peril whereunto I was exposed by the infidelity of that Element to which I had trusted my life nor the dangerous adventures that might occur upon the Sea could any way equal the satisfaction I had in my mind to see my self escaped from the violence of the King of Thrace and I rendred thanks to the Gods upon the account as if I had been already in the securest harbour In effect both nature and reason had made me conceive so much aversion and horror for the design he had against me that to free my self from it I despised all manner of inconveniences and should have precipitated my self into the most manifest dangers without consideration Yet I could not reflect upon the condition of my fortune without making some small complaint to Heaven nor consider with an absolute moderation how the Daughter of a great King was handled by her destiny which forced her being of so youthful an age and so tender a complexion to fly her native Country and to hazard her self upon the inconstancy of the waves to save her self from an Enemy who ought to have been her Protector and to avoid him as a Monster from whom in all probability she ought to have hoped for refuge against all manner of misfortunes How know I said I sometimes when I was most troubled with these sad considerations how know I but that in the same places where I seek for Sanctuary I may find more enemies and who will give me any assurance of those persons who are allyed to me by some proximity of blood if I have met with nothing but persecution and cruelty in my own Brother Will an Uncle be more pitiful to me than a Brother and may not I fear that he will prefer the amity of the King of Thrace before the protection due to me and that he will put me again into the hands of a Prince whose alliance is more considerable to him than the occasion of assisting an afflicted Princess and drawing an enemy upon him whose power is not contemptible Ah! without doubt I have not sufficiently deliberated upon this difficulty before I embarqued my self in so hazardous an enterprize and I should have considered that the Maxims of Kings and the interests of State are very different from the thoughts which Vertue and Piety inspire us with Whether the King of Cilicia shall put me himself into my Brother's hands or refuse me the refuge I desire against him In either of these two misfortunes I see my loss absolutely infallible and what way soever I turned my thoughts I know no other way for my safety Well added I raising up my courage if Gods and men abandon us death cannot fail us and we will receive it in the same manner either in Cilicia or in the waves as we would have received it at Bizantium rather than satisfie the horrible designs of our persecutor then we shall be more excusable than we should have been upon Adallus his first attempt and we shall sacrifice our lives to our misfortunes and our duty with a great deal less regret after we have tryed the means that Heaven hath left us for the conservation of it I oftentimes entertained my self with these discourses with Eurilus with my Governess and this Maid named Ericia on whom I have bestowed my most tender affections from my infancy and they took the pains to comfor me and to represent to me the little likelyhood there was that the King of Cilicia my Uncle should refuse me his protection to which he was obliged by consanguinity vertue and all manner of considerations nor need I to fear that the King my Brother would obstinately demand me or undertake war against my Protector upon a quarrel which would expose him to the blame of all the World They made me some other discourses besides wherein I really found reason and consolation and receiving my disasters from the hand of Heaven I expected the end of them with all the patience that possibly I could In the mean time we followed our Voyage with a great deal of diligence We had coasted the Isle of Lesbos we had a view of Eubea as we passed by we had left Creet upon our right hand and Rhodes upon the left and we had gone a good way betwixt Cyprus and Cilicia when fortune which had favoured us ever since our departure from Bizantium changed her countenance and made us know that changing of a Climate alters not destiny and that unfortunate persons drag the chain of their mishaps after them whithersoever they go We were but one days journey from the nearest port to Tharsus where the King of Cilicia makes his residence when contrary to all appearances the weather changed the winds became impetuous and all the Sea was agitated by a furious Tempest Never was storm so sudden and so violent and though our Mariners were very expert and our Vessel in very good condition the tossing of the waves was so vehement that within a few moments the Saylers who had often been in the like dangers cried out we were lost and began to despair of our safety You may judge fair Princesses what my fears were then and if the Spirit of a Young Maid though already prepared for all manner of disasters was slightly troubled at the reproaches of a terrible death I was affraid I sent up my vows to Heaven with prayers and tears and yet I could not repent my self that I had thrown my self into this danger to avoid that whereunto I was exposed in my native Country 'T is hard said I in my self 't is a cruel thing for a Princess to lose her life among the waves at such an age as mine but it would have been far more insupportable for to live in the shame and crime to which Adallus his violence had destined me We will die if the Gods have so ordained it but we will die in our primitive innocence without polluting it by any unworthy repentance or regret for having sacrificed this unfortunate life to that which we owe to consanguinity and vertue In the mean while as the Storm redoubled our Mariners did all things possible for to save us They cut down the Masts of the Ship discharging it of all their heaviest lading and forgot nothing that their experience in this art could prompt them to put in practice possibly their care hindred us from perishing all among the waves but it could not hinder the loss of a part of our company and after we had passed a dreadful night in the continual terrors of an approaching death at the break of day we discovered the main land on one side and on the other side part of those Rocks which render navigation dangerous near the Coast of Cilicia We would have done our endeavours to reach the land which we looked upon with some remainder of hope but the winds were not only contrary to this design but our Vessel was no longer in a condition to be conducted by the science of
body and perhaps there never was Lady in whose disposition there was such a noble emulation of mildness courage serenity and solid and sincere vertue Her Mother from whom she had her education was a very vertuous Princess and dead about a year before our coming to Segestes's Court. With all the instructions tending to the cultivation of that excellency of Wit and Understanding Nature had bestowed on her she had entertained all the noble impressions which might be instill'd into her by the best examples and such inquisition into the Sciences as was consistent with her Sex Never was there any guilty of a greater evenness and moderation or exercised a greater justice both towards her self and others and that expressed a more vivacity prudence and freedom of behaviour in a word she was in all respects such that the persons most hard to be humoured would not easily have found any thing which they could with reason condemn either in her sentiments or her carriage She was so young when we came to her Fathers Court that all her excellent qualities had not had the time to break forth to her advantage as they have done since but she was already such as I was dazled and astonish'd at and young Arminius whose apprehensions of things were much beyond his age not only approved his Fathers design and thought the Princesse such as he could wish her that he might without any violence to himself comply with his Fathers desires but he found her so amiable attractive in all things that notwithstanding the tenderness of his years he fell passionately in love with her upon his first coming thither His heart being in all things open to me he immediately acquainted me with his passion such as he felt it in himself and whereas there was all the reason in the world I should approve it I gave him all the encouragement I could to prosecute it Never haply was there an affection begun under a more happy Omen nor with greater hopes All things seemed to further it Clearchus was extreamly satisfied at the news of it Segestes beheld the first overtures of it with abundance of joy and Ismenia who was the onely person Arminius might fear was so perswasible and so compliant to the disposal of her Father that it was not much questioned but she would submit to what he so much approved and desired On the other side Arminius was such as to his person that there was ground enoughto hope his inclinations would be suitable to his duty and that she would without any aversion entertain a Lover designed her by her Father Accordingly things came to pass as was expected but whereas this part of the story is not that which most requires your attention I shall slightly pass over it to the relation of things of greater consequence telling you onely by the way that Ismenia entertained the discoveries of Arminius's affection without any mark of repugnance that she could not disapprove any thing in the passion of a Prince who with her Fathers consent was one day to be her Husband and in consequence to this the excellent qualities of Arminius both as to body and mind working that effect in her which it was hoped they should she gave us ground to conclude as much as could be expected from the tenderness of her age that she would not be insensible of the passion she had raised in another and for which she might entertain sentiments not onely innocent but such as were approved and desired by Segestes and his people She entertained the first discourses which Arminius made to her upon that occasion with a prudence infinitely above what might be expected from her age and onely gave him to understand that she had for the disposal of her Father a respect that should oblige her to submit thereto without repugnance but it was with such a grace as more violently enflamed the heart of young Arminius and his passion encreasing upon the daily discoveries he made of the admirable and amiable qualities of the Princess became at last so violent that I was my self much astonished at it and could hardly comprehend that in the heart of a person so young so earnest a passion could find place especially one attended by whatever occasion the greatest dis-enjoyments and disturbances Certain it is that while Arminius could content himself onely with the compliance which he expected Ismenia should have for the will of her Father he had all the reason in the world to be satisfied by the readiness he found in the disposition of that discreet Princess absolutely to conform her self to those things which she thought her self in duty oblig'd to do But when he would have pressed her further and trouble the serenity of her soâ—l by raising in it a passion suitable to his own he found it a business of much difficulty and such as engaged him in great inconveniences The inclinations of Ismenia were in such a calm as it was not easie to raise any tempest in and as she was willing to submit to reason so did she as violently oppose what she thought exceeded it or was at ever so little distance from a severe reservedness and modesty So that while Arminius desired onely to be well received and and to derive from her words and actions an assurance that she had no aversion either for his person or the design of Segestes he was the happiest man in the world but when he would engage her into a Love equal to what he felt himself he found it a hard attempt and it was a long time ere he could move that constant solid disposition out of its ordinary temper I being the onely person to whom he made all his complaints was acquainted with all his disturbances even to his most secret thoughts and it was from me that he deriv'd all comfort and encouragment when I represented things so to him as to perswade him that what he attributed to Ismenia's severity and rigour proceeded onely from her modesty and that he should be very glad to find so much prudence and caution in the person he was to marry But one day being engag'd in some such discourse to him not receiving it as I expected he should have done Uncle said he to me it is not necessary Ismenia should do any thing to satisfie me as to her modesty and vertue I do not in the least doubt of it nor shall while I live but I should very much desire to be assured she hath an affection for me as being not so forward to marry Ismenia as desirous to be lov'd by her and to see her do that out of affection which she does out of duty and compliance But do you not observe said I to him by her behaviour towards you that she obeys without any repugnance and consequently that that very desire of doing what she thinks her duty is the effect of some inclinations in her to endeavour your satisfaction since they proceed from her with so
