Duke Otho had not been bound in honour to have made him away The Emperour ought not to be comprehended in the Revenge he might be innocent for ought she knew and if he were guilty he might have married her and ransomed his life I must confess this objection is not altogether impertinent But in affairs of Love all men persue Their proper fancies and the man whose Fate Directs him to a means legitimate Is just and happy though his way be new For when the heart 's indued with Grace and fear Of Heaven what e're it does what e're it will Is but a Sacrifice to Honour still Yet sometimes when no sense of that appears Vice eggs them on as furiously to kill As all thy Vertue in the World were there The Dutchess of Modena was necessitated by her Stars and her Revenge justified by her Conjugal Love and perhaps she would have done as much for her Servant had she had one for minds as tender and as constant as hers are capable of great Enterprises but marching under the Standard of Duty that which at another time had been furious and criminal was at this an Example of Vertue But let us leave her in the injoyment of a passion whose violence was a vertue and proceed to an Accident of no such Constancy and Resolution THE ANNALS OF LOVE THE SECOND PART THE Chronology of History not according exactly with the Chronology of Love there are some years in which no amorous Intrigues are to be found and there are others in which all the considerable Accidents are Love My Annals containing only matters of Courtship I cannot be strict in the observation of Times but shall presume upon occasion to put the passages of the same Age into the Amours of the same year and so skip from one Age to another in my Description of Years I shall begin therefore this third Annal by the Reign of a Prince who lived about a hundred years after the Emperour I mentioned before Castile being a Country too flourishing to continue long under the denomination of a County Don Garcias Fernandez of whom we spake in the beginning of our Annals was the last of its Counts It took the Title of a Kingdom under Sanchyle Grand next Successor to Garcias Fernandez and having past in that way to the time of Sanchy III. it devolved by his death to his Brother Alphonso King of Leon who was from that time called King of Castile At the beginning of his Reign this Prince was perplext with several Wars the Mores and the Sarracens infested him so that he was forced to implore the aid of the King of Fance against those Enemies of Christianity Many Knights and Reformades repaired to him from all parts But the French as the more Martial were most kindly received Raymond the Son of William Duke of Burgundy Raymond Earl of Toulouse and Henry Lorraine Son to William Earl of Boulogne Brother to Godfrey of Boulogne performed such eminent Exploits that Alphonso believed he could do nothing more for the advantage and security of his Crown than to continue those three Captains in the Command of his Armies He had three Daughters two of them natural and the other legitimate The eldest called Vrraca he married to Raymond of Burgundy and gave him in Dowry the Principality of Galicia Theresia the eldest of the two naturals married Henry of Lorraine and had for her share the Conquests in Portugal and the youngest Elvira much handsomer and better beloved by her Father than either of the other was married to Raymond of Tholouse with secret ingagement from Alphonso to assure to him the Kingdoms of Castile and Leon after his death And thus I have given you the Commencement of this year not so eminent for Love as it promised in appearance These six persons had almost no sooner seen one another but they were married and no soouer married but they differed so that this place would be more proper for an Historical Abridgment than the Introduction of an amorous Intrigue But bold determine not Loves ways are strange He had his private and peculiar Laws Nothing is so remote but he can change And bend it to the Model of his Cause He makes the Lady fair the Statesmen great Though one be old the other near so mean And when he please can both of them defeat And throw them down to their old state again When he 's dispos'd to sport himself the man 'S unhappy let him be as happy as he can Elvira was so obsequious to her Father and he so transcendently kind to her that Vrraca being his only legitimate Child and by consequence had best right to that preference began much to resent it She had private advertisement every day that Alphonso designed the Kingdoms of Leon and Castile for his Daughter Elvira and judging it necessary that either the Prince her Husband or her self should be constantly about his Majesty to have the better eye upon his actions they consulted together to resolve which of the two was most proper for the Journey and it fell to Prince Raymond Never did French man of his Age and Spirit and married for interest as he was refuse any opportunity of travelling Vrraca in the mean time continued in Galicia to govern that new Territory in the absence of her Husband and the Prince set forth for the Court of Castile The pretence of his Journey being a concern for the Kings health it is easie to imagine he was not unwelcome at his Arrival There was no noise but of Entertainments and Balls Raymonds business there was not to complain he came thither to discry and make advantage of his observation The young Elvira was much pleased with Divertisements and indeed at her age who is it that hates them She was extreamly delighted with those her Brother-on-law gave her and she wanted neither Civility to invite nor kindness to press him to stay at that Court as long as he could And to speak the truth she had no hard task to perswade him to stay This Countess was one of the greatest Beauties in the World Raymond had always thought her much handsomer than his Wife And though Elvira had scarce seen the Prince before he was married yet she also esteemed him more compleat than the person she married But Persons of their Rank are the least guided by their own inclinations The advantages Raymond purposed by his Marriage with Vrraca made him prefer her to Elvira and Alphonso's Election happened upon the Count de Tholouse for his youngest Marriages in this nature do seldom suffer the Husbands to consider the vertue of their Wives Hence it was the Prince of Galicia found his Sister-in-law as charming under the Title Countess of Tholouse as he had judged her when she was but Elvira of Castile Behold them therefore in perfect intelligence the Countess took singular satisfaction in the Company of the Prince and the Prince was as much pleased with the Commands of te
barricadoed himself in the Inn resolved to perish before he would surrender The persons sent after him having express Orders to bring him dead or alive never stood upon Complements they prest him so close there was no possibility of escaping and those who are far gone in Stoicism being not far from Barbarity the Count took up a resolution suitable to the fierceness of his own Nature and his hatred for Amedy He killed the fair Countess and stab'd himself when he had done Let the Reader imagine if he pleases the transport the Duke was in at this horrible News He said and he did things very inconsistent with his Dignity but that which gave the highest tincture to his despair was to understand that it was his dear Favourite the Marquess of Savona had given him this bob The Count reproaching the Countess by the way had let fall some words which assured her of the truth which words she had writ down in her Table-book found in her Pocket after she was dead with design to send them by the first opportunity to the Duke The Prince finding himself betrayed to satisfie his Revenge used all the means a just indignation and an absolute power could invent He caused the Marquess to be stab'd he confiscated the Count de la Morienes Estate and annext it to his demeasness and not being able ever after to be reconciled to the World he resigned the Government into the hands of his Son Charles whom he married to the Princess of Cyprus and retiring to his solitude of Ripaille he remained there till he was made Anti-Pope During this recess he composed his Memoires out of which we have taken this Relation The general History says only this that Amady retired upon some secret discontent but gives no account of particulars Our Annals of Love supply that defect as they have done several other and could have carried their disquisition much further if they might have been permitted An Anti-pope of the Dukes humour is very proper to furnish us with Rarities but the Italian Proverb tells us Al negocio del Cielo Se bastava gli Angeli Let Angels sing the things above They are too high for Tales of Love We are in an humour of speaking of the strange Effects of Love Agnes de Castro and must satisfie the Capricio of our Genius Don Pedro Prince of Portugal Son to Don Alphonso was almost contemporary with Amedy the King his Father had a second Wife who governed him absolutely The Prince obtained no favour from the King but what he ought to his Complacence for the Queen and as the highest excess of her Tyranny she would constrain him to marry a Daughter of hers called Leonora which she had had by her first Husband James of Arragon The Lady was handsom and had not Don Pedro been under a necessity of loving her it is possible he would have loved her well enough but Love is hardly to be obtruded upon a generous Soul Don Pedro's natural inclinations were great his Courage-high he could not truckle to the Orders of the Queen and the more eager she was to force his affection for the Princess he was the more obstinate and averse He had a Nurse widow to the Marquess de Castro who had an influence upon him In all the Countries on that side the Mountains the Nurses are chosen as chosen as much by their Extraction as any other Qualification whatever They have an opinion that the inclinations of ordinary Women are transfused with their milk and I am not certain whether it be altogether irrational The Queen accumultated her Caresses and Presents upon this Lady and conjured her to imploy the utmost of her interest to dispose the young Prince to what she desired but who is it but knows how much Fortune delights to defeat the designs of humane Prudence The way the Queen proposed to make her project successful proved the greatest and most effectual obstruction This Marquesses Lady had a Daughter named Agnes a sprightly and handsom young Lady The Prince had seen her without any Concernment whilst he had viewed her en passant but the Commission her Mother had received from the Queen giving him more frequent occasions of entertaining her the Prince became enamour'd at last What he had suckt from the breast of her Mother fermented in his heart in favour to the Daughter and the Love which was produced from so natural a Sympathy was violent from its very beginning The Prince was not able to suffer without declaring it The Terms in which he did it were not displeasing to the young Castro and being a handsom man in his person it cost him no great trouble to insinuate into her affection the greatest discouragement she had was their uncertainty of her Mother She was a Woman entirely devoted to the Interest of the Royal Family she would not see her own Daughter advanced to the Throne at the expence of the least difference betwixt the King and his Son and being not of a Temper to be easily deluded Agnes was perswaded she would not endure the passion of the Prince She represented her Judgment to him and though of her self she