other vices Alcimus and Vannoza earnest of an unconstrained reciprocal enjoyment were come to a resolution of ridding themselves of the Old Man either by Sword to Poison to plain their way to a future Marriage This Journey was laid hold on by Vannoza as a sit occasion to perpetrate the Murther by Bravo's so they call the Italian Assassins in some Wood or narrow passage under colour of Robbery This Counsel broached first by Vannoza was readily embraced by her Adonis who for Money failed not of Men who undertook to execute this Bloody Enterprize Vannoza had divers times attempted the courage of her Maid to slip some poyson into Capoleon's Meat or Wine but Lisarda loth to envelope her self in so desperate a design Adriana however more seemingly compliant presently gave her Master warning to avoid this intended mischief But now this Assassinate being projected broke off the other more dangerous design of poysoning but as if secrecy were incompatible to that Sex Vannoza reveal'd it to Adriana praising it for an Heroick Action and singing Songs of Triumph before the Victory Capoleon making preparation for his pretended Journey Adriana amazedly came running to disswade him from it revealing the Conspiracy that was made against him to whom the crafty Old Man to dissipate her Fears answered her That he would countermine them and by taking the takers marr all their Plots Encouraging her to be faithful to him and so thanking her for her advice he dismist her He had already caused all the Keys of his house to be counterfeited to enter at what times he pleased to take the Criminals in the act Whereupon he set forwards in good equipage and well attended having under-hand given order that all his Wifes actions should be diligently watched leaving one in trust to learn of Adriana the news of her deportments He had so long given Vannoza her swing that he now seemed to be no longer jealous His Journey was so well coloured that there was no subject left to suspect it He was followed three or four miles by a Servant of Alcimus to see what way he took At the place where he Dined he remained until night and returned to the Town very late where being retired to a private house he heard from Adriana that his back was hardly turned when Alcimus came to supply his place in the habit of a Jeweller The Night was in the middle of its course and darkness more then Cimmerian had over-spread the surface of the Earth and the sweetness of rest and heaviness of sleep had rendred the Condition of most in the City little different in appearance from that of the dead when Capoleon whose many designs and thoughts had bereaved him of repose covered with a Coat of Male and Head-piece and armed with Pistols Poniards and Sword accompanied by six men some of them 〈◊〉 Servants and others Bravo's compleatly armed and resolved to execute Capoleon's vengeance with so much the more boldness by how much it seemed more just and reasonable and therefore they less subject to the fear of scandal or of punishment came to the house with the false Keys we lately mentioned arriving without noise to Vannoza's Bed-Chamber who had admitted Alcimus into her Husband's Bed where they lay soundly sleeping in the close embraces of one another The door being bolted on the in side he knocked at it like a Master and as one resolved to enter by fair means or foul and that speedily being then unable to suppress the movements of his Passion to counterfeit his voice or moderate his Anger What case Vannoza was in when thus suddainly awaked I leave it to the Reader to imagine hearing the eager and angry sound of her Husband's voice who thus surprized her betwixt the Arms of a man who together with her had not only robb'd him of his Honour but conspired against his life A thousand terrours seiz'd her in a moment the fears of death and danger of Hell environed her so that it bereaved her of all usage of Reason or discourse as those whom a Wolfe had got the first sight of The two Maids which slept in the Wardrobe being awaked with the noise Lisarda was almost dead with fear but that of Adriana was only counterfeit because she kept intelligence with that party though the thoughts of the succeeding Execution could not but make her tremble She rose and softly ask'd her Mistress What she did intend to do Who being with fear almost as much stupified as she that was turned into a Pillar of Salt for looking back upon her flaming City answered her not a word What say'st thou Alcimus in this pressing necessity or to whom wilt thou betake thy self O how true is the Saying of an Ancient Roman Historian That when the hand of Destiny layes hold on a man's Collar he becomes even stupified his Senses taken from him and as if he were fetter'd with invisible Chains he has neither Courage to attacque his Enemy nor to defend himself nor feet to flye At least ye defiled Souls since you are deprived of all hope of escaping a Temporal death think of preserving your selves from an Eternal one Now think of your Salvation at this point of extremity this precious moment manage with a hearty desire and unfeigned repentance your reconciliation with the Father of Mercies who hath promised graciously to receive sinners at what hour soever they heartily repent But O Lord how just art thou and how much equity accompanies thy Judgments And how true is that saying of one of thy Saints That it is reasonable he should forget himself in dying who living never had any remembrance of thee During this mute consultation and fix'd resolution they beat still more rudely at the Door calling swearing cursing and threatning to break it down which so daunted the spirit of Vannoza ever till then so sharp and subtile that seeing her self discover'd and betray'd and without other hope of safety than what she could gather from the deepest desperation knowing the impossibility of her Husband 's pardoning this outrage she took the first counsel that her despair suggested and which was infused into her Soul by the Evil spirit who like a Crow croaking after carrion watched for nothing but his prey for seeing Adriana going to open the Door she leap'd out of the Bed and opening a Window which look'd into the Garden she cast her self violently down where lighting upon a graven Effigies of stone she broke her Skull in divers pieces and her Brains were scattered all about her Body almost battered to pieces made passages enough for her adulterous sacrilegious and desperate Soul to go to the place design'd for it but where I am too charitable to speak my thoughts Alcimus having entred the house in the habit of a Jeweller had neither Sword nor Stick to defend himself all that he could do seeing the door a opening was to leap out of his Bed and exchange it for a Closet where he entred and shut the
Conscience before you Hereupon Simplicius told her That he had not more particular knowledge of nor intimate acquaintance with any one in the City than with him that he was a great Benefactor to their Convent that he was one of the fairest most judicious and pious Souls that ever came under his acquaintance nor did he ever know one of his Age more virtuous Ah! Father said this false Penitent how easie it is to lye to men but how hard to deceive God! and in this like Caiphas she spoke truer than she intended Surely if his wickedness could increase so high as thus to impose upon you I take his case to be most deplorable and it is impossible but that he must thereby draw upon himself some grand disastre What is it you tell me Daughter said the amazed Simplicius Can this man possibly be so like the Swan as under an appearance of innocent whiteness to conceal the black feet of so horrid an impiety loosely abusing the Sacraments for a Cloak to his wickedness I come not here reply'd Vannoza to search into the secrets of his Conscience but only to discharge my own by advising him by you that he break off his search of a Woman who being loyal and faithful to her Husband cannot without breach of both be enjoyed by him What! said Simplicius Alcimus covet another man's Wife O execrable Sacriledge O mighty God! where is thy Thunder I have long governed the spirit of this man but have never either perceived or heard such a thing of him but trust this to me and if he come not to see me speedily I will go seek and find him out and endeavour to wash his Soul with so scouring a Sope as with God's assistance shall lick away this odious spot I feel zeal enough to dare to attempt and hope I have influence enough upon him to perfect the plucking up so pernicious a root from his heart And if you permit me to remark the particulars to him it will