hir Let Appelles shewe his fine Arte Euphues will manifest his faithfull heart the one can but proue his conceite to blase his cunning the other his good will to grinde his coulours hée that whetteth the tooles is not to be misliked though he cannot carue the Image the worme that spinneth the silke is to bée esteemed though shée cannot worke the sampler they that fell timber for shippes are not to be blamed bicause they cannot builde shippes He that carieth morter furdereth the building though hée bée no expert Mason he that diggeth the garden is to be considered though he cannot treade the knottes the Golde-smithes boy must haue his wages for blowing the fire though hée can-not fashion the Iewell Then Ladyes I hope poore Euphues shall not be reuiled though he deserue not to be rewarded I will set downe this Elizabeth as néere as I can And it may be that as the Venus of Appelles not finished the Tindarides of Nichomachus not ended the Medea of Timomachus not perfected the Table of Parrhasius not couloured brought greater desire to them to consumate them to others to see them so the Elizabeth of Euphues béeing but shadowed for others to vernish but begunne for others to ende but drawen with a black coale for others to blase with a bright coulour may worke either a desire in Euphues heereafter if he liue to ende it or a minde in those that are better able to amende it or in all if none can worke it a will to wish it In the meane season I say as Zeuxis did when he had drawen the picture of Atalanta more will enuie me then imitate me and not commende it though they cannot amende it But I come to my England There were for a long time ciuil warres in this countrey by reason of seuerall claymes to the Crowne betwéene the two famous and noble houses of Lancaster and Yorke either of them pretending to be of the royall bloude which caused them both to spend their vytall bloude these iarres continued longe not with-out greate losse both to the Nobilitie and Eommunaltie who ioyning not in one but diuers parts turned the Realme to great ruine hauing almost destroyed their coūtrey before they could annoint a king But the liuing God who was loth to oppresse England at last began to represse iniuries to giue an ende by mercie to those that could finde no ende of malice nor looke for any ende of mischiefe So tender a care hath hée alwayes had of that England as of a new Israel his chosen and peculier people This peace beganne by a mariage solemnized by Gods speciall prouidence betwéene Henrie Earle of Ritchmond heire of the house of Lancaster and Elizabeth daughter to Edwarde the fourth the vndoubted issue and heire of the house of Yorke whereby as they tearme it the redde Rose and the white were vnited and ioyned together Out of these Roses sprange two noble buddes Prince Arthur and Henry the eldest dying without issue the other of most famous memorie leauing behinde him thrée children Prince Edward the Ladie Marie the Ladie Elyzabeth King Edward liued not long which coulde neuer for that Realme haue liued too long but sharpe frostes bite forwarde springes Easterly windes blasteth towardlye blossoms cruell death spareth not those which we our selues liuing cannot spare The elder sister the Princes Marie succéeded as next heire to the crowne and as it chaunced next heire to the graue touching whose life I can say little bicause I was scarse borne and what others say of me shall bée forborne This Quéene being disceased Elyzabeth being of the age of xxii yeares of more beautie then honour and yet of more honour then any earthly creature was called from a prisoner to be a Prince from the castell to the crowne from the feare of loosing hir heade to bée supreame heade And here Ladies it may be you will moue a question why this noble Lady was either in daunger of death or cause of distresse which had you thought to haue passed in silence I would notwithstanding haue reuealed This Ladie all the time of hir sisters reigne was kept close as one that tendered not those procéedings which were contrary to hir conscience who hauing diuers enimies endured many crosses but so patientlye as in hir deepest sorow she would rather sigh for the libertie of y e gospel then hir owne fréedome Suffering hir inferiours to triumph ouer hir hir foes to threaten hir hir dissembling friends to vndermine hir learning in all this miserie onely the patience y t Zeno taught Eretricus to beare and forbeare neuer séeking reuenge but with good Lycurgus to loose hir owne eye rather than to hurt an others eye But being now placed in the seat royal she first of all stablished religion banished Poperie aduaunced y e word that before was so much defaced who hauing in hir hand the sword to reuenge vsed rather bountifully to reward being as far from rigour when she might haue killed as hir enimies wer frō honestie when they could not giuing a general pardon whē she had cause to vse perticular punishments preferring the name of pittie before the remembrance of perils thinking no reuenge more princely than to spare when she might spill to staye when she might strike to profer to saue with mercie when shée might haue destroyed with Iustice. Héere is the clemencie worthy commendation admiration nothing inferiour to y e gentle dispositiō of Aristides who after his exile did not so much as note them that banished him saying with Alexander that there can bée nothing more noble then to doe well to those that deserue ill This mightie and mercifull Quéene hauing manye billes of priuate persons that sought before time to betray hir burnt them all resemblyng Iulius Caesar who being presented with the lyke complaints of his Commons threwe them into the fire saying that he had rather not know the names of Rebelles than haue occasion to reuenge thinking it better to be ignorant of those that hated him than to be angry with them This clemencie did hir Maiestie not onely shewe at hir comming to y e crowne but also throughout hir whole gouernmēt whē she hath spared to shed their blouds that sought to spill hirs not racking the Lawes to extremitie but mittigating the rigour with mercy insomuch as it may be sayd of y e royall Monarch as it was of Antonius surnamed the godly Emperour who reigned many yeares without the effusion of bloud What greater vertue can ther be in a prince thā mercy what greater praise than to abate the edge which she should whet to pardon where she should punish to reward where she shoulde revenge I my selfe being in England when hir Maiestie was for hir recreation in hir Barge vppon the Thames hard of a Gun that was shot off though of the partie vnwittingly yet to hir noble person daungerously which facte she most gratiouslye pardoned accepting a iust excuse before a great amends taking more griefe
