had been of his Party and was then a Companion of his Fortune at the end of their repast regarding him with a visage that breathed nought but Death Petreius said he 't is fit we dye to preserve our liberty for if we stay on earth but a few days we shall have no power left to put by the shame is prepared us I demand no other proof of thy affection but Death from thy hands and as my Fortune is now stated I cannot receive a greater from thy Friendship Here stab this breast pursu'd he presenting his naked bosom pierce this heart which the Arms of our Enemies have unluckily spared and make a KING fall by thy friendly hand whose courage scorned to bow under the fortune of a puissant Enemy He mingled these words with some others so pressing that Petreius could not refuse the fatal courtesie but without farther delay ran him through with his own sword the King not so much as turning his eye aside nor letting fall the least action unbecomming the grandeur of his spirit Petreius when he had seen him breath his last turned the same point against his own breast and throwing himself upon it with all his force fell dead at his feet thus were the festival Ornaments discoloured with Royal blood and thus did this great King catch up the shield of of death to defend himself from ignominy A few days after the victorious Caesar rendered himself Master of both the Realms and with them of the Queen his spouses liberty whom he designed for one of the principal Ornaments of his Triumph she was gone some months with child when the King her Husband lost his life and was brought to bed of the Prince my Master two days after her arrival at Rome whither Caesar sent her two months before he made his triumphal entry Thus was my Prince begotten free and the Son of a King but born a slave and between his Conception and Birth happen'd that deplorable revolution of his Fortune Some days after his Birth he was carried along as one of the most remarkable Ornaments of Caesar's Triumph happy in his misfortune that as yet he understood not the shame they made him suffer being then of an age incapable of resenting the loss of his Crowns his brave Father or the death of the Queen his Mother who resigned her life a few days after she had disclosed the little Heir of her misfortunes to the World But there wanted not persons that took care of his bringing up for the great Caesar from whom the disastrous fate of his Parents had drawn some compassion caus'd him to be brought up at Rome in the garb of a Kings Son and bestowed such a particular care upon him that scarce any of his neerest kindred in that high swoln prosperity was trained to a braver Education I will yet say further and believe I shall not injure truth in affirming that the losses of his estate were in part repaired by the gallant Education he receiv'd among the Romans wherein that tender age escaping the impression of the Affrican customs and the Company of such persons which falling far short of the Romans politeness might have given him a taste of the Barbarian his excellent nature contributed such marvellous assistance to the care of those that were ordained to form him that before his age could promise it he became as accomplished in all requisites of a Prince as wish could fancy and rarely skil'd in every undertaking to which his vertuous inclination carried him In his earliest Infancy Caesar would often cause him to be brought into his presence and observing that someehing Majestick and Heroical was already risen with that morning of his excellent beauty he let him get ground in his affections to that degree as one day he broke into an earnest protestation that if the little Juba for at his birth they gave him his Father's name seconded those hopes he had already begun he would restore him the Crowns of his Ancestors but he took special care to mould him to the Roman fashion and deface all such unpolished manners as his inclinations might possibly borrow from his Affrican blood Besides to fortifie the friendship he would have him bear to the Republick he gave him a Roman name and because he was brought up in the Martian Family illustrious among the Patricians and derived from the famous Coriolanus whose valour survived him in so glorious a reputation he would have the young Prince called by his name that the appellation of Juba which sounded harsh and barbarous to a Roman ear might be covered with that of Coriolanus In all likelyhood the affection and bounty of that great Dictator would not here have stopped and doubtless the Prince had gathered the fruits of those promises if Death had not robbed him of that Protector or rather that Father before he attained to his fourth year an age that hardly rendered him capable to dream of those hopes were given him That man the greatest that ever liv'd was murder'd in the Senate-house by the ingrateful conspiracy of those that his own generosity and nobleness had rais'd from their knees all the world knew it self interessed in the loss of him who had made himself Master of it with his Sword yet held it in so gentle a subjection After Caesar's death the little Coriolanus for so was always called wanted no protection for the Senate succeeding Caesar in his Patronage took up that care of him which his death had let fall and trained him up with the Sons of divers Kings that were Friends and Alleys to Rome without making the least difference in their Expence or Equipage though their Fathers had still their Crowns in possession Divers children of noble Exteaction and an equal age descended from the families of Roman Knights were placed in his Service of which number I was appointed one and as I was always brought up near his person so his affection did me the honour to take me nearest to his heart During those cruel and dismal disorders of my Country that bloody Civil War which revenge kindled for Caesars murder the prodigious effects of that horrible Triumvirat which overflowed Rome with the blood of her noblest Citizens and that famous contest betwixt Antony and Octavius Coesar the young Prince grew up with a success miraculous Never did Eye behold a youth of those years handle his Arms with so great a grace or perform any Bodily Exercise his Tutors taught him with a dexterity comparable to his his propension led him with so much advantage to the study of Sciences as he became so learnedly vers'd in Astrology and Philosophy so critically skilled in all kind of History as the World could scarce afford another to match him and for Eloquence that famous Orator that lost his life in the heat of the Triumvirat by the cruel command of Antony could hardly challenge preheminence nor had he qualities disproportioned to these rare endowments of body and mind so that
could utter one word by this action clearly confirming the suspition my words had given her Oh Gods how sensibly she was touched how violent were her first apprehensions to proceed from so sweet a Soul She took a long time to weigh the resolution was fittest to be taken and I in the mean time the advantage of her silence and immobility to rally my scatter'd Spirits Madam said I keeping my hold at her feet without daring to lift my eyes to her Visage if my Tongue have betrayed my Soul and contrary to my intent displayed a Passion which my whole Life should have preserved a Secret ordain me all the pains that are due to it and I vow by all the Gods to suffer them without a murmur to you I will not justifie a Passion which otherwise might call to its own purity to defend it I will not tell you 't is impossible to look upon you and not incur the fault I have committed nor that the silence of divers years have given some proofs of my respect No I am Criminal if I have contracted your Anger and am worthy of the most cruel Punishments if I have been capable to displease you I had gone further if the now resolved Queen had not stayed my Progress and repulsing me with one hand while she carried the other to her Face to hide some changes there Tyridates said she you are yet more culpable than you believe and if you had known me well you would never have granted your self the License to give me the Displeasure I have now received I will not noise your Folly because I know Herod 's Humour which doubtless would destroy you for it and I pardon him the bloudy injuries he hath so often done me so I forgive the Offence you have so lately committed At these words she rose from her Chair and calling Sohemus who was discoursing with her Maids in the Anti-chamber commanded him to conduct me presently back and so resolving to hear me no more she retir'd into her Mothers Cabinet Oh Gods in what an estate was I when I saw my self thus deserted in what a strange fashion I followed Sohemus when he led me out of the Castle the same way we enter'd it I had scarce the power to embrace him at our parting or to give him thanks for the Courtesie he had done me I found my men got to horse and return'd to Hierusalem with a melancholy darker than the nights blackest shades and with a countenance which I think little differ'd from that of a Condemned man I would scarce hear the comforts Arsanes offer'd me to whom I had recounted my disaster but passed the rest of the night in the most cruel inquietudes that ever tore a Soul I could not remember the incensed looks of my Divine Princess without calling in the same fear that seiz'd me at the first effects of her anger nor think of the displeasure I had given her without letting my self sink almost under the sorrow I resented all the words she spake came flocking to my memory but it galled me to think she should put my offence in the same ballance with Herod's villanies Ah unjust Mariamne said I how unskilful you are in discerning Injuries Could you have judged aright you would have found little cause to associate the cruelties of Herod with the oversights of Tyridates Herod hath wrested the Crown from your Family Herod still blushes with the blood of your nearest Kindred Herod gives daily orders for your own Death and Tyridates gives you his Heart his Soul and himself entire Sure this Offence is not of a Nature so hainous as those you have receiv'd of that Miscreant and methinks you need not the same patience to endure them but why said I repenting my words why do I justifie my Crime Is it not true that I am faulty since my rashness hath merited Mariamnes anger I ought to consider her as a Divinity sublim'd above the reach of humane thoughts I should tremble before her virtue and if it were impossible to see her without falling in love with so much beauty both of Soul and Body yet I should have suffer'd those glorious pains without publishing and not have improved my Misfortune by my indiscreet and rash discovery In such thoughts as these I passed the Night and divers other dayes that followed it in which space I often saw Salome Pheroras with the chief of the Judean Court who strove among themselves who should treat me with most Caresses for the service I had done their Countrey but neither their company nor their kindness could ease the evils which my love inflicted nor sweeten the sorrow I took for the choler and captivity of Mariamne But about that time there came News to Jerusalem that Herod was triumphantly return'd from Augustus that by an artificial Oration full of an affected generosity he had so gain'd upon the spirit of that great Emperour as it procur'd him a specious entertainment and got him little less in his amity than he had before in the affections of Antony Those that had an interest in his good success were more overjoy'd at the news in which a few dayes after they were confirm'd when they saw him arrive with a proud train at his heels and read in his erected looks the satisfaction he receiv'd in that Voyage There was made him a magnificent reception and I mingling my self with those that went to meet him he received me with extraordinary caresses called me the valiant Defender of Judea and promised a grateful remembrance of the services I had rendred to his Crown But alas how little was I sensible of his Offers and Civilities And though indeed I could not but confess he had put me in his debt yet the love of Mariamne and the resentment of her wrongs stifled all his obligations The same day he arrived he restorââ her liberty and burning with Love could not forbear to visit her in the same place which had been her Prison where he spent the night with her and the next day brought her back with him to the City with many open professions of a most ardent affection I understood by Sohemus that at that interview he had made her a most passionate Discourse and after he had excus'd the death of Hircanus with a necessity that constrain'd him so to prevent the design he had to ruine him he deeply protested that the abridgment of her freedom was only meant to secure her person from the attempts of such whose disaffection in his absence might hazard her safety and to disarm the designes of some persons that were likely to make use of hers and her Mothers presence whose turbulent spirit he was well acquainted with to authorize seditiòn and stir up troubles in the State The wise Queen receiv'd this discourse with a becoming temper and if she could not entirely hide her distastes she dissembled part of them lest they should prove as fatal to Sohemus as they had been to Joseph The
Enemy that would destroy you and probably me too unless you vanquish it The Queen ended with these words which I heard with admiration and during the Discourse having ralli'd part of the confidence fear had scatter'd I made it serve me to answer these terms I am unworthy Madam of this favour you have given me and since I have merited your Displeasure 't is fit I should perish for the expiation rather than reserve my self for such a pity as you lately mentioned nor should my tongue ever hazard a second purchase of your indignation if that generous bounty which keeps company with the rest of your admirable Virtues did not allow me liberty to justifie my thoughts before you I will adventure then to tell you That Love as I apprehend it can neither be odious nor considerable to the person beloved but by the effects it produceth since of it self it is obliging and advantageous even to the Creatures least capable of apprehension if my passion had hatched any desire within me contrary to your virtue you might detest it as a Criminal as an Enemy that would poison the purity of your Soul But if it shall never inspire any other than such as shall instruct me to revere those admirable qualities the Gods have given you to interest my self in your fortune and sacrifice my self for your interests where will you find a just occasion to condemn it Is it a Crime for Tyridates to do the homage of a pure veneration to the divine Beauties and Perfections of Mariamne Is it a Crime for Tyridates to give up all his thoughts and dedicate his whole time to this employment And is it a Crime for Tyridates to long for an occasion with the price of his Bloud and Life to buy repose for Mariamne Madam if I have other Thoughts other Desires than these punish me with all the rigour your first Resentments inspir'd you with and let the Divine Powers joyn with yours to compleat me the most miserable of all men But if you find in my Affection all the Innocence you require in the Gods name Madam give me leave to carry it to my Tomb it is a necessity which will never endure to be dispenc'd with a Favour which I conjure you by the remembrance of all that you hold most dear to grant me And if the place were clear'd of witnesses that I might be permitted to ask it at your feet I would never rise from thence till I had obtain'd it These words and the vehemence wherewith I pronounced them wrought upon the generous and tender Spirit of the Queen and stirred up such Thoughts as took her some time before she could get them out into Answer at length she dispos'd her self to it and as she was beginning we found our selves at the end of an Alley where turning to continue our Walk we spied Salome and the rest of the Company so near us as the Queen saw she should not have time to discharge her heart and seeing her Company staid to let us pass before we quitted the place she thus reply'd Tyridates If your Thoughts be such as you say I can find no just cause of Offence but were they yet more innocent I must counsel you and do with all my Soul crave of you if it be possible to discard them from your Heart since they cannot be but ruinous to your Repose and mine She said no more and whether it were that she was willing to pursue this Discourse no further or that she suspected the malicious spirit of Salome might ptobably raise a bad comment upon our privacy she joyn'd with the rest of the Company and would separate no more From this day I dated a happy change in my condition and believed my estate much more advantagious than formerly The Queen though she disapproved my research and saw the continuance of it with displeasure yet she endured it with a most noble patience that would neither suffer her to banish nor hate a Prince who ador'd her with a Devotion so pure and unbyassed as nothing in it could be found fit to censure and never hoping to advance farther in her favour I learn'd to stay my content upon what I had This began to restore my spirits and recal my colour and if my Face still shew'd some discontent it had a root in the Queens miseries and not mine The condition of this great Princess was deplorable and though the King loved her with an almost enraged passion such was her aversion to all the endearing passages of his love as She took them for so many effects of Heavens indignation and though her virtuous resolution held her to the severe rules of her Duty her great courage could not be pliable to such caresses as she believ'd not due to the destroyer of her Family and a man yet crimson'd with the blood of her nearest Kindred these disdains sometimes raised such tempests in the King as he was often ready to poure them upon her as the last effects of his fury but then would Love step in to check Anger and taking the reins from those raging Transports which he had suffer'd to get uppermost render'd him more soft and submiss than ever and sent him to seek that with Prayers and Tears which he could not obtain with all his menaces We were one day in the Kings Chamber whither he had invited the Queen and they standing together at a Window after some discourse which we heard not he proffer'd to kiss her but the Queen whether she thought such condescention injurious to Modesty in so great a Company or in effect follow'd the motions of a just Hatred recoil'd some steps back and turn'd away her head with disdain enough The King was so gall'd with this Action especially appearing before so many witnesses as all the power he could make was not capable to hide his Passion and beholding the Queen with eyes sparkling with rage and a Countenance on which Fury had spread it self You are unworthy said he both of the Honour was offer'd you and all those that went before it Go get you out of my Chamber and if you do not remember the destiny of your Fathers remember that I promise to make you know him for your King whom you now scorn to acknowledge for your Husband The Queen return'd no other answer to these cruel words than a disdainfull look which more provok'd him and saluting the Company without change of countenance quitted the Chamber to retire to her own The Kings Choler which had often produced horrid effects made the whole Company tremble only in me it missed that influence for all the prudence and discretion I could make had much ado to hinder my discontent from breaking loose and it was the consideration I had for the Queen and not my self that bridled it Yet not in such a manner but when I saw the Queen retire I hasted after and offer'd my hand to lead her to her Lodging But as her spirit was less
admitted fear for the hazard of my Life what could I do nay what acknowledgment might my thoughts be capable to fathom that might suit with the effects of such a bounty This put me in possession of the most glorious estate that my reason would let me wish for and though the Divine Mariamne was neither able nor willing to bow her soul to any sentiments which she judged unjust and criminal yet she let me have as much estimation and affection as innocence could part with All those to whom either good fortune or a long perseverance had given an entire possession of what they lov'd could not boast so dear a satisfaction as mine nor could I fancy so much glory and happiness in having the rerest beauties of the World at my feet as I found in kissing the Robe of Mariamne I say her Robe for I never kissed her hand but by surprizal and when I took that Licence it cost me the pains of many days to expiate the boldness The different effects of my passion produced as many varieties in her sometimes she laughed at the extravagancies which the violence of it forced from me but the cruelty of my sufferings still made her conclude with Pity Indeed she would take up an earnest anger when any word chanced to seape my Mouth that she thought favoured of impiety for the severity of her Religion which acknowledged but one Deity would not permit me to attribute any thing Divine unto her but when I did she would use all the authority she had to command me silence I received her words as I would do Oracles for she never spake any thing but what deserv'd an entire attention and an eternal memory Tyridates said she one day to me how commendable it would be in you and how much you might oblige me for my sake and your own to recover your self of this distemper which must be fatal to one of us and possibly may betray us both to destruction I suffer'd the beginning of it with an indulgence that cannot be excus'd and 't is that hath render'd me guilty both of your misfortunes and your faults Employ the same courage wherewith you vanquish'd Judea's enemies to combat this Domestick Foe I know you have virtue enough for the Design if you would use it try but to oppose it with all the Forces of your reason and you will carry an undoubted victory in which both you and I shall find our perfect repose and satisfaction I have yet by the Grace of my God led my life in innocence and taken no licence from the provocations of Herod to commit any act unworthy of my Birth do not desire Tyridates to blemish that in me which you prize highest because 't is undefiled to drop a blot upon my Fame which can never be washed off again if you have yet blinded the eyes of Herod do not dim you own with a hope of the same success for the future Salome hath an interest that will set Spies upon all your actions and soon discover enough to ruine you and if that cruel woman doth neither spare the clearest innocence nor the nearest alliance 't is but just you should fear her as a Stranger and a man who in her opinion is already culpable The fair Queen utter'd these words with a Grace wholly Divine but alas they found little inclination in me to be so wrought upon for what influence could she hope upon a spirit that had reserv'd no power to dispose of it self that could resent nothing in those sweet words but what redoubled the passion they disswaded and render'd it incapable of that rigorous complacence she demanded I shewed her this weakness of mine in as passionate and submissive expressions as my love could utter protested how impossible it was to obey her and forgot nothing that I thought might stir her goodness I say her goodness for upon that only I built all my Fortune But I had roved too much in a Calm too long belied my unfortunate Birth and the Science of those Astrologers that condemned me to so many misfortunes Till then I had so warily kept my passion under hatches as the King though of a most diffident nature had not perceived it but Salome that surveyed my actions with more design than all the rest who of her self was one of the subtilest Women in the World at first suspected and in the end by divers marks discovered the truth of it Of this she gave me some intelligence by the words she let fall at my departure for the Army and though they sensibly touched and taught me to carry more care in my behaviour for the future to lessen her suspition yet all those endeavours proved unfruitful and the Artifice I employ'd to disguise my Affection which in all likelihood would have gotten credit in any Soul but Salome's in her produced an affection quite contrary and confirm'd her in that mischievous belief she had already entertain'd when this was once established in her head Spight came and joyned so violently with it that in a short time I think Hatred flam'd higher in her heart than ever Love had done the Queen she alwayes mortally hated as well out of envy of her admirable qualities which had inspir'd all others with Love and Veneration as some disdain she apprehended in that great Princess who indeed could not so debase her spirit to smile on such as she deem'd unworthy of affability Besides her power was too great with the King and Salome that aim'd to be uppermost in his favour was stung with discontent at the Queens authority With these considerations she mingled her Jealousie which stirr'd up such impetuous storms in her Breast as made it capable of the foulest Treasons and blackest Crimes and if she hardly endured her disrespect and authority she could not look upon her as a Rival without resolving her ruine and with her to destroy that which a few dayes before her Affection had set at so high a value This change may appear strange unto you but it was so true that she no sooner believed me amorous of Mariamne but that Love with which she had before perplexed me was converted into such a Hatred as render'd her apt to entertain most violent resolutions and set her presently a hatching a design to involve me in the mischiefs she prepar'd for that innocent Princess she was so well acquainted with the King her Brothers spirit as she knew it to be of the same temper with her own and therefore doubted not but to make the least impressions she could give him powerful enough to destroy us By this way as the most assured and the least dangerous she resolved our ruine and began to labour it with all the subtilty that her Malice could invent she first began to observe the long stay I made in Judea notwithstanding that I might elsewhere find Sanctuaries of more assurance and that the Emperour Augustus an enemy to the King of Parthia had invited me to
made Tyridates respectively withdraw because she supp'd in her Bed and deeming her weariness requir'd what was left unspent of the night for repose he bad her good night but before he left the Chamber It is not just said she you should longer be ignorant of her Name and Fortune whose Life was so lately your Gift and that since seconded by a noble entertainment Eteocles continued she pointing at the man that was preserved with her shall begin the Relation and when you have learned those Adventures that have preceded mine whereof no man is better instructed than himself you shall know the particular accidents of my Life from my own mouth Tyridates civilly return'd his thanks for this promis'd favour and quitting the Chamber return'd with Eteocles to his own whom he compell'd to sup with him though upon knowledge of his quality he would modestly have refus'd the honour After Supper he caus'd him to be conducted to his Chamber and himself went to Bed where he passed that night in his ordinary inquietudes So soon as he waked the next Morn he saw Eteocles in his Chamber that came to give him good morrow whom the Prince courteously received made him come nearer and remembring that from his mouth he was to expect the beginning of those Adventures he long'd to understand invired him to a Seat by his Beds-side and having forced him to sit down You see said he a very inquisitive Man loath to dispence with the Charge the Queen hath given you and I can neither find time nor place more commodiously favourable than this to require satisfaction for it will not be a civil hour to visit the Queen till two or three be expir'd Sir said Eteocles I believe what she suffer'd yesterday will ask this mornings repose to unweary her the time I cannot better employ than in rendring proofs of my obedience to both your Commands And after a preparation of a short silence he thus began his Discourse The HISTORY of Julius Caesar and Queen CLEOPATRA BEfore I can enter the Relation of that great Queens Adventures whom I have now the honour to serve I must of necessity go back to the Life of another Queen Illustrious for Greatness Beauty and the Accidents of her Life above all others that ever preceded her You may easily judge it is the Queen Cleopatra I intend to speak of whose Name is not only known in this Countrey that was under her Dominion but has stretched it self to the remote corners of the World and will doubtless be a task for the Memory of Fame till the last Age. Of the Accidents that befel her with Anthony none are ignorant I shall only therefore lightly touch them but because her Enemies have endeavoured to black her Reputation with what happen'd in her greener years with the great Julius Caesar I am oblig'd in Conscience as he of all men with whom the Truth is best acquainted to defend her memory from that Calumny and give you a faithful account of those passages compriz'd in as few words as possible The Queen Cleopatra was Daughter as sure you have heard to King Ptolomee sirnamed Auletes and descended with King Ptolomee her Brother from that glorious stock of Kings that since the great Ptolomee friend and successor of Alexander hath continually sway'd the Aegyptian Scepter This Princess was born with all the graces that the Gods could bestow upon a mortal person the Beauty of her Body could not be match'd upon Earth nor had that of her Spirit less advantages and the greatness of her Courage infinitely rais'd it self above her Sex I would say more if Renown had not sav'd me a Labour and those Gifts of Heaven been too fatal to let me dwell delightfully upon the Story But the Prince Ptolomee her Brother was not so by inclination but being naturally prone and propense to Vice he suffered his flatterers by pernicious Counsels to corrupt and deface all that impression of good that his high Birth had left upon his Spirit which in fine tumbled him headlong in his last misfortune He receiv'd the Crown very young by the death of the King his Father and the unbridled liberty which he found in that absolute power sunk him in all his vices The Aegyptian people discontentedly considering these sad beginnings of his Reign and sighing to see themselves subjected to a Prince so unworthy to Command began to turn their eyes upon the Princess Cleopatra and perceiving how much she differ'd from her Brother in Spirit Majesty and all things else that might render a person worthy of a Scepter they repin'd that her Sex was an obstacle to their wishes and every meeting would freely confess to one another how much more they thought she deserv'd their allegiance than Ptolomee or rather Pothinus Theodorus Ganimed with the rest of the Rabble of vile flatterers which he took up from the dust to lift them to the highest Dignities or rather to give them the Sovereign Authority This unworthy Crew having once perceiv'd that Cleopatra's Credit was like to extinguish theirs in every Aegyptian Breast began to render her suspected to her Brother and easily perswaded that poor spirit that it was fit she should perish The ungracious Prince suddenly resolv'd to give the blow but having notice of his evil intention she retir'd from the Court and sought a refuge among those Aegyptians which she believed did best affect her nor did they abuse her confidence for a great part of the Realm arm'd it self in the quarrel divers Cities declar'd for her and if her party was not the most puissant at least it was compos'd of the honester sort of Aegyptians that a long time kept her safe behind their Bucklers against all the Forces the King could make At last after the inequality of number had given Ptolomee some advantage he besieg'd the Princess his Sister in the City of Pelusium whither she was retir'd At that Siege he was busied when the infortunate Pompey a dreadful example of Fortunes inconstancy that great man that had triumphed over three parts of the World and by an infinite number of Victories had justled for precedency with the renown of Alexander flying from the Battel of Pharsalia came to throw himself into his Arms there to seek an Asylum against the pursuit of his victorious Enemy Indeed all sorts of honovr and assistance were due from Ptolomee to the dignity of that Grand Captain and doubtless any Soul but his would have receiv'd him that a few dayes before was the greatest of all men with a submiss respect to his precedent condition but that disloyal man only prizing his present Fortune and not his Virtue hearkning to the pernicious counsels of Pothinus Theodorus and Ganimed that represented how advantagious an amity the death of Pompey might gain him with his Enemy butchered that unfortunate Prince upon the shore of Pelusium in the sight of his Wife Cornelia who hardly escaped by the Succours of her own men from the same destiny
The belief I have that Fame has made you acquainted with this pitiful History the importance of which spread it over the Earth makes me contract it in a small Volume A few dayes after Ptolomee understanding that Caesar was come into Aegypt and hearing he disapprov'd the cruel War he made against his Sister rais'd his Siege from Pelusium and bent his course towards Alexandria where he staid his coming up Cleopatra no sooner saw her City ungirt and her self at liberty but by the counsel of her faithfullest Servants and especially of my Father Apollodorus who had ever much credit with her she resolv'd to throw her self at the feet of Caesar and demand his protection before he arriv'd at Alexandria This design was presently executed and she and her Train wafted over with a winged diligence to the Isle of Farion where Caesar had made some small abode I was of that number that attended her and because of the faithful service which my Father ever render'd her none had freer access nor greater credit than my self The great Caesar being advertiz'd of her arrival came to meet her with much Civility and because I was present at that interview 't is fit I should recount some of the particulars Cleopatra the better to advance her design had that day call'd both Art and Glory to wait upon her Natural Beauty that it might sparkle at the best advantage and though in her habit she had affected a Modesty conform'd to her present estate and therefore concluded Mourning more becoming than Pomp in an action wherein she was to appear a Suppliant yet both her Mourning and her Modesty were set off with what was more great and pompous than the dazling Luxury of Gold Jewels could boast Her Eyes darted Beams more Glorious than the richest Diamond could sparkle and the Majesty of her Port and Visage did more loftily express her quality than could be done by a magnifick and a numerous train of Seruitors If her view put Caesar and his Followers to their wonder I confess too the visage of that brave man the greatest not only of his own but of all the Ages that preceded it stampt a respect in all our Souls that made us regard him as if he had been a God That prodigious reputation he had gained in a hundred Battels against the most valiant people of the World and his last Victory upon the Romans themselves which he came from subduing with a far less number than theirs gave us an astonishment full of veneration Indeed his face did not belie the dignity and grandeur of his actions And though there was something missing there that must needs go away with his vigorous youth yet there appear'd all the marks of a perfect Greatness his Looks so imperious and yet so full of sweetness that it was not easie to take him for less than the Master of the Universe Caesar and Cleopatra before they spake spent some time in gazing at one another making their looks and silence express their mutual admiration but at last Cleopatra considering she was in his presence that had her repose and fortunes in his hands or rather was the Master of her Destiny bowed her haughty Disposition and forcing a more than ordinary humility from the dexterity of her spirit threw her self at the feet of Caesar and resisting his earnest and vehement entreaties to rise You see Great Emperonr said she you see at your feet the Daughter of the Ptolomees that is here to demand that of you against a cruel Brother which from his Arm she might expect against other Enemies Oppressed Innocence and Imbecillity implore your assistance and do proffer a brave employment to your Generous Bounty that cannot shew it self in a more becoming garb than in protecting a Princess persecuted by unnatural Cruelty in her Fortune Repose and Life in the same estate my Ancestors commanded part of which is my Legitimate Inheritance I have now no other Retreat but your Favour and if that be denied me I must render up my self to a Brothers Cruelty in whom neither my Bloud Sex nor Youth can ever ingender pity Let me not embrace your victorious Knees in vain before which all that is great on Earth must learn Obedience and confess thee as great and as much Caesar in generosity as in that triumphant bravery that has made thee Master of Rome and with her of all the World beside The fair Princess had doubtless said more if Caesar no longer able to hear or suffer her upon her Knees though accustom'd to see Kings whole dayes in the same posture had not employ'd after the trial of entreaty the force of Arms to raise her and having placed her in an estate better conform'd to what her Beauty might claim Fear not Cleopatra said he the Roman Arms shall defend thee from thy Brothers threatnings and if he contemns our Prayer we will not leave Aegypt till we have provided for thy Repose and Fortune He pronounc'd these words with a Roman gravity and a Majesty that equall'd his condition but a while after seconding his parlie with the Princess his temper was so softned with the charms he there encountred as he lost all his Gravity and in his following discourses put a submissive behaviour in the place After he had re-assur'd her fears by repeating his promise not to abandon her he told her he would conduct her to Alexandria present her to her Brother and put her in possession of her partage in the Realm Cleopatra's experience of her Brothers ill Nature gave her some difficulty to resolve it but at last she was constrain'd to obey the absolute will of Caesar who presently dispatched one of his chief Commanders to let Ptolomee know that he could not see him as a Friend nor as an Allie to the People of Rome if he refus'd to receive Cleopatra whom he intended to present him with all assurance of Reconciliation Ptolomee entertain'd this imperious Order with a most sensible despight and had much ado to hinder the escape of some passionate folly but he stood in too much awe of the Roman puissance to profess his indignation which made him resolve to dissemble till time should offer him an occasion to shew it at the best advantage He therefore unwillingly forc'd himself to submit to the impos'd Command and in the mean time to render Caesar more favourable he sent him by the wicked Theodorus the head of mighty Pompey but his expectation prov'd so erroneous as that Generous Conquerour instead of bidding the Present welcome refus'd to see it and commanded the wretch that brought it to be chased from his Presence after he had express'd how much he detested his Masters Treachery in terms full of contempt and Choler nevertheless he enter'd Alexandria where Ptolomee receiv'd him with great respect and many feigned demonstrations of good will Cleopatra upon this score was likewise entertain'd with kind embraces Ptolomee protesting before Caesar that he was ready to resign up
and prevailed as if the gift of the Crown of Aegypt had augmented her dominion in his heart Of this he daily gave her fresh assurances and Cleopatra who by this last obligation felt her self engag'd to receive them with a deeper acknowledgment than formerly liv'd with him in a fashion as much obliging as she could without offending vertue One day he was with her by her Beds side when after divers other Discourses the length of which would weary your attention taking her fair hands and joyning lips unto them I die fair Queen said he with an action wholly passionate I die if your pity does not draw me from my Tomb and I vow by those fair Eyes which I adore with respective Veneration that 't is impossible my life should longer continue if your mercy does not strengthen the thred of it I should be much afflicted said the Queen to see it in any danger the gratitude I owe to great Caesar and the particular esteem I have of his Person will never suffer me to refuse means within the bounds of possibility to comfort him 'T is in your power replyed he not only to comfort but create me the happiest of all men in making your self the reward for what I have given you no other price can gratifie the present I have made you I mean not of a Crown upon which I never set an esteem but of a heart and a soul which can never be but to you and of a heart and a soul which I have made yours with a resignation so entire as I have reserv'd no power to my self of a further disposal This glorious Present replyed the Queen can never be requited with the price you demand a thousand such Lives as Cleopatra's can never weigh with the heart and soul of Caesar yet Sir I would bestow my self upon you as you demand pursued she letting fall her eyes with a kind of shame if honour could shew me the way to do it I am born a Princess Daughter to a long succession of Kings by your bounty I am now a Queen and which is yet more glorious by his proper confession I have triumphed over the Soul of mighty Caesar Sir these advantages having plac'd me in one of the foremost ranks of Women do oblige me to preserve my self there in a reputation pure and spotless and should I render my self unworthy of my Birth my present Dignity and the affection of great Caesar should I yield up my self unto him in any other way than what his vertue can approve of She stop'd at these words supposing she had said enough to be understood and that Coesar could well enough construe her intentions yet being by the maximes of State and the tyes he had to the common-wealth forbidden to make a more ample Declaration he stood as if surpriz'd at Cleopatra's words nor was he yet resolv'd to espouse her fearing that Rome would disapprove the alliance and it might prove prejudicial to his design to make himself Master of it as he did in a short time after but perceiving himself oblig'd by Cleopatra's words to declare his intention he remain'd silent a while not knowing in what manner to evade the protestations he had made her but at last he recover'd his speech and lifting his eyes from the Earth where they had been fix'd You do merit said he a condition yet more glorious than what would render the favours I demand lawful the world cannot afford a Spouse to Caesar more worthy of that quality than the Queen Cleopatra and I do vow by truth it self that were I free in that Election I should soon make it known with what passion I desire that advantage but I am now so tyed by Interest to the Republique that I cannot apprehend it expedient to make my conjugall choice without its approbation nevertheless I shall endeavour to express how much I desire to be entirely yours and passing by these considerations in few days if it be possible make known the truth of my Affection At these words Caesar retir'd without giving the Queen leave to reply but after that she liv'd with him in a fashion more reserv'd than she had done formerly and would no longer license those petty liberties which before she had permitted him He observ'd this change with much displeasure but so soon as he complained of it to Her My Lord said she you are too just to desire those things of me which I cannot consent to without my own ruine and since I must pretend to a quality that may authorize them give me rather leave to return the Crown you have given me and resign the repose and the life it self which I hold of you than license such Crimes as neither your greatness nor all the obligations I have to it can ever excuse This Discourse again struck Caesar dumb but after she had oft repeated her resolution it wrought such an effect upon his spirit as made him resolve what he executed a few days after One day after he had sent to desire a particular audience of the Queen he entered her Chamber only followed by Lucius Metellus and Caius Albinus two of his friends in whom he repos'd the greatest confidence he found the Queen prepared to receive him in the manner he demanded only accompanied with her two dear Maids Charmione and Iras my Father and my self Caesar that knew us and in what manner we were ty'd to the Queens Interests was well pleas'd to have no other witness of his intended action and after he had pay'd his ordinary Civilities to the Queen Madam said he I have been too long restrained by such reasons as forbad me to render what was due to my own Love and your Vertue I am now resolved to tread upon those inhumane Maxims that play the Tyrants with me and to present my self to you in that Honourable and Lawful way that my ardent Passion did ever truly intend But because this Marriage which I desire to consummate with you cannot be promulg'd without destroying my design to set the Crown of the Universe upon your Head let me intreat your consent that it may now be known to no other persons than those I see about you and these two friends whom I have brought to witness this action In the Gods and their presence if you consent I will presently espouse you and if it may but remain a secret amongst us till I enter Rome and there establish my power as my designs have framed it it shall then be published with all the Pomp and Magnificence your wishes can invent To these words Caesar added many other affectionate expressions to render the Queens spirit flexible to his intreaties and help her over all the difficulties she found in that proposition She took a long time to ballance the resolution she was to take and in fine betook her self to the Counsel of her Maids my Father and if I may dare to say so my self but above all other perswasions the belief prevail'd
Diligence and having gained that Victory with the slaughter of 50000 of his Enemies and the loss of but fifty of his own Souldiers he was return'd to Rome where he had made three Triumphal Entries the fame of these great deeds pleasingly flatter'd the Soul of Cleopatra and she dismissed all her anxieties with a confidence that such a man could not be capable of infidelity In the mean time no longer able to hide the swelling fruit of her Womb and unwilling to contract the ill opinion of her Subjects she was constrain'd openly to declare the truth of her Marriage and instead of the shame and confusion her Fear suspected from that Discovery she found her Aegyptians possessed with new joy in the expectation of such a King from her Loins as might prove a perfect Copy of Caesar and Cleopatra The Queen was brought to Bed in Alexandria almost at the same that Caesar made his Entry into Rome of a Son not only worthy of his Father and Mother but of all that the most fruitful hope should conceive never did the light salute a thing so beautiful the Astrologers never knew a Birth so advantagious for this Royal Infant immediately became the admiration and delight of all that saw it but because his Childhood was but the spring to that lustre which hath since appeared in him with riper advantages I will not stay upon the beginnings of his Life because they are of less importance By a general consent he was call'd Caesario and we all hop'd that though there was little difference between his and his Fathers Name there would be yet less in their qualities and the greatness of their actions the Queen took a marvellous care of his Education and made the whole world to be searched for the most expert and knowing persons in all Sciences and Exercises wherein he was to be instructed when his Age permitted him and though I did but weakly merit that Honour and a better choice might have been made among the Aegyptians she was pleased to make me his Governour for my Father was too old for that employment and only desired it for my self In the mean time the Queen whatever consolation she tasted in the enjoyment of her Son was galled with bitter grief seeing there appear'd no proof of Caesars promise Not long after she understood he had given the last blow to that War by the defeat of Pompey's Sons that in Rome he had usurped the Soveraign Authority and forced a Master upon that proud City the imperious Mistris of so many Kings and so large a part of the Universe Then her hopes began to swell with the expectation of his Promise and Caesar by frequent Letters endeavour'd to confirm them excusing his absence from her delights with very specious Reasons which for a time appeased her but when she saw a whole year wasted and yet no haste made to accomplish his Vow she began to lose her patience and complain of his infidelity yet before she thought fit to make her resentments speak lowder she sent my Father Apollodorus to Caesar as well because he was the faithfullest of her Servants as that in his presence Caesar espoused her and might therefore better than any other reproach the violation of his word This Voyage of my Fathers proved ineffectual yet when Caesar saw him he hugg'd him in his Arms entertain'd him nobly gave him rich Presents and often mentioned the Queen with dear resentments of affection but could afford him no other reasons for his delay than what he had written to Cleopatra He protested that so soon as he had felt himself sit sure upon his Imperial Throne he would accomplish his promise but in that condition while his Monarchy was yet infant feeble and staggering he found it not safe to enterprize any thing against the consent of the People and Senate whom he had already exasperated with imposing his Yoke Cleopatra was contented for a time to flatter her self with the likelihood of these excuses but in fine after her patience had learned another Lesson as tedious as the first she broke into reproaches against him gave her self up to the sway of a just passion and probably was hatching thoughts to make it known in some deadly blow when news came that Heaven had revenged her and that her faithless Caesar was murdered in the Senate-house with twenty three wounds by those that he thought his dearest friends This report fell like a Clap of Thunder upon her spirit and all her Choler could not disswade her from receiving it at first as the greatest blow that Heaven and Fortune could contribute to her overthrow She solemniz'd this loss with a deluge of tears and such actions as could best express most passion and would possibly have abandoned her self to grief if the last marks of Coesar's ingratitude had not brought her comfort for she learn'd that a little before his death he had adopted his Nephew Octavius who is now the great Augustus Caesar for his Son declar'd him his Heir and oblig'd him to take his Name and Dignity without making the least mention of his Son Caesario or Cleopatra This last assurance the Queen received of her Husbands ingrateful disesteem kindled a despite that dry'd up all her tears and shewed her cause to rejoyce in the same death she so lately bewailed however she ceas'd to bemoan his loss in publick though she rendered to Caesar's memory the Funeral Honours which she believed due as to her lawful Husband but her resentments against the Father descended not to the Son for she nourished the little Caesario with as dear indulgence as if his Father had been still faithful and remembring that perjur'd as he was he had been the greatest of all men in his face she beheld the Image of his mighty Sire as another dawning of her Comfort To him her resolutions intended the Crown of Aegypt and though the Aegyptians perceiving the Ptolomean Race was almost extinct did oft petition her to make choice of another Husband she alwaies denied their entreaties and at last so won upon them by her mild and prudent Government as they were content to approve her Design of passing the rest of her Life in Widowhood Alas how happy had the poor Queen been had she held her resolution she had avoided those famous misfortunes that made so much noise in the World and her miseries with the lamentable Catastrophe of her Life had not forc'd tears from her rudest Enemies Sir I suppose you know that a few years after Julius Caesar's death the unfortunate Antony having shar'd the Empire of the world with young Caesar since called Augustus and with him reveng'd the murder of their Predecessor by the defeat of the Conspirators and by that bloody Triumvirat which produc'd such fatal effects in Rome passing through Cilicia to make war upon the Partbians he summon'd Cleopatra to appear before him and because the Queen was too weak to resist the puissance of that great Master of half
