Moon in a cleer sky encouraged the Sea-men to a prompt obedience though otherwise observant enough of their Lords commands who was not more reverenced amongst them for his authority then beloved and honour'd for his hospitality As soon as they had doubled the Point they presently saw the Ship which still lay hulking in the same manner and at that time again with beat of drum and sound of trumpet made all the noise that was possible which caused the Mariners the more vigorously to pursue their course But before they had advanced far they perceived a good distance from them two things floating upon the water which at first they supposed to be either by chance or on purpose cast out of the vessel but by the disturbance of the Sea in so great a Calm they soon found their mistake yet could not imagine what they should be for their motions yielded sometimes such a resplendent brightness and such a sparkling light as if against nature the Ocean had cast up flakes of fire or else Stars shot from the firmament had remained floating upon the surface thereof Some conjectured one thing some another and the wisest amongst them would needs have the rest imagine that it was nothing else but the reflection of the Moon upon the breaking of the water caused by Porpices or some other great fishes and began to wish their business dispatched apprehending as it is commonly believed among Sea-men that the appearing of those creatures presaged a storm or at least a great alteration of the weather Whilst they were thus reasoning amongst themselves they approached so neer the object of their wonder that the dispute ceased though not their admiration For they plainly discerned two young men of an excellent beauty swiming towards them one whereof carried in his hand a naked Sword of a rarely polished mettle and the other had about his neck a Tablet mervailously enriched with diamonds The former seeing an unexpected assistance so neer launched himself forward with a wonderfull force and catching hold of one of the Oars with the help thereof leaped aboard then waving his sword above his head immediately with both his hands laid the hilt thereof which was curiously enchased with rubies to his heart and casting up his eyes to heaven smiled a little as if by that he had overcome the present and meant to vanquish all future danger But at the same instant the other his strength failing him began to sink and he had undoubtedly perished if the mariners notwithstanding their surprisal by so strange an accident had not been very speedy in giving him assistance and as he rise agen above the water taken hold of his Tassata breeches which were all the garment he had on and by them lifted him into their Fallocque At the first though he were not altogether without life yet he was in a manner past sense but by bending his body forward and other usual remedies that Sea-men in such cases practice having voided a great quantity of water which overcharged his stomack he soon came to himself again and immediately feeling for the Tablet that was about his neck with great reverence kissed it holding up his hands to heaven as in token of thankfulness that since his life was preserved that Jewel was so likewise which he seemed to value not inferior to the other Then kissing it agen and fixing his eyes upon the Characters artificially formed with Diamonds of an inestimable value after a deep sigh cryed out Ah Mariana and having pronounced that name so sacred to his memory presently stoped as if in that one word he had said all that could be spoken But at length calling to mind his condition he looked earnestly about him to consider into what hands he was fallen when perceiving his companion that had run the like hazard with himself and in the same manner as he thought preserved they presently embraced with infinite testimonies of joy congratulating each others safety and had continued longer in those expressions if the mariners desiring to finish their work had not interrupted them with signs that they made for they perceived they were strangers and spake another language to know whether they should return back or else go on to the ship of which they supposed they were but understanding they desired rather they should return having accommodated them the best they could with garments of which two of the Sea-men willingly stript themselves they instantly tackt about and a fresh gale then rising from the sea almost in a moment arrived upon the shore The Country-people partly in curiosity to hear news for by reason of the war some novelty or other happened almost every day but the better sort to wait upon Synesius attended the return of the Fallocque which no sooner touched upon the Beach but they all flocked to the Sea-side and when they were ready to land He with his Gentlemen being come to the head of the Boat when they saw the strangers were seised with a kind of admiration in beholding two such goodly persons in a habit so unsuitable to their demeanure and presently step'd to give them their hands which civility as soon as they were on shore they returned with great demonstrations of gratitude and by their deportment gave testimony of a birth and education far above their present condition They were both of equal perfections though somthing differing in years the eldest being about two and twenty the other not above nineteen the one of a most deliâ—â—te