Oh Tirintes Tirintes Canst thou know who did this damned act and live or breath without revenge This Shepherd in this mind went as fast as ever he could to seek Alciron transported with so much fury that had he met him he had never told who hurt him In the mean time Silvanire grew worse and worse and none looked for any thing but death Amongst those that were in the Chamber and who sadly resented this loss was the sad Aglantes whose grief was so great that he swooned almost as soon as she Menander also and Lerice whose hopes and comfort was in this Fair Daughter seeing her in this sad condition they repented that they had lived so long and accused the Gods of cruelty in bestowing so many rare endowments upon Silvanire and depriving them of her so soon all eyes that saw her in this state were turned into tears in such abundance that nothing could be heard but sighs groans and great lamentations At the last she being in extream agony and not looking to live she forced her self to speak thus unto her Father and Mother who stood sighing and sobbing by her bed side Father said she I am afraid lest the Gods should be offended at your excessive sorrow for my death you know better then I call tell you that life is not more natural then death and those who begin to live begin it with a condition to dye why then should you be sorry that I am now ready to pay that debt which all humanes are obliged to pay unto death Perhaps you are sorry the Fatal Sisters have spun the thred of my life no longer and your good nature makes you desire that as you preceded me in life so you might in death But Oh my dear Father consider how good and wise the Gods are who foreseeing the miserable condition of a young woman that is deprived of Father and Mother they would not leave me in this wicked world without a guide if you do but consider this favour which they do me you will acknowledg it to be the greatest they ever gave me But perhaps you will complain that having taken so much care and bestowed so much cost in my education I should now be taken from you when I am best able to render you those services which I ow. I must confess that if any consideration can move me to desire longer life it is this for it is a kind of ingratitude not to desire the payment of that debt which I ow at this word her pain forced her to stop and recover a little strength and she gave leisure unto all that heard her to admire her wisdom and courage thinking her to resemble a Candle which gives greatest light at the last end this consideration forced so many sighs and tears from all that heard and saw her as they were not able to speak so as when she had recollected a little strength she spoke again unto Menander and Lerice in this manner I have many things to say but my end which I perceive approacheth does hinder me only I beseech you both my dear Father and Mother to conform your selves unto the divine will of God and assure your selves that I should depart from hence more contentedly then ever I lived were I but eased of two burthens which extreamly oppress me Menander then forcing himself to speak discharge your heart my dearest child said he unto her and assure your self that as never Father had a better child then I so never child had a Father who loved her more then I do you This permission said Silvanire is the only thing that can make me leave this life with contentment which since you are pleased to allow I shall tell you Father and Mother also that I was extreamly troubled having received so many favours and benefits from your goodness and having been hitherto so unhappy in my return of that service which I ow unto you both as I shall grieve in my very soul if your good natures does not make it appear that you accept my good will and desires in recompence of so many infinite services which I ow. Then Menander kissed her and with flowing eyes said your good desires sweet child are accepted far above the duty or service which you ow great God be praised said she but alas dâ—â—e I discharge my self wholly Indeed best Father and Mother I want courage and must ask a new permission or else I cannot Lerice and Menander also and all that heard her could not forbear their sighs to see her pain and their admiration to hear her speak even when every one judged her to be at the last gasp all that were about the bed pressed Menander to give her a speedy permission which he freely did and then Silvanire fetched a deep sigh and lifting her eyes up to Heaven to shew her extream contentment and forced her self to utter these weak words You have both of you so often taught me that ingratitude is the most detestable vice amongst humanes as I think the Gods would never forgive me if I presented my self before them stained with that horrid sin Therefore I cannot hide the extream contentment which this your permission brings me since by it I may not only wash away the crime but also the thought that I was guilty of it Then taking a little breath and striving against the violence of her disease she continued thus You see said she and pointed at Aglantes that Shepherd who stands at my beds-feet and who seems to resent my sickness so sadly be pleased most dear Father and Mother to know that ever since the infancy of our days he has had so great affection to me that perhaps not any about the River of Lignon can equal him and yet all this while I do protest I never could observe in him the least action or word that could offend the most modest maid upon earth but the great Gods who know my actions my words and my most secret thoughts are my witnesses and judges whether in all this time I ever let this Shepherd know that his amity and affection was pleasing unto me And yet Aglantes do not think that any scorn was the cause of it for I know you deserve better then what you desire but it was only the duty of a maid as I am which constrained me to use you so Upon this word feeling her self extreamly in pain Oh death said she with a deep sigh I beseech thee stay a little longer and give me leisure to end that discourse which I began Then taking a little breath Oh Aglantes said she though I have been brought up in these Woods and amongst wild Rocks yet am I not so insensible as they your Virtue your Love and your Discretion did work that effect in me which you desired but knowing that my Father had a design to 〈◊〉 me otherwise then with you and being resolved never to dis-obey my Parents I resolved also never to let you know that good