from an exile which I cannot support without a bleeding grief The Queen exprest her self in these terms when the young Prince throwing himself at her feet protested he would rather die than abandon her that in stead of leaving her exposed to the menaces of so much peril he had courage enough to run her Fortune and Antony's The Queen drawing new arguments from the discourse and action of this brave Spirit and excellent Nature felt a painfull increase of her affection and turning her eyes from his face where they did but gather fresh causes of grief Great Caesar said she if thou beest rank'd among the Gods since he carries so many worthy marks of thy life protect the Son that thou hast left me And then turning to her Son at first she gently strugled with his resolution but perceiving that would not do she sternly imployed all her authority and after she had absolutely forbidden his further opposition of her will she commanded me carry him away by force if he refus'd to follow Young Caesario bearing such a respect to the Queen as knew not how to dispence with obedience submitted to this last command and only in tears exprest his grief to forsake her I shall not further inlarge upon the Queens and our regrets to which and to our preparations for departure we dedicated the rest of that day the Queen sent by Iras and Charmione her two faithful Maids that died with her with such constant fidelity as will be the wonder of all ages a Cabinet full of Gold and some rich Jewels which she trusted to my hands and so soon as the Night approach'd after she had uttered her last adieu to us bath'd in a River of Tears she bruis'd the Prince in her arms and and when she had left her last kiss upon his cheek Go said she young Prince where thy destiny calls thee the Gods will undertake thy protection in the mean time forget not thy Fathers greatness and let none of Fortunes rude blows over-tame thee to actions unworthy of thy Birth After these words the last I heard from her untying her self from her Sons embraces she caus'd us to mount on Horse-back in her presence and without further delay to quit the melancholy Alexandria My Lord the beginning of Caesario's adventures carrying much resemblance to yours like your self he was forc'd to fly his Country in an age little differing from that wherein you quitted Parthia He went out of Alexandria with not above a dozen Horses in his train and he that a while before with so much pomp had been proclaim'd the King of Kings in divers Nations was forced to abandon his native Country and in that petty equipage to seek a Covert for his life in a foreign Land This sudden and strange revolution of Fortune may serve for a memorable example to those that trust to her favours and suffer themselves to be blinded with treacherous Prosperity The magnificence of Antony and Cleopatra had been excusable if they had not stain'd that Grandeur that placed them in the chiefest rank of Mankind with actions that pull'd the Divine Anger upon their Heads and those that a little before saw so many Kings at their feet bereaving one of his Crown another of his Head as the unfortunate Antigonus King of Judea and the wretched Artabasus of Armenia beheld themselves reduced to attend his destiny in the last City that was left them and a few dayes after constrained to take the succours of death from their own hands which Cleopatra to compleat her calamities had much ado to obtain and did at last by an Artifice We parted from Alexandria almost at the same time that Octavius Caesar encamped on the other side in view of the Walls and had we longer delay'd the Voyage we had found no passage free Young Caesario had so long practis'd Horse-manship under those Masters that taught him his exercise as it rendred him the less unfit to undertake the toil of such a Journey besides he had inured himself to travel by his custome to follow the chase which he would do with much eagerness being of a constitution strong beyond his age and this proved very serviceable to our design The first Night we strive to reach so far as any person less hardy than himself would have been weakned with weariness and about the break of day we staid at a Village three or four hundred furlongs from Alexandria where we found it fit to let the young Prince repose himself while we refreshed our Horses In that place we staid three or four hours which expired we again got to Horse but had not marched many furlongs before I spyed the Princes Horse with my own Rodons and three or four others in the company to halt and not so much as dreaming of the treachery was intended us I only imputed it to the weariness they had contracted with hard riding and extraordinary hast We might have taken those that continued sound but loath to part with so many necessary officers and besides ignorant of the mischief that pursued us we were constrained to march so softly that we had much ado in that whole day to reach another Town that was not distant above one hundred fifty furlongs from that where we rested in the morning and there arrived our Horses scarce able to sustain themselves we were compell'd to stay that night but sending for some Smiths that lived there to search them we found that they were all pricked and the nails that hurt them no sooner drawn out but they were much mended yet not so recovered as to endure that nights travel I then began to entertain some suspicion and to believe this an intended Treachery to retard our Voyage but yet I knew not whom to distrust our little Troop was compos'd of no persons but such from whom indeed we had reason to hope an untainted fidelity my self excepted Rodon and Neander were the principal Rodon was made the Princes sub-Governour in his tenderest years and had not a less part in his education than my self besides he had a Son there of the same age with the Prince that was brought up with him and then followed him in that Voyage Neander was a man of approved fidelity and the rest all eminent Officers of Cleopatra's House as she had culled from such as she thought most true yet even among those we found Monsters capable of the blackest Treason and the most prodigious villany that ever was hatched by humane invention After I had almost wasted that night conversing with cares too restless to admit sleep I threw my self from my Bed in which I was laid in my cloaths and passing into a little Gallery adjoyning to our Chamber I opened a window to see if I could spy the approach of day under this window was a Garden in which I over-heard some persons discoursing and though I had little room for curiosity unless such as regarded my Princes safety yet then and peculiarly then I
Agria and at the end of it found the Man that Neander had set Sentinel near the high-way to conduct me to the place where the Prince was hid without this precaution our task would have been difficult to have found him because the Forrest was vast and full of Thickets But Gods what a joy exalted me when I recovered the sight of my dear Prince what words did I not utter what tears shed when it was permitted me to embrace him for whom some hours before I had been shook with such just apprehensions But then what a pleasing satisfaction was given me when after I had receiv'd my Princes Caresses overflowing with affection I learn'd of Neander the inquietude he had suffer'd for my absence and his resolution after he knew the truth from Neanders mouth who could not refuse it to his pressing importunity to return back and run our fortune without permitting us alone to expose our lives for his safety A design so Noble from which Neander only withheld him by force in so young a soul pleasingly confirmed me in those hopes I had already conceived of the height of his courage and after I had express'd my resentments of his Nobleness and he rewarded us with tears of acknowledgment for what we had done for his preservation and as proofs of an excellent disposition paid some to the memory of that innocent Son of Rodon I caus'd him to mount on horseback and so we got out of the Frrest and continu'd our voyage My Lord the particular passages by the way deserve nothing but silence and to give way to things of more importance which I must inform you of Within a few days we left Aegypt at our backs and having traversed part of the Desarts of Nubia which are contiguous to the two Realms we enter'd Aethiopia and took our way toward the great City of Meroe where that mighty King then made his residence Our young Prince suffered the incommodities of the Voyage with an admirable courage and patience he was ever the first that urged our departure from those Towns in our way where I had oblig'd him to stay and take some repose we called him not by his right name lest the news of his safety coming to his Enemies ears should make them try to find Traytors in Aethiopia as they had done in Egypt and for that cause we accustomed to call him Cleomedon with design that none there should know him by any other name except the King and such other persons as must necessarily be trusted with the truth But why should I detain you longer We arrived at Meroe whither we had sent Neander some days before to advertise the King of our Princes coming and excuse the entrance of his Dominions without permission with the pressing necessity of his flight The King of Aethiopia one of the best and justest Princes upon Earth who hated the Roman Tyranny and ever honour'd Cleopatra exprest much joy at the confidence that great Queen repos'd in him and dispos'd himself to treat the Prince her Son as his own he would have given him a magnificent reception if Neander had not disswaded it instructed by the fear that we had to divulge that which former considerations taught us fit to be concealed The King to favour our Design was content to receive him in his Cabinet where he gave us a particular audience without admitting any to be present but such as he knew would guard the secret The Magnificence and Furniture of his Palace had doubtless astonish'd any persons but such as had dwelt in the Court of Cleopatra where there glister'd more sumptuous Pomp and Glory then all the World beside could boast of yet we there saw such an abundance of Riches as custome to behold such sights could not keep us from surprisal for as I believe you know in Aethiopia Gold is so common that it is employed by Persons of the lowest Rank upon the most vile offices But to contract my discourse upon this subject I shall only tell you That as the Majesty of the King challeng'd our veneration so the countenance of my Prince wrought an effect upon his Spirit that soon made him consider'd as the Son of Caesar and Cleopatra for he accosted him with a Garb that justified his Birth and saluted him with a stately modesty that had nothing in it but what was great and graceful which rather stir'd up admiration and respect than pity I had prepossessed him with some few instructions which he made use of with a most becoming grace and after he had render'd his due salutes to the King Great Prince said he my Parents whom Fortune hath abandoned have bequeathed me to you with a belief that you will not refuse me your Protection and with them I demand it of you as the sole Prince of the World from whom I am willing to receive it He said no more than these few words which he utter'd in a Kingly fashion and at the same time I presented the King with the Queen Cleopatra's Letter who presently acknowledg'd the Seal to be hers and in it found these words The QUEEN Cleopatra to the Great Hidaspes KING of AETHIOPIA THe Knowledge I have of your Vertues bids me hope that your Affections will not change with our Fortune and that having been our Friend and Allie in prosperity one Calamity can neither make you forget our Amity or Alliance Upon this confidence I give you mine and the Son of mighty Coesar whom the Arms of his Enemies have chased from his Native Country and reduced to ask a Refuge which but from you I would not beg of any If the Gods consent to guard us from the Roman yoak and oppression I shall dearly preserve the memory of this Obligation But if for expiation of ur faultt they have resolved our Ruine at least I shall perish with this comfort That I trusted not the dearest thing I had in the world but to him who of all Princes is most worthy of the confidence and amity of Cleopatra King Hidaspes having read these words and heard the Princes with a visage moystened with some tears that Cleopatra's misfortunes drew from his Eyes he turned to him and taking him in his Arms Son of Caesar and Cleopatra said he welcome I see and receive you with an unfeigned joy the memory of your Father and the Person of the Queen your Mother in me shall ever challenge a sacred Reverence Promise your self not only the same Offices from us you might expect from your own but be confident of our Protection so long as I have a man that can hold a Sword And thus my Prince was received by the Aethiopian King who presently caused him to be lodg'd in the Palace gave command for the provisions of his House and made his intention known to us that he would have him treated as his proper Son His orders were so punctually executed as in a few days we beheld our selves in as high a condition in Meroe
attempt and one Evening meeting with her in the Empresses Chamber where the Emperour with divers of the noblest Romans were likewise present he aborded her in a gallant fashion and a graceful garb onely peculiar to himself Fair Princess said he aloud our Destinies carry a near resemblance would to Heaven our thoughts did so and that you could as freely own the designe I have to make my self yours as I have hugg'd the passion that compells me to adore you These words were pronounced with an Ayre so hardy and yet so agreeable as they got a plausive admiration of all the over-hearers the young Princess was not then instructed by experience how she ought to receive such language yet Innocence did not so blind apprehension but that she perceiv'd something in it extraordinary which made her onely blush him an answer but the Empress who had over-heard this Courtship repeated it aloud to the Emperour and they both gave it an approbation that augmented the Princes confidence This quickly became the discourse of the whole Court and the general opinion voted that there could not be a pair more fitly coupled than the Son of Juba and the Daughter of Cleopatra that their hopes were matches their Birth and Fortunes equal and that none could come nearer the graces of young Cleopatra's Wit and Beauty than the noble shape and accomplished qualities of young Coriolanus This discourse which quickly flew through all Rome marvellously favour'd the beginnings of my Princes passions and imbarquing himself as it were with an universal consent his hopes were incourag'd to aspire at a happier success than at first they durst propose Thus he openly listed himself in the service of that Princess and employed those advantages which her youth allowed him freely to insinuate his affection and leave impressions upon her spirit which in a riper age would not easily have enter'd it his endeavours wrought so happily as if he had not yet perfectly taught her how to love at least he had used her to endure the protestations of his and oblig'd her to a liking and esteem of his qualities that made her to prefer him before all those that came near her Indeed the sole merit of my Prince by those rare endowments that garnish'd his body and mind might well have wrought that effect but to these he added an assiduity of respect and complacence which mightily assisted his desert and prudently considering that his condition would not always last in that estate and perceiving by some marks his observation had shewed him that the Princess with an accrescent of years would raise her behaviour to a more haughty severity than her youth could yet apprehend requisite he resolved to prepossess her heart as much as possible level those difficulties while time invited and strive to weaken that Enemy which he knew would one day combat him This conduct is not ordinary in a Person of sixteen years but at that green Age he had a gray Discretion which brought all men to their wonder that remarked it In the mean time he endeavour'd to delight her with a thousand actions of gallantry and as he had a most inventive wit and an active body in all sorts of exercises he daily made Matches with young Romans of his own Age either for Courses on Horse-back or Combats in the List besides divers other agreeable spectacles which were ordinarily presented in the Cirque in all which the young Prince behaved himself with such a winning bravery as insensibly gained the hearts of all that knew him but he was not the onely man was destin'd to serve that fair Princess for young as she was that rising Sun in her beauty was already ador'd by the most illustrious Romans two young Princes were struck at once with her beauty and Fortune could not raise him up two mightier Rivals upon Earth they were Marcellus and Tiberius the former as I have told you Son of the vertuous Princess Octavia Wife to Antony and Sister to Augustus and of Marcellus whose Widow she was when Antonius espoused her and the other Son to the Empress Livia and her first Huband Drusus They were bred up with equal hopes and favour but of conditions very different Marcellus had a spirit repleat with sweetness freedom and generosity a Courage noble and propense to great undertakings and a person compleat and becoming in every action Tiberius with a handsom shape indeed had a grand Courage but withall a Spirit so maliciously subtile and known even at that age so skil'd in dissimulation as the oldest Courtiers were scarce capable of the like My Master was link'd to Marcellus in the bonds of a strict amity and the conformity of their inclinations easily taught them how to love one another but with Tiberius he liv'd in a fashion very different end only contented himself to consider him as the Emperors Son in Law without the tye of any particular affection One day young Cleopatra wallking in that stately Garden that belonged to the Palace with the Princess Julia Daughter to the Emperor a Lady of a florid beauty and a lively flowing wit whom the Emperor had designed for his Nephew young Marcellus to pull the knot of his alliance straighter and confirm the People to whom Marcellus was infinitely dear in their hopes to see him one day plac'd upon his Uncles Throne these two Princesses had walked a while in the great Alley that verg'd upon the River Tiber when they saw my Prince and young Marcellus who had been seeking them appear at one end of it though Marcellus did but slightly mask his love to Cleopatra from his friends yet his knowledge of the Emperors intention made him tender in publick a Courtly respect to Julia though all the sympathy and inclination he had for her were only personated in a bare complyance which then obliged him to proffer his addresses The Prince of Mauritania was ravished to see him thus engaged because it lent him the liberty of breathieg his amorous thoughts to Cleopatra and that fair Princess whose esteem was as just to his worth as her age would allow gave him a glad reception and leuding him her hand they walked at a sit distance from Julia and Marcellus She began but then to enter her twelfth year and my Prince was something more than sixteen but indeed their knowledge had much out-run their age He entertained her a while with some discourses of divertisement and in sequel hinted by the presence of the other couple succeeded thus to his purpose Would to Heavens my Princess said he I could promise my self as much interest in your breast as Marcellus has in Julia's I know not answer'd the Princess what you desire of me but I believe Julia cannot think better of Marcellus than I do of you 't is a greater kindness of my Fortune replyed Coriolanus than Reason could encourage me to hope I cannot be unsatisfied at this Declaration without injustice but would you permit me to unlock my
be brought into his presence I am sorry said he for the displeasure you have received by the lot of War and if your usage here has been short of what your quality might challenge I must assure you my intentions have been dishonoured in it you may return to Rome when you please and besides the liberty I give you you shall have Shipping to transport you with all other requisites for your voyage but because in this Action I have no design to oblige Augustus who has treated me unworthily you shall address your self to Marcellus to whom I send you and in requital of these Civilities which for his sake I confer upon his Country-men you shall demand if you please in my behalf the continuation of his amity Volusius whose rude deportment had pleaded no title of desert of this generosity of Coriolanus gladly accepted it and protesting with a humility far below the haughty pitch of his former Arrogance that he would employ his whole life to find out fit acknowledgments for the favour he had done him he received the Shipping the Convoy with every thing else that necessity demanded for the Voyage and with all the Romans that were Prisoners with him parted from Iol and a few days after embarquing at the next Port took his way to Rome full of shame and confusion The Young King perceiving himself to sit fast on his Throne rewarded the services he had received of his Subjects with a grand munificence especially those of Hippias and Lisippus who were raised to the tallest offices in the Kingdom and if the possession of Riches and Honour could have rais'd my felicity which I ever had bounded within others limits I had there full cause to be satisfied with my Fortune but scarce had the people tasted the first sweets of his Government when he was advertis'd by some Vessels that return'd from scouring the Seas that Augustus had sent out a Fleet against him under the charge of Domitius Aenobarbus who of all the Roman Captain had the deepest experience in Sea Commands at the allarm of this intelligence which was so far from surprizing my Prince as his expectation was ever prepared to receive it he ramassed his Forces that were yet undisbanded to which by new levies he had added great numbers and marching down to Sea side he embarqu'd in person with them in vessels of War that lay there ready to receive them and with more than 200 Sails went to meet Enobarbus who was already come within sight of the African shoar the Enemies Army did equal if not out number ours commanded by a great and famous Captain yet Coriolanus aborded it with as much confidence as if fate it self had assured him the Victory and without further delay presented and gave him battel There has not possible been seen a more furious conflict upon the Sea the advantages were hotly disputed on both sides for a whole day together but at last the insuperable valour of our Prince forced them to an entire stay upon our party the Enemies Fleet was totally defeated their Ships part taken the rest sunk and the General Domitius perceiving despair had got the ascendant saved himself by the courtesie of night which began to hide the world about the end of the Combat and doubtless carried news to Rome capable to make Augustus repent the injuries he had done my Master After that famous victory he triumphantly returned to shoar supposing his Enemies so enfeebled by that last defeat the Roman puissance ever consisting more in Land Forces than the number of Ships or experimented Sea-men as he judged it would cost them a long recruit before they could recover a condition to discompose the peace of his Dominions He was received like a God in all the Cities as he passed and being returned to the Capitol he staid there a whole Month which by advice of the prudentest heads about him he spent in rectifying and receiving the Laws of the Kingdom which the Tyranny of Governourshad oppressed with grand disorders But now my discourse has far enough followed the War and affairs of States I come back to Love which strikes the greatest stroke in my Story nor could ever my Masters spirit in the throng of his greatest employments obtain licence to lay aside that Passion for a moment of this I am able to pass a better account than any other for to me alone he did the honour to communicate his thoughts of that nature and of all men living I was he that least ignor'd them a hundred times when involved in the greatest pressure of Affairs when the threats of danger spoke loudest has he drawn me aside to talk of Cleopatra that remembrance has taken the tribute of a hundred sighs a day from his breast and still in occasions the most important the Idea of that Princess reassailing his spirit forced him to betray continued proofs that love was his Master-passion Emilius would he often say the Gods can attest that I would not struggle so eagerly for this Crown had I not designed it an offering to Cleopatra I am ashamed so long to see a Princess that merits to wear the Diadem of the world and a Princess who for my sake refuses the Son of Livia the greatest match among the Romans served by a man that does not possess one Inch of Land nor the property of so much as one single Mansion to entertain her Ah! could my adorable Princess added he mingling sighs and words but see through the distance that divides us what tortures her absence has inflicted sure the generous inclinations she has for me would give her a share in these sufferings a thousand times worse than any Augustus intended me and were I not resolved to invest my self in the condition I promised her to embolden demands and raise me a power of obtaining by her Friends consent that perfection of felicity 't is not the desire of acquiring Empires nor the fear of Augustus puissance should bar me longer from her presence There passed not a day wherein he did not discourse with me upon the same subject and while the night lasted in spight of other thoughts that attempted to traverse those of his Love that adored Image could never be deposed from the Throne of his remembrance One of his greatest perplexities was that he could learn no news of her Affairs nor easily send her an account of his for the vast tract of Sea betwixt them and the cessation of Commerce because of the War betwixt Mauritania and Italy however not enduring to continue in that condition nor be longer ignorant how Cleopatra's was stated immediately after his Victory against Aenobarbus he sent his faithful Servant Strato in a vessel that he caused to be rigged for the purpose and having instructed him in the order he was to observe in his addresses to the Princess and Marcellus he delivered him Letters for both which he did me the honour to shew me that to Cleopatra spoke thus Coriolanus
ruined him in Cleopatra's breast which still by perpetual urgings I remembred to imprint in his memory contributed more to his cure than all other considerations but to exasperate his anguish the third day after he fell sick the Emperor parted from Syracusa followed by the whole Court with the Princess Cleopatra however I insinuated some Comfort by representing that he needed not desire to be neer his Enemies so long as his malady tyed his hands that when the return of his health had once unbound them it would not be hard to find them out and follow the motives wherewith his just resentments inspired him The fourth day his disease rose to the height that he scarce spoke any more by the rule of reason and was ordinarily in a high frensie yet in the greatest fury of his fits he had ever the name of Cleopatra in his mouth often those of Tiberius and Augustus but I had the hardest task in the world to seduce the attention of those that served him for fear his wild discourse should betray us when his senses returned and he knew there was none to over-hear him he would break into loud complaints against Cleopatra's ingratitude and sometimes figuring to himself that the harsh usage she had given him was the child of chance and sprung from no other womb than the levity of her Spirit coloured with a pretext of imaginary offences referred to which his strictest examination could not find a spot in his Innocence he fell into a grief that disclaimed all comfort and held a Discourse with himself in the most passionate manner that ever was brought forth by the greatest pangs of afflictions but within one moment relapsing into his frensie Ah! behold Tiberius cryed he stay the Traitor then addressing his language to Cleopatra he brought forth a broken Discourse without any order or method yet mingled such things in the wild composure as might have given dangerous hints to the standers by had they lent attention When I saw his malady was like to grow tedious by his Command I dispatched Strato to Pelorus to send back all the persons that followed us in two of the Ships to Mauritania leaving none in the third but such as were necessary to conduct us The 15th day my Master had a favourable Crisis from which the Physitians concluded the danger over-blown and a few days after the Feaver left him but he was still so weak as it was long before he could use his legs and it cost him six weeks time before he recovered a condition to quit his chamber about that time demanding news of those that served us we were told that fame talked of nothing else in Syracusa but the Mauritanian War that the Emperor resolved to pay back the affront he received in the loss of that Realm had not only sent 100000 men under command of Domitius Aenobarbus and Strato to reinvade it but had armed all the African Countries in his quarrel under the Roman Dominion and denounced the threat of War in case they refused to march against the King of Mauritania who in all appearance not able to resist so great a power would quickly be trampled under foot Coriolanus rouz'd at this report with a pique of honour for he could not bow to any other Interest was sorry Mauritania wanted his presence in a condition to defend it and I think the desire to arm his against those Enemies that went to disturb the Kingdom advanced his recovery In effect he made such hast to be well as in a few days he was able to ride and dispos'd himself to quit Syracusa when by a succession of frowns which as well as favours took their share in his fortune Lucius Varus Governour of Sicilia friend and neer Kinsman to Tiberius having learned by I know not what means that my Master was in Siracusa and the house where he lodg'd came with a great guard into his Chamber and took him Prisoner in his bed for Caesar's Interests This accident marvellously surpriz'd me but my Master shewed not the least astonishment and regarding Varus whom he had often seen at Rome and known of Tiberius party without Emotion Thou hast done good service for thy friend Tiberius said he who while I had liberty could never have worn his life securely but now Varus thou hast given it him entire thou shalt do me a less injury by taking mine than letting me live without a power to assist my Country It is not the Interest of Tiberius replyed Varus but those of Caesar your declared Enemy and the obligations due from my charge that makes me seize your liberty This said he led us to a strong house in the City where he set a strict guard upon my Master at the beginning animosity had the upper hand in that action but he had not long frequented my Prince whom he often visited before his vertues had subdu'd him to a kind of repentance and slackened his intended hast of giving Augustus an account of his surprizal for fear he should pronounce some cruel arrest against him and possible he could have been contented to return him his liberty if the danger of Caesars anger and his own life had not disswaded it However he caus'd him to be served with all the respect his condition demanded yet held him Prisoner three whole months which by the help of a greater affliction he supported so sweetly as all the time his Captivity lasted he was never heard to complain of any thing else but Cleopatra's unkindness His restraint would have been longer and doubtless more dangerous if Claudius Varus Son to Lucius a vertuous young man that had served under Coriolanus in Asturia and been obliged by many noble offices to his generosity had not returned to Syracusa leaving Augustus in Macedonia who is since pass'd into Asia on purpose to come back to us upon the invitation of a design His father aw'd by the requisites of his charge and the fear of punishment if he longer deferred it was at last constrained to inform Caesar by a Messenger that Coriolanus was taken he that carried this intelligence address'd himself first to his Masters Son to present him to Caesar but young Claudius had no sooner learned the cause that conducted him thither but calling to mind what a deep score he was in to Coriolanus nobleness and preserving a marvellous esteem of his vertues resolved to put by the danger that was levelled at his life and could not have missed it if once the notice of his surprizal had arrived at Augustus ear upon these reflections he undertook to deliver the Message himself and the next day telling him that brought it that Caesar already advertis'd what his business imported had commanded him back to Sicily with private instructions to his Father he dismissed him without the speech of the Emperor and presently put himself upon the way to Syracusa where he rendered himself with a winged expedition and quickly informed his Father he was sent by
me a very low reverence and so retired leaving more satisfaction behind him by the promise he had made than I thought he had brought Indeed he began to be a very strict observatour of his word and confined his behaviour to terms that were very remote and almost aliens to the former testimonies of his love so that in five or six months time not so much as perceiving one spark of his flame brake out words at first I believed his Discretion had kept his Passion prisoner on purpose to please me and in sequel I thought he had intirely driven it from his heart Caesario himself was of the same opinion and all those who from several signs had received a glimmering intelligence of his love perceiving the feaverish heat of his officious behaviour towards me retire to such a moderate temper as implied no particular design concluded with us that the difficulties he encountered in my spirit had doubtless beaten off his batteries and obliged him to raise the Siege for my self I was grown so confident I had not mistaken him as by little and little I had almost quitted all my resentment against him and perceiving what strict rules he still observed in his carriage towards me I began to regard him with almost as smooth an aspect as before the abortive birth of his affection But it seems I had rowed long enough in a calm and my fate thought it time to acquaint me with those cruel storms of misfortunes that have since cost me so many sighs At that time Nubia which had heretofore been a puissant Realm of it self and was then ranged as a Province under the King my Fathers Dominion by the secret practises and instigations of our neighbors the Aethiopians or rather the Romans who had newly usurped their Empire universally rose in Rebellion with so unbelieved an expedition and promptitude as before the certain intelligence of it could arrive at Meroe the infection was spread through all the Provinces of that Country those that had exprest any fidelity to their Prince were all inhumanly murthered and the Nubians having Crown'd a King of their own called Evander derived as they pretended from the sleeping pedigree of their ancient Princes were already grown to an apparent condition of maintaining their new Monarchy against all the force Ethiopia could make Their Commander who was brave among the harvest and known by a thousand actions of valour which had gotten him a high repute did not promise himself less than the conquest of all those Countrys that obeyed my Father and not only thought he sate sure in the possession of that he had already usurp'd but prepared to invade ours with a very formidable puissance The arrival of this strange news spread a general amazement through the whole Court but the King who had ever prov'd himself a couragious and magnanimous Prince quickly took care to stifle the astonishment and dexterously rallying his dispersed forces he dispatcht a puissant Army against the Rebels under the conduct of Tyribasus as he of all his Nobility on whose valour and experience his expectations lean'd with the greatest confidence Cleomedon like a young Lion fiercely leap'd at this Allarm and though he could not think of marching under the command of Tiribasus without some reluctance yet with a warlike ardour preferring his intended purchase of glory before the shame of obeying a Man whose birth had made him his inferior he resolv'd to go that expedition but the King whose head was hatching other designs for him would not suffer him to march with that first Campania and though with much ado at last he moderated the impatience of his eager spirit with a promise to give him command in the next employment wherein he might signalize himself to a greater advantage of glory to the Kings Authority I added mine which prov'd not too feeble to arrest him and in fine over-power'd by the double obedience which he ever divided betwixt the Father and the Daughter grew contented to stay with us at Meroe though still expressing his generous impatience with all the signs of an illustrious courage that could be desired in the Son of Caesar In the mean time Tiribasus marched against the Nubians and not to trouble you with a vain recital of his particular actions I will only tell you that he did a great many brave feats both as Commander and Souldier that were worthy to be rang'd in the number of those that compose his haughty renown he defeated the Enemy in two great Battels but unfortunately engaging in a third about the end of the Summer at a place where our Army could not fight without much disadvantage he lost the day by so considerable a defeat of his Troops as that single misfortune pluck'd all the fruit of his former successes and so strangely altered the face of our affairs in that Country as all we could do for the rest of that Campania was to quit the offensive part preserve what he had gotten and stop the torrent of our Enemies progress he might yet have probably recovered his advantages by a large recruit the King was ready to send him when to double the disaster having stood the shock of many a cruel storm and expos'd himself to excessive toyl while the Winter lasted he fell sick of a desperate malady that led him to the very extreams of his life in that interim while his disease detained him Prisoner the Evening had almost finished the ruine of our affairs and when his greatest danger was over-blown his health made her approaches with such languishing and staggering steps as all his Physicians assur'd him that if he chang'd not the Air they had little hope to compleat his cure The King sadly received this news not doubting but the return of Tyribasus would leave all things there involv'd in a very hopeless confusion but as he ever tenderly lov'd his person and passing his thoughts upon the inconsiderable service he was able to do him in the Army while his indisposition lasted he resolv'd to call him home and presently sent him Orders to return to Meroe with all the expedition that his health would permit He sent him not this Command before he had resolv'd to go fill up his empty place with his own person and to that end hasting those levies were pre-design'd for Nubia his preparations for the voyage went forward with so dexterous a diligence as when Tyribasus enter'd Meroe the King was ready to march out Tyribasus appear'd at the Court with a very pale visage that still shew'd the footsteps of his scarce departed malady and the King receiv'd him not only as the worthiest of all his Subjects but as his own and only Son or if any fansie can find out such a person as something yet more deeply indear'd Before his departure he left the government intirely in his hands declar'd him president of the Council in his absence and committed his Kingdom his Daughter and all his affairs with an
my Son since I have nothing more pretious to bestow upon thee Cleomedon putting one knee to the ground took the Kings hand and kissed it but he had not the power to bring forth one single word and the King after a few other short breathed Discourses wherein among other things he commended Tiribasus to him as a man very capable of State-employment his Spirits wasted themselves by degrees to that low Ebb as in fine he lost his speech and within an hour after his Life Pardon me Madam pursu'd Candace with a face cover'd with tears if I cannot pass this Tragick part of my story without paying this watry tribute demanded by Nature and reason to the memory of so sad a loss Madam I lost a Father to whom I was very dear and a Father whose vertues merited the esteem and love of all that knew him he remain'd cold and pale in Caesario's arms and that Prince whose former affection to Hidaspes as his Protector his Benefactor and the Father of Candace was passionately increas'd by his last scene of kindness after his death appear'd in a condition little differing from his as if one Soul had animated both their Bodies and the same time forsook and unfurnished her double mansion from this profound astonishment he succeeded to sighs and then by degrees found a tongue of his griefs which delivered themselves in such doleful accents as wrought as much pity from the company as the loss of their King that caus'd them All the credit that his Governour Eteocles had with him was then grown very necessary and after he had suffer'd him to wast that whole night in Sighs Tears and Plaints whereof I suppose you willing to bate me the recital he could find no other way to reduce him to himself than by presenting me to his memory that proved the strongest bridle to retire the overflowing of his woes and began to lead his thoughts aside from the loss to a reflection upon the Legacy the day following he grew more flexible to those reasons that assaulted his melancholly and at last knocking off the Manacles of his grief and restoring his courage to a perfect liberty which indeed as the general interest of Aethiopia was then tempered necessity enjoyned after he had caus'd the Kings body to be embalmed with an intent to lay him at Meroe with the Ashes of his Ancestors and remembring the Enemy was near by a general consent he took the command of the Army with a solemn Oath in presence of all the Officers that he would never turn his back upon Nubia till he had bath'd his revenge of their Kings death in whole Rivers of the Rebels blood This promise was fortunately followed by effect and the next day having taken a general Muster of his Army and finding it still consisted of more than 10000 Horse and 35000 Foot he put himself in the head of it and marched directly to Tenupsis whither the Enemies Army was newly retir'd It yet amounted to more than 50000 Combatants and their General Evander who had already been advertis'd of the Kings Death with which he fed the fairest hopes of his success and disdaining to fear a Man whose unpractised youth he condâded incapable to manage so great a Command marched up to him with a confidence full of pride and offered him battel Caesario accepted this defiance with a fierce joy and actively appeared at the heal of his Troops in an Armour whose deep black represented the sadness of his Soâl though now half turned into a noble anger he led them on the Combat with such a daring and undaunted resolution animated the coldest courages with Examples so brave and beautiful and spy'd them out advantages by such a prudent and quick-sighted conduct as the victory long disputed by hot arguments on both sides listed her ââ on our party but she came in Scarlet for the greedy fury both of General and Souldier still hunting for blood to quench the thirst of the revenge for the Kings death did that dâ sacrifice to his Ghost above 40000 Nubians and compell'd the rest that escap'd the slaughter to seek their safety within the walls of Tenupsis which open'd its gates to favoââ their retreat Three days after the victorious Cleomedon though he had taken some slight wounds ââ the Battel sate down with his Army before it but because the City was strongly fortifiâ and now defended by above 10000 Men it held his whole Army play for at least the Months time during which Evander who disdained to shut himself up within the walls of a Town dexterously posting in person from place to place where he had his greatest resources was grown as strong in number as before and had once more received a condition to spin on the War to a tedious length At last the besieged City was carried by Storm and all Cleomedon's authority could not hinder the Aethiopians from cutting the greatest part of the Souldiers that defended it in pieces and leaving very cruel marks of their vengeance in that desolate City After Tenupsis Cleomedon besieged it and with less pain took in divers other Cities that were seated upon the banks of Nilus and when he had totally ranged that Country under his obedience he advanced to meet Evander who once more desirous to try his Fortune came up the third time to give him battel Caesario proved again victorious and not to amplifie my story with needless circumstances or over-lade this relation with things that pass my experience in one years time which he spent in recovering Nubia he defeated the Enemies in five signal Battels took ten or twelve of their Cities by force reduc'd all the rest by the terrour of his Arms and for a conclusion of his glorious exploit accepting a defiance from Evander now brought to the brink of his last extremity that challenged him to a single Combat he fought with him in view of both Armies bravely slew him upon the spot and by his death cut up the last root of that Rebellion I have suffered my contracted recital to go down the stream of Cleomedon's actions without touching some other things that pass'd in the interim of much greater concernment to my self than any I have yet mentioned but I trac'd these passages as far as they would reach that I might not distract the method of my story and now I shall step back to some accidents that befel my self whereof the recital will doubtless be less offensive than my late discourse of War which yet I drew within as narrow a compass as my skill would give leave Think it not possible Madam reply'd the Princess Elisa that I can tast any trouble in your narration you tell your story so gracefully and I already feel my self so deeply interessed both in what regards your own person and concerns the adventures of a Prince so accomplished as Caesario as it is only a divertisment of this nature that has power to conclude a short truce betwixt my griefs
to render my life still serviceable to your interests I would not stock it upon so desperate a cast in this unequal Combat whereto I am now marching without any hope of Victory and this incertainty might happily induce me to preserve it if something did noe prompt me with a probability in this attempt of tumbling Tyribasus from the top of his plundered honour Madam if I can sacrifice him to your just resentments and redeem you that pretious liberty and repose of which he has so barbarously bereaved you at the price of his blood and mine I will spill them both to a drop and perish without reluctance but if death cuts me off before I execute the Traitor pardon the failing to my weakness and let pity preserve some remembrance of him who could not part with his life upon terms of more happiness and glory than to die for the rights of his Royal Mistress The perusal of these words laid a greater weight of woe upon my Soul than ever yet it supported and though of late it had been argued with many anxious perplexities yet I now resented so cruel an encrease of my misery as rendered me incapable of company and comfort I spent that day in Tears and Sighs but the next that succeeded it was yet more dolefully employed since it brought me the accomplishment of all my fears in the sad news of Caesario's bloudy defeat with the loss of his whole Army all those that had made me the recital assured me he was seen fall dead from his Horse after he had left some impression of revenge upon his Rival in two dangerous wounds he had given him and done actions besides of so stupendious a nature that they seemed to hold as great a disproportion to Truth as those fictious tales of our ancient Heroes Madam you will easily judge how cruelly the sense of this disaster stretched my heart-strings and to confirm that thought you may please to know that I sunk dead in my womans arms and lay a long time in that condition before the remedies they applyed could bring back my senses that were all fled away from their usual offices and when at last they waked me from my trance I fell a wailing my loss in the dolefullest accents that were ever expressed by the lawfullest and most impetuous grief and all my actions perswaded those about me that I was become an Enemy to my Life My woman durst not stir from me in that estate wherein they saw cause enough to fear that my own hands would dispatch the business of my despair and all that day I was strictly guarded rather as a distracted person than a Princess that in the preceding accidents of her life had given the world so far a Sample of her constancy When my sighs had left me some liberty to speak My dear Caesar cry'd I since thy soul is driven from her sweet habitation for my Interest 't is but reason mine should follow her to the other world and I am very willing to go keep thee Company by resigning that life which thou hast bought too dear at the price of thine would to heaven I could have condition'd with the destinies aforehand to excuse thy thred for mine thou should'st have seen me run into the arms of my pale Executioner with as great a greediness as hurry'd thee to this unequal Combat but since the Deities deny'd me that favour believe it I will do that without repugnance to follow thee which I would have done with joy to save thee there is nothing left upon Earth that has power to stay me here now when thou art gone and my last Act shall tell that monster who thinks he has securely seated his fortunes upon thy ruine that all those flattering hopes will prove Impostours To these succeeded a world of other words to the same purpose and as the kindness I shew'd Cleomedon had been publiquely Authoris'd by the King my Fathers will so I made no scruple to avow the inclinations I had for him to all those that overheard me the force of my imagination still kept his lovely image before my eyes both day and night and my reason was sometimes so giddied with the violence of my grief as talk'd to my poor Prince in such discoursive terms as if I had seen him there in a condition to return me an answer My sorrows were risen to this degree when Tyribasus came back to Meroe or was rather brought back in a Litter with the marks of Cleomedon's valour still about him which had made him run such a manifest hazard of his life He saw me not of divers days after his arrival as well because his wounds confin'd him to his Bed as that he yet fear'd understanding to what desperate estate the violence of my grief had brought me to appear in my presence but so soon as the success of his cure would give him leave to take the air he came to my Chamber My passionate detestation of his last act had still held it self up at the same impetuous height whereto it was risen at his first conception and I no sooner saw him that was the cruel cause of it set his foot in my Chamber but breaking into a furious out-cry against him Barbarous man cry'd I dost thou come to shew me the bloody spoils of Cleomedon and could'st thou not content thy self to rob the world and me of so great a treasure without increasing my horrour by bringing the face of this inhumane butcher in my sight com'st thou to insult upon the miseries of a wretch that is taking care to die since thy cruelty has bereav'd her of him for whose onely sake she lov'd her life and can'st thou not think thy revenge compleat in the murder of him that merited my affection to the prejudice of the unjust pretences but thou must rudely press into my presence to aggravate the weight of woe thou hast to my soul for ever Tyribasus gave way to this Torrent of words which was violently followed by divers others of the same stamp till they had wearied out my weakness to admit from a tumult of sighs and sobs the short interruption of some moments silence in which vacancy striving against the stream of his own thoughts to express some sorrow for what he had done I am too deeply concern'd in your displeasure said he to sing any Io Paean 's in your presence for a thing that immoderately afflicts you and though the death of my Brother with divers of my friends besides the dangerous impediments he strewed in the path of my intentions and his particular design against my life might leave me little cause of regret for the loss of Cleomedon yet truth her self is my witness that his death cannot sink so deep an impression of grief in your spirit without stamping some sensibility of the same nature in mine and were it now in my power to give him his life though I knew it would prove yet a greater foe to my
