sepulchre of Marcus Tullius Cicero, and his wife. From Zante he proceeded to Scio, and while there made an attempt to visit the tomb of Homer, in which it is not to be wondered that he should prove unsuccessful. He then sailed to the Trojan shore, where he employed several hours in searching out the most notable antiquities of Ilium, which, says he, one of my compa. nions, Master Robert Rugge observing, "to yield me some kind of guerdon, or remuneration for my paines, he, in a merrie humour drew his sword out of the scabbard, and ascending to one of those great stones that lye in the open part of this middle gate, knighted me, that kneeled upon another stone on my right knee, by the name of the first English knight of Troy; and on knighting of me pronounced these wittie verses extempore : Coryate no more, but now a Knight of Troy; Two Turks that stood but a little way froin us, when he drew his naked sword, thought verily he meant to have cut off my head for some notorious villany which I had perpetrated. These verses I answered extempore. Also, our musketeers discharged two volleys of shot for joy of my knighthood: Loe here with prostrate knee I doe embrace In Priam's court, which time shall ne'er deface, After repeating these verses, standing upon a high stone, at the entrance of the great gate, he pronounced an oration, which may be seen in Purchas's Pilgrims. On his return to the ship, observing Mount Ida, at the distance of two miles, and seeing a ploughman holding a plough, he with one Mr. Francis Flyer did the like one after another, "in order that if we live to be old men, we may say, in our old age, we had once holden the plough in the Trojan territory, especially in that part where, as we saw, the citie stood." With this part of his journey, Coryate declared himself so entirely satisfied, that he would not, for five hundred pounds, but have seen those things which were worthy observation, at Troy; and had he not seen them then, he should have taken a journey from England for the sole purpose. We next find him at Constantinople, where he received great civilities from Sir Paul Pindar, the English ambassador, to whom he made an oration. On the 1st of April, 1613, being the day before Good Friday, he was present at the Monastery of Franciscan Friars, where, after mass, he saw several slaves whip themselves for an hour and a half without mercy. These wretches were hired by their masters to undergo this punishment as an atonement for sins confessed by their lords, for which voluntary penance they were rewarded with their liberty. Coryate continued at Constantinople till the 21st of January in the year following, when he proceeded on his journey to Jerusalem. While he continued at Aleppo, his countryman Haggat, consul there, rode with him to the Valley of Salt. On the 15th of March, he, in company with Henry Allard, of Kent, went to Jerusalem, and entered the city on the 12th of May, 1614. On Palm Sunday evening he lay in the Temple in the upper gallery, and was roused out of his sleep by the turbulent cries of the Greeks, "who came forth from their quire with very clamorous noise, having eleven banners of silk, and cloth of gold, carried before them, each of which had three streamers, and on the top of the staff a gilded cross. A world of lamps was carried before them; while men, women, and children, vociferated, Kyrie Eleison." On the 28th of the same month Coryate visited Jordan, then returned on foot to Aleppo, from whence, after three months' stay, he departed, with a caravan, to Persia. He remained two months at Ispahan, and then proceeded with another caravan to the East Indies, which journey took him above four months. About the middle of the way between Ispahan and Lahore, says he, "I met Sir Robert Shirley and his Lady, travelling from the Court of the Mogul (where they had been very graciously received, and enriched with presents of great value,) to the king of Persia's court; so gallantly furnished with all necessaries for their travells, that it was a great comfort unto me to see them in such a flourishing estate. There did he shew me, to my singular contentment, both my books neatly kept, and hath promised to shew them, especially mine Itineraire, to the Persian king; and to interpret unto him some of the principal matters in the Turkish tongue, to the end I may have the more gracious access unto him after my return thither. For, through Persia I have determined (by God's helpe) to return to Aleppo. Both he and his lady used me with singular respect, especially his lady, who bestowed forty shillin me in Persian money; and they seemed to exult for joy to see me, having promised to bring me in good grace with the Persian king; and that they will induce him to bestow some princely benefits upon me: this, I hope, will be partly occasioned by my book, for he is such a jocund Prince, that he will not be meanly delighted with divers of my facetious hieroglyphicks, if they are truly and genuinely expounded unto him." From Lahore Coryate had twenty days journey to Agra, and ten more to Asmere, where the Mogul kept his court. In this journey, between Jerusalem and Asmere, he spent fifteen months and odd days, travelling two thousand seven hundred miles, and all the way on foot. He expended also in in his ten months' travels, between Aleppo and Asmere, but three pounds ster. ling, yet, says he, "I fared reasonably well every day, victuals being so cheap in some countries where I travelled, that I oftentimes lived competently for a penny a-day yet, of that three pounds I was cousened of no less than ten shillings by certain lewd christians of the Armenian nation, so that indeed I spent but fifty shillings in any of my ten months' travels." At Asmere he remained fourteen months, until he had learned the Turkish, Morisco, or Arabian languages, with some good knowledge of the Persian and