understood since was looking for the Tomb of that Shepherdess that he might there end his days When he saw her first he had an opinion that it was some delusion of his Fancy but afterwards knowing him to be Tirintes and hearing her voice he knew that she was alive whom he thought to be dead and fell into such an extream passion that he fell furiously upon Tirintes so doubtless one of them had ended his days for they were both extreamly incensed had not a great number of Shepherds come in and parted them and who seizing upon the miserable Tirintes brought him hither before you oh sage Cloridamantes to be punished according to the quality of his offence But all these that came in the company did not come upon the same cause for the joy and contentment of Menander Lerice and Aglantes was so great that they would willingly have forgotten the injury or at the least would have disdained all revenge But their coming is to have judgement upon another difference which hath hapned since Be pleased to know therefore oh Reverend Father That this great Tumult being appeased and Tirintes in the hands of those who have brought him hither Aglantes full of joy to see the fair Silvanire risen from the dead or to say better born again addressing himself unto Menander and Lerice he besought them both that they would be pleased to consummate his happiness by a conclusion of this so much desired marriage as thinking that the delay of such a happy union could not be profitable unto any Menander at the first stood a while mute seeming as if he heard not but Aglantes seconding his first desire with most earnest supplications he took notice that Menander walking about the room with his hands behind him he muttered so as none could understand him or as if he was deaf on that ear but he went shaking his head as it is usual for one to do that would deny a request This silence and this action did exceedingly surprize Aglantes for he thought his marriage so sure that when he saw the old man make a doubt of it he first grew pale and afterwards was taken with an extream trembling Many of the Shepherds that were in the room wondering at the silence of Menander and his way of proceeding they drew nearer and seeing Aglantes in that condition to wit almost beside himself they feared that if Menander did not keep his word some fatal accident would befal his house therefore gathering about him they beseeched him not to trouble their great joys by such an alteration as appeared to be in him But Menander not so much as giving them a look he walked still on and held his eyes fixed upon the ground Friends said he unto them at last New matters new resolutions How replied Aglantes New matters new resolutions What do you mean by that My menning is replied Menander That when I promised my daughter unto yon I thought her dead and so I am contented she should be yours But now since thanks be to heaven she is alive I mean to dispose of her another way Menander answered Aglantes you have already given your Daughter unto me her Mother consents unto it and Silvanire would have it so I have accordingly taken her I conceive her to be mine and none can take her from me but they must take away my life also Your life replied Menander is nothing unto me but my Daughter is my own and none can take her from me you cannot pretend unto her by vertue of my promise for if promises oblige Theantes may better claim her as his because I made a promise unto him long before any to you Therefore Aglantes if you have a mind to marry you may do well to look for a wise somwhere else Oh ye good Gods cryed out Aglantes stamping his foot against the ground and striking his hands together Oh heavens oh Earth is there any Justice amongst men Is it not beyond the bounds of any patience to endure so great a wrong All the Shepherds who heard them talk thus fearing and with reason some great disaster if this dispute went any further they gathered themselves together and were of opinion that the best course was to present themselves before you and receive such judgement as in your prudence you should think most fit in such a case It was not without much ado that they consented unto it for Menander thought it an undervaluing himself and his daughter and Aglantes could not endure a thing so justly his due should be so much as disputed or put unto the arbitriment of men yet at last by the mediation of friends and kinred they were perswaded to submit unto whatsoever should be ordained by you Fossinde had no sooner ended but Menander transported with rage and not staying till the Druide gave him permission to speak he stood up and in a loud voice began thus I do demand Justice Oh sage Cloridamantes against the insolency of this age which would take away from a Father that power which nature hath given him over his child I do conjure you to maintain that which all Laws ordains all customs observe and all the world approves of I demand no novelties since from the beginning of time Fathers have used to dispose of their own children I require nothing but what is just since nothing is more equitable then for every one to be the Master and Lord of his own workmanship and I require nothing but what is according to natural sence and reason since it is reasonable that those whom a grave experience has preferred above others should be believed and obeyed in what they advise and appoint The whole dispute rests upon this single point whether a Father may not dispose of his child as he will If the negative then I have lost my cause but then I would advise all Fathers never to care for having any children nor to trouble themselves with giving any education unto them since they are not their children but their companions nay their Masters if the Proverb be true which says Have a Companion and have a Master Then will the Father who is Lord Paramont in his little Republique be outed of his Dominion by him whom he bred in his own bosom Oh most depraved age I have seen the time when if a child had in the least circumstance dis-obeyed the command of a Father he had been hissed at in the street and pointed at by every finger but now it is grown wit to domineer it is courage and spirit to slight commands and it is duty in a child to usurp authority from the Father The name of Father sage Cloridamantes does signifie absolute Lord and Soveraign Master of his child This being so I am most confident that you honour the Gods so far as to maintain my Title and Prerogative over this young Daughter which is mine and whom I have brought up with such abundance of care cost and paines For my part I
