Choice you may obtain that Excellency which is call'd Vertue And this you ought to seek above all the Pleasures in the World because it is the highest Perfection of which we are capable and is absolutely necessary to our Tranquillity the state of Vice being alwayes a Discomposure Since you are made to live in the Company of others like your selves in Nature the pleasure of your Life depends very much upon friendly Society and therefore you must endeavour to preserve an intire Charity with all your Neighbours and as you hope to be lov'd by others you must love them so truly as never to doe that to them which you would not have them doe to you The Rules which concern the ordering of your Actions in all Cases are very many because the Circumstances which make various Cases are infinite and therefore I cannot give you a perfect Catalogue of them all but you are sufficiently supplied with the Holy Gospel of our Saviour which I commend to your frequent perusal and charge you to reade the Commands which you find there as Indispensable Laws not to be talk'd of but obey'd You will hear also soft Whispers from your own Souls telling you truly what you ought to doe in most Cases I have left you some particular Assistances in writing which will direct you amongst other things what Books to reade The Rules which you will be able to frame to your selves by so many Helps you must learn by Experience to apply prudently to all Emergencies of your Life At present I shall only acquaint you with a few Directions which come into my Mind Perform all loving Obedience to your Mother whom I have made your Guardian knowing that now you must look upon her as your Father too Begin as soon as you can to accomplish your selves with those Perfections of which you are capable remembring that Youth is a very Imperfect thing and that the future Hopes of young men do so much depend upon an early Care that the neglect of it doth alwayes make the Happiness of their after-life difficult and in some cases unattainable Whilst you are young you must be afraid of your selves for that Age is so inconsiderate that though it most needs Advice yet it least regards it You know not by how many Years your Life is measur'd and therefore make such use of your present Time that you may not be prevented by Death or hindered by Diseases from doing that which is proper to your respective Ages Take pains to adorn your selves with all the decent Qualities which may make you acceptable to Wise and Good men Be not discourag'd with any Difficulties which you meet in the beginning of your Endeavours neither despond upon the perception of your Imbecillity remembring that there was a time when the most famous Philosophers could not reade the Alphabet Let nothing rifle the Modesty of your Souls which is a connate Preservative by which God hath fortified you against many Enormities Keep the Virgin-purity of your Souls unspotted If you consent to sin you will run into those Errours which you will never be able to forgive your selves whilst you live Bestow so much care upon your Body as will make it a fit Instrument for a thoughtful Soul Know the Proportions of your Meat Drink Sleep and Recreations and do not exceed them Abhor Idleness as the Mother of innumerable Sins but in toilsome Labours remember that the frail Body is not able to hold an equal pace with an immortal Spirit Neglect not Decency in your Apparel Gracefulness in your Gestures or Handsomeness of Speech only be sure to avoid Vanity in them all I would not have you sordid or affectate Take heed of contracting any foolish Habit because it is not only a Deformity but hard to be put off You must alwayes take an especial care with whom you associate your selves for you can no more promise your selves to come away unhurt by Evil Company then you can assure your Health in a Pest-house When you think of disposing your selves in a particular way of Life take that course to which you are most naturally inclin'd a particular Disposition is an Indication of Fitness and when you have engag'd your Thoughts endeavour at a moderate Perfection of Ability to discharge your Undertaking You must not think that you are come into a World where nothing is to be suffer'd and therefore inure your selves betimes to bear little Hardships and since you will be tempted with Flatteries from the way to true Felicity be sure you have a watchful Eye against the Delusions of Sensuality Take heed of being enslav'd with a fond Self-love and of being abus'd by the troublesome effect of it Self-pity or depress'd with too affectionate a sympathy with the mortal Body Endeavour to get Knowledge considering that an Ignorant person is but a blind Beast yet esteem humble Obedience infinitely above the greatest Knowledge and be sure to affect Goodness more then Honour or Riches When you are tempted to be proud remember the fallen Angels and when you perceive Humility disparag'd think of your Saviour Check the first Relishes of Self-excellency which you find in your