be from you by me or rather from God by us both that he will obtain the salvation of his Soul for it is written That he that retrieves his Brothers soul from the path of ruine 't is delivering his Soul from death does at the same time save his own and is it not an excellent way of working ones own salvation in that of another and this properly belongs to the Religious who to Monastique Functions do joyn the Priestly I do not only allow but intreat you to do so holy Father said Vannoza for to this sole end have I revealed it to you and that you may see with what truth and sincerity I proceed in this Affair know that I am the Wife of Seigneur Capoleon a Gentleman well known in this Town I tell you this because the obscurity of this place the Veil I have upon my face and your Religious Order hinders me from being otherwise known to you than by word I am the unhappy Woman in whose face this rash inconsiderate young man hath found that which pleaseth him more than it ought or I desire But there is no fire that is not accompanied with some smoke and he does not only cast out some sparks but so visible a flame as is known and taken notice of by all the Neighbourhood Now you must know Father that Jealousie is almost an inseparable Companion of old men married to young wives has so possest my Husbands heart that excepting my walks to the Churches places of Devotion which yet is done in company of my Mother which is the ancient Lady which you see here so near your Confessional I am the rest of my time prisoner in a remote Apartment of the House which only looks into the Garden where I have no other entertainment but that of Images Books of Devotion and my solitary thoughts sufficiently happy in this retreat in which I have the happiness of pleasing my Husband and conversing with God if I did not fear that so many follies which Alcimus commits before all the world and particularly in the sight of my Husband Capoleon may force him to the extremity of laying an ambush for him and take away his life in so unprovided a condition as may render the hopes of his Salvation desperate for to die in the unchaste pursuit of another's Wife is but a crooked way to the eternity of Glory I have already discovered some of my Husbands menaces and perceiv'd him to plot with his Servants and some Bravo's against this young Gentleman which cannot be executed without a probability of bringing Capoleon to destruction Alcimus to Hell and me into the slanderous mouths of detracters whose throat is an open sepulchre where I should see my Honour unjustly buried Judge then Father if I have not reason to advertise you of this mischief which hangs over the head of Alcimus that he may get into Harbour to avoid this Tempest and slip from the shot of this bended Bowe and that by sorsaking so unjust a Passion he may save himself from so eminent a destruction In truth Daughter reply'd Simplicius you include many vertuous acts in one for besides the testimony of your honesty and your inviolable fidelity to your Spouse you use a grand and signal prudence to prevent the many slanders which might succeed so pernicious a design and principally you manifest an extream charity towards this wretched offender who does justly merit to perish in his iniquity But we ought still to hope well of Divine mercy and a sinner's Conversion above all when the iniquity is but in its Infancy whiles the young man is yet within the gate or Jairus his Tabitha within the house without attending Lazarus his four days corruption till an inveterate habit have rendred him incurable But yet continued he may I not yet be further instructed that I may more clearly carry my self in this affair of some particulars of the unhappy search of this young insolent I question not but that against the constancy of your honesty his sighs and tears are but winds and waves spent upon a rock but how far has his vanity proceeded has your Husband yet perceived it or is he yet come to open words threats and bravadoes or only to small suspicions I thank God said she he is not yet come to the extremities you first specified but he is upon the essay you last mentioned for Alcimus his pursuits are so evident that none except blind but must needs remark him for every evening under pretences of taking the Air and managing his Horse in which and in his Attendance he has an extream vanity he has pickt out our Street which is fair and spacious for the Theatre of his Exercises shall I say or Follies and this to endeavour to draw me to the window as many other inconsiderate young ones there to see my face from the Ice and coldness of which towards him he hath raised such a flame as rages with so much more puissance as
and inconsiderate to submit my self to the captivity of the charms of unlawful love you would then think me stupid and insensible if before such a fire I should endure without heat or flame but be pleased to consider that our affections principally those that are grown inveterate are not put off so easily as a garment Would God we could as easily quit our habitudes as our habits as the primitive Christians cast all they had even to their garments at the Apostle's feet so I had presently deposited at yours all the passion that I had for this Lady But I pray consider which you know better than I how hard it is for the Aethiopian to change his colour or the Leopard his spots but still more for a sinner so suddainly to rid himself of that which is so deeply ingraved in his soul I hope nevertheless by the grace of God and the assistance of your Prayers and good Conduct to draw this thorn out of my heart which I once took for a most pretious and fragrant rose the impressions of which will hardly yet be effaced from my spirit though I feel sufficiently the pungency of it so that I now find how rational that saying was I see what 's good but my malignant will Bends me to love and follow what is ill Though this will be the very separation of my soul from my body by so violent an effort yet when it shall please God to break these fatal bonds of iniquity which environ me I will sacrifice to him an hecatomb of praises and every where publish the glory of his name All I can at present do is to protest that for the future I will do my best endeavour to efface out of my memory the Idea of so many graces and perfections that have enchanted it and essay to shut the gate against those thoughts which nourish my passions and finally to take that resolution which is incident to the most irresolute to hope no further where the evil is incurable I say not this because mine is so but I see by the firmness of this Lady that she is no less chast than fair and if she have attractions which make her be beloved she has no less severity to make her be feared and all attempts are fruitless upon one so firmly bent upon the conservation of her honour I will henceforth endeavour to extinguish my unlawful fire with the tears of penitence and seeing the waxed wings of my designs melted by so audacious an approach I will like Icarus drown them in that Sea of repentance It is fit I banish from my spirit those Idaea's which flattered my passion and withal seemed so delicious for instead of the contentment which I promised my self from their success I now see nothing attend me but sorrow and regrets Upon sound advice I find my self obliged rather to commend her vertuous resolution than to blame unjustly her holy rigour which now has proved the onely eye-water to restore the sight I have been so long deprived of And since she cannot be pitiful to me but by being cruel to her self nor satisfie my humour but at the expence of her Honour I shall shew far more judgment in making my retreat than I did in beginning my enterprize And I heartily bless God that having fallen it is into such hands hers and yours by whose assistance I cannot fear but to obtain a recovery and making profit of my misfortune have cause to say it was good for me to have this fall after which I hope to stand faster than before Judge now by this Discourse whether the Children of Darkness be not more in their perverse generation than those of the light and whether they be not more witty prudent and discreet and wsthal more accomplishâ—d for the bringing about their wicked designs Was not this cajollery able to pass not only upon the innocency of the well-meaning Simplicius but even upon the craâ—tiest in the world This good Father reply'd My Son 't is a good step towards health to be cured though you come somewhat late to repentance yet all is soon enough if well enough I told you before that all that smoke could not be without some fire and