nor within the reach of the most Sanguine Hope, but dreadful
Serpents,
unknown
Monsters,
and a thousand barbarous Enemies to
Nature
and
Humanity
; No distant Prospect of a Smoaking
Chimney
to direct your Footsteps, nor the comfortable sight of Beaten
Roads,
to guide you in your
Journey; Day
assaulting you with scorching
Heats,
Ghosts, and Apparitions, in the Desarts.
and
Night
confounding you with the repeated Shreicks and shrill Complaints of
Ghosts,
or
Apparitions,
which, it you believe the People of the Country, wander Nightly up and down about these
Desarts.
Mischievous Hob-goblins.
THE
Arabs
told me fifty frightful Stories of the
Mischiefs,
done by these
Hob-goblins,
who delight, (
it seems
) to exercise
Deceit,
and make poor Travellers not only lose their way, but perish in the
Desart.
HOWEVER, there was, some Years since, a Certain
Better natur'd Spirit,
than a Man has commonly an Opportunity to get
acquainted with,
and since 'tis pity she shou'd lose the
Honour,
due to her
Civility,
I will Record her, for as honest and obliging an
Hob-goblin,
as ever can be found in all
Arabia.
A Story of an
Armenian Merchant,
lost in the Desarts of
Arabia.
THERE was, as I was told by my Judicious
Turkish Author,
an
Armenian Merchant,
call'd
Demetrio,
who liv'd for many Years in
Egypt,
and as I remember, in the City of
Grand Cairo,
till, by his industrious Application to the
Art,
he Practis'd, he became considerably Rich, and Flourish'd mightily.
IT seems the Man was of a Grateful
Temper,
and remember'd that, when he had liv'd, while
Young,
in
Babylon,
in a Condition very
Mean,
and much depress'd by
Servitude
and
Poverty,
he had receiv'd extraordinary
Civilities
from a
Good natur'd Turk,
by whose Assistance only, he had been enabled to engage himself in that successful way of
Living,
which had
now
so happily improv'd his Former
Circumstances.
The grateful Design of a dangerous Journey.
HE made a Resolution, that he wou'd go pay a
Visit
to his
Friend
in
Babylon,
and let him see that he remember'd gratefully the many
Bounties,
he had formerly receiv'd, and wou'd
reward,
at least
acknowledge,
his extensive
Obligations
; and accordingly, he went in Company with the Great
Caravan,
which cross'd the
Desarts
to the very
Place,
he had design'd a
Journey to.
The Water falls short.
HE Travell'd pleasantly enough, till he was got almost half thro' the danger of his
Passage,
when it hapned, that the
Caravan
fell short of
Water,
which they search'd in vain for among the Sands, so that their
Thirst
encreasing daily, almost all their
Beasts
of
Burthen
fainted under it, and many of their Company, unable to support the
Anguish,
it reduc'd them to, fell Sick, and Died in
Miserable Torment.
They detach Parties to seek a Spring.
PRODIGIOUS Offers there were doubtless made, for the reward of any, who shou'd
then
discover the glad Tydings of a
Spring,
which tho' they cou'd not reasonably hope to find, the
Zeal
of their
Desires,
and
Sharpness
of their
Appetite,
inclin'd them to endeavour it, by sending out Detachments every way, with
Orders
not to lose the Sight of one another.
They divide, and straggle from each other.
THE
Wants of Nature,
notwithstanding this Precaution, urg'd their Courages to a contempt of any other
Danger,
than the
Death,
they dreaded from the
Want of Water,
wherefore little minding the Advice, they had receiv'd, they frequently divided their small
Parties,
and wou'd ramble singly
up and down,
regarding nothing, but the Thoughts of keeping still within the hearing of each others
Hollow.
A dangerous Wandering.
AMONG the rest one
Moonlight-Night, Demetrio,
(it seems) was gone a Water Hunting, and had straggled to considerable
distance
from the
Party,
he went out with, but
imagin'd,
he discover'd all about him many Companies, belonging to the
Caravan,
employ'd on the same
Errand,
he was busy in; at last he heard a Voice
on his left Hand,
which call'd, as from the
Nearest Party,
with the welcome Repetition of these Words,
Ho! This way, this way, we have found out Water.
A delusive Prospect.
FULL of Joy he look'd about him, and perceiv'd (at least imagin'd he perceiv'd) the
Parties
of the
Caravan
run all one way, as if they follow'd the Transporting
Summons,
which invited them to
Crowd that way,
and tast the
Water,
he believ'd so happily discover'd.
IN short, he ran as fast as he was able, close upon the Heels of
Certain Men,
whose
Faces
he was very well acquainted with, and knew them to belong to the
Great Caravan,
he came with:
The malice of a Company of Ghosts.
Till
at last,
when he had follow'd them above an Hour, they turn'd upon him,
shook their Heads, laugh'd loud,
then
disappear'd,
and
vanish'd
like a
Shadow.
NATURES Dictates may inform the Reader, what
Convulsive Agonies
alarm'd the Breast of the
Deceiv'd Armenian,
when he saw those
Guides
dissolve to
Air,
on whom he had depended, as his
Safe-guards
and
Directors:
But his
Fright
encreas'd to double horror, when he look'd all round him, and cou'd see no Sign of
Man
or
Beast,
but found he had been led away from all his Company by the delusive Beckons of Malicious
Ghosts,
and Ill-designing
Apparitions.
A sad Condition.
IN vain he curs'd the hapless
Motives,
which inclin'd him to the Journey, and with bitter Cries bewail'd his
Misery
; lamenting the Misfortune of his lost
Condition
with a flood of Tears, which bath'd the
Sands,
o'er which he wand'red, void of Comfort, and instead of finding the far distant
Company,
he look'd for, hourly rambled farther in the
Desart,
while his A king
Eyes
saw nothing in his way but trackless Regions of unstable
Sand,
and both his
Ears
were deeply pierc'd, by frightful Hissings of the
Serpents
round him, and the doleful Shrieks, and horrid Yells of unseen
Ghosts,
and Hovering
Hob-goblins.
A despairing Resolution.
TWO Days and Nights were thus pass'd over, when despairing evermore of seeing
Man,
and weak'ned by
Fatigue,
and want of
Food
and
Water,
he laid himself upon the
Sands,
and was resolv'd to wait his Death, with an
Heroic Resignation
to the
Will
of Providence.
HE had not lain two Hours, before he started at the
Repetition
of a
Voice,
which call'd three times, in a shrill, melancholy Accent,
Demetrio, Demetrio, Demetrio.
A Wife goodnatur'd even after Death.
HE lifted up his Eyes, with great Amazement at the mention of his Name, in such a Place as
that,
and scarce believ'd himself awake, when he beheld his
Wife
at two Yards distance from him, with a
Pot of Water
in
one Hand,
and a
Dry Bisket
in the
other.
SHE plac'd 'em by him, and made Signs, that he shou'd
Eat
and
Drink,
which an half-famish'd
Appetite
oblig'd him to endeavour, after he had offer'd to Embrace
his Wife,
who glided from him like an
Airy Phantom,
and forbad him
touching her.
The
Speech
of a
Ghost
to a
Man
in the
Desarts.
I am,
said she,
no more the
Partner
of your Earthly Blessings, Death has interpos'd his
Obstacle
betwixt our
Meeting
to Embrace as formerly: Thy
Friend
at
Babylon
is also Dead, and thy poor
Children, Motherless
at
Cairo,
want thy
Comfort.
Follow me, and I will lead thee to thy
Company,
and show thee
Water
for thy
self
and
them,
which when thou hast discover'd, and receiv'd the
Great Reward,
that will be given thee,
go back with me,
I'll lead thee safely to the Borders of the
Desart,
whence thou may'st return to
Egypt,
tho'
alone,
in safety.
A Check to Curiosity.
But thou must not ask me any Questions of my present
Circumstances,
too Mysterious for a
Mortal
's Comprehension.
OVERJOY'D, but wond'ring at the strangeness of the Accident, he follow'd his Obliging
Wife,
quite cross another Part of the
Wide Desart,
till she brought him to a Place, where she assur'd him if he
dug,
he shou'd find
Water
; but injoin'd him not to grieve, that she was
Dead,
repeating many times, that she was happier
now
than she had been, while
Living.
A lucky Discovery.
HE cou'd from hence behold the
Caravan,
a third Part of whose Number had already Perish'd by the
Drought,
they were expos'd to. He immediatly went to them, brought 'em to the
Place,
and show'd 'em where to
dig,
till they found
Water,
in sufficient quantity to satisfie them all, and fill the
Vessels
for their Use, in the remaining part of their sad
Journey.
A dead Wife, doubles her Husband's Fortune.
HIS
Wife,
invisible to all, but
him,
attended all this while, and whisper'd in his
Ear,
the best Directions, she cou'd give him: A Considerable
Sum of Money
was presented him by the
Commanders
of the
Caravan,
which almost doubled what he had before obtain'd by a successful
Industry.
A happy Escape from the Desarts.
He presently exchang'd the Present, for such
Jewels, Gold,
and other Riches, as wou'd lie in the least Compass, and conducted by his
Wifes kind Spirit,
left the Company, and went in safety back to
Egypt,
holding a delightful Conversation all the way, and being told a thousand wond'rous Things by his
Aerial Guide,
who, having brought him to the Borders of the
Desart,
left him with a Charge, to give her Love to all her
Children,
and advise 'em how to live,
secure of Happiness,
by means, she had inform'd him of.
HE did as she directed him, and when he came to
Cairo,
found his
Family
in Mourning for the Death of his
Dear Wife,
who left the World, according to his Computation, just a
Week,
before he met her in the
Desarts.
How they mark the Water Places in the Desarts.
THIS
Story,
Reader, told me by a
Turk,
who thought himself a Man of great Sincerity, and of no small Judgment, please to take as I receiv'd it; 'twill at least divert you, and may serve to give you an
Idea
of those horrid
Desarts,
on which Subject I shall add no more, than that such
Travellers,
as find a
Spring
of
Water,
tolerably fresh, by digging in the
Sands,
too well acquainted with the
Misery of wanting it,
endeavour to preserve the Memory of the
Place,
by fixing up a
Pike,
or sometimes
two,
bound fast together, to make the
Mark
more lasting by its length; These have a kind of
Ensign
at the top, but seldom stand a Month, before whole
Mountains
of the
Sand
entirely bury them, at least so cover them, that scarce three Foot of all the
Pike
appears above the
Surface
; Such a dreadful Visage bears the
Desart Country
of the
scorch'd Arabia.
CHAP. XLVI. Of
Arabia,
the
Happy.
Arabia Felix,
justly so nam'd.
THIS Country,
Aromatically Happy
in the
Spices,
She produces, and distinguish'd from the other two by all the
Blessings
of Indulgent
Nature,
sometimes known to be a
Partial Mother,
well deserves the Name of
Felix,
not alone because most
Happy
in her
Wealth
and
Products,
but as she is doubly so, when plac'd in Competition with the two
Arabia
's, her Deform'd and Barren Neighbours.
Providences Bounty to this Country.
PROVIDENCE has here made full amends for the Deficiencies, she caus'd in both the other; and the
People,
who Inhabit this delightful Country, are as far superior to the rest, in their
Humanity
and
Fair Deportment
to the Strangers, they Converse with, as their
Soil
exceeds the other in its Beauties and Fertility.
Arabia Felix,
how Govern'd.
ARABIA FELIX
has a
Sultan of her own,
possessing
Arbitrary Power,
and Ruling in the
Inland Countries
; but the
Sea-Port Towns,
at least most of them, have been long Subservient to the
Turkish Government,
as valued most by that encroaching People, on account of the prodigious Profits, rising to their Owners, from an open
Traffick
with the
Indian Countries,
and the great Advantages, they reap by
Exportation
of their own rich
Manufactures,
and the
Product
of their
Climate.
The Cities of that Country.
THEY have many Cities of considerable Magnitude, the Chief whereof, are
Mocha, Zenan, Siam, Ermin, Surac, Demmar, Almacarhan, Nag-helsaamar, Raba-taaman, Tais, Mousar, Doffar,
and the
Port
of
Aden.
Their way of Building.