Enemy that would destroy you and probably me too unless you vanquish it The Queen ended with these words which I heard with admiration and during the Discourse having ralli'd part of the confidence fear had scatter'd I made it serve me to answer these terms I am unworthy Madam of this favour you have given me and since I have merited your Displeasure 't is fit I should perish for the expiation rather than reserve my self for such a pity as you lately mentioned nor should my tongue ever hazard a second purchase of your indignation if that generous bounty which keeps company with the rest of your admirable Virtues did not allow me liberty to justifie my thoughts before you I will adventure then to tell you That Love as I apprehend it can neither be odious nor considerable to the person beloved but by the effects it produceth since of it self it is obliging and advantageous even to the Creatures least capable of apprehension if my passion had hatched any desire within me contrary to your virtue you might detest it as a Criminal as an Enemy that would poison the purity of your Soul But if it shall never inspire any other than such as shall instruct me to revere those admirable qualities the Gods have given you to interest my self in your fortune and sacrifice my self for your interests where will you find a just occasion to condemn it Is it a Crime for Tyridates to do the homage of a pure veneration to the divine Beauties and Perfections of Mariamne Is it a Crime for Tyridates to give up all his thoughts and dedicate his whole time to this employment And is it a Crime for Tyridates to long for an occasion with the price of his Bloud and Life to buy repose for Mariamne Madam if I have other Thoughts other Desires than these punish me with all the rigour your first Resentments inspir'd you with and let the Divine Powers joyn with yours to compleat me the most miserable of all men But if you find in my Affection all the Innocence you require in the Gods name Madam give me leave to carry it to my Tomb it is a necessity which will never endure to be dispenc'd with a Favour which I conjure you by the remembrance of all that you hold most dear to grant me And if the place were clear'd of witnesses that I might be permitted to ask it at your feet I would never rise from thence till I had obtain'd it These words and the vehemence wherewith I pronounced them wrought upon the generous and tender Spirit of the Queen and stirred up such Thoughts as took her some time before she could get them out into Answer at length she dispos'd her self to it and as she was beginning we found our selves at the end of an Alley where turning to continue our Walk we spied Salome and the rest of the Company so near us as the Queen saw she should not have time to discharge her heart and seeing her Company staid to let us pass before we quitted the place she thus reply'd Tyridates If your Thoughts be such as you say I can find no just cause of Offence but were they yet more innocent I must counsel you and do with all my Soul crave of you if it be possible to discard them from your Heart since they cannot be but ruinous to your Repose and mine She said no more and whether it were that she was willing to pursue this Discourse no further or that she suspected the malicious spirit of Salome might ptobably raise a bad comment upon our privacy she joyn'd with the rest of the Company and would separate no more From this day I dated a happy change in my condition and believed my estate much more advantagious than formerly The Queen though she disapproved my research and saw the continuance of it with displeasure yet she endured it with a most noble patience that would neither suffer her to banish nor hate a Prince who ador'd her with a Devotion so pure and unbyassed as nothing in it could be found fit to censure and never hoping to advance farther in her favour I learn'd to stay my content upon what I had This began to restore my spirits and recal my colour and if my Face still shew'd some discontent it had a root in the Queens miseries and not mine The condition of this great Princess was deplorable and though the King loved her with an almost enraged passion such was her aversion to all the endearing passages of his love as She took them for so many effects of Heavens indignation and though her virtuous resolution held her to the severe rules of her Duty her great courage could not be pliable to such caresses as she believ'd not due to the destroyer of her Family and a man yet crimson'd with the blood of her nearest Kindred these disdains sometimes raised such tempests in the King as he was often ready to poure them upon her as the last effects of his fury but then would Love step in to check Anger and taking the reins from those raging Transports which he had suffer'd to get uppermost render'd him more soft and submiss than ever and sent him to seek that with Prayers and Tears which he could not obtain with all his menaces We were one day in the Kings Chamber whither he had invited the Queen and they standing together at a Window after some discourse which we heard not he proffer'd to kiss her but the Queen whether she thought such condescention injurious to Modesty in so great a Company or in effect follow'd the motions of a just Hatred recoil'd some steps back and turn'd away her head with disdain enough The King was so gall'd with this Action especially appearing before so many witnesses as all the power he could make was not capable to hide his Passion and beholding the Queen with eyes sparkling with rage and a Countenance on which Fury had spread it self You are unworthy said he both of the Honour was offer'd you and all those that went before it Go get you out of my Chamber and if you do not remember the destiny of your Fathers remember that I promise to make you know him for your King whom you now scorn to acknowledge for your Husband The Queen return'd no other answer to these cruel words than a disdainfull look which more provok'd him and saluting the Company without change of countenance quitted the Chamber to retire to her own The Kings Choler which had often produced horrid effects made the whole Company tremble only in me it missed that influence for all the prudence and discretion I could make had much ado to hinder my discontent from breaking loose and it was the consideration I had for the Queen and not my self that bridled it Yet not in such a manner but when I saw the Queen retire I hasted after and offer'd my hand to lead her to her Lodging But as her spirit was less
hope of resource for this miserable people a few days after submitted to all the conditions were thought fit to impose They would have been very gentle could my Master have staid his authority in those parts but the next day after the battel conceiving his duty amply discharged he went to find out Carisius whom he had left lame of the Gout in a neighbouring City where after he had passed him an account of the state of affairs as he lest them remitting the whole power into his hands he took his leave of him and a few days after parted with the same Equipage that followed him to the Army endeavouring by great days journeys to reach the Imperial City I will not repeat the passionate complaints which broke from the sence of his wrongs in that voyage grief and anger took their turns in his words and actions and sometimes the latter transported him to such rash language and loud threats as his friends till then had never observed and indeed were very unsuitable to his ordinary moderation whatever diligence we used in the voyage we arriv'd not at Rome till three days after the news of our last victory which we found had taken up a glorious welcome and express'd it self in all the varieties of Joy to receive us bonfires and sacrifice made the streets flame and the Altars smoak at a more conspicuous expence than was usually bestowed upon the combust of larger territories and for a more conspicuous mark of glory the Emperour having now no more Enemies in the world to trouble the tranquility of his Dominion in sign of an universal peace had caused the Temple of Janus be shut which always stood open in time of War and was never seen closed since the reign of Numa Pompilius Had notice been given before of my Masters coming his reception had been little short of a triumphal entry and certainly had he desired the triumph it self it would have been granted him but because he left his charge and came back without Augustus orders he thought it not fit to give advice of his arrival yet could not hinder the first that saw him pass from breaking out into loud acclamations and the noise of his return ran so swiftly from mouth to mouth as in a few moments it was divulged through the whole City Love entituled the payment of his first respects to Cleopatra amity pleads the precedency of his visit to Marcellus but his desire to observe an exact Decorum in the requisites of his duty vanquished the motions of Love and Amity and conducted him with a great train of friends that followed whose number swel'd at every step to the Emperours Palace where he then was in person Marcellus who had met the report of his arrival as well as the rest ran to meet him with a throng of his friends and encountring at the Palace-gate that Interview was spent upon the dear entertainment of such mutual Caresses as cannot be well understood but by those Souls that have listed themselves under the standard of as perfect an amity nevertheless it was well observed that their faces were not painted with that satisfaction which ought to have followed the glory of my Masters victories after they had a thousand times repeated their dear embraces and my Masters courtesie paid what was due to the salutes of his friends the two Princes drew themselves aside from the rest of the company and fell into some private discourse with the Subject of which the language of their actions easily acquainted me we heard not what was said till the latter end when my Prince raising his voice This is my resolution said he I will go presently to Caesar and render him an accout of the Commission he gave me and after I have represented my services I will demand Justice of himself for the injustice he has done me and I said Marcellus will joyn with you and against all Enemies that dare oppose us our interests shall be in separable At these words they mounted the stairs hand in hand and went together to the Emperors lodgings he was then retir'd into his Cabinet only with Agrippa and Mecaenas that entertained him with some important affairs of State but when it was told him that Marcellus and Coriolanus were at the door he commanded they should enter maugre his suprizal at my Masters sudden appearance he receiv'd him with a smooth aspect and gave him such a welcome as was due to the fresh memory of his grand actions Coriolanus having saluted him with all the respect that was owing to his person and dignity fixing a bold and undaunted eye upon his face and preventing some questions he was ready to ask Sir said he I am doubtless culpable by appearing in your presence before the repeal of your orders but while my being was necessary in those places where you did me the honour to send me neither the memory of my dearest interests nor the entire peace of my Soul had power to pull me from those occasions of your service all your Enemies are defeated above 100000 Barbarians have had their threds cut by our Swords their Cities are all submitted their Provinces in a profound obedience and what now remains for Carisius to do will cost neither labour nor effusion of blood and now Sir I bring my Sword and my life to your feet employ them both upon fresh expeditions if that which I came from has not yet made me worthy of the recompence your self taught me to hope for spare not blood for it cannot be more gloriously spilt than for the service of Caesar and the conquest of Cleopatra He let fall these words in a graceful and becoming posture that charmed the Spirit of Augustus who witnessed the high thoughts he had of him by most particular Caresses and after he had repeated many embraces with an action that overflow'd with kindness You have done things for our Empire said he the Grandeur of which does not only excuse your return but almost leaves us too weak to acknowledge it yet I expected no less from your vertue whereof you have ever shown such beautiful marks as may give you a just encouragement to attend a recompence that possible outweighs the possession of Cleopatra It is to her only Sir hastily replyed the Prince that I have rais'd my ambition and as it belongs to none but great Caesar to give away a Gem of that value so I ought to receive it of him as a present infinitely above my services I am sorry replyed the Emperor that my promise does oblige me to favour Tiberius in his research of Cleopatra he is the Son of the Empress my Spouse whose affection has too great a sway in my brest to go away with refusal yet I would never have consented to vote against you had not I prepared you another gift far more considerable than what you pretend to and with what gift my Lord replyed the impatient Coriolanus can you satisfie me for the loss of