that your Mine would at last be discovered though never so secretly wrought But now God be praised who has melted the Ice of your obstinacy by the Sun of truth and that the acknowledgment of your fore-past fault promiseth us a future amendment and that which does most rejoyce me is to see you hope in the Divine Mercy which is an Abyss without bounds or bottom and will not let us want that which it would have extended even unto Judas had he not prevented it by despair to which the extremity of his grief reduced him He who begg'd pardon for his Crucifiers will surely do the same for those who with a sincere heart do now invoke his bounty whilst he is in the Throne of Glory performing the Office of our Advocate And after turning towards Vannoza which heard all this Mystery with that attentation and joy which you may well magine possest her to see her designs succeed so happily You see Madam said he our Criminal convinced by his own Confession What now rests but to condemn him not to punishment but amendment It is true we are here in a Tribunal where a free Confession serves for an excuse and where excusing aggravates the Crime A Tribunal where Mercy has predominance over Judgment and where there needs only a sound Confession of a fault to obtain remission since here we hold the place of him who hath said At what time soever a sinner returneth towards me my arms shall be open to receive him for I am the living God who would not the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn from his iniquity and live If Wine Women and Truth are asunder judged in Scripture to be the three strongest things in the world what must they needs be when united in one Subject We have here the Wine of Charity and Divine Love washing away the filthy putrefaction of this prophane Passion You Madam are that strong Woman which Solomon desireth whose price is above Rubies or the precious things the world can yield and have by your fortitude reduced to Reason this wandring Soul by repelling all his assaults But above all the Strength of Truth is greatest for you see that Alcimus confounded by the first Ray that it darted in his face To this Vannoza replied in the Apostle's Phrase for she wanted neither wit nor words to express it had she but had Grace to apply it better Not I Father but the Grace of God in me the Grace of God which often makes use of the weakest things to confound the strongest of a Rod to tame the pride of the Aegyptians and of the hand of a woman to behead the great Assyrian Captain But Father to strike now whilst the Iron 's hot what hinders but that as the
Lacquey who were so many Spies and Sentinels kept in Pay by her Husband to keep a strict watch on all her Actions And now what was she able to do being alone confined revengeful and amorous She must use some means to escape from this perplexity either through the window of Despair or the door of Artifice A religious Artifice that was the door of the Temple which she thought to be specious but was very fallacious wherefore she resolved To try all wayes that Wit or Art could yield Before she to despair would quit the field One day as she was Cajoling her aged Tithon according to the Custome of Women when they mean to deceive redoubling her toyings and caresses she protested to him That Imprisonment in his company was the highest happiness she coveted on Earth and so she enjoyed but the sight of him all others in the World were indifferent to her so she might but enjoy this shadow of liberty to go to the Churches in the Company and Conduct of her Mother to procure Indulgences to frequent the Sacraments and Confessions and to hear Sermons That all other Exercises besides these and her domestique ones were as contrary to her temper as fire to water she being no more concerned for the companies and conversations of the World than if she had never seen nor known it She knew so well to colour this just request with sweet and plausible words and to accompany her dissimulation with such real tears that Capoleon's heart was not so steely but to be softened by them or had it been of stone the falling of these streams had been enough to wear it He took her inside to be as lovely as her out and that both ways though clothed with flesh she was altogether Spiritual and that though yet on Earth she breathed nothing but what was Angelical He thought that so holy a request could not be rejected without impiety And that he could not without meriting some severe Judgment from Heaven resist the motions of the holy Spirit and stop the progress of Grace in this holy Soul The Proverb saith That it is hard to find a trick to catch the old one since their long experience has armed them against all devices Yet this young Wit refined by a Passion which inspires the most simple with subtlety needed not to go to School to the most ancient Crafts-Masters Capoleon falls into the snare and opening the door to a seeming Piety he lets in the blackest mischiefs Wine taken after Hemlock is a good Antidote against its poyson because its gentle heat refreshing the heart tempers the mortal coldness of the other but when they are both swallowed together there remains no further remedy for the one opening the pectoral veins makes the deadly venom of the other a more easie entrance and renders it so penetrating and active that the vital heat is suddainly extinguish't In like manner the most puissant remedy after the poison of sin is the supernatural heat of grace Grace which is the true enlivener of the spirits which does temper the natural frigidity of the Soul the Sacraments and other Divine Mysteries are the Conduit-Pipes that convey this Divine Mercy from the Fountain of Salvation but when one swallows them down mixed with the venome of Sin then surely this iniquity is deplorable which turns the Haven to a Whirl-pool the Potion to a Poison Death into Sinners entring at this Gate Hurries them headlong to a damned state And this mischievous invention of Vannoza was sufficient to hurry her to the brink of Perdition for she thus obtained this favour of her husband who thought this as great an act of prudence as of condescention hereby stopping the mouths that were daily open to blame his former unreasonable Severity and so thought he might safely put his honour under the conduct of the Conscience of so devout a Wife Vannoza's Parents advertised of this good resolution came to visit and thank Capoleon for it and to congratulate with their Daughter thereupon She knew so well how to win her Mother's affection who had for her a heart truly Maternal that instead of being conducted by her she brought her to accord to all that she desired See here our Israelite under the rod of a Mothers direction delivered from the Aegypt of her Prison and the Captivity of her Pharaoh to go feed upon the Manna of absolution and the Word of God in the desarts of Penitence But her intention was to pass that way into a Land of Promise that flowed with Milk and Honey far from Coelestial To render her Stratagem more Compleat she clothed her self the meanliest that was possible and promised her husband to veil her face so diligently that none but a Lynx his eyes should perceive it all which he believed as Oracles Her Mother astonisht to see her in this equipage became sorrowful for her fixing upon so strict a devotion fearing it would end in a destructive Melancholy Her Maids that followed her fancied that they had an invisible Mistriss and that she rather seemed a moving shadow than a real substance Capoleon who according to the custome of the Jealous watch'd her with Argus eyes could espy nothing but most devout and modest and as he loved nothing more then the sight of her when she was at home he now cherisht the thoughts of her whil'st she was abroad Thus did she dazzle the Eyes of all Men and was so diligent a manager of her time that in a few days she had learnt all the Jubiliees the Stations Fraternities Feasts and Sermons that were in the whole City and had all the Kalender by heart She was seen to go from one Church to another and from Monastery to Monastery still at her Mothers heels as if she had still continued an obedient young Daughter which was a sight commended by all the beholders Mean while her designs were so secret That the most Curious Imagination would not in the least have suspected the smallest part of them All thought it was the Mother that conducted the Daughter when indeed it was the Daughter was the Shepherdess who though she came behind drove her Leader whither she pleased so desirous was this good Woman of the Spiritual Consolation of her beloved Daughter One would have thought she had gone with violence and fervour to the Conquest of Heaven when her Enterprizes were all fixed upon Earth like Eagles who when they tour aloft in the Air have their thoughts still fix'd below to fall upon the first prey they can espy Her veil concealed her from the sight of others but hindered her not from the sight of divers objects which presented themselves to her sight which above all desired to satiate its self with the sight of Alcimus This was the Butt of her pretensions her Indulgence and her Jubilee Alas She could see him sometimes in Churches but he passed out as swift from her sight as lightning or if he stood long enough for her to
