I beheld it fall as if dead twice I beheld her face pale and disfigured twice I beheld her eyes quite extinguish'd and turn'd inwards though they appeared open twice her mouth opened it self dead as she was and twice she spake but with fewer words than sighs and with an accent capable to appal with horrour the stoutest soul Nevertheless my dear Theagenes all this affliction and all this fright served afterwards but to augment our joy when by the bounty of the gods we met one another before the walls of Memphis 'T was there that I once more experimented that they which never had no evil do not know pleasure 't was there that I knew sensibly that the absence makes us afterwards find the sight of the beloved object the more pleasing and it was there my dear Theagenes that I learn'd by experience that those which are alwayes happy are not half happy In effect those who never lost a treasure are ignorant of the joy there is in finding it again and hardly know that which its possession gives It belongs only to unfortunate ones to speak of a good fortune and as we must be in the profound and deep vallies to judge well of the heights of mountains so we must have been in miseries and afflictions to know perfectly what is felicity and abundance In such a happy moment of an unlookt for accident there passes certain invisible beams from one lovers eyes to the others which carry with them into the hearts a certain I know not what not to be express'd The words of content of joy of satisfaction and of glory are too poor to express so tender and delicate a sentiment and the eloquent silence of those two happy persons does tell it far better than can any words or than it can be represented by all the figures of that imperious art which vaunts it self to be the Master of all free spirits and the Tyrant of the will But Theagenes as I have said that the eyes of a lover are eloquent and that they can make themselves be understood so yours do confirm me in my opinion and I understand though I do not speak a word what they would have me comprehend and what they would remember me of No no I have not forgotten the unworthy love of that object worthy of my hatred and your disdain in a word of Arsace that cruel sister of the Persian King who caus'd so much trouble to us and thought to make us perish I know that in her I had a Rival to be feared I know that she made you wear iron chains you who deserved to hold a Scepter I know that having discover'd our innocent passion her guilty artifices would constrain me to espouse Achemenes one of her slaves I know her fury caus'd you to be buried alive in the obscurity of a deep dungeon I know you received such outrages as struck me with horrour and which highly signaliz'd your love and constancy I know that the despair of that inraged woman exposed my life to poyson and that if the Justice of the Gods had not made Cibele to take it her selfe who would have given it to me your Cariclia had been lost I know that the fearful malice of that Persian accus'd me of that death of which she was the cause and of which I was innocent I know that I found my self a prisoner as well as you and that I did partake of your chains I know that men who were at once both Judges and Slaves did condemn me to the fire to content that furious woman I know that I beheld my self upon the pile of wood ready to be consumed I know that the flames encompass'd me round about and that love and innocency were never exposed to so hard a trial but I likewise know that by the assistance of the gods and the vertue of that stone I wore about me which you Grecians call Pantarbe I marched upon the brands as on a bed of flowers and that that infamous pile of wood became the Throne of my glory O my dear Theagenes tell me I conjure you by our amours whether my triumph were not caused by my condemnation and whether after your mourning for me as dead any thing ever equall'd your contentment when you beheld me alive or to say better risen again from death for my part I confess to you that after that Miracle which the gods and love and nature wrought together in our favour I was so transported with joy that I cannot expresse it and I was liberally recompenced by them for all the pains which I had undergone yea even for all troubles that I was yet to suffer You know moreover that as felicities are ordinarily linked together as well as misfortunes so this same although very great did not happen alone to us for we came from Arsaces prison by the order of Oroondates to whom by a spirit of jealousie of despight and vengeance Achemenes was gone to to advertize him of his wives impudicity You know also that we had the satisfaction to learn that heavens justice had made use of Arsaces own hand to punish her crimes in the fear she had that her husband would punish her and that thus all our traverses increased our contentments and served onely to make us know their grandeur the better and if you tell me that presently after we found a new affliction being surprized by unknown people who took us away from Bagoas and would have conducted us to his Master Oroondates I shall reply that immediately afterwards we also found a new joy since those souldiers who took us were of Ethiopia where we desired to go In effect they presented us to Hydaspes who at first seemed as if he would favour us since by his order our chains of iron were changed for chains of gold and we were entertained with much respect Neverthelesse my dear dear Theagenes t is here I must confess that our hopes were deceitful and that we beheld our selves anew in such displeasures which had nothing equal to it but the danger which we underwent For in fine if they adorn'd us it was but like victims which they meant to sacrifice and if they had any respect for us 't was but because we were the offerings which they had alotted for their Deities Truly I cannot deny but that in this occasion my trouble was incomparable and I could not but murmur a long time against the Oracle which had sent me from Ethiopia and which absolutely seemed to be false since we found a grave there where it had made us hope that we should finde a Throne But Theagenes how marvellous and concealed is the providence of the gods and how weak is humane reason in discovering it at the moment that we were at the foot of the altars where we were ready to be immolated at the point when Hydaspes had his arm lifted up to stab his own daughter thinking to do a pious act briefly at the very point