retir'd and coming to my beds side when the Coast was clear with a wax Taper in her hand Well Madam said she what reception have you given the news from Artaban and how do you relish that success which conducts you to the Crown of Media I can do no less than rejoyce as I ought said I at such events as advance the fortune of our family and I quadrate mine with the King my fathers resentments who from Artabans victory reaps a grand assurance of his own estate and growing hope to increase it by the spoils of his Enemies and do you not feel replyed Urinoe you that are the great wheel of all actions for whom alone he lavishes his blood and life a gladness that intirely depends upon it self and singly grows up from its own root Ah Mother said I turning away my head to the other side with a troubled look will you eternally torment me with the memory of that man whose ambitious flames have kindled my disdain and anger And instead of helping me to disdain against his presumption must I ever be persecuted with the grandeut of his services and the merit of his person If I could hold my peace reply'd Urinoe without ingratitude and injustice I would leave him out of my discourse to please you but all the care and complacence requir'd in a servants fidelity cannot make me blot out the remembrance of a man to whom I owe all for the love of you and whom I would not love but because you ought to do so Sure Urinoe said I you have lost a large part of your discretion and I find of late so little reason in your words as I know not whether innocence will allow me to listen any longer to them You may pass what judgment you please upon me reply'd Urinoe with a serious visage but if you tax me with imprudence for so slight a cause I fear you will judge me à convicted fool when I have told you that I lately receiv'd a Letter from Artaban directed to your hands with an ingagement of all the credit that my care and your goodness has given me in your thoughts to perswade your perusal Be not astonish'd Madam pursu'd she remarking some amazement in my looks I would sooner have taken my death than this imployment if I thought it might justly offend you and you would wrong me to believe that my own life is not less dear to my desires than your interests 'T is true Artaban is no Prince but his vertue has already rais'd him above the greatest and will doubtless place him in a rank that shall overtop the best of those that enoble that title Besides Artaban adores you with the same respect that he owes the Gods Artaban fights for you and possible in shedding the last drop of his blood at this moment in your quarrel Urinoe followed this discourse with a long train of other arguments arm'd and authoriz'd with so much power deriv'd from my education as in spite of all my repugnance she forc'd me at last to read Artaban's Letter though I think she had not gotten so cheap a victory upon my resolution if the treachery of my proper inclinations had not aided her and my own desires struck as many blows as her perswasions in the combat Madam I have made you a confession which then I would not own to Urinoe and to that end indeavouring to possess her with a belief that to her alone Artaban was endebted for all the obligation I suffered her to approach with her candle and she open'd the Letter wherein I read these words Artaban to the Princess Elisa I Know not Madam what success I ought to expect from the continuation of my faults since my fate enforces me still to offend you and if fortune be so kind to conduct these blots to your bright eyes and so noble to lose a few moments upon the object you will read an unhappy obstinacy in my crime that may provoke a heavy doom from your anger yet Madam I have no power to repent it and though I were sure my ruine were infallibly tyed to the perseverance I would run with a greedy haste to embrace it as my last felicity To die for you is a thousand times more glorious than to put on laurel for the conquest of Media or make the spoil of Asia wait upon the triumph and the victories I may win for the King your Father must ever yield precedency to the honour of being vanquish'd by you I know you cannot chuse but blush at the conquest nor rank a private man without shame among your slaves since 't is the duty of all the Kings upon earth to submit to you and wear your chains as their greatest ornament but we have no power to fight against the force of destiny and as mine has not suffered me to fasten my regard upon any thing that is not above me so yours can let you see nothing that is not as much below you you will hardly find an equal to your self if you seek it among men and if that poverty of merit in mankind be suppliable in part for default of a full proportion it can be no other way than by such thoughts of respect and veneration as mine I know the present pitch of my short winged fortunes disgraces all the proof I can give of any zeal to serve you but possible the Gods may one day permit me to put longer feathers to their opinions and strengthen my plea to that priviledge by supplement of vertue which my birth has refused me In the mean time Madam do me the grace to receive my services without aversion and suspend your judgment which doubtless by the vote of your first resentments could not choose but be rigorous till the sequel of my actions may better inform you whether justice will enjoyn you to sign my pardon or pronounce my condemnation This was Artaban's Letter which at the solicitation of Urinoe I read distinctly and though I found some cause to be vexed at the process of his boldness yet I had not reason enough left me to confute the reasons that induc'd me to pardon him Urinoe read more than half a confession of this in my visage and willing to compleat her discovery after she had taken up the letter which I had thrown by with a regardless action Ah! Madam said she why will you do this violence upon your self do you taste any sweetness in this constraint or does my fidelity begin to be suspected is it to me that you ought to disguise your thoughts and do you believe that you hazard any thing in telling me that you are not willing to hate Artaban These words spread the Crimson livery of shame upon my cheeks and covering the blush as well as my hand would do it Urinoe said I you have almost put me past the power of answering and if customary freedom did not give me a larger Commission of boldness with you than other persons I should
themselves a breach in spight of all his Courage that denyed them passage Gods what a fearful divination of my succeeding mischief did that object shoot into my soul how quickly did my spirit at the same time take the impression of my misery and release my repose I advanced towards Artaban with little less disquiet in mine than his looks had shown me the noise of my approach made him lift up his head and he knew me in spight of the prepossession of those passions that disputed precedency in his Soul the light of me inraged the storms of those transports that shook him and he had much ado to stop the torrent of his griefs from breaking out into a discovery by a loud out-cry though I often called him by his name as I made my approaches it was long before he could digest his woes into words and instead of advancing to meet me he leaned his back against an Arbour and holding his arms a cross upon his breast he staid my coming up in a posture that pierced my very Soul with pity my affection soon reached me a share in his anguish and it cost me no second thoughts to divine the cause of his inquietude the fear I had entertained to learn something from his mouth that would justifie it self made my tongue turn coward for a time and charactered a disturbance in my looks that were little short of his in fine I first overcame the confusion that shared it self betwixt us and violently putting by my own sad apprehensions that my judgement might have liberty to make a more dexterous application of comfort to his How now Artaban said I are your knowledge and courage both wracked with one gust what have you let your self sink under the weight of a grief that appears in your visage below the knowledge of Elisa At these words Artaban drew up two or three groans from the bottome of his breast and fastning his eyes upon me with a wild and half distracted look Yes Madam I do know you said he with a voice composed of almost as many sighs as words and oh that Heaven had pleased I had known you less or better In fine Madam pursued he a little re-inforcing his spirits the same Gods that took me from you have cruelly torn those hopes from my heart that my indiscretion planted there and a King whom I can neither call cruel nor ingrateful because he is your Father does rigorously punish the same offence your indulgence pardoned his refusal exposes me to a death that might have been far less bitter and more glorious had I received it as a just doom of my boldness from your command but in this my destiny is much more cruel that utterly unable to love the man that pays me no other price but Death for all my services it is not permitted me to hate him that disclosed such a mine of Treasure as your self to the World At this period a shower of tears that violently broke their way stayed the pursuit of his discourse which softened my Soul to such a melting temper as forced me freely to unlock the channels of my own and putting my hand before my face with a purpose in part to hide them Artaban said I my fears were always Prophetick of what has befallen you and though your services esteemed aright I believed ever there could be nothing too great for your expectations yet I know the Kings disposition too well to over-see so sad an augury this I may safely protest and possibly with too much truth that the cause and sense of your sorrows have equally divided themselves betwixt us and since you cannot be ignorant that I love you you may easily guess from that how large a share my heart has carved it self in the sufferings of your disgrace would to Heaven it lay in my power to smooth all the frowns in the face of your fortune and that the Gods had as happily suited the Kings intentions to mine as my will is submitted to the indispensible tyes of duty to an absolute dependance upon his Believe it Artaban you should quickly know that your vertue takes place of all those in my choice that swell the titles of the greatest Kings nor has the whole Universe a capacity to court my soul with a clearer satisfaction than by putting you in possession of that priviledge my wishes design you But since the Gods will not let us be happy at our own Election call upon the greatness of your courage for a resignation to their wills 't is that must create you hopes to calm and quiet your displeasures and doubtless cut you out fairer Fortunes than any can flatter your expectations in the Court of Parthia I cannot see my self reduced Dear Artaban without a sad reluctance to offer you this Counsel but you must not be ignorant how poorly my power can befriend my will in a business of this nature and you know with what a precise obedience maids of my birth are tyed to the austere rules of their duty they are those that subscribe me a blind submission to the will of my Father and my King And they are those interrupted the sad Artaban that reduce me to this deplorable estate which draws tears from your fair eyes no Madam 't is not the power of a King that creates my misfortune had I nothing but that to combat perhaps I might find forces enough to hold up my Buckler which now I must lay down at your feet since you are my opposer it may be I should throw down all other difficulties that stand in my way to happiness and I think the powerfullest impediments would all become the Trophies of my resolution if your consent would vote the Triumph but 't is that I know not how to hope and 't is that too Madam that has made a coward of all my courage to demand it no Madam I dare not ask any thing that crosses your humour in behalf of a miserable man nor pretend to the violation of a duty that forbids me to be happy for though I were born to greater Crowns than those that embrace your Fathers Temples I should not suffer so bold a thought but since a Sword is all the portion that Heaven has given me I should be too unworthy of the glory I have gotten by it in serving you should I ask more than what I have already received of your goodness my desires then Madam are all contracted in this single request continued he throwing himself at my feet that you will only suffer me to go away with the honour of being yours and continue it till one short Scene of my life be acted I shall not long trouble you with keeping the Commission and I promise you to make hast into the arms of Death as the only medicine that is left for all miseries While he spake in this manner I had seated my self upon a bank that was behind me and regarding him in what sad estate with all the
