Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	believe_v	love_n	see_v	2,286	5	3.2960	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78453	The triumphant lady: or, The crowned innocence· A choice and authentick piece of the famous, De Ceriziers, almoner to the King. / Translated into English, out of the original French, by Sir William Lower Knight.; Histoire d'Hirlande, ou l'Innocence couronnée. English	Cerisiers, René de, 1609-1662.; Lower, William, Sir, 1600?-1662.; Gaywood, Richard, fl. 1650-1680, engraver.; Barlow, Francis, 1626?-1702, artist.	1656 (1656)	Wing C1682; Thomason E1617_2; ESTC R209636	67,915	166

and though even compassion of her evil should raise her up some Champion it would be only to die for company Her atlversary hath too much experience of his forces to hazard himself in a combat whose success should be doubtful This Traitor mounted a great black horse his Livery was of a changeable taffats and his shield bare in a sable field a Golden Dragon arm'd and languid which devoured a sheep Argent with this device Without mercy Seems it not unto you that all this apparel denotes the lamentable presages of the death of our unfortunate Princess Who sees not in this dragon and in the feeble animal which he devours Gerard and his sister in law Let us not be so rash as to accuse heaven of hardness never sees he our miseries without pity but if he retards sometimes his assistance it is but to make us know the need thereof and to adore the miracle As the trumpet sounded for the last time and that every one look'd upon Hirlanda's pile a Champion appeared at the end of the lists who cleft the press to enter there The Dutchess who was half dead began to be insensible to all kind of motions but those who had pity yet in their souls conceived some good hope when they saw that God sent her succour Some there were that believed that it was the Guardian Angel of the Princess others would have it to be the Lord de l'Olive All these names were of good Augury but whosoever it was it is certain that there was good reason to think that it was her Tutelar His Courser white as snow his Livery green sow'd with cares of gold his Ermine Argent in a field of Sinople and the soul of his device Nothing sullies me signified the hope of the Spectators the cares of the Cavalier and the innocence of the poor Lady Notwithstanding there was no body that despaired not of the happy success of the combat when they saw a young child who appeared to have more force in the attractions of his face then in the nerves of his arms His grace and his dexterity to manage his horse begat some feeble ray of confidence but his age yet too tender dissipated it My Reader take heed that you have not the fears of that sorrowful assembly remember that David was young and delicate Goliah robustious and dreadful As our Cavalier advanced himself and had rendred his devoirs to the Duke and to all the Nobles that accompanied him he demanded if there was any one there so wicked as to accuse the chast Hirlanda Young man said his Adversary unto him you are ill instructed with the life of that woman if you judg her such My Reader perinit me to disguise unto you so the injurious answer that he made I feared that you would not be touched with so sensible a displeasure as our Champion who endeavoured to turn back those ill words with a box and the Lie But he must imploy ruder arms so the sound of the trumpet and the generous fury of the horses carried them to the combat Their first course was so strong that it carried the traitor half out of the saddle and the young Cavalier wholly This accident afflicted all those who wished him a happy fortune and gave occasion to his Adversary to alight to pierce him with his sword but scarce was he off before he saw him again in his saddle almost as soon as fallen He judged well that the time which he should take to remount a horseback would give this young man leisure to hurt him in exposing himself to his stroak behold therefore rallying all the strength that he had he endeavoured to fight him with equal forces in killing his horse Great God forget not that it is thou that fightest for innocence and that thou canst not abandon this young Prince without making it believ'd that thou wilt despise the merit of vertue Our Goliah having then stretch'd out his full arm plunged his sword so deeply into the shoulder of his enemies horse that whatsoever indeavour he used he could not draw it out again That which the wisedome of the flesh had suggested him to the ruine of another succeeded to his own for his Adversary leaping off gave him a mortal thrust under the gorget The joyful cry which was raised in the Assembly made it to be comprehended that every one liv'd with the death of this Traitor that which rested to him of life was but to curse his misfortune and to declare the Innocence of the Princess Artus himself wept for joy of it for though a husband be ashamed to have lightly suspected his wife of little faith he is ravished to see himself deceived by the jealousie there is no man so stupid that would appear just by the conviction of a crime which caused his umbrages in this point we love better to be judged suspicious then reasonable Here black thoughts here criminall distrusts come to acknowledg in this event that your murmurs have rashly assaulted the divine Providence come to render homage to those secret conducts which are hidden to us but to be adoreable to us As soon as the Heralds had received the last word of the Traitor they went to take the Conqueror to present him to the Dutchess My Reader I think that you have long desired to know this Cavalier you have the sentiment of all that famous Assembly of our good Princess who desires with passion to speak to him O spectacle of love and joy At the instant that our Champion approached the scaffold of the Innocent she had some thought that the Conquerours Ermine was a work of her hands the stuffe and fashion rather of the invelope of an Infant then of the Livery of a Knight propped well her belief Lastly as he put himself on his knees before the Dutchess he declared unto her his name his birth and his quality Madam said he unto her behold that unfortunate son which hath caused you so many griefs but most fortunate since God makes him to day Protector of her that brought him into the world Let his goodness take away my life when it shall please him it troubles me no more to dy since you live by the means of him who was almost seen to be the innocent cause of your ruin I know not if the poor Hirlanda believed the words of the little Bertrand or rather the assurances which love gave to her heart of the truth of his adventures Howsoever it was she replied not unto this discourse but with tender tears which flowed from her eyes so abundantly that she could scarce see him whom she held embraced Oh God! what sweetness is there to taste a pleasure when it comes contrary to our expectation Artus who saw all the caresses of his wife without knowing the motive of them believed at first that these demonstrations of good will were testimonies of gratitude Notwithstanding hee could not believe that she who had so many reasons to appear

