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When to the Pile they throw the kindling Brand,
The pious Wives with Hair difhevell'd ftand,
Striving which living fhall accompany

Her Spoufe, and are afham'd they may not die;
Thofe thus preferr'd, their Breasts to Flame expofe,
And their scorch'd Lips to their dead Husband's close.

A certain Author, of our Times, reports, that he has feen this Cuftom in thofe Oriental Nations, that not only the Wives bury themselves with their Husbands, but even the Slaves he has enjoyed alfo; which is done after this manner: The Hufband being dead, the Widow may, if fhe will (but few do it) demand two or three Months to order her Affairs. The Day being come, fhe mounts ' on Horseback, dreffed as fine as at her Wedding, and, • with a chearful Countenance, fays, fhe is going to fleep ⚫ with her Spouse, holding a Looking-glafs in her Lefthand, and an Arrow in the other. Being thus conducted in Pomp, accompanied with her Kindred and Friends, and a great Concourfe of People, with great Joy, fhe is at last brought to the public Place appointed for fuch Spectacles: This is a fpacious Place, in the • midst of which is a Pit full of Wood, and, adjoining to it, a Mount raised four or five Steps, to which the is led, and served with a magnificent Repaft; which being done, the falls to dancing and finging, and gives Order, when he thinks fit, to kindle the Fire; which being performed, fhe defcends, and, taking the nearest of her Hufband's Relations by the Hand, they walk together to the River close by, where fhe ftrips herself ftark naked, and, having distributed her Cloaths and Jewels to her Friends, plunges herself into the Water, as if to cleanfe herself from her Sins; coming out thence, she wraps herself in a yellow Linen Robe, • five and twenty Ells long, and again giving her Hand to her faid Hufband's Relations, they return back to the Mount, where fhe makes a Speech to the People, and recommends her Children to them, if she have any. • Betwixt

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509 Betwixt the Pit and the Mount, there is commonly a Curtain drawn, to fkreen the burning Furnace from their Sight; which fome of them, to manifeft the greater Courage, forbid. Having ended what she has to fay, a Woman presents her with a Veffel of Oil, wherewith to anoint her Head, and her whole Body; which having done with, the throws it into the Fire, and, in an Inftant, leaps in after it: Immediately the People throw a great many Logs upon her, that she may not be long in dying, and convert all their Joy into Sorrow and Mourning. If they are Perfons of mean Condition, the Body of the Deceafed is carried to the Place of Sepulture, and there placed fitting, the Widow kneeling before him, and embracing him, while a Wall is built round them, which fo foon as it is raised to the Height of the Woman's Shoulders, fome of her Relations come behind her, and, taking hold of her Head, twist her Neck, and, fo foon as fhe is dead, the Wall is presently raifed up, and clofed, where they remain entombed.' There was, in this fame Country, fomething like it in their Gymnofophifts; for, not by Constraint of others, nor by the Impetuofity of a fudden. Humour, but by the exprefs Profeffion of their Order, their Cuftom was, So foon as they arrived at a certain Age, or faw themfelves threatened by any Disease, to cause

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'So' foon as

The Refolution of the Gymnofophifts,

who voluntarily burn themfelves.

a funeral Pile to be erected for themselves, and on the Top a neat Bed, where, after having joyfully feafted their Friends and Acquaintance, they laid them down with fuch Refolution, that, when the Fire was applied to it, they were never feen to ftir Hand or Foot; and after this manner one of them, Calanus by Name, expired in the Prefence of the whole Army of Alexander the Great; and he was neither reputed Holy, nor Happy amongst them, that did not thus deftroy himself; difmiffing his Soul, purged and purified by the Fire, after having confumed all that was Earthly and Mortal. This conftant Premeditation of the whole Life is that which makes the Wonder.

Among

Strabo, lib. xv. p. 1043. Tome 2. Amfterdam, 1707.

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certain very important Change in his Faith, by a ftrange, whimfical Incitation, and alfo fo very abfurd, that I thought it much stronger, being taken the contrary Way: He called it a Miracle, I look upon it quite otherwise. The Turkish Hiftorians fay, That the Perfuafion, rooted in thofe of their Nation, of the fatal and ⚫ unalterable Prefcription of their Days, does manifeftly conduce to the giving them great • Affurance in Dangers; and I know a great Prince, who makes very successful Ufe of it; whether it be, that he does really believe it, or that he makes it his Excufe for fo wonderfully hazarding himself, provided Fortune be not too foon weary of her Favour to him.

The common Foundation of the Courage of the Turks.