Souls if they grow Vigorous they will ripen into Arrogant Thoughts and Deportment When men speak of Honour know that they usually mistake it for they make many vain things the Foundations of that which proceeds only from Vertue In your Actions propound to your constant Imitation one or two noble Examples and think often whether that which you doe would please Brave men and judge it a great matter to deserve the Estimation of those who are Good and accompt it a pitiful Weakness of Mind to fall out of your own favour by the Disapprobation of those whom you cannot but despise Look upon Contentment with your Portion as the greatest Inheritance which was ever enjoy'd in this poor World and having a moderate Estate be thankful and know that there only the purest Tranquillity is to be found Be obliging in your Deportment and according to that Revenue which God shall bestow upon you be Charitable to the Poor and let the Measure of your Alms be above the twentieth part of that which you yearly receive Avoid Envy in your way of Life as far as prudently you may if you have any thing that is Excellent you shall be sure to meet it and it is a very troublesome Devil Be strict in the Observation of Temperate Rules for Sobriety is the best sort of Physick and Health obtain'd by it one of the greatest Pleasures in the World Reproch none for their natural Imperfections and let the Deformity which appears in the Evil Manners of others alwayes endear your own Vertue to you and when you see the Unfortunate Examples of dreadful Falls in many whom you thought safe learn to secure your own Station Remember that by reason of Ignorance Incogitancy and Vicious 〈◊〉 men doe themselves more hurt then they suffer from others and therefore learn to watch
which seem'd to be firm ground by which means she did often so enfeeble the minds of simple people that they would return with her who made them a prey to Peirastes in whose Castle they were kept prisoners For her fair pretences were so inwardly malicious that though she could conquer none but such as foolishly yielded themselves up to her allurements she alwaies undid the self-taken Captives When she perceiv'd that these and such like Charms would not prevaile upon Nicomachus who had arm'd himself for greater Assaults she call'd to her Companion Nynhapanta for assistance who came forth with a splendid Coronet upon her head a golden Hook in her Hand and a basket of Atalanta's Apples upon her arme and attempted Nicomachus with much entreaty to accept of a Civility which many that pass'd that way did not refuse which was only to divert himself a while at her house which was in sight upon the Edge of a Hill joyning to the Valley of Agon Nicomachus with many thanks wav'd her offer alleging that he had not travail'd so far as to need a Bait and that he had so far to go that he could not stay to accept of it and therefore desired her that in stead of offering a Courtesie she would not do him a Hindrance Alas Sir quoth she you need not make such haste peradventure the place whither you are going will not give you such welcome as I shall It is not fit replyed Nicomachus to undervalue the favour which I cannot accept by comparing it with others The Country whither I am going shall content me with the meanest welcome If I can but arrive safe to it I seek no more It seems then you have heard great matters concerning it quoth Nynhapanta I have said Nicomachus To which Nynhapanta answer'd I see a small evidence of Truth will content a man of an easie Faith Reports concerning that Theoprepia are so different and the Excellencies of it are so weakly assured by any that I have heard talk of it that for my own part I wonder any wise man should ever move a step out of this pleasant place upon such uncertain informations I perceive you are a pretender to Vertue and a rival Lover of the Lady Arete which makes you so squeamish to receive the entertainments which I offer and according to the guise of your partners you think your selves oblig'd for her sake to abandon this present world and then presume that you have done such a great matter that you shall not fail to be rewarded for it in Theoprepia Some of your Faction are so high-minded that they applaud their Felicity in the Love of Arete with arrogant words and dote so much upon her Person that they will make lavish protestations that they care for no Portion This they may the better say because she hath but little But if she were accompanyed with a great Dowry they pretend it would not make her more lovely to them and therefore slighting such common Motives as they call them they avow that he is no true lover of Arete who needs such poor Incentives of his affection and that Love which doth desire any Addition with her is not so generous as to become her Suitors For my own part I wonder at their stupidity that they should talk of not loving that which makes their Mistresse more desirable and that they should not understand the folly of their affectionate Temper for though