he is not a man or rather that he is blind The greatest and fairest Monster that Affrick ever nourished confesseth that the agreeable Lyes of Virgil deceived him with so much cunning that he took pleasure to deplore with Dido whose feigned griefs produced true regrets in his soul But if it be true that all sorts of Wretches draw us to the compassion of their sufferings and that we resent a kind of pleasure to sigh with them it is much surer when the subject of the affliction seems unto us to merit a good or lesse rigorous fortune That fair Offenderesse who sold so many repentances unto Greece no sooner appeared in the midst of the Areopage but he was changed and those that should courageously bend their spirits unto Equity mollified themselves effeminately unto love I know that pity alone made not this strange change and that it was assisted with a Vice wherewith an old man should never be suspected much lesse seised Besides I am not ignorant that that afflicted Beauty gained her Judges rather by her tears and by the compassion of her mifery then by the lustre of her Graces which could not but be extinct or obscured by the lively apprehension of a death as shameful as her life Philosophy is much troubled to observe the secret causes of that flux and reflux of our eyes For to say that we take of the nature of that charitable Bird which cannot behold a sick person without becoming so her self nor be in health by a face infected with the Jaundice is to expresse by an example what we comprehend not by reason and though we should be satisfied with this consideration and that our spirit would yeild it self to that sentiment we should not know neverthelesse the reason of that joy which tickles us in deploring I confesse that compassion charging us with the miseries of another it obl●geth us to teares and therefore it is impossible that we should not cherish a Remedy which comforts us in part or heales us wholly But what Cannot one love sorrow without rejoycing at it Perhaps that suffering being ordinary and as it were natural unto us we receive pleasure to fool the attaint thereof from whatsoever place it comes this familiarity is not so agreeable that it may not be troublesome Is it not that the misfortune of our neighbour pleaseth us certainly it could not cause in us at once contentment and pity If we should love the hurt of a miserable person me thinks we should not deplore him if we should deplore him who will believe that we should love him My Reader I leave this curious search to give you the subject thereof in your proper sentiment I fear not to put you off since the tears which I promise you are sweet and since I am assured that what shall attrist you can and ought infallibly to rejoice you Poor Hirlanda how the sad sight of your disgraces touches my heart to the quick And how much more willingly would I give tears to your misfortunes then ornament to your History It is true that I cannot relate your Adventures without lamenting them and therefore if I oblige me to describe them I oblige me to deplore That which comforts me is that if you languish through necessity I sigh with compassion and that if the malice of another makes you to suffer your sole vertue causeth me bitternesse much more when I consider the first source of your tears and see an eternal providence which travels in the accidents of your life I draw pleasure from your sorrow because you draw your happinesse from thence Grant then if you please that I discover to posterity an example which the injustice of the times would ravish from it Perhaps you will not revive unprofitably and will borrow some Splendour from the Obscurity which ●ndeavoured to bury you I fear not that the remembrance of that which afflicted you formerly troubleth you since you know perfectly that it is the very same which crownes you now Your felicity is too pure to mingle it self and your fortune too constant to be shaken I dare likewise to promise me that my pen can produce you new sentiments of joy provided that it represents unto you naturally your ancient miseries For the motive which I give you thereof refuse me not the assistance which is necessary for me to give it you I can do nothing without your help as I will enterprise nothing without your consent But I perceive my Reader that this Discourse troubles you and if I deceive not my self you would desire to know already the end of a History whereof I have not yet touched the beginning Well then since you will deplore I consent thereto I care not to defend you from the tears which are innocent and which I likewise esteem reasonable Look upon the skirt of this Wood which the Winter hath deprived of all its beauties approach that Rock which thrusts forth grosse bubbles of water and you shall ●nd there the sad subject of your plaints and tears Believe not neverthelesse that this universal death which appeares to your eyes in the withered grasse and upon the naked trees merits the resentments of a heart which is provoked with the glory not to be inhumane That poor woman whom you see following a Flock which was sent forth from the Grange rather to recreate then to feed should furnish you a lamentable Object of Piety Her head leaning upon her right arme sustained with her knee her look immoveable and almost dead her whole countenance and her exteriour tell you sufficiently that she hath very little courage or much misfortune Ask her not her condition grief hinders her to speak believe not that her Equipage tels it you these tottered Garments that defend her from the cold make not that she is not a Princess Without discovering the disgraces which have obliged her to serve I think that it is enough to tel you that she is miserable to constrain you to weep Notwithstanding I will advertise you that she is a Saint for fear that the excess of her misfortunes should make you to believe her a Criminal Perhaps if she had had lesse innocence she should have had more good fortune but without divining it is certain that her High Birth is the sole cause of her great fall Yes Deplorable Princess I doubt not at all but your Fortune would have been better if your extraction had not been illustrious But too who could assure that your Vertue would have been Heroick if your Blood had been Rustick He who disposed the accidents of your life ought not to regulate his conduct upon the sentment of those that cannot conceive it For my part I love better to adore his Providences with submission then to seek the Secret thereof with danger in the one I may fear of the temerity and in the other I should hope of the merit Hirlanda Dutchess of Bretany became conceived with child of a Son whose Birth caused much

since her Quality was known she received all the honours that were due unto her From this time forward the face of Artus was wholly changed there was seen there no other melarcholy but that which the impatience to see the Dutchess imprinted therein Scarce were they returned from the chase but the Knight De l'Olive was commanded to pass again into Normandy to conduct his Mistresse It is hard to expresse the regrets of Hirlanda and of her good Hostesse when they were to give the last adieu nothing could sweeten their separation but the promise to see one another in the Spring So must it be granted that there are no delights comparable unto those of a life retired from the noise and crowd of the world It is not in the dirt of towns that heaven sheds his dew there is but the country which receives those pure favours and can tast them it is there that God speaks to his Elect that he entertains them familiarly and to speak all in a word it is there that he possesseth them without trouble Our holy Princesse saw well what she lost so witnessed shee it enough by her tears The Duke having understood that his wife was but a dayes journey from his house