of the grandeur of her courage of her experience in her youth of her success in combats of the purity of her soul of the innocency of her life and of the glory of her death It concerns me little that you should publish how I was born upon the throne it suffices that you perswade them I was worthy and that your self be perswaded that my defeat is honourable to you I perceive that this discourse redoubles your anguish and that you had rather not have vanquish'd than buy the victory by my loss Do not however regret so much an unhappy person neither accuse your self to have cōmitted so great a crime The Clorinda whom you fought is not she whō you behold The other was an infidel an enemy of all Christians by consequence yours and this on the contrary is at present better instructed more enlightened and more rational since she dies with a great esteem and acknowledgment for Tancred But however you will tell me she dies by the hand of that Tancred it is true I shall answer but she dies for her glory None amongst mortals ought to have been her conqueror but him that was so generous as to weep for his victory The blood she should have lost in any other encounter would have sullied her reputation it must needs be then for the honour of her arms that she lose her life by your hand that so she might live eternally and then illustrious Prince if the hazard of the war had not made us meet and chance your valour had not brought me to these conditions I am in never had Clorinda given you any marks of her acknowledgments she had an austere vertue which would alwayes have obliged her to treat you like an enemy you have sweetned the haughtiness of her soul by overcoming her her pride hath been weaker than your civility and the death which she receives from your hands causes her to entertain your love without anger and hatred which she would never have done at any other time Do not then complain of the rigour of the adventure since to it you owe a part of my esteem I had admired your courage in battels but I confesse that I had not so perfectly known your generosity after the victory There be more valiant souldiers than merciful and debonair Conquerours and more men that are able to spill the blood of their enemies than to shed tear upon their graves Cease then cease from afflicting your self and complaining for me death not being harsh to me methinks you should comfort your self like me and in fine you ought to resolve to that which you cannot possible shun If I had lived longer what happiness more could you have expected you should never have seen Clorinda but with her weapons in hand is not it better since heaven will have it so that you never see her more her Idea will be more pleasing to you than she her self would have been in such a posture and in the humour she is of she is content you should love her memory but perhaps she would not have had you love her person otherwise Acknowledge with me therefore the advantages that this victory gives you and do not murmur inconsiderately for that which you cannot hinder Moderate your sorrow that it may last the longer I receive my death with tranquility suffer my losse with patience but never lose the memory of what I was You will restore my life in preserving my image in your heart but a life more noble and more glorious and for the which I have so often hazarded the other All that Clorinda hath done hath been but to immortalize her name hinder then by your cares that it be not buried in oblivion and if it be true as I cannot doubt it that your soul is altogether generous do not change your minde since I am going to be in an estate which suffers no more change I die with much admiration for your vertue live with a great esteem of my courage bear even from my grave to your owne the affection which you say you have for me and when misfortune will have you quit this life let it be ordained that an Image of Clorinda be inclosed in your Tomb let her be yet found imprinted in your heart and that nothing be so puissant as to deface and blot it out 'T is in vulgar souls that time and absence destroyes the fair opinions which vertue alone had impressed but amongst Heroick persons time absence nor death it self are not able to change their inclinations They love in the grave that which they loved in the world the remembrance of that pleasing object serves in lieu of their persons and as they have loved without hope and interest they preserve without infidelity and without trouble the amity which they had promised Certainly there would be somewhat of cruel and unjust to lose together the life the light and the affection of our friends we do revive again if we live in their memory raise up therefore your Clorinda in this manner and do not make her die yet once more in so cruel a manner far worse than the former The first is an effect of your skill of your courage and of her fate and the second would be one of your forgetfulness of your indifferency and if I may speak so of your ingratitude Yes generous Prince I may make use of those terms and I dare believe that you will not think it ill if Clorinda believes she obliges you sensibly when even she imploys the last moments of her life to testifie to you the true esteem she hath conceived of your extream vertue Do not then be wanting of acknowledgment since you see I am not wanting in it receive the regret I have for not having served you as an undubitable proof that I should have done it had I lived longer But render also to my ashes and to my name the honours and the cares which you would have rendered to Clorinda had she survived longer Do not fear that her ghost shall affright you when you shall visit her grave nor that with a querulous and moaning voice she will reproach you for her death No Tancred you shall behold no more neither Clorinda nor her shadow you shall hear no more neither her voice nor her plaints But alas I know I increase your sorrow in thinking to cure it that the testimonies of amity which I render you do cause more affliction than they bring joy that I am so far unhappy as to trouble you even when I would serve you that I pierce your heart when my own is readie to expire and that I am more dreadful to you dying and dis-armed than I was to you in the midst of Combats I shall therefore tell you nothing more that may augment your tears I will hide a part of my mind from you for fear of stirring yours and for fear likewise lest your imbecility should take hold of me Ha! no no I repent
very thin vail his shafts and quiver adorned with roses and pesseminds his skin must be white and incarnadine the pleasures and graces must not abandon him his innocency must appear in all his actions and his torch seem to be in his hands rather to lighten than to annoy us Judge Shepherd after all this which I have said now to you whether Rome ought to be preferred to the Countrey lise we inhabit natures fairest seats we possess all the true riches we enjoy the fruition of all innocent pleasures we are not too distant from the most solid vertue our customes are not unjust we are free from ambition and behold nothing above us what can we wish for more or what more can you desire yield then Shepherd yield to reason to my prayers to my perswasion and to your own knowledge who without doubt would not indure that I should give you the quality of Shepherd if you did not esteem it glorious So many Verses and Eclogues which you have made do justifie better than I can the advantages of the Countrey life it will suffice to remember one day that Tityrus after he hath sung the great acts of Aeneis as he hath designed hath not disdained to accord his Reeds and Bag-pipe with our skilfullest Shepherds do not then remember any more to be perswaded of what I desire you neither the Sun which I have described so luminous nor our Rivers whose waves are all silvered nor our Fountains of Crystal nor the Emeralds of our fields nor those lofty Mountains whose