A full and just account of the present state of the Ottoman Empire in all its branches; with the government, and policy, religion, customs, and way of living of the Turks in general ... from a serious observation, taken in many years travesl thro' those countries / [Aaron Hill].
- Aaron Hill
- Date:
- 1710
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A full and just account of the present state of the Ottoman Empire in all its branches; with the government, and policy, religion, customs, and way of living of the Turks in general ... from a serious observation, taken in many years travesl thro' those countries / [Aaron Hill]. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![The Mags- N O T far from hence, ftand certain vafi unmildy Straff/ires, of Prodi- b h C in gi°Lls height, ahd antique Figure, all fupported by a Number of huge BuU Egypt.' ‘ trejj'es, and feeming to remain in that lirange form, they bear, to tell the Modern M or Id, how their Deceas'd Forefathers built before ’em; we were told by the Egyptians, that thefe venerable Piles, were thofe Seven Granaries, or Publick Magazines, which Jofeph built at the Command of Pharaoh, to pre- fervc the Prod u£t ol the Seven Tears Plenty, which preceeded as long time ofdreadfull Famine. Repairs have fitted one or two for the lame ufe at pre- lent, but the reft are fo expos’d to the Inclemencies of Weather, that they cannot be employ’d in fucli a Service. TheWoadcr- T H E R E is not in the World, a more uncommon, Mortifying Scene, Sd p'.oTneft than reprefents to every Stranger, for above the fpace of Eighteen of Egyptian Miles, on either fide the River Nilas, in this part of that depopulated Riiins. Country ; where you cannot Sail a Hundred Fathoms; but you muft difcover, if you look about'you, the affliXing Marks of Mifery and Defolation, anci¬ ent Turrets have difrob’d their Tops of that afpiring Grandeur, which their Youth once boafted or, and Hoary Jge has Whiten’d the Remainder of their Froggy Rehques with a Melancholy JJpecf, Heaps of Dirt have Buried Palaces, and every here and there appears the Half-Sunk Capital, or Baps of fome Noble Pillar, thofe Prodigious Mafter-pieces of elaborate Art, which once fupported the refplendent Roofs of Glitt’ring Courts, and Palaces of Princes, now he low in rough Obfcurity, nor are fo much as feen by Pafiengers, while Cover’d with the Grafs, which Flourifhing in the DeftruXion of fuch Stately Pieces, feems to fpread with a Malicious Pride, and Triumph in their Downfall. Moral Re- OH! Blind, Willful], Vain, Miftaken Man! Unthinking, Weak, and Mous on Shadow-like Mortality ! Why do we ftill gralp eagerly at Riches? Whv Lncemniy.5 efteem the Tranfitory Bleftings of a Wealthy Splendor? Why delight in Worldly Grandeur, or the Noify Pomp of Momentary Majejly, when not the Stony Scenes of ancient Pride, and countenanc’d Vain-Glory, can pre- ferve the Memory of their forgotten Founders, but the Stongeft and moft Stately Cities of the Vniverfe fubmit their Marble to the Teeth of Time, and prove in Ruins, the undoubted Truth of Ovid's elegant Reflexions on the Worlds uncertainty. Ovid Met. ---Sic tempore verti L• 1 ‘3- Cemimus, atque Mas affumere robot a Gentes, Concidere Has. Sic magnafuit cenfuque Virifque, Per que decern potuit tantum dare fanguinis annos. Nunc hum ills veteres tantummodo Troja ruin as. Ft pro Divitiis tumulus oflendit avorum. Clara fait Sparte : magna viguere Mycenae: Nec non Cecropiae; nec non Amphionis arces. Vilefohm Sparte ejl; alt a cecidere Mycena:; OEdipodioniae quid funt nifi fabula Thebx ? Oriid Pandioniae refiant nifi Nomen Athena: ? Thus, in the Courfe of Time, ftrange Turns we fee, Some Nations Rais'd, whilft others Ruin'd be, Fv’n Troy — a Town of old, fo Rich, fo Great, I hat Spilt fuch Seas of Blood in Ten long Years Debate, Now lowly Proftrate, Ruins only knows, And her Sons Tombs, inflead of Riches, fhows ; Sprkrta was Great, fo was Mycena too, Athens and 1 hebes un-number’d Splendors knew, Yet](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30450895_0300.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