complexion the other of a more manly vigorous composition the one the people were ready to adore as the God of war the other emblemed that Youth for whom the Goddess of Love herself suffered such an ardent passion and both had impressed such characters of manhood and beauty as promised an assured victory in the contentions either of Love or War The elder was of a stature more then the ordinary size of men his hair which was brown hung in great â—ings dangling upon his shoulders his beard appeared only like young doun his eyes were gray yet full of a majestick gravity and his face though something enclined to leanness was the index of a most daring mind and more generous spirit in brief nature had framed his body as if to shew the perfection of the â—ex both in comelines of proportion and address in all manner of exercises The other was about half the head lower and of a complexion that made all others neer him seem to have none his hair flaxen with such a glistering brightness as that alone was ornament enough for any one man but all the rest of the fabrick was answerable large gray eyes a wide forehead a mild cheerfull countenance and a shape so compleat as drew the eyes of all the beholders into admiration The worthy Synesius took so strict a survey of these rare endowments that he assured himself they were persons to be treated with more then a common civility On the other side
Theophania OR SEVERALL MODERN HISTORIES Represented by way of ROMANCE AND POLITICKLY Discours'd upon BY An English Person of Quality STAT THEB Nec divinam SYDNEIDA tenta Sed longe sequere Vestigia semper adora LONDON Printed by T Newcomb for Thomas Heath and are to be sold at his Shop in Russel-street near the Piazza's of Covent-Garden 1655. THE STATIONER TO THE READER THough the Preface of a Stationer be commonly interpreted no other then a slight to betray the Customer into the buying of a Book yet to let you know I deal candidly with you I put you to the trouble of acquainting you that the best and most severe Judgements have rationally satisfied me that what I here offer is a thing of so much worth as it needs not the unnecessary anticipation of any discourse of mine Had not this curious Piece which of the kind I think to be the first that ever our Country produced come to my hands in the quality of an Orphan I had sav'd this labour yet since it seems the noble Author rather chose to beglorious in obscurity then shine in popular applause I will be bold to say you will find so many marks and emanations of an illustrious Spirit as could not possibly be acquired but by the great advantages of education travel and converse in the world and the Epitome's of the world Courts which may well intitle our Author to undertake a Subject of this nature wherein you will find Man and the Passions of man the great Engines of our Conversation and it may be Traverses of State set down as in a Mapp or Chart before you withall it is naturally English and you have it faithfully out of the Original Nor did I rashly venture upon this Publication I took councel from the best Judges of these things They unanimously tell me that there wants nothing of the Spanish Designe the French fluency and Courtship the Italian gravity or indeed any thing that may make up the whole Symmetry and decorum of a Piece of this nature For his Designes are natural correspondent and effective his Scenes probable and suitable his Loves high and generous but without extravagancy his Passions essential and real and such as perfectly limn different souls in their different agitations his discourses and reflections solid and mature and the resultance of all this so generous and harmonious that I rather choose to leave you to the consideration of the several beauties you will find in every part thereof then corrupt your judgements by a previous information in the general Thus much to doe you and my self right I thought fit to acquaint you with being of opinion that the smallest part of the fate of this book depends upon my word since I am perswaded it wil justifie it self and if under some seeming Grotesques you can find such a glass as will represent to you real and excellent figures you will add to the pleasure I intend you and I believe be a gainer by it Near the Piazza in Covent-Garden November 14. 1654. T. HEATH THEOPHANIA BOOK I. THe Sicilian Monarchy being invincible against all foreign assaults was the envy of her neighbours and the wonder of the whole world till the people weary of so much felicity to shew the greatness of their power destroyed their own happiness and what no Enemy durst attempt by an intestine war invaded the liberties of their native Country But this madness was not yet generall when the season of the year with the favorable influence of the heavens had produced so great a serenity in the air that the Sea having remained divers days in an undisturbed calm the inhabitants of the coasts of Leontium resorted in troops to the shore there to enjoy the freshness that in the evening came off from the Main and whilst some recreated themselvs with their country sports upon the sands others more active shewed their address in rowing and those whose profession it was cast out nets for fish the chief Lord of the place and of many adjacent villages a person of eminent rank and condition who being retired from the great affairs of the world chose rather to