Epistolæ Ho-elianæ familiar letters domestic and forren divided into sundry sections, partly historicall, politicall, philosophicall, vpon emergent occasions / by James Howell.

XXI. To Sir James Crofts, from Madrid.

SIR,

THe Court of Spain affords now little news, for ther is a Remo∣ra sticks to the busines of the match, till the Iunta of Di∣vines

give up their opinion: But from Turky ther came a Letter this week wherin ther is the strangest and most tragicall news, that in my small reading no Sory can parallell, or shew with more pregnancie the instability and tottering estate of human greatnes, and the sandy foundation wheron the vast Ottoman Em∣pire is reard upon: For Sultan Osman the grand Turk. a man ac∣cording to the humor of that Nation, warlike and fleshd in bloud, and a violent hater of Christians, was in the flower of his yeers, in the heat and height of his courage, knockt in the head by one of his own slaves, and one of the meanest of them, with a battle axe, and the murtherer never after proceeded against or questi∣oned.

The ground of this Tragedy was the late ill success he had a∣gainst the Pole, wherin he lost about 100000. horse for want of forrage, and 80000. men for want of fighting, which he imputed to the cowardize of his Ianizaries, who rather than bear the brunt of the battell, were more willing to return home to their wives and merchandizing, which they are now permitted to do contrary to their first institution, which makes them more worldly, and less venturous. This disgracefull return from Poland stuck in Osmans stomach, and so studied a way how to be revengd of the Ianiza∣ries; therfore by the advice of his grand Visier (a stout gallant man who had bin one of the chief Beglerbegs in the East) he inten∣ded to erect a new Soldiery in Asia about Damasco, of the Coords a frontier people, and consequently hardy and inur'd to Arms. Of these he purpos'd to entertain 40000. as a lifegard for his pe•…•…∣son, though the main design was to suppress his lazie and lust∣full Ianizaries, with men of fresh new spirits.

To disguise this plot, he pretended a pilgrimage to Mecha, to visit Mahomets Tomb, and reconcile himself to the Prophet, who he throught was angry with him, because of his late ill success in Poland: but this colour was not specious enough, in regard he might have performd this Pilgrimage with a smaller train and charge; therfore it was propounded that the Emir of S•…•…dm should be made to rise up in arms, that so he might go with a greater power and treasure, but this plot was held disadvantagious to him, in regard his Ianizaries must then have attended him: so he pre∣tends and prepares only for the Pilgrimage, yet he makes ready as much treasure as he could make, and to that end he melts his plate, and furniture of horses, with divers Church lamps; this fomented som jealousie in the Ianizaries, with certain words which should drop from him, that he would find soldiers shortly should

whip them. Hereupon he hath sent over to Asias side his pavili∣ons, many of his servants, with his jewells and treasure, resolving upon the voyage, notwithstanding that divers petitions were deli∣vered him from the Clergy, the civill Magistrate and the Soldi∣ery that he should desist from the voyage, but all would not do: therupon upon the point of his departure, the Ianizaries and Sp•…•…ies came in a tumultuary manner to the Seraglio, and in a high insolent language disswaded him from the Pilgrimage, and demanded of him his ill counsellors. The first he granted, but for the second, he said that it stood not with his honor, to have his neerest servants torn from him so, without any legall proceeding, but he assur'd them that they should appear in the Divan the next day, to answer for themselves; but this not satisfying, they went away in a fury and plunderd the Grand Visiers Palace, with divers others; Osman hereupon was advis'd to go from his private gardens that night to the Asian shore, but his destiny kept him from it: so the next morning they came armd to the Court, (but having made a cove∣nant not to violate the Imperiall Throne) and cut in peeces the Grand Visier with divers other great Officers, and not finding Os∣man, who had hid himself in a small lodge in one of his gardens, they cried out they must have a Musulman Emperor; therfore they broke into a Dungeon, and brought out Mustapha Osmans Unkle, whom he had clapt there at the beginning of the tumult, and who had bin King before, but was depos'd for his simplicity, being a kind of santon or holy man, that is, twixt an Innocent and an Idi∣ot: This Mustapha they did reinthronize and place in the O•…•…toman Empire.

The next day they found out Osman, and brought him before Mustapha, who excus'd himself with tears in his eyes for his rash at∣tempts, which wrought tendernes in som, but more scorn and fu∣ry in others, who fell upon the Capi Aga, with other Officers, and cut them in peeces before his eyes: Osman thence was carried to Prison, and as he was getting a horsback, a common soldier took off his Turban, and clapt his upon Osmans head, who in his pas∣sage begd a draught of water at a Fountain: The next day the new Visier went with an Executioner to strangle him, in regard ther were two younger brothers more of his to preserve the O•…•…to∣mans race, where after they had rushd in, he being newly awakd, and staring upon them, and thinking to defend himself, a robust boysterous rogue knockt him down, and so the rest fell upon him and strangled him with much adoe.