that I may speak with you and after he had utter'd these words he turned his back upon us and softly retired with his companion towards another Alley that they might avoid the encounter of those that followed us If Clitie was astonished my self was not less surprized at this adventure and methought I apprehended something in the tone of that voice that carried through my ear an extraordinary allarm to my heart Clitie regarding me wholly irresolute Madam said she what do you please I shall do My thoughts would not let me observe her question so well to answer her when Eurinoe taking the word Madam said she me thinks 't is very fit that Clitie should go speak with this Man who knows but he may have something to impart of a deep concernment and as your condition is now temper'd such overtures cannot be dispised with a safety of discretion Clitie perceiving that I did not oppose this advice staid for no further Commission but observing to what part of the Garden those two Men bent their steps she feigned an intent to cull some flowers for a Nosegay and cunningly wandring that way she insensibly transferred her self from flower to flower till she arrived at that part of the Garden where she saw them take Covert without giving the least shadow of suspition to those that followed us In the mean time I entered that Arbour with Eurinoe and the rest of my train which because it freshly hinted Caesario's memory to my thoughts presented many pleasing passages of our innocent affection and had been the Scene of so many delightful Dialogues between that Prince and I was particularly indear'd to my choice above all the rest but a sad reflection upon those survived felicities could not chuse but set some tears at liberty which troubled my good Governess to wipe away as they crept along upon my cheeks after I had spent half an hour upon this employment propped with Eurinoe's arm as before I went out again to repeat my walk when I saw Clitie coming back with a face that carried all the marks of a grand astonishment and as great an impatience her approach in that manner shook my soul with an extraordinary emotion and judging she had something to say that requir'd no witnesses I doubled my pace to go meet her with a pretence to give her my other hand that was free she tenderly pressed it with an action full of transport and I saw she was in combat with her own amazement and had offered twice or thrice to speak without being able to get out any more words than Madam Every thing confirmed my opinion that she had some strange things to tell me and feeling some secret pressures in my Soul that gave me no less impatience to learn her discoveries I walked so fast with the help of my supports as we had quickly left my followers at a pretty distance and Clitie after she had turned her head to see if any were neer enough to over-hear us Madam said she Madam call home your banish'd joys Caesario is alive Caesario is in the Garden and it was Caesario you saw the same whose voice you heard and with whom I just now broke off in discourse These words seized upon my soul with so strong and sudden a surprizal as they wanted but little of making me fall in a swoond between my womens arms and if they had not strongly held me up I should doubtless have betrayed more weakness than I was willing to make known to the rest of my Company for a time I stood both mute and motionless regarding Clitie with a languishing eye that seemed to lend but little credit to her words and the violent agitations of my spirit had put me into a cold sweat and so great a trembling as no longer able to continue my walk I was forc'd to sit down upon a bank that was neer us Experience had acquainted the rest of my women with the pleasure I took to entertain my self alone with my two favourites and perceiving me set they made a stop at the place where they were without approaching further in the mean time with much pain I dispel'd the force of my astonishment and once more turning my eyes upon the face of Clitie Ah! Clitie said I dost thou abuse me or art thou abused thy self no Madam replyed Clitie I am not abus'd I saw Caesario I touched him I spoke with him I learn'd from his own mouth the particular of his strange escape and if you please Madam your self shall see and understand as much before you quit the Garden But Clitie said I those two men we saw are black as any of the Aethiopians and thou know'st Caesario is fairer than thou or any other of the white women that serve me That sooty complexion answered Clitie is onely artificial and Caesario with the help of a little water will quickly take off all your doubts with the black mask from his face in your presence as he lately washed the colour from one of his hands to cure my incredulity he and his Governour Eteocles are both sabled with the same liquor which is very common among the Aethiopians that take a pride to be blacker than the hand of nature painted them and he could not shrow'd himself in a securer disguise from the knowledge of his enemies who prepossess'd with a general opinion of his death and blinded with his false complexion have often pass'd by him it the very face of the Sun without the least suspition Ah Clitie cry'd I letting my self fall upon her with open arms I begin to find a likelihood of truth in thy relation and indeed when that man called thee in my presence I distinguished the true tone of Caesario's voice Great Gods continued I lifting my hands and eyes to Heaven great Gods how abundant is your goodness I made a stop at these words so distracted and transported with wonder so divided betwin joy and astonishment as my resentments were stopped up with their own tumult in my heart for want of power to express them Madam I need not strain my weak reason to describe the excess of gladness that confusedly floated in my soul for since you have loved as well as I and the powers above have parallel'd our misfortunes so exactly the cause of your present sorrows carrying so neer a congruity to the same I suffered for two months time your own apprehensions will better inform you than any expressions of mine how I relished this change of fortune The Princess Eliza fetcht a deep sigh accompanied with some tears at this passage of Candace's relation and lifting her watry eyes to Heaven with a look that spoke for pity with the best elegance of grief Immortal Gods said she how deeply should I be indebted to your Divine bounties had they such another favour to bestow on me Me-thinks my example said the Queen should have strength enough to confute your dispair and should deeâ my self infinitely happy to be
to throw down our Arms and yield our selves upon pain of death Eteocles and Telemachus both very stout and couragious supposing those Ships were sent in pursuit of ours by Tyribasus resolved to perish in defence of that dear pawn Caesario had trusted to their hands and without regard to the number of their Enemies began to repulse them very valiantly their resistance procured their ruine and those cruel men with whom we disputed our liberty after a very obstinate and bloudy contest which cost the lives of many of their Companions at last they overflowed us with an inundation of number and boarding our vessel on every side put all to the sword without distinction the valiant Telemachus whose fidelity deserved a better destiny was killed with the first all our Soldiers cut in pieces after him only Eteocles still defended himself being recoiled with his back against the top of the Deck though with no other hope than to sell his life something dearer than the rest of his Companions when animated with an extraordinary courage and an eager desire to preserve a man whose grand services had rendered him so dear to Caesario I boldly stept into that scene of danger and demanded his life of him I took for the Captain of our Enemies The barbarous Zenodorus for so the Pirate was called having cost his eyes upon my visage and found something there that obliged him to accord me the life of Eteocles called off his men from the Combat and gave him his life just when the danger was ready to enroll him among Death's Captives he presently took me out of that Vessel defiled with carcasses and blood and caused me to pass into another of his that was next it with all the persons that were now left which were only Eteocles and my three women At these words Elisa regarding the Queen with a fixed eye How Madam said she was it then by the Pirate Zenodorus you were taken The very same reply'd Candace and that famous Rober not content to make his depradations by Sea was come up the Nilus very far into our Provinces where he had taken some rich prizes and rendered himself the most redoubled of all those that ever skimmed this Ocean Alas added the fair Elisa what an infinite of tears has that Monster cost me But Madam pursued she do not interrupt your discourse you shall understand when my story comes to tread the Stage by what sad mark I know the Pirate Zenodorus and how near a conformity and alliance the hand of providence has made between our last adventure You may judge Madam continued the fair Queen to what a lamentable condition I found my self reduced by this strange disaster from the hands of an ambitious and amorous man that I fled I saw my self fallen into the power of a pitiless wretch that knew neither Faith nor Honour of a Barbarian known upon all the Sea by his cruelty and in fine of a Monster from whom I could not expect less than all the inhumanities I was capable of resenting this horrid spectacle crimsoned with the vital blood of all my men struck fresh Ideas of terrour in my memory and the presence of those Tygres that breathed nothing but murder and massacre might well have wrought the same frightful effects upon any other spirit though better fortified than mine to resist them and indeed my courage was brought so low as I let my self fall half dead upon the Deck when the consideration of this last calamity almost set me a swimming in my own tears Eteocles though he had received some slight wounds in several places kept himself near my person and kneeling by me supported my head upon his bosom while Clitie with her two companions were all fallen at my feet and become partners of my woe then it was that all my constancy forsook the Lists I detested my unfortunate birth and upbraided Heaven it self with the cruel series of my miseries a thousand times did I call death to my rescue and condemned my cowardise that I did not first tender my throat to the steel of those Barbarians that butchered our Souldiers The Pirates that had long been habituated to such spectacles of pity melted no more than rocks at my desolation but their Captain found some beauty in my face that a little softned his savage humours and made him capable of some sentiments of humanity at first my sorrow had his silent attention and whether he was not yet moved enough to express any signs of Compassion or thought those first excesses of my grief would strike me deaf to his discourse he sat a pretty while upon a seat he had chosen and saw my tears run from me without so much as offering to come nearer but a little after he came towards me and taking some time to contemplate my face before he spoke and endeavouring to send away as much fierceness from his looks as possible Fair Lady said he do not afflict thy self so exceedingly thy beauty has found favour amongst us and perhaps thou art not so unhappy as thou thinkest thy self I was buried so deep in the consideration of my misery as it would not let me have leisure to regard the Pirates words that carried so little proportion to my dignity and he received neither answer nor so much as one single look that could let him know he was understood This gave him a belief that I had no skill in the Greek Tongue in which he spoke and therefore translating his words into the Aethiopan language I tell thee said he with a look that had put on more mildness than before you may cease your laments and dimisse all your fears since you are in a place where your beauty has given you much power I knew not how to shape an answer to this discourse but Eteocles who was less troubled than I and therefore had more judgement at the helm perceiving my perplexity was willing to spare me the pains and taking his eyes from my visage where they had been long fastned to place them upon the Pirates My Lord said he if you use these advantages you have gotten upon us with moderation the Gods will be engaged to reward your generosity This Lady whom you see is my Daughter we were retiring into Egypt whence we took our first Original from the Civil Wars that troubled Aethiopia when we fell into your hands and if we receive such a treatment as our hopes encourage us to expect from your goodness we are not of so base an extraction nor yet so despoiled of Fortunes favours but we may find a way to acknowledge your courtesie and redeem our Liberties at a considerable ransom Zenodorus smiled at Eteocles words and regarding him with a disdainful look For thy Ransom said he we shall talk at leisure but for thy Daughters thou wilt hardly find treasure enough to pay the price of her liberty If I took some satisfaction from Eteocles words wherein he had cunningly disguised my condition
by his example oblig'd all those in his presence to proportion their respect to his high reputation nor needed he take much pains to dispose them to it for they were all so prepossessed with the noise that ran about the world of the vertue and the proofs of his gallantry which some of them had left to their cost that they look'd upon him as a person whom the Gods had raised above mortality it then happened contrary to the usual custome that those whose birth or desert might feed up an ambition in their souls to pretend to the highest charges were all willing to release their claims to him and calmly submitted to the Kings will without repining when he gave him the command of his Army In the soul of Phraates with many bad qualities there is a mixture of some that are good and as the natural channel of his inclinations still carried him to warlike designes he alwaies set a marvellous price upon valiant men and ever gave them the upper hand of others in his esteem that were only indebted for dignities to their birth or fortune which they could not merit by their vertue Of this he gave a clear testimony in his treatment of Artaban whom he presently placed in the highest rank of his men of War and a while after in presence of his oldest Captain gave a Commission to command his Army at the age of 22 years for he had lived no longer There wanted not some that Criticis'd upon the Kings facility because he did not stay for some experience before he trusted so weighty a charge that imported no less than the conservation or utter ruine of his estate to a young man bred up among his Enemies whom only a Capricious humour had caus'd him to abandon and with whom he was not assured that he did not yet hold intelligence but Phraates had so seriously studied the generosity that shined with an equal and continued lustre in all Artaban's actions as none of those detracting objections could penetrate his belief or lessen his confidence in him Artaban was very joyful to see himself invested with a power to act his revenge upon the Median King and believed the promises of his own great heart that before a year was run through the glass of time he should reduce him to terms of repentance for the affront he had offered The winters rigour did yet oblige him to make some stay with the King which he entirely employed in preparations necessary for his warlike expedition but so soon as the season grew milder at the Sun's approaches his Troops compleat his Companions full and all things fitted for a march he put himself in the head of 20000 Horse and 30000 Foot and advanced against Tigranes with an order that made the most experienced Captains admire him In the mean time Tigranes had not stir'd from Nisa that was the Cities name where we were and judging his presence more necessary in a Conquer'd Countrey than his own where all things were calm and assured or rather not willing to abandon us and indeed not daring to commit such a sin against the respect and complacence of his affection as to draw us after him like slaves into his own Provinces he dispersed his orders through all parts of his Dominions to the troops that lay scattered in their several Quarters to draw up thither and with intention to advance his conquests nearer the heart of Parthia he had formed the body of an Army consisting of 60000 Combatants he spake no more of our enlargement and hath already rejected all the King my Fathers propositions for our ransom though they prostituted very advantagious offers to his refusal for which he pleaded to me no other excuse than that a separation from me would be far more insupportable than the fatal divorce of soul and body he paid me his visits but with too much assiduity and bating his condescent to our enlargement forgot nothing either in language or deportment that might make him nearer approaches in his siege of my affection but instead of a successive progress in his industry every day was witness to a more obstinate resistance against his batteries and though his person was handsome and his qualities very commendable yet the falshood he shewed as my opinion told me in so base a revolt from his word had given me such a perfect disgust of all his endeavours to please me as rendred every thing disagreeable about him the efforts he made to combat my aversion were alwaies beaten off with the loss of labour and though the Queen my Mother often commanded me to humour the necessity of our affairs with a moderation of my rigour and sometimes to regard him with a gentler visage on purpose to secure his respect towards us from the violence of despair I found it very difficult to subdue my reluctance and my obedience was never upon harder service than in this obstinate quarrel with my obstinacy we had the same Officers and Servants that the King my Father left to attend us and Tigranes had diminished nothing in our house nor altered any thing in tenour of our service only he placed a very strict guard upon us especially since Artabans departure fearing for he knew his daring spirit was apt to climb over the greatest difficulties he would make some attempts to deliver us Thsu did the pulse of our condition beat when fame brought him news of the Parthian armies advance and told him that Artaban their new General marched at the head of it and was then coming up to meet him with displayed Ensigns Tygranes who knew Artaban too well to displease him was a little troubled at this intelligence but as indeed to give him his due he was a man of courage he quickly recovered the use of his discretion and trusting in the number and valour of his men which had been accustomed to overcome he drew his Army together to meet his Enemies and resolved to lead them on in person apprehending it no safety to trust the abilities of any of his Commanders to cope with such a General as Artaban he then saw himself constrained to quit us and believing our persons more secure in that place than if he took us into the body of his Army he left us there with a strong Garrison as well to guard us as defend the place In the mean time our languishing thoughts began to hold up their heads with more vivacity than ordinary and by the lucky success of Artaban's voyage and the hope that was reposed in his vertue you may easily judge that our wishes were mingled but with little good meaning to the King of Media and this was the subject of the Queens discourse and mine when Tygranes entered our Chamber to take his leave of us he was then in a habit of War and truly became it so well as doubtless the Decorum of his mind and deportment might well be considerable to all such persons as were not preposses'd with
ever I taught my eyes to express before Artaban said I you are very cruel to aggravate my displeasures by your reproaches and by them you have given me causes of complaint which would not have been easily pardoned at another season I relish no such sweetness in this triumphant condition as your unkindness stiles it which the Deities know I opposed with all my puissance and I must not blush to tell you before Tigranes Ambassadors that I fled as far from the offered honour of his alliance as the obedience due to a Father and a King would permit me those that believe they made a clear conquest upon my will did not well understand me nor do I think that any action of mine could ever raise them a rational conjecture to feed such hopes for all else that had no dependance upon me and wanted a remedy beyond my reach dispute it with Heaven upbraid my Soveraigns and accuse your Fortune and mine but if you have lent any credit to a thought that I can plant my self any repose with Tigranes upon your ruines or behold the death you are in danger to take upon my score with a clam brow and a quiet heart you are most unjust more ingrateful your self than those that have condemned you to suffer it No Artaban take your leave of that opinion and be assured that instead of demanding your death at the hand of Tigranes if I do not obtain your life he shall quickly see the end of mine remember I pass you this bold promise before these interessed persons and do solemnly protest in their presence that whensoever he condemns you to dye he pronounces my sentence Ah Madam cryed the afflicted Artaban how vain and fruitless nay how cruel is this unseasonable pity of yours quit I beseech you the hope that I can ever take my life of Tigranes or of you your self at the rate of keeping these eyes unclosed to see my Princess in my Rivals possession by this time I might have cut down those high grown hopes with his life had I still been Master of my liberty and I would not basely bargain for my own with an implyed condition to attempt his no more upon the guilty penalty of ingratitude and cowardise thus you would injoyn me Madam to dye by degrees of unspeakable torture instead of one gentle blow that will send me down to the shades from sufferings far more insupportable than it self but since at these extreams of my misery you are contented to unmask a compassion that I never merited which forces my acknowledgement that Fortune is the only cause of all my complaints give me leave to satiate the thirst of an implacable foe to my felicity who has ever been strewing impediments in my way to an acquest that could not be the quarry of a common vertue prevent the malice of my Enemies that would make my shame their triumph and spare my Princess the pains of discomposing her bridal joys with a troublesome pity which I know her excellent disposition cannot deny to such an object No Artaban said I apprehendign my design I can never agree to that and if your will still allows my pretences of some power upon it you cannot dispose of your life nor attempt any thing against it without my consent What would you then have me to do said he raising his voice higher than ordinary I would have you generously endure replyed I these frantick fits of your Fortune and consider that with a weaker courage than yours I have born the oppression of almost as weighty sufferings former Ages have left us many Presidents of a hopeless change in Affairs as desperate as yours and if you can but quiet those rash over-boilings of your spirit and conform your self to the will of Heaven you will certainly receive either ease in your miseries or constancy to support them there is this besides to comfort you that the person for whose sake you abide these torments has as great a share as your self in the same affliction and methinks this should sweeten the sense of your calamities to see how near a community they had with hers for whose sake you are so willing to suffer them call home then Artaban the stragled forces of your spirit and do not put a Maid to the blush for your weakness whereof till now she never suspected you guilty I uncloathed my thoughts in this manner and Artaban made some semblance to moderate his rash resolutions as well by the prevalence of my language as the example that I gave him of my constancy when some upon the main Mast cryed out they discern'd some Vessels making towards us with full sails and a while after when a shorter distance gave them leave to take the objects at a truer proportion they added there was cause of suspition they intended to assault us especially because they made their advances too swiftly towards us to be accounted any other than Enemies My Conductors were troubled at this intelligence which caused them to break off my discourse with Artaban and when they had led them back to the same Cabin that was his Prison before they began to prepare themselves for the encounter of those dangers that their fears foresaw they were scarce singled to their several tasks but every minute sprung new causes to increase their apprehensions and they that were best acquainted with that Sea had no sooner remarked the flags of those approaching Ships but they cry'd out with a mortal fear it was the Pirate Zenodorus Zenodorus the most redoubted Rover that ever robbed upon the Ocean or rather the only man that by his prosperous villanies was become terrible since the great Pompey purged the Seas of those diseases Our Commanders as well as Souldiers turned pale at the very name of Zenodorus but when they had considered themselves Masters of five strong Ships and that the Pirates number exceeded not theirs above one or two they quickly recovered spirit and resolution to defend their lives and liberties couragiously Polinices and the Median Embassadors presently fitted themselves for the fight Orestes was covered with Artaban's armour which he had begged and obtained of the King the same day we began that unlucky Voyage Arms that were signally rich in beauty fame and their Masters glory wherein their Usurper appeared like another Patroclus in those that belonged to the valiant Achilles Artaban was half distracted with rage to see that Rook in his plundred plumes and wish'd they might be as fatal as the son of Pelius proved to his presumptuous friends The Commanders armed and the Souldiers ready for Combat we staid the coming up of our Enemies since the weighty bulk of our Vessels would not suffer us to save our selves by flight and we waited not long in that posture before they powred themselves upon us with a skilful fury They were indeed a part of Zenodorus fleet commanded in his absence by his Nephew Ephialtes one of the boldest Pirates that ever rode the Ocean
a time quitted the greatest part of our cares and after Artaban had caused the Vessels to be cleansed of the bloud that defiled them and the dead bodies to be buried in the Sea we disposed our Canvas to accept the favourable breath of a wind that blew towards the shoar of Iberia where we were first to land Madam it is not necessary to tire you with the recital of a tedious voyage In short we traversed the Caspian Sea to the Port we intended and there providing such things as were requisite for our journey by Land we passed by the foot of mount Caucasus saw the Sarmatique Ports and having crossed Iberia and Colchis we re-imbarqued and passing through the Euxine Sea with three Vessels that we hired spread our sails for the Coast of Affrick Alas how treacherous was the tranquility of the winds and waves how short lived the quiet of our spirits it seems the Gods had not freed us from a foregoing misery with any other intent than to plunge us in a greater or rather the deepest that ever imagination sounded Poor Artaban thy valour only served to prolong thy misfortunes and wretched Elisa the Gods only brought some ease to thine with a purpose to exquisite the sense of thy last calamities The forth night after we imbarqued was already well advanced when the mutinous waves began an insurrection abetted by the most raging tempest that ever frighted a Pilot all the winds declared themselves against our safety the waves flew up as if they had taken up the Giants quarrel to storm Heaven again and the danger became so dismal as the skilfullest heads and the hardiest hearts among us began to despair of life We had only three Ships in the company whereof two carried our Souldiers and the third only my self Artaban my women and the officers of my house a while they withstood the angry Elements without separation but in fine dispersed by the impetuous winds and drivân to a large distance from each other without hope of rejoyning our Vessel was left alone to the mercy of those enraged flouds that flew upon us with a sensible encrease of fury A thousand Images of death presented themselves to our affrighted fancies but the unfortunate Artaban took all his fears upon my account and the care he had of my safety made him neglect his own in that manner as he seemed to let fall and disavow his title to wit his great courage was utterly unable to charm the pangs of his grief and he detested his own life because his uncharitable sorrow charged it with the guilt of destroying mine In the mean time the tempest roared every moment louder and at last raged to that extremity that our mast was broken and our ship reduced to the miserable obedience of being governed by the tyranny of Sea and fortune all my women were half dead with fear of death and the weakness of sex considered 't is easie to believe I felt my share in the common calamity but the inconsolable Artaban was all this while embracing my knees letting fall new floods of tears at my feet and offering the Gods with a prodigality of nobleness to die a thousand times over upon condition they would pity me and save my single life Thus we had spent two entire daies and a great part of the third night when the billows as if they had been tired with so violent a motion began to take a repose that let in a little glimmering of hope to Artaban and the Pilots I say a little for the storm had so miserably torn our Vessel as the forwardest among us could see but little more than a possibility of escape the ship drank water on all sides the mast and rudder were both broken and the Marriners forced all their skill now became ineffectual to refer themselves only to the courtesie of heaven for deliverance the rest of that night we were carried up and down at the uncontroled will of the winds and she had scarce begun to disband her shades when we descryed a great fire upon the water though this spectacle appeared very strange yet it lent us some rayes of comfort and our men took courage at that sight to employ all their strength and art to get our miserable Vessel nearer to a place where they expected to receive-some succour The daies arrival drowned a great part of that light in his own that out-shined it but by the aid of those clearer beams we received objects at a truer dimension and the first that saluted our eies was presently known by the Pilot for the stately Alexandria The comfortable sight of this City perfected some half-drawn hopes within us when in the midst of our toil to get near the fire we beheld two ships of war make towards us to oppose our passage and having laid us aboard on both sides they commanded us to yield Artaban unused to be overcome by words quickly got into his Arms and presented himself upon the deck like a man resolved to sell his liberty but he was followed by none but his own Squire and of all those that wore the faces of men in our Vessel there was scarce one beside himself that had a heart undismayed at the number of our Enemies I was terribly affrighted at the sight of Artaban's rashness and believing unless stopped in time it would infallibly cost him his life I commanded him to render himself as well because it was as utterly hopeless that he alone should maintain the Combat against five or six hundred armed men as likely by a perverse resistance he would provoke the cruelty of our enemies upon us who if we set the face of submission upon our miseries might perhaps be drawn to some compassion the fear to involve mine in his own destruction gave a sudden birth to his obedience and he had no sooner let fall the point of his Sword when our Ship grappled on both sides was become full of Enemies in an instant at the sight of me their Captain let fall some signs of respect but the faces of him and some of his men were no sooner discerned by those Pirates we had taken to supply their places in our vessel that we lost in the last Combat who with the rest of our people had followed us all our land voyage with outward pretence of obligation and acknowledgment for the mercy and mild usage they received at our hands though indeed with an intent very different but running to him with loud cries Ah my Lord said they ah Zenodorus See the cruel man that has made us his slaves defeated your forces and killed your Nephew Ephiastes with his own hand These words spread the face of Zenodorus with a trouble that presaged a fatal effect and regarding Artaban acrosse Is this the man said he that slaughtered my forces and murdered Ephiastes the Pirates confirmed their language with loud exclamations and Zenodorus no longer doubting the truth Let him die said he let the butcher of
themselves towards Artemisa who was younger than Arsinoe by a year This Princess by a sympathy which powerfully acted in the beginning of our affections permitted at the first that I should contract all the amity with her that we were both capable of her beauty which gave at that time marvellous hopes of its future excellence already made impressions in the soul of a child of seven or eight years old and the sweetness of her spirit and the gracefullness which accompanied all her actions did so Captivate my heart that it was impossible for me to live without her I disdained all sorts of entertainment and all manner of company to enjoy hers and I had this happiness too that she expressed no greater inclinations towards her own brother and sister than she did to me If any from Anthony or Cleopatra enquired after the little Alexander they must look for him in the company of the little Princess of Armenia and they had so much ado to get him from her that she was fain often-times to follow him to the place whither he was sent for or otherwise they would have hardly got him thither without tears and grand expressions of his displeasure The Queen diverted her self sometimes with these innocent testimonies of our affection and causing us to play together in her presence she pleased her self to hear our conversations She heard me one day talking to her more seriously than my age did seem to permit Artemisa said I to her I am affraid you do not love me I love you said she as well as my Sister That is not enough replyed I for I love you much better than the Princess Cleopatra And how would you have me love you then answered the young Princess As you do your self said I As my self replyed Artemisa ah Alexander that will be impossible for I love nothing like my self and I am very sensible that when I take any hurt I could wish it to any person in the world rather than to my self but next to my self I will love you as much as any thing else in the world besides Artemisa answered I I protest to you that when I see you suffer any harm I resent it so much that I would willingly endure it my self to ease you If it be so said she I confess Alexander that you love me better than I have loved you hitherto but for the future I will do what I can to render you the like affection I humbly intreat you to do it added I otherwise I shall never be satisfied The Queen my Mother was much pleased to hear this discourse and having told Anthony of it he was pleased oftentimes to make use of the same diversion Jealousie too began already to mingle it self our affection and I remember that Anthony seeing me one day extraordinary sad and having asked me before the Queen and before Artemisa and her Sister who at that time was in the Chamber the cause of my sadness I am sad said I because that Artemisa hath not looked kindly upon me to day You have nothing to do with my looks answered Artemisa disdainfully and you are sufficiently satisfied with the caresses which my Sister hath rendered you all this day Artemisa replyed I your Sisters kindnesses do not please me like yours and if you would have me I will tell her in your presence that I love her not in comparison of you You will do me a pleasure briskly answered the young Princess for she hath hit me in the teeth all this day that you you have quitted me for her with disdain which hath angred me very much Arsinoe continued I turning my self towards her Sister if you have any such thought you deceive your self and I desire to acquaint you in your own presence that I love Artemisa much better than your self Arsinoe who in an age so full of innocence had a composed spirit and admirable knowledge troubled not her self at my discourse and Artemisa was so satisfied with it that from that moment she began to look more kindly upon me I am tedious in relating to you these petty effects of Nature but these beginnings of my life have been of such importance in relation to the last events which have happened to me that I am forced to make you a slight mention of them and to prepossess you with the opinion that I was really amorous of Artemisa at that time when by the priviledge of my age I was permitted to see her that you may be induced to excuse those things which the memory of these beginnings caused me to do at an age more capable of reason During this time as without doubt you have heard the war between Anthony and Octavius Caesar brake out into such a flame that all hopes of peace were extinguished and these two being Masters of the greatest part of mankind did so eagerly pursue each others ruine that nothing was capable to divert the destruction of him that was most unfortunate In the time of this war the King of the Medes the ally and friend of Anthony but an irreconcilable enemy to Artibasus continually importuned Anthony and Cleopatra to put him to death and offered them in requital his forces to serve them in the war against Caesar but they rejected his propositions and could not resolve to use so much cruelty to a great Prince who by his ill fortune had faln into their power they persevered a long time in this resolution and I believe they would have continued so still if her misfortunes had not exasperated or rather changed the inclinations of Cleopatra The famous battel of Actium was fought wherein by the Queens flight the fortune of our Family was totally ruined and the victorious Caesar found himself in a condition to pursue the remainder to the gates of Alexandria Then it was that the King of the Medes redoubled his solicitations for the death of the King of Armenia and sent to offer Cleopatra in the absence of Anthony the whole forces of his Kingdom for the head of Artibasus the pressing necessity of her affairs and the despair to which she saw her self reduced might make the Queen hearken to the propositions of the cruel Mede but yet she would not have disposed her self to grant him what he demanded nor have stained her memory with a blot which will never be wiped off if at that time she had not been informed that the eldest Son of Artibasus who remained in Armenia having declared himself King served Caesar with all his forces and did highly threaten to ruine Anthony and Cleopatra and be cruelly revenged for the injury they had done to his Family The resentments of this Prince were just but the spirit of Cleopatra being as I told you exasperated by her misfortunes she did that out of despight which she would never have done for any other interest and giving ear to the pressing solicitations of the King of the Medes out of a boyling precipitation which was too late repented of
their fury and when they were almost in a condition not to make War any longer Angustus having sollicited them to peace and having interposed his authority to their allegations obliged them to a treaty which made them both retire but could not banish the resettlments which remained for things past When we were upon our return to Tharsus the King who some years before had buried the Queen my Mother married the Widdow of the deceased King of Cappadocia and Mother to Archelaus now reigning in that Kingdom our Neighbor and Ally and had a design to marry me to the Princess Uranina her daughter whom the Queen her Mother had brought with her into Cilicia she was a Princess beautiful enough to create love in any soul that not been possessed before and I doubt not but that my affections would have enclined that way if things that befel me afterwards had not overthrown all the dispositions I could have to it and given my soul far different employments from those it firmly had 'T is time Madam that I enter upon that discourse and I will not enlarge my self any farther in the relation of things of so small consequence whereof in respect of things of greater importance I had hardly preserved any remembrance In this time of repose and tranquillity of spirit wherein I then was I employed my self in all corporal exercises and particularly in hunting whereunto I had a very great inclination being retired upon this design for some days with the equipage which served me for this divertisement to one of the King's houses which is a days journey from Tharsus and some furlongs from the Sea I took great pleasure in making War with the Beasts and as soon as the Sun began to display his Beams upon the Earth I went into the fields and passed the whole day in pursuit either of a fearful Hart or a furious Boar or of some other creature In this innocent kind of life I passed my days without any other inquietude than what sometimes the bad success of my hunting might make me sensible of and my soul was not agitated with any care that might disturb its tranquillity but fortune did not leave me long in this condition and the will of the Gods was that I should receive a great alteration when I was least prepared for it One day ah how many tears hath that day cost mine eyes and how many torments hath it brought upon my heart ah how fatal hath that day been to those that followed it and yet how dear is that day still to my memory though so cruel and contrary to the repose of my life One day I say whereof I had passed the greatest part in the pursuit of a Boar being separated from all my followers and having lost my way in a wood of great extent after I had ridden up and down the Forrest a while in vain I felt my self more weary than ordinary and incommodated by the violent heat and an extream thirstiness To ease my self of both I sought by-paths unknown to me for a little brook which I had seen divers times in the wood and when I was come thither I alighted and having tyed my horse to a Tree I first quenched my thirst and when I walked gently along the Brook side to find out a place free from the beams of the Sun that I might repose my self for an hour I had gone but a little way in this intention but I found the most convenient place I could desire to that purpose both in regard of the shade it received from some thick Trees and of the green and pleasant grass that covered the bank of the Rivulet I chose out my place by the eye and went forward to take it but I saw it possessed by a person who had gotten thither before me I believed at first that it was one of my hunters and upon that belief being come near enough to discern the truth I perceived it was a woman clad in plain cloaths such as Country-women were in those parts This accident did not at all displease me and out of a curiosity conformable to my age and the condition of life I then lived I went nearer to view her upon that side whereunto she had turned her face 'T was my destiny that guided me thither and I was fatally conducted to that sight that should blot out of my soul all that I had seen before I no sooner discovered some part of her face but I felt my self extraordinarily troubled and I had presages of this adventure which made me know of what importance it ought to be to my life but I had no sooner seen all that could appear to my eyes in the posture she was but there issued a brightness thence which absolutely dazled my sight Yet her glories were for the most part covered and her eyes being closed by a profound sleep could not dart out those beauteous rays which at other times proceeded thence as from their original but without their help the rest of her beauties were capable to raise attention into admiration and admiration into the primitive motions of a violent passion This fair or rather this Divine person was carelesly laid along upon the bank and the earth which sustained this beautiful body seemed to produce new grass to receive her the more agreeably Her head leaned upon one of her arms and the other was stretched out towards the rivulet whose clear waters she touched with the tops of her fingers but in this action her sleeve being favourably tucked up gave me liberty to behold as high as the elbow the whiteness and shape of an arm which might eclipse all manner of beauties if it had not been equalized by her neck which appeared half naked to my eyes by the help of a little wind that jealously blew aside the linnen that covered it and from thence passing over her cheeks amorously sported it self with her fair hair which fell upon them her mouth her complexion and all the parts of her face might not only out brave envy in regard of their absolute perfection but inspire a kind of Idolatry and some opinion of divinity in those that beheld them and in fine every thing in this admirable person seemed to me so far above all that is mortal that at first sight I was stricken with such a respect and veneration for her as we do not use to have for creatures I stood and viewed her a while with such exceeding earnestness that all the objects in the world would not have been capable to divert me from it and running over with my eyes amazedly the marvels that fortune presented to them I continued so confounded and astonished that I had hardly any remembrance left of what was past or any knowledge of my self remaining What rancounter said I doth my fortune cause me to make to day and what divinity doth she present to my eyes under a mortal figure Can it be possible that the Gods should have placed
of disobedience or disorder in your family and if for the sake of an unfortunate stranger you should draw upon you the indignation of the King your father I will not contribute to the trouble you may receive upon that account and it were much better that you should engage your self in some affection wherein you might find your establishment and repose than to amuse your self about a small ill-grounded inclination which in reason you cannot bestow so much as a thought upon I will never have any thought for you answered I that you may justly condemn and though to make you an ingenuous confession I have loved you hitherto without any other design than to love you I shall be capable of whatsoever you approve rather than you should not be capable of some sence of affection for me I protest it to you by all the Gods that if in the course of this love which layes me at your feet without an interest I can be but so happy as to understand that you dispose your self to love me you shall quickly know that my desires aim at nothing superior to your self and as there is no dignity to which you may not rightfully aspire so there is no consideration which can hinder me from placing you there when my person shall be so agreeable to you as to cause you to receive the effects of my love without repugnance Delia blushed a little at these words which possibly she had not expected so promptly from me and after she had continued a while without replying I shall never have any repugnance said she either for your person or the testimonies of your affection but what design soever you may have to my advantage I will never approve of it so long as other persons may have reason to condemn it and the splendor of preferments and dignities cannot possibly charm me so much as to make me willing to purchase it with the displeasure of seeing a fault committed by a person whom I esteem and honour as my duty is By these words which proceeded from a courage infinitely high Delia augmented the respect I had for her and regarding her with a new admiration You are worthy without doubt said I to her of a much higher fortune that I can advance you to and I know you too well to believe that the hope of greatness is more powerfull upon your spirit than the proofs of a faithful and respectful passion but if besides his heart and soul the gift whereof hath exceeded all that he can do more a Prince should offer you 'T is enough Sir answered Delia interrupting me and I beseech you pardon me if I oppose the sequel of your discourse I do neither expect nor desire these propositions from you and as you may content your self if you please with the respect I have for you so I shall be satisfied with the particular esteem which you express to me without framing designs contrary to appearance and reason This was all I could obtain of Delia not only at this first conversation but in all the rest that I had with her a long time after and she kept her self so within the limits of an immoveable moderation that by all the proofs of my love I could never incline her spirit to a complatency which might cause her to remit any the least thing from the highest and severest vertue yet for all this she treated me with a great deal of sweetness she alwaies looked kindly uppon me and expressed by all her actions that she esteemed my person upon other considerations than that of my birth but this was all that I could get of her and she was so far from giving her self the liberty of granting me the smallest favours that she did not speak so much as one word to me that proceeded from terms of good-will and I confess that I contented my self with this fortune and maugre the inequality of our conditions I had formed an Idea of this admirable person to my self that rendred the smallest thing that related to her precious to me In the mean time this miraculous beauty appeared at the Court like a resplendent Star which with its lustre eclipsed all the rest and after she had been there a few dayes there was no discourse but of the fair Stranger which was in the Princess 's service The King and Queen beheld her with admiration and she had hardly begun to shew her self but she had made a thousand sighs for her and adored her they all crowded to her to give her the first testimonies of it but she treated them all with so much indifference and disdain that the boldest amongst them had hardly the confidence to renew their suit I saw her every day with facility enough but never without the company of her sister or some of her companions and in all the conversations that I had with her though she were of a softer sex and younger years than I yet she gave me examples and precepts of vertue which might have swayed my inclinations that way if I had capacity enough to profit by them Alas how many times in this happy season after I had passed some hours in her company with incredible ravishments have I cried out to my self with transport that all kind of employments and conditions in the world ought to give place to the glory of serving Delia how often have I prayed the Princess my Sister that she would interess her self and often bear a part in our society and to confess that the world had nothing comparable to Delia and that she was a thousand times more beholding to me for the occasion I had given her of gaining the company of this admirable person than I was obliged to her for the benefit she had procured me by it She likewise took no notice of the precautions she had made for the honour of her family and reposing an entire confidence in the vertue of Delia she left her to the conduct of her own life without troubling her self in relation to the interest she might have taken in it In the mean while she loved and caressed her in such a manner that this Maid being obliged to her amity whatsoever desire she had to return into her own country durst not require the performance of the promise which was made of conducting her back again thither and alwayes when she was about to open her mouth to that purpose Andromeda entertained her with such fine expressions and represented her with such tender and pressing caresses that she could not live without her that she insensibly engaged her to a much longer stay than she had intended In the mean time I had so abandoned my self to my love that I had no thoughts left but for Delia only and I did less interess my self in the affairs of Cilicia and all those things which in all likelihood might concern me than those would have done which were the meerest strangers to them Though I saw Delia divers hours
and as your passion will permit and we will continue upon the same terms we now are without enraging our selves farther in relation to any thing that either of us shall do in obedience to the King and Queen This was the resolution of the fair Princess of Cappadocia and I found it so rational that in spite of all my passion I could not hinder my self from crying out O Gods how generous are you and how unfortunate am I that by the pre-ingagement of my soul I am rendred unworthy of the glory which my fortune hath offered me but at least since that by this fatal engagement the thoughts I ought to have for you are forbidden me permic me Madam by a continuance of your goodness that in stead of those passionate resentments I may conserve others for you of another nature and interess my self in the occasions of doing you service as if I had the honour to be your brother Urania did not refuse me what I desired and appearing satisfied with the confession I had made to her she was well pleased that I should follow my inclinations without laying any constraint upon my self I did so too thenceforward and though I did seemingly render her my respects out of design and that in publick I pretended to some interest in her when no body heard our discourse I talked to her as to the Princess Andromeda and conversed with her very differently from the Kings and Queens intentions I could not forbear discovering all to Delia but at the relation I made her of it she was troubled in good earnest she protested to me she would not suffer that for the love of her I should fly out into disobedience to the Kings pleasure to my own hurt and that she would rather quit Cilicia than see me shun my advantages upon an amusement which could not have any good success This indifference wherewith she answered the proofs of my passion afflicted me with a sensible displeasure and looking upon her with an air that signified a little discontent I did not think said I that these testimonies of my love ought to be disagreeable to you and though besides Urania I should disesteem all the world for your sake I do not believe you could make it any just cause of complaint This possibly would have had some operation in any other spirit but yours and I am very unfortunate if by putting my self in danger of incurring the Kings displeasure I should likewise incurr yours in stead of a little acknowledgement which I might justly hope I am not wanting Sir replied Delia in the acknowledgment that is due to you and possibly 't is only in regard of that that I oppose those designs that are disadvantageous to you the proofs of your affection are exceeding glorious to me but I cannot approve of them if they be incommodious to your self and I do so far consider your interests as never to give way that you should abandon them for an unfortunate stranger or that for her sake you should expose your self to those troubles which your disobedience without doubt will raise in the Court if you persevere in it Ah Delia said I with a gesture all composed of passion the troubles of my soul ought to be more considerable to you than those of the Court and I am far enough from finding any repose or felicity in that obedience to which you would oblige me seeing I can protest to you before the Gods that I shall never find it but in your self and that if I lose the hopes of gaining your affection I shall lose all pleasure and desire to live Do not oppose then any longer what the Gods have ordained as to my destiny do not vainly endeavour to introduce another Image into a heart which yours will absolutely possess to the end of my life all the obedience I have for you would be unprofitable upon this account and by all the power you have over me you shall never divert my thoughts from Delia for one single moment These were the contestations that most commonly I had with her and if out of complacency she forbare to contradict me in this design yet she continually assured me that she would not contribute to the displeasure which by that means I might receive In the mean time whatsoever discretion I used to regulate the conduct of my love it could not long continue secret and as you know the actions of persons of my rank being much more observed than those of private men it was a difficult thing that Delia should be so fair and that they should see me render her offices full of assiduity and respect without suspecting that I loved her The fame of it spread it self largely about the Court and quickly came to the ears of those persons who were most interessed in it Urania who had suffered my engagement with a great deal of moderation and little resentment could not take notice that I dis-esteemed her for a person who was so inferiour to her without being a little moved with despite and without expressing as much to me upon some occasions but when she had well considered the person of Delia she began to accuse me and believed that there were but few spirits that could defend themselves against the powers of so admirable a person but the Queen her Mother who had often complained of the coldness I shewed in the courting of her Daughter could not give credit to this common report without being netled at it and without complaining to the King at first he heard without much taking notice of it and excused that to the Queen as the fault of my youth which she condemned with a great deal of sharpness But the Queen in process of time being confirmed in her opinions and having pressed him by her continual solicitations wrought upon his spirit and obliged him absolutely to declare his will Upon this design having one day detained me in his privie Chamber and causing all other persons to withdraw that he might speak to me with the greater liberty Philadelph said he I shall tell you no news when I shall acquaint you that to preserve and augment the alliances which we have with the King of Cappadocia I have resolved upon your marriage with the Princess his Sister but I desired to put you in mind that it is time to make preparation for it and that for very important reasons I am obliged to hasten the design I believe that you are fully disposed to it already and that you acknowledge as well as I that there cannot be a more advantageous offer made you than of such a Princess as Urania is Whilst the King spake in this manner it was easie for him to read in my countenance the displeasure I received at his words and when he had done speaking I continued a long time with my eyes fixed upon the ground without making him any reply he took two or three turns about the Chamber in expectation but when he
