Chapter 16

PoorLycidus, for shame arise,And wipeLovesErrors from thy Eyes;Shake off the God that holds thy Heart;SinceSilviafor another burns,And all thy past Indurement scornsWhile thou the Cully art.

I believed, as she spoke, that I had ill understood her, but she repeated it so often, that I no longer doubted my wretchedness. I leave you, who so well can guess, to imagin, what Complaints I made, filling the Grove, where I was laid, with my piteous Cries; sometimes I rose and raved, and rail'd on Love, and reproached the fair Fugitive. But the tender God was still pleading in my Heart, and made me ever end my noisy Griefs in Sighs and silent Tears. A thousand Thoughts of revenge I entertained against this happy Rival, and the charming ingrate: But those Thoughts, like my Rage, would also end in soft reproaching murmurs and regret only. And I would sometimes argue with Love in this manner.

Ah, cruelLove! when will thy Torments cease?And when shall I have leave to dye in Peace?And why, too charming and too cruel Maid,Cou'd'st thou not yet thy fleeting Heart have stay'd?And by degrees thy fickle Humor shewn,By turns the Enemy and Friend put on:Have us'd my Heart a little to thy scorn,The loss at least might have been easier born.With feigned Vows, (that poor Expence of Breath,)Alas thou might'st have sooth'd me to my death.Thy Coldness, and thy visible decaysIn time had put a period to my days.And lay'd me quietly into my Tomb,Before thy proof of Perjuries had come.You might have waited yet a little space}And sav'd mine, and thy, Honour this disgrace;}Alas I languish'd and declin'd apace.}I lov'd my Life too eagerly awayTo have disturb'd thee with too long a stay.Ah! cou'd you not my dying Heart have fedWith some small Cordial Food, till I was dead?Then uncontroul'd, and unreproach'd your CharmsMight have been render'd to my Rival's Arms.Then all my right to him you might impart,And Triumph'd o're a true and broken Heart.

Though I complained thus for a good while, I was not without some secret hope, that what I had heard was not true; nor would I be persuaded to undeceive myself of that hope which was so dear and precious to me. I was not willing to be convinced I was intirely miserable, out of too great a fear to find it true; and there were some Moments in which I believedFamemight falsly accuseSilvia, and it did not seem reasonable to me, that, after all the Vows and Oaths she had made, she should so easily betray 'em, and forgetting my Services, receivethose of another, less capable of rend'ring them to her advantage. Sometimes I would excuse her ingratitude with a thousand things that seem'd reasonable, but still that was but to make me more sensible of my disgrace; and then I would accuse myself of a thousand weaknesses below the Character of a Man; I would even despise and loath my own easiness, and resolve to be no longer aMark-out-foolfor all the Rhiming Wits of the Island to aim their Dogrel at. And grown, as I imagined, brave at this thought, I resolved first to be fully convinced of the perfidy of my Mistress, and then to rent my Heart from the attachment that held it.

You know, that from theDesart of Remembrance, one does, with great facility, look over all theIsland of Love. I was resolved to go thither one day; and where indeed I could survey all things that past, in the Groves, the Bowers, by Rivers, or Fountains, or whatever other place, remote or obscure 'twas from thence, that one day I saw the faithlessSilvia, in the Palace ofTrue Pleasure, in the very Bower of Bliss with one of my Rivals, but most intimate Friend.

'Twas there, I saw my Rival takePleasures, he knew how to make;There he took, and there was given,All the Joys that Rival Heaven;Kneeling at her Feet he lay,And in transports dy'd away:Where the faithless suffer'd tooAll the amorous Youth cou'd do.The Ardour of his fierce desireSet his Face and Eyes on fire.All their Language was the BlissesOf Ten thousand eager Kisses;While his ravish'd Neck she twin'dAnd to his Kisses, Kisses join'd;Till, both inflam'd, she yeilded soShe suffer'd all the Youth cou'd do.

The Ardour of his fierce desireSet his Face and Eyes on fire.All their Language was the BlissesOf Ten thousand eager Kisses;While his ravish'd Neck she twin'dAnd to his Kisses, Kisses join'd;Till, both inflam'd, she yeilded soShe suffer'd all the Youth cou'd do.

In fine, 'twas there I saw that I must lose the day. And I saw in this Lover Ten thousand Charms of Youth and Beauty; on which the ingrate with greedy languishing Eyes, eternally gazed with the same Joy she used to behold me when she made me most happy. I confess, this Object was so far from pleasing me, (as I believed a confirmation would,) that the change inspired me with a rage, which nothing else could do, and made me say things unbecoming the Dignity of my Sex, who ought to disdain those faithless Slaves, which Heaven first made to obey the Lords of the Creation. A thousand times I was about to have rush'd upon 'em, and have ended the Lives of the loose betrayers of my repose, but Love stepp'd in and stay'd my hand, preventing me from an Outrage, that would have cost me that rest of Honour, I yet had left: But when my rage was abated, I fell to a more insupportable Torment, that of extream Grief to find another possest of what I had been so long, and with so much Toil in gaining: 'Twas thus I retir'd, and after a little while brought myself to make calm Reflections upon this Adventure, which reduced me to some reason. When one day as I was walking in an unfrequented Shade, whither my Melancholy had conducted me, I incountred a Man, of a haughty look and meen, his Apparel rich and glorious, his Eyes awful, and his Stature tall; the very sight of him inspired me with coldness, which render'd me almost insensible of the infidelity ofSilvia. This Person wasPride, who looking on me, as he past, with a fierce and disdainful Smile, over his Shoulder, and regarding me with scorn, said;