he departed with a good number of Gentlemen to receive her with all the testimonies of a true and perfect good will I will not tell you that there was a little confusion in the first salutation Artus could not think of his too much credulity without-blushings notwithstanding the transport of joy overcame all the other resentments of his soul A thousand times he asked pardon of the Dutchess protesting to her that the excess only of his affection had been the cause of his errour Hirlanda who knew well that the forgetting of injuries was the proof of a good courage gave to the Duke all the assurances that she could of having no remembrance at all of what was pass'd she sought likewise reasons to perswade him that he had not offended to the end that he might not have cause to fear I passe lightly this first interview because it is impossible for me to express the ceremonies thereof what I can say is only to assure that this happy day was like unto that of the Dukes nuptials all the rejoycements thereof were renewed A great number of Nobles came to the pallace of Artus to congratulate with him his good fortune and with the Princess her happy return It seemed that so much joy could not suffer any sorrow in hearts so content but alas Hirlanda saw not her dear son her grief was without consolation because her evil was without remedy the poor little one was dead both in the opinion of the father who believ'd him smothered in his birth and in that of the mother who had some doubt of his shipwrack Never cast she her eyes upon her child-bed but all her trances renewed in her heart if any one of the women which serv'd her formerly presented themselves to her one would have said that it was to advertise her to weep Oftentimes she would retire her self all alone into that fatal chamber where her dear child had been ravished from her and as she saw her self without witness she afflicted her self without compassion Hirlanda said she must thou live the remainder of thy dayes in a place where thou oughtest to die Why did not those who snatch'd an infant from thee out of thy bowels tear out also thy heart would their pity be inhumane and shew that vertue it self is criminall in a barbarous foule Oh poor victime how desirable would it have been unto me to expire with thee if thou art dead or to languish in thy company if thou livest My Reader you know well that the son of our Dutchesse is not yet dead if there be not arrived to him some new accident and more cruel then the former which assaulted him I am much deceived if I told you not that upon the point of his embarkment a troop of unknown people entred into the vessel and seized upon the traitors that carried him away as they would cast him into the sea This order came from Gerard uncle to the little one who judged this precaution necessary to the secret of his design it is so that an evil action may be assured that it shall be soon or late recompensed even by those that profit by its malice and that give the counsel thereof But where have they conducted that band of criminals who without doubt fear to live because they merit a rigorous punishment and who desire yet to fear long because they come to see death It is that which I will tell you my Reader provided you will permit me to instruct you with a thing which you shall confesse to be for my purpose St. Maloes a Town of high Bretain is at this day sufficiently known by that famous garrison of dogs which keep it by night whilst the floods of the sea which guard it the day retire themselvs to leave them in faction It is a part of that territorie whose people are named Diublintres by Pliny Caesar and Strabo But besides that and the great traffick which it maintains the Episcopal seat which John Bishop of Alethe transported there in the yeer 1172 makes it to pass for one of the considerable Towns of the Province four miles from St. Maloes is the famous Town of Monfort whose name is great enough in the history by reason of the miracle or prodigie which hath been constantly observed there for the space of three or four ages and whereof the last hath seen the end It is enough to name the Duck of Monfort to make all those of the country to remember that every yeer a wilde Duck issuing out of the neighbouring Marsh came the first of May to the Church where sometimes more then ten thousand persons conducted her in procession and from whence she retired her self after the offering leaving one of her twelve Ducklins to the Curate for a monument of her natural piety What love soever that bird had for her little ones this losse was not considerable for besides that she made a present unto God there alwaies remained unto her a good number But alas the unfortunate Hirlanda loses her only one and loses him for ever since the sacred waters of baptism assure her not to see him again nor ever to meet that dear moiety of her self My reader I would fain that these circumstances should design you the place where we are to find again our little Prince At the same time that the Nurse accompanied with her husband and some confidents of him that hath gained them prepared their passage for England God who never forsaketh the innocent in affliction thought of the means to take from them this precious infant A venerable old man named Bertrand governed at that time the Abby of St. Maloes which since is changed into a Cathedral scarce had this holy man taken his first sleep one

blacknesse whereof it could be capable demanded some dayes to study his infirmity A while after this Jew returned to the Palace loaden with a great number of Remedies which the King used whilst the quacking of his Esculapius could deceive his confidence But whether this Leprosie was of another nature then that of the Jewes who are more subject to that malady then any Nation of the earth or that in truth this Physician was but a Mountebank he vexed himself to swallow so many loathsome Potions and to see himself lanced every day as was almost insufferable The Jew who perceived it making use of this device but to maintaine his Fortune took occasion to represent to his Patient that his Infirmity being supernatural his Majesty should not wonder if the Medicine indeavoured unprofitably to succour him that for his part he had a conceit that there was Witchcraft in his indisposition notwithstanding that hee should not despair of his health provided that his impatience made him not to distrust his skills He added that that great God who had given him so much power upon Nature had not denyed him to do something against Magick But if he would be courageous to take a Remedy which he would prescribe him he should have no lesse docility to believe without examination the infallible vertue thereof The King who feared not to drink poison provided he might have hopes to be cured interrupted a Discourse which troubled him almost as much as his Disease My good friend said he unto him I pray thee comfort my body and amuse thee not to perswade my spirit I am ready to do whatsoever thou wilt command only and thou shalt be obeyed I put no bounds to my submission whilst I may see some assurance in thy promises Is it fatal unto Princes who are infected with Leprosie to meet alwayes with Physicians that oblige them to be cruel for to be sound and to lose humanity to acquire a little good health He who treated with our Patient failed not to represent unto him That the first Emperour of the Christians whatsoever the History sayes of it was cured of a Disease like unto his by such a Remedy