MOST of these, and many other Cities, are adorn'd with very fine and stately Buildings, of a lasting kind of
Stone,
well polish'd, and join'd close with admirable
Mortar: Gardens, Orchards,
and large Ornamental
Suburbs,
generally grace the
Towns
with Beautiful Appearances, and many of them are indifferently Fortified with Walls and Out-Works.
The Merchandizes of
Arabia.
THE Merchandizes of
Arabia Felix,
are the
Aromatic Gums
and
Spices,
it was ever famous for,
Olibanum
and
Frankincense,
and
Myrrh
of many kinds,
Rich Balsam, Sugar Canes, Large Coco-Nuts,
and
Coffee
in abundance.
THEY have
Grapes,
and almost every kind of
Fruit,
in fullest Excellency;
Mutton, Beef,
and other
Meats
both Good and Plentiful, and live in the Enjoyment of the Gayest Pleasures,
Nature,
unassisted by the Helps of
Art,
can furnish their Delights with.
Plenty of Wild Beasts bred
THE
Inland Countries
are extreamly
Woody,
and afford convenient Shelter for the numerous
Herds
of
Lyons, Leopards, Tygers, Wolves,
and other
Beasts of Prey,
abounding greatly, not alone in this, but all the
Three Arabia
's, I have treated of.
The Air very Pleasant, and Healthful.
THE
Air
is constantly salubrious, and notwithstanding the warm Situation of the Country, reaching from near
Thirty
to
Eleven
or
Ten Degrees
of Northern
Latitude:
The
Heat
is so delightfully alloy'd by frequent
Breezes,
which like wanton
Zephyrs,
fan the
Air,
and wast the
Scent
of odoriferous
Spices
on their gentle
Breathings,
that you feast upon the richest Banquet,
Nature
can prepare you, as you travel on the
Road
from
Town
to
City
; and the moderated
Climate,
softly mixing
Vernal Mildness,
with the
Beams
of
Summer,
makes all
Seasons
equally engaging, so that the
Greek Poet,
who in the following Verses, Wishes for a
Constant Spring,
may properly be said to have describ'd the Blessing of
Arabia Felix.
Bion
's Choice of Seasons.
I love not
Summer,
for the
Sun then Reigns,
And
Scorches
me on the
unsheltred Plains
;
I love not
Autumn,
for
Diseases then,
Bred by her
Fruits,
afflict the
Healthiest Men
;
Pernicious Winter
does sharp
Snows
create,
And all
Cold-Weather Nature
bids me hate;
Let
Spring,
that
long-wish'd Season,
then appear,
And bless me with her
Presence
all the
Year,
For
then
we neither
Heat
nor
Cold
can fear;
All Things look
smiling then, Nature
grows
Gay,
And
Men
divide their
Hours,
in
equal Night
and
Day.
CHAP. XLVII. Of the
Red-Sea.
THE
Red-Sea
is so fully known already, by the
Geographical
Descriptions of our own Country Writers, and the exquisite Performances of the
Mathematic
Authors of most
Christian
Nations, that I mean not
here
to Touch on those
notorious
Observations, which have
long ago
been made by others, but inform my Reader of some
new Discoveries
of little matters, which I made my self.
BUT first, it will be Requisite to say a Word or two, relating to the
Etymology
and
Ports
of the
Red-Sea,
which having done, I will proceed to mention the Remarks, I made, as they occur to my Remembrance.
Why the
Red-Sea
is so call'd.
RHYTHRA,
in the
old Egyptian Language,
signifying
Red,
was formerly the Name of a
great Monarch
of that Country, who gave the
Sea
his own
Denomination,
which has been since mistaken, by affinity of Sound, and
Mis-interpreted
the
Red-Sea,
by those, who fix'd the Name upon it, which it bears at present.
A Second Opinion.
OTHERS think, especially the
Jews,
Inhabiting the
Eastern Countries,
that it was call'd the
Red-Sea,
from the prodigious ruin, and great overthrow of
Pharaohs
Army, in their Passage over it, in the
pursuit
of
Moses,
and his
God-defended Israelites,
but as the Blood, there Spilt, was very little, tho' such
Multitudes
were Drown'd, I look upon this guess, as an Improbable Opinion.
A Third, and the most probable.
ANOTHER Notion, and perhaps the truest of the Three, is, that 'tis call'd the
Red-Sea,
from the
Redness
of the
Sands,
o'erspreading all the Bottom, whence the Waves receive a kind of
red Reflection,
and the
Water
thence appears, as if 'twere stain'd with certain
Juices,
of a
redish Colour
; This is made more Reasonable from the Etymology of the
Euxine,
commonly call'd the
Black-Sea,
from the
Blackness
of the
Sands,
which lie at the Bottom.
THE
Sea Port Towns
are very numerous, and very different from each other, in
Magnificence,
or the
conventency
of
Harbour,
some are much expos'd to dangerous shelves, and Rocky Shallows, others both commodious, large, and stately,
Aden,
the great
Sea-Port Town.
but the only Place, deserving a particular Description, is the Port, call'd
Aden,
in Possession of the
Turks,
and not alone the Largest. but the Richest, and most celebrated
Sea Port Town
of all
Arabia.
Its Description.
IT is Situated in about
thirteen Degrees of Northern Latitude,
directly in the Center of a kind of
Amphitheatre,
or
Semicircular Ridge of Mountains,
jetting out prodigious
Promontories
into the
Sea,
for a considerable Length, on either
Horn
; the
Harbour
is not only safe, but capable of holding at an
Anchor
near a
Thousand Sail of Ships,
by the most modest Computation.
The Town how built.
THE Town it self consists of near four thousand Houses, built of Stone, and rendred Pleasant by vast
Spaces,
unemploy'd to other Uses, than the Planting
Orchards, Gardens,
and a kind of
Favorite Wildernesses,
much in Practice with the
Eastern People.
THE
General Inhabitants
of
Aden
are considerably
Wealthy,
and enjoy their Pleasures with a greater Gust, than elsewhere is permitted them;
Now much decay'd.
yet is the
City
much decay'd from what it has been formerly, for
once
the
Town
extended to a double Length to that, it
now
contains, and all the Buildings (tho' they are not despicable
now)
were
anciently
adorn'd with a far greater
Beauty
and
Magnificence.
The Fleets of the
Red-Sea.
THE
Turks
build Vessels in the
Ports,
belonging to
this Sea,
and constantly maintain a Fleet of Gallies, for support of their
Authority,
besides the
Merchant Ships,
which
Trade
about from Place to Place, and by the
Customs,
paid on the
Commodities,
they carry, bring considerable Profit to the Coffers of the
Sultan.
A new Discovery of a Monument, near the
Red-Sea.
UPON the
Northern Shore
of the
Red-Sea,
not far from a small Haven now call'd
Pozi,
stand the
Ruins
of a
Monumental Heap of Stones,
appearing very ancient, by their Forms and way of Building: By the Remnant of the
Work,
we may suppose it to have been Erected
Pyramidically,
and about one hundred Foot in height, the breadth of each square of its
Basis
much the same; upon the
bottom Stones,
and certain
fallen
ones, we cou'd discover unintelligible
Characters,
which seem'd to have been
Carv'd
to tell succeeding
Ages,
what the
Monument
was there
Erected
to perpetuate the Memory of.
'TIS pity,
Ignorance
has incapacitated the Inhabitants from letting Strangers into any
Light of Knowledge,
in relation to
Antiquity,
else probably they had been able to inform us, what this
Heap
of
Ruins
was
Originally
;
Thought to be the same, which
Moses
left in Memory of his Passage.
Now we can no more than guess at random for its doubtful
Origin,
unless we will believe the
not impossible
Traditional Account, the
Natives
give us, who wou'd fain perswade us to believe, 'twas built by
Moses,
when the
Israelites
miraculously pass'd that
Sea,
and left by him, a
Memorandum
for
Posterity,
to make
Mankind
depend on
God,
and not diffide in his
secure Protection,
tho' reduc'd to never so fatiguing, and oppressive
Exigencies.
Opium
made of
Poppies.
THERE grows upon the Shores of the
Red-Sea,
a certain heavy-headed
Poppy,
only differing, in the bigness of its
Stalk,
from ours in
England:
At a certain Season of the Year, I think it is
July
or
June,
they gather many of these
Poppies,
beat 'em in a
Mortar,
lay them by for many Days, then take 'em out, and adding several unknown Herbs, make
Opium
of the Composition, but of far less Efficacy than the other sort, more frequently
Exported
into Foreign Countries.
Indigo,
how made of an Herb.
THERE likewise grows a little
Violet colour'd Herb
in mighty Plenty, all about the Sea Shore, which they take care to gather in the
Sun's Meridian Height,
and mixing it with certain
Weeds,
which float like scatter'd
Samphire
; on the Surface of the Waters, make thereof the
Die,
call'd
Indigo,
in full Perfection.
Pearls found in the
Red-Sea.
MIGHTY
Rocks
in many Parts of the
Red-Sea,
erect their Heads above the Water, and it is not seldom, that they find upon them something like a
Shell-Fish,
yet unlike an
Oyster,
which is open'd with the greatest Difficulty imaginable, and contains within it, great round
Pearls,
sometimes but
one,
and sometimes
more,
of equal Value with the richest of their
Magnitude,
from any
other
Part, imported into
Christendom.
A wonderful Fish.
AT certain Seasons of the Year, it is a common thing to see a
Fish,
not much unlike an
Hippotamus,
or great
River Horse,
whose Strength and Swiftness is so very wonderful, that 'tis almost impossible to take 'em, but by some Surprize, or Cunning Stratagem.
A rich Perfume.
THESE
Creatures,
when they happen to be caught, are carefully Dissected; for, besides a kind of rich
Perfume,
beyond the scent of
Ambergrease
it self, which lies like
Fat
about their
Spinal Joints,
and yields a vast Advantage to the Man, who finds it,
A Carbuncle, found in the Head of a Sea-Horse.
there often is discover'd in the
Head
of this strange
Animal,
a glitt'ring
Stone,
which may be call'd a
Carbuncle,
for it is of
Globe-like Form,
and quite
Transparent
; yielding, if produc'd in a
Dark Place,
a
Light,
so striking, that a Man may see to
Write
by its Assistance, in the duskiest Winter's Midnight.
The Danger of attempting more Discoveries.
THESE are all the Observations I cou'd make, deserving my
Remembrance
; nor can any Man discover in this
Sea,
or upon its extensive
Shores,
more
Rarities,
or
Creatures,
worth Remark, than have already been communicated in the Books of
Travellers,
unless his Curiosity, becoming Master of his
Reason,
tempts him to a rash Endeavour of opposing
Laws
and
Dangers,
to Instruct himself in Matters, probably unworthy half his Labours.
CHAP. XLVIII. Of the
Turks
Pilgrimage to their
Prophet
's Birth-Place, and their Ceremonies at
Mecca
and
Medina Telnabi.
The force of Superstition.
NEVER sure did a
Bigotted Superstition
lead away the
Minds
of Thoughtless
Mortals,
to so wond'rous a degree, as it has done in
Turkey,
where the
Annual
Practice of a
Pilgrimage
to
Mecca,
has prevail'd so strangely by the fix'd Injunction of their
Prophet
's Law, that 'tis by all believ'd the surest
Passport
from
Mortality
to
Paradise.
A strange Notion.
NAY they carry it still
farther,
and persist in the
Assertion,
that unless a
Turk
shall
once
at least, before he Dies, perform that
Pilgrimage,
or bear the Charges of some other Man to do it for him, (if the want of
Health
prevents his
Piety)
it is impossible that he should ever reach those gross
Enjoyments,
they expect from the Romantic
Blessings
of another
World,
till they have Purified their Persons from the
Guilt
of such
Omission,
by a long continuance in the
Tortures
of the
Grave,
inslicted on them, by the two
Black Angels,
as I have
at large
inform'd you in the
Part Foregoing.
Moral Reflections.
OH Miserable
Frailty
of deceiv'd
Mortality,
so strangely open to the strong
Assaults
of our
mistaken Passions,
and unguarded commonly against the weakest
Efforts,
made by
Nature
to delude our
Senses,
but by far more liable to the
Perswasive Ills
of
Superstitious Zeal,
and the
Deceitful Gloss
of an
Illchose Religion: There
our Vices sculk with undetected
Art,
behind the
Masque
of a pretended
Vertue.