Thus fell one of the greatest Potentats upon earth by the hands

of a contemptible slave, for ther is not a free born subject in all that vast Empire: Thus fell he that Entitles himself most puissant and highest Monarch of the Turks, King above all Kings, a King that dwelleth upon the earthly Paridise, son of Mahomet, keeper of the grave of the Christian God, Lord of the Tree of Life, and of the River Flisky, Prior of the earthly Paridise, Conqueror of the Macedonians, the seed of great Alexander, Prince of the Kingdoms of Tartary, Mesopotamia, Media, and of the martiall Mammaluck•…•…, Anatolia, Bithynia, Asia, Armenia, Servia, Thracia, Morta, Valachi•…•…, Moldavia, and of all warlike Hungary, Soverain Lord and Com∣mander of all Greece, Persia, both the Arabia's, the most noble king∣dom of Egypt, Tremisen and African, Empire of Trab•…•…sond and the most glorious Constantinople, Lord of all the white and black Seas, of the holy City Mecha and Medina, shining with divine glory, com∣mander of all things that are to be commanded, and the strongest and mightiest Champion of the wide world, a Warrior appoin∣ted by Heaven in the edge of the sword, a Persecutor of his Enemies, a most perfect jewell of the blessed Tree, the chie∣fest keeper of the crucified God, &c. with other such bombar∣dicall Titles.

This Osman was a man of goodly Constitution, an amiable as∣pect, and of excesse of courage, but sordidly covetous, which drove him to violat the Church, and to melt the Lamps therof, which made the Mufti say that this was a due judgment faln upon him from Heaven for his Sacrilege. He us'd also to make his person too cheap, for he would go ordinarily in the night time with two men after him like a petty Constable, and peep into the Cauph∣houses and Cabarets, and apprehend Soldiers there. And these two things it seems was the cause, that when he was so assaulted in the Seraglio, not one of his Domestic servants, wherof he had 3000, would li•…•…t an Arm to help him.

Som few days before his death, he had a strange dream, for hee dreamt that he was mounted upon a great Camell, who would not go neither by fair nor foul means, and lighting off him, and thin∣king to strike him with his Cimitier, the body of the beast vanisht, leaving the Head and the bridle only in his hands; when the Muf∣ti and the Hoggies could not interpret this dream, Mustapha his Uncle did it, for he said, the Camell signified his Empire, his moun∣ting of him his excesse in Government, his lighting down his depo∣sing. Another kind of Prophetic speech dropt from the Grand Vi∣sier to Sir Thomas Roe our Ambassador there, who having gone a little before this Tragedy to visit the said Visier, told him what

whisperings and mutterings there were in every corner for this A∣siatic voyage, and what ill consquences might ensue from it; ther∣fore it might well stand with his great wisdom to stay it; but if it held, he desir'd him to leave a charge with the Chimacham his De∣puty, that the English Nation in the Port, should be free from out∣rages: wherunto the Grand Visier answer'd, Trouble not your self about that, for I will not remove so far from Constantinople, but I wil leave one of my legs behind to serve you, which prov'd too true, for he was murther'd afterwards, and one of his legs was hung up in the Hippodrome.

This fresh Tragedy makes me to give over wondring at any thing that ever I heard or read, to shew the lubricity of mundan great∣nes, as also the fury of the vulgar, which like an impetuous Torrent gathereth strength by degrees as it meets with divers Dams, and being come to the hight, cannot stop it self: for when this rage of the soldiers began first, there was no design at all to violat or hurt the Emperor, but to take from him his ill Counsel∣lors, but being once a foot, it grew by insensible degrees to the ut∣most of outrages.

The bringing out of Mustapha from the Dungeon, where he was prisoner, to be Emperor of the Musulmans, puts me in mind of what I read in Mr. Camden of our late Queen Elizabeth, how she was brought from the Scaffold, to the English Throne.

They who profess to be Criticks in policy here, hope that this murthering of Osman may in time breed good bloud, and prove advantageous to Christendom; for though this be the first Empe∣ror of the Turks that was dispatcht so, he is not like to be the last, now that the soldiers have this precedent: others think that if that design in Asia had taken, it had been very probable the Con∣stantinopolitans had hoisd up another King, and so the Empire had been dismembred, and by this division had lost strength, as the Ro∣man Empire did, when it was broken into East and West.

Excuse me that this my Letter is become such a Monster, I mean that it hath past the sise and ordinary proportion of a Letter, for the matter it treats of is monstrous, besides it is a rule that Histori∣call Letters have more liberty to be long than others: In my next you shall hear how matters pass here, in the mean time, and always I rest

Madrid, Aug. 17. 1623.

Your Lordships most devoted Servitor, J. H.