live beloved in his own Province then through vain ambition to tempt the hazards of fortune in a State by civil dissentions exposed to ruine and though not insensible of his Countries sufferings yet not so far dejected with the sense thereof as to debar himself of such delights as were necessary for the preservation of his health with two Gentlemen his attendants came down to the Sea-side and after some ordinary civilities passed amongst the chiefest of the Country-people that were his neighbours entred into a Fallocque that waited for him which was covered with Crimson-dammask and slightly gilt and painted with the Arms and Devices of his Family rather to shew a distinction from the vulgar then any way to boast either his birth or quality The Steers-man as soon as his Master was seated in the Boat directed his course towards a great point of Land that lay out into the Sea where with more privacie he might enjoy the benefit of the air And whilst they advanced gently into the Main he entertained his company with several discourses to which they were exceeding attentive all that had the honour to be neer him finding that they profited more by his ordinary familiar talk then they could ever attain to in the Schools of the Philosophers for they study only to dispute but he studied the truth and with those reasons on which he had founded his own judgment would communicate his conclusions to others Yet at that time he was not upon any deep subject but only relating divers passages and occurrences of State in which himself had been a principal actor and from the unexpected alterations that had happened arguing the uncertainty of mans condition When having gained the Point whither he was going he discovered a tall Ship with her fails flaging about her masts that lay becalmed about two leagues from the shore which at the same instant first hung out a white Flag and then struck her main Top-sail intelligible signs amongst Mariners of a friendly approach and if she were not in some distress that either she desired Boats to land passengers or else a Pilot to conduct her upon those Coasts Synesius so was this noble person called whatsoever the meaning were being ever ready to perform the office of a Cavalier presently commanded his men to row back agen with all the speed that was possible and having taken care himself to see a Fallocque well manned gave them order to go immediately aboard the Vessel to be informed what she was and if they found her a friend as he imagined to do them all hospitable services that their occasions did require But notwithstanding the diligence that was used by that time they were ready to launch the Sun had finished his course for that day yet the dawn of the evening with the brightness of the
second it with such advantagious conditions to that Crown that they should not be easily rejected What was thus concluded in their several private Cabals in a short time became the publike act of a general Assembly and Polidor finding himself entreated to accept what with such industry he had laboured to procure began to think of nothing less then a Crown or at least the establishment of it in his son But Solmona imagined herself already possessed of it and though she were endued with a singular wisdom yet to shew she was a woman and subject to the passions of that sex she began to stand upon punctilio's and terms of competition with the Queen of Macedon whose greatness of birth and experience in the changes of the world made her nevertheless contemn or at least not take notice of those little frailties in a person whose vertues she had ever loved But in the mean while Demetrius was altogether ignorant of these great contrivances what intrigues plottings and stratagems were used to make him a King who esteemed it a far greater honor to be a slave and would not have changed his fetters for the Empire of the whole world much less for so inconsiderable a portion of it as the Armenian Crown But when by the publike act he perceived how far they had proceeded to his ruine he armed himself with a resolution answerable to so great an opposition and it was not long before he was put to the trial of his force For within a few dayes after Polidor coming early one morning to his chamber after the attendants were dismissed he began to entertain him with this unwelcom discourse Demetrius how dear thou art to me I cannot better express then by letting thee know the care I have ever had of thy advancement These people who thou seest thus forward to treat a marriage for thee with the Queen of Armenia will be as ready when occasion shall serve to offer thee the soveraignty of these Provinces but it will be necessary in the first place to strengthen our selves with this alliance therefore prepare thy self to be a Lover that thou mayst be a King and having the possession of one â—rown soon become master of another Yet you must consider that though I have with great patience by degrees ascended to these hopes there lies now a necessity upon us to go on vigorously in the prosecution of his enterprise For our intents are perceived if not known by many who at the present only comply because either they think it most secure for themselves or else know not how to avoid it without the hazard of greater inconveniences both to the private and publike But if they find any remisness in our proceedings or that we fail never