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There has not happened, in our Memory, a more ad Affaffination of mirable Effect of Refolution, than in thofe the Prince of two who confpired the Death of the Prince Orange. of Orange *. 'Tis to be wondered, how the fecond, that executed it, could ever be animated to an Attempt, wherein his Companion, who had done his utmost, had had fo ill Succefs; and, after the fame Method, and with the fame Arms, to go and attack a Nobleman, armed with fo fresh a Handle for Diftruft, powerful in Followers, and of bodily Strength, in his own Hall, amidst his Guards, and in a City wholly at his Devotion. He, doubtless, imployed a very refolute Arm, and Courage inflamed with a furious Paffion: A Dagger is furer for ftriking home, but by reason that more Motion, and a stronger Arm is required, than with a Pistol, the Blow is more fubject to be put by, or hindered. That this Man ran upon certain Death, I make no great Doubt; for the Hopes any one could flatter him withal, could not find Place in any calm Mind, and the Conduct of his Exploit does fufficiently manifeft, that he had no Want of that, any more than Courage. The Motives of fo power ́ful a Perfuafion may be diverse, for our Fancy does what it will, both with itself and us.

The Duke of
Guife.

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,

* The Founder of the Republic of Holland.

mortal, if Fortune had not made it fo; and to attempt to shoot on Horseback, and at a great Distance, and at one whofe Body was in Motion by the moving of his Horse, was the Attempt of a Man who had rather mifs his Blow, than fail of faving himself, as was apparent by what followed after; for he was so astonished and stupified with the Thought of fo defperate an Execution, that he totally lost his Judgment, both to find his Way to efcape, and how to govern his Tongue in his Anfwers. What needed he to have done more than to fly back to his Friends cross a River? 'Tis what I have done in less Dangers, and what I think of very little Hazard, how broad foever the River may be, provided your Horfe have good going in, and that you fee, on the other Side, good landing, according to the Stream. The other, (viz. the Prince of Orange's Affaffin) when they pronounced his dreadful Sentence: I was prepared for this, faid he, beforehand, and I will • make you wonder at my Patience.'

Paradife.

The Alfaffins, a Nation dependant upon Phenicia, are reputed, amongst the Mahometans, a People A People who of great Devotion, and Purity of Manners. believe Affai They hold, That the nearest Way to gain Para- nation the fudife, is to kill fome one of a contrary Religion; reft Path to which is the Reason they have often been seen, being but one or two, without Arms, to run madly against powerful Enemies, at the Price of certain Death, and without any Confideration of their own Danger. So was our Count Raimond, of Tripoli, affaffinated (which Word is derived from their Name) in the Heart of his City, during our Enterprises of the Holy War; and likewife Conrade, Marquis of Montferrat, the Murderers going to their Exetion with great Pride and Glory, that they had performed fo brave an Exploit.

VOL. II.

L1

CHAP.

Doctrine which eftablifbes the Neceffity of Things

to come.

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Amongst our other Controverfies, that about Fate is crept in, and to tie Things to come, and even our own Wills to a certain and inevitable Neceffity, we are yet upon this Argument of Time paft; Since God forefees, that all Things fhall fo fall out, as doubtless he ⚫ does, it will then neceffarily follow, that they must so fall out: To which our Mafters reply, That the feeing any Thing come to pafs, as we do, and as God himself alfo does, (for, all Things being present with him, he rather fees, than forefees) is not to compel it to happen; Nay, we fee becaufe Things do fall out, but Things do not fall out becaufe we fee: The Events cause the • Knowledge, but the Knowledge does not cause the Events: That which we fee happen, does happen; but it might have happened otherwife: And God, in the

Canfes of E-
vents in the
Prefcience of
Almighty God.

Fortuitous and

voluntary Caufes.

Register of the Caufes of Events, which he has in his Prescience, has also those which we call accidental and voluntary, which depend upon the Liberty he has given to our • Determination, and knows that we shall do amifs, becaufe we would do fo.'

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I have seen a great many Commanders encourage their Soldiers with this fatal Neceffity; for, if our Life be limited to a certain Hour, neither the Enemies Shot, nor our own Boldness, nor our Flight and Cowardise, can either shorten or prolong it. This is easily faid, but fee who will put it in Practice; and, if it be fo that a strong and lively Faith draws along with it Actions of the fame, certainly this Faith we fo 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 " Sieur de Joinville, as credible a Witness as any other whatever, tells us of the Bedoins, a Nation amongst the Saracens, with whom the King Saint Lewis had to in the Holy Land, That they, in their Religion, • did fo firmly believe the Number of every Man's Days to be, from all Eternity, prefixed, and fet down by an 'inevitable Predeftination, that they went Naked to the • Wars,

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"Joinville's Memoirs, ch. 30. p. 190. Vol. I.

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