thoughts of my pleasure 'T is too much gayety said Josebeth and in an affair of that consequence seriousness looks a great deal better With much ado he appeased her so that at last she told him playing with his Hair I confess I am extreme unfortunate and you may make my happiness but then it must only be in the ways of Honour The ways of Honour Madam why what does that mean you are in the power of another Man who in all likelyhood will live as long as I. I know very well what I say says Josebeth and that I may be yours without wronging my Conscience by an easie and handsome way which I will tell you if I find that you are worthy of my Love In a word 't is only in prospect of this design I ran the venture of that Note which brought you hither and do not deceive your self with any other imagination Our Frenchman saw himself cruelly disappointed of his hopes and thought himself the only unfortunate Man to whom ever happened such an odd adventure On the other side the force and solidity of Josebeth's Reason appeared more and more and taking our melancholly Lover by the Hand We will love one another said she eternally and 't is for that end that I will never grant you any thing that shall hinder us from so doing At that word Villeneufe swore a thousand Oaths that the goodness she should shew could never hinder him from loving her for ever but on the contrary would enflame him more by adding gratitude to love No no said she you deceive your self but were it true that you should afterwards love me the more you would only thereby be the more miserable for I should hate the sight of you and fly from you like Death Oh Madam said Villeneufe what reason could you have to use me so cruelly after having used me so kindly Any Woman of Wit and Honour would do so as well as I having a horror for those Lovers who make them reflect on their own shame For you must know to what excess of Love soever a Woman may be carried she still would keep her reputation and many times such a Woman may shew greater concern for it than another so that as often as she calls to mind that in the World there is a Man that can reproach her with such a failing she cannot think of him but with confusion but would with all her heart see the only witness of her shame destroyed that so she might remain the sole possessor of a secret which if it were possible she would not know her self There was so much Reason Sense and Honour in what Josebeth said that Villeneufe had nothing to reply and yet he could not chuse but complain though he confessed it was to complain of Reason it self Whereupon the lovely Josebeth smiling upon him and believing that in his heart he did her justice told him I find you now so reasonable that from this minute I take you into my service and as I am very just in my nature you need not fear being turned off And to shew you that I will allow you all that I can in decency I will not go to morrow Night to the Tents of the Synagogue though my Husband has desired me to pass one Night there as well as the rest but will let him go alone that I may have the more liberty to entertain you here on condition that you do not demand any thing which I cannot grant And with this precaution she thought she might permit a great many things to Villeneufe innocently enough which she the rather did because the design she had was very just and to carry it on it was necessary to see him often that she might the better know him But Madam said he if you must go pass a Night at the Synagogue your Husband must then go with you No says she he durst not though he had never so great a mind to it for 't is not lawful for the Jews to be with their Wives these eight days If it be so Madam what should hinder me from waiting on you thither dressed up like a Woman it will be some kind of diversion and you must have some body there to wait on you Nay if that were said she I must have two for I cannot be without Solomoune So 't was agreed to the satisfaction of Josebeth that was pleased with the novelty to think that never before was there any one so attended to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles By this you may see what was the humour of Josebeth and therein she did not much differ from other Women whose Ambition is much greater than the Authority they are allowed They have so good an Opinion of themselves that they would if they could manage the most important Affairs of State And seeing that Pleasure is denyed them they are desirous to shew their power in lesser concerns and think they have done pretty well if they are the occasion of any thing extraordinary But this design of Villeneufe was easie to execute he was slender enough in the Waste to pass for a Maid especially in that Country where Men are not of the most delicate shape and he knew the better the way and carriage of a Woman having formerly in a Ballet at the Hague been dressed up for the part of a Sultan which he performed very well So that he resolved to go to Solomoune's and take the Cloaths his Mistress would send him However when he was alone he did a little blame so extravagant a Gallantry and made such reflections as some Men especially those of his own Nation use to do when they obtain any thing easily that they desire ardently Had he known Josebeth better be would not have entertained such thoughts But notwithstanding he came to Solomoune's where he found the Cloaths very fit for him and the old Woman so pleased in putting them on as was a little troublesome At last they both went to their Mistress and from thence all three towards the Synagogue where they were no sooner entred but the Rabbin according to the Custome made fast the Doors It had no light but what came from ten Lamps hung at an equal distance in the Isle that was betwixt the two rows of Tents so that those who passed the Night there could use no other light but that which a little melancholy Lamp gave them and without opening the Door of the Tent they were quite in the dark Josebeth and her little Train had no great occasion for light which occasioned a little dispute for as Villeneufe would fain have opened the Door a little to let in some light that he might see his Mistress she grew very angry and thought he ought to be satisfied with the liberty he had and be quiet How now says she in the condition we are in you can go about to ask more than you already have Yes Madam said he if I did not desire more than I have