Why shou'd that faithless wanton giveThy Heart so mortal pain,Whose Sighs were only to deceive,Her Oaths all false and vain?Despise those Tears thou shedd'st for her,Disdain to sigh her Name.ToLove, thy Liberty prefer;To faithlessSilvia, Fame.

I knew by his words he wasPride, orDisdain, and would have embraced him; but he put me off, seeingLovestill by me, who had not yet abandoned me, and turned himself from me with a regardless scorn, but I, who was resolved not to forsake so discreet a Counsellor, rather chose to take my leave of littleLove; who had ever accompanyed me in this Voyage. But oh! this adieu was not taken so easily and soon as I imagined.Lovewas not to be quitted without abundance of Sighs and Tears at parting, he had been a Witness to all my Adventures, my Confident in this Amour, and not to be deserted without a great deal of pain; I stayed so long in bidding the dear Boy adieu, that I had almost forgotDisdain; at last, though my Heart were breaking to part with the dear fondling, I was resolved and said;

Farewel, my little charming Boy!Farewel, my fond delight,My dear Instructor all the day,My soft repose at night.Thou, whom my Soul has so carest,And my poor Heart has held so fast,Thou never left me in my pain,Nor in my happier hours;Thou eas'd me when I did complain,And dry'd my falling showrs.WhenSilviafrown'd still thou woud'st smile,And all my Cares and Griefs beguile.ButSilvia'sgone, and I have tornHer Witchcrafts from my Heart;And nobly fortify'd by scornHer Empire will subvert;The Laws establish'd there destroy,And bid adieu to the dear charming Boy.

ButSilvia'sgone, and I have tornHer Witchcrafts from my Heart;And nobly fortify'd by scornHer Empire will subvert;The Laws establish'd there destroy,And bid adieu to the dear charming Boy.

In quittingLoveI was a great while before I could findDisdain, but I, at last, overtook him: He accompanyed me to a Village, where I received a Joy I had not known since my Arrival to theIsle of Love, and which Repose seemed the sweeter because it was new. When I came to this place, I saw all the World Easie, Idle, and at Liberty: This Village is like a Desart, and all the Inhabitants live within themselves, there is only one Gate, by which we enter into it from theIsle of Love.

This place is calledIndifference, and takes its Name from a Princess inhabiting there, a Person very fair and well made; but has a Grace and Meen of so little Wit, and seems so inutile and so silly, that it renders her even ridiculous. As soon as I arrived there, I called to my remembrance all those affronts and cheats of Love, thatSilviahad put upon me, and which now served for my diversion, and were agreeable thoughts to me; so that I called myself Ten thousand Sots and Fools for resenting 'em; and that I did not heartily despise 'em, laugh at 'em, and make my Pleasure with the false One as well as the rest; for she dissembled well, and for ought I knew, 'twas but dissembled Love she paid my Rivals. But I, forsooth, was too nice a Coxcomb, I cou'd not feed as others did, and be contented with such Pleasures as she cou'd afford, but I must ingross all, and unreasonably believe a Woman of Youth and Wit had not a longer Race of Love to run than to my Arms alone. Well, 'tis now confest I was a Fool, nor could I hinder myself from saying a thousand times a day;

That Coxcomb can ne're be at ease,While Beauty inslaves his Soul.'Tis Liberty only can please,And he that's Fetter'd is an Owl.

I found it very convenient and happy to dis-ingage from Love, and I have wond'red a thousand times at the Follies that God has made me commit: And though I som'times thought onSilvia, I thought her less charming and fair than she was before her fall; and the Humour I now was in represented her no more meriting that Passion I once had for her, and I fancied she had lost all those Graces for which once I lov'd her: In fine, I was so wholly recovered of my disease of Love forSilvia, that I began to be uneasie for want of employing my Addresses; and a change from so violent a Passion to such a degree of coldness, became insupportable to one of my Youth and I natural Gayety; insomuch, that I was seized with a Dulness, or Languishment, and so great a fit of Melancholy, as I had never felt the like; and my Heart, that was so accustomed to Love, was so out of Humour, that it had no Object or Business for thought, that it lost all its Harmony and Wit; it having nothing to excite it to Life and Motion, passing from so vast a degree of tenderness to an unconcern equally extream. I thought it rude, ill-bred, and idle, to live so indifferent and insignificant a Life. And walking perpetually by myself, (or with those of my own Sex, that could not make my diversion,) I sung all day this following Song to a Hum-drum Tune, to myself;

Not to sigh and to be tender,Not to talk and prattle Love,Is a Life no good can render,And insipidly does move:Unconcern do's Life destroy,Which, without Love, can know no Joy.Life, without adoring Beauty,Will be useless all the day;Love's a part of Human Duty,And 'tis Pleasure to obey.In vain the Gods did Life bestow,Where kinder Love has nought to do.What is Life, but soft desires,And that Soul, that is not madeTo entertain what Love inspires,Oh thou dull immortal Shade?Thou'dst better part with Flesh and Blood,Than be, where Life's not understood.

