time that the Countess of Barcellona a young and vertuous Princess lost her Husband band Though he was now old his Council and Subjects found that for the safety of his Person and Estate it were to be wish'd he could leave more than one Heir and pray'd him to that purpose to choose a Wife to his mind in his own Countrey or amongst his Neighbours The Beauty and Vertue of the Countess were known beyond Aragon And besides that reason of State requir'd that an occasion of joyning to his Kingdom a Town so important as Barcellona should not be lost the inclination of the King did entirely carry him to it Rosalva for so she was call'd was fair enough and Judicious as she was fair and finding her self a Sovereign Princess nothing less than a Scepter could tempt her to a second Marriage But having only one Daughter and the King of Aragon but one Son she believed that it was not only to make her self a Queen but to leave an hereditary Kingdom to her Daughter and that being amidst many Neighbours who design'd upon her State she could not be blam'd for securing it by putting a Crown upon her head She easily agreed then to lose the name of Countess of Barcellona to be Queen of Aragon and was received with all the Joy and Magnificence possible Being young fair and witty in a short time she absolutely govern'd the King and soon after the whole Kingdom The most important Affairs were not determin'd without her advice And the King had quitted all sorts of care for that of pleasing her But in this great Power her main design was to marry her Daughter with the Prince and the knowledge she had of her Son in Law daily augmented in her the desire of this union Alcidalis 't was the name of the Prince was born so happily and with so many advantages of Nature that one of his least qualities was to be Son to a King He had a Beauty which gain'd the hearts of all that look'd upon it a Wit which in the first years of his age found no equal and a height of Soul and Courage which gave respect and fear to all the World The Childhood of Alexander was not greater nor more marvellous than his There past no day wherein he did not say or do something which astonish'd all the Court Those who had the art to judge of mens Fortunes by the lines of their Faces spy'd promises of many great and incredible events in his And those who consider'd his Actions and his great Qualities said the Crown of Aragon was too small for a head like his They foresaw that the Moors who were the Neighbours of his Father should one day be forc'd to put the Sea between him and them and that no more time was necessary to give up Spain to one mans power than was needful to give this young Prince strength to draw his Sword All these qualities daily augmented the Queens affection towards him who knew him better than any She wish'd with impatience an occasion to effectuate the Marriage which she had projected and did not esteem it so great an advantage for her Daughter to be Queen of Aragon as to be Wife to Alcidalis But whatever we say of Fortune it must be confess'd there 's no prudence like hers She establishes her designs so far off and guides them by such secret paths that 't is impossible for our foresight to hinder them and in despite of our conduct she arrives at the end of what she enteprizes She had resolv'd to combat the Prudence of Rosalva and see she brings from beyond the Seas an infant Maid who an Orphan and a Stranger shall overthrow the designs of a most powerful and prudent Queen The Prince of Tenarus of one of the most Illustrious Families in the Kingdom of Calabria and which had formerly given Kings to Naples and Sicily had a great and important Succession in Aragon which he resolv'd to go in person and possess himself of because it was disputed him But extreamly loving his Wife and both of them having a great passion for an only Daughter about the age of six years they could not resolve to part but pass'd with all their Family to Aragon They were receiv'd of the King and Queen with all the goodness and civility due to Strangers and to Strangers of their quality and merit But soon after their arrival the Prince fell sick and in few days died leaving his Wife in a despair wherein 't was not likely she could live long She receiv'd from the Queen whose affection she had gain'd all the consolation and assistance she could wish in her affliction and in her Affairs Rosalva had always found the Princess to her mind but after her misfortune pity did in such a manner increase the affection she bore her that she began to love her as her self She lodg'd her in the Palace and had so much care of keeping her near her person that it seem'd she lost somewhat when ever she parted from her and that she was not at all her self where Camilla was not 'T was so they call'd this afflicted Princess In the mean time these extraordinary kindnesses of the Queen which perhaps were capable of curing any other malady but hers wrought no other effect in her than to sweeten it a little and to cause her bear her grief with less impatience and despair And to say the truth the death of the Prince her Husband in such an ill conjuncture was so rude a shock and so hard to support that all the goodness and consolation of the Queen could not hinder her being arrested for want of nourishment and sleep by a sickness which she presently judg'd would be the last of all her Evils This extreamly griev'd the Queen who passionately wish'd her