robbed her of Discourse as well as of Invention which made her become lean and pale her Husband believing that it was the austerity of Religion and her continual contemplation that wrought this change He did what he could to divert her but his troublesome Caresses did but inflame her sorrow She kisses and embraces intermix'd But on her absent Love her thoughts were fix'd She had once like to have imitated Potiphar's Wife who accused the innocent Joseph of a Crime of which she alone was culpable but reserving this desperate means for the last extremity she was unwilling to betray one who had never offended her and on whose affection only depended all her contentment See here the subtility of this wicked Woman who thought by sowing an irreconcileable quarrel betwixt Alcimus and her Husband to heal her passion which way soever the chance fell for Alcimus once slain her flames would be extinguisht with his funeral Torches and her insupportable Passion buried in his Grave but if Capoleon should fall under his misfortune she saw her way made plain over his Grave to the end of her designs and by her Widowhood put into possession of her self and left to a free pursuit after the satisfaction of her ardent desires A strange fetch of female subtility But still she dissembled her thoughts and made no outward shew but of Sadness and Devotion as if these two qualities were inseparable and thereby she sunk deeper into her Husband's belief the opinion that it was only her Devotion that procured this Melancholy and the truth is a feigned false constrained Piety if such deep Hypocrisie may bear so fair a Title does oftentimes ingender this sort of sadness which is begot by the interiour worm of a cauteriz'd Conscience which does incessantly gnaw upon the heart She was however much pleased to see her old Man so much concerned at her seeming Melancholy and the more he seem'd to be troubled at it the more cause she still gave him to be so Whilest she so dully past her time like a Hunter upon a cold Scent the Devil who like a roaring Lyon has his eyes and mouth still open for a prey way-laying his stratagems in the spirit of Alcimus and fanning his delusions into his head and so diligently blew up this spark of anger which he had against Capoleon that at last he stirred up a devouring flame in his heart He represented to him the despicable Age and ridiculous weakness of his Enemy together with the base pusillanimity of fearing so inconsiderable an Antagonist who was so far below his birth and quality that he would derogate from both if he did not turn his treacherous designs upon his own head who durst not have undertaken such villanous enterprizes had he not believed that he who ought to be a Gentleman of courage and gallantry had quitted both for the Counsel of a timerous Monk that these cloister-Cloister-spirits are never susceptible of generous resolutions that like Reeds they cannot resist a Tempest but by compliance that gallant Souls ought to imitate the Cedars of Lebanon that can be shaken by nought but thunder that going out well accompanied he might bid defiance to his Enemy and pass his Horses hoofs over his belly if he durst assault him that there needed nothing but a good Armour to defend him against treachery and that he ought to embrace such occurrences which might manifest his courage and gallantry for amongst Men of the Sword nothing but danger can shew what a Man is made of These were the Remonstrances of the Enemy both of his Soul and Body who seemed so diligent a Preserver of the honour of the one and the safety of the other though his design was only to bring them both to destruction Alcimus puft up by the vanity of these thoughts did like the Lyon stir up his rage by beating his own sides and fancying to himself that his imaginary Enemy would too gloriously triumph at his too easy retreat if upon the meer advertisement of a Religious Father he forced himself to humour a jealous Coxcomb those few days which his promise had bound him to abstain from his ordinary courses seem'd so many ages to him and this short retreat did but whet his Appetite and his going back was but to take the greater leap Therefore at length he return'd to tread over again his former steps more proudly and nobly accompanied mounted and accountred than before becoming a new Spectacle of pomp and gallantry to all Beholders his Lacqueys were well armed with good swords and daggers and private pistols resolved though ignorant of the design and quarrel to sell their skins dearly to those that should prove Chapmen for their bodies he had also some disguised Bravo's to accompany him which are a sort of People that will kill a man there as cheap as Bailiffs will arrest him in other places As for himself he wore under his Clothes a Skirt of Male and carried one of his best Swords not forgetting his Fire-arms and private head-piece resolved in this Equipage To be reveng'd of this affront Or hazard Life and Soul upon 't Thus did this innocent young Gentleman arm himself to encounter shadows Chimera's conceived in a Woman's brain and distill'd through the Alimbeck of a Monastick simplicity What inward joy surprized Vannoza when through her usual Watch-tower she saw this beauteous Star mount the Horizon of her Street he must needs be a most accomplisht Oratour that can express the frozen North which after a Night of six Months long sees the first rayes of the Sun appear to visit her but not more joy than she had now to feed her eyes with so ravishing an Object her only unhappiness amidst this bliss was that she could not communicate her sentiments to him that caus'd them but taking occasion by the fore-lock she resolved to discover her face through the casement and to talk to him in a Language of looks and signs a custome so common in this Countrey born to nothing but dumb shows and such refined inventions that if he were not altogether stupid he could not chuse but thereby perceive the Flame he had unwillingly kindled in her Soul Alcimus turning his Eyes with a proud and menacing look towards the house wondering that he could perceive no body at the windows at last attentively regarding it every way he saw a little casement open at the top of the house from whence he presently expected a treacherous shot Alas too true a one which pierced not his body but his Heaâ—t David of old a King so Holy and till then so innocent looking from the lofty top of his Palace saw within a Garden a Bird or rather a Fish within a Fountain which at one glance of the Eye foiled all his holy resolutions to the ground Alcimus who was made of no better a mould looking up from the street and expecting nothing but the levelling of a Harquebuz at his body felt the blow of a more dangerous
