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<DATE>2007-05-24</DATE>
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<NAME>Emma Leeson Huber</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>ZELINDA: An Excellent New ROMANCE. Tran&s;lated from the <HI>French</HI> of <HI>Mon&s;ieur De Scudery. By</HI> T. D. <HI>Gent.</HI></P>
<Q>Nos haec novimus e&s;&s;e nihil.</Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>T. R.</HI> and <HI>N. T.</HI> for <HI>James Magnes</HI> and <HI>Richard Bentley,</HI> in <HI>Ru&s;|&s;el-Street</HI> in <HI>Covent-Garden</HI> near the <HI>Piazza's, Anno Dom.</HI> 1676.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
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<HEAD>THE PREFACE.</HEAD>
<P>THe World is grown as uncon&s;cionable to &V;s men of Wit, and Parts, as greedy Hou&s;e-Wives to poor Co&s;termongers; though they have never &s;o much Tra&s;h for a little Money, they mu&s;t have a Ca&s;t into the Bargain; a Prologue, or a Preface: and they expect Wit in them too, though there is none any
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where el&s;e. This extortion was a while gratified, but the Nine Si&s;ters are &s;o beggered with the Maintenance of their Multiplicity of Gallants, that the in&s;atiable Critick mu&s;t take down-right Railing, for Wit: And I &s;hould but imitate my betters, if I rak'd in the honour'd a&s;hes, and recited the little failings of my ingenious Predece&s;&s;ors, tho&s;e renowned and never to be for|gotten Authors of <HI>Amadis de Gaul, the Knight of the Oracle, Bevis of Southamp|ton, and Unfortunate Jack.</HI>&mdash;Or I might with others tax the impudence of my Con|temporary
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Scriblers, for pre|tending &s;o audaciou&s;ly to Wit and Poetry, when none has more confidence or le&s;s merit then my &s;elf.&mdash;No! I am for Peace and Policy; Contro|ver&s;ies and Di&s;putes among Divines, make Tub-Prea|chers and Athei&s;ts;&mdash;Enqui|ries, An&s;wers, Replys and Re|joynders between Doctor. <HI>N.</HI> and Doctor. <HI>S.</HI> concerning each others Practice, expo&s;ed the failings of both to Vulgar con|tempt, and rai&s;ed the repute of Quacks and hedge Do|ctor: while <HI>Wil. Pen</HI> and the Anabapti&s;t were hurling Fire &amp; Brim&s;tone at one another in
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<HI>Alder&s;gate-Street, Muckle|ton</HI> damned them both over a Pot of Ale. I &s;ay, let the green Faggot-&s;ticks of Poetry cling together in the band of Amity, and in&s;pite of the fierce Cri|ticks puffing, they may Hi&s;s, Pipe on, and be Courted, while he blows his Nails: But when the inte&s;tine fire of Envy di&s;&s;olves the &V;nion, by giving light and plea&s;ure to others, they con&s;ume them|&s;elves. I think this is a good <HI>&s;imile</HI> now.&mdash;Let us conceal each others Faults, and be great; and let not him that is found out, and ju&s;tly condemned, di&s;cover all the
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re&s;t to &s;ave him&s;elf, like a faint-hearted Padder.&mdash;&mdash;Why &s;hould the Taylor call the Miller a Thief.&mdash;</P>
<P>Book-Sellers too are grown &s;uch Saucey Ma&s;terly Compa|nions, they do even what they plea&s;e; my friend Mr. <HI>Bentley</HI> calls this Piece an excellent Romance; there I confe&s;s his Justice, and Ingenuity. But then he &s;tiles it a Tran&s;lation, when (as <HI>Sancho Panca</HI> &s;aid in another Ca&s;e) 'tis no more &s;o then the Mother that bore me.&mdash;In|grateful to envy his friends Fame! Though Sir <HI>Martin</HI> fetch his Plot from <HI>Pre&s;ter</HI>
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<HI>John</HI> and the Stingies, <HI>War|ner</HI> will manage all.&mdash;But I write not for Glory, nor Self-Interest, nor to gratifie Kind|ne&s;s, nor Revenge; Now the impertinent Critical Reader will be ready to ask, for what then? For that and all other que&s;tions to my prejudice, I will borrow Mr. <HI>Bays's</HI> an|&s;wer, and &s;ay, Becau&s;e&mdash;I glad Sir, I will not tell you.&mdash;I de&s;ire to plea&s;e but one per&s;on in the World, and (as one Dedicates his La|bours and Heroes to <HI>Cali&s;ta,</HI> another to <HI>Urania,</HI> &amp;c.) at the feet of her my adored <HI>Ce|lia,</HI> I lay all my Giants and
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Monsters: to any other Cen|&s;urer I &s;ay,</P>
<P><HI>Non vides id Manticae quod in tergo e&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>But to her I Bow, her fa|vour I Implore; and to her Sentence I &s;ubmit, as becomes her,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Admirer and hum|ble Servant, T. D.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
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<HEAD>Errata.</HEAD>
<P>PAge 2. l. 15. for <HI>unwritting</HI> r. <HI>uniting.</HI> p. 6. l. 21. for <HI>for,</HI> r. <HI>from.</HI> p. 7. l. la&s;t, for <HI>or,</HI> r. <HI>of&punc;</HI> p. 16. l. 14. for <HI>I injured,</HI> r. <HI>I believe.</HI> p. 26. l. 15. for <HI>required,</HI> r. <HI>injured.</HI> p. 34. l. 8. for <HI>not unrea|&s;onable,</HI> r. <HI>unrea&s;onable.</HI> p. 39. l. 15. for <HI>with,</HI> r&punc; <HI>which.</HI> p. 44. l. 16. leave out <HI>this.</HI> p. 47. l. 20&punc; for <HI>&s;ee,</HI> r. <HI>&s;he.</HI> p. 49. l. 12. for <HI>re&s;olved,</HI> r. <HI>re&s;erved&punc;</HI></P>
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<HEAD>ZELINDA; A ROMANCE.</HEAD>
<P>_IN the time when <HI>Spain</HI> was divided, not only among&s;t &s;everal Kings, but divers Nations; the <HI>Goths,</HI> the <HI>Moores,</HI> and the <HI>Spaniards,</HI> having each of them a Share: <HI>Arragon</HI> was ruled by one, who in the mid&s;t of tho&s;e Wars that trou|bled his Neighbours, had ju&s;t abilities e|nough to keep his own Subjects in Peace; and was Famous only for being the Fa|ther of him, who is the Subject of this
<PB N="2" REF="7">
Hi&s;tory. His Wife after having brought him one Son, dyed: At the &s;ame time the Dutche&s;s of <HI>Barcellona,</HI> a Young and Beautiful Prince&s;s, had newly lo&s;t her Husband, though he was already old. His Council thought it very nece&s;&s;ary&punc; he &s;hould have more Heirs then one, for his own as well as his peoples Security; and therefore in behalf of all his Subjects, de&s;ired him to choo&s;e a Wife to his like|ing, either in his own, or his Neigh|bours Dominions. The Beauty of this Dutche&s;s was well known further then <HI>Arragon;</HI> and be&s;ides that in Policy, the occa&s;ion was not to be let &s;lip of unwrit|ing to his Kingdom &s;o con&s;iderable a Town as <HI>Barcellona;</HI> the Kings own incli|nation made him conceive that Policy the better. Though <HI>Ro&s;alava</HI> had great Beauty, &s;he had yet more Wit than Beauty, &s;o that being already ab&s;olute; nothing le&s;s then a Crown could have tempted her to think of a &s;econd Mar|riage; but having an only Daughter as well as he an only Son; She thought this Ma<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">ch would not make her&s;elf only Queen of <HI>Arragon,</HI> but her Daughter too, and that &s;he could not be blamed,
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if being in the mid&s;t of ambitious Neigh|bours, &s;he &s;ecured her &s;elf by a way &s;o advantagious and Honourable. She ea&s;ily then con&s;ented, in&s;tead of Dutche&s;s of <HI>Barcellona,</HI> to be called the Queen of <HI>Arragon;</HI> where &s;he was received with the u&s;ual joy and Magnificence upon &s;uch occa&s;ions: Being Young, Agreeable and Di&s;creet, She &s;oon governed her Husband, and con&s;equently the King|dom. Now no bu&s;ine&s;s of Importance was done without her Con&s;ent, who&s;e Satisfaction was the Kings only care; but this great authority &s;he made u&s;e of mo&s;t, in that de&s;ign of Marrying her Daughter to the Prince, which &s;he was much more de&s;irous of, &s;ince &s;he knew what kind of one he was like to be. <HI>Alcidalis</HI> was born &s;o propitiou&s;ly, and with &s;o many natural advantages; That being a Kings Son, was the lea&s;t con&s;iderable: He had a Beauty which won the Hearts of all that &s;aw him, a Wit in his very Child|hood not to be equalled, and a great|ne&s;s of Mind that made every body re|&s;pect and fear him: The fir&s;t years of <HI>Alexander</HI> were not more Miraculous than his; and there was not a day in
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which he did not &s;ay, or do &s;omething to the a&s;toni&s;hment of all about him. Tho&s;e that pretended to skill in Phi|&s;ognomy, by looking on his Face, fore|told glorious and incredible actions; and they that took &s;urer mea&s;ures by tho&s;e he had done already, fore&s;aw the Crown of <HI>Arragon</HI> would prove too little for &s;uch a head: The Queen ob&s;erved his Per|fections better than any body, and there|fore grew extreamly Fond of him, and impatient to bring about her Daughters happine&s;s; which &s;he thought con&s;i&s;t|ed le&s;s in being Queen of <HI>Arragon,</HI> than Wife to <HI>Alcidalis.</HI> But how &s;lightly &s;o|ever we &s;peak of Fortune, we mu&s;t al|low hers to be the only Wi&s;dom, and con&s;equently count our own but folly&punc; Her de&s;igns are layed &s;o far off, and car|ried on by ways &s;o impo&s;&s;ible to be per|ceived, that they never fail to &s;ucceed in &s;pite of all our endeavours to the con|trary; and &s;he allows us &s;ometimes to throw in her way our vain oppo&s;itions only to have the plea&s;ure of making then &s;o: Thus far &s;he dallied with <HI>Ro&s;alva</HI> but <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">ving to be at length too har<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter"> for he<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">&punc; brings from another Country
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter"> <PB N="5" REF="8">
young Child, who though both a &s;tranger and an Orphan) was to ruine all the de|&s;igns of this powerful and politick Queen. The Prince of <HI>Tenara</HI> of a family in <HI>Ca|labria,</HI> &s;o Illu&s;trious, as formerly to have given Kings to <HI>Naples</HI> and <HI>Sicily,</HI> had &s;o con&s;iderable an E&s;tate newly fallen to him in <HI>Arragon,</HI> that he re&s;olved to take him&s;elf Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of a Right which was a little di&s;puted&punc; and loving his Wife extreamly, who was as fond of an only Daughter they had about &s;ix years old, they could not think of parting; and therefore tran&s;ported their whole Fa|mily to <HI>Arragon,</HI> where they were re|ceived by the King and Queen with all the civility and kindne&s;s due to Strangers of &s;o great Merit and Quality. But &s;oon after the Prince of <HI>Tenara</HI> grew &s;ick of a di&s;ea&s;e that in a few dayes ended him, and left his afflicted wife in &s;o di&s;pairing a condition, as made her not only wil|ling, but likely to follow him. She re|ceived from the Queens kindne&s;s, (who began to love her,) all the comfort and a&s;&s;i&s;tance which either her afflictions, or affairs were capable of: The Queen had always liked her, but &s;ince this misfor|tune,
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Pity increa&s;ing her affection, &s;he loved her tenderly. Fate &s;eldom ra|vi&s;hing our joyes from us, till we have &s;et upon them the highe&s;t value, or ra|ther we never prize them enough, till the danger of their being lo&s;t makes us do it too much: She lodged her in her own Palace, and took &s;uch care to be perpe|tually, with her that &s;he &s;eemed to mi&s;s a part of her &s;elf when they were a&s;under. However, all this indulgence of the Queens, (enough to have cured her of any other Di&s;ea&s;e) only allayed this, by making her bear it with le&s;s de&s;pair and impatience: And yet neverthele&s;s, her Husbands death, with the &s;ad circum|&s;tances of time and place, was &s;o great a blow, and made &s;o deep an impre&s;&s;ion, that all the Queens care and kindne&s;s was unable to pre&s;erve her from a dan|gerous Sickne&s;s; which proceeded for want of Sleep and Nouri&s;hment. The Queens trouble was proportionable, who be&s;ides her Grief for the lo&s;s of &s;uch a friend, was not a little concern'd to &s;ee two &s;uch fatal accidents happen in her Dominions, to a Family newly come to dwell there. Phy&s;itians were conjured
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to u&s;e their utmo&s;t endeavours; but al|though they did &s;o, her Di&s;ea&s;e was too &s;trong for their &s;tronge&s;t Remedies; and therefore her own Judgment as well as theirs, giving the fatal warning, &s;he re&s;olved to quit the World with as much tranquility, as that dear pledge &s;he left in it would allow her, which &s;ure could not be great, when &s;he reflected upon the age and place &s;he left her in; An Infant in a &s;trangers Country: While <HI>Camilla's</HI> thoughts were thus &s;adly imployed, the Queen once asking her how &s;he&punc; did? She gently look't up upon her, and taking her by the hand, ki&s;&s;ed it &s;everal times before &s;he was able to &s;peak a word; but at la&s;t told her &s;he was very &s;en&s;ible of the obligations &s;he had to &s;o indulgent a Queen that &s;ince &s;he enquired of her health &s;o kindly, &s;he would pre&s;ume to tell her, that though &s;he knew death &s;o near, it was not her greate&s;t apprehen&s;ion, and that her Daughters helple&s;s condition was the rea&s;on why &s;he could not but leave the World uncomfortably; and there|fore beg'd leave to manage to the be&s;t her few remaining hours, by ea&s;ing her &s;elf of a heavy burden, and powring out or
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her own brea&s;t into the Queens her dear|e&s;t and mo&s;t tender thoughts: She told her &s;he &s;hould thank Heaven for giving her leave &s;o &s;oon to follow the Prince her Husband, if &s;he were only &s;ure the pre&s;ent &s;he now made her would be ac|ceptable; a pre&s;ent of all &s;he held dear and precious in the World: Then having dryed her eyes of tears which tho&s;e la&s;t words had drawn from her, &s;he went on to a&s;&s;ure her that among&s;t all her mi&s;e|ries, &s;he could &s;carce think Fortune her enemy, that had brought her to the honour of &s;uch a Friend&s;hip, by a journey which &s;he &s;hould think pro&s;perous, were it not for her Lords death, though it proved her own too, &s;ince her kindne&s;s, was a Jewel &s;he could not pay too dear for, and the only thing in the World &s;he valued: But was more comforted with the hopes of her Daughters &s;ucceeding her in that, then in all the Fortunes &s;he left her; and therefore conjured her to look upon her always as the dying pre|&s;ent of one &s;he e&s;teem'd, and not di&s;|dain to prove a Mother to the Daughter of a friend, whom &s;he &s;hould think in that better provided for, then in the two
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Principalities &s;he was Heir to. And then her death would not be unwel|come, &s;ince not unhappy; for <HI>Zelinda,</HI> who by this change would have the ad|vantage, of being Bred by a Queen every way &s;o extraordinary: Having &s;aid this, &s;he took from under her Pillow a little Box of Jewels, which for her Daughters &s;ake &s;he had always taken care of, and accordingly now put into the Queens hands. <HI>Camilla's</HI> afflicted con|dition, and the manner &s;he expre&s;&s;ed it in, were both &s;o moving, that the Queen had not been able to refu&s;e her reque&s;t, though &s;ure of its fatal con&s;equence. She threw her Arms about her, and a&s;&s;ured her &s;he received her pre&s;ent with joy, and upon condition &s;he &s;hould never revoke it, which &s;he hoped her recove|ry would give her lei&s;ure, though not unkindne&s;s to do: That from that mo|ment &s;he reckoned her &s;elf to have two Daughters, between whom &s;he &s;hould no more di&s;tingui&s;h than Twins, of which &s;he did not di&s;pair to have her a Witne&s;s: This cured <HI>Camilla's</HI> mind, though not her body, and made her life ea&s;ier, though not longer; for two
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days after &s;he left the World with that Cheerfulne&s;s which the Queens promi&s;es gave her; and the Queen capable of no comfort but the hopes of perform|ing them. Thus we &s;ee <HI>Zelinda</HI> in le&s;s then three Months become a perfect Or|phan, by burying both her Parents in their Graves, who&s;e Inheritance they came to enjoy; We &s;ee her but &s;ix years old, in a &s;trange Countrey, a thou&s;and Miles from her own; and what is yet wor&s;e in the ab&s;olute power of one who was in time to prove her greate&s;t enemy, and the cau&s;e of all her Mi&s;eries. But none are &s;o &s;afe as tho&s;e in the hands of Fortune, who never fails &s;uch as relie upon her either by choice or nece&s;&s;ity: She took into her charge this di&s;tre&s;&s;ed Orphan, and &s;o ordered this di&s;a&s;trous beginning, as to make it a means of &s;et|ting her in the Throne of two mighty Kingdoms. <HI>Zelinda</HI> was the mo&s;t per|fect creature Heaven ever made; her Per&s;on was as miraculous as her life, and this Story, though very natural in every other part, is incredible where it &s;peaks of her. Since the Sun went round the World he never &s;aw &s;o exact a Beauty, and in
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this Beautiful body, there was a Wit a|bove the imagination of ours, and &s;uch a one as no other body but hers had been worthy of: In the age when others &s;carce &s;pake Words, &s;he &s;poke Sen&s;e, and &s;uch as might have become any mouth. At her Birth all the Stars were agreed to contribute their be&s;t influences; And &s;he appeared &s;o Divine a thing, as one could not but imagine her fallen from Heaven by a Miracle: She was &s;o natural|ly inclined to Good, that doing it, in her was &s;carce a Virtue; and it was not in her power, at lea&s;t not without great &s;elf-denyal, to avoid the practice of all things commendable; If we could look into the minds of the mo&s;t extraordi|nary, we &s;hould not find them &s;o fault|le&s;s as their lives; and though their ver|tue at la&s;t gets the better, 'tis a victory like tho&s;e in Civil Wars by which they mu&s;t needs &s;uffer, &s;ince their Re&s;olutions are no more their own, then the inclina|tions that oppo&s;ed them. But in this per|fect Creature, Vertue reigned by Birth, and not by Conque&s;t; and therefore &s;he could never fail of doing well, while &s;he did what &s;he liked be&s;t: Be&s;ides the&s;e
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perfections which are to be de&s;cribed, tho&s;e Names, Charms, and Secret graces, which make us love &s;o often we know not why, <HI>Zelinda</HI> po&s;&s;e&s;t in &s;uch abundance; that &s;he was the general inclination of every man and woman. All her moti|ons were &s;o agreeable, that no others Beauty was half &s;o Charming, and in her gentle Voice there was &s;omthing like Enchantment. Perhaps this is not all that might be, but 'tis certain, all &s;he de|&s;erved cannot be expre&s;t, and it will be ea&s;ily much imagined that where there was &s;o much, there mu&s;t be a great deal more. And &s;ince, Madam, by this De&s;crip|tion &s;he appears &s;o very like you, I had as good confe&s;s ingenuou&s;ly, that in the &s;tory there were &s;o many remarkable things of her, that though I minded it extreamly, I could never have drawn &s;o good a Picture if you had not &s;at before me. The&s;e were the Arms with which <HI>Zelinda</HI> was to be victorious, and there needed no other, &s;ince they were enough to Conquer&punc; <HI>Alcidalis,</HI> who would ea&s;ily conquer the re&s;t: She was received into Court with &s;o general a joy, that it &s;eemed an Omen of her future Greatne&s;s there, of