Not to sigh and to be tender,Not to talk and prattle Love,Is a Life no good can render,And insipidly does move:Unconcern do's Life destroy,Which, without Love, can know no Joy.

Life, without adoring Beauty,Will be useless all the day;

Love's a part of Human Duty,And 'tis Pleasure to obey.In vain the Gods did Life bestow,Where kinder Love has nought to do.

What is Life, but soft desires,And that Soul, that is not madeTo entertain what Love inspires,Oh thou dull immortal Shade?Thou'dst better part with Flesh and Blood,Than be, where Life's not understood.

These were my notions of Life; and I found myself altogether useless in the World without Love; methought I had nothing to animate me to Gallant things, without Love, or Women: I had no use of Wit or Youth without the fair, and yet I did not wish wholly to ingage myself neither a second time, having been so ill-treated before by Love: But I found there were ways to entertain one's self agreeably enough without dying or venturing the breaking of a heart for the matter: That there were Beauties to be obtained without the hazard of hanging or drowning one's self: I never had tried, but I found it natural enough to my Humour and Constitution, to flatter and dissemble, swear and lye; I viewed my self in my Glass, and found myself very well recovered from the Ruins my first Amour had made, and believed myself as fit for Conquest, as any SirFopling, or SirCourtly Niceof 'em all. To this fine Person and good Meen and Shape, (as I thought,) I added handsom Dressing, the thing that takes the Heart infinitely above all your other Parts, and thus set out a snare for vain Beauty; I every day went out of the City ofIndifference, to see what new Adventures I could meet withal.

One day I incountred a Woman, who, at first sight appeared very agreeable; she had an Air easie, free, and Galliard; such as fails not to take at first view: This wasCoquettre, who, the very first time she saw me, Addrestherself to me with very great Complisance and good Humour, and invited me to her Apartment, where she assured me I should not fail to be entertained very agreeably; and at the same time pulling out of her Pocket a Paper, she shewed me these Words written;

Let Love no more your Heart inspire,Thô Beauty every hour you see;Pass no farther than desire,If you'll truly happy be.Every day fresh Objects view,And for all have Complisance.Search all places still for new,And to all make some Advance;For where Wit and Youth agree,There's no Life like Gallantry.Laura'sHeart you may receive,And to morrowJulia'sprise:Take what youngDianagives,PityLuciawhen she dies:Portia'sFace you must admire,And toClorin'sShape submit,PhillisDancing gives you Fire,Celia'sSoftness,Clara'sWit.Thus all at once you may persue,'Tis too little to Love two.The powerful smiling God of HeartsSo much tenderness imparts,You must upon his Altars layA thousand Offerings every day:And so soft is kind desire;Oh! so Charming is the Fire,That if niceAdrastescorns,GentlerAriadneburns.Still Another keep in play(If One refuse,) to give you Joy.Cease therefore to disturb your Hours,For having two desiresA Heart can manage two Amours,And burn with several Fires.The day has hours enough in storeTo visit two or half a score.

Laura'sHeart you may receive,And to morrowJulia'sprise:Take what youngDianagives,PityLuciawhen she dies:Portia'sFace you must admire,And toClorin'sShape submit,PhillisDancing gives you Fire,Celia'sSoftness,Clara'sWit.Thus all at once you may persue,'Tis too little to Love two.

The powerful smiling God of HeartsSo much tenderness imparts,You must upon his Altars layA thousand Offerings every day:And so soft is kind desire;Oh! so Charming is the Fire,That if niceAdrastescorns,GentlerAriadneburns.Still Another keep in play(If One refuse,) to give you Joy.

Cease therefore to disturb your Hours,For having two desiresA Heart can manage two Amours,And burn with several Fires.The day has hours enough in storeTo visit two or half a score.

I gave her thanks for her good Counsel, and found I needed not much persuasion to followCoquettreto a City that bears her Name, and I saw over the Gate of the City at my Entrance, these Verses writ in Gold Letters;

The God of Love beholding every daySlaves from his Empire to depart away;(For Hearts that have been once with Love fatigu'd,A second time are ne'r again intrigu'd:No second Beauty e'r can moveThe Soul to that degree of Love;)This City built, that we might still obey,Thô we refus'd his Arbitrary Sway:'Tis here we find a grateful RecompenceFor all Loves former Violence;Tir'd with his Laws we hither comeTo meet a kinder softer doom.'Tis here the God, without the Tyrant, Reigns,And Laws agreeable ordains;Here 'tis with Reason and with Wit he Rules,And whining Passion Ridicules.No check or bound to Nature gives,But kind desire rewarded thrives.Peevish uneasy Pride, the GodHas banish'd from the blest abode:All Jealousies, all Quarrels cease,And here Love lives in perfect Peace.