one than he expected I mean a Basilisk's Eyes in a beautious face which soon grinded to dust all his Virtuous intentions During this interview he made his Horse corvet and bound and exercised all his most excellent postures till seeing so many attractious circumscribed in so small a compass and so many charms contracted in one face he thought the windows of Heaven had been opened and that he saw not a Star but rather an Angel or beauty of Paradise For Vannoza appeared in such an equipage as was capable to make an impression upon the best fenced heart of a young Cavalier principally on one which lay exposed to the airy passions which make them prefer a shameful slavery before a Glorious liberty Why should I trouble my self to paint out these follies He saw and fell and Vannoza might as justly as Caesar bear the Motto of Veni Vidi Visi upon her Triumphant Banners Alcimus was not so much a novice but he knew the Language of his own Country which is that of love and knew well enough that it signified that he was better beloved in that house then he expected and that the hatred of the Husband was sufficiently balanced by the affection of the Wife And as love is the onely attraction of love besides so many charms that rendred this beauty recommendable he thought himself obliged in honour to render a reciprocal affection so that he quickly answer'd her in her own language which somewhat resembled that of Angels or rather of Demons which speak to one another in thoughts and there needed no Interpreter to make them understand one another thus passed this first interview The next day the Sun had scarce begun by bending Westward to lengthen the shadows when Alcimus whose coming was attended by his faithful Sentinel long before his approach returned to his usual practice to draw in through his Eyes the poyson not of hatred but of love a passion more pernicious to his Heart where he saw her hold up a letter in her hand with sign to come and receive it at night which he diligently performed with no other company then his valour see here the first thread of this Web of iniquity which these two Spiders went craftily to weave This note in few words discovered Wonders wonders that are fittest to be veiled in silence and interred in oblivion yet why in oblivion since this paper undertakes to transmit unto posterity the blackest mischiefs to make them be so far shunned in like occurences as the Reader shall abhor them by reading this recital Let us onely say then that she advertised Alcimus as followeth Noble Alcimus I Am not ignorant of the Alarms you received from your mouth of your Confessour nor can you be so of their meaning when I tell you 't was I that caused them that was the onely means with which love could inspire me to bring about my design of acquainting you with a malady which none else can cure If this general proposition may be worthy of your answer you may find means to convey it over the Garden wall by which I shall understand whether you esteem worthy of acceptance which is intended onely for your service and any own satisfaction Vannoza Alcimus was all inflamed by the many fire-bals which the Evil spirit cast into his Soul by means of this crafty woman and netled to the very Heart with curiosity of knowing the effect of this strange adventure he returned that night and cast the following letter over the Garden-wall where she stood ready to receive it Fairest Vannoza I Know not whether I may more justly extol your worth and ingenuity or condemn my own stupidity in not perceiving it before the one being as far beyond the reach of applause as the other is beyond that of abhorrency but since you are pleased to make your goodness as conspicuous as your merits by pardoning a crime which a modest offender durst scarce excuse know fair one that I value your undeserved affection at so high a rate that my chief study shall be to merit and preserve it with my life and fortunes My transport is so great at present that I know not how to express my self further but shall impatiently attend the blessed revolution of my happy Stars to produce an occasion in which I may better testifie the ardour of my unbounded Love and inexpressible gratitude Alcimus Mean while the Boutefeu which sets both Heaven and Earth on a flame stuck his heart quite full of Arrows and as it is his unhospitable custome to set that Lodging on fire which gives him entertainment he in a short time made a Furnace in the Breast of Alcimus who feeling the pungency of this new ardour could find no further repose but in the meditation of his sweet inquietude he now accused himself of his former blindness and it was then that he saw clearly through these Intrigues and now that the Cataracts were fallen on his eyes he thought himself like Harpastus the only Argus O God! How presently does a small errour spread it self into an unbounded bigness One spark of evil having seiz'd the Soul Soon spreads such flames as nothing can controul The more difficulty and resistance he found in this pursuit the more was the pleasure of winning the Prizes as Simplicius his Commands to the contrary had infinitely whetted the edge of his appetite of returning to his former passages through the street there being nothing more desired by humane Nature than that which is forbidden What lawful is does basest seem Not worth acceptance or esteem But what 's forbid by Law and Right We seek with raging appetite So these obstacles which seemed to stop his carreer it seeming as impossible to attempt this Sun inveloped in so many Clouds as the true Celestial one were so many spurs in his sides to hurry him head-long upon this dangerous attempt yet he found this Current of Contentment interrupted by a troublesome consideration which was a suspition lest this sudden and unexpected gratious invitation were not a bait to some hidden snare that was pitcht for his destruction and whether the jealousie of the Husband by a secret intelligence with his Wife had not found out this means to ruine him So that tormented on one hand by the charm of so many irresistible attractions and on the other with the importunity of his distrust for wicked women are like those Africans which are said to bewitch and slay those before whom they laugh or like Apes whose embraces serve only to smother for these Reasons he earnestly desired to be satisfied from whence proceeded this advertisement which Simplicius had given him He went and found this good Man whom he conjured and intreated to tell him from whence he had received this advice protesting not to take up any resentment against the person he should name not questioning but that it proceeded from the mouth of one that was very desirous of his welfare Simplicius unwilling to reveal it invented
Sacrament if many abuse it Who knows not the corrupt Stomachs turn the best Meat into Crudities Besides all this the counter-sence of their words as well in Speech as Writing their cabalistique Cyphers and interlined Letters written by a Liquor which of invisible became visible by being held against the Fire and by such like means and many other wayes whereby they dayly maintained their wicked correspondence by abusing in so many several manners the goodness of this religious person who was thereby tost like a Ball betwixt two skilful Gamesters But if the wicked devices and odious sins which were acted in the Temple and in holy places by the Sons of Aaron and of Eli were so severely punisht by Divine Vengeance what punishment was due to these sacrilegious persons who not content to violate a Sacrament which is great and honourable and by an infamous Adultery projected and acted by them but also this other holy one which pronounceth on Earth the Decrees of Heaven miserably changing into a crime that which ought to serve them for an instruction of justification How oft like Uriah did they carry in their own Bosoms the sealed Packets of their condemnation but with as much wickedness and deceit as he had of ignorance and innocence But this sort of Writing and Speaking was not all the furious passion which so tormented them and robbed them of their repose was not an evil that could be healed so without coming to an effect their reciprocal being but too well desires known to one another that old Serpent the Devil Who hath so many names but more devices With which to mischief Sinners he entices He I say failed not to suggest unto them many means of seeing one another and that in such a manner as they desired for though in this sort of Vice the Gospel places the mental Adultry in a lustful look and a determinate mind to do evil yet the execution is not perfected by the view though these like those of the Basilisk strike death into the Soul the life of which consisteth in Grace which is lost by a mortal coveting Alcimus being assured of Vannoza's good will to him but evil in its self did soon find the way were it by the means of some friends or rather the irresistable force of his Coin to procure access to a house that joined to Capoleon's where by the conjunction of the roofs he facilitated his entrance to the Cabinet of Meditations of her who easily waived her devotion to yield her self to his There whilest her Husband thought her taken up with Celestial Contemplations she was exercised altogether in Earthly ones and in the possession of her new Lover Thus was this immodest Helena taken for a chaste Hecuba And thus these passionate Lovers being arrived to the top of their pretensions in the enjoyment of their delights as execrable as unjust thought they had found out the Elyzian Fields in this Garret But the pleasure of the wicked passeth in an instant and the Royal Prophet hath declared That he hath seen the wicked elevated above the Cedars of Lebanon which are the just and perfect Souls and soon after repassing by the same Thickets he has no longer