And how easily,
alas!
are we
misled
in Execution of our Duty, when the
Dictates
of our
Reason
are themselves too often
Biass'd
to a Partial Sentence, and our
Judgment,
which should ever Rule a
Wise Man
's Actions,
Brib'd
unfortunately by Erroneous
Principles.
A vulgar Error, concerning
Mahomet
's Tomb.
HOWEVER, e'er I enter on the
Subject
of the
Chapter,
I am
now
about to
treat of,
I will undeceive my Reader, who has probably been
led astray,
like many others, by a
Vulgar Error,
which inclines them to believe, that
Mecca,
as the Place, to which the
Turks
direct their
Pilgrimage,
is the Town, wherein the
Great Impostor Mahomet
lies Buried, when it really is no other, than his
Birth-Place,
and as such, made
Holy
by his own Injunctions that,
with such and such appointed Ceremonies,
all his
Followers
shou'd Visit that Great
City,
in Commemoration of his being
thence
produc'd amongst them.
Of
Mecca
and
Medina.
SOME few Days Journey,
North
of
Mecca,
stands the Celebrated
Tomb
of
Mahomet
in a small Town, distinguish'd by the Name of
Medina Telnabi,
where he Died, and
now
lies Buried in the
Form,
I shall describe hereafter: No
Believer,
(as they call themselves) is by their
Prophet
's Law
oblig'd
to Visit this Place in their
Pilgrimage,
but as they were assur'd by the
Impostor,
that, if not a
Meritorious,
'twou'd at least be an
Acceptable
Acknowledgment
of
Zeal
for their
Religion
and
his Memory,
'tis never known, that any
Annual Pilgrimage
is made to
Mecca,
but a certain Number of the most
Bigotted
of the
People,
turn aside, and pay their Offerings, (e're they return) to
Medina Telnabi.
Another Vulgar Error.
AND here another vulgar Error challenges a
Confutation,
which
Experience,
as the surest
Judge,
may be allow'd to give it; 'Tis a general Belief, that
Mahomet
was never Buried, but is hung, suspended in the
Air
within an
Iron Coffin,
by the strange attractive Force of certain wond'rous
Load-Stones,
so surprizingly affix'd to the high
Roof
of a great
Temple,
that they cannot be perceiv'd by the most exquisite
Inspection.
Very Groundless.
THAT this is
false
the Reader will discover presently; but
whence
it grew so common a
Report,
I can by no means guess, since I have ever found the
Turks
so far from justifying the
Pretended Miracle,
that they
exert
their utmost
Wit
and
Raillery,
to ridicule the fond
Credulity
of
Christian Nations, led
so easily to a
Belief
of such a
Gross Absurdity.
The Place of Rendezvous.
THE Numbers, which compose the Mighty
Caravan
of
Meccan Pilgrims,
generally swell beyond Imagination;
Zealous Turks
of every
Country, Quality, Profession
or
Capacity
assemble at
Grand Cairo,
(the Great
Rendezvouz,
appointed for that purpose) by the first of
August,
or within a few Days after; for about the tenth, or fifteenth of that Month the
Caravan
most commonly sets forward on the
Journey.
Their Publick Proclamations.
WITHIN six Days of their
Departure,
Notice is, by
Publick Proclamation
given the
People,
to get ready by the
Time
then set, and that they must be subject to the Government of
such a Person,
(whom they Name,) both
Going
and
Returning,
in whatever
Cases
may require his
Arbitration.
Their Chief, how chosen.
THIS
Officer
is call'd
Emir Hadgey,
which signifies as much as
Ruler
of the
Pilgrims:
He is always chosen by the
Great Bashaw
of
Cairo,
and makes a vast Advantage of his
Post,
besides the settled Sum of near two thousand Pounds, which he receives from the
Grand Signior
's Treasury, by many
Perquisites
and
Opportunities
of
Gain,
like
these,
which follow.
The Order observ'd in Registring their Names.
AS soon as the
Emir-Hadgey
is Proclaim'd, all
People,
who accompany the
Caravan,
must presently resort to him, or one deputed by him, paying a considerable Sum of Money for the
Regist'ring
their
Names,
the number of their
Camels,
and the
Names, Religion, Quality
and
Sects
of every
Passenger,
they carry on them.
The
Emir-Hadgey
's Power.
HIS
Power
is so Unlimited, and so Decisive is his
Sentence,
while the
Expedition
lasts, extending even to
Life
and
Death,
and every little Matter,
Criminal
or
Civil,
that to Bribe his
Favour,
no rich Gifts are thought too Costly, nor that Money ill bestow'd, which recommending those, who give it, to the favourable Eye of such an
Arbitrary Ruler,
frequently prevents the Hand of Rapine, from Invading their most valuable Property.
His Perquisites.
ANOTHER Perquisite, and that no mean one, rises from a
Law,
Severe and Barbarous, by which all
Christians,
whatsoever, are Prohibited from coming within three Days
Journey
of their
Prophet's Birth-Place,
or his Place of
Burial,
while the
Pilgrims
are employ'd at
either
in the Ceremonious Practices of
Zeal
and
Superstition:
The
Turks
true to Interest.
For, notwithstanding this Decree, if any
Europaean Traveller,
has Courage to confide in the
Fidelity
of
Turks
(and really, where their
Interest
binds them, they are generally very Punctual in Performance of their
Articles)
he may, by making a considerable Present to the
Emir-Hadgey,
not alone be sure of his Protection, in the Places abovemention'd, but possess an undisputed Liberty to Travel openly throughout the Journey, and select what Company he pleases, to Converse with in the
Caravan,
which he accompanies.
WHEN every thing is ready, all the
Caravan
have
Publick Orders
presently, to quit the Town, and Rendezvouz Fifteen Miles from it, in an open sandy
Plain,
along the Borders of a
Pool,
call'd
Birquey.
The Gallantry of the
Emir-Hadgey.
HITHER, two Days after, the
Emir-Hadgey
comes, gallantly attended by a Company of such among them, as pretend to be distinguish'd by the Name of
Gentlemen,
and have resolv'd that Year to make the
Pilgrimage:
All these have many Servants waiting on them, with a tripple Change of
Camels,
to prevent the Inconveniencies, they might be otherwise expos'd to, by the accidental Deaths of those, they rode on.
The Dress of his
Camels.
ALL the
Camels
are adorn'd, as finely as is possible, with
Ribbons, Spangles, Rich Caparisons,
and every other
Gay Contrivance,
which may serve to shew the
Ʋ niversal Joy,
with which they snatch the
wish'd Occasion
of so
Troublesome
and
Dangerous,
but
Holy
a
Peregrination.
The
Alcoran,
how carried.
AMONG the
Camels,
which compose the Number, for the proper use of the
Emir-Hadgey,
one Venerable
Old one
is elected, to be richly Ornamented with
Embroider'd Trappings,
thick beset with
Precious Stones,
of admirable
Lustre,
on whose Back is carried a square Golden
Box,
which holds the
Alcoran,
extravagantly Bound, and all enrich'd with
valuable Jewels,
yearly sent by the
Grand Signior,
as an
Offering,
due to the Great
Mosque
of
Mecca,
in respect to
Mahomet.
Camels,
how respected at their Return from
Mecca.
THIS
Camel,
if it happens to outlive the Journey, is for ever after
free
from
Labour,
as indeed most others are, which have return'd in Safety, if their
Owners
can afford it, and Interr'd, upon their
Death,
in
Orchards, Gardens,
or some other private Place, that so they may not be expos'd, like other Beasts, to
Dogs
and
Vultures.
The Departure of the
Caravan.
AS soon as the Arrival of the
Emir-Hadgey
has been confirm'd throughout the Camp, (for they Pitch Tents like Armies) all the
Caravan
make ready in an Instant, and the
Women, Children,
and
Acquaintance
of the
Pilgrims,
who have hitherto accompanied them, begin with
Prayers, Tears, Kisses,
close
Embraces,
and a Thousand Marks of Friendship and Affection, to take leave of all they know, and recommend them to the Smiles and Care of
Providence
; so that for a considerable time, there's nothing to be seen, but a confus'd Extravagance of Sorrow, and its Consequences.
Their Order in Marching.
NOW the
Caravan
begins to March, the
Emir-Hadgey
riding at their Head, or sometimes in their Center, as he thinks most proper: All the
Camels
are ty'd Tail to Tail, and follow one another in strait
Lines
of different length, some Hundreds often going in a Knot, their
Riders
sitting on them in the Posture, elsewhere spoke of in this
Treatise,
and some Thousands of the most accomplish'd
Warriors,
in a manner quite surrounding the whole
Caravan,
protect them from the Dangers, they are often subject to, in the Attacks, they meet with from the
Wild Arabians,
who insest the
Desarts.
Their Amusements on the Road
THEY are generally very Merry, sounding all the way an Hundred aukward
Instruments
of
Musick,
and diverting one another with the tedious Repetitions of such
Old Wives Tales,
as commonly pass Current, in the Conversation of the Vulgar People, of the
Eastern
Countries.
Their Lights on the Journey.
THE Violence of Heat is so excessive in the
Climates,
they are bound to pass thro', that they seldom Travel much by
Day,
and therefore carry a prodigious Quantity of
Links
or
Flambeaus,
for the Lighting them along; and really, when the
Moon
denies her Influence, in directing their
Advances,
they supply the want, occasion'd by her Absence, with such glorious Numbers of these
Flaming Torches,
as afford a Prospect, so surprizingly agreeable, that 'tis not to be guess'd by such, as have not seen it.
The Dangers, they are subject to.
THE Sultry
Influences
of a
scorching Sun,
and
Pestilential Blasts
of an unwholesome
Southern Wind,
together with the
want
of
Water, (Bitter Springs
excepted) and the Scarcity of all
Provisions,
with a Thousand
unavordable Fatigues,
they meet with, in so long and disagreeable a
Journey,
frequently occasion such
Mortality
among the
Caravan,
that 'tis a common thing in its
Return
to
Cairo,
to have left
Eight Thousand Persons
Dead behind them.
Their common Numbers
AS for the
Numbers,
which this
Annual Caravan
does commonly consist of, they are so uncertain, that I cannot form a General Calculation
better,
than by telling you, that they are seldom known below the Full of
Fifty Thousand Souls,
but very often to a great degree exceed an
Hundred.
Another of the
Emir
's Perquisites
ALL the
Goods, Cloaths, Camels,
and
Conveniencies,
belonging to
such
Persons, as sall Sick and Die upon the
Journey,
are the
Property
by
Perquisite,
of the
Emir-Hadgey,
who (unless a Man of admirable
Principles)
is consequently no great
Well-wisher
to the Welfare of his
People.
The Distance between
Grand Cairo
and
Mecca.
THE Distance between
Mecca
and
Grand Cairo,
is
Five and Forty large Days Journey,
in which Passage they are forc'd to
Rest Three Days together
; such is the Fatigue of Travelling upon a Desart Country, where the
Sands,
unstable to the Footsteps of their
Beasts
of
Burthen,
slip away, and make the
Roads
extreamly tiresome.
A Remark concerning
Camels.
AND here we have a spacious Scene for
Contemplation,
on the
All-directing Wisdom
of the Hand of
Providence,
who in the Countries, naturally Stony, has provided
Horses,
of a hard and solid
Hoof,
to serve the
Ʋ ses,
they are there design'd for: But in Desart Places, such as these, I now am speaking of, has form'd the
Camel,
qualified by Nature with her spreading
Fool,
to overtread more easily the sinking
Sands,
which
Horses Hoofs
with difficulty pass thro'.
The Place, call'd
Marah
in the Scriptures.
TWO Days from
Cairo
bring the
Caravan
to a Place, call'd
Miz-Haana,
anciently that
Marah,
spoke of in the
Scriptures,
whither
Moses
brought the
Israelites,
just
then
deliver'd from
Egyptian Bondage,
and, Miraculously Aided by
Almighty God
's assisting Hand, converted
bitter Waters
into
sweet,
by throwing in a
Tree,
cut down on purpose,
thence
supplying all the Peoples raging Thirst, who Murmur'd loudly,
that they cou'd not Drink, for the waters of
Marah
were Bitter.
The Stages of the
Caravan.