like fire it may shine bright for a while yet it must needs go out since they reject the fewel which should supply it with new Vigour But others which have seen this youthful heat evaporate being made more wary by their Experience say that though Arete's person is as amiable as any Creature can be yet she was never so despis'd by her father as to be denied a Portion and that it is such as only Arete is worthy of it But when those which do not understand that she hath any at alldemand what it is they say it is most in Reversion and when they are ask'd where it lies they reply in Theoprepia not in this world though that is all they ever saw but in another of which they give such an imperfect account that I think this sort of Wooers is almost as silly as those which would make us believe that they love Arete without a Portion since they know not what it is nor understand that she hath any at all but by hear-say As she was going to say more Anger begun to sparkle in the eyes of the good Nicomachus hearing Theoprepia blasphem'd and the Noble Arete dishonourably represented and he stop'd her with this smart Reply Hold thy tongue prophane Nymph thou hast said nothing but what I can disprove neither hast thou offer'd any thing but what I know to be a Vanity I have had experience of the falshood of all Sensible things they make a great Show indeed and promise largely but they have still made such untrue performances that I will never trust them any more And though you censure it as an Absurdity in those that pretend to love Arete for her person and think you have found a grosse Solecisme in their Affections alas you do but shew your own Ignorance For is not Beauty lovely in it self Are not all fair things by the nature of their Being amiable You may as well use other words and say that Loveliness is not amiable That Vertue which you disparage is the Beauty of the Soul and hath an Essential Pulchritude in its Constitution without any reference to any thing but it self as the natural unloveliness of Bodily deformity is acknowledged not to depend upon external appurtenances But you would teach Nature some new Lessons and have it work upon new Principles and make us believe that a Person of incomparable Beauty doth not rationally move any affection in the beholders till they have enquir'd whether her Handsomeness be accompanied with an equal Fortune Away with your grosse Ignorance If one haply fall into the converses of a Wise and Vertuous man who concealing his name doth by prudent Discourses and good Actions shew the Excellency of his Accomplishments you would not have us set any value upon his worth in this simple Consideration till we be assured that he is one of the richest men in the Country where he dwells I wonder you had not made some scruple also about the Parentage of the Divine Arete But as it is a known Truth that she is nobly descended so if it were doubted the unparallel'd graces which shine in her Composition would give a clear Evidence of her Original She is of such an Excellent Understanding noble Disposition and alwaies conversant in such honourable Actions that she is admired by all but such as never knew her But because she should not be disesteem'd in the world for want of such an Appendage as a Portion her Father hath endow'd her above any other of his Children for they have but an
reason to be sorry for my Father's Misfortunes Though my own Affliction be great I should easily slight it if I did not foresee that my Ruine is made a Prelude to his Destruction O subtile Malice Dost thou take away the Son as a Traitor who is the only Bulwark which my Father hath left against treasonable Attempts Is it possible my Father should think me so foolishly wicked as to endeavour to steal that which would be my own after a short time and which I had rather want for ever then blast the Glory of a lawful Possession by using the least indirect means to attain it Is Anaxagathus grown so strangely credulous that a Counterfeit Letter is a better Testimony then so many years Experience Did not Phaedra write an Epistle against Hippolytus and then hang her self but did that make him guilty of any sin against his Father Theseus But it is to no purpose to make Apologies when the Judge will give no Audience I could heartily wish that my Father may in some reasonable time be so far disabus'd as not to love Vertue less for my sake nor me for false Reports But I am afraid lest this black cloud which appears now over my Head will ere long discharge a storm upon our Family It is too plain a symptom that a Kingdom is not far from Destruction when the Methods of its safety are confounded with perverse Counsels This fatal Imprudence doth too commonly attend those who are destin'd to Ruine when adverse Fortune hath begun to afflict them they use contrary Medicines or delay to apply fit Remedies to their Distempers till they be grown incurable The Prince having finish'd this short Reflexion told Dogmapornes that he was ready to go along with