all the excuses he could none of which would content this Gentleman who protested to retract his Promise and retake his former passages through the streets which he had already done with the addition of far worse Errours for fear of leaving his Honour engaged and making himself a scorn and laughing-stock to his Enemies Simplicius continued firm in his resolution but for fear of sending him away angry and discontented he desired him to give him time to beg permission of the Person who had informed him which was agreed to and the next day came Vannoza in her usual manner to renew her antient Complaints and to tell Simplicius that Alcimus having for some days followed his advice and kept his Promise had now renewed his wonted Courses and Carreers with more pride and insolency than before better accoutred and accompanied and with greater variety of actions which drove her Husband into desperation and would at last provoke him into action which could not but produce some tragical and dismal Event Simplicius protested to her that Alcimus had not the least design upon her but only stood upon a Punctilio of Honour scorning to give this advantage to his Adversary of bragging that he frighted him out of the publique street That he was no man to make love to stone walls who never did it to any woman living who indeed are living walls but plaister'd with so unslaked lime as is easily fired by the Tears of a Lover All he could say was That he was a young Cavalier and so head-strong that it was hard for a holy Father to guide him by the Bridle of Religion That if Capoleon attacque him he will bring himself in danger of undergoing a great part of the mischief That her Husbands Passion was as full of injustice as the other was of candour and ingenuity in his proceedings For this said the subtle Female I see but one remedy That is said the holy Father to satisfie him in his extreme curiosity which press'd me to tell him whence I had this advice which I durst not discover without your permission thinking it unfit to bring you into the quarrel Father said Vannoza let me alone for the love of God to discover it to him since it is for the charitable saving of his Soul and I fear not but to find a happy issue or at least to prevent its ending in so bloody a Catastrophe For if Alcimus and my Husband should come to blows which Heaven forbid our Sex is still exempt from duels and the most base and barbarous Courages have still some respect for Ladies so that I fear no prejudice by being made a Party and I assure my self that with one word I should do more with him towards the plucking from his heart the fruitless hope which flatters and abuseth him by making him hope for access to an Object which can never be lawfully acquired than you can perhaps do by all your conscientious perswasions In the mean time if you please you may satisfie his Curiosity that this advice comes from me and if you please to bring us together I will in your presence disswade him from his former actions That so he may a Med'cine bring Thence where the Malady did spring Simplicius from a well-meaning heart not only approved but highly praised this design being much rejoyced to see the Scorpion's Oyl prepared to cure the sting and then Vannoza by this means cutting off all hope would thereby take away all occasions of his continuance in his fond Amours He therefore promis'd to confront her with him that this Adam taken in the fact if I may so say and convinced in his presence might seek no further pretexts or palliations to cover his iniquity And so forward was this good Man in this design thinking therein to do all things for the best and believing that all would pass under the Seal of secresie that he judged this fittest to be done at the very Confessional which according to common Custome having two places for the Penitents and one in the middle for the Confessor he might thereby more expresly convince the Criminal himself being present at the Testimony But O execrable Invention she fearing least her Invention might turn to her own confusion desired this good Father that she might a little before have one moments conference with Alcimus promising thereby more gently to compose his spirit to an acknowledgment of his fault lest being surprized on the sudden he might fly out into some extravagant recrimination or positive denial The good opinion which the Father had of this Female Hypocrite made him approve well of her Poposition in so much that he appointed a day for this rencounter before which he told Alcimus that the relation came from Vannoza her self which would witness his false proceedings to his face Provided she lift up her Veil said Alcimus I am confident you will find hers overspread with blushes if there remain in her the least quantity of blood With which words the Conference ended and they parted till the appointed day of meeting should come The End of the Second Book ALCIMUS AND VANNOZA LIB III. THe day being come Vannoza having before by a Note advertised Alcimus of her design they neither of them failed to meet at the Confessional of the good Father whose pious intentions to dis-intangle this Clew did by this weakness intangle it more than ever for Vannoza having put him in mind of his promise of letting her predispose the spirit of Alcimus in order to the bringing him to an acknowledgment of his fault the good Simplicius for these pious considerations leaving his Tribunal as if called away by some affairs of these Statues upon their Pedestals but such Statues as Pigmalion's for they then found themselves alive and their Tongues at liberty Vannoza most prompt to lay hold on this occasion which she had so long sought for began first as followeth Seigneur Alcimus You will perhaps wonder at the many subtleties I have used to attacque you but Necessity the Mistress of Invention was furnished with Artifices which opened me the way Know then and assure your self it was only I who by means of this holy Father gave you this false alarm of the imaginary jealousie of my Husband of you I say imaginary as to you for his jealousie being notorious through all the City I durst not in general terms stile it feigned but it is so universal that without pitching upon you or any other in particular it extends to all the world he must be a stranger in this Town who knows not the evil usage which that hath caused me and my long and close Imprisonment is a subject of sorrow to all that hear of it it is natural to the smallest Bird to search about her Cage for a hole to escape from slavery which I am resolv'd to obtain or lose my life in the attempt which is but a burthen wanting my liberty I know how little worth or merit I have