THENCE, proceeding onwards of their
Journey,
they Encamp on many of those very Places, where, so many Ages since, the discontented
Israelites, then
wandring in the
Wilderness,
by God's Direction Pitch'd their
Tents,
and lay a while, in expectation of the Orders,
Moses
was to give them, whither
next
to bend their
Progress.
Abraham's
Mountain
WITHIN near Threescore Miles of
Mecca,
stands a Village, call'd
Babble,
scarce Three Furlongs distant from the Mountain of that
Name,
on whose high
Summit, Abraham
built the Altar, upon which he had design'd to Sacrifice his
only Son,
his
much-lov'd Isaac,
in Obedience to the Will of that
Great God,
whose least
Command
he knew it Sin to think of Disregarding.
Isaac
's Altar.
THERE is upon the Top of this fam'd
Mountain,
a low kind of
Turkish Mosque,
or
Chappel,
built obscurely, of an Antique Model, in the midst whereof they show a small square Heap of Stones, join'd fast together with a lasting Mortar, not much less than three Foot high, six long, and four in breadth, which they have dignified with a strange Reputation, and are sure to show all Pilgrims, who come thither, by the Name of
Isaac
's
Altar.
The Story, why improbable.
'TIS, I must confess, a little inconsistent with
my Notion
of the
Rules
of
Reason,
to imagine
Abraham,
as we read the Story, shou'd have taken Pains to build so strong and durable a
Monument,
whereon to
Sacrifice
his
Son
upon so short a Warning; and it therefore must require a
Romish Faith
to look upon this
Altar,
as a
Relique
of
Antiquity.
The Ceremonies of the Pilgrims, on this Hill.
THE
Mosque
however, which is built upon this
Hill,
is constantly Inhabited by some
Old Scheich,
or
Turkish Preacher,
who is bound by the
Conditions,
upon which he claims a
Salary,
belonging to the
Benefice,
to stand upon the
Hill,
and make a
Declanition,
or a kind of
Lecture
to the
Pilgrims,
who assemble round him, (those, who happen to get nearest, telling
those
at greater distance, what they learn from the Perswasive Oratory of their
Preachers Doctrine.
The Subject of a Sermon, there Preach'd.
THE common
Subjects,
which are chose on this Occasion, for Employment of the
Doctor's Lungs
and
Faculties,
are such, as an
Endeavour
to
Ingraft
a Pious Notion in the Peoples Breast, of that
Important Duty,
they are now performing, the Necessity there is of a
Repentance
after it, and the innumerable
Blessings,
they may certainly expect from
God's Indulgence,
if they never deviate from the Principles of
Zealous Mussul-Men,
and
True-Believers
of the
Laws
of
Mahomet.
The
Turkish
way of quitting Sin.
THEY rest a
Day,
upon the
Old Man
's Sermon, to digest the
Entertainment,
he has gravely given them, and
then
are
led
by the
Emir-Hadgey
on Foot, without observing Rank, all one by one, to the abovenam'd
Mosque
upon the Mountain
Rabiie,
which they
enter
at one
Door,
and
go out
of by another, opposite thereto; first passing by the
Grave Old Scheich
aforesaid, who is plac'd upon a
Step,
near two Foot high, directly in the middle of the
Mosque,
and touching every Man, as he goes swiftly by, with a short
Stick,
repeats these Words,
May Sin here leave thee.
A strange Notion.
NOW, you must understand, the
Holy Wishes
of this
Favorite
of
Mahomet
are so Successful, that they never fail to crown the Person Bless'd, with an entire Deliverance from all the
Vices,
he was ever subject to; so that, freed happily from such a
weighty Burthen,
they run nimbly down the Hill upon the other side, and never stop, till they have cross'd a little
Stream
of
Bitter Water,
gliding by the Bottom, and, by dipping in their Hands, and sprinkling all their Faces with some Drops thereof, from that time forward they become
New-Men,
as Pure, and Free from all
Iniquity,
as
Infant Innocence,
and consequently Qualified to see the
City,
they must next proceed to.
A stranger Punishment.
BUT you must take notice, that the
Punishment
of looking back, before they Cross this
Purifying Stream,
is full as Exemplary to these
Cautious Pilgrims,
as it was of Old to
Lot
's too Curious Wife: For tho' their
Metamorphosis
appears not so amazingly conspicuous, yet they'll tell you, that 'tis fully as severe; for in the very Moment, any Man among them turns his
Head,
before it is permitted him, the heavy Load of his
own Sins,
which he had just before made shift to leave behind him, does not only overtake him in an
Instant,
but returns, enrich'd
with Interest upon Interest,
by the Black
Addition
of two
other Peoples.
Their Ceremonies, at first sight of
Mecca.
CAREFUL therefore, to prevent so Burthensome a Mischief, on they march with joyful Hearts to the Remainder of their
Journey,
and about the middle of the third Days
Progress,
gain a Prospect of the
Mosque
at
Mecca
; when they all alight, as if
half mad,
with noisy
Extasies,
and prostrating themselves upon the
Ground,
thrice
kiss
the glowing Surface of the
Sand,
they Travel on, and
thrice
Proclaim with Universal Clamour,
Allah-Illah-Ilallab, Muhamed Resul Allah. God is God, the only God, and Mahomet, of that sole God, the only Prophet.
How they Encamp at
Mecca.
ARRIV'D at
Mecca,
they Encamp upon the
Plains,
without the City, as by far too numerous to find Conveniencies within the
Walls,
for a
Commodious Entertainment
of
Themselves
and
Camels:
But I should have told you, that they often turn
aside,
and pass thro'
Giddah,
the
Port-Town
to
Mecca,
to pay Reverence to the
Grave,
where
Eve
was Buried;
The Tomb of
Eve.
for the
Arabs there
pretend to show all
Travellers
her
Sepulchre,
and wou'd perswade us to believe, our Father
Adam
had a very
Formidable Consort,
if we are allow'd to guess her
Strength
by the
Proportion,
which they give her; for, from the
Stone,
now standing at the
Head,
to
that,
which stands at the broad
Bottom
of the
Grave,
the Distance is full Five and Twenty
Yards
of
English
Measure: Sure a Man, if any now is Bless'd with such a
Wife,
wou'd scarce lament her want of
Stature.
Description of
Mecca.
MECCA
is about Three Miles in Compass, Rich and Stately in a great degree, and her Inhabitants Possessors of a
Rolling Plenty,
still continue to encrease their
Affluence,
by Annual
Profits,
rising from the Concourse of such
mighty Numbers,
drawn by
Zeal
to Travel thither.
BUT, as I only mention it, because the Birth-Place of that
Vile Impostor,
whose successful
Impositions
drew such Numbers to profess his
Doctrine,
I will here enlarge no further, than is requisite to give a just Description of the
Holy House of God,
as they presume to call it, which is look'd upon so Sacred by the
Turks,
that in whatever Part of the wide
Ʋ niverse
they are,
Why the
Turks
in Praying, turn their Faces to the
East.
they never Pray, but with their Faces to the
East,
in Honour to this House, wherein they say, that
Mahomet
was Born, and in respect to which, they
yearly
undertake so dangerous a
Pilgrimage.
The House of God, as they call it.
THIS House, which they distinguish by the Name of
Kiabee Betulla,
stands directly in the middle of the City, not surpassing Thirteen Foot in
Breadth,
in
Length
Eighteen or thereabouts, and near Ten Yards in
Height,
Flat-Roof'd, and quite surrounded by a stately
Court,
Wall'd in, and Ornamented by Three several Rows of
Marble Pillars,
close within the
Wall,
supporting
Arches,
of a
Graceful Fabrick,
upon either Square, divided into
Four Apartments,
kept by
Priests,
of the Four most noted Sects, among the
Turks,
who Pray continually with an
incessant Fervour,
for the
Boundless Propagation
of their own
Religion,
and the
Downfal
of
Christianity.
Two Hoops of Gold.
TO strengthen, as it were, the
Ancient Building,
which
I think,
consists of Square Rough
Stones,
(tho' it is almost impossible to see them, being cover'd on the
Inside
and the
Out,
by such inestimable heaps of
Riches)
the House is Circled round, by
two prodigious Hoops,
of
Beaten Gold,
at least appearing so to be; and of that valuable Metal are the
Drains
and
Spouts,
which carry off the Water, falling on the Place in
Rainy Weather.
A Silver Door, and strange Old Fashion'd Entrance.
THE only Entrance, contrary to
any
Buildings,
now
in
Fashion,
or indeed Remembrance, is by two large
Folding Silver Doors,
to which you mount upon a
Ladder,
five Foot high, for so much higher than the
Ground
about it, reaches the
Foundation
of this Odd and Antique Piece of
Building.
Stately Hangings.
THIS Door is plac'd almost as far, as the left Corner of the
House,
and being enter'd,
presently
admits you to the only
Chamber,
it consists of; richly Hung with an
Embroider'd Damask,
Red and Green,
(the last the Prophet's Favorite Colour)
and supported by four Pillars, the Diameter of each above two Foot, entirely of a Piece, their
Form
eight Square, and made of a black kind of
Wood,
perfuming all the
Chamber
with the
finest Scent imaginable,
which the
Turks
assur'd us, were not so by
Nature,
but became thus
Odoriferous,
the very Moment, their
Prophet
Bless'd that
Place
in his
Nativity.
A fine goodnatur'd moving Stone.
WITHOUT the
House,
they show a dusky Colour'd
Stone,
near two Foot Square, to which they
Kneel,
and pay their
Adoration
with a thousand
Kisses
; and indeed the Reputation, which this
Stone
has got, deserves their
Complaisance
for the Civility, it
once
was Master of:
That was very Civil to Father
Abraham.
For you must know, this
House
was built by
Abraham
's own Hands, who knew by Holy
Inspiration,
what an Honour it was destin'd to in
After Ages,
and, unwilling therefore to
abuse
the
Walls,
when he had
rais'd
them pretty high, by making Holes to fix a
Scaffold
in, he modestly resolv'd to stand upon this
Stone,
which
then
lay there
by chance,
and
build
as high as he cou'd
reach
by its
Assistance,
which, it seems, was so extreamly
taken
with the
Patriarch's Good-Nature,
that it gradually rose, and lifted him about from Place to Place, till he had made an End of all the
Building.
The Ceremonies here perform'd.
HITHER then the
Pilgrims
come, as many
at a time,
as the
Emir-Hadgey
thinks fit to send together, least they shou'd Affront the
Holy Place,
by over-crowding its
Approaches.
The only Ceremonies,
here
Perform'd, are,
Falling Prostrate on the Earth, and Blessing God,
who has permitted them to see a
Sight
so
Sacred
; then repeating certain
Prayers,
they pass in Order thro' the Pillars of the four Apartments of the
Sects
above-nam'd, and are
Bless'd
and
Kiss'd
by the respective
Priests
of each Opinion, after which they Walk out
backwards,
till they pass the utmost
Limits
of this
Venerable Fabrick.
Hangings out in Pieces to make Reliques.
NOTHING rests, deserving our Remark, but that a
black Silk Canopy,
which covers all the
Roof
of this Fine
House
is chang'd, for
one
renew'd
each Year,
at the Expence of the
Grand Signior,
and by him sent
thither
with the
Caravan
of
Pilgrims,
while the
Old One,
by the
Priests,
is cut in many thousand Pieces, and distributed among the Superstitious People,
by the way of Sale,
with a Pretence, that those, who bear that
Holy Relique
still about them, shall be ever free from
sudden Death,
and
unexpected Dangers,
of what kind soever.
Medina Telnabi.
HENCE, such People, as are led by
Zeal,
to think, their Duty Summons them, to see their
Prophet's Tomb,
accompany the
Caravan,
which goes from
Mecca
to
Damascus,
and arrive in eight or ten Days time, at
Medina Telnabi,
much about the Magnitude of
Mecca.
The Tombs of
Mahomet, Osmin
and
Hali.
HERE, in an obscure, and narrow
Corner
of a
Stately Mosque,
which stands directly in the middle of the
Town,
are seen the
Sepulchres
of the
Impostor Mahomet,
and his two
Famous Followers, Osmin
and
Haly.
Description of the Tombs.
THE Tombs are low and narrow, of a
Lozenge Cut,
and fram'd of Marble, of a very Black, or Dusky Colour, void of any kind of
Ornament,
or
Writing
whatsoever, and inclos'd within three round, and high built
Marble Turrets,
thro' whose Sides are cut small narrow Windows, into which the
Pilgrims
look, and see the
Tombs
of their
respected Prophets, That
of
Mahomet
's the middlemost of all the
Three.
