good part of Orians annoyance troubles I do thinke that they shuld also féele of hir ease and aduancement I commende theÌ„ vnto you assuring you that the greatest pleasure that I can haue in my olde age and yeares is that your bretheren â—alaor and Floristan were maried that I or euer I die maye sée my selfe reuiue againe in them by the linage of you all And therefore I pray you to looke vnto the thing that I haue told you and as soone as ye may Amadis Oration to hys companions offering them a recompence for their trauells which they suffered in the warres for his loue In the .4 booke the .25 Chapter MY companions and friendes the great trauels paines that are paste the which ye haue sustained in this last warre do well deserue that now ye should giue your selues and your minds to rest and pleasure And in asmuch as I am bound vnto you I assay proue by al meanes to cause you to haue the thing that I shal perceiue know ye haue most affection vnto for I by your good helpe that ye haue gyuen and shewen me haue obtained the thing that I loued best in al the world that is my lady Oriane Therefore I pray you with al my hart that euery one of you do presently declare shew me if he pretend or haue any minde to any of these Ladyes Damsels that be here assuring you by the faith of a knight so to labour therin that with the good contentation wyll of their friendes they shall beleue me in that that I shal desire and pray them And furthermore ye know how that Kyng Arauigne Barsinan and many other our prisoners leauing and forsaking the vertue whervnto they were bounde by the order of chiualrie haue exercised asmuch as they could so great tyrannie that they are not worthy of any raunsome but of great punishment for the greuousnesse of their treasons And therfore I do thinke ye should deuise to part and deuide their goods among you And as touching me I quite and refuse my part holding my selfe a great deale more than satisfyed if I might finde and haue the meanes and wayes perticularly to do you pleasure or seruice that might content you The Oration of Bruneo of Good Mere to the Citizens of the towne to the which the Queene of Dace had brought theÌ„ to succor theÌ„ admonishing them to kepe theÌ„ good and true for the iust quarell of their Prince against his enimie In the .4 booke the .27 Chapter LOrds Citizens the loue that ye shew to this yong Prince your liege Lord doth binde him very much as long as he shall liue to will you well The confidence that he hath in you shoulde moue you to honor him ye sée that he is yong and hath little meanes and helpe to chase his enimie out of his borders the which as ye know did murder through treason the last King your good Prince and afterwardes thinking to vsurpe his kingdome he besieged the principall citie and kéepeth it so straight that without your aide it is in danger to be wonne and destroyed with those good men knightes that â—re within it Therefore my maisters the Citizens nowe that the occasion dothe offer it selfe by the returne of the Quéene your good mystresse that bringeth with hir the knightes of the inclosed Isle of the which I am one propose your selues to reuenge the iniurie that ye haue receyued by the traitour and so to labour that your leige Lordes may be set into their lands againe ensuring you if ye wil folow me that I will â—inde a meanes sodenly to take him and his armie and to destroy him by the fauour and helpe of my companions that are within the towne the which shall not faile to come forthe assone as they shall sée the signe that I wyll gyue them Amadis Oration to Dragonis promising him in fauour of the trauells that be past to cause the Realme of the profounde Isle to fall into his handes and to accorde the mariage betweene him and Estoillette In the fourthe booke the .29 Chapter MY cousin since that ye left vs we haue made many mariages of the principallest knightes that be here wyth those that they desired long since And besides this King Arauigne Barsinan and other our prisoners landes and countreys by the consent of al haue bene parted and diuided and bicause of your absence ye were forgotten but good as ye shall vnderstande hath prouided I haue presently bene aduertised by a certaine Esquire that since our departing from Lubanâ—â— the King of the profound Isle the which was wouÌ„ded and hurt is departed vpon the sea a fewe dayes after he toke shipping thinking to returne and retire and therâ—ore I shall cause his Realme to fall into your hands and so ye shal haue by this meanes Estoilletti to your wyfe whom ye haue loued of long time and wel worthy being faire wise and a vertuous Princesse issued of a king of two cotâ—s and aswell loued of Oriane as any other that I knowe I thinke that a man for your contentatioÌ„ cannot better satisfie you thaÌ„ to make you ioyfull of the thing that ye loue and estéeme more than your selfe A complaint of Darioletta for Amadis the which was besieged on euery parte by hir occasion In the fourth booke the .23 Chapter ALas caitife and vnfortunate that I am shuld it be that by my occasion the best knight of the world should die How shall I dare from henceforth appeare are before the king his father and the Quéene or any of his friends knowing the euil that I haue purchast