health She conjur'd the most expert Physicians to practise the greatest secrets of their Art but though at her solicitations they employ'd all their skill and spar'd no diligence the sickness of the Princess prevail'd upon all their Remedies Which she well knew and resolv'd to follow the Prince her Husband with all the tranquillity which could be permitted by the only trouble she had in death of leaving her Daughter in her need and leaving her an Orphan in an age so little capable of Reason and in a strange Countrey where she could not hope assistance but from the goodness of the Queen During these different thoughts which agitated her in the height of sickness the Queen who visited her as often as possible having demanded how she did Camilla sweetly turning her eyes upon her took her hand which she kiss'd often without speaking then on a sudden addressing her voice she told her That she had infinite obligations to the best Queen in the World for the interest she took in her health That seeing she did her the honour to enquire into the truth of her condition she would please to suffer her to say she felt her self drawing
them or some conceal'd mystery The Ladies in the mean time they laugh upon the publick Faith as if they understood the subtleties if they meet with any man that will not quit Reasons side to comply with them God knows with what scorn they use him and how he shall be handled in all places where these Starlins assemble to whistle They believe nothing such an enemy to wit as Silence they infinitely esteem their Judgment which furnishes them with decisions for every thing upon the place In fine by force of admiring one another they are brought to think they are at the top of an agreeable conversation And now we have examin'd their Wit which we find in pitiful plight let us consider their bravery We shall quickly discover that their highest design is to guild a Coach or to vary a Livery or as Malherbe says Le perfum d'un colet Le point couppé d'un chemise Et la figure d'un balet We find them busied as Women to dress and trick up themselves and with such indecent Effiminacy that 't is left to us to divine not only if they are Men but whether they seek not other men In the mean time the presumption of being Sparks gets up into their pates they esteem themselves worth the Courtship of an Amazon Queen and all run the same danger for their Beauty which the Narcissus of the Fable did In this condition they choose rather the Fortune of Paris who was Fair as they and possest Helen than that of Ajax But they merit the Reproach which in Homer is given to this Original of Effeminateness Lasche Paris au visage tres-beau and deserve to be treated as this Divine Poet handles this little Wanton when amidst so many thousand Combatants he brings him in flying the Battel to go lie with his Wife From their Conversation and their Persons let us pass to their Manners Amongst other faults Libertinism offers it self first for as their end is not to stop at a union of Wills and Hearts but to proceed on as they say to something more solid they employ the utmost force of their Wits to debauch the Consciences of Ladies by a pure malignity of Nature Without having any occasion to doubt as learned Libertines have they jest with Religion they commit a hundred indecent actions in the Church With five or six passages out of Charon and Montague which the ablest among them preach to the rest they pretend to overthrow all Divinity The rest of their Sentiments are nor noble nor high they think nothing worthy the Vertue of their Ancestors the wings of Love cannot raise them to any generous thoughts every day passes alike the flower of their Lite slides away in a shameful and unquiet Idleness whilst they are seated in their Chairs extended in their Coaches or bring disorder into Families that receive them But 't is not in these times only that such kind of People make a trade of imbroiling Families for you know the Centaurs the first Cavaliers of the World came to the wedding of Perithous only to make Love and by consequence they disturb'd the Feast I should be too long if after the Gentleman I should examine the Town-Child I will content my self to say by the by he is one that believes himself an able man that will talk Latin amongst his Kinswomen and before his Mistresses that will judge of the Merit of his Rivals by their Money that wanting Experience in the World will want Politeness and Agreement In the mean time the Citizen and the Gentleman governed by their Passions neglect all the duties of Life ruine their Domestick affairs abandon together with their Friends the thoughts of their Fortune Honour and Reputation and render themselves wholly despisable and all this for the Love of Ladies According to this sense the Greeian Sculptors whose Works often taught Morality carv'd a Venus upon a Hee-Goat thereby comparing a man subjected to the power of Women to this Animal which is blindly led to all the unruliness of Love but chiefly they were admirable for the invention of a Figure which they erected over the Tomb of that famous Courtizan who had seen all Greece on their knees before her Gate and to whom they built a Sepulchre at Corinth near to the Temple of Venus the Brown these Masters placed a Lioness emboss'd which tore in pieces a Ram. I should never have done should I recount all the Errours of this Sex when they once fall in Love and yet if I would take the pains 't would