could have heard them eternally yet she conjured him for those reasons to give over that discourse But those kind of Conjurations are always in vain a Lover is never so furious as where reasons are introduced to perswade him to the contrary The Princes passion was augmented by this difficulty but to accommodate with the prudence of Anges which he could not deny to be upon very good grounds he resolved to counterfeit an affection for the Princess of Arragon but with this contrivance that whatever he should be forced to say to Leonora should be received by Agnes as intended to her and the progresses he made upon the heart of the one should be constantly placed upon the account of the other This resolution being taken and the Conditions agreed Don Pedro pretended to comply with his Nurses advice The King and the Queen overjoy'd with this change advanced the whole Family of the Marchioness and made a thousand Presents to Agnes It was a rare thing and very much to the Reputation of Love of Lovers of that Age to delude the Dagacity of two wise and interested Women and a King accomplished in all the Mysteries of Government but that which was most pleasant of all was the blindness of the Princess of Arragon who knowing her self handsom enough to be beloved and receiving the same-expressions which the Prince if he durst would have made to the young Castro made many acknowledgments to her Rival for her assistance without suspecting the least One night when in the presence of Agnes the Prince beg'd a kiss of Leonora so earnestly he was in a fair way to have prevailed Not so fast Madam if you pleased cryed the young Castro you do not consider what you are about to do there are more persons concerned in your conduct than perhaps you
down the stairs The Prince followed her as close as he could but not knowing the turnings of the House and the Fugitive being still some distance before there was always a Chamber betwixt them Young Agnes without doubt could have wisht he had been nearer and began already to fear lest he should hurt himself in the dark and as if the stairs had been the bounds of her apprehension she was just thinking of returning from whence she came but she was prevented in that by her Mother and the Princess of Arragon Her Mother did not believe the Princes desires were lawful nor if they had that they could have ever-been executed and therefore had kept her Parole very punctually with the Queen She had watcht the two Lovers so close she had discovered their nocturnal Entertainments she had given faithful advertisement and Leonora like an inraged Lover delighting to reproach his Treason to the Traitor himself got leave of the Queen that she might lye privately in the Marchionesses House and if possible catch her Gallant in the fact At so an unexpected apparition Agnes gave a skreek and would have run to the Prince to have saved her but her Mother stopt her and giving her a twirl by the Elbow thrust her towards the next Chamber As she opened the door there came so sudden a gust of wind out of it as blew out the Marquesses Candle she was afraid her Daughter should have escaped in that interval and having a mind to surprise the Prince whom nevertheless she believed to be under the Window she seized upon Agnes her self and would not let her stir till a new light was brought Leonora committing the care of securing the young Castro to her Mother slipt privately without any noise into the Chamber from whence her Rival came out The Prince by the glimmering of the Moon which was then rising was just got thither and taking Leonora for the person he pursued he threw himself upon her and clipt her in his Arms with as much ardour as could be expected from the affection of an amorous young man Dear Agnes said he to the Princess why do you withdraw from my affections are you not sensible of their purity I swear Agnes and I call Heaven to witness my design is nothing else but to set the Crown of Portugal upon your Head sweeten this attempt of mine with some expression of your kindness and trust your self for once to the faith of a Person that adores you You are not ignorant of my passion you are acquainted with all the fallacies I have put upon Leonora the indeed inhumane way I have taken to make her a blind and a cover for my affection to you and the little advantage I have made of her Errours have given you an entire prospect of my Soul The innocence of the Princes intentions made him a little bold he interrupted his discourses with some little exorbitances and so resolute he was to make Agnes his Wife that doubtless he would have presumed to have anticipated in some points had not the Marchioness came into the Chamber with her Candle It is no easie matter to determine who was in the greatest Consternation the Princess to have heard the Princes Discourss the Marchioness to find Don Pedro where he was and the Prince at the Apparition both of the one and the other For some time they were all of them amazed and stood gazing one upon another without speaking a word but at length old Castro coming first to her tongue she accosted him thus How Sir said she to the Prince and is it true that you make no scruple of sullying the Honour of a Person which gave you your first nourishment Is this Sir my recompence for having born you so often and with so much tenderness at my bosom Ha! Sir could I ever have expected this treatment from Don Pedro or from the Son of the Great King Alphonso Was I then to be the Victime of your secret passions added the Princess did I serve but as a stale and pretence and was it only for the Love of Agnes you pretended to love me The Prince at this second Charge conceiving the Service too hot quitted the field and having with great speed secured his Ladder he rescued himself from the reproaches of two outragious Women This Adventure made as much noise in the Court as could be expected from the fury of the Queen and the Authority she had usurped over the Spirit of the King The promises which Don Pedro made by mistake to Leonora interfering with the Power of the King there was no kind of reprehension but it drew upon the Prince those appearances of Love wherewith he had abused the Princess of Arragon giving occasion of offence to the Royal Family from whence she was descended pusht on the Queen in her murmurs and threats even to an excess she exclaimed against the consequences of that insolence and nothing could repair it but either the Prince must marry her immediately or else the King must give her leave to retire with her Daughter into the Kingdom of Arragon The Marchioness her self who by Leonora's condonation was become clearly of her side and desired his Majesty to assign her a Husband for her Daughter declaring that after such contumacy as she had committed it was but reason she should expect one no where else but from the bounty of the King The Prince endeavoured to dis-entangle himself as well as he could sometimes he stormed like a mad man sometimes he submitted sometimes he threatned to attempt any thing for the vindication of his liberty and then again he would call for quarter to purchase a little repose The King observing his disorder to increase and that the more violent it became the more it was opposed he thought no way so sure to put an end to it as to cause Agnes to be killed She dyed as the Queen gave out of the small Pox but the more learned Authors are of opinion it was by poyson It is easie to conceive Don Pedro's distraction at so Tragical an accident he resolved to revenge himself upon whom ever he did but suspect to have an hand in it and his Father dying just in the nick hence it was there arose an irreconciliable quarrel betwixt the two Crowns of Arragon and Portugal Don Pedro sacrificed ten years War and so much blood to the Ghost of his dear Agnes as might well have given him the addition of Cruel had not the gentleness of the latter end attoned for the beginning of his Raign THere was another Agnes living almost about the same time The Countess of Pontieuvre no less famous in the History of France than Agnes de Castro in the History of Portugal She was Mistress to Charles VII who governed the French Monarchy from the year 1422 to the year 1461. The troubles which happened in his Raign are not my province in this place There are Authors enough have related the Invasion of the
ingenious likewise to cause a Busk of Leaf-gold to be made upon blue Enamel all hollow within and the Princess pretending to shew him the Workmanship or playing at some kind of Sport where that would be necessary she received his Notes many times and many times answered them They were as kind as at the beginning and except certain degrees of benevolence which he reserved till after his Embassie was concluded he thought himself in as much favour as he could wish but he was very much mistaken The Marquess had satisfied the Infanta that her Marriage with Alphonso would be more honourable and advantagious than the Count de Guyenne and thâ— Princess treating the Embassadours according to the quality of their Proposals the Prince of Castilles Embassadours had the precedence in her heart The Marquess had met her by her order in the Garden where he had found her the first time without it and as his designs of marrying her to Alphonso were not so sincere as the Count de Boulognes were to marry her to the Count de Guyenne the story says the Marquess was much bolder with the pretences of the Prince of Castille than the Count was with those of the French Prince One evening when he was in the Queens Garden attending the Princess who had promised to meet him without any Equipage but her Governante the Count de Boulogne who had his Scouts abroad had notice where he was he hasted privately into the Garden by the Gate that was at his disposing and expecting at least to take Elvira in a lye he stole gently behind an Arbour where the Gardiner he had made assured him the Marquess was entred The evening was dark and the Princess and Villena spake very low nevertheless the Count could here the Whispering they made He went round about the Arbour and throwing himself into it suddenly How now Madam said he to the Princess you will have no Amours not you your Rendez vous and the story of the Pantoffles are but Romances and Fables you have no kindness for the Marquess of Villena at all and you are naturally what the most vertuous are by Education Part of this charge was properly enough upon the Princess and had the Count been assured to whom he had addrest his Discourse his publick and private Interests would have authorized him to have exprest himself in that manner But the haughtiness and quality of the Infanta would not permit her to return him any milder reply She told the Count he was very bold to intrude himself into a Conversation where he was not invited that she had her reasons for the secrecy of her discourse with the Marquess wherewith the King was already contented and besides the Queen she thought her self not accomptable to any body else that he would be gone immediately unless he desired she should forget the respect she had for his Dignity as he had forgot what was due unto her It is not easie to express the astonishment the Count de Boulogne was in when he heard it was the Infanta he thought he had been mistaken and interrupting her in a fright Why Madam said he to her is it you that is in this Arbour Yes replied the Infanta in a passion it is I And this Cavalier with me is the Marquess de Villena Yes said the Marquess I am the Marquess de Villena and I am in discourse with the Infanta about matters of State