possible that from an adventure so uncommon the Gods may produce some extraordinary result and that by wayes to you as yet unknown you may find the means to satisfie your duty and the acknowledgment you owe to Alexder's affection Leucippe used many other arguments to divert her from the design she might have against me and I am obliged to her for this that she forgot nothing for my defence against Artemisa's scruples By her discourses she really wrought great effects and after a long conversation upon this subject the Princess went to bed without taking any resolution But if on her side she passed the night in some disquiet for my part I was extreamly tormented and though I thought I had surpassed the greatest difficulties that lay in the whole course of my enterprise and I saw no signs of anger in Artemisa's countenance when I declared my self to her I saw nothing likewise which could make me expect from her any compliance with my designs and that did not leave me in a perfect uncertainty betwixt hope and fear The next day I durst not present my self before her at the hour accustomed but only walked in the Court of the Palace with Narcissus contenting my self to lift up mine eyes to her lodgings without having the boldness to go up thither I had not cotinued there long but by fortune I saw Leucippe appear at the foot of a pair of stairs I went towards her as soon as I knew her and when I was near enough to her to be heard by none but her self beholding her with an action full of fear and submission Leucippe said I you certainly know my fortune must I live or must I die You must live without doubt answered she and death ought not to be sought for but when all other remedies fail You understand me right replyed I and I think now I am no longer unknown to you No Sir said Leucippe you are not unknown to me and I have vowed no less service to Prince Alexander than I had amity for Alcippus Alexander added I was known to you before Alcippus and it was upon the account of that remembrance that yesterday night he desired your protection I think it was necessary for him and I hope it will not be useless to him if you will employ it for his safety Sir said she possibly I have served you already and will serve you with affection and fidelity I cannot yet inform you of the condition of your affairs the Princess is as yet uncertain what resolution she should take I can only assure you that she does not hate you and that without doing her self violence she will never pitch upon any design which may cause you any displeasure I shall never have any regret replyed I to execute punctually whatsoever she shall please to order me and if for part of the reparations which are due to her from our unfortunate family she demanded my life or something more precious than that if it were in my power I should as willingly give her the remainders of it as to have given her the beginnings Do not despair of your affairs answered Leucippe but expect from a former inclination which powerfully takes your part whatsoever you can reasonably require of it She cut these words short seeing the Princess who was coming down appear at the top of the stairs and not desiring to be surprised by her in this particular discourse with me but if she avoided her sight upon this occasion I desired to shun it no less than she and like a criminal I hid my self from the countenance of my Judge Artemisa mounted into her Chariot at the same gate where I had spoken to Leucippe and though I was retired behind divers other persons from off the steps which are at the gate she saw me and knew me as from the place where I was I held mine eyes fix'd upon her face I easily took notice of her action and I saw that at the first sight of me she was a little troubled and looked downward with a discomposed countenance All the rest of that day I did not present my self before her and for divers other dayes I never saw her but at a distance my love having created a fearfulness in me which deprived me of assurance to accost her whilest I was uncertain what reception I might expect I desired to draw conjectures of it from her countenance and if I entred not into her chamber nor waited upon her as I had been accustomed I was every day where she passed by and being near enough to be seen by her and to observe her I took notice that at the sight of me she changed colour and cast down her eyes not being able to look upon me confidently I almost repented at those moments that I had disturbed the tranquility of her life with this trouble and I could not observe the marks of her confusion in her face without resenting some displeasure for having been the cause of it At last I resolved to make a full discovery of my fortune and not being able to live any longer in this uncertain condition of life I believed that by writing to the Princess I might oblige her to acquaint me with some part of my destiny upon which design having shut my self up in my chamber I made my Letter speak in these terms Prince Alexander to the Princess Artemisa THat fear which keeps my tongue tyed up and forbids me access into your presence hath permitted me to draw out in this paper not my justification for I seek none if I have offended you but a declaration of that blind obedience wherein I submit my self to all the punishments you shall please to ordain for me if the conservation of the memory of those precious affections which honoured the beginnings of my life if obeying the command you laid upon me to come one day to you if seeking with some danger the opportunities of engaging my self in your service are offences worthy of your anger or rather if to be the Son of Anthony and Cleopatra be a condition which may expose him to your hatred behold Madam behold the criminal both by his birth and actions ready to suffer whatsoever upon either account he may have meritted from your just resentments I did believe by the first intelligences that you were pleased to give me of it that your goodness had wiped off from my birth whatsoever rendred it odious to the Princess of Armenia and I did judge my actions innocent because they were authorized by your command but seeing I have been deceived both in my hopes and my opinions I will not avoid the occasion of rendring you satisfaction both for anothers crime and my own offences I expect Madam the sentence you shall please to pronounce with a firm resolution punctually to execute it and I beg only of your goodness that after the effecting of your will how fatal soever it shall be to me you would out of pity
I saw divers of those that guarded me weep at this discourse and turning my self to the Commander I bad them shew me the way I was to go they conducted me out of my Chamber amongst a great number of Javelins and having passed the stairs I found at the gate a Chariot covered with black which waited for me and in that I was mounted to march to the great place I was followed and environed with a great number of men both on foot and on horseback and in this manner I advanced into the streets where by reason of the throng of People we could pass but very slowly there were few persons amongst those that met me in my passing but shewed divers signs of compassion and highly blamed the cruelty of their King some spake in pity of my youth wherein they saw me cruelly snatched from the fairest hopes others paused upon something of gallantry that they saw in my face and the greatest part reflected upon my birth and the inconstancies of fortune which from the height wherein I had been formerly seen had thrown me down into so extraordinary a misfortune We arrived at last at the place where I saw the fatal scaffold erected and the press was so great that we could not get thither without a great deal of trouble I lighted from the Chariot and mounted upon the scaffold with a very assured countenance to shew my enemies that the fear of death had not much staggered me and when I was at the fatal place where I was to lose my life I walked a little and turned my eyes on every side upon the standers by who had filled all the place and windows adjoining I looked upon them a while without speaking and then on a sudden addressing my discourse to those which were neer enough to understand me Armenians said I since it is the destiny of the innocent to suffer for the culpable I believe you will one day undergo the punishment of your Kings cruelty as I am exposed to the resentments he might justly conceive against my relation you may possibly see your blood shed in his quarrel as I am upon the point of giving mine for Cleopatra I do not wish this to you nor to Artaxus himself because as unworthy as he is he is the Brother of the Princess Artemisa but I very well foresee that the cruelty of your Prince will not remain unpunished and I advise you his people and subjects either to arm your selves for his defence or to quit his party These words were heard by Artaxus himself who out of an horrible baseness had placed himself in an house adjoyning and from behind a glass window saw all that passed in the place The infamous Ministers of my death were already upon the Scaffold and the chief of them coming to me told me that it was time for him to do his duty and prayed me to let him bind my eyes with a cloath he had for that purpose Friend said I to him I am not so much afraid of death that I cannot see its approach without being frighted at it I will receive it with my eyes open without putting thee to the trouble of closing them before death does it After these words disposing my self to take my last farewell O Artemisa said I I give you my life as willingly as you will bestow some tears upon my death These words were followed with a mournful murmur of the greatest part of the standers by and immediately after putting my self into a posture to receive the fatal blow I commanded the Executioner to do his duty and stretched out my neck under the instrument of death which he lifted up into the aire to separate my head from my body O Gods cryed Caesario at this part of Alexander's Narration O Gods is it possible that you should escape death after you were reduced to such great extremities and that fortune which had brought you to so near a precipeice should be ready to succour you in such a desperate condition You shall hear replyed Alexander a very strange event and I am about to tell you of an action that can hardly be parallel'd by all antiquity Divers attributed it to folly others to a real and uncommon generosity and it is to that vertue that in memory of him who did it for my sake I will absolutely impute it instead of robbing him of a glory which is due to him which in ages to come they cannot deprive him of My neck as I told you was stretched out and the Executioner had already lifted up his arm to give the fatal Blow when he was stopped by a voice which cryed out Hold two or three times He stopt his hand which he had advanced believing it was some order from the King and turning that way from whence he heard the voice he saw a man who mounted upon the scaffold with a naked sword in his hand who presently ran him through the body and tumbled him dead at my feet At the noise he made in falling down by me I turned my self towards him who had done that action and no sooner cast my eyes upon his visage but I knew him to be Cepio who animated by the most generous courage in the world came to repair his imprudence by the boldest attempt that ever was undertaken Narcissus followed him but could not get near the Scaffold by reason of the press which environed it and the great number of Souldiers that hindred his passage Cepio had no sooner dispatched the Executioner but he seized upon his sword and coming to me Alexander said he here 's Cepio who having by his imprudence brought you to your death comes to suffer with you I cannot preserve you from it but I will change the manner of it and you will be more satisfied to die with a sword in your hand than by an infamous arm Before he had ended these words he had already cut the cord which tied my hands and gave me a sword I felt my self animated by this assistance with an extraordinary courage and looking upon Cepio with a countenance full of acknowledgment I am sorry Cepio said I that you run upon your death and you do not owe me such a reparation as this for the ill you have innocently procured me but since through your generosity we must die together let us sell our lives dearly to our most cruel enemies We had not time to make any longer discourse and we saw already the Commanders of those that guarded me followed by divers of their Souldiers mounting the Scaffold with their swords in their hands I no sooner knew the cruel Eurilochus and his companion at the head of the rest but being seized with a motion of joy for the occasion that offered it self to me to revenge those indignities they had done me I flew to Eurilochus with a threatning cry Barbarian said I I have promised to be thy death and thou shalt receive it at my hands before I fall at the
