endeavouring to compound the Jewish and Christian religions, which in
him, was at worst but an error in judgment. But from this moment, he
began to lose sight of the delicacy and patriotic disinterestedness by
which he was hitherto actuated, and we must resign him to the lash of
the Christian and Jewish divines, both of whom have agreed in
stigmatizing him by the epithet of "Impostor." Nevertheless a
philanthropic mind will always be inclined to pity him, and to lament
that a man naturally religious, with so noble an object in view, should
be drawn into measures unworthy the piety of his primitive intentions.
He pretended, or perhaps his enthusiasm made him believe, that the Angel
Gabriel had appeared to him; and, in the name of God, charged him with
his mission. But still his progress was not equal to his wishes; he
therefore made use of another imposture, and declared that he had been
carried up to Heaven, and conversed with God. This, and some miracles he
was said to have performed, gave him an unbounded sway over the minds of
the people. But the persecution of the Government increasing with his
success, he was several times obliged to fly from Mecca. Hitherto he had
preached nothing but peace; but his fame having now spread, and gained
him many proselytes in the neighbouring states, he found himself in a
condition to accomplish by force, what he had in vain attempted by
persuasion. Provoked at the opposition he met with, he gave out that
God, irritated at the obstinacy of his enemies, had ordered him to take
up arms against them. He therefore raised an army, with which he beat
the Koreish, or head tribe of Mecca, in the famous battle of Bedr, and
gained many other victories, each of which increasing his fame and his
followers, he usurped the civil and military authority, as well as the
religious, and before he died, had the satisfaction of seeing himself
acknowledged by many of the Eastern nations.
The Mahometans date their Hegira from the period of their Prophet's
[Sidenote: A. D. 622.] flight from Mecca to Medina, during which such
miracles, they say, were performed in his favor, that it was no longer
possible to doubt his being the Messenger of God.
In addition to his being an Impostor, and making use of violent
measures, it is farther objected against Mahomet, that he makes his
paradise consist in sensual pleasures; but in this he conformed to the
dispositions of the people he held it out to. He tells them that it is
inhabited by female angels, whose charms surpass conception, and who,
although adorned by the most delicate modesty, will yield to the
embraces of the Faithful. That they live in large pavilions of hollow
pearls, in the midst of refreshing fountains and shady groves, abounding
with the most delicious fruits. Besides which, the fleetest horses,
elegantly caparisoned, and every thing else they may desire, will
immediately spring up for them.
His faith consists in belief in God, and predestination; in his Angels,
his Scriptures, and his Prophets; in the Resurrection and final
Judgment. On that awful day the principal questions asked the Mahometans
will be, How they spent their time? How they acquired and used their
wealth? What use they made of their knowledge? and how they exercised
their bodies?
Infidels and hypocrites will be damned without redemption; but the good
and bad actions of the Mahometans will be balanced against each other,
and the punishments of the guilty will be in proportion to their sins;
the slightest of which will be nine hundred years confinement in a hell,
so very hot as to make the brain boil through the skull; and the
heaviest nine thousand in a place where the heat is seven times more
horrible.
Oppressors, and such as have been guilty of malice or injustice, will be
obliged to suffer in the next world for the sins of those whom they
injured in this. An idea that cannot be too much admired.
Another striking instance of the humanity of Mahomet's disposition, is
the great encomiums he conferred upon Charity. He tells his followers
that nothing will be more acceptable to God than alms; and to shew our
gratitude to him for those we are constantly receiving at his hands, he
orders that they shall pray at least five times a day; and that there
may be no excuse for neglecting this duty, the muezzins are obliged to
ascend the steeples at stated times, and there apprise the people that
"it is time to pray."
In this we see both gratitude and wisdom; and to do ample justice to
Mahomet, it only remains to examine how far his religion tended to
promote the happiness and prosperity of his brethren. To do this, we
must keep their country in view. It will then readily occur to us, that
the Arabians living in a state of warfare, population must necessarily
decrease, and the number of women considerably exceed that of the men.
What remedy could he apply to this evil, but a plurality of wives? Or
how put a stop to drunkenness, but by prohibiting wine? The climate of
Arabia is hot; heat produces wantonness, wantonness leads to
prostitution, and prostitution creates sin, disease, and depopulation.
