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THE

ADVENTURES

OF

SIGNOR GAUDENTIO DI LUCCA

THE SUBSTANCE OF HIS EXAMINATION BEFORK THE FATHERS OF THE INQUISITION,

AT BOLOGNA IN ITALY.

BY BISHOP BERKELEY.

AUTHOR OF THE MINUTE PHILOSOPHER, &C.

DUBLIN :

FOR JOHN GUMMING, 16, LOWER ORMOND-QlAl. 1821.

^

-'«r:s.^^>|H^^\

TO THE READER.

I

T is very natural to thin^ tlie reader Vv'ould •willingly be apprifed of two things relating to thefe memoirs :- — Firft, how this curious manu- fcript came to light, considering the dark and deep fecrecy with which all things are tranfaft- ed in the inquifition. Secondly, how it came into the tranflator's hands. To fatisfy fuch a commendable curiolity, he is to be informed, that the manufcript was lent by the fecretary of the inquilition at Bologna^ to the learned Signor Rhedi^ keeper of the library of St. Mark at Venice, his intimate friend and correfpondent, with the wiiole account how the author was taken up, A and

289306

li TO THE READER.

and fecured in the inquilition, as the letter of the fecretary to the fame Signer Rhedi will Ihew: •Vi'hich letter, as it gives a great many curious particulars in the examination of the criminal, (for he was taken up as fuch, although nothing very material was proved againfl him ; for which reafon, he received a more favourable treatment than is generally believed to be cuftomary in that dreadful tribunal) fo it difcovers no indi- Te(5l pracftifes of the inquifition ; but, on the contrary, fhevv^s they proceed with a great deal of circumfpedlion within their walls, tho' all things are involved in impenetrable darknefs to

thofe without. Befides the fuccellion of new

popes, and, generally fpeaking, the change of their officers attending it, might make them be lefs tipon their guard, as the fecretary feems to hint at in his letter. Neither is there any thing that might do him any harm, in cafe he were dif- covered ; efpecially writing to a friend of his own communion, and a prieft, as Signer Rhedi was ; which is likewife feen by the letter.

As to the fecond quare, the manufcript came into the publifher's hands by the means of the lame Signor RJiedi^ who is an honour to his church, profeffion, and country, and one of the TOoft leariied and polite men in the world. He is not fo bigotted to his religion or profeffion, as to {hun the company of the Heretical Tra- •montani, a title the Italians generally give us; byt loves and elleems a learned man, although of a different perfualion. One reafon for this may be, that he breathes a freer air at Venice, than they do in the other parts of Italy. The inquilition has nothing to do in the Venetian- territories. Although they are roman catholics, th,e Hate admits of no tribunal independent of itfelf ;— befidcs, as tihey ^r^ a trading people,

their

TO THE READER. iii

their commerce obliges them to be civil to per- fons of all perfuafions, efpecially llrangers ; but of all others they feem to have the greattll ref- ■pe6t for the Engliih •, whether it be on account of their power at fea, or their franknefs in fpending their money, fo many of the Englifh nobility and gentry travelling that way ; or from the candour and Sincerity of our nature, fo op- pofite to the Italians, yet highly elleemed by them : be that as it will, the publifher, who had feveral times made the tour of Italy, was not only intimately acquainted, but had con- trailed a particular friendfhip with Signer Rhcdi^ as well on account of their mutual inclinations for learning and antiquity, as for feveral reci- procal obligations palling between them. The laft time he was at Venice, which was in com- pany of a perfon of the firil ranlf, who liked the place as well as he did, he ilayed there up- wards of fifteen months •, during which time he had the opportunity of enjoying the converfa- tion of his learned friend, with as much liberty as if he had been of the fame perfualion. But, the prefent of a gold repeating watch, with fome other of our Englifh curiofities, fo won his heart, that one day being together in the great library, he unlocks a little grate where he kept his rarities, and turning to me with a fmile, " Signor Inglefe" fays he, holding a ma- nufcript in his hand, " here is fuch a curiofity, I am fure you never faw, or perhaps never iiekrd of: it is the life of a perfon who is now in the inquifition at Bologna, taken from ills own confefHon before the inquifitors ; with, the account of a country in the hea/t of the vafl defarts of Africa, whofe inhabitants have lived unknown to all the world upwards of 3000 years, and inacceilible to all the world, but by A z the

iv TO THE READER.

the way he was carried thither. The inquifitors are fo far perfuaded of the truth of it, that they have promifed him his liberty, if he will undertake to condu<^ fome milTionaries the fame way, to preach the gofpel to a numerous peo- ple, who, by his account, have tke greatell know- ledge of natural religion and polity of any hea- then nation yet known, even beyond the Chl- nefe. For my own part, I could fcarce have believed it, had not the fecretary of the fame inquiiition, who you may be fure, by his poll, is not a man to be impofed upon, afifured me of the truth of it : nay, that he himfelf was prefent at his feizure and examination, and fent me a copy of his life, which he was ordered to give in by the inquiiitors *, with the whole ac- count of the occafion and manner of his feizure» It feems he had lived fome time in Bologna in the quality of a phyfician, under the name of Signor Gaudentio di Lucca, which he fays is his true name, and confirm.s it by the place of his birth, the names of his parents, time of his cap- tivity, csV. He had dropped fome words of fe- verai llrange fecrcts he was mailer of, with mut- terings of an unknown nation, religion and cuf- toms, quite new to the Italian ears ; for which, jeafon the inquifition thought fit to feize him, and by ways and means made ufe of in that tri- bunal, obliging him to give an account of his whole life, which is the moll furpriling I ever xead. Here is the fecretary 's letter, giving a

fuccincfl account of the whole affair. " I

jhave added,'* continued he, " fome critical re- marks in proper places, to Ihew that this account is not fo incredible as it may appear at firft :P.ght, and that it agrees with fome hints left us in the remains of antient hillory. Eeiides, the man ftands to the truth of it with a Iteadfalt-

nefs

TO THE READER. v

«efs that is furpriiing. He is a perfon of a

very handfome prefence, well read, good fenfe, and as it appears to the inqulfitors (who are nice judges) of feemingly good morals. He pro- felTeth himfelf a zealous roman catholic, and that he always was fo ; for which reafon,* the inqui-

iitors are civiler to him than ordinary.- He

gives fuch a rational and circumllantial account of his adventures, that I am of the fecretary's opinion, as to the truth of it. But,^' added he, ** I will not forellal the fatisfacflion you will find in the perufal */' fo delivered the manu- fcript and the fecretary's letter into the pub- lifher's hands, who running his eyes over it for ibme time, was fo llruck with the novelty of the thing, that he afked Signer Rkedi^ whether he might not take a copy of it. He was an- fwered, he could not permit the manufcript to be taken out of the library ; nor could he, with, iafety to himfelf, allow a flranger, and of a dif- ferent religion too, the liberty of Haying fb long in the library by himfelf, as the tranfcribing would take up. The publifher faid, he might put what guards upon him he pleafed, provided he might but tranlcribe it. No, fays he, that is inconvenient too ; but I will order one of my under- librarians, I can confide in, to write you an exadt copy, with the fecretary's letter and my own remarks, if you think them worth your notice ; which he did moft faithfully ; ge- neroufly commanding the tranfcriber, at the fame time, not to take any thing of me for his pains. Thus, this curious manufcript came to hand, to the infinite fatisfa<flion of the publiiher, and he hopes it will prove no lefs to the reaaer's, in the perufal of it. The charad^er of Signer Gau- dentio cannot be called in queilion ; nor is the publiiher a perfon* fo little verfed in the nature - ' A3 and

vi TO THE READER.

and ways of the Italians, as to be impofed up- on. The tranilation from the Italian is as ex- a<ft as ppflible. This is the previous account th© Publifher thought proper to give of this affair.

N. B. Great part of the matters treated of in thefe memoirs, being tranfacfted in a roman catholic country, and among roman catholics, the reader muft not wonder, if they fpeak of their religion, as if it were the only true one in the world.

It v/ill not be improper to admonifh the reader, not to difcredit immediately fome of the rela- tions contained in thefe memoirs ; but to fuf- pend his judgment till he hath read Signer Rhedi*s remarks ; particularly, when he comes to the origin and antiquity of the people the author fpealrs of. The learned will find in them fuch a vail knowledge in hiflory, and the moft in- tricate remains of antiquity, as will render them very well worth their notice. The fame Signor Rhedi told the publifher, he had enquired into what happened at Venice ; particularly what the author mentions of Monjieur Godart^ one of th^ moll improbable parts of his adventures, and found the whole to be jufl as he relates it.

The publiflier is fatisfied the reader will be extremely forry, as well as himfelf, for the lofs ©f fome fheets belonging to the middle part of this hiflory. How they came to be loil he can- not tell ; but he fuppofeth, by the incivility of the cuflom-houfe officers at Marfeilles ; for thej tumbled over his effefls at a very rude rate, and while he had an eye on other matters, they ei- ther took fome of the loofe fheets, or they drop- ped out in the tumbling ; at which he was very much troubled, v/hen he came to mifs them in the courfe of the tranflation.

THE

INTRODUCTION

TO THE F0LL0V7ING

MEMOIRS.

Giving an Account of the Caufes and Manner of the Seizure of

Signer Gautentio di Lucca^

And the firll Part of his Examination.

In a Letter from the Secretary of the Inquifi- tion, to SiGNOR Rhedi.

The Italian Titles of lUuftriJimo, &c. are left out, as not ufed in our Language.

S I R,

A H E prefent turn of ^'affairs, which fills the heads of other people with intrigues of flate, gives me an opportunity of returning my bell thanks, far the rich prefent you w^ere plealed to fend to a per- fon who was yours before, by the llricl:pfc ties of A 4 gratitude*

^ He cither meatip the death of fomc Pope, or fomc extraor* difiary CriUs ia the Roaiilh Occoaojny,

viii INTRODUCTION.

gratitude. — TKe cabinet, with the other curiofitie.% came fafe to hand, and fhew, that whoever is fo happy as to oblige Signor Rhedi, fows a feed which returns an hundred fold. The poverty of our '^'pro- fellion, hinders me from being capable of making a fuitable return, for your magnificent prefent ♦, but nothing ought to take from me the defire of expref- iing my acknowledgments. In teilimony of it, and to fhew that poverty itfelf may be grateful, I fend you by the bearer, the account of a man, whofe life has filled our inquifitors v;ith wonder and allonifh- ment. He has been in the inquifition at this place about two years : wx have employed all our en- gines to find out the truth of what he is, and can find nothing material againft him, unlefs it be the unheard of account he gives of himfelf. Our firft inquilitor has obliged him to write his own life, with all the particulars, as fuccin(511y as poflible, adding threats withal, that if we find him in a falfe Hory, it fhall be woi:^e for him. He tells us Urange ilories of one of the moft beautiful countries in the world, in the very heart of the vafl defarts of Africa, inacceflible to all the world but by one way, which feems as extraordinary as the country it leads to. — As you are a perfon of univerfal knowledge in an- tiquity, and an admirer of curiofities of this nature,, I fend you a copy of the manufcript to have your opinion of it ; and to give you as clear a notion of the man as I can. You mull know, that about three years before he was taken up by the inquifition, he took a neat houfe at Bologna in quality of a phyfi- cian, palling thro* fome flight examination for form lake, and paying his fees as is cuflomary with

Urangers.

* The Secretary was a Dom'inican Friar •, the Domiaicans be* ing Matters of the Inciiufition.

INTRODUCTION. Ix

itrangers. His name, as he fays, is Gaudentio di Lucca^-\ originally of Lucca, but born in Ragufa ;§ he is a tall, handfome, clean-built man, as you Ihall fee in a thoufand •, of a very polite addrefs, and fomething very engaging in his afpedl, as befpeaks your favour at firft light. He feems to be near fifty ; he is a man of good fenfe and fine difcourfe, tho' his accent is not pure Italian ; becaufe, as he fays, of his living fo long in foreign countries. life fpeaks almofl all the oriental languages, and has a very competent ihare of other parts of learning, as well as that of his profeliion. We fent to Ragufa and Lucca to enquire about him, but could not get the leaft information of his being known in thofe parts. The reafon of Vv'hich he has given in his life, as you will fee ; only at Ragufa, feme people re- membered there had been a merchant of that name, about five and tVventy years ago, who was either loil or talven by pirates, and never heard of more.

The inquifitloD, as you know, lir, has eyes every where, efpecially on Grangers ; we hept an eye en him from his firil fettling at Bologna; but, as we proceed v;ith juHice as well as caution, we could not difcover any fafficient reafon to take him up. His life was as regular as that of others of his profef- iion, which he did not follow very clofely, but only for form fake, being chiefly confulted at his own houfe, on account of fome extraordinary fecrets he pretended to be mafler of, without making any vifits but to ladies, with whom he grew in prodigious requeft. They faid he had a fweetnefs of eafe m converfation, that was almofl bewitching. This un- accountable fondnefs of the ladies gave us the firft fufpicion, left he fhould inflill fome ill notiors into that fex, fo credulous where they are fond, and fo

incredulous

f A little Republic In Italf.

§ A Republic in Dalniaiia, and tributary to the Turk,

X INTRODUCTION.

incredulous where they diflike. He profejfTed hint- felf a roman catholic, feemed to have a competent knowledge, and even veneration, conlidering he was a phyfician, for our holy myfteries : fo we had no- thing againft him on that account. We could not find that he wanted for money, though he lived ra- ther genteely than magnificently : we found on fe- veral occalions, that money, the idol of other peo- ple, was the leall of his care : and that he had feme lecret fprings we could not fathom. His houfe was but decently, though completely furniihed for one of his rank *, he kept two fervants in livery, and a valet de chambre ; who being of this town, knew no more of him than Vv-e did. Tliere was an elderly lady we thought had been his wife, but it proved fhe was not ; a foreigner for whom he feemed to have a great refpecfi, and her maid a foreigner aifo ^ and an elderly maid fervant of the town. We have them all fecured in the inquiiition, tho' he does not knov/ it. She has the remains of a wonderfully fine face, and an air of quality ; fhe fpeaks a broken Italian, fo that we can get very little out of her but what agrees with his account. I am confident you will rather be pleafed with thefe particulars than think them tedious. There is fcmething fo extra- ordinary in the man, I ought not to omit the leaft circumftance. We had feveral confultations about him in our inquiiition, as well as our conftant intel- ligences, but could difcover nothing of moment ; — v/e examined v/hat correfpondentshe had from other parts, and ordered the poflmafter to fend us all his letters, which we could eaiily open, and feal up again with the greateft nicety, but we could not find any he had, except one about a moderate rent of four thoufand crowns in the bank of Genoa ; and two from a lady of your city of Venice, whom we difcovered to be a celebrated courtezan, who fub- fcribes herfelf Favllla, We find by her lail letter,

that

INTRODUCTION. xi

Aat he had given her very good advice, and per- fuaded her to become a penitent ; you'll oblige us if you will enquire what fhe is. Amorous intrigues not falling under our cognizance, we let him alone for fome time, having a perfon under our examina- tion on fufpicion of being a jew in mafquerade, and a fpy from the grand Signor, whi(;h kept us em- ployed for fome time. Belides, the good advice he gave the courtezan, and he being pafl his prime, made us lefs fufpicious of the ladies •, we fuppofed they had recourie to him on account of fome female infirmities. Tho' the young ladies v.^ere moft fond of him, his behaviour to them was more an endear- ing fweetnefs and courtefy, than love, with very little iigns, (at leaft he had the addrefs to conceal them,) of more kindnefs for one than another. In fine, perfons of the beil rank, of both fexes, began to have a prodigious liking for his company •, he Hole upon them infenlibly. As he increased in this good opinion, he opened himfelf with greater free- dom ; he made no ihew at all at firft, more than a fine prefence and a polite addrefs : but after fur- ther acquaintance, they difcovered he was mailer of moll fciences, and Ihewed a fuperior genius in any thing they could difcourfe of. We employed pro- per perfons to inlinuate themfelves into his good liking, and confult him as a friend on feveral nice points ; but he had fuch a prefence of mind, yet ap- peared fo unconllrained in his difcourfe, that they owned themfelves novices in comparifon to him. — If they talked of politicks, he faid very judicioully, it was not for men of his rank to meddle with af- fairs of ftate, or examine what perfons did in the cabinet. If of religion, he feemed to underlland it very well for one of his profeffion ; that nothing came from him but what was confonant to the ca- tholic faith ; expreffing on all occafions a great de- ^xence for the authority oiF the church. But ftill

the

5cH INTRODUCTION.

the more fagacious were perfuaded fomething more than ordinary lay hid under that fpecious cover.— At length talking one day with fome of our fpies about the cuftoms of foreign countries, he faid, he had met with a nation in one of the remoteft parts of the world, who, tho' they were heathens, had more knowledge of the law of nature and common morality, than the moll civilized chriftians. This was immediately carried to us, and explained as a refledlion on the chriltian religion. Another time, as he had a great knowledge in philofophy, he dropt fome words, as if he had fome Ikill in judicial af- trology *, which, you know, iir, is a capital crime with us. We were as good as refolved to feize him, when we were determined to it by the following accident. Two of the moft beatiful women in all Bologna had fallen in love with him, either on ac- count of the handfomenefs of his perfon, or by a whimlicalnefs peculiar to fome women, becaufe he was a ftranger ; or thinking he might keep their fecrets better under the cloak of being a phyiician ; or in fine, drawn in by fome love potion, or other, we can't tell ; but the matter grew to fuch a height, that on his fhewing more favour to one than the other, our women being moft violent in their jealoufy as well as love, the other to be revenged, faid he had bewitched her ; which fhe was fure of, for that, fince the very firft time Ihe faw him, fhe thought there was fomething more in him, than ever ihe faw in any man in her life. Befides, ihe faid, ihe had often found him drawing circles and figures on paper, which to her looked like conjuration. Her friends immediately informed our fathers of it ; fo we refolved to feize him, if it were but to find out his fecrets, and fee what the man was. There was another reafon induced us to it, which the world will hardly believe, tho' it is matter of fad ; that iSg we were afraid the man would b€ a^ailinated by

fome

INTRODUCTION. xiii

fon^ fecret means or other, for being fo great with our ikdies ; fo to fave his life, and not lofe the dif- coveries we expected from him, it was determined he Ihould be leized immediately. Accordingly, I was deputed with three under-officers, to do the bu- finefs, but with all the caution and fecrecy ufual iii fuch cafes. It was done about midnight, when we had watched one of the two ladies that he favoured moil, into his houfe. We went in a clofe coach, and myfelf and one of the officers flopping at the door, as foon as the fervant opened it. Hepped in, tel- ling him what we were, and charging him at his peril nt>t to make the leafl noife. The fervants being Italians, and knowing the confequence of the leaft xefiftance. Hood as mute as fifties. We immediately went into the inner parlour, and contrary to our ex- pectation, found our gentleman, the young lady with, her governante, and the elderly lady that belonged to him, fitting very decently at an elegant collation of fruits and fweet-meats, brought, as we fuppofed, by the fair lady as a prefent. At our firfl appear- ance, he feemed more furprifed than terrified. As we make no ceremonies in thofe cafes, we told him our errand, and commanded him to come along with us without the leaft refiflance, or elfe it fhould be worfe for him. Then we turned to the young lady, whofe friends and perfon we knev/, and told her, we wondered to find her in fuch company, at fuch unfeafonable hours ; but on account of her friends, would not meddle with her, but bid her for her owa fake, as fhe tendered her life and honour, never to take the leafl notice of the affair. She trembling, and ready to faint away, after fome hefitation, was able to fay, that fhe was come to confult about hex- health; that fhe brought her governante along with her to take off all fufpicion, and as fhe was miflrefs of herfelf and fortune, it was not unufual for per- fons of her rank to be out at that time, confidering B the

xiv INTRODUCTION.

the heat of the feafon. She had fcarce pronou iced thefe words, when Ihe fell dire(fll7 into a fvvoon. Her governante having things proper for fuch ac- caiions, revived and comforted her as well as fhe could. But when we were going to take the gen- tleman along with us, the elderly lady, to whom we fuppofe he had told his misfortune, inllead of fal- ling into fits, flew at us like a tigrefs, with a fury I never faw in any human creature in my life ; tear- ing at us with her nails and teeth, as if fhe had been in the moll raging madnefs. We, not accultomed to jefiftance, confidering our charadler and cloth, and ihe a woman,were almofl motionlefs; when the fer- vants at the noife came up, we commanded them in the name of the inquifition to feize her : the gen- tlemaH interpofed in our favour, faying fome words to her in an unknown language, which he afTured us was to beg her to be pacified, as fhe tender*d his life as well as her ov/n ; then the .violence of her paflion turned another way, and threw her into the ilrongefl convulfions I ever faw. By this time the other two officers were come up, w^ondering at our delay, and to find refiflance againft the officers of the inquifition. The gentleman with a becoming fub- aaiiflion, rather than fear, yielded himfelf a prifoner, and begged us to pardon the fudden tranfports of a yerfon unacquainted with our cufloms, whofe life 311 fome manner depended on his. That fhe was a Terlian lady of quality, brought into this country by great misfortunes, who had once faved his life, as lie had been afterwards inftrumental in faving hers. That fhe was difpofed to turn chriftian, with inten- tion after fome time to end her days in a convent. That for his own part, relying on his innocence, he oreadily fubmitted to our authority, and offered him- felf to be carried wherever we pleafed : he uttered all this with an air of conftancy that was furprifing. We immediately tgok him iato the coach, leaving

two

INTRODUCTION. xv

two of the officers with the elderly lad/, and com- manding them and the gentleman's fervants not to ilir out of the room till further orders. ' As foon as we arrived at the inquifltion, we lodged him in a handfome llrong room ; not fo much like a crimi- Jial, as like a perfon for wh-om we had fome refpetft. There we left him to his own thoughts, and return- ed to his houfe to feize the elderly lady and his pa- pers. Having difmiiTed the young lady and her governante before, I forgot to tell you, that Signer Gaude7itio^ by our permiffion, had fpoke to her com- ing out of her fits, in Italian, (for v/e- would not let him fpeak to her in the unknov/n language, for fear of a combination) and with much pains made her underftand, that he begged her by all that was dear, to fubmit to v^hatever v/e fhould enjoin her ; affuring her by that means all would be well for Her fafety and his own, which laft word feemed to

give fome calm to her tempeituous fpirits. You

may believe, iir, we were much furprifed at the no- velty of the thing, and the account he gave of her quality. But often meeting with falfe ftories in our employment, that did not hinder us from doing our duty : fo, I took her by the hand with a great deal of refpedl, and put her into the coach betv/een my- felf and my companion ; not without apprehenliona of fome extravagant follies, ccnfidering the violence of her temper. But fhe continued pretty fedate, only feemed to be overwhelmed with grief: we brought her to the inquifltion, and lodged her in a very handfome apartment feparate from the convent, on account of her fex ; with two waiting women to attend her with all refped, 'till we were better ap- prized of the truth of her quality. This obliged me to take another journey to Signer Gauuentio% houfe, to fecure his papers,with whatever elfe might contribute to further our difcovery. I found al! things ia the fame order I left them } but being ex- B % tremel/

xvi INTRODUCTION.

tremely fatigued, I fat down to the elegant collation that was left, and after a fmall repaft, went to bed in his houfe, to have the morning before us for fe-

curing his effefts. 1 fealed up all the papers I

could find, to examine them at more leifure ; took an inventory of all the moveables, that they might be rellored to him in cafe he were found innocent ; and fent for a proper officer to remain in the houfe, who was to be refponlible for every thing. There were two little cabinets of curious workmanihip ; one of them, as it appeared, belonged to him, the other to the ftrange lady, bm being full of intricate drawers or tills, we took them both along with us. Thefe, and the papers, we delivered to the head in- quilitors, not being willing to proceed in either of their examinations, till we had got all the light we could, to find out the truth, for that was all our aim ; then we could tell what courfe to take with them. We placed two cunning lay brothers, in the nature of fervants for Signor Gaudentio^ who were to infinuate themfelves into his favour by their kind offices, CO mpaflionating his misfortunes, and advifing him to difcover the whole truth, in the account of his life, quality, profellion, opinions, and in fine, whatever articles he was to be interrogated on, to confefs ingenuoufly what he knew : that that was the only v;ay to find favour at the liands of the in- quifitors, that they pardoned almofi all faults on a iincere confefHon, and an afTurance of amendment. I vifited him myfelf feveral times before his exami- nation, and gave him the fame advice and afTurance, he promifed me faithfully he would, and feemed fo ileady and confirmed in his own innocence, with fuch an agreeable, yet fincere way in his difcourfe, as really furprifed me, and caufed me already to be prejudiced in his favour ; adding with a fmile, that the hiftory of his life would adminifler more caufe of wonder that indignation. Not to be too par- ticular.

INTRODUCTION. xvii

ticular, the cKief of the inquifition, with myfelf along with them, fet to the fcrutinv of his papers ; we examined them v/ith all the care imaginable, but could find nothing to ground any material ac- cufation, except Ibme imperfedl memoirs of the cuiloms of a country and people unheard of to us, and, I believe, to all the world belide ; with fome odd charad:ers or words, which had no affinity with any language or chara<fters we ever faw. We dif- covered he had a great knowledge in natural philo- iophy, with fome remarks that were very curious. There was a rough draught of a map, of a country •with towns, rivers, lakes, ^c. but no climate marked down. In ihort, all his papers contained nothing but fome fmall fketches of philofophy and phyfic, with fome pieces of poetry of an uncommon tafte. Neither could we find any footfteps of judicial a- flrology, or calculations of nativities, of v/hich we had the greatell fufpicion, only a pair globes, a i^t of mathematical inllruments, charts of navigation, forms of unknown trees and plants, and fuch like things, as all gentlemen who delight in travelling are curious to have. There were indeed fome lines, circles, fegments of circles, which we fuppofed the informing lady meant ; but looked like an attempt to find out the longitude rather than any magical fchemeSo — His books Vi^ere of the fame nature \ no- thing of herefy that we could fee, but fuch as be- longed to a man of learning. There were feveral common books of devotion, fuch as are approved of by our church, and feemed pretty well ufed ; by which v/e judged him to be really a roman catholic, and a perlbn of no bad morals. But, as nothing looks fo like an honeft man as a knave, this did not

take away all our fufpicion, -Vv^hen we c.-me to

open the cabinets, in the firfc of them, which be- longed to him, we found in one of the drav/ers about four hundred and fifty roman crowns, with other B s fniail

xviii INTRODUCTION.

fmall money, and fome foreign coin along with it, as Turkifh fequins, and fome we knew nothing of. The fum not being very extraordinary, we could conclude nothing from thence. In another drawer we found feveral precious itones, fome fet, fome un- fet, of a very great value, fo far from being coun- terfeit, that we never faw any fo brilliant. Befides, feveral pieces of native gold, of fuch finenefs as no- thing v/ith us can come up to it. In a third, we found a fmall heap of medals moll of gold, but of sn unknown ilamp and antiquity. There were outlandifh ilones of odd figures enough, which to others might look like talifmans, but we took them for fome out-o'-the v/ay curio.fities. In a private drawer in the center of the cabinet, there was fome- thing wrapt up in a piece of green lilk of w^onder- ful finenefs, all embroidered with hearts and hands joined together, wrought in gold with prodigious <irt, and intermixed with different flowers, unknown in our part of the world ; in the midft of it was an azure ftoiie, as large as the palm of one's hand, fet Tound with rubies of very great value, on which was mofl artfully painted in miniature, a woman at length, holding a little boy in her left hand, the moll beautiful creature that ever eyes beheld ; clad likewifc in green lilk, fpankled with golden funs.; their complexion was fomewhat darker than that of our Italian ladies ; but the features, efpecially the woman's, fo uncommonly beautiful, as if {he had been of another fpecies, and under w^as engraved with a diamond, in a modern hand, " Q^efio Solo.** You may be fure, iir, this raifed our ideas of the anan ; at flrll we thought he had the fecret of the philofopher's ilone : but in ail his inventory we cculd find no implements of that art. Then we thought he mull have been fome famous pirate, or one who had robbed the cabinet of fome great prince, and come to live at Bologna in that private

manner.

INTRODUCTION. xix

manner, under the difguife of a phyfician. But having been three years in the town, if it had been any European prince, the world would have had an account of it before nov/ : fo we concluded that either what he faid of that unknown country was true, or that he had robbed fome of the eallern princes, and got off clear with his prize. But the pi(5lure of the woman made us incline to think, he had married fome outlandifh queen, and on her death had retired with her efFeds. The reft of the drawers were full of natural curiofities of foreign plants, roots, bones of animals, birds, infecfls, Cs^c". from w^hence very likely he took his phylical fe- crets. The other cabinet, which belonged to the elderly lady, was very rich, but nothing nigh the iirft ; there were a great many fmall jewels, and fome very fine pearls, with bracelets, pendants, and other curious ornaments belonging to v/omen, and a little pifture of a very handlome man about thirty, nothing like our gentlemen, in a w^arlike drefs, with a Turkifh fcimitar by his fide. By his mein he feemed to be a man of note, but we could find nothing that could give us any infight what they Vv^ere : fo, that we were at a lofs with all our fagacity what to think of the matter, or to find any juft caufe to keep them in the inquifition ; foxj tho* we don't difcover our motives to other people, we never proceed againft any one but on very ftrong. fufpicions ! on which account we w^ere refolved to make his confinement as eafy as pofiible, till we could fee further into the affair. We had thoughts of examining the woman firft,to get what we could from her for his interrogatories ; but fhe not un- derftanding Italian enough, we fent to Venice with our accuftomed privacy, for fome of your people, that trade to the Levant, to be our interpreters. — In the mean time we refolved to try what we could get out of him by his own confeflion j fo we fent

for

XX INTRODUCTION.

for him before us. He came into the room with a modell unconcernednefs, that rather argued wonder than appreheniion ; we had the cabinet and jewels all before us, fheWed them to him all together, with the inventory of his goods, affuring him they Ihould be forth-coming, in cafe we were apprized of his innocence ; but withal adviiing him, as well as com- manding him to confefs the truth, and then not a hair of his head fhould be touched. But, if ever w^e caught him in a falfe ftory, all {hould be con- fifcated, and he never fee fun or moon more. He afTured us, with great refpe(5l, he would own the truth to every thing we fliould interrogate him about, in an accent that would have perfuaded any one of his iincerity, humbly denring to Lnow what accufations we had againil him. We anfwered, that was not the method of the inquiiition, but that he fhould anfwer dirc6i\y to our interrogatories. As the holy office chiefly concerns itfelf about religion, we afked him firfl:, what religion he w^as of. The reafon of this waSj becaufe, tho* he profeffed him- felf a roman catholic, we v/ere to keep up the forms. Neither did we know, but that he might be fome jew or Turkifh fpy in mafquerade ; then his name ? place of his birth ? where he was educated ? how he came by thofe jewels ? v/hat was the occalion of his fettling at Bologna ? who that elderly lady was ? in fine, every thing, in general and particular, we could think of at firft, the better to compare his anfwers afterwards. He told us, he was a roman catholic bred and born ; always profefled himfelf fuch, and in that faith would live and die, let what will happen to him. He explained himfelf on the chief heads, to fhew that he was well inftrudled in his religion : he appealed to all the, enquiries we could make, whether he had not behaved as a ro- man catholic on all occaiions, naming a capuchin in the town, who was his father confeifor*, to whom,

he

INTRODUCTION. :^x]

he faid, he gave leave to declare all Ke Irnew on that head. As to his name, he faid, his true name was Gaudentio di Lucca^ tho' born at Ragufa. That his father was a merchant trading to the Levant, which employment he defigned to follow himfelf, but in his firil voyage was taken by an Algerine pirate, who carried him a flave to Grand Cairo, and fold him to a merchant, of what country nobody knew^; which merchant took him along v/ith him, thro' the vail defarts of Africa, by a way he v/ould defcribe to us if Vv^e required it, till he came to a country, perhaps, the moll civilized and polite in the whole univerfe. In that country he lived near five and tw^enty years, till on the death of his w^fe, and his only furviving fon, whofe pi(ilures were in the ca- binet ; the melancholy difafler made him induce his father-in-lavv'^, who was the merchant that had liril bought him, to take another journey to Grand Cairo, from whence he might be able to return to his native country. This the merchant (for he palTed for fuch, tho* he was a great ruler in his ovv n country) complied with : but happening to come thither when the plague raged in the city, hisfather- in-lav/ and feveral of his attendants died of it ; leav- ing him heir to moll of his efiedls, and part of the jewels we faw before us. That being now entirely at liberty, he returned in a French Ihip trading from Marfeilles to the Levant ; the mailer's name was Francois Xwvier Gcdart, v.'ho by agreement was to land him at Venice, but touching at Candy, they accidentally faved the life of that elderly lady, and brought her off along with them, for which they were purfued by two Turkilh veifels, and carried prifoners to Conllantinople, but releafed by the or- der of the fultanefs mother. That MoTiJteur Godart was well known at Venice, particularly by Signer Corridani^ an eminent merchant there, wdio could aiTuTC us of the truth of what he faid. That, ia

fine.

xxii INTRODUCTION.

fine, having ftaid fome time at Venice to fee the curiofities and the carnival, an affair relating to the young lady we faw with him, when he was feized, and the love he had for learning, Bologna being a famous univerfity, induced him to fettle there, v. here he prefumed we had been very well informed of his behaviour ever iince. This, faid he, is the molt fuccin(ft account I can give to your reverences on the interrogatories you have propofed to me ; tho' my life has been chequered with fuch a variety of incidents, as would take a great deal of time to de* fcend to particulars. We looked at one another v/ith fome furprife at this ftrange account, which he delivered with fuch an air of ileadinefs, as fcarce left any room to doubt of the truth of it. How- ever, our fuperior turned to him, and faid. " Signor Gaudentioy we neither believe or difbelieve what you tell us : as we condemn no man without a fulL convi<5lion of his crime, fo we are not to be impof- ed upon, by the accounts people may give of them- felves ', what is here before us, fhev/s there is fome- thing extraordinary in the cafe. If we find you to be an impofter, you fhall fuifer as fuch •, in the mean time, till we can be better informed, we en- join you to give in your whole life, with all occur- rances, except your private lins, if you have any, in w^riting ; which you fhall read to us, and be crofs- examined as we think proper. It will concern you therefore to be very exa(5l, for nothing will pafs here but innocence, or a lincere repentance."

This, fir, is the manufcript I fend you, given in by himfelf as ordered ; w^ith the inquifitor''s inter- rogatories as we examined it, article by article : •which interrogatories, I have inferted as they were propofed-, with a further account at the end, for the better clearing of the whole. We beg you to inform yourfelf of the fa(5ls, which his memoirs fay happened to him ac Venice, particularly about

Monjisur

INTRODUCTION. xxiii

MoTifieur Godart. Beiides, fir, you that can trace all the branches of antient hillory to the fountain head, are able to form a better judgment of the probability of his relation. He is flill in the in- quifition, and offers himfelf to conducft fome of our miflionaries to preach the gofpel to thofe unknown

people The length of this only gives me leave

to afTure you, that

I am, with the greateil elleem imaginable, Sir, ^c.

%/. x>a^luio dc Ji. Ovozio.

Bologna, July ;20th,--l72l^

T H £

THE

MEMOIRS

O F

Signer Gaudentio di Lucca.

1 SHOULD be infenlible, reverend fathers, if I were not higKly concerned to find myfelf under any accufatlon before this holy tribunal, which I revere with all the powers of my foul : but, parti- cularly, if your reverences ihould harbour any iinif- ter opinion of my religion ; for I was born and bred up in the bofom of the mofl holy catholic church, as well as my parents before me*, and in the d^ifence oi which, my anceftors fpent part of their blood againil the infidels and enemies of our faith ; and for which faith I am ready to lay down my life. — • C But

5 The !MEM6IRS of

B*iit*I am'as yet a ftranger to your reverences, iand on feveral accounts may be liable to fufpicion ; wherefore, I blame not the jullice of your proceed- ing, but rather extol your goodnefs in allowing me the liberty to clear myfelf, by a true and iincere de- claration of my whole life, v/herein I own, have happened feveral altoniihing, and almoft incredible, occurrences ; all which I fhall lay before your re- verences, according to the commands impofed on jne, with the utmoll candour and fmcerity.

My name is Gaudentio di Lucca ; I was fo called becaufe my anceftois were laid to be originally of that place. Tho' they had been fettled for fome time at Ragufa, where I was born ; both which places are not fo far off but they may be very well known to your reverences. My father's name was Gafparino di Lucca^ heretofore a merchant of fome xiote, in thofe parts ; my mother w^as a Corlican lady, reported to be defcended from thofe who had been the chief perfonages in that iHand j my grandfather was likewife a merchant •, but my great grandfather, Bernardino di Lucca^ was a foldier, and captain of the great F^e?ierio's own galley, (i) who was gene- ral for the Venetians, in the famous battle of Le- panto againil the Turks. We had a tradition in our family, that he was J^enerto\ fon by a Grecian lady of great quality ; fome fay, defcended from the the Pahohgi^^N\io had been emperors of Confianti- ^ople. But fhe dying in childbed, and they having "been only privately married, Venerio bred him up as ihe fon of a friend of his who was killed in the wars. That famous battle in which the chriflians and Venerio got fo great renown againfl: the Turks, in- Head of railing my great grandfather's fortune, "was the occalion of his retiring from the v/ars, and turn- ing merchant. The reafon was this; Vvnerio^ the Ycnetiah admiral, had cutifed a Spaaaiih captain to

SiGNOR GaUDENTIO Bl LuCCA. %

he Kung up at the yard-arm for mutiny ; (2) which fevere decipline fo difpleafed Don j/^ohn of Aullria, generaliifimo of the whole fleet, that after the bat- tle, the Venetians, to appeafe Do7t John^ and not to be deprived of the fuccours of the Spaniards againil the Turks, v/ere forced to facrifice F'enerws honor to the refentment of the Spaniards, and put him out of commiilion. (3) After this difgrace, Venerio retired -, and ray great grandfather, whofe fortune depended on his, having been bred up to the fea, turned merchant, or rather privateer againft the Moors ; and with the knights of Malta, not only did great fervice againft them, but made a coiilide- rable fortune in the world.

Remarks of Signor Rhedi.

( 1 ) This part of the account is certainly true ; there was fuck a captain In the lift of the officers in that famous battle.

(2) 'Tis likewife true, that there was fuch a quarrel between Don 'Johi of Auftria, the generalifiimo, and Venerio^ admiral of the Venetian gallies •, which had like to have put the whole chriftian fleet at variance together, before the battle, and ruined the hopes of all clirlfliendom. The occafion was, as he relates it, — Don John^ as generaliiUmo, viewing the whole fleet before the fight, and finding the Venetian gallies too thinly manned, ordered four thoufand Spaniards to be put on board the laid gal- lies. But one Mutio Tortona^ a Spanifli captain, proving muti- nous, after a great many injurious words, cam.e to blows with the t:aptain of the Venetian galley, where he was ; upon which the whole fleet fell to it. Venerio hearing the uproar, fent his own captain to fee what v/as the matter \ but the proud Spaniards treated him no better than they did the reft \ fo that Venerio hlm- felf was forced to come to appeafe them \ but feeing theSpanifrt captain perfift in his mutinous temper, and the aflront he had put upon his captain, who was reported to be his fon, ordered ^ortona and his antient to be hung at the yard-arm. At this all the Spaniards in the fleet were up in arms, and threatned to cut the Venetians to pieces ; but by the interpoiition of the other ge- nerals, the matter was made up till after the fight. When Ve^ nerioy who had behaved with incomparable valour, and accord- ing to i?f« John\ owa confefllon, was the chief occafion of the

C % viaory.

4 The memoirs o?

viciory, to appeafe the haughty Spaniard, had his commlflioa taken from him, and was recalled by the fenate.

(3) it was Fufcarini who was made general of the Venttians in yencno"^ (lead.

Every one who is the leaft acquainted with hiftory knows, that the battle of Lepanto was the greatefl: fea-frght that ever was fought between the chriftians and Turks ; and the v'lQioxj on the chriftians fide the moll fignal. The Spanifh gallies were commanded by Don John of Auftria, generaliffimo; the pope's gallies, by the famous Colonna ; the Genoefe by old Dorio^ who had gained fo much renown againft the Turks and French, un- der Charles V ; and the Venetians, by the great Venerio^ one of the braveil foldicrs of his time. — Haly the turk, great bafla of the fea, was flain, and almcil all the Turkidi commanding of- ficers killed or taken. Among the prifoners were Haljh two fon?, nephews to the grand lignor. Of the common foldiers of the tuiks, v/ere llain two and thirty thoufand •, a hundred and forty one of the enemies gallies were taken \ forty funk or burnt, of galliots and other fmall veffels were taken about fixty. Plde the Turkifh hiftory and other accounts of this famous bat- tle, and the whole affair as is related.— The battle was fought ou tut 7th Oclcbcr, 1571.

Continuation of the Memoirs.

U T to return to myfelf : — My father having a plentiful fortune, took particular care of the edu- cation of his children. He had only two fons, of whom I was the youngefl, and a daughter who died young. Finding I had a great inclination to learn- ing, he promoted it by providing me with the beft mailers, till I was fit to go to the univeriity. The knowledge of languages being of great ufe as w^ell as ornament to young gentlemen, he himfelf, by way of recreation, taught me that mixed language called Lingua Franca, fo necelTary in eaflern coun- tries ; it is made up of Italian, Turkifh, Perfian, and Arabian, or rather a jargon of all languages

mixed

SiGNOR GaUBENTIO BI LvCCA. 5

mixed together. He fcatce ever fpolse to us but in that language, faying, we might learn latin from mafters, and our mother- tongue from our play fel- lows. The fame reafon induced him to fend me to the famous univeriity of Paris to learn French, at the fame time with my other lludies. I lived in the college des Quatre Nations, and maintained my thefes of univerfal philofophy under the celebrated JMofifteur du Hamil, one of the firft in the univerfity, who decryed AriJiotW% philofoj hy, and leaned to- wards the opinions of Defcartes.

Skcretary. — Here the inquifitors muttered a little, fearing he was inclined to the Copernican fyf- tem, which hath been condemned at Rome. But, fince it regarded philofophical matters only, they palTed it over.

I was entering into my nineteenth year, and had fome thoughts of taking to the church ; when my brother w^rote m.e the melancholy account of my fa- ther and mother's death, and the unfortunate occa- lion of it ; which in ill or t was, that having lolt his richell ihip with all his efFeds, by pirates, and his chief fa<5lor at Smyrna being gone off, his other cor- refpondents came upon him thick ; he was not in a condition to anfwer their calls, which threw him and my mother into fo deep a melancholy, that it broke their hearts, dying in three weeks one after the other. My brother told me he was not able^ to maintain me at the univerfity, as I had been ; but acquainted me he had made a fhift to rig out a fmall veffel, wherein he had put his all ; and invited me to join the fmall portion that fell to my fhare along with him, with which, he faid, we could make -d. pretty good bottom ; and fo retrieve the ihattered fortune of our family. Not to be too prolix, — I followed his advice ; he fold his houfe and gardens to pay his father's creditors, and put what was left, together with my little Hock, into that unfortunate C 3 bottoriSi

6 Th2 memoirs of

bottom. We fet fail from Ragufa, the 3d of March-, Anno Dom. 1688, very unaufpiciouily for my dear brother, as will appear by the fequel. We called in at Smyrna, to fee if we could hear any thing of my father's facftor. We were told he was turned turk, and was gone off to fettle at Conftantinople, very magnificently dreffed up in borrowed feathers. However we picked up fomething of fome honeft chriltian merchants, with whom he had lodged fome of his effe(fls. This encouraged us to go on for Cyprus and Alexandria ; but, as we were purfuing our voyage, one morning in a prodigious fog, as if the fea was fatal to our family, we faw on a fud- den tw^o Algerine rovers coming clofe up to us, one on each fide. We had fcarce time to fee where we were, when they fired upon us, and commanded us to yield, or we v/ere dead men. My brother and I confidering that our all was at flake, and that we had better die honourably than be made Haves by thofe unbelieving mifcreants^ called up our men, who were but twenty-three in all, of whom .five were young gentlemen, who had engaged to try their fortune along with us. They were armed only with Iwords and piflols under their girdles ; after a fhort confultation, we refolved to fight it out to the laft man : we turned back to back to make head againfl both fides. My brother in the middle of one rank, and myfelf in the other ; the enemy mounted our deck by crowds, looking on us as madmen, to pre- tend to make any refiftance ; but they were loon made to leap back, at leafl all that were able -, for being clofe up with them, and the enemy crowded together, we fired our piflols fo luckily, that fcarce one miffed doing execution. Seeing them in this confulion, we made a pufh at them on one fide, flill keeping^ our ranks, and drove the remainder head- long off the deck ; this v/e did twice before any of cur men dropped. We were grappled fg clofe, they

had

SiGxoR Gaudentio di Lucca. *)

had no ufe of their cannon or muflcets, and fcarce thought of firing tHeir piflols at us, but expefted we fhould yield immediatelj, or to have borne us down with their w^eight. I am more particular in defcribing this petty fight, fince there are but few examples where a handful of m.en made fuch along refiftance. The arch-pirate, who was a llout well- built young man, raged like a lion, calling his men a thoufand cowards, fo loud, that his voice was heard above all the cries of the foldiers. The edge of their fury v/as a little abated at the dropping of fo many men. They began to fire at fome diftance, which did us more harm than their mofl furious attack. My brother feeing his men begin to drop in their turn, ordered me to face the one fhip, while he v/ith his rank leaped in amongfl the enemy in the other. He did it with fach a generous intre- pidity, that he made a gap among the thickefl of them immediately. But their numbers clofing to- gether, their very weight drove him back in fpight of all he could do, that he lofl feveral of his men before he could recover his poft. The enemy would neither board us, nor leave us ; but firing at us con- tinually. Hill killed fome of our men. There v/ere ROW only eleven of us left ; and no hopes of vi(5lory or quarter after fuch obltinate refinance. They duril not come to a clofe eng-igement with us for all this ; when my brother, to die as honourably as he could, once more leaped into the pirate's fhip, and feeing their captain in the midil of them, made at him with all his might, calling on the few he had left to fecond him., he foon cut his way through ; but juft as he was coming up to him, a cowardly turk clapt a piflol juft below his two fhoulder blades, and I believe fhot him quite through ths heart, for he dropped down dead on the fpot. Tha turk that fhot him was run through the body by one of cur men, and he himfelF, with the others ^hat

v/ere

8 The MEMOIRS of

were left, being quite over-pov/ered, were all cut In pieces. I had yet left four men on my lide againft the lefTer fhip, and had untill then kept off the ene- my from boarding ; but the pirates giving a great ihout at my brother's fall, the captain of the fhip I was engaged with, who w^as the arch-pirate*s bro- ther, cried put to his crew, that it was a fhame to fland ail day firing at five men ; fo he leaped on my deck, and made at me like a man of honour, with his piftol fleadily poifed in his hand : I met him with equal refolution ; he came boldly up within fwords length, and fired his piftol diredlly at my face ; he aimed his fhot fo right, that one of the balls went thro' my hair, and the other fcarred the iide of my neck : but before he could fecond his fhot I gave him fuch a flroke with my broad fword be- tween the temple and the left ear, that it cut thro' part of his fkull, his cheek-bone, and going acrofs his mouth, almofl fevered the lower part of his face from the upper. I had juft the fatisfadlion to fee him fall, when a mufket ball went thro' the brawny part of my right arm, and, at the fame time, a turk hit me juft in the nape of the neck, with the butt- end of his mufket, and I fell down flat on my face, on the body of my llain enemy. My companions^ all but one, who died of his wounds foon after, fell honourably by my fide. The turks poured in from both fhips like wolves upon their prey. After their barbarous -fhouts and yelling for the vijflory, they fell to ftripping the dead bodies, and threw them

into the fea w^ithout any further ceremony

All our crew belide myfelf were flain or gafping with three fcore and fifteen of the enemy. The xeafon why we fought fo defperately, was, that we knew very well, having killed fo many at the firft attacks, we were to expedl no quarter, fo we were refolved to fell our lives as dear as we could. When they came to llrip me like the reft, I wa« juft come

to

SiGNCP. Gaudentio bi Lucca. 9

to myfelf, being only ftunned at the ilrolce cf the mufket ; they found by my cloths, that I was one of the moll confiderable perfons of the crew : I was got upon my knees endeavouring to rile, and reach- ing for my fword to defend myfelf to the lail gafp, I found I could not hold it in my hand, by reafori of the wound in my arm, tho* if L could it had been needlefs •, for three of them fell down upon me, and prelling me to the deck, while others brought cords and tied my hands, to carry me to the captain. He was dreiling a flight wound he had in his leg v/ith a piflol fhot ', and four 'women in Perfian habits ftanding by ; three of them feeming to be attendants to the fourth, Avho was a perfon of the largefl fize, about five or fix and twe^% but a molt exquilite beauty, except an Amazofflan kind of fiercenefs in her looks- When I v/as brought thus bound to the captain, they afTured him I was the man that had Hain his brother, and done the moft harm of any of the reft. He ftarting up in the greateil fury a bar- barian was capable of, and calling for a new fci- mitar he had in his cabin, f^iid, " let me, if I can, cleave the head of this chriftian dog, as he did my poor brother's ; then all of you cut him in a thou- sand pieces."" With that he drew the fcimitar, and was juft going to ftrike, when, to the aftoniihment of the very barbarians, the flrange lady cried out, " O fave that brave young man 1'' and immediately falls down on her knees by me, catching me in her arms, and clafping me clofe to her bofom, and co- vering my body with her own, cried out, " ftrike, cruel man, but ftrike thro' me, for otherv/ile a hair of his head fliall not be hurt."" The barbarians that flood round us Vvere ftruck dumb v/ith amazement. The pirate lifted up his eyes towards heaver, and with a groan enough to break his heart, faid, " how, cruel woman ! fhall this ftranger in a moment ob- tain more tkau I can with ail my ftghs and tears 1

Is

20 The memoirs of

Is this yoxir paramour that robs me of what I have Ibught for with the danger of my life ? — No, this chriftian dog fhall be no longer my curfed rival •,■" and lifting up his hand, was going to Ilrike again, when /he covering me more clofely with her deli- cate body, cried out again, ** hold, Hamet 1 this is no rival, I never faw his face before, norj^ever will again, if you will but fpare his life ; grant me this, and you fhall obtain more from me, than all your fervices could ever do."** Here he began to paufe a little. For my part I was as much in amaze as he w^as. After a little paufe, he faid, " cruel woman ! what is the meaning of this Y* " There is fome- thing" fays fhe, " in this young man, (for I was but turned of nineteen) that he mull not die : but, if you will engage, and fwear by the moll Holy Alcoran, you will do him no harm., I not only promife to be ■your wife, but, to take oil all umbrage of jealouiy ; I give you leave to fell him to fome honourable perfon for a ilave, and will never fee him more."' J>Jor would Ihe loofe me ^till he had fworn in that folemn manner, never to do me any hurt, diredtly or indire(flly •, and for greater fecurity, ordered one of her own fervants to attend me conllantly. So I was unbound, and fhe, without fo much as looking at me, or fhaying to receive my thanks, retired wath her women into the cabin. The pirate, who had fomething very noble in his looks for a turk, con- firmed again to me in the hearing of her officer, that I fhould receive no harm ; then ordered me to be carried under deck to the other end of the fhip, com- manding his men to fleer back for Alexandria, in order, as I fuppofed, to difpofe of me the firfl op- portunity, that he might be rid, as he thought, of JO formidable a rival.