as he prepared And not to entertain you unprofitably with vain words Know Sir that you shall be cured if you can resolve to wash your selfe with the blood of a little child There is nothing more easie interrupted the King Then can I protest unto you replyed the Jew that there is nothing in the world more powerful against that corruption which ruines you This malady having its first source in the masse of the blood we must indeavour to put it againe into its proper and natural constitution Nothing can more contribute thereunto then a pure blood and mingled with all kinds of qualities enemies for as much as our great Master teacheth us that one contrary is cured by another But because this Remedy is exteriour and the Disease possesseth the interiour of the body we must assist it in taking something that may encounter it even in its retreat The King pined with impatience to hear so many words and to see so little effect I conjure thee my friend said he finish speedily or I dye To that which I have said answered the Jew you must adde the heart of the fame Infant eating it very warm and if it can be yet panting The Prince who thought not to find a mischievous Remedy provided that it was possible resented some horrour when he heard that to recover his health he must become Antropophage But surely his spirit entred into very great perplexities when he understood that that Infant necessary for his Cure was to be of high Birth and much more when he was told that the Waters of Baptisme would 〈◊〉 away from his blood the vertue which the Jew assured to be natural against the Leprosie What resolution should a poore sick person take who is deceived with the good opinion of his Physician and transported with the desire of his health Whatever repugnance ours resented he resolved to omit nothing that might restore him perswading himself that the life of a Monarch more imported the good of the State then that of all the young Lords that were in his Iland Is there any thing that is unjust said he when it is necessary So is it that the Theology of the great ones concludes when they love better the interest of their fortune then the sanctity of their conscience But alas Where is that innocent Victime which is to dye Perhaps it is not born yet although they kill it already Perhaps it playes in the bosom of its mother and tasteth the sweetnesse thereof whilst crueltie meditates to make it drink the last gall of Nature Whosoever thou art little Innocent thy misfortune toucheth my heart and I cannot behold thy blood without shedding my teares Finish not thy Birth if thou art not in the world or haste to dye if thou art in the armes of the Nurse On how much better were it for thee to perish then to appear Death will be more favourable unto thee the lesse life it leaves thee And you poor mother Was it well done of Nature not to give you some foresight of your griefs I conjure you desire not to see that dear child which is formed in your womb It will be the sweet and the sorrowful subject of your afflictions it will be the innocent Persecutour of your heart and the deplorable cause of your Martyrdome but I am to blame to trouble the contentments that ravish you Poor Mother I am to blame to draw you from that sweetnesse which glues you to that Infant Haste you to taste all the pleasures that you can Kiss those little eyes presse those cheeks against yours hide all that amiable babe in your heart if you can Perceive you not that it witnesseth by its tremblings and quiverings that it fears or that it loves See you not how it presseth upon your bosome how it laboureth to enter once again there Desolate mother Look upon those little eyes do they not tell you that that poor Innocent is going to dye and that mouth which cannot speak yet expresseth it not by its silence the adieu which it gives you and the cruelty which it expecteth Without doubt you are curious to know the newes of our Duke and of our Dutchesse Before you may understand it from me my Reader I pray you to observe in the brutish Discourse of our Jew the true features of Superstition Why must there be an Infant of an illustrious house Why must not this little Prince be baptized Perhaps that Nobility is a Simple against the Leprosie Perhaps that a water which hath received the Benediction of heaven takes from the blood its natural vertue No believe it not the Divel who presides at this Cure pretends to kill a soul and not to heal a body All these conditions serve but to envelope his designe and to give colour to his malice

Let us return to our subject Hirlanda prepares her self to lye in all her Court made Devotions and Prayers for her happy deliverance there was no person that desired not a little Master no body that begged it not of God Whilst that all things were between hope and fear in Bretany Artus who was already come to the Army suffered cruel tortures in his soul continually the Image of his dear Spouse came to seek him and to bring him new affrights from her now he flattered himself with the hope of a quick returne and annon he afflicted himself with an apprehension that he should never see her more I will not conceal from you an accident which caused him much trouble One day as he was in an ill humour more then ordinary he of his Domesticks that opproached him with most confidence having surprized him in this condition conjured him to discover unto him what caused his grief The Prince who used not to hide his heart from this Favourite confessed unto him that the precedent night he had had a dream which held him in great inquietudes I was not throughly asleep said he unto him but it seemed unto me that I saw my poor Hirlanda stretched out dead upon her bed and a cruel Vulture seized upon her belly and tore out her bowels No body appeared to succour her for though at times a very feeble motion and some languishing sighs made me believe that she lived there was about her but two Harpies which with their tallons and sight assisted that dreadful Bird whose horrible figure presenteth it selfe continually to my memory Behold the subject of my sorrow and that which afflicteth me sensibly As he continued his Discourse the Almoner who was a man very capable presented himself in his chamber from whence he endeavoured to retire when he perceived them in private conference But Artus who was touched with the curiosity to be instructed and with the desire to divert himself commanded him to enter and then having related unto him his Vision he conjured him to tell him what he thought of it The Almoner who had no lesse modesty then capacity forgate not to excuse himself beseeching his Excellence to believe that as he had alwayes despised Artemidorus he never imployed either his time or paines to study him notwithstanding he said that he would willingly adventure to tell him what Theology permitteth to believe thereof which he thought not unnecessary since oftentimes we attribute too much or too little unto Dreames Behold his Discourse My Lord Since it pleaseth your Excellence to hear what I have sometime learned upon this Subject I most humbly beseech you to believe That only my incapacity will obstruct your full satisfaction and that if I were more knowing you should be more enlightned And not to divert me from your intention I think it cannot be said that Dreames which are the motions of the soul that formes it self diverse figures or receives them should be all false illusions or infallible truths Whatsoever respect the profane have had for the vaine Science