saw I did not open my mouth to give him an answer What Philadelph said he are you surprized at this proposition and besides the knowledge you have already received of my pleasure have you found nothing in the beauty and rare qualities of the Princess Urania to engage you in her service with satisfaction Sir replyed I at last the Princess Uurania is worthy without doubt both in respect of her beauty and all manner of advantages of a better fortune than is intended for her and mine receives but too much glory in having been destined to her service but Sir that which I have already rendred her hath been entertained by her with so few marks of inclination that I confess mine is unedged by it and if your Majestie does not allow me time to dispose my self to it I shall never engage my self any more that way without repugnance The King shaked his head at this discourse to signifie to me that he gave no great credit to it and looking upon me with an action which expressed some discontent Urania is too wise said he to nourish any inclinations that are different from the intentions of the Queen her Mother and the King her Brother and I know she hath received your services as she ought to receive them But Philadelph I understand you are diverted by other passions which cannot be approved of by any person and though hitherto I gave little belief to the report that was made me of it and thought that a slight affection which beauty might produce for some moments in a young man's mind had made no considerable impression in yours now you confirm me in the opinion which I was perswaded to have of you and you make me believe that it is this unjust preoccupation that hath rendred you insensible of Urania's beauties and disobedient to my will This discourse of the Kings though I was a little prepared for it before surprized me and made me blush in such a maner that by the change of my countenance the King received great confirmations of his suspicions and was ready to open his mouth to tell me so much when I began to speak Sir said I they which made these reports to your Majesty are ill acquainted with my intentions and I have received no impressions which hinder me from obeying you as my duty is you may understand the truth of what I have said to you if you please to inform your self about it and whatsoever deference the Princess Uranea had to the Queen her Mother's will she her self will not possibly deny what little disposition she hath to love me I will know that added the King and if those dispositions be wanting her duty without doubt will prompt her to receive them as I would have you resolve upon that account to obey me without repugnance He spake no more to me at that time but permitted me to retire my self so ill satisfied that I had not the power to dissemble it I went immediately to the Princess my Sister who perceived my alteration by my countenance and having prayed her to cause Delia to be sent for when that fair creature was come taking Andromeda's hands and pressing them betwixt mine with such an action as discovered to her the agitation of my spirit Sister said I I desire your assistance in my misfortune and if you love me you will not refuse me your consolations in the inquietudes which torment me The King just now hath imperiously declared his pleasure to me and his will is that I should dispose my self to marry Urania within a short time but he shall sooner throw death into my bosome than that resolution and all the powers of the whole world combined with his shall never introduce any other affection into my heart than that which I have for Delia. This Maid if she will permit me to accuse her of it before you repays me with an insensibility to which possibly I have not obliged her and she perceives in me the most real and pure affection that ever was without being moved to so much as a single acknowledgement of it I desire you dear Sister and conjure you by all the amity you have for a brother who desires wholly to rely upon you that you would work other thoughts in her in my favour and that by all the credit you have upon her spirit you would perswade her that she ought to interess her self more than hitherto she hath done in the life of a Prince who hath absolutely devoted himself unto her In stead of being pleased with the design which I have to dis-esteem all things for her sake she opposes it out of a principle which I dare not attribute to ingratitude and by a prodigious excess of misfortune I see my self reduced not only to suffer the persecutions of the King but I see likewise with an incredible grief that she for whom I would suffer them in stead of comforting me in them rejects them with disdain Dear Sister inspire other thoughts into this divine person seeing all those I can desire of her cannot be disadvantagious to her and do not suffer me if you love me to be ruin'd all at once both by the Kings authority and Delia's insensibility Andromeda hearkned to me with some inquietudes which might easily be observed in the countenance and when I had done speaking Brother said she you need not doubt but that I interess my self in whatsoever may concern you and render you all the assistances that you can justly desire of me but Brother I am able to do nothing with the King and I believe I have no greater power over Delia's spirit hitherto I have not seen you desire any thing of her which I might not and do not counsel her to grant you and so long as your affection shall contain it self within these bounds I will do what I can possibly to interess her in what you suffer and are like to suffer for her sake Madam said Delia interrupting her I have all the obedience and deference for you that may be and all manner of acknowledgement and respect for Prince Philadelph I receve the affection wherewith you are pleased to honour me as my duty binds and I am not insensible of his as he accuses me I desire no greater testimonies of it than those which he himself reproaches me withall and if I did not look upon it as I am obliged to do possibly I should find glory enough in the affection of such a Prince as he is to make me close my eyes to the considerations of his repose 'T is because I esteem him according to his merit that I slight mine own advantages to promote his and that I would not suffer if it were possible for me that he should expose himself to the Kings anger for my sake and to those displeasures which he may receive by opposing his will I will suffer them all for your sake replied I with such a joy as shall keep me from being
unknown is this possible that you tell me and shall I be so happy as to be able to render you part of that which you have bestowed upon me Upon these words Ariobarzanes briefly acquainted him with the Shipwrack we had suffered the condition we were in for want of provisions and a Vessel to carry us off and the expection of our certain death if his Arrival had been deferred but a few dayes longer he made him this Discourse without telling him either his own name or mine being resolved not to discover himself before he knew my pleasure and the stranger without asking him any thing at that time more than he desired to tell him expressing an extraordinary joy in his look I praise the gods said he for the good Fortune they send me beyond my hopes and I protest before them that I will make such use of that no body shall ever possibly accuse me of ingratitude I will not only carry you and the persons which are with you out of this place but if the absolute Command which I offer you in those places where I can claim it cannot cause you to stay there I will cause you to be conducted to any part of the World whether you would retire and in all respects I will expres the acknowledgment which is due to the miraculous preserver of my life having spoken these words he would have gone along with Ariobarzanes to look for those persons which he had signified to him to be so considerable but Ariobarzanes seeing that he was weak and lost blood prayed him to retire into his Vessel to cause his wounds to be bound up supposing that it might be more commodiously done there than in the little Island where we were not provided of any thing necessary for that purpose whil'st he went to seek us to conduct us into his Vessel The unknown gave way to Ariobarzanes's will and some of his men being gone to put the Skiff into the water he passed into his Vessel with his men whil'st the joyful Ariobarzanes came back to us to acquaint us with his good fortune and ours You need not doubt but that the fear which I had during the Combat was succeeded by an excessive joy when I perceived the success of it and that from the place where I was I could observe that it suited with my desires though I was not without some trouble for fear Ariobarzanes might have received some hurt I saw that the Commander of those men whom he had assisted being followed by all his Company came to him and though I did not hear their Discourse yet I conceived and partly knew by their action that it expressed their thankfulness I had two causes of joy at the same time almostequally great the one to see Ariobarzanes escaped from that great danger with so much glory after he had performed such actions as made me know him to be one of the most valiant men in the World and the other to see our selves probably upon the point of being freed from the danger of death which had so long threatned us and from which we had so little hope to escape I began for all that to wonder when I saw all the men go away and reconduct their Captain to the Vessel without taking us with them and I apprehended that all was not well when I saw Ariobarzanes come to us His Cloaths in some places were covered with the blood of his Enemies and the heat of the Combat had overspread his Cheeks with a colour which made him look more handsome than ordinary I did not know what to expect from him when by the chearfulness of his countenance I guessed he had no bad News to tell us he expressed as much in coming to us throwing himself at my knees with Transports full of violence Madam said he to me you shall not dye and 't is not without reason that I alwayes hoped for particular assistances from Heaven for you I will not render you continued he with tears of joy the Office for which you designed me and it shall not be in this Island that you shall recieve from Ariobarzanes the Duties of a Burial He used many more expressions of joy and transport but in all the actions which were occasioned by his joy he made it alwayes sufficiently appear that his contentments were much greater for my safety than for his own my satisfaction was not inferiour to his and believing that it was unnessary to dissemble it before him and Ericia Ariobarzanes said I I rejoyce as I ought to do to see escaped out of so great a danger with so much glory and I am sensible as you may very well judge me to be of the happiness we have in being rescued from the death which we expected I look upon both occasions of joy with little difference and you ought not to believe that I am less contented to see Ariobarzanes Conqueror in so gallant a Combat than to vnderstand that we are upon the point of getting off from a place where we believed we should lay our Bones I was too favourable in my expressions without doubt if you censure them with any Rigour and Ariobarzanes's joy was so augmented by them that it would have broken out into excess if he had not taken notice of the coming of those few persons that were still left of my Retinue who upon the report of that great Combat which one of them had related to his Companions came all about me to receive my Commands I ordered them to go and fetch those things of ours which were worth the carrying and the gods know away they ran with excessive contentment and were no long time returning these poor people being quite transported to see themselves almost miraculously delivered from a death which they believed to be inevitable did such things as sufficiently signified the disorder which joy had occasioned in their Souls and this spectacle did so move me to tenderness that I could not hinder my self from shedding tears after their example In the mean time we enquired of Prince Ariobarzanes if he was not wounded and after he had retired aside to search himself he told us he had a little hurt upon his left Arm and the skin of his body a little razed in two or three places I praised the gods for this good Fortune and when our little Company was come together we marched towards the shoar where we found the Skiffe which waited for us to conduct us into the Vessel We passed into it thanking Heaven for our Fortune and though I looked upon the Rocky Island which we left behind us as upon a place where a few moments before I thought to have found my Grave and where I had lost some persons whose remembrance did very sensibly afflict me yet I confess I could not hate it when I remembred that it had bestowed Ariobarzanes upon me and the Prince as he hath told me since looked upon it with tenderness when he