many secret Jews was of the same Religion with her Father Dom Gomez In a little while he left her a rich Widow and as soon as in decency she could she took another Husband of the same Nation and Religion with her first his name was Caladujar whom she has already buried and by that means is again at her dispose and surely she is one of the handsomest Women in Holland She pretends to know the World better than any of our Ladies here because she lived with her Father in the Court of Brussels so that all things are carried with a great Air in her House and she allows her self a greater liberty than our Women usually take they say she loves nothing so much as her pleasure perhaps 't is but a scandal for she goes devoutly to the Synagogue but however she has that Reputation And how are the Rabbins pleas'd with this said Villeneufe Among the Jews said Solomoune the Widows are allowed a much greater liberty than married Women or Maids for reasons that I do not remember and under that pretence Abigal takes a little too much she has been several times reproved for it and Manassas as well as the other Rabbins have sometimes shew'd their dislike of her way of living but none has spoke so home as Josaphat who is the most learned and vertuous of them all He preached at the great Feast of Expiation that is the 10th day of September and was so particular in condemning the liberty of Widows that it was plain enough he meant Abigal However his Exhortation did no good through the malice of the other Rabbins who taking an occasion to scandalize him because he has no Beard say he cryes out against Women only because the imperfection of his Nature gives him an aversion for them Besides Abigal has such a way to flatter and ingratiate her self with all the World that it takes very little notice of what she does But after all says Villeneufe what has Josebeth to do with Abigal Oh says the Nurse that is the Secret and yet said she that long'd to tell all she knew I can't forbear giving you this Mark of my trust so much I esteem you You must know then that Wanbergue fell desperately in Love with Abigal after her first Husband dyed They are both much about the same age and I cannot tell by what kind of simpathy she loved him at the same time so that he used all his endeavours with his Father to have his consent to Marry her But the good old Man that did not like her free way of living opposed it firmly and did the more eagerly embrace the first Proposition that Josebeths Father made him about the same time The happiness of possessing so fine a Woman as Josebeth has not taken away the first love he had for Abigal he has still continued to visit her and betwixt you and I I believe he still adores her You may easily imagine what an injury this is to Josebeth and how hainously she takes it 'T is not that Josebeth values the love of her Husband but it cannot but out her to the heart to see another so unjustly preferr'd before her for though Abigal be very handsome yet I assure you she cannot be compared to Josebeth either in Youth Beauty or Wit Villeneufe was of Solomoun's opinion and thought that Wanbergue did his Mistress a great injury but however he was not much troubled at it because it advanced his designs And beginning to esteem the Nurse as a Woman of good sense and breeding he amused himself a little in discoursing with her I know very well said he that Ladies esteem so much the Reputation of Beauty and hold it so dear that though they have ever some aversion for a Man yet it can never go so far as to make them desire he should carry his sighs and services any where else As much disdain as you please but a fair Lady will still look on the going away of a Lover whom she did not value as the loss of a Subject and a diminution of her Empire and never will she forgive that Fugitive that though ill used durst ingage himself in the service of another Mistress But dear Mistress Solomoune continued Villeneufe having a mind to pass away the time let us know a little of your Concerns and tell me a little what Company you have kept to get so much wit as you shew in all your discourse You laugh at me said she but I have read something in my time and there have been Men in the World that could think it worth their while to entertain me By what I yet see said Villeneufe I judge you have made no inconsiderable Conquests but may one not know some one of the Slaves you have made Yes said she growing young again with the remembrance of past pleasure I have been loved and it would be no Romance if I should tell you there was a time when a Marshal of France had no other inclination but for me I was but eighteen years old when he said I had too much wit for a Lorrainer and he did our Family many a good turn for my sake As he came back from an Ambassie in Switzerland he came forty miles out of his way to see me and he protested that if ever he published the Story of his Life I should not be forgotten Oh said Villeneufe this must be the Marshal of Ba You are in the right said Solomoune and I was acquainted with him by reason my Father held a Farm belonging to the Lordship of Harovel which belong'd to the Marshal One need not ask if a Lover of that Quality had reason to complain of your cruelty Alas said the poor Nurse 't was so worthy a Man that 't was impossible But you laugh at me and I am a Fool to talk to you so and hinder you from writing to Josebeth before you go home He writ a Letter full of respect and passion and besought her by eagerness of Love that she would shorten the term of eight days which he himself had agreed to and let him see her at the end of three Before Solomoune went away he asked her if by chance she had not something or other about her of the hand-writing of Wanbergue for says he I have a fancy to know his hand She look'd in her Pocket and found a Note of some things that he ordered her to buy him two or three days before Oh this is enough says Villeneufe and as soon as she was gone he took the Letters out of his Pocket that he had stole in the Synagogue and comparing one of them with this Note the Nurse had just given him he found they were both the same hand At first he did not know whether he ought to be angry or glad for as on one side he considered that it must needs do him service to convince Josebeth of the Infidelity of her Husband so on the other side the love