which is made of it the wisest sort of people mock equally the Superstitious and the Incredulous Aristotle whose humour is not to believe without good caution could not approve the opinion of his Master who would that all the Dreames of the night came from the Gods and therefore that they should be Celestial and Supernatural instructions for men And to speak truth as he observeth the Dogs and other Beasts dreaming as well as we there is little likelihood that such high Majesties would abase themselves to instruct Brute● Philon who alwayes professed himself a great partaker of the Platonicks makes dreams to be born in the soul from the sympathy of its motions to the course of the Universe Syneses acknowledgeth a certaine spirit which I know not that serves them for seat and carriage in the same manner as the naturallists conduct vigour and life into all the parts of man Others make them to slide from the stars and some dare boldly to assure that the fancies of our spirit are but the remembrances of the knowledges which it brings from without into our body It cannot be denied but Hypocrates hath better found out the source and principle of them when for the most part hee attributes them unto Nature and sometimes to its Author he had said all if he had added that the divels atingle themselves very often in our sleep it is true that having not distinguished the evil genius from the good we should confound these two divers causes That there comes unto us dreames from nature the experience of all the nights teacheth 〈◊〉 that God sends them often enough the holy Scripture instructeth 〈◊〉 in it Who would be so rash as to contest that those of Abraham of Isaak of Jacob and of Joseph without speaking of that other Joseph of the new Testament should not be the advertisements of heaven to these illustrious Patriarks I enterprize not to verifie that the divels make men to dreame and that sometimes to give them some beliefe of their Divinity they give them presentments of their good or evil fortunes There is not any one that knowes never so little the profane history who is ignorant of that which is related of Podalirus in the Poüille of Naples of that of Serapis in Alexandria and of Esculapius at Pergamus Who hath not heard speake of the Chappel of that Pasiphaé which was adored in the suburbs of Lacedimon and beyond Venus de Gaze where the young maids went to dream the adventures of their Lovers without doubt this infamous commerce which continues yet to this day with the divels upon the successe of marriages hath no other beginning but in these sacriligious observations of the idolaters We know but too much the impurity of these devotions for those that propose to themselves other ends then to know marriages behold the ceremony of them Those that consult the divels after they have sacrific'd a black sheep unto them wrap'd themselves round about with his skin and slept so in their temples to the end to oblige them both by their confidence and liberality to discover unto them in dreames what is to arrive unto them I confesse that these false divinities expected not alwaies that these poor blinded souls should render them such ridiculous homages as if they were provoked to prevent their merit they devanced sometimes the devotions And therefore when Socrates dreamed that he entred into the town of Phthia which was interpreted of his death because that word signified corruption his Gods used magnificence And when Odatis loved her dear Zariader and Zariader his faire Odatis without ever seeing one another but in a dream and that a while after that Infanta presented the viol of gold which was to choose her a husband to that young Prince who appeared unknown in her chamber it was an effect of their impulsion rather then of her prudence I speak not of Alexander who dreamed

those two Nations who for being of very different humours have need of an armed Saint to keepe them in peace It is true that the jealousie to possesse so powerfull a Protector would trouble their repose if to content those two people the river Coesnon lost not his in quitting his bed to the end that successively this glorious Archangel might be Norman and Brittain As this Nobility of whom I have spoken had rendred these devoirs to that Prince of the Angels one of the most considerable of the troop named de l'Olive took leave of his companions to visit an aunt which hee had a little further into Normandie he was not a little troubled to find her house which a very great wood covered of all sides and perhaps he had not found it if he had not met with a country woman who put him into the path which led to the castle Inform you not of her name it sufficeth to know that it was a poor woman who had the care of ordering the affairs of the back Court She had led the flocks to the field to cheer them a little but to speak truth it was rather to weep with more liberty One cannot easily expresse the good entertainment which our Cavalier received in the house of his aunt all the neighbour-hood was invited to come to contribute to that good Ladies rejoycement The place of that abode was one of the most agreeable residences that one could desire to be in but to speak the truth the winter there was a hideous as in any other place of the earth all the avenues thereof were so hindred by the waters which rouled down in its valley that one might believe it was not without artifice that the approach unto it was forbidden this inconvenience of coming forth obliged the company to remaine in the house and to divert it self in the halls and galleries It pleaseth me to make you participate of a passe-time which meriteth your attention since it can as much instruct your spirit as it contented the eyes and ears of those that practised it There was a gallery in that house which looked upon the East where all the Promenades of winter were formed Those who had given them design had suggested them ornament All the walls were adorned with excellent pictures but one should offend the Mistresse of the house to believe that she could have suffered that what was but to recreate the sight should serve here to wound hearts Shee had too much charity to propose naked persons to the cruel rigours of a cold which pardoned not even those who were the best cloathed there was not one figure which was not modest the Painter himself had given so much naturalnesse to their decencie that one would think that modesty animate but if there appeared any naked thing in the cloth a reasonable spirit would easily judge that the expression of the history was more look'd upon then the design of the pleasure One afternoone as all the company was in that gallery they prayed a very understanding old Gentleman to decipher these pictures and to serve for interpreter to those strangers who spake to all the world without being understood but of the Learned because the language of picture though sensible is mute After a long refusal in point of modesty that wise Seigneur who would rather have concealed then produced that treasure which sew persons love began his discourse in these terms Since you wil not consider that those of my age speak sometimes too long I run the hazard of being troublesome unto you by the obligation which you impose on me to bee complacent Your curiosity will make your patience to suffer I promise you notwithstanding though I cannot content the former that I will relieve the later as soon as you shall signifie to me that you desire it The season invites us not to the bath yet I must