perceived them because they were shrunk away and failed for as the wax melteth before the fire and the smoke dissipateth and vanisheth as it riseth higher so Sinners are brought to nought in God's presence in an instant This intercourse lasted but a while for these often frequentings of this house being observed by the Master of it who was not at all advertised of the reasons of them all the business being brought about by one of his Servants corrupted by Alcimus it presently buzzed suspition into his head a Vice natural unto the Italians and made him begin to look after the honour of his Wife who was rather capable to beget pity than desire See here an eclipse and parenthesis for some days to the interviews of our Lovers Thus crosses do in multitudes descend On those who ' gainst Gods righteous Laws offend But they like Mules and Beasts quite void of sence Feel not the rod nor turn from their offence But the same spirit of darkness that animated them being as fertile in invention as perswasive in wickedness to make them a passage through all the steps and degrees that lead to the highest top of iniquity suggested to them more of his Diabolick ways Diabolick do I say nay much worse than the artifices of Devils who are forced to confess their impuissance in sacred places which our wicked ones chose to make the execrable Theatre of their abominations whence comes it saith God by the mouth of a Prophet that they whom I loved have committed such crimes in my own house And if a fault which of it self is but venial or slightly punishable becomes inexpiable et crimen lesae Majestatis when acted in a Kingâ—s Palace as being a place of veneration and not to be dishonoured by an infamous act what new punishment must there be invented to inflict upon him who violates the Temple of the Immortal and Invisible King of Kings by detestable prophanations Of a certainty God will not hold for innocent him that pollutes the place of his abode and make that which is consecrated for a House of Prayer be converted into a Den of Thieves Within this House Lord nought is fit to be But what in holiness resembles thee Vannoza having no liberty to go abroad but to holy places in the company of her Mother Alcimus by an act doubly sacrilegious still frequented those Monasteries where there were to be Stations Indulgences or Processions of the Fraternities and there habited like the Religious of every several Monastery and Order where he was he hid himself in some private Chappels or secret and dark retiring places as those who do evil hate the light and was there visited by his devout Mistress where under pretence of Consolation Instruction or Confession they acted that which could scarce find remission from him who was thereby so highly dishonoured in his own habitation I am struck with horrour to discover deeds of so black a hue but it is to stamp some horrour in the Souls of those who act or are tempted to commit the like that I trace these lines upon this paper Those who know the dexterity and boldness of the Italian spirits principally when they are pricked forwards by this frantick passion which hath so puissant a dominion in their hearts will not find these horrid impudencies strange though to others of another Nation they may seem almost incredible Now as in the course of perfection it is the custome of those who use themselves to it to advance from virtue to virtue till by degrees they arrive at the top of the Coelestial Olympus so are there steps and degrees in evil and though as an Ancient saith there is no vice but what brings us to the brink of a Precipice yet another saith as truly None
be imposed upon a Cloister'd person but soon after fell into a matchless Frenzy and a disconsolate despair beyond the advice or comfort of any Irremediable griefs her Soul torment And she 's consum'd with mortal discontent At length perceiving that she might long torment and vex her self before the walls that environed her like those of Jericho would prostrate themselves at the noise of her lamentations there fell into her fancy so extravagant an invention as I should be as much ashamed to relate as the Reader will be apt to laugh at as a Fable were there not a thousand and a thousand witnesses of it's verity Prophane Writings are Vermine which creep into the most Sacred places through the curiosity of the Inhabitants And though they are apt to corrupt good Manners and alter the chastest Resolutions yet it cannot be prevented but that the most retired Vestals will sometimes cast an eye upon their diverting pages where learning that which before they knew not or refreshing their Memory of that which a long discontinuance had made them bury in oblivion they either beget or awake in them the Idea's of a thousand Inquietudes This puts me in mind of the Roman Vestal who having read in a Poet that which had stirr'd in her a criminal passion one day ravish'd by the force of Imagination she unwittingly cry'd out Kill me if Love ben't a delicious thing And Marriage do not matchless pleasures bring Which so scandalized those that heard her that she was by them brought before the Censour there to be chastized as one that had broken the Integrity which she ought to preserve under pain of death And that which is remarkable is That Perjury was forbidden amongst them with the same rigour as Dishonesty The Censour upon this Accusation adjudged her to be buried alive the common punishment of those who had violated the Chastity which they had vow'd to Vesta This Vestal protesting that she was a Virgin and that her Body was pure from the corruptions of pleasure The Judge who condemned her for her words did by the same convince her saying to her Either thou hast experimented unlawful pleasures which make thee culpable Or if thou hast not thy Perjury makes thee deserve death by affirming that which thou art ignorant of This Dilemma stopt her mouth and the rigorous Sentence was executed upon her Certainly we live under a Law so much more exact as it is incomparably more pure more true more just than that of the ancient Romans benighted with the thick Fogs and clouds of Paganism For the Spouse of holy Virgins is so delicate that he is not onely jealous of the purity of their bodies but even of that of their thoughts so that to see him and be happy they must be pure in heart Whatsoever then may in the least sully this lovely whiteness ought to be as carefully avoided as the Ermin shuns what may defile her curious Furre Let tender Virgins therefore avoid as Rocks and Shelves these impure Books since under their words of honey and flourishing expressions are hid the Serpents of dangerous imaginations The Monastery wherein Polixena was inclosed was of great Eminency and full of Cloyster'd Virgins but whether so lively as they ought I know not However it were this Maid was pleased with the reading of foolish and fabulous Books such as are Poetry and Romances Amongst the Images of Piety and Devotion there often slide into the holy places licentious Pictures which also make unhandsome impressions in weak and tender spirits though they be onely there under the pretext of Hangings and Imbroideries whence it happens that somethings the most fabulous and ridiculous oft pass for truths in their belief and take place of more solid Idea's This happen'd to Polixena who reading of the imaginary artifice of Dedalus his wings by which he escaped the Cretan Prison and oft fixing her eyes upon a Picture represented this Fable and having formerly in Hangings wrought it with her Needle with which she had made curious Wings which balanced the father and his son Icarus in the Air this story wrought so upon her melancholy and distracted fancy that she would try to imitate the cunning of the one without remembring the folly and misfortune of the other She heaped together from all parts as many feathers as she could and bought abundance besides many intire Birds whose feathers pleased her as much as their flesh did others with these she pretended to make Chaplets and Garlands and such like pretty toys in which those of her Sex and condition are for the most part incomparably ingenious They let her alone hoping it might divert her Melancholy She made a large habit of Feathers artificially wrought upon a linnen Robe fitted to her body and then fashioned two large Wings with which by the moving of her Arms she thought she could bear up her self in the Air and if need were fly with this brave accoutrement even into another World Her design was to go find her Parents in what part of the World soever they abode and if they consented not to marry her to Lucio to fly