for the smart all for a kinde of a louing smacke Lette euerye one followe his fancie and say that is best which he lyketh best And so commit euerye mans delight to his own choice my selfe to all your courtesies Yours to vse Iohn Lyly Euphues and his England EVphues hauing gotten all thinges necessarie for his voyage into England accompanied onelye with Philautus tooke shipping the first of December 1579. by our English Computation Who as one resolued to sée that with his eyes which he had oftentimes heard with his eares beganne to vse this perswasion with his friende Philautus aswell to counsell him how hée shoulde behaue himselfe in England as to comfort him being nâ—we on the Seas As I haue sound thée willing to be a fellowe in my trauaile so woulde I haue thee ready to be a follower of my counsaile in the one shalt thou shewe thy good wil in the other manifest thy wisedome We are nowe sayling into an Iland of small compasse as I gesse by their Maps but of great ciuilitie as I heare by their matters which if it be so it behooueth vs to be more inqâ—isttiue of their conditions then of their countrey â— more darefull to marke the natures of their men then curiouâ— to note the situation of the place And surely me thinketh we cannot better bestowe our time on the Sea then in aduice how to behaue our selues when we come to the shore for greater daunger is there to ariue in a straunge countrey where the inhabitauntes be politique then to be tossed with the troublesome waues where the Marriners be vnskilfull Fortune guideth men in the rough Sea but wisdome ruleth them in a straunge land If trauailers in this our age were as warie of their conditions as they be venterous of their bodyes or an willinge to reape prosâ—te by their paiâ—eâ— as they are to endure peril for their pleasure they would either prefer their own soyle before a straunge land or good counsell before their owne conceite But as the young scholler in Athens went to heare Demosthenes eloquence at Corinth and was entangled with Lais beautie so most of our trauailers which pretende to gette a smacke of straunge language to sharpen their wittes are infected with vanitie by following their wils Daunger and delight grow both vpon one stalke the Rose and the Canker in one bud white and blacke are commonly in one border Seing then my good Philautus that we are not to conquer wild beasts by fight but to confer with wise meÌ„ by policie we ought to take greater héede that we be not entrapped in folly then feare to be subdued by force And héere by the way it shall not be amisse aswell to driue away the tediousnes of time as to delight our selues with talke to rehearse an old treatise of an auncient Hermit who méeting with a Pilgrime at his Cell vttered a straunge and delightfull tale which if thou Philautus art disposed to heare and these present attentiue to haue I will spend some time about it knowing it both fit for vs that be trauailers to learne witte and not vnfit for these that be Merchaunts to get wealth Philautus although the stumpes of loue so sticked in his minde that he rather wished to heare an Eelegie in Ouid then a tale of an Hermit yet was he willing to lend his care to his friende who had left his heart with his Lady for you shal vnderstand that Philautus hauing read the cooling Carde which Euphues sent him sought rather to aunswere it then allowe it And I doubt not but if Philautus fall into his olde vaine in England you shall heare of his newe deuice in Italy And although some shall think it impertinent to the historie they shall not finde it repugnant no more then in one nosegay to sette two flowers or in one counterfait two coulours which bringeth more delight then disliking Philautus aunswered Euphues in this manner MY good Euphues I am as willing to heare thy tale as I am to bée pertaker of thy trauaile yet I knowe not how it commeth to passe that my eyes are eyther heauie against foule weather or my heade so drowsie against some ill newes that this tale shall come in good time to bring me a sléepe and then shal I get no harme by the Hermit though I get no good the other that were then in the shippe flocked about Euphues who beganne in this manner THere dwell some-times in the Iland Scyrum an auncient Gentleman called Cassander who aswel by his being a long gatherer as his trade being a lewd vsurer wared so welthy that he was thought to haue almost al the money in that countrey in his owne coffers beeing both aged and sickly found such weaknesse in him-selfe that he thought nature would yéelde to death and phisicke to his diseases This Gentleman had one onelye sonne who nothing resembled the father either in fancie or fauour which the olde man perceiuing disseâ—ilised with him both in nature and honestie whom he caused to be called vnto his bedsid and the chamber being boyded he brake with him in these tearmes Callimachus for so was hée called thou art too young to dye and I too olde to liue yet as nature must of necessitie pay hir debt to death so must she also shew hir deuotion to thée whom I a-liue had to be y e comforte of myne age and whome alone I must leaue behynde mee for to bée the onelye maintayner of all myne honour If thou couldest aswell conceiue the care of a father as I canne leuell at the nature of a childe or wer I as able to vtter my affection towards a sonne as thou oughtest to shew thy duty to thy â—ire theÌ„ wouldest thou desire my lyfe to enioy my counsell and I shoulde correct thy life to amende thy conditions yet so tempered as neither rigor might detract any thing from affection in me or feare any whit from thée in duty But séeing my self so feeble that I cannot liue to be thy guid I am resolued to giue thée such counsell as may do thée good wherein I shall shewe my care and discharge my duetie My good Sonne thou art to receiue by my death wealth and by my counsel wisdome and I woulde thou wert as willing to imprint the one in thy heart as thou wilt be readie to beare the other in thy purse To bée rich is the gift of Fortune to be wise the grace of God Haue more minde on thy bookes then thy bags more desire of godlinesse then gold greater affection to dye wel then to liue wantonly But as the Cypresse trée the more it is watered the more it withereth and the oftner it is lopped the sooner it dyeth so vnbrideled youth the more it is also by graue aduice counselled or due correction controlled the sooner it falleth to confusion hating all reasons that woulde bring it from folly as that trée doth all remedies that should make it fertile Alas Callimachus when wealth