prospect is so pleasing nor those Torrents whose falls although they seem fearful do yet afford divertisement do not so much as think any more I say of our gloomy Forests nor of those ponds cover'd with Swans nor of our Hillocks nor of our Valleys nor of the lovely diversity of our Flowers nor our Woods or the Musick of our Nightingales nor of the advantage we have above the Cities in all the Seasons of the Year Forget I say if you can the beauty of our Shepherdesses cancel the memory of our holydayes of our sacrifices of our Chaces of our Fishing of the innocency of our Manners and of Amaryllis her self But remember at least that you may never speak any thing against the Countrey life that at your departure from Rome you become a Shepherd as you were before That you have born the Scrip and Sheep-hook and that with the same hand with which you are going to write Dido's complaints and the Trojan Princes praises you have written Tityrus his moans to the Shepherdesse Galatea and the praises of the Countrey life The effect of this HARANGUE THe Reader may believe that this Discourse was perswasive since Virgil who is the same with Tityrus regrets Rome but only that one time in all his Bucolicks though he were 3 years composing them He imployed again afterwards seven more in composing his Georgics a Work of the same nature and the which contains all the Countrey Occupations Thus may one as I have said without putting our Imaginations on the rack believe that Amarillis did in some sort perswade Tityrus and that the diversity of this great Land-scept artificially painted and boldly traced displeased not his sight CLORINDA TO TANCRED The Fourth HARANGUE The Argument EVery one knows that in Tasso's Jerusasalem Tancred kills his Mistres Clorinda without knowing her But every one knowes likewise that she knowes him not neither and dies without hardly speaking I do not doubt therefore but that I shall be accused of falsifying the History if at least a fable may have that name and that I shall be found strangely bold to dare to make a Heroine to speak which so famous an Authour hath silenc'd Besides that t is to say that which he never said they will finde him yet more judicious then I for not having put so long a Discourse in the mouth of a dying person But I confess that maugre all those objections on the which it is apparent that I have thought since I make them my self before any other offers them I was not able to resist so pleasing a temptation It alwayes seem'd to me in reading this passage of that marvellons Poem that Tasso had not entirely drawn all that might be drawn and that since he was the Master of Clorinda's destiny he might have allowed her some moments of life to render the adventure more tender and the unhappiness of Tancred more pitiful by the things that she might say to him May the Reader then suffer that as Bayardo and Ariosto often said that 't is Turpin which hath said what they invented I may say also that another Historian than Tasso assures that the wound with the sword was less great that Clorinda lived some hours and that she spake very neer in these terms to the Generous Tancred to perswade him That the Lov ought not to die with the Beloved CLORINDA TO TANCRED YOu have overcome illustrious and valiant Knight I resign my sword to you with my life and you have moreover this advantage to hear from the mouth of that person whom you have vanquished that you are worthy to be her vanquisher But whence comes the sadnesse which appears on your face and in your actions Is it possible there should be found a man so generous to weep for his own Victories and to mourn the death of his enemies Cease couragious Knight cease to regret my loss and remember that I wanted but little of being the cause of yours But once again that which I behold and that which I hear can it be true Ha! I do not doubt it I now remember my deliverer I hear that same voice which in the midst of battels hath often appeared to me so terrible and so charming nor do I wonder now to see him weep at my death who had saved my life Yes generous Prince I do remember that great day which gain'd you so much honour where prompted by that noble ambition to overcome in you the valiantest most couragious of all men I pursued you so obstinately that my boldnesse or rather my rashnesse gave you an esteem for me you did not onely forbear to assault me and neglect to defend your self when I assaulted you but you defended me from all those that came against me you became contrary to that party of which you were before onely in consideration of me you pursued your own as your enemies because they were mine and all your actions did confirm to me better than your speeches that either by the power of your fate or by your inclination Clorinda had touched your illustrious heart Ha! may the heavens grant me some moments of life to return you thanks for so much generosity and to comfort you for the sadness I have caused in you I perceive well Tancred I perceive that you think of going to seek some remedies for the wounds which I have received from your hand But if it be true that I have any
power over you as your tears seem to perswade me do not abandon me I conjure you to the insolence of your souldiers at this time when the miserable Clorinda hath no other arms to defend her self than her complaints and sighs Also the wounds I have received are such that there is no share in life more for me Ha! would the heavens yet once more prolong it in me a little for some instants that I might testifie my acknowledgment It seems to me my prayer is heard for although I feel that the hour of my death is neer it seems to me I say if I deceive not my self that I have cause to believe I shall not expire till I have related to you a part of those thoughts that are in me Do not fear that I shall complain of you or of fate I have too great a soul too firm and too reasonable to have a ressentment so vulgar so weak and so unjust I know that in Battels one finds as often death as victory that one must equally prepare for the one and the other and that if so be we be overcome without shame or basenesse we should lose such a victorie without despair die without murmuring I do not then regret the portion of life which I might yet have had mine hath been long enough since it hath been unspotted I have lived little I confess but I have lived with glory and I die with honour If Clorinda must be vanquished it must needs have been by him who uses to overcome all others 't is no small thing for her to have disputed with him for that illustrious prize as she hath done and not to have yielded but onlie because nothing can resist him Do not mourn for me then more than I mourn for my self rule your ressentments by mine comfort your self as I am comforted and be not more sensible of my misfortune than your own interest If you behold me as your enemy you will rejoice at my loss all Godfreys armie will give you thanks for this action for though I be of that sex from which ordinarily men can draw no advantage to fight and overcome us I think nevertheless without vanitie that Clorinda's name is famous enough to dare believe as I do that all your Knights would think