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which &s;he then took po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion. The Queen who thought her &s;elf uncapable of any comfort &s;ince her Mothers death, found the contrary whenever &s;he was with her, and the Kings affections &s;carce knew a difference between her and his only Son.</P>
<P><HI>Alcidalis</HI> and <HI>Zelinda,</HI> were of that Age in which Painters repre&s;ent Cupids, and had all the agreeable Beauties, the greate&s;t Ma&s;ters in that Art could give them; Their Charms were &s;o equally taking, though extreamly different, and their very childhood was &s;o extraordi|nary, that none &s;aw them without con|cluding them Born for one another, and each had been an unparallel'd wonder of the World, if it had not &s;een them to|gether. Indeed though they had the hearts of all that &s;aw them, they could never have been loved equally to their Merit by any but them&s;elves; no Souls but their own being capable of a Pa&s;&s;ion great enough to de&s;erve theirs. Ac|cordingly the God of love, intending to make his power remarkable by &s;hew|ing it in per&s;ons &s;o extraordinary, &s;ettled it in their hearts &s;o very early, that
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they felt it long before they knew it, and were not &s;uffered to pa&s;s in quiet that fir&s;t part of life, which Nature &s;eems to allow undi&s;turbed by Pa&s;&s;ions: Thus the fir&s;t &s;ight of <HI>Zelinda</HI> wrought the &s;ame effect upon <HI>Alcidalis</HI> which it was wont to do upon others, and he made &s;ome impre&s;&s;ion upon the heart of <HI>Zelin|da,</HI> which &s;he had never felt before. The Queen in pur&s;uance of her great de|&s;ign, had bred up this Prince with all the artifice imaginable, that might in|cline him to love her Daughter. His fir&s;t pratling was taken advantage of, that he might be u&s;ed to call her his Mi&s;tris: he was dayly brought to &s;ee her, and tho&s;e about him &s;till took all occa&s;ions to com|mend before him either her Face or Fa&s;hion. But his inclinations were not the &s;ame with the Queens, he that had Softne&s;s and Complai&s;ance for all the World, &s;eemed to want it only for her Daughter, and was no where &s;o con|&s;trained as in her company: Whether his high Spirit di&s;dained to be thus given a|way without his own con&s;ent, or that his Stars, which brought him into the World, for <HI>Zelinda</HI> gave him a natural
<PB N="15" REF="13">
aver&s;ion to who&s;oever would u&s;urp that place they had de&s;igned her. But from the fir&s;t moment &s;he came to Court, and was by the Queen made her Daughters Companion, his mind appeared imme|diately changed, he was perpetually in the Dutche&s;s's apartment, and no where &s;o well plea&s;ed as there. Love to intro|duce him&s;elf ea&s;ily into our &s;ouls, at fir&s;t comes alwayes accompanied with De|light and Beauty; and makes no &s;hew of violence or Cruelty, till he knows him&s;elf Ma&s;ter of the place, and too &s;trongly fixed to fear being di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;t. At fir&s;t the&s;e young lovers felt his power in nothing, but an extream plea&s;ure in &s;ee|ing one another, and then &s;uch a &s;weet|ne&s;s mixt with joy, &s;pred it &s;elf about their Countenance, that it was very vi|&s;ible their love made them appear more lovely. <HI>Zelinda</HI> had &s;till then been like o|thers of her age, but now began to be more lively; and <HI>Alcidalis</HI> when he &s;aw her, was &s;o gay and agreeable, that it look't as if he had re&s;erved for her com|pany &s;ome particular Grace, and the be&s;t of his humour. In that innocent age they enjoyed a plea&s;ant tranquillity of mind
<PB N="16" REF="14">
for &s;ome Months, in which they were much happier, then in many more that followed.</P>
<P>But their pa&s;&s;ions increa&s;ed daily with their under&s;tandings, and Love became &s;o powerful, that he quickly made him|&s;elf be both felt and under&s;tood; <HI>Alci|dalis</HI> now grew more thoughtful then ordinary, and when <HI>Zelinda</HI> was ab&s;ent, with an unu&s;ual &s;adne&s;s paid dear for the plea&s;ure of having &s;een her, there was no &s;port for him in any diver&s;ions, but tho&s;e he took with her, for &s;eeing her was his only plea&s;ure; or if any thing el&s;e was not indifferent to him, it was talking him&s;elf, and hearing others talk of her. That heart which even from his Childhood was &s;et upon con|quering the World, now hath no hopes nor thoughts but of gaining <HI>Zelinda;</HI> or if &s;ometimes tho&s;e of his former am|bition return, it is but with de&s;ign of rendring him&s;elf more worthy of her, by laying at her feet as many Crowns as &s;he de&s;erved. When ever &s;he quitted the room, he was as if fallen from Hea|ven, and next to her company he loved none be&s;t. When alone (which for her
<PB N="17" REF="14">
&s;ake he was often) he was perpetually reflecting upon all her words and actions; and having con&s;idered them the &s;everal wayes, they were capable of being tur|ned, drew from them accordingly either hopes or fears; then remembring his own expre&s;&s;ions of kindne&s;s, was never &s;atisfied with him&s;elf; &s;ometimes he thought he was too timerous, &s;ome|times too bold, and remained alwayes at la&s;t as much di&s;plea&s;ed with him&s;elf, as plea&s;ed with her: He begun by de|grees to give over all tho&s;e recreations he was wont to be fond of, Hunting, which he loved be&s;t, became a dull thing to him when &s;he was not there, and if he &s;till minded his Exerci&s;es, it was but to appear more agreeable to her: In a word, he con&s;idered <HI>Zelinda</HI> as if there had been no Body in the World be|&s;ides.</P>
<P>Love on the other &s;ide had got into the heart of <HI>Zelinda,</HI> but had not made &s;o great a progre&s;s; whether it were that fearing her high &s;pirit, he dur&s;t not make him&s;elf known to her at fir&s;t, or that &s;he being the younger by two years, was le&s;s &s;en&s;ible of that
<PB N="18" REF="15">
pa&s;&s;ion: Yet &s;he was not altogether un|concerned, for when ever &s;he &s;aw the young Prince, &s;he had more care of her beauty and dre&s;s than ordinary; &s;he lo|ved the Counte&s;s the le&s;s, becau&s;e &s;he was de&s;igned for him, and every little re&s;pect that out of decencie he paid her, took &s;omewhat from the &s;atisfaction of the fair <HI>Zelinda.</HI> Yet as &s;he had a Soul, generous, re&s;olute, and infinitely &s;en&s;i|ble, and by con&s;equence capable of none but pa&s;&s;ions of the &s;ame nature, the me|rit of <HI>Alcidalis</HI> formed in it an affection as fair and perfect as it &s;elf.</P>
<P>Love between Per&s;ons of &s;o eminent quality (like fire upon a Beacon) is &s;o impo&s;&s;ible to be concealed, that it is &s;een a great way off. The affections of <HI>Alci|dalis</HI> and <HI>Zelinda</HI> was &s;oon ob&s;erved by all the World, and a great many per|ceived they were in Love one with ano|ther, before they di&s;cover'd it them&s;elves. In the beginning when Childi&s;hne&s;s made their actions le&s;s ob&s;ervable, though they &s;aw one another with great joy, no body thought there was any other Love between them, then that of the innocent diver&s;ions they took together.
<PB N="19" REF="15">
But as by degrees <HI>Zelinda</HI> grew more &s;erious, and <HI>Alcidalis</HI> began to &s;hew him&s;elf ma&s;ter of a judgment fit to go|vern his Fathers Kingdom, and a cou|rage capable of conquering any other. There was &s;carce any body in the whole Court, but judged their Souls to be uni|ted by &s;o &s;trong a pa&s;&s;ion, that it would be almo&s;t an equal difficulty to part'em from their bodies, or from each other. The Queen who was politick beyond her Sex, and de&s;igned nothing &s;o much as marrying her Daughter to <HI>Alcidalis,</HI> was the earlye&s;t jealous of <HI>Zelinda</HI>'s beauty, and con&s;equently the fir&s;t that took notice of this amour; But having a great confidence in her Intere&s;t, and more in her &s;elf, &s;he thought they at la&s;t would be the only Sufferers, and feared no &s;tubborn re&s;i&s;tance from minds &s;o tender.</P>
<P>In the mean time the beauty of <HI>Ze|linda</HI> increa&s;ed daily; and though it dawned but a while ago, now &s;hone with &s;uch light and lu&s;tre, that &s;he &s;eemed to proclaim open War again&s;t the Queen, and all her de&s;igns. On the other &s;ide the young Prince &s;en&s;ible of
<PB N="20" REF="16">
his birth and parts, began to be weary of living under the &s;lavery of a Gover|nour, and the conduct of a Woman. That heart great and Royal by Nature, when filled with Love, di&s;dained any other Empire but <HI>Zelinda</HI>'s; He began to carry his inclinations for her a little more openly, and favoured none but &s;uch as &s;he recommended: He run at the Ring only in her colours, all his motto's &s;poke of her, and he was &s;o proud of her Chains, that he hated all the World &s;hould not &s;ee them; There were none who in their hearts did not favour their affection. The Queen &s;oon began to fear &s;he had dallyed too long with a flame &s;o fatal to all her purpo&s;es, &amp; which now required her utmo&s;t care and endeavours to extingui&s;h it: Yet &s;he re&s;olved to trie violent remedies at la&s;t; and &s;trove by all fair means to win upon the di&s;po&s;i|tion of <HI>Alcidales,</HI> which &s;he perceived to grow le&s;s tractable to her every day than other: She u&s;ed all the Arts &s;he could to Eclip&s;e the beauties of <HI>Zelinda,</HI> and to advance tho&s;e of her own Daugh|ter, whom &s;he daily in&s;tructed, both what to &s;ay and do, never &s;uffering her
<PB N="21" REF="16">
to appear but with pompe and lu&s;ter But <HI>Zelinda</HI> tru&s;ting &s;till to Nature, whom &s;he had been &s;o much obliged to already, neglected by her &s;elf, was more admired by others, and without any Pearl but tho&s;e of her teeth, or any Ru|bies but tho&s;e of her lips, and &s;uch other Jewels as a waiting Woman Mu&s;e, dre&s;&s;es a Poetical Mi&s;tre&s;s in, out-&s;hone the other, though adorned with all the glories of the <HI>Ea&s;t;</HI> &s;o much the wealth that Heaven be&s;tows, Ecclip&s;es what|ever the Earth can lend her Favourites.</P>
<P>The Queen &s;eeing the danger of their continuing any longer in the &s;ame place, and di&s;pairing of all other wayes to in|terrupt their increa&s;ing affection, re|&s;olves to trye if ab&s;ence (though it be the greate&s;t torment of a &s;ettled) might not prove the cure of a growing incli|nation: And to that purpo&s;e, under pre|tence of &s;ome indi&s;po&s;ition, de&s;ires leave of the King her Husband to pa&s;s two or three Months in <HI>Catalonia,</HI> and having gained his con&s;ent, &s;he commanded all things to be in readine&s;s for her journey, and &s;aid, &s;he would have none attend her but the Ladies. This news extreamly
<PB N="22" REF="17">
&s;urpri&s;ed our Lovers, who had never felt the &s;ting, and been only acquainted with the &s;weets of Love, and except &s;ome few apprehen&s;ions for the future; which makes but &s;light impre&s;&s;ions in minds &s;o young, and full of confidence, their joy had been without trouble, and their inclination without the lea&s;t check. <HI>Alcidalis</HI> was mo&s;t concerned, or at lea&s;t could wor&s;t di&s;&s;emble; there was nothing he would not have attempted to divert this journey, &amp; a thou&s;and extravigances pa&s;t through his imagination about it, but &s;eeing the time drawn on, and the Queens re&s;olution invincible, he re&s;ol|ved, at lea&s;t not to let <HI>Zelinda</HI> part without a full and open declaration of his pa&s;&s;ion for her, which till then, (though all his actions continually pro|claimed to her) his words had never pre&s;umed to offer the lea&s;t hint of: Whether it were that he wanted confi|&s;idence, or thought it needle&s;s to de|clare a pa&s;&s;ion that none could ever hide. The la&s;t night being come, he went on the Queens &s;ide; where, after &s;ome time, he found an opportunity of entertaining <HI>Zelinda</HI> alone, it was the fir&s;t minute
<PB N="23" REF="17">
that ever <HI>Alcidales</HI> knew what fear was. He attempted once or twice to di&s;cover his pa&s;&s;ion; but having not re&s;olution enough to go on, was fain to turn his di&s;cour&s;e to &s;omething el&s;e, and though at other times he was the gaye&s;t Man in the World, near <HI>Zelinda</HI> he was then the mo&s;t perplext. But at la&s;t his heart beating, and his colour perpetually changing, he with a confu&s;ed and trem|bling voyce, &s;aid: <HI>I do not doubt</HI> Ze-Linda; <HI>But that you know I love you but; how well, after I have &s;aid all I can, mu&s;t &s;till be left to your imaginati|on: I tell you this, that if you find me kill'd by your ab&s;ence, you may know the nature of your lo&s;s&punc; though your Jour|ney be compos'd but of a few dayes to the re&s;t of the World; they will to me &s;eem many Years, and may perhaps out|la&s;t me. If you con&s;ider me and your &s;elf, you will find the one too Charming to give a moderate affection, and the other incapable of a weak impre&s;&s;ion: From the fir&s;t moment I &s;aw you, my pa&s;&s;ion was at the &s;ame height, that time, or favours ever advanc't any other to: And &s;ince every Look, every Word, every</HI>
<PB N="24" REF="18">
<HI>Motion of yours has added &s;omewhat to it; whil&s;t I was a Child, I cou'd not expre&s;s it to you; and &s;ince I never dur&s;t; and now I tremble only in &s;aying, I adore you; and if I read not &s;uddenly, &s;omething favourable in your eyes for me, I &s;hall &s;oon want the power to let you know the greater part of that I have to &s;ay.</HI> At tho&s;e words, &s;he who had till then kept her eyes upon the ground, look't gently up at him; <HI>Alcidalis</HI> &s;eem'd to have received a new life, and thus continued. <HI>Though inclination be but a blind guide; I mu&s;t needs confe&s;s my &s;elf infinitely fortunate, in that which led me to adore the incomparable</HI> Ze|linda; <HI>in whom I hourly di&s;cover &s;uch eminent perfections, as may change even an Aver&s;ion to its contrary: Judge then what a pa&s;&s;ion I mu&s;t have conceived for her, &s;ince it was &s;o advantagiou&s;ly born, and has been &s;o continually im|prov'd: I confe&s;s freely, Humility is a vertue that you alone have made me ac|quainted with, I ever thought the whole world too narrow for me; but now I think my &s;elf, and that world infinitely below you; I know the la&s;t</HI>
<PB N="25" REF="18">
<HI>thing that you con&s;ider in me, is my Quality; If I po&s;&s;e&s;s any thing worthy of you, 'tis my heart, which I offer to you; and which I can &s;ay with confi|dence, to be Great and Generous e|nough to merit a place in yours. I would not prai&s;e it thus, were it any longer my own: But now I think ad|vantagiou&s;ly of it, as I mu&s;t ever do of all things that belong to you. It never had but two de&s;ignes, whereof the fir&s;t, and that which entertained its Childhood, was the Conque&s;t of the World: But &s;ince it has been more a&s;piring, and more rea&s;onable, it has de&s;ired</HI> Zelinda. Here he &s;topt, and waited for her an&s;wer, who in the condition &s;he was in, had much a do to get out the&s;e few words. <HI>Sir, I am &s;o a&s;toni&s;ht at a di&s;eour&s;e of this na|ture from you; and to find the eyes of the whole Court upon us, that I de|&s;ire you will give till my return to make you an an&s;wer: Which I beg of you to believe, I wi&s;h may he very &s;udden:</HI> Every body ob&s;erved &s;ome|what extraordinary between them, but the Queen e&s;pecially, whom their Con|ver&s;ation
<PB N="26" REF="19">
made very unea&s;ie; &s;he ro&s;e from her place, and Smiling upon <HI>Al|cidalis&punc;</HI> &s;ay'd, <HI>Sir you entertain</HI> Ze|linda <HI>&s;o &s;eriou&s;ly and with &s;o much concern in your face, that I doubt you have had &s;ome little quarrel; if it be &s;o, make me Judge, and i'le &s;ee her do you rea&s;on before &s;he goes. Alcidalis</HI> having overcome the fir&s;t difficulty of declaring his Pa&s;&s;ion to <HI>Zelinda,</HI> was impatient of being interrupted, &s;o that without almo&s;t looking toward the Queen; he an&s;wered her carele&s;sly&punc; <HI>Madam I injured</HI> Zelinda <HI>&s;o ju&s;t, that i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;he had required me, I would yet de|&s;ire no Judge but her &s;elf, and what quarrel &s;oever we have, I &s;hall &s;till have a wor&s;e to them that go about to part us.</HI> This &s;harp reply was ob+&s;erved by all the Court; but the Queen who was concerned at it&punc; &s;eemed lea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters"> to mind it, and chang'd the Di&s;cou&s;e. The next morning <HI>Zelinda</HI> was hur+ri'd away before <HI>Alcidalis</HI> could &s;pea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter"> to her, and left him in the fir&s;t great affliction he ever knew; it was all as great to her, and more in&s;uppor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">+able, in that &s;he was forced to di&s;gui<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters">
<PB N="27" REF="19">
her &s;en&s;e of it, and cover al&s;o with a cheerful Face a di&s;contented Mind, hiding her mi&s;fortune in publick with as many Smiles, as &s;he lamented it in private with Teares.</P>
<P>Of all the troubles that love brings with it, ab&s;ence is one of the mo&s;t &s;en&s;ible, there are &s;ome violent; &s;ome &s;harper pains, as that of jealou&s;y, but none &s;o hard to bear; and that &s;o oppre&s;&s;es all &s;ort of vigour.</P>
<P>She was no &s;ooner gone, but <HI>Alcida|lis</HI> &s;hut him&s;elf up in his Chamber, threw him&s;elf upon the Bed; where|with a &s;torme of Sighs, and a Sea of Tears, he grieved for her, rather as dead then Ab&s;ent; not con&s;idering that love takes ever back with Intere&s;t the joyes be lends, and lets few of his Debtors re&s;t &s;o long as he had done him: Having continued &s;even or eight dayes without &s;eeing any but the King, and him as &s;eldom as his duty would permit, he re&s;olved to follow <HI>Zelinda,</HI> and rather Peri&s;h in an attempt to|wards happine&s;s, then tamely expect a certain death from her ab&s;enc<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">&punc; After <HI>Hebrius</HI> one of the mo&s;t famous Rivers
<PB N="28" REF="20">
of <HI>Spain,</HI> has pa&s;t along the Walls of <HI>Sarago&s;a</HI> (as if there were nothing el&s;e worthy of him in <HI>Arragon</HI>) he takes the way of <HI>Catalonia,</HI> where receiv|ing in his pa&s;&s;age many rivolets, to make his entry more &s;tately into the Sea; he comes at la&s;t within half a League of <HI>Torto&s;a:</HI> The Countrey he waters is very Fruitful, and full of Trees, which is the more agreeable, in that the re&s;t con&s;i&s;ts of dry naked Places, and Mountains &s;corcht up by the heat of the Sun, fifteen Leagues from his Mouth. He pa&s;&s;es through a Valley two Leagues long, and pro|portionably broad on both &s;ides, encom|pa&s;t with Mountaines: Tho&s;e of <HI>Ca|talonia</HI> keeps it from the North-Winds, &s;o that it is always Green, and the Inhabitants never feel that Winter, which they &s;ee continually upon the neighbouring Hills: 'Twas in this Pa|radice that <HI>Zelinda</HI> pa&s;t her Purgatory; and where the Pallace of the Queen &s;tood; She alone was &s;ad where all nature appeared to &s;mile; and lo&s;t hourly <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">hat lu&s;ter, which every thing there abouts &s;eem'd to have borrowed
