upon that point But this consormity of Sentiments which I bear to you in what concerns the King does not hinder me however from sticking to my own in what relates to our Contest 'T is credible reply'd Telesila laughing you will give me the same liberty you take and I may without displeasing you continue in my Opinion as well as you in yours For my part added Timocrates who have not absolutely declared my self I believe you will both agree that the greatest difficulty of knowing ones self proceeds from the same cause which makes that In sensible objects we see but confusedly those which are far distant and do not well discem those that are too near the sight For we may in like manner say that others are too far from us and we see our selves too near to know perfectly either what others or what we our selves are Timocrates had no sooner spoke these words than that all the Company fell to commending both Telesila and Cephisa As for my part said the latter laughing Methinks Telesila and I by speaking almost alone in the midst of so great a Company may be compared to certain Heroes in Romances who fight alone between two Armies and who come from the fight without being either Conquerors or Conquered Now as for Timocrates I look upon him as a Judge of the Field If it be so resum'd he I give the prize to Telesila as having well maintain'd the better side and yet I give many praises to Cephisa for having so ingeniously defended an ill Cause All the Company fell again to commending those two beautiful Persons After which the generous mistress of that delicate Wilderness led them back into the Magnificent Palace from whence they had come to take the Air. Against those who do not speak seriously of Religion AGathirsis having said something which seem'd disrespectful of the Religion of his Country Noromata interrupted him without permitting him to continue his Disccurse For Heavens sake Agathirsis said she to him Never say any thing to me contrary to the Veneration we owe the Gods and rid your self if possible of that ill Custom of always employing the Name of some one of our Deities only to assure some tristing piece of News For if you think our Gods are what we believe 'em you commit a terrible profanation and if you are not of that Opinion I do not see it does much warrant and confirm a thing to swear by their Name that it is true I should rather choose to swear by Agathirsis and by Eliorante she went on than by Mars and Hercules if I was of the Opinion of the greatest part of our young Courtiers who hardly believe they were so much as Men very far from believing they be Gods By what I perceive resum'd Agathirsis smiling in his turn you take me for an obstinate Libertine Not at all replied she for if I thought so you should not be my friend but I accuse you with reason for suffering your self to be led away by the ill Custom of those who do not always speak seriously nor respectively of Religious Matters and who for that it clashes with their reason cannot subject ' emselves to the general Opinion and will make to themselves a particular way It is however in my sence an ill way of reasoning to say we must not believe what we cannot comprehend since 't is true there are a thousand things in Nature which really are and which we do not comprehend And yet those very People who will not believe an invisible Divinity will believe every day upon the word of some Travellers very subject to relate incredible things what they tell us of that marvellous Stone called I think Heliotropium which Craesus has in his Treasure and which they pretend has the quality of rendring one invisible They also cannot but believe that the terrible Wind which roots up the greatest Trees is something real tho invisible it be since they themselves are sometimes thrown down by it Yet they know but very imperfectly what it is no more than what makes Snow white Hail hard Neretheless 't is true these People who believe several things they do not know yet insolently pretend to penetrate into the secrets of Eternity reform the best established Religions and over turn thro their caprices all the Temples and Altars in the World And all this because as soon as they do not believe there are Gods they believe that whatever pleases is permitted ' em But for your part Agathyrsis added Noromate whose Principles are innocent and vertuous and who have no need of perswading your self that the Gods neither punish nor reward for your living with more repose and liberty I advise you as your friend not to suffer your self to be hurried away by the ill Custom of the World Your Zeal is so eloquent resum'd Agathyrsis that I cannot resist it and I promise you I will endeavour now to do all I can to believe that Mars is jealous Vulcan lame and Venus did equally jilt 'em both or if I cannot I will not mention 'em at all Your speaking as you do reply'd Noromata is not the way to perswade me you will be reform'd for in promising not to rally any more you rally both witily and most maliciously at the same time without being willing to remember what our Priests often tell us that those sort of things have concealed sences which our curiosity cannot penetrate seeing Man is not capable of comprehending all their Mysteries For my part interrupted a Persian called Chrysantes who had a great deal of Wit and much Vertue I infinitely esteem the beautiful Noromata for opposing the Licentiousness of those who are called the Galants of the Age. For tho I am of a very different Religion from that of your Country since the true Persians adore nothing but the Sun and acknowledge but one Divinity which is the Universal Soul of the World I think it much more excusable to be of a bad Religion than to have none at all For generally most part of