Secretary. — Here the fuperior of the inquifi- tion received a meffage for fome other bufinels ; fo we told him we would confider further of the ac- count

SiGNOK GAtJBlNTiO Bl LuCCA. II

count he gave us ; which, faid we, might be true, tho* the adventure was extraordinary; but we would liear the remaining account of his life another time. He allured us with the moft natural air, that the whole, let it feem never fo extraordinary, was real fafl. Whether it were true or falfe, did not much concern the holy office, only fo far as we might catch him tripping in his ilory. However, fome of the inquifitors afked him the following queitions :

First Inquisitor. — " Why did you not yield at firll, conlidering the prodigious inequality of your strength and numbers, w^hen you might have been ranfomed afterwards ; and not expofe yourfelves like madmen, to be cut in pieces, as you really all were, except yourfelf ?"

Gaudentio. — I told your Teverences we had put our all in that bottom ; which once loll, we had liothing to ranfom ourfelves withal ; but in all like- lihood mull have remained in llavery all our lives^ We were, moft of us, rafh young men, of more cou- Tage than prudence ; we did not doubt but we could ieep them off from boarding us, as we did •, and thought, by that warm reception, they would have given us over ; belides, fighting againlt turks and infidels, tho' it were for our lives and fortunes, at the fame time, we judged it meritorious, and might be looked upon as laying down our lives for our holy religion.

Second Inquisitor. — " You faid, that the flrange lady cried out, there is fomething in that young man that tells me he muft not die : I hope you don't pretend to the fcience of phyliognomy, which is one of the branches of divination : or that an in- fidel or heathen woman could have the fpirit of prophecy ?''

Gaudentio. — I can't tell what w^as her motive ifor faying fo : I only relate matter of facfl. As for phyfiognonij, I don't think there can be any thing

certain

in The memoirs oi

certain in it : not but that a perfon of penetration, "who has confider'd the humours and paflions of men, and the little care the generality of the world take to Tefift them ; I fay, fuch a perfon who has ftudied men, may give a great guefs, a pofteriori^ how they are inclined, tho' reafon and virtue may overcome the moll violent. But I entirely fubrait my opinion to your better judgments.

Secretary. — I can't fay v»re were diifatisfied with thefe anfwers : we faw he was a perfon of a very noble prefence ; and muft have been extremely handfome in his youth : no wonder a barbarian wo- man fliould fall in love with him, and make ufe of that turn to fave his life. However, for the pre- fent, we remanded him back to his apartment.— Some days after he was called again to profecute his llory.

While I was under deck, in confinement with the pirates, feveral of them were tolerably civil to me ; knowing the afcendant the lady had over their cap- tain, and being witnefles how fhe had faved my life. But yet file would not confent to marry him till fhe was aiTured I was fafe cut of his hands. The aich- pirate never came to fee me himfelf, not being wil- ling to trull his paffion;- or elfe to watch ail favour- able opportunities of waiting on his millrefs. One day being indifpofed for want of air, I begged to be carried upon deck to breath a little ; when I came up I faw the lady, with her woman, flanding at the ether end of the Ihip on the fame account. I made her a very refpe(5lful bow at a diilance ; but as foon as ever Ihe call her eye on me, fhe went down into the cabin, I fuppofe to keep her promife with the captain, and not to adminifter any caufe of jealoufy. I delired to be carried down again, not to hinder my benefadlrefs from taking her diverlion. I can't fay I found in myfeif the ieail inclination ©r emotion of love, only a fenfe of gratitude for fo

great

SiGNOi^ Gaubsntio di Lucca. 13

great a benefit ; not without fome admiration of the oddnefs of the adventure. When I was below, I afked the moft feniible and civilized of the pirates, who their captain was, and who was my fair deli- verer ; how long, and by Vv'^hat means, fhe came to be among them ? becaufe, fhe feemed to be a perfon of much higher rank. He told me, his captain's name was Hamet^ fon to the dev of Algiers ; who had forfaken his father's houfe on account of his young mother-in-law's falling in love with him ; for which reafon his father had contrived to have ' him affaffinated, believing him to be in the fault. But his younger brother, by the fame mother, dif- covered the deiign. So gathering together a band of ilout young men like themfelves, they feized two of their father's beft fhips, and refolved to follow the profelilon they were now of, till they heard of their father's death. That as for the lady who had faved my life, fhe was the late wife of a petty prince of the Curdi, (i) tributary to the king of Perfia, whofe hufband had been lately killed by treachery, or in an ambufcade of the wild Arabs. That, as far as he had been informed, the prince, her hufband, had been fent by the king his mailer to Alexandria ; (2) who apprehending an infurredlion among his fubje^ts, (3) 4iad ordered him to treat for fome troops of Arabian horfe. (4) That he went there with a very handfomc equipage, and took his beau- tiful wife along with him. Our captain, continued he, happened to be there at the fame time, to fell his prizes, and had not only fold feveral things of great value to the Curdifh lord and lady, but had con- tradled a particular friendfhip with him ; tho' as v/e found fince, it was more on account of hi^ fair wife than any thing elfe. Nothing in the world could be more obfequious than our captain. He attended them, and offered his fervice on ail occa- iions. You fee he is a very handfcme man, and dar- D ins

14 Thz memoirs of

ing by Kis profeflion. We could not imagine for a long while, why he made fuch a I^ay at that town contrary to his cuRom ; living at a very high rate, as men of our calling generally do. At length the Curdifh lord having performed his commiflion, w^as upon the return, when we perceived our captain to grow extremely peniive ana melancholy, but could not tell what was the caufe of it. He called his brother, whcrloft his life by your hand, and me to him, and told us in private, he had obferved fome of the Arabian ilrangers muttering together, as if they were hatching fome plot or other ; w^hether againfl himfelf, or the curd, he could not tell ; but bid us be fure to attend him well armed wherever lie went. The event proved he had reafon for his fufpicions ; for one evening, as the curd and his wife v/ere taking the air, with our captain, who w^as alw ay« of the party, pafling thro' a little grove about a league out of town, fix Arabian horfemen, ex- ceedingly well mounted, came full gallop up to us, and w ithout faying a word, two of them fired their piflols diredlly at the Curdifh lord, w^ho was the forenioft, but by good fortune miffed us all. The 6urd, as all that nation are naturally brave, (5) drew his fcimitar, and rufhing in among them, cut off the foremoft man's head, as clean as if it had teen a poppy ; but advancing too far, unarmed as he w^as, one of them turned fhort, end fhot him in , the flank, that he dropped down dead immediately. Our captain feeing him fall, rufhed in like lighting, his brother and myfelf falling on them at the fame time : but the afTaillns, as if they w^anted nothing but the death of the curd, or faw by our countenance their flaying w^ould cofl them dear, immediately turned their horfes, and fled fo fwiftly en their jen- nets, that they were out of fight in an inflant. We condudled the poor difconfolate lady and her dead hufband back to the town, w here thofe people made

no

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lucca. ig

no more of it, being accuftomed to fucli things, than: if it had been a common accident. When her grief was a little abated, our captain told the ladv, that ic was not fafe for her to return home the fame wa/ fhe came ; that in all probability, thofe who hilled her hufband were in confederacy with the diffaffecfl- ed party, and would v/ay-lay her, either for his pa- pers or her goods. That he had two Ihips well- manned at her fervice, and v/ould conducft: her fafe by fea to fome part of the Perfiah empire, from whence fhe might get into her own country. She confented at laft, having feen how gallantly my maf- ter had behaved in her defence. So fhe came a board with her attendants and her effedls, in order to be tranfported into her ov/n country. Our captain, you may be fure, was in no hafte tacarry her home, being fallen moll defperately in love v/ith her : fa that inllead of carrying her to any of the Perfian dominions, he dire(fl:ed his courfe for Algiers, hear- ing his father was dead ; but meeting with you, it has made him alter his meafures for the prefent.— — He has tried all ways to gain her love, but flie would not give him the leafl encouragement, till this late accident, by which fhe faved your life.

When he had ended his relation, I reile(5f ed on it a good while, and confidering the nature of thofe pirates, I thought I fav/ a piece of treachery in the afFair, much more black than what he defcribed •, and could not forbear compalllpnating the poor lady,, both for her difaller, and the company fhe was fallen into. However, I kept my thoughts to my~ felf. Not long after, we arrived at Alexandria, (6) where the pirate fold all our efFesffs, that is, the merchandize he had taken aboard our fhip, except fome particular things that belonged to my brother and myfelf, as books, papers, maps and fea charts, piftures, and the like. He determined to carry me Uz to

i6 The MEMOIRS of

to Grand Cairo, the firft opportunity, to fell me, o? even give me awav, to a ftrange merchant he had an acquaintance with, where I fhould never be heard of more.

Remarks of Signer Rhedi*

This is an odd adventure enough; but the clrcumftances are liretty well connefted together. There hr.ppcn very ftrange accidents among thofe lawlefsEaftern people and the wild Arab^, v/ho obferve no rules but v/hat the lions and tigers, could they ipeak, would make for their own prefervation. — I fear there are iome who profcfs themfelves chriftians would do the fame.

(i ) The Curdi, or people of Curdiftan, are a warlike nation, f.aying a fmall tribute to the Perfian<?, and fometimes to the Turks ; their very v^^omen are martial, and handle the fword and pike. The country runs from the Aliduli, a mountainous people, made tributary to the Turks by Selim \. father oi Solimaft tiie magnificent, and reacheth as far as Armenia.

(2) Alexandria is a fea port at the further end of the Mediter- ranean, belonging to the Turks, but much frequented by Ara- bian merchants both by land and fea. One point of Curditlan is not far from this port.

(3) This infurre6lion he fpeaks of, might be the feeds, or the iirll plotting, of the grand rebellion of Merowits, which began about the date of this account, and caufed fuch a terrible revo- lution in the Perfian empire, which no one, who underltands any thing, can be ignorant of.

(4) The Arabian horfes are the beft: in the world, tho* not very large. The horfemen are very dexterous according to the Eailern way of fighting ; on which account, one can't wonder if the king of PerHa and his rebellious fubje6ls made it their in^ tereft to procure as many auxiliaries as they could. It is very likely, the little parties would always be on watch, to furprife one another w^hen they could find an opportunity. And t-his petty Curdian prince being zealous for the fervice of his king^ raiight be taken ofi:' by the rebels that way.

(5) Alexandria is a great fea port of Egypt under the Turk?.

(6) Grand Cairo is the place of reiidence of the great baila of Egyptj higher up the country on the river Nile.

Continuation

SiGNOR GaUDENTIO JDI LxJCCA. 1^

Continuation of the Memoirs.

N,

' O T H I N G remarkable happened during our flay at Alexandria. Thej told me the captain had been in an extraordinary good humour ever iince, the lady's promife to marry him. But fhe, to be lure he fhould not deceive her in doing me any in- jury when I was out of the fhip, ordered her officer to attend me wherever I was carried, till I was put in fafe hands, and entirely out of the pirate's power. When we were arrived at Grand Cairo, I was carried to the place where the merchants meet to exchange their commodities : there were perfons of almofl all the Eallern and Indian nations. The lady's officer,, according to his miftrefs's order, never flirred aii inch from me, to witnefs the performance of arti- cles. At length, the pirate and a ilrange merchant fpied one another, almofl at the inllant, and advanc- ing the fame way, faluted each other in the Turkifh. language, which I underfiood tolerably well. After fome mutual coinpliments, the pirate told him he had met with fuch a perfon as he had promifed to procure for him two years before, meanin<y myfelf, only I was not an eunuch, but that it was in his power to make me fo if he pleafed. Your reve- rences cannot doubt but I was a little flartled at fuch a fpeech ; and v/as going to reply, that I would lofe my life a thoufand times before I would fuffer fuch an injwry. But the lady's officer turned to the pirate, and faid, he had engao;ed to his lady I fhould receive no harm ; and that he muil never expert to obtain her for his wife, if flie had the leafi fufpicion of fuch a thing. But the merchant Ibon put us out 1)3 ^

i3 The MEMOIRS of

of doubt, by afTuring us, that it was againft their laws to do fuch an injury to any one of their own •fpecies ; but if it were done before, they could not help it : then turning to me, he faid, in very good Lingua Franca, " young man, if I buy you, I fhail -toon convince you, you need not apprehend any fuch iifage from me." He eyed me from top to toe, with the moft penetrating look I ever faw in my life ; yet feemed pleafed at the fame time. He was very lichiy clad, attended with three young men in the fame kind of drefs, tho* not rich, who feemed rather fons than fervants. His age did not appear to me to be above forty, yet had the moll ferene and molt venerable look imaginable ; his complexion was ra- ther browner than that of theEgyptians,but it feem- ed to be more the efFe«fl of travelling than natural. Ill fhort, he had an air fo uncommon that I was amazed, and began to have as great an opinion of him as he feemed to have of me. He afked the pi- rate what he mull give for me ? He told him, I had cofl him very dear *, and with that recounted to him all the circumflances of the fight, wherein I was taken ; and to give him his due, reprefented it no %vays to my difadvantage. However, thofe v/ere not the qualiiicaticns the merchant defired : what he wanted v/as a perfon who was a fcholar, and could give him an account of the arts and fciences, laws, cuftoms, &c. of the chrillians. This the pirate alTured him I could do ; that I was an European chriilian, and a fcholar, as he guefled by my books and writings ; that I underflood navigation, geo- graphy, ailronomy, and feveral other fciences. I was out of countenance to hear him talk fo ; for tho' I had as much knowledge of thofe fciences as could be expecfled from one of my years, yet my age would not permit me to be mafler of them, but only to have the firft principles, by which I might im- prove myfelf afterwards.

Secretary — -

CIGNOR GauDENTIO DI LuCCA. I9

Secretary. — The inquifitors demurred a little at this, fearing he might be addided to judicial af- trology; but conitdering he had philofophy, and was deligned for the fea, he was obliged to have fome knowledge in thofe fciences.

The pirate told him, I had fome fkill in mufic and painting, having feen fome inllruments and books of thofe arts among my eifedls, and afked me if it were not fo ? I told him, young gentlemen of libe- ral education in our country, wholly learnt thofe arts, and that I had a. competent knowledge that way. This made the merchant refolve to buy me. When they came to the price, the pirate demanded forty ounces of native gold, and three of thofe filk carpets he fav/ there v/ith him, to make a prefent to the grand iignor. The merchant agreed with him at the iirll word ; only demanded all the books, globes, mathematical inllruments, and, in fine, what- ever remained of my eifedls into the bargain. The pirate agreed to this, as eafJy as the other did to the price; fo, upon performance of articles on both lides, I was delivered up to him.

As foon as I v/as put into his power, he embraced me with a great deal of tendernefs, faying, I fhould not repent my change of life : his attendants came up to me and embraced me in the fame manner, cal- ling me brother, and exprelTed a great deal of joy for having me of their company. The merchant bid them take me down to the canvanfera, or inn, that I might refrefli myfelf, and change my habit to the fame as they wore. I was very much furprifed at fuch unexpected civilities from llrangers. But, before I went, I turned to the pirate, and laid to him W'ith an air that made the merchant put on 1 very thoughtful look, that I thanked him for keeping his •promife in faving my life ; but added, that tho' the fortune of war had put it in his power to fell me like a beall in the market, it might be in mine fome

time

20 The memoirs of

time or other to render the like kindnefs. Then I turned to the lady's ofticer, who had been my guar- dian fo faithfully, and embracing him with all ima- ginable tendernefs, I begged him to pay my beft re- fpe(51s to my fair deliverer •, aiTuring her, that I fhould efteem it the greateft happinefs to be able one day to make a return for fo unparalled a favour, tho' it were at the expenfe of that life fhe had fo generoully faved : fo we parted ; the pirate grum- bling a little within himfeif, and I in amazing fuf- penfe to know what was likely to become of me.

As they were conducting me to the canvanfera, where they lodged, I was full of this forrowful re- tiedtion, that I w^as a Have flill, tho' I had changed my mailer •, but my companions, who v/ere feme of the handfomell young men I ever faw in my life, comforted me with the molt endearing words, telling me, that I need fear nothing-, that I ihould elleem myfelf one of the happieft men in the v/orld when they were arrived fafe in their ov/n country, which they hoped would not be long ; that 1 fhould be as free as they were, and follow what employment of life my inclinations led me to, without any reitraint whatfoever : in fine, their difcourfe filled m.e with frefli amazement, and gave me at th€ fame timie a fort of juvenile defire to fee the event. I faw they did not keep any llri^ guard on me, that I verily believed I could eafiiy have given them the Hip; and might have gotten fome Armenian chriilian to con- ceal me, till I could find an opportunity of returning into my own. country : but having loft all my ef- fects, I thought I could fcarce be in a worfe condi- tion, and was refolved to run all hazards.

When I came to the houfe, I was ftruck with wonder at the magnificence of it, efpecially at the richnefs of the furniture : the houfe was one of the beft in ail Grand Cairo, tho' built low according to the cuftom of the country. It feems they always

ftaid

SiGNOR GaUDENTIO DI LvCCA. 0,1

iiaid a year before tliey returned into their own country, and fpared no coft to make their baniili- ment, as they called it, as eafy as they could. I was entertained with all the rarities of Egypt, the moll delicious fruits, and the richeft Greek and Afiatick wines that could be tailed ; by which I faw they w^ere not mahometans. Not knowing what to make of them, I aiked them who they were, of what country, what fefl and profedlon ? They fmiled at my quellions, and told me they zuere children of the Jun^ and were c'A\GdiM.ezoraiiians \ Vv^hich was as un- intelligible to me as all the reft : but, for their coun- try, they told me I fliould fee it in a few months, "and bid me aflc no further queitions. Prefently m.y mailer came in, and embracing me, once more bid me v;elcome, with fuch an engaging affability, as took away almoft all my fears : but what followed, filled me with the utmoft furprife. " Young man," faid he " by the laws of this country you are mine ; I have bought ycu at a very high price, and would give twice as much for you if it were to be done again : — but," continued he, with a more ferious air, " I know no jull laws in the univerfe that can make a free-born man become a f^ave to one of his own fpecies. If you will voluntarily go along with us, you fhall enjoy as much freedom as I do myfelf ; you fhall be exempt from all the barbarous laws of thofe inhuman countries, whofe brutal cuftoms are a Ihame to the dignity of a rational creature, and with whom we have no commerce, but to enquire after arts and fciences, which may contribute to the common benefit of our people. We ai*e biefl with the moft opulent country in the Vvorld ; we leave it to your choice to go along with us if you pleafe *, if you will not, I here give you your liberty, and reftore to you all that remains of your effecHs, with what afliflance you want to carry-you back again into your own country -.—only, this I muft

tell

22 The memoirs of

tell you, if you go v/ith us, 'tis likely you will never come back again, or, perhaps, defire it/' Here he itopped, and obferved my countenance with a great deal of attention. I was ftruck with fuch admira- tion of his generolity, together \vith the fentiments of joy for my unexpedied liberty, and gratitude to my benefactor, coming into my mind all at once„ that I had as much difficulty to believe what I heard^ as your reverences may now have at the relation of it, till the fequel informs you of the reafons for fuch unheard of proceedings. On the one hand, the na- tural delire of liberty prompted me to accept my freedom •, on the other, I coniidered my fhattered fortune ; that I was left in a ftrange country fo far from home, among turk and infidels ; the ardour of youth excited me to pufh my fortune. The ac- count of fo glorious, tho"* unknown, a country, fiir- red up my curioiity : I fav/ gold was the leaft part of the riches of thefe people, who appeared to me the moll civilized I ever faw in my life ; but above all, the fenfe of what I owed to fo noble a benefac- tor, who I faw deiired it, and had me as much in his^- power now, as he could have afterv/ards. Thefe confiderations made me as gobd as refolved to go along with him. I had c^ontinued longer thus ir- refolute, and fluctuating between fo many different, thoughts, if he had not brought me to myfelf, by- faying, " what fay you, young man, to my propofal? I ftarted out of my reveries, as if I had awaked from a real dream •, and making a mofl profound reve- rence, " my lord," faid I " or rather my father and deliverer, I am yours by all the ties of gratitude a human heart is capable of ; I refign myfelf to your condu6l, and v/ill follow you to the end of the world'* This I faid with fuch emotion of fpirit, that I be- lieve he faw into my very foul ; for embracing me once more with a moll inexpreiiible tendernefs, " I

adopt

SiGNOR Gaudxntio di Ltjcca. 23

adopt you" faid he " for xnj fon ; and thefe are your brothers/' pointing to his two young compa- nions ; " all I require of you is, that you live as fuch."

Here, reverend fathers, I muil confefs one of the greatell faults I ever did in my life ; I never con- iidered whether thefe men were chriftians or hea- thens : I engaged myfelf with a people, where I could never have the exercife of my religion, altho* I alv/ays preferved it in my heart. But what could be expe^ed from a daring young man, jull in the heat of his youth, who had loll all his fortune, and had fuch a glorious profpe<n: offered him for retriev- ing it ?

Soon after this, he gave orders to his attendants to withdraw, as if he had a mind to fay fomething to me in private ; they obeyed immediately with a iilial refped: as if they had indeed been his fons, but they were not ; I only mention it to fhew the na- ture of the people I was engaged with : then taking me by the hand he made me fit down by him, and aiked me if it were really true, as the pirate inform- ed him, that I was an European chriflian ? tho*, faid he, be what you will, I don't repent my buying of you : I told him I was, and in that belief woul-d live and die. " So you may,'' faid he, feeming pleafed ^t my anfwer : " but I have not yet met with any of that part of the world who feemed to have the difpofitions of mind I think I fee in you," looking at the lineaments of my face with a great deal of fcarneftnefs : " I have been informed," continued he " that your lav/s are not like thefe barbarous turks, whofe government is made up of t^^ranny and brutality, governing all by fear and force, and making flaves of all who fall under their power ; whereas, the European chriftians, as I am told, aie governed by a divine lav/, that teaches them to do good to all, injury to none •; particularly, not to kill

and

L

tt4 The memoirs of

and dellroy their own fpecies ; nor to Heal, cheaf, over reach, or defraud any one of their jull due ; but to do in all things jull as they wotild be done by ; looking on all men as common brothers of the fame Hock, and behaving with jullice and equity in all their a(ftions public and private, as if they were to give an account to the univerfal Lord and Father of all." I told him our law did really teach and command us to do fo, but that very few lived up to this law ; — that we were obliged to have recourfe to coercive laws and penalties, to enforce what we acknow- ledged otherwife to be a duty : that, if it v;ere not for the fear of luch punlfhment, the greateft part of them would be worfe than the very turks he m.en- tioned. — He feemed ftrangely furprifed at this.— ** What,'* fays he " can any one do in private, what his own reafon and folemn proiellion condemns V* — then addreirmg himfelf to me in a more particu- lar manner, "do you profefs this juft and holy law you mentioned? I told him I did: " then,'' fays he " do but live up to your own law and we require no more of you.'* (i) Here he m.ade a little noife with his ftaff, at which two of his attendants came in : he aflvcd them if my eifecfbs were come from the pirates ? Being anfwered they were, he ordered them to be brought in, and examined them very nicely. There were among ihem fome picSiures of my own drawing, a repeating watch, two compafs boxes, one of them very curioully wrought in ivory and gold, which had been my great grand father's, given him by P^enerio *, a fet of mathematipl inllru- ments, draughts of llatuary and architect jire, by the beft mafters, with ail which he feemed' extremely pleafed. After he had examined them with a great deal of admiration, he ordered one of his attendants to reach him a cabinet, full of gold; he opened it to me, and faid, " young man, I not only reftore you all your eif-rdb here prefent, huvir^ no right to any

thing

SiGNOR GaUDENTIO DI LlTCCA. 1$

thing that belongs to another man, but once more offer you your liberty, and as much of this gold a3 you think fufficient to carry you home, and make you live eafy all your life/' I was a little out of countenance, thinking what I faid of the ill morals of the chrillia-ns, had made him afraid to take me along with him : I told him, I valued nothing now fo much as his company, and begged him not only to let me go along with him, but that he would be pleafed to accept whatever he faw of mine there before him ; adding, that I elleerned it the greatefl happinefs to be able to make fome fmail recompenfe for the obligations I owed him. " I do accept of it" fays he, " and take you folemnly into my care : go along with thofe young men, and enjoy your liberty in effect, v/hich I have hitherto only given you in words/' Here fome of his elder companions came in, as if they were to confult about bufinefs ; the young men and myfeif went to walk the town for our diveriion.

Your reverences may be fure, I obferved all the a<5lions of thefe nev/ people, with the greatefl at- tention my age was capable of. They feemed not only to have a horror of the barbarous manners and vices of the turks, but even a contempt of all the pleafures and diverlions of the country. Their whole bulinefs was to inform them.felves of w^hat they thought might be an improvement in their own country, particularly in arts and trades, and what- ever curiofities were brought from foreign parts ; fetting down their obfervations of every thing of moment. They had mailers of the country at fet hours to teach them the Turkifh and Perfian lan- guages, in v/hich I endeavoured to perfe(fl: myfeif along with them. Tho' they feemed to be the moll moral men in the world, I could obferve no figns of religion in them, till a certain occafion that happen- ed to us in our voyage, of v/hich I fnall fpeak to E VGur

25 The memoirs of

your reverences in its proper place. This was the only point they were ihy in ; they gave me the rea- fons for it afterwards ; but their behaviour the moll candid and iincere in other matters that can be ima- gined.

We lived thus in the mofl perfe(5l union all the time we ilaid at Grand Cairo ; and I enjoyed th6 fame liberty that I could have had if I had been in Italy. All I remarked in them was an uneafinefs they expreiTed to be fo long out of their own coun- try ; but they comforted themfelves with the thought it would not be long.

I can't omit one obfervation I made of thefe young men's condujfl: while we Ilaid in Egypt ; — they v/ere all about my own age, ftrong and vigorous, and the handfomeil race of people, perhaps, the world ever produced. We were in the moil voluptuous and lewd town in the v/hole Eallern empire ; the young •women feemed ready to devour us as we went along the ilreets ; yet I never faw the leall inclination to any thing of that nature. I imputed it at firfl to the apprehenlion of my being in their company, and a Uranger ; but I foon found they adted by principle. As young men are apt to encourage, or rather to corrupt, one another, I own I could not forbear ex- prefTmg my wonder at it : they feemed furprifed at the thought; but the reafons they gave were as muck out of our common way of thinking, as their beha- viour. The told me, for the firil reafon, that all the women they faw were either married or parti- cular men's daughters, or common. For mariied women, they faid, it was fuch a heinous piece of in- jufiice to violate the marriage-bed, that every man living would look upon it as the greateft injury done lo himfelf : how could they therefore in reaibn do it to another ? If they were daughters of particular men, bred up with fo much care and folicitucje of their parents, what a terrible afilidlion muH it be to

them ;

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lucca. ^7

tliem ; or to oiirfelves, to fee our daughters or fillera violated cind corrupted, after all our care to the con- trary ; and this too, perhaps, by thofe v/e had che- rifhed in our own bofoms ? If common ftrumpets, what rational man could look on them other wife than brute beails, to abandon themfelves to every Itranger for hire ? beiides, their prollitute lewdnefs generally defeats the great defign of nature to pro- pagate the fpecies ; or by their impure embraces, fuch diforders may be contraded, as to make us hereafter at beft, but fathers of a weak and iickly offspring. And if we Ihould have children by them, what would become of our fathers grand- children ? But v/hat man who had the leail fenfe of the dignity of his own birth, would llain his race, and give birth to fuch a wretched breed, and then leave them ex- pofed to want and infamy ? — This they faid chiefly with reverence to the vaft ideas they had of their own nation, valuing themfelves above all other peo- ple. Tho* the confideration holds good with all men, I own, I was inute at thefe reafons, and could not fay but they were very juft, tho' the warmth of my youth had hindered me from reiie(fl:ing on them be- fore. Thefe refle^fbions appeared fo extraordinary in young men, and even heathens, that I fhall never forget them.

Some time after, I found by their diligence in fettling their affairs, and the chearfulnefs of their countenance, that they had thoughts of departing from Egypt ; they feemed to wait for nothing but orders from their governor. In the mean time there happened an accident to me, which is fcarce fit for your reverences to hear ; nor fhould I ever have thought to relate it to you, only you laid your com- mands on me to give an exa6l account of my whole liie : befides, that it is interwoven with fome of the chief occurrences of my life in the latter part of it.

Our governor, whom they called pophar, whic/i E ^ ia

28 The MEMOIRS of

m their language lignifies father qf his people, and by which name I Ihall always call him hereafter, looJsing at his eJ^hemeris^vAiich he did very frequent- ly, found, by computation, that he had fome time left to flay in the country, and refolved to go dow^n once more to Alexandria, to fee if he could meet with any more European curiolities, which are brought by merchants Ihips coming in perpetually at that feafon into the port. He took only two of the young men and me along with him, to fhew me, as he faid, that I was entirely at my liberty, fince I anight eaiily find fome fhip or other to carry me in- to my own country. On the other hand, to con- vince him of the iince'rity of my intentions, I gene- rally kept in his company. (2) The affair I am going to fpeak of, loon gave him full proof of the iincerity.

While Ave were walking in the the public places to view the feveral goods and curiolities, that were broujyht from diiferent parts of the World, it hap- pened that the bafia of Grand Cairo, with all his family, was come to Alexandria on the fame account as well as to buy fome young female ilaves. His wife and daughter v.^ere then both along with him : the wife was one of the grand fignor's fillers, feem- ingly about thirty, and a wonderfully fine woman. The daughter Vv^as about fixteen, of fuch exquilite beauty and lovely features, as were fufficient to charm the greatell prince in the world.*

When we perceived them, the pophar, who na- turally abhorred the turks, kept off, as if he were treating privately with fome merchants. But I, be- ing young and inconfi derate, flood gazing, tho' at a

refpe(5tful

* The balTa of Grand Cairo Is one of the greateft pods in the Turkifh empire, and the molt independent of any fnbjedt in Turl^ey. It is cuftomary,for the fultans to give their daugh- ters in marriage to fuch perfons; who are often diflikcd by the hufbands on account of their imperious behaviour.

SiGNOR Gaudintio di Lvcca. 29

refpesflful diflance, at the bajfTa's beautiful daughter, from no other motive but mere curioiity. She had her eyes fixed on m.y companions and mjfelf at the fame time, and, as I fuppofed, on the fame account. Her drefs was fo magnificent, and her perfon fo charming, that I thought her the moil beautiful. creature I had ever feen in my life. If I could have forefeen the troubles that fhort interview was going to coil both the pophar and myfelf, I fhould have chofe to have looked on the moll hideous moniter. I obferved that the young lady, with a particular fort of emotion, Vv hifpered fomething to an elderly wo- man that attended her, and fhe did the fame to a page, who immediately went to two natives of the place, whom the pophar ufed to hire to carry his things : this w^as to enquire of them v/ho we v/ere. They, as appeared by the event, told them, I was a youn^ Have lately bought by the pophar. After a while, the baifa, with his train, went away, and for my own part I thought no more of the matter.

The next day as the pophar and we were walking in one of the public gardens, a little elderly man like an eunuch, with a mofl: beautiful youth along with him, having dogged us to a private part of the walks, came up to us, and addreiiing themfelves to the pophar, allied him, what he would take for his young flave, pointing at me , becaufe the baifa de- iired to buy him. The pophar feemed to be more furprifed at this unexpecrled queltion, than I ever obferved him at any thing before, which confirmed me more and i-r^ore in the opinion of the kindnefs he had for me. But foon coming to himfelf, as he was f man of great prefence of mind, he laid, very fe- dately, that I was no Have, nor a perfon to be fold for any price, lince I was as free as he was. They taking this for a pretext to enhance the price, pro- duced fome orieniai pearls, with other jewels of im- menfe vaiue> and bid liim name what he would haive, E 3 and

30 The MEMOIRS of

and it fhould be paid immediately ; adding, I was to be the companion of the baffa's fon, where I might make my fortune for ever, if I would go along "with them. The pophar perlifted in the fame an- fwer, and faid he had no power over me : they in- iilled I had been bought as a Have, but fome time ago, in the grand fignor's dominions, and they v/ould have me. Here I interpofed, and anfwered brifkly, that tho' I had been taken prifoner by the chance of Vv/^ar, I was no ilave, nor would I part with my liberty but at the price of my life. The baffa's fon, for fo he now declared himfelf to be, inllecid of being angry at my refolute anfwer, replied with a moll agreeable fmile, that I fhould be as free as he was, making the moil folemn proteilations by his holy aicoran, that our lives and deaths fhould be infeparable. Tho' there v/as fomething in his words the moft perfuafive I e\-er felt within myfelf, yet, conlidering the obligations I had to the pophar, I v/as refolved not to go, but anfwered with a moil refpe(5lful bow, that tho"* I was free by nature, I haid indifpeniible obligations not to go with him, and hoped he would take it for a determined anfv/er. I pronounced this with fuch a refolute air, as made him fee there were no hopes. Whether his defire was more eniiamed by my denial, or v^hether they took us for perfons of greater note than we appear- ed to be, I can't tell ; but, I obferved, he put on a very languiihing air, with tears flealing down his cheeks, v.hich moved me to a degree I can't exprefs. I was fcarce capable of fpeaking, but cafl down my eyeSjSind ilood as immoveable as a iiatue. This feem- ed to revive his hopes ;, he recovered himfelf a little, and Vv'ith a trembling voice, replied, fuppofe it be the baila's daughter you faw yefterday that deiires to have you for her attendant,what do you fay ? I flart- ed at this, acd calling my eyes on him more atten- tivelyj I fav/ his fv;imming in tears,with a tendemefs

enough

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lucca. 31

enough to pierce the hardell heart. I looked at the pophar, who I faw was trembling for me, and feared it was the daughter herfelf that afked me the quef- tion. I was foon put out of doubt, for ihe finding fhe had gone too far to go back, difcovered herfeli, and faid, I mull go along with her, or one of us muft die. I hope your reverences will excufe this ac- count I give of mjfelf, v^hich nothing ihould have drawn from me, tho^ it is literally true, but your ex- prefs commands to tell the whole hiilory of my life. The perplexity I was in can't be imagined ; I con- lidered Ihe w^as a turk and I a chriflian ; that my death muft certainly be the confequence of fuch a rafli affair, were I to engage in it. That w^hether fhe concealed me in her father's court, or attempted to go off with me, it w^as ten thoufand to one we fhouid both we facrificed : neither could the vio- lence of fuch a fudden paflion ever be concealed from the baffa's fpies.

In a word, I was refolved not to go ; but how to get off was the difficulty. I faw the moft beautiful creature in the world all in tears before me, after a declaration of love, that exceeded the molt roman^ tic tales ; youth, love and beauty, and even an in- clination on my fide, pleaded her caufe. But at length the coniideration of the endlefs miferies I was likely to draw on th6 young lady, fhouid I comply with what fne defired, prevailed above all others. I was refolved to refufe, for her fake more than my own, and was juft going to tell her fo on my knees, with all the arguments my reafon could fuggeit to appeafe her, when an attendant came running in nafte to the other perfoD,who v/as alfo a woman, and told her, the baffa was coming that way. vShe w^as roufed out of her lethargy at this : the other woman, without any demur, fnatched her away, as the po- phar did me : flie juft cried out v/ith a threat, think better on it, or die •, fo w^« w^^xe immediately out of fight of oue cioother»

I was

33 The MEMOIRS of

I was no fooner out of her lights but I found a thoufand reafons for what I did, more I could think of before, w^hen that enchanting objedl was before my eyes* I faw the madnefs of that pallion which forced the moil charming perfon of the Ottoman empire, capable by her beauty to conquer the grand iignor himfelf, to make a declaration of love, fo contrary to the nature and modcfty of her fex, as well as her quality and dignity, and ready to facri- fice her reputation, the duty flie owed her parents, her liberty, perhaps her life, and all for an unknown perfon, who had been a f^ave but fome time before. I faw on the other hand, that had I complied with the fair charmer's propofal, I muil have run the rifk of loiing my religion or life, or rather both ; with a dreadful chain of hidden misi'ortunes, v hich were likely to accompany fuch a rafii adventure — While I was taken up v/ith thefe refledlions, the wife pophar, after having thought a little upon v. hat had happened, told me, this unfortunate affair would not end fo, but that it might coft both of us our lives, and fomething elfe that was more dear to hiin. He feared fo violent a paiRon would draw on other extremes ; efpecially coniidering the wickednefs of the people, and brutal tyranny of their government. Hov/ever, he was refoKed not to give rne up but with his life, if I would but fiand to myfelf ; ad« dinar, that we mult make off as fafl: as vfe could ; that having fo many fpies upon us, we mull ufe policy as v;ell as expedition. So he went down direfbly to the port, and in the hearing of all, publicly hired a fliip to go for Cyprus, paid the whole freight on the fpot, an'l faid they muft necelTajily go off that evening. We had really done fo, but our com- panions and effec^ls obliged us to reLurn to Grand Cairo ; but inilead of going by fea, he called the mailer of the velTel, who was of his acquaintance, and for a good round fiim, privately agreed with

him

SiGNOR Gaudentio bi Lucca. 33,

Kim to fail out of the port without us, as if we were really gone with him, while he hired a boat at the other end of the town, and went that night diredl/ for Grand Cairo. As foon as we were arrived there^ we enquired how long the bafla would be before he returned to that city. They told us it would be about a fortnight at fooneil ; this gave the pophar time to pay off h.V houfe, pack up his effects, get all things ready for his great voyage ; but l\ill witK greater apprehenfion in his looks than ever I re- marked in him. Plow ever, he told us, he hoped the affair would end well.

In five days time all things were in readinefs for our departure. We fet out a little before fun-fet, as^ is cullomary in thofe countries, and marched on but a flow pace whilll we were near the town, to avoid any fufpicion of flight. After we had travelled thus about a league up by the fide of the river Nile, the pophar leading the van, and the rell following in a pretty long firing after-him, we met five or fix mea coming down the river fide on horfeback, who hy their fine turbans and habits, fhewed they Vv^ere pages or attendants of fome great perfon. The pophar turned off from the river, as if it w^ere to give them v/ay : they paffed on very civilly without taking any further nothice. I was the hindmofl but one of our train, having ftaid to give our dromedaries fome water.' Soon after thefe came tv/o ladies riding on little Arabian jennets, with prodigious rich furni- . ture, by which I gueffed them to be perfons of qua- lity, and others gone before their attendants. They were not quite over againfl where I was, when the younger of the two ladies jennet began to fnort and Itart at our dromedaries, and became fo unruly, that X apprehended the lady could fcarce fit him. At that inftant, one of the led dromedaries coming pretty near, that, and the ruftling of its loading, fo fright- ed the jennet, that he gave a bound all on a i'udden^

and

U The memoirs of

and beinfj on the inlide of us towards the river, he tan full Ipeed towards the edge of the bank, where not being able to flop his career, he flew diTe<511y off the precipice into the river, with the lady flill fitting him ; but the violence of the leap threw her off two or three yards into the water. It happened very luckily that there was a little ifland juft by where fhe fell, and her clothes keeping her up for fome minute?, the flrcam carried her againfc ibrr.e flakes that flood jull above the water ; the flakea catched hold of her clothes, and held her there :— • the fhrieks of the other lady brought the nigheft at- tendants up to us ; but thofe fearful wretches durft not venture into the river to her afliftance. I jump- ed off my dromedary with indignation, and throw- ing off my loofe garment and fandais, fwam to her> and, with much diliiculty, getting hold of her hand» and ioofing her garments from the flakes, I made a ilaift to drav/ her acrofs the flream, till I brought her to land. She was quite fenfelefs for fome time ; I held down her head, which I had not yet looked at, to make her difgorge the water fhe had fwallow- ed •, but I was foon ftruck with a double furprife, when I looked at her face, to find it was the baffa's daughter, and to fee her in that place, v/hom I thought I had left at Alexandria.

Some time after {he came to herfelf, and looking fixed on me a good while, her fenfes not being en- tirely recovered, at laft fhe cried out, '* O Mahomet^ jnuii I owe my life to this man V* and fainted away. The other lady, who was her confidant, with a great deal of pains brought her to herfelf again : we raif- ed her up, and endeavoured to comfort her as well as we could : " No,"** fays fhe, " throw me into the river once more ; let me not be obliged to a barba- rian for whom I have done too much already.^' I told her in the moft refpeilful terms I could think of, that providence had ordered it fo^ that I might

make

SlG^OR GATJDENtIO D! LuCCA* 3^

make fome recompenfe for the undeferved obliga- tions fhe had laid on me ; that I had too great va- lue for her merit ever to make her miferable, by- loving a Have, fuch as I was, a ilranger, a cliriflian, and vvho had indifpenlible obligations to a6\ as I did. She ftarted a little at what I faid ; but after a fhort recoiled ion anf\\^ered, " whether you are a Have, an infidel, or whatever you pleafe, you are one of the moil generous men in the world. I fuppofe your obli- gations are on account of fome more happy woman than myfelf ; but lince I owe my life to you, I am re- folved not to make you unhappy, any more than you do me. I not only pardon you, but am convinced my pretenfions are both unjuil and againll my own ho^ Hour.*' She faid this with an air becoming her qua- lity : fhe was much more at eafe when I afTured her I was engaged to no woman in the V70rld ; but that her memory ihould be ever dear to me, and imprint- ed in my heart till my lafl breath. Here ten or a dozen armed turks came upon us full fpeed from the town, and feeing the pophar and his compa- nions, they cried out, '• Hop villains, we arrefl you in the name of the bafra."*' At this we itarted up to fee what was the matter, when the lady,who knev/ them, bid me not be afraid ; that ^thefe were men ilie had ordered to purfue me, when ihe left Alexan- dria : that hearing we v^^ere fled off by fea, fhe pre tended ficknefs, and afked leave of her father to re- turn to Cairo, there to bemoan her misfortune with her confidant ; aind v;as in thofe mt:lanchoiy fenti- ments when the late accident happened to her : that fhe fuppofed thefe men had difcovered the trick we had played them in not going by fea, and on better information had purfued us this way ; fo fhe difmif- fed them immediately. I v/as all this whik in one of the greateit agonies that can be expreiTed, both for tear of my own refolutions and ker ; fo I begged her to retire, leit her wet clothes ihould endanger

her

36 The MEMOIRS op

her healtii. I fliould not have been able to pro* Bounce thefe words if the pophar had not call a look at me which pierced me thro*, and made me fee the danger I was in by my delay. Her refolutions now feemed to be ftronger than mine. She pulled off this jewel your reverences fee on my finger, and juft faid, with tears trickling down her beautiful cheeks, " take this, and adieu \" She then pulled her com- panion away, and never looked at me more. "I flood amazed, almoil without life or motion in me, and can't tell how long I might have continued fo, if the popar had not come and congratulated me for my deliverance. I told him, I did not know what he meant by deliverance, for I did not know whe- ther I was alive or dead, and that I was afraid he would repent his buying of me, if I procured him any more of thefe adventures. " If v.-e meet with no worfe than thefe,'' fays he, " we are w^ell enough ; no victory can be gained without fome lofs.^' So fee awaked me out of my lethargy, and commanded us to make the bell of our way.

Remarks of Signor Rhedi.

\i) Lhe up toycur otvn law^ &€."] If it appears incredible to any one, that heathens, as thefe people v/ere, (hould have fuch ftrift ideas of morality and juftice, when they fee luch horrid in- juftices, frauds and opprellions among chriftians, let them con- fider firft, that the law and light of nature v/iH never be entirely extinguifhed in any v» ho don't flnit their eyes againfl it ; but that they would efteem the injuries they do to others, without any fcruple, to be very great havdfhips if done to themfelves. They have therefore the ideas of juftice and equity imprinted in their minds, however obfcured by their v/icked lives. Secondly, let tbem read the celebrated bifhop ofiW^'^jz/.r's univerfal hifi:oi'y,Pt, 3, of the moral? and equity of the antient F.^yptiyns, under their preat king Sejoftris^ or about that time. Thirdly, not only the 'iives and maxims of the firft heathen philofophers afford us very jurt rules of morality, but there are alfo fragments of antient hillcry, from the earlieft times, of whole heathen nations, whofe lives would make chriilians biulh at theii own immoralities, if

they

■

The inquisition. Gi

that iliould defame hy groundlefs reports the holy office of the inquilition. The governor anfwered, he would be willing to aflift his grace in any thing he could -, but as to the young women, it was not in his povv^er, the officers having hurried them away; as 'indeed it was not, for the French officers were all glad to get fuch fine miftrefles.

As I travelled in France fome time after, I met with one of thofe women at Rochfort, in the fame inn I went to lodge in, who had been brought there by the fon cf the mailer of the inn, formerly a lieu- tenant in the French fervice in Spain, who had married her for her extraordinary merit and beauty. B>h.Q was the daughter of counfellor Balahriga : I had known her before fhe was taken up by the in- quiiitors orders ; her father died of grief, v;ithout the comfort of revealing the caufe of his trouble- even to his confefTor : fo great is the dread of the inquilitors there !

I was very glad to meet one of my country-wo- men in my travels ; and as Ihe did not remember me, efpecially in my difguife, fhe took me for an officer. I refolved to flay there the next day, to have the fatisfa<5lion of converfing with her, and to get a plain account of what v/e could not know in Zaragofa, for fear of incurring the ecciefiaflical cenfure, publifhcd by the bifhop. Her father and mother-in-law, to fhev; their refpe(5l fOr their daugh- ter's country-man, (Mr. Faulcaiit her fpouie being gone to Paris) invited me to a handfome fupper ; alter which I begged the favour of her to tell me the reafon of her imj^rifonment ; of her fuiferings in the inquifition, and of every thing fhe knew re- lating to the holy office ; to which flie readily con- fented, and gave me the following account :

I went one day with my mother to vifit the coun- tefs of Attarafs, and I met there Don Francifco Tor- rtj-in^ her confeiTor, and fecond inquifitor of the F hviy

6z The HISTORY ot

holy office. After we had drank chocolate, he afked me my age, my confeffor's name, and fo many in- tricate queftions about religion, that I could not an- fwer him. His ferious countenance did frighten me, and as he perceived my fear, he defired the coun- tefs to tell me, that he was not.fo fevere as I took him to be ; after which he carelTed me in a mofl obliging manner ; he gave me his hand, which I kiffed with great refpedl: and modefty ; and when going av/ay, he told me, " My dear child, I fhall ** remember you till the next time/' I did not mind the fenfe of the words, for I was unexperienced in matters of gallantry, being at that time but fifteen years old. Indeed he did remembfer me; for the very fame night, when we were in bed, hearing a hard knocking at the doOr, the maid that lay in the fame room with me, went to the window and afking who was there, I heard fay«*-the holy inquifition. I could not forbear crying out, father, father, I am ruined for ever. My dear father got up, and in* quiring what the matter was, lanfweredhim with tears, the inquifition ; he, for fear that the maid fhould not open the door as quick as fuch a cafe re- quired, went himfelf like another Abraham to open the door, and to offer his dear daughter to the fire of the inquifitors ; and as I did not ceafe to cry out, as if I was a mad girl, my dear father all in tears, did put in my mouth a bit of a bridle, to fliew his obedience to the holy office, for he thought I had committed fome crime againll religion ; fo the of- ficers giving me only time to put on my petticoat and a mantle, took me down into the coach, and without allowing me the fatisfadlion of embracing my dear father and mother, they carried me into the inquifition.

I did expe(fl to die that night ; but when they carried me into a noble room, well furniflied, I was quite furprifed. The officers left me there, and im- mediately

The inquisition. 63

iTiediately a maid came in, "with a falver of fweet- meats,and cinnamon water, defiring me to take fome refrefhment before I went to bed. I told her I could not ; but that I fhould be obliged to her, if Ihe could tell me whether I was to die that night or not ? " Die I*' faid fhe " jou do not com*e here " to die, but to live like a princefs, and you fhall " want for nothing in the world, but the liberty of ** going out ; fo 2:)ray be not afraid, but go to bed *' and fieep eafy, for to-morrow you fhall fee won- '• ders in this houfe ; and as I am chofen to be your " waiting-maid, I hope you will be very kind to " me." I was going to afk fome queftions, but flie told me, fhe had not leave to tell me any thing more till the next day, only that no body fhould come to diilurb me ; " and now" faid flie " I am going " about fome bufinefs, but I will come back pre- *' fently, for my bed is in the clofet near yours," fo fhe left me for a quarter of an hour. The great smazement I was in took away the f'*ee exercife of my fenfes to fuch a degree, that I had not power to think either of my afHifted parents, or the danger I was in. In this fufpenfion of thought, the m.aid re- turned, and locked the chamber door after her ; ** Madam" faid fhe " let us go to bed, and be pleafed " to tell me at what time in the morning you will *' have the chocolate ready." I aflced her name, and fhe told me it w^sMary. Mary, forGod's fake (faid I) tell me, whether I come to die or not? " I have *• told you madam" replied fhe " that you are come *' to be one of the happiefl ladies in the world ;" fo obferving her refervednefs, I aflced no more quef- tions that night, but went to bed. The fear of death prevented me from fhutting my eyes, fo that I rofe at break of day ; Mary lay till fix o'clock, and was furprifed to find me up ; hov/ever fhe faid little, but in half an hour fhe brought me, on a filver plate, two cups of chocolate and bifcuits j I draak one cup, F 2 and

^4 The HISTORY of

and defired her to drink the other, which fhe did. Well, Marj/y faid I, can you give me any account of the reafons of my being here ? " Not yet, ma- " dam" faid Ihe, " have a little patience." With this anfwer fhe left me, and an hour after came again^ with a fine Holland fhift, a Holland under-petti- eoat, finely laced round, two filk petticoats, and a little Spanifh vi'aiflcoat, fringed all over v/ith gold, and combs,, ribbands, and every thing fuitable to a lady of higher quality than I •, but my greateft fur- prlfe was to fee a gold fnuff box, v. ith the pi<5lure, of Don Franci/co Torrcjon in it. Then I foon un- derllood the meaning of my confinement ; fo. I con- fidered with myfelf,that to refufe the prefent would be the occafion of my immediate death ; and to ac- cept it, v.as to give him too great encouragement againfl my honor. But I found, as I thought, a medium in the cafe ; fo I faid to Mary^ pray give my fervice to Don Franci/co Torrejon^ and tell him, that as I could not bring my clothes along w4th me iafl night, honeily permits me to accept of thofe clothes which are necelTary to keep me decent ; but iince I take no fnuff, I bee his lordfhip to excufe me if I do not accept this box.. Mary went to him with this anfwer, and came again with a pid^ure, nicely fet in gold, with four diamonds at the four corners of it, and told me, that his lordfhip had m*if- tooh, and that he defired me to accept that picture. While I was mufing w^hat to dLOyMury faid^. *' pray *' madam take my poor advice, accept the pi(Sure *' and every thing he fends you *,. for confider, that " if you do not comply with every thing he has a " mind for, you will foon be put to death, and no " body can defend you ; but if you are obliging to " him, he is a very complaifant gentleman, and will " be a charming lover, and you will be here like a " queen : he will give you another apartment with " fine gardens, and many young ladies fhall come to

^ vifit

The INQiriSITrON. 65

" vifit you ; fo I advife you to fend a civil anfvver, •* and deiire a vilit from him, or elfe you vAll foon " repent it." O dear God ! cried I, mull I aban- don my honor without remedy ; if I oppofe his de- lire, he will by force obtain it. So, full of con- fufion, I bid Mary to give him what anfwer fnc thought fit : fhe was very glad of my humble fub- miflion, and went to give Don Francifco an account of it. In a few minutes fhe returned with great joy, to tell me that his lordfhip v/ould honor we with his company at fupper ; in the mean time he defired me to mind nothing, but how to divert my- felf, and to give Mary my meafure for fome new clothes, and order her to bring me every thing I could v/ifh for. Mary added to this, " madam, I " may now call you my millrefs, and mull tell you, •* that I have been in the holy office thefe fourteen '* years, and know the cuftoms of it very wxU; but '* as filence is impofed upon me under pain of death, ** I cannot tell you any thing but w^hat concerns " your perfon : fo in the firfl place, do not oppofe ** the holy father's will •, fecondly, if you fee fome " young ladies here, never afk them any queftions ; " neither will they afk you ; and take care that you " never tell them any thing. You may come and '^ divert yourfelf among them at fuch hours as are ** appointed ; you fhall have mufic^ and all forts " of recreations ; three days hence you fliall dine " with them •, they are all ladies of quality, young *• and merry. You will live io happy here, that " you will not wifh to go abroad ; and when your ** time is expired, then the holy fathers will fend ** you out of this country, and marry you to fome ** nobleman. Never mention your name, nor Don. ■ ** Francifco's to any ; if you fee here fome young •' kdies you have formerly been acquainted with, " no notice mull be taken, nor nothing talked of " but indifferent matters/'

F 3 All

65 The HISTORY or

All tlii3 made me aftonifhed, or rather ilupified, and the whole feemed to me a piece of enchantment. With this lefTon fhe left me, fa/in g, fhe was going to order my dinner. Ever/ time fhe went out fhe locked the door* There were but two windows in my room, and they were fo high that I could fee nothing through them ; but hunting about, I found a clofet, with all forts of hiflorieal and profane books; fo I fpent my time till diniier in reading, which was fome fadsfacftion to me.

