A petite pallace of Pettie his pleasure contaynyng many pretie hystories by him set foorth in comely colours, and most delightfully discoursed.

A petite pallace of Pettie his pleasure contaynyng many pretie hystories by him set foorth in comely colours, and most delightfully discoursed.

Table of contents

Title page

To the gentle Gentlewomen Readers.

The Letter of G. P. to R. B. concerning this woorke.

The Printer to all Readers of this Booke.

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¶ Sinorix and Camma.

Tereus and Progne.

Germanicus and Agrippina.

Amphiaraus and Eriphile.

Icilius and Uirginia.

Admetus and Alcest.

Scilla and Minos.

Curiatius and Horatia.

Cephalus and Procris.

Minos and Pasiphae.

Pigmalions friende, and his Image.

Alexius.

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A petite Pallace of Pettie his pleasure: Contaynyng many pretie Hystories by him set foorth in comely colours, and most delightfully discoursed.

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Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit vtile dulci.

To the gentle Gentlewomen Readers.

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GEntle Readers, whom by my will I woulde haue onely Gentlewomen, and therefore to you I direct my woords. May it please you to vnderstand, that the great desire I haue to procure your delight, hath caused me somwhat to transgresse the boundes of faithfull freindship: for hauinge with great earnestnesse obtained of my very freinde Master George Pettie the copie of certaine Histories by himself vpon his owne and certaine of his freinds priuate occasions drawn into discourses, I saw sutch wittie & pithie pleasantnes contayned in thē, that I thought I could not any way do greater pleasure or better seruice to your noble sexe, then to publish them in print, to your common profit & pleasure. And though I am sure hereby to incur his displeasure, for that he willed me in any wise to keepe thē secret: yet if it please you thankfully to accept my goodwill, I force the lesse of his ill wil. For to speake my fancy without feigninge, I care not to displease twentie men, to please one woman: for the freindship amongst men, is to be counted but colde kindnesse, in respect of the feruent affection beetweene men and women: and our nature, is rather to doate of women, then to loue men. And yet it lyeth in your powers so to thinke of his doings, and to yeeld him sutch courteous consideration for the same, that hee shal haue more cause to thank me, then think ill of my faithles dealing towards him. Which if your courtesies shall perfourme, you shall increase my dutie towardes you, and his good will towards mee: you shall make me shew my will and him his skill another time to pleasure you: you shall binde both of vs to remaine ready at your commaundements. [Page] For mine owne part, I can chaleng no part of praise or thankes for this woorke, for that I haue taken no paines therein, neither by addinge Argument, Note, or any thinge, but euen haue set them forth as they were sent mee: only I haue christened them with the name of a Pallace of Pleasure. I dare not compare this woorke with the former Pallaces of Pleasure, because comparisons are odious, and because they cōtaine Histories, translated out of graue authors & learned writers: and this containeth discourses, deuised by a greene youthfull capacitie, and reported in a manner ex tempore, as I my selfe for diuers of them am able to testifie. I dare not commende them beecause I am partiall, I dare dedicate them to you Gentlewomen, beecause you are curteous. And that you may the better vnderstande the drift of these deuises, I haue caused the letter also which my freinde sent mee with this worke, to be set downe to your sight. Thus commending mine owne faithles enterprise, and my freinds fruitfull labour and learning, to your courteous protection, I wish you all, beuty with bounty, and cumlinesse with curtesie, from my lodging in Fleetstreete.

Yours readily to commaund. R. B.

The Letter of G. P. to R. B. concerning this woorke.

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FOrced by your ernest importunity, and furthered by mine owne idle oportunity, I haue set downe in writinge, and accordynge to your request, sent vnto you certaine of those Tragicall trifles, whiche you haue heard mee in sundrie companies at sundrye times report, and so neare as I could I haue written them word for word as I then told them: but if any of them seeme better vnto you now then they did then, you must attribute it to my lisping lips, which perchaunce did somewhat disgrace the grace of them: and yf any seeme worse now then than, you must impute it to this, that perchaunce there was then some Pallas in place which furthered my inuention. For I am in that point of Ouid his opinion, that, Si cupiat sponte disertus erit. But whether they seeme vnto you good or ill, I trust you will take them as a token of good will, and that is the onely commoditie I looke to reape by them. I pray you only to vse them to your owne priuate pleasure, and not to impart them to other, perchaunce to my preiudice, for that diuers discourses touch neerely diuers of my nere freindes: but the best is, they are so darkely figured forth, that only they whom they touch, can vnderstand whom they touch: yet to auoide all captious constructions, I pray you in any wise let them bee an obiect only for your owne eyes. If this mislike you in my discourses, that I make Camma, vse the example of the countesse of Salisbury, the Dutches of Sauoy, and sutch who were of far later yeeres, then the auncient CAMMA is, with the like in diuers other of the stories: you must consider that my Camma is of fresher memory then any of them, and I thinke in your iudgment, of fresher hew then the fayrest of them. Likewise, if you like not of some wordes and phrases, vsed contrary to their common custome, you must thinke, that seeing wee allowe of new fashions in cutting of beardes, in long wasted doublets, in litle short hose, in great cappes, in low hattes, and almost in al things, it is as mutch reason wee should allow of new fashions in phrases [Page] and wordes. But these faultes, or whatsoeuer els, I care not to excuse vnto you, who are the only cause I cōmitted them, by your ernest desire to haue mee set downe these trifles in writing. And as my wordes hytherto haue tended to this end, that you should take these trifles well, so now I am to exhort you that you will vse them well: that with the spider you sucke not out poyson out of them: that by some light example you bee not the sooner incited to lightnesse. For beleeue mee (I speake it freindly, therefore take it freindly) I thinke it more needfull to send you a bridell then a spur that way. And if my example may bee a bridle to restraine you from vanity, doe but imitate mee hereafter, or if my counsayle may containe you in continency, doe but follow this aduise: if you bee free, that you come not into bondes: if you bee bound, vt te redimas captum quam queas minimo: for trust me, the broad blasphemy of Pigmalion, and the sodain Apostacie, or rather right conuersion of Alexius, haue setled me in this fayth, that I thinke him Ter (que) quater (que) beatum, qui a consortio mulierum se cohibere potest. You meruayle, I am sure to heare these wordes of mee, and that I should so soone turne my tippet and recant, who but yesterday, as it were, entred into heresy. But beleeue mee (my B.) nunquàm nimis citò est ad bonos mores via. Qui non est hodié, cras minus aptus erit.

Principiis obsta, serò medicina paratur,

Cum mala per longas conualuere moras.

Errare humanum est, in errore perseuerare, belluinum.

Sinnes oft assaied, are thought to be no sinne:

So sinne doth soyle the Soule it [...]eth in.

Thus haue I sent you in that booke some fruites of my former folly, and in this letter the profession of my present fayth, desiring you to vse the one to your honest pleasure, and to follow the other to your godly profite. I meane▪ god willing, the next spring to goe on pilgrimage with Alexius, and if you were so deuoutly disposed, I should thinke my selfe most happy to haue sutch a companyon. Frō my lodging in Houlburn this. 12. of Iuly.

Tuus semper, aut suus nunquàm: Omnia in mundo, immunda. G. P.

The Printer to all Readers of this Booke.

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HAuing sumtime in my custodie this Booke in written hande, which by meanes of a special freind of mine was cōmitted vnto mee, I was by him eft soones ernestly sollicited to publish the same in printe. Who beeing sutch an one, whose request I would not willinglie denie, I fell to perus [...]nge the woorke, and perceyued at the first by the Auctours letter, that hee was not wylling to haue it common, as thinkinge certaine poynts in it to bee to wanton to bee wrought by that wit which by this woorke appeareth to bee in hym: which, as I coniecture, mooued him to write to his freinde to keepe it priuate to his owne vse, as may appeare by his freindes Epistle, and his Letter goyng beefore. Neuerthelesse, to accomplish the desire of the one, and not to incurre the displeasure of the other, as also to pleasure you, the freindly Readers hereof, I haue put the same in printe, vsing my discretion in omitting sutch matter as in the Aucthours iudgement might seeme offenciue, and yet I trust not leauing imperfection in the discourse, wherof if I haue not gelded to mutch, I thinke I haue deserued the lesse blame. And consideryng that in matters of pleasure, the Prynter may sooner offende in printyng to mutch, then in publishyng to litle: I haue applyed my selfe to the contrary, hopynge that how mutch the lesse I haue printed, reseruynge the discourse perfect, so mutch the lesse I shalbe blamed for the deede. As for the Gentleman that wrote this woorke, and his freinde that procured it to bee published: as they are vnknowen to mee both, so had I conference with neither, wherby the lesse I could vse their aduice in abridging any thinge, which may bee some cause of the disgracinge of that, which doubtlesse the Auctour had penned with great excellency, and eloquence. If herein, as I feare, I haue offended, I am willing, beeynge aduertysed therof, to bee refourmed, crauinge pardon of him especyally, and of all other freindly Readers, for the ouersightes whatsoeuer herein committed: for whose pleasure and profite I haue left vndoone, and doone, what soeuer I haue doone in this behalfe. I haue also of my selfe added an argument to euery history, that the effect of the discourse may bee the more easily caryed away.

Fare yee hartely well.

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¶ Sinorix and Camma.

SINORIX, cheif gouernour of Sienna in Italy, glauncynge his eyes vpon the glitteryng bewtie of Camma, wife to Sinnatus, a Gentilman of the same citie: falleth into extreame loue with her, and assaieth sundry waies to win her goodwill. But perceiulnge his practices to take no wished effect, and supposinge the husbandes life to hinder his loue, causeth him to bee murthered by a russian. Camma, to the intent she might bee reuenged vpon the cheife conspiratour, in grauntinge him marriage, dispatcheth her selfe in drinkinge to him, and him in pledging her in a draught of poyson, which she had prepared for that purpose.

[Page] AS amongest all the bondes of beneuolence and good wil, there is none more honorable, auncient, or honest then Mariage, so in my fansie there is none that doth more firmely fasten, and inseparably vnite vs together then the same estate doth, or wherein the fruites of true freendship do more plenteously appeare: In the Father is a certayne seuere loue and carefull good will towardes the childe, the childe beareth a fearefull affection and awfull obedience towards the Father: the Master hath an imperious regarde of the seruant, the seruant a seruile care of the master. The frendship amongest men is grounded vppon no law, and dissolued vpon euery light occasion: the good will of kinsfolke is commonly colde, as mutch of custome as of deuotion: but in this stately state of Matrimonie, there is nothing fearefull, nothing fayned, all things are done faithfully without doubting, truely without doublyng, willingly without constraint, ioyfully without complaint: yea there is sutch a generall consent and mutuall agréement between the man and wife, that they both wish and will, couet and craue one thing. And as a sience grafted in a strange stalke, their natures being vnited by grothe, they béecome one, and together beare one fruite: so the loue of the wife planted in the breast of her husband, their harts by continuance of loue become one, one sence and one soule serueth them both. And as the sience seuered from the stocke withereth away, if it bée not grafted in some other: so a louing wife seperated frō the societie of her husband, withereth away in woe, and leadeth a life no lesse pleasant then death, as the sequele of this history shall shew, wherin you shall sée a meruaylous Mirrour of blessed Matrimony, and a terrible tipe of beastly tyrannie.

In the Citie Sienna was a married couple, the husbande named Sinnatus, the wife called Camma, who as they were [Page] by estate worshipfull, by vertue honorable, and by goodnesse gracious, so were they in ritches fortunate, in children fruitfull, in friends flowrishinge, and in loue so loyall eche to other, that they long time led a louinge and quiet life together: but either fortune enuying their prosperity, or the diuell displeased with their vertuous life, or God disposed to try their truth, and make them patterns to their posterity, conuerted this hapy life to heauy estate, and raysed vp one Synorix to raze and beat down the firme foundacion of their faithfull buildinge and bydinge together. For this Sinorix glauncing his gazing eyes on the blazinge beuty of Camma, receiued so déep an impression, of her perfection in his hart, that immediatly he fixed his fancie vpon her comely corps. And beinge the chiefe ruler of the citie, hee perswaded him self that there was none in the city so stout but would stoup to his lure, nor none so faire but would faine imploy them selues to pleasure him: but on the other side the renowmed vertue of Camma came to his minde, which perswaded an impossibility to his purpose: and floting thus betwéene hope and dispaire he entred into these termes.

O miserable wretch that I am, to whom shall I addresse my complaintes, is it the heauenly powers and goddes of loue that haue depriued mee of my sences, and shewed their deuine working in mée, or is it the hellish Hags and spirites of spight that haue bereeued mée of reason, & executed their cruelty on mée? is it loue that leadeth me to this lust, or is it hate that haleth mee to this hurt and mischiefe, no no the gods guide vs to goodnesse, the furies of hell it is that force vs to silthynesse: neyther doth it any way deserue the name of loue, which bringeth such torment to my troubled minde, that all the diuels in the world could not do the like. But sée my rashnes why am I so blindly bolde beastly to blaspheme against that which procéedes altogether of nature, which nature hath imparted to all men, and which I ought to follow without repininge or resistinge: for so long as I follow nature as my guide I cannot doe amisse, & seing nature hath [Page] taught vs to loue, why should I not rather prooue her precepts, then reproue that which by natures lore is allowed: and touchinge torment of minde, or either inconuenience that it bringeth, is it all able to impaire the least ioy which I shall inioy in imbracinge my Camma, is it not meete that hée which would reape should sowe, he that would gather fruite should plant trées, hée that would reach the swéete rose should now & then be scratched with the sharpe briers? I meane it is meet if I purpose to possesse so proper a péece, as Camma is, that I should sly no labour or refure any peril in the pursute therof. And here vpon he determined to follow the fury of his fancy what pangues or perils soeuer hée incurred therby: and hauing reuolued many wayes in his minde how hée might aspire to his purpose, at length he resolued vpon this to institute a sumptuous Banquet, wherto hée inuited the chéeif of the citie, among whom Synnatus and his wife Camma were not forgotten, to wit the only autors of the feaste. Now for the more royall receiuinge of his guestes he met them at the entry into his Palaice, and gaue them this gréeting.

Faire Ladies as I am right ioyfull of your presence, so am I no les sorowfull for the paines which you haue taken in vndertaking so great a iourney this dark and misty euening, for the which I must account my selfe so mutch the more beholdinge to you, by how much greater your labour was in comming, and by how mutch lesse your chere shalbe able to counteruayle it now you are come: & taking Camma by the hande, hee sayd softly vnto her, I pity the peines of these gentlewomen the les for that you were in their company, whose piersing eyes as celestiall starres or heauenly lampes might serue for lightes in the darke, whose swéete face might parfume the aier from all noysome smels which might annoy them: and by beholding your louely lookes and perfect shape they might take sutch delight, that the wearynesse of the way could nothing molest or gréeue them.

Camma hearing her selfe so greatly praysed of so great a [Page] personages as hée was, could not kéepe the Roseal redde out of her Alablaster chéekes, and thinking no sutch serpentine malice to lie hid vnder these merry and sugred woordes, shée gaue him this courteous answere.

If Sir the company had made no better prouision for lights and other thinges necessary then sutch as you speake of, they might soone haue slipt into the mier, but as I perceiue by your woords you are disposed to iest and bée méery, so I am content for this once to bée made the instrument thereof, thereby to ease some part of the paines which you are like to take in receiuing sutch troublesome guestes as wee are: and for our chere you néede take no thought, for it shalbe so mutch to good for vs, by how mutch lesse wée haue deserued any at all at your handes.

After this amarousin counter, he caused the company to sit downe to the banquet, and so disposed the matter, that Gamma sat right ouer at the table against him, wherby hée fréely fed his eyes on that meat which conuerted rather to nourishment of sicknesse, then to wholesome humours of health. For as the finest meates that bée, eaten by one in extremity of sicknesse, resolue not to pure bloud to strengthen the body, but to watrish humors to féede the feuer and disease: so though her face and lookes were fine and swéete, and brought delight to all the beholders els, yet to him they wrought onely torment and trouble of minde: and notwithstanding hee perceiued her beauty to bréed his bane, & her lookes to procure the losse of his liberty, and that as the Cocatrice by sight only sleath, so shée by courteous countenance onely killed and wounded his hart, yet could he not refrain his eyes from beholding her, but according to the nature of the sickly pacient, which cheifly desireth that which cheiflye is forbidden him, hée so incessantly threw his amarous glaū ces towards her, that his eies were altogether bleared with her beauty, and shée also at the length began to perceiue his louing lookes towards her, which made her looke pale in token of the litle pleasure shee tooke in his toyes, and of the [Page] great feare shee had least, some other should marke them, wherby her good name might come in question. The banquet beeing ended, euery one prepared themselues to heare a stage playe, which was then ready to bée presented. But Synorix being able to play but one part, which was of a pore passionat louer, determyned to go forward with the tragedy already begun betwéene Camma and him, and séeing her set out of the husbandes sight, placed him self by her, and entred into reasoning with her, to this purpose. If (faier lady) this simple banquet had bene so swéete and pleasant to your séemely selfe and the rest, as your sight is delightful to mee, I am perswaded you would not haue changed your chere for Nector and Ambrosia, which the Poetes faygned to bée the foode of the goddes: but seeing there was no cause of delighte in the one, and the other contayneth that in it which may content the gods them selues, I shall desier you in good part to accept the one, and courteously to accounte me worthy to inioy the other. And though I haue not here tofore by dutifull seruice manifested vnto you the loyalty of my loue, yet if my poore hart could signifie vnto you the assaults it hath suffred for your sake, I doubt not but you would confesse, that by force of loue I had woon you, & were worthy to weare you. For albeit by humane lawes your husband only haue interest in you, yet by natures lawes, which beinge more auncient ought to be of more auctority, he ought to inioy you which ioyeth most in you, which loueth you best, & indureth most paine for your sake: & for proufe of natures lawes, it may please you to consider the quality of the shée woulfe who alway choseth that woulfe for her make who is made most leane and foule by following her: besides that, my tytle marcheth vnder the ensigne of iustice, which is a vertue giuinge to euery one accordinge to his deserte, and that the desert of loue is onely loue againe, I know you are not to know: for all the goods in the worlde are not able to requite good will, the one belonginge to the minde, the others incident to the body, but from the equitie of my cause [Page] I appeale to your good grace and fauour, and at the bar of your beauty I humbly holde vp my handes, meaning to be tried by your courtesy and mine owne loyalty, and minding to abide your sentence either of consent vnto life, or of deniall vnto death. Camma hearing this discourse, asso [...]e loked red for shame, as soone pale for anger, neither would disdain let her make him answere, neither would her greife giue her leaue to holde hir peace, but standing a while in a maze betwéene silence and saying, at length shee brake of the one and burst out into the other in this sort.

If (Sir) your banquet had bene no better, then this your talke is pleasant to mée, I am perswaded the dishes woulde haue béen taken whole from the Table without touchinge, but as the one was far better then the company deserued, so the other for a far worse woman might more fitly haue serued, and if your swéete meate haue sutche sower sauce, the next time you send for mée, I will make you sutch answere as was made to Cratorus the Emperour by Diogenes, when he sent for him to make his abode with him in his courte, who answered he had rather be fed at Athens with salt, thē liue with him in all delicacy: so for my part I promise you, I had rather be fed at home with bread and water then pay so derely for dainty dishes. Touching the paines you haue indured for my sake, I take your wordes to bee as false towardes mee, as you would make my faith towards my husband, but admit they were true, seeing I haue not willingly been the cause of them, I count not my self bound in conscience to counteruayle them, only I am sory they were not bestowed on some more worthy your estate and lesse worthy an honest name then my selfe, which beinge the cheife ritches I haue, I meane most diligently to keepe. The interest which cauilingly you cleime in me as it consisteth of false premises, so though the premises were true, yet the conclusion which you infer thereof followeth not necessarily, for were it so that your loue were greater towardes me then my husbandes (which you can not induce me to beléeue) [Page] yet séeyng my husbande by order of law hath first taken possession of mée, your title succéeding his, your successe and sute must néedes bée cold & naught: for as your selfe say of lawes, so of titles the first are euer of most force, and the most ancient of most auctoritie. Your Wolues example, though it shew your Foxely brayne, yet doth it inforce no sutch proofe to your purpose, but that by my former reason it may bée refelled, for y• the Woulfe is frée from the proper possession of any: but therin truly you obserue decorā very duly, in vsyng the example of a Beast in so beastly a cause: for like purpose, like proofe: like man, like matter. Your manly marchyng vnder the ensigne of Iustice, if reason bée your captayne generall to lead you, I doubt not, but soone to tourne to a retire: for if it bée goodwill which you beare mée, I must néedes graunt you duly deserue the like agayne: but when you are able to prooue it goodwill to deflower my chastitie, to béeréeue mée of my good name, to despoyle mée of mine honour, to cause mée to transgresse the boundes of honestie, to infringe my faith towards my husband, to violate the sacred Rytes of Matrimonie, to pollute the Temple of the Lorde, with other innumerable enormities, when I say you are able to prooue these to procéed of good will, then will I willingly yéelde consent to your request. But sée the vnreasonablenesse of your suite, would you haue mée in shewyng curtesie towards you, commit cruelty towards my self? should I in extendyng mercie to you, bring my selfe to miserie? should I place you in pleasure, and displace my selfe of all ioy? for what ioy can a woman inioy hauinge lost her chastitie, which ought to bée the ioy Iewell and Gemme of al Gentilwomen of my callyng and countenance? your appeale from your owne cause to my courtesie bewrayeth the naughtinesse therof, for if it bée not ill, why sticke you not to it? if it bée good, why appeale you from it? but séeynge you haue constituted mée Iudge in this case, you know it is not the part of a Iudge to deale partially, or to respect the man more then y• matter, or to tender more mine owne case then [Page] your cause: therefore indifferently this sentence definitiue I giue, I condemne you hencefoorth to perpetuall scilence in this sute, and that you neuer hereafter open your mouth herein, beeing a matter moste vnséemely for your honour, and most preiudiciall to my honestie: and in abidyng this sentence (if you can bee content with honest amitie) for the curte [...]ie which I haue alwayes founde at your handes, and for the good will which you pretend to beare mée, I promise you, you shall inioy the seconde place in my harte, and you shall finde mée fréendly in all thinges, which either you with reason can aske, or I with honestie graunt.

Synorix hauing heard this angell thus amiably pronouncing these woords, was so rapt in admiratiō of hir wisedom, and rauished in contemplation of her beutie, that though shée had not inioyned him to silence, yet had hée not had a woorde to say: and least his lookes might béewray his loue, and his countenance discouer his case, hée secretly and suddainly withdrew him selfe into his chamber, to study what face to set on the matter: & casting him self vpon his bed, after hée had dreamed a while vpon his dotinge deuises, at length he awaked out of his wauering thoughtes, and recouered the possession of his sences againe: by which time the play was ended, and his guestes ready to depart, whervpon hee was driuen to come foorth of his chamber to take his leaue of them: and bidding his Misteris good night, [...] gaue her sutch a looke, that his very eyes séemed to plead for pity, so that what his tongue durst not, his eyes did. His guestes beeinge gone, he disposed him selfe to rest, but loue, which was then his good Maister, willed him otherwise to imploy that night, whiche was in examyning perticulerly euery point of her answere. And though the first part seemed sumwhat sharpe and rigorous, and the second contained the confutation of his cause: yet the third and last part seemed to be mixt with mettell of more milde matter, which he repeated to himselfe a thousand times, and there vppon, as vppon a firme foundacion, determined to raise vp his building again [Page] with the two former partes of her answere had vtterly [...]ansakt to the grounde. But mistaking the nature of the ground wheron the foundation was layd, his building, as if it had been set in sandes, soone came to ruine: for by that promise of freendship, which she freendly made him, hee sinisterly conceiued hope of obtayning that which she neither with honour could promise, neither with honesty perfourme, and feeding him selfe with that vaine hope in great brauerie, as in a manner assured of the victorie, hee wrote vnto her to this effecte.

Albeit good Misteris, you haue inioyned my tounge to silence, yet my handes are at libertie, to bewray the secrets of my harte: and though you haue taken my harte prisoner, yet my head hath frée power to plead for release and releife. Neither would I you should count mee in the number of these cowardly Souldiours, which at the first Canon that roareth, giue ouer the siege of the citie they assaulted, for I haue been alwayes setled in this opinion, that the more harde the fight is, the more haughtie is the conquest, and the more doubtfull the battayle, the more doubtie the victory. And as it is not the part of a politike Captayne to put himself in perill, without hope of pray, or prayse: so to win the Bulwarks of your breast I count it a more ritche booty then Caesar had in ransacking so manie Cities, and a more rare prayse then euer Alexander had in subduing so many nations. And though my presumption may seeme great in practising one of so highe a calling as your swéet self, yet seing in al degrees of freind ship, equality is cheefly considered, I trust you will clere me of crime that way: neither would I, you should thinke my flight so frée to stoup at euery stale, for as the haughty Hauke will not pray on carrion, so neither will courtely silkes practise country sluttes. But bicause I knowe that to bee in you, which both concerneth my callynge, and consenteth with my fancie, I haue chosen you for the Goddesse of my deuotions, humbly beséechinge you [Page] with pitie to heare the prayers, whiche I with payne powre foorth beefore you, that it may not bee sayd your name hath been called on in vayne, whereby you may lose that honour, whiche others of dutie, and I of deuotion doo vnto you. The benefite which you bestow on mée in graunting mée the second place in your hart, as I must acknowledge though somwhat vnthankfully, so must I craue a greater though somwhat impudently: for séeinge my whole heart and body are yours, mee thinkes a péece of your heart is a poore peece of amendes. Way the matter vprightly, consider my case courtiously, and take compassion on mee speedely. Yours altogether, Don Sinorix de Sienna. Camma hauing receiued and red this letter was assayled diuersly, sometime with sorowe in thinking on the time shée first saw him or hée her, sometime with repentance of her former promise made him, sometime with pity on his part, sometime with piety on her owne: but at length piety vanquished pity, and caused her to send this rough reply to his letter.

The litle account you make of mée and my goodwill, I perceiue by the litle care you haue to satisfie that which I gaue you in charge, you would yl haue done as the knight Virla did, who at the cōmaundement of his lady Zilia, forbare the vse of his toung & remained dum the terme of. i [...] yeeres: but as you subtilly thinke to discharge your self of my charge by writing and not speakyng, so by writyng I simplie do you to vnderstand, y• from henceforth you looke for no more at my handes then at a straungers, I wil not say an enemies, for seyng my promise was but vpon condition, the condition béeing broken, my promise is boyde: And séeing you haue plaied ye pelting Merchant ventrer, to hazard that goodwill and credite you had with mee to get more, the tempest of my iust displeased minde hath driuen your sute against the rough rockes of repulse, and you haue made shipwracke of all: your couragious persisting in your purpose proueth you rather a desperate sot [Page] then a discrete souldiour: for to hop against the hill, and striue against the streame, hath euer bene counted extreeme folly: your valiaunt ventring for a pray of value proceedes rather of couetousnesse then of courage, for the valiant souldiour séeketh glory, not gaine, but therin you may bee more fitly resembled to the Caterpiller which cleaueth only to good fruite, or to the Moath which most of all eateth the best cloath, or to the Canker which cōmonly bréedeth in the fayrest Rose, or to the Woulfe whiche by his will wil kill y• fattest sheepe. The equality which you pretend to be between vs is altogether vnequal, for both you exceede me in degree, and I excell you in honesty, so y• neither in calling nor quality is there any equalitie beetwéen vs. Wheras you haue chosen me for your goddesse, I beseeche you suffer me to remaine an earthly creature, and serue you that god which can bridle your wanton desires, and giue you grace to giue your neighbours leaue to liue honestly by you. Least you take his name in vain, who will verely punish your vanity at the length, though for a time he suffer you to wallow in your wickednes, for it is the prudent pollicy of god to suffer y• sinfull long time to swim in their sinne, to make their sinking more sorowfull, by their sodaine shrinking from prosperity to aduersity. For aduersity is euer most bitter to him who hath longe time liued in prosperity: neither must you thinke that that which is deferred is taken away, for as your self or any other that oweth m [...]ny, though you defer your creditour for a time, yet you defraude him not altogether of dis due, so though God take dayes with you for a time, yet assure your selfe hee will pay you truly at the length, yea and perchance with large vsury besides the due det. For as a hauke the higher pitch shee flieth frō the ground with the more force shée stoupeth downe vpon her praye and can the more easely commaund it, or as a stroke or blowe the higher it is lifted the heuier it lightes, so gods vengance the longer it is deferred, the more it is to be [Page] feared. And this good counsayle take of mée as the last benefite which you shall euer receiue at my handes. Yours nothing at all Constantio Cāma. Sinorix hauing séen this rigorous resolution of his Misteris, went another way to work, hee suborned an old womā of the citie, wel seene in soliciting sutch sutes, to go vnto her and to present her from him with many ritch tewels, and which hée willed her to tell, hee would willingly bestowe for one simple consent of her good will. The olde woman hauing done his shamefull message without shame, sayd of her selfe in this sort.

Surely, Misteris Camma, if the experience which olde yéeres haue giuen mee, might craue credite for the counsayle which I shall giue you, I would not wish you to refuse the frendship of sutch a one as Sinorix is, who is able to fill your purse with perles, and fulfil you with pleasure euery way: neither is it wisdome for you to spend your golden yeeres but in golden pleasure, and not to bée tied to one diet which bringeth satiety and lothsomnesse, but to haue choice of chaung which breedeth appetite and lustinesse. The chast eares of Camma not able to indure this course discourse, shee cut of her gostely counsayle with these cutting woords, gentlewoman, if you were indued with as many good conditions as you haue liued yeares, you would neuer haue vndertaken so shameles a message and were it not more for reuerence of your yeeres, then respect of your errant, I would make your filthy trade of life so famous, that you should euer hereafter bee ashamed to shew your face in any honest company. What do you thinke, though mony can make you a baude, that it can make mee a harlot, and though you for gaine flie no filthinesse, that I for glory follow no faithfulnesse, either towardes my spouse and husband, either towardes my• Lorde and god? Do you iudge me so couetous of coine, or so prodigall of min [...] honour, that to get theone I wil loose the other? Or doth hee that sent you thinke so abiectly of [Page] mee, that gaine may more preuaile with mée then goodwill, mony more then a man, coyne more then courtesie, Iewels more then gentlenesse, Perls more then perils and paynes which hee hath indured for my sake: no let him vnderstand, if any thinge could haue caused mee to swarue frō my duty, loue of luker should not haue allured mée therto. But as I am fully resolued, faythfully to keepe my vow and promise made to my husband, so I béeseeche him not to bestow any more labour in attempting that, which hee shall neuer attaine vnto: for before this my resolution shalbée reuersed, hée shall see the dissolution of my body into dust. But if hee will not thus giue ouer his sute, hee will cause mee to make those priuy to his dealing, who will make him ashamed of it: and for your part, you may packe you hence with this your trashe and trumpery to those, which measure their honour by the price of profite, and their glory by the gwerdon of gayne. This honest woman beeing gone a way with a slea in her eare, Camma began to thinke of the matter with aduysed deliberation, and entred into reasoning with her selfe in this sort.

What fearfull folly is this in mee to contemne the frendship of so great a lorde as Synorix is, whom the greatest Lady in this lande would willingly receiue for husband, and yet I rigorously refuse for seruaunt? What is that honoure wheron I stand so stifly, shall it not rather increase mine honour to haue so honourable a seruaunt? And what is that chastity which I seke so charily to keep, do not some men say that women alwaies liue chastly inough, so that they liue charily inough, that is so that they conuay their matters so couertly that their dooinges bée not commonly knowen, for otherwise to incontinency were added impudency: likewise, for a woman to enter into conuersation with a rascall of no reputation, can not but bee a great blemishe to the brightnesse of her name, (for a foule adultrer is euer woorse then the adultry it [Page] self) and it is a great signe she greatly lotheth her husband when she liketh one better, which is eueri way worse: but to haue a freende of reseruation whose very countenance may credit her & her husband, me thinkes can be no great dishonour to either the one or the other. What dishonour was it I pray you to Helen when she left her husbād Menelaus & went with Paris to Troy? Did not y• whole glory of Greece to her great glory go in armes to fetch her again And if she had not been counted a peece of price, or if by y• facte she had defaced her honour, is it to be thought y• Grecians would haue continued ten yeeres in war continually to win her againe? But to leaue honour and chastity, and come to commodity and safety, what do I knowe what perils will folow of this repulse: is it likely Sinorix wil put vp this reproche paciently? may I not iustly lok [...] to haue his loue turned to hate, and that he will either by tyrannous meanes séeke the subuersion of my husbande & his whole household, either by trecherous meanes woork the ouerthrow of me and my good name? For the first, Edward a kinge of England may serue for an example, who when the countesse of Salesbury would not consent to content his incontinent desire, he so raged against her parēts and friends, y• the father was forced to perswade his own daughter to folly: & the mother as a baud to prostitute her to the kinges lust, & bring her to his priuy chamber. For the second, the Erle of Pancalier may serue for testimony who when y• duchesse of Sauoy would not yeeld to his lassciuious lust, wrought sutch wyles, y• she was condemned for adultry, and iudged to suffer most shamefull death by burning. Now to preuent either of these perils it lieth in my power, & seing of euils y• least is to be chosen, I think it better then to hazard life, liuing, or good name, to lose that which shalbée no great losse to my husband or my self, for as the sun though it shine on vs here in Italy, yet it giueth light likewise to those that are in England and other places: or as the sea hath fish for euery man, or as one good [Page] dishe of meate may well suffice two persons though very hungry, so is there that in mee wher with Synnatus may bee satisfied, and Synorix sufficed. And this incourageth▪ mée hereto the rather, for that I sée by experience in most of my neighbours, y• those are euer most made of by their husbandes, who that way deale most falsely with theyr husbandes. Besides that how openly soeuer they deale in these affaires, theyr husbandes neuer heare of it, and though they do heare of it, yet wil thei not harken vnto it, and though they do in a manner se it, yet will they not beleeue it, and though they doo bée leeue it, yet will they loue them the better to haue them leaue it the sooner. Againe, what know I whether my husband deale falsly with mée & row in some other streame, which if it bee so, I shal but saue my soule in paying his debts, & oxercise the vertue of iustice in requiting like for like. And touching corrupting of my childrens bloud, I thinke it made more noble in participating wt a bloud more noble then my husbandsis. But canst thou harlot cal him husband, whom y• meanest so wickedly to betray? Am I in my wits to vse these witles words? Is it my mouth y• hath vttred this blasphemy, or was it the diuel within me that deliuered it forth? No, if I were gyltie but in thought hereto, I would restore y• fault with criminal penance, yea if I felt any part in me apt to any such euil, I would cut it of for feare of infecting the rest of y• body. Good god, whether now is honour fled, which was euer wont to bée the fairest flower in my garland? Whether now is chastity chas [...]d, which hath bene alwaies the cheifest stay of my state? Shall the sunne of my shining life be now eclipsed with an acte so filthy, that the very remembrance thereof is no lesse gréenous then death? Why, was Helen for all her heauenly hew, any other accounted then a common harlot, and was it not only to bee reuenged on her and her champion Paris, that the Grecians continued their siege so long? And touchinge the inconueniences I may incur by this refusall, is any [Page] euill worse then honesty? Is there any thinge to bee fled more then offence? Is not the losse of goodes lesse, then of ones good name? Is not an honourable death to bée preferred before an infamous life. And touching y• Countesse before rehersed, had shée euer married with the kinge if shee had not continued in her constancy to the ende? And for the Duchesse of Sauoy what hurt sustained shée by that false accusation? Did it not make her glory and vertue shew more splendently to the whole world? Yes no boubt of it, for like as streames the more ye stop them the higher they flow: and trées the more yée lop them the greater they growe, or as Spices the more they are beaten the swéeter sent they send forth: or as the herbe Camamile the more it is trodden downe the more it spreadeth abroad, so vertue & honesty the more it is spited, the more it sprouteth and springeth, for honour euer is the reward of vertue, and doth accompany it as duly as the shadow doth the body. And as the sun though it bée vnder a cloud kéepeth still his brightnes though weo sée it not, so vertue though it bée dimmed with diuelishe deuises, yet it keepeth her strength and power still, though to vs it seeme vtterly to bée extinguished, so that so longe as I remaine vertuous & honest, I neede not care what man, malice or the diuell can deuise against mee. No no deare children you shall not by my meanes bee suspected to bee bastardes, neither wil I make thée sweet husband ashamed to shew thy face amongest the best of them: and I wil let thée vnderstand the villany which that viper Synorix indeuoureth to death. And shall I deale so fondly in deede, is not the repulse punishment inough, onlesse I bée wray his dooinges to my husband and so procure him further displeasure? Yea I might therby bee occasion to set them together by the eares, whereby it might fall out (as the euent of battaile is alwayes doubtfull) that my husband might bee hurt or slaine, and then the common report would bée (as the people are euer prone to speake the woorst) that [Page] I béeing an ill woman had conspired his confusion and seh Synorix to slea him. And though no sutch thing chauncet (as God forbid it should) yet this at least I should bee sure to get by it, that my busbande euer after would bee ielious ouer mée, and right carefull would hée bée to kéepe that which hée saw others so busily to seeke. And sutch is the malice of men, perchaunce hée would iudge some light behauiour in mée, to be the cause that incouraged Synorix to attempt my chastity. For men haue this common opinion amongest them, that as there is no smoake but where there is some fire, so seldom is there any feruent loue, but where there hath bene some kindnesse shewed to kindle ones desire. Moreouer this toy may take him in the head, that it is a practise betwéen vs two to preuent suspicion & cloake our loue, & with the firme perswasion of my inuincible chastity, to lull him a sléepe in security, and then most to deceaue him, when hée least suspecteth guile: and if at any time hée heare of it by other, I may stop his mouth with this, that I my selfe tolde him of it, which if I had ment to deale falsely with him, I would not haue done: yea what know I whether hée wil like the better or the worse of mée, for bréeding sutch a bées nest in his braine: lastly I should derogate mutch from mine owne vertue, and in a manner accuse my selfe of pronenesse to fal that way, as though I were not strong inough to withstand his assaultes without the assistance of my husband. Yes, god in whom I repose my trust, shall fortifie mée against the fury of my foes, and giue mée grace with wisdome to escape his wiles, with charines to eschew his charmes, and with pietie to resist his prauitie.

Now to returne to Synorix, so soone as that olde Pandarina had related vnto him at large the answere of his Misteris, hée fel frō the place he sat, flat vpon the ground, and lay in a traunce a great while, and now those sparks which béefore loue had kindled in him, were with continuall sighes so blowen, as it were with a payre of bellowes, [Page] that they breake foorth into fierie flames, and that which before was fancie, was now turned to furie: for beyng come to himselfe, or rather béeinge quight past him selfe, with staringe lookes, with pale countenaunce, with fierie eyes, with gnashing teeth, with trembling tongue, in rage he roared foorth these words.

And shall I thus be frustrate of my desire? shal I with wordes and workes, with prayers and presentes, pursue the goodwill of a daintie disdayninge dame, and receiue but labour for my loue, and gréeif for my goodwill? But ah frantik foole, why doe I in my rage, rage against her who is the most fayre and curteous creature vnder heauen? No it is that churle Synnatus that soweth the sede of my sorrow, it is his seueritie towardes her, that causeth her crueltie towardes mée: the feare shee hath of him, is the cause she dareth not take compassion on my passions: and shall hée swim in blisse, and I lie drencht in déepe dispaire? Shal he be ingorged with pleasure, & I pine away in paine? No I will make him féele that once, which hee maketh me féele a thousand times a day. And hereupon determined with himselfe by some meanes or other to procure the death of Synnatus, thinking thereby the sooner to obtaine his purpose of his wife. And callinge vnto hym one of his swearing swash buckler seruauntes, hee laide before him the platfourme of his purpose, and tolde hym plainely if hée woulde spéedily dispatch Synnatus out of the way, he would giue him a thousand crownes in his purse to kéepe him in another Country. His seruaunt, though altogether past grace, yet for fashion sake began to aduise his maister more wisely, saying.

For mine owne part it maketh no matter, for another country is as good for mee as this, and I count any place my country, where I may liue wel and wealthily, but for your part it bée hooueth you to looke more warely to your selfe, for that your loue towardes Camma is knowen to diuers of this citie, by reason wherof, if I should commit [Page] any sutch acte, it must néedes bée thought that you must néedes bée accessarie therto, which will turne, though not to your death, for that none hath auctoritie aboue you to execute the rigour of the lawes vpon you, yet to your vtter shame and reproche it can not but conuert.

Tush (saith his master) the case is light, where counsayle can take place: what talkest thou to mée of shame, that am by iniurious and spitefull dealyng depriued the vse of reason, and dispossessed of my wittes and sences. Neither au [...] I the first that haue played the like parte, did not Dauid the chosen seruant of God, béeyng blasted with the beutie of Bersabe, cause her husband Vrias to bée set in the forefront of the battayle to be slayne, which doone hée married his wife? And why is it not lawfull for mée to do the like? But I know the worst of it, if thou wilt not take it vpon thee, I will either do it my selfe, or get some other that shall.

The man séeyng how his Maister was bent bothe to satisfie his minde, and to gaine so good a summe of money promised to perfourme his charge which with oportunity of time and place hée did. And séeyng Synnatus on a time, (in ill time) passyng thorow a blind lane of the Citie, hée shrowded himselfe in a corner, and as hée came by, shot him thorow with a Pistol: which doone hée foorthwith sled the countrey. Camma hearyng of the cruell murther of her husbande, and by the circumstances, knowyng Synorix to bée the authour thereof, tearynge her heyre, scratching her face, and beatyng her body agaynst the ground, s [...] soone as the fluddes of teares had flowen so longe that the fountayne was drie, so that her spéeche might haue passage, whiche before the teares stopped, shee began to crie out in this carefull manner.

O God, what vniustice is this in thee, to suffer the earth remayne polluted with the bloud of innocentes? Diddest thou cursse Cain for killing his brother Abel, and wilt thou not crucifie Synorix for sleayng Synnatus? Is [Page] thy hart now hardned that thou wilt not, or are thy hands now weakened that thou canst not preserue thy seruantes from the slaues of Sathan? If there bee no safetie in innocencie, wherin shall wee repose our selues? If thou bee not our protectour, who shall defend vs? If the wicked vanquish the vertuous, who shal set foorth thy honour and glory, or who will so mutche as once call vpon thy name? But what meane I wretched wight to exclayme agaynst God as the aucthour of my euill, wheras it is only I my selfe that am guiltie of my husbandes death? It is I that pampred vp my beutie, to make it glister in the sight of euery gazynge eye, in the thriftlesse threade wherof this Tirant was so intangled, that to vnwinde himself thereout hee hath wrought all this mischeif. It is I that would not detect his doynges to my husband, wherby hee might haue preuented the perill which hung ouer his head. And seeyng I haue been the cause of his death, shall I beyng a murtherer remayne aliue? Did Alcyone seeynge the dead carkas of her husbande Ceix cast on shore, willingly cast her selfe into the Sea to accompany his death. And shall I see my sweet Synnatus slayne, and not drinke of the same cuppe? Did true Thisbe goare her gorgious body with the same sworde, wherwith princely Piramus had prickt him selfe to the hart: and are not my handes stronge inough to do the like? Did Iulietta die vpon the corps of her Romeo, and shall my body remayne on earth, Synnatus beyng buried? No gentle death come with thy direfull dart, and peirce my paynefull harte, and with one death rid mee out of a thousande deathes at once. For what thought do I thinke on my Synnatus, which doth not procure mee double death? What thing do I see belongyng to him, which is not a treble torment vnto mee? But it is cowardlinesse to wish for death, and couragiousnesse valiantly to take it. Yes I can and will bestow my lyfe for my Synnatus sweete sake: but O God shall that Tyrant remayne aliue to triumphe in his trechery, & vaunt [Page] in his villanie? Shall I not sée his fattall day béefore my finall end. It is his bloud that wilbe a most swéete sacrifice to the ghost of Sinnatus, not mine: and then can I ende my life contentedly when I haue offred vp this acceptable sacrifice: and vntill sutch time as I haue oportunity hereto, I will prolonge my dolefull dayes in direfull greefe, and onely the hope of reuengment, shall heauily holde my lothsome life and sorowfull soule together? For other cause why I should desire life I haue not, for that I am vtterly depriued of all ioyes of life. For as the bird that is bruised with some blow lieth aloofe on the leaues, and heares his felowes singe, and is not able to vtter one warblinge note out of his mournfull voice, but rather hates the harmony which other birdes doo make, so I, my heart beeing broosed and broken, sit solitarily alone and sée some hange about their husbandes neckes, some closely clepe them in their armes, some trisle with them, some talke with them, all which sight redoubleth my paine to thinke my self depriued of those pleasures: yea to a wretched wounded heart that dwels in dole, euery pleasaunt sight turnes to bitter spight: and the onely obiecte which shall euer content my eyes, shall bee the distruction of that tyraunt, which hath brought mee to this desolation.

Now Synorix thinking that time had taken away her teares and sorrow, and supposinge that neither shée, neither any other had suspected him for the murther of her husband, began to enter into the listes of lust againe, and with a new incountry of incontiuency to set vpon her. But shée so mutch abhorred him, that if shee but heard his name it caused her nature to fayle in her, and all her sences to faint: so that when hee saw no posibility to impell her to impiety, hee ment to moue her in the way of mariage and caused her nere kinsfolke and friends to solicite his sute vnto her, who partly for feare of his displeasure, partly for that they knew it would bée greatly to her ad [...]auncement, laboured very ernestly in the matter, and [Page] were so importunate vpon her that no answere would satisfie them. Now Camma séeing shée could not be rid of her fréends, and foreséeing that by this meanes shée might bée rid of her enemies, agréed to take him to husband. And the day of the solemnizing of the mariage béeinge come, they went together to the temple of Diana wher al things according to custome beeing consummated, the bride wife (as the vse was) dranke to her husband in drinke as hée thought, but indéede in poyson which shée had prouided of purpose: and when shée saw hée had drunke vp his death, shée sayd vnto him goe now and in stéed of thy mariage bed get thée a graue, for thy mariage is turnd to murther, a punishment most iust for thy outragious lust and cruell tyranny 'for vengeance asketh vengeance, & bloud bloud, and they y• sowe slaughter, shalbée sure to reape ruine and destruction. Now Synorix hearing these woordes and féeling the force of the poyson to woorke within him, assaied all the remedies hée could to cure him selfe, but al in vain. Camma also féeling the poyson to preuaile within her, fell vpon her knees béefore the aulter of Diana vttringe these woordes.

O goddesse, thou knowest how since the death of my sweete husband, this life hath béene most lothsome and sower vnto mée, and that the only offeringe vp of this sacrifice kept mée from him, which now in thy presence I haue perfourmed I thinke my selfe to haue satisfied my duty, and purchased therby a pasport to passe to the place and Paradise where my husband hath his habitation.

Immediatly vpon this so well as shée could shée crauld home to her house, where shée was no sooner, but shée had certaine tydinges brought her that Synorix was deade. Wherwith with great ioy shee cast her selfe downe vpon her bed, and called her litle childrē about her, and blessing and bussing them sayd.

Alas prety Impes who shal now defend you from your foes, who shall redresse your wronges▪ Your father is [Page] gone, your mother is goinge, and you poore soules must bide behinde to abide the brunt and bitter blastes of this wretched world. Ah if the loue which I bare my husband had not beene excéeding great, nature woulde haue caused mée to haue had some care of you, & for your sakes to haue suffred my self somtime longer to liue, but now as I haue shewed my self a louing wife, so haue I scarce shewed my selfe a naturall mother. But alas it was reason I shoulde prefer him beefore you, who was the autor of you, & who blessed me with you. Wel I sée now my time is come, my toung begins to faile, come dere children, & take your last conge of your lost mother, god shield you from shame, God preserue you from perill, God send you more prosperous fortune thē your poore parents had. And thus farewel my fruit, farewel my slesh, farewel swéete babes, and O welcome my Synnatus, whō I sée in the skies ready to receiue mée, and so in sorrow and ioy shée gaue vp the ghost.