shaddow be set downe And yet for the great good will thou bearest mée I cannot reiect thy seruice but I wil not admit thy loue But if either my friends or my selfe my goods or my good will may stande thée in stead vse me trust me commaunde me as farre forth as thou canst with modestie and I may graunt with mine honour If to talke with mée or continualye to bée in thy companye maye in anye respecte satistic thy desyre assure thy selfe I will attende on thée as dilygently as thy Nourse and bée more carefull for thée than thy Phisition More I can-not promise with-out breache of my faith more thou canst not aske without the suspition of folly Héere Fidus take this Diamond which I haue heard olde women say to haue bene of great force against idle thoughts vaine dreames and phrenticke imaginations which if it doe thée no good assure thy selfe it can doe thée no harme and better I thinke it against such inchaunted fantasies then either Homers Moly or Plynies Centaurio When my Lady had ended this straunge discourse I was striken into such a maze that for the space almost of halfe an houre I laye as it had béene in a Traunce mine eyes almost standing in my head without motion my face without coulour my mouth with-out breathe insomuch that Iffida began to scritch out and call companye which called me also to my selfe and then with a faint and trembling tongue I vttered these words LAdy I cannot vse as manye wordes as I would bicause you see I am weake nor giue so many thankes as I should for that you deserue infinit If Thirsus haue planted the Uine I will not gather the Grapes neither is it reason that he hauing sowed w t payne y t I shoulde reape the pleasure This sufficeth me and delighteth me not a lyttle that you are so faithful and he so fortunate Yet good Ladye lette me obtaine one small sute which derogating nothing from your true loue must néeds be lawfull that is that I may in this my sicknesse enioyo your company and if I recouer be admitted as your seruant y e one wil hasten my helth the other prolong my life Shée curteously graunted both and so carefully tended me in my sicknesse that what with hir merry sporting good nourishing I began to gather vp my orumbos and in short time to walk into a Gallery néere adioyning vnto my Chamber where she disdained not to leade mée and so at all times to vse mée as though I had ven Thirsus Euery euening she wold put forth some pretie question or vtter some merry conceit to driue me from melancholie There was no broth that would dosun but of hir making no meate but of hir dressing no sléepe enter into mine eyes but by hir singing insomuch as she was both my Nurse my Cooke and my Phisition Beeing thus by hir for the space of one moneth cherished I wared strong as though I had neuer ben sike NOw Philautus iudge not parcially whether was she a Lady of greater constancie towards Thirfus or curtesie towards mée Philautus thus answered Now surely Fidus in my opinion she was no lesse to be commended for kéeping hir faith inuiolable then to be praised for giuing such almes vnto thée which good behauiour differeth farre from the nature of our Italian Dames who if they be constant they dispise all other that séeme to loue them But I long yet to heare the end for me thinketh a matter begun with such a heate should not ende with a bitter colde O Philautus the ende in short and lamentable but as it is haue it SHe after long recreating of hir selfe in the Countrie repayred againe to the court and so did I also where I lyued as the Elephant doth by Ayre with the sight of my Lady who euer vsing me in all hir secrets as one y t she most trusted But my ioyes were too great to last for euen in the middle of my blisse there came tydings to Iffida that Thirsus was slaine by the Turkes being then in paye with the King of Spaine which battaile was so bloudy that many Gentlemen lost their liues Iffida so distraught of hir wits with these newes fell into a phreÌ„sie hauing nothing in hir mouth but alwayes this Thirsus slaine Thirsus slaine euer doubling this speach with such pitifull cryes and scritches as it would haue moued the souldiers of Vlisses to sorrow At the last by good kéeping and such meanes as by Phisicke were prouided she came againe to hir selfe vnto whom I wryt many letters to take paâ—iently y e death of him whose life could not be recalled diuers she aunswered which I wil shew you at my better leasure But this was most straunge that no sute could allure hir againe to loue but euer she lyued all in blacks not once comming where she was most sought for But within the terme of fiue yeares she began a lyttle to lysten to myne olde sute of whose faithfull meaning she had such tryall as she coulde not thinke that either my loue was builded vpon lust or deceipt But destinie cut of my loue by the cutting of hir lyfe for falling into a hot pestilent feuer she dyed and how I tooke it I meane not to tell it but forsaking the Court presently I haue here lyued euer since and so meane vntill death shall call me NOw GentlemeÌ„ I haue held you to long I feare me but I haue ended at the last You sée what Loue is begunne with griefe continued with sorrow ended with Death A paine full of pleasure a ioye replenyshed with misery a Heauen a Hell a God a Diuell and what not that either hath in it solace or sorrow Where she dayes are spent in thoughts the nights in dreames both in dauÌ„ger either beguyling vs of that we had or promising vs that we had not Full of iealousie without cause voyd of feare when there is cause and so many inconueniences hanging vpon it as to recken them all were infinite and to tast but one of them intollerable Yet in these dayes it is thought the signes of a good wit and the onely vertue peculyar to a courtier for loue they say is in young Gentlemen in clownes it is lust in olde men dotage when it is in all men madnesse But you Philautus whose bloud is in his chiefest heate are to take great care least being ouer warmed w t loue it so inflame the liuer as it driue you into a consumption And thus the old man brought them into dinner where they hauing takeÌ„ their repast Philautus aswell in y e name of Euphues as his owne gaue this a unswere to the olde mans tale these or the like thanks for his cost and curtesie Father I thanke you no lesse for your talke which I found pleasant then for your counsel which I accompt profitable so much for your great chéere and curteous entertainmeÌ„t as it deserueth of those that cannot deserue any I perceiue