him Ah ah vnfortunate and more vnfortunate than I can saye if in tymes paste I was a meane to saue his life by the inuention of a cradle wherein I put him wheÌ„ he was cast and deliuered to the mercie of the waues and surges of the sea now cleane contrarie I haue aâ—aunced the ende of his dayes when I most trusted to haue had aide and support of him Alas had I not my vnderstanding wit wel aduised when I found him by the sea side and would not suffer him so muche as to returne to the castell Apolidon to take his leaue of my lady Oriane froÌ„ whence he might haue brought some other knightes by whom he might haue had some helpe But what who should receiue punishment but I to much hated of good fortune that hath done a deede of a light and of a too euill forecasâ—ing woman Belan doth sharpely reproue hys sonne Brunor of treason and that he agaynste his fathers promise besieged Amadis In the .4 booke the .34 Chapter INfamous villaine durst thou falsifie my word in the thing that I haue promised wretch that thou art what honour or what gaine canst thou haue of suche an euyll turne and déede as thou haste done seing it was not in thy power to reuoke my life if death had called me and lesse to haue excused thée of treason ending
those that do require it of you Thus much Madame the high gods maintaine you dayly in their communication inspiring you with a will inclined to my iuste quarrell The same which is alwayes readie to serue your royall maiestie Lucidor of Vengeance Luâ—idor de Vengeurs letter to Florisel of Niquea In the .10 booke the .6 Chapter LVcidor the Vengeur the naturall Prince of Fraunce of Secilo Apolonia by aliaÌ„ce to thée Florisel of Niquea misfortune for all salutation I required thée not long since louingly to restore me my wife spouse Helen whom bothe agaynst God and reason thou hast taken from me in hir fathers house the which thing thou haste refused to doe against all diuine and humaine lawe by the meanes whereof I saie that thou hast done an acte of a brigant a ruffin a rauisher and of a wicked adulterer So I defie thée with fire and bloude thy friendes sautors and alies to bring thée with mine to suche reason that shortly thou shalt come to my mercie to receiue punishment after my contentation and pleasure The answere of Florisel to Lucidor the Vengeurs letter In the 10. booke the .6 Chapter LVcidor the Vengeur Florisel of Niquea Prince of two Empirs c. hath receiued thy presumptuous letter of defiaÌ„ce where vpon he doth answere thée that neuer did thing that a gentelman a louer of his honour ought not to do aduertising thée againe that Helen of Apolonia is my wife and spouse the which he shall defend against thée and all ether that for hir will quarrell with him with suche a charge that thou and thine shall curse the houre that euer ye girded sword against the Grecians for the wounde sake that shall bléede vpon all thy posteritie and confederates for by the vniust refuse of the conditions and offers vnto the which I submitted me thou hast made of thy right thy wrong Wherby we haue God on our side the which by his iustice doth continually punishe the proude nor he shall not suffer thée to vsurpe the right of vengeance that is namely reserued to his diuinitie Florisel letter to the Soudan of Niquea demaunding helpe of him against Lucidor In the .10 booke the .6 Chapter MY Lord fortune hath willed and fauoured me so well to ioyne me in mariage with Helen the Princesse of Apolonia and although the forme maner be somewhat light through the force that I was compelled to vse and so bring hir to Constantinople so it is that to purge the foreset that men might pretend I afterwardes made them so many lawfull offers that the right remaineth on my side hauing offered the aliance of our house to Lucidor the Prince of Fraunce with whom there was some seeing of hir mariage in so muche that the thing done alreadie cannot be vndone Yet for all that he hath not ceased too importunately to trouble me vntill he sent to me my parents fautors and alies a letter of defiance of fire and bloud by sea and by lande pretending as he doth write not only to take my wife fro me but also my head wherof I was minded to aduertise your imperiall maiestie trusting that you will not faile me in this matter My Lorde I beséeche the creator to giue your highnesse a good and a long life Anaxartes writing to Princesse Orian doth complaine him of hir rigour doth pray hir to draw him out of the exile where vnto she sent him In the .10 booke .6 Chapter MAdame the selfe same doth present you health from whoÌ„ ye haue taken it desiring the fulnesse of the houres fortunes of this world to hir that hath cast him into the fountaine of all misfortunes the which he esteemeth lesse than the desperation of your good grace wherein ye haue plunged him through your last rigor the which if he felte that there were any offence in him that might give you any occasion to be rude and hard vnto him he would not onely go about to aske you mercie and forgiuenesse but he would reuenge you vpon himself doing more than the Pelicane for hir little ones but if this be his affection to measure this cause by your extreme beautie he hath neuerthelesse restrained it with the bridle of reason against nature