Men follow the Sentiments that are given to 'em at their Birth But when we are endued with true reason asson as we begin to have any understanding we ought to know there is something Unknown Great and Supernatural that governs the Universe Those whom the beautiful Noromata calls the Libertines of the Court resum'd Agathirsis cannot deny but there is something Eternal which has been without beginning and which by consequence ought to be without end But the difficulty is to know what is eternal Since you allow of this answer'd Chrysantes it is sufficient For is it not more easie to imagine an eternal understanding Being pardon me these great words Madam added Chrysantes looking upon Noromata than to conceive a Material Body which without any understanding should always subsist or should always have subsisted As ignorant as I am replied Noromata methinks I understand perfectly well what the wise Chrysantes says And so natural
And I add hereto when it is as strong as it ought to be in a wellsorm'd heart and for an accomplisht Prince it contains somewhat of all the strongest Passions that can make us love This is carrying the thing very far said Alcinor I am of the same Opinion said Philocrita and without pain I give to Princes Respect Obedience and if you will Admiration when they are worthy of their Station But as to the tenderness of heart I keep it for my friends Very far from going from what I have asserted replied Cleander I maintain this sovereign Passion if I may be allowed to use that Term holds something of all we know most strong in the heart of Man I mean the most ardent motions of Piety Respect and Acknowledgment which good-natur'd Children have for their Parents and generous Persons for their Benefactors of the Union of Interest and Heart which is met withal in a happy Marriage of the greatest and most firm friendship and of the most solid Love This is a very bold Assertion said I. True it is said Celanira that we do not at first well apprehend how this can be so As for the first thing which Cleander asserted interrupted Alcaeus I easily comprehend it And indeed added he a Man must be perfectly bruitish and stupid not to know by this great and beautiful prospect of Nature that 't is the work of a mighty and a sovereign power He must likewise be little sensible of motions natural to see so many Thousands of Men voluntarily obey one person who sometimes has no other excellence than his Character and not know that there must needs be in this I know not what that 's Divine which lays the first foundation of our affection to our Princes Alcaeus has exactly spoke my thoughts replied Cleandâ—…r But I shall add what I have considered a Hundred times with amaâ—…ment which is that Men who have established so many several sorts of Government have never succeeded so well as when they have seem'd to abandon their own Wisdom to commit ' emselves to that of Heaven Sometimes they thought fit that every one should keep his Vote his Suffrage an equal power in the Republick which also seem'd most consonant to Nature Sometimes they were of Opinion it was only for the wisest to govern and by consequence for the oldest Sometimes they have taken their Masters only out of the most Illustrious Familys Sometimes they declared Merit alone could attain to that Station Sometimes they have chosen 'em out of a very great number sometimes out of a less and sometimes out of a very small one They also one while reduc'd ' emselves to one sole Prince but Elective another time to ways of Government mixed of all these together But they did never any thing so well which contributed more to the Grandeur Tranquility and Continuance of States as when they resolved to take their Kings of one only Race from Father to Son such as it should please Heaven to bestow upon 'em sometimes Warlike sometimes Pacific sometimes Excellent sometimes Mean in Knowledge with Vertues and Vices which Humane Wisdom cou'd not foresee at such a distance It is not to be imagined that such a thing as that can be done by Chance An Accident once casually happen'd whereof all Ages will speak that a Painter throwing his Spunge finish'd a Picture incomparably better than all his Art was able to have done But in the most important of worldly things it would be madness to say that Chance alone gave a better success to Hereditary Principalities than to others that by Chance there has been of 'em from the beginning of the World not only more than of any other sort of States but more than of all the others together that by Chance in all Times and in all Climates so many different Nations in Temperament Genius Inclination Manners and Language have most commonly chosen a Form of Government which seem'd at first the furthest off from the relish and interest of each one in particular and this is without doubt what cannot be well imagined That I grant said Alcaeus the World must necessarily yield either to a certain Experience which makes the good success to appear of that sort of Government or else it has followed I know not what blind Instinct which mov'd it thereunto and it seems to be rather the latter for as much as we may see by Histories the first Ages have had no less inclination than the latter for that sort of Government And indeed added Cleander there were towards the middle of Ages as I may say several Republicks but all weak languishing agitated with Civil Divisions and in fine of a very short continuance except the Roman which began in Monarchy and ended too in it But in general no Republick has lasted so long by much as several Monarchics and especially the French Monarchy which was never so formidable to all its Neighbours as it is at prefent after so many Ages and which is in short so flourishing that there is reason