and was not founde faithfull to any But I lette that passe leaste thou come in againe with thy fa-burthen and hit me in the téeth with loue for thou hast so charmed me that I dare not speak any word that may be wrested to charity least thou say I meane loue and in truth I thinke there is no more difference betwéene them then betwéene a Broome and a Besome I wil follow thy dyot and thy counsaile I thank thée for thy good will so that I wil now walke vnder the shadow be at thy coÌ„maundemeÌ„t Not so answered Euphues but if thou followe me I dare be thy warrant we will not offende much Much talke there was in the way which much shortned their way and at last they came to London where they met diuers straungers of their friends who in small space brought them familiarly acquainted with certaine English gentlemen who much delighted in the company of Euphues whom they found both â—ober wise yet somtimes merry pleasant They wer brought into all places of the Citie lodged at the last in a Merchaunts house where they continued till a certaine breach They vsed continually the court in the which Euphues tooke such delight that he accoÌ„pted all the prayses he hard of it before rather to be enuious then otherwise to be parcial not giuing so much as it deserued yet to be pardoned bicause they coulde not It hapned y t these English Gentlemen conducted these two straungers to a place wâ—er diuers Gentlewomen were some courtiers others of the country where being welcome they frequented almost euery daye for the space of one moneth entertaining of time in courtly pastimes though not in the court insomuch that if they came not they were sent for and so vsed as they had bene countrymen not straungers Philautus with this continuall accesse and often conference with gentlewomen began to weane himselfe from the counsaile of Euphues and to wed his eyes to the comlinesse of Ladies yet so warily as neither his friend could by narrow watching discouer it neither did he by anye wanton countenaunce bewray it but carying the Image of Loue engrauen in the bottome of his hart and the picture of curtesie imprinted in his face he was thought to Euphues courtly and knowen to himselfe comfortlesse Among a number of Ladies he fixed his eyes vpon one whose countenaunce séemed to promise mercy and threaten mischiefe intermedling a desire of lyking with a disdaine of loue shewing hir selfe in courtesie to be familiar with all and with a certein comely pride to accept none whose wit would commonly taunt without despite but not without disport as one that séemed to abhorre loue worse then lust and lust worse then murther of greater beautie then birth and yet of lesse beautie then honestie which gate hir more honor by vertue then nature could by Art or Fortune might by promotion she was redy of aunswere yet wary shril of speach yet swéete in all hir passions so teÌ„perate as in hir greatest mirth none would think hir wanton neither in hiâ— déepest griefe sullom but alwayes to looke with so sober chéerefulnesse as it was hardly thought where she were more commended for hir grauitie of the aged or for hir courtlinesse of the youth oftentimes delyghted to beare discourses of Loue but euer desirous to bée instructed in Learninge somewhat curyous to héepâ— hir Beautie which made hir comelye but more carefull to increase hir credite which made hir commendable not adding the length of a haire to courtlynesse that might detract the bredth of a haire from chastitie In all hir talke so pleasant in all hir lookes so amiable so graue modesty ioyned with so wittie mirth that they that were entangled with hir beautie were inforced to preferre hir wit before their wils and they that loued hir vertue were compelled to preferre their affections before hir wisdome whose rare qualyties caused so straunge euents that y e wise were allured to vanities and the wantons to vertue much like the riuer in Arabia which turneth golde to drosse and durt to siluer In conclusion there wanted nothing in this English Angell that nature might ad for perfection or Fortune could giue for wealth or God doth commonlye bestowe on mortall creatures And more easie it is in the discription of so rare a personage to imagine what shée had not then to repeate all she had But such a one shée was as almost they al are that serue so noble a Prince such Uirgins cary lightes before such a Vesta such Nymphes arrowes with such a Diana But why goe I about to set hir in blacke and white whome Philautus is now with all colours importraing in the Table of his heart And surely I thinke by this he is halfe madde whom long since I left in a great maze Philautus viewing all these things and more then I haue vttered for that the louers eye perceth déeper with drew himselfe secretly into his lodging and locking his dore began to debate with himselfe in this manner AH thrice vnfortunate is he that is once faithfull and better it is to be a mercilesse souldiour then a true louer the one lyueth by anothers death the other dyeth by his owne lyfe What straunge fits be these Philautus that burne thée with such a heat that thou shakest for cold and all thy bodye in a shiuering sweat in a flaming Yâ—e melteth like wax hardeneth like the Adamant Is it loue then would it were death for likelyer it is that I should loose my life then win my loue Ah Camilla but why doe I name thée when thou dost not heare me Camilla name thée I will though thou hate me But alas y e sound of thy name doth make me sound for griefe What is in me that thou shouldest not despise what is there not in thée that I should not wonder at Thou a woman the last thing God made therefore the best I a man that could not liue without thée and therefore the worst Al things were made for man as a souereigne and man made for woman as a slaue O Camilla woulde either thou hadst bene bred in Italy or I in Englande or woulde thy vertues were lesse then thy beautie or my vertues greater then my affections I see that India bringeth golde but Englande bréedeth goodnesse And had not England béene thrust into a corner of the worlde it would haue filled the whole worlde with woe Where such women are as we haue talked of in Italy heard of in Rome reade of in Greece but neuer found but in this Islande And for my parte I speake softly bicause I will not heare my selfe would there were none such here or such euery where Ah fonde Euphues my déere friende but a simple foole if thou beléeue nowe thy cooling Carde and an obstinate foole if thou doe not recant it But it may be thou layest that Carde for the eleuation of Naples like an Astronomer If it were so I