These are crying evils, and the only method to prevent them was, by
forbidding every intercourse between the two sexes, man and wife only
excepted. For she must be an abandoned woman indeed, who will make the
first advances to impure love, and these to a man to whom she had never
before spoken.
But as a farther encouragement to population, and that the female
captives taken in war might be of service to the state, he tolerates
masters lying with their slaves, who, on their part, are to preserve all
the modesty and discretion of a wife, and in return, are always to be
treated with tenderness.
That Mahomet allowed these indulgences, more through policy than
inclination, is evident, since even his bitterest enemies have never
accused him of bigamy, or of impure love, before the death of his first
wife. If he afterwards became abandoned, it is no wonder, for he had
then cast off his pious principles; and every wise person knows,
whatever pretenders to philosophy may say, that a man, when he abandons
religion, generally abandons morality also.
Upon the whole, I believe, this is by much the most favorable account
ever written of Mahomet by a Christian; yet, if we analyze the writings
of our own theologists, and set aside their abusive epithets, we shall
find that I have said nothing more than they themselves have admitted;
because, not understanding the Turkish language, I have trusted to them
for matters of fact, although, in justice to a dead man, I could not
ascribe to ambition and selfishness, what might originally proceed from
virtue, however different a turn it might afterwards take.
To close this essay with the candour with which I have conducted it, we
must allow, that as a patriot and a politician, Mahomet merits a great
share of our commendation. But how unworthy a divine mission will his
latter conduct appear, when compared with that of our Saviour. Neither
persecution nor torture, could provoke the Blessed Jesus to a deviation
from his Heavenly Mildness; but constantly adhering to the will of our
Father, he lived, and he died for the good of mankind.
LETTER XXI.
TO CAPTAIN SMITH.
Leghorn, March 10th, 1788.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
On the 9th of February we sailed from the Pyræus, but the next morning a
violent gale rising up against us, we were obliged to take shelter in
our old port at Idra. During the night the wind changed, and at
day-break on the 11th we again got under way, and sailing along the
coast of Mycene and Argos, the kingdoms of Agamemnon and Menelaus,
reached Cape Angelo at sunset; and standing to the westward, we passed
between Servi and the island of Venus; and thus, for the present, took
leave of the Archipelago. We saw no remains of antiquity on that part of
Peloponnesus which we have coasted.
At day-break on the 14th, we were in sight of Mount Ætna, but the wind
not permitting us to fetch Messina, we stood towards Syracuse, and in
the evening tacked near the little island of Ortygia, which furnished
the poets, with the fable of Alpheus and Arethusa.
The next day was almost a calm, but at sunset a light breeze springing
up in our favor, we entered the straits of Scylla and Charybdis, and
anchored at Messina on the 16th. Here we intended to have performed our
quarantine, but as it has been the custom at this place ever since the
dreadful plague in 1743, not to receive vessels from any port actually
infected; and a lying report being raised, that the plague was then
raging in the environs of Smyrna, the Health Office refused to admit us,
notwithstanding or bringing a clean bill of health. We therefore put to
sea the following evening, and had scarce passed Charybdis, and got out
of the straits, before we were attacked by a violent storm. We were now
on a lee-shore, and the darkness of the night made our situation still
more unpleasant. But at the moment we were most apprehensive, the wind
favored us several points. The next morning the gale abated, and in the
evening the wind became quite fair; there was, however, so little of it,
that we were all this and the next day in sight of the burning island of
Strombolo. In the night of the 19th, the breeze freshened, and carrying
us 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 knots an hour, we saw Corsica soon after
day-light on the 21st, and at five the same afternoon anchored in
Leghorn roads. Lord Hervey, who has succeeded Sir Horace Mann, as
Ambassador at Florence, happening to be at Leghorn, interested himself
in our favor; in consequence of which our quarantine was only fifteen
days, and we got prattick the day before yesterday.
The town is well fortified both by sea and land, and, on account of its
advantageous situation for trade, and its being a free port, it is
filled with merchants of every class and persuasion.