I ask your pardon Madam replied the Count out of countenance I did not expect to have found the Marquess in so good Company I shall take my measures better another time and seeing the respect I owe you is exposed by such accidents undesigned I shall keep a better guard upon it for the future Having finished these words he withdrew and left the Infanta in a most inexpressible disquiet The true cause she concealed from the Marquess that piece of sincerity is never in use but the scrupulous vertue wherewith the Queen did seem to embellish her older years supplied the Princess with pretences enough for her disorder As soon as she was got to her Chamber she writ a Letter to the Count and though she father'd her Rendez-vous upon the troubles of Castile yet she exprest so sensible a sorrow for the suspicions he had conceived that one must have been the Infanta her self to have discovered the fallacy This Letter by ill Fortune fell into the hands of the Marquess de Villena The Princess had the Names of her Gallants so ready in her memory that she confounded them and thinking to name the Count de Boulogne she directed her Messenger to the Marquess The Messenger understanding no further than what he received from her mouth for there was no Superscription carried it directly as the Princess had commanded before she was aware Such Messages as those are usually great interruptions to Gallants repose The Marquess spent the best part of the night in contemplation of that gracious Letter he was immediately satisfied of the mistake The Count was so exactly described he needed not have been his Rival to discover it was to him This made the Marquess as jealous as angry He considered in what manner the Count accosted the Princess and judged her answer though apparently angry yet upon second thoughts more than ordinary familiar he deduced two or three melancholy Consequences and resolved to second them with Conference with the Count he went to speak with him as soon as he was drest The Count had received a Ticket from the Princess addrest to the Marquess as the Marquess had received one the night before intended to the Count. She had discovered the Destiny of her Letter upon the return of her Messenger and would fain have rectified it if it were possible with this design she conjured the Marquess to meet her in a Monastery where she was to dine that day and where she hoped to have the liberty to discourse with him The faults of Servants have such a successive concatenation they are neither to be justified nor prevented The Princess had given so severe a Lecture to him that carried the Letter for having delivered it to Marquess de Villena and reitered with so confused a transport that what she writ was for the Count de Boulogne that his name ran still in his head insomuch as he mistook again and carried the Ticket to the Count. He was just reading it when the Marquess came in and Villena seeing him go out who brought the Note and knowing him to be the same person who had brought him the Letter the evening before This Officer of the Princess said he to the Count hath prevented my zeal but a moment I am come to deliver you the Letter which without doubt he has told you did belong to you He told me but one thing and that I am not much concerned to know replied the Count which is that the Princess goes this day to dinner in a Monastery in this City you who have
the least spark of kindness in your Eyes Tell me I beseech you is it enough for a Lover that they be sparkling without kindness or do you think they have acquitted themselves of their duty when they have dazled a poor Creature I must see Love in them or renounce their Empire and when mine declare I love more than ever I expect yours should make answer And I 'le assure you there 's no Love lost If that be all replied the Ambassadress rather than the Duke shall want his Lesson I 'le look upon you as you please Do I look well now continued she fixing her Eye upon him with as much tenderness as she could Ha! I know you dear Eyes said the Sultan I see now you are disposed to hear me and then he ran out into a thousand amorous expressions but the Duke of Mantua who took no recreation in that kind of divertisement interrupted him by departing hastily out of room Jacaya observed his Physiognomy so changed he was afraid he had been ill and desired the Ambassadress she would permit him to follow him which he did but could not overtake him till he came to his Lodgings The Prince of Turkie desired to know what it was obliged him to retire so abruptly and assured him the Ambassadress was very unquiet till she could be satisfied of his health The Duke being brim full of passion answered not the Sultans Complement but looking fiercely upon him with his Eyes in which grief and rage were both livelily delineated Actum est it is decreed cryed he I love her my Love hath not been thus long constrained but to break out with the greatest violence and I will perish a thousand times before I will endure my Rival shall be beloved Jacaya thought him in a Phrensie and taking him by the Arm to feel his Pulse What do you talk of a Mistress and a Rival you are in a burning Feaver do you remember who it is that speaks to you Yes Prince replied the Duke with somewhat more moderation I know you too well you are the Ambassadresses Darling but you must resolve to take away my life or renounce those addresses Why Sir said the Sultan in a great surprise do you love the Ambassadress To say I love her replied the Duke is too mean I admire I adore her and either you must resign or one of us must dye Jacaya confounded at this Alarm as may well be imagined fell down upon the Chair that was next him and leaning his Elbow upon the Table fell into a contemplation of his Destiny He loved the Ambassadress entirely and though his passion was begun in sport and continued in a Frolick yet at the bottom he was most absolutely serious He was of an amorous Complexion much subject to Love and in that respect it was no easie matter for him to renounce it on the other side he had been infinitely obliged to the friendship of the Duke he had protected him against the Conspiracies of the Strozzi he had given him all necessary supplies and he had never been admitted in France but by his means Love Ha cruel Love cryed he with a sigh will you be always mine Enemy Alas Sir said he addressing himself to the Duke I foresaw the misery is befallen me and had you left me in that liberty I desired I had never pulled it down upon me Had you no other way of breaking with me than by making me your Rival I suppose my friendship hath tryed you and I do not admire it the unfortunate are often tedious to their friends but had it not been enough to let me have known so without adding the consequences of an infructuous passion Do not call me to an account said the Duke for what I have done I knew nothing of it my self and would have sworn I should never have been in Love with the Ambassadress The very moment before I knew she had a kindness for you my Love began to declare by the approaches of my Jealousie the news of your being in Love set me also on fire and that fire having been a long time deprest secretly in my heart that part of it which appears but its beginning is indeed the utmost extremity It is not that I am weary of your friendship and I offer you mine as pure as you have found it But dear Sultan shew me your compassion by your compliance Ladies are unconstant and perhaps you will do that of your self one day either out of weariness or revenge that I conjure you to do now in kindness to me The Turkish Prince could not relish that Proposition all that his obligations and Policy could get from him was only a promise to endeavour to master himself In order to which he absented himself for some time and pretending a Curiosity to see the Kings Houses and other Palaces about Paris he had several Entertainments with several Lords of the Court. Whether in some of those Entertainments the Duke of Mantua laid any design for him or whether the consideration of his misfortune in his Love exstimulated him to retire into some unknown part of the World where that passion was a stranger is not known but certain it is he disappeared in an instant and could never afterwards be heard on The Duke of Mantua was not much happier for the Ambassadour dying in France and his Lady returning into Savoy the Dukes Affairs called him into Italy and gave him no leisure to abandon himself to the desires of his passion A TABLE of all the Histories contained in these Eight Parts THe Countess of Castile page 1 The Pilgrim page 4 Alfreda of England page 14 Don Garcias of Spain page 30 The Duke and Dutchess of Modena page 37 The three Princesses of Castile page 53 Constance the fair Nun. page 81 James King of Arragon page 106 The Fraticelles page 113 Dulcinus King of Lombardy page 156 Nogaret and Mariana page 163 Don Pedro King of Castile page 185 John Paleogolus Emperour of Greece page 205 Amedy Duke of Savoy page 223 Agnes de Castro page 251 The Countess of Pontieuvre page 262 Feliciane page 286 Jane supposed of Castile page 310 The Persian Princes page 325 Don Sebastian King of Portugal page 355 Jacaya a Turkish Prince page 380 FINIS A Catalogue of Books Printed for John Starkey Booker-seller at the Mitre in Fleetstreet near Temple-Bar Divinity Folio's THirty six Sermons preached by the Right Reverend Father in God Robert Sanderson late Lord Bishop of Lincoln the fifth Edition corrected price bound 18 s. 2. The Jesuits Morals collected by a Doctor of the Colledge of Sorbon in Paris who hath faithfully extracted them out of the Jesuits own Books which are Printed by the permission and approbation of the Superiors of their Society Written in French and exactly translated into English price bound 10 s. Quarto 3. Tetrachordon Expositions upon the four chief places in Scripture which treat of Marriage or nullities in Marriage Wherein the Doctrine and