amount to a great Argument against the contrary Opinion For how can we conclude young men should learn any thing that is good of persons that are accompanied with nothing but Vanity Weakness Inequality Treachery that have nothing sincere nothing great who have double Hearts counterfeit Faces and Actions Would it not rather draw to a consequence that these Young men by conversing with Women should lose all seeds of Goodness and all inclination which their Souls might have to Vertue Nor is it this Vertue Women seek for they still choose the worst Venus leaves Mars for Adonis Helena Menelaus for Paris You are in a fair way cries M. Ch. and if we let you go on 't is very likely you will not stop in haste for you take a marvellous pleasure in this Story and I foresee something very odd like to scape you if I do not prevent the Storm You have reason pursued M. M. and to tell you true if you had not hindred me I was strangely tempted to tell you the Story of Giocondo and the Matron of Ephesus with others of that nature Reserve those to another time replies M. Ch. and I am not of opinion you ought any longer to give way to your Choler and to spare you an unprofitable pains you may remember if you please that when we enquir'd of you concerning those pretended Maximes you attributed to Ladies we did not ask for the Dialogues of Lucian's Courtizans nor Juvenal's sixteenth Satyr nor the life of Celestina we would have you tell us of Artemisia Penelope Lucretia I take you at your word says M. M. on condition you will not except against these Test monies you have demanded and that you will judge of Women upon the depositions of Artemisia Penelope and Lucretia and that after this you will be content I end a Discourse which in my opinion hath no need of further proof For Artemisia continued he I know no declar'd Gossip that would not be ashamed of the transports of this Queen I do not speak of those which her affection caused they were just they were honest and if her grief had stifled her whilst she complains of fortune when she drown'd her face in tears and said against the stars what could be said Tout ce que fait dire la rage Quand elle est Maistresse des Sens. I say if she had expir'd then it may be that to this time her Friendship would be as
that Thaeles which you esteem wiser than all his six Companions together finding this Maid accommodating the Hair of Anacharsis whom the Barbarians oppos'd alone to all the Sages of Greece he kiss'd her and pray'd her to dress up the Scythian in such a manner that he might appear handsom to the Company that were to Sup with Periander You see then that Beauty is not a fault in men and that what Faults they have cannot be imputed to Love And are you not of this opinion when in that part of your discourse wherein you imploy our Gallants to debauch and pervert the Consciences of our Ladies you blame them for not being content with a union of hearts and wills whereby you seem to acknowledge as well as I an honest Love which may there be terminable and that those who pass those bounds by Excess corrupt Love and are not corrupted by it 'T is true answer'd M. Menage I did merrily tell you that these Gentlemen would not stop there but I did not say they ought to do so and to examine the matter better if you reduce your honest Love to these Spiritual affections I fear your defence is but ill grounded Not but that I know how Philosophers in all times have boasted of this Union of hearts but I know also what Cicero observes that these People wrote magnificently concerning things which they practis'd no better than the Common people and the conceit of a Greek Poet pleases me well who saith he can no more be perswaded that a Lover does adore without hoping any thing than that a Beggar does importune a Rich man without pretending to draw an Alms from him After all you know how those Stoick Philosophers were laugh'd at in Atheneus who said they had no design but upon the Soul Here you will alledge what Plutarch writes that the love of the Body cannot be call'd Love and that Euripides contends for a Love that only pursues the mind and that in fine an Italian calls the Union of hearts Vltima speme di cortesi amanti But after all we must return to Nature which hath an end more noble and more necessary that is the continuation of the Species and which draws us to it by the charms of Beauty and conclude that in despite of all these refin'd Reasonings that these Spiritual Lovers dwell only in the imagination of those who feign them In this particular says M. Trilport I fall in with the Opinion of M. Menage and for my part I believe that it was the opinion of the Ancients but those who have descanted upon their Love Treatises have a little too much subtiliz'd their thoughts For instance What would you have us judge of the Discourse which Socrates holds in the Banquet of Zenophon but that he approves the Love where the Body hath its part as well as the Mind seeing 't is said that the whole Company were so touch'd with this Discourse that those who were Married hastned home to make much of their Wives and all the Young people swore to Marry forthwith Truly added I seeing one of the Ancients said Beauty was the flower of Vertue I cannot think M. Ch. will be so unjust to forbid honest people loving this Flower on the contrary I assure my self he will judge of Loves as of Orange-trees which are the fairer for bearing Flower and Fruit together and