Indostan, tongues; in the acquisition of which he displayed very singular talents, and obtained such a command over them, as was very useful to him during the remainder of his journey. He became, indeed, so well acquainted with the Persian language, that he obtained, without the knowledge of the English ambassador, access to the Mogul, to whom he made an oration. "After I had ended my speech," says Coryate, "I had some short discourse with him in the Persian tongue, when, amongst other things, he told me, that concerning my travells to the citie of Samarcand, he was not able to doe me any good, because there was no great amity betwixt the Tartarian princes and himselfe, so that his commendatory letters would doe me no good. Also, he added, that the Tartars did so decidedly hate all Christians, that they would certainly kill them when they came into their country. So that he earnestly dissuaded me from the journey: as I loved my life and wellfare; at last he concluded his discourse with me, by giving me a sum of money, that he threw down from a window, thorow which he looked out, into a sheet tied up by the four corners, and hanging very near the ground, a hundred pieces of silver, each worth two shillings sterling, which countervailed ten pounds of our English money this business I carried so secretly, by the help of my Persian, that neither our English Ambassador, nor any other of my countrymen, (saving one speciall, private, and intrinsicall friend,) had the least inkling of it, till I had thoroughly accomplished my design: for I well knew that our ambassador would have stopped and barricaded all my proceeding therein, if he might have had any notice thereof, as, indeed, he signified unto me, after I had effected my project, alleging this, forsooth, for his reason, why he would have hindered me, because it would redound somewhat to the dishonour of our nation, that one of our country should present himself in that beggarly and poor fashion, to the king, out of an insinuating humour, to crave money of him. But I answered our ambassador in that stout and resolute manner, after I had ended my business, that he was contented to cease nibling at me: never had I more need of money in all my life, than at that time; for in truth I had but twentie shillings left in my purse, by reason of a mischance I had in one of the Turkes cities, called Emert, in the country of Mesopotamia, where a miscreant Turk stripped me of almost all my monies." In the Indostan language Coryate became so great a proficient, that "a woman, a laundress belonging to the Ambassador's house, who had such a freedom and liberty of speech, that she would scold, brawl, and rail from sun-rising to sun-set, he one day undertook to out-talk her in her own language, and by eight o'clock in the morning he so silenced her that she had not one word more to speak." On the 16th of September, 1616, our traveller departed from Asmere to Agra, where he resided six weeks longer. After this, we find him several months with the Ambassador Sir Thomas Roe, living at Mardon, the Mogul's court, many miles up the country; during which time he experienced such mortifications as depressed his spirits. Among other cause of mortification he experienced, one was from Mr. Steel, a merchant, who, in travelling to England, met our author, and at his arrival informed King James of it, when the monarch replied, "What, is that fool yet living?" This troubled Coryate exceedingly, as he expected that the king would have spoken more and better of him. At another time, when he was about to depart, the Ambassador gave him a letter, containing a bill for ten pounds, at Aleppo. The letter was directed to the Consul there, who was desired to "receive the bearer courteously, as he would find him a 'honest poor wretch.'” Our pilgrim, says Terry, who was chaplain to Sir Thomas Roe, liked the gift well, but the language by which he should have received it did not at all content him;" telling me, "that my lord had even spoiled his courtesy in the carriage thereof; so that if he had been a very fool indeed, he could have said very little less of him than he did, 'Honest poor wretch;' and, furthermore, he then told me that when he was formerly undertaking his voyage to Venice, a person of honour thus wrote in his behalf unto Sir Henry Wotton, then and there ambassador : « "My lord, good wine needs no bush; neither a worthy man, letters commendatory, because whithersoever he comes, he is his own epistle," &c. "There," said he, was some language in my behalf, but now for my lord to write nothing of me by way of commendation, but 'honest poor wretch,' is rather to trouble me, than to please me with his favour." In consequence of this, the letter, to pacify him, was altered. The chagrin, however, which he endured, produced a visible effect upon his conduct, and when he was about to depart, the ambassador desired him to stay longer, but he thankfully refused the offer, though appre. hensive that he should not live to reap the fruit of his travels. And certainly, says Terry, he was surprised with some such thoughts and fears, when, upon a time, he being at Mandon with us, and there standing in a room against a stone pillar, where the ambassador was, and myself present with them, upon a sudden he fell into such a swoon that we had very much ado to recover him out of it; at last, come to himself, he told us that some sad thoughts had immediately before presented themselves to his fancy; which, as conceived, put him into that distemper, like Fannius, in Martial ne moriare mori, to prevent death by dying; for he told us that there were great expectations in England, of the large accounts he should give of his travels, after his return home, and that he was now shortly to leave us; and he being, at present, not very well, if he should die in the way towards Surat, whither he now intended to go, (which