it finds in him less resistance for this Passion is so voluntary an evil that it torments us no longer than we please and so no longer than we give it the Sovereignty of our Hearts In the beginning of these passages when I had the liberty to go into what parts of the House I pleased I became one of his beholders and thereby the innocent cause of his Passion without giving him any subject for it Capoleon himself who took great pleasure in seeing him in these postures and who in his time has been a good Horseman used to bring me to see him but since his Jealousie has confin'd me to a quarter of the House far remote from the street 't is in vain for Alcimus to make his passings to and fro for I am wholly eclipsed from his eyes But he is of the number of those foolish Lovers who content themselves with the sight of those Wells which inclose the Object of their flames like Elephants who not daring to swim in a water which has not depth enough to support them wash themselves by walking along the edge of a River where they are oft either taken or slain And I am so afraid lest this inconsiderate Bird if it take not heed be shot by an Arrow feathered from its own wing or catcht in lime-twigs of its own pitching for as every man is the Artificer of his own good so is he of his own bad fortune I hear the Winds rise the Waves roll and the Tempest approach my Husband to whom all things bring cause of suspition yet knows that I am not at all desirous of the sight of this Cavalier and is hugely offended that these passages are a common Table-talk amongst the Neighbourhood amongst whom the murmur runs that he makes all these turns for a Bird that Capoleon keeps encaged meaning me May it therefore please you most holy Father to do this charitable office to him my Husband and my self to prevent so great a mischief and scandal by advertising him for the future to leave off this unprofitable pursuit which can neither be advantageous nor honourable except he desire to be continually in danger till perhaps at last amongst these turns and passages he may light on one he neither sought nor thought of which is that which leads from life to death I being so close shut up as I am could not have opportunity to give him any advice of this by any of my Servants lest they should suspect betwixt us some secret intelligence and that my Husband who sets them as so many Spies about me should not have a pretext to treat me more rigorously and as I was just going to trust this important Secret to this ancient Lady you see here who though my Mother is still a woman and my own frailty tells me how bad a repository our Sex is for such privacies God inspired me just upon that instant to come to your holy Fatherhood having seen him part from you so that for the future I shall rely upon your prudence and charity to give a remedy to these threatning Misfortunes Daughter reply'd the good Father Simplicius since you not only permit but enjoyn me to open my mouth upon this Subject for the good and safety of so many Souls I shall willingly obey you in so just an occasion which concerns the Glory and Service of God whom I serve therefore rely upon me and I will apply my utmost diligence to cut the thread of his folly be you only constant devout and faithful and take this Maxime from me That the best and greatest Policy and Invention is to keep a good Conscience and to walk uprightly before God have a good courage and confidence in the Divine Bounty and fear not but truth and purity will be your Safe-guard Whereupon having given her his blessing he dismiss'd her in peace Imagine with your self whether this subtle woman might not well be compared to a Rower that turns his Bark to the Port he aims at whether to all outward appearance her discarding of Alcimus were not the ruine of her Design But infinite are the Inventions of the heart when it is infected with the Poyson of the old Serpent who was a Murtherer from the beginning and by whom Sin entred into the World with Death for its attendant None make up directly and openly to Iniquity there must be always some Colour or Leaves to hide it or else it would appear too openly it has always a specious out-side and though the in-side of the Coin be plain brass it will be sure to be handsomly plated over Vannoza being parted from Father Simplicius told her Mother that she had found so much edification in his Remonstrances and such profit in his Instructions that for the future he should be her only Confessor which pleased her Mother very much desiring nothing more than the contentment of her Daughter who in those words only sowed the Seed of a speedy return to know whether that Match which she had lighted had given fire to the Train of her wicked Intentions Mean while the good Religious Father hurried on by his zeal without attending Alcimus his coming whose loss he apprehended went to visit him in his house as he did at other times before as well in quality of a Neighbour as to cultivate the benevolence of so good a Benefactor to the Fraternity and to mix a little prudence with his plainness knowing by common Opinion as well as Experience that all the words of women are not Oracles he made private inquiries if it were true that this Gentleman went so in the evening prancing through the street where Capoleon's house was which he found to be very true and which was more as every thing gives cause of suspition in this jealous Nation that he was much spoken of for his gallantry and brave Behaviour Hence the good man conjectured that Vannoza's report was but too true Therefore being with Alcimus after many Discourses and ordinary Entertainments he fell as if by accident upon the Discourse of Serenades and Gallantries in the Streets which this young Gentleman ingenuously acknowledged and withal told him That to avoid the eyes of so many infamous Courtizans as throng'd the Windows to behold him he shunned as diligently as was possible the places affected with that accursed Race for that end passing through the more remote and less frequented ones confessing further the pleasure he took in this exercise in which he drew the Opinions of all Beholders to reckon him for excellent But Father said he do you disapprove of it as sinful or can this kind of vain-glory for that is the worst title it can merit amount to a heinous offence For to be seen taken notice of praised esteemed and admired is a thing very ordinary amongst Academies which pleasing applause does undeniably tickle the heart through the ear Then Simplicius thinking he had brought Alcimus to the point desired begun presently to tell him That this passing
through the streets whether on foot or horseback was in it self a thing indifferent but that indifferent actions took the tincture either of good or evil form the designs and determinations which were intermixt with them for there is nothing so good but may be corrupted by a malignant spirit and from which like a spider it may not suck poison Nor any thing so evil from which a well-disposed spirit may not draw some advantage That feasts banquets assemblies dancing honest plays and recreations habits and such like were of this nature and were neither to be praised or condemned but according to the usage or abuse the moderation or excess of those that use them But that humane nature and inclinations were so inclined and bent towards the vanities of youth that as if our very touch were infectious we are apt to corrupt the very best things by handling much more indifferent ones So wine and meats which are given to sustain the body serve for objects of daintiness to one drunkenness to another and gluttony to others and amongst â—ssemblies to bind the amity of the company and confirm their friendship which conserve the union of all Societies Many others are led by irregular affections from whence arise many scandalous actions And further that these passings and repassings through the streets with so great attendance such pomp splendor and sumptuousness could not well be void not only of excess but of many dangers of taking or being caught the world is every way so full of snares For as the Peacocks in setting up their plumes do thereby excite the females to pleasure so men when they make so splendid an appearance are the cause of many inconsiderable Womens sinning in wanton