in the Story The Sedition of the Guelphs â—â—d the Gibelins and the Marriage of Henry IV. with Conâ—â—ance who had been four years a Nun is no less authenâ—â—ck The Galantrie of the Cloister is taken out of private â—emoires and some are of opinion Constance was Niece to â—â—lement III. and not to Alexander But besides that that â—â—rcumstance is uncertain and not positively to be decided 〈◊〉 is of so little importance to our Annals I think it not â—â—orth the time to dispute it The Amours of James King of Arragon Hist Hisp. Reg. Ferdinand IX Castil Reg. An. Dom. 1228. This Story is taken almost word for word out of that â—hronicle That that is added is only a little piece of Galâ—antry to bring in the Articles of Marriage The Fraticelles This History is taken out of so many famous Authors so many Memoires and Manuscripts that it would take up a whole Table to recite our Authorities Platus hath a whole Chapter upon them Baronius is so particular in â—heir debaucheries I dare not expose them to a modest â—eader I confess Hortensia is the Daughter of mine own â—ancy but there was a necessity of some person which might â—ive occasion for the declaration of their Doctrine If it was not to this Hortensia they spoke what is mentioned in my Annals it was to some body else for by consent of all Authors that was their thoughts If any of my Readers be scandalized with that liberty I refer him to my Preface The Extravagance of Dulcinus King of the Lombards and of Marguerite his Wife Annal. Eccles 1310. S. Anth. Arch. of Flor. lib 20. Abr. de Turcel Reg. Hen. VII This Extravagance is in History represented so horridly I thought it my duty to give it a better shape Dulcinus and Marguerite introduced a custom of promiscuous injoyment in all sorts of people without choice or distinction I have moderated that and turned it to the changing of Husbands and Wives which though it be contrary likewise to the Laws of the Church yet among Persons of Honour I think it would be more excusable than the other As to Nogaret there was a man of that Train at that time accompanied by Sara Colonna into Italy and supposing there was such an Examen of Husbands discontented and Wives not satisfied it is not improbable but their Arguments and Impeachments might be of that nature Don Pedro Rex Castil XIV Hist Spain Regn. ejusd Anno 1344. ad 1360. This Story is well-near word for word only the Amour of Nugnez is suppositious If the fidelity of this Table be suspected I only desire the Readers to suspend their Judgments till they know the Author when they know who it is they will believe in good breeding he deserves some connivence and perhaps some of them may confess there is more in his Annals than they expected from him THE ANNALS OF LOVE THE FIRST PART LOVE is agreeable in all forms and hath its influence upon all persons We have seen Queens in Love with the meanest of their Officers it reigns in the dull and almost dead eye as well as in the brisk and sparkling nor is there any Condition of Mankind from the Prince to the Pilgrim but stoops to that yoke and may become an Ornament of its Triumph Of this the Countess of Castile is a most pregnant Example She was descended from the Illustrious Family of the Vermandois she was a great Beauty and married to a Count whose Estate since that time hath composed a considerable Kingdom His Court was numerous and the Castilian Gallantry the most remarkable in all Spain But it was not with the Charms of a Courtier the Countess was to be won her Vertue was impregnable as to Magnificence or Spruceness it must be a Hat with large brims a Rochet set with shells must work upon her The Lustre of that Diadem to which her Husband Don Garcia Fernandez was born made less impression upon her heart than the counterfeit humility of a Pilgrim of S. James This Hero travelling to Compostella through the Kingdom of Castile and understanding the Countess was originally French and particularly gracious to that Nation he resolved to have his share of it as well as the rest of his Country-men He got himself presented by the Master of the Hospital at Burgos where being received and the excellence of his Meen piercing through the obscurity of his habit the Countess found him immediately so compleat she retarded the accomplishment of his Vow for some weeks she conjured him to repose himself for some time at her Court in Castile and because his Equipage was not likely to render him considerable she found out a pretence to furnish him more nobly her self There was not a Family in France to which he said he was allied but was akin likewise to the Countess so covering the real indigence of her Pilgrim with the Mask of voluntary Penance he was introduced into the Court under the Name of Hugo d'Anjou descended from the Counts of Guien first Cousins to the Countess and that out of an excess of Devotion he was marching in Pilgrimage to Compostella He could not have had better Titles to recommend him in that Country for Don Garcias loved his Wife very well and the Castilians are a people naturally sensible of any act of Devotion Thus far therefore our Hugo is happy being lodged in the Counts own Palace and reverenced by his whole Court for the profound humility which they supposed in him His change of Habit could be no disadvantage to him it is not to be imagined but he was as graceful to the eyes of the Countess in the Fashion of a French Lord as in the Weeds of a Pilgrim She made him tell her the Adventures of his Voyage and pressed it with as much importunity as was possible she would not suffer him to omit the least Circumstance and for as much as good Lodging is a rare Commodity among Pilgrims and he had occasion sometimes to mention the unkindness of the Servants where he lay the good Lady was so tender-hearted and so sensible of his sufferings she could not forbear blurting out â—nto tears As sly Aeneas told his mournful tale To gentle Dido and so plaid his part Not only for belief he did prevail But riggled himself into the Ladies heart So our Land-Pilgrim understood so right To explicate h troubles by the way That not a stumble or a start in th' night But spoiled the Countess's Eyelids all that day How great is Love and arbitrary all Follows the mighty dictate of his will Interest Honour what we Generous call Ambition truckle to his Scepter still Religion which I 'd thought would ne're submit Stoops with the rest and kisses Cupids feet Hugo d'Anjou the Pilgrim perceiving by the compassion the Countess exprest in the beginning of his disasters that she was favourably disposed towards him resolved to give her better occasion than the bare relation of his Pilgrimage He was
Countess Her Husband the Count of Tholouse being of the same Nation with the Prince and not ill acquainted in matters of Love was the first that observed the inclinations of the Prince of Galicia He took the Countess aside one day and after a long enumeration of the subtilties and falseness of Mankind he concluded his Harangue with a serious admonishment to guard her self from the inveiglements of the Prince of Galicia of the Prince of Galicia cryed Elvira in no little surprise alas my Lord he hath married my Sister And because he hath married your Sister replied the Count is he the less capable of being your Gallant Believe me Madam these kind of relations are no impediment at all on the contrary the greatness of the sin gives it many times a Ragoust and I my self have known several make Love to their Kindred who would not have regarded them had there been no Alliance The young Elvira had been brought up so modestly she could not hear the word Incest without trembling she would have sworn there had been no such thing committed in the World since the days of Lot and his Daughters and doubtless had the Prince of Galicia spake half that which her Husband had done she would not at that time have endured him But mark the indiscretion of some Husbands they are many times the Authors of all the mischief which befals them and some Women are so ignorant in those kind of affairs they would never have known what that Love had meant had not the reproaches and impertinent admonitions of their Husbands instructed them The Countess fixing her eyes upon the Count with an astonishment that demonstrated her innocence Ha my Lord said she tell me I beseech you in what is it you observe the Prince of Galicia hath such kindness for me I am not insensible of his desire to oblige me but I perswade my self 't is in consideration of Vrraca and I see so little probability that a man should be enamoured of his Wifes Sister that Raymond de Burgogne might tell me so a hundred times and I desire to be excused He need not tell you once unless you please your self Madam replied the Count what I have done is but to advise you to prevent that declaration have a care how you are with him alone interrupt him in any discourse you think tending that way and suffer him not to endanger so vertuous an innocence He loves you Madam and it is I do assure it do you not discern his diligence how his eye is always upon you how he crowds and steals himself close to you in all Assemblies and how he sighs when he is forced to forsake you He was so inconsiderate the other day before me that in describing what Beauty it was he liked best he had no more wit than to delineate you The Countess had taken no notice of that circumstance she was too much a Novice in Love-affairs to apprehend any such thing but her curiosity kindling at her Husbands discourse Why my Lord said she do you call that Love what hurt is there in that innocent way of diverting the Company For my part I have always lookt upon Love as a dangerous business but if all its effects are blemeless as that with which you are so highly alarm'd it is not so terrible as I did imagine You do well Madam replied the Count in some passion to be no more affected with my admonition but let me desire you once more not to depend upon your own Judgment in matters of that importance the beginnings of Love as always inconsiderable but the consequence of those trifles are commonly unfortunate and then entring upon a long recitation of amorous Adventures which no man but her Husband durst have undertaken to have told her he closed up all with some Original Examples and gave her more knowledge by that single Dialogue than she had gained of her self in ten years experience MAXIME V. Husbands let me advise you never tell Your Wives whate're misfortunes you foresee They are too apt and can transgress too well Themselves though you ne're help their memory Better be silent far whate're they do Than to be Table-talk and Cuckold too The amorous Prince of Galicia not knowing how officious the Count of Tholouse had been to give the Countess a sense of his affection attended with impatience all opportunity to let her understand what she was already informed of He found Elvira alone many times by her deportment she seemed not to be cruel nor did he want either Courage or Wit but her little experience in those affairs was the thing he principally dreaded he feared his confidence was not great enough to pronounce the name of Love much less to commit Incest and therefore not daring to venture a secret of that nature to so young and squeamish a person he consumed himself in unprofitable desires when on a sudden his Destiny befriended him with an opportunity to accomplish them and indeed Cupid seldom abandons his Votaries in their extremities when a man hath nothing to do but to speak the greatest part of his Adventure is done to his hand There was about this time an Astrologer arrived at Burgos or at least a man pretending to be so and several Miracles were reported of him These sort of people in former Ages being more rare were more venerable than in ours formerly the opinion was nothing of futurity could be predicted but by Magick But now a days every one pretends to it Our Astrologer having set up his Bills and made a large Paneyrick in Commendation of his Art the noise he made in the Town by the means of his Officers came to the ears of Alphonso Alphonso must needs see him and amongst other admirable things which he presaged and would answer for them upon his head he shew himin a Book the Names of all the Mistresses he had formerly had and the principal Occurrences in his Amours He needed no more in the Judgment of the good King to intitle him a Magician Whereupon he forbid his Daughter and all the rest of his Court to have any communication with this man being assured what he had shown him was more than natural and looking upon his Book as a piece of Lucifers Library he believed it composed by the Devil The Prince of Galicia who did not fancy the Devils so sociable apprehended not that horrour for the astrologer as the King would have perswaded him to He sent for him to his Appartment and having threatned to cut his throat if he told him not the truth he promised him a considerable reward if he would be ingenuous and discover The Conjuror being frighted with his threats on one side and incouraged with his rewards on the other confest freely to the Prince that he neither understood Signs nor Planets that he questioned whether any man alive was so skilful as to deduce any certain Presages from them and that as to his Book he owed all
