Content
The volumes contain fictional letters written by one "Mahmut the Arabian." The letters cover the period of 1637 to 1682 in France, from the last years of the Regency of Anne of Austria and Cardinal Richelieu through the long reign of Louis XIV and his minister Cardinal Mazarin. The Letters form a rambling journal of gossip on current politics and satire on society. Mahmut sends reports from Paris to Constantinople on politics and current events in France, but corresponds privately on other subjects including religion, and adds stories and anecdotes for diversion. His observations range from those on political figures such as Richelieu and Mazarin to speculations on the status of women, advice about state policy, and major interventions in controversies about religious doctrine and their consequences. His political position in the letters changes from that of liberal Catholic to that of a rationalistic Deist.
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