wonder my Princesses That having made you a long Relation of the great Combat wherein the King my Brother received his wounds I have not told you the cause of it nor who the persons were against whom he fought but indeed the King himself was ignorant of it and so were all those that were with him and the Kings wounds having hindred him in the time of the Victory from thinking to take some Prisoners who might have acquainted him with the Truth when he had an intention to do it afterwards it was too late and he could find no body that could give him any information At the beginning of the Combat he thought they had been Pirats who had set upon him but he perceived afterwards that his Enemies aimed more at his life than at booty and they were too cruelly violent in the pursuit of him to be carried on by no other interest but the desire of Pillage as ordinary Pirats are At that time they could make no further discovery but time and things which hapned afterwards acquainted them with the Truth as you shall likewise understand by the Sequel of my Discourse The King knowing very well that there were in his Kingdom some persons ill-affected to his Service and that at his departure he had left things disposed to some Insurrection fearing lest his long absence and the uncertainty of his life might cause a great prejudice to his Affairs sent some of his Followers in his Vessel to go and assure his people That he had a design to return very speedily to them and to retain them within the limits of their Duty as much as possibly they could In the mean time the Chyrurgions employed themselves with a great deal of care in the curing of his wounds they were not dangerous but the Sea and the violent passions wherewith the Kings mind had been disturbed had exasperated them and rendred the cure of them more difficult In this place every one was ignorant of the Name and Quality of the King and the Countrey being very quiet his Equipage did not make him suspected and his Servants were ready with an Answer telling those who asked them That he was a Lord of Quality born upon the Frontiers of Thrace and had been wounded by Pirats who were frequently met withal upon those Seas In the interim I was guarded like a Prisoner though in all other respects I was treated served like a Queen and the King who remembred what I had undertaken a little before and fearing to lose me by a second flight or being afraid lest Ariobarzanes who might be concealed in that Island should use some endeavor to see me and possibly to get me out of his hands caused me to be so strictly watched that I had scarce liberty to go into my Chamber which joined close to his and during all the time that his Chyrurgions permitted him to see any body I was forced to be continually by his Beds-side and consequently always exposed to his cruel persecution Yet when he saw my spirit exasperated with a little more than ordinary violence he gave me a little intermission and protested to me that he would inviolably observe the promise he had made me not to force my inclinations but that was not capable of giving me any repose but was perpetually disturbed by his pursuits which I could not endure without horrour And if I may dare to confess it my fair Princesses that was not able to comfort me for Ariobarzanes absence His Image since I must conceal nothing from you continued in such a manner engraved in my memory and the remembrance of his Excellent qualities and the testimonies which he had given me of his love were so present and so dear to my memory that nothing could intermingle with them though but for a few moments without causing me a displeasure The Conversation which I had with my faithful Ericia was all my comfort and those hours when I had the liberty to converse with her without Witnesses I used all the expressions that a real affection could put into the mouth of a person that is very sensible of it and received from her mouth all that in that condition could afford any consolation to my sorrows Alas How many times hath she dryed up the tears which the consideration of my misfortunes made me shed promising me some change in my condition by the sight and by the cares of Ariobarzanes And how often against her own thoughts hath she flatter'd a grief which she judged to be capable of bringing me to my Grave The Name of Ariobarzanes was Musick in my ears but I could not so much as fancy a real hope of seeing him again and I found so little probability of it and so little safety for him that I could not comprehend how it might be done and indeed I did not know whether I might desire it or not Ericia said I sometimes to that Maid My misfortunes are real and my happiness is nothing but illusion I know that I am really tormented by the cruel persecution of Adallas that I did really expose my self to the mercy of a tempestuous Sea that I suffered ship wrack in an Island where I had almost perished by famine with those persons who were dear to me and I know very well that by the countenance of my ill Fortune I am really fallen into Adallas's power but as for all that concerns Ariobarzanes it seems no more to me than a Dream or a Vision But alas such a Vision as hath imprinted deeper Characters in my heart than the most real things In the very Arms of death Ariobarzanes appeared to me like a flash of lightning he inflamed me the first moment and in a short time after disappeared from my eyes with the same suddenness Whatsoever Beauty Valour Wit and all the most excellent qualities could contribute to accomplishment was presented to me in the person of a man unknown and at a time when I expected nothing else but death this admirable Master-piece of perfection immediately opened himself a passage to my heart and it seems my destiny shewed him to me by so extraordinary a way only to subdue a Soul till then in vincible to that passion and when it had wrought its effect when the miserable Olympia was upon such terms whereunto she never thought to see her self reduced the same destiny snatched away Ariobarzanes deprived me of that which made me in love with life and deprived me of it so that I shall see him again no more No Ericia I shall never see him more and the gods who have sent him to me by a prodigious Adventure do not work Miracles every day in our favour I will not suspect the spirit of Ariobarzanes of inconstancy or infidelity and I believe what you tell me That he will be alwayes faithful to me but what Advantage will that be to my happiness And how can he serve me without exposing himself to that death wherewith Adallas hath so
Artaban and ' twice in the same day we recommenced the Combat which was interrupted in Ethiopia Artaban said Elisa to him intermingling with their Discourse If you value my friendship and desire that I should esteem you you shall not only not be any longer an Enemy to a Prince who serves the Queen Candace but you shall contract as great an Amity with him as there is between this great Queen and I and you shall seek for opportunities to serve him with as much ardor as I have for the interests of the Princess whom he loves Artaban continued some moments without making a Reply and then upon a sudden resuming the Discourse Madam said he to Elisa the Prince of whom you speak doth so worthly deserve the esteem and the affection which you would create in me for him that 't was by the means of my misfortune only that the occasions which I thought I had to complain of him joining themselves to a natural repignance without reason and foundation made me resist the inclination which his Vertue â—ight have wrought for him in all the men of the World besides But though I had been a great deal more sensibly injured the declaration of your Will is so powerful over my spirit and the cause that gave birth to my first resentments hath so long ceased that I shall render to you without any repugnance the obedience which is due to you and to that Prince whatsoever he can expect from the most faithful of his Friends and the man who is best acquainted with his Uertue of any in the World These words proceeding from the mouth of a man who could not be suspected of any want of sincerity and freedom gave a great deal of satisfaction to the two Princesses and Candace turning towards him with a countenance that expressed her contentment I receive in Cleomedon 's stead said she a considerable Amity as that of the great Artaban ought to be and I promise you in the behalf of that absent Prince that he shall answer it with a freedom equal to yours Though he be absent replied Artaban I believe he is not very far off and if he got off from our Combat and from that we had afterwards against the Pyrats in such a condition as I did I believe he could not make any long Voyage But added he speaking to the two Princesses you know possibly where he is and in the mean time I cannot sufficiently wonder at the Fortune which hath brought you two together and in so small a time hath joined you in so firm a friendship You shall understand that at leasure said Elisa but in the mean while 't is as just that we should know from you by what miracle you are escaped from the Waves wherein my eyes beheld you entombed and where we had great reason to think that we had lost you for ever Artaban was about to return her an Answer when at first they heard a noise of Horses and afterwards turning about their Heads they saw a Body of Thirty or Forty Cavaliers who passed along the shore and marched towards Alexandria The Commander of this Troop had his Head unarmed and only covered with a little Bonnet shaded with a black Plume of Feathers the rest of his body was clad in Armor as were all the persons of his Retinue At the sight of the Ladies he left his Troop and turning a little out of the way where he left it he galloped towards the place where they were and he was no sooner come to them but having cast his eyes upon Elisa and immediately knowing her he remained so ravished at this incounter that for some moments he could not either by Action or Discourse express the perturbations of his Soul At last dissipating his astonishment O gods cryed he Behold behold her whom I seek for all the World over Having finished these words he threw himself hastily from his Horse and ran to the Princess of the Parthians Elisa at the first was surprized with his Action but she was a great deal more surprized and Artaban too when casting their eyes upon the mans face they knew him to be Tigranes King of the Medes Never was astonishment like to that of the fair Princess when she saw before her eyes a Prince whose sight after she had given him such great causes of resentment could not but be very formidable to her the man to whom the King her Father had given his consent the man that had espoused her by his Ambassadors and expected her in his own Dominions as his lawful Spouse and the same man whose Ambassadors she sent disgracefully back after that she was forcibly taken from their Conduct and had declared her intentions to them 'T is certain that at the sight of a Prince so highly offended and whom Elisa could not look upon but as a cruel Enemy the Princess was more like to one dead than alive and had not so much power as to stir out of the place where she was nor to utter one word 'T was at that moment that she took notice of the instability of Fortune seeing that when she thought her self redevable to her for the life of her Artaban upon whose death she had bestowed so many tears and when she was about to wipe away her sorrows by an unexpected felicity and to tast of an agreeable change in her condition she saw her self at the same time precipitated into the greatest miseries she could apprehend and fallen again into the hands of a man whom she was more afraid of than all the dangers to which she had been exposed to avoid him and under which neither Artaban's nor her own life could be otherwise than hateful to her Tigranes plainly perceived her strong surprize and not being ignorant of the cause of it he did not seem much troubled at it The usage he had received from the Princess did certainly give him matter of resentment enough but having a great deal of respect and love for her he believed that 't was not fit to make any uncivil use of this incounter nor intimidate Elisa's spirit by a rough demeanor towards her and so aggravate the grief which probably she might be sensible of for this effect of her bad Fortune He smoothed his countenance as much as possibly he could and he had no great difficulty to mollifie himself before a Beauty which might have wrought the same effect upon Tygers neither did he need to look far for humility before those eyes which might humble the proudest hearts In fine reflecting a great deal more upon his present happiness than upon all his past misfortunes he seemed to express in his countenance the change of his condition and accosting Elisa with an Action full of the marks of respect Be not astonished Madam said he to her at the meeting of a Prince whose Duty towards you nothing can dispense with 'T is not a Barbarian 't is not an Enemy that you have met and though the