sensible of them and I shall never be happy so as when I shall be able by some extraordinary proof to testifie that to you which hitherto you have only taken notice of in my discourse It were much better answered Delia coldly that by my departure hence I should take away from the King the matter of his indignation and from you the occasion of drawing it upon you it will be with this intention which really proceeds from the care of you rather than from any other motive that I shall beseech the Princess to permit me to retire my self and to give me her assistance in relation to my retirement as she promised me You are said I with a very sad countenance absolutely at liberty and at your own disposing whensoever you shall desire to return but will you be pleased that I should wait upon you over all the world or that I should die by mine own hands in your presence at your departure I spake these words with so passionate an action that Delia seemed to be moved at it and the Princess taking her turn to speak next after me No Delia said she there is no necessity of so sudden a separation and if you love me as you say and as you are obliged to do by the amity I have for you you will not afflict me with the double displeasure I shall receive by your absence and my Brothers despair But Madam replied Delia what does he desire of me and what end can he propose to himself in an affection which cannot choose but ruine us both I have often told you answered I that my love should never aim at any thing that your vertue might disallow of and I will tell you more plainly before my Sister that if it were in my power I would marry you and in expectation of that liberty I will never entertain that design for any other person You can never expect that power replied Delia but by wayes which you ought not to desire and when you have obtained it you will not possibly have surmounted all difficulties O Gods cnyed I out at these words to what a pitiless spirit hath my fortune subjected me Cruel Maid continued I looking upon her in a very sad and dejected manner if you disdain and scorn the heart I have given you and all that I can offer you where shall I find any thing that may be worthy of being presented to you I pronounced these words with such an afflicted air that Delia's heart was a little moved at them as I perceived by her action and by the sweetness of a look which glanced upon me contrary to her design she kept her eyes a while fixed upon the ground and then on a sudden looking upon the Princess Madam said she since you have made me wholly yours defend my cause if you please against the Prince your Brother and I beseech your goodness to take the pains not only to justifie me from the ingratitude with which he would reproach me but to represent to him that he cannot in reason desire of me more acknowledgement than I have for his affection Having spoken these words she intreated her to give her leave to retire her self for some moments and so she left me much grieved for the small progress I had made upon her spirit but my Sister and I continued in admiration of that vertue whereof she gave us a thousand testimonies every day By making so small accompt of the hopes I gave her of a Crown she strongly perswaded us that she deserved something much more great and confirmed me more and more in the design of never desiring the possession of it but only to set it upon her head Andromeda opposed this resolution as she supposeth it was her duty to do by all manner of considerations but her opposition was all in vain and I saw nothing in Delia which did not make me judge her worthy of all the world I did not leave Andromeda till I had engaged her to suffer much for my interests and to oppose her self to the uttermost to the design which the King might have to take Delia from her and I was much comforted with the promise she often made me to do it The King upon the accompt of her Vertue and the good qualities she was Mistress of had very particular considerations for her and expressed more than an ordinary affection to her In the Interim the first time that the Queen had any discourse with him about my marriage with her daughter he told her that Urania had no great inclination to it and related to her what I had told him concerning her coldness and the little liking she had of me The Queen who desired our marriage above all the things in the world spake to Urania of it the same day and desired to learn from her mouth if the report which she had heard were true Urania either not to wrong her own merit by declaring how slightly I valued it or not to do me a bad office freely told the Queen her Mother that it was true that she had no inclinations to love me and that excepting what decency and the esteem she had for my person required it would be difficult to bend her spirit to any greater testimonies of affection At this discourse the Queen grew angry with her and after that she had sharply blamed her for the little care she had to shew her obedience she imperiously commanded her to do better for the time to come and protested that she would make her sensible of her displeasure if she made too long a resistance against her will For some dayes following she persecuted her in the same manner and the Princess had courage enough to suffer much from her before she would confess the truth telling her alwayes that she did what possibly she could to overcome the repugnance she had to affect any man but at last seeing her self extraordinarily pressed to it and exposed to some usages she thought she was no longer obliged to endure them for his sake who did not love her and after she had hearkned to a long and sharp reproof which the Queen bestowed upon her Why said she would you have me love a man who had no affection for me and that confessed as much himself after that he had sufficiently expressed it by his actions Does not Philadelph love you replied the Queen what mean then the publick testimonies he gives of it and the complaints he hath made of your coldness I am unwilling said she to do him this bad office to you and to the King whose intentions correspond with yours but if we have a courage worthy of our birth we shall offer no farther violence to the inclinations of Philadelph and we may find elsewhere as great advantages as those which we expect from him The Queen being exceeding angry at this discourse gave no ear to her Daughters counsel but presently went to the King and made great complaints to him
already told you being despoyled of his Kingdom by Phraates King of Parthia or rather by the valiant Artaban General of his Troops who with a prodigious valour had reduced Media under his Master's Dominion in a less time than would well have served to have seen it all came to seek refuge among his Neighbours and Allies He made some stay first in Cappadocia and by the compassion which his misfortune wrought in the breast of King Archelaus he not only obliged him to protect him but interessed him so in his affairs that Archelaus a Prince of great Vertue offered to raise an Army for his re-establishment and to march with him in person to re-invest him in his Throne Archelaus alone was possibly too weak to put this design in execution and Tigranes having engaged him in this manner to his succour came into Cilicia believing he should find all manner of assistance in the amity of the King his Uncle He was received at Tharsus not as a despoyled Prince but as if he had enjoyed his former dignity and the King who had always dearly loved him treated him as if he had been his Son or his Brother and disposed himself to render him whatsoever he might expect from his affection he was already prepared by the news he had received of his misfortunes to assist and serve him and during the stay he had made in Cappadocia they had begun to make levies to that intention I will not spin out this discourse into a tedious length within a few months that Tygranes continued with us all things were put into an handsome condition for his assistance and Tygranes not being willing to permit that the King should make this Voyage in Person by reason of his age and for divers other considerations I received the commission and disposed my self to march with Tigranes in the head of ten thousand horse and five and twenty thousand foot which the King gave me for this expedition You may well judge Madam that it was not without regret that I prepared my self to leave Delia and You will believe nothing but the Truth when You shall believe that my soul was sensible of a cruel violence at this separation I could not without a mortal grief so much as think of being so far and so long distant from her whom I could not leave for a moment and when I reflected upon the evils which this absence would make me suffer all my courage could hardly furnish me with resolutions enough to dispose my self to it Besides I left Delia in a place where a little before they had cruelly made an attempt upon her life and though by the care the King himself took of her and the little interest the Queen had in the business I was almost assured on that side yet my love making me fearful for that I loved raised such fears in me as all my reason was not able to destroy but that which moved me most was that I went from Delia without being able to oblige her to engage her self to me any more than she had done before and understood so little of the reasons she alledged to me and the hopes she gave me that I could receive but a very imperfect comfort from them For all this I must be gone the considerations of my honour were strong enough to overcome all others and I was of such an age as obliged me to the prejudice of my repose and the peril of a thousand lives to pursue the occasions of glory which called upon me Neither did I much waver in the business but to shorten my discourse the day came which necessitated my separation from Delia. All the time before I had sollicited her in vain to declare her self in my favour more fully than she had done before I had spared neither prayers nor tears to move her but I could not by any expressions either of my love or grief remove her from her former resolution The last day going to take my leave of her I really sound some signs of sorrow in her countenance and she expressed to me divers ways that she sympathised with me in the displeasure I had to leave her After some passionate discourses whereby I expressed to her my just resentments I go Delia said I to her and what is most cruel and insupportable to me I part from You without any certainty of seeing You again and unassured of the condition I stand in your thoughts After such testimonies of my love as possibly would not have been ineffectual in relating to any other person but Delia and which possibly might have prevailed with any courage but hers I see my self as ignorant of my destiny as I was that moment that I gave my self to you I satisfie my self as well as I can possibly with the hopes You give me and seeing that I shall never have any desire but what may be conformable to Your will I endeavour to comfort my self with the expectation of a good which I cannot conceive but Delia I cannot vanquish my grief and what blind confidence soever I have in You 't is hard for me to take notice without a mortal displeasure how little progress I have made upon Your spirit I go from you with all manner of ill presages and if my fears deceive me not I am in great danger of never seeing you again if it be so Delia I shall abandon my self to the most cruel death that ever was suffered and You will live with the remorse of having bestowed such a recompence upon the most real and perfect that ever was I had some other discourse with her upon the same subject the length whereof hinders me from repetition and Delia having quietly hearkned to me and endeavoured to hide some marks of pity which appeared in her countenance Prince said she I will willingly endure all your reproaches without complaining and though possibly I might deserve that you should impose some belief in me I will expect that from you when those things you are now ignorant of are known to you In the mean time you may go with this belief that you have made a greater progress upon my spirit than you suppose and I should say you had done too much in that respect if I did not believe that I cannot be too acknowledging of your affection I shall not be always in a condition wherein I can only satisfie you with such hopes as you cannot comprehend and if fortune be not contrary to me my condition will be changed at your return I shall then be free from divers scruples which a Maid of my humour cannot tell how to overcome and you will be at liberty to demand that of me without hurting me which then I may grant you without fear of reproach Give if you please an absolute credit to what I tell you and receive a thing which I will trust no body with but your self that may in time make you change the unjust opinion you have of my humour
The Wars in Egypt send him into Ethiopia where Britomarus is received into Candace 's service He falls in love with Candace and upon that account falls out with Caesario They fight and Britomarus is banished His Father and he retires into Arabia where Briton is taken Prisoner by the wild Arabs Britomarus endeavours his recovery but in vain He goes into the Armenian Army where by his signal valour he gains great reputation and employments The King of Armenia takes him to his Court He there falls in love with the Princess Arsinoe and Cinthia a great Court Lady with him Cinthia reveals her passion to Britomarus who excuses himself as pre-ingaged She finds out and reveals his affection to the Princess who receives the discovery with scorn and anger Britomarus returns with the King to the Wars in Media He defeats the Army commanded by Ariston and Theomedes kinsmen to Philadelph and takes them Prisoners He begs their liberty of Artaxus and upon his refusal flies out into an high exprobation of his ingratitude The King in a blind fury causes their heads to be cut off whereupon Britomarus deserts his service THE officious Tyridates did so far interess himself in the health of his two illustrious Guests and took so much care of that which they both neglected that within a few days there visibly appeared a great amendment in their wounds Those of Prince Coriolanus being much slighter than those of the valiant Unknown detained him in his bed but a small time and the cruel agitation of his spirit making him to hate repose he had no sooner recovered part of his strength but he desired to walk abroad and take the air All the ease he could possibly invent to his displeasures was really necessary and never possibly could a Soul be tormented with so violent disquiets as his He had a spirit naturally moderate a great courage and firm in the proof of the hardest attempts and besides the assuredness which he had received from Nature he had fortified himself therein by the study of excellent Sciences and of Philosophy wherein he had knowledge even to admiration But with all these advantages which secured him from despair and partly defended him against his sufferings he had enough left to ruine an ordinary constancy and few persons pre-possessed by such a passion as his would have been able to have supported the like affliction without falling under it He called to mind twenty times a day all the adventures of his life wherein Cleopatra had any interest and the marks which he had received of the affection of that Princess in a thousand occurrences but reflecting upon her change all the courage whereof he had given so many proofs could hardly submit to the Empire of his reason and in the sad effect of those pitiless thoughts which tormented him lifting his eyes to Heaven with a throng of sighs Ah hard change cryed he cruel change of the mind of Cleopatra and of the fortune of Coriolanus Sometimes from the window of his Chamber which was the same where Queen Candace had lodged some daies before after the example of that fair Queen he cast his eyes upon the place where the Princes which he affected had received her birth and could not retire them from thence without receiving by that view a sensible reviving of his displeasures O what complaints did this object draw from his mouth and sighs from his breast and how difficultly did she shake off all those who put him in mind of any particular concerning Cleopatra without giving divers testimonies of his violent resentments Amongst the subjects of his grief he never accounted the loss of a puissant Kingdom which he had recovered by his valour and lost by his ill fortune and amongst all his complaints he hardly made so much as a slight mention of it Tyridates who was acquainted with all the accidents of his life endeavoured to give him consolation and there being by their good offices and a mutual knowledge of each others vertues a sincere friendship established between these two Princes Tyridates unlocked his heart to Coriolanus and by the confession of the love which he bare to the fair Queen of Judea he obliged him oftentimes to render him the like comforts Between these two passionate Princes there often passed excellent conversations and as neither of them was capable of noble and high thoughts they could not communicate them without giving themselves reciprocally new subjects of esteem and without finding excellent matter to entertain each other in their solitude They were not for all that long alone in their entertainment and besides the opinion which Coriolanus had already conceived of the brave unknown Tyridates made him every day such advantagious relations of him that Coriolanus being impatient to be better acquainted with a man so extraordinary hastened the first going out of his Chamber to visit him At the first view he found things above all that which the report of Tyridates had made him a little to comprehend and in the visage and all the discourses of the Unknown he saw such eminent marks of the greatness of his courage that at first sight he had particular considerations for him these apprehensions were very reciprocal and as the Son of Juba had most admirable parts both of mind and body they suddenly caused the effects they were wont to produce upon the spirit of the Unknown although pre-possessed with sorrow The first greetings were passed with all the civility which persons buried in discontent could render each to other but in the following visits these admirable persons mutually taking notice of their particular advantages made friendship and confidence succeed their esteem They equally desired to know each other but they had not the confidence to signifie so much each to other and if Tyridates who had no less curiosity for the Unknown and which by the frequent visits he had rendred him had more acquaintance with him had not interposed they had not for a long time discovered their desires Upon this design one day when the two Princes were by the Unknown whose wounds were then in so good condition that he hoped in a few dayes to quit his bed Tyridates beginning the discourse It is not just said he that persons which already highly esteem each other upon the proofs which they have mutually received of one anothers Vertue should continue any longer together without a more perfect knowledge one of another and I should believe pursued he turning himself towards the Unknown that I did not set that esteem I ought upon the excellencies which you Possess if they had not inspired me with a desire to learn that from you which hitherto we have not had the boldness to enquire There cannot possibly be a person in the world who hath greater reasons than I to conceal himself and yet to oblige you to the like confidence and to let you know what I desire of you I will make no difficulty to discover
rather with so much contempt that they had all a just subject of discontent and possibly of deriding my pride I will say more if modesty permit me that there were divers amongst them who were not exempted from some affection for me and gave me testimonies of it great enough to fortifie the good opinion which I had naturally for my self Nevertheless this unreasonable presumption which flattered my haughty thoughts did not carry me to manifest extravagancies and if I believed that it was permitted me to love the Princess and disdain all that was inferiour to her yet I knew well that I could not give her too visible marks of my passion without justly drawing upon me either her anger or contempt and I was contented to endure the pain she made me suffer without declaring it any other way unto her than by my assiduity in her service accompanied with a grace which possibly was not so natural in my Companions and by diligences which understandings more intelligent than Candaces was at that time would have easily discerned from those which are used for another interest Some difference likewise which she favourably found between my Companions and me both for my person and my services caused her to receive mine with more approbation than theirs and I remarked in divers passages that she set an higher esteem upon me than upon many persons which by their birth held a very considerable rank in Ethiopia I was in this condition and had stayed a year at Meroe when Cleomedon arrived there I call him by that name though his true name and birth are not unknown unto me a more ample declaration might be fatal to him in this Country where a few days since we have seen him and though I be his enemy by a natural inclination and for the reasons wherewith I will acquaint you yet I should be sorry by dishonourable means to take a revenge upon him unworthy of my courage This Prince born with all the advantages of nature and composed of as great parts as any possibly could be came into Ethiopia to drive me thence and though it was not his intention and that by the difference there was between our conditions he hardly cast his eyes upon me it came to pass rather by my fortune than his design that he overthrew all my hopes and made me go to seek elsewhere the occasions whereunto I was called by my destiny This Prince as I have said and as I am obliged to say to give testimony to the truth had qualities altogether excellent and amiable and yet I no sooner judged that he loved Candace for by the interest I took therein I took notice of his truth sooner than others but I conceived hatred against him in my heart and it found a disposition so natural to receive it that ever since though the cause of our differences be ceased and that naturally I am apt enough to be reconciled and of an humour inclinable enough to pardon my most cruel Enemies I could never banish the repugnance which since that time establish'd it self against him in my spirit It was augmented by a thousand occasions and Cleomedon though I believe without design did me a thousand injuries which were never taken notice of either by him or other persons and which could not possibly have passed for injuries amongst my Companions whose courage was not so haughty as mine He deprived me every day of the means of entertaining the Princess who out of a particular goodness oftentimes diverted her self to discourse with me if I had the honour to lead her as it was permitted us by the employment we had near her he came to do my office and put me besides a place which I must needs quit unto him out of respect and in fine he did me a hundred displeasures which I looked upon rather through my passion than my reason and which made me detest my unfortunate birth by reason of which I could not probably hope for satisfaction from a great Prince but this fear was unjust in me and Cleomedon whose vertue and courage is more sublime than his birth made me a little after acknowledge that he was exceeding worthy of the advantages he had above me and that he might highly conserve by his valour whatsoever he could acquire by his Fortune You will perceive the truth of what I have told you in the recital of the engagement between us and by the discourse which I will make you of his admirable generosity you will be amazed that by his noble procedure all the hatred I had for him did not quit my heart or rather you will believe with me that it must needs be retained there by unknown causes Hereabouts Britomarus stopped to recall into his memory some particulars of his discourse and when they were come to his mind he went on upon the same things which a few days before Etcocles had related to Tyridates He told the two Princes the displeasures he had received from Cleomedon for the Nosegay he had taken from him to present to the Princess Candace he added also divers of the same nature and at last came to the relation of the offence which he did him at the publick sports of his resentments of his complaint to Cleomedon and of the gallant combat which they had together wherein he exalted the generosity of Cleomedon in terms which sufficiently discovered his own to his illustrious auditors and made them rightly judge that vertuous men acknowledge and reverence vertue even in the person of their enemies He told them in fine the command he had received to depart Ethiopia whereby his resentments against Cleomedon were revived the combat he suffered in his soul whilest his wounds detained him in his bed to separate himself from Candace He gave them the relation of his cure of the leave he took of Cleomedon of his departure from the Court of Ethiopia and punctually all those things which Eteocles had recounted by the recital whereof he caused in Coriolanus an attention and admiration for these beginnings of his life which possibly adventures of greater importance would not have produced and after he had related in this sort that which Tyridates already understood he pursued in these terms his discourse concerning those things which were as yet unknown unto him or those at least whereof he had heard only by a common report and not by any particular narration It was not without very great violence that I disposed my spirit to separate my self from Candace and though the passion I had for her was not yet arrived to the point whither it might have come yet nevertheless it was not so slight but it made me resent a great part of that which might be suffered by such a separation and that which aggravated my grief the more was to see my self driven away by my Rival I say my Rival for the inequality which was between us cannot hinder me from calling him so and reduced by an unjust
easily defaced out of the heart of a person of the age that I was of when I parted from Ethiopia and those which I had received in mine were not so strongly setled as to vanquish the despight which scorn enkindled in my heart It was then almost free when the beauties of Arsinoe presented themselves unto me with charms against which it was difficult to make any defence I likewise did but weakly defend my self from them and whether it were by their power or my own weakness or by my destiny which did not permit me to fix my thoughts upon any but Daughters of great Kings but I suffered my self to be taken without consulting my reason and without making any reflection upon those things which might divert me Neither this second engagement nor that which you will understand in the progress of my discourse proceeded from the lightness of my spirit and naturally I have no inclination to change if I be not carried to it by some more powerful motive than my love I should have loved Candace to my grave if the love I had for her in so tender youth had had time to render it self more powerful in my soul than the aversion I had for her scorn but as I have naturally this unreasonable presumption as to believe that the inequality which is between me and that I love ought not to expose me to disdain and evil usage so by the knowledge I received of it my resentments were strong enough to banish from my soul a passion not well setled I say a passion ill setled for the last I have received into my spirit hath placed it self there after another sort and hath taken such profound root there that neither regret nor despite nor jealousie nor all that the Gods and Men can oppose to impede its course will be capable to alter it for one moment In fine I could not take notice of the amiable qualities of Arsinoe without loving her and though recalling to mind the usage I received in Ethiopia I made some efforts against the birth of this love whereof in probability I ought to expect no better success than of the former yet if this resistance served a while against the sight only of the beauties of Arsinoe it prevailed nothing at last against so many miracles of her mind whereby the advantages of her body were surpassed This inability of defending my self was seconded by the flattery of my natural ambition and looking with Pride upon the beginning of a Fortune which I believed due to my self alone What hinders me from hoping said I but that by this valour whereof the first effects are so handsome I may render my self worthy of being an avowed Servant of Arsinoe and what ought I not to expect from a Sword which hath already advanced me to a rank where possibly it never placed a Person of my age in so short a time Undertake daring Britomarus all that thy courage can inspire thee with it is too good to betray thee and by it thou mayst one day see thy self in a condition not to be disdained neither by Arsinoe nor any Princess upon Earth If Royal Blood and Crowns be wanting to thee thy vertue may supply the defect of the one and may possibly give thee the other this Fortune is not without Example and divers persons of a Birth inferior to thine have attained by their valour to a royal Dignity Arsinoe whose Spirit is not of the common stamp will know how to discern in thee that which is most precious and worthy of her esteem though perhaps concealed under disadvantagious appearences she will conceive that if thou beest not a Prince possibly thou meritest to be one and thou appearest now before her in another condition and in another kind of posture than thou didst before Candace by whom thou couldst not be regarded but as one of her meanest Domesticks and to whom thou couldst not be considerable by any action which could render thee superior to those of thy birth I animated or rather flattered my self in this manner and by indulging my passion I suffered my self to be but too deeply enengaged all things contributed to it and Arsinoe her self was partly culpable of it by the kindnesses she shewed me and the marks of a particular esteem which she daily gave me As she was perswaded that I was owner of some vertue so she gave it as much respect in my person as she would have done in a great Prince and this was that which deceived me and which made me conceive hopes in her goodness whereby I found my self abused Henceforward my love began to produce its ordinary effects I lost my repose and sleep and I saw my self exposed to all the inquietudes which accompany this passion yet mine were greater than those of other persons who have permission to ease themselves by complaint and discourse and knowing my self obliged by the eminency of that which I loved to bury my thoughs in a rigorous silence I suffered without doubt in this cruel constraint what I should not have suffered if I had the liberty to declare my mind I saw the Princess every day and by the account the King made of me and the state he made me take in the Court I had free ingress into places whither none but Persons of Quality were permitted to come the Princess did me the honour to speak often to me she was pleased with my discourse and oftentimes preferred it before that of the Grandees of Armenia by her goodness I was more enflamed and though I received it with a respect which tyed up my tongue more and more yet it could not hold my eyes nor my sighs in the like constraint and they continually spake a language to the Princess which she might easily have understood if all appearances had not been contrary to it Amongst the Persons whose amity I had acquired during the stay I made in Armenia Artamenes a Young Armenian of a very sublime condition and allied divers wayes to the Royal Family was the Man to whom I was the most engaged and which testified most affection to me He had inclinations altogether vertuous and a great sweetness of spirit joyned with a great and lofty courage the rank he held in Armenia caused me at the first to use some submissive respect towards him but in a short time he banished all ceremony out of our Society and esteeming some quality in me which he preferred before Birth and Fortune his absolute will was that we should live in an entire equality and that we should banish all constraint from our conversations and seeing me without any other estate than what I received from the King and what I might hope for from my sword he would often have made me to participate of his and have put me in a condition to out-brave necessity if Fortune should prove contrary to me but I had but too much dis-esteem for things of so mean a value and I alwayes
assured Artamenes not onely that his friendship was considerable to me out of the single interest of esteem which I had for his vertue but also that what the vulgar call goods could never pass for such in my spirit or engage me in one single thought of my seeking after them We were almost every day together and he having by his birth and the esteem which was due to his vertue gained the best acquaintance in the Court led me into all the best companies and made me take my part in the divertisements of the most eminent Persons but he began quickly to perceive both by the familiarity we had together and the little power I had to dissemble my thoughts that these pleasures which he gave me were not sufficiently capable to touch me and that I disdained all that was common in Armenia for that which was greatest and most eminent there He saw me sigh change colour and express in all things an extraordinary emotion at the sight of the Princess Arsinoe and when by the first notice he took he had grounded his suspicions he observed me more curiously than he had done formerly and found in all my actions great occasions to confirm himself in them Out of discretion he would not a long time discover his thoughts to me but when our friendship had made so large a progress as that he believed that familiarity permitted him all things Britomarus said he to me it is not easie for persons of Your humour to disguise themselves long from their friends and what care soever You take to conceal from me the secret of Your soul it appears to me by so many marks that I can no longer be ignorant of it These words surprized me as Artamenes might well judge by the silence I kept for some time before I returned him an answer but a little after recollecting my self I shall never be sorry said I him that my most reserved thoughts are known unto You and that which I shall keep secret from all the World shall be discovered unto You since You have a desire to understand it This is an effect of Your amity which is very dear unto me replyed Artamenes and yet is not from your amity that I have drawn the knowledge of the thoughts which You have for the Princess Arsinoe Blush not Britomarus continued he smiling and looking upon me with more attention than before this is an elevation of spirit worthy of you and as I hold You capable of none but high and noble thoughts so I think it not strange that You have chosen that which is most great and beautiful in all Asia for the object of your affections These words did absolutely put me in a kind of confusion but I put it off as readily as possibly I could and as I have been all my life time so much an enemy of disguise that all the occasions which might most powerfully carry me unto it were never strong enough to oblige me to tell a lye so I believed that for a friend as Artamenes was I ought not to constrain my nature and endeavouring to shew him a visage full of the marks of confidence You have known my most particular thoughts said I to him because I have not taken the care to conceal them from you and though you will not owe it to my friendship yet by that you have penetrated into my heart and by that I am not reduced in relation to you to a constraint which might possibly have hidden from you as well as from others part of my inclinations I had not declared them to you so readily because I judged that they might be too audacious but since that through my imprudence you have been able to discern that which I ought to have kept undiscovered from all the World I shall make no difficulty to acknowledge to you that which my mouth cannot handsomely utter and confess unto you that the disproportion of my Birth and Fortune have not been able to defend me against the powers of the Princess Arsinoe I do not find it strange said Artamenes to me but I cannot comprehend what your design can be and if you are yet in a condition to take counsel of the best of your Friends you will consult your reason before you engage any further Your vertue renders you and without doubt will render you considerable amongst all those which wear a Sword with Glory but it doth not suffice to authorize your ambition and the Princess Arsinoe is born with an heart so high and with so great advantages that she will never cast her eyes but upon a great King I never hoped replyed I to him that my thoughts should be approved of by the Princess though I might truly say that when they shall be known she will have no cause to condemn them and I never had the intention to let her know them so long as I had power enough to mannage my reason but I must tell you Artamenes that though a common discretion might represent to me something of rash and extravagant in my passion yet I do not find my self capable of loving any thing inferiour to Arsinoe and I have so much disdain without being able to imagine the cause for all that is below her that I am not able to turn my thoughts towards it for a moment with the least engagement I know I can hope for no fruit from an affection so disproportionable but this is fruit great enough for me that I have the honour to love so amiable and so great a Princess and I will never complain of my passion seeing that it hath not subjected me but only to that Person of the World which is most worthy of my submissions Possible it is that a little vertue which perhaps will raise me above the rank of common Persons may do something more advantagious for me and though I will expect nothing with too much confidence yet I will despair of nothing from a Fortune whereof I will make a good part my self You are worthy replyed Artamenes you are worthy Dear Britomarus of all you can desire I find in you all the marks of a real Grandeur in so marvellous a lustre that there must needs be no Justice in the conduct of our destinies if Heaven do not act for you after an extraordinary fashion Persevere in your high inclinations seeing that it is impossible for you to abuse them and that I cannot now counsel you to it my self without repugnance but remember that you ought to hope more from the advantages you shall gain upon the spirit of the Princess than from the acknowledgment of the King her Brother and though he esteems your valour for the service he receives from thence and for an inclination sufficiently warlike in himself yet be pleased to know that according to the judgment which is already made of his haughty nature you ought to expect nothing from him by your services which is not agreeable to his dignity Artamenes
spake to me in this manner and we had had more discourse upon this subject if we had not been interrupted by some persons which came into the place where we were and intermingled themselves in our conversation In the mean while my passion augmenting made me more melancholy and solitary than ordinary it made me oftentimes to avoid the assemblies of great companies and the societies wherein I was accustomed to entertain my self and for the most part when I paid the visits to which I was particularly obliged and could dis-engage my self from Artamenes whose friendship and sight were really very dear to me I went alone to take my walks in the most retired places and there I entertained my self whole hours together with the fair Idea which I had in my heart I was often surprized there by Artamenes who took care to find me out and though he opposed this change of my humour yet he knew he had cause enough to pardon me for it One day having sought my solitary walk in the King's Park which is near one of the Gates of Artaxata and suffering my self to be carryed by my agreeable imaginations into the most private Allies in a quarter where divers Allies met I lighted upon the two Princesses who with divers Ladies of her ordinary train sought their divertisement in the Wood. Although I endeavoured to avoid other companies which might divert me from my flattering thoughts yet that of Arsinoe had charms for me which I could not flie and I no sooner saw her appear but instead of retiring as I should have done for any other encounter I advanced before her with a little emotion which might have been perceived in my countenance if it had been curiously observed The Princess looked graciously upon me and receiving me with a deportment Majestically courteous What Britomarus said she are you then become melancholy since you came amongst us and do you now seek solitude in a Country wherein your vertue hath already gained so much acquaintance At a discourse so obliging I expressed as much humility as I could possible and endeavouring to vanquish a weakness which we naturally have for that we love Madam replyed I the satisfaction of the Persons whom I honour is as dear to me as mine own and I do all that I can possible to spare my Friends the trouble of my bad company Say rather answered the Princess that you find in your self that which you cannot find in others and that your thoughts entertain you more agreeably than the company of your Friends can do Your Highness replyed I hath spoken part of the truth and certain it is that I can hardly find in the conversation of my Friends the entertainment which my thoughts may furnish me withal But Britomarus said Arsinoe shall not we be too curious if we should desire to know something of these thoughts which we judge to be very sublime by the knowledge which we have of your courage And may it be permitted to ask you if it be Love or War which furnishes you with the matter of them my inclinations answered I lean no more to War than to Love but in that which you call War and that which you call Love I find War altogether and the God which is President of War doth not cause more cruel combats amongst Men than those which the God of Love excites in our spirits I believed replyed the Princess that that which you call Love had been a more pleasing passion than you present it to be but seeing it is so dangerous by the effects which it produces it ought to be avoided with precautions proportionable to the greatness of the evils which it may make one suffer It is certhin said I that Love hath its sweets but it hath likewise its bitterness capable at least to counter-ballance its sweetness and as there is no felicity comparable to that of a spirit satisfied in its Love so there is no such hard condition as that of a Lover to whom Fortune is contrary in his passion Divers things in Love contribute and concur to our felicity the satisfaction of loving a thing amiable to our eyes and judgement the facility of giving testimonies to it for our Love and that which is yet more powerful the assent of the Person beloved and the correspondence to our affection and it is very true that when a Lover is arrived to this degree of happiness there is nothing amongst all the things in the world which is not infinitely below him but those benefits are sufficiently equalized by evils as powerful and we are not more happy by these good successes than we render our selves unfortunate by the cruel inquietudes which torment us by pains of absence the vexation of jealousie and more than all by the insensibility or repugnance of the Person beloved Upon this account said the Printess Artemisa who till now had not spoken they which are well advised being in a peaceable and quiet condition of life will never cast themselves into this passion wherein good and ill are confounded together and wherein the evils far exceed the good The choice of these two conditions replyed I is not ordinarily in our power and it is neither by the counsel of our Friends nor of reason it self that our minds are most frequently engaged but by a violence which beauty exercises upon our Souls and by forces which ours are not capable to resist but if the election should depend upon our will I shall never be of their party who prefer this tranquility or rather indolency of life before the benefits purchased by some afflictions and I shall never complain of the dayes and years of my sufferings if they be only accompanied with hope which may sweeten them and if by them I may attain to the least degree of this supream fortune You discourse of this passion answered Arsinoe smiling as if you had grown old in it and yet you have passed so few years that you have hardly had time to take notice of what you describe having performed so many brave actions as you have done in so small a time By this preference said I which tranquility may have in some spirits above a disquieted life I should be happy if the judgement which your Highness makes of my condition were true but although in this passion whereinto I am fallen by my destiny and by powers wholly caelestial besides the evils which I have spoken of divers others more great and more formidable do yet prepare themselves against me and that by my last misfortune I am abandoned by the hope which might render them supportable yet I should be verry sorry to return to my former condition and to change these torments which for me are glorious with the repose wherein I have passed the first years of my life Can it be possible added the Princess that you should lose it in this Court and that during the little stay you have made here there should be found a
beauty capable to stay you with us you who by the report of those who are acquainted with your inclinations are of an humour to transport your self into all places whither the occasions of honour and war invite you It is certain Madam said I to her that I have found their chains strong enough to captivate the freest souls and that all the power which the considerations of glory can have over our spirits is not capable to defend us against the prevalency of a divine beauty I hope answered Arsinoe that we should one day know the beauty which hath done us this good office and if we have not credit enough to learn it at this time from your own mouth time and your actions will discover it to us hereafter That shall be replyed I as late as possibly I can and if this too audacious flame doth not of it self bring to light the cause which kindled it my mouth will hardly dispose it self to betray it and to discover the secret of an heart which hath no way to establish the remainder of its repose but only in silence We had during the walk of the Princesses whom I had the honour to accompany till their return divers other discourses upon the same subject without any farther declaring of my self and the goodness of the Princess made me lose nothing of the respect and fear which kept my tongue in restraint From this day forward she questioned me a little upon what I had confessed but it was always with an obliging discretion and the marvellous moderation with which she regulated all her actions hindred her from pressing me for fear of creating me a displeasure In the mean while it was the pleasure of fortune that in the Court of Armenia there were Ladies by whom I was not hated and amongst those which were neither of a mean rank nor beauty there were some which gave me testimonies of their friendship whereof possibly any other but my self would not have been insensible but my soul being prepossessed and I being transported by the immoderate ambition which hath always elevated my thoughts above my self I dis-esteemed that which other persons in a condition like to mine would without doubt have looked upon with obligation Yet Cinthia a Lady really very beautiful of an excellent spirit and born of an illustrious family amongst the Armenians obliged me both by the proofs of her affection and the qualities of her person to consider her with more attention than others and remarking in her parts good enough to perswade them that might observe me that she was capable to make me love her I was not sorry that some small services which I rendred her served as covering to my true passion and took away all knowledge and suspicion of it from persons who without doubt would not have approved of it Cinthia not without reason being prepossessed with a good opinion enough of her self and flattered by the inclination she had for me easily believed that I loved her and to keep me in this humour she forgot nothing on her part which an honest Maid might contribute thereunto She was always near the Princesses and particularly engaged to Arsinoe who esteemed and favoured her above all the Ladies of the Court The merit of this Lady and the obligation I had to her gave me really particular considerations for her but as I have a soul incapable of all kind of dissimulation I never inclined my spirit to counterfeit transports and torments which she never made me suffer I should have had too much repugnance for this action and besides the impossibility which I have to disguise my self I should have thought it contrary to good breeding to abuse the spirit of a Lady worthy of other usage and of a real esteem but only having noted by divers very evident marks that she had affection for me I was willing to testifie unto her above all others that I was not ingrateful to her goodness I rendred her visits with great assiduity and gave her often to understand by my discourses the advantages which were remarkable in her person and if at any time I intermingled any thing which might seem to proceed from any other original than acknowledgment and esteem it was with so much reservation and so little engagement that she could find no reasonable ground to perswade her self that I was passionate for her Yet for all that she was apt to believe it and observing the difference between the manner of my conversation with her and my carriage towards others she easily imagined that she had produced in me part of that which was observed in the change of my humour I upheld her as I told you in this belief so long as I was not importuned upon that account and that it served to conceal my real passion and during this time there passed divers conversations betwixt us which I will not repeat unto you because the discourse would be too long and amongst the great things I have to tell you I hold it not important to the relation of my life but when she would appropriate all my cares to her self and have me quit all things to attend and serve her and that she her self made propositions to me of nearer engagement in relation to Marriage I made conscience of suffering her to continue any longer in her errour and endeavoured to put her out of it by the sweetest ways possible One day after she had made me a long discourse to oblige me to desire the consent of her Parents that I might be engaged to a tie to which I had no thought to submit my self Fair Cinthia said I to her methinks you should not use precipitation in an affair of such importance I have been so small a time in your sight and service that you hardly have any knowledge of my nature besides I am in a condition wherein without doubt your Parents will disapprove of my pretentions I am born without estate in a fortune disproportionable to yours and without any other advantages than what I may hope for from my Sword It hath begun to do me successful service and before the twentieth year of my age by that alone I find my self prompted to conceive the highest hopes let us attend some effect thereof with patience and give me leave to see my self in a condition to obtain the approbation of your Friends before I put my self in danger of being exposed to their dis-esteem You need not fear replyed Cinthia the dis-esteem of those who already esteem your person much more than riches for want of which you believe they might disdain you and besides that your vertue which is more considerable to me than all the advantages of fortune may produce the same effect in the minds of my parents they see you in such a degree of esteem with the King that by his favour you may aspire to the highest dignities If there be any apparent reason answered I to conceive these hopes let us