This agreeable description, gave me new desire to enter into the City; where I incountred a thousand fine Personsall gloriously drest, as if they were purposely set out for Conquest: There was nothing omitted of Cost and Gallantry, that might render 'em intirely Charming, and they employ'd all their Arts of Looks and Dress to gain Hearts.

It is, in a word, from these fair Creatures you are to draw your Satisfaction, and 'tis indeed at a dear rate you buy it, yet, notwithstanding the Expence, a world of People persue 'em.

When I came into the City, I was soon perceived to be a Stranger there, and while I was considering whither I should go, or how to address myself to these fair Creatures, a littleCoquette Cupidpresented himself to me for a kind Instructer; and to explain him, this in a word is his Character:

He is of the same Race with the otherCupids, has the same Mother too,Venus: He wears a Bow and Arrows, like the rest of the young Loves; but he has no Bando, nothing to cover his Eyes, but he sees perfectly; nor has he anyFlambeau: And all the Laws ofCoquettrehe understands and observes exactly.

I had no sooner received the little Charming God, but he instructed me in all the most powerful Arts to please, in all his little wiles and agreeable deceits; all which he admits of as the most necessary Recourses to that great end of Man, his true diversion: With all which I was so extreamly pleased, that resolving to be his Votary, I followed him to the most delightful place in the World, the City ofGallantry.

Gallantryis a City very magnificent; at the Entrance of the Gate you incounterLiberality, a Woman of great Wit, delicate Conversation and Complisance: This Lady gives her Passport to all that enter, and without which, you cannot pass, or at least, with great difficulty; and then too you pass your time but very ill; and the more Pasports you have, the better you are received from the fair Inhabitants, and pass your time more agreeable with the fineConversation you meet with in this City. Love told me this, and it was therefore that I took a great many Pasports from this acceptable PersonLiberality. But what renders you yet more Favoured by the Fair and the Young who reside atGallantry, is, to have a delicate soft Wit, an assiduous Address and a tender way of Conversing; but that which best cullies and pleases the Generality of People there, isLiberalityandComplisance: This place of so great Divertisement is re-frequented with all the Parties of the best and most amiable Company, where they invent a thousand new Pleasures every day; Feasting, Balls, Comedies, and Sports, Singing and Serenades, are what employs the whole Four and twenty hours.

By the Virtue of my Pasports fromLiberality, I was introduced to all the fine Conversations and Places that afford Pleasure and Delight: I had the good Fortune to make Parties, insomuch, that I was soon known to all the Company in the City, and past the day in Feasting, going with the Young and Fair to delightfulVilla's, Gardens, or Rivers in Chases, and a thousand things that pleas'd; and the Nights I passed in Serenading, so that I did not give myself time for Melancholy; and yet for all this I was wearied and fatigued; for when once one has tasted of the Pleasure of Loving and being Beloved, all, that comes after that, is but flat and dull; and if one's Heart be not a little inflamed, all things else are insignificant, and make but very slight touches.

I began therefore for all this to be extreamly Shagreen and out of Humour, amidst all these Pleasures, till one lucky day I met with an Adventure, that warmed my Heart with a tender flame which it had not felt since my happy beginning one forSilvia: One day, as I said, I was conducted by my officiousCupidinto a Garden very beautiful, where there are a thousand Labyrinths and Arbours, Walks, Grotto's, Groves and Thickets; and where all the Fair and the Gay resorted; 'twas here I incountreda young Beauty calledBellinda; she was well made, and had an admirable meen, an Air of Gayety and Sweetness; but that which charmed me most of all, was her Wit, which was too ingaging for me to defend my Heart against: I found mine immediately submitting to her Conversation, and you may imagine I did not part with her so long as Decency and good Manners permitted me to stay with her, which was as long as any Company was in the place; nor then, till by my importunity I had gained so much upon her to suffer my Visits, which she did with a Condescention that gave me abundance of hope.