No man can tell its power till he hath tryed it and no man that hath tryed is fit to describe it Henry de Lorraine the Husband of Theresia of Castile and Prince of the Conquests in Portugal being of a Family to which life and Generosity were connatural with great sorrow understood the distraction of the Royal House of Castile Any body but he would have made his advantage of them the displeasure of the Father against two of his Daughters must needs be of great importance to the third But the Princes of his Race are not capable of so mean a thing as private interest He departed from Lisbon immediately went directly to his Father-in-law the King of Castile and undertook to mediate betwixt his two Brothers-in-law But for as much as new Acquisitions are more tottering and uncertain than what are anciently establisht Henry apprehending his absence might give opportunity to new Commotions he kept his Journey very close and leaving Fernandez Paw a Portugal to assist his Wife in the Government of that Kingdom he departed so suddenly for Castile that Theresia had scarce time to write two lines to her Father But for the making the occurrences at Castile at the Arrival of Prince Henry perspicuous it will not be amiss if we insert what passed in Portugal before he set out This Fernandez Paw whom he had left chief Counsellor to the Princess in his absence had long since possest himself of that Character in her heart Henry was a young Prince more enamoured of the Quality than the Person of Theresia This Paw admired her for both and it is a great satisfaction to a Woman to have her Dominion founded upon her own Excellence Paw therefore had got an intimacy with the Princess upon that score and having managed it very discreetly Prince Henry had gotten no notice of it Paw served his Prince so well in his Foreign Affairs he was not the least suspected at home Theresia carried herself with as much modesty as could be expected but by misfortune the day before Henry was to depart there had been some Letters past betwixt Theresia and Paw the Princess was subject to some Christian reflexions which had put her Gallant into some confusion He had writ to her upon that subject and Theresia was so prest by her Husband to close up her Pacquet to Castile that she sealed up Paws Letter instead of one to her Father This mistake was not discovered till three or four hours after the Prince was departed They had been imployed all that time in instructions pro and con But when the Princess was alone and had a mind to read Paws Letter which she believed she had left sealed upon the Table she was much surprized to find the Letter she had writ to her Father Alphonso in its place That she sigh 't and wept and tore her hair is no great difficulty to imagine Nothing could serve but she must dye Fernandez could not comfort her and to speak truth he himself wanted no little consolation But there was no remedy but patience The Example of her other Sisters gave his some relaxation she could not do worse than they had done before her In the mean time Henry arrived at Burgos with Paws Letter instead of his Fathers The good Alphonso was much revived at the sight of his dear Son-in-law and looking now upon Theresia as the sole Inheritrix of that Love of which Elvira and Vrraca had rendred themselves unworthy he observed the tears drop down his venerable Cheeks at the sight of the Letter the Prince presented him from her He opened the Pacquet with great joy and supposing there was nothing in the heart of his Daughter to which her Husband might not be privy he began to read it aloud but recollecting immediately that it was not Theresia's hand he stopt at the first line and then looking upon the Superscription to see how it was directed he found it For the King of Castile and that the Superscription was written by Theresia her self he concluded then that she might have some reasons which he did not know to make use of a Secretary and then stepping to the Window he read these Lines which to accommodate our selves to all sorts of Readers we have taken the pains to translate our of Spanish Ah my dear Princess how insupportable are you grown with your remorses have I not told you a thousand times that there is nothing owing to Husbands but the conservation of their Honours That the great discretion lyes in chusing a friend who by the prudenee of his Conduct would keep them from scandal and these Formalities being observed there is no more due from you to Prince Henry Courage Madam overcome this unseasonable compunction and that it may be nipt in the bud permit that I may wait upon you this night with new Arguments against it Never was any man so surprized as Alphonso at the reading of this Letter It was to be his common custom to see his Daughters disloyal Elvira had taken that liberty in private Vrraca did it publickly and the old King of Castile was so good a Father as to impute all to the imprudence of his Sons-in-law He could not believe it was their temperament or natural inclination which disposed them to so unnatural actions The one was debaucht by the Jealousie of her Husband the other by her desire of Revenge but for Theresia he had nothing to say in her defence Henry was accomplisht in himself he had setled the French oeconomy in his Family and Theresia lived at Lisbon as she would have done at Paris He was liberal frank and faithful so that Alphonso was so much transported at the injury done to this Prince that he could not master his first resentments However it had been but prudence in him to conceal the exorbitance of his Daughter but the good man was so transported with choler that he threw the Letter upon the ground cast up his eyes to heaven as a person under some eminent affliction and answering his own thoughts as it had been his Daughter he cryed out You shall dye unhappy Child you shall dye if your Husband should be so merciful to forgive you I would tear you in pieces with mine own trembling hands rather than your infidelity should go unpunisht The Prince of Portugal had like to have swounded at this transport he could not conceive the Contents of the Letter nor the cause of Alphonso's disorder and asking him in his surprise what infidelity it was he charged upon Theresia the King took up the Letter again and delivering it into his hand here says he see what reason I have to be disturbed and confess I have brought Monsters not Daughters into the World Henry took Paws Letter from the King he knew the hand and reading it half out was so astonisht at the Contents he could scarce tell whether he was waking or asleep His conversation in the World had not been so small but he
knew a Womans vertue was not to be warranted without good counter-security He understood the Sex by experience and was not ignorant that the best friends are usually they which disparage the Husband But to consider that he should be the Porter of that unfortunate Letter was a Pill he could not swallow nor digest His misfortune was too common to be incredible but the Circumstance with which it was accompanied was beyond all belief and it was not so much Paws Letter that affected him as that it was his Destincy to deliver it This consideration stownded him for some time and the transportation of his Father-in-law added fuel to his fire but at last the storm was blown over In that Age as it is in this the Tilte of Cuckold was so common it was scarce any trouble to be so The disgrace lyes only where it is known when a Womans inconstancy is publick nothing is greater dishonour to her Husband where it is managed with secrecy nothing is so trivial Henry lookt upon it as no point of discretion to publish the infirmities of his Wife and therefore gave himself some few days to digest his resentment But the Examples of his Brother-in-law having learnt him some Wit he came one morning to the Kings Chamber and said to him You see Sir by the Letter I have brought you that your Daughters have no reason to upbraid one another They were born under the same Constellation and if any thing discriminated me from the Prince of Galicia and the Count of Tholouse it is this that their unhappiness is known and mine is a secret I have no inclination to publish it and if you please you may conceal the Letter you shewed me Send word to your Daughter that you kept it from me and I will never convince her of her errour In giving me Theresia your Majesty gave me also a Province which I hope in time to improve into a Kingdom I have Children already which may succeed me hereafter There is no necessity the Portugals should suspect whether they be mine or Paws Conceal the dishonour of your Daughter with as much care as I and by the Example of your Family we will demonstrate that it is the discretion of the Husbands which makes the difference betwixt the Women which are prudent in appearance and those which are really irregular The King of Castile took this Proposition very kindly He began to repent himself of what he had done insomuch that magnifying the Generosity he had exprest he seconded his Counsels with several Examples and most irrefragable Arguments and the troubles in Castile being appeased by the death of the Count of Tholouse and the interpostion of the King of France Henry returned into Portugal without any mark or token of that he knew The truth is he found out a pretence to send Paw out of the World and I have been told he had another to make his Wife more obsequious for the future But as he presaged very judiciously his Posterity have reigned several years in Portugal whereas the younger Sons of the Royal Family of Castile have always disputed the Crown with the Children of Vrraca MAXIME V This I 'le affirm let things to how they can The marri'd's really the happiest man Let her be what she will I 'le lay my life His owns more faithful than this Neighbours Wife But shall we never have done with these Daughters does no other condition of life but the married afford matter for our Annals Yes certainly History is so fertile in amourous accidnets she supplies us with variety About the same time while things were in this agitation in Spain Love which had laid about him so in the Royal Family of Castile was not idle in the Court of the Emperour of the West This Empire was then under the Dominion of Frderick Barberossa a valiant and ambitious Prince He had signalized the beginning of his Reign by remarkable Victories so that there was nothing discoursed of in all Europe so much as his Power and Greatness He kept his ordinary Residence in Rome as well because the Climate agreed with his body as upon certain secret Designs he had upon the Lands of the Church and because his remoteness from the heart of his Empire caused him to apprehend some Mutiny in the Towns of Germany he obliged Prince Henry his Son to continue in that Province the greatest part of the year This young Prince was extremely hopeful the people of the Empire loved him entirely So that his Father conceiving some Jealousie lousie thereupon took the pretence of his Coronation to recal him to Rome They past the Winter very lovingly together and the Emperour having a mind to pry into the Conduct of Alexander the Third who was then Pope and in possession os the Patrimony of S. Peter he ordered his Son to visit him frequently The Prince in obedience to his Father waited upon him as often as he was visible He attended him in all his devitions and among other places to a Monastery of Nuns where his Holiness had a Niece he loved most entirely She was descended from the Blood Royal of Si ily and her Uncle the Disposer of all Ecclesiatical preferments but as yet she was not of years to be an Abbess and therefore at Rome was known by no other name but Madam Gonstance She was as handsom as was possible to wish and besides several other good qualities she had a good voice and sung incomparably well at one of the Solemnities of that Covent the Prince heard her one day and being a great Lover of Musick he had a great ambition to see her the dignity of her relation to the Pope authorizing his desire he askt leave to see Constance when the Ceremony was ended He was much transported at the sight of her and had never seen so many graces in one Assembly before Till that day he was free his soul was his own and he seemed born for Mars's not Venus Wars But he was not the first man hath become a Captive to the simplicity of a Nun. There is a sort of people not to be captivated but in this shape and there have been Letters seen in our days which have taught us that of all people in the World none make Love with that confidence and freedom as the Nuns The Monastical Gallantry hath its Laws and Rubricks apart There are no elegant Entertainments no Assiduities nor publick Attendances all things within the Cloister are so carried privately and with discretion nevertheless their Religious Civility is so great they will not discourage any mans affection and there is but few which attempt them but they arrive at their designs The Imperial Prince was a handsom Person and a fine Gentleman Constance had taken a Monastick life upon her more in obedience than choice and in vows of this Nature there is something always reserved to direct the intention Thus have we brought them into Cupids High-way The Prince seconded his