to believe it Eternal it not being possible to conceive where it can be defective So from this Instinct of Nations for a Successive and Hereditary Government of one only Person I believe we may justly gather somewhat Divine which passes into the hearts of Men and inspires into 'em a dutiful love mixt with Religion I assure you said Philocrita laughing I shall be henceforward a better Subject than I was For tho the Prince in whose Dominions I was born is such an one as his People could wish 't was ever my Opinion that if I had lived in the First Ages and had a voice to deliberate in such like things I should never have bethought my self of making Kings nor of being a Queen But after all said Celanira Cleander has reason to say that there is something Divine which ties the hearts of Subjects to their Princes As for what Cleander has asserted said Alcinor that the Passion which one hath for his Prince has something of the Veneration and Acknowledgement which we have for a Father and Benefactour this is easie to be understood in those who owe all their Fortune to the Prince but much less in those of whom perhaps he never so much as thought I grant replied Cleander 't is much stronger in the first but I maintain that it is also in all the rest if they are endued with Reason and Vertue In the first place pursued he the Prince has no Subject of whom he does not sometimes think how unknown soever he may be to him in thinking of all his Subjects and of their general Good There are none but owe to a good Prince their Repose Tanquility and all the happiness of their lives The true sign of an ungrateful heart is to distinguish very subtily between the Obligations and their Causes By that means they banish all Obligation and Acknowledgment out of the World I easily apprehend said Alcaeus that there are
to suppose that Hesiod had made that Hymn upon Neptune For besides that this kind of work has a great deal of his Character this had moreover conciliated to him the assection of the People who had newly heard those Verses sung And methinks such an extraordinary cause as this was requisite for the stirring up the people to that extraordinary action 'T was also convenient to make his Wounds bleed afresh and to make Clymene be so far transported as to accuse her very Brethren without thinking of it For otherwise the people would have been very inconsiderate to tear those two men in pieces only for that Hesiod's Dog fell upon them So I maintain that a man who should have invented what the History says of this Adventure would have made a sorry business on 't and the person who has composed this Fable according to the Rules of Art deserves to be commended for it Truly said Herminius he has made pretty good use of all that History has afforded him And I find my self fully disposed to believe that if it be not so it might have been so there being nothing without doubt which better confirms a Fable well invented than those Historical Foundations which are every where to be seen and cause Fiction to be received when it is inmix'd with Truth But unquestionably it is a more difficult thing than may be imagined to mingle those two things well together For they should be so ingeniously interwoven as they must not be discerned from one another without it be almost always that what has been invented may seem more probable than Truth or Chance is allowed to do incredible things But a Wise man is never allowed to invent things that cannot be believed But if all I have now heard be not a truth Plotina I expect Amilcar should restore me the Tears I have shed or he would invent some other Story as Comical as this is Melancholy or he would at least say what course is to be taken for the inventing a Story well Now for my part added she agreeably if I invented a Story methinks I should make things much more perfect than they are And indeed all the Women should be admirably beautiful the Men should be as valiant as Hector all my Heroes should kill at least a hundred men in each Battle I would build Palaces of Precious Stones cause Prodigies to happen every moment and without amusing my self with having judgement I would suffer my Imagination to take its own swing insomuch as only seeking for surprizing Events without examining whether they were well or ill grounded I should certainly do very extraordinary things as continual Shipwrecks burning of Towns and a thousand other rare things which give occasion to fine Complaints and fine Descriptions Plotina said these words after such an ingenious manner as gave sufficiently to understand that she knew very well what she said was not the right way and she only sought to set Anacreon Herminius and Amilcar a speaking who were undoubtedly able to discourse very well upon that Subject and truly she attained the end she proposed to her self For Anacreon not being yet well enough acquainted with her to know all that ingenious Malice whereof she made profession took up the Discourse And looking upon her laughing If you invented a Story after the manner you speak of incomparable Plotina said he to her you would without doubt make a very peculiar sort of thing For with these same very fine Events marvellous Descriptions Heroick Actions extraordinary circumstances and Palaces of Precious Stones you would make one of the worst Fablâ—…s that ever was invented there being undoubtedly nothing worse than to see things of that nature done without Order and without Reason And indeed is there any thing more strange when it lies in the persons power to cause whatsoever Events he pleases to happen yet to make such happen as 't is impossible should ever happen But pray replied Plotina What method is there to be used And why should what I say be improper Because rejoyn'd