The Towers enclosing them.
THESE Turrets are adorn'd with little
Galleries
of
Gold
and
Silver,
which together, with the
Inward
and
External Sides
of all the
Towers,
are richly Ornamented with innumerable quantities of Precious Stones, of an
inestimable Value, Great Half Moons
of
Gold
and
Diamonds, Chains of Pearl,
and
Crowns of Jewels,
Glorious Ornaments.
every here and there
appearing
Writ in
Golden Letters,
the repeated
Names
of
God
and
Mahomet,
between the different kinds of Treasure, which for many Ages, have been sent, as
Offerings,
from the Superstitious Princes, who Profess
Mahometanism.
The Departure of the Pilgrims.
HERE the
Pilgrims
gain a second
Blessing,
and return, as soon as they have seen the
Tombs,
to reach the
Caravan,
which waits their coming back at
Mecca,
and advance towards
Egypt,
in the
Order,
they came
thence
with. Many, Drunk, or Mad with
Zealous Folly,
bore their Eyes, or hold them over burning Irons, till they lose their
Sight,
as thinking it a
Sin,
beyond excuse, to look on
Groveling Earthly Vileness,
after they have
once
been Bless'd with so
Divine
and
Long-desir'd
a Prospect.
CHAP. XLIX. Of the
Arabians,
their Government, and way of Living.
The Descent of the
Arabs.
THE
Arabs
are Descended, as is commonly believ'd, from
Ishmael,
dwelling
now,
as
anciently
they did, in
Tents,
and
open Places,
nothing differing from what they were, when the
Inspir'd Historians
of the
Holy Scriptures
writ their Character, and handed down the Nature of those Barbarous People to the Knowledge of
Posterity.
The Etymology of
Saracen.
THEY are distinguish'd likewise by the Name of
Saracens,
from the
Arabian Etymology
of
Saara-Saaken,
which in
English,
signifies as much, as an
Inhabitant of Desart Countries.
Description of the
Arabs.
THEY are generally Men of Middle Stature,
swift
and
daring,
very
Lean,
and wonderfully
Bony, Tawny
to a strange Degree, by the perpetual Influence of an unshadow'd
Sun,
which burns 'em in the
Desarts:
They are shrill of Voice, beyond most
Women,
and inclin'd by
Nature
to the Cruel Practices of an
unlimited Barbarity.
Their Pride.
THEIR
Pride
exceeds most other
Nations,
for they scorn
Dependance,
and reject all Notions of a
Lawful Government
: They boast
Antiquity,
and not unjustly,
Glorying
in that they have, in the continued Course of such a
mighty Number
of
successive Ages,
kept themselves
unmix'd
with
other Nations,
and obtain'd an
undisputed Claim,
to not alone the
Ancientest,
but
Purest Titles of Nobility, now
extant in the
Ʋ niverse,
by an obstinate Contempt of all
Mechanical Employments,
and depending solely on their
Arms
and
Courage,
for the
Means
of their
Subsistance.
Their way of Living.
HENCE they Ravage all, they meet with, live in
Plunder,
and infest the
Desarts,
with a
Lawless Multitude
of
Great
and
Little Parties,
Robbing and Destroying all they
Conquer,
if they presume to make Resistance; after which, they suddenly retire behind such endless
Tracts
of
unknown Sand,
that none can follow them with Force, sufficient to repel their Numbers.
Why 'tis impossible to
Conquer
them.
'TIS esteem'd
impossible
to Conquer
throughly
these ungovernable People; for they ride on
Horses
of peculiar Skill, in tracing out the Passages of the unstable
Desarts,
and can live on very small and poor Provisions, and by frequenting constantly those Barren Places, know the Ground so very well, that no great
Number
can attempt pursuing them, but they must perish by the want of
Food
and
Water,
e'er they can
with Reason,
hope to find the Private Lurking Corners of their
Nimble Enemies,
who never fail to watch the Moment of some favourable Opportunity, to fall upon 'em under Covert of the
Night,
with bloody Execution.
Their Arms.
THEY little
understand,
and less
esteem
the Use of
Fire-Arms
; all their
Weapons
are, a kind of
Spears,
not much unlike an
Officer
's
Half-Pike
in
England,
headed with a
Cap
of
Steel, sharp-pointed,
and of admirable
Temper,
which they
Poize
with an extended Arm, and either hurl at distance, or can use in
close Fight
with an
Enemy,
as they may
see Occasion.
Their strange Dexterity.
SECONDLY, they are the surest
Archers
in the
World,
and generally Arm themselves with a Capacious
Quiver
of
Steel-headed Arrows,
some of which are always Poyson'd; These they
Shoot
with such a strange Dexterity, on
Horseback
or on
Foot,
That, like the Ancient
Parthians,
fam'd in
History,
they
Kill
more
Enemies
in their
Retreat
from a
lost Battle,
than they
Slaughter'd
all the time
before,
while
Face to Face,
they stood the
Shock
of
Open War,
and Fought for
Victory.
Their Roving Life.
THEY live, as I have said before, in
Tents,
and Pitch their
Camps
from time to time, where any little
Face
of
Pasture
for their
Horses,
or the Prospect of the most Advantages from
Robbing Caravans,
invite their Stay; Removing frequently from one Place to another, carrying with them all the Cities, they pretend to
dwell in,
and the Families, which they are Masters of.
Their Form of Government.
THEY are divided into
Tribes,
or
Companies,
and pay a kind of
Reverence
to certain
Princes,
as they call 'em, who by long Descent of Noble Blood beyond the rest, are Honour'd by the
Tribes,
and constantly Preside in all their
Councils,
Guiding, as they please, (tho' not assuming a
Commanding Power)
the Business of the People, who
respect
'em greatly, tho' no otherwise distinguish'd from the Common People, than by wearing
Turbants
of a different Form, but equal Bigness.
Their Habits and Diet,
&c.
THEIR
Habits
differ nothing from the
Vulgar Turks,
their
Diet
is not much unlike the
Tartars,
and their
Exercises few,
because they live in a
perpetual Motion.
Their
Religion
is
Mahometanism,
and they look upon it, as no little Honour to their
Nation,
that the
Prophet
was their
Country-Man.
Their way of disposing of the Goods, they Plunder.
WHEN they have Plunder'd a Considerable
Booty,
they deliver it to certain of their
People,
living Peaceably on every
Border
of the
Desarts,
who are suffer'd to
Converse
and
Trade
with all the
Governments,
about 'em, rather out of
Fear
than
Friendship.
THESE find present Means, to sell the
Plunder
of one
Nation
to the
Natives
of
another,
and delivering the Money to the Party, whence they had the
Goods,
receive a certain
fix'd
Reward, proportionable to the Value of the Prize, while all the rest is equally divided among those, who shar'd the Danger. With this Money they will often buy
fine Jewels,
or whatever else their
Inclinations
lead 'em to.
Jewels for the Women.
SINCE I have mention'd
Jewels,
'twill be necessary to inform the Reader of the
Ʋ ses,
they design 'em to, which is, to
Ornament
the Persons of their
Women,
for they have as many
Wives,
as they think fit, and either carry them about, as
they
remove themselves, or leave them,
in their Expeditions,
in the
Towns
or
Camps,
they have, upon the most
Delightful, Habitable,
and not
quite Infertil Borders
of
Arabia.
The
Arabian
Women, dreadful Creatures.
I think, I need not tell the
English Ladies,
that the
Sun
is no great Friend to
Beauty,
and the Poor
Arabian Females
find it to their Sorrows; For, but that their
Husbands
prove them
Women,
and not
only so,
but
Fruitful Women too,
I shou'd not only quite
mistake their Sex,
by missing in their
Souls
and
Persons,
all those
soft, engaging Excellencies,
which combine to
Crown
the
Graces
of my
Country-Women,
but really
Misinterpret
their
Humanity,
by judging them some Meaner-Part of the
Creation.
Methinks the
Painters,
who, (to cover the Disgraces, which the
Christian Armies
frequently receiv'd, by being
beaten
in the
Holy-War,
by those Mens
Ancestors)
took care to represent a
Saracen
upon their
Sign-Posts,
like a
Monst'rous Gyant,
so so to give a terrible
Idea
of those People, had done better far, to Paint the Figure of a
Saracen
's
Wife,
for all the World must have believ'd, that where the
Women
were such frightful Creatures, All the
Men
must have been worse than
Devils.
Another kind of
Arabs.
SOME
People notwithstanding,
bear the Name of
Arabs,
and are yet of
Principles,
directly different from
these,
such,
for Example,
as Inhabit many Places in
Arabia Felix,
and some other Countries, where they live in
Peace
and
Honesty,
subservient to the
Laws of Civil Government
; But those, I speak of, are the
Arabs,
commonly distinguish'd by the Name of
Wild,
or
Independant,
and are
every way,
the
Men,
I have describ'd,
abhorr'd,
but
dreaded,
by
Mankind in General,
yet above the
Anger
of
surrounding Enemies.
CHAP. L. Probable Conjectures, concerning the
Ten Tribes
of
Israel,
which were carried away
Captive,
by
Shalmanezer, King
of
Assyria.
2
Kings. Chap,
17.
I Wou'd not have my Reader led to a Mistake of what I mean, or by the
Title
of this Chapter, be induc'd to think, I flatter my
Belief
with an Opinion, that I can inform the World more largely, than all other
Writers,
of the Present State of the
Ten Captiv'd Tribes
of
Broken Israel.
The Aim of this Chapter.
MY
only Aim,
in touching on this
Subject,
is, to prove, that those, who guess the
Race
of
Turks
to be Descended from the
Jews
of the
Ten Tribes
abovenam'd, may
at least
defend their Notion, by a very
probable,
and
natural Chain
of
Arguments,
if not
incontrovertible,
and
certain Demonstration.
Many various Opinions.
MANY
notwithstanding,
and extreamly
various,
are the odd
Opinions,
commonly receiv'd, not only in the
Europaean World,
but
even
in those
Eastern Parts,
which, by their
Old Vicinity
of
Situation
to that
Bondag'd People,
may be thought to have retain'd an eager
Curiosity
to know,
if possible,
the Present Fortunes of a
Formidable Nation,
which in ancient Times, they not alone
Esteem'd,
but held
uninterrupted
Correspondence with.
AMONG the several
Judgments,
or
Conjectures,
made upon this
Famous Head,
it may not, possibly, be thought
unwelcome,
shou'd I
entertain
the Reader with a
Few
of the most
Celebrated Notions,
prevalent in the
Opinions
of the
Knowing Ʋ niverse.
The first Notion.
ONE
commonly receiv'd Opinion
is, that these
Ten Tribes
of
Captiv'd Jews
went quite thro'
Tartary
to
Green-Land,
so to
America,
by passing by the
Straight
of
Darien,
where they fix'd themselves in the Dominions of
Peru,
and all those Parts, distinguish'd by the Name of
Nova Hispania,
or the
Spanish West-Indies.
Its Proofs.
TO prove the Probability of this
Assertion,
its
Defenders
openly
avouch,
that there are many
Ruins,
extant to this Day, whose own
Remains,
and the
Tradition
of the
Country,
join to speak them
formerly
the Work of
Jewish Architects
; In many of these
Buildings
they report to have discover'd Well-Wrought Nails, of mighty Size, which kept the
Timber
join'd together; this was judg'd
Remarkable,
because those
Buildings
were Erected,
long
before the
Indian Natives
are suppos'd to have been made
acquainted with
the
Ʋ se
of
Iron.
AGAIN, they judge it very Probable, because the
Spanish Indians
are not, of so Brown and Beardless a
Complexion,
as the rest, but much inclining to the
Airs,
and
Features
of the
Ancient Jews,
and thence believ'd to be decended from them.
ANOTHER Reason, they produce, as a Persuasive to their
Notion,
is, that, when the
Spaniards
Conquer'd
Mexico, Peru,
and all those Parts of the
West-Indies,
they perceiv'd their
Customs,
as to
Women, Altars, Jubilees, Divorces,
and the Knowledge, they profess'd of the
Creation of the World,
and
Ʋ niversal Deluge,
with a Thousand other of their
Practices,
and
Ceremonies,
so entirely moulded to the Imitation of the
Jewish Customs,
that they cou'd not help concluding, that great Numbers of the
Indians
were themselves Descended from those
Jews,
of the
Ten Tribes
aforesaid, or at least had learnt from them the Numerous
Ceremonies,
they so long continued to indulge the Practice of.