Corsica being in sight of Leghorn, it forms one of the passes that
intercept the trade of the Mediterranean, and is consequently an
excellent station for a squadron in time of war. The road, indeed, is
open, and in winter dangerous; but this evil is, in some measure,
remedied by two capacious moles, deep enough for trading vessels and
small frigates. And by means of a canal which communicates with the
Arno, it has water carriage even beyond Florence. I shall set out for
that celebrated capital, as soon as I am a little collected after the
voyage.
LETTER XXII.
TO CAPTAIN SMITH.
Florence, March 23d, 1788.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
We left Leghorn on the 18th, and, two hours after, arrived at Pisa. We
remained there the rest of the day, and had just time to take a cursory
view of the wonderful Leaning Tower, the celebrated Brazen Gates of the
Cathedral, the Dome, the College, and the Chapel of the Knights of St.
Stephen, &c. &c. Early next morning, we resumed our journey, and, at
four in the afternoon, arrived at this elegant city.
From Leghorn to Florence is sixty-three miles, or, in the Italian style,
eight posts, for each of which, with a pair of horses, you pay four
shillings, and the driver is entitled to a fifth, which custom has
increased to eighteen pence. The Italian miles being near a fourth
shorter than the English, you generally go a post in an hour and a few
minutes; but this depends very much upon what you give the postilions,
who always take care to enquire from those they relieve. The road is
good and level, and remarkably pleasant, the whole of it being in the
populous and fertile vale of Arno, and almost constantly close to the
river.
In the barbarous ages, after the subversion of the Roman empire, Tuscany
underwent many revolutions, and remained in a state of subjection till
the time of the Guelphs and Gibbelines, when the feuds of those
factions, and the contests between the Pope and the Emperor, enabled the
Tuscans to shake off the yoke. They were again subdued by Charles V.
who, having married his natural daughter to Alexander of Medicis, he
gave him the Dukedom of Tuscany: but Alexander, being a tyrant, was soon
assassinated, and Cosmo, son of John of Medicis set up in his place, and
formally crowned Grand Duke of Tuscany by Pope Pius V.--A. D. 1570.
It is to this immortal Prince that we are indebted for the revival of
the fine arts, and for the foundation of the Gallery of Florence, which
each of his descendants increased and improved. The dukedom remained in
their line for the space of near two centuries, when the Medicis being
extinct by Duke Gaston dying without issue, it revolved to the Emperor,
and is now governed by his brother.
The arts and sciences suffered no loss from this change. Peter Leopold
is their most distinguished patron; and the Gallery is as much indebted
to him as to the most elegant of his predecessors.
Formerly, people of humble fortunes were secluded from the view of these
treasures, by the extortion of the attendants; but their salaries have
been lately increased, and they are prohibited from accepting presents,
on pain of losing their places. The poorest peasant has now a right to
amuse himself at his leisure in every part of the Gallery, and
admittance is refused to nobody but servants. It affords matter of
surprise to an Englishman, that valets de chambres, and footmen, who
have so much influence every where else, are here excluded from places
that are open to the lowest of every other tribe.
I have not troubled myself about the private character of Peter Leopold;
but the face of his country, the industry and morality of his subjects,
and the pleasing signs of an happy and increasing population, prove him
a great and a good Prince. The morals of his people are one of his
principal objects, in which he has so happily succeeded, that, in the
general free mart of Leghorn, where formerly the trade of a harlot was
as much permitted and in as high repute as any other, the houses of ill
fame are reduced to a very small number; and, in a short time,
prostitution will be as completely rooted out there as it already is out
of every other part of Tuscany.
By a law, as uncommon as it is just, a breach of modesty is as severely
punished in the male as in the female sex; and a seducer, be his rank
what it will, is obliged to marry the object he has polluted. None of
either sex are permitted to shut themselves up in convents; and marriage
is highly encouraged. Such, indeed, is this Prince's success in
promoting morality, and preventing vice among his people, that,
different from most capitals, the women are innocent and healthy, as
well as beautiful; and assassinations and robberies are here no longer
heard of.