themselves fortunate not onlie to be her conquerers but even to be cōquered by her Do not therefore cast that crown upon my Tomb which you have acquired by my defeat as if unworthy of your temples do not disdain the victory if you will not disgrace me On the contrary proclaim it to all the world let all the world know what it hath cost you do not hide the blood which you have lost onlie hide your tears from Clorinda that her death may be more quiet since it cannot be more honourable And to testifie that she pardons it with a willing heart to you she conjures you if it be true that you have any affection for her to conserve it even after she is dead let not her ashes extinguish that noble ardour which her Heroick actions have kindled in your soul you have loved her an enemy love her in the grave you have loved her when she was armed against you love her when she shall be dead by your hands you have loved her even when she hated you love her also when she shal have ended her days in assuring you that she hath esteemed your valour and your vertue even so far as to suffer her death without murmuring and to think it a glory to lose her life by the same hand that had preserved it for her I die nevertheless with the sorrow of not having implied it for the service of my deliverer but as that ingratitude is not voluntary so let it not hinder you to look upon my death as if I suffered it to save you though I suffer it because I would have lost yours Imagine that all the blowes I made at you were directed against your enemies and not against your person let the blood which I lose serve for a price for the tears which you shed and in fine believe that seeing the generosity I have found in your soul if Clorinda had lived she would have testified to you by her actions that she could no longer reckon you amongst her enemies But since things past cannot be revoked and that shortly there will no more remain of Clorinda but her name her ashes and her Monuments if you have the goodness to afford her one have a care of all those heighten her reputation if you can that so yours may increase and that you may also justifie at the same time your affection and your sufferings Be not so weak as those persons unworthy the light of the day which cease from loving their friends as soon as ere they are uncapable or not in a condition to acknowledge their amity Be not I say of those in whom the grave strikes an horrour who dare not follow the persons they love into the shades of death Those that are so weakly interested they seek onlie but for the recompence of their affections and who loves onelie pleasing things are not worthy the light of the Sun the great and generous souls are not wont to do thus and to tell things as they are t is onely within the grave and 'twixt the very armes of death that we can assure our selves certainty of the good will any hath for us all the services which are rendred to the living may be suspected of self-interest the honours done to the dead cannot be ill interpreted but merit to live eternally in the memory of all men This is the true mark of Heroick love and of true vertue t is as I have said the infallible Character of a soul great noble and generous t is loving for love and not for the reward and 't is in fine the right means as I have also said to become worthy of all imaginable honours to honour the memory of those who during their lives have merited to be esteemed by us in a particular manner Is it not enough that we lose a person so dear to us unlesse we blot her Image from our memory Ha! no no too generous Prince you will not do thus you will visit her Tomb with respect and her name becomming inseparable from yours by her deplorable adventures shall fly 'ore all the world with luster and glory you will conserve this love which was so pure that hope it self hath had no share for truly it would not be just that Clorinda ceasing to hate when she descends into the grave you should begin to wish her ill when she ceases to live and when she begins to know you and by consequence to esteem you very much After you have been my enemy be my Champion I conjure you defend against all the world the beauty of those advantageous Pourtraits which fame hath made of me over all the earth maintain that she hath not flattered Clorinda speak
by the birth of that love which I have for him it will not then be out of our discourse and way if I tell it you in a few words that so if it happens one day that he hear my reasons with more sweetness than you believe you may not accuse him of infidelity and injustice if he do prefer Erminia before the ghost or shadow of Clorinda It is likewise necessary for my own glory that you should know that without ceasing to be vertuous reasonable I could begin to love Tancred though he were my Fathers conquerour that I might continue to wish him well though he have not answered my amity and that I am in the right at present to wish from him that he would be content onely to honour the memory of Clorinda and begin to love Erminia You must know then sage and wise Arsetes that when the Christians had pull'd down Antiochu◠his throne and that they had taken away both his scepter and life who gave me life you may know I say that by the fortune of war I fell into the hands of the Conquerour who as you cannot but know was the same Tancred of whom we now speak But alas why was it that the Conquerour was not more rigorous to me at that time since he will not be merciful now wherefore was it that he did not treat me like a slave then if it be true that he will not treat me like a Mistris now Wherefore was it that he rendred me all the treasures of the King my father then if he will not now render me my own heart again or give me his in exchange and why did he give me my liberty so freely and graciously since he now refuses so cruelly to accept these chains which are less rude and heavy Yes faithful Arsetes I acknowledge with some confusion I began to love Tancred then when in appearance I should have begun to hate him His vertue his moderation and his clemency touched my heart sensibly I was his Captain and he respected me as a Queen by the right that Conquerors have over the conquered all our treasures were his and he restored them to me or rather gave them I was his prisoner and he restored me to liberty 't is true that loosening those chains which I wore he put me on some others more strong than those which I was freed from I beheld my liberty as an evil and regreted my servitude as a great good and though I did not know my self in those times wherefore I had such thoughts which seemed so void of reason I know now that the extraordinary generosity of Tancred had already usher'd love into my heart although I were then of an age in which love is unknown Since that what have I not done sometimes to love him no more somtimes to love him dearlier I have beheld him somtimes as an usurper I have considered him as an enemy who had taken away Antiochus's Crown and which is more who had taken away all the quiet of my life by a passion which his generosity had bred in my soul and which I could not overcome But shall I tell it faithful Arsetes after I had beheld him as an usurper and an