Now I would wish you blazing starres which stande vpon your chastity, to take light at this lot, to take héed by this harme, you sée the husband slaine, the ruffian fled, the louer poysoned, the wife dead, the freinds comfortles, the children parentlesse. But it is naturally incident to women to enter into extremities, they are either to louinge or to lothinge, to curteous or to coy, to willinge or to wilfull, to mercifull or to mercilesse, to forwarde or to froward, to freindly or to féendly, the meane they alwayes meanely account of. Otherwise shee might with reason sooner then rigour haue repressed his rage. But howsoeuer my words run, I would not you should take them to tend altogether to her dispraise, for as I must condemne her crueltie, so can I not but commende her constancie, & chastitie, and thinke her worthy to bée compared to Lucrece, Penelope, or what woman soeuer that euer had any preheminence of praise for her vertue. And I woulde wishe my gallant youthes, which delight to gaze in euery garish glasse, and to haue an Oare stirring in euery beutifull [Page] boate, not to row past their reache, not to fixe their fancie vpon impossibilities, not to suffer themselues to be blasted with the beames of beautie, or scorched with the lightning of louing lookes: sutch loue towardes the married is euer without lawe, sutch fire is without feare, sutch suits are without shame, sutch Cankers, if they bée not at the beginning cured, growe to the confusion of the whole body. Therefore Gentlewomen I leaue it to your iudgements to giue sentence, whether be more worthy reprehension, hée or she. He had the lawe of loue on his side, shee had the lawe of men and of marriage on her part: loue led him, which the goddes themselues cannot resist, chastitie guided her, whiche the goddes themselues haue lost: he killed him whom he counted his enemy, she killed him whom she knew her fleshly freinde: shée with reason might haue preuented great mischiefe, his wings were to mutch limed with lust to fly forth of his folly.

Tereus and Progne.

¶TEREVS Kinge of Thrace, enamored of Progne, daughter to Pandion Prince of Athens, obtaineth her in marriage, and conueyeth her into his owne countrey. Progne, desirous to see her sister Philomela, mooueth Tereus to go to Athens, and to get licence to bringe her into Thrace, who on the way fallinge into vnlawfull likinge of her, forceth her to his pleasure, and cutteth out her tounge, that shee might tell no tales. Progne, hauinge hereof secret intelligence, in lew of that foule fact, murthereth his and her owne Sunne, young Itys, and dresseth him in meates for his Fathers mouthe, Whiche horrible deede when Tereus would haue reuenged vppon the Mother and Aunt, they escape his handes, and are transfourmed into Birdes.

IF it were méete for mortall creatures to complaine of their immortall creator, then truly may wee iustly prepare [Page] complaint against our maker, for that of al his creatures hée hath made man most miserable. Herbes, Trees and plants hee hath framed without sence, wherby they neither féele the force of winters blastes, neither y• fire of sommers blaze: foules, fishes and beastes hée hath bée reaued of a reasonable soule, wherby they beare the brunt of their bodies onely, and are not molested with the motions of the minde: but man hee hath made subiecte to infirmities of the body, to miseries of minde, to all stormes of strie [...]e and panges of paine:: And as the Cameleon chaungeth him selfe into y• colour and hew of euery thing hee doth viewe, so man is made apt to bee transfourmed into any misfortune, and to receiue any euill y• raigneth vpon the face of the earth: yea, if wee consider the whole course of our life, wee begin with cries, and end with cares: for we are no sooner out of our mothers wombe, but we forthwith cry to signifie the sorrow which will insue in our succeeding age: in our infancy our tender bodies are subiecte to many infirmities: in our childhood our weake mindes are troubled with many toyes: wee are plyed sore to silence, which is of hard digestion to vs, wee feare the maisters lowringe lore, which is a continuall torment vnto vs: but oh, the sea of sorrow and waues of woe which then ouerwhelme vs, when wee once arriue to mans estate, what vaine desires? What fantasticall follies? What careles and sparelesse spendinge? What prodigall pride? What fiery flames of loue? What harebraind heates of hate? What pensife feare of parentes displeasure? What solitarinesse in single life? What minde to marry? What misery in mariage? What charge in children? What care of theyr instruction? What fear of their distruction, and touching our owne bodies, what often surfetinges? What perillous plewrises? What fearefull feuers? What daunger in warre? What perill in fight? Yea what sorrow which this age is not subiecte to? Lastly in olde age wee couetously carke for coine, wée [Page] toyle for trashe, wee thinke wee neuer haue inough, wee thinke all to mutch that is spent, wee take litle pleasure in any thing, wee thinke the world is changed, and that it is far worse then it was when wee were younge, only bicause our bodies are changed, and our vitall heat so vanished away, that nothing seemeth pleasaunt vnto vs, though it bee the same it was woont to bee, so that wee thinke the alteration to bee in the thing, when it is in our selfe. And then not onely our memory fayleth, our wits waxe weake, and returne to infancy againe, but our bodies also are broken with cares, taken with crampes, shaken with paulseies, tormented with the stone, lamed with the goute, dried with dropsies, our sight waxeth dim, our hearing deafe, our smelling smal, our tasting vntoothsome, our feelinge feable, yea all our sences are almost without sence: & yet we are loth to die & leaue our worldly mucke, the feare of approching death doeth dayly daunt vs, and at length his deadly dartes doe vtterly distroy vs. And surely the consideration of this our miserable estate doth so resolue mee into sorrow, that if your presence did not sprinkle mee with some deawe of delight, I should hardly frame my wittes to procure you pleasure by any pleasant history, but rather continew a dolorous discourse of our calamity. And yet the history I meane to tell shall not bee altogether estraunged from the argument of my former discourse, but though it manifest not our manyfolde misery, yet shall it at least set foorth the frailty of our felicity. The history is this.

The flowrishynge common wealth of Athens had to their prince one Pandion, whose estate bothe fortune beutified with great wealthe, and God blessed with goodly children, to wit two daughters of excellent beutie, the eldest named Progne, the youngest Philomela. Now fame béeyng a tatlyng Goddesse, blazed the brute of Progne abreade into diuers countries, vntill at length the rumour of her reno [...]me ronge about the eares of Tereus kynge of [Page] Thrace, who béeynge a younge lustie gallant, made no great account of the commendations whiche were giuen her, knowyng, if hée were disposed to marrie, hée might make his choyce amongst a great number as good as shée was, and more nere neighbours vnto him then Athens was. But destinies so draue that shortly after this, on a night in his sleape hée séemed to sée her stand apparently before him (only a stronge imagination assurynge him that it was shee) which sight sunke so deeply into his heart and brought him sutch excessiue delight, that hee presently awaked, and missyng the partie that procured him such pleasure, his ioy was tournd to anoy: neither coulde hee euer after that finde any contentation in any thought or deed, but only in this determination to goe haue a true sight of her, whose seemyng shadow had so dazeled his eyes: and with all speed repayred his shippes, and prepared al thyngs necessary for sutch a voyage, and by the help of good wynde and will, shortly arriued there where his hart had already cast anker: and sent ambassadours to the kyng to certifie him of his commynge, who receyued him with royaltie fit for his regall estate. And at the first incountry of the two princes Tereus sayde.

My commyng vnto you O noble prynce is not as an open enemie to inuade you, for you see I am vnarmed, neither as a secret traytour to intrap you, for you know I am your freend: but that you may not meruayle at my sodayne cummyng, you shall vnderstand it is to sée your daughter the Lady Progne, for you shall soone perceyue I pretende well vnto her. Pandian answered.

As (most worthy prince) the cause of your comming is friendly, so can I not but friendly accept it, and how much I thinke my selfe honoured therby so mutch I count my selfe bound vnto you.

And after a litle parlee passed betweene them of the estates of their realmes and manners of their countreies, Pandion preferred him to the sight of his daughter, whom [Page] after Tereus had saluted with a curteous conge, hee entred into discoursing with in this sort.

If faire Lady, I should tell the truth of my comming into this country, I thinke you would take it but for a trifling toy, yea if I should in woords plainly set downe y• cause of this my interprised iourney, and the case which through your meanes I remaine in, I doubt you would neither beleeue the cause, neither reléeue my case: for y• the straungnesse of the one would bréed great incredulity & for the other the small acquaintance I haue with you & lesse deserts towards you can craue smal curtesy: yet if it please you to know, neither the desire to see this country, neither the renoume of your vertue & beauty brought me hither, for though the report therof be great, yet now I se I must néedes say, y• fame hath rather framed your praise maliciously then reported it truly, for one good part reported to bée in you, I perceiue by your countenance such confluence of good conditions, that I can not but counte the rumor which run of you, rather sparing speeche then right reporte. But the cause of my hasty comminge and heauy case is this, it pleased the goddes to presente your seemely selfe to my presence, in the same louely likenesse wherin you are at this present, what time I tooke sutch veiwe of your sweete face, that approchinge this daye to your fathers palaice, béefore I knew who you were, what you were, or where you were, as you looked if you remē ber it, out at your chamber window, I said to my seruāts, loe yonder standes the péereles peragon princely Progne: and since y• sight in my sléepe, I take the heauens to witnesse I neuer inioyed one quiet sleepe, but continued in cōtemplation how I might be placed in possession of that personage which draue me into sutch admiration. Now seinge it pleased the gods thus miraculously to moue mée to traueile to see you, and seeing the sight of your sweete face hath fast fettred my fancy in links of loue, these may bee humbly to desire you, neither to resist the motion of [Page] the goddes, neither to reiecte the deuotion of my good wil. And if I haue preferred your loue before all the Ladies of my owne land, if I make you that profer which many princes haue pressed for, if neither wearines of way, neither perils of sea could prohibite mee from pursuing your good will, if I bee content to resigne my kingdome, liberty and all that I haue into your handes, I shall desire you not to cōtemne my curtesy, but to counteruaile my paine and to returne my goodwill with like loue and affection. This request also resteth to make vnto you that you driue mee not of with trifeling delayes, for neither will the extremity of my perplexity permit longe delay, neyther will the estate my kingdome standeth in, suffer mee longe to bee away.

Progne hearing the ernest sute of this prince, and seeinge nothing in him to be misliked, considering also what haste his request required, stood not vpon the nice termes of her virginity, but with a reuerence of maiesty made him this answere.

Most worthy prince whatsoeuer were the cause of your comming into this countrey, the kinge my father hath to holde himselfe mutch beeholding to your maiestie, that it would please you too do him the honour to visite him: but touching the cause you pretend, I doubt not but your wisdome knoweth that dreames are doubtfull, and visions are altogether vaine and therfore I must craue pardon if I hardly beleeue, y• vpon so light a cause you would vndertake sutch heauy trauayle: and I mutch muse that in your sleepe the goddes had no seemelier sight then my selfe to present vnto you: but whether beefore you came hether, the goddes moued your minde, or whether beeing here your owne fancy forced your affection towards mee, assure your selfe this, if your loue bee as loyall, as your wordes seeme wonderfull in shewing the originall therof, you shal not finde mee either so discourteous as to contemne your goodwill, either so vngratefull as not to requite [Page] it, mary as I may, which is for your harty goodwil to giue you my hart, for any benefit of my body it is not in mee to bestow on you: for if you do mee that iniury to exacte any thing at my handes lasciuiously, honesty will not allow it, whose boundes I meane not to transgresse, and if you doe mee that honour to pursue my good will in the way of mariage, perchance my parents will not permit it, who onely haue power to place mee at their pleasuer. So that as the one halfe and moytie of mee is not mine, so the other part, if your goodwill bee as greate as you pretend, shalbee yours. Presently vpon this he preferred his sute to her parentes, who were no lesse glad of sutch a sonne in law, then hee of sutch a wife? And so out of hand y• mariage with great solemnity was celebrated. Which done hee ioyfully departed from his sorowfull father in law, and in short time safely lande with his wife in his owne land, where they liued together the space of fiue▪ yéeres in sutch ioy as they commonly inioy, who cary fortune as it were vpon their shoulders, and abound in al thinges which they can wish or desire. But see the frailty of our felicity, marke the misery which mortall men are subiect to. A man would haue thought this maried couple in loue so loyall, in estate so high, in all thinges so happy, had bene placed in perpetuity of prosperity. But alas what estate hath fortune euer made so inuencible, which vice can not vanquish? Who hath euer bene established in sutch felicity, but that wickednesse can woorke his ouerthrow? What loue hath euer beene so fast bound, but by lust hath been lo [...]sed? Yea the most faithfull bond of frendship betwéene Tytus and Gysippus, thorow luste was violated: the most natural league of loue betweene Antiochus and his owne sonne, through lust was broken: and this moste loyall loue betweene Tereus and Progne through lust was turnd to lothsome hate. For it fortuned that Progne after they had bene maried together a whyle entred into greate desire to see her sister Philomelia, and [Page] lay very importunately vpon her husband to go to Athens and request her father Pandion to let her come vnto her. Tereus loued his wife so intirely that hee would deny her nothinge, but presently imbarkte him selfe and went to fetch Philomela vnto her. And beeing arriued at Athens, hée made Pandion, priuy to y• cause of his comming. The olde man was assailed with great sorrowe to thinke hee must parte from his faire Philomela the only stay and comfort of his olde yeeres, but Tereus intreated so ernestly that hee could not denie him easely, and Philomela was so desirous to see her sister that had so louingely sent for her, that shee hung about her fathers necke kist him and vsed al the flatteries shee could to force him to yeelde his consent to her departure, wherwith hee béeinge vanquished with weeping eyes in great griefe and dolour delyuered his daughter to Tereus saying.

It is not my daughter onely I deliuer you but mine owne life, for assure your selfe my life can not last one minute longer, then I shall heare shee doth well, and if her returne be [...] not with speede, you shall heare of my speedy returne to the earth from whence I came.

Tereus desired him to bee of good chere promisinge to be as carefull of her well dooing as if shee were his owne sister or childe. Where vpon the olde man blessinge his daughter gaue her vnto him. But like a simple man hee committed the seely sheepe to the rauening Woulfe.

Nay, there was neuer blouddy tiger that did so terribly teare the litle Lambe, as this tiraunt did furiously fare with faire Philomela. For beeing in ship together, hee began filthily to fixe his fancy vpon her, and castinge the feare of god front before his eies, rootinge the loue of his wife out of his heart, contemninge the holy rites of matrimony, and the sacred state of virginity, hée fell to fleshly daliance with her, and attempted to win that point of her, which shée held more dere and precious then her life, and which ought to bée of curious regard to al women [Page] of honest behauiour. But hauing no other weapon but wéepyng to defende her selfe, by pitiful exclemations and cries shée kept him from satisfiyng his insaciable desire. But as the rauenyng Woulfe hauing seazed in his tearyng clawes some seely Lambe, séekes some den to hide him in, that nothyng hinder him from quietly inioyinge his pray, so hée was no sooner arriued on the coastes of his owne countrey, but that hée secretly conuayed her to a graunge of his owne, far from any towne or citie, & there by force filthily de [...]lowred her. The poore mayde thus piteously spoyled, so soone as her greif would giue her leaue to speake, spit foorth her venome agaynst his villanie in this sort.

Ah most tirrannous Traytor, hast thou thus betrayed my father and sister, haddest thou no other to worke thy wickednesse on but mée, who was the iewell of my father and the ioy of my sister, and now by thy meanes shalbe the distruction of the one, and the desolation of the other? O that my handes had strength to teare these starynge eyes out of thy hatefull head, or that my mouth were able to sounde the trumpet of this thy trumpery, either to the court of my sister, or country of my father, that thei might take reuenge on thy villanie. O cursed bée the wombe from whence thou camst, and the paps whiche gaue thee sucke: O cursed bée the cause of thy conception, and the Father that begat thée, who if hée neuer otherwise in his life offended, yet doth hée deserue to bée plonged in the most paynfull pit of Hell, only for begetting so wicked a sunne.

Tereus not able to indure this talke, and fearyng least her words might bewray his wickednesse, made no more a do but tooke his knife, and like a blouddy butcher, cut her tounge foorth of her head. This done hée caused her to bée locked fast in a chamber, takyng euery thyng from her wherby she might vse violence towardes her selfe, and so went home to the Quéene Progue his wife, with this forged tale.

[Page]I am sory sweete wife it is my chaunce to bée the messenger of sutch sower newes vnto you, but séeing of force you must heare it, as good I now impart it, as other here after report it vnto you. And séeing it is an accident which ordinarily happeneth to mortall wightes, I trust of your selfe you will giue sutch order to your sorowe, that you will suffer it to sinke no depelier into your hearte then wisdome would it should: caryinge this in your remembraunce that wée are borne to die, and that euen in our swathe cloutes death may aske his due. Alas (saith shée) and is Pandion departed? No (sayth hée) Pandion liueth, but his life is sutch that death would more delight him.

Then farewell my Philomela (sayth shée) thy death I know is cause of this desolation, and thy death shall soone abridge my daies. In déede (sayth hée) so it is the gods haue had her vp into heauen, as one to good to remaine on earth. Ah vniust goddes (sayth shée) shée is to good for them also, what pity, what pieti, what right, what reason is in them, to depriue her of life now in the prime of her life, béefore shée haue tasted the chiefe pleasures of life, or any way deserued the paine of death?

Ah swéete wife (sayth hée) I béeséech you by the loue which you beare mée, to moderate your martirdome & asswage your sorrow, & only in mée to repose your felicitie: for I protest by these hands & teares which I shede to see your sorrow, that I wilbe to you in stéede of a father & a sister: yea if you had a thousand fathers & a thousād sisters al their goodwils together, shuld not surmoūt mine alone.

These louinge woordes caused her somewhat to cease from her sorrow, and shée began, to take the matter as paciently as her paine would permit her. But to returne to Philomela who béeinge kept close prisoner determined to pine herselfe to death, but the hope of reuenge altered that determination, and shée began to cast in her head how she might open the iniury to her sister, which that Tirant had offered them both: at length shée went this way to [Page] worke, shee wrought and imbrodred cunningly in cloath the whole discourse of her course and carefull case, which being finished, fortune so framed that a gentleman riding late in the night had lost his way, and seeing a light in her chamber a far of, drewe nere to the window, and called to Philomela inquiringe the way to the next towne, wherevpon Philomela opened the window, & séeing him to bèe a gentleman whom she thought would not sticke to put him selfe in some perill to redresse a Ladies wronge, shewed him the cloath which shee so cunningly had wrought, and in the first place thereof was plainly written, to whom it should bée deliuered, and from whom. The gentleman tooke it at her handes, and plighted to her his fayth, safely and secretly to deliuer it to the quéene. Sée the iust iudgement of god, who will suffer no euill done secretly, but it shalbée manifested openly, as in times past hee made the infant Daniell an instrument to detecte the conspiracy of the two Iudas iudges, who falsely accused the good Lady Susanna, and other times other wayes: but this tiranny of Tereus was so terrible that the very stones in the walles would haue béewrayed it, if there had been no other meanes vsed. Now Progne hauinge this cloath conuayed vnto her, and fully vnderstandinge how the case stoode, not withstandinge her greife were great in the highest degrée, yet (a meruailous thing a woman could do so) shée [...]oncealed y• matter secretly, hoping to be reuenged more spéedily. But yet her husbands villany towards her, caused her to inueigh against him in this vehement sort.

O diuelish déepe dissembling of men, who would haue thought that hée which pretended so great goodwill towards mée, would haue intended so great ill against mée? Why if my person could not please him, could none but my sister satisfie him? and if hée thought her most méete for his mischeif, yet was it not villany inough to vanquish her virginity, but that hee must mangle and dismember her body also? but what pity is to bée looked for of sutch [Page] Panthers which passe not of piety? Hée sheweth his cursed carelesse kinde, hée plainely proues him selfe to procéed of the progenie of that traitor Eneas, who wrought the confusion of the good Quéene Dido, who succoured him in his distres. It is euident hée is ingendred of Iasons race, who dis [...]oyally forsooke Medea y• made him win y• golden [...]léece? Hée is discended of the stock of Demopheon, who through his faithles dealing forced Phyllis to hange her selfe. Hée séemes of the séede of Theseus, who left Ariadne in the desertes, to bée deuoured, through whose helpe hée subdued the Monster Minotaur, and escaped out of the intricate Labirinth. Hée commeth of Nero his cruel kinde, who carnally abused his owne mother Agrippina, & then caused her to bée slaine and ript open, that hee might se the place wherin he lay béeing an infant in her belly. So that what fruites but filthinesse is to bée gathered of sutch graftes? What boughes but beastlines growe out of sutch stems? no I will neuer make other account but that faith which a man professeth is nothing els but forgery: truth which hée pretendeth nothing els but trifling: loue lust, woordes wyles, déeds deceit, vowes vanities, faythfull promises faythlesse practises, ernest othes, errant artes to deceiue, sorrows subtelties, sighes slightes, groanes guiles, cries crafts, teares treason: yea all their doinges nothing but baytes to intice vs, hookes to intangle vs, & ingins vtterly to vndoe vs. O that my mouth could cause my woords to mount aboue the skies, to make y• gods bend downe their eyes to take vew of the vilany of this viper, then no doubt but either the city would sinke wherin hee is, or the earth would open & swalow him vp, or the at least some plague should bee thundred downe vpon him, which might most painefully punish him. Or why may not the gods vse mée as an instrumēt to execute their vengeance on him? The wife of Dionisias the tirant wrought the will of the goddes on her husband, and miserably murthered him, and why is it not lawfull for mee to doo the like? Yes I [Page] can and will deuise sutch exquisite punishment for this Tiraunt, that it shall feare all that come after from the like filthinesse.

Now to further her furie shée had this oportunitie offred her, it was the same time of the yeere that the sacrifices of Bacchus were to bée celebrated, what time the vse was for the women to goe aboute the countrey disguised as if they had béen mad, where vpon the Queene tooke a troupe of women with her and gat to the graunge where Philo. was, brake open the doores, and brought her home with her to her Palaice, and there they two, the one with signes, and the other with woords, entred into consultation how to bée reuenged on the trecherie of Tereus: and surely if a man bee disposed to do his enemy a displeasure in déed, if he folow my counsayle, let him folow the counsayle of a woman, nay all the Deuils in Hell could not so haue tormented Tereus as they did, so that I thinke your selues wil say her fury excéeded his folly, and her seuerity in punishyng his crueltie in offendyng. For he had by her one only swéete sunne named Itys. My tounge is not able to tell, a [...]d my hart rendes in twayne to thinke, that a reasonable creature should so rage in rigour, that a woman should so want compassion, that a mother should woorke sutch mischiefe to her owne childe. For as I was about to tell you, shée had by her husband one onely sonne, and shée his owne mother miserably mente to murther him, therby to bee reuenged on her husband. O ruthlesse rage, O merciles mother: I haue read of a woman named Althea who wrought the death of her owne sonne Meleager, for that hee before had slaine two or three of her bretheren, likewise Agaue helped to teare in péeces her own sonne Pen [...]hey, for that hee would not do honour to the god Bacchus: but for a mother to murther, to mangle, to make mans meate of her own childe beeing an innocent, an infant that neuer did or thought amisse, who euer heard any thing more monstrous in nature, more beastly [Page] in Tiranny, or more blouddy in cruelty? For marke the manner of this murther, as her sister and shee sate in her priuy chaumber meditatinge of this mischeife, in came Itys the prety elfe beeing two or three yeeres of age, and seeing his mother sit sadly sayd vnto her, Mam how doost, why doest, weepe, and tooke her about the necke and kist her, saying I will goe call my dad to come and play with thee: but shee like a tirannous Tiger [...]long him from her saying: Away impe of impiety, how like thy father thou art, not onely in fauour, but in slattery also: I will make thee make thy Dad sport shortly: the infant rose againe, and came run dugling to her saying, why do you beate me mam, I haue learned my Criscrosse to day so I haue, and my father sayth hee wil buie mee a golden ceate, and then you shannot kisse mee so you shannot, but this trisling daliance could not turne her diuelishnesse. But (O dreadfull déede, O lamentable case) shee tooke her prety babe by the heare of the heade, and drew him into a priuy corner prouided for the purpose, and first cruelly cut of his harmeles head, then butcherly quartered his comely carkas, and betweene her sister and her dressed it in order of meate, which done, (as the custome was in those feastes of Bacchus) shee sent for the kinge her husband to suppe with her, and set beefore him for the first seruice his owne sun. Who after hee had fiercely fed on his owne fleshe, and filled his belly with his owne bowels, hee asked for his litle sonne I [...]ys: the queene answered, why do you not se him? I am sure you feele him, and as he stared about the chamber to haue seene him, out stept Philomela from behinde a cloath of Arras, and slang the childes head in the fathers face: wherby hee knew what banquet hee had bene bid to, and so soone as his sences were come to him, which that sower sight had taken away, hée drew his rapier and thought to haue offered vp the bloud of his wife and her sister for a sacrifice vnto his sonne, but they fled from him, and as Ouid reporteth were turned into birds, meaninge [Page] they were not worthy humaine shape or the vse of reason, which were sutch cruell monsters altogether deuoyd of ruth and reason. It were hard here gentlewoman for you to giue sentence, who more offended of the husband or the wife, seeing the dooinges of both the one and the other néere in the highest degrée of diuelishnesse, such vnbridled lust and beastly cruelty in him, sutch monsterous mischiefe and murther in her, in him sutch treason, in her sutch trechery, in him sutch falsenesse, in her sutch furiousnesse, in him sutch deuilish desire, in her sutch reuengful ire, in him sutch hellish heat, in her sutch haggish hate, that I thinke them both worthy to bée condemned to the most botomles pit in Hell.

Germanicus and Agrippina.

¶GERMANICVS, a younge Gentleman of small liuyng▪ of the kin, and in the court of Octauian the Emperour, becummyng amorous of the Lady Agrippina, through great sute getteth her to wife: and through his valiencie winneth to bee proclaymed heyre apparant to the Empyre. Whose state Tiberius his cusin enuying, dispatcheth him priuily with poyson: and Agrippina for greif therof refusing all bodily sustenance, most miserably famisheth her self to death.

THe Astronomers are of this opinion that the Planets haue preheminence ouer vs, and that the Starres stir vs vp to all our enterprises, but I am rather setled into this sentence that not the Planets but our passions haue the cheife place in vs, and that our owne desires not the destines dryue vs to all our doynges: whiche opinion I may iustifie by the example of a Gentleman named Germanicus, whose fortune, neither the Fates fixed, neither the Planets planted, neither the Starres stirred, neither [Page] the destines draue, neither the Shies caused, but first his owne fonde fancie framed, and then his owne ambitious desire finished as by the sequele of this Hystorie you shall sée. For this Gentleman Germanicus frequentynge the court of Octauian the Emperour, chaunced to fixe his eyes on the face of a noble Gentlewoman named Agrippina, the daughter of M. Agrippa, and as the Mouse mumpeth so longe at the bayte, that at length she is taken in trap, so hee bit so longe at the bayte of her beutie, that at length hee was caught in Cupids snare: and on a time as shée was at Cardes in the Presence chamber, this youth stoode staryng in her face in a great studdy, which shée perceiuynge to bryng him out of his studdy, prayed him to reache her a boale of Wyne which stoode vppon a Cupboord by: and as hée approched therewith to the place of her presence, his sences were so rauished with the sight of her sweete face, that hee let the boale fall foorth of his handes: and retiryng backe with seemly shamefastnesse, went for more, and béeing come therwith shée thanked him for his paines saying, I pray God that fall of the Wyne hinder not my winnyng and bryng mée ill lucke, for I know many that connot away to haue Salt, or Drinke, or any sutch like thynge fall towardes them.

Madame saith Germanicus I haue often heard it disputed in schooles that sutch as the cause of euery thing is, sutch wilbe the effect, and séeyng the cause of this chaunce was good, I doubt not but the effect wil folow accordyngly: and if any euill do insue therof I trust it will light on my head through whose negligence it happened. Agrip. answered. As I know not the cause, so I feare not the effect greatly, and in deed as you say hethervnto you haue had the worst of it, for that thereby you haue been put to double paynes.

If that bée all (saith hée) rather then it shalbée sayd any euill to haue insued of this chaunce, I will perswade my selfe that euery payne whiche you shall put mee to, shalbe [Page] double delight and treble pleasure vnto mee. You must vse (sayth shee then) great eloquence to your selfe to perswade you to sutch an impossibility. Oh if it please you (sayth hee) there is an oratour which of late hath taken vp his dwelling within mee, who hath eloquence to perswade mee to a far greater matter then this.

If (sayth shee) hee perswade you to thinges no more behouseful for your selfe then this, if you follow my counsayle, you shall not giue him house roome long. Madame (sayth hee) it is an assured signe of a free and freendly minde to giue good counsayle, but it is harde for one in bondage and out of his owne possession to followe it. For what knoweth your honour whether hée haue already taken intire possession of the house wherin hée is, which if it bee so, what wit is able to deuise a writ to remoue him from thence? If sir (sayth shée) hée entred by order of law and payd you truely for it, it is reason hée inioy it, marie your folly was greate to retaine sutch a tenant, but if hée intruded himselfe by force you may lawfully extrude him by strength.

In déede (sayth hée) hée entred vi et armis forcibly, but after vpon certaine parlance passed betwéene vs, I was content hée should remaine in peacible possession: marie hee hath payd mee nothinge yet, but hee promiseth so frankely that if the perfourmance follow, a house with beames of beaten golde, and pillers of precious stones will not counteruaile the price of it: yea if I were placed in quiet possession therof I would thinke my self ritcher, I wil not say then the Emperour, but which is most then god him selfe who possesseth heauen and earth: and as the hope of obtayning the effecte of that promise, heaueth mee vp to heauen, so the doubt to bee deceiued therof driueth mee downe to hell.

And what ioyly fellow (sayth shee) is this that promiseth so frankely, will hée not promise golden hils and perfourme durty dales? Would to god (sayth hee) your semely [Page] selfe were so well acquainted with him as I am, then would I make you iudge of the worthynesse of the thinge hee hath promised, for that you know the goodnes thereof none better? The lady smellinge the drift of his deuises, and seeinge the ende of his talke seemed to tend to loue and that touching her owne selfe, thought not good to draw on their discourse any longer, but concluded with this answere.

As I am altogether ignorant what your obscure talke meaneth, so care I not to bee acquainted with any sutch companion as your Landlord is, for so methinkes by you I may more fitly call him, then terme him your tenaunt: and so departed away into her lodginge: Germanicus likewise his Misteris beeing gone gat him to his chamber to entertaine his amarous conceites and béeing alone brake forth into these wordes.

O friendly fortune if continually hereafter thou furiously frowne vpon mée, yet shall I all the dayes of my life count my selfe bound vnto thee for the onely pleasure which this day thou hast done mee, in giuinge mee occasion of talke with her, whose aungels voice made sutch heauenly harmony to my heauy heart, that where before it was plunged in perplexity, it is now placed in felicity, and where before it was oppressed with care, it is nowe refreshed with comfort. Yea euery louely lookes of her is able to cure mee if I were in most deepe distres of moste daungerous disease, euery sweete woord proceeding from her sugred lips, is of force to fetch mee from death to life. But alas how true do I trie that saying, that euery commodity hath a discommodity annexed vnto it, how dooth the remembraunce of this ioy, put mee in minde of the annoy which the losse of this delight will procure mee? Yea it maketh all my sences shake to thinke, that some other shall inioy her more woorthy of her then my selfe: and yet who in this court, nay in all Christendome, nay in the whole worlde is worthy of her? No if shée neuer [Page] haue any vntill shée haue one worthy of her euery way, shee shall neuer haue any. And shall I then beeing but a poore gentleman seeke to insinuate my selfe in place so high? Shall I by my rude attempt purchase at least the displeasure of her friendes and parentes, and perchaunce hers also, whom to displease would be no lesse displeasant vnto mée then death? Alas and must loue needes bee rewarded with hate? Must curtesy néedes bée counteruayled with crueltie? Must goodwil needes be returned with displeasure? Is it possible y• bounti should not abide where beuty doth aboūd, & that curtesy should not accompany her comlinesse? Yes I am sure at the least she wil suffer me to loue her, though her younge yeeres & high estate will not suffer her to loue mee: & though shée will not accept me for husband, yet I am sure shee will not reiecte mée for seruaunt: and though shee will not receiue my seruice, yet I doubt not but shee will courteously take the tendringe therof vnto her. And touchinge her parentes displeasure, what care I to procure the ill will of the whole world, so I may purchase her good will. Yea if I should spend the most precious bloud in my body in the pursuite of so pereles a péece, I would count it as welbestowed as if it were shed in the quarrell of god my prince or country. For shée is the goddesse whom I wil honour with deuotion, shée is the prince whom I will obey with duty, shee is the country in whose cause and quarrell I will spend life, liuing, and all that I haue. Neither is there mutch cause why her friendes should storme much at the matter, for though my lands & reuenewes are not great, yet am I of y• bloud royall, & nere kinsman to themperour, who wil not suffer me to want any thing pertayning to my estate & degree. Why Alerane, a youth like my self, practised the mightie emperour Otho his daughter & darling Adalesia, stole her away & married her, and do I sticke to attempt the like wt one of far meaner estate, though of far more worthinesse? And though frowning fortune tossed him for a while in y• [Page] tempestious seas of aduersiti, yet at ye length he arriued at the hauen of happy estate, and was reconciled to the good grace and fauour of the Emperour againe. And though at the first my ship be shaken with angry blastes, yet in time I doubt not but to bee safely landed on the shore, and haue my share of that which the showres of shroad fortune shall keepe mee from. Hee is not worthy to sucke the sweete who hath not first sauored the sower. And as the beauty of a faire woman beeing placed by a foule, blaseth more brightly, so eche ioy is made more pleasant by first tasting some sower sops of sorrow. Did not the perill which Leander ventred in the sea, and the paine which hee tooke in swimming, make his arriuall to the hauen of his heauenly Hero more happy and pleasaunt? Yes no doubt of it, for besides the feelinge of the present pleasure, the rememberance of the perill past delighteth. Beesides that by how mutch more a man hazardeth him selfe for his misteris sake, by so mutch the more hee manifesteth the constancy of his loue, and meriteth méede at her handes the more woorthily. This saying also is no lesse tried then true that fortune euer fauoureth the valiaunt, and things the more hard the more haughty, high, and heauenly: neither is any thing hard to bee accomplished by him which hardily enterpriseth it.

With these and sutch like sayinges incouraginge him self, hée purposed to pursue his purpose, and failed not daily to attend vpon his Misteris withal dutie and diligence and sought all occasions hee could to let her vnderstande his loyall loue and great good wyll towardes her, which she perceiuing disdayned not acknowledge by her amiable and curtuous countinaunce towards him, wherewith he helde himselfe as well satisfied as if he had bene made Monarche of the whole world. And though he were often determined in woordes to present his sute vnto her, yet when it came to the poynt he shoulde haue spoken, feare of offending her altogether disappointed his purpose, and [Page] made him mute in the matter he minded to vtter, but at length perceiuing that delay bred danger, for that she had many other suters, and féeling by experience, that as fire the more it is kept downe, the more it flameth vp, so loue the more he sought to suppresse him, the more fiery forces he expressed within him, he began to set feare aside and to force a supplye of courage in his faint harte, and seeing his Misteris sit in the presence alone, he entred into reasoning with her in this manner.

Madame for that I sée you without company I am the bolder to presume to preace in place, wherof though I be altogether vnworthy, yet am I altogether willing to supplye it, and if my companie may content you as well as your sight satisfieth mee, I doubte not but you will accept it in good part: and so mutch the lesse I hope my company shalbe combersome vnto you, for that you are busied about nothing wherto my presence may be preiudiciall. And verely when I consider the common cource of life which your sweete self, and other maides of your estate leade, methinkes it is altogether like the spendinge of your time at this present, which is with your leaue bée it spoken, idly, vnfruitefully without pleasure or profit, and if my credite were sutch with you to craue credite for that which I shall speake, I would not doubt but to perswade you to another trade of life more commendable in the world, more honourable amongest all men, and more acceptable in the sight of god. For beléeue mée I pity nothing more then virgins vaine piety, who thinke they merit meede for liuinge chastly, when in deede they deserue blame for spending their time wastly.

Sir (sayth shee) as your company [...]ontenteth me wel inough, so your talke liketh mee but a litle, for though I must confesse I sit at this present without dooinge any thinge, yet in my fancie it is better to bée idle, then ill imployed, as your selfe are now in reprehendinge that state of life, which excelleth all other as far as the sunne [Page] both a starre, or light darkenesse, and wherin I meane for my part to passe the pilgrimage of this my short life, if either god dispose mee not, or my friendes force mee not to the contrary.

God forbid (Madame saith he) you should continue your time in any such trifling trade of lyfe, which indeede is to be counted no lyfe at all, as the Grecian Ladies most truly testyfie, who (as Homer reporteth) count their age from the time of their marriage, not from the day of their birth: and if they be demaunded how olde they be, they begin to recken from their mariage and so answer accordingly. For then onely (say they) we begin to liue, when we haue a house to gouerne, and may commaunde ouer our children and seruants.

Tush (saith the Lady) this is but the sentence and proper opinion of one peculyer people, who perchaunce by the nature of their country, or otherwise are more desierus of husbands then other, neither is it any more reason that we should be tied to their example, thē they be bound to follow our virgin Vestals or other, who consume the whole course of their life wtout contaminating their corps with the company of men. Nay rather (sayth he) without receiuyng their perfection from men, according to the opinion of Aristotle. But Madame I did not produce that example as necessary for all to follow, but as probable to proue and shew, what course a count they made of virginitie, which you so highly esteeme of. But to leaue perticuler opinions, and come to generall constitutions and customes, I meane both naturall, humaine and deuine lawes, and you shall see them all to make agaynst you. And first if you consider natures lawes, which in the dooynges of creatures without reason are playnly set downe you shall sée no liuing wight in the vniuersall world, but that so soone as by age they are apt therto, apply themselues to that life whereby their kinde may bée conserued and number increased. Behold the high flyinge Faulcon [Page] which soareth so high in the ayre that a man would think she would stoope to neither Lure nor lust, yet shee is no sooner an entermuer or at the fardest a white Hauke, but that of her owne accorde shee commeth to the call of the tassell gentle her make. Likewise the Doe which s [...]ingeth so freely aboute the wooddes as though shée made no account of the male, yet shee is no sooner a sores sister, but that shee séekes the society of the bucke. Yea if it would please your séemely selfe to enter into the consideration of your owne nature, or if your curtesy would accounte mee worthy to haue the examination of your secrete thoughtes, I doubt not but you would confesse your selfe to [...]lee a firy force of that naturall inclination which is in other creatures, which being so you must graunt to deale vnnaturall in resisting that naturall motion which cannot bée ill or idle, bicause nature hath planted it in you: for God and nature doo nothinge vainely or vily. And in that some doe amisse in rebellinge against nature, their owne scrupulous nicenesse is the cause, when they will lay on them selues heauier burdens then they are able to beare, and refuse to beare those burthens whiche nature hath appointed them to beare: which are but light.

What talke you sir (sayth shee) so mutch of nature and of creatures without reason, as though wee ought to follow either the instinct of the one, either the example of the other. I haue bene alwayes taught that reason is the rule to direct our dooinges by, and that wee ought to laye béefore vs the actions of creatures indued with reason to follow and imitate. For if you sticke so strictly to the example of reasonles creatures, you should vse the company of women but once or twice at the moste in the yeere, as most of them doo, with their females, whereto I am sure you would bée loth to bée tied.

Madame (sayth hee) a gentlewoman of this citie hath answerd this obiction alredy for me. Why then (saith she) wil you condemne their dooings in some poinctes, & place [Page] them for paternes to bée practised by in othersome?

Yea why not (sayth hée) otherwise you might generally take exception against the example of men, for that some men in some matters do amisse. The good euer is to bee vsed, and the ill refused. But to come to the dooings of men which you séeme to desire, doth not euery man so soone as his daughter is arriued to ripe yeres, trauell to bestow her in mariage, wherby she may inioy the fruits of loue, & participate with the pleasures incident to that estate: wherby they plainly shew that the cause why they begot them with pleasure, and bring them vp with pain, is to haue them enter into that trade of life, wherin not only themselues may liue happily abounding in all pleasure, but also by the fertill fruite of their body, make their mortall parentes immortall: that when they with age shalbée wasted and withered away the séede of their seede may begin gréenely to grow and flowrishingly to spring, to the great comfort of both the father and daughter. For what pleasure the graundfather takes in the sportinge pastime of his proper daughters prety children, I thinke you partly vnderstād, and what delight the mother takes in the toyes of her litle sonne, you soone shall perfectly perceiue, if it please you friendly to followe the friendly counsayle which I frankely preache vnto you. For do you thinke if virginity were of sutch vertue, that parentes would not rather paine them selues to keepe their deare daughters modest maides, then straine them selues and their substance to ioyne them in Iunos sacred bond? Yes perswade your swéete selfe if your mother were so perswaded shée would rather locke you vp close in her closet, then suffer any to inioy the soueraigne sight of your beuty, or once aspire to your spéeche whereby you might bée perswaded to some other kinde of life. But shée experienced by yéeres knoweth best what is best for your behouse and would you should followe her example and make no conscience to loose that which shée her self hath lost, which [Page] except shée had lost wée had lost so rare a Iewell as your séemely selfe are, with what a losse it had bene to my self I dare not say lest you count verity vanity, and truth trifling and flattery. But to our purpose, you perceiue as I sayd your parentes pleased with the accesse of gentlemen vnto you, wherby you may conceiue their minde is you should accept sutch seruice as they profer, and pertake with those pleasures which they prefer vnto you.

Why sir (sayth shée) you altogether mistake the meaning of men in this matter, for when fathers tēder mariages to their daughters, it is not for any minde they haue to haue them maried, but onely for feare least they should fall to folly otherwayes, for knowing the fickle frailenesse of youth, and our procliuyty to prauity and wickednesse, they prouide vs mariages to preuent mischiefes: and séeinge of euils the least is to bée chosen, they count mariage a lesse euill then lightnesse of our life and béehauiour.

Alas good Madame (saith he) why do you so mutch prophane the holy state of wedlocke, as to count it in y• number of euils, wheras the goddes themselues haue entred into that state, where as Princes pleasantly passe their time therin, whereas by it only mankinde is preserued, and amitie and loue amongst men conserued, of the worthinesse wherof I am not worthy to open my lippes.

Sir (saith she) I speake it not of my self, but according to the opinion of the most wise and learned Philosophers that euer liued, amongest whom one Aminius so mutche misliked of Marriage, that béeyng demaunded why hee would not marrie, answered, because there were so manie inconueniences incident to that estate, that the least of them is able to slea a thousande men.

Why Madame (saith hee) you must consider there is nothyng in this mortall life so absolutely good and perfect but that there bée inconueniences as well, as commodities incurred therby: by that reason you may take the S [...]une out of the world for that it parcheth the summers [Page] greene, and blasteth away the beutie of those that blaze their face therin. But to leaue naturall & humaine lawes and come to the deuine precepts proceedyng from Gods owne mouth: doth not God say it is not good for man to liue alone, and therefore made Eue for an helper and comforter? Likewise in diuers places of Scripture he doth not only commend Marriage to vs, saying, Marriage and the bed vndefiled are honourable, but also commaundeth vs to it, saying: you shall forsake Father and Mother and follow your wiues.

Why sir (saith shee) and doth not God say it is good for man not to touche a woman, and if thou bee vnmarried remayne so. But why alleadge you not this text, it is better to marrie then to burn, wherby is playnly shewed that Marriage is but a meane to medicine the burnynge in concupiscence and lust, and as I sayd béefore of two euils the least, and therfore preferred. But because wee bee entred into deuine misteries, I could refer you to a place of scripture, where it is reported that in Heauen Uirgins chéeifly serue God and set foorth his glorie. And Mahamet the great Turke (who was in heauen) saith he saw there Uirgins, who if they issued foorth of Heauen would lighten the whole worlde with their brightnesse, and if they chaunced to spit into the sea, they would make the whole water as sweet as Honie, but here is no mention of married folke.

Belike (saith hée) those Uyrgins bee like your self, and then no meruayle though God be delighted with the sight of them, whiche perchaunce is the cause hee hath them in Heauen to attend vpon him, as first Heue and after Ganymedes did vpon Iupiter. But generally of women the scripture sayth that by bringinge forth of children they shalbée saued and inioy a place in heauen, which must bée by mariage if honestly. But bicause I am perswaded that it is onely for argument sake that you disalow mariage, and that you pretend otherwise in words then you intend [Page] to doo in workes, I am content to giue you the honour of the fielde, and thus far to yéelde my consent to your opinion, that virginity considered of it owne nature simply without circumstance is better then Matrimony, but bicause the one is full of perill, the other full of pleasure, the one full of iepardy, the other full of security, the one as rare as the blacke swan, the other as common as the blacke crow, of good thinges I thinke the more common the more commendable.

If (sayth shée) I haue gotten any conquest hereby I am to thanke mine own cause not your curtesy who yéeld when you are able to stand no longer in defence.

Nay Madame say not so (sayth hée) for in that very yelding to your opinion, I proued mariage better then virginity for that is more common: neither would I haue you turne my scilence in this matter, into lacke of science and knowledge, or reprehend mée if I spare to inforce further proufe in a matter sufficiently prooued already, no more then you would rebuke a Spanniel which ceaseth to hunt when hée séeth the Hauke seazed on the Partridge. But you may meruaile madame what is the cause that maketh mée perswade you thus earnestly to mariage, which as mine owne vnworthinesse willeth mée to hide, so your incomparable curtesy incourageth me to disclose, which maketh mée thinke that it is no smal cause which can make you greately offended with him who beareth you great goodwil, and that what sute soeuer I shal prefer vnto you, you wil either graunt it or forgiue it, pardon it or pitie it. Therfore may it please you to vnderstand y• since not long since I tooke large view of your vertue and beauty, my hart hath beene so inflamed with the bright beames therof, that nothing is able to quenche it, but the water which floweth from the fountayne that first infected mée, and if pity may so mutch preuaile with you as to accept mée, I dare not say for your husband, but for your slaue and seruaunt, assure your selfe there shall [Page] no doubt of daunger driue mée from my duty towardes you, neither shall any Lady whatsoeuer haue more cause to reioyce in the choice of her seruaunt then your selfe shall, for that I shall account my life no longer pleasaunt vnto mée then it shall be imployed in your seruice.

Agrippina dying her lily chéekes with Vermilion red, and castinge her eies on the grounde gaue him this answere.

As I am to yéeld you thankes for your goodwill, so am I not to yéeld consent to your request, for that I neither minde to marry, neither thinke my self worthy to retain any sutch seruaunt: but if I were dispoled to receiue you any way, I thinke the best manner meane inough for your worthynesse.

Immediatly here vpon there came company vnto them which made them brake of their talke, and Agrippina béeing got into her chamber began to thinke on the sute made vnto her by Germanicus, and by this time Cupid had so cunningly carued and ingraued the Idoll of his person and béehauiour in her heart, that shée thought him worthy of a far more worthy wife then her selfe: and perswadinge her selfe hy his woordes and lookes that his loue was loyall without lust, true without triflinge, and faythfull without faygninge, shée determined to accept it if her parentes would giue their consent therto. Now Germanicus nothinge dismayed with her former deniall for that it had a curteous close, so soone as oportunity serued, set on her againe in this sort.

Now Madame you haue considered my case at leasure I trust it will stand with your good pleasure to make mee a more comfortable answere.

I béeseech you sir (sayth shee) to rest satisfied with my former answere, for other as yet I am not able to make you.

Alas Madame (sayth hée) the extremity of my passion will not suffer long prolonginge of compassion, wherfore [Page] I humbly beseech you presently to passe your sentence either of bale or blisse, of saluation or damnation, of life or death: for if the heauens haue conspired my confusion, and that you meane rigorously to reiecte my good will, I meane not long to remaine aliue to trouble you with any tedious sute, for I account it as good reason to honour you with the sacrifice of my death, as I haue thought it conuenient to bestow vpon you the seruice of my life.

Alas sir (sayth shée) this iesting is nothing ioyfull vnto mée, and I pray you vse no more of it for the rememberaunce of that which you speake of in sporte, maketh mée séele the force therof in good ernest: for a thousand deaths at once can not bée so dreadful vnto mée, as once to thinke I should liue to procure the death of any sutch as you are.

If sayth hée you count my wordes sporte, iest and daliance, assure your selfe it is sport without pleasure, ieste without ioy, and daliance without delight, as tract of time shall shortly try for true. But if you loue not to heare of my death, why like you not to giue mée life, whiche you may do only by the consent of your good will.

Why sir (sayth shee) you know my consent consisteth not in my selfe but in my parents to whom I owe both awe and honour: therfore it bée hooueth you first to séeke their consent.

Why Madame (sayth hée) shall I make more account of the meaner partes then of the heade, you are the heade and cheife in this choice, and therfore let mée receiue one good worde of your good wil, and then let heauen and earth doo their woorst. It is not the coine, countenance, or credite of your parentes that I pursue for to winne, sutch wealth as your good will. I could bée content to leade a poore life all the dayes of my life, so that you bée maintayned according to your will and worthinesse.