thoughts or unchaste desires and what do you think continued he men are apt to say when they see a young Gallant handsom brave well habited and advantageously mounted making turns and returns in a street but that he has either love or design upon some object there whence proceed murmures curious inquiries hard speeches and scandals And if the object be unlawful to be desired then the Woman is persecuted with infamy the Husband rackt with jealousie till he breathe out nothing but fury and revenge for how can he otherwise contain himself who sees his wife courted before his face and himself thereby subjected to the reproaches of the world and laughter of the people From this source spring great and dangerous accidents which it is more easie to avoid then remedy when arrived And afterwards taking his opportunity he proceeded thus It is not without some cause Seigneur Alcimus that I make you this discourse for I have from good hands received a bad report of you and I assure you I could never have thought or believed that a soul so seemingly fair as yours would by the easie way of deceiving men pass so unworthily to the dangerous one of offending God but deceive not your self for none can mock God with impunity if he withold his vengeance it is but to redouble his stroke I should be a traitor not only to the obligations I have to your amity and to the diligent care I ought to have of your safety and salvation and my own but also to the Master whom I serve if I did not advertise and admonish you of your danger of both temporal and eternal destruction the sword of divine vengeance hangs over your head and like that of Damocles but in a slender thread Both God and Man have bent their bows and made ready both arrows of fire and death against you except you avoid the blow by repentance and arm your self by a serious penitence all things conspire against you whilest you continue in your wickedness unless you turn from your evil way I cannot say within forty days which was the space that Jonas allotted Niniveh but within a far shorter term Think no longer to impose upon me by feigned confessions for God will one day lay open your dissimulations and my intentions when he shall discover what is hidden in the heart and shall open the secrets of darkness If ever man were surprized or astonish'd it was Alcimus who seeing his innocence burthened with a Crime which the other did not name nor he imagine did at once change colour an hundred times and these alterations caused by his sincerity and ingenuity were by Simplicius who stedfastly regarded him taken for the effects of guilt and remorse of Conscience and therefore said Take Courage Seigneur Alcimus all will be well that skarlet of your blushes does elevate my hopes and makes me attend your ingenuous and free Confession Alcimus who felt his Conscience clogged with nothing but the deteinure of his Church-Revenues of which we have amply treated in the beginning of this Narrative did like those that are struck presently lay his hand on the bruised spot where he felt the pain And after calling to mind how he had often conferred about this Affair with this good Father who had found him certain Expedients if not to remove the sting from his Conscience yet at least to lay the pain asleep till he had found an Expedient to assure these Benefices to his Family My good Father said he as amongst the Bees she that makes the Honey stings most severely so now this Assault is the more insupportable from that mouth which hath hitherto distilled unto me nothing but sweets and Consolations God is my witness that I have never concealed any thing from you at the Tribunal where accusing ones self is the best excuse and if you have not known any thing of me there it must be because I am ignorant of it my self It is true I dare not reckon my self for an extraordinary good man for if I should justifie my self my own mouth would condemn me and if I have offended God and sinned against him it is that he may be justified in his saying and what he judgeth I confess I was born in iniquity and in sin did my Mother conceive me but yet I have ever loved the truth by and through which I have accused my self of the most hidden faults I could remarque and without fraud or mincing I have freely discover'd my secrets to you but if God have by some extraordinary means revealed any to you that have slipt out of my remembrance tell it me and reprove me in the spirit of meekness and gentleness and I am ready to amend it for I every day heartily beseech God with the Royal Prophet to cleanse me from my secret faults and from those sins which I may be guilty of by the participation of those of others At this present I can boldly say that nothing lies heavy on my heart but the enjoyment of these Church Benefices without intention of being a Church-man but they being of that nature that they may be possessed by a Secular person and I being unmarried and not able to quit them absolutely without breach of that respect which I owe
to my Parents I think I hold them by no such unjust Title add to this the many consolations I have received from you when I have revealed to you the causes of my Scruples and yet I am ready at the disposition of those from whom I hold what I have to do any thing that shall be adjudged fitting by any sober and grave Persons Simplicius thinking that Alcimus would dextrously thus have warded the blow and changed his purpose to avoid answering to that which he thought he had plainly enough proposed No no said he Seigneur Alcimus you must not thus think to escape me I have fig-leaves in my hands to prevent the glidings of the Snake I should be very indiscreet to speak in this extravagant manner of that which we have so often discoursed of before and which puts me to as much trouble as your self since the Confessor and Penitent are both fastened with the same Chain there is another far different Mystery a Mystery of Iniquity which you have not yet discovered and which is come to my knowledge by a way which you would scarce ever divine and assure your self it will be to your good to make a right use of my Remonstrance and to the discharge of my Soul if you reject it what I say may serve you for correction if you take it as you ought and for advertisement though you have no desire to profit by it Now you must know there is a grand difference betwixt the Laws positive and common and those that are Divine for as men have made the Laws positive so may they dispense with them but for Divine Ordinances they are indispensable and whoever seeks excuses to palliate iniquity doubles the Crime and is doubly culpable For Example as to the use of Ecclesiastical goods the Holy Father who is Supreme and Sovereign Disposer of them may favour those with them whom he judges fit and deserving but there is no earthly Authority that can dispense with these Divine Commandments Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not steal Thou shalt not commit adultery This the good man spake confusedly that he might not suddenly touch the sore of him whom he thought wounded To this Alcimus reply'd Father If I were as innocent upon the Hypothesis which you have made touching the positive Right as upon the three last Articles of the Divine which you mentioned my Soul would enjoy a profound peace and I should have but little cause to doubt of Divine Grace For as for Murther my hands are very clear from blood and I desire not the death of any man As for other Men's Goods I am so far