made the name of Artaban as famous as Caesar or Pompey the Great so that Agrippa upon the Relation of his great Actions divers times felt a generous emulation in himself towards a man that in the Parthian Empire did so highly merit that glory which he sought for amongst the Romans He had a hundred times desired to be acquainted with so great a man and not doubting at that present but that it was he after he had viewed him from head to foot with an Action that expressed the thoughts he conceived for him If you be the Great Artaban said he as your Discourse doth make me judge you have reason to believe that a Crown shall not be more considerable to me than your Vertue and though I would not deny what is due to the Royal Dignity Trigranes must not be offended if I say that those men who dispose of Crowns are to be no less esteemed of than those that wear them and that such men as Artaban being not so common as Kings are will find amongst those that know what Vertue is that which Kings can never expect from their Diadems I will not only therefore assure you of Caesar 's protection and amity but likewise desire your Friendship as a benefit of so high a value as cannot be purchased at any rate Upon these words taking notice that Artaban was alighted because his Horse was wounded and was no longer able to bear him he alighted too to go and embrace him and Artaban the most fierce and daring man in the world towards those that undervalued him and the most humble and submissive to them that honoured him and those whom he thought worthy of his esteem received Agrippa's Caresses with all the respect he could have rendred to Augustus and looking upon him as a man whom his Vertue rendred far greater than his Fortune Generous Agrippa said he Fame hath but done you justice though she proclaims you to be the greatest of men and the honour you render to that little vertue wherewith she would flatter me makes it apparent that you possess it in the highest degree Whil'st Agrippa made much of Artaban Elisa was transported with joy at it and Candace who coming again to her embraced her a thousand times participated of her Friend's contentments as if they had been her own But Tigranes was ready to dye with grief and despight to see the advantages of his Rival and not being able to endure them any longer with patience Great Agrippa said he the esteem you express to Artaban ought not to make me fear that you will protect him against justice but leaving you at liberty to render him all the honour you can think him worthy of I only desire my wife of you and do believe you are too just to desire to keep her from me Elisa who heard this Discourse was minded to prevent Agrippa's Answer though she thought it would be for her disadvantage and drawing near to him I should have been Tigranes's wise said she if I would have consented to those violences which they would have done me in his favour but having alwayes resisted them as my Duty was and as I might well do being born in a free condition he never was or ever shall be my Husband and instead of acknowledging him for such I desire Augustus's protection and yours great Agrippa against the violence he would do me Tigranes would have made a Reply when Agrippa taking up the Discourse Tigranes said he you need not fear any injustice in any place that yields obedience to Augustus's Authority and if the Princess of the Parthians acknowledg you for her Husband and be willing to go with you we will be no hindrance to you but if she hath no such intention we will not suffer any violence to be offered her in those places where she cannot suffer it without prejudice to Caesars Authority whose protection she desires It shall be before Caesar if you please that you shall dispute your pretensions and you need not doubt but that he will preserve your interests if Justice be on your side In the mean time we will reconduct the fair Princess to Alexandria whither you are permitted to retreat as well as she and where you may expect if you please the arrival and judgment of Caesar Cornelius advancing upon these words confirmed Agrippa's Proposition to Tigranes and believing that so much Civility was due to the Royal Dignity he offered him as Pretor of Egypt what retreat he could desire in Alexandria Tigranes sighed divers times for grief and could not consent to the injury they did him in keeping Elisa from him but at last considering that he had not power enough to change the condition of things according to his wish and judging too that there was a great deal of equity in Agrippa's procedure he told him that seeing there was a necessity for it he would go to Alexandria and there expect the arrival of Caesar believing that he would restore him his Spouse and not deny him that Justice which he rendred to all the world All things being thus pacified Tigranes with his men marched towards Alexandria whither before he met with Elisa he had a Design to go and Cornelius though he parted unwillingly from Candace thought himself obliged in Civility to bear them Company and to take care of providing lodgings for them and Agrippa undertaking the conduct of Elisa caused her to mount again into the Chariot with Candace and though upon a confused report of the loves of Artaban and Elisa he already looked upon that great man with thoughts of jealousie he made the motions of that passion give place to Vertue so as to render him all the assistances that were due to him and supposing by the condition wherein he saw him that he could not be long on Horseback without inconvenience he desired him to enter into the Chariot with the Princesses leading him as it were in Triumph over the advantages he had gained over his Enemy O how much sweetness did Elisa and Artaban find in these delicious moments after so many tears and fears and dangers and if Artaban was proud to see himself at the feet of his adorable Princess how much was Elisa satisfied to see him so near her upon whom a few hours before she had bestowed so many tears Their mutual contentment would have been far more absolute if they had had the liberty to discourse together but Agrippa deprived them of that marching alwayes by the boot of the Chariot where the Princess sate At this time she endured his Company and Discourse more patiently than she did the last nor could she indeed look ill upon a man who besides the great qualities he was Master of had lately rendred her Services of such grand importance He could not speak to her but only concerning those things which had hapned that day and Agrippa following his vertuous inclinations rather than the motions of his jealousie continued to Caress Artaban and
that kindness she perceived with an astonishment much beyond the former that she was between the arms of Delia. Her surprisal had been much less if she had been the night before with Augustus when Agrippa gave him an account of what was most remarkable at Alexandria But having not had the least notice of it that unexpected interview raised such a disturbance in her that it was a long time ere she could find words to express her thoughts of it She thereupon quitted her Brother to return Delia the expressions she received from her of her Friendship and when the astonishment she was in permitted her to speak What means the kind Deities said she to her to make me so happy as not onely to meet with that Philadelph whom Delia had taken away from us but I must with Philadelph find that Delia whom he had lost as well as we You are not mistaken Sister replied the Prince you indeed see that inexorable Delia and which is more you will find her such by birth as that you will think it no less honour to entertain her alliance if you may obtain it as you sometime thought you did her in the proffer of yours Arsinoe and Andromeda were going to make some reply but they were interrupted by those that thronged in and were forced to expect the mutual account they were to give one the other at some more convenient time and place and Philadelph after he had saluted the Princess Urania with very much respect went to do his duty to the Queen of Cilicia his Step-mother who notwithstanding the ancient quarrel she had against him received him with expressions of a cordial affection The Palace of Alexandria which some years before had been the Royal Seat of the Ptolomeys enriched and embellished by the magnificence of a long series of great Monarchs was one of the most sumptuous and most spacious Houses the earth ever was proud of so that all the Court of Augustus at least all those persons who out of a consideration of their quality might expect Lodgings in the Emperours Palace found conveniences enough here The King of the Scythians and after him all the Princes that were about Caesar had sumptuous Lodgings appointed them and the King of Armenia who with the Princesses his Sisters and Prince Philadelph had taken a House in the City left it upon Order from Caesar to come and lodge in the Palace Elisa and Candace being unwilling to part had kept the Lodgings they were in before but Cleopatra left hers to be near Octavia whom she was wont not to be at any great distance from and it was taken up by the Queen of Cilicia and the two Princesses her Daughter and Step-daughter The numerous retinue of so many Princes was disposed up and down the great City of Alexandria which seemed then to be rather the Metropolis of the Universe then the principal City of Egypt and more proud of the abode of Caesar and so many illustrious persons then of that of so many Kings as had reign'd there and the glory of its Founder People immediately resort thither from all parts of the Universe and the report which was scatter'd abroad of Augustus's intention to continue there some time brought thither some out of all Naâ—â—ons upon earth The Emperour finding himself accompany'd by so great a number of â—â—e most considerable persons of both Sexes that the world could afford and particularly by the King of the Scythians whom he had more then ordinary respects for the Princess of the Parthians and the Queen of Ethiopia whose Territories had not any dependance on the Empire resolv'd to treat them with all magnificence and entertain them with those divertisements which the pomp of the Romans had invented such as Races perform'd by Horse alone or with Chariots and Duels fought by the Gladiators a-among themselves or with savage Beasts which he caused to be brought every where after him and whereof there was already come a great number to Alexandria The very same night there met a magnificent Assembly at the Princess Julia's Lodgings where to the sound of a great number of Instruments that illustrioâ—s company danced all those Dances which from the Greeks and other Nations had been derived to the Romans and which for that time prov'd the chiefest of their divertisements Julia appeared more chearful then â—he would have been at that meeting to comply with the Order she had received from Caesar though that by reason of the absence of Marcellus her soul seemed to be in a mourning posture but a mourning indeed suitable to her humour which was not over-susceptible of the most pressing griefs Thousands of Torches convert Night into Day to comply with the enjoyments of the nollest company that the Sun through all the period of his course cast his all-searchiâ—g eye upon The King of Armenia and the two Princesses his Sisters were dispensed from being there by reason of the late death of Artaxus though the whole Assembly were extreamly desirous of the presence of Delia. These famous beauties the chieffest haply the Earth could afford appear'd that night with all the advantages they could derive from either ornament or dressing and whereas Elisa and Candace had not at Alexandria all things requisite suitably to their quality the officious Cleopatra whose external beauty and internal excellencies were beyond all emulation and envy made provision for their dressing and furnish'd them with all they could desire to heighten that by forreign ornament and accomodations whereof Nature had been so liberal to them Nor was their appearance in that admirable company otherwise then as that of two bright Stars raising an admiration not onely in those that had not seen them before but even in those that had seen them in another condition though with some inequality Elisa's fairness giving her some advantage over the complexion of Candace to whom the Torches were so much the less favourable Julia indeed was the most glorious object there as well by reason of her natural beauty as the ornaments whereby she had advanc'd it and adding to the lustre of her countenance the sprightliness of her eyes the freedom gallantry and insiâ—uation of her action and deportment she for a long time inhanc'd to her self the observance of the whole Assembly Antonia though with less Art appear'd no less beautiful then she and by the command and modesty of her looks she produc'd as great effects as Julia had done by all the surprizing management of hers Never was there any thing seen that expressed more modesty and at the same time more attraction nor yet was ever Vertue so well discover'd and acted in external apparences as in the countenance nay indeed the whole personage of Antonia Her Sisters Agrippina Marcia and Marcella fair and sumptuosly drest had also those that approv'd them And Terentia Wife to Mecenas the worthy object of Caesar's affection and whose beauty was not much inferiour to the most accomplish'd shewed her self