Well (saith shée) séeing I am the only marke you shoot at, assay by all the meanes you may to get my freindes good will, and if you leuell any thinge strait you shall not [Page] misse mée.

Germanicus vpon this procured the Emperours letters to her father in his beehalfe, who hauinge perused those letters sayd hée trusted the Emperour would giue him leaue to dispose of his owne accordinge to his owne pleasure, and that his daughter was to nere and deere vnto him, to see her cast away vpon one, who for lacke of yéeres wanted wisdome to gouerne her, and for lacke of landes, liuyng to maintaine her: and calling his daughter béefore him, hée béegan to expostulate with her in this sorte.

Daughter, I euer here tofore thought you would haue been a solace and comfort to my olde yéeres, and the prolonger of my life, but now I se you will increase my hoarie heares and bee the hastner of my death. Doeth the tender care, the careful charge, and chargeable cost which I haue euer vsed in bringyng you vp deserue this at your handes that you should passe a graunt of your goodwill in marriage without my consent? Is the pietie towardes your parents, and the dutie of a daughter towardes her father so vtterly forgotten, that you will prefer the loue of an vnthrift before my displeasure, & to please him care not to displease your parentes, who trauayle to bestow you with one worthy your estate and ours? No neuer thinke Germanicus shall inioy you with my goodwill, nor neuer take mee for your father if you graunt him your goodwill.

Agrippina hearing this cruell conclusion of her father, with bashfull countenance and tremblynge tounge, framed her answer in this fourme.

I béeséeche you good father not to thinke mee so gracelesse a child as once to thinke, mutchlesse to do any thing whiche may heape your heauinesse or hasten your death, the least of whiche two, would bee more bitter vnto mee then death. For if it please you to vnderstande, I haue not graunted my good will to any, vnlesse your consent [Page] bee gotten therto. Neither haue I, as you say, preferred the loue of an vnthrift béefore your displeasure, but as I cannot let that noble gentleman Germanicus to loue mee, so can I not, to confesse the truth, but loue him: mary in hart only, for my body as you gaue it me so shall you dispose of it: and as I faithfully promise you by the loue which of dutie I owe you, that I will neuer haue any to husbande without your good will, so I humbly béeséeche you for the affection which by nature you beare mée, that you will neuer force mée to any without my good will.

For if for the transitorie life you haue giuen mee, you make mee pay so derely as to bée linked with one agaynst my likyng, I must néedes count it a hard pennyworthe, and well may I wish that I had neuer béene borne. I béeseche you sir consider the inconueniences alwayes incident to those marriages, where there is more respect of money then of the man, of honours then of honestie, of goods then of good will of the parties eche to other.

What strife, what iarres, what debate at bed & at bourd, at home and abroade, aboute this about that, neuer quietnesse with contentation, neuer merry countenance without counterfaityng, neuer louyng deedes without dissemblyng. And whence but from this rotten roote springeth so many dishonest women, so many ill liuyng men? Is it not the lothyng of neuer liked lips that maketh women stray from theyr husbandes to straungers? And is it not either the difference of yéeres, either y• diuersitie of manners, or disagréement of natures, that maketh the husband forsake his wife and follow other women? And where are any of these differences or in equalities béetween the married, but where the force of freendes not liberty of loue linketh them together? These thinges by your wisdome considered, I trust as you restraine mee from one whom I loue, so you will not constraine mée to any whom I loue not. In so dooing doubt you not but you shall finde in mée modesty méete for a maide, vertue fit [Page] for a virgin, duty méet for a daughter, obedience fit for a childe. Her father hauing mildly heard her modest talke, tolde her hee ment not to force her to any, but would prouide her a husband whom hee doubted not should like her better euery way then Germanicus did, and therfore willed her to put out of her minde the likeinge shee had conceiued of him, and so gaue hir leaue to depart. And beeing in her chamber shee began to deuise all the meanes shee could to roote out of her heart the loue shee bare Germanicus: and assone reuoked to her memory his lacke of liuing his litle countenance and credite, assone her fathers displeasure, and her owne preferment, with many other discommodities arising that way. But nothing preuayled, for as the bird caught in lime, or conny in hay, or deare in toyle, the more they strine the faster they sticke, so y• more diligently shee laboured to get out of the Labyrinth of loue the more doubtfully was shee intricated therein. And as one climbing on high his feete fayling and he in daunger to fall, more firmly fasteneth his hold then hee did before: so loue seeinge him selfe ready to bee dislodged out of her breast, tooke sutch sure holde and fortified him selfe so strongly within her, that no force was of force to fetche him from thence. Which the good gentlewoman perceiuinge thought best for her ease and quiet to yeeld to the sommonce of loue to bee disposed at his pleasure. Wherin no doubte shée had reason, for as the swifte runninge streame if it bee not stopped runneth smoothly away with out noyse, but if there bée any dam or locke made to stay the course therof, it rageth and roareth and swelleth aboue the bankes, so loue if wee obay his lore and yeeld vnto his might dealeth gently with vs and raigneth ouer vs like a louinge Lorde, but if wee withstande his force and seeke to stay the passage of his power, hee rageth ouer vs like a cruell tiraunt. Which this gentle woman as I sayd perceiuinge, without any more resistance determined in her hart to loue Germanicus only and euer.

[Page]Now Germanicus notwithstandinge the angry lookes of the father, the frowninge face of the mother, and the strange counterfayte countenance of the daughter, followed his sute so effectually, vsed sutch apt perswasions to the maide, and in short time insinuated himselfe so farre into hir familiaritie, that her parentes lowred not so fast, but shée allured as fast, and thought shée receiued no other contentation in the whole worlde but in his company: which her parentes perceiuinge, and besides dreadinge the Emperours displeasure, thought as good by their consent to let them goe together, as by seueritie to kéepe them a sunder whom the goddes seemed to ioyne together. And so mutch the rather they were induced therto, for that they saw their daughter so affected to Germanicus, that the hearinge of any other husbande was hatefull and hurtfull vnto her. And herevpon the mariage was concluded and consummated: and to this bargaine only the fancy of Germanicus forced him, nowe see whither his ambicious desire draue him: for beeing in proper possession of his proper wife, he was not able to maintain her according as his princely minde desired, for y• his owne lyuing was litle, and her parentes would not part wt mutch, bicause shee had matched her self not any thing to their minde: where vpon in hope of preferment and aduauncing his estate, he applied him selfe diligently to the Emperours seruice, and in shorte time with valiant exploytes atchiued in warre, and great wisdome and discretion shewed in time of peace, hee wonne sutch credite with the Emperour, that hee held him most deare vnto him, and caused him to bee proclaimed heire apparent to his crowne & Empire. With which newes Germanicus congratulated his new maried wife in this sort.

It is not vnknowen vnto mee (dere wife) that for my sake you haue somwhat sustained the ill will and displeasure of your freendes and parentes, it is not vnknowen likewise to you that for your sake I haue sustained some [Page] labour in séeking our preferment and getting the Emperours good will who only may prefer vs: now as the one hath made your life lesse pleasant then I desire or you deserue, so the other shal aduaunce our state so high, as your self can wish, or I be able to wield: so y• the commodities of the one, shall counteruaile the inconueniences of the other. For you shall vnderstand that the Emperour doth not only for the present time prouide for me as if I were his owne child, but also for the time to come hath proclaimed m [...]e sole heire to his Diademe and realme. Which estate as I neuer sought so mutch as in thought for my selfe, knowing mee to bee altogether vnworthy of it, so I thinke my selfe most happy to haue aspired therto, only for your sake whom I know woorthy of all the honour in the world. For as it would haue been a hel and horrour to my hart to haue séene you liue in meaner callinge then you are woorthy of, so will it bee a heauenly mirth to my minde to see you a prince in state as well as in stature beauty and vertue.

Master Germanicus (sayth shee) I promise you by the loue which I beare you, for greater bonde I haue not to confirme my woords by, that it doth mee more good to sée you thus pleasantly disposed then to here y• newes which you haue imparted vnto me, for th'one I am sure cannot hurt you, but what harme the other may procure you I feare to thinke and faint to say. Alas my Germanicus are you to know the perils which princely stat bringeth, the falshood in friendes, the treason in nobilyty, the rebellion in comminalty, the enuy of the weake, the iniury of the strong. Besides you see boystrous windes do most of all shake the highest towers, the higher the place is the sooner and sorer is the fall, the tree is euer weakest towardes the top, in greatest charge are greatest cares, in largest seas are sorest tempestes, enuy alwayes shooteth at high markes, and a kingdome is more easyly gotten then kept. For to get is the gift of fortune, but to keepe [Page] is the power of prudency and wisdome, especially where there bee many that catch for it, yea and when a man shall haue no faithfull frendes in sauyng it. For Ennius saith flatly, there is no fréendly or faithfull dealinge to be looked for at any mans handes, in matters pertayninge to a kingdome: and Euripides makes it in a manner lawfull for a kingdomes sake to transgresse the limittes of law, nature, and honesty. Which opinions I may iustifie by many examples, as of Numitor and Amulius &c. who though they were naturall bretheren, yet Amulius beeinge the younger deposed his elder brother from the kingdome of Rome, s [...]ue his sonnes and made his daughters virgin Vestales that they might not marry and haue issue male to succeede the crowne: likewise of Romulus and Remus who beeing bretheren borne at one birth, yet bicause Remus should inioy no part of the kingdome, Romulus found meanes to make him away. The like is reported of Eteocles and Polinices, of Iugurth towardes Hyempsal and Adherball: all which were bretheren and by natures lawes most neerely linked together. But of others that by bloud haue not beene so neere, which in cases of kingdomes haue dealt far worse, the examples are in straungnesse wonderfull, in number infinite, and in successe so sorowfull, that it maketh mee colde at hart to consider of it. I spake not this my Germanicus to forespeake you, you may inioy the Empire quietly, and so I trust you shall, but I know not what the matter is, methinkes my minde giues mée some mischiefe will insue thereof. Alas (good husband) was it for my sake you sought the Empire? Doo you thinke I can not be content with th'estate which fortune shal assigne to you? Yes if it were to beg my bread from doore to doore as Adalesia did with her Alerane, I could bee contented therwith, so you were not tormented therewith? It is you (sweete husbande) that are the ritches which I séeke to possesse, you are the only honours which I looke for, you are the only [Page] kingdome which I care for, for so longe as I may inioy you, come pouerty, come meane estate, come sicknesse, yea come death it self so I may die betwéene your armes. Therefore (good Master Germanicus) if you followe my counsayle, resigne your title to the Emperour againe to bestow on some that hath more néede of it then (thanks bée giuen to god) wee haue: for for my part I thinke my selfe indued with the greatest riches in the world, to wit your person and mine owne contented minde. And béesides the euils béefore rehersed incident to a kingdome this inconuenience is commonly incurred therby, that it altereth the nature of the person which taketh that name vpon him, for honours chaung manners, and no doubt the diuersity of delightes which a prince possesseth bée but prickes to pleasure, inticementes to folly, and allurementes to lust. Was not Saull (I pray you) in the beginning of his raigne a good prince, but after declined to impiety? Salomon beegan his raigne godly, but afterwards gaue him selfe in pray to women. Caligula, Nero and Hannibal béegan to raigne like good princes, but after the whole world was troubled with their tiranny. I could aledge infinite other examples to like purpose, but these shal suffice, neither do I alledge these, for that I feare y• chaunge of your good nature, but to feare you from the chaunge of your estate: and yet the better I knowe your nature to bee, the more cause haue I to feare the alteration therof. For freshest colours soonest fade, & ripest fruit are rifest rotten. But to leaue the louringe lottes which light on high estate, which are more then I am able to reherse, let this request take place with you, that séeinge for my sake onely you coueted the empire, at my sute only you will forgoe it againe.

Ah (swéet wife saith hée) imbracing her in his armes, what is it vnder the Sunne whiche you may not commaunde mee to do without desiryng? But I béeseche you [Page] suffer not the tender care you haue of mée, to depriue you of the honour due to you? For to cast the worste of it, though open enemies or trecherous traytours, or rude rebels shall set mée béesides my regall seate, and depriue mée of life, yet shall you remayne a princesse, and be matched agayne with some other more worthy your estate, and so longe I care not what béetide of my selfe.

Alas (sir saith shée) I bée séeche you vse no more of those wordes, onlesse you count my great greif your great good. Can I liue when you are dead, shall I bée married again and you made away? In deed (saith hée) I néede not vse sutch extréeme doubtes in a matter nothyng daungerous for the numbers are infinite of those who haue wielded far more waightie empires then this without hazarding them selues any way, as the Emperour Octauian hath consumed the whole course of his life without perill, and Alexander béeyng but fiue and thirtie yéeres of age tooke vpon him the Monarchy of the whole world. Besides if I should now refuse the Empire offred me, it were a signe of a base and ignoble minde, and the Emperour woulde thinke I made no account of his good will. Well saith shee do as God shall put in your head, & of mee make this account, that though you bee the meanest man in the citie yet will I honour you as if you were the Emperour: and though you make mée a Princesse, yet will I bée as obedient to you as if I were your hyred hand mayde. Ah good wife (saith hée) leaue those termes of humilitie to those y• like them, or looke for them, for for my part I haue you in sutch reuerent estimation, y• I thinke the best state which euer I shalbe able to bryng you to wilbe to base for your worthinesse, and if it shall please you to rest satisfied with the seruice I can do you, to remaine content with the callyng I can giue you, to returne louingly the good will which I will beare you▪ it is all that euer I will looke for at your hands, and the only felicitie I force of in this life.

God forbid (maister Germanicus saith shée) that I should [Page] either looke for seruice of you, or mislyke the lot whiche you shall alow mée, or not restore with interest the good will which you shall beare mée. Yes perswade your selfe this, though you surmount mée in all other thynges, yet wil I not fayle, if it bée possible, to excéede you in good wil. Shortly vpon this the whirlyng whéele of Fortune turned theyr talke to teares, their woordes to waylyng, their gladnesse to sadnesse, their happinesse to heauinesse, yea their life to death. For a certayne thirst of the kingdom, began to assaulte one Tiberius a Gentleman in the Emperours court, who beeyng of the bloud royall, perswaded her selfe if Germanicus were made away, the Emperour béeyng dead, hee should succeed in the Empire. Whiche greedie desire of the kyngdom so blinded his vnderstandyng, that hee passed not to peruert both humaine and deuine lawes for the accomplishyng therof, no rules of reason, no bonde of freendship, no care of kynred, no feare of lawes, no prickes of conscience, no respect of honestie, no regard of gods or men could prohibite him from his pestiferous purpose. For if freendship had been of force with him, why they were familier friendes. If kinred, why they were nere kinsmen. If lawes, hee knew his deede contrarie to all lawes. If conscience, hée knew it terrible. If honestie, hee knew it most wicked. If goddes or men, hée knew it abhominable in the sight of bothe the one and the other. But too true it is, desire of a kyngdome careth neither for kith nor kin, friend nor foe, God nor the diuel, as by this trayterous Tyrant may bee playnly prooued, who by poyson procured the death of this worthy Gentleman Germanicus, to the intent to inioye the kyngdome of Rome. Now Agrippina séeyng her sweet husband so sodainly dead, was surprised with sutch sodain sorrow, y• for a long time she could neither speake woord, neither let fal teare, but at length she cast her self vpon the corps of her Germanicus, kissyng his colde cheekes, and imbracing his breathlesse bodie, sighyng & sobbyng foorth these woords.

[Page]Alas wretched wight that I am, whose misery is like to mine, whose griefe so great, whose life so lothsome? no flowing teares, no griping groanes, no carefull cries, no throbbing sighes can sufficiently set forth my sorrowes. My life my loue, my hope my husband, my ioy my Germanicus is miserably murthered and made away. Ah vaine desire of wordly dignity, ah diuelish deede of blouddy cruelty. But in vaine it is to complaine, when my care is without cure, and none can redresse my wronge. For goddes I know there are none, otherwise I knowe the good should not bee so made away by the ill: and men there are none that can medicine my malady, and rayse my Germanicus to life againe: so that nothing resteth for mee but by death to bée rid of the moste bitter panges of death. I could prolong my life and seeke by some meanes to hasten the death of that tirant Tiberius, but alas his death can not bring Germanicus to life, no let him liue stil on earth where I doubt not but hee shall ten thousande times in his time, feele the force of death. For hee wilbée so tormented with his owne example, that (as the poets report of Suspicion) to bee plonged in all the pits of hell will not bee so painfull vnto him. Well the gods (if there bee any) giue him as he hath deserued, and giue me leaue to goe to the ghost of my Germanicus. Here vpon shee resolued with her selfe, that as her husbande indeed his life by receiuing into his body that which hee should not, so shee would end her daies by not receiuinge that which shée should, and so defrauding her selfe of foode, distillinge her selfe as it were into teares, pitifully pined away. And when the Emperour Octauian caused meate to bee thrust in her throate, shee cast it vp againe saying, sorowe was the onely sustinance, and moane the meate which shee either could or would take, and so in short time died.

I shall not neede here (gentlewoman) to exhort you to take the death of your husbandes when you shalbe married, and when it shall happen more paciently, for that I [Page] knowe your wisdomes to bee sutch that you will not so wilfully worke your own confusions, neither doo I think you are to know that wee must liue by the liuinge not by the dead, and that there hath bene neuer any one husband so good, but there may bee others found as good: yea and though they bee not perfectly so good, yet in respecte of chaung which most women delight in, they are commonly counted better: as your selues if you were once married perchaunce would saye, or at leaste thinke. But I thinke this needefull to put you in minde, that by the example of Agrippina you counsayle your husbandes to content themselues with their callinge not to soare to highe, and stie aboue their seate, and with foolishe Phaeton and youthfull Icarus come to confusion. It is your partes also to way your husbandes wealth, and not to decke your heades and neckes with golde when hee hath none in his purse, not to swimme in silkes when hee is drowned in debt, not to abound in brauery when hee is pinched with pouerty. For you knowe it is your parte to take sutch part as hee doth, whither it bee pouerty or ritches, woe or wealth, pleasure or paine. But surely in my fancy that man is to bee begged for a foole who will prefer his wiues pleasure before his owne and her profite, her will before his owne wealth, her vanity before his owne ability. And as it is great inciuilyty and churlishuesse in a man to deny his wife any thing which is reasonable, so is it great imbecillity and childishnesse to graunte her any thing which is vnreasonable, and hereof commeth the vtter vndooing of a great number of young gentlemen. And as it is wise and louinge carefulnesse to prouide well for ones wife, so is it fond and doatinge curiousnesse to seeke and prouide better for her then bee would do for himselfe, whereof came the confusion of this noble Gentleman Germanicus.

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Amphiaraus and Eriphile.

AMPHIARAVS a Gentleman Argiue, sueth for marriage to Eriphile a widow, either likyng others possessions better then persons. Infortunio, burnyng in fonde affection toward the same trull, seeyng Amphiaraus land preferred beefore his loyaltie, is at poynct to destroy himself. Amphiaraus hidyng himself to escape from the warres, is betraide by Eriphile for couetice of rewarde: and settynge foote within the Theban soyle, the earth openeth and swaloweth him vp. Eriphile eftsoones a widow, profereth her loue to her olde suter Infortunio, by whom beeyng repulsed, in choler she consumeth away and dieth.

THe aunciet Ppilosophers are of this mynde, that there is nothyng that doth more argue and shew a base mynde, then couetous desire of coyne & ritches, and nothyng more signe of a noble heart, then not to desire wealth if one want it, and liberally to bestow it, if hée haue it. But I am of this minde, that nothynge doth more argue a mad minde, then to desire goods which neuer did good, but which haue been alwayes the cause of all our calamities. What a world of men hath desire of wealth wasted in war? What huge heapes hath it drowned in the Sea? What infinite numbers hath it caused Phisitions to kill? How many hath it mooued Lawiers to vndoe? How many hath it driuen Deuines to sende to the Diuell? Of how many Murthers, thefts, flaughters, parricides, patricides, treasons, rebellions, periuries, forgeries, adultries, fornications, hath it been the cause? As Iupiter himselfe abused golde and pelfe to abuse Danae that virgin. But you will say though the desire of goods bee detestable, yet the possession is profitable. Wherto I pray you? to maintayne vs in brauery, in gluttony, in venery, in securitie, in impunitie, in pride, in [Page] prodigalitie, yea to brynge vs to perdition and distruction as kynge Midas wished that euery thynge which hée touched might bee gold, wherby hée was starued to death.

Fabritius an auncient Romain waighed wealth so litle, that though hée had béen Prince and Consul of Rome three or foure times, yet at his death hée had not so mutch goods as might suffice to bring him honorably to his graue, but was faine to bée buried at the common charge of the citie. But though the immoderate desire of ritches bée to bée reprehended, yet must I néedes say that moderately to account of them is not bée misliked, for they are giuen vs by God to passe the pilgrimage of our life withall, and we may vse them and yet not abuse them, wée may make of them and yet not make our Goddes of them. And as by duely desiryng and truly vsyng them, they conuert to our commoditie, so by gréedy couetinge and naughtie consumyng them, they turne to our trouble, care, and confusion: as partly béefore hath béen shewed, and plainly here after by the hystorie folowing is prooued, which is this.

In Greece amongst the people called Argiues dwelt one Amphiaraus, who béeyng a man of great possessions and wealth, heard of a Widdow in the same country of like liuyng vnto him selfe, her name was Eriphile, and her nature was sutch, that shée thought gaine swéet how so euer shée got it. It fortuned this Gentleman to come to her house to sée and assay her in the way of Marriage, and not withstandyng hée had more likyng to the liuyng then wil to the woman, yet hée laboured his sute as ernestly, as if hée had loued vehemently: and at conuenient time commenced his sute in this sort.

Gentlewomā I think it not néedful to enter into termes in commendation of mariage therby to perswade you the sooner therto, for that you know the dignity thereof, and haue already tasted the pleasures and commodities béelonginge to the same: but this chiefelye lieth mée vpon earnestly to perswade, and humbly to requeste at your [Page] handes, that when it shalbée your good pleasure to enter into that life againe, you will count mee worthy (though altogether vnworthy) to serue you in steede of a steward to order and dispose your thinges as your seemely selfe shall please to appointe, and to ease you of the trouble of trauailinge in your owne affaires: which I am sure for that you haue not beene accustomed thereto, must needes mutch molest you. For it is not méete your young yeres should bée tied to any trouble or trauaile, but to passe your time in pleasure according to your bringinge vp and callinge, and accordinge to the custome of your kinde, and sexe. And that you may not thinke my sute to procéed of any desire to your goods, your selfe I thinke partly know and by litle inquiry may perfectly vnderstande, that my landes and liuinges are sufficient to maintaine the port and countenance of a Gentleman of worship: all which I willingly yeeld into your handes to bée disposed at your pleasure, if it shall please you to yéeld your body into my armes to bée imbraced at my pleasure: so y• in acceptinge my offer you shall not only increase your substance, but also haue a gentleman at your commaundement, who shall make more account of you then of all the goods in the world. His talke ended Eriphile smylinge made him this smooth answere.

Sir, by how mutch more I know the inconueniences and infinite troubles mixed with mariage, by so mutch lesse do I like to enter into that estate againe. And as I was once linked with one according to my liking, so looke I not to bee placed againe with any, in whom I can take sutch pleasure: And as by holy oth I firmely bounde my fayth vnto him, so in this minde I am in, only my death shal dissolue that bond: and y• sower remembrance of my sweete husbandes death, shall take away the renewinge of all pleasures of life, and altogether mortifie in mée the minde to marry any more. For his loue was so excéeding great towardes mee, that I feare to finde the like at your [Page] handes or any mans els. For where you professe to be my steward and seruant, I am sure if you were once sure of that you seeke for, you would thinke your selfe good inough to bee my Lord and maister, and you would dispose my goods neither at my pleasure, neither to my profite, but that which is mine should bée yours and yours your owne. And where you pretend to prefer mee before al worldly goods, I take it rather for wordes of course then talke of troth, for as in the fayrest rose is soonest found a kanker, so in fairest spéech is falshood and faigning rifest. For I knowe the fashion of you men is by your subtelty to deceiue our simplicity, and by a fewe filed woordes to bring vs into a fooles paradise. Yea you haue set it down as a setled sentence amongst you, that he which knoweth not how to dissemble, knoweth not how to liue. Therfore I yéeld no other faith to your wordes then their faygned falshoode deserues, nor no other consent to your requeste, then the smal acquaintance you haue with mée, may iustly craue. But if hereafter in déedes I shall see as playne proufe of perfect goodwill, as your wordes import likelyhood of ernest loue, perchaunce I shal bée as zelous to cast liking towardes you, as now I am ielous to cast doubtes of you. By this time dinner was serued in, wherevpon their talke ceased, and presently after dinner the Gentleman had occasion to depart. Now Eriphile beeinge alone in her own house, béegan to discourse vpon this matter by her selfe, and notwithstandinge shee had no great minde to the man, yet shee felt in her selfe a great lust to his landes, and thought her selfe more then happy if shee might haue them safely assured and made ouer vnto her: and in this thought, vttred wordes to this sence.

Why what though I can not finde in my heart to loue and like him aboue all other. Is it requisite that euery mariage bée grounded on loue, as though we see not daily some to marry in respect of ritches, some in respecte of honours, some by constraint of freindes, & some vpon sundri [Page] other considerations: and for my parte I count it sufficient to haue married once of meere loue▪ and hauinge lost him whom I did loue intirely, I thinke it not lawfull, or at least not possible, euer to loue any againe hartely. For true loue euer decayeth, when the party truly béeloued dieth. And as my heart is hardened to take his death paciently, so will it not bee mollified to suffer the loue of any other to sinke therein déepely. Like as the potters clay beeing once hardened in the Ouen, will not bee made soft againe to receiue the impression of any other forme. But to speake my fancy freely, I see not how wee women are bound to loue our husbandes so mutch, wee are onely commaunded to honour and obay them, which I count sufficiente, and more then for my part I meane to perfourme. Besides that loue consisteth in the heart, now it is our bodies only that are bound to our husbandes as by ioyning of handes béefore the congregation is plainely shewed. But if I determine not to loue him, how can I looke for any loue at his handes? Tush that is the least matter amongest a hundred, so long as I may abound in brauery, ruffle in ritches, and participate with his goods, I care not to communicate in loue with him: I am to olde now to liue by loue. And yet wherefore is womens wit counted full of wyles, if I bee not able so to dissemble the matter that hee maye thinke I loue him deepely, though I hate him deadly. But if it should come to the woorst, that hee should perceiue my dissembling towardes him, and reward my colde kindenesse, with heate of hate, why I know the worst of it.

So that all things considered I see not how I can doe better then to accept this gentlemans offer, whose large landes and reuenewes are able to supplie al other wants whatsoeuer. For what disease is so desperate which mony may not medicine? what wound so deadly which coine can not cure? What life so lothsome which goods can not make gladsome? Shortly after this there made repayre [Page] vnto her house▪ a youth more wilfull then wise, named Infortunio, who hauinge seene her once or twice beefore, was so bleared with her beauty that it dazeled his sight, and tooke away his foresight in all things: and comming to her presence hée proferred sutch lamentable sute, and ghostly resemblances vnto her, that a rigorous repulse séemed sufficient to procure him a present death. The Gentlewoman seeing the furious assaultes of this freshe water souldiour, knew how to traine him to the fielde of her falshood, and to make him march vnder the ensigne of a marciles Misteris and cruell captaine: and sometimes fed him with wordes of comfort, to put him in hope, and by and by feared him with doubtes of deniall, to driue him into dispaire. And as the North East winde first gathereth vp the cloudes, and then by puffes putteth them abroade agayne, so shee first by louely lookes allured to bringe him in, and then with frowninge face lowred to driue him away: the only end beeing to sport her selfe in his paine, yea and if shée could of his good will to make some gaine. The poore gentleman perceiuinge these haggard trickes, and that assone shée would be wel comming to the lure, and by and by checke at it and soare away, was so amazed ther at that hée knew not what to resolue vpon. And as a trée hewen round with axes ready to fall with a blowe or twaine▪ tottereth euery way, béeing vncertaine which way to fall▪ so his minde distracted with doubtfull deuises, wauered vnconstanly, nowe bending this way, now bowing that way, willing to retire his desire, but not able to set his fancy frée. And not with standinge her peruerse dealinge pitifully perplexed and terribly tormented him, yet hée perswaded himselfe that as from most sharpe thornes, to wit the Rose tree, spring most swéete flowers, so from bitter annoy would come pleasaunt ioy, and of his heauy sute happy successe. Tush (saith hée) y• Merchant often sliceth the seas, though not sure to returne with gaine. The souldiour often [Page] ventreth his body in the field, though not sure of booty: the husband man still tilleth the ground though not certaine to saue his seed: but yet hope of good hap carieth all these to their enterprises, and why should not the same hope worke the same effect wt mee? Yes nothing venter nothing haue, I wil pursue my purpose whatsoeuer come of it.

Now the gentlewoman (as I sayd) ceased not to bayte him continually with courtly banquets, as dissembled fauour, vncertaine hope, curteous congies, amiable lookes and sutch like: but hée on the contrary as one that ment truly, ceased not to feed her with faire words, with faithfull promises, with ernest othes, with many a ritch iewel and costly gifte, which shée willingly receiued without condition, and wilyly kept with out restitution. In this meane while came the other wooer againe to renew his sute a freshe, and séeinge this younge Gentleman, as hée thought in great fauour, began greatly to feare his owne part, and thought the grasse had bene cut from vnder his féete: and as a conning Pilot séeing the seas rough and the winde contrary to his course, casteth ancker least his ship bée driuen against the rockes, or into some coast contrary to his minde: so this Gentleman fearinge least wilfull waues in y• gentlewoman, should set her fast in the sands of slipper subtelty, and dash his sute against the rockes of repulse, hauld in the maine shete of her minde, and by the anckers of aduise so stayed her course, that no wynde which my wilfull youthe could blow, could cause her any thinge to bow or wauer: and by assuringe her to a large ioynter hée was chosen to rule her sterne, wher the other was kept stil vnder the hatches. Who all this while that they were concluding the contracte, was in his chaumber busily deuisinge verses in the praise of his Misteris: but hearing of the sory successe of his sute, by a handmaide of the Gentlewoman, hée was so confounded in him selfe, that his inuencion was cleane marred, and his deuise vtterly dasht: yea hée was so far from writinge that hée had [Page] not a woord to saye or a thought to thinke. And surely in my iudgment hée reaped the right reward of his doatinge desire, for there only grafts of greife must néedes grow, where sutch raw conceite doth set, and sutch rashe consent dooth sowe. For neyther was his loue grounded vpon vertue, wherwith shee was not indued, neither vpon beauty wherwith shee was not adorned. For neither can cruelty be cloaked vnder vertue, neither the treason of vntruth couered vnder beuty (for the disposition of the minde followeth the constitucion of the body) so that it was his own selfe will and fond fancy that drewe him into sutch depth of affection, and therefore with greife was faigne to gather the fruites of his folly. And beeing come to him selfe hee began to rage in this sort.

And is my true loue thus triflyngly accounted of? Shall hée with his trash more preuayle then I with my truth? And will shée more respect gayne then good will? O iniquitie of times, O corruption of manners, O waueryng of women. Bée these the fruites of thy fayre lookes? Is this the hap of the hope thou puttest mée in? Is this the delight of the daliance thou vsedst with mee? Here in truly thou mayst bée fitly resembled to the Cat, whiche playeth with the Mouse, whom straight shée meaneth to slay: or to the Panther who with his gay colours & swéet smell allureth other beastes vnto him, and béeyng within his reache hée rauenously deuoureth them. But if I should set thée foorth in thy colours I thinke the sauage beastes would bee lothe to bee likened vnto thee: for crueltie thou mayest compare with Anaxarete, who suffred Iphis to hange himself for her sake: for inconstancie with Cressed, who forsooke her trustie Troylus: for pride with Angelica who contemned all men: for treason with Helen, who ran away with Paris from her husbande Menelaue. But what rashnesse is this in mee to rage and rayle agaynst her, whereas it is loue, and the destines that haue decréed my distruction. For Marriages are guided by destiny, and [Page] God hath indued women with this propertie, to bee wedded to their wils: Neither doth loue learne of force the knots to knit, shée serues but those which feele sweet fancies fit: for as streames can not bée made to run against their course, so vnwilling loue with teares nor truth cannot bée won. So that this only choice is left for mée either to die desperately, or to liue lothsomely: and as the birde inclosed in cage, the cage doare béeing set open, and the Hauke her ennemy sitting without, watching for her betwéene death and prison piteously oppressed standeth in doubt whether it bée better stil to remaine in prison, or to goe forth to bee a pray for the hauke, so stande I in doubt whether it bée better by loosing life to get liberty, or by lyuinge to become thrall and bond, and liue in continuall torment and vexation of minde. For loue hath taken so déepe roote in mee, that neither reason can rule, neither wisdome wield my witched will. But as the bytinge of a mad dogge rageth and rankleth vntil it haue brought the body bitten to bane, so the poyson of loue is so spread into euery part of mee that it will vndoubtedly bringe mee to death and distruction. O cruell captaine cupid is this the pay thou giuest thy souldiours? O vaine Venus is this the victory thou vouchsafest thy champions? Wouldest thou haue bene content thy darlinge Adon should rigorously haue reiected thee, when thou wert furiously inflamed with his loue? But the parish priest forgetteth that euer hee was clarke, and those that bée in happines themselues way not the heauinesse of other. Yea perchaunce thou fauour the falshood of this woman the rather, for that thou thy self playedst the false harlot with thy husband Vulcan the smith, and madest him a forked toole more then before hée had in his shop: but remember yet how hée tooke thee and the adultrour Mars tardie in your trechery and lechery together starke naked in an iron nette, and then called all the goddes to take view of your victous conuersation, to thy vtter shame and confusion. And so it may fall out [Page] that this your pupill may so longe delight in deceit, that shee may bee taken in the net which shee layeth to intangle other. But what meane I to blaspheme against the gods who doe but punnish mee iustly, for louing so lightly and ouely mine owne careles faut, is the cause of this curelesse fate. Wherefore O death to thee I make ernest request, that thou wilt speedily send Atropos vnto mee, to cut in sunder the twyst of my troublesome life: and seing my loue doth loth mee, good death doe thou desire mee. I know thou sentst out processe for mee euen in my swath cloutes, and now I beeseeche thee serue it on me, when I am most willinge and ready to appeare beefore thy presence. While this foreldrue gentleman continued in these carefull contemplations, the mariage was consummated betweene the widdow and Amphiaraus, who liued quietly together about a yeere or two, shee shewinge a presentiall obedience towardes him, and hee bearinge an ordinary affection towardes her: but in short time it pleased god to giue occasion to try the trechery of the one, & to worke the distruction of the other. For it fell so out that Adrastus king of y• Argiues was vpon vrgent causes mooued to infer war vpon the Thebanes, and in mustringe his men hee thought Amphiaraus a meete man to make one of his captaines, and willed him to prepare him selfe for that voyage, who beeing well seene in astronomy and other secret sciences, knew if hee went to the warres hee should not returne aliue: for which cause hee couertly hid himselfe in his owne house, makeing only his wife priuy therto. Now the kinge takinge muster of his men missed Amphiaraus, and knowing the cause of his absence, was in great rage, sayinge hee thought hee had had no sutch cowardes in his kingdome, and promised great rewardes to them that could bring tidings of him: Eriphile hauinge intelligence of this riche reward promised, was merueylously set on sier in the desire therof: & notwithstandinge she was plentifully indued wt ritches, yet was she in desire [Page] as greedy as if she had been in estate most needy: and as dropsy pacients drink and still be drye, neither is any lycour able to alay their thurst, yea the more they drinke the more they desire it, so she continually heaped in welth and yet was neuer satisfied: yea the more she had the more she desired to haue. And being possessed with this lothsome lust of lucre she entred into reasoning with her selfe in this sort. Who vnlesse they be out of their wits wil refuse offered gold? no the sauour of gaine is swéet of what thing so euer it be gotten. Why Tarp [...]ia a Romane mayde did betray the Tower of Rome for a few Bracelets to the Sabines that layed siege to ye citie, and shall not I for great Duches of Gold bewray my husbande to the Kinge, who meaneth by his meanes to preserue our citie? for if it come to the worst, that he neuer come home againe, why I know the worst of it, two or three dayes wéepinge will wash away al wo & sorrow, and then shal I be Lady of his landes and lyuings, and be maried againe to some that perchaunce shall better content me euery way then hee doth: and who is so foolishe that will not be content to chaunge for the better? and in this good minde gat to the King, and told him, that preferring the safety of his person, and the profit of the common wealth before her owne priuate pleasure, she was constrained to detect her loyall mate vnto his royall maiesty (which her deede she humbly desired him to conceale) and not withstanding the absence of her louing husband would greatly annoy her, yet the commoditie of her country, which she hoped through her husbandes help should be procured, would as greatlye ioy her. And that she might sauely see her sweet husband againe, with a few feined teares forcibly wroung forth, she humbly requested the King that he might be placed in sutch part of the battaile, that he might not be subiecte to the shot, and lie open to the army of the aduersarye. The King plainly certified by her of the den wherein the fore was hidden, geuing her the promised reward went foorth [Page] with to vnkenuell him: who hearing of the Kinges comming, and by what meanes he was discouered, fell to raging against his wife and other like women for her sake in this sort.

Ah fonde foole that I was to repose any trust or confidence in women, whose sexe is s [...]btil, whose kinde is cruell, who are constant only in vnconstancy, who are wytty onely in wiles, who as Aristotle saith are monsters in nature, altogether imperfect, weake vessels, ignoraunt in al things, yea (which we may most lament) they are naturaly indued with baites to allure men, with poyson to infect men, and with charmes to chaunge men from men to beastes, as Cyrces did the seruauntes of Vlisses: yea what man hath euer been so wise but by women hath bene seduced to folly? as Pharo his daughter caused Solomon to fall to idolatry: what man hath euer been so godly but by women hath béen depraued? as Bersabe droue king Dauid to diuelishnesse: what man hath euer bene so strong, who by women hath not bene made to stoope? as Dalila tooke away ye force of Sampson by cutting away his heire: who hath euer bene so perfect, but by women hath bene drawn to imperfection? as Adam by the meanes of Eue loste the perfection of Paradice: who hath euer bene so faithfull, but that women haue inforced them to infidelytie? as a handmayde made Peter denie his mayster Christ: who so valiaunt, but by women hath been vnquished? as Omphale made Hercules serue her and spinne amongst her maides: and after by Dynira was done to death: who so learned, but by women hath beene taught new poyntes of schole? as Tully by Terentia, Marcus Aurelius by Faustina, and Ouid by Cornina were often abused: with infinet other. But if the wise, the godly, the strong, the perfect, the saithfull, the valiant, y• learned, haue been bewitched beguiled & abused by women, is it reason I should chalenge any proper or peculier fortune to my self, and not remain content wt the lot which is cōmon to al [...]yes I am content [Page] my rage in rule to binde, but not withstandinge the comfort by other mens calamitie be miserable, yet it doth me good to thinke that other haue been as sluttishly serued by women as my selfe, as Tullia conspired the death of her owne husband Tarquinius, then of her Sister, and lastly maried the brother of her owne husband who before was housband to her owne Sister: as the fyftie daughters of Danae all but one slue their husbandes the firste night of their marriage: as Candaules by the counsell of his wife was slaine by Gyges, who after married her: as Dyonisius notwithstanding his wary watch and watchful warenesse for the preseruation of his lyfe, was by his owne wife Aristomacha miserably made away.

By this time the king was come into his house where vpon hée was driuen with shame to shewe and presente him selfe to his maiesty, humbly crauinge pardon for his offence, and séeing no remedy, made preparation for the warres, disposing his liuinge so well as the shortnesse of time would giue him leaue, and dispossessinge his wife of so mutch as hée could possibly. Which done amongest the rest hée mournfully marched forward, but hée no sooner set foote in the Thebane soyle, but that the earth opened, & swallowed him vp. Of which newes so soone as his wife was partaker, for fashion sake shée put finger in the eye, and attired herselfe in mourning apparell: but shée quickly cast it of againe and began to cast in her head how shee might bée sped of any other husband: and callinge to minde y• deep affection wherin Don infortunio was drowned towardes her, shee thought none more fit to make a foole of then him, and therfore by letters did him to vnderstand, that considering his former goodwill towardes her, shée thought her selfe bound in conscience to counternayle his curtesie, by any conuenient meane shée might: and in that béefore time shée set so light by his loue, the cause was for that before his comming shée had betrothed her selfe to Amphiaraus, so that as thn shée was not able [Page] to yéeld him the méede of his merit: but now if his affectiō were not altered, & if hée were disposed to deale with her by order of honesty & limits of law, he might bee paied his due debt with double interest. Now the young gentlemā by ye ayde of absence, by the assistance of time, by ye change of diet, by remēbrance of his repulse, by dregs of disdain by the vertue of necessity, and by the help of reason being fully cured of his folly: hauing heard also of the trechery which shee vsed towardes her other husband, reiected her offer, returning her answer, y• beeing at liberty hée ment not to come in bondes, and béeing now set frée from her fraud & falshood, he would no more bée trayned to her treison. Neither (sayth hee) doth that hold or castle merit mercy, which yéeldes rather for want of freshe supplie, then at the sute of the beseiger. Neither is y• prisoner to bée pitied, who beeinge iudge, ioyed only in staerity and cruelty: neither is that clientes cause to bée considered, who beeing a counsaylor, dealt in the cases of other without conscience. The gentlewoman séeinge her selfe thus reprochfully repulsed, in very colorike conceites consumed away and died.

I am héere gentlewomen to admonish you not to suffer your selues to be caryed away with couetousnesse, you sée to what miserable ende it brought this maried disloyall couple: and as wel for your sakes as mine owne I would wish you who are indued with wealth sufficient to make a man (as they say) & who are at your owne disposition and choice, not to yéeld your selues as a pray to any who hath no néede of your wealth, neither will gratefully accept your goodes, but rather frankly to bequeath your selues to some poore younger brother, who may thinke himself made by marrying you, who may thanke his wise onely for his wealth, who may impute his happinesse onely to hauing you: whom you may binde to you by benefits, who will no doubt indeuour to counterpeise your lyuing with his loue, and your goodes with his good [Page] will: who will rather serue you, then séeke superiorytie ouer you: who will rather be your man then your master: your Liege, then your Lorde: your subiect then your soueraigne: wherby you shal liue as you list, your profits shall pleasure you, your gooddes shall do you good. And what so euer bee your common saying, that you must as well loue to liue, as liue to loue, yet surely in my fancie I thinke it farre better for a married couple to liue together without liuinge, then without loue: for what litle liuing will suffice nature, who knoweth not, but what lothed liues be where loue doth lack, looke but into the liues of the parties, but now reported vnto you. And if you credite not my report of them, no more but marke your poore neighbours how quietly and merily they passe theyr time in pouertie, assisted only by the calme of contentment and loue: and then conuert your eyes to the view of many oother estates, and looke how vnpleasantly and vncontentedly they spende their daies, molested by the stormes of strife, debate, and hate. Which contemplation I hope wil so confirme your iudgements that you will alwaies prefer loue before liuing: or at least not so to respect thone, as to neglect the other: or at least, if it be posible, to ioine the one wt the other. Another thing also the death of Eriphile may driue into your mindes, that you rage not lyke tyraunts ouer those, whom your beautye hath made your bonslaues: for you must know that it is more glory to vse the victory moderately, then to get it mightely: and farre more holdes haue bene woonne by clemencie, then by crueltie. For when the inhabitants know the captaines curtesie, they wil rather yéeld to his assured mercy, then stand to the doubtfull euent of battayle: so gentlewomen if you minde to make breach into the harts of many, and to win the fort of their faithes vnto you, if you craue to conquer the goodwilles, and to be courted with the seruice of suters, you must with modestie make much of them, with curtesie counteruaile their kindnesse, with gratefulnesse [Page] accept their good wil, with liberalitie requight their loue, and with honest plainenesse answer to their demaundes: you must not féede them with falshod, draw them en with delay, and torment them with trifling as Eriphile dyd her Infortunio, to her owne infortunate hap as it luckely afterwards did light: for it is Gods word and will that such measure as is met shall be measured againe, and they that delight to drowne other in dolour, shall not swimme long in pleasure them selues: I knowe not what effecte my wordes will take, for that I know not how you courtlye dames accounte of my cunninge: but before mine owne face I am able to assure you this, that the girles of our parish think that welch Sir Richard him selfe can not make a better preache then I can: but it may be you wil thinke me ouer saucy with my lisping lips to prefer persuasions to them, who are as voyde of folly euery way as my selfe of wit any way. Yet considering how quietlye you tooke the rude railing of Amphiaraus against you, I neede not doubt but that you will take in good part wordes whiche are well ment towardes you, and if not follow them, yet not mislike them, and rather waigh the will of the speaker, then the worth of the wordes.

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Icilius and Uirginia.

ICILIVS a younge Gentleman of Rome, fallynge in loue with Virginia, is refused by her friendes for want of sufficient wealth, but priuily contracteth himselfe vnto her, and departeth into the warres. Appius Claudius burning with vnchaste lust of the same mayden, the better to obtayne her, causeth Clodius his client to clayme her for his bondslaue, and giueth wrongfull iudgement on his side. But Virginius her father, at her ernest request, slayeth her with his owne handes to preserue her virginitie from the villainie of Appius, who for that fact is cast into prison, where desperatly hee doth himself to death.

IT is a doubt often debated but not yet decided, whether loue discendeth from the heauens, deriueth of our owne nature, procéedeth of the similitude of manners, commeth of acquaintance and familiarity, taketh originall of our education and bringinge vp together, whether it ariseth of beauty or of vertue, whether it entreth in at the eyes, or first bée rooted in the hart, whether the cause come from the party that loueth or the party loued, or whether it bée in our power to loue or to leaue, I leaue to other to resolue vpon, for for my part (I yeeld god thankes for it) I haue as yet been so litle troubled with loue, that I know not what it is, nor from whence it commeth, and when I muse theron I am as bad troubled as Symonides was to thinke and say what god was: but if an opinion grounded vpon reason without any proper experience on mine owne part may take place, I thinke loue cheifly to bee grounded vpon the similitude of manners shewed and signified by familiarity and abode together. For it is daily seene that those parties who at the first incountry and vew haue rather dis [...]iked then loued ech other, by continuance of conuersation and by conferring eche others conditions [Page] and nature together, haue fallen into the fire of most feruent affection. For true loue and faythful freindship is to will and to nill one thinge, to haue one obiect of appetite, and to haue like effect of affection. I know there are infinite instances to bee giuen to this assertion, for that some haue beene surprised with loue only vpon a louing looke, some vpon a curteous word, some vpon a single sight, some vpon a vaine vision, some vpon a doubtful dreame, some vpon an vncertaine report, and some some other way. But as one swallow makes not sommer, so one particularity concludeth no generality. And as an Aethiopian is sayd generally to bée blacke though his téeth bée white, for that for the most partes of him hee is black, so I thinke loue may bee sayd generally to procéede of the similitude of manners, for that for the most part it doth so. And besides infinite other examples which I can alleage for proofe hereof, the historie which you shal presently heare shall also confirme it.