I was no sooner gone, but myCupid, who took care of me, and entertained me to the best Advantage, carried me that Evening to a Ball, where there were a world of Beauties, among the rest one fair as imagination can conceive; she had all the Charmes of Youth and Beauty; though not so much Wit and Air asBellinda. To this young adorable I made my Court all the time I remained there, and fancied I never found myself so Charmed, I fancied all the Graces had taken up their dwelling in her Divine Face; and that to subdue one so fair and so innocent, must needs be an extream Pleasure: Yet did I not so wholly fix my desires on this lovely Person, but that the Wit ofBellindashared my Heart with the Beauty and Youth ofBellimante, so was this young Charmer called: I was extreamly well pleas'd to find I could anew take fire; and infinitely more, when I found I should not be subdued by one alone; nor confined to dull Dotage on a single Beauty; but that I was able to attain to the greatest Pleasure, that of Loving two amiable Persons at once: If with two, I hoped I might with Two score if I pleas'd and had occasion; and though at first it seemed to be very strange and improbable to feel a Passion for two, yet I found it true, and could not determin which I had the greatest tenderness for, or inclination to: But 'tis most certain, that this night I found, or thought I found, moreforBellimante, who fired me with every Smile; I confess she wanted that Gayety of SpiritBellindahad, to maintain that fire she raised: And ever when I was thoughtful a moment,Coquettre(who is ever in all the Conversation, and where she appears very magnificent and with a great Train,) would, smiling, sing softly in my Ear this Song, for she is very Galliard;

Cease to defend your Amorous Heart,Against a double flame;Where two may claim an equal PartWithout reproach or shame.'Tis Love that makes Life's happiness,And he that best wou'd liveBy Love alone must Life caress,And all his Darts receive.

Coquettreis a Person, that endeavours to please and humour every Body, but of all those who every day fill her Train, she caresses none with that Address and Assiduity as she did me, for I was a new Face, to whom she is ever most obliging and entertaining. However, notwithstanding the Advice ofCoquettre, I fancied this young Charmer had engaged all my Soul; and while I gazed on her Beauty, I thought onBellindano more; but believed I should wholly devote myself toBellimante, whose Eyes alone seemed capable to inflame me.

I took my leave with Sighs, and went home extream well pleas'd with this days Adventure. All this Night I slept as well as if no tenderness had toucht my Heart, and though I Lov'd infinitely, it gave me no disturbance; the next morning a thousand pleasant thingsBellindahad said to me, came into my mind, and gave me a new inclination to entertain myself with that witty Beauty; and dressing myself in haste with the desire I had to be with her, I went again, the morning being very inviting, to the Garden, where before I had seen her, and was solucky to encounter her; I found her blush at my approach; which I counted a good Omen of my future happiness; she received me with all the Gayety and Joy good liking and Wit could inspire: Nor was I backward on my part, but addrest myself to her with all imaginable respect, and as much Love in my Eyes as I was able to put on; which, I found, she saw with Pleasure; she had not entertained me half an hour, but I was so absolutely charmed, that I forgot there was aBellimantein the World.

Thus for several days I lived; every day visiting both these attracting Beauties, and at Night, when I was retired, was not able to inform myself which I liked best: Both were equally beloved, and it was now, that methought I began to tast of true Joy; I found myself in Love without any sort of inquietude; when I was Melancholy, I went to visitBellinda, and she with her Gayety and Wit would inspire me with good Humour; If I were over-prest with good Company, and too much Conversation and Noise, I would visitBellimante, who by a certain softness in her discourse, and a natural Languishment in her Eyes and Manners, charmed and calmed me to a reposed tranquillity; so that to make me fortunate in Love, I could not have fixed my desires better: I had too little Love to be wretched, and enough to make my happiness and Pleasure.

After I had past my time awhile thus inCoquettre, this little Love, who was my Guide, carried me toDeclaration: I thought then upon the time of my first Arrival on theIsle of Love; and howRespect, that awful hinderer of our Pleasure, prevented me from going to this Place: I urg'd this very argumentRespectthen made me, to myCoquetLove now, who for answer return'd me nothing but loud Laughter; and when I askt his reason, he replied, thatRespectdid not forbid any to go toDeclaration, but those only who knew not how to behave themselves well there, and who were not so well fashion'd and bred as they ought to be, who go thither: And that it was a mere cheat inRespectto conduct people toLovebyDiscretion, that being much the farthest way about, and under favor to MonsieurRespecthe is but a troublesome companion to a Lover, who designs to cure those wounds the fair has given him, and, if he have no better counsellor, he may languish all his life without revealing the secret of his soul to the object belov'd, and so never find redress. But this SirFormal, (RespectsaysLove,) is a very great favourite of the Lady's, who is always in fee with them as a Jilt with a Justice; who manages their Fools just as they wou'd have 'em; for it is the most agreeable thing in the World to them, and what the most feeds their vanity, to see at their feet a thousand Lovers sigh, burn, and languish; the fair are never angry to find themselves belov'd, nor ever weary of being Ador'd. I was extreamly pleas'd at this frank Humour of my little Love who told me this, and without much scruple or consideration toRespectI followed him towardsDeclaration, and in my way he gave me this Advice.

When you Love, or speak of it,Make no serious matter on't,'Twill make but subject for her witAnd gain her scorn in lieu of Grant.Sneeking, whining, dull GrimassesPale the Appetite, they'd move;Only Boys and formal AssesThus are Ridicul'd by Love.While you make a MysteryOf your Love and awful flame;Young and tender Hearts will fly,Frighted at the very name;Always brisk and gayly court,Make Love your pleasure not your pain,'Tis by wanton play and sportHeedless Virgins you will gain.

