full of wood, and adjoyning to it a mount raised four or five steps, upon which she is brought and served with a magnificent repast; which being done, she falls to dancing and singing, and gives order when she thinks fit to kindle the fire; which being perform'd, she descends, and taking the nearest of her husbands relations by the hand, they walk together to the river close by, where she strips her self stark naked, and having distributed her cloaths and jewels to her friends, plunges her self into the water, as if there to cleanse her self from her sins; coming out thence, she wraps her self in a yellow linen of five and twenty ells long, and again giving her hand to this kinsman of her husbands they return back to the mount, where she makes a speech to the people, and recommends her children to them if she have any. Betwixt the pit and the mount there is commonly a curtain drawn to skreen the burning furnace from their sight, which some of them to manifest the greater courage, forbid. Having ended what she has to say, a woman presents her with a vessel of oyl, wherewith to anoint her head, and her whole body; which having done with, she throws into the fire, and in an instant precipitates her self after. Immediately the people throw a great many billets and logs upon her, that she may not be long in dying, and convert all their joy into sorrow and mourning. If they are persons of meaner condition, the body of the defunct is carried to the place of sepulture, and there plac'd sitting, the widow kneeling before him, embracing the dead body; and continue in this posture whilst they build a wall about them, which so soon as it is raised to the height of the womans shoulders, some of her relations come behind her, and taking hold of her head writhe her neck in two, and so soon as she is dead, the wall is presently rais'd up, and clos'd, where they remain entomb'd. There was in this same country something like this in their Gymnosophists; for not by constraint of others, nor by the impetuosity of a sudden humour, but by the express profession of their order, their custom was, that so soon as they arriv'd at a certain age, or that they saw themselves threatned by any disease, to cause a funeral pile to be erected for them, and on the top a stately bed, where after having joyfully feasted their friends and acquaintance, they laid them down with so great a resolution, that fire being apply'd to it, they were never seen to stir either hand or foot; and after this manner one of them, Calanus by name, expir'd in the presence of the whole army of Alexander the great; and he was neither reputed holy, nor happy amongst them, that did not thus destroy himself; dismissing his soul purg'd and purified by the fire, after having consum'd all that was earthly and mortal. This constant premeditation of the whole life is that which makes the wonder. Amongst our other controversies, that of Fatum is also crept in, and to tye things to come, and even our own wills to a certain and inevitable necessity, we are yet upon this argument of time past; "Since God foresees that all things shall so fall out, as doubtless he

PP

59-4 does, it must then necessarily follow, that they must so fall out." To which our masters reply, "that the seeing any thing come to pass, as we do, and as God himself also does (for all things being present with him, he rather sees, than foresees) is not to compel an event: that is, we see because things do fall out, but things do not fall out because we see. Events cause knowledge, but knowledge does not cause events That which we see happen, does happen; but it might have hapned otherwise and God, in the catalogue of the causes of events which he has in his prescience, has also those which we call accidental and unvoluntary, which depend upon the liberty he has given our free will, and knows that we do amiss because we would do so." I have seen a great many commanders encourage their soldiers with this fatal necessity; that if our time be limited to a certain hour, neither the enemies shot, nor our own boldness, nor our flight or cowardize, can either shorten or prolong our lives. This is easily said, but see who will be so perswaded, and if it be so that a strong and lively faith draws along with it actions of the same, certainly this faith we so much brag of, is very light in this age of ours, unless the contempt it has of works, makes it disdain their company. So it is, that to this very purpose the Sire de Joinville, as credible a witness as any other whatever, tells us of the Bedoins, a nation amongst the Saracens, with whom the king St. Lewis had to do in the Holy-land, that they in their religion, did so firmly believe the number of every mans days to be from all eternity prefix'd, and set down by an inevitable decree, that they went naked to the wars, excepting a Turkish sword, and their bodies only cover'd with a white linen cloth and for the greatest curse they could invent when they were angry, this was always in their mouths, "Accursed be thou, as he that arms himself for fear of death." This is a testimony of faith very much beyond ours. And of this sort is that also that two religious men of Florence gave in our fathers days. Being engag'd in some controversie of learning, they agreed to go both of them into the fire in the sight of all the people, each for the verification of his argument, and all things were already prepar'd, and the things just upon the point of execution, when it was interrupted by an unexpected accident. A young Turkish lord, having perform'd a notable exploit, in his own person in the sight of both armies, that of Amurath, and that of Hunniades ready to joyn battel, being ask'd by Amurath, who in so tender and unexperienc'd years (for it was his first sally into arms) had inspir'd him with so brave a courage, reply'd, that his chief tutor for valour was a hare. "For being," said he, “one day a hunting, I found a hare sitting, and though I had a brace of excellent grey-hounds with me, yet methought it would be best for sureness to make use of my bow; for she sat very fair. I then fell to letting fly my arrows, and shot forty that I had in my quiver, not only without hurting, but without starting her from her form. At last I slipt my dogs after her, but