in quiet till I know to whom the thoughts of Britomarus are addressed Cinthia out of the violence of her despight totally lost all respect and discretion and looking upon the Princess with a more assured countenance than before It is to your self Madam said she to her and Britomarus since you force me to tell you so hath presumption enough to aspire to your self At these words she parted from us and left me alone with the Princess in an astonishment which can hardly be represented Arsinoe remained in no less confusion and repenting that she had drawn this displeasure upon her self by pressing Cinthia so far she continued a long time without daring to look up in my face My eyes were fixed upon the earth with an action whereby I was more convicted than by the discourse of Cinthia and when the Princess began to look upon me she saw me in a condition that perfectly exprest to her the disorder of my soul this sight causing her to make a reflection in a moment upon divers of my actions presently gave her suspicion and joyning to Cinthia's discourse and my troubled countenance the memory of a great many things which then appeared to her in another form than they had done formerly she believed part of that which this enraged Maid would have perswaded her to yet as she was of an admirable prudence and reservedness she believed her self to be obliged for divers reasons to dissemble her belief and endeavouring to dissipate her astonishment as speedily as possibly she could I did not believe said she to me that Cinthia had had so little discretion and you must needs have done her some signal displeasure seeing that her resentment hath made her commit such follies The Princess spake these words to me with an action so full of sweetness that I was deceived thereby and my Spirit which till then stood in great awe of her assumed from these appearances of goodness a boldness above what I naturally had At last whether this confidence obliged me to it or whether I had not force enough in this encounter to resist the impetuosity of my Love my indiscretion followed that of Cinthia and giving an answer to the words of the Princess without daring to look upon her It is certain Madam said I to her that Cinthia 's resentments against me must needs be great seeing that they carry her on to ruine and make her publish a crime for which I should hardly hope from a less goodness than your own The Princess at these words was much more troubled than before and breaking silence with a great deal of precipitation What Britomarus said she to me are you then culpable of that which Cinthia reproached you with I should sooner have suffered death replyed I then have declared it and I should yet expose my self to all kinds of pains rather than confess it if your Highness whom I cannot disobey did not demand the truth of me I am not ignorant of the disproportion which renders my thoughts criminal and thoughts in adorations proportion is not necessary and that with thoughts like those I have for you we may raise our eyes even to the Gods themselves yet out of a more profound respect than what we usually pay the Gods I should have concealed even to my grave that which out of fear to displeasure you both my heart and mouth ought eternally to keep secret from you if by Cinthia's indiscretion my crime had not been discovered contrary to my intention and if by her fault I did not see my self necessitated to acknowledge my own whereby possibly I expose my self to torments equal to my ambition I should have said more and the astonishment of the Princess gave me time enough to make her a long discourse if out of a little assurance which I recovered I had not advanced my eyes to her face wherein I beheld all the marks of a violent displeasure At this bold declaration which appeared very offensive to her from a man infinitely inferior to her resentment took the first place in her mind which presently represented to her that such an insolence as mine ought not to remain unpunished and in this thought she continued some time unresolved which way to proceed to my chastisement but by the moderation of her spirit she repressed her first emotions and having an admirable command of her self she quickly reduced her choler to such terms as she was pleased to give it and whether it were in relation to her self that she feared the publication of a thing which might redound to her shame and dishonour or out of a real effect of her goodness she would not expose me to all the pains which in her opinion were due to me she disposed her self not to pardon my fault but to punish me without noise and to cut off all possibility of a relapse Having framed this resolution after she had kept silence a great while I am sorry said she that by your presumption you have made me lose the dispositions I had to esteem you out of the good opinion I had of you and if I did as I should I should reduce you to the knowledge of your self by such wayes as you have obliged me to but the same goodness which you have so imprudently abused leaves your fault unpunished upon condition that you speak no more to me as long as you live and that you do not permit your ambition to aspire higher than Cinthia or her equals Ending these words with an action and a look which sufficiently expressed her disdain she retired her self towards those which were at the other end of the Terrace and left me alone in a condition full of displeasure and confusion In effect I was so moved with this accident that all my natural constancy was not capable to preserve my soul from a great disorder Grief shame and regret first took their place there and I know not which of these passions did most powerfully possess me I was extreamly afflicted at the ill success of my declaration and the little hope I saw in the pursuit of my love being ashamed to see my pride checked and my ambition humbled and stung with the resentment of disdain whereunto my spirit could never accustome it self neither for love nor any other passion All the enemies of my repose began to torment me with violence and upon this Terrace from whence the Princesses a little after retired themselves and whereupon I walked alone a long time I found my spirit much more agitated than it had been in all the other passages of my life All the night which followed this day I could not get so much as a taste of sleep and the change which I found in my condition presenting it self continually to my memory left no repose at all in my soul and tormented it with the most cruel inquietudes that it ever yet had felt What wilt thou do said I what wilt thou do unfortunate Britomarus in a design so
innocent of Your injury but they were partakers of it themselves and detested the cause of it as much as the age they were then of could permit them to do and Alexander whom You accuse of some new offence appeared as young as he was as much interessed in it as if he had been of Your Family This remembrance Sir will moderate the anger you have against that unfortunate house and without doubt you have too much justice to confound the innocent with the culpable Oh âcyed I transported with a growing passion which began to take possession of my soul with an absolute power Ah! do not call the Children of Cleopatra innocent they finish what their Mother had only begun and it is ordained by the Gods that your house should be fatal to the house of Armenia These words escaped me in the first motions of my spirit and my heart as I believe uttered them rather than my mouth In effect if at the first sight of Cleopatra I was amazed astonished and confounded by the grace she had in her discourse and the new marvels I discovered in her Person in a few moments not only my inclinations were changed but there succeeded to this astonishment confusion and repentance a violent love which left nothing of liberty in my soul Other Persons might possibly wonder to see me pass so easily from one passion to another quite contrary but since you have seen Cleopatra there is no necessity that I should seek to give you reasons of this change the knowledge you have of her wonders saves me the labour of a description of them which without doubt would excuse the facility I used in rendring up my self However it be I was subjected as entirely to her powers as if I had known them divers Years possible it is that those who had passed part of their life in her service were not more enflamed than I was in a few moments Ab how hard was it to defend ones self against the divine Beauties of Cleopatra and how weak are common resolutions to resist forces like hers I left my liberty at her feet as well as my anger and my sword and in my Soul where all the passions acted with violence Love was presently at the height and arrived at those extremities that no other but my self was capable of Ordinary effects might have been produced by common beauties but to have disarmed at the first sight an indignation which probably could not be appeased but by the blood of all the race of Anthony and to have changed the cruel resolutions which had made me abandon my Kingdom and expose my person to all manner of pains and dangers into violent love this was that which appertained to none but the beauty of Cleopatra only I became her Slave I became her Idolater ever since she began to shew her self to my eyes with all her powers and that the fright which had concealed part of her charms being dissipated her visage appeared to us in a more serene and composed condition Behold in what manner my condition was changed in a small time from being furious and terrible I became gentle and submissive and I saw my self reduced to implore pity of them whom I had seen in need of begging mine It would not have been difficult for Cleopatra if she would have attentively regarded it to have known the disorders of my soul and my visage speaking the estate of my spirit with more expressions than my tongue could have done made her without doubt take notice of the troubles which perplexed me by its several changes but it was necessary that my mouth should second it and my passion had hardly received a Birth but that it was too great and violent to be concealed Possibly at another time and in another conjuncture of things respect would have tyed my tongue and not have permitted me to declare so soon to the Princess the thoughts which had scarce received any form but as my love took birth by an extraordinary way I did not believe my self obliged to common formalities and I judged that I might act as destiny acted in me At length whether it were for this reason or through some impetuosity which transported my spirit above all reason I could no longer retain that which would manifest it self and looking upon Cleopatra in a very submissive way Divine Princess said I to her I have quitted my Dominions I have abandoned all things to go and destroy the children of Anthony but through the indignation of Heaven which possibly hath not approved of my reseatments I find that in you which I thought to have brought you and if you be not sensible of compassion you are in a condition of revenging your self upon all the designs I have had against You and yours In fine one way or another it is fatal to the Kings of Armenia to give their life to the Cleopatra 's and what the Father suffered by the axe of the former the Son is like to suffer by the eyes of the latter I cast down my eyes at the end of these words and Cleopatra did the like with a blush which mounted into her face I expected some answer from her fair mouth but when I saw she remained silent without going about to reply to my discourse I do not think it strange continued I that these words should surprize you coming from a Prince from whom probably you ought not to expect them and the condition wherein you see me is so different from that wherein you saw me when I entred into your Chamber that a change so suddain may with much reason produce an astonishment in you Nevertheless it is very certain that the same enemy which came with cruel designs against your life exposes his own at your feet which he would not preserve but to give it you entire and that if you disdain it as unworthy to be offered to you or detest it as belonging to an enemy he will willingly sacrifice it either to your resentment or to his own ill fortune Look no more upon me adorable daughter of my enemies as the revenger of Artibasus but as a Son who folllows the destiny of his Father and who will undergo the sentence which you will condemn him to much more willingly than his Father did I held my peace at these words keeping my self in a very humble and suppliant posture and the Princess after she had staid some time longer without speaking at last lifting her eyes towards me It is true Sir said she to me that I am no less surprized at your words than I was affraid at your first actions and there was so little probability of expecting this change by such mean powers as mine that I cannot without confusion give attention to the declaration you make me of it Howsoever I account my self as innocent of the accusation you lay upon me as I was of the fault of my Parents and it shall never be by my design that you shall
which she desired and believed possibly against reason that I was really beloved by her I passed some time in those sweets which she can make one tast when she hath the intentions to do it but it was not without being very often crossed with displeasures which partly counter-ballanced them and though naturally I am not jealous if my jealousie hath not a very rational foundation this Princess gave me so often occasion to fall into that importunate passion that except I had been blind and insensible I could not pass my life in tranquillity The Court of Augustus was composed of a great number of young Princes you were of the number at that time and you departed thence as I think a few days before the Son of Juba returned from the Asturians and besides the most eminent amongst the Romans born of those illustrious Families who with so much valour have endeavoured to advance the grandeur of the Empire divers Sons of Kings and divers Kings themselves either tributaries or Allies of Rome made their abode there with Augustus There were those who were rarely accomplished both amongst the Romans and amongst the strangers and amongst them it was that Julia found matter for her inconstancy Because of the rank she held and the knowledge they had of the design of Augustus in my favour few persons durst express their particular designs and those which by her beauty and by the rest of her charms she had rendred really her slaves contented themselves to render her such submissive devoirs that they hardly differed from adoration but this Princess being clear sighted in all things and particularly in those which served to the expression of amorous resentments easily discerned them through the veil of respect and submission and whereas another person born with a courage proportionable to her birth would have received this knowledge with anger and disdain Julia being of a quite contrary humour liked well of all those whom she could only suspect of some motion of affection she received them with an obliging countenance she favoured them in divers occurrences more than they could have hoped and giving them all manner of occasions to persevere in the resentments they had for her she carefully avoided all those that might give them any repulse Oftentimes she concealed her self from me in what might afflict me but sometimes she could not so well disguise her self but that I took notice of some part of the truth when I made my complaints to her of it sometimes she took the pains to comfort me and give me satisfaction and sometimes serving her self of the Empire she had over me she sharply reprehended the authority I seemed to take over her actions and reduced me into a condition of disavowing all my complaints and of asking pardon of her for the liberty my passion made me take I speak unto you of these passages very succinctly because I believe they are the same that have been related to you and that in these occurrences there hapned no memorable event but I will more enlarge my self upon those which you are ignorant of and wherein more important things befel me I lived in this fashion both during Coriolanus his stay in the Asturias and that he made at Rome before his departure into Africa but for the latter time he knows well himself as ungrateful and forgetful as he is of it that I spent it entirely in his interests and that I was so employed in his quarrels both with Tyberius and Caesar himself that I could hardly bestow a moment upon my own affairs Certain it is that during all that trouble I had hardly any thought but for his repose wherein I interessed all the persons with whom I could have any credit and for whom I often put my self in danger of drawing upon me the disgrace and choler of Augustus Coriolanus after he had extreamly wounded Tyberius departed from Rome as you have heard and I stay'd there with a very sensible regret for his absence and the bad condition of his affairs I will not tell you all that I acted with Caesar to appease him all the quarrels I had with Tyberius his party and with the Empress her self who would have armed Heaven and Earth to revenge her Son and I will only relate unto you the progress of my love with Julia and the last accidents whereby you see me reduced into the condition wherein you met me Whatsoever displeasure I received by these effects of the inconstant humour of Julia whereof I have briefly spoken and by the good usage she shewed to those persons whom she observed to bear her affection I found some consolation in the belief I had that as kind and as sweet as she was to others she was yet more affectionate to me and mââgre the motions of a wavering spirit which she could not retain she would return to me entirely preferring me before all those who could have any thought for her This was that which made me support all things with patience and without doubt I shall have done so still for divers considerations if by the sequel of her actions I had not lost part of that opinion and had not seen my self exposed to greater displeasures than all those I had resented Amongst those who concurred to trouble my repose Caius Drusus the Son of Livia and Brother of Tyberius was he who crossed me more than I could be by any person who could counter ballance my credit both in Rome and in the mind of Caesar but the Son of the Empress who had power enough over the spirit of her Husband to restrain in part the advantageous inclinations he had toward me and I believe also though the charms of Julia were great enough to obtain more difficult conquests that it was at the solicitation of Livia that Drusus embarked himself in the love of Julia. This ambitious Mother desiring to confer upon her own Children that which in the judgment of all the Romans Augustus destined for me and by all ways to conserve to her self the authority she had acquired had done before all that was possible for her to engage Tyberius in the search of Caesar's Daughter but not being able by all her endeavours to disentagle him from the love he bare to Cleopatra she had turned her thoughts to Drusus who was younger than his Brother only by one year and had represented unto him with success that by the Marriage of Julia he might pretend to the Empire and frustate the hopes of Marcellus who had the greatest pretences to it Drusus being of an age and in a condition to receive such impressions made no resistance to his Mothers will and though in the possession of Julia he had not taken notice of the advantages which were found in Caesar's Daughter she was amiable enough of her person only to possess him really with love without any other interest and it was without pain that he disposed his inclinations to it What resentment soever the
some despair in Arsanes of qualifying his Master's spirit and after that Marcellus melting with compassion at this deplorable adventure was sate down by Tyridates to hear this sad narration Arsanes with a great deal of pain began in these terms The History of Mariamne I Will relate to you Sir seeing you command me and my evil destiny will have it so the end of a great Queen who was worthy of your affections and the admiration of the whole earth I will recount to you the particularities of it in a few words as I have understood them from such of her Domesticks who best knew them in Jerusalem where the Queen rendred up her Soul two daies before I arrived Herod's humour and manner of life with Mariamne is sufficiently known to you Sir and you have not forgotten in what condition you left her at your departure from Judea Jealousie to which he was inclined above all other men tormented him at that time with very great violence and during some daies his rage expressed it self by all the marks he could give it without coming to those cruel extremities to which he was since transported he complained highly of the Queen whom he termed unfaithful and against whom he vomited out whatsoever his unjust passion could put into his mouth and the wicked Salome whose rage was augmented by your departure and the scorn you made of her affections inspired these resentments into him as much as possibly she could and did not let slip any occasion to exasperate him more and more against the Queen whom she could only accuse of having robbed her of an heart to which she pretended but in vain This savage spirit being susceptible of all bad impressions easily received what this wicked Sister would have him and in this rage to which he was immoderately abated he continued divers daies without seeing the Queen or hearing her spoken of by them who out of a good zeal interposed for their reconciliation Mariamne thought her self never the more unhappy for this and the caresses of this cruel man being as insupportable as the effects of his choler she would have been contented to have continued in the same condition with him if she had not been accused to have drawn this disgrace upon her self by some action wherewith she might be reproached and whereby she might seem to have deviated from that sublime vertue to which she had alwaies born so great a love The resentments of Herod continued as long as possibly they could but at last they gave place to his love and he really bearing a very violent affection to the Queen his Wife by this force the indignation he had conceived against her was dissipated and he returned to her more kind and humble than before he expressed his repentance for what was past and conjured her to retain no memory of it as he would forget the suspicions which he had conceived against her fidelity The Queen whatsoever repugnance she had against the person and humour of Herod did yet respect the character of an Husband and being full of a generous goodness by the regret which he testified to her by very significant expressions she was pacified as she believed it was her duty to be and she was reconciled unto him as far as the disproportion of their manners and the memory of the cruel injuries she had received in the death of all her relations would permit Herod's mind was in some repose and there were general appearances enough of it in the Court Salome only and those she had drawn to her party even dyed with despight in the publick tranquility and could not endure peace in the Royal Family without having a cruel war in their hearts Herod was continually with the Queen and expressed to her the same ardency of affection as he did in the beginning of his passion and by your absence having lost the object which might put him again in distrust he continued a long time without shewing any mark of jealousie only the unwillingness of the Queen to endure his caresses caused sometimes some disorder between them and as it was a difficult thing that this Princess should keep her self in an eternal constraint and for a Man whom she had so many reasons to hate so she could not choose sometimes but receive him with coldness and express but little sweetness or complacency to him Herod's spirit was then transported with very violent excesses and Salome seeing him in this condition lost no time nor occasion to represent to him that the disdains of Mariamne proceeded from the memory of Tyridates which absence could not blot out of her mind Herod's jealousie easily renewed it self at this discourse and as long as he was tormented by it he flew out into discourses and sometimes into designs full of violence but at length love returned more powerful than Salome and all that the solicitations of that wicked Creature had raised against the innocent Queen was overthrown by this predominant passion in Herod's soul In this sort they passed a whole year that one could not tell what to call their kind of life peace or open War and possibly they might have lived a longer time in this manner if the destiny of this fair Princess had not been hastened by a terrible disaster Herod having one day sent to intreat the Queen to come into his Chamber she whether she were busie about something which was more dear to her than the sight of that cruel Man or whether she were then in the height of aversness from him as the memory of the injuries she had received renewed in her mind refused divers times to go and at last being extraordinarily pressed to it she disposed her self to render him this visit but she did it with a countenance whereupon Herod might easily read the repugnance she had to give him this satisfaction Herod upon this discovery being netled with a violent displeasure could not dissemble it any more than she and greeting her with a discontented look I am very sorry Madam said he that you are obliged by any law to offer that violence to your self that you do and if I had not this violent passion for you which by your bad usage you endeavour to banish out of my soul as you can possibly I should less often give you the trouble of seeing an Husband which by his misfortune is become so odious to you The Queen was little troubled at Herod's words and looking upon him with a disdainful eye I hate You not answered she the God whom we serve and my duty forbid that but you may well imagine that my affections could not be strengthned towards you by such bloody displeasures as you have done me Ah! ungrateful Woman replyed the Jewish King proud cruel and irreconcilable spirit wilt thou never put an end to thy unjust reproaches wilt thou eternally serve thy self with the pretence of injuries and displeasures to palliate the natural aversion thou hast against thy husband Though
looking upon her with eyes which partly signified his intention But Madam said he now I have acquainted You with these small trifles which You desired to know of me shall I be too curious my self or rather shall I be indiscreet if I take the liberty to enquire of You the name and the condition of this admirable person to whom by my good fortune I have rendred some small service without knowing of her and who though unknown is in as high esteem with me as if she were the Wife or Daughter of Caesar 'T is not upon any design of abusing it that I express this curiosity to you but only out of a desire of finding greater opportunities to serve you in a more plenary knowledge of You. Cornelius spake in this manner and the Queen who was already prepared for this rancounter and had premeditated with Clity what to say seemed very little surprized at Cornelius his discourse She did so far acknowledge the Obligation she had to him as to have declared to him the truth of her life and the condition of her fortune if she could have done it without interessing and endangering her dear Caesario whom she knew to be in that Country and to have all Caesars friends for his declared enemies Upon this precaution which she believed was due to the safety of her beloved Prince she resolved to conceal her name her birth and the greatest part of her adventures and upon this design after she had signified to Cornelius with obliging expressions that his curiosity was not importunate to her she told him that she was born in Ethiopia of very noble Parents who during the life of King Hidaspes had enjoyed the highest dignities of that Kingdom but that afterwards being desirous to testifie their fidelity to the Queen Candace his Daughter when she was deprived of her Kingdom by Tyribasus that Tyrant being too powerful for them had ruined them and so eagerly pursued them that they were constrained to put themselves upon the Nile with part of their most portable goods from whence sailing down into the open Sea with an intention to seek out a Sanctuary from his Tyranny they fell into the hands of the Pirate Zenodorus After this passage she concealed nothing of the truth of him but only what would have obliged her to make mention of Caesario and relating to him the dangers which she had escaped by reason of the Pirate's insolence and the flames of the Vessel which she had fired and the Waves into which she had cast her self she powerfully moved him upon divers accounts and filled him full of admiration at her vertue and greatness of courage When he had given due praises to that noble resolution of sacrificing her life to the preservation of her honour looking upon her with an action much more passionate than before I should be ungrateful to the Gods said he if I should not be thankful to them as long as I live for the favor they have done me in guiding me to the occasions of serving you and in giving me the means to conduct you into a place where I can offer you part of what you seek but if my interest might be considered to the prejudice of yours and if I might afflict my self as much at my own ill as I ought to rejoyce at your good fortune possibly I would say that in this rancounter I have no more cause to commend than to complain of my destiny and that it is as much for my loss as for your safety that the Gods caused you to land upon this Coast and lead me into the Wood where I defended you against the violence of Zenodorus Gallus spake in this manner and the Queen though she almost comprehended his discourse and received it with a very great grief pretended for all that that she did not understand him and that she might not continue without a reply she answered him without being moved I should be very sorry that my arrival in this Country should occasion any damage to a person to whom I engaged for the preservation of my life and honour and to prevent the future since it is not in our power to recal what is past I shall depart without regret from a place where you have given me refuge if my continuance here be never so little offensive to You. Alas replyed Gallus with a sigh how unprofitable would your departure be now since you cannot carry away the wound that I have in the midst of my heart together with the eyes that made it or rather how cruel would it be to me now since in parting from me you will deprive my days of all that makes them desirable to me and possibly bereave me of a life whereof all the remaining moments are dedicated to you Whilst he spake thus the Queen oppressed with a violent grief upon this occasion of new crosses which former passages made her foresee in a moment studied for terms to explain her self both according to the greatness of her courage and the condition of her present fortune whereby she saw her self absolutely subjected to Cornelius his power and when he had done speaking composing her countenance to a more serious posture than before which with the Majesty that Gallus observed in it strook him into some awe I am obliged to you said she to him for my life and honour and I should be much more engaged to you if you would preserve the glory of your benefit entire and not diminish the price of it by the offence you do me If it be an offence to love you replyed the Pretor and if it be an infinite offence to love you infinitely I confess that there is not a man in the world who hath offended you more than Cornelius but if love in the Country where you were born be not different from that which we have observed in ours if it makes a man abandon his liberty to bestow it upon that he loves if it makes him forget his own proper interests to sacrifice himself entirely to the Person beloved and in fine if it produce no other effects than what we have seen it produce in those places where I have passed my life I cannot easily comprehend the ground of the offence which you can find in the love I have for you I know not replyed the Queen coldly either the effects or qualities of that passion but the discourse of it is not conformable to my humor and I should be very much obliged to you if you will find some other matter of entertainment Cornelius though a little repulsed with the answer which made him partly understand the difficulties he should have to conquer the spirit which he had attempted prepared himself to speak when he saw the Princess Elisa approach who having understood that Candace had been walking upon the Terrace a great while had made her self ready with all speed to come and find her to enjoy in her company that little consolation which she
wrought in the Princess great thoughts of tenderness and esteem towards her Uncle whose person was unknown to her and as earnest a desire to see him as in this sad condition of her life she was capable of having for any thing in the world This desolate Princess restrained her self pretty well before Candace and indeed without laying any restraint upon her self she found her sweet ionsolation in her company but at the Core her grief was so violent that without an admirable strength of spirit she could not easily have supported it so long without sinking under it The Image of her brave but unfortunate Artaban returned incessantly into her memory and after she had ran over the marvellous actions of that great man and recalling into her remembrance the fair proofs of love which he had bestowed upon her when she fell upon that deplorable passage how she saw him thrown down headlong and buried in the waves all her inconstancy could not defend her against the violent effects of her grief and she remained more dead than alive between the arms of Urinoe or her Daughter who were eternally employed in drying up her tears and re-composing her spirit by all the words which pity and the real affection they had for such a Mistress could put into their mouths 'T was in her bed that the tears took the liberty to overflow into a deluge and the darkness wherewith the earth was then covered much better fitting the sadness of her soul than the brightness of a fair day brought back into it the sorrowful objects in their most natural form and left nothing in her mind but meer Idea's of Death Then it was that after she had shed Rivers of tears wherewith her pillow was all wet and forcing the sobs which would have stopt the passage of her speech My dear Artaban said she is it possible that Elisa should bestow nothing but tears upon my death and that thou canst take so poor a payment for so precious a life as thou hast given her and lost onely upon her account Can all the prodigious effects of thy valour whereof she was the onely aim and cause all those so tender so excellent and so admirable testimonies of love and in fine that cruel death which thou hast suffered before mine eyes in the destroying waves for my interest alone find nothing in the weak Elisa but tears for reparation of them all Ah mine eyes you spend your stores in vain and though you could make a Sea as vaste as that wherein my dear Artaban is entombed if you make it not of my blood you will bestow but little upon Artaban all my sighs and sobs and complaints makes no change in his condition nor in mine and 't is Elisa certainly 't is Elisa which he requires amongst the shades below if he can require any thing Ah! continued she with many sighs if it be onely Elisa that thou requirest thou hast reason to be satisfied in whatsoever place the destinies cause thy Ghost to wander Elisa bears thee company inseparably and if some weakness or some remainders of an ill-grounded hope have hindred her from making the last attempt upon her life to come and bear thee company below her spirit is not absent from thee one moment either out of any desire of life or expectation of comfort From these sad discourses she had with Artaban wherein she found more sweetness than in all the other actions of her life she turned her complaints against her ill fortune and all her moderation and piety towards the Gods could not hinder her sometimes from quarrelling at the rigorous decrees of Heaven for the cruel countenance and sad success of her misfortunes In this sorrowful employment she passed almost whole nights and hardly at the break of day did she give any access to sleep and that rather out of weakness than any intervals of repose One night during which she had extraordinarily tormented her self having closed her eyes a little before the darkness began to quit the earth at the time when dreams present themselves to our imagination more clear and undisturbed After some visions without order or coherence which most commonly precede those which seem most agreeable to the truth whether it were upon effect of those thoughts which had possessed her whilst she was awake or upon some intelligence that Heaven was pleased to send her it seemed to her that she was again upon that unfaithful Element which she perpetually accused of her losses and where she had seen all her joys and hopes intombed in the person of her Artaban In this hateful place she had a while discharged her resentments against the cruel waters by which she had lost all when she saw arise from beneath the waters the God of the waters in a Chariot drawn by Triton with his Trident in his hand and such as he is represented by the Poets who after he had heard her complaints looking upon her with a discontented air Forbear Elisa said he forbear to accuse me of thy misfortunes I detain nothing from thee and I have rendred thee thy Artaban whom thou shalt see again upon the Shore at the Tomb of a faithful Lover The God as he spake these words before he plunged himself again beneath the wayes shewed her with this hand the shore of Alexandria and it seemed to this sleeping Princess that turning her eyes at the same time towards the place which he pointed out to her she saw upon the Shore her dear Artaban stretching out his arms to her and calling her to him with gestures all composed of passion This sight having produced a violent effect upon Elisa's Spirit she would have cryed out with transport and by the efforts she used in that action she wakened her self with a start When she was awake she had her arms stretched out to the Image which was presented to her eyes when they were shut and not being able by awakening presently to drive that dear Idea out of her imagination she felt about the bed and sought after that Artaban which had appeared before her pronouncing his name two or three times But when her sleepiness was perfectly over and she saw her self abased by sleep her grief renewed with violence and seeing that object that was so agreeable to her eyes and dear to her memory no longer appear she abandoned her self to regret and recalled her tears which had hardly stopped their course whilest she was asleep Ah! Artaban said she melting into tears thou deceivest me and flyest from me and thou dost not present thy self to me during these moments of sleep which thou leavest me but to render the loss more present to me and to renew my griefs thou callest to me from the shore or rather from the port whereunto thou art arrived by thy death after thou hadst been so long tossed upon the tempestuous Sea of miseries and crosses wherein thou leavest the deplorable Elisa thou callest me Artaban and by thy action
heard through the branches which composed it the voice of a Person that sung upon the other side it was melodious enough to cause some attention in the hearers and Candace in whom all curiosity was not extinct because her hopes were still alive staying Elisa by the arm prayed her to hearken a few moments to that agreeable found which had so sweetly saluted her ear Elisa who was of a complying humour stayed at Candace's request though her grief left her but little inclination to those things wherein other Persons might find divertisement and the two Princesses hearkned a while with pleasure to a very delicate voice which with a sorrowful tone breathed out amorous resentments It was a Woman that sung but her song was interrupted by another that was near her just when the Princesses began to be moved at it but they were the better pleased because they could hear the discourse of those two persons who believing that they were not over-heard did freely declare their most private thoughts Leave this singing ERicia said she who interrupted her leave this singing which is no fit companion for my sadness wherein I cannot as I have done formerly find either ease or comfort let us seek elsewhere the sweetning of my grief or rather let us seek for Sanctuary in death against the persecutions of my pitiless fortune Let me die let me die Ericia and do not oppose thy self any longer to the last remedy that the Gods leave me seeing by that only I can put an end to those cruel sorrows which my destiny hath prescribed me This Woman had hardly done speaking but Cephisa coming near to Elisa Madam said she I know not whether you have taken notice of this voice but I can assure you that it is the Slave's air whom you have sometimes honoured with your discourse who comforted you so handsomely the other day and whom Madam said she pointing to Candace you desired to see and discourse with 'T is the very same said the Princess who easily discerned her voice And that added Candace creates the greater curiosity in me and will make me hearken with the more attention out of the desire that I have had a long time to be acquainted with her These words were spoken so low that they could not be heard on the other side of the hedge and Candace having laid her finger upon her mouth to enjoyn them to silence she laid her ear nearer to the Hedge to hearken to the conversation of the two Slaves She whose song was interrupted began to resume the discourse and discovering by a sigh what share she had in those misfortunes which she lamented in her Song Alas said she will our miseries never have an end and will Heaven never cease from tormenting persons who have not merited by any crime the evils whereunto they see themselves so long exposed Never possibly was a life so innocent subjected to so many disasters and you have reason to believe that neither by my mournful song nor by all the tears my eyes can shed I am able to accommodate my self to the greatness of our mis-haps I am too blame replyed the fair Slave for letting one word slip in my grief whereby I have possibly failed of that resignation which I would alwayes have to the will of the Gods and it proceeds from an effect of our weakness rather than a deliberate murmur that I have made any accusation against Heaven for the cruel continuance of my misfortunes But 't is certain Ericia that I have need of a perfect constancy to support the burthen of my afflictions without sinking under them and that so weak a spirit as mine might possibly be excused sometimes when it transgresses the strict rules of moderation O Gods continued she lifting up her hands and eyes to Heaven Gods whom I have invoked without murmur in my hardest afflictions behold I absolutely submit to your will and if that which I have hitherto suffered be not capable to appease your wrath and repair the crimes of my relations or mine own faults throw down upon this unfortunate Creature more cruel evils than yet she hath been sensible of and only give her constancy enough to suffer them without offending you there are few displeasures to which this spirit hath not been subject few toils to which this body hath not been exposed and few dangers into which my honour and my life have not been thrown and yet Great Gods I will endure all with patience and will not make the smallest complaint against your Divine Ordinances if you render me that which I lost and if you restore me that which is absolutely lost as it can be for me keeps me in grief in misery and slavery This fair afflicted person without doubt had spoken more if the Princess Elisa in whom the meeting with sorrowful persons like her self wrought a puissant effect feeling her grief revived by the slaves discourse had not broken silence with an exclamation loud enough to be heard at a farther distance than that which separated them O Heaven cryed she O pitiless fortune 't is not upon us alone that you let fall the effects of your choler These words were understood by the fair Slave and by her who was known as well as she by Clity and Cephise to be a companion of her servitude At the first they were troubled when they perceived their discourse was over-heard and they continued a good while without speaking or stirring from the place where they sate in search of some means to repair the fault which they supposed they had committed but they were much more amazed when the fair Queen of Ethiopia who had hearkned to their discourse with much more attention than the Princess of the Parthians having found a passage through the hedge a few spaces off passed to that side where they were and shewed her self to them and presently after came Elisa and their women that attended them After their coming the Slave rose hastily from the place where she sate and casting down her eyes at the arrival of Candace she let them understand that it was not without confusion that she saw her self surprized in a discourse which perhaps might have made too large a discovery Candace desired to recompence her presently and looking upon her with an eye full of sweetness Fair Maid said she be not grieved that we have heard some words from your mouth contrary to your intention they have onely made us know that you are in the rank of unfortunate Persons and the conformity you have with us renders you yet more dear to those persons who bad a very high esteem before of your person as well for that Beauty which your sorrows have not been able to conceal from our knowledge though they have a little altered it as for those marks of vertue courage and discretion that we have observed in you 't is a good while since that these good parts of yours have wrought in the Princess whom
't was not without trouble that I began at last to speak I am very much satisfied said I to see you in a condition so different from that wherein you appeared to me yesterday and that succour upon which you set too high an esteem produces in you an acknowledgment which exceeds the benefit I could wish it had been rendred to you to greater purpose and that you had received that from us for many years which neither you nor we are like to enjoy but for a few daies Those few daies replied the Unknown with a sigh and an action wherein there appeared something of an interessed person will be very different to me from those I have passed hitherto and I do not believe that the Gods by your assistance would have saved me from a common or single death to make me perish by a death which will give me great cause to accuse them of cruelty I would not suddenly penetrate into the sence of these words though the action of him that uttered them and mine own inclination made me partly suspect what they meant I answered him likewise in such terms as might make him judge that I did not understand them We entred into a conversation full of civility the handsomness of his person and the marks of as high birth which appeared in his countenance having wrought in me as much consideration as I could have had for a great Prince The day being clear and fair and very much different from those which had preceded it we went out of our Lodging and walked up and down the little Island which in some places we should have found agreeable enough if we could have looked upon it otherwise than upon the place of our Scpulture Eurilus caused some to stand Centinels upon the top of the Rock to discover some favourable Vessel sent by Heaven for our succour and our little company did incessantly make vows to Heaven to obtain assistances from thence of which they had little hope This day being passed the succeeding night filled my mind with importunate thoughts and the Idea of the fair Unknown presented it self and fixed it self there more pertinatiously than I would have desired his gallant mind and the sweetness of his countenance intermingled with Majesty his noble deportment and the admirable grace which attended his discourse and action came again into my memory in a very advantagious form and made good their possession maugre my endeavour to expel them thence Leave me said I leave me troublesome Idea which presentest thy self to my imagination so inconveniently and unseasonably it must be in some other Spirit than mine that thou mayst find part of that complacency which thou seekest for but in Olympia's thou shalt never produce any effect if the Gods do not forsake her If this Unknown be handsome if he be amiable if he be admirable in all parts what doth it concern the unfortunate Olympia And what interest can she take in a man with whom her acquaintance is out of a days standing whom she cannot know but for a few daies more and whom she would not know at all if that knowledge must disturb her repose Let him serve himself against some other heart than mine with all the advantages that he hath received from Heaven and Nature and let him work admiration and love every where else but let him leave a mind in peace to which neither nature hath given nor her Fortune left any dispositions to receive the thought which he would introduce there By this reasoning with my self I put off for some moments this persecuting remembrance and embraced as I thought very strongly a resolution never to think upon him more But a little after maugre my resolution this importunate Image came again into my memory and made me fix my thoughts in spite of my teeth upon the consideration of those marvels which I had found in the person of the Unknown This agitation of my spirit permitted no access to sleep and seeing the greatest part of the night was passed and I had not been able to close my eyes I began to be really angry both with these thoughts till then unknown to my spirit and with him that caused them What said I shall this Unknown usurp that already with authority which possibly he would not have sufficiently purchased all his life-time Have I scarcely seen him and must he oppose my sleep and encroach upon my repose and liberty In a condition of life when I ought to think upon nothing but death shall he alone be capable to withhold my thoughts and shall he possess them so that I should lose my sleep my repose and liberty Ah! my liberty Ah! my repose ye are but weakly grounded in my soul if the first sight of a man can so easily overthrow you and if you abandon me for having seen a man a few moments in whom possibly all appearances are deceitful a man that possibly hath nothing amiable but that outside which blinded me at first sight a Man it may be of no Birth or Vertue a Man which loves me not nor possibly ever will whilst he lives Wilt thou Olympia hazard thy affections upon such doubtful terms and are they of so little value that thou oughtest not to settle them in a place conformable to thy birth and the profession which hitherto thou hast made of a large share of vertue It would have been much better for thee if thou hadst been buried under those Waves which have spared thee or if they had swallowed up this Enemy which they have driven upon this shore to ruine thee and if thou findest thy self so weak as to suffer thy self to be so taken with the seducing charm which appears in his face thou must hate him as a Monster ready to devour thee or at least thou must avoid him as an enemy ready armed for thy destruction With these words I really gave way to some resentments and some motions of choler against him and making a very violent effort upon these importunate thoughts I delivered them in such a manner that a little after I fell fast a sleep But in my sleep I was more strongly assaulted and I was hardly asleep but the cruel enemy of my repose presented himself before me with something more great and more extraordinary than all I had observed till then and looking upon me with a countenance which as full of passion as it seemed to be did yet express a great confidence in his fortune Olympia said he in vain dost thou arm thy self against me let the destinies take their course 't is to no purpose to oppose them 't is the will of Heaven that you should love me 't is for me only that thou hast been brought upon this shore I am not unworthy of thy affections and howsoever thou wouldest dispose of them I tell thee from the Gods that 't is for me that they are absolutely reserved It seemed to me that as he finished these words and was