indignation and to that an irreconciliable disunion The Prince deserted him and went to the Pope who having interdicted Frederick for his Attempts against the Ecclesiastical See offered Henry to make him Emperour though his Father was still living and certainly the Condition he required was but reasonable it was only that he should marry Constance of Sicily his Niece he told him that without that security he could not relye upon the word of the Prince But in short the Intrigues of his Niece were come to his knowledge and he found it troublesom to conceal them and as certain it is Henry would been have glad if the Popes Generosity had been entire without terms He loved Constance most passionately but every one knows MAXIME VIII Howe're one loves before the very name Of Wedding mentioned gravely does rebate His edge no doubt checks his consuming flame And brings the Martyr to his former state The thought of Marriage to a thoughtful mind Opens his nerve and shows'em he was blind But his Holiness was not affrighted at this Doctrine and less at the difficulty of granting a Dispensation for her who had been four years a Professor But Prince Henry was under a necessity of submitting however to comfort himself by the consideration of having Companions he proposed to the three persons who were Gallants to Constances three Confidents to follow his Example They had made Love as furiously as he he promised them considerable advantages and the Pope was in so good an humour at that time he would have given Dispensations to the whole Covent if his Niece had desired it But they who were his Camarades in his Amours would by no means bear him Company in his Marriage They told him that if they were as accomplisht as he they might undertake any thing upon confidence of their Merit but for them who had not been so great Favourites of Nature they could not but fear the Laws of Wedlock might be as casily violated as the Rules of a Covent That in so tender a point one could not be too cautious and that if the worst happened that could be and they must marry they desired to do it upon his terms and have an equivalence to the Empire of the West for their Wives Portion The Prince did not think it convenient for his Chaity to the Nuns to renounce his possession of the Empire He left them unkindly in their Monastery to deplore the ingratitude of the Gallants and launcht himself alone into that Gulf in which his Associats had represented so many difficulties He married Constance and was crowned Emperour by the Name of Henry the Fourth A famous Abbot in those times who dyed not long after and left a great Reputation of his Sanctity behind him declaimed bitterly against this Marriage and indeed the misfortunes which followed turned his Imprecations into a Prophesie But let him say what he please Those ways which lead a man to the chief place in the World are always counted the best paths one can walk in And now let us take our leave of our new Emperour and Empress and take a fresh turn about the World to see if we can find any new Adventure in that Age that may be fit to close up our Annals of this year James King of Arragon indued with much natural Chastity and as much Experience as sixteen years of age could confer was married to Eleoner of Castile Aunt to the King which reigned in that Kingdom at that time who for the number of her years and her own inclination was as well skilled in matters of Love as her young Husband was ignorant This Princess had an Amour with a Castilian Lord whom she loved most passionately She had past her Faith to him and attended it with so many oaths and imprecations she might justly fear the Justice of Heaven would follow her if she transgressed For this reason she did what she could not to marry the King of Arragon She cast her self a thousand times at the King of Castiles feet though he was but her Nephew She wept she sob'd she threatned to starve her self but her tears and her prayers were to as little purpose as her threats The Marriage was concluded by the Counsels both of Castile and Arragon to be advantagious to both Nations Eleonor used her utmost to prevent it But Princesses of her Quality are as so many Sacrifices to the Policy of their Countries and never to be disposed of by their own inclinations The new Queen seeing her self forced upon a Match which gave her so many scruples she considered of a way by which she might like a constant Mistress continue faithful to her Gallants She suborned an ancient Physician to insinuate into her young Husband that he could not marry Eleonor that there were invincible obstacles in the way which opposed its Consummation The young Monarch who was scarce got out of his Infancy had never seen Woman as it were but his Queen Mother his Governesses and Nurses and had been always told that Eleonor was a sprightly Princess believed what was told him very honestly and remembring that he had heard it wisht several times that he would provide Successors for the Crown he understood it a great shame and misfortune for him to be unable to satisfie the desires of his Subjects This consideration rendred him so melancholy he could not indure the sight of any body He shut himself up whole days together in his Closet if he went walking it must be alone and having read in the Histories of that Kingdom what sorrow some of his Predecessors had conceived for want of Issue and what ill Consequences had followed the default of Heirs in several Kingdoms the good Prince who had an apprehension above his Age began to look upon himself already as the object of his Subjects hatred and contempt Those who had the care of his Person perceiving his humour and Complexion changed intreated him many times to tell the reason of his Melancholy but he answered with nothing but sighs and the Queen confirming him daily in the Errour he was plunged he proposed it himself that Eleonor should take her own liberty The Queen had in her Train a young Lady called Theresia de Bidaura witty and handsom and to whom the Person of the King was not so indifferent as to the Queen She was originally of Castile and brought along with the Princess Eleonor out of Arragon This Lady finding the young Monarch exactly according to her mind had studied all his actions and took all the care she could possibly to please him She invented sundry Dances and other Pastimes with her Companions on purpose to divert him If he did her the honour to speak to her at any time she would be sure to make him smile with the wittiness of her answer and kindness producing usually the like Bidanra became by degrees as dear to the King of Arragon as the King of Arragon had appeared amiable to Bidaura The first
his absence declaring to the Princess what he understood of the indifferencies of his Son he knew so well how to represent to her the resentment a discreet Woman ought to conceive when she finds her self despised by her Husband and described all the Discourses he had held with his Son so exactly that he found he had stir'd up her indignation before he was aware The Letters she received from Emanuel did not a little confirm the suggestions of his Father They contained nothing but indifferent relations and if indispensable Civility caused him to mention any thing of Love it was so flat and insipid it was easily to be discerned he did it by constraint One would have thought he had apprehended the vigilance of some jealous person he exprest his desires so indifferently one would have thought his prudence had retained the best half of his mind He forgot himself one day so far in his tranquillities that he gave a most excellent Character of Mammomas to the Infanta not considering he was his Rival and such a Rival as had been able to keep him from the possession of his Mistress This is too much cryed the Princess when she read the Letter the Prince at length tires out my patience and I shall be reproacht all Greece over as an insensible person if knowing how Emanuel uses me I let him not understand again that I am not ignorant of ways to revenge my self And this resolution was no sooner taken than executed The Infanta told the Emperour that she was at last grown weary of the Princes neglects that she would dye a thousand deaths before she would marry him and that she was come to acquaint him she would sacrifice her self before she would submit to the Conditions of the Treaty This was it the Emperour designed he commended her resentment protested the deportment of his Son was no less ungrateful to his Ears than to hers and wishing with all his heart he had been of an age to make her reparation himself he sollicited her to vengeance so hard that at length she listned to his Proposals She writ a Letter to the Emperor of Trebisonde by agreement with Calo-John the Pacquet was delivered into the hands of an Agent very faithful to the Emperour and of a Wit as considerable as his fidelity It would be requisite to delineate Calo-John exactly as he was at that time to make the Reader conceive all that Love is able to make a man of his age do He brake the brains of all the Officers of his Chamber to invent him new dresses he trusted none but his own Eyes in the choice of the Colors he wore and passing whole hours in conversation with his Glass What thinkest thou Calo-John said he to himself how dost thou like this Figure in the Glass this Complexion is it not fine these Eyes are they not soft and well made they are not so sparkling indeed as when I was young but in Love the softness and sweetness of the Eye doth more execution many times than the quickness and vivacity What say you to this Shape this Leg this whole Contexture said he marching two or three steps with great magnificence Ha! Calo-John 't is not for nothing the Infanta of Trebisonde prefers you to your Son thou art a thousand times handsomer and more desirable than he and this Election of