How Rutilio, being enamoured of Polycarpa, and Clodio of Auristella, wrote Letters declaring their Love; Rutilio, perceiving he has done wrong, burns his Letter without showing it, but Clodio determines to present his to Auristella.

Rutilio and Clodio, the pair who were disposed to try and mend their fortunes; one, trusting to his abilities, and the other to his impudence; thought themselves worthy of aspiring, one to Polycarpa, the other to Auristella. The sweet voice and lively air of Polycarpa pleased Rutilio infinitely, and the peerless charms of Auristella no less delighted Clodio.

They sought an opportunity to unfold their wishes without getting into any scrape by the declaration, for assuredly it was a bold thing for a low-born man to give utterance to that which it was daring even to think of. However, it does sometimes happen that the inclinations of a high-born, though not virtuous lady, may embolden a low-born man to declare his wishes; but certainly in the present case, the boldness of these two gentlemen did not spring from any encouragement or want of reserve on the part of their ladies, spring whence they might. Rutilio at last wrote a letter to Polycarpa, and Clodio to Auristella, as follows:—

RUTILIO TO POLYCARPA.

"I am, lady, a foreigner; and, although I should tell you my birth was illustrious, as I can bring no witnesses to confirm it, possibly it might find no belief in your mind; but as a proof that my family is noble, suffice it that I am bold enough to tell you I adore you; ask what proofs you please, to show the truth of this. It is for you to ask, for me to give them. And since I desire to obtain you for my wife, imagine that I desire according to what I am, and that I deserve that which I desire; for noble minds aspire to noble things. Let your eyes give an answer to this letter; and by the mildness or severity of their glance, I shall judge whether it is the sentence of death or life."

Rutilio put up this letter, intending to give it to Polycarpa the first opportunity. He showed it, however first to Clodio, and Clodio gave him the letter he had written to Auristella, which ran thus:—

CLODIO TO AURISTELLA.

"Some persons are entangled in the chains of love by the bait of beauty; others, by that of lively and pleasing manners. Some, by the merit they discover in her who has subdued them; but I have put my neck into the yoke, and lost my freedom through compassion. It must indeed have been a heart of stone, O beauteous lady, that felt not pity in seeing you bought and sold and placed in such sad circumstances that your last moment often seemed at hand. The pitiless steel has threatened your throat; the flames have reached even your very garment. The cold snow has frozen you, and hunger has enfeebled and faded the bloom upon your cheeks, and lastly the sea engulphed and then cast you forth. What aid in all these sufferings have you had unless it be the slight assistance of a wandering prince, who follows you only for his own ends, or that afforded by your brother, (if indeed he is such,) that can relieve you from your miseries. Trust not lady, to distant promises, but cling to succour which is near at hand, and accept a means of safety which Heaven offers to you. I am a bachelor; I have abilities that will avail me even in the most remote corners of the world. I will form a plan to remove you from this land, and the importunities of Prince Arnoldo, and taking you from this Egyptian bondage, will bring you into a land of promise—Spain, France, or Italy (as I cannot live in England, my own dear and beloved country). I here then offer to be your husband; and from this moment I accept you as my bride."

Rutilio having read this letter, said, "Truly, I think we have both lost our wits to suppose we can fly without wings, our own pretensions being to crawl like the emmet. In my opinion, Clodio, it will be best to destroy these letters, for we are neither of us really in love, and only an idle and absurd fancy has urged us to write in this way. Love must have some foundation to rest upon, or it cannot exist; failing this, it fails entirely. Now what have we to expect for our pains but the rope to our necks, or the knife to our throats, the more, because in this declaration of love we are traitors as well as ingrates. Dost thou not see the immense distance that exists between a dancing-master, who mended his means by becoming apprentice to a silversmith, and the daughter of a king? And that which exists between a banished backbiter and one who refuses and scorns a crown? Let us forget our folly, and repent tha............