In the renowmed citie of Rome made his abode one Icilius, who though hée were a gentleman of a worshipful house, yet by reason that his parentes were yet lyuinge, his patrimony was not great, neither his liuinge more then might suffice to maintaine the porte of the place and countenance hée caried in the citie, by reason wherof hee remained vnmaried, as béeing not able to maintayne a wife accordinge to the estate of his callinge. It was his chaunce amongest other youthfull company to passe the time for the space of a sennight in feasting and makinge merry at the house of one L. Virginius, a worshipful gentleman of the same citie, who had to daughter a damsell named Virginia, who as shée was of ripe yeres, so was shée of ripe iudgement and discretion in euery point beelonginge to a vertuous virgin & modest maide. Her shape though it were not precise, yet was it perfecte: her face though it were not blasinge, yet was it beautifull: her corps though it were not curious, yet was it comely: and [Page] as nature plentifully planted perfection in her, so God super aboundantly bestowed his benefits vpon her, sutch grauity in gesture, sutch modesty in manners, sutch curtesy in conuersation, sutch troth in talke, sutch wit in reasoning, that Minerua her selfe could not haue mended her: that it was doutfull whether men were more rapte into admiration of her wisdome, or rauished in contemplation of her beauty, the one contayninge contentment for the body, the other solace and delight for the minde. Now Icilius being in the company and society of this saint vsed litle other behauiour towardes her aboue his common regard to all the Gentlewomen of the troupe, but spent his time in dauncinge, dysinge, cardinge, and other sutch pastimes. And notwithstanding this while he often felt a certaine restraint of liberty in his affections, an alteration of minde and as it were a ciuell assault and discord within him selfe, yet by reason of his younge yeres and small practise in the pangues of loue, hee could not coniecture the cause of his sodaine passions: but this made him most to muse, that when hee was in his most dumps, if shee chaunced to present her selfe to his presence, his heart was presently lightned of that which lay so heauy in his stomake, and as when the sun shineth the cloudes vanish away, so when her beauty blazed in place, the cloudes of care were cleare consumed. Likewise beeinge often desirous to talke with her, & inioy the present pleasure of her pleasant speeche, his sences were so rauished with the sight of her, y• he could not vtter one word vnto her. Sitting also at the table with her & casting a gazinge glaunce round about him, his sight was neuer satisfied vntill hee had lent her a looke, and séemed only to resolue his fancy vpon her face. But notwithstandinge all this hee did not thorowly perceiue the cause of his sodain trouble of minde, and thought it as it was a toy lightly taken so would it bée lightly left againe, and therfore departed from her fathers house without preferring any sute vnto [Page] her, or adding execution to the aduantage of the time and place. But beeinge gone home, and gotten solitarily to his chamber, good god what mountaines of smooke did scaldinge sighes send foorth of his mouth, what drops of bloud did galdinge greife make his heart to bléed, what flouddes of teares did flow from his eyes, what carefull complaints did hée send vnto the skies? saying O heauens why heape you my heauinesse? O planets why plant you my paine? O destines why decrée yée my distruction? O Gods why depriue you mée of liberty, nowe my younge yéeres chalenge to liue most fréely. O fortune why doest thou mixe my swéete meate with sutch sower sauce y• is more bitter then gall, and nolesse pleasaunt then death vnto mée? Must the litle delight which I tooke in the company of Virginia (wherof I fully vnderstood not her to bée the cause neither) bée counteruayled with sutch direfull dispight? and for the pleasure which her presence procured mée, must her absence purchase me sutch displeasure? then to true doe I finde that euery dram of delight hath a pound of spight, and euery inch of ioy, an ell of annoy annexed vnto it: then well may I curse the chaunce, y• cause and the company which caused mée to come to that place, which hath caught mée in sutch bondage. And may I terme it bondage to liue in the seruice and contemplation of my Virginia? Is it slauery to bée thrall to vertue? It is her bountie not her beutie that bindeth mée, it is her curtesy, not her comlinesse that I care for, it is her perfection not her person that I passe of, it is her condiditions not her colour that I acount of: for beuty bideth not, comelinesse continueth not, personage perisheth, coulour fadeth, but bounty, curtesie, perfection, and conditions remaine for euer. So that if I liue in bondage, it is to vertue, if I bée a slaue I am vertues slaue. But doth vertue vse to torment men thus, béelike that is the cause there are so few honest and vertuous? No I ought not to count my trouble a torment, but the fine gold must [Page] bee purified in the flaming fire, & white siluer is wrought in blacke pitch: glory must bee gotten thorow depth of daunger, and pleasure must bée purchased with the price of paine. And though absence now be some torment to try mee, and though dolour now drowne mee in the seas of sorrow, yet doubt I not but shortly to swim in the fluds of feliciti, and take land there where my heart hath already pitcht his abode. But O presumptuous foole, whether doth folly force mec? doo I hope to win her whom my vnworthynesse willeth me not so mutch as to wish for? Yea which way soeuer I goe to worke, I am sure to haue a colde sute of it: for if I profer her my seruice dishonestly, why her vertue abhorreth it: if I make loue in way of mariage, her estate and ritches refuseth it. O god and shall goods bee more accounted of then goodwill? lucre more then loue? Is the counsayle of Themistocles altogether reiected, who willeth men rather to marry their daughters to a man that wanteth mony, then to mony y• wanteth a man to vse it? Is the world so blinded in couetousnesse to prefer liuinge before learning, wealth before wit? Then farewell true freindship if it bée not grounded vpon loue: then farewell true loue if mariage bée not the end of it: then farewell true mariage if mony make it: then resteth for mee onely to beewayle my euill hap, to lament my luckelesse loue, and neuer to attempt that I am like neuer to attaine vnto.

By this time the earth was couered with a darke mantell, and by reason that the Sun was departed out of our Horizon, the light of the starres which the Sun lendeth them, béegan to appeare in the firmamente, where vpon this poore passionate louer weried with woe, disposed him selfe to rest: but hee whose bane loue hath brued, neither by night nor by day, neither in company nor solitary, neither sléeping nor waking, can take any rest or quiet. For hee was no sooner in a slumber but the goddesse of his deuotions presently presented her selfe béefore him, sayinge: [Page] Myne owne, why doest thou thus torment thy selfe for my sake, who suffer no litle greife to see thy great sorrow, wherfore be bolde to aske any thing at my hands honestly, and bee sure I will graunt it willingly: for I perswade my selfe the heauens haue reserued mee for thée. Icilius hearinge (as hée hoped) this heauenly voice, and séeing (as hée thought) that saint by his bed side, with open armes reached to imbrace her, but béeinge awaked with open eyes hée saw hee was deceiued: which sodaine fall from heauen to hell tooke away his breath from him for a while, but béeing come to him selfe hée began to cry out in this carefull manner.

O God, is it not sufficient to vexe mée with vanities in the day time, vnlesse thou torment mée with visions also in the night? haue I not woe inough awake, but that béesides I must haue sorrow in sleepe? What gréeuous offence haue I committed, that deserueth sutch gréeuous punishment? if this bée the rewarde of them that loue, woe, woe bée to them that hate: thou hast commaunded vs all to loue one another, and if thou thus punishe the fulfillers of thy law, what shall béecome of the transgressors therof? but if thou bee disposed to punish mée, and displeased with my deedes, neuer suffer mée hereafter to do any thynge but cast mée into sutch a sleepe wherin I was erwhile, and therein let mée continue continually. O happy was Endymion, who longe time inioyed the like sleepe. O ten times happie are the dead, if death bée any thynge like this sleepe. But O hundred times vnhappie am I, to whom wakyng is waylefull, wheras to all thynges els it is ioyfull. But was this but a vision which deluded mee? was it but a dreame whiche I doated on? And if it were but a dreame, doth it portend nothyng? and may there be effect in dreames? Yea god wot commonly the contrary: or (as Cato saith) wée sée sleeping that which wée wish for wakyng. So that neither in dreaming nor doing, neither in sleepyng nor séeyng, neither in thinkyng nor sayinge, [Page] finde I any cause of comfort or see any signe of solace. This youthe passed his time so longe in these and sutch like passions, that ye carefull cariage of his eyes bewrayed his carefull minde, and his pale countenance his painfull case. Which a special fréend of his perceiuyng, tooke sutch compassion and pitie on his painfull state, that hée sought all meanes possible to sift out the cause of his sorrow, to the intent to séeke some medicine for his maladie. And hauyng oportunitie of time and place, hée brake with him in this sorte.

Good freende, if I should shew you what great sorrow I sustayne by your heauinesse, you would perchaunce iudge my words to proceede rather of flattery and trifling then of truth: but no more but trie how willyng I wilbe to ease your payne, and by that iudge how greatly it gréeueth mee. But how great so euer my gréeif bee, my wonder is more then great to sée you transfourmed from the estate of a pleasant Gentleman into sutch solitarie regardes, that you séeme rather a Tymon of Athens, then a courtier of Italy: and so mutche the more cause I haue of meruayle, by how mutch lesse I sée any apparent cause which should worke any sutch alteration in you. For if want of worldly wealth coulde worke your woe, why you want nothyng: if you would eate golde (as they say) you might haue it. If losse of freendes molest you, why you haue an infinite number whiche loue you intirely. If you bee disposed to trauayle to see straunge countries, your parents wilbee well pleased with your departure. If you bee wearie of your single life, your freendes will foorthwith prouide for your Marriage. If any repulse receyued of any dayntie dame doo daunt you, why the Goddes them selues haue suffred the like: as Daphne a seely damsel refused the God Phoebus: Syrinx a simple mayde reiected the God Pan, with infinite other. If you haue fixed your fancie in place you thinke impossible to possesse, why you haue reason to rule your affection, you haue wit to compasse [Page] your desire, you haue fréends to further it, you want nothynge to finish it. With this his colour beegan to chaunge, and hee fetcht a deepe sighe or two, whereby his freend perceiued hee had touched the cause of his calamitie, and sore of his sorrow, praying him very ernestly to vnfolde the secrets of his thoughtes vnto him, sayinge two wittes are better then one, and that which you blinded perchaunce by loue can not see, I stirred vp by desire to doo you good, may perceiue. And for secrecy in your affaires, assure your selfe, that neuer Pithias to his Damon, Pylades to his Orestes, nor Gys [...]ppus to his Titus was more true, then I will bee to you. And though your learninge and wit to knowe what is best for your owne behalfe bee far better then mine, yet the simplenesse of my wit shalbee supplied with the sincerenesse of my will, which shalbe alwayes so ready prest to pleasure you, that if my seruice may satisfie you, you shall commaund mee, if my company may content you, I will neuer be out of your sight: if I may any way stand you in any steede, account mee your owne only.

Icilius hearing this friendly discourse could not but say in his heart, O friend vnfained, O loue most loyall, O curtesy incomparable and imbracinge fast his freend in his armes sayd, if al the miseries in the world did muster in multitudes about mee, yet this thing only is of force to fence mee from their furies, to thinke I inioy so firme a friend as your selfe are, and if I may liue but to requite some part of your good wil, it is the second felicity I loke for in this life. But touching the cause of my perplexity I must craue pardon if I make courtsy to disclose it, for that many euils cary this nature, rather to bee concealed with griefe, then reuealed in hope of releife. And as a greene wound by taking the aire spredeth farther abroad and is the hardlier healed, so I thinke my tormente and greife beeinge once discouered, would not bee so easely cured. If (sayth his frend) the originall of your euil proceede [Page] of loue as in my fancy it doth, then vndoubtedly the more it is vncouered the sooner is it cured, for as coales of fire couered cloase with ashes keepe their heate longe time, but lying open soone waxe colde and blacke, so the firy flames of loue raked vp in silence, burne furiously within a man, but béeinge by discourse disclosed they soone conuert from flame to fume and smoake. Wherefore (good freinde) sticke not to imparte vnto mée this matter which doth import you so nere, promising you by the inuiolable bond of freindship to trauaile so ernestly in your affaires, that what wanteth in power, you shall finde in the paines which I will take in your cause. Alas swéet freind (saith Icilius) rather then you should thinke I haue any diffidence or distrust in you, or thinke you vnwoorthy of credite in any cause whatsoeuer, I will make you priuy to the cause of my paine what pange or perill so euer I incur therby. Wherefore you shal vnderstand that since the time I was at the house of L. Virginius, as you partly know, the conditions of his daughter did so well content mée, her nature agréed so well with mine, her affections were so framed to my fancy, that I am constrained to resigne my liberty captiue vnto her, and to make her person the prison of my hart. And the lesse hope I haue of obtayning her, the more doo I loue: and the more déepely I doo desire her, the more deadly doo I dispaire of her: which is the cause of all my care and summe of all my sorow: yea this is it which hath made mee an enemie to my selfe, a straunger to my freindes, to abandon all good company, to sit in solitarinesse, and this is it which, if it bée not in time prouided for, will preuente by death all other mischeifs. God forbid good freind (sayth his freind) that so light a cause should so déepely distres you: what, doo you thinke either so superstitiously of her, either so abiectly of your selfe, that you deeme this matter so impossible to bee brought to passe? Why her person is not of sutch perfection, but that yours may match it: her freindes are [Page] not of sutch state, but that yours may stand by them: her portion is not so greate, but your parentes are able to make yours equall vnto it. No, doubt not but your loue shall sort to lucky ende, and haue sutch successe you seeke for: and I am hartely glad, that seeinge it was your chaunce to loose your liberty, it is lodged in sutch a place, which is rather to bée counted a Paradise of pleasure, thē a prison of paine, of whose worthynes I would somwhat say, but that perchaunce you will thinke mee partiall to the party, and besides that I should rather kindle newe coales in you, then quench olde flames. But bicause I perswade my selfe I may doe somewhat with the partie which putteth you to this paine, doubt not to commit this charge to mee, and I warrant you I will discharge it to your contentation. Ah deare freind (sayth Icilius) if I thought you as well able to giue order to my sorrow and redresse my woe, as I see you willing to comfort my carefulnesse and keepe mee from dispaire, I should thinke my self the happiest wight in the world, and I would account of you as the preseruer of my life, but I can not tell what the matter is, méethinkes the more feruent is my fire, the more faint is my feare. Phy (sayth his freind) you shew your selfe to very a coward, fortune you knowe fauoureth not the faint hearted, neither are they woorthy to win the pray you presse for, and therefore for shame take a good heart vnto you, and doe your indeuour, and let mee alone with the rest: there is no hauke soareth so highe but shee will stoupe to some praye, neither any so rammishe and wilde but in time shee may bee reclaimed and made to the lure. And if you follow my aduise, I think good you solicite her by letters vntill sutch time you haue conuenient time to goe thither your selfe. Which counsayle hee forthwith put in execution, and indited a letter to his Mistris in this manner.

Good Mistris, to set foorth in woordes the feruency of my affection, & vehemency of my passion, I thinke would [Page] be both tedious to you, and I am sure greeuous to my self for that the remembraunce of my passions would bee as it were a renewing of my paine, and though I altogether vse silence therein, yet the lothsome life which I leade, may by report aduertise you of my lucklesse loue, and my drousy lookes to all which see them, are signes sufficient of my drouping heart. Therfore may it please you plainly to vnderstand, that beeinge at Mayster Virginius your fathers house, I receiued sutch contentation in your company and sight, that since I haue bene depriued therof, I thinke my selfe depriued of all the pleasures of life: And onlesse your curtesy surmounte my desertes, and that you vouchsafe to pity my painfull estate, I shal haue iust cause to say, that at your fathers I receiued in stéede of meate misery, for drinke dolour, yea I may count my fare fire, and my chéere very déere which must cost mee no lesse then the losse of my liberty at least. But if yet at the last course it shall please you to send and serue in to the table of my troubled minde some confectes of comfort with the fruites of freindship, I shall thinke my selfe to haue fared most daintily, wheras otherwise I shall count my selfe intreated disdainfully. Looke not good Mistris to my liuyng but to my loue, way not my wealth but my will, marke not my mony but my meaning in the way of honest and lawfull mariage, and spéedily send the messenger of present consolation to him, which pineth away in paine and is yours only and euer: ICILIVs.

Virginia hauinge vewed this letter, and likinge it neuer the worse for his sake that sent it, replied vnto it in this short and sober sort.

Sir, bicause I knowe in my selfe no sutch due desert any way, to driue you to sutch déepe desire, I am the hardlyer induced to beléeue your wordes, and though I adhibited full credite vnto them, yet perchaunce as yet my fancy is not fully framed to like so well of you as you eyther desire or deserue: and though I coulde finde in my [Page] heart to like you aboue all other, yet I know not whether my freindes will yeeld their consent therto. So that it is in mée only to thanke you for your goodwil, but not to satisfie your request. Yours as shee may: VIRGINIA.

This letter bringinge some comforte to his carefull mimde, made him make hast to repaire in person to the place of her presence, where hee presented her his sute with sutch assured signes of perfect loue and loyalty, that shee thought with good conscience shée could not contemne his good will. But her parentes for that hee was not able, his father béeing aliue to make her sutch ioynter as they inioyned him to, deferred the consummation of the mariage from time to time, hopinge that time would mortifie the affection of either the one or the other louer. But as the smith his forge by casting on colde water burneth more fiercely, so their loue by these delayes increased more vehemently, which caused them to betroth themselues eche to other. But Icilius indued with a couragious minde, perceiuinge the lacke of liuinge to hinder his happinesse, determined to goe to the warres and by dint of sworde to win either coine or credite, or to loose life and loue. And béeinge on point to take his iourney hée gaue his Misteris this farewell. If euer woful creature had cause to complayne his carefull case, then vndoubtedly may I duely preace for the formost place. The horse now and then ceaseth from his trauaile, the Asse from bearing the Oxe from drawing, and so of all other creatures, but my poore heart is neuer at rest, but as the wheele continually turneth, so my minde continually tosseth, still deuising how I may aspire to the ende of my desires, and bée placed in full possession of your perfecte person. And hauing reuolued many wayes in my minde, I am now resolued vpon this to goe to the warres and there to win with prowesse and payn, that which god and fortune haue denied mee: where the remembraunce of your séemely selfe shall arme mée with sutch courage, that I shall count [Page] nothing daungerous to attempt or hard to attaine. And whatsoeuer woorthy feates you shall heare I shall enterprise, I shall desire you to perswade your selfe that they are done for your sake. And if in my absence it shal please you to continue constant in goodwill towardes mée, it is the onely shield that shall shadowe mée in field and fight. Remember Penelope passed twenty yéeres in the absence of her Vlisses, and assure your selfe Vlisses neuer hazarded him selfe in more perils, then I will put my selfe to for your sake.

Virginia hauing heard this short and sower discourse, castinge her selfe into his armes, after shée had beedewed his face with the teares which fell from her eyes, replied in this sort.

Ah (Maister Icilius) my tounge is not able to tell the hurt which my hart sustayneth by the couetous cruelty of my parentes, who in a gréedy desire of goods, go about to stay mee from that wherevpon my life doth stay and depende, and were it not that your great curtesie and loue towardes mee did somwhat moderate and mitigate my martirdome, I should neuer bee able to beare the vnsupportable burthen therof. But now I vnderstande by you I shall lose your companie, which was my only comforte and consolation, what resteth for mee, but notwithstandinge I was neuer married, yet to continue and leade a wofull widowes lothsome life, and to spende my golden yéeres in galdynge greeife. I could rehearse vnto you, and you your selfe can better tell, the infinite and imminent perils which alwayes wayte on warre, but that I doubt therby I should rather increase your gréeif, then alter your determination, but this request at least, yea and perchaunce the last, let mée make vnto you, that in warre you be warie, in battaile rather to backward then to bolde in field rather to flying then to forwarde, and if you take no care of your selfe, yet make some spare of mee. For perswade your selfe this, out of euery wound which your [Page] body shall receiue, will issue as well my bloud as yours.

And for constancie in your absence assure your selfe, Virginia will alway bée the vowed vassall of Icilius. And as the Laurell or Bay tree ceaseth not to bée green, notwithstandyng the parchyng Sommer, and pinchyng Winter, so will I neuer cease to bee fresh in freendship, and green in godwill towardes you, nothwithstandyng the sharpe stormes of absence, the distance of place, and difference of time. But here teares stayed the talk of the one, and time tooke away any longer abode of the other, whervpon they were constrained after a few carefull kisses, to giue eche other a faintyng farewell. Neither is it easie to poynte foorth the payne wherwith this partinge pinched bothe these poore louers, but surely in my fancie of al greifes it is most gripyng when freindes are forced to parte eche from other, when one hart is placed in two places, when one member is torne as it were from another, when ownes selfe is separated from him selfe, or at least his seconde selfe. But their partyng was not so paynfull, but that shortly after their meetyng was as mornefull. For not longe after the departure of Icilius: as Virginia walked abroade somwhat to recreate and solace her sorrowfull selfe, it was her fortune vnfortunately to bée seene by one Appius Claudius, one of the Decemuirs, who were the cheife rulers of the citie, who by the furies of Hell was so set on fire in libidinous lust towardes that virgin, that he sought all the meanes possible to winne her to his wicked will: but seeyng her to firmely fortified in vertue, to bee by consent vanquished by villany, hée determined by force to force her to his filthinesse. And as nothinge is so impossible which frantike furie will not enterprise, nothyng so shamefull whiche vnbrideled desire will not vndertake, nothing so false which fleshly filthinesse will not forge, so to brynge his purpose to passe hee coyned this deuise, hee caused one Marcus Cloudius a client of his, to lay clayme to the mayde as his bonde slaue: Who partly for awe of [Page] the tyrant, partly béeyng apt of himselfe to vndertake any euill, tooke the matter vpon him, and the next time hee tooke her out of her fathers house, hee layde handes vpon her, commaunding her to folow him home, to the end Appius might haue had his pleasure of her. But by the pitiful exclamation of the mayde and her nurse, a greate multitude of people began to muster about them, who hearyng whose daughter shee was, and that shee was béetrothed to Icilius, thought it vnseemly that in the absence of her father and freind (who were both in the warres) she should bee violently caried into bondage, the title béeyng not discussed by the lawes, and therevpon with held M. Cloudius from hauynge hir away. Who séeynge his might ouermatcht by the multitude, tolde them hee ment not to deale by force, but his minde was for the playne proufe of his tytle and interest in her, to haue her beefore the cheif magistrate of the citie, and only iudge in ciuil controuersies, who was Appius Claudius the only author of this euill.

Béeyng come béefore him, hee tolde a solemne tale for the confirmation of his right in the mayde, saying shee was the daughter of a bond woman of his, that in her infancy shee was stolen from her mother, conueyed to Virginius, and from that time brought vp at his house and taken for his naturall childe, and for proufe hereof hée brought in two or three knightes of the post to depose. The freindes of the maide not able to refell this forged tale, desired of the Iudas iudge that the matter might bée adiourned vntill the comming of her father Virginius. Apius answered that hee thought it good the matter should hange in suspence vntill the returne of her supposed father, but it was no reason but that hee who pretended, yea and had prooued to haue sutch right to her, should haue her in his custody, vntill the matter were more examined: and vpon his honour hée promised shee should bee foorth comminge to appeare at the time of her fathers approche. The people hearinge this iniurious iudgment of Appius, rather [Page] murmured at it, then durst make resistance against it, by reason wherof Marcus Cloudius béegan to draw the maid to bee defloured, as the tiger in Hyrcane wooddes haleth the lambe to bée deuoured. But god ye righter of al wrongs and protector of all pure virgins, preuented the perill which hong ouer her head, & sent home from ye warres to succour her, her vncle Numitorius, and her spouse Icilius: who hearinge the haynousnesse of the matter, presently presed to the place where Appius sate in iudgement, but hee commaunded his officers to kéepe Icilius backe, whervpon Icilius inueighed against him in this sort.

Albeit (O Appius) by force you keepe mee from keepeinge mine owne out of your handes, yet shall you not stay my toung from detecting the villany which you indeuour to doe. For the truth is, this virgin is betrothed to mée, and my minde is to marrie her a chast maide, therfore assure your selfe if it lie in mee to let, shee shal not remaine one minute of an houre out of her fathers house. Is it not sufficiente for you to depriue the people of the cheife pillors of their liberty, but that our wiues and children also must liue in slauery to your tirranny? Exercise your cruelty on our bodies, at least let chastity bee in safety.

Ought princes to giue light of life to their people, and wil you make your selfe a mirrour of mischeife to your posterity? But if you minde to take her away from vs by force and from her, her virginity, neuer thinke to doe it while I haue any breath left in my body, for in this iust cause and quarrell of my wife, life shall sooner leaue mee then loyalty. Appius thinkinge the power of Icilius would preuaile aboue his, for that the multitude meruaylously inclined to his side, sayd hée would haue another time to represse the rebellious rage of Icilius, and touchinge the maide for her fathers sake hee was content to defer the pronouncinge of sentence against her, vntill the nexte court day that her father might bee present, in the meane while hée would intreate Marcus Cloudius to forbeare his [Page] right: but if her father came not by the next court day, hee would defer the execution of iustice for no mans plesure. Presently vpon this hee dispatched letters to the captaine generall of the army, that hee should not in any wise dismisse Virginius or suffer him to come home: but Icilius had sent for him with such spéede that he had leaue to depart beefore those letters came to the captayne, so it pleased god to preuent the pollicy and wicked purpose of Appius. Now Virginius béeinge come to Rome, went with his daughter to the iudgement place, and did there lamentably implore the helpe of the people, sayinge: while I with the rest of the souldiours haue hazarded our liues in the defence of you and your children, I am in daunger to haue mine owne daughter dispoyled: & wheras by my helpe our city is preserued from enemies, I my selfe am brought to sutch misery, as if it were taken by our enemies and vtterly razed to the ground. For what greater villany can bée done to the vanquished, then to sée béefore their eyes their wiues and children desloured and defiled? But neighbours and freindes if you suffer mée to sustaine this iniury, assure your selues your staffe standeth next to the dore, and looke no longer to bée husbands ouer your wiues, and parentes ouer your children, then it shall please these tirantes to giue you leaue. Any euill at the first entring in of it may easely bée auoyded, but let one or two presidentes passe patiently without resisting, and it will run into a custome, and from thence to a law, and you will neuer bée able after to rid your handes of it. And if your owne safety driue you not to succour mée, yet let my old yeeres, my hoary heires, the honest port which I haue euer maintained, and the chast life of my daughter moue you to put to your handes to helpe redresse my wronge. By this time Appius was come to the iudgement place with a great troupe of armed men, and séeing Virginius there contrary to his expectation, and perceyning no colour of law could cloud his dooings, hée set down [Page] his owne will for a law, and sayd hée would defraud Marcus Cloudius no longer of his right, and séeinge the maide was conuicted by proufe and witnes to bée his bond maid, he gaue sentence that he should presently haue her away, not suffering her father to alleage any thing for her fréedome. Virginius seeing this extreeme dealing of Appius threatningly shooke his hands at him, saying, I haue béetrothed my daughter to Icilius not to thee (O Appius) & I haue brought her vp to bee an honest maried woman, not thy harlot. What doest thou thinke vnder the pretence of bondage, to make her bound to thy beastlinesse? Appius not regarding his rayling caused his officers to make the multitude giue place to Marcus Cloudius that hee might quietly cary away his bond mayd, by reason wherof Virginia was left voide of helpe and rescue, which her father perceiuing and séeing him self not able to deliuer her out of her enemies handes, to defer the time hopinge still for helpe, hée vsed this pollicy: hée desired Appius hee might haue his daughter aside, and betwéene her nurce and her examine the matter, that if it were found hée were but her fained father, hée might the more willingly depart with her. Which béeing by Appius graunted, they thrée went aside together, where Virginia fell downe vpon her knees and made this ruthles request vnto her father.

I perceiue (deare father) it is not without great cause that the philosophers were of this opinion, that the greatest felicity is neuer to bée borne, and the second soone to die, now séeing by your meanes I am depriued of the first I beseech you by your meanes let mee inioy the second: and to counteruayle the lucklesse and lothsome life which you haue giuen mée, vouchsafe to bestow on mee an honourable death. And as by your fatherly care I haue continued a continent virgin hetherto, so by your furthering aide I praye you let mee dye an honest mayde presently: least my life hereafter, contaminate y• commendation of my life heretofore: and seeing I can bee no longer suffred [Page] to liue honestly, good father let mee die honourably? For an honourable death is alwayes to bee preferred beefore an infamous life, of euils the least is to bee chosen, and death of body is to bee counted a lesse euill, then distructiō of body and soule. I thinke I may by more right craue your helpe herein, for that partly by your meanes I am fallen into this extremity, for y• you would not agree to y• consummation of the mariage betweene Icilius and mee, and howe you can deliuer mee, but by deliuering mee to death I see not, for that your power is to weake to wreak the wrong which is offred mee, and your force is to féeble to fence mee from the fury of my foes. Therfore seeing hee will needes haue my body (sweet father) let him haue it dead, that I may not feele the filthinesse which hee purposeth to force mee too. Her father melting into teares at her pitifull sute, carefully kissing her, commended her couragious minde, rather confirming her in her constant couragiousnesse, then disswadinge her from her purpose. By this time the tirantes traine beegan to flocke aboute them to haue her away, which Virginius seeing snatched a butchers knife from the shambels and thrust therewith his daughter to the heart, saying: O daughter, by this only meane wherby I may doe I make thee free. Icilius seeinge his spouse thus spoyled, spent no time in triflinge teares, but by the helpe of his father in lawe Virginius, prosecuted the matter so ernestly against Appius that hee was throwen into prison, where for shame of his deede and dread of deserued punnishment, hee did him selfe desperately to death.

You see here Gentlewomen, a most lamentable death of a most vertuous virgin, wherein you may note a noble minde in her to desyre it, a stout courage in her father to doe it, and most outragious tyranny in Appius to driue them to it: wherby you may learne that vertue and chastity is to bee preferred beefore worlde or wealth, beefore freind or father, before loue or liuing, before life or death. [Page] Therfore, if I were either in wit able or otherwise worthy to giue you counsayle, I would aduise you to auoyde the traines of sutch tyrauntes, to kéepe you out of the sight of sutch seedsuckers, and to fly from sutch Senes fornecatores: sutch raueninge wolues in shéepes cloathinge are rediest to deuoure sutch swéete shéepe, sutch olde dogs euer bite forest, sutch grauity for the most parte contayneth most incontinency. For if their lust were not more then outragious, either their great discretion would represse it, either their many yéeres would mortify it, either their owne wiues would satisfie it. But vse of euill maketh vs thinke it no abuse, sinnes oft assayed are thought to bée no sinne, and these grayheaded gamesters haue the habite of this mischeife so déepely rooted in them, that concupiscence will frie their fleshe, till breath doe leaue their bodyes.

And as I would you should auoide these olde youthes in the way of wickednesse, so if my wish might wield your willes, you should neither medle with them in the way of mariage. For perfect loue can neuer bée without equality, there can bée no good agréement of affections, where there is sutch difference of yéeres. Can fire & water, can flowers & frost, can warmth and winter, can mirth & melancholy agrée together? No surely Gentlewomen but if you wil haue it so, I wil beléeue this matter mooueth you nothing: Yet what say you to another point, & that a most perilous point, when to impotencie shalbe added Ielousy? This is a pill of harde digestion, this is a pill which if it bée a litle chewed, it will bée so bitter that you will neuer bee able to abide it. For when sutch an one shall measure your déedes by his owne desire, and your life present by his owne life past, when hée shall thinke you to bee naught, bicause hee him selfe hath bene naught: good god how cloasely then will hee mew you vp? how carefully will hee looke to you? How lothsomely will hee cloy you with his company? Then will you wishe you vnmaried, [Page] then will you wishe you had maried with a younge man: they wil loue and not doate, they will bée zelous and not Ielous. And if your parentes in some curious or couetous respecte goe about otherwise to dispose of you, humbly request them you may chuse where you like, and link where you loue, that you may bee married to a man rather then mony, to quiet rather then coine. Dutifully tell them that sutch presinesse of parentes brought Pyramus and Thisbe to a wofull end, Romeo and Iulietta to vntimely death, and draue Virginius miserably to murther his owne daughter Virginia.

Admetus and Alcest.

ADMETVS sonne to ATYS kynge of Lybla, fallynge in loue with Alcest, daughter to Lycabas kynge of Assur, who recompenced him with femblable affection, are restrayned eche from other by their parentes, but beeyng secretly married, wander in wildernesses like poore pilgrimes. Atys shortly after dieth, wherof Admetus beyng aduertised, returneth with his wyfe, and is established in the kyngdom. The destines graunt him a double date of life if hee can finde one to die for him, which Alcest her self perfourmeth: for whose death Admetus most wofully lamentyng, shee was eftsoones by Proserpina restoared to her life, and louer agayne.

IT is a saying no lesse common then commonly proued true, that Marriages are guided by destinie, & amongst all the contractes which concerne the life of man, I think they only bee not in our owne power or pleasure: which may plainly appeare by this, that when the choice of sutch marriages doth chaunce vnto vs as wée our selues can wish, when they may by their parents & freindes countenance [Page] vs, by their dowry and portion profit vs, by theyr person and bewtie pleasure vs, by their vertue and perfection euery way place vs in paradise, yet it is often séen that wee set litle by them, neither make any account of sutch profitable profers, but by a contrarie course of the heauens and destinies, are caried, as it were agaynst our willes, some other way, and caused to settle in affection there where heauen and earth séeme to withstand our desire, where freindes frowne on vs, where wealth wants, where there is neither fecilitie in pursuyng, neither felicitie in possessing: which the history which you shal heare shall more playnly set forth vnto you.

There raygned in the lande of Lybia one Atys, who had to his neighbour more neere then was necessary one Lycabas kynge of Assur, which princes rather couetynge their neighbours dominions, then cōtentyng themselues with their owne, incroched eche one vpon others right, and continued continuall warre one against the other. But at length Atys, whether hee were weried and wasted with warre, or whether hee had occasion to bend his force some other way, or whether hée were disposed to enter into league and amitie with his neighbours I know not, but hée sent his one sonne Admetus to Lycabas to parlée of a peace. Now Lycabas either thinkyng hée had him at some aduaūtage, either not minding to put vp iniu ries béefore receiued, would accept no conditions of peace, but by Admetus sent his father flat defiance. So that the warre continued between them in as great rage as it had done the former time of their raygne. But yet hate caused not sutch hoate skirmishes between the parentes, but that loue forced as fierce assaultes between the children. For it was so that Lycabas had a daughter named Alcest, who what time Admetus was in her fathers court to intreate of peace, chaunced out at her chaumber window to haue a sight of him, and hee at the same time happened to incounter a vewe of her. And as small drops of rayne ingender [Page] great flouddes, and as of litle seedes grow greate trees, so of this litle looke and sight grew sutch great loue and delight that death it selfe could not dissolue it. For as women bee of delicate and fine mettall, and therefore soone subiect to loue, so Alcest after this first sight was so ouergone in goodwill towardes Admetus, that shee fixed her only felicitie in framyng in her fancie the fourme of his face, and printyng in her heart the perfection of his person. And as nothyng breedeth bane to the body sooner then trouble of minde, so shee perseuered so longe in sutch pensiue passyons, and carefull cogitations, that her body was brought so lo for lacke of the vse of sleepe and meate, that shee was fayne to keepe her bed: and by reason that shee couertly concealed her greife, it burned so furiously within her, that it had almost cleane consumed her away. Her father seeinge her in this heauy case, assembled all the learned phisitions hee could learne of in the country, who hauinge seene her were all altogether ignorant of her disease, and were at their wits ende what medicine to apply to her malady. Some thought it a consumption, some a burning feuer, some a melancholy humor, some one thing, some another. And her father examyning her how it held her, and what disease shee thought it to bee, shee answered that it was a sicknesse which it pleased god to sende her, and that it was not in y• helpe of Phisicke to heale her, but her health was onely to bee had at gods handes. Nowe Admetus on the other side hauinge the profer of many princes made him in the way of mariage, made very carelesse account thereof, and seemed in his minde to bee very angry with those offers: and as the sight of meat is very lothsome to him whose stomacke is ill or hath already eaten his fill, so that litle sight which hee had of Alcest had fed his fancy so full, that to see, or so mutch as think, of any other woman was most greeuous vnto him. And notwithstandinge the gripinge paine of loue caused some graftes of greife to begin to growe in [Page] his heart: yet by reason that hée had the conducting of the army royall vnder his father, hée was so busily occupied that he had no great leasure to lodge any louing thoughts within his breast. But sée howe the destinies dealt to driue this bargaine thorow. There aroase a quarrell béetwéene the two armies touchinge certaine pointes wherin the law of armes was thought to bée broken, to decide which controuersy Admetus was sent post to Lycabas: who sitting by his daughters bed side, had woorde brought him that Admetus was come to the court to impart matters of importance vnto him. Nowe at this instant there chaunced one of the Phisitions to hold Alcest by the arme and to féele her pulses, and where before they beate very féebly as if shée had béene ready to yéelde to the sommance of death, shée no sooner heard that message brought vp to her father, but that her pulses began to beat with great force and liuelinesse: which the phisition perceiuinge perswaded him selfe hée had found the cause of her calamity: but for more assured proufe hée whistered the king in the eare desiring him that Admetus might bée sent for thither and there to make relation of his message vnto him: which the kinge caused to bée done accordingly. Admetus was no sooner admitted into the chamber, but her pulses beegan to beate againe with wonderfull swiftnesse, and so continued all the while hée was in the chaumber. Who séeinge his loue in sutch daunger of her life, though hée vnderstood not the cause therof, yet hée cast sutch a carefull countenance towardes her, that shee easely perceiued hée did participate in payne with her: which made her cast sutch glaunces of goodwill towardes him, that hée easely vnderstood it was for his sake shée sustained sutch sorow and sicknesse. But the feare of her father, who was his mortall foe, and the vrgent necessity of his affaires, forced him to depart without manifesting vnto her the manifolde good will hée bare her. And though his departure were litle better then death to [Page] the damsell, yet for that shée knew her loue to bée incountred with like affectiō (wherof before shée stoode in doubt) shee beegan to driue away the darke cloudes of dispaire and to suffer the bright light of hope to shine vpon her. Admetus béeing gone, the Phisition tooke the king a syde and tolde him his daughters disease was not deriued of any distemperature of the body but only of the disquietnesse of the minde: and to tell you the truth plainely (saith hee) it is only the feruent affection shée beareth to that younge prince Admetus your enemy that forceth this féeblenesse and faintnes in her. And told the kinge by what meanes hée tried the truth therof. The kinge at these wordes was meruailously disquieted perswading himself that it was so in déede, and that Admetus on the other side bare affection to his daughter, for that all the time of his talke with him, hée continually turned his eyes towards her bed, and wold often times giue him answeres nothinge pertinent to the questions which hée proposed vnto him, as hauing his cogitations conuersaunt in other matters. Upon this the king went to his daughter, & as the phisition first ministreth to his patient bitter pilles and purgations to expell grose and ill humours, and then applieth lenitiues and restoratiues to bréede and bringe againe good bloud, so hée first vsed sharpe threatnings vnto her to expell the force and fury of her loue, and then vsed gentle perswasions to restore her to her former helth and quiet of minde. But neither the sowernesse of the one, neither the swéetnesse of the other could preuayle, for salues seldome helpe an ouerlong suffred sore, it is to late to shut the stable dore when the stéede is stolen, it booteth not to stop the breach when the towne is ouerflowen: it is to late to dislodge loue out of ones breast, when it hath infected béefore euery parte of the body. For as sowninge mortifieth euery member, as pestilence infecteth euery part, as poyson pierseth euery vaine, so loue if it bée not in time looked too, will bringe both body and [Page] minde to vtter confusion. For this virgin was so vanquished by loue, that shée neither forced her fathers faire wordes, neither feared his fierce threatninges, but tolde him plainly shée would not deny the loue she bare Admetus, neither could cast out of her minde the liking shée had conceiued of him: and therfore humbly craued pardon if (sayth shee) it bée an offence to loue him honestly, which deserueth it worthily. But her father in a fury flunge from her sayinge, shée should neuer inioy him with ioye, and that shee should neuer finde any more fatherly furtherance at his handes, then the greatest enemy hee had. The younge princesse perceiuinge her fathers goodwill thus alienated from her, reposed her onely comforte and confidence in Admetus, hoping that hée would stande her in stéede of both a freind, phere, and father. And with as conuenient spéede as shee could, wrought a letter to him to this ende.

If (most péerelesse prince) necessity or loue had law, I might bée thought perchaunce to transgresse the law and limyttes of modesty in first giuinge the onset where as I ought not easely to haue yelded béeing assaulted. But séeinge necessity and lacke of oportunity, by reason of the rigour of the warres perchaunce causeth you to conceale that which you would discouer, and vehemente loue and feruent desire forceth mée to discouer that which I should conceale, I thinke it lesse offence by this meanes to supplye your wante and satisfie mine owne desire, then, by standing vpon the nice termes of my maidens estate, to suffer both of vs to pine away in paine for lacke of béeing priuy to eche others minde and purpose. Therfore you shall vnderstand the cause of my writing is this. What time your good hap (I hope) was to bee at my fathers court, I did perceiue (if desire to haue it so did not deceiue mée) that your affection was great towardes mee, and that you seemed not a litle to bee pinched with my payne, to ease you of which greife I thought it my duty to certify [Page] you, that the certaine hope which I therby conceiued of your loue and good will, did presently restoare mée to perfect health, and further to let you vnderstand, that the only cause of my sicknesse was the first sight which I had of you, and the dispaire that I should neuer bee so fortunate as to obtaine you. Now as the same hand which did hurt mee, did helpe mee, so if I haue any way wounded you, I shalbee ready to make you what playster it please you to heale your hurt? And iudginge the sincerity of your minde by the cléerenesse of mine owne conscience, I commit my selfe wholy into your handes, presuminge thus far of your perfect loue towardes mee, that you will not any way seeke the disperagement of mine honour (which I hold far more deere then loue or life) but accept mee for your lawfull and louing spouse. And that way you only and at any time shall dispose of mee at your pleasure. My father by ill fortune hath found out our loue, and stormeth greatly therat, so that I thinke his haggard hart is by no meanes to bee reclaimed. But I thinke indirect dealinge by the daughter may bee vsed, when the father by rage rather then reason is ruled. Therfore if you thinke so good, I will secretly conueigh my selfe to what place you will haue mee, but I commit this matter to your wisdome, and my selfe to you, remayninge yours onely and euer: ALCEST.

Now Admetus euer after his returne from the court of Lycabas was driuen into sutch dolefull dumpes, and gouerned his charge of men with sutch heauy cheere, that his father examining him very stractly of the cause therof, inforced him to confesse his carefull case. Which hee no sooner heard, but hee forthwith discharged him of his charge, saying hee was fitter to bee one of Cupids carpet captaines, then to march vnder the mainly ensigne of Mars: and that he would haue no sutch lasciuious knights is his army. For (sayth hee) if any part of the body be putrified, it must bee cut of for feare of infectinge the whole [Page] body. And tolde him plainly if hée went forward with his folly, hée woulde neuer take him for his sonne, neither should hee euer succéed in the kingdome by this consent. The younge prince withdrew himselfe out of his fathers presence, and got him to his pauilion or tente, where hée was no sooner sadly set downe, but hée was presented by a trusty messenger with ye letter of Alcest, which so soone as hee had red, hee séemed to bee rapt into the thirde heauen: but considering on the other side the difficulty of reapinge the fruites of his loue, and wayinge the perill of his fathers displeasure, hée was throwen into the déepest dungeon of hell. And as a boate borne by the tide against the winde, féeleth double force, and is compeld to yéelde both to winde and waue, so this young prince, béeinge driuen by the force of loue againste the minde and pleasure of his father, felte double dolour, and was tormented with both. But at length loue gat the victory, and all other doubtes cast aside, hee returned his Misteris this answere.

Who was euer exalted to the highest degrée of happinesse, and driuen to the deepest extremitie of euill at once but I? who euer flowrished in felicitie, and faded in miserie together but I? who was euer placed in paradise and plunged in perplexitie ioyntly but I? for heauen it selfe cannot yeelde mée better blisse then the consent of your goodwill and loue, (most peerlesse prince & princely péece) and hell it selfe cannot yéelde mee more bitter bale, then to bée destitute of meanes to inioy the fruites of your fauour and benefite of your beutie. If Craesus came and offered mee all his wealth, if Alexander yeelded mée his empire, if Iuno came from heauen with her kingdomes, Pallas with her wisdome, or Venus with her Helen, assure thy selfe (sweet Mistris) that neither any one of them, neither all of them together, should bee so gratefully or gladly receiued of mee, as the profer which your letters haue made mee. And canst thou (deare wenche) prefer my [Page] loue before thine owne life, my plesure before thy fathers displeasure, my contentment before thine owne commoditie, and shall any doubt of daunger driue mee from the dutie whiche I ought to doe vnto thee? No let father fret, let freindes frowne, let lyuing bee lost, let kingdome bee made from mee, let hap what hap wil, thou hast promised to bee mine, and I protest by the heauens to bee thine. What though the kinge your father bee greatly incensed agaynst mee, what care I for any mans freindship if I haue your fauour? What though the way vnto you bee longe and daungerous? What passe I to passe a thousande perils to pleasure you? what though mine enemies lie in wayte for mee? What way I to be hewen in an hundred peeces in your presence? Yea if I had a thousand liues I thinke the loosinge of them all litle inough to requite the greate goodwill and curtesie you haue shewed mee. But meethinkes I heare you say, the spendyng or losse of my life, is the greatest losse and euill that possibly can happen vnto you, and therefore I must take heede how I hazarde it. Well I will (sweet wenche) preserue my life only to serue thee, and the care I haue of you shall cause me to haue care of my selfe. But touchyng the conueigh of our affayres I am at my wits end which way to worke, for if your father chafe at this matter, mine rageth and stormeth, and watcheth mee so narrowly that not so mutche as my lookes but hee looketh to them. But I will ease him of this labour ere it bee longe, for this life I am not able to indure longe: yea I had rather liue with you in most misery (if hee may possibly bee miserable that inioyeth sutch a iewell as you are) then here in most happinesse (whiche of mee is not to bee had without you) therfore waywa [...]d fortune hath only left vs this way, if it please you so mutch to dishonour your selfe, and to doo mee so mutche honour, as meet mee the tenth of this moneth at the chappell of Diana, standyng as you know sixe leagues from your fathers court, I wil there god willing [Page] meet you, and a priest with mee to marrie vs, which done wee will shift our selues into Pilgrims apparell, and so disguised indure together sutch fortune as the fates shall assygne vs. And thus till then I byd you farewell.

Yours euer, or his owne neuer: ADMETVS.

Now see the valiantnesse of a vyrgin, or rather consider the force of loue which maketh the weake strong, the witlesse wise, the simple subtil, yea and the most cowards most couragious. For the day prescribed in the letter of Admetus beeyng come, the younge princesse beefore day attired her selfe in one of her Pages apparell, and trudged out of the citie as if shee had been sent to the Campe on some message: and so fast as her faynte legges (but strengthned by loue) could cary her, she hasted thorow the desert and waylesse woods to this forlorne chappel, where the God whom shée only honoured was ready to receiue her: Who though at y• first hée knew her not, but thought shée had béen Cupid or Mercury fallen from the heauens, yet at length by her louing lookes cast vpon him, he knew who it was, and imbrasing her fast in his armes sayde, if Iupiter (swéet wenche) should sée thée in this Pages apparell, no doubt but hée would forgoe his Ganymedes, and take thée vp into heauen in his steede. O moste soueraygne Lady and mistris, what seruice shall I euer bee able to doo you, which may counteruayle this kindenesse? What dutie can bée a due recompence to this goodwill? If I by any meanes can quite this curtesy, I neuer doubt to bee deemed vngratefull while I liue. But accept (good Lady) I beseech you that which is in mee to perfourme, which is the faithfullest hart that euer was vowed to Lady: which when it swarueth from you, let al the torments of Tantalus, Tytius, Sisiphus and all the rufull rout of hell bee heaped vpon me. Alcest hearinge him so earnest sayd:

Few wordes (most worthy prince) are inough to win credite to a matter already beleeued: for onely vpon confidence of your constant and faithfull hart towardes mée, [Page] I haue thus vnaduisedly aduentured mine honour as you see, destringe you not sinisterly to thinke of this my attempt, beeing boldned therto by the greate loue which I bare towardes you, and by the loyalty which I looke for of you towards mee. Ah sayth Admetus, if I should make any ill interpretatiō of your vertuous loue and sincere affection towardes mée, I were the veriest villain on earth, for I take god to witnesse I take your forward will for sutch freindly good wil, that I doubt my desertes will neuer bee able so to answere therto as I desire. But here hee aptly ended his talke vpon her mouth, and they entred into sutch priuy conference, their lips beeing ioyned most closely together, y• I can not report the meaninge of it vnto you, but if it please one of you to leane hitherward a litle I will shew you the manner of it. Now hauinge continued some time therin, they at the length entred into the temple, wher the mariage accordinge to the sacred rites was solemnly celebrated: which done they entred into a poore cotage, in steede of a princely pallace, ioyning to the temple, where longe they durst not tary for feare of apprehension by postes which pursued them. Therfore puttinge on their pilgrims apparell againe, they wente hand in hand and harte in harte, waylfully and wilfully, wandring out of their owne natiue coūtry, to auoide their parentes punnishment and displeasure. O lamentable lots of loue which draue two princes from theyr pleasant pallaices, from their flourishinge freindes, from their traine of seruauntes, from their sumptuous fare, from their gorgeous garmentes, from variety of delightes, from secure quietnesse, yea from heauenly happinesse, to wilde wildernesse, to deserte dennes, to carefull caues, to hard chéere, with hawes and hippes, to pilgrims peltes, to perill of spoyling, to daunger of deuouring, to misery of minde, to affliction of body, yea to hellish heauines. O pitiles parentes to prefer their owne hate beefore theyr childrens loue, their owne displeasures before their childrens [Page] pleasure, to forget y• themselues were once younge and subiect to loue, to measure the firy slames of youth, by the dead coales of age, to gouerne their children by their owne lust which now is, not which was in times past, to seeke to alter their naturall affection from their children vpon so light a cause, shewinge themselues rebels to nature, to indeuour to vndoe the destines and disappointe the appointment of the goddes, shewing themselues traitours to the goddes. But the one of them, the father of Admetus reaped the iust reward of his rigour. For Atys after the departure of his sonne tooke the matter very heauily, abandoned all pleasures, auoyded all company, and spent most part of his time in discoursinge with himselfe in this sorrowfull sort.