for obtaining the liberty we desire The worst of it is that being obliged to leave our houses for a whole week to pass it here we are forced to eat and drink and sleep in the same place where we assemble for our devotions which is very inconvenient And must all Persons of each Family be assistant at this Ceremony said Villeneufe No Sir said he and we have ordered now because of the hot weather and littleness of the place that there shall come but one of a Family and having said that the Ceremony would not begin yet a good while our Adventurer went away full of new hopes She 'll lye alone said he and will have much greater freedom this eight days of the Fedst than she could have at any other time I see she has wit to chuse her time and order her designs With these fancies in his head he went away a little longer than he should for when he came back he saw the Ceremony was begun But he was strangely confounded when before the Door of the Synagogue he met two Gentlemen of his own Country and acquaintance who had been in the Army before Amsterdam as well as he and who he thought had been returned as the Army was into the several Garrisons They had both more green Ribband than he himself one had nothing else but green in his Hat and the other had a trimming all of the same eolour All three fell a laughing at one another and Villeneufe cryed out 'T is the same design that has brought us all hither With that the other two confessed the truth and each of them produced their Notes all writ with the same hand and containing the very same words In troth says Villeneufe we may call this fishing for Gallants for we were all in the Water when we were biting at these Notes And so burst our a laughing maintaining however that he was not made so great a Fool as they because he was come to Amsterdam to embarque for Sueden whereas they had come thither only to be laughed at The truth is it was pleasant enough to see three French Gentlemen all dress'd up in green entertaining themselves at the Door of a Synagogue with a design upon some of the Daughters of Abraham and they were so sensible themselves of being exposed that they agreed among themselves never to speak one word of it In the mean time the Ceremony was begun and being at it they resolved to satisfie their curiosity and see it before they went to suptogether The Women were all on one side covered with great Mantles that hid all their shape and they held in their hand Branches of Trees as well as the Men who were placed over against them so that all the place was full of green which made some mystery in their Religion For ought I see says one of our Sparks green makes a piece of the Ceremony and when we were ordered to put it in our Hats we were treated like Proselyte Jews Whiles he was talking Villeneufe who still had a strong fancy of some real adventure turned his Eyes on all sides and he perceived a Woman covered with her Mantle left her place and with a languishing Air went into one of the Tents where another Woman followed her but he had not observed that the other which was her Woman had before softly pulled her by the Mantle which had made her counterfeit a little indisposition to leave her place Madam says she there are Three with green Ribband and therefore I thought fit to ask you what I should do The Lady having thought a little at last took the end of a piece of Parchment that was interwoven up and down on her Garments according to the Jewish Custome and after having done something with a little Bodkin she pulled out of her Head Here says she give this to one of them so neatly that the others may not see you But to which of them Madam To him that has the best Meen says she But because thy judgment it may be will be different from mine go about them and having well marked them bring me word what thou thinkest of them She came back presently and told her Oh Madam one cannot mistake There is one so extraordinary who is as handsome for a Man as you are for a Woman Perhaps for all that said she laughing you may be deceived for there be a many of those handsome Men who are great Cheats However they resolved the handsomest should have it which the good Woman could not have so well executed if Villeneufe had not plaid his part For seeing the Woman fig'd about as she did he imagined there was something in the Wind and as she came by him he let fall his Handkerchief which she took up and gave him with a great deal of civility The Ceremony lasted not long for it consisted chiefly in bowing of themselves towards the East where Jerusalem is scituated and in singing the 113. Psalm waving up and down the Branches they held in their Hands After the Ceremony was over the Three Cavaliers passed the Evening together though Villeneuf was impatient till he had seen what 't was that he thought he felt in his Handkerchief 'T was very late before he could satisfie his curiosity and at last he found 't was a bit of Parchment where he saw nothing but Characters that he did not understand that were writ on the sides of it They laugh at me says he flinging down his Parchment to write me Love Letters in Hebrew do I look so like a Rabbin that they think I understand their Language However being loath to give over his hopes he fancied there was some mistake and that he should see more of it the next day To consider the matter right one could not judge very well of a Note sent so uncertain a way and of so odd a kind of an assignation given at the Door of the Synagogue and of a concern that made an interruption in the solemnest act of Divine Worship There was in all this a certain Air of Intrigue and Face of Gallantry on which the greatest goodness in the World could not put a favourable construction But appearances are false as they were here where all this idle and vain romantick shew did cover a very good intention and a very laudible design The Night being spent Villeneufe again looked on his Parchment and all the while his Man was dressing him did nothing but turn it up and down and at last perceived some Letters marked without Ink on the side where nothing was writ To Morrow at the same hour again With all my heart says he though there were a thousand dangers in the way Dumaiest said he to his Man thou laughest but for all that here is a business will stop our Journey to Sueden For he no longer doubted but in the progress of such an Adventure he should find engagements sufficient to detain him And being in this mind he wrote to