so little of those supports upon which we have laid the foundation of our rise they will quickly take the advantage of our defects and having once insinuated into the vulgar how neer they are to the loss of their liberty easily prevent the like danger for the future by removing not only all possibilities of making a second attempt but those persons from amongst them whose greatness they have such cause to apprehend For the Emperor being weary of the war and attacqued on all sides by other enemies they may having once raised these jealousies when they please make a peace with him upon any terms and the peace once confirmed under fair pretences at once disband the Army and deprive us of our power Therefore we must now either advance forward or else be sure to retire with disgrace and that these very people whose fathers Polidor with his sword redeemed from slavery will trample upon his son Demetrius as their vassal But by this Match you may establish your power above the reach of their malice and bring the whole Nation into an absolute obedience which otherwise when I am dead will neither want arts nor pretences to contrive your ruine and repose no security in the benefits they have received from me for they will as easily forget them as they did their allegiance to their own natural Prince Commonwealths reverence their Benefactors when they are marble gracing their sepulchers and statues with glorious inscriptions to point others the way to the same honours but seldom suffer the power to remain long in any one family that is great either in birth or merit for though they love and cherish valour and courage and undertaking spirits when they are in distress and have need of such vertues yet in times of prosperity and peace they become their greatest terror If Demetrius were less worthy this State perhaps in gratitude would be content to let him enjoy the title which when he was a child in a complement as a thing yet remote they conferred upon him but having already seen how much he dares they will not dare to trust him with so great a power unless their fears make them not dare to deprive him of it Since then we are not safe nor the honor of our family secure whilst these Peasants who despise all Nobility and love nothing but wealth enjoy their liberty to reduce them agen to the obedience of a Crown cannot be called ambition or if it be having so just a motive it is an ambition without a crime and Diaphanta cannot but embrace the love of that Prince who hath so noble an ambition to preserve his own honour Demetrius being prepared for such an encounter with a recollected serious countenance presently replied Sir I am not ignorant that as I received my life from you I was not only born your Subject but likewise bred a Souldier under your command and by those relations am obliged by a triple duty to render an humble willing and strict obedience to all your commands Nevertheless having ever shewed your self both a singular just Prince as well as an admired wise General and a no less indulgent Father I conceive you will permit me the liberty before I yield an absolute concurrence to alleadge some objections which perhaps will not be inconsiderable against the many supposed advantages of this pretended alliance It is chiesty proposed as the only means to cumulate honours upon our family and as a strong Rampier not only to defend it against the malitious assaults of an insolent ungrateful people but from thence to batter and destroy that liberty which otherwise would perhaps in time seek the ruine of its Protectors But alas what honor can it be to the son of the renowned Polidor to borrow the shadow of a Kingly dignity from a woman that is herself a meer titulary Queen For do not the Nobility and chief Officers of the Crown to whose care she was left during her minority though she be now of age to assume the government still as Guardians usurp the Regal authority which cannot be without an aim either to confirm it for ever in themselves or else by a marriage to establish it in some of their own families Therefore
Masters revenge and to free the distressed Queen from the oppressions of her usurping adversary Wherefore assuming the habit of a Merchant he soon arrived in Sicily and having some time frequented the Court under pretence of several Negotiations as was very well known to those by whom he made his addresses One day as the Queen was walking in a garden attended by Heraclius with divers other Lords and Ladies taking that advantage to put his enterprise in execution he presented her with a Memorial which whilst she was perusing he secretly drew from under his mantle a short dagger but as he lift up his hand to give the fatal blow Heraclius perceiving his treacherie at the same instant steping between received a terrible wound under his right pap yet nothing daunted either with the danger or the suddenness of the accident the poignard remaining behind he pulled it immediately out of his own bosom and stuck it in the Assasins heart Then turning about to Theodora The Gods said he have this day shewed their justice in your protection But as he was about to continue his speech through the abundance of blood that issued from his wounds his spirits begining to fail he fell prostrate at her feet and with a faint voice uttered only these words Madam I die but die contented since I have sacrificed my life for your