If nature by the deuine prouidence of god did not moue vs to the maintenance of mankinde, surely the charge of children is sutch a heauy burthen, that it would fear men from entring into the holy state of matrimony. For to omit the inconueniences of their infancy, which are infinite, when they drawe once to mans estate, what time they should bee a stay to our staggeringe state, good God what troubles doe they torment vs with? What cares doe they consume as with? What annoyes doo they afflict our olde yeeres with all? They say wee are renewed and reuiued as it were in our ofspringe, but wee may say wee die dayly in thinkinge of the desperate deedes of our children. And as the spider feeleth if her web bee prickt but with the point of a pin, so if our childred bee touched but with the least trouble that is, wee feele the force of it to perce vs to the hart. But how well this tender care is by them considered, alas it maketh my hart bleed to think if wee looke for obedience of them, and that they shoulde follow our counsayle in the conuaighe of their affaires, why they thinke wee doate, and that their owne wits are far better then ours: if wée warne them to bee wary and thrifty, they thinke it proceedeth rather of couetousnesse [Page] then of kindenes: if wee prouide them no mariages, it is bicause wee will departe with no liuinge to them: if wée perswade them to mariage, it is bicause wée would haue them forsake all good felowship, & liue like clownes in the countrey by the Plowe tayle: If wée perswade them to learnynge it is that they might liue by it without our charge: if wée perswade them to one wife rather then another, it is bicause the one is ritcher then the other: if wée looke seuerely on them, wée loue them not: if wée vse them familiarly, wée feede them with flattery bicause wée will giue them litle: and so of all our louing dooinges they make these leud deuises: yea when wée haue brought them vp with greate care and coste, when wée haue trauailed all our time by sea and by land, early and late, in paine and in peril, to heape vp treasure for them, when wée haue by continuall toyle shortned our owne liues to lengthen and inlarge their liuinges and possessions, yet if wée suffer them not to royst and to riot, to spill and to spoyle, to swashe and to lashe, to lend and to spende, yea and to followe the fury of their owne frantike fancies in all things, this forsooth is our recompence, they wish an end of our liues to haue our liuings. Alas a lamentable case, why hath not nature caused loue to ascend as well as discend? Why hath shee indued the Storke with this property to féede his damme, when shée is olde, and men with sutch malice to wish their parents death when they are aged? But I speake perchaunce of mine owne proper greife, god forbid it should bée a common case, for my sonne (Ah why doo I call him sonne) hath not only wisht my death but wrought it. Hée knew hée was my onely delight, hée knew I coulde not liue hée béeing out of my sight: hée knew his desperate disobedience would driue mee to a desperate death. And could hée so mutch doate of a light damsell, to force so litle of his louing father? Alas a wife is to bée preferred before father and freind. But had hee none to sixe his fancy on [Page] but the daughter of my most furious foe? Alas loue hath no respecte of persons. Yet was not my goodwill and consent to bee craued therin? Alas hee saw no possibility to obtaine it. But now alas I would graunt my goodwil, but now alas it is to late: his feare of my fury is to great euer to bee found, his fault is to great euer to looke mee in the face more, and my sorrowe is to great euer to bee saluted. And therevpon got him to bed and in fiue dayes space his naturall moysture with secret sorrowe was so soken away, that hee could no longer continue his careful life, but yeelded willingly to desired death. So it pleased God to prouide for the poore pilgrimes, who hauing past many a fearful forrest and daungerous desert, were now come to the sea shoare mindinge to take ship and trauell into vnknowen coastes, where they might not by any meanes bee knowne, and béeing on ship borde they heard the mayster of the ship make report that Atys king of the Lybians was dead. Wherevpon Admetus desired to bée set on shoare againe, and dissemblinge the cause thereof, pretended some other matter and got to the next towne wherwith the mony and iewels hée had about him, hee furnished him selfe and his lady with the best apparell could bee prouided in the towne, and with sutch a trayne of men as hee coulde there take vp: whiche done hee made the greatest expedition hee coulde vnto his owne country where hee was royally receiued as prince, and shortly after ioyfully crowned Kinge. And beeing quietly, setled in the regall seate, hee presently dispatched Ambassadours to Lycabas his fathers foe, and his father in law, whose ambassade contained these two pointes, the one to intreat a peace for his people, the other to craue a pardon for his wife, who willingly graunted both the one and the other. Wherby hee now liued in great quiet and tranquillity. A meruaylous mutabylity of fortune which in the space of a moneth could bring him from happy ioy to heauy annoy, and then from annoy againe to [Page] greater ioy then his former ioy. For as the sunne hauing bene long time ouerwhelmed with darke cloudes, when it hath bannished them from aboute it, seemes to shyne more brightly then at any time beefore, so the state and condition of this prince hauinge bene couered with the cloudes of care, now it was cleared of them, seemed more pleasaunt and happy then at any time before. And verely as sharpe sauce giues a good taste to sweete meate, so trouble and aduersity, makes quiet and prosperity for more pleasaunt. For hee knoweth not the pleasure of plenty, who hath not felt the paine of penury, hee takes no delight in meate, who is neuer hongry: hee careth not for ease who was neuer troubled with any disease.

But notwithstandinge the happy life of this prince, albeit hee abounded in as great ritches as hee required, albeit hee had as many kingedomes as hee coueted, albeit hée had sutch a wife as hee wished for, yea and inioyed all things which either god could giue him, fortune further him to, or nature bestow vpon him: yet to shew that there is no sunne shineth so bright but that cloudes may ouer cast it, no ground so good but that it bringeth forth weeds as well as flowers, no kinge so surely garded, but that the gamesome goddes fortune will at least checke him, if not mate him, no state so plentifull in pleasure, but that it is mixed with paine, hee had some weedes of wo which began to grow vp amongst his flowers of felicity, & some chippes of sory chaunce did light in the heape of his happynesse. Yea fortune presented her selfe once agayne vpon the stage and ment to haue one flinge more at him. For this prince possessinge sutch a pleasaunte life, tooke great delight in good house keepinge, and gaue sutch good entertainment to straungers that his fame was far spred into forrain countries: yea the rumor thereof reached to the skies, in so mutch that Apollo (as the poets report) hauing occasion to discend from heauen to the earth, went to see the entertainement of Admetus: who was so royally [Page] receiued by him, that the god thought good with some great kindnesse to requite his great curtesie. And as Philemon and Laucis, for their harty house keepinge, were preserued by the goddes from drowning when al the cuntry and people besides were ouerflowen, so the god Apollo ment to preserue his life, when all his countrey and people then lyuing should lie full loe in their graues. And of the destinies of death obtained thus much for him, that if when the time and terme of his naturall life drewe to an end, yf any coulde bée found who would willingly die & loose their owne life for him, hee should begin the course of his life againe, and continue on earth another age.

Now when the time of his naturall life drew to an ende, there was diligent inquiry made who would bée content to abridge their owne dayes, to prolong their princes life. And first the question was put to his freindes (who were néerest to them selues) then to his kinsfolke (whose loue was asmutch of custome as of kindenesse) then to his subiectes (whose affection was as mutch for feare as for fauour) then to his seruauntes (who thought their life as swéete as their mayster did his) then to his children (who thought it reason that as their father did first enter into this life so hee should first depart out of this life) so that there coulde none bée founde so franke of their life to set this prince frée from the force of death. Now Alcest seeing the death of her deare husband draw néere, and knowinge her owne life without his life and loue would bée but lothsome vnto her, of her owne accorde offred her selfe to bée sacrificed for her husbandes sake, and to hasten her owne death to prolonge his life. O loyall louing wife, O wight good inough for god him selfe. And yet had shée a husband good inough for her selfe, for hee loued her so intirely that though by loosing her hée might haue gained life long time, yet would hee not by any meanes consent to her death, sayinge, without her life his life would bée more gréeuous vnto him then a thousand deathes. But [Page] shée perswaded with him against herself all that shée could saying, I would not (O peerles prince) you should take the matter so kindly at my hands, as though for your sake only I offred vp my life, for it is in déede the commodity of your country and mine owne, béeinge vnder your domynion, which driueth mee hereto, knowinge my selfe vnable to gouerne them you beeing gone. And considering the dayly warre, the spoylefull wastes, the bloudy blastes, the troublesome strife which your realme is subiect too, I thought you had not loued mee so litle as to leaue mee behinde you to beare on my weake backe sutch a heauy burthen, as I thinke Atlas him selfe could scarce sustaine.

Againe, considering that death is but a fleeting from one life into another, and that from a most miserable lifë to a most happy life, yea from bale to blisse, from care to quiet, from Purgatory to Paradise, I thought you had not enuied mee so mutch, as to thinke mee vnwoorthy of it. Doo you not know that Cleouis and Byton had death bestowed on them as the best gifte which God could deuise to giue them, and doe you thinke it can doe mee harme, especially seeing I may therby doe you good? Alas sweet wife (sayth Admetus) this your piety is vnprofitable which is subiect to so many perils. But if death bee so good (good wife) let mée inioy it, who am inioyned to it, and to whom onely it will be good, for death is onely good to mée whom it is giuen, not to you who are not appointed to it. For it is not lawfull for any to leaue this life without speciall permission of the goddes. And as in our court it is lawful for none to haue accesse vnto vs vnlesse by vs hee bee sent for, so neither is it lawfull for any to appeare before the heauenly throne, vnlesse by the goddes hee be sommoned. Neither wil death bee so easy to you as to mee, whose nature is apt to yeelde vnto it. For you see fruite whiche is not ripe, will scarce with strength bee torne from the tree, wheras that which is ripe falleth easely of it owne accord. Therefore (good wife) giue mee leaue to die to [Page] whom it wilbee onely good and easy to die. Why sweet husband (sayth shee) the god Appollo allowed any that would to die for you, otherwise to what purpose was that which hee obtayned of the destinies for you? And for the vneasines of death, nothing can bee vneasy or hard vnto a willing heart. But bicause your pleasure is so, I am content to continue my carefull life, and with sorrowe to suruiue you. And so left her husbande and went priuily to the Aulter and offred vp her selfe to death to prolonge her husbands life. Which when the king knew, hee would presently haue spoyled him selfe, but his handes had not the power to doe it, for that by the decrée of the destinies hee must now of force liue another age on earth. Which when hée saw, hée filled the court with sutch pitifull wayling, sutch bitter weeping, sutch hellishe houlinge, that it pearced the heauens and mooued the gods to take remorse on his misery. And Proserpine y• goddes of hell especiallye pitying y• parting of this louing couple (for y• she her selfe knew the paine of partinge from freinds, beeing by Dys stolen frō her mother Ceres) put life into his wife againe, and wt speed sent her vnto him. Who beeing certified here of in his fleepe, early in y• morning waited for her cōming seing her come a far of hee had much a do to kepe his soule in his body from flying to meet her. Beeing come hee receiued her as ioyfully, as shee came willingly, & so they liued longe time together in most contented happinesse.

This séemeth straunge vnto you (Gentlewoman) that a woman should die and then liue againe, but the meaninge of it is this, that you should die to your selues and liue to your husbandes, that you should counte their life your life, their death your distruction: that you should not care to disease your selues to please them: that you should in all thinges frame your selues to their fancies: that if you see them disposed to mirth, you should indeuour to bee pleasaunt: if they bee solemne, you should bée sad: if they hard, you hauinge: if they delight in haukes, that you [Page] should loue Spanniels: if they hunting, you houndes: if they good company, you good housekéeping: if they bee hastie, that you should bee pacient: if they bée ielous, that you should lay aside all light lookes: if they frowne, that you feare: if they smile, that you laugh: if they kisse, that you cléepe, or at least giue them two for one: and so that in all thinges you should conforme your selues to their contentacion: so shall there bée one will in two minds, one hart in two bodies, and two bodies in one flesh. Meethinkes I heare my wish, wishe mée sutch a wife as I haue spoken of, verily (good wish) you wish your wealth great wealth, and God make mee woorthy of you wish and your wishe and if I might haue my wish I am perswaded you should haue your wish. But if I bee so good a husband as Admetus was, if I forgoe father, freindes, and liuinge, if I bee content to chaunge ioy for annoy, court for care, pleasure for pilgrimage for my wiues sake, if I had rather die my selfe then shee should, if shée béeinge dead, with mournfull cries I moue the Gods to raise her to life againe, I shall thinke my selfe worthy of so good a wife as Alcest was. I shall hap to haue a wife who with Cleopatra will sting her selfe to death with serpentes at the death of her Antonius: who with Hylonomo will slay her selfe at the death of her Cyllar: who with Singer will vanish away into aire for the losse of her Picus: and who with Alcest will bee content to lose her life to preserue her Admetus.

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Scilla and Minos.

SCILLA, daughter to Nisus kynge of Alcathoé, disdaynefully reiecting the humble sute of Iphis, a yonge Gentleman of her fathers Courte, becommeth vnaduisedly amorous of kynge Minos, her fathers and countries mortall foe, lyinge in siege aboute the Citie. To whom by the counsell of Pandarina shee beetrayeth her father, in stealyng away his golden hayre, and presentinge it vnto Minos in token of her loue, whiche hee reprochefully reiecteth. And beeyng imbarked to depart homewards, shee assayeth to swim after him, and is drowned in the Sea.

MAny are of opinion that the vertues of loue are very many, & that it is of force to reduce vs from sauagenesse to ciuilnesse, from folly to wit, from couetousnesse to liberalitie, from clownishnesse to courtlinesse, yea from al vice to all vertue. But if the effectes therof bée rightly cō sidered, I sée not but that wée may more iustly say, that the inconueniences of loue bée infinite, and that it bringeth vs from modesty to impudencie, from learnynge to lewdnesse, from stayed firmnes to staggering fickelnesse, from liberalitie to prodigalitie, from warinesse to wilfulnesse, from good béehauiour to dissolute liuinge, from reason to rage, yea from all goodnesse to all vanitie. As may bée iustified by the goddes themselues, by the godliest men that euer were, by the wisest men that euer were, and by the valiantest men that euer were. Who by loue haue béen brought to most outragious impietie, to moste extréeme foly, and most vile villany. But Gentlewomen, bicause most of you bee maydes (I meane at least taken so) I will manifest vnto you the mischeif of loue by the example of a mayde, in that estate (though I hope not euery way) like vnto your selues, that admonished thereby, [Page] you may auoyde the like incōuenience in your selues.

Therfore you shall vnderstande that ouer the towne Alcathoé raigned one Nysus, who had to daughter a damsell named Scilla, a proper swéet wenche, in goodlinesse a goddesse, in shape Venus her selfe, in shew a saynt, in perfection of person péerelesse: but in déedes a dayntie daine, in manners a mercilesse mayde, and in workes a wilfull wenche, as by her life you shall perceyue. For there was attendant vpon her father in his court a proper youth named Iphis, who, as the freshest colours soonest fade the hue, and as the finest mettals soonest breake, so the more noble bloud hee came of, and the finer wit hee was indued withall, the sooner was hee made thrall and subiecte to loue: And the more couragious minde hee had, y• more haughtie conquest did hee indeuour to atchiue. For beeyng in the dayly sight of Scilla, hee béegan firmely to fixe his fonde fancie vpon her fine face. And by reason of his younge yéeres béeyng ignorant that vnder moste gréene grasse lie most great snakes, and vnder intisinge baytes intanglyng hookes, hée bit so gréedely at the bayte of her beutie, that hee swallowed downe the hooke of hatefull hurt [...], and hurtful heauinesse to his heart. But like a man hee sought meanes to subdue his sorrow and to vanquish this virgin, and first like a bashfull younge man hee solicited his sute by pitiful lookes, thinkyng therby to let her vnderstande his desire. But shee on the other side perceiuyng his intent, cast coy countenances vpon him to driue him to dispayre: so that where béefore his owne [...]fulnesse kept him from discouerynge his purpose, now her coynesse caused him to couer it. Yet extreme loue draue him to this extréeme shift, hee imparted his purpose to an vncle of his, a noble man of great countenance in y• court, humbly desiryng him either by counsayle, countenance, payne or policie to stande him in some stead to the attaynyng of his purpose: his vnckel grauely aduised him to auoyde sutch vanitie and not to attempt any sutch enterprise [Page] whereby he should incur the Kings displeasure, and per cōsequens his owne vndoyng. But he tolde this tale to one that had no eares to heare, for the deepenesse of his loue caused deafnesse in him to heare any thinge whiche might help to heale his harebraind head, for forwarde he would with his folly whatsoeuer came of it. The olde Gentleman seeing his vnaduisednes, tolde hym he would so far as he durst féele the fancye of the younge Princesse, and therby he should perceiue how likely he were to prevaile in his purpose. And hauinge conuenient time he fel to sifting her thoughts in this sort.

Fayre Lady, we haue letters come to the Court contayning this newes, that two or thrée younge Princes haue directed their course into this Country to see and assay you in the way of marriage: wherein I doubt not but you will deale to the Kinges maiesties contentation, and to our Countryes commodytie: and to consider that the stay of the whole kingdome standeth vpon your marriage, for ye he whiche marrieth you must after the kings decease succéede as lawfull heire vnto the crowne. Now if you match your selfe with a stranger, it is greatly to be feared that we shall be greatly molested with the fury of forraine force, for that the Kings garde and court for the most part shalbe of his owne Country: and so strangers shal be preferred to offices, and we set besides our liuing, wheras if it shall please you to take to husbande some of your owne country you shalbe as it were King & Quéene your selfe, and he as it were your seruante and subiect. And so shal you raigne in great soueraignitie and we liue in great tranquillytie. His talke beeing ended the Princesse made hym this prowde answer.

My Lord, touching my marriage it toucheth me more néerely then you, and my father the Kinges counsell I meane chéefely to follow therin: neither will I so respect your cōmoditie to neglect mine owne honour, neither wil I haue more consideration of the stay of my Countrie, [Page] then of the state of my callinge, neither in that poynt by your leaue will I prefer the common wealth before mine owne priuate will: for that it is onely I must marrie, which if I doe to my liking, I am lyke to liue pleasauntly, if otherwise I am sure to liue sowerly all the dayes of my life. And for marryinge any of mine country, I promise you for my part I know neuer a Prince in all this country my father excepted. Meaninge she would matche with none vnder the degrée of a Prince. Immediately after this the noble man called his nephew vnto him telling him he thought it as easy a matter to climbe to heauen with ladders, as for so meane a man as he to aspyre to the height of her haughtie minde. The younge Gentleman thinking that his [...]kle for feare of displeasure durst not deale in so daungerous a matter, neither gaue great credit to his wordes, neither yéelded him any thankes for his paines, but determined notwithstanding of hymselfe to pursue his sute. And knowing that proper Gentlewomen delight in prety Iewels, and that the Goddes them selues are pleased with gifts, he gat the most precious Pearles & dearest Diamonds in the country, and caused them to be presented vnto the Princesse from hym. But disdainfull rigour so ruled her, that she would not so mutch as looke vpon them, saying she had no néede of his giftes, that he might better bestowe them on those who were not his betters, and that she thought it shame a Princes person should be purchased with perles. The Gentleman though greatly dismaide to sée both his goodwill neclected, and his giftes reiected, yet lyke a valiaunt Souldiour he gaue a freshe onset vppon her with friendlye louing Letters whiche hee wrote in this wise.

Most péerelesse Princesse, though loue hath almost blinded me in all thinges, yet I humbly beséeche you not to thinke me so forgetfull either of the meanesse of myne owne estate, either of the maiestie of yours, as to presume to practise you in the waye of mariage, for in my [Page] iudgemente I thinke no man on earthe worthy that honour, but my pitifull petition is this, that you wyll accept mee for your slaue and seruant, and ye what country soeuer you shall be married into, I may geue attendance vpon you, to y• intent still to inioy the sight of your swéete face, & féede my fansy in y• contēplation of your beuty. For I am so vowed to your vertue, y• onely the swéet remembrance of you shal mortifie in me y• mind to any other woman whatsoeuer. For I perswade my selfe to finde more felicity in one friendly looke of yours, then in any others faithfull loue. And though these blotted wordes be to base an obiect for your heauenly eyes, yet waighing the cause in the skales of curtesye, I trust you will take them in good part. The cause of the blots was the teares whiche fell from my eyes at the making hereof, the cause of the words is the good will of the writer. Thus prayinge you to pittie the one and to accept the other, I leaue, lyving onely to doe you duty and seruice.

Yours, though not yours: IPHIS.

The Princesse hauing this letter deliuered vnto her, by one of her waiting women, so soone as she knew front whence it came, floung it from her, sayinge shee had nothing to deale ether with him or his letters, and straightlye charged her women not to salute her with any thing from him. But Fortune so framed that as she flung the letter from her, in came the king her father & caused the letter to be reacht vnto him, and knowing the contentes therof, sent for my youth Iphis, shooke him vp with sharp threatnings, and charged him vpon paine of punishment neuer after to be séene at the Courte. The younge Gentleman séeing the ground which he tilled altogether barren, and that it yéelded him but care for Corne and griefe for graine, determined to bestowe no more cost or labour thereon: and besides fearing the Kings fury and displeasure, with as conuenient spéede as he could coueied hymselfe in to the countrie, and there asswaged his sadnesse [Page] with solitarinesse: & setting her crueltie towardes him against his curtesie towards her, her visdainfulnes, against his owne dutifulnes, he soone set himself free frō his folly. This matter thus enued, greater stormes began to brue, & such a tempest arose that Scilla who beefore kept other in bandes, was now her selfe set in the sandes, & where before shee sailed in ship with top and top gallant, setting out flag of defiance, now she was driuen to strik saile and vaile bonnet euen to her fathers enemy. For it fell so out that King Minos, moued iustly therto for the murther of his sonne, waged warre and came with a puisaunt power against King Nysus, and layde so harde to his charge that he made him kéepe his Castle. Now while Minos lay at the siege therof, it fortuned the younge Princesse to haue a sight of him out at the window of the tower wherin shee lay: and now Cupid ment to bee reuenged on the crueltie which she vsed to his Captaine Iphis who fought so faithfully vnder his banner: and shot sutch darts of desyre into her towards King Minos, that vnlesse she might haue him to husbande shée thought her selfe but a woman cast away: and after a sobbinge sigh and tricklynge teare she fell out with her self in this sorte.

Ah fond foolish girle, and canst thou finde in thine hart to beare freindly affection to thy fathers feendly foe? Can I loue him kindly, who seekes to spoyle my country cruelly. Coulde I valiauntly withstande the assaultes of a flourishinge young man, and shall I cowardly yeeld to a fadinge olde man without any assault? O loue without law, O rage without reason, O will without wit, O fansy fraught full of fury and frensy. Good God where are now beecome those lofty lookes I was wonte to vse to louers? Where are the coy countenances, the haughty wordes, the solemne salutacions, the dainty dealinges, the curious congies, and sutch like? Alas now I am made to stoupe without stale, to come without call or lure, yea to the empty fist. But alas who is priuiledged from the [Page] force of loue, no there are none so stout but loue maketh them stoupe, none so wise but loue maketh them fooles, none so shamefast but loue maketh them bolde. And though I should first bewray my affection and make loue to kinge Minos, the offence is rather to bee pitied then punished. Yea the more frankly I offer him my goodwil, the more freindly no doubt but hee will accept it: and the lesse hée hath deserued it, the more will hée indeuour himself to bee thankful for the same. Neither can hee but take it as an vndoubted signe of deepe goodwill if I giue the first onset in this skirmishe: neither can it any way redound to my shame, the end béeinge honest and my meaninge in the way of mariage. And if it bee lawfull to follow the example of creatures without reason, doth not the Cow loe to the Bull, doth not the Mare neigh to the Horse, doth not the Yeaw blea to the Ramme, doth not the Faulcon call to the tossell gentle, the gerfaulcon to the Gerkin, the sparehauke to the Musket? And so of all other creatures the females are more forward that way then the males. Besides that by how mutch weaker women are then men, by so mutch the more they are to bee borne with all, if they bee lesse able to beare the heauy burthen of loue then men. Againe by how mutch more the loue of women is more feruent then of men, the more fiery flames of force must fry within vs, whiche without great griefe cannot be concealed or couered. And whereof springeth this errour that women may not first make loue but only of a precise and curious custome, nay rather a preiudicall and carefull custome I may tearme it to vs women: for wherof commeth it that so many of vs are so euill matcht in mariage, but only hereof, that wée are tyed to the hard chose of those that offer their loue vnto vs: where as if it were lawfull for vs to make loue where we lyked best, we woulde neuer marry but to our minde and contentation. Lastly I am not the first that haue played the lyke parte, and that whiche is done by [Page] alowable example is lawfully done. For Venus her selfe yéelded her selfe to her darlinge Adonis withoute any sute made on his part: Phaedra made sute to Hippolitus: Oenone pleaded her right with Paris: Dido dyd Aeneas to vnderstande how déepely she desired him: Bryses besought the goodwill of Achilles: Adalesia by her gouernesse made loue to Alerane: the Dutchesse of Sauoy went on pilgrimage to y• Knight Mendoza: infinit lyke exampls I could alleage, and why is it not lawfull for me to do the lyke, and make loue to King Minos, who perchance would first haue sued to mée, if he had first séene mée? yes let the world iudge what they will, I wyll doe what I shal iudge best for my selfe, and with as conuenient spéede as I may I will either by letters or déedes do Minos to vnderstand what minde I beare him. And as she was busely beating her braines here about, one of her most trusty and louing women came▪ vnto her, humbly requestinge her to make her priuy to the cause of her perplexitie. Alas good misteris (saith she) yf you want any thing, let your friends vnderstand it, and it shal be prouided. If my poore seruice may any way serue your turne, assure your selfe neither respect of honour, lyuing or lyfe, shall let mee from doing any thing, which may deliuer you out of distresse: if you haue imprisoned your libertie any where, and giued your selfe in the fetters of fansy, I know a Gentlewoman, my familier freind, who can stand you in as much steed for y• obtaininge of your purpose as any gentlewoman in this Courte.

The princes desirous of aid in her distres, prayed her woman to procure the comminge of that Gentlewoman with all possible spéede. Whervpon the wayting woman caused one of the princesses gentlemen to goe to this honest woman, and in her name to desire her to come to the princesse. You shall vnderstande this gentlewomans name, who was sent for, was Pandarina, in her youth a seruinge woman, and one which knewe more fashions [Page] then was fit for honest women. But nowe married to an honest Gentleman, shée entred into a newe religion seeming to renounce her olde fayth, & setling her selfe in sutch hipocrysy, y• she rather counterfaited cunningly thē liued cōtinētly. But to paint her out more plainly she was more coy thē cumly, more fine thē wel fauored, more loftly thē louely, more proud then proper, more precise thē pure, more superstitious then religious, more of spighte then of the spirit, and yet nothing but honesty would downe wt her, more Ielous then zelous, either iudging her husband by her selfe, or iudginge her selfe vnworthy the seuerall vse of so cōmodious a commen as her husband was. Well sutch as shee was this younge gentleman of the younge princesse was sent for her, & at ye first comming according to the fashion hee kist her, and hauing done his message, with frowning face shee told him shee could not goe to the princesse, and though shee could yet would shee not goe with him. The Gentleman somwhat abashed hereat, returned to the gentlewoman that sent him, and told her what answere this honest woman made. Who meruailing mutch therat went presently her selfe vnto her, desiring that gentleman to accompany her. Béeinge come to her lodging, after a few salutacions, Pandarina prayed the gentlewoman either to send vnto her a more modest messenger then the gentleman shee sent, or els to teache him to kisse more continently. The gentlewoman blushinge for bashfulnes, told her she had not the skill to teache men to kisse, shee thought that cunning concerned cōmon harlots, or at least married women rather then her, but, sayth shee, I will tell him of it, that of him selfe hee may amend his fault, and callinge the gentleman aside vnto her, shée asked him how hée had misused him selfe towards Misteris Pandarina in kissinge her. No way (sayth hee) that I knowe for, but if I kissed her boldly, I trust shee wil attribute it to young mens bashfulnesse, and if I kissed her kindly, I trust she wyll impute it to good will. Yes [Page] mary (sayth the gentlewoman) it was more hindely then shee cared for or liked of. Uerily (sayth hee) if it were ouer kinde, it is more then I know, or more then I ment for to speake my fancy freely, I know neuer a gentlewoman in this lande, that I like of worse: and if shee bee aferde I bee to far in loue with her, I will bee bound in what bond shee will, to hate her no man more. But gentlewoman, if you adhibite any credite to my counsayle, flie her familiarity, eschew her company, sutch sayntes in shewe are Satans in déede, sutch fayned holinesse is double diue lishnesse, sutch counterfayte continencye I count litle better then baudry. For sure this is a most sure marke to knowe dissemblers by, that they will alwayes far excéede the meane, for feare of béeing found in their fayning. As those that fayne to weepe, houle out right: those that fayne to bee freindly, shew them selues plaine Parasites: as those that fayne to bee valiant, brag most gloriously: and as shee counterfaytinge continency, sheweth her selfe altogether curious and hipocritiall.

But notwithstandinge I haue had no knowledge of her life and conuersation, yet dare I lay my life on it, that either shee hath bene naught, is naught, or wilbe naught whensoeuer shee can get any foule adultrour fit for so filthy an adultresse. The Gentlewoman hearing him so ernest, prayed him to put vp the matter patiently, sayinge shee thought it was but a shift to excuse her not comminge to the princesse: and so went to Pandarina telling her the Gentleman was sory hée had offended her, and so away they went together to the princesse. I haue wandred, Gentlewomen, somwhat béesides the path of my promised purpose, but yet not cleane out of the way of mine owne will and intent. For though this digressiō pertaine litle to the history I haue in hande, yet it may serue to admonish you that you take not executions of curiosyty against kisses which are giuen you of curtesy: and if there chaunce to bée any fault in them, either modesty to conceale [Page] it, or presently to returne the kisses againe to him, which gaue them. But in excusing my former digression, I shall enter into another digression, therefore to the matter and purpose proposed. Pandarina beeinge preferred to the presence of the Princesse, hauinge done dutifull reuerence humblye craued to knowe her pleasure. Nay rather answered the princesse, it is my payne Gentlewoman which I meane to make you priuy to: and blushing either for giltinesse or for bashfulnesse, shée vnfolded yt secrets of her thoughts to Pandarina in this sorte.

Gentlewoman, but that I know to whom I speake, I shoulde perchaunce bée in doubt what to speake in this matter, which is somewhat vnmeete for my maydenly estate. But considering you are a womā, and one who no doubt in your time haue felt the force of loue, I perswade my selfe I may boldly impart vnto you the panges of my passion, as to one who (I hope) will rather seeke a salue for my sore, then thinke sinisterly of my dooinges. Therfore you shall vnderstand that the sight of Kinge Minos, who layeth siege to our city, hath made sutch a breach into my heart, that I lie altogether open to his assaultes, and am fayne to yeeld my selfe his prisoner and captiue. And though it may seeme straunge vnto you that his forces béeinge not bent against mée, should haue sutch force ouer mée, yet it is often séene that a dart leueled at one, lightes on another. And though you may meruayle to sée mée yéelde beefore any onset bee giuen, yet no doubt that cittie merittes more mercy which yéeldeth without assault, then that which standeth to the doubtfull euent of battayle, and after mutch effusion of bloud, yeldeth when it is able to stand no longer in defence. For here the losse in the siege, taketh away the gaine in the conquest, the paine in pursuing, taketh away the plesure in possessing, and the hardnesse in winning drowneth the happinesse in wearing. And surely if maides would follow my counsayle, I would not wish them to set sutch solemne lookes, [Page] to vse sutch nice denials and dainty delayes to those, whom they thinke worthy of them, and whom they mean only shall inioy them. For they gaine nothing hereby but deferre their owne releife, and increase their louers greife. Béesides that when they are so hardly wonne, it is a signe they yéeld rather by importunity of the wooer, thē by any inclination of goodwill on their owne part. But what neede I vse this defence, where no body chargeth mée with any offence? This rather lieth mée vpon, ernestly to craue your aide & assistance in this my distresse, and that you will either by counsayle cure my disease, either by paine or pollicy put mee in possession of my desire.

I am thus bolde to commit this matter vnto you, presuming of your good wit, and goodwill towardes mée. And if you shew sutch faythfull freindlynesse herein, as I verily looke for, assure your selfe I will in sutch freindly manner requite it as you shall very well like of. Misteris Pandarina hauing attentiuely attended her talke, dutifully replied in this sorte.

Most excellent Princesse, I am humbly to thanke you that it pleaseth you to repose sutch credite in mée as to discloase your secretes to mée, and I shall thinke my selfe most happy, if my duty may any way doe you good, or my seruice satisfie your expectation. And touching your loue it is sutch that you néede not bée ashamed to shew it, yea in my iudgemente it is rather to bée commended euery way, thē cōdemned any way. For first in that your fancy is fixed on a prince, you shew your princely minde in lyking your like: then in that you seke to ioyne your selfe to him in mariage, you shew your godly disposition, in desiring to quenche the desires of your harte by that godly meane which god hath made and appointed. Thirdly in louinge your fathers soe, you followe gods commaundement, who willeth you to requite good for euill. Yea and by this meanes you may bée a meane to make peace and amity betweene two enemies, and saue your cittie front [Page] siege and sacke. Lastly in that you yeeld so quickly to the alarms of loue, you shew your fine nature and wit which are soonest subiect to the impression of loue. And for your opinion touching the dealing of dainty damsels, you are no doubt (Madame) in the right. For those which are so coyishe & wilde, or so haggarde like, that searce in seuen yeeres sute they will bée reclaimed, they plainely shewe themselues either to bée of base mettal, as not to bée capable of loue, either of grose wittes as not to vnderstande when loue is made vnto them, either of slender iudgment as not to accept good offers, either of incontinent conuersation as beeing loth to bee tied to one diet, either of inconstaunt conditions, as iudging men as light of loue as themselues are lend of life, or els some way imperfecte that they are not meet for the holy state of matrimony.

Now wheras you craue my counsel and helpe to the bringing of your good purpose to passe, good Madame would I were as well able as willinge to doe you good: but so far as my simple wits can see in the matter, I thinke this way the best to worke your will: you knowe your father hath on his head a golden haire whereon dependeth the stay of his state and puissance of his power, no more but when your father is a sleepe, pull of the the heire and present kinge Minos therwith and no doubt but hee will imbrace you as the autor of his victory, and receiue you for his lawful and louing wife, so shal you redresse your own distres, and preserue the life of your father and his people, who perchaunce by the continuance of this warre, may come to confusion. The princesse likinge reasonably well of this practise of Pandarina, gaue her thankes for her good counsayle, and departed into her chamber by her selfe to thinke more of the matter, where shee entred with her selfe into these contrarieties.

I sée there is no disease so desperate, but if it be taken in time phisick may help it: no matter so harde but polycie can preuaile in it, nor no policye so good but experyence [Page] will put into our heads: as may be séene by the sound aduice and perfect polycie of Pandarina. I warrant I am not the first clyent that this counsellour hath had, I am not the first Pupill that she hath practised for, this is not the first sluttish sute that she hath bene Solicyter in, this is not the first honest match that she hath made. But stay, let me not commend her cunning and counsell to mutch, before I consider better of the goodnesse thereof▪ I must forsooth pull of my fathers golden haire and present Minos therwith: a light matter it séemeth to pul of a haire, but alas, that haire containeth my fathers helpe, his hope, his hap, his strength, his power, his conquest, and his kingdome. Shall I then so mutch transgresse the lawes of nature to bring him to a miserable plight, who was the cause that I came into this ioyfull lighte? Who from my infancy carefully cherished, and fatherlye fostered mee vp, whom by humaine and deuine lawes I am bound to obey honor and loue? No, auaunt vnlawful loue, thou art rated at to high a price to be reached: auaunte foule beastly ba [...]de, thy counsell is withoute conscience, thy aduice without honesty: they which cleaue to thy help shall bée serued as he whiche ready to fall from a hedge, catcheth holde of a sharpe bryer to staye himselfe: they y• follow thy phisick shal do as he which to heale his ag [...]e, slew himself: they which prouide for their fathers peace and preseruation as thou wouldest haue mée to doe, shalt with the Daughters of Pelias kill their Father to make hym younge agayne: They which loue their Father as thou wouldst haue me to do, shall with Thais to her Phaedria shut hym out of the dores, and out of his kingdome for loue. But what, doe floudes drowne fieldes before they finde a b [...]ack? can one be exalted without anothers wracke? Can I be preferred to pleasure without some others paine. But it gréeues mee my father shoulde bee pinched for my pleasure. Why it is reason the greife should be theirs, whose is the gaine. But it is perilous for [Page] mee to enterprise so great a matter. Why is it not reason the perill should be mine in pursuing, when the pleasure shall bee mine in possessing? but alas it nippeth mee nere to lose my father the victory, to winne my selfe my loue. Why alas gréeuous woundes must haue smarting playsters, and those medicines euer soonest heale vs whiche most gréeue vs. And shall I then preferre mine owne pleasure before my fathers profit? why euery one ought to be nerest to them selues, and their wisdome is nothing worth which are not wise for them selues. Nay rather shall I preferre the commodytie of King Minos before the commodytie of King Nysus? why Nysus is my father: why Minos will be my Phere: why Nysus gaue me lyfe: Why Minos wyll yéelde mee loue: Why Nysus made mee a maide: Why Minos wil make mée a mother: Why Nysus cherised mee beeing young: Why Minos wyll make mutch of mée beeinge olde: why nature bindeth mee to loue my father: why God commaundeth mee to loue my husband: Ah foole, doe I call hym husbande who wyll not haue mee? doe I call him phere who forceth not of mee? Is it lykely hee will receiue a runnagate from her cittie, a beetrayer of her Father? Can hee think to finde mee faithfull towards him, that am faithlesse to mine owne father? Tush hee will attribute all this to loue, and loue mée y• better for it. He will excuse & beare with my doings by the exāple of his owne daughter Ariadne, who betraied him to her louer Thesius: by the exāple of Medea, who betraied her father to Iason: by the example of Hyppodamé, who procured y• death of her father by matching wt Pelops And therfore al doubtes done away, I wil without delay put the policie of Pandar▪ in practise. The night following (sutch hast her hot loue required) she shewd her selfe Misteris of her word though not of her selfe, and performed that which shee sayde she would. For her father beeing a sleepe, shée got softly to him and cut of his precious haire which had in it sutch vertue. Which done, shée went to [Page] King Minos and presented him therewith, who in most reprochefull wordes reprehended her déede, and in most disdainfull sort reiected her loue. But she not meaning to leaue her loue while shee had lyfe, leapt into the sea to swim after him as hee sayled away. And so quenched her desire in the bottome of the sea.

You see here, Gentlewomen, she y• would not looke vpō her Iphis, coulde not be looked vpon by her Minos. Shee that would make no account of her inferriour, could not be accounted of by her superiour. For it is a plaine case, (and therfore looke to it) that they which deale rigorously with other, shall bée rudely dealt withal themselues. But I am by this story chiefely to admonish you that you pull not of your fathers haire that is, y• you pul not their harts out of their bodies, by vnaduisedly castinge your selues away in matching in marriage with those who are not meet for you. That is to pull of your fathers haire, when you shall cast of the bridle of obedience, rashly run at randon, rudely neglect his precepts, and presumptuously place your selues in marriage contrarie to his pleasure: that is to pull of your Fathers haire. But (Soueraigne) now your father is gone, I will giue you more sound advice: I will admonishe you all not to pull of your owne haire, that is not to binde your selues to the froward faust of your politique parents, but to make your choice in mar riage according to your owne mindes: for ouer widowes you sée Fathers haue no preheminēce of power touching their marriages: and you are not to know that mariage is a contract consisting of the frée consent of both the parties, and that onely is required in the consummation of marriages: and the Rodians haue this law, that onely the mothers haue rule ouer the Daughters. But mum, lupus in fabula. I must (I say) admonish you y• as your parents gaue you your bodies, so they may dispose of them. That you requight all their loue, care and cost, at least with obedience. I must tel you that if you honour not them your [Page] dayes will bee short on earth: I must tell you that Rauens will pull out the eye that blindeth the Father, and neglecteth the good instruction of the mother, as Solomon sayd.

Curiatius and Horatia.

CVRIATIVS a young Gentleman of the Citie of Albania in ITALY, fallinge into extreame loue with Horatia a young Gentlewoman of the Cittie of Rome, after longe sute, and many delayes, obtaineth her graunt to bee his wife. But in the meane time, contention fallinge out beetwene the two Citties. Curiatius is slaine in the fielde by Horatius, brother to the said Gentlewoman, to whom hee was assured. Whose death Horatia most pittifully bewaylinge, her brother greatly disdayneth thereat, and cruelly thrusteth her to the harte with his Swoord.

SUrely Gentlewomen, either according to Ouid his opinion Forma numen habet, Beutie hath some diuinity or Godhead in it, or els contrary to the common opinion, loue is some heauenly influence and no earthly accident. For of euery earthly and mortall motion there may some probable reason or naturall cause bee giuen: as euery lyving creature desireth that whiche is good and agréeable to it nature, bicause euery thinge is déere to it selfe, and desireth the conseruation of it selfe in it kinde. As the earth draweth downward, beecause it is heauy, the fyre flyeth vpward beecause it is light, the water contrarie to it nature oftentimes ascendeth to the top of high hyls to avoyde vacantnesse. The aire for the same cause often times discendeth into the pores of the earth: as cholerike complexions are soonest intensed to anger, beecause they [Page] abound with heate, as women are not so subiect to anger as men beecause they are more colde of nature. And so of all humaine actions & natural effectes, there may be some probable reason and naturall cause yéelded. But of loue it is so farre without the compasse of reason and bounds of nature, that there can no reason, no cause, no coniectur bee geuen of it. Neither what it is, working sutch diuers effects, neither whence it is, procéedinge of so diuers causes, neither whether it will béeing neuer satisfied. Therfore no earthly thing but some supernal power sure it is, as your selues (I thinke) will say by that time you haue harde the History of Curiatius who was sodenly strocken therewith as if it had béene with some thunder or lightning from heauen. For you shall vnderstande this gentleman dwelling in a towne named Albania, situate néere vnto the Cittie of Rome, hee made dayly repaire vnto Rome, both in respect of profit, as to deale with marchants in matters of waight, and in respect of pleasure, as to frequent the felowship of lusty younge Gentlemen whiche flourished in that Cittie. Now it was his chaunce as hee strayed about the stréetes, to sée a proper Gentlewoman named Horatia, sittinge at her Fathers dore to take the aire, and to recreate her selfe with the sighte of those that passed by: and notwithstandinge he had neuer séene her before, yet through the deuine power of loue, he was so blasted with her beautie, that he presently proclamed her the soueraigne of his thoughtes, and gouerness [...] of all his doinges. And hauinge passed by her twise or thrise with lookes shewing his loue, and salutations signifiyng his sute, he could not be so satisfied but banishing bashfulnes, he couragiously incoūtred her in this māner.

Gentlewoman, God saue you, and send you that which you wish, and to wish that which I would. God Misteris may it please you to know that though my féete haue force to cary my body from this place, yet my harte will not suffer mée to turne my head from beholdinge your [Page] swéet face, whiche is the cause that hath made mée thus boldly to intrude my selfe into your company. But setting your goodnesse against my rudenesse, I doubte not but you will attribute it rather to abundaunce of goodwill, then to want of good behauiour, and rather take it for good meaning then yll manner. But if it please you not thus frindly to interpret it, yet at least I beséech you not to impute it to my boldnesse, but to your owne beautie: for as the Larketaker in his day net hath a glasse whereon while the birdes sit and gaze they are taken in the net, so your face hath sutch a glisteringe glasse of goodlynesse in it, that while I gazed thereon I was caught in the snares of Cupid. Or as the Spider in her webbe doth fast winde the litle Flie, so your beauty doth so fast binde mee in the beames thereof, that I am faine presently to yéelde my selfe a pray to your good pleasure: humbly béeseeching you to account of mee, not accordinge to my deserts which as yet are none, but accordinge to the loyall seruice which I faithfully vow hereafter to do vnto you. Neither meane I to craue other rewarde for my seruice, but onely that it will please you in good parte to accept it. Horatia hauinge harkened to this talke with a certaine disdainfull and solemne scilence made him this waspishe answer.

Gentleman, this libertie of spéeche in you sheweth the lightnesse of your loue, for as I haue harde those that loue most speak least, as hearing their cogitations conuersant in the contemplation of the Saints whom they serue, but your smooth tale and fine filed words shew that your practise is rather fainedly to pretende loue then faithfully to loue. And for my part I would not you should think me either so simple as to beléeue your coloured words, either so ouergone in lykinge of my selfe, but that I take the commendation which you giue mee, rather for triflinge mockinge then true meaninge, and I promise you I had rather you woulde vse some other to exercise your eloquence [Page] on then my selfe, for that I neither like of your vnlykely loue, neither meane to be framed to your folly. Your comming to mée vpon no acquaintaunce contenteth mee well inough for that I may leaue your company when I lyst, and so turned in at the dore frō him. The Gentleman séeing her rigorousnesse to excéede his owne rudenesse, laying aside a litle more good manner, tooke hir fast by the arme desiringe her to stay a worde or twaine which he vttered to this effect.

O good Misteris, goe not about to torment hym so terribly whiche loueth you so intirely, depriue mee not of that sight which doth onely work my delight, absent not your selfe from him whom nothinge vnder the Sunne pleaseth but your presence. And whereas you chalenge my lybertie of spéeche, may it like you to vnderstand that though this sodaine loue hath made me loose in a maner the remembraunce of my selfe, and caused mee to bee carlesse and negligent in all other affaires though of neuer so great importance, yet the beeholdinge of your séemely selfe doth so reuiue my sences and quicken my spirits that it maketh all my partes to doe their part in praying for pittie and praysing your person: wherein if I should bee speechelesse, I might iustly be thought to spare the trueth and spighte your perfection, And that my loue is modest without mocking, true without triflynge, and vehement without vanytie, I take the heauens to witnes: and beesids let this be practised for proofe, that if it please you to imploy mée, you shall finde mée as spéedy to end my lyfe to doe you good, as ready to spende my time to doe you seruice. Mary (saith she) perchaunce so, for I thinke I shall finde you neither spéedy in the one, neither ready in the other. But thei that haue once passed the bounds of shamefastnesse, may euer after lawfully bee impudent, and you that haue beegunne to scoffe and gybe, thinke by authorytie you may continue in it: sutch a one I count you to bee and so I account of you. And so left my youth [Page] without dores. Who séeinge him selfe so coursly accounted of, fell to raginge to him selfe in this manner.