In about two hours time fhe brought in dinner, ^t which was every thing that could fatisfy the nice- eft appetite. When dinner was over, fhe left me alone, and told me,, if I wanted any thing I might ring the bell, and call. So I went to the clofet again, and fpent three hours in reading. I think really I was under fome enchantment ; for I was in a perfe(5l fufpenfion of thought, fo as to remember neither father or mother. Alary came and told me, that Don Francifco was come home, and that fhe thought he would come to fee me very foon, and begged of me to prepare myfelf to receive him with all manner of kincinefs.

At fevenin the evening Dm Francifco came, in his night-gown and cap ; not with the gravity of an inquifitor, but with the gaiety of an ofScer. He faluled me with great refpeft, and told me at the fame time, that hiscoming to fee me, was only to ihew the value he had for my family, and to tell me, that foiTBe_ of my lovers had procured my ruin for ever^ having accufed me in matters of religion ; that the informations were taken, and the fentence pro- npunced againft me— -/£> be lurnt alt've in a dry-pan^ with a gradual fire ^ — but that he, out of pity, and love to my family, had flopped the execution of it. Each of thefe words was a mortal ft roke to my heart. I threw myfelf at his feet, and laid. Ah I Seignior.^ have you flopped the executiori. fox eyei^? " That

•* only

The inquisition. 6f

'■' only belongs to you to flop it or not/' faid ke, and witH this he v/ifhed me a good night. As fooE as he v/ent away, I fell a crying, but Mary came- and afked me v/hat could oblige me to cry fo bitter- ly. Ah I good Alary, faid I, pray tell me what is the meaning of the dry pan and gradual fire ? for I ex- pe<ft to die by it. *' O madam" replied ibe *' never " fear ; you fhall fee e'er long the dry pan and gra- " dual fire ; but they are made for thofe that op- " pofe the holy father's will ; not for you that arc '' fo good to obey it. But pray, was Don Francifco. ** very obliging ?" I do not know, faid I, for his difcourfe has put me out of my wits; he faluted me with great civility, but he left me abruptly.—^ " Well" faid Mary, " you do not yet know his " temper,, he is extremely kind to people that are " obedient to him^ but if they are not, he is as un- " merciful as Nero\ fo for your own fake, take care " to oblige him in all refpe(fls ; and now, dear ma- " dam, pray go to fupper, and be eafy." But the thoughts of the dry pan troubled me fo much, that I could neither eat, nor ileep that night.

Early in the morning Mary got up, and told me^ that nobody was yet ftirring in the lioufe, and that if I would promife fecrefy, fbe would ihew me the dry pan and gradual fire -, fo taking me down itairs, ihe brought me into a large room with a thick iron door, and within it was an oven, burning at that time, and a large brafs pan upan it, with a cover of the fam.e, and a lock to it. In the next room, th^re w^as a great wheel covered on bath fides, with thick boards; and opening a little window in the centre of it, fhe deiired me to look witK a candle on the inlide of it. There I faw all the circumference of the wheel was fet with Iharp razors. After that, fhe fhewed me a pit fullof ferpents and toads. She jjjfc faid, ♦* nov/ my good miflrefs, i'll tell you the ufe ^B ^^ of thefe three thin.g?. The dry panJs for keretics,. ^K and

I

6a The history of

" and tKofe that oppofe the holy father's will and *' pleafure. They are put naked alive into the pan, " and the cover of it being locked up, the execu- *' tioner begins to put a fmail iire in the oven, and by " degrees he augmenteth it, till the body is reduced " to afhes. The fecond is deligned for thofe that *• fpeak againlt the pope, and the holy fathers; fot *' they are put within the wheel, and the little door '* being locked, the executioner turns the wheel till *' the perfon is dead. And the third is for thofe *' who contemn the images, and refufe to give due •* refpecft and veneration to eccleiiaftical perfons : *' for they are thrown into the pit, and fo become ** the food of ferpents and toads-" Then Alary faid to me, that another day fhe W'ould fhew me the tor- ments for public finners •, but I w as in fo great an agony at what I had feen, that I deiired her to fhew mt no more places ; fo we went to my room, and fhe again charged me to be very obedient to all the commands Don Francifco fhould give me, or I might be alTured, if I was not, that I muil undergo the torments of the dry pan. I conceived fuch an hor- ror of the gradual fire, that I was not miflrefs of my fenfes ; fo I promifed Jldary to follow her ad- vice. " If you are in that difpofition*' faid fhe, •* leave off all fear, and expecfl: nothing but pleafure •^ and fatisfa<riionv Now let me drefs you, for you •* mufl go to wifh a good morrow to Don Francifco, " and to breakfafl with him." Having faid this, ihe conveyed me through a gallery into his apart- ment ; he was flill in bed, and defired me to fit down by him, and ordered Mary to bring the cho- colate two hours after. When fbe was withdrawn, he immediately declared his inclination in fo ardent a manner, that I had neither flrength or power to oppofe him ; and fo by extinguifhing the fire of his pallion, I was freed from the dry pan. When Mary came with the chccc^late, I was very much afhamed

to

Thit INQIJISITION. 69

to be feen in bed with, liim ; but fhe coming to tbe feed-fide where I was, and kneeling down, paid me homage as if I had been a queen, and ferved me firit with a cup of chocolate, defiring me to give another cup to Don FrancifcOy which he received ver/ gra- cioull/. After breakfaft fhe went away ; we dif- courfed for fome time of various things *, but I never fpoke a word, but when he defired me to an- fvver him ; fo at ten o'clock Mary came again and drefTed me.

We left Don Francifco in bed, and Ihe carried me into another chamber, very delightful and better furniilied than the firll ; for the windovvs were lower, and I had the pleafure of feeing the river and gardens. Mary then told me, that the young ladies would come to pay me their compliments before dinner ; and v/ould take me to dine with them ; and begged me to remember her advice*, fhe had fcarce linifhed thefe words, before I faw a troop of young beautiful ladies, finely dreffed, who all, one after ^iiather. cams to embrace me, 5>-d vjiili n;c joy^ Mr furprife was fo great, that I was unable to anfwer their compliments ; but one of them feeij?.g jne fo fxlent, faitf to me, '* madam, the folitude of this place *' will aifedl you in the begining, but when you " begin to feel the pleafures and am-ufements we *' enjoy, you will quit your penfive thoughts •, now- ** we beg of you the honor 10 come and dine with '' us to day *, and henceforth three day§ in a week." I returned them thanks, and fo we went to dinner. That day we had all forts of exvquifite meats, deli- cate fruits, and fweetmeats. The room v;as long, with two tables on each fide, and another at the front of it ; and I reckoned in it that day fifty-two young ladies, the eldell of them not exceeding twenty four years of ^ge. Six maids did ferve the whole number of us ; but Mary v.7aited on me alone. After dinner we went uj[j flairs into a long gallery ;.

where.

■1o The history of

where fome of us played on inftruments of mulic, others at cards, and fome walked about for three or four hours together. At lall Mary came up ring- ing a fmall bell, which was, as they informed me, the fignal to retire into our rooms; but Mary faid to the whole company, *' ladies, to day is a day of " recreation, fo you may go into what rooms you " pleafe till eight o'clock/' They all delired to go to my apartment with me. We found in my anti-chamber a table, v^ith all forts of fweetmeats upon it; iced-clnnamon, almonds-milk, and the like. Every one did eat and drink, but nobody fpoke a word touching the fumptuoufnefs of the table, or concerning the inquifition, or the holy fathers. So v/e fpent our time in merry indifferent converfation till eight o'clock, and then every one retired to their own room.

As foon as t}iQy were gone, Mary let me know that Den Francijio did wait for me ; fo we went to his apartment, and fupper being ready, we fate^ down, attended only by Mary* After it was over, fhe went away, and we went to bed. Next morning fhe fcrved us ^¥ith chocolate, wh^ich after we had dranlr, we llept till ten ; at v/hich time we got up. When I returned to my own chamber, I found ready two fuits of clothes of rich brocade, and every thing elfe fuitable to a lady of the iirft rank. I put on one, and when I was quite drefled, the ladies came to wifh me joy, all drelTed in different clothes, much richer than before. We fpent the fecond day and the third day in the fame recreation; Don Fran- cijco continuing in the fame manner with me ; but on the fourth morning, after drinkir.g chocolate, Mary told me, that a kidy was v»''aiting for me in her own room, and with an air of atithority defired me to get up. Don Francifco faying nothing to the contrary, I obeyed, and left him in bed. I thought this wr<4 ^o give me fome mw comfort, but I was:

verjt

The inquisition. 71

Tery much miftaken ; for Mary conveyed me into a lady's room not eight feet long, which was a perfefl prifon ; and told iriQ this was my room, and this young lady my bed-fellow and companion; and without faying any more, £he left me there.

What is this dear lady ? faid I ; is it an enchant- ed place, or a hell upon earth ? I have loft father and mother, and what is worfe, I have loft my ho- hor, and n\j foul for ever. My new companion feeing me like a mad woman, took me by the hands and faid, *' dear iifter, for this is the name 1 will ■•' henceforth give you, forbear to cry and grieve; for ** you can do nothing byfuch extravagant behaviour " but draw upon yourfelf a cruel death ; your mif- " fortunes and ours are exadlly of a piece ; you fuf- ** fer nothing that we have not fuffered before you ; ** but v/e dare not fhew our grief for fear of greatet ** evils ! pray take courage, and hope in God, for "he wilHurely deliver us out of this hellifh place \ *' but be fure you fhew no unealinefs before Mary^ " who is the only inftrument either of our torments *' or comforts : have patience till we go to bed, and " then I will venture tO tell you more of the matter, "' which I hope will afford you fome comfort." 1 was in a moft defperate condition ; but my new lif- ter Leonora prevailed fo much upon me, that I over- came my vexation before Mary came again to bring our dinner, which was very different from what we had for three days before. After dinner anothet maid came to take away the plate and knife, for we had but one for us both. After fhe had gone out and locked up the door, '* now^ my dear fifter" faid Leonora '* we Ihall not be difturbed again till eight " at night ; fo if you will promife me upon your •* hopes of falvation, to keep fecret, while you are •' in this houfe, all the things I Jhall tell you, I will " reveal all that I know.'' I threw myfelf at her feet, and promifed all that fhe delired ; upon which, without further ceremojiy, ihe began as follows :

61 jviy

72 The HISTORY^ oi

** My dear fifter, you think your cafe very hard ; ** but I aiTure you, all the ladies in this houfe have " already gone through the lame ; in time you fhall ■** know all their llories,as they hope to know yours. " I fuppofe Mary has been the chief inftrument of " your flight, as fhe has been of our-s, and I warrant " fhe has ihewn you fome horrible places, though " not all, and that at the only thought of them you " were fo much troubled in your mind, that you " have chofen the fame v;ay we did to redeem your- ** felf from death. By what has happened to us, ** we know that Don Francifco has been your Nero ; " for the three colours of our clothes are the diilin* " guifhing tokens of the three holy fathers ; the red " jfilk belongs to Don Francifco^ the blue to Guerrero^ ** and the green to Aliaga : for they always give the " three firll of thefe colours to thofe ladies that they " bring hither for their ufe. We are llriftly com- '* manded to make all demonftrations of joy, and to ** be very merry for three days when a young lady '* comes iirll here, as we did with you, and yoii ** mull do with others ; but afterwards we live ** like prifoners, without feeing any living foul but ** the fix maids, and Mary^ Vv ho is the houle-keeper* ** We dine all of us in the hall three days in a week. *♦ When «ny one of the^holy fathers has a mind for " oneof his ilaves,/k.Vr^ comes for her at nine of the ** clock, and carries her to his apartment : but as ** they have fo many, the turn comes it may be but ** once a month, except for thofe that happen to *• pleafe them more than ordinary, and they are fent '* for often. Some nights \'!ary leaves the door of ** otir rooms open, and that is a lign that one of the ** fathers has a mind to come that night ; but he *' comes fo lilent, that we do not know whether he ** is our patron or not. If one of us happen to be ** with-child, ihe is removed into a better chamber, ^' and fiie fees nobody but the maid till flie is de-

** livered.

SicKOR Gaudentio bi Lucca. 49

fc^it to dei"i:roy t!ic temple of 'jupit::r Il-immon^ v/as entirely over-, whelmed and loll in the fand--. Hcrodot. Thalia. The idclator^ iaiputed it as a punithmtat tor hi'^ impiety againft 7'v/);/i?r ; but

it was for want of knowing the danger f fuppofe very few

a-<e Ignorant of the contriranre of M'iriitSy the Rorrjan general, to get over the lands to Capfa, to fcize Jugitrtha\ treaiures^ ^Yhich he thought fcctire. Sailuji. ik Bello Jitguytha:.

(a) l1ie prodigious fertility of AtVica, in the vales betv/eea the fiefarts and the fjcirts of it, for a great breadth towards the tv.'o feu'?, is recorded by the beft hillorians-, tho' the ridge of it, over which c.^jr author was ccndutted, and other particular tra^Vs, are all covered with fands.

(3) /" w,;j defigned for a hu^nar.farrifKr.l Our author's fears ■were not vain ; confiderlng the preparatives he law, and other fircumfiiance^'. Eefides, 'tis w^ell known the ancient AFricanr, particularly the Getulians and Lybians, and even the Carthage- r»ia IS, made uie of human iacrificcs to appeafe their deitie?, Bi- chart, in hi^< Geographia Sacra, proves beyond quellion, that the Car'hagenians were part of the people of Canaan, driven out by yi/hun, whr. uied to facrifice their children to Mo/och, ^c. Eye;i in Hannibar?, time, when they v/ere p.rown more polite, ihey privately fent childien to Tyre for a facrifice to Hercuhf.

(4) They perjormed to their deceajed one ef.crs.'^ The earlitfu accounts from Egypt, from whence theie people come, tell ur;^. that they had a great veneration for their dv^ceafed anceftorr:. — ■ See the 3d part of the billiop of A7catix\ hiilory, quoted above.

Diodoruf ^kti/as, who lived in the beginning of J[vgufius\

reign, lays of the Egyptians — they v/ere particularly diligent about their fepulchres, or in the w^orfidp of their dead. The fame faperftlrion reigns (lill among the Chinefe, whom I Ihall Jliew afterwards to have been a colony of Egyptian-, notwith- ftanding that China and Egypt are fo far diftant from each other.

(5) The ancient Egyptians had af.rong fondnefs for building lyraip.ids. Whether they were for the fame end as the tower f Babel, that i", to make them.felves a name, or other ends, \:^ :an't tell. — The great p3^ramid is more ancitnt than all the reft;

iafomuch, that the bell: authors don't 'knov/ when to fix its date^ Ibme faying it was hwWl hy Maris^ their firfl: king- others by Cecrops Ledor : but ir the account the pophar gives of this origin, at the next I'^ation, be true, it was built before there was a ,y king in Egypt. The river I^iie v/as conveyed by art under the great pyramid.

{€) One of the e.^^d- of buildhg the pyramid-, v;as certainly for buryi'^ig places for fom.e great men.^ '

( 7 ) PThkh Tvxi r nrterrrvards ca lied Thclcs, ^r.] The be, once

the mcfi famc-u^ city t}f Egypt, having an hundrcj gate? '^ c. v/as

G " 4J3e

50 The MEMOIRS of

the No Amtn cvDiofpoUs of the ancient^. Bochart^ Fhaleg, lib, 4, ~ — '--Tacitus fays, that in the time oi Germanic us ^ there was re- inaining an infcription in the Egyptian language, fignifying, Hahitajfe quondam (Thebe?) Jeptingenta millia Hominum at ate mi- htari-^ i. e. that there was once feven hundred thoufand inhabi- tant?, in Thehe?; fit to bear arms. Tacit, lib. a. Annal

(8) This is certainly rank idolatry, from all the pophar calls it but a civil ceremony : thus the worfhip the Chinefe pay to their dead, and allov/cd by the jefuits, was faid, by them, to be but a pious civil ceremony, tho' it was like this, or rather more fu- F^nlitlous. See the condemnation of it by pope (^ftnent XI.

Continuation of the Memoirs.

w,

E were now pall the tropic of cancer, (i) as I found by our Ihadows going fouthward : we went on thus, a little bending towards the w^ell again, al- moll parallel to the tropic. The breezes encreaiing rather ftronger than before, fo that about midnight it was really cold. We gave our dromedaries wa- ter about fun riling, and refreihed ourfelves a little; then fet out with new vigour at a prodigious rate ; Hill the breezes fell between nine and ten ; however Vvx made ihift to go on, becaufe they came again about noon : between three and four was the hotteft time of all.

Belides going now parallel to the tropic, w& tra- velled on the hot fands, or even defcendings •, where- as when we pointed fouthv/ards towards the line, we found the ground to be infenfibly riling upon us ; (2) but as we went on the flats, as if it had not been that we were almofl: on the ridge of Africa, which m.ade it cooler than one can well believe; it had been impoiTible to bear the heats. When we lelled, we jiot only pitched our tents for ourfelves

and

^Jgf-

SiGNOR Gaubentio di Lucca. 51

and dromedaries, but the fands were fo hot, that v/e were forced to lay thing;5 under our feet to preferve ihem from burning. Thus we travelled thro^ thofe difmal defarts for four days, without fight of any living creature but ourfelves. Sands and fkies were Jill that prefented to our view. The fatigue was the greaielt I ever underwent in my life.

The fourth day, about eight in the morning, by good fortune for us, or elfe by the prudent forecail of the pojjiar, v/ho knew all his ftations, we faw mother vale towards the right hand, v;itli fome ftraggling trees here and thsre, but not looking nigh fo pleafant as the firll : we made to it with, all our fpeed, and had much ado to bear the heats till we came to it : we alighted immediately, and led our dromedaries down the gentle defcent till w^e could find a thicker part of it. The firll trees were thin and old, as if they liad juil moiilure enough to keep them alive : the ground was but juH covered over w^ith a liitle fun-burnt mofs, without any lign of water, but our flock was not yet gone. At length, £S we defcended, the grove encreafed every way, the trees were large, with fome dates here and there, but not fo good as in the other. We relted a little, then continued to defcend for fome time, till w^e came into a very cool and thick ihade. Here the pophar told us, we mull ilay two or three days, perhaps longer, till he faw his ufual figns for proceeding on his journey, and bid us be fparing of our water for fear of accidents.

We fettled our dromedaries as before ; for our- felves v/e could fcarce take any thing, we were fo fatigued, wanting reft more than meat and drink. The pophar ordering us fome cordial v/ines, they Kad along with them for that purpdfe, toM us, we might lleep as long as we would ; only bid us be iure to cover ourfelves well ; for the nights were long, and even cold about midnight, \Ve were ail G z fooa

52 ^TniL M E M O 1 K S of

foon alleep, and did net wake till four the next morning. The pophar being folicitous for all our iafetics, as well as his own, for this was the critical tin^e cf our journey, was awake the firft of us When we were up, and refrefhed ourfelves, wliich we did with a very good appetite, he told us we mull go up on the fands again to obferve the figns. We took cur dromedaries along with us for fear of wild beaits, tho' we faw none ; walking gently up the fands, till v/e came to very high ground. We had but '^ dieary profpecfi: of fan-burnt plains, s.s far as our €ye£ could carry us, without grafs, fdck or rnrab, tiicept when we turned our backs to look at the vale where we had lain all night, which we faw ipread and extended itfelf a vail v;ay. He aifured us, the notes left for rules by his anceilois, men- tioned a fpring in that vale below us, which run^^ ning lower became a rivulet, but that either by an earthquake or feme Hood of fand, it was quite- choaked up, running under ground without any one's knowledge, whether it broke out again or WcS entirely fwallowed up. (3) He faid alfo, that by the moil ancient accounts of his forefathers, the fands were not fo dangerous to pafs as they are now, or of fuch vail extent, (4) but had fruitful vales- much nearer one another than at prefent. He ad- ded, that he hoped to fee the ligns he wanted for proceeding on our way, lince there was no llirring till thofe appeared : that according to his epheme- Tis and notes, they lliould appear about this time, unlefs foraething very extraordinary happened.

This was about eight in the morning, the ninth day after we fet out for the defarts. He was every now and then looking fouthward or fouthv^'elt,with great folicitude in his looks, as if he wondered he law nothing. At length he cried out, with great emotions of joy, " *tis coming ! look yonder" fays he ** towards the fouthweit, and fee what you caR

difcover,.

SiGNOR GArDENTIO DI LxJCCA. 53

difcover, as far as your eves can carry you." We told him, we faw r.othing but fome clouds of fands, carried here and there like whirlwinds. " That is the iign I want •/* continued he, " but mark well which way it drives/* We faid it drove direflly eailward, as nigh as we could guefs. " It doth/* fays he; then turning his face wellv/ards, with a little point of the fouth, '* all thofc vafl defarts ar& now in fuch vaft commotion of ftorms and Vvhirl- winds, that man and beail would foon be over- whelmed in thofe rolling Vv^aves of fands." He ha J fcarce faid this, but we faw at a vail dillance, tea thoufand little v^'hirlfpouts-of fand, rifmg and fal- ling with a prodigious tumult and velocity (5) eallward, with vaft thick clouds of fand and duit following it. " Come," fays he " let us go down- to our reiting place, for there v/e muft ft ay till we fee further how matters go." As- this- appeared nearer to me than any of the reft, I made bold to aflc him, v/hat was the caufe of this fudden phse- nomenon, being poifefied with a great idea of the knowledge of the man. He told me, that about the full moon there always fell prodiglou*) rains, (6) coming from the western part of Africa, on this fide the equator ; at the firll coming, driving a lit- tle fouthv/eit for fome time, then they turned al- moft fouth, and crolTed the line till they came ta the fource of the Nile ; in which parts they fell for three weeks or a month together, which was the occalion of the overflowing of that river : (^) but that on this lide the equator, it only rained about fifteen days, preceded by thofe whirlwinds and clouds of fand, which rendered all that traft impaf- fable, till the rains had laid them again.

By this time we came dovvn to our refting plrce, and tho* we did not want fleep or refrefhment, yet we took both, to have the cool of the evening to re- create ourfelves after fo much fatigue, not being likely to move till the next evening at fconeft.

G 3 Remarks

54 The MEMOIRS oi

Remarks of Signer Rhedi.

( 1 ) JVc ^ce7'e no^jo pajl the tropic cf cancer^ as I found by cur Jhadcws^ (2fr.] When perfons ave btyond that tropic at mid- day, the fhadows of things are towards the fouth, becaufe the fail h then north of us.

They might have pafTcd the tropic before, fince it runs over part of the defart of Carca, not much foulhv/ard of Egypt; but- it feems they fteered weftward for fome time.

(2) Kis obfervationsare juft, fince all the new philofcphers al- low the earth to be fpheroidal and gibbous tov/ards the equator ;, ■whoever therefore gees by land, either from- the north or fouth towards the equator, much afcend. I'his feems to be a very na- tural realbn why thofe immcnfe bares are not fo exceilivtly hot. The highetl mountains are confiderably iiigher the Cun than the low land?, yet excefiive cold in the hotteft climates; in the vale^ the rays of the fun are cooped in, and doubled and trebled by refraction and reflection, "^^c. The fame air put in a turbulent motion will be hot, and in a dire6l one cold.

(3) Geographers agree, that river?, and even great lakes, in Africa fink under ground, and are quite loft without any vifible outlets. The vail depth of the ilrata of fand, feem more proper to fwallcw them up there than in other pasts of the v/orld.

(4) There feems to be a natural reafon for what he fays; for thofe vaft fands or hills of gravel, were undoubtedly left by the general deluge, as probably all the leiTer ftrata or beds of gravel were. Yet ^reat part of them rnuft have been covered with flime or mud, for feveral years after the deluge; fome thinner, Ibme thicker, and ccnfequently more moift and productive ac- cordingly. Neverthclefs, the violent rays of the iun dill render them mere dry and barren, and in all probability, thefe defarts will encreafe more and more where the country i-^ not cultivated.

(5) Tho' in the vatl ocean between the tropics, where pro- montories don't interverke, the winds are generally eaflerly, yet there is a perpetual weft-wind blows into Guinea. — ^ — There arc •vaft rains at the folftices, between the tropics, as the accounts of thefe parts declare, tho' at that time of the year, more beyond the line than on this fide of it. It is not to be queftioned, but i:i fuch violent changes, particularly before thofe rains, there mull be furious hurricanes cf wind and fand, enough to overwhelm

whole armies and countries. ^The moft incredible part of this

narration is, how they could travel at all under the tropic in the fummer folftice ? only, as he fays, the ground being very higlx *nd cpen, it muft Uraw air.

(5) Naturalifts

SiGNOR Gaudentio bi Lucca. 53

{6) Naturalifts agree, that beyond the line there are great rains at this lealbn. It is pofllble they may begin en that fide, being driven by the perpetual weft-winds into Guir^ea, and then, by natural caufe% turn towards the line and fouthern tropic.

(7) The caulcs of the overflowing of the river Nile, unknown to raoft of the ancient?, are now allowed to be the great rains falling in June and July about the line and the fouthern tropic, and the melting of the fncw on the mountains of the moon lying in that traft. None can wonder there (hould be fnow in thofe hot climates, who have heard of the Andes or Cordillerias, bordering^ on Peru. Our Italy is very hot, yet the Alps and Appcnnint* are three parts of the years covered with fnow. — The Nile over- flows in Auguft, which fetms to be a proper dillance of time for the waters to come dov/n to Egypt, iuch a vafl: way off from the

caufe of it. —There is a river in Cochiiicliina, and cllewhertj,

t-hiit overfiov/s in the fame nianner^

Continuation of the Memoirs.

A'

. T five in tlie evening the pophar called us up to go with him once more to the higheit part of the defart, fajing, he wanted one iign yet,, which he hoped to have that evening, or elfe it would go hard with us for want of water, our provifion of it be- ing almoll fpent •, and there were no fprings in the defansthat we were to pafs over, till we cam-e with- in a long day's journey of the end of our voyage. However, he fcarce doubted but we ihould fee the certain Iign he wanted this evening •, on which ac- count, there did not appear fuch a folicitude in his countenance as before ; for tho* he was our gover- nor or captain, with t^e moll refpedlful deference paid to him that ever I faw, yet he governed us in all refpedls as if we were his children, with all the tendernefs of a father, as his name imported, tho*

none

56 Tpie memoirs of

pone of the company were his real children. If there were any ligns of partiality, it was in my fa- vour, always exprelling the moft endearing tender- Tiefs for me, which the other young men, inllead of taking any dillike at it, were really pleafed with it : no brothers in the world could be more loving to one another than we were. The elderly men took delight in feeing our youthful gambols with one another : it is true, their nature is, of the two, a little more inclined to gravity than the Italians, who are no light nation ; yet their gravity is accom- panied with all the ferenity and chearfulnefs ima- ginable ; and I thought then, by our iirfl: acquaint- ance, that I never faw fuch an air of a freeborn peo- ple in my life, as if they knew no other fubjecfiion

but what was merely filial. When we came

to the high ground, we could fee the hurricanes play iiill ; but what was more wonderful, very few effeif^s of that aerial tumult came our way, but drove on almoii: parallel to the equator. The air locked like a brown dirty fog, towards the eaft and foutheait -, all the whirlwinds tending towards thofe parts. It began after fome time to look a little more lightfome towards the well ; but fo, as' if it were occalionod by a more llrong and fettled wind. At length we perceived at the fartheil ho- rizon, the edgQ of a prodigious black cloud, extend- ing itfelf to the fouthwell and v/eftern points, riling with a difeernable motion, tho' not \ery fail. We faw plain enough, by the blacknefs and thicknefs of it, that it prognoflicated a great deal of rain. Here they ail fell proltrate on the earth ; then railing up their hands and eyes towards the fun, they feemed to pay their adorations to that great luminary- The pophar, with an audible voice, pronounced fome unknown words, as if he were returning tlianks to that planet for what he faw. At this I Hepped back, and kept myfeif at a dillancc j not fo much

for

SiGNOP. Gaudektxo bi Lugca. 57

for fear of my life as before, as not to join with, them in their idolatrous woifhip ; for I could not be ignorant now, that they had a wrong notion o-f God-, and if they acl^nowledged any, it was the fun ; which in effecl is, the leafi irrational idolatry people can be guilty of. (i) When they liad don« their orifons, the pophar turned to me and laid, " I fee you won't join with us in any of our religious ceremonies ; but I muft tell you,'' continued he, *' that cloud is the faving of all our lives ; and ls that great fun (pointing to the luminary) is the in- llrument that draws it up, as indeed he is the pre- ferver of all our beings, VvC thinl^: ourfelves obliged to return our thanks to him/' Here he fiopped, as if he had a mind to hear what I could fay tor my- felf. I was not willing to enter into difputef, well linowing that religious quarrels are the moll pro- voking of any ; yet I thought myfelf obliged to make profeiEon of my belief in the fupreme God, nov/ I was called upon in the profefTed worflilp of^ a falfe deity. I anfwered with the moll mcdefi ref- peft I was capable of, that, that glorious planet was one of the phylical caufes of the prefervation of our beings, and of the produ(5:lion of all things ; but that he was produced himi'elf by the moft high God, the iirll caufe and author of all things in heaven and earth ; the fun only movinV by his or- der, as an inanimate being, incapable of hearing our prayers, and only operating by his diredfion. How^ ever, I offered to join with him in returning my bell thanks to the mofl high God, for creating the fun, capable by his heat to raife that cloud for the laving uur lives. Thus I adapted my anfwer, as nigh to his difcourfe as I could, yet not fo as to deny my faith ; for I could not entirely tell what to make of them as yet ; fincz I obferved, they were more myfteiious in their religious ceremonies than in any ihin^ elfe, (2) or rather this VvuS the only

thin^

58 The memoirs op

thing they were referved in. He pondered a good while on what I faid, but at length he added, " you are not much out of the way, you and I will talk this matter over another time,'' fo turned off the difcourfe ; I fuppofed it to be becaufe of the young men Handing by us, who he had not a mind fhould receive any other notions of religion but what the/ had been taught.

It was f?iu-fet by that time we came down to the grove. We had fome fmall iiights of fand, caufed by an odd commotion in the air, attended with little whirlwinds, which put us in fome apprehenfions of a fand-friower ; but he bid us take courage, fince he could not find in all his accounts, that the hur- ricanes or rains ever came in any great quantity as far as we were ; the nature of them being to drive more parallel to the equator : but he was fure we fhould have fome, and ordered us to pitch our tents as firm as we could, and draw out all our water Vcfrcls lo catcli the rain agrinlt all accidents. Wlicn this was done, and we had eat our fuppers, we re- created ourfelves in the grove, wandering about here and there, and difcourling of the nature of ihefe phaenomena. We did not care to go to reil fo foon^ having repofed ourfelves fo well that day, and had all the following night and the next day to Hay at that place. The grove grew much pleafanter as we advanced into it ; there were a great many dates and other fruits, the natural produce of Africa, but not quite fo rich as in the firfl grove. I made bold to alk the pophar, how far that grove extended, or whether there were any inhabitants. He told me, he could not tell any thing of either : that it was poflible the grove might enlarge itfclf different v/ays among the winding hills ; fince his accounts told him, there had been a rivulet of water, tho* now fwallowed up ; but he believed there were no iohabitants, fince there was no mention made of

them

SiGNOR Gatjdentio di Ltjcca. 59

tliem in his papers : nor did he believe any other people in the world, befide themfelves, knev/ the way, or would venture fo far into thofe hoj-rid in- hofpitable defarts. I afked, he - he uas fure that was the place •, or by what rule he could know how far he was come, or where he was to turn to the xig'ht or left? having a mind to learn whether he had any certain knovvledge of the longitude, which creates fuch difficulties to the Europeans. He ilopped a little at my queilions ; then faid, without any apparent helitation, " why, we know by the needle how far we vary from the north or fouth point, at leaft till we come to the tropic; (3) if not, we can take the meridian and height ot the fun, and knowing the time of the year, we can tell how near we approach to, or are off the equator." Yes, faid I ; but as there are different meridians every ftep you take, how can you tell how far you go eafl or weft, when you run either way in parallel lines (4) to the tropic or equator ? Here he flop- ped again, and either could not make any certain difcovery, or had not a mind to let me into the fe- cret. The firft was moil likely ; however, he an- fwered readily enough, and faid, " you pleafe me with your curious queftiofis, fince I find you under- Hand the difficulty : why** continued he, " all the method we have, is to obferve exaftiy how far our dromedaries go in an hour, or any other fpace of time : you fee we go much about the fame pace ; we have no flops in our way, but when v/e know of it, to refreffi ourfelves or fo, for v/hich we generally allow fo much time. (5) When we fet out from Egypt, we went due weft ; our beafts gain fo many miles an hour ; we know by that how far we are more w^eft than we were : (6) if v/e decline to the north or the fouth, we know likev/ife, how many miles w^e have advanced in fo many hours, and com- pute how much the deciiiiation takes off from

our

6o The M E M O I R S of

our goinq due weft : and tho' we can't tell to a de- monftraiive cxaiflnefs, we can tell pretty nigh/' — This was all I could get out of him at that time, which did not fatisfy the difficulty : then I afked him, how they came to find out this way, or to venture to feek out a habitation unknown to all the world befide. He anfv/ered, " for liberty and pre- fervation of their laws/' I v/as afraid of afking any further, feeing he gave fuch general anfwers.

By this time it began to be prodigious dark, for all it was full moon. (7) We had fome fudden gulls of wind that ftartled us a little. It liglitened at fuch' a rate, as I never faw in my life, tho' it wtiS tovv-ards the horizon, and drove fide-ways of us; yet it vras really terrible to fee : tlie Hafhes were fo tliick, the iky was almoft in a light fire : we made up to our tents as fall as Vv^e could: tho"* we had only the fkirts of the clouds over us, it rained pretty hard, fo that we had foon fupplied our veifels with water, and got fafe into our fhelter. The thun- der was but juft audible at a vafl diilance, and for our com. fort, dro-ie flill to the eaftv/ard. I don^t knov/ in wliat difpofitions the elderly men might be in, being accufcomed to the nature of it ; but I am fure I was in fome apprehenficn, not doubting, but if it had come directly over us, nothing could wiihiland its impetuofity. I had very little incli- nation to reil, whatever my companions had ; but pondering with myfeif, both the nature of the thing and the prodigious fkill thefe men m.ufl have in the laws of the univerfe, I ilaid v;itu impatience wait- ing the events

Pvcraarks of Signer Kliedi.

{ 1 ) Tie I-r;^ i^rsiUoricI iddatry /f^/.y could be gushy of^ .^c."] All idok*«ry being: a v;orniip of crtiiture'^, inll-tp.ci of the one fa- preme God, mud be irrational But it i*? ctrtain, and well at- tfcllcd by ancient hiftor);, that tac ealleni naions v/oi-ihlpped the

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lltcca. 6i

Tun : probably it was the firft: idolatrous wordiip that was In the world. The great benefits all nature receives from his influence i the glorious brightnefs of his rays; the variety, yet conftant te- nour,of his motions, might induce ignorant people to believe him. to be of a fuperior nature to other creatures, tho' it is evidently certain, he is limited in his perfc6lionp, and-confequently no Goo.

It is true, the ancient Egyptians, from whom thefe people

fprung, as v/ill be feen afterwards, did worfhip the fun in the mod: -early times. There was a prle^ of the fun in the patriarch Joffplfs time : and as the Egyptians were fome of the firft aftronomeis in the world, contending for antiquity with the Chaldeans : tho* both the Chaldeans and Egyptians had their knowledge fromt the defcendants of Shem^ or his father IShah^ who, by the admi- rable ftruc\ure of the ark, appears to have beenmafter of very great Iciences ; I fay, the Rgypuans being fo much addi6led to aflronomy, it is probable, that glorious luminary was the chief obje6t of their worfhip. They did not worfhip idols and bealts till long afterwards. See the learned Bocharfs Fhaleg. in Mifraim^

(2) Mvjierious in tkeir religious ceremonies^ ^c.'\ This agrees with all ancient accounts of the firil people of Egypt ; witnefs their emblems, hieroglyphics, &c. Moft of the ancient fables, under which fo many myfieries were couched, did not firft fpring from the Greeks, tho' improved by them ; but from the Egyp» tians and Chaldeans, v/ho at firft held a communication of fciences with one another, but grew to emulofity afterward^.-— The wonderful things the Egyptian Magi &.A^ in imitation of the miracles wrought by Mofes, fhew they were great artills.

(3) y^t leaji till ive came to the tropic^ ©*<-.] Experimental ph'loibphy tells us, that the needle is of little u'e in navigation; when under the line, but lies fluctuating without turniiig to any point of itfelf ', becaufe, as fome fuppofe, the current of the mag- netic efRuvia, flying from pcle to pole, has there itslorgefb axis, as the diameter of the equator is longer than the axis of the world: but v.hether this has the fame effect on the needle by 'land, which is the cafe, as it has by fea, we muft have more >certain experiments to know, tho' it is probable it may.

(4) In parallel lines to the tropic or £quator^^c^ Wherever we (land we are on the fummit of the globe with refpevSV to us. Whoever therefore thinks to go due weft, parallel to the equator or eaft, will not do fo, but will cut the line at long-run, becaufe lie makes a greater circle. Thefe men therefore, wliea they thought they went due well, were approaching to the line m.ore than they were aware of-, and fuppofing the ftrudture of the earth to be fpheroidal, v/ent up hill all the way, bating fome fmall inequalities.

(5) This muft be underftood according to the foregoing re- in ark.

^ (6) At fii-ft fight It feems to J?e eafier to fiad out the lon^itntJe H ^ by

62 Thi memoirs or

by land than by Tea, becaufe we may be mor; certain hov; we ad- vance. At lea, there are currents and tide?, and fettlngs in of the fea, which make the fhip go allant more or lefs infenfibly. As yet there has been no certain rule found to tell us, how far v/e advance due eaft or due well. The elevation of the pole, or the height of the fun fhew us, how far we decline to the north or fouth; but we have no certain rule for the eaft or weft.

(7) The full moon about the fummer folft.ice generally brings rain, and the over-floMdng of the Nile is now known to be caufed by the vaft rains in the regions near the equator.

Continuation of the Memoirs.

JL W A S mufing with myfelf on what I had heard and feen, not being able yet to guefs with any fatis- fa<ftion,what thefe people were, when an unexpeded accident Vv^as the caiife of a dilcovery, which made 3ne fee tliey were not greater Itrangers to me than I

was to myfelf. The weather was flilling hot, fo

that we had thrown cif our garments to our fhirts, and bared our breails for coolnefs fake; when there came a prodigious flafh, or rather blaze of light- ning, which flruck full againil the breafl of one of the young men oppolite to myfelf, and difcovered a bright gold medal hanging down from his neck, with the figure of the fun engraved on it, furrounded with unknown charafters ; the very fame in all ap- pearance I had feen my deceafed mother always wear about her neck, and fince her death I carried with me for her fake. I afked the meaning of that me- dal, lince I had one about me, as it appeared of the very fame make. If the pophar had been flruck with lightning, he could not have been in a greater furpiife than he was at thefe words ; " you one of

thcU

SiGMOR Gaudentio di Lucca. 63

tliefe medals I" faid he, " how in the name of v/on- der did you eome bv it ?" I told him my mother ■wore it about her neck from a little child, and with that pulled it out of my pocket. He fnatched it out of my hands with a prodigious eagerneis, and held it againll the lightning perpetually ilafhing in upon us. As foon as he faw it Vv'as the fame with the other, he cried out, " great fun, what can this mean!'' then aflced me again where I had it ; how my mother came by it ; v^'ho my mother was ; what age fhe was of Vv'hen fhe died. As foon as the vio- lence of his extafy would give me leave, I told him my mother had it ever fince fhe Vv as a little child ; that fhe was the adopted daughter of a noble mer- chant in Corlica, Vvho had left her all his effedls when m^ father married her : that fhe was married at thirt-een, and I was then nineteen, and the fecond fon, fo that I gueffed fiie was towards forty when ilie died. " It mult* be JJiphena !** cried he, with the utmofl extafy, " it mufl be flie.^' Then he caught me in his arms, and faid, " you are nov/ really one of us, being the fon of my father's only furviving daughter, my dear fifler Ijiphcna^' whofe remembrance made the tears run down the old man's cheeks very plentifully. " She was loft at Grand Cairo about the time you mention, together with a tvvun filler, who I fear is never to be heard of.'' Then I recolledled I had heard my mother fay, i^iXQ had been informed, the gentleman who adopted her for his daughter, had bought her when flie was a little girl of a Turkifh woman of that place ; that being charmed with the early figns of beauty in the child, and having no children, he adopted her for his own. " Yes," faid the pophar, *' it muft be fhe ; but what is become of the other fifter ? for" faid he, my dear fifter brought two at one unfortunate birth which coft her her life." I told him I never heard any thing of the other. Then he acquainted me H z that

64 The MEMOIRS of

ihat K;s iiHer's hufband' was the perfon wlio con- ducted the reft to viiit the tombs of their anceftors as he did now ; that the laft voyage he took, his •wife, who out of her great fondnefs had teafed and importuned liim fo much to go along with him, that tho' it were contiarj to their laws, he contrived to carry her difguifed in man's clothes like one of the young men he chofe to accompany him in the ex- pedition ; thatvUaying at Grand Cairo till the next feafon for his return, iiie proved v/ith-child of twins; and -to hisunrpeakable grief, died in child-bed; that when they carried her up to Thebes to be interred with his anceftors, of which I fhould have a more exadl infcrmaticn by and by, they were obliged to kave the children with a nurfe of the country, with £0x112 Egyptian fervants to take care of the houfe and effedts ; but before they came back, the nurfe, with her accomplices, ran away with the children, and, as we fuppofed, murdered them; riii'd the houfe of all the jev/els^ c^.nd other valuable things, and were never heard of afterwards. But it feems they thought it more for their advantage to fell the chil- dren, as we find they did by your m.other ; but what part of the v/orld the other fifter is in, or v, hether fkQ be at ail, is known only to the great author of our being. However," continued he, " we rejoice in finding thofe hopeful remains of your dear mo- ther, whofe refenribiance you carry along with you ; it was that gave me fuch a kindnefs for your per- ion the firll time I law you, with fomething, me thought, I had never obferved in any other race of people befide. But" fald he, " I deprive my com- panions and children here of the happinefs of em- bracing their oun fiefh and blood, lince we all iprung from one common father, the author of our nation, with whom you are going to be incorporated once more." Here we embraced one another with a joy that is inexpreflible. Now^ all my former fears'

SiGNOR Gaudi^ntio di Ltjcca. 6^

were entirely vanifhed : the/ I had loft the country where I was born, I had found another, of which I could no ways be afhamed, being the moll humane and civilized people I ever faw, and by all my hopes, one of the iineft countries in the world ; the only check to my happinefs was, that they were infidels. However, I was refolved not to let any confidera- tion blot out of my mind that I was a chrillian : on which account, when the pophar would have tied the medal about my neck^ as a badge of my race, I had fome difficulty in that point, for fear it fhouid be sn emblem of idolatry^ feeing them to be extremely fuperilitious ; fo I afked him, what was the meaning of the figure of the fun, with thofe un- known characters round about it : he told me the characters were to be pronounced cmahim, i, e. the fun is the author of our being, or r.ior literally, the fun is our father. Om or on, figniiies the fun, [this v/iil be explained in another place.] ab iigniiies fa- ther, im or mim^ us. This made me remember they had told me in Egypt that they were children of the fun -, and gave me fome uneafioefs at their idolairous notions ; fo I told him, I would keep it as a cogni- zance of my country, but could not acknowledge any but God to be the fupreme author of my being. " As to the fupreme author,^' faid he, " your opi- nion is little different from ours ^^^ but let us leave thefe. religious matters till another time ; we'll elofe this happy day with thankfgiving to the fu- preme being for this difcovery ; to-morrow, fince you are now really one of us, I A^ill acquaint you with our origin, and how we came to hide ourfeives ill thefe inhofpitable defarts."

H s Th'^

* Thefe people are fomcthing ]ike the Chinefe, v/ho worfhlp the mau-rial heaven or, /ky, which Ibme mjiliouaries could thick compalibk with chriftianity.

€6 The MEMOIRS o^

The reader is deftred not to cenfure or diji believe the following account of the ori^ gin and tranfmigration of thefe people^ till he has perufed the learned remarks of Si^nor Rhedi,

o

The next morning the pophar called me to him ; — " Ion," faid he, " to lulfil my promife which I made you lail night, and that you may not be like the reft of the ignorant world, who know not v/ho their forefathers and anceilors were : (i) whethe? they fprung frcm brutes or barbarians is all alike to them, provided they can but grovel on the earth as they do. You muil know therefore, as I fuppofe you remember what I told you at our firll flation; that we came originally from Egypt. When you afked me how we came to venture thro* thefe in- hofpitable defarts, I told you it was for liberty and the prefervation of our laws; but as you are now found to be one of us, I delign to give you a more particular account of your origin. — Our anceftors did originally come from Egypt, once the happieft place in the world : aitho' the name of Egypt and Egyptians has been given to that country long fines v/e came out of it, the oiiginal name of it was Mez- y.oralm, (2) from the firll man that peopled it, the father of our nation, and we call ourfelves Mezzo- Tanians from him. We have a tradition delivered down to us from our fiiil anceilors ; that when the earth firll rofe out of the water, (3) fix perfons, three men and three women, rofe along Aviih it,, either produced by. the fun, (4) or lent by the fu- pveme deity to inhabit it. That Ms^nOraim our

firfi

SiGNOR Gaxjdentio di Lucca. 67

firil founder was one of thofe iix •, who encrealing in number, made choice of the country now called Egypt, for the place of his habitation, where he fettled with Hxty of his children and grand children, all whom he brought along with him, governing them as a real father, and inilru (fling them to live with one another, as brothers of one and the fame family. (5) He v/as a peaceable man, abhorring the fhedding of blood, (6) which he faid would be punifhed by the fupreme ruler of the world : ex- tremely given to the fearch- of fciences, and contem- plation of the li-eavens. (7) It was he who was the iirft inventor of all our arts, and whatever was ufe- ful for the government of life, fprung from him, — - tho' his grandfon Thaotk (8) rather excelled him, particularly in the more fublime fciences. Thus our ancellois- lived for four hundred years, encreaf- ing and fpreading over all the land of Egypt, and" abounding with the bleillngs of peace and know- ledge, without guile or deceit, neither doing or fear- ing harm from any, till the wicked defcendants of the other men, called Hickfoes, (9) envying their happinefs and the richnefs of their country, broke in upon them like a torrent, deltroying all before them, and taking polTeffion of that happy place our anceilors had rendered fo flourifhing. The poor, innocent Mezzo rani an s abhorring, as I faid, the fhedding of bloody and ignorant of all violence, were Hain like fheep all over the country ; their v/ives and daughters violated before their eye^. Thofe their mercilefs enemy fpared, were made ilaves to work and till the earth for their new lords.

Secretary. — Here the inquifitors interrupted him, and alked him., whether he thought it unlaw- ful in all cafes to reiift force by force ; or whether the law of nature did not allow the Mezzoranians to refill thofe cruel invaders even to the fhedding of blood J as- alfo to puniHi public makfadors v/ith-

death

6B The MEMOIRS or

death for the prefervation of the whole. There in- tent was, as the/ are cautious of any new opinions, to know whether he might not be a dogmatizer, and advance fome erroneous notions, either hy holding that to be lawful which was not fo, or denying things to be lawful, which really may be allowable by the light of nature.

Gaudentio. — Doubtlefs they might lawfully have refilled, even to the fhedding of blood in that cafe, as public criminals may be put to death. I only acquaint your reverences with the notions pe- culiar to thefe people. As for the punifhment of their criminals, your reverences will fee, when I come to their laws and cuflcms, that they have other ways and means of punifhing crimes as effe(f^ual as putting to death ; tho' living entirely within them- felves, free from all mixture and commerce with other people; they have preferved their puritive in- nocence in that refpecfl: to a very great degree.

Inquisitor. — Go on.

Gaudentio. — The pophar continuing his rela- tion, added ; but what was moil intolerable v/a?, that thefe impious liickfoes forced them to adore men, beaii:s, and even infedls, as gods; nay, and fome to fee their children offered in facrifice to thofe in- human deities. (lo) This dreadful inundation fell at iirll only on the lower parts of Egypt, which were then the moft ilourifhing : as many of the dif- trefTed inhabitants as could efcape their cruel hands, fied to the upper parts of the country, in hopes to find there fome little refpite from their misfortunes ; but, alas ! what could they do ? They knew no ufe of arms ; neither w^ould their laws fuffer them to deftroy their own fpecies ; yet expected every hour to be devoured by their cruel enemies. Th-e coun- try to which they were now retired was too fmall for them, if they could have enjoyed it in peace. The heads of the families in fuch diflrefs were di- vided

SiGxop. Gaudentio di Lucca. 69^

vided in their councils, or rather they had no coun- cil to follow : fome of them lied into the neigh- bouring defarts, which you have feen are very dif- mal on both iides tlie upper part of that kingdom ; they were difperfed like a ilock of fheep fcattered by the ravenous wolves. The conflernation was fo great, they were refolved to fly to the farthell parts of the earth, rather than fall into the hands of thofe inhuman monfters. The greatefl part of thtnt agreed to build fhips, and try their fortunes by fea. Our great ^culiQv, Meiizonmn^ had taught them the art of making boats, (11) to crofs the branches of the great river [Nile ;] which fome faid he had learned by being preferved in fuch a thing from a terrible flood, that overflowed all the land p' which infhrument of their prefervation they fo improved afterwards, that they could crofs the lefTer fea (12) without any difficulty. This being refolved on, they could not agree v/here to go ; fome being refolved to go by one fea, fome by the other. However they fe all hands to work, fo that in a year's time they had built a vafi: number of vefTels, trying them back- wards and forwards along the coafts, mending what w^as deficient, and improving what they imagined might be for their greater fecurity. They thought nov\", or at leall their eagernefs to avoid their ene- mies made them think, they could go with fafety all over the main fea.