depredations in my soul 't was impossible for me to dispose my self to it and to deny Ericia the permission to see me which she desired on his behalf I saw him not without trouble and emotion I saw him as he appeared to me in my dream which came incessantly into my remembrance and I saw him in a condition capable to overthrow all the resentments that I had mustered up against him in my spirit He spake to me as I thought with a great deal less assurance than before and I believed that every time I spake to him I discovered some part of my own disorder I will not amuse you with the particularities of all our discourse which proceeded no farther yet than to things indifferent or at least very distant from those thoughts which took up the most room in our Spirits we talked concerning the incommodities and miseries of our shipwrack what hopes we had of our safety from Heaven and what resolution we ought to take to die couragiously if we received no succour before the little provision we had was spent and when we were upon this Subject I plainly perceived that the fair Unknown expressed more resentment for the danger which threatned me than for his own The more he proceeded in his discourse the more he spake to me with an assured countenance his words were alwaies accompanied with sighs and his looks which were sometimes fixed upon my face lost all their confidence when I looked upon him Though I had no design to engage my self to this Unknown person who probably was not of a Birth proportionable to mine and with whom in the evident danger we were I could not contract any friendship without the imputation of folly yet I confess my heart having made him way it was with some joy that I observed this alteration in his spirit and having been afraid till then that besides the disproportion of his birth he had but little disposition to love me I could not begin to dissipate that fear without some satisfaction I had a great desire to be informed by him of his Name his Country and Extraction but then I met with great difficulties and I no sooner opened my mouth to ask him about the business but it was stopped with the fear I had to understand something that might dsplease me He was not forward of himself to declare himself and I durst not venture to desire any fuller intelligence of him for fear of finding something in his extraction that might make me condemn the thoughts I had for him This fear really hindred me from expressing my curiosity and alwaies when this desire urged me this fear expelled it so that I had not the confidence so much as to enquire of Ericia to whom he might have discovered himself more familiarly than to me Divers daies passed in this manner I not daring to inform my self any farther and in the interim I found so many amiable parts in this Unknown or rather so many parts capable of surprizing the hearts and souls of persons less apt to receive the impressions of Love that neither the difference that I believed to be between our conditions nor the uncertainty of being beloved by him nor the apprehension of an approaching death wherewith we were so evidently threatned could hinder me fair Princesses I speak it with some confusion could hinder me I say from loving him It must needs be that this affection was decreed from above seeing it received its original by such extraordinary wayes and in a condition when according to all probability our Spirits should have been incapable of its impressions but in conclusion whether it were out of Sympathy which ordinarily produces such effects or by destiny which acted conformably to my dream in this adventure I began to love this Unknown to the prejudice of mine own interests and all the resistance I could make was not strong enough to defend the entrance of my heart I fear Ladies that you have not indulgence enough to pardon this weakness in me and that you have reason to find it a thing very much to be condemned in a Kings Daughter to have so hastily engaged her inclinations to a man of whom she had no knowledge but the good opinion she had conceived of his person one that she had never seen but a few dayes befoee and to whom she was not beholding for any service or obligation and truely I will not excuse it either by the extraordinary merit of the Unknown or by any of those reasons which are wont to be alledged in a justification of this nature but I will impute it only to the force of my destinie which as you will judge by the sequel of my discourse acted extraordinarily in this engagement of my soul 'T is true I began to love this fair Unknown whatsoever endeavours I used to the contrary but I conserved command enough over this growing affection to frame a very strong resolution never to make the least discovery of it till I knew that his condition was such that without any blame I might hope one day to receive him for my Husband if the Gods were pleased to prolong our daies by those succours which were necessary for us to get out of this little desart Island where in all likelihood we could hope for nothing but death and if it were my misfortune not to find him such as I might desire to suffer death rather than ever to declare to him my affection in which without eclipsing my honour and incurring reproach I could not rationally expect any good success This was my resolution and I found my self capable of putting it in execution a great deal more than I was to resist this passion which had assailed me with so much impetuosity and from this moment I began to curb my looks and to lay a restraint upon all things that might give the Unknown any intelligence of the advantage he had gotten upon my Spirit I entertained him as seldom as in civility I could and he observing that I retracted somewhat of that which I permitted him at first became a great deal sadder than ordinary and favoured my design himself more than I would have wished in seeking solitude in the most retired places of our little Island I confess for all that I was troubled at it and though I did all that I could possibly to avoid him yet my desire was that my distance only might separate us one from another without his contributing any thing on his part and I was well pleased thai he should look after me though I was sometimes troubled to meet him Yet the complacency I had with my affection made me suspect that it was not out of aversion that he kept from me and that I had possibly wrought something upon his Spirit which rendred him more circumspect in avoiding the occasions of displeasing me but the uncertainty I was in very much troubled me and the condition of my Spirit being strangely changed I was as
much afraid then that I was not beloved by him as I was at first that I loved him better than I should do Whilst we were upon these terms when any other Spirits than ours would have found another subject for their thoughts than that which took up ours we saw no Vessel appear to succour us and our provisions decreased in such a manner that we had no more left than for eight daies 'T is true our men had found an invention to catch fish and there was in that little Island a spring of fresh water and by that means we hoped to spin out our daies a little longer when all our other Victuals failed us but this was but a very sorry shift and there was little probability that a tender complexion should long subsist upon no nourishment but only Fish and Water besides the incommodities of lodging and bedding might in time ruine a more robustious constitution than mine All our people were in a very desolate condition and though they expected some return of the Prayers which they continually made to Heaven all hope had almost deserted them I was the least troubled at the apprehensions of death and the Unknown made it sufficiently appear to me that if he was moved at it 't was not upon the only consideration of his own life I should be very unfortunate said he to me one day if I had only prolonged my life to see the end of yours and the succour I received from your goodness would be very cruel to me if I must purchase these few daies which it hath added to mine by the greatest of all displeasure under which a courage can suffer Ah! If my destinie be so I may well excuse Heaven to my last gasp for not permitting me to lose my life amongst the waves where all my company have sound their sepulture If that must happen answered I we must conform our selves to the will of the Gods who with soveraign authority dispose of our daies and your murmuring will not make them change their decrees No added the Unknown but it will convince them of cruelty and injustice and where there is so just a cause of complaint it it is no easie thing to keep within the bounds of an absolute moderation Vertue replied I ought to produce this effect in us and from that only we may receive ability to support the utmost rigour of our destinie Ah! Vertue cried he with a sigh if thou oughtest to succour me why is thy assistance so slow and why hast thou not defended me in a far greater necessity than this danger is to which our lives are now exposed Ah! Madam continued he looking upon me with an ill assured countenance how much inequality will there be if the Gods have so decreed it the end of our dayes and how great ought the difference to be between our grief in respect of the losses we must have In uttering these words he let fall some tears and I was so moved at them that I had almost let him understand by some marks of weakness that in the death which we expected or in the thought which then took up our spirits there was no such great difference as he imagined We passed divers days in this manner without his giving me any more particular knowledge of his cruel inquietudes which I could not impute only to the fear of death and he went alone to spend the greatest part of the day in the most private and unfrequented parts of the little Island that he might not be interrupted in his musing and melancholy humour and at those hours when he was obliged in civility to visit me accosted me and spake to me with a countenance so troubled and so different from that which he had shewed me some days before that it was easie to judge by exterior appearances that he had inwardly received some powerful alteration According to his example I sought occasions of solitude and oftentimes quitting the company of my governess and Eurilus I went abroad to walk with Ericia only in those places where we might be least disturbed in our conversation This Maid had related to me the discourse she had heard from the mouth of the Unknown in which one might easily observe some particular interest and having an absolute confidence in her I had discovered to her though with a little shame all my most secret thoughts and the inclination I had for the Unknown Ericia was not troubled at this declaration and whether it were that her condemning me or whether she was favourable to the man because she suspected his thoughts to be of the same nature with mine she did not strive to suppress this inclination in the birth but oftentimes told me that if any man was capable of producing a sudden affection without doubt it was the Unknown and that if it pleased the Gods that he were of a birth never so little near to mine one could not see a couple in the world better matched This indulgence which Ericia had for my thoughts made me love him the more and I declared my mind to her with the greater liberty We often made conjectures together upon the actions and discourses of this man to judge if I was beloved by him and though we had great suspitions of it we were still in uncertainty when fortune sent us an occasion to clear our doubts I went one day out of my lodging only with this Maid to entertain my self with her concerning that which at that time wholly imployed my thoughts and leaning upon her arms I walked to the least frequented parts of the little Island when approaching to one of the extremities of it where there was a little thicket of trees and some points of a Rock above the Shore Ericia made me take notice of divers inscriptions engraved upon the bark of the trees with a bodkin or the point of a knife the letters which composed the inscriptions were Greek and the little knowledge we had of that Character hindred us from discerning them handsomely but among the inscriptions there were wounded hearts True-lovers-knots and other pretty representations much used amongst amorous persons We were amazed at first at this accident and in regard the Letters were but newly cut we knew very weil they could not have been there long and that consequently they were made by some person then in the Island Amongst my retinue I judged that none but Eurilus was capable of these things and yet both his age and his humour too in the condition we then were were so little conformable to his gallantry that I could not accuse him of it and I was immediately of Ericia's judgment that it must needs come from the fair Unknown Never believe me said Ericia if these be not the effects of that which I have so much suspected and if this man who is as passionate in my imagination as any man can be doth not communicate to trees and things insensible that which his respect and
esteem Cleopatra's birth and person to neglect this occasion of going to render her that which was due to her from all vertuous persons They which staid with the Princesses who were still above twenty horse some belonging to Agrippa and some to Gallus returned back with them upon the way to Alexandria and Candace was satisfied with nothing more than that she conceived that to be the way which the man went which she took for Eteocles She was so much moved at this adventure that she could not for a long time pronounce one word and after that she had a little recomposed her self she spake only to Elisa My Princess if you knew what I have seen you would bear a part in the astonishment which you may observe in my countenance I do not think it strange answered Elisa that you should be a little troubled at the sight of these dead men which we have seen and if my grief had not rendred me insensible or stupid as it were I could not have beheld this spectacle without amazement and terror But I did not think that besides the compassion and the horror which this sight might move in persons of our sex you had any particular occasion of astonishment Besides that which is common to us both replyed Candace I have something that concerns only my self and since I do not desire to conceal any thing from you I will tell you that the man which it may be you saw and from whom Cornelius received his intelligence if I be not the most deceived person in the world is Eteocles Caesario's Governour of whom I have made you a long mention in my discourse and whom I left some days ago with that Prince this makes me believe that he himself may be somewhere near at hand and Eteocles would not have staid so long here if he were not attending upon him I believe it as well as you replyed Elisa and I hope this adventure will prove successful seeing all probabilities are favoured Ah my dear Caesar added the fair Queen lifting up her eyes to Heaven with a very passionate action what can hide thee from my eyes what can deprive my heart of the knowledge of my retreat She spake in this manner and Elisa rejoyced with her in the hopes she saw her conceive when by the road which the Chariot and those which guarded it followed they drew near to a very fair house which was at the outside of the wood by which they must needs pass in their return to Alexandria The Chariot with all the company passed along the brink of a little Moat which encompassed the house and as the Queen by reason of her amorous inquietude turned her eyes every way to try if she could see Eteocles she cast them upon one of the windows of the house where immediately she spied a man leaning his head and shoulders appeared without the window and as much of his body as was seen was almost naked and in the condition of a person rising out of his bed his head was bound about with a linnen cloath under which his long hair more nearly approaching in colour to fair than black fell carelesly upon his shoulders His countenance was very pale like one that had been long sick but what change soever he might have received and what distance soever there might be from the window to the Chariot and how speedy soever the paces of the Horses was which drew the Chariot all this could not hinder the Queen of Ethiopia from observing in that face some features very like to Cesario's and conceiting with her self either according to the Idea she had had of it in her spirit or according to the truth that it was Cesario himself If she kept her self from breaking out into exclamations at this sight it was not so much by the power she had over her self as by the force of her astonishment which tying âp her tongue and all the functions of the body by which the resentments of the soul might be expressed left her immoveable in the Chariot only holding her eyes turned towards the dear object of her heart as long as she had the liberty to see him Before that she could come again to her self the Chariot was gone so far from the house that though she should have put her head out of the boot and her self in such a posture that she might look still towards that which she left behind her the object was too far off to be any longer discerned She came to her self as out of a profound sleep and signified the return of her spirits by a great sigh which Elisa observed and having taken notice of her action the interest she took in it making her unquiet she pulled her by the arm Madam said she What is the news have you seen Eteocles again or any thing that confirms You in Your hopes or that destroys them Ah! Madam replyed Candace embracing her and whispering in her ear that she might not be heard by those that marched behind the Chariot I have seen all that I could desire to see and I would it had pleased the Gods that You had seen Artaban as sure as I saw Caesario from a window of that house Is it possible answered Elisa and are you not deceived No certainly added Candace 't is hard if I should be deceived by an Image which I carry eternally in my heart I have seen my dear Prince himself whose features are too familiar to me for to be mistaken by me and I do not account it strange that his countenance is grown pale because of the wounds which probably he received in the combat wherein I left him engaged some dayes ago The Gods be praised for it said Elisa to the fair Queen rendring her her caresses and though they have not the same goodness for me I beg them for You with all my heart that satisfaction which they refuse me 'T is certain replyed Candace that I now receive from them the greatest favour that ever I could desire of them and since I am assured of my Caesario's Life all my other losses and all my other displeasures are incapable of making any impression upon me I cannot at present follow the impetuosity of my affection which would carry me to this dear house where all my happiness is inclosed and I have not sufficient power over these men which accompany us nor confidence enough in them to entreat them to conduct me back to my dear Caesar since without doubt I should discover his abode in this Country to these Persons who ought to be all suspected by me but since I know that he is alive and in that house 't is so near to Alexandria that I may hope by the assistance of the Gods and my own invention to find some means to give him intelligence of me These words of the Queen were followed by some others in which she testified to Elisa the satisfaction of her Soul for that happy accident and the fair
befall my self and Elisa without doubt is able to cause the same disorders in my soul and Fortune that Cleopatra had caused in Coriolanus's I have all the reasons that can be to fear it seeing in the space of one night and a day that imperious beauty hath ruined my repose which to all appearance was so well established and hath made a greater progress in this little time than another could have done in divers years I feel and suffer already all that persons grown old in Love can feel and suffer and if in the very beginning my passion handles me with so much violence what may I expect when its forces are augmented and its powers are absolutely established over this heart which it spares so little already Ah! continued he a little after though I should have all the reason that might be to be afraid of this fatal engagement of my heart yet it is too handsome for me to make any attempt to break it off and that destiny that brings a divine beauty from the farthest parts of Asia and from out the midst of our cruel enemies to work that upon my soul which the Roman beauties could not do binds me up already so powerfully that it hath not left my will so much as one single motion or desire to disengage my self As he uttered these words he laid himself down at the foot of an Oak being resolved to pass away the rest of the night there for it was at that season of the year when they are at the shortest In this place he used some vain endeavours to catch some sleep which fled from him and the Image of Elisa which gained an absolute power over his spirit more and more did not a great while permit him to find any repose in the least conformable to the first violences of his Love What said he with a little motion of choller or resentment have I lost all in so little a time and will sleep approach my eyes no more since the beauties of Elisa have fatally appeared to them Well pursued he let us submit to the force of our destiny and seeing we must watch let us watch with the Stars which bear us company and which can only bear witnesse of our sighs and the words which love draws from our mouth Agrippa spake these words as he thought very loud certainly believing that at such an hour and in that desart place he was not over heard by any body and that he really had only the Stars as witnesses of the effects which his passion might produce but he was deceived and that night being to him a night of adventures 't was the will of Fortune that a few paces from him there lay a man under the trees passing the rest of the night and expecting the approach of day in imployments not much different from his This Man whose soul was much more enflamed with love than Agrippa's was and possibly as much as a soul was capable of no sooner heard the amorous words which Agrippa had uttered but he found some consolation in that rancounter and after two or three impetuous sighs beginning to speak loud enough to be distinctly heard by Agrippa Alas said he is it possible then that I am not the only man whom Love causes to spend the night in this dark and solitary place whilest sleep Exercises its Dominion over the whole Earth Agrippa who expected not that accident was a little surprized at it at first thinking that he had been in a place where he might freely discover his thoughts to the face of Heaven yet being of a Spirit not easily daunted he quickly recomposed himself and finding as well as the unknown some consolation in meeting with an amorous person he thought it not amiss to enter into a discourse with him that might render their solitude the more comfortable and returning an answer to those few words he had spoken without stirring from his place No said he you are not the only man whom Love causes to sigh at these hours in solitude and though fortune hath conducted me hither yet 't is certain that Love only keeps me company and takes up all my thoughts They cannot be more worthily employed replyed the Unknown and even amongst those whom hope hath almost deserted there are some which find all the entertainment of their life only in the thoughts of their Love As for those answered Agrippa whom hope hath abandoned their thoughts cannot but be very full of grief and affliction and hope doth not ordinarily leave us but in such extremities when we hardly can tell what to think upon Yea divers persons believe that after the loss of hope Love cannot be easily preserved and as hope in Love cannot be intirely lost but by the loss of the Object beloved so by the same losse it is probable that Love abandons us together with our hope Alas added the Unknown with a sigh how little experience have you so far as I can judge in the effects of this passion to which neverthelesse it seems You have submitted your Spirit 'T is true answered Agrippa that I have passed a good part of my Life in liberty enough and 't is not long since that my soul hath been made Loves subject by such powers as have disarmed my heart at the first sight and which at the very beginning have already made me feel whatsoever others have felt most violent in whole years I easily believe it replyed the Unknown and I do not doubt but that at the first sight a heart may be disarmed and submit it self to Loves greatest cruelty I have had experience enough of it my self to make me believe it upon anothers account but if Your passion be yet in its infancy upon which all Souls do not equally fix themselves at first or at least if you be not so far ingaged that you have no power left over your Spirit avoid if it be possible for you any farther engagement and stop the course betime of an infinite number of paines and sufferings in comparison of which all others are trivial and by which life is rendred worse than the most painful death O Gods continued be with a new supply of sobs how different would mine have been from this deplorable condition wherein I miserably spend my dayes if I had followed the counsel which I venture to give to others how many evils had I been spared from under which my unfortunate Soul alwayes groaned how many troubles both of body and mind had I avoided under which both have deeply suffered And yet O my adorable there he stopt because he would not name her and yet O dear Mistriss of my heart how sorry should I have been if I had followed these counsels which were profitable indeed as to my repose but contrary to the glory and the satisfactition which I find in passing my dayes for your sake in these miseries which are a thousand times more sweet and more dear to me than all the pleasures
and felicity I could have tasted in my life if I had not devoted it to you The unknown spake in this manner and suffering himself to be carried away by the current of his passion he held some other discourses by which Agrippa observed that never possibly any other Spirit had been more strongly or more really possessed with love and being of a noble and compassionate mind he could not chuse but be troubled for the unknown and beginning to speak when he had done I know not what you are said he and yet I cannot but take part in your displeasures and believe by all appearances that few persons have more sincerely loved than You. You have reason to do so replyed the afflicted Lover and 't is very certain that never possibly did a soul so entirely sacrifice it self to love as mine hath done nor devoted its life thereunto with a more perfect resignation They are not hopes that we may return to our former discourse alas they are not hopes that maintain it and though they are not absolutely extinguished in me by reason of the natural disposition we have to preserve some reliques of them to the last extremity yet according to reason and probability there is so little hope left and that little is so disproportionable to the greatness of my love that in all likelihood 't is not by my hopes that my love is preserved I love with a disengagement from all other thoughts that which appeared amiable to my eyes that which my heart loves without reservation and interest that which it may be neither is nor ever was sensible of my love and I love O Gods that which possibly hath no longer a being in the world either for me or any man besides He concluded not these words without some sobs which confirmed Agrippa in the opinion which he had already conceived of the greatness of his love and desiring to give him some consolation Your condition said he would be truly deplorable if it were such as you represent it but since you are still prepared to hope for better fortune I advise you to expect from Heaven those assistances which it seldom denies to persons whose intentions are innocent and conformable to vertue We see things fall out every day very far from our expectation and oftentimes in the most desperate affairs the Gods have sent remedies unlooked for and contrary to appearance In the mean time take a little rest if you can possibly and when the approach of day shall permit me to see you as the darkness hath permitted me to hear you I shall perhaps desire a farther knowledge of your person out of the disposition which I have already to esteem a man whose thoughts do not seem to me to proceed from a common person and it may be I shall find some means of giving some ease to your displeasures in a place where I have some acquaintance and some credit Agrippa made him his discourse out of the disposition which he felt in himself to esteem and serve him and by reason of some approaches of sleep which began to seize upon him and after two nights watching and that dayes toyl lay heavy upon his Eye-lids The Unknown answered his offers with all the civility his grief could leave him for a man of whom he judged very advantageously already and after some replies between them Agrippa grew very drousie and fell at last fast asleep The fair Image of Elisa wherewith his Soul was continually possessed appeared to him as he was asleep with all those powers which had so suddenly made him her Subject and he had the contentment to entertain her and to give her assurances of his passion during the time of his sleep but it was for no long continuance and at the coming of the day which appeared a little after he was awakened by a noise which the man made with whom he had conversed as he rose from the place where he was and mounted his horse with two Squires which had spent the night some paces from him At another time this man which wanted neither acknowledgment nor civility would not have gone from that place without being better acquainted with Agrippa or without thanking him for the offer he had made but having his soul prepossessed with a passion which extinguished in him all other desires and all other remembrances but of his beloved object he would not engage himself in the company of a man from whom he feared he could not retire to seek either that which he had lost or solitude which was more dear to him than the society of men He was already upon his horse by that time Agrippa was fully awake and the Roman being got up at the noise he made saw him amongst the trees parting from the place where he had spent the night and taking the way on the right hand with his two Squires who following their Masters pace marched very slowly Agrippa judged by this departure of his that he had no desire to make himself known and easily pardoned in him out of the knowledge he had of the pre occupation of his Spirit that which a less rational person would have taken for want of civility he conceived a greater desire to see him and to inform himself more fully concerning his fortune and his person whereof he already had a very good opinion Conducted by this curiosity he followed him at a distance amongst the trees and that was not difficult for him to do because the unknown having no certain way to go but being directed rather by chance than by design went on a soft pace deeply engaged in a profound musing Agrippa did already discern the handsomness of his body as he rode and the fashion of his arms which were black enriched with some Jewels of great value his Casque was covered with a black Plume of Feathers somewhat spoyled with the rain and worn with a long voyage and that which appeared of his Casque was black too covered with an embroidery of silver which had been very handsome Agrippa might observe all this as he walked amongst the trees and though he was on foot and in a condition unconformable to his quality he was grown more curious upon this adventure than naturally he was or probably could be at a time when his growing passion sufficiently employed his Spirit The unknown had marched a good while without breaking silence otherwise than by a few sighs and then calling one of his Squires to him But Dion said he dost thou believe that I ought to ground any farther assurance upon that mans discourse and is it probable that his science should give him knowledge of my fortune for the future when possibly he is ignorant of his own destiny That is not without example Sir answered the Squire and by that which he hath told you concerning the present condition of your soul you may give some credit to what he hath promised you for the future He hath promised me
nothing punctually replyed the Unknown but hath only given me some uncertain hopes which I should not have fixed upon if I had any designs which that confidence might divert me from Seek not said he as I remember seek not far from the shore of Alexandria that which thou hast lost thou shalt not find it any where else and thou maist hope that the Gods will restore it to thee in the same condition they gave it thee at first These were his very words said the Squire and I expect some success from them because of the impression which his science hath made upon my Spirit The success added his Master is in the hand of the Gods that can do all things and 't is from you O ye great Gods continued he lifting up his eyes to Heaven 't is from you only that I ought to expect the end of these miseries to which this deplorable life is condemned As he had finished these words he perceived himself to be near a little brook which arising from a neighbouring spring ran amongst the trees down to the Sea which was but a few furlongs off This sight revived some remembrance in his mind which renewed his sighs and stopping at the place to look upon the clear waters which glided along upon the little pebble stones with a pleasant murmur Alas said he 't was in such a place as this that my destiny presented my Delia to me and if the Gods would please to restore me what I have lost in the condition wherein they gave it me it must needs fall out that upon the brink of this rivulet I must find out my deplorable Delia. The amorous Philadelph for these words did sufficiently discover him to be the amorous Philadelph had hardly spoken these few words but casting his eyes along the brook whilst his horse was going over it he thought he saw at a good distance off some persons lying upon the bank and looking that way with more attention than before he perceived they were women At this sight he knew not why a shivering ran over his whole body and stopping the bridle of his horse he continued with his face towards that object unmoveable and astonished Dion which followed next to him seeing him stand still in this posture and reading in his countenance which was partly visible his bever being up all the signs of a strange amazement What ayles you Sir and by what surprise is your visage so suddenly changed Dion spake thus to him twice without receiving any answer and Philadelph was so moved and troubled that for a long time he was not in a condition to make a reply at last endeavouring to dissipate this strong emotion Behold said he pointing to the place behold those women which lye upon the bank of the rivulet and remember that it was in this condition that fortune sent me Delia. This sight and the resemblance of the place and the accident with that which was so fatal to my life have so much moved me that 't is impossible for me to recompose my self and if the Gods be but pityful it may be amongst these persons I may find my Delia. It may be so if it please the Gods replyed Dion and things more improbable often come to pass but it may be with more likelyhood that it will not fall out so and I do not advise you to ground any hope upon it that may redouble your displeasures when you find your self deceived I will hope for nothing said the Prince and I yet will neglect nothing it must be by some extraordinary adventure that Delia shall be restored to me if she be still in the world for one and though I judge that the extraordinary motions wherewith my heart is agitated proceed from the violence of my love rather than from any presage that is sent me from Heaven yet I am resolved not to part from this place without satisfying my self in this point and without seeing the faces of these persons whom fortune presents to me in the same condition wherein I first saw Delia. With these words he alighted and leaving his horse to Dion he walked along the bank of the brook with an uncertain pace and went towards the place where the women lay along upon the grass By means of the delay which this adventure had caused Agrippa had the more time and convenience to follow Philadelph without being perceived he heard part of the words which were spoken to Dion he saw him alight from his horse and guessing at something of the truth by his discourse the goodness of his nature made him interess himself in this adventure more than before and wish the man though he was unknown to him happy success in his business The richness of his Armour made him already conjecture that he was of no mean condition and every thing in Philadelph's person pleaded for his advantage The passionate Prince marched towards the place where he saw the Ladies lye with an extraordinary emotion and throbbing of his heart and he was so troubled between some beams of hope and fear of being deceived that he hardly had strength and assurance to go along He came at last with the least noise that was possible to the place where upon the green grass two Ladies were asleep at first the number displeased him remembring that Delia went from Cilicia with her Aunt and her Sister but he staid not long upon this consideration judging that in the voyages she had made since she might be separated from part of her company He looked upon the two women with a very passionate action and lifting up his eyes to Heaven in a very suppliant manner Immortal Gods said he but with his heart more than his mouth for that continuing mute for fear of making a noise left all its functions to the heart pitiful Gods if by a miraculous effect of your goodness ye permit me amongst these persons which chance present to me to find my Delia how much should I be beholding to your pity and for which should I be most obliged to you for the former life which I have received from you or this latter which you render me He passed from this thought to some motions of an uncertain and wavering joy but immediately after that was destroyed by contrary appearances and his heart freezing again with fear which had been thawed by hope Alas replyed he to himself what reason can I have to imagine that this adverse fortune by whose means I have passed so many days in so deplorable a condition should deal so favourably with me to day Have not I seen a hundred thousand women since I sought after my wandring and fugitive Delia without meeting her in all that great number and must I hope because she appeared thus once to me that every thing which presents it self so afterwards must needs be my adorable Delia Ah! vain hope how hast thou abused me to no purpose and how easie is it to judge that my
the confidence he had in Delia's words and the long experiences he had of her admirable vertue could not hinder him from looking upon him as a Tygre ready to tear his heart in pieces The brave Unknown highly courted him without being repulsed at his coldness and guessing somewhat nearly at the cause I hope said he that you will not be always insensible of the esteem I have for you and that you will bemoan me instead of hating me when you shall know that my ill fortune can move nothing but pity in such persons as you are He spake only these words to him holding him by the hand and being unwilling to interrupt him any farther breathing out a deep sigh he turned his horse towards Cornelius just as the company was arrived close by the gates of Alexandria Cornelius would willing have lodged this last company in the Palace of the Kings of Egypt with Elisa and Candace had it not been for Caesar's coming for whom all the lodgings were already taken up though Cornelius had left his two illustrious guests in theirs supposing that the Emperor himself would be well pleased that he had rendred this civility to the Heirs of the Crown of Parthia and he conducted them to one of the fairest lodgings in the City which he had sent one of his men before to take up for them The brave Unknown and Philadelph were compleatly armed but they had given their Head-pieces to their Squires and marched bare-faced through the streets of Alexandria The brave Unknown rode by Cornelius his side and his handsomeness drew upon him the eyes and the admiration of all that were present at his passing by amongst those a woman who with some others stood upon one of the Belconies of the Palace had no sooner looked upon him and viewed him a little while but without considering how many people were about her lifting up her hands and her eyes to Heaven O Gods cryed she O great Gods and at the same time being overpressed with some violent motion she lost her sences and fell down between the arms of those persons who were near her The fair unknown was not so far off but that this voice came consusedly to his ears and he took notice of the bustling of the people upon the Balcony that carried away the woman that swooned yet he did not hear the tone of the voice distinctly enough to discern it perfectly neither did he hear so little but that he presently felt an extraordinary emotion thereupon the Idea which was present in his memory carried the sound into the middle of his heart with so much trouble that it was taken notice of by Cornelius and not being able to dissemble it Am I a Fool said he changing his colour two or three times in a moment Agrippa making a stop to look upon him asked him if he found himself ill and the unknown endeavouring to recompose himself 'T is nothing said he but something must be indulged to a man whose imagination is a little crazed and who is not always himself As he spake these words he endeavoured to dissipate that which he attributed to his imagination and recovering his former condition as much as possibly he could he rode on and arrived with Cornelius at the lodging which he had designed for them Cornelius after he had given order himself for their accommodation with a care whereunto he was not obliged in relation to persons of a meaner quality than those of Soveraign dignity and had learned from Philadelph's mouth his birth and a small abridgement of his principal adventures returned to the Palace to dispatch divers affairs which were then upon his hands and more than upon any other consideration to see Candace and to render her some account of the diligence he had used in the service of Cleopatra wherein he had seen her interessed He found that fair Queen in the Princess Elisa's chamber where she had lain that night to discourse with her concerning the discovery she thought she had made of her dear Caesario Ever since that moment wherein that well-beloved countenance appeared to her eyes the Spirit of that great Princess could not recover its ordinary composure and all that an excessive joy yet moderated with a fear of being mistaken could produce in a soul had agitated her 's without intermission All that night sleep never approached her eyes and she experimented that joy was much more contrary to it than grief which ordinarily causes sleep and doth not keep the Spirits in that agitation which hinders the repose of the body The sad Elisa was constrained to watch a good part of the night to answer the Queens discourse and to give her the counsel she desired upon that adventure Candace was very uncertain what way to take to inform her Caesario of her condition and having no man near her whom she could trust with a secret of that importance she remained very much unresolved and ignorant what to do But however it was some comfort to her to know if her sight did not deceive her that her Caesario was at so little a distance from her and if the paleness which she had observed in his countenance did grieve her in relation to the bad condition of his health she assured her self on the other side out of a belief she had that in that case Caesario could not suddenly go far from Alexandria and so she should have what time she desired to make use of this adventure She was not likewise without some hope that the Prince had seen her from the window where he leaned and reflecting upon that thought If my Image be in his heart said she as his entirely possesses mine without doubt he saw me and know me and he did not fix his sight so much upon the persons of our company and our train but that he discerned amongst the number her who not long since was the object of all his thoughts and all his affections From this brief reasoning with her self she passed to a consultation with Elisa how to find out some means to help her self and after she had sufficiently meditated upon it she believed it could not be better done than by the assistance of Prince Tyridates to whom she was already beholding for her life whom she had acquainted with part of her adventures and whom she knew to be very generous and well affected to her interests Upon this thought addressing her self to Elisa My fair Princess said she the Prince Tyridates your Uncle is a Prince so vertuous and so worthy of the esteem of all his relations that you cannot without injuring your self neglect the opportunity of knowing him and I should be ingrateful for the obligation I have to him if I should not contribute what I could to the making of you known to each other though he discovers himself to few persons and especially to those of Phraates his family I assure my self he will take it well at my hands when I shall
I should meet you in that fatal wood whither our common destiny conducted us You know better than I all that befel me in Cilicia from that day till the day of our separation but you did not know part of the resentments and the thoughts which possessed my soul since that time I will give you a brief account of them before I proceed to the relation of that which befel me since your departure out of Cilicia Do not think Philadelph that I could look upon so many proofs of so pure and so perfect an affection from a Prince so highly accomplished as your self with that insensibility wherewith you have so often reproached me I had eyes as well as any other person open and clear-sighted in the knowledge of your excellent qualities I had a Spirit capable of resentment for so many good offices as you rendred me and I had a soul upon which this resentment and this knowledge might produce all the effects which are not contrary to vertue I did really esteem you as much as in reason you could possibly desire as soon as by a little experience I had observed the conformity of the exterior qualities of your person to the beauty of your interior perfections and this esteem was so strongly fixed in my Spirit that I did not believe there was any person in the world more worthy of it than your self I began at last to approve very well of your affection after that the purity of your intentions was made known to me and I could not see a great Prince as you were love an unknown Maid with so much sincerity and respect and with a design to make her his Wise without feeling my self tenderly obliged to such obliging intentions For a long time you gained nothing more upon my Spirit than this esteem and acknowledgment and besides that I believed that this was all I could in reason grant you till than my Spirit had never any disposition to engage it self in that passion which is a troubler of repose and which in my opinion how just a ground soever it may have is not absolutely permitted with decency to persons of our sex I had seen but one man in my life composed of admirable parts in whom I observed particular thoughts for my self and though his person was such that if his birth had been proportionable to mine I should have looked upon him without repugnance yet the inequality which was between us made me look upon his boldness with aversion and rendred all his good qualities useless to his intentions I had my Spirit free then when I came into your parts and this liberty Philadelph defended it self a long time against all the testimonies of your love You began at last to make some attempts upon it and it does not trouble me to make this confession to you when I call to mind that the most obdurate soul in the world would have been moved with so many proofs of your passion Yet I opposed my self divers dayes against the birth of these particular resentments till then unkown to my Spirit and to which my heart could not accustom it self I was offended at the weakness which I found in my Spirit and I endeavoured to fortifie it by calling to mind my former resolutions which till then had opposed all manner of engagement and by all the considerations which in the condition I was then might divert my inclinations from it The best remedy I could find for the defence of that which you too strongly assaulted was to desire leave of the Princess your Sister to be gone and to fly the occasions of engaging my self any farther by leaving of Cilicia I had other pretences enough without discovering that and besides the desire of seeing my native Country and our family which without doubt had resented my loss with some affliction and of getting out of a condition which was so different from that wherein I was born and the danger which threatned me if I was discovered in the King your Fathers Court the troubles which I raised there and the divisions which I innocently caused between the King and you were a sufficient motive to make me hasten my departure out of Cilicia This was that likewise which I oftenest alledged both to the Princess your Sister and your self when I prayed you both to consent to my return You know I pressed you very often to it and at last I had concluded upon it if I could have upheld my resolutions against the grief which you expressed at this proposition and the protestation you made with tears and oaths and with all the marks that might perswade a verity that you could not without dying endure this separation 'T was in that weakness Philadelph that I knew I loved you and you might have taken notice of it your self whatsoever intention I had to conceal it if you had considered that complacency onely was not capable of making me expose my self to so many disgraces as had almost ruined me through the indignation of the King your Father nor to make me continue in his Kingdom against the orders which he sent me to be gone and to put my self into danger of an eternal confinement and of poyson by which a little after you saw me reduced to the utmost extremities 'T was in this rancounter Philadelph that my soul received a very sensible impression for you and though I could accuse nothing for my approaching death but only your love in stead of having any resentment against you for it you did so move me with your grief that I was hardly sorry for the loss of my life but only for your sake and I should not at that time have desired the prolongation of it but only to bestow the rest of it upon you when the change of my condition and the consent of my friends would have permitted me to do it handsomely You may remember how that when I thought I had been at my last gasp I began a discourse by which you might probably judge that I was going to discover to you some things which till then you had been ignorant of and 't is certain that it was my intention to acquaint you with that then which I have declared to you to day and to free you at my death from the regret or shame which might remain to you for having debased your thoughts and your designs to a person unworthy of you in regard of her birth Alas cryed Philadelph interrupting the Princesses discourse with a sigh Alas Madam how well do I remember that passage of my life and how often hath it come into my memory since our separation as one of the most remarkable things and most worthy to be fixed in my memory 'T is true that when you were in a better condition you repented your self of the good intention you had had and though I urged you much upon it you made as if you had forgotten what you had so well begun But since that time
of his blood and in the mean time he would give order to accommodate us with a vessel and other necessaries to conduct me into Armenia or any other part of the world whither it should please me to retire I thanked him very much for his good intentions and did not refuse the effects of them making the extremity whereunto I was reduc'd my excuse for the incivility which I was constrained to commit in suffering him to quit his own interests for mine and to interrupt the designs he might have to protect me in Cyprus and to conduct me into Armenia After I had desired his pardon I made no difficulty to follow him but permitted him to lead me to the house where he had taken up his abode It was distant from that place about a quarter of an hours walk for softly goers and Britomarus seeking after nothing so much as solitude avoyded the company of his servants and all persons that might interrupt him in the entertainment of his sad thoughts We found there some number of his domesticks who durst not follow their Master in the walks though they would not part from him in his voyages what change of fortune soever might befall him Though the house was not very great yet I had a very convenient lodging there for my self and my women and I was served with all the respect that I could desire of so vertuous a man as Britomarus The Master of the house who was one of the Officers had the care of procuring from the next Town all things that were necessary for us for the stay we were to make in that house and another of his servants went the second day after to go seek and stay a Vessel at the next port upon the way to Armenia In the time of our tarrying there I received from Britomarus as much as his sadness would permit him all the consolation he could give me in my displeasure and I did all that possibly I could upon my part to mitigate the mortal grief that appeared in all his actions but in that I laboured in vain and though he constrained himself very much to make his company supportable to me I think that during all the time of our continuance together I did not see him laugh so much as once or any way express to me that his affliction had been eased for so much as a moment His sighs made continual sallies out of his breast accompanied with sobs and sometimes with some complaints which with all his moderation he could not refrain and at those hours when he did not think himself obliged to keep me company he went abroad in the morning to seek for solitude in those places which were least frequented by the society of men He kept his promise very exactly with me which he had made not to give me any mark of the return of his former passion either by his discourse or actions and instead of making me fear any such thing he made me judge with a great deal of probability that passion had given place to a second wherewith his Spirit was at that time disquieted and which in my thoughts made up the greatest part of his displeasures and inquietudes As I saw no design in him to discover himself any farther to me so I did not desire to press him to it and I expected that only from his own will which I could not ask him without indiscretion yet one day having expressed a little more curiosity than ordinary yet not so much as to make him judge that I desired to know more of him than he was willing I should forcing some sighs which commonly brake off the thread of his discourse and hardly retaining some tears which were ready to overflow his eyes Madam said he if there were any thing of divertisement in my life I would have given you a relation of it to pass away the tediousness of your solitude but of all that I have to tell you there is nothing worthy of your attention I will only tell you that Fortune hath diversely sported her self with my destiny she hath given me in all places where I have worn a sword all the glory and reputation that I could desire amongst men by a little valour which she hath well seconded she hath sometimes put me into a condition that the most considerable Kings Daughters in the world would have endured the declaration and progress of my love without being offended at it and she hath sometimes puffed me up with such a pride that I could hardly look upon the most puissant Kings upon earth as my superiors but if she hath served me in my glory she hath abandoned me in the repose of my life and hath left me nothing of all the good I received from her or my self but the regret of having lost all and the cruel remembrance of those fair hopes which possibly I had unjustly conceived Since this hard change or rather since this deplorable fall I wander like a Ghost amongst men finding nothing amongst them but ingratitude and infidelity and I spin out a languishing life by an absolute command which hath not permitted me to dispose of my destiny as without doubt I should have done if an obedience which ought to continue as long as my life had left me at liberty Britomarus spake in this manner and I perceived that he was not willing that I should know any more so that I expressed no desire that way I only let him know that I sympathized with him in his displeasures and I did all that possibly I could by such reasons and examples as I alledged to him to make him hope for some happy change in his condition I was not so reserved towards him as he was to me but the second day I spent in his company I told him plainly all that had befallen me since his departure from Armenia believing my self obliged to put that confidence in a man to whom I was so much reduable and not seeing after the change of his affections any reason which engaged me not to acquaint him with the truth I may truly say that by the relation which I made to him of your generous and sincere carriage towards me I rendred him very affectionate to you and he often testified to me by his discourse that he should be much satisfied in the opportunities of serving a Prince whose vertue he infinitely esteemed upon my narration In the mean time I know not Philadelph whether I am obliged to tell you what place you possessed at that time in my memory and whether modesty will permit me to confess that my thoughts were daily upon you as a person whose Idea did pleasingly flatter me and as a Prince whom without ingratitude I could not forget 'T is certain Philadelph and I will tell you as much without any fear that you should abuse it or make any ill construction of it that during the time I continued captive with Antigenes and at liberty with Britomarus