Ah the brauery of these fine girles, the more they are courted the more they are coy, the more humbly they are sued vnto, the more loftyly they looke. And if a man practise them in the way of marriage, good God what shew of shamefastnesse will they make, what visors of vyrginitie will they put on, what colours of continencie wil they set foorth, what charinesse wil they make of their chastitie? they neuer forsooth meane to marrie, sayinge that single life is the only swéet life, that marriage is inuented rather for necessitie then for any goodnesse that is in it, that their yéeres yet require no hast of marriage, & that if God would giue them grace, & their freinds would not force them to the contrarie, they would neuer know what man meaneth while they liue. Whereas in very deede they desire nothyng more then marriage, neither couet any thing more then the company of men. Agayne if a man making loue in way of marriage do but so mutch as touche one of these tender péeces, they crie phy away, away, but let one that is married, or one that meaneth not marriage dally with them, why they are as lose of their lippes and as frée of their flesh as may bee: For let a man béehaue himselfe towardes them accordyng to the common course of curtesie, hée shall obtayne any thyng of them, for they know hée is soone lost if hée bée not soone loued, but let one direct his doynges by the lyne of loue, and bée drawne into great depth of affection towardes them, why they will raygne like princes ouer him: yea they will make him glad of one glaunce of goodwill giuen by the eye: for they know a litle thyng pleaseth a foole, and they thinke him to fast hampred in folly to giue them the slip on the sodayne. And bicause they count the number of suters a great testimony to their bentie & proufe of theyr perfection, they vse twentie shiftes to haue if it bée possible twentie suters, some they féede with lookes, some with [Page] loue, some with promises some with practises, some with vowes some with vewes, some with triflinge some with truth, some with woordes, some with workes, some with kisses some with curtesy some with witte some with wyles, some with fayth some with fraude, some one way some another, so that by their willes they will haue as many suters as themselues haue sleightes to entertaine them. And yet these girles on Gods name are to younge to haue a husband, they are loth to leaue suckinge their dame. But ah blasphemous beast that I am to cast sutch diuelish doubtes of her honesty, whose very countenance containeth continency in it, whose visage seemes to bee without vice, and lookes without lust. Is it likely shée will yéeld her body to bée abused by any, who wil not suffer her selfe to bée vsed by any? And she y• will not enter into modest matrimony, is it likely shee will fall into filthy fornication? No I thinke her to bée as frée from folly, as I thinke my selfe far from wisdome who seeme to doubt of her honest dealing bicause shée wil not yéelde consent to my hastie meaning. What know I whether shee be consecrated alreadie to some other saint, which if it bée so, with what reason can I looke to reape any thynge at her handes but a repulse? For as gorged Hauks will stoupe to no lure, so a woman vowed already to another man, the sickenesse of other suters will not cure: or it may bée thus, that as the Fauconer when hee first draweth his Hauke out of the mew, giueth her washt and vnpleasant meates to make her after like better of better meates, so perchaunce her pollicie bée first to féede mée with bitter brothes, that hereafter dayntie fare may more delight mée: and now to tosse and torment me with the rigorous stormes of repulse, that hereafter the caulme of her consent may the better content mee. For springe time would neuer seeme so pleasaunt vnto vs, but by reason of the sharpe winter which went before: peace would not so mutch please vs, but by reason that warre beefore [Page] spoyled and wasted our country. So that if shée bée coy of consent to make mée inioy the greater ioy, may I thynke my selfe misused? Againe would I haue her so light of loue to yéelde to the firste onset? No shée deserueth to bee pursued with endlesse paine, yea and I will trauayle in continuall toyle but her good will I will attaine. Now as the good Spaniell hauing sprung the partridge ceaseth not to raunge the fieldes and beate the bushes vntill hee haue retriued it againe to serue the Hauk which flew at it, so hee hauing once séene this saint sought all occasions to come to the sight of her againe, and if it were possible surely to seaze vpon her. Now it pleased fortune to bee thus frindly to further his purpose with this oportunitie.

Ther was in the cittie a very solemne wedding sumptuously celebrated, where hée by inquiry learned that his Misteris was, wherevpon hée assembled his companyons together, and prepared themselues the same night to goe thither in a maske: and béeing come to the house, after they had marched vp and downe the great chamber, y• first masker hauing taken the bride, hée being the second addressed him selfe to his Misteris with great deuotion, and when the sownd of the instrumentes ceased, hee entred into reasoning with her in this sorte.

Good Misteris, you haue allowed to your lot in stéed of a masker a mourner, and for one to delight you with plesaunt discourse you shall haue one to weary you with ru [...]ull requestes: for you shall vnderstande I am your careful Curiatius whom nothing but the consent of your good will can cure, and hauing no other way to aspire to your spéeche, I thought beste vnder this disguised sorte to discipher plainly vnto you the constancy of my good will towardes you. And if I could in woordes set forth but halfe the heauinesse which since the first sight of you hath sunke into my breast, I hope your hart would not bée so hard frozen but that the shininge sun of pity would thaw it againe. For if plaintes may proue my paine, I haue [Page] still continued in carefull cries: if sighes may shewe my sorrow, the smoake of them hath reached to the skies: if teares may trie my truth, the water hath flowen as a sloud from my eyes. And as these thinges haue passed heretofore to my paine, so if hereafter the sheddinge of my bloud may shew my constancy or woorke your contentation any way, assure your selfe I will bee so prodigall therof, that your selfe shall haue iust cause to say I liued only to serue you, and died to doe you good. By this time the instrumentes sowned another measure, at the ende wherof shee began to reply in this sorte.

Sir, I am sory you haue taken so great paine for so litle thanke, for if the end of your maske bee to make mée marche vnder Venus banner, yea or Iunoes either, your successe wilbe sutch that you shall haue cause to count this your labour lost, and that you haue cast away so mutch cost. And for my part I promise you I had rather haue bene matcht with a mery masker then a leude louer, for the one might delight mee, whereas the other doth ut spight mee. And if (as you say) you maske without mirth so assure your selfe on the other side I daunce without delight: neither can it but greatly greiue mee to bee troubled with so vnreasonable a sutor, whom no reasonable answere will satisfie. This rigorous replie of his Misteris conuerted him from a masker to a Mummer, for hee was strooke so dead herewith that the vse of his tounge vtterly fayled him. But at length béeing come to himself againe, hee entred into this vehemency with her.

O Gentlewoman, suffer not the bright sunne of your beauty to bee eclipsed with cruelty: contaminate not your cumlinesse with coynesse: remember beauty and cumlinesse continue not, wheras curtesy and clemency remaine for euer. Consider that vertue is the true beauty which carrieth cōmendacion with it at al times, which maketh men loue those whom they haue neuer seene, and which supplieth all other wantes whatsoeuer. Did [Page] not Antonius that lusty gallant of this city prefer Cleopatra that blacke Egiptian, for her incomparable curtesy, before all the blasinge starres of this citty? and did not the puisant knight Persey, in respect of her vertue, fetch Andromade from the blacke Indians. Wherby you see that bounty before beutie is alway to be preferred. Whiche bounty I beseeche you imbrace both to preserue my life and your owne good name. Alas what renowme shall you reape by killinge cruelly him that loued you intirely? What glory shall you get by driuing into dispaire him y• was drawen into desire towardes you? No, pitty is the onely patheway to prayse, and mercy is the meane to make you immortall. At the ende of the next measure shée replied in this sorte.

Why Gentleman, doe you thinke it cruelty not to condiscend to the requestes of euery one that maketh loue? Doe you count it vice not to yéeld to the assaultes of euery lasciuious young man? Doe you make so mean a count of mariage that you thinke it meet for a maide so rashly to enter into it, without sufficient knowledge of your selfe, ignorante of your life and conuersation, not knowing your state, parentes, or freindes: againe without the consent of my freindes, without their good will and furtherance, and which is most of all, without mine owne loue and likinge? No, I will haue more tryall of him whom I meane to marry then I haue had of you▪ and I wil féele in my self more feruent affection towards him, then as yet I doe beare you. You must consider it is not for a day or a yéere that man and wife must continue together, but euen for the whole terme of their life: and that they may not for any respecte chaunge, beeinge once chayned together: but muste remaine content the one with the other in solace and in sorrowe, in sicknesse and in safenes, in plenty and in penury. Way againe that the happy life of the wife only consisteth in the loyall loue of her husband, and that shee reposeth her selfe only [Page] in the pleasure shee hath in him. She for the most part sitteth still at home, shee hauketh not, shee hunteth not, shee diseth not, shee in a manner receiueth no other contentation but in his company. Hee is the only play which pleaseth her, hee is the only game which gladdeth her, hee is the field shee delighteth to walke in, hee is the forrest shee forceth to hunt in. So that in my iudgement in takinge a husbande, no héede can bee to wary, no choyce to chary. And therefore you must make a count that mariage is a matter neither so rashly to bee required as you doe, neither so easely to bee graunted as you would haue mee to doe. And if you adhibite any credite to my counsayle, I would wish you to sowe the seede of your sute in a more fertill soyle, for in mee no graftes of grauntes, or flowers of affirming will by any meanes growe, but only double denialles and ragged repulses. His replie here to with diuers other discourses whiche passed beetwéen them, I wil omit, lest I should weary you with the weary toyle whiche hée made of it. And besides I would not you should take example by her to hang of so straungly, when you are sued to so humbly: and not to faine dislikinge so deepely, when in deed you loue intirely. For notwithstanding all his ernest su [...]e hee could not receiue so mutch as one good worde of good will. At length the dauncinge beeinge done, the banquet was beegunne wherevppon their talke ceased, but his loue dayly increased: in so mutch that hée fully resolued with himselfe (hopinge thereby somewhat to bee eased of his greife) to forsake country, friendes, lyuinge and all that hée had. And there vpon wrote a letter vnto her to this effect.

Séeinge (most mercylesse Misteris) neither my person can please you, neither my lyuinge lyke you, neither my calling content you, neither my singular affection towards you cause you to requite it wt lyke loue, I meane vtterly to abandon the place of your abode, and to bestow [Page] my selfe in some sutch fare country, whyther not so much as y• report of your vertue and beuty shall come: hopinge therby somwhat to appease my paine, and to asswage the rygour of my raginge loue. For as the sence of seeinge is most sharp, so is that paine most pinching, to see the thing one séeketh, and can not possesse it. Lyke as the Greyhounde is gréeued to see the Hare if hée bee kept in slippe, and the Hauke the Partridge if she bée tyed in lunes, and as the common saying is, y• which the eye séeth, the hart géeueth. Likewise to heare of your happie marriage with some other, would bée litle better then death vnto mée, to think any other should inioy that which by law of loue is proper to my selfe: and to heare of your vnlucky linking with any, would bee death it selfe vnto mee, to thinke that my only ioy should liue in annoy. Therfore I thinke the best way to mitigate my martirdome, is to absente my selfe from both hearing and seeing. I could reaue my self of life, and so rid my selfe of strife, but alas to imbrue my hands with mine owne bloud, would but bring to my body destruction, to my soule damnation, to my freindes desolation, and to your selfe defamation. Where as by contynuinge my carefulll life, I may at least or at laste make manifeste the constancy of my loue to the whole world▪ and some way imploy my selfe to doe you seruice. For assure your selfe this, that what land soeuer I shall lodge in, my hart and body shall bee dedicated to doe you duty and seruice. And thus ready to goe to seaward, I stay only to know whether it stand with your good pleasure to commaund mee any seruice.

yours while hee is, CVRIATIVS.

Horatia hauing red this letter and thinking, shee had sufficiently sounded y• depth of his deuotion towards her, returned him this comfortable answer.

Albeit sir, I nothinge doubt of your departure out of your country, for that nothing is more deere to any man then his owne natiue soyle, and besides I know you vse [Page] it only for a meane to moue mee to mercy, yet to confesse the truth the secret good will which longe since I haue borne you, will not suffer mee to conceale from you any longer the secrets of my thoughtes. Therfore you shall vnderstand I haue not vsed this straungnesse towardes you for that my minde hath bene enstraunged or alienated from you, but only to try the truth of your good will towardes mee. For if for one repulse or two (like an ill hound which for one losse or twain giueth ouer the chase) you would haue giuen ouer your sute▪ I might haue iudged rightly that you had loued but lightly. But now I sée you continue to the ende, there is no reason but you should bée saued, if I may terme it sauing, the hauing of so worthles a wife as my selfe. But assure your selfe this, I haue not shewed my selfe heretofore in loue so colde and fainte, as hereafter you shall finde mée in affection feruent and faithfull. I thinke your labour shalbe litle to get my freindes good will, for if their iudgment agrée with mine they will thinke you worthy of a worthier wife, and rather thankefully accept you then daintily delay you. Thus ready to restoare the iniury I haue done you with any curtesy conuenient to my maydenly estate, I cease, not ceasinge dayly to recorde the depthe of your goodwill in the bottome of my hart, and in deuouring by all meanes possible to shewe my selfe thankefull for the same.

Your [...], and her owne if yours: HORATIA.

This letter so louinge, so vnlooked for, so swéete, so sodaine, raised him from heauinesse to happinesse, from hell to heauen, from death to life. And presently herevpon hée procured her parentes consent who were so willing thereto that they gaue him great thankes that it would please him to match in their stocke and kinred, thinking perchance that hee had bene a man of a higher callinge then in déede hée was, and prayed to god that their daughter might become a wife worthy of sutch a husband. And herevpon the day of the solemnizing of the mariage was [Page] appointed, but many thinges (as the sayinge is) happen betweene the cup and the lip, many thinges chaunce betweene the bourd and the bed: man purposeth and God disposeth, and it is the fashion of fortune commonly thus to frame, that when hope and hap, when health and wealth are highest, then woe and wracke, disease and death are nighest. For in this manner it happened this mariage to bée marred. There arose a quarrell béetwéen the towne Albania and the cittie of Rome, which not with wordes but onely with weapons must bée decided: great hurly burly there was in either towne, nothing but war, war, war, the Cannons roard, the barbed horse neighed, the glitteringe armour shined, the boystrous billes and pearcing pikes pressed forward, the dartes were dressed, the bowes were bent, the women wept, the children cryed, the Trumpets sowned Tan tara, tara the Drummes stroake vp the mournfull marchinge forward, and the souldiours on both sides marched in battayle aray vnto the field. Amongst whom Curia. as one of the most couragious captaines and boldest blouds of the Albanes, was the formost. But to leaue the battayle and come to the conflicte which Horatia had with her selfe when shée hearde that her beloued was in armes against her cittie. Shée fell forsooth to reasoninge with her selfe in this sorte.

O most doubtfull distres that euer poore damsell was driuen to. For whom shall I offer vppe sacrifice, for whom shall I make my vowes? For whom shall I pray for victory, to whom shall I wishe the ouerthrowe? on the one side fighteth my freinde, on the other side my father: on the one side the cittie wherin I am is in daunger to bee sacked, on the other side the towne whither I must goe is in perill to bee spoyled, on the one side I am like to loose my loue, on the other side mine owne life. So that I know not to whether part, I ought to incline in hart. No can? Why a woman ought to forsake father and mother and followe her husbande. But ought any [Page] thinge to bée more swéete vnto mée, then the cittie to bée counted mine, wée beeing both one flesh? But life is sweet to euery one: full sower God knoweth to mee without his loue and life. So that if my will might worke effecte, I would rather wish that of the two, Rome might run to ruine. But alas, dareth hee lay siege to the cittie wherin I am? Is hée not affraide to ouerthrow the house that harboureth mée? Doubteth he not least some peece should perce my tender breast? Yes no doubt of it, hee deepely doubteth it: but alas, they that are bound must obey, hee must follow of force his general captayne, vnlesse hee will incur the suspition of cowardlinesse, or treason, or both. Like as Vlysses was greatly defamed bicause hee faigned himself to be mad, for that he would not go to the siege of Troy. No god sheild my Curiatius from shame, god sende him either friendly to enter into the citie, all quarrels beeing ended and truce taken, either valiantly to venture into the cittie, and with triumphant armes to imbrace mee. By this time both the armies were met, and to auoyd the effusion of bloud, the general Captaines entred into this agreement. There were in either army three brothers of great courage and countenaunce, the Romaines were named Horatii, brothers to the Gentlewomā before spoken of, the Albanes were called Curiatii, wherof one was y• gentlemā before mētioned. Now it was concluded that these brothers on both sides should by dint of sworde stint the strife betweene these townes: and if the Hor. conquered the Curiatii, that then the Albanes should remain vnder the rule and empire of the Romains, if otherwise, then otherwise. Herevpon these sire valiaunt champions at the sound of the Trumpets entred the listes, and fell to furious fight: within short time two of the Horatii were slayne, and al the three Curiatii wounded: the Romaine remaynynge alone to withstand three, re [...]ired somewhat backe, to the intenfe to single his enemies one from another, which done, hee slue them all one [Page] after another. This valiant victory atchiued, wt great ioy & triumph he returned into y• citie, & among [...] y• rest ready to receiue him, was his sister Horatia, who knew nothing perticulerly of y• which was done in y• field, but only y• the Romayns were victors. But seing a far of about her brothers shoulders y• coate armour of her Cur. which she her self wt needle work had curiously made, being therby fully assured of his death, she was driuen into these dolefull plaints. Oh Heauēs, what hellish sight doe I see, far more dolorous and dangerous then monstrous Medusaes head? And is my Curiatius slaine? then care come cut in sunder my corps, thē dole deliuer me to y• dreadful darts of death. For what lyfe (alas) in this lyfe is to bee counted lyfe, without his life and loue? for so to liue, as not to liue: why should I long any longer to liue? What ioy in this cōmon ioy can I count ioy, and not him inioy who was my only [...]oy? No though the whole Cittie singe in triumphe, I must sorrow in torment: though the Romanes vaunt of victory, I must complaine of ouerthrowe: though they flourish in prosperytie, I must fade in aduersitie: though they swimme in blisse, I must bath in bale: though they liue in peace, I must lead my lyfe in warre: though they possesse pleasure, I must pine away in paine. For my triumph, my victory, my prosperytie, my blisse, my peace, my pleasure, is perished. Yea now my marrying is turned to mourning, my wedding to wéeping, my wealth by warre is wasted, my slowre of ioy by the cold frost of cankred fight is defaced. Yea what flower can flourish where no Sun doth shine? what Sun can shine inclosed close in earth? My sun alas is dead, and downe for euer rysinge againe, and the worlde with mée is at an ende and done for euer ioying againe. W [...]e w [...]rth the cause, the quarrell, the conflict, that brought my Curiatius to this cureles case. O woulde to God my Citie had béene sacked, my friends spoyled, and my brothers brought to bane, rather then my Curiatius should haue come to this careful ende. [Page] O brother y• hast not only slaine thy foes but thy friends, thou hast not only killed Curiatius but thou hast wounded thine owne Sister to death. Her brother passinge by her and hearing her heauy plaints, beeing therwith rapt into great rage, and with pride of the victory almost béesides hymselfe, drew his sword and forgetting al lawes of nature and humanytie thrust his Sister therewith to the harte, saying: get thée hence to thy kinde spouse with thy vnkinde loue, who forgettest thy brothers that are dead, thy brother that is aliue, and the conquest of thy country. And so come it to euery Romaine that shall lament the death of an enemy to the Romaines.

You haue harde (Gentlewomen) that one harmefull hand made a hand of two harmelesse wightes, and that hand had hangd himself to, if his father by his pitiful peticion had not purchased his pardon. Now I would heare your indgementes to whom you thinke this lamentable end of these louers ought to be imputed. Surely I think Horatia cheifly in fault for holding of so longe béefore shée woulde accept and acknowledge the loue of her beloued. For if she would by any reasonable sute haue béene wóon, they had bene married longe time beefore this warre begunne. They had dwelled quietly together in Albania, and Curiatius béeing a married man should not haue béen prest to the warres, but should haue beene suffered to trye his manhood at home with his wife. So that her lingring loue hastened her and his death, her selfewill wrought her selfe and hym wracke. And for her Brother his offence was litle, for in killing Curiatius hee procured conquest to his Country and commendation to himselfe: and in killinge his Sister, hee eased her of so mutch labour, and saued her soule from damnation. For hée knew shee would desperately doe her selfe to death and considering the miserie shée was in, hée thought hée could not doe her a greater pleasure then to cause her to die for her Curiatius his cause.

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Cephalus and Procris.

CEPHALVS a lustye younge gallant, and PROCRIS a bewtifull girle, both of the Duke of VENICE Courte, beecum eche amorous of other, and notwithstandinge delayes procured, at length are matched in marriage. Cephalus pretending a far iourney and long absence, returneth beefore appointed time, to trie his wiues trustinesse. Procris falling into the folly of extreme ielousie ouer her Husband, pursueth him priuely into the wooddes a hunting, to see his beehauiour: whom Cephalus heeringe to russhell in a bushe wherein shee was shrowded, and thinking it had bin some game, slayeth her vnwares, and perceiuinge the deede, consumeth hymselfe to death for sorowe.

IT is the prouident policy of the deuine power to the intent wée shoulde not bée to proudly puft vp with prosperitie, most commonly to mix it with some sower sops of aduersitie, and to appointe the riuer of our happinesse to runge in a streame of heauinesse, as by all his benefites bountifully beestowed on vs, may bée plainely perceiued, whereof there is not any one so absolutely good and perfect, but that there bée inconueniences as well as commodyties incurred thereby. The golden glisteringe sun which gladdeth all earthly wightes, parcheth the Sommers gréene, and blasteth their bewtie which blaze their face therein: The fire which is a most necessary element vnto vs, consumeth most stately towres and sumptuous Cities: the water which wée want in euery thing we do▪ deuoureth infinit numbers of men and huge heapes of treasure and ritches: the aire wherby we liue, is death to the disceased or wounded man, and béeinge infected it is y• cause of all our plagues and pestilences: the earth which yéeldeth foode to sustaine our bodies, yéeldeth poison also to [Page] our bodies: the goodes whiche doe vs good, often times woorke our decay and ruine: children which are our comforte, are also our care: marriage which is a meane to make vs immortall, and by our renewing ofspring to reduce our name from death, is accompanied with cares in number so endlesse and in cumber so curelesse, that if the preseruation of mankinde, and the propagation of our selues in our kinde, did not prouoke vs therto, wée should hardly be allured to enter into it. And amongest all the miseries that march vnder the ensigne of marriage, in my fancy there is none that more torments vs, then that hatefull helhounde Ielousy, as the history which you shall heare shall shew.

You shal vnderstand in the Dukes Courte of Venice, spent his time one Cephalus, a Gentleman of great calling and good qualities, who at the first time hee insinuated himselfe into the societie of the Ladies and Gentlewomen, made no speciall or curious court to any one, but generally vsed a dutifull regarde towards them all, and shewed hymselfe in sport so pleasaunt, in talke so wittie, in maners so modest, and in all his conuersation so cumlye, that though he were not specially loued of any, yet was hée generally lyked of all, and though hée himselfe were not specially vowed to any, yet was hee speciallye vewed of one, whose name was Procris. a proper Gentlewoman, discended of noble parentage. And though at the first her fancy towardes him were not great, yet shee séemed to receiue more contentation in his company, then in any other Gentleman of the troupe. But as materiall fyre in shorte time groweth from glowinge coales to flashing flames, so the fyre of loue in her, in shorte time grew from flytting fancy to firme affection, and she beegan to settle so surely in goodwil towardes him, that shee resolued with her selfe, hée was the onely man she would be matched to, if shee were euer married. And béeinge alone in her lodginge, shee entred with her selfe into this [Page] reasoning.

How vnequally is it prouided that those which worst may, are driuen to holde the Candle? That we which are in body tender, in wit weake, by reason of our youth vnskilfull, and in all thinges without experience, should bee constrained to beare the loadsome burthen of loue, wheras ryper yéeres who haue wisdome to wyeld it, and reason to represse it, are seldome or neuer oppressed with it? Good God what fiery flames of fancy doe frye within mée? what desyre, what lust? what hope, what trust? what care, what dispaire? what feare, what fury? that for mée which haue alwaies lyued frée and in pleasure, to be tormented therewith, séemeth litle better then the bitter pangues of death. For as the colte the first time he is ridden snuffeth at the snaffle, and thinketh the bit most bitter vnto him: so the yoke of loue séemeth heauy vnto me, beecause my neck neuer felte the force thereof béefore, and now am I first taught to drawe my daies in dolour and griefe. And so mutch the lesse I lyke this lot, by how mutch the lesse I looked for it, and so mutch the more sower it is, by howe mutch the more soddaine it is. For as the Bird that hops from bough to bough, and vttreth many a pleasant note, not knowinge how néere her destruction draweth on, is caught in snare before shée bée ware: so while I spent my time in pleasure, assoone playing, assoone parling, now dawncing, now dallying, sometime laughing, but always loytering and walking in the wide fields of fréedome, and large leas of lybertie, I was sodenly inclosed in y• strait bonds of bondage. But I se & I sigh, and sorow to see, that there is no clothe so fine but moathes will eate it, no yron so harde but rust will fret it, no wood so sounde but wormes will putrifie it, no mettall so course but fire will purifie it, nor no Maide so free but loue wil bring her into thraldome and bondage. But seeing the Goddes haue so appointed it, why should I resist them? séeing the destinies haue decreed it, why shuld [Page] I withstand them? seeing my Fortune hath framed it, why should I frowne at it? seeing my fancy is fast fixed, why should I alter it? seeing my bargaine is good, why should I repent it? seing I lose nothing by it, why should I cōplain of it? seing my choice is right worthy, why should I mislyke it? seeing Cephalus is my Saint, why should I not honour him? seeing hee is my ioy, why shoulde I not inioy him? seeing I am his, why should not he be mine? yes Cephalus is mine, and Cephalus shall be mine, or els I protest by the Heauens, y• neuer ani man shal be mine.

Euer after this shee obserued all oportunities to giue him intelligence, as modestly as shee might, of her goodwill towards him. And as it happened a company of Gentlewomen to sit talkinge together, they entred into commendation of the histories whiche beefore had bene tolde them, some commending this Gentlemans stories, some that, according as their fancy forced them, but Pro. seemed to preferre the histories of Cephalus, both for that (saith she) his discourses differ from the rest, and beesids, that mee thinkes the man amendeth the matter mutch. Cephalus though out of sight yet not out of hearing, replied in this sorte. And surely (Gentlewoman) the man thinketh himselfe much mended by your commendacion, and assure your selfe you shall as readily commaunde him, as you curteously commend him.

The Gentlewoman blushing hereat, saide she thought hee had not bene so néere, but touchinge your answere (saith she) I haue not so good cause to commaunde you, as commend you: for as I thinke you well worthy of the one, so I thinke my selfe farre vnworthy of the other: but bee bolde of this, if at any time I commaunde you, it shall bee to your commodytie. I can not (sayth hée) but count your commaundment a cōmodytie, only in that you shall thinke mée worthy to doe you seruice: neither will I wish any longer to liue, then I may be able, or at least willing, to doe you due and dutifull seruice. If sir (saith [Page] she softly vnto hym) it were in my power to put you to sutch seruice as I thought you worthy of, you should not continue in the condition of a seruant longe, but your estate should bee altered, and you should commaunde another while, and I would obey. It shal bée (good misteris saith he) in your powre to dispose of mée at your pleasure, for I wholy cōmit my selfe to your curtesy, thinking my estate more frée to serue vnder you, then to raigne ouer any other whatsoeuer: and I should count my selfe most happy, if I might either by seruice, duty, or loue, counteruaile your continuall goodnesse towards mee. Upon this the companie brake of, and therewith their talke. But Cephalus seing her goodwil so great towards him, began as fast to frame his fancy towardes her, so y• loue remained mutuall beetweene them. Which her father perceuing, and not lyking very well of the match, for that hee thought his daughter not olde inough for a husbande, nor Cephalus ritch inough for sutch a wife, to breake the bond of this amitie went this way to worke. Hee wrought so with the Duke of Venice, that this Cep. was sent post in ambassade to the Turk, hoping in his absence to alter his daughters affection. Which iourny, as it was nothing [...] ioyful to Cephalus, so was it so painfull to Procris, that it had almost procured her death. For beeinge so warely wacht by herwaspish parents, that shee coulde neither see him nor speake with him beefore his departure, shee got to her chaumber window, and there heauily behelde the Ship wherin hee was sorowfully sayling away. Yea shee bent her eyes with such force to beehold it, that shee saw the ship farther by a mile then any els could possibly ken it. But when it was cleane out of her sight▪ she sayd: Now farewell my swéete cephalus, farewell my ioy, farwell my life, ah if I might haue but geuen thée a carefull kisse and a faintinge farewell beefore thy departure, I should haue bene the better able to abide thy aboad from mée, and per chaunce thou woul dest the better haue mynded [Page] mée in thy absence, but nowe I knowe thy wyll, wyl wauer with the windes, thy faith wil fleete, with the flouds, and thy poore Procris, shall bee put cleane out of thy rememberance. Ah why accuse I thée of inconstancy? No I knowe the seas will first be drie, beefore thy fayth from mee shall flye. But alas, what shal constancy prenayle, if thy lyfe doe faile? mée thinkes I sée the hoysinge waues lyke a huge army to assaile y• sides of thy Ship: me thinkes I sée the proulyng pirats which pursue thée: mée thinks I heare the roaring Cannons in mine eare, which are shot to sinke thee: mée thinkes I see the ragged rocks whiche stande ready to reaue thy Ship in sunder: mee thinkes I see the wilde beastes which rauenously runne with open mouthes to deuoure thee: mee thinkes I see the théeues whiche rudely rushe out of the woods to robbe thee: mée thinkes I heare the trothlesse Turke enter into conspiracy to kill thee: mee thinks I feele the furyous force of their wicked weapons, pitiously to spoyle thee. These sights and thoughtes, depriued her both of seeing, and thinkinge, for shee fell herewith downe dead to the grounde: and when her wayting woman could not by any meanes reuiue her, shee cryed out for her mother to come help: who beeing come, and hauinge assayed all the meanes shée could for her daughters recouery, and seeinge no signe of lyfe in her, shee fell to outragious outcries, saiing: O vniust Gods, why are you the authours of sutch vnnatural and vntimely death? O furious féende, not god of loue, why dost thou thus diuelishly deale wt my daughter? O ten times cursed bee the time, that euer Cephalus set foote in this Court. At the name of cephalus the maide beegan to open her eies, which before had dazeled, which her mother perceiuing, saide, beeholde daughter thy Cephalus is safely returned and come to see thee. Wherewith shee start from the bed whereon they had laied her, and staring wildly about the chamber, when shee coulde not sée him, shee sunk downe againe. Now her parents [Page] perceiuing what possession loue had takē of her, thought it labour lost, to indeuour to alter her determination, but made her faithful promise shee should haue their furtherance and consent to haue her cephalus to husbande at his returne, wherewith shee was at length made stronge to indure the annoy of his absence. It were tedious to tell the prayers, the processions, the pilgrimages, the Sacrifices, the vowes shee made for his safe returne, let this suffice to declare her rare good will towardes hym, that hearing of his happie comming towards the courte, shee feared least his sodayne sight would bring her sutche excessiue delight, that her sences shoulde not bee able to support it, and therfore got her into the highest place of the house, and beheld him comming a far of, and so by litle and litle, was partaker of his presence, and yet at the méetinge, shee was more frée of her teares then of her tounge, for her greetinge was only wéeping, word shee could say none.

Cephalus inflamed with this her vnfaigned loue, made all the freindes hee could to hasten the mariage beetweene them. But the olde saying is, hast maketh waste, and bargains made in spéede, are commonly repented at leasure. For married they were, to both their inexplicable ioy, which shortly after turned to both their vnspeakable annoy. For the increase is small of seede to timely sowen, the whelpes are euer blinde that dogs in haste doe get, the fruites full sone doe rot, which gathered are to sone, the mault is neuer swete onlesse the fier bee softe, and hee that leapeth before hee looke, may hap to leape into the brooke. My meaning is this, that Cephalus his share must needes bée sorow, who would so rashly and vnaduisedly, enter into so intricate an estate as wedlocks is.

The Philosophers will vs to eate a bushell of salte with a man béefore wée enter into strict familiarity with him, but I thinke a whole quarter litle inoughe to eate [Page] with her with whom wee enter into sutch a bond that only death must dissolue. Which rule if Cephalus had obserued, hée had preserued him selfe from most irkesome inconueniences. But hee at all aduentures ventred vppon one of whom he had no trial, but of a litle triflynge loue. I like but litle of those mariages which are made in respecte of ritches, lesse of those in respect of honours, but least of al, of those in respecte of hasty, foolish, and fond affection. For, soone hot soone colde, nothing violent is permanent, the cause taken away, the effecte vanisheth, and when beuty once fadeth (whereof this light loue for the most part ariseth) goodwill straight fayleth. Wel, this hot loue she bare him, was the only cause of his hasty and heauy bargaine, for womanlines she had none (her yeres were to young) vertue shee had litle (it was not vsed in the court) modesty shee had not mutch (it belongeth not to louers) good gouernment and stayed wit shee wanted (it is incident to few woomen) to bee shorte, his choyce was grounded rather vpon her goodlinesse then godlinesse▪ rather vppon her beauty then vertue, rather vppon her affection then discretion. But sutch as hee sowed, hee reapte, sutch as hee sought hee founde, sutch as hee bought, hee had, to wit, a witles wenche to his wife. Therefore I would wishe my freindes, euer to sow that, which is sound, to seeke that which is sure, to buie that which is pure. I meane I would haue them in the choice of sutch choyce ware, cheifly to respect good conditions and vertue: that is the only seed which wil yéeld good increase, that is the onely thinge worthy to bee sought, that is the only thinge which can not bée too derely bought. And who soeuer he bee that, in any other respecte whatsoeuer, entreth into the holy state of matrimony, let him looke for no better a pennyworth then Cephalus had, which was a lothsome life, and desolate death. For within a yeere or two after they had bene maried, his fancy was in a manner fully fed, and his disordinate desire of her began to decay, [Page] so that hee beegan plainly to see and rightly to iudge of her nature and disposition, which at first the parciality of his loue, or rather outrage of his lust, would not permit him to perceiue. And seeing her retchles regardes and light lookes, which shee nowe vsed towardes al men, rememberinge therewithall howe lightly hee him selfe won her, hee began greatly to doubt of her honest dealinge towardes him, and hauing occasion of far iourny and longe absence from her, hée wrought this practise to try her truth. Hee told her his aboade from her must of necessity bee fourty wéekes: but at the halfe yeeres end by that time his haire was wildly growen, hee apparelled him self altogether contrary to his wonted guise, and by reason of his haire so disguised him selfe that hee was not knowen of any, which done, his necessary affayres dispatched, he returned into his owne country, and came to his owne house in manner of a straunger which trauayled the country, where hee founde his wife in more sober sorte then hée looked for, and receiued sutch courteous entertainment as was conuenient for a guest. Hauing soiourned there a day or two, at conueniēt time hée attempted her chastity in this sorte.

If (faire Gentlewoman) no acquaintance might iustly craue any credite, or litle merites great méed, I would reporte vnto you the cause of my repaire, and craue at your handes the cure of my care: but séeinge there is no likelyhoode that either my wordes shalbée beléeued, or my woe releeued, I thinke better with paine to conceale my sorrow, then in vaine to reueale my sute. The Gentlewoman somewhat tickled with these triflinge woords, was rather desirous to haue him manifest the mistery of his meaning, then willing hée should desist from his purpose, and therefore gaue him this answere.

I am (Sir) of opinion, that credite may come diuers wayes besides by acquaintance, & I my self haue knowen mutch good done to many without desert: and therefore [Page] if your wordes bée true, and your desire due, doubte not, but you shal bée both credited, and cured.

For the truenesse of my wordes (sayth he) I appeale to the heauens for witnesse, for the duenesse of my desir [...] I appeale to your curtesy for iudgment. The wordes haue to vtter are these.

There chaunced not longe since to traueile thorowe the countrie wherein lyeth my liuing, a Knighte named Cephalus, and though the report of the porte and house which I mayntaine be not greate, yet it is sutch, that it sendeth me many guestes in the yéere: it pleased this Cephalus to soiourne the space of thrée or foure dayes with mee, and in way of talke to pas away the time, hée made relation at large vnto mee of his country, of his condition and state, of his speciall place of abode and dwelling, of his landes and liuing, and sutch like. I demaunded of him whether hee were married, saying, all those thinges béefore rehearsed, were not sufficient to the attaininge of a happy life, without a beutiful, saire, and louing wife. With that hée fetcht a deepe sigh, sayinge, I haue (Sir) I would you knew, a wife, whose beuty resēbleth y• brightnesse of the sunne, whose face doth disgrace all the ladies of Venice, yea Venus herselfe, whose loue was so excéedinge great towardes mee, that béefore I was married vnto her, hauinge occasion to goe in Ambassage to the Turke, shee almost died at my departure, and neuer was rightly reuiued till my returne. Good God, sayd I, how canne you bée so longe absent from so louinge a wife? How can any meate doe you good, which shee giueth you not? How can you sleepe out of her armes? It is not lawfull (sayth hee) for euery man to doe as hee would, I must doe as my businesse bindeth mée to doe. Besides that, euery man is not of like minde in like matters. Lastly, it is one thing to haue bene happy, it is another thing to bée happy. For your businesse (sayd I) it séemeth not to bée great, by the good company, whiche I thanke you, [Page] you haue kept mée this foure daies. For your minde, I know no man that would willingly bée out of the company of sutch a wife. For your present happinesse, in déed it may bee your wife is dead, or that her loue is translated from you to some other. No (sayth hée) shée liueth, and I thinke loueth mee, but what good doth golde to him that careth not for it? And can you (sayd I) not care for sutch a golden girle? Then may I say you haue a wife more faire then fortunate, and shée a husbande more fortunate then faythfull. Alas (sayth hee) with teares in his eyes, it is my great care that I doe so litle care, but no more hereof I beseech you. But my bloud beeing inflamed with the commendation which hée gaue to your beuty, and pityinge your case to haue so careles a husbande ouer you, I lay very importunately vpon him to impart the whole matter vnto mee, & with mutch adoe I wrung these wordes from him. Sir (sayth hee) I shall desire you to impute my doings not to my fault, but to the fates, and to thinke that whatsoeuer is done ill, it is done against my wil. It is so, that I remained married with my wife the terme of two whole yeeres, what time I did not only make of her, but I made a goddesse of her, and rather doltishly doated on her, then duely loued her: now whether it were the punishment of the gods for my fonde Idolatry committed vnto her, or wehther they thought her to good for mée, or whether the destinies had otherwise decréed it, or whether loue be lost when fancy is once fully fed, or whether my nature bée to like nothing long, I know not, but at the two yeeres ende I beegan sodainly in my harte to hate her as deadly, as beefore I loued her déepely: yea her very sight was so lothsome vnto mée, that I could not by any meanes indure it. And bicause her freindes are of great countenance, and I had no crime to charge her withal, I durst not séeke diuorcement, but priuily parted from her, pretendinge vrgent affaires which constrained mée therto. Hereafter I meane to béestow [Page] my self in the warres vnder the Emperour, not minding to returne while shée liueth. And for my maintenance there, I haue taken order secretly with my freinds, to conueigh vnto mee yeerely the reuenewes of my lande. Thus crauing your secrecy herein, I haue reuealed vnto you my carefull case. The straungnesse of this tale made mee stand a while in a maze, at length I greatly began to blame his disloyalty, to conceiue without cause so great disliking, where there was so great cause of good likinge. But Gentlewoman, to confesse the truth vnto you, my loue by this time was so great towardes you, that I neuer perswaded him to returne vnto you, meaning my selfe to take that paine, and knowinge him better lost then found, being no better vnto you. Shortly after this hee departed from mee towarde the Emperours courte, and I tooke my iourney hither as you sée. And this is the tale I had to tell you.

Procris hauinge heard this forged tale, with diuers alterations and sundry imaginations with her selfe, sometime fearing it was true, for that hee rightly hyt diuers pointes which had passed betweene her husband and her, sometime thinkinge it false, for that shee had firme confidence in her husbandes fayth and loyalty towardes her, assoone castinge one likelyhoode one way, assoone another another way, at length fully resoluing with her self that his wordes were vtterly vntrue, shee replied vnto them in this sorte.

Good God, I see there is no wool so course but it will take some colour, no matter so vnlykely which with wordes may not be made probable, nor nothinge so false which dissembling men will not fayne and forge. Shall it sinke into my head that Cephalus will forsake mée, who did forsake all my freindes to take him? Is it likely hee will leaue country, kinsfolke, freindes, landes, liuinge, and (which is most of all) a most louinge wife, no cause constrayning him therto? But what vse I reasons to refell [Page] y• which one without eyes may sée is but some coyned deuise to cosen mee? No sir knight, you must vse some other practise to effect your purpose, this is to broad to bée beleeued, this colour is so course that euery man may sée it, and it is so blacke that it will take no other colour to cloud it, the thread of your hay is so big that the Connies see it before they come at it, your hooke is so longe that the bayt can not hide it, and your deuise is to far fetcht to bring your purpose neere to an ende. Gentlewoman (sayth Cephalus) I see it is some mens fortune not be beléeued when they speake truly, and others to bee well thought of when they deale falsely: which you haue verified in your husbande and mee, who doubte of my wordes which are true, and not of his deedes which are false. And this I thought at the first, which made mee doubte to discloase this matter vnto you: for I knowe it commonly to bee so, that trauaylors wordes are not much trusted, neither great matters soone beleeued. But when the time of your husbandes returne is expired, and hee not come, then will you say that Sir Sulahpec (for so turning his name hee termed him selfe) tolde you true. For my part not withstanding, the great good will I bare you, would not suffer mee to conceale this matter from you that you might prouide for your selfe, yet I am very well content you should giue no credite to my woordes, for I would not you should beléeue any thing which might gréeue you any way, and I would wish you to thinke wel, till you see otherwise: for euery euill bringeth greife inough with it when it commeth, though the feare before procure none. Therfore I craue no credite for my words, my desire is that you will beleeue that which you see, which is, that for your sake I haue trauayled with great perill and paine out of mine owne country hither, to your house, that vppon the reporte of your beauty I was so surprised therwith, that I thought euery houre a yeere till I had seene you, that hauing seene you, I haue resolued [Page] with my self to liue and die in your seruice and sight. Now if in consideratiō hereof it shal please you to graunt mee sutch grace, as my goodwil deserueth, you shall finde mée so thankfull and gratefull for the same, that no future fortune shall force mée to forget the present benefite which you shall bestow vpon mee, and if it chaunce that your husband returne, you shalbée sure alway to inioy mée as your faythful freind, and if hée neuer come again, you shall haue mee if you please for your louinge spouse for euer. Yea mary (sayth Procris) from hence came those teares, hereof procéeded your former fetche, this is it which hath seperated my husbande from mée, which hath sent him to the warres, which will cause him neuer to returne, a fine fetch forsooth, and cunningly contriued. Did that report which blazed my beuty (which god knoweth is none) blemish my name (which I would you knew is good) in sutch sorte, that you conceiued hope to win mée to your wicked will? Were you so vaine to assure your selfe so surely of my vanity, that only therevpon you would vndertake so great a iourney? No, you are conuersaunt with no Cressid, you haue no Helen in hande, wée women will now learne to béeware of sutch guyleful guestes. No, if you were as cunning as Ioue, y• you could conuert your self into y• likenesse of mine owne husband, (as Ioue came to Alcmena in the likenes of her husbande Amphitrion) I doubt how I should receiue you til, the pre fixed time of my husbandes comminge were come: mutch lesse shall your forged tales or importunities constrayne mée to receiue you into that credite, and admit you into that place which is and shalbe only proper to my husband. And this answere I pray you let suffice you, otherwise you may leaue my house when you list. Cephalus liked this geare reasonably wel, and perswaded him selfe, that though hee had a wanton wife, yet hée had no wicked wife. But knowing it the fashion of women at first to refuse, & that what angry face soeuer they set on the matter [Page] yet it doth them good to bee courted with offers of curtesy, hee ment to proue her once againe, and went more effectually to worke, to wit, from craft to coyne, from guyles to giftes, from prayers to presentes. For hauing receiued great store of golde and Iewels for certaine lande, which hee solde there whyther hee trauayled, (the only cause in deede of his trauayle) hee presented it all vnto her, sayinge, hee had sold al hée had in his own country, minding to make his continuall aboade with her, and if shee ment so rigorously to reiect his goodwill, hee willed her to take that in token therof, and for him self, hee would procure him self some desperat death or other, to auoid that death which her beuty and cruelty a thousand times a day draue him to.

The Gentlewoman héering those desperate words, and séeing that ritch sight, moued somewhat with pittie, but more with pencion, beegan to yeeld to his desyre, & with Danae to holde vp her lappe to receiue the golden showre. O god golde, what canst thou not do? but O diuel woman, that will doe more for golde then goodwill? O Gentlewomen, what shame is it to sell vily that which God hath geuen fréely, and to make a gaine of that whiche is more gratefull to women then men, as Tyresias gaue iudgement. Hereof came that odious name of whore, which in Latin is Meretrix, a merendo, of deseruing or getting: a thing so vnnatural, that very beasts abhorre it, so vnreasonable, as if one should be hyred to do ones selfe good, so vnhonest that the common stewes thereof tooke first their beginning. But to returne to our story, Cephalus séeing the lewdnesse of his wife, bewrayed himselfe vnto her who hee was, wherevppon shee was surprised with sutch shame, and hée with sutch sorow, that they could not long time speake ech to other: at length she fell downe vpon her knées, humbly crauinge his pardon. Cephalus knowing women to bée to weake to withstand the might of mony, and thinkinge that her very nature violently [Page] drew her to him, whom being her husband, though to her vnknowne, shee loued intirely, hee thought best for his owne quiet, and to auoid infamy, to put vp this presumption of this euill in his wife paciently, and to pardon her offence, and so they lyued quietly together a while. But within short time she, partly for want of gouernment, & partly thinking her husband would reuēge y• wrōg which she would haue done to him, fel into such a furious gelosy ouer him, y• it wroght her owne destructiō & his desolatiō. For this monstrous mischiefe was so merueilously crept into her harte, that shee beegan to haue a very carefull and curious eye to the conuersation of her husbande, and with her selfe sinesterly to examine all his wordes and works towardes her. For if he vsed her very familiarly, shee supposed that he flattered her, and did it but to coulour his falshod towardes her: if hee looked solemnely on her, she feared the alteration of his affections, and the alienation of his goodwill from her, and that hee rowed in some other streame: if hee vsed any company, and frequented any mans house, shee thought by and by that there dwelt the saint whom hee serued: if he liued solytaryly, & auoyded company, she iudged forthwith that hée was in loue some where: if hée bid any of his neighbours to his house, why they were his goddesses: if hee inuited none, shee thought hee durst not least she should spie some priuie tricks beetwéene them: if hee came home merely, hee had sped of his purpose: if sadly, hee had receiued some repulse: if hee talked pleasauntlye, his misteris had set him on his merry pinnes: if hee sayde nothinge, shee remembred it was one of the properties of loue to bee silent: if hee laughed, it was to thinke of his loue: if hee sighed, it was beecause hee was not with her: if hee kist her, it was to procure appetite against hee came to his misteris: if hee kist her not, hee cared not for her: if hee atchiued any valient enterprise at armes, it was done for his misteris sake: yf [Page] not, hee was beecome a carpet Knight: if hee fell out with any, it was some open enemie to his priuye friend: if hee were friendes with all men, hee durst displease none, least they should detect his doinges to her: if hee went curiously in his apparel, it was to please his misteries: if negligently, hee liued in absence: if hee ware his haire longe, hee mourned beecause hee coulde not bee admitted: if shorte, he was receiued into fauour: if he bought her any apparrell or any other prety trifling trickes, it was to please her, and a bable for the foole to play with: if hee bought her nothinge, hee had inough to do to maintaine other in brauery: if he entertained any seruant, hee was of his misteris preferment: if hee put away any, hee had some way offended her: if hee commended any man, hee was out of question his baude: if hee praysed any woman, shee was no doubte his whore: and so of all other his thoughtes, wordes, and déedes, she made this suspicious suppose, and ielous interpretation: and as the Spider out of most sweet flowers sucketh poyson, so shee out of his most louing and friendly déedes towards her, picked occasions of quarrell, and conceyued causes of hate. And so long shee continued in these carefull coniectures, that not onely her body was brought low, by reasō that her appetite to meate failed her, but also she was so disquieted in minde, that she was in a manner beesides her selfe, whereupon in great pensiuenesse of hart, shee fell to preaching to her selfe in this sorte.