<PB N="29" REF="20">
of her; The ab&s;ence of <HI>Alcidalis</HI> troubled her continually, and her Me|lancholly was not confin'd to the pre|&s;ent, but had likewi&s;e &s;ome pre&s;ages of the ills to come, &s;he &s;aw her For|tune, and her &s;elf, and <HI>Alcidalis</HI> more dear then both, in the power of the Queen; She con&s;idered, that though the courage of the Prince was great, and his love greater, his Authority was yet but weak. That he would never be &s;uffered to de&s;pi&s;e the Coun|trey of <HI>Barcelonia,</HI> which fortune of|fered him &s;o opportunely with the Queens Daughter: To Marry an Or|phan, and a Stranger, who had no Fortune, no Support, but afar off, that he alone would not be able to re&s;i&s;t the commands of the King, the good of the Kingdom, and the de&s;ignes of the Queen, who governed both, that whil&s;t they were Children, though all fa|vour'd their affection, yet none ap|prov'd their Marriage: That many look't upon her already as an enemy of the State, and the Torch that was &s;ooner or later to &s;et the whole King|dom on a Flame: The&s;e, and &s;uch
<PB N="30" REF="21">
thoughts continually tormented her, and the further &s;he look't into the fu|ture, the more terrible her pro&s;pect grew. One day above the re&s;t, as &s;he was walking with the Queen in an ex|tream thick Wood, &s;he &s;lipt from the company, attended only with one Maid, 'twas no &s;mall ea&s;e to her to have the liberty of venting her Grief; which at other times &s;he almo&s;t dou|bled by di&s;&s;embling, and reflecting on various Accidents of her life, what &s;he had already &s;uffered, and what &s;he was hourly threatned with: Her Me|lancholly po&s;&s;e&s;t her &s;o entirely, that without thinking of the way &s;he found her &s;elf by the Banks of <HI>Hebroes:</HI> The Charms of &s;o delightful a place, the &s;weetne&s;s of the Air, and the plea|&s;ure &s;he took in being alone, invited her to continue her walk; but fearing the Queen might wonder at her ab|&s;ence, &s;he &s;topt when the noi&s;e of a Horne, which &s;eemed not to be far off, made her turn her head towards a Neighbouring Mountain, where &s;he &s;aw as &s;he thought, two men clos'd, and falling together from a Rock; but
<PB N="31" REF="21">
upon a &s;econd view, &s;he found it was a Bear and a man; when immediatly on the place from whence the other fell, &s;he &s;aw a young man very well Hor&s;t, leap down after them, the &s;trength of the Hor&s;e, the addre&s;s of the Hor&s;eman, or the Fortune of both, was &s;uch, that they took no hurt; he immediately kills the Bear at one &s;troak, with his Javelin, and &s;aves his friend. This generous Action &s;o &s;ur|prized <HI>Zelinda,</HI> that &s;he was almo&s;t angry that any but <HI>Alcidalis</HI> had done it: But he that was on Hor&s;eback came towards her, and pa&s;t the River in a place where it was Fordable. She began to think it was <HI>Alcidalis,</HI> but not being perfectly a&s;&s;ured; &s;he askt her Woman if &s;he knew that Gentle|man; who an&s;wered: Madam, a far off we might have known him by his Action; but now we may &s;ee it is the Prince. As he came nearer, a&s;to|ni&s;hment, fear, and joy, all at once, &s;o &s;ei&s;ed <HI>Zelinda,</HI> that &s;he could not readily find words to receive him with, The Prince who had a longer time to prepare him&s;elf, though not without
<PB N="32" REF="22">
&s;ome di&s;order, &s;aid; <HI>Madam, you are not to wonder at any confidence, from a man that is already guilty of that, of having declared he loves you; your la&s;t words gave me an impatiency, that turned every hour of your ab&s;ence into an Age, and I had been unworthy of your return or an&s;wer, had I been able longer to expect either: What I &s;aid then, was but what I mu&s;t always think, and if it were ever Criminal, am come to tell you, I am &s;till Impenitent. Sir &s;aid &s;he, if you will give me the lei&s;ure to make you the an&s;wer I promi&s;ed you, when I left</HI> Sarago&s;a: Then (finding her &s;elf Blu&s;h, and that he perceived it) &s;he went on thus: <HI>This Colour that ri&s;es in my Face, proceeds rather from that I am going to &s;ay &s;omewhat I never did before, then from a thought that I do therein any thing again&s;t my honour, I know not whether it be always a &s;hame for a Maid to owne &s;he loves, but if ever it were excu&s;able, &s;ure it is in me. I will not &s;ay that my Stars, or your eminent Qualities forc't me to it; tho&s;e are pre|tences that any one may u&s;e; I will only urge &s;uch as are more peculiar to my</HI>
<PB N="33" REF="22">
<HI>ca&s;e. I lov'd you</HI> Alcidalis <HI>before I knew it was a fault, and conceived an affection for you before I was cap|able, of tho&s;e Laws that forhid it to our Sex. None can blame me for giv|ing entrance to a Pa&s;&s;ion, which I &s;eem'd rather to have found there, then received into my heart, and which has been &s;o long here; that I can no more remember its Birth more then my own. The fir&s;t inclination I ever had, was for you, and &s;elf love &s;o early, and &s;o natural in all the world, came to me later, then my friend&s;hip for</HI> Alcidalis: <HI>My Rea&s;on (which appeared not in a great while after) found it &s;o well &s;ettled that it al|mo&s;t lookt like rebellion to attempt any thing again&s;t it; be&s;ides it &s;eemed &s;o innocent, and &s;o ju&s;t, that &s;he rather en|deavoured to &s;trengthen, then oppo&s;e it, I &s;ay all this to excu&s;e it both to you and my&s;elf, and to make you know that the &s;oul the free&s;t from weakne&s;s, and mo&s;t rea&s;onable in the World, might have been &s;urpris'd, as mine was: If you are plea&s;ed that I love you, thank not me, but Heaven that would have it &s;o. If</HI>
<PB N="34" REF="23">
<HI>you are at all obliged to me, it is only for owning of it to you: Thus, though I had not the power of extingui&s;hing my affecti|on, I had certainly that of concealing it, I could have di&s;&s;embled it all my life time, or as mo&s;t of our Sex do, have &s;howne it you by little, and little; after having made you long de&s;ire it; were it not un|rea&s;onable or unworthy either of you or me: It would never he time to di&s;cover it; but one the contrary, if it be only &s;uch as</HI> Ze|linda <HI>ought to have for</HI> Alcidalis. <HI>Why &s;hould I not from this Minute, give him the joy of knowing, and being a&s;&s;ured of it. I tell you then I love you</HI> Alcidalis. <HI>and though I &s;ay it with Blu&s;hes, I do it without &s;hame, I accept that heart which you gave me; which I e&s;teem a Trea&s;ure far beyond the Crown you promi&s;ed with it, I am plea&s;ed, to find all the quali|ties of your mind truly Royal; but I could wi&s;h your Birth were le&s;s &s;o; for I fear Fortune to take that Crown away, which is the thing I lea&s;t e&s;teem in you, will rob me one day of all the re&s;t. I &s;ee from this hour all the Misfortunes that threaten me, I know your love will cau&s;e the hatred of the Queen, but &s;he that</HI>
<PB N="35" REF="23">
<HI>hath to her own the heart of</HI> Alcidalis <HI>can fear nothing: I will re&s;i&s;t all with a re|&s;olution that &s;hall amaze you; and &s;ince Heaven decreed I &s;hould have affection, I will accompany it with &s;uch a Vertuous Con&s;tancy, that what is ordinarily re|procht in my Sex, &s;hall be in me e&s;teemed, and wondred at. Alcidalis</HI> from the very fir&s;t Minut &s;he began, had &s;till hearkened to her as one who&s;e fate depended on her Di&s;cour&s;e, find|ing it much more to his advantage then he dur&s;t have hoped, was &s;o far from being able to expre&s;s his joy, that he even wanted words for an acknow|ledgment: But after a while coming to him&s;elf, &amp; finding her that followed out of &s;ight, he put one knee on the ground; but as he began to &s;peak, the Queen appeared near; the thickne&s;s of the bu&s;hes having hid her approach, &s;o that he aro&s;e again as &s;oon as po&s;&s;ible. <HI>Ze|linda</HI> was extreamly troubled to be &s;o unluckily &s;urpri&s;ed: And &s;aid, <HI>Sir, you will I fear have cau&s;e to repent this un|nece&s;&s;ary humility. Madam,</HI> &s;aid he, <HI>I do already, but 'tis only that 'twas no earlier adre&s;t:</HI> Whil&s;t they were talk|ing
<PB N="36" REF="24">
the Queen advanc't, and <HI>Alcidalis</HI> coming up to her, &s;he received him with a Countenance &s;o gay, and full of &s;atisfaction, that <HI>Zelinda</HI> her &s;elf could do no more. After the fir&s;t Complements were over, the Prince having told her how the Chace bring|ing him within &s;even or eight Leagues, he thought him&s;elf obliged to ki&s;s her hands; the Queen &s;eemed to thank Fortune, for having conducted him &s;o near her. <HI>But Sir,</HI> &s;aid &s;he, <HI>I believe you are already paid for all the trouble you have given your&s;elf, for its to be imagined the favour that</HI> Zelinda <HI>granted you ju&s;t now, was not incon&s;ider|able: Since you thanked her upon your Knees for it, as we &s;aw; truly it made me not know you at fir&s;t, and I thought it had been &s;ome of your Servants, but I am very glad it was none but your&s;elf who received that &s;atisfaction: Pray let us know what it was, that we may partake in your Good-Fortune, and thank her with you. Zelinda</HI> did not grow red upon this, becau&s;e &s;he had conti|nued &s;o, &s;ince her di&s;cour&s;e with <HI>Al|cidalis,</HI> and fearing what the Queen
<PB N="37" REF="24">
&s;aid, might &s;urprize him; womens Wits being ever readie&s;t on &s;uch occa&s;ions; &s;he an&s;wered and &s;aid. <HI>Madam, I was asking</HI> Alcidalis <HI>&s;ome News of</HI> Saraco&s;a, <HI>he (who without doubt, was thinking of his Hunting) did not an&s;wer me, I then reproacing him with his heedle&s;&s;ene&s;s and Silence, he kneel'd to me of a &s;uddain, and thought by other exce&s;s of Civility to repair the neglect he had &s;hew'd in not replying &s;ooner to what I &s;aid. 'Twas very civil in him,</HI> &s;aid the Queen, <HI>and becau&s;e you believe the Prince is think|ing of his Hunting &s;till, you have taken care to an&s;wer for him. Zelinda</HI> &s;eeing the Queen pre&s;s her &s;o hard quitted the Di&s;cour&s;e. But <HI>Alcidalis</HI> perceiving the pain &s;he was in, came to her a&s;|&s;i&s;tance as &s;he had done before to his, and began a relation of &s;ome little in|di&s;po&s;ition, the King had &s;uffered in her ab&s;ence, &s;o that the Di&s;cour&s;e was quite changed. The good humour <HI>Zelinda</HI> had put him into, made him entertain the Queen with infinite com|plyance, and addre&s;s him&s;elf more then formerly to her Daughter. But our young Lovers were not cunning e|nough
<PB N="38" REF="25">
to deceive her; &s;he perceived the alteration and concluded the gayety of <HI>Alcidalis,</HI> and the re&s;pect he treat|ed her Daughter with, to be but effects of &s;ome obliging a&s;&s;urance he had ob|tained from <HI>Zelinda,</HI> and from that moment took the re&s;olution of parting them. The Prince went the next day to <HI>Saragu&s;a,</HI> whether the Queen was forced to return eight dayes after, this ab&s;ence was much more &s;upportable to him then the other, for he had in it the comfort of knowing he was be|lov'd by the per&s;on in the World he mo&s;t e&s;teem'd, they pa&s;t &s;ome Months &s;o well, and with &s;uch Tranquility, that <HI>Alcidalis</HI> could almo&s;t have forgot there was a happine&s;s beyond it.</P>
<P>But there is a fatal point which no|thing can ever pa&s;s, and fortune is &s;ome|times as weary of the joyes of Lovers, as of the weight of Empires, the highe&s;t happine&s;s has this fault that its then neare&s;t its end. This was &s;ure the only cau&s;e of all the misfortunes that per&s;e|cuted &s;o innocent an affection: The a&s;&s;u|rance that <HI>Alcidalis</HI> had of <HI>Zelindas</HI> kind|ne&s;s, made him live with more di&s;creti|on,
<PB N="93" REF="25">
&amp; more fear of di&s;plea&s;ing the Queen, then ever he waited on her Daughter oftner, &amp; conver&s;t le&s;s with <HI>Zelinda,</HI> &s;he who from her Childhood had been ever &s;erious, began to be more and more &s;o&punc; to &s;ee and &s;peak to the Prince with great Caution and re&s;pect, and do all things that might make their af|fections le&s;s &s;u&s;pected; but this di&s;|cretion, as it did ever between Lovers, come too late, the Queen who could not be deceived, with much care, &s;ecre|cy and diligence, gave order for the exe|cuting a de&s;igne which &s;he had in hand, as tho&s;e which are in a place with their enemies&punc; &s;ecretly undermine, for the mo&s;t part fear lea&s;t of all the ruine they mu&s;t &s;ink into, and live in &s;ecurity whil&s;t men dig Graves under their feet; &s;o our Lovers not imagining what was contriving again&s;t them, enjoyed a perfect Tranquility, and if they ap|prehended any mi&s;chief from the Queen, they neither apprehended it &s;o great, &s;o &s;uddain, nor in that dreadful man|ner it was to befall them. Four Months after the Queen came back from <HI>Catalonia,</HI> &s;he took an occa&s;ion to
<PB N="40" REF="26">
in the beginning of the Spring to re|turn, giving no notice of any &s;uch in|tention, till the day before. <HI>Alci|dalis</HI> and <HI>Zelinda</HI> were &s;o &s;urpri&s;ed, that they had &s;carce lea&s;ure to take leave one of the other, as the Prince was expre&s;&s;ing to her, the Grief he left her with. <HI>Sir,</HI> &s;aid &s;he, <HI>Remember you promi&s;ed me, never to complain or fear the combination of the whole World a|gain&s;t you, whil&s;t I was for you: Minds a&s;&s;ured one of another, like Martyrs in the mid&s;t of all their Sufferings, have &s;till their thoughts fixt together with joy, on their reward to come, we &s;hall meet again, and even in ab&s;ence, our Memo|ries &s;hall make our pa&s;t Satisfactions ever pre&s;ent to us, and our imagination &s;hall entertain us with tho&s;e to come:</HI> At that word &s;he took a Ring from her fair hand; <HI>and bad him keep it with her heart. Alcidalis</HI> received it with all the joy his own was capable of, and was almo&s;t in love with the &s;ad occa|&s;ion&punc; that drew &s;o obliging a Di&s;|cour&s;e from her; then taking another of the &s;ame ine&s;timable value, &s;ince it came from him, he gave it her with
<PB N="41" REF="26">
the &s;ame words, at which they parted with as much Grief as ever they had met with Joy: Tears &s;tole down both their Faces, which both &s;trove to hid from each other, as a&s;hamed of &s;uch a vulgar mark of Sorrow in &s;o Tran&s;|cendant a concern. The Queen went away next Morning, and &s;taying but one day at her own hou&s;e, &s;he pre|tended to have received &s;ome News from <HI>Barcellona,</HI> which obliged her to go thither, leaving her Daughter with a great part of her Train: She took only <HI>Zelinda</HI> with her, who imagined there was &s;omewhat extraor|dinary in it; but was not able to com|prehend the rea&s;on; &s;o that knowing not what to fear, &s;he feared every thing: The Queen &s;pent the remainder of that day in &s;eeing the Town, and the magnificent reception that was made for her; the next morning &s;he was told that a Ve&s;&s;el bearing her own Name, which &s;he had built not long ago, was newly come into the Port, there was then an hundred Ve&s;&s;els in the Port of <HI>Barcellona,</HI> which &s;o &s;oon as the Queen appeared, &s;aluted her
<PB N="42" REF="27">
with all the Guns, &s;o that for a while there was nothing to be &s;een but Fire and Smoak, the Ships being hid with a Cloud of their own making, they &s;oon made them&s;elves heard in a &s;ound of Trumpets and Howboys: The Mu|&s;ick and all the Naval Pompe, together with the &s;ight of that Element, which at fir&s;t &s;ei&s;es the Eyes and Minds of all the World with Admiration, could not in the lea&s;t divert <HI>Zelinda;</HI> her, heart pre&s;aged tho&s;e ills at hand, &s;he had &s;o long fore&s;een. The Queen put her &s;elf into a Boat, to go and &s;ee this Ve&s;&s;el, and took <HI>Zelinda</HI> with her and &s;ome few Servants; She found in the Ve&s;&s;el, the Captain and his Wife, with whom &s;he &s;hut her &s;elf up a while, which extreamly increa&s;t the jealou&s;ies of <HI>Zelinda,</HI> &s;he lookt to|ward <HI>Spain</HI> with Tears in her Eyes, and began to de&s;pair of &s;eeing it again: An hour after, the Captain and his Wife came out of the Cabine, and told <HI>Zelinda,</HI> the Queen expected her there, her Blood &s;traight Froze in her Veins, and &s;he grew &s;o Pale, that &s;he &s;eemed rather her own Gho&s;t then her &s;elf;
<PB N="43" REF="27">
the Queen &s;hutting the dore upon her, thus began. <HI>Though it be a long time</HI> Zelinda <HI>&s;ince we lo&s;t both; you the be&s;t Mother in the world, and I the be&s;t Friend; Neither the affection that I had for her, nor the la&s;t words &s;he recommend|ed you to my care, with &s;hall ever be for|gotten: And had the&s;e former con&s;ide|rations been wanting, your Beauty, your Wit, and Di&s;cretion, would have &s;ince obliged me to it. Having Bread you up &s;o long, and having found all the&s;e Qua|lities that gained her my affection, &s;hine|ing in you with more Lu&s;ter: I were un|rea&s;onable had I not the &s;ame Friend|&s;hip for you, that I profe&s;t to her. Then &s;ay I have done more for you then ever &s;he askt of me, &s;he only de&s;ired me to love you as her Daughter, and I have loved you like my own; my Daughter lo&s;t the Title of an only Child from the day your Mother dyed. Since when I have con&s;i|dered you both as equally my own, and con&s;equently none of your actions or con|cerns have been indifferent to me, &s;o that you may imagine it is impo&s;&s;ible but I mu&s;t have taken notice of that pa&s;&s;ion which your Beauty (though without</HI>
<PB N="44" REF="28">
<HI>leave) has rai&s;ed in the heart of</HI> Alcida|lis: <HI>I have been no le&s;s then your &s;elf in pain for the injury it might do you. You know how little a&s;&s;urance there is in the the words of men of his age and conditi|on; both which gave him a licen&s;e to de|ceive and fal&s;ifie his Promi&s;es: Be your own Judge, whether his affection can ever be any advantage to you, you &s;ee how many rea&s;ons oppo&s;e it, and &s;hould it ever come into his power and yours, you are too ju&s;t, too grateful, to take him from the Daughter of one you are &s;o much obliged to. I know your Vertue</HI> Ze|linda, <HI>but as great as it is you cannot hinder the Prince from &s;eeing you, nor the World from Talking of it; your Ver|tue may avoid the ill, but cannot e&s;cape the noi&s;e; I know the prejudice &s;uch re|ports are to tho&s;e of your Sex, and par|ticularly the di&s;content they give tho&s;e of your Scrupulous Vertue: I thought it then my duty to lead you out of this dif|ficulty, and that it was now high time to fulfill the Promi&s;e I made your Mother. The Prince of</HI> Tarentum <HI>is Wi&s;e, Vertu|ous, and Valliant, one of the mo&s;t con|&s;iderable Princes in</HI> Italy; <HI>He has by his</HI>
<PB N="45" REF="28">