most colours not that sheweth greatest courtesie A playne tale of Faith ye laugh at a picked discourse of fancie you meruayle at condemning the simplicitie of trueth and preferring the singularitie of deceipt wherin you resemble those fishes y t rather swallow a faire baite with a sharpe hooke then a foulc worme bréeding in the mudde Héereoff it commeth that true louers receiuing a flout for their faith a mocke for their good meaning are enforced to séeke such meanes as might compel you which you knowing impossible maketh you the more disdainful and them the more desperate This then is my counsell that you vse your louers like friends and chuse them by their faith not by the shewe but by the sounde neither by the waight but by the touche as you doe golde so shall you be praised as much for vertue as beautie But return we againe to Philautus who thus began to debate with himselfe WHat hast thou done Philautus in séeking to wound hir that thou desirest to winne With what face canst thou looke on hir whom thou soughtest to loose Fye fye Philautus thou bringest thy good name into question and hir lyfe into hazard hauing neither care of thine owne credit nor hir honour Is this the loue thou pretendest which is worse then hate Didst not thou séeke to poyson hir that neuer pinched thée But why doe I recount those thinges which are past and I repent I am now to consider what I must do not what I would haue done Follies past shall be worn out with faith to come and my death shall shew my desire Write Philautus what sayst thou write no no thy rude stile wil bewray thy meane estate and thy rash attempt wil purchase thine ouerthrow Venus delighteth to heare none but Mercury Pallas wil be stoln of none but Vlisses it must be a smooth tongue and a swéet tale that can enrhaunt Vesta Besides that I dare not trust a messenger to cary it nor hir to read it least in shewing my letter she disclose my loue and then shall I be pointed at of those that hate me and pitied of those that like me of hir scorned of al talked off No Philautus be not thou the bye worde of the common people rather suffer death by silence then derision by writing I but it is better to reueale thy loue then conceale if thou knowest not what bitter poysō lyeth in swéet words remember Psellus who by experience hath tryed that in loue one letter is of more force then a thousand lookes If they like writings they read them often if dislyke them runne them ouer once and this is certeine that she that readeth such toyes will also aunswere them Onely this be secret in conueyaunce which is the thing they thiefliest desire Then write Philautus write he that feareth euery bush must neuer goe a birding he that casteth al doubts shall neuer be resolued in any thing And this assure thy selfe that be thy letter neuer so rude and barbarous she will read it and be it neuer so louing she will not shew it which were a thing contrary to hir honour the next way to cal hir honestie into question For thou hast heard yea and thy selfe knowest that Ladies that vaunt of their Louers or shewe their letters are accompted in Italy counterfaite and in England they are not thought currant Thus Philautus determined hab nab to send his letters flattering himself with the successe which he to him selfe faigned and after long musing he thus began to frame the minister of his loue ¶ To the fayrest Camilla HArde is the choyce fayre Ladye when one is compelled either by silence to dye with griefe or by writing to hue with shame But so swéet is the desire of lyfe and so sharpe are the passions of loue that I am enforced to preferre an vnseemely sute before an vntimely death Loth I haue ben to speake and in dispaire to spéed the one proceeding of mine owne cowardise the other of thy crueltie If thou enquire my name I am the same Philautus which for thy sake of late came disguised in a Maske pleading custome for a priuiledge and curtesie for a pardon The same Philautusm which then in secrette tearmes coloured his loue and nowe with bitter teares bewrayes it If thou nothing estéeme the brynish water that falleth from mine eyes I would thou couldest see the warme bloud that droppeth from my hart Oftentimes I haue bene in thy company where easilye thou mightest haue perceiued my wanne cheekes my hollow eyes my scalding sighes my trembling tongue to foreshew that then which I confesse now Then consider with thy selfe Camilla the plight I am in by desire and the perill I am lyke to fall into by deniall To recount the sorrowes I sustaine or the seruice I haue vowed would rather bréede in thée an admiration then a beliefe only this I adde for the time which y e end shal trie for a truth that if thy aunswere be sharp my life wil be short so farre loue hath wrought in my pining almost consumed body that thou only mayst breath into me a new lyfe or bereaue me of the olde Thou art to weigh not howe long I haue loued thée but how faithfully neither to examine the worthines of my person but the extremitie of my passions so preferring my deserts before the length of time and my disease before the greatnes of my birth thou wilt either yeelde with equitie or deny with reason of both the which although the greatest be on my side yet y e least shal not dislyke me for that I haue alwaies found in thée a minde neither repugnant to right nor voyd of reason If thou wouldest but permit me to talke with thee or by writing suffer me at large to discourse with thée I doubt not but that both the cause of my loue would be beléeued and the extremitie rewarded both procéeding of thy beautie and vertue the one able to allure the other ready to pittie Thou must thinke that God hath not bestowed those rare giftes vppon thée to kill those that are caught but to cure them Those that are stunge with the Scorpion are bealed with the Scorpion the fire that burneth taketh away the heate of the burne the Spider Phalaugium that poysoneth doth with hir skinne make a plaister for poyson and shall thy beautie which is of force to winne all with loue be of the crueltie to wound any with death No Camilla I take no lesse delight in thy faire face then pleasure in thy good cōditions assuring my self that for affection without lust thou wilt not render mallice without cause I commit my care to thy consideration expecting thy letter either as a Cullife to preserue or as a sword to destroy either as Antidotum or as Auconitum If thou delude me thou shalt not long triumph ouer me liuing and small will thy glory be when I am dead And I ende Thine euer though he be neuer thine Philautus