And it he in so little accesse and conuersation that he hath had with you did not once twinckle with his eye to the interest and hurt of your highnesse much lesse he hath hazarde his tong to chaunge the face of his wery heart What reason can ye pretend thus to banishe him from the fruition of your sight for léesing that he séemeth to lyue in darknesse but that the continual flame of his heart cleareth him the which had béen burnt long since consumed to ashes if my ordinarie teares had not béen wherewith I mortifyed it May it please you then for all satisfaction that not I but loue hathe merited for mée to call me againe from this exile or at leastwyse to make me vnderstande euen by your owne hand the conception of your spirite and minde that which mine cannot comprehende if ye desire not the shortâ— death of him whose onelye thought of your excellencie doth sustaine him in a sorowfull life The Oration of the Prince Dom Florisel of Niquea to the Kings Princes Captaines and souldiers of his armie setting before their eyes the victories obtained by their predecessors against many nations and that they should vse modestly the victorie if it be giuen them and to consider that they haue to doe with a victorious nation In the .10 booke the 18. Chapter RIght mightie Emperours Kings Princes valiant captaines and souldiers if the time that is past had not lefte vs the memorie of the noble and vertuous actes of our predecessors and also of many that are yet aliue and present in this battel I would haue esteemed it reasonable ynough that I seing it hath pleased you to chose me the head of this armie notwithstanding I am vnworthy in price and comparison of diuers that are among you should haue made you an Oration to excite your hearts to magnanimitie and valiantnesse but youre vertue knowen already among the Troyans Romaines and Carthagiens the whiche haue oftentimes proued the strength of your armes doth excuse me of thys payne turneth my prayer to God beséeching him through his grace to maintaine audacitie and boldnesse in those from whom as yet it neuer departed Our victory if it so plese him is without doubt the which comming I pray you my Lords and friends to stand and persist in your ranges moderating the heat of your execution so that the rape and pray y which afterwardes cannot scape vs set no man out of his aray whereby we may léese that is certain and reuolt and turne fortune Furthermore I aduise you not to disprayse nor to contemne your enimies but to esteeme them as much as ye thinke your selues to be worth for of a troth the French meÌ„ with whome ye shall haue to doe
paragon of all men such as I iudge you to be nor to associate any other vnworthy of the giftes and graces that nature and fortune hath moste largely giuen mee and finding you appointed to another Lady I remayne tormented with an incurable sicknesse the whiche doth receiue some lightning and rest discouering my heart to you This done I haue purposed to depart from this countrey to returne into my owne realme considering that from henceforth there is nothing more to be séene worthie of memorie and that the greatest strokes of the combattes of the valiant men of both parties are fallen and giuen Thus not béeing able to accomplish my desire as touching you I pray you not to take it in euill part but to lay the fault to loue of whom ye know the power and might the which is such vpon me that my will shal neuer be changed nor set vpon any other but by your consent to the which I wholy submit myselfe my honour saued The answere of Amadis of France to Queene Cleofila In the 10. booke the .28 Chapter MAdame I humbly thanke you for the good affection that it pleaseth you to shew me and I prayse God that giuing you such affection ye drawe to him that doth accept it with such discretion and iudgement as is conuenient for your honestie promising with good heart to answere it vntill I haue quited me to you wardes of so good a knight as I thinke my selfe to be to the intent that your fayth be no longer charged The Oration of Dom Florisell of Niquea to Lucidorâ— In the 10. booke the .30 Chapter LVcidor I haue alreadie by letters caused you sufficiently to vnderstand howe little right yâ— haue in this quarell offering you vpon conditions more than liberall to the which I was not bounde in respect of the tranquilitie of our people the which I neyther came nowe to augmentâ—â—â—â— to diminish but onely to vnderstande whether the iourneyes or battailes past alreadie in the whichâ—ye haue knowne your disaduantage haue not reduced you to reason This is the summe of this that hath led me and brought me The answere of Lucidor to Dom Florisell of Niquea In the 10. booke the .30 Chapter FLorisell if I had had so féeble a courage as ye lay vnto me I woulde first haue parleyed and spoken of the matter and not haue accepted the battell our continuance and preparation doth cause you oftentimes to doe the contrarie As â—â—ncerning the aduersitie of Fortune that as ye alledge vnto vs in certaine combats we haue proued and ye knowe â—ull well that at tymes ye haue felt part your selfe And if it were so yet the hazarde thereof through his ordinarie varietie woulde nowe cause me to trust to be better as nowe it hath done ioyning