place he had not as yet seen,) he might be buried in obscurity, and none of his friends ever know what became of him, he travelling now, as he usually did, alone. Though the distance was three hundred miles, Coryate reached Surat, where he ended his pilgrimage, by falling into a flux, occasioned by drinking, though moderately, some sack, which had been brought from England. He died in December 1617, and was buried under a little monument. Dr. Fuller and Anthony Wood have copied nearly the description of Coryate, drawn originally by his most intimate acquaintance Terry, who has certainly done justice to his character. Fuller's portrait is also very whimsical. "His head," says he, 66 was misshapen, like that of Thersites, in Homer, (poos εŋv кɛpaλov) but the cone stood in a different position,-the picked part being before." Terry's words are, in the style of a physiogonomist, or rather perhaps that of a phrenologist, "He carried folly, which the charitable call merriment, in his very face. The shape of his head had no promising form, being like a sugar-loaf inverted, with the little end be. fore, as composed of fancy, and memory, without any common sense.' The same writer, who is followed by the Oxford historian, gives this accurate representation of Coryate's mind: "He was of a very coveting eye, that could never be satisfied with seeing, (as Solomon speaks, Eccles. i. 8.) though he had seen very much; and I am persuaded that he took as much content in seeing as many others in the enjoying of great and rare things. He was a man that had got the mastery of many hard languages, in addition to the Latin and Greek he brought forth of England with him; and in all which, if he had obtained wisdom to husband and manage them, as he had skill to speak them, he would have deserved more fame in his generation. But his knowledge and high attainments in several languages, made him not a little ignorant of himself, he being so covetous, so ambitious of praise, that he would hear and endure more of it, than he could in any measure deserve; being like a ship that has too much sail, and too little ballast. Yet, if he had not fallen into the smart hands of the wits of those times, he might have passed better. That itch of fame which engaged this man to the undertaking of those very hard, long, and dangerous travels, hath put thousands more (and therefore he was not alone in this) into strange attempts, only to be talked of. 'Twas fame, without doubt, that stirred up this man unto these voluntary, but hard undertakings, and the hope of that glory which he should reap, after he had finished his travels, made him not at all to take notice of the hardship he found in them. That hope of name and repute for the time to come, did ever feed and feast him for the time present. And, therefore, any thing that did in any measure eclipse him in those high conceivings of his own worth, did too much trouble him.” "But," says the same intelligent observer, "such as conceived Coryate to have been a fool, and something else, were utterly mistaken, for he drove on no design, caring for coin and counters alike: so contented with what was present, that he accounted those men guilty of superfluity, who had more suits and shirts than bodies, seldom putting off either till they were ready to go away from him." If Coryate was the butt of the wits, who would have smothered him with mock flattery, he had also an antagonist, who annoyed him sadly with irony and satire. This was John Taylor, commonly styled the Water Poet, from his occupation, which was that of plying on the Thames. Taylor, while the poets of the court were loading the traveller with ridiculous praise, addressed him in these verses : 7 What matters for the place I came from, I am no dunce-combe, coxcomb, Odcomb Tom; This piece of humour gave such mighty offence to the object of it, that a formal petition was actually presented to the king by Coryate, who gravely prayed for punishment upon the satirist. Taylor, no way appalled, followed up the attack by this counter-petition to the king : Most mighty Monarch of this famous isle, In hope my fortunes headlong down to fling. The reply which his Majesty made to these applications was perfectly in character; he said that when the Lords of the Council had leisure, and nothing else to do, they should hear and determine the differences between Master Coryate the Scholar, and John Taylor the Sculler. This answer of the King was very acceptable to Master Coryate; but as he went abroad shortly after, no more was heard of the matter. 66 The book of "Crudities" having become very scarce, was reprinted by Davies, in 1776, in three octavo volumes; but even this edition is now rare. Besides the "Crudities," there were printed, "Coryate's Letters from Asmere, the Court of the Great Mogul, to several persons of quality in England, concerning the Emperor and his country of East India," London, 1616, quarto. "A Letter to his Mother Gertrude, dated from Agra in East India, ult. Oct. 1616." "Certain Observations from the Mogul's Court and East India,” in Purchas's Pilgrims; "Travels to and Observations in Constantinople, and other places in the way thither, and in his Journey thence to Aleppo, Damascus, and Jerusalem :" printed in the same Collection. RECOLLECTIONS OF A MISSIONARY.