While you make a MysteryOf your Love and awful flame;Young and tender Hearts will fly,Frighted at the very name;Always brisk and gayly court,Make Love your pleasure not your pain,'Tis by wanton play and sportHeedless Virgins you will gain.

By this time we were arriv'd toDeclaration, which is a very little Village, since it is only for Passengers to pass thrô, and none live there, the Country is very Perilous, and those that make a false step run a great risque of falling from some precipice: Round about rises a very great mist, and people have much ado to know each other; of these mists there are two sorts: The one on the side ofDenial, the other on that ofPermission, the first is very disagreeable and draws a very ill consequence with it; the other directs you to a place of intire divertisement, but I had so good a guide that the entrance gave me no trouble at all. When I came to the Village, I foundBellimante, andBellinda, to whom by turns I told all my heart; and discover'd all its passion or its tenderness which was to me much better.

When to the charmingBellindaI came,With my heart full of Love and desire,To gain my wisht end I talkt of a flame,Of sighing, and dying, and fire,I swore to her charms that my soul did submit,And the slave was undone by the force of her Wit.To fairBellimantethe same tale I told,And I vow'd and I swore her fair EyesNo Heart-Ravisht mortal cou'd ever beholdBut he panting and languishing Dys,And while I was vowing, the ardour of youthMade myself even believe what I swore was all Truth.

To fairBellimantethe same tale I told,And I vow'd and I swore her fair EyesNo Heart-Ravisht mortal cou'd ever beholdBut he panting and languishing Dys,And while I was vowing, the ardour of youthMade myself even believe what I swore was all Truth.

I confess to you, my dearLysander, that it was a great while before I cou'd make myself be believ'd byBellinda, or gain any credit upon her heart, she had a great deal of Wit and cou'd see farther into the designs of her Lovers than those who had not so much, or had had so many vows pay'd them: I perceiv'd well enough, I was not hated by her, and that she had not a heart wholly insensible; sothat I never quitted her till I had gain'd so much upon her to accompany me toPermission, where for some time we pass our days very pleasantly; and having so good fortune withBellinda, I had now a great desire to try my power overBellimante: and where indeed, contrary to my expectation, I was not so happy: But she went from me toDenial; and I was for that hour oblig'd to return again toBellinda, it was some time I searcht her in vain, but at last found her at a little Village, extreamly agreeable. There are very few Inhabitants, but those that are live in perpetual union, yet do not talk much, for they understand one another with half words: A sign of the Hand, the Head or the Eye, a glance or smile is sufficient to declare a great part of the Inclination. It is here where the Lover takes all freedoms, without controul, and says and does all that soft Love can permit: And every day they take and give a secret Entertainment, speaking a particular Language, which every body does not understand, and none but Lovers can reply to; in effect, there are as many Languages as there are persons.

The Governess of this Village is very charming to those that are acquainted with her; and as disagreeable to those that are not; she is a person of a great deal of Wit, and knows all things. She has a thousand ways to make herself understood, and comprehends all in a moment, that you wou'd or can say to her.

In this place, to divert, we make a thousand pretty sorts of Entertainments; and we have abundance of Artifices, which signify nothing, and yet they serve to make life Agreeable and Pleasant.

'Twas thus I liv'd atIntelligence; when I understood thatBellimantewas retir'd toCruelty. This news afflicted me extreamly, but I was not now of a humour to swell the Floods with my tears, or increase the rude winds with my ruder sighs; to tear my hair and beat my Innocent breast as I us'd in my first Amour to do. However I wasso far concern'd that I made it my business not to lose this insensible fair one, but making her a visit in spight of her retreat, I reproacht her with cruelty.

Why, fair Maid, are you uneasy,When a slave designs to please you;When he at your feet is lyingSighing, languishing, and dying?Why do you preserve your charmsOnly for offensive Armes?What the Lover wou'd possessYou maintain but to oppress.Cease, fair Maid, your cruel sway,And let your Lover dy a nobler way.

Who the Devil wou'd not believe me as much in love now as I ever was withSilvia: My heart had learnt then all the soft Language of Love which now it cou'd prattle as naturally as its Mother Tongue; and sighing and dying was as ready for my mouth as when it came from my very heart; and cost me nothing to speak; Love being as cheaply made now by me as a barter for a Horse or a Coach; and with as little concern almost: It pleas'd me while I was speaking, and while I believ'd I was gaining the vanity and pleasure of a conquest over an unvanquisht heart. However I cou'd yet perceive no Grist come to my Mill; no heart to my Lure; young as it was, it had a cunning that was harder to deceive than allBellinda'sWit: And seeing her persist still in her Resolution I left her with a heart, whose pride more than Passion resented the obdurat'ness of this Maid, I went as well compos'd however as I cou'd toIntelligence; and found even some pleasure in the cruelty and charming resistance ofBellimante, since I propos'd to myself an infinite happiness in softening a heart so averse to Love, and which I knew I shou'd compel to yield some time or other with very little pains and force.