As our anceflors had chiefly given themfelves to the fludy of arts and fciences, and the knowledge of nature, they were the moft capable of fuch enter- prifes of any people in the world. But the appre- henfion of ail that v/as miferable being jufl frelh before their eyes, quickened their induftry to fuch' a degree, as none but men in the like circUmltances,

can

* In all appearance this muft have been Noah's flood, whici*- 'tis much Si^npr Rhedi palT^s over in his remarks..

70 The memoirs of

can have, a juil idea of. Moil of tliefe men were thofe who had fled in crov/ds from lower Egypt. The natural inhabitants of the upper parts, tho' they were in a very great conilernation, and built ihips as faft as they could, yet their fears were not fo im- mediate, efpecially feeing theHickfoes remained yet quiet in their nev/ poffeliions. But news being brought them that the Hickfoes began to ftir again, more fwarms of their cruel brood itiil flocking into that rich country, they refolved now to delay the time no longer, but to commit themfelves, wives and children, with all that was mofl dear and pre- cious, to the mercy of that inconftant element, rather than truft to the barbarity of their own fpecies. They who came out of the lower Egypt, were refolved to crofs the great fea, (13) and with immenfe labour were forced to carry their materials partly by land, till they came to the outermoft branch of the Nile, fmce their enemies coming over the Ifthmus, tho' they hindered them from going out of their country by land, unlefs by the defarts, yet had not taken polTefiion of that part of the country.

It is needlefs to recount their cries and lamenta- tions at leaving their dear country- I fhall only tell you, that they ventured into the great fea, w^hich they croffed, and never flopped till they cam.e to another fea, (14) on the fides of w^hich they fixtd their habitation, that they might go off again in cafe they were purfued. This we learnt from the account of our anceftors, who met wdth fome of them that came to viiit the tombs of their deceafed parents, as we do : but it is an immenfe time fince ;

we never heard any m^ore of them. The other

part, who were much the greater number, went down the lelTer fea, (15) having built their fhips on that fea; they never flopped or touched on either fide, till they came to a narrow part of Lt, (16)

whick

SiGNOR Gaubentio di Lucca. 71

•wKicli led them into the vail ocean ; there they turn- ed off to the left into the eaftern fea, (i';) but whe- ther they were fwallowed up in the mercilefs abyfs, or carried into fome unknown regions, we cannot tell, for they were never heard of more * only of late years we have heard talk at Grand Cairo, of a very numerous and civilized nation in the eaftern parts of the world, whofe laws and cuftoms have fome refemblance to ours •, but who and what they are, we cannot tell, iince we have never met with ^ny of them.

Remarks of Signer Rhedi.

(i) who knoiv not tuho their ancejlors, ©"r ] It would cer- tainly be a great fatisfaflion to perlbns to know from what race of people, country, or family they fprang originally. This igno- rance is owing chiefly to the barbari tramontani,* and other northern nation?, who have from tinae to time over-run the face cF Europe^ leaving a mixture of their fpawn in all parts of it, fo that no one knows whether he came originally from Scythia or Afia ; from a civilized nation, or from the greatefl brutes : and tho** wars and invafions have deftroyed or interchanged the in- habitants of mod countries, yet thir man's cbfervation is a juft cenfure of the negledV of mod people, with refpe£\: to their ge- nealogy and knowledge of their anceftors, where they have been ftttkd in a country for feveral ages. But there are matters of greater moment in this man's relation, true or falfe, which lead us into fome curious remaiiis of ancient hiflory.

(a) Mez.craimfrvm the firft man, ^c.'] The original name of Egypt wa^ Mi/raim ; from Mifrairo, Meforaim, or Mctforaim, £s the learned Bociart explains it, lib, 4. geographia fa era in Mifraim. Monfieur du Piu\ hiftory of the old teftament, chap, vi. and others.

All ancient authors agree, that it was once the richeft and hap- pieft country in the world ^ fiourifhing with plenty, and even learning, before the patriarch ylbrahain^ time. There is a very remarkable fragment of Eupolemur, an ancient heathen writer, taken from the Babylonian monuments, preferved by Eujebtus.

lib.

* Signer Rhedi being an Italian, one can't wonder he fpeak.T fo contemptibly of the northern people f, the Italians call them all barbari.

72 The memoirs of

lib. 9. Prsparat'. F.van, The whole fragment in our mcAer tongue figtiifies, that according to the Babylonians, the firft was Belui^ the fame with Kronos or Saturn : from him came Ham^ or Cham^ the father of Chanaan^ brother to Mijraim, father of the Egyptians.

(3) The garth rofe out of the <water^ ©*c.] This is an obfcurjc notion of Noak''^ flood, known to all nations, at Icall the eaftern, ■as appear<^ by the oldcfi: remains; of which fee Bochart in that article, lib. i. the earth role out of the water, or the water funk from the earth. — Thefe people might miftakc fometh.ng of that undoubted and ancient tradition. But Mijraim could not be ignorant of the flood, his father Ham having been in the ark, whether ignorance or other motives made his pofterity vary in the account; but it is evident the ancients had a notion of the ge- neral deluge, as may eafily be proved by the remains of heathen authors bearing teflimony to the fcriptnre account of it.

(4) Euher produced by the Jun^ ^c."] The ancient Egyptians thought men, as well as infc6t?, were produced out of the flime of the Nile by the h'eat ofthe fun, and called themfelves Abori- gines, as feveral other nations did ; tho^ this wife man is inclined to think they were created by God^ as it is evident and certain they were ; for fmce we fee one fingle infe£t cannot be produced without a caufe, it is nonfenfe, as well as impofllble, to imagine an infinite feries of men and animals could be produced without a feparate caufe; on which account atheifm is one of the moft foolifli and abfurd notions in the world.

(5) Herodotus tells us, the Egyptians pretended to be the firfl inhabitants of the earth ; tho' the Ethiopians contended with them for antiquity. I muil quote tlie words in latin, out of Laurenv&'j Valii\ tranflation, becaufe I have him not in Greek, — Omniutn Hoviinim priores fe ext'i tjjfe arbitrahantur^ — they efleemed thrm- felves, fays he, to have been the iirll of all men. Herodot. lib. 2. Euterpe.

(6) Of t'e Jams family., ^r.] It is certain from Bochart^ and other learne i authors, that the Egyptian government, as weJll as that of moft nations, was at firft patriarchal, tillJV7;«rc/found- cd the firft kingdom or empire in the world; whole example ethers followed according to their power. However, the patri- archal government was foon broke in upon in Egypt, lince they had kings m.Abraham and Jfaac''s, tiine, as we learn from the old teftament. See Bochjrt^^.s^togT&vh\2i facra.

(•?) Jhhorrittg the foedding of blood, Gff.] The cele-brated bifhop of Meaux, in the third part of his univerral hiftory, gives .2. wonderful dcfcription of the riftice and pitty of the firit Egyp- tians, who had fuch a horror of fhcdding men's blood, that they punished their criminal? after they were dead; which was as iiiucl~i /.'; t^rrorsm.^ conlidcrin^; their f iperilitio>is xeverence for

' their

SiGNOR Gaudentio i?i Lucca. 73

their dcceafed friends and parents, as if they liad been punifhed when alive. The reafon why the ancient moral heathens ab- horred the (hedding of blood, might be on account that Noah\ Jfons living before the deluge, knew the wickedneis of the world was the canfe of that dreadful judgment : and (hedding of blood being the firfl crime puniihed by God, they might take warning by fuch terrible examples, tho' their impiety, in fome nations, foon obfcured this innate light of nature : particularly, the de- fcendants oi Ham^ all but thin Mifraim, who, with his family, by all accounts firft peopled Egypt, and tliey were noted for juftice and knowledge. It will be made evident in the fubfequent re- marks, that thefe Hickfoes were the defcendants of wicked Cla- 7ir.an or Cufo^ who deltroyed the peaceable ftate of the firft. Egyp- tians, and introduced idolatry among them, which made great numbers of them fly into other parts of the world to fave them- ielves.

(7) Extremely given to the fear ch offcience!^ &c ] The fame learned bifhop of Meaux, and other hiftorians, aflure us, it is a thing well known to all the learned, that arts and fcience<; were brought to very great pcrfei^lion in the earlicil times in Egypt. Alofct was inftrucled in the fciences of the Egyptians. Triptok- ffitis^ the founder of agriculturr, came out of Egypt ; Bacchus^ the inventor of wine, according to the ancients, came out of Egypt, or Lybia, which borders upon it; tho' it was full learned from Noah : Pythagoras^ and other learned men, went into Egypt to be inftru<^ed by the priefls, &c. HeroJoius fays the fame himfelf.

(8) Hit grand/on Tha-oth.'] This T/.^-c;//?', the famous philo- fopher of the Egyptians, was before Mercury ^ or Trijmegijlus^ tho' fome take him to be the fame. All allow him to be ex- tremely ancient, but cannot fix the time when he lived. Hjflo- rians murder his name at a ftrange rate : Bochart calls him Ta' antus^ lib. z. chap. cxxi. Clemcm Alex. Ub. 6. Strom, fays, he wrote 40. books of allrology, geography, phyfic, policy, theo- logy, religion and government. JoJ'eph Ben Gofian de Divt ficnt Pentium calls him 7W/j ^ fome call him Theut^ others 7>«/, Taut^ 'I'hcth.^^c. hut according to this man, his name was T^haoth. it is undoubted, however, that he was the great mafter of the Egyptians •, but derived hi? learning from Noah.,viho might have the knowledge of arts and fciences from the antediluvian world, or from the columns of Sethy which Jofephus fays, contain the principles of adrology, and were erefted before the flood by the Ticphews of Sath'., one of which columns, as he fays, remained in vSyria In his time. Jofeph. lib. %. an. c. 2.

(9) Called Hickfoes^ '&€.'] The fame 7<?/>/)-W, lib. 2, contra Appian, fays, that Hickfoes, or Hycloes, an old Egyptian word iKnifics, King Shepherds, or King of Beafts, given them by the nativ.' EgyptiaiiSj as a name of difgrace and contempt.—

I It

74 The memoirs op

II is out of all controverly, that there was a great revolution iti Egypt about four hundred years after the flood, or a little before 'y/habam's time. Monfietif' du Pin makes the time from the flood to /^^r^/'«;?/s birth three hundred and fifty year?, and about four hundred to his being called by God. It is certain alfo, therfi were kings in Egypt in Abraham^ time : It is probable thefe kings were the Hickfoes, or King Shepherd?, who altered the government of the ancient Egyptians, and continued about five kings reigns : for when the patriarch Jcjeph called his father and brethren into Egypt, he hid them aik the land of Gofhen to in- habit; becaufe, faid he, all Shepherds are an abomination to the Egyptians: by which it appears, the Shepherds were lately driven out. In all likeHhood they were thefe kings who introduced idolatry and the adoration of brute bealb among the Egyptians, tor which reafcn they called thetii in derifion. King Shepherds^ or King Reafte. — The greai Bccbart, in his Phaleg, looks upon this revolution in Egypt to have been before Abraham'?, time, and fo far from being a fiction, that he fays in exprefs words, Ccjlucos ^ Capthoraos ( v/hom he proves to be the people of Colchos, for uli il is fo far from Egypt) ex Egypto migrajfe certnm ejl ante Ahrahami tempora : it is certain, fays he, that the Cafluci and Cap- thorsei v/cnt out c f Egypt before Abraham''^ time. Bochart Phaleg^ jib. 4. c. 31. Herodotus in Euterpe fays, that the people of CoU chos were originally Egyptians; tho' fome fay, they went back fome ages after, and fettled in Palelline, and were after called that Philiftines.

(10) Their children offered a facrl fee to thofe inhuman deities "^ Thefe Hickfoes being in all appearance the d«.fcendant.s of wicked CJ:>nman or Ciijh^wtxt fo abominably impious, as to facrifice hu* TYjan vldims and children to their falfe Ck>ds; and even were the fjil> authors of all impiety and idolatry. *

(11) TJje art of making boats ^ ^r,] 'Tis highly probable the Egvptians had the knowledge of fliipping long before the Greeks, v/hofe fineft ihip was Argo^ built by J^fin^ to fetch the golden fleece from Colchos. The firll notion of (hipping was undoubt- edly taken from the ark. The Egyptians were neceflitated to iTjake ufe of boats, by reafnn of the annual overflowing of the river Nile, and to pafs the different branches into which that fa- mous river divides itfelf in the lower Egypt. The Sidonianp, •Kvhom Bochart proves to be the dtfcendants of Chanaan^ had the life of (hipping, as he alfo proves, before the children of Ifrael departed out of Egypt.

( 1 a) The lejfcr jta.l Egypt is bounded on the one fide by the end of the Mtditeiranean ; on the other fide by the Red-fea, di- viding it from Arabia •, this he calls the leller fea, as being much narrower than the Mediterranean.

(13) This £reat fea, ad difiicguinied frcm t^ kfs, muft K

SlGNOR CaUBENTIO DI LuCCA. 75

the Meciilerranean. Thofc; who fled by that Tea, miift be thofe V. ho went to Cokhos; they could not go by land over the Illmu?, becaufe the Hicklbes poured in upon them that way : we mud not fuppole they went all the way by lea to Cokhos, quite round by the ftreights of Hellefpont-, they mult ciofs the end of the Mediterranean, and went by land the fliorteft way they could, till they came to the borders of the Euxine-fea. It is almofi incre- dible men fhould go lb far to feek an habitation. But Dochart fays, it i? certain the people of Cclchos came oat of Egypt; they n>aft ihtrefore have been drove out by ibrae terribie enemies. You will fay, why may not this firft revolution in Egypt, which Bochari fpeaks of, have been made by the great Semi mini s^vnf^ to Nims the Ton of Nlmrodf It is anfv/ered in the firit place, bccaule Joj'ephus calh; the firit invaders of Egypt, King SLepherdsy ■which cannot agree with the great heroine S-miramis. Secondly, becaufe it is not credible, notwithilanding the contrary opinion ot' moft hirtorian?, that Nmus^ the hufband of Semiramis^ could not be Jb early as? they make him to be, /. e. the fon oiNimrod^ but fome other N'mus long after him ; for tho' Semiramis conquered Egypt, and afterwards lofl: her army againd the yEthiop-ans, this- could not be Toon after the flood, becaufe hiilorians dckribe tliat army to confi ft of three hundred thoufand men, inftruded in difcipline after a military manner, armed with warlike chariots, ^c. as were the ^Ethiopians ag.ainft her, and even fiiperior tf> her ; I fay, it is not credible fucli great armies conid be raited fo foon after the flood, if fhe was daughter-in-law to Ni'.nrod, the great hunter, who was the fon of Oifby and the great grandfon to Noah.

(14) Jmther fej^'\ i, e. The Euxine fea.

(15) The lejsrjea.l i.e. The Red-fea. There were feveral other revolutions in Egypt, as, by the ^Ethiopians after Semlra- mis was conquered ; who were expelled again, either by the great Sifilftris^ of whom Herodotus relates fuch famous exploits, or a little before by his predeceffor. The Chanaanitcs alio,, who were driven out of Paleftine by Jojhua., conquered part of it, as we fliali fee afterwards. Long after that, it was fubdued by Nebu^ chodonojor^ who deftroyed the renowned city of Thebes with her hundred gates. Bochart in Ninive. Then the Perfians, under Cambjfes the fon of Cyrus ths Great. In fine, the Romans made a province of it in AuguJ}us\ Time. Strako fays of that famous city of Thebes, at prefent, fays he, it is^ but a poor village.

Atque 'vetus Thebe centum jacet obruta portis.

I ^x cri Juven xSat. 15,

1 !6} Itey came to a narroiv part of it., (sT^.] This mud be

riie llreightsofBabelmandei, which kt them into the vafl eallcni

ocean.

( i ; } rhej^ned off tj the Jeft^ (^c'.] It is likely, that colony ^ i * was

76

The memoirs op

was carried to China; for let v-hat will come of this nianV re- lation«:,thel'e are very ftronp; reafonsto believe, that theChiriefe, r.ctv.'ilhftanding the vatl dillance fro-m Fgypt, came originally from that country, about the time of the invafion of the King Shepherds, which v/as before Jacob and his fons went into the land of Egypt : for whoever compares the account given by the learned bifhop ofMeanx, in the third p?rt of his ur.iverfai hiftory, of the lives and manners of the firft Egyptians with thofe of the Chinefe, will find them to agree in a great many points : as ii\y th-eir boailed antiquity — zd, their fo early knovv^lcdge of ^rts and fcitnccs — 3d, their veneration i'oj learned men, v/ho have the preference before others — ^t-h, their policy — 5th, their unac- countable ib perdition for their deceafed parents — 6;h, their an- nual vifitrng the family of their ancefl:ors — 7th, their peaceaMc dirpofjtions — 8th, their religinus worfliip. As for this lali, it is v/cll kn*wn, the firft Egyptians worfliipped the fun, long before the gcds Apis, Ifts, and Ar.ubis were introduced among them by their idolatrous invaders. And the Chinefe, to this day, v/orlh.ip the material heaven, as is feen in the condemnation of the jefuil*?, by Clem. XI : laftiy, the ufe of pyramids in China, v.'hich were like ancient idols among the Chinefe. See the account of thera* in Moreri.X The only difficulty is to know how they got from ?^g;ypt to Chin^, which is not f<?-infupportablc as people may ima- gine. It is certain, the Egyptians, as hath bfeen remarked, had a very early knowledge of navigation. It is certain alfo, that in thofe barbarous invnfions, the invaders of kingdoms alrnoft deftroyrd all before them. Since we find therefore in the mod ancient hiftories, that there was a moft. terrible revolution in Egypt, about that time m.ade by the people, whofe cuftom.s the Egyptians had in abomination, the Chinefe mTght feek their for- tune by fea, and might be carried beyond thePerlran gulph, till they came to Cochin China, from whence they might get into the main continent, and fo people that vaft empire, preferving their ancient laws and cuftoms inviolable. So that whatever becomes of this man's relation, 'tis extremely probable the Chi- nefe came firft from Egypt.

i. e. Pyramids^ J Editio Cleric^

Condnuatioia

SieNOR GAirrJENTio i>i Lucca. 77

Continuation of the Memoirs.

JL H E father of our nation, lince we feparated ourfelves from the reft of the world, who was prieil of the fun at No-om, (i) called afterwards by thofe xmifcreants No-Ammon, (2) becaufe of the temple of Hammoni was not aileep in this general coniler- iiation ; but did not as yet think they would come up ^fo high into the land. However, he thought proper -to look out for a place to fecure himfelf and fa- jnily, in cafe of need. He was the defcendant, in a rdirefl: line, from the great Tha-oth \ and was perfedl- iy verfed in ail the learned fcienccs of his ancellorf;. He guefied there mull certainly be fome habitable country beyond thefe dreadful fands that furrounded him, if he could but find a way to it, where he might ifecure himfelf and family,, at leaft till thofe troubles were over; for he did not at that time think of leav- ing his native country for good and all : but like a true father of his people, which the name of pophar implies, he was refolved to venture his own life, ra- ther than expofe his whole family to be loft in thoie . difmal defarts. He had live fons and five daughters, married to as many fons and daughters of his de- ceafed brother : (3) his two eldert fons had evea g;rand.chiidi*en, but his two youngeil fons as then had no children. He left the government and care of all to his eideft fon,. in cafe he fhould mafcarrv, r'nd took his two youngexl fons, who mirht beil be

pared, along with him. Having provided t]- em- : elves with water for ten days, with bread and d'ied i'uits, juft enough to fubfift on, he was refolved to try fi^ve days journey end-ways thro' thofe fands ; '^tA if he faw no hopes of making a difccvery i^ I 3 that

^8 The MEMOIRS oy

that tinle, to return again before his provifions were fpent,and then try the fame method towards another quarter. In Ihort, he fet out with all fecrecy, and pointing his courfe dire(5lly wellward, the better to guide himfeif, he came to the iirll grove that we arrived at, in a little more time than we took up in coming thither. Having now time enough before him., and feeing there was water and fruits in abun- dance, he examined the extent of that delicious vale: he found there was room enough to maintain a great many thoufands in cafe they fhould increafe, and be forced to Hay there feme generations, as in eife«5l they did. After this they laid in provifions as be- fore, with dates and fruits of the natural produce of the earth, finer than ever were feen in Egypt, ta encourage them in their tranfmigration, and fo fet out again for his native country.

The time prefixed for his return was elapfed by his Hay in viewing the country, fo that his people had entirely given him for loft : but the joy for his imexpefled return, with the promifing hopes of fucK a fafe and happy retreat, m?.de them unanimoully refolve to follow him. Wherefore, on the firfL news of the Hickfces being in motion again, they packed up all their effects and provifions as pri- vately as they could, but particularly all the mo- numents of arts and fciences left by their anceftors, with notes and obfervations of every part of their dear country, which they were going to leave, but hoped to fee again when the ftorm was over. They arrived without any confiderable difafter, and re- folved only to live in tents till they could return into their native country.

As they increafed in number, they defcended fur- ther into the vale, which there began to fpread it- felf diiferent ways, and provided them with all ne- cefi'aries and conveniencies of life; fo that they lived in the happieft baniiliment they could wiih,

but

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lucca* >;9

but never ilirred out of that vale for feveral yean for fear of difcovery. The pophar finding himfeif grow old (having attained almolt to two hundred years of age,) and being hale and flrong (4) for his years, refolved to viiit his native country once more before he died, and learn v/hat news he could for the common intereft ; fo he and two more dif- guifed themfelves and repaffed the defarts again. — They jull ventured at iirll into the borders of the country ; but, alas ! when he came there, he found all the country over-run by thofe barbarous Hick- foes. All the poor remains of the Mezzoranians were made flaves ; and thefe barbarians had begun to build habitations, and eftabliih themfelves, as if they deiigned never more to depart the country. — « The had made No-om one of their chief towns, (5) where they eredled a temple to their Ram God, (6) calling it No-Hammon ; (7) with fuch inhuman lav«rs and cruelties, (8) as drew a flood of tears from his aged eyes. However, being a wife man, and of great foreiight, he eafiiy imagined by their tyran- nical way of living, they could not laft long in that ilate without fome new revolution. When he had made what obfervations he could, and had vilited the tombs of his forefathers, he returned to the vale^ and died in that place where you faw the pyramid built to his memory.

Not many generations after, according as he had forefeen, the natives being made defperate by the ty- rannical oppreilions of the Hickfoes, were forced to break in upon their primitive laws, which forbad them fhedding of blood ; made a general infurrec- tion, and calling in their neighbours round about, fell upon the Hickfoes when they leaft expeiHed it, and drove them out of the country. They were headed by a brave m.an of a mixed race, his mother being a beautiful Mezzoranian, and his father a Sa- bean. (9) After this young conc[ueror had driven

out

Bo The MEMOIRS of

out the Hickfoes, he ellabliihed a new form of go* vernment^ making himfelf king over his brethren^, but not after the tyrannical manner of the Hickfoes, and grew very powerful.

Our anceftors fent perfons from time to time ta inform themfelves how matters went. They found the kingdom in a llourifhing condition indeed, un- der the conquering Sofs, (lo) for fo he was called. He and his fuccefTors had made it one of the moil powerful kingdoms of the earth; but the lavv's were different from what they had been in the time of our anceftors, or even from thofe the great So/s had ef- tablifhed. Some of his fuccelTors began to be very tyrannical •, they made ilaves of their brothers, and invented a new religion; fome adoring the fun, fome the gods of the Hickfoes , fo that our anceftors, tho' they might have returned again, as they could not think of altering their laws, chofe rather to con- tinue ftill unknown in that vale under their patri- archal government. Neverthelefs, in proceis of time they encreafed fo much, that the country was not capable of maintaining them, fo that they had been obliged to return had not another revolution in Egypt forced th^m to feek out a new habitation. This change was rrade by a race of ]jeople called Cnanim, (ii) 'as wicked and barbarous in efteJl, "but more politic than the Hickfoes ; tho^ fome faid originally they were the fame people, who beinc;' driven out of their own country, by others more powerful than themfelves, came poudng in, not only over all the land of Mezreaim, but all along the coaft of both feas, deftroying all before ihem, with greater abominations than the Hickfoes had ever been guilty of; a faithlefs and molt perfidious race of men that corrupted the innocent manners (12) of the whole earth. Here our fore-fathers were in the nioft dreadful confiernation imaginable. There was now no prof[:>ed of ever returning into their ancient

countrv :

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lxjcca. 8i

country : they were furrounded Vv ith defarts on all lides : the place they were in be2:s.n to be too nar- row for fo many thoufands as they were encreafed to ; nay, they did not know but the wicked Cnanim, the boldefl and moft enterprifuig naiicn under the fun (13) might find them out feme time or other. — Being in this diftrefs, they refolved to feek out a new habitation ; and to this end they compared all the notes and obfervations on the heavens, the ccurfe of the fun, the feafons and nature of the climate, and whatever elfe might dir'evfl them what courfe to lleer. They did not doubt but that there nlight be feme habitable countries in the midll of thofe vafl defarts, peihaps as delicious as the vale they lived in, if they could but come at them. They fent out fome perfons to mvake difcoveiies, but without fuc- cefs: the fands were too vail to travel over without water, and they could find no fprings nor rivers. At length the moxl fagacious of them began to refleifl, that the annual overflowing of ihe great liver Kile, whofe heed could never be found out, muft proceed from fome prodigious rains which fell fome-viheie fouthward of them about that time of the year; which rains, if they could but luckily time and meet with, might not only fupply them wiih v/ater, but alfo render the country fertile where they fell.

Accordingly the chief pophar, afTifted with fome of the wifeft men, generoufly refolved to run all rifques to fa\ e his people. They computed the ex- adt feafon when the Nile overflowed, and allowed for the time the waters muft take in coming down fo far as Egypt. They thought therefore, if they could but carry water enough to fupply them till they met with thefe rains, they would help them to go on further. At length five of them fet out with ten dromedaries, carrying as much water and provi- fions as might ferve them for fifteen days to bring them back again in cafe there were no hopes. The/

Heered

fin .The memoirs of

Iteered tlieir courfe as we did, tho* not quite fo e.i[- aifl the firft time, till thej came to the place where we are noM^. Here, as their obfervations tell us (4) they found a little rivulet, which is iince fwallowed up by the fands ; they filled their veffels, and went up to obferve as we did : but feeing the iigns of the great hurricanes, that which v/as our greateit encou- lagement, had like to have driven them into defpair; for the pophar knowing the danger of being over- whelmed (ii the fands, thought of nothing but fly- ing back as faft as he could, fearing to be fwallow- ed up in thofe ilifiing v/hirlpools. This apprehen- lion made him lay afide all thoughts of proceeding towards that climate ; and now his chief care was how to get back again with fafety for himfelf and his people. But finding all continue tolerably fe- rene where they were, they made a halt in order to make fome further obiervations. In the mean time, they reflecfted that thofe hurricanes mult be fore- runners of tempells and rain *, then they remembered that no rain, or what was very inconiiderable, ever fell in Egypt, (15) or for a great way fouth of it, till they came within the tropics ; fo they concluded that the rains mufl run parallel Vvith the equator, both under it, and for fome breadth on both fides, till they met the rife of the rive Nile, and there caufed thofe vafl inundations, that were fo hard to be accounted for by other people: that in fine, thofe Tains mull continue a confiderable while, and pro- bably, tho' beginning with tempefts, might continue in fettled rain capable of being pafTed thro* r then he had firll refolved to venture back again to the firf^ vale ; but being a man of great prudence, he pre- fently confidered, that as he could not proceed on his way without rains, fo he could not come back again but by the fame help, which coming only at one feafon, muft take up a whole year before he could return. However, he was refolv-ed to venture

SiGNOK GaUDENTIO DI LuCCA. S^

on, not boubting if he could but find a habitable country, he fhould alio find fruits enough to fubfift on, till the next feafon : therefore, he ordered two of his companions to return the fame way they came to tell his people not to expedl him till the next year, if providence fhould bring Jiim back again : but if he did not return by the lime of the over- iiowin^ of the Nile, or thereabouts, then they might give him over for loft, and mufl never attempt that v/ay any more. They took their leave of one ano- ther, as if it were the lafc adieu, and fet out at the fame time *, tv/o of them for their home in the firft vale, and the other three for thofe unknown regions, being deftitute of all other helps but that of a cou- rageous mind. The three came back to this place, where it thundered and lightened as it does now : but the p©phar obferved it ilill tended f^de- ways, and guelTed, when the firil violence was over, the rains might be more fettled. The next day it fell out as he forefaw •, as foon as he perceived that, he recom- mended himfelf to the great author of our being, and launched boldly out into that vaft ocean of fands and rain, fteering his courfe fouthwefl, rather in- clining towards the fouth. They went as far as the heavy fands and rains^would let them, till their dro- medaries could hardly go any further : then they pitched their tents and refreilied themfelves jufl enough to undergo new labour, v/ell knowing ail their lives depended on their expedition. They ob- ferved the fands to be of a different kind from what they had been hitherto, fo fine, that any gull of Vt/ind mult overv/helm man and beaft, only the rains had clogged and laid them.

Not to prolong your expe6iation too much, thrs they went on for ten days, till the rains began lo abate, then they faw their lives or deaths would loon he determined. The eleventh day the ground began to. grow harder in patchesj wiih heie and theTe a

liitle

«4 The memoirs op

little mofs on tlie furface, and now and then a fniall "Viithered fhrub. This revived their hopes, that they fiiouli! find good land in a Ihort time, and in effecfl the foil changed for the better eyerj Hep ihey took ; and now they began to fee liule hills covered with grafs, and the valleys fink down as if there might be brooks and rivers. The twelfth and thirteenth days cleared all their doubts, and brought them into a country, which tho' not very fertile, had both wa- ter and fruits, with a hopeful profpe^ farther on of hills and dales, all habitable and flourifhing. Here they fell proflrate on the earth, adoring the creator of all things, who had conduced them fafe thro' fo many dangers, and killing the ground which was to be their common nurfe, for them, and, as they hoped, for all their poflerity. When they had re- poied themfeives for fome days, they proceeded fur- ther into the country, which they found to mend upon them the more they advanced into it. They J. new they were not to return till next year, fo they fought the propereft place for their habitation. They fet up marks at every moderate diftance not to lofe their way back again. They made for the high- €il hills they could fee, from whence they perceived an immenfe and delicious country every way; but to their greater fatisfadion, no inhabitants. They wandered thus at pleafure thro' thofe natural gar- dens, where there was a perpetual fpring in fome kinds of the produce of the earth, and the ripcnefs of autumn with the mofl exquilire fruits in others. —They kept the moft exa(ft obfervaiions poflible, which ev£r way they went: there were not only fprings and fountains in abundance, but as they guefTed, for they kept the higher ground, the heads of greats rivers and lakes, fome of which they faw, till they were fatisiied there was room enough for •uhole nations Vvithout any danger, as they could findy of being diilurbed. By tiidr cbftrvation of

the

Si^NOR Gaudentio di Lucca. 85

i]\e fun, they were nigher the equator than they had imagined, (16) fo that they there paffed the mid- dle fpace between the tropic and the line. Being tome baclr to their firft itation, they there waited the proper feafon for their return. The rains came fom^nhing fooner than the year before, becaufe they M^ere further wellv/ard. The hurricanes were no- thing like what they were in the vail fands. As ibon a^s they began to fix in fettled rains, they ftt out again as before, and in twenty days time, from, their laft fetting out, happily arrived at the place where they left their dear friends and relations, whofe joy for their fafe and happy arrival was greater than I can pretend to defcribe.

Thus this immortal hero accomplifhed his great undertaking, fo much more glorious than all the victories of the greateft conquerors, as it was pro- je;^ed, formed and executed by his own wifdom and courage-; not by expofing and facriiicing the lives of thoiifands of his fubjetfl:, perhaps greater mejoi than himfelf, but by expofing bis own life for the fafety of thofe that depended on him.

Remarks of Slgnor Rhedi^

(i) Pneji of No-cm.] No-om, or No-on, fignlHes Mezzora=

•cian, or in the old Egyptian language, the houfe of the fun.

Their word-> are made up of monofyllables, put together like tht: Chinefe, which -is another reafon why the Chinefe ought to be looked upon a^ a colony of the Egypri ins. FiJe the remarks of the foregoing part of this relation. The patriarch 7^r/>,^ married the daughter of the prieil of On; which feveral learned men lay, is th£ fame with Heliopoli?, or city of the fun, FromiV^, cames the Egyptiazi Niir.:7j or divifions ©f the country, which the great B^r-

S6 The MEMOIRS o?

charty In his Fhaleg. fays Is an Egyptian, not a Greek word, tho' Dynajiy is Greek. . Bochart^ lib, 4. c. 24. Hence very likely came theNomades and Numid'£, from their wandering and fre- quently chang-ing their habitation, or names ^ the firtl and moii ancient of all nations lived thnf,

( Z ) Called it No-bam or No-Hamn:on^ That is, the hcnfe or tem- ple 01 Ham or Hammon; or Charnoon or C/:ujn, as Boclart varies it. This Hatn was the Tyrian Jupiter^ and in this place was at* terwards fituated the great city of Thebes, as has been rbferved before; called by the Greeks, Diofpolis, or, the city oi Jupiter^ Cadviuf, who was of Thebes, in Paleftine, heing driven out Trom thence by Jcjhua^ built it, but v/as driven out from it, and forced to retire to Tyre, from whence he conducled a colony of Tyriaa?, or banilhed Chanaanitts, into Beotia,'v/here he,baiit Thcbe? alfo, Dr rather the citadel of Thebes, called Cadmeia. Fide Boclart ^ inCadmus ■^nA Hermione \ which lift, the fame author fays, came originally from Mount Hermon, in Palelrine ; and as that word in the Chanaanean language fignifies a ferpent, from hence arofe the fable of the ferpent's teeth turning into men. The temple of Jupiter- Amtnon^ or Haviwon^ in Africa, was built by the Cha- nani, who fpread themfelves from. Egypt into Lybia.

{5) It is certain that the ancient^, particularly the Eatlern na- tions, married their nigh relations as wcU as the Jews, to keep tip their names or tribes : but wc don't find in hiftcry that they rnarried their own fillers, till the Perfian kings, who were con- demned for it by the Greeks. The Egyptians, under the Ftolo-^ ijiiesy fcllov/ed that barbarous cuftom, tho' they began with P/<?- hmy Lagus^ one of the captains of Alexander ; the Ynca's in America did the i'ame, not to prophane their blood, as they faid, ^vith other mixtures.

(4) Hale andfirovg^ ^c!\ The regular lives of the firft Fgyp- tiano, and of thefe people defcended from thtm ; together with the Climate, their diet of fruits and liquors, their exemption from violent paliions, without being corrupted by the fpurious fpawn cf other rations, and the like, might contribute very much to the length of their lives and iirength prcpcrtionably. 1 he Macrobii, cr Long Livers, a people of ^.thiopia, and a colony of the ancient Egyptians, lived to a vaft age, and were called Macrobii from their long lives. See Herodotus of the /Ethiopians, and what he fays of their ftrength in the bow they fent to Car/thjjks^ when he l,ad denounced war againft them-, faying, that when he could bend that bow, he might make war againft them ; which bow only Smerdis,CafnhyJes\ brother, could bend ; and for that reafon was afterwards put to death by his brother, out of envy.

(5) A toivn of No-o-m^ ©"c] It feems Thebes, tho' afterward*- fuch a prodigious city, was then biU the head cf the name of that loan's family.

(6) rheir

SIG^^OR Gaubentio di Lucca. 87

{6) Their Ram God^ (^r.]. yupiter Ilammon^ whom Eccharf proves to have been Ham or Cham ^ the icn of Noah^ was rtpre- fented with a ram'.s head, which was held in fach abomination: by the firil Egyptians, trom whence they called thole firit in- vaders Hickfoes.

(7) Na-HaiKtnoff,] The houfe of the Ram God, (b) Likuman Lcfws^ GJ'r.} It is likely htmf^^^mBufjridis JrnSy fo inl'amous in antiquity \ or the cruel Bu(yris^v^'\\o i'acrificed his gnetls. Tho' hiilorians don't agree about the time v/hcn Bufyris lived, which fnews he was very ancient, yet all agree he was a monrter or cruelty, and became a proverb on that account. This was a very uaUiral reaibn fcr the Egyptians to difperfe themfclves into fo many colonies,, as they did to avoid fucb crucltieF.

(9) J Sah^an'\ Thefe Sabsans were the defcendants of fome of the fons oi Chujh, or Ckufs, a very tali race of men, great na- vigators, and more polite than the other Arabians. Bocbart in Siba fillo Chuf^ where he quotes a paflage out of Agatharcides of the handfomnefs of the Sabceans,

" Ths bodies of the inhabitants (the StihteansJ are tnort tnajejlic than other men.'''*

(10) The conqtierlng Sofs."] This muft be the great .Sif/^/^m or Sejojis^ of whom the learned billiop of Meaux, as alio HerodotuT^ fay fuch glorious things. 1 ho' authors don't fay precifely when he lived, all acknov/ledge him to have fiouriOied in the earlieft times. He extended his cenquells over the greateft part of the Eaft, and almoft over the known world, as fome fay : where his enemies were cowardly, and made no refiftance, he fet up fta- tues of them refembling vvomen. Herodot. lib. 2. Euterpe, Monf. ds Meaux^ Par. 3. Hift. Uni. This great conqueror's name is very much varied by ^thor?.

(11) Called Cnanini^ or Chanani.'X Thefe in all appearance were the wicked Chananeans, who being to be deftroyed, and be in^' driven out of Chanaanby Jojhuay difperfed themfclves, and in- vaded the greateft part of tht; countries round abo-at them. Bn" charty in Chanaan, proves almoft demonftrably, that they dif- perfed themfelves over all the ifiands and iea-j>orts of Europe, Afia, and Africa. In his preface lie quotes a moft curious paC- fage oat of Pracopius deBello Fandalicoy of a pillar that was found in Africa, with a Pheniciau or Chananeaa infcription, which, fignifies;

" M^e are thofetoho fled from ths face of Jefus^ or JoJIjua the robbery tkejim of Nave.'''*

Eufebiu^y in Chronico, has much the fame; and St. Augujlin^ in hiis City of God, fays that the ancient country geople about-

rS^ The memoirs of

Hippo, in Africa, who were the remains of the ancient Cartha- geninnp, if you afked them who they were, would anfwer, we Jhre originaliv Chanani or Chanantans.

(iz) Corrupted the innocen" manners^ ^c^ The celebrated i?(7- rlart^ lb often que ted, proves that the Phenicians, or Carthagc- nianp, v/hcm he alfo proves to have been Chananeans, v/ere the perfons who 'pread idolatry with all the tribe of the heathen g-cd«, and their abominable rites, over the whole world. Bochart in Chan^an. The fam.e author lays, the Phenicians, or Chanani, <?id invade Egypt about that very lime \ this he proves diredlly, and that they had their caflra about Memphis : as alfo, that CcJ~ vf'us and rhnix, whom he makes contemporaries v/ith 'Jojluc.^ having fied before him, came out of Egypt aTterwards, and built Thebe? in Eectia. See alfo Herodotus in Euterpe.

(13) The rr.ojl entcrprifmg nation ur.der thcjun.^ &c ] Herodotus . Jviys, that they failed (even in thofe early days) from the Red Sea round Africa, and came back to Egypt thro' the freights and up the Mediterranean. Herodot. Melpomen:^ and Bochart. That iiannQ the elder, by order of the fenate of Carthage, failed round tae grca'eft part of the world, and after his return, dcHvei-ed Into them an account of his voyage, which ir. called, the Ptriplas of Jianno: he afFcfled to be honored as a god for it, and lived be- fore Soh:nQn\ time. Bochart in Chanaan, lib. i. c. 37. Chanaan.

(14) As their chfer<vation! tell us \ Thofe wife ancients kept records cf every thing that v:a- memorable and ufeful for their people. If this had beenthe praftice of the Europeans, we ftiould not have lofi fo m.r.ny fecret;- of nature as we have.

(15) No rain fell in Egypt ?^ This is well know by all the de- fcriptions of that country, the inundation of the Nile fupplying the want it, and making it one of the mod fertile kingdoms in the world : every one knows it was once the granary of the Ro- man empire. However, fome fm.all rain falls fomietimes; nor is there any mere higher up in tli^ country. The overflowing of the Nile is known to be caufed by vaft rains falling under the line, or about that climate; and fince thefe don't take Eg y|jt and the adjoining part of Africa in their way, they muft by con- f."quence run parallel with the line, which was a very naturat f.nd phiiofophical obfervation of thefe wife men.

( 16) They tvsre nigher the equator than thy ii^iagined, ^"r.3!'Tho*" we may imagine a iefler circle parallel to the tropics and the equa^ for, which is called maximus parallelorum-^ yet whoever travels either by land or fea, as he thinks parallel to the equator, does liOt do fo, bu,t will approach to it; nay, and crofs it at laft, un- ki> he gees ffiirally and makes indentures as he goes along ; the' T^afon is, becaufe wherever we are, we are on the I'ummit of the ^lobe with refpett to us, and our feet make a perpendicular to the centre; fo that it we go round the globe, we (hall make a great circle, and by confequence cut the equator.

Continuatiot<

Sign OR GAUDENno di Lucca. 8^?

Continuation of the Memoirs.

I

T were too tedious to recount to you all the dif-^ iiculties and troubles they had, both in refolving to undertake fuch a hazardous tranlmigration, as well as thofe of tranfporting fuch a multitude, with their wives and children, and all their moft precious ef- fe(5ls, over thofe mercilefs lands, which they could only pais at one feafon of the year. But the voyage being at length refolved on, and the good pophar wifely confidering the difficulties, necefiity, the mo- ther of invention, urging him, at the fam'e time, to gain as much time as he could, liiice the vale where they were at prefent was fuifi-cient to maintain them till the rains came, got all his people hither in the^ mean time, to be ready For the feafon. The new- born children were left with their mothers and peo- ple to take care of them, till they were able to bear' the fatigue. Thus, in feven years time, going back- v/-ards and forwards every feafon, they ail arrived fafe, where we ourfelves hope to be in ten or twelve days lime* This great hero we. defervedly honor, as another Mefraim, the fecond founder of our nation, from whofe loins you yourfelf fprung by the furer iide, and are going to^ be incorporated again with- the ofiispring of your firfh anceflors/*

Here he ended his relation, and your reverences may ealily believe I was in the greatell: admiration at this unheard-of account. Aait railed the ideas I had of the people, fo I could not be forry to find myfelf, young and forlorn as I was before, incorpo- rated with, and allied to fuch a ilouriihing and ci- vilized nation. My expectation was net difpropor- ti^nabie to my idtas : I was perfuaded I was gping K 3: into

90 The memoirs of

into a very fine country ; but the thoughts of their being pagans left fome little damp on my fpirits, and was a draw-back to my expected happinefs. How- ever I was refolved to preferve my religion, at the <ixpenfe of all that was dear to me, and even of my life itfelf.

By this time the pophar ordered us to refrefli our- ieives, and prepare all things for our dep<arture, tho' the florm of thunder and lightning did not ceafe till Towards morning. At length all things were ready for motion, fo y/e marched ealily on till we came into the courfe of the rains. It was the molt fettled' and downright rain (as the faying is) that ever I law : every thing feemed to be as calm as the tem- peft was violent before. They being accuflomed to it, had provided open veiTels on each lide of the dro- xnedaries, to catch enough for their ufe, as it fell, w ith that fine oiled cloth I mentioned before, over themfelves and beails. All the fands were laid, and- even beaten hard by the rains, tho' heavy and cloggy at the fame time. We made as much way as ever' "we could for five days, juft refling and refreiliing ©urfelyes when it was abfolutely necelTary. I muft own, nothing could be more difmal than thofe drea- ry folitary. defarts,. where we could neither fe€ fun lior moon, but had only a gloomy, malignant light, lult fufiicient to look at the needle, and take our ob- fervatioLSi On the fixth da/ we thought we faw f&methitig move fideways of us, on our right hand, but feemingly palling by us, when one of the young raen cried, '^ there they are, ' and immediately crof- fed down to them ; then we perceived them to be perfons travelling like ourfelves, croiling in the fame manner up towards us. L was extremely furprifed to find that thofe defarts were known to any but cjurielves : but the pophar foon put me out of pain, "by telling me, they were fome of their own people, taking the, i^mt feafoii to go for E^ypt, and on the

fame

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lucca. 91

fame account. B7 this time we were come up to one another. The leader of the other caravan, with all his company, immediately got off their drome- daries, and fell proftrate on the earth before our pophar ; at which he ftept baclr, and cried, " alas ! is our father dead ? They told him, yes *, and that he being the firfl of the fecond line, was to be re- g'ent of the kingdom till the young pophar, who was- "born when his father was an old man, fhould come to the age of iifty. Then our people got off, and p-roHrated themfelves before him,* all but myfelf ; they took no notice of my negleft, feeing me a fu- }>€rnumerary perfon, and confequently a llranger j but as foon as the ceremonies were over, came and embraced me, and welcomed me into their brother- hood with the moft lincere cordiality, as if I had been one of their nation. The pophar foon told them what I was, which made them repeat their careffes with new extaiies of joy peculiar to thofe people. After re-iterated enquiries concerning their friends, and aff^urances that all was well, except what they told him, the pophar aVatd them, how they came to direct their courfe fo much on the left hand, expecfting to have met them the day before *, and they feeming to point as if they were going out of their way : they told us they were now feniible of it, and were making up for the true road as fail as they could; buf the day before they had like to have |oft themfelves by the darknefs of the weather, and their too great fecu-ity ; for, bearing too much on the left hand, one of their dromedaries floundered, as if he were got into a quickfand : (i) the rider thinking it had been nothing but fome loofer part of the fand, thought to go on, but fell deeper the further he vent, till the commander ordered him to get off immediately, which he did with fo much

haite^

* The Eailern maaner of (hewing refpe£l«

92 The MEMOIRS of

halle, not minding his dromedary, that the poo^ff beafl going on further into the quickfand-, was loJR:. Then the pophar told them, there v/as fuch a place marked dov/n in their ancient charts, which, being fo well acquainted with the roads, they had never minded of late years : that he fuppofed thofe quick- fands to be either the rains, which had funk thro* the fands, and meeting with fome llrata of clay, Itag- nated, and were forming a lake; or more probably, . it v/as the courfe of fome difi^^ant river, rifing per- haps out of a habitable coiuitry, at an unknown diltance, but had loll itfeif in thofe immenfe fands. ' lioYv'ever, he congratulated them for their efcape,. and like a tender father, gently chid them for their too great fecurity in that boundlefs ocean.

Our time not permitting us to ilay long^ each, caravan fct out again for their deilined courfe, hav- ing but iive or fix days journey to make, that is, as far as we could travel in fo many 4lays and fo many Bights, for v/e never flopped but to refrefh ourfelves. The rains had fo tempered the air, that is was ra- . ther cold than hot, efpecially the nights, which grew longer as we approached the line. Here we fleered our courfe m.ore to the weft again, but not fo as to leave the ridge of the world. I obferved the more "we kept to the weft, the more moderate the rains were, as indeed they flackened in proportion as we came nigher our journey^s end •, becaufe coming from the weft, or at leaft with a little point of the fouth, they began fooner than where we fet out. — . Th^ tenth day of our journey, I meanfromthe lafl grove or refting place, one of our dromedaries failed. We had ciianged them feveral times before, to make their labour m.ore equal: they would not let.it die for the good it had done ; but two of the company having water enough, and knowing M^here they were,, ftood behind to bring it along with them. — We now found the nature of the fanda and foil be- gin

SiGNOR Gatbentio di Lvcca. 95

gin to change, as the pophar Kad informed me: the ground began to be covered with a little mofs, tending toward a greenfward, more like barren downs than fands; and I perceived in fome places unexpededlj, inilead of thofe barren gravelly fands, large fpaces of tolerable good foil. (2) At length to our inex- prellible joy and comfort, at leaft for myfelf, who could not but be in fome fufpenfe in fuch an un- irnown world, we came to patches of trees and grafs, with flanting falls and heads of vales which feemed to enlarge themfelves beyond our view. (5) The rains were come to tlieir period ; only it looked a little foggy at a great diftance before us, which was p>artly from the exhalations of the country after the rain?, (4) partly from the trees and hills Hopping the clouds, by which we found that the v/eather did not clear up in the habitable countries fo foon as in the barren defarts. The pophar told me, that if it w^ere not for the hazinefs of the air, he would Ihew me the moft beautiful profpedl that ever my eyes beheld. I was fenlibly convinced of it by the perfum.es of the fpicy fhrubs and flowers, which itruck our fenfes with fuch a reviving fragrancy, as made us almoil forget our pall fatigue, efpecially me, v;ho had not felt the like even in the firft vale ; neither do I believe, all the odours of the happy Arabia could ever come up to it. I was jull as if I had rifen out of the moft delicious repofe. Here the pophar ordered us to ftcp for refiefliment, ajid added, we m.ufl flay there till the next day. We pitche 1 our tents on the laR defcent of thofe im- menfe bars, by the iideofalitde rill that ifTuel out of the fmall break of the dawns, expelling fur ther orders.

Remarks

94 The MEMOIRS or

Remarks of Signor Rhedi.

( 1 ) As if he 'were got into a quickfarrd^ ^c."] Perfons may won-' Jer to hear of quickfands in the midft of the fun«burnt defarts of Affica^ but the thing will not feem fo improbable when we come t« examine the reafon of it. Without doubt, our author does not mean fuch quickfands as are caufed by the coming in of the tide ondcf the fands; a nmn cf icufe would be incapable of fuch a' blun ier. But that there (liould be Ibme Hagnating waters in the low iwamps of the fands, is ib far from being incredible, that it can hardly be thought to be otherwifc.. It is very well known there are vail lakes in fome parts of Africa, which have no vifi- ble cutletp. There are rivers alfo that lofe themielves in the fand^, ■where finking under for fome time, they may form fandy marfhej, or quickfands, as the author calls them.