from having my hands sullied with them or my desires therewith touched that those which I already possess lie some-somewhat too heavy on me And as for the Wife of another God preserve me from desiring her since I never cast my eyes upon any lawful Subject which I would be willing to take to my self and this is the only point of difference that ever happens betwixt me and my Parents who desire nothing so much as to see me married nor is there any thing I fly from more being more desirous of the benefit of the Field than the confinement of the Cage And my Soul being thus estranged even from honest and lawful affections what is it from unjust and unlawful ones For besides my aversion from all Women in general I have a particular abhorrency against the worser sort of them and as for those that are engaged in Marriage I cannot have the confidence so much as to look on them for fear not only of the secret adultery of a wanton look but of violating so holy a Sacrament which is the most Sacred Bond of Humane Society O Adam where art thou cryed Simplicius thinking that these fair words were only designed as a Looking-Glass moved against the Sun to cast the Rayes in his eyes What Seigneur Alcimus think you thus to lead an old Man by the Nose who though he may come short of you in quick wit and fancy is as much beyond you in Experience Once more Where art thou Adam Do you think thus to hide your nakedness from my sight with Fig-leaves I may justly threaten you if you persevere in this course to shew your impiety to the people and cast your shame in your own face conceal not your self so vainly therefore O Infant of my Soul Prevaricator of the Laws of God Look back into your own heart and retake your former Virtue fall again to your former good Works and by a sound Repentance regain your lost Robe of Innocence Return O Shunamite return Come back thou Prodigal to thy Fathers house whilst his arms are yet open to receive thee and the acceptable day of Salvation is yet in the dawning O fly and meet the beauteous Orient of the Sun of Mercy which if once declined can never be regained and then it will be too late to cast off the works of darkness when the whole Armour of Light is got beyond your reach Alcimus more astonisht then before knew not what to answer to this discourse so full of obscurity the words of which were as so many Aenigma's Good Father reply'd he speak more plainly that I may understand and answer you for how long will you hold me in suspence tell me but my offence and I am ready for the chastisement and may all the arrows of heaven's vengeance make a butt of my head if I know my self guilty of more then I have already confest to you Have I committed murther theft or adultery I speak not of either of the two first replyed Simplicius nor of the effects of the third but who knows not that as in good deeds God accepts the will for the deed so evils but designed by a determined resolution are as much as executed before him since we have to do with a God who searcheth the hearts and tryeth the reins before whom all things are open and nothing hid who seeth our thoughts afar off and understandeth our designs before they be disclosed he will not hold him innocent who performs not an evil if he have but once designed it for his own mouth hath declared that he who looks upon his neighbour's wife with a lustful eye hath committed Adultery with her in his heart already And to what serve all your serenades your prancings carreers turns and returns it being the property of evil to have a circular motion your amorous looks and glances and other such like actions which are daily remarkable in your deportment the eye of the world which you think bleared is far more piercing then you imagine yet we have it from good authority how malicious it is withall Our sinful Parents did us breed We them in wickedness exceed Our children will more Vices love And theirs will worse then Vipers prove Thus Ages change thus the World worse does grow Till he that made both both doth overthrow The world has as much advantage
of you in craft as age It is hard for you though never so subtle to charm the sight of this many-eyed Argus If the malicious oft see by false conjectures the things that are not how much more easily will they see visible yea palpable ones believe me your fire cannot burn without some smoke and who can keep a fire in his breast and conceal all the sparks from the sight of the world So many corvets and gallantries are not made without some design some unhappy one which perhaps unless you take heed of your self will invelope you in grand disasters and though your designs may be built up to their full perfection will at last intomb you in your own ruines I speak this without any other interest then the desire of your good and fear of your misfortune I should not love you if I should dissemble that which would be so prejudicial to you friendship and flattery are two distinct things too remote to be comprehended in the circumference of one breast Finally return unto your self and turn from what is bad cease from what is evil and practice what is good God has given you too good talents both of wit and body to be miserably imployed as upon the search of what is forbidden by the giver and the possession of which cannot be but pernicious to you Pardon me if by this touch of my lancet I have opened the imposthume which might else prove mortal in respect not only of a temporal life but also of an eternal one and take these remonstrances of coming originally from a heart which makes its own safety a partaker in yours This oblique way of speaking plunged Alcimus in a greater trouble then before and not able to divine who it was that had given him so charitable an admonition by the means of this good Father whom he greatly honoured and esteemed as a faithful servant to God as well as a friend to him he begun to call heaven and earth to his party and firmly to defend his own innocence but the more he strove to perswade Simplicius that the report he had heard was false the more did he believe it true which brought him to such profound oaths and imprecations as the ears of this Religious Father could not endure they approached so near as he thought to blasphemy upon which he said And think you Alcimus that adultery is a crime to be purged by oaths or that the crime of perjury as two pellets can drive away and clear you of that of Sacriledge if this were admitted the most wicked villains would soon be discharged of their crimes and the accused would quickly be set free But I see how the case stands and that you who have not had confidence in me in a sacred Tribunal where my life is bound up with my fidelity will be much further from revealing your secrets to me now when we are but upon the terms of ordinary discourse remember only this That it is as easie to beguile man as impossible to deceive God and he who strives to do either does fool himself in the first place and then as the wise man saith Who will not deride the charmer that is bitten by his own Serpent Father replyed Alcimus I know you speak all this but to essay the patience of your Penitent and I wish that heaven may never pardon it but contrarily invent some unheard of punishment for me showring down all its Anathema's upon my head if I have knowingly concealed any thing from you which I thought my self bound in conscience to discover or the concealment of which might in the least render me culpable God preserve me from so double deceitful