<HI>Letters and Amba&s;&s;adors, made ad|dre&s;&s;es to me, that he might have you in Marriage; I would never acquaint you with particulars till all was &s;ettled&punc; and the bu&s;ine&s;s ripe for Execution. I hear he expects &s;uddainly to lay at your Feet his Per&s;on, and Dominions; the Cap|taine of this Ve&s;&s;el left him fifteen days ago, and obliged him&s;elf in as many more to bring you to him, according to my Orders, Diligence and Secrecy for &s;ome rea&s;ons which I cannot yet let you know, are very important to this Af|fair, therefore you mu&s;t go away imme|diately, and without any Train. I doubt not but this your good nature finds &s;ome trouble in this &s;uddain parting, but though the Sea &s;eparate us for a while, nothing &s;hall divide our affections; and I hope one day to &s;ee you with a Lu&s;ter and Magnificence, which &s;hall recom|pence the private condition you leave us in&punc; and &s;ure you ought to be glad, you are returning into a Countrey where you &s;hall find your Fortune, your Friends, and the place of your Birth. But although it were not your inclination, it is enough that I will have it &s;o: Be&s;ides the power</HI>
<PB N="46" REF="29">
<HI>of a Queen; I claim al&s;o the intere&s;t of a Mother in you: Con&s;ent then willingly to a thing (which be&s;ide that it is a thing very ju&s;t) is al&s;o no le&s;s nece&s;&s;ary; in following readily what I coun&s;el you, and perhaps command you, you will &s;hew that Mode&s;ty that you owe to your &s;elf, and a re&s;pect no le&s;s due to me: At the&s;e words &s;he embrac't her; pretending &s;he would not take a formal leave of her, le&s;t it &s;hould too much &s;often both their hearts, &s;he left the Cabin.</HI></P>
<P>Sorrow, Rage, and Indignation, &s;o overwhelmed the mind of <HI>Zelinda,</HI> that for a while &s;he was neither able to &s;peak nor move, &s;o that &s;he remained in the condition the Queen left here in&punc; Which yet was the happie&s;t &s;he found her &s;elf in for many Months, &s;ince the greatne&s;s and &s;uddainne&s;s of her mi&s;|fortune, took from her all &s;en&s;e of it for the time. All our faculties are &s;o limited, that they are only capable of moderate Objects&punc; too much light blinds us, a great noi&s;e makes us deaf&punc; great Joys oppre&s;s our Sen&s;es. After having been without any &s;ign of life for half an hour, her Spirits began to re|turn,
<PB N="47" REF="29">
and with them her Fear, her Love, and all the pa&s;&s;ions of a trou|bled Mind; Her life came back to her in &s;uch a company that &s;he hated it; her fir&s;t thought was that of throwing her &s;elf at the Queens Feet, in hope to change her Cruel purpo&s;e; but &s;he was gone, and the Ship &s;o far ad|vanc't, that one could hardly &s;ee the tops of Hou&s;es of <HI>Barcelona,</HI> &s;he turned her eyes that way, and reflecting on what &s;he left, and what &s;he was going to: And having &s;eriou&s;ly weighed them a while, &s;he turned her &s;elf to|wards tho&s;e that accompanied her with a Countenance more cheerful and Serene then ordinary: and &s;eem|ing to have received &s;ome &s;atisfaction from the con&s;olation they gave her: See went to Bed, and entreated them to leave her to her Re&s;t: Fear and hopes are the two contrary winds of Souls, which never cea&s;e, and there is no tempe&s;t, whereof one or other of them is not the Cau&s;e: The pre&s;ent is but a point, and would be incon&s;iderable to us, if one or other of the&s;e pa&s;&s;ions did not give us &s;ome feeling of the fu|ture:
<PB N="48" REF="30">
<HI>Zelinda</HI> thought that Fortune had plac't her below her own power of helping, or harming farther: And &s;o was in that fatal Tranquility where|in men neither fear nor hope, but ex|pect the end of their Misfortune, with that of their lives, In all the&s;e Mi&s;e|ries, &s;he had not that of trying &s;eve|ral remedies, which is commonly the greate&s;t paine of the unfortunate. Having well con&s;idered what &s;he would do, and knowing it could not be long e're &s;he &s;hould be freed from her afflictions, &s;he pa&s;t the night in thinking how <HI>Alcidalis</HI> would receive the News of her lo&s;s: And though &s;he was infinitly grieved to part with him, &s;he had &s;ome &s;atisfaction when &s;he thought of the eminent proof it, would give him of her love, and re&s;olution. The Captain of the Ve&s;&s;el (be&s;ides that &s;he was then their charge) had a par|ticular e&s;teem of <HI>Zelinda&punc;</HI> having known her at Court; as &s;oon as they thought &s;he was awake they went into her Chamber, and askt her what &s;he would eat, &s;he an&s;wered that not on|ly &s;he would not eat then, but that
<PB N="49" REF="30">
&s;he would never eat more; this reply amazed them extreamly; but they con|cluded &s;he was relap&s;ed into her former Melancholly, and a little Time, a pro|perer Remedy, then any di&s;cour&s;e. Three or four hours after, finding that &s;he called no body, they returned, and employed all Prayers, and per|&s;wa&s;ions to make her receive a little Nouri&s;hment; to which &s;he an&s;wer|ed only with a Sullen &s;ilence, and a Be|heaviour &s;o cold, and &s;o re&s;olved, that &s;he &s;carce &s;eemed to have heard them: They left her this &s;econd time, but began to apprehend &s;ome Tragical event of this &s;trange re&s;olution. The next night they came again with a Neece of theirs, who was of the &s;ame age with <HI>Zelinda,</HI> and kneeling to her, begged her to have a care of her life, with as many Tears, and as much ear|ne&s;tne&s;s, as if they had askt their own of her, but all in vain; &s;o that they re|tired, and left her to her &s;elf. Three dayes pa&s;t thus whil&s;t neither Pray|ers, Tears, or Per&s;wa&s;ions, could pre|vail with <HI>Zelinda</HI> to &s;peak one word; but the fourth day the&s;e good people
<PB N="50" REF="31">
with their Neece, came to make their la&s;t attempt: And de&s;ired her not to be her own Murderer, and commit a Cruelty upon a Per&s;on &s;o excellent, as even the rude&s;t Barbarians would both &s;pare and Wor&s;hip: <HI>Zelinda</HI> having hearkned a while to their Di&s;|cour&s;e, fetcht a deep Sigh, and ri&s;ing from her Seat, &s;hewed her &s;elf plain to them&punc; which made them the better perceive the extremity &s;he was in; in the Beautifulle&s;t Face in the World, they beheld a frightful Image of di&s;pair and approaching Death, and &s;omewhat that gave at once horrour and pitty; having looked round upon them all, &s;he thus broke the Silence, &s;he &s;o long had kept.</P>
<Q>My Friends, you ask of me a thing, that only you can give me, you would have me live, and I would willingly obey; but have re&s;olved never to come alive upon the Shore of <HI>Italy,</HI> and here I &s;wear it once more, to the Gods above, by Fire, and Light, and to tho&s;e below by the Gho&s;ts of my Ance&s;tors: My life is then no
<PB N="51" REF="31">
longer in my power, it now depends on your carrying, or not carrying me to <HI>Italy;</HI> be not then my Murtherers, you to who&s;e care I was committed. The Duke of <HI>Tarentum</HI> expects me, he has never &s;een me, you have here your Neece of my Age and Stature, and not unlike me in the Face; you may put her in my place, and &s;o at once advance her Quality and For|tune in the World, and &s;ave me from the greate&s;t Misfortune I know how to fear; 'tis true you will deceive the Duke in giving him another then was promi&s;ed him, but could you bring me to him in the condition, and weakne&s;s I am now, &s;he whom I would per&s;wade you to give him, would much better re&s;emble that <HI>Zelinda</HI> he has heard of. The Duke will &s;ure be happier in a Wife that will receive, if not meet his love, then in the forc't Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of another, who upon &s;e|rious con&s;ideration has preferred her Grave to his Bed. But 'tis not me he aims at, &s;ince he never &s;aw me, it is the Dutchy of <HI>Otrante</HI> that he de&s;ires, and I give it this minute to
<PB N="52" REF="32">
your Neece, with the Quality and Name of <HI>Zelinda,</HI> and call to Wit|ne&s;s the &s;ame Gods I have &s;o lately Sworn by, that none &s;hall ever know the contrary from me, and that I never will repent of it. The Queen I know commanded you to carry me where he expects me, but you will do her better &s;ervice in obey|ing her Will, than her Words; an<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter"> can you think if &s;he were here now and &s;aw the condition I am now in and knew the re&s;olution I have no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter"> taken: That &s;he had not rather &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters"> me &s;afe in any part of the World then to &s;eed me dead into <HI>Italy;</HI> d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters"> &s;he command you to put me alive <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters"> dead into the hands of the Prince <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters"> <HI>Tarentum;</HI> do not you believe &s;he d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">+&s;igned my Happine&s;s and Advancement in this Marriage, and that &s;he w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters"> had &s;o great a care of my Fortu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters"> would have a much greater care <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters"> my Life: When I am dead and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters"> the World &s;hall reproach the Que<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters"> with this inhumane Cruelty, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters"> not &s;he &s;ay &s;he was mo&s;t Innoce<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters"> in that &s;he did not know my Mi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters">
<PB N="53" REF="32">
my Aver&s;ion to the Match, and la&s;t of all my De&s;perate Re&s;olution: May &s;he not ju&s;tly lay the whole fault on you, but what need you give her any Ac|count at all; This Ve&s;&s;el is your own where ever Wind or Waves have pa&s;|&s;age you may go.</Q>
<P>Then taking out a little Box the Queen had left her, where all the Jewels of her Mother were, &s;he con|tinued.</P>
<Q>The&s;e Jewels are of infinite Va|lue, the Queen cannot make you a greater Pre&s;ent; except &s;he gives you <HI>Barcelona.</HI> Take them, and give me nothing in return, but my Life and Liberty; and &s;ince Liberty it &s;elf, is more then all the Riches of the World, I &s;hall acknowledge my &s;elf &s;till your Debtor; too many would kill the Innocent <HI>Zelinda,</HI> for half the Wealth I offer you to &s;ave her: I buy a good Virtuous Action of you, at a Price able to engage many men in the the mo&s;t Barbarous: If you make a &s;cruple of di&s;obeying the Queen, you
<PB N="54" REF="33">
ought to have an horrour for the death of an Innocent; will you rather choo&s;e to de&s;troy one of her Friends, then to break one of her commands; If you are afraid of her di&s;plea&s;ure or wrong, you &s;hould con&s;ider, that &s;hortly <HI>Alcidalis</HI> will be greater in <HI>Arragon</HI> then &s;he, who will &s;eek you all over the World, and bring you to a &s;evere account for my Life, and Per&s;on: But if all the&s;e rea|&s;ons &s;hould not prevaile, I conjure you by the Friend&s;hip you have profe&s;t to me, by the compa&s;&s;ion you &s;hew|ed but now, by the&s;e Tears, and all that is dear to you, to deliver me from this Di&s;traction I am in, your &s;uddain re&s;olution will double the Obligation, and incline me to believe, that you were di&s;po&s;ed to it more through your generous Pitty of my afflicted innocence, then any other con&s;ideration: But if neither my Prayers, nor Tears, nor Offers, can prevail with you: This Tongue that has pleaded my Cau&s;e &s;o un&s;ucce&s;sful|ly, &s;hall never &s;peak again, and death in a &s;hort time will give me that Li|berty which you refu&s;e.</Q>
<PB N="55" REF="33">
<P>Then &s;he &s;hewed them all her Jewels, which Charmed their Eyes, as much as her Di&s;cour&s;es had done their Ears, &s;o that they were no longer able to re|&s;i&s;t that double violence: The Cap|tain was a Souldierly man, and very Brave, who had run through divers Fortunes without ever making his own: He thought now was the time or never, &s;o that &s;traight computing how many Ve&s;&s;els he might &s;et out with a good part of that Wealth he &s;aw; immediatly all <HI>Zelinda</HI> had &s;aid to him appeared unan&s;werable, he thought him&s;elf oblidged in Honour to relieve &s;o Lovely and Injured a Prince&s;s: Be&s;ides, that he might one day re&s;tore her to <HI>Alcidalis,</HI> and re|ceive from him as great a recompence, as he had done for her. He was a great while without &s;peaking, &s;o that <HI>Zelinda</HI> fearing his Silence, proceeded from his irre&s;olution, doubled her intreaties, till at la&s;t he yielded, and vow'd to obey what ever &s;he com|manded: She engaged to go into a Mona&s;tery, and never to leave it with|out his con&s;ent: <HI>Zelinda</HI> was &s;o over|joyed
<PB N="56" REF="34">
at this deliverance from the Prince of <HI>Tarentum</HI> that &s;he a while for|got &s;he was al&s;o &s;eparated from <HI>Alcida|lis;</HI> this &s;atisfaction &s;oon re&s;tored her to Health and Beauty; but they let her appear as little as po&s;&s;ible; and their Neece <HI>Crimina</HI> was every day in|&s;tructed to Per&s;onate <HI>Zelinda;</HI> when &s;he had her Le&s;&s;on perfect, they Landed her in <HI>Italy;</HI> though <HI>Zelinda</HI> &s;aw all things go very well, and that the Captain and his Wife were very zealous to have this de&s;ign &s;ucceed; yet her heart began to beat when &s;he &s;aw Land, and was extream impati|ent, till <HI>Crimina</HI> was &s;ettled with the Duke, that &s;he might be gone: Not to expo&s;e the fal&s;e <HI>Zelinda</HI> at fir&s;t, to the eyes of too many People, under the pretence of &s;ome &s;mall Indi&s;po&s;ition, they made her to be carryed in a Chair, into the very Pallace, and under the &s;ame pretence avoided &s;eeing much Company, till &s;he had confirmed her &s;elf in the Meen and Per&s;on of a Princes; &s;o that &s;he let none &s;ee her when &s;he could well avoid it but the Duke; who though he did not find in her
<PB N="57" REF="34">
that Prodigious Beauty that had made &s;o much noi&s;e, was very well Satis|fied with her, and attributed her Alteration partly to her Indi&s;po&s;iti|on, partly to her Voyage, and allow|ed &s;omewhat for the Extravagance of Report, which is ever in Extreams. The Captain and his Wife having re|ceived very con&s;iderable Pre&s;ents, took their leave of the Duke, and put to Sea, pretending an Impatience they had to give the Queen an account of their happy Voyage. <HI>Zelinda</HI> &s;tayed all this while in the Ve&s;&s;el, and when &s;he &s;aw the Captain and his Wife A|board, pre&s;t them to Hoy&s;t Saile, and &s;hed as many Tears of Joy at her leav|ing <HI>Italy,</HI> as &s;he had of Sorrow at her quitting <HI>Spain:</HI> But what avails it, the unhappy to e&s;cape one Misfortune; or what Sanctuary is there for the&s;e whom Fortune is re&s;olved to Per&s;e|cute; all the earth is &s;ubject to her Empire, but the Sea &s;eems to be particularly under her Dominion, it is there &s;he excerci&s;es her Power mo&s;t Tyrannically; and mo&s;t Treacherou&s;|ly, enriching her Favourites with the
<PB N="58" REF="35">
Spoiles of the Indu&s;trious: Yet as if there were nothing more to be feared, <HI>Zelinda</HI> thanked Heaven, and being on an Element the mo&s;t deceiptful of the four, among people &s;he could ex|pect nothing farther from, having nothing more to bribe them with. She imagined her &s;elf as &s;ecure as if &s;he had been in a Pallace, and in the mid&s;t of her Friends: They made towards <HI>Sardignia,</HI> where the Captain de&s;ign|ed to leave <HI>Zelinda;</HI> with a Si&s;ter of his, till he could find an opportunity to re&s;tore her to <HI>Alcidalis;</HI> they had Sailed three dayes with a Fair Wind, when two hours before the Sun &s;et, he upon the Watch, from the top of the Ma&s;t, cryed he &s;aw three Sailes making towards them; Men live no where with &s;o little &s;ecurity, as upon that Element, The Water, Earth, Air, and Fire, are all Enemies of tho&s;e that are at Sea; but Men mo&s;t of all, and there is nothing that one Ve&s;&s;el apprehends &s;o much, as the Meeting of another; not long after they looked again, and they &s;aw the Tops of three Sailes, which &s;eemed
<PB N="59" REF="35">
not to be above three Leagues off; an hour after they came more in View, &s;o that they knew them to be Pyrates. Our Captain commanded his men to Hoi&s;t all their Sailes and run for't: The next Morning as &s;oon as it was broad day, they perceived the Pirates were a&s;ide of them, and within &s;ix Miles, &s;o that if they gained upon them in the Morning proportionably to what they had done in the Night be|fore, they judged that by Noon they would be within Cannon-Shot; tho&s;e that were in the Ve&s;&s;el were a little apprehen&s;ive, the fearful took them|&s;elves to Crying and Howling, the mo&s;t re&s;olved, to their Arms: And the mo&s;t rea&s;onable, concluded, that neither the one nor other were to any great purpo&s;e; Though the Captain had experience enough to know that he could not Defend him&s;elf long, yet he cho&s;e rather to die like a man of Honour, then to yield and loo&s;e that Wealth he was &s;o lately and &s;o luckily po&s;&s;e&s;t of. In this Alarum and gene|ral confu&s;ion, <HI>Zelinda</HI> alone was not a&s;toni&s;ht, and whil&s;t others feared for
<PB N="60" REF="36">
their Goods, and their Liberties, &s;he to whom all the&s;e things were indiffe|rent, thought only for pre&s;erving her Honour: After having throughly con&s;idered the danger &s;he was in, and the remedies it was capable of; She &s;hut her &s;elf into her Chamber with the Captains Wife, where the fir&s;t thing &s;he did, was to throw all her Ornaments into the Sea, lea&s;t they &s;hould di&s;cover her, then cutting off the Fine&s;t Haire in the World, &s;he Wept a while in the con&s;ideration of what Fortune had reduced her to; but at la&s;t &s;he called for a Suit of the Clo|thes of the Captains, and Di&s;gui&s;ed her &s;elf and Sex. In the mean time the three Ve&s;&s;els which they knew belong|ed to the Coa&s;t of <HI>Africa,</HI> came with|in Cannon-Shot of them, and Di&s;|charged a Gun, to &s;ee if they would Strike Saile, but finding they did not, but pretended to defend them&s;elves, when they came within convenient di&s;tance they gave them a Broad-Side: tho&s;e of the Ve&s;&s;el did the &s;ame, but with a very different &s;ucce&s;s&punc; for do|ing no harm at all to the Enemies,
<PB N="61" REF="36">
they had their Ma&s;t and two of their Sailes Shot in pieces, their Ve&s;&s;el ex|treamly Shattered, and many of the Souldiers killed; at this noi&s;e <HI>Zelinda</HI> came out of her Chamber, and put her &s;elf among the foremo&s;t, hoping that &s;he &s;hould by that means either be killed the &s;ooner, or di&s;gui&s;e her &s;elf the better, the Combate was &s;o un|equal that it was impo&s;&s;ibie it &s;hould la&s;t long, and all the re&s;i&s;tance they were able to make, could not hinder the Pirates from Boarding the Ve&s;&s;el; where after they had killed ten or twelve of the mo&s;t Re&s;olute, and among&s;t the re&s;t the Captain, the Seamen threw down their Arms, and yeilded to Mercy The Captain of the&s;e Ve&s;&s;els was of the Kingdom of <HI>Barca,</HI> the people of it are very Bar|barous, they drive no Trade at all, what we call Robbing, they call Gain|ing from the Enemy, and whatever they purcha&s;e with their Blood, they count &s;till the bravelier, and mo&s;t Ho|ne&s;tly gotten; and would be a&s;hamed of any other Title to it. This man being the mo&s;t powerful in his Coun|try,