Anacreon assoon as you have a mind to invent a Fable you have a design to be believed and the true art of Fiction is to resemble Truth well For assoon as we deviate from that foundation there is no more difficulty in whatsoever we undertake and there 's nothing more proper to shew Wit when the Author has any than to have no Judgement I conceive well enough said Claelia what Anacreon says And I agree that those things which have an Affinity with Truth and seem possible to happen touch more than those that can neither be believed nor feared But if people never said any thing but what seems true resum'd Valeria and that may easily be believed I should think only very common things would be said and such as are not over-diverting Ah! Valeria replied Amilcar you touch upon a very nice point For though we are not willing to endure incredible and impossible things yet we do not pretend that onely mean and common things should be used And there is a third course to be taken which is the most agreeable of all and the most rational Wonderful things so very far from being prohibited are very necessary if so be they do not happen too often and they produce câ—…rious effects and none but fantastical and impossible Circumstances are absolutely condemned For how can we be perswaded of any thing when we have once met with an incredible Circumstance When one of my Slaves has but once told me a Lye I afterwards doubt of all he says to me Judge then if I can believe a man who shall fall a telling me such extraordinary Adventures that my reason could not suppose they were possible Thus we must almost equally avoid things impossible and things low and common and seek the means to invent such as are both wonderful and natural For without this last quality there is no Wonder that can please a rational person And truly replied Herminius assoon as a man would invent one of those sort of Adventures which may instruct or divert he must consider the World in general as a Painter considers his Model when he works And as Variety is the Soul of the World an Author ought to be very cautious not to make that all the Men be Heroes all the Women equally Beautiful the humours of one another resembling and that Love Anger Jealousie and Hatred always produce each the same effects On the contrary he must imitate that admirable diversity which is seen in all men after Homer's Example with whose Writings I know that two Ladies in this Company are very well acquainted For there is seen so great a distinction of Images in his Works that 't is one of the things which make him the most admired Those two Lovers who at the beginning dispute among ' emselves for a Captive being of a different temperament act likewise after a different manner Thus although they are both in Love they
seizes to run and even to fly But great Fear does as it were strike dead and renders motionless And we may conclude from its contrary effects it is not what people would have it to be I have seen men in the Army said Lisander whom excessive Fear has forced to be valiant but commonly it is the source of Cowardise Fear said Xenophon is in such ill reputation that in all Times and Places where Sacrifices have been made the Priests would never make use of timerous Victimes which have ever been imputed as unworthy of being offered to the Gods I assure you said Eupolia laughing I had not made that Reflection but I perceive if I had been in Polixena's place I should not have been sacrificed Fear said Xenophon does not onely magnifie evils it multiplies 'em and knows likewise how to perswade those it possesses that what is good is evil or may become so All other evils have bounds pursued he Fear has none at all For it often makes us apprehend what is not what will perhaps never happen and even what never can come to pass Yet it is natural to fly from Evils said Eupolia True resumed Melicrita but Fear meets 'em and invents false ones which nevertheless do cause real Griefs That is very well observ'd said Theramenes And we may also adde extream Fear does neither suffer the Memory the Judgement nor Will to prevent the mischief it causes men to apprehend It often happens but not always that Fear proceeds as much from want of Judgement as from want of Heart and what proves this is that the evils which Fear causes men to foresee are more great and numerous than those which can really happen Fear pursued Alcibiades is the most usual Source of the Apparitions which are so much talked of in the World and there is no Passion which makes so sudden a subversion of the Reason In War Cowards take Trees for Cavalry The Dust which is raised by a Flock of Sheep puts sometimes a disorder into an Army when pannick fear seizes on the Souldiers Hearts And as I have already said there is no Passion so powerful as Fear no not Love it self Ah! as for that said Eupolia I comprehend methinks sufficiently why it is more cult to resist Fear than the most tyrannick of all Pissions which is Love For as I try it in my self assoon as Fear seizes on the Hearts of those who are very susceptible of it it disturbs their Reason whereas generally speaking the first moment of Love does but begin to seduce it That is very well observed said Alcibiades And we may adde methinks that assoon as Fear arises in a Soul disposed to receive it it is great and terrible from that very first instant And the Imagination accommodating it self to it and following the weakness of a timerous Heart not onely multiplies the Objects but aggrandizes 'em and makes 'em Monsters which the Reason being subdu'd cannot surmount nay sometimes not so much as struggle with But pray cried Eupolia it is my Heart which begins to fear and not my Mind But from the very first moment that Fear seizes me I know