and esteem he had for her made him see with indignation the brutality of a Man that could neglect a Woman of her Merit for another that was so much her inferiour in all respects He was thinking with himself whether he should make his Mistress acquainted with this story For said he one must treat Women of wit and that value their Reputation in another manner than one uses those that have not so much niceness and honour for those are alarm'd with hearing a story of another woman and the fear of being talked of themselves makes them preach against the vanity of the world and renounce to a friendship for six Months together without ever caring what becomes of their Friend all that while What know I but that when Josebeth hears that an intrigue of another woman has been brought to light in so extraordinary a manner she may take a fancy and be reserved her self for fear that her own Concern may some way or other be found out too Villeneufe had such thoughts because he did well comprehend of what nature were Josebeths intentions for him and therefore resolved to tell her nothing of the discovery he had made of her Husbands love with Abigal Immediately Solomoune came in I shall tell you strange news said she who do you think I have left with my Mistress Why Manassas said Villeneuse No 't is not he but I should rather have expected to have found him there than this other Person for 't is Abigal who has not been with my Mistress this three years till now and it must be something extraordinary that brings her now The Nurse was in the right for Abigal was extreamly troubled at the loss of her Papers and yet could not tell who to accuse and though she did not use to be much concerned at any thing yet now her indifference forsook her and she could not with patience think in what Hands those Letters and her Picture might fall However as 't is natural when one is surprized to think it comes from them whom we have injured Abigal who knew Josebeth had been that night in the Synagogue did strongly suspect 't was she that had stole her Papers Being big with this thought she writ early in the morning to Wanbergue that he should come and speak with her He fell into a violent passion when she told him the business and when she nam'd Josebeth I had rather lose one of my Ships said he that are coming home than that Imperious Woman should have such an advantage over me and at last he used Abigal as rudely as if she had been already his Wife and that had grievously offended him But she that knew how to order that hasty humour easily brought him to himself and made him perceive that that misfortune was occasioned by her violent affection and the extraordinary Concern she had to shew it even when she ought to have imployed her thoughts in Devotion And if any body had reason to be troubled 't was she who had lost both her Letter and her Picture by the too eager desire she had to send them to him At last they both concluded that Abigal should pay Josebeth a Visit and endeavour in her Conversation to find out what she could of the Adventure Josebeth was about to say she was not within when she saw Abigal come to visit her but the pride she took to be always at home made her suffer that Visit though much against her humour She received her with a great coldness which did not wear off though Abigal made her all the Caresses and Flatteries in the World She commended Josebeth's Beauty above all the Ladies in Town and afterwards fell to talk of the Feast of the Tabernacles and of the disorder that happen'd that night Josebeth was at the Synagogue One cannot said Abigal discover all the Rogueries that are practised there and the poor Creature that was taken is not the only prophane Wretch that abused the Devotion of such a holy place and such a Solemn Feast to have an opportunity of taking that which does not belong to them Josebeth that took her words in another meaning than what Abigal intended was mortally frighted and in her heart believed she was found out However having naturally a steddiness of mind that was seen even in her countenance she was no way disordered but on the contrary she did not only detest the impiety of those people that come into holy places with ill designs but spake with great zeal against those that imploy their thoughts in places of Devotion to any thing but that Service which they come there to Celebrate This discourse frighted Abigal as much as hers had alarm'd Josebeth and it had been a pleasant thing to see those two Women fright one another with the discourse they held with no other design but to keep themselves from being thought guilty Of the two Abigal was the most frighted and Josebeths Answer made her colour rise so that she could not hide it and having stayed about half an hour longer with a great constraint at last went away without having been able to learn any thing of Josebeth who was a little come to her self after the first fright that Conversation had given her but yet had a great impatience to confer with Villeneufe upon that Subject So that having read the Note he sent her that Solomoune had took an occasion to give her while Abigal was there she wrote him another to come to Solomoune's at the end of three days as he desired but that he should be sure not to come in till it was dark night nor go out till it was very dark Villeneufe obeyed those Orders exactly and left not the Nurse till past ten a Clock having her promise that she would be there again next night at the same hour that he might send her a Letter for his Mistress Next night Dumarest that had took good notice of the House found it and her there and gave her a Letter from his Master As soon as Josebeth saw it and saw a drop of blood about it which made her Heart beat she opened it and read these Verses writ in blood Thou that hast left the Streams of Life to gain A Kiss from Cloris hand tell her the pain The cruel anguish and the killing smart That thou didst feel in passing through my Heart The Verses were very indifferent ones but coming from a Man in Love and being writ in Blood too made them appear quite other things But the sense of them was not plain to Josebeth which made her send Solomoune to see in what condition Villeneufe might be Dumarest told her that his Master having found himself extreamly heated all night had been let blood but that now he was very well and would not fail of waiting on Josebeth at the time agreed This is a pretty cheap way of shewing ones passion said Josebeth laughing at the bloody Letters and a great conveniency of taking care