(a) It wasobfervedin fomeof the former remarks, that not only the defarts of Africa, but all the ftrata, or great beds of gravel, which are found in all parts of the world, probably were cauftd by the univerfal deluge : nor can they be well accounted for ©therwife. The deeper the beds of gravel are, the more they fhcw, by the heterogeneous fluff lodged with them, that they were brought thither, net produced there ab origins. The vaft falls and gullets, which are feen on the ikirts of all the moun-» tains m the world, evidently (hew they were caufed by fome vi- olent agitation, which carried the loofer earth and fmall ftones along with it ; for which nothing can be more natural than the fuppofition of a flood, or agitated fiuid, which, by its violence and Ihakings, carried all that was moveable before it for fome time. This gravel v/as incorporated with the loofc earth before the flood; and was carried to and fro, while the waters were in their gteatefl agitation, wadiing and melting the loofe earth from the gra\'el and (lone?. But when the waters came to their higheft pitch, and began to fubride,the (lones au^i gravel would fink fooner than lighter things, and fo be left ahnoft ia a body in thofe ftratl' they appear in. This might be iilultrated much further if there were occafion. The vail numbers of petrified ihells and fcallops. which are found in all parts of the worlds, on the higher ground^;, could never be a mere lufus natura^ as fome too curious philo- fophers imagine, but muft be accounted for by fuch a flood ; and thefe appearing in all parts of the univerG?, the flood muft ha\re been univerfal. The fudden change of foils in every region, withr the exceeding richnefs of fom; more than others, and that too fometimes all at once, is to be accounted for from the fame cauie ; for the fame violence of waters v/afhing the earth from the (lones, mull naturally make an une'^ual accumulation of

both.

SiGNOK. Gaudentio ©I Lucca. 95

"both. As for Africa, all the ancients fpeak of the incredihie fer- liiity of it in feme places, and the extreme barrennefs of ihe de- farts in others.

(3) The prodi[!;.ious height of the fands in Africa, ia thofc parts Vv'hich lye between the tropica, may not only be the caufe of the fands or gravel fmking in f,;tater quantities at the decreafe of the floijd, but the moil extenfive vales may have their rife irom very fmall gullets at firft.

{4) It is very natural to think, that thofe Larren fuQ-buxnt de- fartsiiend up but few exhalations.

Continviation of the Memoirs.

T.

H E caufe of our flav in tliat place v/as not only our comparnons v/e had leit behind us, (now we were out of danger) but on a ceremonious ac- count, as vour reverences will fee by and by : they were alfo to change their habits, that they might ?.ppear in the colours of their refpeiftive tribe or name, which were five, according to the number of the fons of the lirft pophar, who brought them out of Egypt, whofe Hatue we fav/ at the pyramid.

By their lavjs, all the tribes are to be diftinguifh- cd by their colours ; that wherever they go, they may be knov;n what name they belong to, with particular marks of their pofts and dignities, as I Ihall defcribe to your reverences hereafter. The grand pophar's colour, who was defcended from the cldeil fon of the ancient pophar, was a Hame colour, or approaching nigh the rays of the fun, becaufe he was chief prieft oi the fun. Our new regent's co- lour v;as green, fpangied with funs of gold, as your xeverences faw inihe pivlvire ; the green xeprefent-

ing

96 The ]M E M O I R S of

ing the fpring,wKich is the chief feafon with them; tTie third colour is a iiery red for the fummer: the fourth is yellow for autumn ; and the fifth pur- ple, reprefenting the gloominefs of winter ; for thefe people acknowledging the fun for the immediate governor of the univerfe, mimic the nature of his influence as nigh as they can. The women obferve the colours of their r€fpe<fl:ive tribes, but have moons of filver intermixt with the funs, to IheW that they are influenced in a great meafure by that variable planet. The young virgins have the new moon ; in the flrength of their age, the full moon ; as they grow old, the moon is in the decreafe proportiona- bly; the widows have the moon exprefTed juft as it is in the change •, the defcendants of the daughters of the firft pophar, w^ere incorporated with the refl ; thole of the eldefl daughter, took the eldeft fon^a colour, with a mark of diftindlion, to fhew they were never to fucceed to the popharfhip, or regen- cy, till there fhculd be no male iffue oi the others at age to govern. This right of elderfhip, as thefe people underfland it, is a little intricate, but I fhali explain it to your reverences more at large when I come to fpeak more particularly of their govern- ment. When they are fent out into foreign couu" tries, they take what habit or colour they pleafe, and generally go all alike to be known to each other; but they muft not appear in thei? own coun- try but in their proper colours, it is criminal to do -otherwife, with marks alfo of their families, that in ■cafe any mifdemeanor Ihould be committed, they may know where to trace it out, for which reafon, now they drew near their ov;n country, they were to appear in the colours of their refpe^ive names ; all but myfelf, who had the fame garment I w^ore at Grand Cairo, to Ihew I was a Granger, tho^ I wore the pophar's colours afterwards, as being his relation, and incorporated ia his family.

When

SiCNGR GAUDEi^^TlO Dl LuCCA. 97

When they v/ere all arrayed in their filken co- lours, fpangled with funs of gold, with white fillets round their temples, fiudd-ed with precious ilones, they made a very delightful fhew, being the hand- fomeft race of people this day in the univerfe, and all refembling each other, as having no n^ixture of other nations in their blood.

The fun now had broke thro' the clouds, and difcovered to us the profpefb of the country ; but fuch a one as I am not able to defcribe ; it looked rather like an immenfe crarden than a country: at that dillance I could fee nothing but trees and groves ; whether I looked towards the hills or vales, all feemed to be one continued wood, tho' v/ith fome fcemingly regular intervals of fquares and plains, with tlie glittering of golden globes or funs thro* the tops of the trees, that it looked like a green wianile fpangled with gold. I alked the pophar if they lived all in woods, or whether the country was only one continued immenfe forell : he fmiled, and fiiid, v/hen we come thither you fball fee fomething elfe beiides woods, and then bid m€ look back and compare the dreary fands we had lately pafled with, that glorious profpe(fl: we fav/ before us : I did fo, and found the difmal barrennefs of the one en- hanced the beautiful delight of the other. " The reafon,'* fays he, " why it looks like a w ood, i^, that beiides innumerable kinds of fruits, all our towns, fquares and ftreets, as well as fields and gardens, are planted with trees both for delight and conveniency, tho* you will find fpare ground enough for the pro- duce of all things fufficient to make the life of man eafy and 'happy. The glittering of gold thro' the top of the trees, are golden funs on the tops of the temples and buildings; we build our houfes flat and low on account of hurricanes, with gardens of per- fumed ever-greens on the top of them, which is the rtafon ycu fee nothing but groves.''

L We

93 The MEMOIRS oy

We defcended gradually from off the defart ihrts* the fcattered fhrubs, and were faluted every now and then with a gaie of perfumes, quite different from what are brough us Europeans from foreign pans. The frefh air of tlie morning, together v/ith their being exhaled from the living ftocks, gave tbem fuch a fragrancy as cannot be exprefTed. At length v;e came to a fpacious plain a little ihelving, and co- vered with a greenifh coat, betvveen mofs and grafs, "which was the utmofx border of the defart, and be- yond it a fmall river colledted from the hills, as it v/ere weeping out of the fands in different places, which river was the boundary of the Icingdom that way. Here w^e made a halt, and perceived a fmall company often perfons, equal to our number, except iriyfelf, advancing gravely towards us ; they were in the proper colours of the nomes, with fpangled funs of gold, as my companions wore, only tht tops of their heads were fprinliled with duff in lign of mourning. As foon as they came at a due diffance, they fell ilat on their faces before the pophar, without faying a word, and received the golden urns, with the earth we brought along with us. Then they turned anfi marched direclly before us, holding the urns as high in their hands as they could, but all in a deep and jTiOurnful iilence- Thefe were deputies of the five nomes fent to meet the urns. We advanced in this iilent manner, without faying one word, till we came to the river, over which was a ffately bridge with a triumphal arch on the top of it, beautified with funs of gold moff magniiicent to behold. Beyond the bridge, we immediately paffed thro^ a l^ind of a circular grove, which led us into a moff delightful plain lilie an amphitheatre, with five avenues of llreets leading to it : at the entrance of each avenue ffood an innumerable number of people, reprefent- ing the five nomes, or oovernments of thofe immenfe ikingdoms, all in their different colours, fpangled

with

SiGNOR Ga'CBTBTIO T'l LuCCA. 99

•V;-ith funs of gold, which made the moil glorious /hew in the world. As foon as ever we entered tlie an-iphitheatre, our filence w^as broke by fhouts of joy that rended the rerj fkies j then the whole mui-^ titude fell iiat en their faces adoring the urns, and repeating their fhouts and adorations thrice ; there advanced ten triumphant chariots, according to the colours of the nomes, with funs as before ; nine of tlie chariots w-ere drawn by fix horfes each, and the tenth w-ith eight for the pcphar reo;ent. The five deputies, who were the chief of each nome,with the urns and companions, mounted five of the chariots, the other five were for us, tw^o in a chariot, only niyfelf, being a fupernumerary was placed back- wards in the pophar's chariot, w^hich he told me W'as the only mark of humilitation and inequality I would receive. We were conducted by five fqua- drons of horfe, of £fty each, in their proper colours^ wuth Hreamers of the fame, having the fun in the centre, thro* the oppofite avenue, till we came into another amphitheatre of a valt extent, where we faw an infinite number of tents of fiik of the colour of the nomes, all of them fpangled with golden funs ; here we were to reft and refreih ourielves. The pophar's tent w^as in the centre of his own co- lour, which wa.5 green, the fecond nome in dignity, in whofe dominions and government w^e now were. I have been longer in this defcription, becaufe it was more a religious ceremony than any thing elfe, thefe people being extremely myflerious in all they do. (i) I fhall explain the meaning to your reve^ rences as briefly as I can. The flopping before we- came to the bridge on the borders of thofe inhofpi- table defarts, and w^alking in that mourni'ul fiient manner, not only expreffed their mourning for their deceafed anceflors, but alfo fignified the various ca- lamity and labour incident to hum.an life, where he not only ought to be, but really is, in a flate of bs- L 2 niflir-ient

loo The MEMOIRS 02

liiiliment and mourning ; v/andering in fun-bnrttt defarts, and lolTed with the ilorms of innumerable lavvlefs defires, Hill lighing after a better country. The pailage over the bridge, they would have to betoken mai/s ent^rance into reft by death; their fliouts oi joy, when the facred urns arrived in that glorious country, not only fignilied ths happinefs of the next life, (for thefe people univerfally be- lieve the immortality of the foul, and think none but brutes can be ignorant of it), but alfo thai their anceftors, whofe burial dull they brought along with them, were now in a place of everlafling reft.

Inojjisitor. — I hope you don't believe fo of heathens, let them be ever fo moral men, iince vje have no affuranGe of happinefs in the next life men- tioned in the holy fcripture,trithout faitkin Chrifi.

Gatjdentio. — No, reverend fathers*, I only mention the myfteries of thefe men's religion, as they underilaiid them. As I believe in Chry^ I know there is no other name under heaven by which, irian may be faved.

Ing^isitor. — Go on.

Gaudentio. — Every ceremony o£ thefe people has fome myflery or other included in it ■, tho* there ttid not appear any harm in any of them, except their falling proflrate before the duit, which looked like rank idolatry ; but they faid itill, they meant no more than what was merely civil, to fignify their xefpecl for deceafed parents. (2) I fiiaii not as yet detain your reverences with the defcription of the beauties of the country thro' which we palTed,, having fo much to fay of the more fubftantial part ; that is, of their form of government, lavv^s and cuf- toms, both religious and civil ; nor defcribe their prodigious magnificence, tho' joined with a great deal of natural fimplicity, in their towns"; temples, Tchools, colleges, ^c. becaufe, being built moftly alike^ except, for partiwuiar uiea, maiiufadorics, and

tfcc

SiCNOR GAUUrNTIO BI LuCCA. lOl

the like, I ihali defcribe them all in one, when I come to the great city of Phor, otherwife called in their facred language, No-om ; (3) for ii I ihowld ftay to defcribe the immenfe richer, iertility, ani beauties of the couDtry, this relation, which is de- iigned as a real account of a place wherein I lived fo many years, v/ould rather look lilce a romance than a true relation. I /ball only tell your reve- rences at prefent, that after having taken a moil mag- rdficent repaft, conliftingof all the heart of man can conceive delicious both of fruits and wines, while we ftaid in thofe refrefliing tabernacles, v/e pafied on by an eafy evening's journey to one of their *-*^towns, always conducted and lodged in that trium- phant manner, till we came to the head of that riome, which I told your reverences was the green nome, belonging to the pophar regent, and fecond in dignity of the whole empire. Here the urn of duft belonging to that nome was repoiited in a kind of golden tabernacle fet with precious itones of im- m.enfe value, in the centre of a fpacious temple, which I fliall defcribe afterwards. After aweek''3 feafting and rejoicing, both for the reception of the dufl and the fafe return of the pophar and his com- panions, together with his exaltation to the regency, we fu out in the fame manner for the other nom.es, • to repofit all the urns in their refpe^live temples : thefe are five, as I informed your reverences before. The country is fomething mountainoiJ5, particularly under the line, and not very uniform, tho' every thing elfe is ; containing vailies, or rather whole regions running out between the defarts ; befjdes I'aft ridges of mountains in the heart of the country, which inclofe immenfe riches in their bowels. The chief town is iituated as nigh as poflible in the mid- dle of the nomes, and about the center of the coun- try, bating thofe irregtdarities I mentioned. The four inferior nomes were like the four corners, and L z the

I02 The memoirs of '

trie flame coloured nome, where the grand pophar and regent pro tempcre reiided, in the centre of the fquare. Their method was, to go to the four in- ferior ncmes firft and repoiit the urns, and then to complete all at the chief town of the firft nome. Thefe nomes were each about eight days very eafy journey over. Thus we went the round of all, Vv^hichi I think, as I remarked, was a kind of political vifi- tation at the fame time. At length v/e came to the great city of Phor, or No-om, there to repolite the laft urn, and fot all the people to pay their refpe6ls to the grand pophar, if in being, or elfe to the re- gent. By that time, what with thofe who accom- panied the proceffion of the urns, and the inhabi- tants of that irnmenfe town, fo many people were £;athered together, as one would h-ave almoft thought had not been in all the world belide *, but in fuch order a^d decency diftinguifhed in their ranks, tribes snd colours, as is not eafy to be comprehended. The fl.ittering tents fpread themfelves over the face of the earth. I. fhall here give your reverences a cAefcription of the town, becaufe all other great lowns, or heads of the nomes, are built after that rao^el, as indeed the lefler tov. ns come as nigh it as they can, except, as I faid, places for arts or trades, which are generally built on rivers or brooks for conveniency •, fuch is the nature of the people, that they affeft an exadl uniformity and equality in all they do, as being brothers of the fame ilock.

The town of Phor, that is, the Glory or No-om,, •which lignifies, the houfe of the fun, is built circu- lar, in imitation of the fun and its rays. It is fitu- ated in the largeft plain of all the kingdom, and •fipon the largeft river, which is about as big as our Po, rifing from a rigde of mountains under the line, and runs towards the north, where it forms a great lake, almoft like ajea, Avhofe waters are exhaled by \he ht^at of the iun^ having no oudet, or fmk under

ground,

SiGNOR Gaxjdentio di Lucca. 103f

ground, in the fands of the vail defarts encompaiiing it. This river is cut into a raoll magnificent canal, running direftly thro' the middle of the town. Be- fore it enters the town, to prevent inundations, and for other conveniencies, there are prodigious bafons,, locks and fluices, with collateral canals, to divert and let out the water, if need be. The middle ftream forms the grand canal, which runs thro' the town till it comes to the grand place ; then there is ano- ther lock and ilaice, dividing it into tv/o femicircles or wings, and carrying it round the grand place, forming an illand with the temple of the fun in the centre, and meeting again oppolite to where it di- vided, and fo goes on in a canal again. There are twelve bridges Vvdth one great arch over each, ten over the circular canals, and two where they divide and meet again. There are alfo> bridges over the- ftrait canals, at proper diftances. Be5ore the river enters the town, it is divided by the firfl great lock into two prodigious femlcircLes, encompaiiing the whole town. All the canals are planted with double rows- of ceders, and v/alks the moll delightful that can be imagined. The grand place is in the centre of the town, a prodigious round, or immenfe theatre, en- compalTed with the branches of the canal, and in the centre of that, the temple of the fun. This temple, conlills of three hundred and fixty five double mar- ble pillars, according to the number of idie days of the year, (4) repeated with three ftories one above another, and on the top,, a cupola open to the flcy for the fun to be feen thro* ; the pillars are all of the Corinthian order, (5) of a marble as white . as fnow, and fluted ; the edges of the flutes, with the capitals cornifhed, are all gilt. The inner roofs of the vaft galleries on thefe pillars, are painted with the fun, moon, and ilars, exprefling their different motions, with hieroglyphics, knowm but to fome few of the chief elders or rulers. The outfides of all

arei

704 The MEMOIRS of

are doubly gilt, as is tKe dome, or grand concave on the top, open in the middle to the fky. In the mid- dle of this concave is a golden fun, hanging in the void, and fupported by golden lines or rods from the edges of the dome, the artificial fun loo^s down, as if it were fhining on a globe or earth, erected on a pedeflai altar-wife oppolite to the fun, according to the fituation of their climate to that glorious planet ; in which globe or earth are inclofed the urns of their deceafed anceftors. On the infide of the pillars are the feats of the grandees or elders, to hold their councils, which are all public. Oppoiite to the twelve great ftreets, are ib many entrances into the temple, v/ith as many magnificent f!air-cafes be- tween the entrances, to go into the galleries or places where they keep the regifters of their lav^s^&c. with gilt baluftrades looking dov/n into the temple. On the pedeftals of all the pillars were engraven hiero- glyphics and characters, known to none but the five chief pophars, and communicated under the greatefb fecrecy to the fuccelTor of any one of them in cafe of death, lofs of fenfes, and the like. I prefume, the grand fecxets, and arcana of ftate, and, it may be, of their religion, arts and fciences, are contained therein. The moll inproper decorations of the temple, in my opinion, are the iiutings of the pil- lars, which rather look too finical for the augufl and majeftic limplicity affected my thefe people in other refpecfts.

The fronts of the houfes round the grand place are all concave, or fegments of circles, except wlrere the great ftreets meet, which are twelve in number according to the twelve figns of the zodiac, point- ing to the temple in ilrait lines like rays to the centre. This vafl round is fet with double ro^'S and circles of ftately cedars before the houfes, at an ex- a(fl diflance, as are all the Itreets on each lide, like fo many beautiful avenues, which produces a mofl

delightful

SlGXOTv G'AUDINTIO DI LuCCA. 10 j,

delightful effefl to the eve, as well as conveniency of ihade- The crofs ftreets are fo many parallel circles round the grand place and temple, as the cen- tre, making greater circles as the town enlarges it- felf. They build al //ays circular-ways till the cir- cle is complete V then another, and fo on. All the itreets, as I faid, both llraight and circular are plan- ted with double rows of cedars. The middle of the £reas between the cuttings of the ftreets, are left for gardens and other conveniencies, enlarging them- Iwlves as they proceed from the centre or grand place. At every cutting of the ftreets, is a lefTer cir- cular fpace fet round with trees, adorned v/ith foun- tains, or ftatues of famous men *, that, in elre6l, the vvh^le town is like a prodigious garden, diftinguifn- cd with temples, pavilions, avenues, and circles of greens; fo that it is difficult to give your reverences a juft idea of the beauty of it. I forgot to teli your reverences, that the twelve great ftreets open them- felves as they lenghten, like the radii of a wheel, fo that at the firft coming into the town, you have thQ profpcvft of the temple and grand place, directly b^-^ lore you ; and fro,m the temple a direct view of one of the fineft avenues and countries in the worlds — ► Their principal towns are all built aiier this form>. After they have taken a plan of the place, they firft bulld-a temple *, then leave the great area or circu- lar market place, round which they build a circle of houfes, and add others as they increafe, according to the foregoing defcription ; ridiculing and con- temning other countries, whofe towns are generally built in a confufed number cf houfes and ftreets, without any regular figure. In all the fpaces or cuttings of the ftreets, are public fountains brought down by pipes from a mountain a conftderable dif- tance off the town •, or, as I faid before, ftatues of great men holding fomething in their hands to de- clare their merit j which having no wars, is taken

either

166 The M E M O I H S of

either from the invention of arts and fciences, or fome memorable a(ftIon done by them for the irh- provement and good of their country. Thefe they look lipon as more laudable motives, and greater fpurs to glory, than all the trophies ere(fted by other nations for deilroying their own fpecies. Their Jioufes are built all alike, and low, as I obferved be- fore, on account of ftorms and hurricanes, to vj^hJcK the country is fubje<5t ; they are all exadily of a height, fiat roofed, with artificial gardens on the- top of each (6) full of iiov/ers and aromatic iiirubs; ib that when you look from any eminence down into the ftreets, you fee all the circles and avenues like another v/orld under you; and if on the level, along the tops of the houfes, you are charmed with the profpedl of ten thoufand different gardens meeting your iight wherever you turn ; infomuch, that I be- lieve the whole world befides cannot afford fuch a profpe(5l. There are a great many other beauties and conveniencies, according to the genius of the people*, v/hich were I to mention them, v/ould make up a whole volume. I only fay, that the riches of the country are immenfe, which in fome meafure are all in common, as I fliall fheAV when I com.e to the nature of their government. The people are the moft ingenious and induftrious in the world ; the governors aiming at nothing but the grandeur and good of the public, having all the affluence the heart of man can defire, in a place where there has been no w^ar for near three thoufand years •, there being indeed no enemies but the inhofpitable fands around them, and they all confider themfelves as brothers of the fame ftock, and living under one common fa- ther ; fo that it is not fo m.uch to be wondered at, if they are arrived at that grandeur and magnifi- cence as perfons in our world can fcarce believe or coDceive.

Rcmari:s

SiGxos. Ga'jdsntio r>i Lucca. 107

Remarks of Signor ^vhedi.

( I ) 'Extremely myjrenoui in all they do^ &c.'] The ancient Egyp- tians were fo myrterious, particularly in their religious cerfeiiio- nie?^, and arcana of government, that in all probability the an^ cient fables, which very few yet uaderftand rightly, had their rife from them ; tho' the \c?Lxnt^Bockart^ in his Phalcg, derives them chitfty from the Canaanites, who difperfing themielvesall over the world, when they fled from Jojhuny inipofed upon tb<; credulous Greeks, by the different fignifications of the fame words in their language. It is obfervable by the bye, that the mod aaclent languajjes, as the Hebrev/, with its different dia- lers, of which the Cananean or Phsenician language was one, the Chinefe language, Gfr. had a gieat many fignifications for the fame word, either from the plain fimplicity or poverty of the ancient languages, or more probably from__an aifttVed myl- terioufnel's in all they did.

( 2 ) Tojignify their refpe^ to their deceajed ancejior:^ ^<^.] See the remarks before on that head, and the accounts of the wor- ihip of the Chinefe, who were originally Egyptians in the dif- putcs between the Dominicans and Jefuits, where the latter maintained the idolatrous ceremonies and offerings made to their deceafed anceftorp, to imply nothing but a natural and civil, refpecl. The Dominicans, on the contrary, very juftly held them to be Idolatry, as they were judged to be, and condemned as fuch by Clement XI.

(3) Called No-om in their facred language^ (^c."] ysjephus a^Si'mu. ,^ppion diflinguifhes two lang'-ttges of the ancient Egyptians, the one lacred, the other common. Their facrcd language was fu!i of myfteries, perhaps like the cabala of the Jews.

(4) According to the number of the days cf the year."] Our au- t hor feems to be a little out in this place ; for it is certain, the ancient Egyptians did not m.ake their year to confift of fo many 4ays, unlefs you will lay, that thefe people being very great af- tronomers, were more exa6t in their cbfervations.

(5) The pillars ivere oj the Corinthian order., ^<r.] It is gene- lally fuppoled, that t^e different orders of pillars, as the Doric, the Ionic, Corinthian, <Sc. came i\t\ fi*om the Greeks, as their appellations being Greek, would make us believe-, but the fa- irious and ancient .palace of Perfepolis, notwithftanding its Greek name, where there were hieroglyphics and infcriptlons in cha- ja(Sters none could uaderftand, with other reafont;, (hew that the invention came from Egypt, or from the ancient Chaldeans, cr -either from 8eth^ Noa\ and the ancient Hebrews. It is like wife Vvry obfervable, that the iavention oi' arts andfciences camefrorrk

the

io« The memoirs of

the eaO, nnd can be traced ro higher than North's flood; ur.lefs you will allow ihe fiibles of Seth^ &lled;?cd by the hd-ined J ofe- jhut\r\ his antiquilier. quoted above. All wlich i? a very natu- ral confirmation of the account given hy Mojes^ agalnft our nic- dern fceptics.

(6) J^rtifcial gardens. <Sf<:.] The ancient Babylonians had artificial garci^ns, or horti penjijes^ on the tcps of their houfcs, as early a?^ the great Semiramts ; the' Herodotus <ierives their inven- tion from a later Eobylonian queen, who being a Mede by na- tion, and loving woods, and not being permitted to po out of the yalace^.had thofe artificial gaicens made to -diver her.

Continuation of the Memoirs.

VV II EN tlie ceremonies for the reception of the urns were over, religious ceremonies with thefe peo- ple alv/ays taking place of the civil, (i) they pro- ceeded to the inauguration of the pophar regent, which w as performed with no other ceremony, for xeafors I fhall tell your reverences afterwards, but placing him in a chair of ftate with his face towards the eaft, on the top of the higheft hill in the nome, to fhew that he was to infpedt, or overlook all, looking towards the temple of the fun, which ftood dire611y ^ailward of him, to put him in mind that he was to take care of the religion of his anceflors in the firft place. When he was thus placed, three hundred and fixty five of the chief of the nome, as reprefentatives of all the reil, cam.e up to him, and making a refpe^lful bov/, faid, " eli pophar^* which is as much as to fay, hail father of our nation ; and he embracing them, as a father does his children, an- Xwered them v;itk, " call hemm** that is, my dear children. As mar»y cf th€ v omen did the fame. —

This

SicNOR Gaudentio di Lucca. 109

This was all the homage they paid him, which was efteemed lb facred as never to be violated. All the dillinclion of his habit was one great fun on his brcaft, much bigger than any of the reft. The prer cious ftones alfo, which were fet in the white fillet binding his forehead, were larger than ordinary, as were thofe of the crofs circles over his head, ter- minated on the fummit with a large tuft of ^old fringe, and a thin plate of gold in the fhape of the fun, fallened to the top of it horizontally ; all of them, both men and women,wore thofe nllet-crowiiS with a tuft of gold, but no fun on the top, except the pophijr.

As foon as the ceremonies and rejoicings were over, which were performed in tents at the public expenfe, he was condu(fled with the chearful accla- mations of the people, and the found of mufical in- ilruments, to a moft magnificent tent in the front of the whole camp facing the eaft, which is looked upon as the moft honorable, as firil feeing the rif- ing iiin ; and fo on by eafy journies, till he came to the chief town of that nome. The reafon why thefe ceremonies were perform.ed in the different nomes, was to fhew that they all depended on him, and be- caufe the empire was fo very populous, it was im.- poffible they could meet at one place. I can''t ex- prcfs the carefTcs I received from them, efpecially when they fouDd I Avas defcended from the fame race by the mother's lide, and fo nearly related to the pophar. Whenever I came firft into their com- pany, they all embraced me, men and women, with the moft endearing tendernefs ; the young beautiful women did the fame, calling me brother, and catch- ing me in their arms with fuch an innocent afTur- ance, as if I had been their real brother left and found again. I can't fay but fome of them feemed to have a fondnels for me that feemed to be of ano- ich afterwards gave me a great M deal

1 1^ The M E AI O 1 R S %>f

<ieal of trouble, but I imputed it to the nature of tke lex, who are unaccountably more fotid of ft'rangei's, whom they know nothing of, than of perfons of much greater merit, who ccfnverfe with them every- day. Whether it proceeds from the want of a iuf- iicient folidity in their judgment, or from a levity and fichlenefs in their nature, or frOni the fpirit of contradiction, which makes them fond of what they moftly fhould avoid ; or thinking that ftrangers arfe not acquainted with their defe<fl:s, or in fine, ate more likely to keep their cOunfel ', be that as it will their mutual jealoufies gave me much unealinefs af- terwards. But to fay a word or two more of thfe nature of the people before I proceed in my rela- tion •, as I told your reverences, they are the hand- fomell race of people, I believe, nature ever pro- duced, with this only difference, which fome may think a defe(51, that they are all too much like one another; but, if it be a defefl", it proceeds from a very laudable caufe ; that is, from their fpringing from one family, without any mixture of different jiations in their blood ; '(2) they have neither wars jior trafHc with other people, to adulterate their race, for which reafon they know nothing of the vices fuch a commerce often brings along with it — - Their eyes are fomething too fmall, but not fo lit- tle as thofe of the Chinefe ; their hair is generally black, and inclined to be a little cropped or frizzled, 'ij3) and their complexion browii; but their features are the molt exaA and regular imaginable ; and in the mountainous parts tOV/ards the line, where the air is cooler, they are rather fairer than our ItiRlians; f 4) the men are univerfally well fhaped, tall and !fiender, except thro* fome accidental deformity, •which is very rare ; but the women, who keep them- felves much within doors, are the moll beautiful creatures, and the finefl fhaped in the world, ex- cept, as I faidj beJBg too much alike- There is ivich

•i

SlONOR GaTJDENTIO Hi LuCCA. Ill

^D innocent fweetnefs in their beauty, and fuch a ».ative modeity in their countenance, as can^t be de- l<:ribed. A bold forwardnefs in a woman, is what they diiiike-, and to give them their due, even the vomen are the moft chafte I ever knev/, which is partly owing to the early and j^rovident care of their governors. But, as I defign to make a feparate ar- ticle of the education of their young people, I fliall fay no more at prefent on that head.

The vilitations which we made to carry the urns, gave me an opportunity of feeing the greateil part of their country as foon as I came there ; tho' the pophar with a lefs retinue, and with whom I always was, viiited them more particularly afterwards.--*- The country is generally more hilly than plain, and in fome parts even mountainous ; therje are, as I faid, vaft ridges of mountains, which run feveral hundred miles, either under, or parallel to the equa- tor. Thefe are very cold, and contribute very much to render the climate more temperate than might ctherwife be expe<fled, both by refrigerating the air with cooling breezes, which are waited from thence over the rell of the country, and by fupplying the plains with innumerable rivers running both north, and fouth, but chiefly to^. ards the north. (5) Thefe hills, and the great woods they are generally covered with, are the occafion of the country ''s being fub- jecl to rains , (6) there are vaft forefls and' places which they cut down and deftroy asthey v. ar.t room, leaving leiTer groves for beauty and variety, as well as ufe and convenievtoy. The rains and hillinefs of the country make travelling a little incommodious ;. but then they afford numberlefs fprings and rivu- lets, with fuch delicious vales, that adding thii. to the honefty and innocence of the inhabitants, one would think it a perpetual paradife. The foil is fo prodigioufly fertile, not only in different forts of gr*ia and rice, vath a fort of whedt much larger M a. aavi

212 TpfE MEMOIRS or

and ricKer in flov.^er than any Indian wheat I ever faw ; but particularly in an inexhaiiilible variety of fruits, legumes, and eatable herbs of fuch nourifh- ing juice, and delicious tafte, that to provide fruit for inch numbers of people is the ieall of their care. — One would think the curfe of Adam had fcarce reached that part of the world ; or that providence had proportioned the fertility of the country to the innocence of the inhabitants ; not but the induilry and ingenuity of the people, joined with their per- petual paace and refl from external and almoll in- ternal broils, contribute very much to their riches and fertility. Their villages being moil of them built on the rivulets, for manufactures and trades, are not to be numbered. Their hills are full of me- tallic mines of all forts, with materials fuliicient to %vGrk tlicm ; iilver is the fcarceft, and gold ahnoii: the mcft plentiful •, it comes out. oftentimes in great lumps from the mineral rocks, as if it wept out from beetween the joints, and afterwards by the natural heat of the earth, or other unknown caufes. This gold is more du6tilc, eafier to work, and better for all ufes, than that which is drawn from the ore. — Their inventions for arts,and all manner tor (I won't fay purpofes) even the nagnilicence of life, are al^nif^iing. Vvhen I fpcke of their fruits'; I fhould have mentioned a fmall fort of a grape that grows there naturally, of which they make a wine, fharp at firfl, but which v/ill keep a great many years, mellowing and improving as it is kept ; but the ehoicefl grapes, which are chiefly for drying, are cultivated among them, tho* a very little pains doth it. Their wdnes are more cordial that inebriating ; but a fmaller fort diluted with water makes their conllant drink.— I don't remember I ever faw any horned beails in ihe country, except goats of a very large fize, which ferve them for milk, tho' it is ra- rather too rich t deer there are innumerable, of

more

SrcKOR Gaudemtio i>i Lucca. ii^

more different kinds than are in Europe. There is a little beail feemingly of a fpecies .between a roe and a (beep, whofe iiefh is the moil iLOuriihing and delicious that can^ be tafted ; theie mahe a diih in ail their feai^ts, and are chiefly referved for that end- Their fovvd, both wild and tame, make the greateil part of tlieir food ) as to fieHi.-meat, they don't eat much, it being, as they thinlf, too grofs food. — • The rivers and lakes are flored with vaft quan- tities of mofl: exquiiite fifli, particularly a goidea trout, whofe belly is of a bright icariet colour, as delevftable to the palate as to the eye. They fup- pofe flfh to be more nourifiiing and eafier of digef- tion than fieili, for which reafan they eat mucix more of it ; but having no rivers that run into the fea, they want all of that kind.

Their bories, as I obferved before, are but fmall,. but full of mettle and life, and extrer?iely fwift ; they h-ave a. wild afs larger than the horre,.of all the co- lours of the rainbovv^ very ftrong, and profitable for burden and drudgery, but their great carriages are iirawn by elks; the- dromedaries are for travelling over the fan ds. The rivers, at leall in the plain and low countries,, are cut into canals, by which they carry moll of their provifion. and eiledts all over the country.- This is only a fmall fketch of the nature of the country,, becaufe I know thefe matters don'c fall under the cognizance of your reverences fo mucli. as the account of their religion, morals, culloms, laws, and government; yet I muft fay that for riches, plenty of all delicacies of life, manufaifiories, inven- tions of arts, and every thing that conduces to make this mortal Hate as happy as is poilible, no country in the known v/orld can parallel it ; tho' there are fome inconveiiiencies, as your reverences will ob- ferve as I go on with my relation.

M I Remaiks

114 The MEMOIRS ©f

Remarks of Signer Rhedi.

(i) Religiou.f ceremonies ahvays taking place of the chil^ ©"rj The mod polite nations of antiquity, even among the heathen?, gave the preference to religion, before all other confiderationp ; as for the chriftian r€hfion,tho' of late, perfons of foiTse wit, lit- tle judgment, and no moral'^, call it in queftion, it is well known,, men become more men as they become chrtftians. The light of faith brought in learning, politenefs, humanity, juflice, and equity, inflead of that ignorance, and a brutal barbarity, that overfpread the face of the earth •, and the want of it will lead ns in time into the fame enormities which religion has taught us to forfake •, on which account it is the part of all wife governments to countenance and prelerve religion.

(a) Without any mixture of different natiom in tljeir bIcoJ.'] 7*.j- ritus fays much the fame of the Germans, ipfe eorum opinionibus acccdoy qui Germanise populos nullis aliarum nationum connubiis in- Jedos^ propriuni ^ fine cram & tanqua::i fut ftmilem gentetn extitijfe /srbitrantur* I agree, fays he, with their opinion, who ihink- 3ng the people of Germany fo peculiarly like one another, be- caufe they have not been corrnpted by marriages with other na- tions. They were noted in Augujius\ time to have blue eye?, as jnoft of the native Germans have at this day. I remember I faw a review of a German regiment in the city of Milan, where ai- .Tnoll every one of the common foldicrs had blue eyes. No won- der therefore, if thefe Africans our author fpeaks of, fhould be lb like one another.

(3) Frizzled hair^ ^V.] The ancient Egyptians, according to MerodottiJ and Bochart^ were fo,

(4) Fairer than our Italians^ ©*i-.] Tho' our Italians are fome- thing more fwarthy than the northern Tramontani, yet our la- dies keeping much in the houfe from their childhood, have^very ifise fklns, and excel all others for delicacy of features/j!

(<) But chiefly towards the north^ ©"i-.] It is remarkable, that TTicft fprings rife from the north fide of the hills, and more rivers run northward than fouthward, at leaft on this fide of the line, tho' the obfcrvation does not always hold; the reafon may be, for that there are more mifts and dews hanging on the north fide, becaufe the f'jn dries up the moidare on the fouth fide of the mountains, more than on the north ; tho' perhaps all fprings don't rife from rain and mills, ^c. yet mod do.

(6) It is well known to the naturalids, that great woods and bills coUeft clouds and vapour?, and confeqaently caufe it bo rain more there than in other places.

* Tacitus de morilus Germanorum.

X I fancy Signor FM; never faw our Englifli beauties.

SiGNOR GaUDENTIO Dl LuCCA. II5

Continuation of the Memoirs.

B

E F O R E 1 come to tlie remaining occurrences of my own life, in which nothing very extraordinary happened till I came away, unlefs I reckon the ex- traordinary happinefs I w^as placed in, as to all things of this life, in one of the moll delicious regions of the univerfe, married to the regent*s daughter whole pi(flure is there before you, and the deplorable lois of her with my only remaining fon, (here he could Dot refrain from weeping for fome time) as well as the prefent ftate to v/hich I am reduced-, tho' I muft own I have received more favourable treatment than could be well expedled. I fhall give your reverences a fuccincfl account of their religion, laws, and cuf- toms, which are almoil as far out of the common way of thinking of the reft of the world, as their country

T,

OF THEIR RELIGION.

H E religion of thefe people is really idolatry in the main ; tho' as fimple and natural as poiRbie for heathens. They indeed will not acknowledge themfelves to be heathens in the fenfe we take the word; that is, worfhipping of falfe gods, (i) for they have an abhorrence of idolatry in words as well as the Chinefe,. but are idolaters in effecfl:, worihip- ing the material fun, and paying thofe faperftitious

kiites to their deceafed anceftors ) of which part of theif

ii6 Th£ memoirs of

their religion your reverences have had afiMl account already. Thefe people however acknowledge one fupreme God, maker of all thrings, whom they call JSIJ^ or the mofl: high of all. This, they fay, natu- Talreafon teaches them from an argument, tho* good in itfelf, yet formed after a different way of argu- inf5; from other people. They fay all their owii^. v/ifdom, or that, of all the wifeit men in the world put together, could never form this glorious world in all its caufes and effe(5ls, fo juflly adapted to its refpecftive ends, as it is with refj^edl' to every indi- vidual fpecies. Therefore the author of it muft be^ a being infinitely v^ifer than all intelle(5tual beings. As for the notion of any thingproducing itfelf with- out a prior caufe, they laugh at it, and afk, why we don't fee fuch efPefts^ produced without a caufe. Hence they hold only one independent caufe, and that there muft be one, or nothing could ever be produced. Tho^ they make a god of the fun, they don't fay he is independent as to his own being ; but that he received it from thisJSl. Some of the wifer fort, when I argued with them, feemed to acknow- ledge the fun to be a material being created by God y. but others think him to be a fort of vicegerent, by •whom the jEI performs every thing as- the chief in- Urumental caufe of ^11 producftions. This is the reafon that they addrefs all their prayers to the fun, tho* they allow all pov/er is to be referred origi- nally to the J£L The men look upon the mopn to he a material being dependent on tKe fun ; but the women feem to make a goddefs of her, by reafon of the influence fhe has over that fex ; and fooliihly think, fhe brings forth every month when fhe is at the full, and that the liars are her's and the fun's

children,

* The old Arabians [by ^/or perhaps Ely mean foraethlng^ very grand or high, as AlCair for Grand C^i'xv \ alchymyy for the bigheft chymiOry, ^c, I wonder ^'gnor Rhedi tooli no nol^ce ,©f this in his remarks,

SiGNOK Gaucintio di Lxtcca. 117

children. They all of them, both men and women, reft fatisfied in their belief, without any diiputes or fliulied notions about a being fo infinitely above them, thinking it much better to adore him in the infcrutability cf his effence, in an humble filence, than to be diiputing about what they cannot com- p?'eh.end ; all their fearch is employed in fecond caufes, and the know ledge of nature as far as it may be ufeful to men.

iNqusiTOR.— I hope you don\ deny but that fome men may have w rong notions of the deity in- which they ought to be £et right by wifer and more learned men than themfelvcs ; by eonfequence all iearches and difputes about the being and nature cf God are not to be condemned.

GaudentiO. — No, may it pleafe your rever- ences, for I prefumc you only underfland me now as reprefenting other peoples' opinions, not my own, which is entirely conformable to w hat the catholic church teacher. I oiien told the pophar, to whom I could fpeak my mind with all the freedorri iii the world, that as no mortal man could pretend to tell what belonged to the incomprehenfibility of God*s effence, ytt our reafon obliging us to believe his being, it was neceffary by the fsme reafon that we fhould be inftru<5ted by himfelf, or fome lawgiver immediately commillioned by him, left we fbould err in lb material a point* This lawgiver we chriftians believe he did fend, by giving us his only fon, who was capable of inftriKfiing us in what belonged to the eternal God-Head ; that he did not only give us the julleft notions w^e could poflibly have, but con- firmed the truth of w^hat he laid with fuch figns and wonders, as none but one fe»t from God could per- form.

Inquisitor — Go on.

Gaudentio — Whenlfaid, they addrefs all their prayers and r^ioil of the external adlions of their

woiihip

1x8 The MEMOIRS of

■^'orfliip to tlie fun, it is on account of tlieir believ- ipg liim to be the pliyfical caufe of the produ<ftion ^f all things by his natural iaftusnce ; w hich, tho*' tl^e wifer fort of thena, when you came to reafon piore clofely, will grant to be derived from the Mlt and feme of them, will own him to be a mere m.ate- iiai being, mo\ed by a prior caufe, yet the gene- :iality of ihem don't refled on this •, but are really guilty of idolatry in worfliipingf a mere creature. Kevenhelefs, as to the moral eifecfls of the univerfe, ©r the free adlio.ns of men with refpef^ to equity,, juftice, goodnefs, uprightnefs, and the like, which they allow to be properly the duty oF rational crea- tures, and of much greater confequence than the- phyfical part of the world ; this I fay, they all refer to tKe fupreme being, whofe will it is, they fhould be merciful, good, juft, and equitable to all, agre^- 3bly to the jult notions of the all- wife author of their exiilence, whofe fupreme reafon being inca- pable of any irregular bias, ought to be the rule of

V .. -^4.,i.^o2 *1-. ^ f '^"^OT^H r^r\ Ktr>-» ;:ir>'i o*rp in fnni'*

"ineaiare partakers of his perfe^lions. Thiey confirm this notion by a very proper comparifon ; that, as for example, to a(^ contrary to the laws of nature in phyiical productions, is to produce monilrous births, ^.c. fo to a(fi contrary to the ideas of the fu- preme reafon in moral cafes, muil be a great de- formity in his fight. I own I was charmed with thiar r.aturai way of reafoning, and aiked them further,, whether they believed the fupreme being troubled- Mmfelf about the moral part of the world,, or the free ad;f ions of men ? They feemed furpriied at the i|ueilion, and afked me, whether I thought it was poffible he fKouLd lea^e the Robleft part out of his care, when he took the pains (that was their ex- preffion) to create the leaft infeifl according to the moft exadl rules of an and knowledge, beyond all tkat the ait of man can come up t<>. I afked thenjt

ag^ain^

SjdKOR dAUD^NYio Bi Lucca. ^i^

again, "virhat 1vere iKe rules, whick it was his will that free agents, fuch as man, for inflance, fhould ibiiow in the dire^ion of their lives? They told ine reafan, jullice, aTid equity, in imitation of the fu- preme reafon in him ; for, faid they, can }'ou thint the fupreme being can approve of the enormous ac- tions committed by m&n ; or that any vile practices can be according to the juft ideas of his reafon ; if not, they mull be contrary to the beft light of rea- fon, not only in God but man, and thei-efore liable to be puniihed by the jull governor of all. I fubmit thefe notions to your reverences better judg- ment, l>ut I 'thought them very extraordinary for perforin who had nothing but the light of nature to diTe(5l them. It is pity but they had been as right in their more remote inferences as they were in thefe principles- The fum therefore of the theoretical part of their religion, is £rit, that the El is the fu- preme, intelleiflual, rational, and moll noble of ail beings ; that it is the duty of all intelle(f{:ual beings to imitate the jufl laws of reafon in him, otherwdie they depart from the lupreme rules of all their ac- tions, fince what is contrary to the moll perfe^ rea- fon in God, mufl be c^ontrary to our own, and b)'" confequence of a deformity highly blameablein his light ; all their prayers and whatever they afk of this fupreme being is, that they may be jull and good as he is. Secondly, that the fun is the chi^f, at leail inflrumetal caufe of their bodies, and all other phylical efPecl^. Your reverences know bet- ^ter than I can inform you, that this is wrong. To *him they addrefs their prayers for the prefervation of their liVes, the fruits of the eai'th, &c. Thirdly, •that their parelits at6 the more immediate inllru- ^lental caufc of iheir natural being, which they de- rive partly fVom the El, and partly from the fun ; and they reverence them the more on this account, iiS being the vicegerents of both, and believe them

to

12<5 The memoirs oi-

to be immortal, as to the fpiritual or intellectual part, and confeqiiently able and ready to aiilil them according to the refpe<5t they flriew them by re- verencing their tombs and honoring their memories. Tho' upon a nicer examination I found, that the fuperftitious worfhip they pay their deceafed ancef- tors, was as much a politic as a religious inilitution, becaufe their government being patriarchal, this inviolable refpe^t they fhew to their parents makes -them obey their elders or governors, not only with the moll dutiful obfervance, but even with a filial love and alacrity.

There are fome other points of iefs confequence, and leduceable to thefe three heads, which your reverences will obferve in the courfe of my rela- tion. As for the immortality of the foul, rewards and punifhments in another life, they believe both, tho* they have an odd way of explaining ihem. They fuppofe, without any helitation, that the foul is a eeing independent of matter, as to its effence, having faculties of thinking, willing, and chufing, "which mere matter, let it be fptin ever fo fine, and atfluated by the quick eft and the moft fubtie mo- tion, can never be capable of; but their notion c»f pre-exiflence with the Ml, before they v/ere fent JDto bodies, is very confufed. The rewards and pu- ijifliments in the next life, they believe will chiefly confiil in this : that in proportion as their acftions have been conformable to the juft ideas of the fu- preme being in this life, partaking ftill more and more of his infinite wifdom, io their fouls will ap- proach fliil nearer to the beautiful intelligence of their divine model in the next. But if their adiions in this life have been coniiftent v;ith the fupremje reafon in God, they fhall be permitted to go on for ever in that inconliflency and difagreement, till they become fo monftroufly wicked and enormous, as to Isecome £:bcmip.abie even to themfclves.

^ Of

SiGNOK Gaudiktio di Lucca.. Ill

OF THEIR OPINION CONCERNING THE TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS,

AND THE SCIENCE OF PHYSIOGNOMY-

i FOUND tKe wifeft of them held the metemp- fycholis, or the tranfmigration of fouls, (i) not as a punifhment in the next life, as fome of the ancient heathen philofophers did, but as a punifhment in this ; the chief punifhment in the next was explain- ed above. This tranfmigration of fouls is quite different from the received notion of the word, in- Head of believing as the ancients did, that the fouls of wicked and voluptuous men after their deaths, tranfmi grated into beails according to the fimilitude of their vicious inclinations, till pafling thro' one animal into another, they- were permitted to com- mence men again ; I fay, thefe people, inftead of believing this, hold a metempfychofis of quite a dif- ferent nature •, not that the fouls of men enter into brutes, but that the fouls of brutes enter into the bodies of men ^ven in this life. They fay for ex- ample, that the bodies of men and women are fuch delicate habitations, that the fouls of brutes are per- petually envying them, and contriving to get into them-, that unlefs the divine light of reafon be per- petually attended to, thefe brutal fouls ileal in upon them, and chain up the rational foul, fo that it fhall not be able to govern the body, unlefs it be to carry on the defigns of the brutal foul, or at beft, only make fome faint efforts to get out of its flavery. I

I took it at iirft, that this fyAem was merely allegori- cal, to fhew the fimilitude between tie paflions of k N msxk

[

122 The memoirs of

men when not dlre(fled by reafon, and thofe of brutes. But upon examination, I found it was tKeir opinion, that this tranfmigration did reall/ happen, infomuch, that in my laft journey with the pophar into. Egypt, when he faw the turks, or other ftrange nations, nay, feveral Armenian and EtirOpean chrif- tians, he would fay to me in his own language, there goes a hog, there goes a lion, a wolfe, a fox, a dog, and the like ; that is, they believe the body of a vo- luptuous man is poffefTed by the foul of a hog, a luftful man by that of a goat, a treacherous man by that of a fox-, a tyrannical man hy that of a w^olfe, and fo of the reft. This belief is inllilled into them fo early, and with fo much care, that it is of very great benefit to keep them v/ithin the bounds of xeafon. If a young man finds himfelf inclined to any of thefe pafHons, he addreffes himfelf immedi* ately to fome perfon whom he thinks of fuperior wifdom, who affures him that the foul of fome cer- tain brute is endeavouring to furprife and captivate his rational foul, and take polTeflion of its place. This makes them to be always watchful, and upon their guard again ft their own paflions, not to be I'ur- prifed by fuch a mercilefs enemy. Their prefent remedy is to look ftedfaftly at the divine light that fhines within them, and compare it with its original, till by the force of its rays they drive away thof« brutal fouls, which as foon as fully difcovered in their treacherous attacks (for they come on, fay they, by ftealth, not daring to attack that divine light diredlly) are eaiily repulfed before they have obtained pofTeifion, tho* it cofts a great deal of pains to diilodge them, when once they are got in. The fear of being abandoned to the flavery of thefe t tut al fouls is fo deeply imprinted in them from their- infancy^ that .theiy impute the temperance and regularity of their lives, and think it in a great meafure owing to this dodrine j the fame notions

hold

SiGNOR GAl^iiENTIO DI LuCCA. I23

Kold with their women, which their mothers and governeiTes inllill into them, as the wife men do with th£ men, only thej belive the brutal fouls that enter into women are of a different fpecies from thofe that enter into men. They fay for inftance, that af a camelion, makes them falfe and inconilant; that of a peacock, coquettiili and vain ; that of a tis^iefs, cruel and ill-natured, and fo on of the reft. (2) They add another difference between men and women, that when thefe brutal fouls are entered into them, they are much harder to be driven out from them, than from the men, befides that thefe brutal fouls will lurk undifcovered in women a great w^hile, and are often fcarce difcernable till the age of five and twenty or thirty ; whereas in moll men it dif- covers itfeif prefently after its entrance.