and sacrilegious a thought and I do solemnly assure you by whatever is most sacred in earth or heaven that I have no design upon any Woman whatsoever much less upon the Wife of another man All that I can say is that this must either be jealousie which often sees that which is not or calumny that has contrived this accusation against me and with which I see your spirit so prepossest that unless it please God to interpose his hand I know not how you will ever be disabused I know the respect I owe to your character and how much I am obliged to the wholsome remonstrances that proceed from your Fatherhood and whatever you shall please to say or do to me shall find a ready observance from me knowing what ascendant both our spiritual and temporal Fathers ought to have over us I shall only patiently attend till time which is the Father of Truth bring forth light out of darkness and witness my sincerity and integrity to the world I confess my self a grievous sinner before God but not to be ranged amongst Adultererers Lyars and Sacrilegious and if ever you have thought me worthy either of your belief or friendship you will clear your self of this Opinion Simplicius who believed that this fair Language resembled those delicate Viands which turn either into exquisite nourishment or extreme putrefaction thinking that this young man so fallen into and strengthned in iniquity that it was impossible to draw him to an acknowledgment of it having briefly declared to him the desperate condition as he thought his Soul stood in and that he was upon the brink of destruction desired him for the future to provide himself of another Guide to accompany him in so perillous a Voyage for him he was resolved to save himself and so quitted himself of his Office After having given him this charitable advice That if he left not his former Courses and Gallantries accompanied with his too evident sollicitations of a Lady of Honour and Quality he would find himself into the Grave when he thought himself furthest from it not in the midst but even upon the point of his best days by an accident as miserable as unsuspected And thereupon left him without suffering Alcimus his instant entreaties to extract from him a more particular declaration This Gentleman remained in no little confusion of thoughts for though fear the ordinary tormentor of the guilty changed not his courage yet the apprehensions of death so â—atural to all men and that too of a suddain and unprovided one did nearly touch his spirit joining to this his just curiosity to know who could thus have seasoned the belief of this good Father with so false a calumny he passed all the night without closing his eyes and in strange interior convulsions agitated with a continual remorse that he had not yet abandoned the Church-revenues which he detained and spent so unjustly Perhaps said he within himself this imaginary adultery which I never thought of serves for a colour to that true one which I daily commit adulterating that is to say abusing the goods of the Spouse of the Son of God applying to profane uses and ornaments what ought only to be imployed in pious and holy functions The height of riches and wisdom of God is extream his
the Soul yern after the Infants of the Spirit you might be capable to judge of that ardour which made those words boyl over from the mouths of Moses and St. Paul when they desired to be accursed for the good of their dear Children and Brethren in righteousness the day will come when you will know this verity and look upon that in me with a good eye which perhaps does now appear otherwise to you Your heart dear Father answer'd Alcimus is too right towards me to do or say any thing amiss what ever comes from you to me can never be received otherwise than well but withal I once more intreat you not to condemn me without hearing for judgment without preindication and prejudice without judgment is the high way to errour it is easie to impeach but not to convince to say not to produce witnesses to declare but not to prove if accusing will suffice who can be innocent what shelter for the good if the storms of the wicked be Oracles And Father since God injâ—â—â— it to obey him I am willing to walk iâ— an unpleasant path and shall gladly look â—â—on Capoleon as my friend and dear Christian Brother and I am so far from wishing him any evil that I desire him all sorts of good but since distrust is the Mother of security you must allow me to beware of my self and that not only of my life but of my Honour which every noble mind will esteem more than life In this temper of mind and having disburthened my Soul to you of all that laid upon it I hope you will not deny me the benefit of absolution Here Simplicius found himself surprized having to deal with a Souldier who knew as well how to feign with his Tongue as Sword one thing only he required of him in the Name of the Lord which was To shun all rash attempts in his just hate And make his wrath way to evaporate And principally for some days to avoid his accustommed passages in that street and at last by much conjuring and intreaty he extorted this Promise rather violently from his mouth than voluntarily from his heart this was not the first and free droppings of the Myrrhe but rather the second gathering extracted from the Tree by scratching it with Iron Instruments Alcimus left Simplicius more satisfied with his having disabused him than with his simplicity in so slightly believing the report and troubled withal that he could not learn from him whence he had had this advice for he would rather have suspected any person in the world than Vannoza whom he held for dead amongst its obscurities In what darkness and ignorance do we spin out the thread of a frail life Mean while Vannoza who sleeps little and the Devil much less are hatching mischiefs on all hands for whilst the one as subtle as invinsible blows wrath and malice into the ears of Alcimus the other as dangerous as visible presents her self to those of Simplicius to know the success of her false report for it was her principal design like another Eve to open the eyes of Alcimus by tasting the forbidden Fruit and to procure him to look diligently in his passage towards every part of her house from whence he was otherwise regarded than she pretended he suspected or Simplicius believed that she might thereby find means to make signs to him as Vessels stuck fast upon a Shelve or in other distress do for help to those Ships that pass by But she was infinitely astonish'd when she found by Father Simplicius his recital that she had ruined her own project and wounded her self by her own Weapon and by an ill-temper'd Plaister brought her Sore from an Ulcer to a Gangrene and further when she learnt that Alcimus had not the least thought or affection for her this consideration made her despair of success but to those who are irremediably overthrown it is a kind of comfort that they can fear no further mischief She took new vigour when she understood from Simplicius the indifferency he had for all her Sex judging that the purity and whiteness of this Paper would easily be susceptible of the first impression and that this green Wood once lighted would burn most fiercely Love being a Mystery in which the Apprentices are Masters She begun to project new Designes how to bring down that untamed Courage which was yet proof against all Loves Assaults and to recal this wild and untaught Hawk to the Lure At present she only told Simplicius that