you for any thing said Manassas who was President in that Assembly but you ought not to be angry if being in doubt we follow the prescriptions of the Law in such occasions Rabbin said she you know best if Josebeth be a person of Virtue or no. He feared some such answer and therefore was gone about to take the Voices which all agreed that Josebeth should take the Waters of Jealousie When they had pronounced that Sentence she sat down quietly to see the Execution which according to their present Custom was on this manner If any man was jealous of his Wife he was to come before the Priests to tell them the reasons of his jealousie and if they were judged sufficient he was suffer'd to try the virtue of his Wife in the presence of the chief of their Nation the way was this a Priest wrote upon a piece of Parchment these words Let the Woman who has been false to her Husband perish and when the Woman had consented to the Curse they shaved off from the Parchment these written words and gave her the shavings to drink in a Glass of Water with so wonderful a success that if the Woman was innocent that Drink only increased her Beauty but if she were guilty as soon as she had drank the Water she felt most horrible pains all over her Body her Belly and her Thighs swelled and so she dyed in a dismal manner Thus it was when anciently this Law flourished in Judea but since that Law has been abolished by the Maker of it all those Wonders cease and there remains nothing but a Curse on that unhappy People Manassas knew very well that alteration for the Rabbins of Milan and Lisbon confess that the Waters of Jealousie have lost their virtue They do indeed attribute this loss to the Dispersion of their Nation and not to the Abolition of their Worship imagining that if they were again established in Judea that mysterious Water would have the same effect now that it had formerly But they do own that in all places else those Waters do not work as formerly Notwithstanding Manassas who was resolved to make those Waters serve his design maintained their virtue and backed his opinion with a many reasonings and Examples which made all the other Rabbins join with him in the same judgment The Water then was made ready and when that devilish Monster had took the Glass to say over it certain Prayers during which the other Rabbins held their Eyes fixed on the Ground he put into it a little Powder which one could not discern from the shavings of Parchment and Ink that were in the Glass and thickned the Water As soon as the Prayers and all the Ceremony was over they let Josebeth come in The indignation she had to see her self reduced to that extremity brought a red into her Cheeks that so raised her beauty that those wretched Doctors could do nothing but look on her Manassas with a counterfeit compassion exhorted her not to expose her self to a certain danger if she knew her self guilty but rather to gain the favour of God and Men by a sincere Repentance That impudence of Manassas took away Josebeths patience Give me Hypocrite said she give me the Glass this proof of my honour is more agreeable to me than that other you lately put me to And at that instant they heard a terrible cry at the Door However she went on holding the Glass in her hand Then you all agree said she that this Drink will make the Adulteress dye but that it hurts no body else To which they having all assented by a nod of their head she asked for another Glass and having poured the Water out of one into the other several times that it might the better mix she put half of it into one Glass and half into another and presented them both to Manassas Seeing this Water said she hurts none but the Adulteress pray let us drink it together and take which Glass you please That which you desire said Manassas very gravely would alter the order of the Ceremony and that we can by no means consent to for we must not pass our set bounds You can said Josebeth more easily pass a Balustrade of Iron than any Ceremony of your Law At these words the Rabbins looked strangely at one another and Manassas to divert them rose up again to take their Voices upon this new Matter when the cry was so violent at the Door that one of them went to see what was the matter and finding it was only a Woman that said she had something of great consequence to tell them he let her in Josebeth quickly perceived it was Solomoune with a Velvet Coat in her Lap which so surprised Manassas that he was ready to speak down dead not being able to speak one word Solomoune made use of his confusion to beg leave of the Rabbins to speak who seeing an extraordinary concern in her Face bid her declare her business She threw down the Velvet Coat before them to be examined like Josebeth's Smock and then told them all the Adventure of Manassas the rainy night with his passing the Balustrade and leaving that Coat behind him with so many Circumstances and such an Air of truth as was not to be resisted However those Rabbins would not seem to credit her not to bring a dishonour on their Religion but yet Josebeth had so much cause to suspect the effects of Manassa's hatred that they agreed he should drink the half of the Water While they were on this deliberation Manassas retired under pretence of praying but indeed to consider with himself what he was to do At last he resolved rather to hazard the loss of his Life than his Reputation and having taken a Cordial he always used to carry about him he came to them saying it was fit to use all sort of Complaisance You may see said he further turning to Josebeth by my condescention how little I have deserved the accusation you have brought against me Instead of Answer she took both the Glasses and gave them to Manassas to chuse which he pleased He took off one invoking even then the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob. And afterwards Josebeth drank off the other and lifting her Glass up as an Offering to Heaven cryed out Let the innocent be saved and the guilty perish and so drank off the Water which she really believed was a Potion of Death And she was not deceived though she had no other ground for her suspicion than the hatred she knew Manassas bore her and that was enough for there is no rage so great as that of Love contemned And now that wicked Man who ever since the affront he received at the Balustrade of Iron had been seeking an occasion to be revenged thought he had at last found one for his purpose for as soon as ever Wanbergue had brought the business before him he imagin'd the Waters of Jealousie would serve to