<PB N="62" REF="37">
Valliant and Skilfull in Sea Af|fairs, was a long time the Terrour of all the Coa&s;ts of <HI>Greece</HI> and <HI>Italy,</HI> he had Mercy, and Genero&s;ity more then his Country, or indeed his Profe&s;&s;ion allowed of, naturally and without knowing they were Vertues: As there are in the North, &s;ome Veins of Gold as perfect as tho&s;e in the Indies, though not in &s;o great quantity. So nature in all Climates does produce now and than an extraordinary Ge|nius, which &s;he in&s;tructs and cul|tivates her &s;elf, and indues with all imaginable perfection without help of Art. As <HI>Orcantes</HI> (for &s;o this Pyrate was called) was looking over his Captives and the Prize he had got|ten. The Maje&s;ty and Beauty that &s;hin|ed in <HI>Zelindas</HI> Face, compelled him to ask her who &s;he was, &s;he an&s;wered &s;he was a <HI>Spaniard,</HI> and her name was <HI>Ze|lidan,</HI> Nephew to the Captain of that Ve&s;&s;el, he had taken, that &s;he wi&s;ht her &s;elf with him, and e&s;teemed him happy to have pre&s;erved his Liberty with the lo&s;s of his Life: She &s;aid this with a meen worthy of a better
<PB N="63" REF="37">
Fortune, and with an a&s;&s;urance more u&s;ual in the Conquerours then the vanqui&s;ht, her Con&s;tancy, her Courage, prevailed more on the Generous Di&s;|po&s;ition of the Captain, then all the mean Submi&s;&s;ion of the re&s;t, he was charmed with the Greatne&s;s of her Mind, and Beauty of her Per&s;on, and de&s;ired her to be of good Courage, &s;ince &s;he was fallen into the hands of one, who made Slaves of none but &s;uch as de&s;erved to be &s;o. That for him&s;elf he &s;ought Glory more then Gain upon the Sea, and took more plea&s;ure to give Liberty, then to make Slaves. That he left the re&s;t of the Prize to his Souldiers, and de&s;ired only <HI>Zelidan</HI> for him&s;elf, and that the fir&s;t brave Action they were in, &s;hould be his Ran&s;ome. <HI>And Sir,</HI> &s;aid he, <HI>If the advantages of your Mind, an&s;wer tho&s;e of your Per&s;on, I &s;hall &s;oon be more a Captive to your Worth, then you are to my Arms. Zelinda,</HI> who ex|pected nothing of this nature from a Barbarian, and a Pyrate, was almo&s;t as much amazed as he was plea&s;ed; and the lo&s;s of Liberty, as a Slave to <HI>Orantes,</HI>
<PB N="64" REF="38">
was &s;o much more &s;upportable then it would have been to her&punc; as Wife to the Prince of <HI>Tarentum,</HI> that &s;he be|gan to bear it with &s;ome &s;ort of &s;atis|faction. She thought there was no misfortune but to be given to another, nor no Happine&s;s but to be Married to <HI>Alcidalis:</HI> All things el&s;e were in|different to her. And &s;o her great Soul worthy of the Empire of the World, &s;ubmitted to her pre&s;ent con|dition with le&s;s concern then the meane&s;t Seaman that was taken with her. But <HI>Zelidan</HI> for &s;o we mu&s;t here|after call her, be&s;ides that Heaven had given her all Advantagious Qua|lities, both of Mind and Body, was indued with all tho&s;e Graces, which al|mo&s;t in&s;en&s;ibly create Love &amp; Re&s;pect, born to command and not to obey: She &s;oon got the a&s;cendant over her new Ma&s;ter, the Slaves, Souldiers, Seamen, all loved her &s;o well, that &s;he Governed ab&s;olutely, in the Ve&s;&s;el where &s;he was Pri&s;oner; &s;eeing the kindne&s;s <HI>Orantes</HI> had for her, &s;he judged that it would turn to Love, if once &s;he were di&s;covered; and then his in|clination
<PB N="65" REF="38">
(which el&s;e would be of great advantage to her) would be infallibly her ruine&punc; She took all the care imaginable to conceal her &s;elf con|tinually exerci&s;ing her Courage, and all the&s;e Qualities that her Sex is lea&s;t capable of. They pa&s;t all that Summer without ever landing, but to take in Fre&s;h-Water, in which time the new <HI>Zelidan</HI> &s;ignalized him&s;elf on all occa|&s;ions: There was no Ve&s;&s;el taken where he was not the fir&s;t Aboard&punc; &s;o that the Pirate found no difficulty to pay him the full e&s;teem and friend|&s;hip he had promi&s;ed: The Winter coming on, and the Sea growing fuller of fears, then hopes even for Pyrates them&s;elves, they laid up their Ve&s;&s;el in the fir&s;t Port of <HI>Barca: Orantes</HI> gave <HI>Zelidan</HI> his Liberty with a great many Complements, and profe&s;&s;ions of perpetual Friend&s;hip: He de&s;ired to bring him to Court, &s;aying he would &s;hew the King the Riche&s;t Prize he ever took upon the Sea. In the mean while <HI>Alcidalis</HI> who was informed of the Queens whole proceeding, believed <HI>Zelinda</HI> in the Arms of the Prince of
<PB N="66" REF="39">
<HI>Tarentum,</HI> and thought her capable though not of loving, yet of &s;uffering another, the generous re&s;olution of &s;tarving her &s;elf to death, which <HI>Ze|linda</HI> was ready to have executed, <HI>Al|cidalis</HI> was not able to imagine: But after he had given &s;ome time to a help|le&s;s and a mo&s;t &s;peechle&s;s &s;orrow, he lo&s;t all fear, all re&s;pect, together with his hope, and had no other though but that of Revenging him&s;elf immediately upon the Queen, or of forcing <HI>Zelinda</HI> from the Arms of the Prince of <HI>Tarentum.</HI> But at la&s;t his Body being unequal to the violent Agi|tations of his Mind, he fell into a Feavour, accompanied with &s;uch Ra|ving Fits, as all that knew their true cau&s;e, had rea&s;on to believe he would never outlive them; he was in a &s;hort time without any &s;trength, and which was happie&s;t for him without any thought at all: thus Fortune can mock at all our Purpo&s;es, and confine him a whole Month to his Chamber; Who threatned &s;traight to &s;earch the whole World for <HI>Zelinda.</HI> A Fea|vour, Love, and Jealou&s;y, which are
<PB N="67" REF="39">
certainly the greate&s;t ills of Mind and Body, raged at once in <HI>Alcidalis,</HI> every one of them with their mo&s;t de&s;perate Circum&s;tances: So that each &s;eemed incurable and altogether un&s;upport|able: But at length contrary to all expectation he recovered, but with his Health, his Grief, his Love, and all cares returned; &s;o that without &s;taying till he was perfectly recovered, or making any one acquainted with his de&s;igne, he &s;tole out of <HI>Sarago&s;a,</HI> and going a by way to the Kingdom of <HI>Valentia,</HI> he embarqued at the neare&s;t Port, and pa&s;t over into <HI>Italy:</HI> Where he hoped to &s;ee <HI>Zelinda,</HI> which ex|pectation was all the Happine&s;s he was capable of in her ab&s;ence; The fal&s;e <HI>Zelinda</HI> had better Fortune then the true one, and her de&s;ignes better &s;ucce&s;s, &s;he had, as ob&s;erved, a mode|rate Beauty, and that kind of under|&s;tanding that gives us cunning and &s;ub|tility for the Affairs of the World, &s;eeing what a dangerous bu&s;ine&s;s &s;he had undertaken, &s;he endeavoured all &s;he could to gaine the Prince her Hus|bands Heart, and &s;o fortifie her &s;elf
<PB N="68" REF="40">
again&s;t all accidents: He was of tho&s;e years wherein men begin to feel the approaches of Old Age, and to be &s;omewhat le&s;s confident of them&s;elves, and where the mo&s;t rea&s;onable and be&s;t de&s;erving cannot hope to be loved by Women, but out of gratitude or duty: So that the Beauty, Conduct, and Kindne&s;s, of his Young Wife, gain|ed him intirely: As we are never &s;o fond of Flowers, as in the beginning of the Spring, or towards the end of Autumne; the fir&s;t for their Novelty, and the others becau&s;e we think we &s;hall &s;ee them no more: So the plea&s;ures of love are at no time &s;o dear to us, as in the buginning of our Youth, and the approaches of our Age: It is &s;o great and unexpected a Happine&s;s for an Old Man to be loved, that there is no folly they are not capable of in that condition, but the knowledge they have of them&s;elves, &s;carce &s;uf|fers them ever to be firmly per&s;waded of it. The Duke was no &s;ooner in love, but he became Jealous; That pa&s;&s;ion which in other Countries is an acciden|tal effect of love, is there in&s;eperable
<PB N="69" REF="40">
from it&punc; they conclude there cannot be a great de&s;ire, without a great fear. Love and Jealou&s;y are Twins with them, and ever born together. Were it then the exce&s;s of kindne&s;s, the Air of his Countrey, or his own natural di&s;tru&s;t, or that he had heard &s;ome|what concerning <HI>Alcidalis,</HI> that had cau&s;ed that effect; his Jealou&s;y arrived to that height, that he never thought her &s;afe but when &s;he was with him, and even then had &s;carce patience &s;he &s;hould be &s;een by any eyes but his own. She who for another rea&s;on cared not to be &s;een much, ea&s;ily complied with his Humour, and told him &s;he loved all the effects of his Pa&s;&s;ion equally, that his very fears were agreeable to her &s;ince they were marks of his Love: That her greate&s;t content was to pro|cure his, that in having him, &s;he thought &s;he had all the World, and cared not if &s;he was &s;hut up for ever on the&s;e Tearms. He receives the&s;e offers of hers with great joy, and made u&s;e of the Liberty &s;he gave him to take away all hers, &s;o that cutting off dayly &s;omwhat of her Attendants, and of a
<PB N="70" REF="41">
great Pallace, which before &s;he had the freedom of, he reduced her to four or five Rooms, and a few nece&s;&s;ary Servants, as the Duke gave her many marks of his Jealou&s;y, he al&s;o gave her &s;ome of his Love. And &s;trove to make her Pri&s;on as agreeable to her as po&s;&s;ible, there was no part of the World that did not contribute its greate&s;t varieties to her Clo&s;ets. Art and nature &s;eemed to &s;trive which &s;hould mo&s;t adorne her Retirement. And &s;he &s;aw all things &s;he could wi&s;h, but men, and tho&s;e &s;he &s;aw only out her Windows. The Duke bought the Lu&s;tie&s;t and Hand&s;ome&s;t Slaves that could be found which (to divert the Malancholy which mu&s;t needs attend &s;uch a &s;olitude) he cau&s;ed to be taught to Fence, Ride, run at the Ring, and all the exerci&s;es of the Nobility, by the be&s;t Ma&s;ters of <HI>Italy;</HI> the&s;e were called the Slaves of the Dutche&s;s, thrice a Week they were brought into a Court all &s;trewed with Sand, where they did all their Exerci&s;es: The Duke had two de&s;igns in this, one of divert|ing his Dutche&s;s, and the other of
<PB N="71" REF="41">
making her de&s;pi&s;e all men; by letting her &s;ee in Slaves, the &s;ame Qualities which are admired in people of the highe&s;t Birth, and mo&s;t advantagious Education. <HI>Alcidalis</HI> at his coming into <HI>Italy,</HI> was informed of all this, and judged that no Quality would &s;o &s;oon introduce him, as that of a Slave to the Dutche&s;s; he communicated his de&s;igns to his Gentleman, who had always attended him; who Di&s;|gui&s;ing him&s;elf like a Merchant, went to the Officers that had the Govern|ment of the Slaves, and expo&s;ed to &s;ale <HI>Alcidalis;</HI> who having all the Qualities nece&s;&s;ary in a very eminent degree; was &s;oon Bought, and &s;o one of the greate&s;t and mo&s;t accompli&s;ht men in the World, became a Slave: A while he was fain to learn of them he might have taught&punc; and &s;eeming to learn every day &s;omewhat of his exer|ci&s;es; he in a &s;hort time &s;o advanced, that he was admired of all the World; if he were challenged to run, Wre&s;tle, Fence, or Ride, he was &s;o con&s;tant|ly &s;ucce&s;sful, that at la&s;t he &s;eemed but to be invited to &s;o many Victories:
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There was no Prize that any one, or number of his Companions, dur&s;t di&s;pute with him: Yet among all the commendations he obtained, he felt a &s;ecret &s;hame in him&s;elf, that his Victories were gained only over a few Slaves, for he had a heart as Ge|nerous as that Prince, who &s;corned to Run with any but Kings, though he did all things with an incompa|rable Grace, it was with &s;o much neg|lect and contempt of what he was a|bout, that it was no hard matter to &s;ee his thoughts were &s;omewhere el&s;e: When ever he entered the Li&s;ts, for the Diverti&s;ement of the Dutche&s;s, he came the fir&s;t, and went away the la&s;t; In all his exerci&s;es he had his Eyes and Heart fixt upon the Window, he thought &s;he &s;tood at. For the Jealous Duke had &s;o contrived it; that &s;he could &s;ee without being &s;een: What Mi&s;takes and Errors are not men cap|able of, the mo&s;t Faithful Lover upon earth adores now a Beauty he has never &s;een, Sighs before her, and gives her at his eyes his heart: And being born a Slave to <HI>Zelinda,</HI> has blindly
<PB N="73" REF="42">
&s;old him&s;elf to another: <HI>Alcidalis</HI> who had been remarkable among&s;t the mo&s;t accompli&s;ht Princes, was ea&s;ily &s;o among the&s;e Slaves. The fir&s;t day &s;he &s;aw him, his Beauty, and the Graces that accompanied all his Actions, attracted the eyes of the Dutche&s;s; afterward he gained her e&s;teem, and then her admiration; and having con&s;idered how through|ly &s;he thought &s;he &s;aw in his Mine and Courage, &s;omewhat worthy of a Nobler de&s;tiny, and much above his pre&s;ent Fortune: She took notice how fixtly he looked up at her Window, of the Palene&s;s and Sadne&s;s of his Face, which all the applau&s;es continually given him were never able to change for a Minute: All this together gave her at fir&s;t Pity, then Curio&s;ity, and at la&s;t Love.</P>
<P>One Night as this Illu&s;trious Slave went out of the Palace of the Duke, in a dark Pa&s;&s;age he felt him&s;elf pulled&punc; by one, whom by that light he could only perceive to be a Woman; who taking him a&s;ide, &s;aid, <HI>Clariantes,</HI>
<PB N="74" REF="43">
(for that was the name he cho&s;e to be called by in this Di&s;gui&s;e) <HI>If you are as truly Brave as you appear, come to morrow morning at two a Clock to the foot of the</HI> Greek-Tower, <HI>there you &s;hall be put in a way of being the Happie&s;t man living:</HI> She &s;aid this in great ha&s;te, and left him, without &s;taying for his an&s;wer. But this was enough to &s;et his Thoughts a work: Since Fortune began to per&s;ecute his love, this &s;eem|ed to him the fir&s;t Moment &s;he began to remit of her u&s;ual Rigour; he made no que&s;tion but this Me&s;&s;age came from <HI>Zelinda,</HI> &s;ince to make him Happy was in the power of none but her: Yet whether it be that men &s;o extra|ordinary hold &s;ome little intelligence with their de&s;tiny, or that the unfor|tunate entertain hope but Coldly, which has &s;o oft deceiv'd them: he dur&s;t not be confident of his good Fortune, but expected the hour &s;he had a&s;&s;ign|ed him, &s;ucce&s;&s;ively agitated by Impa|tience, Hope, and Fear. The time &s;o much longed for being come, as &s;oon as it was dark he came to the foot of
<PB N="75" REF="43">
the Tower, which was an old Build|ing which entered &s;ome fifty Foot into the Sea; <HI>Alcidalis</HI> came in a &s;mall Fi&s;her Boat, which having fa&s;tned to the Wall, he attended the &s;ucce&s;s of his Adventure an hour before any body came to him: His Mind all the while no le&s;s to&s;s'd between Hope and Fear, then the &s;mall Ve&s;&s;el he was in by the Waves of the Sea: Pa&s;&s;ions which though they are very contrary, are very often together; the Wind was &s;o high, that there was &s;mall hope the Rope that held the Boat would endure much longer, &s;o that every Minute he imagined it would break; at la&s;t, as he began to de&s;pair of his ex|pected Happine&s;s, and entertain the di&s;male&s;t thoughts the Night, the Sea, and ri&s;ing Storm could furni&s;h him with; he heard a noi&s;e from the top of the Tower, which he an&s;we|red to, and immediatly &s;omthing fell in|to his Boat, which he &s;oon perceived to be a Ladder of Rope: <HI>Alcidalis</HI> then gave him&s;elf entirely into the Arms of a deceitful hope, and was confident he &s;hould once more behold his unfor|tunate
<PB N="76" REF="44">
<HI>Zelinda:</HI> which made him &s;light all dangers, and run up the Ladder as fa&s;t as he could have done the ea&s;ie&s;t Stairs in the World; when he was at the top, he found a Window open, and a Woman who gave him her Hand, and without &s;aying any thing, brought him through a great many turnings into a Clo&s;et, the Rich|lie&s;t Furni&s;ht that ever he had &s;een, lighted with three Lamps of Gold: He perceived then &s;he was the &s;ame Wo|man had &s;poke to him before in the dark Pa&s;&s;age; then putting all things to|gether, he concluded &s;he came from <HI>Zelinda,</HI> and had now no fear but that of not &s;taying long enough with her: He had a thou&s;and &s;everal and &s;ome contrary Pa&s;&s;ions at once in his Mind, which cannot be repre&s;ented on Paper, &s;ince the Soul of man, and among&s;t them, only the Lovers, is capable of &s;uch confu&s;ion: He was for an hour in the &s;tille&s;t Silence imagi|nable, but at la&s;t he heard, as he thought, the tread of a Woman, and the noi&s;e of a Key, to which turning his Head about, he &s;aw a Door open, and the
<PB N="77" REF="44">
&s;ame per&s;on enter who gave him her hand at the Window; who Smiling upon him, &s;aid, <HI>Clariantes, I do not doubt but you will pardon me for ha|ving made you wait thus long, and confe&s;s the Honour you are going to receive, an abundant recompence for all you have &s;uf|fered.</HI> The Prince thanked her; and de|&s;ired &s;he would inform him a little what this Honour was &s;he meant; She pau&s;ed a while, and then replyed, <HI>Were I not by the Greatne&s;s of your Meen and Courage, &s;uf|ficiently a&s;&s;ured of that of your Mind, I &s;hould not venture to let you know your good Fortune thus at once, le&s;t exce&s;s of joy &s;hould overpower your Spirits; but it is to be &s;uppo&s;ed a man of your Merit can never be &s;urprized at his good Fortune, whatever it be; know then, that you are now in</HI> Zelinda's <HI>Clo&s;et, and &s;hall immediatly be brought into her Chamber; the Dutche&s;s has taken notice of your good Qualities, and finding no|thing ami&s;s in you but your Fortune, is re&s;olved to better that her &s;elf; and to that end de&s;ires your acquaintance: On your part &s;ee you make good u&s;e of this occa&s;ion, and &s;hew as much Di&s;cretion</HI>
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<HI>and Conduct hereafter, as you have hi|therto &s;hewn Courage and Genero&s;ity.</HI> Having &s;aid this, &s;he led him into the Dutche&s;&s;es Chamber. How &s;trangely are our Minds wrought upon? <HI>Alcida|lis,</HI> whom death it &s;elf would not have di&s;compo&s;ed, trembles in a place where he knew there were none but Women; that heart which would have encountered a world of Enemies with|out fear, melts at the imaginary ap|proach of the only per&s;on upon earth he loves, and knows him&s;elf to be be|loved by: The Chamber had ju&s;t the light that &s;uch affairs required, which was not much; the &s;hame and di&s;order of a Young woman unpractis'd in the Thefts of Love, made her conceal her &s;elf &s;o much, that had <HI>Alcidalis</HI> been le&s;s prepo&s;&s;e&s;t then indeed he was, he could not ea&s;ily have found his mi|&s;take: He immediately fell upon his Knees to her, and after a few words confu&s;edly uttered, and wor&s;e follow|ed, he &s;topt in the middle of his Di&s;|cour&s;e; Amazement, Joy, and Love &s;ei&s;ed him &s;o in an in&s;tant, that half&punc; be&s;ide-him&s;elf he let fall his head upon