-NO. XIII. BRITISH COLONIES, COLONIAL MISSIONS, STATE OF SOCIETY, RELIGION, ETC. No country upon earth possesses so many remote and diversified colonies as Great Britain. The sun rises on her mighty eastern empire, and sets upon the western forests of her Canadian territory. The isles of the tropics pour their produce into her lap, while the forests of British America wave in homage to her nod. Ceylon sends her spicy tribute, and Newfoundland her shoals of fish. The Cape of Good Hope refreshes her Indiamen, and the Hudson Bay Company sends her furs. The East Indies furnish her with jewels for ornament, and the West Indies supply the luxuries of her table,—sugar, rum, fruit, and coffee. Her flag waves in the four quarters of the globe, and her prows divide every sea that swathes the earth. green The Hindoo, the negro, and the Indian are subject to her sway; and the commerce of every land courts her sails; with power, bounded only by the ices of the north and the frozen ocean of the south, she sends her flag from India to the polar regions; "and there is no speech nor language where her fame is not heard; her line is gone out through all the earth, and her words to the end of the world." But what has this mighty nation done for the ends of the earth, or the islands of the sea? Has she taken half the pains to convert her colonies to true religion, that some have taken to circulate a popish creed? If her trade and commerce prospered, has it not been a matter of indifference, whether Jesus or Juggernaut was the object of adoration? whether the Koran, the Shasters, or the Christian covenant, were the circulating scriptures? We have been rapacious in fleecing the heathens, but our consciences have been too tender to meddle with their superstitions: indeed, in some cases we have drawn a revenue from their practice, and have been so mightily afraid lest missionaries should disturb the settled order of things, that they have often been forbidden under pains and penalties, to interfere with the heathen. "Thus fools rush in, where angels fear to tread." For what open countenance has this country ever given to missionaries? Till of late, all has been done by mere stealth and sufferance. There has been no fear of demoralizing them by our soldiers and sailors; but the hallowing influence of a missionary has been dreaded more than a plague. Our East India Company have put them under the ban; our West India planters have hated them with a malignity akin to demons. Their chapels have been burnt, their names maligned, their persons imprisoned; and the poor negroes who adhered to them, treated with unheard of cruelty. And what has government done? Has it rebuilt one chapel? reimbursed one missionary society? or punished one proud oppressor? Our colonies, instead of being barnacles on the bottom of the mother country, to impede her progress, should be what satellites are to the primary planets, or rivers to the ocean. Cut off our colonies, and what becomes of trade, commerce, navy, national debt, &c.? Their importance to the parent state makes it her duty to promote their happiness. But how is this to be accomplished? Why, by fostering religion, repressing persecution, and granting to missionaries the same privileges abroad which they have at home. "If righteousness exalteth a nation," it will have the same influence in the narrow circle of a colony. And by whom are some of our West India possessions peopled? such, for instance, as Jamaica: are they not slaveholding magistrates? English, Irish, and Scotch clerks, out of office at home? Insolvent debtors, needy adventurers, speculating fortune-hunters, planters, illegitimates, men who have travelled the whole Zodiac, and have at last settled down in the Scorpion? From these, little can be expected; as are the men, so are their manners but the strong arm of the law should always be interposed between such tyrants and their victims. Christian missionaries in our colonies have had their history, like the laws of Draco, written in blood; without the privilege of appealing from "petty tyrants to the throne." Where open and unmasked violence has not been used, a vexatious and petty warfare has been carried on against them. They have been put out of the pale of the law, by men to whom justice was a perfect stranger. Redress has been so tardy, it has only come when the mischief has been done and completed. And is this state of things to be borne with? We have gloried in our freedom at home; but our glorying is in vain, while our missionaries have been pining in the filthy prisons of the torrid zone, and liberty to worship God has been repressed. In some colonies, particularly Jamaica, the laws of England have been set at defiance. The mother country has been bearded by slave-shippers, slave-owners, and slavedrivers. Popery has been tolerated to the full, sin has had unlimited license, oppression has dared the heavens; concubinage, sabbath-breaking, and impurity have, without a blush, walked in the broad light of the sun, while the advocates of decency, of order, of morals, of truth, have either sunk beneath a load of ignominy, or wept in secret places for what they could not redress. Let me not, however, impeach all our colonies; there are noble exceptions, Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Ceylon, have offered no obstruction to our missionaries: but the colonies where the slave-spot exists have, some of them, manifested a malignity hardly exceeded by Nero, Caligula, or popish Mary. Jamaica will long be exhibited, and gibbeted, in historic record, as the most prominent, active, and persevering in this bad work. That colony, than which a fouler sink of corruption does not exist, has taken the lead in every kind of missionary hatred, and persecution, and, had she possessed power equal to her poisonous malice, not a minister of either the Wesleyan or the Baptist persuasion would have been suffered to exist. These Christian missionaries have been vexed, hindered, persecuted, and imprisoned. There, hatred to the mother country has vented its elfin mutterings of impotent rebellion. The common rights of humanity have been withheld. There, persecution has assumed a systematic form. There, the magistrates, forgetting the righteous functions of their office, have outraged justice, and have turned petty tyrants upon the bench. There, popery has been deemed more worworthy of patronage than protestantism. Furious mobs, headed by lawless ma |