aspyre to the height of her haughtie minde The younge Gentleman thinking that his â—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 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 the 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 conteÌ„plation 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 with solitarinesse setting her crueltie towardes him against his curtesie towards her her visdainfulnes against his owne dutifulnes he soone set himself free froÌ„ 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 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
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 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 vnderstaÌ„d 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 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 teÌ„der 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 Sâ—une out of the world for that it parcheth the summers 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
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 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 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 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 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 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 shal bee 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 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 the 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 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
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 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 coÌ„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 you may auoyde the like incoÌ„uenience 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 hurtâ— 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 â—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 whereby he should incur the Kings displeasure and per coÌ„sequens 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 the 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 shal be 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 shal be 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 coÌ„moditie to neglect mine owne honour neither wil I haue more consideration of the stay of my Countrie 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
thou art rated at to high a price to be reached auaunte foule beastly baâ—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 agâ—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 bâ—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 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 exaÌ„ple of his owne daughter Ariadne who betraied him to her louer Thesius by the exaÌ„ple of Medea who betraied her father to Iason by the example of Hyppodamé who procured y death of her father by matching with Pelops And therfore al doubtes done away I wil without delay put the policie of Pandar â–ª 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 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 vpoÌ„ 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 prehemineÌ„ce 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 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 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
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 assonâ— 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 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 coÌ„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 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 manâ—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 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 shal be 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