XXXI. He who will not yield to these arguments, let the experience or example of the Janisaries convince. This military corps, who are the Grand Seignor’s guards, and the best troops in the Ottoman empire, although they at present admit among them people of every nation, were originally all composed of the children of Christians, who in their infancy were either made prisoners of war, or were paid to the Grand Seignor by way of tribute, by the poor Christians who resided in his dominions. These soldiers, who notwithstanding their being the children of Christians, and their having been nourished in their infancy with Christian milk, were always as staunch professors of Mahometism as the children of the Turks themselves; and in the wars in which they were engaged against the Christians, so far was the occult influence of the blood, or the milk they sucked, from restraining their arms, that they fought, I don’t know whether to call it with more valour, or with more fury and rage, than the other Mahometans. XXXII. The same reflection, may be made on the slaves which are brought from Africa to America to work in the mines, or on the sugar plantations; for they, when educated in the Christian religion, don’t entertain the most distant thoughts of returning to idolatry, which was the religion professed by their ancestors. XXXIII. What now and then happens is, that some one, who in his infancy was instructed in a religion different from that of his parents, after being arrived at a state of manhood, coming to understand that they professed another faith, has found himself inclined to follow their steps. But it is clear, this was not produced by the seeds of his paternal religion which circulated within his veins, but was rather a proof, that his love and veneration for his progenitors, disposed him to imitate them, and I believe it proceeds from want of reflection, that these examples are not more frequent, for it is natural to suppose, that the example of those who gave people birth, would have more weight with thinking persons, than that of those who had deprived them of their liberty; but such is the force of education, habit, and intercourse, that they prevail over all other considerations and attentions. SECT. VIII. XXXIV. It will also be proper in this place, to touch on a complaint very common among poor gentlemen: These frequently say, that now-a-days money is more esteemed than men of family, and that riches are more respected than nobility. This sentence is hardly out of their mouths, before it is followed by a deep sigh, that seems to express their sorrow for the corruption of the times, which has altered and mistaken the true value of things.