It w^as on account of this do(5lrine, as I found by repeated obfervations, that they were fo addicted to the Iludy of phylioggomy, laying down rules to know by the countenance, the lines of the face, and un- guarded looks of men, whether the brutal foul has got pof^eflion or not, in order to apply proper re- medies. This fcience, however uncertain and doubt- ful among chriftians, (who have greater aififtance of grace and virtue to reiift their paffions, thofe treacherous invaders) is brought to greater perfec- tion and certitude, than one would imagine among fuch of thefe people who having no fuch helps, wall take little care to cultivate and moderate their vi- cious inclinations, unlefs they are apprifed and fore- warned of the danger. Therefore their wife men, w^henever they come in company of the younger fort, confider attentively with themfelves all the lineaments of the countenance, complexions, mo- tions, habit of body, conftitution, tone of the voice, make and turn of the face,nofe, ears, &c. but parti- cularly they obferve the ftrudure and glances of the eye. \yith innumerable ligns proceeding from it, by N 2 which

124 The MEMOIRS oi

which they pretend to difcover thofe paflions ; I fay, they pretend to know by thefe what brutal foul lays fiege to the rational foul, or whether it has already taken pofTefiion of its poll. If they are Ilrangers, they prudently take care to avoid their company, or at leafl: are on their guard not to hava any dealings with them in matters obnoxious to the brutal foul they think them poifeiTed by. But if the perfon attacked by thefe brutal fpirits are of their own nation, they immediately forewarn fuck to be on their guard, by Vv^hich, and the dread they have entertained from their youth of thefe brutal enemies, they are kept in fuch order, that,, as I faid, I never faw fuch moral people in my life ; the v/orft is, they are extremely inclined to be proud, and have too great a value for themfelves, defpifing in their hearts all other nations, as if they were nothing but brutes in human Ihape. (3) However, their wife men take as much care as polRble to corred: this fault, as far as the ignorance of the laws of grace s,,,:n .n^^,. . y^^ -oiuting them often in mind of the

iniferies and infirmities of hut^.an- lite, v/hicti befftg Teal evils, mull be in punifbment of fome fault •, that the moil perfecfl are liable to death, which makes BO diilindlion between them and the reft of the world. Befides that, humility, and a commiferation for the defefls of others^ is one of the rays of the divine light that is to, guide them. From fuch do- cuments and inftrudlions of the wifer fort, though they do not care to have any correfpondence with other people, feeing them fo poifeffed with thofe brutal fouls, yet they are a moft courteous and com - pailionatc people in all their behaviour.

Remarks of Signer Rhedi.

{\) They held the metCKipfychofis^ortranfmigratson of fcub."] Thi-^ ©plaion v/as very ancicQt, and came orJgiaaUy from I^gyp^

SiGNOR GaTJDENTIO DI LufcCA. 125

where Pythagoras learned it ; though perhaps nut liking this way cf employing it, he altered it quite from what thefe men held, which is the lefs irrational of the two. Though with Signor Gaudentio\ leave, I can never believe, thefe wife men really held that. opinion, but only underflood it allegorically ; I muft own at the fame time, fome of the ancients did hold the other me- tempfychofis.

(zj That of a tygrefs -made them Jo cruel^ ^c.'\ This notion of the tranfmigration of the fouls of brutes into men and women ill this life, paTticularly into the latter, was not unknown to the ancients, though explained fomething after a different way: witnefs a remaining fragment QiBimonides^ a very ancient Greek poet, to that eftea-.

(3) Brutes i?t human Jh apt ^ ^c] The Chinefe, whom I have proved to be defcendcd from the firft Egyptian<^, are fubject to the like pride and contempt of ether people •, faying, that all ether nations have but one eye, v;hereas nature ha? given them two ; fignifying thereby, how much wifer they think themfelves than other men..

Continuation of the Memoirs.

OF THEIR LAWS AND CUSTOMS.

V^ V E R and above what has been faid already of the nature and cuftoms of thefe people, their liws are very few ii nunriber-, but then theyare pro- digiouily exafl in the obfervance of them. I have often heaid the pophar make very fevere reileifiions, contrary to his cuftom, on the la->vyers of other couiAries who make laws upon laws, and add pre- cepts upon precepts, till the endlefs number of them N 3 mates

126 The MEMOIRS or

jnakes the fundamental part to be forgotten ; leav- ing nothing but a confufed heap of explanations^ which may caufe ignorant people to doubt, whether there is any thing in earn eft meant by the laws or not.. " If I forbid my fon/' fays he, '* to do any wrong to any one, v/hat need is there of reckoning f.»p all the particulars by which a perfon may be «^/ro]iged? Shew but the facft on both lides, any mail of fenfe and equity can tell if there be' any- y/rong done or not ; for if you multiply an infinity of circumftances, it will be much more difficult to decide what is right or what is wrong, than if you- precifely and. abfolutely forbid any injury whatfo- ever."

It is almoft incredible with what nicety and equity their judges determine thofe few difputes, they have among them, in a few minutes. To weigh the me- rits of the caufe by the v.^eight of the purfe, would be counted by them one of the greateft enormities... There are no courts for difputes of this nature ; all is done by laying the cafe before their public af- femblies, or before any one or two prudent and juft men, and the affair is finally decided at once. Ail the law metim and ttcum among them is, thoujhalt do 710 wr07ig to any one^ without entering into any further niceticq^ Such as; explanatory fuppoiitions, fay they, oftner fhew people how they may ingeni- oufiy contrive, to do an injury than how to avoid it.

Their laws therefore are nothing but the firft principles of natural juftice, judged and explained by the elders in the public hearing of all who have a mind to come in, as the fad:s are brought into difpute.

The wcrfliip of the Deity, and that exceflive and even fuperfiitious reverence they pay to their parents both alive and dead, is fo carefully inculcated into them from their infancy, that there is no need of

any

SiGNOR Gaudentio pi Lucca. 127

any written law to enforce it. They look on a man to be pofleffed with fome brutal foul who fhould pretend to call in queftion, or negled this duty.

There is a pofitive law among them, not to fhed human blood voluntarily. (1) They carry this fun- damental law of nature to fuch a height, that they never put any one to death even for murder, which very rarely happens; that is, once in feveral ages. — ^If it appears that a perfon has really murdered, another, a thing they think almoll impollible, the perfon convi(5led is fliut up from all commerce of men, with provilions to keep him alive as long aa nature allows. After his death the h&i is pro- claimed, as it w^as when they ihut him up, over all the nomes. His name is blotted out of their genea- logies; then his dead body is mangled juft in the fame manner as he killed the innocent, and after- wards burnt to afhes, which are carried up to the higheft part of the deferts, and then toffed up into the air, to be carried av/ay by the winds blowing from their own country ; nor is he ever more to be reckoned as one of their race; and there is a general mourning obferved throughout the kingdom for nine days.

There is alio an exprefs law againft adultery and v/horedom, which are likewife puniihed after death. If perfons are caught in adultery, they are fhut up apart till death ; then they are expofed naked as they were furprifed, and the body of the woman treated after the moll ignominious manner for three days ; after which they are burnt, and their alhes difperfed as before, (2) Whoredom is only puniih- ed in the man, by chaining him to a he-goat, and. the woman to a JaU-bitch, and leading them thus round the nome. All in the refpecflive nome, men and women, are to be prefent at the more lignal punifhments; and parents are obliged to explain to their children the wickednefs and horror of the

crimes.

128 The MEMOIRS of

crime, for a warning for the future. I forgot to tell your reverences, that if the woman brings forth, by adultery, the child is preferved till able to be carried with them when they go into Egypt, and there given to fome ilranger, with ample provi- iions for its maintenance, but never to be heard of more. (3)

. There is alfo one particular I fhould have men- tioned, relative to injuftice. If, for example, the elders find there has been any confiderable injuflice done, the criminal is obliged to rellore nine times the value. If any one be convi<5led to have impofed upon the judges, he is to be fent out to the ikirts of the country to live by himfelf, for a time propor- tionable to his guilt, with a mark on his forehead, for all perfons to avoid him, left he fliould inllil his principles into others. All other matters are regiilated rather by cuftom than by laws, which will be feen when I come to the form of their govern- ment, and other particular inllitutions.

Remarks of Signor Rhedi,

. (1) Agai7ijl Jbedding of bloody ^c."] Thefe people defcending; from Mifraim^ who might know the patriarch Ncah^ and might have learnt by tradition the puniftument of Cain for the murder of his brother Abel^ carried that opinion to an excefs. Thefe people, be they who they will, or not be at all, I can't but ob- ferve, how inexcufahle^ihe wickednefs of men was from the be- ginning, without blaming Gsd^ as fome libertines do, for leav- ing them in ignorance.

The wicked Ham, or Clam, war, in the ark with Noah, and lived many years before the deluge, (the truth of which is at- tefted by ancient hiflory as well as by fcripture and faith) and faw the dreadful punifhment inflicled on the v/orld for fin ; could not he have learnt godlinefs and the reward for it, of hi^ father Noahf Could not Ham have taught his own children, they theirs, and fo on ? But they corrupted their own ways, and thereby fliewed the neceillty of the law of grace and revelation. . . . (2} See

SiGNOR Gaudentio bi Lucca. 129

(z) See the bifhop of Meaux's univerfal hillory concerning the Egyptians, part 3. and of thei/ puniibments after death.

(3) And never heard of more ^ ©*<:.] With our author's leave, this is not fuch a jud and corapaffionate part, to turn innocent children out among people whofe cuftoitis they had fuch a horror of, only for their pafentf^ faults : fcr though the maxim be good, " •etjactr&rt hretd^'' yet the care they took of their youth, .ind the moral inftrut^lon tl*ey gave them, might rjiaks them ubhot the crime? ^i thfif par^nt.^.

Continuation of the Memoirs.

OF THEIPv FOKM UF %j^wvjc.i\.ivivi£/JNi:.

X HEIR form of government, as I Iiad the honor to acquaint your reverences before, is patri- archal, v/hich they preferve inviolably, as being the moll tenacious people in the world of their primi- tive inftitutions. But the order of the fucceflion is extremely particular, to keep up the equality of brotherhood and dignity as exadl as they can. Your reverences,! prefume, remember that they all fprung from one family, (and lived as fuch when they were driven out of Egypt) the head of which was prieil of the fun. This government they had obferved- ever fince Mifraim took pofTeliion of that land for his habitation. But w^hen they w'ere fecured from all the world in the firfl vale, as v/as mentioned be-

130 The MEMOIRS of

fore, they eflabliflied that form of government after a particular manner. The firft pophar fettling in that vale with his live fons and as many daughters with their hufbands, governed them during life as father or patriarch of them all. Th.ir prodigious veneration for their parents and feparation from all other people, render this form infinitely more prac- ticable than can be w^ell imagined. As they were children of one man, the intereft of the v hole was the intereft of every particular. AU the nation of the firft tranfmigraiion were children, grand chil- dren, or great grand children of the good old man who condudled them thither. Having no w^ars or voyages at fea, nor commerce with the diflempers, as well as vices of other nations, who generally dif- fer in their way of living as well as their climate ; having nothing of this,! fay, to deftroy their people, they not only increafed prodigioufty, without plu- rality of wives, but by that and their almoft primitive way of living ; they preferved their lives to a great old age, moft of them living above a hundred years, and' fc:ne of them above a hundred and fifty. The firft pophar, fay their mem.oirs, lived till a hundred and fifty five, and his eldeft fon, his fucceffor, being more robuft than himfelf, to a Inindred and iixty. Prefently after his eftablifliment in the firft vale, he divided his fmall dominions into fi\Q nomes, or go- vernments, under his five fons, as was obferved be- fore, all were to be fubordinate to the eldeft ; but it was only a patriarchal fubordination, relating to the whole. The other governors, and indeed all fathers of families were entire minifters of the laws in their refpeflive families •, but thefe laft were liable to the infpedlion of the more immediate fu- periors, and all to that of the grand pophar, affifted with fuchanumber of counfellorsaswere eftablifhed afterwards. To give your reverences a more diftin6t idea ofliiswond.erfid goveriiment,itv/ ill come much

to

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lucca. 131

to the fame, whether we defcend from the chief po- phar to every refpeftive family, or from thefe up- <^^ards. The particularities of the fucceflion I fhall confider afterwards. However, it will be ealier feen if we take them when their numbers were not i\) great, at the lirit beginning of their eflablifh- ment. The pophar then having dillinguifhed the bounds of every nome, I mean in their firft tranf- migration, each fon took poffeffion of it for him- felf and pofterity. While each fon's children were unmarried, they continued under the government of their father, who made ufe of as much land as was iufficient for the conveniencies and pleafures, as well as neceifaries of life. Eut as foon as any fon was liiarried, or at leafl when he could be called a father of a family, the father, with confent of the pophar, allotted him likewife a fufficient quantity for the fame end •, fo they fpread and enlarged themfelves as it were from the centre to a farther extent, much in the fame manner as they build their tov/ns, till they had occupied the whole nome. Here you will fay, thefe people muft in procefs of time encreafe to an infinitum^ without lands fufficient to maintain them. This v/as really the cafe in the lirfl plan- tation, which was fo entirely occupied by them, that if the famous pophar who brought them into the vafl continent they now enjoy, had not made that glorious difcovery with the danger of his life, they miill have returned iiito Egypt, or eat up one ano- ther; but where they kre at prefent, they have room enough, riotwithilandlTig their numbers, for feVeral ages. However, I often reprefented to the pophar, that it muft come to'that at laft •, the thought made him uAfeafy at firft, and at length put him on a-fur- ther difc6vefy,'as ybur reve.rences will fee in t^e fe- queL But Tuch vaft numbers Gf:^them betaking thehifelves to arts-aiid manlifa6i^urel, and.the coun- try being fo prodigioufly fertile, there does not ap-

- ■ * ■ ' pear

J32 The MEMOIRS of

pear any great difficulty in that relpefl. Of all arts they look upon agriculture as the firlt in dignityx» next to the liberal fciences, fince that nourifhes all the reft •, but it comes fb eafily, and the fruits and legumes are fo rich and delicious, that they have little more trouble than to gather them, belides laving two fummers and two fp rings, each differ- ent feafon produces its peculiar fruits. But to re- turn to the idea of their government ^ each father of a family governs all his defcendants, married or unmarried, as long as he lives. If his fons are fa- thers, they have a fubordinate power under him ; if he dies before he comes to fuch an age, the eldefl fon, or the eldeft uncle, takes care of them, untill they are fufficient to fet up family for themfelves. The father, on extraordinary occafions, is liable to be infpe<5led by five of the mofl prudent heads of that diftridl ; thefe by five of the five adjacent dif- tridls chofen by common confent ; thefe laft, by the heads of the five nomes, and all the nomes by the grand pophar affifled with three hundred and fixty Sve elders, or fenators, chofen out of every nome. What is mofl particular in this government, is, that they are all abfolute in fome manner, and indepen- dent, as looking on themfelves as all equal in birth ; yet in ^n entire dependency of natural lubordinatioDi^ or elderfhip, which runs through the whole oeco- iiomy,^as your reverences will fee when I come to the fucceflion. They are in the fame manner lords and proprietors of their own pofTefHons, yet the po- phar and governors can allot arid difpofe of all foir" the'public emolument, becaufe they look upon him to be as mucih the father of all, as the immedint^ natural father is bf his proper children, and even ipf , feme' fenfe their natural father by right of eldef- ftiib, becaufe they fprung originally from one man, whom the gratid pophar Tepfefents. To this, that natural, or politic, or even ityperftitioius refpe^! they

iliew

SiGNOR Gaudentio ni Lucca. 13 j

fhcw to their parents, contributes fo much, that the/ never dlfpute, but cm the contrary, revere the regulations made by their fuperiors ; being fatisfied that they are not only juil and good, but that it is their own adl, fince it is done by virtue, of a fub- ordinatiofi to which they all belong.

The fucceiRon of elderfhip has fomething very*. particular, and even intricate in it* To expi-efs at the fame time the fuperiority of the elder fon, and the equality of independence, I ihall endeavour to explain to your reverences as well as I can, the right thereof. The elder fon of the firft pophar, is al- ways grand pophar, when he is of ag€ to govern, which, as I faid, i« fifty at foonelt ; but if the dire<5t line fails, not the uncle's fon, nor any one in that T*ome, but the right heir of the next nome, and fo of all the five nomes. If they fhould fail in all the Bomes, the right heir of the fecond fon of the firft nome, and fo of all the reft. This they fay li?^ ha^ppened feveral times fince their firft eftabliih- raent, which is not much to be wondered at, if they are fo ancient as they pretend. Thus, though the grand popharfhip be confined to the eldeft in fome^ fenfe, in effcsfl it belongs to them all ; but if the next heir be a minor, as he is always judged to be till he is fifty years of age, the eldeft of that age, of the fecond fon of the next nome^ is regent till the heir be out of his minority, andib on*, iniomuch, tnat he vv ho has the next right to be grand pophar, is never to be regent, to divide the fuperiorityamong them as equal as is pofiible. All other public of- ficers, teacheis of arts and fcienees, overfeers of all the public employments,, cS'^^ are conllituted by the grand pophar esrid fe^h^drini, with aiToGiiites of

O JMOJ^E

134 The MEMOIRS or

MORE PARTICULARS

OF THEIR PUBLIC (ECONOMY.

T,

H O U G H; as I faid, the pophar is in fome fenfe the proprietor of the whole country, as head of the government, and chief patriarch ; yet the pa- radox of this government conlifts in this, that they are joint lords, acknowledging no inequality but merely elderihip, and the refpecft due to dignitaries, which they efteem as their own, or redounding to themfelves, becaufe they all give their confent to their eleftion for the public good. In a word, the whole country is only one great family governed by the laws of nature, with proper officers conlli- tuted. by the whole, for order and common preferva- tion ; every individual looks on himfelf as a part of that great family. The grand pophar is the conj- mon father, eileeming ail the reft as children and brothers, calling them univerfally by that name, as they all call one another brothers, bartering and ex- changing their commodities as one brother would do with another ; and not only that, but they join ail in building their towns, public places, fchools, &c. laying up all their ftores and provifions, over and above the prefent confumption, in public places for the ufe of the whole, with overfeers and infpe(5l- ors, conftituted by common confent, who are to take care chiefly that no diforder be committed. Thus every one contributes to all public expences, feafts, and the like, which on fome occafions are extremely magnificent, affecfling an external grandeur in all refpe^s. Thus alfo, every man wherever he goes, enters into what houfe he pleafcs, as if it were his own home j this they aie doing perpetually through- out

SiGNOR Gaudentio bi Lucca. 135

cut the whole country, rather viliting then mer- chandizing, exchanging the rarities of each refpec- tive place with thole of other parts, juft like friends mailing prefents to one another •, fo that all the roads are like ftreets of great towns, with people going backw^ard and forward perpetually. They do this the more frequently to keep up a correfpon- dence between the nornes, for fear that dillance of place fliould caufe any forge tfulnefs of their being of one family. The plenty of the country affords them every thing that nature can call delightful, and that w^ith fuch eafe, that infinite numbers are employed in trades and arts, according to their ge- nius or inclinations ; which, by their continual peace and plenty, their long eflabliihment in one country^ and under one form of government, the natural in- genuity of the people, the fo early knowledge of arts, which they brought with them out of Egypt ; and by the improvements their wife men make in. them from time to time, from what they learn when they pay their viflts to their deceafed anceftors, they have brought to prodigious perfecflion. One may fay of them, that they are all maflers and all feryants, every one has his employment ; generally fpeak- ing, the younger fort v/ait on the elders, changing their o:Kces as it is thought proper by their fupe-. riors, as in a well regulated community. All their, children univerfally are taught at the public ex- penfe, as children of the government, without any diflindion but that oi perfonal 7nerih As the per- fons deputed for that end, judge of their genius, or any particular inclination, they are difpofed after- wards to thofe arts and callings for which they feem mofl proper-, the moft fublime fciences are the moll in refpecfl with them, and are chiefly the employ- ment of their great men and governors, contrary to the cuflom of other countries ; the reafon of v. hich is, becaufe thele being never chofen till they O a are-

13<5 The memoirs of

are fifty years of age, tliej have had more time to improve tliemfeives, and generally are perfons of more exteniive capacities. They rightly fuppofe that perfons who exeel others in the mofi: rational fci- ences, are not only iittefl to govern a rational peo- ][)le, but alfo moil capable of making themfelves mailers of what they undertake ; not but fuch men knowing the governors are chofe out of that rank, liave an eye in their lludies to the rules and arts of governing, which are communicated at a diltance by them, accordir}g to the talerts they remark in the iUbjedls. They dcn*t do this out of any fpirit of ambition, employments being rather an honorary trouble than advantage, but for the real good of the "whole. Agriculture, as I faid, has the next place in Iionor afteT liberal arts ; and next to that, thofe arts sire moil elleemed which are moll neceffary ; the laft of all are thofe which are of ieail ufe, though per- liaps the moll delightful.

Since every one is employed for the common good more than for themfelves, perhaps perfons may ap- prehend that this gives a check to indullry, not hav- ing that fpur of private interell, hoarding up riches, or aggrandizir^g their families, as is to be found in other nations. I was apprehenlive of this mylelf \vhen I came to underiland their government, but fo far from it, that poilibly there is not fuch an in- duflrious race of people in the univerfe. They place their great ambition m the grandeur of their country ^ looking on thofe as narrow and mercenary fpirits, who can prefer a part to the whole ; they pride themfelves over other nations on that account, each man having a proportionable lliare in the public, grandeur ; the love of glory and praife feems to be their greatefl paffibn. Befides their v/ife governors have fuch ways of ilirring up their emulation by public honors, harangues, and panegyricks in their public alTemblisSjWith a thoufarid other arts of lliew snd pageantry, and this for the n^oll minute arts,

that

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lucca. 137

Aat were it not for that fraternal love ingrafted in them" from their infancy, they would be in danger of raifing' their emulation to too great a height. — Thofe who give indications of greater wifdom and prudence in their condudl than others, are marked out for governors, and gradually raifed according to their merit. Whoever invents a new art has a ftatue ere(fl:ed according to the ufefulnefs of it, with his n'ame and family put down in the public recoids. Whoever diftinguifhes himfelf by any particular eminence, has fuitable marks of diftin<fiion paid him on public occafions, as garlands, crowns, acclama- tions, fongs, or hymns in his p'aiffe, &c. It is in- credible how fuch' rewards as thefe encourage in- duftry and arts in minds fo affected with glory, a? thefe people are : on the other hand, their greateft punifhment, except for capital crimes, which are punifhed as above, arc by public difgraceis.

But nov/ I am fpeaking of their youth, — as they look upon them as feeds of the common v/ealth, which if corrupted in the bud, will never bring forth fruit; fo their particular care is laid out in their education, in which I believe they excel all nations yet known. One cannot fay there is one perfon in the v>rhole nation who may be called an idle perfon, though they indulge their youth very much in pro» per recreations, endeavouring to keep them as gay as they can, becaufe they are naturally inclined to gra- vity, and befides daily recreations, they have fet times and feafons for public exercifes, as riding, vaulting, running, but particularly, hunting wild beafts, and" fifhing for crocodiles and alligators in their great lakes, which I fnall defcribe to your reverences on another occafion ; yet they are never fuffered to go alone, that is, a company of young men together, without grave men and perfons in authority along with them, who are a guard to them in all their ac- tions : nay, they are never fuffered to lye together, G 3 each

33S The MEMOIRS OF

each lying in a fingle bed, though in a public room^ with fome grave perfon in the fame room with them. Their women are kept much in the fame manner, to prevent inconveniencies I fhall touch upon, when I come to the education ot their women, and this fo univerfally, that as there are no idle companions to lead them into extravagancies, fo there are no idle and loofe women to be found to corrupt their purit/^ Their whole time, both for men and women is taken up in employments or public recreadons,which with the early care to inllru(5l them in the fundamental principles of the morality of the country, prevents all thofe diforders of youth we fee elfewhere. Hence comes that ilrength of body and mind in their men, and modeft blooming beauty in their women -, fo that among this people, nature feems to have kept itfelf up to its primitive and original perfed:ion.^ Beiide that univerfal likenefs in them, proceeding from their conjugal fidelity, and exclufion of all fo- leign mixture in their breed,, where all the linea- ments of their ancellors, diredl and collateral, meet at laft in their offspring, gives the parents the com- fort of feeing their own bloom and youth renewed in their children^ though in my opinion this uni- verfal likenefs is rather a defe^ ; not but the trea- fures of nature are fo inexhauilible, that there are fome dillinguilhing beauties in every face. Their young men and women meet frequently, but then it is in their public affemblies with grave people mixt along with them. At all public exercifes the wo- men are placed in view to fee and be feen, to in- ilame the young men with emulation in their per- formances. They are permitted to be decently fa- miliar on thofe public occaiions, and can chufe their lovers refpedlively, according to their liking, there being no fuch thing as dowries or intereft, but mere perfonal merit in the cafe ; but more of this in the jiext paragraph^ w^here I fliall fpe^ak more particu- larly

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lucca. 139

larly of the education of their Women and marriages. This is a ftiort fketcK of the government and oeco- nomy of a people who are fo much diflinguiflied' from the euftoms of others as they are feparated by their habitation and country.

Inquisitor. — You feem, fir, to have a very high idea of this patriarchal government, and look upon it according to the law of nature ; I hope you don't deny but perfons may be obliged by the law of na- ture to obey their forms of government, as well as a patriarchal one ?

Gaudentio. — No^jeverend fathers, by no means, I don't enter into comparifons, but relate matter of fa(R:. It is not to be doubted, but different forms, of government may be proper for different nations^ and where once a form of government is lawfully ellablifhed, perfons are obliged to obey to avoid anarchy and confufion ; for example,whoever fhould endeavour to fubvert a monarchical government once lawfully eltabUfhed, mull break in upon the laws of right and jullice, which are obligations of the law of nature.

Inquisitor. — Read on.

Second Inquisitor. — Under favour I muft aflc him a queftion or two firft. I ihixi'k, Sig?ior' Gua»~ dcvtio^you make the grand pophar to be both prince and priefl ; that is to be vefted both with temporal and fpiritual power : is it your opinion that the fpi ritual power is fubje6l to the temporal ?

Gaudentio. — I fpeak of heathens, reverend fa- thers, and a heathenifh worfhip, where the grand pophar was both prince of the people and chief prieft of the fun by his place. I acknowledge no head of the church but his holinefs, as moll agree- able to the primitive inllitution of our religion.

Here he went on in Ms exalted notions oftkefo've' reign ^ntiffi partly being a roman Qhaiholic, but-

Qhiejly,

HO The MEMOIRS ot

chiejly^ in all appearance^ hecauje he was before the. inqinjition ; for which reafon the puhUjher thought jit to leave it out*

Gaudentio.— Doth it pleafe your reverences tHat I go on with my hiftory ? iNqjjisiTOjL. — Ay, ay, read on-

THE EDUCATION OF THEIR WOMEN, AND MARRIAGES.

A .

-^^ S for their women, thepophar told me it was what gave them the moft trouble of any thing in their whole government ; that by their records their ancellors had held frequent confultations after what manner they were to be managed, there being great difficulties to be feared, either from allowing them liberty or keeping them under reftraint. If you allow them liberty, you mull depend on their honor or rather caprice, for your own ; if you keep them under confinement, they will be fure to revenge, themfeives the firit opportunity, which they will find in fpite of all you can do. The rules, faid he, by which men are governed, will not hold with wo- men •, folid reafon, if you can make them feniible of it, will fome time or other have an influence on mofl men, whereas humour is what predominates in wo- men. Hit that, you have them ; mifs it, you do no- thing ; and yet they are fo far from being an indif- ferent thing in the commonwealth, that much more depends on the right management of them than peo- ple imagine. Licentioufnefs of youth draws innu- merable misfortunes on any government, and what greiater incentives for licentioufnefs than lewd wo-

menj

SiGNOR GaUBIINTTO BI LuCCA« >4T

V7omen, v/hether proflitutes, wanton ladies, or adul- treffes ? For all loofe wcmen belong to one of thefe clalTes. Our • women, continued he, are ex- tremely beautiful, as you fee \ our men flrong and vigorous; conjugal fidelity therefore and chaftity mull be the ftrongell bonds to keep them in theic duty. As for our young men, v/e keep them in per- petual employment, and animate them to glory by all ways capable of llirring up generous minds ; we endeavour the fame on our women, by ways adapted 'to their genius. But our greatell care of all, is to make marriage efteemed by both parties the hap- piefl flate that can be wilhed for in this life. This 'WQ believe to depend more in making the womah happy and iixt in her choice, than the man ; becauffe if the perfon be impofed upon her, not according to her own inward inclination, that diillke, or revenge, or perhaps a more fhameful pafiion, will make her feek for relief elfewhere ; and where women are not virtuous, men will be lewd. We therefore permit the woman to chufe entirely for herf^lf, and the men to make their addreffes where they pleafe : but the W^oman is to diftinguifli her choice by fome lignal occafion or other, and that too not without grea^t dilSculties on both fides, which being furmounted, they elleem themfelve3 arrived at the nappy part of all their wifhes. The m.oll ardent and tried love determines the choice ; this endears the man to her on the one hand, and the difficulty of finding any woman who has not the fame inducements to love her hufband, leaves him no encouragement in his lawlefs delires among married women ; and the fin- gle women are either fo early engaged with their lovers, or fo polTefTed with the notion that a married tnan can't belong to Ker, that his luit would he en- tirely vain. In a ^^'ord, we don"" t allov/ the leaft temporal interefl to interfere in the choice, but ra- lhe,r wiih our young people iliould fall in love.

Our

142 The memoirs of

Our whole bufinefs is to prove their conllancy, and' lo malce them fo ; when we are well aiTured of this, all obilacles are removed. We found this method to have the leail inconvenielicies of an/, and the beft means to preferve conjugal fidelity, on which the good of families fo much depends.

When our nation, continued he, began to grow very populous, and the country full of riches and plenty ; the promifcuous converfation of our young men and women, v/ith fome neglec^l on the part of the gor vernors, was the occafion that the bounds of our in- nocent ancellors were not fufficient to keep them in their duty ; llrange diforders were crept among our youth of both fexes ; our men grew enervated and effeminate, our women wanton and enilamed : un- natural abufes wafted away their conllitution, fo that v/e loft thoufands of our young men and v/omen, without knowing what v^^as the caufe ; even in the married ftate, the women began not to be contented with one man, on which account our anceftors had almoft refolved to keep ail our women from the iight of men untill they were married, and then to deliver them up to their hufbands, who fhould have a defpotic right over them ; as I am informed they have in other nations. They judged this to be a certain means to be fure of the legitimacy of their children, and to prevent jealoufy ; the firft caufe, though difTembled, of the man's diflike to his wife. Others objecfled againft this fevere difcipline, and faid, it v/as making the moft beautiful part of the creation mere ilaves,.or at leaft, mere properties; it was to give an innate check to the glory of a free people ; it was to deprive the hufband of tl\e volun- tary love of his moiety ; and take away the moft en- dearing part of conjugal happinefs. Toahis, the fevere iidc anfwered, that the v/onxen were come to fuch a pafs, that the abufes of it ihewed they were JX9X capable of liberty ; however, a medium betwixt

both.

SiGNOR GaUDENTIO DI LuCCA, 143

both carried it for that time. The injuries of the marriage Hate, and the corruption of youth, which was the occaiion of it, was judged to be of fuch con- fequence to the commonw^ealth, that they were re- folved to put a Hop to it at any rate. All the wife men and governors confulted, and refolved unani- moully to put the laws I mentioned, againft adultery and whoredom in execution ; caufing proclama- tions to be made for that intent throughout the whole empire. All corrupters of youth of both fexes were ihut up immediately, with thofe regula- tions I related above, of having grave perfons al- ways in the company of young people, men and wo- men. They married off all that were at age for it as fall as they could ; but found they did not en- creafe as ufual, having exhaufted or debilitated their native vigour by their unnatural abufes.

Some Paragraphs feem wanting in this Part o/Gaudentio's Narrative^ which^ douhu lefs^ were very curious.

There is a peculiar method allowed by them, in which they differ from all other nations; for where- as, other nations endeavour to preferve their young people from love^ left they fhouid throw themfelves away, or make difadvantageous matches \ thefe peo- ple having no interefted views in that refped:, en- courage a generous and honorable love, and maL:e it their care to fix them in the ftri(5left love they can, 35 foon as they judge by their age and conftitution how they are inclined ; this they do fcmetimes by applauding them on their choice, but moftly by raiiing vaft difficulties, contrived onpiirpofe, both to try and enhance their conftancy. They have hif- tories and ftories of heroic examples of fidelity and conftancy in both fexes, but particularly for the

young

i44v Th2 MEMOIRS of

young women, by which they are taught rather to fuffer ten thoufand deaths than violate their plighted faith •, one may fay, they are a nation of faithful lovers -, the longer they live together, the more their friendiliip encreafes, and infidelity in either fex is looked upon as a capital crime. Add to this, that A>eing all of the fam« rank and quality, except the regard paid to elderfhip and public employments, nothing but perfonal merit and a liking of each other, determines the choice. There muft be fignal proofs produced, that the woman prefers the man before all others, as his-fervice muH be diftinguifhed in the fame manner. Where this is approved of by the governors or elders, if th^ wowian iniilts on her demands, it is an inviolable law that that man mull be her huiband. Tlieir hands are firll joined in public, then they clafp each oth^r in the clofell em- brace, in which poilure the elder of the place puts a oircle of :th^ £neil tempered Heel, to fiiew that this union is never to be diifolved ; it is all woven with Howers, and fir ft laid over their necks, as they are thus clafping each other ; thea round their waift^, and laft of all round their breafts or hearts, to Hg- nify, that the ardency of their love muft terminate in an indiffoluble friendfhip, with infinite acclama- trons and congratulations of the whole afTembly. I believe the world, can'x lurnifh fuch excimples of con- jugal chaftity as are preferved between them by this m^ans. Widov^ers and widows never marry fingle perfons,and but rarely at all, except left yoi!ng,when they are to gain each other as before. By fuch pru- dent preciautlons, infinite diforders are prevented, p^roceeding not only fr£)mrdifproportionate and forced j);>.arriages,. but from the licentioufnefs of idle per- fonSj who either marry for money, or live on the fj^iis of other people, till they can get an advan- t>Hg^eou,s- match, v^^hich often ocGafions great misfor- im^y m a*cosnm.cnwcsHh. Xhigjis a fbort fketch

cf

SiG^^OR Gaubentio di Lucca. 14S

6f their government and cuftoms, which I thought Would not be unacceptable to your reverences, tho* a great many other cuftoms of lefs moment will oc- cur in the fequel of my life.

Continuation of the Memoirs*

Where the Author returns to the more par- ticvlar Circumjlances of his own Life.

JL H E Pophar Regent made choice of me for one of his attending companions, with the other young men who came home with us ; he had a great many other attendants and officers deputed by common confent, to w ait his orders as Regent ; thefe w^ere changed every five years, as were thofe attending the governors of the other Nomcs, on account of improvement ; for, being all of equal quality, they endeavour to give them as equal an education as is poftible, changing their employments, and waiting on one another in their turns by the appointment of their refpec^ive governors, except thofe whofe ge- nius or choice determines them to arts and fciences, according to their oeconomydefcribed before* Imuft only add, that having fuch a high value for their race, no one thinks it a difgrace to perform the mean eft offices, being all to be attended in like man-

14^ The memoirs of

manner themfelves,when it comes to their turns,every one looking on the honours done to every branch cf their government, as their own. Hence all their public ranks and ceremonies are the moft magnifi- cent that can be imagined ; their is fcarce any thing done even in entertainments between the private tribes, but there are proper officers deputed for it, and all expenfes paid out of the common Hock, with deputies and overfeers for every thing. Their houfes are all open to one another with a long gallery, which runs from the end of one range of building to the other ; the womens apartments join together, with the men of each family joining to their own ivomen, that is, their wives, lifters, and daughters. The women have their fubaltern ofticers like the men. The iiril apartment of every break of a itreet belongs to the men, then the women's belonging to them ; then the women of the next family joining to them, and tlieir men beyond them, and fo on, with large public halls at proper diflances for public af- fembli^s *, fo that every thing they do is a fort of paradox to us, for they are the freefl and yet ilrifteft people in the world ; the v/hole nation, as I obferved before, being more like one univer- fal college, or community, than any thing elfe. The women are perpetually employed as w^ell as the men, it is their bufinefs to work all the fine garments for themfelves and the men, which being much the iame, except devices and fiowers, for their friends and lovers, are made w^ith lefs ditiiculty ; the chief difference is in the wearing them •, but the chief diilinciion of fexes is in the ornaments of their iiecks and hair. Crowns and fillets are worn by all, jull after the model of the little pi<R:ure your reve- rences fav/ in the cabinet; all their lapeftry, em- broidery, and the like, with infinite other curioli- ties, are all the works of their women ; fo that the chief qualiiicatioR of their w^omen, or ladies, for

they

SiGNOR GaUDENTIO D I LuCCA, 14^

itiey are all fucJi, is to excel iti tKe loom, needle, or dillaff. Since I came there, hy the Pophar's delire, thej have added that of painting, in which I believe the vivacity of their genius will make them excel all the reft of the world. Not teaching for hire, I thought it no difgracein me to inllrudl fuch ami- able fcholars in an art no man ought to be afliamed of; it is a thing unknown with thefe j^eople, for young ladies of all degrees, o? even young men, to have nothing elle to mind or think of but vilits and dreffes. When T gave them an account of the lives of our quality ar.d gentry, they cried out, IVhat Bar- Varia7ts I can any thing become beauty more than knowledge and ingenuity ? They feemed to have fuch a contempt, and even a horror for a life of that nature, that the young ladies afked me with great concern, if our ladies had any lovers? as if it v/ere impoiiible to love a woman who had nothing to re- commend her but what nature gave her. In fine, by the defcription I gave of the idle life of our la- dies, they judged them to be no more than beautiful brutes. They af^ed me alfo, if I did not think my- felf fortunate by my captivity, where I met with ladies who thought the ornaments of the mind more delirable than thofe of the body; and told me, they imputed what they faw in me, to my good fortune of being born of their race by the mother's iide ; nay, could i'carce believe but my father had a mix- ture of their blood fome way or other. I affured them, I efteemed myfelf \f^ry happy to be in the midft of fo many charms of body and mind; and added, that though they had the ineilimable hap- pinefs of being born all of one race, without any mixture of foreign vices, yet in effedl, all the world were originally brothers and iiilers, as fpringin ^ irom one pair, iince men and women did not rife out of the ground like muilirooms. This I faid, tc^ ? 2 Rive

14^ The memoirs o?

give them a little hint of natural and revealed re*- ligion, which are infeparably linked together.

But to return to myfelf. — The Pophar being my neareil relation, took me into his own family as his conflant companion and attendant, when he was not en the public concerns, where 1 always accompanied him with moll diftinguifhing marks of his favour. He would often confer with me, and inftrudl me in their ways and culloms, and the polity of their go- vernment ; enquiring frequently into the parcicula-. lities of our governments, both civil and religious; for the lall he never endeavouredvto perfuade me to conform to their ceremonies *, and my own good fenfe told me, it was prudence not to meddle with them. I rather thought he feemed inclined to have more favourable fentiments of our religion, as fuch, than his own, though he was prodigioully blgotted to their civil cufloms ; faying, it was impoliible ever to preferve a commonwealth when they did not live *i?p to their lav/s •, that thefe laws fhould be as few and as iimple as pofiible, bat then kept to a tittle ; for when once people come to break m upon fun- damentals, all fubfequent laws Would not have half the ilrcngth as prim.ary ones, with a great many Other refie<S:ions, that fhe^^ied he was a man of a moll confummate wifdom, and worthy the high poil he bore. He had two fons, both dead, and tVvO daughters living ; the one was about ten years old,, when I arrived there ; it is fhe your reverences lav/ in that picture ; the other born the year before the Popliar fet out for Grand Cairo. Ills lady, much younger than himfelf, fliewed fuch frelh remains, of beauty, as demonllrated that nothing but what Iprung from herfelf, could equal her. Both the Pophar and his con fort looked on me as their oy;n fon, nor could I expecl greater favour had I really been fo. I took all the care imaginable not to ren- d^f myfelf unworthy of it, and both revered and

loved

SiCx^oii G'audentio di Lucca. 149

loved them beyond what I am able to exprefs; tho* indeed, as I obferved, the whole race of them was nothing but a Icingdom of brothers and friends; no man had the leall fufpicion or fear of one another. They were fo habituated to the obfervaUce of their laws, by their natural difpofitions, and the never^ ceafing vigilancy of their governors, that they fcem- ed to have a gre^tter horror for the breach of their laws, tiian the punifliments attending it ; faying, that infinite diforders might be committed by the- malicious inventions of men, if there was nothing but fear to keep them in their duty. Such force has education and tlie light of nature rightly cul'- tivated. For myfelf, I was left to follow what li- beral employment I had a mind- to. Philofophy, mufic, ai^d painting had been the chief pa-rt of my ftudy and diverlion till my unliappy captivity, and the lols of my brother ; but as I was fallen amorr;;; a nation of philofopher?, that noble Icience, the mii- trefs of all others, made up the more feriou^ pait of my employment. Thougii, by tlie Pophar lle[;enr's earneft defire, I applied myfelF to the other two, particularly painting. They had a great many old • fafliioned mufical inllruments, and an infinite num- ber of performers in their way, accompanying their ffealls and public rejoicings. Their muiic, both vcr^ cal and inltrumental, was not near fo perfect as one might have expe(^led of fo polite a people, and did not come up to the elevated genius of our Italians* Their philofophy chiefly turned on the more ufeful part oi it, that is, the mathematiclcs and diredilou of nature. In the moral part of it they have a fyi'~ tern, or rather notion, of which I forgot to acquaint your reverences before; it is a too high and exalted ' notion of Providence, if that exprellion may be al^ lovi^ed, by which they imagine all things to be fo governed in this w^orld, that whatever injury a man iloes to iinother, it will be ruturncd upon him or his P 3 po.aeri';'-.

ISO The M E M O I R S 0^

poflerlty, even in this world, in the fame manner^ or even in a greater degree, than what he did to others.

In G^ I SIT OR. — ^Youll be pleafed to explain your own fentiments in this particular, lince v^e hope you do not deny that fundamental law of nature and re- ligion •, 'viz. That the divine Providence prefides over all things; and as for fublunary things, we prefume you believe that Providence does not only iliew itfelf in the wonderful produ(f^ion and har- mony confpicuous in all natural caufes and effedls, beyond all the wit and art of men ; but alfo over the moral part ; that is, the free a(5lions of men, by fuitable rewards and punifhments in this world or the next, to make an equal and juft compenfation for all the goods and evils of this life, as God is the juft and equal father of alL So pray explain your- felf, that we may know your real fentiments on that head.

Gaudentio. — I hope, reverend fathers, I fhall convince you, my fentiments are really orthodox in this point*, no man has more reafon to magnify Pro- vidence than myfelf ; but heatheniih people may carry a juft belief to fuperftition. That there is a Providence over the phyfical part of the v/orld, no man who has any juft knowledge in nature, can be ignorant, and may be convinced by the leaft infe(5l, every thing being adapted to its peculiar ends, with fuch art and knowledge in the author of it, that all the art and knowledge of men cannot do the like *, and by confequence, not being able to make itfelf, it muft be produced by a caufe iniinitely knowing iind forefeeing. Then, as to the moral part of the w^orld, the fame reafon Ihews, that lince the great Creator defcends fo low as to take care of the leaft anfe^l, it is incredible to think that the nobleft part of the world, that is, the free asflions of men, Ihould t^ without his care. But aahe has given them the

glorious

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lucca. i^t

glorious endowments of his free will, the fame Pro- vidence knows how to adapt the dire<5tion of them by w^ays and means fuitable to their beings ; that is> by letting them know his will, and propofing fuita> bie rewards and punifhments for their good and bad a(flions; which rewards and puniflxments, it is evi- dent, are not alw^ays- feen in this life, fince the wicked often profper, and the good fuffsr, but by confequence muft be referved for another flate.

But thefe people not having a jull notion of the next life, though they believe a future llate, carry matters fo far, that they think every injury done to another, will be fome way or other, retaliated upon the aggrelTor, or his poilerity in this life •, only they fay, the punifhm.ent always fails the heavier the longer it is deferred. In this manner do they ac- count for all the revolutions of the earth, that one wicked adlion is punifhed by another ; that the de- fcendants of the greatell monarchs have been loll in beggary for almoft endlefs generations, and the per- fons that difpolfefs^d them, treated after the fame manner by fome of the defcendants of the former, and fo on : which notion, in my opinion, is not juft, fince a fincere repentance may v/ipe off the moll grievous offences. But, as perfons, generally fpeak- ing, are more fenfibly touched with the punifliments of this life, it is not to be doubted but there are of- ten moil fignal marks of avenging Providence in this life, in order to deter the wicked. Inquisitor. — Go on.

Gaudentio. — Finding the Pophar had a pro- digious fancy for painting, by fome indifferent pieces he had picked up, I applied myfelf with extraordi- nary diligence to that ^art, particularly fince he w^ould hrive me teach his daughter, whofe unparal- leled charms, though jull in the bud, made me in- fenlible to all others. By frequent drawing, I not only pleafed him and others, but almoil myftU;

ever J

152 The memoirs of

every one there, men and women, were to follow fome art, or fcience ; the Pophar deiired me to im- part my art to fome of the young people of both i«xe.s ; faying, they had very great encouragements for the inventors of any new arts, which I might juilly claim a title to, with refpedl to their notion : I did fo, and before I left the place^I hi!d the plea- fure to fee fome of them equal, or even excelling iheir mafler.

Thefe v/ere the chief employments of my leifure hours ; though I was forced to leave them for coti- iiderable intervals, to attend the Regent in the pri- vate vifitations of his charge, v/hich he did fre- quently from time to time, fometimes to one Nome^. fometimes to another, having an eye over all, both officers and people. Thefe vilitations were rather prefervations againil, than remedies for any dif- orders. He ufed to fay, that the commonwealth. was like a great machine with different movemenrs^. which if frequently viiited by the artift,. the leail flav/ being tciken notice of in time, was not only foon. remedied, but was a means of preferving all the reft in a conftant and regular motion ; but if negiecfled, would foon diforder the motions of the other parts, and either coil a great deal to repair, or bring the •whole machine to defhrudlion. Unlefs on public fo- lemnities, Vv'hich are ahvays very magnificent, the Pophar went about without any great train, not to burden his people, accompanied by only an affifting elder or two, the young Pophar and myfeif, he hold- ing frequent confultatlons with the fubalterns, and even with the meanefl artifans, calling them his children ; and they having recourfe to him as their common father. For the firft five years of his re^ gency, the only difiiculty we had of any moment to determine, v/as an affair of the moil delicate nature I ever heard : though it does not concern myfeif, I ihrvU relate it to your reverences for the peculiar

circumilance^

SiGNOR Gatjdentio di Lucca. 153

clrcumftances of it, it being a cafe entirely new, as well as unprovided for by the laws in their conlli- tution.