THE AMOROUS Convert Being a True RELATION Of what happened in HOLLAND LICENSED Octob. 19. 1678. Ro. L'Estrange LONDON Printed by R. E. for Richard Tonson within Grayes-Inne-Gate next Grayes-Inne-Lane 1679. THE AMOROUS Convert ONE of the Prince of Orange's Officers that by reason of his Post and courage was one of the last that endeavoured to save himself from the fury of the Waters which the People of Amsterdam had let loose on their own Amy had curiosity enough in the midst of danger to take up something that floated by his side on the top of the Stream As soon as he had recovered dry ground he saw 't was a Ball of Wax that seem'd to have something in it and having pull'd it asunder he found a Paper with these Words written in great Letters If this Note fall into the Hands of a Gentleman of Merit I conjure him in the name of Love and Glory to come and rescue a Person from misery that perhaps he will not think unworthy of a better Fortune A little lower in less Characters was added If he accept this offer let him come next Friday at Four of the Clock in the Afternoon to the Door of the Synagogue of Amsterdam with a green Ribband in his Hat This was written both in French and Low Dutch but the Address to a Gentleman of Merit was very general for hardly in the whole Army could it have light upon one that would not have given himself that Title so natural is it to Men if they have really good qualities to be the first in perceiving them and if they have not in usurping them But by good fortune the direction of this Note was fitted for the Person that found it and it could not easily have met in any other all that which goes to the making a Gallant Man Though he was sufficiently used to Adventures yet he was surprized with the odness of this the place of Rendezvous as well as all things else seeming extraordinary After having mused on it a while he let the Troops pass and followed by none but his Man he took the way to Mayden a little Town three Leagues from Amsterdam The weariness of his Journey was not sufficient to give him a sound Sleep which was broke three or four times with the violent working of his Spirits which were the more inflamed by the constant representation of the same Image Three or Four times one after another However it be said he still as he waked if she be as fair as she appears in my Dream I shall not repent my pains For you must know he was only concern'd for her Beauty making no question of his own success for his own nature being a Frenchman and his good fortune in a great many Intrigues had given him so good an opinion of himself that he doubted not the Lady whether she were Dutch or French would not fail to be equally taken with his Wit and good Meen He was of the Family of Lusignan that is considerable enough in Zaintonge and Poictou He was known by the name of Villeneufe a small Lordship that belonged to the younger Brothers of that Family the Alliance that he had with the Marquess of Boulaye had drawn him into the Civil Wars of France where he had behaved himself very bravely for a Man of two and twenty But the Loyalty that was in his nature making him repent his bearing Arms against his own King after the second Banicades of Paris he retired with some others first to Bruxells and then into Holland that then was called the retreat of brave Men that voluntarily banished themselves their own Country His merit was quickly known and the Prince of Orange who was extreme happy in finding out the good Qualities of worthy Men and generous in rewarding them gave this Gentleman a Company in the Regiment of Hautervie You need not question that having spent all his Youth in War he knew not perfectly the Duty and Office of a Souldier but besides that he had a great facility in speaking Languages and writ so well in Prose and Verse that a great many Sparks who take a glory in their ignorance found fault with his Learning and said he wrote too well for a Gentleman But the Ladies were not of that Opinion and there was hardly one of them either of the Princess of Orange's Court or the Queen of Bohemia's that would not have paid one of his Letters willingly with one of their own And indeed he was so liberal discreet and complaisant that he could not fail of gaining very much on the Sex Besides his Air his Shape and his Hair which he wore of his own made a certain mixture that touched at first sight With all this he had as much courage as he ought which helpt to bring him off with honour from many an Engagement which his good Meen had occasioned After a considerable stay at the Hague he had invitations to go to Stockholme where the Queen of Suede was well pleased to welcome Men of his Character and having resolv'd to take that Journey with two of his Friends La Chastre and Persans he went to take leave of the Prince who freely gave it him only desiring his company for two or three days which was when the Army appeared before Amsterdam where he met with that extraordinary Note in so extraordinary a manner After having passed the Night as unquietly as he did he got up early in the Morning to pursue his Journey to Amsterdam But said he to himself why so much haste Perhaps this Note came only from some idle Hand that had no other design than to abuse him that should find it And shall I not look very sillily to make a serious business of anothers Impertinence But on the other side I have told no body of it and therefore am in no danger to be laugh'd at And had I not found this Note I must have gone to Amsterdam however to have found shipping for Stockholme And above all there was a secret force that led him to believe that something extraordinary and real would arrive to him out of this adventure and as if he had been already assur'd of the truth of his own imaginations he began seriously to contrive how he should convey a Person that Heaven and his own Fancy conspired to give him He read the Note again and staying on these words Rescue a Person from misery Without doubt says he 't is some young and rich Woman that is going to be married against her will and that having a noble mind chooses rather to marry a Gentleman that she does not know than some poor conditioned Merchant that she does both know despise and hate Ten thousand Pound in Gold will do me no great hurt and may be easily enough convey'd away The difference of our Quality shall never hinder me from so advantageous a Fortune and to speak the truth why should we undervalue Merchants when all our life is nothing