enemy I always loved him because he was both vertuous and my deliverer and my beloved I have seen him from the walls of Jerusalem shedding the blood of our souldiers without shedding a tear my self I desired the victory but however would not have Tancred be conquered I had found him too mercifull a Conquerour not to desire to have him still in a condition to make known his vertue by doing good rather then in suffering evil Nor could I hear of the peril he was in by reason of his hurts without having a design to save his life who had saved my honour and had given me my liberty You know as well as my selfe that I made use of the valiant Clorinda's armes to get out from Jerusalem and to execute my enterprize But in taking her armes and weapons I did not put on her courage so that I was quickly forced to quit my sword and betake me to the sheep hook to secure my selfe I have then been Cavalier and Shepherdesse for the insensible Tancred I was also Armida's prisoner in his consideration and that which I finde to be more happy for me is that by that marvellous art which all the Kings my Predecessors have left me in possession I have had the satisfaction to render and save the life of my deliverer to dresse his wounds and to heal him in such a time when none but ERMINIA could relieve him You see then Arsetes that the birth of my affection is not criminal since Tancreds sole vertue did breed it You may judge likewise that its continuation is excusable and the design of saving him did contribute much to it and you should also know that Clorinda not living any longer he is obliged to recompence my amity with his owne Clorinda who at this present causes all his grief and possesses all his thoughts had never imployed her armes but to assault him and to pursue him and I stole the armour of Clorinda but onely to save his life Clorinda from whom he had taken neither Crown nor Scepter has alwayes beheld him as an enemy and I from whom he had ravished all even to my very liberty I have alwayes beheld him as a Prince which could and should be my lover I have already told you Arsetes that if your illustrious Mistris did live yet I would not so much as have a thought to dispute her conquest but her misfortune having laid her in her grave you may judge after all that I have said whether it be reasonable to prefer the sepulchre of Clorinda before Erminia for in fine t is not unfaithfulness to abandon those which do abandon us for ever What Arsetes can you apprehend that one may keep a love for that which cannot receive it any more That pleasing interchange of will and desires which is made betwixt lovers can that be made between Clorinda's Tomb and the Prince Tancred No Arsetes that cannot be so all things in the world have their limits so long as the beloved person is living we must follow her over all the earth we must partake of her fortune how unhappy so'ere it be nay we must even die for her if there be occasiō but if it happens that she dies we must as I have already said either cease to live or cease to love her 't is so absolute a necessity that nothing can oppose it all the ages have shewed us examples of what I say all that despaired have kill'd themselves with their own hands and those that were wise have comforted themselves with their own reason In effect there would be great injustice in the order and course of nature if every time that death does cast one person into the Grave there should be another that must renounce intirely all the society
command you The effect of this HARANGUE THis fair and unhappy Princesse drew the tears of all the Grecians Pyrrhus himself was moved nor could his eyes behold the crime which his hand committed He struck her nevertheless barbarous man that he was and that young and deplorable creature had so much modesty that even in falling struck with the deadly blow she was careful to lay her hands upon her lower garments for fear lest after her death some indecent action should offend her modesty PENELOPE TO LAERTES The Eighth HARANGUE The Argument PENELOPE that vertuous wife to ULISSES whose reputation yet lives after so many ages past and who from the borders of that seldome frequented Island where she lived has made her renown spread over the whole world finding her self one day extreamly afflicted for the absence of her Husband who after the siege of Troy had strayed almost ten years at the mercy of the windes and waves without possibility of seeing his Countrey would ease her sorrowes by her plaints and make her dear Husbands Father acknowledge by the discourse you are now going to see That absence is worse than death PENELOPE TO LAERTES HE that undertakes to maintain that death is the most sensible and greatest of all evils is surely such a one as either never loved at all or at least hath never undergone the unhappinesse of being absent from the person beloved No my Lord that monster which desolates all the earth who by the succession of time changes the face of the whole Universe who treats alike both vice and vertue who strikes with the same fatal dart the Kings and Shepherds and whose very portraiture alone fills the stoutest soul with horrour and amazement is not yet that thing which I believe we ought the most to apprehend Absence which we may truly say is the commencement of all sorrowes and the end of all joyes hath in it somewhat that is more harsh and insupportable for if the first be that which destroyes our prosperity the second is that which makes us unhappy even in the midst of abundance yea on the Throne it self There is neverthelesse a great deal of difference betwixt them for death ravishes equally from us both our felicities and misfortunes if it rob us of any flowers it does not leave us the prickles behind them it crushes with the same hand both our Crowns and fetters and in a word when it deprives us of life it likewise utterly extinguishes in our hearts all the flames of love and anger all the resentments of hatred vengeance and in fine all other passions It causes I say both our joy and trouble to expire together at the same moment whereas absence not onely robs us of all the good that ever death deprives us of but likewise causes all those evils to fall on us to which the other puts a sudden period Our life it self in this occasion is left us but onely to make us the more sensible of the most piercing pain that can be felt and if there be sometimes such people who prefer the absence of the beloved person rather than death 't is because they suffer themselves to be deluded by false appearances t is because that mournful dress in which it is represented affrights them t is because they contemplate it more with their bodily sight than the eyes of the soul t is because they only consider it in what is most terrible and t is in fine because they love themselves better than they doe their Mistresses and prefer the rayes of the Sun above the lustre of her eyes and had rather not see her at all than be deprived of their sight Ha! how ignorant those people are of the true sentiments which love inspires But you will say to me my Lord perhaps you do not seriously consider how great that violence must needs be which separates so close an union as