without quitting that good fire lend you in the first place to that river which seems to flow from that cloth Would you not judg by the inequality of those floods which raise themselves one upon the other that they crowd together to fly You comprehend well that this river is no other but the miraculous labourer of Egypt of whom the history tels us so many wonders That Nimph which you see at the place from whence the water seems to come is it not the famous Isi unto whose tears the fable attributes the inundation of Nile which hath no other cause but the raines and snowes of Ethiopia It is true that the young maid weeps and therefore shee augments these waters but besides that the little which she contributes thereto cannot make a great inundation she hath a much truer and more sensible cause of tears then the death of Osiris I perceive the little Moses whom the cruelty of Phara●h hath condemned with all the Hebrew males unto ship-wrack his poor sister sighes his misfortune and attends at that river side by her mothers command the sad successe of his fortune she works pity in you I make no doubt on 't let us not lose our tears though after her example though this little Prophet hath no other bark then that rush pannier which is given him for a tombe he shall find a happy port because hee hath God for Pilot. Behold that Princesse that walks upon the brink of the river with her maids Chance brings her not there her design is to bath her self in those wholesome waters which make women fruitful to the end to give an heir unto Egypt She seeks a son for her Father and heaven raises her up a God so the Scripture names this poor deserted infant But alas a new danger threatens his life I see him in that place where the water turns from him It is one of those monsters to whom Nature hath not given terms of greatnesse perhaps because they encrease alwaies in cruelty Would you not say that this Crocodile hides himself in the bul-rushes to expect his prey there and that he opens his mouth already to devour it Notwithstanding though the eye judges that his floods advance and conduct that vessel into this gulfe he ought not to fear any thing that is within for besides that that this monster is well fixed to the picture he takes a posture that cannot give distrust That bird which playes in his throat is the little Trochilus which we call Roytelet There is a very strait amity between these two animals though farre different in humour which shewes that resemblance is not alwaies the mother of love Consider I pray you the pleasure that this dragon takes in the service of his little friend who rids the teeth of the remains of his dinner The industry of the Painter appeareth in this that he expresseth even the pain that this sluggish beast hath to hold up his jaws so long but he witnesseth well that he knowes the secrets of Nature since from the back of the bird he hath framed towards

But though so favourable a Sanctuary should be grievous unto me and that I should promise me more love and fidedelity amongst my own what is there in that sweet life that is constant and must not end Believe me my Cavaliere that fair vanity of the Court lasts not alwayes we must soon or late break those fetters of Gold which makes so many voluntary slaves Should you have so little goodness for me to perswade me to put my self again to a chain from whence so amiable is Providence hath delivered me When I remember the little leisure that we have to think of God and the necessity which enforceth almost the best courages to abandon themselves to the world I have no lesse repugnance to think of my former life then obligation to amend the faults thereof My Noble Sir leave me here where I have no Jealousie to content no Traytor to flye nor any troublesom persons to defend my self from But if I remain in a condition wherein I cannot acknowledg the affection which you witnesse to have for Hirlanda believe that you oblige an unable and not an ungrateful person I dare likewise to assure you that God taking care to recompence you at my request you shal have more cause to blesse my little power then reason to desire to change my fortune The Knight de l'Olive was much troubled to bring the resolution of the Princess to the change which he proposed to her Notwithstanding after he had excused the Duke of his credulity upon this that it is hard for a Husband to love with passion and to love without jealousie he presented unto her that the fault which he had done and whereof he had a hundred times repented would hold him henceforward in distrust of all reports that might be made him Besides that being himself witnesse of a vertue which was disguised unto him it would be as easie for him to reject the calumny if it had impudence as it would be hard for him to take the pretences After all Madam added he it is not so much your interest to passe again into Bretany as that of all your subjects I omit notwithstanding that their happinesse depends of your conduct and that never any one of your Domesticks shall come forth of his misery but by your meanes Consider only what you owe to your Husband and what you owe to your self I believe that you are not ignorant that his safety depends partly on you and that having charmes enough to hinder his debauches you should be guilty of them if you remove a remedy which can cure him of it My zeal should excuse the liberty which I take to represent unto you your duty For that which concernes you I think that no body can contradict me if I assure that you cannot suffer longer the oppression of your Innocence and that you will begin to be criminal when you shall begin to oppose your self to your justification I should not care to perswade you to your return if I foresaw it not glorious and knew not that it is necessary for us As our Cavalier had ended that last word the good Princess drawing a deep sigh from her heart said unto him Well since you judg it so I consent to be yet miserable Go and prosper I see well that my God will have me to suffer endeavour to place again the poor Hirlanda where every day she shall be constrained to see and shew good countenance to the Murtherer of her child I speak not of the honour which they endeavoured there to ravish from me Innocent Victime thy sole misfortune toucheth me because thou livest no more A few dayes after the Gentleman departed to observe the time and meanes to accomplish his designe He was not long with Artus but he took occasion to make him the Overture thereof One day the Duke being at the Chase as the Knight de l' Olive entertained him very much with the happinesse of his condition and perceived that Artus was not of his opinion and likewise that the Prince confessed to him that many things were wanting to his contentment I think added the Cavalier that your Excellence could henceforth desire nothing which you enjoy not but if any thing be wanting to your felicity I suppose that it is a chaste Hirlanda At this word as if one had pierced the heart of Artus he sent forth a sigh thence which declared plainly enough that he had touched his inclination My Cavalier said he unto him would to God that it was as easie for me to possess her as to desire her I should then believe my happinesse accomplished and you should have cause to tell me that I ought to be content But if I cannot be perfectly happy but in the fruition of a good so perfect I am sure never to live without displeasure since I have no assurance ever to see Hirlanda again Alas how that cruel night which ravished