to him and summon him to perform his promise which was to reverse the Fable of Leda who was coupled with a Swan See here the extravagant vanity of a spirit transported with Love and then tell me whether the blind deity which presides over this passion have not wings But it was not enough to put on these toys without she use them having therefore one Evening fitted up all her fair feathered attire and passed all the Night in an unspeakable extravagancy in which she made as many rounds about the World as Job's malicious Wanderer and not having been able to close her eyes it was easie for her to rise sooner in the Morning than any of the rest Being therefore mounted upon the Steeple and having fitted on her Habit in which she thought to out-flye the Eagle and feared nothing but being born up too high and too near the Sun she cast her self with extended Arms from her lofty station But never Hawk struck down so violently upon his Prey as she precipitated her self to the ground where she was crush't almost into as many pieces as she had feathers on her Habit. Morning being come she who had charge to ring the Bell passing through the Cloisters was ready to sink down with fear seeing this Bird stretch't out at length of a greater bulk by far than she had ever seen before fear put wings to her feet if not greater yet however swifter than those which the Miserable Polixena had fixed to her Arms. This Maid was her self the Bell that suddainly sounded up all the Convent The trembling Doves beheld this affrightful Eagle through the Windows of their Cells and could almost have crept into the crannies of the Walls to hide themselves from so terrible a Creature of which they had never seen nor heard the like Some took it for a Dragon others for a Griffon and all for that which their natural pusillanimity dictated unto them At last having taken somewhat better courage and fortified themselves with the Cross and Holy-Water they approached the breathless Corps of Polixena so battered and bruised principally her head that it was hard to know her At last they understood the folly and to what design she had amassed so many Feathers and her Companions calling to mind her ordinary discourses about Dedalus and Icarus and her desires to be turn'd into a Bird and many other her extravagancies conjectured it to be as we have said and it was as soon divulged through the City the strangeness of the Event serving a long time for discourse and entertainment Some pitied her others laughed at her and as there are as many different Minds in the World as men every one judged of it according to their fancy The wiser sort blamed her Parents who had rather imprisoned then vowed her to God who accepts none but voluntary sacrifices Her folly however somewhat excused her despair being overcome by an enraged passion which had in others upon like occasion produced more tragical though none so ridiculous events I shall conclude all with a short Meditation which at that time was that of Simplicius who as on the top of a rock mounted high above the reach of the fiercest waves from thence beheld all these furious tempests of a disturbed Sea and considering how fearfully the hand of God darts lighting upon the heads of the incorrigibly impious after the serious scanning of all the particulars we have before related he shut up his Contemplation as we shall do our Discourse with these words of the Divine Singer Thou who the God of Justice art Wilt never take the wicked's part Sinners shall not abide with thee Who foolish innocency use And mock at thee and thine abuse Shall in an instant scatter'd be This strictest Judgments shall pursue False men that alwaies speak untrue Being still averse from what is good Thus Scourges shall or'etake from far The people that delight in War And pleasure take in shedding blood The End of the Fourth and last Book
wringing the other and imagining that Vannoza had discovered to him the real Jealousy of her Husband founded upon the false opinion of Alcimus his pursuits he contented himself with what his Penitent had already discover'd but to prevent all future mishaps and to pluck up by the roots the hatred from his heart which he had conceived against Capoleon whom he had already named his Enemy a word of war and defiance in this spleenatique Country he again protested to him that Capoleon neither by himself nor Deputy had given him this advertisement or made these menaces but that it was a religious and timorous Soul which perhaps had too far exaggerated the matter and according to the Proverb had painted the Lyon fiercer than he was that he desired him not to look upon Capoleon with the worse eye for this nor to do any thing further to promote his Malady which was of the nature of those artificial Fires which every thing would nourish but nothing extinguish That he ought to have compassion of such infirmities of spirit according to the Apostles advice who would that Spiritual Persons and those who are fortified within should bear with greater fortitude and patience the faults and insolencies of the weak to accomplish the Law which would that we should bear with one another's infirmities Adding that the only remedy he perceived for this misunderstanding was to abstain for the future from these passes in the Street at least till time with his insensible Spunge had effaced from the spirit of this offended Husband the impressions which his evil humour might perhaps have engraved there it being no part of a prudent man to exasperate the Wasp or to provoke the Bee which last though naturally of a sweet and gentle temper as being born and bred amongst Honey knew well enough how to manage its Sting to defend its Comb And further That a true Penitent was not only oblig'd to part from the Territories but from the Confines of Evil for to what purpose is it to quit the unfortunate City of Iniquity and take up Quarters in the Suburbs I mean within those of the occasions of Evil to fly to Zoar and look back to Sodom It is not enough for the true Nazarites to drink no Wine nor strong Drink unless they also abstain too from the very Grape least the taste of the one breed a desire of the other With these Reasons Simplicius strengthened his Remonstrances without assuming the power of commanding but certainly with Counsel accompanied with the Spirit of God he advis'd Alcimus to turn away his course from the frequentation Of those so dreadful Rocks and Shelves Where multitudes had split themselves Alcimus found it very difficult to submit to these Injunctions alledging that the Laws of Cloisters and those of the World were very far different that the one prescribed to honour a blind submission and a renunciation of all Earthly enjoyments but that in the World it was one of the greatest marks of Infamy to receive Laws from the will of the Enemy and that Couragious souls like an unshaken Rock Undauntedly should brave the rudest shoock Nothing 's more base than to bad men to yield Or to their proud attempts to quit the field Hereby Simplicius perceiving that this was a spark of that hidden fire which would not suddainly be extinguisht Seigneur Alcimus said he if you find this remedy too difficult you will constrain me to say that you chain your self to the Bank of Iniquity and tug at the oar of violence and then feign obstacles for your obeying of wholesome Precepts Remember Saul 's malediction for disobeying Samuel t' is a Crime to disbelieve but a kind of Witchcraft to disobey to speak plainly you would hereby perswade me to that which I am unwilling to believe and under pretext of opposing your wrath to the hatred of the Husband make me suspect a secret affection for the Wife For Who often'st saith I hate does prove Most commonly deepest in Love Moreover you are bound in Conscience to give no occasion of offence or scandal in your deportments for if the great Apostle declare that he would eat no flesh so long as he lived rather than by eating to offend the weakest of his Brethren How much more ought you to avoid the Actions and Occasions which might give suspicion of the works of the flesh unjustly desired or pursued after And if the same Apostle would not that the least mention of Fornication should be made amongst Christians how much more odious and detestable ought Adultery to be either in action or affection Father said Alcimus your discourses are backt with Reason and speak you both a Christian and Religious Person but be pleas'd to consider that I am not of your Religious Orders but yet a Christian like you although a secular and mundain one and though there be no more agreement betwixt the rules of Piety