that of soul and body But I shall answer you you do not truly consider your self what a greater violence that must be which for a long season separates that which love reason and inclination seem to have joyned with an eternal and immortal chain Death sage Laertes as you know better than my self is as natural to us as life if it be an evil 't is at least an evil that should not surprize us as soon as we begin to live we ought to begin to learn to die at the first opening of our eyes we should already look on the opening of our graves and every Monarch in the world that hath not renounced common sence cannot be ignorant that as he mounts up to his Throne so he shall once descend into his sepulchre T is not thus in the things of love that passion being altogether divine seizes so imperiously on those whom she possesses and the sight of the beloved person does so absolutely fill all the soul of her adorer that this absence is an evil which still surprizes him and comes so unawares that by consequence it renders him more unhappy than death can which we ought alwayes to expect That amazing instant which parts two persons perfectly loving one another is a sadnesse beyond my expression though I have proved it more cruelly than any other but to make you in some manner comprehend it Imagine to your self my Lord that you were ambitious and that your Crown were torn from you imagine your self were extreamly covetous and that your treasures were all stoln from you imagine you were victorious and that your victory were ravished out of your hands imagine you were shakled with chains whose very weight were insupportable imagine you lost all that is dear to you in the world imagine you were deprived of the light of the day and that you remained in horrid darknesse imagine your heart were torn forth of your bosome and you not yet dead and imagine in fine that I not onely suffered all these pains but that even death how terrible so ' ere it be was the utmost of all my wishes at that sad moment of Ulisses departure Ha! my Lord yet once more how grievous that funest minute was to me death is rather the lulling asleep of all our troubles than any sensible evil and it has nothing trouble some but the way that leads to it But absence is a chain of misfortunes which finds no end but at the end of our lives or the return of the beloved person The first sigh which death does make us breath hath alwayes the advantage of being the last but the first which absence obliges us unto is followed with so many others and accompanied with so many tears so many disturbances so many torments or to speak better so many deaths that its evill suffers no comparison and then to speak rationally death and absence may be taken for one another since both the one and the other equally deprives us of all that we can love but as t is impossible that the loss of all the riches in the
world can be so sensible to us as the absence of the person whom we dearly love since she is in the stead of all unto us so also it is impossible but that that which deprives us of it must be more harsh than death it self which can only take away that good from us which we esteem farre lesse than she But you will say again that death which snatches away a Crown which puls down your Throne which deprives you of the light does also rob you from the person whom you love she does not forsake you t is true but you leave her and in this manner you do as well lose the sight of her as in absence and likewise lose her for ever I acknowledge sage Laertes that this objection is strong nevertheless it is not impossible to clear it To die before the eyes of those we love is somewhat more comfortable than to remain alive separated from ones lover and husband together to mingle our last tears together with his is less insupportable than to be left alone to weep continually and to leave ones soul betwixt those armes is rather a stricter union with him than a separation In fine to say all in a word after the having given him the last adiew after the having had the satisfaction of knowing the greatnesse of his amour by the greatnesse of his sorrowes after the having if it be permitted to speak so resigned our soul into his hands we have alwayes this advantage to cease to live in ceasing to see him losing the light for ever with his presence and to become insensible of grief as well as of joy The repose and obscurity of the grave are better in this occasion than life the light of day that funest and mortal Lethargy which for ever rocks all our sences into a deep sleep in the cradle of the Tomb is the only remedy which could charm all the evils I now suffer for the absence of my dear Ulisses and as sleep does every night make the happy and miserable to become equall and alike as it does the greatest-Princes and the meanest Subjects So death likewise places in the same rank those lovers which injoy the presence of their Mistresses with those which are deprived of it The thicknesse of those shades we meet withal in the grave hinders us for evermore from distinguishing any of the things of this world and death how pitiless so'ere t is described to us is not so cruel but that it promptly heals us of all the evils it causes If it make an ambitious man lose his Crown it deprives him at the same instant both of the diadem and the ambition which rendered it so pleasing to him if it rob the treasures from the possession of the covetous it likewise steals away that avarice from his heart which made him cherish wealth so much and if it dis-unite two persons dearly loving the least unhappy is he without doubt who loses his life since in losing that he loses both his sence knowledge and memory at the same moment It is not thus in absence we die thereby indeed unto all pleasures but it is only to live unto all pains As soon as ere we lose the sight of the person that reigns in our souls all other passions throng in to tear and torture it Love Hatred Anger Vengeance Jealousie Fear and Hope it self does persecute and war against us We never love more than when we lose the sight of the object of our affection we never hate any thing with so much violence as that which robs us of our beloved we are never more irritated than when our felicity is destroyed we never wish more ardently to revenge our selves than when we are reduced to the terms of despair we are never more jealous than when we cannot be the witnesses of their actions who owe all their fidelity to us we never deserve so much to be pitied as when we fear the death of our lovers and one may likewise say that we are never more unhappy than when we are reduced to that point of having no other consolation than an uncertain and doleful hope which ordinarily serves rather to increase our miseries than to asswage them so true it is that absence is a terrible and fearful evil and so true it is that it converts all the remedies which are presented to it into poyson Do not you imagine my Lord that I have learn'd what I now say either from the example of others or from reason which oft-times teaches us many things which we have never experienced No my Lord I tell you nothing but what my own trial hath verified and would to heaven I were yet