her from me hath given me disquiet ones She is dead my dear friend and with her all my joyes are vanished And though she lived who knowes the place of her retrait And if any one knew it who could perswade her to come from thence She should have goodnesse enough to forget that I am culpable of all the evils which she endureth and that my credulity hath made her fidelity to be doubted Sir replyed de l'Olive it is rather your evil fortune then your evil will which gives cause to these displeasures Though it touch a woman to see her selfe suspected there is left her alwayes so much reason to penetrate that the umbrage of a husband proceeds from the excesse and not from the defect of his love and that if he were but a little jealous he would not be very ardent I know well that the thought which clasheth the fidelity of a wife suspects her Vertue but also it witnesseth the esteem of her good qualities so that Jealousie offends not so much the Vertue of a woman as it forbids the Surprises of an envious person I am assured that your Hirlanda is still yours and that if she hath quitted your house it is to conserve you the most precious of your goods against the malice of those who have endeavoured to destroy her 〈◊〉 Doubt as little of her life as of her affection But if your Excellence please to command me to find her I assure my self that you shall see within a few dayes both her love and her face Whilst the Cavalier held this Discourse he kindled an ardent desire in the soul of Artus My Cavalier replyed lie I think it is to no purpose to dream of Hirlanda but I can well protest that if she lives no body could render me a more acceptable service then to perswade her to returne The Gentleman stayed no longer to open himself to the Duke in all the particulars that hapned to him he related unto him how he had found his dear Spouse in a disguised habit with one of his Aunts where

first endeavouring to cover his evil design with some good pretence He governed himself with so much artifice that one would have thought him Protector of her whom he intended to destroy Behold how he began to contrive his plot Being one day with his Brother in a Garden belonging to the Castle as he perceived that his spirit laboure'd with some melancholy he fained to be much troubled thereat Sir said he unto him I wonder to see you sad in the common joy of your House and that you should be the only one that participates not in the good fortune of your Family What is wanting to your contentments now that heaven hath blessed your Marriage Really replyed Artus you have hit it the●e and found out wherewith to comfort me you could not better tell me that I have a most just cause to afflict me then to say that I am the father of a daughter I have a great Obligation to Hirlanda fo● this fair present that she gives me to sustaine so strongly my house My Reader Judge of the goodnesse of this spirit who makes his wife ●riminial for having not brought a Son into the world Must she not be at least a Goddesse to content his humour ●ince the Patriark Jacob answered Rachel That he was not God to give her children I find that the plaint of our Duke is more extravagant then that of this good Lady for if it be true that the fathers contribute more to the birth of their Heirs then the mothers Artus is more culpable then Hirlanda Behold notwithstanding the murmur of many fantastick husbands who take occasion to persecute or at least to frowne upon their wives because they have no children or not such as they desire with passion Our evil brother had no mind to represent this to the Duke he contented himself to make an answer which indeed charged not the Princesse but left her in suspicion to have voluntarily contributed to this defect through the austerities and penitencies which weaken nature Notwithstanding added he we should not blame a person when she offends but through too much zeal otherwise it would be sometimes a crime to have vertue Behold Gerard Philosopher and Preacher see him now Cheater and Slanderer A while after as he perceived that his brother continued his coldnesse he visited his sister in Law and counselled her to render her self more complacent to the humours of Artus disclosing unto her the cause of his change It is not to be doubted but the honest caresses of a wife can do much upon the spirit of a Husband but if he be savage and capricious they provoke him more then they gain him It is that which Gerard intended and which he obtained because that the Duke being of a fierce nature the more tenderness Hirlanda expressed to him the more he despised her Besides he began to believe that there was artifice in these Testimonies of love and that she intended rather to deceive him then to pacifie him This umbrage was strongly upheld by an accident which hapned one day to the Prince in the beginning of his dinner for as he opened his napkin he found therein a note wherein there was but these words Take heed of a flattering woman I will not tell you who was the Author of this device but I can assure you that it forwarded very much the Designe of Gerard which was to render the Dutchesse suspected to her Husband Since this fatal day he spake not one reasonable word to Hirlanda when he met her it was but to do her injury Unfortunate Princesse your disaster toucheth you sensibly I doubt not of it since it deserves the tears of all the world I consent that you should lament No no Hirlanda weep not it is better that Vertue command with you then Impatience but if you cannot deny your tears to your griefe I conjure you to make provision of them for another time Without doubt it is not hard to judge that our brother in Law was in too good a way to stop himself his Artifice had too much successe to quit the match upon the point to gain it His familiar spirit suggested him the means which he had not yet imployed I have not yet told you that the Duke had in his neighbourhood a Cavalier who was redoubtable to the whole Province the advantages which he had had in many Encounters gave him the heart to fear nothing Notwithstanding I can scarce believe that he was perfectly courageous seeing he was a Traytor Gerard thought it fit to gain this man to destroy his sister he tryed all that which he judged would corrupt him but it was no hard matter to acquire a man who was for every one that sought an opportunity to do evil Behold then the resolution taken to put Artus in distrust of his wife see the conduct thereof After that this dangerous spirit had sounded the Dukes and found disposition enough in his soul to receive a calumny he took a time one day to speak unto him in these termes My Lord if I had not more passion for your glory then prudence to dissemble your injuries I might be blamed for the il service which I am notwithstanding obliged to render you I would the report which runs through the Province were false it is too common to conceal it from you if your Excellence please to give me leave to discover to you what I know thereof I will avouch nothing which I will not maintain at the peril of my life I believe my Lord that you are not ignorant what is spoken openly of the privacies of my Lady with the Lord de l'Olive It is not but since to day that he ought to be suspected of you since all his life hath been but a continual plot to ruine her Whilst your Excellence was absent he never was from her when she was away he kept her by one of his Aunts now that you have begun to discover their practices he flies your Court either to avoid his punishment or to dissipate your suspitions I doubt not but one might say more thereof if it were not better to give you only this advice by precaution then to enlighten you too much by a truth so odious The Traitor ended here but to provoke more and more the curiosity of the Duke who failed not to press him to instruct him with the rest It is not without constraint that I am to finish but since you will have it so I must tell you against my will that no body believes that ever you were father Would to God that I had not seen those privaces which made me to know him that contributeth truely to the birth of the Dutchesse children I should be without doubt more discreet then to speak unto you of it if I were not the most ardent as the most obliged to serve you But since all the world knowes this disgrace it would be to love your shame to conceal it from him alone that can