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the Bed of the young Prince&s;s, who lifting it up with her hand, brought him a little to him&s;elf; but a con&s;ci|ou&s;ne&s;s of his di&s;order kept him &s;till in it, &s;o that he could only &s;ay at la&s;t,</P>
<Q><HI>Zelinda,</HI> Heaven has had &s;ome pity on the unhappy <HI>Alcidalis,</HI> and once before I die given me a &s;ight of tho&s;e perfections I would have dyed to have &s;een; my love is &s;till the &s;ame, and I am not the le&s;s yours for your being anothers; the Tyranny of Fate may force our Per&s;ons out of our own di&s;po&s;al, but hearts are given by them|&s;elves alone, and &s;ure what is un|ju&s;tly taken, we ju&s;tly may recover.</Q>
<P>Here his Sighs interrupted his Di&s;|cout&s;e, and as he would have con|tinued it, they heard a great noi&s;e in the Palace, which &s;he that was intru&s;ted came out of Breath to tell them it was the Duke, and that he was al|ready on the Dutche&s;s Side: Who, good man, far from thinking what had happened, had de&s;igned to &s;pend two
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or three days in Hunting; but whether it were Love, or Jealou&s;ie, or that he thought, that for being le&s;s ex|pected he &s;hould be the more welcome to the Dutche&s;s; he returned the very day, and the fir&s;t thing he did, came to vi&s;it her. I hate him for coming &s;o un&s;ea&s;onably; for I would fain have &s;een what reply &s;he would have found to a Di&s;cour&s;e &s;he &s;o little compre|hended, and le&s;s expected; and had I made the Story, <HI>Alcidalis</HI> &s;hould have made him&mdash;what the Dutche&s;s plea&s;ed: But as things were, there was no &s;taying any longer, and the Lady that brought him, in all ha&s;te conducted him to the &s;ame Window he came in it. Seeing and dete&s;ting this la&s;t Treachery of Fortune, he had more mind to precipitate him&s;elf, then to make u&s;e of his Ladder of Ropes, and had done it, but for the hope of Climing up by it another time. The &s;weetne&s;s of that thought per&s;waded him to live a little longer, but with many ra&s;h Vows and deep Impreca|tions, not to &s;urvive &s;uch another Jilting trick; and brought him &s;afe,
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and unob&s;erved to his Lodging; for the Dukes unexpected arrival had rai&s;ed all from &s;leep, and put the Court in &s;uch Confu&s;ion, that they ran again&s;t each other as if it had been at blind-mans-Buffe: (a Recreation much u&s;ed at Courts in that Age, and not yet wholly di&s;e&s;teem'd.) To &s;ave the trouble of making doleful Speeches&punc; and avoid the danger of &s;peaking un|truths, or wor&s;e then he did, I will not pre&s;ume to relate exactly how often <HI>Alcidalis</HI> Sighed, Tumbled, and Rouled in his Bed, &s;omtimes Rayling at, and &s;ometimes wheadling For|tune; or whether he tore his lovely Hair, which in a thou&s;and Curls adorned his &s;preading Shoulders; for he being then under the qualification of a Slave, had no attending E&s;quire to hear and di&s;cover his Soliloquies. But let the ingenious Reader imagine, after a long and pa&s;&s;ionate Court&s;hip of &s;o Beautiful a Lady as <HI>Zelinda,</HI> if he was Kneeling by her Bed, (<HI>the Altar of Love</HI>) pre&s;&s;ing her &s;oft Palm, lay|ing his amorous head on her panting Brea&s;t, in the height of exta&s;ie, ju&s;t
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at the Minute of fruition, (for doubt|le&s;s they had been naught together, if the Dukes coming had not prevented them) how it would &s;tir him to be di&s;appointed: And then let him plea&s;e his fancy with Speeches &s;uitable to his own Humour.&mdash;Here &s;ome Ro|mantick Zealots may perhaps accu&s;e me of a gro&s;s mi&s;take, in &s;uppo&s;ing a Prince &s;o &s;ubllmely Virtuous as <HI>Alci|dalis</HI> is Characteriz'd, could be guilty of the common Failings of meaner per|&s;ons: But I refer my &s;elf to the Impar|tial Judgement of this ripe-witted Age, whether that Lover is not mo&s;t per|fect, who&s;e Pa&s;&s;ion has no Limits (maugre the Cruel examples of <HI>Ama|dis de Gaul,</HI> that flower of Chivalry, and all the Rabble of ob&s;olete Heroes) but in per&s;uance of its de&s;ign, which is enjoyment one way or other, what|ever is pretended to the contrary; tramples all danger, or rea&s;on under Foot; I'le believe it granted, and proceed to my Story.&mdash;The &s;ame ex|ce&s;s of kindne&s;s, or Jealou&s;ie rather, which hurried the Old Duke from his Countrey diver&s;ions, ha&s;tened him to
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the Chamber of his Trembling Dut|che&s;s; who received him with mo&s;t extraordinary marks of unu&s;ual Ten|derne&s;s, the better to palliate her Errour; often renewing her &s;trict Embraces, with a melting voice, &s;he &s;aid,</P>
<Q>My Deare&s;t Lord! The only joy of my Life! Are you well? Are you in my Arms? Oh &s;peak! and confirm me that I am not yet in a Dream&mdash;</Q>
<Q>No, Dear Madam! <HI>an&s;wered the over joyed Duke,</HI> it is no Dream; or if it be, it is &s;o ravi&s;hing to me, that I could be contented it &s;hould never end: But what, my dear <HI>Ze|linda,</HI> has &s;o much di&s;compo&s;ed you? Your heart pants and &s;truggles, as if it were weary of its Seat, and &s;ought for &s;helter in my Brea&s;t&mdash;</Q>
<Q>Oh Sir, <HI>&s;he replyed,</HI> receive it kind|ly then! and let it ever dwell there, that it may no more be frighted with your ab&s;ence. Your coming wakened me from a dreadful Dream; a great
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Buck, me-thought, a&s;&s;aulted you in a&punc; dark Thicket, and was ju&s;t ready to goar your Maje&s;tick forehead with his Horns; Ha! Horns, cryed the Duke, (&s;tarting as if his evil Genius had ap|peared) Heaven avert the Omen! If your pre&s;ence had not di&s;turbed my bu&s;ie Fancy, certainly the Dream had gone one, &s;ays &s;he, and I had dyed with apprehen&s;ion&mdash;</Q>
<Q>Be comforted, Madam! <HI>&s;ays the re|collected Duke,</HI> Dreams are but faint reflections of tho&s;e la&s;t thoughts, which imployed the imagination when &s;leep &s;urprized the Active Sen&s;es; &s;o when the Glorious Sun for&s;akes our Hemi|&s;phear, a Ro&s;ie glimmering lighr &s;till guilds the Clouds.</Q>
<Q>Ah Sir! I will never con&s;ent that you &s;hall leave my Arms, <HI>cryed the pa&s;|&s;ionate Dutche&s;s,</HI> for if your pre|cious life &s;hould be de&s;troyed, how wretched would the unfortunate <HI>Ze|linda</HI> be!</Q>
<P>Repeating her Care&s;&s;es with &s;uch
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exqui&s;ite Artifice, and &s;eeming Fond|ne&s;s, that the Duke, believing him&s;elf mo&s;t egregiou&s;ly Happy in a Kind and Faithful Spou&s;e, when her heart was all that time inventing new Cur&s;es for him, committed all his cares to a &s;ound &s;leep; which Age, and a little forc'd exerci&s;e to retaliate his Ladies kindne&s;s, &s;oon brought upon him.</P>
<P>The next day was &s;olemniz'd with more then u&s;ual Sports, where <HI>Al|cidalis,</HI> &s;welled with joyful hopes, performed &s;uch extravagant Deeds of Agility and Strength, as I dare not particularize, le&s;t the incredulous Reader &s;hould di&s;tru&s;t the truth of all the re&s;t. The Duke unable to make good returns of Love two nights to|gether, &s;hut up his Exchequer, and as an uncivil Debtor that cannot Pay, avoids the &s;ight of his obliging Cre|ditor; he &s;tole away as abruptly to his Country-Hou&s;e in the Evening, as he had come from thence the Night-be|fore; leaving a Letter to inform and comfort the poor Dutche&s;s, with plentifull a&s;&s;urances of a &s;peedy re|turn;
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adding, that he feared to bid her Farewell, le&s;t her Grief &s;hould betray him to a weakne&s;s misbecoming a Prince. She had ob&s;erved his clo&s;e manner of retiring, and gladly gave him opportunity to Cheat him&s;elf, while he thought to deceive her: but could not read his Con&s;olatory E|pi&s;tle, without downright Laugh|ing&mdash;Old Age, Flannell, and Brandy, &s;aid &s;he, farewell! and im|mediately calling <HI>Florella,</HI> (for that was the Lady of her intrigue) &s;ent her to <HI>Clariantes;</HI> concealing &s;till from her, that it was the Prince <HI>Aleidalis,</HI> (who&s;e Name and Actions the Court was well acquainted with) and re|&s;olving to continue his mi&s;take of her for the true <HI>Zelinda;</HI> ordered, that when he came, there &s;hould be no light at all in her Chamber. <HI>Florella</HI> found him walking where he had received the former Summons, and failed not to deliver the &s;econd Challenge; nor he to repair immediatly to the place appointed. Now Fortune &s;eemed to fix her un&s;teady Wheel; Smooth and Gentle, as a Frozen River, did the
<PB N="87" REF="49">
Sea appear; and the amicable Moon, an indulgent cheri&s;her of all Exploits of Love and Art, (like a well-wi&s;hing Procurer with a dark Lanthorn) from behind a &s;able Cloud, di&s;played ju&s;t light enough to lead him on, and not betray him. Swift as a &s;ealed Dove, and as blind too with his Pa&s;&s;ion, he mounted to his Heaven, the Window, and in one moment more pro&s;trated him&s;elf at the Shrine, the Bed of his Saint. Like a gay plum'd Phoenix, wrapped in perfumes, and langui&s;hing in Flames of Love, &s;he lay; yet trembled like a new yean'd Lamb upon a &s;heet of Snow, with eagerne&s;s of fierce de|&s;ire. After his fir&s;t a&s;&s;ault of Ki&s;&s;es on her melting Hand, his Tongue got liberty to cry, <HI>Ye Gods! do I again behold the fair</HI> Zelinda? (a very pertinent Que&s;tion, for it is to be re|membred there was no Light) then overcome with exta&s;ies of joy, his head &s;unk gently on her downy Brea&s;ts, which proudly &s;welled to welcom &s;o de&s;ired a Gue&s;t, and meet his burning Ki&s;&s;es; while with her tender Arrms, more White then Alpine Snow, &s;he
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kindly pre&s;&s;ed him clo&s;er! <HI>Oh my ador'd</HI> Zelinda, (he panting cryed) to which &s;he Ecchoed &s;oftly with a Sigh, <HI>Oh my much loved</HI> Alcidalis! <HI>I had been too happy had I been only thine.</HI>&mdash;Here their Speech was Smothered with reiterated Ki&s;&s;es and Embraces, till urged by opportunity, and &s;timulated with greatne&s;s of de|light, with a re&s;pective Boldne&s;s he continued&mdash;<HI>Why was the unfor|tunate</HI> Alcidalis <HI>permitted to &s;ee &s;uch dazling Glories, and hope for &s;uch un|expre&s;&s;ible bli&s;s, as Gods would quit again their Heaven for,&mdash;and not&mdash;En&mdash;j</HI>&mdash;! There with a Balmy Ki&s;s, &s;he put a period to his Words; and with a pretty kind of obliging violence, &s;he checked his wandring hands, while he pur&s;ued his purpo&s;e thus&mdash;<HI>If my adored Prince&s;s thinks my Sufferings yet too incon&s;iderable to merit her e&s;teem, if cuitting the powerful Charms of approach|ing Soveraignty, and for&s;aking an in|dulgent dying Father, to wear the de&s;pi|cable Garb, and do the mean&punc; Offices of Common Slavery, de&s;erve no Pity; in|vent</HI>
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<HI>new Chains, Tortures, Deaths, and &s;ee how readily I will imbrace them for</HI> Zelinda's <HI>&s;ake&mdash;Too much, too much already,</HI> replyed the cunning yielding Dutche&s;s, <HI>has my beloved Prince endured&mdash;But&mdash;But!&mdash;But what!</HI> cryed the impatient <HI>Alcida|lis&mdash;But you are anothers, you perhaps would &s;ay: Ah Madam! were you not fir&s;t mine? were you not Ba&s;ely, Treache|rou&s;ly Ravi&s;hed from my Arms? And if a Thief has Robbed me, &s;han't I &s;eize my Trea&s;ure where I find it?</HI>&mdash;Con|cluding with a clo&s;e imbrace,&mdash;<HI>Go, ye are an unkind naughty man,</HI> &s;aid &s;he&mdash;<HI>and I wont love&mdash;you indeed&mdash;if&mdash;you offer</HI>&mdash;Sighing, and gently &s;triving to defend, what &s;he had rather have dyed then keep&mdash;What, oh powerful opportunity! may not be ef|fected by thy a&s;&s;i&s;tance? How &s;weet a re|compence did the mi&s;taken <HI>Alcidalis</HI> think he had, for all his pains! and what a full revenge on Fortune for her Jilting Tricks, while he lay dying in the Arms of his &s;uppo&s;ed Deity!&mdash;But oh the &s;hortne&s;s, and uncertainty of humane felicity! Who would not
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think the tired Duke now taking large Arrears of &s;leep, for his la&s;t nights Di&s;turbance! Who would be|lieve, he &s;hould &s;o &s;oon a &s;econd time mole&s;t the&s;e Lovers! Yet &s;o it was; for in the height of all their Bli&s;s, <HI>Florella</HI> almo&s;t Breathle&s;s with her ha&s;te, ru&s;hed in; ca&s;ting back &s;uch frightfull Looks, as if &s;ome gha&s;tiy Phanta&s;m had pur&s;ued her; and by the Blazing light of a great Wax Ta|per which &s;he brought, di&s;covered to the &s;urpri&s;ed <HI>Alcidalis,</HI> the fal&s;e <HI>Ze|linda;</HI> and e're he could di&s;charge his Sen&s;es, from the Amazement that object rai&s;ed, &s;he increa&s;ed it by cry|ing out, <HI>The Duke! The Duke was privately returned, and ju&s;t entered the Palace:</HI> which truth their ears imme|diatly confirmed, by the ha&s;ty Foot|&s;teps which they heard.&mdash;The Dutche&s;s, Pale and Trembling, had not power to &s;peak, but with up-lifted Hands and Eyes, &s;eemed to implore the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of <HI>Alcidalis;</HI> while <HI>Florella,</HI> who&s;e Sen&s;es were more at liberty, threw a loo&s;e Robe and Head-Tyre of the Dutche&s;&s;es on <HI>Alcidalis,</HI> hiding
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his Face as much as the Dre&s;s would permit. Scarce was this done, when the Duke entered, cla&s;ped him in his Arms, and &s;pake the kinde&s;t things a doting Husband could invent, to oblige the be&s;t Wife in the World: To which he dar'd make no reply; but <HI>Florella</HI> freed him from that trouble, telling the Duke, a &s;uddain Tooth-ach, got by a cold &s;he took the preceding night, made &s;peaking extreamly trouble&s;ome; and &s;welled her Face &s;o, &s;he dared not expo&s;e it to the Air, le&s;t it increa&s;ed her Malady. <HI>Alcidalis</HI> took the hint, and began to Groan &s;o La|mentably, it put his Grace into &s;uch mortal apprehen&s;ions of her danger, that it was hard to judge who was in the greate&s;t perplexity, He, the Prince, or the Dutche&s;s, who lay quaking un|der the Bed-Cloathes, like a Child frighted with the Tale of Raw head and bloody Bones. Death was the lea&s;t puni&s;hment the Lovers could expect, if they were di&s;covered. A hundred times did <HI>Alcidalis</HI> re&s;olve to force his Pa&s;&s;age over the Dukes feeble Body: But the con&s;ideration of the
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Dutche&s;&s;es danger, as a Woman in di&s;tre&s;s, though her impo&s;ture had much incen&s;ed him, diverted all tho&s;e thoughts to a Generous re|&s;olution of freeing her, or &s;haring in her de&s;tiny. Thus Affairs &s;tood, when Fortune &s;eemed weary of tormenting them, and gave &s;ome pro&s;pect of hope, for the Uxorious Duke would him&s;elf be the Me&s;&s;enger to call the Phy&s;itians; which gave all hopes of &s;et|ting things right 'ere he returned; but their Joy vani&s;hed like a &s;wift reflecti|on of the Sun ca&s;t from a moving Look|ing-Gla&s;&s;e; for the blind Quean, who&s;e &s;ole delight con&s;i&s;ts in Tantalizing tho&s;e that tru&s;t her, thru&s;t them the next Minuit on the very brink of Ruine. The Duke unable to leave his Dear <HI>Zelinda</HI> without a Ki&s;s, found a &s;trange unu&s;ual Roughne&s;s on his Chin, and &s;urpri&s;ed with a &s;udden fit of Jealou&s;ie, &s;urveying him the &s;ame in&s;tant from Head to Foot, imagined his dimen&s;ions &s;ix times as big as his <HI>Ze|linda's</HI> (for Pa&s;&s;ion blinds the Under|&s;tanding, as &s;ome Di&s;ea&s;es cheat the Sight) and rending off the Head-Dre&s;s,
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&s;aw not only a man, but his Slave <HI>Cla|riantes,</HI> who&s;e extraordinary valour had made him worthy of his particu|lar knowledge.&mdash;Immediatly running out, with loud Exclamations of Trea|&s;on, Trea&s;on! the Guard repaired to his aid; when his back was turned, you may think <HI>Alcidalis</HI> was not idle, but ca&s;ting off that faetal Robe, with a bravery of Spirit which never for&s;ook him, he prepared, though unarmed, to di&s;pute his Life&punc; But e're he went, turning to the Dutche&s;s who was al|mo&s;t drowned in Tears, <Q>Madam, (<HI>&s;ays he</HI>) if extravagancy of Pa&s;&s;ion, had not wholly &s;eized my Rea&s;on with my Sen&s;es, your Deportment, &s;o contrary to her &s;trict and &s;potle&s;s Vir|tue, had a&s;&s;ured me you were not the ncomparable <HI>Zelinda;</HI> but if you give me not &s;ome account of that ex|cellent Prince&s;s, by all the Gods I &s;wear! to unvail your impo&s;ture, and expo&s;e you to the ju&s;t Cruelty of the deluded Duke, though my death accompany your Infamy.&mdash;Ah Sir, (<HI>&s;aid the deplorable Dutche&s;s</HI>) can you with &s;uch extream rigour
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pay my exce&s;s of Love? ingrateful man! the too happy <HI>Zelinda</HI> (&s;ince &s;o e&s;teemed by you) lives in the I&s;le of <HI>Sardignia;</HI> it was to &s;ave her life, I con&s;ented to become a Dutche&s;s&mdash;'Tis not, Cruel Prince! to the care of my own &s;afety you owe for this di&s;|covery, for with your &s;elf, you take from me all de&s;ire to live: But to pre&s;erve your Life, (notwith&s;tanding all your unkind contempt) ten thou&s;and times dearer to me then my own. I once more tell you, your too happy <HI>Zelinda</HI> lives yet in <HI>Sardig|nia;</HI> in obedience to her own de&s;ire, attended thither by my Father. Shortne&s;s of time forbids to tell you more: Now leave me to the &s;everi|ty of an incen&s;ed Jealous Husband; but when you think of my failing, remember the Cau&s;e, and pity me.</Q>&mdash;Here the noi&s;e of the Dukes re|turn &s;tayed her Speech. <HI>Alcidalis</HI> had dyed in her defence, &s;o graceful, and &s;o moving was her grief, but hopes of &s;eeing the true <HI>Zelinda</HI> bani&s;hed all other &s;entiments. With Courage, even to ra&s;hne&s;s, he ca&s;t him&s;elf amid&s;t
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the Guard, and got &s;afely off; for their too much ha&s;t, (the Mortal enemy of mo&s;t de&s;igns) brought the Guard <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> with &s;o little light, that in the Confu&s;ion it was not difficult to pa&s;s without being di&s;cerned. The inra|ged Duke entring, found his Dutche&s;s &s;tanding in that very Dre&s;s and Po|&s;ture he left <HI>Clariantes,</HI> only the Head-Tyre he had di&s;ordered, was again put on, and by the advice of <HI>Florella</HI> (who was old excellent at &s;udden Shifts) &s;he was &s;o placed. Strait he cryes out to his Guard, <HI>There! There behold the audacious Traytor! take him, &s;eize him, away with him to Tortures; let him be 100 Years dying.</HI> The Guard &s;eeing none but the Dutche&s;s, like Statues &s;tood without motion; The Duke &s;tormed, Vowed all were in the Plot, &amp; &s;hould dye together; but fir&s;t that Vil|lain <HI>Clariantes:</HI> Andrunning at the Dutche&s;s with his Drawn Sword, had certainly killed her, if <HI>Florella's</HI> &s;hriek at his fir&s;t motion, had not made her &s;tart a&s;ide. Yet &s;he e&s;caped not with|out a Wound in her Side, which to|gether with her fright, ca&s;t her on