ignorant of such sad truths and that death were the only evil which I might apprehend When my dear dear Ulisses was resolved to part and that overswayed by the power of his destiny he separated himself from me love to render this separation the more cruel to me represented him more lovely to me than ever I had beheld him his sorrow augmenting his charmes his silence caused by the affliction he indured in leaving me rendered him more grateful to me than his sweetest eloquence had ever done although that eloquence have inchanted all the earth in fine sage Laertes I then know better than ever I had known till then the price and value of what I had possessed and of what I was then ready to be dispossessed of My love increased I acknowledge it and though I had believed all my life that I could not possibly love my husband more ardently and tenderly than I did love yet neverthelesse I cannot deny but that I found my affection redoubled in that sad instant But when after I had lost his fight the Image of Menelaus presented it self to my mind who had caused his departure hatred seized so powerfully on me that there are no unjust wishes which I made not for him Anger followed hatred and the desire of revenge immediatly stept in after hatred I desired he might not regain Helena I wished he might suffer all his life-time that which I now suffered by his means and I think likewise that in the heat of my resentment I should have made prayers to obtain from heaven that he might have been beaten and his army defeated by the Trojans had I not remembred that he could not be vanquished but that my dear Ulysses must be so to since he was ingaged in the quarrel But my Lord will you think it well that I should shew you all my troubles and discover all my imbecilitâ—es Yes since it is onely by that means that I can prove to you that absence is worse than death After then that I had resented all the most violent effects of love anger hatred I found my self again assaulted by Jealousie Ulysses went to a place where they might take such prisoners as were capable to enchain their vanquishers and masters as the examples of Agamemnon and Achilles has since taught us
which make them so glistering or at least the earth which produces them Ha! no no all those things which the vulgar call precious are too poor to be the objects of a great and reasonable understanding and that which comes from fortune is too low of value to make vertue be less esteem'd though she be no longer adorned with it or with anie justice to hinder but that one may be both slave and Mistris But let us suppose though falsly and without reason that her birth must needs be illustrius that wil pretēd to the glorie of retaining him still an illustrious prisoner who is already become so to his slave that the chains of that happy captive must have been forged of the same gold the scepter was of which otherwhile her father ruled what do you finde in this that can make Briseis unworthy of Achilles love or worthy of his hatred You are the son of a King I confess but was not my father a King likewise there are Crowns in your family I acknowledge it but hath there not been some in mine also you ought to ascend the Throne I cannot deny it but have you not made me descend from one your self you have overcome us 't is true but might not we have vanquished you I am become your slave that 's certain but was it not possible you might have been ours I wear your fetters all the world sees it but so might you have worne our chains you may treat me cruelly I do not doubt it but will it not be barbarous if you do you may abandon me indeed but are you not unfaithful if you do you may love Polixena I know it but too well but would it not be unreasonable that you should love your enemies you may goe into Troy I grant it but will it not be a madness to trust the Trojans you may likewise betray the Grecians who does not know it but will it not be a baseness to betray them Ha! I perceive cruel Achilles that this last reproach is more insupportable to you than all the rest that you can hardly suffer it and that t is not without some difficulty that you in some manner retain that fury which is so natural to you T is no matter however t is no matter for though you should let the cloud of your anger break upon my head yet the care I have for all that concerns you obliges me not to conceal from you that which others dare not reveal unto you Know then if you be so blind as not to perceive it that the whole Camp murmurs against you that Agamemnon whom you have offended makes use of this opportunity to revenge himself and to cry you down amongst the Grecians that Ulysses imployes his eloquence upon no other subject and his facility of speaking and speaking well is a dangerous enemy to you that the sage Nestor loudly blames you though in all other occasions he hath ever testified much reservednesse that Ajax himself who is no small friend is reduced to the sorry necessity either of not saying any thing to defend you or to quarrel for want of better reasons with those that condemn your proceedings that Thersites by biting jests strikes at your reputation making all the world merrie at your cost and Idomeneus Diomedes and all the other Grecian Princes are resolved not to indure so unreasonable a thing Everie one observes you watchfully each one remarks all your words everie one considers all your actions and you are now esteemed in our Camp rathar a spie for the Trojans than as one of the chief commanders of the Grecians I perceive that you will answer me by the fury which inflames your eies that you know the art to make them hold their peace that your hand is more to be feared than their tongues and that if they can affront you you can yet better punish them and revenge your self But Achilles you must then hew in pieces all our Troops combate all our Captains and slaie all our souldiers that is to say you must do that which the Trojans cannot nay dare not undertake you must goe and take Hectors place you must goe and dishonour your self Perhaps you have no such guiltie thoughts perhaps you will onelie retire your self into your tents as you did heretofore that so by the disadvantage which the Grecians shall have when they must fight without you they may know and feel the wrong they do themselves by vexing you and not approving all that pleases you O Achilles are these fit actions for an Hero who hath no other object but his glorie who by a thousand brave performances aspires to immortalitie Should anie one prefer his particular interest before the common good or his unjust passion above equity it self or the enemies good beyond his own countreys should anie one believe himself wiser than all others when indeed he has no wisdome at all should any one be Judge in his own cause should anie one listen to his own desires not give ear to reason it self and if it be so that one had trulie loved which I cannot believe should he proudly maintain afterwards that one cannot be both slave mistris certainly Achilles there is somewhat that is so strange in your proceedings that one cannot wel cōprehend it the more one considers it the less t is understood I think you hardly understand it your self