Fortune in the minds of two persons so strongly and so justly prepossessed with their own and 't is certain that Elisa and Candace had cause enough absolutely to employ their memory upon the consideration of their own mishaps and in the care of their own affairs but their souls were of the most exquisite temper and they were not so totally taken up with the natural sense of their own misfortunes but that there was room left still for compassion towards a person of Olympia's birth and merit Besides by that affection which bound them up to her interests they had given entrance to a curiosity which upon the score of a less extraordinary person and more common adventures it would not have easily found in their spirits and they could not call to mind the admirable beginning of that Princesse's Fortunes and the passage wherat her Relation had been interrupted without being moved with a great desire to understand the Sequele which according to apparences could not but be composed of very strange Accidents and in particular to know the name of the Unknown which Olympia had at her Tongues end when she was forced to break off the Thread of her Discourse This Reason though indeed more weak than the former made them resolve to steal that Evening from Agrippa and Cornelius whose Visits they much feared to give it intirely if they could possibly to this afflicted Princess and upon this design having taken a light Supper together in Elisa's lodging they charged the Maids that waited upon them to say That the Princess of the Parthians being a little indisposed they were gone to Bed together not doubting but by these means to secure themselves from being interrupted by persons full of discretion and well-versed in all the Rules of Civility After they had given this order wherein in regard of the Quality of the persons whom it concerned they observed a great deal of Circumspection they went into Olympia's little Chamber and as the gods would have it they found her in a better Condition than they hoped This Princess who naturally had as gallant a spirit as any person of her sex and who solidly relied upon a real vertue and an absolute resignation to the will of the gods had made a reflection upon the transports wherinto the first ebullitions of her Passion had cast her and by an endeavour not very usual in a spirit strongly prepossessed she had found room to combat with that cross-opinion which at first had made such a disorder in her soul contrary apparences to the return of her repose had very much tormented her and she had found cause enough in Ericia's report to suspect the infidelity of the person which she loved but other considerations and other more important remembrances wherby she had reason to be confirmed in a quite contrary opinion had powerfully taken his part and if they could not cure her of those cruel impressions which those apparences had wrought upon her they had at least disposed her to seek without precipitation a more evident clearing up of the Truth and in expectation of the knowledge which the next day might afford her to incline her spirit rather towards hope than towards a deadly fear the first effects whereof had been so contrary to the quiet of her mind the health of her body and her ordinary moderation Certainly few spirits would have so readily submitted to the Empire of reason but indeed few spirits were like to hers and in all the course of her life she had given examples of her gallantry wherein her constancy and admirable resolution had no less appeared than in this last Adventure By this little calm which she gave her mind her body likewise received ease and in fine she was so sensible of it that when the Princesses came into her Chamber her Feaver was gone They were very joyful to understand by Ericia as they approached the Bed this change of her health and they had no sooner opened their mouth to enquire of it but the fair Princess looking upon them with a much more composed countenance than before My fair Princesses said she I have had a great Combat against those cruel apparences which hurried me to despair and if I have not gotten the Victory over them at least I have disposed my spirit to wait for a more certain assurance of my mishap before it fall into those extremities from which I should hardly keep it if I had received any confirmation of it Whatsoever report they have made me of the beauty of that person whom the Prince which I have loved so well accompanies and though I have been told of their mutual Caresses I can hardly believe that a Prince in whom I have observed so much Vertue and who by so many great and dangerous difficulties which he hath gone through with an admirable Courage hath given me such fair proofs of his Love could in the time which is past since our separation fall so lightly into an infidelity so contraryto the sense of that sublime Vertue which he practises And though he could become unfaithful I doubt whether he would come to shew his perfidiousness in a place where certainly he had hope to find me where I expected him and where I would bid him seek me if it should please the gods that he still continues faithful I would perswade my self to imagine that Ericia 's eyes were deceived or that the person which she saw him embrace is related to him by some ancient Amity which might engage him in other Tyes than those of Love And however it be I will still expect from Heaven to which I have absolutely abandoned my self what it shall Decree concerning my destiny and not hasten my misfortune by a promptitude which might make me commit such faults as possibly might be hard to repair The two Princesses extreamly approved of Olympia's resolution confirming themselves more and more in the esteem they had for her and whil'st Elisa sitting down in a Chair which was at the Beds-head felt her pulse with one of her fair hands Candace being sate upon the Beds-side My dear Princess said she You do sufficiently assure us both by all your Discourses and by all the marks which you give us of your thoughts that your Vertue is not ordinary and those gods to whom you have abandoned your self with so much Courage and Piety must needs be cruel and unjust if by an unfortunate success they should deceive the confidence you have in their goodness I confess that upon the like occasion I should do the like if it were possible And I do so approve of your Resolution That I do almost certainly promise you the most happy success you can desire I have the same hope that you have added the Princess Elisa and 't is upon a ground very far from Envy that I foresee that of us three I only shall remain unfortunate I have some confidence replied Candace for you in your Fortune and my heart
the Field This News filled the Kings heart with fresh hopes and to augment them the more within less than six dayes there came from the Coasts of Thinia Three thousand Horse and from Halmidassus and the Promontory of Philia above Seven thousand Foot With this grand supply and Four thousand Souldiers which were still in the City the King who had intelligence besides that Four or five thousand men raised in the Countrey of Apollonia were gone to join with Ariamenes's Troops would stay no longer in Bizantium and leaving only the Inhabitants for the defence of the City he made up a Body of about Fifteen thousand men which he was resolved to lead in person towards that which Ariamenes commanded which at that time wanted very little of being as strong as the King 's I continued in the City at some liberty from the importunity which I received continually from the King and yet so strictly guarded though under pretence of doing me honor that if I would have undertaken a second flight it would not have been in my power to have done it In the interim my fair Princesses without my troubling you with a long Narration you may imagine what the perplexities were which tormented me and how my spirit was continually agitated between hope and fear the desire of seeing Ariobaozanes again and the fear lest he should throw himself into too great a danger for the sight of me I should never have done if I should go about to represent to you all the thoughts which possessed me and repeat all the Discourses I had with Ericia upon that Subject I will proceed with the remainder of my Story and will tell you That upon the third day of his march the King arrived at Ariamenes's quarters from whence the General came forth at the Head of Five hundred Horse to receive him about a Hundred Furlongs from off his Camp The King no sooner saw the body appear but he knew that it was that valiant man to whom he was so redueable and disposing himself to receive him according to the greatness of the obligation he had to him he caused the Troops that marched before him to open to the right and left to give him free passage The valiant Ariamenes as I was informed since wore Arms that day all glittering with gold and precious stones a little Morion after the Greek fashion shaded with Twenty white Feathers covered the top of his Head leaving his Face all uncovered and a great quantity of Hair naturally Curled which fell in great rings as low as his Armour his Horse was black bedapled with white spots whose gallant stately Pace was less remarkable than the good Grace and Horsmanship of him that rode him Before he came to the King he was looked upon with so much Admiration by all that stood in his way that they could not forbear to express it by their Acclamations which came to the Kings ears and caused a greater curiosity in him to see such an extraordinary person As soon as Ariamenes saw the King he alighted to accost him with the Respect due to the Royal Dignity and in the Head of his Party he marched towards him with such a Majesty as could not be found in any common person As he drew near the King took notice of his proportion and countenance and when he was nigh enough to be plainly discerned the King without difficulty knew him to be the true Ariamenes that Ariamenes whom he hated as much as I loved him and the same Ariamenes to whom he was reducable for his life Never was astonishment like to that of Adallas and never in the most surprizing Adventure did a mind appear so troubled as Adallas's did at this sight He stood as immoveable as a piece of Marble and Ariamenes though he observed his emotion accosted him with a confident countenance did reverence to him with a great deal of grace and humility the King not using any gesture whereby it might be judged that he perceived his action Ariamenes who was prepared for part of what he saw did not seem ever a jot the more daunted for it and beginning to speak with an action that sufficiently expressed his confidence whil'st the King and all that were about him made their silence speak the greatness of their astnishment Sir said he If I have offended in disobeying the Command which you laid upon me I come to put the Offender into the hands of your Justice and if by some small Service I have repaired part of that fault I come to beg my pardon for the recompence that is due to me for it This first Discourse of Ariamenes though it was bold and proceeded from a Courage truly Royal yet it was full of humility and did sufficiently express the intention he had according to the request I made to him to work upon Adallas his spirit by submission and services But the King was not so sensible of it as probably he should have been and beholding Ariamenes with eyes sparkling with rage What Audaciousness said he and what foolish rashness is this of thine to come after the express prohibition I had made thee not only to shew thy self publickly in my Dominions but to put thy self in the Head of my Subjects and to present thy self to me with as much assurance as if I were not thy irreconcileable Enemy and as if I had not protested to thee before all the gods That no consideration should save thy life if thou ever did'st set foot in Thrace It may be replied Ariobarzanes I came into your Countrey by chance and the desire of doing you Service hath stayed me there I have done it possibly with success enough and if I have resolved to declare my Name and to present my self before you after the threatnings you had made me 't is at a time when for the Service I have rendred you I might expect from a Soul that is truly Royal more recompences than punishments and more acknowledgment than ill usage Thou knowest said Adallas full of fury That the most pressing obligations cannot produce that effect between us and that the same necessity which possibly made me to be ungrateful to thee when I was beholding to thee for my life will not permit me to look upon those less important Services which thou hast rendred me in the defence of my Dominions Besides Thou can'st not deny but that thy ruine appears more odious now than formerly and thou could'st not come into Thrace through so many dangers as threatned thee but by the instigation of thy Love and it may be of Olympia's Commands Thou comest to ruine the Repose of my Soul in endeavouring the peace of my Kingdom and thou wast not ignorant that the injury thou didst me in my heart was more sensible to me than the Service thou could dest render me in the defence of my Kingdom After all this judge what thy destiny ought to be and do not complain of me if that which thou
not inferior to thine Ariamenes had leasure to make this Discourse to Merodates and the two Chieftains were no sooner met but as if they had made an agreement together it seemed that the Troops which they commanded had suspended all their interest to see their Fortune decided by the hands of their Generals they both expressed a great deal ' of joy to see them so disposed and having confirmed them in it on either side by a publick Order which they gave that none should stir out of their places whil'st they were a fighting they advanced one towards the other like two Lyons or like something more terribly and with the first blows they shivered in pieces the Javelins which they had taken into their hands and afterwards lifting up their redoubtable Swords all dyed with the blood which they had shed they gave each other such blows as struck a Terror into the Spectators of either side I am no better skill'd in the Relation of a particular Combate than of a Battel and though this be worthy of eternal memory yet I will report no more particularities to you but will only tell you what I have heard since from Ariobarzanes That Merodates gave Testimonies of an admirable Valor in that Combate and reduced him oftent mes to such terms as not to hope for the Victory but at last ât declared it self for Ariamenes and the valiant Merodates whose puissance as they say never yielded to any but the great King Alcamenes after he had given his Enemy divers wounds received one from him at last in the body which made him fall from his Saddle cold and pale and deprived him of life in a few moments Ariobarzanes who was desirous of the Victory but not of the death of that great man was very sensibly afflicted at his destiny but not being in condition to give any long Testimonies of it he contented himself to give Command that they should take up the Prince to give him all the assistance he was capable to receive and bestowing his thoughts upon his present necessity he with his men sustained the utmost fury of Merodates's Troops who being resolved to revenge their Prince or to perish with him fell up on ours with such an impetuosity as deprived Ariamenes of the opportunity to put in execution the desire which he had to compleat his Victory without shedding any more blood if it were possible This fury of his Enemies was no great Remora to his Victory and the Thracians having Routed them with a great deal of Valor besprea'd all the Field with their bodies and lest none of them alive but what their Generals pity made them spare In the mean time Ariamenes who in the greatest heat of the Combat preserved his judgment sound and entire having a Design in his Head which he desired to bring to pass when he saw that the Victory could be no longer disputed against him commanded Eusthenes to hasten away at all full speed with Three hundred Horse to the Gates of that little Town where the King was detained Prisoner and to take Order that no body should enter there to give the King intelligence of that dayes Success The business was done as he desired and Eusthenes did so closely block up all the Avenues to the Town that not a man could carry in the News of what had passed A little after the Conqueror Ariamenes having put his Camp in necessary order as well in relation to the wounded men the Prisoners and the Booty as to render to Merodates's body the honors which were due to him advanced in the Evening towards that little Town with part of his Troops and presented himself at the Gates in a condition that caused Terror in those that guarded them He presently gave order to parly with those that commanded in the place and some Officers coming out to him upon faith given he informed them what had passed and shewed them such evident marks of his Victory that they could no longer doubt of it In brief he shewed them the means he had to force them in an hours time and told them that he would be very glad to spare their blood and to give them free liberty to march away provided they opened the Gates immediately and engaged themselves upon their lives to take order that the King that was Prisoner there should have no intelligence of what had passed before he had seen him These men being intimidated were joyful to find safety and liberty in Ariamenes's Proposition they promised him all that he desired and punctually executed it So that Ariamenes in less than half an hour entred into the Town with a Party of those that followed him and went to wait upon the King before he could learn any News of what had passed Adallas supported his imprisonment with a great deal of impatience and reflecting upon the great interest that Merodates had to put him to death to confirm his dominion over the Thracians he was in continual fears and expected every-day with a great deal of Terror what should be resolved in relation to his destiny His unjust passion for me was not extinguished by his imprisonment but he was the less fixed upon that because he was constrained to bestow part of his thoughts upon the pressing considerations of his Fortune and though he was still jealous of Ariamenes yet he had often repented that he had Treated him so knowing what mischief he had done himself by depriving himself of the service of that great man Ever since that moment when I set Ariamenes at liberty he had employed the time with so much diligence and made so little stay at Bizantium and upon his march that the King to whom those that guarded him had no Commission to relate all the Truth had no time to be advertised of it So that when he saw Ariamenes come into his Chamber he was as much surprized at his sight as at the most unexpected thing in the World and not knowing how to take it well or ill he remained quite astonished and confounded Immediately at the sight of this formidable Rival his jealousie revived and so strongly moved him that he could hardly contain himself looking upon him as his most cruel Enemy though he had rendred him all the Offices of the firmest Amity He was very much troubled to see him at liberty and looking upon himself at the same time as a Prisoner his Captivity seemed a great deal the more insupportable but reflecting likewise upon the generous humour of Ariamenes and considering that this man notwithstaning the displeasures he had done him seemed to have been born on purpose for his conservation a little interest forcing its way through his passions made him hope that this third view of Ariamenes would be as advantagious to him as the two former These various cogitations agitating his spirit at the same time and keeping him uncertain and unresolved did likewise keep him a great while unmoveable and silent and by his
most Noble Roman Families whom Julia's high Rank engaged in her Service From this day forward Cipassis whom her former condition about the Princess had kept in obscurity began to be looked upon and at the same time to discover divers excellent parts which acquired her the esteem and inclination of divers persons of quality Because I have been more particularly acquainted with her than you t is not inconvenient for me to tell you that besides those conporal advantages which you have seen in that fair stranger she hath beauties of the mind which are not ordinary an admirable vivacity a facility to express her self with a great deal of grace and eloquence and a solidity of judgment which seems to be above her Age and Sex Her humor is the most pleasant and frolick of all that ever I was acquainted with and if she were not sensible of some displeasures in her Fortune which sometimes clowd her natural jollity she might create joy and divertisement in all places where she comes and besides she hath strength of spirit enough to dissemble her discontents in such a manner that few persons could take notice of them and I have oftentimes heard her say that it is a great piece of imprudence to trouble other persons with our melancholy who have no interest in it but desire our Company either for divertisement or the esteem they have of us Though she was born in Germany you know she speaks Latine as well as if she had been born at Rome and together with the Empire of the Romans their language is so spread through all the Provinces which are under its obedience that they are now but few of them where it is not understood by all sorts of persons and taught to all the persons of quality Cipassis being such as I have described her to you and as you partly know her to be it was not easie for her to continue long in Rome without making of her self beloved and respected by a great many persons of quality and to give every day occasions of it she could not be better placed than near the Princess Julia who was the Center of all Gallantry or to express it better where all the magnificence and bravery amongst the Noble Romans and the Princes Tributary to the Empire who continued with Cesar displayed it self every day with emulation to comply with that gallant Princess Her Court was alwayes composed of the beauty and flower of Rome and t was for that reason that Cesar who did not alwayes approve of her free manner of behavior seeing her enter one day into the Amphitheater attended by all the young Nobility at the same time that the Empress came in sollowed by the Senators and the most venerable persons sent to ask her with a smart kind of raillery If the Train of grave men that attended Livia was not more conformable to her Dignity than the young men which accompanied her But the Princess was not vexed at this demand but looking upon those that were about her with a smile These persons said she will be old when I am so By the indulgence of the greatest persons in the world I had free access to the Empress to the Princess Julia to the vertuous Octavia and the Princess Cleopatra and there was no illustrious Family nor eminent Company at Rome where they did not do me the favour to let me come and if I may speak it without vanity where they did not express a desire of my Company but as my inclination alwayes carried me to pleasure and divertisements which we may enjoy with honour rather than to places where others seek occasions of advancing their Affairs 'T was without repugnance that I suffered my self easily to be conducted into the Company of the Ladies and amongst the Ladies into the Company of the fairest the most gallant and the most eminent I went then almost every day to Cesars Daughter and that fair Princess gratified me above my merit and engaged me more particularly to her Court than I was to Livia's Octavia's Scribonia's or Cesar's own Besides the advantage which I had to be received into her Conversations with other persons of quality which most ordinarily were so my humor against which by great good luck no person ever expressed any aversion and some small advantages which study and my inclination might afford me above a great many ignorant persons gave me a more free access than to divers others into the Chambers of those Maids who were brought up with Julia and caused them to permit me such liberties sometimes which they would not have pardoned in other persons 'T was by these particular Visits that I discovered the Treasures locked up in the person of Cipassis and that which I had not looked upon before but with that approbation which all the world gave it having appeared to me upon a more perfect knowledge in all its lustre engaged me to a more particular attention and a little after to a greater interest for in fine though the beauty of Cipassis be one of the most rare and most accomplished it did not for all that immediately dazle those eyes that were accustomed to see the Princess Cleopatra every day but after I had begun to look upon her with a little more exactness by little and little her excellent qualities discovered themselves produced that effect which they ought infallibly to do The sympathy which I thought I found in her humors added no small weight to turn the scale of my inclination and t is certain that at last I found her such that if by the necessity of her condition I had not been constrained to seek a remedy in my reason Cipassis had stopped the course of those wandring affections in which I have not affected over much constancy because I had found nothing yet that could solidly stay them She loved all the Sciences she was very knowing in all the productions of wit and judged so acutely of them that she made it evident that besides an excellent wit she had had education far above the common sort of her Sex I discoursed with her several times in the Princesses Court concerning things indifferent and in the presence of a great many witnesses and in all things that I heard her say I observed some part of that which I have lately told you concerning her wit which insensibly raised a desire in me to seek her Conversation rather than her Companions 'T is certain that at very first I found some sweetness in it which made me quickly foresee that this fair stranger would not be long indifferent to me and I yielded so easily and with so much complaisance to the natural inclination which drew me to her that upon any other score I should not have rendred up my self with so little resistance The first particular Conversation that I had with her was in the fair Garden of Scribonia whither she had accompanied the Princess to walk Besides the Maids of her ordinary
the disproportion which is between the Daughter of Caesar and my self nor the small hope I could conceive in my imaginations could hinder me from falling into a very strong passion It will not be difficult to perswade you to believe it because you are acquainted with Julia and you know that she is really Mistriss of such Charms as the most Stoical Doctrine can hardly defend a Soul against Besides it seemed to me that she had endeavoured to draw me on and t is such a pleasure upon occasions of this Nature to see ones self a little flattered and to see the way open to be received to a happiness and glory which could not be too dearly bought by the greatest sufferings that there are but few spirits which would not be easily taken with that seducing bait In fine if Ovid may be permitted to speak so of the Emperors Daughter I was really amorous of the beauties of the Princess Julia and I began to render her my submissions and particular Vows with a great deal of assiduity It was not difficult for me to Court her having for a long time had very free access to her and besides she had the goodness to bear with me and to invite me her self into her Company where I lost no occasion yet without losing the respect and acknowledgment that was due to her to discover to her the condition of my Soul and the passionate veneration I had for her in the most handsom manner that possibly I could She always received the Testimonies of it without any mark of displeasure or repugnance and her indulgence embolding me made me sometimes transcend the bounds of prudence and circumspection and do such things to perswade the Princess to believe the reality of my passion as might have discovered it to other persons if they had taken the pains to observe them This ordinarily falls out in the birth of an affection and when there is no setled intelligence between the lover and the person beloved passion transgressing the bounds of discretion and good conduct oftentimes declares it self by too manifest Testimonies and by such proofs as without doubt the lover condemns and would willingly recall in a better condition of Fortune Julia who perceived that I might commit some fault was willing fairly to prevent it and taking her time with her ordinary gallantry one day when she passed through the Gallery where I was with divers other persons she called me and when I came to her she said to me in my ear Ovid's Goodness doth not condemn his Adorations but 't is necessary they should be secret and 't is not from Ovid that she is permitted to receive them in publick She passed by without any further stay after she had spoken these words and I remained in a very great confusion to think how I had given her occasion to use those expressions to me by which I might well judge that by some indiscreet Action I had declared my thoughts more than I should have done I was really ashamed that I had obliged her to give me a kind of a Reproof but on the other side I conceived a better opinion of my Fortune judging that the Princess took some interest and laid some ground in my passion since she ordered me to keep it secret and that she would not have taken that care which signified a good beginning of intelligence if she had not had some esteem of it and had not desired that it might continue I did not fail to assist my self in this Encounter with all that might flatter me and yet I was minded to ask pardon of Julia for the faults which my passion might have caused me to commit contrary to Discretion and having a facility to express my self in verse as freely as in Prose and the Princess likewise having a great inclination to Poetry and I being furnished with a conveniency to present to her every day any thing I wrote without any opposition and being permitted in this kind of writing to take greater liberty to discover my thoughts than in our ordinary language when I was retired into my Study I instantly composed an Elegy by which I excused my self to the Princess for the faults I had imprudently committed imputed them to that violent passion which she had given birth unto which I exaggerated to her in the most tender and most passionate terms that all my Poetry could furnish me withall I will not repeat it to you because it is too long and you may have a sight of it when you please The same Night I gave it to Phebe whom the Princess loved best of all her Maids praying her to present it to her as she was going to Bed that she might divert her self a while in the reading of it as she had done oftentimes before I did not go that Night to Julia's lodging but the next day I did not fail to meet her as she was walking in the Allies of her Garden she received me within a very gracious countenance and as soon as I had performed my Reverence to her causing her Gentleman Usher to retire that she might honour me with his employment during her walk she gave me her hand and permitted mean absolute liberty to entertain her without being over-heard by the persons of her Retinue who out of respect kept themselves at a distance from us She spake first and looking upon me with an eye which might inflame the most frozen Scythian I have received your excuses said she and since you will needs have me to be a goddess I thought it best to imitate the gods in accepting Repentance for the reparation of Offences besides you excuse your self so eloquently that I must receive greater injuries than any you have done me yet before I deny you pardon Madam replied I if you look upon my intentions I have done you no injury seeing they never did nor ever shall proceed any further than to the most humble veneration that can be due to our great goddess from the most submissive of men but if from the lowness of the Adorer men raise their eyes to the height of the Divinity adored and if there be any proportion between the Offence and the Divinity which receives it they may well judge it to be no small one together with their greatness the gods have need of goodness too to pardon it I know nothing that is inferior in you replied Julia. Your birth is as Noble as any of those persons is who are every day advanced in Rome to the highest Dignities your Courage is no less than theirs your Wit is incomparably above theirs and if because you have been a greater lover of honest divertisment than of serious employment by which men are promoted to the Government of the Commonwealth you have not yet attained to it I am not of so austere an inclination as toesteem you the less for it and you are young enough to acquire that hereafter which as yet you have
Artaban and ' twice in the same day we recommenced the Combat which was interrupted in Ethiopia Artaban said Elisa to him intermingling with their Discourse If you value my friendship and desire that I should esteem you you shall not only not be any longer an Enemy to a Prince who serves the Queen Candace but you shall contract as great an Amity with him as there is between this great Queen and I and you shall seek for opportunities to serve him with as much ardor as I have for the interests of the Princess whom he loves Artaban continued some moments without making a Reply and then upon a sudden resuming the Discourse Madam said he to Elisa the Prince of whom you speak doth so worthly deserve the esteem and the affection which you would create in me for him that 't was by the means of my misfortune only that the occasions which I thought I had to complain of him joining themselves to a natural repignance without reason and foundation made me resist the inclination which his Vertue âight have wrought for him in all the men of the World besides But though I had been a great deal more sensibly injured the declaration of your Will is so powerful over my spirit and the cause that gave birth to my first resentments hath so long ceased that I shall render to you without any repugnance the obedience which is due to you and to that Prince whatsoever he can expect from the most faithful of his Friends and the man who is best acquainted with his Uertue of any in the World These words proceeding from the mouth of a man who could not be suspected of any want of sincerity and freedom gave a great deal of satisfaction to the two Princesses and Candace turning towards him with a countenance that expressed her contentment I receive in Cleomedon 's stead said she a considerable Amity as that of the great Artaban ought to be and I promise you in the behalf of that absent Prince that he shall answer it with a freedom equal to yours Though he be absent replied Artaban I believe he is not very far off and if he got off from our Combat and from that we had afterwards against the Pyrats in such a condition as I did I believe he could not make any long Voyage But added he speaking to the two Princesses you know possibly where he is and in the mean time I cannot sufficiently wonder at the Fortune which hath brought you two together and in so small a time hath joined you in so firm a friendship You shall understand that at leasure said Elisa but in the mean while 't is as just that we should know from you by what miracle you are escaped from the Waves wherein my eyes beheld you entombed and where we had great reason to think that we had lost you for ever Artaban was about to return her an Answer when at first they heard a noise of Horses and afterwards turning about their Heads they saw a Body of Thirty or Forty Cavaliers who passed along the shore and marched towards Alexandria The Commander of this Troop had his Head unarmed and only covered with a little Bonnet shaded with a black Plume of Feathers the rest of his body was clad in Armor as were all the persons of his Retinue At the sight of the Ladies he left his Troop and turning a little out of the way where he left it he galloped towards the place where they were and he was no sooner come to them but having cast his eyes upon Elisa and immediately knowing her he remained so ravished at this incounter that for some moments he could not either by Action or Discourse express the perturbations of his Soul At last dissipating his astonishment O gods cryed he Behold behold her whom I seek for all the World over Having finished these words he threw himself hastily from his Horse and ran to the Princess of the Parthians Elisa at the first was surprized with his Action but she was a great deal more surprized and Artaban too when casting their eyes upon the mans face they knew him to be Tigranes King of the Medes Never was astonishment like to that of the fair Princess when she saw before her eyes a Prince whose sight after she had given him such great causes of resentment could not but be very formidable to her the man to whom the King her Father had given his consent the man that had espoused her by his Ambassadors and expected her in his own Dominions as his lawful Spouse and the same man whose Ambassadors she sent disgracefully back after that she was forcibly taken from their Conduct and had declared her intentions to them 'T is certain that at the sight of a Prince so highly offended and whom Elisa could not look upon but as a cruel Enemy the Princess was more like to one dead than alive and had not so much power as to stir out of the place where she was nor to utter one word 'T was at that moment that she took notice of the instability of Fortune seeing that when she thought her self redevable to her for the life of her Artaban upon whose death she had bestowed so many tears and when she was about to wipe away her sorrows by an unexpected felicity and to tast of an agreeable change in her condition she saw her self at the same time precipitated into the greatest miseries she could apprehend and fallen again into the hands of a man whom she was more afraid of than all the dangers to which she had been exposed to avoid him and under which neither Artaban's nor her own life could be otherwise than hateful to her Tigranes plainly perceived her strong surprize and not being ignorant of the cause of it he did not seem much troubled at it The usage he had received from the Princess did certainly give him matter of resentment enough but having a great deal of respect and love for her he believed that 't was not fit to make any uncivil use of this incounter nor intimidate Elisa's spirit by a rough demeanor towards her and so aggravate the grief which probably she might be sensible of for this effect of her bad Fortune He smoothed his countenance as much as possibly he could and he had no great difficulty to mollifie himself before a Beauty which might have wrought the same effect upon Tygers neither did he need to look far for humility before those eyes which might humble the proudest hearts In fine reflecting a great deal more upon his present happiness than upon all his past misfortunes he seemed to express in his countenance the change of his condition and accosting Elisa with an Action full of the marks of respect Be not astonished Madam said he to her at the meeting of a Prince whose Duty towards you nothing can dispense with 'T is not a Barbarian 't is not an Enemy that you have met and though the
him of the basest Treason the heart of man is capable of conceiving Ah perfidious man pursued he lifting bis eyes to Heaven if thou wouldst that Marcellus should become neither thy Accuser nor thine Enemy thou ought'st to have preserved thine innocence and that vertue which was the band of our first affections and not have interessed it as thou hast in the double perfidy which thou hast committed both against thy Mistress and thy Friend thou knowest that he sufficiently abhors thy wickedness not to conserve the least sentiment of esteem for thee having committed such horrid things against the innocent Cleopatra I was rather dead than alive while he spake thus nor had I the Courage to interrupt him or so much as to ask the cause of so strange and unthought of a change but he perceiving my thoughts My Sister continued he with the same impetuosity I shall say but little when I tell you that the Son of Juba formerly so dear to Marcellus and so happy in the affection of Cleopatra is the most ungrateful and unfaithful of all men both towards Cleopatra and towards Marcellus and you will confess that his Treason exceeds in blackness the possibility of my expression when you know that Volusius obtained not his liberty being come to Rome with the principal men amongst the Mauritanians but to treat of peace with Cesar and to offer the submission and tribute which he receives from all the tributary Kings of the Empire upon condition that he will grant him My Sister upon condition that he will grant him the Princess Julia for his Wife Before Marcellus pronounced this cruel word I thought he would have told me that Juba for some reason of State towards the maintaining his new Royalty was married in Africa and for that Act I could have only accused him of infidelity towards me but seeing that instead of a perfidious man the distance of whose person might have obscured some part of the ugliness of his fault I found him impudent enough to publish it at Rome even before the eyes and in the bosome of his Mistress and Friend this so surprized and confounded me the change being so strange and so unworthy of such a Prince that it is impossible for words to represent my astonishment Ah! Marcellus cryed I being unable to resist this first shock is it possible that what you tell me is true What I say is but too true replied Marcellus and would to the gods there remained any room for doubting a thing which my belief resisted no less than yours but you may be too easily resolved for the Negotiation of Volusius and Theocles in favour of this pretended Marriage is at present a thing publickly known and the Letters of Credence with full power of concluding the peace is in the hands of these two Agents and had they found for the effect of their Negotiation so much facility in the spirit of Cesar as they hoped Marcellus had ere this lost all his hopes of the possession of Julia as Cleopatra must lose all which she had in the love of Coriolanus These Sister were the words of Marcellus who also accompanied them with some tears which produced such an effect upon my spirit that I hardly avoided in those first moments being carried to the utmost extremities No certainly all that constancy whereof I think I have given some testimonies could not defend me against the most lively assaults of grief and the greatest succours that it gave were only sufficient to hinder its appearing in actions contrary to prudence locking up my resentments with a violence which had like to have taken away my life I cast upon Marcellus a regard wherein there appeared something Funest and deadly and forcing through some sobs which opposed the passage of my voyce How Brother said I hath Coriolanus betrayed us And seeing that he held his eyes fixed upon the ground without answering Just gods continued I liftings my hands to Heaven have you patiently suffered so black a perfidy I held my peace here and Marcellus being buried in mournful thoughts so well as I we kept for some time a silence All that could assault a Soul disposed like mine incompassed me on every side and being engaged in the love of this ungrateful Prince so far as vertue and innocence would permit me it is certain that I could not understand his black Infidelity and think upon that love which was almost born with me and upon which I had bestowed the most precious moments of my life and to which I had dedicated the remainder to see it I say terminated by so strange a conclusion without resenting a violence ready even to tear in pieces my Entrails But if my affection excited passionate and tender motions my glory interessed it self no less in the injury which I received and as I thought my self able to whatsoever height Fortune might raise him to preserve the affections of that Prince by the sincerity of mine I could not behold the gift which I had made over to him without regarding his obl vion and disdain as an outrage unsupportable to a good Courage So that my resentments against him for my affections so cruelly betrayed and for my glory so unworthily offended made my spirit float in a Sea of sad thoughts and though it exprest not it self by cryes and imprecations against this ungrateful man yet it began to open the source of this River of tears which hath almost uncessantly slid from mine eyes ever since that cruel day In that sad moment they took their course from my Cheek over my hand which sustained it along my Arm which was propped by that of the Chair and were seconded by some sighs which I would not restrain before Marcellus to whom my thoughts were not unknown At last that Prince came from his profound study and feeling himself touched with pity for my sake so much as he was with anger for his own he could not behold the sadness of my soul by that which appeared upon my face without feeling a redoubling of his own and rising from the place where he sate My Sister said he Coriolanus whil'st faithful deserved your friendship but Coriolanus unfaithful is unworthy of your tears and the grief which you testifie for his loss Seek your consolations in your Courage and your remedies in the knowledge of your self which will soon make you judge that the ungrateful man hath done you a less sensible iniury than he hath done himself and that to expose himself to shame and disdain he hath himself overturned his most glorious Fortune Moreover he hath succeeded in his design according to his desert for the Emperor hath not only rejected his Proposition with disdain but beheld them with a frown who made it and whose lives possibly had run a great hazard had they not found a powerful protection in Rome Hereupon seeing that I lent him a very peaceable Audience and no other way interrupted him save by my sighs he
Rival's Treason but it succeeded not and instead of his becoming more amiable in mine eyes he appeared more odious than before being unable to imagine any other cause thereof than the bad humor into which the infidelity of Coriolanus had cast me and by my belief that since I was betrayed by a man whom I loved and in whom till then I had found so much vertue and sincerity I ought not to put any great confidence in a man whom I had always hated and who had alwayes appeared to me full of Malice and Artifice At last whatever was the cause Tiberius could never get a good word from me and though the Emperor took the pains to speak often to me in his favour I so excused my self to him that without angring him through my resistance to his will I might give him little reason to conceive any hopes for Tiberius Though the Emperor was displeased thereat yet he testified no resentment against me but hitherto exactly performed his promise of Protector and Father so that I might have truly said That on all occasions he made an affection for me appear little different from that he bare the Princess Julia. During which Marcellus whose resentments against Coriolanus were violent believed that he had also just ones against Julia and though she had taken great pains to justifie her self from the Accusation which was made against her of having favoured the design of Coriolanus and testified that she had no repugnance thereto Marcellus thought that he observed in her some constraint through the care which she took therein and finding some coldnesses in her which he had not seen since their last reconciliation he could not imagine any other cause save the Proposition of the King of Mauritania which he thought very capable of renewing the former flames of that Princess As he communicated to me the greatest part of his thoughts so he hid not this and as I desired his repose I did what I could to chase it out of his spirit and it may be I should have obtained my end through the natural sweetness of Marcellus's spirit but by misfortune he met with some who told him that Julia had several private Conferences with Volusius and that she had sent some Letters by Theocles when he left Rome Julia always stifly denied these things but the report whether true or false made great impressions upon Marcellus's spirit taking away all the remainders of his repose and threw him nto those violent resolutions against Coriolanus which the remainders of his friendship had hitherto kept him from This made him demand of the Emperor the Command of the Army which he sent against him Tiberius endeavoured no less than he to obtain it and employed all the Credit of Livia to be preferred before Marcellus But neither of them obtained it though all the World judged them very capable and the Emperor having excluded them either that neither might be jealous or for some other considerations which he alledged to them and gave it to Domitius Enobarbus an experienced Sea-Captain and Illustrious by many brave Actions It is true that Agrippa might have obtained it rather than Domitius or any other but he expressed no desire thereof and the Emperor knowing how well that great man had alwayes loved Coriolanus and finding that he had no great inclination to the charge offered it not to him but signified that he had business for him nearer his own person This Army departed from Brindes and sailed towards Africa with a full wind and three dayes after Marcellus and Tiberius troubled for not having obtained the Command departed from Rome It was generally believed that being unable to revenge the injuries they had received from Coriolanus with the glory and advantage which they desired they were gone to take an Account of him in any other place I believed it so well as the rest having heard them testifie this design the one to the other but be it what it will they departed both of them without taking leave of me neither of the Emperor Livia nor Octavia their Mothers who were sensibly afflicted at their departure but much more when they understood that they were gone without any Equipage which might make them known They caused several to follow them for many dayes but it was in vain though the Emperor took great care therein and testified much displeasure at the absence of Marcellus I protest I was not a little sensible thereof being by his departure deprived of a very great consolation though I was a little angry with him for going away without bidding me farewell not thinking as afterwards I did that he went so for fear of being detained But if the absence of Marcellus afflicted me that of Tiberius was a great comfort and scarce could I receive a greater refreshment in my misfortunes than to see my self delivered from a man whom I could not love and by whom I was perpetually tormented In the mean time my dear Sister I shall make no difficulty to tell you that my resentments against Coriolanus's Infidelity were not capable of effacing from my memory leaving there still remembrances so tender and so mournful that I could easily see that anger was not the strongest passion of my Soul Were I with the Princess Antonia my Sister whom I particularly loved for a Hundred Noble qualities which accompanied her beauty and to whom I had hitherto discovered the most secret of my thoughts or if Camillia were with me which is she of my Maids in whom I have the greatest confidence or were I alone as I often sought the opportunity so to be I continually bewailed the loss of a man whom I had infinitely loved in all his qualities who had given me a Thousand gallant testimonies of his love and upon whom I had for ever fastned my first and last affections and although according to reason I ought to detest his remembrance at least not to think upon him but to abhor him yet could I never get this power over my spirit and as my affection was produced in process of time and after a long knowledge having contracted nothing of those irregular and turbulent motions which do often accompany the passions it produced nothing impetuous or violent and satisfied it self by undermining me with grief and in consuming me with a perpetual languishing without introducing either hate rage or the desires of vengeance I made a strong resolution never to re-see that unfaithful man whil'st I lived though the gods and Fortune should permit notwithstanding the distance which separated us that he should ever present himself before me and I imployed all my strength to chase out of my Soul what therein remained of this unhappy affection But this was all that I endeavoured for my satisfaction and the gods are my Witnesses that I never demanded from them any Vengeance upon that ungrateful Prince nor harboured the least wish against the prosperity of his Arms and the establishment of his Fortune Nay