The Second Notion of the Ten Tribes of
Israel.
ANOTHER Notion, not alone receiv'd among the
Jews,
but almost
every Nation
in the
East,
perswades them to believe, that many of those
Tribes
may now be found in certain
Inland
Parts of
China
; and, to prove the Probability of this
Opinion,
they produce a Thousand Instances of
Roman Missionary Priests,
and many other Travellers, who have discover'd mighty Numbers of those People, in the
Land
above-nam'd, who retain the Practice of the
Ancient Jewish Ceremonies,
but are altogether ignorant of either the
Arrival, Doctrine,
or
Portentous Crucifixion
of
our Blessed Saviour.
The Third Notion.
'TIS no improbable
Conjecture,
that some
Tribes
(if not all) inhabit in a Country, to the
South
of
Persia,
commonly distinguish'd by the Name of
Tabor
; for the People
there,
obey one
Great,
and
Arbitrary
Monarch, and profess no other
Faith
than that of
Judaism.
Its Proofs.
THE Natives of this Country are divided into
Tribes,
which
still
retain such Names, as are entirely Consonant with
those,
which anciently distinguish'd the
Lost Tribes
of
Israel
; and the Name of
Tabor,
which (as I have said before) their
Province
bears, appears not widely different from
Habor,
whither
Salmanezer
order'd them to be Transported, as we read in
Holy Scripture,
in the Second Book of
Kings,
and the
Seventeenth Chapter.
2 Kings,
Ch.
17.
V.
5, 6.
Then the
King
of
Assyria
came up throughout all the Land, and went up to
Samaria,
and Besieg'd it Three Years.
In the Ninth Year of
Hoshea,
the
King
of
Assyria
took
Samaria,
and carried
Israel
away into
Assyria,
and placed them in
Halah,
and in
Habor
by the River of
Gozan,
and in the Cities of the
Medes.
The Fourth Notion.
THOSE are not
Few,
who strenuously maintain, that many Parts of
Aethiopia
are inhabited, by the Posterity of these
Ten Jewish Tribes,
particularly near the
Lake,
whence
Nilus
is supposed to take his
Rise
; All the Men of this Persuasion wou'd oblige us to believe, the
Abyssens, Coptees,
and certain other
Aethiopian Christians,
owe the Practice of their
Circumcising
Children, to some Ancient Imitation of the
Custom
of the
Jews,
who found a
Refuge
in their
then
more
Hospitable Country.
The Fifth Notion.
IT is more talk'd of, than believ'd, that they may possibly inhabit those
unknown,
and
spacious
Territories, on the other side of that Prodigious
River,
The Sabbatical River
which
Josephus
mentions to be not far distant from the
Caspian Sea,
and call'd
Sabbatical,
by reason of a wondrous Secret in the Nature of its
Stream,
which runs
six Days
with such amazing
Breadth,
and rapid
Violence
of an
Impetuous Current,
that by driving down the very
Stones,
and
Sand,
o'er which it rolls, it renders it impossible for Mortal
Courage, Strength,
or
Artifice,
to compass Means of passing it, but on the
Sabbath Day,
at which time all the
Waters
fall Miraculously, for the space of
Four and Twenty Hours,
leaving dry, and passable the Sandy
Bottom.
The Sixth Opinion.
Mr.
William Pen,
in the Account, he gives of
Pensilvania,
tells us, he believes the Natives of that Place had no
Original,
but from the
Jewish Tribes,
and arms the Arguments, he uses on this Subject, with the following Observations.
Its Reasons.
THAT
God
cou'd point them out with ease a Passage to
America,
from the
Eastern
Parts of
Asia,
and that, since they were Ordain'd to be remov'd to an
Ʋ ntill'd,
even
Ʋ ndiscover'd Country,
'tis highly probable, that the
West-Indies
was the Place, since that was
then
the only unknown
Quarter
of the
Habitable Ʋ niverse.
AND that they rather Peopled
Pensilvania,
than the other Parts of the
West-Indies,
he imagines not unlikely, since the Natives of that Country so resemble
Jews,
in Features and Deportment, that they seem distinguishably Mark'd by
God,
as the Posterity of that Unhappy Nation.
Jewish
Customs in
Pensilvania.
AGAIN, their
Feasts, Fasts, Sacrifices,
and all other Rights, and Ceremonies, with the great Affinity, their Language bears to
Hebrew,
and abundance more concurring
Circumstances
in their ways of Life, agree so evidently with the
Jewish Institutions, Government,
and
Customs,
that he judges it a very reasonable
Notion,
to conclude they are descended from the
long Lost Race
of the
Subverted Israelites.
The Seventh Opinion.
BUT having mention'd the
foregoing
Notions,
now
most common in the
Eastern World,
I will proceed to let you see, how probable it is, that all the
Turks
are of the
Jewish Race,
and that the Ten above-nam'd
Tribes,
at least the greatest Remnant of them,
now
reside in
Tartary,
and are the People so Notorious for their
Inhumanity,
so Formidable in their
Government,
Unknown in their
Condition,
and so justly Dreaded by the
oft Invaded World,
who only know them by the Name of
Tartars.
The
Turks
Descended from the
Jews.
I show'd the Reader in my Entrance on the Book, that
Anciently
the
Turks
were an
huge Body
of
Ʋ ngovernable Wandring Scythians,
or
Tartars,
who forsook their Country for some unknown Cause, and over-running
Turcomania,
and a Boundless Tract of Fertile
Land,
became a People, formidably Numerous, and swell'd in time to that surprizing Pitch of
Arbitrary Sway,
they boast at present.
IT hence appears 'tis Universally allow'd, as an
Ʋ ndoubted Certainty,
that 'tis from
Tartary
the
Turks
first took their
Origin
; It only then remains to prove, that those, we now call
Tartars,
may be rationally thought the True Posterity of the
Ten Tribes
of
Israel,
which the Conquering
Salmanecer
carried with him Captive, as aforesaid, which I shall endeavour to perform, as Briefly as is possible.
The Etymology of the word
Tartar.
AND
first,
the Reader may observe, that
Tarut-Har,
or
Tartar,
in the
Syrian
Language, signifies the
Remnant,
or
Remainder
of a
People,
which tho' alone an Argument, of no small
weight,
is strongly aided by the following
Particulars.
A very probable Argument.
MEDIA,
Situated near the
Caspian Sea,
is
now
possess'd entirely by these
Tartars,
and as it appears by the abovenam'd
Text
of
Holy Writ,
that the
Ten Tribes of Israel
were Transported to the Cities of the
Medes,
so 'tis observable, that those
few
Cities, which the
Tartars
have, are call'd by
Names,
agreeing nearly with the
Ancient Towns
of
Israel,
when She
Flourish'd.
Ancient Jewish Names still retain'd.
THUS, the Capital of
Tartary
is call'd
Samar-yan,
which is very little different from
Samaria, once
the Great
Metropolis
of
Israel
's
Monarchs,
and it is observable, that many
Pillars, Buildings,
and vast
Reliques
of
Antiquity
are yet remaining in this Town, adorn'd in so demonstrative a manner, that they plainly speak themselves, to have been
Jewish Monuments.
A River call'd
Jordan.
THEY have another
Town,
call'd
Jericho,
a
Mount,
nam'd
Sion,
and another
Mount,
distinguish'd by the
Name
of
Tabor,
with a River
Yordan, (from the Hebrew Jordan
) and a thousand other Names of Places, plainly prove a
Jewish Etymology.
The
Tartars
divided into Ten Tribes.
THEY are divided into
Ten Great Tribes,
or
Parties,
bearing
Names,
not much unlike the
Ancient Patriarchs,
from whom the
Israelites
receiv'd their
Appellations:
All these
Tribes,
tho' wholly
Subject
to one
Common
Government, avoid confounding
Kindred
by a
Marriage
into one anothers
Families,
a
Nicety,
which never was observ'd, but by the
Jews,
and
now
these
Tartars, thence
with Probability suppo'd their
Off-spring.
The Language of the
Tartars.
THE Language of the
Tartars
is so very reconcilable to
Hebrew,
that the Difference there is between them, may be very well accounted for, when we consider they were mix'd
so long
with their Rough Conquerors, the
Syrians,
e're they found a Possibility to make a
General Revolt,
and the prodigious Ignorance, and strange Barbarity a Nation, for so many Ages, void of
Arts
and
Sciences,
or the Improvements of Humanity, by
Trade
or
Conversation
with a more Polite, and Knowing People, must
of Course
degenerate to.
A Tradition of the
Tartars.
ANOTHER Thing, which serves to prove the just
Validity
of this
Opinion
is, that all the
Tartars
do not only
Circumcise,
and
Ʋ se
the ancient
Jewish Rights,
in almost every Point of
Worship,
but Traditionally boast themselves, to be Descended from those
Israelites,
who Conquering
their
Conquerors, became Possess'd of all the
Territories
by the
Caspian Sea
; and
hence
it was, that
Tamerlain,
or rather
Tam-her-lane the Great,
who led the
Turkish Bajazet
about his City, in an
Iron Cage,
wou'd often take occasion to be
Vaunting
of his
Pedigree,
affirming, he was
Lineally
Descended from the
Tribe
of
Dan,
in an uninterrupted
Genealogy.
The two Inferences to be drawn from the foregoing Arguments.
FROM the abovenam'd Observations, it appears but
rational
to draw two
Inferences; First,
That the Great Founders of the Present
Turkish Empire
are Descended from the
Tartar's Race,
and
Secondly
that those, distinguish'd
now
by the said Name of
Tartars,
are the
Ten Transplanted Tribes of Israel,
so justly Punish'd by
Almighty God,
for their
Offensive Obstinacy,
that from the most
Esteem'd,
and
Glorious Nation
of the
Ʋ niverse,
they are Degenerated into the most Despicable
Outcasts
of Unbless'd
Humanity.
CHAP. LI. Instructions to the
Traveller,
who wou'd make a
Safe,
and
Profitable Journey
into the
Eastern Countries.
The Design of this Chapter.
THE Generous Reader will, I doubt not, put a
right
Interpretation on my
Meaning,
in pretending to instruct the
World,
when
I my self,
as much as
other People,
want Instruction; All I aim at by the Subject, I am now about to take upon me, is to lay down
Rules,
which I have prov'd by
oft Repeated,
tho' but
young
Experience, to be safe and necessary, to the Practice of that
Traveller,
who wou'd to
any Purpose,
spend his Time in Foreign Countries.
Education of Youth, the Glory of a Nation.
THE Infinite
Advantages,
the
Honour, Glory, Riches,
and
Prosperity,
accruing to a Nation, by the careful Training up the
Youth,
she shines with, and the great Necessity of
sowing
wisely all those
Seeds
of
Liberal Education,
which they hope to see
securely
Flourish in a full
Maturity,
are so Conspicuous to Mankind, and Universally allow'd of, that I need enlarge no more, on so
Incontrovertible
an Argument.
The Advantages of Travel.
IF then the Care of
Youth
be commonly allow'd a
Duty,
weightily Incumbent on a
Common Wealth,
'twill easily appear a certain Truth, both from the Practice of the Ancient, and the Modern
Times,
that sending them to Travel into Foreign Parts, has ever been esteem'd, and doubtless is the greatest
Blessing,
and most sure
Improvement,
we can lead their Minds to, since they Learn thereby to study
Men,
instead of
Books,
and by a Free and Generous Conversation with the
open World,
not only shake off their Domestick Dregs of
Bashfulness,
and
Ignorance,
but wholesomely digesting the Remembred Dictates of their
late Minority,
become
Polite
in the Deportment of their
Persons,
and Refin'd extreamly, in the Notions of their
Judgment.
The Folly of neglecting it.
HENCE it follows that, as 'tis undoubtedly the greatest
Policy,
as well as
Honour
of a Prudent People, to encourage
Youth
to
Early Travel,
'tis an unhappy
Flaw
in any Nations
Character,
to have it said, they stand
Insensible
of
Evident Advantages,
and rather
stifle
than
promote
a Practice, so Commendable.