husband in this manner and ours saith that Lewis King of Germany Nephew to our Charles the Bald deputed him thirty men of which twenty should make the trial of the cold and hot water and the other ten of the burning iron Moreover we ought not to forget in this observation the custome of justifying ones selfe by oath upon the bodies of the Saints Saint Denis Germain and Martin Much more all our Antiquity reverenced so religiously the person of Pepin the Short that they would swear solemnly upon his cloathes presuming that he who had the boldness to approach that Royal Purple could not be sullied with Crime The most unjust proof of Innocence or of Crime was that of Duel so many times forbidden and so many times practised The first prohihition thereof which was made at the Council of Valence in the reigne of Lotharius brought excommunication to the Conquerour and privation of burial to the Conquered It is not unfit to represent here the forme of these combats to make knowne the injustice of them When a Crime worthy of death could not be proved true nor convicted as false the Informer presented the Combat man to man and the Accused threw downe the gage of Battle which the Judg received after the exposition of the Crime ordaining imprisonment both to the one and the other until the day of their Duel The time come they were brought into a close field before noone lightly armed at the cost of the High Justice their haire was cut round about their eares leaving to their choice the liberty to annoint themselves to the end to be more supple Four Knights guarded the field where the Champions were no sooner entered holding one another by the hand but they put themselves on their knees with a reciprocal protestation that nothing of the world but the right of their cause obliged them to try the chance of Armes After the profession of their Faith and the assurance which they gave not to use Sorcery the Accused said unto him Man whom I hold I am innocent of such a Crime To which the other answered calling him by his name N. Thou lyest After this faire Complement the Marshals gave them Armes and the Heralds cryed Let them go in the Kings name If the Accused remained dead on the place he was to be hanged on a Gibbet if he resisted until the night he was declared Victorious Behold the Ceremonies which were observed as well on foot as a horse back from whence it is easie to comprehend God being not obliged to work miracles that there is nothing lesse equitable then these ridiculous and fatal Duels For besides that for the most part an unfortunate vertue is abandoned of succour it hapned often enough that an unjust Accuser had better successe then a weak Innocent because he had more strength and skil And therefore I do not wonder that the Church had darted all her Thunder-bolts against the brutish customes which expose the merit of good men to the punishments of the wicked and that our Monarks in whose Courts principally this madness was in vigour have armed the Lawes to the ruine of these publick ruines But alas poor Hirlanda Though you be innocent you must either perish without defence or defend your self without force if your merit hath no support there will be no safety Whilst the Duke and his Ministers imployed themselves to seek out a death for our holy Princess she disposed her self to receive it Christianly It must be confessed neverthelesse that the conformity which she had to the just will of her God hindred her not to complain of her evils And to speak truly if ever a Patience hath found any cause to be grieved judge you not that it is that of our unfortunate Dutchesse Count I pray you all the good moments of her fortune scarce will you see there one day entirely happy She entered not into her Husbands house but she met there a brother in Law who made her lose honour and repose Remaines your heart insensible after having considered a woman of that condition to wander all alone in the woods and to live in the dens to conserve there a life which she could desire to lose In your opinion is it not a spectacle worthy of all the pity of good souls to see a Princesse keep the Cowes and to imploy her selfe about the sheep Formerly some Christian Ladies have bean condemned to the Stable and to the baseft Offices of a house but those were not their husbands that constrained them to live in this basenesse The Motive which caused their contempt and the condition of the persons which ordained their torment consolated all the bitternesse of their fortune It is a pleasure to suffer of the Herods and Neroes but to have Artus for Tyrant it is to speak truly to have wherewith to deplore Could you not say that God takes pleasure to deceive our innocent Princess After that Custome had rendred her banishment light and that she felt no more her evils by reason of the long habitude of her fufferance he sent her a Cavalier to conduct her into a prison where she should meet with new griefs Let us seek in the life of Hirlanda the cause of her disgraces let us seek in Hirlanda her self we shall find her life all pure and all holy and Hirlanda in a prison whilst a thousand persons of her birth live in delights she languisheth in necessity All these considerations representing themselves to the spirit of our prisoner it was impossible for her not to deplore her condition One day the woman that served her being entred into her chamber where for a sumptuous couch cloth of Estare and Ballisters there was but an old straw bed she could not chuse but sigh Hirlanda wondred at it because they had chosen her this old woman as the cruelest of all the furies which they could give her this extraordinary sentiment obliged her to inform her self of the cause of her sorrow Madam replied that woman it is hard for me to command my tears when I think of your miseries notwithstanding I have alwaies suppressed the grief thereof whilst I believ'd the relief but now that I see you at the point of your death I lose my constancy in losing my hope My Reader permit me to interrupt this sorrowful discourse to ask you what you think of the answer of our Princess I assure me that you will pardon her if this newes put some little trouble into her soul and if the fear of a punishment as shameful as unjust made her change countenance you comprehend not well the anguish of her imprisonment nor the excess of her ordinary griefs if you judg that this newes afflicted her you know not that there was no death which would not be more sweet then her life if you believe that the assurance to die comforted her not My good friend said she unto her I see well that my good fortune offendeth you since you are