and were not but too well satisfied that I cannot slight Glory without being my self slighted by Ismenia I shall not only tell you that a slave of the Romans deserves not to be yours nor is it the aversion I have for that yoak whence proceeds my greatest unhappiness But being confident that my Father will run the hazard to loose all his Dominions with his life into the bargain rather then submit thereto I cannot embrace it with Segestes without proving false to a Father and renouncing a Duty wherein my Honour is inseparably concerned 'T is therefore this Honour that I must part with or quit those dear hopes of being happy in the enjoyment of Ismenia See my fairest Princess what a misfortune I am involved in between these two cruel extremities and command me to do what I ought by all the power you have over my heart For in fine though Love and Honour may be at difference in my apprehensions yet do I feel a certain suggestion that tells me the obedience I owe you will decide it and settle all my irresolutions To this effect was the discourse of Arminius delivered by him with such a grace as rendred him more amiable then ever in the eyes of the generous Ismenia And when he had given over speaking the fair Princess looking on him with an action infinitely obliging Arminius said she to him I equally participate with you as well in your grief as your generous sentiments and I am not more troubled at our common misfortune then I am satisfied as to the justice of your suspence Love Honour Arminius no less then you do Ismenia and assure your self that it is onely Honour that Ismenia can love as much as she does you I have for you an affection which I dare acknowledge before all the world since it is countenanc'd by the consent of my Father nay it is such as I should haply be as much troubled at your loss as you might be at mine But in regard I set an equal value on your Person and your Honour fear not I shall upon any account of the power you have given me over you determine ought against either As Daughter to Segestes I cannot advise you to engage your self in a party contrary to his as sensible as I ought to be of of your affection I cannot out of any consideration desire you should leave me and as having a great tenderness for your glory I cannot condemn in you what you shall do for the preservation of it Whether you will be guided by the inspirations of your Love or those of your Vertue be it your consideration but be withal assured that what side soever you take the affections of Ismenia are inviolably yours Arminius was in a manner transported at this generous discourse of Ismenia and when he had heard the conclusion of it and found it so obliging and so consonant to his own desires Ah Madam cryed he how shall I be able to acknowledge the obligations I receive from this excessive goodness in you whereby you raise my crushed hopes And what fear or what interest can move me if nothing can deprive me of my Princess What I have said replies Ismenia relates onely to my affections and not to my person this is in the power of a Father who may dispose of it as he thinks fit but he hath not the same right over my affections and having commanded me to bestow them on you it were in vain for him by a second Command to order me to dispose of them to any other Be therefore confident that no consideration of merit service interest no not of any command my Father may lay upon me shall ever engage me to love any other then Arminius But imagine not I shall bestow my self on you against his consent and think not I forget my own Duty while I advise you to do yours Ah! Madam replies the afflicted Prince how truly great and generous is what you say but how different is it as to me from what I thought I had understood I Yet is it so rational replied Ismenia that I am confident you approve it and by the repugnance you find in your self to quit the party of your Father and renounce your Duty you but too well know at least to condemn it what I am obliged to in relatâ—on to my Father and my Duty 'T is very true Madam says Arminius to her that I have discovered to you the aversion I have for unworthy actions but I think I have withal declared to you that my resolutions depend on your commands and I should not be in any suspence whether I ought to obey had I the knowledge of them You cannot therefore with any justice alledge that unhappy example to destroy all my hopes and how great soever may be the love I have for Liberty Countrey my Father and my Glory all shall comply with the affection I have for you and thereâ—s nothing I shall not renounce to preserve it inviolably yours while I live It will be better replied the prudent Ismenia that we â—oth do what we are in duty obliged to and continue our affection but unchargeable even with that reproach which we may make to our selves Fortune will not haply be so malicious against us as we imagine she may and the inclination of Segestes which hath already suffered so sudden and unexpected a change to thwart our designs may suffer a second to further them But if that happen not it is not impossible but that the same considerations which have prevailed with my Father may also with yours and that he will of himself be inclined to hearken to an Alliance with the Romans if they offer it him upon advantageous and honourable terms If things come so to pass you may without reproach suffer the love you have for Liberty and for your Countrey to give way to that you have for me and I should have just cause to be dissatisfied with your proceedings if out of pure obstinacy would continue in a party contrary to that which your Father had embraced But if that happen not far be it from me to desire or approve in you an engagement in our interests against those of your Father and your Honour which I am no less tender of then your self I know my Father would never consent to your Alliance while yours should disapprove it and were not his Friend and I have already told you that all I can do in this unfortunate posture of my affairs would be to continue my affection inviolably yours without suffering a change for any other whatsoever but that I cannot dispose of my person without the consent of Segestes Arminius found so much prudence vertue in this discourse of Ismenia that could he not condemn her that fair Princess exercised the power she had over him with so much discretion that he could not but approve the design she had to keep within the limits of her Duty while she left him at liberty
Ismenia and commanded her to dis-engage her heart of the affections she had for Arminius and to prepare it to receive another impression such as the interest of his affairs should oblige him to give it if within some few dayes Arminius and Clearchus did not declare for the party he had embraced The Princess was as it were Planet-strucken at this Order of Segestes and knew not what to answer in an occasion wherein she could not make any consonant to her sentiments and observe her ordinary respect and the duty she owed her Father but pressed by him to some reply and to declare whether she were not without any repugnance resolved to him smothering her grief to find out words suitable to her inclinations and not able to stifle her great courage in the cruel injustice and violence was done her I shall my Lord said she to him I shall obey you as satisfied there is not any thing can exempt me from the obedience I owe you but it will be through the exactness of my submission to your former Orders that I shall find it the greater difficulty to execute the latter since that when you commanded me to love Arminius I received that affection into my heart as that only which should ever find entertainment there while I live and such as not easily be gotten out or ever give place to any second The duty which oblig'd you to love Arminius when I desired it replies Segestes will have the same power to make you forget it now that my design is changed and will perswade you to entertain another Prince as you did him when I shall present him to you with the same intention I shall ever receive replyed the Princess with the respect I ought whatever you shall think fit to recommend to me and I shall quit all desires nay all hopes to be married to Armenius since you are resolved to dispose otherwise of me and I shall forbear seeing him if it be your will but after I have engaged my heart to him in an affection conceived upon your inspiration which I had not entertained but to obey you and which he hath highly deserved both by the excellencies of his person and the services he hath done you you cannot think it strange my Lord it should be hard for me to force him thence and impossible to admit another into his place I think it strange replies Segestes very angrily you should oppose my will and expect to find in you such a compliance for my commands as that you may without any repugnance be ready to execute them when I shall further acquaint you with my intentions With those words he quitted the room and left her in such a grief and distraction of thoughts as out of which she was not all that day able to recover her self Thus stood things in Segestes's Court at my arrival there My journey thither being undertaken with a great deal of precipitation and without any observance of ordinay ceremonies Segestes could not have had any notice of it and accordingly was very much surprized at my coming However having formerly had no mean esteem for me and that it was not safe for him to exasperate such Neighbours as we were he gave me a seeming kind reception though not without some violence to himself and visible discoveries of the confusion he was in The first day I gave him no account of my Commission as being glad before-hand to consult with Arminius and instead of repairing to the Lodgings appointed for me I went to those of Arminius to treat with him with greater freedome It were hard for me to make you sensible of the joy he expressed at my arrival as well out of the Friendship he had for me even from his infancy as the hope he conceived either of assistance or comfort in his misfortunes at the sight of a person in whom he reposed a more then ordinary confidence Though he were a Son to my Elder Brother and my Soveraign and hoped to be so himself after the death of Clearchus yet did he alwayes treat me suitably to the consideration of Bloud and Friendship rather then with any observance of the punctilio's of policy it being upon his sollicitations that Clearchus of himself ready enough to oblige me had out of a generosity not common in the world invested me with the Soveraignty of the Mese a part of his Dominions extending from one of the extremities of the Forrest of Hercules down to the River Albis Embracing me therefore with all the marks of a most violent affection Uncle said he to him I now think my self no longer unhappy since you come to my relief and I no longer fear the malice of Fortune nor the injustice of Segestes now that Inguiomer is come to assist me and that Ismenia hath not yet forsaken me In consequence of which discourse much other of the same nature and what I returned thereto wherein might be observed a noâ—less earnest affection he gave me a particular account of what I had understood with much confusion and satisfied me even to the least circumstances of his misfortune and the unworthiness of Segestes I crave your pardon continued Inguiomer looking on Agrippa if I speak of the Alliance Segestes made with you as a base and unworthy action and that in many passages of my discourse I speak of the Romanes as one that was born in Germany a lover of his Countrey and Liberty and that abhors as it is natural enough the yoke you have imposed upon the better part of the world I do not think it any way trange replies Agrippa and though in the transaction of Germany we made our advantages of the defection from you of Segestes yet you may assure yourself there were among the Romans those that did not approve it and can have a respect for Vertue to the prejudice of their interest Upon that assurance replies Inguiomer I shall go on in my discourse with more freedom and tell you that at that which Arminius entertained me with concerning his disgrace I was no less moved then he seemed to be himself and gave him such expressions thereof as suffered him not to doubt it â— encouraged him in the design he had as well out of his own inclinations as the suggestions even of Ismenia her self to prefer Glory and his Duty before all other concernments and to purchase Ismenia with the loss of all his bloud rather then that of his Honour Not but that he acknowledged that he could not be perswaded to lose Ismenia and that he should not be so much assured of her constancy did he not hope to secure it by other ways then such as were proposed to him That very night I was permitted to see her and whereas she ever had abundance of kindness for me and looked on me as a person dearly loved by Arminius and intrusted with the secret transactions of his soul she received me after the most obliging manner in the world and spoke