The cafe was thus : — Two twin brothers had fallen in love with the fame woman, and fhe with them. The men and the woman lived in different parts 6f the fame Nome, and met accidentally at one of their great folemnities ; it was at the feaft of the fun, which is kept twice a year, becaufe, as I in- formed your reverences, their kingdom lies between the tropicks, but more on this fide the line than the other. This lituation is the occalion that they have two fprings and two fummers. At the beginning of each fpring, there are great feafts in every Nome, in honour of the fun ; they are held in the open fields, in teflimony of his being the immediate caufe (in their opinion) of the produ^lion of all things. All the facrifice they offer to him, are five little py- ramids of incenfe, according to the number of their Nomes, placed on the altar m pktes of gold^ till they take fire of themfelves. Five young men and as many women are deputed by the go\ernors to perform the ofrice of placing the pyramids of incenfe on the altar, clad in their fpangled robes of the co- lour of iheNome,with crovvms on their heads, march- ing up two by two, a man and a woman, between two rows of young men and Vv'omen, placed theatre- wife, one above another, and make the moft beau- tiful Ihew^ that eyes can behold. It happened that one of the twin brothers was deputed, with the young lady I am fpeaking of, to make the firil couple for the placing the incenfe on the altar. They . ■ marched up on different fides till they came to the altar. When they have placed the incenfe, they fa- lute each other, and crofs dow-n, he by the ranks of the women, and flie by the men, which they do with a wonderful grace becoming fuch an auguft affem- bly. The defign of this is to encourage a decorum

154 The memoirs or

in the carriage of the young people, and to give them » fight of each other in their greateft luftre. When the five couple have performed their ceremony, the other ranks come two by two to the altar, faluting each other, and croffing as before, by which means the young people have an opportunity of feeing every man and woman of the whole company, tho* the placing of them is done by lot. If they have not any engagement before, they generally take the firft liking to one another at fuch interviews, and the woman^s love and choice being what determines the marriage, without any vievv^s of interefl:, being', as I fa'id, all equal in quality, the young gallants make it their bufinefs to gain the afPedlion of ske perfon they like by their future fervices* To pre- vent ittconveiiiencles of rivallhip at the beginniug, if the man be the perfon the woman likes, he prefents her with a flower jufl in ihe bud, which ihe takes and puts in her breail If ihe is engaged before^ jh^. iLp.-i*;« h?*t? ''>^p, t^ *»^^r:f/ Tier eng^^^ment '^ which if in the bud only, Uiews the courtfhip is gone no further ilian the iirft propofal and liking ; if half blown, or the like, it is an emblem of further progrefs; if full-blown, it fignifics that her choice is determined, from whence they can never recede ; that is, fhe can change the man that prefents it, but he cannot challenge her till flie has worn.it publicly. If any diflike fhould happen after that, they are to be (hut up, never to have any hufoand. If fhe has iio engagement, but does not approve of the perfon, ihe makes him a low courtefy, with her eyes fhut till he is gone av/ay. The women, it 25 true, for all , this, have fome little coquettifh arts, diffembling; their affedlions now and then, but not often. If the man be engaged, he w^ears fome favour or other to fhev/ it ; it he likes not the woman, he prefents her with nothing ; if the v^xman fhould make fome extraordinary advances, v.irhout any of his fide, fhe

J3.a^

SiGNOR Gau1>1:NTI0 Dl LuCCA. I55

lias liberty to live a maid, or to be difpofed of a- inong the widows, being looked upon as fuch, who, by the bye, marry none but widowers. But to re- turn to the twins, — it happened that the brother who went with the lady to the altar, feeing fhe had BO bud upon her breaft, fell in love with her, and fhe with him ; the awe of the ceremony hindered them from taking any further notice of one another at that time. As fhe v/ent down the ranks, the other brother faw her, and fell in love with her likewife, and contrives to meet her with a bud in his hand, jufl as the ceremony ended, which fhe ac- cepts of, taking him to be the perfon who had marched up with her to the altar ; but being oblig- ed to go off with the other young ladies ; whether the concern fhe had been in, in performing the cere- mony before fuch an iilufirious afTembly, or the heat of the weather, or the joy fhe conceived in finding her affedlion reciprocal, or all together, liad fuch an cfFetft, that fhe fell into a fainting fit among her companions ; who opening her bofom in haftc, not minding the ilower, it fell down, and was trod under foot. Jufl as fhe w^as recovered, the brother who performed the ceremony, came up and prefented his bud ; fhe thinking it had been that fhe had lofi, re- ceived it with a look that lliewed he had made a greater progrefs in her aifeclions than what the ilower expreffed ; the laws not permitting any fur- ther converfation at that jundlure, they retired to their refpe<fiive habitations. Som.e time after, the brother who had the luck to prefent the firR flower, who for diftindlion I fhall call the younger brother, as he really was, found a way to make her a vifit by Health, at a grated windov/, which, as I obferved, was publicly prohibited by the wife governors, but privately connived at to enhance their love. He came to her, and after fome amorous converfation, ii?akes bold to prefent her the more advanced mark

of

15^ Ths memoirs Of

of his affecflion, which fhe accepted of, and gave him in return a fcarf worked with hearts, feparated by little brambles, to fhew there was fome difficulties for him to overcome yet. However, they gave one another mutual affurances of love, and he was per- mitted to profefs himfelf her lover, without declar* ing her name, for fome private reafons Ihe had — *• Not long after, the elder brother came and pro- cured an opportunity of meeting her at the fame windovv^ The night was very dark, fo that he could not fee the fecond flower which fhe had in her bo- fom, only fhe received him with greater figns of joy and freedom than he expected ; but reiledling on the figns he had remarked in her countenance, and after her illnefs, by a fort of natural vanity tor his own merits, flattered himfelf that her paflion was rather greater tlian his, excufed himfelf for being fo long without feeing her, and added, that if he were to be guided by the height of his flame, he would fee her every nijrht. She refle(5ling how lately fhe had feen him, thought his diligence was very extra- ordinary, but imputed it to the ardour of his paflion. In fine, {he gave him fuch affured figns of love, that he thought in himfelf he might pafs the middle ce- remony, and prefent her with a fuil-blov/n flower, to make fure of her. She took it, but told him, fhe would not wear it for fome time, till fhe had pafTed fome forms, and had further proof of his conftancy ; butfor his confirmation of her affedlion, fhe put out her hand as far as the grate would permit, which he kiffed Vv'ith all the ardour of an inflamed lover ; gives her a thoufand affurances of his fidelity, and fhe in return gave him a ribbon with two hearts in- terwoven with her own hair, feparated only with a little hedge of pomegranates, almoft ripe, to fliew ' that the time of gathering the fruit was nigh at hand. Thus were the three lovers in the greateft degree of happinefs imaginable. The brothers wore

her

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lucca. 157

her favours on all public occafions, congratulating €ach other for the fuccefs in their amours ; but as lovers affe(^ a fecrecy in all they do, never telling one another who were the objeds of their affecftion, the next great feall drew on, when the younger brother thought it was time to prefent the laft mark of his affedion, in order to demand her in marriage, which was ufually performed in thofe public folem- nities. He told her, he hoped it was now time to reward his flame, by wearing the open flower, as a full flgn of her confent, and gave her a full-blown artificial carnation, with gold flames and little hearts on the leaves, interwoven with wonderful art and ingenuity: fhe thinking it had been a repetition of the ardour of his afFeftion, took it, and put it in her bofom, with all the marks of tendernefs by which the fair fex in all countries know how to reward all the pains of their lovers in a moment. Upon this he refolved to afk her of her parents, which was the only thing necefTary on his fide, the woman having right to demand any man's fon in the kingdom, if he had but prefented her with the laft mark of his affecflion. The elder brother having given in his fome time before, thought the parents approbation was the only thing wanting on his fide, and refolves the fame day on the fame thing. They were ftrang- ly furprifed to meet one another, but feeing the dif- ferent favours, they did not know what to make of it. When the father came, they declared the caufe of their coming, in terms which earneftly expreffed the agony of their minds : the father was in as great concern as they were, affuring them, he had but one daughter, who, he was confident, would never give fuch encouragement to two lovers at the fame time, contrary to their laws ; but feeing their extremt likenefs, he guefied there muft be fome miftake. — Upon this the daughter was fent for,who, being in- formed it was to declare her confent in the choice

X58 The MEMOIRS ot

of her lover, came down with four flowers in her bofom, not thinking but the tv/o full-blown had belonged to the fame perfon, fince fhe had received two before fhe had worn the firft. The defer iption the poets give of the goddefs /^«z^5 riling out of the fea could not be more beautiful than the bloom that appeared in her cheeks when fhe came into the room. I happened to be there prefent, being fent before by the Pophar, to let the father know of the Regent's intended vifit ; he being a conliderable officer, was to order his concerns accordingly. As foon as the young lady heard the caufe of their coming, and feeing them Indiftinguifliably like each other, with the public ligns of her favours wrought with her owm hand, which they brought along with them, fhe fcreamed out, " I am betrayed I" and immedi- ately fell into a fwoon flat on the floor, almoft be- tween her two lovers. The father, in a condition ^'ery little better, fell down by his daughter, and %athing her with his tears, called to herto open her ^yes, or he muft die along w^ith her. The young men ilood like ftatues, with rage and defpair in their look^ at the fame time. I being the only indiffer- ent peTfon in the room, though extremely furprifed at the e% ent, called her mother and women to come to her afiillance ; they carried her into another room, undrelTed her, and by proper remedies, brought her at laft to herfelf -, the lirfl: word flie faid was " Oh I Bcrzlla, w^hat have you done !" Ail the refl: was no- thing but fobs and fighs, enough to melt the hard- r:ll heart. When fhe was in a condition to explain herfelf, fhe declared, llie liked the perfon of the man who went up with her to the altar ; that fome time after, the fame perfon, as Ihe thought, had prefented her with the firft marks of his afledtion, which fhe accepted of, and, in fine, had given her confent by w^earing the full-blown flower ; but which of the two brothers it belonged to, fhe cculd not tell j

adding*

Sign OR Gaudentio di Lucca. 159

adding, fhe was willing to fubmit to tKe decilion of the elders, or to undergo what punifhment the/ thought fit for her heedleis indifcretion, though flie never defigned to entertain two perfons at the fame time, but took them to be the fame perfon. The care of the marriages being one of the fundamentals of their goverament, and there being no provifion iu the law for this extraordinary cafe, the matter was referred to the Pophar Regent, who was to be there in a few days, v/ith guards fet over the brothers for fear of mifchief, till a full- hearing. The affair was difcufTed before the Pophar Regent, and the reH cf the elders of the place. The three lovers v/ere pre- fent before them, each of tliem in fuch an agony as cannot be expreffed. The brothers were fo alike, it was hard to dillingulfh which was Vvhich ; the Regent afl^ed them, which of the two went up to the altar with the young lady ; the elder faid it was he, which the younger did not deny. The lady being interrogated, ovv-ned Ihe defigned to entertain the perfon that went up with her to the altar, but went no farther than the firfl liking. Then they aiked, which of the two brothers gave the firll flower,— the younger faid, he prefumed he did, fince he fell in love v;ith her as flie went down the ranks, and contrived to give her the £ov;er as foon as the ce- remony was over, not knowing of his brothers af- fecftion, neither did fhe bear any mark of engage- ment, but accepted of his fervice ; the lady like wife owning th^ receipt of fuch a ilov/er,but loll it, faint- ing away in the crowd ;; but when, as fhe thought, he reilored it to her, fhe did not like him quite fu v;ell, as when flie received it the firlt time, fiippof- ing them to be the fame perfon. Being afked ^Aio gave her the fecond, third, and lafl: mark of engage- ment, it appeared to be the younger brother, whofe flower fhe wore publicly in her bofom ; but then ihe received the full-blown flower from the elder Q^z brodier

leo The MEMOIKS of

brother alfo. The judges looked at one another for fome time, not knowing v/ell what to fay to the matter. Then the Regent afked her, when fhe gave her confent, if fhe did not underiland the perfon to be him that went up with her to the altar; ihe owned fhe did, which was the elder, but in faft had placed her afFeftions on the perfon who gave her the firfl flower, v/hich was the younger. Then the two brothers were placed before her, and fhe was afked, that fuppofing fhe were now at liberty, with- out any engagement, which of the two brothers file would chufe for her hufband ; — fhe flopped^ and blufhed at the quefiion, but at length faid, the younger had been more afliduous in his courtfhip, and with that burfl into tears, calling a look at the younger brother, which eafily fhewed the fentiments of her heart. Every one was in the lall fufpence how the Regent would determine the cafe; but the young men expreffed fuch a concern in their looks, as if the laft fentence of life and death, happinefs or mifery, was to be pronounced over them. When the Regent, with a countenance partly fevere as well as grave, turning towards the young lady, daughter, faid he, your ill fortune, or indifcretion, has deprived you from having either of them ; both yoti cannot have, and you have given both an equal right ; if either of them wall give up their right, you may marry the other, not elfe. What do you fay, fons, fays he, will you contribute to make one of you happy ? They both perfilled they would not give up their right till the laft gafp. Then, fays the Regent, turning to the lady, who was almoft dead with fear and confufion, fince neither of them will give up their right, I pronounce fentence on you, to be iliut up from the commerce of men, till the death of one of your lovers ; then it fhall be left to your choice to marry the furvivor ; fo giving or- ders to have her taken away, the court was going to break up, when the younger brother falling on his

knees,

SiGNO'?. Gaudentio di LtccA. i6z

IcFxees, c-ied out, I yield my right rather than, the adorable Bertl/a fhould be miferable on my account ; let be iliut up from the commerce of men, for h-Q- ing the occafion of fo divine a creature^s misfortune ; ' take her, brother, and be happy, and you, divine Be- Tilla, only pardon the confuiion my innocent love has brought upon you, and then I fhall leave the world in peace. Here the whole court rofeup,and the young man Vvas going out when the Regent Hopped him ; hold, fon, fay he, there is a greater happinefs preparing for you than you expecft ; Berilhz is yours, you alone deferve her, you love her good more than your own ; as I find her real love is for you, here, join your hands, as I find your hearts are already, fo they v/ere married immediately, thellegent leav- ing behind him a vail idea not only of his juftice, but wifdom, in fo intricate a cafe. I drew an hil- torical piece of painting of this remarkable tryal, expreifing as nigh as I could, the pollures and ago- rdes of three lovers, and prefented it to the di- vine Ifyphena^ the Regent's daughter, telling her, that if fee were to receive flowers as that young lady did, &e would ruin ail the youths in Mezorania. 'She received it blufhing, and faid, fhe fhould never receive any but from one hand, nor even that, if flie thought fhe fnould do him any harm ; adding, her father had given a jufl judgment, but turned off the difcourfe with iuch innocence, yet knowledge of what fhe faid, that I was furprifed to the lalt de- gree, not being able to guefs whether I had ofFendexi her or not.

Thefe viiitations in the company ofthe Pophar,. gave me the opportunity of fee'ing ail the difPerent parts and chief curioiities of the whole empire. — Their great tov. ns, efpecially the heads of every Nome, were built, as I faid, much after the fame form, differing chieiiy in the fituatioxi. Thefe are diieiiy defigned for the winter refidence, for their 0^3 courts

i62 Thi memoirs Of

courts and colleges, but particularly for inilruding and polifhing their youth of both.fexes, but with fuch admirable care and oeconomy, to avoid all dif- Jblutenefs and idlenefs ; that, as I obferved before, there is no fuch thing known, as that any perfon ihould have no other bulinefs on their hands but vi- fits and drefs, elleeming thofe no better than brutes and barbarians, who are not conltantly employed, improving their natural talents in fome art or fcience Their villas, or places of pleafure, are fcattered all over the country, with moll beautiful variety •, their villages and towns for manufadures, trades, conve- niency of agriculture, &c. are innumerable ; their canals, and great lakes, fome of them like little feas, are very frequent, according as the nature of the country will allow ; with pleafure-houfes and pa- vilions, built at due dillances round the borders, in- terfperfed with iflands and groves, fome natural, fome artificial; where, at proper feafons, you might fee thoufands of boats fkimming backwards and for- wards, both for the pleafure and profit of fifhing ; of which there is an inexhauflibie flore : there are alfo vafl forefts of infinite variety and delight, dif- tinguifhed here and there v/ith theatrical fpaces or lawns, either natural or cut out by hand, for the conveniency of pitching their tents, in the hot fea- fons; with fuch romantic fcenes of deep vales, hang- ing woods, and precipices, natural falls and cafcades, or rather cataradls of water over the rocks ; that all the decorations of art, are nothing but foils and fhadows to thofe majeflic beauties cf nature; befides the glorious profped:3 of different kinds over the edges of the mountains, where we paffed in our vi- litations'j fometimes prefenting us v/ith a boundlefs view over the mofl delicious plains in the world ; in other places, having our view terminated v.ith other winding hills, exhaling their reviving perfumes from innumerable fpecies of natural fruits and odoriferous

fhrubs.

SiGNOP. Gaudentio di Lucca. 163

fhrtibs. Travelling thus by eafy journeys, Haying or advancing in our progrefs as wq thought fit, I admired with infinite delight, the effects of induftry and liberty, in a country where nature and art feem- ed to vie with each other in their different produc- tions. There was another extraordinary fatisfac- tion I received in thefe vifitations, which was the opportunity of feeing, and partaking of their grand matches, or rath-er companies, if I may ufe the ex- prefHon, of their hunting and fifhing. AH the young people with their governors, or all who are able or willing to go, at particular feafons, difperfe themfelves for' thefe hunts all over the kingdom : the country being fo prodigioufly fertile, that it pro- vides them almofl of itfelf w^hatever isneceffary, or even deleiflable for life ; the people living in fome meafure in common, and having no other interefl but that of a well regulated community. They leave the towns at certain feafons, and go and live in tents for the conveniency of hunting and fifhing, accord- ing as the country and feafons are proper for each recreation. The fiat part of the country (though it is generally more hilly than campaign) is flocked with prodigious quantities of fov/1 and game, as pheafants, partridges of different kinds, much larger than our wild hens ; turkeys and peacocks, with other fpecies of game, which we have in Italy ; hares, almoft innumerable, but no coneys that ever I fav/ ; unlefs we call coneys a leffer fort of hare, which feed and run along the cliffs and rocks, but do not burrough as ours do. There is alfo a fmall fort of wuld goat much lefs than ours, not very fleet, of a very high t'alte, and prodigioufly fat ; they take vafl quantities of all forts, bat fliil leave fufficient ilock to fupply next feafon, except hurtful bealls, which they kill w^henever they can. But their great hunts are in the mountains and woodland parts of the country, where the foreils are full of infinite quan- tities

164 The memoirs of

titles of mail and fruits, and other food for wild beafls of all kinds ; but particularly Hags of four or five difFerent fpecies ; fome of which keep in the wiideil parts, almoft as big as an horfe, whofe flefh they dry and feafon with fpices, and is the richeili food I ever rafted. Their wild fvvine are of two kinds, fome valily large, others very little, not much bigger than a lamb, but prodigioully fierce. This is the moll delicate m.eat, feeding on the malls and wild fruits in thickeft part of the groves, multiplying ex- ceedingly, v/here they are not diilurbed, one fow bringing fixteen or eighteen pigs; fo that I have feen thoufands of them caught at out Biunting match, and fent for prefents to the other parts of the king- dom, where they have none ; which is their way in all their recreations, having perfons appointed to carry the rarities of th-e country to one another, and to the governors, parents, and friends left behind. When they go up to their grand hunt, they chufe fome open vale, or vail lawn, as far in the wild iorells as they can, v^here they pitch their tents and there make rendezvous ; then they fend out their mofl courageous young men in fmall bodies of ten in a company,\vell armed, each with his fpear and. fu fee ilung on his back, which of late years they find more ferviceable againfl wild beafls than fpears, having got famplcs of them from Perfia. Thefe go quietly through the wildell parts of the forell at proper diflances, fo as to meet at fuch a place, which is to view the ground, and find a place proper to make their Hand and pitch their toils They will be feveral days out about this, but are to make no noife, nor kill any wild bcait, unlefs attacked ; or come upon him in his couch at unawares, that they may not dillurb the relti When they have made their report, feveral thoufands of them furround a confiderable part of the forcfl. Handing clofe to- gether for their mutual aliiilance, making as great

a noife

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lucca. 165

a noife as they can with dogs, drums, and rattles, and other noify inftruments, to frighten the game to- wards the centre, that none maj efcape the circle. When this is done, all advance in a breafl, encourag- ing their dogs, founding their horns, beating their drums and rattles, that the moll courageous bealls are all rouzed, and run before them towards the centre, till by this means they have driven together feveral hundreds of wild beails, lions, elks, wild boars, ftags,foxes,hares, in fine, all fuch forts of bealls as were within that circle. It is moft terrible to fee fuch 3. heap of cruel bealls gathered together, grinning and roaring at one another in a moll fright- ful manner ; but the wild boar is the mailer of all. Whoever comes near him in that rage, even the larg- ell lion, he llrikes at him with his tuiks and makes him keep his diilance. When they are brought within a proper compafs, they pitch their toils round them, and enclofe them in, every man join- ing clofe to his neighbour, holding out their fpears to keep them off. If any beall fhould endeavour to efcape, which feme will do now and then, (par- ticularly the wild boars) they run a-head againfl the points of the fpears, and make very martial fport. They told me, that once a prodigious v/ild fov/ broke through three files of fpears, overturned the men, and made a gap that let them all a running almoft in a bod/ that way ; that they were forced to open and let them take their career, and fo loll all their labour. But nov/ they have men ready with their fufees to drop any beall that fhould offer to turn a-head. V/hen they are enclofed, there is moil terrible work, the greatell bealts fighting and gor- ing one another for rage and fpite, and the more fearful running into the toils for fhelter. Then our men with their fufees drop the largell as fall as they can. When they fhoot the wild boar, three or four aim at him at a time, to be fure to drop him

or

i66 The ]\1 E M O I R S of

or difable him, otherwife he runs full at the lall that wounded him, with fuch fury, that fometimes he will break through the ftrongeft toils ; but his companions all join their fpears to keep him off. — When they have dropped all that are dangerous, and as much as they have a rnind, they open their toils- and difpatch all that are gafping. I have known above an hundred head of bealls of all forts killed in one day. Then they carry off their fpoil to the rendezvous, fealting and rejoicing, and fending pre- fents as before.

There is oftentimes very great danger when they go through the woods to make difcovery of their haunts *, becaufe, going in fmall companies, fome flubborn beaft or other will attack them dire(5lly ; every man, as I faid, has a fufee ilung at his back^ and his fpear in his hand for his defence. Being once in one of iheir parties, w^e Humbled on a pro- digiouily wild boar^as he was ly^i^ in his haunt juft in our w^ay ; feme of us were palling by him, but I thougljit fuch a noble prey wa^not to be let go ; lo we furrcunded liWn, and drew up to him with more courage and curiofity than prudence : one of my comip'anions, v.-ho was my intimate friend,, being one of thcfe who coiidufled me over the defarts, came up nigher to him than the reft^ v/ith his fpear in his hands, llretched out ready to leceive him, in cafe he fiiould come at him.; at which the beall llarted up of afudden, with a noife that would have terrified the fiouteii hero, and made at him with fuch a fury that v;e gave him for lolt. He Rood his ground v;ith fo much courage, and held his fpear fo firm and ex- a£i, that he run it directly up the mouth of the beall, quite into the inner part of his throat; the boar roared and (hook his head in a terrible manner, endeavouring to get the fpear out, which if he had done, all ihe world could not have faved the young man. I, feeing the danger, ran in with the fame pre-

cipitar;c>-

FlGNOR GauDENTIO DI LuCCA. 167

cipitancv, and clapping the muzzle of my gun almoll clofe to his fide, a little behind his fore-fhoulder, fhot him quite through the bod/; fo he dropped down quite dead before us. Juft as we thought the danger was over, the fow, hearing his cry, came rufh- .ing on us, and that fo fiiddenly, that before I could turn myfelf with my fpear, fhe ftruck at me behind v/ith her fnout, and pufhing on at the fame time, knocked me down with her impetuofity, and the place being a little fhelving, came tumbling quite over me, which was the occafion of faving my life. I was fcarce got on my feet, and on my guard, not only afhamed of the foil, but very well apprifed of the danger, when making at me alone, though my companions came in to my affiftance, ihe pufked at me a fecond time with equal fury. I held my fpear with all my might, thinking to take her in the mouth, but mining my aim, I took her juil in the throat, where the head and neck join, and thrull my fpear with fuch fo^ce, her own career meeting me, that I Uruck quite through herwindpipe,flrikingthe fpear in her neck-bone fo fail, that when fhe dropt, v^e could fcarce get it out again. She toffed and reeled her head a good while before fhe fell; but her wind- pipe being cut, and bleeding inwardly, flie was foon choaked. My companions had hit her with their fpears on the iides and back, but her hide and briitles were fo thick and hard, they did her very little da- mage. They all applauded my courage and vitflory, as if I had killed both the fwine. But I, as juitice required, gave the greatefl part of the glory, for the deaih of the boar, to the courageous di xterity of the young man, v/ho had expofcd himfelf fo gene- roufiy, and hit him fo exadl in the throat. We left the carcaffes there, not being able to carry them off; but marking the place, when we had made our ob- fervations, v;e brought others with us to carry them off. I had the honor to carry the boar's head on

ihs

i68 The MEMOIRS of

the point of my fpear, which I would have given to the young man, but he refufed it, faying, I had not only killed it, but faved his life into the bargain. The honor being judg'd to me by every one, I fent it away as a prefent to the divine IJiphena^ a thing allowed by their cuftoms, though as yet I never durft make any declarations of love. She accepted of it, but added, fhe hoped 1 would make no more fuch prefents, and explained herfelf any further.

Thefe people having no wars, nor combats with men, which are not allowed for fear of dellroying their own fpecies, have no other way of fhewing their courage but againft wild beafts ; where, with- out waiting for any exprefs order of their fuperiors, they will expofe themfelves to a great degree, and fometimes perform exploits worthy the greateil he- roes.

Their fifhing is of two kinds, one for recre- ation and profit, the other to deftroy the crocodiles and alligators, which are only found in the great lakes and the rivers that run into them, and that in the hotter and campaign parts of the country. In fome lakes, even the largeft, they cannot live, in others they breed prodigioufly. As they fi£h for them, only to deftroy them, they chufe the propereft time for it, that is, when the eggs are liatching ; which is done in the hot fands, by the fides of the rivers and lakes. The old ones are not only very ravenous at that time, but lie lurking in the water near their eggs, and are fo prodigioufly fierce, that there is no taking their eggs, unlefsyou contrive to kill the old ones before. Their way to fifh for them is thus ; they beat at a diftance,by the fides of the rivers and lakes, where they breed, which makes the old ones hide themfelves in the water; then twenty or thirty of the young men row quietly backward and for- ward on the V, ater,\vhere they fuppofe the creatures are ; having a great many ftrong lines with hooks, made after the manner cf fifh-hocks, well armed as

SiGNOR GAUDtNtiO BI LuCCA. t(^

Far as tlie throat of the animal reaches. Thefe hooL-s thej fallen under the wings of ducks and wafer- fowls, kept for the purpofe, which they let drop out of the boat, and fwin about the lake. Whenever the ducks come over the places w^here the creatures are, they ftrike at them, and fwallow the poor ditck im- mediately, and fo hook themfelves with the violence and check of the boat. As foon as one is hooked, they tow him floundering and beating the w^ater at a Itrange rate, till they have brought him into the middle from the reft of his companions, who all lie near the banks ; then the other boats furround him, and dart their harping- fpears at him till they kill him. Thefe harping-fpears are pointed with the lineft tempered fteel, extremely fharp, with beards to hinder them from coming out of his body, there is a line fallened to the fpear to draw it back, and the creature along with it; as alfo to hinder the fpear from flying too far if they mlfs their aim.— Some of them are prodigioufly dextrous at it ; but there is no piercing the creature but on his belly, which they muft hit as he flounders and rolls him- felf in the water. If a fpear hits the fcales of his back, it will fly oflr as from a rock, not without fome danger to thofe who are very nigh, though they ge- r.erally know the length of the firing. I was really apprehenfive of thofe ftrange fierce creatures atfirfl, and took a confiderable time before I could dart with any dexterity •, but th« defire of glory, and the ap- plaufes which are given to thofe that excel, who have the flcins carried like trophies before their miftreffos; this, and the charms of the Regent's daughter, fo in- fpired me, that I frequently carried the prize. It: is one of the finell recreations in the world; you might fee feveral hundred boats at a time, either em- ployed, or as fpe<5lators, with fliouts and cries when the creature is hit in the right place, that makes the %"try btLTihs trsmbie. When they have killed all thv^ K old

J-® The memoirs ot

old ones, the/ fend their people on the fhore to rake for the eg^s, which they burn and deltroy on the fpot ; not but fonie will be hatched before the reft, and creep into the water to ferve for fport the next year. They deftroy thefe animals, not only for their own fecurity in the ufe of the lakes, but alfo to preferve the wild fowl and fifh, which are devoured and deftroyed by the crocodiles.

J^ut the fifhing on the great lakeGil-gol, or lake of lakes, is without any danger, there being no alliga- tors in that water, and is only for recreation and the profit of the fifh. The lake is above an hundred Ita- lian miles in circumference.* At proper feafons the whole lake is covered with boats*, great numbers of them full of ladies to fee the fports, befides what are on the iflands and fhores, with trumpets, hautboys, and other mufical inftruments playing all the while. It is impoflible to defcribe the different kinds of fifh the lake abounds with •, fuch as we know nothing of in Europe •, though they have fome like ours, but much larger, as pikes, or a fifli like a pike, tv/o or three yards long ; a fifh like a bream, a yard and an half over; carps, forty or ^hy pounds weight ; they catch incredible numbers of them ; fome kinds in one part of the lake, fome in another. They fifh thus, and feaft on what they catch for a fortnight or three weeks, if the feafon proves kind, retiring at night to their tents, either on the iflands or fliore, where there are perfons em- ployed in drying and curing what are proper for ufe ; fending prefents of them into other parts of the country, in exchange for venifon, fowl, and the like. Though there are noble lakes and ponds even in the forefts, made by the enclofures of the hills and woods, that are flored with excellent fifh, yet they

* The lake Merls, m Egypt, according to DioJorus Siculus^ and Herodotus^ quoted by the BiOiop of Meaux, Hiji. Uni. Se^. 3. was an hundred and fourrccre French leagues in circumference.

I

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lucca. r^i

sre entirely deilitiite of tKe bell fort,, that is fea- fifh. When this fiihing is over, the/ retire to the towns, becaufe of the rainy feafons, which begin prefently after^

I am going now to enter into a part of my li% of which I am in fome doubt whether it is proper to lay before your reverences or not •, I mean the Kopes and fears, the joys and anxieties of a young man in love ; but in an honorable way, with no lefs a perfon than the daughter of the Regent of this vaft empire. Though I Ihall not enter into the detail cf the many various circumftances attending fuch a paffion, but fhall juil touch on fome particular }x:f- fagesw'hich are very extraordinary, even in a 2:>aiiion which generally,, of itfelf, runs into extremes. You : reverences will remember, that there is no real dii- tincftion of quality in thefe people, nor any regard either to intereft or dignity, but meiely to perfonat merit ;. their chief view being to render that ilate happy, which makes up the belter part of humaa life. I had nothing therefore to do in tiiis affair but to fix my choice, and endeavour to pleafe and be pleafed. Ivly choice was fcon determined ; the flrll time I faw the incomparable IJiplie'da^xXxt Re- gent's daughter, tliough fhe was' then but ten years old, ten thoufand budding beauties appeared in her, with {kx^z\\ unutterable charms, that although I as good as defpaired of arriving at my v/ilhed-ior hap- pinefs, I was refolved to fix there or no where.

I obferved, when I was- firft introduced into her company, by the Regent her father, ^^^ had her eye fixed on me, as a flranger as I fuppofed, but yet with more than a girlifii curiofity. I was informed af- terwards that fhe told her play-fellov/s, that that flranger fhould be her hufband, or no one. The wife Pophar, her father, had obferved i^t, and whe- ther it was from his knowledge of the fex, and their unaccountable fondnefs for ftrangers, or wbcther h« R % difapprovei

372 The memoirs of

difapproved of the thought, I cannot tell, but he was refolved to try botli our conilancies to the ut- iiioft. I was obliged by the Pophar to teach her and fome other young ladies, as well as the young men, to painty but it was always in the father or mother's company. Not to detain your reverences with matters quite foreign to, and perhaps unwor- thy your cognizance, it wasiive years before I durft let her fee the leaft glimmering of miy afFed:ion. She was now fifteen,, which was the height of her bloom. Her father feeing fhe carried no mark of any en- gagerrrent, afked her in a familiar way, if her eyes h^l made no conquells; flie bluflied and faid, fhe hoped not. He told me alfo as a friend, that I was older than their cuRoms cared to allow young men to live iingle, and with a fmile afked me if the charms of the Bafia's daughter, of Grand Cairo, had extinguifhed in me all thoughts of lore. I told him, there were objects enough in Mezorania to make -one forget any thing one had feen before, but that being a llranger, Ivvas willing to be thoroughly ac-- quainted wiih the genius of the people, left I fhould make any one unhappy. I was juil come back from one of our vifitations, when I was frruck with the moil lively fenfe of g^ief I ever felt in my life. I had always obferved before, that ^/Af;^^ never wore any fign of engagement, but then I found fhe car- ried a bud in her bofom ; I fell ill immediately up- on it, which fhe perceiving, came to fee me vvithout any bud, as fhe ufed to be before, keeping her eyes vipon me to fee what efPecfl it would have. Seeing her continue w^ithout any marks of engagement, I recovered, and m.ade bold to tell her one day, that I could not but pity the miferable perfon, whoever he was, v;ho had loft the place in her bofom he had "before. She faid unconcernedly, that both the wear- ing and taking av/ay the flower from her bofom, wa5 done Qut of kiiidnefs tp the perfon. . I, was then

fa

SiGNOR' G-AUDENTIO DI LuCCA* 175

fo taken up with contrary thoughts, that I did not perceive Ihe meant to try whether fhe w^as the ob- ject of my thoughts or not. However, finding fhe~ carried no more marJts of engagement, I v.as refolv- ed to try my fortune for life or death, when an op- portunity offered beyond my wifli. Her mother brought her to perfeft a piece of painting fhe was drawing -, I obferved a melancholy and trouble in her countenance I had never feen before ; that mo- ment the mother v»'as fent for to the Regent ; I made ufc of it to ailcher, what it was that afFe^led her in fo fenfible a manner ; I pronounced thefe words with fuch emotion and concern on my own part, that fhe might eailly fee I was in fome very great agony. She expreffed a great deal of confufion at the quef- tion, infomiich, that v;ithout anfwering a word, flie got up and v/ent out of the room, leaving me leaning againil the wall almoft without life or motion. Other company coming in, I was roufed out of my lethargy, and ihrunk away to my own apartment, but agitated with fuch numberlefs fears, as left me almoil defritute of reafcn. However, I was refolv- ed to make a molt jufl difcovery, and to be fully de- termined in my happinefs or mifery. There was a grated window on tile back -fide of the palace where I had feen JfiphsnavifcCik fometimes, but never dared to approach ; I went thither in the evening, and fav/ her by herfelf. I ventured to it, and falling on my knees, aiked her for heaven's fake what v; as the mat- ter, or if I had offended her ? She immediately burft into tears, and'juil faid, afk no more, and with- drev/ ; though I cannot fay with any figns of indig-- nation. Some time after I v/as fent for to teack her in the finiibing of her piece. I muft tell your reverences, t^hat I had privately drawn that picf^urc of her which you faw, and put the little boy in af- terwards. In a hurry I had left it behind mQ in-my elofct, which the Pophar had found 2:::id2n tall r^

174 The memoirs o?

and taken away without my ]k:nowledge ; he Had ihewn it to the mother, and malring as if he did oiot mind JJiphena^ who ilood by and faw it, (as ihe thought undifcerned) then feemedto talk in a threat- ening tone to the mother about it. When I came in, I had juft courage enough to call one glance at lJiphena^'^\iQ,Ti methought I faw her eyes meet mine, and ihewed a mixture of comfort and trouble at the fame time. As this fubjeci: cannot be -^^^ry proper For your reverences ears, I fball ccmprife in half an- iiour what coil me whole years of lighs and folici- tude, though happily crowned at laft with unfpeak-' able joys. This trouble in IJiphena v/as, that hav- ing made herfelf miilrefs- of the pencil, fbe had pri- vately drawn my picflure in miniature, which fhe kept fecretly in her bofom., but that had been dif- «overed by the mother, as mine was by the father, who to try her conllancy, had expreffed the utmofl Indignation at it ; but her great eft trouble v;as, left I fhould know, and take it for a difcovery of her love, before 1 had made any overtures of mine. In pror^fs of time v/e came to an eclaircilTement, fhe received my two iirft flowers; but becaufe Lwas half a ilrangerto their race, we were to give fome more fignal proof of our love and conftiancy than prdinary. We had frequently common cccallons oifered us,fuch as might be looked upon as the great- eft trials. She was the paragon not only of the icingdom, but poffibly of the univerfe for all per- fedlions as could be found-in her fex, Her ftature was about the middle iize *, the juft proportion of her lii2pe made her really taller than fhe feemed to be ; her hair was black'* indeed, but of a much finer glofs than the reft, nor quite fo much curled, hang- ing down in eafy treHes' over her fhoulders, and

ihading

* The author being an Italian, did not think black- hair fo beautiful.

SiGNOR GaUDENTIO DI LuCCA. 1 75

ihading fome part of Iier beautiful cKeel^s. Ber eyes, though not fo large as our Europeans, dartsd fuch luftre, v/ith a mixture of fv/cetnefs and vivacity, that it was impollible not to be charmed with their rays ; her features were not only the moft exaifl, but inimitable and peculiar to herfclf. In iine, her riofe, mouth, teeth, turn of the face, all concurring together to form th-e moft exqulfite fymmetry, and adorned with the bloom beyond all the bluilies of the new-born aurora, rendered her the molt charm^ ing, and th'e moft dangerous objed in nature. The nobleft and gayeft youths of all the land paid their homages to her adorable perfections, but ail in vain^. ihe avoided doing hurt where fhe could do no good •, fhedid not fo much fcorn as fhut her eyes- to all their offers, though fuch a treafure gave me ten thoufand anxieties before Iknew what ibare I had it it ; but when once ftie received my addrefies, the fecurity her conftant virtue gave me was proportionable to the immenfe value of her perfon. ¥or rny part, I had fome trials on my fide. I was furrounded with beauties who found a great many v/ays to fhev/ me they had no diftike to me. Whether being a ft ranger of different features and make from their youth, gave them a more pleafing curiolity,or the tallnefs cf my ftature, fomething exceeding any of theirs,, or the gaietyof my temper,which gave me a freer air thania tifual v/ith them,, being as I obferved, naturally too grave be that as it will TJiphenas bright ienfe eafily favv I madefomefacrificestoher; but wehadgreate3^ trials thanall thistoundergo,wh'ichIfhall brieilyre late to your reverences, for the particularity of them* When I thought I was almoft arrived at the height of my happinefs, being affured of the heart of the di- vine Iftphena^ the Pophar came to me one" day with the moft feeming concern in his countenance I ever marked in him, even beyond that of the affair with the GreatBaiTa's daughter. After a little paufe, he told

r>?6 The MEMOIRS of

me, he had obferved the love between his daughter- and myfelf, that out of kindnefs to mj perfon, he had confulted their wife men about it, who all con- cluded, that on account of my being a llranger, and not of the race by the father's iide, I could never mar- ry his daughter y fo that I mull either folemnly re- nounce all preteniions to her, or be fhut up for ever without any commerce with his people till death.- But, fays he, to fhew that we do jullice to your me- rit, you are to have a public llatue erected in your, honor, becaufe you have taught us the art of paint- ing,which is to be crov/n'd with a garland of flovrers, . by the moil beautiful young woman in the kingdom; thus you live to glory, though you are dead to the world. But if you will renounce all preteniions to my daughter, we will furnilh you with riches fufii- cient, v/ith the haDdfomenefs of your perfon, to gain the greatell princefs in the world, provided you v/ill give a folemn oath never to difcover the way to this place. I fell down on my knees before him, and cried out, here take me, Ihut me up, kill me, cut me in a thoufand pieces, I will never renounce IJipJiena^ He faid no more, but that their laws mull be obeyed. I obferved tears in his eyes as he went out, which made me fee he was in earnell. I had fcarce time" to refle(fl on my miferable Hate, or rather w^as in- capable of any refledlion at all, when four perfons came in with a difmal heavinefs in their looks, and bid me come along with them -, they were to con- dudl me to the place of my confinement. In the mean time, the Pophar goes to his daughter, and tells her the fame thing, only added, that I was to be fent back to my own country, loaded with fuch immenfe riches, as might procure me the love of any woman in the world ; for, fays he, thofe barbarians, . meaning the Europeans,.will marry their daughters to any one who has but riches enough to buy them ; the men will do the fame with rwfpedl to the wo- men :

SiCsoK Gavbentio di Lucca. 177

men : let the woman be v;liofe daughter ftie will, if fhe had but money enough to purchafe a kingdom, a king would many her. Before he had pronounced all this, Jfiphma had not ftrength to hear it out, but fell down in a fvvoon at his feet ; when Ihe was come to herfelf, he endeavoured to comfort her, and ad- ded, that fhe was to have the young Pophar*s fon^ a youth about her age ; for though he was not old enough to govern, he v/as old enough to have chil- dren ; he went on and told her, I was to have a fta- tue ere(R:ed in honor of me, to be crowned by the faireft woman in all Mezorania, which, fays he, is- judged to be yourfelf ;. and if you refufe it, Amno- philla is to be the perfon. This was the moll beau- tiful woman next Ifiphena^ and by fome thought equal to her, whofe iigns of her approbation and liking to my perfon,! had taken no notice of,for the fake o^JJtpkena^ She anfwer'd v/ith a refolution that was furpriiing, even to her father, that flie would: die before fhe would be wanting in her duty, but that their laws allov/ed her to chufe whom fhe pleafed for her hufband, without being undutiful ; that as for the crowning of the ftatue, (lie accepted of it, not for the reafon he gave, but to pay her ia;^ refpecfls to my memory, who ihe v/as fure woi^-db never marry any one elie. A& for the young Po- phar,fhe would give her anfwer- when the ceremony was over. When all things vrere read/ for the cf- reniony, there was public proclamation made in all parts of the Nome, that, whereas I had brought into the kingdom, and freely communicated to them, the noble art of painting, I was to have a public ilatu^ ere6led in my honor, to be crowned widi a crov;n of ilov/ers by the hand of the faircil v;oman ir all Mezorania. Accordingly a flatue of full propor- tion, of the finefl polifhcd marble, was eredled iti one of their fpacious fquares, with my name en- graved on the pedeftal, in golden characters, fetting

forth

178 The memoirs oi

forth the fervice I had done the commonwealth, &c^ The flatue had the pidlure o^Jfiphena in one hand, and the emblems of the art in the other. The lalt kindnefs I was to receive, was to be permitted to fee the ceremony wuth a perfpef^ive glafs, from the top of an high tov/or belonging to the place of my confinement, from whence I could difcern every mi- nute cifrcumllance that paiTed. Immediately the crowd opened to make way for JJiphenay who came in the Regent's triumphant chariot, drawn by eight w^hite horfes, all caparifoned with gold and precious Hones, herfelf more refplendant than the fun they adored. There was a fcaifoid with a throne upon it, juft clofe to the flatue, with gilt fleps, for her to go up to put the crown on the head of it. As foon as fhe appeared a fhout of joy ran through the whole crowd, applauding the choice of her beauty, and the w^ork fhe was going to perform: then proclamation was made again for the fame intent, fetting forth the reafons of the ceremony. When all was filent, fl:ie fleps from the throne to the degrees Vv^ith the crown in her hand, holding it up to be feen by all, fupported by Amnophilla and Menifa.^ two of the moil beautiful virgins after herfelf. There appear- ed a ferenity in the looks of Jftphena. beyond what could be expe(5led, exprefling a fixt refoiution at the fame time. As foon as fhe had put x\\^ crown on the head of the flatue, which was applauded witii repeated fhouts and acclamations, fhe flood flill for fome time, with an air that fhewed fhe was deter* mined for fome great adlion, and turning to the officers,, ordered them to make proclamation, that every one fhould remark what fhe was going to do. Upon this there was a profound filence through the whole aflembly ; then ihe v/ent up the fleps again, taking out the mofl confpicuous flower in the whole crown, and putting it in the right hand of the flatue, claps it into her bofom, with the other two flie had

received

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lucca. 179

received from me before, as a (ign of her confent for marriage, which could not be violated, at which there arofe a fhout ten times louder than any before, applauding fuch an heroic adl of conflancy, as had never been feen in Mezorania. The Regent ran up to her, and embracing her with tears ot joy trick- ling dowA his cheeks, faid, flie fhould have her choice, iince fhe had fulfilled the law, and fupplied all defe(fl: by that extraordinay aS: of fidelity, with orders to have that heroic a(5lion regillered in the public records, for an example and encouragement of conftancy to poflerity. But the people cried cut, w'here is the man? where is the man ? let their con- ilancy be rewarded immediately.

I2'e7'e the reader^ as zveJI as the fuhlipierj zuUl lament the irreparable lofs ofthejheets, which zvere mi /lead at his coming over ; he does net fretend to charge his memory with vjhat they -contained ; jiijl hazing had time to run them joier in the Italian^ when Signer Rhcdi get them copied oirt for him. As far as the pub- Up-ier remembers^ the lojl Jheets contained f eve- ral difcourjes heizueen the Pophar and Gauden- tio, concerning religibny philofophy^ politicks^ and the like J with the account of the lofs of his wife and childr^Uj and fome other accidents that lefel him during his fay in the country ^ which^ as we fhaJl fe^ induced him to leave the place j withfeveral curious remarks ofSi^nor Rhedi; all whichy would doubtlefs have given a great deal of fatisfaSiion to the readers hut no one can be fo much cc7icerncd for the lofs as the puh-

lipier^

iSo The memoirs of

li flier y fince ihey caimct now he repairedy by rea- Jon of the d-caih of the fume Signor Rhedi ; never to be firfficiently repxtted by the learned world.

TKefe difcourfes* made very gre^t irnpreflions on the mind of a perfon of fo much penetration as the Regent was, infomuch, that he feenied refolved when his regency was out, which wanted now but a year, to go along with me into Europe, during the ilay he was to malie at Grand Cairo, to examine matters at the fountain head, wifely judging a con- iideration of fuch confequence, as that of religion, to be no indifferent thing. Eor my own part, not- withftanding the beauty and riches of the country, I could find no fatisfadion in a place where I had loft all that was dear to me, though I had the comfort to have my dear JJjpkena and her three children all baptized by my own hand before they died ; neither could length of time allay my grief, but on the con- trary, every thing I faw revived the memory of my irreparable lofs. I confidered the inllabiiity of the fleeting joys of this world, where I thought I had built my happInefs,for a man of my fortune, on the moit foiid foundation. But alas I all was gone as if it had been but a dream, and the adorable Ifiphena was no more. The good old Pophar was in a very little better condition, having loll his dearefl daugh- ter and his little grand children, particularly the eldefl boy, who is in that pi(5^ure with his mother. This refledion on the vanity of human felicity,

made

* Prcbabiv about the chriftian reiigiofl,>?vhich are loll as aforC'

SiGNOR Gaudentio di Lucca. i8i

made liim more difpofed to hear the truths of our divine religion, fo that he was refolved to go and fearch further into the reafons for it. There v;as another yet more forcible reafon induced me to fo- licit the Pophar for my return into my native coun- try, which was the care of my future Hate. I had lived fo many years without the exercife of thofe duties our church obliges us to perform, and though I had not been guilty of any great crimes, I was not willing to die out of her bofom : however, to do all the good I could to a country vvhere I had once enjoyed fo much happinefs, this being the laft year we were to flay, I at length perfuaded the Regent, that there might be fome danger of an invalion of his country, from the oppofite fide towards the fouthern tropic ; at leall, I did not know but there might be fome habitable climate that may not be fo far over the fands as towards Lybia and Egypt. 1 had often lignified my thoughts to him in that re- fpefi. I told him, that though his Icingdom was fafe and inaccefUble to all but ourfelves on that fide, it was poflible, it might be nigher the great ocean on the oppofite one ; or that the fands might not be of fuch extent ; or in fine, there might be ridges of mountains, and from them, rivers running into the ocean, by which, in procefs of time, fome bar- barous people might afcend and difturb their long uninterrupted reft, v/ithout any fence to guard againfl fuch an emergency. This laft thought alarmed him., fo we were refolved to make a new trial, without communicating the defign to any but the chief council of five, where we were fure of in- violable fecrecy. What confirmed me in my notion was, that when we were on the utraoft point of our mountains fouthward, looking over the defarts, I could perceive fomething like clouds or fogs hanging always towards one part. I imagined them to be fogs covering the tops oi fome great mountains,, which S muft

i8^ The MEMOIRS of

muft have habitable vales. Being refolved to malce a trial, we provided all things accordingly, and fet out from the furtheft part of the kingdom fouth- wards, taking only five perfons in our company, fleering our courfe diredlly towards that point of the horizon where I obferved the thick air always hanging towards one place. We took provifion and water but for ten days, leaving word, that they Ihould not trouble themfehes about us, unlefs we made a confiderable flay, becaufe, in cafe we found mountains, we fhould always find fprings and fruits to fubfifl on, while we made a further fearch into the country ; otherwife, if we faw no hopes at the five days end, we fhould return the other five, and take new meafures. The third day of our voyage, we found the deferts nothing fo barren as we ex- pe<R:ed; the ground grew pretty hard, and the fourth day, difcovered fome tufts of mofs and fhrubs, by which we conjectured, w^e fhould fobn come to firm land; the evening of that day we difcovered the tops of the hills, but further off than we thought on,fo that though we travelled at a great rate all that night and mofl of the next day, we could only arrive at the foot of them the fifth day at niglit. After fome little fearch, we came to a fine fpring, but, to our comfort, no figns of inhabitants ; if we had, we Ihould have returned immediately to take further advice. The next morning we got up to the top of the higheft hill to difcover the country, but found it to be only the point of a vafl mountainous coun- try, like the worft part of our Alps, though there •were fome fertile vales and woods, but no footfleps of its ever having been inhabited, as we believed, lince the creation. Seeing we could make good provifion for our return, we were in no great pain about time. We wandered from place to place, viewing and obferving every way. We went on thus along thofe craggy hills and precipices for five

days :

SiGNOR GaXJDENTIO DI LuCCA. 183

clays •, tKev began to leflen towards our right, but feemed rather to encreafe the other way. At length in the moil difmal and horrid part of the hillbrow, one of our young men thought he fpied fomething like the figure of a man fitting by a little fpring, under a craggy rock juil below us ; we fent three of our people round another w^ay to keep him from running into the wood, v/hlle the Pophar and my- felf Hole quietly over the rock where he was. As foon as he faw us, he whips up a broken chink in the rock and difappeared immediately. We were fure he could not get from us, fo we clofed and fearched till we found a little cave in the windings of the rock, where v/as his retiring place. His bed was made of mofs and leaves, with little heaps of dried fruits, of different fovt?, for his fiiftenance. When he law us, he was furpriled ; he rulhed at us like a lion, thinking to make his^vay through U5, but being all live at the mouth of the cave, he ftood ready to defend liimfelf again our attem.ps. View- i'>ghim a little nigher, we faw he had fome remains of an old tattered coat, and part of a pair of breeches, with a ragged fafh or girdle round his wailt, by which, to our great furprife, we found he w\is an European. The Pophar fpoke to him in Lingua Franca, and afked him who or what he was ; he fhook his head as if he did not underfland us. I fpoke to him in Fi'-ench, Italian and Latin, but he was a xtranp;er to thofe languages. At length he cried out, Inglis, Inglis. I had learned fomething of that language when I was a ftudent at Parif. Knowing my father had a mind I fliould learn as many languages as I could, I had made an acquaint- ance with feveral Englifn and Scotch lludents in that tiniverfity, particularly v/ith one F. yohn/o/t^ an Englifh benedi(5iine, and could fpeak it pretty well for a foreigner, but had almoft forgot it for want of life. I bid him take courage and fearnothing. Si for

i?4 1'he memo IPvS of

ior we would do him no harm. As foon as ever he heard me fpeak Englifh, he fell down on his knees, and begged us to take pity on him, and carry him to Ibme habitable country, where he might poffibly get an opportunity of returning home again, or at leail of living like a human creature. Upon this he came out to us, but looked more like a wild beaft than a man -, his hair, beard, and nails, were grow^n to a great length, and his mein w^as as haggard as if he had been a great while in that wild place ; though he was a ftout w^ell-built man, and fhewed fomething above the common rank.

We went down to the fountain together, where he made us to underitand, that his father w^as anEaft India merchant, and his mother a Dutch woman of Batavia ; that he had great part of h-s education in London, but being very extravagant, his father, whole natural Ion he was, had turned him ofr, and fent him to Batavia to his niother^s friends; that by his courage and induflry, he vvas in a v/ay of mak- ing his fortune, being ad\ anced to be a lieutenant In the Dutch guards at Batavia, but was unhappily call away en the coail of Africa, where they had been on a particular adventure ; that he and his companions, four in number, wanderii^g irp in the country to feek provilions, were taken by fome ilrange barbarians, wdio carried them a vail, un- known way into the continent, defigning to eat them or facrifice them to their inhuman gods, as they had done his companions ; but, being hale and fat at the time of his taking, they referved him for feme par- ticular feall ; that as they w-ere carrying him thro" the woods, another party of barbar'ans, enemies to the former, met them, and fell a fighting for their booty ; which he perceiving, knowing he was to be eaten if he flayed, flunk away in the Icuifle into the ihickell woods, hiding himfelf by day and marching

SiGNOR Gaudintio bi Lucca. 185

all nigKt, he did not Lnow where, but as he conjec- tured, fliil higher into the country.

Thus he wandered from hill to hill, and wood to wood, till he came to a defart of fands, which he was refolved to try to pafs over, not daring to return back, for fear of falling into the hands of thofe mer- cilefs devourers. He paiTed two days and two nights without water, living on the fruits he carried with him, as many as he could, till he came to this moun- tainous part of the country, which he. found unin- habited ; taking up his abode in that rock, v/here he never had any hopes of feeing a human creature again ; neither did he know himfelf where he was, or which way to go back. In fine, he told us he had lived in that miferable place now upwards of five years.

After we had comforted him as well as we could, I afked him, v/hich way the main fea lay, as near as he could guefs, and how far he thought it was to it. He pointed with his hand towards the fouth, a little turning towards the eaft, and faid, he believed it might be thirty or forty days journey, but advifed us never to go that way, for we fhould certainly be devoured by the barbarians. I afked him, whether the country was habitable from that place down to the fea. He told me, yes; except that defart wc had paiTed ; but v/hether it was broader in other places, he could not tell.

Ail the time he was fpeaking, the Pophar eyed' him from top to toe ; and calling me aiide, '' Vvhat monfier" fays he "have we got here? There is a whole legion of wild beaflsin that man •, I fee the. lion, the goat, the woifeand the fox in that one por- fon. I could not forbear fmiling at the Pophar's ikill in phyfiognomy, and told him, we fhould tc'ike care he fhould do no harm. Then I turned to the man and afked him, if he would conform himfelf to tlie.lavv'S and rites of the country if we carried him

i86 The MEMOIRS of

among men again,where he fhould want for nothing. He embraced my knees, and faid, he would conform to any laws or any religion if I would but let him fee a habitable country again. I flared at the man, and began to think there was fome truth in the Po- phar's fcience. However, I told him, if he would but behave like a rationar creature, he fhould go along with us; but he muft fuifer himfelf to be ^blindfolded till he came to the place. He flartled a little, and feemed to be prodigioufly fufpicious, left we fhould deceive him. But on my affuring him, on the faith of a human creature that he fhould come to no harm, he confented.