THE BEDOUIN PROVERB ON THE FEAR OF DEATH.'

to no more purpose than I had shot: by which I understood, that she had been secur'd by her destiny; and that neither darts nor swords can wound without the permission of fate, which we can neither hasten nor defer." This story which I am going to tell, may serve by the way to let us see how flexible our reason is to all sorts of images. A person of great years, name, dignity and learning, boasted to me to have been induc'd to a certain very important mutation in his faith, by a strange whimsical inclination, and otherwise so very ill concluding, that I thought it much stronger being taken the contrary way: he call'd it a miracle: I look upon it quite otherwise. The Turkish historians say, that the perswasion those of their nation have imprinted in them of the fatal and unalterable prescription of their days, does manifestly conduce to the giving them great assurance in dangers; and I know a great prince, who makes very fortunate use of it; whether it be that he does really believe it, or that he makes it his excuse, for so wonderfully hazarding himself, provided fortune be not too soon weary of her favour to him. There has not happened in our memory a more admirable effect of resolution; than in those two who conspired the death of the Prince of Orange. 'Tis to be wondered at, how the second that executed it, could ever be persuaded into an attempt, wherein his companion, who had done his utmost, had so ill success; and after the same method, and with the same arms, to go attaque a lord, arm'd with a late instruction of distrust, powerful in followers and bodily strength, in his own hall, amidst his guards, and in a city wholly at his devotion. He doubtless employ'd a very resolute arm and a courage enflam'd with furious passions: a poignard is surer for striking home, but by reason that more motion and force of hand is required than with a pistol, the blow is more subject to be put by or hindered. That this man did not run to a certain death, I make no great doubt; for the hopes any one could flatter him withal, could not find place in any sober understanding, and the conduct of his exploit does sufficiently manifest that he had no want of that no more than of courage. The motives of so powerful a perswasion may be divers, for our fancy does what it will both with it self and us. The execution that was done near Orleans was nothing like this, there was in that more of chance than vigour, the wound was not mortal. If fortune had not made it so ; and to attempt to shoot on horseback, and at a great distance, and at one whose body was in motion by the moving of his horse, was the attempt of a man who would rather miss his blow, than fail of saving himself as was apparent by what followed after; for he was so astonished and stupified with the thought of so high an execution, that he totally lost his judgment both to find his way, and to govern his tongue. What needed he to have done more than to fly back to his friends and cross a river? 'Tis what I have done in less dangers, and that I think of very little hazard, how broad soever the river may be, provided your

596 THE MOSLEM ROUTE TO PARADISE-TO KILL AN INFIDEL.

horse have good going in, and that you see on the other side easie landing according to the stream. The other, when they pronounc'd his dreadful sentence. "I was prepar'd for this," said he, "before-hand, and I will make you wonder at my patience." The Assassins, a nation bordering upon Phoenicia, are reputed amongst the Mahometans, a people of very great devotion, and purity of manners. They hold that the nearest way to gain paradise is to kill some one of a contrary religion; which is the reason they have often been seen, being but one or two, and without arms, to attempt against powerful enemies at the price of a certain death, and without any consideration of their own danger. So was our Count Raimond of Tripoly assassinated (which word is deriv'd from their name) in the heart of his city, during our enterprizes of the holy war. And likewise Conrade, marquis of Montferrat, the murtherers at their execution carrying themselves with great pride and glory, that they had perform'd so brave an exploit.