him Dogmapornes conducted him a private way through the Grove which adjoyn'd to the Prince's Palace for fear of tumults However he could not carry the matter so privately but that the City and Army had notice of it Most of them retaining their former Goodwill to the Prince were ready to make an Insurrection for his Deliverance saying as they went up and down that the Prince was betray'd Those which were of Antitheus his party oppos'd them and ask'd them if they would rebel adding that nothing was done to Alethion but by the King's order Hereupon Misopseudes a prudent Senatour and one of the Prince's friends fearing that the Mutiny of the Army would turn to Alethion's prejudice told them that as there was no doubt of the Prince's Innocence so he made no question but that he would be speedily freed from his Imprisonment and to quiet this Humour he added that nothing could more confirm the suspicion which was already entertain'd concerning the Prince's guilt then in a Rebellious way to attempt his Vindication Having thus appeased the violence of the storm he returned to the King to intercede for the Prince When he was come to the Court he found them all surpriz'd with an uncouth Accident for an old Servant of the King 's who had ever a most passionate affection for the Prince having for a long time kept his bed by reason of a dead Palsey being told by the boy that attended him that Alethion was sent to Prison the old man amaz'd into a kind of recovery started up and by the help of his boy having got out of his bed and put on a Night-gown and supporting his feeble Body with a pair of Crutches went out of his Chamber crying Oh my dear Master my dear Master When he came to the King's Presence he cried out O my Lord do not believe any Reports against the Prince If there were never so many Letters and Hands and Seals Alethion is Innocent and the Tears running down his cheeks he added Sir you are abus'd you are abus'd The King vex'd with this unexpected Accident commanded his servants to take away the Impertinent Fellow There is no need of that said the Paralytick I will be gone of my own accord grant me your pardon for this offence for I will never trouble you more but let me tell you that you will repent of the Prince's Imprisonment When he had said this he returned to his bed and died immediately The King said nothing but those which stood by perceived that he was extremely troubled and as they guess'd look'd upon this Interposition as an ill Omen for it was known that the old man for many moneths was not able to stir in his bed but as he was moved by others Misopseudes Philalethes and some other of the Prince's Friends took an occasion from this Accident to speak in Alethion's behalf and desired him not to make any peremptory conclusion in his mind concerning the Prince's Disloyalty adding that though Letters were found yet possibly the Prince might not write them mentioning also the great Grief which the King's Subjects had conceived for the Prince's Restraint and ended with intreaties which they made to the King to give his Son leave to come to him that so he might have an opportunity to clear himself from his Accusations What replied the King do not I know my Son's Hand and Seal Shall I not believe my own Eyes Shall I not trust my own Judgment when I see so much cause to doubt the fidelity of such as have the least reason in the world to be unfaithful Do you tell me of the peoples Affections then it seems my Son hath engaged them against me but I will take care that he shall not head their Rebellion Anaxagathus was so far from accepting their Mediation that suspecting they were 〈◊〉 of some Design he commanded them to be arrested and committed prisoners to their lodgings in the City but by the advice of Antitheus who feared they might cause some disturbance he sent them into the Country and confin'd them to their Houses charging them not to return to Court without leave upon pain of Death Within four dayes Dogmapornes came back having secured the Prince under the Custody of Apronoeus his Lieutenant The next morning after his Return one of his Souldiers brought news that the Prince impatient of his Prison had dismiss'd himself from that and his Life both at once by throwing himself from the top of a high Tower into the River which ran by the Castle This Report was brought according to an agreement made between Antitheus and Dogmapornes for they durst not immediately murder the Prince fearing the King's mind might change Though the news was false they looked upon it as serviceable to their Purpose which was as soon as they could to destroy the King and having done that to use this report as a fair colour for that which they meant to doe next For they resolved then privately to doe that themselves which they now affirmed the Prince to have done and so make one Sin a Disguise for another When this news came to the King's Ears it is easie to imagine what grief it convey'd to his already-distressed Heart but the 〈◊〉 was infinitely