no more what I say nor what I do And sometimes I cannot comprehend why all the World is not as much afraid as my self There is methinks said Theramenes a very remarkable Circumstance against Fear which is that the panick Fears which happen in Armies and amongst people passes for Divine Punishments Yet I assure you interrupted Eupolia smiling I do not think my self so crâ—…inal towards the Gods as to be punished with Fear And I would rather own it to be a Weakness than a Punishment from Heaven But still said the Princess would I willingly know if all sorts of Fears are blamable In no wise Madam answered Xenophon But we must know when to be justly afraid Fears that are just and bounded by Reason are praise-worthy the others are weak and childish Who fears nothing is void of Reason For Earth-quakes and a thousand other dreadful things are to be feared But properly speaking blamable Timidity is that which causes us to fear what is not to be apprehended Methinks said Areta with her usual modesty we may remark one thing which is that of all the Passions Fear is the onely one which does not give one sole moment of Joy Anger Hatred Envy Covetousness Revenge how violent and unjust soever they may be give sometimes Pleasure even in their Fury but Fear can never afford any and it even poysons all the Presents that Fortune can make it being certain there are no agreeable Blessings to those who are always afraid of losing ' em But after all said Theramenes there is a Fear which proceeds from a source altogether Noble which is Love and this I maintain to be just and laudable and which is found in the Hearts of good Subjects towards their Kings of good Citizens for their Country of Children to their Parents and in general in that of every one who knows how to love whether in Love or in Friendship That I grant said Xenophon but that kind of Fear very far from disturbing the Reason helps the Judgement and fortifies Virtue And I boldly aver that Fears of that stamp bounded by a right reason ought not properly to be called Fears they are rather wise Reflections The most just of all Fears added he is without doubt that of the Gods and yet that must have its bounds For it must be moderated by the hopes we ought to have in their goodness In a word excessive Fear is always blamable and a Great man of my acquaintance advises the fearing Vices and not fear Dangers or Misfortunes For if they are inevitable we must prepare for 'em and rest contented And if we may avoid 'em we must endeavour to do it without disturbing ourselves by Fear That is very easie resumed Eupolia for such Heroes as you to say but I am perswaded there is a thousand things which Ladies may be allowed to fear For by example pursued she how is it possible for a virtuous Woman and one who loves her Reputation not to be afraid of Detraction I am not of that opinion said Melicrita she ought to look upon it with contempt and onely be afraid of deserving it Melicrita is in the right said Hiparetta but I am perswaded we ought to be allowed to fear being deceived I am too happy interrupted Eupolia that I can oppose some sort of Fear But in this occasion I oppose it and I maintain that to be always afraid of being deceived is the way to be so often There is likewise a kind of Fear which I find blamable added she which is that which makes certain people fear they are laugh'd at Ah! as for that said Hiparetta it is ridiculous But I know others whom I do not think over praise-worthy which are those persons who are always fearful of doing wrong or speaking ill and who through this fear take a wrong
Byas in all they say or do The Fear you speak of resumed Xenophon is sometimes met with in the minds of persons of Merit who can never take a wrong Byass in any thing they do And who nevertheless whether in Writing in Speaking or in Acting are fearful they do not fill the Idea they have of things they would write say or do Ah! as for those People resumed Alcibiades I may assure you it is the Idea they have of ' emselves which prepossesses 'em and their Fear most commonly is not Modesty but Pride because all seems below ' em And I would willingly ask 'em if they would do better than they are able But for my part I find there is courage in despising Reputation to a certain point and not to believe all is lost when one has once committed a faults as if there was any one person in the World that is not subject to failing In a word I find it much more just to have some confidence in one's self You have reason in what you say re-assumed Areta For I have a Friend whom all the World esteems yet never could be satisfied with himself And he does not esteem himself unless it be when he knows from others that the World is satisfied with what he writes or with what he does I assure you said Alcibiades if I had not some esteem for my self never should I say or do any thing of value But yet methinks said Hiparetta there is less danger in distrusting our selves a little and in fearing not to do well enough what we undertake than to esteem our selves too much and confide rashly in our own Capacity and always take our own first Thoughts for the best For I believe one may very often be not onely one 's first but one's onely admirer What Hiparetta says resumed Theramenes is well remarked Yet I believe to speak rationally a man of Honour who has solid Merit may esteem himself with reason and confide in himself since after all the Master-piece of Humane Wit consists in knowing one's self well I do not onely say in knowing our Imperfections to amend 'em but likewise our good Qualities upon condition that whatsoever advantageous knowledge a man may have of his own Merit he does not admire himself For I maintain the greateâ—…t Wit in the World must ever see