CHAP. LXXXVII.-OF A MONSTROUS CHILD.

THIS story shall go by it self, for I will leave it to physicians to discourse of. Two days ago I saw a child, that two men and a nurse, who said themselves to be the father, the uncle, and the aunt of it, carried about to get money by shewing it, by reason it was so strange a creature. It was, as to all the rest of a common form, and could stand upon its feet, could go and gabble much like other children of the same age; it had never as yet taken any other nourishment but from the nurses breasts, and what, in my presence, they tried to put into the mouth of it, it only chew'd a little, and spit it out again without swallowing; the cry of it seem'd indeed a little odd and particular, and it was just fourteen months old. Under the breast it was joined to another child, but without a head, and that had the spine of the back without motion, the rest entire; for though it had one arm shorter than the other, it had been broken by accident at their birth; they were joyned breast to breast, and as if a lesser child would reach the arms about the neck of one something bigger. The juncture and thickness of the place where they were conjoyned, was not above four fingers, or thereabouts, so that if you thrust up the imperfect child, you may see the navel of the other below it, and the joyning was betwixt the paps and the navel. The navel of the imperfect child could not be seen, but all the rest of the belly; so that all the rest that was not joyned of the imperfect one, as arms, buttocks, thighs, and legs, hung dangling upon the other, and might reach to the mid-leg. The nurse

moreover told us that it urined at both bodies, and also the members of the other were nourished, sensibly, and in the same plight with that she gave suck to, excepting that they were shorter, and less. This double body, and several limbs relating to one head, might be interpreted a favourable prognostick to the king, of maintaining these various parts of our state under the union of his laws: but lest the event should prove otherwise, 'tis better to let it alone, for in things already past, there needs no divination; "Ut quum facta sunt, tum ad conjecturam aliqua interpretatione revocantur."-Cicero de Divin. l. 2. "So as when they are come to pass, they should then by some interpretation be recall'd to conjecture." As 'tis said of Epimenides, that he always prophesied of things past. Those that we call monsters, are not so to God, who sees in the immensity of his work, the infinite forms that he has comprehended therein. And it is to be believed, that this figure which does astonish us, has relation to some other figure of the same kind unknown to man. From his all wisdom nothing but good, common and regular proceeds; but we do not discern the disposition and relation, “Quod crebro videt, non miratur, etiamsi, cur fiat nescit. Quod antè non videt, id, si evenerit, ostentum esse censet."-Cicero de Divin. l. 2. "What he often sees he does not admire, though he be ignorant how it comes to pass. But when a thing happens he never saw before, that he looks upon as a portent." Whatever falls out contrary to custom, we say is contrary to nature, but nothing, whatever it be, is contrary to her. Let therefore this universal and natural reason expel the error and astonishment that novelty brings along with it.

CHAP. LXXXVIII.—OF Anger.

PLUTARCH is admirable throughout, but especially where he judges of human actions; the fine things, he says, in comparison of Lycurgus and Numa, upon the subject of our great folly in abandoning children to the care and government of their fathers, are very easily discern'd. The most of our civil governments, as Aristotle says, leave, after the manner of the Cyclops, to every one the ordering of their wives and children, according to their own foolish and indiscreet fancy? and the Lacedæmonian and Cretensian are almost the only governments that have committed the education of children to the laws. And who does not see that in a state all depends upon their nuture and bringing-up? And yet they are left to the mercy of parents, let them be as foolish and ill-natur’d as they will, without any manner of discretion. Amongst other things, how oft have I, as I have passed along the streets, had a