Oh! what Pleasure 'tis to findA coy heart melt by slow degrees;When to yielding 'tis inclin'd,Yet her fear a ruin sees.When her tears do kindly flow,And her sighs do come and goe.Oh! how charming 'tis, to meetSoft resistance from the fair;When her pride and wishes meetAnd by turns increase her care,Oh! how charming 'tis to know,She wou'd yield but can't tell how.Oh! how pretty is her scornWhen confus'd 'twixt Love and shame,Still refusing (though she burn,)The soft pressures of my Flame.Her Pride in her denyal lies,And mine is in my Victories.

Oh! what Pleasure 'tis to findA coy heart melt by slow degrees;When to yielding 'tis inclin'd,Yet her fear a ruin sees.When her tears do kindly flow,And her sighs do come and goe.

Oh! how charming 'tis, to meetSoft resistance from the fair;When her pride and wishes meetAnd by turns increase her care,Oh! how charming 'tis to know,She wou'd yield but can't tell how.

Oh! how pretty is her scornWhen confus'd 'twixt Love and shame,Still refusing (though she burn,)The soft pressures of my Flame.Her Pride in her denyal lies,And mine is in my Victories.

I feigned nevertheless abundance of Grief to find her still persist in her rigorous Cruelty; and I made her believe that all my absent hours I abandoned myself to sorrows and despairs; thoughLoveknows I parted with all those things inSilvia'sArms. But whatever I pretended, to appear atCrueltyand beforeBellimante; atIntelligenceI was all Galliard and never in better Humour in my Life than when I went to visitBellinda: I put on the Gravity of a Lover, and beheld her with a Solemn Languishing Look: In fine, I accustomed myself to counterfeit my Humour, whenever I found it convenient for my Advantage: Tears, Vows, and Sighs cost me nothing, and I knew all the Arts to jilt for Love, and could act the dying Lover, whenever it made for my Satisfaction.

He that wou'd precious time improve.And husband well his hours,Let him complain and dye for Love,And spare no Sighs or Showers.To second which, let Vows and OathsBe ready at your will,And fittest times and seasons chuse,To shew your cozening skill.

In fine, after I had sufficiently acted the Languishing Lover, for the accomplishment of all my Wishes, I thought it time to change the Scene, and without having recourse to Pity, I followed all the Counsels of myCupid; who told me, that in stead of dying and whining at her Feet, and damning myself to obtain her Grace, I should affect a Coldness, and an Unconcern; for,Lycidus, assure yourself, said he, there is nothing a Woman will not do, rather than lose her Lover either from Vanity or Inclination. I thankedLovefor his kind Advice; and to persue it, the next day I drest myself in all the Gayety imaginable: My Eyes, my Air, my Language, were all changed; and thus fortified with all the put-on indifference in the World, I madeBellimantea Visit; and after a thousand things all cold and unconcerned, far from Love or my former Softness, I cried laughing to her;

Cease, cease, that vain and useless scorn,Or save it for the Slaves that dye;I in your Flames no longer burn,No more the whining Fool you fly;But all your Cruelty defie.My Heart your Empire now disdains,And Frown, or Smile, all's one to me:The Slave has broke his Servial Chains,And spight of all your Pride is freeFrom the Tyrannick Slavery.Be kind or cruel every day,Your Eyes may wear what dress they please,'Twill not affect me either way,Now my fond Heart has found its Peace,And all my Tears and Sighings cease.I must confess you're wondrous fair,And know, to conquer such a Heart;Is worth an Age of sad despair,If Lovers Merits were Desert;But you're unjust as well as fair,And Love subsists not with despair,No more than Lovers by the Air.I've spar'd no Sighs nor Floods of Tears,Nor any thing to move your Mind,With sacred Vows I fed your Cares;But found your rebel Heart unkind,And Vanity had made you blind.No more my Knees shall bow beforeThose unconcern'd and haughty Eyes,Nor be so senseless to adoreThat Saint, that all my Prayers despise:No, I contemn your CrueltySince in a Humor not do dye.

Cease, cease, that vain and useless scorn,Or save it for the Slaves that dye;I in your Flames no longer burn,No more the whining Fool you fly;But all your Cruelty defie.

My Heart your Empire now disdains,And Frown, or Smile, all's one to me:The Slave has broke his Servial Chains,And spight of all your Pride is freeFrom the Tyrannick Slavery.

Be kind or cruel every day,Your Eyes may wear what dress they please,'Twill not affect me either way,Now my fond Heart has found its Peace,And all my Tears and Sighings cease.

I must confess you're wondrous fair,And know, to conquer such a Heart;Is worth an Age of sad despair,If Lovers Merits were Desert;But you're unjust as well as fair,And Love subsists not with despair,No more than Lovers by the Air.