will use no other argument but this she is my Daughter if she be mine I may dispose of her as I please If the disposition of her be taken from me It must also be declared that she is none of mine and if I may dispose of her I do give her unto the Shepherd Theantes according to my promise long since made unto him of this Aglantes cannot complain because he has no right but what he claims by promise but if my promise oblige then that promise which I made first unto Theantes has much more strength and validity in it by reason of precedency and therefore I conclude that Oh Aglantes if you have any desire to marry you must seek somewhere else for a wife Thus Menander ended and Aglantes offered to answer but because Silvanire thought that his passion perhaps would make him over sharp in his argument she pulled him by the arm and interrupted him beseeching Cloridamantes to appoint some other to answer for them whose spirit was less possessed with anger and choller for else said she Aglantes in the heat of passion may utter somthing which may displease Menander Cloridamantes admiring the discretion of this young woman man and imposing silence upon Aglantes he looked amongst all the Company for one that should speak in his behalf and after he had veiwed them all he made choise of Sylvander to answer Menander and plead those reasons which Aglantes could alledge The Shepherd would gladly have excused himself because he was in no good humour but thinking it a crime to refuse any thing the Druide commanded he undertook it so after he had required a little time to consider how he should frame his Arguments he began thus The answer of Sylvander in behalf of Aglantes and Silvanire THE weight which you lay upon me Oh wise Cloridamantes is a little too heavy for my weak shoulders to bear for it is not a light matter to speak in this place or to undertake the cleering of the duty from a child to the father or the authority of a father over his child there are few here who are not interested either as a father or as a child and to hold the ballance so even as it shall not lean more on one side then another is not a thing so easie as many may perhaps think it Do not think Aglantes that if by the command of this Reverend Druide I do undertake to answer Menander it is any way to maintain that children are not obliged to obey their parents God forbid I should utter such a word for all our services and all our obedience that we can render unto them cannot acquit us of that duty which we ow unto them neither would I have Menander think that if I do declare the exact obedience of children to their Parents I do infer thereby as you do that the Father has power to do what he will with his child 'T is true the Gods have named them Fathers but has not made them absolute Lords of men but it is rather to shew the love that the Gods do bear unto them because nothing can more resemble it then the love of a Father to his child and to teach men that they ought to ask all things that are necessary for them and expect them from their goodness For that tyrannical authority which you suggest is not that which Fathers ought to have over their children that does too much resemble the authority of a Master over his slave there is a vast difference between a child and a slave 'T is true a Father ought to be obeyed in all things but still with this proviso that the Father do command as he ought and according to reason for a child is more obliged to obey reason then any one that can command him for it is reason which gives him a soul and makes him different from irrational animals and this soul is it which gives him his very being A man Menander is composed of a soul and a body the body he has from his Father but that is common with all brutes The soul he has from God and this soul is rational consider now whether a man be obliged more to him that gives the body or to him that gives the soul I think then you will conclude with me that a child is not bound to obey the command of the Father if the command be against reason for in such a case his obedience would be a sin and therefore I say Fathers have no such absolute power as you imagine nay perhaps they have no power at all if they go beyond the bounds of reason 'T is true the child ought not of himself to judg whether the commands of the Father be just or unjust or unreasonable unless they be so apparently gross that common sence will shew them so but if the child do at any time doubt he ought alwayes to incline towards the obeying side and that he think his Father more wise and better able to judg then himself until those who are constituted judges do determine and declare it otherwise Now the case which is presented before you at this time Wise Cloridamantes is of this nature for here is Menander who is not willing that Silvanire should marry Aglantes but would have her marry another Shepherd she who is wise and knows how far the name of daughter does oblige her unto obedience she presents her self before you to know whether the command be reasonable or no It is you Wise Druide that must set down the Law unto her for she is ready to obey it the reasons of Menander are that absolute power which he pretends unto over his child that the promise which he made unto Aglantes does not oblige him for two reasons the first because he promised Theantes before the second that though he did promise her unto Aglantes yet it was when he thought his daughter would dye that same hour The reasons of Silvanire and Aglantes for they are inseparable are that the promise which he made unto Theantes was never consented unto by Silvanire and her consent unto Aglantes was not only in the presence of Menander and Lerice but also by their permission consent and approbation that the essence of marriage consists principally in the will of the two parties who do marry and therefore reasons tels her that she is more obliged to perform this last promise then that which Menander made unto Theantes unto which she was never privy though had she been called she would have consented As to that point of Menanders that his intention was not to suffer this marriage but only because he belived his daughter would dye the same hour Aglantes answers that contracts are never made by thoughts but by words for thoughts are not to be dived into Sylvander would have proceeded when Menander transported with extream impatience did interrupt him But upon the first word he uttered Cloridamantes commanded him to be silent and Sylvander also when