After we had refrefhed ourfelves, being both glad and concerned for the information we had received of the nature of the country, which was the end of our journey, in order to guard againft all inconveni-^ encies, v/e covered his eyes very clofe, and conducfted him back along with us, fometimes on foot, feme- tim.es on one of the fpare dromedaries, till we arrived fafe from whence we fet out : then we let him fee where he w^as, and what a glorious country he was come into. We cloathed him like ourfelves, that is in our travelling drefs, to fhew^ he was not an en- tire llranger to our race. He feemed loft in admi- Tation of what he faw. He embraced me w4th all the ligns of gratitude imaginable ; he conformed to all our cuftoms, :ird made no fcruple of afiifting at all their idolatrous ceremonies, ^s if he had been as good a heathen as the beft of them ; which I feeing, without declaring liiyfelf to be a chrixtian, I told him, that I had been informed, the people of the country where he was educated were chriliians, and W'Ondercd to fee him join in adoring the fur. *' Pugh I" fays he *' fome biggotted people make a fcruple, but moft of our men of fenfe think one re- ligion is as good as another" By this I perceived our favage was of a new fet of peopb, \yhich I had

heard

SiGNOR GaUDENTIO DI LlTCSA. 1S7

heard of before I left Italy, called politici^^' who are a fort of aiheifts in mafquerade. The Pophar, out of his great fkill in phyfiognomv, would have no con- verfation with him ; and commanded me to have a ilridl eye over him.

However, the information he had given us of the poffibility of invading the kingdom the way he came, anfwered the intent of our voyage, and my former conjectures; about which there was a grand council held, and orders given to fecure the foot of our out- ermoft mountain fouthwards, which ran a great way in,to the defart ; fo that it was fuiiicient to guard . againft any of thofe barbarous invaders of the con- tinent. But to return to our European favage, for he may be juftly called fo, being more dangerous in a commonwealth, that the veryHickfoes themfelves ; though he was a perfon who had a tolerable civi- lized education, bating the want of all fenfe of re- ligion, which he fucked in from his perpetual con- verfation with libertines. He had a fmattering of moft kinds of polite learning, but without a bottonx in any refpeifK

After he had been with us fbmetime, his princi- ples began to fhev/ themfelves in his pracfbice. Firfl, he began to be rude with our v/omen, married oi* Jingle it was all alike to him ; and by an unaccount- able fpirit of novelty or contradicflion, our women feemed inclined to be very fond of him •, fo that we v/ere at our wits ends about him. Then he be- gan to find fault with our government, defpifing and condemning all our ceremonies and regulations : but his great aim was to pervert our youth, enticing them to all manner of liberties, and endeavouring to make them believe, that there was no fuch thing as

moral

* The poli'ilci were fore-rnnnersofotir mocfern free-thinker.*, whofe principles tend to the deftru£lion of all human focicty,as *ur author fiiews iacomparablj well by and bj»

188 The MEMOIRS o?

moral evil in nature ; that there was no harm in the greateft crimes, if they could but evade the laws and punifhments attending them.

As I had endeavoured to create a confidence in him, he came to me one day, and faid, that lince I was an European as well as himfelf, we might mahe ourleives men for ever, if I would join with him : " you fee" fays he '* thefe men cannot iight ; nay, will rather be killed themfelves than kill any one elfe ; can't you fhew me the way out of this coun- try, where we will get a troop of flout fellows well armed, and come and plunder all the country ; we iliali get immenfe riches, and make ourfelves lords and mnflers of all., I heard him with a great deal of aitention. and anfwered him, that I thought the proje(ft might eafily take, only for the horrid wick- ednefs of the fa<fl: ; efpecially for us two, Vvho had received fuch favours from the Pophar and his peo- ple ; he, for his being delivered from the greatefl mifery ; and myfelf, who had been freed from flavery and made one of the head men of the kingdom; that the adion would deferve to be branded with eternal infamy, and the blackeft ingratitude ', beiide, the in- finite villainies, injuflices, crimes, and deaths of in- nocent perfons, who mull perilh in the attempt ; which would aUvays flare us in the face, and torment us v/ith never-ceafing flings, of confcience till our death. " Confcience I" fays he "that is a jefl ; a mere engine of prieflcraft : all right is founded in power ; let us once get that, and who will difpute our right ? As for the injuflice of it, that is a mere notion, diflin(5li on of crimes, mere bigotry, and the effe(fl of education, ufliered in under the cloak of religion. Let us but be fuccefsful, and I will an- fwer for your fcruples."" I told him, it was a mat- ter not to be refolved on, on a fudden ; that 1 vvould confider on it ; but I bid him be fure keep his mat- ters to himfelf.

I^ went

SiGNOR Gaudektio di Lucca. 189

I went immediately to the Popliar, and gave an account of what had palled. He was llruck with horror at the recital, not fo much for the confe- quences, as that human nature could be brought to fuch a monflrous deformity. " If your Europeans are men of fuch principles, w^ho would not fly to the furtheil corner of the earth to avoid their foci- ety ? Or rather, who can be fure of his life among fuch people ? Whoever thinks it no more in itfelf to kill me than to kill a fly, will certainly do it if I fl;and in his way*. If it were lawful'' continued he " by our conflitutions to kill this man, he de- ferves a thoufand deaths who makes it lawful to de- ftroy all the world befides.'' I anfwered, that all the Europeans were not men of his principles, nor even thole of his nation, who were generally the^ moll companionate, and bell natured men in the world-, but that he was of a new fet of wretched people who called themfelves deijis ; and interiorly laughed at all religion and morality, looing upon them as mere eng:r:c? 'kfuolic/ and prier^vjifv, « Xa- teriorly I" fays he. Yes, and would cut any man's throat exteriorly and adlually if it were not for fear of the gallows. " Shut him up" cried he, " from all commerce of men, left his breath fhould infe61 the whole world ; or rather, let us fend him back to his cave to live like a wild bealt ; v.here, if he is de- voured by the favages, they do him no injury, by his own principles." I reprefented to him that we were juft on our journey back to Grand Cairo, where we would carry him blindfold, that he fhould not know our way over the fands, and give him his liberty ; but that we fhould Ihut him up till then. This was agreed on ; fo I took a fufflcient number of men to feize him ; and to do it without any mifchief, for he Avas as flout as a lion, we contrived to come upon him in his bed, where M^e caught him with one of Qur young v. omen. Three of ihcm fell upon him

at

ipo The memoirs of

at once, and kept him down while the refl tied his hands and legs, and carried him into a ftrong hold, v/hence it w-as impofiible for him to efcape. The woman was fhut up apart, according to our law^s.

When he found himfelf taken, he called me by the moll cruel names he could think on, as, the moft wicked and treacherous villain that ever was, thus to betray him, and the trull he had put in me. Yes^ lays I, it is a crime to difcover your fecrets, and no crime in you to fubvert the government, and fet ail mankind a cutting one another's throats by your monllrous principles ; fo I left him for the prelent*.

Some time after I v/eat to him and told him, our council had decreed, he Ihould be carried bach from whence he came, and be delivered over to the lavages either to be devoured by themT, or to defend himfelf by his principles as well as he could. He cried out, fure we would not be guilty of fuch a horrid bar- barity. Barbarity I laid I, that is a mere jelt ! they will do you no injury ; if your lielh is a rarity to them. Vv hen. they have yon in theii' '^o,»^i, dicy •!?ireL full right to malie ufe of I'c. He begged by all that was dear, w^e would not fend him to the lavages, but rather kill him on the fpot. Why, fay I, you are worfe than thegreatell cannibals, becaufe they fpare their friends, and only hate their enemies ; w^hereas your principles fpare no body, and acknovvledge no tie in nature. At length he ov/ned himfelf in a miilake, and leemed to renounce his errors. When I told him, if he w^ould engage his moil folemn pro- mife to falYer himfelf to be blind- folded, and be- have peaceably, we would carry him to a place where he might find an opportunity to return to his own couniry. JBut, fays I, what lignifies promifes and. engagements in a man v/ho laughs at all obligations, and looks upon it as jull and lawful to break them as to make them. No, he curfed himfelf with the rnoll dreadful imprecations, if he were not trad:able

ill

SiGNOR Gaudxntio bi Lucca. 191

in all things we fhould command him. But, fays he again, won't you deliver me back to the favages ; I anfwered in the fame tone, fliould we do you any wrong if we did ? At length to appeafe him I pro- mifed him faithfully we would put him in a way to return into his own country ; but bid him conlider, if there was no fuch thing as right and wrong, what would become of the world, or what fecurity could there be in human life ?

In a few^ weeks the time drew on for our great journey to Grand Cairo, where I W'as in hopes of feeing my native country once more. All things were now as ^ood as ready ; the Pophar and myfelf had other defigns than ufual, and w^ere in fome pain to think of leaving that once fo happy a country. Though, as I faid, all things that could make me happy, were buried with my dear JJtphena* The Pophar had fonie ferious thoughts of turning chrif- tian. The evidences of our religion were foon per- ceived by a perfon of his deep penetration *, though perfons of little learning and great vices pretend they do not fee them. But, like a v^ife man, he was refolved to examine into it,' in the places where it was exercifed in the greateil fplendor.

We provided a good quantity of jewels, and as much gold as we could well carry, for our present expenfes to Grand Cairo and elfewhere, and future exigencies. I went to my deifl: in his grotto, and threw him in as much gold and jewels as v/^re fuf- iicent to glut his avarice, and make him happy in his brutal way of thinking. But I would not truft myfelf with him alone, for all his promifes, as he, on his fide, expreffed Hill a diiiidence of trufting any body, I fuppofe from the confcioufnefs of his own vile principles. Then I threw him a blinding-cap which we had made for him, that he fhould not fee our way over the defarts. This cap was made like a head-piece, with breathing places for his mouth

and

192 The memoirs of

and nofe, as well as to tai-e in nourifliment, opening at the back part, and clafping with a fpring behind, that being once locked, he could not open it himfelf. He put it on his head two or three times before he duril venture to clofe it. At length he clafped it, and he was as blind as a beetle. We went to hinci and tied his hands, which he let us do quietly enough, and.fiill begged us, that we would not betray him to the favages. I bid him think once more, that now his own interior fenfe told him, that to betray him would be a crime ; by confequence there was fuch a thing as evil.

All things being in readinefs, we mounted our dromedaries. The Pophar and all the reft kifTed the ground as ufual ; I did the fame, out of refpeft to the place, which contained the remains of my never too much \3.mented I/tJy hen a ^ the aflies of whofe heart are in the hollow of the flone whereon is her picflure. Not to mention the ceremonies of our taking leave, v/e were condudled in a mournful man- ner over the bridge, and launched once more over the ocean of the fands and defarts, which were be- fore us. Our favage was on a dromedary, which would follow the reft, but led by a cord faftened to one of the reft for fecurity. It ftumbled v/ith him twice or thrice, and threw him oif once, but without any great hurt. But the fear of breaking his neck, put him in fuch an agony, that though he was as bold as a lion on other occafions,he was pro- digioufiy ftartled at the thoughts of death.

We arrived at Grand Cairo at the ufual period of time, without any particular difafter. As foon as we were fettled, the Pophar ordered me to fend the rieift packing as foon as v.-e could. *' This brutal race'* fays he " next to the cannibals, are the fittcft company for him." I unlocked the blinding hel- met, and told him we had now fulfilled our promife; that he v/as at Grand Cairo. wl:ere he might fin,d

feme

SiGKOR GaUDENTIO DI LuCCA. I^J

fome way or other to return into Europe ; and to convince him, carried him to fome European mit^ chants who affured him of the fame, delivering to him his gold and jewels. I begged him to refle6l On his obligations to us, and the grateful acknow- ledgments due to our memory on that account. We had taken him from that miferabie folitude where he lived more like a wild beaft that a man ; where he was in danger of being found and devoured by the cannibals. We had brought him into one of the happiefl: countries in the world, if he would but Jiave conformed to our laws ; and now had given liim his liberty to go where he pleafed, with riches fufficient to make him eafy, and benefits to make him grateful ail his life ; fo I took my leave of him. But to our forrow we had not done with, him yet.

As foon as the Pophar and the reil had performed the ceremony of vifiting the tombs of their ancef- tors, or rather the places where the tombs had been, the good old man and myfeif began to think of our meafures for our journey into Italy. During the time we had to ftay, he ordered his people to ftay there till the next annual caravan ; or in cafe he did not return by that time, they were to return, and he would take the opportunity of the next caravan af- terwards, becaufe he was upon bufinefs that :!iearly concerned him.

We had agreed with a mailer of a ihip to carry •ill to Venice, which, as I had the honor to acquaint jour reverences before, was a Trench ihip, com- manded by Ivlcrjirur Godati. We had fixed the day to go aboard, when, behold our favage at the head of ?i, band of tutks came and feized every one of us in the name of the great Baffa. By great good for- ture while I ft aid at Grand Cairo, I had the great- lul curioiity to inform myfeif what was become of the former Baifa^s daughter we left there five and twejity years ago. TJie people told mt, the. diiugh- T ter

15^4 The IvI E M O I R S or

Irer was married to the grand Sultan, and was now ialtanefs mother to the prefent fultan, and regent of the empire ; adding, that her brother was their, prefent great BafTa. This lucky information faved all our lives or liberties. We were cariied prifoners before the great B«fra,the faithlefs favage accufing us of crimes againfl the ftate; that v/e were im- Bienfelj rich, a crime of itfelf fufticient to condemn lis, and might make a difcovery of a country of vaft advantage to the grand Signor. To be fhort, we had all been put to the torture had not I begged leave to fpeak a word or two in private to the great BafTa. There I told him who I was ; that I was the perfon who had faved his iiller's, (the now em-- prefs) life ; and to comince him, told him all the cirxrumRances except that of her love, though he liad heard fomething of that too ; I ihewed him the ring dlie iiad given me for a remembrance, w^hich he alfo remembered ; adding, that we were innocent inen, who lived honeflly, according to our own laws, coming there to traffick like other merchants, and had been traduced by one of the greateft villains upon earth. In a word, this not only got us off and procured us an ample pafsport from the great BafTa for our further voyage, but he alfo ordered the in- forming wretch to be feized and fent to the galiies for life. He offered to turn turk if they would fpare him ; but tliey being apprized of his principles, faid he would be a difgrace to their religion, and order- ed him av/ay immediately : upon which, feeing there was no mercy, before they could feize his hands, being grown mad with rage ;ind defpair, he drew out a piflol and fhot himfelf through the head, not being able to find a worfe hand than his own. The Pophar,good man, bore thofe misfortunes with v>7on- derful patience, though he afTured me his greatell (^ricf was, to fee human nature fo far corrupted, as it was in that impious wi'^tch, who could think the

mo?

SiG.NCn Gaudentio di Lucca. 195

moft Iiorrid crimes were not worth the notice of the Aipreme governor of the univerle. " But we lee'* fays he " that providence can mate the wicked them- felves the inllruments of its juft vengeance. For can any thing be fo great a blot upon human nature, as to be its own deftroyer, when the very brutes will druggie for life till the laft gafp ?''

However, he was uneafy till he had left that hateful place : belides, there was fame figns of the plague breaking out ; fo we went down to' Alexan- dria as fall as we could •, and to encourage Morjssay Godart, he made him a prefent before hand of a di- amond of confiderable value.

We fet fail for Candy, where Mo7\ftevT Godart was to touch, the i.6th day of Auguft, Anno 1712. But alas I whether thefe tioubles, or not being ufed to the ^t3y or fome infedlion of the plague he had caught at Grand Cairo, or altogether, is uncertain, but that great good man fellfo dangeroufly ill, tha-; we thought we could fcarce get him to Candy. H:) aflured me by the knov/ledge he had of himfelf and nature, that h*s time was ccm«. We put in at the £ril creek, where the land air a little refrelhed him; but it was a fallacious crifi?, for in a few days all ot us faw his end draw near. Then he told me, ho was refolved to be baptized, and die in the christian faith. I got him inftru<5led by a reverend prieft, be- longing to Morju'ur God art ^ his name was Morjieur la Gr^//?, whom I had formerly known wh-en he wa^ a lludent in the college for foreign millions ; and what was the only comfort I had now left, Ifaw him baptized, and yield up the ghofl with a courage becoming the greateft hero and the bell of men. — This was the greateft alRi<flion I ever had in my whole life, after the death of his daughter. He left me all his efled:?, which were fufficient to make me happy in this life, if riches can procure happinefs.

Wc had fomc days to Hay before Mcvjtcu.r Godari T z could.

ip^ The memoirs o?

cc

could ma^e an end of his concerns. I was ualJclng in a melancholy poilure along th^ fea fhore, and re^ fie<51ing on the adventures of my paft life, occaiion- ed by thofc very \?ateTs whereon I was looking, when I came, or rather my feet carried me, to a hanj^ing rock on the lide of the iiland, juft on the edg^ of the fea, and where there was juil room enough for two or three perfons to Hand privately under covert, very difiicylt to be difcerned; where, going to fit dov/n and indulge my melancholy thoughts, I efpied a turk and two women, as if concealed under the rock. My own troubles not allowing me the cu- riofity to pry into other peoples concerns, made m^ turn fhort back again j but the elder of the two v;omen, who was millrefs of the other, feeing by my drefs, that I was a ftranger and a chriftian (being now in that habit) came running to me, and falling on her knees, laid hold of mine, and begged me to take pity on a dillreiTed v/oman, w^ho expe^fied every moment to be butchered by one of the moil inhu- man villains living, from v/hofe violence ihcy had iled, and hid themfelves in that place in expeftiation of finding a boat to convey them off. I lifted her up, and thought I fav/ fomething in that face I had {qgu. before, though much altered by years and trou- bles. She did the fame by my-, and at length cried out, " O heavens ! it can't be the man I hope !" I remembered confufedly fomething of the voice, as Vicll as the face; and after a deal of aftonilliment, found it was the Curdifh lady v^/ho had faved my life from the pirate Hamsts. " Oh !"" fays fhe " I have juil time enough to tell you, that we expecl to be puriued by that inhuman wretch, ynlefs you can find a boat to carry us off before he finds 7is, others wife we muil fall a facrifice to his cruelty/' I never ilayed to coniider confequences, but anfwered precipitately, that I would do my beft, and fo raj^ back to the ihip as fail as J could, and with the help

of

SiGNOR G'audsntio di Lucca. 197

of the iiril man, brought the boat to the reck. ,1 was juft getting out to take hold of her hand, when- we heard fome men coming rufhing in behind u?, and one of them cried, ** hold, villain, that wicked woman fhall not efcape fo, znd fires a piftol, which miffing the kd/, ihot the man attending her into the belly, fo that he fell down pre.fently, though not quite dead. I had provided myfelf with aTurkiilx fcymitar and a cafe of piitcls' under my fafli, for my defence on fhipboard; I law there w?.s no lime 10 deliberate, fo I nred direclly at them, for they were three, and had the good liiclt to drop one of them. But Ilame/s, as I found afterv*' aids, minding nothing; but his revenge on the woman, fired again, and mif- fing the lady a fccond time, fhot her maid through the arm, and was drawing his fcymitar to cleave hec down, when I ilcpt in between the ladr, bnt fhoot- ing with too much precipitancy, the bullets pafTe t under his arm, and lodged in the boiy of his fecond ; he llarted back at the lire fo near him, which gavo me time to draw my fcymitar. Eeing ^ow upon equal terms, he retired two or three paces, and cried* " who art thou that venturefl thy lift fo boldly for this wicked woman ?'* I knew his voice peifecll/ well, neither was-he fo much altered r.s th-e lady. I am the man, laid r,,whofe life thcu.woulde.ft hav^ taken, but this lady favei it, whofe caufe I fne Unov/ revenge, as well a»:my own and my dear brother'?* We made no moief words, .but f«ll to .it with our fey- mitars wiih ail sur might; he wa& a brave ftout man, and \<^m- me ft el fhomd have- woik enouf^h to hew him dew:?.. After feveral attacks-, h:e gave mi a confiderable wo^^nd on my atm^ and I cut him a- crofs the cheek a pretty large gafh, but net to en^ danger his life, /^t len;.^th ihe iuilke of my cauf^ would have it, that linking off hi<6:turban ct qt/^ {i:roke,,and with r.noth^r, falling on h^s barehcivj. Ici-t hisn quite into tlie brain, thv.t fpme cf them T ; Iturtfd,

19^ The M E M 0 I R S of

fpurted on my fcymitar. He fell down, as I thought, quite dead, but after fome time he gave a groan, and uttered thefe words, " Mahomet, thou art juft, I killed this woman's hulLand, andfhe has been the occalion of mj death." With thefe words he gave up the gholl.

By this time the lady'^s attendant was dead, fo I took the lady and her w^oman witjiout fcaying, for fear of further difficulties, and puttinor them into the boat, conducted them to the fhip. Movjjeur Godart was extremely troubled at the accident, faying, we fhould have all the iiland upon us, and made great difficulty to receive tke lady ; but upon a juft repre- fentatlon of the cafe, and an abundand recompenfe for his effecfls left behind, we got him- to take her in, and hoift fail for Venice as faft as we could.

The lady had nov7 time to thank me for her de- livery, and I to congratulate my happy fortune in being able to make a return for her faving of my life.

During our paifage, I begged her to give us th6 hiilory of hor fortunes iince i left her, which I prog-^ nofticated then could not be very happy, confidering the hands £hc was fallen into.

*' You remember^' faysfhe " I made a promife to Hameis that I would marry him on condition he w^ouldfave your life?'* Yes, nvadam, faid I, and am ready to venture my own one* more m return for fo great a beneiit. " You ha\^e done enough" fays fhe, and with that acquainted u^, that when I was fold oiT to the firange merchant, Hatnets carried hef to Algiers, and claimed h'er promife. •* I was en- tirely ignorant" fajs ihe •* of his having a hand in the death of my my dear lord ; but, on the contrary, ihe villain had contrived his wickednefs fo cunning-- ly, that I thought he had generouily ventured his own: life to fave his, and being, as you know, a very hand- feme man, of x^p yery inferior rank, and o'prelling

the

SlGN<?Pv GAb'D£NTIO Bl LuOCA. l99

die mofi ardent love for 1117 perfon, and I having no hopes of returning into my own country, fulHiied my promife made on your account, and married him. V/e iiv'd contentedly enough together for fome years bating that we had no children, till his conilant companion, who was the man attending me at the rock, and was killed by that villain, fell out about a fair Have which Omar,io he was called, had bought or taL:en prifoner in fome of their piracies. Humets^ as well as he, fell in love with her, and v^ould have talren her for his concubine, but the other conceal- ed her from him. They had like to have fought ^boutit, ///2««^/5 vowed revenge. The other, who was the honeiler man of the two, was advifed to be upon his guard, and to deliver the woman to him, which he never would confent to, but was refolved to run all rifques rather than the young lady fhould iiifFer any dilhonor. In the mean time, her friends, who V. ere rich people of Circallia, hearing where fhe was, made interell to have her ranfomed, and taken from both of them, by the authority of the Pey of Algiers, v/ho was otherwife no friend to Hamets* This laft had been informed that Omar^ becaufe he could not enjoy her himfelf, contrived to have her ranfomed from his rival, and I myfelf had a han4 in the affair, for which he threatened revenge on both of us •, and being alfo difguHed with the Dey, he gave orders to have his ihips ready to move, and follow his trade of piracy. 1'hen Omar informed me how Hamets had murdered my iirft hufband, having hired the Arabians to do it, while h'e pretend- ed to defend him to avoid my fufpicions ; wdih fuch circumllances of the fa(f^, that I faw the truth w^as too clear. It is not to be expreffed the horror and detellationlwas in, both againll/Z/7?2f/s,andagainit myfelf for marrying fuch a moniler. Omar added, that he was certainly informed, that as foon as he had us out at fea, he would make awa^ with us both ;

and

ICO The memoirs of

and told me, if I would trull myfelf with him, he would undertake to carry me off in a boat, and con- ducf^ me into my own country.

I was refolved to ily to the fartheil end of the earth to avoid his loathed fight \ fo refolted to pack v.p our molt precious things; and go along with him. He procured a boat to meet Uf, at a little creek of' the iiland, by aperfon he thought he could confide in ; but who betrayed the whole affair to Ilameis y of which aifo we had timely notice to remove from the Nation where we expe(f\ed the boat, and flying- along the coall as privately as we could*, hid our^ felves under the reck where you found u?, expedl- ing either to find fome favourable cccalion to be carried off, or to die by the hand of Hamets^ which we certainly had done, had he net met with h'sjuH death by yours*

The lady had fcarce given us this Hiort account of her misfortune?, and we were not only congratulat- ing her for her deliverance, but Itood in admiration at the juHice of providence^ which reached over this villain, both to bring him to condign punijhment for the murder of the innocent Ciird, and making him die by my hand^ live and.twenty years after hi had robbed and killed my brother, with allhiscrey, fold me for a Have, and would have killed m.e alio, had not the llrange lady faved my life *, Il-^^xj^ we were making fuch like reiiedions on thisilrang.^ accident,. when they told us fi om above, that two veifels f^emed to ccme full fail upon us, as if they were purfuing us with all their might. We made ail the fail we could, but our fhip being pretty hea- vily loaded, we faw we mull be overtaken.

Some e^ us were refolved to fight it out to the kll in cafe ihey were enemies. Eut Morjtcvr Go- dart would hot confect to it, faying, the BafTa's pafTpoit would fecure u?, or by yielding peaceably, we might be nrfomcd. They cr.xe up to vsin a-

fbcrt

Si.cii&ii Gavdx^tio di Lucca. 2ci

iliort time, and fainted us with a volley of fliot to fhev/ what we were to trull to. We ftruck our fails and let them board us without anj refinance. Mo?:- /u-urGoJart, asl thought,Avith too mean a fpirit, told them, with cap in hand, that he would give them any fatisfadion ; and affured them, he would not wil- lingly fall out with the fubje(fis of the grand Signor. They feized every man of us, and fpying the lady and myfelf, " there they are/' faid they " the adul- trefs and her lover, with the fpoils of her murdered hufband." Which words, ihev/ing they v/ere turfes purfuing us from Candy, llruck Alonjieur Godart all of aheap at once, and made me imagine I fliould have much ado to find any quarter. They hauled us upon deck, making ihew as if they were going ta cut off my head. I never thought myfelf lb near death before ; but had the prefence of mind to cry out before the whole crew, that we were fervants of the grand Sultanefs, and produced the paiTport of the great BalTa, her brother, charging them on ihsir peril not to touch us. This itopt their fury a little ; feme cried out, " hold, have a care what you do.*' Others cried, " kill them all for robbers gnd murderers; theSultanefs will never protect luch villains as thefe."

When the hurly-burly v/as fomewhat appeafed, AXoii/hur Godart reafoned the cafe with them, and told them, if they murdered us, they could never conceal it, iince ail the crew of the three fhips heard our appeal to the Sultanefs-Mother, the pafTport fetting forth among other things, that T had laved the life of the grand Sultanefs. This brought them to a demur. The chiefs of them began to confuit among themfelves what v/as bell to be done. When I begged leave to fpeak, told them, if they v/ould carry us to Conllantinople, we would willingly fub- mit our lives and all that belonged to us, in cafe the Sultanefs did not own the faft^aad t^e us into her

|irqtewtioav

203 Thz me M O I R S or

protecffcion. That in cafe they put U8 to death, feme one or other, in fuch a number, would certainly in- Ibrm againil them, the confequences of" which they Icnew very well. I touched alfo, but tenderly, ort the death of Hajnets, and our innocence. The firll part of my fpeech made them pafs over the other. They demurred again, and at length refolved to carry us to Conftantinople, and proceed againil us by way of juftlce, not doubting to mate good prize of us on account of our being chriftians. Thus was our journey toYenice interrupted for fome time by this accident.

When we came t-o the port, AIdr/9et:r Gorlart got leave to fend our cafe* to M.o,iJieiir Savlgni^ the French P.eiident ; who found means to reprefeixt to the Sultanefs^ Mother, that there v;as a ftranger in chains, who pretended to Be the perfon who had faved her life when fhe was at Grand Cairo, and would give her proofs of it if he could be admitted to her highnefs's prefence. I would not fend the ring Ihe gave me for fear of accidents. The Sul- taneds gave orders immediately, I ihould be brought to her prefence; ; faying, flie fhouid eaiily know the perfon, for all it was fo long ago. I put on the fame kind of drefs I was in when fhe firll faw me, which, if your reverences remember, was the tra- velling drefs of the Mezoranians. When I was brought into her prefence, I fcare knew her, being advanced to a middle age, and in the attire of the grand Sultancfs ; ihe looked at me v/ith a great deal of emotion, and bid me approach nigher. I im- mediately fell on my knees, and holding the ring in my hand, which ihe gave me at parting, as if I were makibg a prefent of it, madam, faid I, behold a (lave who had the honour to fave your highnefs*s life, and now begs his own and that of nis companions ; and moH humbly requeilsyour highnefs to accept of this jewel as a token of our lail diftrefs. InHead of an- fwering m?, wdu:h put me in great pain, almofi

doufetini;;^

Sl&NOR GAtTDlLN'nC OI LtTCCA. CO3

4o'ubting whether I was right or not, fhe turned to her nigheft attendants,and cried in a pretty foft voice, *' It is he, I know him by his voice as well as drefs.** and rifing off her feat, came and took the ringher- i^lf; and looking attentively at it, ** Yes, fir,'' faid fhe " I ov/n the ring and bearer ; and acknowledge you to b€ the perfon who faved my life ; for which reafon I give you yours, and all that belongs to you, forbidding all under pain of death, to give you the Icall trouble,** and withal 'ordered a prodigious rich Turkifti robe to be thrown over my fhoulders, as a fign of her favour. Immediate orders were fent to the port to fet M.Gvfteur God art and all his crew a\: liberty, and to feall us as particular friends of the grand Sultanefs.

The company being difmifled, fhe made a fign for me to flay, having further bufmefs with me. — When all v;ere gone, but two of her chief favourite women, flie came to me without any ceremony, and taking me in her arms, as if I had been her brother, fhe em^braced me with a great de-al of tcndernefs ; her joy to fee me, making her lay afide her gran- deur, and yield to the tranfport of undifguifed na- ture. She led me by the hand into a moll magnifi- cent apartment, faying, *' come, Signer Gaudentio^ for fol think you are called, after you have refrefhed yourfelf, you fliall tell me your adventures.** She made no fcruple to fit down v/ith me, teing now net only miflrefs of herfelf, but of the wh-ole Ottoman empire, as well as fure of her attendants We had a refrefhment of all the rarities of the eafl, with the richeft wines for me, though fhe drank none herfelf. " I long to hear your adventures*' continued fhe '* of fo many years abfence.*' So I told her in fhort, how I was carried by that Urange merchant into an un- known country, without telling her the way w^e Vv'ent tliither; wherv^^ I hadmarried the Regent's daughter. She bluflied a little at that part, and flicwcd the re- mains

204 Tki: M E mo I R S bi

niairiS of all her former beauty. But it put me in mind of my own indlfcretion to touch on fo nice a point. She pafTed it off with a great deal of good- riefs ; and recovering myfelf, I continued to acquaint her of the reafons of my return, as well as how I was taken by Ilamets the firll time, which fhe had not been acquainted with before ; and laftly, hov/ I met with the fame Hamets again, killed him, and by that means came into that misfortune. I called it then a misfortune, but look upon now to be one of my greatefl happinefTes, fince, by that occafion, I have the honor of feeing your highnefs in that dignity, of which you are the m.oft worthy of any one in all the Ottoman empire. She feemed to be in admira- tion at the courfe of my life, and afked me, " I think iignor," faid fhe " you faid you were married ; is your fpoufe with you ?'* No, madam, faid I, alas ! llie is dead, and all my children, and I am going to xetire and lead a private life in my native country.

With thefe and other difccurfes we pafTed the greatcfl part of the day, when fhe bid me go back to the fhip in public, attended with all the marks of her high favours ; but faid, fhe would fend for me prtvately in the evening, " for'* faid fhe " I have u ihoufand other things to afk you.""

Accordinrfy I was introduced privately into the -^eraglio •, which G^^, being Sultanefs Regent, could eafily have done. There fhe entirely laid afide her grandeur. We talked all former pafTages over again, with the freedom of friends and old acquaintances; .vhere, in our converfation, I found fhe was a wo- man of prodigious depth and judgment, as indeed Eer wading through fo many diilicukies, attending the inconflancy of the Ottoman court, particularly the regency, gave evident proof. I m.ade bold to rfk her, how fhe arrived at that dignity, though fhe vras the only perfon in the woild that defewed it ; arid tcck the liberty to fay, in a familiar way, that

I believed

SiGNOH Gaujdektio di LuOca. 205

i believed her highnefs was now fenlible of tKe for- Vice I did her, in refufmg to comply with her for- mer demands, lince the fates had referved her to be the greatefh emprefs of the world, not the conforf: of a wandering flave. Had I not been entirely af- fured of her goodnefs, I fhouid not have dared to have touched. on that head. She bliifhed with a little confufion at iiril, but putting it off with a grave air, fhe faid " grandeur does not always make people happy. Ten thoufand cares attend a crown *, but the indifference I had for all things, made mine fit eafier than it might have done otherwife. It is true" faid fhe ** tliat young people very feldom fee their own good, and oftentimes run into fuch errorsj hy the violence of their pafiions, vi^hich not only deprives them of greater blelUngs, but renders their misfortunes irretrievable. Some time after you were gone" continued fhe " my father, the grand BaiTa, T/as accufed by fome underhand enemies of male-ad- inlniftration, a thing too frequent in our court, and privately condemned to be flrangled ; but having ibme trufly friends of the port, he had notice of it before the orders cam.e. lie immediately departed fromGrandCairo, and took a round-about Vv^ay to- wards Confiantinople, to prevent, as the way is, the execution of them. He fent rne before to prepare matters, and to intercede with the young Sultan, my 32te deceafed lord, for his life ; leaving word where 1 might let him know of the fuccefs of my intercef- . fion. I prefented myfelf before the Sultan, wit!i that modefl alTurance which my innocence, my yotu\ rUid grief for my father^s danger gave me. I fc-i dov/n on my knees, and with a flood of tears beggsi my father's life. The Sultan looked at me with iome amasemerxi, and v.'hatever he faw in my face, not only granted my requeH, and confirmed my fa- ther in his former pcfl, but made a prof^fiion of lov£ to my perfor: : ard even €ontim<cd it wiih more V caiifiaucTj

2c6 The memoirs of

conftancy than I thought a grand Sultan capable of, having fo man/ exquilite beauties to divert him, as they generally have. I confented, to fave iiiy fa- ther's life ; and whether the indifference I had for all men made him more eager, I cannot tell ; but I found I was the chief in his favour. He had fome other miilrefTes now and then, of whom he was very fond ; but I never teizing him, nor fretting myfelf about it, eafily found I continued to have the lolid part of his friendfhip ; and bringing him the firft male child, the prefent emperor, I became the chief Sultanefs ; and by his death and the minority of my fon, am now Regent ; by which I am capable of Tendering you all the fervice the Ottoman empire can perform, which I eileem one of the happiell events of my life.""

I returned her the moft profound bow and hum- ble thanks a heart full of the moft lively fenfe of gratitude could pofTefs. She offered me the firft poft of the Ottoman emj^ire, if I would but become a mulTulman, or only fo in appearance. ** Or if," fiiid fbe " you had rather be nigh me, you fliall be the chief ofiicer of my houfhold. Though*' faid Jhe " I have had affurance enough that neither your inclinations nor principles can be forced, neither will I endeavour to do it, but leave you as much at your own. liberty, as your generous mailer did when he bought you of Hamets." I expreffed all the grate- ful acknowledgments poilible for fo generous an offer, but afTured her with an air that even expref- fed forrow for the refufal, that I lay under religious obligations, which bound me indifpenfably to return into my own country.

She was become nov/ as m^ch miflrefs of her in- clinations, as fhe had acquired prudence and expe rience by the long command Ihe had over her huf- band's heart and the whole Ottoman empire. So, rJ'ter a month's flay fne let me go, with all the marks of honor her dignity would faffcr her to ex-

prefs.

S'IGMOR■G'AUDE^^TIO Dl LuCGA. lO'f

prefs. She would have pimiflied the perfons that took us, but I interceded for them. ^AriTjftsirr Go- dart^ who was well rewarded for the iofs of his time and confinement, can teilif/ the truth of this hiftory. The lafl words fhe faid to me, were to bid me remember, that a turlr and a woman were capable of generous gratitude and honor as well as chriflians. So we fet fail for Venice.

Secretary. — .Here6ne of the irjquiiitors came in with a gold medal in his hand, and turning to the esaminant, faid» " Signor GdiiderJio^ I believe you have found a relation in Italy as well as in Africa > and one of the fame nation vath your mother. It is the Perfian lad/ you brought vyvCn you, whom we fecured the fame time wo. did you, but would not let you Irnov/ it till v/e could procure intelli- gence from Venice, and a perfon who could fpeak the Perfian language. We own v/e find her in the fame ftory v/ith you^ and nothing material againlc you from Venice. Upon the examining her efrefis, we found this medal of the fame make with yours, by which yci? knew who your m-Othcr was. She fays it was about her neck when fhe v/as fold to the Per- iian merchant. But fince we fhall give you both jour liberties in a fhort time, fhe fiiall be brought into you, and we give you leave to fay what you

ills,

will tpi her, with the interpreter by. Upon the lady was introduced with her maid and the in- terpreter. As foon as fhe fav/ our examinant in good health, and feemingly at liberty, a joyful ferenity fpread itfelf over her countenance, fbch as we had not feen before. Our examinant afi>j:ed her, to be pleafed to give an account of her life, fo far as fhe thought proper, and hov/ fhe came by that meial.

Lady. — " All I know of myfelf,'' faid fhe " is

that the nofble Curd who bought me of a Perlian

xnerchant, for a compa ^ion for his only daughter,

about my own age, whom he thought I refembled

U 2 very

20§ The memoirs o?

v^ry much, often declared to me, that the merchant bought me of a Turkiih woman, who left that me- dal about my neci^, fuppoiing it to be feme cbarm or prefervative againft diftemp^ers, or becaufe a lif- ter of mine had the fame faitened about her neck •with a gold chain, which could not be taken o:^ without breaking; but who, or where the iiiler was, I never knew.

The ncble Curdifii lord, Vv^ho bought me, grev/ prodigious fond of me, and bred me up as another daughter ; and not only fo, but having an only fon, fomething older than myfelf, he connived at a grovv-- ing love he perceived between his fon and nlyftif ; which, after forne diiSculties on both iides^, at length came to a marriage, though it cofc my generous be- nefad'or ?.nd father-in-lav/ his life ; for, another young lord of Curdiilan, falling in love with me, often challenged prince Calz, that was my dear huf- band*s name, to decide their pretenfions by the fword, which I had always forbid him to do ; faying, that man fhould never be my hufoand who expofed my re- putation by a duel-, fince the w^orld would leaver be- lieve, that any man would expofe Lis life for a v/cmaiis unlefs there had been iorne encouragement P'iven on both fides ; whereas I never gave the leaii to any but prince CalL However, the other met him one day, and attacked him fo furioufly, that prince Call v/as iorced to kill him in his own defence, making a thou - land p:'otei;aiion;-: that he had a 1 moil iufFered'himfelf; to be k^jled rather than to diibbey my orders- But the father cf the prince, vjho Wcis llain v/iih a com- pany of afTafTms, laid an ambufcade for prince Call a?;:d his father, in which this latter' V7zs killed- and Kioft of his train ; but by the valour of his fon and two of his companior.s, the chief afiaflins vrere laid .dead on the fpot and the igit put to ilight. But; prince Cali^, after the dcat*i of his father, fearing further treachery of that nature, prefently after wa ■V7er« marriedj removed to another pan of the king- dom,

dom, from whence he being fent on a commiflion by his king, he was inhumanly murdered by the bar- barous Hamets^

This is the fum of my unfortunate life, till I had the good fortune to fave yours/'

Secretary. — We permitted the nephew and the aunt (for {o they were found to be by the meH^al) to embrace one another. SrgnGv Gaiidentio ai- Turing her, that by all appearance, he was the fon of her liiler, and the mother's iiiler that was loH, and both of them preferved to fave each other's lives. The lady then delared, Ihe would turn chriilian, fince her misfortunes were come to that period. She w^as refoived to leave the world and retire into feme of our monalleries. We put her among the nuns of our order, where fhe promifes to be a iignal exam- ple of virtue and piety.

The inquifitors ordered the examinant to give them the rem.aining part of his life, v;hich, in all appearance, if they fcund his ftory to agree udth their informations, might purchafe him his liberty.

Gaudentio. — I w^as telling your reverences that at length v/e fet fail from the port, and fleered our courfe diredlly for Venice, where we happily ar- rived v/ithout any confiderable accident, the loth of December, Ann. Dom. 1712 I do not queftion but your re\^erences are already informed, that fuch perfons did arrive at Venice about that time. Mon-- Jieur Godart is well known to feveral m.erchants and fome of the fenanors of that famous city, whom he inform-ed of what he faw wdth his own eyes. But there w^ere fome particular paiTages unhn-own to. your reverences, wherein I had like to have made Shipwreck of my life after fo many dangers, as I did here of my liberty ; thijugh I do not complain, but only reprefent my hard- fortune to your revereiirf'i coniideration* It happened to be the carnival tim2 during our Hay at Venice. Curioiity Ted mc, as. vveli

u 3

^10 Tut memoirs -ot

as a great many other fcran^^ers of the firll rank,,tD fe the nature of it. I put on my Mezoranian ha- bit, fpangled with funs of gold, and the fiiiet-crown, • on my head, adorned with feveral jewels of very great value, which I believe was the moit remarkable and magniiicent drefs of any there. I went unmaf- qu^:d,:being aiTured my face and perfon was unknown to all that world. Every one's eyes were upon m<§. ^e eral of the mafqueraders came up to me and talk- ed to me, particularly the ladies. They fpoke-to me In feveral languages, asLatin, French, Italian, Spa- niih, High- Dutch, &c. I anfwered them all in the Mezoranian language, which feemed as ftrange to them, as my drefs. Some of them fpoke to me in the Turkifh and Perfian language, in Lingua Franca, 2nd fome in an Indian language I really did not un- . • • \ r:d« I anfwered them fhiil in the Mezoranian, -.1 .. hich.x^o body knev/ one W'ord. Two ladies par- ticularly, very richly dreiTed, followed me wherever I wcnC- The. one, as it proved afterwards, v/as Fa^ laz'la^ the celebrated courtefan, in ihe richeft drefs of all the cojnpany ; the other w^as the lady who was with me when I was taken up, and was the occafion of my fettling st Bologna. I mean the true reafon, for I will conceal nothing from your T€verences. Notwithfbanding their,. diligence, I got away unknow^n at that time. The next time I came .1 appeared in the fame d-efs, but with richer jewels. I had more eyes upon me then, than I had before. The courtefan purfued me again in a different but richer drefs than the. former. At length fhe get me by myfelf, and pulling off her mafqae, ihewed me a v/onderfui pretty face, only there wrs too iierce an affurance in it. She cried in Italiar), *' O iignor, you are not fo ignorant of our language as ycu would ft^em to be ! You can fpeak Italian and French too. Though we don*t know who you arc, we have karned you are a man of honor. If yon wcakl not

undeTiland

St^NOR Ga'JDENTIO DI LuCCxi. 211

^nderfiand our words, you mav underhand a face, Tvhich very great perfonages have been glad to lock at/' and with that put on one of the moft enfnar- ing airs I ever faw. I don't doubt but your re- verences have heard of that famous courtefan, and how the greatell man in Venice was once her flave. I v/as juil going to anfvv^er her when the other lady came up, and pulling off her mafque alfo, faid alrnofl the fame things, but with a modeily more graceful than her beauty, which was moil exquifite,.. and the likeft the incomparable IJiphena I ever faw. I made them both a moil refpedfui bow, and told them, that it had been much fafer for me if I had Icept myfelf Hill unknown, and never feen iuch dan- gerous charms. I pronounced thefe words with an air, that fhewed I was more pleafed with the mo- A^SS.j of the laft lady, than the commanding aflur- ance of the firil. The courtefan,. though a little- Toettled atthepreferencefhe thought I gave the other, put onamoreferious air, and faid, ilie had been in- formed there was fomething very extraordinary in my character, and ihouid be glad to hear more of it by herfeif -, that her name wdi^Fa'villa^ and that fhe lived in fuch a flreet, where I Ihould find her houfe remarkable enough. The Bolognian lady, whom your reverences knew very weii, and Vvho was then at Venice on account of the death of her uncle, one of the fenators, who had left her all his effeifls, faid modeftly, if I ihould favour her with a viiit, as ilie had been informed that I v/as a learned m.an, and a vir tuoio, fhe being inclined that way herfeif, fhe fhould be glad of an hour's converfation with me on that fubje^fl ; telling me her name and where fhe lived -, adding, if I would inform myfelf of her cha- radler, I need not be afliamed of her acquaintance^ ; ** nor I hope of mine, madam,'' fays the other, think- ing fhe had been rfjtlected on by that word. It was Mo7l/hur Godart who, with a kviiy peculiar to his

nation,

212 Ths memoirs of

nation, had made the difcovery who I was, though he knew nothing of me but what pafled iince I came from Grand Cairo. I was going to repij to the ladies, when company came up and broke cfF the difcourfe. I was refolved to fee neither of them, and would go no more to the afTembly, though al- moR unavoidably I law both afterwards. I enquired into Fwvillah charader, though I fcarce doubted of it by w hat I faw and heard ; and was informed, that ihe was an imperious courtefan, who had enllaved' feveral perfons of the firft rank, of different nations, and enriched herfelf by their fpoils ; fo 1 was fully refolved not to fee her ; but as Morjfteur Godart and myfelf were w^alking to fee the tov7n, he brought me either induftiiouily or accidentally by her doer ; ihe was fitting at the window of one of the moft magnificent palaces in Venice, fuch fpoils had fhe reaped from her bewitched lovers. As foon as fhe fpied me, fhe fent a fervant to tell me, that that lady would ipeah with me. I made fome difficulty, but M.on/ieur Godart told mv?, a man of honor could not refufe fuch a favour as that ; fo I went in and Mon- fidur Godart w^ith me. The lady received me with a moil charming agreeable air, much different from her former afTurance, and condufled me into a moll magnificent apartment, leaving NLovfteur Godart en- tertaining a very pretty lady, her companion. Not to detain your reverences too long, when I would not underftand what fhe meant, fhe offered me mar- riage, with the inheritance of all her efPefls ; I was- put to the lail nonplus. I afTured her with a moft profound bow, that though I was not w^orthy of fuch a happinefs, I had an indifpenfable obligation on me never to marry. All the blood fhe had came ii> her face. I don't know what flic v/as going to do, but finding her in thtitdifortler, I made another bow, fb^7n<7 I wouh' cc::/i:':^ ■Tur.hcr en h*:r pro-

SiGNOis. Gaudentio di Lucca. 213

pofal, and walked diredlly out of the houfe, defign- ing to leave Venice as ibon as ever my affairs would give me leave.

Some time after Monjteur Goclart came to me and told me, he was forced to do as I did; that the lady was in fuch an outrageous fury he did not know what might be the confequence. Three nights after ^sMQ-JumGodart, and a young kinfman oi his and myfelf, were going towards the Rialto in the dufk of the evening, four ruilians attacked us una- wares •, two of them fet upon me, the other tVv^o at- tacked Movjieur Godurt and his kinfman ; the poor young gentleman was run through the body the iirll pufh ; I made fhift to difable one of my adverfaries, but in doing it, the other run me through the ribs, but the i'word took only part of my body, and mif- iing my entrails, the point went out on the lide of my back. Morfteur Godan\ who to give him his due, behaved himfelf with a great deal of courage and bravery, had killed one of his men and wounded the other ; bat the ruffians feeing us now two to two, thought ^t to march off as well as they could*. I was forced to be led to- my lodging, not doubting but the v/ound v/as mortal, though it proved not to be i^o. The aff^air made a great noife about town. We very rationally fuppofed it was Favilla^ who had fct the afn-iirLiis on, but we knew her to be fo powerful v;ith the fenators, that there was no. hopes of jufcice.

While I v;as recovering, I was told there w^as a lady, Vvdth two waiting wom^n, dsfired to fse me ^ii very earneil bulinefs, if it would not be incommo- dious to me. (Monjhur Godari Vv^ould not ilir from my bed-iide for iear of accidents) Who fhouM this be but Famlla^ who came ail in mourning for my m'sfoitune. I pretended to be a dying m.an, and took the liberty of telling her of her way of living ; to what '^ aifmal pals her paifions had brought her ;

214 The memoirs of

in fine, I faid fo much, and begged her by all that was dear to her to conlider her ftate, that burfting into a flood of tears, fhe promifed me if I died, fhe would become a penitent nun. I eifedied fo much hy letters afterwards, that though I recovered, Ihe performed her promife.

TheBelognian lady had heard of my misfortune, and by a goodnefs peculiar to the tende; fax, particu- larly with regard to ft rangers, fhe fent often to l^now how I did, with prefents of the richeft cordials that could be got in Venice. Finding my iilnefs con- tinued longer than was expe(5led, ihe fent me word, that though it was not fo decent for her to niake the firll vifit, ihe had heard fo much of my adv entures, as very much raifed her curiofity to hear them from my own mouth, when I was capable of converfation without doing me any prejudice. I had informed myfelf of her characPcer from very good hands, fo tint I was very curious to converfe with a perfon of fo incomparable talents as I heard ihe was mil^ trcfjj of. She was the only woman next to Iftphena, and the great Baffa's dau.^hter I ever much liked in my life. To fum up all in ihort, fhe came feveral times to fee me, infomuch, that we contracted tlisj ^noft virtuous friendfhip by our mucual incli.giatioa to ieayning, and the fympathy of our tempers, as ever pafTed between two perfons of different fexes. It was on her account I refolved to fettle at Bologna ; and having feme knov/ledge in nature and phyfic, I took on me that character, to be the oftner in her cC'rr»pany without fcr,iidnK We were neither of us inclined to marry. She is one of the moil virtuous women living ; and myfelf being advanced in years, as we were entirely mailers of ourfelves, we thought our innocent friendihip could be ofPeniive to no one. What has iince pafTed iince I came to this town, I do not doubt but your reverences are apprifed of. This is a true and full account of my life hitherto.

Whatever

SiGNOR GaUDENTIO 1)1 LuccA. ii$

Whatever is blameable in it, I hope your reverences will pardon, as I fubmit it entirely to your judg- ments.

Secretaky. — x\s I had the honor to inform you before, we enquired into all thefe fa(R:s, which he faid happened to him in the company o^ Alonjieiir Godurt, which finding to be true, we judged the refl might be fo. We afked him if he would condu(fl fome of our miffionaries to that ftrange country he mentioned ; he told us he would, but not to trufi him entirely, as not knov/ing what he might do with them when he had them in unknown countries. We thought fit to give him his liberty, firil to go where he would, even out of Italy, with afTurances if he came back of his own accord, we would fend miffionaries along with him. He v/ent to Venice and Genoa about his concerns, and is now come back and with us, fo that we believe the man to be really what he profeiTes himfeif to be.

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