I've spar'd no Sighs nor Floods of Tears,Nor any thing to move your Mind,With sacred Vows I fed your Cares;But found your rebel Heart unkind,And Vanity had made you blind.

No more my Knees shall bow beforeThose unconcern'd and haughty Eyes,Nor be so senseless to adoreThat Saint, that all my Prayers despise:No, I contemn your CrueltySince in a Humor not do dye.

Having said all this with an Air of Disdain, I, smiling, took my leave, with much less Civility and Respect than I used to do: and hasting toIntelligence, I past my time very well withBellinda, to whom I paid all my Visits, and omitted nothing that might makeBellimanteknow I had forgot her: But at the end of some days by a very happy change, she finding more inclination to Love than to Cruelty, banishing all Obstacles in Favour of a Lover, she came toIntelligence; where at first sight she made mesome little Reproaches, and that in so soft a manner, that I did not doubt but I had toucht her Heart: I swore a thousand times, that all I had done, was only put on to see if it were possible she could resent it, and force from her Heart some little concern for my supposed loss. At this time I had abundance of Intreagues upon my hands, for it was not withBellindaandBellimante, with whom I lived in this manner; and indeed it is impossible to remain atIntelligenceand to make a Court but to two Persons only, where there are so many of the Fair and Young. I writ every day several Billets; and received every day as many: I had every day two or three Rendezvous; and one ought to manage matters very discreetly, that neither Party might come to the knowledge of the others concern; and one ought to be a Man of great Address and Subtilty to love more than one securely; and though this gave me some pain, it was nevertheless anEmbarrassvery agreeable, and in which I could have lived a great while; if Envy, which cannot suffer any Body to be happy inIntelligence, had not arrived there and told a great many things which discovered my Intreagues; so thatBellinda, with whom I had lived there with great Tranquillity a long time, andBellimante, with whom I was but just beginning to be happy, were both obliged to quit this delightful place, where we enjoyed many happy hours; and they retired till the noise was a little over; and with them all those who had afforded me any hope: If any one of these had stayed, I had been contented well enough and one might have consol'd me for the loss of the other, but in one day to lose all that made my happiness, put me in such a Melancholy, I knew not for the present what to do for myself; butCoquet Loveconducted me to a Village, that gave me a new Pleasure: The scituation of it is marvellous, the Fields and the Groves all about it the most pleasant in the World; the Meadows enamel'd with Rivulets, which run winding here and there, and lose themselves in the Thickets and the Woods. Ingoing,Lovesaid to me: In absence it is in vain to abandon yourself to sorrow. Alas! What signifies it to sigh night and day; the Absent does not hear us; nor can the most tender Affliction or Complaint render a Lover happy, unless the Fair One were present to hear all his Moans, then perhaps they might avail. There was reason in what he said, and I was pleas'd and calm'd; and we arrived at the same time at this Village: All the Houses were fine, and pleasant, we saw all the Graces there by Fountains and by Flowery Springs, and all the Objects that could be imagined agreeable; and the least amiable ones, we saw, gave us a Joy! All the World that inhabit there contribute to Diversion; and this place is calledAmusement:Amusementis a young Boy, who stops and gazes at every thing that meets his Eyes, and he makes his Pleasure with every Novelty.

As soon as I arrived at this Village I thought to divert myself, as others did; and to hinder my Thoughts from fixing on the loss of my two Mistresses, and to banish from my mind the Chagrins their Absence gave me; withdrawn from the fair Eyes ofBellimante, and the Charming Wit ofBellinda, and to give my sighing Heart a little ease; upon a thousand Objects I formed my desires, and took a thousand Pleasures to divert my Melancholy: And all the time I lived at this dear place, I passed my time without any inquietude; for every day afforded me new Objects to give me new Wishes. And I now expected, without much impatience, the return ofBellindaandBellimante; nor did I tire myself with writing to 'em every day; and when I did write, to save the expence of thought, the same Billet served both; a thousand little tender things I said of course to both: And sometimes, especially while I was writing, I thought I had rather seen them than have lived atAmusement, but since it was necessary they should be absent, I bore it with all the Patience I could; sometimes we were in a fit of writing very regularly to one another, but on a sudden I received no Letters at all; the reasonof this was, they both understood I lived atAmusement, and had retired themselves to the Palace ofSpight: I no sooner received this News, but I rendered myself there also; it is a place where there is alwaies abundance of Tumult, Outrage, Quarrels and Noise: AndSpightis a Person who eternally gives occasion of Discontent and Broil; causing People often to fall out with those they love most, and to caress those they hate: But the Quarrels she occasions us with those we love, last but a very short season, and Love reconciles those differences thatSpightobliges us to make: Thô 'tis sometime pleasant enough to see those we Love extreamly, and violently, fall into the highest rage, and say a thousand things injurious and unreasonable, and to swear all the Oaths that angry Love and Fury can inspire, never to see or converse with one another again, and in a moment after to grow calm, weep, and reunite; to be perjured on both sides, and become more fond than ever they were.

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