that he will also believe that Love must be so much the more satisfactory by how much the Lady we serve is Fair. I will not meddle with you two replies M. Ch. having enough to do to save a wholsom Proposition from the art and force of M. Menage Besies I am not at such distance from your last opinion And if you mark'd my words I said Love might cofine it self to a Union of hearts not that it ought and in my opinion it may pass further provided it does not lead us into disorder That which further keeps me from blaming your Opinion is that I hold the nature of perfect Love to be such that it grows in the possession of what we love for a generous mind cannot receive new favours without augmenting its Passion Thus when I have granted you that Love tends to enjoyment I must add at the same time that the Good tend to it by good ways of Honour Vertue and fair qualities which render a man lovely and that we endeavour to acquire them when we love after this manner On the contrary those who manage their passion ill and who love without choice imploy evil means whence it happens that their intreagues being ill conceiv'd and ill conducted are not lasting end with Scandal and during their course are travers'd with continual disorders Confess now that in this Chapter you find me less severe than you expected We find you says M. Trilport in this as in all the rest of your Sentiments very reasonable And I adds M. M. am content to agree with you here and in the mean time replies M. Ch. this will not favour your Opinion for though I confess to you that the Body makes up part of the Object which Love propounds to it self this will not say that Love is irregular as you think but on the contrary renders it more accomplish'd and the possession of Beauty is a Cord that binds it more strongly and more sweetly but this is when we use it well and that we choose before we love Let us come now to an apology for the Ladies which you handle after a strange rate You will tell me you mean only the Gossips if so we are agreed for your discourse does not touch me but this Invective was too general and 't is not to be thought that a man who hath attack'd the reputation of Penelope and Lucrece aims only at those who make profession of being fair and lay out for a great many Servants However I am willing to believe that in this you have imitated Euripides who blam'd upon the Theater the Sex he ador'd in private and that you have not spoken ill of them because you believ'd it or because you have been wronged by them and the design of well defending your Paradox hath made you betray your Conscience for I know no man respects or esteems Ladies more than you to say nothing of your Loves in which you pass for the true pastor fido But this Consideration shall not stop me from assaulting your discourse and as you have appear'd to us a great Enemy of Ladies I find my self obliged to defend them from your accusation which I will make appear to you is more ingenious than true In effect 't is easie to sustain their Cause if 't were unjust their Beauty only would suffice to plead it You must remember the Judges of Greece and the Courtizan Phrine this Woman was accus'd Hyperides defended her he was a famous Oratour and one from whom might be expected all the succours of Eloquence but the cause being very foul and the Judges severe
gave the next to those affairs which 't was thought led her thither The day after 't was told her a Ship which bore her Name enter'd the Port. She said she would presently go and see it In their way they beheld all that pomp of the Sea which is so pleasant to see when we are on the Shore But nothing could be a divertisement to Zelide her heart told her that the Evils she had foreseen began to tread upon her heels and on all sides she fear'd Ambushes The Queen put her self into a Boat and bid Zelide follow her She found the Captain aboard and his Wife and after she had taken a view of the Vessel she shut her self up with them in the Cabin This augmented the Suspicions of Zelide and with tears in her eyes she cast a look upon the Land and began to doubt if she should ever return thither An hour after the Captain and his Wife came out and told Zelide the Queen call'd for her All her Blood at this instant froze in her Veins The Queen bid her shut the door and thus deliver'd her self 'T is long since Zelide that we lost together you the best Mother in the World and I the best Friend The affection I had for her will never be lost in me nor the memory of her last words wherewith she pray'd me to have a care of you If this consideration had not ingag'd me yet your Beauty Parts and Virtue would have oblig'd me to it And having nourish'd you thus long and found in you with advantage all those qualities which endear'd her to me I should not be reasonable if I had not a kindness for you too And I may say that in this I have done more than she desir'd She pray'd me to love you as her Daughter and I have always lov'd you as mine She whom the Heavens only gave me in the World lost the name of only from the day I took charge of you I have had the same affection and the same tenderness for you as for her and I have consider'd the one and the other as if you were equally mine It being so and not one of your actions or any thing that concern'd you having been indifferent to me you may believe it hard that I should not have some knowledge of that passion which your Beauty without your consent