something beyond what he does And I am sure the famous Phidias whose Reputation goes through all the Earth did never make a Statue that fill'd the Idea he had conceived of it no not even that Ivory-Minerva so renowned that it is the admiration of all those who see it But Phidias has nevertheless proceeded boldly on in his Work and has surpassed all others yet without surpassing himself So as I conclude there must be an intention to do well without always fearing to do less well For Fear disturbs and dejects the Mind of whosoever is possessed by it Nevertheless said Alcibiades this Fear so decried and so worthy of being so has met with such fearful men as to build it Temples and with allusion to it to build the same to Paleness That is pleasantly remarked said Euripides but I am perswaded this had a moral and hidden Sence which those who built 'em might have explained I should have some desire to know said the Pxincess if the Fear which causes Blushing is more excusable than that which causes Paleness Do not doubt it Madam said Theramenes For commonly that which causes blushing does proceed from bashfulness and a modest shame Whereas that which causes Paleness shews that all the Bloud is retired to the Heart for the supporting its weakness But in a word added he there is no better Preservative against Fear than to prepare one's self for all events For my particular said Eupolia Anger does hearten me more than Reason and People are undoubtedly more susceptible of Fear in some occasions than in others Truly said Alcibiades Fear is more or less powerful in one and the same person according to Ages and even according to Occasions Childhood and extream Old Age are proper to Timidity One is less fearful in health than when one is sick the temperament does contribute very much thereto And there is a natural Valour one of Ambition one of Experience and Habit one of Reason one of little Wit and Brutality There is likewise a diversified Fear according to what I just now said This is to be admired said Xenophon that this Fear against which we speak produces the finest effects imaginable for Eloquence when one has the art of inspiring it to the purpose That I grant said Euripides for when a good Citizen can by the force of his art fill the Hearts of the People with the fear of Skivery he disposes them to accept of a Master That I have had but too much experience of said Alcibiades But when likewise a General of an Army knows how to inspire Courage into his Souldiers by the contempt of their Enemies he takes a directer course to Victory than if he made 'em afraid of ' em And this shews there is no general Rule but has an Exception But after all said the Princess you must allow there are rational apprehensions provided they be limited That has been already said Madam replied Xenophon But rational Apprehension is very different from Fear But interrupted Hiparetta may not we say that Hope is a kind of Preservative against Fear in ordinary occasions For if we are sick we hope to recover They who plead a Cause are in hopes to gain the Process I assure you interrupted Eupolia that Hopes without reason are little better than an ill grounded Fear and I can hardly believe but that in affairs of the World Fear is the better Byass For my part said Theramenes I agree that in Love Fear has sometimes more tenderness than Hopes But in affairs of the World I take Hope to be more reasonable and more necessary than great Fear But Fear said Eupolia makes us foresee misfortunes and may make us avoid ' em A too fearful foresight replied Alcibiades is on the contrary the occasion that People thinking all lost do nothing for their safety Whereas he who knows the Danger and has some hopes of escaping it is contriving in his mind the means of ridding himself out of it He acts goes comes and by much hoping he escapes the Peril Whereas those people who despair of all fall asleep as I may say in their misfortune and never get out of it For my part said Eupolia I must confess I am born with Fear and that it is onely by the effort of my Reason that I resist it For first of all I fear Death in all kinds I fear Old Age Poverty and Grief I sufficiently comprehend all those Fears resumed Alcibiades but those are not what I meant in my Discourse I mean those which make People too much afraid of what is to come and which will never allow 'em to hope for
saw Eupolia the other day troubling her self at the news of the death of a man who had liv'd neer an Age. For my particular said Theramenes I have seen her lose an excellent Collation for that it thundered For my part said Hiparetta I know very well she refused to come one day to a very agreeable walk onely because she must have crossed a River Pray you resumed she agreeably do not take so much pains to sift your Memory for all that I fear since I know it much better than you And now I find you have a mind the Princess and all the persons here who are but little acquainted with me should know my weakness I will confess to you all I am afraid of I fear all Diseases in general great and small I fear Thunder I fear the Sea and Rivers I fear Fire and Water Cold and Heat the Sereens or Blasts and Mists or Fogs and I am afraid the Earth should happen to tremble here as well as in Sicily Moreover I know to my misfortune all that has ever been said of Presages and I know it to my torment And to say all in few words I fear all that can directly or indirectly occasion Death But cannot you call to mind said Alcibiades that fear of Death does alter Health and may make one die the sooner for the curing your self of so many Fears Cannot you think added Melicrita all those Fears are useless that if the Earth is to tremble it will tremble in spight of you that if the Thunder