his Monastick life and Relious innocence rendred him less subtle in searching into the secrets of the heart and the spiritual wickedness of worldly thoughts and of those who under pretence of affection make it their glory to deceive believing that Heaven laughs at their Perjuries and Oaths which are only writ on running waters who hold for a Maxime That Love Wine and Secrets are worth nothing when they have taken the Air and that it seemed in our Age men had effaced this practice from the number of sins it being not only common but commendable finally that it was the shuttle-cock of Courts but the ruinous Arrow of hearts she only wisht him to beware of a surprize and since he had drawn from Alcimus a promise not to pass through that quarter of a good while that he should take care that he found a firm performance and long continuance See here how this subtile crafty Female spoke what was as far from her desire as intention In the mean time having painted her face with a lively joy she returned home rather dead than living with sadness so deeply rooted in her Soul or rather her Soul so deeply plunged in sorrow that she knew not whether it were fittest to reckon herself amongst the dead or living She had now lost the sight of her North-Star her days were now become but nights and the very sight of the Sun was disagreeable overwhelm'd with sadness sorrow and melancholy she did nothing else but sigh and groan like the solitary widowed Turtle bewailing nothing but the loss of the sight of her amiable Alcimus Was not I said she sufficiently miserable without adding more to my misfortunes To what new mischief do the Heavens reserve me having thus condemned me to perpetual darkness O thou Light of my Eyes how art thou clouded those short and little glances of thee which I once enjoyed did give me some sort of consolation but this sad Eclipse is insupportable which for ever deprives me of so dear an Object and which to me does seem the pleasantest in the World But come what will I must once more have a sight of my dearest Alcimus and I will never leave any way unattempted though never so dangerous before I resolve to perish Mean time the days slipt away and this Star never appeared O Nights far longer than those of Norway She oft stood Sentinel like another Hero but never could set eye on her Leander The confusion of her thoughts
and inconsiderate to submit my self to the captivity of the charms of unlawful love you would then think me stupid and insensible if before such a fire I should endure without heat or flame but be pleased to consider that our affections principally those that are grown inveterate are not put off so easily as a garment Would God we could as easily quit our habitudes as our habits as the primitive Christians cast all they had even to their garments at the Apostle's feet so I had presently deposited at yours all the passion that I had for this Lady But I pray consider which you know better than I how hard it is for the Aethiopian to change his colour or the Leopard his spots but still more for a sinner so suddainly to rid himself of that which is so deeply ingraved in his soul I hope nevertheless by the grace of God and the assistance of your Prayers and good Conduct to draw this thorn out of my heart which I once took for a most pretious and fragrant rose the impressions of which will hardly yet be effaced from my spirit though I feel sufficiently the pungency of it so that I now find how rational that saying was I see what 's good but my malignant will Bends me to love and follow what is ill Though this will be the very separation of my soul from my body by so violent an effort yet when it shall please God to break these fatal bonds of iniquity which environ me I will sacrifice to him an hecatomb of praises and every where publish the glory of his name All I can at present do is to protest that for the future I will do my best endeavour to efface out of my memory the Idea of so many graces and perfections that have enchanted it and essay to shut the gate against those thoughts which nourish my passions and finally to take that resolution which is incident to the most irresolute to hope no further where the evil is incurable I say not this because mine is so but I see by the firmness of this Lady that she is no less chast than fair and if she have attractions which make her be beloved she has no less severity to make her be feared and all attempts are fruitless upon one so firmly bent upon the conservation of her honour I will henceforth endeavour to extinguish my unlawful fire with the tears of penitence and seeing the waxed wings of my designs melted by so audacious an approach I will like Icarus drown them in that Sea of repentance It is fit I banish from my spirit those Idaea's which flattered my passion and withal seemed so delicious for instead of the contentment which I promised my self from their success I now see nothing attend me but sorrow and regrets Upon sound advice I find my self obliged rather to commend her vertuous resolution than to blame unjustly her holy rigour which now has proved the onely eye-water to restore the sight I have been so long deprived of And since she cannot be pitiful to me but by being cruel to her self nor satisfie my humour but at the expence of her Honour I shall shew far more judgment in making my retreat than I did in beginning my enterprize And I heartily bless God that having fallen it is into such hands hers and yours by whose assistance I cannot fear but to obtain a recovery and making profit of my misfortune have cause to say it was good for me to have this fall after which I hope to stand faster than before Judge now by this Discourse whether the Children of Darkness be not more in their perverse generation than those of the light and whether they be not more witty prudent and discreet and wsthal more accomplishâ—d for the bringing about their wicked designs Was not this cajollery able to pass not only upon the innocency of the well-meaning Simplicius but even upon the craâ—tiest in the world This good Father reply'd My Son 't is a good step towards health to be cured though you come somewhat late to repentance yet all is soon enough if well enough I told you before that all that smoke could not be without some fire and that your Mine would at last be discovered though never so secretly wrought But now God be praised who has melted the Ice of your obstinacy by the Sun of truth and that the acknowledgment of your fore-past fault promiseth us a future amendment and that which does most rejoyce me is to see you hope in the Divine Mercy which is an Abyss without bounds or bottom and will not let us want that which it would have extended even unto Judas had he not prevented it by despair to which the extremity of his grief reduced him He who begg'd pardon for his Crucifiers will surely do the same for those who with a sincere heart do now invoke his bounty whilst he is in the Throne of Glory performing the Office of our Advocate And after turning towards Vannoza which heard all this Mystery with that attentation and joy which you may well magine possest her to see her designs succeed so happily You see Madam said he our Criminal convinced by his own Confession What now rests but to condemn him not to punishment but amendment It is true we are here in a Tribunal where a free Confession serves for an excuse and where excusing aggravates the Crime A Tribunal where Mercy has predominance over Judgment and where