hath bred in the mind of Alcidalis and that as well as you I have been often troubled about the wrong it might do you You know what trust is to be given to persons of his age and condition who have equally the priviledge to deceive and to deny And I make you Judge if it be possible the affection he hath for you can ever be advantagious to you You see as well as I all the reasons that will not permit it You are too wise ever to have hop'd it and though it should be in his power and yours you are Just enough and grateful enough not to desire it I know your Vertue Zelide and I know there is nothing in the World which can endanger it But as great as it is you cannot take from the Prince occasions of visiting you nor from others of speaking of you All that your Vertue can do in this is to hinder the evil but it cannot hinder the fame and I know of what prejudice this report is to persons of your Sex and particularly what displeasure it causes to persons of your wisdom and honour I thought therefore 't was my part to come in to your assistance and that 't was time to perform the Promises I made your Mother The Duke of Tarant is a Prince wise and vertuous considerable in Italy and esteem'd of all his Neighbours He by his Letters and Messengers hath long since declar'd to me a great passion for you I would not tell you of it till the matter was certain and fully ripe This day I understand he expects you Zelide to give you possession of his Estate and Person He that Commands this Vessel left him but fifteen days since and promis'd him on my part to carry you thither in as many more Diligence and Secresie for reasons I cannot now acquaint you with are so important that 't is needful you depart this minute I doubt not but your good nature will cause in you some regret to leave us But though we are separated by the Sea our affections shall not be less united In fine you ought to be glad of returning into a Countrey where you will find your Estate your Kindred and the place of your Birth But though this should not be your will 't is enough to let you know that 't is mine Besides the power that my quality gives me over you I have that of a Mother which lends me more authority Consent then and willingly agree to a thing which besides that it is just is also necessary and by a ready obedience to what I counsel and command you at once make appear that modesty you owe to your self and that respect you owe to me This you may easily resolve to do for he you think so faithful to you and who ought most to oppose it is the first that consented to it With these words she imbrac'd her and pretending she would not take a long adue for fear of afflicting her too much left the Cabin Grief despite shame rage and the excess of the Misfortune did so oppress the Spirits of Zelide that not being able to speak a word or stir a foot she remain'd in the condition wherein the Queen left her and doubtless 't was the best wherein she found her self for a long time after seeing that at this first brunt she felt nothing All our powers are so weak and so limited that we are not capable of any thing extraordinary and as a great light blinds us and a great noise deasens us great Griefs are not felt no more than great Joys are She had remain'd thus without motion a quarter of an hour when at last her Spirits buried under this sudden ruine of all things beginning to return she thought there would be no remedy to this evil if she did not find one in this instant so she runs out of the Cabin intending to cast her self at the Queens feet and to try if she could change her mind But when they told her she was gone and that she saw they were got out to Sea she cast her eyes upon the shore and her thoughts upon what she had left there and on a sudden took up a resolution which seem'd to quiet her Then with a serene countenance turning towards those about her she spake some few words and seeming to receive the Consolations they tender'd she went to her Bed and pray'd them to leave her to her rest Miserable Alcidalis thou art now counting the moments as they pass and when thou thinkest of the eight days in which thou shalt not see Zelide this term appears infinite Whilst she is remov'd from
the Cabinet of Jewels into the Sea lest she should be discover'd by them After that she pray'd her to cut her Hair and then with Tears in her eyes seeing what Fortune constrain'd her to made her bring a Sute of her Husbands Clothes which she put on In the mean time the Ships now known to be of Africa were within Canon-shot and finding that our Ship pretended to defend her self discharg'd a Broad-side ours did the same but with different success for having done no hurt to the Enemy it lost Mast and Sails At this noise Zelide came out and put her self amongst the most resolute and where there was most danger believing by this means she should find her death or better disguise her self The Combat was so unequal it could not last long The Corsairs quickly boarded the Ship where having kill'd ten or twelve of the stoutest and amongst them the Captain the rest ask their lives The Commander of these Vessels was of of the Kingdom of Bareba a part of Africa which confines on one side with Egypt on the other with Nubia These people extreamly Savage know not what-Commerce is and have no other way of communicating with Strangers but by vanquishing of them and carrying away Merchants and Merchandize What we call Stealing they say is