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the Bed in a &s;woun: and by the falling off of her Head-Tyre, &s;hewed the Duke what he had done.&mdash;He did not (as &s;ome would expect) &s;earch round the Chamber, and the Palace for <HI>Clari|antes,</HI> but wholly &s;ubmitted to his Uxorious Love; which like an im|petuous Tyde, bare down his Anger, Faith, and Rea&s;on; &s;eeing his dear Dutche&s;s Bleeding, and as he thought breathing out her Soul by his accur&s;ed hand, he threw him&s;elf at her Feet, beat his Head again&s;t the Ground, tore his Hair, and rooted up his Comely Beard (hold! let me not lye neither, perhaps Beards were as much out of Fa&s;hion then, as now, and con|&s;equently he wore none; I would not have Po&s;terity impo&s;ed upon in mat|ters of &s;uch weight; truth will go through the World.) But I am &s;ure he called him&s;elf a thou&s;and thick &s;culled Ophes, Jealous Cox-combs, Villains, Murtherers, and turning to his Guard, begged them to Di&s;patch him, for he was a Tyrant, not wor|thy to live but among Bea&s;ts; from intreaties he proceeded to commands,
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and threats; but &s;eeing them rever&s;e their Faces, and hang their Heads at his &s;trange Propo&s;ition. <HI>Why,</HI> &s;aid he, <HI>will you be cruel to your Prince? and deny him the only favour he ever begged from you, or that you can grant? I have mo&s;t inhumanely pierced my own &s;oul, what &s;afety can you hope from me? My hearts blood &s;tains the Floor, and I can gaze upon't without dying; can you expect Ju&s;tice from &s;uch a Mon&s;ter? Gods! Why do I de&s;c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters">d to Petition &s;o poorly, for what is in my power. Oh my</HI> Zelinda! <HI>the Blo&s;&s;oms that enriched the early Spring, and with their fragrant &s;eent perfum'd the gentle Southern Wind, were not &s;o &s;weet, nor half &s;o Beautiful as thee: 'twould undoe the va&s;t &V;niver&s;e to purcha&s;e &s;o rich a Jewel as I have ra&s;h|ly thrown away&mdash;What ean my hated Carka&s;&s;e, this dull Clod of earth do in the World, when my Sun that gave it warmth, and life, lyes here Eclip&s;ed? Fool! Fool! Fool! that I am</HI>&mdash;Then he ca&s;t him&s;elf again on her Body, and &s;triving in vain to find &s;ome &s;igns of life, cryed out, <HI>Zelinda!</HI> Zelinda! <HI>She's gone;&mdash;for ever, for ever gone.&mdash;if</HI>
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<HI>thy injured &s;oul is yet hovering in the ambient Air, as &s;ure it is loth to go far from &s;o rich, &s;o beautiful a Cabinet, let it behold the Sacrifice I offer for its Peace.</HI>&mdash;Starting up, he endea|voured to ca&s;t him&s;elf on his Sword, but was prevented, &amp; by the Phy&s;itians and Chyrurtgeons who were then arrived, the Dutche&s;s was recovered from her &s;woun: and her life a&s;&s;ured, if no new accidenr prevented their care.&mdash;The Duke begged a thou&s;and pardons for his folly, and &s;tirred not from her Bed till &s;he was Cured;&mdash;bind|ing him&s;elf with many vows, never to be Jealous again; nor did I ever hear of any farther difference between them; therefore I will leave them, with the &s;ame farewell people give their departed Friend, who dyed with a <HI>Lord have mercy upon me</HI> in his Mouth, (though he lived impiou&s;ly) <HI>doubtle&s;s they are Happy.</HI>&mdash;</P>
<P>Oh Woman! Woman! thou dark aby&s;&s;e of Subtilty; 'tis ea&s;ier to trace a wandring Swallow through the pathle&s;s Air, then to explicate the
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crafty wyndings of thy Love, or Ma|lice: Thy &s;wift excu&s;es, and eva&s;ions, &s;till like the <HI>Hydra's</HI> Heads increa&s;e: As Wizzards, in a moment y'are transformed to various Shapes, and when the injur'd Friend, or Husband, thinks to cru&s;h a Serpent that has poi&s;oned all his Health and Peace, &s;trait in the form of a Dove-like inno|cence you Baffle and Betray his ju&s;t|e&s;t Rage. Angels would emulate the perfect Glory, and the Ble&s;t e&s;tate of man, were he not &s;ubject to the &s;ubtil Snares of your frail deceiving Sex&punc;</P>
<P>The Reader ought to pardon this Satyrick excur&s;ion to the Author, who has been more Injured by Wo|man, then e're the Duke or <HI>Alcidalis</HI> was.&mdash;That Prince, it may be concluded, &s;oon found his Gentleman which lay incognito receive his com|mands; and taking his Jewels, re|paired immediatly to the Sea &s;ide, where a Ship being ju&s;t ready to leave the Port, (for that mu&s;t never be wanting to a <HI>Hero</HI> upon the Ramble) without asking whither &s;he was
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Bound, they went Aboard, and &s;oon lo&s;t &s;ight of that unfortunate Coa&s;t. With a pro&s;perous Wind let them proceed, while we return to the di&s;tre&s;&s;ed real <HI>Zelinda,</HI> whom we unkindly left in mans Habit, under the name of <HI>Zelidan,</HI> in a &s;trange place, at <HI>Barcha</HI> in <HI>Africa.</HI> By the favourable a&s;&s;i&s;tance of that &s;ame generous Pyrate <HI>Orcantes,</HI> that gave her liberty, &s;he obtained a Pa&s;&s;age for <HI>Spain;</HI> and without meeting any extraordinary adventure, &s;afely landed at the &s;ame Port of <HI>Barcelona,</HI> from whence &s;he had been forced away by the contri|ving Jealous Queen.&mdash;The &s;ight of that Fatal place, pre&s;enting all pa&s;t Fortune fre&s;hly to her Memory, op|pre&s;&s;ed her Brea&s;t with Sighs; which Tempe&s;t was allay'd by a &s;hower of Chry&s;tal drops from her fair Eyes; <HI>Ah</HI> Alcidalis, &s;aid &s;he, <HI>if you do &s;till pre|&s;erve your vowed affection for the faith|ful</HI> Zelinda, <HI>what rea&s;on will &s;he have to glory in her Sufferings?</HI> Here &s;he pau&s;ed a while, plea&s;ing her &s;elf with that delightful thought; but on a &s;udden breaking &s;ilence, &s;he went
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on;&mdash;<HI>No! wretched</HI> Zelinda, <HI>no! never hope &s;uch Ble&s;&s;ings were ordained for thee; doubtle&s;s the Authority of a King, and Father, managed by the in|&s;inuating artifice of the Prudent de&s;ign|ing Queen, the intere&s;t of State, and the Beauties of the too charming Prince&s;s, to which adde his belief of my being Mar|ried to the Prince of</HI> Tarentum, <HI>have prevailed, and he is now for ever chain|ed to the imbrace of that fortunate Prince&s;s.&mdash;Die! die</HI> Zelinda! <HI>let not the imperious Queen in&s;ult ore thy Di&s;tre&s;s.</HI> Already was her hand upon her Sword, when Heaven, that never quite for&s;akes the Virtuous, in|&s;pired her with more rea&s;onable thoughts&mdash;That death was the extreme&s;t refuge of the mi&s;erable; and might &s;afely be deferred as a re|medy always in her power, &s;ince no earthly Tyranny could compel the Wretched to live longer then they plea&s;ed, if they had courage enough to die.&mdash;She plea&s;ed her &s;elf with the fancy, that to die in his &s;ight (which &s;he vowed if he were fal&s;e to her) would extract remor&s;e, and
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pity from him; &s;o much does Love mi&s;guide the Judgement of the mo&s;t prudent, that even in death they cheat them&s;elves with vain hopes of a future &s;atisfaction they can never be &s;en&s;ible of.&mdash;In this humour &s;he po&s;ted towards <HI>Saracu&s;a,</HI> but near the Gates was &s;topped by a great pre&s;s of people? &s;ome driving Bea&s;ts of Car|riage, laden with variety of Goods; others carrying on their backs, tho&s;e whom Infancy or Age rendred un|capable to a&s;&s;i&s;t them&s;elves; as if they fled from the fury of &s;ome Foreign In|vader, or from the mercilc&s;s rage of a devouring flame. Loud Sighs, and doleful Groans, were all the an&s;wers &s;he could gain to her enquiry of the cau&s;e; long u&s;e of Arms, and Virile exerci&s;e, had added much to her courage, in which &s;he naturally out|&s;triped her Sex: That (with a deter|mined purpo&s;e to behold the rea&s;on of this Con&s;ternation) carried her through the &s;moaking bloody Streets, which were &s;trewed with dead and mangled Bodies (the &s;ad marks of a Civil War) &s;trait to the Pallace, amid&s;t a thou&s;and
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Swords, and other In&s;truments of Death.&mdash;There &s;he beheld the Gates &s;hut, and the Queen and Prince&s;s out of a large Window, with begging Eyes, Hands, and Voices, in vain &s;triving to infu&s;e compa&s;&s;ion into the enra|ged Rabble, who roared ince&s;&s;antly, <HI>Give us our King! re&s;tore us our Prince! down with the Murtherers Zelidan</HI> not knowing the occa&s;ion of their Mutiny, nor enquiring now, but led by a generous principle of a&s;|&s;i&s;ting the di&s;tre&s;&s;ed, made her way through the Croud, beckoning with her hands (for their noi&s;e made all &s;peech u&s;ele&s;s) for &s;ilence, and liberty to pa&s;&s;e; having attained to their Front, &s;he faced them; and turning up her Beaver, &s;hewed them a Coun|tenance which never failed of gaining a re&s;pect from the mo&s;t Barbarous: The Grandeur of her Meen, and the Maje&s;tick &s;weetne&s;s of her Eyes, &s;oon converted their confu&s;ed Bauling to a &s;ilent admiration: which &s;he, who&s;e greatne&s;s of Spirit was ever pre&s;ent in the extreme&s;t' danger, &s;trait im|proved to the advancement of her de|&s;igne,
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the relief of the be&s;ieged Queen and Prince&s;s. Bowing her body then, with a charming re&s;i&s;tle&s;s Grace pecu|liar only to her &s;elf, thus &s;he harangu'd them.&mdash;</P>
<Q>Valiant Souldiers! and mo&s;t worthy Citizens! who&s;e Valour and unque&s;tioned Loyalty have &s;till been the &s;upport and glory of your own, as well as the envy of all neigh|bouring Princes; who&s;e free born hearts with joy &s;ubmit to all de|crees that bear the &s;tamp of unbribed Ju&s;tice; why are tho&s;e &s;hining Weapons brandi&s;hed now again&s;t weak Women? again&s;t your un|doubted lawful Queen? that u&s;ed to &s;trike a Trembling horrour in your bolde&s;t Foes?&mdash;Are you injur'd in your Trade? are your due Liberties re&s;trained?&mdash;Behold your good; your gracious Queen, ready to offer, nay intreat you to make your own Conditions. Behold Maje&s;ty, in the form of an humble &s;uppliant; have you the hearts of men, and look on this without being moved to duty and &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion?&mdash;Had your
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Wives and Daughters been ravi&s;hed, your E&s;tates given for a prey to the In&s;olent Souldier, had your Friends been lawle&s;sly Impri&s;oned, nay put to cruel unde&s;erved deaths, (all which the great Gods forbid!) the de&s;ola|tion of your City, and killing of each other would be no recompence: Look round about you, behold your yet burning habitations, &s;ee how &s;cat|tered Limbs and torn Bodies pave your Streets; look how the de&s;tract|ed people flye tho&s;e Buildings which the fire has &s;pared, as if &s;ome deadly Plague po&s;&s;e&s;s'd them, or the licen|tious Sword of a Barbarous Foe were at their backs.&mdash;Will you con|vert your &s;tately Rooms to Graves? your City to a De&s;art? and your &s;acred Temples to noi&s;ome Denns for Woolves? and ba&s;e Receptacles for Batts and Owls &s;hrieking Harbingers of Death?&mdash;Go on! let every neighbour hide his Treacherous Dag|ger in his Friends heart&punc; con&s;ume each other bravely! and leave your Wives and Children a mi&s;erable Prey to the next Invader, that will vouch|&s;afe
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&s;afe to &s;eize and drive them to per|petual Slavery.&mdash;I that am a &s;tranger, cannot without Tears of Compa&s;&s;ion fore&s;ee that de&s;olation which you &s;eek; my heart bleeds, and an univer&s;al horrour runs through all my Veins;- if you are injured, my life &s;hall be &s;acrificed to your &s;atisfacti|on.&mdash;</Q>
<P><Q>Methinks I &s;ee a noble Indignati|on in your eyes, and a true remor&s;e in Blu&s;hes ri&s;e upon your Cheeks; how generous, how becoming does it look! Oh make ha&s;te to perfect your Repentance; let not future Chro|nicles deliver to &s;ucceeding Ages, the <HI>Saracu&s;ans</HI> Swords were &s;tained with the Slaughter of Poor, for|&s;aken, helple&s;s Women: But follow me to Safety, Wealth, and Honour: All that love their Liberty, their Countrys Peace, and the Honour of the great Gods, follow me!&mdash;</Q> Then ca&s;ting her &s;elf from her Hor&s;e, with her drawn Sword &s;he began to lead them off.&mdash;
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When one, that &s;ought his particular Advantage from the general Ruine; that had fomented the Rebellion, as &s;ome &s;et Hou&s;es on fire, to Steal with more advantage and &s;afety; cryed out, <HI>Companions! Friends! and Brothers! whither are you going, like Bea&s;ts to the Sacrifice? And what is this bold imper|tinent Stranger that dares</HI>&mdash;There <HI>Zelidan</HI> put a full &s;top to his Seditious Oration, and his Life together, by a thru&s;t which pierced his heart: An Acti|on which might have branded her with ra&s;hne&s;s, (&s;o boldly to hazard the Fury of a yet di&s;contented Multitude) but the Succe&s;s ju&s;tified its Prudence; (in &s;uch extreams no middle paths are &s;afe) for without a murmur all the re&s;t followed her, marching over his body &s;he had killed, to the Market-place; where with another Speech, &s;he &s;ent them pacified to their &s;everal hou&s;es;&mdash;and by one of the mo&s;t under&s;tanding, was informed, That the long ab&s;ence and &s;uppo&s;ed lo&s;s of <HI>Alcidalis,</HI> and the late death of the King, were charged as Crimes upon the Ambiti|ous Queen; and the Commonalty
<PB N="108" REF="60">
&s;tirred up by &s;ome di&s;contented Spi|rits, had &s;ought revenge by force of Armes: which cau&s;ed that dreadful noi&s;e and de&s;truction which he &s;o hap|pily had &s;topped. Scarce was this in|formation fini&s;hed, when a Me&s;&s;enger from the Queen entreated, <HI>That by his pre&s;ence at the Court, he would a&s;|&s;ure that Life and Honour he had &s;o ge|nerou&s;ly repriev'd.</HI> The joy <HI>Zelidan</HI> conceived to find the Prince ab&s;ent, and as &s;he believed con&s;tant to his Vows, (for the nimble faith of Lovers keeps equal pace with their wi&s;hes) obtained an ea&s;ie Pardon for all other injuries, and ha&s;ten'd her to the &s;ervice of the Queen: whom &s;he found with the Prince&s;s her Daughter, and all the Train that di&s;tracted time would allow, ready to receive her in the fir&s;t Court. The troubled thoughts that filled their Brea&s;ts at their meeting, darted through their trembling Eyes, and in un&s;ettled colours &s;pread them|&s;elves upon their Cheeks; though the cau&s;es were different, and a &s;ecret to all but them&s;elves. <HI>Zelidan</HI> (maugre all her goodne&s;s) could not &s;ee the fa|tal
<PB N="109" REF="60">
in&s;trument of her &s;orrows; with|out &s;ome &s;trange emotion in her heart; nor could the Queen behold <HI>Zelidan,</HI> (who&s;e believed re&s;idence at <HI>Tarentum,</HI> and her di&s;gui&s;e, &s;ecured <HI>Zelinda</HI> from the mo&s;t prying eyes) notwith&s;tand|ing her Prudence, and experienced conduct, without di&s;playing to the &s;trict ob&s;erver, &s;ome &s;ymptoms of that pa&s;&s;ion which had newly &s;eized her: For the little audacious God of Love, had hovered &s;till round <HI>Ze|lidan,</HI> and while he appea&s;ed the mu|tinous Rabble, began a new and more dangerous in&s;urrection in her Brea&s;t; &s;ending from every word and action of this charming Amazon, a Golden Arrow to her heart, which her pre&s;ent Dangers, nor the Grief for her yet &s;carce breathle&s;s Husband, could de|fend her from. But the con&s;traint &s;he impo&s;ed upon her &s;elf, in &s;triving to conceal her Pa&s;&s;ion, expo&s;ed it more openly, e&s;pecially to <HI>Zelidan,</HI> who marked it with much &s;atisfaction: hoping from thence an opportunity of a full and innocent revenge.&mdash;In &s;hort, the amorous Queen received
<PB N="110" REF="61">
him as a Me&s;&s;enger of Happine&s;s from Heaven: <HI>What recompence,</HI> (&s;aid &s;he) <HI>Illu&s;trious Stranger! can we offer you, to who&s;e miraculous Relief we owe our Lives, and all we have to give? If the &s;acred powers could admit a Rival in their wor&s;hip, our adoration to you were a ju&s;t debt. Madam,</HI> an&s;wered the &s;eigned <HI>Zelidan</HI> (bowing with a pro|found Reverence) <HI>to your own un|equalled Virtues you owe your &s;afety, and I the glory of my &s;ucce&s;s; had not my indulgent Stars &s;ent me to your aid, the Gods had by &s;ome Miracle pre&s;erved in you the brighte&s;t Ornament of their Crea|tion.</HI> (Many fine things were &s;aid on this occa&s;ion, for they were both ex|cellent at reparties and rejoynders, but my treacherous memory has lo&s;t them: Be&s;ides, I believe the repeti|tion would be as tedious to the Reader, as to my &s;elf; therefore I'le on to the matter, which was thus.) <HI>Ze|lidan</HI> was treated with all the Magni|ficence and Honour, gratitude and love could invent: and failed not by her di&s;|creet conduct, to &s;ettle a perfect cor|re&s;pondence again between the Court
<PB N="111" REF="61">
and City; but her thoughts were &s;till hankering after <HI>Alcidalis;</HI> purpo&s;ing after a little re&s;t, and what light &s;he could get by enquiry, to guide her on,&mdash;to &s;earch the World, till &s;he found him.&mdash;The Queen gave every hour new marks of her Pa&s;&s;ion, and &s;ought occa&s;ion of di&s;covering it more plain|ly to <HI>Zelidan;</HI> who by all returns his different Quality would petmit, added Fewel to augment the Flame: And by the Sighs and Torments he ob&s;erved her &s;uffer, (for her great heart was loath to make the fir&s;t addre&s;s; and he as po&s;itively determined, as he had good rea&s;on not to ea&s;e her by ma|king the fir&s;t Court&s;hip) received &s;ome compen&s;ation for her former injuri|ous treatment. The poor Prince&s;s was as unable to defend her &s;elf from the a&s;&s;ault of this Victorious Amazon, as the Queen, and with deep|re&s;entment ob&s;erved her Mothers Pa&s;|&s;ion. Thus did the feigned <HI>Zelidan</HI> revenge, what the true <HI>Zelinda</HI> had endured: Love and Jealou&s;ie, was the bu&s;ine&s;s of the Court; and the Queens &s;uppo&s;ed Marriage with <HI>Zeli|dan,</HI>
<PB N="112" REF="62">
the di&s;cour&s;e of the City. For the blind fears, or unrea&s;onable wi&s;hes of the incon&s;iderate Multitude, al|ways anticipate the intentions of their Princes; transforming their very &s;up|po&s;ed thoughts into Acts, which re|ceive their publick cen&s;ure, or ap|plau&s;e, e're they have Being. The Queen ob&s;erving how carefully <HI>Zeli|dan</HI> declined all occa&s;ions of being at|taqu'd, re&s;olved to pu&s;h on her de&s;tiny, by a naked Declaration of her Love. In pur&s;uance of her inten|tion, having commanded her Atten|dants to convenient di&s;tance, while <HI>Zelidan</HI> was leading her in a walk of Oe&s;&s;amine, who&s;e interwoven Branches made &s;o thick a Shade, that the Sun in its Meridian &s;trength and lu&s;tre could not pierce them; with the gentle pre&s;&s;ings of his hand, reite|rated Sighs, and &s;peaking looks, ha|ving &s;trove in vain, to prevent the &s;hame of a plainer di&s;covery, at la&s;t with broken interrupted Language, thus &s;he &s;pake;&mdash;</P>