the Princess is an effect of the solidity of her Judgment rather than a token of her anger Whilst the Emperour was pleasing himself in this manner in his own Efficacy and Merits his Son had reduced the Rebels to the Terms his Father desired and there being nothing left to detain him longer upon the Frontiers he returned to Constantinople with the same serenity he departed He found the Princess much colder to him than formerly and the Emperour more spruce but he did not concern himself for either he was glad to find the Princess no more troublesom and did not dive into the fineness of his Father He recounted his Exploits to his Mistress in the same style he had writ them and she told him Ironically she was much obliged to him for the description he had given her of Mammomas that she had a great honour for his qualities and that she did not believe when she vanquisht his heart she had had so illustrious a Captive Our Lover being hardned took all in the literal sense and justified every tittle he had mentioned in his Letter A good way to moderate the transport of a Mistress at the return of her Servant The Infanta's indignation increased every hour and the affairs of the Emperour went better and better He failed not to ply her with thanks both by Letters and word of Mouth and supposing his acknowlegments would be more eloquent in Verse than in Prose he rub'd up his old fancy for a Paper of good Verses Our Memoires do not represent them in a style à la mode as to their Art or Invention but his ardour and sincerity is conspicuous in them to this day One time when he had out-done himself in the expression of the felicity he promised to himself the Princess by ill Fortune dropt the Paper before the Prince who taking it up had a Curiosity to read it contrary to his Custom but the Infanta discerning what it was Do not read it Sir said she to him they are Love-Verses Emanuel smiled and not believing what she said I am sufficiently your Friend Madam replied he to be intrusted with your Secrets and having said those words opened the Paper The Princess clapt her hand upon it and told him you do not believe me and yet I 'le assure you I say true Yes said the Prince interrupting her a little angerly I do believe you it may be some body makes Love to you but I will see by your favour after what manner he doth it who-ever it be he is something audacious and has chosen an ill field to engage in and then forcing the Paper from the Infanta and knowing it to be the Emperours hand How says he smiling is it the Emperour in truth let 's see if he can make Love as well now as of old When my poor heart 's already laid In dust for Love of gentle Maid What boots it to call out for aid My blood burnt up my vigour spent Mine Enemy omnipotent What boots it boots it to lament And yet methinks my hopes contend And still inculcate mark the end Your enemy shall prove your friend Ah! gentle hopes don't flatter me I should should I that minute see Happier than in my Empire be Emanuel thought the Emperour had but jested before and looking upon it as a design of the Infanta's to make him jealous he laught in his sleeve at the innocence of the project But when he perceived the Emperour was in earnest he began as seriously to be displeased Sure said he the Affairs of the Empire are but very few when the Emperour can have leisure to imploy himself
about such trifles You did not formerly replied the Infanta call the marks you gave me of your passion Trifles It is not the same case replied the Prince I was in Love Calo-John is not He believes he is more than you and truly I am of opinion it will last longer Emanuel thought the Princess had jested and yet that kind of jesting he did not like he went to wait upon the Emperour and shewing him the Verses he had taken from the Princess I beseech you Sir said he will you divert your self some other way than by writing these Love-things to the Infanta of Trebisonde I know it is but in sport and that you have no intention to be serious but they may accustom her to them and she be brought by degrees to receive them from some body else and you know Sir a man cannot be too cautious in things of that nature That care replied the Emperour without any emotion belongs to me I shall have such an eye over her Conduct you shall not need to trouble your self at all I confess Sir replied the Prince as you are my Father the deportment of her who is designed to be my Wife may concern you yet that concern is but small in comparison of what a Husband ought to have I know all those differences Emanuel said the Emperour and therefore I tell you you need not trouble your self How unlikely soever it was the Emperour should be enamour'd of the Princess who was contracted to his Son the Prince knowing his Fathers temper conceived violent suspicions thereof He returned immediately to the Princess and perceiving his old flames to rise out of this spark of Jealousie Could it be possible Madam said he to the Princess that the Verses you let fall and I took up should have been written in earnest Why Madam and would you receive Propositions of Love from my Father Yes Sir replied the Infanta I would do any thing might rescue me from your disdain you have made it Sir too manifest and my patience would not have been any longer the effect of my fidelity but of a baseness without excuse or example Emanuel was startled at these words as if they had been Thunder I did not believe Madam said he to the Infanta you could have taken the marks of right reason for disdain they being always the infallible consequences of a declared Love I lookt upon you always as a discreet Lady and thought it would be more acceptable to you if I behaved my self as a Husband before you were my Wife than to have changed my deportment afterwards But Madam since I see you are not of my mind I must hereafter serve you according to your own return to me and I shall return to every thing that will please you you have no more to do but to make the Laws and it shall be my care to obey them all Madam but renouncing my interest in you Anger is a cheat and seldom as good as its promise The Infanta had reason indeed and was really angry with Emanuel he had neglected her he had given her a thousand indications of the declension of his Love and he had added discourse to his actions Nevertheless when she saw him submit and repent and remembred that he was the same Prince she had loved so entirely before her Choler was dissipated she forgot what she ought to the hopes of the Emperour and the declarations she had made to him and she began to renew her Commerce with the Prince upon new Conditions when Calo-John entred into her Chamber He had Advertisement that Emanuel was gone to make the Infanta a Visit and was not ignorant that Love was capable of Reconciliation Did not I tell you this morning said he very hastily to his Son you need not trouble your self any farther for any thing relating to the Princess for I my self would take that care upon me How comes it then Emanuel your eye is still so vigilant over her I thought Sir replied the Prince I had been obliged to have a care over her both by your order and the Emperours her Fathers Those Orders were given long since replied Calo-John but now they are out of doors You told me your self you had no passion for the Princess and that you would not marry her for any other reason but because you had promised I am so good a Father I will not hold you to that promise I understand Marriage very well and I know it is as much as one can do to live contentedly with a Woman that he loves how then can you expect to live well with one you do not love at all The Prince would have replied and protested he loved the Infanta as well as he ever did in his life but the Emperour who had no mind to those kind of protestations interrupted him and commanded him to be gone The Command seemed something harsh the Prince endeavoured to disobey and replies growing hot the Prince let fall some words which were not perhaps exactly according to the Rules of Respect whereupon the Emperour caused him to be seized And this point of rigour recalled all the kindness the Infanta had ever had for him she prayed she prest and her importunity increased rather than extenuated his Crime Love took up his rest now in the heart of the Princess she repented she ever had repented and would not endure to hear the Emperours pretensions so much as mentioned any longer In the mean time whilst things were in this posture an Envoyé arrived from the Emperour of Trebisond The said Emperour Father to the Infanta had been much troubled to consent to the Exchange he was a severe Prince and his resolutions immoveable Nevertheless the dexterity of the Agent was such he was over-power'd and consented that the Princess should marry Calo-John but it was with such express Order to change no more that the Princess durst never disobey And to compleat the ruine of Emanuels Affairs Mammomas being by Amurath suspected of an Intelligence with a Prince of Transilvania who refused to admit him for his Soveraign the Turkish Emperour deserted him and left him to Calo-John to be infested as he pleased In short he married the Infanta of Trebisond notwithstanding all the opposition she made her Father commanded it the Emperour was absolute and Princesses of her Rank are but Sacrifices to Policy and Convenience insomuch that Nature would have very much obliged the greatest part of them had she brought them into the World without hearts It is not to be exprest the rage Emanuel conceived at the News of this Wedding but the effects which insued may in some measure discover it He escaped out of Prison implored the Assistance of Amurath and conducting him as it were by the hand to the Throne Imperial of Greece he gave the fatal blow to that flourishing Empire for which Phrensie he was sufficiently punisht himself by the ingratitude of the Turk who not keeping one tittle of all the promises