preservation Whereupon the Queen who knew not any cause she had to fear till at the same time she saw both the Traitor weltring in his blood upon the ground and the dear preserver of her life ready to expire his latest breath she could no longer suppress that passion which till then she had so artificially concealed but breaking out into a desperate rage ran furiously to the dead body of Castorax and setting her foot upon his throat drew the poignard out of his side which aiming at her own breast she perceived certain characters engraven upon the blade thereof and pausing a little to peruse them read this inscription Castorax a true born Roman To Theodora the Barbarian In considering whereof having something recollected herself Are these said she the Regalio's those boasters of their own vertue prepare for Princes Barbarous Theodora indeed if thou shouldst thus abandon thy life which now more then ever thou art bound to cherish that thy just vengeance may become the terror of these blood-thirsty Romans Then falling upon Heraclius and as she embraced him puting one hand under his head and the other upon his wound with a pale trembling countenance the Index both of sorrow and wrath burst out into these expressions I will if it be possible stop this passage through which thy soul slies so swift away towards the Elysianshades as esteeming the love of a Queen too mean a reward for the merit of such an heroick action But why wert thou so generous to raise that hidden fire in my bosom to such a mighty flame if thou wilt now leave me to be consumed by it The Gods have allotted me too sad a fate if I could not live but by thy death and yet have ordained my life to be inseparable from thine When sighs interrupting her speech she laid her mouth so close to his that she seemed to breathe into him her own soul for holding her hand still upon his wound which stopped the blood he list up his eyes a little and looked her in the face but immediately closed them agen Whereupon she cryed our Ah do not so unkindly leave me Live my Heraclius live to add the glory of thy revenge to that of thy suffering She intreats thee to live for whose sake thou wert so willing to die Or if thy eyes are now shut for ever let thy spirit hover a while about this place to hear the vows which in stead of tears that would asswage if not extinguish the heat of a noble passion I here offer to appease thy offended ghost Be witness O you Gods I henceforth declare a professed hatred to the Roman Empire that Nursery of pride and ambition which not contented with any limits seeks to usurp the dominion of the whole earth and those Kings that do not willingly submit their necks to be trampled on either they endeavor by force to subdue or else employ their bloody Agents thus to massacre them even in their own Palaces But for every drop of blood that hath 〈◊〉 from this manly breast I will send thousands of Roman foâ—ls to lament their cruelty upon the Stygian banks I will pull that usurping Monarch from his throâ—e his insulting Princes shall feel the sharpness of my sword their Priests nor Elamens shall not escape the fury of my revenge or if amongst the Gods any can be so unjust to protect such monsters I will throw down their Altars and renounce their Deities and even Jove himself shall find the people of Sicily love their Queen and reverence her authority more then they fear his thunder and in contempt of his power I will set up Onions or Cats or what my own fancie shall best like to be adored in his chiefest Temples As she uttered these horrible blasphemies against the divine Powers which were enough to fright even the dead out of their graves Heraclius stirred a little and fetched a great groan insomuch that the Physitians who were instantly called being come upon the place and perceiving motion in him gave some hopes that his condition was not altogether desperate and desiring the Queen to commit him to their care which by the perswasions of the Lords that were about her she willingly granted they conveyed him to his lodging and having searched his wound assured her the danger was not great unless the abundance of blood which he lost had too much weakned him But when they had applied their remedies and given him some Cordials the signs of his amendment were more apparent for in a short time he recovered his speech and not long after took a little rest to which Theodora with infinite joy for the present left him Nevertheless her desire of revenge was nothing abated but immediately assembling her Councel after unheard of cruelties used upon the dead body of Castorax she published an Edict that diligent search should be made to apprehend all the Romans in her dominions which was accordingly done and those that could be taken of what age sex or condition soever were presently condemned to dye by most cruel tortures nor therewith satisfied the enacted a law that those who were found for the future should be procceded against with the like severity No Province City Town or Village but was filled with blood and slaughters For by reason of the strict league that till the reign oâ— Theodora had been between the Emperors and the Kings of this Island the Romans lived promiscuously amongst the Sicilians as if they had been one people but now such was the zeal they bore to their Queen that when they heard of the attempt made by one of that Nation against