a Letter with this Inscription For Abigal that is never at home it appeared to be a Mans Hand and thus it was 'T Is hard Madam to come four days together at several hours and not find you once to run after you in all the places where one guesses you might be and be told at every house that you are but just gone thence how is it possible for me after this to be so contented with my Prison as you would have me think I have reason to be I would give half the blood in my Veins that you were in this of Josebeths humour that is always at home The truth is your Picture would a little console me for the troubles those Eclipses give me would to God it could console me too for a loss I have by a Factor at Genoa of almost ten thousand pound and a Ship of mine the Pyrates of Algier have taken But if you are really pleased with the offers I make you of my service and all the designs I have to gain you you must if you please govern your self in quite another manner When he had done he could not forbear laughing This is right a Dutch Gallantry says he and the true stile of Cupid writing out of a Ware-house what tenderness of Love and what fine Complements I shall hate Abigal if she be capable to use such a Brute kindly but I shall see that by her Answer He had it ready in the next Paper that he opened and 't was this IF you could do any thing else but grumble you would be so far from chiding that you would be pleased to bid me joy in being freed from the bondage which for two years the Ceremony to be observed by a Widdow has kept me in Not that I design to use my liberty in the way that you would have me no I pretend to spend it in Duty and Religion as you may see by the place where I writ this Letter which is in one of the Tents of our Synagogue where I am like to pass a night very ill if the pleasure of entertaining my self with the thought and hopes of our Love does not help to divert me So that I shall divide my self betwixt you and the Rabbins they shall have the Ceremony and you the Substance The custom I have of being kind to you draws these Expressions from me before I think on 't for you do no ways deserve them and less do you deserve the Picture you ask however I send it you on condition that the Mourning you see me dressed in make you remember that I am free to bestow my heart on him that shall make me love him most I do not mean to constrain my Inclinations This Letter that was not finished sufficiently shewed of what Character Abigal was which Villeneufe easily found out and had such a contempt for her that throwing down her Letter What a pitiful sort of Woman is this the meanness of her Soul destroys the Beauty of her Face Oh Josebeth my lovely Josebeth is another sort of Creature how graceful is she when she would be severe and how obliging is she in that severity it self That thought set him a-work for some time At last he continued As for Abigal she must needs be an ill Woman and this Letter is but an ill Picture of her mind There was but one Paper more to read and when Villeneufe had opened it he saw 't was a Cypher to write secretly with a Key of Signs to speak by in Publick The writing was not the same hand with the other Letters and it appeared to be newly done and brought thither in all likelihood to be either studied or copied After having examined these Papers he was a little surprized though bred up in the Army and the Court two Places that do not usually give great impressions of Piety to have found people so imployed in a place and time so solemnly devoted to the Divine Worship If the Jewish Women do perform the other parts of their Religion said he like this Feast of Tabernacles I perceive Moses 's Law will be neatly kept As he was in these thoughts Solomoune came in and he had but just time to rowl up the Papers and put them in his Pocket I come said she from waking my Mistress and never did she laugh so much in her life as she has done on reading your Verses upon her Smock and yet at last she began to be a little melancholly looking on those words Nature did design your loving hearts in equal Bonds should joyn I wish to God said she sighing that it be as true as that I think I desire we were made one for another and that the Event may make good my thoughts and my desires afterwards she fell into her pleasant humour again as you will see by this Note which she has sent you Villeneufe took it trembling and found these words I thought that I had been when I pleased the most extravagant Creature in the World but now your Verses have robbed me of that glory The stuff as well as the fashion are equally bizarre and the part where you have writ them make up all So on the whole matter my Smock is now fit for a Romance and from henceforwards it shall be my Holy-day Smock with precaution however which I think as necessary as you can do Therefore do you and Solomoune take your measure together and I shall agree to whatever you resolve on That resolution was that he should not see Josebeth in eight days but that he should send his Man with a Letter to Solomounes little House every night As Solomoune was about to get him some Supper he asked in a careless manner as if it were by chance and for want of other discourse if she knew one called Abigal and whether it were the Name of a Man or a Woman You need ask no body but Josebeth said the Nurse not stirring from what she was about and it may help to advance your business bravely But who told you any thing of Abigal Two or three people said he that talked under the Window before you came in named that Name so often that it stuck in my memory and I thought to ask you who ' t was Come hither says Solomoune taking him by the arm do you see over those Gardens that fine House with the great Windows that is Abigals House But if you will swear to say nothing to my Mistress I will tell you more She was born at Brussels where her Father who was a Spaniard but for his Religion was a secret Jew had a considerable Employment in the Court of the Cardinal Infanta Governour of Flanders The Agent of Portugal that resided at Amsterdam having seen her in a Journey he had occasion to make to Brussels desired her for his Wife and was preferred to a great many others because he as you know since the Expulsion of the Moors and Jews out of Spain there remain a great