For my part I acknowledg that t is incōceivable to me nor can I imagin by what fantastical motives you can be drawn to do so for wherefore should you quarrel so outragiously with Agamemnon when he plucked me out of your hands if you do not find me lovely wherefore retreat within your Pavilions and sigh bitterly there since you do not love the cause of your retreat wherefore did you behold our Battslia's defeated and not assist them if they onely took away from you what you have a minde to lose wherefore did you suffer Hector to break down our barracadoes and not oppose him if this cause of your difference be so indifferent to you wherefore did you suffer him to fire our Navy without hastening to quench it if that flame of affection which you had for me be extinguished in your heart wherefore did you expose Patroclus the dearest of your friends and be the cause of his death if my life be not dear to you and wherefore in fine did you take me out of Agamemnons hands if I am no longer welcome to you answer Achilles answer to what I desire you I intreat you with humility if I be yet your slave onely and if I am yet both your Slave and Mistris I command you Have you taken me to your own self again but only to imploy me about mean and servile offices Have you many captives that wears chains whose fathers have worne crowns do you believe that an hand ordained for a Scepter can help its self with a needle or that she that was accustomed to
command can accustome her self to obey Do you believe when you treat me thus that I can see it and live Do you believe I am destitute of courage as you are of reason and pitie Do you believe your fetters can enchain the soul as they do the bodie or that a generous stab cannot free me from this slaverie and your Tyrannie Ha! if you believe thus how little do you know your own cruelties and how ill are you acquainted with Briseis how little do you conceive what death is or how little do you confider what I suffer Though it should present it self to my sight in all that funest bloudie equipage which the most barbarous Tyrant can dress it withall though I should meet it accompanied with executioners with scourges and with flames though there were new tortures invented to please you and to afflict me withall I should yet prefer all these before the miserable condition I am now in and should sooner resolve to suffer them all than to suffer your outrages and disdain for in fine one may be both Captive and Mistris bur one cannot remain a captive without being Mistris after the once having had the glorie of being so I could have lived without that glorie but I cannot live and lose it I could have resolved to have lived in your chains but I cannot resolve now to return to them again I could have indured the anger of my Conquerour but I cannot indure the disdain of my lover I could then have remembred that I was your slave but now I cannot forget that you have mine in a word you may be barbarous and inconstant but I cannot be insensible and have no resentment O cruel and unreasonable Achilles are you not also cruel enough to believe that I should be yet too much honoured in serving the new and fairer object of your flames have you not so much blindness as to hope that I shall become her captive as you say I am yours do you not expect from my complacence and willingnesse that I should take the care to chuse her an habit that may adorn her and the pains to curl her hair to imbroider her head-attire with jewels and to indeavour besides to adde new graces to those she received at her birth that thereby art may finish in her that which nature has so gloriously begun will you not have me extol her perfections tell you of her charmes make you remark the lustre of her eies the pureness of her skin and beauteous face thereby to increase your affection and your delight together will you not afterwards make me goe and entertain that faire Phrigian of the rare qualities that are in you must I not vaunt of your courage and speak to her of your skill and above all value your constancy which I know so well that so I may inkindle her soule with the bright flame which consumes yours But will you not have me tell her to prove your valour that you have besieged Troy that you have vanquisht the Trojans a thousand times and that you took away her brothers life Will you not have me declare aloud your liberality when you took money for Hectors corps and your civility when you threatened Priam who came to your Tents to demand it of you O barbarous man that you are are those your intents but ô faint-hearted as I am my selfe am I not ashamed of what I do and should I not blush since contrary to my designe and first dicourse my verie anger it selfe is become a token of my passion or rather of my errour No no do not listen to me any more neither listen to love who speaks to you even as I do nor to reason which sayes the same that love does Be gone since you will goe and passe from this Camp to the other where glorie waits for you as well as Polixena Leave your ancient friends and runne to the imbraces of those whom you have fought withall and whom you ought to fight withall again forget the interest of your own Nation and lose all even to your very honour to behold your Mistris againe look upon Briseis tears with smiles and scoffe at her troubles if at least her troubles doe not provoke your anger Joyn her chains to Hectors armes and carry both the one and the others to that Trojans feet and in fine goe and marrie an unworthie sister upon the tombe of her most generous brother You will have it so and Fate will have it so likewise and although I would not if I could help it yet I must needs consent to it for who can withstand Fate and Achilles his obstinacy But remember cruel and blinde as you are that a God hath told you by my mouth yes I swear that I feel a God inspiring what I now tell you that you shall finde hatred where you hope to meet with love that you shall have nothing but regret where you expected nothing but pleasure that you shall be betrayed by the Trojans as you now betray the Grecians that they shall have as much craft as you have simplicity that if Polixena do wait for you death does wait for you also neer her that if you approach neer Troy your fatal houre does approach likewise that the first day of that fatall Marriage shall be the last of your dayes and that your death must quickly make me die Behold what Heaven has inspir'd me with and this is that which you ought to believe this is that which you will not believe and this is that insensible and mad man which will be the cause both of your ruine and mine Just Gods he hears me no more he is going the power of his destiny drags him away I shall behold him no more nor shall he ' ere see me again he leaves me he is going to die and I my self am going to die likewise The effect of this HARANGUE THe unfortunate Briseis obtained nothing of the pitilesse Achilles but her prediction was not untrue He went to see Polixena that he might see the day no longer and every one knows that one of Paris's arrows sent him to his grave for not having believed this lovely slave who without doubt deserved to be together both Slave and Mistris FINIS