there needs only a sound Confession of a fault to obtain remission since here we hold the place of him who hath said At what time soever a sinner returneth towards me my arms shall be open to receive him for I am the living God who would not the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn from his iniquity and live If Wine Women and Truth are asunder judged in Scripture to be the three strongest things in the world what must they needs be when united in one Subject We have here the Wine of Charity and Divine Love washing away the filthy putrefaction of this prophane Passion You Madam are that strong Woman which Solomon desireth whose price is above Rubies or the precious things the world can yield and have by your fortitude reduced to Reason this wandring Soul by repelling all his assaults But above all the Strength of Truth is greatest for you see that Alcimus confounded by the first Ray that it darted in his face To this Vannoza replied in the Apostle's Phrase for she wanted neither wit nor words to express it had she but had Grace to apply it better Not I Father but the Grace of God in me the Grace of God which often makes use of the weakest things to confound the strongest of a Rod to tame the pride of the Aegyptians and of the hand of a woman to behead the great Assyrian Captain But Father to strike now whilst the Iron 's hot what hinders but that as the
this Device which he termed a Gallantry unhappy that he was thus to glory in his Crime and rejoyce in his Confusion to enjoy her with the greater freedom See the deep subtlety that 's here exprest And by this one act judge of all the rest If formerly the excellency of a Painter appeared in a line direct streight slender and almost imperceptible Judge whether by this unthought of Artifice Alcimus did not manifest himself a good proficient in the School of Vannoza's subtlety But finally as if they had been weary of living longer amidst these constraints they consulted how to set themselves at large in the fields of wickedness by the assistance of trusty persons To which end Vannoza thought it most material to endeavour to make her Sentinels and Gaolers instrumental to her design so that finally after many Artifices and Caresses having dazzled the eyes of two of her attendants with a Metal almost as sparkling as the Sun that makes it and by the rayes of a Thousand promises he exacted from them the vows of a faithless fidelity bound with such solemn Oaths that their horrour presaged their breach and nullity and consequently she declared to them her passion for Alcimus her secret intelligences and the desire she had to possess him and be possessed by him with a greater freedom Capoleon who before had these Maids his stipendaries had by one of them the door opened which gave him a view of all these dark proceedings It is hard to judge whether it be more proper to call this servant Treacherous or Faithful for if she was perfidious to her disloyal Mistress she was faithful to her Master who had paid and appointed her to watch his honour To speak more properly let us term her a female and cast upon her Sex the fault of incapacity of guarding a Secret rather than to accuse her of treachery since as is to be supposed making a profession of honesty besides inconstancy she further imitated the Sea which will not harbour a dead Carcass or Carrion unless kept down by a Weight but vomiteth it out upon her Shoars A Secret in Woman being like new Wine which purgeth its self and works out at the mouth of the Vessel And indeed what reason had she to keep faith with her who had broken hers to her Husband It is the Receiver that makes the Thief and if there were not these Mediators there would be fewer Adulteries This Servant in accusing the Treason of her Mistriss must necessarily discover that of her Companion and the cautelous Capoleon having doubled her Salary and made further promises of Golden Mountains when he had surprized the Delinquents and accomplish'd his design he was thereby hourly advertised of all the Words and Intercourses of our two Lovers and Capoleon had so wholly won this Servant to his party whom we shall call Adriana that like a Coy-Duck she served him to draw the rest into the Net so that by her Master's order cutting both ways she accommodated her self to all the designs of her Mistress holding in seemingly with her and her Lover but really with Capoleon she on all hands reaped a Golden Harvest The other whom we will call Lisarda whether it were that she naturally abhorr'd such double dealing or whether she feared that her report as seemingly it would should be the occasion of blood and mischief or were it that she took compassion of her Mistress having a horrour of deceiving her who had so freely imparted a Secret to her which imported no less than her life or were it which is most likely that the strongest Adamant attracted this Iron and that the double recompences of Alcimus and Vannoza joyned to the gale of promises which filled the Sail of her desires out-weighed the sparing Salaries of this penurious Old Man Which soever of all these was the Motive she wholly quitted Capoleon's Party for the other of her Mistresses and firmly embarqued her self amongst all her Enterprizes But yet she acting with more fear and mistrust of Capoleon than her Compassion did she saw not without Envy the ordinary disease of feeble spirits her self less intrusted and imploved than Adriana was who behaved and suited her self with greater boldness and complaisance to all the impudent designs of her infamous Mistress Under the guidance of these two Stars nothing seemed impossible nay nothing difficult to these two criminal Lovers who raising Trophies to their Conquests seemed to lead Capoleon's Honour in triumph and thought themselves so far raised above fear as Thunder and Tempests should for the future be below their fact But as Holophernes dulled with the vapours of the Wine and Sisera with the Milk which they had plentifully sucked in were unsuspectedly transmitted from the Brother to the Sister from sleep to death by Judith and Jael so our impenitent Offenders securely sleeping amidst the stupefactions of their sins did insensibly draw on their punishment by those means which they thought most conducing to a pleasant and delicious life They now proceeded with impunity and seemed now to glory in their crime and colour their unlawful passion with some image of reason Capoleon advertised by Adriana of all their wickedness and mockeries kept his patience that like Vulcan he might take them at his ease and have his turn to laugh at their Tragical success Imagine but what flegme the enraged Capoleon must have to qualifie so much choler and how dexterously he retired to make a greater leap and deferr'd his vengeance to execute it the more severely all the Letters which passed through Adriana's hands were communicated to him by which he understood all the motions of this unhappy Cabal Oft-times overcome with rage and fury he was on the point of breaking out into a bloody execution but whether he thought the fruit not yet ripe enough whether he were not sufficiently assured of his men who were to assist him in the action whether God the hour of Chastisement of these execrable offenders being not yet come withheld the arm of this Executioner of his Justice by moderating the Motions of his heart to attend the repentance of the Criminals or whether after the Mode of that Nation he staid for an opportunity to envelope in one common ruine all those whom he thought Accomplices in this fact However it were he was restrained by some secret cause till one day the measure of the sins of these Sacrilegious Adulterers being now arrived to the height after having provided himself of all things necessary both of Men and Arms he pretended to take a Journey about an Important Affair which he had at a Town three days Journey from home Now consider by what follows whether it were not high time for Capoleon to come to a conclusion seeing the extream madness and last point of Villany to which these two Criminals were now arrived for as it is common with Adulterers and especially those who have Sacriledge annexed to draw on Homicides in the train of their