to gain upon the Enemy and call that Valour which we style Piracy What they can have at the price of their Blood they would be asham'd to get otherwise and to take a thing by force and with danger is amongst them the most honest sort of acquisition This man being of the noblest and most powerful of his Nation had been for a long time the terrour of the Grecian and Italian Coasts able and extreamly valiant pitiful and humane more than his Countrey or Trade permitted good and generous without knowing what goodness or generosity was As in the coldest parts of the North there are found some veins of Gold as fine as that of the Indies though not in so great quantity so in all sorts of Climates Nature is pleas'd sometimes to produce rich dispositions which she instructs and dresses up her self and bestows upon them without their study all necessary lights When Orchant which was the name of the Corsaire view'd his Captives and the prey he had made the Beauty and Majesty which sparkled in the face of Zelide struck his sight and asking who she was she said she was a Spaniard by Nation and nam'd her self Zelidan Cousin to the Captain of the Ship he had taken that she was sorry she could not follow him and that she esteem'd him happy to have lost his life rather than his liberty She said this with a Countenance that held nothing of the Captive without tears without prayers without submissions But in spite of her self her face and good grace pleaded for her and her Constancy and Courage were recommendation enough So that Orchant esteem'd her Pride and what would have invited the anger of another bred admiration in him He exhorted him to be of good courage that his Servitude should not be harsh that he should taste more liberty than before that he might hope 't would not last seeing he had a Master who kept no Slaves but those who deserv'd to be so that for his part he did not practise the Sea as a Merchant that he rather sought Fame than Gain that he took more pleasure in making Free-men than in making Slaves that for his part of the Booty he would content himself with Zelidan and leave the rest to his Souldiers that he might ransom himself when he would that one gallant Action would be enough to do it that if the rest of him answer'd to his face he might believe he should be longer his Friend than his Slave Zelide who expected nothing like this from a Barbarian and a Pirate was glad and wonder'd at his discourse esteeming her Captivity much more supportable And now having shun'd an odious Marriage see her the Slave of a Pirate and she thought this Accident less afflicting than the other because it had more remedies There was no good fortune for her but to be Alcidalis's nor ill but to be anothers Besides this she knew no good nor evil in the World and all things were indifferent to her Thus she who deserv'd to command the Universe resolves to serve and that heart which was so vast and elevate that the Heavens are not more stoops to the lowest of Misfortunes with more patience than the meanest Mariner taken with her But it was impossible for Zelide to serve long This disorder and violence could not last in nature It had been easier to submit the sphere of Fire to the other Elements and it was impossible but those divine qualities which were in her should be known and admir'd Besides that the Heavens had bestow'd on her all Beauties in perfection and the charms of body and mind together with all the graces which breed love and respect she was born under such a strong Constellation of Empire and Command that she would have been obey'd by the most Savage Animals and easily gain'd Authority over reasonable Souls So that Zelidan for we must accustome our selves to call her so became the Master of his Master Slaves Mariners Souldiers equally lov'd her and he absolutely Commanded in the Vessel where he was Prisoner Considering the passion Orchant had for him he guest how easily this Friendship would convert into Love if he were known and that in this case that affection which might be some way a succour to him would be the inevitable cause of his loss He took care then to conceal himself and the better to do it resolv'd to oppose his Courage to all sorts of dangers and to inure himself to those things wereof this Sex does not seem capable They past that Summer without making any Port except for Water often changing course and design following the Winds and the way they thought they might furnish prize In which time Zelidan signaliz'd her self in all occasions that offer'd running where danger was most apparent without Armour and the most rash remain'd behind her There are no inchanted Arms like those of good Fortune not Buckler which covers like hers Those she defends may run naked upon Swords points but for those she bears ill-will to Armour of proof will be faulty Now the hopes Orchant had conceiv'd of her became a confirm'd opinion and an esteem solidly establish'd 'T was necessary we should leave Alcidalis and necessary we leave him no longer For his first grief could not be describ'd and at first 't was impossible to represent all his sighs tears rages and suries Having seen the Queen return without Zelide and having been eight days without being able to discover what was become of her he past that time in a mortal sadness and inquietude But when he came to know the history of her Misfortune and knew the Evil was without remedy when he consider'd her in the arms of