Englishmen
Remiss in its Encouragement.
I must confess I have with no small Wonder, taken notice, that my Countrymen, of all the
Europaean Nations,
are the most
Remiss
in this
Affair
; We see them commonly but thinly sown in
Foreign Courts, Camps, Schools,
or
Academies,
while Numbers of the Natives of all other
Christian
Countries, flock continually to every
Land
or
City,
Famous in the least, beyond
their Neighbours.
An Observation on the
North-Britons.
I ought not to
omit,
(since I have here so fair an Opportunity) the doing
Justice
to our
Late-Ʋ nited Gallant Brothers of
NORTH-BRITAIN, who are so effectually Sensible of the Advantages, abovenam'd, that their
Gentlemen
are commonly the
Best Bred,
and
most Learn'd
of
Christendom,
and do not only Travel
much,
but to
much Purpose also
; for we seldom see a Celebrated
Court
of
Europe,
but the
Civil
sometimes, sometimes
Military
Offices thereof, are not alone
Possess'd,
but
Ornamented
greatly by the
Natives
of that
Country.
Travelling now more in Fashion.
HOWEVER, I may spare the Pains of
Searching
for the
Causes
of so Groundless a Neglect, since there appears a Brisker
Turn
than
Formerly,
to animate the
Genius
of the
English Nation,
who within some
few Years past,
have seem'd to seek more earnestly than
heretofore,
the
Benefits of Travelling.
I will therefore only
wish
for the
Improvement
of a Custom, so
Praise-Worthy,
and proceed to give the
Hints,
I promis'd, in relation to the
Methods,
they shou'd
Ʋ se
in
Travelling.
At what Age Young Men shou'd Travel.
I am not for the speedy sending
Youth
abroad, before their
Judgment
is
Mature
enough, to give them a distinguishing
Idea
of the
Ʋ se,
as well as
Prospect
of the Things, they meet with; Eighteen Years of
Age
is more too
Early
than too
Late,
for a
Young Man
to think of leaving
England:
This I know by
Personal Experience,
having been beholding to my
Latter Travels,
for a Full
Digestion,
and
Improvement
of the Unripe
Observations,
vainly gather'd in my
Former.
An Error common in the
English
Practice.
IT is a Fault,
too Common
in our
Modern Practice,
to send
Young Men
Abroad, to see the Rarities of
Italy,
and
other Countries,
before they are at all acquainted with
Domestick Curiosities,
and Things as well deserving Observation, in the
Heart
of
our own Kingdom,
as he possibly can meet with, in the
Places,
he must Travel thro'.
Its Follies.
BESIDES, it is a kind of unaccountable
Simplicity,
to think a Man is
Qualified
for
Conversation
in a Foreign Land, before he Understands, or has the smallest
Notion
of the
Government,
or any
Part
of the
Whole Constitution,
or
Condition
of his Native Country: For
such
an Ignorance must necessarily render him unfit for an
Inquisitive,
or
Learn'd
Society in any Place, he comes to, and consequently
hinder
him of all
Advantages,
he might have
Reap'd
from the
Improvements
of his
Journey.
Another Error.
ANOTHER
Error,
and no
small one,
is that most
Young Men
are sent
Abroad,
entirely Ignorant of
German, Dutch, Italian,
and too often
French,
or any
Foreign Languages:
This renders them
depriv'd
of even a
Possibility
of
Living,
as they
ought,
in
Friendship
and
Acquaintance
with their
Equals
or
Superiors,
where they come; for 'tis but seldom any
Tongue
but
French,
is thought worth bringing
Home,
or if some
Few
have
Souls,
and
Memory
enough to Compass more, by that time, they have learn'd to speak them tolerably, the short
Space,
allotted for their
Absence,
is expir'd, and they must return, to put an End to their
Vain Journey,
just as they are grown
Capacitated
to improve themselves by its
Advantages.
A third Error.
THERE are a kind of
Gentlemen,
call'd
Tutors,
generally sent
Abroad
with a Commission to
Direct,
and
Govern
their
Young Travellers
: These are sometimes
Frenchmen,
sometimes
Englishmen,
but always of an
Age
by far
Superior,
and an
Humour,
often
Opposite
to
those,
they have the
Charge of.
Proper to be Reform'd.
THIS I think an
Error,
that shou'd be Reform'd for many
Reasons
; If the
Tutor
be a
Foreigner,
I need not Nominate the many Disadvantages, the
Pupil
must be Subject to; and if an
Englishman,
of such
Superior Age,
as commonly they are, I humbly ask my Reader's leave, to say
a Word or two
on that Occasion.
The Reasons for Reforming it.
YOUNG MEN are naturally Prepossess'd with a Dislike, or Timorous Apprehension of
such Men,
as are appointed for their
Governors
: They are their second
Schoolmasters,
and consequently look'd upon, as
Objects
of their
Spleen
; They are imagin'd
Spies
o'er all their
Actions,
and
Informers
of their
Juvenile Extravagancies
: Their
Best
Advice is
Coldly
list'ned to, for want of an
Affection,
and their
Precepts rob'd
of proper
Force,
because not back'd by
Open Familiarity.
More Reasons.
AGAIN, 'tis natural for
Young Men
to reflect,
What is this Man, who Curbs our Inclinations? Why a Tutor, that is, one, whose Business is to call those Pleasures Faults, which he has now, perhaps, outliv'd the Tast of; He forgets the Inclinations of his Youth, and wou'd oblige us to a Life, as Melancholy as his own, in spite of all the Disproportion, that appears betwixt our Ages.
But were any of the
Arguments,
he
us'd,
made strong by both the
Precept,
and
Example
of some
Wise Companion,
not much Older than
Himself,
they wou'd undoubtedly prevail on his
Belief,
because he cannot look upon them the
Effects
of Peevish Age, or Want of Relish, but occasion'd
purely,
by a Wise Restraint of Headstrong
Passions,
and a Swing of
Vanity.
AS I have Censur'd those Three
Common Errors
in our
Practice,
just aforenam'd, so I will,
as Briefly as is Possible,
set down the
Rules,
by which we may with ease avoid their Inconveniencies.
How the first Error might be mended.
AND First, I wou'd advise, that
Children
shou'd be put to
School
so early, that they may have gain'd a Competent Increase of
Ʋ nderstanding,
in a
Residence
at either of the
Ʋ niversities,
by that time, they have reach'd the
Age
of Eighteen Years at farthest.
THEN, it might be Proper that, in some
Relation
's Care, he might Reside at
London,
one whole Winter, there to Learn the
Fashionable Gayeties,
which recommend a Gentleman for
Breeding
and
Appearance.
A necessary Improvement.
IN the
Summer
following, 'twou'd be a great
Improvement
to his
Knowledge,
if assisted by the
Recommendatory
Letters of his Friends, to their Acquaintance in the Country, he shou'd undertake a
Journey,
quite thro'
England, Wales,
and Part of, if not all,
North Britain.
How to be
.
BUT he shou'd not only
Travel
thro' these
Countries,
but
from Place to Place
be Recommended to the
House,
and
Care,
of some Considerable Man, of
Parts
and
Fortune,
who shou'd not alone contrive to Entertain him
Hospitably,
but be sure to Introduce him to the Knowledge, and Acquaintance of the
Best
and
Wisest Part
of all his
Neighbourhood,
by whose Assistance, and Society, he might not only be
Diverted
with a Sight of every
Curiosity,
but
Taught
at large the
Charters,
and
Antiquity
of every
Corporation, Privileges, Laws,
and
Customs
of each County,
Honour,
and
Descent
of every
Family,
and all Things else, that might be fansy'd requisite to give him an entire
Idea,
of the Nature, and Condition of the
Government,
he is Subject to.
BY these means he is hardned, for the
Accidental Dangers,
and
Fatigues,
he probably may meet with in his longer
Journey,
and enabled, when he is
Abroad,
to give a
Foreigner
an
Answer
to a
Question,
full as easily, as ask one of him.
A Second Error, how Curable.
SECONDLY, in order to prevent the Inconveniencies, arising from a want of Knowledge, in the
European
Languages, I wou'd advise all Gentlemen, who think of Travelling, to Qualifie themselves for true Improvement, by some few Years
Previous, Interwoven
Application to the Study of the
French, Italian, Dutch,
and
German
Languages, which they may learn with ease at
several times,
by
several Masters,
or by
one,
while at their
Latin
School, or either
Ʋ niversity
: Then, having made themselves indifferent
Proficients,
they may in their Six Months Continuance at
London,
afterwards improve them to a fuller Height, by keeping Company, as much as possible, with
Foreign Gentlemen,
who Travel Yearly into
England,
and wou'd be glad of their Society.
The Advantages of Language.
THUS, wou'd they go
Abroad,
sufficiently enabled to Converse Familiarly in Foreign Countries, as they did at
Home,
and thence avoiding that too common
Shyness,
us'd to
Strangers,
they wou'd soon gain
Friends,
and pleas'd with their Acquaintance, swell their Knowledge to as high a Pitch
Abroad,
as they had done at
Home,
by former
Application.
An Observation concerning Tutors.
THIRDLY, not to Rob the
Gentlemen,
who in the Character of
Tutors,
take upon them the
no little Charge
of Educating
Youth,
of those accomplish'd
Merits,
some of them are Masters of, I wou'd offer to the serious Consideration of
my Countrymen,
whether 'twou'd not be a Method, more Conducive to the good Improvement of a Young Man's Time, to send
Abroad,
as his Companion, some
Young Gentleman,
of Unquestionable Conduct, not much
Older
than himself, but one, who has by Publick Business, or his Former Travels, render'd his Experience
riper,
than his
Years
might speak it.
How justify'd
HERE, Persuasion and Example wou'd undoubtedly, be far more
efficacious,
than the
Precepts
of Authority; The Arguments, which might be us'd, to win him from a
Folly,
wou'd appear no otherwise, than Friendly Wishes for his
Welfare
; The Familiar Conversation, they wou'd have
together,
must afford a Thousand Pretty Opportunities to Censure the Miscarriages, he may have made, with a Brisk
Air
of Unsuspected
Gayety.
The only Bar no great one.
IN short, the only
Bar
to the Advantages, which must accrue from such a
Practice,
is the mighty Difficulty, that must certainly attend the
Choice
of such a Man, as may in every Point appear well Qualified, for the Discharge of such a
Trust,
as must be given him; And
this,
(how difficult soever it may seem) will prove an easier Task upon Examination, than
most
Men imagine it, and doubtless wou'd be easier
yet,
if once the Introduction of so good a
Custom
gave Encouragement for Men of Worth, to Qualifie themselves for that
Employment.
Which Parts are best to Travel first to.
WHEN thus prepar'd for
Foreign Travel,
the
Young Gentleman
wou'd do a Prudent Action, to consider what Part of the Universe, he may with most Improvement bend his Journey to; and certainly in my Opinion, 'twou'd be best to Visit
first
the
East,
or
South-East
World, for there he will not only
view
a Scene of Nature, wholly contrary to his
own
Country, in
Religion, Humour, Government,
and every Means, and Form of
Living,
which he cannot well be said to meet in
Europe,
but will learn to
Contemplate,
(by frequent
Views
of the prodigious Changes,
Time
has made in Towns, and Kingdoms) on the Miserable Instability of
Worldly Grandeur,
which together with the
Ʋ npolite
and
Rustic Treatment,
he must doubtless meet with, from the Proud Inhabitants of those
Self-Loving
Countries, will depress, or curb at least, the Head-strong Sallies of Impetuous
Youth,
and Native Arrogance of
Temper
; so that afterwards returning by the
way
of
Italy,
and
France,
and
other
the Politest
European
Nations, he may stand secure, against the strong Temptations of those
Fashionable Vanities,
which- mix themselves unluckily with the respective
Excellencies,
every
Court
is judg'd most Famous for.
A Great Neglect Reprov'd.
AGAIN, I look upon it, as a mighty
Error
in the
British Travellers,
so strangely to neglect the Knowledge of
Marine
Affairs, unless their
Education,
or Pursuit of their
Preferment
calls them to their Practice; Nothing certainly can add a Brighter
Ornament
to any
Englishman
's Capacity, than to be fully Vers'd, at least, made tolerably Knowing, in the Mysteries of
Navigation,
and the many
useful
Sciences, and
profitable
Observations, which a
few
short Voyages will
gild
his Understanding with Considerable Notions of.