vnto vs the newe ayde and succour that God hath sent vs by the valiant king of Thir. Therefore thinke not to conuert and â—urne me at all by such wordes but be you certaine that through the confidence that I haue in him and in the iustice of my cause I will tarie for such an ende as he shall giue vs in the battell leauing you the assurance that ye hold in Fortune the which before this hath béene fauourable vnto you lifting you vp to the highest part of his whéele to abase you downe the more lower Phalanges Oration to his companions and Souldiours shewing them that the prognostication of birdes are not to be feared seing that they must fight against men and not agaynst birds furthermore that their enimies do march and go in companies greatly extended enlarged the which is an easie thing to be broken In the .10 booke the .31 Chapter LOrdes Princes and Souldiours the Gods in times past haue giuen you and me great victories by the which we in many Countreyes haue made both the sea and the earth to tremble and quake I doubt not at all â—o do here as much or more with the floure of the chiualrie of the worlde the which to assure vs and to honor vs haue giuen vs charge of the battell willing to sustaine the vauntgarde and the rereward for our suretie yet I do thinke that many among you would rather dâ—sire the first ranke whervnto ye may chaunce to come all after the recounter and méeting is and I haue felt and perceyue that some of you not well instructed are afearde of the signes of Doues and Crowes that this day haue foughten in your sight Well I will well it be so and that it is an euill presage and signe But yet I say vnto you that the Gods haue sent vs such signes celestiall to giue vs a marke of a great victorie hauing threatned our courages to crowne vs with higher glories bicause ye had not in you the magnanimitie and holdenesse to resist such doubtfull temptations the which they would shewe vafor to proue vs The true assurance of armes should not be taken of byrdes with whom as with our enimies we wil not fight but in the strength of the souldiours armes and in the good arte and knowledge of warre of the Capitaines in the which I will well assure you and aduertise you as touching the businesse that I sée prepared for vs this day that their square companies as ye may sée go very large and farre extended one from the other to represent vnto vs a very great multitude and we contrariwise must and ought to go the onâ— nigh vnto the other as we be The which thing they do feigne purposely to put them out of feare of the number of their enimies This done I hope that our good order the which is the principall poynte of warre shall soone breake them being thus open and it may be through vncarefulnesse negligence chauncing vnto them through the hope that their Magicians haue giuen them by this friuolous and vaine flight But ye sée already at your eye their misorder the which is your certaine aduauntage if ye can take it This is my companions the thing that I would haue sayd vnto you recommending to you my honour and yours Amadis of France with a warlike Oration doth comfort hys Knightes and his Souldiours the which had beene discomfited and doth teach them a certaine subtiltie to deceyue the enimie In the .10 booke the .32 Chapter LOrdes Knights and Souldiours I will here rehearse or lay vnto you the déede of another to compare it vnto ours that is that hauing respect vnto the strong and cruell battail of Pharsalia in the whiche Iulius Caesar after diuerse victories that he had agaynst him ouercame Pompeius how thinke you that it had béene possible for Pompeius children to gather so few men as they had left but that feare cowardnesse neuer occupied theyr courage the whiche afterwardes set him in that estate to conquer the Empyre if he coulde haue folowed his fortune And be it so that nowe I sée nothing in you but dolour and displeasure bicause of those that be deade yet I shall
neuer thinke such a fault and féeblenesse of heart to bée in you that any one of you shoulde not desire to reuenge himselfe vpon his enimie and to sell his skinne dearly Wel it is conuenient for vs a little to dissemble our heauinesse and take pacience perforce and not to discourage the other Yée may beléeue mée that the greatest parte of the annoyance doth rest in my brayne but I inclose it to open and manifestly to open it doubled perforce when tyme and season shall giue me occasion Therefore I commaunde you all to go and to rest your selues a whyle that as soone as the fayre Diana or Moone shall arise setting you in traine and order to go and to inuade our enimies euerye man taking a white shirt vpon his harnesse for euery one of vs to knowe eche other assuring you that the ioy which they had through oure losse may cause them to be negligent by the meanes whereof we maye giue them so strayte a hande that they shall thinke thereof And this shall be a demonstration that oure little companie hath not a faynte heart agaynst so greate an hoste séeing that oure execution of vengeance hath no care for the trauell and payne receyued As touching me my friends although I haue bin hurt like as other I féele not these woundes so much as that the which I haue in my hart of despite and euill will beléeuing