to the disposition of the Heavens Having said thus he proposed that Prince Chasan should make Love to Imerselle in his Name We shall have no great task to obtain conveniencies continued Prince Caly we are of the same stature and have the same voice let us commit the rest to the Conduct of Love It was not many days after this resolution was taken before the Princes met an occasion for an Essay The Prince Imerse was retired to the Court of Bajazet II. Emperour of the Turks who had given hopes of restoring him to the Throne of his Fathers Campson Sultan of Egypt declared Enmity to Bajazet being glad to divert those Troops which might otherwise be imployed against him sent Thoman Bey who succeeded him in that Monarchy to the Sophy to offer him Alliance and conjure him to an Union This Overture was too much to Ismaels advantage to be refused he received the Embassadour very honourably and to do something the Egyptian might more particularly apply to his own esteem and his Country's the Court of Persia invented Dances à l' Egyptienne in which they danced masked and habited after the manner of Egypt This Disguise furnishing the Princes with the opportunity they wanted they caused their Habits to be made exactly alike and Caly giving place to his Brother and paying him all the respects that might signifie him to be elder Brother he got the liberty to be with Zuria whilst Chasan supplied his place next Imerselle The Princess Imerselle found her false Caly much more passionate than her true one he exprest himself so zealously and in such terms as the sincerity of her old Caly could not dispense with one of the conditions of this Ball was that they should have liberty to steal little discourses whilst it lasted and Chasan received those his good Fortune gave him with the Princess with so great transportation the Princess was surprised I believe Sir said she to him smiling the Habit you wear hath some secret propriety to make you amorous you never appeared so much to me before and 't is no longer ago than last night I was telling the Princess Zuria your Cousin that if your coolness continued I should be the first would expose my self to the rigour of the Law rather than see you obey the Sophy with so much reluctancy Disguise Madam replied Chasan is many times so necessary to Love Lovers can speak nothing passionately without it It is not the Command of the Sophy that brings me thus near you it is the desire of my own heart I might be another not Caly without yours or my Fathers perceiving it But my heart acting by peculiar Principles of its own without any foreign constraint it is Love which speaks by my mouth and not the Sophy's Decree that excites me But this Love is it more constrained in my Closet replied Imerselle or in another place you please to chuse than in the confusion of so great an Assembly Were we of those kind of Lovers to whom all occasions of Converse were interdicted or whose actions were exposed to the eyes of our Enemies I should not wonder you should want a Disguise to declare your affection but by his direction to whom Nature and Fortune hath obliged us both you may impart it how where and as often as you please all places are proper and all expressions allowed you how comes it then you have been so indifferent before and are so vehement now The Prince would have been put to some trouble to have answered this second question had not the Company broke up and relieved them His Brother and he ran to the Window as it had been to take a little air and returning without their Masks Scach Caly was obliged to give Imerselle his hand and to wait upon her to her Appartment but it was done with a coldness so unconformable to the Discourse she had had before that she could not but admire the difference The Sophy believing it had been his eldest Son that entertained Imerselle all the while and perceiving him whom he took to be his second to keep close to Zuria he fancied he was in Love with her and was not displeased Chasan said he to him next morning I am sensible of the secret inclinations of your heart fatherly Love is full of observation and I have discovered that which perhaps you never intended I should see I might complain that you consulted me not but I am a good Father and will impute that want of respect to the impetuosity of a passion which by my own experience I know is not to be master'd by persons of your age Chasan could not at first recollect what should cause this Errour in the Sophy he suspected he had discovered him by some or other of his gestures whilst he was in Conference with Imerselle and that preferring the satisfaction of his Children to the rigour of his Laws he would not constrain their inclinations Is it possible Sir your paternal Love should have so excellent an efficacy replied Chasan Yes dear Son it has replied Ismael and I give you my inviolable word the same day your elder Brother marries the Princess of Persia the same day you shall marry your Cousin Zuria His Cousin Sir replied Caly who was present at the promise Yes his Cousin replied the Sophy I observed him discoursing with her last night as with a person not indifferent to him and though I might well dispose of him otherwise yet such is my indulgence I shall gratifie his desires It was very lucky that the Sophy went into his Closet as soon as he had spoke these words the Princes discomposure had discovered that which they intended to conceal They retired to their Appartments so afflicted and confused they had scarce power to contain themselves from murmuring How said Chasan is it not sufficient to satisfie the rigour of my Destiny that I have loved a Princess from my Childhood and dare not hope to injoy it But I must marry one I neither can nor ought to love Is it nothing said Caly that I must be deprived of Zuria but I must be forced to marry Imerselle and my Brother whom I love as my self must he become the only Person in the World I ought to hate How Zuria must be married to Chasan then Chasan it is I must esteem the only ruine and supplanter of my happiness It shall never be Sir replied the young Prince I can love no body but Imerselle and therefore will never be married to Zuria You would marry her replied the disconsolate Caly could you but conceive the secret Charms wherewith she effacinates the hearts of all that approach her could you but discern the sweetness of her Wit the excellence of her Soul and the obliging way she has in all her actions Ha! dear Brother 't is impossible you should see that Princess with the least assiduity but you must needs be in Love with her I am afraid rather replied Chasan you will not
and I shall disoblige you no more in that nature I must acknowledge your soul to be too large to be bounded with ordinary imployments But let mine have the same Justice suffer me to contribute my assistance towards the recovery of your Crown and vouchsafe me my share in all the difficulties you shall meet Africa Asia Europe and all places are alike to me in your Company refuse me not then that pleasure of following you which you owe to my Love and were I so unhappy to find any thing more potent upon your soul than that passion yet it ought to be my glory to cooperate towards the establishment of an Authority to which you have no pretension but for me These kind considerations past for reproaches in the Spirit of the disgusted Sebastian he was offended therewith and his Capricio provokt Xerina as much They fell into some extravagant expressions and those pretences furnisht him with his desired pretence Xerina had news he was preparing for Europe and she made Verses to disswade him so kind and importunate nothing but a satiated Lover could have read them without being moved He scarce vouchsafed to cast an eye upon them and some of them were not opened till he came into Portugal He had found Love so favourable to him in Africk he presumed it would be his Conductor in all his other Enterprises He understood the secrets of Sebastian as well as he had been he That Prince had discovered all to Xerina and this false Sebastian had wheedled them artificially out of the Princess in pretending to take delight in the relations she made of the expressions of his Love Tell me I beseech you Madam said he what was it you were most affected with in all my proceedings I would willingly know what it was satisfied you most that I might do the same thing often which I did before with such success The Princess ingenuously confessed the thing by which she thought her self most obliged was his desertion of Mary of Portugal and that the rather said she because that Princess is fair loved you very well and as you told me your self was beloved entirely by you before your acquaintance with me And Madam the secrets of State which I imparted to you replied the Impostor were not you well pleased with them that piece of confidence is the highest and most obliging a Monarch can express Xerina acknowledged her ingagement for them also and then falling into a recapitulation of whatever Don Sebastian had told her that was of importance she discovered to her false Prince all the Intrigues of that State Furnisht with a precaution so necessary he took his Journey for Italy as knowing the Princess of Portugal contracted to Don Sebastian was married since his death to Alexander Farnese Duke of Parma and was at that time a Widow Persons of the Quality he pretended are not ignorant of those kind of affairs He arrived at Parma and having caused the Dutchess to be acquainted there was a Portugal Gentleman which had brought her tidings he could not communicate to any but her self he was by her order introduced into her Closet By an Express from Lisbon she had lately received news that Cardinal Henry was dead and was preparing her Claim to the Crown for Ranuccio Farnese her Son who being by the Mother side descended from Prince Edward derived his Original from Emanuel the Chief of that Royal Line Several other Pretenders did the same Catharine the Sister of Mary set up the Interest of Theodor de Braganza her Son Emanuel Philbert Duke of Savoy pretended to it in right of his Mother Beatrix of Portugal and so large was the Competition Catharine de Medicis though of a Branch far remoter than the rest was not wanting with her Claim but above all Paul IV. was most sollicitous pretending that Crown to be a Fief to the Papal See and endeavouring zealously in his own person to defeat the pretences of his Competitors To regulate so great a difference the States of that Kingdom were conven'd and the Dutchess of Parma having her head full of those affairs lookt upon her false Sebastian as the Ghost of her true one came on purpose at that time to direct her in her distractions She fetcht a great skreek as soon as she saw him and running to the other end of the Closet in an amaze she told her new King she took him for a Spirit How Madam said he without any visible commotion does Don Sebastian fright you he expected a better reception for the pains he hath suffered coming in to see you The Dutchesses trouble increased at the hearing of his voice so as she could neither speak nor stir out of her place Dear Cousin continued her false Sebastian in a most passionate tone I am no Phantosm I am the same Don Sebastian you formerly honoured with your favour and I am returned as full of your fair Idea as when I went first into Africk The Dutchess recovered her self a little and permitting Don Sebastian to come nearer she put forth her hand though tremblingly towards the hand of the Monarch she toucht him she considered him and her senses assured her that what she saw and what she felt was certainly Don Sebastian Ha! Sir said she with a most pitiful voice whence do you come where have you hid your self thus long by what miracle are you returned When you shall be in a condition to hear me replied Sebastian I will give you an account in the mean time recollect your self from your fright believe me the real King of Portugal and if you do not know me by my shape my voice or the features of my face at least owne me by the impression of Love you cannot but discover in my Eyes I am fully recollected replied the Dutchess calling for a Chair for him and sitting by him her self I confess the first sight of you put me into a confusion I could not suddenly master but now Sir it is dissipated and gone Tell me therefore I beseech you and do not delay me to what miracle is it we owe both your life and return To love Madam replied Sebastian a passion that was able to affect your heart could not be less favourable than to defend me against all other accidents Then he gave her a relation how he had been taken from amongst the dead by Xerina how for some time he had continued in the Isle of Mucazen and afterwards in Hoscore but he concealed very carefully from the Dutchess that ever Sebastian was in Love with Xerina before the Battel He told her that Princess was in Love with him indeed but without any expectation I had no inclination in the world to have her so much as think so continued he for having past my Parole to you I would have dyed before I would have broken it He told her that by the assistance of Muley Boabdelin a Prince of the Royal Blood of Morocco Xerina had given him all imaginable