Ah fonde foole, wilt thou thus wilfully woorke thine owne wrack and ruine? if thy husbande commit treason against thée, wilt thou commit murther vpon thy selfe? if he consume himselfe away with whores, wilt y• then consume thy selfe away with cares? wilt thou increase his mischief wt thine owne misery? if he be so wickedly bent, it is not my care can cure him, for that whiche is bred in the bone will not out of the flesh. If hee bee disposed to deale falsly with mée, it is not my wary watching which [Page] wyll ward him from it, for loue deceiued Argus with his two hundred eies. If hee should bee forbidden to leaue it, hee will vse it the more, for our nature is to runne vpon that which is forbidden vs, vices the more prohibited, the more prouoked, and a wilde coult the harder he is rained, the hotter he is. If I should take him tardy in it, it would but encrease his incontinent impudency, for beeing once knowne to haue transgressed the lawefull limits of loue and honesty, hee would euer after bee carelesse of his good name, which hee knew hee could neuer recouer againe. And why should I séeke to take him in it? should I séeke to know y• which I ought not to séeke, no not so mutch as to thinke on? was euer wight so bewitched to run headlong vpon her owne ruine? So long as I know it not, it hurteth mee not, but if I once certainly knew it, God knoweth how sodainly it would abridge my dayes. And yet why should I take it so gréeuously, am I the first that haue bene so serued? Hath not Iuno her selfe sustained the like iniury? But I reason with my self, as if my husband were manifestly conuicted of this crime, who perchaunce, good Gentleman, bée as innocent in thought, as I wrongfully thinke him to bée nocent in déede: for to consider aduisedly of the matter, there is not so mutch as any likelyhood to lead mee to any sutch leud opinion of him, hee vseth mee honestly, hee mantayneth mée honorably, hée loueth mee better then my leude dealinge toward him hath deserued. No it is mine owne vnworthynesse that maketh mee thinke I am not worthy the proper possession of so proper a Gentleman: it is myne owne lustful desire that maketh mee afrayde to loose any thing: it is myne owne weakenesse y• maketh mée so suspicious of wronge: it is mine owne incontinency which maketh mée iudge him by my selfe. Well, the price of my preiudiciall doings towardes him is almost paide, and if paine be a punishment, then haue I indured a most painfull punishment, but let this déere bought wit doe mee [Page] some good, let mee now at length learne to bee wise, and not to thinke of euils before they come, not to feare them béefore I haue cause, not to doubte of them in whom is no doublynge, nor to mistruste them in whom is no treason, and faithfully to loue him that vnfainedly loueth mée. After this shee indeuoured to do sutch fonde toyes foorth of her head, for a while shée liued louingly and quietly with her husband, but sodaynly by reason of one looke which hée cast vpon one of his neighbours, shée fell into her olde vayne of vanitie agayne. And as second fallynge into sicknesse is euer most daungerous, so now her folly was growen to sutch furie, and her disease so incurable, that shée could not conceale it any longer, but flatly tolde her husbande to his teeth, that she thought hee did misuse her. Cephalus knowyng his owne innocencie, and seeyng her imbecillitie, gently prayed her not to conceiue any sutch euill opinion of him, saying: If neither regarde of God, neither respect of men, neither reuerence of the reuerent state of marriage could feare mée from sutch filthinesse, yet assure your selfe the loyal loue I beare you, would let mee from sutch lasciuiousnesse. For béeleeue me, your person pleaseth mee so well, that I thinke my selfe sweetly satisfied therewith. Yea if Venus her selfe should chaunce vnto my choice, I am perswaded I should not prefer her béefore you. For as her beutie would intisingly draw me to her, so my dutie wold necessarily driue mee to you. Therfore (good wife) trouble not your selfe wt sutch toyes, which will but bréede your owne vnrest and my disquiet, your torment & my trouble, yea and in time perchance both our vntimely deathes. Let Deinyra bée a president for you, who suspecting her husband Hercules of spouse breache, sent him a shert died with the bloud of the Centaure Messus, who tolde her that shert had vertue to reuiue loue almost mortified, but Hercules had no sooner put it on, but it stocke fast to his flesh, & fried him to death, as if it had been a furie of hell. Which when shée knew, [Page] with her owne hands shée wrought her owne destruction. See y• vnworthy end which that monster ielousy brought this worthy couple too, & foresee (sweet wife) that it bring not vs to the like bane. These wordes could worke no effect with her, but rather increased her suspition, perswading her selfe, that as in faire painted pots poyson ofte is put, and in goodly sumptuous sepulchers rotten boanes are ryfe: so fairest wordes are euer fullest of falshood. Yea, the more curteous hée shewed him selfe, the more culpable shee thought him to bée. Which Cephalus seeing, bicause hee would take away all causes of suspition, abandoned all good company, and spent his time so lytarily, hunting in the wooddes, and séekinge the spoyle of spoylinge sauage beastes. But this helhounde Ielousy, did so haunt and hunt her that shee could in no place bée in rest, but made her plod from her Palaice to the wooddes, to watche whether hee there hunted a chaste chase or not. And one day as shee dogged him, where hée was layde downe to rest amongest the gréene leaues, shee hearde him vtter these woordes: Come gentle Ayre and refresh my weried spirites, with sutche like woordes of daliance, whiche hee beeing hot, spake to the gale of Wynde whiche pleasauntly blew vppon him: but shee thought hee had spoken to some woman with him, wherevpon she furiously fel to the ground, tearing her haire and scratchinge her face, and though her greife would not giue her leaue to speake, yet to her selfe shee thought this: And can the traytor thus trecherously deale with mee? Had the sorow which I sustayned only for his absence beefore I was married to him, or any way owed him any thing, almost cost mee my life, and now shall his presence procure my death? Did I poure out pensiue prayers for his safe returne from the Turkes, and doth his returne returne my good wil with sutch dispight? Oh would to god the Turkes had torne him in péeces, that hee had neuer come home to martir mee in this manner. But [Page] Wolues neuer pray vpon wolues, his fraud was nothing inferiour to their falshood, and therefore it had beene in vaine for them to haue haulted before a creeple: but me, beeing but a simple sheepe, see how sone this subtill▪ Foxe could deceiue. Is this the fruite of my feruente loue? is this the felicitie I expected in marriage? had I knowen this, I would neuer haue knowen what the subtill sexe of man had ment: I would rather, as they say, haue led apes in hell after my death, then haue felt all the torments of hell in my life. But had I wyst, is euer had at the worst, they that cast not of cares beefore they come, can not cast them of when they doe come. It is to late to cast Anchor when the ship is shaken to péeces against the rockes, it booteth not to send for a phisition when the sicke party is already departed. Well, I will yet goe see the cursed cause of my carefull calamity, that I may mitigate some part of my martirdome, by scratching her incontynent eyes out of her whoorish head: and thervpon roused her selfe out of the shrub wherin shée was shrouded. Cephalus hearing somwhat rush in the bush, thought it had bene som wilde beast, and toke his darte, and strooke the tame foole to the hart. But comming to the place, and seeing what hee had done, hée fell downe in a sowne vpon her, but with her striuing vnder him with the panges of death, hee was redused to life, and sayd, Alas my Procris by my selfe is slayne. Which she (not yet dead) hearinge, sayde, Alas your Aire hath brought mee to this ende. With that hee vnderstood how the matter went, and sayd, Alas (sweete wife) I vsed these wordes to the winde. Why then (sayth she) not you, but that winde gaue mee this wound. And so ioyninge her lippes to his, shee yéelded vp her breath into his mouth, and dyed. And he with care consumed, taried not long behinde her, to béewayle either his owne deed, or her death.

Now Gentlewomen, let the casuall end of this Gentlewomā bée a caueat to kepe you from sutch wary watching [Page] of your husbandes, it is but a meane to make them fall to folly the rather, as the thoughtful care of the ritch man causeth the theefe the sooner too séeke the spoyle of him. But if you will knowe the cheifest way to kéepe your husbandes contin̄ent, it is to kéepe your selues continent: for when they shall see you which are the weaker vessels strong in vertue and chastyty, they will bee ashamed to bee found faint in fayth and loyalty, when they shall see you constant in good will towardes them, they wil feare to bee found fickle in fayth towardes you, when they shal sée you loue them faythfully, you shall bée sure to haue them loue you feruently. But if you shall once shake of the shéet of shame, and giue your selues ouer to choyce of chaunge, then assuredly make accompt your husbandes will eschewe your companyes, loth [...]your lips, abandon your beds, and frequent the familiarity of they care not who, if not of you.

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Minos and Pasiphae.

MINOs King of Creete, regarding the beautie of Pasiphae, a waiting gentlewoman in his Courte, falleth in loue with her, and maketh her his Queene. Whom VERECVNDVS, a younge Gentleman also of the same Courte, hauing sollicited to lewdnesse, for feare of the Kings displesure, escapeth away by flight▪ MINOS entreth into sutch rage of gelousy ouer his wife, that in his absence hee setteth spies ouer her, to bewray her doynges. Pasiphae beecumminge vnnaturally amorous of a Bull, by meanes of the Carpenter Dedalus, bringeth foorth a monstrous Childe, in parte resemblynge the Sire, and in parte the Mother.

OF all the ordinary accidentes incident to the lyfe of mā, there is none of more momēt to our prosperytie, or misery, then marriage: which estate if wee aduisedly enter into, it maketh vs in happinesse equall to Angels: but if wee rashly run into it, it prolongeth vs in the paines of the furies of hel. And amongst all y• inconueniences, which are to bee foreséene in this bargaine, there is none more daungerous, then inequalitie of estates béetwéene the parties: for, what agréement of affections can there bee, when the one shall bee of a meane minde, the other hautie, the one lowly, the other loftie? how can there be one harte in two bodies, when the one wisheth one thinge, the other willeth another? When the one is disposed one way, the other inclined another way, accordinge to the secret instinct of their proper and peculier natures? For the nature of nothinge may bee altered: that whiche nature hath geuen, connot bee taken away: and that whiche is bred in the boane, will not out of the flesh. So that for one of meane parentage, to bee marryed with one of princely race, I think as good a match, as béetweene [Page] Lions and Lambes. And as well they will agrée together, as Dogs and Cats, and as the saying is, the Mastiue neuer loueth the Greihounde. Besides, vnequal Oxen draw not wel together in one yoke, Coks vnequally matcht, make no good battaile in the pit, meats of contrary qualities, digest not well in the stomacke: and parties of contrary callinges, agrée not well together in the bond of blessed matrimony: as the history I will tel you, shall shew you.

In the Country of Creete, raigned one Minos, a Kinge and Monarch of great might, to whom the blinde goddes Fortune assigned a wife of far more meanesse, then was meete for the maiestie of his mightinesse. For there chanced to bee in his Court attendaunt vpon a noble woman, a proper péece, named Pasiphae. Who by birth was but the daughter of a Knight, but by beauty séemed to bee a heauenly wight. On her chéekes, the Lilly and the Rose did striue for interchange of hew, her haire cumly curld, glistered lyke golde: her pierceinge eies, twinckled like starres: her alabaster teeth stoode as a ranke of precious pearles: her ruddy lippes, were soft and sweete: her handes fine and white, yea all her partes so perfectly proportioned, that nature sought to winne great commendation in caruing so cunningly so curious a carkas. But as a rusty Rapier is no trusty Rampier to defende a man, though the Scabbord bee of fine veluet: so a woman with foule conditions is coursly to bee accounted of, though her face bee faire, and body bewtifull. But destinies so draue, that this King by chaunce cast a glaunce vpon this gorgious goddes, and at the first view was so vanquished by vanitie, that hee thought his life no longer pleasaunt vnto hym, then hee was in her sight: And fayled not dayly familierly to frequent the misteris company, for the maides cause. And hauing attempted her chastitie by shewing her his great goodwyll, by beestowinge on her great giftes, by large promises of preferment, and many [Page] other meanes, and neuerthelesse fayling of his purpose, in pensiue perplexitie fell to parley with himselfe, to this purpose.

I euer heretofore thought a Princes life to bee voyde of strife, and that they had alwaies passed their time in pleasure without paine: but now I sée wee are subiect to sorow, so soone as the meanest subiect we haue. Lykewise beefore this I was of opinion, that number of frindes, aboundinge in wealth, abidinge in health, and sutch lyke things which pertaine to the body, were sufficient to attaine to a happy life in this lyfe: but now I see, it is the minde whiche maketh mirth, and stirreth strife, yea the contented minde is the onely ritches, the onely quietnes, the onely happinesse. Good God, how vnsauery seeme those sweete meats vnto mee, wherein I was woont to delight? how vnpleasāt are y• sports, wherin I was woont to take pleasure? how cūbersome is y• cōpany, which was woont to content mee? no game glads mee, no daunsing delights mee, no iusting ioyes mée, no playes please me, no triumphes, no shewes, no hauking, no hunting, no nothing vnder the Sunne doth solace mee. And would I know the cause? why, I haue not a contented minde: the perfect parts of Pasiphae do so diuersly distract my minde that only her sight is swéete, onely her company is comfortable, onely her presence is pleasaunt vnto mee. And would I know the cause? why, in her y• fates haue fixed my felicitie, in her the heauens haue heaped my happinesse, with her must I liue, and without her must I die. Why, I haue pursued her goodwil with praiers and with presentes, with loue and with liberalitie, with gifts and with goodwill, and yet am neuer the néere. And would I know the cause why? I sought not her goodwill in the way of marriage. Only marriage is the meane, only wedlock must locke, and lincke vs together. And shal I so much debase the height of my estate, as to match in mariage wt so meane a mate? as though many princes [Page] haue not as meanely matcht themselues: as though the Gods thēselues haue not maried with earthly creatures. And for my Pasiphae, though shee bee inferriour to me in parentage, yet in personage, shee is good inough for God himselfe. And for her dowry or wealth, what neede I way it, who haue the most part of the world vnder my dominion? no, there shall no regard of honour, or respecte of ritches, detaine mee from that which doth only containe the contentment of my minde. And in this minde ment to attempt her in the way of marriage: but runninge frō Charibdis, hee rusht vppon Scilla: flying from one rocke, hee fell vppon another: thinkinge to quench the coales of his desyre, hee fell into hot flames of burninge fier: as hereafter you shall heare.

Now so soone as hee had oportunitie offered him, hee made Pasiphae partaker of his purpose in these termes.

Séeing the onely touchstone to trie true and loyall loue from lothsome lust, is marriage, I meane, if you bee content, to consent therto, to seale the sincere affectiō I beare you, with the sacred ceremonyes and holly rites of matrimony: and as I haue preferred your loue beefore all worldli respects, so I trust you wil return my loue wt such loyalty, that I shall haue cause to count my selfe as well matcht, as if I had married with the greatest princesse in the world. Pasiphae hearing these wordes, was so rauished with ioy, that shée could not on the sodaine make the kinge an answere, but hauing chaunged colour twice or thrise, from red to white, and from white to red, in token of a minde mooued with hope, assayled with feare, and passioned with pleasure, at length shée sayd vnto him. As (most worthy prince) I euer thought my selfe far vnworthy of any sutch honour, so if it please your highnes plainly to heare the truth, I euer thought my selfe far to worthy, to yéeld to your desire in the way of wickednesse: which was the cause I made so course account of your curtesy heretofore. But seeinge it hath pleased you to [Page] lodge your loue thu [...] low, and to thinke mée worthy the honour of wedlocke with so worthy a wight: assure your selfe your maiesty shall finde mée in loue so loyall, and in obedience so dutifull towardes you: that in the one, I wil supply the part of a louing wife: and in the other, satisfie the duty of a diligent handmayd. Neither would I you should thinke, that it is the name of a queene, or estate of a prince, y• winneth mee thus willingly to your will, for I know that name to bee vaine, and that estate full of paine: but it is your exceedinge loue towardes mee (O noble prince) that linketh my lykinge with yours, it is your incomparable curtesy which forceth mee to yeelde the forte of my fayth and virginity into your handes.

For as the sunne the higher it doth ascende in the firmament, the more heate it doth extend to the earth, so vertue and curtesy, in the more high and princely person it is placed, the more force it hath to win the wils, & binde the heartes of people to imbrace it. And as my loue is grounded vpon your vertue, so I trust so to behaue my selfe, that hereafter you shall haue as great lyking to my conditions and vertue, as now you haue loue to my colour and beuty: that when yéeres shal take away the pleasure of y• one, you may take delight & solace in the other. The king was so déepely delighted with this dutifull discourse, that hee had not a woorde to reply, but satisfiyng him selfe for the time with a few swéete kisses, presently gaue commaundement to his officers, to make preparation for the sumptuous celebrating of his mariage, which shortly after was consummated with sutch royalty, as is requisite in a matter of sutch maiesty. So this married couple, consumed two or three yeres in the highest degrée of happinesse. But the sunne béeing at the highest, declineth: and the Sea beeinge at full tide, ebbeth: caulme continueth not longe without a storme, neither is happinesse had longe without heauinesse, as by this couple may bée séene. For when the kinges fancy had bene once [Page] fully fed, the vehemency of his desire beegan to vanish away, and hee began to loue his new married wife rather with reason then with rage: by reason whereof with indifferency of iudgement, hee could now note her naughty nature, which at first partialyty of loue, would not permit him to perceiue. For what Gentleman soeuer shee saw in the court, indued with a vertuous disposition and noble minde, shee would with the kinge hinder his preferment by all meanes possible, still aduaunsing the vylest, to tipe of dignity. If any Gentlewoman were famous for her honesty and chastity, by some sluttish slights or other, shée sought to slaunder them. So that those in whom the kinge did only delight, shée indeuoured with all dilygence to molest and spight. Which the king perceiuinge, and consideringe how from low estate, hee had brought her to heighth of honour, thought hée might more boldly refourme her faultes, and began (with seuerity sufficient, and in déede, more then was méete béetwéene man and wife,) to admonish her of her malitious disposition, towardes those which were of vertuous inclination: and made no curiosity though without curtesy, to tell her, that shee béeinge ignoble her selfe, could not like of those which were noble. But to mutch familiarity had bred so mutch contempt in her, that shee beegan impaciently to pout, to loure, to snuffe, to chase, to thinke her self mutch iniuried by those wordes, and sayd plainly shee would like of whom shee lyst, shewinge her rude bringing vp, her want of wit and gouernment, her currishe nature, her curst conditions, and howe vnfitte shée was for the place shée was in. Well, the kinge was fayn to make a vertue of necessity, and to take paciently, that which hée could not take away easily. For shée still perseuered in her peruersenesse, and hated those chiefely, whom her husband loued especially. And amongest all other, there was one proper yong gentlemā named Verecundus, attendant vpon the kinge, and in great fauour [Page] and credit with him, whom when shée could by no means bring into displeasure or dislikinge, shee went about to intrap by this traine of treason: shee began to cast glaunces of good will towardes him, and by alluringe lookes to thrall him in the thread of her beuty. The young gentleman beeing made of fine mettall, and therfore very apt to receiue the impression of loue, in short time was so framed to her fancy, that hee yeelded fayth to her fraud, and requited her fayned lookes with vnfayned loue. And as a pleasaunte praye soone intiseth a simple theife: so hee thought her beuty sutch a booty, that in his opinion, no younge man in the world but would hazarde hanginge to haue it. And herevpon fell to debatinge the matter with him selfe in this sorte.

It is a common opinion amongest men, that hée which is once chayned in the linkes of loue, is foorthwith restrayned of his liberty and freedome, but if true lyberty bee to liue as one list, I cannot but thinke my self to liue in most large and licentious liberty, for that I lust not, or desire to lead any other life then that which I doe: which is, in the secret seruice and continuall contemplation of my princely Pasiphae. Yea I thinke euery sorrow sweet, and euery paine pleasure, which any passion proceeding of her beuty procureth mee: and I thinke my selfe more then happy, that the heauens thinke mee meete to suffer any martirdome for her sweet sake. And if I might ende my dayes in dooing her seruice, I should thinke it the only beginning of ioy, the way to life, and the readie and perfect path wherby to passe to the pleasures of Paradise. Oh that fortune would minister some occasion wherby I might manifeste vnto her the manifolde goodwill I beare her: and if without preiudice to her person it might bee done, would to god she were drowned in some sutch depth of daunger, that nothinge but the hazardinge of my life could preserue her from perill: then should shee see the seruice which I haue sworne to doe her, then should shee [Page] see the duty which I haue vowed to owe her, then should shee plainly perceiue, that neither the pleasures of the world, neither the solace of freindes, neither the sweetnesse of life, neither the sowernesse of death should withdraw mee from sheadynge the déerest drop of bloud in mee to doe her good. And then woulde shee say (if any curtesy bee contained in her) that my loue is most loyal, and my friendship most faythfull, then would shee paye (if any gratefulnesse bee grafted in her) my daunger and perill with the price of her person. But alas, how can she pay me with that which is not in her own power? There is another only who hath interest therin, she hath already payd her person as a price of a prince & his whole kingdome: so that I plough the barrein rockes, and set my share into the shoare of the Sea: I till with toyle sutch a kinde of soyle, whereof another by right must crop the corne. But admit she were disposed to incroche somwhat vpon her husbandes right, yet is it likely shee will looke so low, as let so meane a man as my selfe growe into so great acquaintaunce with her? No, fortune denieth mée any sutch fauour, my good will as yet hath deserued no sutch gwerdon, my desire is far aboue my desertes, my ambition aboue my condition. Why, my birth is better then hers, why should shee then neglecte mee? But her calling is better then mine, why should shee then respect mee? My desire procéedes of loue, why should shee not then accept it? But alas, it is contrary to law, why should shée not then reiecte it? I am of noble bloud, why should shee refuse mee? But shee hath a noble prince to her husband, why should shee misuse him? Yea if I my self were not a villaine, altogether deuoyd of vertue, I would not suffer it so mutch as enter into my thought to abuse him, who hath alwayes vsed mee honourably, who hath sought my prefermente by all meanes possyble, who from my childhood hath brought mée vp like a louing lord & Maister. Shall I requite his liberalytie towards mee with sutch [Page] disloyaltie? shall I deceiue the opinion whiche hee doeth conceiue of mee, with sutche destable villany? shall I returne the trust which he reposeth in me, with sutch treson? shal I defile my faith towards him, by séeking to defile his bridly bed? But (alas) loue is aboue lord or laws, aboue Prince or priuiledge, aboue friend or faith. Where loue leadeth no maister is made account of, no Kinge cared for, no friend forced of, no duty respected, no honestie regarded, but all thinges done accordinge to the passion which preuaileth ouer vs. And séeinge it is not in our power to preuent that passion, for it is either deriued of our owne nature, or discended from the heauens, there is no reason I shoulde requier any proper or peculiar fortune to my selfe, and séeke to be dispensed withal from that which is common to all: and so mutche the rather I am induced to yeelde to the instinct of loue, and to pursue my purpose, for that I perceiue by the wanton lookes of the Quéene, that she is determined to entertaine some secret friend, béesides the King her husband, and if I flatter not my selfe, her very countinance towardes me imports some lykelyhood of loue shee beares mée: therefore I think it wisdome to strike while the iron is hot, and if it bée posible to ease my hart of the greif, which her beuty hath bred mee. And if shee be disposed to arme her husband with horned harnesse, as good I be the instrument therof, as some other of meaner calling and countenance. After this, hee sought all meanes possible to insinuate himselfe into her familiaritie, & courted her continually with dutiful seruice and secret signes of sincere affection: hee so bribed her maides with benefits, & corrupted them with coyne, that they made him a God vnto their misteris: she could not looke out at her chamber window, but that she saw him walke solitarily vnderneath, casting vp countenances which séemed to containe humble praiers for pitie and compassion, and throwing vp sutch sighes as might plainly signifie the sorrow of his thoughtes. If she [Page] chaunced to walk abroade, hee woulde méete her lyke a ghost in such ghastly maner, wt such a pale countenance, and pined carkas, that it woulde haue moued the stoany rocks to ruth. But the Quéene séeing him so fast fettered in folly, had that she desired, and now she left her louinge lookes towardes him, and the more painfully shee perceited him tormented, the more disdainfully shee lokt vpon hym, and would not by any signes which hee did shew of his affection, séeme to know it, to the intent hee should by writing make manifest his meaninge vnto her. The yong Gentlemā, séeing the hope which at the first he conceiued of her goodwill, altogether without hap, and in a manner dispairing of his purpose, hee coulde take no longer dayes with his desire, but that hee must know a final resolution one way or other: And beeing driuen to carelesse desperatnesse, hee feared not to commit his life to a tell tale péece of paper, and beewrayed his miserie to his misteris in this manner.

Beecause (most soueraigne Lady) my duty and seruice heretofore hath béene nothinge acceptable to you, I haue deuised a new way to woorke your contentation, which is by writing to doe you to wit, that since it liketh you not to geue mee lyfe, I meane to beestowe vppon my selfe a desperate death, the only thing I thinke which may procure you pleasure: and so long as it may delight you, I way not how mutch it spight mee. Yea loue hath dealt so extreemly with mee, that though I woulde my selfe, I cannot keep my corps from confusion. For as the frettinge Fistula past all cure, runneth in the fleshe from place to place, and maketh the sound flesh as rotten as the rest, so y• deadly poyson of loue first entred in at my eies, and after spred into euery part of mee, hath now dangerously infected my whole body vnto death. But yet my death will bee nothing so gréeuous vnto me, as to thinke what a blemish it wil bee to the brightnes of your beuty, when your tiranny shal bee taken to bee the cause therof, [Page] yea and when you shall haue no cloude at all to colour your crueltie. For if you alleage for your selfe, that you durst not make so deepe a wounde in your honour, as to commit your body to any, but to him who by marriage hath merited it: why a louely looke onely would haue satisfied mee, yea one glaunce of goodwill goyng from your eyes, wil more content mee then all the actuall pleasure in the world, receaued of any other woman in the worlde. But séeing fortune doth wil, and you do wish my destruction, I am content to obey the decrée of the one, and satisfie the desyre of the other: beeseechinge you to take these witlesse wordes for a final fainting farewell, wishing you continuance of beautie, with increase of bountie.

Nether yours, neither his owne: VER [...]CVNDVS.

This Letter besprinckled with teares, he gaue to one of her maides of honour to geue her. But true the prouerbe is, that fish bred vp in durtie pooles wil tast of mud, one discended of meane race, cannot bée endued with vertue fit for princely place: set a begger on horsback and hée will neuer alight, extoll one of base stock to degrée of dignitie, and who is so haughtie? who is so proude? for this crafty coy Quéene hauing red his letter, though she were right glad thereof, for that thereby shee ment to purchase his vtter discredit with the Kinge, yet shee seemed to bee in a great chafe, calling him traytor, that durst iniury her eyes with sutch leude letters, with diuers other imputations of reproche, and went presently to the Kinge and shewed him this letter: who in a great rage sēt his guard to apprehende him, but hee hauing intelligence thereof, was faine to flye the country. See the force of fraude and the ende of lawles loue, but marke moreouer the reward of her trechery and tiranny. Her husbande euer after this, was so ielous ouer her, that hee woulde neuer suffer her to bee out of his sight, and doatinge somewhat of her beauty, but doubting more of her honesty, he neuer rode forth any iourny, but that hee set wary watche and [Page] warde ouer her at home, yea this furious féende of hel did so torment him, that hee could take no rest day nor night, but his fancy still ran either vppon thē Gentleman that would haue done him that iniurie, either vppon some other that shoulde be lyke to serue him in like sorte: so that the pleasure which her proper person procured him, was drowned with y• doubt, lest she would not remaine proper vnto him, and that she would bee as common in possession, as she was proper in personage. Alas, (saith hee) now my ioy is at an end, y• clouds of care haue quight couered my sun and light, of solace & delight: yea the greater pleasure I take in practising wt my Pasiphae, y• greater feare I haue yt others déepely desyre to participate with y• pleasure. And the more free she is in sutch fréendship towards me, y• more franck I doubt she will be towards other. Ah, would to God I had neuer bene married, rather then to bee thus martired, or els would I had matcht with some sutch, whose princely nature woulde haue participated only with Princes, and whose royall bloude and birthe might haue feared the baser sorte to presume to practise her to their purposes: but my chaunce was to chuse one, who if (as the sayinge is) like, like best of their likes, is like to like better of any other then of my selfe, for that in nature and conditions there is sutche difference beetwéene vs. But repentaunce now commeth to late, this only resteth to bee foreséene, that vnto the greate greife which mine owne conceite procureth me, her abuse adde not infamy and dishonour. And if the heauens haue assigned mee sutch heauy fate, as due to my doatinge desyre, yet this at least let mée take heede, that with the losse of her owne honour, shee procure not the losse of my lyfe. And herevpon appointed certaine of his assured friends, to haue the custody and kéeping of the queene: who seeinge her selfe thus disloyally without cause abridged of her liberty, béegan to curse the time that euer shée came to bee quéene, wishing shee had continued in meaner callinge [Page] with fruition of liberty, rather then to sit in chayre of dignity, with suspicion of dishonesty. What pleasure, sayth shee, doth my princely estate procure mee, whiche must liue as a prisoner? Who wil honour mee for queen, which am suspected for a queane and harlot? How shall I dare to shew my face in the Courte, when the kinge doubteth of my dealinge towardes him? My lookes haue not bene so light, my curtesie hath not bene so common, my glaunces haue not bene so garish, wherby hee shoulde enter into this sinister suspicion of mee. But loue (they say) is light of beeleefe, and ielousy is grounded vpon loue. Auant fond foolish loue, God send my husbande rather to hate me, then to beare mée any such loue, which bereueth him of rest, and mee of renowme, which breaketh the bond of faythfull freindship and intire amity betwéen vs, which causeth him to doubt mee, and mee to dread him, which maketh both our liues so lothsome, that I wishe death to dispatch ether the one of vs or the other. But this froward fate, I must ascribe only to mine owne fault, and fraud towardes Verecundus, who hath now iust cause to triumph that I my selfe am fallen into the pit I digged for him. Wel, I must retire to patience perforce, and hange in hope of some good hap to redresse my woe and misery.

But you shall vnderstand (Gentlewomen) this was not all her punnishment, nay this was but a trifle in respecte of that which after followed, a matter in haynousnesse so horrible, in desire so detestable, and in lust so lothsome, that it is no lesse strange to bée tolde, then hard to bée beléeued: so that I thinke my wordes will rather carry wonder then credite with you. For, whether it were gods plague for y• husbands ielousy, or for her iolity, pride, and subtelty, I know not, but thus it pleased him to suffer the diuell to deale with her. Beeing by her husbandes commaundement in his absence kept from company, her cheife solace was to walke in a pleasaunt groue [Page] ioyned to her palaice, where vsed to feed a heard of beasts, amongest which was a goodly white bull. I dare not say shee fell in loue with the bull, least I should driue you rather to laughinge at my story then listninge to it, but surely so it was. Yea shee was not only in loue with the beast, and went euery morninge and with her owne hands brake downe boughes for him to brouse vpon, but, which was more, shee was ielous ouer him: for what cow in all the herd shee saw hee liked best, shee caused to bée had from the heard and killed, as she pretended for sacrifice, but in deed for fatisfiyng her ielous minde. And as the beast was opening, shee would take the inwardes in her hand, saying, now goe thy way and please my loue if thou canst. And taking delight a while in this daliance, at length her lust grew to sutch outrage, that shee felt in her selfe an impossibility to continue her cursed life, without the carnall company of the bull. And notwithstandinge shee assayed the assistaunce of reason, the pollicy of perswations, the helpe of herbes, and the meane of medicines, to mortyfy her beastly desire to the beast, yet nothinge would preuayle, yea beeinge often in minde to make her selfe away, her hart would not suffer her hands to doe it: not that death feared her, but that desyre forced her first to fulfil her filthy lust. But Gentlewomē, because you shal not enter into colorick conceites against me, for publishing in this presence, a hystorie whiche seemeth so mutch to sounde to the shame of your sexe, I meane not to iustifie the truth of it, but rather will proue it false by the opiniō of one Seruius, who writeth, that Pasiphae indéede played false with one Taurus (which signifieth a Bul) secretary to her husband in the house of Dedalus, and after being delyuered, had two sonnes, the one lyke Minos, the other lyke Taurus, and therevpon the Poets faigned the fable aforesaide: but whether béeing a woman shee vsed the carnall company of a beast, or whether lyke a lewde wife shee gaue her husbande the badge of a beast, her offence [Page] was sutch, that I cannot (though gladly I woulde) excuse it. Yet must I néedes say that in my fancy her husbande deserued some blame: for no doubt his suspicion without cause, caused her in sutche sorte to transgresse marriage lawes. For seeing her honestie doubted of, and her good name as good as los [...]e, shee thought as good to bee naught for somewhat as to bee thought naught for nothing. And surely the experience is to common, y• suspicion and slaunder maketh many to bee that which they neuer ment to bee. But some are of this foolish opinion, that it is simple and sottishe folly, for a woman to deale truly with him, whiche dealeth ielously and cruelly with her: some againe lewdly thinke, y• if a woman cannot cō ceiue by her husband y• she may lawfully enter into cōuer sation with some other: some wickedly wéene, that if the husbande bee not able to satisfie the insatiable desyre of his wife, that to auoyde concupiscence, shee may communicate with some other: but surely (Gentlewomen) I am setled in this opinion, that no suspicion or ielousie ought to cause a woman to transgresse the boundes of honesty: that rhastitie is the only Iewell which women ought to bee chary of, that women hauinge lost their chastitie, are like broken glasses which are good for nothing, that they make shipwrack of all, if the cabels of constancie be once crakt, & the anchors of honestie slipt: y• it is better for thē to be fooles then false, to be simple then subtil, to be doues then diuels, to be abused then abuse: y• it is better for thē to be barren then beastly, to bée without fruite then faith, children then chastitie: that concupisence is only to desire other besides their husbandes, that they which burne in sutch desire, shall burne in hell fire, y• no adultresse shall inherite the kingdome of heauen: that all women ought to bee like y• matronesse of Rome, which knew y• sauour of no mans breath but of her husbandes, like the wife of Fuluius Torquatus, who died with longinge, rather then shée would goe forth of her chaumber in her husbandes [Page] absence, to sée a wilde Aegiption with one eye in his forehead, whom shee longed to see: that women ought to spin with Penelope, to spill with Camma, to kill with Lucrece, to bee slaundred with Susanna, with Sauoy, and with others, to indure any torment, rather then to lose one iote of their chastity and honesty.

Pigmalions friende, and his Image.

PIGMALION, a Gentleman of Piemount, continuing the space of certaine yeares, in honest affection, and vertuous loue with PENTHEA, wife to Luciano a noble gentleman of the same country, is at length by her reiected, in respect of a base stranger. Pigmalion, abandoning the company of all women, and giuinge himselfe to the arte of Caruing, burneth in loue with an Image, whiche himselfe had fashioned: whom, at his earnest sute Venus transformeth into a faire Mayde, and hee taketh her to Wife.

TO make the reckoning without the host, is the way soone to bee▪ ouershot in the shot: to resolue certenly vpon incertenty, is the way neuer to be in any certenty: to looke for constancy, of those y• lyke of inconstancy, or to determine of those things which are not in our powers to perfourme, is nothing els but to bee deceiued of our expectation, and to be driuen to alter our determination: as the History whiche you shall heare, shal yéelde example of both the one and the other.

In the country of Piemount had his beeinge one Pigmalion, a gentleman discended of noble birth, indued with perfection of person, & perfectly pourtraied forth with y• lineamēts of learning, so that it was dooubtful whether he [Page] were more indebted to fortune for his birth, to nature for his beauty, or to his parentes for his learninge. But as beautie, birth, ritches, and the rest must néedes geue place to learninge, so no doubt but his parentes deserued the preheminence of prayse. For the other are but dim starres, where learninge giueth light. And as when the sunne shineth, the light of the stars is not séene: so where learning appeareth, all other giftes are nothing to be accounted of. Besides that, beeside his learning, he was indued with a great dexteritie in all thinges, in so mutch as nothing came amisse vnto him, whiche was méete for a Gentleman: in feates of armes no man more couragious, in exercises of the body none more actiue, in game or play none more politike, amongst the auncient who more graue? amongst the youthfull, who more merrie? so that there was no time, no person, no place, wherto hee aptly applyed not him self. By reson wherof, he was acceptable to all good companies, & wel was he that might entertaine him in his hous. But most of al he frequēted y•hous of one Luciano a noble Gentleman of the same countri, & in continuaunce of time grew so farre in familiaritie with his wife, that he reposed his onely pleasure in her presence. Yea shee had made sutch a stealth of his harts, that neither Father nor Mother, Sister nor Brother, nor all the friends he had in the country beside, could keepe him one wéeke together out of her compani. Yea this faithful loue hée bare her, séemed in a manner to extinguish all naturall loue towards his allies, and kinsfolke: Who beeinge (as they were wont) desirous of his company at hauking, hunting, and sutche like pastimes, coulde not by any erauing or importunity obtayne it: but being ignorant of the cause, they thought it had proceded of this, that his minde vpon some occasion had been alienated from them, which caused them on the contrarie, somewhat to withdrawe their goodwils from him. But hee forced litle thereof, he cared not whom hee displeased, so he might worke her [Page] contentation: shee was the starre by whose aspect he did direct his doynges, she was the hauen wherein he sought to harborough, shée was the heauen whyther he coueted to come, shee was the saint to whom hée did lend sutch deuotion, that hee could finde in his heart to bend no liking to any other whatsoeuer. In so mutch, y• hauing the profer of many ritch maryages, hee alway refused them, as hauing his hart so replenished wt the loue of her, y• there was no roomth for the loue of any other to remayn within him. Now shee, on the other side, whose name was Penthea, béeinge a curteous courtly wenche, gaue him sutch freindly entertaynment, and vsed him so well in all respectes, that, her husband excepted, shee séemed to holde him most dere vnto her of any wight in the whole world. Shée neuer made feast, but hée must bee her guest: shee neuer rode iourney, but he must be her companion: shee neuer daunced, but hee must direct her: shee neuer dised, but hee must bee her partner: shee, in a manner, dyd nothing, wherin hee did not something. Her Husbande all this while beeinge fully assured of her vertue, and very well perswaded of the honesty of the Gentleman, susspected no euill beetweene them, but lyked very well of their loue and familiarity together, neither in deede had hee any cause to the contrary. For Pigmalion knew her to bee indued with sutch constant vertue, that he thought it impossible to allure her to any folly: and besides that, his loue was so exceedinge great towardes her, that hee would not by any meanes bee the cause to make her commit any thinge, which might make her lesse worthy of loue then shee was. And if at any time (as the fleshe is frayle) the vehemency of his affection forced him to perswade her to folly, he did it so faintly, that it might plainly bee perceiued hee was not willing to ouercome. For hee deepely doubted, that if by the force of her loue towardes him, or of his perswasions towardes her, shee should haue yeelded the forte of her fayth and chastity in [Page] to his handes, his loue towards her (with the sun beinge at the highest) would haue declined and decreased, which would haue bene the greatest greife to him in the world. No, hee liued with sutch delight in the contemplation of her chastity and vertue, that hee was voyde not only of Libidinous lust towardes her, but also towardes all other women whatsoeuer. Yea, hee receiued more pleasure of her by imagination, then of any other woman by y• acte of generation. So that betweene these friends was no cause of suspicion, no cause of iarre, no cause of ielousie: but they liued together the space of three or foure yeares in most heauenly hauen of most happie lyfe. The floud of their felicity flowed from the fountaine of most faithful friendship, the building of their bidinge together was raised on the rock of vertu, so y• it was to be thought, no seas of subtiltie, or floudes of fickelnesse coulde haue vndermined it. But what perpetuitie is to bee looked for in mortall pretences? What constancy is to bée hoped for in kytes of Cressids kinde? may one gather Grapes of thornes, Suger of Thistels, or constancy of women? Nay if a man sift the whole sexe thorowly, hée shall finde their wordes to bee but winde, their fayth forgery, and their déedes dissemblinge. You must not (Gentlewomen) take these words to come from mée, who dare not so mutch as thinke so mutch, mutch lesse say so mutch, for that truth getteth hatred, I meane sutch as tell not the truth, as hée in no wise should not doe, which should blowe foorth any sutch blast of the most faythfull and constant feminine kinde. But you must take these spéeches to procéede from Pigmalion, who, to speake vprightly, had some cause to discommend some in particuler, though not to condemne all in generall, as you shall foorthwith heare. For it fell so out that an Ambassadour came out of a straunge country into Piemount, and was appointed to lye at the house of Luciano the time of his aboade in the country. Now amongest the company which came with him, there was [Page] vne young Gentleman, in whom though there were nothing worthy of commendation any way, yet whether it procéeded of the daintinesse of women, who (as Pigmalion thought) wilbée soone wery of one diet, or of their wauering (who are constant in nothing) or of their imperfect nature (which tendeth alway to the worst) I knowe not, but this lady began to conceaue a very good opinion of him, and in short tyme in affection far to prefer hym beefore her old faithful freind. Which Pigmalion perceiuing, being in their presence, drunke vp his sorowe in scilence, but hauing withdrawen hym self out of theyr companye, into his solitarie chamber, he entred with hym self into this raging rayling.

O faigned fawning, O counterfayt curtesy, O déepe dissembling, O hony mixt with gall, O heauen turned to hell. Now doe I perceiue thy frendshyp heretofore was nothing but flattery, thy loue, leude thy curtesy of course, nowe am I assured thou madest of me a vertue of necessytye, to serue thy turne for lacke of other company. Dyd I prefer thee before father and freend, and canst thou preferre before me a straunger, whom thou neuer sawest before, of no countenance, credite, or constansy, but wauereth with the wynd? Dyd I beare thee faythfull and intire affection, and canst thou beare greater goodwill to hym, who careth not for thee? who beareth stedfast affection to none, in whom is nothing but flitting fantasy, and meere vanity? & canst thou thus prefer leudnesse before learning, tryfling before truth, clownishnes before courtlynesse, vanitie before vertue? then farewel reason, thou restest not in womans head: then farewel wyt, thou wieldest not womens doinges: then farewel fayth, thou art no womans pheare: then farewel women, you are no mates for me. And hereuppon verily determined with hym self vtterly to abandon her company for euer: but reprehending his owne rashnesse, he ment to haue a further troyall of her triflinge towardes him, and also to looke [Page] more narrowly into the dooinges and behauiour of that other Gentleman, that if hée could see any thinge in him wherby hée worthily deserued to bée preferred before him selfe, hee might more patiently indure it. Whervpon dissembling his greife so well as hée could, hee made repaire againe vnto her house, and there noting her loue by her lookes, her fancy by her face, and her conceites by her countenance, hee easily perceiued to whom shée bent her best deuotion, and who was her holiest Idol. Likewise, diligently considering the conuersation of the gentleman, hee perswaded himselfe that in indifferent iudgment, where affection did not make blinde, the best guiftes eyther of body or minde which were in him, were not to be compared to the worst which were in him self: the one being not perfect any way, the other imperfect noway. So that seeing neither his owne worthynes, neither the others vnworthynes, could settle her affection as it should be, he vtterly apealed from her vnworthy & vnequal iudgmēt, and geuing her the bezolas manos, hee altogether estraunged hymself from her societie. See the meruaylous power of his loue, who notwithstāding he neuer inioyed y• vse of her body, and certaynly knewe that the other had not won that poynt of her neither, yet he tooke it so greeuously, that she should seeme to beare greater goodwyll towardes the other then hym, that he fully resolued with him selfe, to esche we the company of all other women for her sake, and neuer to suffer the loue of any to sinke again so déepely into his harte. And surely (Gentlewomen) this Pigmalion may bee a presedent and proofe to confute the errour of those, who thinke there can bee no hot and feruent loue betwéene a man & a woman, vnlesse it▪ procéede of some pleasant practise betwéen them. And if they sée any freindly familiarity betweene a younge Gentleman and Gentlewoman, they forthwith conceiue an euil opinion of their honest affection. Which errour, as it is most grose, so may it bée defaced by sundry reasons. For [Page] how it is possible that of an il cause, can come a good effect? That firme freindship can flow from fading fancy? That the heauenly consent of mindes, should proceed of the brutall coniunction of bodies? Which, if it were so, those men (if I may call them men) which dayly deale with common women, should bee very faythfully and freindly affectioned towardes them: but it is so far of, that in my fancy after the fact, they rather loth them, then loue them. Both for that a lothsome repentaunce followeth it, and also (as Aristotle saith) men therby are made lesse perfect. So that I thinke the coniunction of bodies, rather a disiunction of minde then otherwise. And true freindship béetweene man and man, or man & woman, is grounded only on that which is good and honest. Yea, I am perswaded, that the wanton louer himselfe, is as well satisfied with the good countenaunce, louing lookes, and perfecte agréement of his misteris minde with his, as with the vse of her body. Which, although hée oftentimes ernestly desire, yet I thinke it bée as mutch to know therby her vnfayned goodwill towardes him, to confirme it with a naturall bonde, and to procure her contentment, as for that hée reposeth the fulnesse of his felicitie therein. So, if then a lewd louer altogether vowed to vanitie, can loue without lust, how mutch more easily may a faithful freind bée feruent in affection, and yet colde in desire? And as Pigmalion may bée a playne president, that a man may loue loyally, and yet not desire laciuiously: so may Florinda bée a fruitfull example to the feminine sorte, to doe the like, who bearyng sutch feruent affection to her freinde Amadour, that shee helde him more dere then her owne life, that shée receiued more contentacion in the companie of him, then of husband, father, mother, freinde or whosoeuer: yet shee was so far of from filthy affection towards him, that shee auoyded, so neare as shee could, all occasions which might draw him into any disordinate desire towardes her. In so mutch, that hauyng occasion of priuie [Page] conference with him in a priuie place, beefore shee came, shee fouly defaced her face, and bruised it with a stoane, that hee might not bée inflamed with the feature thereof, and diuers other wayes at diuers other times, valiantly withstoode all alarms of lust. Therfore they are no doubt deceiued, which thinke that loue cannot bée without lust, neither feruent affection without fleshly fancie. And I would not wish any to iudge so iniuriously of the familiaritie of freindes, sutch light iudgements, proue but a light iudge: sutch suspicious opinions, for the most part procéede from suspected persons: and they are commonly sutche themselues as they thinke other to bee: for mala mens, malus animus: an euil disposition bréedeth an euill suspition. But to returne to Pigmalion, who, for al his feruent loue, beyng frustrate of the fruites therof, and not incountred with the like, got from the house of his fickle freinde, and beeing alone in his owne lodginge, hée entred with him selfe into this discourse. Notwithstandynge my loue hath been alway guided rather by reason then rage, and my fancie neuer at any time turned to furie, by reason wherof I haue not been greatly pinched with the panges therof, yet when I consider the common course of louers, and of loue, surely of all punishments inflicted on mankynde, there is none that doth more afflict vs, then the Iewde lots therof, and the firie dartes of Cupid. For all other euils by nature we flie from, by reason we redresse, by pollicie wee preuent, by pleasure wee mitigate, by patience wée moderate, by labour wee lighten, by payne we appease, by counsayle wee cure, by time wée take away, or by some meanes or other set our selues free from. But this hatefull loue by nature wee follow, it beréeneth vs of reason, pollicie hath no place in it, pleasure doubleth our dolour, patience purchaseth no ease, labour is lost, payne preuayleth not, counsayle conduceth not, time tieth and intangleth vs, no, nothyng is able to leade vs out of this intricate Labyrinth: And though▪ ye pleasures pertayuing [Page] to loue, séeme great: yet who so euer purposeth to purchase them, let him assure him selfe to buy them at an vnreasonable rate. Euery pecke of pleasure shall cost him a quarter of care, for euery pinte of hony hee shall taste a gallon of gall. Yea though the entry which leadeth to the lodginge of loue séeme easy, & the porche paradise vnto him, yet shall hee finde the hall a hell, and the whole house a hateful prisō and place of bondage. For as Marriners y• vnder a shew of calme wether, cōmit them selues to the sea, are oftentimes with tempestes so tossed, that rushinge against the rockes, their ships are shaken to péeces, and they deuoured in the depth of the sea: so hee that vnder the curteous countenance of a wauering woman yéeldeth himself to loue, is commonly so wrapped in the waues of wiles, that hée is altogether drowned in the depth of deceit, and hardly escapeth with the losse of his liberty and lyuinge. Wee sée the flie playeth so long with the flame, that hee is scourched therwith, and the experience is no lesse common then lamentable, that men dally so longe with dainty dames, that at length they are scorched in the flames of fancy, and the winges of their frée will quight burned away. And then, good God it is strange to consider their case, how carelesly they deale in all thinges, how leudly they spend their time, how prodigally they consume their gooddes, how negligently they regard their freindes, how lothsomely they like good counsayle, how resolute they are in their owne fonde determinations, how dissolute in their béehauiour, howe solytaryly they sit in scilence, how secretly they conceale their greife, how sorowfully they spend their daies, how fantastically their mindes are troubled, how feebly their bodies are weakned, what broken sleepes, what doubtful dreame, what vaine visions they haue. And touching their beeloued, how curiously they commend them, howe partially they prayse them, how doltishly they doate on them, how wilfully they are blinded in thē, how supersticiously they [Page] thinke of them, how idolatroucly they worship them, how zelously they loue them, how ielously they looke to them, how warely they wach thē, how willingly they serue thē, how painfully they imploy themselues to pleasure them, how readily they run vnder their cōmaundements, how obediently they bowe at their beck & cum at their cal, how deadly thei hate their enemies, how deeply thei loue their freindes, how charily they seeke their goodwill, how childishly they feare their ill will, how gladly they take a good looke, how sadly they receiue a sower countenance, how foolishly they fulfil their desires, how fondly thei frame thē selues to their fancies, how with lookes they shew their loue, & with signes signifie their goodwil, how it greeueth them to haue any other looked vpon or spoken to, how in y• presence of their ladies they frie as hotly as Mount Aetna, how in their absence they frize as coldly as the Hill Caucasus, how present they prefer sutes, how absent they send salutations, how present they flourish, how absent they fade: to cōclude, how present they liue, how absent thei dy. But on the other side, to waigh the dealings of their darlings towards them, it makes my hart sore to think, that any man shoulde bee so mad, as not vtterly to abhorre them. For, first while they sée a man frée from folly and without the compasse of their cozenage, they fetch many a windlas to driue him into the nets of naughtinesse, & to intrap him in their trechery: and if they perceiue him so strongly armed with wisdome, that their bolstred beuty cannot bleare his eyes, then foorth with they goe about to compasse him with their counterfeit courtesye, then, forsooth, they frame sutch friendly countenaunces towards him, and pretend to beare him so great goodwill, that hee cannot (vnlesse hee will shewe himselfe altogether vngratefull and discourteous) but frame his fancy towards them againe. Now, so soone as they sée him reasonably well reclaimed to the lure of their alluring looks, they by and by stop the lure vpon him, and cause him to houer in [Page] hope and teach him to flie a high pitche, for a pray of litle profit or pleasure. For then they cast very coy countenances towards him, yea they will not so mutch as with a glaunce giue any signe of goodwil: but when they haue made him lie so long in the aire, that he is redy either to take a stande, or soare away, they flinge forth a traine of treason, and cast some slattringe hope, and faigned fawning for him to feed on, lest his kindnes by their coldnesse should quaile, and so he retire his desyre. But if they see him to be so sharpe set, y• he will stoupe at euery stale, or know him to be an eyesse which wil neuer away, thē they make him flye and neuer serue him, they bangle him out and bob him as they list, then they keepe themselues out of his sight to make him more sharp, then in his presence they lend louing lookes to other, then they make the matter so strange, that hee is driuen to beegin agayne, and to renew his sute afresh. And the ende of all this is, to sport themselues in his paine, to glory in his griefe, and to triumph in his tormentes. Sutch mallice they beare him that beareth them great goodwill. Yea hee whiche loueth them best is sure to be handled ye worst, for they know he is armed with loue to indure the force of their fraude, & like an Asse to beare any burthen whiche they shal lay on his back. Yea they will not stick to yeelde their bodies to some course quidem in a corner, rather then they will bestow on him one courteous countinance, sutch is their ill nature to cleue to the worst, and proudly to disdaine him that humbly desireth them, and openly to reiect all men though neuer so noble, and secretly to refuse no man though neuer so base. And as the Humble bée flieth all the day in the pleasaunt aire, and thinketh mutch to light euen vppon the swéete flowers, but at night taketh no skorne to lodge in a Cowes foule sharde: so these dainty dames, in company think skorne to yeelde loue to any, but in corners they care not to practise with some lothsome skullion, or horse boy. But if they think this louer, whom [Page] they haue so daintily dealte withall, haue oyle to coale their furious flames, and bee euery way fit for theyr follye, he shall perchaunce, after this tedyous toyle, and long sute in the court of curtesy and conscience, be aduised and admitted for a more speedy dispatch of his lyuing, to enter his action in the common place: I meane, he shalbe receued into their good grace and fauour, and be now and then feasted with the best banquets in their bodyes. But by that tyme the reckonnyng be payed, he shall finde his chere▪ so chargable, that all thinges consydered, he might haue fared better far better cheape, at the most cutthrote Inne in a country. Then must the Chaines, the Bracelets, the Iewels, the Kings, the Diamonds, the Pearls, bee prouided: then must hee buie for euery part a peece, for euery finger a fangle, for euery toe a toy: then must their maides bee monied, their bauds bribed, their scouts considered, their seruaunts satisfied, and euer as they lye open to him so his purse must lie open to them and theirs. And hereof cōmeth the spoyle of a nūber of noble & lustie younge Gentlemen: yea and the nobler bloude and the franker hart they are of, the sooner & sorer is their decay & confusion. For lyke as the fire hauing stones cast into it doth onely alter their colour and make them black, but cannot consume them, but hauing wood thrown into it, it wasteth it cleane away: so these cousoning Curtizanes, if some hard mettald louer light vnto their lot, they onely alter his estate, and bringe him from very wealthy to somewhat néedy, but if a frée and franke childe chaunce vppon them, they wholy consume him body and goodes. A thing surely on our parte rather to bee punnished then pittied, who being by God endued wt greater wits, should suffer our selues so villanously to bee vanquished by the weaknesse of women. But verely as Spiders conuert to poison whatsoeuer they touche, so women infect with folly whom so euer they deale withall. And I think them made of God only for a plague and wo vnto men, as their [Page] name importeth. And as Eue caused Adam to bee depriued of Paradise, so I think her sexe is ordained to depriue Adās posterity of prosperiti. Yea in mariage it self where only they are counted necessarie, I sée not but y• they are accompanied with more care then commoditie, more cost then comforte, more paine then gaine, more greife their good. Sutch falsenesse if they be faire, sutch silthinesse if they bee foule, sutch wiles if they bee wittie, sutch fondnesse if they be fooles, sutch proudnesse if they bee noble, sutch rudenesse if they be base, so nice if they bee vertuous, sutch vice if they be vicious, sutch lustinesse if they bee young, sutch lothsomnesse if they bee olde, sutch lightnes if they be merrie, sutch sullennes if they be sad, sutch often desyre of sport if they be healthy, sutch seld in quietnesse if they bee sikly, sutch vnholsomnesse if they be barren, sutch quesinesse if they bee with childe, sutch longeing, sutch daintinesse, sutch waiwardnesse: at all times in fare sutch finenes, in apparrel sutch costlines, in housholde stuffe sutch curiousnesse: at most times so immodest, sutch poutinge, sutch lowringe, sutch chidinge, sutch chafing, that to conclude with scripture, I thinke best for man not to touche a woman.