asmuch of other and that diuers of you which are not deadly wounded shall not leaue to come to this camisado the which I woulde should be two houres after midnight and as secretly as may be for feare of waking of our enimies but to rocke them so well that they shall sléepe for euer The which thing I estéeme to be easie considering the great chéere that ye made yester euen and the small watch that they shall make trusting in your misfortune A complaynt of Amadis of Greece being in the desert of Lions lamenting his Lucell whom he had forsaken to take Niquea In the .10 booke the .37 Chapter O Force that dost force me against my owne wil to breake the fayth and fidelitie that I should rather kéepe but yet thou hast made me in changing of my selfe to change it Truly my payne is greatly redoubted for the good thing that doth me so much euill O gentle Lucell what is this to say that when your beautie was wont to torment my hearte through a mortall desire I enticed of good hope did beare it paciently but now that I haue it no more alas I suffer an euill not to be borne Alas hope was wont to maintaine my life in thy absence what doth now sustayne it it must néedes be that there be some hope against hope to deliuer me a more gréeuous punishment for my vnfaithfulnesse the which doth banish me from the presence of hir whose inestimable vertue did promis me some pitie but I my selfe am contrary to my selfâ— so that I cannot haue repentance to require your pardon for my falsed fayth when I remember my déere Nequea of whome I haue receiued so great glory and contentation O death now make an end of my life to finish my trauell and thou life entertayne me no more to cause my lanlonger to endure O ye waues of the Sea why haue ye not swallowed me now of late into your déepe bottomes to exempt and to take me from this soo horrible tormeÌ„t O fountaine beholding that of his cauerne thou art fortunate making thy ordinarie course and my eyes vnfortunate distilling continually by vnnaturall constraint Thy fresh licor doth take from me the heate that is come from the common sunne but the fier that Lucell my very sunne doth cause no water can quench but one pitifull teare by hir sprinkled vppon me Niquea Niquea thou dost owe me the pardon of this offence whereof thou hast forgotten the obligation of my â—irst loues Lucelle Lucelle reioice your self now that the time is come that ye shall haue vengeance of youre vnfaithfull knight of the burning sword with satisfaction of the faulte that his sonne might haue done against your brother Anaxartes doth pitifully shew princesse Oriana that the fier of loue whiche hath inflamed him through hir beautie will reduce him to ashes if she take no pitie In the .10 booke the 41. Chapter I Besech you madame to excuse my boldnesse that I take to discouer vnto you the martirdome that I suffer for your excellence and so muche the more it gréeueth me that I kepe it close and couert for what soeuer reuerence I beare to your highnes the strength of loue is so vehement that my reason can no longer resiste and to cause you to perceiue it well it is suche that I for the extremitie of the violence thereof cannot tell it but that I through it do féele in me as it were in a litle world after the saying of auncient wise men all the diuers passions of the elements Alas my poore eyes do well shewe and declare the running waters of the sea in my continuall teares and my déepe sighes do flie as the winds in the ayre and are moued by the heate of fier hidden in my hearte the which without your pitie shal turne all my body into drye earth and ashes A sweete and an honest answer of princesse Oriana to Anaxartes In the .10 booke the .41 Chapter MY Lord the place that ye hold such as we know dothe gyue you a law to speake priuily vnto me but of the affection the which ye would declare vnto me ye shall pardon me if I be purposed to beleeue the thing that I may iudge by effect more than by wordes the which may easily be disguised notwithstanding I shall iudge that princesse fortunate vnto whome God shall giue a knyght that aboundeth with great vertue whome I estéeme and honoure in you after his merite The Quene Sidonia doeth declare to Phalanges of Astre the cause of the lawe that she hathe established and she requireth him to marie hir In the .10 booke the .44 Chapter IF the excellente Ladies of Rome and Greece haue in tymes pasâ—e offered themselues in sacrifice to conserue and keepe their virginitie and to obtayne by suche deathe immortall glorie there is no lesse reason in the lawe as by me in thys Isle constituted and established for the conseruation of my daughters chastitie and myne preseruing them from diuers abuses that men threaten them withall to drawe them to theyr vncleane affections by efficace promises and perswasions by the meanes whereof the fyre of loue by semblable and lyke nature dothe embrace the heartes of them Therefore I haue onely reserued libertie to maidens to choose their husbands and to knyghts to choose them wiues and I haue submitted my selfe to the Law and to vse it after my desire and for the wealth of my realme the whiche is in my power to giue to whom it shall please mee as husbande and wyfe The which thing I doe to you knight taking