it self out into the Sea further than the Ship At first neither he nor those that were with him could discern what it was but a little after advancing upon the upper part of the Vessel and lending an attentive ear they heard the voyce of a man from the Top of that horrible Precipice uttering these words Implacable gods said he Malicious men Irreconcilable Fortune it were insensibility to hope for any good from you and since to defend me against so many Enemies Death only stretcheth forth her Arms and that the miserable reliques of this life are unprofitable for that end to which they were conserved O Death I willingly receive the assistance thou presentest Scarce had Megacles and those that were with him heard the last of these words when they saw him that pronounced them cleaving the Aire from the Top of the Rock fall into the Sea some four paces from the ship The waves parted under his feet with a great noise and rebounded higher than the Mast of the Vessel The water was very deep and that desperate man who threw himself into its bosome being armed at all points had quickly found his death had not Megacles though a Servant to a cruel King been possest with some pity and vertue and commanded earnestly that they should do what they could to draw this man out of the pitiless waves The Mariners who were Masters of their Trade taking great Poles headed with Crooks of Iron sought him amongst the Sands with an admirable diligence Had the success of their labours been less speedy they had been utterly unprofitable but by great good Fortune after some moments search they found the body the weight of whose Armor had hindred its rising and fastning their Irons in some default of the Arms not without lightly wounding the bearer they easily drew him up and uniting their Forces got him into the ship Presently the natural compassion of men how barbarous soever and the curiosity which so unordinary a spectacle raised caused them to flock about him Megacles commanding them to take off his Casque the visit whereof was half lifted up yet could perceive by his pale and meagre face but few signs of life but as he would not succour him by halves he neglected nothing that might save him and by his orders whilst some disarmed him others holding him up by the feet gave passage for the salt water out of his mouth He disgorged a great quantity and when they supposed him intirely discharged they layed him upon a Bed and attended the effect of their succours Presently Megacles knew they would not be unprofitable and although the unknown came not quite to himself he began to breath freely and to stir his Head though with much weakness Megacles gave him some spirits to drink and either through the means of that or what was done before or both a little after he he opened his eyes and found his strength by little and little to return in some proportion Had not Megacles understood this mans despair by his own words which he uttered falling he would have left him to take some necessary rest but imagining that since he sought death he would run to it again were he left to his own dispose he not only watched him to prevent any second effects of his Despair but resolved if it were possible to cure him by reason and to perswade him of all those things that might give him some desire of life He was confirmed the more in this Design when with attention he cast his eyes upon the face of the unknown for he believed that what he had done out of compassion ought to be done to preserve a man of the best Mine he had ever seen His face though pale and changed as well through the last effect of his Despair as through the preceding displeasures was formed with a proportion so accomplish't the sweet and charming being raised by some things so great and high that it was difficult to behold him without respect the beauty of his body marvellously accorded with that of his face and lastly all his parts made an admirable accomplishment Whilst Megacles ran over all those marvels with his eyes the unknown began also to turn his towards the place where he stood and opening his mouth so soon as he was able to speak Ah miserable man said he with a feeble voyce art thou then returned to this odious life he stopped at these first words and a little after easily recollecting all that had passed O Coward added he thou hadst not re-entred thy miseries if of thy hand thou hadst demanded what the pitiless waves have refused thee hadst thou considered that with the gods men and fortune even the Elements are become thy Enemies thou hadst not unprofitably sought that assistance from the water which thou mightest have commanded from thy Sword Finishing these words he attentively beheld those that were about him and not doubting but that it was they who drew him out of the water he testified by some sighs the little thanks he gave them for their officiousness Megacles who carefully interessed himself in his safety sitting down by him and pressing one of his hands between his with much affection I know not said he what misfortunes have caused your Despair and I imagine by all advantagious appearances that you have courage enough to support all the ordinary assaults of Fortune but whatsoever the cause be that hath given you so much aversion to life I cannot repent me of what I have done towards your preservation and I shall do what lies in my power not only to oppose your Design of dying but to find what may render life less odious to you The unknown beholding Megacles with an acknowledging Aire so well as the sad condition he was in would permit and gently pressing the hand that held his Your good intention said he hath obtained pardon for the injury you have done me and I also beg your pardon if I can give you no greater thanks for the care you take of my safety These few words pronounced with an extraordinary grace touched the heart of Megacles and becoming more affectionate towards what he had undertaken Is it possible added he that such a man as you appear to be can find in Death only a remedy of his misfortunes and have you not resolution enough to resist Fortune having so much as to precipitate your self into a terrible Death The horrors of life when the causes are legitimate sadly replied the unknown proceed not always from want of courage and those that can voluntarily expose themselves to Death as you say may easier resist lesser evils than Death is in the opinion of most men but I believe there are causes that can render Despair honourable and though it be weakness and a shame to flie to Death for the loss of some goods or advantages of fortune yet it is honourable to imbrace it rather than survive ones glory or the loss of a beloved
Discourses of his Voyages that the Princess Artemisa desired him to divert part of Cleopatra s sadness and Megacles being willing to satisfie them related manythings worth attention and capable of charming some part of their griess but when he had described what he had seen most memorable in the Courts of Capadocia Cilicia Mesopotamia Thracia and many other Kingdoms and having told them that he passed the Bosphorus entring and making a considerable stay in Scythia Cleopatra interrupting him hattily That Alcamenes King of Scythia of whom you speak said she and whose Actions have given him the surname of Great is now with Augustus unless the Tempest by which we had almost suffered Shipwrack hath divided them and is to accompany him to Alexandria It is very strange replied Megacles that so great a Prince as the King of Scythia who hath no dependance upon the Empire and who knows no greater than himself in the world except the Emperor of the Romans and the King of Parthia should put himself into the power of another Prince it being a thing never done but with great formalities and precautions The Reputation of Cesar replied Cleopatra and the free spirit of Alcamenes hath made him infringe these considerations and the King of Scythia in whom the glory of Augustus hath raised a great emulation and passion to see him having learnt that he must go into Macedonia sent Ambassadors to demand his Alliance and Friendship and to tell him That if he would give him his word he would pass over the Custome of the Kings his Predecessors who never passed their own bounds unless to make War and come into Macedonia that he might see the greatest man of the world and the worthy Successor of great Cesar who had filled the whole Earth with his glory Augustus believing himself obliged by the Civility of that King whose Ancestors never feared the Roman Armies and having heard marvels related of him notwithstanding the great distance between and the little communication that the Romans have with the Scythians he testified a great desire of knowing him and also believed that his Alliance could not but be profitable towards the establishment of the Empire Upon this account he honourably received the Ambassadors and replied by Decimus Fabius whom he sent back with them that he should with joy receive the offers of his friendship that he had a great desire to see a Prince whose fair Reputation had often reached his ear and he not only gave him his word which nothing was able to alter but in case he desired it he would advance himself and contract the way to see him With this Answer the Emperor ordered that Livia should send a magnificent Present to the Queen his Wife whose name and adventures are no less known than that of the King her Husband Alcamenes intirely confident in the Emperors word having left the government of his Kingdoms to the Queen who is no less capable thereof than the bravest men departed thence accompanied only by Five hundred Horse and came to find Cesar in Pella the capital City of Macedonia The Emperor made him a most honourable Reception and treated him with much more deference than he ever testified to any other King and in my opinion his esteem was very just for beside that the Mine of this Prince is as good as any I have seen all things in him appear so great that he hath much more of the Hero and of the Demi-gods of Antiquity than of ordinary men Had you heard replied Megacles the Relation of his admirable Adventures you would have beheld him as a person much more extraordinary for before he came to the Crown there hapned to him in the course of his Loves things so little common that were not the memory thereof fresh and the testimonies publick they would be rather taken for Antique Fables than real Truths I believe that the distance and little Commerce between the Scythians and other Nations may have deprived you of part yet I believe not so but that you have heard mention thereof It is true replied the Princess I have heard of many valiant and amorous Deeds which have rendred this Prince famous in many parts of the World but what I have heard hath been confusedly related and I know not whether my Sister said she looking upon Artemisa hath had any clearer knowledge I have heard many things replied Artemisa but with as little order as you and I doubt not but if you have a desire to know the particularities Meglacles can give you a full information knowing that he is too curious and too intelligent not to have learnt them whilst he stayed in Scythia It is true replied Megacles that there are few persons in the World who know those passages better than my self having taken care to inform my self even to the least circumstances and if Great Princesses you will both promise me to receive the recital as some refreshment to your griefs or at least whilst the Relation lasts to suspend some part thereof I will do my endeavour to relate things worthy your attention Cleopatra and Artemisa being willing to be acquainted with those Adventures which had made so great a noise in the World promised Megacles what he demanded and he being willing to comply with them so much as he could possible having taken a Seat at their command he thus began the expected Discourse THE HISTORY OF ALCAMENES and MENALIPPA BOOK I. THE adventures which I take upon me to relate are not such as arrive in the courses of ordinary lives and principally to great Princes such as Alcamenes who by his birth and the rank he holds amongst the most puissant Kings seems that he ought not to be exposed to particular Accidents more proportionate to the fortunes of a private man than to that of a Monarch of whom likely the most remarkable actions ought to pass at the head of Armies in a splendour conformable to their Dignity The Scythian Monarch as you know is not only the most ancient of the world but also the greatest and most puissant and after the Roman Emperour and the King of Parthia there is no Soveraign that possesseth a greater Countrey than the Scythian King nor who commands a more War-like people Never could the greatest Conquerour amongst either the Greeks or the Romans extend their limits upon the Frontiers of Scythia neither did ever the most powerful or the most happy carry a War thither but to their own confusion I will not give you a description of this Kingdom nor of the manners of the Inhabitants 't is known to all the Earth and few persons are ignorant of the valour policy and simplicity of the ancient Scythians or those now living I will only add that what hath been reported of their former poverty will appear otherwise at present and although the Scythians affect less pomp ceremonies and riches than many other Nations are nevertheless sufficiently proud in their Armes Equipages beautiful Cities
and without endeavouring to know more seeing it was not his Masters intention he should The Prince after he had spent some moneths in visiting this Kingdom took the great Road and after some days journeys which passed without any memorable event he approached the great City Tenasia where the Court was then very fair and flourishing Barzanes who was some days since arrived had fill'd it with the reputation of Alcimedon the valiant Merodatus and divers other Princes whom the charms of Menalippa kept there sweâ'd with emulation and envy at the praises given to the unknown Alcimedon This disguised Prince whose spirit began to be agitated with some unusual disquiets which by a secret instinct seemed to foresee the traverses which fortune prepared for him had already discovered a Hill on one side of the Walls of that proud City and on the other a Forrest which covered a great part of the Plain and finding himself weary what with the heat of the season and the weight of his Arms which he usually wore he cast his eyes upon the Forrest whose stately Trees form'd a beautiful and delicate shade and being invited to take there an hour of repose he quitted the way and mingled himself amongst the Trees When he had considered the beauty of the place and the great number of paths which traversed on every side he sought the most unfrequented as properest to the design he had to sleep and by fortune having heard the murmuring of a little Rivulet which slid over the pibbles with an agreeable sound he walked to it in pursuance of the Fountain which was not far off It was a most delightful Spring whose natural beauty a little Art had very much augmented the source was clear and lively the grass green and fresh round about and by a great tuft of Trees embraced and defended from the Sun and the sight of passengers Alcimedon beholding the beauty of the place alighted and giving his horse to his Squires who out of respect distanced themselves and followed the course of the River to take some rest whilst their Lord stayed in the Wood who approaching the Fountain and taking off his Casque quenched his thirst and lay down upon the Grass where after some thoughts of the nature of those which had for some time disquieted him he insensibly gave place to sleep Whilst he slept the other part of the Wood resounded with Horns and Dogs and the noise of Hunters the fair fierce Menalippa to whom the exercises of Diana were more agreeable than those of the other Goddesses was this day hunting in the Wood with the greatest part of those persons which composed the Court. The Garments proper to this days exercise added a new grace to her admirable beauty her hair which Nature had made most beautifully flaxen was covered with a Texture of Gold and Silk made after the fashion of the Grecian Morion shadowed with a tust of white Feathers and the rest tyed in several places with Bandelets of the same fell some upon her cheeks and some upon her shoulders in an agreeable confusion that part of her habit which covered from the shoulders to the waste shined with Gold and precious stones but the sleeves were of a light flying stuffe turn'd back and fastned to the shoulders with clasps of Pearl and so likewise at the knee giving the appearance to a Buskin of the same embroidery locking the middle of her leg with a Fermoir of Rubies and Emeralds a gilt-Quiver full of Arrows hung behind upon her shoulders in a Scarf of the richest and fairest embroidery and carrying in her left hand a Bow in the posture of the fabulous Nymphs of the Poets her Horse white as snow proud and haughty by nature but much more of the burden he carried and the fair Princess managed him with so much grace and vigour that scarce the furious Penthesilea or the strongest of those warlike Women who establisht their Monarchy upon the banks of Thermodoon could have performed it with so much facility and address This day she had given the Chase with an unusual eagerness and being mounted on one of the swiftest Horses of Dacia had in the chase of a Deer out-run the company very many paces and found her self alone and out of the way in the middle of the Forrest She no sooner heard the sound of the Horns or Dogs e're she perceived her errour and seeking to return and joyn with the company she found her self close by the Fountain where the Scythian Prince lay rocked in an agreeable repose When the noise of the streams had discovered the Fountain the Trees could not hide it from her knowing well the place it being her retreat when her exercise had fill'd her with thirst and being so now she drew near to refresh her self a moment and having alighted and found a tree to fasten her Horse to she saw Belisa the Maid whom she best loved coming towards her Belisa no sooner saw the Princess but alighting received her Horse The Princess left her and walked amongst the Trees till she came where Alcimedon lay The first thing that presented it self to her view some six or eight paces from the Prince was his Casque which gilt in many places and covered with Plumes of divers colours presented her with an agreeable object but almost at the same time she spyed its Master who sleeping sounder than ordinary waked not at the noise she made in approaching him by which means he gave her leisure to consider whatsoever her curiosity might make her desirous to see something of fear possest her at an encounter so little expected and those advantages she had above the most couragious of her sex did not desend her from some apprehensions at the sight of an armed man so far from attendants but having a spirit little inferiour to the hardiest men and being in a place where she was absolute Princess and could at the sound of a horn draw many to her succours she resolved to satisfie that curiosity which the sight of his Arms had given her They were fair and Proud enriched with branches of Gold wrought by an industrious hand here and there divers stones of price mingled their sparkling beauties which through the address of the Workman seem'd to be employed with some necessity If their splendour struck the eyes of the Princess that of the sleeping Prince toucht her after another manner For extended he lay upon the Grass and though a little turned on the left side yet his face remained almost quite decovered all the features thereof were form'd with an admirable proportion and although his eyes were shut 't was yet with such a grace as nothing diminisht his natural beauty his Hair which enclined rather to flaxen than black play'd about his cheeks by the assistance of a gentle air advancing marvellously the beauty of his complexion which through the coldness of his Country is common to all Scythians but his had the advantage of extraordinary lustre He
could not dissemble her satisfaction Alcimedon said she I know very well that the greatness of the peril cannot divert you from a glorious enterprize and upon the knowledge I have of your valour I know you rejoyce to understand that your Lot is to desie the Prince Alcamenes to a single Combate and to deprive the Scythians by your courage of the succours of so powerful a friend These words so troubled Alcamenes that not knowing what answer to make or what resolution to take in so strange an adventure he remained a great while quite confounded searching some invention to draw himself out of this phantastique Labyrinth wherein fortune had shewn how capricious she could be at last fearing lest his silence and the astonishment which appeared on his face might be ill interpreted he endeavoured to compose himself and beholding the Queen with as much assurance as he could possibly Madam said he I have been perhaps too slow in testifying the joy I conceive for the honour you have procured me yet have I for a few moments entertained some doubts that in case the Prince Alcamenes be as scrupulous as these Princes he will difficulty be drawn to measure his Sword with that of a man who passeth but for a private person But I know the spirit and courage of Alcamenes and I assure my self he will receive me as though I were known to be the Son of a King and will not hope for less honour from me than from a King of the Nomades or a Prince of Bithinia I cannot make a longer stay here being call'd away by an affair for the rest of this day which very much concerns me I beseech you therefore Madam to send a Herald to the Scythian Camp to defie Alcamenes and I will not fail to morrow an hour after Sun-rising to render my self upon the place of Combate by you appointed the Judges such as you shall chuse and the conditions such as you desire The Queen approved the discourse of Alcimedon and understanding more particularly that an important necessity forced him to leave the Camp for the rest of that day she took upon her the charge of defying Alcamenes and providing things necessary for the Combate The news was spread over all the Camp that Alcimedon was come and that it was he that must fight with Alcamenes on the morrow and as the valor of Alcimedon was known with admiration amongst the Dacians they all praised the justice of Fortune but there were some who comparing the grand actions of Alcimedon performed against the Sarmates with the terrible efforts of Alcamenes against them the day before were in doubt from which of the two to expect the Victory and were unassured of their Champion in so dangerous an enterprize Alcimedon having taken leave of the Queen by some words and of the Princess by a passionate regard went out of the Tent and finding Cleomenes at the Gate he took Horse and with difficulty dis-ingaging himself from the imbraces of those whom the name of Alcimedon and the love they bare him drew thither from all parts he left the Queens Tents and traversing the Camp where by reason of his known Arms he was saluted by all as he passed he made towards a high Wood which he saw some thirty stades from the Camp He had recourse to divers intentions whereby he might keep his word as Alcimedon and save his honour as Alcamenes without discovering Alcimedon for Alcamenes against whom he had observed so much hatred in the Queen and Princess that he could see no reason to discover himself his spirit laboured so much unable to imagine what to resolve on but after a long meditation he thought he had found a good way to draw him out of this intricacy and upon this consideration turning towards Cleomenes My friend said he I have need of thy assistance in one of the greatest extremities of my life and I confide sufficiently in thee to believe that I may escape through thy means Cleomenes having upon this discourse given him new assurances of his fidelity the Prince related punctually all that had hapned and having acquainted him that he was ingaged to fight against himself My friend pursued he having well considered the difficulty of this affair there is presented to my thoughts one only expedient Thy make is very like mine thy face resembles mine very much thou must take these Arms which I wear which all Dacia knows for those of Alcimedon so that when thou art covered with them no one can know thee from him with these Arms thou shalt go and lodge this night in some place of this Wood where thou mayst lye concealed and tomorrow render thy self upon the place of Combat assigned between the two Armies I will be there also but I will aim my Javelin so and so carry my blows that they shall not wound thee after the Combate hath continued some time on this manner I will take thee in mine arms and after some appearance of resistance bear thee to the ground where thou shalt yield the victory and render thy self my Prisoner I will carry thee along with me to our Camp till thou art out of the Dacians sight then feigning to render thee thy liberty e're thou see the King thou mayest retire and quit these Arms where thou thinkest fit so shall I have the liberty to see Menalippa as Alcimedon and serve the King my Father as Alcamenes This invention is a little deceitful but my adventure is so also and having sufficiently meditated I can find no other means of assistance in so strange an extremity Alcamenes would not lose time but having sought the most retired part of the Wood he alighted he disarmed himself of his own Arms and covered Cleomenes with them under which he appeared so like Alcimedon that Alcimedon himself might have been mistaken The Prince armed himself in the Armour of Cleomenes and when all things were in the condition they ought to be Alcamenes having imbraced Cleomenes with transports which seemed to foretel some sinister accident and having again instructed him how to carry himself in the Combate took leave and followed the path to the Scythian Camp but would not enter till 't was late because the Herald of Amalthea might have performed his office before he came fearing lest the Herald should know him what care soever he could take to conceal himself and it hapned as he desired understanding as soon as he came to the Kings Tent that a Herald from the Queen of Dacia had been there to defie him and that the King had returned him without an answer Alcamenes was highly satisfied that it hapned thus but the King would not by any means consent to the Combate alledging to the Prince his Son that Alcimedon was an Unknown against whom a Prince of Scythia could not draw his Sword without offence and that he could not without an extreme imprudence permit his only Son to expose himself to an uncertain event without
first civility to Octavia addressed themselves to Antonia intreating her to entertain Drusus into her service and give him leave by open hostility to take in that heart which he would have surprized by stratagem Antonia some what troubled at the adventure found it some difficulty to recover her self out of the disorder she was in and though it be certain that it was some joy to her to see the unknown Lover changed into Drusus who was the person of all the Romans into whom she had most reason to wish him changed yet was she still vexed at the artifice he had used toward her and could not of a sudden overcome the resentment which was risen thereof in her mind However she had a command over her ordinary moderation and having raised Drusus who was on his knees before her she onely told him that there was a consonancy between her will and those of the persons to whom her birth had made her subject and that I mean her moderation she made use of not only for that day but was the same for a many that followed insomuch that Drusus hath found it true that all the demonstrations of love that may be have no influence on her spirit and amount to no more than the complyance she had for the disposal of Octavia He was at last received into her service with the joy and acclamations of all insomuch that Antonia having since had a greater acquaintance with his excellent endowments if she were incapable of Love hath at least submitted to the commands laid on her by Octavia and Caesar in his behalf and hath satisfyed him by expressions worthy his solid vertue and of the esteem she hath for him And so it hath continued ever since by the happy meeting of these two complyant dispositions who are not subject to any trouble because not to the weaknesse of a many others so that it is out of all question that the Emperour will have them marryed at the same time that the nuptialls of Marcellus and Julia shall be solemnised Drusus hath told us since how that he had heard from Mithridates's own mouth the discourse that had passed between him and Antonia when they walked together upon which he grounded his first letter as also what course he had taken to conceal himself from all the World as well that day that he bestowed on her the magnificent Galley as that of the publick shewes before which some few dayes he had pretended affairs of consequence in the Country because there should be no notice taken of his absence at an Assembly wherein he should in all likelihood be one of the first Some few dayes after Archelaus overcome with grief went to ease himself of it in the war whither he was called to assist the Kiâg of the Medes his kinsman against the Parthians and wherein as they say he hath gained abundance of reputation Mithridates was in the same posture uncapable of any consolation though his love had not made so much noise as the others but to satisfie him in some sort the Emperour having the Crowns of Pontus and Comagenes where there had happened very great revolutions to dâspose of bestowed that of Pontus on Polemon and that of Comagenes on Mithridates and sent them to take possession thereof Ptolomey according to his ordinary way of courtship continued his addresses to Marcia that is with little earnestness and much esteem and respect but discovering little inclination to marriage He never minded Tullia who in requital was very violently courted by Lentulus but I shall not give you any account of their loves because they relate not much to the subject of my discourse though they may be said to be some consequences thereof I have already given you an account of all that happened to my self at that time as well as to the news I received of the infidelity of Coriolanus the departure of Marcellus and Tiberius and the Emperour's voyage wherein we accompanied him so that you are fully acquainted with the affairs of our house and the better to satisfie and entertain you therewith I think and that truely that I have spoken more in three dayes than I had done all my life before Thus did the fair Princess Cleopatra put a Period to her long relation which to do she had done a more than ordinary violence to her disposition and Artemisa had heard her with an attention which had suspended in her mind the memory of her misfortunes The End of the Second Book HYMEN'S PRAELUDIA OR Loves Master-piece Part. IX Lib. III. ARGUMENT Megacles discourses with the unknown person whose life he had saved about the constancy and inconstancy of Fortune Cleopatra and Artemisa of the fidelity and infidelity of Coriolanus The King of Armenia visits Cleopatra with a great dal of Courtship and personated Affection She abhorring him for his cruelties and having resolved to be Coriolanus 's slights him and looks on his addresses as the pure effects of insinuation and sycophancy However he forbears force because far from his own Kingdom whither he would make all the haste he could but is prevented by contrary winds Zendorus the Pirate entertains Artaxus with the History of his Life He marries Elisena a beautiful Lady of Armenia and not long after grows jealous of her through the means of one Cleontes a young man with whom she was over-familiar His jealousie still increasing Cleontes is by Elisena desired to depart the Court. The day before his departure he and Elisena taking their last leaves in an Arbour are surprized by Zenodorus who transported with rage and jealousie immediately kills Elisena in the midst of their embraces Cleontes gets away but afterwards hearing of the death of Elisena offers himself to Artaxus 's sword who runs him through As he lay dying he discovers his neck and breast and is found to be a Woman Artesia of neer kin to Phraates King of the Parthians to avoid whose addresses she had disguised her self Phraates to revenge her death comes with an Army and drives Zenodorus out of his Tetrarchy which is afterward begged of Augustus by Herod Zenodorus having lost all seizes some few ships and turns Pirate He follows Piracy with great success for ten years at last takes Candace Queen of Aethiopia whom he falls in love with but she firing his ships and casting her self over-board escapes Losing her he takes Elisa sole Heiress of the King of Parthia but going ashore to seek out Candace he loses both Elisa and all his ships hath most of his men killed and is himself wounded He is met with in a Country-mans house under the Surgeons hands by Aristus and by him brought along with the men he had left to the King of Armenia WHile the two Princesses were thus engaged in discourse Megacles whose care was equally divided between that of having them in safe custody to obey the commands laid upon him by his Master and that of affording them the best attendance he could to
were over but it continued till night come on and then it began a little to abate I was forced to take up my Lodging in that place and the people of the house having me to bed offered me of what they had and very carefully dryed my cloaths The remembrance of my misfortune the perpetual torment of my memory kept me awake all night and falling asleep about the break of day through weariness and distraction or rather my Destiny so ordering it I rested many hours together without ever waking and it was grown so late when I opened my eyes that ere I could get my cloaths on and be ready to take Horse the best part of the day was passed In fine having enquired out the way I had missed I found my self extreamly stray'd and that to return into that which led to Vellium I must go a vast way about which took up my thought for some time longer But it was the Gods and my good Fortune that thus ordered things for that whilst I was yet at a small distance from the place where I had lain having heard the noise of Horses behind me and turning about to see who were coming I perceived Scipio and Cicero riding for life after me and who had almost come up to me ere I had discovered them 'T were hard for me to express the confusion I was in at their arrival nay I suffered my two Friends to embrace me several times and tell me many things relating to my Passion ere I could recover my self so as to make them one word of answer At last Cicero shaking off the disorder whereunto they were put by that which they had caused in me What Lântulus said he to me can you with so much cruelty abandon the dearest of your Friends Nay you forsake added Scipio the person you most adore Tullia that Tullia who desires your presence and sends after you It is my perswasion replyed I with a very doleful countenance that my Friends may haply be troubled at my departure but for Tullia I think her resentments of it are suitable to what she conceived at all the other effects of my misfortune And if you have no other Artifice to perswade me to a value of the life I am ready to cast away your attempts will prove ineffectual Lentulus replyed Cicero imagine not there is any Artifice either in our procedure or discourses Tullia is of such an humour as you would desire her to be of and she is not only sensible of what she owes you but also resolved to return it you without any violence And whereas added Scipio we do not haply deserve you should give credit to our discourses we bring you greater assurances of a truth which you would not absolutely believe upon our report With these words he presented me with a Letter which I received and opened without being able to utter one word and which I presently knew to be of Tullia's writing My mouth was upon it as soon as my eyes though I knew not yet what it contained and a little after in a trembling posture and with aâ action so amorously passionate that my two Friends were moved to pitty thereat I read in it these words TULLIA to LENTULUS I Thought the last words I spoke to you had diverted you from your Design but since they have not proved so effectual I employ all the power you have given me over you to bring you back again Return Lentulus if it be true that you love me and if you can forget what is past as I desire you would assure your self that for the future my acknowledgements shall be consonant to your desires O Gods cryed I upon the reading these few Lines is it possible these words should come from Tullia 's heart or dare I believe my eyes and my Friends who would convince me of so unexpected a change This first transport being over I several times read over Tullia's Letter and thereupon opening my heart for the entertainment of Hope gently making its way into it It cannot be otherwise added I then that these words which have such a soveraign vertue for the preservation of my life must come from the hands of Tullia but who can secure me that she writ them not meerly out of compassion or that it is not an effect of her Brothers authority which I would not owe my Fortune to if it be contrary to Tullia 's inclinations It would be long great Princesses ere I should make an end should I repeat all that my different Passions put into my mouth upon that occasion And because it is now time to conclude this tedious relation I shall only tell you that my two Friends having born with my transports and first diffidences both protested to me that Tullia's Letter was the effect of her own pure inclination that it was indeed true that Cicero had spoken on my behalf and had expressed to her the desire he had to see me better treated and satisfied then I had been but that in his discourse he had employed perswasion rather than authority That Emilia and Scipio since their arrrival joyned with him to convince that inexorable spirit and that beyond all hope they had observed in it those disposition which they looked not for that it was much in suspence upon the very receipt of my Letter and upon the reading of it so moved that they could hardly have desired a greater effect in a mind as much inclinâd to love as that of Tullia had ever been averse from it so that they were at no great pains to perswade her to do what they would to write that Letter and to promise she would entertain my services for the future as favourably as I could desire she should In fine Madam they by their discourses reduc'd me from the extremity of affliction to that of joy forcing out of my mind all the dreadful resolutions I had received in there they brought me back to Cicero's House so changâd that I was hardly taken to be the same man I saw again my fairest Tullia with a joy it is impossible for me to express to you though not absolutly free from confusion I embraced her knees with tears and transports which the presence of so many persons could not oblige me to forbear and the Gods were pleased I should observe in her the change my Friends had perswaded me to expect She bore with the first discoveries of my Passion without expressing her acceptance thereof otherwise than by looks full of mildness and when she could speak to me without being heard by any but Emilia You see Lentulus said she to me the effect of that compassion which the Gods have had on us and which I gave you some assurance of upon the first sentiments I had of it My mind is now delivered through their assistance from the torment it was before unjustly exposed to and I should tell you that I have reduced it to an acknowledgement of your vertuous
what regret and affliction to Tigranes to see even in his presence so much honour done to him whose competition was such a torment to him and whom meerly for the want of a Crown and Royal extraction he had imagined so much below him Agrippa himself notwithstanding the greatnesse of his spirit and vertue could not without some inclination to envy look on so powerful a Rival but wished Fortune had raised against him one of the greatest Kings in the world rather then such a Corrival Alcamenes and he who indeed might with reason dispute all things look'd on one the other without any emulation and finding themselves mutually worthy one anothers Friendship they both embraced it with equal earnestnesse and inclination Alcamenes who though a great King himself set a lower value on Royalty then Vertue and withal laugh'd at the unjust cotempt which his Competitors expressed towards him having even while he sojourn'd in the Court of Dacia as a private person under the name of Alcimedon entertained him to the confusion of those that envy'd him with as much respect and acknowledgment as if he had been King of a Monarchy equal to his own and after many words whereby those two great Souls assur'd one the other of an indissoluble Friendship Alcamenes taking him by the hand I enter into Friendship and Alliance with you said he to him as King of the Parthians I doubt not but you will one day attain that Crown and if to carry on or maintain you in the just pretensions you may have thereto the assistance of your Friends be requisite I shall be ready to serve you in the Head of a hundred thousand men This he spoke so loud that it was heard by Tigranes but whether out of the respect he had for Augustus or some other considerations he pretended not to have heard it though he conceived such a grief and indignation thereat as he found it no small difficulty to dissemble Artaban answered so noble a proffer with the respect and submission he had for vertuous Princes by whom he was not slighted and by the after-conversation he had with the Scythian King made him sensible that all he had receiv'd from Fame of the greatnesse of his courage was below the truth Nor is it hard to imagine that all those persons of so many different Nations that then were in Alexandria could discourse together notwithstanding the difference of their Languages since that it was a general ambition in all Kingdomes especially those that had any commerce with the Empire to learn the Roman Language and that there were few considerable persons in the world who were not very skilful in it This Assembly how admirable soever it might already be would have seemed much more noble to the Emperour if Marcellus had been there his absence being onely that which in his apprehension hindred it from being compleat Livia had the same reflections for Tiberius whose presence out of a maternal desire she could not but wish and Cleopatra and the Queen of Ethiopia having with justice commended it in her whisper'd one another in the ear that that Assembly would be absolutely consummated in the presence of Coriolanus and Caesario could their several Fortunes have permitted it The Emperour had been inform'd of Marcellus's return and thence imagin'd that since his last departure whereof he was not able to guesse at the occasion he could not be gotten far and the Princesse Cleopatra having that evening had the opportunity of some discourse with Julia assur'd her that Marcellus was not far from Alexandria and that he had shaken off that jealousie out of which he had left her upon the confession of Volusius whose arrival she gave her an account of as also of the Artifices of Tiberius and the innocence of Coriolanus Yet thought she not fit to tell her that that Prince was somewhere about Alexandria though she was confident that upon her knowledge of it she would not do him the least ill office and they together concluded it unseasonable as yet to make any discovery of the base Artifices of Tiberius by reason of Livia's being concern'd therein and the confusion she might be likely to conceive thereat During the entertainments of so gallant an Assembly wherein so many illustrious persons endeavour'd to expresse their Courtship and noble dispositions no lesse then their Magnificence Agrippa having continu'd some time at the back of Elisa's Chair and none presuming to interrupt the discourse he had with her out of the respect which all bore him had the opportunity to entertain her with his passion more favourably then he had had any time before Yet out of all the conversation he had with her could he not derive the least hope though the Princess whose inclinations were naturally full of mildness took no offence at him as she might haply have done at any other for whom she would not have had the same compliance King Alcamenes entertained the Princess Cleopatra and Artaban had a long discourse with Julia who could not but admire all things in him Cornelius finding an opportunity to come near Candace and looking on her with a respect which the knowledge he had of her quality added to what he had for her before upon the account of his affection Madam said he to her I come to demand your pardon for the faults which out of my ignorance I may have committed against you But had you been pleased to discover your self I should have endeavoured to render you what is due to so great a Queen I am easily inclined to believe replyed the Queen very sharply that I was not known to you and if I had to imagine your carriage had been much otherwise towards me then it hath been for some days past But since you have put an obligation upon me which nothing can force out of my remembrance I am willing to forget your past miscarriages out of a confidence you will not be guilty of any the like hereafter Ah Madam reply'd the Praetor It is not for that offence that I beg your pardon nor can I think my self criminal for a thing I neither can nor shall ever repent me of That which I charge my self with as most injurious to you is That I have omitted those formalities which are to be observed towards so great a Queen but you could not certainly take offence at a passion which a Goddess were there any such among us would think innocent If therefore that be the offence I stand guilty of I shall die in the guilt of it Cornelius says the Queen looking very disdainfully on him Caesar is now in Alexandria force me not to represent these injurious proceedings of yours towards me and know that I would not suffer from himself the unjust freedom you take with me With these words she turned away from him and engaged her self in the conversation of Alcamenes and Cleopatra who was sate close by her Cornelius was at such a loss that he found it
images of Cleopatra and Candace were still present to them and they much more dreaded the loss of their amiable Princesses than that of a life they could not value but for their sakes an interview with them would have been a great alleviation to their spirits might it have been obtained And whereas Caesario had heard miracles of Coriolanus and that Coriolanus could not have seen a Brother of Cleopatra's such a Brother as Caesario without a sudden eruption of joy no doubt but communication would have wrought a great abatement of their misfortune But the Emperor had ordered they should not come together nor see one another as having conceived great jealousies upon the secret conferences of Caesario with Cleopatra and imagined that Coriolanus was not unacquainted with their designs that all together might be engaged in some great and dangerous enterprize Upon this account he had caused them to be lodged in several places but having understood one anothers conditions by Levinus and the Guard who were not ordered to conceal it from them they mutually sent civilities and recommendations to one another wherein they imagined to themselves some remission of their sufferings Coriolanus who was well acquainted with the transactions of the house of Cleopatra had been much astonished to hear that young Caesario whom all the world thought dead so many years before was living and the same who under the name of Cleomedon had done so great actions in Ethiopia had in his presence fought with the hardy Britomarus with admirable courage engaged against the Pirats He had learnt from Britomarus Tridates's house that he was that Cleomedon so famous for many victories he called to minde that for some small time during that combat he had seen his face whereof by reason of its extraordinary beauty he had preserved the idea But the great actions of Coriolanus being generally known Caesario had had a better account of them and besides what he had received from common report had heard from his sister all the particulars of most importance By this mutual account which these two great Princes had one of another they were infinitely desirous to see one the other and thought it an aggravation of their misfortune to be in restraint within the same walls and denied that freedom Caesario endured his imprisonment with so much the more impatience by reason of its hapning in that City where he drew his first breath wher he had passed away his first years with so much splendor whereof he was the lawful Prince and not he whom Fortune had put into his place He could not reflect on these things nor cast his eye on that part of the City where stood the Palace of his Ancestors by the mothers side which he could see out of the windows of his chamber without sighing and bewailing the cruelty of his destiny but his affliction was augmented when he thought of his Queen whom he had left in the hands of his enemies and whose grief he was much more troubled at then his own He had so much the more reason to bemoan his misfortune in that it had hapned to him when he thought himself in a condition to defie Fortune and had nothing to oppose him either in Aethiopia or the inclinations of his fair Queen Coriolanus on the other side seemed to be less sensible of this last stroke of his misfortune as having of a long time struggled with the malice of his destiny and learnt not to be too fond of a life attended by so many miseries yet was it a great ease to his thoughts that he had been so happy as to vindicate himself before his death and that Cleopatra could have no other thoughts of him then as of a Prince that had been ever constant to her Nor could he but derive some satisfactions from the service he had done upon two or three occasions whereto he seemed brought by some divine conduct and thought it some happiness to have seen his implacable Rival laid at his feet and in a posture to satisfie him by his death if he would have accepted of it for all the injuries he had done him having had his life at his mercy who had been the greatest persecutor of his own he could not so much as wish him ill nor repent he had he had given it him though it contributed more to his unhappiness then any thing else Let the Gods now said he dispose as they please of the remainder of this unfortunate life I resign them without any regret since I have made those advantages of them I desir'd and had the happiness in my last days to rescue Cleopatra from her enemies to satisfie her of my innocence and to overcome a Rival and an enemy by whose means I had lost all This done what remains for me to wish since Cleopatra cannot be the reward of an unhappy man whom an implacable Fortune hath not left any thing either of the interest he had in Caesar or the Crowns he had recovered to present her with and by what unjust sentiment should I entertain with grief or terrour the opproaches of a death I have so much desired and sought for These words fell from him with a resolution worthy the greatness of his courage But soon after the last change of his fortune the late deportment of Cleopatra came into his mind when he reflected on his being right in her thoughts that taking she had given him greater and more perswasive assurances of her affection then ever he had received before he was not able to divert the considerations consequent thereto or thing on the retrival of a happiness so great so much desir'd without a regret for the loss of it a resentment such as he had never known in his life Alas said he with a sigh forc'd from the bottom of his heart if it were true that I have still a place in the affections of Cleopatra and that the Love whence I derived my glorious fortune is fully reseated in her heart what had I to fear what to desire or rather what misery could I be sensible of upon the recovery of so transcendent a felicity Ah! were it onely the loss of that Crown which I should have represented Cleopatra with I might hope it from that sword which had put it on my head before for in fine if I were loved by Cleopatra nothing should bring so much terror with it as to force me to despair He was thus expostulating with himself and in a certain suspence as to the judgment he should make of his condition when he hears a noise at his chamber door and having turned his eyes towards it sees is it opened and was struck with a light which by the suddenness and greatness of it dazzled them Inexpressable was his astonishment when he perceived coming in the Princess Cleopatra conducted by Sempronius and Levinus and followed by two of her women the disturbance he was in being