Gentlewomen, you must vnderstande, this Gentleman was in a great heate, and therefore you must beare with his bolde blasphemy against your noble sexe: for my part, I am angry with my selfe to haue vttred it, & I shall like my lisping lippes the worse for that they haue bene the instrumentes of sutch euill, neither shall I think them sauory againe, vntill it shall please some of you to season them with the swéetenesse of yours. But yet hée himselfe was so fully confirmed in this fayth and beleife, touching the fraylty and fraud of women, that I thinke no torment, no not the fury of fire could haue forced him to recant his opinion. For euer after, hée sled al occasions of womens company, perswading himselfe, that as hée which toucheth pitch shalbée defiled therwith, so hee that [Page] vseth womens company shalbée béeguiled therwith. And as the mouse hauing escaped out of the trap, will hardly bée allured againe with the intising bayt, or as the Hauke hauing béen once canuassed in the nets, wil make it daungerous to strike againe at the stale: so hée hauing beene caught in the snares of crafty counterfaytinge, and now hauing vnwound him selfe thereout, and won the fieldes offreedome, auoyded all occasions which might bringe him eftsoones into bondage. But man purposeth, and God disposeth, men determine, but the destinies doo: for what shalbe, shalbe: no pollicy may preuēt y• power of the heauens, no dooinges of men can vndoethe destinies. For hee was so far of from beeing able to keepe him self from bééinge in loue with women, that hee fell in loue with a senceles thing, a stoane, an Image, (a iust punnishment for his rash rayling against the florishinge feminine sexe. For continuing (as I said before) his solitarily life, seperated frō yr society of womē, he cōsumed ye most part of his time in caruing & grauing Images, & amongest all other his workes, he made out of Marble y• likenesse of a proper wench (as by like) notwithstāding y• new religion he was entred into, hauing most fancy to a feminine forme, & hauing fashioned and finished it in the finest maner, he fel to looking on it: and as loue first entreth in at the eyes, and from thence discendeth to the hart, so hee looked so longe theron, that at length hee fel in loue with it, yea he was so wonderfully bewitched with it, that hee fell to imbrasing, kissinge, and dallyinge with it. A monstrous miracle no doubt, and rather to be wondred at then credited: And yet I haue heard of some that haue beene so possest with melancholy passions, that they haue thought themselues to bee made of glasse, and if they had gone in any streete, they would not come neere any wall or house, for feare of breaking them selues: and so it may bee that this Pigmalion thought him selfe some stoane, and knowinge that like agree best with their like, hee thought he could [Page] make no better a match, then to match him self to a stone. Or it may bee hee was one of those, whom after the generall floud (as Ouid reporteth) Ducalion & his wife Pirraha made by casting stoanes at their backes: and then no meruaile though hee beare meruaylous affectiō to stones, beeing made of stoanes. Or whether his religion were to loue images, I know not: neither is it any more to be meruayled at in him, then in an infinite nūber y• liue at this day, which loue images right well, & verely perswade thē selues y• images haue power to pray for them, & help them to heauen. Or whether it proceeded of this, that euery one is lightly in loue with that which is his owne, I knowe not: but this I read reported of him, that when neither by the feelinge of his sences, neither by the force of reason▪ neither by the assistance of time, neither by any other meane hee could rid his tender heart of this stoany loue, hee tooke his image and layd it in his bed, as if it had bene his birde, which done, hee went to the temple of Venus, & there sendinge vp sighes for sacrifices, and vttering his passions in steed of prayers, rufully repentinge his former rebellion against the maiesty of the Goddesse Venus, for that hee had blasphemed wickedly against women, and neglected the lawes and lore of loue, and sought to lodge himselfe in liberty, hee humbly requested her now to rue his ruthles case, and hee would remaine her thrall all the dayes of his life after. And that if it seemed good to her godhead to giue him a wife, that shee might bee (hee durst not say his image) but like vnto his image. Venus very wel knowing what he ment by this request, remembring also the wrong which Penthea beefore had profred him, for that hee loued her loyally the space of three or foure yeres with out any rewarde, except it were double dissēbling for his singuler affection, & therfore had some reason to rage against women as he did, she thought her self bound in conscience to cure his calamity, and seeinge how Idolatrously hee was addicted to his Image, shée [Page] put life into it, and made it a perfect woman. The like miracles wée haue had many wrought within these fewe yeres, when images haue béene made to bow their heads, to holde out their handes, to wéepe, to speake, &c. But to Pigmalion, who hauing done his deuotions, returned to his lodging, and there according to custome fell to kissing his Image, which séemed vnto him to blush thereat, and taking better taste of her lips, they began to waxe very soft and sweete, and entringe into deeper dal [...]aunce with her, shée bad him leaue for shame, and was presently turned to a perfecte proper maide. Which hée séeinge, magnified the might and power of Venus, ioyfully tooke this maide vnto his wife. And so they liued together long time in great ioy and felicitie.

You haue heard (Gentlewomen) what broad blasphemie y• ficklenes of Penthea caused vnworthily to be blown forth against you all: wherefore to auoide the like, I am to admonish you that you prefer not new fangle freindes beèfore olde faythfull freindes: that you neither lightly leaue the one, neither lightly loue the other, for it is great lightnesse to doe either the one or the other. And beesides the incurring of the blot of inconstancy and wauering, it is very perilous for you to commit your selues & your secrets to those, of whose trustines you haue made no trial. For all is not golde which glistereth, counterfayte coine sheweth more goodly then the good: and it is most easy to deceiue vnder the name of a freind. The common saying is, the chaunge is seldome made for the better, and your owne sayinge is, that of your seruauntes you had rather kéepe those whom you know, though with some faultes, then take those whom you knowe not, perchaunce with moe faultes. How mutch more then ought faythfull freindes to bee kept and accounted of, whom you know to bee perfectly good? They are not surely for any chance to beè chaunged, they are not for any respect to bee reiected, they are the only Iewels to bee ioyed in, the onely [Page] perles to bee preserued, the only pillers to bee trusted to. Wee like a picture made in marble, better then in waxe, bicause it will last longer: wee like the ritch Diamonde chiefly bicause it lasteth longe, and will not lightly lose it bright hew: so likewise, you ought to like those freindes best which last longest, & haue liued longest with you. For you must cōsider, true freinds are not like new garmēts, which will be the worse for wearing: they are rather like the stoane of Scilicia, which the more it is beaten the harder it is: or like spices, which the more they are pounded, the swéeter they are, or like many wines, whiche the older they are the better they are. But to leaue true friendship, and come to trifling friendship, consisting in pleasant priuie practises, I would wish those women which deale that way (although they beé no sheepe of my flocke, yet for their sexe sake, I wish them wel) I mould, I say, aduise them to vse wary héed in ridding away those freinds they are weary of. It is a daungerous peece of worke, and importeth as mutch as their good name commeth to, for if they shall, without discretion and great cause, disclaime a mans freindship, it is the next way (onlesse his gouernment of himselfe bée very great) to make him proclayme what freindship hee hath had of them in times past. This was it whiche made Fausline so famous as shee was: thi [...] is it which blazed the bruite of Blanch maria thorowe out the world. And surely I know not well what counsayle to giue in this case, it is a matter of harde digestion to a man to see her become straunge to him, who was wonte to bee most familier with him, to haue her his enemy, who was wont to be his freind. Therfore I would aduise them to sticke to their old freindes still, but if they cannot frame their fickle nature to sutch firmenes, the best way is, by litle and litle to estraunge them selues from their freindes, to pretend some ernest or honest cause, to professe that neuer any other shall possesse that place with thē, to promise that in hart they wilbe theirs during life.

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Alexius.

ALEXIVs giuen ernestly to follow the studie of his booke, and the knowledge of the liberall Sciences, is diligently exhorted by his father to take a wife, whereunto though vnwillinge, hee applyeth himselfe, and is matched with sutch a one that in respect of her good graces, he vttereth great commendation of woman kinde. But shortly after, fallinge into lothinge of that which beefore hee most loued, hee repenteth himselfe of his bargaine, and forsaking both house, & wife, and all worldly pleasures, consumeth the remainder of his life in Pilgrimage, and traueile.

CIcero was of this opinion, that the greatest doubt which doth most déepely distresse a younge man, is to determine with himselfe, what life in this life it bee best to enter into: wherein no doubt hee had reason, for beesides the diuersitie of liues which are to bee chosen, there is sutch a confused Chaos of conceits in yong mens heads, that our wits are confounded with them, are lost as it were in a Labyrinth, not findinge any way out: so that if we chaunce to enter into this deliberation, we are asson [...] in one vaine, as soone in another, and so many vaines so many vanities: if vertue draweth vs one way, vice driueth vs another way: if profite perswade one way, pleasure prouoketh vs another way: if wit way one way, will wresteth another way: if friends counsel one way, fancy forceth vs another way: yea some lyke Horace his guestes are so daintily disposed, that no lyfe at al wil like them. Kingdomes (they say) are but cares, in honour is enuie, no maiestie in meane estate, penury in pouertie, in single lyfe solitarinesse, in marriage troubles, and touching studies and faculties, diuinitie is contemptuous, [Page] Phisick filthy, law laboursome, touchinge other trades of life, marchandise is but base, the country life is clownish, warfare is dangerous, in trauaile is perrill, liuinge at home is obscure, yea what life so euer it bee they count it lothsome: so that it is hard sor them to resolue vpon any one, who can frame them selues to fancy none. But for sutch as couét to bee of the corporation of the common wealth, and to bee profitable members thereof, I thinke these two points in this choice of our life chiefly to be cō sidered. First, that we apply ourselues to that life wherto by nature we are chiefely inclined, for it is not possible well to goe forward in any thing, Inuita Minerua, nature not consenting therto. Then, not so to addict our selues to any one lyfe, but that wee may adopt our selues to another, if néede shall require. For no man is so surely setled in any estate, but that fortune may frame alteration: like as no ship sayleth so directly to the wisshed hauen, but that some contrary winde may conuert her course against the wrackfull rocks. Which may bee iustified by the example of a younge Gentleman named Alexius, who béeing setled in a stedfast state of lyfe, as was to bee thought, yet was hee driuen to change, and change againe. For first béeing desirous to passe the pilgrimage of this short life in pleasure, hee auoyded (so néere as heé could) al worldly vanities, reposing his chiefe pleasure in serching out the sacred skill of learned books, so that studie was his only pleasure in prosperitie, his onely solaco in aduersitie, his only exercise beeing freshe, his only refreshing beeing wery, his only sport, his only play. And notwithstanding hee had good skill in hauking, huntinge, diceing, carding, with sutch lyke, and somtime for recroation sake vsed them, yet hee counted all those pastimes a paine, in the respect of the pleasure whiche study procured hym. His Father séeinge him setled in this solitary life, séemed to mislyke thereof, and disswaded hym from it, in this sorte.

[Page]I sée, sonne, there is nothinge so good, but by il vsing may bée made naught, and true, that sayinge is, that euery excesse is turned into vice. I meane your study, whiche of it selfe is lawdable, yet the immoderate vse therof makeeth it rather to bee reprehended, then commended: and while you séeke your owne carelesse securitie, you neglect your countries commoditie, and liue (lyke a drone by the hony) of other mens handes, and by the swéete of other mens swet. For you must know, al the praise of vertue consisteth in doing, from the which to be withdrawn with the doubt of daunger or trouble, is a signe of one which preferreth his owne priuate safetie, beefore the common societie. And yet he y• wil not indeuour to defend other, is commonly left destitute of help himselfe. What wonne Archimedes by his earnest study, who while Marcellus woonne his citie Syracusis, was so busily drawing figures of Geometry in the ground, that he knew not the citie was taken, and Marcellus sendinge for him to come vnto him, hee answered hee woulde not come, vntill hee had finished his figures, wherupon the messenger in a great rage finished his life: An ende fit for all sutch, who to satisfie their owne mindes, wyll not satisfie their duties to their rulers, Country and common wealth. Therefore I thinke good, you leaue this labourlesse life, and to enter into the worlde, and take a wife, whereby you may beecome a profitable and fruitfull member of your country. You knowe the law maker Lycurgus valued in a maner with man [...]ears, those which would of set purpose abide barren, saying, that hee did in a maner depriue a man of lyfe, which did not helpe to bringe a man into this life, when hee might: and the difference is litle, beetwéene doynge an iniury, and sufferinge an iniurie to bee done, when one may prohibite it. You know also the reproche which he suffered that ancient vnmaried captaine Dercillidas to receiue, who passing by a yonge princocks, had no reuerence [Page] done vnto him (whiche amongst the Lacedemonians was the greatest dishonour that might be) the Captaine complayning hereof, the young man answered him, why sir, you haue got none which may do reuerence to mee when I come to age, and therefore it is no reason you receiue that honour at my handes: which answere Lycurgus allowed of, thinkinge none worse Citizens then sutch as woulde not marry. Wherefore if you will auoyde the like inconuenience, and frame your selfe to enter into that honorable state, I will depart with sutch part of my liuing vnto you, that you shalbe able to liue in good credit and countenance in your cuntry, and haue cause to think your life as pleasaunt as this you now leade.

Alexius hauinge diligently giuen eare to his fathers wordes, dutifully made answere in this sort.

Sir, if it please you, I am of this opinion, that a good thinge, can not bée to mutch vsed, and that the more common it is, the more commendable it is, neither is it possible to séeke learning to mutch, whereof there was neuer any man yet but had to litle: and I thinke it shame to cease from séeking, when the thinge sought, is the onely thing worthy to bée thought. For what toyle can séeme tedious to finde the way to wit, and path to prudency, the line of life and vaine of vertue? And for the commodity of my country. I doubt not, but you know, that the studious standithe common wealth in as great steed, as the industrious otherwise. Yea who first brought men within the compasse of a common wealth but only the learned? Who brought them from sauagenes to ciuilnes, was it not the learned? Who reduced them from rage to reason, was it not the learned? Who brought them into the society of a cittie, who prescribed them lawes, who taught them religion, who inuented mariage it selfe, which you are so ernest to haue mee enter into, was it not the learned? Yes no doubt, learning is the life of the common wealth, the maker and mayntainer of it. I must confes that those [Page] which vse trades of trauaile in the common wealth, doe mutch good to the common wealth, but I must say, the learned doe more good. I must confesse that souldiours often defend the common wealth: but I must say that lerning must lead them, otherwise they will sooner offend it, then defend it. I must confesse that souldiours often win wealth to their country: but I must say that Senatours must keepe it, and the cunning to kéepe, is no lesse commen dable then the courage to get, and courage god knoweth is litle worth abroade, vnlesse there bée good counsayle at home. For what worthy exploytes did any captaine euer atchiue abroad, but by the aduise of counsaylors at home? As the valiant victory which Themistocles had ouer Salamis, was atchiued by the counsayle of the Senate which Solon had constituted. The ouerthrow of Carthage was wrought by the aduise of Cato a counsailour. The distruction of Troy was wrought not by lusty prowesse, but by learned pollicie. The takinge of Babilon by Darius, was not done by the strength of his army, but by the skilfull subtelty of his seruant Zopyrus. And so almost in all notable victories, pollicy preuayleth aboue power. Which was the cause that Agamemnon in y• siege of Troy, wished rather for ten sutch as Nestor (who was a graue counsaylour) then for ten sutch as Aiax (who was a valiant captayne): that Traianus y• Emperour, when hée went into the camp, euer had Dion the Philosopher with him in his owne chariote: that Alexander neuer went into the feelde without the philosopher Calisthenes wt him: Zerxes neuer without Damarathus: that Alexander had euermore Homer his Iliades lyinge vnder his beds head: that Iulius Caesar studyed in the night, and set downe in writinge, y• which hée did in the day: that Epaminondas, Mithridates, Themistocles, Adrian, Marcus Antonius, Marcus Aurelius, Alcibiades, Scipio, Brutus, Anniball, Alphonsus, Solomon, Dauid, with infinite other, who were couragious Capitains and Kinges, gaue themselues most earnestly [Page] to study and learninge. For they very well knewe hée could not bée a perfect captaine, which was not perfectly séene in al sciences and learning. In Grammer, to attayn to the lattin tounge, and by it to the knowledge of other tounges, wherby hee may not bée deafe and dum amongst those with whome hee shall haue to deale in warre. In Rethoricke, cherefully to perswade his souldiours to such enterprises as hee would haue them attempt. In Logike, probably to reason with his souldiours in doubtfull matters, which are to be discussed amōgst thē. In Arithmetick to number his souldiours, to deuide them into bands, as best may serue for the battell. In Geometrie, to measure the ground, to iudge of the distance of places, wherby hee may cast his trenches, raise his bulwarks, & place his ordinance and munition to most aduantage. In Astronomy, to know the course of the starres, the place of the Poles, the sight of the Zones, and sutch like, wherby hee may bée able to direct his army by night (either on sea or land) into what coastes hée shall haue occasion. In Musicke, to recreat himselfe béeing weary, to sing Psalmes prayses to God for the victory. And as these seuen liberal sciences are shewed to be most necessary for a captaine: so is ther no art or knowledge but ought to be knowē vnto him. Philosophy, to take away y• terror of death, to ease y• euil of greif, to coole the heate of hate, to bridle rage wt reson, to turne rashnes to stayednes, as it did in Fabius y• noble captayn qui cunctādo restituit rem: to mortify y• desires of y• flesh, as it did in Alexā. towards y• wife & daughters of Darius: to increase abstinē [...]y, as it did in y• same Alexa. who hauing béen thrée or foure daies without foode, would eate nothinge him selfe till all his souldiours were satisfied: to make pacient in paine as it made Marius abide martiring without binding: to teach to indure hardnesse, as it made Agesilaus to goe almost naked in the middest of winter, that his souldiours by his example might doe the like: to teach to set litle by ritches, to dispise vaine glory, [Page] to auoyd infamy, with infinite other commodities, wherwith philosophy doth furnish vs. Cosmography, to know the situation of citties and countries, to take the oportunity of mountaines, woods, and waters. Surgery, to beale his wounds. Phisick, to cure his diseases, and keepe himself in health. Law, to Minister iustice to his souldiours, to deuide the booty indiffently amongest them, to obserue inuiolably the law of armes. Diuinitie, to dehort his souldiours from swearing, from blaspheming, from drinking, from whoring, and in the houre of death from dispairing. So that counsayle, learning and knowledge ought to bée the cheife weapons and complete harnesse of a captaine, yea knowledge is the armour of proofe which neither Cannon, Hargabus, nor Pistol can péerce. And what commodity is in courage without counsayle, may be séene by many rash coustictes of many rawe captaines. And not to touch any of f [...]esh memory, it may please you onely to call to your remembraunce one Callicratides, who béeinge captaine of the Lacedemonians, in an expedition agaynst the Athenians, was aduised by the Senate not to incounter with them, but to remoue his nauy from them, till more conuenient oportunity might bée taken: but hée thinking it would haue bene some derogation to his manhood sumwhat to haue retired, at al aduēture ventred vpon them, to his owne vtter ouerthrow, and to the great weakning of the wealth of his common weale and country. If then learninge bée so necessary to warre (whereto many thinke it rather a hinderance, as the french nobility forsooth at this day scarce dareth deale with it, for feare of marring their martiall feates) howe needfull must wee thinke it to other partes of the common wealth? Can the Prince set forth Gods glory, and sée to the realmes safety? can the nobility prouide for the preseruation of their prince and countries cōmodity? can diuines truly preach the gospel? can iudges duely minister iustice, can lawiers defend the innocent, can Phisitions heale the sicke, yea in [Page] warre can the surgions cure the wounded without learning? Can Merchaunts safely passe the daungerous seas without skilfull Pilotes? Can they mutually trafique and bring in necessaries into the realme without skilfull interpreters? To bee short, there is nothinge done to the countries commodity, wherto there is not had the help of skill and learning. So that learning and wit is the only wealth of ech country, the only conquerour in warre, the only preseruer of peace. Litigiousnes without learninge can doe no good, Mars without Minerua can make no good mart. Therfore (sir) well you may restraine mée from studye, but you shall neuer diswade mée from it. And wheras you perswade mee to enter into the state of matrimony, I can not but thinke that the great desire you haue to do me good, doth so dim your vnderstanding, that you perfectly know not what will doe me good, otherwise you would not goe about to bringe mee (as they say) out of Gods blessing into a warme sunne. For if you knew the commodities of this life, whiche I now leade, & considered the discommodities of that life you would haue mée to leade, I knowe you woulde neuer counsayle mee to cleaue to the one and leaue the other. In this sutch quiet, in that sutch care, in this sutch puritie, in that sutch prauitie, in this sutch vertue, in that sutch vanytie, in this sutch contentation, in that sutch vexation, in this sutch caulmes, in that sutch stormes, in this sutch safetie, in that sutch ieopardie, in this sutch felicytie, in that sutch miserie, that I mutch muse that you your selfe murmur not at the miseries in marriage, and séeke to bée setled in the swéete solace of single life againe.

The people called Massagetes liuinge in mountaines without houses, enacted this law amongst them, that euerie inhabitant should haue two tunnes, or fats, in the one should lie the husband, sonnes, and men seruants, in the other the wiues, daughters, and maide seruants, they neuer eate together but on holy daies, and may not lawfully [Page] lie together, but only once a wéeke. Pompeius hauing occasion to trauell that way, demaunded of them, why they liued in y• seperated sort? They answered him, The gods had geuen them but short time to liue on the earth, which they ment to spend quietly, which beeinge together with their wiues, they saide they could neuer doe. And Licurgus himself, whom you alleage in commendation of marriage, was almost of the Massagetes minde, for hee willed men not to lie continually with their wiues, but to vse their company seldome and by stealth, whereby you may sée that marriage is a daungerous thinge, and daintely to be dealt with all, and that hée had néede to bee armed with more yéeres then I am, that shall venter vppon it. For my part, if you bee so content, I meane to continue as I am, and not to chaunge for the worse, and with Glaucus to giue golden harnesse for Diomedes his brasen, or a precious stoane for a barley corne with Aesops cocke. His Father seeing how hée was bent, willed him to do as hée woulde, and halfe angrye, lefte him to his owne lykinge.

I haue hytherto (Gentlewomen) done you some wronge in framinge my talke to the condition and capacitie of these Gentlemen, who, as you hard at dinner, helde so hotly that learning was not necessarie for a captaine, now I will perfourme my promise to you, and I will not onely pay you the principall, but beecause you haue so quietly forborne your due so longe, you shal heare I wil yéelde you some interest besides.

May it please you then to knowe, that Alexius séeinge howe desirous his Father was to haue him marrie, thought it the part of an obedient child, to apply himself to the plesure of his parents, and to enter into that trade of lyfe wherein his father beefore him had troden: wherevpon hée somwhat intermitted his earnest study, and béegan to peruse those bookes, which treated but of litle learning, & in stéed of schooles, frequented those places where [Page] at the first being a fresh man for the principles of his science, hee was taught with lookes, not with letters, and with the eyes, not with the mouth: well in short space it fortuned one of his good instructors, by lendinge him a looke to learne hym sutch a lesson (as best wits are soonest caught by Cupid) that hée could not bee quiet till hée had gotten out alone by himself perfectly to con it: where he sayde it without booke in this sort.

I perceiue now that saying is true, that the greatest clarks are not the wisest men, and that in respect of experience, learning is litle to bée accounted of. For I sée the foolishnesse of my Father (if it were possible there shoulde be any in him) to bée far better then all my wisdome and learning. He only knoweth what is profitable, what is pleasant for mée. Hee knoweth and hée tolde mée, but I would not then béeleeue hym, that the marryed lyfe is the only life. Wel, now I se it to be so indéede. Good god what good did those louing looks only, which that louely wench cast vppon mée, doe mée? what then may I iudge of the rest, if only lookes like mee so well? no neuer any woorke of other mens, or inuention of mine owne, neuer any History, Commedie, Oration, or Uerse, haue procured mée halfe the pleasure, as this beautiful booke hath. Therfore now farewell Minerua, welcome Venus, farewell Aristotle, welcome Ouid, farewel Muses, welcome maydens, farewel learning, welcome Ladies. But what shall I thus neglect Gods commmaundement, wisdomes lore, my fathers he [...]es, and giue my selfe ouer to fonde and foolish loue? Why, as though God allowed not of mariage, as though Pallas her selfe were not subiect to loue, as though my father him selfe did not in a manner force mée hereto? Yes I wil euidently let this my goddesse vnderstand my goodwil, I wil humbly craue her loue agayn, I will make my father priuy to my practise, I will cause al ye freinds I haue to further the mariage betwéene vs.

Now this younge Pun [...] hauinge perfectly learned his [Page] first lesson, and liking it very wel, was taken forth another lesson, hée was taught now forsooth his partes of spéeche, hée was driuen to speake for himselfe, to preferre many pitifull prayers, to feigne, to flatter, to vow, to promise, to swere, to make verses, to write letters, and to vse all meanes to proue his owne loue, and to purchase hers, and this lecture also liked him wel inough, for that in y• hée was otherwise a good scholer, & indued wt a good wit, hée was well able euery way to discharge it, & besids that the gentlewoman séemed at length almost willinge to bée woonne to his wil. Then he proceeded further in his learning, and came to numbers, hee was driuen to number and tell out his coyne, and to buie rings, tablets, chaines, and sutch like, to sende to his misteris, as tokens of true loue, to linke liking, and to binde fast the bargaine. After this, hee attained to the knowledge of the articles, for now articles must bee drawen of their agréement, her ioynter must bee appoynted, all the conueiances concerning this contract are concluded. This lesson neither disliked hym, for that his father was able euery way to performe it. Immediatly vpō this, the mariage day was appointed, and he must néeds take foorth one lesson more, to bée fully instructed, and nowe forsooth hée is come to the coniunction of cases, and ioyninge of genders together. And this was the lesson in déede that liked him, this hée thought y• lesson of al lesson, y• only lessō which led to perfect learning, y• only instructiō which truly taught right construction, the onely lesson of lyfe, the only pathway to Paradise. This lesson hée soone had learned, and yet thought with himself that hée neuer had sufficiently learned it, which made him in short time make repetition of it a thousand times. And for recreation after his study, his exercise alwayes was either to triumph of his owne happinesse, either to trisle and talke with his misteris, either in verse curiously to commende her, or els in prose liuely to paint foorth the praise of women, and amongst [Page] many other his frantick fancies, hée presented in writing to his wife, this mutch in effect.

As it somewhat easeth the afflicted to vtter their annoy, so no doubt, it greatly increaseth our happinesse to expresse our ioy. And I am perswaded that al the delightfull things we sée, all the ioyfull things we heare, and all the pleasaunt thinges we feele, woulde procure vs litle pleasure, if we had no meanes to manifest thē, or freinds to impart them to. Therefore I will vnfolde my ioyes to my ioy, my pleasures to my Peragon, my mirth to my mistris. For who euer swamme in sutch seas of delight? who euer bathed in more perfect blis? for first, what could I haue wished more of God then to haue mine owne Father the author, the béeginner, the perswader, the practiser, the furtherer, and the finisher of my felicitie? to impart vnto mée his counsayle, to depart with his coyne, to geue mée his goods, to leaue me his lands, & to do more for me then I had ether reasō to require, or so mutch as durst to desire? O Father, thou only knowest how to blesse thy children? then what more happines could happē vnto me then to haue a wife, whose countenance coueteth only to content mée, whose lookes are framed only to my lykinge, whose wordes are only wrested to my wyll, whose deedes are only directed to my delight, whose beautie then the sun beames is more bright, whose bounty, wit and vertue is more rare then to be comprehended in a mortal wight, who in shape Venus, in wit passeth Pallas her selfe, who is the only starre which giueth right light, who is the only worship of the worlde, the only honour of her age, the only Phaenix of the earth, whose gouernment is sutch, that she can guide her selfe wisely in all companies, in all causes, whose discretion is sutch, that shee can applie herselfe fitly to all times, to all places, to all persons, who loueth mée so loyally, that I cannot but like it, who honoureth mee so dutifully, that I cannot looke for more, who at all times entertaineth mée so curteously, that I cannot [Page] but bee content with it, who dayly filleth my eares with sutch sugred words, that they can not but delight mée, who at borde feedeth mée so daintily that a prince would bée pleased with it, who at bed feasteth mee so delicately that Cupid him selfe would bée glad of it? O Misteris, thou only knowest how to make thy husband happy. But what meruayle is it to sée a good trée bring forth good fruit? what wonder is it to sée one woman good, when there are none ill? And how is it possible there should bée any ill, when y• matter wherof they are made, & causes wherof they come are right good? For first they are made of the purified mettall of man, wheras man was made of y• grosse earth: And as in stils out of herbs is gotten pure water: so out of man was gotten y• pure mettall of women, as may bée plainly perceiued by the finenesse of their fourme, by the softnesse of their flesh, by the clerenesse of their colour & sutch like. Thē for the constitution of their bodies, they are most cō monly colde, by reason wherof they are most patient, modest, milde, and mercifull, most constant without lightnesse, most continent without leudnesse, neither offende, either in excesse of meate, either in fleshly heate, so often as men of firy and hot complexions doe. Besides that, the purity of their bodies may bée perceiued by this, that no corruption comminge by the grosenesse of meat or otherwise, can continue long within them, but that they haue continually euacuation of all yll humours: sutch force hath that which is fine, to expel that which is filthy. And as their bodies are most perfecte, so also their soules are most pure. For wheras men receiue from Adam origynall sinne, women are altogether voide of that infection, which may be partly coniectured by the excellency of many of their complexions, & cleerenes of their skins: so that no man almost would think y• there could lurke any lothsomnes to be misliked of, vnder so cumly a couert as their faire faces are, but only they y• haue proued the contrarie. But notwithstāding this perfectiō wherwt they are indued, yet (as things most excellēt are euer most enuied) their [Page] want not those which want so mutch gouernmente, that they will not sticke ernestly to inueigh against the noble feminine sexe, and amongest the rest (as who is so bold as blind bayard.) Mantuan like a mad man, most rudely and rashly raueth and rayleth against them. But his wordes are so voyde of wit, and his railing so without reason, that if hee were aliue, I thinke him rather with tormentes to bee confounded, then with argumentes to bee confuted. Before him Aristotle, as an Asse sotted with ouer mutch studdy maketh a great speake, sayinge: women are monsters in nature, and he alleageth a profound reason to proue it, for that nature, forsooth, alwayes intendeth to bringe forth that which is most perfect, and therfore would bring forth only men if shee might. Apythy argumente, hee reasoneth as though it were graunted him, that men were more perfecte then women, which with all his philosophy, hee shall neuer bee able to proue. And if hee make this reason, that the male is euer more perfect then the female, nature her selfe will quickly confute him, who in most of her creatures hath made the female far more perfect then the male. And not to vse many instances, what need wee goe any farther then consider the kinde of Hawkes, where wee shall see the Goshauke far better then the Tossell, the Gerfaulcon then the Gerkin, the Lanar then the Lanaret, the Spar [...]hauke then the Musket, and so of all the rest. But Aristotle can make a better reason, for that women by mutuall coniunctions receiue their perfection from men, a reason truely without all reason. What woman was euer more perfecte then the virgin Mary, who neuer knew man? Then the Romaine vestall virgins? Then our vowed virgins, who continued the whole course of their life without the company of men? But Ceny forsooth beeinge a mayd desired to bee made a man. But will you know the cause? Not for that shee coueted to bee of the kinde of man, but that shee might bee free from the filthinesse whiche men did force her to (for before she had bene rauished by Neptune) [Page] like as y• litle chicke being caught by the kyte, would wish with all his heart hée were a Kite, and yet the kind of Kites is not to be thought better then of the chicken. But to leaue Aristotle his railyng reasons, and to reason indifferently of the matter, what one perfection any way are men indued withall, that women want? Do men (I say) either in natural wit, either in politike gouernment, either in valiant courage, either in skill and learnyng, either in vertue and liuyng, any thyng excell them? And first for wit, Aristotle himselfe proueth them to bee more apt in wit, for that they are more soft in fleshe, and we our selues haue a common sayinge amongst vs, that women are neuer without an excuse, which is a sure signe of a most sharpe and readie wit. And if I were driuen to alledge exāples of witty women, I coulde recite whole countries, to wit, Flaunders, Holland, Zeland, and most of the lowe countries, where the women wittily deale in al thinges, discreetly order their housholds, courteously entertayne straungers, and wisely wield most waightie affayres, wheras the men deale only with drinke, and like drunken doltes lie vnder the bourde. In Fraunce also, the Gentlewomē generally are more wittie in words, and eloquent in talke thē the men. The like no doubt may bee truly reported of diuers other nations. Then for politik gouernment, is it likely that they, who can gouerne them selues and their affections discréetely, their families and housholdes orderly, are to séeke in the polytike gouerment of publike matters? For (no doubt) it is far more easy to see wittily into other mens affaires then into our owne: and Solon sayth, that they only are fit to gouerne other, who can well guide them selues, neither is the difference so great betweene a priuate family and publike society, but that they which can gouerne the one, may wyeld the other. Againe, seeinge in matters of loue (which blinde the wisest men that are) women can deale so politikely, that though they themselues beare great affection to a man, yet they will so handle the matter that they shall humbly make sute vnto them, and ernestly desire them to it, which thei of them [Page] selues most ernestly desire, seeinge in priuy stealthes they can practise so politikely y• their husbands, though neuer so wary, shal neuer be ware of it, but rather the more they are deceiued, doate y• more of them. Is it to be thought they are to learne of men, or any way inferiour to them, in the conuaigh of ordinary accidents, and matters of common moment? But women are not admitted to the administration of the common wealth: but what forsooth is the cause? For sooth the malicious spite of men: and I may saye it to my self, it standeth vs vpon so to do, for if they should be allowed to execute publike offices, whereby their discreet and good gouernment might be generally known, it were greatly to bée feared that wee should be set to the clout and kitchin another while, and they placed in those offices, whiche wee now, not so worthy of them, wrongfully vsurpe. And yet to the intent all sutch bright lights should not bee put vnder a bush [...]ll, it hath pleased god to set some of them on the hils of high estate, to giue light of life and good gouernment to the whole world: as namely the wife of Aeneas, named Lauinia, after his death gouerned the most turbulent state of Italy, with sutch policy and wisdome, that though the title of her husband to the kingdom were very tickle, beeinge a Troian & straunger, though her neighbours on euery side were giuen to spoylyng, incroching, oppressyng, and vsurpynge, yet shee kept her people in peace, and her kingdome quiet, vntill her sonne Ascanius came to ripe yeeres, & then safely set him in the regall seate and royall dignity of his father. As Debora for her wit and policy was appointed iudge ouer the Israelits, by whose counsayle and courage that couragious captayne & capital enemy to the Israelits, named Sysara was subdued. But what should I rehearse examples of the politique gouernment of women, whereas lawes (the only ground of all good gouernment) were first inuented and made by Ceres, a woman?

Therfore to the third point, which is valiaunt courage: wherin we our selues confesse them to be nothing inferriour vnto vs, in that wee say women are alwayes destrous [Page] of soueraintie, which euidently argueth a noble and haughty minde. Béesides that, howe mutch weaker their bodies are then mens, so mutch the more strength and vertue is contained in their mindes. For it is the iustice of God commonly, to supply the debilitie of the body, with the might of the minde. Againe, how mutch shorter lyued are they then men, according to Aristotle his opinion, so mutch the more vertue of body and minde they are endued withall. Like as by dayly experience, wée sée that those children which are destined to death in the prime time of their lyfe, are farre more wittie, discréete, & perfect euery way, then those who haue longe time graunted them to liue on earth. Lastly, if particularyties might proue a generality, what man was euer more couragious then Semiramis, who in the habite & apparell of a man gouerned y• Assirians, most couragiously? then Tomiris, who slue the mighty Kinge Cyrus most valiently? then the wiues of the citie of Scio, who repulsed their enimies most reprochefully? with infinite other, who in stoutnes of stomack, and couragiousnes of minde, haue ben equall to any man, that euer had any praise for his prowes and vertue. The fourth poynt is learninge, which to bee proper as it were to women may bee proued by this, y• the Muses the authors of all lerning were womē. It may be said that the people called the Latines lent vs mutch learninge, but it must bée saide that a woman named Nicostrata first taught them their letters. It may be said that Athens hath bene the author of many arts, but it must be sayd y• ▪ Aspasia instructed Pericles the Duke thereof in learning. Solomon was most wise and learned, yet Saba was able to dispute with him. Zenobia had learned sonnes, but shee her selfe taught them. So that it is euident that women are rather the author of learninge, then any way inferiour to men in learning. The last poynt is vertuous life. Alas it gréeueth mée to thinke how far we come behinde in this comparison. How straunge is it to heare a woman to bée a swearer, a stealer, a murtherer, a traytor, a rebel, an extorcioner, a per [...]urer, a cosener, or any sutch like▪ To our shame I speake [Page] it, we wallow in those wickednesses. How hard againe is it to finde a man of cōtinent cōuersation, of modest manners, of milde minde, of gentle disposition, of curteous inclinatiō, of pitifull hart? To their praise I speake it, women abound in those vertues. So that to speake indifferently, béetwéene the life of men and women, is as mutch difference as beetweene light and darknesse, beetween vertue and vice, beetweene God and the diuell. Therfore, séeing women excell men in perfection of body & soule, in wit and gouernment, in courage, in learning, in life & conuersation, what merueile is it if my misteris make mee happie? what wonder is it if she winne mee to her wil? what méede do I deserue, if I serue her all the daies of my life? For duty no doubte is due vnto her, and I thinke my seruice not sufficient to shew the goodwil which I am bounde to beare her.

You haue harde (Gentlewomen) what praise Alexius for his misteris sake hath bestowed vppon you all, whiche I doubt wil driue you into so good an opiniō of your selues, that you will thinke so meane a man as my selfe not worthy of your company: but I would wish you to take héede, for in so doyng you might shew your selues to want that wit and curtesie whiche Alexius hath attributed vnto you, and if you prooue him false in one poynte, it is as likely he hath lyed in all the rest. But to speake my fancie fréely of the praise which hee hath geuen you, though some particuler examples bée so manifestly true, that all the world doth acknowledge them, yet his general reasons are altogether sophisticall and full of fallacies, set forth without any liuely colour, only with fayning & painting: and the fine Marble you know needeth no painting, that is néedfull only for ragged walles. I meane not that hée ment women were ragged walles, and therfore painted them out in sutch sort, but surely the sequele of his dooings was sutch, that it euidently appeared hee thought not so well of women in déede as hée set foorth in wordes. For hauing (as I sayd béefore) often saide his lesson of the coniunction of cases & genders together vpon the booke, and either séeing it impossible to [Page] attaine it without the booke, either béeinge wery with the often repetition of it, either seing there was no end in it, or els béeing desirous to learne farther and take foorth a new lesson, he left this lesson with dispaire, and procéeded to the declensons, hee beganne now to decline, which lesson hee sayde to himselfe in this sort.

Good God I sée there is satietie of all thinges, & Hony it selfe, if one haue to mutch of it, séemeth nothing swéete vnto him. How vnpleasant now séemeth the pleasure of practising with my misteris, which but euen now I thought heauenly happinesse? How are my firy flames vanished to dead coales? How is my lust turned to lothsomenesse? but what shoulde be the cause of this sodaine alteration? The beauty of my misteris blazeth as brightly as euer it did, her affection towards me is as feruent as euer it was, and my flesh as apt to follow folly as euer it was. The cause is this, I perceiue by this pleasure of the body my minde to be molested. I sée that by this vanitie vice hath vanquished vertue in mee, I se hereby my wit dulled, my vnderstanding blinded, my memorie weakned, my sences sotted, and all my parts able to play but one part, which is pleasantly to practise with my misteris. I sée hereby all exercise of vertue, al respect of religion, all care of godlinesse vtterly extinguished in mée. I sée pleasure the very pathway to perdition, I sée women the way to wrack and ruine. Which seeinge I see, shall I wilfully woorke mine owne destruction? shal I greedely deuoure the baite, whiche I knowe hath a hooke hidden in it to hurt mee? shal I frequent y• pleasure, which I know wil turne to poyson? shal I continue her company, which wil conuert to my confusion? shal I with the Dog redire ad vomitum? shall I with the diuell, dessendere ad infernum? shal I preferre a faire wife before a verthous life? my goddesse before my God? transitory pleasure, béefore eternall blisse? No, let me first séeke my beloued, who is gon downe into his garden to the beds of his spicerie to gather vp Lilies, and then shall I know how to loue my earthly beloued as I ought to doe. First let mee lay vp for my self [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] treasure in heauen, and then shall I inioy true pleasure in earth. First let mee seeke the heauenly kingdom, and then shal I abound in earthly blisse. First let me learne to serue my Lorde aright, and then shall I serue my Lady without any vayne delight.

Euer after this, this Gentleman gaue himself to sutch godlynesse, that he gaue ouer all vaine delights of the flesh, reposing his cheifest pleasure in diuine contemplations: and seeing the sight of his sweet Misteris to be a great hinderance to his heauenly cogitations, hée altogether separated himself from her companie, left freindes and country, and spent the remaindour of his life in pilgrimage & trauel.

You Gentlemen may learne hereby not to doate to mutch of wiues or women, but to vse them as necessary euils, and that if you be bidden to the heauenly banquet, you ought not to returne answer that you haue married a wife, and therfore cannot come, but rather to forsake wife and wealth, & take vp the crosse of Christ and follow him as Alexius did.

You Gentlewomen may also learne hereby, not to repose any permanent pleasure in practising with your husbands, but only to vse their companie as a solace, to swéeten y• sowernesse of this life withal, and to thinke that sutch supersticions loue towards your husbands, doth withdraw you frō the true loue which you ought to beare towards god. But I could preache better to you in a more pleasant matter, I wil leaue this text to maister parson, who while he is vnmaried I warrant you will disswade you so earnestly from sutch [...] [...] doting on your husbands, that hée will not sticke to tell you béesides that you ought to haue no respect of persons▪ [...] to loue an other man or him selfe so well as your husband [...] ▪

FINIS.

§

§

Printed at London, by R. W.

[Page]

Information about this book

Title statement

A petite pallace of Pettie his pleasure contaynyng many pretie hystories by him set foorth in comely colours, and most delightfully discoursed.

Pettie, George, 1548-1589.

Edition statement

1576

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :

Date

2003-11 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A09539

ID [STC]

STC 19819

ID [STC]

ESTC S101441

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

99837255

ID [PROQUEST]

99837255

ID [VID]

1570

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Early English books online.

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(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A09539)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 1570)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1475-1640 ; 1390:12)

Source

— A petite pallace of Pettie his pleasure contaynyng many pretie hystories by him set foorth in comely colours, and most delightfully discoursed., Pettie, George, 1548-1589., R. B., fl. 1576..

Extent

[8], 224 p.

By R. W[atkins],. [Printed at London :: [1576]]. (By George Pettie.) (Colophon reads "Printed at London, by R. W." Printer's name and publication date from STC.) (Printer's device (McKerrow 188) on title page.) (Pages 17, 214 and 215 misnumbered 19, 215 and 214.) (Some print show-through and some pages stained.) (Reproduction of original in the British Library.)

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