<P><HI>Is it po&s;&s;ible, that the owner of &s;o many</HI>
<PB N="113" REF="62">
<HI>accompli&s;hments as wait on the Illu&s;tri|ous</HI> Zelidan, <HI>&s;hould be in&s;en&s;ible of that noble Pa&s;&s;ion, which is to others the very cau&s;e of all hrave Actions, and the great reward at which they aim? has Love, that reigns o're all the World be|&s;ides, no power in our Court? or is there no Object worthy of your Sighs?</HI> ca&s;t|ing her eyes on tho&s;e of <HI>Zelidan,</HI> which were fixed on the earth, &s;he pau&s;ed, and in a re&s;tle&s;s Agony waited his An&s;wer: which he had ju&s;t began, when a Gentleman, who&s;e earne&s;t bu|&s;ine&s;s might well warrant his rude interruption of their Privacy, relieved him, by crying to the Queen, <HI>Save your &s;elf, Madam! Save your &s;elf by &s;udden Flight, the Rebellious Citizens are again in Arms, and Headed by a de&s;perate Stranger, like an impetuous Torrent that has o'reflowed its Banks, are rouling to the Palace, overthrowing all oppo&s;ition with their re&s;i&s;tle&s;s Fury. Ju|&s;tice and Liberty is Ecchoed through the Streets, but Blood &amp; Mi&s;chief is their aim.</HI> E're his unwelcome Me&s;&s;age was fini&s;h|ed, the &s;cattered Courtiers came throng|ing about the Queen, and <HI>Zelidan,</HI> like
<PB N="114" REF="63">
frighted Chickens &s;eeking &s;helter from the ravenous Kite. He &s;trait attended the Queen into the Pallace&punc; a&s;&s;uring her by the way, <HI>That his &s;w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="3 letters"> victory or death, &s;hould evince the great de&s;ire he had to &s;erve her.</HI> And &s;taying not for her an&s;wer, (which doubtle&s;s, would have been, That if he had any re&s;pect to her &s;afety, he &s;hould pre&s;erve it in that of his own; for her fate was &s;o in&s;eparably linked to his, that &s;he could not &s;urvive his death; or &s;ome &s;uch obliging thing) &s;natched what Arms he &s;oone&s;t found, and ran to the Palace Gate, followed by a &s;mall, but re&s;olute Company of faithful Ser|vants to the Queen. The Prince&s;s, who till then had &s;mothered her Pa&s;&s;ion for <HI>Zelidan</HI> in the narrow limits of her Brea&s;t, de&s;pairing of &s;ucce&s;s again&s;t a Rival, which Duty forbad her to op|po&s;e; and &s;eeing what &s;he prized dearer then her &s;oul, ha&s;ting to ap|parent death; took a Sword from the neare&s;t Attendant, and followed <HI>Ze|lidan,</HI> hoping &s;ome Fatal Blow would in his &s;ight end her hopele&s;s Pa&s;&s;ion, with her life. The brave Stranger
<PB N="115" REF="63">
(for &s;o his Acts declared him) that led on the Citizens, conquered all oppo&s;ition; till <HI>Zelidans</HI> arrival put a cheque to his growing victory. With an undaunted Meen &s;he met him, and by her re&s;olute Action, gave proof of a Courage far above her &s;trength; but the invincible <HI>Alcidalis</HI> (for he it was) who had before conquered her in her own Province of Love, found but &s;mall danger from her Arms. He received her fir&s;t charge on his Shield, and by &s;everal marks taking her for <HI>Zelidan</HI> the famous Stranger, and as he thought pretender to his Crown; cry|ed out, <HI>If thou wilt be a King, go Reign among the &s;hades! and boa&s;t thou dyed&s;t by the hand of</HI> Alcidalis. At the beloved name of <HI>Alcidalis, Zelidan</HI> endeavoured to retreat, and di&s;cover her &s;elf; but in vain, for with &s;uch fierce Blows he pur&s;ued his Speech, that &s;he fell Breathle&s;s at his Feet. The unhappy amorous Prince&s;s, &s;triving with her feeble Arms to defend the fallen <HI>Zelidan,</HI> notwith&s;tanding all <HI>Alcidalis</HI> could do to pre&s;erve her, fell a deplorable Sacrifice to the in|cen&s;ed
<PB N="116" REF="64">
Rabble, and dyed imbracing of <HI>Zelidan.</HI> The Queen, who from a Window beheld all this Action, at fir&s;t lamented not the death of her Daughter; but con&s;idering her as a Rival, Sacrificed all &s;entiments of Nature to the &s;atisfaction of her jea|lou&s;y. But &s;eeing her beloved <HI>Zelidan</HI> Bleeding on the ground, extremity of Grief made her &s;o in&s;en&s;ible of all o|ther con&s;iderations, that &s;he was about to precipitate her &s;elf from the Window: But hope, which is the la&s;t thing that leaves the unfortunate, made her &s;till think it not impo&s;&s;ible to recover him. She was running out to that purpo&s;e, when <HI>Alcidalis,</HI> now a compleat Victor, was entring the Pallace: with all the &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion of a Pious Son, he met her; and de|clared, <HI>He would take all for Enemies, that failed to render her the Honour due to the Widow, and Mother of their King.</HI> Without &s;taying, or an&s;wer|ing him at all; but with an upbraiding look, (where Rage and Compa&s;&s;ion &s;trove for Superiority) which &s;eemed to call him a thou&s;and Cruel Murthe|reres;
<PB N="117" REF="64">
&s;he abandoned her &s;elf whol|ly to the impul&s;e of her Pa&s;&s;ion, and ca&s;ting her body on tho&s;e of <HI>Zelidan</HI> and the Prince&s;s her Daughter, &s;he divided her Ki&s;&s;es and Lamentations between them: 'Till exce&s;&s;ive &s;orrow, like a Tyrannical U&s;urper, &s;eized and oppre&s;&s;ed all her Vitals: By its &s;ad weight reducing her to a &s;tate as de|plorable, and void of life, as theirs whom &s;he grieved for. Never had Love and Grief a greater Sacrifice then here, nor mi&s;ery more powerful Ar|guments to gain compa&s;&s;ion from the mo&s;t obdurate hearts: (here is a large Field for the Author to expatiate on the vici&s;&s;itude of humane things; but the Gentle Reader would think him very inhumane, nay in my Con&s;cience acce&s;&s;ary to their Murthers, if he &s;uffered three of the mo&s;t Illu&s;trious Per&s;ons in the World, to lye neglect|ed on the ground, and dye for want of careful attendance, while he was &s;hewing his Common-place Wit; therefore he ha&s;tens to their relief, with re&s;olution to &s;ave them all if he can:) <HI>Alcidalis</HI> took the Queen in his
<PB N="118" REF="65">
Arms, while others performed the &s;ame &s;ervice to the Prince&s;s and <HI>Zeli|dan;</HI> conveying them to their &s;everal apartments; the uncertain Multi|tude, that &s;ome few Minutes before breathed nothing but death and dam|nation again&s;t them; now followed them Houling and Groaning. All the Arts and &s;trength of Phy&s;ick were diligently applyed, which re&s;tored &s;ome weak &s;ymptoms of life in <HI>Zelidan;</HI> and tho&s;e were carefully Cheri&s;hed; but the unfortunate Prince&s;s was irre|vocably dead. The Queens Swouning being only the effect of a vehement &s;urprizing Pa&s;&s;ion, death &s;oon was beaten off, and his pale &s;preading En|&s;igns rufled up by her returning Sen&s;es: But life came accompanied with all tho&s;e killing Griefs that wait|ed on its exile, which like the envyed Favourites of &s;ome weak unhappy Prince (for forrows &s;oon in&s;inuate them&s;elves into the hearts affection) rai&s;ed new Commotions among the &s;ouls di&s;contented faculties, and the oppre&s;&s;ed Sen&s;es, (tho&s;e nece&s;&s;ary Sub|jects and &s;upport of Life) which were
<PB N="119" REF="65">
like to prove as fatal as the former; had not the News of <HI>Zelidans</HI> hopeful Recovery repre&s;&s;ed their Violence, by the removal of the cau&s;e.&mdash;Weak as &s;he was, &s;he cau&s;ed her &s;elf to be re|moved to his apartment.&mdash;But, Gods! what a univer&s;al amazement &s;eized the Queen, and all the Atten|dants, to find their Champion was a Woman? For &s;o her &s;welling Brea&s;ts declared, which by undre&s;&s;ing her, the better to apyly their nece&s;&s;ary aid, were di&s;covered. Her Sen&s;es in a little time&punc; were perfectly re&s;tored; and 'twas difficult for the mo&s;t curious ob|&s;erver to determine, whether the Queen or <HI>Zelinda</HI> (for &s;o we mu&s;t call her, now &s;hes di&s;covered) was in the greate&s;t confu&s;ion; after they had a long time gazed upon each other, the Queen finding in the transformed <HI>Zelidan,</HI> the well known Beauty and Meen of the per&s;ecuted <HI>Zelinda;</HI> lift|ing her eyes to Heaven cryed out; <HI>I yeild! ju&s;t Gods, I yeild to my inexorable de&s;tiny! Ab</HI> Zelinda! <HI>thy injuries have been too well revenged.</HI>&mdash;Having &s;aid this, e'r <HI>Zelinda</HI> could an&s;wer, &s;he re|tired.
<PB N="11" REF="66">
Love being now wholly ex|extinct, Nature re&s;umed her power, and carried her to the apartment of the Prince&s;s, where with &s;uch moving pa&s;&s;ion &s;he deplored her lo&s;s, that the mo&s;t in&s;&s;ible were forced to &s;ympathize with her. The News of <HI>Zelidans</HI> Transformation, flew &s;traight through the Pallace, and the extraordinari|ne&s;s of the change, rai&s;ed a&punc; Curio&s;ity in <HI>Alcidalis</HI> to behold her, for he had not heard that it was <HI>Zelinda.</HI> The Me&s;&s;engrr he &s;ent to obtain that li|berty, entered her Chamber, ju&s;t as one was going from her to entreat the favour which he &s;ought. The Prince full of &s;hame for his Victory over a Woman, ha&s;tened to beg her pardon; When he entered, his Atten|dants re&s;pectively withdrew to the furthe&s;t part of the Room. Neither the Palene&s;s her lo&s;s of Blood had planted on her Cheeks, nor their long &s;epa|ration, could hinder the di&s;covery of the true <HI>Zelinda</HI> at fir&s;t &s;ight:&mdash;So perfectly had love engraven her Image in his heart. What Pen can de&s;cribe the Violence of their differnt Pa&s;&s;ions
<PB N="121" REF="66">
which then Tyrannized in this Princes Brea&s;t? Shame and grief for wound|ing her he prized above his Life, and joy that &s;he &s;urvived, and was in a place where he was now &s;ole Ma&s;ter&punc; and able to give and receive the high|e&s;t proofs of a mutual, unalterable Love, (like meeting Tydes, who&s;e oppo&s;|ed forces change &s;wift running&punc; Streams a while into a fixed Calme) reduced him to a &s;tate of in&s;en&s;ibility:&mdash;With|out Speech or motion, he beheld her&punc; Such exta&s;ies are the u&s;ual effects of &s;udden Joys or Grief; the heart be|ing &s;urprized, and oppre&s;&s;ed with unexpected Events, all the Vital Spi|rits croud &s;o fa&s;t to its a&s;&s;i&s;tance, that they often cau&s;e that ruine Nature &s;ends them to prevent. As &s;ome, who&s;e Animal Spirits are ob&s;tructed, and as it were &s;mothered by the in|dige&s;ted Vapours, which from the Stomach fume into the Brain, and a while deprive them of the benefits of Life, (as interpo&s;ing Clouds ob&s;cure the Suns lu&s;tre) retain their Sen&s;es, but want power to imploy them; &s;uch the pre&s;ent State of <HI>Alcidalis</HI> was,
<PB N="122" REF="67">
he knew what he ought to &s;peak, and act, but the greatne&s;s of his Love, and violence of his de&s;ires, took from him all ability of utterance; till <HI>Zelinda,</HI> who&s;e condition much re&s;embled his, fearing his &s;ilence proceeded from &s;ome change in his affection, thus began.&mdash;</P>
<Q>Is this the kind reception <HI>Alci|dalis</HI> gives the unfortunate <HI>Zelinda?</HI> do all the dangers I have pa&s;t, and all my con&s;tant Love, merit this cold return? Great Gods! have you pre|&s;erved me from &s;o many various Deaths, to peri&s;h here? here in the only Haven, where I had depo&s;ited my la&s;t hopes of a&s;&s;ured &s;afety? Oh <HI>Alcidalis!</HI> let thy Sword give me a &s;peedy and more welcome death then thy di&s;dain!&mdash;</Q>
<P>Here ca&s;ting him&s;elf on the Bed, and imbracing her, he could get out no more but, <HI>Oh my deare&s;t</HI> Zelinda! and was relap&s;ing again into his former exta&s;ie; which overcoming, with much difficulty he proceeded.&mdash;</P>
<Q><PB N="123" REF="67">Your &s;afety and your love (my ador|ed <HI>Zelinda!</HI>) are ble&s;&s;ings too great to be received at once, with le&s;s concern: Since your lo&s;s, in blindne&s;s to all other objects of delight, I have wandred ore the World; pardon me, if I could not meet the fir&s;t appearance of my Glorious Sun, without amazement. Give me, ye Divine Powers! pro|portioned &s;trength to bear my Happi|ne&s;s, le&s;t like a &s;tarving man, while I too greedily receive it, that ha&s;tens my death which only can re&s;tore my fainting life.&mdash;</Q>
<Q>Then do you yet love me? (cryed the overjoyed Prince&s;s;) and will the King, keep tho&s;e vowes which <HI>Alcidalis</HI> made to the then Happy <HI>Ze|linda?</HI>&mdash;</Q>
<Q>For ever! for ever! (an&s;wered the tran&s;ported <HI>Alcidalis</HI>) the enjoyment of my adored <HI>Zelinda,</HI> is more then ten thou&s;and Empires.&mdash;</Q>
<Q>Ah Sir, (&s;aid &s;he) but intere&s;t of State.&mdash;</Q>
<P><PB N="124" REF="68"><Q>State! (cryed <HI>Alcidalis</HI>) my <HI>Ze|linda</HI> is all all to me, I would not thank the Gods for a Crown, but to lay it at her Feet.</Q> Then turning to the Attendants which had now filled the Room, (impatience of beholding their long lo&s;t Prince, bringing them thither from all parts) rai&s;ing his voice, he cryed out: <Q>He is a Traytor, and the Mortal Enemy of <HI>Alcidalis,</HI> that will not kneel and Petition the excellent <HI>Zelinda</HI> to be his Queen; who&s;e Beauty and Virtues, merit the Empire of the Univer&s;e. The Gods (to whom I pay all reverence) &s;hall never, but by death, Divorce me from thy Arms.&mdash;Were I Racked to ten thou&s;and peices, as every part of a broken Mirrour pre&s;ents an entire face, in every part of <HI>Alcidalis,</HI> would appear the bright Image of my adored <HI>Zelinda.</HI></Q></P>
<P>Then they renewed their Embraces and mutual Vows; asking and an|&s;wearing twenty &s;everal Que&s;tion<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter"> at once. She related all her Adventures from her departure from <HI>Barcelona</HI>
<PB REF="68">
till that in&s;tant: which <HI>Alcidalis</HI> re|quited with his Story, how he &s;ought her in <HI>Italy,</HI> (but omitted his intrigue with the Dutche&s;s of <HI>Taren|tum</HI>) and at <HI>Sardignia,</HI> where meet|ing the News of his Fathers death, the pre&s;ervation of his Crown ha&s;tened him to <HI>Spain;</HI> But with a re&s;olute deter|mination to imploy all his new power, in &s;earch of <HI>Zelinda:</HI> How, near <HI>Sara|cu&s;a,</HI> by &s;ome faithful Nobility to whom he made him&s;elf known, and who received him with marks of un|exepre&s;&s;ible &s;atisfaction, he was in|formed of the Actions of <HI>Zelidan,</HI> his intere&s;t with the Queen, and his &s;up|po&s;ed de&s;ign of Marrying her, and u|&s;urping the Crown. This gave Ho|nour a while the preheminence of Love, and led him in the Head of tho&s;e Friends the &s;hortne&s;s of the time could get together, to this mi&s;taken Revenge, and real Happi|ne&s;s.&mdash;</P>
<P>The Queen&punc; notwith&s;tanding all the &s;ubmi&s;&s;ive importunity of <HI>Alcidalis&punc;</HI> and all the a&s;&s;urances of Power and
<PB N="126" REF="69">
Honour he could give her, would not be diverted from a re&s;olution &s;he had made, of retiring to a Religi|ous Hou&s;e, there to pa&s;s the remain|der of her now hated life.</P>
<P>After the Funeral of the Prince&s;s her Daughter was with all Cere|monious, Pomp celebrated &s;he per|formed her Vow, and was accom|panied to the place of her retirememt, with a Magnificence becoming that Solemn occa&s;ion.</P>
<P>To that &s;olemnity immediatly &s;uc|ceeded the Coronation, and Marriag|of <HI>Alcidalis</HI> and <HI>Zelinda.</HI></P>
<P>The day with all imaginable Cir|cum&s;tances of an univer&s;al joy was fini&s;hed.</P>
<P>After which, Gentle Reader! (I may &s;afely call you &s;o now, for I am &s;ure you are tyr'd as well as I) you may &s;uppo&s;e the long-wi&s;hed night are riv'd, though very lazily in the Opi|nion of the King and Queen: And you
<PB N="127" REF="69">
may &s;uppo&s;e their impatient Love ha&s;tened them to Bed; And what fol|lowed, you may &s;uppo&s;e too, if you plea&s;e; for I have more Civility then to &s;peak what I think: but as the mo&s;t Ingenious Sir <HI>John Suckling</HI> &s;aid.</P>
<Q><L>What is this, who can tell?</L>
<L>But I believe it was no more,</L>
<L>Then thou and I have done before.</L>
<L>With <HI>Bridget</HI> and with <HI>Nell.</HI></L></Q>
<P>I have naturally &s;o much kindne&s;s for Lovers, that I will without fur|ther di&s;turbance leave them to their private Banquet; and if no other Pen rai&s;es them, they &s;hall lye there till Dooms, day.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="publisher's advertisement">
<PB REF="70">
<PB REF="70">
<HEAD>Books Printed and Sold by <HI>James Magnes,</HI> and <HI>Ri|chard Bentley,</HI> in <HI>Ru&s;&s;ell-Street,</HI> near the <HI>Piazza's.</HI></HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>GOds Revenge again&s;t Mur|ther, <HI>Fol.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Bacons</HI> Natural Hi&s;tory, <HI>Fol.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Nostra damus</HI> Prophe&s;ies, <HI>Fol.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Hou&s;e of Mourning, <HI>Fol.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Fodinae Regalis, Fol.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Dr. <HI>Whitby</HI> of the Idolatry of the Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> in Vindicati|on of Dr. <HI>Stillingfleet,</HI> in 8^o.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Plato's</HI> Apology of <HI>Socrates</HI> and <HI>Pheodo,</HI> or of the Soul, in 8^o.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Burnt Child dreads the Fire, 4^o.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Natural Hi&s;tory of the Pa&s;&s;ions, in 8^o.</ITEM>
<ITEM><PB REF="71"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> <HI>Garden</HI> Drollery, in 8^o.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters">angers</HI> Letters, in 8^o.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">ip&s;ious</HI> of Con&s;tancy, in 8^o.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Dr. <HI>Taylors</HI> P&s;alter, in 12^o.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Bi&s;hop <HI>Andrews</HI> Devotions, in 12^o.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Colets</HI> Devotions, in 12^o.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Thomas a Kempis,</HI> in 24^o.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>Plays&punc;</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Tartuffe,</HI> or the <HI>French</HI> Puritan.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Forced Marriage, or the Jea|lous Bridegroom.</ITEM>
<ITEM>All Mi&s;taken, or the Mad Couple:</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Engli&s;h Mon&s;ieur.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Andromicha.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The Tragedy of <HI>Nero.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Calisto,</HI> or the Cha&s;te Nymph, a Ma&s;que at Court Acted by Per|&s;ons of the Highe&s;t Quality, frequently.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Mi&s;taken Husband.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sophonisba,</HI> or <HI>Hannibal's</HI> Over|throw.</ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