and those of the World than betwixt light and darkness the Ark and Dagon or God and Mammon yet are we obliged in performing the one not to omit the other if we intend to preserve our Reputation without which we render our selves the reproach of the World and the most abject dregs or scum of the People Consider that I am now a Sword-man and that formerly studying Cases of Conscience I have learnt that when an Enemy shall attacque me I am not bound to fly and save my life with the loss of my Honour and though the Evangelical precept of turning the other cheek to him that smites him on the one extend its self to secular persons as well as regular yet we see it otherwise practised by both Our blessed Saviour asked that Wretch who shamefully struck him Why he did so and though he did not call Legions of Angels to his succour or employed Thunder and Tempests to revenge such injuries as he might have done yet did he mix this point of severity amongst his admirable meekness and incomparable humility If Capoleon attack me I think it will be lawful to resist him and perhaps with the same weapons I shall turn the mischief upon him which he designed for me and confound this Conjurer with his own Devil for I am resolved not to suffer my self to be assassinated by his treacherous hands Here Simplicius interrupted this Discourse fearing that if he let Alcimus proceed he would excite that choler in himself which he should be ill troubled to allay and perhaps according to the promptitude of his youthful inclination proceed at last from words to execution He therefore smooth'd and flatter'd this generous courage protesting indeed too truly Capoleons innocence and that the report which had been made him might perhaps be false too truly false but that this his Paternal zeal and care made him not only worthy of Pardon but of Praise and Affection saying O Alcimus Alcimus you know not what it is to be a Father a spiritual Father had you but experimented how the bowels of
the Soul yern after the Infants of the Spirit you might be capable to judge of that ardour which made those words boyl over from the mouths of Moses and St. Paul when they desired to be accursed for the good of their dear Children and Brethren in righteousness the day will come when you will know this verity and look upon that in me with a good eye which perhaps does now appear otherwise to you Your heart dear Father answer'd Alcimus is too right towards me to do or say any thing amiss what ever comes from you to me can never be received otherwise than well but withal I once more intreat you not to condemn me without hearing for judgment without preindication and prejudice without judgment is the high way to errour it is easie to impeach but not to convince to say not to produce witnesses to declare but not to prove if accusing will suffice who can be innocent what shelter for the good if the storms of the wicked be Oracles And Father since God injâ—â—â— it to obey him I am willing to walk iâ— an unpleasant path and shall gladly look â—â—on Capoleon as my friend and dear Christian Brother and I am so far from wishing him any evil that I desire him all sorts of good but since distrust is the Mother of security you must allow me to beware of my self and that not only of my life but of my Honour which every noble mind will esteem more than life In this temper of mind and having disburthened my Soul to you of all that laid upon it I hope you will not deny me the benefit of absolution Here Simplicius found himself surprized having to deal with a Souldier who knew as well how to feign with his Tongue as Sword one thing only he required of him in the Name of the Lord which was To shun all rash attempts in his just hate And make his wrath way to evaporate And principally for some days to avoid his accustommed passages in that street and at last by much conjuring and intreaty he extorted this Promise rather violently from his mouth than voluntarily from his heart this was not the first and free droppings of the Myrrhe but rather the second gathering extracted from the Tree by scratching it with Iron Instruments Alcimus left Simplicius more satisfied with his having disabused him than with his simplicity in so slightly believing the report and troubled withal that he could not learn from him whence he had had this advice for he would rather have suspected any person in the world than Vannoza whom he held for dead amongst its obscurities In what darkness and ignorance do we spin out the thread of a frail life Mean while Vannoza who sleeps little and the Devil much less are hatching mischiefs on all hands for whilst the one as subtle as invinsible blows wrath and malice into the ears of Alcimus the other as dangerous as visible presents her self to those of Simplicius to know the success of her false report for it was her principal design like another Eve to open the eyes of Alcimus by tasting the forbidden Fruit and to procure him to look diligently in his passage towards every part of her house from whence he was otherwise regarded than she pretended he suspected or Simplicius believed that she might thereby find means to make signs to him as Vessels stuck fast upon a Shelve or in other distress do for help to those Ships that pass by But she was infinitely astonish'd when she found by Father Simplicius his recital that she had ruined her own project and wounded her self by her own Weapon and by an ill-temper'd Plaister brought her Sore from an Ulcer to a Gangrene and further when she learnt that Alcimus had not the least thought or affection for her this consideration made her despair of success but to those who are irremediably overthrown it is a kind of comfort that they can fear no further mischief She took new vigour when she understood from Simplicius the indifferency he had for all her Sex judging that the purity and whiteness of this Paper would easily be susceptible of the first impression and that this green Wood once lighted would burn most fiercely Love being a Mystery in which the Apprentices are Masters She begun to project new Designes how to bring down that untamed Courage which was yet proof against all Loves Assaults and to recal this wild and untaught Hawk to the Lure At present she only told Simplicius that his Monastick life and Relious innocence rendred him less subtle in searching into the secrets of the heart and the spiritual wickedness of worldly thoughts and of those who under pretence of affection make it their glory to deceive believing that Heaven laughs at their Perjuries and Oaths which are only writ on running waters who hold for a Maxime That Love Wine and Secrets are worth nothing when they have taken the Air and that it seemed in our Age men had effaced this practice from the number of sins it being not only common but commendable finally that it was the shuttle-cock of Courts but the ruinous Arrow of hearts she only wisht him to beware of a surprize and since he had drawn from Alcimus a promise not to pass through that quarter of a good while that he should take care that he found a firm performance and long continuance See here how this subtile crafty Female spoke what was as far from her desire as intention In the mean time having painted her face with a lively joy she returned home rather dead than living with sadness so deeply rooted in her Soul or rather her Soul so deeply plunged in sorrow that she knew not whether it were fittest to reckon herself amongst the dead or living She had now lost the sight of her North-Star her days were now become but nights and the very sight of the Sun was disagreeable overwhelm'd with sadness sorrow and melancholy she did nothing else but sigh and groan like the solitary widowed Turtle bewailing nothing but the loss of the sight of her amiable Alcimus Was not I said she sufficiently miserable without adding more to my misfortunes To what new mischief do the Heavens reserve me having thus condemned me to perpetual darkness O thou Light of my Eyes how art thou clouded those short and little glances of thee which I once enjoyed did give me some sort of consolation but this sad Eclipse is insupportable which for ever deprives me of so dear an Object and which to me does seem the pleasantest in the World But come what will I must once more have a sight of my dearest Alcimus and I will never leave any way unattempted though never so dangerous before I resolve to perish Mean time the days slipt away and this Star never appeared O Nights far longer than those of Norway She oft stood Sentinel like another Hero but never could set eye on her Leander The confusion of her thoughts