Northeast winde my good Euphues doth neuer last three dayes tempestes haue but a short time and the more violent the thunder is the lesse permanent it is In the like manner it falleth out with the iarres crossings of friendes which begun in a minute are ended in a moment Necessary it is that among friendes there shoulde bée some ouerthwarting but to continue in anger not conuenient the Camill first troubleth the water before he drinke y e Frankencense is burned before it smel friends are tryed before they be trusted least shining like y e Carbuncle as though they had fire they be found being touched to be without fire Friendshippe should be lyke the Wine which Homer much commending calleth Maroneum where-off one pinte being mingled with fiue quartes of water yet it kéepeth his olde strength and vertue not to be quallified by any discourtesie Where salt doth growe nothing els can bréede where friendship is buylt no offence can harbour Then good Euphues let the falling out of friendes be the renuing of affection that in this we maye resemble the bones of the Lyon which lying still and not mooued begin to rot but being striken one against another break out lyke fire and ware greene The anger of friendes is not vnlike vnto the Phisitions Cucurbitae which drawing al the infection in y e body into one place doth purge all diseases and the iarres of friends reaping vp all the hidden mallices or suspitions or follyes that lay lurking in the minde maketh the knot more durable For as the body being purged of melantholy waxeth light and apt to al labour so the minde as it were scoured of mistrust becommeth fit euer after for beléefe But why doe I not confesse that which I haue coÌ„mitted or knowing my self guilty why vse I to glose I haue vniustly my good Euphues picked a quarrell against thée forgetting the counsell thou giuest mée and dispistng that which I nowe desire Which as often as I call to my minde I cannot but blushe to my selfe for shame and fall out with my selfe for anger For in falling out with thée I haue done no otherwise then he that desiring to saile safely killeth him at the helme resembling him that hauing néede to alight spurreth his horse to make him stande still or him that swimming vppon anothers backe séeketh to stoppe his breath It was in thée Euphues that I put all my trust and yet vppon thée that I poured out all my mallice more cruell then the Crocadile who suffereth the birde to bréed in hir mouth that scoureth hir téeth nothing so gentle as the princely Lyon who saued his life that helped his foote But if either thy good nature can forget that which my ill tongue doth repent or thy accustomable kindnes forgiue that my vnbridled furie did commit I will hereafter be as willing to be thy seruant as I am now desirous to be thy friende and as readie to take an iniurie as I was to giue an offence What I haue done in thine absence I wil certifie at thy comming yet I doubt not but thou cannest gesse by my condition yet this I add that I am as readie to die as to liue were I not animated with y e hope of thy good counsell I woulde rather haue suffered the death I wish for then sustained the shame I sought for But nowe in these extremities reposing both my life in thy hands and my seruice at thy commaundement I attend thine aunswere and rest thine to vse more then his owne Philautus THis letter he dispatched by his boyâ— whiche Euphues reading coulde not tell whether he shoulde more reioyce at his friends submission or mistrust his subtiltie therefore as one not resoluing himselfe to determine any thing as yet aunswered him thus immediatelye by his owne messenger Euphues to him that was his Philautus I Haue receiued thy letter and knowe the man I read it and perceiued the matter which I am as farre from knowing howe to aunswere as I was from looking for such an errand Thou beginnest to inferre a necessitie that friendes should fall out when as I cannot allow a conuenience For if it be among such as are faithfull there should be no cause of breach if betwéene dissemblers no care of reconciliation The Camel saist thou loueth water when it is troubled and I say the Hart thirsfeth for the cleare streame and fitly diddest thou bring it in against thy self though applyed it I knowe not how aptly for thy selfe for such friendship doest thou like where braules may be stirred not quietnesse sought The wine Maroneum which thou commendest and the salt ground which thou inferrest the one is neither fit for thy drinkng nor the other for thy tast for such strong Wines will ouer-come such light wittes and so good salt cannot relysh in so vnsauory a mouth neither as thou desirest to applye them can they stande thée in stéede For oftentimes haue I founde much Water in thy déedes but not one drop of such wine and the ground where salt shoulde growe but neuer one corne that had sauour After many reasons to conclude that iarres were requisite thou faâ—â—est to a kind of submission which I meruayle at For if I gaue no cause why diddest thou picke a quarrell if anye why shouldest thou craue a pardon If thou canst defie thy best friende what wilt thou doe to thine enemie Certeinely this must néedes ensue that if thou canst not be constant to thy friende when he doth thée good thou wilt neuer beare with him when he shall doe thée harme thou that séekest to spill the bloude of the innocent canst she we small mercie to an offender thou that treadest a Worme on the tayle wilt crush a Waspe on the heade thou that art angrye for no cause wilt I thinke runne madde for a light occasion Truely Philautus that once I loued thée I can-not deny that now I should againe do so I refuse For smal confidence shall I repose in thée when I am guiltie that can finde no refuge in innocencie The mallyce of a friende is like the sting of an Aspe which nothing can remedie for being pearced in y e hande it must be cut off and a friend thrust to the heart it must be pulled out I had as liefe Philautus haue a wound that inwardly might lightly grieue me then a scarre that outwardly should greatly shame me In that thou séemest so earnest to craue attonement thou causest me the more to suspect thy trueth for either thou art compelled by necessitie then it is not worth thankes or els disposed againe to abuse me and then it deserueth reuenge Eeles cannot be held in a wet hand yet are they stayed with a bitter Figge leafe the Lamprey is not to be killed with a cugell yet is she spoyled with a cane so friends that are so slipperye wauering in all their dealings are not be kept with faire and smooth talke but with rough sharpe taunts contrariwise