is to fall it will perhaps rather fall in the place you shall chuse for your asyle than in that you quit And cannot you in short submit your mind to the will of the Gods But cannot you your self conceive retorted Eupolia that if I could do otherwise I would Do you think I am bereft of all Reason And do you think I do not sometimes see I am to blame But after all at the same time my Reason condemns me my Imagination is Mistress of my Heart and makes it act all it pleases What I finde admirable is said Therameâ—… that most people give a handsome Preâ—… to the Fear they have of dying For they boldly say they are not so weak as to fear the pain that is suffered in dying but are afraid they have not spent their Lives so well as they ought to have done And this is extraordinary that without becoming better for the putting a period to the fear they say they have they onely think of preserving their Healths and avoiding all Dangers without any thoughts of reforming their Principles and Manners Ha! as for those people said Alcibiades all the world is full of 'em and there is nothing else every where to be seen than those persons who fear the Punishments of the other Life without growing better and who by all their actions bely all their words and shew they onely fear Death since they onely precaution ' emselves against it For my part said Eupolia as I am not over-wicked and that I confide in the goodness of the Gods I do not so much fear what will happen to me when I am dead as what will happen to me before I die For I am very much afraid of grief and pain and then I have a horrour for that obscurity of the Grave But after all said Areta all your Fears are useless you must die as well as those who fear nothing and the surest way is to live the most virtuously we can wait for Death without desiring and without fearing it and receive it as a thing we had expected all our lives and which is not to be avoided For my share added the Princess I think there is more constancy required for the supporting old Age when it is attended with the inconveniencies wherewith it is usually followed than for the receiving Death with a good grace True it is said Hiparetta agreeably that when one is accustomed to be young beautiful and healthful it is a cruel thing to be Old Ugly and Sick And I know not over-well though I hate Death sufficiently if I should not rather chuse it than to see my self in that condition Ha! as for what concerns me said Eupolia though I had been as beautiful as Venus in my life-time who should offer to raise me up again to Life if I was dead and to raise me up ugly old diseased and unhappy I would take her at her word and should rather chuse to live horrible ugly than to be dead because I reckon Life for a great blessing But you do not think of what you say replied Hiparetta smiling and you are less afraid of Death than you imagine for I sancied you were going to declare you would not for any thing in the world be raised again to Life for fear of dying once again and yet you talk after this rate My acquaintance are so used to rally me for my weakness said Eupelia that I am never displeased at the drolling War they make upon me But the mischief is you are not the better by it replied Melicrita and are incurable For after all as a brave man cannot become cowardly and fearful so a timerous person cannot become valiant Since Fear does sometimes make some contemn Dangers said Lysander I know not why Reason may not do as much Those who contemn Danger through the excess of Fear which renders 'em valiant replied Xenophon can never give greater Proofs of their timidity than by doing a thing so contrary to their Temperament Thus one may say they are brave without ceasing to be Cowards and without laying by their true Nature It is not so with those who would employ their Reason for to drive Fear away from their Hearts since it cannot be done but by engaging them and making 'em act against their own inclinations Xenophon had certainly reason for his assertion said Eupolia But to comfort me for my weakness added she I could wish all the Ladies of the Company were obliged to say particularly what they think of Death I assure you said Hiparetta after having once seriously thought of Death for the regulating ones Life it is pretty convenient to think of it no more or very seldom When against my will I hear of the death of any one soever I suddenly seek for some cause for that persons death which cannot sute with me For example If it was a person in years I plainly say that he or she had been long in the World and I think in secret I am far from that Age. If the person was young I say that he or she were of an unhealthy Constitution At another time they did not take care of themselves in another Encounter that he or she had done something that had occasioned their Disease And whatsoever I say I flatter my self I shall live as long as one can live I know the Names of all those who have lived an Age and diverting my mind from that fatal thought