Religion in my heart And as it lies in their power to make some sort of distinction in the Synagogue they have there taken occasion sometimes to shew their little spleen but seeing that I laughed at their little tricks they were pleased to find that Wanbergue had some Intrigue and have done what they could to favour her and him on purpose to vex me Nay they let me know that one of the Rabbins themselves Marezul by Name had been employed to carry Love-Letters betwixt them On the other side Abigal living in that liberty she takes has yet so much of their favour that upon all occasions they justifie her actions and cry her up for a Woman of Piety Whiles she gets so much indulgence by submitting to their pride she calls them her Oracles and adores their Persons kisses the bottom of their Garments and often sends them considerable Presents And my treacherous Husband too says Josebeth for the same reason observes the same method to gain those Mercenary Wretches He often invites them to Dinner and then I must take an extraordinary care to treat them splendidly And the other day Wanbergue and Abigal agreed to send a Present of fine Cloath to Manassas that he and the rest might appear handsomly drest at the Feast of Tabernacles so that with these Precautions both he and she live how they please under the protection of these base Hypocrites Seeing 't is so Madam said Villeneufe why do you make any scruple to leave a Party where there is neither Honour nor Religion and to come into a better way I have had thoughts so to do a great while said Josebeth and the first Education I had in the Christian Religion gave me a great Aversion for these Rabbins At last they both agreed that Villeneufe should next day go away with all haste to Louvain that he might have the Opinion of the Doctors of his own Religion about marrying Josebeth and that in the mean time Josebeth should live with her Husband as she had done before As Villeneuse was on the way he could do nothing but admire the goodness of Josebeth which she had shewn him in this last Conversation For according to the Rules of a great Passion he should have been so transported with the offer she made him of marrying her that all his Reason and Wit should have been given up intirely to his Joy he ought not to have thought of any thing but that Felicity and having once got his Mistresses word not have troubled his head with thinking of other Obstacles And yet instead of such an obliging Transport he had coldness enough to reflect on the offer she made him and to propose a thousand difficulties against his own happiness in a word he looked as if he was making a bargain and that he would be assured of all things before-hand A proceeding that had nothing in it of gratitude or tender love and yet Josebeth had had sweetness and goodness enough to bear it patiently and calmly answer all his Objections However he thought that in all this he had done his duty and in reality he had in this shewed the greatest token of his kindness that was possible I have now said he experimented the difference there is betwixt a love of Gallantry and a love of Marriage for formerly whenever I ingaged my self in a Ladies service 't was to follow my present inclination without ever troubling my self with the consequence that might happen But now I well found by another temper of my heart that Josebeth my lovely Josebeth gave me Chains that were to tye me all my Life and the happiness of possessing her appeared so unlikely that I could not but dispute to be assured of its reality With these thoughts he got to Louvain and immediately made his case known to the Doctors there who in a Writing under their hands gave their Opinion that the Marriage of a converted Jew whose Husband would continue still in that Superstition with a Christian man was good and valid They brought several Citations out of the Canon Law and at the bottom Sign'd it Siunich Wauverne Loyens Those good men would not let Ville neufe go without taking occasion to give him wholesome instructions telling him that Marriage was not ordained to please the Lust of the Flesh but that he ought to propose to himself a higher and Nobler End without which But our Lover having got that which he came for cut off that Grave Discourse with a Reverent Bow he made them and taking this Declaration which the Secretary of the Colledge M. Naulandt gave him he went to take Horse to go back as fast as he came But his return was not so soon as he intended for as he was going away he was stopped by an Officer and some Souldiers and carried away Prisoner to the Governour of the Castle Dom Henriques de Carrero That Spaniard whom such a Place made very proud used Villeneufe at first very rudely letting him know in an unhandsome manner that he took him for a Spy as indeed Dom Henriques was informed that he really was for the War then continued betwixt France and Spain and the people of Louvain had an extraordinary hatred for the French ever since the Marshal de Breze besieged their City who after having spent a great deal of time and a great many men destroyed all their Country out of rage that he was forced to raise his Siege So that having taken notice of Villeneufe as he went up and down the Town about his business with an air and way that made them take him for a French-man Those who had nothing else to do were glad to do a French-man an ill turn and went and told the Governour that he looked like a dangerous Man 'T was to no purpose that he complained in Dutch of the injury that they did him for the Governour with a Spanish Gravity without so much as hearing him made a sign they should carry him away and away they had him into a Chamber that was not extraordinarily well furnished The Officer that had the charge of him stayed with him in the Room to entertain him and told him at last that though his Excellence was most exact in doing his Duty yet he knew how to treat Gentlemen The Prisoner presently smelt what he would be at and therefore took out a Gold Watch he had about him and desired him he would present that to his Excellence as a Token of his Respect He thought from the first that it would cost him something to get out of their Clutches but he thought now after this Present he should quickly have his liberty And that thought making him a little more easie he could not but laugh at the Title of Excellence given to Dom Henriques who was indeed a Gentleman but of those Gentlemen that after having served a long time in recompence have the Government of some Prison in the Low-Countries where minding nothing but to scrape together a