What a satisfaction will the philanthrope enjoy, when he finds that this
public happiness and virtue has been produced by the most laudable
means. Peter Leopold thinks the lives of his subjects too valuable to
sacrifice even one to the gallows or the scaffold; but if a citizen is
guilty of any transgression, he atones for his crime by labouring on the
public works, for the general good, with a label on his back, expressing
his crime and his punishment.
This being the Holy Week, the Gallery will not be open for some days,
which is no great disappointment, since the fine taste of the Medicis
was not confined to their palaces only. The town is ornamented with many
celebrated pieces of sculpture; the principal of which are, the group of
Hercules rescuing Dejanira from the Centaur, by Michael Angelo; and the
Rape of the Sabines, by John Bologna; a superb fountain, with Neptune in
the center, drawn by four horses, surrounded by as many persons, each
attended by two fawns or satyrs; a noble equestrian of Cosmo, and many
other excellent statues and columns, and a triumphal arch, erected in
honour of the reigning family. I should be guilty of great injustice to
Peter Tacca, if I passed over his famous boar in the market-place. He
forms a kind of fountain on the ground, slabbering out water in so
natural a manner, that, at first, I actually took him for a hog, too
lazy to remove from the wet.
The inside of the churches are neat and elegant, white and gold, with
scarlet and orange curtains. St. Croix contains the tombs of M. Angelo,
of Machiavel, and many other great men. Among a variety of paintings,
two in the dome of St. John are rather singular, _Lex Scripta_ and _Lex
Naturæ_. The former has a forbidding look, and is muffled up like a
priestess. The other is in all the gaiety of youth, with an inviting
person almost entirely displayed.
The soft gliding Arno divides the town; but the communication is
preferred by three stone bridges. The terraces along its banks are broad
and well paved; and were it possible to tire where a variety of such
objects as those I have mentioned are ever to be found, one has only to
retire to the Botanical Gardens, or to those of the Bobile. In the
former we find every plant of the medical world. In the latter we may
fancy ourselves in England. They are laid out much in the manner of our
pleasure grounds, with open gravel walks, and others shaded by the
twining branches of the shrubs on each side; with an aviary, a
green-house, seats, and summer houses. But partaking also of the
Italian, it is interspersed with statues, terraces, and fountains full
of gold and silver fish.
How can we sufficiently express our gratitude to those Princes who have
furnished us with so many objects of innocent and laudable delight.
The elegant taste of the Tuscan Sovereigns, has been adopted by most of
their Nobility, whose palaces may be considered as so many branches of
the royal gallery. I have as yet only had time to visit those of Gerrini
and Ricardi.
Biliberti's famous Clorinda would alone be sufficient to immortalize the
former. She is asleep, relieved from the weight of her armour, with
nothing to conceal any part of her exquisite beauty, but one of the
ribbons of her corselet, which the air has most happily directed to
shelter her modesty; but which one is almost afraid will wave from her
waist. In this unguarded moment, Tancred at once discovers her sex and
her beauty; but notwithstanding her defenceless situation,
notwithstanding her irresistible charms, and her being a chief of the
enemy, there is something so invincibly sweet, so chaste, and so
inchanting in her countenance, that the hero stands transfixed with love
and veneration, and dares not approach her. It is impossible not to
enter into all the delicacy and sensibility of his feelings, and after
the first glance, I confess to you, that, like him, I dared not suffer
my eyes to wander below her neck, lest hers should open and avenge my
profanation. An adverse look from such an angel, would be more
insupportable than the most tormenting death.
After so heavenly an object, one is particularly struck with Salvator
Rosa's Prometheus, in the same collection. He is stretched upon his
back, with his hands and feet chained down, and the vulture preying on
his liver. His excruciating torments are so forcibly expressed, that
they fill one with horror. I therefore turned away, and hurried by Dido
and Æneas, by Battoni; and the Martyrdom of St. Andrew, by Carlo Dolce,
and several other admirable paintings, to gaze once more on the divine
Clorinda.
The best pieces in the Palace Ricardi, are, the four Evangelists, by
Carlo Dolce; St. John is incomparable; a Roman Charity, and six figures,
representing basso relievo.
The house in which Michael Angelo lived, is still preserved, and his
history and principal works represented in a collection of paintings,
with which the walls were hung by his scholars. It also contains some
few pieces of his own, most of them unfinished.