assoon as I can I abandon my Heart to Joy and find my self beyond comparison better than Eupolia does in abandoning hers to Fear For my part said the Princess I am not like you seeing I think of death when occasion is offered for so doing but I think of it without fear For as I must infallibly see it one day nearer than I do at present I take it to be convenient it should not be altogether a Stranger to me It is evident Madam said Alcibiades you have a Soul much greater than that of Xerxes who nevertheless had a grandeur of Courage since you think of death without any great disturbance Now for Eupolia's comfort continued he I am willing to put her in mind that this Prince being desirous to see from a high Hill his Fleet and Land-army he caused 'em to be put in battle-array for that purpose and then seeing above Five Millions of men which composed those two formidable Armies he could not forbear Weeping bitterly when he thought not one man of 'em would be left alive a hundred years after Methinks said Thrasybulus who had not yet spoken and who was then something out of humour that an instance of so great a weakness is no Consolation to the fair Eupolia But that she may know Xerxes Tears were not found to be over-just I must tell her that one of his Relations called Artabanus and of a firmer Heart than himself seeing him weep with that weakness told him Death was not so great an Evil nor Life so great a Blessing because though Life is very short there could not perhaps one man be found in those two great Armies but had found it too long by the evils wherewith it is attended And indeed pursued Thrasybulus with a haughty and melancholy Air if Life was prun'd of all that is vain frivolous troublesome laborious and bitter the remainder would be so small a thing it would not deserve the pains of regretting the loss of it I could rather have wished resum'd Eupolia laughing you had not spoken at all than that you should with such injustice fall a decrying the sweetness of Life For I find nothing in it bitter but the cruel thoughts of losing it How said Thrasybulus Do you reckon Childhood for a great happiness or extream Old Age when it is infirm And for the Middle Age it is so mingled with Crosses whereof the several Passions are the cause that it may be said we have but moments of happiness And the dissolution of humane Minds is such that what often serves to Pleasures is what often causes Grief to follow without excepting Love it self Insomuch as without deviating from the truth we may assert that all things trouble the joy of this Life which the beautiful Eupolia is so much in love with and that Sleep it self does almost bereave her of the half of it Ah! as for that Robbery said Eupolia laughing I could wish with all my heart that one could be without it For as I have unhappily heard one say that Sleep is the Image of Death that fatal Comparison when I remember at my going to bed it hinders me sometimes from sleeping for fear I should not wake again But pray said she let us speak no more of Death I conjure you if you have not a â—…ind to make me die But what course do you take said Areta when any one of your acquaintance dies For still you do not renounce all manner of Decency and Civility You must visit your Friends or at least write to ' em I assure you said Eupolia I never write Letters of Consolation without falling sick and I carefully avoid that terrible word which frightens me I onely say that I share in the grief of my Friends and partake in all that happens to 'em and never write that harsh word Death which I can hardly utter But Madam said Alcibiades how haâ—… you been able to suffer so many fine Verses and so many pretty Songs which your Beauty has given occasion to the making and wherein the expressions of Death are the principal and most melting terms For they often say they dye expire and a thousand suchlike things Ah! as for those Deaths who onely die in Verse replied Eupolia with a smile I am not at all afraid of 'em For we see plain enough they are in good health at the same time they are dying Not but that if my advice was followed they should content ' emselves with saying that they suffer languish grow impatient and should never say they die The word Destiny interrupted Hiparetta laughing puts you in as much pain as that of Death No no replied Eupolia but I am not much in love with the signification of it And in short whether directly or indirectly all that gives an Idea of the last moment of Life does render me uneasie And Melicriâ—… knows very well I could never pardon one of her Friends who as we were diverting our selves changed on a sudden the last Verses of a Song and ended it by these two Verses looking upon me after a malicious manner In spight of all Sports of all Love and all Play Without thinking of Dying you die every day True it is said Melicrita that Eupolia has ever had a peck since that time to the person who had play'd her this malicious Frank. The charming Eupolia said then Alcibiades is not of a Ladies humour whom all the world esteems who would needs know by heart certain Verses of another Lady a Friend of mine Are not they the Verses upon the Leaves which fall and upon the Leaves which bud said Melicrita The very same answered Alcibiades And as they pleased me extreamly seeing the Lady would not bestow 'em upon me I stole ' em The Princess and all the Company who had heard talk of 'em desired Alcibiades to recite 'em except Eupolia who feared those Verses would be too sad I imagine said that charming timerous person those Leaves which fall have some very fatal Moral and that it is a malice of Alcibiades to joyn with Hiparetta in drolling upon my weakness Not at all resumed he have you but patience to hear to the last of the Leaves before you judge thereof Which Eupolia promised him to do and the Princess pressing him to shew 'em Alcibiades began to read 'em After having said that the first were made in a little pretty Grove at the Fall of the Leaf and that they were but a â—…ifle in the opinion of her who made 'em as she was walking and that she would not have suffer'd 'em to be read in such good Company and especially before Euripides The Princess imposed silence on those who would have made answer and Alcibiades read the following Verses Down down you fading Leaves your duty pay You must your Mother Natures Laws obey A cold dark melancholy Winter now draws nigh And gloomy Clouds obscure our once-bright skie Our Hills and Meadows all with flowers adorn'd With