like one that had bene vesmered there is no harme done for I perceiue Camilla is other wise sped if I be not much deceiued she is a flower for Surius wearing the penaunce she shall haue is to make you a Nosegay which she shall not denye thée vnlesse she defie vs and the rewarde thou shalt haue is this while you tary in England my Néece shall be your Uiolet This Ladyes Cousin was named Frauncis a fayre Gentlewoman and a wise young and of very good conditions not much inferiour to Camilla equal shee coulde not be Camilla who was loath to be accompted in any company coye endeauoured in the presence of the Lady Flauia to be very courteous and gathered for Philautus a pofie of all the finest flowers in the garden saying thus vnto him I hope you will not be offended Philautus in that I could not be your Rose but imputing the fault rather to desteny than discourtesie Philautus plucking vp his spirites gaue hir thankes for hir paynes and immediatelye gathered a Uyolette which he gaue Mistresse Frauncis which shée courteously receiued thus all partes were pleased for that time Philautus was inuited to dinner so that he coulde no longer staye but pulling out the booke where-in his letter was enclosed he deliuered it to Camilla taking his humble leaue of the Lady Flauia and the rest of the Gentlewomen When he was gone there fell much talke of him betweene the Gentlewomen one commending his wit an other his personage some his fauour all his good conditions insomuch that the Lady Flauia bounde it with an othe that she thought him both wise and honest When the company was dissolued Camilla not thinking to receiue an aunswere but a lecture went to hir Italian booke where she founde the letter of Philautus who without any further aduise as one very much offended or in a great heate sent him this bone to gnaw vppon To Philautus SUfficed it not thée Philautus to bewray thy follyes moue my patience but thou must also procure in me a minde to reuenge and to thy selfe the meanes of a farther perill Where diddest thou learne that being forbidden to be bolde thou shouldest growe impudent or being suffered to be familiar thou shouldest ware haile fellowe But to so malepert boldnesse is the demeanour of young Gentlemen come that where they haue béene once welcome for curtesie they thinke themselues worthie to court any Lady by cumstomes wherin they imagine they vse singuler audacitie which we can no otherwise terme then saucinesse thinking women are to bée drawen by their coyned coâ—nterfait conceipts as the strawe is by the Aumber or the yron by the Loadstone or the gold by the minerall Chrysocholla But as there is no serpent that can bréede in the Box trée for the hardnesse nor will builde in the Cypres trée for the bitternesse so is there no fonde or poysoned louer that shall enter into my heart whiche is hardned like the Adamant nor take delight in my wordes which shalbe more bitter then Gall. It fareth with thée Philautus as with the droone who hauing lost his owne wings séekes to spoyle the Bées of theirs and thou being clipped of thy libertie goest about to bereaue me of mine not farre differing from the natures of Dragons who sucking bloude out of the Elephant kill him with the same poyson themselues and it may be that by the same meanes that thou takest in hand to inueigle my minde thou entrappe thine owne a iust rewarde for so vniust dealing and a fit reueng for so vnkinde a regard But I trust thy purpose shall take no place and that thy millice shall want might wherein thou shalt resemble the serpent Porphirius who is full of poyson but being toothlesse he hurteth none but him-selfe and I doubt not but thy mind is as ful of deceipt as thy words are of flatterie but hauing no téeth to bite I haue no cause to feare I had not thought to haue vsed so sower words but where a wande cannot rule the horse a spurre muste WheÌ„ gentle medicines haue no force to purge we must vse bitter potions and where the sore is neither to bée dissolued by plaister nor to be broken it is requisite it should be launced Hearbes that are the worse for watering are to be rooted out trées that are lesse fertile for the lopping are to be hewen downe Hawkes that ware haggard by manning are to be cast off fonde louers that encrease in their follies when they be reiected are to bee dispised But as to be without haire amongst the Mycanions is accompted no shame bicause they be all borne balde so in Italy to liue in loue is thought no fault for that there they are all giuen to lust which maketh thée to coniecture that we in England recken loue as the chiefest vertue which we abhorre as the greatest vice which groweth like the Iuie about the trées and killeth them by culling them Thou art alwayes talking of loue and applying both thy witte and thy wealth in that idle trade onelye for that thou thinkest thy selfe amiable not vnlike vnto the Hedgehogge who euermore lodgeth in the thornes bicause hee himselfe is full of prickells But take this both for a warning and an aunswere that if thou procecute thy suite thou shalt but vndoe thy selfe for I am neither to be wooed with thy passions whilest thou liuest nor to repent me of my rigor when thou art deade which I woulde not haue thée thinke to procéede of any hate I beare thée for I mallyce none but for loue to mine honour which neither Italian shall violate nor English man diminish For as the precious stone Chalazyas being throwen into the fire kéepeth still his colduesse not to be warmed with any heate so my heart although dented at with the arrowes of thy burning affections and as it were enuironed with the fire of thy loue shall alwayes kéepe his hardnesse and bée so farre from being mollysted that thou shalt not perceiue it moued The Uiolet Ladie Flauia bestowed on thée I wishe thée and if thou like it I will further thée otherwise if thou persist in thine olde follyes whereby to encrease my newe griefes I will neuer come where thou art nor shalt thou haue accesse to the place where I am For as little agréement shall there bée betwéene vs as is betwixt the Uine and the Cabish the Dke and the Dlyue trée the Serpent and the Ash trée the Yron and Theamides And if euer thou diddest loue mée manifest it in this that héereafter thou neuer write to me so shal I both be perswaded of thy faith and eased of mine owne feare But if thou attempt againe to wring water out of the Pommice thou shalt but bewray thy falshood and augment thy shame and my seueritie For this I sweare by hir whose lightes can neuer die Vesta and by hir whose heasts are not to be broken Diana that I wil neuer consent to loue him whose sight if