Travelling by Sea Recommended.
I wou'd therefore willingly advise all
Gentlemen,
who travel, to Embark on Board some Trading
Vessel,
(if in time of Peace) bound up the
Straits
from Port to Port, on either side; or if the speed
one
Vessel makes, may call him from a
Place,
before he has had time to make his
Observations,
he will constantly be
sure
to meet
some Ship,
or
other,
Bound directly to the
Port,
he has a mind to be Transported to, no matter, whether she be
English,
or of any other
Christian
Nation, for the more
Variety,
he meets with in his Travels, so much more Extensive will become his
Experience.
The Course he shou'd Steer.
BY these Means, he may at his own leisure see the Kingdoms of
Spain, Portugal,
and
Sicily
; The Sea-Port Towns of
Fez, Morocco, Tripoly, Algiers,
and other Parts of
Barbary,
the numerous Islands of the
Graecian Archipelago,
with the Rich
Emporiums
of the
Turkish
Empire,
Smyrna,
and
Constantinople.
A Further Journey.
HENCE, he may proceed,
by Land, and Sea,
as he imagines most Convenient, and Diverting, on to
Egypt,
and the
Holy Land,
and
thence
from Place to Place, with
Yearly Caravans,
or
Monthly ones,
till he has satisfied his
utmost Curiosity,
with a distinct, and serious View of all the
several Branches
of that
Mighty Monarchy.
The
Tour
continued, and ended two several ways.
THIS done, he may return, from any
Sea-Port
Town of
Turkey,
by the way of
Italy,
for Ships are constantly Bound thence to
Venice,
or
Leghorn
; But as some Inconveniencies, such as
Performing Quarantana,
and the like, attend that
Voyage,
'twou'd be more Improving, and Delightful to a
Genius,
Temper'd with the smallest
Curiosity,
to Travel over Land thro'
Turkey
into
Italy,
by the
Road
of
Philippopolis,
and so to
Venice,
or into
Germany,
by passing thro'
Romania, Bulgaria, Valachia, Transilvania,
and
Hungary,
to the City of
Vienna; either
of which Roads, admitting you to a considerable Part of
Christendom,
lies easy and convenient, to
point
you out a
Tour,
thro' all the Noted
Courts
of
Europe,
after which you will return to
England,
like an
Indian Vessel,
whose inestimable
Freight
makes full amends, for the
Fatigues,
and Dangers of a Tedious
Absence.
NOW, that all these
Schemes
of
Travel
may be undertaken, and perform'd, with as much Safety, and Advantage, as is
possible,
I beg the Reader's Patience, while I give a
word or two
of Necessary Caution, which will bring me on to a
Conclusion
of the
Chapter.
Another Great Neglect.
THERE is not a
Neglect,
more Common, nor of a more Fatal Consequence,
now
suffer'd, than the sending
Gentlemen
Abroad, without a further Charge of
Letters,
than such only, as are
necessary,
to procure Supplies of
Money,
when their
Exigencies
may require it.
The Use of Recommendatory Letters.
HE ought to carry
Recommendatory Letters
for each
Noted Place,
he thinks of going to; Nor are those
Letters
worthy of
that Name,
which commonly are sent by Merchants, to their Correspondents in a
Foreign Part,
wherein the
Gentleman,
who
bears
them, is, in Fashionable Words of Course, so Coldly Recommended, that a Formal Visit, or a Drunken Entertainment is the most, he meets with, from the
Persons,
he is address'd to.
The Care, to be us'd in that Point.
ALL Gentlemen, who send their
Sons,
or
Friends
Abroad, shou'd be extreamly
nice
in this
Particular
; For 'tis according to the Interests, or Inclinations of the People, to whom
Travellers
are
Recommended,
that their Journey turns to
Good,
or
Ill Account, however Great
may be their
Quality,
or
Long
their
Absence.
The Inconveniencies of going Abroad, without them.
IF they are not recommended to some Gentlemen of
Interest,
in the Countries, they pass thro', they can do no more in any Town, they come to, than Walk up and down the Streets, see now and then a
Monastery,
or perhaps Peep thro' the
Grates
of some
Close Nunnery,
stare aukwardly upon the Outsides of
Great Buildings,
and return to
England,
after two or three Years Absence, just as Wise in
Foreign
Matters, as when they departed from it.
A Fault, peculiar to
English-Men,
Abroad.
AND here, I cannot help Complaining of a Fault, peculiar to the
English
Gentlemen, Abroad, and call'd by
Foreigners,
an
Ʋ nbred Pride,
and
Haughtiness
of
Temper,
tho' 'tis rather owing to their want of
Recommendatory Letters,
well Directed. It is a kind of Separation, or Distinction, which they make between Themselves, and the Inhabitants of any Town, they chance to stay at, earnestly desiring
English Company,
and seeming, as it were, averse to any other, which entirely
Robs
them of the smallest
Possibility,
of making an Improvement by their
Travels,
or
Expences.
The Best Recommendatory Letters.
THE only way is, to make Interest with the
Foreign Ministers, Ambassadors,
or
Envoys,
who reside at
London,
and have doubtless, not alone a vast Acquaintance, but considerable Power with the Best, and most Capacitated Gentlemen of their own
Country,
and the Tenour of their
Letters
shou'd require their Favour, Friendship, and Good Offices in every kind, to the Young Traveller, who carries them, but more especially
Sollicit
their Assistance, and Directions in the Observations, most deserving a
Remark,
and their Advice, what
Towns
or
Places
in the Country may be worth
Regard,
with the Additional Civility of
Letters
of Recommendation, which may
urge
their Friends in any Parts to do, as
they
have done, by the departing
Traveller.
Another necessary Caution.
ANOTHER kind of
Letters,
they shou'd never go without, are those, directed to our own
Ambassadors,
or other
Publick Ministers,
residing in the
Courts
of
Foreign Princes,
and a due Respect shou'd constantly be paid them, on your first Arrival. These
Advices,
well observ'd, may (I have reason to believe)
at least,
I wish they might, conduce a little to my
Country-Mens
Advantage, who design to
Travel:
But as I have thoughts of Publishing hereafter, by its self, a
Regular Treatise
on this Subject, I will now conclude, with an Assurance to my Reader, that
Experience
has convinc'd me of the
Truth
of what I Write, or I had scarce presum'd to Recommend
my
Sentiments, on this Occasion.
CHAP. LII. The
CONCLUSION.
AND
now,
I have,
as well as I am able,
play'd the Part of a
Sincere Relater
of the Observations, made in
Foreign Countries,
and commit my
Book
to the
Ill-Nature
of the
Criticks,
with a Scorn of all their
little Malice,
and a hearty Wish, that such, as
read
with a Desire to be
Diverted,
or
Inform'd,
may find therein, as full a
Satisfaction,
as I shou'd receive, in hearing that they did so.
The Malice of the Times.
THE
Fashionable Envy
of these Peevish Times, permits
no Author
to be
over-proud
of his
Best Labours
; And were I
less Modest,
than I think my self, which wou'd,
I'm sure,
be very far from any thing, like
Vanity,
The
Age,
I live in wou'd, no doubt, find Means to mortify all
Self-esteem
; and were a
Book
to be expos'd to
Publick Censure,
as deserving
Praise,
as those of
Horace,
or the
Roman Ovid,
The Ill-Nature of Criticks.
Soft-mouth'd
Criticks
wou'd be nibling at the
Bait,
and run the hazard of
breaking out their Teeth
; far rather than not strive to make some ill
Impression
on it, which if, after all, they fail to do, they'll
drivel
out their
Rage,
and
spit
upon it
harmlesly,
in
meer Vexation.
WERE there a
Modern Ovid now
alive, accomplish'd like the
Antient,
he'd be look'd upon a very
Monster
of
Vain-Glory,
shou'd he Crown his
Labours
with a
Self-wreath'd Gaerland,
and conclude his Works as
Magisterially,
as
once
the
former
did, in these
High-sounding Verses.
Ovid
Met. Lib. ult.
Jamque opus exegi, quod nec
Jovis Ira,
nec
Ignis,
Nec poterit
Ferrum,
neque Edax abolère vetustas.
And
now
an
End
to that
vast Work
is giv'n,
Which neither
Fire,
nor the
Ill-will
of
Heav'n,
Nor the
Keen Rage,
which does the Sword employ,
Nor
Time
's
devouring Rust
shall e'er
destroy.
The Author's Resignation.
SINCE therefore
Truth,
not
Merit
can successfully lay claim to
just Applause,
in this ungrateful
Age,
I, who can only boast the
former Virtue,
will proceed more
humbly,
and submit my
Labours
to the Sentence of the
World,
with all the Resignation of a
Man,
who, having nobler
Ends
in
Writing,
than to
Flatter Faction,
or
expect Reward,
has no occasion to be much solicitous, for the Success of his
Endeavours.
A Word or two, concerning the Probable Downfal of the
Turks.
I'LL only add a Word or Two, concerning a
Conspicuous Probability
of the
approaching Downfal
of the
Turkish Empire,
which has grown, by gradual
Acquisitions,
to a most amazing
Bulk,
and
Constitution,
but at
present
seems so weaken'd, by the
Natural Corruption,
and
Infirmities
of
Age,
that Terrible Convulsions shake its Frame, as if 'twere hastning onwards, towards a
sudden Period.
Expected from the
Muscovites.
I have, elsewhere in this Book, occasionally taken Notice of a
Prophecy,
in vogue among the
Turks,
That
They shall be destroy'd by a Long-white-hair'd Northern Nation of the Christian World,
and that they look upon the
Muscovites
to be the
Nation,
hinted in the
Prophecy,
on which Account, they seem extreamly Apprehensive of the
Motions
of that
People,
and their
Fright
is aggravated greatly, by the means, the
Muscovites
have lately found, of sending
Ships of War,
thro' the
Black Sea
to
Constantinople,
and the
Ʋ niversal Disposition
of the
Greeks,
to look upon
that Nation,
as their
long-decreed Deliverers.
The Policy of the
Czar,
in his War with
Sweden.
IF Heaven has Ordain'd it to be so, 'tis probable, it may be suddenly
Effected,
for the
Warlike Disposition
of the Present
Czar,
beyond his
Ancestors,
and the
Degeneracy
of the
Modern,
from the
Antient Turks,
are
Weighty Circumstances.
The
Victorious King of Sweden
has been nothing worse, than a
Severe School-Master
to the
Muscovites,
who owe an
admirable Discipline
to the
War,
they're
now
engag'd in, and reserve those
Troops,
made
Soldiers
by a
Year or two's Fatigue,
in Inland Garrisons, to Exercise their Fellows, and Improve themselves, while
Raw,
and
New-Rais'd Men
are sent each Year, to
face their Enemies,
till they become
Good Warriors,
and give way to more
Fresh Comers.
The Reasons guess'd.
IN my Opinion, these Proceedings wear the
Air
of some
Well-laid Design,
and the
Fatigue,
the
Present Monarch
of the
Muscovite Dominions
has been at, in
tedious Travels
; The uncredited
Improvement,
he has made throughout his
Country,
(chiefly in Marine Affairs) The Great Encouragement, he gives all
Foreign Officers
; and
Arts,
he uses to
allure
them to his
Service
; All these seem to speak a further
End,
than the
Repulsing
a
Weak Swedish Enemy.
The Possibility of his Conquering the
Turks.
'TIS my Belief, he'll fall upon the
Turks,
as soon as the Maturity of his
Designs
affords him Opportunity; Nor do I question, but (
by God's Assistance)
with the Great Advantages, he will have over them, he may entirely
Overthrow
their
Government,
and in their
Ruin,
gloriously
Revenge
the
Bloody Falls
of those
Brave Christian Princes,
who have
sunk,
from Age to Age, beneath the Weight of their
Oppressive Ʋ surpation.
But the
Nature
of my
Book,
and
little space,
I have to
spare,
forbid me to enlarge on this
Particular,
which, if I have
foreseen
with
Judgment, Heaven
direct to
triumph
in
Prosperity,
for the
Great Good
of
Ʋ NIVERSAL CHRISTENDOM.
FINIS.