LETTER XXIII.
TO CAPTAIN SMITH.
Florence, March 26th, 1789.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
When I inform you, that the Catalogue alone of the Gallery of Florence,
fills a large volume, what an unconscionable request will my dear friend
appear to have made, in demanding a regular description of this superb
and invaluable collection.
From so young an Amateur as I am, such an attempt, methinks, would be
the height of presumption--I had almost said, of profanation. But, to
convince you how much I would undertake to oblige you, suffice it to
say, that the part properly called the Gallery, consists of two sides of
a parallelogram of considerable length, joined together by a third, much
shorter.
Round the cornice, the portraits of every great character, of whatever
nation he belonged to, from Artaxerxes Memnon, King of Persia, to Dr.
Anthony Cocchi, who died at Florence in 1758, are ranged according to
their country. Among the English, I observed Wolsey, Cranmer, Cromwell,
and Monk.
The wall between the cornice and the moulding, is lined with about an
hundred and thirty paintings, by the most celebrated masters: all are
admirable; but that which particularly strikes me, is the Mary Magdalen
from the Tuscan school. Her hands are joined together with an expression
which evinces the anguish of her soul, and the sincerity of her
repentance. A skull is on the table before her. Remorse and Despair, in
their most aggravated forms, are preying upon her; and yet her beauty is
in all its captivating charms. Her face surpasses every conception; and
the vest, which has fallen from her shoulders, displays a neck which
even an Anchorite would for ever hang upon. She herself, with all the
earnestness of her supplication, seems scarce to dare hope to be
forgiven.--But, were there a doubt of it, sweet Penitent! I should die
distracted.
John de St. John's Bridal Night, is another excellent painting. He has
given the Bride all the fondness and beauty of a Venus, but has made her
more than the Goddess, by shewing that the height of conjugal love,
could not remove her natural modesty.
Her handmaids are leading her into her bed-chamber; but, when she
discovers her husband ready to receive her, modesty overcomes her, and
prevents her advancing. The longing Bridegroom invites her with the most
ardent affection, and, with a smile of tenderness, seems amused with her
coyness. She returns his smile, but with a kind of denial; and yet seems
wishing to comply, but cannot persuade herself to approach him. Her
Friends are encouraging her, and the old Nurse is growing angry at the
delay. But I am presuming to be particular. I therefore pass over the
rest of the paintings, and come to the statues and busts, which are
ranged on bases, at regular distances, along the walls.
At the east end, there is a Horse, whose head and body excel any thing
of the kind I ever beheld; but the legs are modern, and do not seem to
belong to him.
Were only the head and neck of Leda exposed, all mankind would allow her
to be the finest piece of sculpture ever produced: but, whilst we give
the Sculptor every credit for his execution, we are provoked at finding
him guilty of many inconsistencies.
I should not have said so much of this statue, but that you, like
myself, might have been deceived by the good nature of those
well-meaning, but shallow writers, who, struck with its first
appearance, did not examine farther.
Ganymede is, indeed, an admirable statue; and his Eagle is much superior
to Leda's Swan.
Pomona seems really walking, and with a lightness equal to the ease of
her person.
As there is no superlative difficulty in forming a figure where no
passion is particularly expressed, I will not dwell on Minerva, Bacchus,
Apollo, Narcissus, &c. &c. &c. notwithstanding the pleasure I enjoy in
admiring them.
The busts contain the heads of all the Roman Emperors, and of some of
their wives. The whole is closed by a famous wild boar, and the group of
Laocoon.
Parallel to each of the two long sides of the Gallery, there is a set of
apartments, included in what is commonly called the Gallery of Florence.
The first on the east side, contains a most admirable Ganymede, a
country God, and a few more beautiful statues and basso relievos. The
principal subjects of the latter, are, the Rape of Europa, and Mark
Anthony's Oration on opening Cæsar's Will.
The next, called the Cabinet of Coins and Medals, contains, as well as
those articles and some few busts, two basso-relievo figures of Mars and
Venus, in paste exactly like porphyry; and also seven pictures, three of
which are Mosaic: those of St. Peter and St. Paul are reckoned
remarkably fine.