I may so say with modestie is more bitter vnto mée then death If this aunswere will not content thée I will shewe thy letters disclose thy loue and make thée ashamed to vndertake that which thou cannesse neuer bring to passe And so I end thine if thou leaue to be mine Camilla CAmilla dispatched this letter with spéede and sent it to Philautus by hir man whiche Philautus hauing read I commit the plight he was in to the consideration of you Gentlemen that haue bene in the like hée tare his haire rent his clothes and fell from the passions of a Louer to the panges of phrensie but at the last calling his wittes to him forgetting both the charge Camilla gaue him and the contents of hir letter he gréeted hir immediately againe with an aunswere by hir owne Messenger in this manner To the cruell Camilla greeting IF I were as farre in thy beekes to be beléeued as thou art in mine to be beloued theu shouldest either soone be made a wife or euer remaine a Hirgin the one woulde ridde me of hope the other acquit mée of feare But séeing there wanteth witte in mée to perswade and will in thée to consent I meane to manifest she beginning of my loue by the ende of my lyfe the affectes of the one shall appeare by the effects of the other When as neither solempne oath nor sound perswasion nor any reason can work in thée a remorce I meane by death to shew my desire the which the sooner it commeth the swéeter it shalbe and the shortnesse of the force shall abate the sharpnesse of the sorrow I can-not tell whether thou laugh at my folly or lament my phrensie but this I say and with salt teares trickling downe my chéekes I sweare that thou neuer foundest more pleasure in reiecting my loue than thou shalt féele payne in remembring my losse and as bitter shall lyfe be to thee as death to me and as sorrowfull shall my friendes be to sée thée prosper as thine glad to see me perish Thou thinkest all I write of course and makest all I speake of small accompt but God who reuengeth the periuries of the dissembler is witnesse of my trueth of whome I desire no longer to lyue than I meane simply to loue I will not vse many words for if thou be wise fewe are sufficient if froward superfluous one lyne is inough if thou be courteous one word too much if thou be cruel Yet this I adde that in bitternes of soule that neither my hande dareth write that which my heart intendeth nor my tongue vtter that which my hande shall execute And so fare-well vnto whom onely I wish well Thine euer though shortly neuer Philautus THis letter being written in the extremitie of his rage he sent by him that brought hirs Camilla perceiuing a fresh reply was not a lyttle melancholy but digesting it with company and burning the Letter she determined neuer to write to him nor after that to sée him so resolute was she in hir opinion I dare not saye obstinate least you Gentlewomen should take Pepper in the nose when I put but salte in your mouthes But this I dare boldly affirme that ladies are to be woed with Appelles pencill Orpheus harpe Mercuries tongue Adoms beautie Croesus wealth or els neuer to be wonne for their beauties being blazed their eares tickeled their mindes moued their eyes pleased their appetite satisfied their Coffers filled when they haue al things they shold haue and would haue then men néede not to stande in doubt of their comming but of their constancie But let me follow Philautus who now both loathing his lyfe and cursing his lucke called to remembraunce his olde friend Euphues whom he was wont to haue alwayes in mirth a pleasaunt companion in griefe a comforter in all his lyfe the only stay of his lybertie the discurtesie which he offered him so increased his griefe that he fell into these termes of rage as one either in an Extacie or in a Lunacie NOw Philautus dispute no more with thy selfe of thy loue but be desperate to ende thy lyfe thou hast cast off thy friend and thy Lady hath forsaken thée thou destitute of both canst neither haue comfort of Camilla whoÌ„ thou séest obstinate nor counsaile of Euphues whom thou hast made enuious Ah my good friend Euphues I sée now at length though too late that a true friend is of more price then a kingdome and that the faith of thée is to be preferred before the beautie of Camilla For as safe being is it in the companie of a trustie mate as sléeping in the grasse Trifole where there is no Serpent so venemous that dare vâ—nture Thou wast euer carefull for my estate and I carelesse for thine thou didst alwayes feare in me the fire of loue I euer flattered my selfe with y e bridle of wisdome when thou wast earnest to giue me counsaile I wartâ— angry to heare it if thou diddest suspect me vppon iuâ—te cause I fell out with thée for euery lyght occasion now now Euphues I sée what it is to want a friend and what it is to lose one thy words are come to passe which once I thought thou spakest in sporte but now I finde them as a Prophecie that I shoulde be constrayned to stand at Euphues dore as the true owner What shal I do in this extremitie which way shal I turne me of whom shal I seeke remedy Euphues wil reiect thée and why should he not Camilla hath reiected me why should she the one I haue offended with too much griefe the other I haue serued with too great good will the one is lost with loue the other with hate he for that I cared not for him she bicause I cared for hir I but though Camilla be not to be moued Euphues may be mollified Trye him Philautus sue to him make frieÌ„ds write to him leaue nothing vndone that may either shewe in thée a sorrowfull heart or moue in him a minde that is pitiful Thou knowest he is of nature courteous one that hateth none that loueth thée that is tractable in al things Lyons spare those that couch to them the Tygresse byteth not when she is clawed Cerberus barketh not if Orpheus pipe swéetely assure thy selfe that if thou be penitent be wil be pleased and the olde friendship wil be better than the new Thus Philautus ioying now in nothing but onely in the hope he had to recouer y t friendship with repentance which he had broken off by rashnesse determined to gréet his friend Euphues who all this while lost no time at his booke in London but how he employed it he shal him self vtter for that I am neither of his counsaile nor court but what he hath done he will not conceale for rather he wisheth to bewray his ignoraunce than his idlenes and willynger you shall finde him to make excuse of rudenesse than lasinesse But thus Philautus saluted him Philautus to Euphues THe sharpe