his service even to the proffering him Money which is the highest worldly testimony of friendship if he needed it Capoleon though nothing be harder than to beguile an Old Man with words believed by this Touch that the heart of this Gentleman was of true alloy so that after a thousand thanks and as many protestations of his sentiment of this obligation he entred into a strict friendship with him believing his advice and accepting his assistance But his Acquaintance proved like that of the green Ivy and an old Wall for this young Plant sucking it's nourishment from the cement of the Wall does in a short time bring it down to the ground and yet receives no benefit thereby remaining either buried in the ruines which it caused or creeping and dying on the ground without support Lucio to draw Capoleon from among his Guards that he might more easily work his Designs gave him false advice how the Bravo's employed by Vannoza's Parents did at that instant narrowly watch him but forgot to give him the true one of his being for that purpose sent thither by those of Alcimus Capoleon taking the Alarm at this new Intelligence and finding himself not well secured in an Inn did as the Proverb saith put his purse into the Thief 's hand and his life into that of his mortal Enemy who having offer'd him the use of his Chamber as a more safe retreat which was in the house of one of his Kindred he with acknowledgments of so singular an obligation willingly accepted of the fatal courtesie In the dead of the Night whilest his cares and troubles gave way to sleep which had taken entire possession of his Senses Lucio with the assistance of two Bravo's or Assassins he had brought along with him bound him fast with Cords and having snickled one about his Throat which might hinder him from crying and yet not strangle him he made him feel almost the very same pains and exercis'd upon him most of the self-same cruelties which he had bragged to have inflicted on the miserable Alcimus He that shall know the temper of the Nation which I speak of will find these actions whose recital so much amazeth us so familiar amongst them that they seldom take any revenge without some extraordinary Cruelty in the performance Lucio leaving the Body pierced hack'd and torn in a thousand places carried his Head and Heart to Alcimus his Parents who exercised upon them all that their rage and fury should suggest The Mother like a Savage Fury planted her Teeth in the Heart and tore the Eyes out of the Head and mangling the rest threw it to the Dogs to be devoured But who can imagine the multitude of Caresses with which they entertained their intended Son-in-Law as if by this man's death he had given them life Their Passion being satiated with revenge they could not content themselves with their private satisfaction but publish it and which is worse glory in it praising the Murtherer as having done a most generous act and blessing him with their greatest approbation in which they were seconded by Vannoza's Parents who boasted of their having procured the burning of Capoleon's Houses Thus the wicked rejoyce in their Iniquity and glory in their own confusion But now their Distemper increased from a burning Feaver to a raging Frenzy for Polixena's Parents were not able to procure a Dispensation for their Daughter because they could not prove the violence done unto her by any contradiction that had been on her part and much less to obtain an abolition of Lucio's Crime who was strictly prosecuted by Capoleon's Heirs more discreet than the others in their revenge but were far more astonish'd when they saw themselves attacqued as the Authors and Accomplices of so horrid an Assassinate it was now necessary for the Parents both of Alcimus and Vannoza to save themselves the best they could and to provide for the security of their lives by a speedy flight Lucio who expected nought but Triumphs for his Victory was constrain'd to slip aside to avoid the violence of the pursuit which would have forced him to change his Nuptial Bed for a Scaffold Soon after their flight they were all condemned for Contumacie and all their Goods being Confiscate their Effigies served for a shameful Spectacle in the Publique place of Execution of Offenders See here the Infamies and Calamities to which they blindly precipitate themselves who will by Vengeance repair their Honour and thereby wound that of the Prince and intrench upon the power of their Sovereign this is to snatch the Sword from the hand of him who bears it not in vain but for the publick punishment of the wicked and the defence of the good Lucio like the Dog in the Fable lost the substance for the shadow and to acquire more robb'd himself of the little that he had the loss of his Goods by Confiscation and his banishment from his native Countrey were the least of his pains for had he been taken he had been cut in quarters the horrour of his Crime meriting no less a punishment if I may not call it a greater to lead a poor and wretched life which he after did in the depth of misery For He daily mourn'd for what he 'd done Fresh miseries daily arriv'd He 'd nought but shame and horrour won And 's fortunes and himself surviv'd Such miseries he daily underwent As for worse crimes were ample punishment They all dy'd poor and miserable either of regret necessity or hunger being beaten by all the storms of Fortune and having no retreat or harbour but an Hospital seeing themselves become the very sweepings and off-scourings of the world Some of them were worn out with age and sorrow others with pain and trouble and Lucio at last flying from the fear of punishment and pressing penury to some remote Countrey found by the way a delivery from his Miseries and a burial in the Waves the Ship in which he went being unfortunately cast away Thus Heaven even robb'd him of his last refuge Banishment according to that of the Poet The hated seed of evil doers Pursu'd by the revenging Powers Shall still find Fortune contrary By mischiefs daily be annoy'd By Lice and Vermine be destroy'd And end in horrid misery But to give to this Bloody Relation a Catastrophe which in its Tragical event affords something as divertising as strange we are to know That the ruine of Polixena's Family and Parents could not extinguish the wasting flames which the hope of being married to and possessing of Lucio had kindled within her habituated Passions are not so soon put off as our Habits This Maid had no Ears to hear the impossibility of obtaining a Dispensation she had so long perswaded her self that nothing was more certain but much less to hear of the flight of her Parents and of the Confiscation of their Goods which were the only things that rendred her acceptable She at first thought all this but feigned and easie to